In English, we use either gerunds or infinitives when we need to use more than one verb together. A gerund is the -ing form of a verb, and an infinitive is the basic form of a verb, usually with to in front of it. Let’s learn when and how to use gerunds and infinitives.
Category: Grammar
Count Vs. Non-Count Nouns
Ready for some more grammar? Good.
This time we’re going to look at count and non-count nouns. Remember that nouns are people, places, or things.
Count nouns can be counted, which means you can also make them plural. Remember that plural means more than one. For example, the word “teacher.” Can you count teachers? Of course – one teacher, two teachers, three teachers, four teachers. The noun “teacher,” then, is a count noun.
Non-count nouns can’t be counted, and they’re almost always singular. Remember that singular means one. For example, the word “air.” Can you count air? Of course not – we never say one air, two airs, three airs, etc. So “air” is a non-count noun.
To learn more, watch the video above, then take the quiz to test your knowledge:
Irregular Past Tense Verbs
Regular past tense verbs are easy to remember – you usually just add an “ed.” But with irregular past tense verbs you need to change the spelling even more. Here’s a list of some very common ones that you might find useful:
BASE FORM PAST TENSE
be was/were
begin began
break broke
bring brought
build built
buy bought
choose chose
come came
do did
drink drank
drive drove
eat ate
fall fell
feel felt
forget forgot
get got
give gave
go went
have had
hear heard
keep kept
know knew
leave left
lose lost
make made
meet met
pay paid
put put
read read (pronounced “red”)
ride rode
run ran
say said
see saw
sell sold
send sent
sit sit
sleep slept
speak spoke
spend spent
stand stood
take took
teach taught
tell told
think thought
understand understood
wear wore
write wrote
Countable vs. Non-Countable Nouns
Count (also known as countable) nouns can be counted, which means you can also make them plural. Remember that plural means more than one. For example, the word “teacher.” Can you count teachers? Of course – one teacher, two teachers, three teachers, four teachers. The noun “teacher,” then, is a count noun.
Non-count (or non-countable) nouns can’t be counted, and they’re almost always singular. Remember that singular means one. For example, the word “air.” Can you count air? Of course not – we never say one air, two airs, three airs, etc. So “air” is a non-count noun.
To learn more, watch the following video, then take the quiz to test your knowledge:
Visual Aid
Much, Many, A Lot Of – Which One Do I Use?
By Flunse (Patrick Geltinger) – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=404343
Time for more grammar. This time we’re going to look at the words much, many, and a lot of.
The key to knowing when to use these words is remembering your count and non-count nouns. To review count and noun-count nouns, click here.
Basically, you use “many” with plural count nouns. For example: many people, many apples, many problems, many friends. You can use “many” in statements and questions, affirmative or negative.
“Much,” on the other hand, is used with non-count nouns. For example: much money, much homework, much coffee, much trouble. But we only use “much” in questions and negative statements. For example: “I don’t have much money. How much money do you have?” We do not say “I have much money.”
In this case, we say “I have a lot of money.” “A lot of” can be used with count or non-count nouns – it doesn’t matter! It can also be used in questions and statements, negative or affirmative. But if we begin the question with “how,” then we have to use either “much” or “many.” We can’t say “How a lot of money do you have?’
Watch this video for some extra practice, then take the quiz to test your knowledge:
Articles 101
One difficult part of English is articles – but we use them a lot, so it’s important to know them. There are three articles in the English language: “a,” “an,” and “the.”
“A” and “an” are called indefinite articles because they are used when we talk about something in general, or when we talk about something for the first time. We use “an” when the next word begins with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) and we use “a” with words that begin with a consonant (all the other letters in the alphabet). In addition, we only use “a” and “an” with singular count nouns:
There was an earthquake in Japan two years ago.
How much does a new car cost?
Is there a bathroom in this building?
“The,” on the other hand, is a definite article.We use it when we’re talking about something specific, or when we continue to talk about something we’ve introduced. “The” can be used for singular or plural nouns, count or non-count:
The people in my class are very friendly.
The refrigerator is broken!
I took the F Train this morning.
Read the following story, and pay special attention to the articles:
Last night I found a cockroach in my kitchen. The cockroach was very big and very fast. I picked up a newspaper to kill it, but the newspaper was too soft. Then I picked up a frying pan. I was able to kill the cockroach, but then I had to wash the frying pan. I washed the frying pan in the sink, but when I finished, I saw a second cockroach. The second cockroach was even bigger than the first one!
Now watch the video lesson to learn more, then you can take the quiz to test your knowledge!