INTERNATIONAL BOOK DAY

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO ACCESS TO A FREEWARE VERSION OF THE BOOK "THE LITTLE PRINCE" BY Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL

ARTICLES: "A, An or The"

Here are the rules for when to use "A, An or The":

• a = indefinite article (not a specific object, one of a number of the same objects) with consonants
  She has a dog.
  I work in a factory.
• an = indefinite article (not a specific object, one of a number of the same objects) with vowels (a,e,i,o,u)
  Can I have an apple?
  She is an English teacher.
• the = definite article (a specific object that both the person speaking and the listener know)
  The car over there is fast.
  The teacher is very good, isn't he?
• The first time you speak of something use "a or an", the next time you repeat that object use "the".
  I live in a house. The house is quite old and has four bedrooms.
  I ate in a Chinese restaurant. The restaurant was very good.
• DO NOT use an article with countries, states, counties or provinces, lakes and mountains except when the country is a collection of states such as "The United States".
  He lives in Washington near Mount Rainier.
  They live in northern British Columbia.
• Use an article with bodies of water, oceans and seas -
  My country borders on the Pacific Ocean
• DO NOT use an article when you are speaking about things in general
  I like Russian tea.
  She likes reading books.
• DO NOT use an article when you are speaking about meals, places, and transport
  He has breakfast at home.
  I go to university.
  He comes to work by taxi.
• EXERCISE 1
• EXERCISE 2
  

ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL...

QUANTIFIERS.

Definition

Quantifiers are a type of determiner which denote imprecise quantity. They differ from numbers or numerals which indicate precise quantity.

The most common examples:
the most common quantifiers used in English are:

some / any , much, many, a lot, a few, several, enough.

There are three types of quantifier;
1. neutral quantifiers,
2. quantifiers of large quantity, and
3. quantifiers of small quantity

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1. Neutral quantifiers:

Some and any: several, a number of, enough

Some and any are both quantifiers and articles. In many contexts, some is the plural indefinite article, the plural of "a" or "an"; but more often, some implies a limited quantity, and for this reason has the value of a quantifier.

Some is used in affirmative statements; it is replaced with any in negative and interrogative contexts.

Examples:
I've got some apples in my basket and some water in my bottle.
I haven't got any apples in my basket, nor any water in my bottle.
Have you got any apples in your basket? Have you got any water in your bottle?
We had some visitors last weekend, but we didn't have any this weekend
Have you got any rooms free for the night of September 30th ?

Several and a number of imply "more than one, but less than a lot". They are not usually used in negative or interrogative structures, only in affirmative statements. For example

There are several books / a number of books by J.Z.Plummerman in our library.
Several people / A number of people said that they'd seen the missing child.

Enough implies a sufficient quantity; it is used in affirmations, negations and questions.

We can get tickets for the concert, I've got enough money now.
Have you got enough money for the tickets?

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2. Large quantity quantifiers:

much, many, lots of, plenty of, numerous, a large number of, etc.

► Much and many: much is used with non count nouns (always in the singular); many is used with count nouns in the plural. (Click here for the difference between count nouns and non-count nouns).

IMPORTANT NOTE: Much and many are not often used, in modern spoken English, in affirmative statements; but they are very commonly used in interrogative and negative contexts.

Examples:
I have many reasons for thinking that this man is innocent is acceptable, but rather formal; most English speakers would more naturally say:
I have plenty of / a lot of / a large number of reasons for thinking .....
Much whisky is of very good quality. This sentence is technically acceptable, but not probable in modern English. Most people would say (and write):
A lot of whisky / A good proportion of whisky / Plenty of whisky ......

Remember this principle: don't use much or many in affirmative statements.

► Lots of, a lot of, plenty of, a large number of, numerous .
These expressions all mean more or less exactly the same. In the list above, they are arranged in order of formality, going from the most informal (lots of) to the most formal (numerous). Informal language is more appropriate in dialogue, formal language in written documents.

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3. Small quantity quantifiers:

► few, a few, little, a little, not many, not much, a small number of, etc.

These quantifiers are normally only used in affirmative statements, to which they give a negative colouring.

► Little, a little, not much are used with non count nouns (always in the singular)
Few, a few, not many are used with count nouns in the plural.

Examples:
Few people can speak more than three languages
A few (of the) paintings in this gallery are really good.
There's little point in trying to mend it. You'll never succeed!
I've got a little money left; let's go and have a drink.

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4 Recapitulation: table of usage for common English quantifiers

	Affirmative	Negative	Interrogative
Neutral	some, several, a number of, enough	any, enough	any, enough
Large quantity	numerous, plenty of, a lot of, lots of, too many	much, many, too many	much, many, too many
Small quantity	few / a few, Little / a little

5. Few or a few, little or a little ?

The difference between the two expressions in each phrase is purely one of meaning, not of usage.
Without the article, few and little (used respectively with count nouns and non-count nouns) have the meaning of "not much/ not many, and possibly less than one might hope for or expect". These expressions have a negative value to them.
With the article, a few and a little have the meaning of "at least some, perhaps more than one might expect" . These expressions have a positive value.

Examples:
Few of my friends were there, so I was disappointed.
A few of my friends were there, so I was quite happy.
Hurry up; there's little time left !
We have a little time to spare, so let's stop and have a cup of coffee.

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Quantifiers 1

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TITANIC, THE CENTENARY.

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The maiden voyage started yesterday afternoon ( 100 years ago...)

3rd CONDITIONAL.

Third Conditional: no possibility

The first conditional and second conditionals talk about the future. With the third conditional we talk about the past. We talk about a condition in the past that did not happen. That is why there is no possibility for this condition. The third conditional is also like a dream, but with no possibility of the dream coming true.

Last week you bought a lottery ticket. But you did not win. :-(

	condition	result
	Past Perfect	WOULD HAVE + Past Participle
If	I had won the lottery	I would have bought a car.

Notice that we are thinking about an impossible past condition. You did not win the lottery. So the condition was not true, and that particular condition can never be true because it is finished. We use the past perfect tense to talk about the impossible past condition. We use WOULD HAVE + past participle to talk about the impossible past result. The important thing about the third conditional is that both the condition and result are impossible now.

Sometimes, we use should have, could have, might have instead of would have, for example: If you had bought a lottery ticket, you might have won.

Look at some more examples in the tables below:

IF	condition	result
	past perfect	WOULD HAVE + past participle
If	I had seen Mary	I would have told her.
If	Tara had been free yesterday	I would have invited her.
If	they had not passed their exam	their teacher would have been sad.
If	it had rained yesterday	would you have stayed at home?
If	it had rained yesterday	what would you have done?

result	IF	condition
WOULD HAVE + past participle		past perfect
I would have told Mary	if	I had seen her.
I would have invited Tara	if	she had been free yesterday.
Their teacher would have been sad	if	they had not passed their exam.
Would you have stayed at home	if	it had rained yesterday?
What would you have done	if	it had rained yesterday?

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