Topics of English I A/An

a = one thing or person; an (not a) before a/e/i/o/u; also h not pronounced; except u pronounced yu, and eu; another (= an + other) is one word; abbreviations said as individual letters that begin with A, E, F,H, I, L, M, N, O, R, S or X: an FBI agent; but compare abbreviations said as words: a FIFA official; notice that we say a history (book) but an (or a) historical (novel); We use a/an when we say what something/someone is, or what someone/something is like: a dog is an animal, what a nice dress! (but dogs are animals and what awful shoes!); We use a/an when the listener doesnt know which thing we mean: Tom sat down on a chair (we dont know which chair); One x a/an: We use a/an (not one) to talk about a particular but unspecified person, thing or event: I really need a cup of coffee; We also use a/an, not one, in number or quantity expressions such as: three times a year, half an hour, a day or so (= about a day); Before a singular countable noun one and a/an both refer to one thing, but using one gives a little more emphasis to the length of time, quantity, amount, etc.;

The
We use the when it is clear which thing or person we mean: the floor / the ceiling / the door / the carpet / the light etc. (of a room); the roof / the garden / the kitchen / the bathroom etc. (of a house); the centre / the station /the airport / the town hall etc. (of a town). We say: the sun, the moon, the world, the sky, the sea, the country; the police, the fire brigade, the army (of a city, country etc.); the top, the middle, the end, the left etc.; (play) the piano, the guitar, the trumpet etc. (musical instruments); (listen to) the radio. We do not use the with: television (but the TV set); breakfast, lunch, dinner (but we say a meal; we also use a when there is an adjective before them, a nice lunch) next/last + week/month/year/summer/Monday etc.

Do not use the for general ideas or things in general, sports and games, languages or academic subjects; Places (continents, countries, states, individual islands, towns, cities, villages etc.): in general we do not use the + names of places, but we use the in names with republic/states/kingdom; We say go to sea / be at sea when we the meaning is go/be on a voyage; We say space (not the space) when we mean space in the universe; We say: (go to) the theater / the cinema / the bank / the post office / the hospital; (go to) the doctor / the dentist; also (go to) the station / the airport / the city centre. the s (plural names): we use the + plural names of countries/islands/mountains; seas, rivers etc.: we use the + names of oceans/seas/rivers/canals; places in towns (streets, buildings etc.): in general we do not use the + names of streets, squares, roads, avenues, boulevards etc.; we do not use the + name of place (or person) + airport/station/university/castle etc. (but we say the White House and the Royal Palace because white and royal are not names; but usually we use the + names of hotels, restaurants, pubs, cinemas, theatres, museums, buildings, monument (except for banks). the of we use the + names with of : the Republic of Ireland, the Tower of London; we say: the north / the south / the east / the west / the middle (of) we use the + a singular countable noun to talk about a type of animal, plant, a machine, a invention etc. (note that you can also use a plural noun without the): The rose is my favorite flower. (= Flowers are my favorite flowers.), and When was the telephone invented. We use the with some adjectives (without a noun). The meaning is always plural: the rich (= the rich people); You can use the with some nationality adjectives (the British, the English, the Welsh, the Irish, the Spaninsh, the French, the Dutsch, the Swiss, and with nationality words ending in ese as such as the Japanese, the Libanese, etc.) when you mean people of the country (with the others you have to use the plural noun ending -s: The French are famous for their food, but The Italians are great singers.

-s
We normally use s for people: I stayed at my sisters house. (not the house of my sister); You can use s without a noun after it: I stayed at my sisters (house); In plural we use s: I stayed at my relatives; We use of for things, places etc.: Madrid is the capital of Spain.

And/but/or
You are beautiful You are beautiful Are you beautiful and but or (you are) smart. you arent smart. (are you) smart?

Am/Is/Are
Positive I am he she is it we you are they (Im) (hes) (shes) (its) (were) (youre) (theyre) Negative am not he she is not it we you are not they (Im not) (hes not or he isnt) (shes not or she isnt) (its not or it isnt) (were not or we arent) (youre not or you arent) (theyre not or they arent) Questions am I? he? is she? it? we? are you? they?

Where? / What? / Who? / How? / Why? where's = where is / whos = who is / hows = how is short answers: Yes, I am. / No, Im not. There is (= Theres ) / There are: Theres a book on the table (not Its a book)

I/me, he/him, they/them

I / he, she / we / you / they occurs in the subject position of a sentence or after the verb be: I love Diana. / She hates John. / It is she whos calling you. me / him, her / us / you / them occurs in complement position and after a preposition (for/to/with): I love her. / She hates me. / This letter isnt for me.

It
We use it (and its plural them) for things: This letter isnt for me = It isnt for me. / I like these books. = I like them. We use it for time/day/distance/weather: Its late. / Its 16 March. / I walk home every day. It isnt far. / Its raining. Compare: It rains a lot in winter. / There is a lot of rain in winter. Its + easy, difficult, impossible, dangerous, safe, expensive, interesting, nice, wonderful, terrible etc. + to (do, see, understand, find etc.): Its easy to learn English.

My x Mine
I / he, she / we / you / they me / his, her / our / your / their mine / his, hers / ours / yours / theirs; we use my/your/his etc. + a noun: This is my book; we use mine/yours/his etc. without a noun: Is this book mine or yours? a friend of mine / a friend of his / some friends of yours etc: Are those people friends of yours. = Are those people your friends?

Whose ? (with or without a noun): Whose (book) is this? Its mine.

this/that/these/those
this picture or these pictures (here); that flower or those flowers (there); we use this/that/these/those with or without a noun: Whos that (girl)?; we use this is and is that? on the telephone: Hello, this is David. / Is that Sarah? We use this is to introduce people: Brian, this is Chris. Hi, Chris, what a pleasure!

Countable/Uncountable
Countable nouns: (a) car, (a) man, (a) house, (a) flower, (an) idea, (an) accident You can use one/two/three (etc.) + countable nouns; Countable nouns can be singular (= one) or plural (= two or more); You cannot use the singular countable nouns alone (without a/the/my, etc.); Uncountable nouns: water, air, rice, salt, plastic, money, music, tennis You cannot say one/two/three (etc.) + these things; Uncountable nouns only have one form: money, some money; You cannot use a/an + uncountable nouns, but you can use a piece of / a glass of etc + uncountable noun; a/an and some: a/an + singular countable nouns; some + plural countable nouns; some + uncountable nouns; Do not use some when you are talking about things in general: I love bananas. Sometimes you can use some or leave it out: There are (some) eggs in the refrigerator if youre hungry. You have to use some when you mean some, but not all / not many, etc: some children learn very quickly. (but not all children) Many nouns are sometimes countable and sometimes uncountable. For example: a cake / some cakes / some cake or a piece of cake; Many nouns can be used as countable or as uncountable nouns. Usually there is a difference in meaning: I bought a paper (= a newspaper); I bought some paper (= material for writing on); Be careful with these nouns they are usually uncountable: information / advice / weather / news (it is not plural) / bread / hair / furniture / trouble / permission / traffic / baggage / chaos / luggage / progress / travel (do not use it to mean trip/journey) / behavior / scenery / work (we say a job but not a work);

Plural and Singular

The plural of a noun is usually s; except s, -sh, -ch, -x - es; also -o -es;

except y -ies; but ay, -ey, -oy -s; except f, -fe -ves; scissors, glasses, trousers, jeans, shorts, tights, pyjamas are always plural in English, and you can also say a pair of scissors, a pair of glasses etc; some plurals do not end in s: man-men, child-children, foot-feet, tooth-teeth; People and police are plural (=they), so we say people are/police have etc.

Present Continuous
am/is/are + -ing: Positive: Im working. Negative: Im not working. Questions: am I working? = something is happening now: Please be quiet. Im working; = plans or arrangements (usually for people): Im working tomorrow/next week/on Friday etc. We do not use these verbs in the present continuous: like, love, want, know, understand, remember, depend, prefer, hate, need, mean, believe, and forget.

Present Simple
I/we/you/they read, like, work, live, watch, do, have he/she/it reads, likes, works, lives, watches, does, has We use the present simple for things that are true in general, or for things that happen sometimes or all the time: I like big cities. / The Earth goes round the Sun. always/never/often/sometimes/usually + present simple: Julia never eats breakfast; the present simple negative is subject + do not/does not (or dont/doesnt) + verb in infinitive: I dont like Fred and Fred doesnt like me. (not Fred dont drink nor Fred doesnt drinks); for questions we use: do/does + subject + infinitive: What does this word mean? / What do you usually do at the weekends? short answers: Yes, I do. / No, he doesnt; we use the present simple for timetables, programmes, trains, buses etc.: the train arrives at 7.30. / what time does the film finish?

a/an 64 - a and some 66-67 - a/an and the 68

the 68-72 - the and a/an 68 - the same 69B - the sun/the sky etc. 69C - the cinema/the theater/the bank etc 70B - flowers/the flowers 71B - the in name of places 72 - the biggest/the most expensive etc. 89

and 109

of - the roof of the building etc. 63C - the of 72E

to - time 97A - places 101, 103 - go to... 54A, 101A - get to... 55C, 101C - to + infinitive (to go/to be etc.) see infinitive

in

- in April/in summer etc. 96 - in a room/in hospital etc. 99-100 - in five minutes/in three years etc. 96E - in and to 101 - put something in 103 - go in/fill in etc (phrasal verbs) 107-108

am/is/are 1-2 - am/is/are -ing (present continuous) 3-4, 23A, 26, 50C - there is/there are 36

you 58, 61

that 73 - he said that... (reported speech) 49C - that and this 73 - a thing that... (relative clauses) 113

it 38, 58B - it is and there is 36B, 38A - it's and its 59C

was/were 10 for for ten minutes / for three years etc. 19, 97D was/were + -ing (past continuous) 13, 23A, 50C was/were done (passive) 21, 23B there was/were 37A if I was/were 112B

on -

for and to 53B go for a walk etc. 54C for and during 98C

on Monday / on 25 April etc. 96 on the table / on the wall 99-100 on the left/right 102A on holiday/on television etc. 104A go on (holiday/a trip etc.) 54B get on/put on etc. (phrasal verbs) 107-108, Appendix 6-7

as (not as as) 88 with/without 104D with/without + -ing 105

adjectives 84 adjectives and adverbs (quick/quickly) 85 comparatives (older/more expensive) 86-88 superlatives (the oldest / the most expensive) 89 get + adjective (get tired etc.) 55B possessive adjectives (my/your/her etc.) 59, 61 something/anybody etc. + adjective 78C adjectives + preposition (afraid of etc) 105A

1. the 2. of 3. and 4. a 5. to 6. in 7. is 8. you 9. that 10. it 11. he 12. was 13. for 14. on 15. are 16. as 17. with 18. his 19. they 20. I

21. at 22. be 23. this 24. have 25. from 26. or 27. one 28. had 29. by 30. word 31. but 32. not 33. what 34. all 35. were 36. we 37. when 38. your 39. can 40. said

41. there 42. use 43. an 44. each 45. which 46. she 47. do 48. how 49. their 50. if 51. will 52. up 53. other 54. about 55. out 56. many 57. then 58. them 59. these 60. so

61. some 62. her 63. would 64. make 65. like 66. him 67. into 68. time 69. has 70. look 71. two 72. more 73. write 74. go 75. see 76. number 77. no 78. way 79. could 80. people

81. my 82. than 83. first 84. water 85. been 86. call 87. who 88. oil 89. its 90. now 91. find 92. long 93. down 94. day 95. did 96. get 97. come 98. made 99. may 100. part