Grammar Points

Articles: the, a, an

(see also lessons: how much, whose, this, any

ARTICLES:

 >> When speaking about SINGULAR INDEFINITE COUNTABLE NOUNS, we use
the ARTICLES "a" and "an". We use "a" before NOUNS or ADJECTIVES that begin
with a CONSONANT. We use "an" before NOUNS or ADJECTIVES that begin with a VOWEL:

-I am a person.   one of many people
-She is a good doctor.  one of many good doctors
-That is an airplane.  one of many airplanes
-I use a computer to write. one of many computers
-He works in an office.  one of many offices
-He lives in a big house. one of many big houses

 >> When speaking about jobs, we normally use "a" and "an":

-What is your father?
 He is a businessman. one of many businessmen
-What does your sister do?
 She is a teacher. one of many teachers
-What is your uncle?
 He is the king.  There is only one king!

 >> When identifying something as part of a group, we use "a" and "an":

-What is that?
 It is a horse.
-What kind of horse is it?
 It is a race horse.
-What is a table?
 A table is a piece of furniture.

 >> When speaking about PLURAL INDEFINITE COUNTABLE NOUNS, we use no ARTICLES:

-We are people.
-They are good doctors.
-Those are airplanes.
-I use a computers to write.
-They work in offices.
-They live in big houses.
-What are they?
 They are businessmen.
-What are those?
 They are horses.
-What kind of horses are they?
 They are race horses.

 >> We usually use "a" before words that begin with "h":

a history
a huge monster
a heavenly dessert
a house

 >> But there are some exceptions. If the "h" is not pronounced, we use "an":

an hour
an heir
an honor
an honest man

 >> We never use "a" or "an" with UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS.

 >> When speaking about definite or particular things, we use the article "the":

-That is the sun.  The sun is unique.
-That is the moon.  There is only one moon.
-That is the fastest airplane. There is only one fastest airplane.
-The sky is blue.  There is only one sky.
-She is the doctor go to. She is a particular doctor.
-He works in the main office. He works in a particular office.
-The stars are beautiful. There is only one group of stars.
-The rings on your fingers are gold and silver.
    a particular group of rings
-The students in my class are lazy.
    a particular group of students
-The books on the table are his.
    a particular group of books

 >> At first we use "a" and "an", then when something is identified, we use "the":

-What is that?
 It is a horse.
-What kind of horse is it?
 It is a race horse?
-Which race horse is it?
 It is the race horse that loses all races.
-Is it a slow race horse?
 It is the slowest race horse in the world.
-What is that?
 It is a building.
-What building is it?
 It is the Police Department.
-Is that the hospital?
 No, it is an apartment building.
-Is it the apartment building where Tony lives?
 No, it is the apartment building where Karen lives.

 >> To define NOUNS, we use "the", "a", "an", or another DETERMINER:

 SOME OTHER DETERMINERS:
my, your, his, her, its, our, John's, Mary's, their, this, that, these, those,
any, some, most, both, most, all, many, much, no, other, enough, several, one,
two, seven, few, which, what

 >> When we use another DETERMINER, we do not use "the", "a" or "an":

-Is that your car?
-Both books are mine.
-Many people eat in this restaurant.
-I have no money.
-These cards are marked!
-Do you play any instruments?
-Few dogs are vegetarian.
-There is some dirt on the table.

 >> All nouns have determiners, except:

PROPER NOUNS:

 >> PROPER NOUNS are particular names for things. PROPER NOUNS don't
need DETERMINERS because they are already unique. PROPER NOUNS always begin
with CAPITAL LETTERS. PROPER NOUNS are:

 NAMES AND TITLES:
I
Daddy
Mary Smith
Joao Gilberto
Mitsuhiro Tanaka
Uncle Carlos
Ms. Chiang
Doctor Livingston
President Washington
King Arthur
Heineken Beer

 NAMES OF GROUPS:
Yale University
Sony corporation
Volksvagen
Greenpeace

 COUNTRIES, SPECIFIC GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATIONS:
Japan
Seoul
Mount Everest
Europe
Asia
Buenos Aires
Main Street

 NATIONALITIES, LANGUAGES, RELIGIONS, PHILOSOPHIES:
American
Korean
Japanese
Buddhism
Christianity
Materialism
Pacifism

 TIME PERIODS:
7:00
Friday
September
New Year's Day
1963

 >> You ask: Are these exceptions?:

the President of France
the United States of America
the University of California
the Amazon River
the Pacific Ocean
the Catholic Church
the 15th of September

 >> No, they are not exceptions. We use "the" to define which one of a group:

There are many presidents, which president is he?
 He is the President of France. President Miterrand.
Which united states?
 The United States of America.
Which university do you study at?
 I study at the University of California.
Which river is very big?
 The Amazon River is very big.
Which ocean is Japan in?
 It is in the Pacific.
What day is your birthday?
 My birthday is the 15th (day) of September.

 >> When speaking about things in general, we use PLURAL NOUNS. We do not
use "the", "a" or "an":

-Computers are made of plastic and electronics.
-Trucks transport merchandise.
-Birds fly; dogs don't.
-English people speak English; French people speak French.
-What are quasars?
 Quasars are quasi-stellar objects.
-Americans are all rich.
-Sharks are dangerous.
-What are little boys made of?
 Snips and snails and puppy-dog tails.
 That's what little boys are made of.
-What are little girls made of?
 Sugar and Spice and everything nice.
 That's what little girls are made of.

CONTRASTING ARTICLES:

-There is a boy on a bicycle.
-I know the boy with black hair.
-Boys are young men.

-I have a television.
-The television in my house is broken.
-Televisions are very common today.

-This is a key.
-This is the key to my car.
-Keys are for opening locks.

Prepositions of time

The preposition AT is used in the following descriptions of time:

With clock times:

• My last train leaves at 10:30.
• We left at midnight.
• The meeting starts at two thirty.

With specific times of day, or mealtimes:

• He doesn’t like driving at night.
• I’ll go shopping at lunchtime.
• I like to read the children a story at bedtime.

With festivals:

• Are you going home at Christmas/Easter?

In certain fixed expressions which refer to specific points in time:

• Are you leaving at the weekend?**
• She’s working at the moment.
• He’s unavailable at present.
• I finish the course at the end of April.
• We arrived at the same time.

**Note that in American English, on the weekend is the correct form.

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The preposition IN is used in the following descriptions of time:

With months, years, seasons, and longer periods of time:

• I was born in 1965.
• We’re going to visit them in May.
• The pool is closed in winter.
• He was famous in the 1980’s.
• The play is set in the Middle Ages.
• They’ve done work for me in the past.

With periods of time during the day:

• He’s leaving in the morning.
• She usually has a sleep in the afternoon(s).
• I tried to work in the evening.

To describe the amount of time needed to do something:

• They managed to finish the job in two weeks.
• You can travel there and back in a day.
• To indicate when something will happen in the future:
• She’ll be ready in a few minutes.
• He’s gone away but he’ll be back in a couple of days.

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The preposition ON is used in the following descriptions of time:

With days of the week, and parts of days of the week:

• I’ll see you on Friday.
• She usually works on Mondays.
• We’re going to the theatre on Wednesday evening.

Note that in spoken English, on is often omitted in this context, e.g.: I’ll see you Friday.

With dates:

• The interview is on 29th April.
• He was born on February 14th 1995.

With special days:

• She was born on Valentine’s day.
• We move house on Christmas Eve.
• I have an exam on my birthday.

If we examine these different aspects of usage for the three prepositions, a general pattern emerges. At is generally used in reference to specific times on the clock or points of time in the day. In generally refers to longer periods of time, several hours or more. On is used with dates and named days of the week

Prepositions – Time

English	Usage	Example
on	days of the week	on Monday
in	months / seasons time of day year after a certain period of time (when?)	in August / in winter in the morning in 2006 in an hour
at	for night for weekend a certain point of time (when?)	at night at the weekend at half past nine
since	from a certain point of time (past till now)	since 1980
for	over a certain period of time (past till now)	for 2 years
ago	a certain time in the past	2 years ago
before	earlier than a certain point of time	before 2004
to	telling the time	ten to six (5:50)
past	telling the time	ten past six (6:10)
to / till / until	marking the beginning and end of a period of time	from Monday to/till Friday
till / until	in the sense of how long something is going to last	He is on holiday until Friday.
by	in the sense of at the latest up to a certain time	I will be back by 6 o’clock. By 11 o'clock, I had read five pages.

Prepositions – Place (Position and Direction)

English	Usage	Example
in	room, building, street, town, country book, paper etc. car, taxi picture, world	in the kitchen, in London in the book in the car, in a taxi in the picture, in the world
at	meaning next to, by an object for table for events place where you are to do something typical (watch a film, study, work)	at the door, at the station at the table at a concert, at the party at the cinema, at school, at work
on	attached for a place with a river being on a surface for a certain side (left, right) for a floor in a house for public transport for television, radio	the picture on the wall London lies on the Thames. on the table on the left on the first floor on the bus, on a plane on TV, on the radio
by, next to, beside	left or right of somebody or something	Jane is standing by / next to / beside the car.
under	on the ground, lower than (or covered by) something else	the bag is under the table
below	lower than something else but above ground	the fish are below the surface
over	covered by something else meaning more than getting to the other side (also across) overcoming an obstacle	put a jacket over your shirt over 16 years of age walk over the bridge climb over the wall
above	higher than something else, but not directly over it	a path above the lake
across	getting to the other side (also over) getting to the other side	walk across the bridge swim across the lake
through	something with limits on top, bottom and the sides	drive through the tunnel
to	movement to person or building movement to a place or country for bed	go to the cinema go to London / Ireland go to bed
into	enter a room / a building	go into the kitchen / the house
towards	movement in the direction of something (but not directly to it)	go 5 steps towards the house
onto	movement to the top of something	jump onto the table
from	in the sense of where from	a flower from the garden

Other important Prepositions

English	Usage	Example
from	who gave it	a present from Jane
of	who/what does it belong to what does it show	a page of the book the picture of a palace
by	who made it	a book by Mark Twain
on	walking or riding on horseback entering a public transport vehicle	on foot, on horseback get on the bus
in	entering a car  / Taxi	get in the car
off	leaving a public transport vehicle	get off the train
out of	leaving a car  / Taxi	get out of the taxi
by	rise or fall of something travelling (other than walking or horseriding)	prices have risen by 10 percent by car, by bus
at	for age	she learned Russian at 45
about	for topics, meaning what about	we were talking about you

Verb Tense Review and Exercises

Here is a helpful table with the tenses, a quick explanation and some helpful words/phrases associated with each of them.

	Past	Present	Future
Simple	An action that ended at a point in the past.	An action that exists , is usual, or is repeated.	A plan for future action.
	cooked	cook / cooks	will cook
(time clue)*	e.g. He cooked yesterday.	e.g. He cooks dinner every Friday.	e.g. He will cook tomorrow.
Progressive be + main verb +ing	An action was happening (past progressive) when another action happened (simple past).	An action that is happening now.	An action that will be happening over time, in the future, when something else happens.
	was / were cooking	am / is / are cooking	will be cooking
(time clue)*	e.g. He was cooking when the phone rang.	e.g. He is cooking now.	e.g. He will be cooking when you come.
Perfect have + main verb	An action that ended before another action or time in the past.	An action that happened at an unspecified time in the past.	An action that will end before another action or time in the future.
	had cooked	has / have cooked	will have cooked
(time clue)*	e.g. He had cooked the dinner when the phone rang.	e.g. He has cooked many meals.	e.g. He will have cooked dinner by the time you come.
Perfect Progressive have + be + main verb + ing	An action that happened over time, in the past, before another time or action in the past.	An action occurring over time that started in the past and continues into the present.	An action occurring over time, in the future, before another action or time in the future.
	had been cooking	has / have been cooking	will have been cooking
(time clue)*	e.g. He had been cooking for a long time before he took lessons.	e.g. He has been cooking for over an hour.	e.g. He will have been cooking all day by the time she gets home.

*Time clues: these are words that give some information about when an action occurs. Some examples are:

yesterday every day tomorrow while now

simple past simple present simple future past progressive present progressive

.

There are many words that are time clues; some can be used to indicate a number of tenses, for instance that something happened in the past or that it will happen in the future. If you learn to recognize these time clues, you will find them very helpful. Note that some time clues can be used with more than one verb tense and also that this table is not a complete listing of all the time clues that can be used with all of the tenses

CHART—TIME CLUES AND VERB TENSE

	Past	Present	Future
Simple	Simple Past	Simple Present	Simple Future
	yesterday last year/ month/ etc. before for five weeks/days/etc. one year/ month ago	every morning / day / etc. always usually frequently sometimes	tomorrow tonight next week/month/etc. soon in the future
Progressive	Past Progressive	Present Progressive	Future progressive
	while when	now right now this week/minute/etc.	when after as soon as before
Perfect	Past Perfect	Present Perfect	Future Perfect
	before already by the time until then/last week/etc. after	until now since ever never many times/ weeks/years/etc. for three hours/ minutes/etc/	by the time you go (somewhere) by the time you do (something) already
Perfect Progressive	Past Perfect progressive	Present Perfect Progressive	Future Perfect Progressive
	before for one week/hour/etc. since	for the past year/ month/ etc. for the last 2 months/ weeks/etc. up to now for 6 weeks/hours/etc. since	by the time for ten days/weeks/etc. by