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DEN5018 GRAMMAR NOTES GRAMMAR WORD CLASSES (PARTS OF SPEECH) OVERVIEW Word Classes, also known as parts of speech, consist of eight parts: o Nouns o Verbs o Adjectives o Adverbs...

DEN5018 GRAMMAR NOTES GRAMMAR WORD CLASSES (PARTS OF SPEECH) OVERVIEW Word Classes, also known as parts of speech, consist of eight parts: o Nouns o Verbs o Adjectives o Adverbs o Pronouns o Prepositions o Conjunctions o Interjections/Exclamations I. NOUN A noun is a word that names something – a person, a place, a thing, or an idea dictionary Melaka happiness architect Some nouns refer to a general class of persons, places or things. They are called common nouns, and they are not capitalised unless they are used to begin a sentence. student university computer Some nouns refer to specific persons, places, or things. They are called proper nouns and they are always capitalised Mahathir Mohamad Cyberjaya National Stadium II. PRONOUN The words that are used to substitute for nouns are called pronouns  As Mohan began to take his computer test, he tried to ignore the beeping sound coming from a cellular phone behind him. DEN5018 GRAMMAR NOTES Unlike a noun, a pronoun does not name a specific person, place, thing or idea. Most common pronouns are as follow: I, me, my, mine You, your, yours He, him, his She, her, hers It, its We, us, ours, ours They, them, their, theirs Who, whose, whom Anybody, everybody, somebody Everyone, no one, someone Something, some, all, many, any Each, none, one, this, that, these Those, which, what III. VERB Every sentence must have a verb. Sometimes the verb is only implied; usually, however, it is stated. A verb is a word that expresses action or state of being and thereby tells us what a noun or a pronoun does or what it is. If the verb tells us what a noun or pronoun does, it is an action verb.  Aqilah paints beautiful landscapes, which she hides in her room.  Neil Armstrong landed on the moon in 1969.  Marijuana is criminalised in the US. Another form of verb is called auxiliary verbs. (helping verbs). It includes the following: “Be” verbs: am, is, are, was, were We are doing this for you. “Have” verbs: has, have, had Have you seen the man? “Do” verbs: does, do, did He does not want to utter even a single word to anybody. Modal verbs: can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must He could be the person you wanted to meet. IV. ADJECTIVE An adjective is a word that modifies nouns and pronouns. Adjectives usually answer one of the following questions: How many? What kind? Which one? What colour?  How many? Many students believe that the Social Security System will be bankrupt, before they will be old enough to retire. (MANY modifies students) DEN5018 GRAMMAR NOTES  What colour? His purple socks did not complement his red suit. (PURPLE modifies socks)  Which one? This backpack was found in the cafeteria. (THIS modifies backpack.) The adjectives in the sentences above came immediately before the nouns they modified. Some adjectives, however, come after linking verbs and describe the subject of the verb. Study the following sentences carefully:  We were surprised to learn that old pairs of American jeans in Russia are very expensive. (EXPENSIVE modifies the noun pairs.)  After waiting in the hot sun for three days, the refugees became angry. (ANGRY modifies the noun refugees.) Progressive pronouns (pronouns that show ownership such as my, your, her, his, our, there are adjectives when they come before nouns. Look at the following examples:  our apartment  their lunch break  my employer Demonstrative pronouns (pronouns that point out or indicate) are adjectives when the come before nouns. Look at the following examples:  this building  that sentence  these flowers  those books A special type of adjective is called the article. The English language contains three articles: a, an (before words that begin with a vowel sound), and the.  After an absence of sixteen years, Michael returned to the city of his birth and a parade in his honour. V. ADVERB Adverbs are words that describe or modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. Look at the sentences below. The huge chopper transported the soldiers QUICKLY modifiers the verb transported. quickly. The extremely tall guard dribbled the EXTREMELY modifies the adjective tall, and basketball slowly. SLOWLY modifies the verb dribbled. The tall guard dribbled the basketball very VERY modifies the adverb slowly. slowly. Adverbs usually answer the following questions: When? How? To what extent? When? Harriet immediately realised that he had confused Susan with her sister. (IMMEDIATELY modifies the verb realised) DEN5018 GRAMMAR NOTES Where? Please wait here. (HERE modifies the verb wait) How? The smugglers struggled unsuccessfully to escape. (The adverb UNSUCCESSFULLY modifies the verb struggled) To What extent? The administration building was completely remodelled after the election. (the adverb COMPLETELY modifies the verb was remodelled) Adjectives and adverbs are often confused as adjectives describe nouns and pronouns while adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other verbs. Look at the following sentences.  Her loud hiccups distracted the speakers. (LOUD is an adjective because it modifies the noun hiccups.)  If you sneeze loudly, you will distract the speaker. (LOUDLY is an adverb because it modifies the verb sneeze) Many adverbs are formed by adding –ly to the adjective (as in loudly, in the sentence above). But keep in mind that some adverbs do not end in –ly (above, never, there, very). On the other hand some words that end with –ly are not adverbs (words like, silly, friendly and lovely). VI. PREPOSITION Prepositions are connecting words – they do not have any meaning or content in or of themselves. They exist only to show relationships between other words. For this reason they must simply be learned or remembered. Prepositions are words like, at, by, from, and with that are usually followed by a noun or pronoun (at home, by herself, from work, with you). The word following the preposition is called the object: the preposition and its object are called a prepositional phrase. Prepositional phrases can have more than one object, and that some prepositions are made up of more than one word. Examples of prepositional phrases are as follows: below the deck between you and me from coast to coast through the final week Some of the most common prepositions are listed below. about by outside above during over across for past against from round along in through among inside to around into toward behind near under below of until beneath off up besides on with between onto within beyond out Prepositional phrases may serve the same function as either adjectives or adverbs in sentence. DEN5018 GRAMMAR NOTES Adjective News of an impending rebellion panicked the government. (The phrase in bold modifies the noun news). Adjective The ushers in blue shirts quieted the crowd. (The phrase in bold modifies the noun usher) Adverb Tommy and Oscar left during the examination. (The phrase in bold modifies the verb left). Adverb The war victims spoke with emotion. (The phrase in bold modifies the verb spoke). VII. CONJUNCTION A conjunction is a word that joins word or groups of words. In a sense, conjunctions are like prepositions: they do not represent things or qualities. Instead, they merely show different kinds of relationships between other words or groups of words. (i) Coordinating Conjunctions: FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so  Dini speaks English and Chinese fluently.  Nguyen was born in Vietnam, but he moved to the United States at the age of four. (ii) Correlative Conjunctions: Both….and; either….or; neither….nor; not only….but also  Both Jennifer and Elaine are cleaning their apartment.  Afizal will either continue his graduate studies or work in his father’s shop.  Kelly was not only the first girl in class but also the most active student in school. (iii) Subordinating Conjunctions Patrick Tam | Kevin Ch after when even if whenever as while even though though as if despite if although because once since until before even whatever unless  It was dawn when I arrived at the airport.  Although it is a difficult task, reconstruction of a few ancient cities has been accomplished. VII. INTERJECTION/EXCLAMATION The interjection (or exclamation) is a word that expresses emotion and has no grammatical relationship with the rest of the sentence. Mild interjections are followed by a comma:  No, it’s too early.  Oh, I suppose so.  Yes, that would be fine. DEN5018 GRAMMAR NOTES Strong interjections require an exclamation mark:  Wow! Your presentation was excellent!  Ouch! That hurts!  Help! SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT (SVA) The general rule is singular verb must have a singular subject and a plural verb must have a plural subject. A student reads newspaper every day. Students read newspaper every day. What is a subject?  the person or thing that performs the action  comes before the main verb  a noun - Elephants are smart.  noun phrase - Those lazy workers were fired.  pronoun - She is sweet and kind. What is a verb?  A verb is used to express an action: speak, tells, ran, argued, fights  A verb is used to express state of being is, seems, feels, thinks  Every sentence must have a verb Subjects with a singular verb form Singular nouns  Amirul is studying English in London.  My uncle stays with us. Uncountable nouns  Refined sugar is not good for the health.  Time is important to him. Two or more singular subjects joined by “or” or “nor”  Neither Lisa nor Grace was in when I called at their house.  Either the cat or the dog has eaten the fish Each, everyone, somebody, everything, any, etc.  Every student has a textbook.  Each child has to bring a small gift.  Nobody seems to know who took my umbrella. Nouns plural in form but singular in meaning  The news is out all over town that Joe is married.  Physics is an interesting subject. DEN5018 GRAMMAR NOTES Double expressions but singular in meaning  Fish and chips is a favourite meal for the British.  Rock and roll is my father’s favourite music. Some nouns with plural forms such as troops, savings, riches, thanks, clothes, etc.  The troops are still in Iraq.  His clothes were always well pressed.  My mother’s savings are safely invested.  The police are patrolling our neighbourhood at night.  The cattle are grazing on the field Collective nouns with either a singular or plural verb form  committee  government  union  club  firm  company  department  team The group of people as people – plural verbs  The committee often fail to decide on anything; they disagree among themselves, and they sometimes start shouting.  My family have grown bigger. (size of people) The group of people as a unit – singular verbs  The committee, which sits every first Monday in the month, consists of all department heads.  My family has grown bigger. (number of people) Expressions of quantity with either a singular or plural verb form  A lot of my relatives are attending the wedding. (plural)  A lot of milk is needed for this pudding. (singular)  Some of the boys are not in uniform.  Some of the sugar has melted.  Most of the pupils have paid their fees.  Most of the money has been spent. DEN5018 GRAMMAR NOTES VERB TENSES Verb tenses are used to express time. There are three basic tense forms in English: the present, the past, and the future. (a) The Present Tenses The present tenses are divided into four categories: i) The Simple Present Tense This tense is used to talk about the following:  repeated actions or habits. Examples: I drive to work every day. She stays at home and cooks dinner every evening.  situations which are permanent Examples: We live in Cheras. Ariff works in Kota Bharu.  general truths or facts. Examples: The longest river in Malaysia is Sungai Rajang in Sarawak. Hindus consider the cow sacred. ii) The Present Progressive Tense / Present Continuous Tense This tense is used to talk about the following:  something which is in progress at the moment of speaking Examples: Where is Lewis? He is mowing the lawn. You may turn up the radio. The children are not studying. iii) The Present Perfect Tense Sentences in this tense connect the past with the present. This tense is used to talk about the following:  something which started in the past and continues up to the present DEN5018 GRAMMAR NOTES Examples: I have studied in Spain for eight months. (= She is still studying in Spain now). Reuben and Dinesh have been friends for twelve years. (= They are still friends now).  things which happened during a period of time that continues up to the present Examples: I have backpacked to Europe and Indochina. (= in my life, up to now) What's the scariest thing that has ever happened to you? (= in your life, up to now) iv) The Present Perfect Continuous Tense Sentences in this tense also connect the past with the present. They often talk about the following:  something which started in the past and has been in progress up to the present Examples: She has been waiting for her parents for two hours. How long have you been working in this company?  an action which has been in progress up to the recent past, especially if it has results in the present Example: It has been raining. (It is not raining now, but there are puddles everywhere.) Source: Beaumont, D. & Granger, C. (1998). The Heinemann English Grammar: An Intermediate Reference and Practice Book. Oxford: Heinemann. (b) The Past Tenses The past tenses are divided into the following categories: i) The Simple Past Tense This tense is used to talk about actions and situations in the past. DEN5018 GRAMMAR NOTES Examples: I swam yesterday evening. They did not go to Phuket during the May holidays. They went to Pulau Redang instead. ii) The Past Progressive Tense / Past Continuous Tense This tense talks about an action or situation that had started, but had not finished at a past time. Examples: We saw you talking to Mervin this morning. Were you playing hockey at 6pm yesterday evening? iii) The Past Perfect Tense This tense is used to refer back to an earlier past when talking about the past. Examples: They arrived at Farah's house at 7 pm, but she had already left. He had not studied for the examination, so he was very nervous. iv) The Past Perfect Progressive Tense / Past Perfect Continuous Tense This tense is also used to refer back to an earlier past when talking about the past. Examples: They had been practicing football when the accident happened. Hazrin was very tired when he arrived at my house as he had been working all day. Source: Beaumont, D. & Granger, C. (1998). The Heinemann English Grammar: An Intermediate Reference and Practice Book. Oxford: Heinemann. DEN5018 GRAMMAR NOTES (c) The Future Tenses The future tenses can be divided into the following categories: i) The Simple Future Tense This tense is used for the following functions:  to make predictions about the future Examples: That branch looks flimsy. It is going to break. It will rain today. Look at how dark the sky is.  to talk about what we plan to do in the future Examples: The room looks messy. I will clean it up. We are going to Singapore this weekend. I shall go shopping this evening. ii) The Future Progressive Tense / Future Continuous Tense This tense is used to talk about something that will be in progress at a time in the future. Examples: We'll be watching a movie tonight. What will they be doing tomorrow morning? Don't call him in the evenings. He will be sleeping. iii) The Future Perfect Tense This tense is used to talk about something that will be completed by (not later than) a certain time in the future. Examples: I'll have finished my homework by 3.00. We can meet then. They will have lived in Australia for three years next July. DEN5018 GRAMMAR NOTES (iv) The Future Perfect Progressive Tense / Future Perfect Continuous Tense This tense is used to talk about actions being in progress over a period of time that will end in the future. Example: Harriet and Wen Keong will have been working in Dubai for three years when they come back to Malaysia next June. Source: Beaumont, D. & Granger, C. (1998). The Heinemann English Grammar: An Intermediate Reference and Practice Book. Oxford: Heinemann. ***************