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Nouns with a plural form and a singular meaning
Certain nounA part of speech that names a person, place or thing. E.g.: The koala is a marsupial. ("koala", "marsupial")s have a plural form (ending in -s) but a singular meaning: news; shingles, mumps, rickets; dominoes, billiards, darts etc.:
Determiners with countable and uncountable nouns (SOME, ANY, NO, MANY, MUCH, FEW, LITTLE etc.)
Determiners precede and modify nounA part of speech that names a person, place or thing. E.g.: The koala is a marsupial. ("koala", "marsupial")s. Some determiners can only be used with countable or uncountable nouns, while others with both. Countable nouns take a singular or plural form depending on the determiner which precedes them (sing: singular form; pl: plural form):
The difference between direct and indirect speech
When we quote word for word what somebody says, we use inverted commas (quotation marks) and we repeat exactly the original utteranceSomething that somebody says in a specific context.. This is called direct speech:
The difference between times and tenses
Time is a concept which is related to our perception of reality. There are three times: past, present and future. Tense is a grammatical category which is marked by verbA part of speech that expresses an action or a state. E.g.: John seldom plays tennis. inflectionA change in or addition to the form of a word that shows a change in the way it is used in sentences. E.g.: He likes what you cooked. ("-s", "-ed") and expresses when an eventA general term expressing that somebody or something does something or that something happens. E.g.: An apple fell on Isaac’s head. or actionA general term expressing that somebody or something does something happens in the flow of time.
TO + infinitive or gerund: FORGET, REMEMBER, REGRET, GO ON, STOP, TRY
The to + infinitive after these verbA part of speech that expresses an action or a state. E.g.: John seldom plays tennis.s expresses purpose as it replaces a purpose clauseA group of related words containing a subject and a verb., while the gerund is the objectA person or thing that is affected by the action of a verb or involved in the result of an action. of the verb and refers to a completeA concept, related to the perfect aspect, expressing that an action has finished. E.g.: He’s finished university.d actionA general term expressing that somebody or something does something.
NEVER, RARELY, IN / UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, IN NO WAY, NOT ONLY ... BUT ALSO, LITTLE etc.
These structureThe way in which the parts of a sentence, clause or expression are arranged. E.g.: make somebody + infinitive in "The teacher made me rewrite the composition."s are used mainly in formalNot belonging to colloquial or everyday speech; official. E.g.: I demand that Mr Smith call the person on whom the committee has decided. or literary language for rhetorical effect.
Nouns with the same singular and plural forms
Certain nounA part of speech that names a person, place or thing. E.g.: The koala is a marsupial. ("koala", "marsupial")s have an identical singular and plural form. Some of these nouns end in -s: means, series, species.
USED TO and WOULD for past habits
AffirmativeA declarative sentence indicating "yes"; also called a positive sentence. E.g.: John likes squash a lot. forms
Used to and would are both used for past habits. There is, however, a difference between the two. Would describes repeated actionA general term expressing that somebody or something does somethings, but not stateA condition that exists at a particular time. E.g.: I am sick. This melon weighs two kilos. s, while used to can refer to both repeated actions and states.
HARDLY, SCARCELY, BARELY, NO SOONER
When telling a story in the past timeA concept which is related to our perception of reality; that part of existence which is measured in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, etc., if an eventA general term expressing that somebody or something does something or that something happens. E.g.: An apple fell on Isaac’s head. quickly follows another, these adverbA part of speech that modifies verbs, adjectives, adverbs and conjunctions. E.g.: I could hardly utter a word. ("hardly")ials and partial inversion is used to express the first event. In the invertA structure in which a verb or an auxiliary precedes the subject. E.g.: "Here comes the sun."ed clauseA group of related words containing a subject and a verb. usually past perfectThe aspect expressing completion. E.g.: He’s finished university. is used. With no sooner … than, however, we can also use simple past.
Nouns which are always plural
Certain nounA part of speech that names a person, place or thing. E.g.: The koala is a marsupial. ("koala", "marsupial")s only have plural forms: