“I never teach my pupils, I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.”

• Albert Einstein

There are several worldwide instructive approaches introduced by expert language proponents for language teaching. Presentation- Practice -Production (PPP) is one among the widely-used methods for grammar instructions. It is a traditional approach but its employment shouldn’t be taken for granted; careful planning is needed for its expediency. Its rudiments direct teachers to enable learning by stimulating learners’ ascending thinking levels through lessons’ well- defined objectives while they are entrenched in its three stages.

In PPP, teaching can be effective when the target language is controlled. Therefore, limiting language expressions as subject matters such as “is, are, am; there is and there are; this, these, that and those; can and can’t; can and could; may and might; proper nouns and common nouns, count and non-count nouns, active and passive modes, positive and negative statements, negative and positive questions with yes -no responses, zero conditional versus first conditionals,” among numerous lessons based from the language program’s sequenced outline being managed. At this juncture, learners need to be defined. Defining learners is teachers’ awareness of students’ comprehension levels, age, nationality and culture where the creation of tasks designs and examples to facilitate effective teaching are primarily based upon.

Teaching grammar structures through the PPP can be more operative when we associate instructive language expressions to students’ real-world environment. By linking natural contexts, their interests are being drawn or stimulated by prior knowledge and experiences. Matters such as their hobbies, films they mostly watch, travels in other countries, favorite actors from around the world, favorite games, happiest and scariest dreams, historical events they are conscious about other countries, folk and country English songs that they listen to, and more can be suggested as thematic backgrounds for students tend to be responsive in class activities when situations they are closely connected to are manipulated. Also, providing these kinds of frameworks reduce students’ learning passivity which is mainly due to lack of interest or absence of knowledge.

PPP’s fundamentals are explicated here in two separate ways. (A) One is through using different language targets in each stage to explain its underlying rudiments, and (B) the other is by an intertwined single target language interconnected to its three stages.

A. PPP Application in different language targets

In the presentation stage, language target is stimulated by demonstration strategies adopted by a teacher’s discretion. The students are expected to observe how new languages are generated from a teacher’s varied way of presenting. It is a fact that it isn’t suitable to feed students directly what their new lessons are. In here, it is favorable to hear teacher say, “We have a new grammar lesson today that connects to your favorite sports players around the world”. “Can you tell me the names of your favorite players?” rather than saying, “We will learn about common nouns and proper nouns.” “Your favorite sports players are actually proper nouns.” Presentation should incorporate discovery method which may take place by the introduction of tasks associated by supporting materials such as pictures, timeline, real objects, cited situations, a film clip depending on teachers’ discretion. At the end of this stage, the students will be aware of the target language, its initial rules and structures, which they themselves have inferred.

Secondly, practice stage is done after the students have discovered the language’s features. Based from a teacher -prepared activities, they apply the rules and structures. Presuming that our lessons are on singular and plural nouns, we can review these to highlight what they have learned in the presentation by having them cite nouns that they see in the second picture and have them list all the words in two columns according to names of things and persons. The students may be tasked to identify each word which is singular and plural from the two original columns that they have constructed enabling them to produce two additional columns: singular and plural nouns for people, singular and plural nouns for places, as facilitated. Together, in each column, the class transforms the words into singular or plural forms. Depending upon the availability of time, the teacher can further introduce some exceptions to the general rules on the different pluralization of nouns. Probably, the teacher provides an activity that demonstrates some nouns whose plural forms aren’t ending in ‘-s’ or ‘-es.’ For instance: child- children, cactus-cacti, radius-radii, memorandum-memoranda, woman-women, man-men, mouse-mice, goose-geese. Additionally, the teacher may feature some uncountable nouns such as: milk, sugar, cheese, salt, tea, coffee, bread and many other examples.

Production is a stage where students’ prior grammar knowledge along with acquired knowledge from the two stages are incorporated under given tasks to display an over-all learning outcome. It is recommended that the production activities should relate to reality for communicative purposes. Assuming that the target language is the present continuous with future meanings, the teacher may ask the students on what they are going to do this afternoon to be answered in complete sentences. The expected responses will be an application of the language’s earlier introduced formula, which is present be-verb + a verb in the -ing form + future time. At this point, the students are expected to produce an example by being specific about be- verbs. It is in this situation that the students are made to opt between ‘is,’ ‘are,’ and ‘am’ although generally, they were using ‘is’ or ‘are’ in the practice stage. Additionally, since the question is about them individually, they have to decide which subject they are going to employ. To add, they will also have to decide which part of speech they are going to use. And since, ‘I’ have been decided, they are aware that pronoun is going to be used specifically the subject pronouns, instead of picking up a subject from nouns. In conjunction to these stimulating activity, students’ cognitive ability continuous to work importantly. Therefore, the expected outputs will be sentences that are introduced by “I am” As an example, “I am meeting my friend this afternoon,” “I am traveling to Islamabad tonight.” Similar to other language focuses, the students are encouraged to manipulate the language expressions for whatever purpose they may truly serve through the integration of the target language’s forms and rules reinforced by their prior knowledge which maybe added with new related language to be processed when follow-up activities such as homework and other forms of enrichment exercises are provided.

B. PPP application in an intertwined single lesson

The most practical way to understand PPP is to perceive it in its three intertwined stages through an explicit lesson that showcases a single language focus along with its corresponding activities to be demonstrated in ascending manner. Below is an example of its application.

PPP will be elucidated through an interactive dialogue between a teacher and students with responses as upshots from the given tasks followed by commentaries that feature some practical learning processes’ significance which conceivably recommend some supportive measures in attempting to achieve an operative employment of this method.

The lesson

The target language is “used to” and the teacher is mindful that the class has already learned some grammatical points such as subject pronouns, subject-verb agreement and past simple verb forms in support to the new lesson which means that in an institutional language course outline, the lessons are sequenced appropriately according to the learning needs of students.

Objectives:

At the end of a 50-minute session, the students are expected to:

1. determine the use of the expression “used to”,

2. use ‘used to’ to transform sentences which are expressed in the simple past,

3. employ ‘used to’ in sharing their previous out-of-school activities,

4. write a paragraph regarding their experiences using the expression, and

5. enhance students” grammatical ability and creativity through expressing ideas in the past differently.

Commentary

Objectives provide very substantial roles in every lesson. Though we cannot cover all the intended outcomes in one lesson, the objectives should cater to a specific type of lesson by involving the three domains of objectives- cognitive, psychomotor and affective. Specifically, “determine,” ‘use,’ ’employ’ are indicators of cognitive objectives. ‘Write’ represents psychomotor and cognitive while ‘enhance’ signify affective. All these stated objectives are expected to be attained in applying the approach involving, “used to” in a class’ featured series of activities. These specific objectives become students’ performance indicators at the end of the teaching process.

Stage 1: Presentation

Teacher: Every one of you must have enjoyed your childhood similar to Munawar’s experiences when he was a schoolboy in Lahore. Listen, to some of his unforgettable activities that he used to do at the age of ten in Pakistan.

students’ answers:

climbed apple trees

went hunting with his father

played cricket with friends

read storybooks at the library

picked fruits during harvest time

helped his parents in the farm

prayed together with his father at the mosque

Teacher: All your answers are displayed on the board. Do you observe something at the end of every response?

Student: There is no punctuation. I mean, there’s no full stop.

Teacher: Yes, what else do you see? See all the beginning words of these answers.

Student: They are not capitalized.

Teacher: Right. Why aren’t they capitalized and punctuated?

Student: We only capitalize and punctuate them when they are sentences.

Teacher: Am I made to understand that these responses are not sentences?

Student: Yes.

Commentary

Even if the lessons are not on punctuation and capitalization, these significant points that popped up have to be processed. It is also in this setting when students are given the chance to determine the differences between a phrase and a sentence. These add to their basic knowledge which may guide them in language acquisition skills. It is a teacher’s responsibility to integrate these important points since these are natural teaching occurrences that surfaced currently in the middle of a teaching process. The teacher should never presume that the class knew about these relevant points for there could be more students waiting to absorb the right rudiments through a teacher’s elaboration. One student’s doubt which was never raised for some reasons could answer many students’ hesitations under these circumstances.

Teacher: Let’s get back again to what you have listened to about Munawar’s childhood activities. What did he do? Let’s change Munawar into another form. What should we use to represent Munawar? Go back to the subject pronouns and choose appropriately the word that we are going to use as a subject.

Student: “He” should be used.

Teacher: That’s right. Why do you think it is “he?”

Students: Munawar is singular and he’s a male.

Teacher: Exactly. This time, will I capitalize and punctuate using a full stop? Why should I capitalize and punctuate?

Students: Yes. We have made sentences. For this reason, we need to capitalize the beginning words and place a full stop at the end of every statement.

students’ answers.

He climbed apple trees.

He went hunting with his father

He played cricket with friends.

He watched TV with his family before going to sleep.

He picked fruits during harvest time.

He helped his parents in the farm.

He prayed together with his father at the mosque.

Teacher: What do you notice in each verb from the sentences?

Students: They are all written in the past form?

Teacher: What made you say so?

Student: The verbs end in- ed.

Teacher Why should we place -ed at the end of every verb?

Students: They happened when he was a child. These action words were done in the past.

Teacher: Also, you will notice that one past simple verb is of different form.

What is this word? Recall your previous lesson about the types of verbs.

Students: It’s an irregular verb.

Teacher: Can we accept this verb?

Student: Yes.

Teacher: Why?

Student: It also expresses past simple.

Teacher: Can you give more examples of these irregular verbs?

students’ answers on irregular verbs

tell -told

break-broke

make-made

feel -felt

see-saw

become -became

say -said

come- came

tear- tore

fly-flew

flee-fled

write-wrote

Teacher: Okay. Can we possibly write these sentences in another way?

What about inserting ‘used to’ before the verb in every sentence that we have made?

Students: Yes, we can.

Teacher: You are correct. Write your new sentence beside each sentence. Add ‘used to’ before the verbs but the main verbs should be changed into the present simple.

Students’ answers

He climbed apple trees. He used to climb apple trees

He went hunting with his father. He used to go hunting with his father.

He played cricket with friends. He used to play cricket with friends.

He watched TV with his family before going to sleep. He used to watch TV with his family before going to sleep.

He picked fruits during harvest time. He used to pick fruits during harvest time.

He helped his parents in the farm. He used to help his parents in the farm.

He prayed together with his father at the mosque. He used to pray together with his father at the mosque.

Teacher: Looking at your second group of answers, do you see how each sentence in every number differ from the first group according to verb forms?

Students: Yes, the first group made has past simple while the other was changed into present simple form.

Teacher: What made the changes of the past simple verbs in your second sentences?

Students: “Used to” made the changes in the verbs into present simple.

Teacher: We all know that the verbs in the first group of sentences are in the past form, and this means all of them were done in the past. When we made another group of sentences, we added ‘used to’ but we have written all the verbs into simple present form. Have we done these changes correctly?

Students: Yes, we have. When we placed ‘used to’, we are similarly rewriting the ideas in the past form in another way.

Teacher: Now, are they the same in terms of tense? Do the pairs have the same meanings?

Students: Yes, they do.

Teacher: Aside from using the simple past form to express completed actions in the past, what else can we use?

Students: We can write “used to + the base form of the verb.”

Teacher: Yes, it is accurate to use ‘used to + the base form of the verb’ to express actions that happened in the past.

Commentary:

The salient points to be observed in here are the utilization of previous knowledge of the language, close linkage of objectives to target language, interconnections of objectives in all activities with the inclusion of motivation. The presentation should be inductive for the students to infer instead of utilizing the deductive method. In using the inductive method, students will have the opportunity to figure out what language is to be learned and how do their structures to suit a specific rule or a general rule which they will soon discover. Also, application of prior language could be relevant as demonstrated by the substitution of subjects. Prior knowledge utilization is a form of refreshing them regarding the importance of previously learned languages. In here, they were given the opportunity to identify the order of the expressions in language constructions. To add, this stage directed learners to form a formula of their own which will guide them to perform series of exercises by stages.

There are some exceptions to the formation of past tense for irregular verbs. If it comes out, it is best to process its salient points in preparation for the practice and production. This should be reinforced by adding additional activities in the presentation.

Stage 2: Practice

Teacher: Let’s have more exercises to further understand the lesson. Here is a list of what a film director did when he filmed a movie in Quetta. Write them in complete sentences using the past simple form and changed each by adding ‘Use to.’

booked his crew in a hotel

talked to the mayor of the town

hired some extra cameramen

gathered other citizens to act as bit players

organized the actors schedules

gave time for performers to read their scripts

threw a party before going back home

Students’ answers

He booked his crew in a hotel. He used to book his crew in a hotel

He talked to the mayor of the town. He used to talk to the mayor of the town.

He hired some extra cameramen. He used to hire some extra cameramen.

He gathered other citizens to act as bit players. He used to gather other citizens to act as bit players.

He organized the actors’ schedules. He used to organize the actors’ schedules.

He gave time for performers to read their scripts. He used to give time for performers to read their scripts.

He threw a party before going back home. He used to throw a party before going back home.

Commentary

It is pertinent that the teacher stimulates the thinking of the students after the transformed examples as reinforcement of the presentation stage. Repetition is a form of reinforcement and a form of meaningful exercise since the students’ are made to think while they perform. After the activities, elaboration of the rudiments of this language focus is of high importance.

When “used to” is used, the original verb form from as simple past has to be in a simple present. It is advisable to have the students discover the changes. Their inference will be a great aid in retaining knowledge. The teacher’s role is only to trigger their ability to infer regarding the verb structure. At this juncture, a teacher is discouraged to feed thoughts directly to the students.

In real communication practices, these two expressions: past simple and ‘used to’ may be mixed up. It is best to emphasize that it is possible to occur. Every student should be aware that what they learned in the classroom are models and that they can be modified in a natural communication whether they are used orally or in written manner.

Stage 3: Production

Teacher: What about you, can you still recall your past activities years ago? Together with your seatmate, list what both of you used to do. Write them in a simple past verb and be able to transform these sentences using ‘used to.’ You will have three types of lists. Both students will deliver a talk about the tasks that they have completed. Help each other in forming the lists.

possible students’ list one (1) no subject with simple past

watched our favorite TV show every day

played football in the field

visited my friends twice

had picnics at the family park

went to Dammam every week

toured Bahrain once a month

travelled to Riyadh City with our cousins.

possible students’ list two (2) pluralized subject with simple past

We watched our favorite TV show every day.

We played football in the field.

We visited my friends twice.

We had picnics at the family park.

We went to Dammam every week.

We toured Bahrain once a month.

We travelled to Riyadh City with our cousins.

possible students’ list three (3) – pluralized subject with expression ‘used to’ replacing simple past.

We used to watch our favorite TV show every day.

We used to play football in the field.

We used to visit my friends twice.

We used to have picnics at the family park.

We used to go to Dammam every week.

We used to tour Bahrain once a month.

We used to travel to Riyadh City with our cousins

Teacher: Get back to list number one and share your ideas.

Students: List number one is introduced by simple verbs.

Teacher: Yes, that’s right. What have you noticed in list number two?

Students: There is a specified subject in each sentence.

Teacher: Correct. The phrases were completed as sentences. Are list number three and number two the same when it comes to tenses?

Students: Yes.

Teacher: Now, as a homework, make a timeline of five exciting things that you did last summer by using dates and past simple verbs or ‘used to’. Write them in a paragraph form by following the parts of a paragraph that we have practiced a week ago.

Commentary

Students were able to form the simple pasts independently, decided the subject to be used and substituted the simple pasts into ‘used to’ by enumerating experienced actions. These imply that students learning in the cognitive way is manifested in the production. Their ability to manipulate the language’s structures and rules through the tasks denote their expanding level of order thinking skills stemming from the presentation and practice stage. It is therefore encouraged that teachers can make the production stage operational by using series of interlinked activities in contexts even if this particular stage is similar to how they intertwined their lessons from the two previous stages. Provision of these activities allows them more opportunities to manipulate currently learned language targets and to apply formerly learned language contents.

Homework is a kind of production resulting to outputs that reinforce or enrich what they have learned. It is also recommended that language a newly learned focus must be integrated with the introduction of a new focus such as giving dates as time expressions. Date can indicate past actions and these are additional language expressions which they can work on in natural communication setting. Moreover, encouraging production’s favorable effects may proliferate among learners when they apply languages that are anchored to their real-life experiences.

There are no easy approaches to use in language teaching even if they seem to be. Teachers have to define their learners and apply some adjustments. Approaches are not done mechanically but rather flexibly based from students’ level and from the readiness of resources. Lessons’ objectives should be realized in the teaching process. Teaching experiences reveal that within a method, a strategy arises. It is also relevant to do some reflections regrading objectives that lead to learning directions. Do your activities relate with the objectives? Are they introduced by the input material? Are they confined in your desired setting? Are these manifested under teacher and students’ roles? Do they connect to the target language? Are they implied in the outputs? If they do, then PPP could be a viable method in your classrooms.

The term, or title, “wizard” has two definitions when the word is used as a noun, and one definition when wizard is used as an adjective. Interestingly, each of the three definitions complements the other two.

A Wizard (the noun) is a person (or non-person) who possesses and wields magical (unclear or unknown) power for good, for evil, or for his or her own purpose. A computer wizard (noun), is a software aid to the user’s decision process. In this instance, the computer user is unsure about something, and he or she consults the wizard for help. British conversation permits wizard to be used as an adjective to describe something to be splendid or marvelous.

Web search “The Wizard of the Saddle,” to learn about an American historical figure who will compel you to pick a side. For you, he will either be admired, hated, seen as an agent of evil or as a genius, splendid in his dedication, or misguided during the most compelling time of his life. Probably, all of you will agree that he fits the definition of a wizard.

Web search Matthew 12:1-8. I have never heard Jesus referred to as a wizard, and I do not suggest such a thing. To the Jewish priests who were appointed by the Judaean King Herod (who walked a fine line of survival as the King of Roman-conquered Jewish Judaea), Jesus was an unknown, but rapidly rising religious power who might become a political power as well. To him, Jesus seemed to be another Rabbi who journeyed about Judaea to encounter and teach the Jewish common people about God. However, Jesus did not seem to teach in a way that supported the authority of the priests who were appointed by King Herod, plus Jesus had been seen to perform miracles (magic?). For those who had power, was Jesus and his seemingly magical power a good thing, evil, or was Jesus empowering himself?

The priests, like Herod, also walked a fine line of survival, with some of them conducting their responsibility in line with what Herod wanted, and others quietly and carefully rebelling against Herod because he cooperated with Roman authority and rule. For them, Jesus was a welcome distraction, someone upon whom to foist blame in order to get the spotlight off of themselves. The priests used members of Jewish religious sects as spies to attempt to publicly trap Jesus and label him as a violator of Jewish religious law, subject to prosecution. You read a passage about members of the sect called the Pharisees, who sprang such a trap. Yet, they were not prepared to hear Jesus lecture them on Biblical history, to belittle them for their lack of understanding about God’s point of view. The Pharisees must have walked away from their encounter with Jesus blistering mad at how he had publicly humiliated them.

Continue reading, Matthew 12:9-14. You decide. Was Jesus a magical Rabbi (a wizard) who twisted Jewish law for his own purpose? Did Jesus find himself trapped within a complicated web of intrigue that involved controlling Romans, a shrewd Jewish King who played both sides of power, self-serving priests, and uncompromising Jewish sects who saw everything as right or wrong? Consider this: The Biblical record (known as The Old Testament) features prophets who foretold of a coming savior sent by God. Find those prophets in the Christian Bible; read their prophesy, then read the words of Jesus, that are recorded by several of his disciples. Matthew was one of those disciples who wrote down Jesus’ words, his actions, and context.

Consider Jesus to be the fulfillment of the foretold prophesy. Not a wizard, not magic, not in it for himself, Jesus was and is the tipping point (for all of mankind), the Son of God in the flesh, sent by God to become a sacrifice, the pinnacle of God’s handiwork that spans from Alpha (the beginning) to Omega (the end) of mankind. Those of us who figure this out and truly believe that Jesus is the Christ will endure after Omega.

What is an adjective?

An adjective “modifies” a noun. That means it tells us something about the noun. Adjectives are used to describe nouns.

An adjective describes how something “is”. For this reason, we often use the verb “to be” when using adjectives. He is a good doctor. They are happy.

They almost always go before the noun in English. beautiful trees,fat man, big truck. Not: an apple red

The adjective is always invariable (does not change). Unlike how they behave in other languages, adjectives in English do not change with singular or plural, masculine, feminine, or neuter nouns.

• Adjectives don’t have a singular and plural form OR a masculine, feminine and neuter form. Big rooster, big chicken, small cow, small bull, big chickens, big roosters, a red car, ten red cars, one red flower, ten red flowers

• Adjectives are always the same! Never add a final “s” to an adjective. It is red apples,

not reds apples!

Possessive Adjective

Many English earners have trouble with the possessive adjectives:my, your, his, her, its, our, and their. They are called possessive because they refer to possession; they tell us to whom something belongs, or who is the owner of something.

Sara asked if you have you seen her brother?

The pronoun “her” replaces a word like “Sarah’s”.

Many learners make the mistake of writing, Sara asked if you have seen his brother. The correct form is, Sara asked if you have seen her brother.

Similarly, it is wrong to write “The boy saw her sister”. Many make this mistake because they know that the word sister is feminine and they want to make the possessive adjective agree with the noun sister. They probably do this because in their language the adjective always has to agree in gender with the noun. But in English the adjective does not change.

The correct form is “The boy saw his sister”. We will see that in English the possessive adjective has the gender (masculine or feminine) according to the person who is the possessor or owner of the thing under discussion. In our example, it is a boy who has the relation to the sister, so it is HIS sister not her sister. although of course the sister is feminine. If you were writing about a girl, it would be her brother.

It doesn’t matter if John’s cousin is a boy or a girl, you will always write his cousin. Joe is his cousin and Martha is his cousin. It is the same with Mary’s cousins; they are her cousins. Alphonse is her cousin just as Mathilde is her cousin.

The possessive adjective his and her only refer to human beings, not for other beings such as a dog, a house, etc. There is a special possessive adjective for this beings:its. Learn right now that this pronoun is spelled its NOTit’s.

In English possessive adjectives can also refer to animals and things.

For example, the dog has its tail, and the house has its patio.

POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES WITH NOUNS THAT “BELONG” TO ONE PERSON OR THING

Let’s look at the possessive adjective with different types of nouns.

• People: (as explained above)
• Joe is his cousin, Martha is his cousin.
• Ideas and Natural Phenomena:
• The sea sends its storms. Nature shows its beauty.
• Animals:
• The chicken hides its eggs. The cat cleansits fur.
• Lifeless things:

Every house has its patio.

The horse eats its food. It is usually wrong to write: “The horse eats his food”, unless you want to clarify that it is a stallion (male) and not a mare (female) you are writing about. However, nowadays in the United States, most people live in cities and could not distinguish he gender of the animals they talk about. So you usually would not make a difference in your writing.

POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES WITH NOUNS THAT “BELONG” TO MORE THAN ONE “OWNER”

It is only with singular nouns that the possessive adjective changes according to the gender of the possessor or owner, NOT of the thing possessed. The possessor can be masculine, feminine, or neuter.

Remember that we just saw that you should write The boy saw his sister. and The girl loves her brother.

However, there is no change according to the gender of the possessed when they are plural. The possessive adjective for more than one thing is alwaystheir.

• People:

The children’s parents are their parents.

The women have their hats.

The men have their shoes.

• Animals:

The bulls have their tails and the cows have their tails.

Birds and airplanes havetheir wings.

All the dogs have their masters.

• Ideas and Natural Phenomena:

The glory of the concepts Liberté, Egalité y Fraternité resides in their appeal to the human heart.

Sunsets have their special beauty.

All the gardens have their flowers.

…………………………………………………………………

The following chart may help you plan your writing:

The possessive adjective

Man He loves his father. He loves his mother.

More than one man They love their father. They love their mother.

Woman She loves her father. She loves her mother.

More than one woman They love their father. They love their mother.

You You love your father You love your mother.

I I love my father. I love my mother.

We We love our uncles We love our aunts.

Animal The dog loves its master, Juan. The dog loves its mistress, María.

More than one animal The dogs love their masters and their mistresses

Here are a few more sample uses of the possessive adjective:

I’ll get my books.

Is that your car over there?

That is his teacher, Mrs. Mary. Jones.

They bought their children a lot of presents.

I want to go to her store.

Its color is red.

Can we bring our children?

You are welcome to invite your husbands.

Possessive Adjective Exercise.

Write the correct form in the space provided.

Answers at end of article

1. Carmen said, “This is ____ dog with ____ short tail”.

2. We put on ____ raincoats.

3. I get a lift to school. ____ father drops me off on ____ way to work

4. The students use ______ own tools in the shop class.

5. What a beautiful horse! _____ eyes are so bright.

6. Henry’s mother said that she had better things to do with _____ precious time.

7. I’ll buy _____ tickets if you buy _____.

8. I’ll help you find _____ things? Is that _____ hat over there?

9. Mother, this is ____ new teacher, and Susan also wants to introduce ____ of the artilcnew teacher.

10. José and Pierre have a new store. _______ business is very successful.

11. Mary rides _____ bicycle to school in good weather.

12. Can we bring _____ children?

13. All members are welcome to invite ____ husbands.

14. Fish get oxygen through ______ gills.

15. Henry forgot ____ book at home. He called ____ mother and asked her to bring it to him.

The Demonstrative Adjective

The demonstrative adjectives (this, that, these, those) “modify” the noun in a sentence at the same time that they indicate the nearness or distance of the noun in reference to the point of view of the person who is talking or writing.

They are adjectives because they tell us something more about a noun. They are demonstrative because they indicate or point out something. For example.

I like this cake here. I don’t like that cake over there.

The word “this” points out something or somebody that is nearby. For example, This shirt that I am wearing is too big.

The word “that” indicates something that is farther away. For example, That shirt hanging in the closet is too small.

It is the same with the word “these” to point out several things that are close, and “those” for other things are not so close. For example, These drawings you are looking at are his favorites. Those on the wall did not turn out so well.

Demonstrative Adjectives

make no change for Male or Female nouns

Singular……..Plural

NEAR This man These men

This woman These women

FAR That girl Those boys

That boy Those girls

Here’s some good news for in your writing!

In English the same word is used for the Demonstrative Adjective and the Demonstrative Pronoun (see the Demonstrative Pronoun article of this series ).

Therefore the word, this (singular) indicates closeness. It could be an adjective: This boy here is my son. or it could be a pronoun: I like this.

The word, that(singular) indicates distance. It can be an adjective: That boy over there is my nephew. or a pronoun: I don’t like that..

The word, these (plural) indicates closeness. It could be an adjective: These pies here are my favorites. or a pronoun: I like these..

The word, those (plural) indicates distance. It could be an adjective: Those cakes over there are made of chocolate. or a pronoun: I prefer those..

Remember that the demonstrative adjectives and pronouns only change to indicate whether it is a question of one thing or person or of more than one. They do not change for the gender of the person pointed out.

Demonstrative Adjective Exercise

Insert the proper demonstrative adjective. Choose among that, these, this, those.

Answers at end of article

I can’t finish _______ pie. Would you like some?

Hello, _______ is Raúl speaking. Hello. How are you, Raúl? _____ is Ahmed.

Hey, Jill, is _______ your ring? I’ve just found it on the floor.

Look at _______ woman over there. She’s a Spanish teacher

Jane painted _______ oil painting and also ________ watercolor.

Look at _______ paintings over there. What fabulous colors!

Don’t take _______ mug from the shelf, it’s broken. Take _____ one.

Listen! _______ awful dog next door is barking again.

His uncle, who lived in the old country, told him that in _______ days they didn’t have enough food.

_______ mountains in the distance are the Alps.

Mmm. I love _______ pancakes. They’re home-made, aren’t they?

_______ is my house; _______ one is my sister’s.

Jones and Pérez are very rich. _______ is their expensive car over there. I am very poor. _____ is my Civic.

_______ are my friends in this room; _________ people over there are from Boston.

_______ are beautiful flowers in the next field.

_______ pair of shoes is similar to mine.

______ mannequins over there look real.

_____ shoes fit my feet well.

There are problems with ______ research paper.

______ paintings in that room are beautiful.

______ haunted house were scary.

______ comedians kept us laughing all night.

You must have been joking about_____ new idea of yours.

_____ classrooms are full of tiny desks.

Participial Adjectives: ending with the letters ed / ing

A participial adjective modifies a noun and may indicate:

The source or cause of feeling or emotion

• The state of mind of the person who receives the feeling or emotion

The PRESENT PARTICIPIAL ADJECTIVE ends with the letters ING

PAST PARTICIPIAL ADJECTIVE most often ends with the letters ED

The Present Participial Adjectivefunctions as an adjective and is formed from an active verb.

If I say that a book is interesting. I am saying that it has the capacity or ability to interest someone. If I say that another book is boring, I am saying that it is the kind of book that might bore readers.

You will see other words ending with “ing”. You will see the common verb form that ends in “ing”. For example “I am reading” indicates something that is going on at the moment. It is not the participial adjective. It is the present progressive tense because it indicates that something is in progress in the present.

Well, the present participial adjective is not very different. In a sense, the participial adjective is very close to the present progressive tense. When I say that the book is interesting (participial adjective), it could be understood that the book is interesting me. (present progressive of the verb) at the time that makea the statement.

Similarly the past participial adjective is similar to the past participal of the verb. Continue examining the similiarties.

The Past Participial Adjectiveserves as an adjective and is formed from the passive form of the verb, which is formed with the past participle of the verb.. (See the article on the verb in this series.)

You have to know the difference among the other words ending with “ed”.. For example: I closed the door. indicates something that is happened in the past. It is not the participial adjective. It is the simple past tense ending in “ed”. The passive form of the verb may use the same word. For example. The store was closed by the police. An example of the past participial adjective is: He has a closed mind.

More Examples:

Idi Amin governed his nation with corruption and cruelty. (simple past)

In theory, a democracy is governed by the people. (passive verb)

Therefore the rights of the governed must be protected. (past participial adjective)

The journalist shocked the country with her news story. (simple past)

The electrician was shocked by the current in an uncovered wired. (passive verb)

The electrician was shocked when he saw his daughter’s miniskirt. (past participial adjective)

Remember that a participial adjective modifies a noun indicating either:

• the source or cause of the feeling, emotion,
• or the state of mind of the person who receives the feeling or emotion.

The difference between the present participial adjective (the “ing” form) and the past participial adjective (the “ed” or “d” form) often is the following. The “ing” form modifies a noun and indicates the source or cause of the feeling or emotion, while the “ed” form modifies a noun and tells us the result of the emotion.

The misuse of the present and past participles is common among those who are learning English. Many of my students say “Carmen is interesting in learning English. Of course this is wrong. Carmen is not the cause of the interest but rather is the receiver of the interest. The language is the cause. English is interesting. Carmen is the recipient and should say, “I am interested in learning English.”

Here are a few more examples of Participial Adjectives that deal with feelings:

CAUSE OF THE FEELING RECEIVER OF THE FEELING

embarrassing embarrassed

My brother’s mistake was embarrassing. I was very embarrassed.

frustrating frustrated

The puzzle was frustrating. It left me very frustrated.

amusing amused

It was amusing to see my mother-in law fall on her behind. She was not amused.

tiring tired

Rowing the boat was very tiring. At the end of the day, I was very tired.

stunning stunned

She wore a stunning dress. I was stunned by the reaction of the press.

humiliating humiliated

It is humiliating to criticized in public. I was humiliated when my boss corrected me.

relaxing relaxed

Lying on a beach is very relaxing. After a few hours, I feel very relaxed.

By now you should have the idea; do the remain in pairs by yourself.

exciting excited

annoying annoyed

offending offended

astonishing astonished

intriguing intrigued

overwhelming overwhelmed

encouraging encouraged

satisfied shocked

surprising surprised

frightening frightened

interesting interested

Participial Adjective Exercise

Fill in the blanks with the correct forms.

Answers at end of article

1. Grammar rules frustrate me. They’re not logical. They are so __________.

2. They frustrate me but they don’t bore me. I am never __________ when I study grammar.

3. Normally a language class stimulates me. Of course, it depends on the teacher. With some teachers I don’t feel __________.

4. Their classes bore me. And I’m not the only one. Many students find these classes very __________.

5. If teachers want to interest the students, they have to show that they are __________ in the material.

6. How can teachers interest students? One way is to have __________ discussions.

7. Certain subjects interest almost everybody. For example, most students are __________ in the subject of crime and morality.

8. It’s important to speak in a language class, but it frightens many students. They are too __________ to speak in front of so many people.

9. And me? Well, certain things frighten me, but not giving speech. I am never __________ when I speak in class.

10. Exams, however, really frighten me. Exams are the only __________ thing in a language course.

11. Exams tire me, both physically and emotionally. After a two-hour exam I am really __________.

12. All the mental effort exhausts the student. Ask anybody. They all agree. Exams are __________.

13. But if I get a good grade, now that excites me. And if I get more than ninety percent, I am really __________.

14. In conclusion, I must confess that languages fascinate me. I will always want to learn a new and __________ language.

ANSWERS

Possessive Adjective Exercise: Answers

1. Carmen said, “This is my dog with its short tail”.

2. We put on our raincoats.

3. I get a lift to school. my father drops me off on his way to work.

4. The students use their own tools in the shop class.

5. What a beautiful horse! its eyes are so bright.

but… What a beautiful filly! Her eyes are so bright.

6. Henry’s mother said that she had better things to do with her precious time.

7. I’ll buy your tickets if you buy mine.

8. I’ll help you find your things? Is that your hat over there?

9. Mother, this is my new teacher, and Susan also wants to introduce her new teacher.

10. José and Pierre have a new store. Their business is very successful.

11. Mary rides her bicycle to school in good weather.

12. Can we bring our children?

13. All members are welcome to invite their husbands.

14. Fish get oxygen through their gills.

15. Henry forgot his book at home. He called his mother and asked her to bring it to him.

Demonstrative Adjective Exercise: Answers

• I can’t finish this pie. Would you like some?
• Hello, this is Raúl speaking. Hello. How are you, Raúl? This is Ahmed.
• Hey, Jill, is this your ring? I’ve just found it on the floor.
• Look at that woman over there. She’s a Spanish teacher
• Jane painted that oil painting on the wall and also take a look at this watercolor.
• Look at that painting over there. What fabulous colors!
• Don’t take that mug from the shelf, it’s broken. Take this one.
• Listen! that awful dog next door is barking again.
• His uncle, who fought in World War II, told him that in those days they didn’t have enough food.
• Those mountains in the distance are the Alps.
• Mmm. I love these pancakes. They’re home-made, aren’t they?
• This is my house; that one is my sister’s.
• Jones and Perez are rich. That is their BMW over there. I am poor. this is my Civic.
• These are my friends in this room; those_ people over there are from Boston.
• Those are beautiful flowers in the next field.
• That pair of shoes is similar to mine.
• Those mannequins over there look real.
• These shoes fit my feet well.
• There are problems with this research paper.
• Those paintings in that room are beautiful. I like them more than these.
• Those haunted houses were scary.
• Those comedians kept us laughing all night.
• You must have been joking about that new idea of yours.

24. These classrooms are full of tiny desks.

Participial Adjective Exercise: Answers

1. Grammar rules frustrate me. They’re not logical. They are so frustrating
2. They frustrate me but they don’t bore me. I am never bored when I study grammar.
3. Normally a language class stimulates me. Of course, it depends on the teacher. With some teachers I don’t feel stimulated.
4. Their classes bore me. And I’m not the only one. Many students find these classes very boring.
5. If teachers want to interest the students, they have to show that they are interested in the material.
6. How can teachers interest students? One way is to have interesting discussions.
7. Certain subjects interest almost everybody. For example, most students are interested in the subject of morality
8. It’s important to speak in a language class, but it frightens many students. They are too frightened to speak in front of so many people.
9. And me? Well, certain things frighten me, but not giving speech. I am never frightened when I speak in class.
10. Exams, however, really frighten me. Exams are the only frightening thing in a language course.
11. Exams tire me, both physically and emotionally. After a two-hour exam I am really tired.
12. All the mental effort exhausts the student. Ask anybody. They all agree. Exams are tiring.
13. But if I get a good grade now that excites me. And if I get more than ninety percent, I am really excited!
14. In conclusion, I must confess that languages fascinate me. I will always want to learn a new and fascinating language.
15. ………………………………………..

There are many rules for keeping the agreement between the subject and verb. Only the most important (which the reader can easily follow) with examples are given below:

1) If two different nouns are connected by ‘and’ then the verb should be plural. This is made clear by some examples below:

a) Smith and Micheal are great friends. Here the verb ‘is’ should not be used.

b) Health and wealth are both necessary.

c) Tom and Pitt were the sons of uncle Austin.

2) If two nouns are joined by ‘and’ as above but if they refer to one and the same person then the verb should be singular and not plural.

a) The poet and the philosopher is dead, and not ‘are dead’.

b) The Collector and Magistrate is here, and not ‘are here’.

3) A singular noun, connected to another noun by with, together with, as well as, require a singular verb as,

a) The king with all his men, was killed, and not ‘were killed’.

b) Brad as well as Joseph likes tea, and not ‘like tea’.

4) Two or more singular nouns, separated by or, either or, neither nor take singular verb.

a) John or Jack is in the right.

b) Neither praise nor blame affects him.

5) When a collective noun indicates the opinion of each of its individuals, the verb is in plural and not in singular.

a) The jury were divided in their opinions.

b) The committee are divided on this point.

c) A number of candidates were caught copying.

When you start your Hindi course, you will undoubtedly learn a lot about the language. This article will give you a little background on the Hindi language. It may help you to know these facts before you start your Hindi course.

Hindi evolved from the Prakrit language. Because it is spoken in a place where there have been many travelers, explorers and colonizers, Hindi has been influenced by several other languages.

Hindi is spoken most in northern India, in the states of Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar, Himchai Pradesh, and Jharkhand. It is the secondary language of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Other languages spoken there include Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali, and Marathi.

Hindi is written in the Devanagari alphabet, the alphabet in which sacred Sanskrit texts were written in. In fact the prefix “deva-” in the word “Devanagari” means sacred or divine. Marathi and Nepali are also written in the same alphabet.

Hindi is a poetic and expressive language. Although it may seem very unfamiliar to American eyes and ears, a diligent student can learn it. Grammar is not complicated. The language is written phonetically, so once you learn the alphabet, you won’t have trouble sounding out unfamiliar words or spelling words that you hear.

Hindi nouns have gender, but pronouns do not. So, in Hindi, male humans and animals are described by a noun using the masculine gender. Female humans and animals are described by a noun using the feminine gender. And inanimate objects are described by nouns that have either the feminine or the masculine gender, according to the usage that the language has assigned it.

On the other hand, pronouns do not have gender. Now, in English, the third person singular is “he,” “she” or “it.” So a pronoun will indicate the gender of a human or animal. But in Hindi, there is no version of the third person pronoun that would indicate gender. Yet the verb does indicate gender.

In Hindi, the verb is usually at the end, and a common sentence structure is subject – object -verb. Hindi is a weakly inflected language, and the role of a noun in the sentence can be indicated by a post position — that is, a word that may play the role of a preposition except that it follows, rather than precedes, a noun.

There are no articles, whether definite or indefinite. Adjectives usually precede the noun.

Verbs have aspect as well as tense. Tense indicates whether an action is past, present or future. Aspect indicates whether an action is habitual, progressive or perfective.

So that’s a little bit about Hindi. It’s just a short introduction. You will undoubtedly encounter more as you progress in your Hindi course.

PLAIN FORM + KAMOSHIRENAI – to probably verb

In Japanese, to say that something will most likely happen in the future or to say that something has probably already occurred, we use the word ~kamoshirenai. Both Japanese nouns and Japanese verbs in plain form (i.e. Base III) can be used to which we can attach one of three variable endings which vary in politeness.

When used after nouns, or verbs in plain form, KAMOSHIREMASEN means: maybe noun, maybe verb, might have been noun, might have verb’ed, or probably noun, or probably verb etc. Although by definition, KAMO, by itself, is the word for duck, the origin or roots of the word KAMOSHIREMASEN come mainly from the verb to know, or, SHIRU. In this case, SHIRENAI means unable to know. The KA and the MO pose even more uncertainty when put together because KA is the question mark (?) particle, and MO is the also particle.

KAMO without SHIRENAI or SHIREMASEN is less polite but still understood. To use KAMO by itself is permissible when speaking with close friends or acquaintances. However, since saying just KAMO is less polite, beginners should avoid saying it. Its best to always use the most polite form KAMOSHIREMASEN, but it’s OK to say KAMOSHIRENAI when you are in company of close friends etc.

If you were to listen to 10 minutes of any random Japanese conversation, you would most likely or probably (pun intended) hear the word KAMOSHIRENAI within that time. KAMOSHIRENAI is always used in Japanese conversation. Verbs in base III are equivalent to what is known as plain form, of the verb, sometimes designated in JPPGG© Ghetto Grammar as P.F.

Verb(Base III) + KAMOSHIRENAI – most common, but less polite

Verb(Base III) + KAMOSHIREMASEN – more polite

Verb(Base III) + KAMO – least polite and funny to the ear

1. TORARETA KAMOSHIREMASEN

It might have been stolen

2. SOTSUGYO^ SHISO?

SURU KAMOSHIRENAI

Are you going to graduate?

It’s possible! (Maybe!)

3. ARE WA KAMO KAMO

It’s a duck, probably.-or-

It’s most likely a duck.-or-

It’s probably a duck.-etc.

4. OISHII KAMO NE!

Its probably tastes pretty good! (Doesn’t it?)

(Tasty duck hunh~)

As always, Ganbatte Ne! Do your Best!

Makurasuki Sensei.

Faith can be a misused word, both inside and outside the church. Inside, when asking to which church a person belongs, we often hear, “Of what faith are you?” when intended is: “Of what church or denomination are you?” Outside we hear, “I have no faith in government – in public education – in marriage.” when intended is: “I have no confidence in government, etc.” Misuse outside the church is easily remedied by inserting the correct word. Inside the church, however, misuse – since faith is the foundational means by which we come to God – may suggests a serious problem. Vigilance comes more readily with a better understanding of the English language and through a deeper study of God’s Word and His inspired writers at large.

The word faith in English grammar is a noun. Traditionally nouns are defined as the names of persons, places or things. Nouns also come in different forms. There are proper nouns which are capitalized and common nouns which are not. There are concrete and abstract nouns. Concrete nouns refer to something perceptible, which can be seen, heard, touched, and so on: shoe, soup, grass, teacher. Abstract nouns, on the other hand, designate a quality, condition, action, or state of being that cannot be directly perceived – that is, seen, heard, touched: faith, love, courage, honor.

Concrete, I understand. For instance, a mere glance at my old garden shoes tells me almost everything there is to know about them: dirty, whitish sneakers cracked open at the soles; broken laces, carelessly tied, stained by paint, grass and who remembers what. I can see them, touch them, smell them and, to prove a point, I could even taste them. Abstract, on the other hand, I do not easily understand. It’s vague, out of focus, out of reach, out of site around the corner. A mere glance will not suffice. To reach a correct understanding of faith, I must be taught.

Fortunately, I can be taught through parents, teachers in the church and the many fine writers in church history. Four examples: (1) The writer of Hebrews, a book of the Bible, gave a brief definition of faith in chapter 11 verse 1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen… ” (KJV) (2) The Apostles Creed expanded the definition and provided the essentials of saving faith. (3) The Heidelberg Catechism in 1563, with its 129 questions and answers, gave the church one of the most expanded definitions. (4) After 450 years, the Heidelberg required some deciphering and one of the best books available is Dr. G.I. Williamson’s, The Heidelberg Catechism, A Study Guide.

In the end, perhaps faith is best understood, not by its definition, but rather by its purpose. A wonderful example found as a Theological Note in The Reformation Study Bible entitled, “Faith and Works,” reads, “Faith is the means or instrument by which a person is saved. Christians are justified before God by faith and by faith they live their lives and sustain their hope… secured by Jesus Christ… called forth by the gospel as the gospel is made understandable through the gracious work of the Holy Spirit. Christian faith is a personal act, involving the mind, heart, and will,… directed to a personal God, not an idol or an idea.”

My old sneakers deserve only a mere glance, but the abstract noun faith merits a deep study of the Bible plus a serious look at the work of inspired writers at large. “Of what faith am I?” May my answer always be, “The faith stated in the Apostles Creed; the means by which I am saved; the means by which I stand before God in the righteousness of Christ; the means by which I gain life eternal.”

Concrete Nouns

These are things that we CAN physically, see, hear, smell, taste, and feel. They are things that physically affect one or more of our five senses. They are quite easy to identify as they are usually preceded by one of the following articles: a, an, or the. If one of these articles can be put before the word, and when spoken it sounds OK, then it is almost certain that a concrete noun has been found. However, there are always exceptions to the rule!

Veronica, licked a strawberry ice cream.

Ice cream is a concrete noun, as we can see the colour of it, we can taste the flavour of the strawberry, and we can feel the coldness of it on our tongue.

He sat at the table for dinner.

Table is a concrete noun, as we can both see it, and feel it, as we sit down to eat dinner.

Less obvious concrete nouns are things like: heat, electricity, and air, as we are unable to see them, although we are affected by them physically. These are also more difficult to identify as we are unable to use all of the articles before them. A heat, an electricity, and an air, for example do not sound correct, and do not comply with English grammar rules, although we are able to use the article the in front of them.

Abstract Nouns

These are things that we CANNOT physically, see, hear, smell, taste, or feel, although they DO affect our lives in some way.

Beauty, Truth, Lies, Knowledge, Understanding, Justice, Impartiality, Dignity, Strength, Wisdom, Love, and Hatred, are all abstract nouns, which can be put into three different categories.

1. Nouns that describe a Quality.

(a) Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

(b) I promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

(c) There is not always justice in the world.

2. Nouns that describe a State.

(a) A good professional has a lot of knowledge.

(b) I need to sleep for one hour everyday in the afternoon.

(c) It is my belief that she was here.

3. Nouns that describe an Event or an Action.

(a) The boxers are going to fight tonight.

(b) I will reply later today.

(c) They heard the girl whisper to me.

What colour is beauty? We do not know as we are unable to see it. What sound does justice make? We do not know as we are unable to hear it. What does sleep smell like? We do not know as we are unable to smell it. What does reply taste like? We do not know as we are unable to taste it. What does whisper feel like? We do not know as we are unable to feel a whisper.

Remember: If we CAN physically, see, hear, smell, taste, or feel something, then it is probably a concrete noun, however, if we are unable to use one of our five senses, although it affects our life in some way, then it is probably an abstract noun.

Compound nouns are nouns that have been created by joining two words together.

There are three types.

– Joined (input / bathroom / waterpark)

– Open (post office / real estate / night watchman)

– Hyphenated (mother-in-law / jack-in-the-box)

When you are teaching compound nouns to your students it makes sense to spend the bulk of your time exploring the joined kind.

This is because open ones are easy to understand. They are really just commonly used adjective noun pairs.

In turn, hyphenated ones are rare. It is usually enough to introduce them and show a few examples.

With that in mind, here are some joined compound noun lesson ideas!

1. Write a mix of simple words on the board and ask your students to use them to create as many compound nouns as they can. Try these words – air back side hand bed death watch bed ear ache farm yard hand foot step hair line cut half way home made. After a few minutes ask four or five students to suggest other words to add to the list.

2. Focus on one word and see how many different endings you can find. For example: earache, eardrum, earlobe, earmarked, earmuff, earphone, earring, earshot.

A fun way to get younger students to come up with the answers is to offer cloze sentences that can only be answered with a compound noun that starts with word. For example: I have a very bad ear_____. A bad ear infection can cause the ear_____ to burst. I have an ear_____ that is pierced with two earrings. I have ear______ the page I want you to read.

Other good starting words are earth, grand, hand and head. A dictionary is a quick way to look up all the possible combinations.

3. Challenge your students to think of 100 compound nouns by the end of the week.

This works well if they have a page titled “100 Compound Nouns”. They can start by ruling 4 or 5 columns and writing the numbers 1 to 100. This can be done each day as a class activity or as homework. A dictionary is a great resource for this activity.

This could be extended the following week by asking each student to contribute to a class collection. The words could be written on cards and pinned to a notice board or written on a large piece of cardboard. Setting a goal of 300 or more words can help to motivate the students.

This extension activity could also be a great small group task for those self-motivated students that thrive on challenges.

Discover how a good German language course can help you learn to use German nouns properly!

It seems odd that so many English-speakers claim they have a problem learning German nouns, since German nouns are so similar to English. Der Hund (dog) sounds a great deal like hound. Das Buch sounds a lot like book. Die Katze sounds like cat; der Doktor sounds like doctor. Many of the first nouns you encounter in most good German language courses sound very much like their English counterparts. How could anyone have trouble learning German nouns when they sound so similar to words we already know?

The biggest problem with learning German nouns isn’t with the nouns themselves – it’s with the definite article attached to them. In English, we only have one definite article – the. The dog, the book, the cat, the doctor – English is remarkably uncomplicated in that sense. In German, however, you must deal with masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns. Although there are some general hints to determine the gender of a noun (words ending in “e” are often feminine; months and seasons are masculine; most chemical elements are neuter), there’s a much easier method of ensuring that you put the right article with the right word, every time.

When you initially learn a new German word, learn the article that goes with it.

That’s the trick. Notice that in the first paragraph, we didn’t just say that “Hund” sounds a lot like “hound.” We coupled the word Hund with its definite article, der. The noun and its article go hand-in-hand, so always learn them together. The trick to learning German nouns really is that simple. And a good German course will reinforces this by teaching you the definite article together with the noun, every time.

But using your noun-article combination correctly is a bit more complicated. In German, the definite article accompanying the noun changes with the way the noun is used – in other words, the definite article may change depending on whether the noun is the subject of the sentence, the direct or indirect object, or a possessive. It may also change when the noun becomes plural. When learning German nouns, the best way to tackle these grammatical intricacies is to learn the rules that apply in every instance – for example, a masculine noun, which takes “der” when it’s used as the subject of a sentence, takes “den” when it’s used as a direct object. Since you already know that “Hund” is a masculine noun, you’ll know what to do.

When you use an innovative German language program, you’ll learn all about German’s three genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter) and four cases (nominative, accusative, dative, and genitive). You’ll learn tips for remembering these essential building blocks of the German language, and guidelines for handling them correctly.