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  • Hi, guys. I'd like to share with you one of my pet peeves.

  • "Pet peeves" means something

  • that other people do that make you angry. So, I am an ESL teacher, and I love teaching,

  • but something really pisses me off, something really makes me angry, and it is when people

  • do not say the "s" at the end of words. Now, I understand that this is at first a pronunciation

  • problem, so you guys are going to go to Emma's video that she made: "Words Ending in 's'".

  • So, this will teach you all about the pronunciation of the word "s" at the end of words.

  • So, www.engvid.com will give you...。

  • Type in "s pronunciation", and you've got that video right there. After

  • you watch that video, there will be no excuse. So, please, try. Help me out.

  • And I'm going to tell you why it's so important. First example: Use the "s" is if you said

  • to someone, for example: "I like cat" or "I like dog",

  • this means you want to say that you like dogs, cats, you think they're cute, you maybe have a couple pets. But guess what?

  • If you say: "I like cat and I like dog", this means you like to eat them. So you don't want

  • someone to think that you like to eat dogs or cats, now, do you? So, it's crucial (very important)

  • that you always try to remember to put the "s". So, instead of saying:

  • "I like cat and I like dog", we're going to say: "I like cats and I like dogs."

  • If it's an animal that you like, you're going to put the "s", with the exception of chicken...

  • You can like chickens. But if you like to eat it, you're not going to put the "s". So,

  • for example: "My favourite food is chicken." So, I would say: "I like chicken." But if

  • I like the animal: "Bawk, bawk, bawk", maybe a bit too much, I would say: "I like chickens."

  • So, be careful. You don't want to say to someone: "I like sheep",

  • because that just... That's a different subject.

  • So, the first rule that you have to remember with this is we always use an "s" with countable

  • nouns. So, a "countable noun" means something that you can count in groups. For example:

  • dogs, cats; one dog, two dogs, three dogs. You can count them. We have countable and

  • uncountable nouns in English. If you're not too sure, you can reference it on www.engvid.com

  • or you can look in a grammar book or a dictionary, and you will know if it's countable or uncountable.

  • So, rule number one is that every countable noun will have to have an "s" if it's plural.

  • If you look at my example... Now, I hear this all the time. I will ask someone:

  • "Wow. Cool shoes. How much were they?"

  • "40 dollar." And, let me see, 40 dollar, 40 dollar, what?

  • Because "dollars" are countable, you have to put the "s". So, it's not: "40 dollar",

  • it's "40 dollars". So: "I have 5 dollars." Now, if you only have one of something that's

  • countable, that's okay, you don't need the "s". So, for example: "I have one dog."

  • I don't put the "s". If you have one of something that's countable, you don't need the "s",

  • but as soon as you have two, you need to put the "s".

  • The other words that we're going to look at are more of a grammar-based thing, but that's

  • cool. "There were several", maybe this is a new word for you. "Several" means the same

  • as "a lot" or "many". It means more than one. So, for example, if you say: "There was...

  • There were several dog", this doesn't make sense; because this means more than one, I

  • have to write the "s". I say: "There were several dogs."

  • "I have a lot of cat".

  • So, if you told me that you have a lot of cat, I think that you're

  • going to invite me to eat the cat that you have, because you have a large portion of

  • cat for me to eat. I have never eaten cat. I probably would, but I don't think you would

  • like me to eat your cat, so you have to say: "I have a lot of cats." Meow. Crazy cat ladies,

  • hello.

  • Next one, I hear people say: "Oh, my city has many tree." Huh, okay. Well, "many", which

  • means the same as "a lot" or "several", again, you need the "s". So, you have to say... Not

  • "tress". "My city has many trees."

  • One more that's even more confusing for you guys is "too many". Now, "many", and "a lot",

  • and "several" are always positive things. Okay? But "too many" is always a bad thing

  • or a negative thing. So, if you like trees and cats and dogs, you can use "many". But

  • if you don't like the countable noun, you have to say "too many". So, for example, I

  • can say: "She has too many brothers."

  • So, maybe you know somebody that has 10 brothers,

  • and you don't like the brothers, you can say:

  • "Mm, she's got too many brothers. I don't like that."

  • Maybe you know someone that has 15 children, you can say:

  • "Oh my god, well,

  • in my opinion, she just has too many kids." Now, the word "children" is countable, so

  • it's plural, so you don't need to worry about the "s", but "kids" is countable. So:

  • "She has too many brothers", "too many kids". When it's "too many", it's something you don't

  • like. But these ones are something that you like or you think are okay. So, as far as

  • the grammar sense goes, if you can remember "several", "a lot", and "many", you're going

  • to remember to put the "s".

  • There's one more group of words that I think are confusing, but that's cool. We have in

  • English: "no one", "nobody", "anyone", "anybody", "everyone", and "everybody". Now, to help

  • you guys out: "no one" and "nobody" mean exactly the same. Okay? "Anyone", "anybody", they're

  • the same. It doesn't matter. But when you use these words, you always need to make sure

  • that your verb is going to be singular. So, for example, I can say:

  • "No one" or "Nobody likes", okay?

  • Because this is a singular, we need to put an "s" on our verb.

  • "Nobody likes taxes." Hmm. Taxes are terrible. "Everybody" or "Everyone has"... We can't say:

  • "Everyone have". We have to say: "Everyone has a brain."

  • Sometimes I wonder about this, but I know,

  • physically, everyone has a brain. Okay? I can't say: "Nobody like taxes." I have to

  • say: "Nobody likes". So, if you have: "no-", "any-", or "every-", "one" or "body", you

  • always have to make sure that your verb is a singular, takes a singular noun.

  • Go check out Emma's lesson, and remember: Anytime that you have a countable noun that's

  • more than one, please do Ronnie a big favour, and please say the "s".

  • Later.

Hi, guys. I'd like to share with you one of my pet peeves.

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