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Grammar 101

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GRAMMAR 101
A sentence is made up of 2 sections…
• Subject (who or what the sentence is about)
• Predicate (the rest of the sentence)
Example: The dog brought the ball to his owner.
The predicate expands into 3 further parts…
• Verb
• Direct object (who or what after the verb)
• Indirect object (to whom/what or for whom/what after the direct object)
Example: The dog brought the ball to his owner.
REMEMBER:
When working with an object, we ask whom or what?
What is a phrase?
• A grouping of words without a finite verb
 A phrase makes sense and conveys a single idea
 A phrase can never stand alone, but is always part of a sentence.
What is a clause?
• A grouping of words containing a finite verb
 A clause makes sense and conveys a single idea
 A clause can stand alone.
*REMEMBER*
Santa Clause comes at Christmas and brings a gift.
The gift is a verb.
So a clause can stand alone because it has a gift… a verb.
SENTENCES
 Simple Sentences (a clause)
It must make sense on its own.
Contains one piece of information.
EX: We go on holiday every summer.
 Compound sentences
Two simple sentences (so 2 verbs) and a conjunction (and, but, when, if)
EX: My mom bought fruit today but a few of the apples were rotten.
 Complex sentences
Begins with a conjunction and the two main ideas are separated with a comma
(although, while, since, until, when, unless)
EX: While I am a serious rugby fan, I prefer soccer.
THE APOSTROPHE
Two Roles:
• To show contraction/omission
• To show possession/ownership
1. CONTRACTION/OMISSION:
The apostrophe shows where the letters have been removed.
Example: you + are = you’re (the apostrophe takes the place of the ‘a’)
REMEMBER:
 Contractions and formal writing do NOT go hand in hand!
2. POSSESSION/OWNERSHIP:
 If the apostrophe comes after the singular form of the noun (so before the s)
(SINGULAR)
The school of the boy = the boy’s school
The bicycle of the family = the family’s bicycle
 If the apostrophe comes after the plural form of the noun (so after the s)
(PLURAL)
The school of the boys = the boys’ school
The bicycles of the students = the students’ bicycles
If a name/word ends in ‘s’ then we add an apostrophe and then an s (so ‘s)
EX: Mrs Pincus’s students are her pride and joy.
REMEMBER:
 Something can simply be in the plural form
(this means it does NOT need an apostrophe!)
 Dates (1960s and 1980s) NO apostrophe!
ARTICLES
A, AN, THE
Definite article: THE
(Specific)
Example: She got accepted to the university of her dreams.
Indefinite article: A, AN
(Non-specific)
Example: She won an award for bravery.
He ate a banana.
The alphabet is divided into two groups:
 VOWELS (A, E, I, O, U)
 CONSONANTS (All the other letters)
WHEN USING A & AN
AN = when the following word begins with a VOWEL (A, E, I, O, U)
E.g. An apple
Two vowels cannot go next to each other so that is why we use AN.
A = when the following word begins with a CONSONANT (B, C, D, F, G, H…)
E.G A burger
CONCORD:
(agreement)
Subject and Verb:
Subject (Singular) and (Plural)
Verb (must match the Singular or Plural)
Example:
was + were
I was on my way to the shop (I + my = singular … was)
We were on our way to the shop (we + our = plural … were)
is + are
My friend is coming to me this weekend (friend = singular … is)
My friends are coming to me this weekend (friends = plural … are)
Noun and pronoun:
Man = his
Woman = her
Everyone = their
*the genders must agree/match*
Tricky:
Generation (even though made of millions of people it is the concept of ONE generation)
A generation is (singular) a period of twenty-five years.
Generations (plural) are influenced by political decisions.
Also consider:
A pile of newspapers (singular subject) is (singluar) in the corner.
The piles of newspapers (plural subject) are (plural) in the corner.
Tenses:
A. If the verb is in the PRESENT tense, report the speech as if it had just been said.
B. If the verb is in the past tense and what is being reported has already happened,
report the spoken words in the past tense by putting them one stage back in terms of
tense
EXAMPLE:
A. Mike says, “I am feeling dizzy today.”
Mike says that he is feeling dizzy today.
B. Mary said, “I am feeling dizzy today.”
Mary said that she was feeling dizzy that day.
Commands:
If the sentence is a command, two possibilities may be used:
A. The teacher ordered the children to do their homework.
B. The teacher ordered that the children should do their homework.
ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE
ACTIVE VOICE (REGULAR VOICE)
In the active voice the subject of the sentence does the action.
PASSIVE VOICE
In the passive voice the object becomes the subject and is having the action done to it.
ACTIVE
VOICE
PASSIVE
VOICE
Subject
Verb
Object
Object
Verb
Subject
PRESENT
The boy
kicks
the ball.
The ball
is kicked by
the boy.
PAST
The boy
kicked
the ball.
The ball
was kicked
by
the boy.
FUTURE
The boy
will kick
the ball.
The ball
will be
kicked
the boy.
NB:
A sentence can only be changed form active to passive if it has a transitive verb.
A transitive verb is a verb that takes a direct object.
Exclamations:
Exclamatory words such as ouch! hooray! wow! may NOT be used in reported speech.
Exclamations and emotions should, however, still be expressed and we do this by describing
them.
EXAMPLES:
“Ouch! I’ve stumped my toe!” screamed the girl.
The girl screamed in pain that she had stumped her toe.
The players shouted, “Hooray! We’ve won the game!”
The players shouted with joy that they had won the game.
Adverbs of time and place change in the past tense:
here – there
this – that
now – then
today – that day
yesterday – the previous day
the day before yesterday – two days ago
tomorrow – the following day
the day after tomorrow – in two days’ time
The General Rule
1. Underline the verb.
2. Divide the sentence into: Subject
Verb
3. Begin with the object.
Object
EXAMPLE: The magician performs the trick.
‘Performs’ is present tense… so it turns into ‘is performed by’.
If it was past tense it would turn into ‘was performed by’.
ACTIVE VOICE:
PASSIVE VOICE:
subject
verb
object
object
verb
subject
The magician
performs
the trick.
The trick
is performed by
the magician.
PRONOUNS:
Pronouns change from the subject form to the object form.
SINGULAR:
PLURAL:
SUBJECT
OBJECT
1st person
I
Me
2nd person
You
3rd person
He/She/it
SUBJECT
OBJECT
1st person
We
Us
You
2nd person
You
You
Him/Her/it
3rd person
They
Them
In some passive sentences, the ‘doer’ or the ‘agent’ is not mentioned:
EXAMPLES:
We keep our coffee cups here.
Our coffee cups are kept here.
They will make a decision soon.
A decision will be made soon.
(by us)
(by them)
• This is done because the sentence is easy to understand without mentioning the doer
and it would be clumsy to mention the doer.
• This usually is the case when the doer is a pronoun.
Read the book by Tuesday!
Who wrote the article?
Commands:
The book must be read by Tuesday.
Questions:
By whom was the article written?
It is more natural to use active voice
BUT
The passive voice is often used for effect
• When it is not necessary to mention the subject (doer)
• When we are not sure who did the action
-
Refreshments will be served.
The diamonds were stolen.
•
When demands are made anonymously
-
Smoking is not permitted in the cinema.
•
When a nameless accusation is made
-
This shirt has been ruined in the wash.
ROOT WORDS, PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES
We can change the meaning of a word by putting something before or after the root.
PREFIX
ROOT/STEM
MIS
USE
EN
SUFFIX
USE
LESS/FUL
JOY
MENT
• ROOT WORDS (base word)
(core)
• PREFIXES (Remember it by: You go to PRESCHOOL before normal school)
Prefixes come before the root word.
Prefixes have meanings themselves and often come from Greek or Latin etc.
Prefixes may create new words and may create antonyms.
Examples: ex, un, dis, en, mis, pre, re, non, in, ir,
• SUFFIXES (Remember it by: You SUFFER at the end of your life)
Suffixes are word endings.
Examples: able, ary/ery, ed, ing, less, ment, ness, tion, ly
SYNONYMS:
Words of the same or of similar meaning.
NB: synonyms are often interchangeable BUT the word choice is dependent on the CONTEXT.
EXAMPLES:
Start - Begin, Commence
Help – Assistance, Aid
Big – Huge, Enormous, Colossal
Rich – Wealthy, Prosperous
ANTONYMS:
Words of opposite meaning.
EXAMPLES:
Accept – Reject
Asleep – Awake
Blunt – Sharp
Clever - Stupid
Proud – Ashamed
Laugh - Cry
PRONUNCIATION
MEANING
SPELLING
HOMONYMS
SAME
DIFF
SAME
HOMOPHONES
SAME
DIFF
DIFF
HOMONYMS
Words spelt and pronounced in an identical way, but they have different meanings.
EXAMPLES:
Are we going to the ball tonight? (a party)
He hit the ball over the net. (a cricket ball)
Let’s go to the fair. (a carnival)
He wasn’t very fair with her punishment. (treating people equally)
HOMOPHONES
Words that are pronounced in the same way, but differ in spelling and meaning.
EXAMPLES:
You aren’t allowed to go there.
Read the notes aloud for us.
We must dig a hole in the garden.
The whole group was arrested.
Acronym:
an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and is pronounced as a word.
EXAMPLES: NASA, UNISA, AIDS, SIM card,
Abbreviation:
A shortened or brief form of a word or phrase. It is often used to save time.
The ones with full stops (the first few letters of that word so letters are cut off)
The ones without full stops (it is the first and last letter of the word)
EXAMPLES:
Prof. = Professor
Dr
= Doctor
Sun. Mon. Tues.
= Days
Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr.
= Months
Pres. = President
St
= Street
Pg.
= page
Sr
= Senior
Initialism:
an abbreviation consisting of initial letters pronounced separately (so you can’t pronounce
it as a word).
EXAMPLES: BBC, FBI, the USA, VIP, DNA, ATM
Tautology
• Saying the same thing twice in different words
• Unnecessary repetition of the same idea
Finite and Non Finite Verbs
Finite verbs
• A “working” verb with a subject – it can be any tense
Non-finite verbs
* Has no subject and cannot be in all tenses
CONNOTATION:
The range of positive or negative associations and emotional shades of meaning of a
word.
(connotation)
DENOTATION:
The literal, precise definition you would expect to find in a dictionary.
(denotation)
EXAMPLES:
Pig
D: A pink farm animal who likes to lie in mud
C: Person with bad manners, messy, greedy with eating
Blue
D: A colour
C: Feeling sad or down
Cold
D: Low temperature
C: Lacking affection or warmth or unemotional
DIRECT SPEECH
• Uses the exact words of the speaker and this is indicated using inverted commas (“”)
• After the speaker is introduced and the verb ‘said’ or ‘asked’ appears – it is always
followed by a comma.
• Now the actual words are spoken and they are placed in quotation marks.
• The first of the spoken words must be a capital letter.
• The quotation marks enclose all the words AND punctuation.
EXAMPLE:
Jane said, “It is warm today.”
Sarah asked, “What are we doing today?”
A. Sometimes the spoken words can come first.
B. The verb could be found in the middle of the sentence.
EXAMPLE:
A. “How long will dinner take?” asked the hungry guest.
B. “You guys are hopeless,” shouted the coach, “and are going to cost us the win!”
INDIRECT SPEECH (REPORTED SPEECH)
Many changes occur when converting a sentence from direct to indirect.
Punctuation:
Remove the inverted commas, the capital letters, the question marks and exclamation marks.
*obviously don’t take the capital letter away if the first word in the inverted comma is a proper noun
(like a name).
EXAMPLE:
Mother asked, “Where have I left my keys?” = Mother asked where she had left her keys.
Mother asked, “John, have you cleaned your room?” = Mother asked John if he had cleaned his room.
Pronoun:
Pronouns change to ensure the sentence keeps its meaning.
EXAMPLE:
Lauren said, “My family and I are going to town today.”
Lauren said that she and her family would be going to town that day.
That:
Insert the word THAT to link the verb to the spoken words.
EXAMPLE:
John says, “I love the sound of rain on a tin roof.”
John says that he loves the sound of rain on a tin roof.
Question words:
A. Insert the word IF or WHETHER after questions using question verbs.
B. If the first word of a question is a question word, use this word as the connecting word.
EXAMPLE:
A. The children enquired, “Are there fun rides at this flea market?”
The children enquired if/whether there were fun-rides at that flea market.
B. “Why can’t I have another candy floss?” asked Tara
Tara asked why she couldn’t have another candy floss.
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