First Conditional

We use the First Conditional to talk about future events that are likely to happen.

• If we take John, he'll be really pleased.
• If you give me some money, I'll pay you back tomorrow.
• If they tell us they want it, we'll have to give it to them.
• If Mary comes, she'll want to drive.

The 'if' clause can be used with different present forms.

• If I go to New York again, I'll buy you a souvenir from the Empire State Building.
• If he's feeling better, he'll come.
• If she hasn't heard the bad news yet, I'll tell her.

The "future clause" can contain 'going to' or the future perfect as well as 'will'.

• If I see him, I'm going to tell him exactly how angry I am.
• If we don't get the contract, we'll have wasted a lot of time and money.

The "future clause" can also contain other modal verbs such as 'can' and 'must'.

• If you go to New York, you must have the cheesecake in Lindy's.
• If he comes, you can get a lift home with him.

Zero Conditional

When we talk about things that are generally or always true, we can use:

If/When/Unless plus a present form PLUS present simple or imperative

• If he gets there before me, ask him to wait.
• When you fly budget airline, you have to pay for your drinks and snacks.
• Unless you need more space, a small car is big enough for one person.

Note that we are not talking about a specific event but something which is generally true.

In the condition clause, we can use a variety of present forms. In the result clause, there can only be the present simple or imperative.

• If you visit London, go on the London Eye.
• If unemployment is rising, people tend to stay in their present jobs.
• If you've done that, go and have a coffee.
• When you go on holiday, take plenty of sun cream. It'll be very hot.
• When I'm concentrating, please don't make so much noise.
• When I've finished an article, I always ask Kate to read it through.

Notice that 'unless' means the same as 'if not'.

• Unless he asks you politely, refuse to do any more work on the project.
• Unless prices are rising, it's not a good investment.
• Unless you've been there yourself, you don't really understand how fantastic it is.

How to Make Plurals

5. Singular and Plural: Many new learners make mistakes in forming the plural form of singular nouns.

Pluralisation in English can be a bit of a tricky game, and as with any language the key to mastering this aspect lies in practicing through reading and conversing until the variations that appear unpredictable in the beginning become second nature, a matter of habit. Having said that, there are certain principles that are generally applicable that make the task easier by giving us a broad idea of how common words are pluralised. Let us take a look at these.

For most nouns, add an ‘s’ at the end of the word.

SINGULAR	PLURAL
Car	Cars
Desk	Desks
Tree	Trees
Ball	Balls
Hand	Hands

For nouns that end with ‘s’, ‘x’, ‘z’, ‘ch’, or ‘sh’, add ‘es’ at the end of the word.

SINGULAR	PLURAL
Boss	Bosses
Box	Boxes
Topaz	Topazes
Leech	Leeches
Dish	Dishes

For some words that end with ‘o’, add ‘es’ at the end of the word.

SINGULAR	PLURAL
Potato	Potatoes
Echo	Echoes
Hero	Heroes

For some words that end with ‘o’, add ‘s’ at the end of the word.

SINGULAR	PLURAL
Photo	Photos
Piano	Pianos
Logo	Logos
Radio	Radios

For some words ending with ‘f’, replace the ‘f’ with a ‘v’ and add ‘es’ at the end of the word.

SINGULAR	PLURAL
Thief	Thieves
Loaf	Loaves
Half	Halves
Calf	Calves
Leaf	Leaves

For some words ending with ‘f’, add an ‘s’ at the end of the word.

SINGULAR	PLURAL
Reefs	Reefs
Roof	Roofs
Chef	Chefs

For some words ending with ‘ife’, replace the ‘f’ with a ‘v’ and add an ‘s’ at the end of the word.

SINGULAR	PLURAL
Wife	Wives
Knife	Knives
Life	Lives

For common nouns ending with a consonant followed by ‘y’,replace the ‘y’ with an ‘i’ and add ‘es’ at the end of the word.

SINGULAR	PLURAL
Nappy	Nappies
Poppy	Poppies
Fly	Flies
Penny	Pennies
Sty	Sties

Some nouns are the same in both forms.

SINGULAR	PLURAL
Fish	Fish
Sheep	Sheep
Deer	Deer
Tuna	Tuna
Trout	Trout

Punctuation Rules

4. Punctuation mistakes: Punctuation errors, too, are very common, especially in the use of semicolons and commas.

Punctuation is a very important aspect of writing; good writing presupposes correct punctuation. Incorrect punctuation is the sign of weak writing, or carelessness. But this sort of thing is eminently avoidable, because punctuation is quite simple to master. Here are some basic rules to keep in mind:

1. Every sentence must end with a full stop.
2. Proper nouns (names of people, places, brands, etc, i.e. unique instances of a class) must always be capitalised.
3. When you use opening quotation marks, do not forget to use closing quotation marks at the end of the quoted word or phrase.
4. Quotation marks are when quoting or sometimes to convey irony, not for emphasis; emphasis is conveyed by emboldening or italicisation, followed by an exclamation mark.
5. Do not use an apostrophe when you are pluralising a word. The plural of toy is toys, not toy’s. Apostrophes are used to form contractions (it is = it’s) and indicate possession.
6. The ellipsis, used to indicate variously the intentional omission of a section of text, an unfinished thought, and a trailing off into silence, consists of only 3 dots. It is pointless to add more dots to an ellipsis. This is excessive punctuation, which is in other words incorrect punctuation.
7. As per the rules of British English, any punctuation mark that is not part of a quoted section of text must be placed outside the quotation marks. However, in the case of direct speech, punctuation marks must be enclosed within the quotation marks.

Grammar Rules

3. Comparison of adjectives: We add ‘er’ to compare short adjectives like pretty and thick; and we add ‘more’ for longer adjectives like handsome and intelligent.

When we want to compare two or more nouns using adjectives, we use the comparative and superlative forms of the adjective to show the comparison between the nouns. E.g. -

Honey is sweet, sugar is sweeter but victory is the sweetest.

In this sentence, we are comparing the three nouns using the positive, comparative and superlative forms of the word ‘sweet’.

Positive Form -

These are the simple adjectives that simply describe the noun without comparing it to another - big, sweet, clean, etc.

She has a big black dog.

He is a sweet boy.

The cupboard is clean.

Comparative Form -

These are used when we are comparing two nouns and need to show which noun possesses the adjective or character in a greater or lesser amount, when compared with the other. - bigger, sweeter, cleaner, etc.

I have a big dog but hers is bigger.

He is sweeter than the other boys.

The cupboard is cleaner than before.

Superlative Form -

This form is used when three or more nouns are being compared and we need to show that one or more of the nouns posses the adjective or characteristic to the highest amount possible. We usually add ‘the’ before the superlative form. - biggest, sweetest, cleanest, etc.

She has the biggest dog in the colony.

He is the sweetest boy in his class.

The cupboard is the cleanest thing in the house.

Making Comparatives and Superlatives

There are certain rules that must be followed in the making of the comparatives and superlatives of the adjectives. Not all adjectives form their comparatives and superlatives in the same way and there are also some irregular adjectives that form completely different comparative and superlative forms.

Single Syllable Words and Double Syllable Words ending with -y, -er, -ow, -le -

We use ‘-er’ to make the comparative and ‘-est’ to make the superlative.

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Black	Blacker	Blackest
Fair	Fairer	Fairest
Clever	Cleverer	Cleverest

When there is a silent ‘e’ at the end of the positive form, we remove that and add ‘-er’ and ‘-est’

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Nice	Nicer	Nicest
Late	Later	Latest

When the adjective ends with a ‘y’, we convert the ‘y’ into ‘i’ before adding ‘-er’ and ‘-est’

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Pretty	Prettier	Prettiest
Lazy	Lazier	Laziest

If the adjective is a small one with little stress on the vowel, we double the last consonant.

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Hot	Hotter	Hottest
Wet	Wetter	Wettest

Other Words with Two or More Syllables -

For other double syllable words that do not end with -y, -er, -ow, -le, and for adjectives with more than two syllables we use more and most to form the comparatives and superlatives.