English skills and support
Lines A straight line can be in any direction.
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horizontal
A straight line that goes across from side to side.
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vertical
A straight line that goes from top to bottom.
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curved line
A curved line is not straight.
Singular and plural
PL E
straight
Singular means one thing.
Plural means two or more things.
A verb describes an action, state or event.
The verb ‘to be’
Use the verb is with single and uncountable nouns. For example: A heart is an organ.
M
Use the verb are with plural nouns. For example: There are many organs in the human body.
Other verbs
Verbs
I, you, we, they
look, explain, change, transfer, use
SA
Who or what
it, she, he
looks, explains, changes, transfers, uses
If you start a sentence with It, She or He, you must put an ‘s’ on the end of the verb. It is easy to get confused with the letter ‘s’ at the end of English words. Remember: an ‘s’ on the end of a noun usually makes it plural (for example: 1 vein, 2 veins). Remember: an ‘s’ on the end of a verb makes it agree with it, she, he (for example: it reflects, she experiments). Uncountable nouns describe things that are impossible to count, for example water, sand and oxygen. Uncountable nouns behave like it, she, he or singular things, and we add an ‘s’ to the end of verbs that follow these words. Be careful, there are some irregular plural nouns, for example: 1 cactus, 2 cacti and 1 species, 2 species.
14 Original material © Cambridge University Press 2021
