Articles

Articles precede nouns. In English there are two types of articles:

indefinite articles (a, an) and definite articles (the). Indefinite
articles introduce a noun into speech that has not yet been
mentioned. Definite articles accompany nouns that have already
been mentioned. They are grammatical elements that modify the
noun and define a name and are always placed before the name.

Indefinite articles

The indefinite articles in English are a and an. They are used in
front of nouns that begin with a consonant or vowel, respectively
to speak something unspecified, to mention something in a text for
the first time and in front of the names of professionals. We use
a/an before singular nouns when we mention them for the first
time or when we don´t refer to a specific item. Its grammar rules
are:

Exceptions:
 “a” are used with names that are consonants:
We use “a” before words that
a book begin with the letters “u” or “eu”
when they are pronounced as the
a pen
figurative sound “yu”:
a chair
 a university
a girl
 a euro
“an” is used with words
beginning with “h”, but only
when it is not pronounced:
 an hour
 “an” is used with names that begin with a vowel:
an animal
an ice cream
an example
an orange
an umbrella

Definite articles

We use “the” with singular nouns when we talk about something

or someone in specific.

 Uses of the Definite Article

When we know who or what we are talking about. We use "the" to

indicate something or someone in particular, so it is called definite.
We are talking about something or someone specific that both the
sender and the receiver of the message know because they have
already come out in the conversation before or because they both
know them previously.

 What is the name of the restaurant

 Do you remember the day we went to New York?
 Who is the president of the United States?
With the names of geological regions, mountain ranges, seas,
oceans, groups of islands, rivers and countries in the plural.

 The United States

 The Atlantic Ocean
 The Nile River

To refer to directions (right, left, top, bottom) and cardinal points

(north, south, east, west).

 The south of France

 The House on th left

With adjectives in superlative degree and ordinal numbers.

 The tallest building

 The strongest man
 The first time
Exercise

INSTRUCTIONS: Circle a or the.

1. Mark has a / the baby sister. A / The baby is very funny.

2. This is my dog. It has a / the long tail and a / the small nose.
3.
a) Do you have a / the cat?
b) No, I don´t.
4.
a) What’s your favorite animal?
b) I like cats. My grandfather has a / the cat. A / The cat´s legs
are very short.
Adjectives

An adjective is a word that accompanies and modifies the name.

You can enlarge, complement or quantify its size. They are words
that name or indicate qualities, traits and properties of the names
or nouns they accompany.

Types of Adjectives

 Descriptive

 Fat  Blue  Nice  Hot

 Young  Round  Long  Early

 Demostrative

This / That
We use this to point out a person, animal or thing that is close to
us.
We use that to point out a person, animal or thing that is far from
us.
 I like this car (Me gusta ese coche)
 I like that car (Me gusta ese coche)
These / Those
We use these to point out people, animals or things that are close
to us.
We use that to point out a people, animals or things that are is far
from us.
 I like these cars (Me gustan esos coches)
 I like those cars (Me gustan aquellos coches)

 Quantitative

Quantifiers Countable Uncountable

Many x
Much x
Some x x
Any x x
No, no one x x
A lot of/ lots of x x
Little/ a little x
Few/ a few x

 We have many friends (Tenemos muchos amigos)

 We have much to do! (Tenemos mucho que hacer)
 She has come apples (Tiene muchas manzanas)
 There is some milk in the kitchen (Hay algo de leche en la
cocina)
 I do not have any cats (No tengo ningún gato)
 He doesn’t have any money (No tiene dinero)
 There are no pencils (No hay lápices)
 I have no money (No tengo dinero)
 He has a lot of books (Tiene muchos libros)
 I have lots of money (Tengo mucho dinero)
 We have little time (Tenemos poco tiempo)
 There are a few tourists here today (Hay pocos turistas aquí
hoy)

 Interrogative

 Which?  What?  Where?  How?

 Possessive

Possesive adjectives go before nouns, without articles.

  My  Her  Its  Your
 Your  His  Our  Their

 My car is blue (Mi carro es azul)

 His house is big (Su casa es grande)
 Her drees (Su vestido)
 Andrea’s dress (El vestido de Andrea)

 Numeric

 One  Four  First  Third

Grammatical Rules

1. The adjective almost always comes before the noun, as we saw

at the beginning of this lesson. With some verbs the adjective is
placed behind the verb.

2. The adjective in English has no gender.

3. The adjectives do not have a plural form. Only the

demonstrative and quantitative adjectives have different forms
for the singular and plural.
4. We can use two or more adjectives together.
Exercises

INSTRUCTIONS: Complete the sentences with the correct

possessive adjective.

1. - A: Is that _____________ roommate?

B: Yes. ___________ name’s Bob and he’s eighteen.
2. - Roberta is my best friend ._____________ family’s from Italy.
3. Mark an I are best friends. ____________ favorite subject is art.
4. Maria and Anna are from Italy. ____________ last name is
Ponti.

INSTRUCTIONS: Circle the correct words.

1. - A: Is this/ that your new camera over there?
B: Yes, it is.
2. A: Are these/ this Mary´s sunglasses?
B: No, I think they’re Jenny’s.
3. This / that red purse here is new but these / those over there are
old.
4. A: Look at that / those cell phones. They´re cool!
B: Yes, and this / these camera is nice, too.
Compound Adjectives

A compound adjective is an adjective that contains two or more

words. In general, we place a hyphen between two or more words
(before a noun) when we want them to act as a single idea
(adjective) that describes something.
 Our office is in a twenty-storey building (Nuestra oficina está
en un edificio de veinte pisos)
 I have just finished reading a 300-page book (Acabo de
terminar de leer un libro de 300 paginas)
 He is a well-known writer (Es un escritor muy conocido)

Nouns
The nouns are used to refer to people, animals, things and objects,
events, places, or abstract ideas.

Plural nouns

Most nouns have an "-s" added at the end to form the plural.

 Camera-cameras  Pen-pens

 Car-cars  House-houses
 Exceptions:

1.- Words that end in a consonant + "y": the "y" changes to "i" and
we add "is".

 Party-parties

 City-cities

2.- Words that end in vowel + "y": we add an "s".

 Boy-boys

 Toy-toys

3.- Words ending in "s", "ss", "sh", "ch", "x", "o": we add "is".

 Bus-buses

 Glass-glasses

3.- Words that end in "f" or "faith": we change the "f" or "faith" for
Irregular Plural nouns

Many nouns are pluralized in an irregular way. There are two

cases:

 When the singular and plural do not change.

 Fish Fish
 Sheep Sheep
 When the plural varies irregularly. Therefore, there is no rule
which can be followed and you have to learn the irregular
shapes of each one.

man men
woman women
child children
person people
tooth teeth
foot feet
mouse mice
Proper nouns

Proper names are the words used to designate specific people,

places, organizations, titles, or events.
Countable nouns

Countable nouns can be counted and have both a singular and a

plural form. We can use a/an or one in the singular form.and some,
any or numbers in the plural form. We cannot count them, they
have singular and plural forms.

 One pencil  Two cats  Three houses

Uncountable nouns

The uncountable nouns or nouns are those that we cannot count

because we cannot delimit them individually but they are part of a
whole. They are treated as singular (you cannot make plurals by
adding "-s"). However, the moment we delimit them, these same
names or nouns become countable. They must be preceded, if they
want to be individualized, by a word with partitive value.

 A gram of  A piece of  Two cups  Three glasses

salt wood of tea of wine
There be

 There is
 There is a pencil
 There’s one car
 There is not an apple
 Is there a pen?
 There is milk
 There is not time
 Is there sugar?

 There are
 There are five pencils
 There are not two cars
 Are there many people?
Quantifiers

The quantifiers indicate the quantity of a name. They are answers

to the question "How many?" Like articles, quantifiers define a
name and are always placed in front of the name. Some can be
used only with countable names, others with only uncountable
names, and still others with both.

 Many
We use many with plural countable nouns, usually in questions
and in negative sentences.

 Much
We use much with uncountable nouns, usually in questions and in
negative sentences.

 Some
We use some + uncountable or plural countable nouns, in
affirmative sentences and offers.

 Any
We use any + uncountable or plural countable nouns, in questions
and negative sentences.
 No, none
Can be used without being accompanied by a name, countable or
uncountable.
 A lot of/ lots of
We use a lot of/lots of with uncountable and plural countable
nouns, usually in affirmative sentences.

 Little/a little
We use a little with uncountable nouns, in affirmative sentences.

 Few/a few
We use a few with plural countable nouns, in affirmative
sentences.

Exercises

INSTRUCTIONS: Complete the sentences with the plural form of

the nouns is parentheses.

1. - Tina and David are Mr. Black’s ____________ (child).

2. Jack and Tim are ______________ (friend).
3. The ____________ (woman) in the picture are my
______________ (aunt), Karen and Alice. They are
_____________ (waitress).

INSTRUCTIONS: Complete sentences with the correct form of

there is / there are.

1.- A: ___________ three bedrooms in the apartament?

B: No,____________.
2. - ____________ an elevator in the building?
3. Look ___________ a mirror behind the door.
4. _____________ a garage in front of the house?
Compound nouns

Some nouns consist of more than one word. These are compound
nouns. Compound nouns can be formed in different ways. The
most common way is to put two nouns together (noun + noun);
other common types are adjective + noun and verb + noun.
Collocations

Collocation refers to how words go together or form fixed

relationships. Collocations may be strong or weak. Strong
collocations are where the link between the two words is quite
fixed and restricted. Weak collocations are where a word can
collocate with many other words.

 Collocations with take

Take a photo Take a taxi Take a

Take a break Take a chance Take notes

 Collocations with Do

 Do a favour  Do your  Do the  Do the

homework laundry housework
 Do your  Do the  Do well  Do you
hair shopping duty

 Collocations with make

  Go  Go bad  Go on foot  Go
bankrupt shopping
 Go missing  Go astray  Go bald  Go quiet

 Collocations with have

 Have a  Have a  Have  Have a

baby problem dinner haircut
 Have a rest  Have a  Have a chat  Have a
shower party

 Collocations with get

 Get a job  Get lost  Get  Get wet

permission
 Idioms
Idioms. Native English speakers love to use them during
conversation, and you often find them in books and on TV shows.
To perfect your English, you need to be more confident in using
idioms.
Under the weather Sentirse enfermo
The balls is in your count Depende de ti
Spill the beans Que reveles un secreto
Break a leg Desearle suerte a alguien
Sat on the fence Ser indeciso
Through thick and thin Ser leal sin importar lo que pase
Once in a blue moon Raramente, de vez en cuando
It´s the best thing since Que algo es realmente bueno
sliced bread
Take it with a pinch of salt No tomar algo demasiado serio
Come rain or come shine No importan las circunstancias
You can say that again Es verdad
See eye to eye Estar completamente de acuerdo con algo
Jump on the bandwagon Seguir la moda
As right as rain Perfecto
Beat around the bush Evitar decir algo, irse por la tangente
Hit the sack Ir a dormir
Miss the boat Es demasiado tarde
By the skin of your teeth Apenas
Phrasal verbs

The difference between prepositions and adverbs is that

prepositions are linked with nouns or pronouns, while adverbs are
part of the verb and depend on it.

Compound verbs can be transitive or intransitive depending on

whether or not they have an object. This will depend on the order
of the sentence. It is very important to note that phrasal verbs and
prepositionals are verbs and generally have a different meaning
than the main verb that forms them.

Examples:

 Get on  Subirse/montarse
 Drive off  Marcharse
 Come back  Volver a algún lugar
 Turn round  Cambiar de dirección
 Break down  Dejar de funcionar
 Look out  Ser cuidadoso
 Take off  Despegar
 Get on  Ponerse
 Get by  Apañarselas
 Run away  Escaparse
 Keep up  Llevar el ritmo
 Look up  Fijarse en algo
 Look forward  Estar pendiente
 Get in  Entrar
 Let yourself in  Dejar entrar a alguien
 Dive in  Bucear
 Move in  Mudarse
 Check in  Presentar documentos
 Walk out  Irse de algun lugar de
repente
 Lock out  Quedarse encerrado
 Climb out  Salir/subir con dificultades
 Check out  Comprobar algo
 Drop/call in  Visitar/encontrarse a alguien
sin tener intención de hacerlo
 Join in  Tomar parte en algún tipo de
actividad que está ejecutando
 Plug in  Conectar algo con otro
 Fill in  Rellenar un formulario
 Take somebody  Engañar, ser engañado
 Eat out  Comer fuera
 Drop out  Dejar de hacer algo justo
antes de terminar
 Get out  Evitar hacer algo
 Cut something out  Recortar algo de una revista

Adverbs
The adverbs are words that modify the meaning of a verb. Adverbs
can also modify adjectives and other adverbs. The adjectives tell
us something about a noun (person, place or thing). Adverbs, on
the other hand, tell us something about the way something is done.
Adverbs can modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.

Grammatical Rules

1..- The general rule of thumb for forming adverbs is to add the
ending "-ly" to an adjective.

2.- For those adjectives that end in "-y", the "y" becomes an "i".
The ending becomes "-ily".

3.- For adjectives that end in "-ic", the ending changes to "-ically".

4.-For adjectives that end in "-le", the "e" is removed and the
ending "-ly" is added.

5..- Some adverbs do not change. The adjective and the adverb are
the same.
Types of Adverbs

 Adverbs of time

Position: Adverbs of time generally are located before the verb or

at the end of the sentence. “Yet” always goes at the end of the
sentence. “Still” is located in front of the verb except when the
verb is “to be”, in which case “still” is found after the verb.

 Today  Tomorro  Last  Next  Alread  Later

w week month y
 Eventual  Still  Soon  Yet  Now
ly

 Adverbs of place

Position: In general, adverbs of place are located after the object of

the sentence or after the verb.
 Here  There  Everywhere  Nowhere

 Adverbs of degree

Position: adverbs of degree are located in front of the word taht

they modify.
  Very  Reall  Almo  Hardl  Quite  Barel
y st y y

 Adverbs of manner

Position: Adverbs of manner are found after the direct object of

the sentences. If there is no object, these adverbs are found after
the verb.

 Loudl  Careful  Softl  Beautiful  Fast  Hard

y ly y ly

 Adverbs of frecuency

We use adverbs of frecuency to talk about how often we do

something. Position: Adverbs of frecuency are located in front of
the verb, but if the verb is “to be”, the adverb is located after the
verb.

Adverbs of Frecuency
100% Warning!
90%
80% Adverbs are never located between the
70% verb and the object of a sentences.
60%
Example:
50%
40%
30%
20%  You speak English perfectly
10%
0%
X.- You speak perfectly English
Always Usually Often
Sometimes Never
 Always-Siempre
Usually-Generalmente
Often-Con frecuencia
Sometimes-A veces
Exercise:

INSTRUCTIONS: Put the adverbs of frecuency in the correct

order to make sentences.

1. sometimes/on weekends/Charlie/works

2. often/you/your room/how/do/clean/?

3. don’t/play/volleyball/I/after school/usually