Verbs

What is a verb?

A verb is defined as a word that names an action or describes a state of being. It tells what the subject does, has or is.

Verbs can be classified based on their forms as shown in the diagram below:

Examples:

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Infinitive / Base Form	Present Tense Form	Past Tense Form	Present Participle Form	Past Participle Form
eat	I eat	I ate	I am eating	I have eaten
kick	You kick	You kicked	You are kicking	You have kicked
buy	We buy	We bought	We are buying	We have bought
cut	They cut	They cut	They are cutting	They have cut
lie	He lies	He lied	He is lying	He has lied
be	She is	She was	She is being	She has been

Subject-Verb Agreement

General Rule
The verb must concord or agree with the subject noun in respect of grammatical number.
(Singular verb for singular noun and plural verb for plural noun.)

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Pancakes with syrup sound yummy.

Pancakes, while a filling breakfast, are messy!

Rule: The general rule for subject-verb agreement applies even when the verb is separated or divorced from its subject by a string of words.

Explanation: The verbs 'sound' and 'are' are not governed by the nouns next to them, but by the distantly located subject 'pancakes' (plural).

Everyone likes pancakes.

Rule: A singular verb is used with a singular indefinite pronoun.

Explanation: 'Everyone' is the singular indefinite pronoun.

Each of us gets three pancakes.

Rule: With 'each of ...' and a plural noun, a singular verb is preferred, a plural verb is informal.

Either juice or coffee goes with pancakes.

Neither you nor I like coffee.

Cereal or eggs are tasty.

Rule: When a mix of singular and plural nouns / pronouns are joined by 'or', the verb follows the preceding noun / pronoun.

Explanation: The verbs 'goes', 'like' and 'eggs' are governed by the nouns / pronoun closet to it.

Tenses

Definition of Tense

Tense is a set of verb forms that indicates a particular time or period of time in the past, present or future.

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Overview of the Four Forms of the Present, Past and Future Tenses

Basic Tenses		Present	Past	Future
Forms
Simple Form	Auxiliary Verb	am / is / are	was / were	will / shall be
	Action Verb	cook / cooks	cooked	will / shall cook
Continuous Form		am / is / are cooking	was / were cooking	will be cooking
Perfect Form		have / has cooked	had cooked	will have cooked
Perfect Continuous Form		have / has been cooking	had been cooking	will have been cooking

Prepositions

Definition of Preposition

Preposition is a word that governs nouns or pronouns usually placed in front of, expressing a relation to another word or element.

Simple rule

A preposition is followed by a noun. It is never followed by a verb.

Preposition of Time (at, in, on)

AT	IN	ON
Precise Time	Months, Years, Centuries and Long Periods	Days and Dates
at 4 o’clock	in December	on Sunday
at 4.30 am	in spring	on Tuesdays
at midday	in the winter	on 4 December
at lunchtime	in 1963	on 21 Nov. 1962
at mealtime	in the 1970s	on New Year’s Day
at sunset	in this century	on Independence Day
at sunrise	in the Ice Age	on my birthday
at the moment	in the past/future	on New Year’s Eve
at night	in the evening(s)	on Monday morning(s)

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Spelling Rules

Top Four Spelling Rules

1. Using 'i' before 'e'

Example:

believe, chief, piece, and thief

2. Dropping the final ‘e’

Example:

ride + ing = riding

guide + ance = guidance

hope + ing = hoping

3. Changing a final ‘y’ to ‘i’

Example:

defy + ance = defiance

party + es = parties

pity + ful = pitiful

4. Doubling a final consonant

Example:

stop + ing = stopping

admit + ed = admitted

occur + ence = occurrence

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Nouns & Pronouns

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Nouns

Nouns are the names of things, people, animals, places, qualities, actions, and ideas. They are usually single words, but not always. 

• cake
• shoes
• literacy
• school bus
• post-traumatic stress disorder

Pronouns

A pronoun is a word that is used instead of a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns refer to nouns that have already been mentioned or are about to be mentioned. 

• The school principal spoke at the special assembly in the auditorium. She also asked some students to speak. (she in the 2nd sentence refers to the noun phrase the school principal in the 1st sentence)

The most common pronouns are the personal pronouns. 

They are divided into subject pronouns which are used as the subjects of verbs and object pronouns which are used as objects of verbs and prepositions. 

Subject pronouns	Object pronouns
I	me
you	you
he/she/it	him/her/it
we	us
they	them

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Style and Register

There are five styles in spoken English that have been described by Martin Joos (1961).

1. Frozen

• Unchangeable language in print such as language in the Bible, a law document, wedding vows, the Old Testament
• A language which contains archaisms.

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2. Formal 

• This is applicable in lectures or talks given by speakers as it only involves one-way participation without interruption.
• This involves two unfamiliar people.

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3. Consultative

• This involves a two-way participation and is more natural as fillers and common interruption are allowed.

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4. Casual

• This is a style adopted by friends and acquaintances in a social setting.

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5. Intimate

• This style is shared between people between people from the same background especially family members and close friends.
• More of non-verbal language and gestures are included in this type of interaction.
• A private vocabulary is common in context.

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Noun Clause

What is a noun?

1. A noun is a part of speech.

2. Subjects and objects are parts of a sentence.

3. Nouns function as subjects or objects.

4. Therefore: Nouns = subjects or objects.

Example:

The burrito gave me heartburn.

"burrito" = subject in this sentence

"gave" = verb in this sentence

"heartburn" = object in this sentence

What about this one?

What I had for breakfast gave me heartburn.

"gave" = verb in this sentence

"What I had for breakfast" functions as the subject of this sentence

BUT

"What I had for breakfast" is a noun clause because it is a groups of words containing a subject and a verb that functions like a noun.

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Synonyms

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Report Structure

Reported Statement

A reported statement begins with the main clause and followed by the content of the quote as it relates to the speaker in time, person, place, and direction, at the moment of speaking. 

The subordinating marker that links the reported speech to the main clause.               

Main Clause	Reported Speech
She said	that it was raining there.
She informed us	that it had been raining there, but it wasn't now.
She replied	that she would meet me at that cafe the next day.
She declared	that the umbrella was hers.

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