Common mistakes at IELTS Intermediate and how to avoid them 1.Are there any special times I should u the?
We u the
a.With countries or places where the name refers to a group of islands or states:
The United States, the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates, the UK
b.With superlatives: the best, the longest, the highest
c.With cardinal numbers: the first, the cond, the third
d.When there is only one in the world: the environment, the internet, the sun
e.To refer to the only one in this particular area:
the government, the police, the river
f.In the phra: the same as
We don’t u the
a.With a single country or place: America, England, China
b.To talk about something in general. We u the plural if we are talking about
something in general; we u the to identify one specific example. Compare: People with reading difficulties often have problems with numbers.
叉怎么组词The number eight is considered lucky in some countries.
2.Singular or plural?
If you u a plural noun, you must u a plural verb. The verb must ‘agree’ with the noun:
In my country there are very few cars that u leaded petrol.
I like studying during the day but my friend prefers studying at night.
We u a plural noun with:
a.Plural verbs: are, were, have, do ,play, etc.: There are a lot of books on the table.
b.Numbers greater than one: 30 cars, 100 students.
c.Many: It is annoying that so many bus drive past becau they are full.
d.The number of: The number of bus on our roads has incread each year.
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✧Note that we u a plural noun but a singular verb after the number of.
We u a singular noun with:
a.Singular verbs: is was, has, does, plays, etc.:
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There is only one bedroom in the flat.
b.a/an or one: a car, one student
✧Note that some nouns can look plural but are singular (news, mathematics) and
some nouns have a different form in the plural (children, men, women, people).
3.Which nouns don’t have a plural form?
Some nouns in English are ‘uncountable’. This means they do not have a plural form. Some commo
n uncountable nouns are: advice, advertising, food, furniture, garbage, information, knowledge, money, shopping, time, traffic, travel.
With uncountable nouns, you must u:
a.The singular form: food, information, money
b. A little/ amount of /much/some: How much money do you have?
The amount of traffic on the roads is increasing each year.
c. A singular verb:There was already a little furniture in the flat.
If a noun is uncountable, you cannot u:
a. A plural form ; a/an ; a few/ many / number of ; a number ; a plural verb ;
If you want to add a number to an uncountable noun, you can u a pieces of /some/ a few pieces of:
4.When do I u the prent simple ten?
We u the prent simple ten:
< make general statements about our world: The earth moves around the sun.
< show a pattern or general truth: People work in order to meet their basic needs
c.with adverbs of frequency: always, usually, often, sometimes, never: People who
are too lazy to walk often u their cars instead.
d.With expressions such as : nowadays, the days, today(with a general meaning):
Many students today do their rearch via computer rather than through books.
e.For verbs showing opinions or feelings, e.g. believe, think, hope: I think that we
should all do as much as we can to improve our environment.
5.How do I write large numbers?
When we talk about a specific large number, we do not add s to the number:
200,000 = two hundred thousand.
10,000,000 = ten million
The noun that follows is always plural:
There must have been at least three thousand students at the protest.
We u the plural form of large numbers + of to give an approximate idea of how many:there must have been thousands of students at the protest.
We can u a instead of one. One is more formal:
If I won a million dollars, I would probably take a year off and travel around the world. The president promid to increa the health budget by one million dollars.
✧We usually u numerals for numbers that cannot be written in one or two words: More than two million people attended last year. But: 2,001,967 people attended last year.
You should write fractions in words: half a (million); alone third of a (million); three quarters of a (milli
on); one and a quarter(million); one and three quarter(million): According to the chart, in 2004 over half a million Ukranians went to the cinema.
6.There is / there are
We u there to say that something exits. We u there is with a singular subject and there are with a plural subject:
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There is an oak tree in my garden.
There are some great movies on at the cinema.
We u there is and there are to give new information. We u it is or they are to talk about something that has already been referred to. Compare:
There is a prent for you on the table. (the first time the prent has been mentioned) Mary: What is that you’re carrying?
John: It’s a prent for my sister. (it = what John is carrying)
We do not u the auxiliary verb do to form questions and negatives with there is and there are:Are there any clean glass in the cupboard? There isn’t a map in the car.
✧There cannot be left out: There is a pan of soup and there are some bowls in the
kitchen.
7.Which relative pronoun(关系代词) should I u?
Relative pronouns (that, who, etc.) are ud to connect two parate claus:
clau 1 relative pronoun clau 2
There are veral factors/ that / are important in achieving happiness.
When information is esntial to the ntence and cannot be left out, we u:
a.That to refer to things or people: The chart that is on page 10 shows
b.Who to refer to people: The number of women who were enrolled…
c.What to refer to the thing that or the things that: The government should show us
what must be done. (= the thing(s)that must be done)
Note that you should only u one relative pronoun.
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The relative pronoun can be left out if it refers to the object of a verb, but not if it refers to the subject of a verb. Compare:
The students that I teach all come from overas countries.Students is the object of the verb teach, so the relative pronoun that can be left out: The students I teach all come from…
The students who are studying EAP should e me today. Students is the subject of the verb are studying, so the relative pronoun who cannot be left out.
8. How do I choo between and, but and or?
We u and to join two similar ideas:
Would you like some tea and biscuits? (=you can have both of them)
We u but to show contrast between two different ideas:
I have tea but I don’t have any coffee, I’m afraid. (I have tea = positive, I don’t have any coffee = negative)
We u or to give an alternative:
Would you like some tea or coffee? (= you will choo only one of them)
Note: to join two enegative ideas, we u or if the subject and the verb are the same: I don’t have tea or coffee.
After if/whether, we can u or not to suggest the alternative idea:
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We decided to go whether it was raining or not.(= whether it rained or whether it didn’t rain.)
9. Auxiliary verbs （助动词）
Do, be and have are called auxillary verbs. This means that they help to change the main verb.
Do is ud with the infinitive to make negatives or questions:
I don’t agree. Do you agree?
Do can be ud with other question words: Why do you agree?
Be is ud with –ing verb forms to make the continuous tens:
I am study ing English in Cambridge.
Have is ud with the past participle(分词) of the verb to make the perfect tens:
I have been here for three months.
The auxiliary verb must agree with the subject of the verb: Does your mother drink tea?
We make questions and negatives without do if another auxiliary verb is ud: Are you studying here?
10. How do I u modal verbs? (情态动词)
The following modal auxiliary verbs are followed by the infinitive without to: can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would:
When travelling, we should respect the customs of the countries we visit.
Modal verbs form questions and negatives without using do:
Can I help you?
Will you meet me when I arrive?
When we talk about obligation or necessity using have or need, we u to + infinitive: I have to finish my assignment this weekend.
I need to talk to you.
In questions and negatives, have to and need to behave like normal verbs and we u do:
Do you have to pay extra for breakfast?
They said I don’t need to bring my own sleeping bag.
11. –ing or to + infinitive? (不定式)
We u to + infinitive after the following verbs: ask, afford, decide, derve, help, hope, learn, offer, prepare, promi, refu, em, want, would like:
Summer ems to arrive later and later the days.
Nowadays most people would like to have more money.
Learn how is also followed by to + infinitive:
I want to learn how to drive before I go to university.
After some verbs, we u –ing: avoid, carry on, consider, deny, enjoy, finish, give up, imagine, involve, keep, like, mind, practi, recommend, resist, suggest:
I really enjoy watching movies at the cinema.动物农场读后感
建党节活动Look forward to is also followed by –ing:
I look forward to hearing your reply.
We also u –ing after spend money and spend time:
