Grammar in a nutshell

Comparisons

Example: McDonalds is not very healthy. The food on the right is healthier / more healthy than the food on the left. There are some spelling rules you have to take into account and don’t forget about the irregular forms (you’ve just seen a few)! Check them out on page 83 in your textbook!!!

Comparisons Exercise Make correct sentences, choosing the right form. Use the or than when needed! 1.He is ……………………… sprinter of them all. (fast) 2.This is my little brother. He is ……………………… I am. (young) 3.I think my girlfriend is much ……………………… she thinks she is. (pretty) 4.Wow! This is by far ……………………… house I’ve ever seen. (large) 5.That was wrong. You should be ……………………… in the future. (careful) the fastest younger than prettier than the largest more careful

Possessive I  mymine You  youryours He  hishis She  herhers It  its- We  ourours You  youryours They  theirtheirs than yours… ;)

Possessive Dat is haar boek. Dat boek is van haar. Dus: 2 vormen. Weet ze allebei!

Can, could, be able to… She can play tennis really well! She isn’t able to play tennis at the moment… He can skateboard like a pro! He could skateboard like a pro. Tijdelijk: she isn’t able to… (nu niet in staat zijn) Voor altijd: he could… (kon – verleden tijd)

Possessive Exercise: fill in the correct form! 1.This book of …………… (they) 2.…………… jacket is at the dry cleaners. (he) 3.Be …………… (I) 4.My flowers are dying. …………… are looking lovely. (you) 5.All the essays were good but …………… was the best. (he) 6.Here is …………… car. (you) theirs His mine Yours his your

Can, could, be able to… He can help you with your homework. Hij kan je helpen… He could help you with your homework. Hij kon / zou je kunnen helpen… He is able to help you with your homework. Hij is in staat je te helpen… Could is de verleden tijd van can! Je gebruikt could ook voor suggesties en vragen: You could ask her  je zou haar kunnen vragen Could you give me the salt, please?  zou je mij het zout kunnen geven? Met ‘can’ en ‘could’ geef je aan dat je iets beheerst: I can walk  ik kan lopen He could swim  hij kon zwemmen Let op…

Can, could, be able to… Can + Could  geven aan dat je iets beheerst. To be able to  geef je aan dat je in staat bent iets te doen (eigen keuze, opgelegd of tijdelijk). Examples: I couldn’t help you yesterday, but I’m able to help you now. (vrije keuze, nu wil ik je wel helpen) I could run really fast, but I’m not able to right now. (tijdelijke aard: blessure, moe, niet getraind…)

Can, could, be able to… Exercise: fill in 1.………………… you give me the bill, please. 2.Yes, we ………………… 3.They say he ………………… drink a liter of that stuff per day. Pfff! 4.She ………………… paint beautifully before the accident. 5.Mike ………………… stand on his hands. Could can is able to could can

Possessive: ’s – ’ – of Mind! De ‘s geeft dus niet meervoud aan maar wel of iets van iemand is!!! So, you want to say that something is yours, you use the ‘s…except… When your name ends with an ‘s’-sound. Then you normally just add the apostrophe. For things, places and countries you usually use ‘of’. Examples: A man’s hat  the hat of a woman Mrs Chang’s house  the house of Mrs Chang Texas’ weather  the weather in Texas

Possessive: ’s – ’ – of Mind! De ‘s geeft dus niet meervoud aan maar wel of iets van iemand is!!! More examples: A dog’s tail  one doghis tail The dogs’ tails  the tails of more than one dog tail NO! They are called Jones, with an s at the end. So it’s the Jones’ party or the Jones’s party! Imagine: a family with ‘Jones’ as their surname, is having a party. What will it be? The Jone’s party?

Possessive: ’s – ’ – of Exercise Make correct sentences using either the: ‘s – ‘ – of Example: owner – the restaurant  owner of the restaurant 1.front – the class 2.this month – FourFourTwo 3.cause – the problem 4.daughter – Charles 5.newspaper – yesterday 6.door – the car 7.hair – Bill 8.bottom – the lake 1.front of the class 2.this month’s FourFourTwo 3.cause of the problem 4.Charles’s daughter 5.yesterday’s newspaper 6.door of the car 7.Bill’s hair 8.bottom of the lake

WARNING Always write YOU not U! Always write I never i! Always write going to: ‘gonna’ doesn’t exist... (neither does ‘wanna’ = want to) If you do these thing wrong, it will cost you points!

Grammar in a nutshell