CHAPTER I

PARTS OF SPEECH
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
After completing this lesson, students are supposed to be able to
recognize parts of speech, analyze sentences and understand them
and construct good sentences.
A. INTRODUCTION
There are thousands of words in any language. But not all
words have the same job. For example, some words express "action".
Other words express a "thing". Other words "join" one word to
another word. These are the "building blocks" of the language. Think
of them like the parts of a house. When we want to build a house, we
use concrete to make the foundations or base. We use bricks to make
the walls. We use window frames to make the windows, and door
frames to make the doorways. And we use cement to join them all
together. Each part of the house has its own job. And when we want
to build a sentence, we use the different types of word. Each type of
word has its own job.
We can categorize English words into 8 basic types or classes.
These classes are called "parts of speech". These are the words that
you use to make a sentence. There are only 8 types of word - and the
most important is the Verb!

Verbs
Nouns
Adjectives
Adverbs
Pronouns
Prepositions
Conjunctions
Interjections

B. PARTS OF SPEECH TABLE

This is a summary of the 8 parts of speech*. You can find
more detail if you click on each part of speech.
part of
speech

function or
"job"

example
words

example sentences

action or state

(to) be,
have, do,
like, work,
sing, can,
must

EnglishClub.com is a
web site. I like
EnglishClub.com.

thing or person

pen, dog,
work,
music, town,
London,
teacher,
John

This is my dog. He
lives in my house.
We live in London.

Adjective

describes a
noun

a/an, the, 2,
some, good,
big, red,
well,
interesting

I have two dogs. My

dogs are big. I like
big dogs.

Adverb

describes a
verb, adjective
or adverb

quickly,
silently,
well, badly,
very, really

My dog eats
quickly. When he is
very hungry, he eats
really quickly.

Pronoun

replaces a
noun

I, you, he,
she, some

Tara is Indian. She is

beautiful.

Preposition

links a noun to
another word

to, at, after,

on, but

We went to school
on Monday.

Conjunction

joins clauses
or sentences or
words

and, but,
when

I like dogs and I like

cats. I like cats and
dogs. I like dogs but
I don't like cats.

Interjection

short
exclamation,
sometimes
inserted into a
sentence

oh!, ouch!,
hi!, well

Ouch! That hurts!

Hi! How are you?
Well, I don't know.

Verb

Noun

* Some grammar sources categorize English into 9 or 10 parts of

speech. At EnglishClub.com, we use the traditional categorization of
8 parts of speech. Examples of other categorizations are:

Verbs may be treated as two different parts of speech:

o Lexical Verbs (work, like, run)
o Auxiliary Verbs (be, have, must)
Determiners may be treated as a separate part of speech,
instead of being categorized under Adjectives

Parts of Speech Examples

Here are some sentences made with different English parts of speech:
verb

noun verb

noun

verb

verb

Stop!

John

John

is

working.

works.

pronou
n

verb

noun

noun

ver
b

adjectiv
e

noun

She

love
s

animals
.

Animal
s

like

kind

people
.

nou
n

verb

noun

adver
b

nou
n

verb

adjecti
ve

noun

Tara

speak
s

Englis
h

well.

Tara

speak
s

good

Englis
h.

pronoun verb

preposition adjective

noun

She

to

station quickly.

ran

the

adverb

pron.

verb

adj.

noun

conjunction

pron.

verb

pron.

She

likes

big

snakes

but

hate

them.

Here is a sentence that contains every part of speech:

interjecti
on

pro
n.

con
j.

adj.

nou
n

ver
b

pre
p.

noun

adver
b

Well,

she

and

youn
g

Joh
n

wal
k

to

scho
ol

slowl
y.

Words with More than One Job

Many words in English can have more than one job, or be more than
one part of speech. For example, "work" can be a verb and a noun;
"but" can be a conjunction and a preposition; "well" can be an
adjective, an adverb and an interjection. In addition, many nouns can
act as adjectives.
To analyze the part of speech, ask yourself: "What job is this word
doing in this sentence?"
In the table below you can see a few examples. Of course, there are
more, even for some of the words in the table. In fact, if you look in a
good dictionary you will see that the word "but" has six jobs to do:

word

verb, noun, adverb, pronoun, preposition and conjuction!

part of speech

example

noun

My work is easy.

verb

I work in London.

conjunction

John came but Mary didn't

come.

preposition

Everyone came but Mary.

adjective

Are you well?

adverb

She speaks well.

interjection

Well! That's expensive!

work

but

well

noun
afternoon noun acting as
adjective

We ate in the afternoon.

We had afternoon tea.

C. VERBS
1. What are Verbs?
The verb is king in English. The shortest sentence contains a verb.
You can make a one-word 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.
2. Verb Classification
We divide verbs into two broad classifications:

1. Helping Verbs
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.
2. Main 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.
helping verb

main verb

John

likes

coffee.

You

lied

to me.

They

are

happy.

The children

are

playing.

We

must

go

now.

do

want

any.

not

Helping verbs and main verbs can be further sub-divided, as we shall

see on the following pages.
Helping Verbs
Helping verbs are also called "auxiliary verbs".
Helping verbs have no meaning on their own. They are necessary for
the grammatical structure of a sentence, but they do not tell us very
much alone. We usually use helping verbs with main verbs. They
"help" the main verb (which has the real meaning). There are only
about 15 helping verbs in English, and we divide them into two basic
groups:
Primary helping verbs (3 verbs)
These are the verbs be, do, and have. Note that we can use these three
verbs as helping verbs or as main verbs. On this page we talk about
them as helping verbs. We use them in the following cases:

be
o
o

to make continuous tenses (He is watching TV.)

to make the passive (Small fish are eaten by big fish.)

have
o

to make perfect tenses (I have finished my homework.)

do
o
o
o
o

to make negatives (I do not like you.)

to ask questions (Do you want some coffee?)
to show emphasis (I do want you to pass your exam.)
to stand for a main verb in some constructions (He
speaks faster than she does.)

Modal helping verbs (10 verbs)

We use modal helping verbs to "modify" the meaning of the main
verb in some way. A modal helping verb expresses necessity or
possibility, and changes the main verb in that sense. These are the
modal verbs:

can, could
may, might
will, would,
shall, should
must
ought to

Here are examples using modal verbs:

I can't speak Chinese.

John may arrive late.
Would you like a cup of coffee?
You should see a doctor.
I really must go now.

Main Verbs
Main verbs are also called "lexical verbs".
Main verbs have meaning on their own (unlike helping verbs). There
are thousands of main verbs, and we can classify them in several
ways:
Transitive and intransitive verbs
A transitive verb takes a direct object: Somebody killed the President.
An intransitive verb does not have a direct object: He died. Many

verbs, like speak, can be transitive or intransitive. Look at these

examples:
transitive:

I saw an elephant.
We are watching TV.
He speaks English.

intransitive:

He has arrived.
John goes to school.
She speaks fast.

Linking verbs
A linking verb does not have much meaning in itself. It "links" the
subject to what is said about the subject. Usually, a linking verb
shows equality (=) or a change to a different state or place (>).
Linking verbs are always intransitive (but not all intransitive verbs are
linking verbs).

Mary is a teacher. (mary = teacher)

Tara is beautiful. (tara = beautiful)
That sounds interesting. (that = interesting)
The sky became dark. (the sky > dark)
The bread has gone bad. (bread > bad)

Dynamic and stative verbs

Some verbs describe action. They are called "dynamic", and can be
used with continuous tenses. Other verbs describe state (non-action, a
situation). They are called "stative", and cannot normally be used with
continuous tenses (though some of them can be used with continuous
tenses with a change in meaning).
dynamic verbs (examples):

hit, explode, fight, run, go

stative verbs (examples):

be
like, love, prefer, wish
impress, please, surprise
hear, see, sound
belong to, consist of, contain, include, need
appear, resemble, seem

Regular and irregular verbs

This is more a question of vocabulary than of grammar. The only real
difference between regular and irregular verbs is that they have
different endings for their past tense and past participle forms. For
regular verbs, the past tense ending and past participle ending is
always the same: -ed. For irregular verbs, the past tense ending and
the past participle ending is variable, so it is necessary to learn them
by heart.
regular verbs: base, past tense, past participle

look, looked, looked

work, worked, worked

irregular verbs: base, past tense, past participle

buy, bought, bought

cut, cut, cut
do, did, done

Here are lists of regular verbs and irregular verbs.

One way to think of regular and irregular verbs is like this: all verbs
are irregular and the so-called regular verbs are simply one very large
group of irregular verbs.
Often the above divisions can be mixed. For example, one verb could
be irregular, transitive and dynamic; another verb could be regular,
transitive and stative.
Verb Forms
English verbs come in several forms. For example, the verb to sing
can be: to sing, sing, sang, sung, singing or sings. This is a total of 6

forms. Not many, considering that some languages (French, for

example) have more than 30 forms for an individual verb. English
tenses may be quite complicated, but the forms that we use to make
the tenses are actually very simple! With the exception of the verb to
be, English main verbs have only 4, 5 or 6 forms. To be has 9 forms.
Do not confuse verb forms with tenses. We use the different verb
forms to make the tenses, but they are not the same thing.
In this lesson we look at the forms of main verbs and helping
(auxiliary) verbs, followed by a quiz to check your understanding:

Forms of Main Verbs

Forms of Helping Verbs
Main Verb Forms Quiz

Forms of Main Verbs

Main verbs are also called "lexical verbs".
Main verbs (except the verb "be") have only 4, 5 or 6 forms. "Be" has
9 forms.
V1

V2

V3

base

past
simpl
e

past
participl
e

present
participl
e

presen
t
simple,
3rd
person
singula
r

(to)
work

wor
k

worke
d

worked

working

works

(to) sing
(to)
make

sing
mak
e

sang
made

sung
made

singing
making

sings
makes

infinitiv
e

regular

irregula
r

(to) cut

cut

cut

cut

cutting

cuts

(to) do*
(to)
have*

do
have

did
had

done
had

doing
having

does
has

infinitiv
e

base

past
simpl
e

past
participl
e

present
participl
e

presen
t
simple

(to) be*

be

was,
were

been

being

am,
are, is

In the above examples:

to cut has 4 forms: to cut, cut, cutting, cuts

to work has 5 forms: to work, work, worked, working, works
to sing has 6 forms: to sing, sing, sang, sung, singing, sings
to be has 9 forms: to be, be, was, were, been, being, am, is, are

The infinitive can be with or without to. For example, to sing and
sing are both infinitives. We often call the infinitive without to the
"bare infinitive".
At school, students usually learn by heart the base, past simple and
past participle (sometimes called V1, V2, V3, meaning Verb 1, Verb
2, Verb 3) for the irregular verbs. They may spend many hours
chanting: sing, sang, sung; go, went, gone; have, had, had; etc. They
do not learn these for the regular verbs because the past simple and
past participle are always the same: they are formed by adding "-ed"
to the base. They do not learn the present participle and 3rd person
singular present simple by heart - for another very simple reason:
they never change. The present participle is always made by adding "ing" to the base, and the 3rd person singular present simple is always
made by adding "s" to the base (though there are some variations in
spelling).

* Note that "do", "have" and "be" also function as helping or auxiliary
verbs, with exactly the same forms (except that as helping verbs they
are never in infinitive form).
Example Sentences
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.

Forms of Helping Verbs

All helping verbs are used with a main verb (either expressed or
understood*). There are 2 groups of helping verbs:

Primary helping verbs, used mainly to change the tense or

voice of the main verb, and in making questions and
negatives.
Modal helping verbs, used to change the "mood" of the main
verb.

Study the table below. It shows the prinicipal forms and uses of
helping verbs, and explains the differences between primary and
modal helping verbs.
* Sometimes we make a sentence that has a helping verb and seems to
have no main verb. In fact, the main verb is "understood". Look at the
following examples:

Question: Can you speak English? (The main verb speak is

"expressed".)
Answer: Yes, I can. (The main verb speak is not expressed. It
is "understood" from the context. We understand: Yes, I can
speak English.

But if somebody walked into the room and said "Hello. I can", we
would understand nothing!
Helping Verbs
Primary

Modal

do

(to make simple tenses,

and questions and
negatives)

can

could

be

(to make continuous

tenses, and the passive
voice)

may

might

have

(to make perfect tenses)

will

would

shall

should

must
ought (to)
"Do", "be" and "have" as helping
verbs have exactly the same forms
as when they are main verbs
(except that as helping verbs they
are never used in infinitive forms).

Modal helping verbs are

invariable. They always have
the same form.

Primary helping verbs are followed

by the main verb in a particular
form:

do + V1 (base verb)
be + -ing (present
participle)
have + V3 (past participle)

"Do", "be" and "have" can also

function as main verbs.

"Ought" is followed by the

main verb in infinitive form.
Other modal helping verbs are
followed by the main verb in
its base form (V1).

ought + to... (infinitive)

other modals + V1
(base verb)

Modal helping verbs cannot

function as main verbs.

D. NOUNS
It's not easy to describe a noun. In simple terms, nouns are "things"
(and verbs are "actions"). Like food. Food (noun) is something you
eat (verb). Or happiness. Happiness (noun) is something you want
(verb). Or human being. A human being (noun) is something you are
(verb).
What are Nouns?
The simple definition is: a person, place or thing. Here are some
examples:

person: man, woman, teacher, John, Mary

place: home, office, town, countryside, America
thing: table, car, banana, money, music, love, dog, monkey

The problem with this definition is that it does not explain why "love"
is a noun but can also be a verb.
Another (more complicated) way of recognizing a noun is by its:
1. Ending
2. Position
3. Function

1. Noun Ending
There are certain word endings that show that a word is a noun, for
example:

-ity > nationality

-ment > appointment
-ness > happiness
-ation > relation
-hood > childhood

But this is not true for the word endings of all nouns. For example, the
noun "spoonful" ends in -ful, but the adjective "careful" also ends in ful.
2. Position in Sentence
We can often recognise a noun by its position in the sentence.
Nouns often come after a determiner (a determiner is a word like a,
an, the, this, my, such):

a relief
an afternoon
the doctor
this word
my house
such stupidity

Nouns often come after one or more adjectives:

a great relief
a peaceful afternoon
the tall, Indian doctor
this difficult word
my brown and white house
such crass stupidity

3. Function in a Sentence
Nouns have certain functions (jobs) in a sentence, for example:

subject of verb: Doctors work hard.

object of verb: He likes coffee.
subject and object of verb: Teachers teach students.

But the subject or object of a sentence is not always a noun. It could

be a pronoun or a phrase. In the sentence "My doctor works hard", the
noun is "doctor" but the subject is "My doctor".
Countable and Uncountable Nouns
English nouns are often described as "countable" or "uncountable".
Countable Nouns
Countable nouns are easy to recognize. They are things that we can
count. For example: "pen". We can count pens. We can have one,
two, three or more pens. Here are some more countable nouns:

dog, cat, animal, man, person

bottle, box, litre
coin, note, dollar
cup, plate, fork
table, chair, suitcase, bag

Countable nouns can be singular or plural:

My dog is playing.
My dogs are hungry.

We can use the indefinite article a/an with countable nouns:

A dog is an animal.

When a countable noun is singular, we must use a word like

a/the/my/this with it:

I want an orange. (not I want orange.)

Where is my bottle? (not Where is bottle?)

When a countable noun is plural, we can use it alone:

I like oranges.

Bottles can break.

We can use some and any with countable nouns:

I've got some dollars.

Have you got any pens?

We can use a few and many with countable nouns:

I've got a few dollars.

I haven't got many pens.

"People" is countable. "People" is the plural of "person". We can

count people:

There is one person here.

There are three people here.

Uncountable Nouns
Uncountable nouns are substances, concepts etc that we cannot divide
into separate elements. We cannot "count" them. For example, we
cannot count "milk". We can count "bottles of milk" or "litres of
milk", but we cannot count "milk" itself. Here are some more
uncountable nouns:

music, art, love, happiness

advice, information, news
furniture, luggage
rice, sugar, butter, water
electricity, gas, power
money, currency

We usually treat uncountable nouns as singular. We use a singular

verb. For example:

This news is very important.

Your luggage looks heavy.

We do not usually use the indefinite article a/an with uncountable

nouns. We cannot say "an information" or "a music". But we can say
a something of:

a piece of news
a bottle of water
a grain of rice

We can use some and any with uncountable nouns:

I've got some money.

Have you got any rice?

We can use a little and much with uncountable nouns:

I've got a little money.

I haven't got much rice.

Uncountable nouns are also called "mass nouns".

Here are some more examples of countable and uncountable nouns:
Countable

Uncountable

dollar

money

song

music

suitcase

luggage

table

furniture

battery

electricity

bottle

wine

report

information

tip

advice

journey

travel

job

work

view

scenery

When you learn a new word, it's a good idea to learn whether it's
countable or uncountable.
Nouns that can be Countable and Uncountable
Sometimes, the same noun can be countable and uncountable, often
with a change of meaning.
Countable

Uncountable

There are two hairs in my

coffee!

hair

I don't have much hair.

There are two lights in our

bedroom.

light

Close the curtain. There's too

much light!

Shhhhh! I thought I heard a

noise.
There are so many different
noises in the city.

noise

It's difficult to work when

there is too much noise.

Have you got a paper to

read? (newspaper)
Hand me those student
papers.

paper

I want to draw a picture. Have

you got some paper?

Our house has seven rooms.

room

Is there room for me to sit

here?

We had a great time at the

party.
How many times have I told
you no?

time

Have you got time for a

coffee?

Macbeth is one of
Shakespeare's greatest
works.

work I have no money. I need work!

Drinks (coffee, water, orange juice) are usually uncountable. But if

we are thinking of a cup or a glass, we can say (in a restaurant, for
example):

Two teas and one coffee please.

Proper Nouns (Names)

A proper noun is the special word (or name) that we use for a person,
place or organization, like John, Marie, London, France or Sony. A
name is a noun, but a very special noun - a proper noun. Proper nouns
have special rules.
common noun

proper noun

man, boy

John

woman, girl

Mary

country, town

England, London

company

Ford, Sony

shop, restaurant

Maceys, McDonalds

month, day of the week January, Sunday

book, film

War & Peace, Titanic

Using Capital Letters with Proper Nouns

We always use a Capital Letter for the first letter of a proper noun
(name). This includes names of people, places, companies, days of the
week and months. For example:

They like John. (not *They like john.)

I live in England.
She works for Sony.
The last day in January is a Monday.
We saw Titanic in the Odeon Cinema.

Proper Nouns without THE

We do not use "the" with names of people. For example:

Bill (not *the Bill)
first names
Hilary
Clinton
surnames
Gates
full names Hilary Gates
We do not normally use "the" with names of companies. For example:

Renault, Ford, Sony, EnglishClub.com

General Motors, Air France, British Airways
Warner Brothers, Brown & Son Ltd

If the full (registered) name of a company starts with "The", then we

use "The" if we use the full name, for example:

The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd

We do not normally use "the" for shops, banks, hotels etc named after
a founder or other person (with -'s or -s). For example:
shops

Harrods, Marks & Spencer, Maceys

banks

Barclays Bank

hotels, restaurants

Steve's Hotel, Joe's Cafe, McDonalds

churches, cathedrals St John's Church, St Peter's Cathedral

We do not normally use "the" with names of places. For example:
towns

Washington (not *the Washington), Paris, Tokyo

states, regions Texas, Kent, Eastern Europe

countries

England, Italy, Brazil

continents

Asia, Europe, North America

islands

Corsica

mountains

Everest

Exception! If a country name includes "States","Kingdom",

"Republic" etc, we use "the":
the United States, the US, the United States of America,
the USA

states

kingdom the United Kingdom, the UK

republic

the French Republic

We do not use "the" with "President/Doctor/Mr etc + Name":

the president, the
king

President Bush (not *the President Bush)

the captain, the

detective

Captain Kirk, Detective Colombo

the doctor, the

professor

Doctor Well, Dr Well, Professor Dolittle

my uncle, your aunt

Uncle Jack, Aunt Jill

Mr Gates (not *the Mr Gates), Mrs Clinton,
Miss Black

Look at these example sentences:

I wanted to speak to the doctor.

I wanted to speak to Doctor Brown.
Who was the president before President Kennedy?

We do not use "the" with "Lake/Mount + Name":

the lake

Lake Victoria

the mount Mount Everest

Look at this example sentence:

We live beside Lake Victoria. We have a fantastic view

across the lake.

We do not normally use "the" for roads, streets, squares, parks etc:
streets etc

Oxford Street, Trenholme Road, Fifth Avenue

squares etc Trafalgar Square, Oundle Place, Piccadilly Circus

parks etc

Central Park, Kew Gardens

Many big, important buildings have names made of two words (for
example, Kennedy Airport). If the first word is the name of a person
or place, we do not normally use "the":
people Kennedy Airport, Alexander Palace, St Paul's Cathedral
places Heathrow Airport, Waterloo Station, Edinburgh Castle

Proper Nouns with THE

We normally use "the" for country names that include
"States","Kingdom", "Republic" etc:
States

the United States of America/the USA

Kingdom the United Kingdom/the UK

Republic the French Republic
We normally use "the" for names of canals, rivers, seas and oceans:
canals the Suez Canal
rivers

the River Nile, the Nile

seas

the Mediterranean Sea, the Mediterranean

oceans the Pacific Ocean, the Pacific

We normally use "the" for plural names of people and places:

people (families, for example) the Clintons
countries

the Philippines, the United States

island groups

the Virgin Islands, the British Isles

mountain ranges

the Himalayas, the Alps

Look at these sentences:

I saw the Clintons today. It was Bill's birthday.

Trinidad is the largest island in the West Indies.
Mount Everest is in the Himalayas.

We normally use "the" with the following sorts of names:

hotels, restaurants the Ritz Hotel, the Peking Restaurant
banks

the National Westminster Bank

cinemas, theatres

the Royal Theatre, the ABC Cinema

museums

the British Museum, the National Gallery

buildings

the White House, the Crystal Palace

newspapers

the Daily Telegraph, the Sunday Post

organisations

the United Nations, the BBC, the European Union

We normally use "the" for names made with "of":

the Tower of London

the Gulf of Siam
the Tropic of Cancer
the London School of Economics
the Bank of France
the Statue of Liberty

Possessive 's

When we want to show that something belongs to somebody or

something, we usually add 's to a singular noun and an apostrophe ' to
a plural noun, for example:

the boy's ball (one boy)

the boys' ball (two or more boys)

Notice that the number of balls does not matter. The structure is
influenced by the possessor and not the possessed.
one ball

more than one ball

one boy
the boy's ball the boy's balls

more than one boy

the boys' ball the boys' balls

The structure can be used for a whole phrase:

the man next door's mother (the mother of the man next
door)
the Queen of England's poodles (the poodles of the Queen of
England)

Although we can use of to show possession, it is more usual to use

possessive 's. The following phrases have the same meaning, but #2 is
more usual and natural:
1. the boyfriend of my sister
2. my sister's boyfriend
Proper Nouns (Names)
We very often use possessive 's with names:

This is Mary's car.

Where is Ram's telephone?

Who took Anthony's pen?

I like Tara's hair.

When a name ends in s, we usually treat it like any other singular

noun, and add 's:

This is Charles's chair.

But it is possible (especially with older, classical names) to just add

the apostrophe ':

Who was Jesus' father?

Irregular Plurals
Some nouns have irregular plural forms without s (man > men). To
show possession, we usually add 's to the plural form of these nouns:
singular noun

plural noun

my child's dog

my children's dog

the man's work

the men's work

the mouse's cage

the mice's cage

a person's clothes people's clothes

Noun as Adjective
As you know, a noun is a person, place or thing, and an adjective is a
word that describes a noun:
adjective noun
clever

teacher

small

office

black

horse

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

first noun "acts as" an adjective.
noun
as adjective noun
history

teacher

ticket

office

race

horse

The "noun as adjective" always comes first

If you remember this it will help you to understand what is being
talked about:

a race horse is a horse that runs in races

a horse race is a race for horses
a boat race is a race for boats
a love story is a story about love
a war story is a story about war
a tennis ball is a ball for playing tennis
tennis shoes are shoes for playing tennis
a computer exhibition is an exhibition of computers
a bicycle shop is a shop that sells bicycles

The "noun as adjective" is singular

Just like a real adjective, the "noun as adjective" is invariable. It is
usually in the singular form.
Right

Wrong

boat race

boat races

NOT boats race, boats races

toothbrush

toothbrushes

NOT teethbrush, teethbrushes

shoe-lace

shoe-laces

NOT shoes-lace, shoes-laces

cigarette
packet

cigarette
packets

NOT cigarettes packet, cigarettes

packets

In other words, if there is a plural it is on the real noun only.

A few nouns look plural but we usually treat them as singular (for
example news, billiards, athletics). When we use these nouns "as
adjectives" they are unchanged:

a news reporter, three news reporters

one billiards table, four billiards tables
an athletics trainer, fifty athletics trainers

Exceptions:
When we use certain nouns "as adjectives" (clothes, sports, customs,
accounts, arms), we use them in the plural form:

clothes shop, clothes shops

sports club, sports clubs
customs duty, customs duties
accounts department, accounts departments
arms production

How do we write the "noun as adjective"?

We write the "noun as adjective" and the real noun in several different
ways:

two separate words (car door)

two hyphenated words (book-case)
one word (bathroom)

There are no easy rules for this. We even write some combinations in
two or all three different ways: (head master, head-master,
headmaster)
How do we say the "noun as adjective"?
For pronunciation, we usually stress the first word:

shoe shop
boat-race
bathroom

Can we have more than one "noun as adjective"?

Yes. Just like adjectives, we often use more than one "noun as
adjective" together. Look at these examples:
car production costs: we are talking about the costs of producing
cars
noun as noun as
adjective adjective

noun
costs

production costs
car production costs

England football team coach: we are talking about the coach who
trains the team that plays football for England
noun as noun as noun as
adjective adjective adjective noun
coach
team coach

football

team coach

England football

team coach

Note: in England football team coach can you see a "hidden" "noun
as adjective"? Look at the word "football" (foot-ball). These two
nouns (foot+ball) have developed into a single noun (football). This is
one way that words evolve. Many word combinations that use a "noun
as adjective" are regarded as nouns in their own right, with their own
dictionary definition. But not all dictionaries agree with each other.
For example, some dictionaries list "tennis ball" as a noun and other
dictionaries do not.
government road accident research centre: we are talking about a
centre that researches into accidents on the road for the government
noun as
adjective

noun as noun as noun as

adjective adjective adjective noun
centre
research centre
accident research centre
road accident research centre

government

road accident research centre

Newpapers often use many nouns together in headlines to save space.

Look at this example:
BIRD HEALTH RESEARCH CENTRE MURDER MYSTERY
To understand headlines like these, try reading them backwards. The
above headline is about a MYSTERY concerning a MURDER in a
CENTRE for RESEARCH into the HEALTH of BIRDS.

Note, too, that we can still use a real adjective to qualify a "noun as
adjective" structure:

empty coffee jar

honest car salesman
delicious dog food
rising car production costs
famous England football team coach

Compound Nouns
A compound noun is a noun that is made with two or more words. A
compound noun is usually [noun + noun] or [adjective + noun], but
there are other combinations (see below). It is important to understand
and recognize compound nouns. Each compound noun acts as a single
unit and can be modified by adjectives and other nouns.
There are three forms for compound nouns:
1. open or spaced - space between words (tennis shoe)
2. hyphenated - hyphen between words (six-pack)
3. closed or solid - no space or hyphen between words
(bedroom)
Here are some examples of compound nouns:

noun

adjective

+ noun

+ noun

verb(-ing) + noun

bus stop

Is this the bus stop for

the number 12 bus?

fire-fly

In the tropics you can see

fire-flies at night.

football

Shall we play football

today?

full moon

I always feel crazy at full

moon.

blackboard

Clean the blackboard

please.

software

I can't install this

software on my PC.

breakfast

We always eat breakfast

at 8am.

noun

+ verb(-ing)

verb

+ preposition

noun

prepositional
phrase

washing
machine

Put the clothes in the red

washing machine.

swimming
pool

What a beautiful
swimming pool!

sunrise

I like to get up at sunrise.

haircut

You need a haircut.

trainspotting

His hobby is trainspotting.

check-out

Please remember that

check-out is at 12 noon.

mother-inlaw

My mother-in-law lives
with us.

preposition + noun

Do you think the police

underworld accept money from the
underworld?

noun

truckful

+ adjective

We need 10 truckfuls of
bricks.

Pronunciation
Compound nouns tend to have more stress on the first word. In the
phrase "pink ball", both words are equally stressed (as you know,
adjectives and nouns are always stressed). In the compound noun
"golf ball", the first word is stressed more (even though both words
are nouns, and nouns are always stressed). Since "golf ball" is a
compound noun we consider it as a single noun and so it has a single
main stress - on the first word. Stress is important in compound
nouns. For example, it helps us know if somebody said "a GREEN
HOUSE" (a house which is painted green) or "a GREENhouse" (a
building made of glass for growing plants inside).
British/American differences
Different varieties of English, and even different writers, may use the
open, hyphenated or closed form for the same compound noun. It is
partly a matter of style. There are no definite rules. For example we
can find:

container ship
container-ship
containership

If you are not sure which form to use, please check in a good
dictionary.

Plural forms of compound nouns

In general we make the plural of a compound noun by adding -s to the
"base word" (the most "significant" word). Look at these examples:
singular
plural
a tennis shoe
three tennis shoes
one assistant headmaster

five assistant headmasters

the sergeant major

some sergeants major

a mother-in-law

two mothers-in-law

an assistant secretary of state three assistant secretaries of state

my toothbrush

our toothbrushes

a woman-doctor

four women-doctors

a doctor of philosophy

two doctors of philosophy

a passerby, a passer-by

two passersby, two passers-by

Note that there is some variation with words like spoonful or truckful.
The old style was to say spoonsful or trucksful for the plural. Today it
is more usual to say spoonfuls or truckfuls. Both the old style
(spoonsful) and the new style (spoonfuls) are normally acceptable, but
you should be consistent in your choice. Here are some examples:
old style plural
new style plural
(very formal)
teaspoonful 3 teaspoonsful of sugar 3 teasponfuls of sugar
truckful

5 trucksful of sand

5 truckfuls of sand

bucketful

2 bucketsful of water

2 bucketfuls of water

cupful

4 cupsful of rice

4 cupfuls of rice

Some compound nouns have no obvious base word and you may need
to consult a dictionary to find the plural:

higher-ups
also-rans

go-betweens
has-beens
good-for-nothings
grown-ups

Note that with compound nouns made of [noun + noun] the first noun
is like an adjective and therefore does not usually take an -s. A tree
that has apples has many apples, but we say an apple tree, not apples
tree; matchbox not matchesbox; toothbrush not teethbrush.
With compound nouns made of [noun + noun] the second noun takes
an -s for plural. The first noun acts like an adjective and as you know,
adjectives in English are invariable. Look at these examples:
long plural form becomes

plural compound noun

[noun + noun]

100 trees with apples

100 apple trees

1,000 cables for telephones 1,000 telephone cables

20 boxes for tools

20 tool boxes

10 stops for buses

10 bus stops

4,000 wheels for cars

4,000 car wheels

E. ADJECTIVES
An adjective is a word that tells us more about a noun. (By "noun"
we include pronouns and noun phrases.)
An adjective "qualifies" or "modifies" a noun (a big dog).
Adjectives can be used before a noun (I like Chinese food) or after
certain verbs (It is hard).
We can often use two or more adjectives together (a beautiful young
French lady).
It is sometimes said that the adjective is the enemy of the noun. This
is because, very often, if we use the precise noun we don't need an
adjective. For example, instead of saying "a large, impressive house"
(2 adjectives + 1 noun) we could simply say "a mansion" (1 noun).

Determiners
Determiners are words like the, an, my, some. They are
grammatically similar. They all come at the beginning of noun
phrases, and usually we cannot use more than one determiner in the
same noun phrase.
Articles:

a, an, the

Possessive Adjectives:

my, your, his, her, its, our, their, whose

Other determiners:

each, every
either, neither
some, any, no
much, many; more, most
little, less, least
few, fewer, fewest
what, whatever; which, whichever
both, half, all
several
enough

A, An or The?
When do we say "the dog" and when do we say "a dog"? (On this
page we talk only about singular, countable nouns.)
The and a/an are called "articles". We divide them into "definite" and
"indefinite" like this:
Articles
Definite Indefinite
the

a, an

We use "definite" to mean sure, certain. "Definite" is particular.

We use "indefinite" to mean not sure, not certain. "Indefinite" is
general.
When we are talking about one thing in particular, we use the. When
we are talking about one thing in general, we use a or an.
Think of the sky at night. In the sky we see 1 moon and millions of
stars. So normally we would say:

I saw the moon last night.

I saw a star last night.

Look at these examples:

the

a, an

The capital of France is

Paris.
I have found the book that I
lost.
Have you cleaned the car?
There are six eggs in the
fridge.
Please switch off the TV
when you finish.

I was born in a town.

John had an omelette
for lunch.
James Bond ordered a
drink.
We want to buy an
umbrella.
Have you got a pen?

Of course, often we can use the or a/an for the same word. It depends
on the situation, not the word. Look at these examples:

We want to buy an umbrella. (Any umbrella, not a particular

umbrella.)
Where is the umbrella? (We already have an umbrella. We are
looking for our umbrella, a particular umbrella.)

This little story should help you understand the difference between
the
and
a,
an:
A man and a woman were walking in Oxford Street. The woman saw
a dress that she liked in a shop. She asked the man if he could buy

the dress for her. He said: "Do you think the shop will accept a
cheque? I don't have a credit card."
My, your, his, her, its, our, their, whose
Warning! These are adjectives. Don't confuse them with pronouns!
We use possessive adjectives to show who owns or "possesses"
something. The possessive adjectives are:

my, your, his, her, its, our, their

whose (interrogative)

number

person

1st

2nd

possessiv
e
adjective

exampl
e
sentenc
e

my

This is
my
book.

male/female

your

I like
your
hair.

male

his

His
name is
"John".

female

her

Her
name is
"Mary".

neuter

its

The
dog is

gender

male/female

singular

3rd

licking
its paw.

1st

plural

2nd

3rd

singular/plur
al

1st/2nd/3r
d

Compare:
your = possessive adjective
you're = you are

male/female

male/female

male/female/neut
er

male/female (not
neuter)

our

We
have
sold
our
house.

your

Your
childre
n are
lovely.

their

The
student
s
thanked
their
teacher.

whose

Whose
phone
did you
use?

its = possessive adjective

it's = it is OR it has
their = possessive adjective
they're = they are
there = adverb (I'm not going there / look over there / there is a car
outside)
whose = possessive adjective
who's = who is OR who has
Be careful! There is no apostrophe (') in the possessive adjective "its".
We use an apostrophe to write the short form of "it is" or "it has". For
example:
it's raining = it is raining
it's finished = it has finished
I'm taking my dog to the vet. It's broken its leg.
Each, Every
Each and every have similar but not always identical meanings.
Each = every one separately
Every = each, all

Sometimes, each and every have the same meaning:

Prices go up each year.

Prices go up every year.

But often they are not exactly the same.

Each expresses the idea of 'one by one'. It emphasizes individuality.
Every is half-way between each and all. It sees things or people as
singular, but in a group or in general.

Consider the following:

Every artist is sensitive.

Each artist sees things differently.
Every soldier saluted as the President arrived.
The President gave each soldier a medal.

Each can be used in front of the verb:

The soldiers each received a medal.

Each can be followed by 'of':

The President spoke to each of the soldiers.

He gave a medal to each of them.

Every cannot be used for 2 things. For 2 things, each can be used:

He was carrying a suitcase in each hand.

Every is used to say how often something happens:

There is a plane to Bangkok every day.

The bus leaves every hour.

Verbs with each and every are always conjugated in the singular.
Some, Any
Some = a little, a few or a small number or amount
Any = one, some or all
Usually, we use some in positive (+) sentences and any in negative (-)
and question (?) sentences.
some
+ I have some

any

example situation
I have $10.

money.
-

I don't have
any money.

I don't have $1 and I don't have $10

and I don't have $1,000,000. I have
$0.

Do you have
any money?

Do you have $1 or $10 or

$1,000,000?

In general, we use something/anything and somebody/anybody in

the same way as some/any.
Look at these examples:

He needs some stamps.

I must go. I have some homework to do.
I'm thirsty. I want something to drink.
I can see somebody coming.

He doesn't need any stamps.

I can stay. I don't have any homework to do.
I'm not thirsty. I don't want anything to drink.
I can't see anybody coming.

Does he need any stamps?

Do you have any homework to do?
Do you want anything to drink?
Can you see anybody coming?

We use any in a positive sentence when the real sense is negative.

I refused to give them any money. (I did not give them any
money)
She finished the test without any difficulty. (she did not have
any difficulty)

Sometimes we use some in a question, when we expect a positive

YES answer. (We could say that it is not a real question, because we
think we know the answer already.)

Would you like some more tea?

Could I have some sugar, please?

Some grammarians do not consider determiners as adjectives, but

give them a class of their own.
Adjective Order
There are 2 basic positions for adjectives:
1. before the noun
2. after certain verbs (be, become, get, seem, look, feel, sound,
smell, taste)
adj. noun

verb adj.

1 I like big

cars.

My car is

big.

Adjective Before Noun

We sometimes use more than one adjective before the noun:

I like big black dogs.

She was wearing a beautiful long red dress.

What is the correct order for two or more adjectives?

1. The general order is: opinion, fact:

a nice French car (not a French nice car)

("Opinion" is what you think about something. "Fact" is what is

definitely true about something.)
2. The normal order for fact adjectives is size, age, shape, colour,
material, origin:

a big, old, square, black, wooden Chinese table

3. Determiners usually come first, even though they are fact

adjectives:

articles (a, the)

possessives (my, your...)
demonstratives (this, that...)
quantifiers (some, any, few, many...)
numbers (one, two, three)

Here is an example with opinion and fact adjectives:

adjectives
fact
deteropinion
miner
age shape
two

nice

noun
colour

old round red

candles

When we want to use two colour adjectives, we join them with

"and":

Many newspapers are black and white.

She was wearing a long, blue and yellow dress.

The rules on this page are for the normal, "natural" order of
adjectives. But these rules are not rigid, and you may sometimes wish
to change the order for emphasis. Consider the following
conversations:
Conversation 1
A "I want to buy a round table."
B "Do you want a new round table or an old round table?"
Conversation 2
A "I want to buy an old table".
B "Do you want a round old table or a square old table?"

Adjective After Certain Verbs

An adjective can come after some verbs, such as: be, become, feel,
get, look, seem, smell, sound

Even when an adjective comes after the verb and not before a noun, it
always refers to and qualifies the subject of the sentence, not the
verb.
Look at the examples below: subject verb adjective

Ram is English.
Because she had to wait, she became impatient.
Is it getting dark?
The examination did not seem difficult.
Your friend looks nice.
This towel feels damp.
That new film doesn't sound very interesting.
Dinner smells good tonight.
This milk tastes sour.
It smells bad.

These verbs are "stative" verbs, which express a state or change of

state, not "dynamic" verbs which express an action. Note that some
verbs can be stative in one sense (she looks beautiful | it got hot), and
dynamic in another (she looked at him | he got the money). The above
examples do not include all stative verbs.
Note also that in the above structure (subject verb adjective), the
adjective can qualify a pronoun since the subject may be a pronoun.
Comparative Adjectives
When we talk about two things, we can "compare" them. We can see
if they are the same or different. Perhaps they are the same in some
ways and different in other ways. We can use comparative adjectives
to describe the differences.
We can use comparative adjectives when talking about two things
(not three or more things).
In the example below, "bigger" is the comparative form of the
adjective "big":
A1 A2

A1 is bigger than A2.

Formation of Comparative Adjectives
There are two ways to make or form a comparative adjective:

short adjectives: add "-er"

long adjectives: use "more"

Short adjectives

1-syllable adjectives

2-syllable adjectives ending in -y

old, fast
happy, easy

Normal rule: add "-er"

old older

Variation: if the adjective ends in -e, just add -r

late later

Variation: if the adjective ends in consonant,

vowel, consonant, double the last consonant

big bigger

Variation: if the adjective ends in -y, change the

y to i

happy happier

Long adjectives

2-syllable adjectives not ending in -y

all adjectives of 3 or more syllables

Normal rule: use "more"

modern, pleasant
expensive,
intellectual
modern more
modern
expensive more
expensive

With some 2-syllable adjectives, we can use '-er' or 'more':

quiet quieter/more quiet

clever cleverer/more clever
narrow narrower/more narrow
simple simpler/more simple

Exception
The following adjectives have irregular forms:

good better
well (healthy) better
bad worse
far farther/further

Use of Comparative Adjectives

We use comparative adjectives when talking about 2 things (not 3 or
10 or 1,000,000 things, only 2 things).
Often, the comparative adjective is followed by "than".
Look at these examples:

John is 1m80. He is tall. But Chris is 1m85. He is taller than

John.
America is big. But Russia is bigger.
I want to have a more powerful computer.
Is French more difficult than English?

If we talk about the two planets Earth and Mars, we can compare
them as shown in the table below:
Earth

Mars

Diameter (km)

12,760

6,790

Mars is smaller than

Earth.

Distance from Sun

(million km)

150

228

Mars is more distant from

the Sun.

25

A day on Mars is slightly

longer than a day on
Earth.

Length of day (hours)

24

Moons

Mars has more moons

than Earth.

Surface temperature
(degrees Celcius)

22

-23

Mars is colder than Earth.

Although we use comparative adjectives when talking about two

things (not three or more things), in fact one or both of the things may
be a group of things.

Mt Everest is higher than all other mountains.

Here, we are talking about hundreds of mountains, but we are still

comparing one thing (Mt Everest) to one other thing (all other
mountains).
Superlative Adjectives
A superlative adjective expresses the extreme or highest degree of a
quality. We use a superlative adjective to describe the extreme quality
of one thing in a group of things.
In the example below, "biggest" is the superlative form of the
adjective "big":
ABC
A is the biggest.
We can use superlative adjectives when talking about three or more
things (not two things).

Formation of Superlative Adjectives

As with comparative adjectives, there are two ways to form a
superlative adjective:

short adjectives: add "-est"

long adjectives: use "most"

We also usually add 'the' at the beginning.

Short adjectives
1-syllable adjectives

old, fast

2-syllable adjectives ending in -y

happy, easy

Normal rule: add "-est"

old the oldest

Variation: if the adjective ends in -e, just add st

late the latest

Variation: if the adjective ends in consonant,

vowel, consonant, double the last consonant

big the biggest

Variation: if the adjective ends in -y, change

the y to i

happy the
happiest

Long adjectives
2-syllable adjectives not ending in -y

modern, pleasant

all adjectives of 3 or more syllables

expensive,
intellectual

Normal rule: use "most"

modern the most

modern
expensive the
most expensive

With some 2-syllable adjectives, we can use '-est' or 'most':

quiet the quietest/most quiet

clever the cleverest/most clever
narrow the narrowest/most narrow
simple the simplest/most simple

Exception
The following adjectives have irregular forms:

good the best

bad the worst

far the furthest

Use of Superlative Adjectives

We use a superlative adjective to describe one thing in a group of
three or more things. Look at these examples:

John is 1m75. David is 1m80. Chris is 1m85. Chris is the

tallest.
Canada, China and Russia are big countries. But Russia is the
biggest.
Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world.

If we talk about the three planets Earth, Mars and Jupiter, we can use
superlative adjectives as shown in the table below:
Earth

Mars

Jupiter

Diameter (km)

12,760

6,790

142,800

Jupiter is the biggest.

Distance from Sun

(million km)

150

228

778

Jupiter is the most

distant from the Sun.

Length of day
(hours)

24

25

10

Jupiter has the

shortest day.

Moons

16

Jupiter has the most

moons.

Surface temp.
(degrees
Celcius)

22

-23

-150

Jupiter is the coldest.

When we compare one thing with itself, we do not use "the":

England is coldest in winter. (not the coldest)

My boss is most generous when we get a big order. (not the
most generous)

Gradable and Non-gradable Adjectives

Adjectives describe qualities (characteristics) of nouns.

Some qualities can vary in intensity or grade (for example:

rather hot, hot, very hot; hot, hotter, the hottest).
The adjective hot is gradable.

Other qualities cannot vary in intensity or grade because they

are:
a. extremes (for example: freezing)
b. absolutes (for example: dead)
c. classifying (for example: nuclear)

The adjectives freezing, dead and nuclear are non-gradable.

Gradable Adjectives
A gradable adjective can be used with "grading adverbs" that vary the
adjective's grade or intensity. Look at these examples:

grading adverbs
a little, dreadfully, extremely,
fairly, hugely, immensely,
intensely, rather, reasonably,
slightly, unusually, very

gradable adjectives
angry, big, busy, clever, cold,
deep, fast, friendly, good, happy,
+
high, hot, important, long,
popular, rich, strong, tall, warm,
weak, young

A gradable adjective can also have comparative and superlative

forms:
EC Tip: "Gradable adjectives" are also called "qualitative adjectives".
"Grading adverbs" are also called "submodifiers".

big, bigger, the biggest

hot, hotter, the hottest
important, more important, the most important

Look at these example sentences:

My teacher was very happy with my homework.

That website is reasonably popular. But this one is more

popular.
He said that Holland was a little cold and Denmark was
rather cold. But Sweden was the coldest.

EC Tip: The adjective dead is non-gradable because it is an absolute.

Dead is dead. We cannot be more or less dead. One person cannot be
"deader" than another. Other absolutes include: correct, unique,
perfect
Non-gradable Adjectives
A non-gradable adjective cannot be used with grading adverbs:

It was rather freezing outside.

The dog was very dead.
He is investing in slightly nuclear energy.

Non-gradable adjectives do not normally have comparative and

superlative forms:

freezing, more freezing, the most freezing

dead, deader, the deadest
nuclear, more nuclear, the most nuclear

Often, non-gradable adjectives are used alone:

EC Tip: Don't try to learn lists of gradable and non-gradable
adjectives! It's better to understand what makes an adjective gradable
or non-gradable. This is a matter of logic and common sense. Most
native-speakers have never heard of gradable and non-gradable
adjectives. They just "feel" that it doesn't make sense to say "fairly
excellent" or "very unique". You probably have the same idea in your
language.

It was freezing outside.

The dog was dead.
He is investing in nuclear energy.

However, a non-gradable adjective can be used with "non-grading

adverbs" (which usually just give the adjective extra impact), for
example:
non-grading adverbs non-gradable adjectives
absolutely

awful

utterly

excellent

completely

terrified

totally

dead

nearly

impossible

virtually

unique

essentially

chemical

mainly

digital

almost

domestic

extreme

absolute

classifying

Here are some example sentences with non-gradable adjectives:

Her exam results were absolutely awful. She will have to take
the exam again.
Is there anything like it in the world? It must be virtually
unique.
It starts an essentially chemical reaction.

Adjectives that can be gradable and non-gradable

Some adjectives may have more than one meaning or sense. It's
possible for the same adjective to be gradable with one sense and nongradable with another sense. For example:

adjective

common
=

He's got a very old car.

gradable

not young

I saw my old boyfriend yesterday.

nongradable

former,
ex-

He has some dreadfully common habits.

gradable

vulgar

"The" is a very common word in English.

gradable

prevalent

The two countries' common border poses

problems.

nongradable

shared

Adverbs used with gradable and non-gradable adjectives

The adverbs really (very much) and fairly and pretty (both meaning
"to a significant degree, but less than very") can often be used with
gradable and non-gradable adjectives:
gradable

non-gradable

Please don't forget! It's really

important.

He was really terrified.

He's a fairly rich man.

It's a fairly impossible job.

It's pretty ridiculous when you

think about it.

He's pretty tall.

"Quite" with gradable and non-gradable adjectives

The meaning of the adverb "quite" changes according to the type of
adjective we use it with:

It's quite warm today.

adjective

quite =

gradable

fairly, rather

Are you quite certain? non-gradable completely, absolutely

Reference
Non-gradable adjectives
Although we don't recommend that you learn lists of non-gradable
adjectives, here are some for reference. You can decide for yourself
whether they are extreme, absolute or classifying.
alive, awful, black, boiling, certain, correct, dead, domestic,
enormous, environmental, excellent, freezing, furious, gigantic, huge,
immediately, impossible, miniscule, mortal, overjoyed, perfect,
pregnant, principal, ridiculous, superb, terrible, terrified, unique,
unknown, white, whole

Non-grading adverbs
Again, no need to learn lists. Here are a few examples. There are

many more. Remember that you cannot use all non-grading adverbs
with all non-gradable adjectives. Some collocate (go together). Some
don't.
absolutely, almost, completely, entirely, exclusively, fully, largely,
mainly, nearly, perfectly, practically, primarily, utterly, virtually

F. ADVERBS
Adverbs are an important part of speech. They usually answer
questions such as how?, where?, when?, how often? and how much?
What is an Adverb?
An adverb is a word that tells us more about a verb. It "qualifies" or
"modifies" a verb (The man ran quickly). In the following examples,
the adverb is in bold and the verb that it modifies is in italics.

John speaks loudly. (How does John speak?)

Afterwards she smoked a cigarette. (When did she smoke?)
Mary lives locally. (Where does Mary live?)

But adverbs can also modify adjectives (Tara is really beautiful), or

even other adverbs (It works very well). Look at these examples:

Modify an adjective:
- He is really handsome. (How handsome is he?)
- That was extremely kind of you.

Modify another adverb:

- She drives incredibly slowly. (How slowly does she drive?)
- He drives extremely fast.

Note that 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.

Adverb Form
We make many adverbs by adding -ly to an adjective, for example:

quick (adjective) > quickly (adverb)

careful (adjective) > carefully (adverb)
beautiful (adjective) > beautifully (adverb)

There are some basic rules about spelling for -ly adverbs. See the
table below:
Adjective ending

do this

adjective

adverb

most adjectives

add -ly

quick
nice
sole
careful

quickly
nicely
solely
carefully

-able or -ible

change -e to -y

regrettable
horrible

regrettably
horribly

-y

change -y to -ily

happy

happily

-ic

change -ic to ically

economic

economically

But not all words that end in -ly are adverbs. The words friendly,
lovely, lonely and neighbourly, for example, are all adjectives.
And some adverbs have no particular form. Look at these examples:

well, fast, very, never, always, often, still

Note that the form of an adverb can also change to make it

comparative or superlative.
Kinds of Adverbs
Here you can see the basic kinds of adverbs.

Adverbs of Manner
Adverbs of Manner tell us the manner or way in which something
happens. They answer the question "how?". Adverbs of Manner
mainly modify verbs.

He speaks slowly. (How does he speak?)

They helped us cheerfully. (How did they help us?)
James Bond drives his cars fast. (How does James Bond drive
his cars?)

We normally use Adverbs of Manner with dynamic (action) verbs,

not with stative or state verbs.

He ran fast. She came quickly. They worked happily.

She looked beautifully. It seems strangely. They are happily.

Adverbs of Place
Adverbs of Place tell us the place where something happens. They
answer the question "where?". Adverbs of Place mainly modify verbs.

Please sit here. (Where should I sit?)

They looked everywhere. (Where did they look?)
Two cars were parked outside. (Where were two cars
parked?)

Adverbs of Time
Adverbs of Time tell us something about the time that something
happens. Adverbs of Time mainly modify verbs.
They can answer the question "when?":

He came yesterday. (When did he come?)

I want it now. (When do I want it?)

Or they can answer the question "how often?":

They deliver the newspaper daily. (How often do they deliver

the newspaper?)

We sometimes watch a movie. (How often do we watch a

movie?)

Adverbs of Degree
Adverbs of Degree tell us the degree or extent to which something
happens. They answer the question "how much?" or "to what
degree?". Adverbs of Degree can modify verbs, adjectives and other
adverbs.

She entirely agrees with him. (How much does she agree with
him?)
Mary is very beautiful. (To what degree is Mary beautiful?
How beautiful is Mary?)
He drove quite dangerously. (To what degree did he drive
dangerously? How dangerously did he drive?)

Adverb Position
When an adverb modifies a verb, there are usually 3 possible
positions within the sentence or clause:
1. FRONT - before
subject

Now

2. MID - between subject

+ verb

3. END - after verb/object

I often

I read
books

I will read a
book.

read books.

carefully.

When an adverb modifies an adjective or another adverb, it usually

goes in front of the word that it modifies, for example:
adverb

adjective

She gave him a

really

dirty

adverb

adverb

We quite

look.

often

study English.

The position of an adverb often depends on the kind of adverb

(manner, place, time, degree). The following table gives you some
guidelines for placement based on the kind of adverb.
Warning: these are guidelines only, and not complete. There are many
exceptions.

kind of
adverb

mainl
y
modif
ies

manner

verbs

place

verbs

ti
m
e

definit
e

sentence
usual
position

adver
b
She stroked
gently.
his hair
He was
working
He finished
the job

END

here.

END

yester
day.

END

verbs
freque
ncy

degree

We often

verbs,

I nearly

go to P
aris.

MID

died.

MID

adjecti
ves
and
adver
bs

It was

He works

terribl
y

funny.

before adj
ective

really

fast.

before
adverb

Adverbs of Frequency
Adverbs of Frequency are Adverbs of Time that answer the question
"How frequently?" or "How often?". They tell us how often
something happens. Here are some examples:
a. daily, weekly, yearly
b. often, sometimes, rarely
You probably see a difference between a) and b) above. With words
like daily we know exactly how often. The words in a) describe
definite frequency. On the other hand, words like often give us an
idea about frequency but they don't tell us exactly. The words in b)
describe indefinite frequency.
We separate them into two groups because they normally go in
different positions in the sentence.
Adverbs of definite frequency
Examples:

hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly

every second, once a minute, twice a year
once, twice, once or twice, three times

Adverbs of definite frequency, like all adverbs of definite time,

typically go in END position. Look at these examples:

Most companies pay taxes yearly.

The manager checks the toilets every hour.
The directors meet weekly to review progress.

Sometimes, usually for reasons of emphasis or style, some adverbs of

definite frequency may go at the FRONT, for example:

Every day, more than five thousand people die on our roads.

Adverbs of indefinite frequency

Examples:

never, seldom, sometimes,

often, always

Adverbs of indefinite frequency mainly

go in MID position in the sentence.
They go before the main verb (except
the main verb "to be"):

We usually go shopping on
Saturday.
I have often done that.
She is always late.

Occasionally, sometimes, often,

frequently and usually can also go at
the beginning or end of a sentence:

Sometimes they come and stay

with us.
I play tennis occasionally.

100% always, constantly

usually, normally
frequently, regularly
often
50% sometimes
occasionally
rarely, infrequently
seldom
hardly ever
0% never

Rarely and seldom can also go at the end of a sentence (often with
"very"):

We see them rarely.

John eats meat very seldom.

G. PRONOUNS
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
Personal pronouns represent specific people or things. We use them
depending on:

number: singular (eg: I) or plural (eg: we)

person: 1st person (eg: I), 2nd person (eg: you) or 3rd person
(eg: he)
gender: male (eg: he), female (eg: she) or neuter (eg: it)
case: subject (eg: we) or object (eg: us)

We use personal pronouns in place of the person or people that we are

talking about. My name is Josef but when I am talking about myself I
almost always use "I" or "me", not "Josef". When I am talking direct
to you, I almost always use "you", not your name. When I am talking
about another person, say John, I may start with "John" but then use
"he" or "him". And so on.
Here are the personal pronouns, followed by some example sentences:
personal pronouns
number

person

gender

subject

object

1st

male/female

me

2nd

male/female

you

you

male

he

him

female

she

her

neuter

it

it

singular
3rd

plural

1st

male/female

we

us

2nd

male/female

you

you

3rd

male/female/neuter

they

them

Examples (in each case, the first example shows a subject pronoun,
the second an object pronoun):

I like coffee.
John helped me.

Do you like coffee?

John loves you.

He runs fast.
Did Ram beat him?

She is clever.
Does Mary know her?

It doesn't work.
Can the engineer repair it?

We went home.
Anthony drove us.

Do you need a table for three?

Did John and Mary beat you at doubles?

They played doubles.

John and Mary beat them.

When we are talking about a single thing, we almost always use it.
However, there are a few exceptions. We may sometimes refer to an
animal as he/him or she/her, especially if the animal is domesticated
or a pet. Ships (and some other vessels or vehicles) as well as some
countries are often treated as female and referred to as she/her. Here
are some examples:

This is our dog Rusty. He's an Alsation.

The Titanic was a great ship but she sank on her first voyage.
My first car was a Mini and I treated her like my wife.

Thailand has now opened her border with Cambodia.

For a single person, sometimes we don't know whether to use he or

she. There are several solutions to this:

If a teacher needs help, he or she should see the principal.

If a teacher needs help, he should see the principal.
If a teacher needs help, they should see the principal.

We often use it to introduce a remark:

It is nice to have a holiday sometimes.

It is important to dress well.
It's difficult to find a job.
Is it normal to see them together?
It didn't take long to walk here.

We also often use it to talk about the weather, temperature, time and
distance:

It's raining.
It will probably be hot tomorrow.
Is it nine o'clock yet?
It's 50 kilometres from here to Cambridge.

Demonstrative Pronouns
demonstrate (verb): to show; to indicate; to point to
A demonstrative pronoun represents a thing or things:

near in distance or time (this, these)

far in distance or time (that, those)
near

far

singular

this

that

plural

these

those

Here are some examples with demonstrative pronouns, followed by

an illustration:

This tastes good.

Have you seen this?
These are bad times.
Do you like these?

That is beautiful.
Look at that!
Those were the days!
Can you see those?

This is heavier than that.

These are bigger than those.

Do not confuse demonstrative pronouns with demonstrative

adjectives. They are identical, but a demonstrative pronoun stands
alone, while a demonstrative adjective qualifies a noun.

That smells. (demonstrative pronoun)

That book is good. (demonstrative adjective + noun)

Normally we use demonstrative pronouns for things only. But we can

use them for people when the person is identified. Look at these
examples:

This is Josef speaking. Is that Mary?

That sounds like John.

Possessive Pronouns
We use possessive pronouns to refer to a specific person/people or
thing/things (the "antecedent") belonging to a person/people (and
sometimes belonging to an animal/animals or thing/things).
We use possessive pronouns depending on:

number: singular (eg: mine) or plural (eg: ours)

person: 1st person (eg: mine), 2nd person (eg: yours) or 3rd
person (eg: his)
gender: male (his), female (hers)

Below are the possessive pronouns, followed by some example

sentences. Notice that each possessive pronoun can:

be subject or object
refer to a singular or plural antecedent

number

person

gender (of "owner")

possessive pronouns

1st

male/female

mine

2nd

male/female

yours

male

his

female

hers

1st

male/female

ours

2nd

male/female

yours

3rd

male/female/neuter

theirs

singular
3rd

plural

Look at these pictures. Mine is the big one. (subject = My

picture)
I like your flowers. Do you like mine? (object = my flowers)
I looked everywhere for your key. I found John's key but I
couldn't find yours. (object = your key)
My flowers are dying. Yours are lovely. (subject = Your
flowers)
All the essays were good but his was the best. (subject = his
essay)
John found his passport but Mary couldn't find hers. (object =
her passport)

John found his clothes but Mary couldn't find hers. (object =
her clothes)

Here is your car. Ours is over there, where we left it. (subject
= Our car)
Your photos are good. Ours are terrible. (subject = Our
photos)

Each couple's books are colour-coded. Yours are red. (subject

= Your books)
I don't like this family's garden but I like yours. (subject =
your garden)
These aren't John and Mary's children. Theirs have black hair.
(subject = Their children)
John and Mary don't like your car. Do you like theirs? (object
= their car)

Notice that the following (with apostrophe [']) do NOT exist: her's,
your's, their's
Notice that the interrogative pronoun whose can also be a possessive
pronoun (an interrogative possessive pronoun). Look at these
examples:

There was $100 on the table and Tara wondered whose it was.
This car hasn't moved for two months. Whose is it?

Interrogative Pronouns
We use interrogative pronouns to ask questions. The interrogative
pronoun represents the thing that we don't know (what we are asking
the question about).
There are four main interrogative pronouns: who, whom, what,
which
Notice that the possessive pronoun whose can also be an interrogative
pronoun (an interrogative possessive pronoun).

person

subject

object

who

whom

thing

what

person/thing

which

person

whose

(possessive)

Notice that whom is the correct form when the pronoun is the object
of the verb, as in "Whom did you see?" ("I saw John.") However, in
normal, spoken English we rarely use whom. Most native speakers
would say (or even write): "Who did you see?"
Look at these example questions. In the sample answers, the noun
phrase that the interrogative pronoun represents is shown in bold.
question

answer

Who told you?

John told me.

subject

Whom did you tell?

I told Mary.

object

What's happened?

An accident's happened.

subject

What do you want?

I want coffee.

object

Which came first?

The Porsche 911 came

first.

subject

Which will the doctor see

first?

The doctor will see the

patient in blue first.

object

There's one car missing.

Whose hasn't arrived?

John's (car) hasn't

arrived.

subject

We've found everyone's keys.

Whose did you find?

I found John's (keys).

object

Note that we sometimes use the suffix "-ever" to make compounds

from some of these pronouns (mainly whoever, whatever,
whichever). When we add "-ever", we use it for emphasis, often to
show confusion or surprise. Look at these examples:

Whoever would want to do such a nasty thing?

Whatever did he say to make her cry like that?
They're all fantastic! Whichever will you choose?

Reflexive Pronouns
reflexive (adj.) [grammar]: reflecting back on the subject, like a
mirror
We use a reflexive pronoun when we want to refer back to the subject
of the sentence or clause. Reflexive pronouns end in "-self" (singular)
or "-selves" (plural).
There are eight reflexive pronouns:
reflexive pronoun

singular

myself
yourself
himself, herself, itself

plural

ourselves
yourselves
themselves

Look at these examples:

reflexive pronouns

the underlined words are NOT the

same person/thing

the underlined words are the

SAME person/thing

John saw me.

I saw myself in the mirror.

Why does he blame you?

Why do you blame yourself?

David sent him a copy.

John sent himself a copy.

David sent her a copy.

Mary sent herself a copy.

My dog hurt the cat.

My dog hurt itself.

We blame you.

We blame ourselves.

Can you help my children?

Can you help yourselves?

They cannot look after the babies.

They cannot look after

themselves.

Intensive pronouns
Notice that all the above reflexive pronouns can also act as intensive
pronouns, but the function and usage are different. An intensive
pronoun emphasizes its antecedent. Look at these examples:

I made it myself. OR I myself made it.

Have you yourself seen it? OR Have you seen it yourself?
The President himself promised to stop the war.
She spoke to me herself. OR She herself spoke to me.
The exam itself wasn't difficult, but exam room was horrible.
Never mind. We'll do it ourselves.
You yourselves asked us to do it.
They recommend this book even though they themselves have
never read it. OR They recommend this book even though they
have never read it themselves.

Reciprocal Pronouns
reciprocal (adj.): given or done in return; [grammar] expressing
mutual action
We use reciprocal pronouns when each of two or more subjects is
acting in the same way towards the other. For example, A is talking to
B, and B is talking to A. So we say:

A and B are talking to each other.

The action is "reciprocated". John talks to Mary and Mary talks to

John. I give you a present and you give me a present. The dog bites
the cat and the cat bites the dog.
There are only two reciprocal pronouns, and they are both two words:

each other
one another

When we use these reciprocal pronouns:

there must be two or more people, things or groups involved

(so we cannot use reciprocal pronouns with I, you [singular],
he/she/it), and
they must be doing the same thing

Look at these examples:

John and Mary love each other.

Peter and David hate each other.
The ten prisoners were all blaming one another.
Both teams played hard against each other.
We gave each other gifts.
Why don't you believe each other?
They can't see each other.
The gangsters were fighting one another.
The boats were bumping against each other in the storm.

You probably notice that each other is used in more examples above
than one another. That's because in general we use each other more
often than one another, which sounds a little formal. Also, some
people say that we should use one another only for three or more
people or things, but there is no real justification for this.

Indefinite Pronouns
An indefinite pronoun does not refer to any specific person, thing or
amount. It is vague and "not definite". Some typical indefinite
pronouns are:

all, another, any, anybody/anyone, anything, each,

everybody/everyone, everything, few, many, nobody, none,
one, several, some, somebody/someone

Note that many indefinite pronouns also function as other parts of

speech. Look at "another" in the following sentences:

He has one job in the day and another at night. (pronoun)

I'd like another drink, please. (adjective)

Most indefinite pronouns are either singular or plural. However, some

of them can be singular in one context and plural in another. The most
common indefinite pronouns are listed below, with examples, as
singular, plural or singular/plural.
Notice that a singular pronoun takes a singular verb AND that any
personal pronoun should also agree (in number and gender). Look at
these examples:

Each of the players has a doctor.

I met two girls. One has given me her phone number.

Similarly, plural pronouns need plural agreement:

Many have expressed their views.

pronoun

meaning

example

another

an additional or
different person or
thing

That ice-cream was

good. Can I have
another?

anybody/anyone

no matter what
person

Can anyone answer

this question?

anything

no matter what thing

The doctor needs to

know if you have
eaten anything in
the last two hours.

each

every one of two or

more people or
things, seen
separately

Each has his own

thoughts.

either

one or the other of

Do you want tea or

singular

two people or things

coffee? / I don't
mind. Either is
good for me.

as much or as many
as needed

Enough is enough.

all people

We can start the

meeting because
everybody has
arrived.

everything

all things

They have no house

or possessions. They
lost everything in
the earthquake.

less

a smaller amount

"Less is more"
(Mies van der Rohe)

little

a small amount

Little is known
about his early life.

much

a large amount

Much has happend

since we met.

neither

not one and not the

other of two people
or things

I keep telling Jack

and Jill but neither
believes me.

nobody/no-one

no person

I phoned many
times but nobody
answered.

nothing

no single thing, not

anything

If you don't know

the answer it's best
to say nothing.

one

an unidentified
person

Can one smoke

here? | All the
students arrived but
now one is missing.

enough

everybody/everyone

other

a different person or
thing from one
already mentioned

One was tall and the

other was short.

somebody/someone

an unspecified or
unknown person

Clearly somebody
murdered him. It
was not suicide.

something

an unspecified or
unknown thing

Listen! I just heard

something! What
could it be?

you

an unidentified
person (informal)

And you can see

why.

both

two people or things,

seen together

John likes coffee but

not tea. I think both
are good.

few

a small number of
people or things

Few have ever

disobeyed him and
lived.

fewer

a reduced number of
people or things

Fewer are smoking

these days.

many

a large number of
people or things

Many have come

already.

others

other people; not us

I'm sure that others

have tried before us.

several

more than two but

not many

They all complained

and several left the
meeting.

they

people in general
(informal)

They say that

vegetables are good
for you.

plural

singular or plural

all

the whole quantity of

something or of
some things or
people

All is forgiven.
All have arrived.

any

no matter how much

or how many

Is any left?
Are any coming?

more

a greater quantity of
something; a greater
number of people or
things

There is more over

there.
More are coming.

most

the majority; nearly

all

Most is lost.
Most have refused.

none

not any; no person or

persons

They fixed the water

so why is none
coming out of the
tap?
I invited five friends
but none have
come.*

some

an unspecified
quantity of
something; an
unspecified number
of people or things

Here is some.
Some have arrived.

such

of the type already

mentioned

He was a foreigner
and he felt that he
was treated as such.

* Some people say that "none" should always take a singular verb,
even when talking about countable nouns (eg five friends). They
argue that "none" means "no one", and "one" is obviously singular.
They say that "I invited five friends but none has come" is correct and
"I invited five friends but none have come" is incorrect. Historically
and grammatically there is little to support this view. "None" has been
used for hundreds of years with both a singular and a plural verb,
according to the context and the emphasis required.

Relative Pronouns
A relative pronoun is a pronoun that introduces a relative clause. It is
called a "relative" pronoun because it "relates" to the word that it
modifies. Here is an example:

The person who phoned me last night is my teacher.

In the above example, "who":

relates to "person", which it modifies

introduces the relative clause "who phoned me last night"

There are five relative pronouns: who, whom, whose, which, that*
Who (subject) and whom (object) are generally only for people.
Whose is for possession. Which is for things. That can be used for
people** and things and as subject and object in defining relative
clauses (clauses that are essential to the sentence and do not simply
add extra information).
Relative pronouns can refer to singular or plural, and there is no
difference between male and female.
Look at these examples showing defining and non-defining relative
clauses:
example sentences
S=subject, O=object,
P=possessive

defining

notes

- The person who phoned

me last night is my
teacher.
- The person that phoned
me last night is my
teacher.

That is preferable

- The car which hit me

was yellow.
- The cars that hit me

That is preferable

were yellow.

- The person whom I

phoned last night is my
teacher.
- The people who I phoned
last night are my teachers.
- The person that I phoned
last night is my teacher.
- The person I phoned last
night is my teacher.

Whom is correct but

very formal. The
relative pronoun is
optional.

- The car which I drive is

old.
- The car that I drive is
old.
- The car I drive is old.

That is preferable to
which. The relative
pronoun is optional.

- The student whose phone

just rang should stand up.
- Students whose parents
are wealthy pay extra.
P

- The police are looking

for the car whose driver
was masked.
- The police are looking
for the car of which the
driver was masked.

Of which is usual for

things, but whose is
sometimes possible

- Mrs Pratt, who is very

kind, is my teacher.
S
nondefining

- The car, which was a

taxi, exploded.
- The cars, which were
taxis, exploded.
- Mrs Pratt, whom I like
very much, is my teacher.

Whom is correct but

very formal. Who is

- Mr and Mrs Pratt, who I

like very much, are my
teachers.

normal.

- The car, which I was

driving at the time,
suddenly caught fire.
- My brother, whose phone
you just heard, is a doctor.

- The car, whose driver

jumped out just before the
accident, was completely
destroyed.
- The car, the driver of
which jumped out just
before the accident, was
completely destroyed.

Of which is usual for

things, but whose is
sometimes possible

*Not all grammar sources count "that" as a relative pronoun.

**Some people claim that we cannot use "that" for people but must
use "who/whom"; there is no good reason for such a claim.

Pronoun Case
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.
subjective
case

objective
case

possessi
ve case

personal
pronouns

singul
1st I
ar

me

mine

2n
you
d

you

yours

he
she
it

him
her
it

his
hers
its

us

ours

2n
you
d

you

yours

3r
d

they

them

theirs

who

whom

whose

whoever

whomever

which/that/
what

which/that/
what

everybody

everybody

3r
d

plural 1st we

relative/interrog
ative pronouns

indefinite
pronouns

everybod
y's

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

1. Mary and I are delighted to be here today. (NOT Mary and
me)
2. 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"?

H. English Prepositions
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?)

English Prepositions List

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.

aboard
about
above
across
after
against
along
amid
among
anti
around
as
at

before
behind
below
beneath

beside
besides
between
beyond
but
by

concerning
considering

despite
down
during

except
excepting
excluding

following
for
from

in
inside
into

like

minus

near

of
off
on
onto
opposite
outside
over

past
per

plus

regarding
round

save
since

than
through
to
toward
towards

under
underneath
unlike
until
up
upon

versus
via

with
within
without

English Preposition Rule

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.
Quick Quiz: 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:

Subject + verb

preposition

"noun"

The food is

on

the table.

She lives

in

Japan.

Tara is looking

for

you.

The letter is

under

your blue book.

Pascal is used

to

English people.

She isn't used

to

working.

I ate

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

at

in

on

POINT

ENCLOSED SPACE

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

on the cover

at the end of the road

in my pocket

on the floor

at the entrance

in my wallet

on the carpet

at the crossroads

in a building

on the menu

at the front desk

in a car

on 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:
at

in

on

at home

in a car

on 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

in the sky

on the radio, on television

at the side

in a row

on the left, on the right

at reception

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

at

in

on

PRECISE
TIME

MONTHS, YEARS,
CENTURIES and LONG
PERIODS

DAYS and
DATES

at 3 o'clock

in May

on Sunday

at 10.30am

in summer

on Tuesdays

at noon

in the summer

on 6 March

at dinnertime

in 1990

on 25 Dec. 2010

at bedtime

in the 1990s

on Christmas
Day

at sunrise

in the next century

on Independence
Day

at sunset

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:
Expression

Example

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:

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)

I. CONJUNCTIONS
A conjunction is a word that "joins". A conjunction joins two parts of
a sentence.
Here are some example conjunctions:
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

sentence that are grammatically equal. The two parts may be
single 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 usually come at the beginning of

the subordinate clause.

Coordinating 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 or independent clauses) that are grammatically equal or
similar. A coordinating conjunction shows that the elements it joins
are similar in importance and structure.
Look at these examples - the two elements that the coordinating
conjunction joins are shown in square brackets [ ]:

I like [tea] and [coffee].

[Ram likes tea], but [Anthony likes coffee].

Coordinating conjunctions always come between the words or

clauses that they join.
When a coordinating conjunction joins independent clauses, it is
always correct to place a comma before the conjunction:

I want to work as an interpreter in the future, so I am studying

Russian at 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

And

Nor

But

Or

Yet

So

Subordinating Conjunctions
The majority of conjunctions are "subordinating conjunctions".
Common subordinating conjunctions are:

after, although, as, because, before, how, if, once, since, than,
that, though, till, until, when, where, whether, while

A subordinating conjunction joins a subordinate (dependent) clause to

a main (independent) clause.
Look at this example:
main or

subordinate or

independent clause

dependent clause

Ram went swimming

although

it was raining.

subordinating
conjunction
A subordinate or dependent clause "depends" on a main or
independent clause. It cannot exist alone. Imagine that somebody says
to you: "Hello! Although it was raining." What do you understand?
Nothing! But a main or independent clause can exist alone. You will
understand very well if somebody says to you: "Hello! Ram went
swimming."
A subordinating conjunction always comes at the beginning of a
subordinate clause. It "introduces" a subordinate clause. However, a
subordinate clause can sometimes come after and sometimes before a
main clause. Thus, two structures are possible:
Although it was raining, Ram went swimming.
J. INTERJECTIONS
Hi! That's an interjection. :-)
Interjection is a big name for a little word. Interjections are short
exclamations like Oh!, Um or Ah! They have no real grammatical
value but we use them quite often, usually more in speaking than in
writing. When interjections are inserted into a sentence, they have no
grammatical connection to the sentence. An interjection is sometimes
followed by an exclamation mark (!) when written.
Interjections like er and um are also known as "hesitation devices".
They are extremely common in English. People use them when they
don't know what to say, or to indicate that they are thinking about
what to say. You should learn to recognize them when you hear them
and realize that they have no real meaning.
The table below shows some interjections with examples.
interjection meaning

example

expressing pleasure

"Ah, that feels good."

expressing realization

"Ah, now I understand."

expressing resignation

"Ah well, it can't be

heped."

expressing surprise

"Ah! I've won!"

expressing grief or pity

"Alas, she's dead now."

expressing pity

"Oh dear! Does it hurt?"

expressing surprise

"Dear me! That's a

surprise!"

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?"

expressing hesitation

"Lima is the capital

of...er...Peru."

expressing greeting

"Hello John. How are you

today?"

expressing surprise

"Hello! My car's gone!"

calling attention

"Hey! look at that!"

expressing surprise, joy

etc

"Hey! What a good idea!"

hi

expressing greeting

"Hi! What's new?"

hmm

expressing hesitation,
doubt or disagreement

"Hmm. I'm not so sure."

expressing surprise

"Oh! You're here!"

expressing pain

"Oh! I've got a toothache."

expressing pleading

"Oh, please say 'yes'!"

ah

alas

dear

eh

er

hello, hullo

hey

oh, o

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!"

introducing a remark

"Well, what did he say?"

well

K. SUMMARY
When we want to build a sentence, we use the different types
of word. Each type of word has its own job. We can categorize
English words into 8 basic types or classes. These classes are called
"parts of speech". There are only 8 types of word: verbs, nouns,
adjective, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, and
interjections. The most important is the Verb.
L. QUIZ
Parts of Speech Quiz
1

I bought a beautiful dress at the mall.

What did she ask you to do?

I left my shoes under the kitchen table.

If we finish our work quickly we can go to the movies.

On Saturdays I work from nine to five.

I want to go to a university in the United States.

I'm sure I have met your girlfriend before.

Well, I don't think I will be here to answer the phone.

9
10

Andy knocked on the door but nobody answered.

After lunch let's go out for a coffee.

Verb Classification Quiz

The grocery clerk will carry your bags out for you. (helping
verb)

The mail arrived after I left. (intransitive)

I have already done my homework. (irregular)

That book you recommended sounds interesting. (linking)

I prefer cream rather than milk. (stative)

Jerry studies for three hours every day. (main)

We looked at all of the art in the museum. (regular)

Would you take a picture for us? (transitive)

I don't want to fight about who gets the car. (dynamic)

10

She seemed like an interesting person. (stative)

Main Verb Forms Quiz

1

Baking cookies is very easy. (present participle)

A bird sang to me this morning. (past simple)

I want to be a fireman when I finish school. (infinitive)

Have anything you like, except the champagne. (base)

We might not finish our work on time. (base)

I asked your brother to go to the store for me. (infinitive)

It is a sunny day today. (3rd sing. pres.)

We are in the kitchen doing the dishes. (pres. participle)

The dogs were fed an hour ago. (past participle)

10

He walks to my car with me at night. (3rd sing. pres.)

Proper Nouns Quiz

1

Let's have lunch at McDonalds . (proper nouns)

There are 12 months in a year. (common noun)

My favourite movie is Greece . (proper noun)

Lisa works as a programmer at Microsoft . (proper noun)

I live in a small town in England. (common noun)

My cousin lives in the USA / USA. (the USA)

I want to visit the Asia / Asia when I finish school. (Asia)

Call me when you arrive at hotel / the hotel. (the hotel)

I have a check-up with the Dr. Smith / Dr. Smith on

Friday. (Dr. Smith)

10

We saw whales in Pacific / the Pacific Ocean. (the Pacific)

Compound noun quiz

Using compound nouns, can you shorten the following phrases?

a storeroom

1. a room for stores

a tape for measuring up to 300

cms

a 300-cm tape measure

2.

the assistant manager of the

restaurant

the assistant restaurant manage

3.

an express-train station

4. a station for express trains

cable size

5. size of cables

cost reduction

6. reduction in cost

tw o three-month period

7. two periods of three months

3-pin plugs

8. plugs with 3 pins

tw o steel toolboxes

9. two steel boxes for the tools

10. the husband of my daughter

my son-in-law

Determiners Quiz
1

Lisa saw (a) shooting star yesterday.

Don't look directly at (the) sun.

Is there any milk left in (the) fridge?

I need to pack (an) apple for my lunch.

The dogs were (each) given a bone.

The police spoke separately to (each) suspect.

She was wearing a bracelet on (each) wrist.

She got her license without (any) problem.

I don't (anybody) think is coming to the party, except

Judy and Stan.

10

I always keep (some) money in my wallet for

emergencies.

Adjective Order Quiz

1

Andrea had a in her hair yesterday.

She lost a .

I bought oranges.

We met people at the conference.

The clown was wearing a hat.

The cookies that you .

Is it ?

The course you are .

9
10

My uncle wore a to the wedding.

Have you met that next door?

Gradable and Non-gradable Adjectives Quiz

1

I am happy to see you.

The cat was dead when the vet arrived.

To make tea, the water should be boiling.

Well done! Your homework is excellent.

Don't see that film! It's awful!

The terrified people ran for their lives.

I am reading a good book.

Are you sure? - Yes, I'm certain.

It's cold outside. In fact, it's nearly freezing.

10

The world is in a ridiculous situation. I laugh so much!

Adverbs of Frequency Quiz

1

Nancy and I [30%] go out for coffee together.

Andrea lives next door so we see her.

We meet at the Annual General Meeting.

My doctor checks my health .

It [0%] rains here in the summer.

we take the dog off his leash at the beach.

My sister two days of school in a row.

My boyfriend and I take vacations together quite .

Andy [10%] gets to visit with his cousins.

10

I went to college .

Adverbs Quiz
1 My grandfather walks extremely slowly.
2 Your roommate is quite shy, isn't she?
3 We rarely go to the movies on the weekends.
4 Our house is practically on the highway.
5 My niece reads well for a five-year-old.
6 Your friend Robert drives a fast car.
7 I never buy fruit at the grocery store.
8 My go dancing on Fridays.
9 bake a batch of cookies.
10 Please so that we can go shopping.

CHAPTER II
TENSES
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
After completing this lesson, students are supposed to be able to
understand structure and use of the tenses and make sentences using
the right tense.
A. INTRODUCTION
In some languages, verb tenses are not very important or do
not even exist. In English, the concept of tense is very important.
Many languages use tenses to talk about time. Other languages have
no tenses, but of course they can still talk about time, using different
methods.
In this lesson we look at the idea behind tense, how to avoid
confusing tense with time, and the structure of the basic tenses, with
examples using a regular verb, an irregular verb and the verb be.
B. PRESENT PERFECT TENSE
The present perfect tense is a rather important tense in English, but it
gives speakers of some languages a difficult time. That is because it
uses concepts or ideas that do not exist in those languages. In fact, the
structure of the present perfect tense is very simple. The problems
come with the use of the tense. In addition, there are some differences
in usage between British and American English.
The present perfect tense is really a very interesting tense, and a very
useful one. Try not to translate the present perfect tense into your
language. Just try to accept the concepts of this tense and learn to
"think" present perfect! You will soon learn to like the present perfect
tense!
How do we make the Present Perfect Tense?
The structure of the present perfect tense is:
subject + auxiliary verb + main verb

have

past participle

Here are some examples of the present perfect tense:

subject

auxiliary verb

main verb

have

seen

ET.

You

have

eaten

mine.

She

has

not been

to Rome.

We

have

not played

football.

Have

you

finished?

Have

they

done

it?

Contractions with the present perfect tense

When we use the present perfect tense in speaking, we usually
contract the subject and auxiliary verb. We also sometimes do this
when we write.
I have

I've

You have

You've

He has
She has
It has
John has

He's
She's
It's
John's

The car has

The car's

We have

We've

They have

They've

Here are some examples:

I've finished my work.

John's seen ET.
They've gone home.

He's or he's??? Be careful! The 's contraction is used for the auxiliary
verbs have and be. For example, "It's eaten" can mean:

It has eaten. [present perfect tense, active voice]

It is eaten. [present tense, passive voice]

It is usually clear from the context.

How do we use the Present Perfect Tense?
This tense is called the present perfect tense. There is always a
connection with the past and with the present. There are basically
three uses for the present perfect tense:
1. experience
2. change
3. continuing situation
1. Present perfect tense for experience
We often use the present perfect tense to talk about experience from
the past. We are not interested in when you did something. We only
want to know if you did it:
I have seen ET.

He has lived in Bangkok.

Have you been there?
We have never eaten caviar.
past

present

future

!!!
The action or state
was in the past.

In my head, I have a
memory now.

Connection with past: the event was in the past.

Connection with present: in my head, now, I have a memory of the
event; I know something about the event; I have experience of it.
2. Present perfect tense for change
We also use the present perfect tense to talk about a change or new
information:
I have bought a car.
past

present

Last week I didn't

have a car.

Now I have a car.

John has broken his leg.

future

past

present

Yesterday John had a

good leg.

Now he has a bad leg.

future

Has the price gone up?

past

present

Was the price $1.50

yesterday?

Is the price $1.70

today?

future

The police have arrested the killer.

past

present

Yesterday the killer

was free.

Now he is in prison.

future

Connection with past: the past is the opposite of the present.

Connection with present: the present is the opposite of the past.
Americans do not use the present perfect tense so much as British
speakers. Americans often use the past tense instead. An American

might say "Did you have lunch?", where a British person would say
"Have you had lunch?"
3. Present perfect tense for continuing situation
We often use the present perfect tense to talk about a continuing
situation. This is a state that started in the past and continues in the
present (and will probably continue into the future). This is a state
(not an action). We usually use for or since with this structure.
I have worked here since June.
He has been ill for 2 days.
How long have you known Tara?
past

present

future

The situation started

in the past.

It continues up to
now.

(It will probably

continue into the
future.)

Connection with past: the situation started in the past.

Connection with present: the situation continues in the present.
For & Since with Present Perfect Tense
We often use for and since with the present perfect tense.

We use for to talk about a period of time - 5 minutes, 2

weeks, 6 years.
We use since to talk about a point in past time - 9 o'clock, 1st
January, Monday.
for

since

a period of time

a point in past time

x-----------20 minutes

6.15pm

three days

Monday

6 months

January

4 years

1994

2 centuries

1800

a long time

I left school

ever

the beginning of time

etc

etc

Here are some examples:

I have been here for 20 minutes.

I have been here since 9 o'clock.
John hasn't called for 6 months.
John hasn't called since February.
He has worked in New York for a long time.
He has worked in New York since he left school.

For can be used with all tenses. Since is usually used with perfect
tenses only.
C. PAST PERFECT TENSE
The past perfect tense is quite an easy tense to understand and to use.
This tense talks about the "past in the past".
How do we make the Past Perfect Tense?
The structure of the past perfect tense is:
subject

auxiliary verb HAVE

conjugated in simple past tense

main verb
past participle

had

V3

For negative sentences in the past perfect tense, we insert not between
the auxiliary verb and main verb. For question sentences, we
exchange the subject and auxiliary verb. Look at these example
sentences with the past perfect tense:
subject

auxiliary verb

main verb

had

finished

my work.

You

had

stopped

before me.

She

had

not gone

We

had

not left.

Had

you

arrived?

Had

they

eaten

to school.

dinner?

When speaking with the past perfect tense, we often contract the
subject and auxiliary verb:
I had

I'd

you had

you'd

he had
she had
it had

he'd
she'd
it'd

we had

we'd

they had

they'd

The 'd contraction is also used for the auxiliary verb would. For
example, we'd can mean:

We had
or

We would

But usually the main verb is in a different form, for example:

We had arrived (past participle)

We would arrive (base)

It is always clear from the context.

How do we use the Past Perfect Tense?

The past perfect tense expresses action in the past before another
action in the past. This is the past in the past. For example:

The train left at 9am. We arrived at 9.15am. When we arrived,

the train had left.
The train had left when we arrived.
past

present

future

Train leaves in past

at 9am.
9 9.15
We arrive in past at
9.15am.
Look at some more examples:

I wasn't hungry. I had just eaten.

They were hungry. They had not eaten for five hours.
I didn't know who he was. I had never seen him before.
"Mary wasn't at home when I arrived."
"Really? Where had she gone?"

You can sometimes think of the past perfect tense like the present
perfect tense, but instead of the time being now the time is past.

past perfect tense

had |
done |
>|
past

now

present perfect tense

have |
done |
>|
future

past

now

future

For example, imagine that you arrive at the station at 9.15am. The
stationmaster says to you:

"You are too late. The train has left."

Later, you tell your friends:

"We were too late. The train had left."

We often use the past perfect tense in reported speech after verbs like
said, told, asked, thought, wondered:
Look at these examples:

He told us that the train had left.

I thought I had met her before, but I was wrong.
He explained that he had closed the window because of the
rain.
I wondered if I had been there before.
I asked them why they had not finished.

D. PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

How do we make the Present Perfect Continuous Tense?
The structure of the present perfect continuous tense is:
subject + auxiliary verb + auxiliary verb + main verb
have
has

been

base + ing

Here are some examples of the present perfect continuous tense:

subject

auxiliary
verb

auxiliary
verb

main
verb

have

been

waiting

for one
hour.

You

have

been

talking

too much.

It

has

not

been

raining.

We

have

not

been

playing

football.

Have

you

been

seeing

her?

Have

they

been

doing

their
homework?

Contractions
When we use the present perfect continuous tense in speaking, we
often contract the subject and the first auxiliary. We also sometimes
do this in informal writing.
I have been

I've been

You have been

You've been

He has been
She has been
It has been
John has been
The car has been

He's been
She's been
It's been
John's been
The car's been

We have been

We've been

They have been

They've been

Here are some examples:

I've been reading.

The car's been giving trouble.
We've been playing tennis for two hours.

How do we use the Present Perfect Continuous Tense?

This tense is called the present perfect continuous tense. There is
usually a connection with the present or now. There are basically two
uses for the present perfect continuous tense:
1. An action that has just stopped or recently stopped
We use the present perfect continuous tense to talk about an action
that started in the past and stopped recently. There is usually a result
now.
I'm tired because I've been running.
past

present

future

!!!
Recent action.

Result now.

I'm tired [now] because I've been running.

Why is the grass wet [now]? Has it been raining?
You don't understand [now] because you haven't been listening.

2. An action continuing up to now

We use the present perfect continuous tense to talk about an action
that started in the past and is continuing now. This is often used with
for or since.
I have been reading for 2 hours.
past

present

Action started in
past.

Action is continuing
now.

future

I have been reading for 2 hours. [I am still reading now.]

We've been studying since 9 o'clock. [We're still studying
now.]
How long have you been learning English? [You are still
learning now.]
We have not been smoking. [And we are not smoking now.]

For and Since with Present Perfect Continuous Tense

We often use for and since with the present perfect tense.

We use for to talk about a period of time - 5 minutes, 2

weeks, 6 years.
We use since to talk about a point in past time - 9 o'clock, 1st
January, Monday.
for

since

a period of time

a point in past time

x
20 minutes

6.15pm

three days

Monday

6 months

January

4 years

1994

2 centuries

1800

a long time

I left school

ever

the beginning of time

etc

etc

Here are some examples:

I have been studying for 3 hours.

I have been watching TV since 7pm.
Tara hasn't been feeling well for 2 weeks.
Tara hasn't been visiting us since March.
He has been playing football for a long time.
He has been living in Bangkok since he left school.

For can be used with all tenses. Since is usually used with perfect
tenses only.

E. PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

How do we make the Past Perfect Continuous Tense?
The structure of the past perfect continuous tense is:

subject

auxiliary verb
HAVE

auxiliary
verb BE

main verb

conjugated in
simple past tense

past
participle

present
participle

had

been

base + ing

For negative sentences in the past perfect continuous tense, we insert

not after the first auxiliary verb. For question sentences, we exchange
the subject and first auxiliary verb. Look at these example sentences
with the past perfect continuous tense:

subject

auxiliary
verb

auxiliary
verb

main
verb

had

been

working.

You

had

been

playing

tennis.

It

had

not

been

working

well.

We

had

not

been

expecting

her.

Had

you

been

drinking?

Had

they

been

waiting

long?

When speaking with the past perfect continuous tense, we often

contract the subject and first auxiliary verb:
I had been

I'd been

you had been

you'd been

he had
she had been
it had been

he'd been
she'd been
it'd been

we had been

we'd been

they had been

they'd been

How do we use the Past Perfect Continuous Tense?

The past perfect continuous tense is like the past perfect tense, but it
expresses longer actions in the past before another action in the past.
For example:

Ram started waiting at 9am. I arrived at 11am. When I arrived,

Ram had been waiting for two hours.
Ram had been waiting for two hours when I arrived.
past

Ram starts waiting in

past at 9am.

present

future

11

I arrive in past at
11am.

Here are some more examples:

John was very tired. He had been running.

I could smell cigarettes. Somebody had been smoking.
Suddenly, my car broke down. I was not surprised. It had not
been running well for a long time.
Had the pilot been drinking before the crash?

You can sometimes think of the past perfect continuous tense like the
present perfect continuous tense, but instead of the time being now
the time is past.
past perfect continuous tense
had |
been |
doing |
>>>> |

|
|
|
|

past

now

future

present perfect continuous

tense
|
|
|
|

have |
been |
doing |
>>>> |

past

now

future

For example, imagine that you meet Ram at 11am. Ram says to you:

"I am angry. I have been waiting for two hours."

Later, you tell your friends:

"Ram was angry. He had been waiting for two hours."

F. FUTURE PERFECT TENSE

THe future perfect tense is quite an easy tense to understand and
use. The future perfect tense talks about the past in the future.
How do we make the Future Perfect Tense?
The structure of the future perfect tense is:

subject

auxiliary verb
WILL

auxiliary verb
HAVE

main verb

invariable

invariable

past
participle

will

have

V3

Look at these example sentences in the future perfect tense:

subject

auxiliary
verb

auxiliary
verb

main
verb

will

have

finished

by
10am.

You

will

have

forgotten

me by
then.

She

will

not

have

gone

to
school.

We

will

not

have

left.

Will

you

have

arrived?

Will

they

have

received

it?

In speaking with the future perfect tense, we often contract the

subject and will. Sometimes, we contract the subject, will and have
all together:
I will have

I'll have

I'll've

you will have

you'll have

you'll've

he will have
she will have
it will have

he'll have
she'll have
it'll have

he'll've
she'll've
it'll've

we will have

we'll have

we'll've

they will have

they'll have they'll've

We sometimes use shall instead of will, especially for I and we.

How do we use the Future Perfect Tense?
The future perfect tense expresses action in the future before another
action in the future. This is the past in the future. For example:

The train will leave the station at 9am. You will arrive at the
station at 9.15am. When you arrive, the train will have left.
The train will have left when you arrive.

past

present

future
Train leaves in future
at 9am.
9 9.15

You arrive in future

at 9.15am.

Look at some more examples:

You can call me at work at 8am. I will have arrived at the

office by 8.
They will be tired when they arrive. They will not have slept
for a long time.
"Mary won't be at home when you arrive."
"Really? Where will she have gone?"

You can sometimes think of the future perfect tense like the present
perfect tense, but instead of your viewpoint being in the present, it is
in the future:
present perfect tense

future perfect tense

|
have |
done |
>|

past

now

will |
have |
done |
>|

future

past

now

future

G. FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

How do we make the Future Perfect Continuous Tense?
The structure of the future perfect continuous tense is:

subjec
t

auxiliary
verb
WILL

auxiliary
verb
HAVE

auxiliary
verb BE

main
verb

invariabl
e

invariabl
e

past
participl
e

present
participl
e

will

have

been

base +
ing

For negative sentences in the future perfect continuous tense, we

insert not between will and have. For question sentences, we
exchange the subject and will. Look at these example sentences with
the future perfect continuous tense:
subjec
t

auxiliar
y verb

auxiliar
y verb

auxiliar
y verb

main
verb

+ I

will

have

been

working

for four
hours.

+ You

will

have

been

travellin
g

for two
days.

will

have

been

using

the car.

She

no
t

We

will

Will

Will

no
t

have

been

waiting

long.

you

have

been

playing

football
?

they

have

been

watchin
g

TV?

When we use the future perfect continuous tense in speaking, we

often contract the subject and auxiliary verb:
I will

I'll

you will

you'll

he will
she will
it will

he'll
she'll
it'll

we will

we'll

they will

they'll

For negative sentences in the future perfect continuous tense, we

contract with won't, like this:
I will not

I won't

you will not

you won't

he will not
she will not
it will not

he won't
she won't
it won't

we will not

we won't

they will not

they won't

How do we use the Future Perfect Continuous Tense?

We use the future perfect continuous tense to talk about a long action
before some point in the future. Look at these examples:

I will have been working here for ten years next week.
He will be tired when he arrives. He will have been travelling
for 24 hours.

R. SUMMARY
a. The structure of the present perfect tense is:
subject + auxiliary verb (have) + main verb (past participle)

There are basically three uses for the present perfect tense:
1. experience
2. change
3. continuing situation
b. The structure of the past perfect tense is:
subject

auxiliary verb HAVE

main verb

conjugated in simple past tense

past participle

had

V3

The past perfect tense expresses action in the past before another
action in the past. This is the past in the past.
c. The structure of the present perfect continuous tense is:
auxiliary
(have/has) auxiliary verb
main
subject +
+
verb
+
(been)
verb
have
has

base +
ing

been

There are basically two uses for the present perfect continuous tense:
1. An action that has just stopped or recently stopped
2. An action continuing up to now
d. The structure of the past perfect continuous tense is:
subject

auxiliary verb
HAVE

auxiliary
verb BE

main verb

conjugated in
simple past tense

past
participle

present
participle

had

been

base + ing

The past perfect continuous tense is like the past perfect tense, but it
expresses longer actions in the past before another action in the past.
e.The structure of the future perfect tense is:

subject

auxiliary verb
WILL

invariable

auxiliary verb
HAVE

invariable

main verb

past
participle

will

have

V3

The future perfect tense expresses action in the future before another
action in the future. This is the past in the future.
f. The structure of the future perfect continuous tense is:

subjec
t

auxiliary
verb
WILL

auxiliary
verb
HAVE

auxiliary
verb BE

main
verb

invariabl
e

invariabl
e

past
participl
e

present
participl
e

will

have

been

base +
ing

We use the future perfect continuous tense to talk about a long action
before some point in the future.
S. QUIZ
Present Perfect Tense Quiz
1

Lindsay (has) not been to France.

(Have) you finished your homework?

They (ve) gone to a rock concert.

(Have) you been t Japan?

We (have) never eaten Mexican food.

Andrea has (forgotten) her umbrella.

(Has) the sun come up?

The children (have found) the lost puppy.

How long have you (bee) a vegetarian?

10

I haven't worked (since) last December.

You are writing a letter to a friend and giving news about people
you both know. Use the words given to make sentences and put
the verb into the correct form.
Example: Phil/find a new job _Phil has found a new job.__
Dear Chris, lots of things have happened since I last wrote to you.
a. Fred/go/Brazil
__________________________________________________
____
b. Jack and Jill/decide/to get married
______________________________________
c. Suzanne/have/a baby
________________________________________________
d. Liz/give up/smoking
_________________________________________________
e. George/pass/his driving test
___________________________________________
Read the situation and then write an appropriate sentence. Use
the verb given.
Example: Tom is looking for his key. He cant find it. (lose) _He has
lost his key.__
a. Sues hair was dirty. Now it is clean. (wash)
____________________________________________
b. Tom weighed 190 pounds. Now he weighs 170. (lose weight)
____________________________________________

c. The car has just stopped because there isnt any more gas in
the tank. (run out of gas)
_____________________________________________
d. This morning Bill was playing football. Now he cant walk and his
leg is in a cast. (break)
_____________________________________________
Use just. Answer the questions using the words given.
Example: Would you like something to eat? (no thank
you/I/just/have/dinner)
__No thank you. Ive just had dinner.___
a. Have you seen John anywhere? (yes/I/just/see/him)
________________________________________________
b. Has Ann Called yet? (yes/she/just/call)
________________________________________________
c. Would you like a cigarette? (no thanks/I/just/put/one out)
________________________________________________
d. Would you like something to drink? (no thanks/I/just/drink/water)
________________________________________________
Fill in been or gone.
Example: Where is Amy? Shes on vacation. She has _gone_ to
Italy.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.

Shes ________ out for lunch-shell be back at two oclock.

Have you ever ________ to Prague?
Ill speak to him tomorrow. Hes _________ home.
Hes just ________ been to the bank, so you could ask him to lend
you some money.
Where have you ________? Ive been waiting you for an hour.
His parents are very worried. Hes _________ missing for a week
now.
I cant find it-I had this morning but its _________.
Ive _________ in meetings all day.

Make questions with the words given.

Example: (you/hear/from George recently?) _Have you heard from George

recently?_
a. (you/read/a newspaper lately?)
__________________________________________
b. You/see/Lisa in the past few days?)
_______________________________________
c. (you/play/tennis lately?)
________________________________________________
d. (you/eat/anything today?)
_______________________________________________
e. (you/see/any good movies lately?)
________________________________________
f. (you/take/your vacation yet?)
____________________________________________

Present Perfect Continuous Tense Quiz

1

It has (been) snowing a lot this week.

(Have) your brother and sister been getting along?

Rick (s) been studying hard this semester.

I'm tired because I (ve) been working out.

Julie (has been) living in Italy since May.

How long have you been (teaching) German?

We have been watching TV (for) 3 hours.

You have (work) too hard today.

Has it (been) raining since you arrived?

10

My brother has been travelling (since) he finished school.

Read the situation and then write a sentence with the present
perfect continuous.

Example: Carlos is out of breath. (he/run) _He has been running. __

a. Jane is very tired. (she/work/hard)
_____________________________________________
b. Bob has a black eye, and Bill has a cut lip. (Bob and Bill/fight)
_____________________________________________
c. George has just come back from the beach. Hes very red.
(he/lie/in the sun)
_____________________________________________
d. Janet is so hot and tired. (she/play/tennis)
_____________________________________________
Ask a question for each situation.
Example: Your friends hands are covered with grease. (you/work/on
the car?)
_Have you been working on the car?__
a. You see a little boy. His eyes are red and watery. (you/cry?)
_________________________________________________
b. You just arrived to meet your friend, who is waiting for you.
(you/wait/long?)
_________________________________________________
c. Your friend comes in. Her face and hands are very dirty.
(what/you/do?)
_________________________________________________
Say how long something has been happening.
Example: It is raining now. It began raining two hours ago.
It has been raining for two hours.
a. Kevin is studying. He began studying three hours ago.
He_____________________________ for three hours.
b. Im learning Spanish. I started learning Spanish in December.
I_____________________________ since December.
c. Ann is looking for a job. She began looking six months ago.
________________________________ for six months.

d. Mary is working in Toronto. She started working there on

January 18th. ________________________________ since
January 18th.
e. Mark smokes. He started smoking five years ago.
________________________________ for five years.
Present prefect and present perfect continuous. Choose the
correct answer.
a. Ive been reading the book for weeks now.
___The person has finished reading the book.
___ The person hasnt finished reading the book.
b. Shes gone to Madrid.
___ Shes come back.
___ Shes still there.
c. Hes been to Paris.
___ Hes come back.
___ Hes still in Paris.
d. Look at the ashtray-someones been smoking in here!
___ Someone is still smoking in the room.
___ Nobody is smoking in the room.
e. Ive just sent the reply.
___ The action is not finished.
___ The action is finished.
f. Shes been to Jamaica.
___ We dont know when she went.

___ We know when she went.

g. Hes been working in London for six months.
___ Hes likely to stay in London forever.
___ Hes likely to leave London.
h. Hes taken his driving test seven times.
___ He hasnt passed the test yet.
___He has passed it.
i. Hes been looking for a job for ages.
___ The person has found a job.
___ The person has not found a job yet.
j. Have you ever eaten snails?
___ The person the person has eaten snails.
___ The person has no idea if the person has eaten snails.
k. Ive learnt a lot about computers this year.
___ The speaker is probably still learning.
___ The speaker has probably learnt enough.
l. Ive been waiting for the last two hours.
___ The speaker does not like waiting.
___ The speaker does not mind waiting at all.
m. Ive lived all my life around here.
___ The speaker will probably stay in the same area.

___ The speaker will probably move soon.

Put the verb into the correct form: present perfect simple or
present perfect continuous.
Example: I _have lost_ (lose) my key. Can you help me look for it?
You look tired. _ Have you been working (you/work) too
hard?
a. Look. Somebody ___________________ (break) that
window.
b. I _____________________ (read) the book you gave me, but I
___________________ (not/finish) it yet.
c. Sorry Im late. Thats all right. I
___________________________ (not/wait) long.
d. Hello! I ______________________ (clean) the windows. So
far I ___________________ (clean) five of them and there are
two more to do.
e. Theres a strange smell in here.
____________________________ (cook) something?
f. My brother is an actor. He ______________________
(appear) in several movies.
Past Perfect
Complete these sentences using the verbs in parentheses. You
went back to your home town after many years, and you found
that many things were different.
Example: Most of my friends were no longer there. __They had
left.___
a. My best friend, Kevin, was no longer there. He
__________________ (go) away.
b. The local movie theater was no longer open. It
__________________ (close) down.
c. Mr. Johnson was no longer alive. He __________________
(die).
d. I didnt recognize Mrs. Johnson. She __________________
(change) a lot.
e. Bill no longer had his car. He _________________ (sell) it.

Complete these sentences as in the example. Use the verbs in

parentheses.
Example:
Mr. And Mrs. Davis were in an airplane. They were very nervous as
the plane took off because they (never/fly) __had flown
before._______
a. The woman was a complete stranger to me. (never/see) I
______________________ before.
b. Margaret was late for work. Her boss was very surprised.
(never/be/late) She
__________________________________________________
___________________
c. Jane played tennis yesterday at least she tried to play tennis.
She wasnt very good at it because she (never/play)
________________________________________________
d. It was Carls first driving lesson. He was very nervous and
didnt know what to do. (never/drive) He
__________________________________________________
_____
Make sentences using the words in parentheses.
Example: I wasnt hungry. (I/just/have/lunch) _I had just had
lunch.___
a. Tom wasnt home when I arrived. (he/just/go/out)
__________________________________________________
________________
b. We arrived at the theater late. (the movie/already/begin)
__________________________________________________
________________
c. They werent eating when I went to see them.
(they/just/finish/their dinner)
__________________________________________________
________________
d. I invited Ann to dinner last night, but she couldnt come.
(she/already/make plans/ to do something else)
__________________________________________________
_________________

e. I was very pleased to see Diane again after such a long time.
(I/not/see/her for five years)
__________________________________________________
_________________
Put the verb into the correct form: past perfect or simple past.
Examples: Was Tom there when you arrived? No, he _had gone
_ (go) home.
Was Tom there when you arrived? Yes, but he went_
(go) home soon afterward.
a. The house was very quiet when I got home. Everybody
_________________ (go) to bed.
b. I felt very tired when I got home, so I _________________
(go) straight to bed.
c. Sorry Im late. The car ________________ (break) down on
my way here.
d. There was a car by the side of the road. It _______________
(break) down and the driver was trying to repair it. So we
________________ (stop) to see if we could help.
Complete the following text with the correct tense: past perfect or
simple past.
I can't believe I (get) _____________ that apartment. I (submit)
_______________ my application last week, but I didn't think I had a
chance of actually getting it. When I (show) _____________ up to
take a look around, there were at least twenty other people who
(arrive) _____________ before me. Most of them (fill, already)
________________ out their applications and were already leaving.
The landlord said I could still apply, so I did.
I (try) _____________ to fill out the form, but I couldn't answer half
of the questions. They (want) _____________ me to include
references, but I didn't want to list my previous landlord because I
(have) ______________ some problems with him in the past and I
knew he wouldn't recommend me. I (end) ______________ up listing
my father as a reference.
It was total luck that he (decide) ______________ to give me the

apartment. It turns out that the landlord and my father (go)

______________ to high school together. He decided that I could
have the apartment before he (look) _____________ at my credit
report.
Past Perfect Continuous
Read a situation and then write a sentence.
Example: The two boys came into the house. One had a black eye and
the other had a cut lip.
(they/fight) __They had been fighting. ___
a. Tom was watching TV. He was feeling very tired.
(he/study/hard/all day)
He________________________________________________
___________________
b. When I walked into the room, it was empty. But it smelled of
cigarettes. (somebody/smoke/in the room)
___________________________________________
c. When Mary came back from the beach, she looked very red
from the sun. (she/lie/in the sun too long)
__________________________________________________
________
d. The two boys came into the house. They had a football, and
they were both very tired. (they/play/football)
__________________________________________________
___
e. Amy wok up in the middle of the night. She was frightened,
and she didnt know where she was. (she/dream)
__________________________________________________
_
Read the situation and then write a sentence.
Example: We began playing football. After half an hour there was a
terrible storm.
We _had been playing for half an hour _ when _there was a
terrible storm.__

a. The orchestra began playing at the concert. After about ten

minutes a man in the audience suddenly began shouting.
The orchestra ___________________________ for about ten
minutes when
____________________________________________
b. I had arranged to meet Sue in a caf. I arrived and began
waiting. After 20 minutes I realized that I had come to the
wrong caf.
I ________________________________ when I
_______________________________
c. Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins went to live in the south of France. Six
months later Mr. Jenkins died.
They ________________________________ when
_______________________________
Put the verb into the correct form: past perfect continuous or past
continuous.
Examples: Sue was leaning against the wall, out of breath _she had
been running._ (run)
I tried to catch Sue but I couldnt. She _was running
__(run) very fast.
a. Jim was on his hands and knees on the floor. He
_____________________ (look) for his contact lens.
b. We _________________________ (walk) along the road for about
20 minutes when a car stopped and the driver offered us a lift.
c. When I arrived, everyone was sitting around the table with their
mouths full. They ___________________________ (eat).
d. When I arrived, everyone was sitting around the table and talking.
Their mouths were empty but their stomachs were full. They
______________________________ (eat).

e. When I arrived. Ann _________________________ (wait) for me.

She was annoyed because I was late, and she
__________________________ (wait) for a very long time.
Put the verbs into the correct form: past perfect continuous or
past perfect.
I'm sorry I left without you last night, but I told you to meet me early
because the show started at 8:00. I (try) _________________ to get
tickets for that play for months, and I didn't want to miss it. By the
time I finally left the coffee shop where we were supposed to meet, I
(have) ________________ five cups of coffee and I (wait)
_________________ over an hour. I had to leave because I (arrange)
__________________ to meet Kathy in front of the theater.

When I arrived at the theater, Kathy (pick, already)

_________________ up the tickets and she was waiting for us near
the entrance. She was really angry because she (wait)
_______________ for more than half an hour. She said she (give,
almost) ________________ up and (go) __________________ into
the theater without us.
Kathy told me you (be) __________________ late several times in
the past and that she would not make plans with you again in the
future. She mentioned that she (miss) ________________ several

movies because of your late arrivals. I think you owe her an apology.
And in the future, I suggest you be on time!
Future Perfect Continuous
Complete the sentences with the future perfect or future perfect
continuous.
a. By 2012 we ______________________ (live in London for
14 years.
b. He ________________________ (write) a book by the end of
the week.
c. He ________________________ (write this book for 3
months by the end of the week.
d. ________________________ (you/finish) this project by the
next week.
e. We _______________________ be/married) a year on July
15th.
f. If it doesnt come tomorrow, I _______________________
(be) without the projector for a month.
g. _______________________ (she/be) pregnant for 5 months
this week?

Complete the conversations using the future perfect or the future

perfect continuous.
1.
Jack: Have you been watching the Eco-Challenge on TV?
Janet: Isn't that exciting? It has got to be the most unbelievably
difficult sporting event in the world.
Jack: I know. By the time they finish the course, they (raft)

_____________________ more than 150 miles down a raging river,

(hike) ____________________ through 80 miles of jungle, (climb)
_____________________ a volcano and (kayak)
____________________ through shark-infested waters.
Janet: And don't forget that they (move) _______________________
for at least eight days straight.
2.
Oliver: When are going to get your bachelor's degree, Anne?
Anne: I am going to finish my degree next June. By the time I
graduate, I (go) _______________________ to four different colleges
and universities, and I (study) _______________________ for more
than seven years.
Oliver: Wow, that's a long time!
Anne: And I plan to continue on to get a Ph.D.
Oliver: Really? How long is that going to take?
Anne: By the time I finally finish studying, I (be)
______________________ a student for over 13 years.
3.
Max: Sarah has been in the kitchen all day long.
Jake: It doesn't sound like she's having a very good Thanksgiving.
Max: She (cook) ________________________ for over seven hours
by the time everyone arrives for dinner this afternoon. Hopefully, she

(finish) ______________________ everything by then.

Jake: Maybe we should help her out.
4.
Mike: It's 6:00, and I have been working on my essay for over three
hours.
Sid: Do you think you (finish) ________________________ by
10:00? There's a party at Donna's tonight.
Mike: I (complete, probably) ________________________ the essay
by 10:00, but I (work) _________________________ on it for more
than seven hours, and I don't think I am going to feel like going to a
party.
5.
Fred: By the time they finish their trip across Yosemite National
Park, they (hike) _________________________ for more than six
days.
Ginger: And they (be, not) _________________________ in a bed or
(have, not) _________________________ a shower in almost a
week!
Fred: When we pick them up, they (eat)
________________________ camping food for days, and I am sure
they will be starving.

Ginger: I think we had better plan on taking them directly to a

restaurant.
Future Time Quiz
1 Maybe (well go) out for dinner tonight.
2 I think the dog for a walk now.
3 I have 3 days off next week. visit my mother.
4 The clouds are very black. snow.
5 We the laundry tomorrow.
6 Alexander taking his driver's test next week.
7 The bus at 7:30 sharp.
8 Tomorrow the weekend.
9 Don't get up. the phone.
10 My plane at 3:00 PM on Sunday.

CHAPTER III
ACTIVE VOICE, PASSIVE VOICE
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
After completing this lesson, students are supposed to be able to
understand active and passive voice and make sentences using active
and passive voice.
A. INTRODUCTION
There are two special forms for verbs called voice:
1. Active voice
2. Passive voice
The active voice is the "normal" voice. This is the voice that we use
most of the time. You are probably already familiar with the active
voice. In the active voice, the object receives the action of the verb:
subject

verb

object
>

active
Cats

eat

fish.

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

verb

object

<

passive
Fish

are eaten

by cats.

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

verb

object

active

Everybody drinks

passive Water

is drunk

water.
by everybody.

B. PASSIVE VOICE
The passive voice is less usual than the active voice. The active voice
is the "normal" voice. But sometimes we need the passive voice. In
this lesson we look at how to construct the passive voice, when to use
it and how to conjugate it.
Construction of the Passive Voice
The structure of the passive voice is very simple:
subject + auxiliary verb (be) + main verb (past participle)
The main verb is always in its past participle form.
Look at these examples:

subject

auxiliary verb
(to be)

main verb (past

participle)

Water

is

drunk

by everyone.

100
people

are

employed

by this
company.

am

paid

in euro.

We

are

paid

in dollars.

Are

they

paid

in yen?

not

Use of the Passive Voice

We use the passive when:

we want to make the active object more important

we do not know the active subject
subject

verb

object

give importance to active

object (President
Kennedy)

President
Kennedy

was
killed

by Lee
Harvey
Oswald.

active subject unknown

My wallet

has been
stolen.

Note that we always use by to introduce the passive object (Fish are
eaten by cats).
Look at this sentence:

He was killed with a gun.

Normally we use by to introduce the passive object. But the gun is not
the active subject. The gun did not kill him. He was killed by
somebody with a gun. In the active voice, it would be: Somebody
killed him with a gun. The gun is the instrument. Somebody is the
"agent" or "doer".
Conjugation for the Passive Voice
We can form the passive in any tense. In fact, conjugation of verbs in
the passive tense is rather easy, as the main verb is always in past
participle form and the auxiliary verb is always be. To form the
required tense, we conjugate the auxiliary verb. So, for example:

present simple: It is made

present continuous: It is being made

present perfect: It has been made

Here are some examples with most of the possible tenses:

infinitive

to be washed
present

It is washed.

past

It was washed.

future

It will be washed.

conditional

It would be washed.

present

It is being washed.

past

It was being washed.

future

It will be being washed.

conditional

It would be being washed.

present

It has been washed.

past

It had been washed.

future

It will have been washed.

conditional

It would have been washed.

present

It has been being washed.

simple

continuous

perfect simple

perfect continuous

past

It had been being washed.

future

It will have been being washed.

conditional

It would have been being washed.

C. SUMMARY
The active voice is the "normal" voice. This is the voice that
we use most of the time. You are probably already familiar with the
active voice. In the active voice, the object receives the action of the
verb:
subject

verb

object
>

active
Cats

eat

fish.

The passive voice is less usual. In the passive voice, the

subject receives the action of the verb:
subject

verb

object

<

passive
Fish

are eaten

by cats.

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

verb

Everybody drinks

passive Water

is drunk

object
water.
by everybody.

D. QUIZ
Active or Passive Quiz
1

I ate a piece of chocolate cake. (active)

The librarian read the book to the students.

The money was stolen.

They are paid on Fridays.

The movie is being made in Hollywood.

I washed my car three weeks ago.

His hair was cut by a professional.

I will introduce you to my boss this week.

It would have been fixed on the weekend.

10

The national anthem is being sung by Jason this time.

CHAPTER IV
CONDITIONALS
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
After completing this lesson, students are supposed to be able to
understand conditionals and make sentences using conditionals.
A. INTRODUCTION
There are several structures in English that are called conditionals.
"Condition" means "situation or circumstance". If a particular
condition is true, then a particular result happens.

If y = 10 then 2y = 20
If y = 3 then 2y = 6

There are three basic conditionals that we use very often. There are
some more conditionals that we do not use so often.
People sometimes call conditionals "IF" structures or sentences,
because there is usually (but not always) the word "if" in a conditional
sentence.
B. STRUCTURE OF CONDITIONAL SENTENCES
The structure of most conditionals is very simple. There are two basic
possibilities. Of course, we add many words and can use various
tenses, but the basic structure is usually like this:
IF condition result
IF

y = 10

2y = 20

or like this:
result

IF

condition

2y = 20

IF

y = 10

First Conditional: real possibility

We are talking about the future. We are thinking about a particular
condition or situation in the future, and the result of this condition.
There is a real possibility that this condition will happen. For
example, it is morning. You are at home. You plan to play tennis this
afternoon. But there are some clouds in the sky. Imagine that it rains.
What will you do?
IF condition

If

result

present simple

WILL + base verb

it rains

I will stay at home.

Notice that we are thinking about a future condition. It is not raining

yet. But the sky is cloudy and you think that it could rain. We use the
present simple tense to talk about the possible future condition. We
use WILL + base verb to talk about the possible future result. The
important thing about the first conditional is that there is a real
possibility that the condition will happen. Here are some more
examples (do you remember the two basic structures: [IF condition
result] and [result IF condition]?):
IF condition

result

present simple

WILL + base verb

If

I see Mary

I will tell her.

If

Tara is free tomorrow

he will invite her.

If

they do not pass their exam

their teacher will be sad.

If

it rains tomorrow

will you stay at home?

If

it rains tomorrow

what will you do?

result
WILL + base verb

IF

condition
present simple

I will tell Mary

if

I see her.

He will invite Tara

if

she is free tomorrow.

Their teacher will be sad

if

they do not pass their exam.

Will you stay at home

if

it rains tomorrow?

What will you do

if

it rains tomorrow?

Sometimes, we use shall, can, or may instead of will, for example: If

you are good today, you can watch TV tonight.

Second Conditional: unreal possibility or dream

The second conditional is like the first conditional. We are still
thinking about the future. We are thinking about a particular condition
in the future, and the result of this condition. But there is not a real
possibility that this condition will happen. For example, you do not
have a lottery ticket. Is it possible to win? No! No lottery ticket, no
win! But maybe you will buy a lottery ticket in the future. So you can
think about winning in the future, like a dream. It's not very real, but
it's still possible.
IF condition
past simple
If

result
WOULD + base verb

I won the lottery I would buy a car.

Notice that we are thinking about a future condition. We use the past
simple tense to talk about the future condition. We use WOULD +
base verb to talk about the future result. The important thing about the
second conditional is that there is an unreal possibility that the
condition will happen.
Here are some more examples:
IF condition

result

past simple

WOULD + base verb

If

I married Mary

I would be happy.

If

Ram became rich

she would marry him.

If

it snowed next July would you be surprised?

If

it snowed next July what would you do?

result

IF

WOULD + base verb

condition
past simple

I would be happy

if

I married Mary.

She would marry Ram

if

he became rich.

Would you be surprised

if

it snowed next July?

What would you do

if

it snowed next July?

Sometimes, we use should, could or might instead of would, for

example: If I won a million dollars, I could stop working.
Third Conditional: no possibility
The first conditional and second conditionals talk about the future.
With the third conditional we talk about the past. We talk about a
condition in the past that did not happen. That is why there is no
possibility for this condition. The third conditional is also like a
dream, but with no possibility of the dream coming true.
Last week you bought a lottery ticket. But you did not win. :-(

If

condition

result

Past Perfect

WOULD HAVE + Past Participle

I had won the lottery I would have bought a car.

Notice that we are thinking about an impossible past condition. You

did not win the lottery. So the condition was not true, and that
particular condition can never be true because it is finished. We use
the past perfect tense to talk about the impossible past condition. We
use WOULD HAVE + past participle to talk about the impossible past
result. The important thing about the third conditional is that both the
condition and result are impossible now.
Sometimes, we use should have, could have, might have instead of
would have, for example: If you had bought a lottery ticket, you
might have won.
Look at some more examples in the tables below:
IF condition

result

past perfect

WOULD HAVE + past

participle

If

I had seen Mary

I would have told her.

If

Tara had been free yesterday

I would have invited her.

If

they had not passed their

exam

their teacher would have been

sad.

If

it had rained yesterday

would you have stayed at home?

If

it had rained yesterday

what would you have done?

result

IF condition

WOULD HAVE + past

participle

past perfect

I would have told Mary

if

I had seen her.

I would have invited Tara

if

she had been free yesterday.

Their teacher would have been

sad

if

they had not passed their

exam.

Would you have stayed at home

if

it had rained yesterday?

What would you have done

if

it had rained yesterday?

Zero Conditional: certainty

We use the so-called zero conditional when the result of the
condition is always true, like a scientific fact.
Take some ice. Put it in a saucepan. Heat the saucepan. What
happens? The ice melts (it becomes water). You would be surprised if
it did not.
IF condition

If

result

present simple

present simple

you heat ice

it melts.

Notice that we are thinking about a result that is always true for this
condition. The result of the condition is an absolute certainty. We are
not thinking about the future or the past, or even the present. We are
thinking about a simple fact. We use the present simple tense to talk
about the condition. We also use the present simple tense to talk about
the result. The important thing about the zero conditional is that the
condition always has the same result.
We can also use when instead of if, for example: When I get up late I
miss my bus.
Look at some more examples in the tables below:
IF condition

result

present simple

present simple

If

I miss the 8 o'clock bus

I am late for work.

If

I am late for work

my boss gets angry.

If

people don't eat

they get hungry.

If

you heat ice

does it melt?

result

IF condition

present simple
I am late for work

present simple
if

I miss the 8 o'clock bus.

My boss gets angry if

I am late for work.

People get hungry

if

they don't eat.

Does ice melt

if

you heat it?

C. SUMMARY
Here is a chart to help you to visualize the basic English conditionals.
Do not take the 50% and 10% figures too literally. They are just to
help you.
probability

conditional

example

time

100%

zero
conditional

If you heat ice, it

melts.

any
time

50%

first
conditional

If it rains, I will
stay at home.

future

10%

second
conditional

If I won the
lottery, I would
buy a car.

future

0%

third
conditional

If I had won the

lottery, I would
have bought a car.

past

D. QUIZ
Conditionals Quiz

1 What would you do if it (rained) on your wedding day?

2 If she comes I call you.
3 If I eat peanut butter I sick.
4 What will you do if you the history exam?
5 If they had not the car I would have driven you.
6 If it snows still drive to the coast?
7 He would have with you if you had asked him.
8 If I won a million dollars I my own airplane.
9 If I forget her birthday Andrea upset.
10 Jacob will pick you up at school if it .

CHAPTER V
GERUNDS (-ING)
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
After completing this lesson, students are supposed to be able to
understand gerunds and make sentences using gerunds.
A. INTRODUCTION
When a verb ends in -ing, it may be a gerund or a present participle. It
is important to understand that they are not the same.
When we use a verb in -ing form more like a noun, it is usually a
gerund:

Fishing is fun.

When we use a verb in -ing form more like a verb or an adjective, it

is usually a present participle:

Anthony is fishing.
I have a boring teacher.

Gerunds are sometimes called "verbal nouns".

B. GERUNDS AS SUBJECT, OBJECT OR COMPLEMENT

Try to think of gerunds as verbs in noun form.
Like nouns, gerunds can be the subject, object or complement of a
sentence:

Smoking costs a lot of money.

I don't like writing.
My favourite occupation is reading.

But, like a verb, a gerund can also have an object itself. In this case,
the whole expression [gerund + object] can be the subject, object or
complement of the sentence.

Smoking cigarettes costs a lot of money.

I don't like writing letters.
My favourite occupation is reading detective stories.

Like nouns, we can use gerunds with adjectives (including articles

and other determiners):

pointless questioning
a settling of debts
the making of Titanic
his drinking of alcohol

But when we use a gerund with an article, it does not usually take a
direct object:

a settling of debts (not a settling debts)

Making "Titanic" was expensive.
The making of "Titanic" was expensive.

Do you see the difference in these two sentences? In one, "reading" is

a gerund (noun). In the other "reading" is a present participle (verb).

My favourite occupation is reading.

My favourite niece is reading.

C. GERUNDS AFTER PREPOSITIONS

This is a good rule. It has no exceptions!
If we want to use a verb after a preposition, it must be a gerund. It is
impossible to use an infinitive after a preposition. So for example, we
say:

I will call you after arriving at the office.

Please have a drink before leaving.
I am looking forward to meeting you.
Do you object to working late?
Tara always dreams about going on holiday.

Notice that you could replace all the above gerunds with "real" nouns:

I will call you after my arrival at the office.

Please have a drink before your departure.
I am looking forward to our lunch.
Do you object to this job?
Tara always dreams about holidays.

The above rule has no exceptions!

So why is "to" followed by "driving" in 1 and by "drive" in 2?
1. I am used to driving on the left.
2. I used to drive on the left.
D. GERUNDS AFTER CERTAIN VERBS
We sometimes use one verb after another verb. Often the second verb
is in the infinitive form, for example:

I want to eat.

But sometimes the second verb must be in gerund form, for example:

I dislike eating.

This depends on the first verb. Here is a list of verbs that are usually
followed by a verb in gerund form:

admit, appreciate, avoid, carry on, consider, defer, delay,

deny, detest, dislike, endure, enjoy, escape, excuse, face, feel
like, finish, forgive, give up, can't help, imagine, involve, leave
off, mention, mind, miss, postpone, practise, put off, report,
resent, risk, can't stand, suggest, understand

Look at these examples:

She is considering having a holiday.

Do you feel like going out?
I can't help falling in love with you.
I can't stand not seeing you.

Some verbs can be followed by the gerund form or the infinitive form
without a big change in meaning: begin, continue, hate, intend, like,
love, prefer, propose, start

I like to play tennis.

I like playing tennis.
It started to rain.
It started raining.

E. GERUNDS IN PASSIVE SENSE

We often use a gerund after the verbs need, require and want. In this
case, the gerund has a passive sense.

I have three shirts that need washing. (need to be washed)

This letter requires signing. (needs to be signed)

The house wants repainting. (needs to be repainted)

The expression "something wants doing" is not normally used in

American English.
F. SUMMARY
1. Like nouns, gerunds can be the subject, object or complement of a
sentence.
2. If we want to use a verb after a preposition, it must be a gerund. It
is impossible to use an infinitive after a preposition.
3. We sometimes use one verb after another verb. Often the second
verb is in the infinitive form.
4. We often use a gerund after the verbs need, require and want. In
this case, the gerund has a passive sense

II. QUIZ
Gerunds Quiz
1 I dislike (going) to the movies by myself.
2 We started dinner without you.

3 I can't imagine my own house.

4 I used that television show all of the time.
5 I always eat breakfast before to school.
6 When do you practise the piano?
7 My grandmother prefers science fiction books.
8 You need harder this year.
9 I am used to her in a bad mood.
10 Have you talked to the dentist about your teeth?

CHAPTER VII
READING
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
After completing this lesson, students are supposed to be able to
understand reading materials and answer the questions about the
topics.
A. INTRODUCTION
"Reading" is the process of looking at a series of written
symbols and getting meaning from them. When we read, we use our
eyes to receive written symbols (letters, punctuation marks and
spaces) and we use our brain to convert them into words, sentences
and paragraphs that communicate something to us.
Reading can be silent (in our head) or aloud (so that other
people can hear). Reading is a receptive skill - through it we receive
information. But the complex process of reading also requires the skill
of speaking, so that we can pronounce the words that we read. In this
sense, reading is also a productive skill in that we are both receiving
information and transmitting it (even if only to ourselves).
B. WHAT IS MANAGEMENT ?
Managers are those individuals who bring together the money,
man power, materials, and machinery necessary to operate a business.
They must plan for the future, organize the enterprise, direct the
activities of employees, and control the entire business.
In common usage, managers are people who make decisions.
When several persons get together in an organization, one of them
must fill the role of leader to supply orderly and efficient handling of
the business affairs. Management is the process of getting work done
through other persons. Managers do not produce a finished product,
nor do they directly sell a product to a customer. Instead they direct
others to do these things.
The process of management includes planning, organizing,
directing, and controlling the activities of an enterprise to achieve
specific objectives. Managers performs these functions in varying

degrees at different organizational levels. They are the basic

managerial tasks.
Management has also been called the art of decision making,
since managers spend so much time choosing among alternative
solutions to business problems.
In the organizational hierarchy large businesses ordinarily
have at least three levels of management. These three levels are (1)
top or institutional management; (2) middle or administrative
management; (3) operating or supervisory management. Each level
contributes a different amount of major decision.
The highest level is top management, often referred to as
senior managers or key executives, who have usually had many years
of varied experience. This level is composed of the board of directors,
the president or chief executive officer (CEO), and other corporate
officers. Top management develops broad plans for the company and
makes important decisions about many things as mergers, new
products, and stock issues.
The next level of management, known as middle or
administrative management, is composed of plant superintendents
and/or division managers. These managers have the responsibility for
developing the operating plans that implement the broader plans made
by top managers.
Operating management is the lowest level of management. It
is primarily concerned with putting into action plans devised by
middle managers. Operating managers are often referred to as firstline supervisors because they are responsible for supervising the
workers who perform the day-to-day operations.
Answer the following questions !
1. Define the meaning of manager !
2. What does a business need?
3. Why is the role of a leader needed?
4. What is management?
5. What are the basic managerial tasks?
6. Why is management called the art of decision making?
7. Who are at the level of top management?
8. What are the functions of top management?

9.
10.
11.
12.

Who are at the the level of middle management?

What are their functions?
What function does the operating management have?
Why are operating managers referred to as
supervisors?

first-line

C. AN ACCOUNTING OVERVIEW
Accounting is frequently called the language of business
because of its ability to communicate financial information about an
organization. Various interested parties, such as managers, potential
investors, creditors, and the government, depend on a companys
accounting system to help them make informed financial decisions.
An affective accounting system, therefore, must include accurate
collecting, recording, classifying, summarizing, interpreting, and
reporting of information on the financial status of an organization.
In order to achieve a standardized system, the accounting
process follows accounting principles and rules. Regardless of the
type of business or the amount of money involved, common
procedures for handling and presenting financial information are used.
Incoming money (revenues) and outgoing money (expenditures) are
carefully monitored, and transaction are summarized in financial
statements, which reflect the major financial activities of an
organization.
Two common financial statements are the balance sheet and
the income statement. The balance sheet shows the financial position
of a company at one point in time, while the income statement shows
financial performance of a company over a period of time. Financial
statement allow interested parties to compare one organization to
another and/or to compare accounting periods within one
organization. For example, an investor may compare the most recent
income statements of two corporations in order to find out which one
would be a better investment.
People who specialize in the field of accounting are known as
accountants. In the United States, accountants are usually classified as
public, private, or governmental. Public accountants work
independently and provide accounting services such as auditing and
tax computation to companies and individuals. Public accountants
may earn the title of CPA(Certified Public Accountant) by fulfilling
rigorous requirements. Private accountants work solely for private
companies or corporations that hire them to maintain financial
records, and governmental accountants work for governmental
agencies or bureaus. Both private and governmental accountants are

paid on a salary basis, whereas public accountants receive fees for

their services.
Through effective application of commonly accepted
accounting systems private, public, and govermmental accountants
provide accurate and timely financial information that is necessary for
organization decision making.
Comprehension
A.Answer the following question about accounting. Question with
asterisks cannot be answered
directly from the text.
1. Why is accounting called the language of business?
2. How is a standardized accounting system achieved?
3. What are revenues and expenditures?
4. What do the balance sheet and income statement have in common?
How are they different?
5. *How might the information contained in financial statements be useful
to managers? *How
might creditors use this information?
6. How are accountans classified in the United States?
7. What kinds of services do public accountants provide?
8. What is a CPA? *Do you have a similar type of position in your
country? *Explain.
9. *Which type of accounting-public, private, or governmental-appeals to
you the most? *Why?
10. *What are some management decisions that might be based on
accounting information?

B. Circle the letter of the answer that best completes each of the
sentences below.
1. Accounting information is used by ______to help them make
financial decisions.
a. managers
b. potential investors
c. creditors
d. all of the above
2. Regardless of the type of business or the amount of money ivolved
:
a. all companies use identical accounting systems
b. balance sheets are more important than income statements
c. common procedures are used in handling financial information
d. no standardized accounting system is employed

3. Business monetary transactions are summarized in :

a. bank books
b. financial statements
c. computers
d. cash registers
4. Public accountants may earn the title of CPA by :
a. becoming governmental accountans
b. paying a fee
c. fulfilling rigorous requirements
d. obtaining a Bachelor of arts degree in accounting
5. Private and governmental accountatnts are paid on a____basis.
a. salary
b. monthly
c. fee
d. weekly
Vocabulary Exercises
A. Subtitute appropriate terms for the italicized words or phrases in
the sentences below.
status agencies monitored maintain independently procedure fee hire
rigorous solely
1. Many accounting departments have strict enterance requirements;
only the most qualified applicants are allowed to enter these
programs. rigorous
2. The particular method used to process employee insurance claims
may vary from company
to company. procedure
3. The stock market is closely watched every day. monitored
4. Rather than expand into foreign lines, the dress shop manager
chose to deal only with
domestic fashion designers. solely
5. Although the consultants charge for services was high, his
guidance and advice were well
worth the money. fee
6. The financial condition of a company is reflected in its financial
statements. status
7. When the business began to expand, a second bookkeeper was
brought in to help keep the
books. maintain
8. In the United States there are numerous organizations that provide
services at the local,

state, and national levels. agencies

B. Complete the sentences with the noun, verb, and adjective forms
provided.
1. Communication/to communicate/communicative
a. Supervisor should strive for two-way (communication) with their
employees.
b. By using an overhead projector, the guest speaker was able (to
communicate) his statistical
information clearly.
c. Because of the clerks highly developed (communicative) skills,
she was given a position
that required her to deal directly with customers
2. Information/informed/informative
a. The owner (
) his employees that they would all receive a 5
percent pay increase.
b. Getting Acquainted with Accounting, by John L. Carey, is very (
) book.
c. Financial (
) is essential for organizational decision making.
3. Allowance/allowed/allowable
a. The supervisor lost control of his staff members after he (
)
them to override his
decisions.
b. When the factory was built 50 years ago, little (
) was made
for remodeling and
expansion.
c. Althought (
), smoking was discouraged in the lunch room.
4. Fulfillment/fulfill/fulfilling
a. At times the assembly line worker felt a lack of profesiomal (
)
b. When he was promoted to production supervisor, however, his job
became much more
(
).
c. Before the accountant could became a CPA, she had to (
)a
number of requirements.
5. Standars/has standardized/standard
a. The (
) paper size in United States for business letters and
memorands is 8,5 x 11

inches.
b. The computer department (
) its procedures for storting and
retrieving data.
c. Nowadays rigorous (
) are enforced in the area of food
processing and packaging.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Azar, Schrampfer, Betty, Understanding and using English Grammar
2nd edition, Prentice Hall Regents,1992.
Cherry L Hadikusumo, Business English, Bayumedia Publishing,
2003.
Echols, M, John, Shadily, Hassan, kamus Inggris-Indonesia,
Gramedia, PT, Jakarta,1992.
Raymond Murphy, English Grammar In Use, Cambridge University
Press, 1998.