- •The noun
- •Nouns of material and abstract nouns
- •The Category of Number The singular and the plural
- •Compound nouns
- •Identical form of the plural and singular
- •Uncountable nouns used only in the singular
- •Uncountable nouns used only in the plural
- •Exercises
- •The Category of Case
- •Exercises
- •The article
- •The indefinite article is used:
- •The definite article is used:
- •No articles:
- •The use of articles with nouns of material and abstract nouns
- •The use of articles with proper nouns
- •1) Geographical names
- •2) Names of persons
- •3) The use of articles in the names of places, some buildings, public organizations
- •Special difficulties in the use of articles
- •1) The use of articles with the names of months and days, seasons, meals, languages
- •2) The use of articles with the nouns school/college, prison/jail, bed, town, church
- •Set phrases With the definite article
- •With the indefinite article
- •Without articles
- •Exercises
- •The adjective
- •Degrees of Comparison.
- •Irregular adjectives.
- •Comparative constructions.
- •Position of Adjectives.
- •Exercises
- •The adverb
- •Kinds of Adverb
- •Any more / any longer / no longer.
- •So, such.
- •Too, enough.
- •Also, too, as well, neither, either.
- •Exercises
- •The pronoun
- •Reflexive pronouns
- •Exercises
- •Indefinite pronouns
- •Exercises
- •Other, another, the other, others
- •Exercises
- •Much, many, few, little
- •Exercises
- •All, whole, either, neither, both, none
- •Exercises
- •The numeral Cardinal numbers
- •Ordinal numbers and dates
- •Exercises
- •Contents
The adjective
Adjectives are words expressing a quality of a substance.
According to their morphological structure adjectives are divided into:
simple: bad, large, heavy, square, many, much;
derivatives (have suffixes, prefixes or both): beautiful, unimportant, boring, interested, helpless;
compound: snow-white, old-fashioned, hard-working, light-green, duty-free.
Degrees of Comparison.
Most qualitative adjectives have 3 degrees of comparison: positive, comparative and superlative.
The comparative and superlative degrees are formed in 2 ways:
a) By the suffixes –er, -est:
one syllable & two syllable ending in –y, -er, -ow, -le & with the stress on the last syllable.
big – bigger – the biggest
happy – happier – the happiest
clever – cleverer – the cleverest
simple – simpler – the simplest
narrow – narrower – the narrowest
b) by adding more, the most
famous – more famous – the most famous
interesting – more interesting – the most interesting
You can use –er or more with some two-syllable adjectives, especially: quiet, clever, narrow, simple, common, stupid, gentle, friendly, cruel, pleasant, shallow.
The comparative of real, right, wrong is formed with more & most:
real – more real – the most real
right – more right – the most right
wrong – more wrong – the most wrong
A+ the superlative degree of an adjective means весьма, крайне:
This is a most boring novel. – Это весьма скучный роман.
Irregular adjectives.
Good – better – the best
Bad – worse – the worst
Late – later – the latest (refers to time)
latter – the last (refers to position)
Old – older the oldest (for people & things)
elder – the eldest (for people only in the same family, relatives)
But: I have an elder brother. – My brother is 5 years older than me.
Far – farther/further – the farthest/the furthest (about distance)
further – the furthest (additional)
Near – nearer – the nearest (denotes distance)
nearer – the next (denotes position)
Little – less – the least (lesser is formed from less but it is not a true comparative, we cannot use than after it. It is used in a set expression: The lesser of two evils. – Меньшее из двух зол.
Many (much) – more – the most
Comparative constructions.
To compare things which are the same: as…as, the same … as – такой же как, twice as…as, three times as … as – в 2 (3) раза… . The adjective is used in the positive degree. – She is as busy as a bee. Father is the same age as mother. Petrol is twice as expensive as it was 2 years ago.
To compare things that are different: not as…as, not so…as – не такой как. The adjective is used in the positive degree. – Italy is not so hot as Iraq. He isn’t as poor as I thought.
than –чем – The comparative degree is used. – Your spelling is better than mine.
the…the – чем … тем. The comparative degree is used. – The longer is the night, the shorter is the day.
We can use the + comparative when we compare only 2 things of the same kind: Of the 2 cars this is (the) faster.
half as much/many – She is half my age.
half the size
Words that can modify a comparative form are: much, a little, a bit, slightly, far, rather, a lot, even.
The book is much more interesting than the film.
The son is much richer than his father.
Words that can modify a superlative form: by far, the very.
He is by far the best pupil in the group.
She put on her very best dress.