Present Progressive.

1.Use of the Present Progressive

Actions happening at the moment of speaking:

Peter is reading a book now.

Fixed plans in the near future:

We are going to Basel on Saturday.

Temporary actions:
I am working in Rome this month.

Actions happening around the moment of speaking (longer actions):

My friend is preparing for his exams.

Trends:
More and more people are using their computers to listen to music.

Repeated actions which are irritating to the speaker (with always, constantly, forever):
Andrew is always coming late.

2. Signal words

 Now
 At the moment
 Look!
 Listen!

3. Form
To be (am, are, is) + Infinitive + -ing.

4. Examples

Affirmative sentences in the Present Progressive:

 Long forms
 I am playing football.
 You are playing football.
 He is playing football.

Negative sentences in the Present Progressive:

 Long forms:
 I am not playing football.
 You are not playing football.
 You aren't playing football.
 He is not playing football.

Questions in the Present Progressive:

 Long forms:
 Am I playing football?
 Are you playing football?
 Is he playing football?
The present progressive is formed by combining the verb “to be” with the present participle.
(The present participle is merely the “-ing” form of a verb.)

 I am studying.
 I am studying with María.

In English, present progressive can be used to describe what is happening now, or what will
happen in the future.

 I am studying now.
 I am studying with María tonight.

In Spanish, the present progressive is only used to describe an action that is in the process of
taking place. It is not used for future actions.

 I am studying now. (use present progressive).

 I am studying with María tonight. (do not use present progressive).

To form the present progressive in Spanish, combine a form of “estar” with the present
participle.

In order to form the present progressive, you must know how to conjugate the verb estar, and
how to form the present participle. You already know how to conjugate the verb estar:

To form the present participle of regular -ar verbs, add -ando to the stem of the verb.

To form the present participle of regular -er and -ir verbs, add -iendo to the stem of the verb.

To form the present participle of -ir stem changing verbs, change e: i and o: u in the stem, and
then add -iendo to the stem of the verb.

Sometimes when forming the present participle, it is necessary to change the spelling of a
word so that it agrees with the way it is pronounced. We call this an “orthographic” change.

The following examples illustrate the rules for forming the present participle.

To form the present progressive, simply conjugate the verb estar to agree with the subject of
the sentence, and follow it with the present participle.

Remember, only use the present progressive for actions that are “in progress.” Compare the
uses of the present indicative with the uses of the present progressive.
 Whose…?
Whose is a wh-word. We use whose to ask questions and to introduce relative clauses.

Whose as a question word

 We use whose to ask a question about possession:

 Whose birthday is it today?
 Whose house was used in the film ‘Gosford Park’?
 Whose are these gloves?
 We use whose in indirect questions:
 Juliet wondered whose the sports car was.

Warning:

Don’t confuse whose and who’s. Who’s means who is:

 Whose book is this? (Who does this book belong to?)

 Who’s driving us home? (Who is driving us home?)

Whose in relative clauses

We use whose to introduce a relative clause indicating possession by people, animals and
things:

 John works with that other chap whose name I can’t remember.
 Shirley has a 17-year-old daughter whose ambition is to be a photographer.
 This is the book whose title I couldn’t remember.

Typical error

We don’t use whose when we mean who’s (who is)

 Who’s there?
 Not: Whose there?
 Whose little brother, is he?
 Not: Who’s little brother, is he?
 Possessive Pronouns.
Possessive pronouns do exactly what it seems like they should do. They are the pronouns that
help us show possession or ownership in a sentence. There are two types of possessive
pronouns:

 The strong (or absolute) possessive pronouns are mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours,
yours, and theirs. They refer back to a noun or noun phrase already used, replacing it
to avoid repetition: "I said that phone was mine."
 The weak possessive pronouns (also called possessive adjectives) are my, your, his,
her, its, our, your, and their. They function as determiners in front of a noun to
describe who something belongs to: "I said that's my phone."

When we want to use a pronoun to show possession, we cannot use subject pronouns. Does
the following make sense?

 This is my brother. He name is Alex.

No. And here's why. "He" is a subject pronoun. Now, if you replace it with the appropriate
possessive pronoun, it will make a lot more sense:

 This is my brother. His name is Alex.

Providing Clarity

Without doubt, possessive pronouns help us to be more concise and use less words when
explaining the same idea.

The more concise you can be, the greater the chance the readers will follow what you're
saying. Take a look at the examples below and see if you can understand one sentence better
than the other:

 Those are my Converse sneakers. They are not your Converse sneakers.
Those are my Converse sneakers. They are not yours.
 I didn't have my textbook for English class, so Brian lent me his textbook.
I didn't have my textbook for English class, so Brian lent me his.
 Your travel plans sound just as exciting as my travel plans!
Your travel plans sound just as exciting as mine!

Generally, you will use possessive pronouns to talk about a person, place, or thing that has
already been explained. In the examples above, you can see that each sentiment was neatly
expressed in fewer words with a strong possessive pronoun.
Now that you understand how they work, try using some of these possessive pronouns in your
own sentences. Here's a reminder of the possessive forms:

Subject Pronoun Possessive (absolute) Possessive (adjective)

I Mine My

You Yours Your

He His His

She Hers Her

It Its Its

We Ours Our

They Theirs Their

 There is / There are.
We use there is and there are to say that something exists.

Positive Sentences

We use there is for singular and there are for plural.

• There is one table in the classroom.

• There are three chairs in the classroom.
• There is a spider in the bath.
• There are many people at the bus stop.

We also use There is with uncountable nouns:

• There is milk in the fridge.

• There is some sugar on the table.
• There is ice cream on your shirt.

Contractions

The contraction of there is there's.

• There's a good song on the radio.

• There's only one chocolate left in the box.

You cannot contract there are.

• There are nine cats on the roof.

• There are only five weeks until my birthday.

Negative Form

The negative is formed by putting not after is or are:

• There is not a horse in the field.

• There are not eight children in the school.
• There is not a tree in the garden.
• There are not two elephants in the zoo.

We almost always use contractions when speaking.

The Negative contractions are:

• There's not = There isn't

• There are not = There aren't

There aren't with ANY

When we want to indicate that a zero quantity of something exists, we use there aren't any.

• There aren't any people at the party.

• There aren't any trees in my street.

We also use this structure with uncountable nouns:

• There isn't any water in the swimming pool.

 • There isn't any sugar in my coffee.

Questions

To form a question, we place is / are in front of there.

Again, we use any with plural questions or those which use uncountable nouns.

We also use there is / are in short answers.

• Is there a dog in the supermarket? - No, there isn't.

• Are there any dogs in the park? - Yes, there are.
• Is there a security guard in the shop? - Yes, there is.
• Are there any polar bears in Antarctica? - No, there aren't.
• Is there any ice-cream in the freezer? - Yes, there is.

How Many with Are There

If we want to find out the number of objects that exist, we use How many in the following
form:

How many + plural noun + are there (+ complement).

• How many dogs are there in the park?

• How many students are there in your class?
• How many countries are there in South America?
• How many Star Wars films are there?
 A, an, the.
An article is a word that is used before a noun to show whether the noun refers to something
specific or not. A, an and they are articles.

 "I need a chair."

In the sentence above we find the article "a". It shows us that the speaker does not need a
specific chair. He can have any chair.

 "I want an apple."

In the sentence above we find the article "an." It shows us that the speaker does not want a
specific apple. He can have any apple.

 "I want the red apple."

In the sentence above we find the article "the." It shows us that the speaker wants a specific
apple.

In English, there are two kinds of grammar articles.

"Definite" means "clear, obvious."

The definite article tells us that the noun is specific. The speaker talks about a particular (or
known) thing.

The definite article in English is "the."

Examples:

 "The car I bought broke down."

 "He has a son and a daughter. The daughter is a doctor."
 "The actors were really good."
 "I remember the day we first met."
 "The" can be used before both singular and plural nouns.

Examples:

 "The flower he gave her was very beautiful."

 "The flowers on the table are nice."

"In-" means "not," and "definite" means "clear, obvious."

"Indefinite" means "not clear, not exact."

The indefinite article tells us that the noun is not specific. The speaker talks about any one of
that type of thing.

The indefinite articles in English are "a" and "an."

Examples:

 "I need a pen."

 (The speaker doesn't tell us which pen he needs. He simply needs a pen, any pen.)
 "Lisa wants to see a movie."
  (The speaker doesn't tell us which movie Lisa wants to see. She wants to see some
movie.)
 "Joe has a car."
 (The speaker doesn't tell us which car Joe has. He has some car.)
 "She is a dancer."
 (She dances for a living.)

"A" and "an" have the same meaning.

We use "a" before a consonant sound.

Examples:

 a dog
 a building
 a country
 a professor
 a university

We use "an" before a vowel sound.

Examples:

 an apple
 an umbrella
 an eye
 an hour

Important!

We use "a" and "an" only before a singular noun. We can't use "a" and "an" before a plural
noun.

Examples:

 Correct: a car.
 Incorrect: a cars.
 Correct: an orange.
 Incorrect: a oranges.

What is the difference between "a" and "the"?

"The" is used to talk about specific or known things. These are usually things that have been
mentioned before or that the listener is familiar with.

"A" (or "an") is used to talk about things which are not specific. These are usually things that
haven't been mentioned before or that the listener is unfamiliar with.

Then I tell you: "Well, I've seen a better movie since!"

You are not familiar with the new movie, so I use the word "a".

I also tell you: "A man on the street stepped on my foot."

You don't know who exactly stepped on my foot, I've never mentioned him before. So I use the
word "a".

Finally, I tell you: "I am a singer."

This sentence simply means that I sing for a living. If I said: "I am the singer", you would
understand that I am the singer that was mentioned before.

For example:

- "Wow! I heard a great singer is coming to town."

- "Oh, it's me. I am the great singer."

Now that we understand the general idea of English grammar articles, here are some more
specific details:

In this case Example Sentence

You mention something

I have a problem.
for the first time.

You want to say that something belongs to a

This is a table.
certain group.

Use "a" / You want to say that someone belongs to a

She is a designer.
"an" certain group.

You want to say that

I've built a strong ship.
something is that kind of thing.

You want to say that

He is a nice guy.
someone is that kind of person.

The feeling I got was very

You talk about a specific thing.
strange.

Use "the" It is clear which thing

I passed the test!
you are talking about.

There is only one such thing. Look at the sun.

You talk about Pigs can't fly.

something in general. Diving can be difficult.
No article
You talk about cities,
We visited Italy.
countries, streets, etc.
 Present Simple vs Present Progressive.
I surf / I am surfing.'

What's the difference between the Present Simple / Present Continuous and how to use them.

We use the present simple tense when we want to talk about fixed habits or routines – things
that don’t change.

We use the present continuous to talk about actions which are happening at the present
moment, but will soon finish.

Compare these two statements:

• (present simple) I play tennis.

• (present continuous/ progressive) I am playing tennis.

(present simple) ‘I play tennis’ tells us that playing tennis is something the speaker always
does. It is part of a routine or habit. We can call this a permanent situation.

(present continuous/ progressive) ‘I am playing tennis’ tells us that the speaker is playing
tennis right now. Soon the game will be over. We call this a temporary situation.

With the present simple we say:

I play tennis

You play tennis

We play tennis

They play tennis

He/she/ it plays tennis.

With the present continuous we say:

I am playing tennis

You are playing tennis

We are playing tennis

He/she/it is playing tennis

Frequency Adverbs we use with the Present Simple

With the present simple we use these frequency adverbs:

(Notice that the adverb comes before the main verb in the sentence.)

Always: ‘I always read before I go to bed.’

Often: ‘Her sister often comes shopping with us.’

Frequently: ‘Michael frequently visits his family.’

Sometimes: ‘You sometimes go to the gym, don’t you?’

Occasionally: ‘It occasionally rains in summer.’

Seldom: ‘They seldom ask for help.’

Rarely: ‘He rarely goes out without his backpack.’

Hardly ever: ‘I hardly ever eat pizza.’

Never: ‘Japanese people never wear shoes inside.’

Time Expressions we use with the Present Continuous

With the present continuous we use these time expressions:

(Notice that the time expression can come at the start or at the end of the sentence.)

At the moment: ‘I’m watching TV, at the moment.’

These days: ‘Paul’s living in Cardiff, these days.’

Now: ‘What are you doing, now?’

Nowadays: ‘I think you are smoking too much, nowadays.’

Differences and similarities in the Simple Present and the Present Progressive?

1. Use

 Simple Present Present Progressive/Continuous

 repeated actions
 fixed arrangements, scheduled events (e.g. timetable)
 sequence of actions in the present (first - then, after that)
 instructions
 things in general
 after special verbs
 actions happening at the moment of speaking or around the moment of speaking
 fixed plan in the near future
 temporary actions trends
 repeated actions which are irritating to the speaker (with always, constantly, forever)

2. Signal words

 Simple Present Present Progressive/Continuous

 always
 often
 usually
 sometimes
 seldom
 never
 every day
 every week
 every year
 on Mondays
 now
  at the moment
 Look!
 Listen!

3. Form

 Simple Present Present Progressive/Continuous

 infinitive → 3rd person singular (he, she, it): infinitive + -s
 to be (am, are, is) + infinitive + -ing

4. Examples

4.1. Affirmative sentences

 Simple Present. Present Progressive

 I play football. I am playing football.
 You play football. You are playing football.
 He plays football. He is playing football.

4.2. Negative sentences

 Simple Present Present Progressive

 I do not play football. I am not playing football.
 You do not play football. You are not playing football.
 He does not play football. He is not playing football.

4.3. Questions

 Simple Present Present Progressive

 Do I play football? Am I playing football?
 Do you play football? Are you playing football?
 Does he play football? Is he playing football?

5. Spelling

 Simple Present Present Progressive/Continuous

 watches (-es after sibilant)
 goes (-es after -o)
 hurries (Change -y to -ie after consonant)
 sitting (Double the consonant after a short vowel.)
 writing (Drop the -e.)
 lying (Change -ie to -y.)
 Why? / Because.
You use “why” to make questions in English. “why” means you want an explanation, you want
a reason. When you ask a question with “why” you want to know the purpose of something.
Take a look at some examples

WHY do you study English? In this question, I’m asking you to give me an explanation, a reason
to “why” you study English.

WHY is Jack sad? In this question, Jack is feeling sad :(. I want to know the reason, an
explanation to “WHY” he is sad.

“why” is only used to ask questions. When we answer questions with “why”, we have to use
the word “because”. “Because” is used to “answer” questions with “why”. When you start
giving your explanation when you start explaining the reasons, you start with the word
“because” Take a look at the answers to the examples I gave before:

WHY do you study English? Because I like English. In this case, I explain the reason “why” I
study English. I like English.

Jack is sad because he broke the vase

WHY is Jack sad? Because he broke the vase

Why is Susie tired? She is tired BECAUSE she worked all day!

WHY does Peter eat vegetables? he eats vegetables BECAUSE he likes them!

In the first example, I started to answer the question with the word “because”.
In the other examples, I repeated part of the question and then used the word “because”
He eats vegetables BECAUSE he likes them. Both options are possible, ok?

Many students ask me this question. Is “‘why” only used in questions? The answer is NO!
Sometimes we can use “why” in affirmative and negative sentences. However, these are
specific situations, and “why” is not usually alone, it is part of an expression. I will show you
some popular expressions with “why” which we use in affirmative or negative sentences.

• That’s why – this means – that’s the reason why. For example.

Suzie is sick. That’s why she is not going to work today. (in this case, I am explaining the reason
why Suzie is not going to work today)

I don’t know why: It is not really an expression, but it is very commonly used. For example

I don’t know why Mary is angry, but if she needs to talk, I’m here for her. *(in this case, I’m
saying I don’t know the reason “why” Mary is angry)

You can even use the verb “understand” or “get” (get = understand, in this case)

I don’t understand why my mother doesn’t like my boyfriend. (or you could say: I don’t get
“why” my mother doesn’t like my boyfriend) that means you don’t understand the reason, the
explanation.
 Countable / Uncountable Nouns.
In English grammar, countable nouns are individual people, animals, places, things, or ideas
which can be counted. Uncountable nouns are not individual objects, so they cannot be
counted. Here, we’ll take a look at countable and uncountable nouns and provide both
countable noun examples and uncountable noun examples. Although the concept may seem
challenging, you’ll soon discover that these two different noun types are very easy to use.

Countable Noun Examples

Anything that can be counted, whether singular – a dog, a house, a friend, etc. or plural – a few
books, lots of oranges, etc. is a countable noun. The following countable noun examples will
help you to see the difference between countable and uncountable nouns. Notice that singular
verbs are used with singular countable nouns, while plural verbs are used with plural
countable nouns.

1. There are at least twenty Italian restaurants in Little Italy.

2. Megan took a lot of photographs when she went to the Grand Canyon.

3. Your book is on the kitchen table.

4. How many candles are on that birthday cake?

5. You have several paintings to study in art appreciation class.

6. There’s a big brown dog running around the neighborhood.

Uncountable Noun Examples

Anything that cannot be counted is an uncountable noun. Even though uncountable nouns are
not individual objects, they are always singular and one must always use singular verbs in
conjunction with uncountable nouns. The following uncountable noun examples will help you
to gain even more understanding of how countable and uncountable nouns differ from one
another. Notice that singular verbs are always used with uncountable nouns.

1. There is no more water in the pond.

2. Please help yourself to some cheese.

3. I need to find information about Pulitzer Prize winners.

4. You seem to have a high level of intelligence.

5. Please take good care of your equipment.

6. Let’s get rid of the garbage.

Uncountable nouns can be paired with words expressing plural concept. Using these words can
make your writing more specific. Here are some examples of how to format interesting
sentences with uncountable nouns.

• Garbage – There are nine bags of garbage on the curb.

• Water – Try to drink at least eight glasses of water each day.

• Advice – She gave me a useful piece of advice.

• Bread – Please buy a loaf of bread.

• Furniture – A couch is a piece of furniture.

• Equipment – A backhoe is an expensive piece of equipment.

• Cheese – Please bag ten slices of cheese for me.

 Some / Any / No.
We can use some, any or 'no article' before plural or uncountable nouns. They all mean
something similar to a/an before a singular noun. For example:

• Can I have a banana? [One banana, but any one is okay.]

• Can I have some bananas? [More than one banana, but any small group is okay.]

The difference between some and 'no article':

Often, there isn't a big difference in meaning between 'no article' and some. However, we use
some when we are talking about a limited number or amount (but we don't know or we don't
want to say the exact quantity).

Some means 'a certain number of' or 'a certain amount of'. We don't use some if we are
talking about something in general or thinking about it as a category. When we use some, we
don't say the exact quantity, but we could probably find it out if we needed to. For example:

• Can you buy some milk? [We don't know exactly how much, but I'm talking about a
certain amount of milk – I don't want all the milk in the world.]

On the other hand, we use 'no article' when we aren't thinking about the quantity. It's used to
talk about the noun as a category, rather than a certain amount of it:

• We need Ø milk to make pancakes. [I'm thinking about milk as a category. I'm not
thinking about a certain amount of milk.]

More examples:

• We need to buy Ø coffee [I'm talking about coffee as a category, not thinking about the
amount].

• Would you like some coffee? [I mean a certain amount of coffee, probably a cup.]

• I ate some bread [I mean a certain amount of bread].

• I ate Ø bread [not pasta or rice].

Remember that often it doesn't make a big difference:

• Do you want Ø tea? [I'm not thinking about the amount.]

• Do you want some tea? [I'm thinking about the amount, but the meaning is really the
same as the first sentence.]

Try an exercise about this here.

The difference between some and any:

Generally, we use any in the same way as some: when we are thinking about a certain amount
or number of something. Remember, usually both some and any can only be used with plural
countable nouns or uncountable nouns, but not usually with singular countable nouns.

We usually use some with affirmative (positive) sentences and any with negatives and
questions:
• She bought some tomatoes [positive sentence].

• She didn't buy any tomatoes [negative sentence].

• Did she buy any tomatoes [question]?

However, there are some exceptions to this.

1: Any can be used in a positive sentence to mean 'it's not important which one'. When we use
any in this way, it's most often used with singular countable nouns:

• You can take any bus.

• Pass me any glass.

• Come over any Sunday.

2: Any can also be used in positive sentences that have a negative feeling, for example if they
include never, hardly, without:

• She never eats any fruit.

• We hardly watch any television.

• Julia left the house without any money.

3: Some can be used in questions when we expect that the answer will be 'yes'. This is very
common in offers and requests:

• Would you like some coffee?

• Do you want some sandwiches?

• Could you give me some help?

• Could you pass me some sugar?

Compare the following two sentences:

• Do you have any letters for me? [This is a real question. I don't know if you have any
letters or not.]

• Do you have some letters for me? [I think you do, so I'm expecting that you will say
'yes'.]
 How much? / How many?
Use much if the noun is non-countable (e.g., water, sand). Use many if the noun is countable
(e.g., oranges, children). For example:

1. I don’t have much money.

2. They own many houses.

Examples for much / many

1. Phillip owns many properties in France.

2. We didn’t earn much profit this year.

3. How much money have you got?

4. Sharon does not have many friends.

5. There are too many students in this class.

6. It doesn’t need much milk.

7. We had so much fun.

8. I spent many days there.

When we want to know the quantity or amount of something, we ask questions starting with
How much and How many.

HOW MUCH ...? - (Quantity)

How much is used with uncountable nouns.

HOW MUCH + UNCOUNTABLE NOUN

• How much time do we have to finish the test?

• How much money did you spend?

• How much sugar would you like in your coffee?

• How much paper will I need?

• How much milk is in the fridge?

• How much traffic was there on the way to work?

If the verb To Be is used with an uncountable noun, it is in singular form (= IS or WAS etc.)

HOW MUCH ...? - (Price)

How much can also be used when we want to know the PRICE of something.

In this case, we can use How much with countable nouns (both singular and plural nouns).

• How much is that painting?

• How much are those shoes?

• How much did your jacket cost?

• How much is the dress on display in the window?

• How much will it cost me?

• How much does it cost ?

HOW MANY ...? - (Quantity)

How many is used when we want to know the QUANTITY of something.

It is only used with plural countable nouns.

HOW MANY + PLURAL NOUN

• How many days are there in January?

• How many people work in your company?

• How many cousins do you have?

• How many books did you buy?

• How many countries are there in the world?

• How many students are in the class right now?

• How many chairs are there in this room?

• How many pieces of chocolate would you like?

Omitting the noun

Often the noun is omitted in the question when it is obvious what we are talking about.

A: I would like to buy some cheese. B: How much (cheese) would you like?

The noun cheese is not necessary after how much since we already know we are talking about
cheese. In fact, it is normally omitted to avoid sounding repetitive.

More examples:

• A: I need some coins. - B: How many do you need?

• A: I need some sugar. - B: How much do you need?

 Much / Many / A lot of / Lots of / A few / A little.
Some, any, much, many, few and little are all words that come before nouns to help explain
them. Some and any are both “determiners” – they tell us whether the noun phrase is general
or specific. Some and any are both “general determiners”, which means they refer to an
indefinite or unknown quantity of something.

Much, many, few and little are all “quantifiers”. Quantifiers are used to give information about
quantity (the number of something). Both much and many suggest a large quantity of
something, whilst little and few mean: not as much, or not as many. However, if you use a little
or a few this means: a small amount!

But how do we know when to use each word? Broadly speaking, the rules for using these
terms are based on whether the noun we are referring to is countable, uncountable, plural vs.
singular OR whether they appear in positive or negative sentences or questions. Be careful
because each set of words has its own particular rules and exceptions! Let’s take a closer
look…

The words some and any are used when the exact number or amount of something is not
known, or when it’s not important. Some and any are both used to refer to an indefinite
quantity or number.

For example:

There are some birds in our garden.

(We don’t know exactly how many birds are in the garden or it doesn’t matter how many birds
there are exactly)

As opposed to:

There are three birds in our garden.

(The number of birds is important and exact)

Some and any are known as “general determiners”. They are used to modify nouns, specifically
to tell us that the noun phrase is general (rather than specific). They can be used with:

1. Countable or uncountable nouns:

We don’t have any time to get popcorn before the film starts.(Time is uncountable)

We still have some apples on the tree. (Apples are countable)

2. Singular or plural nouns:

We don’t have any chicken left for dinner. (Chicken is singular)

It’s such nice weather! Let’s invite some friends round for a BBQ. (Friends is plural)

Much and many are known as “quantifiers”. They are used to talk about quantities, amounts
or degrees (along with ‘a lot of’ and ‘lots of’) and suggest a large quantity of something.

When do I use much and when do I use many?

Many is used with plural, countable nouns (e.g. dogs, dollars, tables, children). Much is used
with singular, uncountable nouns (e.g. happiness, music, water, time):
There aren’t many doctors in the hospital today. (doctors are countable)

Many Brits choose to retire in Spain. (Brits/British people are countable)

There isn’t much light in this room so let’s open the curtains. (light is uncountable)

Too much money was spent on the Royal Wedding. (money is uncountable)

Little and few are “quantifiers”. When theyare used on their own they have a negative
meaning to suggest ‘not as much or not as many as might be expected’.

But be careful! When little and few are used with an article – a little or a few– both words
mean ‘some’ and have a positive meaning.

When do I use fewand when do I use little?

Little is used with singular, uncountable nouns and few is used with plural, countable nouns to
mean ‘not as much’ or ‘not as many’. For example:

The play made little sense to me, but I’m glad you enjoyed it. (sense is uncountable) = the play
didn’t make much sense.

She didn’t want to go, but she had little choice. (choice is uncountable) = she didn’t have much
choice.

There are few people that I think would be qualified for the job. (people is countable) = there
aren’t many people qualified for the job.

There are few tourists at this time of year so the beaches are nice and quiet. (tourists is
countable) = there aren’t many tourists.

A little is used with singular, uncountable nouns and a few is used with plural, countable nouns
to mean ‘some’:

We have a little time before the play starts so why don’t we get a drink?

We have a little space in our car if you want a lift.

There are a few good candidates that have applied so I’m sure we’ll find someone for the job.

We stayed in Spain a few days before going on to France.

 Object Personal Pronouns.
What Are Objective Personal Pronouns? (with Examples)

The objective personal pronouns are me, you, him, her, it, us, them, and whom.

Objective personal pronouns are used when they are:

A direct object (e.g., I saw her.)

An indirect object (e.g., Give him a chance.)

The object of a preposition (e.g., Sit next to them.)

Objective personal pronouns are personal pronouns in the objective case. The objective case
contrasts with the subjective case, which is used to show the subject of a verb. For example:

They know him.

(They is the subjective case. Him is the objective case.)

He knows them.

(He is the subjective case. Them is the objective case.)

Examples of Objective Personal Pronouns as Direct Objects

Here are some examples of objective personal pronouns as direct objects:

Democracy is the name we give the people whenever we need them.

To obtain a man's opinion of you, make him mad. (Oliver Wendell Holmes, 1809-1894)

(In this example, you is also an objective personal pronoun. It's an object of preposition. See
below.)

I'm a godmother. That's a great thing to be, a godmother. She calls me God for short. That's
cute. I taught her that. (Ellen DeGeneres)

(In this example, her is also an objective personal pronoun. It's an indirect object. See below.)

Read more about the direct object.

Examples of Objective Personal Pronouns as Indirect Objects

Here are some examples of objective personal pronouns as indirect objects:

Everybody likes a kidder, but nobody lends him money. (Arthur Miller, 1915-2005)

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.
(Samuel Johnson, 1709-1784)

I'm a godmother. That's a great thing to be, a godmother. She calls me God for short. That's
cute. I taught her that. (Ellen DeGeneres)

(In this example, me is also an objective personal pronoun. It's a direct object. See above.)

Read more about the indirect object.

Examples of Objective Personal Pronouns as the Objects of Prepositions

Here are some examples of objective personal pronouns as the objects of prepositions
(prepositions in bold):

All the world's a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed. (Sean O'Casey, 1880-1964)

To obtain a man's opinion of you, make him mad. (Oliver Wendell Holmes, 1809-1894)

(In this example, him is also an objective personal pronoun. It's a direct object. See above.)

Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him
personally. (Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865)

Read more about the object of a preposition.

Read more about prepositions.

Not All the Pronouns Change Their Forms

Objects (i.e., direct objects, indirect objects, and objects of prepositions) are always in the
objective case. In English, this only affects pronouns (but not all pronouns).
 The Verb Should.
Should is an auxiliary verb - a modal auxiliary verb. We use should mainly to:

• give advice or make recommendations

• talk about obligation

• talk about probability and expectation

• express the conditional mood

• replace a subjunctive structure

Structure of should

The basic structure for should is:

subject + auxiliary verb

should + main verb

Note that:

• The auxiliary verb should be invariable. There is only one form: should

• The main verb is usually in the base form (He should go).

Look at the basic structure again, with positive, negative and question sentences:

subject auxiliary

should not main verb

base

+ He should work.

- You should not go.

? Should we help?

Note that the main verb is sometimes in the form:

• have + past participle (He should have gone.)

• be + -ing (He should be going.)

Use of should

should for advice, opinions

We often use should when offering advice or opinions (similar to ought to):

• You should see the new James Bond movie. It's great!

• You should try to lose weight.

• John should get a haircut.

• He shouldn't smoke. And he should stop drinking too.

• What should I wear?

• They should make that illegal.

• There should be a law against that.

• People should worry more about global warming.

should for obligation, duty, correctness

Another use of should (also similar to ought to) is to indicate a kind of obligation, duty or
correctness, often when criticizing another person:

• You should be wearing your seat belt. (obligation)

• I should be at work now. (duty)

• You shouldn't have said that to her. (correctness)

• He should have been more careful.

• Should you be driving so fast?

should for probability, expectation

We use should to indicate that we think something is probable (we expect it to happen):

• Are you ready? The train should be here soon.

• $10 is enough. It shouldn't cost more than that.

• Let's call Mary. She should have finished work by now.

should for conditionals

We sometimes use should (instead of would) for the first person singular and plural (I, we) of
some conditionals:

• If I lost my job, I should have no money.

(If he lost his job, he would have no money.)

• We should be grateful if you could send us your latest catalogue.

This is not a very important distinction. (More about the use of shall/will and should/would.)

should for If I were you I should...

We often use the conditional structure "If I were you I should..." to give advice.

• If I were you, I should complain to the manager.

• If I were you, I shouldn't worry about it.

• I shouldn't say anything if I were you.

Note that we can omit "If I were you..." and just say:

• I should complain to the manager.

• I shouldn't worry about it.

• I shouldn't say anything.

In these cases, the phrase "I should" really means something like "you should".

should for pseudo subjunctive

We often use a special verb form called the subjunctive when talking about events that
somebody wants to happen, hopes will happen or imagines happening, for example:

• The president insists that the prime minister attend the meeting.

However, this is much more common in American English. British English speakers often
convey the same idea using should:

• The president insists that the prime minister should attend the meeting.

should for Why should...?

If we don't understand (or agree with) something, we may use Why should...? like this:

• Why should it be illegal to commit suicide? It's your life.

Why should...? and How should...? can also indicate anger or irritation:

• A: Help me with this. B: Why should I?

• A: Where are my keys? B: How should I know?

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