ENGLISH COURSE 2
THE ARTICLES
GRAMMAR OVERVIEW
(a, an, the, - )
a
– used when talking about one specific thing or object (singular)
an
– used in the same way, but only with words beginning with a vowel sound.
an elevator
an eye
but: a uniform
(spelled with vowel but pronounced [j]
the
– used when you talk about something particular, that has been mentioned before.
Also in superlatives (the best singer, the most important president)
Plural names (The Johnsons, the Alps)
Rivers, seas, mountain ranges and deserts (the Sahara, the Atlantic)
Museums, theatres, hotels and restaurants (the Ritz, the Museum of Modern Art)
Newspapers (the Daily Mirror)
Names of ships (the Titanic)
no article – used with specific words called ”uncountables”. These are general words or terms that
have a really broad definition.
Hospital, church, school etc. Without article when talking about their funtion. (I go to school)
but: the school right in the middle of the town
Meals, means of transport, school subjects and languages, weekdays, months and national holidays
Do you know French? We should have dinner together!
We will go to hospital by subway
There are some words in English that always are singular, and do not take the indefinite article.
That means, you can never put a or an in fron of them. (p. 164)
the advice she gave me was useful
do you know where my money is?
SINGULAR / PLURAL
Normally, we put an s (or -es) at the end of nouns when we talk about them in the plural form.
However, there are many words that require some spelling changes as well.
y > ie
(hobby – hobbies)
o > oes
(hero – heroes)
BUT: not in loanwords: disco – discos
f, fe > ves
(calf – calves, wife – wives)
oo > ee
(foot – feet)
ou > i
(louse – lice) [SWE: lus, löss]
a>e
(man, men)
+ -en
(child – children)
is > es
(crisis – crises)
Some words do not change at all in the plural form.
one fish – many fish
one deer – many deer
The word ”people” is always plural. Were there many people? What do people think?
If you say ”peoples”, you men different kinds of peoples, tribes and nations.
The peoples of South America and Mexico spoke very complicated languages.
Some words are always singular.
Is this your money?
The furniture is in the hall. Where shall we put it?
If you want to be specific about how many of a kind you mean, use ”two pieces of.../five bits of...”
Some words are always plural.
Are those your new binoculars? I haven't seen them before.
I can't find my pyjamas anywhere. Where are they?
The stairs were really old.
Many subjects and diseases have plural form but are in fact singular.
Physics is my favourite subject.
PERSONAL & REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS (I, me, myself)
The most important thing to remember is that when talking about something you have done on your
own (without any help), you use myself.
Have you made this cake all by yourself?
Don't help me! I can do this myself.
Some expressions in English where you use the reflexive pronouns:
Make yourselves at home! [Känn er som hemma]
Help yourselves to some cofffe! [Varsågoda och ta kaffe]
Note the difference between some words
approach
närma sig
feel
känna sig
marry
gifta sig
You can also use a reflexive pronoun to stress a word.
We saw the President herself in Helsinki! [självaste presidenten]
THE GENITIVE
a) The owner of something can be expressed with the words my, your, his, her, our, your, their.
They cannot stand by themselves, and should therefore be used within a sentence.
This is my brother Leon and his girlfriend Fiona.
Have you seen our new car?
b) Independent words (mine, yours, his, hers, ours, yours, theirs) can stand by themselves.
Whose are these books? They are mine.
Is this Pamela's bag? No, it's not hers.
c) We can also put an s after the person's name.
Look at Miranda's new BMW! Lyndsay's car is also nice.
d) If the name ends with an s, you have two options. Apostrophe after the s (s'), or adding 's.
1) Matteus, Markus, Lukas, Johannes > Matteus', Markus', Lukas', Johannes'
2) Matteus, Markus, Lukas, Johannes > Matteus's, Markus's, Lukas's, Johannes's
e) If there are two owners, you put the apostrophe at the second person's name
Camilla and Karin's test
Johan and Roger's courses
f) S-genitive is used when talking about people, expressions of time, countries, cities, places.
Yesterday's news, London's underground, the hairdresser's
g) Of-genitive is used about things
The windows of the castle
The name of the teacher
The situation of the blind
(Note: no s at the end of 'blind')
h) Double-genitive is used with the words this, that, some, any, no, few, articles (a, an, the) and
numbers/expressions of quantity.
A few cousins of mine
Some cousins of my friend's
Can I have a look at that new boat of your father's?
i) The word ”own” is used only after a possessive pronoun (my, your, his, her....) or the s-genitive.
This is my own room
This is Liza's own Mercedes.
Did you bring any CDs of your own?
REMEMBER: Vems? = whose
Dess = its
En treveckors kurs
(Who's = who is = vem är)
(it's = it is = den/det är)
a) a three-week course
b) a three weeks' course
c) a course of three weeks
IT/THERE
It is = det är
There is = det finns
There are = det finns
it is sunny today.
there are no clouds in the sky.
there is a towel in my bag. Let's get a tan!
There are two chairs there.
det finns
där
THIS AND THAT
this = denhär
that = dendär
these = de här
De som gillar geografi = those who like grography
those = de där
INDEFINITE PRONOUNS
Most of this is actually presented in the book in a very logical way. Study!
Just remember that you cannot use -one/-body before OF.
anyone of you can do this. WRONG
everyone of you
WRONG
any one of you can do this. CORRECT
each of you
CORRECT
Have a look at the boxes on p. 210-211, they are extremely important.
GOOD LUCK! ♥