In this unit you will begin to build the communication skills necessary to express

your likes and dislikes. You will go further into understanding the basic types of
sentence structures in the English language.

Unit 3. At the restaurant

3.1. Likes and dislikes
3.1.1. Simple present: Information
questions.
3.1.2. Articles: Definite/Indefinite.
3.1.3. Nouns: Singular/Plural.
3.2. Restaurants
3.2.1. Ask/Give Opinions.
3.2.2. Nouns:
Countable/Uncountable.
3.2.3. There is/There are.
Read the conversation. Two friends are looking for a good restaurant.
 Which restaurant sounds good for them?
 What is their favorite food?
Conversation:
Gabe: Are you hungry?
Linda: Yes, I am. I’m starving.
Gabe: I’m hungry, too. Do you know of any good restaurants around here?
Linda: Yes, I do. There are two good restaurants around the block.
Gabe: That’s great! What type of restaurants are they?
Linda: There is an Italian restaurant called Spaghetti and a Chinese restaurant
called Opera
House.
Gabe: Which restaurant do you prefer?
Linda: Well! My favorite food is pasta.
Gabe: Me too. Pasta sounds great to me!
Linda: Then, let’s go.
Which of these types of food do you like? Which don’t you like?

I I like… I prefer… I don’t I hate… I can’t stand…

love… like…
Pasta Fish Meat Vegetables

What kind of restaurants do you like?

I like I don’t like I prefer restaurants with

vegetarian/steak/seafood noisy/quiet/crowded traditional food/live music.
restaurants. restaurants.

Remember to use wh-Questions (also called information questions) to ask for

specific information.

Question word Auxiliary Subject Main Verb

Verb (Base form)
Where do Gabe and usually eat their meals?
Linda
When does a become a chain?
restaurant
 How many do they visit every month?
restaurants
How much rice do we need?
Which restaurant do you prefer?
Who wants pasta?
Notes:
 When the question word is the subject of the question (e.g., who), usual question word order
is not used. No form of do is used.
 To ask more detailed information about people and things, use:
 Which + noun (to ask about choice)
 How many + noun (to ask about quantities). Use how many in questions before plural
countable nouns (Examples: restaurants, eggs).
 How much + noun (to ask about quantities). Use how much in questions before
uncountable nouns (Examples: air, rice, sugar, money).

Articles

Indefinite Article Definite Article

A, An The

To show that a noun is indefinite, use the Use the to talk about something specific
indefinite article a/an. or unique. Also, use the to name
A or an are used in front of a singular noun. something a second time.
They mean one.
 A Use a before consonant sounds. Example: a banana, a bottle of wine, a cookie.

An Use an before vowel sounds. Example: an apple, an hour, an umbrella.

The is used in front of

1. Singular count nouns: the restaurant around the corner.
The 2. Plural count nouns: the restaurants around the corner.
3. Uncountable nouns: the coffee.

What’s the difference between the nouns restaurant and restaurants?

The noun restaurant is used when it refers to only one restaurant; its form is
singular. On the contrary, the noun restaurants is used when it represents more
than one restaurant; its form is plural. Thus, the singular and plural forms tell us
about number or quantity. Read the following nouns in their singular and plural
forms.

Singular Plural Rules

Bed - My bed is Beds - Our beds are small. In most cases just add -s
big.
Box - That box is Boxes - Those boxes are full. Nouns ending in -s, -ss, -
empty. sh, -x, -ch, add -es

Country - My country Countries - Those countries are Nouns ending in a

is far. consonant + -y, remove -
beautiful. y and add -ies.
-y -ies

Notes:
 y does not change into -ie after a vowel. Examples: day – days, key – keys
 f does not change in the words: beliefs, roofs, proofs

*Irregular plurals

We usually pluralize a noun by adding an ‘‘s’’, “es”, or “ies” to it, as in restaurants;

these nouns are called regular. But, there are a handful of nouns that are pluralized
using other forms; these nouns are called irregular.

Irregular nouns form their plural in different ways. Here are some common
patterns:
1. Changing a vowel: singular form: woman / Plural form: women
2. Adding ‘‘ren’’or ‘‘en’’: singular form: child / Plural form: children
3. Adding nothing: singular form: fish / Plural form: fish
4. changing ‘‘f ’’ or “fe” to ‘‘ves’’: singular form: knife / Plural form: knives

Here some common irregular plurals:

Singular Plural Rules

Tooth teeth oo ee
man men Change the vowel
mouse mice Sound and spelling
Leaf leaves fe ves
Potato potatoes o oes
Sheep Sheep No change
Person people Different word
Crisis crises is es

Gabe: I believe that this restaurant is great for business or team

meetings.
What do you think?
Linda: I agree with you.

Asking for Opinions

Questions to ask for opinions

What is your favorite food/restaurant?
 What kind of food do you like/dislike?
Do you prefer your own country's food or other kinds of food?
What do you think?
How about you, Linda?
What do you think of this place?
What’s your opinion on Italian food?
Are there other ideas about this?

Giving Opinions

Use the following phrases to give general opinions, agree or disagree with
people’s opinion

General opinions Agreeing Disagreeing

I agree (with you). I’m sorry, I don’t agree…
In my opinion… Absolutely. Yes, but…
Personally, I think… I think so too. I disagree…
I believe that… I believe you are right. I’m not so sure about
That’s true that…

Countable nouns name things you can count. They are singular of plural. On the
other hand, uncountable nouns name things you cannot count. They don’t have
plural forms.

Examples Notes
Singular Plural Singular nouns often have a,
an, or a number before them.
Countable nouns (a) meal (three) meals Plural countable nouns can
(an) apple (two) apples have numbers or expressions
(a) cookie (four) cookies of quantity before them.
(a) sandwich (some) sandwiches Must plural countable nouns
(an) onion (many) onions have –s or –es endings.

sugar Don’t use a, an, or a number

Uncountable nouns (some) juice with uncountable nouns.
(a lot of) rice Don’t use –s or –es endings
bread with uncountable nouns.
cheese Examples:
(a cup of) coffee NOT a sugar NOT sugars
pasta
salt Some uncountable nouns
(a bowl of) soup describe abstract thinks,
meat such as food, work, or health.
milk
Use there is and there are when you want to talk about the existence or presence of
someone or something.

Use there is with

There is uncountable nouns There is a restaurant around the
and singular count corner.
nouns. There is (some) milk in the
Use there is with fridge.
something, There is no apple on the plate.
anything, or Is there anything to eat?
nothing. Yes, there is. No, there isn’t.

There are (some) oranges in the

fridge.
There are There are two good restaurants
Use there are with around the block.
plural countable nouns. There are no apples on the plate.
Are there (any) cookies in the kitchen?
Yes, there are. No, there aren’t.
Basic

 Barrett, G. (2016). Perfect English grammar: the indispensable guide to

excellent writing and speaking. Berkeley, CA: Zephyros Press.

 Altenberg, E. and Vago, R. (2010). English grammar. Understanding the

basics. Cambridge University. Press.

 Kirn, E. and Jack, D. (2008). Interactions 1. A Communicative Grammar.

4th Edition. Maidenhead, England, U.K.: McGraw-Hill.

 Fuchs, M., Bonner, M. & Westheimer, M. (2012) Focus on Grammar. 4th

Edition.Pearson Education ELT.

Complementary

 Scrivener, J. (2010). Teaching English Grammar: What to Teach and how to

Teach it. Oxford: Macmillan Education.

 McCarthy, M. &McCarten, J. (2014). Touchstone 1. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

 Richards, J & Hull, J. (2012). Interchange 1. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

 Learn English | British Council. (2017). English Grammar. [online] Available

at: http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar [Accessed 24
May 2017].

 Linguapress.com. (2017). English Grammar. [online] Available at:

http://linguapress.com/grammar/index.htm [Accessed 24 May 2017].

 Images source: https://pixabay.com/ CC Public Domain.

 Videos source: https://videos.pexels.com/. CC Public Domain.