Suport curs gramatica sem 1 2011-2012

NOUNS THE PLURAL FORM

In general the plural form of nouns is formed by adding the letter -s.

pen – pensdog – dogsstudent – students

However words that end in –ch, -x, or –s will require an –es to form the plural.

dish – dishesmix – mixeskiss – kisses

Some nouns have irregular plural forms.

child –childrenwoman – womenman – menmouse – mice

Also there are a number of nouns that maintain their Greek or Latin form.

singular plural

analysis analyses

appendix appendixes/appendices

axis axes

basis bases

cactus cacti

criterion criteria

datum data

diagnosis diagnoses

index indexes/indices

medium media

oasis oases

octopus octopuses/octopi

phenomenon phenomena

syllabus syllabuses/syllabi

thesis theses

Some nouns have the same singular and plural form.

deer- deerfish – fishsheep- sheep

Note: Some nouns (like news, mathematics, economics) appear to be plural in form but take a singular verb.

This news is perfect.COUNT- NOUNS and MASS NOUNS

Count-nouns are the nouns that can be preceded by one (can be counted) and may have a plural form.one boy two boysone chair two chairsone foot two feet

Mass-nouns cannot be preceded by one (cannot be counted) and cannot have a plural form.bread plastic aluminum publicitymilk ice steel biologywater cloth glass history

Some mass-nouns can be pluralized when we use them to express a type:The waters of the Danube are polluted.The French are famous for their cheeses and their wines .

Many mass-nouns name abstractions (and are called abstract nouns):peace courage liberty anger progress culture

Note:Some abstract nouns do have in certain situations (usually with a change of meaning) a plural form:This position requires experience.He had a lot of unpleasant experience s as a police officer.

My work is boring.The work s of Leonardo impressed people for centuries.

Gender of Nouns

Gender has the same relation to nouns that sex has to individuals, but while there are only two sexes, there are four genders:

masculine - the masculine gender denotes all those of the male kind

feminine - the feminine gender all those of the female kind

neuter - the neuter gender denotes inanimate things or whatever is without life

common - common gender is applied to animate beings, the sex of which for the time being is indeterminable, such as fish, mouse, bird, etc

Sometimes things which are without life as we conceive it and which, properly speaking, belong to the neuter type of noun, are, by a figure of speech called

Personification, changed into either the masculine or feminine, as, for instance, we say of the sun, He is rising; of the moon, She is setting.

The English language, unlike most others, applies the distinction of

Masculine and Feminine only to the names of persons and animals: man,

woman; boy, girl; lion, lioness. Nouns which denote things without animal

life are said to be Neuter or of Neuter Gender

When the same name is used for male and female, it is said to be Common or of Common Gender : bird, fish, parent, sovereign, friend. There are three ways of indicating difference of Gender in Nouns:-

1. By adding a suffix -ess ex. lion - lioness2. By using compound words ex. boy-friend, landlord, he-wolf3. By distinct words ex. father-mother

Masculine and feminine gender

actor

author

bachelor

boy

bridegroom

brother

conductor

count

czar

dad

daddy

duke

emperor

actress

authoress

spinster

girl

bride

sister

conductress

countess

czarina

mum

mummy

duchess

empress

father

father-in-law

gentleman

giant

god

governor

grandfather

headmaster

heir

hero

host

hunter

husband

king

lad

landlord

lord

man

mother

mother-in-law

lady

giantess

goddess

matron

grandmother

headmistress

heiress

heroine

hostess

huntress

wife

queen

lass

landlady

lady

woman

manager

manservant

master

milkman

monk

Mr.

murderer

nephew

papa

poet

postmaster

prince

prophet

proprietor

shepherd

sir

son

son-in-law

manageress

maidservant

mistress

milkmaid

nun

Mrs.

murderess

niece

mama

poetess

postmistress

princess

prophetess

proprietress

shepherdess

madam

daughter

daughter-in-law

step-father

step-son

steward

sultan

uncle

waiter

wizard

step-mother

step-daughter

stewardess

sultana

aunt

waitress

witch

boar

buck

bull

bull-elephant

cock

cock-pigeon

dog

drake

sow

doe

cow

cow-elephant

hen

hen-pigeon

bitch

duck

bee

drone

fox

gander

he-bear

he-goat

he-wolf

leopard

lion

peacock

ram

stallion

tiger

tom-cat

turkey-cock

vixen

goose

she-bear

she-goat

she-wolf

leopardess

lioness

peahen

ewe

mare

tigress

tabby-cat

turkey-hen

THE VERB

The verb is perhaps the most important part of the sentence. A verb asserts something about the subject of the sentence and expresses actions, events, or states of being. The verb is (or is an essential part of) the predicate of a sentence. There are three properties which characterize verbs in English--tense, voice, and mood. In English the verb tenses express the time or relative time in which an action or condition occurs.

The voice of a verb, passive or active, expresses whether the action is being received by the subject or being done by the subject. In sentences written in active voice, the subject performs the action expressed in the verb; the subject acts. The man drives the car.

In sentences written in passive voice, the subject receives the action expressed in the verb . The car is driven by the man. The mood of a verb is the manner in which the action or condition is conceived or intended. In English there are three verb moods. Indicative, a verb stating an apparent fact or asking a question. This is the way verbs are normally used in English. Imperative, a verb stating a command or request. “Go away!” “Please leave!”

Subjunctive, a verb expressing a doubt, desire, supposition, or condition contrary to fact.

If I were you, I would drive more carefully I wish that his report were longer.

Verbs are also classified according to function. Action verbs show action or possession. Action verbs are either transitive or intransitive. Transitive verbs carry the action of a subject and apply it to an object. They tells us what the subject does to something else (object).

He bought a shirt.

She lost her wallet.

Intransitive verbs do not take an object; they express actions that do not require the subject’s doing something to something else.

He runs.

She dances.

Auxiliary verbs, also called helping verbs, are used with other verbs to change the tense, voice, or condition of the verb. Conditional verbs are verbs conjugated with could, would, or should to show a possible condition. The principal parts of a verb are the four forms of the verb from which all forms of the verb can be made. In English the four principal parts are the present (or infinitive), the past tense, the past participle, and the present participle. Since the present participle is always formed the same way (add -ing), some lists of principal parts omit it. To make the past tense or past participle form of most verbs (regular verbs) we simply add “ed” at the end.

Past Tense: I walked home.

Past Participle: I have walked home.

Irregular verbs are not that simple. We sometimes need a dictionary to help us write the different forms of irregular verbs. (see appendix for a list of irregular verbs)

Past Tense: We saw the plane crash.

Past Participle: We have seen them.

Table of English Tenses

tenseAffirmative/Negative/

QuestionUse

Signal Words

Simple Present A: He speaks.N: He does not speak.Q: Does he speak?

action in the present

taking place once,

never or several

times

facts

actions taking place

one after another

action set by a

timetable or schedule

always, every …, never, normally, often, seldom, sometimes, usuallyif sentences type I (If I talk, …)

Present Progressive A: He is speaking.N: He is not speaking.Q: Is he speaking?

action taking place

in the moment of

speaking

action taking place

only for a limited

period of time

action arranged for

the future

at the moment, just, just now, Listen!, Look!, now, right now

Simple Past A: He spoke.N: He did not speak.Q: Did he speak?

action in the past

taking place once,

never or several

times

actions taking place

one after another

action taking place in

the middle of another

action

yesterday, 2 minutes ago, in 1990, the other day, last Fridayif sentence type II (If I talked, …)

Past Progressive A: He was speaking.N: He was not speaking.Q: Was he speaking?

action going on at a

certain time in the

past

actions taking place

at the same time

action in the past that

is interrupted by

another action

when, while, as long as

Present Perfect Simple

A: He has spoken.N: He has not spoken.Q: Has he spoken?

putting emphasis on

the result

action that is still

going on

action that stopped

recently

finished action that

has an influence on

the present

action that has taken

place once, never or

several times before

the moment of

speaking

already, ever, just, never, not yet, so far, till now, up to now

Present Perfect Progressive

A: He has been speaking.N: He has not been speaking.Q: Has he been speaking?

putting emphasis on

the course or

duration (not the

result)

action that recently

stopped or is still

going on

finished action that

influenced the

present

all day, for 4 years, since 1993, how long?, the whole week

Past Perfect Simple A: He had spoken.N: He had not spoken.Q: Had he spoken?

action taking place

before a certain time

in the past

sometimes

interchangeable with

past perfect

progressive

putting emphasis

only on the fact (not

the duration)

already, just, never, not yet, once, until that dayif sentence type III (If I had talked, …)

Past Perfect Progressive

A: He had been speaking.N: He had not been speaking.Q: Had he been speaking?

action taking place

before a certain time

in the past

sometimes

interchangeable with

past perfect simple

putting emphasis on

the duration or

course of an action

for, since, the whole day, all day

Future I Simple A: He will speak.N: He will not speak. Q: Will he speak?

action in the future

that cannot be

influenced

spontaneous decision

assumption with

regard to the future

in a year, next …, tomorrowIf-Satz Typ I (If you ask her, she will help you.)assumption: I think, probably, perhaps

Future I Simple A: He is going to speak.N: He is not going to speak. decision made for the

in one year, next week,

(going to)Q: Is he going to speak?

future

conclusion with

regard to the future

tomorrow

Future I Progressive A: He will be speaking.N: He will not be speaking.Q: Will he be speaking?

action that is going

on at a certain time

in the future

action that is sure to

happen in the near

future

in one year, next week, tomorrow

Future II Simple A: He will have spoken.N: He will not have spoken.Q: Will he have spoken?

action that will be

finished at a certain

time in the future

by Monday, in a week

Future II Progressive A: He will have been speaking.N: He will not have been speaking.Q: Will he have been speaking?

action taking place

before a certain time

in the future

putting emphasis on

the course of an

action

for …, the last couple of hours, all day long

LISTA VERBELOR NEREGULATE

to be was, were been

to bear bore borne, born

to beat beat beaten

to become became become

to begin began begun

to bend bent bent

to bite bit bitten

to blow blew blown

to break broke broken

to bring brought brought

to build built built

to burn burnt burnt

to burst burst burst

to buy bought bought

to catch caught caught

to choose chose chosen

to come came come

to cost cost cost

to creep crept crept

to cut cut cut

to deal dealt dealt

to dig dug dug

to do did done

to draw drew drawn

to dream dreamt dreamt

to drink drank drunk

to drive drove driven

to eat ate eaten

to fall fell fallen

to feed fed fed

to feel felt felt

to fight fought fought

to find found found

to fly flew flown

to forbid forbade forbidden

to forget forgot forgotten

to forgive forgave forgiven

to freeze froze frozen

to give gave given

to go went gone

to grow grew grown

to hang hung hung

to have had had

to hear heard heard

to hide hid hidden

to hit hit hit

to hold held held

to hurt hurt hurt

to keep kept kept

to kneel knelt knelt

to know knew known

to lay laid laid

to lead led led

to lean leant leant

to learn learnt, learned learnt, learned

to leave left left

to lend lent lent

to let let let

to lie lay lain

to lose lost lost

to make made made

to mean meant meant

to mow mowed mown

to meet met met

to pay paid paid

to put put put

to read read read

to ride rode ridden

to ring rang rung

to rise rose risen

to run ran run

to say said said

to see saw seen

to seek sought sought

to sell sold sold

to set set set

to sew sewed sewn

to shake shook shaken

to shine shone shone

to shoot shot shot

to show showed shown

to shrink shrank shrunk

to shut shut shut

to sing sang sung

to sink sank sunk

to sleep slept slept

to slide slid slid

to smell smelt smelt

to sow sowed sown

to speak spoke spoken

to spell spelt spelt

to spend spent spent

to spill spilt split

to spread spread spread

to stand stood stood

to stea1 stole stolen

to stick stuck stuck

to stride strode stridden

to strike struck struck

to strive strove striven

to swear swore sworn

to sweep swept swept

to swim swam swum

to take took taken

to teach taught taught

to tell told told

to think thought thought

to throw threw thrown

to understand understood understood