Hello everybody! How's it going?
In the last class we focused a lot on verbs, right?
Today, you'll learn how to identify other important elements in a sentence!
Let's start with this one!
Here we have some things to highlight, guys.
First of all, Skyline Cruise.
It's a proper noun, it's the name of an airline.
Another proper noun in this sentence is San Francisco,
which, obviously, is the name of a city.
However, there are cases where the noun is not a proper name,
but the name of something that can be either concrete or abstract.
It may also be some profession or function performed by someone.
In this case, it'll be called a common noun.
Let's look at some examples!
In that same sentence we have "passengers",
which is the condition people are in when they're on the plane.
We also have "flight", which is a situation these people are in.
That means that nouns are names for things, people, companies, cities and so on.
A fun fact is that most common nouns in English
have no gender identification as in other languages.
That is, in other languages there are feminine and masculine nouns,
but not in English!
And the good thing is that there's no gender for the article either.
It's very easy guys!
In English we'll always use the same article!
And that goes for plural and singular as well.
Let's take a look at an example to understand this better!
Note, in English,
the noun is also the same, regardless of gender.
And here we're using the singular noun,
now look at the plural form.
The noun is in the plural, "flight attendants",
but the article is the same!
So, in English we don't have to worry about variations,
such as singular or plural and feminine or masculine,
before using the definite article.
We use "the" for every situation.
Now, there's something we must pay attention to.
In some languages it's ok to place a definite article before the proper name,
but not in English, take a look!
There's no article before "Skyline Cruise or "San Francisco".
And why is that? Because in English we do not use articles before proper nouns.
Well, in fact we don't! But there's always the exception, isn't there?
There're some cases when we'll use definite articles with proper names.
Take a look at these sentences.
See? "United States" is a proper name, it's the name of the country,
but it includes a common noun as part of its name, "states".
And when this happens, we use the article. Let's see another example.
Here we use "the" because we have the word "kingdom",
which is a common noun and part of the noun itself.
Well, these are just exceptions, ok guys?
In general, we do not use articles before proper nouns in English.
As for common nouns, it's actually the opposite.
In most cases, when context is specific,
we'll use the definite article before common nouns.
Have a look.
In this case, let's highlight the noun "exit".
Did you know that we use "the" before this noun?
That's because we're talking about a specific exit,
the one nearest to you.
Let's take a look at another example!
Here we have a specific noun in context, which is "seat pocket".
Now, let me show you some examples of situations when nouns are not specific.
In such cases, we'll not use the definite article.
Here guys, we don't use "the" to define the noun "flight"
because we're talking about a general situation.
We all know that smoking is prohibited on airplanes, don't we?
It's not specific to the flight you are on.
Let's look at another example!
In this case, life rafts and life vests are not defined either.
We're talking about these nouns in a general way,
so they're not accompanied by an article.
You might ask me,
"How about the noun seats at the end of the sentence?"
"Why is there no article?"
Well, in this case we decided to specify the noun through a possessive,
which in English is called "possessive adjective".
It's already quite clear that the noun refers to a specific thing
that belongs to someone.
So, we don't use the definite article "the",
let's see an example.
Note that the noun "Cabin Chief" appears with the possessive "your".
So, there's no need to add "the" here.
Let's see another example!
Pay attention to the use of "your" at the begining of the sentence.
We're talking about "your" seatbelt here, so, we don't use "the".
At the end of the sentence we have "the fasten seatbelt sign".
That is, the seatbelt sign that is displayed to all the passengers.
We're not talking about your sign only.
Note that the possessive makes the noun much more specific than the article.
For example, if you want to ask where your seat is,
depending on the sentence you use, it'll not work using "the",
but require a possessive.
For example!
The person can answer you by indicating any seat there on the plane, right?
Now, if you say:
It's very clear you're talking about a specific seat.
The answer to this kind of question might require what we call
"preposition of place".
These prepositions serve to indicate the location of things
and are often used with nouns.
Let's see some examples!
Note that we have two indications of place,
first, we have the noun "overhead compartment"
accompanied by the article "the" and the preposition of place "in".
Then we have the noun "seat" accompanied by "the",
and the preposition "under".
But it's not any seat, it's the one in front of you.
"In front of" is a prepositional expression that also indicates place.
Now take a look at another sentence!
We have the noun "seat" and the preposition "bellow".
Why didn't I use "the" if I'm talking about a specific seat?
If you already know the answer, it means that you're playing close attention.
We don't use "the" with possessives,
and "your" is a possessive, right?
Now, I'll show you a few sentences
so that we think about what indicates place in each of them.
Let's go for the first one!
Which nouns do we have here? "Oxygens masks" and "seat".
And which part of the sentence tells me where?
That's right! "From above your seat".
One more!
This one is easier because we've already seen its nouns and prepositions!
So, where will your belongings be?
That's right! In the seat pocket in front of you!
Note the use of the definite article "the" before seat pocket.
Well guys, the list of prepositions
and noun combinations to create adverbs of place is huge!
As you practice, you'll learn more about them!
So, be sure to do the follow-up activities and I'll see you next class!
Bye!