A car red: the word that never moves and never changes

Objective & content

This Grammar Fix video (about 4 minutes) fixes one habit that shows in two ways: the describing word after the noun, and a describing word with a plural ending. Freya (British) and Cody (American) give one rule: the adjective goes right before the noun and never changes (one red car, two red cars). The noun still takes its own plural s. Students repeat phrases with the hosts, then play a three-round game.

Pedagogical guide

All our learners come from languages that change adjectives to match the noun, so any class can add an ending to the adjective. French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese speakers also put the adjective after the noun. Polish, Dutch and German put it in front, as English does.

Watch for the opposite mistake: some students learn "nothing changes" and drop the noun's own plural. Game round three catches it. The video says the wrong forms only once. Correct them, do not drill them.

Suggested procedure

1. Before (2 min). Ask students to describe an object in the room in their own language. Note where the describing word goes.
2. Watch (4 min). Play the video once. Students repeat aloud when the hosts say "Say them with me": a red car, two red cars, a big dog.
3. Game (3 min). Play the game again. Both options are on screen and spoken. Pause at each thinking beat ("Have a think", "Hmm... let's see", "Which is it") and ask the class to vote. Warn them that round three is different.
4. After (3 min). In pairs, one student says a noun and the other adds a describing word, singular and plural: old house, old houses.

Materials & prerequisites

• The video, a screen and sound for the whole class.
• The examples are at A1 level. Students need numbers, common nouns and a few adjectives (red, big, old, small).

Assessment & extensions

Give pairs five nouns and five colours or sizes on cards. They build correct phrases, singular and plural, then swap with another pair and check word order and endings.