english grammar?

4 Comments

1. Matt W says:

   March 10, 2010 at 6:08 am

   1)you are a boy. sorry, but that is just kind of obvious to the ear. however, a key reason is because "boy" is a noun not an adjective. you could say "i am male" because male can be an adjective, but you must use an article (a, an, the) before nouns in this case.

   2) I am a boy. same reason

   3) this is a pair of socks. "of socks" is possessive. you could remove it from the sentence leaving "this is a pair". because pair is singular you need the singular demonstrative adjective (this).

   4) grapes are small fruit. fruit is like the word moose. the plural and singular use the same form.

   hope that helps!
2. AnswererformrelyknownasAlakazam says:

   March 10, 2010 at 6:08 am

   1). "You are a boy" is correct. The sentence must sound right to make it work. If you were using the word "male" instead of boy, then either would work. If you are unsure, try to say it out loud.

   2) "I am a boy"— same as #1

   3. "This is a pair of socks" "This" is singular. "pair" is a collective noun, meaning that it is one thing with many parts. You use "pair" when you are addressing two things at a time. You would use "class" when addressing the entire class.

   4) Both seem to be correct.
3. Megan B says:

   March 10, 2010 at 6:08 am

   1) you are a boy. you are boy doesnt make sense without an article in front of boy
   2) i am a boy. same as above
   3) this is a pair of socks. its singular, because there is only 1 pair. "these" is only for plural.
   4) grapes are small fruit. (i think) because it is plural, you don’t need an article.
4. Manna says:

   March 10, 2010 at 6:08 am

   you are boy , you are a good boy
   I am boy , I am a neat boy
   ‘a’ is used with adjective in this case.
   this is a pair of socks, because this is a pair
   grapes are a small fruit.