After three attempts I was finally able to see the complete movie – Slumdog Millionaire. The movie initially turned me off with its portrayal of stark reality but it turns out to be an incredible love story. This is the redeeming feature of the film apart from the rags to riches story. The first part appalls you – makes your hair stand on end. It is perhaps the reality of India but it nauseates – it is outrageous, it is frightening. Is this really happening in our country? Are the children going through such inhumane brutality? Is someone doing anything to save orphaned, street children or are they left uncared for to become victims of criminals/ underworld? The movie is a celebration of India’s sordidness.
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Use of a, an and the
Read the following aloud:
A ball, a cup, a mango, a lion, a rose, a goat, a tree, a pen, a deer, a chair, a horse…….
An apple, an orange, an elephant, an egg, an onion, an ice-cream, an umbrella, an eye……
We know that there are 26 letters in the English alphabet – ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ.
Say the following aloud – a, e, i, o, u. These can be spoken alone and are called Vowel Sounds.
All the other letters usually produce Consonant Sounds.
- Now look at the above examples again:
A is used before words beginning with a consonant sound and an is used with words beginning with a vowel sound.
Remember: A and an stand for one – a book means one book; an orange means one orange.
‘H’ in hour and honest is silent. These words begin with a vowel sound.
- Now read the following sentences:
- The Earth is round.
- The Bible is a holy book.
- The boys are playing cricket.
- The Sun gives us light.
- The flowers in the vase are red.
We use a or an while speaking of any one person or thing.
We use the while speaking of a particular (definite) person or thing.
We use the with the special names of places, rivers, mountain ranges, books, etc. as, the museum, the White Hall, the Thames, the Bible.
We use the with unique objects; as, the Sun, the moon, the Earth, the sky, the world, the President etc.
Nouns – Singular and Plural
Nouns – Singular and Plural (One and More than one)
- Study the following pairs of sentences:
- Please show me your book.
Please show me your books.
2. There is a tree in my garden.
There are many trees in my garden.
3. A bird is sitting on the branch.
Many birds are sitting on the branches.
4. A boy is running in the park.
Boys are running in the park.
5. This box is very heavy.
These boxes are very heavy.
- The nouns book, tree, bird, branch, boy, box in the first sentence of each pair stand for only one thing. We, therefore say that they are in the singular number. (Singular suggests ‘one’).
- The nouns books, trees, birds, branches, boys, boxes in the second sentence of each pair stand for more than one thing. We, therefore say, that they are in the plural number.(Plural suggests ‘More than one’)
- Any noun standing for one person, animal, place or thing is said to be in the singular number.
- A noun standing for more than one person, animal, place or thing is said to be in the plural number.
- Formation of plurals:
- Most nouns form their plurals by adding ‘s’ to the singular; as,
| Singular
Ball Chair Toy Bag Cat |
Plural
Balls Chairs Toys Bags Cats |
Singular
Pencil Table Window Eye Cup |
Plural
Pencils Tables Windows Eyes Cups |
- Nouns ending with s, ss, sh, ch and o (after a consonant) form their plural by adding ‘-es’ to the singular; as,
| Gas
Bus Class Glass Brush Dish Bench Match |
Gases
Buses Classes Glasses Brushes Dishes Benches Matches |
Box
Fox Tomato Hero Zero Buffalo Mosquito |
Boxes
Foxes Tomatoes Heroes Zeroes Buffaloes Mosquitoes |
- There are however certain exceptions to this rule; as,
| Photo
Kangaroo Bamboo Radio |
Photos
Kangaroos Bamboos Radios |
- Nouns that end in’ f ‘or’ fe ‘ form their plurals by changing ‘f’ or ‘fe’ to ‘ves’; as,
| Leaf
Wolf Wife knife Thief Loaf Scarf Calf |
Leaves
Wolves Wives Knives Thieves Loaves Scarves Calves |
- Exception: Roof – Roofs; Chief – Chiefs; Dwarf – Dwarfs.
- Some nouns ending in ‘y’ form their plural by changing the ‘y’ into ‘ies’; as,
| Baby
Army Enemy City |
Babies
Armies Enemies Cities |
Lady
Fly Story Country |
Ladies
Flies Stories Countries |
- If the final vowel comes just after a vowel, the plural is formed by simply adding ‘-s’ to the singular; as,
| Boy
Toy Tray Ray |
Boys
Toys Trays Rays |
Key
Day Valley Monkey |
Keys
Days Valley Monkeys |
- Some nouns do not follow any of the rules mentioned above, so we have to simply remember them:
| Man
Woman Foot Tooth Goose Mouse |
Men
Women Feet Teeth Geese Mice |
Sheep
Deer Fish Ox Child Fruit |
Sheep
Deer Fish/fishes Oxen Children Fruit/fruits |
is, am, are + ing form of the Verb
- Read the following sentences:
- I am watching television.
- My sister is playing outside.
- Father is reading a newspaper.
- Mother is cleaning the cupboard.
- He is watering the plants.
- They are playing football.
- The bees are buzzing.
- The dog is barking.
- The cat is running after a mouse.
- The children are praying to God.
When we use is/am/are + doing word (Verb) + ing, we tell what is happening now i.e. at the time of speaking, as:
Mother: What are you doing, John?
John: I am reading a story, mother.
Activity: Look around you and describe what different people are doing.
Use of has/have
- Read the following sentences:
- I have a pet dog.
- Rita has a kitten.
- Ann has a doll.
- We have colourful kites.
- I have a red balloon.
- He has a toy-cart.
- We have a big house.
- They have a big car.
- I have a new book.
- She has many clothes.
- We have two eyes, two ears and a nose.
- A cow has four legs and a tail.
Has and have are also Verbs. They show what somebody has i.e. they point out possession. We use has when we speak about one person or thing. We use have when we speak about more than one person or thing or with pronouns you, we, they and I.
Use of is, am are, was, were
Look at the following sentences:
- I am a girl.
- He is a lazy boy.
- She is a teacher.
- It is a ball.
- This is her purse.
- That is his bat.
- Molly is in the kitchen
- We are sisters.
- You are late.
- These boys are hungry.
- Those girls are tall.
- There are many birds on the tree.
- There were ten students in the class.
- They are very rich.
- Mary and Anne are friends.
The words is, am, are, was, were, help us to say something about the noun or pronoun. These words are also called Verbs. They say or tell what a person, animal or thing is. Was/were show past activity i.e. what happened in the past. We use was as the past form of am and is. We use were as the past form of are.
Study this:
| I | am |
ten years old. |
| We
You They The girls The boys |
are |
|
| She
He Mary Jack |
is |
- We use is with he, she, it, this, that and singular nouns like Mary, Jack, boy, girl, etc. We write is for one.
- Am is always used with I.
- We use are with we, you, they, these, those and plural nouns like boys, students, children, animals etc. We write are for many.
- Are/were is also used with you when it is singular. Example:
Teacher: Mary, you are a good girl.
Teacher: Mary, why were you absent yesterday?
Forlorn
Lonely in a crowd
Listening to the voices within
Engaged in a struggle
Confusion like a black cloud
Devouring all the light
Unsure of what is right
And what is wrong
Treading on an obscure path
Unaware of the destination
Praying to God
I plod on and on…
Pronouns
Pronouns – Words Used in Place of Nouns
Look at the following sentence groups:
1. Alice is a little girl.
Alice is pretty.
Alice has an umbrella.
The umbrella is very colourful.
2. Listen to Alex.
Alex is singing.
John and Alan are Alex’s friends.
John and Alan have come to hear Alex.
Alex is glad to see John and Alan.
We can write these sentences as:
1. Alice is a little girl.
She is pretty.
She has an umbrella.
It is very colourful.
2. Listen to Alex.
He is singing.
John and Alan are his friends.
They have come to hear him.
He is glad to see them.
In sentence group 1, we have used she for Alice and it for Umbrella.
In sentence group 2, we have used he, his and him for Alex; they and them for John and Alan.
By writing like this we avoid repetition and make our sentences better.
Such words which are used for or in place of a noun are called Pronouns.
The word Pronoun means ‘for a noun’.
Now read the following sentences carefully and note that the words in bold italics are Pronouns:
Teacher: Lucy, show me the drawing book
Lucy: I forgot to bring it, sir.
Here, me stands for the teacher. I stands for Lucy, and it stands for the drawing book. Teacher, Lucy and drawing book are Nouns. Me, I, and it are used in place of Nouns.
Jack and Jill: We want to go to the park. Will you allow us, mother?
Mother: Yes, but come back soon, else your father will get angry.
Here, we, us, and your stand for Jack and Jill and You stands for mother.
Jack, Jill and mother are nouns. We, us, you, your, are words used in place of Nouns.
A Pronoun is a word used instead of a Noun.
I, Me, my, you, your, he, him, his, she, her, it, its, we, us, our, they, them, there are some common Pronouns.
Kinds of Nouns
Kinds of Nouns
There are four kinds of nouns:
- Proper Nouns
- Common Nouns
- Abstract Nouns
- Collective Nouns
Notice the difference between these two lists of nouns:
- Jack Mary London India The White House Alice in Wonderland
- Boy girl city country building book
The nouns in list 1. are special names of persons, places and things. They begin with a capital letter. They are called Proper Nouns.
The nouns in list 2. are Common Nouns, as they are not special names. They can be used for any person, place or thing. ‘Boy’ can be any boy –Alec, Bob, George, John, William etc.
A noun which names a particular person, place or thing is called a Proper Noun.
Proper Nouns include the names of persons, cities, towns, villages, countries, parks, libraries, historical buildings, streets, schools, colleges, universities, hills, mountains, days of the week, months of the year, books, festivals, newspapers, etc.
A proper noun always begins with a capital letter.
A noun that gives a common name to persons, places, or things of the same kind is called a Common Noun.
The words city, country, school, river, mountain, book, boy, girl, woman, man, bird, animal, are all common nouns. England, France, India, China, Japan are the names of countries. The word country is a common noun. It is common to all the five named here. But the words England, France, India, China, and Japan are particular names. They are Proper Nouns.
Now look at the following sentences:
- Honesty is the best policy.
- Laughter is the best medicine.
- Poverty is a great curse.
- The soldiers were awarded for their bravery.
The words in bold italics name Quality (honesty, bravery), Action (laughter), and State (poverty). Such a name given to some state, quality, feeling, or action that we can only think of is called an Abstract Noun.
Abstract Nouns are formed:
- From Adjectives, as Kindness from kind, Bravery from brave.(Most abstract nouns are formed thus.)
- From Verbs, as Obedience from obey, Laughter from laugh, Growth from grow.
- From Common Nouns, as Childhood from child, Slavery from slave.
Now read the following sentences:
- Our team won the match.
- The army fought bravely.
- Our class consists of fifty students.
- A flock of sheep was grazing in the field.
- She gave me the bunch of keys.
The words team, army, class, flock and bunch are used for a collection of persons or things. Such a name given to a collection of things taken as a whole/ group is called a Collective Noun.
Crowd, mob, team, army, family, committee, flock, herd, swarm, fleet, jury etc are some Collective Nouns.
Nouns – Gender
Gender (He and She)
- Look at the following sentences:
- Joe is a boy. He is Helen’s brother.
- Helen is a girl. She is Joe’s sister.
- David is a man. He is their father.
- Alice is a woman. She is their mother.
- John is their uncle. Mary is their aunt.
- The words boy, brother, man, father, uncle, belong to the he-group.
- The words girl, sister, woman, mother, aunt, belong to the she-group.
- Nouns in the he-group are the names of male persons or animals. They are said to be of the Masculine Gender.
- Nouns in the she-group are the names of female persons or animals. They are said to be of the Feminine Gender.
- Now look at the following sentences:
1. The table is made of wood.
2. The purse is made of leather.
- Table, wood, purse, leather are things without life. They are neither males nor females. They are, therefore, said to be of the Neuter Gender, that is, of neither gender.
- Now read the following sentences:
- This child is very active.
- Students should work hard.
- The nouns child and students can be used for both males and females. They are, therefore, said to be of the Common Gender.
- So nouns in English may be Masculine, Feminine, Common or Neuter. People and animals are male or female. Their names or the nouns have Masculine and Feminine Gender.