A1.2: septiembre 2014

miércoles, 3 de septiembre de 2014

COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

COUNTABLE NOUNS

Countable nouns are easy to recognize. They are things that we can count. For example: "pen". We can count pens. We can have one, two, three or more pens. Here are some more countable nouns:

dog, cat, animal, man, person
bottle, box, litre
coin, note, dollar
cup, plate, fork
table, chair, suitcase, bag

Countable nouns can be singular or plural:

My dog is playing.
My dogs are hungry.

We can use the indefinite article a/an with countable nouns:

A dog is an animal.

UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

Uncountable nouns are substances, concepts etc that we cannot divide into separate elements. We cannot "count" them. For example, we cannot count "milk". We can count "bottles of milk" or "litres of milk", but we cannot count "milk" itself. Here are some more uncountable nouns:

music, art, love, happiness
advice, information, news
furniture, luggage
rice, sugar, butter, water
electricity, gas, power
money, currency

We do not usually use the indefinite article a/an with uncountable nouns. We cannot say "an information" or "a music". But we can say a something of:

a piece of news
a bottle of water
a grain of rice

We can use some and any with uncountable nouns:

I've got some money.
Have you got any rice

Here are some more examples of countable and uncountable nouns:

Countable	Uncountable
dollar	money
song	music
suitcase	luggage
table	furniture
battery	electricity
bottle	wine
report	information
tip	advice
journey	travel
job	work
view	scenery

PRACTICE...

http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=3246

http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-exercise-countable-uncountable-nouns.php#.UvwUof3L-5c

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/grammar/nouns_uncountables.htm

http://www.ihbristol.com/free-english-exercises/test/esol-smc-countable-and-uncountable-nouns

martes, 2 de septiembre de 2014

ARTICLES

The indefinite article - a

The indefinite article is the a is the same for all genders.
a boy, a girl, a cat

The indefinite article has no plural form.
a boy - boys

We use an if the following word starts with a vowel.

USES...

The definite article - the

The definite article the is the same for all genders in singular and in plural.
the boy, the girl, the cat, the computers

NO ARTICLE THE

No article/Zero article

1. Do not use an article with countries, states, counties or provinces, lakes and mountains except when the country is a collection of states such as "The United States".

He lives in Washington near Mount Rainier.

They live in Northern British Columbia.

They climbed Mount Everest.

2. we do not normally use an article with plurals and uncountable nouns to talk about things in general.:

He writes books.

She likes sweets.

Do you like jazz music?

She ate bread with butter in the morning.

EXTRA PRACTICE

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/artikel.htm
http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-exercise-articles.php#.UvRZiv1lO5c
http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=4378
http://www.learn4good.com/languages/evrd_grammar/article_ex.htm
http://www.agendaweb.org/grammar/articles-beginners-exercises.html

lunes, 1 de septiembre de 2014

CAN AND CAN'T

Can is a modal verb.

Can is used to express ability or to say that something is possible.

Can is the same for all subjects. We don't add an 'S' in the third person (like other verbs)

The verb that comes after Can is in the infinitive without to:

I can speak Spanish. (= it is possible for me to speak Spanish = I have the ability to speak Spanish)
He can swim well.
We can see my neighbour in the garden.
They can play the guitar.