Look at this example:
Sarah is a university student. Sarah was born in London but now Sarah lives in Paris where Sarah is studying French. Sarah’s boyfriend is Louis. Louis is French and Louis met Sarah in Paris. Sarah and Louis want to get married. Sarah’s and Louis’ parents are very happy.
Now here is the same example using pronouns:
Possessive nouns show who owns something or who something belongs to.
Possessive nouns are formed with ('s)
Sarah's car.
Peter's lap top.
The school’s headmaster.
When the noun is plural and ends with 's', just add (')
The babies' toys.
My parents' house.
Count nouns are nouns that can have one or more than one.
A pen – three pens, a bottle – six bottles, a television – three televisions, a car – five cars.
Count nouns can be used with;
A few, few, many, some, every, each, these etc.
A few pens, many bottles, a few cars, each television etc.
Count nouns can be used with a/an or the
There is a pen on my desk.
I bought a bottle of Italian wine.
Each television in the flat was a new model.
My family has five cars.
The verb 'be' shows a state not an action
I live in Spain. (action)
I like my job. (action)
My brother is a doctor. (state)
You are tired. (state)
Remember that verbs must match subjects
I am Spanish.
You are very tall.
He is a doctor.
We are students.
Being able to identify between countable and uncountable nouns is necessary to use English grammar correctly.
Most nouns in English are countable:
He has two homes, one in London and one in Spain.
The beer cost six pounds.
I’ve never seen Sarah travel with less than two suitcases.
It is good to know what a noun is to have a good start in a language.
A noun names a person, a place, a thing or an idea.
Nouns are the names of real or abstract things in our lives. A noun that gives a name to a real thing is a 'concrete' noun. 'Happiness' is an idea or concept which is why it is called an abstract noun.
To understand how to use 'who', 'whom' and 'whose' you first have to understand the difference between subjects, objects and possessives.
The subject does the action:
He likes football.
She goes to university.
They enjoy travelling.
When a statement needs to be made stronger it is often followed by an example with 'even'. 'Even' adds surprise or shock, or excitement to the example.
He could be anything he wanted. He could even become the chairman of a corporation.
She loses everything. She's even lost her credit cards more than once.
I've seen all his films, even the ones that didn't do so well.
Here is an explanation of the use of also, too, and either which can cause some confusion as to their functions and position in a sentence.
Also is used in positive sentences to add something which agrees with the previous item/clause.
Marco speaks Italian. Peter also speaks Italian.
I love Japanese food and I also like Indian cuisine.
Sarah is also coming to the station to see James off.
The Subjunctive is used to emphasise urgency or importance. The Subjunctive form is used with the simple form of the verb i.e. the infinitive without 'to'; to go is 'go'. The Subjunctive is only used with certain verbs and in certain forms.
The Subjunctive is used with certain expressions:
I suggest that he go.
It is essential that we be there.
It was recommended that he make the speech.
