Chapter Five

ESL Pointers
English Skills for Academic Studies
John Langan
(pp 361-374)
 Articles with Count and
Noncount Nouns
• Articles are noun markers:
they signal that a noun will follow.

There are indefinite

articles and
a definite article.
 Indefinite Articles
• The indefinite articles are A and AN.
• Use “a” before a word that begins
with a consonant sound.
EX.: A car; a piano; a uniform
• Use “an” before a word that begins
with a vowel sound.
EX. An effort; an office; an honor
 The Definite Article

The definite article is:

THE
 Articles
• An article may immediately precede a
noun:
– a smile
– the reason

• Or it may be
separated from the
noun by modifiers:
– a slight smile
– the very best reason
 Count Nouns
• Count nouns name people,
places,
things, or ideas that can be
counted and made into plurals.
EXS.:
»teacher-- teachers
»restroom-- restrooms
»joke-- jokes
 Noncount Nouns
Noncount nouns are things or ideas that
cannot be counted.
counted Common
noncount nouns include:
Abstractions and Emotions: anger, bravery
Activities: baseball, jogging
Foods: bread,cheese
Gases and vapors: air, smoke, steam
Liquids: blood, tea, water
Materials that come in bulk form: cloth, dust, sand
Natural occurrences: rain, snow
 Qualifiers
• The quantity of a noncount noun can
be expressed with a word or words
called a qualifier:
• Some, a lot of, a unit of, etc.
 Using a or an with Nonspecific
Singular Count Nouns
• Use a or an with
singular nouns that areEx: A left-
nonspecific A noun is hander faces
nonspecific.
nonspecific when the special
challenges with
reader doesn’t know right-handed
its specific identity. tools.
 Using the with Specific Nouns
• A noun is specific in the following cases:
When its identity When it is identified
is suggested by by a word or phrase
When it has already
the general context:
context in the sentence:
been mentioned once:
At Willy’s dinner last night, The pockets in the
Today, our cat proudly
the service was terrible boy’s pants are
brought a baby
and the food was worse. often filled with
bird into the house.
Luckily the bird When it is sand and dirt.
was still alive. unique:
unique There
will be an When it is preceded
eclipse of the by a superlative adjective
moon tonight. (best, biggest, wisest)
The biggest wish I have
ever made just came true.
 Omitting Articles
• articles with nonspecific plurals
and noncount nouns, that is, when
they refer to something in general:
Pockets didn’t exist until the end of the 1700s.
Iris serves her children homemade lemonade.
 Using The with Proper Nouns
Do Not use the for most singular proper
nouns, including names of the following:
•People and animals
•Continents, states, cities, streets, and parks
•Most countries
•Individual bodies of water, islands, and
mountains.
 Using The with Proper Nouns
Use the for the following types of
proper nouns:
•Plural proper nouns (The Turners; The
United States)
•Names of large geographic areas, deserts,
oceans, seas, and rivers (The Black Sea)
•Names with the format the__ of___ (The
Fourth of July)
 Subjects and verbs
• A particular subject can be used only once in
a clause. Don’t repeat a subject in the same clause
by following a noun with a pronoun.

h e t .
g e r ig h
a n a t o n
e m up ed
h
T o lo er ac k s k
t :
Incorrect: The girl who danced rrec itri t nag ht.
n c o m m a ni g
with you she is my cousin.I ed D The p to i t ri
a s k c t : k u D m
Correct: The girl who c
rre to lo asked
o
danced with you is my cousin. C mitri : He ght
D r ect t oni
r
Co ck up
o l o
t
 Including Pronoun Subjects and
Linking Verbs
• Every clause, other than a
command, must have a subject and a
verb.
Incorrect: The Grand Canyon
is in Arizona. Is 217 miles long.
Incorrect: Angelita’s piano Correct: The Grand Canyon is
teacher very patient. in Arizona. It is 217 miles long.
Correct: Angelita’s piano
teacher is very patient.
Including There and Here at the
Beginning of clauses
• A linking verb, usually in the form of to be,
be
follows the words there and here when they
begin a clause. In these cases, the verb comes
before the subject.
Ex.: There Remember not to
are masks in omit there or here!
every culture
on Earth.
Incorrect: Are several
chickens in the Benson’s
yard.
 Not Using the Progressive Tense
of Certain Verbs
• Progressive tenses express actions or
conditions still in progress at a
particular time. They are made up of forms of
be plus the -ing form of the
main verb.
Ex.: George will be taking classes this summer.
 Not Using the Progressive Tenses
of Certain Verbs
• Verbs for mental states,
states the senses,
senses
possession,
possession an inclusion are normally
not used in the progressive tenses.

• Incorrect: All during the movie they

Exs.: were hearing whispers behind them.
•Correct: All during the movie they
heard whispers behind them.
Not Using the Progressive Tense
of Certain Verbs

Thoughts, attitudes and desires: agree, believe, imagine,

know, like, love, prefer, think, understand, want, wish
Sense perceptions: hear, see, smell, taste
Appearances: appear, seem
Possession:
Possession belong, have, own, possess
Inclusion: contain, include
Using Only Transitive Verbs for
the Passive Voice
• Only transitive verbs can have
a passive form.
form Intransitive verbs
cannot be used in the passive voice.
• Incorrect: If you don’t fix those brakes,
an accident may be happened.
• Correct: If you don’t fix those brakes, an
accident may happen.
 Using Gerunds and Infinitives
After Verbs
• A Gerund is the -ing form of a verb
that is used as a noun, e.g., For
Walter, eating is a daylong activity.
• An infinitive is to plus the basic form
of the verb, e.g., to eat.
eat It can
function as an adverb , adjective, or
noun.
 Following The Order of Adjectives
Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns.
An adjective usually comes directly
before the word it describes or after a linking
verb.
That is an angry man.
The man is angry.
 Typical Order of Adjectives in A
Series
• If there is more than one adjective for the same noun, they follow this order:

1. Article or other noun marker (a, an, the, Lee’s, this. . .)

2. Opinion adjective (dull, handsome, unfair. . .)
3. Size (big, huge, little. . .)
4. Shape (long, short, round. . .)
5. Age (ancient, medieval, old. . .)
6. Color (blue, green, red. . .)
7. Nationality (Italian, Korean, Mexican. . .)
8. Religion (Buddhist, Catholic, Jewish…)
9. Material (cardboard, gold, marble…)
10. Noun used as an adjective (house call, tea bag. . .)
 Using the Present and Past
Participles as Adjectives
• A participle used as an adjective may precede
the word it describes: That was an exciting ballgame.
• It may also follow the linking verb and
describe the subject of the sentence:
The ballgame was exciting.
• Use the present participle to describe
whoever or whatever causes a feeling:
An embarrassing incident
• Use the past participle to describe whoever
or whatever experiences the feeling:
The embarrassed parents
 Prepositions Used for Time and
Place
Use on, in, and at to refer to time
Time
and place.
On a specific day: on Monday, on January 1
In a part of a day: in the morning, in the daytime
In a month or a year: in December, in 1776
In a period of time: in an hour, in a few days
At a specific time: at 10:00 A.M., at midnight

Place
On a surface: on the desk, on the counter
In a place that is enclosed: in my room, in the office
At a specific location: at the mall, at his house