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NEG-1-Grammar-Refence-in English-NEW-FINAL 20/12/2016 6:05 μμ Page 95

Grammar Reference

Unit 1 There are some exceptions to this rule. Common exceptions
a, an the indefinite article include cliffs, chiefs, roofs, dwarfs, giraffes and handkerchiefs.

The indefinite article.....................................page 4 t Pronunciation Rules
The suffix -s of the plural is pronounced:
The indefinite article a or an is placed before non-specific sin- L /s/ when the last sound of the noun is /p/, /k/, /t/ or /f/
gular nouns (i.e. ‘I bought a book today.’ – but we don’t know e.g. book - books /bʊks/ map - maps /mæps/
the name of the book or any information about it) or when we L /z/ when the last sound of the noun is a vowel or
refer to something for the first time. Quite often, the English any consonant sound different from the ones above.
usage of the indefinite article differs from that of other lan- e.g. pen - pens /penz/
guages, making this a particularly difficult aspect of English-lan- banana - bananas /bə'nɑ:nəz/
guage acquisition. day - days /deɪz/
a is used before words beginning with a consonant sound.
e.g. a train a car The suffix -es of the plural is pronounced:
an is used before words beginning with a vowel sound. L /ɪz/ when the noun ends in: -ss, -ch, -sh, -x, -ce, -ge
e.g. an aeroplane an ice cream or -se.
e.g. glass - glasses /'glɑ:sɪz/
ATTENTION! peach - peaches /'pɪ:tʃɪz/
Before words beginning with the letter h we use either a or an dish - dishes /'dɪʃɪz/
depending on whether or not the h is pronounced. box - boxes /'bɒksɪz/
e.g. a house /hαus/ an hour /αu∂/ orange - oranges /'ɒrɪndʒɪz/
sentence - sentences /'sentənsɪz/
Before words beginning with the letter u we use either a or L /vz/ when the noun ends in -f or -fe.
an depending on whether u is pronounced /ju:/ or /∂/. e.g. knife - knives /nɑɪvz/
e.g. a unit /'ju:nɪt/ an umbrella / ʌm'brel∂/
The suffix -ies of the plural is pronounced /ɪz/.
y and w are consonants when they are at the beginning of e.g. family - families /'fæmilɪz/
words and a is used before them in such instances.
e.g. a yacht a wallet b. Irregular Nouns
The following nouns form the plural irregularly:
child - children man - men
Unit 2 woman - womenfoot - feet
Plural Nouns mouse - mice ox - oxen
fish - fish goose - geese
Plural nouns......................................................page 6 tooth - teeth deer - deer
sheep - sheep person - people
a. Regular Nouns
Unit 3
t Spelling Rules
The plural of nouns is formed with the suffix -s. subject pronouns the verb “to be”
e.g. bird - birds tree - trees Subject Pronouns........................................page 10

L To form the plural of nouns ending in: -o, -s, -sh, -ch The personal pronouns are:
or -x, we add -es. I you he she it
e.g. dish - dishes watch - watches we you they
tomato - tomatoes bus - buses
Personal pronouns are used in the place of a noun
ATTENTION! We use -s with: piano - pianos, (e.g. Mary, Mr. and Mrs. Brown, the tree, the animals).
photo - photos, radio - radios, kangaroo - kangaroos, e.g. She is a teacher.
as well as all nouns derived from language other than English
(foreign words which are used in English) and abbreviations he and she are used for people; it for animals, things and ab-
of longer words (e.g. photo, which comes from photograph). stract meanings. he and she can be used when we refer to
To form the plural of nouns ending in: animals, especially when we want to define their gender or
L -y, and preceded by a consonant, the -y turns into -i and - when we are talking about pets (domestic animals).
es is added. e.g. Mr. Smith - he Jenny - she
e.g. lady - ladies the cat - it the computer - it
L -y, and preceded by a vowel, we just add -s. they is used for people, animals or things.
e.g. boy - boys e.g. students - they dogs - they tables - they
L -f or -fe, the ‘f’ or ‘fe’ turns into -ves I is always capitalised (written with a capital letter).
e.g. leaf - leaves /lɪ:vz/ wife - wives /'wɑɪvz/
you is the same in singular and plural.
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