- •Grammar
- •II term
- •1. Comment on the main rules of Reported Speech.
- •2. Comment on the formation and use of the Passive Voice.
- •3. Comment on the use of uncountable nouns.
- •4. Comment on morphological composition of nouns.
- •5. Give the definition of the adjective. Comment on morphological composition of adjectives.
- •The Future Continuous in the Past
- •7. Comment on the verb and subject agreement.
- •9. Comment on the formation of the genitive case The form of the possessive (genitive) case
- •10. Comment on the use of the dependant genitive case. The Dependent Genitive
- •11. Comment on the use of the Absolute genitive case
- •12. Comment on the lexical means of expressing Gender in English.
- •13. Comment on the formation of the plural of the noun in English.
- •14. Comment on the formations of the plural form of the loan words (borrowings).
- •15. Comment on the use of the indefinite article with class nouns. Class nouns are used with the indefinite article:
- •16. Comment on the use of the definite article with class nouns.
- •17. Comment on the use of the indefinite and definite article with class nouns modified by attributes.
- •Modification by prepositional phrases
- •18. Comment on the use of articles with material nouns.
- •19. Comment on the use of articles with abstract nouns. The Use of Articles with Abstract Nouns
- •20. Comment on the use of articles with names of persons. The Use of Articles with Names of Persons
- •1. No article is used:
- •2. The definite article is used:
- •3. The indefinite article is used:
- •4. The use of articles with nouns modified by proper nouns.
- •21. Comment on the use of articles with geographical names. The Use of Articles with Geographic Names
- •1. Geographical names and place names with the definite article.
- •2. Geographical names and place names without article.
- •The Use of Articles with Some Semantic Groups of Nouns Names of Seasons
- •Names of Months and Days of the Week
- •Names of Parts of the Day
- •Names of Longer and Specific Periods
- •Names of Meals
- •23. Comment on the use of articles with miscellaneous proper names: names of buildings and institutions, names of streets, roads, etc. The Use of Articles with Miscellaneous Proper Names
- •24. Comment on the use of articles with nouns modified by certain adjectives, pronouns and numerals. The Use of Articles with Nouns Modified by Certain Adjectives, Pronouns and Numerals
- •1. Most.
- •2. Few, a few, the few; little, a little, the little
- •3. Two, the two; the second, a second
- •4. Another, the other, other.
- •5. Last, the last; Next, the next.
- •6. A number, the number
- •25. Comment on the degrees of comparison of adjectives.
Modification by prepositional phrases
The use of articles modified by prepositional phrases depends on the context or the situation. It consists of a preposition followed by a noun (at the window, for his children). A prepositional phrase may be used as a limiting or a descriptive attribute:
She seated herself so that I could see the man at the screen very well.
From one of the bookshelves Julia took a bundle of her latest photographs.
I made plans to put up two or three hotels and bungalows for occasional residents.
A prepositional phrase may contain various prepositions, but special consideration should be given to the so-called of-phrase. The main meanings of structures with descriptive of-phrases are as follows:
a container with its contents: a box of matches, a cup of tea; a pot of coffee
(Compare with a matchbox, a tea-cup, a coffee-pot, a soup bowl, etc., which are used for empty containers.)
a certain quantity: a lump of sugar, a slice of lemon, a pinch of salt
measure: a temperature of 20° C, a height of two hundred metres, a weight of two pounds, a distance of three miles, a pound of butter
origin: a native of Wales, a man of Kent, a descendant of a good family
characteristics of an object: a woman of great charm, a man of courage, a question of importance, a matter of urgency
age: a man of middle age, a boy of five
material a thing is made of: a box of cedar wood, a coat of mail, a heart of gold (metaphorical use)
Note. In modern English the of-phrase is rarely used to denote material. As a rule we find an attributive noun in preposition to the head-noun in this meaning: older English, modern English; a ring of gold - a gold ring; a wall of glass - a glass wall.
composition: a herd of deer, a crowd of people, a flock of birds
two objects of the same kind or an object consisting of two parts of the same kind: a pair of gloves, a couple of apples, a pair of trousers
indication of implied analogy: a beast of a man (i.e. a man behaving like a beast), a peach of a girl (i.e. a girl as beautiful and fresh as a peach), a gem of a housekeeper, a fool of a woman
The of-phrase is a descriptive attribute in a construction called "the double genitive" as it contains the of-genitive and the s-genitive: a friend of my brother's, a daughter of Mr. Parker's, an opera of Verdi's, a sonata of Britten's
Nouns modified by a descriptive of-phrase usually take the indefinite article, but the definite article may be also used.
The of-phrase may have a limiting force as well. In this case the head-noun is used with the definite article. Mark the most typical kinds of structures with limiting of-phrases: the city of Chicago, the sound of the bell, the figure of a man, the position of a teacher, the foot of the hill, the bank of the river, the wife of the local doctor, the number (i.e. the total quantity) of people, the shadow of a tree, the shot of a gun, the face of a woman, the manager of a hotel, the edge of the table, the story of his life 35
But if there are many objects of the same description, the indefinite article is used: a member of the club, a student of the group, a leg of the table.