1. TDC 1
Pedagogical Grammar
Review Class

2. Review – Count and Non-count Nouns
Questions
1. Why don’t ELLs whose first language are
Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, etc normally omit
a and an with count nouns in the singular?
2. What is the difference between the
sentences “I like chickens” and “I like
chicken”?
3. How can we teach ELLs the difference
between little and a little, and few and a
few?
4. When we teach quantifiers, why is it better
to focus on many and much initially?

3. Review – Count and Non-count Nouns
Questions
1. Why don’t ELLs whose first language are
Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, etc normally omit
a and an with count nouns in the singular?
Because they do not have indefinite articles in
their languages.
2. What is the difference between the
sentences “I like chickens” and “I like
chicken”?
“I like chickens” refers to the animal (count
noun), while “I like chicken” refers to the food
(non-count noun).

4. Review – Count and Non-count Nouns
Questions
3. How can we teach ELLs the difference
between little and a little, and few and a
few?
a few / a little – positive connotation
A person who has a few friends is lucky, and a person
with a little time may be able to help you when you
need.
few / little – negative connotation
A person who has few friends is unlucky or
unbearable, and a person with little time may be too
busy to help you if you need.

5. Review – Count and Non-count Nouns
Questions
4. When we teach quantifiers, why is it better
to focus on many and much initially?
Because many and much occur a lot more often
than a few and a little.

6. Review – Prepositions
Questions
1. What is a preposition and what is a
prepositional phrase?
2. Where can we normally place a prepositional
phrase in a sentence?
3. What are the types of prepositions that
beginning students normally learn? What
about intermediate and advanced students?
4. How can we explain the use of at, on and in as
prepositions of time and place?
5. What is one of the five pairs of problem
prepositions? How can we explain them to
ELLs?
6. How can ELLs learn preposition combinations?

7. Review – Prepositions
Questions
1. What is a preposition and what is a
prepositional phrase?
Prepositions are words that show the relationship
between a noun (or pronoun) and the rest of the words
in a sentence.
Prepositional phrases are the combination of a
preposition and the noun phrase working as its object.
2. Where can we normally place a prepositional
phrase in a sentence?
At the beginning, the middle or the end of a sentence.

8. Review – Prepositions
Questions
3. What are the types of prepositions that
beginning students normally learn? What
about intermediate and advanced students?
Beginning students – prepositions with
concrete, non-idiomatic meanings (prepositions
of place and time)
Intermediate students – confusion pairs of
prepositions
Advanced students – combination of verbs and
prepositions and common idioms

9. Review – Prepositions
Questions
4. How can we explain the use of at, on and in as
prepositions of time and place?
smaller PLACE TIME smaller
at MacDonald’s
at
at 5:00 PM
on Green Street on on Monday
in San Francisco in July
in California in the summer
in the United in in 1996
States

10. Review – Prepositions
Questions
5. What is one of the five pairs of problem
prepositions? How can we explain them to
ELLs?
For vs. Since
Before vs. Ago
In vs. After
For vs. During
6. How can ELLs learn preposition combinations?
By rote memorization, direct teacher instruction
followed by practice, and/or massive exposure
through extensive reading.

11. Review – Articles
True or False
F
___ 1. We use a/an for the sencond and all other
references to the same noun.
T
___ 2. We use the for the parts of something, with
the exception of body parts.
F
___ 3. Normally, ELLs first learn to use the for more
specific usages and then a/an for singular count
nouns .
F
___ 4. We use the with all bodies of water, like the
Amazon River.
T
___ 5. We use no article before abstract nouns and
before general categories or groups.
F
___ 6. We use an for all words starting with a vowel.

12. Review – Pronunciation of –s and –ed
Questions
1. How many different ways to pronounce –s in
verbs and in plural nouns and –ed in verbs
and past participles do we have?
2. When do we use each of them?
3. What are the three possible ways in which
variations of sounds are produced?
4. What is a minimal pair? Give examples.
5. How can we make it easier for ELLs to notice
the final sound of a word?

13. Review – Pronunciation of –s and –ed
Questions
1. How many different ways to pronounce –s in
verbs and in plural nouns and –ed in verbs
and past participles do we have?
-s - /s/; /z/; /Əz/
-ed - /d/; /t/; /Əd/
2. When do we use each of them?
After voiced sounds: /z/ and /d/.
After voiceless sounds: /s/ and /t/.
After /d/and /t/: /Əd/
After sibilants: /Əz/

14. Review – Pronunciation of –s and –ed
Questions
3. What are the three possible ways in which
variations of sounds are produced?
a. By altering the place where the sound is made (beat
X but)
b. By altering the manner in which the sound is made
(/f/ - friction of the air X /b/ - stopping the air)
c. By altering voicing (/s/ - voiceless X /z/ - voiced)

15. Review – Pronunciation of –s and –ed
Questions
4. What is a minimal pair? Give examples.
A minimal pair is two words that differ in only one
sound, as for example, cap and cab, or have and half.
5. How can we make it easier for ELLs to notice
the final sound of a word?
To put an example word in a phrase in which the next
word begins with a vowel.
He bagged all of the cans.
He backed all of my ideas.

16. Review – Clauses
Exercise
1. Identify the dependent clauses in the paragraph
below and classify them into adjective, adverb or
noun clauses.
In grammar, a clause is what we call the smallest grammatical
unit that can express a complete proposition. In some languages, it
may be a pair or group of words that consists of a subject and a
predicate, although in other languages, in certain clauses, the
subject may not appear explicitly as a noun phrase, being instead
marked on the verb. The most basic kind of sentence consists of a
single clause. More complex sentences may contain multiple
clauses. Clauses may be independent or dependent. Independent
clauses are those that could stand as a sentence by
themselves, although they may be used connected with other
clauses in a longer sentence. Dependent clauses are those that
would be awkward or nonsensical if they are used alone, and they
must be used in a sentence that also contains an independent
clause.

17. Review – Clauses
Exercise
2. Underline the noun clauses below and write
their nominal/sentential function.
a) That he decided to stay is certainly a problem.
b) We didn't know where the cats were.
c) He told whoever wanted to hear that he was
not coming.
d) Whether a pet has a good home is really
important.
e) This is what everybody wants.
f) It’s terrible that he left.

18. Review – Clauses
Exercise
3. Combine the sentences in each item into
one sentence with an adjective clause.
a) The French language is different from the Latin
language, which was once spoken throughout
language. Latin was once spoken throughout
Europe.
b) Can you looking the reason why tell me the reason?
You are tell me upset. Can you you are looking upset?
c) He had several plans for making money quickly, all of
He had several plans for making money quickly. All
of them have failed.
which have failed.
d) The landlord, was proud of his strength. Heof his
The landlord who despised the weakness despised
tenants, was proud of his strength.
the weakness of his tenants.
e) This is the village where born here.
This is the village. I was I was born.
f) Show me the place where you Show me the place.
f) You put the keys somewhere. put the keys.