COUNT & NON-COUNT NOUNS

 Count nouns refer to people, places,

and things that can be counted. For
example, twenty students, eight rooms,
one box, and four socks are all count
nouns.
 Non-count nouns refer to items,
qualities, or concepts that cannot be
counted. It is important to note that non-
count nouns usually do not have plural
forms (do not add –s or –es to the end of
the words). Some examples of non-count
nouns are loyalty, information, pollution,
salt, steel, etc.

COUNTABLE NOUNS UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

Fewer is defined as “not as much” and is
used when describing countable nouns. Less means a smaller amount or "not as
 There are fewer people here than last much" and is used when describing
time. uncountable nouns.
 You should buy fewer gifts.  I need to drink less coffee.
 There were fewer plates on the table.  There is less milk in my glass.
 I saw fewer cars on the street.  You should add less oil.
 There were fewer jobs this week in the  We are trying to use less electricity.
classifieds.
Use many if the noun is countable (e.g., Use much if the noun is non-countable (e.g.,
oranges, children). water, sand).
 Phillip owns many properties in France.  I don’t have much money.
 Sharon does not have many friends.  We didn’t earn much profit this year.
 There are too many students in this class.  How much money have you got?
 I spent many days there.  It doesn’t need much milk.
 They own many houses.  We had so much fun.
Use a few if the noun is countable (e.g., jars
of jam, students). Use a little for non-countable nouns (e.g.,
 She likes a few songs by Frank Sinatra. jam, time).
 Jesse has a few speeding tickets, so his  I have coffee with a little milk.
insurance rate is higher than mine.  I always enjoy a little cream and sugar
 There were a few horses grazing in front in my coffee.
of the barn.  We have a little extra time this
 A few coconuts fell from the tree. One of afternoon; do you want to watch a
them hit Aaron, causing him to yelp. movie?
 My neighbor let me pick a few peaches  Have a little salsa on your eggs. It’s
from his tree. delicious!
A is used with singular countable noun that  I really would like a little peace and
begins with a consonant sound. quiet.
 There is a dog in the garden.
Some can be used with plural countable nouns and uncountable nouns.
 There is some cheese in the fridge.
 There are some plums on the tree.
A couple of also means a few things or a combination of two.
 I have a couple of things to do now.
 He presented us with a couple of jade lions.
 Mason went home for a couple of hours' kip.
 Can I borrow a couple of bucks?
 I've seen her a couple of times before.
 RELATIVE PRONOUNS
A relative pronoun is used to connect a clause or phrase to a noun or pronoun. The clause
modifies, or describes, the noun.

The most common relative pronouns are who, whom, whose, which, and that. Sometimes
when and where can be used as relative pronouns as well.

Relative pronouns are placed directly after the noun or pronoun they modify.
 The driver who ran the stop sign was careless.
 The children, whom we love dearly, need better educations.
 Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died.
 I have a friend whose cat is annoying.
 The book, which is now out of print, has all the information you need.
 This is the book that everyone is talking about.

In each example above, the subject of the sentence is described by a relative clause (italicized). As
these clauses describe a noun or a pronoun, they are also known as adjective clauses, because they
act like adjectives in the sentence. Each clause is introduced by a relative pronoun (in bold). Relative
pronouns connect the description to the rest of the sentence in an orderly way.

Occasionally, the relative adverbs "when" and "where" are also used as relative pronouns. For example:
 Grandma remembers a time when radio shows were popular.
 I want to visit the island where my grandma was born.

In these cases, "when" and "where" introduce clauses that describe a noun that refers to a time
or place, making them work as relative pronouns in these sentences.

That is used for things, animals, and people.

 The car that crashed into the house is completely damaged.
 The dog that bit me ran away.
 The artist that won during the awards night was very emotional.

Whose is a possessive relative pronoun and refers to persons as well as things and animals.
 My friend Sandra, whose brothers live in Australia, is going to visit me.
 Juliet wondered whose the sports car was.
 Whose book is this?

Whom is the object form of the relative pronoun who and is utilized almost only in written and
formal English for persons. In spoken and informal English, the pronoun who is preferred to whom:
 The girl whom Peter met the other day is 28 years old.
 The cousin whom we met at the family reunion is coming to visit.
 To whom was the letter addressed?

TIPS:
Whom should be used to refer to the object of a verb. When in doubt, try this simple trick: If
you can replace the word with “he”’ or “’she,” use who. If you can replace it with “him” or “her,” use
whom.
 WHO should be used to refer to the subject of a sentence. Use WHO for he, she, they, we:
The people who just boarded the plane are in a rock band.
(Reword: They just boarded the plane—so use who.)
 WHOM should be used to refer to the object of a verb. Use WHOM for him, her, them, us:
The cousin whom we met at the family reunion is coming to visit.
(Reword: We met him at the family reunion—so use whom.)
 OPPOSITE/ANTONYMS
Antonyms are words with opposite meanings.

A word can have more than one antonym. The

following are all antonyms of good:
 bad, corrupt, evil, evilness, malicious, sour,
wicked

The first point is that good, like many words, can

be a noun or an adjective, so its antonyms are a mix of
nouns and adjectives too. The second point is that
antonyms do not have to be exact opposites.

A list of some opposite adjectives is given below:

Old-young, tall-short, expensive-cheap, crowded-uncrowded, small-big, strong-weak, fat-thin, hard-

soft, innocent-guilty, loud-soft, old-new, rough-smooth, dry-wet, straight-wavy, dark-bright, clever-
stupid, dangerous-safe, difficult-easy, beautiful-ugly, fast-slow, handsome-ugly, slim-fat, large-narrow,
lovely-unlovely, bad-good, high-low, long-short, noisy-quiet, poor-rich, wonderful-terrible, boring-
interesting, clean-dirty, kind-cruel, dark-light, early-late, etc.

Example Sentences with Opposite Adjectives:

 My body is old, but my soul is still young.
 The company, which has been gain for years, started to lose it all at once.
 They have two children, one good and one bad son.
 I thought he was the best guy but I found out now that he is worst one.

CONSTRUCTION WITH HOW

HOW LONG – asks about the duration of a particular event.
1. How long have you been single? 4 years.
2. How long have you known him? 2 years.
3. How long have you been together? 1 year and 4 months.

HOW OFTEN – asks about how frequent a particular event happens.

1. How often does she go out with you? Twice a month.
2. How often does he hug you? Once a week.
3. How often do you tell her that you love her? Every single day.

HOW MUCH – asks about the great extent or great amount or quantity.
1. How much money does Tim make? A lot.
2. How much time do we have? Only ten minutes.
3. How much do you love your mother? I love her more than anything.

HOW WELL – describes the way in which something is carried out. To say "How well" is to state the
condition of wellness of the action.
1. How well do you speak in English? I am fluent.
2. How well does he give you surprises? It is totally beyond expectation.
3. How well do you perform in class? I perform really well.
 PLURAL FORMS OF NOUNS
Remember that in forming the plural of nouns, there are rules for regular nouns and irregular
nouns.

A. Forming the plural of regular nouns

Rule 1: Many nouns form their plural by adding –s.
house  houses flower  flowers pin  pins daydays bookbooks teacherteachers
Rule 2: Singular nouns ending in s, sh, ch, ss, z, and x form their plural by adding –es. If the word ends in a single –z, double the z and
and add –es.
bush  bushes busbuses watchwatches buzz  buzzes massmasses
dressdresses dishdishes churchchurches boxboxes
Rule 3: Nouns ending in o preceded by a vowel form their plural by adding –s.
zoo  zoos ratioratios iglooigloos trio trios
Rule 4: Singular nouns ending in o preceded by a consonant form their plural by adding –es.
echo  echoes potatopotatoes

B. Forming the plural of irregular nouns

Rule 1: Nouns ending in y preceded by a consonant form their plural by changing –y to –i and adding –es.
lily  lilies babybabies lady  ladies
Rule 2: Most nouns ending in f or fe form their plural by changing f to v and adding –s or –es.
loaf  loaves elfelves shelf  shelves
Exception: Not all words ending in f or fe form their plurals as the preceding words do. Some form their plurals with the addition
of –s only.
roof  roofs reefreefs chief  chiefs beliefbeliefs safesafes chefchefs
Rule 3: Some irregular nouns form their plural by changing some vowels.
man  men childchildren cactus  cacti oxoxen footfeet
Rule 4: Some words have the same form for both the singular and the plural. Many nouns naming animals belong to this group as well
as some nouns naming nationalities.
luggage trout sheep series antelope
deer elk grouse mackerel moose
salmon Vietnamese swine Japanese Chinese
Rule 5: Form the plural of borrowed words by using the foreign plurals except when the dictionary has an entry for the English plurals.
a. Words ending in –a in singular and –ae or –s in plural
amoebaamoebaeamoebas formulaformulaeformulas
b. Words ending in –ex or –ix in singular and –ices or –es in plural
appendixappendicesappendixes indexindicesindexes
c. Words ending in –is in singular and –es in plural
analysisanalyses crisiscrises axisaxes diagnosisdiagnoses
d. Words ending in –on in singular and –a in plural
criterioncriteria
e. Words ending in –um in singular and –a in plural
agendumagenda mediummedia curriculumcurricula
f. Words ending in –us in singular and –i in plural
cactuscacti fungusfungi radiusradii
Rule 6: Nouns that form the phrase a pair of are always plural in form.
scissors pants tongs shorts jeans eyeglasses