NOTA GRAMMER

Articles

1.    There are 3 types of articles à ‘a’, ‘an’ and ‘the’.

2.    ‘A’ and ‘an’ à indefinite articles and only used with singular countable nouns.

2.1  ‘a’ is used before words that begin with consonants sounds or words which begin with the vowel ‘u’ but has a consonant sound (you).

a)            a boy b)            a flower c)            a pineapple d)            a zebra

e)            a university f)             a unit g)           a unique school h)           a one-way street

2.2  ‘an’ is used before words which begin with vowels (a, e, i, o, u) or words which begin with the silent ‘h’.

a)         an ant b)         an apple c)         an earring d)         an elephant e)         an insect f)          an onion

g)         an umbrella h)        an hour i)          an honour j)           an honest girl

2.3   ‘a’ and ‘an’ are not use before uncountable nouns. E.g: rice, sand, oil, etc.

3     ‘The’ à definite article and is used with plural countable nouns and also

3.1  To show something that is special and one of its kinds in the world.

a)         The sun is setting in the west.

b)         The air is fresher in the countryside.

3.2  To refer to a particular person, animal, thing or place.

a)         The white cat is under the chair.

b)         That is the car which honked at me yesterday.

3.3  For the superlative form of an adjective.

a)         She is the tallest girl in her class.

b)         I bought the cheapest book.

3.4  With things which are already mentioned before.

a)         A pupil is in a library. The pupil is reading quietly.

Nouns 名词

Countable and Uncountable Nouns 可数名词和不可数名词

1.    A noun is used to refer to a person, place, animal or thing.

a)    teacher          (person)

b)    market           (place)

c)    rabbit             (animal)

d)    car                  (thing)

2.    Nouns can be countable or uncountable.

Countable Nouns (can be counted)		Uncountable Nouns (cannot be counted)
pen boy house cat	car bag key plate	oil sand dust ink	water curry rice paper

3.    Can be used in the following ways.

Countable Nouns		Uncountable Nouns
a lot of many a few plenty of a few several some a large number of a small number of	books pencils houses cars bags keys books cows durians	a little a lot of plenty of some much less more a large amount of a small amount of	oil water  sand rice ink butter money curry petrol
ü  a lot of    à positive statements, negative statements, questions. ü  some      à positive statements, questions. ü  any         à negative statements, questions ü  plenty of

Collective Nouns 集合名词

v  Used to refer to people, animals or things as a unit.

People
1.    a band of musicians          一群音乐家	9.   a patrol of policemen            一队警员
2.  a choir of singers               一队歌手	10. an army of soldiers               一队士兵
3.    a class of pupils                一班学生	11. a staff of servants                 一班雇员
4.    a caravan of gypsies      一群吉卜塞人	12. a team of players              一队运动员
5.    a batch of students           一批学员	13. a tribe of natives                   一族土著
6.    a gang of prisoners          一群犯人	14. a troupe of artistes                一群艺人
7.    a crew of sailors               一群水手	15. a panel of judges                  一组裁判
8.    a crowd of people             一群人	16. a party of friends                   一群朋友

Animal
1.    an army of ants                    一群蚂蚁	11. a plague of locusts              一群蝗虫
2.    a brood of chickens              一窝小鸡	12. parliament of owls            一群猫头鹰
3.    a cloud of flies                      一群苍蝇	13. a shoal of fish                       一群鱼
4.    a nest of mice                       一窝老鼠	14. a smack of jellyfish               一群水母
5.    a gaggle of geese                 一群鹅	15. a team of oxen                     一群公牛
6.    a flight of swallows               一群燕子	16. a swarm of bees                   一群蜜蜂
7.    a flock of birds                      一群鸟	17. a pack of wolves                   一群狼
8.    a troop of monkeys              一群猴子	18. a pride of lions                      一群狮子
9.    a litter of kittens                    一窝小猫 a litter of puppies                  一窝小狗	19. a flock of birds                      一群小鸟  a flock of sheep                    一群绵羊
10. a school of dolphins             一群海豚 a school of whales               一群鲸鱼	20. a herd of buffaloes                一群水牛  a herd of elephants              一群大象

Things / Plants
1.    a string of pearls 一串珍珠	11. a garland of flowers 一环花朵
2.    a bale of cotton 一大包棉花	12. a layer of dirt 一层污垢
3.    a bowl of rice 一碗饭	13. a queue of vehicles 一列车辆
4.    a bunch of keys 一串钥匙	14. a pack of cards 一副纸牌
5.    a cluster of coconuts 一嘟噜椰子	15. a bouquet of flowers 一束鲜花
6.    a column of smoke 一缕烟	16. a tuft of grass 一丛草
7.    a bundle of sticks 一捆柴枝	17. a wad of currency 一叠纸币
8.    a suit of clothes 一套衣服	18. a cloud of dust 一团尘雾
9.    a clutch of eggs 一窝蛋	19. a comb of bananas 一把香蕉
10. a crate of fruits 一箱水果	20. a set of tools 一套工具

Singular and Plural Nouns 单数和复数名词

v  A singular noun à 1 person, animal, place or thing.

v  A plural noun à more than 1 person, animal, place or thing.

2)    The letter ‘s’ is usually added to form a plural noun.

a)    fruit    – fruits

b)    girl      – girls

c)    lamp – lamps

d)    song – songs

3)    For nouns which end with ‘s’, ‘x’, ‘sh’ and ‘ch’, the plural is formed by adding ‘es’.

a)    class  – classes

b)    box      – boxes

c)    dish    – dishes

d)    match – matches

4)    For a noun which ends with ‘y’ preceded by a consonant, the letter ‘y’ is changed into ‘ies’ to form the plural.

a)    activity – activities

b)    berry – berries

c)    lorry – lorries

d)    puppy - puppies

5)    For a noun which ends with ‘y’ preceded by a vowel (ay, ey, oy, uy), the letter ‘s’ is added to form the plural.

a)    boy – boys

b)    day – days

c)    key – keys

d)    guy - guys

6)    For a noun which ends with the letter ‘o’ preceded by a vowel, the letter ‘s’ is added to form the plural.

a)    radio – radios

b)    studio – studios

c)    bamboo – bamboos

d)    piano – pianos

e)    zoo – zoos

7)    For a noun which ends with the letter ‘o’ preceded by a consonant, ‘s’ or ‘es’ is added to form the plural.

a)    photo – photos

b)    potato – potatoes

c)    hero – heroes

8)    For a noun which ends with the letter ‘f’ or ‘fe’, the plural form is made by either adding the letter ‘s’ or by changing ‘f’/ ‘fe’ to ‘ves’.

a)    leaf – leaves

b)    knife – knives

c)    half – halves

d)    thief - thieves

e)    roof - roofs

f)     safe – safes

g)    chef - chefs

9)    Some nouns are called irregular as their plural form is spelt very differently from the singular form.

a)    ox – oxen b)    child – children c)    foot – feet d)    tooth – teeth

e)    goose – geese f)     mouse – mice g)    man – men h)   woman – women

10) A few irregular nouns maintain the same spelling and pronunciation for both singular and plural forms.

a)    deer – deer

b)    sheep – sheep

c)    salmon – salmon

d)    furniture – furniture

11)  Some nouns occur only in the plural form:

 binoculars, glasses, scissors, spectacles, pants, pyjamas, shorts, tights, trousers, 

 clothes, stairs, goods

12) Some nouns have no plural:

news, work, homework, rubbish

Pronouns 代词

	Singular	Plural
First Second Third	I You He / She / It	We You They

	Subject of the verb	Object of the verb
Singular	I like to play badminton. You are late. He is an engineer. She is an only child. It is a Persian cat.	My parents took me out. I called you last night. The teacher scolded him. They found her in the room. The car knocked it down.
Plural	We visited the museum. They won the singing competition.	They are waiting for us. The teacher praised them.

Personal Pronouns	Possessive Adjectives	Possessive Pronouns	Reflexive Pronouns
I You He She It We They	my your his her its our their	mine yours his hers its ours theirs	myself yourself himself herself itself ourselves themselves
	This is my bag. This is your book. This is his pen. This is her pencil. This is its kennel. That is our house. These are their chairs.	The bag is mine. The book is yours. The pen is his. The pencil is hers. The kennel is its. The house is ours. The chairs are theirs.	I paint the picture myself. You have to do it yourself. He writes the poem himself. She cut the fruit herself. The dog scratched itself. We saw it ourselves. They helped themselves.

Adjectives 形容词

Comparison of Adjectives (Regular)

	Positive 原级		Comparative 比较级	Superlative 最高级
1	big	大	bigger than	the biggest
2	brave	勇敢	braver than	the bravest
3	bright	光亮	brighter than	the brightest
4	busy	忙碌	busier than	the busiest
5	cheap	便宜	cheaper than	the cheapest
6	clean	清洁	cleaner than	the cleanest
7	clear	清晰	clearer than	the clearest
8	clever	聪明	cleverer than	the cleverest
9	cold	冷	colder than	the coldest
10	cool	凉快	cooler than	the coolest
11	cruel	残忍	crueler than	the cruelest
12	dark	黑暗	darker than	the darkest
13	deep	深	deeper than	the deepest
14	dirty	肮脏	dirtier than	the dirtiest
15	fat	胖	fatter than	the fattest
16	friend	友善	friendlier than	the friendliest
17	great	美妙的	greater than	the greatest
18	happy	快乐	happier than	the happiest
19	hard	硬	harder than	the hardest
20	healthy	健康	healthier than	the healthiest
21	heavy	重	heavier than	the heaviest
22	high	高	higher than	the highest
23	hot	热	hotter than	the hottest
24	large	大	larger than	the largest
25	lazy	懒惰	lazier than	the laziest
26	light	轻	lighter than	the lightest
27	long	长	longer than	the longest
28	low	低	lower than	the lowest
29	near	靠近	nearer than	the nearest
30	neat	整洁	neater than	the neatest
31	nice	美好	nicer than	the nicest
32	noisy	吵闹	noisier than	the noisiest
33	pretty	漂亮	prettier than	the prettiest
34	poor	穷	poorer than	the poorest
35	quiet	安静	quieter than	the quietest
36	rich	富有	richer than	the richest
37	strong	强壮	stronger than	the strongest
38	tall	高	taller than	the tallest
39	thick	厚	thicker than	the thickest
40	thin	薄/瘦	thinner than	the thinnest
41	weak	弱	weaker than	the weakest
42	warm	温	warmer than	the warmest
43	wise	聪明	wiser than	the wisest
44	young	年轻	younger than	the youngest

Comparison of Adjectives (By adding ‘more’ and ‘most’)

	Positive 原级		Comparative 比较级	Superlative 最高级
1	beautiful	美丽	more beautiful	most beautiful
2	careful	小心	more careful	most careful
3	comfortable	舒适	more comfortable	most comfortable
4	dangerous	危险	more dangerous	most dangerous
5	difficult	困难	more difficult	most difficult
6	exciting	兴奋	more exciting	most exciting
7	expensive	昂贵	more expensive	most expensive
8	famous	著名	more famous	most famous
9	helpful	有帮助的	more helpful	most helpful
10	intelligent	有智慧的	more intelligent	most intelligent
11	joyful	快乐的	more joyful	most joyful
12	obedient	听话的	more obedient	most obedient
13	peaceful	和平的	more peaceful	most peaceful

Comparison of Adjective (Irregular)

Positive 原级		Comparative 比较级	Superlative 最高级
bad	坏	worse	worst
good	好	better	best
little	少	less	least
many	许多	more	most
much	许多/大量	more	most
far	遥远	further/farther	furthest/farthest

Ø  There is no comparison for positive

Ø  The comparative is used to compare two things

Ø  The superlative is used to compare three or more things

Ø  The suffixes ‘-er’ and ‘-est’ are added to the positive adjectives to form most comparatives and superlatives. However, ‘-ier’ and ‘-iest’ are needed when a two-syllable adjective ends in ‘y’.

Ø  When an adjective of one syllable ends in a single consonant, double the consonant for the comparative and superlatives forms. However, letters ‘-w’ and ‘-x’ are not doubled.

Conjunctions 连词

Conjunction	Usage	Example
and	To join two sentences with the same or similar ideas	- Sandy likes singing. - Sandy likes dancing. Sandy likes singing and dancing.
but	To join two sentences with different ideas	- I want to go Singapore by bus. - He insists on taking the plane. I want to go Singapore by bus but he insists on taking the plane.
because	To give reason	- Danny was punished. - He did not do his homework. Danny was punished because he did not do his homework.
so	To show cause and effect	- The children are tired. - They go to bed early. The children are tired so they go to bed early.
or	To show a choice or possibility can be made	- Would you prefer tea? - Would you prefer coffee? Would you prefer tea or coffee?
if	To show a condition	- You work harder. - You will pass your examination. If you work harder, you will pass your examination.
although	To show contrast (beginning / middle)	- It is raining heavily. - They continue with the climb. Although it is raining heavily, they continue with the climb. - Nobody wants to live in that mansion. - It is beautiful. Nobody wants to live in that mansion although it is beautiful.

Wh-question Words 疑问句用词

Wh-question Word	Usage	Example
Who	To ask about people	Who are you? Who is the man? Who is your mother? Who is your best friend?
What	To ask about things or something general.	What is this? What is in your bag? What are they doing? What does he want? What did you do yesterday?
Which	Choices between a few possibilities (people, things / places)	Which is your pen? Which is the capital? Which book is better? Which shirt should I wear?
Why	To ask the reason for something	Why are you here? Why is the bag wet? Why is he going out? Why do you want to be a singer?
Whose	To ask about who the owner of something is / belong to (possessives)	Whose pencil is this? Whose ruler is this? Whose car is that? Whose books are these?
Where	To ask about places	Where are you? Where is the ruler? Where do you live? Where is the car key?
When	To ask about the time something happens	When is your brother’s birthday? When are we going home? When did you come? When will you leave?
How	To ask about the way how something is done / quality, quantity	How are you? How was your trip? How do you cook the fish? How do you get to London?

* 7 W, 1 H à used to ask questions.

Verbs ‘to be’, ‘to have’ and ‘to do’ 动词

Verb	Present Tense	Past Tense	Example
to be	is am	was	He is the head prefect. I am a boy. She was in Langkawi yesterday.
	are	were	These boys are my nephews. We were there last month.
to have	has have	had	She has a yellow raincoat. You have a dictionary. He had a football practice yesterday.
to do	does do	did	She does the housework every day. We do our work quietly. They did their homework just now.

Subject-Verb Agreement 主语与动词一致

The verb must agree with its subject. If the subject is singular, the verb must be singular. If the subject is plural, the verb must be plural as well.

Singular	Plural
The pupil sings during the music class.	The pupils sing during the music class.
He / She prepares some food for supper.	They prepare some food for supper.
The child runs around in the field.	The children run around in the field.
The dog does not like its new owner.	The dogs do not like their new owner.
The backpacker has no place to sleep tonight.	The backpackers have no place to sleep tonight.
He is a friend of mine	They are friends of mine.

Singular	Plural
is has does	are have do

Simple Present Tense 现在时式

1)    Facts, things that are always or generally true.

·         The sky is blue.

·         The moon is round.

·         A hen lays eggs.

·         A dog has four legs.

·         The sun rises in the east.

·         Tropical fish are beautiful.

·         Water boils at 100 degrees.

·         Plants die without water.

·         My birthday is in September.

2)  For situations that are (more / less) permanent.

·         I live in Malaysia.

·         She likes drawing.

·         They love coffee.

·         My father works in a bank.

·         She has three children.

·         The boy studies in SJK(C) Kundang.

3)    Things that we do regularly / often à routines, habits.

(every day, once a week, twice a month, every Sunday, four times a year)

(always, often, usually, sometimes, rarely, never)

·         I go to school by car.

·         He always wakes up at 6 a.m.

·         Mei Ling often listens to music.

·         Carol brushes her teeth twice a day.

·         I drink a cup of coffee every morning.

4)    Short actions.

·         He looks at his watch.

·         She opens the door.

·         I switch on the computer.

5)    Imperatives à statements / order

·         Do not litter!

·         Keep off the grass!

·         Do not feed the animals.

·         Go to your bedroom now.

6)    We also use it to talk about the future after words like ‘ when’, ‘ until’, ‘ after’, ‘ before’, ‘as soon as’ in a future sentence.

·         I will call you when I have time.

·         I won't go out until it stops raining.

·         She'll come as soon as her babysitter arrives.

·         I'm going to make dinner after I watch the news.

·         I'll give you the book before you go.

***Spelling: In general, for single subject we add ‘s’ in the verb. However...

a)    For verbs that end in -o, -ch, -sh, -ss, -x, or -z we add -es.

o   go – goes

o   catch – catches

o   wash – washes

o   kiss – kisses

o   fix – fixes

o   buzz – buzzes

b)    For verbs that end in a consonant + y, we remove the y and add -ies.

o   marry – marries

o   study – studies

o   carry – carries

o   worry – worries

c)    For verbs that end in a vowel + y, we just add -s.

o   play – plays

o   enjoy – enjoys

o   say – says

Present Continuous Tense 现在进行时式

1)    Used to show something which is happening now.

a.    I am cutting the grass now.

b.    The waiter is serving the customers now.

c.    We are waiting for him at the bus stop.

2)    Used to express the future.

a.    I am going camping next week.

b.    She is going for a holiday soon.

c.    We are going to China tomorrow.

3)    Used to express developing and changing situations.

a.    The wind is getting stronger and the temperature is dropping faster.

b.    More people are buying organic products nowadays.

***Spelling: Verbs when adding -ing.

a)    Consonant after a short, stressed vowel at the end of the word.

·         Double the consonant:

sit – he is sitting
put – he is putting

travel – they are travelling

·         If the consonant is not stressed, we do not double it:
benefit - benefiting (we stress the first 'e', not the 'i'.)

b)    One -e at the end of the word

·         Leave out the –e:
write – he is writing
take – he is taking

·         BUT double –e add –ing:
see – he is seeing

c)    Verbs ending in –ie

·         Change 'ie' to 'y':
lie - he is lying

d)    Verbs ending in –c

·         Change 'c' to 'ck':
picnic - he is picnicking

Simple Past Tense 过去时式

1)    Something has happened in the past (specific time) and has finished.

·         I took her home just now.

·         They were at his birthday party last night.

·         The cleaned the house last weekend.

·         He knew the answer yesterday.

2)    Telling stories or past events.

·         Once upon a time, a lord lived in the castle.

·         There was an ugly witch living in the middle of the forest.

·         In the past, the knights travelled on strong horses.

3)    Indicate a time in the past.

·         I lived in Johor in 1994.

4)    Express habit in the pass.

·         I collected stamps when I was a child.

*** Spelling: Verbs in the Past Simple Tense

Regular Verb -d, -ed, -ied	Irregular Verb	Verb remaining same
live à lived want à wanted carry à carried stop à stopped plan à planned panic à panicked	sell à sold drink à drank buy à bought	cut à cut put à put let à let

Positive and Negative Statements 肯定句和否定句

Positive statement in the Present Tense
I You We They	go	to the town’s library on weekends.
He She It	goes
Negative statement in the Present Tense
I You We They	do not go	to the town’s library on weekends.
He She It	does not go

Positive statement in the Past Tense
I You We They He She It	went	to the zoo last Saturday.
Negative statement in the Past Tense
I You We They He She It	did not go	to the zoo last Saturday.

Prepositions of Time

Prepositions	Use
in	·         month ·         year ·         season ·         part of the day (morning, afternoon, evening) ·         duration
at	·         specific time of day (noon, midnight) ·         part of the day (night) ·         celebrations
on	·         days of the week ·         dates ·         special days
after	·         something will happen later
by	·         a deadline in the future
during	·         through the whole of a period of time

Prepositions	Examples
in	-       My birthday is in December. -       Jenny was born in 1990. -       Tom wakes up early in the morning. -       Mr Siew will be here in three minutes. -       The van will be here in ten minutes.
at	-       Lunch is at noon. -       Dinner is at 6 o’clock. -       Tuition is at 2.30 p.m.
on	-       Ali is going to Ipoh on Friday. -       I am going to visit my grandmother on Saturday. -       My birthday is on the 25th of June. -       We are going to the party on my birthday.
after	-       I will see you after school. -       After the holidays, I will start studying French.
by	-       I expect rain by noon. -       I want to have those papers by Friday.
during	-       during the holidays