Category: Class

It

It is a pronoun used to refer to a specific thing, fact, place, and situation.

Example:

I visited John’s farm. It was big and clean.

My dog ate my biscuit. It was probably hungry.

We also use it to refer to time, distance, and weather.

Example:

What time is it now?

How far is it from here to your hometown?

It was rainy yesterday.

That, This

That is used to refer to an object that is far from the speaker.

Example:

That red box is used to keep my children’s toys. (Pointing to a box)

This is used to refer to an object which is close to the speaker.

Example:

This is my latest invention. (The speaker is either holding the object or has the object near him/her)

These, Those

These – used to refer to objects that are near the speaker.

Example:

These samples are well-made.

Those – used to refer to objects that are far from the speaker.

Example:

Those apples in that stall look delicious!

Sometimes, we use this, that, these, and those, as pronouns.

Example:

Who owns this (book)?

What are these (fruits)?

Please hand me those (boxes)

When or If

Look at the following sentences:

a. We will go home when it stops raining.
b. If it stops raining, we will go home.

What is the difference between the two sentences?

• When is used for things which we are sure to happen.

Example:

I will go jogging this afternoon. (Plan) When I go jogging, I will drop by Susan’s place.

• If is used for things that will possibly happen.

Example:

Don’t call me if I am late this evening. My meeting might get extended.

If the company doesn’t call me, I will send them an email.

I might attend the conference tomorrow. If I attend the conference, I will try to find a chance to show our new proposal.

Going back to the two sentences presented at the beginning, sentence A implies that the rain is sure to stop, thus they will go home (after it stops). Sentence B, on the other hand, implies that the speaker is not sure whether the rain will stop later or not.

Will

• We use will + verb when we make an impulse decision or decide something at the
moment of speaking

Example: I will call Suzanne about this afternoon’s product launch. Thank you for
reminding me.

• We also often use will + verb with the phrase, I think.

Example: I think I will hand in my report after the meeting. I don’t want to be late in
submitting it.

• We often use will in the following situations:

➢ Offering to do something
Example: I will help you plan tomorrow’s meeting.

➢ Agreeing to do something
Example: Yes, I will call him as soon as I complete my report.

➢ Asking someone to do something
Example: Will you call me when you get home?

WON’T

• Won’t or will not is the negative of will. This is often used in spoken English.
Example: I won’t go home early today.

• We also use won’t to say that somebody refuses to do something.
Example: My manager won’t listen to my explanation. What should I do?

When telling a story or an action about the past, we use the past perfect continuous. In most cases, it is used with other narrative tenses like the past simple.

The past perfect continuous shows an ongoing action in the past up until another past action. It is used to tell the events not in its correct sequence.

Example:

A sentence with the correct sequence of events:

Alice was having a lot of fun at the party, so she decided to stay up late.                                                 

A sentence with the events not in order:

Alice decided to stay up late because she had been having a lot of fun at the party.

The ongoing event that took place prior to the other verb is in the past perfect tense.

Put any adverbs between had and been.

She had only been studying in the university for a semester before she got into trouble.

Sam had already been sleeping for an hour.

Form:

A defining relative clause is used to give information about a noun in a sentence. This information is needed by the listener or reader to understand the whole thought in the sentence.

A lawyer is a person who represents ordinary people in a legal proceeding.

The man who helped carry my stuff has just left.

We use who to provide more details about a person.

A policeman is a person who helps keep the street safe.

 We use which or that to provide more details about a thing.

A ring is a thing which you wear around your finger as an accessory.

The dress that I wore last summer is beautiful.

We use where to provide more details about a place.

That’s the restaurant where we had our first date.

The city where I was born is a popular tourist destination.

Non-defining relative clauses provide key information therefore commas (,) are not needed.

If the object of the sentence is the noun which the relative clause describes (commonly found at the beginning of the sentence), the words that, which or who can be omitted.

Examples

1. The girl who is staring at me is my former girlfriend.

The girl is the subject of the sentence. You cannot omit who.

2. The woman (who) Andy has been dating for years is my cousin.

Andy is the subject of the sentence.

The woman is the object of the sentence.

When rewritten: Andy has been dating a woman for years. The woman is my cousin.

Here, Who can be omitted.

3. The house you showed me is in a quiet neighborhood.

You is the subject of the sentence.

The house is the object of the sentence.

When rewritten: You showed me a house. The house is in a quiet neighborhood.

Which / that is unnecessary.

4. The car which is on the left side is a luxury car.

The car is the subject of the sentence.

When rewritten: The car is on the left side. It’s a luxury car.

Which / that is necessary.

Words or phrases that are used to be limiting, emphatic, or dramatic are called negative adverbials. They can be found at the beginning of sentences and the inversion of the following subject and verb is required. It puts an emphasis on what is being said and makes the statement striking and surprising.

Seldom do I visit him.

Only later did I find out the truth.

Never have I done such a thing.

Since it sounds formal, it is more widely used in written English. The failure to invert the subject and verb after the negative adverbial is the most common pitfall people make. In this grammar lesson, we will discuss some of the common negative adverbials, their proper usage in a sentence and some common mistakes.

Only

Only later, only when, only then, only by, only once, only now, only after, only if.

Only then did I notice that I had left my bag at home.

Only when he finished eating did he offer some food to the guests.

No, Not, Never

Never, never before, not only, not until, no more, in no way, on no account, no longer, no sooner, at no time

Not since I entered college have I had so much pressure.

Not until I pass the exam shall I take things easy.

Rarely and Seldom.

Seldom do I make an apple tart.

Rarely do I have the chance to read fiction.

Common errors in Inversion:

1. Not being able to invert the subject and verb:

Incorrect: Never before I have done something courageous.

Correct: Never before have I done something courageous.

2. Incorrect Inversion:

Such a mistake is often committed when inversion is made in the main clause upon forming a subordinate clause with the negative adverbial in some sentences.

Incorrect: Only when had I left the house I noticed I didn’t have my car keys with me.

Correct: Only when I had left the house did I notice I didn’t have my car keys with me.

Quantifiers are words or phrases used with a noun to indicate quantity. It often gives information about the noun on how many or how much it is.

Form

Quantifiers can be found before countable and uncountable nouns.

quantifier + countable/uncountable noun

Quantifiers + countable noun 

Here is a list of some quantifiers that are used with countable nouns.

A number of
Many
A few/few/very few
Several
A large number of
A majority of

Quantifiers + uncountable noun

Here is a list of some quantifiers that we use with uncountable nouns.

much
a little/little/very little *
a bit (of)
a great deal of
a large amount of
a large quantity of

Quantifier + Both Countable and Uncountable

Here is a list of some quantifiers that we use with both countable and uncountable nouns.

Some

Any

A lot of

Lots of

Plenty of

All

Enough

More/Most

Less/Least

No/None

Not Any

• A lot of is often used instead of much in some situations.

She spent a lot of money on shoes.

X: She spent much money on shoes.

• Little and few without the article a mean not much or not many. They imply a negative idea.

He has little patience.
Jack has few choices.

• Little and few with the article a imply a positive meaning. They could mean some, a small amount, or a small number.

I will take a nap. I have a little time before my next meeting.

Quantifiers Exercise

Answer this exercise on quantifiers.

1. In my opinion, ___ practice is good for you.

a. all

b. enough

c. any

2. I’m sorry, but there’s ___ sugar for your coffee. Is it alright with you?

a. no

b. any

c. enough

3. I can eat ___ things, but I’m allergic to shellfish.

a. any

b. most

c. more

4. If you want to sleep early, maybe you should have ___ screen time.

a. any

b. less

c. enough

5. If you want to help the community, you can donate ___ money.

a. any

b. some

c. a few

6. We don’t have ___ players.

a. enough

b. some

c. much

7. Can we have three ___ teas, please?

a. more

b. less

c. enough

8. When she was a child, she used to drink ___ milk.

a. most

b. much

c. lots of

9. Generally, I don’t like vegetables but I eat ___ potatoes.

a. a lot of

b. much

c. a number of

10. We have _____ time.

a. several

b. a number of

c. plenty of

Find answers for this exercise here.

See also: All/All of – Most/Most of – No/None of and Much, Many, Little, Few, A Lot, Plenty

For additional information on this topic, check out this British Council lesson.

For other English grammar lessons, go to this page.

Negation

We can use negative words, phrases and clauses to express a contradiction or denial on a certain topic. Negation can be made in many ways. In most situations, we use a negative word such as no, not, never, none, etc. 

Here are some example sentences:

A: Are you staying home tonight?

B: No. I am going out tonight. ( No = I am not staying home tonight.)

Janice doesn’t go to work everyday. ( It is not true that Janice goes to work everyday.)

No and not are the most common negative words. There are other ways to express negation with the use of other negative words such as never, no one, neither, none, nor, nothing, nowhere, nobody, etc.

No one came to her party.

Neither Mike nor John went to the mall.

Nobody wants to share an idea.

None of them enjoyed the movie.

Most teachers nowadays don’t use traditional teaching methods.

Prefixes and suffixes can also be used to express negation.

Prefixes ( dis-, non-, un-)

Suffixes ( less, free )

He has been disloyal to her since the day they met.

It is a stress-free environment.

Some other words that can be used to express negative or somewhat negative statements are:

barely, rarely, hardly, seldom, little, scarcely, few

They barely talked.

I seldom see him.

We use negation more commonly in oral language than in written form. In a face-to-face conversation, the use of negation can make the statement less direct.

I’m not certain if I am in the right office. Is this Mr. Smith’s office? ( This is a less direct way than to ask, Is this the right office?/Am I in the right office?)

Forming negative statements, questions and imperatives

Negative statements

Negative statements are formed by the use of nor or n’t after be,auxiliary and modal verbs.

n’t is the abbreviation of not.

n’t can be added to be, to modal verbs ( except may ) and to auxiliary verbs ( do and have ) without a space.

Won’t is the shortened negative form of will.

Cannot is the unshortened form of can + not.

Sam isn’t going to the party. She is not feeling good about herself.

They hadn’t realized the severity of the problem.

He does not believe in marriage.

I don’t go to the gym everyday.

He can’t be that lonely.

It might not be that expensive.

Negative questions

Not or n’t are used to form negative questions. In the absence of a modal verb or be, auxiliary verb do + n’t is used.

(don’t, do not, doesn’t, does not, didn’t):

What don’t they notice?

Why didn’t you go there?

Won’t you get a promotion?

Isn’t that your husband?

Negative imperatives

do + not or don’t + the base form of a verb are used to form negative orders or commands.

Do not start until you are told.

Don’t sit next to him. Find another seat.

Negation: two negatives

Two negatives (double negatives) in the same clause is not accepted in standard English.
Some words (never, no one, nothing, nowhere, etc.) already have a negative meaning therefore the use of another negative with the verb is unnecessary.

There was nothing else I could do.

Not: There wasn’t nothing …

I have nowhere else to go.

Not: I haven’t nowhere….

The use of not with the verb requires the use of words such, anybody, anyone, anything, anywhere,as ever, in place of nobody, no one, nothing, nowhere, never:

She hasn’t told anyone about it.

Not: She hasn’t told no one about it.

Although some speakers use two negatives in the same clause,it is still considered incorrect by most people.

Not…. I don’t think

We can use reporting verbs such as suppose, think and imagine in the end position after the reported clause. In these cases, they both may have a negative verb.

She’s not married, I don’t think. ( or I don’t think she is married.)

Not: I don’t think he’s not a teacher.

I won’t be very tired by the end of this week, I shouldn’t suppose so. ( or I shouldn’t suppose I will be very tired by the end of this week.)

Not: I shouldn’t suppose I won’t be very tired.

Not is used in front position in some cases where it is followed by a reduced clause ( a clause with something removed ut which is obvious) that also has a negative form:

A: Have you done your homework?

B; Not now, I haven’t. ( I haven’t done my homework.)