Wednesday, April 9, 2014

A/An special cases

Every English noun  that is singular, must have a Article, either "The" the definite article, that refers to a certain thing, or a / an that is indefinite, that is it can refer to an item, but not a particular item.

The basic rules I have discussed in this blog post: http://rachaelenglishclasses.blogspot.co.il/2013/07/a-worksheet.html

There are a few special cases in English, or exceptions. 

If you have a noun, or an adjective that comes before the noun that starts with h,  we use "an" if you don't hear the h. 

an hour 

an hourly worker

an honest man

We don't hear the "h" so we use the word an instead of a 

a hospital 

a hungry man

a hamburger 

In these words, we hear the h so we use 'a' 

Another unusual case is the letter "u" 

an unhappy camper 

an underground parking lot 



These phrases follow the rule, that we use an before a vowel, a, e, i, o, u 

But these examples don't

 a union 

a university student 

The sound of the u is long, so we use "a" for the article. 

a European tour 

The word European takes the "a" as a special case

Numbers can be tricky, because the a or an goes by how you spell the word. 

an 8  (eight)

a 9   (nine) 

an 87  (eighty-seven)

When you are spelling letters, whether you use a or an is how the letter is "spelled" 

an S  (ess) 

an H  (eiche) 

a B   (bee)

R is a special case because it is a guttural letter and a R is hard to say, so we say

an R  

Exercises: Write the proper article in the blank!

Would you like to be ____________ honest man and tell the truth?

I don't want to join __________ union!

Shouldn't I take you to ____________ hospital now?

We have been waiting for __________hour.

I want to buy ____________hamburger!

Is there ____________ S in your name?

How do you write ___________ 8?

_________ university student helped the old lady cross the street!

The band is returning from ________European tour. 
Good luck in learning English! 
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Lesson Plan by Rachael Alice Orbach, Professional English Teacher 

There is / There are - Englis grammar

Review exerise using    There is / There are



Name__________________  Date_____________________

Fill in the correct form: There is / There are
There is : used for singular subjects  There are is used for plural subjects 

Example:  There is a woman hanging out her laundry.

1.  _______________________ a man reading a newspaper on the roof.

2. _______________________ two people leaving the hospital

3. _______________________ a workman on the roof.

4. _______________________ five people eating in the restaurant.

5. _______________________ an ambulance next to the clinic.

6. _______________________ Nan!

7. _______________________ the twins crossing the street!

8. _______________________ the bleach, under the sink.



Write your own sentences using There is or There are.
 Use correct punctuation!

1. ___________________________________________

2. ___________________________________________

3. ___________________________________________


Questions using There is or There are. 

Move the Is /are to the beginning of  the sentence

Example:  Is there an apple on the table?
                Are there any forks in the dishwasher?

Write in the correct form of is/are in the following questions.

1._______________________there enough room in the class for me?

2. ______________________ there any pencils in the drawer?

3. ______________________ there a jacket in the closet?

4. ______________________ there any tickets available for the concert tonight?

5. ______________________ there an extra battery for my phone? 

6. ______________________ there some people at the party already?

7. ______________________ there any dishsoap left in the bottle?

8. ______________________ there any space left on the bookshelf? 

Thursday, April 3, 2014

How to talk about clothes in English!

How to talk about clothes in English



FrenchEnglishעברית
le chapeauthe hatהכובע
la chemisethe shirtהחולצה
le mouchoirthe hankerchiefהממחטה
le vestonthe coatהמעיל
le pantalonthe pantsמכנסיים
la robethe dressהשמלה
le sacthe purseהתיק
le manteauthe overcoatהמעיל
le soulierthe shoeהנעל
la montrethe watchהשעון
le gantthe gloveהכפפה
la cravatethe necktieהעניב

Exercise:  Put the correct word in the sentence: There might be more than one correct answer. 

1. I put the left ____________________ first. 

2.  I wipe my nose with _______________________________

3. It is cold outside take _______________________________

4. Take off ________________from the baby's head,  it is too hot now. 

5. My mother just bought ________________ to wear at the wedding. 

6. Don't forget to take ______________________ so you can be on time. 

7. I bought Father ______________________ for Father's Day. 

8. Put your wallet in ______________________.

9. I took _______________ because it was snowing. 

10. Who wears ________________ in the family?


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Lesson Plan by Rachael Alice Orbach, Professional English Teacher 

Baby Shark Game like Hangman. . .

This is an example of how I played the game today with a student:  You can print this or play it using Zoom! I think of a word from the less...