Grammar Reference

Grammar Reference

Index
NOUNS, ADJECTIVES & ING FORMS

Compound nouns....................................................................................... 2
Quantifiers ................................................................................................. 2
Comparative & Superlative adjectives / adverbs ...................................... 4
-ing forms .................................................................................................. 6
(to) + base form or –ing form.................................................................... 7

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Compound nouns
1 A compound noun is a noun that is made up of two or more words. Compound
nouns can be formed in different ways.

Noun + noun: toothbrush, suitcase, weekend, room service, hand luggage,

roommate, part-time, etc.
adjective + noun: single/double room, blind date, weekly ticket, close friends
adjective + verb: public speaking, multi-tasking, etc
verb + noun: shake hands, washing machine, driving license, etc.
noun + verb: sightseeing, haircut, lip reading, etc.

2 The two words can be joined together.

air + port = airport, seat + belt = seatbelt,
suit + case = suitcase, news + paper =newspaper,
camp + site = campsite, etc.

3 The two words can be joined using a hyphen.

check-in, three-star (hotel), five-day (cruise), wake up call, low-cost (airline),
etc.

4 Compound nouns can also appear as two or more separate words.

hotel reception, window seat, summer holiday, security guard, seafood
restaurant, tourist information office, etc.

Quantifiers
Countable and uncountable nouns

Countable nouns Uncountable nouns

They can be singular or plural. They cannot be plural.
pizza pizzas food foods
egg eggs salt salts
They are used with singular or plural They are only used with singular verb
verb forms. forms.
Pizza is my favourite fast food. Processed food has a lot of added salt.
These pizzas don’t contain any meat.

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Some nouns have more than one meaning, and they can be countable in one
context and uncountable in another.
There was some chicken in the salad.
We bought a chicken for Sunday lunch.

1 much
We use much with uncountable nouns, mainly in negative sentences, questions
and with too.
I’ve got too much food. I can’t eat it all.
There isn’t much milk in this tea.
How much salt do you put in that?

2 many
We use many with countable nouns, mainly in negative sentences, questions and
with too.
I’ve got too many bags. I can’t carry them all.
There aren’t many eggs in the fridge.
How many grams of rice do we need?

3 a lot of / lots of
We use a lot of and lots of with countable and uncountable nouns to talk about
large quantities.
I bought lots of fruit.
We don’t have a lot of time.
A lot of is very common expression in informal spoken English. In more formal
English we prefer other expressions like a great deal of + uncountable noun and
a great many + countable noun.

4 a little / a few
We use a little with uncountable nouns and a few with countable nouns. A little
and a few mean a small quantity.
I’ve e put a little chicken in the salad.
There are a few eggs in the fridge.

5 (very) little / (very) few

We use (very) little and (very) few to suggest that there is not as much, or many,
of something as we would like.
I have little time to cook these days.
There are few healthy dishes in a fast food restaurant.

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6 too / too much / too many

We use too, too much and too many when there’s more of something than we
want or need. We use too before adjectives, too much before uncountable nouns
and too many before plural nouns.
This curry is too spicy for me.
I can’t eat all this food. It’s too much.
He ate too many cakes and now he doesn’t feel well.

7 (not) enough
We use (not) enough when there is less of something than we need or want. We
put enough before a noun and after an adjective.
There aren’t enough tables in the staff dining room.
Are you getting enough vitamins in your diet?
Do you think this dish is big enough?

8 any / no / none
We use any, no and none to express no quantity. We use any in negative
sentences, no in positive sentences and none in short answers.
He doesn’t eat any vegetables. = he eats no vegetables.
A: How much pasta is there? B: None.
A: How many apples are there? B: None.

Comparative and superlative adjectives

Moscow Mexico city Beijing
Population 10.4 million 19.2 million 17.4 million
Cost of living $$$$ $$$ $$$$

Use
1 We use comparative adjectives to compare two things.
Beijing is larger than Moscow.
Beijing is more expensive than Mexico City, but it less expensive than
Moscow.

2 We use superlative adjectives to compare three or more things:

Mexico City is the largest city in the world.
Mexico City is the least expensive of the three cities and Moscow is the most
expensive.

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Form
Short adjectives Beijing is cheaper than Moscow, but
Add –er/-est Mexico City is the cheapest.
Long adjectives Beijing is more expensive than Mexico
Use more / the most or less / the least. city but Moscow’s the most expensive.
Beijing is less expensive than Moscow,
but Mexico city is the least expensive.
Irregular adjectives The weather in Beijing is better than
good better best the weather in Moscow, but Mexico
bad worse worst city has the best weather.
far further furthest The traffic in Beijing is worse than in
much/many more most Moscow, but Mexico city probably has
the worst traffic in the world.
Mexico city is further than Moscow.
Beijing is the furthest.
Moscow has many traffic jams but
Beijing has more. Mexico city has the
most traffic jams.
Other cases
With many tow-syllable adjectives, we use more/most: more/most modern,
recent, famous, correct, normal, frequent
With some two-syllable adjectives, we use either –er/-est or more/most: more
clever / cleverer, more simple / simpler, more quiet / quieter, etc

1 For small and big differences, use a lot, much and far to indicate a big
difference in a comparison.
Studying online is much more flexible than attending full-time classes.
We use slightly, a little and a bit to indicate a small difference in a comparison.
It’s also a bit cheaper than a traditional course.

2 We use the same as to say two things are equivalent.

Doing a course abroad costs the same as staying here this summer.
We use as + adjective/adverb + as to say that things are similar in some way.
Tokyo can sometimes be as cold as Oslo in winter.

3 To make the expression negative, we use not as/so + adjective/adverb + as.

Malta is not as expensive as Sardinia.

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Comparative and superlative adverbs

Use
1 We use the comparative adverbs to compare two actions.
I’m progressing more slowly than him.

2 Use superlative adverbs to compare three or more actions.

She tries (the) hardest.

Form
We form the comparative of adverbs ending in –ly with more, e.g. more slowly.
We form the superlative of adverbs ending in –ly with most, e.g. the most
carefully.
With adverbs which keep the same form as the adjective, we add –er to form the
comparative and –est to form the superlative, e.g. hard, harder, hardest, fast,
faster, fastest.
There are a few irregular verbs that change their form completely.
good well, better, best
bad badly, worse, worst

-ing forms
Use
1 We use –ing to form part of the continuous tenses.
Young Europeans are still reading books.
She was waiting for 20 minutes before her coffee arrived.

2 some adjectives end in –ing

It’s surprising, isn’t it?
We use the adjective ending -ed to talk about how the person feels. We use the
adjective ending –ing to describe the person or thing that causes the feeling.
She gave a very interesting talk. (Interesting describes the talk.)
I was interested to hear her talk.(Interested describes the reaction to the talk.)

3 -ing forms can also be used as nouns. We can use them when an activity is the
subject of a sentence.
Thanking your host is considered to be polite.

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(to) + base form or –ing form

Use
1 We use to + the base form after It is + adjective.
It’s important to thank people for favours.
It’s polite to compliment the cooking of your host.

2 We use the base form without to after modal verbs.

You should try some of this. It’s delicious.
I’m sorry. I really must go now.

3 Some verbs are followed by to + the base form, e.g. would like, want, plan ,
need, hope, offer, etc.
Would you like to have a coffee break now?
I didn’t want to eat the pig’s ears, but I tried a little

4 A few verbs can be followed by to + the base form or –ing, e.g. begin, start,
like, love, prefer, etc
Do you prefer having / like to have lunch at 1 or 2 p.m.?
I don’t like going / to go out on my own late at night.

5 We use the –ing form when the verb is the subject of the sentence.
Understanding different cultures can positively influence your business.
Asking for more food is a compliment.

6 We use the –ing after a preposition.

We honour our guests by serving them local specialities.
They had a coffee after finishing their meal.

7 Some verbs are followed by the –ing form, e.g. enjoy, mind, suggest, insist on,
etc.
Do you mind lending me 5 quid?
Our host insisted on paying for everything.

8 We use to + the base form to express purpose and explain why you do
something.
We’re eating out tonight to celebrate my birthday.
They wanted to book tickets to see real Madrid to entertain their British
guests.

9 There are some verbs that can be followed by either to + the base form or –
ing, but with a change in meaning, e.g. stop, try, and remember, etc.

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We stopped to have lunch. (pause an activity to do something else.)

Could you please stop sending me joke emails? (not continue)
Try eating with your hand. It’s much easier. (experiment) something)
Remember to take your toothbrush! (don’t forget to do something)
Do you remember visiting Paris? (have a memory of doing something in the
past)