1.

THE SENTENCE

A sentence is a group of words joined together to express a complete thought. It always begin with a
CAPITAL LETTER and ends with a FULLSTOP, a QUESTION MARK or an EXCLAMATION MARK.

Ex.
a. My parents have gone out.
b. Is this your bicycle?
c. Oh, I am afraid !

In its simplest form, a sentence may contain only an ACTION and a SUBJECT. The ACTION is always a
VERB and the SUBJECT is either a NOUN or PRONOUN.

Ex.
Hasnah sings.

sings is the ACTION

Hasnah is the SUBJECT.

Exercise 1. Underline the ACTION in each of the following sentences.

1. The baby is crying. 24. Maniam is shouting.

2. She is swimming. 25. John copied.
3. The firecracker exploded. 26. She is studying.
4. My father knows. 27. We saw.
5. The children have eaten. 28. I heard.
6. They have finished. 29. They have arrived.
7. Lightning struck. 30. You have spoken.
8. The girls laughed. 31. Mrs. Lee has improved.
9. The lorry overturned. 32. She will explain.
10. Mr. Lim will sing. 33. The boy tried.
11. Azlan is painting. 34. The show ended.
12. I am going. 35. It is raining.
13. Rohani cooks. 36. The man pushed.
14. The airplane flew 37. We have been listening.
15. We are waiting. 38. The children are swimming.
16. The table is being painted. 39. The door opened.
17. The doctor is resting. 40. The glass broke.
18. It will rain. 41. I shall wait.
19. The dog will bark. 42. I have been singing.
20. The villagers helped. 43. The rain has stopped.
21. The building collapsed. 44. They are bathing.
22. The tree is falling. 45. The boys are eating.
23. The boat is leaking. 46. The boy kicks.

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 2. THE SENTENCE WITH AN OBJECT.

In addition to the action and subject, a sentence may also have an OBJECT. The object is also a NOUN or
Pronoun.

Ex. Hasnah sings a song.

In the above example,

sings is the action.
Hasnah is the subject.
a song is the object.

Exercise 2: Rearrange each group of words below to make a sentence with an object.

1. her finger she cut.

2. I him know.

3. durians like my family.

4. struck tree lightning.

5. the villagers us helped.

6. lost a pen the boy.

7. Azlan a picture is painting.

8. the traffic the cows stopped.

9. speaks English your father.

10. Rashid my notes copied.

11. wood is chopping Mr.Lim.

12. axe borrowed the scouts my.

13. table painting are they the.

14. them we saw.

15. he my bicycle stole.

16. sell they ice-cream.

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 17. repaired the villagers the bridge.

18. Rohani her cousin telephoned.

19. I English am studying.

20. kite my brother is a flying.

21. Bong Seng the ball will bring.

22. She my lemonade drank.

23. met I your brother.

24. thief the arrested police the.

25. met I your brothers.

26. lunch eaten has she.

27. have seen you a ghost.

28. crying is baby the.

29. are singing girls the.

30. the market Nancy every day goes to.

31. boat leaking is the.

32. tree falling the is.

33. marathon they the ran.

34. my he stole bicycle.

35. Java my speaks father.

36. plays Ali football.

37. were they hall the in.

38. will my brother you helps.

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 3. THE SENTENCE WHICH HAS NO ACTION.
Sometimes a sentence has no action. There is only a SUBJECT AND A DESCRIPTION OF THE
SUBJECT.

Ex:
It is beautiful.

it is the subject.
is beautiful is a description of the subject.

EXERCISE 3: Rearrange each group of words below to make a sentence.

1 a Hassan singer is.

2 interesting was the book.
3 the rose flower is a.
4 familiar he looks
5 busy appeared they
6 cold it is
7 the looks food good.
8 Singaporeans the visitors are.
9 a penghulu your uncle is.
10 am ready I.
11 the sky dark was.
12 sharp the knife.
13 the story true was.
14 your is good composition.
15 heavy is rain the.
16 late is my father.
16 here am I
18 Tok Wie tall is and strong
19 Monday tomorrow be will.
20 lost the children seem to be.
21 grandfather my is ill.
22 was the policeman very stern.
23 look you unhappy.
24 wild are lions animals.
25 exciting story it was an.
26 is the road long and windy.
27 the headmaster furious was.
28 appeared cheerful she.
29 the were and worn dirty clothes.
30 book old is.
32 car the expensive is.
33 are beautiful you.

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 4. THE NEGATIVE SENTENCE

When a sentence says that something DOES NOT happen, HAS NOT happened or IS NOT
So, it is called a NEGATIVE SENTENCE. Here are some examples:

a. My father does not smoke.

b. He has not seen the show.
c. Maimun will not stay.
d. Ali is not old.
e. She does not like to stay.

EXERCISE 4. Change the following to NEGATIVE sentences.

1. Ali plays football.
2. They ran the marathon.
3. Aziz passed the test.
4. The children are in school now.
5. Mr Rajasingam is a lawyer.
6. My brother will help you.
7. Leongs new pen has been stolen.
8. He was my form teacher.
9. The baby is crying.
10. The firecracker exploded.
11. Lightning struck the tree.
12. The tree is falling.
13. The doctor is resting at home.
14. We are waiting for the show to begin.
15. The boat is leaking.
16. They have arrived in Ipoh.
17. She will explain the duty to you.
18. They have been working hard.
19. He has seen a ghost.
20. The girls are singing.
21. They were in the hall.
22. I was on the way to school.
23. I shall be going to Baling soon.
24. He stole my bicycle.
25. The villagers built a bridge.
26. Rohani telephoned her cousin.
27. My father speaks English.
28. Nancy goes to the market every day.
29. The policeman was very stern.
30. The Harum Manis mango is very
expensive.

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 5. THE QUESTION.
A sentence may also ask something. Then it is called a QUESTION. Here are some examples:

a. How old are you?

b. When is your birthday?
c. Did you see the accident?
d. Have you returned the books?
e. Is it raining now?

Exercise 5a. Change the following sentences to QUESTIONS. Begin with the words in brackets.

1. He is very strong. (how) How strong is he?

2. Ramayah lives in Brunei. (Where)
3. The plane is arriving now. (When)
4. The dog is called Boxer. (What)
5. You can succeed by working hard. (How)
6. They were arrested for gambling. (Why)
7. Reading helps to improve my English.
(What)
8. This is the boy named Aladin. (Which)
9. They left half an hour ago. (When)
10. The bookshop is in Jalan Baru. (Where)
11. I am singing an old song. (What)
12. I am sitting because I am tired. (Why)

Exercise 5b. Change the following sentences to QUESTIONS.

1. Hashim is a fishmonger. Is Hashim a fishmonger?

2. I am ready
3. Your composition is good.
4. Halimah likes durians.
5. The food looks delicious.
6. They are playing football in school.
7. The girls practice netball every week.
8. The chair was broken.
9. Mr Tan will be helping us.
10. It is very early in the morning.
11. Everything was made of gold.
12. The police arrested them.
13. Raju scolded the players.
14. He is very stubborn.
15. He knows the Prime Minister.

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 6. EXPANDING A SENTENCE WITH ADJECTIVES.

A sentence may e expanded and made more informative and interesting by adding ADJECTIVES to it.
These are words which tell us more about the nouns and pronouns in the sentence.

In the example below, a is a simple sentence and b is the same sentence, expanded with the use of an
adjectives. The adjective describes the noun boys.

a. The boys broke the window.

b. The naughty boys broke the window.

Exercise 6a. Rewrite each sentence below by adding a suitable adjective to the noun underlined. You
may use the adjective given in the brackets or one of your own.

1. She bought a table. (square) She bought a square table.

2. We ate chicken. (fried)
3. Abu gave away his clothes. (old)
4. Children like stories. ( young, funny)
5. The girl scored distinctions. (clever, eight)
6. Workers carried the cupboard. (five, heavy)
7. The boy got a present. (happy, birthday)
8. A fire destroyed the village.(huge, whole)
9. There was a sound in the room. (muffled, dark)
10. My neighbor has a car. (rich, new)
11. I have a pen and some pencils. (blue ,red)
12. The school is in a town.( technical, small)
13. The children played in the water. (happy, flood)
14. The milk is fr our cat. (fresh, black)
15. The boat sank in the sea. (leaking, rough)
16. People always look for work. (lazy, easy)
17. The women boarded a bus. (fat, green)
18. The teacher stormed into the class. (angry, noisy)
19. The mousedeer is an animal. (cunning, intelligent)
20. Winds blew down the hut. (strong, attap)
21. Crows devoured the rat. (hungry, dead)
22. The chairman gave a speech. (outgoing, brief)
23. The leader is a man. (gang, one-eyed)
24. Ramli speaks English. (fluent)
25. They could not answer the question. (difficult)
26. The dog chased the boys. (ferocious, frightened)

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Exercise 6b. Rewrite the first sentence in each group so that it includes the meaning of the other
sentence or sentences.

1. The hawkers do business on the beach. The business is good.

The hawkers do good business on the beach.

2. My neighbor likes to play guitar. My neighbor is noisy. His guitar is cheap.

3. The men from the village tried to save the house. The men were brave. The house was burning.

4. The girls tried out their uniforms. The girls were from a school. Their uniforms were new.

5. The boy kicked the kitten. The boy was naughty. The kitten was small.

6. A bee stung the jogger. The bee was big and yellow in colour. The jogger was old.

7. The teacher and his pupils a having a discussion. The teacher is an Englishman. His pupils are
foreigners. The discussion is lively.

8. The customers in a restaurant complained about a waiter. The restaurant was posh. The waiter
was rude and the customers were furious.

9. The man is waiting for his secretary in a shop. The man does business. His secretary is pretty. The
shop sells coffee.

10. The mother scolded the children for not cleaning their shoes. The children were lazy. The shoes
were dirty. The mother was angry.

11. The boat was soon filled with water. The boat was leaking. The water was muddy.

12. A smell came from the room. The smell was foul. The room was damp.

13. We had a meal of chicken. It was a hearty meal. We ate fried chicken.

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 7. EXPANDING A SENTENCE WITH ADJECTIVE PHRASES

A sentence may also be expanded with ADJECTIVE PHRASES which also tell us more about nouns and
pronouns in the sentence. An adjective phrase may begin with either:

a. A preposition ( from, in, over, behind, under, near, of, between,etc)

b. A participle ( taken, spoken, called, painted, being, standing,..etc)

In the example below, a is a simple sentence and b is the same sentence expanded with the use of an
adjective phrases (underlined) . The adjective phrase describes the nouns boys.

a. The boys broke a window.

b. The boys in my class broke a window.

You can expand further by adding a phrase to the noun window.

a. The boys in my class broke a window beside the door.

Exercise 7: Expand each sentence below with a suitable adjective phrase or phrases describing the
nouns underlined. You may use the phrase or phrases given or any of your own.

1. The woman is very attractive. (in the red and white dress)
The woman in the red and white dress is very attractive.

2. The soldiers were sent home. (injured in the battle)

3. The kittens belong to Hassans brother. (playing outside)

4. A policeman chased the robber. (wearing civilian clothes)

5. A man came to see you. ( from the Telekom Malaysia)

6. The elephant was badly injured. (caught in a trap)

7. The house has been sold. (being painted)

8. The woman walks unsteadily. ( being old)

9. The old building is haunted. ( beside the river)

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 10. Jimmy Asmara spoke in a rude manner. ( arguing with his parents)

11. We wore warm clothes. (made from wool)

12. The book has many pages. (with nothing in them)

13. Furniture sells very well in Europe. ( made in our country)

14. The tourist bought a sarong from me. (puffing a cigar)

15. The boat sank in the river. (springing leak)

16. Mr Hasnan gave a talk. ( on stamp-collecting)

17. The robbers were trapped by the police. (rushing out of the bank)

18. Mrs Lim woke up her husband. ( awakened by a noise)

19. The police detained some boys and girls. (loitering in the shopping centres)

20. The purse belongs to the girls. (sitting next to Rahim)

21. The money is our profits. (from yesterdays business)

22. The man works in the office. ( approaching us / across the road)

23. A man came into the shop. (wearing sunglasses)

24. The thieves were caught by the security guards. ( trapped in the lift)

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MrZaidiazmanYaacob: HOEPSMKSI: WaveOfEnglish2016:SimpleStepsIntoWriting