Collective noun

In linguistics, a collective noun is a word used to define a group of objects, where "objects" can be people, animals, inanimate things, concepts, or other things. For example, in the phrase "a pride of lions", pride is a collective noun.

Most collective nouns encountered in everyday speech (such as "group") are mundane and are not specific to one kind of constituent object (for example, the uses "group of people", "group of dogs", and "group of ideas" are all correct uses). Others, especially words belonging to the large subset of collective nouns known as terms of venery (words for groups of animals), are specific to one kind of constituent object (for example, "pride" as a term of venery refers to lions— but not to dogs or llamas). (Terms of venery are further discussed in a subsequent section.)

Collective nouns should not be confused with the collective grammatical number.

Mass noun

In linguistics, a mass noun (also uncountable noun or non-count noun) is a common noun that presents entities as an unbounded mass. Given that different languages have different grammatical resources, the actual test for which nouns are mass nouns may vary from language to language. In English, mass nouns are characterized by the fact that they cannot be directly modified by a numeral without specifying a unit of measurement, and that they cannot combine with an indefinite article (a(n)). Mass nouns combine with expressions like too much ("too much water"), while count nouns don't (*"too much chair(s)")

Adjective

In grammar, an adjective is a word whose main syntactic role is to modify a noun or pronoun (called the adjective's subject), giving more information about what the noun or pronoun refers to. Collectively, adjectives form one of the traditional eight parts of speech, though linguists today distinguish adjectives from words such as determiners that used to be considered adjectives but that are now recognized to be different.

Not all languages have adjectives, but most, including English, do. (English adjectives include big, old, and tired, among many others.) Those that don't typically use words of another part of speech, often verbs, to serve the same semantic function; for example, such a language might have a verb that means "to be big", and would use a construction analogous to "big-being house" to express what English expresses as "big house". Even in languages that do have adjectives, one language's adjective might not be another's; for example, where English has "to be hungry" (hungry being an adjective), French has "avoir faim" (literally "to have hunger"), and where Hebrew has the adjective "זקוק" (zaqūq, roughly "in need of"), English uses the verb "to need".

In most languages with adjectives, they form an open class of words; that is, it is relatively common for new adjectives to be formed via such processes as derivation.

Verb

In syntax, a verb is a word belonging to the part of speech that usually denotes an action (bring, read), an occurrence (decompose, glitter), or a state of being (exist, stand). Depending on the language, a verb may vary in form according to many factors, possibly including its tense, aspect, mood and voice. It may also agree with the person, gender, and/or number of some of its arguments ( subject, object, etc.).

What is Proverb

A proverb (from the Latin proverbium) is a simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated, which expresses a truth, based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity. They are often metaphorical. A proverb that describes a basic rule of conduct may also be known as a maxim. If a proverb is distinguished by particularly good phrasing, it may be known as an aphorism.

Proverbs are often borrowed from similar languages and cultures, and sometimes come down to the present through more than one language. Both the Bible and medieval Latin have played a considerable role in distributing proverbs across Western Europe and even further.

New Proverbs

1. If you're too open-minded, your brains will fall out.
2. Age is a very high price to pay for maturity.
3. Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, if he gets angry, he'll be a mile way - and barefoot.
4. Going to church doesn't make you a holy person any more than going to a garage makes you a mechanic.
5. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
6. A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
7. A closed mouth gathers no feet.
8. If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never tried before.
9. My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.
10. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.
11. It is easier to get forgiveness than permission.
12. I have found at my age going bra-less pulls all the wrinkles out of my face.
13. For every action, there is an equal and opposite government program.
14. If you look like your passport picture, you probably need the trip.
15. Always yield to temptation, because it may not pass your way again.
16. A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good.
17. Eat well, stay fit, die anyway.
18. No husband has ever been shot while doing the dishes.
19. Men are from earth. Women are from earth. Deal with it.
20. It's amazing what you won't find if you don't look for it, especially if it's not there.

MORE ABOUT LEARNING ENGLISH

English is an easy language to start learning because:

• it has no genders. Apart from people, all objects are 'neuter', not 'masculine' or 'feminine'. So you say 'it' for such things, and do not need to learn any genders.
• it usually has easy verb endings. Apart from a few 'irregular' verbs, verb endings are easy, and hardly change.
• adjectives remain the same for all words - there are no different endings to learn.
• the singular and plural pronoun 'you' is the same. There is no need to decide whether to use a polite form, or an intimate form, when speaking to someone as in French or German. (English used to have the singular form 'thou', which was often used in the intimate way like 'tu' or 'du'. In fact, in dialects in parts of England, this is still sometimes used. And in the Republic of Ireland, they have a very sensible plural form of 'you', when speaking to several people: 'yous'.)

The difficult parts of English are:

• the spelling of a word may not show what the pronunciation (way of saying) the word is.
  This is because English words came from many different sources. It is not a 'pure' language.
• because English came from two main sources - old French, and old Anglo-Saxon, there is a very large vocabulary of words. Words with similar meanings may have come from both sources. For example, START (from Anglo-Saxon) and COMMENCE (from old French). The meaning is similar, but not precisely the same.
• native English speakers use a lot of idioms, that is - words used in a way which is not their obvious meaning. An English speaker may say,

"I do not think much of apples."

This does not mean he doesn't often think about apples. It means that he does not like apples very much!

Yet he might say,

"I think nothing of going for a swim before breakfast."

What this really means is that he actually likes doing this, and that it is no problem to him!

But don't worry. You will find that you can understand and communicate even when you have not been learning English for long!

Plural

singular + -s

singular	plural
a car	two cars
a cassette	two cassettes
a lamp	two lamps
a hat	two hats
a cup	two cups

(after sibilants + -es)

singular	plural
a box	two boxes
a sandwich	two sandwiches
a suitcase	two suitcases
a rose	two roses
a garage	two garages

y after consonant is changed into -ies:

singular	plural
a city	two cities
a lady	two ladies
ABER: -y nach Vokal bleibt!!!
a boy	two boys

nouns on -f or -fe mostly form the plural on -ves:

singular	plural
a thief	two thieves
a wife	two wives
a roof	two roofs

nouns on o: + -es
(not: radio, video, disco, video)

singular	plural
a tomato	two tomatoes
a photo	two photos

irregular plural forms

singular	plural
a man	two men
a woman	two women
a child	two children
a mouse	two mice
a tooth	two teeth
a goose	two geese
a foot	two feet
an ox	two oxen
a (gold)fish	two (gold)fish
a sheep	two sheep

's (Genitive -s)

English:	German:
Ronny's brother	Ronnys Bruder and Ronny's Bruder (since spelling reform)

Singular:

Add 's:

Examples:
Mandy's brother John plays football.
My teacher's name is ...

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Plural:

Add the apostrophe ' to regular plural forms:

Examples:
The girls' room is very nice.
The Smiths' car is black.

Add 's to irregular plural forms:

Examples:
The children's books are over there.
Men's clothes are on the third floor.

If there are multiple nouns, add an 's only to the last noun:
Peter and John's mother is a teacher.

Genitive-s or of-phrase

genitive-s	of-phrase
mostly for people	mostly for things
Ronny's brother	the name of the school

If things have a connection to people we use the s-genitive (possessive) as well.
Germany's economy or the ecomony of Germany

In time expressions we also use 's.
a three week's holiday

Nouns - Countables and uncountables

There are countable and uncountable nouns in English.

Countable nouns:

Most of the nouns are countable. You can combine them with numbers, e.g one, two or three. Here is an example:

one pencil
two pencils
three pencils
etc.

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Uncountable nouns:

These nouns can't be combined with numbers. Here is an example:

water

If you want to express a quantity, you have to use a special phrase e.g. a glass of water.

NOTE:
Some nouns can be either countable or uncountable. We recommend to use a good dictionary. Here is an example, too. hair - hairs

You've got some hairs on your T-shirt. (There might be 5 or 6 of them.)
Your hair looks lovely. (Here you think of the hairstyle.)

Conditional Perfect Progressive or Conditional Perfect Continuous

Signal words	Use	Form	Examples affirmative	Examples negative	Examples interrogative
	sth. that might have happened in the past (It's too late now.) emphasis: length of time of an action	would + have + been + infinitive + ing	I would have been working.	I wouldn't have been working.	Would I have been working?
			He would have been going.	He wouldn't have been going.	Would he have been working?
			I would have been going.	I wouldn't have been going.	Would I have been going?
			He would have been going.	He wouldn't have been going.	Would he have been going?

Conditional Perfect

Signal words	Use	Form	Examples affirmative	Examples negative	Examples interrogative
	sth. that might have happened in the past (It's too late now.) main clause in type III of the if clauses	would + have + past participle* *(infinitive + -ed) or (3rd column of table of irregular verbs)	I would have worked.	I wouldn't have worked.	Would I have worked?
			He would have worked.	He wouldn't have worked.	Would he have worked?
			I would have gone.	I wouldn't have gone.	Would I have gone?
			He would have gone.	He wouldn't have gone.	Would I have gone?

Conditional Progressive or Conditional Continuous

Signal words	Use	Form	Examples affirmative	Examples negative	Examples interrogative
	sth. that might happen emphasis: length of time of an action	would + be + infinitive + ing	I would be working.	I wouldn't be working.	Would I be working?
			He would be working.	He wouldn't be working.	Would he be working?
			I would be going.	I wouldn't be going.	Would I be going?
			He would be going.	He wouldn't be going.	Would he be going?

Conditional Simple

Signal words	Use	Form	Examples affirmative	Examples negative	Examples interrogative
	sth. that might happen main clause in type II of the if-clauses	would + infinitive	I would work.	I wouldn't work.	Would I work?
			He would work.	He wouldn't work.	Would he work?
			I would go.	I wouldn't go.	Would I go?
			He would go.	He wouldn't go.	Would he go?

Future Perfect Progressive or Future Perfect Continuous

Signal words	Use	Form	Examples affirmative	Examples negative	Examples interrogative
	sth. will already have happened before a certain time in the future emphasis: length of time of an action	will + have + been + infinitive + ing	I'll have been working.	I won't have been working.	Will I have been working?
			He'll have been working.	He won't have been working.	Will he have been working?
			I'll have been going.	I won't have been going.	Will I have been working?
			He'll have been going.	He won't have been going.	Will he have been working?

Simple Future Perfect or Future Perfect Simple

Signal words	Use	Form	Examples affirmative	Examples negative	Examples interrogative
	sth. will already have happened before a certain time in the future	will + have + past participle* *(infinitive + -ed) or (3rd column of table of irregular verbs)	I'll have worked.	I won't have worked.	Will I have worked?
			He'll have worked.	He won't have worked.	Will he have worked?
			I'll have gone.	I won't have gone.	Will I have gone?
			He'll have gone.	He won't have gone.	Will he have gone?

Future Progressive or Future Continuous

Signal words	Use	Form	Examples affirmative	Examples negative	Examples interrogative
	An action will be in progress at a certain time in the future. This action has begun before the certain time. Something happens because it normally happens.	will + be + infinitive + ing	I'll be working.	I won't be working.	Will I be working?
			He'll be working.	He won't be working.	Will he be working?
			I'll be going.	I won't be going.	Will I be going?
			He'll be going.	He won't be going.	Will he be going?

going to - future

Signal words	Use	Form	Examples affirmative	Examples negative	Examples interrogative
	when you have already decided to do sth. in the future what you think what will happen	be (am/are/is) + going to + infinitive	I'm going to work.	I'm not going to work.	Am I going to work?
			He's going to work.	He's not going to work.	Is he going to work?
			I'm going to go.	I'm not going to go.	Am I going to go?
			He's going to go.	He's not going to go.	Is he going to go?

will - future

Signal words	Use	Form	Examples affirmative	Examples negative	Examples interrogative
	predictions about the future (you think that sth. will happen) you decide to do sth. spontaneously at the time of speaking, you haven't made a decision before main clause in type I of the if clauses	will + infinitive	I'll work.	I won't work.	Will I work?
			He'll work.	He won't work.	Will he work?
			I'll go.	I won't go.	Will I go?
			He'll go.	He won't go.	Will he go?

Past Perfect Progressive or Past Perfect Continuous

Signal words	Use	Form	Examples affirmative	Examples negative	Examples interrogative
how long since for	how long something had been happening before something else happened	had + been + infinitive + ing	I had been working.	I hadn't been working.	Had I been working?
			He had been working.	He hadn't been working.	Had he been working?
			I had been going.	I hadn't been going.	Had I been going?
			He had been going.	He hadn't been going.	Had he been going?

Simple Past Perfect or Past Perfect (Simple)

Signal words	Use	Form	Examples affirmative	Examples negative	Examples interrogative
already just never	mostly when two actions in a story are related to each other: the action which had already happened is put into Past Perfect, the other action into Simple Past the past of the Present Perfect	had + past participle* *(infinitive + -ed) or (3rd column of table of irregular verbs)	I had worked.	I hadn't worked.	Had I worked?
			He had worked.	He hadn't worked.	Had he worked?
			I had gone.	I hadn't gone.	Had I gone?
			He had gone.	He hadn't gone.	Had he gone?

Present Perfect Progressive or Present Perfect Continuous

Signal words	Use	Form	Examples affirmative	Examples negative	Examples interrogative
all day the whole day how long since for	action began in the past and has just stopped how long the action has been happening emphasis: length of time of an action	have/has + been + infinitive + -ing	I have been working.	I haven't been working.	Have I been working?
			He has been working.	He hasn't been working.	Has he been working?
			I have been going.	I haven't been going.	Have I been going?
			He has been going.	He hasn't been going.	Has he been going?

Simple Present Perfect or Present Perfect

Signal words	Use	Form	Examples affirmative	Examples negative	Examples interrogative
just yet never ever already so far, up to now, since for recently	you say that sth. has happened or is finished in the past and it has a connection to the present action started in the past and continues up to the present	have/has + past participle* *(infinitive + -ed) or (3rd column of table of irregular verbs)	I have worked.	I haven't worked.	Have I worked?
			He has worked.	He hasn't worked.	Has he worked?
			I have gone.	I haven't gone.	Have I gone?
			He has gone.	He hasn't gone.	Has he gone?

Present Progressive or Present Continuous

Signal words	Use	Form	Examples affirmative	Examples negative	Examples interrogative
now at the moment Look! Listen!	something is happening at the same time of speaking or around it future meaning: when you have already decided and arranged to do it (a fixed plan, date)	to be (am/are/is) + infinitive + -ing	I'm working.	I'm not working.	Am I working?
			He's working.	He isn't working.	Is he working?
			I'm going.	I'm not going.	Am I going?
			He's going.	He isn't going.	Is he going?