 | Grammar and Structures List |  |
Starters
(Reference: Cambridge Young Learners English / Global Standard English)
Nouns
In English, we have four(4) basic articles.
| Singular form only: a - an | | un, una/algún, algúna |
| Singular and plural forms: the | | el, la, los, las (y a veces 'lo') |
| Plural form only: some | | algo de/ unos, unas / algunos, algunas |
Singular form: Rule #1. Use and pronunciation of the Definite article 'the'.
- The definite article 'the' is the most frequent word in English. 'The' is used to refer to specific or particular nouns.
- We pronounce the Definitive article or word the (tha) before the sound of consonants.
- We pronounce the Definitive article or word the (thi) before the sound of vowels (a, e, i, o, u).
the book | the door | the apple | the onion |
the noun | the chair | the ant | the orange |
the pencil | the bed | the example | the alphabet |
the teacher | the window | the exercise | the answer |
the sentence | the flower | the ice cream | the umbrella |
- The Definite article agrees with the next word, not with the next noun:
the open book / the long pencil / the big orange / the easy exercise
Singular form: Rule #2. Use of the Indefinite articles 'a - an'.
- Use the Indefinite article or word “a” before the sound of consonants.
- Use the Indefinite article or word “an” before the sound of vowels (a, e, i, o, u).
a book | a door | an apple | an onion |
a noun | a chair | an ant | an orange |
a pencil | a bed | an example | an alphabet |
a teacher | a window | an exercise | an answer |
a sentence | a flower | an ice cream | an umbrella |
- The Indefinite article agrees with the next word, not with the next noun:
an open book / a long pencil / a big orange / an easy exercise
Plural form: Rule #3. Generally, add '-s'. Remember, we use the Definite article 'the' and Indefinite article 'some' for plural form of nouns.
| the books | | the doors | | the apples | | the onions |
| the nouns | | the chairs | | the ants | | the oranges |
| the pencils | | the beds | | the examples | | the alphabets |
| the teachers | | the windows | | the exercises | | the answers |
| the sentences | | the flowers | | the ice creams | | the umbrellas |
| some books | | some doors | | some apples | | some onions |
| some nouns | | some chairs | | some ants | | some oranges |
| some pencils | | some beds | | some examples | | some alphabets |
| some teachers | | some windows | | some exercises | | some answers |
| some sentences | | some flowers | | some ice creams | | some umbrellas |
You also add '
-s' to form the third person singular of a verb.
| add | | adds | | clean | | cleans |
| complete | | completes | | learn | | learns |
| paint | | paints | | smile | | smiles |
| talk | | talks | | want | | wants |
Sometimes, we must add '
-es'. Remember the rule to form the plural of a noun or third person of a verb!
| go | | goes | | kiss | | kisses |
| box | | boxes | | buzz | | buzzes |
| watch | | watches | | wish | | wishes |
| catch | | catches | | kiss | | kisses |
Next, we have a few words that end in a '
consonant - y' so we change the letter -y for
-ies.
| vocabulary | | vocabularies | | candy | | candies |
| story | | stories | | family | | families |
| hobby | | hobbies | | fly | | flies |
| fry | | fries | | try | | tries |
But, when the noun or verb ends with a '
vowel - y' we just add the letter '
-s'.
| boy | | boys | | toy | | toys |
| say | | says | | day | | days |
| enjoy | | enjoys | | gray | | grays |
| play | | plays | | | | |
Finally, there are a few nouns and verbs that end in '
-f' or '
-fe' so we form the plural or third person of the verb with '
-ves'.
| leaf | | leaves | | knife | | knives |
| wife | | wives | | life | | lives |
Irregular nouns.
An irregular noun is a noun that becomes plural by changing its spelling in other ways than adding an “s” or “es” to the end of the word.
Some irregular nouns take on the plural form by first changing the last letter of the word before adding “s”.
Words that end in “f” are a good example of this case. To make such a word plural, you change the “f” to “ve” and add an “s”.
Here are some examples:
More than one knife = knives
More than one loaf = loaves
More than one shelf = shelves
More than on leaf = leaves
Irregular nouns made plural by changing vowels, changing the word, or adding a different ending:
Here are some examples:
More than one man = men
More than one person = people
More than one mouse = mice
More than one child = children
More than one foot = feet
More than one goose = geese
More than one tooth = teeth
Some irregular plural nouns have the same spelling as their singular form.
Here are some examples:
Scissors
Glasses
pants
sheep
And then some animal nouns become plural by keeping the same spelling as the singular form or by adding an '-s' or '-es'.
Here is an example:
More than one fish = fish or fishes
Countable nouns.
Countable nouns (or count nouns) are those that refer to something that can be counted.
They have both singular and plural forms.
Here are some examples:
book / books
cat / cats
example / examples
In the singular, they can be preceded by a or an
Uncountable nouns.
Uncountable nouns are substances, concepts etc. that we cannot divide into separate elements. We cannot "count" them.
For example, we cannot count "milk". We can count "bottles of milk" or "liters of milk", but we cannot count "milk" itself.
An uncountable noun is called a Nombre incontable or sustantivo incontable in Spanish.
Here are some more examples of 'uncountable nouns':
sugar
water
rice
bread
salt
Pronunciation
Rule #4: Long vowel sound or short vowel sound. When we look at a word in English, how do we pronounce it?
Long vowel sound. Remember the rule! The word that ends in a vowel - consonant - letter 'e', we often pronounce like the vowel of the English alphabet.
Here are some examples:
hate | -- | Pete | -- | kite | -- | hope | -- | cute |
A | | E | | I | | O | | U |
You never pronounce the letter '-e' for the words (noun or verb). The letter '-e' is silent.
This rule has exceptions: for example the verbs GO (ir) and DO (hacer). The pronunciation is with the long vowel 'O' for 'go' and 'U' for 'do'.
Short vowel sound. Again, remember the rule! The word that ends in a vowel - consonant or vowel - consonant - consonant often has the vowel of the Spanish alphabet.
Here are some examples:
This rule has exceptions, too. For example, in the word '
hop' and '
cut' the pronunciation of the '
o' and '
u' have the sound '
a' of the Spanish alphabet.
The pronunciation of the termination 'consonant - consonant - letter -e'.
There are a few words in English that have the termination 'consonant - consonant - letter -e'.
Generally, these words indicate the state, feeling or condition of the person.
The pronunciation remains the same as in Rule #4. We pronounce the long vowel for the vowel and the letter 'e' is silent.
The word 'ache' is used to indidate pain or discomfort. We pronounce the work 'ache' as (eik).
Here are some examples:
Stomach ache
toothache
back ache
headache
Adjectives
Rule #5. An adjective in English does not have a plural form and you usually write the adjective before a noun.
An adjective is a word that describes something (a noun) or someone (a person)
Adjectives sometimes appear
after the verb '
To Be'.
I am short. | You are tall. |
He is sad. | She is happy. |
Adjectives sometimes appear
before a noun.
short boy | tall girl |
sad dog | tall chair |
Types of Adjectives
We have the adjectives that refer to…
Opinion: Explains what we think about something. This is usually our opinion, attitude or observations.
These adjectives almost always come before all other adjectives.
Here are some examples: good, bad beautiful, boring, delicious, nice, stupid.
Size: Tells us how big or small something is.
Here are some examples: big, small, tall, huge, tiny
Shape / Weight / Length: Tells about the shape of something or how long or short it is. It can also refer to the weight of someone or something.
Here are some examples: round, square, circular, skinny, fat, heavy, straight, long, short
Condition: Tells us the general condition or state of something
Here are some examples: broken, cold, hot, wet, hungry, rich, easy, difficult, dirty
Age: Tells us how old someone or something is.
Here are some examples: old, young, new, ancient, antique
Color: The color or approximate color of something.
Here are some examples: green, white, blue, red, purple
Pattern: The pattern or design of something.
Here are some examples: striped, spotted, checked, flowery
Origin: Tells us where something is from.
Here are some examples: American, British, Italian, Mexican, Russian
Material: What is the thing made of or constructed of?
Here are some examples: gold, wooden, silk, paper, cotton
Purpose/Use: What is it for? These adjectives often end in –ing.
Here are some examples: gardening (gloves), shopping (bag), wedding (dress)
If you look at the examples above, you can ask… what are the gloves used for? (gardening) What is the bag used for? (shopping)
Summary
The order of the adjectives. There are ten (10) positions in the order of adjectives. Each position represents what the adjective describes.
Opinion - Size - Shape/Weight/Length - Condition - Age - Color - Pattern - Origin - Material - Purpose/Use
Rule #6. When we use adjectives in English, we usually do not use more than three (3) to describe someone or something.
Two (2) adjectives to describe someone or something is very common. So we can use the grammar point ( , ) or comma in place of the word 'and'.
Here are some examples:
a red and white ball. | the fast and easy exercise. |
a red, white ball. | the fast, easy exercise. |
some happy and young students. | my big and new book. |
some happy, young students. | my big, new book. |
Determiners
What are determiners?
Definition:
Determiner: The determiner tells us if the noun is singular or plural, definite or indefinite
A word (such as “a,” “the,” “some,” “any,” “my,” or “your”) that comes before a noun and is used to show which thing is being referred to.
Determiners as 'articles': a, an, the
Determiners as 'demonstrative adjectives': this, that / these, those
Determiners as 'possessive adjectives': my, your, his, her, its, our, their. We also use determiners as possesive names: Tim's, Ana's, Tony's
Determiners as 'quantifiers' or 'how many': few, many, several, some
Determiners as 'distributive' or 'number': each, any / Numbers like one, two, three, ten, fourteen, twenty
Determiners as 'interrogative': which, what
Pronouns
What are pronouns?
Definition:
Pronouns are words we use in the place of a full noun.
Pro- (in place of) + noun = pronoun.
What are the pronouns in English?
There are different pronouns that we use just like in Spanish. The most important to learn and understand are:
(1) Personal Pronouns:
I, he, she, it, you, we, they. There are seven (7) personal pronouns in English.
Remember, with the pronoun '
I' … always use and write in 'capital' letter.
The pronoun '
I' is singular.
The pronouns '
he, she and it' are singular. These pronouns are '
third person singular'.
The pronoun '
it' always refers to a 'thing or animal'. The pronoun '
it' never refers to a person.
The pronoun '
you' is singular and plural.
For '
one person' we use the pronoun '
you'.
For '
more than one person' we use the pronoun '
you'.
The pronouns '
we and they' are always plural.
The pronoun '
we' also means: '
You and I' or when we talk or write about more than one person in a group.
The pronoun '
they' also means '
He and She' or when we talk or write about more than one person in a group.
The pronoun '
they' also means more than one thing or more than one animal.
They is the plural of the pronoun
it.
(2) Possessive Adjectives:
my, your, his, her, its, our, their.
A possessive adjective is an adjective that is used to
show ownership.
A possesive adjective comes before a noun in the sentence and lets us know to whom the noun belongs to.
Possessive adjectives are used to describe the noun.
(3) Possessive pronouns include mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs, and - all words that
demonstrate ownership.
We use possessive pronouns to refer to a specific person/people or thing/things that belong to a person/people.
We sometimes use possessive pronouns to also refer to belonging to an animal/animals or thing/things).
We use possessive pronouns depending on:
a) number: singular (eg:
mine) or plural (eg:
ours)
b) person: 1st person (eg: mine), 2nd person (eg: yours) or 3rd person (eg: his)
c) gender: male (his), female (hers)
Below are the possessive pronouns. Notice that each possessive pronoun can:
a) be the subject or the object
b) refer to a singular or plural form
number | person | gender (of "owner") | possessive pronouns |
singular | 1st | male/ female | mine |
2nd | male/ female | yours |
3rd | male | his |
female | hers |
plural | 1st | male/ female | ours |
2nd | male/ female | yours |
3rd | male/ female/ neuter | theirs |
Summary of the Personal pronouns, Possessive Adjectives and Possessive pronouns.
Personal Pronouns | | Possessive Adjectives | | Possessive Pronouns | |
I | | my | | mine | | (Singular form) |
you | | your | | yours | |
he | | his | | his | |
she | | her | | hers | |
it | | its | | its | |
we | | our | | ours | | (Plural form) |
they | | their | | theirs | |
you | | your | | yours | |