31st March 2011

PRESENTATIONS      

      ARTICLES

Presented by Farahanida, Hafizah & Salihah.                      

There are 2 type of articles which are definite and indefinite article.

           1. Indefinite

  o   a, an

  o   refer to something not specifically known to the person you are communicating with.

  o   'an' is for vowel SOUNDS - example : an honest

  o   use before nouns that introduce something or someone you have not mentioned before

  o   example : i saw an elephant this morning 

2. Definite

  o   the

Uses of THE	Examples
To refer to a particular person/s or thing/s	The apple you ate was rotten
To refer to the person/s or thing/s that has been mentioned earlier	She's got two children, a girl and a boy. The girl's eight and the boy's fourteen.
Before nouns of which there is only one	The moon revolves around the earth every thirty-one days.
Before a title, a post or a position	The Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Teknologi MARA.
Before the names of o   Rivers o   Seas  o   Oceans o   Groups of island o   Mountain ranges o   Deserts o   Important building o   Organizations o   Special events o   Countries which have the        form of government as        part of their name	o   The Klang River    o   The Dead Sea    o   The Atlantic Ocean    o   The Alps    o   The Maldives    o   The Gobi Desert,    o   The Putra World Trade Centre    o   The Red Crescent Society    o   The Special Olympics    o   The United States of America
Before a superlative	The best, The most beautiful
Before ordinals (first, second, etc.) and the word last when it is not followed by a day or a month	o   The first man to step on the moon    o   The tenth caller to the radio show    o   The last visitor to the museum
Before specific public places	The bus station
Before certain expressions of time	In the morning, during the night
Before the name of a musical instrument when we refer to a specific instrument that a person plays	Mei Ling’s favorites hobby is playing the clarinet.

Important !

* The books are expensive - not all book are expensive

* Books are expensive - all books are expensive

  

       No article

o   usually no article when talk about things in general & sports

ü  example 1  : Inflation is rising

ü  example 2  : My son plays football

o   no article before uncountable nouns when talking about them generally.

o   information is important to any organization

     SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT

Presented by Mai, Syida, Dian & Hazyra

☺   some English sentences requires that the subject 'agree' with the verbs & vice versa.

☺   singular subject must have a singular verb while plural subject must have plural verb.

☺   only applicable in sentences using certain tenses which consider the singularity & plurality of the subject of the sentences.

☺   includes simple past ( be verb ), present continuous, past continuous & present prefect.

☺   Example :

Sentences	Subject	Verb
His mother leads a healthy lifestyle.	His mother – singular	Leads – singular
The triplets speak quietly almost all the time.	The triples – plural	Speak – plural
We are here.	We – plural	Are – plural
She was with me all the time.	She – singular	Was – singular
The children were waiting.	The children – plural	Were – plural
Amina has talked to the Dean	Amina – singular	Has – singular

☺   verb go, do, have

Verb	Examples
Go – plural	During the Pesta Kaamatan, or the Harvest Festival, most Sabahans go back to their home state to celebrate it.
Goes – singular	Monica Siliu, of Kadazandusun descent, always goes back to Kota Kinabalu to be with her family for the celebration.
Do – plural	Kadazandusuns do this since it is their belief that rice, in whatever form, embodies Bambaazan that must be protected from harm.
Does – singular	Her family usually does every ritual related to the festival, which is to honour the spirit, Bambaazan or Bambarayon.
Have – plural	These people also believe that inanimate items have life and that they are all living things.
Has – singular	The selected pageant festival queen has  the honour of symbolizing Huminodun, the daughter of the Creator, Kinoingan.

Singular subject – singular verb rule

1.      Indefinite pronouns – everybody, everyone, each, every, someone, somebody, either one, anyone	Everybody follows a unique lifestyle. Each culture is distinct.
2.      The use of ‘neither of’, ‘either of’	Neither of the girls believes in Halloween. Either of the students has travelled extensively.
3.      Nouns that end in ‘s’ but are singular in nature – Physics, Economics, Civics, Mathematics, dollars, news, measles, mumps, aerobics, athletics, gymnastics, notes, comics	Physics was a subject I dreaded in Halloween. Mumps is contagious. News travels very fast.
4.      Sums and products of mathematical processes.	Four and four is eight. Four divided by two is two.
5.      Nouns that refer to language – French, Italian, German	German is the one foreign language offered at the Academy of Language Studies. French has been her favorites language.
6.       Nouns preceded by ‘a pair of’	A pair of green pants goes well with that shirt.
7.       Collective nouns	A group of activists is fighting for a greener earth. A pack of wolves has been seen in the nearby woods.
8.       Nouns preceded by ‘one of the’	One of the paintings belongs to me. One of the children has gone jogging.

Plural subject – plural verb rule

1.   Nouns joined by ‘and’	Arts and culture are two different fields.
2.   Nouns preceded by ‘a number of’	A number of students  consider visiting the museum a treat.
3.   Nouns such as scissors, tweezers, trousers, glasses/spectacles, pants, shorts, shears	These tweezers are too small. The glasses were missing. Your creased pants need ironing.
4.   Nouns that refer to nationally – the English, the French	The French enjoy eating escargot. The Japanese are known for their tea ceremony.
5.   The use of ‘both……and’, ‘several’, ‘many’, few’, ‘others’	Both Airini and Airina are Suraya’s daughters. Many people like swimming for recreation while others enjoy brisk walks.

Other subject – verb agreement rules

1.   Nouns which refer to a group (eg : family, government, jury, committee, team ) can take on either singular or plural verbs.	The family is visiting the Museum of Modern Arts. The committee have agreed to use a culturally-suitable theme for the festival.
2.   Nouns preceded by ‘none of the’ (take the nearest subject)	None of the fish is edible. They have all gone bad. None of the girls know about the Louvre, so it is time we went to Paris.
3.   Nouns used with ‘together with’, ‘along with’, ‘including’, ‘accompanied by’, ‘in addition to’, ‘as well as’, etc (the verb agrees with the earlier noun)	Nasharudin together with his brother Ariff, has been to London. The boys, including their mother enjoy cooking and travelling.
4.    The use of ‘either……or’, Neither……nor’ (The verb agrees with the noun closer to it)	Either the boys or Jenna has taken the key. Neither the guard nor the students know the new ruling for outings.
5.   Subjects that come after verbs.	Here is the book that you need. There was a time when a lot of people were into aerobics. Here come the bride and groom. There are many diverse culture in Malaysia.
6.   Nouns and verbs separated by a relative clause (The verb agrees with the noun referred to)	My mother, whom I love dearly, is a great seamstress. The towers, which are occupied by city dwellers, seem in need of extra security guards.
7.    Nouns preceded by fractions and percentages (The verb agrees with the noun, not the fraction)	Forty per cent of the cake was eaten by him. Half of the sand costs RM40. Forty per cent of the students think the rule was impartial. Three fifths of the children were absent.
8.   Units of money, distance, and time take on singular verbs if they precede the verbs and take on plural verbs if they come after the verbs. (*come first-singular) (*come later-plural)	RM1000  is a lot of money to lose. Five kilometers is a long way to jog. There are 1000 meters in a kilometer. There are 100 000 sen in RM1000.