Pronouns

What are pronouns?

Ronald is brilliant. He can solve difficult problems. The word 'he' refers to Ronald. Therefore, it replaces the noun 'Ronald'. Hence, it is called a pronoun.

We need a pronoun to avoid using a noun repeatedly in the following sentences. It can be very awkward and boring to say the same word again and again. So, we use a pronoun, instead.

Check the following list of common pronouns.

Nouns	Pronouns
	Subject	Object
	I I like him.	Me He likes me.
	You You like him.	You He likes you.
Tony and Mila Tony and Mila like Dian.	They They like Dian.	Them Dian likes them.
Julia and I Julia and I like Dian.	We We like Dian.	Us Dian Likes us.
Peter/my father/their uncle Peter likes Dian.	He He likes Dian.	Him Dian likes him.
Maria/my sister/our grandpa Maria likes Dian.	She She likes Dian.	Her Dian likes her.
The book/the problem/the cat The cat likes Dian.	It It likes Dian.	It Dian likes it.

Pronouns
Possessive Adjective	Possessive Pronouns
My He is my friend.	Mine He is a friend of mine.
Your He is your friend.	Yours He is a friend of yours.
Their Dian is their friend.	Theirs Dian is a friend of theirs.
Our Dian is our friend.	Ours Dian is a friend of ours.
His Dian is his friend.	His Dian is a friend of his.
Her Dian is her friend.	Hers Dian is a friend of hers.
Its Dian is its friend.	Its Dian is a friend of its.

Have you got questions, please feel free to write in the comment.

Adverbs

Hello all! This time we will talk about adverbs. I believe we have used adverbs in our daily conversations as well as in written texts. only we might not realize that they are adverbs.

'Tania walks quickly.' for example.

'Quickly' tells us how Tania walks. So, it is an adverb.

Hence, we can conclude that an adverb is a word used to modify a verb. But that's not all. We also use adverbs to modify an adjective and another adverb. Observe the following sentences:

Your daughter is very cute.
My father works very diligently.

In the first sentence, the word 'very' tells how cute your daughter is. Therefore, it modifies the adjective 'cute'.

While in the second sentence, the word 'very' tells how diligently my father works. Therefore, it modifies the adverb 'diligently'.

Now, how can we identify an adverb in a sentence?

1. Most adverbs are formed by using adjectives + ly. They are adverbs of manner.
quickly: They moved to the side quickly.
diligently: We all work diligently.
beautifully: Letty danced beautifully that day.
sweetly: She has been acting so sweetly.
nicely: Pat has decorated the room nicely.

2. Adverbs of place:
here: Do you live here?
there: I will be there.
somewhere: It is here somewhere.
abroad: Have you been abroad before?
upstairs: John is upstairs in his bedroom. 

3. Adverbs of time:
now: They are having a holiday in Australia now.
then: Then, he left.
everyday: Do you jog everyday?
yesterday: The robbery happened yesterday.
before: George was here before.

4. Adverbs of purpose:
in order to: They called in order to get some information.

so: He came late so he apologised.
to: We arrived early to get front seats.
therefore: Patrick studied hard. Therefore, he got good results.
thus: He thus got a punishment from his manager.

5. Adverbs of degree:
very: The coffee was very sweet.
too: The tea was too hot to drink.
so: Those shoes are so expensive that I don't think I will ever buy them.
absolutely: You are absolutely gorgeous in that gown.
totally: I totally agree with you, Nathan.

6. Adverbs of frequency:
always: We always start our classes on time.
usually: They are usually punctual.
often: Hans often went to the shop.
sometimes: Your brother is sometimes short-tempered.
seldom: I seldom come here.
rarely: Mr. Banks rarely goes abroad.
hardly ever: I hardly ever eat meat products.
never: He has never been to India. 
once a while: They visit us once a while.
most of the time: He sleeps late most of the time.

I hope you all get something out of it. Be with you again soon. 

A Quote by Napoleon Hill

"A QUITTER NEVER WINS, AND A WINNER NEVER QUITS"
By Napoleon Hill

Plural Forms of Nouns

1.    To make most nouns plural, add –s.

(a)	Singular	Plural
	One dog	Two dogs
	One book	Three books
	A cake	Some cakes

2.   Add -es to nouns ending in -sh, -ch, -ss, and -x.

(b)	Singular	Plural
	One dish	Two dishes
	One match	Three matches
	One class	Two classes
	A box	Some boxes

3.    If a noun ends in a consonant + -y, change the -y to i  and add -es (c).

If -y is preceded by a vowel, add only -s, as in (d).

(c)	Singular	Plural
	A baby	Two babies
	One city	Three cities
	one try	Some tries
(d)	One toy	Two toys
	One key	Three keys
	A tray	Some trays

4.       If a noun ends in -fe or -f, change the ending to -ves.

(Exceptions: beliefs, chief, roof, cuffs, cliffs.)

(e)	Singular	Plural
	One knife	Two knives
	One shelf	Some shelves
	A wife	Two wives

5.       The plural form of nouns that end in -o is sometimes -oes and sometimes -os.

-oes: tomatoes, potatoes, heroes, echoes

-os: zoos, radios, studios, pianos, solos, sopranos, photos, autos, videos

-oes or -os: zeroes/zeros; volcanoes/volcanos, tornadoes/tornados, mosquitoes/mosquitos.

(f)	Singular	Plural
	One tomato	Two tomatoes
	One zoo	Two zoos
	One zero	Two zeroes/zeros

6.       Some nouns have irregular plural forms.

(Note: The singular form of people can be person, woman, man, child. For example, one man and one child = two people.)

(g)	Singular	Plural
	One mouse	Two mice
	One louse	Two lice
	One tooth	Three teeth
	One foot	Two feet
	One goose	Some geese
	An ox	Two oxen
	One child	Two children
	One man	A few men
	One woman	Two women
	---------------	Two people

7.       The plural form of some nouns is the same as the singular form.

(h)	Singular	Plural
	One deer	Two deer
	One fish	Three fish
	A means	Two means
	One sheep	Two sheep
	One series	Three series
	An offspring	Some offspring
	A species	Some species

8.       Some nouns that English has borrowed from other languages have foreign plurals.

(i)	-us → i
	Singular	Plural
	One alumnus	Two alumni
	One cactus	Two cacti
	One focus	Two foci/focuses
	One fungus	Two fungi/funguses
	One nucleus	Two nuclei
	One radius	Some radii
	One stimulus	Two stimuli
(j)	-is → es
	Singular	Plural
	One axis	Two axes
	One analysis	Two analyses
	One basis	Two bases
	One crisis	Two crises
	One diagnosis	Two diagnoses
	One ellipsis	Some ellipses
	A hypothesis	Two hypotheses
	An oasis	Two oases
	One paralysis	Two paralyses
	A parenthesis	Two parentheses
	One synopsis	Three synopses
	One thesis	Two theses
(k)	-ix → ices
	Singular	Plural
	One appendix	Two appendices
	One index	Two indices/indexes
	One matrix	Two matrices/matrixes
(l)	-eau → eaux
	Singular	Plural
	One beau	Two beaux
	One bureau	Two bureaux/bureaus
	One tableau	Two tableaux/tableaus
(m)	-um and others → a
	Singular	Plural
	One bacterium	Two bacteria
	A curriculum	Two curricula
	One datum	Two data
	One medium	Two media
	A memorandum	Two memoranda
	A phenomenon	Some phenomena
	One stratum	Three strata
	One corpus	Two corpora
	One criterion	Three criteria
	One genus	Two genera
(n)	-a → ae
	Singular	Plural
	One antenna	Two antennae/antennas
	One formula	Two formulae/formulas
	One vertebra	Two vertebrae
	One vita	Two vitae

References:

Fundamentals of English Grammar (3^rd Ed) by Betty Azar

http://english-zone.com