The following exercises are taken from "The EnglishPractice Times" Official Newsletter
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In this issue...
1 - Quiz 2 - New Words from the Vocab Club 3 - Count and Noncount 4 - Articles 5 - Possessive Pronouns 6 - Quiz Answers More Culture Lessons -------------------- EnglishPractice has added more culture lessons on the first page of the site. This week, learn about insults, more on health and understand two more jokes! 1 - Quiz -------- What word finishes the sentence? Answers in section 6. a) When you are in trouble, the (advice/advise) of friends is helpful. b) The (bare/bear) went into hibernation. c) The painting by Picasso is (priceless/worthless). d) My father always (said/told) us a story before we went to sleep. e) I had to buy paper and pens at the (stationary/stationery) store. 2 - New Words From The Vocab Club --------------------------------- Our Daily Vocab Club has learned seven new words this week. Here are the seven new words: idle = not busy (adjective) kiln = oven (noun) lawn = grass (noun) jumble = mix (verb) nasty = foul (adjective) metropolis = city (noun) hamper = to slow down, impede (verb) 3 - Count and Noncount ---------------------- There are two categories for nouns, count and noncount. Count nouns are nouns that are possible and reasonable to count. Count nouns have plural forms made by adding -s or -es, and can take singular or plural verbs. They can have a/an or a number in front of them. For example: a book, two books There is a book on the sofa. There are two books on the sofa. Noncount nouns are not possible or reasonable to count. (Reasonable: think of rice, you could count it, but it is too difficult to bother!) Noncount nouns do not have a plural form, can't take a plural verb, and can't have a/an or a number in front of them. I ate cereal for breakfast. NOT = I ate a cereal for breakfast. There is rice for dinner. NOT = There are rices for dinner. Noncount nouns can be categorized: abstract emotions or concepts: happiness, anger, justice, love liquids: beer, water, juice gases: oxygen, air natural phenomena and weather: thunder, lightning, rain, fog activities: dancing, baseball general subjects: Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics languages: English, Chinese, German food: rice, sugar, spaghetti 4 - Articles ------------ There are many, many rules about articles to remember. Here is a very simple one: Use articles with the names of buildings, theaters, hotels, motels, and bridges. For example: The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the most famous bridges in the world. The Marriott Hotel is close to the airport. The Harry Hays building hosts many government offices. 5 - Possessive Pronouns ----------------------- Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns. Possessive pronouns take the place of nouns and show ownership of that noun. Sometimes possessive pronouns are confused with possessive adjectives, so here is a quick review: Possessive Adjectives are used in front of a noun: My - His Your - Her Our - Their He took his dog for a walk. Possessive Pronouns are used alone, without a noun following it: Mine - Yours Hers - His Ours - Theirs I own a car. It is mine. 6 - Quiz Answers ---------------- Here are the answers from section 1: a) advice b) bear c) priceless d) told e) stationery |