GRAMMAR - THE PLURAL OF NOUNS IN ENGLISH: THEORY AND PRACTICE

THE PLURAL FORM: SPELLING RULES

1. Add -s for the majority of nouns in English:

Examples: Book - Books;   Cat  - Cats;   Girl - Girls;   House - Houses; Dog - Dogs.

2. Add -es after sibillants (-s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x):

Examples: Kiss - Kisses;   Dish - Dishes;   Match - Matches;   Box - Boxes.

3. Nouns ending in consonant + y: y – ies.

Examples: City - Cities;   Lady - Ladies. BUT: Boy - Boys;   Key - Keys.

4. IRREGULAR FORMS:

(a) -f, -fe in plural: -ves.

Examples: Loaf - Loaves;     Wife - Wives;      Knife - Knives. 

(b) -oo in plural: -ee. Foot - Feet;     Tooth - Teeth;    Goose - Geese.

(c) Animal nouns ending in -ouse in plural: -ice.

Mouse - Mice;   Louse - Lice.

(d) Food ending in –o in plural: -es.

Potato - Potatoes;   Tomato - Tomatoes.

(e) HUMANS:

 Person - People;   Man - Men;   Woman - Women;   Child - Children.

(f) Nouns which don't change their singular form in the plural:

Fish - Fish;    Sheep - Sheep.

EXERCISE – WRITE THE PLURAL FORM OF THESE WORDS:

TREE	MAN
ROOM	TURKEY
BABY	FISH
TOMATO	TOY
CAR	FOOT
CHILD	KNIFE
CAT	WATCH

GRAMMAR - "USED TO"/"WOULD", "BE"/"GET USED TO": USES AND FORMS

1. GRAMMAR: “USED TO” AND “WOULD”

A - USED TO + INFINITIVE: PAST STATES, HABITS AND ACTIONS. SPANISH: “SOLÍA ….”

Affirmative form: 

I used to have pets (Yo solía tener mascotas) / He used to smoke (Él solía fumar) / They used to walk every day (Ellos solían pasear todos los días).

Negative form: DID NOT /DIDN’T USE TO + INFINITIVE

I didn’t use to have pets / He didn’t use to smoke / They didn’t use to walk every day.

Interrogative form: DID + S + USE TO + INFINITIVE? 

Did I use to have pets? / Did he use to smoke? / Did they use to walk every day?

B - WOULD + INFINITIVE: PAST ACTIONS. SPANISH: VERBO PRINCIPAL EN IMPERFECTO DE INDICATIVO.

They would walk every day (Ellos andaban todos los días) / We would go to the beach in the summer (Nosotros íbamos a la playa en verano) / She would sing in a choir (Ella cantaba en un coro).

PAY ATTENTION: "USED TO" and "WOULD" can only be used in the Simple Past Tense. In the Present Simple tense, we use "usually" instead. E.g.: I usually read at night. (Yo suelo leer por la noche). 

2. GRAMMAR: “BE USED TO” AND “GET USED TO”

A – BE USED TO + GERUND: “ESTAR ACOSTUMBRADO A + INFINITIVO”

I’m used to celebrating my birthday every year (Estoy acostumbrado a celebrar mi cumpleaños todos los años) / My brother is used to getting up early (Mi hermano está acostumbrado a madrugar)

B – GET USED TO + GERUND:  “ACOSTUMBRARSE A + INFINITIVO”

I’m getting used to working ten hours a day (Me estoy acostumbrando a trabajar diez horas al día) / We got used to living in cold temperatures (Nos acostumbramos a vivir con bajas temperaturas) / They will soon get used to speaking Italian all the time (Ellos se acostumbrarán pronto a hablar italiano todo el tiempo).

PAY ATTENTION: "BE USED TO" and "GET USED TO" can be used in present, past and future tenses.

GRAMMAR - EXERCISES: PAST SIMPLE AND PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE

1. PAST SIMPLE or PRESENT PERFECT? Choose the correct form:  

1. I started / have started my German classes last week.

2. You can go out now. The rain stopped / has stopped.

3. Christopher Columbus discovered / has discovered America in 1492.

4. I met / have met your boyfriend recently.

5. The Industrial Revolution began / has begun in the eighteenth century.

6. We watched / have watched this film before.

7. Your neighbours travelled / have travelled abroad two years ago.

8. I didn’t sleep / haven’t slept well in the last days.

9. Have you seen / Did you see Mary lately?

10. My aunt published / has published a new post on her blog on Saturday.

2. Complete the sentences using the PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE or THE PAST SIMPLE:
1. I __________________________ (study) for my English exam the day before yesterday.

2. __________ you ever _____________________ (eat) exotic food?
3. My parents ______________________ (talk) to my French teacher a lot lately.

4. Nora ___________________________ (write) several poems in the last weeks.

5. I ___________________________ (not read) any romantic novels.
6. John ___________________________ (send) that e-mail some days ago.

7. _____________ they _________________ (visit) their grandma recently?

8. I ______________ never __________________ (go) to  Iceland.

9. My grandfather _________________ (die) in 2012.
10. I __________________________ (hear) from your brother before but I can’t remember when I        _____________________ (hear) about him for the last time.

3. Complete the following biography with the PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE or THE PAST SIMPLE of the verbs in brackets:

   William Bradley "Brad" Pitt ____________ (be) born in Oklahoma on December 18, 1963.   He is   an American actor and film producer. Some people say he is one of the world's  most attractive men. Pitt ____________________________ (receive) two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations. He  ________________ (be) awarded with 1 Golden Globe Award in 1995 and he ____________________ (win) an Academy Award in 2013.

   Pitt ______________________(begin) his acting career with television guest appearances in the 1980s, which __________________________ (include) a role on the CBS soap opera Dallas in 1987. He  (gain) recognition as the cowboy hitchhiker in the movie Thelma & Louise in 1991. In 1995, he _________________________ (give) critically acclaimed performances in the crime thriller Seven and the science fiction film Twelve Monkeys. He ______________________________ (have) his biggest commercial successes with Troy and Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Pitt ______________________(receive) his second Academy Award nomination for his performance in the title role in the 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

   Pitt _____________ (be) married to actress Jennifer Aniston from 2002 to 20007. However, they _____________________ (divorce) in 2008, because he __________________ (fall) in love with the actress Angelina Jolie. He _____________________ (live)with her for 5 years now. This relationship ________________always _______________________ (attract) worldwide media attention. Since beginning his relationship with Jolie, Pitt  _________________________________ (become) increasingly involved in social issues, both in the United States and internationally. 

Because of his social concerns and his professional career, most people  considers him to be an admirable celebrity.

4.  Write a BIOGRAPHY about a famous person you admire, following the model above (approximately 100 words).

GRAMMAR - PRACTICE: PASSIVE VOICE EXERCISES

1. Complete the sentences. Use the Present Passive:

1.  Houses _____________________________ (make) of bricks and wood.

2. Millions of computers _____________________ (sell) each day.

3. Eiffel Tower in Paris ________________________ (visit) by thousands of people every day.

4. The old printers ______________________ (not use) much.

5. The fax machine ______________________ (connect) to the computer by a green cable.

2. Transform these sentences into Past Passive:

1. Engineers didn’t use computers in the past.

_________________________________________________________________________

2.  They built this house in 1945.

_________________________________________________________________________

3.  Those workers assembled cars in that factory before the boss fired them.

_________________________________________________________________________

4.  That company manufactured cars in the 1980s.

_________________________________________________________________________

5.  That employer trained new employees four years ago.

_________________________________________________________________________

GRAMMAR - THEORY: PASSIVE VOICE

1. USE

We use the passive voice when we are interested in the OBJECT / PROCESS, not the performer.

We place “by + performer” at the end of a passive voice sentence if we want to include in the passive voice sentence the subject of the active sentence.

Examples: 

“Somebody stole my bike” → “My bike was stolen”.  
“Tom stole my bike” → “My bike was stolen by Tom”.  

2. FORM: TO BE + PAST PARTICIPLE (-ED/3^rd COLUMN, IRREGULAR VERBS)

THE OBJECT of the active voice sentence becomes the SUBJECT in the passive voice sentence.

Examples:

Active	Mary	buys	a car.	SIMPLE PRESENT
Passive:	A car	is bought	by Mary.

Active:	Mary	bought	a car.	SIMPLE PAST
Passive:	A car	was bought	by Mary.

Active:	Mary	has bought	a car.	PRESENT PERFECT
Passive:	A car	has been bought	by Mary.

Active:	Mary	will buy	a car.	WILL-FUTURE
Passive:	A car	will be bought	by Mary.

Active:	Mary	can buy	a car.	MODALS
Passive:	A car	can be bought	by Mary.

CONTINUOUS TENSES AND THE PASSIVE FORM

Present Continuous Passive: Is/am/are + being + past participle (The house is being painted).

Past Continuous Passive: Was/were + being + past participle (The cars were being washed).

Attention - Neither Future Continuous nor Perfect Continuous tenses use the Passive Voice because putting together two forms of the "be"together sounds awkward, so use simple passive forms instead.

3. PASSIVE VOICE: THE TWO GRAMMAR STRUCTURES

When verbs like believe, consider, expect, know, think, say, suppose are used in the Passive Voice, there can be structured in two ways: an impersonal option and a personal option, which is more frequent than the impersonal one.

Option 1 (Impersonal Construction): Starts with a dummy "It" + passive verb + that-clause.

It + is/was [passive verb] + that + subject + verb...

Everybody thinks that Elena is really talented at French.

It is thought (that) Elena is really talented at French. ("Se piensa...")

Option 2 (Personal Construction): Starts with the real subject + passive verb + to-infinitive.

Subject + is/was [passive verb] + to + infinitive...




Everybody thinks that Elena is really talented at French.

Elena is thought to be really talented at French. ("Se piensa que Elena...")

4. PASSIVE VOICE SENTENCES WITH TWO OBJECTS

The INDIRECT OBJECT of the active voice sentence can become the SUBJECT in the passive voice sentence. Translation into Spanish: "A ... le/les..." / Active voice: "Subject + V"

I- If the active voice follows the order “Subject + Verb + Direct Object + to Indirect Object” → Omit “to”:

“Helen offered a job to my brother Jim” 

becomes 

“My brother Jim was offered a job by Helen”

“Dan will give a present to Jane” 

becomes 

“Jane will be given a present by Dan”

II- If the indirect object of the active sentence is an object pronoun → Transform it into a subject pronoun:

“Mary offered a job to him” becomes “He was offered a job by Mary”

“Dan will give a present to her” becomes “She will be given a present by Dan”

5. I. THE CAUSATIVE STRUCTURE:"HAVE/GET SOMETHING DONE"

To describe situations where we want someone else to do something for us. It highlights the task itself completed, especially when the person doing it is not even named. 

- Have something done: It is a more formal structure than “get something done”.

- Get something done: It is more informal and most common in spoken English.

 Examples:

I had /got my computer repaired yesterday. He will have /will get his hair cut soon.

5. II. THE ACTIVE CAUSATIVE STRUCTURE: 

    "HAVE SOMEONE DO SOMETHING/ GET  SOMEONE TO DO SOMETHING"

It highlights WHO performs the action. Differences in meaning between the use of both forms:

Have someone do something: Commission, pay, ask, arrange.

Get someone to do something: Convince, persuade.

Other variations of the active causative structure:

Make someone do something: Force, compel.

Let someone do something: Allow, permit.

Examples:

I had my brother repair my computer yesterday. 

He will get his mum cut his hair soon.

The teacher made the pupils do the project.

My dad lets me go to your birthday party.