ENS UAE LE Anglais Grammar PDF

ENS UAE M. El Biadi LE Anglais 2024-25 Semester 1 Grammar The simple sentence and its constituents...

ENS UAE M. El Biadi LE Anglais 2024-25 Semester 1 Grammar The simple sentence and its constituents The simple sentence and its elements: The Nature of sentence constituents I- The simple sentence A sentence is a group of words expressing a complete thought, starting by a capital letter and ending up by a period. It is the largest unit of a language, having usually a subject and a predicate. For example: -The importance of the minority party in American politics must be understood. (Subject) (predicate) A sentence has to have what we call a central core (nucleus). This central core has to be there for the sentence to be a complete sentence in the grammatical sense. So, it needs to have Nouns/pronouns and verbs. For example: The hunter caught a lion. -He caught a lion *The hunter caught…(incomplete sentence) What the predicator contains and the way it is structured also depends on the type of verb used in the sentence. Verbs can be divided into action and state verbs Action and state verbs Main verbs can describe events (actions) and states. The distinction between events and states is important because we generally avoid using state verbs in continuous tenses. ‘Break’ and ‘eat’ are event verbs. They are also referred to as action verbs because they describe an action, something we consciously do: I broke the vase. Mary spilled coffee on her skirt. The man who is standing next to tree gave an interesting speech. There are verbs which are said to describe a state rather than talk about an action like ‘to know’, ‘to belong’. These are called state verbs: I don’t know the tune This belongs to you. 1 ENS UAE M. El Biadi LE Anglais 2024-25 Semester 1 Grammar The simple sentence and its constituents Some main verbs need another element after them; something is missing in the following examples (what did he spill? What did John give?): He spilled… John gave… In order to have a complete sentence, you have to add another sentence constituent after the verbs ‘spill’ and ‘give’. Both verbs are transitive verbs which need a direct object (DO): He spilled the beans. (DO) John gave his coat to the man. (DO) There is a category of verbs which are called complement verbs. They must be followed by a subject complement. Verbs such as ‘to be’ ‘to feel’ ‘to look’ ‘to become’ are complement verbs. - She felt uneasy. - They became millionaires. ‘uneasy’ and ‘millionaires’ are subject complements and not direct objects. (See the handout about the grammatical function) Some other verbs do not need anything after the verb like in the following: Time elapsed. The baby cried. The examples above show that there is another important distinction we need to make concerning verbs: V-Transitive vs intransitive verbs Intransitive verbs When a verb has no object in the sentence, it is called an intransitive verb. They can be divided into two types: a-Pure intransitives: They are almost exclusively intransitive, such as: arrive, elapse, fade, vanish, rise, materialise, rain, snow. 2 ENS UAE M. El Biadi LE Anglais 2024-25 Semester 1 Grammar The simple sentence and its constituents Many of these verbs express behaviour which is typically involuntary or semi-involuntary like, cough, collapse, blush, die, cry, sleep, slip, smile, sneeze, scream, tremble, yawn. The following are some examples: e.g. It is snowing/ raining. The money vanished. Her dreams materialised. She is coughing. Mary arrived late. b- Verbs that are used both transitively or intransitively: a- The Direct or Indirect Object may be left unexpounded when its referent is understood by social convention (drive, park): -Mary was driving (her/the car) when she saw them crossing the road -He drinks. Transitive verbs: They are the type of verbs which prototypically take one Object (Direct or primaryObject) (They are also referred to as monotransitive verbs) or a Prepositional Object (object of preposition). Mary broke the cup The cat ate the fish Ditransitive verbs: These are verbs which take a subject and two objects. These objects may be called direct and indirect, or primary and secondary. He sent a letter to his daughter. He sent his daughter a letter 3 ENS UAE M. El Biadi LE Anglais 2024-25 Semester 1 Grammar The simple sentence and its constituents Exercise 1: Identify the main verb in the following sentences. Is the main verb an action verb or a state verb? Are the verbs transitive or intransitive? 1-They didn’t take their mountain bikes with them. 2-He gave Mary ten dollars. 3-The audience laughed. 4-Everyone likes her. 5-He passed Paul the ball. 6-She knows everyone. 7-Jean read him the books. 8-The students memorized the lesson. 9-She is baking him a cake. 10-I am mailing Sam the article. 11-The wall collapsed yesterday. 12-The person who sent us the letter has arrived. Exercise 2 Underline twice the subject and underline once the predicate of the clauses above. Other additional words can be used to modify the main elements of the sentence: their function is to tell us more about these elements which belong to the central core of the sentence. These other elements are labelled , ‘adjectives’ and ‘adverbs’ and also adjective clauses. The following are some examples: The courageous hunter quickly caught a ferocious lion. He carefully opened the door. The man who is walking down the street is a doctor. I am extremely grateful to you. The underline elements are used to modify either the head-nouns (‘hunter’ and ‘lion’ in the first sentence. These two head-nouns are modified by the adjectives ‘courageous’ and ‘ferocious’ respectively. 4 ENS UAE M. El Biadi LE Anglais 2024-25 Semester 1 Grammar The simple sentence and its constituents ‘the man’ in the third sentence is modified by a clause (‘who is walking down the street’). This type of clause is called an adjective clause as it is used to provide more information about the head-noun. Modifiers can be adverbs like in the 2nd and the 4th examples above. The adverb ‘carefully’ modifies the verb ‘opened’ and the adverb ‘extremely’ modifies the adjective ‘grateful’ which is a subject complement in the sentence. The underlined elements, which are used as modifiers can be omitted and the sentences would remain grammatical. The following are the same sentences without the modifiers: The hunter caught the lion. He opened the door. The man is a doctor. I am grateful to you. Exercise 3 Underline the elements used to modify the main sentence constituents in the following. Are these modifiers adjectives, adverbs or adjective clauses. 1-All new foreign students are welcome to join the clubs and societies. 2-Your work is beautifully presented. 3-Every room was painted in different colours. 4-The economic policy of this government has failed. 5-That was an exciting game. 6-A diesel car is usually more economical than a petrol one. 7-Ivory trinkets lay scattered about. 8-Trinkets, which were carved from ivory lay, scattered about. 9-He behaved calmly. 10-The plain through which this river flows is marvelously fertile. 11-Treeless spots were plainly visible. 12-Spots where no trees grew were plainly visible. 13-The architect who designed this building was a man of genius. 5 ENS UAE M. El Biadi LE Anglais 2024-25 Semester 1 Grammar The simple sentence and its constituents II- Sentences, clauses and constituents A sentence can sometimes be divided up into two or more shorter sentences (independent clauses). The following is an example: I’ll see you on Friday but all of us will be keeping our fingers crossed. (Clause A) (clause B) Clause A and clause B are two independent clauses. They are considered independent because each one of them can stand alone as a sentence. You can say: I’ll see you on Friday. (It is independent because it can stand by itself as a simple sentence) Clause A and B above are connected together by the conjunction ‘but’ making one big sentence. Conjunctions such as ‘but’ ‘and’ ‘or’ have this function of connecting sentence constituent/elements or parts and they are called Prepositions and Conjunctions. Example: The courageous hunter and his helpers quickly caught a ferocious lion and (they) locked it up inside a big cage. In the sentences above ‘but’ and ‘and’ are considered constituents whose function is to connect two clauses. It does not form part of a clause. Exercise 4 Underline the independent clauses that the following contain: 1-They knocked down all the houses and they built a car park. 2-Are there four or five people living in that house? 3-The shoes that I bought look great but are not very comfortable. 4-There are seats outside but some people don’t like sitting outdoors. Clauses can further be divided into constituents (clause constituents). Each constituent may consist of one or several words. These are basic units such as noun phrases (NPs), verb phrases (VPs) and prepositional phrases (PPs), adjective phrases and adverb phrase. These are called sentence constituents, each of which fulfill a grammatical function in the sentence. 6 ENS UAE M. El Biadi LE Anglais 2024-25 Semester 1 Grammar The simple sentence and its constituents III- Clause constituents At the simplest level, a sentence constituent is any word or group of words which can be replaced by another word or group of words. We have to consider sentence constituents from two perspectives - What they are in terms of the words that make them up. (Nature) - The function they perform in sentences. (grammatical function) Some constituents that have the same form can appear in different parts of the sentence with different functions. People need people Henry eats snails. No one wants to eat snails with butter and garlic. IV- Types of clause constituents Depending on whether we are looking at constituents from the perspective of what they are or what they do, we choose different terms, even though they may describe the same thing. For example a noun phrase may be a subject, object, complements depending on its function (and position) in a clause. Examples : That man is a doctor. John bought his friend a present. A- Form A noun phrase (NP) consists of a noun or pronoun, which is called the head (also the head-noun), and any dependent words before or after the head. Dependent words give specific information about the head-noun. (Cambridge online dictionary) 1- Noun phrases (henceforth NPs) a- One-word NPs Noun phrases can consist of one word such as a name, pronoun or noun. Examples : Names (proper nouns ) : Angela, Bolivia, Casablanca Pronouns : She, us, that Nouns (common nouns) : People, book-shelf, trees, water b- Complex NPs i- A main noun + a word/ group of words 7 ENS UAE M. El Biadi LE Anglais 2024-25 Semester 1 Grammar The simple sentence and its constituents These are groups of words connected to and including a main noun (the headword). Example : An illness ; an old, rather bent woman We often find the following elements in noun phrases (usually in this order) : This (determiner) old (modifier) kettle (headword/ head noun) A (determiner) fast (modifier) car (headword/ head noun) Determiners include articles, quantidfiers, numbers, possessive adjectives (my, your, their) and demonstrative adjectives (this, that , these, those) Modifiers may be : Adjectives, e.g. old kettle Nouns, e.g. brick house Possessive forms : child’s toy Adverb- adjective combinations : carefully painted wall. ii- Complex NPs including a subordinate clause The following is an NP (and NOT a sentence) made up of a headword and a subordinate clause. The woman (the headword) I told you about last Thursday (subordinate clause) What we have in this example is an adjective clause ‘I told you about last Thursday’ which is used to modify the head-noun ‘woman’. iii- NPs including Prepostional phrases (PPs) : The trouble with young people iv- NPs including –ing phrases The boy talking to Angela v- NPs including to-infinitives I've got no decent shoes to wear Exercise 5 What type of NPs are the following: This fantastic building The man we met yesterday The man in the white shirt The house that Jack built 8 ENS UAE M. El Biadi LE Anglais 2024-25 Semester 1 Grammar The simple sentence and its constituents John’s team The woman who discovered radium The blue dress An eight-year-old boy who caught a fish the man standing over there Some food to eat 2- Verb phrases (VP) Verb phrases can consist of : A single-word main verb : …wept A multiword main verb : … stood up. One or more auxiliary verbs and a main verb : … has been weeping ; ought to stand up. Two main verbs : …want to speak ; recommend staying. The VP may include ‘not’ or..n’t : …doesn’t drink. 3- Prepositional phrases (PP) These are groups of words that begin with a preposition and contain a NP. Examples : On the corner (Preposition) (NP) With many additional features (preposition) (NP) PPs may also be part of a larger NP : The house on the corner New software with many additional features 4- Adjective phrases Adjective phrases contain an adjective, which may follow one or more adverbs : 9 ENS UAE M. El Biadi LE Anglais 2024-25 Semester 1 Grammar The simple sentence and its constituents Not very old really quite glamourous 5- Adverb phrases Adverb phrases contain an adverb which may follow one or more other adverbs Rather unwisely only once Exercise 6 Are the following complete sentences? Do all the complete sentences contain one clause? 1-I heard a noise 2-The importance of American politics 3-The book which we are reading at the moment 4-Dreams often come true 5-Give me the money 6-My brother bought a new car yesterday and he is very excited about it. 7-Their daughter who lives in South Africa 8-You can take Route 14 to get there, but it may take you a little longer. 9-Grace is an excellent athlete, although she injured her leg recently. 10-We’ve still enjoyed our holiday, although it rained a lot. 10 ENS UAE M. El Biadi LE Anglais 2024-25 Semester 1 Grammar The simple sentence The grammatical function The present unit is concerned with the different grammatical functions that basic sentence constituents such Noun Phrases, Prepositional Phrases, Adjective Phrases…etc play in sentences. It will discuss grammatical functions such as subject, object, complement and adverbial. I-Subject The Subject usually comes immediately before the verb phrase in a clause and they frequently consist of a noun phrase. They often tell us what the predicate is about. You sighed. The woman I told you about has arrived. Other kinds of subject include infinitive and –ing forms of verbs, and certain kinds of clause (non-finite clauses and noun clauses) : To lose hurts Drinking can kill. How to make money always sells. Whether or not I made a promise is irrelevant. II-Direct objects and object verbs Direct objects usually come after the verb phrase and they are normally noun phrases. I telephoned her I telephoned the woman I told you about last Thursday. Object verbs Direct objects are used after certain types of verbs, know as oject verbs (transitive/ mono- transitive verbs). They are incomplete without a direct object : *She made ( ?) *Don’t kill ( ?) *Turner influenced ( ?) The following clauses contain an object : She made a mistake. Don’t kill me. Turner influenced a whole generation of painters. He underwent treatment. She heard noise. 1 ENS UAE M. El Biadi LE Anglais 2024-25 Semester 1 Grammar We can normally use object verbs in passive construnctions, in which case there is no direct object : Some vases were smashed. The bank got robbed. III-Complements and complement verbs Complements usually tell us something about the subject, hence the name ‘subject complement’e.g. what it is, how it feels or what it is like. Complements may consist of : -A noun (She became a nicer person.) -An adjective or adjective phrase (She grew (very) old.) -A preposition phrase (The children felt under theat.) -Another clause (Our holiday wasn’t what we expected.) Complement verbs Complement verbs are used to connect the subject to the complement of a clause. We are late. Siam is the old name. As much as they convey meaning, complement verbs usually express something about : Being (be ; remain ; stay) seeming (seem ; appear ; feel ; look ; smell ; taste) Becoming (become ; get ; grow) She grew old. The children felt uneasy Complement verbs are sometimes also called linking, intensive or copular verbs. IV-Indirect objects and two-object verbs Indirect objects usually tell us who (or what) receives something or benefits from something. We only use them when we also use a direct object (this tells us what they receive or benefit from). Give me a hand. Who bought Sheila the flowers ? Have you fed the plants any fertiliser ? You ought to give the windows a good clean. 2 ENS UAE M. El Biadi LE Anglais 2024-25 Semester 1 Grammar The indirect object can sometimes come after the direct object. In this cases ‘to’ or ‘for’ is used to connect the two objects. We gave all out money to a ticket tout. He can’t keep a good seat for us. Two-object verbs Two-object verbs need to be followed by an indirect object as well as a direct object. Typically, they express some aspect of giving or communicating something to someone or doing some kind of service : She told her husband the truth Two-object verbs are sometimes also called ditransitive verbs. V- Complement and object-complement verbs Object-complement verbs need to be followed by both a direct object and a complement. These verbs often describe : - Judgement (consider, find, imagine, think) - Liking or wanting (like, prefer, want) - Ways of naming, changing or making things (appoint, baptise, call, declare, elect, make, leave, name) - Ways of stopping things from changing. (hold, keep) -They appointed Ms Jones treasurer. -She made him angry. These complements are sometimes called ‘object complement’ because they describe something about the direct object of the clause. Object-complement verbs are sometimes called complex transitive verbs. Differences between objects and complements The direct object can become the subject of a passive clause whereas the subjet complement cannot : Turn the following into passive constructions : -She bought a car. We gave him money. She became a celebrity. We elected him captain. 3 ENS UAE M. El Biadi LE Anglais 2024-25 Semester 1 Grammar VI-Adverbials Adverbials are usually phrases beginning with a preposition, adverb or a noun : In the back garden (preposition phrase) often enough (adverb phrase) Sunday lunch time (noun phrase) Adverbials often provide information about how, where or when something is done or takes place. We can use more than one adverbial together e.g. at 8.00 in the park ; on Sunday with luck. I have not been feeling well for the past few weeks. Exercise 1 Read the following letter in which the writer is reproaching a friend for having broken a promise. I didn’t doubt you at the time. Your lies seemed really convincing. However, I started thinking about your promise after a while. I must be an idiot. Anyone else would have seen through you at once. Don’t try to tell me your lies ever again. a. Identify the subject of clauses. b. Identify any direct objects. c. Identify any indirect objects. d. Identify any complements e. Identify any adverbials f. Identify any imperative forms Exercise 2 Read the following passage from a newspaper article about unusual weather conditions in the summer. Answer the questions below: 4 ENS UAE M. El Biadi LE Anglais 2024-25 Semester 1 Grammar There were two remarkable outbreaks of thunderstorms in July 1968. June had ended on a fine, hot note, but a cold front drifted eastwards into western Britain early on July 1 and triggered an unusually severe and prolonged series of thunderstorms in the west and north. Darkness descended in daytime, and there were reports of very large hailstones. a. Divide the texts into clauses. b. Divide each clause into its basic constituents and label each of them (subject, adverbial, etc) Exercise 3 Divide the following sentences up into their main grammatical constituents. Use the empty space below to indicate what the grammatical function of each unit is. Example: He was wearing blue trousers. He │was wearing │blue trousers. He: the subject was wearing: the verbal group blue trousers: the direct object The man sitting on the sofa over there is Simon’s brother. ___________________________________________________________________________ All of them seemed surprised. ___________________________________________________________________________ He makes me very angry. ___________________________________________________________________________ Whose are these books? ___________________________________________________________________________ They were quite excited about news. ___________________________________________________________________________ Enjoy your meal. ___________________________________________________________________________ Seoul which hosted the 1988 Summer Olympics is a well -known shopping destination. ________________________________________________________________________ 5 ENS UAE 2024-25 Prof. M. El Biadi 1 LE Anglais S1 Grammar Nouns (Part I) NOUNS (Part I) Common Nouns The common nouns can be divided into two types of nouns: countable and uncountable nouns (mass nouns). These two types of nouns can be further divided into two types: Abstract and concrete. 1-Concrete: Accessible to the senses, observable, measurable: 1a- Concrete count nouns: pig, dog, table, bun… 1b-Concrete uncountable: butter, gold, water… 2-Abstract: typically nonobservable and nonmeasurable: 2a-Abstract count nouns: difficulty, facility, opinion, remark… 2b-Abstract uncountable nouns: music, laziness, happiness, sadness… Countable and uncountable nouns: Countable nouns have a singular and a plural form, e.g. book; books…Uncountable nouns on the other hand have only one form and do not take the plural inflection ‘s’, e.g. furniture, luggage. *furnitures *luggages. The distinction between countable and uncountable is based on whether or not we can count what the noun describes. Nouns which describe separate and separable objects are usually countable, while those which describe liquids materials, substances and abstract qualities (butter, gold, laziness, happiness…). These are also called mass nouns. 1 ENS UAE 2024-25 Prof. M. El Biadi 2 LE Anglais S1 Grammar Nouns (Part I) Although the distinction between these two types of nouns is based on the reality, the distinction is a grammatical one rather than a real one. The following are uncountable: Accommodation, hair, information money, news, spaghetti, travel, weather. -Some uncountable nouns such as work and travel, both are uncountable have a countable equivalent which is a different word job, journey; There are several types of uncountable nouns: Group A. Nouns that have no distinct, separate parts. We look at the whole. milk wine bread electricity oil yogurt meat lightning water pork butter thunder coffee poultry paper cholesterol tea soup air blood Group B. Nouns that have parts that are too small or insignificant to count rice hair sand sugar popcorn corn salt snow grass Group C. Nouns that are classes or categories of things. The members of the category are not the same. money or cash (nickels, dîmes, dollars) fruit (cherries, apples, grapes) food (vegetables, meat, spaghetti) makeup (lipstick, rouge, eye shadow) furniture (chairs, tables, beds) homework (compositions, exercises, reading) clothing (sweaters, pants, dresses) jewelry (necklaces,bracelets, rings) mail (letters, packages, postcards, fliers) Group D. Nouns that are abstractions love happiness nutrition music life education intelligence art nature time experience unemployment work help truth crime pollution health noi s e beauty advice patience trouble Energy y luck knowledge poverty fur friendship Group E. Subjects of study history grammar chemistry geometry biology math (mathematics*) *NOTE: Even though mathematics ends with s, it is not plural. -Some uncountable nouns can be ‘broken up’ into countable components: 2 ENS UAE 2024-25 Prof. M. El Biadi 3 LE Anglais S1 Grammar Nouns (Part I) Money(uncountable): Dirhams, centimes, dollars, euros Time: hours, minutes, seconds. Furniture: table, chair, desk. Accommodation: house, flat, room -With some uncountable nouns we can use particular words to itemise or count what they describe: An item of clothing. (*a clothing, *two clothings) An item of news, three items of news. A piece of luggage, two pieces of luggage, *two luggages A piece of wood, two pieces of wood. We itemise by using these additional words to uncountable nouns. Ways we see uncountable nouns: By By shape or By container By portionn measurement whole piece Other a slice (piece) of an ounce of a bottle of a loaf of bread a piece of mail bread sugar water an ear of corn a piece of a piece of meat a quart of oil a carton of milk a piece of fruit furniture a piece of cake a pound of meat a jar of pickles a head of lettuce a piece of advice a strip of bacon a gallon of milk a bag of flour a candy bar a piece of a piece (sheet) of a pint of cream a can of soda a roll of film information paper (pop) a tube of a work of art a slice of pizza a cup of coffee toothpaste a homework a scoop of ice a glass of water a bar of soap assignment cream a bowl of soup 1 ounce= 28 grams; 1 quart = 946 mililiters;1 pound = 0.454 KG; 1 gallon= 3.7 liters; 1 pint= 473 mililiters -There are some nouns which can be both countable and uncountable with a different meaning: I got lost in a wood (countable); This is a beautiful little wood (by wood here we mean forest) Wood is used for heating in rural areas. (hard substance) Paper, glass 3 ENS UAE 2024-25 Prof. M. El Biadi 4 LE Anglais S1 Grammar Nouns (Part I) The meaning of these nouns changes depending on whether we want to use them as countable or uncountable nouns. But remember not all nouns can be both count and noncount. Accommodation, information, furniture…cannot be used in this way. -Some nouns that were originally plural are coming to be uncountable: The data are_ the data is (datum) the media are_ the media is (medium) We can use a lot of generally uncountable nouns as countable nouns. For example, to describe: -a kind/ type of something: A new French cheese a fresh orange juice -a quantity/ unit of something A coke two sugars Abstract nouns in the plural indicate instances of the phenomenon concerned: As in many truths, many injustices, regrets. (we are referring to instances of the phenomenon we are talking about.). I must express my regrets. Exercise Choose from the words below to complete each pair of sentences. Use the same word in (a) and (b). Decide if the word should be countable or uncountable. Damage education traffic paper resistance speech 1 a I had to go through very strict and traditional _______________. b ____________ has been hit once again in the government spending cuts. 2 a ____________ was building up on the motoway as the fog got thicker. b Since the war, illegal ____________ in weapons has grown. 3 a Outnumbered by at least three to one, he knew that ____________ was useless. b After a while we seemed to build up ______________ to mosquitoes. 4 a The judge awarded Mr Sinclair ____________ of nearly £ 50,000. b The accident caused some ___________ to my car but it wasn’t worth getting it repaired. 5 a Muriel gave ____________ at the conference on the psychological effects of divorce. b The use of recycled ___________ is saving thousands of trees from being cut down each year. 6 a It is said to be ___________ that distinguishes us from the other animals. b We had to listen to some long and boring ____________ after the meal. 4 ENS UAE 2024-25 Prof. M. El Biadi 1 LE Anglais S1 Grammar Nouns (Part II) NOUNS Part II PLURAL FORMS Regular forms The majority of English nouns are count; with separate singular and plural forms. Most countable nouns have a plural form that ends with s. The plural forms are formed I a regular and predictable way. Sometimes we just add s to the singular form for example pen ; pens But we also add es to singular nouns which end in the following letters or combination of letters: Ch churches s passes x boxes sh wishes z buzzes We also add es to some singular nouns which end in o. Potatoes tomatoes You need to use a dictionary to check whether we add s or es to any particular words ending in o. But Foreign or abbreviated words ending in o add s only Piano, pianos dynamo, dynamos, photo, photos -y + ies : We change y to i and add es to singular nouns which end in a combination of consonant + y Party parties lady ladies But nouns ending in y following a vowel form their plural by adding s only: Donkey, donkeys boy boys day days Irregular forms Many irregular plural forms involve a change in vowel. Man men tooth teeth foot feet Louse lice mouse mice woman women -Twelve nouns ending in f of fe drop the f anf fe and add ves. These nouns are: Wife, life, knife, wolf, self, calf, shelf, leaf, loaf, thief, sheaf, half. But The nouns scarf, wharf, and hoof take either s or ves in the plural: Scarfs; scarves wharfs; wharves hoofs; hooves. Other words ending in f or fe add s in the plural in the ordinary way. Cliff, cliffs handkerchiefs 1 ENS UAE 2024-25 Prof. M. El Biadi 2 LE Anglais S1 Grammar Nouns (Part II) Some nouns have the same singular and plural forms (nouns that end in s often fall into that category) a series two series A crossroads two crossroads Exercise 1 Give the plurals of the following nouns: Cow class story tomato box friend Mouse child ox wish mistress piano Key tooth lorry bus monkey house Wife chief mall fee party quantity Nouns resistant to number contrast (ordinarily singular) -Nouns in –ics such as acoustics, physics -Names of deceases such as mumps, shingles, measles, smalls pocks -Words of some games such as billiards, dominoes, fives Nouns ordinarily plural a) Binary nouns are nouns referring to entities which have or are perceived as having two parts. Tools and instruments such as binoculars, scissors, articles of dress such as jeans , pants, trousers. These scissors are too sharp Those trousers are short. Number contrast is achieved by using quantity partition: pair of, several pairs of. With binary nouns like gloves and socks, the unit is divisible into singulars because they are obviously separate: a glove, a sock…etc. He lost a glove in the supermarket. b) aggregate nouns: These nouns refer to entities which comprise or are seen as comprising an indefinite number of parts. These nouns can be plural in forms such as: Arms, communications (means of communication), data, goods, media, outskirts, remains, troops Some of these nouns are not plural in forms: Cattle, clergy; offspring, people, police, poultry The clergy is/are opposed to divorce. A few irregular plural forms are very different from the singular form. The most common and problematic example is person people. -Words for some animals 2 ENS UAE 2024-25 Prof. M. El Biadi 3 LE Anglais S1 Grammar Nouns (Part II) This sheep is bleating in the courtyard These sheep are bleating in the courtyard Nouns referring to birds and fish can have zero plurals especially when viewed as prey: Reindeer, woodcock, pheasant, herring, trout, salmon, fish Foreign plurals Forms that are originally from other languages, sometimes keep their original plural form: Plateau plateaux cherub cherubim Mafioso Mafiosi The plural forms of some foreign words are changing from their normal foreign forms to more anglicised ones: Foci focuses syllabi syllabuses The original plural form of some words is coming to be used as singular. A criterion (criteria) a phenomenon (phenomena) (a) Nouns in –us with plural -i : Simulus focus alumnus bacillus (b) Nouns in –us with plural -a (only in technical use): Corpus corpora genus genera (c) Nouns in –a- with plural ae or ai: Antenna formula nebula vertebra (d) Nouns in –um with plural –a: Addendum curriculum erratum ovum stratum (e) Nouns in –ex, -ix with plural –ices (Isi:z) Appendix index matrix (f) Nouns in -is Is with plural es (i:z) Analysis (analyses) basis (bases) crisis (crises) Hypothesis synopsis thesis oasis (oases) 3 ENS UAE 2024-25 Prof. M. El Biadi 4 LE Anglais S1 Grammar Nouns (Part II) (g) nouns in –on with plural –a (h) Nouns in –o with plural –i; a few words in the field of music retain their Italian plural, especially in specialised discourse Libretto tempo virtuoso Collective nouns Collective nouns are words which represent groups of people, e.g. the team , the conservative party. These nouns are singular when we say for example: A good government a big staff Committee: a collective noun, I the singular, it still denotes a set. The board (of governors) Some people believe that these nouns should be followed by singular verb forms (the staff was happy) and that singular pronouns should be used (the team won its first match). However, most people use plural verb forms and pronouns. The football team want to hire a new player. People sometimes choose either singular or plural verb forms according to whether they are thinking in terms of unified ‘body’ or of the various people who make it up. The army provides an excellent career The army are investigating the incident. The names or initials of many organisations (The Halifax Building Society, NATO) also function like collective nouns. Coca Cola are rapidly expanding The UN are sending in peace-keeping troops. Other collective nouns are: Swarm; crowd, flock, group; herd, a bunch (of liars) Combining nouns We frequently use two nouns together. An insect repellent a computer virus The first ‘modifying’ noun usually tell us what kind of a thing the second noun describes (an insect repellent is a kind of repellent) 4 ENS UAE 2024-25 Prof. M. El Biadi 5 LE Anglais S1 Grammar Nouns (Part II) Compound nouns They are two nouns used together, they may be separated by a hyphen (-), e.g. a battle-ground, or written as a one word compound noun e.g. weekend, dustbin. Use the dictionary to check these. Gender English gender is very simple, and in any case the gender of a noun only affects its pronoun and possessive pronouns. Men, boys, male animals are masculine Women, girls and female animals are feminine. Exceptions, ships are normally considered feminine and so are countries when referred to by name 5 Articles S1 Grammar Prof. El Biadi ENS UAE 2024-25 What are articles ? Articles in English are those three particles a, an, and the which are omnipresent in any English text. They are used because they have a function to serve in language. Every time we use a noun we have to decide whether or not we have to use an article. Our choice depends on factors like: -meaning -shared knowledge -context -whether the noun is singular, plural or uncountable. Articles are a type of determiners First of all, articles belong to the wider class of determiners. Determiners are words or phrases that come at the beginning of a noun phrase and signal whether the information is new or familiar, or which tell us something about quantity.  Determiners are this category of words that specify a noun more closely. They are used to give us more information about the noun. For example: Demonstrative and possessive adjectives, articles That car Their extremely quiet neighbourhood An extremely quiet neighbouhood Some books to read  There are two types of articles: ‘indefinite’ article: a/an ø ‘definite’ article: the The indefinite articles ‘a’ and ‘an’ are not two different words Our choice of one or the other is determined by fixed pronunciation rules depending on where they occur or on which noun they precede. For example if it comes before a noun starting with a vowel such as: an apple an arrow an aubergine but if the noun starts with a consonant like in: Mary bought a book from the bookshop. The government built a big dam in the North. a delicious apple He made a sharp arrow. Or if the noun preceding it starts with a vowel sounded like a consonant: a university, a useful book, a uniform Where do articles occur in the sentence? Articles are part of noun phrases and they are always placed at the beginning an NP. They come immediately before a noun or an adjective, or a combination of adverb, adjective and noun. For example: -I heard a noise -I heard an awful noise. -I heard the amazingly strong noise of thunder. -The big building in the corner is for sale. When do we leave out the indefinite article a/an? We don’t have to use them before: Plural nouns: Dreams often come true. Uncountable nouns: Money cannot buy happiness. What is the function of articles in the sentence? The indefinite article a/an ø introducing what is new The definite article ‘the’ indicating common ground a/an: Introducing what is new We use a/an with singular nouns to indicate that something is not common ground and to announce that we are introducing something new. It is there to announce that the noun or entity which the noun is referring to is new information, something that the listener/ reader does not know about, he or she is unfamiliar with. It is for something unexpected or something that our listener or hearer is unaware of. Examples: On my way to the university, I passed by a man who sells books. An automatic teller is a machine that lets you make a deposit or take out cash from your bank account. *(ø) cash the: indicating common ground Common ground is something shared, what we share you and me. Something we know about both of us. We use ‘the’ to signal that the listener knows or will soon know what you are talking about, what you are referring to.  We usually look in the context to find these areas of common ground. We use ‘the’ with a noun to refer backwards or forwards in a text or conversation, and also to refer to our shared experience or general knowledge. Anaphoric reference Referring backwards in a text (anaphora/ anaphoric reference): When I was out I passed a young couple with two little girls and a boy. I thought I knew the parents but I didn’t recognise the children at all. Cataphoric reference Referring forwards (cataphora/ cataphoric reference): Give good marks to the students who answer the exam questions correctly. The place where I met them is spacious.  External reference: Shall we close the door? Did you see how beautiful the moon was yesterday? I saw her in the university square. Zero article (ø) We leave out articles before: -Plural nouns (English students usually eat sandwiches for lunch) -Uncountable nouns (Water is a precious substance which should not be wasted). -Referring to something general (Moroccan mint tea is very delicious. ). The indefinite articles is used with: ‘There is’: There is an orange in the box. Expressions of time and quantity with the sense of ‘every’: Forty times an hour, two spoons a litre, twenty pounds a kilo.  After have and have got: Have you got a car? In naming things: It’s a dog/table. Before a singular countable noun which is used an example of a class of things: A cow has horns.  With a noun/ subject complement: He is a doctor. She is a happy woman. Numerical expressions: a couple, a dozen, half a dozen, a score, a gross, a hundred ,a thousand, a million, and a lot of, a great many of, a great deal of…etc. The indefinite article is not used with ‘lots of’. We do not say: A lots of  With few and little: A few: a small number A little: a small amount few and little can be used without the indefinite article ‘a’ but then have an almost negative meaning. For example: Few pennies were left in the till (almost no money at all) With ‘only’ placed first: Only a few guests came to his party (only here is used to emphasise that the number/ quality is small.  In exclamations before singular countable nouns: What an amazing achievement! Such a beautiful day! Such poetic expressions! (There is zero article because ‘expressions’ is plural) What a huge house! What (Ø) luxurious cars!  The indefinite article a can be placed before Mr/Mrs/Miss+surname a Mrs Brown; a Miss Jackson A Miss Jackson is waiting at the door. If the article is not used this means that the speaker already knows the person or knows of his/her existence. The indefinite article ‘a/ an’ is not used: Before plural nouns: The indefinite article has no plural form. So, the plural of ‘a tree’ is ‘trees’. Trees are vital for life on earth. Before uncountable nouns: The following nouns are singular and uncountable in English: advice, information, news, baggage, luggage, furniture, accommodation Never say: an information an advice a furniture These nouns are often preceded by: some, any, a little, a lot of, a piece of. For example: I’ll give a piece of advice/information. Knowledge is also considered uncountable, but when used in a particular sense takes the article: He has a knowledge of mathematics.  Hair (all the hair of one’s head) is also considered uncountable. -She has blond hair. But if we consider each hair separately we say: a hair, two hairs…etc. -The police inspector found a hair on the crime scene which might lead him to the murderer. -Materials: glass, wood, iron, stone, paper, cloth, wine, coffee, tea are considered uncountable. However, when the noun denotes a particular thing, it takes an article. For example: Windows are made of glass. but have a glass of soda. We write on paper. but I have got a paper (newspaper) Iron is a metal. but I used an electric iron.  Some, any, a piece of, a lot of are often used with these nouns. For example: I want a piece of wood/paper. Would you like some tea/coffee/ water/ lemonade? The indefinite article ‘a’ is not used before abstract nouns: beauty, happiness, fear, hope, death…etc, except when they are used in a particular sense. For example: He does not know what fear is. (fear without article) Some people suffer from a fear of spiders. (a particular type of fear). Before names of meals, except when preceded by an adjective: We have breakfast at eight. We had a poor breakfast We have lunch at one. We had a wonderful lunch She had her supper. She had a nice supper. The definite article ‘the’ is used: Before nouns of which there is only one or which are considered as one (shared knowledge/common ground): the earth the sea the sky the moon With defining relative clauses: Catch the thief who stole the jewellery. (defining relative clause) With of- before something which is defined or restricted by a preposition phrase beginning with of: We are starting to see the fruits of our hard work. Before superlatives and first/second/last and only used as adjectives or pronouns. For example: She saw the Eiffel tower for the first/third/last time. The blue car is the only car he has. To represent a class of objects: -The dog is a faithful animal. (the dog here is a class of animals) Before an adjective used to represent a class of persons like the young, the old, the sick, the dead. For example: -The old and the young should be able to live together. -She very much cares for the sick and elderly.  Even if there is no ‘common ground’ in some expressions we use the article ‘the’: In entertainment we find the following expressions and the articles ‘the’ is normally used: I went to the cinema the pub the shops  In transport we find: I arrived at the airport the bus stop the station  Musical instruments: I play the piano the violin the acoustic guitar. We use ‘the’ in the names of items in the following categories: Rivers The Nile; the Ganges Mountain ranges The Atlas, the Rockies, the Pyrenees Oceans and seas The Atlantic; the pacific, the Mediterranean Deserts The Sahara Groups of islands the Maldives; the Seychelles Hotels The Hilton Cinemas The Odeon, The Rex Political bodies The Socialist party, the Labour party, the communist party Countries whose names include political terms: The kingdom of Morocco, the United Kingdom, Or plural nouns: The Philippines Newspapers: The Guardian, The Independent ‘The’ is not used with: When the noun refers to certain kinds institutions, like: hospital, Church, school, prison, college, university it is not preceded by the definite article ‘the’. This is to show that someone is part of that institution. Example: Is he still in hospital? They want their kids to go to college. They want their kids to study at college. He's spent a lot of time in prison. In the US (American English), people say ‘in the hospital’.  Meals: We had dinner together. But we use the indefinite articles in: We had a great lunch yesterday.  Time expressions: We use no articles in most expressions of time: Next week last year on Monday  Work, home and bed We don’t use the article ‘the’ after verbs of motion with these three words like in: I left work. I got home/ I went home. She went to bed early.  Proper nouns of People: Dominique, John Smith Except when we say: The Smiths, the Browns, the Blairs…etc. The Mr Smith (without ‘s’) is sometimes possible in sentences like: I don’t want the Mr Smith who works in the accounts office; I want the other one. The other Mr Smith.  Names of places such as villages, towns, cities do not take an article. For example: He went to Casablanca. Mary left for England and settled down in Norfolk. Idioms In many idiomatic expressions, articles are either used or left out for no know reason, and learners have to remember them like items of vocabulary. For example: a bit of, call it a day, in a hurry, make a start, have a drink on the coast, in the pink, off the record, through the roof, go to the wall In debt, on loan, out of action (without article) ENS UAE M. El Biadi LE Anglais Semester 1 Grammar Pronouns (part I) Definition A pronoun is a word that can stand for a noun. It constitutes a closed class of words Personal pronouns: For personal pronouns, they can happen in 1st person, 2nd person and 3rd person. For each Subject Object Pronoun Pronoun I me You you He him She her It it We us They them Pronoun ordering We sometimes have a sequence of pronouns like in the following: You and I can go together, can’t we? (1st person plural) He and Emily are coming to see us, aren’t they? Fred and Mona met in Tunis, didn’t they? He and she met in Tunis, didn’t they? The ordering of pronouns in coordination is important from the view point of style and courtesy: You, Mary and I will have lunch at 1:00 pm. She Why didn’t they invite you and John/ me/ her? 3rd person coordinates usually have the masculine before the feminine, the pronoun before the noun phrase: He and she were both ill She and the policeman went to the station. Gender The masculine form can be used covering male and female reference in cases like these: Someone is knocking so I’d better go and let h…? in. An ambitious player must discipline h…?self. Sensitivity to the sexual bias makes many people prefer a cumbersome coordination: ENS UAE M. El Biadi LE Anglais Semester 1 Grammar An ambitious player must discipline himself or herself. The gender-neutral plural is used (to avoid this bias problem and sensitivities related to which gender to use): Someone has parked their car right under the ‘no parking’ sign. Number. when the reflexive form is used, the 2nd person reflexive pronoun (yourself, yourselves), then there is number contrast. See the following examples: Look at your hand, Jack; you’ve cut yourself Keep your voices down children; you must behave yourselves. Case A number of pronouns have contrasting case-forms (I vs me). Nominative (subjective) forms such as I, he, she, we, they. And Accusative forms (objective) like me, him, her, do not occur as subject. Compare: The shopkeeper gave the woman a refund. He gave her a refund. The woman took the money from the shopkeeper. She took the money from him. Pronouns have a specific referent. In the case of 3rd person pronouns, the identity of the reference is supplied by the linguistic context anaphorically as in (1) and cataphorically as in (2): e.g. (1)-There is a great film on TV tonight and everybody should watch it. (2)-When they robbed the bank, the thieves jumped in their cars and ran away. The pronoun it ‘it’ can be used for male and female animals and human infants. 1-The committee met soon after it had been appointed. 2-She cooked some meat and then put it in the fridge. ‘It’ can refer to the content of the whole sentences and subsequent sentences: I don’t like to say it but I must. I don’t like the way you treat people. You have only yourself to blame if you have problems in the future because of that. ‘It’ is used cataphorically with sentential reference. It is analogous to the extrapositional it: It has to be said that you don’t treat people well. ENS UAE M. El Biadi LE Anglais Semester 1 Grammar It is used in cleft sentences: It was only her mother who came to visit her. It is also used as a dummy subject in sentences like the following: It gets dark very early in winter. It was raining cats and dogs last night. The 1st person plural forms (we) It is a device for referring to ‘I’ and one or other people: inclusive (1). ‘we’ can be persuasive (2): 1) I’m glad to see you, Mary, and I hope we (ie ‘you and I’) can have a long talk. 2) Ladies and gentlemen, I hope we can agree this evening on a policy for the future. The inclusive ‘we’ is used informally by doctor to patient: And how are we feeling today? 2- The reflexives Reflexive pronouns are (singular forms): myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself. The plural forms are: ourselves, yourselves, themselves (themselves). They function as object in a clause or PP structure or as belonging to the Subject: e.g. You underestimate yourself (direct object) John voted for himself (indirect object) John himself is on keen on travelling. (part of the subject) They agree with the noun or another pronoun with in gender, number and person: The queen herself congratulated them for their achievement The cat was scratching itself She bought herself a beautiful car. By contrast in: She bought her a beautiful car The item determining the reflexive may be absent in imperative sentences (1) and in non-finite clauses (2): 1) Look at yourself, your hair is a mess! 2) Freeing itself from the trap, the rat limped away. Each other 1) Tom and Sue were talking to each other 2) They like each other very much ENS UAE M. El Biadi LE Anglais Semester 1 Grammar Compare ‘themselves’ and ‘each other’: 1) Alan and Ruth took photographs themselves. 2) Alan and Ruth took photographs of each other. Exercise 1- All you have to do is hide_________ behind the door ‘surprise’! when she walks in. 2- They are always complaining________ about my cooking. 3- George’s mother didn’t want him to take the job on the oil rig. In fact, George didn’t feel very happy about it _________. 4- There is no need for you to come, I can carry the shopping_____________. 5- Young people________ need to get more involved in politics. 6- I don’t have any trouble getting to sleep, but I always wake__________ up very early. 7- That’s a beautiful sweater, Susan, did you knit it__________? 8- Help ____________ to some more rice! 9- Make _______________ at home. 3- Relative pronouns Relative pronouns comprise two series/ two types: 1- wh- items: who, who, whose, which, when and where 2- that and zero, the latter will be indicated in our examples as ( ). ENS UAE M. El Biadi LE Anglais Semester 1 Grammar Relative pronoun Used for Examples Its grammatical function who People -Students who work hard SUBJECT- human will succeed. head whom people -The young woman whom OBJECT-Human the police took into custody head escaped yesterday. -the person to whom I PREPOSITIONAL addressed myself first OBJECT ignored me. that People & things He lives in a house that has Subject two rooms which Things -the direction which the OBJECT-nonhuman government has now taken… -The velocity with which it reaches the ground. Possession -the house the ceiling of which recently collapsed. whose possession -someone in whose shadow PREPOSITIONAL we are not fit to stand… OBJECT -There some people whose Subject only aim is to have fun. -There are some students Object whose handwriting I cannot understand. That and zero That can be used without reference to the gender. It cannot be preceded by a preposition: Zero has a similar range, lacking only the subject function -The actor that pleased him is… -The play that I admired… -The actor ( ) he admired is new to London. -The play ( ) he was attracted to is new to London When and where ENS UAE M. El Biadi LE Anglais Semester 1 Grammar when Time (at that A weekend is a time when time) families can go out where Place (in that Many kids lives in homes place) where the TV is on all day ‘When’ can be omitted whereas ‘where’ cannot. Exercise Fill in the blanks to make an appropriate adjective clause 1- I have a hard teacher this semester. The teacher__________ last semester was much easier. 2- I studied British English in my native country. The English_______________ now is American English. 3- The teacher gave a test last week. Almost everyone failed the test_______________. 4- When I read English, there are many new words for me. I use my dictionary to look up the words I______________________ 5- I had a big apartment last year. The apartment __________________ not is very small. Exercise Fill in the blanks with an adjective clause 1- I don’t like people________________________ 2- I don’t like apartments_______________________ 3- I don’t like movies__________________________ 4- I like movies_______________________________ 5- I like TV programs__________________________ 6- I don’t like to have neighbours_________________ 7- I have never met a person_____________________ Quantifiers S1 Grammar ENS UAE 2023-24  Like articles, quantifiers belong to the wider class of ‘determiners’: words or phrases that come at the beginning of a noun phrase Some of these words signal whether the information is new or familiar (Articles) Others tell us something about quantity (how many? or how much). As their name implies, the linguistic function of quantifiers is to tell us the quantity of what we are talking about. They are words like: all, another, any, some, both, either/neither, each, every, few/fewer/ a few, enough, little/ less/ a little, many, more, much Parts of speech All wine contains alcohol. Nature: quantifier Function: determiner (it is used to determine, to say something specific about the noun been determined by the quantifier, it is not ‘some’ but ‘all’.) We can use a noun phrase in a variety of sentence positions. -All wine contains alcohol. -They earn a lot of money. -They invited several people from their neighbourhood. -John read each copy with a lot of interest. -She a little dizzy this morning. SOME AND ANY 1-SOME a-unstressed some: When some is unstressed, it is pronounced less loudly and less clearly than the words around it in the sentence. The meaning of this unstressed form is different from the stressed one. We use the unstressed some: -To suggest an indefinite (imprecise) quantity but not a large amount. I gave him some bread -To introduce new information He’s got some money. ‘Some’ is generally used before plural countable and uncountable nouns, usually in affirmative sentences. Offers and request The unstressed ‘some’ is used with offers and requests. We can use some in offers even though the sentence is a question. 1-Offers Would you like some custard? (we can also say: Would you like any custard?) 2-Request: In requests, we have to use ‘some’: Could I have some sugar, please? *Could I have any sugar, please? b- Some (stressed) When we stress ‘some’, in Southern British English, the vowel /Ʌ/ is used ( e.g. sum) -Stressed ‘some’ can suggest a restricted or limited quantity or type of something: I like SOME music. (by no means all. Classical music, rock music, pop music…) We use stressed ‘some’ in questions and negative sentences as well as affirmative sentences: I can’t eat SOME type of fish. (sardines, shrimps…) We also use the stressed ‘some’ to emphasise that precise identity is irrelevant. In this case it is often followed by a singular noun. I spoke to SOME idiot in your office. ANY Before plural (countable) or uncountable nouns: We use ‘any’ in questions to ask about the existence of something (quantity is unimportant). Do you know any good restaurants in your area? Do they have any water left? Unstressed ANY We use ‘any’ after negative forms of the verb to indicate the non-existence of something (again quantity is unimportant). I won’t give them any books. They won’t give us any help. ‘Any’ is used as the negative alternative of ‘some’. However, we can use ‘no’ instead of ‘not…any’ as an alternative for ‘some’: He has no interest in education. Or He doesn’t have any interest in education. We tend to prefer ‘no’ to ‘not…any’ in formal and written English, and we have to use ‘no’ as the subject of a verb. No students offered to help with the cleaning (* Not any students helped…) Stressed ANY ‘Any’ with the meaning of unrestricted or unlimited quantity. Stressed ‘any’ suggests an unrestricted quantity or unlimited choice. I don’t like ANY type of meat. (I think all meat is horrible). You can take ANY book. (the choice is entirely open) You can’t take ANY book. (the choice is not open, it is limited) Can I take ANY book? (I’m asking whether the choice is open) When we use ‘any’ as part of the subject of a clause, it suggests unrestrictedness (the particular identity is unimportant): Any music would be better than this horrible noise! Exercise Exercise Exercise MUCH, MANY, A LOT OF They are used to suggest a large quantity. This is their meaning: Do you need much space? I’ve lived here for many years. A lot of soft drinks contain sugar substitute. We use: ‘much’ with uncountable nouns (much effort, much help, much money, much information) ‘many’ with countable nouns (many countries, many students…). ‘much’ and ‘many’ can also be used in affirmative sentences. ‘Many’ is used to increase the implication of ‘some’: Compare: There are some who would disagree. With: a-There are many who would disagree. b-There are a few who would disagree. Uncountable: Do they have much money? (question) They haven’t got much time. Plural (countable): Do you have many things to do? There weren’t many houses left standing. ‘A lot of’ is neutral. It can be used in affirmative sentences with both countable and uncountable nouns: Plural (countable): There are a lot of people outside. Uncountable: They have a lot of charm/money/ information. ‘Much’ and ‘many’ after ‘so’, ‘too’ and ‘how’ They’ve got so many parks (countable noun) You’re wasting too much time and money. Tell me how many people have arrived. ‘Much’ and ‘many’ can also be used in affirmative sentences. Many people arrived early. We can use ‘many’ in a noun phrase which is the object of an affirmative clause, particularly in formal and written English: She felt many emotions They raised many doubts We use ‘much’ in affirmative sentences, generally only in very formal written language: There has been much research into universals in the effective group behaviour of students. We use ‘a lot of’ in questions and in negative statements to give extra emphasis to the amount: Do they have a lot of friends? I don’t have a lot of time. SEVERAL, A FEW/ FEW, A LITTLE/ LITTLE They are used to suggest small quantity. They have the opposite meaning of the three quantifiers above (much, many and a lot of/ lots of). ‘Several’ implies more items than ‘a few’. I’ve sent out several cards but I’ve only received a few confirmations. ‘Several’ and ‘a few’ are used with countable nouns (plural). There are several/ a few people waiting. Just give him a little attention. (uncountable) We tend to use these quantifiers in affirmative statements and questions rather than in negative statements. Exercise Fill in the blanks with suitable quantifiers from the following list: little, few, a few, very few, every, any, each, many, some 1- The professor lectured very clearly. As a result,……. students had questions at the end of the class period. 2- Do you have……….. minutes? I’d like to ask you…………questions. I need…………more information. 3- Fatima has become a very fluent English speaker. She makes…………mistakes when she talks in English now. 4- I won’t just eat…………..food—only nicely cooked food. 5- Very…………..people could manage to live on so …………money. 6- I’d like to give you ……………advice. 7- He gave ………….of the children a small gift. 8- I see Jack at work almost…………… day. FEW and LITTLE We use ‘few’ and ‘little’ (without a) to suggest a strong sense of reservation, with a hint of not enough. Few people came. (almost no one came) He had little success ( his success is almost nil, he almost has no success). The more informal equivalent of the sentences above would be: Not many people came. He didn’t have much success So you can see that ‘few’ is more formal than ‘not many’. And ‘little’ sounds more formal than ‘much’ in the second sentence. More, fewer and less They are comparative forms which correspond to ‘a lot of/many/much; a few and a little’. MORE is used with both countable nouns (plural) and uncountable ones. There are more smokers in third world countries than in developed ones. FEWER is used with plural countable nouns. Fewer and fewer school leavers want to study classics. LESS is generally used with uncountable nouns. Less and less people are using bikes these days. The number of people using bikes is less than those using cars. Exercise Choose the correct answer from the following to fill in the blanks: Little; a little; few a few 1. He has had ______ drinks but he is not drunk. 2. You won't change her mind so there is ______ use in trying. 3. Michael Cane was born in South London, not the East End. ______ people know that. 4. I need ______ help. I'm a bit stuck. 5. Will you have ______ strawberries? They're very good. 6. Will you have ______ more ice-cream? We might as well finish it. 7. There's ______ point in continuing. We're all too tired. 8. I don't know if we can fit the cupboard into our house. There's ______ space as it is. 9. All this kitten needs is ______ love and attention. 10. There's ______ I can do about this. It's outside my control. 11. Martin is a good student. He has ______ problems with English. 12. Generally Peter is good but sometimes he has ______ problems. 13. We made good time because there was ______ traffic on the road so early in the morning. 14. I think Coventry will win the match but ______ people agree with me. 15. I'm going to give you ______ advice. Study harder! ALL, EACH and EVERY They are used to emphasise the completeness of a group or class of things. We’ve considered all options All wine contains alcohol. Every day was the same. They defused each bomb. ‘Each’ and ‘every’ are interchangeable when they refer to three or more of something: They checked each/every table before the guests arrived. ‘All’ and ‘Whole’ Exercise Exercise We use ‘every’ to refer to frequency and times. Every day every minute every time the phone rings We also tend to use ‘every’ for large numbers. She had to greet every person in the room. When we have two things, (two items), we refer to them by using the quantifier ‘each’. To refer to two things: Did you examine each side of the coin? (NOT *every side of the coin) Each candidate will be individually interviewed Every-------------------------------------------------- Where they differ is that ‘each’ is more targeted on the individual among the totality. ‘every’ is more targeted on the totality itself. In consequence, every is subject to quantitative modification as in: Almost every candidate was over the age of twenty five. All: Unlike most quantifiers, ‘all’ can immediately precede ‘the’ or a possessive pronoun (adjective). BOTH, EITHER and NEITHER We uses these to refer to two people or things. They examined both sides They made no attempt to rescue either dog. They were able to make contact with neither parent. 1-‘Both’ looks at things from a collective view (this one and this one). She betrayed both parents. 2-‘Either’ looks at things from the point of view of alternatives (this one or this one). You can choose either option. ‘Both’ is followed by a plural noun (both sides). ‘either’ and ‘neither’ by singular nouns and verbs. (either dog is…; neither parent has…). We use ‘either’ in questions and negative statements. ‘Neither’ is in itself negative (neither = not either). We use ‘neither’ is formal and written English. In informal contexts, we often prefer ‘not…either’ they didn’t like either film (informal/neutral) They liked neither film. (formal). Unlike most quantifiers, ‘both’ can immediately precede ‘the’ or a possessive adjective (both the children; both my parents). Examples Either candidate would be ideal for the job. "Do you prefer chicken or beef?" "I don't like either.“ "Would you like the metal or plastic one?" "Either will do."  We've got two TVs, but neither works properly. Neither of my parents likes my boyfriend. (Pre-determiner) Neither one of us is interested in gardening. "Which one would you choose?" "Neither. They're both terrible." ENOUGH We use ‘enough’ to indicate and emphasise that quantity is sufficient for some purpose. You haven’t had enough lessons. Did you find enough books? It can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns. Mary has seen enough hospitals to know. (plural, countable) Are you getting enough help? (uncountable) ANOTHER We use ‘another’ to emphasise that something additional to an existing number or quantity. It is used with countable nouns. Nouns which takes a plural inflections: They will have another party. It is used with singular nouns and with numbers followed by plural nouns. Have another drink. I’ve got another three days. In can also be used as a pronoun not a determiner in the sentence: There have been many fires in the city recently. Another was reported yesterday. Several were reported yesterday. Using quantifiers with other determiners We generally don’t use quantifiers immediately before or after other determiners. However, ‘all’ and ‘both’ can immediately precede ‘the’ (comes before ‘the’ in the sentence) or a possessive pronoun (and this case they are known as pre-determiners). All his students came. They welcomed both the speakers We can combine the following quantifiers: Every + few I travel every few weeks. A few + more/less He needed a few more votes. A little + more/less I received a little more/ less money. Few/little + enough We get few enough treats. We can also link all the words and expressions apart from ‘every’ and ‘no’ to nouns and pronouns by using ‘of the’ or ‘of + possessive adjective’. In this case, the words are classed as pronouns rather than quantifiers: Of + the + noun Give it to either of the children. Of + pronoun I didn’t understand much of it. Of + possessive pronoun/adjective + noun Many of our friends came.