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

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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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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Determiners

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What is determiner?

• Determiner is used to identify things in further details.
• It is used to indicate reference to something specific or a particular type.

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Types of Determiners

1. Specific Determiners    
         ~ Used when the people or things you are talking about have already been mentioned.

• The definite article : the 
• Demonstratives: this, that, these, those
• Possessives: my, your, his, her, its, our, their  

Examples:   
The dog barked at the boy.
These apples are rotten.

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2. General Determiners 
          ~ Used when you are mentioning peoples or things for the first time, or talking about                 them generally without saying exactly which ones you mean.

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** Most determiners are also pronouns, except the, a, an, and every.
** Determiners are different to pronouns in that a determiner is always followed by a noun.

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Either and Neither

• Either and neither are used in sentences concerning a possible choice between two items.
• Either can mean one or the other (of two) or each of two.
• Neither means not the first one and not the second one.

Example:
I've got tea and coffee, so you can have either. (One or the other)
The room has a door at either end. (Both)
Neither of the students were listening.

Conjunction Exercises

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Choose the correct conjunction.

1. I need to work hard _______ I can pass the exam.

2. _______ he was the best qualified party candidate, he didn't win the elections.

3. _______ you come back from your trip, we'll meet to discuss the problem.

4. They said that the movie was fantastic, _______ I watched it.

5. _______ he was very ill, he didn't take any medicine.

6. I don't know _______ I can buy a pair of jeans.

7. She went to the shops _______ couldn't find anything she liked.

8. Everybody likes him because he is nice _______ helpful.

9. _______ he was angry with her, he didn't utter a word.

10. Keep quiet _______ go out.

Answers

1. so that

2. Although

3. When

4. so

5. Although

6. where

7. but

8. and

9. Since

10. or

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Adjectives & Adverbs Exercise

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Complete the following exercise with adjective or adverb form of the words.

1. That pitbull looks _______ . (angry) 

2. She spoke _______ . (quiet) 

3. Erica listened to her mother _______ . (careful) 

4. Mary makes _______ mistakes. (careless) 

5. Children grow _______ . (quick) 

6. He is very _______ today. (happy) 

7. It's raining _______ . (heavy) 

8. Morgan was _______ hurt in a car accident. (serious) 

9. His situation was very _______ . (serious) 

Answers

1. angry    

2. quietly

3. carefully

4. careless 

5. quickly

6. happy

7. heavily

8. seriously

9. serious

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