Saturday, November 24, 2012

Count Nouns vs. Non-Count Nouns

Count nouns
Can be counted as one or more.
  • pen, computer, bottle, spoon, desk, cup, television, chair, shoe, finger, flower, camera, stick, balloon, book, table, comb, etc.
Take an s to form the plural.
  • pens, computers, bottles, spoons, desks, cups, televisions, chairs, shoes, fingers, flowers, cameras, sticks, balloons, books, tables, combs, etc.
Work with expressions such as (a few, few, many, some, every, each, these, and the number of).
  • a few pens, a few computers, many bottles, some spoons, every desk, each cup, these televisions, the number of chairs, a few shoes, a few fingers, many flowers, some cameras, every stick, each balloon, these books, the number of tables, many combs, etc.
Work with appropriate articles (a, an, or the).
  • a pen, the computer, a bottle, the spoon, a desk, the cup, a television, the chair, a shoe, the finger, a flower, the camera, a stick, the balloon, a book, the table, a comb, etc.
Do NOT work with much (for example, you would never say much pens or much computers). 

Non-count nouns
Cannot be counted. They usually express a group or a type.
  • water, wood, ice, air, oxygen, English, Spanish, traffic, furniture, milk, wine, sugar, rice, meat, flour, soccer, sunshine, etc.
Generally cannot be pluralized.

Work both with and without an article (a, an, or the), depending on the context of the sentence.
  • Sugar is sweet.
  • The sunshine is beautiful.
  • I drink milk.
  • He eats rice.
  • We watch soccer together.
  • The wood is burning.
Work with expressions such as (some, any, enough, this, that, and much).
  • We ate some rice and milk.
  • I hope to see some sunshine today.
  • This meat is good.
  • She does not speak much Spanish.
  • Do you see any traffic on the road?
  • That wine is very old.
Do NOT work with expressions such as (these, those, every, each, either, or neither).

[Quiz]
Choose all of the non-count nouns in the following list:

wine, student, pen, water, wind, milk, computer, furniture, cup, rice, box, watch, potato, wood.

Answer:-
wine, water, wind, milk, furniture, rice, wood.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Singular and Plural Nouns

A noun names a person, place, thing, or idea.

Usually, the first page of a grammar book tells you about nouns. Nouns give names of concrete or abstract things in our lives. As babies learn "mom," "dad," or "milk" as their first word, nouns should be the first topic when you study a foreign language.

For the plural form of most nouns, add s.

  • bottle – bottles
  • cup – cups
  • pencil – pencils
  • desk – desks
  • sticker – stickers
  • window – windows
For nouns that end in ch, x, s, or s sounds, add es.

  • box – boxes
  • watch – watches
  • moss – mosses
  • bus – buses
For nouns ending in f or fe, change f to v and add es.

  • wolf – wolves
  • wife – wives
  • leaf – leaves
  • life – lives
Some nouns have different plural forms.

  • child – children
  • woman – women
  • man – men
  • mouse – mice
  • goose – geese
Nouns ending in vowels like y or o do not have definite rules.

  • baby – babies
  • toy – toys
  • kidney – kidneys
  • potato – potatoes
  • memo – memos
  • stereo – stereos
A few nouns have the same singular and plural forms.

  • sheep – sheep
  • deer – deer
  • series – series
  • species – species

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Today Learning--Greeting - Basic

There are many ways to greet someone. We'll learn about the most common way to greet someone in this lesson. I'll give a variety of example sentences.

Greeting someone you never met:
"Hi, my name is Steve. It's nice to meet you."
You can respond to this by saying,
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Jack."

Another common question to ask is

"What do you do for a living?"

You can respond to this by saying,

"I work at a restaurant."
"I work at a bank."
"I work in a software company."
"I'm a dentist."

Usually, you will not need to ask for a name. It is implied that each person should say their name. But in case they don't, you can ask,

"What is your name?"

Many times, I don't hear the name. If you would like for them to repeat their name, you can say,

"What was that again?"
"Excuse me?"
"Pardon me?"

10 Reasons to Learn English

  1. Why learn English when it is so difficult? Well, knowing English will make you bilingual and more employable in every country in the world.

  2. English is the most commonly used language among foreign language speakers. Throughout the world, when people with different languages come together they commonly use English to communicate.
  3. Despite China, the United States is still a leader in technical innovation and economic development. English is used in the United States and in each of these fields.

  4. English is commonly spoken throughout much of the world due to Great Britian’s expansion during the colonial age. People in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, parts of Africa, India, and many smaller island nations speak English. English is the commonly adopted second language in Germany, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands. Speaking English opens these countries and cultures up to you.

  5. Another reason why English is so important is that it is the language of science. To excel in science you need to know English.

  6. English is based on an alphabet and, compared to Chinese, it can be learned fairly quickly.

  7. English is also the language of the Film Industry and English means you no longer have to rely on subtitles.

  8. In the United States, speaking English immediately opens up opportunities regardless of your ethnicity, color, or background.

  9. Learn English and you can then teach your children English -- or if they are already learning, you can now communicate with them in English.

  10. English speakers in the United States earn more money than non-English speakers. Learning English will open your job prospects and increase your standard of living.