Rabu, 11 April 2012

Exercise 10: Subject-Verb Agreement and Exercise 11: Subject-Verb Agreement

Exercise 10: Subject-Verb Agreement
1. John, along with twenty friends, are planning a party.
2. The picture of the soldiers bring back many memories.
3. The quality of these recordings are not very good.
4. If the duties of these officers aren’t reduced, there will not be enough time to finish the project.
5. The effects of cigrette smoking have been proven to be extremely harmful.
6. The use of credit cards in place of cash have increased rapidly in recent years.
7. Advertisements on television are becoming more competitive than ever before.
8. Living expenses in this country, as well as in many others, is at an all-time high.
9. Mr. Jones, accompanied by several members of the committee, has proposed some changes of the rules.
10. The levels of intoxication vary from subject to subject.


Exercise 11: Subject-Verb Agreement
1. Neither Bill nor Mary are going to the play tonight.
2. Anything are better than going to another movie tonight.
3. Skating is becoming more popular every day.
4. A number of reporters were at the conference yesterday.
5. Everybody who has a fever must go home immediately.
6. Your glasses were on the bureau last night.
7. There were some people at the meeting last night.
8. The committee has already reached a decision.
9. A pair of jeans were in the washing mechine this morning.
10. Each student have answered the first three questions.
11. Either John or his wife makes breakfast each morning.
12. After she had perused the material, the secretary decided that every-thing were in order.
13. The crowd at the basketball game was wild with excitement.
14. A pack of wild dogs has frightened all the ducks away.
15. The jury is trying to reach a decision.
16. The army has eliminated this section of the training test.
17. The number of students who have withdrawn from class this quarter are appalling.
18. There have been too many interruptions in this class.
19. Every elementary school teacher has to take this examination.
20. Neither Jill nor her parents have seen this movie before.

Exercise 4: Articles

Exercise 4: Articles
1. Jason’s father bought him a bicycle that he had wanted for his birthday.
2. Statue of Liberty was a gift of friendship from France to United States.
3. Rita is studying English and math this semester.
4. A Judge asked the witness to tell the truth.
5. Please give me a cup of coffe with cream and sugar.
6. A Give books on the table for my history class.
7. No one in the Spanish class knew correct the answer to Mrs. Perez’s question.
8. My car is four years old and it still runs well.
9. When you go to the store, please buy a bottle of chocholate milk and a dozen oranges.
10. There are only a few seats left for tonight’s musical at the university.
11. John and Marcy went to school yesterday and then studied in the library before returning home.
12. Lake Erie is one of the five Great Lakes in North America.
13. On our trip to Spain, we crossed the Atlantic Ocean.
14. Mount Rushmore is the site of the magnificent tribute to the four great American presidents.
15. What did you eat for breakfast this morning?
16. Louie played basketball and baseball at the Boys’ Club this year.
17. Rita plays a violin and her sister plays a guitar.
18. While we were in Alaska, we saw the Eskimo village.
19. Phil can’t go to the movies tonight because he has to write an essay.
20. David attended Princenton University.
21. Harry has been admitted to the School of Medicine at midwestern university.
22. Mel’s grandmother is in hospital, so we went to visit her last night.
23. The Political science class is taking trip to Soviet Union in the spring.
24. Queen Elizabeth II is a monarch of the Great Britain.
25. The Declaration of Independence was drawn up in 1776.
26. Scientists hope to send an expendition to Mars during 1980s.
27. Last night there was bird singing outside my house.
28. The chair that you are sitting in is broken.
29. The Civil War was fought in United States between 1861 and 1865.
30. Florida State University is smaller than University of Florida.

Articel "a , An, The"

Using Articles: a, an, the
Articles are little words that we use before a noun.
There are three articles:
• a;
• an;
• the.
Articles can be definite or indefinite.
'The' is the definite article.
'A' and 'an' are indefinite articles.
Articles are a type of determiner. You don't need to use an article if you are using a different determiner.
Definite Article: the
There is only one definite article: 'the'.
Use 'the' when the noun you are talking about refers to something specific, or the person you are speaking to knows what you are referring to.
The dog is on the chair.
I am talking about a specific dog. You know which dog I am talking about.
We also use 'the' when we are talking about unique objects or places.
The Eiffel Tower is in Paris.
There is only one Eiffel Tower. It is unique.
The Earth revolves around the Sun.
There is only one Earth and one Sun.
We can use 'the' with singular and plural nouns.
The dog.
The dogs.
Learn more about singular and plural nouns.
Indefinite Article: a, an
There are two indefinite articles: 'a' and 'an'.
Use 'a' or 'an' when the noun you are talking about does not refer to something specific.
I would like a banana.
I'm not talking about one specific banana. Any banana is ok.
We use 'a' or 'an' to introduce something for the first time. After we have introduced it, we can use 'the'.
John has a dog and a cat. The dog is called Rover, and the cat is called Fluffy.
Use 'a dog' and 'a cat' in the first sentence to introduce them. In the second sentence I use 'the dog' and 'the cat' because you know which dog and cat I am talking about.
We can only use 'a' and 'an' with singular nouns.
A dog.
Do I use 'a' or 'an'?
Use 'a' when the noun starts with a consonant sound.
A car.
A banana.
A television.
Use 'an' when the noun starts with a vowel sound.
An apple.
An event.
An umbrella.
Vowels are the letters a, e, i, o, u. All the other letters are consonants.
It is the first sound of the word that is important, not the first letter.
Some nouns that start with a consonant have a vowel sound. We use 'an'.
An hour.
'Hour' starts with the sound /aʊ/. It is a vowel sound.
Some nouns that start with a vowel have a consonant sound. We use 'a'.
A university.
'University' starts with the sound /j/. It is a consonant sound.
We use special symbols to show different sounds. They are called the phonetic alphabet.
No Article (Zero Article)
Sometimes we don't use an article at all.
We don't use an article when we are talking about things generally, or when we are talking about all instances of something.
I don't like apples.
In this sentence I am talking about apples generally. I am referring to all apples.
I don't like the apples we bought yesterday.
In this sentence I am referring to specific apples (the ones we bought yesterday), so I say 'the apples'.
There are certain types of nouns that don't use articles.
1. Countries, cities, and states
We don't use articles before the names of cities, countries, or states.
I live in London.
The exception is names that have a plural noun, or include the word 'kingdom', 'republic', 'state', or 'commonwealth'. We always use 'the' before these names.
The Philippines
The United Kingdom
The United States of America
2. Academic subjects
We don't use articles before the names of academic subjects.
John studies economics and science.
Using Articles
The article goes before the noun. You can only use one article or determiner with each noun.
article + noun
Knowing which article to use can be tricky, and you will discover lots of exceptions. Don't worry if you don't understand it all now.

What Are Articles? Learning About A, An and The
Articles are just three in number, but do a lot of work in the language. Learning articles is not tough for ESL students and can be learnt by understanding the rules of usage. Articles are of two types: Definite (‘The’) and Indefinite (‘A’ and ‘An’).
• Rules of Usage
Mr. Sharma – “Where is Tom?”
Ms. Sharma – “In the Kitchen.”
Mr. Sharma – “Tell him, I have bought a shirt, a ball and an umbrella for him”
Mr. Sharma – “Let’s turn off the light and give him a surprise”
In the above piece of conversation, three words are italicized. Did you also notice that these words are preceding nouns? These italicized words are articles, and are used before Nouns.
Articles are of two types: Definite Article and Indefinite Articles. The definite article is “the,” and the indefinite articles are “a” and “an.”
Rules of usage are briefly discussed below:
• Definite Article – "The"
• “The” is a definite article and is used to refer to specific or particular person or thing.
• Example: The little girl was crying. (In this sentence, we are talking of a specific girl.)
• “The” can also be used refer to something that has already been referred to if it is clear from the context;
Example: The book you want is not available. (Which book? The one that you want.)
• The article “The” is also used when a singular noun represents the whole class.
Example: The cow is revered as a holy animal in India.
• The article “The” is also used before certain proper nouns.
Rivers – The Ganga is a holy river of India.
Deserts – The Gobi desert is a cold desert.
Group of Islands – The West Indies are beautiful islands.
The same way it is used before the names of Mountain Ranges, certain Books (The i, The Gita) names of Canals (TheSuez Canal), names of Oceans and Seas (The Pacific Ocean), names of musical instruments (The flute)
• The is also used before names of unique things;
Example: The sun, The moon
• It is also used before a Proper noun when it is qualified by an adjective.
Example: The great playwright Shakespeare
• Before Superlative form of adjectives;
Example: The tallest boy in the class should sit at the back.
• Before Adverbs in Comparative form;
Example: The healthier the better.
• Indefinite Articles – “A” and “An”
• The indefinite article is used to represent one (in its numerical sense).
Example: Give me a pen.
• In the same sense as any, but requiring to be specific;
Example: Is there a hotel near by? (There are many hotels in the city, but is there one nearby?)
Paris is an interesting city.
• To use a proper noun as a common noun;
Example: A Mahatma Gandhi came to his rescue.
• To introduce something for the first time;
Example: This is a cat.
• “A” or “An”
The problem that ESL students usually face is when to use “A” and when to use “An.”
• “An” is used before nouns beginning with vowel sounds.
Example: an umbrella, an hour, an elephant, an event
• “A” is used before nouns beginning with consonant sounds.
Example: a banana, a cat, a dog
• No Article
At times articles are not used at all. Some of such cases are:
• When a statement is made generally.
Example: I do not like apples.
Children like chocolates.
• Names of countries, states, cities, academic subjects, languages, names of relations.
Example: I am visiting London.
Ron is studying Geography.
Reena speaks good English.
Mother is not at home.
(The exception to the rule is names of countries using the word republic or state; The United States of America)
The best way to learn usage of articles is a lot of practice. The difference in the usage of “A” and “An” can also be understood by speaking the noun aloud.
• Teaching Articles
Classroom activities can be taken up to practice the same. Some suggested activities are:
• Complete the sentences;
• Edit a paragraph;
• Supply articles in a paragraph from which articles have been deleted;
• Try speaking a paragraph without articles. (This sends the class roaring, they just love it)
Reference: High School English Grammar & Composition – Wren & Martin