for decades
the 1980s
the 2000s
for rivers, oceans and seas
the River Nile
the Atlantic
the Mediterranean
for unions, republics and island groups
the UAE
the Czech Republic
the Maldives
for rainforests and mountain ranges
the Amazon
the Andes
for gulfs, bays and deserts
the Persian Gulf
the Bay of Bengal
the Sahara Desert
for wars
the Vietnam War
the First World War
for cinemas, theatres and museums
the Odeon
the National Theatre
the Louvre
for organisations
the FBI
the police
for newspapers
the Telegraph
the Washington Post
for unique nouns
the Pope
the sun
for positions and locations
the top of the page
the end of the street
for superlatives
the quickest route
the cheapest option
for adjectives when used as nouns to
refer to groups of people
the rich
the Spanish
for the noun of noun phrases
the end of an era
the works of Shakespeare
for parks
Hyde Park
Central Park
for lakes
Lake Garda
Loch Ness
for mountains
Mount Fuji
Mount Everest
for cities, countries and continents
Prague
Colombia
Asia
for roads and streets
London Road
Fifth Avenue
for meals
breakfast
lunch
dinner
for plural nouns, uncountable nouns and
abstract nouns when talking about
them in general
cats
money
happiness
for adjective + place
central Oxford
Western Europe
for institutions (educational, medical, religious, etc.) to refer to the activity
that takes place there. Notice the use of prepositions before the institution.
To refer to the building itself, use the.
school
hospital
church
Don’t be late for school
(educational institution)
We live next to the school
(building)
I’ve been in hospital for a week
(medical institution)
How far is it to the hospital?
(building)
I’m meeting a friend from church
(religious institution)
Some of the churches in Rome are spectacular
(buildings)
1) undeniable – adjective formed from the verb deny
2) immeasurable – opposite of the adjective measurable
3) transformed – past participle of the verb transform
4) coact interact – verb formed from the verb act
5) nonimaginable unimaginable – opposite of the adjective imaginable
6) undersurprising unsurprising – opposite of the adjective surprising
7) deplaced replaced – past participle of the verb replace
8) uncommon – opposite of the adjective common
9) unmature immature – opposite of the adjective mature
10) indoubtedly undoubtedly – adverb formed from the verb doubt
is used to talk about a particular but unspecified person, place or thing:
I really need a holiday
Would you like a drink?
is used in number and quantity expressions, such as:
a few, a little, half an hour, twice a week, £5 a litre, $10 a ticket, a huge amount, a tiny percentage, a small section of the population
is used in the structure a ___ of ___ to talk about possessives:
a friend of mine
a man of integrity
is used to emphasise the amount of time or quantity:
You have one minute remaining
He’s already made one huge mistake so I wouldn’t trust him again
is used to emphasise that you’re only talking about a single thing or person rather than a plural:
Just one sugar in my tea, please
I’ve given him one final chance
is used in the structure one or the other / one ___ or another:
You need to choose one or the other
He’s always lying about one thing or another
is used before day / week / month to talk about an unspecified time:
I hope to see you again one day
Let’s go to the beach one week next year
can be used to refer to one thing before a singular countable noun:
I’ll be staying in the city for a /one week
I’ll be there in a /one minute
a/an is used before a particular but unspecified person, place or thing:
I really need a holiday
Would you like a drink?
a/an is used in number and quantity expressions:
a few, a little, half an hour, twice a week, £5 a litre, $10 a ticket,
a tiny amount, a huge percentage, a small number
a/an is used in the structure a ___ of ___ to talk about possessives:
a friend of mine
a man of integrity
The president was confident of election success. His advisers were not so sure, however.
a/an is used before a particular but unspecified person, place or thing:
I really need a holiday
Would you like a drink?
a/an is used in number and quantity expressions:
a few, a little, half an hour, twice a week, £5 a litre, $10 a ticket,
a tiny amount, a huge percentage, a small number
a/an is used in the structure a ___ of ___ to talk about possessives:
a friend of mine
a man of integrity
The president was confident of election success. His advisers were not so sure, however.
a/an
one
both
Form: Intransitive
They always hang out together
This type is intransitive since it doesn't have an object. The adverb together is not the object – an object will always be either a noun or pronoun.
Take a look at these other intransitive phrasal verbs:
She has great perseverance and never gives up
I always dread my alarm going off in the morning
He enjoys sleeping in on the weekends
Form: Transitive & Separable
He loves taking on challenges
This type has a direct object and is therefore transitive.
It's also separable which means the object can also go between
the verb and particle:
He loves taking challenges on
However, if the object is a pronoun, it always goes between the verb and particle.
He loves taking them on
Transitive & separable phrasal verbs
are often used in the passive, with the object becoming the subject.
Challenges are taken on
Let's see these rules again with another example:
They should knock down that building
They should knock that building down
They should knock it down
That building should be knocked down
Form: Transitive & Inseparable
Turning 18 calls for a celebration!
This type has a direct object and is therefore transitive.
However, unlike Type 2, this type is inseparable since the object cannot go between the verb and particle.
It must always follow the particle:
Turning 18 calls a celebration for!Turning 18 calls for a celebration!
Here's another example:
I need to look into the problem
I need to look the problem into
Form: Transitive & Inseparable with two particles
I look up to my parents
This type has a verb plus two particles. The object always comes after the particles:
I look my parents up to
I look up my parents to
I look up to my parents
Notice the same pattern with this example:
I can't put this noise up with!
I can't put up this noise with!
I can't put up with this noise!
Look at the words before and after the gaps as these always tell you what part of speech you need
Whatever part of speech is needed, always ask yourself if it needs a prefix or suffix
If you think a noun is needed, does it take its plural form? Don't lose easy marks by forgetting to add an s
for dates
the 3rd of November
Are you free on the 15th?
for decades
the 1980s
the early 2000s
for rivers, oceans and seas
the River Nile
the Atlantic
the Mediterranean
for unions, republics and island groups
the UAE
the Czech Republic
the Seychelles
for rainforests and mountain ranges
the Amazon
the Andes
for gulfs, bays and deserts
the Persian Gulf
the Bay of Bengal
the Sahara Desert
for wars
the Vietnam War
the First World War
for cinemas, theatres and museums
the Odeon
the National Theatre
the Louvre
for organisations
the FBI
the police
for newspapers
the Telegraph
the Washington Post
for unique nouns
the Pope
the Colosseum
for positions and locations
the top of the page
the end of the street
for superlatives
the quickest route
the cheapest option
for general everyday things that are part of our daily lives
I always read the newspaper
on the train to work
for things that are universally known because they are part
of our physical environment and natural world
We lay on the grass and
looked at the stars
before uncountable nouns to mean enough
I don’t have the time or
the patience for crosswords
for adjectives when used as plural nouns to describe
groups of people
I think the rich should pay higher
taxes to help the poor
The Spanish are known for taking
siestas in the afternoon
before singular nouns to represent all of those nouns that exist
(more commonly used in writing)
Our lives have changed beyond
measure thanks to the computer
The panda is becoming an
increasingly rare animal
for the noun of noun phrases
the end of an era
the works of Shakespeare
for times, days and months
at 12:30 pm
on Wednesday
in December
(use the to refer to a specific day)
Are you free on the Tuesday before Christmas?
for parks
Hyde Park
Central Park
for lakes
Lake Garda
Loch Ness
for mountains
Mount Fuji
Mount Kilimanjaro
for languages
Arabic
Mandarin
for cities, countries and continents
Prague
Colombia
Asia
for roads and streets
Oxford Street
Fifth Avenue
for meals
breakfast
lunch
dinner
for adjective + place
central Oxford
Western Europe
for plural nouns, uncountable nouns and abstract nouns
to talk about them in general
My partner adores cats
I need to earn more money
Happiness is the key to life
(use the to refer to specific nouns)
The cats next door are very noisy
Have you got the money I lent you?
I could see the happiness in her eyes
for institutions (educational, medical, religious, etc.) after prepositions
to refer to the activity that happens there
(use the to refer to just the building)
Don’t be late for school
(educational institution)
We live next to the school
(building)
I’ve been in hospital for a week
(medical institution)
How far is it to the hospital?
(building)
I’m meeting a friend from church
(religious institution)
The churches in Rome are spectacular
(buildings)
