Bismilllaaah senjata untuk EAP, dibela-belain 2 minggu liburan untuk berkutat di sekitar

Solo saja semoga ada hasil dan tidak sia-sia aamiin.

There are two special forms for verbs called voice:
Active voice
The active voice is the "normal" voice. This is the voice that
You are probably already familiar with the

we use most of the time.

active voice. In the active voice, the object

receives the action of the verb:

Example
active

subject verb

object

>
Cats

eat

fish.

Passive voice
The passive voice is less usual. In the passive voice, the subject receives the action of the
verb:
Example
passive

subject verb

object

are eaten

by cats.

<
Fish

The object of the active verb becomes the subject of the passive verb:
Example
subject verb

object

active

Everybody

drinks water.

passive

Water is drunk

by everybody.

Use of Passive
Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not

important or not known,

however, who or what is performing the action.

Example: My bike was stolen.
In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen. I do not know,
however, who did it.
Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active
example shows:
Example: A mistake was made.

voice, as the following

In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I

do not blame anyone

(e.g. You have made a mistake.).

Form of Passive
Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle (3rd column

of irregular verbs)

Example: A letter was written.

When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the

following:

the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the

passive sentence

the finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past

participle)

the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the

dropped)
Examples of Passive
Tense

Subject

Simple Present
Passive:

Active:Rita

A letteris written

Simple Past
Passive:

Verb

Active:Rita

A letterwas written

Present Perfect

Active:Rita

Object
writes a letter.
by Rita.
wrote a letter.
by Rita.
has written

a letter.

Passive:

A letterhas been written

by Rita.

Future I

Active:Rita

a letter.

Passive:

A letterwill be written by Rita.

Hilfsverben
Passive:

will write

Active:Rita

can write

a letter.

A lettercan be written by Rita.

Examples of Passive
Tense

Subject

Present Progressive
Passive:

Verb

Active:Rita

A letteris being written

Past Progressive Active:Rita

Passive:

Active:Rita

Passive:

by Rita.
a letter.

by Rita.

had written

A letterhad been written

Future II Active:Rita

is writing

was writing

A letterwas being written

Past Perfect
Passive:

Object

a letter.

by Rita.

will have written

a letter.

A letterwill have been writtenby Rita.

Conditional I

Active:Rita

would write

a letter.

a letter.

passive sentence (or is

Passive:

A letterwould be written

Conditional II
Passive:

Active:Rita

by Rita.

would have written

A letterwould have been written

a letter.

by Rita.

Passive Sentences with Two Objects

Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that one of the two
objects becomes the subject, the other one
into a subject depends on

remains an object. Which object to transform

what you want to put the focus on.

Examples of Passive
Subject

Verb

Object 1

Object 2

Active:

Rita

wrote a letter to me.

Passive:

A letterwas written

to me by Rita.

Passive:

a letter by Rita.

was written

As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not sound very elegant. Thats
why it is usually

dropped.

Personal and Impersonal Passive

Personal Passive simply means that the object of the active
subject of the passive sentence. So every verb

sentence becomes the

that needs an object (transitive verb) can

form a personal passive.

Example: They build houses. - Houses are built.
Verbs without an object (intransitive verb) normally cannot form a
sentence (as there is no object that can become the
want to use an intransitive

personal passive

subject of the passive sentence). If you

verb in passive voice, you need an impersonal construction -

therefore this passive is called Impersonal Passive.

Example: he says - it is said
Impersonal Passive is not as common in English as in some
German, Latin). In English, Impersonal
perception (e. g.

other languages (e.g.

Passive is only possible with verbs of

say, think, know).

Example: They say that women live longer than men. - It is said that women live longer
than men.
Although Impersonal Passive is possible here, Personal Passive is more common.

Example: They say that women live longer than men. - Women are said to live longer
than men.
The subject of the subordinate clause (women) goes to the beginning of
sentence; the verb of perception is put into passive voice. The
added using an infinitive construction with

the

rest of the sentence is

'to' (certain auxiliary verbs and that are

dropped).
Sometimes the term Personal Passive is used in English lessons if the indirect object of
an active sentence is to become the

subject of the passive sentence

The object of the verb takes the position of Subject.The Subject of the verb in the active
preceeded by the preposition by.The tense of

voice becomes the object and is usually

the verb in the passive voice remains the same as in the active voice.In the passive voice,
third form of the verb is used.
Active/Passive Voice Rules Chart
Tense

Rules

Present Indefinite Tense is/am/are + V3

Present Continuous Tense is/am/are + being+V3;
Present Perfect Tense

has/have + been + V3

Past Indefinite Tense

was/were + V3

Past Continuous Tense

was/were + being +V3

Past Perfect Tense had + been + V3;

Future Indefinite Tense ; will/shall + be + V3
Future Perfect Tense

will/shall + have+been + V3

Modal Verb: will, shall, would should, can, could, may, might,must,ought to + V1
Modal Verb + be + V3
Infinity: to + V1 to be + V3
I, We, He, She, They are changed into

tome, us, him, her, them

Take care of singular and plural nature of nouns or pronouns.

Verb/helping verb

requires to be adjusted accordingly.

Interrogative sentences beginning with wh words like what,

why, when etc.

thequestion word is retained in the beginning of the sentence. An interrogative sentence in

theactive voice remains an

interrogative in the passive form. An imperative sentence is a

sentence showing order, or request. So, accordingly, in the passive voice, we say:
You are requested/ordered/advised + infinive with to.
Sentences involving order/advice are preferably changed into
wordlet or should. Please close the door. You
your soul. Your soul should be
should be

passive by using the

are requested to close the door. Save

saved. Let your soul be saved. Do it. Let it be done. It

done. In some sentence the subject is understood type. Here the

has to be suppliedaccording to the context while changing them

subject

into active form. The

thief was arrested. (by the police.)

Preoposition attached with the verbs in the active form continue

to be attached

with themeven in the passive form. Please listen to him. You are requested to listen to him.
He turneddown my proposal. My
having two

proposal was tuned down by him.k In the case of a verb

objects in Active Voice, either of them can be retained inthe passive.

Hari gave me an apple. I was given an apple by Hari. An apple was given to me byHari.
Intransitive verbs do not have passive forms. I go to school. Go is intransitive verb. Sono
passive form. What is done, cannot be

undone. What people do, they cannot undo.

Quasi Passive Verbs: The rose smells sweet. The rose is sweet when smelt. Quinine
tastes bitter. Quinine is bitter when tasted.

Lemons taste sour. Lemons are sour when

tasted.
With some verbs, preposition by is not used. Like know (to), surprise (at), annoy
(with),contain (in), vex (with), please (with), displease (at), alarm (at), line (with), throng
(with)

The object of the verb takes the position of Subject.The Subject of the verb in the active
voice becomes the object and is usually

preceeded by the preposition by.The tense of

the verb in the passive voice remains the same as in the active voice.In the passive voice,
third form of the verb is used.

Active/Passive Voice Rules Chart

Tense

Rules

Present Indefinite Tense is/am/are + V3

Present Continuous Tense is/am/are + being+V3;
Present Perfect Tense

has/have + been + V3

Past Indefinite Tense

was/were + V3

Past Continuous Tense

was/were + being +V3

Past Perfect Tense had + been + V3;

Future Indefinite Tense ; will/shall + be + V3
Future Perfect Tense

will/shall + have+been + V3

Modal Verb: will, shall, would should, can, could, may, might,must,ought to + V1
Modal Verb + be + V3
Infinity: to + V1 to be + V3
I, We, He, She, They are changed into

tome, us, him, her, them

Take care of singular and plural nature of nouns or pronouns.

Verb/helping verb

requires to be adjusted accordingly.

Interrogative sentences beginning with wh words like what,

why, when etc.

thequestion word is retained in the beginning of the sentence. An interrogative sentence in

theactive voice remains an

interrogative in the passive form. An imperative sentence is a

sentence showing order, or request. So, accordingly, in the passive voice, we say:
You are requested/ordered/advised + infinive with to.
Sentences involving order/advice are preferably changed into
wordlet or should. Please close the door. You
your soul. Your soul should be
should be

passive by using the

are requested to close the door. Save

saved. Let your soul be saved. Do it. Let it be done. It

done. In some sentence the subject is understood type. Here the

has to be suppliedaccording to the context while changing them

subject

into active form. The

thief was arrested. (by the police.)

Preoposition attached with the verbs in the active form continue

to be attached

with themeven in the passive form. Please listen to him. You are requested to listen to him.

He turneddown my proposal. My
having two

proposal was tuned down by him.k In the case of a verb

objects in Active Voice, either of them can be retained inthe passive.

Hari gave me an apple. I was given an apple by Hari. An apple was given to me byHari.
Intransitive verbs do not have passive forms. I go to school. Go is intransitive verb. Sono
passive form. What is done, cannot be

undone. What people do, they cannot undo.

Quasi Passive Verbs: The rose smells sweet. The rose is sweet when smelt. Quinine
tastes bitter. Quinine is bitter when tasted.

Lemons taste sour. Lemons are sour when

tasted.
With some verbs, preposition by is not used. Like know (to), surprise (at), annoy
(with),contain (in), vex (with), please (with), displease (at), alarm (at), line (with), throng
(with)
Adjectives describe or give information about nouns or pronouns.
For example:The grey dog barked. (The adjective grey describes the noun

"dog".

The good news is that the form of an adjective does not change.
if the noun being modified is male or female,

singular or plural, subject or object.

Some adjectives give us factual information about the noun adjectives - can't be argued with). Some
something or somebody -

It does not matter

age, size colour etc (fact

adjectives show what somebody thinks about

nice, horrid, beautiful etc (opinion adjectives - not everyone

may agree).
If you are asked questions with which, whose, what kind, or how
an adjective to be able to answer.
There are different types of adjectives in the English language:
1) Numeric: six, one hundred and one

many, you need

2) Quantitative: more, all, some, half, more

than enough

3) Qualitative: colour, size, smell etc.

4) Possessive: my, his, their, your
5) Interrogative: which, whose, what
6) Demonstrative: this, that, those, these
Ammu is tall.
Job is taller than Ammu.
Mohan is the tallest of the three.
In the second sentence, the word taller is the comparative
The comparative form of the adjective denotes a
when two people or things are

form of the adjective.

higher degree of the adjective tall

compared.

In the third sentence, the word tallest is the superlative form of the adjective. The
superlative form of the adjective denotes

the highest degree of the adjective tall when

more than two people or things are compared.

Here are some simple rules to keep in mind when forming

comparatives and

superlatives.
RULE 1
For most adjectives, er is added for the comparative form and est

for the superlative

form. Tall Taller Tallest

Strong

Stronger Strongest

Short Shorter Shorter

Kind

Kinder - Kindest

RULE 2
For adjectives ending with e, r is added for the comparative form
superlative form. Wise Wiser Wisest
Large Larger Largest
Nice Nicer Nicest
Fine
RULE 3

Finer - Finest

and st for the

For adjectives ending with y, y is removed and ier is added for

comparative form

and iest for the superlative form.

Lazy

Lazier Laziest

Crazy Crazier Craziest

Wealthy

Wealthier Wealthiest

Heavy Heavier - Heaviest

RULE 4
Usually for longer adjectives, more + adjective is used for

comparative form and

most + adjective is used for superlative form.

Handsome More Handsome Most Handsome
Beautiful

More Beautiful Most Beautiful

Intelligent More Intelligent Most Intelligent

Difficult More Difficult

Most Difficult

RULE 5
Irregular Adjectives: There are some irregular adjectives for which

the comparative

and superlative form follow no particular rule.

Good Better Best
Bad Worse Worst
Many More

Most

Little Less - Least

Where a number of adjectives are used together, the order

depends on the function

of the adjective. The usual order is:

Value/opinion, Size, Age/Temperature, Shape, Colour, Origin, Material
Order of adjectives
Value/opinion
Size

delicious, lovely, charming

small, huge, tiny

Age/Temperature old, hot, young

Shape

round, square, rectangular

Colour

red, blonde, black

Origin

Swedish, Victorian, Chinese

Material

plastic, wooden, silver

Examples:
a lovely old red post-box
some small round plastic tables
some charming small silver ornaments

Adverbs of certainty express how certain or

sure we feel about an action or event.

Usage
Common adverbs of certainty:
certainly , definitely,

probably, undoubtedly, surely

1. Adverbs of certainty go before the main verb but after the

He definitely left the house this

verb 'to be':

morning.

He is probably in the park.

2. With other auxiliary verb, these adverbs go between the

auxiliary and the main

verb:
He has certainly forgotten the

meeting.

He will probably remember tomorrow.

3. Sometimes these adverbs can be placed at the beginning of the
Undoubtedly , Winston Churchill was

a great politician.

BE CAREFUL! with surely. When it is placed

means the speaker thinks

sentence:

at the beginning of the sentence, it

something is true, but is looking for confirmation:

Surely you've got a bicycle?

Many adverbs end in -ly. We form such adverbs by adding -ly to
Here are some

the adjective.

Examples
quickly,softly,strongly,honestly,interestingly
But not all words that end in -ly are adverbs. "Friendly", for

example, is an adjective.

Some adverbs have no particular form, for example:

well, fast, very, never, always, often, still
Tenses & Rules
adjective adverb
dangerous dangerously
careful

carefully

nice

nicely

horrible

horriblely

easy

easyly

irregular forms
good

well

fast

fast

hard

hard

The principal job of an adverb is to modify

adjectives and other adverbs. In
word that it

the following examples, the adverb is in bold and the

modifies is in italics.

Modify a verb:
- John speaks loudly. (How does John speak?)
- Mary lives locally. (Where does Mary live?)
- She never smokes. (When does she smoke?)
Modify an adjective:

(give more information about) verbs,

- He is really handsome.
Modify another adverb:
- She drives incredibly slowly. But adverbs have other functions, too. They can:
Modify a whole sentence:
- Obviously, I can't know everything.
Modify a prepositional phrase:
- It's immediately inside the door.
an adverb modifies other verbs(verbs are in bold/adverbs are in italics)
The thief acts stupidly. (answers the

question:how?)

The thief never shoots, because he has no

The thief robs locally.

gun.(answers the question: when?)

(answers the question:where?)

an adverb modifies other adjectives (adjectives are in

The thief is

bold/adverbs are in italics)

extremely stupid.

This very dumb thief is now in jail.

an adverb modifies other adverbs (adverbs in italics)
The thief walks incredibly clumsily.
The thief acts really stupidly.
Adverbs also have other functions. You may see them modify a prepositional phrase:
The thief was arrested

just outside the apartment.

You may find an adverb modifying an entire sentence:

Certainly,the thief chose the wrong profession.
Adverbs have three main positions in the sentence:
Front (before the subject):
-Now we will study adverbs.
Middle (between the subject and the main verb):
- We often study adverbs.
End (after the verb or object):
- We study adverbs carefully.
Adverbs of Frequency
always, sometimes, never...
You will find adverbs occupying multiple
Now,get in the

positions within a sentence:

police car. (front)

The thief was immediately arrested.

(before the verb)

The thief sat nervously after being

arrested. (after the verb)

After the botched robbery, the

thief decided to give up crime completely. (end)

The 3 articles in English are a, an and the.

which one of the articles to

The learner has to decide noun-by-noun

use.

The word a (which becomes an when the next word begins

u) is called the indefinite article because

with a vowel - a, e, i, o,

the noun it goes with is indefinite or general.

The meaning of the article a is similar to the number one, but one is stronger and gives
more emphasis. It is possible to say I have a book or I have one book,
sententence emphasizes that I do not have two or three

or some other number of books.

The word the is known as the definite article and indicates a

difference between the sentences I sat on a chair
sentence refers to a

but the second

specific thing. The

and I sat on the chair is that the second

particular, specific chair, not just any chair.

Many nouns, especially singular forms of countable nouns must

English, it is not possible to say I sat on chair

have an article. In

without an article, but a demonstrative

or possessive adjective can be used instead of an article as in the sentences I sat on that chair
and

I sat on his chair.

Definite Article The

Indefinite Article A or An
A is used:
Before a word which begins with a consonant.
Example:
A woman
Before a singular, countable noun
Example:
A banana
When we mention something for the first time
Example:
I saw a dog
Before a word with a long sound of u
Example:
a university, a uniform, a useful book,a European
Before the word one

Example:
a one-way street, a one-eyed man, a one-year course, a one-day holiday, etc.
An is used:
Before a noun which begins with a vowel.
Example:
an apple
Before a word which begins with a vowel sound or a silent

h.

Example:
an hour, an honest man, an heir, an honour, an honourable

man, etc

Before a singular, countable noun which begins with a vowel

or silent h

Example:
an orange
The is used:
When the same thing or person mentioned again, that is, a
Example:
I bought an orange.
The orange is sweet.
When there is only one such thing.
Example:
the earth, the sun, the moon

particular thing or person

Before the names of famous buildings, etc

Example:
The Eiffel Tower, The Great Wall of China
When a singular noun is used to point out a whole class, race, group, etc.
Example:
The bear is a strong animal.
Before the special names of rivers, seas, oceans, mountain ranges, groups of islands,
certain organizations, political
U.S.S.R.

parties, and countries such as the U.S.A., the U.K., the

and the U.A.E., The Nile, The Dead Sea, The Pacific Ocean, The

Himalayas, The United Nations, The Republican Party, etc

Before the names of holy or important books
Example:
The Khuran, The Bible
Before an adjective when the noun is understood.
Example:
The poor need help.
Articles are not used::
Before the name of a person:
Example:
I am a fan of Michael Jackson. (not A or The Michael Jackson)
Before the name of a place, town, country, street, or road.

Example:
Barcelona is a beautiful city. (not A or The Barcelona)
Before names of materials.
Example:
Gold is found in Australia. (not A or The gold)
Before abstract nouns used in a general sense.
Example:
We love all beauty. (not a beauty or the beauty)

Uncount nouns
You cannot say a/an with an uncount noun.
You cannot put a number in front of an uncount noun. (You cannot make an uncount
noun plural.)
You use an uncount noun with no article if you mean

that thing in general.

You use the with an uncount noun when you are talking about a particular example of
that thing.
Count nouns
You can put a number in front of a count noun. (You can make a count noun plural.)
You can put both a/an and the in front of a

count noun.

You must put an article** in front of a singular count noun.

You use a plural count noun with no article if

you mean all or any of that thing.

You usually use a/an with a count noun the first time you say or write that noun.
You

use the with count nouns:

the second and subsequent times you

when the

use the noun in a piece of speech or writing

listener knows what you are referring to (maybe because there is only

one of that thing)

You use an (not a) when the next word

(adverb, adjective, noun) starts with a vowel

sound.
Note:
The above rules apply whether there is or there is not an adjective in
Some nouns can be either count or uncount,
Do you have paper? I
Can you

front of the noun.

depending on the context and meaning:

want to draw a picture. (uncount = a sheet of paper)

get me a paper when youre at the shop? (count = a newspaper)

Uncount nouns are often preceded by phrases such as: a lot of .. (luck), a piece of ..
(cake), a bottle of .. (milk), a grain of ..

(rice).

* Instead of an article, the noun can also be

preceded by a determiner such as this,

that, some, many or my, his, our, etc

Following are some of the most important guidelines listed

above, with example

sentences:
Tenses & Rules
You use an uncount noun with no article
if you

mean all or any of that thing. I need help!

I don't eat cheese.

Do you

like music?

You use the with an uncount

noun when you are

talking about

a particular example of that thing.

I

Thanks for the help you gave me yesterday.

didn't eat the cheese. It was green!

Did you like the

music they played at the dance?

You usually use a/an with a count noun

the first time you say or write that noun. Can I borrow a pencil, please?
There's a cat in

the garden!

Do you have an mp3 player?

You use the with count nouns the second
and subsequent times you use the noun,
or when the listener

already knows what you

are referring to (maybe because

only one of that thing).

there is

Where's the pencil I lent you yesterday?

I think

the cat belongs to the new neighbours.

I dropped the mp3 player and it broke.

Please shut the door!
You use a plural count noun with no
article if

you mean all or any of that thing.

I don't like dogs.

Do they have children?
I don't need questions. Give me answers!

Basically, auxiliary verbs are function words, a type of closed

of words that have a grammatical function

class which is constituted

as opposed to content words, which are an open

class of lexical words. An auxiliary verb is used to add functional or grammatical content to
the information expressed by another verb, considered to be the main
Auxiliary verbs are also called helping verbs
Examples:
I am writing a book.
He has done the work.
We will be there in a minute.
Would you help me with this homework?
Can you open the door?
Did you visit New York last holiday?
Do you like chocolate?
They must get there on time.
The 23 auxiliary verbs
am is

are

was

were

has have

had

do does

did

will

would

shall

should

can could
may

might must

verb.

Be Been Being
Progressive Verbs
In present progressive sentences, the verb expresses action that is in progress as the
speaker says it. I am typing is an example of
is type while the

present progressive. In it, the main verb

auxiliary verb be is conjugated according to the subject, I.

We also use past and future progressives to explain what was or will be happening when
some other event occurred or will occur.
He was watching TV when the phone rang. Here, was is the auxiliary that helps us
understand when the main verb (watch)

happened.

Well be driving to Virginia during your party. The future

two auxiliary verbs (will and be) to tell

progressive actually uses

us that this action (drive) takes place in the

future.
Passive Voice
If you can add the phrase, by a purple monster to the end of your verb phrase and still
have a grammatically correct sentence,

youre probably using passive voice. Here are

some examples:
The chair was moved (by a purple monster) to the other side

of the room.

I was hit in the head (by a purple monster) and knocked unconscious (by a purple
monster).
It has been decided (by a purple monster) that the play will

be canceled (by a purple

monster).
Theres nothing grammatically wrong with passive voice; its an
the verb be. Its just not very exciting writing.

excellent use of

Its more interesting to say:

A purple monster moved the chair across the room.

A purple monster hit me in the head and knocked me out.
A purple monster has decided to cancel the play. Take it up
Perfect Tenses

with him.

The perfect tenses in English explain the order of things. When we use present perfect,
we are explaining what has happened up until
happened in the past before
what

now. Past perfect explains what had

something else happened in the past. And future perfect tells us

will have happened up to a certain point in the future.

All the perfect tenses use at least one auxiliary verb, have.
I have visited Stockholm many times.
He had seen many cathedrals, but none so grand as that one.
The future perfect also uses will.
We will have traveled to every country in the world after

this trip.

And the progressive perfect tenses also use be.

She has been living in Sweden for 10 years.
He had been touring Europe for 3 months.
We will have been flying for 31 hours by the time we get

home.

Capitalization means using a capital letter (for example, A

instead of a). The use of

capital letters helps readers read your writing without confusion.

Always capitalize the following: The first word in a sentence.

I grew up in India.
S he left a message on my phone.
The pronoun I.
This country is where I dreamed of.
The first letter of a proper noun (specific name).
D avid wants to play soccer with us.
This letter is from C hang.
I graduated from the U niversity of N ew Y ork.
I like C oca- C ola.
She likes G odiva chocolates.
The first letter of months, days, and holidays (but

not seasons).

Today is J une 8, 2011.

Susie's birthday is this T hursday.
The shops are closed on E aster.
This summer is going to be very hot.
The first letter of nationalities, religions, races of

people, and languages.

We often eat I talian food.

I want to master many languages, such as S panish, K orean, C hinese, and R ussian.
There is one C hristian church in my town.
The first letter in a person's title.
This is D r. Simon.
I got it from M r. Tom.
Geographic areas: cities, states, countries,

mountains, oceans, rivers, etc.

My destination is P aris, F rance.

Hawaii is in the middle of the P acific O cean.
Historical periods.
The R enaissance began in the 14th century.
The Q ing D ynasty is the last dynasty in China.
The first letter of each major word in the title of a

book, movie, article, etc.

Tolstoy's W ar and P eace is my favorite novel.

I found the article " H ow to W rite a G ood C over L etter"

in this magazine.

Correctly write each sentence using proper capitalization.

1) i was born in shanghai, china, but grew up in the united

states.

2) mrs. ohana gave me the bible.

3) if you walk two more blocks, you will be able to see mt.
4) my family will have a summer vacation in hawaii.

Wrong : I have visited Niagara Falls last weekend.

Right : I visited Niagara Falls last weekend.
Wrong : The woman which works here is from Japan.
Right : The woman who works here is from Japan.

rocky.

Wrong : Shes married with a dentist.

Right

: Shes married to a dentist.

Wrong : She was boring in the class.

Right

: She was bored in the class.

Wrong : I must to call him immediately.

Right

: I must call him immediately.

Wrong : Every students like the teacher.

Right

: Every student likes the teacher.

Wrong : Although it was raining, but we had the picnic.

Right : Although it was raining, we had the picnic.
Wrong : I enjoyed from the movie.
Right

: I enjoyed the movie.

Wrong : I look forward to meet you.

Right

: I look forward to meeting you.

Wrong : I like very much ice cream.

Right

: I like ice cream very much.

Wrong : She can to drive.

Right :

She can drive.

Wrong : Where I can find a bank?

Right

: Where can I find a bank?

Wrong : I live in United States.

Right

: I live in the United States.

Wrong : When I will arrive, I will call you.

Right

: When I arrive, I will call you.

Wrong : Ive been here since three months.

Right : Ive been here for three months
Wrong : My boyfriend has got a new work.
Right

: My boyfriend has got a new job. (or just "has a new job")

Wrong : She doesnt listen me.

Right

: She doesnt listen to me.

Wrong : You speak English good.

Right

: You speak English well.

Wrong : The police is coming.

Right

: The police are coming.

Wrong : The house isnt enough big.

Right

: The house isnt big enough.

Wrong : You should not to smoke.

Right

: You should not smoke.

Wrong : Do you like a glass of wine?

Right

: Would you like a glass of wine?

Wrong : There is seven girls in the class.

Right

: There are seven girls in the class.

Wrong : I didnt meet nobody.

Right

: I didnt meet anybody.

Wrong : My flight departs in 5:00 am.

Right

: My flight departs at 5:00 am.

Wrong: I see a conflict of INTEREST as Mr A is

firm is selling financial products to

our financial consultant and his

us.

Right: I see a conflict of INTERESTS

as

(EXPLANATION: It takes more than one interest

to conflict.)

Wrong: Last month, I INFORMED that our production

Right:

cost had been rising.

I INFORMED ALL OF YOU that or

I REPORTED that

.
(EXPLANATION:

The word inform, unlike the word say or

report,

must be followed by an object.)

Wrong: The reason for the increase in our cost IS

BECAUSE commodity prices

have been going up relentlessly.

Right: The reason for the increase in our cost IS

THAT commodity prices have

.
(EXPLANATION:

Because is used only when the sentence is written in a

different way: Our cost has increased BECAUSE commodity prices

Wrong: I dont think SO that commodity
Right:

prices have risen that much.

I dont think that commodity prices have risen that

(EXPLANATION: The word so is

have been .)

much.

redundant.)

Wrong: Please do not repeat the mistake

again.

Right: Please do not repeat it.

(EXPLANATION: Repeat means

do again. So to repeat again means

do again again.)
Wrong: After you have studied the proposed
Right:

Please COME BACK to me.

agreement, please REVERT to me..

to

To revert to means to transform back into the shape

(EXPLANATION:
of.)

Wrong: We should meet soon to discuss ABOUT the

reception for our foreign

visitors.
Right:

to discuss the reception for .

(EXPLANATION: To discuss means to talk ABOUT. So the word about is

redundant.)
Wrong: With regards to Project A, can you update
Right: WITH

me on its progress?

REGARD TO

Right: AS REGARDS

to Project A

Wrong: Our team COMPRISES OF people from various

disciplines.

Right: Our team COMPRISES people from various disciples.

Wrong: The supplier will not be able to deliver the new desk-top computers in time. AS
SUCH we have to continue to use
Right:

our existing computers for at least another week.

SO we have to continue

(EXPLANATION: We use as such only when we can answer the

question: As

what?.
Example: John has just been appointed team leader. As such (as a team leader), he now
has a greater responsibility in the office.
Wrong: Although Janes report is not

exactly a well-written one, we can consider it

AS completed since it serves the purpose intended.

Right: Drop

the word AS.

Wrong: I must catch HOLD OF the boss before he

COMMENT: The phrase hold

goes on vacation.

of is redundant.

Wrong: We spent half a day SEARCHING for a

missing document.

Right: SEARCHING THE OFFICE for a missing document.

Right:

LOOKING for a missing document.

(EXPLANATION: To search means to check or

followed by a word depicting a

examine. It must therefore be

place or an area.)

Wrong: I like my eggs HALF-BOILED.

Right: I like my eggs SOFT-BOILED.
(EXPLANATION: So far there is no cooking equipment for boiling only

half of an

egg while it is still in the shell.)

Wrong: I go MARKETING only once a week.
Right: I go TO THE MARKET only once a

week.

(EXPLANATION: Marketing is done only

by the marketing executives of a

company.)
Wrong: Why are you not DRINKING your soup?
Right: Why are you not HAVING your soup?
(EXPLANATION: As soup typically contains solid ingredients, unlike water or milk or
juice, it is generally not appropriate to use

drink to describe its consumption.)

Wrong: Have you FINISH eating?

Right:

Have you FINISHED eating!

(EXPLANATION:

Finish here is used as part of the verb have

Wrong: This restaurant operates on a first

Right:

finished.)

come, first SERVE basis.

first come, first SERVED basis.

Wrong: No fish? Prawns ALSO CAN.

Right:

No fish? Prawns ARE FINE TOO.

Wrong: Cake-seller to customer: Okay, two banana

SOME MORE?
Right:

ANYTHING ELSE!

muffins and one peach tart.

Wrong: Sorry. I LEFT only one Sri Lanka crab. CAN TAKE local crabs instead?
Right:

I HAVE only one small Sri Lanka crab LEFT. CAN you TAKE

local crabs instead?

Wrong: Please excuse me. I have to leave now to

Right:

put my children TO SLEEP.

I have to leave now to put my children TO BED.

(EXPLANATION: It is a criminal offence to put a person to

sleep. In Singapore it

carries the death penalty.)

Wrong: I SEND our son Joey to school everyday.
Right: I DRIVE/TAKE our
(EXPLANATION: To

son Joey to school.

send someone means that you are not accompanying that

person on the journey.)

Wrong: John, you look groovy. You aim to win at

the best DRESS competition

tonight, dont you?

Right:

You aim to win at the best DRESSED competition tonight,

dont

you?
(EXPLANATION: If it is a best dress competition, John would not be eligible unless
he is a cross dresser.)
Wrong: Do you like the FRAGRANCE of the wine?
Right: Do you like the

BOUQUET of the wine?

Wrong: I can see that you prefer the champagne

coloured roses THAN the red

ones.
Right:

I see that you prefer the champagne coloured roses TO the red

ones.

Wrong: I will wait for you at Ya Kun while you

are at the hair dressing

SALOON.
Right:

hair dressing SALON.

Wrong: We just met. Please dont hold my

Right:

hand here. AFTER people talk.

OR people may talk (gossip).

Wrong: Can you call me BACK soon?

Right: Drop the word back as it is

redundant.

Wrong: Mary, I have a cocktail this Friday at the

office. Would you like to join

me?
COMMENT: A cocktail means a glass of alcoholic drink. Mary may rather go
a cocktail party.
Wrong: I saw you holding Bee Hongs hands. You are both in love, ISNT IT?
Right:

You are both in love, ARENT YOU?

Wrong: Can you hold my hand as I am SCARED of the

Right: as the dark

dark.

SCARES me. or as I am AFRAID of the dark.

Wrong: Please SWITCH your mobile phone to silent

mode.

Right: Please PUT your mobile phone on silent mode.

Wrong: Children, please OFF the lights when you
Right:

Please SWITCH OFF the lights

Wrong: I will APPRECIATE if you can keep your

Right: I will

leave the room.

voice down.

APPRECIATE IT if you can keep your voice down. or I will

appreciate your keeping your voice down.

(EXPLANATION:

The word appreciate must be followed by an object.)

to

Wrong: He is late. MUST BE he overslept or missed

the bus.

Right: IT MUST BE THAT he overslept or missed the bus. or He MUST

HAVE overslept or missed the bus.
Wrong: LAST TIME we lived in a kampong

house.

Right: PREVIOUSLY, we lived in a kampong house. or We USED TO live in a

kampong

house.

Wrong: It may rain this afternoon. You GOT bring

Right:

umbrella OR NOT?

DID YOU bring an umbrella!

Wrong: From the way he speaks, I would consider

Right: Drop the word

him AS a snob.

AS.

Wrong: You BETTER apologise to him as he is

Right: IT WILL BE GOOD

really mad.

if you apologise

Wrong: Sorry, I am really busy with work Right

now. Can we discuss

tomorrow?
Right:

Can we discuss IT tomorrow?

Wrong: You ONLY JUST found out about the sale?

Right: You

found out ONLY NOW about the sale?

Wrong: I used to love durians, but NOT SO MUCH

Right: but LESS

nowadays.

SO nowadays,

Wrong: The Japanese numbers game sudoku is very

office. MYSELF, I took it up a year
COMMENT: Drop myself.
Wrong: No idea.
Right:

Today is the last day.

I dont know.

ago.

popular among the staff of my

The words, 'accept' and 'except' are homophones which are often

confused by

English speakers. 'Accept' is a verb which means 'to receive' or 'to agree'. Most of the time
'except' is used as a preposition which means 'excluding'.
The following

examples will make the usage clear.

Examples of Passive
ACCEPT (VERB) EXCEPT (PREPOSITION)
Amit accepted the job offer.
I can come with you on all days except Sunday.
Sanjiv accepted the allegation that he had cheated.
All the athletes except Anjali finished the race.
He accepted the invitation to the party.
Everyone except Shantanu was invited to the party.
Use of 'Bought' and 'Brought'
The difference between these two words is a very simple one.

They are the past tenses

of two different verbs.

'Bought' is the past tense of 'buy': I bought a new

car last week.

'Brought' is the past tense of 'bring': I brought him

a glass of water.

The difference can be remembered easily too, as 'bring' shares its first two letters with
'brought' ('br').
Use of 'Can' and 'May'

Many English speakers are confused about the usage of the words 'can' and 'may'. For
e.g., 'Can I drink water?' is
this

incorrect. 'May I drink water?' is the correct phrase to use in

case.
The key difference between 'can' and

'may' is that 'can' talks about ability and 'may'

talks about permission.

CAN
Can is used in two cases:
To talk about ability.
I can finish my homework by 5 pm.
Can you finish your homework tonight?
To ask or give permission informally.
Can I use your pen? (To a friend)
You can use my pen. (To a friend)
MAY
May is generally used

to ask or give permission formally.

Let us take a situation

between a student and a teacher.

May I drink water?

Teacher: Yes, you may.
Let us take a situation between two strangers.
May I borrow your pen?
Yes, you may.
Use of 'effect' and 'affect'
Two words commonly confused by English speakers are 'effect' and
used as a verb and means 'to have an influence
means 'the result'.

'affect'. 'Affect' is

on' and 'Effect' is used as a noun and

AFFECT
The dropped catch did not affect the result of the game.
The

heavy rainfall affected the grains kept in the old warehouse.

EFFECT
The effect of the tsunami was devastating.
The side effect

of the cough syrup was drowsiness.

Use of 'Have' and 'has'

'Have' and 'has' are both used to
tense of both

denote possession, form the perfect tense, and the past

is 'had', but they are used differently.

'Have' is used with

- the following pronouns: I, you, we, they. Examples : 'I

have a pencil.' 'We have a

big house.'
- pluralised nouns: Example : ' Doctors have a rough time,

dealing with illnesses all

the time.'
'Has' is used with the third person singular ( he, she, it) . Examples : ' She has your
money.' 'Amit has the book.'
Use of 'There', 'Their' and 'They're'
Many speakers tend to get confused between 'There', 'Their' and
knowing how to use these three words correctly is an

'They're' and

important step in learning

English.
The words 'There' and' Their' are homophones. Homophones are
spelt differently but pronounced the same. It is a
other.

words that are

common mistake to replace one for the

'There' always refers to a place, whether concrete or abstract,

belonging or possession. 'They're, on the other

whereas 'Their' shows

hand, is the short form of they are

Let's look at these examples for each of them

THERE:
How can anyone live there?
Let's go there.
There will be a party tomorrow,
THEIR:
Let us buy their car.
Let us not go to their house.
Return their books tomorrow.
THEY'RE:
They're sitting there in their car.
In this sentence, notice how 'there' is used to signify a place
show possession. The word 'they're' is a
should not be confused

whereas 'their' is used to

contraction of the word 'they' and 'are' and

with 'their' and 'there'.

What are conditionals in English grammar? Sometimes we call them 'if clauses'. They
describe the result of something that might happen (in the present or future) or might have
happened but didn't (in the past) . They are made using different English verb

tenses.

There are four kinds:

The Zero Conditional:
(if + present simple, ...

present simple)

If you heat water to 100 degrees, it boils.

The First Conditional:
(if + present simple, ...

will + infinitive)

If it rains tomorrow, we'll go to the

cinema.

The Second Conditional:

(if + past simple, ...

would + infinitive)

If I had a lot of money, I would travel

around the world.

The Third Conditional

(if + past perfect, ... would

+ have + past participle)

If I had gone to bed early, I

would have caught the train.

We can make a zero conditional sentence with two

'if clause' and one in the 'main

present simple verbs (one in the

clause'):

If + present simple, .... present simple.

This conditional is used when the result will always happen. So, if
degrees, it always boils. It's a fact. I'm talking in

water reaches 100

general, not about one particular

situation. The result of the 'if clause' is always the main cluase.
The 'if' in this conditional can usually be replaced by 'when'

without changing the

meaning.
For example: If water reaches 100 degrees, it boils . (It is
be a different result sometimes). If I eat

always true, there can't

peanuts, I am sick. (This is true only for me,

maybe, not for everyone, but it's still true that I'm sick every time I eat peanuts)
Here are some more examples:
Examples
If people eat too much, they get fat.
If you touch a fire, you get burned.

People die if they don't eat .

You get water if you mix hydrogen and oxygen.
Snakes bite if they are scared
If babies are hungry, they cry
The first conditional has the present simple after 'if', then the future simple in the other
clause:
if + present simple, ... will + infinitive
It's used to talk about things which might happen in the future. Of course, we can't know
what will happen in the future, but this

describes possible things, which could easily

come true.
If it rains , I won't go to the park.
If I study today, I 'll go to the party tonight.
If I have enough money, I 'll buy some new shoes.
She 'll be late if the train is delayed.
She 'll miss the bus if she doesn't leave soon.
If I see her, I 'll tell her.
First vs. Zero Conditional:
The first conditional describes a particular situation,
describes what happens in

general .

For example (zero conditional): if you

about every time a

whereas the zero conditional

sit in the sun, you get burned (here I'm talking

person sits in the sun - the burning is a natural consequence of the

sitting)
But (first conditional): if you sit in
about what will happen

the sun, you'll get burned (here I'm talking

today, another day might be different)

First vs. Second Conditional:

The first conditional describes things that I think are likely to
whereas the second conditional talks about
subjective; it depends on my point of view.

happen in the future,

things that I don't think will really happen. It's

For example (first conditional): If she studies harder, she'll pass the exam (I think

it's

possible she will study harder and so she'll pass)

But (second conditional): If she studied harder, she would pass the
she won't study harder, or it's very unlikely, and

exam (I think that

so she won't pass)

The second conditional uses the past simple after if, then 'would' and the infinitive:
if + past simple, ...would + infinitive
(We can use 'were' instead of 'was' with 'I' and 'he/she/it'. This is mostly done in formal
writing).
It has two uses.
First, we can use it to talk about things in the future that are probably not going to be true.
Maybe I'm imagining some dream for example.
If I won the lottery, I would buy a big house.(I probably won't win the lottery)
If I met the Queen of England, I would say hello.
She would travel all over the world if she were rich.
She would pass the exam if she ever studied .(She never studies, so this won't happen)
Second, we can use it to talk about something in the present which is impossible, because
it's not true. Is that clear? Have a look at the examples:
If I had his number, I would call him. (I don't have his number now, so it's impossible for
me to call him).
If I were you, I wouldn't go out with that man.
How is this different from the first conditional?
This kind of conditional sentence is different from the first conditional because this is a
lot more unlikely.

For example (second conditional): If I had enough money I would buy a house with
twenty bedrooms and a swimming pool (I'm probably not going to have this much money, it's
just a dream, not very real)
But (first conditional): If I have enough money, I'll buy some new shoes (It's much more
likely that'll have enough money to buy some shoes)

We make the third conditional by using the past perfect after 'if' and then 'would have'
and the past participle in

the second part of the sentence:

if + past perfect, ...would + have + past participle

It talks about the past. It's used to describe a situation that

didn't happen, and to

imagine the result of this situation.

If she had studied , she would have passed the exam (but,

really we know she didn't

study and so she didn't pass)

If I hadn't eaten so much, I wouldn't have felt sick (but I did eat a lot, and so I did feel
sick).
If we had taken a taxi, we wouldn't have missed the plane
She wouldn't have been tired if she had gone to bed earlier
She would have become a teacher if she had gone to university
He would have been on time for the interview if he had left

the house at nine

A conjunction is a word that "joins". A conjunction joins two parts of a sentence.

Here are some example conjunctions:
Examples
Coordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating Conjunctions

and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so

although, because, since, unless

We can consider conjunctions from three aspects.

Form
Conjunctions have three basic forms:

Single Word
for example: and, but, because, although
Compound (often ending with as or that)
for example: provided

that, as long as, in order that

Correlative (surrounding an adverb or adjective)

for example:

so...that

Function
Conjunctions have two basic functions or "jobs":
Coordinating conjunctions are used to join two parts of a
grammatically equal. The two parts may be single

sentence that are

words or clauses, for example:

- Jack and Jill went up the hill.

- The water was warm, but I didn't go swimming.
Subordinating conjunctions are used to join a

subordinate dependent clause to a main

clause, for example:

-

I went swimming although it was cold.

Position
Coordinating conjunctions
always come between the words or

clauses that they join.

Subordinating conjunctions

The short, simple conjunctions are called "coordinating conjunctions":

and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so
A

coordinating conjunction joins parts of a sentence (for example words

independent clauses) that are grammatically equal or similar. A

or

coordinating

conjunction shows that the elements it joins are similar in importance and structure:
Look at these examples
- the two elements that the
brackets [ ]:

coordinating conjunction joins are shown in square

like [tea] and [coffee].

[Ram likes tea], but [Anthony likes

coffee].

Coordinating conjunctions always come between the words or clauses that

When a coordinating conjunction joins independent clauses,
place a comma before the conjunction: I want to
am studying Russian at

they join.

it is always correct to

work as an interpreter in the future, so I

university. However, if the independent clauses are short and

well-balanced, a comma is not really essential:

She is kind so she helps people.
When "and" is used with the last word of a list, a comma is optional:
He drinks beer, whisky, wine, and rum.
He drinks beer, whisky, wine and rum.
The 7 coordinating conjunctions are short, simple words. They have only two or three
letters. There's an easy way to remember them -

their initials spell:

F-For
A-And
N-Nor
B-But
O-Or
Y-Yet
S-So

A subordinating conjunction joins a subordinate clause to a main

The following is a list of the most common subordinating

clause.

conjunctions.

after, although, as, because, before, how, if, once, since, than, that, though, till, until,
when, where, whether, while
An adverb clause is always introduced by a subordinating
clause and adjective clause sometimes are.

conjunction. A noun

Adverb clause: Before you go, sign the log book.

Noun clause: He asked if he could leave early.
Adjective clause: That is the place where he was last seen.
A subordinating conjunction is always followed by a clause.

Many subordinating

conjunctions can be other parts of speech.

Adverb: Jill came tumbling after.
Preposition:Jill came tumbling after Jack.
Subordinating Conjunction: Jill came tumbling after Jack had

fallen.

Adjectives change in form to show comparison,they are called Degree Of

Comparison.
Type of Degree Of Comparison
Positive Degree Comparative Degree Superlative Degree
Example :
John is a tall boy.
John is taller than Ancy.
John is tallest of them all.
In the first sentence it explains only that, John is a tall boy. Here John is not compared
with any others. In such cases, when adjective is used with out any comparison to other
nouns we call it as

POSITIVE DEGREE.

In the second sentence the adjective is used for comparison

between two people, such

cases when adjective is used for comaprison of

two person,thing we call it as

COMPARATIVE DEGREE . In Comparative

Degree use 'than' after the adjectives.

taller than
greater than

In third sentence the comparison is between more than two

people,such case we say it

as SUPERLATIVE DEGREE.
If ' er ' is added to Adjectives(positive) then Comaparative
when ' est ' is added to Adjectives(positive) then

degree is formed and

Superlative degree is formed.

Examples
POSITIVECOMPARATIVE

SUPERLATIVE

clever
long
high
great
sweet
young
tall cleverer
longer
higher
greater
sweeter
younger
taller

cleverest

longest
highest
greatest
sweetest
youngest
tallest
If positive ends in 'e' add 'r' and 'st' to form comparative and superlative.
Examples
POSITIVECOMPARATIVE
large
wise
white
brave

SUPERLATIVE

pure
fine
able

larger

wiser
whiter
braver
purer
finer
abler

largest

wisest
whitest
bravest
purest
finest
ablest
We can add more and most before adjective to form comparative
Examples
POSITIVECOMPARATIVE

SUPERLATIVE

beautiful
useful
famous
difficult
important
honest
powerful more beautiful
more useful
more famous
more

difficult

more important
more honest
more
most useful

powerful

most beautiful

and superlative.

most famous
most

difficult

most important
most honest
most

powerful

If positive ends in 'y' add 'er' and 'est' to form

comparative and superlative after

changing 'y' to 'i'.

Examples
POSITIVECOMPARATIVE

SUPERLATIVE

lovely
wealthy
holy
easy
happy
heavy
healthy

lovelier

wealthier
holier
easier
happier
heavier
healthier

loveliest

wealthiest
holiest
easiest
happiest
heaviest
healthiest
For some adjectives that ends mainly with 'd, g, t, m, n' to
superlative, add the last letter twice and then add 'er' and 'est'.
Examples
POSITIVECOMPARATIVE

SUPERLATIVE

form comparative and

red
sad
big
hot
fat
dim
thin

redder

sadder
bigger
hotter
fatter
dimmer
thinner

reddest

saddest
biggest
hottest
fattest
dimmest
thinnest
For some adjectives(positive) form comparative and
different from the positive form.
Examples
POSITIVECOMPARATIVE
late
good
bad
much
near
little
many
better
worse
more

later, latter

SUPERLATIVE

superlative that are entirely

nearer
less,

lesser

more

latest, last

best
worst
most
nearest,

next

least
most

A Determiner is a word, phrase or affix that occurs together

phrase and serves to express the reference of that

with a noun or noun

noun or noun phrase in the context. That

is, a determiner may indicate whether the noun is referring to a definite or indefinite element
of a class, to a closer or more distant element, to an element belonging to

a specified person

or thing, to a particular number or quantity, etc.Common kinds of determiners include

definite and indefinite articles (like the English the and a[n]), demonstratives (like this
and that), possessive determiners (like my and their), and quantifiers

(like many, few

and several).
Determiners are words placed in front of a noun to make it clear what the noun refers to.
The word ' people ' by itself is a general reference to some group of
someone says 'these people', we know which group they are
say '

human beings. If

talking about, and if they

a lot of people' we know how big the group is.

' These ' and ' a lot of ' are determiners in these sentences.
Classes of Determiners
There are several classes of determiners:
Articles
The definite and indefinite articles are all determiners.
article - a or an (a is used before

Definite article - the Indefinite

a consonant sound; an is used before a vowel sound.)

Close the door, please. I've got a friend in Canada.

Definite and Indefinite articles

the, a, an
Demonstratives
There are four demonstrative determiners in English and they
those Note that demonstrative determiners

are: this, that, these and

can also be used as demonstrative pronouns.

When they are used as determiners they are followed by the nouns they modify. Compare:
This

is my camera. (Demonstrative used as a pronoun, subject of the verb

camera is mine. (Demonstrative used as a determiner modifying

is) This

the noun camera.)

Demonstratives
this, that,

these, those

Possessives
Possessive adjectives - my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their - modify the noun
following it in order to show possession.

Possessive determiners are different from

possessive pronouns - mine, his, hers, yours, ours, their. Possessive pronouns can stand
alone and

are not followed by nouns. Possessive determiners, on the other hand,

followed by nouns. Compare: This is my house. (my is a possessive

determiner. It is

followed by the noun house which it modifies) Is that car yours? (yours is a possessive
pronoun. It is not followed by a noun.)
Possessives
my, your, his,

her, its, our, their

Quantifiers
Quantifiers are followed by nouns which they modify. Examples of
include: some, any, few, little, more, much, many, each,
little, whole, less etc. Quantifiers
uncountable nouns. He
dangerous thing
Quantifiers

quantifiers

every, both, all, enough, half,

are commonly used before either countable or

knows more people than his wife. Little knowledge is a

.

are

a few, a little,

much, many, a lot of, most, some, any, enough, etc.

Numerals
Numbers are cardinal (one, two, three, etc) and ordinal (first,
Cardinal numbers are adjectives that indicate
table), and ordinal numbers

second, third, etc).

quantity (There are five apples on the

indicate rank or order (This is the first time for me on a plane).

There are five apples on the table

Numbers
one, ten, thirty, etc.
Distributives
The words all, both, half, each, every, either and neither are
All my life I have been waiting for this

known as distributives.

moment. Both the dogs have passed away. Half

the village perished in the floods.

Distributives
all, both,

half, either, neither, each, every

Difference words
other,

another

Question words
Which, what,

whose

Defining words
which, whose
The following words are pre-determiners . They go before determiners,
articles:

You can answer the question "What did he/she say?" in two ways:

such as

by repeating the words spoken ( direct speech )

by reporting the words spoken ( indirect or reported speech

).

Direct Speech
Direct speech repeats, or quotes, the exact words
speech in writing, we place the words

spoken. When we use direct

spoken between inverted commas ("....") and

there is no change in these words. We may be reporting something that's being said NOW (for
example a telephone conversation), or telling someone later about a

previous

conversation
Examples
She says "What time will you be home?"
She said "What time will you be home?" and I said "I don't know! "
"There's a fly in my soup!" screamed Simone.
John said, "There's an elephant outside the

window."

Reported Speech
Reported speech is usually used to talk about the past, so we normally change the tense of
the words spoken. We use

reporting verbs like 'say', 'tell', 'ask', and we may use the word

'that' to introduce the reported words. Inverted commas are not used.
She said, "I saw him."
She said

that she had seen him .

'That' may be omitted:

She told him that she was happy.
She told him she was happy.
'Say' and 'tell':
Use 'say' when there is no indirect object:
He said that he was tired.
Always use 'tell' when you say who
object):
He told me that he was tired.
'Talk' and 'speak'

are used:

was being spoken to (i.e. with an indirect

- to describe the action of communicating:

He talked to us.
She was speaking on the telephone.
- with 'about' to refer to what was said:
He talked (to us) about his parents.

Tense Changes When Using Reported Speech

Normally, the tense in reported speech is one tense back in time from the tense in direct
speech:
She said, "I am tired."
She said

that she was tired.

The changes are shown below:

Examples of Passive
Simple present

Simple past

"I always drink coffee", she said

She said that she always drank coffee.
Present

continuous

Past continuous

"I am reading a book", he explained.

He explained that he was reading a
Simple past

book

Past perfect

"Bill arrived on Saturday", he said.

He said that Bill had arrived on
Present perfect

Past perfect

Saturday

"I have been to Spain", he told me.

He told me that he had been to Spain
Past perfect

Past perfect

"I had just turned out the light," he explained.

He explained that he had just turned
Present perfect continuous

out the light.

Past perfect continuous

They complained, "We have been waiting for hours".

They complained that they had been waiting for hours.
Past continuous

Past perfect continuous

"We were living in Paris", they told

me.

They told me that they had been living

in Paris.

Future

Present conditional

"I will be in Geneva on Monday", he

said

He said that he would be in Geneva on Monday.

Future continuous Conditional continuous
She said, " I'll be using the car next Friday".
She said that she would be using the

car next Friday.

NOTE:
1. You do not need to change the tense if the reporting verb is
original statement was about something that is still true, e.g.

in the present, or if the

He says he has missed the train

but he'll catch the next one.

We explained that it is very

difficult to find our house.

2. These modal verbs do not change in reported speech:

might, could, would, should, ought to, e.g.
We explained that it could be

difficult to find our house.

She said that she might bring a

friend to the party.

Example
"I will see you here tomorrow ", she said.

She said that she would see me there the

next day .
The most common of these changes are shown below:
Examples of Passive
Today

that day

"I saw him today ", she said.

She said that she had seen him that day

Yesterday the day before

"I saw him yesterday ", she said.
She said that she had seen him the day before .
The day before yesterday two days before
"I met her the day before yesterday ",

he said.

He said that he had met her two days before .

Tomorrow the next/following day
"I'll see you tomorrow ", he said

He said that he would see me the next day.

The day after tomorrow in two days time/ two days later
"We'll come the day after tomorrow ", they said.
They said that they would come in two days time/ two days later .
Next week/month/year

the following week/month/year

"I have an appointment next week ", she said.

She said that she had an appointment the following week .
Last week/month/year

the previous/week/month/year

"I was on holiday last week ", he told

us.

He told us that he had been on holiday the previous week .

agobefore
"I saw her a week ago ," he said.
He said he had seen her a week before .
this (for time)

that

"I'm getting a new car this week", she said.

She said she was getting a new car that week.
this/that (adjectives)

the

"Do you like this shirt?" he asked

He asked if I liked the shirt.
here

there

He said, "I live here ".

He told me he lived there .

Other changes:
In general, personal pronouns change to the third person

singular or plural, except

when the speaker reports his own words:

I/me/my/mine, you/your/yours
him/his/her/hers
we/us/our/ours, you/your/yours
they/their/theirs:
He said: "I like your new car."
He told her that he liked her new car.
I said: "I'm going to my friend's house."
I said

that I was going to my friend's house.

1. Normal word order is used in reported questions,

the verb, and it is not necessary to

that is, the subject comes before

use 'do' or 'did' :

"Where does Peter live?"

She asked him where

Peter lived .

2. Yes / no questions : This type of

whether + clause

question is reported by using 'ask' + 'if /

"Do you speak English?"

He asked me if

I spoke English .

"Are you British or American?"

He asked me

whether I was British or American.

"Is it raining?"
She asked if

it was raining .

"Have you got a computer?"

He wanted to
"Can you type?"

know whether I had a computer .

She asked if

I could type .

"Did you come by train?"

He enquired whether

I had come by train .

"Have you been to Bristol before?"

She

asked if I had been to Bristol before .

3. Question words :
This type of question is reported by using 'ask' (or

another verb like 'ask') +

question word + clause. The clause contains the question, in normal word order and with the
necessary tense change.
"What is your name?" he asked me.
He asked

me what my name was .

"How old is your mother?", he asked.

He asked how old her mother was .
The policman said to the boy, "Where do you live?"
The policeman asked the boy where he

lived .

"What time does the train arrive?" she asked.

She

asked what time the train arrived .

"When can we have dinner?" she asked.

She

asked when they could have dinner .

Peter said to John, "Why are you so late?"

Peter asked the John why he was so late .

1. When we want to report an order

or request, we can use a verb like 'tell' with a to-

clause .
Examples
He told me to go away.
The pattern is verb + indirect object +

to-clause .

(The indirect object is the person spoken to.)

Other verbs used to report orders and requests in this way are: command,

order,

warn, ask, advise, invite, beg, teach, forbid .

Examples
a. The doctor said to me, "Stop smoking!".
The

doctor told me to stop smoking .

"Get out of the car!" said the policeman.

The

policeman ordered him to get out of the car .

"Could you please be quiet," she said.

She asked me to be quiet .
The man with the gun said to us, "Don't move!"
The

man with the gun warned us not to move .

2. Requests for objects are reported using the

pattern ask + for + object :

Examples
"Can I have an apple?", she asked.
She asked for an apple
"Can I have the newspaper, please?"
He asked

for the newspaper .

"May I have a glass of water?" he said.

He asked

for a glass of water .

"Sugar, please."
She asked for the sugar .
"Could I have three kilos of onions?"
He asked

for three kilos of onions .

3. Suggestions are usually reported with a that-clause.

'That' and 'should' are optional in

these clauses:
She said: "Why don't you get a mechanic to look at the car?"
She suggested that I should get a mechanic to look at the
get a mechanic to

look at the car.

Other reporting verbs used in this way are: insist,

propose .

car. OR She suggested I

recommend, demand, request,

Examples
"It would be a good idea to see the dentist", said my mother.
My mother suggested I see the dentist.
The dentist said, "I think you should use a different
The dentist recommended that

toothbrush".

I should use a different toothbrush.

My manager said, "I think we should examine the budget

My manager proposed

carefully at this meeting."

that we examine the budget carefully at the meeting.

"Why don't you sleep overnight at my house?" she said.

She suggested that I sleep overnight at her house.

When we report an intention, hope or promise, we use an appropriate

reporting verb

followed by a that-clause or a to-infinitive:

"I'll pay you the money tomorrow."
He promised to pay me

the money the next day.

He promised that he would pay me

the money the next day.

Other verbs used in this pattern include:

hope,

propose, threaten, guarantee, swear .

Examples
"I'll be back by lunchtime."
He promised to be back by

lunchtime.

He promised that he would be back

by lunchtime.

"We should arrive in London before nightfall."

They hoped to arrive in

London before nightfall.

They hoped they would arrive in London before nightfall.

"Give me the keys to the safe or I'll shoot you!"
He threatened to shoot me if I didn't give him the keys to the safe.
He threatened that he would shoot

me if I didn't give him the keys to the safe.

These words can be used in the following ways:

Examples of Passive
All +
1
2
3
4a
4b
the
my, your, etc.
this, that
these, those
Uncountable noun
or
Countable noun in the plural
Uncountable noun
Countable noun in the plural

Examples
1. All cheese contains

protein

All children need affection

2. All the people in

the room were silent.

Have you eaten all the bread ?

3. I've invited all my

friends to the party.

I've been waiting all

my life for this opportunity.

4a. Who's left all this

paper on my desk?

4b. Look at all those balloons!

Examples
Both +
1
2
3
4
the
my, your, etc.
these, those
Countable noun in the plural
Examples
1. Both children were

born in Italy.

2. He has crashed both

(of) the cars .

3. Both (of) my parents have fair hair.

4

You can take both

(of) these books back to the library.

Examples
Half +
1
2
3
4
a
the
my, your, etc.
this, that,
these, those
Uncountable
or
countable noun
Examples
1. I bought half a kilo

of apples yesterday.

2. You can have half

(of) the cake .

She gave me half (of)

the apples .

3. I've already given you half

(of) my money .

Half (of) his books were in French.

4

Half (of) these snakes are harmless

You can take half (of) this sugar .

NOTE : All, both, half + OF : 'OF' must be added when followed by a pronoun:
All of you; both of us; half of them
It is also quite common to add it in most of the above

situations except when there is

no article

These distributive words are normally used with singular nouns,

and are placed

before the noun.

Each, either and neither

can be used with plural nouns but must be followed by ' of '

:
Each is a way of seeing the members of a group as individuals:
Each child received a present.
Each of the children received a

present.

Every is a way of seeing a group as a series

of members:

Every child in the world deserves affection.

It can also express different points in a series, especially with time expressions:
Every third morning John goes

jogging.

This magazine is published every other

Either and Neither are

week.

concerned with distribution between two things - either

positive, neither is negative:

Which chair do you want? Either chair will do.
I can stay at either hotel, they

are both good

There are two chairs here. You can take either

of them

Neither chair is any good, they're both too small.

Which chair do you want? Neither of

them - they're both too small.

is

In linguistics, intonation is variation of spoken pitch that is not used to distinguish words;
instead it is used for a range of functions
the speaker,

such as indicating the attitudes and emotions of

signalling the difference between statement and question, and between

different types of question, focussing attention on important elements

of the

spoken message and also helping to regulate conversational interaction. It contrasts with tone,
in which pitch variation in some

languages does distinguish words, either lexically or

grammatically.
Functions of Intonation:
All vocal languages use pitch pragmatically in intonation - for instance for emphasis, to
convey surprise or irony, or to pose a question. Tonal languages such as Chinese and Hausa
use intonation in

addition to using pitch for distinguishing words

attitudinal function (for expressing emotions and

grammatical function (to identify grammatical

attitudes)
structure)

focusing (to show what information in the utterance

is new and what is already

known)
discourse function (to show how clauses and

sentences go together in spoken

discourse)
psychological function (to organize speech into units that are easy to perceive, memorize
and perform)
indexical function (to act as a marker of personal

or social identity)

Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that comprises the study of the sounds of human
speech, or-in the case of sign languages-the equivalent aspects of sign. It is concerned with
the physical properties of speech sounds or signs (phones): their physiological
production, acoustic properties, auditory perception, and

neurophysiological status.

Phonology, on the other hand, is concerned with the abstract, grammatical characterization
of systems of sounds or signs. The field of phonetics is a multiple layered subject of
linguistics that focuses on speech.
In the case of oral languages there are three basic areas of study:
Articulatory phonetics: the study of the production of speech
and vocal tract by the speaker

sounds by the articulatory

Acoustic phonetics: the study of the physical transmission of

speech sounds from the

speaker to the listener

Auditory phonetics: the study of the reception and perception of

speech sounds by

the listener
Phonetic symbols
This is the standard set of phonemic symbols for English (RP and
Symbols
Consonants
p

pen, copy, happen

back, baby, job

tea, tight, button

day, ladder, odd

key, clock, school

get, giggle, ghost

t? church, match, nature

d? judge, age, soldier
f

fat, coffee, rough, photo

view, heavy, move

thing, author, path

this, other, smooth

soon, cease, sister

zero, music, roses, buzz

ship, sure, national

pleasure, vision

hot, whole, ahead

m more, hammer, sum

n

nice, know, funny, sun

ring, anger, thanks, sung

light, valley, feel

right, wrong, sorry, arrange

yet, use, beauty, few

w wet, one, when, queen

similar accents).

(glottal stop)

department, football
Vowels
?

kit, bid, hymn, minute

dress, bed, head, many

trap, bad
?

lot, odd, wash

strut, mud, love, blood

foot, good, put

i? fleece, sea, machine

e? face, day, break
a? price, high, try
?? choice, boy
u? goose, two, blue, group
?? goat, show, no
a? mouth, now
?? near, here, weary
e? square. fair, various
?? start, father
?? thought, law, north, war
?? poor, jury, cure
?? nurse, stir, learn, refer
?

about, common, standard

happy, radiate. glorious

thank you, influence, situation

n? suddenly, cotton
l? middle, metal
'

(stress mark)

Stressing means that speakers of English make certain syllablesand words:

louder
longer
higher in pitch

Basically, stressing means to emphasize a sound. Every word in

one syllable with a primary stress or emphasis.

English has just

However, it is not only essential to stress

certain syllables and words, but we must also de-stress other syllables and words.

De-

stressing means that speakers of English make certain syllables andwords:

more relaxed
weaker
Examples
Engineer -> [en g? NEER] (2nd syllable is de-stressed; 3rd syllable is stressed)
English -> [ING

glish] (1st syllable is stressed; 2nd syllable is slightly

de-

stressed)
Photograph -> [PHO d? graf] (1st syllable is

stressed, 2nd syllable de-stressed, 3rd

syllable is secondary stress)

Stressing and de-stressing syllables and words gives us rhythm in English.
Rhythm is the musicality of English - the ups and downs and the
and the linking of words, which together, change how

connected speech

we say sentences.Remember,

speaking with correct rhythm (musicality) is essential to being understood when you speak!
Rhythm comes from the

combination of the two types of stress in American English:

1) Syllable stress in words (as discussed above)

2) Word stress in sentences
This is a huge area to explain.But some general rules are there and
below (exceptions are there). With verbs of two

some are quoted

syllables, if the second syllable of the

verb contains a long vowel or a diphthong, or if it ends with more than one consonant, the
second syllable is stressed.
Examples:apply, attract, complete, arrive, resist With
syllable contains a short vowel

verbs of two syllables, if the final

and one (or no) final consonant, the first syllable is

stressed.
Examples:enter, open, equal, borrow, profit There are

some suffixes (or word endings)

that usually carry stress. Words with these endings usually carry stress on the last syllable:
Examples
-ain

entertain

-ee refugee
-eer

mountaineer

-ese

Portuguese

-ette

cigarette (NB American English would stress the first

-esque

picturesque

syllable)

The main or primary stress usually falls on the syllable before these endings:
Examples
-ion

decision, application

-ious / -eous

contentious, courageous

-ity simplicity
-ive

extensive

-graphy

photography, biography

-meter

biology

-logy

thermometer In compound words or words made up of two elements, there are

again some general patterns. If the first part of the word is broadly
then the first element will normally carry more

speaking a noun,

stress:

Examples:typewriter, car ferry, suitcase, tea cup If

the first part is broadly speaking

an adjective, then the second element will carry more stress:

Examples:loudspeaker, bad-tempered, black market, young

learner

A good way to approach an essay is to envision it as a Five Part project. An essay is made
up of the Introduction, Three main points
this:
1. Introduction
2. Point One
3. Point Two
4. Point Three
5. Conclusion

(the body), and the Conclusion. So it looks like

Of course depending on the length and breadth of your paper you

than three main points. However by using this structure

may have more

it will make envisioning your

paper easier.
Introduction
An Introduction should answer three questions
1. What

am I talking about in this paper?

By answering this question

you let the reader know what the subject of the paper

is. For example, if your paper were about a particular book, your answer to this question
would give the title, author, and any other necessary information.
2. How am I going to talk about it?
This

is where you let the reader know how your paper is organized. Here

you very briefly introduce your main points or the evidence that will

prove your point.

3. What am I going to prove in this paper?

This is the dreaded THESIS STATEMENT. The thesis is usually

the last sentence

in the first paragraph and it clearly states the argument or point you are making in your
paper.
Body
The Body consists of everything between your intro and conclusion and it is where you
discuss your three main points. A good
separate paragraph

starting place is to envision that each point is a

(or in a long paper each point might be a section). In each paragraph

you:
Introduce your point
Explain your

point

Give supporting evidence (this is where quotes go!)

Explain how the point and evidence relate to

your thesis

The whole point of each paragraph is to relate your point to

spell it out clearly in at least one
Conclusion

sentence of the paragraph.

your thesis, but it helps to

Basically, the conclusion restates the introduction. So just reiterate

and 3. It is also helpful to trace your argument as
way to do this is to create a
POINT

questions 1, 2,

you made it within the essay. A good

proof that might look something like this:

ONE+POINT TWO+POINT THREE=THESIS

OR
POINT ONE leads to

POINT TWO which leads to POINT THREE therefore

THESIS is true!
So, when planning your essay consider this format:
I. Introduction
Subject
Main Points
Thesis
II. Point One
Intro and explanation of point
Evidence
How point relates to thesis
III. Point Two
A. Intro and explanation of point
Evidence
How point relates to thesis
IV. Point Three
Intro and explanation of point
Evidence
How point relates to thesis
V. Conclusion
Restate subject
Summarize Main Points
Restate Thesis
(B and C can be combined into the proof)

Organization in a paper is important not only because it makes the paper easier to write,
it also guides the reader through the paper. A clearly organized paper will better hold the
reader's interest and convince them that your thesis is valid!

Read the essay question carefully

Highlight key words.
Use the dictionary to check the meaning of any unfamiliar words.
Identify the task words that indicate what needs to be done, eg 'discuss', 'explain',
'compare'.
Identify the topic words that indicate the particular subject of the essay, eg the character
of 'Juliet' in

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet , the 'causes' of World War 1.

Identify any limiting words that restrict the

'Chapters 1-3', during the

discussion to a particular area, eg in

'nineteenth century'.

Finish any necessary reading or research as

background to the essay

Be selective: use sources which are relevant

and accessible.

Write notes in your own words.

Write down quotations that may be particularly useful, but ensure the source of these
quotes is acknowledged if

they're used.

Take note of sources so they can be provided in footnotes and the bibliography.
Trainstorm ideas in response to the question
Jot down any relevant points.
Make note of any relevant evidence or quotes that

come to mind.

Use a mind map to help stimulate lateral thinking.

Develop a thesis (idea/argument) that

encapsulates the response to the question

The thesis should be a statement that strongly

expresses the overall response to the

question.
Avoid a thesis that's too simplistic - show
complexities behind the

thought has been put into some of the

question.

The thesis is the backbone of the essay - it will

be stated in the introduction. It also

needs to be referred to several times in the essay before restating it and demonstrating
how it has been proven in the conclusion.
Write a plan for the response
Order ideas in a logical sequence.

Make sure every point in the plan is relevant to the question.

After the plan has been written it should be

clear where the essay is going.

Write the introduction

Open up the discussion.
Introduce the thesis.
Indicate how the questions will be answered.
Name any texts to be discussed, if appropriate.
Engage the reader.
Write the main body of the essay
Ensure each point is given a new paragraph.
Use words or phrases at the start of each paragraph that will indicate to the reader how it
relates to the

previous paragraph, eg, 'however', 'in addition', 'nevertheless', 'moreover'.

Start each paragraph with a topic sentence that

the essay, eg "A

clearly links the paragraph to the rest of

striking example of Gary Crew's use of light and darkness imagery to

suggest notions of knowledge and ignorance occurs in the scene

on the jetty".

Provide supporting evidence for each point that you make.

Revisit the thesis, and express it in different
question is being

ways if possible, to emphasise how the

addressed.

Write the essay conclusion

Summarise the main ideas.
Demonstrate how you have proven your thesis.
Finish with an interesting or thought-provoking, but relevant, comment.
Edit the draft
Check for spelling, punctuation and grammar.
Delete any sections that are not particularly

relevant.

Change vocabulary to improve expression.

Seek feedback from peers or a teacher before
Write the final copy
Add any footnotes or bibliography if required.
Present a clean, neat copy.
Submit on time.

writing the final copy.

The verb is king in English. The shortest sentence contains a verb. You can make a oneword sentence with a verb, for example: "Stop!" You cannot make a one-word sentence with
any other type of word.
Verbs are sometimes described as "action words". This is partly true. Many verbs give the
idea of action, of "doing" something. For example, words like run, fight, do and work all
convey action.
But some verbs do not give the idea of action; they give the idea of existence, of state, of
"being". For example, verbs like be, exist, seem and belong all convey state.
A verb always has a subject. (In the sentence "John speaks English", John is the subject
and speaks is the verb.) In simple terms, therefore, we can say that verbs are words that tell us
what a subject does or is; they describe:
action (Ram plays football.)
state (Anthony seems kind.)
There is something very special about verbs in English. Most other words (adjectives,
adverbs, prepositions etc) do not change in form (although nouns can have singular and plural
forms). But almost all verbs change in form. For example, the verb to work has five forms:
to work, work, works, worked, working
Of course, this is still very few forms compared to some languages which may have thirty
or more forms for a single verb.In this lesson we look at the ways in which we classify verbs,
followed by a quiz to test your understanding:

Verb Classification
We divide verbs into two broad classifications:
1)Main verbs
2)Helping verbs

Now imagine that the same stranger walks into your room and says:

I teach.
People eat.
The Earth rotates.
Do you understand something? Has this person communicated something to you?
Probably yes!
Not a lot, but something. That's because these verbs are main verbs and have meaning on
their own. They tell us something. Of course, there are thousands of main verbs.In the
following table we see example sentences with helping verbs and main verbs.
Notice that all of these sentences have a main verb. Only some of them have a helping
verb.
Examples
helping verb

main verb

John

likes

coffee.

You

lied

to me.

They

are

happy.

The children

are

We must

go

now.

do not

want

any.

playing.
I

Helping verbs and main verbs can be further sub-divided, as we shall see on the following
pages.
These example sentences use main verbs in different forms.
Infinitive,
I want to work
He has to sing.
This exercise is easy to do.
Let him have one.
To be, or not to be, that is the question:

Base - Imperative
Work well!
Make this.
Have a nice day.
Be quiet!

Base - Present simple

(except 3rd person singular)
I work in London.
You sing well.
They have a lot of money.
Base - After modal auxiliary verbs
I can work tomorrow.
You must sing louder.
They might do it.
You could be right.
Past simple
I worked yesterday.
She cut his hair last week.
They had a good time.
They were surprised, but I was not.
Past participle
I have worked here for five years.
He needs a folder made of plastic.
It is done like this.
I have never been so happy.
Present participle
I am working.

Singing well is not easy.

Having finished, he went home.
You are being silly!
3rd person singular, present simple
He works in London.
She sings well.
She has a lot of money.
It is Vietnamese.

Imagine that a stranger walks into your room and says:

I can.
People must.
The Earth will.
Do you understand anything? Has this person communicated anything to you? Probably
not! That's because these verbs are helping verbs and have no meaning on their own. They are
necessary for the grammatical structure of the sentence, but they do not tell us very much
alone. We usually use helping verbs with main verbs. They "help" the main verb. (The
sentences in the above examples are therefore incomplete. They need at least a main verb to
complete them.) There are only about 15 helping verbs.

We use 'used to' for something that happened regularly in the past but no longer happens.
I used to smoke a packet a day but I stopped two years ago.
Ben used to travel a lot in his job but now, since his promotion, he doesn't.
I used to drive to work but now I take the bus.
We also use it for something that was true but no longer is.

There used to be a cinema in the town but now there isn't.

She used to have really long hair but she's had it all cut off.
I didn't use to like him but now I do.
'Used to do' is different from 'to be used to doing' and 'to get used to doing'
to be used to doing
We use 'to be used to doing' to say that something is normal, not unusual.
I'm used to living on my own. I've done it for quite a long time.
Hans has lived in England for over a year so he is used to driving on the left now.
They've always lived in hot countries so they aren't used to the cold weather here.
to get used to doing
We use 'to get used to doing' to talk about the process of something becoming normal for
us.
I didn't understand the accent when I first moved here but I quickly got used to it.
She has started working nights and is still getting used to sleeping during the day.
I have always lived in the country but now I'm beginning to get used to living in the city.

Let's start off with the easy part. ' I wish to' can mean the same as 'I want to' but it is
much, much more formal and much, much less common.
I wish to make a complaint.
I wish to see the manager.
You can also use 'wish' with a noun to 'offer good wishes'.
I wish you all the best in your new job.
We wish you a merry Christmas.
Notice that when you want to offer good wishes using a verb, you must use 'hope ' and
not 'wish'.

We wish you the best of luck.

We hope you have the best of luck.
I wish you a safe and pleasant journey.
I hope you have a safe and pleasant journey.
However, the main use of 'wish' is to say that we would like things to be different from
what they are, that we have regrets about the present situation.
I wish I was rich.
He wishes he lived in Paris.
They wish they'd chosen a different leader.
Notice that the verb tense which follows 'I wish' is 'more in the past' than the tense
corresponding to its meaning.
I'm too fat. I wish I was thin.
I never get invited to parties. I wish I got invited to parties.
It's raining. I wish it wasn't raining.
I went to see the latest Star Wars film. I wish I hadn't gone.
I've eaten too much. I wish I hadn't eaten so much.
I'm going to visit her later. I wish I wasn't going to visit her later.
In the case of 'will' , where 'will' means 'show willingness' we use 'would'.
He won't help me. I wish he would help me.
You're making too much noise. I wish you would be quiet.
You keep interrupting me. I wish you wouldn't do that.
Where 'will' means a future event, we cannot use 'wish' and must use 'hope'.
There's a strike tomorrow. I hope some buses will still be running.
I hope everything will be fine in your new job.
In more formal English, we use the subjunctive form 'were' and not 'was' after 'wish'.
I wish I were taller.
I wish it were Saturday today.
I wish he were here.

We use 'should' for giving advice.

You should speak to him about it.
He should see a doctor.
We should ask a lawyer.
We use 'should' to give an opinion or a recommendation.
He should resign now.
We should invest more in Asia.
They should do something about this terrible train service.
'should' expresses a personal opinion and is much weaker and more personal than 'must'
or 'have to'. It is often introduced by ' I think'.
I think they should replace him.
I don't think they should keep the contract.
Do you think we should tell her.
We can use 'should' after 'reporting verbs' such as
demand insist propose recommend suggest
He demanded that we should pay for the repair.
She insisted that she should pay for the meal.
I have proposed that he should take charge of the organization.
The committee recommends that Jane should be appointed.
We have suggested that Michael should be given a reward for his hard work.
However, it is also possible to say exactly the same thing by omitting the 'should' and just
using the infinitive form without 'to' . Some people call this the 'subjunctive' form.
He demanded that we pay for the repair.
She insisted that she pay for the meal.
I have proposed that he take charge of the organization.
The committee recommends that Jane be appointed.
We have suggested that Michael be given a reward for his hard work.
We can use 'should' after various adjectives. Typical examples are :

funny interesting natural odd strange surprised surprising typical

It's funny that you should say that. I was thinking exactly the same thing.
It's interesting that they should offer him the job. Not an obvious choice.
It's natural that you should be anxious. Nobody likes speaking in public.
Isn't it odd that he should be going to the same tiny hotel? What a coincidence.
It's strange that you should think so. Nobody else does.
We can use 'should' in 'if clauses' when we believe that the possibility of something
happening is small.
If you should happen to see him before I do, can you tell him that I want to speak to him
urgently?
If there should be a problem, just give me a call and I'll sort it out.
If anyone should ask where I am, say I'm in a meeting.
We use 'should' in various fixed expressions.
To show strong agreement
They're paying you compensation? I should think so.
To express pleasure when you receive a gift
What a fantastic present. You really shouldn't have.
To emphasize a visible emotion
You should have seen the look on her face when she found out that she had got the
promotion.

We don't use 'Shall' very frequently in modern English, particularly in American English.
It is used to make offers and suggestions and to ask for advice.
What time shall we meet?
Shall we vote on it now?
What dress shall I wear?

Shall I open the window?

You only really need to know that about 'shall' in modern English. Read the rest of this
only if you want to know more about how some older speakers still use 'shall '.
Formerly, in older grammar, 'shall' was used as an alternative to 'will' with 'I' and 'we'.
Today, 'will' is normally used. When we do use 'shall', it has an idea of a more personal,
subjective future.
I shall go to see the boss and I shall ask him to explain this decision.
Notice that the negative of ' shall ' can be ' shall not ' or ' shan't ' - though the second one
is now very rare in American English.
I don't like these people and I shall not go to their party.
I shan't object if you go without me.

We can use let to mean to rent out a house.

We moved to Australia and let our house in London.
A major use of let is for talking about 'allowing' and 'permission'.
My mother let me come.
I let her leave early.
One pattern is let followed by an OBJECT followed by a BARE INFINITIVE
She let me have the last one.
You must let us know when you are coming to New York.
I didn't let my friend drive my car.
Why did you let Jane do that?
Another pattern is let followed by an OBJECT followed by a COMPLEMENT
Let me past.
The police aren't letting anybody out of the building.
Don't let him get away.

Why did you let him in?

Notice that we can use reflexive pronouns to talk about what we allow ourselves to do.
I let myself be influenced by her.
She let herself out.
I didn't let myself be talked into it.
Did you let yourself in?
Notice that we do not make a contraction out of let us when asking for permission.
Let us help you.
Let us pay for this.
Let us buy that.
Let us take the risk.
We use let's when we are making a suggestion.
Let's go to the cinema.
Let's stay at home.
Let's not argue. (formal)
Don't let's argue. (informal)
Compare these
Let us watch TV, please. (asking for permission)
Let's watch TV. (a suggestion)
There are many fixed expressions, idioms and phrasal verbs using let.
Let alone means 'much less'
I've never been to Africa, let alone Ghana.
I've never met any actor, let alone Brad Pitt.
Let go can mean to dismiss
My company let 20 people go.
I was let go three weeks ago.
Let your hair down means to lose your inhibitions.

At the office party, everybody let their hair down and we had fun.
Don't let it get you down means to stay cheerful although something bad has happened.
Everybody makes mistakes. Don't let it get you down.
let you off'/let you off the hook means that you are excused, even though you did
something wrong or had something bad to do.
I made a mess but the boss let me off.
I was supposed to tidy up after the party but I was let off the hook as Sandra did it.
Letting off steam means to get rid of excess energy or frustration.
After work I go to the gym and let off steam on the treadmill.
We need to go out after the exams and let off steam.
Let me see and let me think are expressions used to give you time to think.
You want a raise? Let me think. Can we discuss this later?
A good place for lunch? Let me see. How about the Italian restaurant?
Let's say and let's suppose are used to talk about hypothetical situations.
Let's say that you were boss. What would you do?
Let's suppose that we don't get the contract. What do we do?
Let's hope is used to express a hope.
Let's hope he gets the job.
Yes, let's hope so.

A question tag is a special construction in English. It is a statement followed by a miniquestion. The whole sentence is a "tag question", and the mini-question at the end is called a
"question tag".

We use tags in spoken English but not in formal written English.They are not really
questions but are a way of asking the other person to make a comment and so keep the
conversation open.
Making a tag is very mechanical. To make a tag, use the first auxiliary. If there is no
auxiliary, use do, does or did. With a positive sentence, make a negative tag and with a
negative sentence, make a positive tag..
The basic structure is:
Active/Passive Voice Rules Chart
Statement Question Tag
+ Positive statement,
Snow is white,

- negative tag?

isn't it?

- Negative statement,

+ positive tag?

You don't like me, do you?

We use tag questions at the end of statements to ask for confirmation. They mean
something like: "Am I right?" or "Do you agree?" They are very common in English.
Notice that the question tag repeats the auxiliary verb (or main verb when be) from the
statement and changes it to negative or positive.

Here are some rules to follow:

1.QUESTION TAG = AUXILIARY + PERSONAL PRONOUN:
Tony can run really fast, can't he?
The twins are very nice, aren't they?
2.If there is no auxiliary in the statement, use a form of do in the question tag:
Mum cooks fantastic meals, doesn't she?

3. Positive statements => Negative question tags;

Negative statements => Positive question tags:
That's your workbook, isn't it?
That's not true, is it?
They will help us, won't they?
4. Orders and commands are followed by "will you":
Don't open the windows, will you?
Help your dad in the garage, will you?
5. Let's is followed by "shall we":
Let's start homework now, shall we?
Let's go shopping, shall we?
6. AND DON'T FORGET :
The question tag "am I not" is totally incorrect; always say: "aren't I":
I am late, aren't I?
The statements and the question tags take the same tenses:
Bob helped you a lot, didn't he?
You will help me tomorrow, won't you?

There are five ways in which we normally use question tags and they are easily explained
here.
1. Positive/negative
If the main part of the sentence is positive, the question tag is negative.
Example: Hes a doctor, isnt he?
Example: You work in a bank, dont you? ( Note that if there is not an auxiliary use do,
does, or didnt at the end of the sentence)
If the main part of the sentence is negative, the question tag is positive.
Example: You havent met him, have you?
Example: She isnt coming, is she?
2. With auxiliary verbs
The question tag uses the same verb as the main part of the sentence. If this is an auxiliary
verb (have, be) then the question tag is made with the auxiliary verb.
Example: Theyve gone away for a few days, havent they?
Example: They werent here, were they?
Example: He had met him before, hadnt he?

Example: This isnt working, is it?

3. Without auxiliary verbs
If the main part of the sentence doesnt have an auxiliary verb, the question tag uses an
appropriate form of do.
Example: I said that, didnt I?
Example: You dont recognise me, do you?
Example: She eats meat, doesnt she?
4. With modal verbs
If there is a modal verb in the main part of the sentence the question tag uses the same
modal verb.
Example: They couldnt hear me, could they?
Example: You wont tell anyone, will you?
5. With I am
Be careful with question tags with sentences that start I am. The question tag for I am
is arent I?
Example: Im the fastest, arent I?
or in a negative form we use the same am form at the end as in the positive form of the
sentence.
Example: Im not fat , am I?

Quantifiers form a sub-class under determiners. They are adjectives or phrases that serve
to answer two possible questions:
1.

How many?

2.

and How much?

For example: a few, a little, much, many, most, some, any, enough, etc., are quantifiers.
Quantifiers that describe quantity
Words and phrases that describe quantity include a little, none, a few, etc. Some of these
are used only with:
Countable nouns - These are the nouns that answer the question How many? For
example: a few, a number of, several, etc.
Uncountable nouns - These are the nouns that answer the question How much? For
example: a little, a bit of, etc.)
Some of them are also used with both. These are the ones that answer both questions. For
example: such as no/none, some, a lot of, etc.
Quantifiers that express attitude
The words few, little and the phrases - a few and a little serve to describe the speaker's
attitude to the quantity being described. The first two carry negative suggestions, whereas the
last two carry positive suggestions. For e.g.:
The phrase I have little time means that the speaker hardly has time, whereas the phrase
I have a little time means that while the speaker may not have all the time in the world, but
s/he has enough for the purpose at hand.

'Enough'
Enough is used to indicate the necessary amount or quantity; it is placed before nouns.
For e.g.: There is enough time, You have enough money, Is there enough food?, etc.
Comparative quantifiers
There are ten comparative or grade quantifiers: much, many, more, most, few, fewer,
fewest, little, less, and least.
Much, many, more and most describe (in ascending order) increase; much is used only
with uncountable nouns, many only with plural countable nouns, and more and most with
both.
I have much time. < I have more time. < I have the most time.
I have many apples. < I have more apples. < I have the most apples.
Few, fewer, fewest, little, less and least chart decrease. The first three (in descending
order) are used only with countable plural nouns. The last three (in descending order) are
used only with uncountable nouns.
He has few friends. > He has fewer friends. > He has the fewest friends.
He has little time. > He has less time. > He has the least time.
Figure of Speech is departure from the ordinary form of expression, or the ordinary
course of ideas in order to produce a greater effect.
Figure-of-Speech may be classified as under:
1. Those based on resemblance
* Simile
* Metaphor
* Personification

* Apostrophe
2. Those based on Contrast:
* Antithesis
* Epigram
3. Those based on Association:
* Metonymy
* Synecdoche
4. Thos depending on Construction:
* Climax
* Anticlimax
In Personification, inanimate objects and abstract notions are spoken of as having life and
intelligence.
Examples:
* Death lays its icy hands on King.
* Pride goes forth on horseback, grand and gay.
* Laughter is holding her both sides.
In Simile, a comparison is made between two object of different kinds which have at least
one point in common.
The Simile is introduced by the word 'asas'.
Examples:
* As active as quicksilver
* As afraid as a grasshopper * As afraid as a grasshopper
* As ageless as the sun
* As agile as a cat

* As agile as a monkey
* As alert as a bird
* As alike as two peas
* As alone as a leper
* As alone as Crusoe
* As ambitious as the devil
This Figure-of-Speech is widely used by us in our writings.
NOTE:
A comparison of two things of same kind is not a Simile.
In Antithesis, a striking opposition or contrast of words or sentiments is made in the same
sentence.It is employed to secure emphasis.
Examples:
* Man proposes, but God disposes.
* Not that I loved Caesar less, but I loved Rome more.
* Speech is silver, but Silence is Gold.
* Many are called, but few are chosen.
* To err is human, but to forgive on divine.
An Apostrophe is a direct address to the dead, to the absent, or to a personified object or
idea. This figure is a special form of Personification.
Examples:
* Milton! You should not be living at this hour.
* Friend! I know not which way I must look for comfort.
* Roll on! Thou deep and dark blue ocean , roll.
* Death! Where is thy sting? O Grave! Where is thy victory?
An Epigram is a brief pointed saying frequently introducing antithetical ideas which
excite surprise and arrest attention.

Examples:
* The child is the father of the man.
* Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
* In the midst of life, we are in death.
* Art lies in concealing art.
* He makes no friend who never made a foe.
* A man can not be too careful in the choice of his enemies.
* The proper study of mankind is man.
Noun that distinguishes between male and female s called
There are three genders properly so called:
distinction of male

Gender.

Masculine, Feminine and Neuter. The

and female in nature is called sex. The distinction between Masculine

and Feminine in words is called

A noun that denotes a

Gender.

Masculine Gender

male animal is said to be of Masculine Gender.

Example:
boy,drake,drone,brother
Feminine Gender
A noun that denotes a

female animal is said to be of Feminine Gender.

Example:
girl,duck,bee,sister
Neuter Gender
A noun that denotes a

female animal is said to be of Feminine Gender.Neuter means

neither male or female.

Example:
book,pen,room,tree
Objects without life are often
beings.We

personified that is spoken as if they were living

than regard them as males or females.

The Masculine Gender is often applied to objects remarkable

Example:

for strength and violence.

The Sun,Summer,Winter,Time,Death
The Feminine Gender is sometimes applied to objects remarkable
beauty,gentleness, and gracefulness.
Example:
The Moon,the earth,Spring,Autumn,Nature,Liberty
People
Masculine Faminine
actor
author
bachelor
boy
Boy Scout
brave
bridegroom
brother
conductor
count
czar
dad
daddy

for

duke
emperor
father
father-in-law
fiance
gentleman
giant
god
governor
grandfather
headmaster
heir
hero
host
hunter
husband
king

lad
landlord
lord
man
manager
manservant
master
mayor
milkman
millionaire
monitor
monk
Mr.
murderer
Negro
nephew
papa

poet
postman
postmaster
priest
prince
prophet
proprietor
protector
shepherd
sir
son
son-in-law
step-father
step-son
steward
sultan
tailor

uncle
waiter
washerman
widower
wizard
actress
authoress
spinster
girl
Girl Guide
Squaw
bride
sister
comductress
countess
czarina
mum

mummy
duchess
empress
mother
mother-in-law
fiancee
lady
giantess
goddess
matron
grandmother
headmistress
heiress
heroine
hostess
huntress
wife

queen
lass
landlady
lady
woman
manageress
maidservant
mistress
mayoress
milkmaid
millionairess
monitress
nun
Mrs.
murderess
Negress
niece

mama
poetess
postwoman
postmistress
prietess
princess
prophetess
proprietress
protectress
shepherdess
madam
daughter
daughter-in-law
step-mother
step-daughter
stewardess
sultana

tailoress
aunt
waitress
washerwoman
widow
witch
Creatures
Masculine
Faminine
billy-goat
boar
buck (deer, hare)
buck-rabbit
bull
bull-elephant
bull-seal
bullock
bull-whale

cob (swan)
cock
cockerel
cock-pigeon
colt (young horse)
dog
drake
drone
fox
gander
hawk
he-bear
he-goat
he-wolf
jack-ass
leopard
lion

peacock
ram (sheep)
stag
stallion
tiger
tom-cat
turkey-cock
nanny-goat
sow
doe
doe-rabbit
cow
cow-elephant
cow-seal
heifer
cow-whale
pen

hen
pullet
hen-pigeon
filly
bitch
duck
bee
vixen
goose
bowess
she-bear
she-goat
she-wolf
jenny-ass, she-ass
leopardess
lioness
peahen

ewe
hind
mare
tigress
tabby-cat
turkey-hen

WAYS OF FORMING THE FEMININE OF NOUNS

There are three ways of forming the Feminine of Nouns:
By using an entirely different word; as
Masculine -- Feminine
Bachelor -- maid, spinster
Boy --

girl

Brother -- sister
Buck -- doe
Bull

(or ox) -- cow

Bullock -- heifer
Cock -- hen
Colt -- filly
Dog -- bitch
Drake -- duck
Drone -- bee
Earl -- countess
Father -- mother
Gander -- goose
Gentleman -- lady

Hart -- roe
Horse -- mare
Husband -- wife
King -- queen
Lord -- lady
Man -- woman
Monk (or friar) -- nun
Nephew -- niece
Papa -- mamma
Ram -- ewe
Sir -- madam
Son -- daughter
Stag -- hind
Uncle -- aunt
Wizard -- witch
By adding a syllable (-ess, -ine, -trix, -a, etc) as,
Masculine -- Feminine
Author -- authoress
Baron -- baroness
Count -- countess
Giant -- giantess
Heir -- heiress
Host -- hostess
Jew -- Jewess
Lion -- lioness
Manager -- manageress
Mayor -- mayoress
Patron -- patroness
Peer -- peeress
Poet -- poetess
Priest -- priestess
Prophet -- prophetess
Shepherd --

shepherdess

Steward -- stewardess
Viscount -- viscountess
[Note that in the following -ess is added after dropping the vowel of the masculine
ending]
Masculine -- Feminine
Actor -- actress
Benefactor --

benefactress

Conductor -- conductress
Enchanter --

enchantress

Founder -- foundress
Hunter -- huntress
Instructor -- instructress
Negro -- negress
Abbot --

abbess

Duke -- duchess
Emperor -- empress
Preceptor -- preceptress
Prince -- princess
Songster -- songstress
Tempter -- temptress
Seamster -- seamstress
Tiger -- tigress
Traitor -- traitress
Waiter --

waitress

Master -- mistress
Murderer -- murderess
Sorcerer -- sorceress
Note:- The suffix -ess is the
the Masculine, and

is the only one which we now use in forming a new feminine noun.

Masculine -- Feminine
Hero -- heroine
Testator -- testatrix

commonest suffix used to form feminine nouns, from

Czar -- czarina
Sultan -- sultana
Signor -- signora
Fox -- vixen
By placing a word before or after; as,
Masculine -- Feminine
Grandfather -- grandmother
Greatuncle -- greataunt
Manservant -- maidservant
Landlord --

landlady

milkman -- milkwoman
peacock -- peahen
salesman -- saleswoman
The two groups of verbs below can be followed either by the gerund or by the infinitive.
Usually this has no effect on the meaning, but with some verbs there is a clear difference in
meaning. Verbs marked * can also be followed by a that-clause.
Example:
I prefer to live in an apartment.
I prefer living in an apartment.

Verbs where there is little or no difference in meaning:

allow
attempt
begin
bother
cease
continue
deserve
fear*
hate*

intend*
like
love
neglect
omit
permit
prefer*
recommend*
start
Notes:
1. Allow is used in these two patterns:
a. Allow + object + to-infinitive:
Her parents allowed her to go to the party.
b. Allow + gerund:
Her parents don't allow smoking in the house.
2. Deserve + gerund is not very common, but is mainly used with passive constructions or
where there is a passive meaning:
Your proposals deserve being considered in detail.
These ideas deserve discussing. (= to be discussed).
3. The verbs hate, love, like, prefer are usually followed by a gerund when the meaning is
general, and by a to-infinitive when they refer to a particular time or situation. You must
always use the to-infinitive with the expressions 'would love to', 'would hate to', etc.
Compare:
I hate to tell you, but Uncle Jim is coming this weekend.
I hate looking after elderly relatives!
I love dancing .
I would love to dance with you.
Verbs where there is a clear difference in meaning :

Verbs marked with an asterisk * can also be followed by a that-clause .

Examples
come
forget *
go on
mean *
regret *
remember *
stop
try
Examples
Come:
Come + gerund is like other verbs of movement followed by the gerund, and means that
the subject is doing something as they move:
She came running across the field.
Come + to-infinitive means that something happens or develops, perhaps outside the
subject's control:
At first I thought he was crazy, but I've come to appreciate his sense of humour.
How did you come to be outside the wrong house?
This word has come to mean something quite different.
Forget, regret and remember:
When these verbs are followed by a gerund , the gerund refers to an action that happened
earlier:
I remember locking the door ( = I remember now, I locked the door earlier)
He regretted speaking so rudely. (= he regretted at some time in the past, he had spoken
rudely at some earlier time in the past.)
Forget is frequently used with 'never' in the simple future form:

I'll never forget meeting my boss for the first time.

When these verbs are followed by a to-infinitive , the infinitive refers to an action
happening at the same time, or later:
I remembered to lock the door (= I thought about it, then I did it.)
Don't forget to buy some eggs! (= Please think about it and then do it.)
We regret to announce the late arrival of the 12.45 from Paddington. (= We feel sorry
before we tell you this bad news.)
Go on:
Go on + gerund means to continue with an action:
He went on speaking for two hours.
I can't go on working like this - I'm exhausted.
Go on + to-infinitive means to do the next action, which is often the next stage in a
process:
After introducing her proposal, she went on to explain the benefits for the company.
John Smith worked in local government for five years, then went on to become a Member
of Parliament.
Mean:
Mean + gerund expresses what the result of an action will be, or what will be necessary:
If you take that job in London it will mean travelling for two hours every day.
We could take the ferry to France, but that will mean spending a night in a hotel.
Mean + to-infinitive expresses an intention or a plan:
Did you mean to dial this number?
I mean to finish this job by the end of the week!
Sorry - I didn't mean to hurt you.
Stop:
Stop + gerund means to finish an action in progress:
I stopped working for them because the wages were so low.

Stop tickling me!

Stop + to-infinitive means to interrupt an activity in order to do something else, so the
infinitive is used to express a purpose:
I stopped to have lunch. (= I was working, or travelling, and I interrupted what I was
doing in order to eat.)
It's difficult to concentrate on what you are doing if you have to stop to answer the phone
every five minutes.
Try:
Try + gerund means to experiment with an action that might be a solution to your
problem.
If you have problems sleeping, you could try doing some yoga before you go to bed, or
you could try drinking some warm milk.
'I can't get in touch with Carl.' 'Have you tried e-mailing him?'
Try + to-infinitive means to make an effort to do something. It may be something very
difficult or even impossible:
The surgeons tried to save his life but he died on the operating table.
We'll try to phone at 6 o'clock, but it might be hard to find a public telephone.
People have to try to live together in harmony.

The '-ing' form of the verb may be a present participle or a gerund.

The form is identical, the difference is in the function, or the job
the sentence.
The present participle
This is most commonly used:
as part of the continuous form of a verb,
he is painting ; she has been waiting
after verbs of movement/position in the pattern:
verb

+ present participle ,

the word does in

She sat looking

at the sea

after verbs of perception in the pattern:

verb +

object + present participle ,

We saw him swimming

as an adjective, e.g. amazing , worrying , exciting , boring
The gerund
This always has the same function as a noun (although it looks like a verb), so it can be
used:
as the subject of the sentence:
Eating

people is wrong.

after prepositions:
Can you sneeze without opening your mouth?
She is good at painting
after certain verbs,
e.g. like

, hate , admit , imagine

in compound nouns,
e.g. a driving

lesson, a swimming pool, bird- watching

, train- spotting.

This looks exactly the same as a present participle, and for this reason it is now common
to call both forms 'the -ing form' . However it is useful to understand the difference between
the two. The gerund always has the same function as a noun (although it looks like a verb), so
it can be used:
as the subject of the sentence:
Eating people is wrong.
Hunting tigers is dangerous.
Flying makes me nervous.
as the complement of the verb 'to be' :
One of his duties is attending meetings.
The hardest thing about learning English is understanding the gerund.
One of life's pleasures is having breakfast in bed.

after prepositions. The gerund must be used when a verb comes after a preposition:
Can you sneeze without opening your mouth?
She is good at painting .
They're keen on windsurfing .
She avoided him by walking on the opposite side of the road.
We arrived in Madrid after driving all night.
My father decided against postponing his trip to Hungary.
This is also true of certain expressions ending in a preposition, e.g. in spite of, there's no
point in..:
There's no point in waiting .
In spite of missing the train, we arrived on time.
after a number of 'phrasal verbs' which are composed of a verb + preposition/adverb
Example:
to look forward to, to give up, to be for/against, to take to, to put off, to keep on:
I look forward to hearing from you soon. ( at the end of a letter)
When are you going to give up smoking ?
She always puts off goi ng to the dentist.
He kept on asking for money.
NOTE: There are some phrasal verbs and other expressions that include the word 'to' as a
preposition, not as part of a to-infinitive : - to look forward to, to take to, to be accustomed to,
to be used to. It is important to recognise that 'to' is a preposition in these cases, as it must be
followed by a gerund:
We are looking forward to seeing you.
I am used to waiting for buses.
She didn't really take to studying English.
It is possible to check whether 'to? is a preposition or part of a to-infinitive : if you can
put a noun or the pronoun 'it' after it, then it is a preposition and must be followed by a
gerund:

I am accustomed to it (the cold).

I am accustomed to being cold.
in compound nouns
Example:
a driving lesson, a swimming pool, bird- watching , train- spotting
It is clear that the meaning is that of a noun, not of a continuous verb.
Example:
the pool is not swimming, it is a pool for swimming in .
after the expressions:
can't help, can't stand, it's no use/good, and the adjective worth:
She couldn't help falling in love with him.
I can't stand being stuck in traffic jams.
It's no use/good trying to escape.
It might be worth phoning the station to check the time of the train.
The present participle of most verbs has the form base+ing and is used in the following
ways:
as part of the continuous form of a verb
Example:
I am working
he was singing
they have been walking
after verbs of movement/position in the pattern: verb + present participle
Example
She went shopping
He lay looking up at the clouds
She came running towards me

This construction is particularly useful with the verb 'to go' , as in these common
expressions :
Examples
to go shopping
to go ski-ing
to go fishing
to go surfing
to go walking
to go swimming
to go running
to go dancing
after verbs of perception in the pattern:
verb + object + present participle
Example
I heard someone singing .
He saw his friend walking along the road.
I can smell something burning !
NOTE : There is a difference in meaning when such a sentence contains a zero-infinitive
rather than a participle. The infinitive refers to a complete action, but the participle refers to
an incomplete action, or part of an action.
Compare:
I heard Joanna singing (= she had started before I heard her, and probably went on
afterwards)
I heard Joanna sing (= I heard her complete performance )
as an adjective
Examples
amazing, worrying, exciting, boring.

It was an amazing film.

It's a bit worrying when the police stop you
Dark billowing clouds often precede a storm.
Racing cars can go as fast as 400kph.
He was trapped inside the burning house.
Many of his paintings depict the setting sun.
with the verbs spend and waste , in the pattern:
verb + time/money expression + present participle
Example
My boss spends two hours a day travelling to work.
Don't waste time playing computer games!
They've spent the whole day shopping .
with the verbs catch and find , in the pattern:
verb + object + present participle:
With catch, the participle always refers to an action which causes annoyance or anger:
If I catch you stealing my apples again, there'll be trouble!
Don't let him catch you reading his letters.
This is not the case with find , which is unemotional:
We found some money lying on the ground.
They found their mother sitting in the garden.
to replace a sentence or part of a sentence:
When two actions occur at the same time, and are done by the same person or thing, we
can use a present participle to describe one of them:
They went out into the snow. They laughed as they went. They went laughing out into the
snow.
He whistled to himself. He walked down the road. Whistling to himself, he walked down
the road.

When one action follows very quickly after another done by the same person or thing, we
can express the first action with a present participle:
He put on his coat and left the house. Putting on his coat, he left the house.
She dropped the gun and put her hands in the air. Dropping the gun, she put her hands in
the air.
The present participle can be used instead of a phrase starting as, since, because , and it
explains the cause or reason for an action:
Feeling hungry, he went into the kitchen and opened the fridge.
(= because he felt hungry...)
Being poor, he didn't spend much on clothes.
Knowing that his mother was coming, he cleaned the flat.
The gerund is used after certain verbs.
Example: miss : I miss living in England.
The most important of these verbs are shown below.
Those

marked * can also be followed by a that-clause

Example
Verb

Gerund

She admitted...
breaking the window
That-Clause

She admitted...
that she had broken the window.
Note:

Appreciate is followed by a possessive adjective and the gerund when the

gerund

does not refer to the subject.

Compare :
I appreciate having some time off work. (I'm having the time...)
I appreciate your giving me some time off work. (You're giving me the time...)
Excuse, forgive, pardon can be followed by an
the gerund (both

object and the gerund or for + object and

common in spoken English), or a possessive adjective + gerund

(more formal and less likely to be said):

Excuse me interrupting .
Excuse me for interrupting .
Excuse my interrupting .
Suggest can be used in a number of ways, but
It is important not to

Be Careful .

confuse these patterns:

suggest/suggested (+ possessive adjective) + gerund:

He suggests going to Glastonbury
He suggested going to Glastonbury
He suggested/suggests my going to

Glastonbury

suggest/suggested + that-clause (where both that and should

He suggests that I should go to New York
He suggested that I should go to New York
He suggested/suggests I should go to New York
He suggested/suggests I go to New York
He suggested I went to New York.
suggest/suggested + question word + infinitive:
He suggested where to go.
Propose is followed by the gerund when it means ' suggest':

may be omitted):

John proposed going to the debate

but by the infinitive when it means 'intend':
The Government proposes bringing in new laws ..
Stop can be followed by a gerund or

infinitive, but there is a change of meaning.

Dread is followed by the infinitive when used with 'think' , in the expression 'I dread to
think':
I dread to think what she'll do next.
Prevent

is followed

Either by a possessive

adjective + gerund:

You can't prevent my leaving .

OR by an object + from + gerund:
You can't prevent me from leaving .
Example:
Normally, a girl wouldn't think of marrying
Most people don't like receiving bad
We can't risk getting wet - we

a man she did not love.

news.

haven't got any dry clothes.

If you take that job it will mean getting

home late every night.

I can't imagine living in that big house.

If you buy some petrol now, it will save you stopping

on the way to London.

She couldn't resist eating the plum

she found in the fridge.

They decided to postpone painting the

house until the weather improved.

There is no one 'future tense' in English. There are 4 future forms. The one which is used
most often in spoken English is 'going to', not 'will'.
We use 'going to' when we want to talk about a plan for the future.
I'm going to see him later today.
They're going to launch it next month.
We're going to have lunch first.

She's going to see what she can do.

I'm not going to talk for very long.
Notice that this plan does not have to be for the near future.
When I retire I'm going to go back to Barbados to live.
In ten years time, I'm going to be boss of my own successful company.
We use 'going to' when we want to make a prediction based on evidence we can see now.
Look out! That cup is going to fall off.
Look at those black clouds. It's going to rain soon.
These figures are really bad. We're going to make a loss.
You look very tired. You're going to need to stop soon.
We can replace 'going to go' by 'going'.
I'm going out later.
She's going to the exhibition tomorrow.
We use "had better" plus the infinitive without "to" to give advice. Although "had" is the
past form of "have", we use "had better" to give advice about the present or future.
You'd better tell her everything.
I'd better get back to work.
We'd better meet early.
The negative form is "had better not".
You'd better not say anything.
I'd better not come.
We'd better not miss the start of his presentation.
We use "had better" to give advice about specific situations, not general ones. If you want
to talk about general situations, you must use "should".
You should brush your teeth before you go to bed.
I shouldn't listen to negative people.
He should dress more appropriately for the office.

When we give advice about specific situations, it is also possible to use "should".
You shouldn't say anything.
I should get back to work.
We should meet early.
However, when we use "had better" there is a suggestion that if the advice is not
followed, that something bad will happen.
You'd better do what I say or else you will get into trouble.
I'd better get back to work or my boss will be angry with me.
We'd better get to the airport by five or else we may miss the flight.
Homonyms generally include two categories of word types: homophones and
homographs.
Homographs are words that are spelled the same but have different meanings.
Homophones are words that sound the same when you pronounce them, but have
different meanings.
This list contains both homophones and homographs.
ade - drink type, as in lemonade
aid - to help or assist
aide - assistant
affect - change
effect - result or consequence
air - atmosphere (the stuff we breathe)
err - to make a mistake
aisle - walkway
I'll - I will
isle - island

allowed - permitted
aloud - out loud
ant - picnic pest
aunt - relative, as in your mom's sister
arc - curve
ark - Noah's boat
ate - chewed up and swallowed
eight - number after seven
bare - uncovered
bear - grizzly animal
berry - fruit from a bush
bury - to put underground
base - bottom part
bass - deep or low
be - to exist
bee - buzzing insect
beach - sandy shore
beech - type of tree
beat - to pound
beet - type of edible plant
berth - tie up
birth - to be born

bite - nibble
byte - 8 bits (computer data)
blew - past of blow
blue - color of ocean
boar - pig
bore - not interesting bore - to drill
borough - area or district
burrow - dig through
burro - small donkey
bough - branch
bow - bend or curtsy
buoy - floater
boy - young man
brake - stop pedal
break - smash
bread - bakery food
bred - form of breed
broach - mention
brooch - pin
brows - eyebrows
browse - look around
buy - purchase
by - beside
by - originating from,BR. bye - short for goodbye

cell - compartment
sell - vend
cent - penny coin
sent - did send
cereal - breakfast food
serial - sequential
Chile - country in South America
chili - bean stew
chilly - frosty
chord - musical tone
cord - rope
cite - quote
site - location
sight - view
close - opposite of open
clothes - clothing
complement - enhance; go together
compliment - praise
council - committee
counsel - guidance
creak - squeak
creek - stream of water
crews - gangs

cruise - ride on a boat

dear - darling
deer - woodland animal
dew - morning mist
do - operate
due - payable
die - cease to exist
dye - color
doe - female dear
dough - uncooked bread
dual - double
duel - battle
ewe - female sheep
you - second-person personal pronoun
eye - sight organ
I - me
fair - equal
fare - price
fairy - elflike creature with wings
ferry - boat
faze - impact
phase - stage
feat - achievement

feet - plural of foot

fir - type of tree
fur - animal hair
flea - small biting insect
flee - run
flew - did fly
flu - illness
flour - powdery, ground up grain
flower - blooming plant
for - on behalf of
fore - front
four - one more than three
forth - onward
fourth - number four
knew - did know
new - not old
gorilla - big ape
guerrilla - warrior
grease - fat
Greece - country in Europe
groan - moan
grown - form of grow
hair - head covering

hare - rabbit-like animal

hall - passageway
haul - tow
halve - cut in two parts
have - possess
hay - animal food
hey - interjection to get attention
heal - mend
heel - back of foot
hi - hello
high - up far
hoarse - croaky
horse - riding animal
hole - opening
whole - entire
holey - full of holes
holy - divine
wholly - entirely
hour - sixty minutes
our - belonging to us
knead - massage
need - desire
knight - feudal horseman

night - evening
knot - tied rope
not - negative
know - have knowledge
no - opposite of yes
lead - metal
led - was the leader
lessen - make smaller
lesson - class
loan - lend
lone - solitary
made - did make
maid - servant
mail - postage
male - opposite of female
marry - to wed
merry - very happy
meat - animal protein
meet - encounter
none - not any
nun - woman who takes special vows
oar - boat paddle
or - otherwise

ore - mineral
oh - expression of surprise or awe
owe - be obligated
one - single
won - did win
overdo - do too much
overdue - past due date
pail - bucket
pale - not bright
pain - hurt
pane - window glass
peace - calm
piece - segment
peak - highest point
peek - glance
plain - ordinary
plane - flight machine plane - flat surface
pole - post
poll - survey
poor - not rich
pour - make flow
pray - implore God
prey - quarry

principal - most important

principle - belief
rain - water from sky
rein - bridle
rap - tap
wrap - drape around
real - factual
reel - roll
right - correct; not left
write - scribble
ring - encircle
wring - squeeze
role - function
roll - rotate
rose - flower
rows - lines
sail - move by wind power
sale - bargain price
scene - landscape
seen - viewed
sea - ocean segment
see - observe with eyes

seam - joining edge

seem - appear
sew - connect with thread
so - as a result
sow - plant
soar - ascend
sore - hurt place
sole - single
soul - essence
some - a few
sum - amount
steal - swipe
steel - alloy
tail - animal's appendage
tale - story
their - belonging to them
there - at that place
they're - they are
to - toward
too - also
toe - foot appendage
tow - pull along
vary - differ
very - much

wail - howl
whale - huge swimming mammal
waist - area below ribs
waste - squander
wait - kill time
weight - measurable load
war - battle
wore - did wear
warn - caution
worn - used
way - path
weigh - measure mass
we - us
wee - tiny
weak - not strong
week - period of seven days
weather - climate
whether - if
which - that
witch - sorcerer
your - belonging to you
you're - you are

Idioms combination of words that has a figurative

meaning .Meaning Of Idioms

cannot be understood by refering an english dictionary.

For example, " easygoing "An English dictionary would explain
means simple, not difficult ", and that " going " means
another. Thus you could literally
to another is

that "easy "

traveling from one place to

translate easygoing as meaning the path from one place

not complicated or physically far, by adding together these dictionary

meanings. But this interpretation is NOT CORRECT. Idiomatically, we

person's personality is warm, friendly, pleasant, and helpful.
Examples:
A piece of cake
Meaning: Easy, simple to do, no difficulties.
A drop in the ocean
Meaning: A very small part of something.
Idioms and Their Meanings.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder
Meaning: You love

a person more when they are away.

Et tu, Brutus?
Meaning: Apparently the last words of

Julius Caesar.

Brand spanking new

Meaning: A new or unused object.
Break a leg
Meaning: To wish good luck.
Cat bird seat
Meaning: To be a vantage point.
Chew the fat
Meaning: To talk about unimportant
Clear as bell
Meaning: To be understood clearly.
Cold Turkey

things.

mean that such a

Meaning: To quit something abruptly and

experience severe withdrawal

symptoms.

* Blessing in disguise
Something good

which isn't recognized in the first instant.

Eg.Getting out of the place was a blessing in disguise for me.

* A doubting Thomas
A skeptic person who
Eg.My boss is a

needs a tangible evidence to believe.

doubting Thomas, there is no point trying to convince him.

* A dime a dozen
Something that is available in plenty and commonly.
Eg.Such bags are available dime a dozen on Fashion Street.
* A leopard can't change his spots
You

can't change who you are.

Eg.It's true a leopard

can't change his spots, but he sure can change his strategy.

* Against the clock

A hectic dash or

running against time.

Eg.Finishing the paper was a

race against the clock.

* Cry wolf
To intentionally give a false

alarm.

Eg."Stop crying wolf, or else no one will come to your help in case of need."
* Devil's advocate
Someone who takes a

position in an argument without knowing the truth. Or

someone who counters the argument without believing in it.

Eg.He

is just playing devil's advocate. Don't fall for the trap.

* Turn over a new leaf

Changing for the better
Eg.After Ajith was released from prison, he

decided to turn over a new leaf and

become an honest man.

* Hit below the belt
To act in an unfair matter
Eg.The candidate of the opposition party spread false rumours about the Minister. People
felt that he was

hitting below the belt.

* Gift of the gab

The ability to speak

well

Eg.The ability to speak well

A clause is a grouping of words in English that contains a

Clauses are the building blocks of sentences. They

subject and a verb.

can be of two types: independent and

dependent. It is important for the purpose of sentence formation to be able to recognise

independent

and dependent clauses.

Independent clauses are clauses that express a

complete thought. They can function as

sentences. For e.g. 'Ram left to buy supplies' is an independent clause, and if you end it with
a full stop, it becomes a sentence.
Dependent clauses, on the other hand, do not express

a complete thought and thus

cannot function as sentences. For e.g. 'When Ram left to buy supplies' cannot be a sentence
because it is an
Here,

incomplete thought. What happened when Ram went to the shop?

'when' functions as a 'dependent marker word'; this term refers to

when added to the beginnings of independent clauses or

dependent clauses. Other examples of

words which,

sentences, transform them into

dependent marker words are after , although, as,

as if, because, before, if, in order to, since, though, unless, until, whatever, when, whenever,
whether, and while.

Dependent clauses, thus, need to be combined with

sentences. For e.g., 'When Ram left

independent clauses to form full

to buy supplies, Rohan snuck in and stole the money' is

a complete

An infinitive is a verb combined with the word to. Most often, an infinitive acts as a noun
in the sentence. Less frequently, it acts as an adjective or an adverb.
I want to go home early today.
I hope to be chosen as a member.
I prefer to go there earlier.
You need to consider various rules in writing sentences.
You have to explain your reasoning in detail.
You might wish to act as a teacher.
To leave for a vacation is my only wish at this time.
A common mistake in a relationship is not to trust the other person.
Help me to save the trees!
To be mentally healthy, you must read books.
Do you want me to fill out this form?
Here is our to-do list.
It was nice to meet you.
It is time to move on.
I am young enough to change my habits.
Don't forget not to make grammar mistakes.
You are required to leave all your belongings here.
I came to see a doctor today.
You have to work harder to succeed.
I need to take three more classes to finish my graduate study.
I got closer to the speaker to listen clearly.
Be sure to check if you have tickets.
I am going to buy the new computer.
Generally, it is not common to split to and the verb except for when you want to
emphasize the verb.
I want you to immediately stop doing that.
You have to seriously work hard to succeed.

You need to definitely explain your reasoning in detail.

Commonly, an
+

infinitive" It

infinitive is used with the subject

refers to the

it. The sentence structure is "It is

infinitive. Thisexpression is used in many ways.

It is time to do math.
It is common to think that way.
It is appropriate to keep a low profile.
It was nice to see you.
It was my pleasure to meet you.
It was my honor to have dinner with you.
It is good to see you.
It was great to go on a trip with them.
Both gerunds and infinitive phrases can function as

nouns, in a variety of ways.

Gerunds and infinitives can follow certain verbs but not others. You need to
which verbs can be followed by only a gerund or only an

remember

infinitive.

Verbs that can precede only gerunds:

consider, suggest, enjoy, deny, avoid, miss, mind, practice,

postpone, resist, finish,

quit, give up, put off

Verbs that can precede only infinitive

s:

offer, decide, hope, attempt, promise, agree, afford, deserve,

fail, seem, appear, tend, pretend, choose,

refuse, undertake, learn,

demand, desire, guarantee, claim, manage,

determine, expect, want, wish

Verbs that can precede either gerunds or infinitive

s without changing meanings:

continue, like, love, begin, start, propose, neglect, stand,

hate

Verbs that can precede either gerunds or infinitive

but change meanings:

forget, remember, stop, try

I stopped watching the movie. (I no longer watched

the movie.)

I stopped to watch the movie. (I stopped what I was

doing to watch the movie.)

Interjection is a big name for a little word. Interjections are

Oh!, Um or Ah! They have
more in

short exclamations like

no real grammatical value but we use them quite often, usually

speaking than in writing. When interjections are inserted into a

they have no grammatical connection to the sentence. An

followed by an exclamation mark (!) when

sentence,

interjection is sometimes

written. The table below shows some

interjections with examples.

Interjections like er and um are also known as
common in English. People use
that they are

"hesitation devices". They are extremely

them when they don't know what to say, or to indicate

thinking about what to say. You should learn to recognize them when

you hear them and realize that they have no real meaning.
Active/Passive Voice Rules Chart
interjection

meaning

example

ah expressing pleasure

"Ah, that feels good."

expressing realization

"Ah, now I understand."

"Ah well, it can't be heped."

expressing surprise

alas

expressing grief or pity

dear

expressing pity

expressing resignation
"Ah! I've won!"

"Alas, she's dead now."

"Oh dear! Does it hurt?"

expressing surprise

"Dear me! That's a surprise!" eh

asking for repetition

"It's hot today." "Eh?" "I said it's hot today." expressing enquiry

"What do you think of that, eh?" expressing surprise

"Eh! Really?"

inviting agreement

"Let's go, eh?" er

expressing hesitation

"Lima is the capital of...er...Peru."

hello, hullo

expressing greeting

"Hello John. How are you today?"

expressing surprise

"Hello! My car's gone!" hey

calling attention

"Hey! look at that!"

expressing surprise, joyetc

hi expressing greeting

"Hi! What's new?"

"Hey! What a good idea!"

hmm

expressing hesitation, doubt or disagreement "Hmm. I'm not so sure."

oh, o

expressing surprise

expressing pain

"Oh! You're here!"

"Oh! I've got a toothache."

expressing pleading

"Oh, please say 'yes'!"

ouch

expressing pain

"Ouch! That hurts!"

uh

expressing hesitation

"Uh...I don't know the answer to that."

uh-huh expressing agreement

"Shall we go?" "Uh-huh." um, umm

expressing hesitation

"85 divided by 5 is...um...17."

expressing surprise

"Well I never!"

well

introducing a remark "Well, what did he say?"

Liitle means 'hardly any' and it has a negative meaning.

Example :
There is little water in the jug.
Practically it means no water.
A Liitle means 'some, but not much' and it has a positive meaning.
Example :
There is a little water in the jug.
Practically it means some water

We can use 'must' to show that we are certain something is true. We are making a logical
deduction based upon some clear evidence or reason.
There's no heating on. You must be freezing.
You must be worried that she is so late coming home.
I can't remember what I did with it. I must be getting old.
It must be nice to live in Florida.
We also use 'must' to express a strong obligation. When we use 'must' this usually means
that some personal circumstance makes the obligation necessary (and the speaker almost
certainly agrees with the obligation.)
I must go to bed earlier.
They must do something about it.
You must come and see us some time.
I must say, I don't think you were very nice to him.

We can also use 'have to' to express a strong obligation. When we use 'have to' this
usually means that some external circumstance makes the obligation necessary.
I have to arrive at work at 9 sharp. My boss is very strict.
We have to give him our answer today or lose out on the contract.
You have to pass your exams or the university will not accept you.
I have to send a report to Head Office every week.
In British English, we often use 'have got to' to mean the same as 'have to'.
I've got to take this book back to the library or I'll get a fine.
We've got to finish now as somebody else needs this room.
We can also use ' will have to' to talk about strong obligations. Like 'must' this usually
means that that some personal circumstance makes the obligation necessary. (Remember that
'will' is often used to show 'willingness'.)
I'll have to speak to him.
We'll have to have lunch and catch up on all the gossip.
They'll have to do something about it.
I'll have to get back to you on that.
As you can see, the differences between the present forms are sometimes very small and
very subtle. However, there is a huge difference in the negative forms.
We use 'mustn't' to express strong obligations NOT to do something.
We mustn't talk about it. It's confidential.
I mustn't eat chocolate. It's bad for me.
You mustn't phone me at work. We aren't allowed personal calls.
They mustn't see us talking or they'll suspect something.
We use 'don't have to' (or 'haven't got to' in British English) to state that there is NO
obligation or necessity.
We don't have to get there on time. The boss is away today.
I don't have to listen to this. I'm leaving.
You don't have to come if you don't want to.
He doesn't have to sign anything if he doesn't want to at this stage.

I haven't got to go. Only if I want to

It's not easy to describe a noun. In simple terms, nouns are "things"
"actions"). Like food. Food (noun) is something
(noun) is something you
being (noun)

(and verbs are

you eat (verb). Or happiness. Happiness

want (verb). Another example is "human being"". A human

is something you are (verb).

What are Nouns?

The simple definition is: a person, place or thing
teacher,

school, book

Types
Countable Nouns, Uncountable Nouns
dog/dogs, rice,

hair(s)

Proper Nouns (Names)

Do we say "Atlantic Ocean" or "the Atlantic Ocean"? Should I write

"february" or

"February"?
Shirley, Mr Jeckyll,

Thailand, April, Sony

Possessive 's
Adding 's or ' to show possession.
John's car, my

parents' house

Noun as Adjective
Sometimes we use a noun to describe another noun. In that case, the

first noun is

"acting as" an adjective.

love story, tooth-brush, bathroom

In English grammar, words that refer to people, places, or things are called nouns. They
can be classified in many

ways.

One way to classify nouns is according to

Many English mistakes are related

whether they can be counted or not.

to this point. By reading through this page, you will

understand:
what countable and uncountable nouns are
how to use them correctly in a sentence
Countable (or count) nouns are words which

can be counted. They have a singular

form and a plural form. They usually refer to things. Most countable nouns become plural by
adding an s at the end of the word.
Example
Singular

Plural

chair

chairs

bottle

bottles

student

students

Uncountable (or non-count) nouns are

only have a singular

words which cannot be counted. Therefore, they

form. They have no plural forms. These words are thought of as

wholes rather than as parts. They usually refer to abstractions

(such as confidence or

advice) or collectives (such as equipment or luggage).

Example
Singular
money
furniture
information

Nouns name people, places, and things. Every noun can further be
common or proper. A proper noun has two distinctive
specific [usually a one-of-a-kind] item,
matter where it occurs in a sentence.

classified as

features: 1) it will name a

and 2) it will begin with a capital letter no

Check out the chart below:

Proper Nouns and Common Nouns
Common Noun

Proper Noun

writer

Herman Melville

teacher

Mrs. Hacket

beagle

Snoopy

cookie

Oreo

cityOrlando

Orlando

restaurant Tito's Taco Palace

document Declaration of Independence
school

University of Southern California

Read the following sentences. Notice the difference between the

common and

proper nouns.
Tina offered Antonio one of her mother's homemade oatmeal cookies

but only an Oreo

would satisfy his sweet tooth.

Cookies = common noun; Oreo = proper noun.
Charlie had wanted an easy teacher for his composition class,
whose short temper and unreasonable

but he got Mrs. Hacket,

demands made the semester a torture.

Teacher = common noun; Mrs. Hacket = proper noun.

Gloria wanted to try a new restaurant, so Richard took her to Tito's

Taco Palace,

where no one dips into the hot sauce until the drinks have arrived at the table.
Restaurant = common noun; Tito's Taco Palace = proper noun.

Words can be combined to form compound

new combinations are invented

nouns. These are very common, and

almost daily. They normally have two parts. The

second part identifies the object or person in question ( man,

friend, tank, table,

room ). The first part tells us what kind of object or person it is, or what its purpose is
( police, boy, water, dining, bed ):

Active/Passive Voice Rules Chart

What type / what purpose What or who
police

man

boy

friend

water

tank

dining

table

bedroom
The two parts may be written in a number of ways :
1. as one word.
Example: policeman

, boyfriend

2. as two words joined with a hyphen.

Example: dining-table
3. as two separate words.
Example: fish

tank .

There are no clear rules about this - so write the common

know well as one word, and the others as two words.
Active/Passive Voice Rules Chart
The two parts may be:
noun + noun

Examples:

bedroom

water tank
motorcycle
printer cartridge
noun + verb

rainfall

haircut
train-spotting
noun + adverb

hanger-on

passer-by
verb + noun

washing machine

compounds that you

driving licence
swimming pool
verb + adverb*

lookout

take-off
drawback
adjective + noun greenhouse
software
redhead
adjective + verb

dry-cleaning

public speaking
adverb + noun

onlooker

bystander
adverb + verb*

output

overthrow
upturn
input
Compound nouns often have a meaning that is different from the

two separate

words.
Stress is important in pronunciation, as it distinguishes between a compound noun (e.g.
greenhouse

) and an adjective with a noun (e.g. green

house ).

In compound nouns, the stress usually falls on the first syllable:

a ' greenhouse = place where we grow plants
a green 'house =

(compound noun)

house painted green (adjective and noun)

a ' bluebird = type of bird (compound noun)

a blue

'bird = any bird with blue feathers (adjective and noun)

* Many common compound nouns are formed from phrasal

adverb + verb).
Examples

verbs (verb + adverb or

breakdown, outbreak, outcome, cutback, drive-in, drop-out, feedback, flyover, hold-up,

hangover, outlay,

outlet, inlet, makeup, output, set-back, stand-in, takeaway, walkover.

Noun-Cases is another topic which comes under NOUN. The CASE of a noun tells us
about the position of that noun in a sentence. In English there are FIVE CASES .
They are:
* Nominative case
* Objective case (or Accusative case)
* Dative case
* Possessive case (or Genitive case)
* Vocative case
All these five Cases have been explained in detail below.
Are you going as you wish in the process of learning Grammar ?
Take a breath.
This section of Noun-Cases will simplify your process.
1. Nominative case:
A noun is said to be in the Nominative case if it is the subject of a verb. (SUBJECT is the
person or the thing who or which carries out the action of the verb in the sentence)
Examples:
* Mr. Ram is an intelligent boy.
Mr. Ram is a proper noun in Nominative case.
* The painter paints the portraits.
The painter is a common noun in Nominative case.
* I am buying vegetables for my family.

"I" is a pronoun in Nominative case.

These examples carry another term "pronoun" which is a word used to represent a noun.
For example:
I, We, You, He, She, it and they are the seven pronouns.
There are only seven pronouns.
Only other variations of these seven pronouns are there.
Those variations can be used in place of the nouns.
The next one in the Noun-cases is:
2. Objective case (or Accusative case):
Nouns or pronouns are said to be in Objective cases if they are the direct objects of verbs
or if they are the objects of preposition. (Direct object is the person or the thing upon whom
or upon which the action of the verb is carried out).
Examples:
* I met your sister.
"Your sister" is in objective case.
* The vendors sell mangoes.
"Mangoes" is in objective case.
* The book is on the table .
"Table" is in objective case.
It is object of the preposition 'on'.

* This is one of my policies.

"Policies" is in objective case.
It is object of the preposition 'of'.
The next one in the Noun-cases is:
3. Dative case:
A noun is said to be in dative case if it is the Indirect object of the verb. (Indirect object of
the verb is the noun for whom or for which the action of the verb is carried out). There should
not be a preposition before the indirect object because in that case it will be the object of that
preposition.
Examples:
* The teacher gave the students few exercises.
"Students" is in dative case. It is the indirect object of the verb 'give'.
* The Postman brought me a letter.
"Me" is in dative case.
* Get him a pen.
"Him" is in dative case.
The next one in the Noun-cases is:
4. Possessive case (Genitive case):
A noun is said to be in possessive case, if it denotes possession or ownership. A noun or
pronoun in the possessive case is governed by the noun that follows it.
Examples:
* This is your pencil.

("Your" is in possessive case.

* It is our idea.
"Our" is in possessive case.
* John's sister has been hospitalized.
"John's" is in possessive case.
The last one in the Noun-cases is:
5. Vocative case:
A noun or a pronoun is said to be in Vocative case if it is used to call (or to get the
attention of) a person or persons.
Examples:
* Mr. Bill, students are waiting for you in the main hall.
"Mr. Bill" is in vocative case.
* You there, stand up.
"You" is in vocative case.
* Brother, a letter for you.
"Brother" is in vocative case.
* Chairman, all the letters are posted two days ago.
"Chairman" is in vocative case.
The nouns do not change their forms in the Nominative and Objective cases. But few
pronouns change their formsbetween Nominative and Objective cases.
Nominative case ________Objective case_________ Possessive case
1. I ______ me _______ my

2. We_______us_____our
3. You______ You_____your
4. He______ him_____his
5. She_____her______her
6. It______it_______its

Phrase:- A group of words, which makes sense, but not complete sense, is called a Phrase.
It is a group of related words without a Subject and a Verb.A Phrase consists of two or more
words lacking a complete sense and a complete verb. It may consist of one or more
incomplete verbs - the Infinitives or the Participles standing on their own.
Words/group of words in italics are phrases in examples below:
1).The sun rises in the east.
2). Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
3). She wore a hat with blue trimming.
4). The accident on the bridge was not serious.
5). The girl with red hair is an artist.
6). Sasha took a long leave.
7). Holding the toy, the child slept.Noun Phrase
A noun phrase is either a single noun or pronoun or a group of words containing a noun or
a pronoun that function together as a noun or pronoun, as the subject or object of a verb.
Examples:
Allthe kids were sleeping.
Theboy in the blue jeans says he'll do it.
He bought her a beautiful red dress.
Mom baked tastychocolate cookies.
Julia was thinking about her friends back home.

Will you talk with these rude people?

You are atrue hero.
My dog is mybest friend.
Under the Noun phrase comes three another phrase they are:
-Appositive Phrase
An appositive (single word, phrase, or clause) renames another noun, not technically
modifying it.
Example:Bob, my best friend, works here or My best friend Bob works here.
-Gerund Phrase
A gerund phrase is just a noun phrase with a gerund as its head.
Example:I love baking cakes.
-Infinitive Phrase
An infinitive phrase is a noun phrase with an infinitive as its head. Unlike the other noun
phrases, however, an infinitive phrase can also function as an adjective or an adverb.
Example:I love to bake cakes.

Verb Phrase
In simple words, a verb of more than one word is called a verb phrase. It is a phrase
consisting of a verb, its auxiliaries (helping verbs), its complements, and other modifiers.
Auxiliary verbs always come before the main verb.A verb phrase is a syntactic unit that
corresponds to the predicate. There are two types of auxiliary verbs. Inflected auxiliary verbs
e.g. be, have, do and Modal auxiliary verbs e.g. will, should, must etc.
Examples:
She kept working like a machine.

They were being exploited.

Mom is making the room.
I came across these old books today.
Take off your clothes and jump in the lake.
Adverbial Phrase
An adverbial phrase (AdvP) is a linguistic term for a group of two or more words
operating adverbially, when viewed in terms of their syntactic function.
Example:
I'll go to bed soon.
Adjectival Phrase
An adjective phrase usually starts with a preposition (e.g., of, in, on) or a participle (e.g.,
taken, leaving) and follows the noun it is modifying.
Examples:
This is the end of a very long road.
Did you see the man leaving the shop?
Participial Phrase
participle phrase will begin with a present or past participle. If the participle is present, it
will dependably end in ing. Likewise, a regular past participle will end in a consistent ed.
Examples:
Dancing under the moon, she found perfect happiness.
Bitten by dog, he limped home in pain. leaving the shop?
Prepositional Phrase
Examples:
There are two children on a sled.
In this garden there are many strawberries.
The woman in the blue coat is looking for her dog.

Absolute Phrase
An absolute phrase modifies an entire sentence instead of a single word in the
sentence.An absolute phrase combines a noun and a participle with any accompanying
modifiers or objects.
Examples:
Legs quivering
Her arms folded across her chest
Our fingers scraping the leftover frosting off the plates

Pluralisation in English can be a bit of a tricky game, and as with any language the key to
mastering this aspect lies in practicing through reading and conversing until the variations
that appear unpredictable in the beginning become second nature, a matter of habit. Having
said that, there are certain principles that are generally applicable that make the task easier by
giving us a broad idea of how common words are pluralised. Let us take a look at these.
For most nouns, add an 's' at the end of the word.
Examples
Singular
Plural
Car
Cars
Desk
Desks
Tree

Trees
Ball
Balls
Hand
Hands
For nouns that end with 's', 'x', 'z', 'ch', or 'sh', add 'es' at the end of the word.
Examples
Singular
Plural
Boss
Bosses
Box
Boxes
Topaz
Topazes
Leech
Leeches
Dish

Dishes
For some words that end with 'o', add 'es' at the end of the word.
Examples
Singular
Plural
Potato
Potatoes
Echo
Echoes
Hero
Heroes
For some words that end with 'o', add 's' at the end of the word.
Examples
Singular
Plural
Photo
Photos
Piano

Pianos
Logo
Logos
Radio
Radios
For some words ending with 'f', replace the 'f' with a 'v' and add 'es' at the end of the word.
Examples
Singular
Plural
Thief
Thieves
Loaf
Loaves
Half
Halves
Calf
Calves

Leaf
Leaves
For some words ending with 'f', add an 's' at the end of the word.
Examples
Sigular
Plural
Reefs
Reefs
Roof
Roofs
Chef
Chefs
For some words ending with 'ife', replace the 'f' with a 'v' and add an 's' at the end of the
word.
Examples
Singular
Plural
Wife
Wives

Knife
Knives
Life
Lives
For common nouns ending with a consonant followed by 'y', replace the 'y' with an 'i' and
add 'es' at the end of the word.
Examples
Singular
Plural
Nappy
Nappies
Poppy
Poppies
Fly
Flies
Penny
Pennies
Sty

Sties
Some nouns are the same in both forms.
Examples
Singular
Plural
Fish
Fish
Sheep
Sheep
Deer
Deer
Tuna
Tuna
Trout
Trout
For some nouns, other letters must be replaced or added, sometimes changing the words
completely.
Examples

Singular
Plural
Person
People
Ox
Oxen
Child
Children
Goose
Geese
Man
Men
Foot
Feet

A preposition is a word governing, and usually coming in front of, a noun or pronoun and
expressing a relation to another word or element,as in:

She left before breakfast.

What did you come for?
(For what did you come?)
There are about 150 prepositions in English. Yet this is a very small number when you
think of the thousands of other words (nouns, verbs etc). Prepositions are important words.
We use individual prepositions more frequently than other individual words. In fact, the
prepositions of, to and in are among the ten most frequent words in English. Here is a short
list of 70 of the more common one-word prepositions. Many of these prepositions have more
than one meaning. Please refer to a dictionary for precise meaning and usage.
Prepositions List
1. aboard 2. about

3. above

4. across

5. after

7. along

8. amid

9. among 10. anti

11. around

12. as

13. at

15. behind

16. below

6. against
14. before

17. beneath

18. beside

19. besides

20. between

21. beyond22. but 23. by 24. concerning

25. considering

26. despite

27. down

28. during

29. except 30. excepting 31. excluding 32. following

33. for

34. from

35. in 36. inside

37. into

38. like

39. minus

41. of

42. off 43. on 44. onto

45. opposite

46. outside

40. near

47. over

48. past

49. per

50. plus

51. regarding 52. round

53. save

54. since

55. than

56. through

57. to

58. toward

59. towards

60. under

61. underneath
65. upon

62. unlike

66. versus

69. within 70. without

63. until

67. via 68. with

...

...

64. up

There is one very simple rule about prepositions. And, unlike most rules, this rule has no
exceptions.
Rule
A preposition is followed by a "noun". It is never followed by a verb.
By "noun" we include:
noun (dog, money, love)
proper noun (name) (Bangkok, Mary)
pronoun (you, him, us)
noun group (my first job)
gerund (swimming)
A preposition cannot be followed by a verb. If we want to follow a preposition by a verb,
we must use the "-ing" form which is really a gerund or verb in noun form.In the following
sentences, why is "to" followed by a verb? That should be impossible, according to the above
rule:
I would like to go now.
She used to smoke. Here are some examples:
Examples
Subject + verb

preposition

The food is

on

She lives in

Japan.

Tara is looking

for

The letter is

under your blue book.

Pascal is used

to

English people.

She isn't used

to

working.

I ate

"noun"

the table.
you.

before coming.

Answer to Quick Quiz: In these sentences, "to" is not a preposition. It is part of the
infinitive
("to go", "to smoke").
Prepositions of Place:
at, in, on
In general, we use:
at for a POINT

in for an ENCLOSED SPACE

on for a SURFACE
Examples
at (Point) in (Enclosed Space)

on (Surface)

at the corner

in the garden on the wall

at the bus stop

in London

on the ceiling

at the door in France

on the door

at the top of the page

in a box

at the end of the road

in my pocket on the floor

at the entrance

in my wallet

on the cover

on the carpet

at the crossroads in a building on the menu

at the entrance

in a caron a page

Look at these examples:

Jane is waiting for you at the bus stop.
The shop is at the end of the street.
My plane stopped at Dubai and Hanoi and arrived in Bangkok two hours late.
When will you arrive at the office?
Do you work in an office?
I have a meeting in New York.
Do you live in Japan?
Jupiter is in the Solar System.
The author's name is on the cover of the book.
There are no prices on this menu.
You are standing on my foot.
There was a "no smoking" sign on the wall.
I live on the 7th floor at 21 Oxford Street in London.
Notice the use of the prepositions of place at, in and on in these standard expressions:
Examples
at in

on

at home

in a caron a bus

at work

in a taxi

on a train

at school in a helicopter on a plane

at university

in a boat

on a ship

at college in a lift (elevator)

on a bicycle, on a motorbike

at the top in the newspaper

on a horse, on an elephant

at the bottom

on the radio, on television

in the sky

at the side in a row

at reception

on the left, on the right

in Oxford Street

on the way

Prepositions of Time: at, in, on

We use:
at for a PRECISE TIME
in for MONTHS, YEARS, CENTURIES and LONG PERIODS
on for DAYS and DATES
Examples
at (Precise Time) in (Months, Years, Centuries and Long Periods)

on (Days and

Dates)
at 3 o'clock

in May on Sunday

at 10.30amin summer
at noon

on Tuesdays

in the summer on 6 March

at dinnertime

in 1990

at bedtime in the 1990s

on Christmas Day

at sunrise in the next century

at sunset

on 25 Dec. 2010
on Independence Day

in the Ice Age on my birthday

at the moment

in the past/future

on New Year's Eve

Look at these examples:

I have a meeting at 9am.
The shop closes at midnight.
Jane went home at lunchtime.
In England, it often snows in December.
Do you think we will go to Jupiter in the future?
There should be a lot of progress in the next century.
Do you work on Mondays?
Her birthday is on 20 November.
Where will you be on New Year's Day?
Notice the use of the preposition of time at in the following standard expressions:
Examples

ExpressionExample
at night

The stars shine at night.

at the weekend

I don't usually work at the weekend.

at Christmas/Easter

I stay with my family at Christmas.

at the same time We finished the test at the same time.

at present He's not home at present. Try later.
Notice the use of the prepositions of time in and on in these common expressions:
Examples
in on
in the morning

on Tuesday morning

in the mornings

on Saturday mornings

in the afternoon(s) on Sunday afternoons

in the evening(s) on Monday evening
When we say last, next, every, this we do not also use at, in, on.
I went to London last June. (not in last June)
He's coming back next Tuesday. (not on next Tuesday)
I go home every Easter. (not at every Easter)
We'll call you this evening. (not in this evening)

Pronouns are small words that take the place of a noun. We can use a pronoun instead of a
noun. Pronouns are words like: he, you, ours, themselves, some, each... If we didn't have
pronouns, we would have to repeat a lot of nouns. We would have to say things like:
Do you like the president? I don't like the president. The president is too pompous.
With pronouns, we can say:
Do you like the president? I don't like him. He is too pompous.
Personal Pronouns
I, you, he, me, your, his...
This summary of personal pronouns includes possessive adjectives for convenience and
comparison.

Examples
number

person gender*

pronouns

possessive

subject

object possessive

reflexive

singular

1st

m/f

me

2nd

m/f

you

you

yours yourself

3rd me

he

him

his

himself

she

her

hers

herself her

it

it

its

itself

its

plural

1st

m/f

we

us

2nd

m/f

you

you

yours yourselves

adjectives

3rd m/f/n they

mine

myself my
your

his

ours

them theirs themselves

ourselves

our

your

their

Examples
pronoun

subject She likes homework.

object

The teacher gave me some homework.

possessive This homework is yours.

reflexive John did the homework himself.
possessive adjective

The teacher corrected our homework.

Pronouns (and nouns) in English display "case" according to their function in the
sentence.
Their function can be:
subjective (they act as the subject)
objective (they act as the object)
possessive (they show possession of something else)
The following table shows the different forms for pronouns depending on case.
Examples
Subjective case

Objective case Possessive case

personal pronouns singular

1st

me

its

2nd

you

you

3rd he

she

it

him

her

it

his

her, hers

plural

1st

we

us

our, ours

2nd

you

you

your, yours

3rd they

them their, theirs

your, yours

relative/interrogative pronouns
whoever

my, mine

who

whom whose

whomever

which/that/what

which/that/what

indefinite pronouns

everybody

everybody

everybody's

A problem of case: Mary and I or Mary and me?

Mary and I are delighted to be here today. (NOT Mary and me)
The letter was addressed to Mary and me. (NOT Mary and I)
In 1, Mary and I are subjects, which is why the pronoun takes the subjective case ("I").
In 2, Mary and I are objects, which is why the pronoun takes the objective case ("me").
An easy way to check the correct case is to try the sentence without Mary. Would you say
"I am delighted to be here" or "Me am delighted to be here"? Would you say "The letter was
addressed to me" or "The letter was addressed to I"?