The indefinite article - a/an

The indefinite article - a

The indefinte article is the a is the same for all genders.
a boy, a girl, a cat
The indefinte article has no plural form.
a boy - boys
We use an if the following word starts with a vowel.

the following word starts with a consonant	the following word starts with a vowel
a boy	an aunt
a school	an old school
a girl	an American girl

Mind the pronunciation of the following word.

a unit	an uncle
This u sounds like a consonant, so we use a.	This u sounds like a vowel, so we use an.

Use of the indefinite article a/an

- before phrases of time and measurements (per week/weekly)

We have English 4 times a week.

I go on holiday twice a year.

Our car can do 220 kilometres an hour.

Tomatoes are $2 a kilo.

- before phrases of jobs

My father is a car mechanic.

- with a noun complement

He is a good boy.

- before phrases of nationality

Bruce Springsteen is an American.

- half/quite

We need half a pound of sugar.

This is quite a good story.

The definte article - the

The definite article - the

The definite article the is the same for all genders in singular and in plural.
the boy, the girl, the cat, the computers
If the following word begins with a vowel, we speak [], if the following word begins with a consonant, we speak [].

[]	[]
the following word starts with a spoken consonant	the following word starts with a spoken vowel
the girl	the English girl
the book	the blue book
the school	the old school
the unit Here a [] is pronounced at the beginning of the word.	the uncle Here a [] is pronounced at the beginning of the word.

We have listed some examples in the following table. There you can see when we use the definite article and when we don't.

without the definite article	with the definite article
general words (indefinite)	general words (definite)
Life is too short. I like flowers.	I've read a book on the life of Bill Clinton. I like the flowers in your garden.
names of persons on the singular, relatives	family names in the plural
Peter and John live in London. Aunt Mary lives in Los Angeles.	The Smiths live in Chicago.
public buildings, institutions, means of transport (indefinite)	public buildings, institutions, means of transport (definite)
Mandy doesn't like school. We go to school by bus. Some people go to church on Sundays.	The school that Mandy goes to is old. The bus to Dresden leaves at 7.40. The round church in Klingenthal is famous.
names of countries in the singular; summits of mountains; continents; towns	names of countries in the plural; mountain ranges; regions
Germany, France; Mount Whitney, Mount McKinley; Africa, Europe; Cairo, New York	the United States of America, the Netherlands; the Highlands, the Rocky Mountains, the Alps; the Middle East, the west of Australia
single islands	groups of islands
Corfu, Bermuda, Sicily	the Bahamas, the British Isles, the Canaries
parks; lakes; streets	name with of-phrase; oceans; seas; rivers
Central Park, Hyde Park; Lake Michigan, Loch Ness; 42nd Street, Oxford Street	the Statue of Liberty, the Tower (of London), the Isle of Wight; the Atlantic (Ocean); the Mediterranean (Sea); the Nile, the Rhine, the Suez Canal
months, days of the week (indefinite)	months, days of the week (definite)
The weekend is over on Monday morning. July and August are the most popular months for holidays.	I always remember the Monday when I had an accident. The August of 2001 was hot and dry.

We use the seasons of the year (spring, summer, autumn, winter) with or without the definite article.
in summer or in the summer
The American English word for autum >fall< is always used with the definte article.

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Sometimes we use the article and sometimes we do not. It often depends on the context. Watch the following example:
The student goes to school.
The mother goes to the school.
In the first sentence we do not use the definite article, in the second we do. The student goes to school for its primary purpose, so we do not use the article.
The mother might talk to a teacher, for example. She visits the school for a different reason. That's why we use the definite article in the second sentence.

Comparison of adjectives

A - Comparison with -er/-est

clean - cleaner - (the) cleanest

We use -er/-est with the following adjectives:

1) adjectives with one syllable

clean	cleaner	cleanest
new	newer	newest
cheap	cheaper	cheapest

2) adjectives with two syllables and the following endings:

2 - 1) adjectives with two syllables, ending in -y

dirty	dirtier	dirtiest
easy	easier	easiest
happy	happier	happiest
pretty	prettier	prettiest

2 - 2) adjectives with two syllables, ending in -er

clever

cleverer

cleverest

2 - 3) adjectives with two syllables, ending in -le

simple

simpler

simplest

2 - 4) adjectives with two syllables, ending in -ow

narrow

narrower

narrowest

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Spelling of the adjectives using the endings -er/-est

large	larger	largest	leave out the silent -e
big	bigger	biggest	Double the consonant after short vowel
sad	sadder	saddest
dirty	dirtier	dirtiest	Change -y to -i (consonant before -y)
shy	shyer	shyest	Here -y is not changed to -i. (although consonant before -y)

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B - Comparison with more - most

difficult - more difficult - (the) most difficult

all adjectives with more than one syllable (except some adjectives with two syllables - see
2 - 1 to 2 - 4)

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C - Irregular adjectives

good	better	best
bad	worse	worst
much	more	most	uncountable nouns
many	more	most	countable nouns
little	less	least
little	smaller	smallest

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D - Special adjectives

Some ajdectives have two possible forms of comparison.

common	commoner / more common	commonest / most common
likely	likelier / more likely	likeliest / most likely
pleasant	pleasanter / more pleasant	pleasantest / most pleasant
polite	politer / more polite	politest / most polite
simple	simpler / more simple	simplest / most simple
stupid	stupider / more stupid	stupidest / most stupid
subtle	subtler / more subtle	subtlest
sure	surer / more sure	surest / most sure

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Difference in meaning with adjectives:

far	farther	farthest	distance
	further	furthest	distance or time
late	later	latest
	latter	x
	x	last
old	older	oldest	people and things
	elder	eldest	people (family)
near	nearer	nearest	distance
	x	next	order

3rd-5th Contraction Memory Match

http://www.vocabulary.co.il/contractions/intermediate/3rd-5th-contraction-memory-match/

Nursery Rhymes - Volume 4

My First Words - Learning Alphabets - Part 1 - Kids Animation

Punctuation Games for Kids

http://www.funenglishgames.com/grammargames/punctuation.html

Check out this great punctuation game for kids. Have fun completing grammar practice exercises that help students learn about important English language punctuation such as the full stop, question mark, comma, apostrophe, exclamation mark and inverted commas. Read the sentences, aim the target and fire the correct punctuation where you think it should go in the sentence. Use the proper punctuation in the right location and you can move on to the next challenge, keep going and see if you can complete this interactive activity.