‘some’, ‘any’ and ‘no’ are used with both ‘count’ and ‘non-count’ nouns. It is useful to remember which nouns are ‘count’ (countable) and ‘non-count’ (uncountable) first:
Countable nouns or ‘count’ nouns are those nouns that can be counted:
An apple, two apples etc.
Adverbs of probability are used to show how sure we are about a situation or event. The most common adverbials of probability are:
definitely, certainly, clearly, obviously, possibly, perhaps, probably, maybe.
Perhaps and maybe are usually placed at the beginning of the clause:
Perhaps it will stop raining soon.
Maybe the rain will stop soon.
Prepositions are used to talk about where someone or something is:
She was sitting by the window.
They live in a town near the sea.
I left my keys in my other jacket.
Phrases with prepositions can have 'of'.
My house is at the end of the street.
The file is on top of the cabinet.
This is the first of a series of lessons on adverbials. In this lesson we look at why we use adverbials, how they are formed and where they go in a sentence.
Lesson by Tristan, English teacher at EC Malta
Adverbials are used to give more information about a verb. Adverbs can be placed in different groups according to their ‘function’.
When we reply to a statement we can put an affirmative or negative tag at the end of our comment. This short tag takes the form of a question. An affirmative comment has a negative tag and a negative comment has a positive tag.
Lesson by Tristan, English teacher at EC Malta English school
Noun phrases start with determiners which are placed at the beginning of these phrases. Determiners are specific or general.
Lesson by Tristan, English teacher at EC Malta English school
Answering a question with ‘yes’ or ‘no’ may sometimes be considered impolite; It might give the impression that the person answering is not really interested in replying.
Here are some examples of short answers. We usually repeat the words that come first in the verb phrase.
Lesson by Tristan, teacher at EC Malta. Learn English in Malta
There are many ways of making requests and asking for permission in English. Consider these situations:
In this lesson we are looking at the use of ‘should’ and ‘ought to’ for obligation and probability. As with other modals the meaning given to the verb depends on the context it is used in.
In this series of lessons on modals we are dividing the meanings of modals into intrinsic and extrinsic meanings. In this lesson we are looking at the intrinsic and extrinsic meanings of ‘must’ and ‘have to/have got to’.
Look at these sentences:
My neighbours must control or discipline their children. They’re too noisy.
You’ve been working all week. You must be tired.