I. Subject-verb agreement
(Sự hòa hợp giữa chủ ngữ và động từ)
A/ Nguyên tắc thông thường về sự hòa hợp giữa chủ ngữ và động từ:
a/ Chủ ngữ sô ít + động từ sô' ít (Singular subject + singular verb):
- Their youngest child is only three years old.
- The student has been making good progress.
b/ Chủ ngữ số nhiều + động từ số nhiều (Plural subject + plural verb):
- These children are well-behaved.
- The students have been working hard for the exam.
c/ Chủ ngữ là danh từ KHÔNG ĐẾM ĐƯỢC + dộng từ số ít (Uncountable noun + singular verb):
- A large amount of information has been collected for the report.
- Most coffee is exported to European countries.
- There was good news on TV yesterday.
B/ Chú ý sự phối hợp giữa chủ ngữ và động từ với các cách nói đặc biệt sau:
Every Each
+ singular noun
+ singular verb Each of + plural noun
Most (of) All (of)
+ plural noun + plural verb + uncountable noun + singular verb None of + uncountable noun + singular verb
+ plural noun + singular or plural verb Ví dụ: - Every student has to prepare the lesson before class.
- In a soccer game, each team has eleven players.
- Each of the workers is wearing a name badge.
- Most of those books are beautifully illustrated.
- Most sugar is made from sugar cane.
- None of the information in his report is accurate.
- None of their children are / is living with them.
(Both) Singular or plural
noun and Singular or plural
noun
+ plural verb
Singular noun
(along) with as well as
Singular or plural noun
+ singular verb
Plural noun Singular or plural
noun
+ plural verb
(Either/Neither) Singular or plural noun
or / nor
Singular noun + singular verb
(Either I Neither) Singular or plural noun
Plural verb + plural verb
Not only + Singular or plural noun
but also
Singular noun + singular verb
Not only + Singular or plural noun
Plural noun + plural verb
Ví dụ: - (Both) Kim and Ba are construction engineers.
- The teacher as well as her students is going on a picnic.
- The students as well as their teacher are going on a picnic.
- Either you or I am going to do the washing up.
- Either you or your friends are responsible for this mistake.
- Not only my brother but also my sister is here.
- Not only my brother but also my parents are here.
II. Quantifiers and special uncountable nouns
(Các từ định lượng và những danh từ không đếm được đặc biệt) A/ Những từ định lượng đặc biệt (Special qualifiers):
A great/ good deal of + uncountable noun + singular verb A large number of + plural noun + plural verb Ví dụ: - A great deal of time was spent on this research.
- A large number of motorcycles have been registered this year.
A number of (Một số) + plural noun + plural verb
The number of (Con sô') + singular verb
Ví dụ: - A number of students are willing to take the exam soon.
- The number of students in this school is increasing.
B/ "Little / A little / Few / A few” : Các từ định lượng này đều mang ý nghĩa ‘ít’, nhưng cách dùng có khác biệt. Chúng ta có thể tóm tắt như sau:
A little
uncountable noun A few
Little Few + plural noun
A little
= Positive meaning (some and enough: có ít, nhưng đủ dùng) A few
Little
= Negative meaning (hardly any and not enough: quá it) Few
Ví dụ: - A little hard work is good for your health.
- There’s little work in the house, so she spends all her time watching TV.
- A few shops were still open, and we could get something to eat.
- Few shops sell this thing now, so it’ll be difficult for you to get it.
CHÚ Ý: Chúng ta cũng dùng "very little / few" hoặc "only a little / few":
- Very few people came to the meeting, so it had to be postponed.
- There’s only a little oil left, so we can’t fry the fish.
C/ Một vài nhóm danh từ đặc biệt:
a) Những darứi từ sau đây thuộc loại không-đếm-đưực (uncountable), và luôn dùng với động từ số ít:
information, news, furniture, knowledge, equipment, advice, traffic, scenery, machinery, homework, housework, work, music, money, luggage, baggage, rubbish, garbage, weather, English, mathematics, physics, politics, economics, linguistics, means, diabetes, measles, rabies, ....
Ví dụ: - There isn’t much furniture in his room.
- Rabies is a fatal disease.
- Most of his knowledge has been collected from books and newspapers.
- A lot of homework is not always good for young children.
b) Những danh từ sau đây luôn có ý nghĩa số nhiều (plural), và luôn dùng với động từ số nhiều:
people, police, cattle, clothes, trousers, jeans, shorts, scissors, glasses, pliers, tweezers, nail clippers, belongings, congratulations, earnings, goods, outskirts, particulars (=
information), premises (= building), riches, savings, stairs, surroundings, thanks,... .
Ví dụ: - Police are looking into this matter.
- The company’s earnings have increased for the last five years.
- Congratulations go to Rachel for her excellent exam results.
c) Những danh từ sau có ý nghĩa là tập thể (collective), có thể dùng với động từ số ít hoặc số nhiều:
team, government, audience, crowd, family, group, band, staff, jury, public, crew, committee, council, army, club, community, company, department, orchestra, public, population, press, enemy,... .
Ví dụ:
- The audience was / were clapping for 10 minutes.
- The Government has / have been considering further tax cuts.
- The jury has / have returned a verdict of guilty.
- The team is / are not playing very well this season.
- The public has / have a right to know what is contained in the report.
- One third of the world’s population consumes / consume two thirds of the world’s resources.
CHÚ Ý : ‘Quantifiers + uncountable noun’ and ‘quantifiers + plural noun’ : Những ‘từ định lượng có thể dùng với danh từ không-đếm-được’ và những ‘từ định lượng dùng với danh từ đếm-được-số-nhiều:
Some Any
A lot of / Lots of Much
(A) Little
A great/good deal of
+ uncountable noun
Some Any
A lot of / Lots of Many (A) Few Several A number of The number of
+ plural noun
* CHÚ Ý: Chúng ta có thể dùng “Many a + singular noun + singular verb”, với ý nghĩa “a large number of’. Ví dụ:
- Many a good man has been destroyed by drink.
C/ Những số lượng về thời gian, tiền, và khoảng cách thường dùng với động từ số ít:
- Ten miles is a long way to walk.
- 50,000 pounds is a big sum of money.
- Ten years was a long time for her to wait.
D/ ' The + adjective + plural verb’: Chúng ta có thể dùng "The" trước một số tính từ và từ chỉ quốc tịch với ý nghĩa "tất cả những người cùng một nhóm". Động từ theo sau 'The + adjective' và ‘The + nationality’ được dùng ở hình thức số nhiều.
Ví dụ: - The rich have to help the poor.
(= The rich people ... the poor people.)
- The disabled haven’t got proper care from the community.
(=The disabled people)
- The English are thought to be rather reserved.
(=The English people)
* Một số tính từ thường được dùng theo cách “The + adjective” :
the rich the dead the homeless the unemployed
the poor the young the disabled the injured
the sick the old the elderly the wounded
‘The + nationality’ được dùng với các từ chỉ quốc tịch tận cùng có ‘-ch, - ish, -ese’. Ví dụ:
the French the Spanish the Vietnamese
the Dutch the British the Chinese
the English the Japanese
LUYỆN TẬP CÂU HỎI THEO DẠNG ĐỀ THI
A. Choose the word or phrase that best completes each sentence.
1. Not one in a hundred seeds into a healthy plant, even under laboratory conditions.
A. develops B. develop C. developed D.
developing
2. He made mistakes in his composition.
A. a little B. a great deal of
C. a few D. much
3. There weren’t shops in the village when I was there.
A. a great deal of B. many C. much D. many of
4. It cost them money to recover the painting.
A. a large number of B. many
C. a great deal of D. quite a few
5. I don’t spend time reading books these days.
A. a few B. much C. many D. a lot
6. We haven’t got information about that strange tribe.
A. some B. many C. a few D. any
7. Two-quarters of the land sold to investors.
A. has been B. have C. have been D. were
8. Most of the fish I caught too small to bring home.
A. would B. was C. were D. being
9. She spends her money on fashionable clothes.
A. the most B. a lot C. most of D. many of
10 . members of my family has a share in doing household chores.
A. Every B. Each of the C. All D. None of
11 . her fiction describes women in unhappy marriages.
A. Many of B. Large number of
C. Much of D. A great variety of
12 . people applied for the job, so the interview was postponed.
A. Little B. Many C. Few D. A few
13. Don’t talk so about your success.
A. many B. much C. few D. a lot
14. He’s very busy with his business. He has time for his family.
A. little B. some C. a little D. much
15. Only people in this area have permanent jobs.
A. few B. a few C. a large number of D. a little 16. of the candidates was given a problem to solve.
A. Most B. All C. Some D. Each
17. .cottage in the village has a flower garden.
A. A few B. Most C. Many D. Every
18. Teaching small children requires patience.
A. a number of B. a great deal of
C. a few D. a lot
19. Can you give me on which computer to buy?
A. some advices B. an advice C. advices D. some advice
20. There a lot of antique in their house.
A. are / furniture B. is / furniture
C. are / furnitures D. is / furnitures
A. Choose the underlined part in each sentence that needs correction.
1. The world is becoming more industrialized and the number of A
animal species that have become extinct have increased.
B C D
2. Although there were a lot of opposition initially, many people now
A B C
accept that infertile couples have the right to medical help.
D
3. Because not food is as nutritious for a baby as its mother’s milk,
A B C
many women are returning to the practice of breast feeding.
D
4. That cats have nine lives have been believed for centuries.
A B C D
5. Mrs. Stevens, along with her cousins from New Mexico, are
A B C
planning to attend the festivities.
D
6. Each of the students in the accounting class has to type
A B C
their own research paper this semester.
D
7. Every city in the United States has traffic problems because
A B
the amount of cars on American streets and highways is increasing
C D
every year.
8. A large portion of the world’s water supply have been contaminated
A B C
by factory waste, ships, and oil spills.
D
9. The number of people using the Internet have been increasing
A B
rapidly in the last few years.
C D
10. The rate of unemployment was very high in the area because A
there were little jobs offered.
B C D
13. BCDCONJUNCTIONS (Liên từ)
Conjunctions (Liên từ) là những tiếng dùng nối hai mệnh đề hoặc hai cụm từ. Liên từ còn được gọi là “Linking words”. Sau đây là cách dùng một sô' liên từ thông dụng.
1/ Although / though / even though (+ clause) : có ý nghĩa ‘mặc dầu’. Các liên từ này thường theo sau bằng một mệnh đề. Ví dụ:
- She walked home by herself, although she knew that it was dangerous.
- Though I’ve known her for a long time, I don’t know much about her background.
- Even though everyone tried their best, we lost the game.
CHÚ Ý: Không dùng ‘but’ khi trong câu đã dùng ‘although/ though/ even though*:
- Although / Though / Even though it was very cold, but he went swimming in the river.
* Một vài cách dùng đặc biệt của “though” và “although”:
a/ “Though/ Although + adjective / adverb”: Chúng ta cũng có thể dùng “though/
although” trước một tính từ hoặc trạng từ, thay vì một mệnh đề. Ví dụ:
- Their house, though/ although small, was very nice.
- The journey, though/ although difficult, involved no real danger.
b/ “Though” được đặt cuối câu với ý nghĩa “despite this” hoặc “however”. Ví dụ:
- He’s had two heart attacks this year. He hasn't stopped smoking, though.
(= He’s had two heart attacks this year. Despite this/ However, he hasn’t stopped smoking.)
c/ “Adjective / Adverb + though/ as + subject + verb”: Chúng ta có thể dùng cấu trúc này với ý nghĩa như “Although + clause”, nhưng mạnh hơn. Ví dụ:
- Poor though their family was, they would never do anything dishonestly.
(= Although their family was poor, they would never do anything dishonestly.) - Odd though it may seem, I never found out her real name.
(= Although it may seem odd (= strange), I never found out her real name.) Chú ý:
Chúng ta có thể dùng “as” thay cho “though” trong cấu trúc trên. Ví dụ:
- Poor as their family was, they would never do anything dishonestly.
d/ “As though” : có ý nghĩa “cứ như là”; “as if’ có thể thay cho “as though”. Ví dụ:
- She was my classmate, but she stared at me as though/ as if I were a complete stranger.
2/ In spite of / Despite (+ noun/ phrase / Verb-ing phrase : các từ này
cũng có ý nghĩa “mặc dầu”, nhưtig không dùng với mệnh đề, mà chỉ dùng với danh từ, cụm từ hoặc Verb-ing. Ví dụ:
- In spite of the bad weather, we had a good holiday.
- Despite having read the book. I found it hard to understand the movie.
* Chúng ta có thể dùng cụm từ “in spite of the fact that” hoặc “despite the fact that” trước một mệnh đề. Ví dụ:
- Brenda continued to do the job in spite of/ despite the fact that she found it boring.
3/ Because / since / as + clause: có ý nghĩa “bởi vì”. Ví dụ:
- The journey was quite quick because the road was clear.
* ‘Since’ hoặc ‘as’ có thể dùng thay cho ‘because’. Ví dụ:
- Since we've got a few minutes to wait for the train, let's have a cup of coffee.
- As it was getting late, I decided to book into a hotel.
4/ Because of + noun / phrase : chúng ta dùng ‘because of với danh từ hoặc cụm từ; không dùng vởi mệnh đề. Ví dụ:
- He walked slowly because of his bad leg.
- Because of his wife/ wife’s being there, I said nothing about it.
* Những cụm từ sau đây có ý nghĩa tương tự “because of’: “owing to”, “thanks to”, “due to”, on account of’. Ví dụ:
- We had a good time on holiday thanks to the fine weather.
- Due to thick fog, many flights were delayed.
- She never goes on long journeys on account of her health.
- The concert has been cancelled owing to lack of support.
5/ “So” và “therefore” : “so” là liên từ có thể dùng nôi hai mệnh đề với ý nghĩa “vì thế”.
Chúng ta có thể dùng dấu phẩy [,] hoặc không dùng dấu phẩy khi nối hai mệnh đề với
“so”. “Therefore” là trang từ có ý nghĩa “do đó” hoặc “vì thế”, nhưng phải dùng sau dấu chấm [.] hoặc dấu chấm phẩy [;]. Hãy so sánh các ví dụ sau:
- It was very cold outside, so I put on my jacket.
- It was very cold outside. Therefore. I put on my jacket.
CHÚ Ý: Chúng ta có thể dùng “therefore” ở vị trí đầu câu hoặc giữa câu. Ví dụ:
- There is still much to discuss. Therefore, we shall return to this item at our next meeting.
Or: There is still much to discuss. We shall, therefore, return to this item at our next meeting.
* Chúng ta có thể dùng “and therefore” để nối hai mệnh đề hoặc hai động từ có cùng một chủ ngữ. Ví dụ:
- They were unable to get funding and therefore had to abandon the project.
* Một số từ có cách dùng và ý nghĩa tương tự “therefore” : “as a result” (= kết quả là);
“consequently” (= hậu quả là). Ví dụ:
- There was thick fog. As a result/ Consequently, our flight was delayed.
- I spent most of my money in the first week and as a result/ consequently had very little to eat by the end of the holiday.
* CHÚ Ý: Chúng ta dung “so that” với mệnh đề chỉ mục đích, với ý nghĩa “để mà”. Ví dụ:
- They are building more low-priced flats so that the poor can have their own accommodation.
6/ “But” và “However” : “But” là liên từ, có thể dùng nối hai mệnh đề, hai cụm từ hoặc hai từ và có thể dùng dấu phẩy hoặc không dùng dấu phẩy. “However” là trang từ. có ý nghĩa tương tự “but” nhưng phải dùng đứng sau dấu phẩy hoặc dấu chấm phẩy. Hãy so sánh
các ví dụ sau:
- The garden is beginning to look more beautiful but there's a lot more work to be done.
- The garden is beginning to look more beautiful. However, there's a lot more work to be done.
* Chúng ta có thể dùng “however” ở vị trí đầu câu, giữa câu hoặc cuối câu.
Ví dụ:
- She was highly creative and talented. However, she was still overlooked for promotion.
- She was highly creative and talented. She was, however, still overlooked for promotion.
- She was highly creative and talented. She was still overlooked for promotion, however.
* “Nevertheless” vả “Nonetheless” có cách dùng và ý nghĩa giống với “However”. Ví dụ:
- Security was tightened. Nonetheless/ Nevertheless, about 1000 managed to get in without tickets.
- There are serious problems in our country. Nonetheless/ Nevertheless, we feel this is a good time to return.
* Một vài cách dùng đặc biệt của “But”:
a/ “But” dùng như giới từ, với ý nghĩa “except” (= ngoại trừ). Ví dụ:
- I had no choice but to agree to work for them.
- I refuse to discuss this matter with anyone but my lawyer.
b/ “But” dùng như trạng từ, với ý nghĩa “only” hoặc “just” (= chỉ là). Ví dụ:
- We can but hope that everything will be alright.
- Don’t blame Jimmy for that fault! He’s but a nine-year-old boy!
* CHÚ Ý: Chúng ta CO thể dùng “however” với cấu trúc: “However + adjective/ adverb + subject + verb” = “No matter how + adj/ adv + subject + verb” (= Cho dù đến mấy đi nữa ...)• Ví dụ:
- However cold it was outside, he went swimming in the river.
(= No matter how cold it was outside, he went swimming in the river.) - However much I respect him, I can't agree with him on this occasion.
(= No matter how much I respect him, I can't agree with him on this occasion.) - They charge a flat fee of $40, however long you stay.
(= They charge a flat fee of &40 no matter how long you stay.)
7/ Time conjunctions (Liên từ thời gian) : “when, as, as soon as, while, until, after, before, the moment, once, since”. Chúng ta dùng các liên từ này để nối mệnh đề chính với mệnh đề chĩ thời gian. Ví dụ:
- I started to play volleyball when I was at secondary school.
- As I walked past Meg’s house, I saw her mowing the lawn.
- I’ll send you the tickets as soon as I get them.
- I heard the news on the radio while I was driving home.
- You won’t be allowed to drive until you are eighteen.
- Sheila will look for a job after she has finished her course at college.
- You should check for typing mistakes before you hand in your report.
- I’ll pay you the money the moment (= as soon as) I get my salary.
- Once (= as soon as) you know the rules, you’ll enjoy playing this game.
- He has been out of work since his company went bankrupt.
* CHÚ Ý: Chúng ta có thể dùng “when, while, until, after, before, since” trước “Verb- ing” hoặc “Past participle” thay vì một mệnh đề nếu mệnh đề chính và mệnh đề thời gian có chung một chủ ngữ. Ví dụ:
- When asked to resign from his office, the minister reacted badly. (= When he was asked to resign from his office, ...)
- Anna has been working as a reporter since leaving the college. (= since she left the college)
- You should always check your oil, water and tyres before taking your car on a long trip. (= before you take your car on a long trip)
- She did the washing up before going to bed. (= before she went to bed)
- After having won ten gold medals, he retired. (= After he had won ten gold medals)
* “While” và “during” : cả hai có ý nghĩa tương tự nhau “trong khi” hoặc “trong thời gian”, nhưng “while” là liên từ (conjunction) có thể dùng trước mệnh đề hoặc “Verb- ing”. “During” là giới từ (preposition) không thể dùng với mệnh đề và chỉ dùng trước danh từ hoặc cụm danh từ (noun phrase). Hãy so sánh các câu sau:
We discussed the matter while we were having dinner. While + clause