Review for English Vocab, Grammar & Idioms PDF

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION (English Vocabulary , Grammar, and Correct Usage) Jesellie P. Pastolero-Tripoli, MAT-ELA Language Instructor Vocabulary /vōˈkabyəˌlerē/ (Noun) the body of words used in a particular language. synonyms: word power, lexicon, language, lexis,...

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION (English Vocabulary , Grammar, and Correct Usage) Jesellie P. Pastolero-Tripoli, MAT-ELA Language Instructor Vocabulary /vōˈkabyəˌlerē/ (Noun) the body of words used in a particular language. synonyms: word power, lexicon, language, lexis, words; diction, terminology, terms, expressions, idiom, jargon, vernacular, etc. words used on a particular occasion or in a particular sphere. the body of words known to an individual person. VOCABULARY Word ✓ considered as the fundamental component of communication. ✓ A person's vocabulary is the set of words within a language that are familiar to that person. A vocabulary usually develops with age, and serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge. Acquiring an extensive vocabulary is one of the largest challenges in learning a second language. List of troublesome words in English: 1. all ready- means everybody or everything is ready already- means by this time 2. almost- an adverb meaning nearly most- an adjective which is the superlative of some 3. alumnus- refers to a male graduate (singular) alumni- refers to male graduates (plural) alumna- refers to female graduate (singular) alumnae- refers to female graduates(plural) 4. among- used to refer to more than two persons or things between- used to refer to only two persons or things 5. amount- refers to quantity in bulk number- refers to countable units (persons or things) 6. antagonist- a competitor in any sphere of action; an opponent/ villain protagonist- one who takes the lead in any movement; an advocate; leading character. List of troublesome words in English: 7. behavior- action in conformity with the required standards of decorum conduct- direction or guidance of one’s action 8. beside- means next to or close to besides- means in addition to 9. bother- minor disturbance of one’s peace of mind annoy- stresses temporary disturbance of mind caused by something that displeases one or tries one’s patience 10. bring- to carry towards the speaker take- means to carry away from the speaker 11. can- used to indicate ability or capability may- to indicate permission 12. fail- to be unsuccessful in obtaining a desired end flunk- to fail or to cause to fail in schoolwork List of troublesome words in English: 13. fewer- refer to quantities that can be counted individually less- used for collective quantities that are not counted individually and for abstract characteristics 14. formally- means in a formal manner formerly- previously 15. hanged- used in reference to a person hung- used in reference to a thing 16. I- personal pronoun referring to a speaker me- objective form of the pronoun I 17. in- refers to a state of being (no motion) into- used for motion from one place to another 18. lay- put/place lie- rest/ recline 19. lend- give borrow- get List of troublesome words in English: 20. let- allow or permit leave- go away/ keep in place 21. lawful- allowed by law, not contrary to law legal- established or authorized by law 22. learn- to acquire knowledge/ to find out why teach- to impart knowledge/ to show how 23.love- used to mean to have a strong liking for like- expression of mild inclination 24. passed- past participle of the verb “pass” past- adjective/ a time before the present 25. permit- more positive word; suggesting formal authorization allow- implies no attempt to hinder or prohibit 26. precede- to go before in place, order, rank, or time proceed- to go or move forward List of troublesome words in English: 27. raise- move to a higher place, regular verb rise- get up; irregular verb 28. set- put something sit- sit down 29. suit- used for a set of clothes, lawsuit, set of cards suite- connected series of rooms, set of furniture 30. they’re- means they are their –showing possession there- means place 31. accept- used as a verb meaning to receive except- a verb meaning to make an exception of or exclude. It is also used as a preposition meaning “other than” 32. advice- a noun, means counsel or information advise- a verb, means to counsel 33. affect- a verb, means to change or influence effect- means to bring about 34. bad- used as an adjective( I feel bad) badly- an adverb (he worked badly) 35. can- used to imply ability to may- to imply permission to 36. complement- means to complete compliment- to praise 37. council- governing body counsel-advice or the act of giving advice consul- government official in a foreign country 38. farther-adverb, usually refer to physical distance further- greater extent or in addition 39. fewer- refers to number (fewer parts) less- to amount (less fuel) 40. got-verb, past tense of get, means to obtain or acquire have- verb, means to posses 41. good- usually an adjective well- normally an adverb. Adjective when it pertains to health. 42. illegible- an adjective means unreadable Ineligible- adjective, means not qualified 43. imply- to suggest infer- to conclude 44. stationary- means fixed in position stationery- writing paper 45. to- preposition, means in the direction of too- an adverb, means also or extremely  SEAT WORK CORRECT USAGE Choose the appropriate words for the following sentence. 1. A relatively small (number, amount) of complains were received. 2. The first shift will (precede, proceed) the second shift at the pay window. 3. Jo, James and Jan, (respectfully,respectively) covered the sales territories of Bulacan, Laguna, and Batangas. 4. The T.V. Advertisement brought (fewer, less) responses than expected. 5. Hearing the labor loss, members of the union (implied, inferred) that there will be a meeting tomorrow. 6. Left out in the rain, the pages of her report were almost (ineligible, illegible). 7. He performed very (good,well) as a master of ceremonies. 8. The treasurer distributed the money (among, between) the head of the board of directors and the representatives of all stockholders. 9. The price rise had a bad (affect, effect) of all stock holders. 10. Please (except/ accept) my apologies for disturbing you. PARTS OF SPEECH A. NOUNS – are names of persons, places, events, things and ideas (e.g. lawyer, province, table, New Year, freedom etc.) DIFFERENT KINDS OF NOUNS 1. PROPER NOUNS- are specific and are written in capital letter (e.g. Danica, Dr. Diaz, Christmas, Taft Avenue, Megamall) 2. COMMON NOUNS- are general (e.g. house, girl, street, teacher, country) 3. COLLECTIVE NOUNS-name groups (e.g. team, crowd, organization, family, class etc.) 4. MASS NOUNS- cannot be counted (e.g. hair, sugar, water, sand stars.) 5. CONCRETE NOUNS- exist in the physical world (e.g. flower, chair, bag, man, lion) 6. ABSTRACT NOUNS- refer to ideas and feelings (e.g. love, independence, honesty, freedom, friendship etc.) PROPERTIES OF NOUNS 1. NUMBER of NOUNS (singular or plural) SINGULAR- if the noun is only one PLURAL – if it is two or more Listed below are some RULES in forming the PLURAL of NOUNS: 1. Most nouns add s to the singular form. e.g coin + s= coins student + s = students 2. Add es to nouns ending in a hissing soung (s, ch,sh, x, or z) e.g. tax- taxes church-churches quiz-quizzes 3. Most nouns ending in f or fe change to ve before adding s e.g. calf-calves knife-knives leaf-leaves 4. Most nouns ending in y preceded by a consonant sound change y to I and add es. e.g city-cities lady-ladies reply-replies 5. Nouns ending in y after a vowel add s. e.g. key-keys valley-valleys monkey-monkeys PROPERTIES OF NOUNS Listed below are some RULES in forming the PLURAL of NOUNS: 6. Some nouns ending in o preceded by a consonant add es. e.g. grotto- grottoes tomato-tomatoes hero-heroes 7. Some nouns add en or change the vowel or remain unchanged e.g. ox-oxen child-children sheep-sheep 8. Most compound nouns add s or es to the principal words of the compound. e.g. bookcase-bookcases , runner up-runners up , handful-handfuls 9. A few nouns are plural in form but singular in meaning. e.g. statistics mathematics economics news measles PROPERTIES OF NOUNS 2. GENDER- means sex a. MASCULINE- refers to male (e.g. father, nephew, priest) b. FEMININE- refers to female (e.g. mother, seamstress, daughter) c. COMMON- refers to either male or female (e.g. cousin, teacher, friend) d. NEUTER- has no sex at all (e.g. chair, book, car) SPECIAL FEMININE NOUNS (school, country, ship, nature) 3. CASES OF NOUNS a. NOMINATIVE CASE- if the noun is used as the subject, noun of address, predicate noun or appositive. E.g. Danica looks pretty in her red dress. Celine, come and get your toys The winner in the oratorical contest is Zeus. Dr. Santiago, our new professor, discusses the lesson well. 3. CASES OF NOUNS b. OBJECTIVE CASE- if the noun is used as the direct object, indirect object or object of the preposition. E.g. The students are playing basketball. Charles sent Lourdes a love letter. The concert was held in the park c. POSSESSIVE- shows possession or ownership. LISTED BELOW ARE SOME RULES IN FORMING POSSESSION: 1. Singular nouns add apostrophe and s (‘s) for singular possessive, plural nouns add apostrophe alone. e.g. girl’s girls’ student’s students’ 2. Those nouns that do not end with s, add ‘s to the plural forms. e.g. oxen’s women’s deer’s 3. Add only an apostrophe at the end of a proper noun ending in s or z. e.g. Carlos’ Sanchez’ Perez’ 4. Of phrase is placed after a noun e.g. the dresses of a girl the daughter of the president 3. LISTED BELOW ARE SOME RULES IN FORMING POSSESSION: * In case of an inanimate object, the prepositional phrase with of is used. Noun-noun compounds are also used. e.g. (of phrase) (noun-noun compound) the gate of the garage garage gate the roof of the house house roof * Things, places, and concepts are often allowed by of phrase to indicate association, measure or person. e.g. a box of candy, a cup of sugar, the town of Baliwag * Certain possessive forms of noun denote time, distance, measure and value. e.g. A day’s work, a week’s wage, an hour’s rest B. PRONOUN- ✓ are noun substitutes (e.g. he, they, our, those, it) ANTECEDENT of the pronoun is the noun to which a pronoun refers. A PRONOUN must agree with its antecedent in GENDER, PERSON and NUMBER. KINDS OF PRONOUNS: 1. DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUN- e.g. this, that, these, those this- points out near object(singular) these- points out near objects (plural) that- points out far object (singular) those-points out far objects (plural) KINDS OF PRONOUNS: 2. IDEFINITE PRONOUN- SINGULAR PLURAL Any, one, all, anybody, someone, Both, anyone, somebody, few, each, every, not some, everyone only several, , either, many neither, KINDS OF PRONOUNS: 3. INTERROGATIVE PRONOUN- used in asking questions. e.g. who, which, whom, whose 4. PERSONAL PRONOUN NUMBER PERSON NOMINATIVE OBJECTIVE POSSESSIVE CASE CASE CASE SINGULAR 1ST PERSON I me my, mine 2ND PERSON you you your, yours 3RD PERSON he , she, it him , her, it his, her, hers PLURAL 1ST PERSON me us our, ours 2ND PERSON you you your, yours 3RD PERSON they them their, theirs 4. PERSONAL PRONOUN First person- refers to the speaker Second person- refers to the person spoken to Third person- refers to the person spoken about 5. REFLEXIVE AND INTENSIVE PRONOUNS- are words myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves These words are classified or grouped as REFLEXIVE depending on how they are used in sentences. REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS refer back to the subject of the sentence: E.g. – I gave myself plenty of time to get to work. You should let yourself relax into the house. Carl bought himself a shirt. The dog scratched itself. INTENSIVE PRONOUNS- are the same words used to emphasize the subject of the sentence. E.g. – I myself am sick of the heat. You yourself are responsible for this mess! The president himself appeared at the rally. The actress herself wrote those lines. That cat itself caught the mouse. C. VERB The lifeblood of a sentence. Are action words. Verbs express state of being. (e.g. run, interpret, feel, are, give etc.) FORMS OF VERBS: 1. The BASE FORM (ex. explain, listen, eat) 2. The s form or THIRD PERSON singular (explains, listens, eats) 3. The –ing form or PRESENT PARTICIPLE (explaining, listening, eating) 4. The past form (explained, listened, ate) KINDS OF VERBS: 1. REGULAR VERBS- form their past tense by the addition of d/ed to the base form. Regular verbs have the same form both for the past tense and the past participle. BASE FORM 3RD PERSON Present Past and Past SINGULAR Participle Participle (s-form) (-ing form) act acts acting acted erase erases erasing erased reach reaches reaching reached KINDS OF VERBS: 2. IRREGULAR VERBS- form their past tense and past participle in a different way. Example: SIMPLE FORM PAST FORM PAST PARTICIPLE am/be was been awake awoke awaken begin began begun beat beat beaten buy bought bought bring brought brought bite bit bitten choose chose chosen catch caught caught drive drove driven draw drew drawn eat ate eaten forsake forsook forsaken SIMPLE FORM PAST FORM PAST PARTICIPLE freeze froze frozen get got gotten hide hid hidden meet met met rise rose risen ride rode ridden ring rang rung run ran run shake shook shaken stride strode stridden swear swore sworn sink sank sunk shrink shrank shrunk spring sprang sprung tell told told tear tore torn wear wore worn weave wove woven  SPECIAL IRREGULAR VERBS SIMPLE FORM PAST FORM PAST PARTICIPLE bet bet bet broadcast broadcast broadcast cut cut cut hit hit hit hurt hurt hurt let let let put put put set set set quit quit quit 3. LINKING VERBS- are used to LINK or JOIN the subject with a word on the predicate which relates to the subject. a. VERBS to be (am, is, are, was, were) are the most common linking verbs. b. VERBS OF SENSES : become, smell, sound, appear, seem, feel, remain, taste, look, hear 3. LINKING VERBS Examples: a. My favorite subject is English. b. He looks great in his blue jacket c. My husband became a lawyer in 2005. 4. HELPING/ AUXILIARY VERBS a. Has (sing have pl + Past Participle form of the verb had (sg/pl) b. do (pl -present tense for PLURAL Subj. does (sg) + - present tense for SINGULAR Subj. did(sg/pl) - past tense for either SINGULAR/PLURAL Subj. c. will + simple form of the verb shall (No d/ed, No –ing) TENSES OF THE VERBS Tense means time 1. PRESENT TENSE- a. if the sentence expresses a permanent action. Ex. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. b. if the sentence shows habitual action Ex. He goes to church every Sunday. c. if the sentence expresses an on-going action. Ex. The students are searching in the library now. 2. PAST TENSE- expresses a completed action Ex. a. They transferred to a new building yesterday. b. She gave alms to the beggar this morning. c. Nica recited the poem well. 3. FUTURE TENSE- expresses an action that is yet to be done - A verb phrase using the auxiliary verbs will/shall + the simple form of the verb - Am/is/are+ going to (WOULD/SHOULD/ COULD-CAN) 3. FUTURE TENSE- expresses an action that is yet to be done Examples: a. Will you visit me tonight? b. They will pass their projects next week. c. I shall return. d. Marie is going to Bohol next month/ 4. THE PRESENT PERFECT TENSE – denotes a. An action which started in the past and is continuing in the present. This tense uses has/have + the past participle of the main verb. Ex. Sheila has eaten her lunch. Dennis has submitted his project. b. An action which is completed at the time of speaking. Ex. I have just taken my examination I have gone to the market. 5. PAST PERFECT TENSE – A. An action completed before another past action. Ex. He had left when I arrived. (in this case the first action uses the perfect tense while the second uses the simple past.) b. A condition that was true in the past but is no longer at the time of speaking. Ex. He had seen that movie before. 6. THE FUTURE PERFECT TENSE – denotes a. An action that will be completed before another action Ex. Before I leave, Elena will have gone. b. An action that will have been completed at some definite future time. Ex. By next week, the court will have decided on the case. (this tense uses will/shall + have and the past participle of the main verb.) BASIC RULES IN SUBJECT- VERB AGREEMENT 1. A verb agrees with its subject in person and in number. WRONG: They doesn’t understand what to do. RIGHT: The don’t understand what to do. 2. The number of a noun in a noun phrase introduced by the preposition of does not affect the number of verb. WRONG: A list of books were made by Denzel. RIGHT: A list of books were made by Denzel. 3. Compound subjects joined by and ordinarily take the plural form of he verb. WRONG: Here comes Nanding and Manny. RIGHT: Here come Nanding and Manny. BASIC RULES IN SUBJECT- VERB AGREEMENT 4. When two or more singular subjects are joined by or or nor, a singular form of the verb is required. WRONG: A man’s success or failure lie in his hands. RIGHT: A man’s success or failure lies in his hands. 5. Intervening phrases introduced by of, with, together with, as well as, including, besides, no less than, in addtion to, accomplanied by, not, do not affect the form of the verb. WRONG: The teacher, together with her pupils, were there. RIGHT: The teacher, together with her pupils, was there. 6. Compound nouns joined by and use the singular form of the verb if they are regarded as a unit. Ex. Bread and butter was all he asked for. Rice and fish is the staple food of the Filipinos. BASIC RULES IN SUBJECT- VERB AGREEMENT 7. When the subject and predicate nominative differ in number, the verb must agree with the subject not the complement. WRONG: The theme of the essay are the experiences of our heroes. RIGHT: The theme of the essay is the experiences of our heroes. 8. Compound subjects joined by either-or, neither-nor, not only- but, also ordinarily take the verbs agreeing in number with the nearer subject. WRONG: Not only the students but also the teacher are learning. RIGHT: Not only the students but also the teacher is learning. 9. When the subject comes after the verb make sure that the verb agrees with its subject. WRONG: In this school is enrolled several alien students. RIGHT: In this school are enrolled several alien students. BASIC RULES IN SUBJECT- VERB AGREEMENT 10. Never begin a sentence with a participle that does not logically modify the subject of the sentence. WRONG: Walking around the campus, the bell rang. RIGHT: Walking around the campus, I heard the bell rang. 11. Sentence elements that are grammatically connected should be closed together. WRONG: I, after the class, went to the movies. RIGHT: I went to the movies after my class. 12. Modifiers should be placed as near as possible to the words they modify. WRONG: She rushed into the room just as we are singing the last song breathless with excitement. RIGHT: Breathless with excitement, she rushed into the room just as we are singing the last song. BASIC RULES IN SUBJECT- VERB AGREEMENT 13. Avoid dangling modifiers. WRONG: Having taken the entrance examinations, the President of the College accepted me. RIGHT: After I had taken the entrance examinations, the President of the College accepted me. 14. Ordinarily, this and that take the singular form of the verb while these and those take the plural form of the verb. e.g. That is a good idea. These are times that you have to be quiet. 15. The following indefinite pronouns, whether singular or plural in meaning are ordinarily used with the third person singular form of the verb: each, everybody, everyone, everything,any, anybody, anything, somebody, someone, something, one, nothing, nobody, either, neither, anotherm the other. E.g. Each arrives on time. Everything is in order. BASIC RULES IN SUBJECT- VERB AGREEMENT 16. The following indefinite pronouns belong to the third person. They take the plural form of the verb: all, both, few, many, several, some. E.g. All were satisfied. Both are to be blamed. 17. The title of a book is considered singular. e.g. “The Dialogues “of Plato is a great classic. 18. The word people, meaning many persons is plural. Peoples refer to different races. e.g. The people excited about the news. The peoples of Asia need to be united. 19. The expression the number of takes the singular form of the verb, while the expression a number of takes the plural form of the verb. e.g. The number of students in the class is limited. A number of books are on reserved in the library. BASIC RULES IN SUBJECT- VERB AGREEMENT 20. Noun referring to money, time, measurement or distance that is preceded by an expression of amount or quantity is considered singular and takes the singular form of the verb. E.g. Three hundred pesos is too much for that shirt. Three weeks is a long time to wait for you. 21. The number of the noun that follows an expression of fraction or portion determines the number of the verb to be used. e.g. One-third of the apples are yours. Half of the apple was eaten by rats. 22. Sentences introduced by it take the singular form of the verb. e.g. It is time to say goodbye. It is our duty to take care of our parents. 23. The number of the subject of a sentence introduced by there determines the verb to be used. e.g. There is a man in the room. There are times when she is lonely. There are five schooldays in a week. BASIC RULES IN SUBJECT- VERB AGREEMENT 24. The verb takes an s when it is used in the 3rd person singular of the present tense. E.g. Cyrus plays chess vigorously. 25. The expressions one of the, the number of, and a number of are always followed by plural nouns. e.g. One of the boys is absent. A number of books were stolen. The number of apples was rotten. 26. Some nouns are always plural in form. e.g. Measles, mumps, pants , shorts, scissors, trousers The news is plural in form but singular in meaning. 27. Nouns such as Mathematics, Statistics, Economics, Politics, and Physics are used with the singular form of the verb when they refer to an area of the study. e.g. Physics is required for Science majors. Politics is not dirty per se, but the politicians are the ones making it dirty. BASIC RULES IN SUBJECT- VERB AGREEMENT 28. Possession is usually shown by adding apostrophe (‘) or apostrophe and s (‘s) to a noun. E.g. The boys’ club. The ladies’ club. 29. The infinitive of a verb is always in the simple form e.g. To love is an adventure. Long ago, Bong’s dream was to love in a forest. 30. Nouns singular in form but function collectively e.g. Information, food, equipment, jewelry ADJECTIVES -Adjectives are words that describe, limit or modify nouns and pronouns. (e.g. warm, quick, tall, blue) E.g. The boys’ club. The ladies’ club. - Answers questions which one?, what kind? And how many? THERE ARE THREEE USES OF ADJECTIVES: 1. NOUN MODIFIER is usually placed directly before the noun it describes. (e.g. He is an intelligent man.) 2. PREDICATE ADJECTIVE follows a linking verbs and modifies the subject. (e.g. He is happy. I feel terrible.) 3. ARTICLE OR NOUN MARKER is another name for these adjectives- a, an, and the KINDS OF ADJECTIVES 1. INDEFINITE ADJECTIVE- e.g. some, many, much, several, few, a few, a great deal of, a little a. With countable nouns- e.g. I have (many, several, few) books at home. b. With non-countable nouns-e.g I have (much, a great deal of, little) information on history. c. With both plural countable and non-countable nouns- e.g. He has(some, a lot of, enough) money. d. The indefinite adjectives much, many, little, and few may be modified by too and very. e.g. You are making too much noise. 2. NUMERALS- e.g. one, two, three (cardinals); first, second (ordinals) e.g. He gave me three red roses. She is the third contestant. KINDS OF ADJECTIVES 3. DESCRIPTIVE- e.g new , tall, blue, charming e.g. The charming woman is my aunt. The blue car belongs to my dad. 4. PROPER- proper nouns modifying another noun e.g. American flag Persian carpet Philippine lesson 5. NOUNS- that modify nouns e.g. oak tree plastic bag paper doll 6. PHRASES AND CLAUSES that modify nouns usually introduced by a relative pronoun (that, which, who, whom, whose, where) e.g. The man who is driving the car is my husband. The teacher whom I admire received an award. DEGREE OF COMPARISON 1. POSITIVE- denoted quality; no comparison is needed. 2. COMPARATIVE- denotes quality in the greater or lesser degree; used when two are being compared. 3. SUPERLATIVE- denotes quality in the greatest or least degree; used when more than two are being compared. Adjectives of one or two syllables form the comparative degree by adding er to the positive and est to the superlative. Three or more syllables form the comparative by using more or less and superlative by using most or least. Some adjectives are compared irregularly. e.g. Little- less-least bad-worse-worst many/much-more-most good-better-best E. ADVERB -An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective, or another verb/ (e.g. fast, slowly, very, well) -Answers questions how,where,when and to what degree. -Adverb should not be used to modify nouns. KINDS OF ADVERBS: 1. ADVERB OF MANNER-(how) e.g. He writes (poorly, slowly, neatly). 2. ADVERB OF TIME- (when) e.g. He is coming (tomorrow, next week, next month, tonight. 3. ADVERB OF FREQUENCY –(how often) e.g. He writes to him (daily, weekly, regularly). F. PREPOSITION -A preposition shows the relation between a word and a noun or pronoun that follows. It indicates: a. PLACE AND POSITION- at, in, across, above, below, between, behind, beyond b. DIRECTION AND MOTION- in, toward, out of, about, though, by, down, over c. TIME- at, before, after, during, since, until G. CONJUNCTION - A conjunction connects words or groups of words. 1. Coordinates tie together words that have the same grammatical construction. e.g. and, but, or, for, so, nor, yet G. CONJUNCTION 2. Conjunctions join the independent clause and are used as transition words. e.g. therefore, also, however, in fact, indeed, hence, consequently, furthermore, on the other hand. 3. SUBORDINATES- are function words that join an independent clause to a main clause. e.g. when, where, because, unless, provided, so that, whenever, as long, as far as F. INTERJECTION - An interjection expresses emotion,acts as a signal, or adds a conversational touch. - E.g. ouch, what, wow, hurry, yippee  Today’s pain is tomorrow’s fulfillment! THANK YOU FOR LISTENING! GOOD LUCK AND GOD BLESS!