Module 1 Participate in Workplace Communication
Module 1 Participate in Workplace Communication
Module 1 Participate in Workplace Communication
MODULE 1
PARTICIPATING
WORKPLACE
COMMUNICATION
By:
RIZZA R. RENOMERON
National Assessor for VG NC III
CA-VGD0313140909003
SHERYL R. MORALES
National Assessor for BKP NC III
CA-BKP0313140911226
MODULE 1
PARTICIPATING
WORKPLACE
COMMUNICATION
• Information Sheet 1 PARTS OF SPEECH
• Information Sheet 2 BUILDING SENTENCE
• Information Sheet 3 TENSES
• Information Sheet 4 MODAL VERBS
• Information Sheet 5 ACTIVE AND PASSIVE
MODULE TITLE PARTICIPATING WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION
Course Objective: At the end of the course, the student will be able to develop
comprehension skills, improve vocabulary, use proper
grammar, acquire writing skills, correspond with others and
enhance skills in spoken English.
CONTENTS:
Information Sheet 1 Parts of speech
1.1 Nouns
1.2 Pronouns
1.3 Adjectives
1.4 Verbs
1.5 Adverbs
1.6 Prepositions
1.7 Conjunction
1.8 Interjection
Information Sheet 2 BUILDING SENTENCE
2.1 Sentence Forms
2.2 The Anatomy of a Sentence
2.3 Sentence Patterns
2.4 Subject Verb Agreement
LEARNING GUIDE
Learning Steps Resources
INFORMATION SHEET 1
PARTS OF SPEECH
This unit focuses on the basics of English grammar you need to speak and write as effectively as
possible. Everyone already knows a lot about grammar and uses it correctly most of the time. Whenever
people read, write, speak, or listen, they are using their knowledge of grammar. When they were learning
to talk, they learned the names of things (vocabulary), the different forms of a word (sings, sang, singing,
sung, songs), and they learned how to put them into sentences in the right order (syntax) so they would
be understood and get what they wanted unrecognized.
WHAT IS GRAMMAR?
Dictionaries define grammar as the rules and explanations which deal with the forms and structure of
words (morphology1), their arrangement in phrases and sentences (syntax2), and their classification
based on their function (parts of speech). Like many dictionary definitions, this makes grammar sound
more difficult than it really is. . This module gives you a chance to find and correct any grammar mistakes
you may be making. Unless you correct those errors in grammar, you may be unfairly judged, and your
true abilities may go. Let’s start by learning the parts of speech.
PARTS OF SPEECH
Learning about the eight parts of speech will help you understand the grammar explanations of some of
the mistakes you make and figure out how to correct them. Because some words can be used in several
different ways, you have to look at what a word is doing in a specific sentence before you can classify it
(name its part of speech). For example, look at these sentences.
The word “fast” is spelled the same, but it functions differently in each sentence.English has hundreds of
thousands of words, every one can be placed into at least one of eight groups, or classifications. The
system of classifying words based on their function is known as the parts of speech.
noun
pronoun
verb
adjective
adverb
preposition
conjunction
interjection
SELF-CHECK 1.1A
SELF-CHECK 1.1B
SELF-CHECK 1.2A
SELF-CHECK 1.2B
SELF-CHECK 1.3A
SELF-CHECK 1.3B
SELF-CHECK 1.4A
SELF-CHECK 1.4B
SELF-CHECK 1.4C
SELF-CHECK 1.5B
SELF-CHECK 1.6A
SELF-CHECK 1.7A
SELF-CHECK 1.8
A sentence is a group of words which starts with a capital letter and ends
with a full stop (.), question mark (?) or exclamation mark (!). A sentence contains
or implies a predicate and a subject.
• Sentences contain clauses.
• Simple sentences have one clause.
• Compound sentences and complex sentences have two or more clauses.
• Sentences can contain subjects and objects.
The subject in a sentence is generally the person or thing carrying out an action.
The object in a sentence is involved in an action but does not carry it out, the
object comes after the verb.
For example:
The boy climbed a tree.
If you want to say more about the subject (the boy) or the object (the
tree), you can add an adjective.
For example:
The young boy climbed a tall tree.
If you want to say more about how he climbed the tree you can use an
adverb.
For example:
The young boy quickly climbed a tall tree.
The sentence becomes more interesting as it gives the reader or listener more
information.
What makes a complete sentence?
If it helps you, think about a sentence as if it were a skeleton, the skeleton contains
various bones and these bones are put together to form different parts of the body.
So are sentences formed by words, the words are the bones and they are put
together in different ways to form sentences.
Simple Sentences
A simple sentence contains a single subject and predicate. It describes only one
thing, idea or question, and has only one verb - it contains only an independent
(main) clause.
Any independent clause can stand alone as a sentence. It has a subject and a verb
and expresses a complete thought.
For example:
• Jill reads.
Even the addition of adjectives, adverbs, and prepositional phrases to a simple
sentence does not change it into a complex sentence.
For example:
• The brown dog with the red collar always barks loudly.
Even if you join several nouns with a conjunction, or several verbs with a
conjunction, it remains a simple sentence.
For example:
• The dog barked and growled loudly.
Compound Sentences
Compound sentences are made up of two or more simple sentences combined
using a conjunction such as and, or or but. They are made up of more than one
independent clause joined together with a co-ordinating conjunction.
For example:
"The sun was setting in the west and the moon was just rising."
Complex Sentences
Complex sentences describe more than one thing or idea and have more than one
verb in them. They are made up of more than one clause, an independent clause
(that can stand by itself) and a dependent (subordinate) clause (which cannot stand
by itself).
For example:
"My mother likes dogs that don't bark." Dependent clauses can be nominal,
adverbial or adjectival.
SELF-CHECK 2.1A
SENTENCE FORMS
Write S if the sentence is Simple, C if the sentence is compound or X if the
sentence is complex in form.
SELF-CHECK 2.1B
3: When Abel and Gottlieb moved to New York, they opened their own business in
their father's name.
4: The business was successful, so Abel and Gottlieb told their father to join them
in New York City.
6: When the ship landed, Shadrach was met by two dapper-looking young men.
8: Shadrach's sons welcomed him to the new land, but they were amazed by his old
fashioned appearance.
9: Shadrach looked like so many new immigrants that Gottlieb and Abel had
ridiculed in the past.
10: Gottlieb and Abel first wanted to take their father to a barbershop to trim his
beard to make him look more like an American.
11: Although Gottlieb and Abel already had a servant, Marta stayed with the
family.
12: At their first meal together, Shadrach saw a wall between him and his sons.
13: Shadrach was puzzled because he realized that some change had occurred.
14: When the meal was over, Shadrach donned his praying cap and began to recite
grace.
15: While Abel and Gottlieb thought their father would change after a few months,
he didn't.
The Verb
The verb is the fundamental part of the sentence. The rest of the sentence, with the
exception of the subject, depends very much on the verb. It is important to have a
good knowledge of the forms used after each verb (verb patterns), for example: to
tell [someone] TO DO [something]
Here we can see that the verb to tell is followed immediately by a person (the
indirect object, explained later), an infinitive with 'to', and, possibly, an object for
the verb you substitute for DO.
Verbs also show a state of being. Such verbs, called BE VERBS or LINKING
VERBS, include words such as: am, is, are, was, were, be, been, being, became,
seem, appear, and sometimes verbs of the senses like tastes, feels, looks, hears, and
smells.
For example:
• "Beer and wine are my favourite drinks." The verb "are" is a linking (be)
verb.
Fortunately, there are only a limited number of different verb patterns. Verbs can
descibe the action (something the subject actually does) or state (something that is
true of the subject) of the subject.
For example:
• ACTION: I play football twice a week.
• STATE: I've got a car.
Some verbs can represent both actions and states, depending on the context.
For example work:
• ACTION: David's working in the bank.
• STATE: David works in a bank.
The Subject
The subject is the person or thing the sentence is 'about'. Often (but not always) it
will be the first part of the sentence. The subject will usually be a noun phrase (a
noun and the words, such as adjectives, that modify it) followed by a verb.
The Predicate
Once you have identified the subject, the remainder of the sentence tells us what
the subject does or did. This part of the sentence is the predicate of the sentence.
The predicate always includes the verb and the words which come after the verb.
For example:
• Michael Schumaker drove the race car.
o "Michael Schumaker" is the subject; "drove the race car" is the
predicate.
The Object
Some verbs have an object (always a noun or pronoun). The object is the person or
thing affected by the action described in the verb.
Objects come in two types, direct and indirect.
The direct object refers to a person or thing affected by the action of the verb.
For example:
• "He opened the door. "- here the door is the direct object as it is the thing
being affected by the verb to open.
The indirect object refers to a person or thing who receives the direct object.
For example:
• " I gave him the book." - here him (he)is the indirect object as he is the
beneficiary of the action.
Verbs that have an object are called transitive verbs e.g. eat, drive, give.
For example:
• David gave her a present.
Some verbs can be transitive or intransitive e.g. sing
For example:
• Xavier Nadu sings. - intransitive.
• Xavier Nadu sings pop songs. - transitive.
Adverbials
An 'adverbial' or 'adverbial phrase' is a word or expression in the sentence that does
the same job as an adverb; that is, it tells you something about how the action in
the verb was done.
For example:
• I sometimes have trouble with adverbs.
• He spoke very quietly.
• I've read that book three times.
• She's gone to the bank.
The first tells us the frequency of the action (sometimes), the second how he
carried out the action (quietly), and the third how many times the action has
happened (three).
The fourth is a little different, as in this case the adverbial (gone to the bank) is
more or less demanded by the verb (has).
To remember the form of such verbs use your notebooks to write down the
different forms.
For example:
• to go [somewhere]
• to put [something][somewhere]
This information is also useful when deciding the order of adverbials in a sentence.
Unlike the previous parts of the sentence, a sentence can contain an indefinite
number of adverbials, although in practice it's a good idea to keep them few in
number.
Complement
A complement is used with verbs like be, seem, look etc. Complements give more
information about the subject or, in some structures, about the object.
There are various definitions of 'complement', which range from the very general
(anything in the predicate except the verb, including the direct object and adverbs)
to the much more restrictive one used here.
A complement is the part of the sentence that gives you more information about
the subject (a subject complement) or the object (an object complement) of the
sentence.
The complement to be used, if any, is dependent on the verb used in the sentence.
Subject complements normally follow certain verbs.
For example:
• He is Spanish.
• She became an engineer.
• That man looks like John.
Object complements follow the direct object of the verb-
For example.
• They painted the house red.
• She called him an idiot!
• I saw her standing there.
The complement often consists of an adjective or noun phrase, but can also be a
participle phrase, as in the last example. It is often not very clear whether a phrase
is a complement
SELF-CHECK 2.2A
Identify the subject and predicate in these simple sentences. Circle the simple
subject and underline the simple predicate.
3. At the stroke of midnight, the carriage turned into a huge orange pumpkin.
4. A really friendly old man with long white whiskers lives in the apartment
above my aunt’s and uncle’s apartment.
5. Several of her favorite romantic love songs were playing on the radio that
afternoon in the park.
6. Cool, deep, dark blue water flowed through the rough limestone rocks in
the gorge.
8. The large red book sitting on the hall table was a dictionary published by
an encyclopedia company in the United States.
9. The three girls carried back packs filled with books, food, candy, clothes,
make-up, pens, paper, hairbrushes, and other assorted items.
10. I don’t remember the name of that tall, thin actor with the sparkling blue
eyes.
SENTENCE PATTERNS
Note that in each of the six basic sentence patterns, the function of the verb and
the nature of the complement or completer required by the verb, are what
distinguishes one pattern from another. Verbs are identified as transitive or
intransitive. Transitive verbs transfer the action of the verb to a receiver.
Intransitive verbs have no noun or object to act upon.
SV
With one special kind of verb there is a problem of distinguishing between a direct
object and an object of a preposition. Notice these two sentences:
Harry jumped off the box.
Harry took off his raincoat.
The first sentence is Pattern #1. Off is a preposition, box is the object of the
preposition, and the prepositional phrase is used as an adverbial modifier, because
it tells where Harry jumped.
The second sentence is Pattern #2. The verb, with its adverbial modifier off, is
the equivalent of the transitive verb remove. Raincoat is the direct object.
There is another way to distinguish between the adverbial use and the prepositional
use of such a word as off in the above examples. When the word is a vital adverbial
modifier of the verb, it can, in most cases, be used in either of two positions:
immediately following the verb or following the direct object--"Harry took off his
raincoat" or "Harry took his raincoat off." But when the word is a preposition, the
alternate position is not possible. "Harry jumped the box off" is non-English.
Here are some other examples of this kind of verb with adverbial modifier(s).
Notice that in each case you can easily find a transitive verb synonym for the
combination:
...give up (relinquish) his rights
...leave out (omit) the second chapter
...put out (extinguish) the fire
...make over (alter) an old dress
...make up (invent) an excuse
Consists of a subject and a verb with two completers of the verb: the direct object,
which directly receives the action of the transitive verb and answers who or what,
and the indirect object, which indirectly receives the action of the verb and answers
to whom (or which) or for whom (or which).
S V IO DO
Consists of a subject and a verb and two completers. The one closer to the verb is
the direct object and the second one is the objective complement, which is either a
noun that renames the direct object or an adjective that describes the direct object.
S V DO OC
NOTE: You may test this pattern by inserting to be. Sometimes the word as
is used between the direct object and object complement.
The following verbs are the most frequently used in Sentence Pattern #4:
elect, appoint, name, call, consider, find, make, think. S V DO OC
Examples (subject is bold, verb is underlined, direct object is italicized, and object
complement is in all capital letters):
The parents considered their child a GENIUS.
The teacher thought him STUPID.
S LV NC
Consists of a subject, a special kind of intransitive verb called a linking verb and a
subjective complement (may be an adjective which describes the subject):
S LV AC
SELF-CHECK 2.3A
Identify the sentence pattern (#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, or, #6) of each of the following
sentences.
1. The museums provide something for everyone.
2. The runner ran around third base.
3. Trying to let in some fresh air, Doris opened a window.
4. The air outside was worse than the air inside.
5. Annie yielded to Jack's sweet talk.
6. Unemployment is getting worse.
7. Partying is fun.
8. Sue wants to quit her job.
9. Bert stumbled through the lobby of the union.
10. The excited horse threw its rider.
11. Have they started the game yet?
12. The hunter on safari killed two lions.
13. I haven't got any money for the movie.
14. There are two new theaters in town.
15. I enjoy going to the movies.
16. The pitcher pitched a wild pitch.
17. That wild pitch of his cost him the game.
18. The following students should report to the dean's office.
19. I have been following tennis for years.
20. This sentence is the last one in this exercise.
SELF-CHECK 2.3B
Write two sentences as examples of each of the sentence patterns. Be sure to mark
subject (S), verb (V), and complement (DO, IO, OC, AC, and/or NC).
Sentence Pattern #1
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Sentence Pattern #2
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Sentence Pattern #3
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Sentence Pattern #4
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Sentence Pattern #5
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Sentence Pattern #6
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
2. Don’t get confused by the words that come between the subject and
verb; they do not affect agreement.
The dog, who is chewing on my jeans, is usually very good.
4. When sentences start with “there” or “here,” the subject will always be
placed after the verb, so care needs to be taken to identify it correctly.
There is a problem with the balance sheet.Here are the papers you requested.
5. Subjects don't always come before verbs in questions. Make sure you
accurately identify the subject before deciding on the proper verb form
to use.
Does Lefty usually eat grass? Where are the pieces of this puzzle.
6. If two subjects are joined by and, they typically require a plural verb
form.
The cow and the pig are jumping over the moon.
7. The verb is singular if the two subjects separated by and refer to the
same person or thing.
Red beans and rice is my mom's favorite dish.
8. If the words each, every, or no come before the subject, the verb is
singular.
No smoking and drinking is allowed.Every man and woman is required to
check in.
9. If the subjects are both singular and are connected by the words or, nor,
neither/nor, either/or, and not only/but also the verb is singular.
Jessica or Christian is to blame for the accident.
10. The only time when the object of the preposition factors into the
decision of plural or singular verb forms is when noun and pronoun
subjects like some, half, none, more, all, etc. are followed by a
prepositional phrase. In these sentences, the object of the preposition
determines the form of the verb.
All of the chicken is gone.All of the chickens are gone.
11. The singular verb form is usually used for units of measurement.
Four quarts of oil was required to get the car running.
12. If the subjects are both plural and are connected by the words or, nor,
neither/nor, either/or, and not only/but also, the verb is plural.
Dogs and cats are both available at the pound.
13. If one subject is singular and one plural and the words are connected by
the words or, nor, neither/nor, either/or, and not only/but also, you use
the verb form of the subject that is nearest the verb.
Do your sisters or your girlfriend want any pizza?
15. * Except for the pronouns (few, many, several, both) that always take
the plural form.
Few were left alive after the flood.
16. If two infinitives are separated by and they take the plural form of the
verb.
To walk and to chew gum require great skill.
17. When gerunds are used as the subject of a sentence they take the
singular verb form of the verb, but when they are linked by and they
take the plural form.
Standing in the water was a bad idea.Swimming in the ocean and playing
drums are my hobbies.
18. Collective nouns like herd, senate, class, crowd, etc. usually take a
singular verb form.
The herd is stampeding.
19. Titles of books, movies, novels, etc. are treated as singular and take a
singular verb.
The Burbs is a movie starring Tom Hanks.
20. Final Rule – Remember, only the subject affects the verb!
SELF-CHECK 2.4A
In each sentence below, underline the verb that agrees with the subject.
1. (Does, Do) every boy and girl in kindergarten visit the museum?
3. Either the plaintiff or the defendant (has, have) changed his mind about the suit.
4. Neither the President nor his family members (was, were) safe.
6. Every dog and cat (is, are) required to wear a tag certifying that it has been
vaccinated.
7. The cook and housekeeper (is, are) paid a larger salary than the gardener
because of the extra requirements of her job.
10. Both Jane and her brother (like, likes) riding horses.
Complete these sentences by using the right tense of the verb. You will have
to read ahead.
Now complete this table. Remember, the past tense tells us what has happened
and the future tense tells us what will happen. The present tense tells us what
is happening,
Write a few lines about what you did last Saturday. Remember your
tenses!
Now write a few lines about what you will do this Saturday.
Tenses A. 13/11/00
Complete these sentences by using the right tense of the verb. You will have
to read ahead.
Now complete this table. Remember, the past tense tells us what has
happened and the future tense tells us what will happen.
Write a few lines about what you did last Saturday. Remember your
tenses!
Now write a few lines about what you will do this Saturday.
Tenses B. 13/11/00
Complete these sentences by using the right tense of the verb. You will have
to circle the form of the verb you think is correct.
Now complete this table. Remember, the past tense tells us what has happened
and the future tense tells us what will happen. The present tense tells us what
is happening,
INFORMATION SHEET 4
MODAL VERBS
SELF-CHECK 4A
Fill in the blanks in each sentence using a modal verb, such as can, could, would,
should, might, may, must, or have to, based on the situational hints shown in
italics. Select the modal that seems most appropriate for the situation described.
SELF-CHECK 4B
Fill in the blanks in each sentence using a modal verb, such as can, could, would,
should, might, may, must, or have to.
2. You _____always try reinstalling Windows, that might work if the disk is
corrupt.
4. When she was young, she _______play tennis every single day, rain or
shine.
8. I _________think not!
INFORMATION SHEET 5
ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE
The passive voice is less usual. In the passive voice, the subject receives the
action of the verb:
The object of the active verb becomes the subject of the passive verb:
► Use the active voice when you want to be direct and emphatic.
Active: Management expects the staff to follow the rules.
Passive: It is expected by Management that the rules will be followed by
the staff.
In this instance, the active voice delivers the message more effectively.
► Use the passive voice when you do not need to tell the reader who is acting.
Active: Ned will prosecute trespassers.
Passive: Trespassers will be prosecuted.
In this case, it is not necessary to say who will be doing the prosecuting.
Fear of
being prosecuted, not fear of being prosecuted by Ned, will prevent most
people
from trespassing.
► Use the ‘objective’ passive for writing in disciplines such as the sciences.
Active: Dr. Cranium considered the drug to be a medical breakthrough,
but after he tested the drug further, he found that it had serious side
effects.
Passive: The drug was considered to be a medical breakthrough, but
after further testing, it was found to have serious side effects.
SELF-CHECK 5A
Rewrite the following sentences by replacing passive verbs with active verbs, and
by adding a subject if necessary.
4. The dog was given a bath, and the cat was rescued from the tree.
5. The story of the albatross will be told many times by the ancient mariner.
7. It was proven by Atticus that the crime was not committed by the accused.
SELF-CHECK 5B
The following paragraph is written with some verbs in the passive voice. Rewrite
the paragraph, and change the verbs from the passive voice to the active voice.
Supply new subjects for some sentences.
Last year a hurricane was experienced by my family and me for the first time. It was Hurricane
Ellen, and much damage to our property and neighborhood was caused by its fierce winds of 200
miles per hour and its heavy rains. The old oak tree in our backyard was uprooted and hurled
across the roof of our house, creating a large hole through which the rain poured in. Our living
room was flooded by the water, which rose to a height of three feet. When we began to think that
the worst of the storm was over, we heard a loud crash and looked out the window to see that our
car had been hit by our neighbor’s fallen tree, caving in the roof and breaking all the windows.
Having recently moved to the East Coast from North Dakota, we thought that a hurricane was
little more than a thunderstorm. Next time, when people in our area are advised to evacuate
before a hurricane comes, I’m sure our family will be the first to leave.
Student name:
Module Title/No:
Qualification:
Oral/interview questions Satisfactory response
Yes No
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Performance Remarks
Feedback
S NS C NYC
1. Self-Check 1.1A
2. Self-Check 1.1B
3. Self-Check 1.2A
4. Self-Check 1.2B
5. Self-Check 1.3A
6. Self-Check 1.3B
7. Self-Check 1.4A
8. Self-Check 1.4B
9. Self-Check 1.4C
10. Self-Check 1.5A
11. Self-Check 1.5B
12. Self-Check 1.5A
13. Self-Check 1.6B
14. Self-Check 1.7B
15. Self-Check 1.8
16. Self-Check 2.1A
17. Self-Check 2.1B
18. Self-Check 2.2A
19. Self-Check 2.3A
20. Self-Check 2.3B
21. Self-Check 2.4B
22. Self-Check 3.1A
23. Self-Check 3.1B
24. Self-Check 3.1C
25. Self-Check 4.1A
26. Self-Check 4.1B
27. Self-Check 5A
28. Self-Check 5B
S - Satisfactory
NS – Not Satisfactory
C - Completed
NYC – Not Yet Completed
Module is
Completed Not Yet Completed
Remarks: