Essential Grammar 2016

UNIT

1

ARTICLES

Introcuction 1 There are two categories of articles: the indefinite article a or an, and the definite article the.

Tips We do not put a or an before plural or uncountable nouns because a means only one.

The Indefinite Article 2 Use a or an before the name of a single thing that can be counted.

a girl

a tiger

a school

a star

an architect

an octopus

an airport

an island

We call these singular countable nouns.

3 Do not use a or an before a plural noun.

Tips

a crocodiles

(8)

a women

(8)

a teeth

an emails

(8)

an oxen

(8)

an envelopes (8)

(8)

4 Do not use a or an before the name of a thing that cannot be counted. a sugar

(8)

an advice

a milk

(8)

an information (8)

an ice

(8)

a chalk

(8)

an equipment (8)

a news

(8)

(8)

1

a furniture (8)

Plural means more than one.

We call these uncountable nouns.

5 Use a before the common name that we give to people, animals, places and things.

A and an refer to a specific person or thing. We use them for singular countable nouns.

He is a schoolboy.

Tips The words schoolboy, monkey, bicycle, park, wallet and watch are common nouns. A common noun does NOT begin with a CAPITAL letter. See Unit 17 for Nouns.

I saw a monkey riding a bicycle.

They met in a park.

My brother found a wallet and a watch.

6 Use an before a word that starts with a vowel sound made by the letters a, e, i, o and u. a, e, i, o and u are called vowels. All the other letters of the alphabet are called consonants.

Is that an abacus?

Do we use an for ALL words that begin with a, e, i, o or u?

That is an easy question.

I would like to live in an igloo.

No…it depends on the sound made by the first letter of the word.

You dress like an old woman.

My friend works as an usher in the cinema.

Use an with the words below as they also begin with vowel sounds. apple

eagle

iceberg

olive

umbrella

aquarium

explosion

insect

orchard

umpire

obedient girl

ugly face

amazing story

excellent answer important person

7 Do not use an before a word that begins with a vowel that makes a ‘you’ sound. Use a instead.

There are many, many I am a European.

This is a user-friendly mobile phone.

words that begin with vowel sounds. Use a dictionary to find them.

Say It Right European : you-ropean user-friendly : you-serfriendly unicorn : you-nicorn

Harry Potter saw Lord Voldemort drinking the blood of a unicorn in the Forbidden Forest.

8 Use an before a word that starts with a silent h.

The train to Kuala Lumpur leaves in an hour.

Everyone likes Bob because he is an honest boy.

That old man is very rich but he does not have an heir to his fortune.

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‘Why is my h silent and yours isn’t?’

‘That’s because you’re pronounced as our’.

9 Use an before letters spoken with a vowel sound.

I got an ‘A’ for English!

Just a reminder: a, e, i, o and u are called vowels and all the other letters are called consonants.

My sister married an FBI agent.

I received an SMS from Abhishek this morning.

Please remember this…

We use a or an based on the sound made by the initial letter of the word that follows it and NOT on how it is spelt.

These words BEGIN WITH A VOWEL and are SPOKEN WITH A VOWEL SOUND.

These words BEGIN WITH A CONSONANT and are SPOKEN WITH A CONSONANT SOUND. a hall a horse a heavy box

an urn an unhappy boy an uncle

These words BEGIN WITH A VOWEL but are SPOKEN WITH A CONSONANT SOUND.

These words BEGIN WITH A CONSONANT but are SPOKEN WITH A VOWEL SOUND (because the h is silent) an heir an honour an hourly flight

a unit a Eurasian a eucalyptus tree a useful gadget a one-way street

10 Use a or an when you mention a person or thing for the first time.

My father is going to buy a new car.

I saw a boy climbing up that tree.

Anita rode an ostrich yesterday.

11 Use a or an before a word that describes a single person or thing.

That is a beautiful flower.

We had an exciting holiday.

Words that describe people and things are called adjectives.

See Unit 21.

12 Use a or an before the names of occupations.

Buzz’s mother is a teacher.

Lee wants to be an astronaut.

You have to study hard if you want to be an engineer.

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Tips The word thing includes animals and places, too

13 Use a or an to show which country a person comes from.

I’m a Malaysian citizen.

The words Malaysian and Indonesian are adjectives. See Unit 22.

I spoke to a Pakistani tourist just now.

I have an Indonesian friend in Jakarta.

14 Use a or an when counting or measuring things.

That’s an expensive fish. It costs RM40.00 a kilo.

The speed limit on this highway is 110 kilometres an hour.

How much are the chocolates, please?

They’re ten ringgit a box.

Could you tell me the time, please?

Oh, sure. It’s a quarter past ten.

The Definite Article 15 Use the before the name of a thing or things that can be counted.

the magic lamp

the rainbows

the durians

the robots

16 Use the before the name of a thing that cannot be counted. a water

(8)

the water

(4)

a money

(8)

the money

(4)

an information (8)

the information (4)

an equipment (8)

the equipment (4)

Although you cannot use a or an with these words, you CAN use them with the.

For example: • She put the sugar in the bowl.

• I followed the advice you gave me.

• He put the rice into the container.

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17 Do not use the with plural nouns, if you are talking about the whole group or class of something.

The crocodiles are reptiles. (8) Crocodiles are reptiles.

(4)

The vegetables and the fruits are good for health. (8) Vegetables and fruits are good for health.

(4)

Tips The speakers in these pictures are talking about things that the listeners already know about. In other words, the listeners know exactly which person or thing(s) the speaker is referring to.

18 Use the when people already know exactly which person or thing you are talking about.

“It’s hot in here. Please open the window.”

The feathers are mine!

“The headmaster is my uncle.”

19 Use the when you refer to something for the second time.

First mention

Second mention

1

The hare accepted the challenge because A tortoise challenged a hare to run a race he knew that the tortoise was a very slow to see who would win. animal and would never be able to beat him.

2

First, break an egg into a bowl and add in Then, beat the egg gently with a fork. some salt and pepper.

20 Use the with groups that represent a whole class of people or things.

Robin Hood robbed the rich to give to the poor.

The young should be taught how to spend money wisely.

She loves to work with the disabled.

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21 Use the for familiar things or because there is only one of its kind.

Martin loves camping in the forest.

The moon orbits the Earth in 27.3 days.

22 Use the before ordinals.

This is the third time that you have lost this competition.

Farid will be flying off to Tokyo on the twenty-sixth.

Ordinal numbers show the position of things in a list of items. Here are numbers one to ten written as ordinals: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th.

23 Use the before the names of musical instruments.

Gary plays the harp.

Shamsuddin played the recorder well during the concert.

My sister, Vanessa, plays the violin.

24 Use the before the names of some countries: Barack Obama is the President of the United States of America.

It would be great if we could go to the Philippines for a holiday!

My cousin works in the Netherlands.

Tips Here are some of the other countries that have ‘the’ before their names: The Bahamas The United Kingdom The United Arab Emirates

25 Use the before the names of mountain ranges, rivers, oceans and groups of islands.

We went skiing in the Alps.

The Andes is the second highest mountain range in the world.

They bought a house near the Mississippi River.

A huge ship sank in the Pacific Ocean last night.

The Spratly Islands are found in the Soulth China Sea.

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26 Use the before the names of buildings and places consisting of adjective + noun or noun + of + noun:

See Unit 17 for Nouns & Unit 21 for Adjectives.

adjective + noun We played football at the National Stadium last night.

My friend went missing in the House of Horrors. noun + of + noun 27 Use the before superlatives.

Siew Lee is the thinnest girl in my class.

A superlative is a name given to the highest degree of an adjective or adverb! See Units 21 & 22.

Jenny is the most popular girl in school.

That is the worst excuse I have ever heard!

“My father is the most handsome of them all.”

My dog ate my homework!

EXERCISE 1

A Complete the sentences below with a or an.

1 Miss Tan is 2

English teacher.

eagle is a large and powerful bird.

3 My friend has 4 Chelvi is

Ben 10 Omnitrix watch. hard-working girl.

5 Did you receive 6 There is

SMS from Jimmy this morning?

coconut tree behind my house.

7 They say that

tiger lives in

8 My grandfather bought

cave on the hill behind the village.

SUV last week.

9 Phew! Did someone bring

durian into the classroom?

10 Edwin saved up his money to buy his brother 11 Poor Ramli! He got 12 This bird has 13 There is

‘F’ for Mathematics. purple beak and

Korean boy and

14 Farah is eating

birthday present.

ice cream and

15 Mother asked me to get

orange tail.

Indian girl in my class. sandwich.

kilo of rice and 7

litre of mango juice.

B Complete the sentences below with a, an or the.

1 Jack and Jill went up 2 My mother makes 3 I bought

hill to fetch

pail of water.

best chocolate cake in

pen for myself and

4 Question: What does

world.

notebook for my sister.

cow play at

birthday party?

Answer: ‘moo-sical chairs’ 5 I saw

UFO landing on

roof of my neighbour’s house last night.

6

eagle lays its eggs in

7

Prime Minister will be visiting our school on

8 Gulliver’s Travels is strange places.

9

eyrie that is built in

high, distant place.

23rd of this month.

interesting story about

man’s adventures to some really

United Nations connects people, ideas and resources for

10 I am going to take part in shoes.

11 Jupiter is sun.

play so I need

largest planet in

12 Mother: Did you finish

better world.

ugly-looking dress and

solar system and it takes about 12 years to orbit

essay that Mrs Rama gave you?

Daughter: Yes, but it was

very difficult essay to write’ Mum.

13 Adam: Can you tell me

time, please?

Chris: Certainly. It’s

quarter to ten.

14 Did you hear about on television.

murder in Jalan Kasturi last night? It was on

15 Olav : Where does

fish keep its money?

Matt : Hmm…sorry, I don’t know Olav : In

old pair of

account in

8 o’clock news

answer.

river bank, of course!

16 My grandmother has coin that is more than 200 years old. She found it in unused well in forest.

17 Hannah would like to keep get kitten instead.

18

iguana as

pet but her mother says that she should

mosquito is insect that can spread deadly diseases. responsible for spreading Dengue Fever.

Aedes mosquito is

19 Pinocchio was wooden puppet who wanted to be real boy. He had long nose that would grow longer when he told lie. He was carved by woodcarver named Geppetto.

20 Pete : Why don’t we go to

cinema and see

movie?

Noah : That’s great idea! Let’s go to one near my house. heard that there’s discount for school children.

8

Italian

I

Nouns Not Needing Articles

Tips

28 Do not use a, an or the before people’s names and titles:.

Tips When nouns are used without an article, we sometimes call it zero article.

(8) Dimitri won the scrabble competition.

My headmistress is (8) Miss Azreen Mohd.

Have you ever met (8) Prof. Saunders?

We do not use a, an or the with some nouns when we talk about them in a general way.

Tips The (8) in each sentence marks the place where an article is not needed before the noun. The noun is in italics.

29 Do not use a, an or the before the names of most roads/ streets, villages, towns, cities, states and countries:

Tips We do use ‘the’ with some names of roads or streets: e.g.

The Mall, The High Street, The Golden Mile, etc.

Abbey lives along (8) Park Lane.

Tips

(8) Park Lane is a very busy road in (8) Kent.

It takes an hour to get from (8) Rawang to (8) Kuala Lumpur.

(8) Seoul is the capital of (8) South Korea.

Do not use articles before the names of pets.

I have a rabbit. I call him (8) Fluffyball.

30 Do not use a, an or the before the names of holidays, festivals and events that are celebrated yearly when we refer to them in general: My neighbour celebrates (8) Hari Raya Aidifitri.

We’re planning a party for (8) Teachers’ Day. (8) Easter is celebrated all over the world.

You can use articles with holidays and festivals like this: • We had a Christmas party last year.

• The Teachers’ Day lunch was organised by my class.

31 Do not use a, an or the before the names of nationalities and languages when we talk about them in general: He is not (8) British. He is (8) Canadian.

My teacher, Mr Philippe, can speak (8) French, (8) English, (8) Spanish, (8) German and (8) Swedish.

You can use articles with nationalities and languages in this way: • It is a Japanese custom to remove shoes before entering a house.

• Peter is an Australian living in Africa.

• The Mandarin that you speak is different from the one spoken in my country.

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32 Do not use a, an or the before the names of meals or food when referring to the general activity of eating: We had (8) breakfast at half past six this morning.

They usually have (8) lunch at that restaurant.

Stefan and Tony go out for (8) pizza every Sunday.

•

•

We usually have the toast with the butter for breakfast.

We have toast with butter for breakfast.

We drink the coffee every morning.

We drink coffee every morning.

(8) (4) (8) (4)

Tips These sentences do not refer to a specific meal.

33 Do not use a, an or the before the general names of sports and other activities of leisure.

Noreen is good at (8) netball.

Let’s fly on our broomsticks and play (8) Quidditch!

My family enjoys (8) walking together in the evenings.

You can use articles with sports and activities if you say it in this manner: • There will be a netball competition next week.

• All the walking that I have done has made me healthy.

Info Quidditch is a fictional sport played by wizards and witches in the Harry Potter Series of books.

34 Do not use a, an or the before the names of colours when you speak about them in general.

If you watch the sunset, you will see that the Sun is (8) bright yellow and the sky has shades of (8) orange and (8) crimson.

As the Sun slowly goes down, the colours change to shades of (8) mauve and (8) blue.

But it’s correct to put the before a colour, in a sentence like this: • I like the purple blouse that Amy is wearing.

• The black dog outside the temple ate my shoe!

35 Do not use a, an or the before the names of days or months of the year or seasons, if you use these words in a general sense: I go for English tuition on (8) Monday and (8) Wednesday.

Gilbert went to South Korea in (8) September.

My cousin who lives in Scotland says that (8) winter is the best time of the year.

However, you can put the before the name of the day, month or season, if it functions as an adjective: • I love going to the Sunday Market with my mother.

• You can get lots of discounts during the summer sales.

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36 Do not use a, an or the before the names of some places (home, school, college, university, church, hospital, prison, court), if we talk about them in a general way: They escaped from (8) prison by climbing over the wall.

Luke : Is Billy still in (8) hospital?

Rosie : He’s been discharged but he won’t be in (8) school till Monday.

We use the with these places in sentences like the ones below: • I went to the hospital to visit Billy.

• The school opposite my house was broken into last night.

• We visited the home for the elderly in Dorset yesterday.

37 Do not use a, an or the before the names of most buildings and places.

We have to be at (8) Sydney International Airport at least two hours before the plane leaves.

The Queen of England lives in (8) Buckingham Palace.

My brother studies medicine at (8) Lincoln College.

Tips • The is not used with names of airports.

Sometimes we even say the name of the airport without the word ‘airport’. For example, we can say, “He landed at Tokyo International,” or “She’s flying to Heathrow tonight.”

• The is not used with the names of colleges and universities that do not have of in their names.

For example, we say, “He’s studying in maxwell College,” or “She graduated from Harvard University.”

38 Do not use a, an or the before abstract nouns that are used in a general sense.

Sara : What is (8) happiness to you?

Zack : (8) Happiness is having you as my friend!

The army save him a medal for his (8) bravery.

39 Do not use a, an or the before the names of diseases and illnesses.

Grandfather went to the doctor because he had (8) backache.

My mother, Mary, died of (8) cancer in April 2008.

Here’s something you should know: British English American English I have toothache.

I have a toothache.

I have backache.

I have a backache.

I have stomachache.

I have a stomachache.

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40 Do not use a, an or the with the noun that comes after the words a/the number of or an/ the amount of: A number of (8) cars were involved in the accident on the highway last night.

I am shocked at the amount of (8) money that you spend on clothes!

41 Do not use a, an or the after the words both and all.

Both (8) computers have been crippled by a virus.

All (8) pupils must be here by eight tomorrow morning.

Tips You can use the after both and ‘all’ if it refers to something specific, but you should include the word ‘of’: • Both of the cars were stolen • All of the pupils fell asleep.

42 Do not use a, an or the after words like kind of, type of, species of, variety of, etc., when talking about things that are not specific.

What kind of (8) music do you like?

Seth : What’s that?

Lim : It’s a species of (8) plant that you can find only in this jungle.

There is a great variety of (8) food to enjoy in Asia.

12

EXERCISE 2

Complete these sentences with a, an or the, where necessary.

1

Dr Nelson lives in that big house on

2 Do you know how to get to 3 They bought

Bradford Street?

new house in

4 We will be celebrating

Devonshire.

New Year at my grandparents’

5 Katy had a slice of 6 Katrina went to

hill.

bread and

kilo of

sugar.

Chinese and his mother is

8 Would you like to have

Johor.

apple for breakfast.

grocer’s to buy

7 Benny’s father is

house in

Indian.

lunch at my place? My mother cooks

best curry in

world!

9 My brother loves playing 10 Although I like all 11 They go to

futsal. He practices with

colours of the rainbow,

violet is still my favourite colour.

church every Sunday and visit

12 My parents play

tennis on

team from his school.

Wednesday at

hospital after that. tennis court behind

Community Centre.

13

Venice is known as

“City of Canals” and stretches across over

hundred

small islands in the marshy Venetian Lagoon.

14 My grandfather suffers from

backache so he has to go to

doctor at least once

week.

15 Malaysians live in 16 The number of 17 All 18 I saw

pupils must wear their name tags during iguana and

: Yes, it’s

emu at

Pupils

zoo in

Cyber Cafés is growing.

assembly tomorrow.

Singapore.

anteater? scaly anteater called

Southeast Asia and

20 Teacher : Okay, you’ve heard

friendship with one another.

pupils who skip school and hang out in

19 William : Is that Ricky

peace and

pangolin. It’s native to _______

Africa. story. Now tell me if you agree that

best policy. : Yes!

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honesty is