THE NOUN

 PROBLEMATIC AREAS:
 NUMBER: -Countable vs. Uncountable nouns
-plural forms
-nouns having only sg./pl.
forms
 CASE: expression of possession
 GENDER: natural vs. grammatical gender
PC in the use of gender
 COUNTABLE vs. UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
COUNTABLE NOUNS
nouns referring to people or things that can be
counted as separate, individual items.
a manager, a job, an idea, a few ideas, two
computers
UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
things that cannot be divided or counted.
accommodation*, advertising, advice, cash,
documentation, employment, equipment, evidence,
feedback, furniture, guidance, hardware, health,
help, information, literature, luggage, machinery,
marketing, money, paperwork, permission, progress,
publicity, research, software, traffic, training,
transport, travel, weather, work
(Source: Cambridge Business Corpus)
 UNCOUNTABLE COUNTABLE
 Do not have plural forms  Can be singular or plural
 Can you arrange (some)  This new job is a great
accommodation for ten opportunity for me. I have lots of
visitors? opportunities to travel.
 Cannot be used with  Can be used with indefinite
articles a/an
indefinite articles a/an  We had a meeting and we solved
 We made (some) progress this problem.
in our research.
 Singular countable nouns need
 Can be used without a a determiner (e.g. a/an, my,
determiner this, one)
 Research is expensive.  We paid £6,000 for this report.
 Always take a singular  Can take a singular or a plural
verb verb
 This software is out of  My boss has a PhD. My colleagues
are all graduates.
date and needs updating.
 Nouns that are
 (a.) UNCOUNTABLE when they refer to
SUBSTANCE / IDEA
 (b.) COUNTABLE when they refer to
 1. CONTAINERS (for things)
 2. TYPES/BRANDS
 3. PARTICULAR EXAMPLES / CONCRETE THINGS
 4. A PARTICULAR SITUATION
 I prefer tea to coffee.  1. Three teas and two
 There’s cheese in the
coffees, please. (=cups
of~) (colloquial English)
fridge.
 2. Our shop offers you
 She has blonde hair.
dozens of cheeses to
 The statue was made choose from. (=kinds
of stone. of~)
 3. There’s a hair in my
soup!
 4. He had a stone in
hand.

(a.) UNCOUNTABLE (b.) COUNTABLE

 BUSINESS (= company)  BUSINESS (=activity)
 Small businesses are our future.  We do business all over
 EXPERIENCE (= an event) the world.
 Going to Asia was a great  EXPERIENCE (=
experience. practical knowledge)
 PAPER (= newspaper; 2. (plural  I have limited experience
only) documents) in sales.
 Do you get the local paper?  PAPER (=material)
 I have to file the papers of this  I didn’t have any paper
deal. so I couldn’t take notes.
 ROOM (= a hall)  ROOM (=space)
 We’re short of meeting rooms.  Our office is full. There’s
no room to expand.

COUNTABLE UNCOUNTABLE
 COUNTABLE UNCOUNTABLE
 COMPETITION (=contest)  COMPETITION (=rivalry
 We run competitions as part of for supremacy)
promotion.
 Is there much competition
 PROPERTY (= a building, a piece of in the field of IT?
land; 2. plural only) features that
a substance has)  PROPERTY (=things that
 They sold a property to avoid going somebody owns)
bankrupt.  The hotel is not responsible
 The physical properties of this for any loss or damage to
product are outstanding. guests’ property.
 WORK (= books, painting/s, music  WORK (= job, activity)
produced by an artist; (plural only)
activities involved in  He is a first-year student
building/repairing roads and but he is looking for part-
time work.
bridges)
 Our company intends to buy some of
this artist’s works.
 This year they are investing in road
works all over the country.
 Expressions used with UNCOUNTABLE nouns.
 MEASURES AND CONTAINERS:
 A LITER OF OIL
 15 TONNES OF CEMENT
 A BOTTLE OF WATER
 TWO TINS OF PAINT
 A PIECE OF / AN ITEM OF / A BIT OF ADVICE (EQUIPMENT,
EVIDENCE, FURNITURE, LUGGAGE, MACHINERY, NEWS, PAPER,
SOFTWARE)
 SOME / A BIT OF ADVERTISING (CASH, FEEDBACK, FUN, LUCK,
MONEY, PROGRESS, TRAFFIC, TRAVEL)

 A BIT OF IS COLLOQUIAL, DO NOT USE IT IN FORMAL

WRITING!
  General rule: noun (singular) + -s
 road/-s, area/-s, machine/-s
 Variations: Noun ending in
PLURAL FORM EXAMPLES
CONSONANT + -Y + ies family – families, party –
parties
VOWEL + -Y +s tray - trays, storey -
storeys
-CH*, -S, -SH, -X, -Z + es watch – watches, boss –
bosses, fox - foxes, quiz -
quizzes
CONSONANT + -O +es potato – potatoes, hero –
heroes, volcano/-es,
mosquito/-es, echo/-es,
negro/-es, veto/-es
+s piano/-s, casino/-s,
photo/-s, kilo/-s, adagio/-s
VOWEL + -O +s radio – radios, video – videos
ending in –F / -FE usually + -VES leaf – leaves, loaf – loaves, thief –
thieves, shelf - shelves, half -
halves, elf - elves
ending in –F / -FF +s
chief - chiefs, belief - beliefs, cliff –
cliffs
Other irregulars + (R)EN child – children, ox - oxen
change of man – men, woman – women, tooth –
vowel teeth, goose – geese, foot – feet,
*mouse – mice; ***person - people
sheep – sheep, craft – craft, series –
no change in series, means - means
plural
Foreign nouns varies LATIN: stimulus – stimuli, alumnus-
according to alumni, corpus-corpora; alumna-
the origin of alumnae; datum – data, symposium –
word symposia, medium – media,
referendum/-s – referenda
GREEK: crisis-crises, analysis-
analyses, basis-bases, ellipsis/-es;
phenomenon-phenomena, criterion-
criteria
 In formal written English
 Abbreviation / decade + -s
 MD – MDs, MP – MPs, VIP – VIPs, 1970s
 Plurals
formed with apostrophe (‘) are
common but may be considered correct in
INFORMAL writing!
 Theyappear frequently in the plural form. These
occur in a number of categories:
 CLOTHING: clothes, jeans, trousers, pyjamas,
overalls
 TOOLS/EQUIPMENT: scissors, glasses, scales,
binoculars
 GAMES: dominoes, darts, cards, billiards
 SUBJECTS/ACTIVITIES: Physics, Maths, Politics,
Economics, aerobics, athletics
 OTHER: goods, remains, thanks, congratulations,
news, stairs, headquarters, outskirts, valuables,
savings, surroundings, earnings, customs
 colour/-s vs. colours (plural only)
 compass/-es vs. compasses (pl. only)
 custom/-es vs. customs (pl.
only)
 damage/-es vs. damages (pl. only)
 minute/-es vs. minutes (pl.
only)
 premise/-es vs. premises (pl. only)
 return/-es vs. returns (pl. only)
 term/-es vs. terms (pl. only)
 denote a group
 army, audience, board, committee, crew, family,
jury, majority, party, staff, team
 *police, people
 AGREEMENT
 When they refer to the whole group (as a unit) +
verb in the SINGULAR
 When they refer to the members of the group
(as individuals) + verb in the PLURAL
 * always + verb in the PLURAL
 created by combining two or more words.
 can be written as
 a single word: dressmaker, Thanksgiving, turnover
 two separate words: business magazine, tea cup,
rocking chair
 two words joined by a hyphen: waste-bin, passer-by
 Compounds can be formed from
 nouns (business person)
 noun + verb (windsurfing)
 verb + noun (cookbook, swimsuit)
 adjective + noun (highway, real estate)
 multi-word verbs (breakdown, stand-up, *downfall)
 time expressions (a three-hour delay, a ten-minute
drive)
 PLURAL FORMS
 The noun or the main noun gets the plural form
 washing machine – washing machines
 printer cartridge – printer cartridges
 toothbrush - toothbrushes
 The compound nouns ending in –FUL and –LOAD
+ -s (at the end)
 handful – handfuls
 workload – workloads
 If the compound does not contain a noun the last word
gets the plural form
 grown-up – grown-ups, take-off – take-offs, drive-in - drive-
ins
 [Link] SUBJECT (X and Y) + verb in
the PLURAL
 Writing and reading are necessary for success in
college.
 *** the elements of the subject function as a
single unit + verb in the SINGULAR
 His lawyer and business partner prepares the
tax forms.
 ***Ice cream and cake is his favourite dessert.
 2.
A PLURAL SUBJECT DESCRIBING A SINGLE
ENTITY (time, measurement, money)
+ verb in the SINGULAR
 Twenty-four hours is a long time in politics.
 Five dollars is a modest fee.
 Five kilos of beans is about eleven pounds.
 3. NEITHER + noun … NOR + noun
EITHER + noun … OR + noun
NOR
OR
the number of the noun which is closer to
the verb imposes the number of the verb
(PROXIMITY RULE)
 Neither the students nor the teacher is correct.
 Either the idea or the details are wrong.
 Snowstorms or rain causes accidents.
 4. Titles of books, movies, articles + verb in the
SINGULAR
 Monetary Theories is a useful book.
 5. Nouns with no plural forms
 CLOTHES: + verb in the PLURAL (Scissors are
used to cut the
jeans.)
 SUBJECTS:
 + verb in the SINGULAR (if we refer to the science)
 Statistics seems to be very difficult for students.
 + verb in the PLURAL (if we refer to any other aspect but
the science)
 Statistics show a significant increase in consumer
confidence over the last months.
 6. COLLECTIVE NOUNS

The United Nations has agreed to deploy a

peacekeeping force.
The United Nations are in disagreement on
this issue.
The United Nations is in disagreement on this
issue.
 In British English, if we refer to the
individuals forming the group, the agreement
with the verb is made in the plural.
 In the same context in American English a
singular verb is preferred.
 It is common use to use a plural verb after
nouns such as THE MAJORITY, A NUMBER, A
COUPLE when these are followed by OF + a
plural noun:
 The majority of the people were pleased to see
the government fall.
THE NOUN
Gender
Case
 GRAMMATICAL vs. NATURAL GENDER
 GRAMMATICAL GENDER
 The gender that a word has from a linguistic point of
view
 masculine, feminine, neuter
 NATURAL GENDER
 The biological and social notion of being male or
female.
 masculine, feminine
 In Modern English grammatical gender is not
important.
 Some grammarians assert that English does
not have grammatical gender.
  Nouns that are automatically replaced by masculine
or feminine pronouns or by IT.
 1. CONTRASTING NOUNS DESCRIBING PEOPLE
 Replaceable by HE / SHE
 boy / girl sir / madam
 brother / sister uncle / aunt
 father / mother man / woman
 gentleman / lady
 king / queen
 monk / nun
 Mr / Mrs – Miss – Ms
 nephew / niece
 2.
CONTRASTING NOUNS DESCRIBING
ANIMALS
 Replaceable by IT
 bull - ox / cow (cattle)
 rooster – cock / hen (chicken, poultry)
 gander / goose
 ram / ewe (sheep)
 stallion / mare (horse)
 3.
–ESS ENDINGS AND OTHER FORMS
INDICATING GENDER
 MASCULINE FORM + -ESS = FEMININE FORM
 *actor / actress (talent vs. looks)
 god / goddess
 heir / heiress
 host / hostess
 prince / princess
 *steward / stewardess (PC term: flight attendant)
 waiter / waitress
 Some words have gone out of use or considered
pejorative (authoress, poetess, manageress).
 Ina few cases, -ESS endings are used for
female animals
 leopard / leopardess
 lion / lioness
 tiger / tigress
 HE- / SHE- (stressed) is used as prefix
 he-goat / she-goat
 wolf / she-wolf
 OTHER ENDINGS
 (bride)groom / bride
 hero / heroine
 lad / lass
 landlord / landlady
 male / female
 usher / usherette
 widower / widow
 4.
IDENTIFYING MASCULINE AND FEMININE
BY ‘MAN’, ‘WOMAN’
 policeman / policewoman
(PC term: police officer)
 salesman / saleswoman
(PC term: sales representative, sales rep)
 postman / postwoman
 chairman / chairwoman
(PC term: chair, chairperson)
 spokesman / spokeswoman
(PC term: spokesperson)
 It is assumed that words like model, nurse
traditionally refer to a woman and words
such as judge and wrestler refer to a man.
 If we want to refer to a person of the
opposite sex, ‘male’ / ‘female’ are used in
front of the noun.
 model / male model
 nurse / male nurse
 judge / female judge
 wrestler / female wrestler
 Formost English nouns only the use of a
replacing pronoun clarifies the gender.
 My accountant says he is moving his office.
 His doctor says she is pleased with his progress.
COMMON / DUAL NOUNS
adult, artist, cook, cousin, enemy, foreigner,
guest, journalist, lawyer, neighbour, orphan,
owner, parent, passenger, person, relative,
speaker, spouse, strange, student, etc.
 HE or SHE / THEY
 Traditionally, English used HE when the gender of the
person was not known
 If a student is ill, he must send his medical certificate to the
College office.
 PC!!!! Nowadays the usage above is considered sexist,
therefore to be avoided. ‘HE OR SHE’ is preferred.
 If a student is ill, he or she must send a medical certificate
to the College office.
 Gradually, ‘THEY’ is becoming popular in such contexts
(although some grammarians still consider it as an
INFORMAL construction)
 If a student is ill, they must send a medical certificate to the
College office.
 If anyone wants my ticket, they can have it.
 ANIMALS, CARS, SHIPS
 Sometimes people refer to animals (usually pets)
as HE/SHE, especially when they are thought of
as having personality, intelligence or feelings
 Go and find the cat and put him out.
 Some people use SHE for motorbikes and cars;
sailors use SHE for boats and ships (an affective
use)
 ‘How’s the new car?’ ‘She’s running beautifully.’
 The ship has struck a rock. She’s sinking!
 Nouns do not have a grammatical gender in English.
 Some nouns have a ‘natural’ gender, there are different terms
referring to males and females (woman / man, mother / father)
 Most nouns for jobs do not imply a gender. To specify gender, one
has to use the term man/woman (a woman doctor)
 Other nouns for jobs and roles do refer to males or females,
often by their suffix (businessman, manageress)
 Some time ago it used to be common to use the –man suffix to
refer to people of both sexes.
 That’s the view of Sheila Davidson, chairman of the Institute of
Public Relations.
 A lot of people avoid such situations now, especially if referring
to a woman, and prefer a form with no implicit gender (chair) or
to match the suffix to the person (chairwoman).
 That’s the view of Sheila Davidson, chair(woman) of the Institute of
Public Relations
 refers to the relation in which one noun /
pronoun stands to some other word in the
sentence
 Some grammarians identify two cases in
English: possessive/ genitive and common
 Others support the idea of four cases:
nominative, accusative, genitive and dative.
 The NOMINATIVE
 has the syntactic function of subject, subjective
complement or apposition
 Salespeople have a flexible work schedule. (who?)
 She is my superior.
 Ada, his secretary, has circulated the agenda for the next
meeting.
 The ACCUSATIVE
 can function as a direct object, a prepositional object, etc.
 He saw his friend in the street. (whom?)
 At the meeting, he disagreed with his colleagues.
 THE DATIVE
 has the function of indirect object
 is marked by the prepositions TO and FOR or by
word-order
 THE PREPOSITIONAL DATIVE (to whom? For
whom? Of whom?)
 When the Accusative form precedes the Dative form
 Give the money to John.
 After verbs such as ANNOUNCE, BELONG,
COMMUNICATE, DESCRIBE, EXPLAIN, INTRODUCE,
LISTEN, REPLY, SUGGEST,SPEAK
 Explain to Mary what it means.
 THE DATIVE
 THE DATIVE WITHOUT PREPOSITION
 used when the Dative precedes the Accusative
 Show our guests the production line.

 THE GENITIVE / POSSESSIVE

 ‘s Genitive
 ‘of’ Genitive
 POSSESSOR and POSSESSED OBJECT
 (APOSTROPHE) ‘S GENITIVE
 FORM
 Singular noun + ‘s
 The manager’s decision
 Singular noun ending in –s + ‘s
 The actress’s speech
 Irregular plural noun (plural forms not ending in -s) + ‘s
 Children’s games
 (most) names ending in –s + ‘s (‘ is also accepted, esp. in
literature) (N.B. no matter how it is written, the genitive is
pronounced as /iz/)
 Charles’s address (Charles’ address)
 * Greek names ending in –s + ‘ (Archimedes’ principle)
 Plural noun/ name + ‘
 Managers’ meeting
 the Joneses’ house
 USE
 When the possessor refers to people (animals, pets),
groups, places, times
 Have you seen John’s new car?
 Have you met the boss’s new assistant?
 Have you seen the article in today’s Observer?
 Sometimes ‘s can be added to a noun phrase which
does not end with a noun
 He is manager-on-the-left’s assistant. (He is the assistant
of the manager on the left.)
 To refer to the origin of something (where it comes
from, who made it)
 Oil is Saudi Arabia’s biggest export.
 The theory of human needs is Maslow’s most famous work.
 To refer to a quantity or measure (duration,
distance, value + ‘worth’)
 There will be an hour’s delay.
 Could you give me a pound’s worth of candies?
 In certain fixed expressions:
 at death’s door
 for God’s/goodness’/Pete’s/Christ’s/heaven’s
sake
 The possessed object can be omitted when
reference is made TO SOMEONE’S HOME, SOME
SHOPS, SERVICES, MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS (the
grocer’s, the florist’s, the chemist’s, the
doctor’s, the hairdresser’s, Macy’s, Christie’s)
 We are going to the Linda’s for the weekend. (Linda’s
home)
 The possessed object can be omitted in REPLIES
when it is clear from the context:
 ‘Whose briefcase is this?’ ‘Richard’s.’
 DOUBLE POSSESSIVE (OF and ‘s/possessive
pronoun)
 Is used when a noun is seen both as specific and
as one of several (use indefinite article with the
noun!)
 I have heard the story from a friend of my brother’s.
 He is a colleague of ours.
 THE DEFINITE ARTICLE
THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE
THE ZERO ARTICLE
 Words in front of common nouns (or
adjective + common noun) that affect
(determine) the meaning of the noun.
 Proper nouns do not generally require
identification but there are situations in
which they are used with determiners.
 There are two classes of determiners:
 Words which help us to CLASSIFY or IDENTIFY;
 Words which enable us to indicate QUANTITY.
 Words which help us to CLASSIFY or IDENTIFY:
 INDEFINITE ARTICLE
 I bought a new briefcase yesterday.
 DEFINITE ARTICLE
 The briefcase that I’m holding is new.
 DEMONSTRATIVES
 I bought this/that briefcase yesterday.
 POSSESSIVES
 Do you like my new briefcase?
 Words which enable us to indicate QUANTITY
 NUMBERS
 I bought two new briefcases yesterday.
 QUANTIFIERS
 I didn’t buy many briefcases in the past years.
 A/AN is used only in front of
 A SINGULAR COUNTABLE NOUN:
 a letter, an invoice
 THE is used in front of:
 A SINGULAR COUNTABLE NOUN:
 the letter
 A PLURAL COUNTABLE NOUN:
 the letters
 AN UNCOUNTABLE NOUN:
 the water, the information, the equipment
 ZERO ARTICLE: we often use no article in
front of
 A PLURAL COUNTABLE NOUN:
 letters, invoices
 AN UNCOUNTABLE NOUN:
 water, information, equipment
 A or AN? and /ə/, /ən/ or /ei/?
 A is used before consonant sounds (not just consonant
letters!!!). N.B. /j/ (pronounced like y in 'you‘) is a
semi-consonant.
 AN is used before vowel sounds.
 Provide the correct indefinite article:
 fire
 N (the letter)
 house
 umbrella
 year
 eye
 uniform
 honour
 union
 hotel
 B.A. (Bachelor of Arts)
 I.Q.
 [Link] something is mentioned for the first
time:
 Peter and Jane shared an office on the ground
floor.
 2. To refer to an example of a certain class:
 Religions
 John is a Catholic.
 Names of days
 The meeting was scheduled on a Wednesday.
 Names of jobs
 Mary is training to be a certified accountant.
 She was a company director when she retired.
 *** When we give someone’s TITLE or UNIQUE
POSITION, THE or ZERO ARTICLE is used:
 He has been appointed head of the department / the head of
the department.
 *** after THE POST/POSITION/ROLE OF + job title, ZERO
ARTICLE is used:
 He was promoted on the post/position/ role of Marketing
Manager.
 A kind of, or example of something (+ adjective)
 English has become an international language.
 That is a very good (type of/kind of) coffee.
 *** if you refer to something as UNIQUE, THE or ZERO
ARTICLE is used.
 English has become the international language of business.
 3. after WHAT and SUCH:
 What a shame!
 He’s such an efficient professional!
 4. With some units of time or measurement, to mean EACH:
 The trains to Brussels depart three times an hour.
 half an hour
 a quarter of an hour
 50 pence a litre
 5. Quantity: ‘only one’
 The burglar took a diamond necklace and two valuable paintings.
 6. + Proper nouns:
 + a famous name, to mean someone or something that has the same
qualities as that person or thing:
 John is a good architect, but he will never be a Gustave Eiffel.
 + the name of a famous artist, to refer to one of his/her creations:
 an early Rembrandt
 + the name of a person, to refer to an unknown person, the expression
meaning ‘a certain…’
 There is a (certain) Dr. Kenneth Perch on the phone. Do you want to talk to him?
 /ðə/ is used before consonant sounds
 /ði/ is used before vowel sounds
 /ði:/ is used when we want to draw
attention to the noun that follows (‘the one
and only’, ‘the main one’)
 Do you mean the Benjamin Franklin, the
inventor?
 1. to refer to something that has already
been mentioned and is known to both the
speaker and the listener(s):
 (Peter and Jane shared an office on the ground
floor.) The office was small and comfortable,
with two facing desks.
 2. to refer to something that is known to
both speaker and listener(s), although it has
not been mentioned before:
 ‘Where is the meeting room?’ (we assume it is
only one meeting room in that building) ‘It’s on
the first floor.’
 3. in sentences or clauses where we define or identify a
particular person or object:
 The man who wrote this petition is famous.
 ‘Which car did you buy?’ ‘The red one.’
 My desk is the one with a silver notebook on it.
 4. to refer to objects that we regard as UNIQUE:
 The Earth, the sun, the moon, the sky, the weather, etc.
 Institutions: The World Bank, The European Central Bank, The
IMF, the United Nations
 Public bodies: the Government, the Police, the Army
 Publications: The New York Review of Books, The Economist,
The Times
 The salt, the sugar, the pepper (Pass me the salt, please!)
 Parts of the whole:
 The human being: the brain, the head, the lungs
 The room: the ceiling, the door, the floor
 The back, the front, the centre, the inside, the outside, the top,
the bottom
 5. before superlatives and ordinal numerals:
 the highest building, the first page, the last
chapter
 6.+ adjective/ + plural noun, to refer to ‘the
group as a whole’
 the Europeans, the liberals, the Japanese, the
old, the rich
 7.+ singular noun, to make a general
statement
 Schools should concentrate more on the student
and less on exams.
 [Link] SPECIFYING ‘THE’
 THE + noun + OF
 The freedom of the individual is worth fighting
for.
 THE + clause/ phrase (to specify a person or
thing)
 The Smith you are looking for no longer lives
here.
 The letters on the shelf are for you.
 9. ‘THE’ in time expressions
 In time sequences: the beginning, the middle, the end,
the first, the last, the next, the following day, the
present, the past, the future
 + parts of the day: in the morning/afternoon, evening
 + seasons (THE is optional): (the) spring / summer /
autumn / winter
 + date (Ordinal numbers usually require THE when they
are spoken, but not when they are written)
 The next meeting will be on May 24th. (spoken as May the
24th)
 + ages: The Middle Ages, The Renaissance
 In fixed time expressions, e.g., at the moment, for the
time being, in the end
 In fixed expressions:
 THE + comparative, THE + comparative
 The sooner, the better.
 do the shopping
 make the beds
 play the piano/violin/cello/flute
 + PROPER NOUNS
 + family names (to refer to the family as a whole): the
Smiths, the Lincolns
 + somebody’s name (to refer to a specific person or to
make the distinction between two people having the same
name):
 I’m afraid this is not the Tom Smith I am looking for.
 + proper name (to refer to a specific situation)
 The Chicago of the 1920s was a terrifying place.
 ‘THE’ with PLACE NAMES:
 Geographical areas: the Arctic, the Middle East,
the North Pole, the Balkans
 Oceans, seas, rivers: the Pacific (Ocean), the
Caspian (Sea), the Black Sea, the Nile (or the
River Nile), the Mississippi (or the Mississippi
River), the Suez Canal
 Mountain ranges: the Alps, the Carpathians, the
Himalayas
 Islands (only in the structure THE ISLE/ISLAND
OF…): the Isle of Capri, the Isle of Man
 Groups of islands: the Azores, the Bahamas
 Deserts: the Gobi (Desert), the Kalahari (Desert),
the Sahara (Desert)
 Countries (only unions and associations): the UK (the
United Kingdom), the USA (the United States of
America)
 *** (a few countries): the Netherlands, the Philippines,
(the) Sudan, (the) Yemen
 States/ counties: the Vatican
 *** A few cities: the Hague, the City (of London)
 *** A few streets: the High Street, the Strand, the
Drive
 *** A few buildings (in compounds): the British
Museum, the Library of Congress
 Universities (in the structure THE UNIVERSITY OF…):
the University of Cambridge
 The absence of an article
 THE ZERO ARTICLE is used with:
 PLURAL COUNTABLE NOUNS:
 Computers are useful machines.
 UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS:
 Water is made of hydrogen and oxygen.
 most PROPER NOUNS:
 Mr Thomson is planning to visit China in September.
 1. with uncountable or plural nouns to talk about a type of thing rather than
specific things the reader or listener already knows about (plurals: people,
places, food, occupations, nationalities, animals, insects, plants, products;
uncountable nouns: food, drink, substances, collections, colours, sports,
games, abstract nouns, politics, philosophy, languages)
 We drank tea and ate sandwiches.
 We use computers at work.
 2. with the name of a language
 He understands Chinese well.
 3. with the name of a meal
 Come round after lunch.
 Have you had breakfast?
 4. with days of the week
 Yes, Thursday will be convenient.
 I’ll see you on Tuesday.
 The AGM was on the Thursday of that week.
 We went skiing at the weekend.
 5. with special times (holidays)
 We go away at Christmas.
 Easter is early this year.
 We had a wonderful Christmas.
 I started work here the Easter before the last.
 6. with years, seasons and months
 He was born in 1882.
 We play golf in summer / in the summer.
 Winter always depresses me.
 I start the course in September.
 That was the year I was born. It was the winter of 1995 when
things started to go wrong for the company.
 7. with parts of the day and night (especially after
at, by, on, before)
 He can’t sleep at night.
 I prefer to travel by day.
 She must get home before midnight.
 I hope to get there before dark.
 It’s warmer during the day. Someone got up in/during the
night. We are meeting in the morning. They arrived at the
hotel in the evening. I couldn’t see in the dark.
 8. with dates in writing
The meeting is on June 29th.
 9. with words referring to institutions such as school, college, university,
church, prison, hospital
 School is over at half past three. (school activities)
 Vicky is at college. (as a student)
 David is in hospital (as a patient)
 Melanie is going to church (to a religious service)
 The man is in prison (as a prisoner)
 When we refer to that specific building, THE is used:
 The school is a mile from here. (the school building)
 The meeting was at the college.
 Melanie waited in the hospital for news.
 We wanted to look round the church but it was locked.
 The young woman is in the prison. She has gone to the prison to visit a relative.
 With other nouns referring to buildings, THE is used:
 the cinema, the factory, the house, the library, the office, the pub, the shop, the
station
 10. in fixed expressions
 at home, go home, come home, leave home BUT in the house, to the house, in the
home
 at sea (sailing), go to sea (as a sailor) BUT on the sea, by the sea, at/to the seaside,
on/to the coast
 In town, go into town, leave town BUT the town centre, the city, the village
 At work, go to work, leave work BUT the office, the factory
 Go to bed, in bed BUT sit on the bed, make the bed
 Arm in arm, come to light, face to face, from top to bottom, hand in hand, keep in
mind, make friends, make fun of
 Day and night, father and son, light and dark, pen and ink, sun and moon
 11. with means of transport
 by air/ bicycle / bike / boat / bus/ car/ coach/ land / plane / sea / ship / tram /
tube; on foot
 12. with names of people (first name/surname/full name/ initials)
 Elizabeth was my colleague’s name.
 These tools are made by Jackson and Son.
 J. Smith is the pseudonym of a famous author.
 13. with titles (Mr, Mrs, Ms, Miss, Dr)
 Mr, Mrs, Ms cannot normally be used on their own as a form of address. They
are followed by a surname. Ms is hardly heard in speech, but it is common in
written language to apply to both married and unmarried women.
 Dr (doctor), abbreviated, is followed by a surname, but it can also be used
on its own as a form of address (written in full)
 Dr Brown/ Nice to see you, Doctor!
 Captain, Colonel, Major, Professor are titles that can be used both on their
own or with surnames
 Madam and Sir are used in BrE as a form of address (Can I help you,
Madam/Sir?) or in formal letters, as salutations (Dear Sir, Dear Madam)
when we do not know the name of the people we are writing to.
 Given titles in BrE: Sir + first name (+ surname), Lord + Surname
 Sir John Falstaff / Sir John, Queen Elizabeth, Lord Spencer
 14. with place names
 Continents: Africa, Asia, Europe
 Geographical areas: Central Asia, Lower Egypt, Upper
Austria
 Lakes: Lake Constance, Lake Geneva
 Mountains (peaks): Mont Blanc, Everest, Ceahlau
 Islands: Christmas Island, Corfu Island
 Most countries
 States, counties: Bavaria, Ohio, Surrey
 Most cities
 Parks: Central Park, Hyde Park
 Buildings: Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey
 Most streets: Madison Avenue, Oxford Street
 Most bridges: Tower Bridge
 Most shops and restaurants: Marks and Spencers,
Bloomingdale’s
 DEMONSTRATIVES AND QUANTIFIERS
PERSONAL PRONOUNS
REFLEXIVE AND RECIPROCAL PRONOUNS
INDEFINITE PRONOUNS AND ADVERBS
RELATIVE PRONOUNS AND ADVERBS
 THIS/ THAT (singular) and THESE / THOSE
(plural) can be used as adjectives before
nouns to refer to somebody or something
known to both speaker and listener:
 ‘I’m not sure which photocopier to order.’ ‘Well,
I think this photocopier looks reliable.’
 They are used to distinguish between close and distant things (in both
space and time)
CLOSE DISTANT
SPACE Do you recognize this I’ve seen that presentation
presentation? before.
Can you see those people
These negotiators are over there?
extremely proficient.
TIME What are you doing this Do you remember that AGM?
weekend? There were no smartphones
in those days.
There’s so much crime these
days.
 N.B. In very INFORMAL SPEECH we can use THIS or THESE instead of
A/AN or SOME, often to introduce a topic or start telling a story:
 This woman came up to me in the bank and asked if she could
borrow…
 They can be used as pronouns to refer to a noun, a thing
or an idea:
 This is a really wonderful idea.
 Alistair says he’s giving up his job to travel the world. I
think that’s stupid.
 THIS can be used to talk about a situation we are
experiencing:
 This is the worst recession we have seen for more than ten
years.
 They are used as a more formal alternative to THE
ONE(S):
 Some residents turned out to welcome the official to their
neighbourhood. Those who had bothered were invited to a
cocktail party afterwards.
 In certain expressions, THIS or THAT is used instead of
SO to intensify an adjective:
 I’ve never seen a winter this cold before.
 So you think you’re that clever, do you?
  are determiners which describe the quantity of
something.
QUANTIFIER +SG. NOUN + PL. NOUN + UNCOUNT NOUN
no ------- I’ve got no coins. I’ve got no money.
none of the ------- none of the details none of the
information
neither neither brief neither of the briefs -------
either either semester either of the two -------
semesters
any any document any (of the) any (of the)
documents information
both ------ both (of the) awards ------
few/little ------ (a) few (of the) (a) little (of the)
projects water
half half (of) the half (of) the tasks half (of) the work
task
QUANTIFIER + SG. NOUN + PL. NOUN + UNCOUNT
NOUN
some ----- some (of the) some (of the)
projects money
several ----- several (of the) -----
issues
a lot of a lot of the a lot of (the) ideas a lot of (the)
conference time
many/much ----- many (of the) much (of the)
managers furniture
most most of the holiday most (of the) most (of the)
projects fruit
each each applicant each of the -----
applicants
every (one every page every one of the -----
of) pages
all all (of) the problem all (of) the problems all (of) the
trouble
 Often quantifiers (except NONE and A LOT) are used directly
before a noun:
 It’s impossible to nominate both candidates for the Vice-
presidency.
 With most quantifiers, using of THE before a plural or an
uncountable noun changes the meaning of the noun from
general to specific:
 I’d like some information. (general, we do not specify which
information)
 I’d like some of the information. (specific information)
 With BOTH, OF can be omitted before THE:
 Both (of) the candidates believed they had won.
 Note the difference between EACH and EVERY! Both
quantifiers describe ‘more than one’; we can use EACH to
refer to two things, but not EVERY.
 They had many exams each semester.
 They must come to classes every day.
 SOME and ANY
 SOME is usually used in affirmative sentences, ANY in
negative or interrogative sentences:
 You’ve got some interesting ideas but do you have any
money to back them?
 ANY used in affirmative sentences means ‘it does not
matter which’:
 You can’t negotiate with them. Any business person will
tell you that.
 It is possible to use SOME in questions where the
speaker has some expectation that the answer will be
positive:
 Is some of the information useful? (I expect that part of
it is.)
 Is any of the information useful? (I have no idea if it is
useful or not.)
 Quantifiers (except NO and EVERY) can be used
without a noun as subject of the clause:
 The vote was split: half were in favour of the motion,
half were against it.
 When used as subjects, some quantifiers take a
singular verb, and some take a plural verb. Others
are used with a singular or plural verb, depending on
the noun they substitute or modify.
 The quantifiers NEITHER and NONE take a singular
verb with plural nouns, though a plural verb is now
accepted in speech and informal writing:
 None of the students is willing to accept the increase
in coursework.
 None of the students are willing to accept the increase
in coursework. (spoken or informal written English)
 - are words which are substituted for nouns in
order to avoid repetition.

SUBJECT OBJECT POSSESSIVE POSSESSIVE REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS

PRONOUNS PRONOUNS ADJECTIVE PRONOUNS
S
I me my mine myself
you you your yours yourself/yourselves
he him his his himself
she her her hers herself
it it its --- itself
we us our ours ourselves
they them their theirs themselves
 After we mention a person or an object once, or if the context
makes it clear who or what we are referring to, we usually use
pronouns to refer to them:
 Paul Allen plans to set up a museum. He was a founder of
Microsoft.
 Object pronouns are used instead of a noun as a direct or
indirect object:
 D.O.: I met the CEO yesterday. I really appreciate him, don’t you?
 I.O.: Those books belong to Jeremy. Can you give them to him,
please?
 Possessive adjectives are used before a noun to express
‘belonging’:
 ADJ.: Did the neighbours leave that here? It looks like their
deckchair.
 Possessive pronouns are used instead of a possessive adjective
+ noun:
 PRON.: No, it’s not their deckchair. It’s ours! Don’t you recognize
it?
 English
does not usually omit pronouns,
especially subject pronouns:
 We can expect new regulations; they are often
voted in the AGM.
 Objectpronouns are not used in infinitive
phrases or relative clauses if the object has
already appeared in the same sentence:
 Those plastic cards look safe enough to use
(them).
 That’s the folder I told you about (it).
 There are some cases where either an object pronoun or a
subject pronoun can be used.
 After AS and THAN in comparative patterns, we use the subject
pronoun only in very formal English; the object pronoun is more
common:
 FML.: The line manager didn’t know the procedure any better than I.
 INFML: The line manager didn’t actually know the procedure any
better than me.
 After AS and THAN we can use a subject pronoun with an
auxiliary or modal verb:
 The line manager didn’t speak English as well as I do/did/can.
 The object pronoun is usually used in short responses:
 ‘Who’s there?’ ‘It’s us.’
 After IT IS the subject pronoun is used in formal language and the
object pronoun in informal:
 FML.: It is they who asked for the project to be voted.
 INFML.: It is them who asked for the project to be voted.
 When we have a noun and a pronoun, or two
pronouns together, we tend to put the speaker first
(out of politeness):
 You and I are both invited to that presentation.
 If we have a noun and a pronoun where the
pronoun does not refer to the speaker, we usually
put the pronoun first:
 Don’t you think we should let him and his lawyer decide
about going to court?
 We should use object pronouns after a preposition,
although in informal English it is possible to use the
subject pronoun:
 They are sending the new consignment over for Tom and
me to check.
 INFML.: They are sending the new consignment over for
Tom and I to check.
 Insome exclamations we modify object
pronouns, usually with an adjective:
 Look what I’ve done! Silly me!
 Lucky old him/her!
 We can use a noun after a pronoun to clarify
who or what we are referring to:
 I want you people to see the Department head
immediately.
 Then she, Ms Stein, got up and asked everyone
to leave at once.
 ONE or ONES are used to avoid repeating
countable nouns:
 Do you prefer the blue folders or the black ones?
 ONE/ONES can be used after THE and adjectives
but not immediately after A/AN:
 I’d like a folder. Can you pass me one from the top
shelf?
 There are interesting exhibits here. This is an
amazing one.
 ONE/ONES is not used when we refer to an item
that has previously been described:
 I need a box. A large one. (= any box)
 Where is my box? Oh, here it is. (my box – a definite
one)
 Reflexive pronouns are formed with SELF/SELVES
and are used when the subject and the object
are the same person or thing:
 Quick! The worker has burnt himself!
 After prepositions an object pronoun is used to
refer to the subject when it is clear who or what
it refers to; otherwise a reflexive pronoun is
used:
 Jim emerged from the underground station and
looked around him. (him = Jim)
 Jane was upset. Her supervisor was really annoyed
with her. (her = Jane)
 Jane was upset. Her supervisor was really annoyed
with herself. (herself = supervisor)
 Reflexive pronouns are used to refer to the subject after
verbs with dependent prepositions:
 Politicians have to believe in themselves if they expect
the people to believe in them.
 Either the object pronoun or the reflexive one can be
used to refer to the subject after AS (FOR), LIKE, BUT
(FOR) and EXCEPT (FOR):
 Howard made sure that everyone except him/himself had
the agenda of the meeting.
 IDIOMATIC USES
 Some verbs take the reflexive in English idiomatically:
e.g. enjoy oneself, help oneself, behave oneself, etc.
 Help yourself with the food, won’t you?
 The phrase ‘by oneself’ (one =
myself/yourself/himself/herself/ourselves/yourselves,
themselves) means ‘alone’ or ‘without help’:
 We’ve decided to make the presentation by ourselves.
EMPHATIC USE OF REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS
 Reflexive pronouns can be used to emphasize the subject
or object of a sentence. The pronoun can come after the
subject, after the auxiliary (if there is one) or verb, after
the object or at the end of the sentence.
 I myself have used this technique on a number of occasions.
 I have myself used this technique on a number of occasions.
 I have used this technique myself on a number of occasions.
 I have used this technique on a number of occasions myself.
 The reflexive pronoun used at the beginning or the end of
a sentence and separated by a comma means ‘as far as I’m
concerned’.
 Myself, I don’t like the communicative approach in language
learning.
 I don’t like the communicative approach in language learning,
myself.
ALWAYS SINGULAR each, either, much Much of the research has
already been completed.
ALWAYS PLURAL both, several, a few, Some visitors to the new
many plant are enthusiastic but
many have expressed
their disappointment.
SINGULAR OR PLURAL any, half, some, a lot, all Some of the information
is considered top secret.
Some of us are hiring a
motor home to go on
holiday.
‘We can’t get many books
to the schools in the
outback.’ “Don’t worry!
Any (books) are better
than none.’
  Steve and Elaine blame only themselves for the
failure of the project. (they both blamed the
two of them and nobody else)
Vs.
 Steve and Elaine blame each other for the
failure of the product. (Steve blamed Elaine and
Elaine blamed Steve)
 EACH OTHER usually refers to two subjects,
ONE ANOTHER to more than two, though we
tend to use the two forms interchangeably in
informal English:
 He spoke fast and his words tripped over each
other/one another.
 When we wish to express general feelings and
opinions (i.e. not necessarily those of the speaker),
we can use YOU, WE or THEY:
 You can wear whatever you like to go to work these
days.
 If we wish to include ourselves, it is better to use
WE:
 We can wear whatever we like to go to work these days.
 If we wish to exclude ourselves, it is better to use
THEY:
 They behave really badly at football matches nowadays.
 THEY is also used to refer to people in authority:
 Did you know they’ve introduced a new safety
procedure? (= the management)
 ONE
 isused in formal language to mean people
generally including ourselves:
 One can empathize with the demands of the
strikers.
 Itis used as a subject or object pronoun, and
as a reflexive pronoun (oneself):
 One tends to learn to fend for oneself if one
lives alone.
PERSON OBJECT PLACE MANNER

someone/somebody something somewhere somehow

anyone/anybody anything anywhere anyhow (informal

equivalent of
anyway)
everyone/everybody everything everywhere

no one/nobody nothing nowhere

 They do not refer to a specific person, place,
object, etc.
 SOME compounds are used when we are
thinking of a particular unspecified person,
place or thing
 ANY compounds are used when we are
thinking of people, places or things in
general:
 ‘What would you like for your birthday?’ ‘oh,
anything.’ (no particular present)
 ‘Well, there’s something I would like…’ (a
particular present)
 ANY + one/thing/where is not negative and it
means ‘it doesn’t matter who/what/where’:
 Anyone would understand that the promotional
campaign is a flop.
 If we use these pronouns and adverbs as
subjects, they take a singular verb:
 Everything is going smoothly and NASA expects to
launch the shuttle as scheduled.
 We can use these pronouns with modifiers, e.g.
adjectives or ELSE:
 The manager decided to do something active about
the problems of the company.
 Something else you become aware of in this company
is its organic structure.
 USED FOR USED AS
PRONOUNS SUBJECT OBJECT
who people, animals √ √
whom people X √
which objects, animals √ √
which ideas √ √
that people, objects, animals √ √
whose relationships, possessions √ √
no pronoun people, things, animals X √
ADVERBS
where places √ √
when times √ √
why reasons √ √
NOMINAL
PRONOUN
what objects, ideas (means the thing √ √
that)
 WHOM is formal and we rarely use it in speech. It is
mainly used after prepositions:
 I’m referring to the person with whom you were seen.
 WHICH is used (not WHO) to refer to inanimate
objects:
 When he left the office, he carried a heavy bag, which
made her suspicious.
 THAT is used to refer to people and objects but WHO
is usually preferred for a person when the pronoun is
the subject of the relative clause.
 Mr Harrison is the lawyer who/that has been chosen to
represent you.
 WHOSE can be used to refer to objects:
 It would only be possible to colonize planets whose
atmosphere contained enough oxygen to sustain human
life. (the atmosphere of which)
 The relative pronoun that refers to the object of a relative
clause can be omitted:
 The man (who) I met at the conference was in the negotiating
team.
 The relative pronoun cannot be omitted if it is the subject of
the relative clause:
 I met the man who was in the negotiating team at a conference.
 THAT can be used as an alternative to WHEN in relative
clauses:
 I remember – it was the day when/that the company went
bankrupt.
 The only noun that takes WHY as a relative pronoun is
‘reason’:
 Sometimes he thought that money was the reason why/that he
accepted the job.
 Instead of WHY we can also use OF + WHICH:
 High taxation is often the main reason for which governments
fall.
 Modifierssuch as ALL OF, MANY OF may be
used before WHICH or WHOM in a relative
clause to refer to the subject or object of
the clause:
 The supermarket removed from the shelves all
of its jars of tomato puree, several of which
were found to contain fragments of glass.
 The college entered over a hundred students for
the exam, all of whom passed.
 We interviewed fourteen applicants for the post,
none of whom we thought suitable.
 Inrelative clauses we can modify the
pronoun or adverb with –ever to give the
meaning of ANYTHING, ANYONE, ANYWHERE,
etc.:
 Use whichever phone you want – they all have
outside lines.
 I’d like to meet whoever wrote this report.
 You can put the billboard wherever you think it
looks best. I don’t mind.
 FORMATION OF ADJECTIVES
THE ORDER OF THE ADJECTIVES
ADVERBS
DEGREES OF COMPARISON
SOFTENERS AND INTENSIFIERS
  Three business partners are having lunch in a
quiet restaurant. It’s a warm day. The food is
delicious. They feel talkative.
 An adjective can be used attributively
(before a noun) or predicatively (after a
linking verb i.e., be, seem, appear,
become, get, look, feel, taste, touch,
smell, stay, etc.)
 Most adjectives can be used in both positions:
 This is good coffee. Vs. This coffee tastes good.
 Some adjectives are restricted to one position
 MAIN / CHIEF / PRINICIPAL – Be careful crossing
the main road.
 ONLY – The only problem is that the company is
running out of money.
 INDOOR / OUTDOOR – Chess is an indoor game.
 INNER / OUTER
 FORMER – The former sales agent now trains
young professionals.
 UPPER
 ELDER / ELDEST
 Adjectives ending in –al e.g. general, industrial,
local, national, social
 Adjectivesbeginning with the prefix a- are
usually predicative, e.g.,
 Ablaze, afraid, aglow, alike, alive, alone,
asleep, aware, ashamed
 The products look very alike.
 Pleased
 Ill / unwell
 Content (= happy)
 Fine (in good health) / well
 Glad
 Indescriptions, we often use a sequence of
adjectives to refer to a noun, being ordered
according to their meaning.
 Determiners (articles, quantifiers, numerals,
demonstrative and possessive adjectives)
usually precede the sequence of adjectives.
 GENERAL DESCRIPTION + PHYSICAL STATE +
PROPER ADJECTIVE + noun
1. OPINION (HOW GOOD?) wonderful, nice, great, awful,
terrible
2. SIZE (HOW BIG?) large, small, long, short, tall
3. MOST OTHER quiet, famous, important, soft, wet,
QUALITIES difficult, fast, angry, warm
4. AGE (HOW OLD?) new, old
5. COLOUR red, blue, green, black
6. ORIGIN (WHERE FROM?) American, British, French
7. MATERIAL (MADE OF?) stone, plastic, steel, paper
8. TYPE (WHAT KIND?) an electric kettle, political
matters, road transport
9. PURPOSE (WHAT FOR?) a bread knife, a bath towel
 Examples
 Japanese industrial designers (origin, type)
 A long boring train journey (size, quality, type)
 some nice easy quiz questions (opinion, quality,
purpose)
 a beautiful wooden picture frame (opinion,
material, purpose)
 Sometimes , commas are used between
adjectives referring to opinion, size and
quality.
 a horrible, ugly building
 a busy, lively, exciting city
 There are some adjectives that we can use to talk about groups of
people in society:
 - to do with social or economic position:
 the disadvantaged, the homeless, the hungry, the poor, the privileged, the rich,
the starving, the strong, the underprivileged, the unemployed, the weak
 - to do with physical condition or health:
 the blind, the deaf, the disabled, the handicapped, the living, the sick, the healthy
 - to do with age:
 the elderly, the middle-aged, the old, the over-sixties, the under-fives, the young
 We can sometimes use an adverb before such an adjective:
 The very poor are left without hope.
 The severely disabled need full-time care.
 The less fortunate cannot afford to go on holiday.
 Should the mentally ill be allowed to live in the community?
 THE + ADJECTIVE refers to that group in general. When we mean a
specific person or a specific group of people, the words MAN,
WOMAN, PEOPLE are used.
 The young have their lives in front of them.
 None of the young people in the village can find jobs here.
 Most adjectives from this group are derived from
verbs.
 COMMON –ING ADJECTIVES
 amazing, boring, corresponding, encouraging,
exciting, existing, following, increasing, interesting,
leading, missing, outstanding, promising, remaining,
threatening, underlying, willing, working
 COMMON –ED ADJECTIVES
 advanced, alleged, armed, ashamed, bored,
complicated, determined, disabled, disappointed,
educated, excited, exhausted, frightened,
interested, pleased, surprised, tired, unemployed,
unexpected, worried
 Many adjectives are formed by adding an
adjective prefix or suffix to a verb or noun.
 PREFIXES
 NEGATIVE MEANING: un-, in-, non-, dis-, mis-,
i(l)-
 uninteresting, insensitive, non-standard, disrespectful,
misleading, illiterate, illegitimate, irregular
 SUFFIXES
 -less, -ful, -ous, -ive, -al, -ent, -y, -ish
 cordless, careless, careful,beautiful, continuous,
monotonous, serious, effective, instinctive, active,
central, final, technical, different, persistent, sunny,
funny, stylish, greenish
 Aremade from a combination of more than one
word, resulting in a compact expression of
information. They take many forms, including:
ADJECTIVE + ADJECTIVE greyish-blue
ADJECTIVE + NOUN full-time, cutting-edge, large-scale
NOUN + ADJECTIVE butterfly-blue, age-old, life-long
ADVERB + -ED ill-suited, newly-restored, so-called
PARTICIPLE
ADVERB + -ING free-spending, slow-moving
PARTICIPLE
ADVERB + ADJECTIVE highly-sensitive
REDUPLICATIVE wishy-washy, roly-poly, goody-goody
NOUN + -ED PARTICIPLE church-owned, classroom-based, horse-
drawn
NOUN + -ING PARTICIPLE eye-catching, law-abiding, nerve-
wracking
 The ending –LY is the normal adverb ending, but a few adjectives also end in –ly.
 friendly, lively, lovely, elderly, likely, lonely, silly, ugly
 The interviewer was very friendly. This is a silly question.
 She spoke to us in a friendly way / manner.
 HARD, EARLY, HIGH, LATE, DEEP, NEAR, STRAIGHT, LONG, WRONG, FAST, LOW, RIGHT
can be used both as adjectives and as adverbs
 I came on the fast train.
 The train went quite fast.
 We did some hard work.
 We worked hard.
 In informal English, the adjectives CHEAP, LOUD, QUICK, SLOW can be used as adverbs.
 They sell cheap clothes in the market.
 They sell things cheap / cheaply there.
 Come here as quick / quickly as you can.
 HARD / HARDLY; NEAR / NEARLY; LATE/ LATELY; HIGH / HIGHLY; FREE / FREELY
 These pairs of adverbs have different meanings:
 I tried hard, but I didn’t succeed. Vs. I’ve got hardly any money left. (very little, almost
none)
 Luckily I found a phone box quite near. Vs. I nearly fell asleep in the meeting. (almost)
 Rachel arrived late, as usual. Vs. I’ve been very busy lately. (in the last few days/weeks)
 The plane flew high above the clouds. Vs. The material is highly radioactive. (very)
 We got into the concert free. (without paying) vs. The animals are allowed to wander freely.
(uncontrolled)
 WELL may be
 the adverb of GOOD
 We all did well in the test. (Our results were good.)
 An adjective meaning ‘in good health’, the
opposite of ILL
 The manager was very ill, but he is quite well again
now.
 ‘How are you?’ ‘Very well, thank you.’
 The comparative and superlative forms of short and
long adjectives are different.
 SHORT and LONG ADJECTIVES
 One-syllable adjectives (small, nice) usually have the
endings –er (than) (for the comparative) and –est (for
the superlative)
 The secretary needs a bigger computer.
 This is the nicest colour.
 For adjectives ending in –ed, the more/less, the most /
the least forms are used.
 Everyone was pleased with the results of the negotiation, but
the Sales Manager was the most pleased.
 For three-syllable adjectives and with longer ones, the
more/less, the most / the least forms are used
 The film is more exciting than the book.
 This machine is the most reliable.
 Some two-syllable adjectives have –er, -est, and some have
more, most.
 1. words ending in a consonant + Y have –er, -est
 happy – happier, the happiest
 2. words ending in –ful or –less have more, most
 careful – more careful, the most careful
 helpful, useful, hopeless
 3. words ending in –ing and –ed have more, most
 boring – more boring than, the most boring
 willing, annoyed, surprised
 4. other adjectives that have more, most:
 afraid, certain, correct, eager, exact, famous, foolish, frequent,
modern, nervous, normal, recent
 5. adjectives that have both –er and –est and more and most
 clever, common, cruel, gentle, narrow, pleasant, polite, quiet,
simple, stupid, tired
 –e of the positive form is dropped
 Final
before –er and –est:
 nice – nicer, nicest
 Consonant+ -Y, Y shifts into I before adding
-er and -est.
 lucky – luckier, luckiest
 Adjectivesending in a single vowel + single
consonant double the consonant before
adding –er and –est
 hot – hotter, hottest, thin – thinner, thinnest
 The short adverbs that have the same form
as an adjective form the comparative and
superlative with –er, -est.
 Can you type faster than that?
 Many adverbs formed by ADJECTIVE + -LY
(carefully, easily, slowly) form the
comparative and superlative with more and
most.
 We could do this more easily with a computer.
 Note the forms sooner, soonest and more
often, most often.
 Try to come to the office sooner.
 good/ well better best
bad/ badly worse worst
far farther/further farthest/furthest

 Wecan use elder, eldest + noun instead of

older, oldest, but only for people in the
same family (elder than is NEVER used)
 My elder sister is the CEO of that company.
 AS… AS is used to say that things are equal
or unequal.
 It isn’t as cold as yesterday.
 Thy don’t earn as much money as they’d like.
 THE SAME AS
 The result of the contest was the same as last
year.
 He is twenty years older than me.
 He is twenty years older than I am.
 After THAN or AS, a personal pronoun on its own has
the object form (me), but if the pronoun has a verb
after it, then we use the subject form (I)
 SOFTENERS and INTENSIFIERS
 We an put a word or phrase (much, a lot, rather,
far, a bit, quite, a little, slightly) before a
comparative to intensify or soften the meaning
of the adjective.
 It’s much faster by tube.
 This chair is a bit more comfortable.
 This month’s figures are slightly less good.
 Used to express a  Used to imply that a
gradual change change in one thing
 The queue was getting goes with a change in
longer and longer. another
 Everything is getting  The higher the price,
more and more the more reliable the
expensive. product.
 The country is rapidly
losing its workers, as
more and more people
are emigrating.

THE + COMPARATIVE, THE +

COMPARATIVE + COMPARATIVE COMPARATIVE
 Anadverb can be found in three places in a
sentence: FRONT POSITION (at the beginning
of a sentence), MID POSITION (close to the
verb) and END POSITION (at the end of the
sentence).
 Outside (front position) it was obviously (mid
position) raining hard (end position).
 The adverb comes after the first auxiliary:
 The visitors are just leaving.
 The briefs have definitely been stolen.
 If there is no auxiliary, the adverb comes before the main verb.
 I really enjoy negotiations.
 When the verb TO BE is on its own, the adverb usually comes
after it.
 The boss is usually in a bad temper.
 You’re certainly a lot better today.
 When there is stress on the verb TO BE or on the auxiliary, then
the adverb usually comes before it:
 You certainly are a lot better today.
 I really have made a mistake, haven’t I?
 Use of adverbs in mid position in questions – after the subject:
 Has Andrew always liked Statistics?
 Do you often go out to business lunches?
 Anadverb does not usually go between the
verb and the direct object; it is put in end
position, after the object.
 Tom proofread his report quickly.
 We played volleyball yesterday.
 I like classical music very much.
 Nevertheless, an adverb can go before a long
object:
 Detectives examined carefully the contents of
the dead man’s pockets.
 ADVERBS OF MANNER
 tell us how something happens. They usually go in end
position, but an adverb which ends in –LY can sometimes go in
mid position as well.
 We asked permission politely.
 We politely asked permission.
 ADVERBS OF PLACE AND TIME
 Adverbs and adverbial phrases of place and time usually go in
end position:
 Is there a phone box nearby?
 We’re meeting by the entrance.
 I’ll see you before very long.
 Did you have a nice time in New York?
 Sometimes they can go in front position:
 We are really busy this week. Last week we had nothing to do.
 Some short adverbs of time can also go in mid position:
 I’ll soon find out.
 The train is now approaching Swindon.
  YET means that we are expecting something; STILL means ‘going on longer
than expected’; ALREADY means ‘sooner than expected’
 YET
 usually goes at the end of a negative statement or a question:
 Vicky has got a letter but she hasn’t opened it yet.
 Wait a minute! I’m not ready yet. I have two more lines to write.
 Have they sent you your cheque yet?
 No, not yet. I should get it next week.
 STILL and ALREADY
 In a positive statement, STILL and ALREADY usually go in mid position:
 Sarah isn’t home yet. She’s still at work.
 We wrote a month ago and we’re still waiting for a reply.
 I’ve only been at work an hour, and I’m already exhausted.
 In negative statements, STILL is used before the auxiliary:
 It’s nearly lunch time and you still haven’t opened your e-mail.
 STILL is stronger than YET, often expressing surprise that the situation has
gone on for so long.
 Rita hasn’t bought her plane ticket yet.
 Rita still hasn’t bought her plane ticket.
 In questions STILL and ALREADY usually go after the subject:
 Are you still waiting after all this time?
 Has Tom already been on holiday?
 NO LONGER means that something is finished. It
goes in mid position.
 You can’t buy these items now. They no longer make
them.
 I used to belong to the golf club but I’m no longer a
member.
 NO LONGER can be a little formal. In informal
speech NOT … ANY LONGER or NOT …
ANYMORE is used. ANY LONGER/ANY MORE
comes at the end of the sentence.
 They don’t make these items any longer / any
more.
 Rita has resigned. She doesn’t work here any
longer/ any more.