ENGLISH SUMMARIES – LANGUAGE STRUCTURES AND CONVENTIONS
WORD LEVEL WORK
1.
Nouns
A noun is a word for a person, place, thing, or idea. This part of a speech
refers to words that are used to name persons, things, animals, places,
ideas, or events.
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Proper nouns – proper nouns always start with a capital letter and refers to
specific names of persons, places, or things.
Common nouns – common nouns are the opposite of proper nouns. These
are just generic names of persons, things, or places. Refer to an object that
you can see or touch.
Abstract nouns – unlike concrete nouns, abstract nouns are those which
you can’t perceive through your five senses.
Collective nouns – refers to a group of persons, animals, or things.
Collective nouns examples
A herd of cattle.
A flock of sheep.
An army of ants.
A bunch of flowers; grapes
A cast of actors.
A board of directors.
A gang of thieves.
A bowl of rice.
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Singular / Plural
A singular noun names one person, place, thing, or idea, while a plural noun
names more than one person, place, thing, or idea.
Examples:
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shoe / shoes
table / tables
pen / pens
baby / babies
sheep / sheep
man / men
Countable and uncountable nouns
Countable nouns refer to things that can be counted. Uncountable nouns
cannot be counted.
Countable nouns: cars; bicycles; pencils; chairs; tables; forks; mountains
Uncountable nouns: snow; sugar; salt; flour; sand; water; information
2.
Adjectives
Adjectives describe the noun in a sentence. Adjectives can specify the
quality, the size, and the number of nouns or pronouns.
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Degrees of comparison
Most adjectives have three different forms to show degrees of comparison —
the positive, the comparative, and the superlative.
Examples:
short
fast
shorter
faster
shortest
fastest
3.
Adverbs
Adverbs are words that describe the verb in a sentence.
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Adverb of Manner– this refers to how something happens or how an
action is done. She won the match convincingly.
Adverb of Time - this states “when” something happens or “when” it is
done. We went to the mall yesterday.
Adverb of Place – this tells something about “where” something happens
or ”where” something is done. She plays outside.
Adverb of Degree – this states the intensity or the degree to which a
specific thing happens or is done. I really love my parents.
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4.
Pronouns
A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun. A pronoun is a part of a
speech which functions as a replacement for a noun. A pronoun is a word
that can be used to replace a noun, and is usually used to avoid repetition of
the noun.
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Personal pronouns refer to specific persons or things. She is special.
Possessive pronouns show that something belongs to someone. It is mine.
Demonstrative pronouns point out specific items. Those are my friends.
Relative pronouns join sentences. My niece, who is from Ireland, is here.
Reflexive pronouns normally end in “-self” or “-selves”, referring to the subject
or noun in the sentence. She managed to inject herself.
5.
Verbs
Verbs express actions in sentences. It is commonly known as the doing word.
this is a word that shows an action or state of being of the subject in a
sentence.
Auxiliary verbs help the main verb – also called the helping verb.
Examples:
I am sorry.
She was walking.
He is a great player.
They are jogging.
She will write the exam.
Phrasal verbs are phrases that indicate actions. They are generally used in
spoken English and informal texts. Phrasal verbs = verb + preposition
or verb + adverb
Examples:
ask for; come across; take off; turn around; sit down
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Finite verbs
Finite verbs have a tense and a subject. There must be agreement between
the subject and the verb.
Craig loves playing cricket.
Craig loved playing cricket.
Infinite verbs
Infinite verbs do not change when the subject changes. The auxiliary verb
changes.
Craig has visited his parents regularly.
They have visited their parents regularly.
Regular verbs
In the past tense, we normally add “ed” to the verb. The spelling of the verb is
consistent.
Examples: help / helped
laugh / laughed
Irregular verbs
In the past tense, the spelling of the verb is inconsistent with the present tense.
Examples: write / wrote
6.
Prepositions
A preposition is a word placed before a noun or pronoun to form a phrase
modifying another word in the sentence. This part of a speech basically
refers to words that specify location or a location in time.
Examples:
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The girl passed her test. She prepared well.
The girl passed her test, because she prepared well.
Interjections
An interjection is a word used to express emotion. It is often followed by an
exclamation point.
Synonyms
A synonym is a word having the same or nearly the same meaning as another
word or a phrase.
Examples:
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with; at; from; onto; into; during; to; of; against
between; next to; behind; among; over; under
beyond; near; around; above; out; towards
Conjunctions
A conjunction joins words, phrases, or clauses, and indicates the relationship
between the elements joined. The conjunction is a part of a speech which
joins words, phrases, or clauses together.
Example:
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feel / felt
smart / clever
essential / important
exact / specific
Antonyms
Antonyms are words which have the opposite meaning.
Examples:
new / old
begin / end
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false / true
11.
Homonyms
Homonyms are two words that are spelt the same and sound the same but
have different meanings.
Examples:
right
Turn right at the traffic light.
I have a right to be educated.
You were wrong and she was right.
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Homophones
Homophones are words that sound the same, but are spelt differently and
have different meanings.
Examples:
blue / blew
flower / flour
key / quay
The sky is blue.
The referee blew the whistle.
That is a colourful flower.
Mom uses flour when she bakes bread.
13.
Roots; stems / prefixes and suffixes
The root or stem is the most basic form and meaning of a word. Its meaning
can be changed when prefixes or suffixes are added to it.
Examples:
togetherness
Root / stem: together
Suffix:
ness
uncalled
Prefix:
un
Root . stem: call
Suffix:
ed
14.
Determiners
A determiner is a modifier of a noun that provides more information about the
noun, such as how much or by whom.
Demonstrative determiners: those
Possessive determiners: mine
Definite article: the
Indefinite articles: a; an
Quantifiers: some, any
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(Those children are in my class)
(That bicycle is mine)
(The boy took my pencil)
(A boy took my pencil)
(I want some coffee)
Metonomy
When a word is used as a substitute for another word to which it is closely
related.
New set of wheels – car, motorbike, etc
New blood – new people
Several officers – police
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B.
SENTENCE LEVEL WORK
1.
Simple sentences
A Simple Sentence is a sentence with just one indepent clause, and no dependent
or subordinate clauses.
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Types of simples sentences
a)
Compound Verbs and Compound Subjects – Some
sentences have a single subject and two or more verbs. Other
sentences have a single verb and two or more subjects.
b)
Single Subject and a Single Verb – This type of simple
sentence has only one subject and one verb.
We can identify the subject, verb and object in simple sentences.
Example:
The man is eating his food.
Subject:
Verb:
Object:
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The man
(is) eating
(his) food
Complex sentences
A complex sentence is a sentence with an independent clause and
a dependent clause. It is one of the four main types of sentence structures. In
a complex sentence, the independent clause shares the main information,
and the dependent clause(s) provide details.
Example: He saw the car that was used during the robbery.
3.
Active and passive voice
In the active voice, a subject does an action to an object.
Example:
The thief stole my wallet.
The passive voice is used when we want to emphasize the action (the verb)
and the object of a sentence rather than subject.
Example:
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My wallet was stolen by the thief.
Subject – verb agreement
Subjects in a sentences that are plural or singular, must have an agreeing
verb. Therefore, if a subject is singular, the verb must also be singular. If the
subject is plural, the verb must also be plural.
Examples:
Singular – She is hungry.
Plural – They are hungry.
Singular – Peter walks to school.
Plural – Peter and his friends walk to school.
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5.
Direct and indirect speech
Direct speech is a quotation of a person’s exact words – and those words are
written between inverted commas.
Indirect speech is a report of what someone has said.
Example:
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Idioms
Idioms are word combinations that have a different figurative meaning than
the literal meanings of each word or phrase.
Examples:
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Direct speech – Mary told her mom, “I passed my test.”
Indirect speech – Mary told her mom that she passed her test.
Burning the midnight oil
Burn your bridges
Every cloud has a silver lining
It takes two to tango
Water under the bridge
Beat around the bush
Pay an arm and a leg
Kill two birds with one stone
A stitch in time saves nine
Let sleeping dogs lie
Let the cat out of the bag
See eye to eye
Break a leg
Get off my tail
On cloud nine
Sit on the fence
Tenses
The past tense tells us about things that have happened.
She baked a cake.
The present tense tells us about things that are happening.
She bakes a cake.
The future tense tells us about things that will happen.
She will bake a cake.
Progressive tenses
The progressive tenses indicate continuing actions. The main verb changes,
because “ing” is added to it. An auxiliary verb (is, was, were, etc) are used
with the main verb.
The past progressive tense tells us about things that were happening.
She was baking a cake.
They were practising.
The present progressive tense tells us about things that are happening.
She is baking a cake.
They are practising.
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The future progressive tense tells us about things that will be happening.
She will be baking a cake.
They will be practising.
C.
D.
PUNCTUATION
1.
Full stop
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2.
Comma
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3.
Question mark
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4.
Exclamation mark
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5.
Semicolon
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6.
Colon
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7.
Hyphen
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8.
Apostrophe
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9.
Quotation marks
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Capital letter
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used at the end of a sentence
used in certain abbreviations
used after words in a list
for breathing space in long sentences
indicates a direct question when placed at
the end of a sentence
is used when a person wants to express a
sudden outcry or add emphasis.
is used to connect independent clauses. It
shows a closer relationship between the
clauses than a period would show.
is used after a word introducing a
quotation, an explanation, an example, or
a series.
between independent clauses, when the
second explains the first
is used to join two or more words together
into a compound term.
is used to indicate the omission of a letter or
letters from a word, the possessive case, or
the plurals of lowercase letters.
double quotation marks are used to directly
and exactly quote the words of someone.
used at the beginning of a sentence
for all proper nouns
POETRY
1.
Simile
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A comparison between two different things
introduced by “like” or “as”.
He is just like his father.
She is as helpful as her mom.
2.
Metaphor
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It implies a comparison between two things.
Unlike the simile, “like” or “as” is not used.
He is the star of the class.
That man is a tower of strength.
3.
Personification
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When human characteristics are attributed
to non – human and often lifeless things.
The clouds embraced the sun.
The birds chattered all morning.
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4.
Alliteration
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A poetic technique in which the initial
consonant sounds of words are repeated in
close succession.
The barbarians broke through the barricade.
5.
Assonance
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The rhyming of vowels within two or more
words close together to create effect.
A stitch in time saves nine.
6.
Repetition
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When a word is repeated for rhyme or
emphasis.
She wore a red dress with red ribbons and
red shoes.
7.
Rhyme
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A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounding
words, occurring at the end of lines
in poems or songs.
The dog likes to bark
Especially when it’s dark
8.
Rhythm
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The rhythm of a poem gives it its flow and
beat.
9.
Stanza
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A set of lines in a poem grouped together
and set apart from other stanzas in
the poem.
10.
Line
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A string of words before a break. Lines
make up a stanza.
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