Mastering English: Articles, Plurals, and Prepositions

Posted on Feb 8, 2025 in English and Spanish Studies

Singular and Plural ‘There is/There are’

• Singular: There is (There’s)
• Is there?
• There is not (There isn’t or There’s not)
• Plural: There are
• Are there?
• There are not (There aren’t)

The Use of Articles ‘A’ and ‘An’

‘A’ = one thing/person

• Alice works in a bank.
• Can I ask a question?
• I haven’t got a car.
• There’s a woman at the bus stop.

Use ‘an’ instead of ‘a’ before vowels (a, e, i, o, u):

• Do you want an apple or a banana?
• I’m going to buy a hat and an umbrella.
• There was an interesting program on TV last night.

Another (= an other) is one word. For example:

• Can I have another cup of tea?

When to Use ‘A’ or ‘An’

We use ‘a’ or ‘an’ when we say what a thing or a person is:

• The sun is a star.
• Football is a game.
• Dallas is a city in Texas.
• A mouse is an animal; it’s a small animal.
• Joe is a very nice person.

We use ‘a’ or ‘an’ for jobs/professions:

• A: What’s your job? B: I’m a dentist.
• What does Mark do? He’s an engineer.
• Would you like to be a teacher?
• Beethoven was a composer.
• Picasso was a famous painter.
• Are you a student?

Plural and Singular Nouns

The plural of a noun is usually formed by adding -s:

Singular (one) –> Plural (two or more)

• a flower –> some flowers
• a week –> two weeks
• a nice place –> many nice places
• this shop –> these shops

Exceptions (spelling):

• bus–>buses
• church –> churches
• potato –>potatoes
• dish–> dishes
• box–> boxes
• tomato –> tomatoes
• baby –> babies
• party –>parties
• dictionary –> dictionaries
• day–> days
• monkey–> monkeys
• boy–>boys
• shelf–>shelves
• knife–> knives
• wife–> wives

Irregular Plurals

Some plurals do not end in -s:

• this man –> these men
• a woman –> some women
• a child –> many children
• one foot –> two feet
• a tooth –> all my teeth
• a mouse –> some mice
• that sheep –> those sheep
• a fish –> a lot of fish

Also: a person –> two people / some people / a lot of people

She’s a nice person. They are nice people (not “nice persons”).

People is plural, so we say people are / people have:

• A lot of people speak English (not “speak’s”).
• I like the people here. They are very friendly.

Police is plural: The police are here. Why? What do they want?

‘Some’ and ‘Any’

‘Some’ in Positive Sentences

• I’m going to buy some clothes.
• There’s some ice in the fridge.
• We did some exercises.

‘Any’ in Negative Sentences

• I’m not going to buy any clothes.
• There isn’t any orange juice in the fridge.
• We didn’t do any exercises.

‘Any’ and ‘Some’ in Questions

In most questions (but not all), we use any:

• Is there any ice in the fridge?
• Has he got any friends?
• Do you need any help?

We normally use some (not any) when we offer things (Would you like…?) or when we ask for things (Can I have…?):

• A: Would you like some coffee? B: Yes, please.
• A: Can I have some soup, please? B: Yes, help yourself.
• A: Can you lend me some money? B: Sure, how much do you need?

Countable and Uncountable Nouns

• Singular Countable: There is a mango. I have an egg.
• Plural Countable: There are some apples. I have some eggs.
• Uncountable: There is some sugar. He has some bread.

Prepositions

Preposition Placement

Generally, prepositions are placed before the noun or pronoun, except in the following cases:

a.) With a relative pronoun, when followed by a preposition, the preposition can be placed at the end of the sentence.

The girls I study with / Las muchachas con las que estudio (instead of: The girls with whom I study)

b.) In interrogative sentences when they begin with an interrogative pronoun:

Who were you speaking to? / ¿Con quién estabas hablando? (instead of: To whom were you speaking?)

Prepositions and Contractions

Spanish contractions, the fusion of a preposition with the definite article (al, del), do not exist in English. They are always translated by the preposition followed by the definite article, separated from it (al = a el) (del = de el):

Tell it to the chairman / Dígaselo al presidente

toward