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Jean-Louis Martine

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I Know Nouns!
Nouns are names given to any object in the real world Concrete nouns or any state of mind e.g. Love hate etc Abstract nouns The word Noun comes from the Latin word numen meaning name. We can work out if a word is a noun by asking are selves is it a name. When learning a foreign language one of the first and most useful question we can learn to ask is.. What is it called? What do you call that?

You are asking for the name of something, a place, a person, an object or a thing even an emotion is a noun. Examples of Common Nouns (Common Names) What is it called?

Its called a frog. Frog is the name we give to this kind of animal.

What is it called? Its called snow.

What is it called? Its called a city.

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* Be careful when deciding if you think a word is a noun or not. Emotions like Love, Hate and Happiness are all nouns. Activities like play, work and leisure are also nouns. All the colours are also nouns.

What is it called? Its called love.

What is it called? Its called wonder.

What is it called? Its called a thunderstorm.

*Nouns come in more than one group.

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I Know Common and Proper Nouns

A common noun is the name given to any non-specific item object or place. Common nouns start with a small letter. A proper noun is the name given to a specific object person or place. Example What is it called? Its called a cat. (Common noun) What is your cat called? His name is Tom. (Proper noun) What is it called? Its called a city. (Common noun) What is this city called? Its called London. (Proper noun) Only names that are specific are proper nouns and all proper nouns are written with a capital letter.

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I Know Countable nouns

Can you count it? Yes you can!
How many cats are there? There are five cats! (Countable noun) How many rivers are there? There are hundreds of rivers. (Countable noun) All nouns that can be counted can be expressed in the singular or plural. The most common expression of the plural is by the addition of an s at the end of the noun. Cat becomes cats. River becomes rivers. This is known as the regular form. For most plural forms the addition of an s to the original singular form will be sufficient to create the plural. However there are many exceptions. Here are some of the most common exceptions.

I Know Regular and Irregular countable nouns

Regular Nouns
Singular Cat Pen Television Hammer School Job Session Tradition Instrument > > > > > > > > > Plural Cats Pens Televisions Hammers Schools Jobs Sessions Traditions Instruments

Irregular Nouns
Singular Chid Man Woman Person Mouse Sheep Series Kiss Tooth > > > > > > > > > Plural Children Men Women People Mice Sheep Series Kisses Teeth

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I Know Un-countable nouns

Can you count it? No you cant!
Many Nouns cannot be counted by the nature of what they are that is it makes no sense to use numbers when talking about them. This applies to all abstract nouns and some common nouns. How much do you love me? I Love you a lot. Correct Can you count it? No you cant How many do you love me? I love you twelve! Incorrect Can you count it? No you cant You must really hate him. Yes I hate him a lot. Correct Can you count it? No you cant You must hate him twenty-seven. I hate him thirty. Incorrect Can you count it? No you cant Other examples of uncountable nouns are liquids and similar things like sugar, salt and butter, which are inherently difficult to count. There are ways that we can get around this problem by the addition of something that is countable. e.g. 1) Three spoonfuls of sugar. Instead of counting the sugar (grain by gain) we count how many spoons of sugar we want. Red = Uncountable noun Blue = Countable counter part The same is true of liquids. Like beer, wine, water or milk. 2) Three glasses of wine. 4) Four litters of milk 5) Two pieces of furniture. 3) Five pints of beer. 5) Six bags of cement.

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Nouns
Regular Countable Nouns
Singular Cat > Pen > Television > Hammer > School > Plural Cats Pens Televisions Hammers Schools

Irregular Countable Nouns

Singular Chid > Man > Woman > Person > Plural Children Men Women People

Uncountable Nouns
Singular only Milk Love Money Furniture

I know Possessive forms

The simplest way to explain this is that a possessive from of noun is used to indicate ownership over something from the word possession, meaning to belong to, or to be owned by. The simplest way to spot a possessive noun is to look for s It is Johns book. The book belongs to John. That is Marys leg. It is part of her body. That is Louis picture. Louis painted it. Beijing is Chinas capital city. Beijing belongs to China. The Mississippi is Americas most famous river. The Mississippi belongs to America.

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I Know Compound Nouns and Noun Combinations

Nouns are often put together or combined to express one thing, this is known as a noun combination. When noun combinations are a regular occurrence the two nouns are often joined by a hyphen or can even be written as one word. When nouns are combined they act as one. The first noun in a noun combination often tells us more about the second main noun acting in some way like an adjective.

Examples: of Compound nouns and noun combinations

light bulb computer virus mobile phone

ice-cream timetable

weekend battlefield schoolbag homework

I Know Collective Nouns

Collective nouns are used to refer to groups of people. Although a group contains more than one individual, collective nouns can be used in the singular, depending on weather you want to emphasise, the group as a unified body or the individuals within the group.

Everyone is happy The Staff are happy The Army is moving into position. The Army are moving into position.

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I know Pronouns
Pronouns are used to replace nouns or noun phrases when the noun is known
to avoid repetition of the noun in a sentence group of sentences. e.g. Bob was very happy Bob had just won the lottery. Bob was very happy he had just won the lottery. Bob = Noun he = Pronoun = Bob

There are eight types of pronoun:

Personal Pronouns have two types Subject and Object they are used to
stand in place of a noun.

Subject Pronouns: Object Pronouns:

I, You, He, She, It, We, They, Who, Whoever, Me, You, Him, Her, It, Us, Them, Whom, Whomever,

They are also divided to express The Plural and The Singular of

The First Person:

Singular I, me,

Plural

we, us you

The Second Person: Singular and Plural The Third Person: Singular he, him, she, her, it, Plural

they, them

This determines whether am / is / or are, is used and whether or not s or es, is added to end of the verb in the formation of past tenses.

Reflexive Pronouns have one type and are used to refer backwards or
inwards on the subject or object. Think of the word refection.

Possessive pronouns have two types Possessive pronouns and Possessive determiners the difference being Possessive pronouns stand alone in a sentence e.g. Think of the word possession.
It is mine. And Possessive determiners always come before a noun e.g. It is my book.

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PRONOUN CHART
Personal
Subject I you he she it we you they Object me you him her it us you them

Reflexives Possessive pronoun

myself yourself himself herself itself ourselves yourselves themselves mine yours his hers its ours yours theirs

Possessive determiner
my your his her its our your their

Demonstrative Pronouns help us to demonstrate something or point it out.

When these words stand alone they are considered to be pronouns because they replace or stand in for a noun. When they are used before a noun they are considered to be determiners because the determine which noun we are referring to e,g, this ball or that.

this, that, these, those, He is a teacher. (pronoun) This book (determiner)

Interrogative Pronouns are used in the formation of questions and are

normally followed by a question mark. They can also be used in indirect questions that do not require a question mark. Think of the word interrogation meaning to question.

who, whom, whose, what, which, He said What is it your name? (direct question) He asked the mans name. (indirect question)

Relative Pronouns are used to introduce relative clauses that come after a
noun or noun phrase. e.g. He is the man that came in yesterday. Look at the boy with the blue hat.

Relative pronouns act rather like conjunctions and join two parts of a sentence together to give more information about the noun subject or object i.e. The clause is related to the noun.

that, which, who, whom, whose, what, whatever whomever

There are only two Reciprocal Pronouns: One another (more than two or in general) and each other (between two people or things). They are called such as they are used to demonstrate a reciprocal relation between people or things. The two boys played with each other. We should love one another. 10

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I Know Determiners
Determiners are a class of word that are used to help define or identify a
noun and are placed before it. You may have noticed that some of them can act as Pronouns this is when they are used instead of the noun and replace it completely. The two most commonly used determiners are: A, An, which are known as The indefinite article as they signify a noun which is non-specific e.g. A cat Referring to no cat in particular

The definite article The which is used to signify a specific noun. e.g.
The cat Referring to one cat in particular.

Possessive determiners
my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their, indicate who or what the noun belongs to. e.g. My cat. Your cat. His cat. etc. This reflects ownership or possession.

Demonstrative determiners help us to demonstrate something or point it out in exactly the same way as demonstrative pronouns except the do not replace the noun but precede it adding the information. e.g.
This cat, or that cat.

When these words stand alone they are considered to be pronouns. However when they are used before a noun they are considered to be determiners.

this, that, these, those,

This is mine. (pronoun) This book is mine. (determiner)

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I Know Quantifiers
Quantifiers are very specific class of determiner and they are used to signify number or quantity. Like all determiners quantifiers are place before a noun or noun phrase.
The most easy to remember and use are the Cardinal numbers 1 2 3 4 5 .etc and the Ordinal numbers First Second Third Forth Fifth.. Etc They can precede any concrete noun.

However with other Quantifiers there use is limited to either countable or uncountable nouns and or to refer to only to two items e.g. both

Quantifier chat Countable

All Another Any both each Either/neither Enough Every Few/fewer/a few Little/less/a little Some Many Much More No Several A lot of X X X X X

uncountable
X X

Singular
X X X X

Plural
X X X

two

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X

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I Know Adjectives
Adjectives are words that give more information about a noun or pronoun. They are often known as describing words. Adjectives are often related to Nouns or Verbs i.e. they have a Noun or a Verb as their root. Many of these are followed by suffixes (word endings): -able -al -ate -an -ant -ent -ful -ist -ive -ory -ous -some -wise -y Sometimes the adjective has long out lived the usage of its verb or noun root, as in the case of impeccable that originate from the Latin impeccabilis meaning not liable to sin. Suffixes are not always used when a Noun acts as an Adjective e.g. The cat The black cat

What makes a word an adjective is the way it is used i.e. the job it is doing. Adjectives give more information about a noun and tell us what kind of a thing it is, that is they describe it. Look at the sentence part The cat Adding Adjectives tells us more about the particular cat we are talking about. What kind of cat is it? Its a big black cat. Its a funny cat. Its a big black and friendly cat.

Noun
beauty truth courage danger obligation street parent lone lone

>
> > > > > > > > >

Adjective
beautiful truthful courageous dangerous obligatory streetwise parental lonesome lonely

Verb
drink work like talk communicate hurt

>
> > > > > >

Adjective
drinkable workable likeable talkative communicative hurtful

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I Know Verbs
Verbs are typically referred to as Action (dynamic) words however this is only one of their many functions Verbs are also used to express a state of
mind, condition or a relationship between one thing and another. One of the chief differences that can be drawn between verb types is Lexical that is, one based upon the words meaning. Verbs that refer to States tend not to be used with Continuous forms, (ing) because states of mind and relationships are not processes that move but are rather static by nature. A second and equally important distinction that can be made between Verb types is that between Main Verbs, verbs that function by themselves and convey the key meaning in any group of verbs e.g. to love to hit, to sing, and Auxiliary (meaning to help) verbs that add or help to give extra meaning to the main verb. Auxiliary verbs cannot be used by them selves and must accompany a main verb e.g. had (had breakfast), can (can swim), is (is sick) etc.

State and dynamic Verbs

This distinction is drawn between different kinds of Main Verbs.

State verbs express a state of mind, to love, to hate, to know or a relationship, to be, to belong, to have, to resemble because state are not actions we
tend not uses them with continuous from e.g. I love you. I know him. I like ice-cream. Not Not Not I am loving you. I am knowing him. I am liking ice-cream.

Dynamic Verbs describe actions acts activities and processes: to hit, to run, to jump, to change, to flow, to walk, to crawl,
By the very nature of the kinds of things Dynamic Verbs describe continuous can be used. I run. (Present simple) I hit him. (Present simple) I am running. (Present continuous) I am hitting him. (Present continuous)

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List of State Verbs

State of mind
to love to hate to know to like to understand to need to want to wonder to dislike

Relationships
to be to own to have to resemble to belong

Regular and Irregular Verbs Regular Verbs

Infinitive
Cast Cost Cut Fit Hit Let Put Read (long) Set Shut Spread

Past simple
Cast Cost Cut Fit/Fitted Hit Let Put Read (short) Set Shut Spread

Past principle
Cast Cost Cut Fit Hit Let Put Read (short) Set Shut Spread

Continuous form of regular verbs

When making addition of

the continuous form or regular verbs the simple

ing is used. e.g. Cast > Casting Read > Reading.

For words ending in a single consonant with a short vowel sound it is necessary to double the last consonant to keep the vowel sound short. e.g.

Cut > Cutting

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Fit > Fitting

Set > Setting

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Irregular Verbs
There are approximately 300 irregular verbs in the English language, and there are no rules or easy way to tell whether or not a verb is regular or irregular. However irregular verbs can be grouped in accordance with the pattern in which they change form to make learning easier.

Changes in the past

Infinitive
bind feed find get have hear hold lay light make meet pay say sell shoot sit stand tell

Past simple
bound fed found got had heard Held laid lit made met paid said Sold shot sat stood told

Past Participle
bound fed found got had heard held laid lit made met paid said sold shot sat stood told

Changes in the past and past participle

Infinitive
drink sink

Past simple
drank sank

Past Participle
drunk sunk

Irregular verbs be and go different to all other in so much as their forms

have no relation to each other in terms of spelling. be am/is/are was/were been go go(es) went gone

Present Tense Past Tense Past Participle 16

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I Know Modal Auxiliary Verbs

shall / will / can / could / would / should / may / might / must / need (nt) / ought (not) to /
Modal auxiliary verbs differ from main verbs in two ways. The first difference is that they cannot stand alone but must be used in conjunction with a full verb. This function is exemplified in the name Auxiliary meaning to help or assist. The second difference of modal auxiliary verbs is to do with their function as Mode changers Hence the name Modal To understand modality more clearly consider the following examples: Come to dinner. (This sentence is an imperative and acts as an order) Can you come to dinner? (The use of can here is linked to ability rephrased: Are you able to come to dinner. Remember come is the full verb can is the modal auxiliary verb.) Will you come to dinner? (The use of will here is linked to intention. Rephrased do you intend to come to dinner?) You ought to come to dinner? (The use of ought to here is being used to express the speakers belief that s/he thinks X is a good idea.)

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I Know Adverbs
What is an Adverb? Add Verb! Simply it is a word which adds additional information to a verb. For example: Run quickly

Run is the verb

quickly is the adverb

Adverbs can come both before and after the verb. For example: The boy ran happily down the road. The boy happily ran down the road. Adverbs answer the question: How? About the verb How did the boy run? He ran quickly.

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I Know Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal verbs are an extremely large and potentially confusing area of the English language. The best way to describe a phrasal verb is to say that it is a number of words taken together, as a set phrase with a particular meaning. The one of the greatest problems with learning and teaching phrasal verbs is that there is not necessarily a direct or obvious connection between to the constituent words and the meaning of the phrasal verb itself. Another problem with phrasal verbs is that one phrasal verb might have more than one meaning. Finally there are just so many phrasal verbs in English it is difficult to know where to start and they are easy to confuse with each other. Due to the nature of Phrasal Verbs it is difficult to decisively say whether the full under the heading of Grammar or Lexis. It is my opinion that it is best to consider them primarily as Lexical items i.e. Vocabulary and then teach the necessary grammar to with them.

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Verb Tenses

I know The Present Simple

I do

Form
Subject Pronoun 1st 2nd and 3rd person plural Verb

I /you /we/ they

do
Verb

Subject Pronoun 3rd person singular / Noun

he/she/it/ Jack*

does

* For The 3rd person and noun constructions add either

s or es to the verb.

Present Simple examples chart

I You We They Jack He She It work in a bank. work in a bank. work in a bank. work in a bank. works in a bank. works in a bank. works in a bank. counts money in a bank. I You We They Jack He She It teach English. teach English. teach English. teach English. teaches English. teaches English. teaches English. teaches English.

Note. It refers to animals, machines and inanimate object therefore many verbs do not always make sense with it.

Meaning The Present Simple is used to convey a general state of affairs. That

I work in a bank I am not implying that I am working their now at this very minute but that it is My Job. I work in a bank
is to say when I say everyday. We can look at the meaning of The Present Simple pictorially.

<_______________________________NOW_______________________________> I work in a bank X = work in bank 20

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Making Questions with, The Present Simple

To make questions with the present simple we use the verb Pronoun 1st 2nd and 3rd person plural and Therefore the statement

do for Subject

does for 3

rd

person singular.

I work in a bank becomes the question

Do you work in a bank?

When answering a question we use the verb

do for positive answers.

and

dont (do not) for negative answers.

Yes I do. No I dont

For the 3rd person singular (he/she/it/Jack) we use

does and doesnt.

Example

Does he work in a bank? Yes he does No he doesnt.

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I Know The Present Continuous

I am doing Form
1st person singular

I am
Im

+
3rd person singular

Verb + ing

he/she/it/Jack
Hes/Shes/Its/Jacks

is

Verb + ing

2nd person and 3rd person plural

we/you/they
Were/Youre/Theyre

are

Verb + ing

Present continuous example chart

I am reading a book. I am writing a letter. Jack is reading a book. Jack is writing a letter. He is reading a book. He is writing a letter. She is reading a book. She is writing a letter. It is running a program. It is We are reading a book. We are writing a letter. You are reading a book. You are writing a letter. They are reading a book. They are writing a letter. Note: Contractions are very often used in daily life I am > Im We are > Were etc.

Meaning 1. The present continuous is used to describe an on going

activity that has recently started and will end shortly. i.e. It is a on going but temporary state of affairs. When I say

I am reading a book I mean

a) I am reading the book. Now b) I started reading it recently. C) I wont be reading it shortly.

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I Know The Past Simple

I did Form
1st 2nd & 3rd person

I/ he/she/it/Jack /we/you/they

Verb + ed

ed for regular verbs past participle form for irregular verbs varry

I Know The Past Continuous

I was doing Form
1st 3rd person singular

I /he/she/it/Jack

was

Verb + ing

2nd person and 3rd person plural

We/you/they

were

Verb + ing

I Know The Future Simple

I will do Form
1st 2nd & 3rd person

I /he/she/it/Jack /we/you/they

will

Verb

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I know The Future Continuous

I will be doing Form
1st 2nd & 3rd person

I /he/she/it/Jack /we/you/they

will be +

Verb + ing

I Know The Present Perfect

I have done Form
1st & 2nd person and 3rd person plural

I / you/we/they

+ have

Verb + ed

3rd person singular

he/she/it/Jack

+ has

Verb + ed

I Know The Present Perfect Continuous

I have been doing Form
1st & 2nd person and 3rd person plural

I / you/we/they + have been

3rd person singular

Verb + ing

he/she/it/Jack
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+ has been Grammar Train

Verb + ing
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I Know The Past Perfect

I will have done Form
1st & 2nd person and 3rd person plural

I / you/we/they + will have he /she/it/Jack

Verb + ed

I know The Past Perfect Continuous

I will have been doing Form
1st & 2nd person and 3rd person plural

I / you/we /they/he /she/ it/Jack

+ will have been

Verb + ed

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I Know The Future Perfect I know The Future Perfect Continuous

I Know The Passive and Active Constructions

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The 12 Tense at a glance

The Present Simple I do I am I work in a bank. He works in a bank. I am a teacher He is a teacher The Past Simple I did I was I worked in a bank. He worked in a bank. I was a teacher He was a teacher. The Future Simple I will do I will be I will work in a bank. He will work in a bank. I will be a teacher. He will be a teacher.

The Present Continuous I am doing I am working in a bank. He is working in a bank.

The Past Continuous I was doing I was working in a bank. He was working in a bank.

The Future Continuous I will be doing I will be working in a bank. He will be working in a bank.

The Present Perfect I have done I have worked in a bank. He has worked in a bank.

The Past Perfect I had done I had worked in a bank. He had worked in a bank.

The Future Perfect I will have done I will have worked in a bank. He will have worked in a bank.

The Present Perfect Continuous I have been doing I have been working in a bank. He has been working in a bank.

The Past Perfect Continuous I had been doing I had been working in a bank. He had been working in a bank.

The Future Perfect Continuous I will have been doing I will have been working in a bank. He will have been working in a bank.

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Passive Constructions at a glance

The Present Simple The Past Simple The Future Simple

The Present Continuous

The Past Continuous

The Future Continuous

The Present Perfect

The Past Perfect

The Future Perfect

The Present Perfect Continuous

The Past Perfect Continuous

The Future Perfect Continuous

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I know If & Conditional clauses

We use

if

when we want to talk about uncertain events, activities or things,

that may or may not happen or might or might not be true. In such sentences, the represents a clauses.

if

condition

that must happen first hence the name conditional

All conditional clauses are separated into two halves the main if clause or condition that must happen first and the second clause or result which happens afterwards. Conditionals can understood in terms of cause and effect where

If =

the cause.
If you drop that glass, it will brake. If you heat water to 100.c, it will boil.
Conditional clauses can be used with special tenses to indicate how likely the statement we are making is.

ZERO Conditional General truths 100% certainty FIRST conditional Possible situation & likely outcomes SECOND conditional Hypothetical situations or improbable outcomes THIRD conditional Impossible situations and hypothetical outcomes

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I know
Gerunds and participles
Gerund and participle are terms given to when we use ing forms of the verb Not as Verbs but as adjectives, adverbs or nouns. Gerund is the term given to the use of an ing form of the verb used as a noun e.g. The man was laughing. (laughing as a verb) Laughing is good for you. (laughing acting as a noun) It is easy to check if an ing is being used as a noun if you can replace it with a noun then its a gerund. Chocolate is good for you. (Chocolate is a noun)

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I know
Indirect and Reported Speech
In indirect speech we do not use speech marks and often we do not repeat word for word what someone has said but rather retransmit or convey the mean of what they have said. This can be very useful for example if I have just had a conversation and someone asked what we were talking about I might very well find it very hard to repeat word for word what was said. However I could quite easily explain what was talked about and what was and wasnt said in my own words. Other examples were indirect or reported speech are common are in news reports. For example a politician gives a long speech that covers many topics. However the news report needs to sum this up in many less words e.g. Tony Blair said that Gordon Brown was making a hash of the economy and wouldnt it be great if he was back in power. He said that.. It has been reported. It is assumed that..

Back forming
Very often when we use reported speech we make a tense shift into a past tense e.g. from the present simple to the past simple.

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