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02/27/2017
IEC BEGINNER
Grammar & Usage
Forming plural nouns
In order to change a singular noun to its plural form in English, you usually add "s".
For example, the plural of book is books. The plural of table is tables. These are regular
plural forms.
But there are many nouns which don't follow this rule.
For example, the plural of tooth is teeth. The plural of man is men. These are irregular
plural, forms.
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Regular plurals:
 Forms
a. Noun +s
Examples:
Girl
Boy
Window
Girls
Boys
Windows
b. A singular noun ending in s, x, z, ch, sh makes the plural by adding-es.
Examples:
Bus
Wish
Box
Pitch
Buses
Wishes
Boxes
Pitches
c. A singular noun ending in y makes the plural by adding-ies.
Examples:
Baby
Penny
City
Babies
Pennies
Cities
d. A singular noun ending in o makes the plural by adding-es
Examples:
Patato
Hero
Tomato
Patatoes
heroes
Tomatoes
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Irregular plurals:
Several nouns have irregular plural forms.
Examples:
Child
Man
Woman
Children
Men
Women
Present progressive or present continuous
The present progressive is used for actions going on in the moment of speaking
Form: Subject + be + verb + ing
Subject
Affirmative
Negative
Interrogative
I
I am playing.
I am not playing.
Am I playing?
He / She / It
He (she, it) is playing.
He (she, it) It is not playing.
Is he (she, it) playing?
You / We / They
You (we, they)
are playing.
You (we, they)
are not playing.
Are you (we, they) playing?
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Articles: Indefinite and Definite Articles
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Indefinite article: A / An
A is used when the next word begins with a consonant sound (b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k etc.):
 a book
 a table
 a clock
 a university (because the beginning of university sounds like YOU-niversity)
AN is used when the next word begins with a vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u):
 an apple
 an elephant
 an umbrella
 an hour (because the H is silent)
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Definite Article : The
We use The for plural nouns and with:
 Singular noun when it is clear which person or thing we are talking about:
 The books are on the shelves.
 There is a lamp in my bedroom. (we mention the lamp for the first time)
 The lamp is next to the desk.
 Musical instruments (the violin, the guitar, the drums, the flute, the piccolo):
 She plays the piano.
 Something that is unique or there is only one:
 The sun
 The moon
 The internet.
 Names of rivers, seas, oceans, mountain ranges and deserts (always in capitals).
 The Mississippi River
 The Black Sea
 The Andes
 The Sahara Desert
 Directions (cardinal points):
 The west
 The south
 The East
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Personal Pronouns
We use personal pronouns to replace the person, the thing (or people, things) that we
are talking about.
 When a personal pronoun takes the place of a noun as the subject of a sentence,
it is a subject pronoun.
 When a personal pronoun is the direct or indirect object of a verb, or when it is
used as the object of a preposition, it is an object pronoun.
Person / Gender
Subject
pronoun
Object
pronoun
Example
First
(Male/female
Singular)
Second
(Male/female
Singular)
Third (Singular)
Male
Female
Thing/Animal
I
Me
I talked to Ida yesterday
Ida talked to me yesterday
You
You
If you need a book,
I will buy this one for you
He
She
It
Him
Her
It
He run fast, but the dog bit him.
She is clever. Do you know her ?
It doesn’t work. Please fix it .
Plural - First
- Second
-Third
We
You
They
Us
You
Them
We went home. My friend drove us.
You are the fastest runner on the team, and we’re
depending on you.
They played football. The other team beat them
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