PNU LET Review 2009 Structure of English

WHAT TO EXPECT

SPECIALIZATION: ENGLISH

FOCUS: STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH

LET Competencies:

Prepared by:

Alice M. Karaan

PART I: CONTENT UPDATE

This review material consists of the following:

Page
 Basic Sentence Patterns 1
 Nouns 2
 Articles 4
 Pronouns 5
 Prepositions 8
 Verbs 10
 Subject-Verb Agreement 15
 Voice 17
 Phrasal Verbs 18
 Adjectives 19
 Coordination 21
 Subordination 22
 Negation 23
 Yes/No Questions 25
 Wh-questions 27
 Adverbs 28

================================================================

BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS

1. N be Adj
where the adjective is a subject complement, in particular a predicate
adjective. The adjective refers back to the subject. The copula verb be
means “may be described as.”

Roses are sweet.

2. N be UW (= uninflected word),
where the uninflected word is an ADVERBIAL such as here, there, up,
down, in, out, inside, upstairs, downstairs, on, off, now, then, yesterday,
and tomorrow. Be has the meaning of “be located” or “occur.”

The meeting was yesterday.

3. N1 be N1
where the superscript means that the two nouns have the same
referent. The second noun following the be verb is also a subject
complement, in particular a PREDICATE NOUN or PREDICATE NOMINATIVE.

1
 Her neighbor is my cousin.

4. N InV (= intransitive verb)

where the intransitive verb does not require an object. The verb being
self-sufficient can stand alone with its subject.

Glasses break.

5. N1 TrV (= transitive V) N2
where N2 does not have the same referent as N1. N2 is called the direct
object of the verb, “the receiver of the action.”

The girl buys yellow roses.

6. N1 TrV N2 N3
where the superscripts 1, 2, and 3 indicate that each noun has a
different referent.

Mother gave a gift to the orphan. (usually reads as Mother gave the
orphan a gift.)

Two noun objects occur after the verb. Still N2 is the direct object and N3 is the
indirect object. If we omit the last noun, the pattern is identical to that in item 5. Note
that the indirect object is preceded by the preposition to (sometimes for or of). If the
two objects are inverted, the preposition disappears.

He made a toy house for her.

He made her a toy house.

The teacher asked a question of her.

The teacher asked her a question.

7. } N2
}Adj
}Pronoun
N1 TrV N2 }Adv (of place), uninflected
}Verb, present participle
}Verb, past participle

There are a choice of different forms in sentence final position. These are
illustrated as follows:

The class voted Henry secretary.

The principal found the gardener efficient.
We considered the writer you.
The teacher directed them outside.
She saw them praying.
I imagine my father overworked.

The most common illustration of this sentence pattern is one with the occurrence
of a final N2.

NOUNS

Nouns can be recognized by means of the following characteristics:

1. They are names of entities -- a person, place, thing, of idea.

2
2. They have two inflections, the plural {-es} and the possessive (sometimes called
the genitive) {-‘s}. Both inflections have various allomorphs
/əz/ appears after morphs ending in sibilants or affricates / s, z, š, ž, č j /
/s/ appears after morphs ending in voiceless consonants / p, t, k, f, Ɵ /,
except the sibilants and affricate / s, š, č /
/z/ appears after morphs ending in vowels and voiced consonants / b, d, g,
v,
ð, m, n, ŋ, l, r. y, w /, except the sibilants and the affricate / z, ž, j /

3. They may be marked by noun-forming derivational suffixes added to bases or

stems, usually belong to other parts of speech, e.g.
 added to verbs
{-age} breakage
{-ee} employee
 added to adjectives
{-ity} facility
{-ness} happiness
 added to other nouns
{-cy} advocacy
{-ian} librarian
{-ship} friendship

4. They fill certain characteristic positions in relation to other parts of speech in

phrases and sentences.
 just before a verb
Red roses bloom in my garden.

 after determiners such as articles, demonstratives, and possessive

adjectives, e.g. the examination, these reviewees, my handouts

5. Unlike other languages, gender is not an important feature of English grammar.

Gender is only marked in certain pairs of nouns, e.g. waiter/waitress,
host/hostess

6. Certain superfixes occasionally identify nouns from other parts of speech as in:
récòrd and rècórd. These two words are morphemically alike; however, we
identify the stress pattern / ˊ ˋ / as a noun.

7. Nouns can serve as heads in a noun phrase. As heads they may be preceded by
one or more single-word modifiers and followed by a phrasal or clausal modifier
or both
the small study table in my room which my father bought

Functions of Nouns

subject of verbs Several items have ambiguous stems.

direct objects of verbs They administered the test.
indirect objects of verbs The lecturer provided the participants
handouts.
subject noun predicates/ We are LET reviewers.
predicate nouns
object noun predicates/ The reviewees chose him their representative.
object complements
objects of prepositions in our review class
appositives The LET, a professional examination, is
conducted every year.
vocatives/nouns of Anne, how did you find the exam?
address

3
Noun Types

1. common: nouns referring to a kind of person, thing, or idea

 Count nouns, which take the plural inflection
 Mass/noncount nouns, which don’t take the plural inflection

2. proper nouns: names for unique individuals or places

3. collective nouns: able to take either singular or plural verbs forms, depending
on the interpretation given to the noun, i.e, whether it is seen as a unit or
as a collection of individuals
The team has won all its games.
The team have won awards in their respective events.

ARTICLES

Articles are a subclass of determiners, which are noun-marking words. They usually
come before the nouns they modify.

a/an (indefinite the (definite article) no/zero article

articles)
Only before singular Before uncountable/mass nouns Identifies certain indefinite
(sg) countable nouns (UNs) and countable plural (pl) meanings of nouns
(CNs) nouns
1 Before an unindentified Reference backward to a N To refer to all members of
sg CN, one example of already mentioned a class
its class A dog . . . and here is the dog 0Dogs are domestic
a chair (furniture) now. animals.
2 Before an unindentified Reference forward to an To distinguish one class
sg CN that is identification soon to be made, from another
representative of its often by modifiers following a 0Men, not women, are
class noun protectors.
a dog (a domestic The history of his town
animal)
3 Before a predicate N Before superlatives and before To refer to an indefinite
after a be verb if no ordinal numbers, except ordinal number but not necessarily
determiner is used numbers used alone (first in her to all members of a class.
. . . is a good neighbor batch) 0Seedlings are beginning
The best cake I have ever seen to sprout. (many)
The first person to fly in space
4 With UNs to mean Content know to both writer and With plural nouns after be.
mean a kind of, or with reader His brothers are
kind of, or certain The chapel in the village (only 0engineers.
a smile one chapel)
an insight
5 Before few and little to Identification of a class, With institutions and
mean some but not especially in a generalization, practices felt to be unique
many followed by a noun, or an 0Offices open at 7 o’clock.
adjective 0Dinner is usually late.
The youth is the hope of the
future.
the physically challenged
6 When using a proper Beginning of a phrase containing With set phrases, usually
noun to indicate the an appositive pairs
characteristics of the Interpret this item, the one with 0Heaven and hell
person named an illustration
She is a Sister Teresa.

4
 (a saintly person)
7 To name “a certain With prepositional phrases
person whose name is.” 0At rest, in danger, on time
A Mr. Alba came to see
you.
8 With nouns used in
headlines in newspapers,
captions in books, signs,
labels and the like
0MURDERER ESCAPED
BEWARE OF 0DOG
9 For a family name in the With common nouns used as
plural terms of address and therefore
The Basas have arrived. capitalized.
We are ready to go, 0Mother.
10 To distinguish people who
have the same name
The Jessica Reyes who joined
the beauty pageant is not the
Jessica Reyes who is my
cousin.
11 When the article is part of a
geographical name
The Philippines
The United States
The Red Sea
12 When the article is accepted
as part of any kind of proper
name
The Philippine Star
The Princess of Negros
The Hilton
The University of St. Tomas
The United Nations

PRONOUNS

Most pronouns stand for, refer to, or replaces a noun or a noun phrase within a text;
hence, they occupy the same position as a noun or noun phrase does. The word or
words that a pronoun stands for are its antecedent or reference.

My brother holds dual citizenship. He is not only a Filipino but also a

Canadian citizen.

I and me stand for the speaker or writer.

I am a Filipino, but I am living in Australia now.

Pronouns can also be a direct reference to an outside situation (e.g., “What is that?”
in response to a sound or noise).

Kinds of Pronouns

There are many different kinds of pronouns: subject, object, possessive, reflexive,
demonstrative and others. The forms within each category are distinguished by
number (singular/plural), person (first/second/third) gender (masculine/feminine/
neuter), and in the case of demonstratives, by number and proximity.

5
Personal and Related Pronouns

Person/ Personal Possessive

Number Reflexive/
Subject Object Noun Determiner/ Intensive
Singular Form Form replacement Adjective
+I I me mine my myself
+ II you you yours your yourself
+ III
Masculine he him his his himself
Feminine she her hers her herself
Neuter it it - its itself
Plural
+I we us ours our ourselves
+ II you you yours your yourselves
+ III they them theirs their themselves

Things to remember:

1. Animals closely related to people can be referred to by he, him, and his or
she, her, and hers.

The dog loves his/her/its master.

2. Use it and its to refer to inanimate objects except ships, which are always
referred as she.

3. Countries and schools are sometimes referred matter are sometimes referred
to by she or her.

4. Traditionally, the pronouns he, him, and his have been used for mixed groups
or groups in which the sex is unknown. Many people now object to this use,
so they use both the masculine and feminine forms or the plural forms to
avoid the problem.
Everybody submitted his or her assignment. (awkward)
All the students submitted their assignments. (acceptable)

5. If I, me, my or mine or their plural counterparts are part of a pair or a series,

put them last.
The teacher confiscated his toy and mine, too.
Father helped Tony with his project, and he will help my sister and me
with ours tomorrow.

Reflexive Pronouns

1. Use the reflexive pronoun as the object of the verb form or preposition to refer
to the subject of the sentence.

The baby is able to feed itself.

Luis cut himself with a razor blade.

2. The phrase by + self or its emphatic form all by + self means alone or without
any help.

I crossed the river (all) by myself.

Intensive Pronouns

6
The intensive form occurs directly after the word it modifies or at the end of the
clause.

The mayor herself distributed the relief goods.

The mayor distributed the relief goods herself.

Reciprocal Pronouns

1. The reciprocal pronoun forms are each other and one another. They means
that each part of the subject did the action and also received the action.

2. They must be objects of verb forms or objects of prepositions.

3. Some prefer to use each other for two people or things and one another for
more than two.
The two finalists congratulated each other for making it to the top.l
The class members prepared surprise gifts for one another during the
Christmas party.

Demonstrative Pronouns

1. Demonstrative pronouns occur alone. They do not precede nouns.

This is my favorite movie.

2. Demonstrative pronouns can show distance or contrast not connected with

distance.

This is mine; that is yours over there. (distance)

Which ones do you prefer, these or those? (contrast)

Indefinite Pronouns

Personal none another

anyone everyone no one someone other ones
anybody everybody nobody somebody others
NonPersonal anything everything nothing something another
every one none other ones
others

Use singular verbs with compound pronouns and use singular pronouns to refer to
them in formal writing.

Formal: Nobody brought his book today.

Informal: Nobody brought their books today.

Question Interrogative pronouns

Who, whom, whose, which, and what can begin questions.

1. Use who, whom, whose and which to refer to persons..

2. Use what and which to refer to things and events.
3. In formal writing, use who for the subject of a clause and whom for the object
of the verb or preposition.

Relative pronouns

1. Relative pronouns (sometimes called clause markers) introduce dependent

clauses (also called relative clauses).

2. Relative pronouns used in adjective clauses are who, whom, whose, which
and that.

7
 3. Who, whom, and whose are used for persons while which is used for non-
persons.
The guest who came to dinner is the governor.
The book which I bought is a best seller.

4. That is a neutral form. It can be marked +human or –human. In other words,

it can be a substitute for both who (+human) or which (-human).

The guest who/that came to dinner is the governor.

The book which/that I bought is a best seller.

5. In informal writing, whom is optional; in formal writing, whom must be used

Nora is the girl you saw in the party last night. (informal)
Nora is the girl whom you saw in the party last night. (formal)

6. That, which and whom are the only relative pronouns that can be left out.
The instrumental music (that) I like to hear often is that of Zamfir.
The house pests (which) I hate to see are the rodents and the
cockroach.

7. Who, whom, and whose can be used in both essential and nonessential
clauses.

8. That instead of which is used only in essential or restrictive clauses, so do not

put commas around clauses beginning with that.
*The poster, that won first prize, pleased both the judges and the
viewers.

9. Use which in nonessential or nonrestrictive clauses. Separate nonessential

clauses from the rest of the sentence by commas.
Our car, which has been running for three days, should be brought to
the machine shop for check-up.

10. Relative pronouns used in noun clauses are that, what, whatever, whoever,
whomever, and whichever.
Whatever you offer will be appreciated. (noun clause as subject)
He will befriend whoever he gets acquainted with. (noun clause as
direct object)

11. Look at the antecedent of who, that or which when used as subject to decide
whether the verb following should be singular or plural.
The painting which is exhibited is the painter’s masterpiece.
The farmers who own orchards earn much from their harvest.

PREPOSITIONS

Prepositions are notoriously difficult for ESL learners for several reasons.

1. Several English prepositions are realized as a single form in the learner’s first
language.

Pumunta kami sa palengke. (We went to the market).

Lumangoy kami sa ilog. (We swam in the river.)
Sa kalye ang gulo. (The commotion occurred on the street.)
Antayin mo ako sa kanto. (Meet me at the street corner.)

2. The English preposition is not necessarily realized by a single word. There

are complex forms like because of and in spite of or coalesced forms like into
and onto.

3. Certain prepositions co-occur with verbs, adjectives, and nouns to form

clusters.

8
 to substitute for to be afraid of
in favor of awareness of

4. English prepositions are polysemous. They bear varied meanings.

Throw the at the wall. (space)
It rains at night. (time)
Water freezes at 00C. (degree)
She’s good at dancing. (idiomatic)

Meanings of Prepositions

1. Many prepositions prototypically deal with locating objects in space involving

two or more entities. One entity is for foregrounding, while the other serves as
background. The former is the figure and the latter is the landmark. In

Throw the ball at the wall.

figure landmark

2. Note the following figure

at on in
by through
with
under ↕ ↕ ↕ about
over
from off out of
Adapted - Dirven 1993
 At, on, and in are the basic and most general place prepositions. At
denotes place as a point of reference, on denotes physical contact
between the figure and landmark, and in denotes the enclosure of the
trajector in the landmark.

They met at the main gate.

Put the box on the table.
The ball is in the box.

 From, off, and out of are source prepositions involving the notion of
separation from place. From denotes separation from a point of
orientation, off denotes separation from contact with line or surface, and
out of, separation from inside a landmark.

We walked from the gate to the waiting shed.

The box fell off the table.
Take the ball out of the box.

 By and with are proximity prepositions, which locate the figure in relation
to a point of orientation marked by the preposition at. By denotes the idea
of “connection” while with denotes both a point of orientation and the idea
of connection. In its spatial sense, with can occur only with animate nouns
as landmark.

He stood by me in all throughout the campaign.

He rides with me to our place of work.

 Through and about require the landmark to the seen as a surface or a

volume and are there positioned in the diagram above next to in. Through
structures space as a tunnel or channel. About denotes spatial movement
in any direction.

Move the other side of the mountain through the tunnel.

He walked briskly about the yard for his morning exercise.

9
  Under and over are vertical space preposition. Under denotes a figure at
a lower point than the landmark. Over denotes a figure that is at a higher
point than the landmark.

Don’t keep your shoes under the table.

We watched the game over the fence.

Selected Meanings and Uses of Common Prepositions

1. at We left at 2:00 pm. (exact)

2. about We left about 2:00 pm. (approximate)
3. against to lean against the wall (contact)
4. around around 2:00 (approximate)
5. by bed by the window (nearness)
by 2:00 (no later than)
6. from paper is made from wood (source)
7. of a quarter of ten (before)
8. on on the wall (contact)
on Sunday, on November 8th (day, date)
on radio, TV (communication)
a round-table discussion on language policy (concerning)
9. over over the weekend (spanning time)
over the radio, TV (communication)
10. through through the forest (penetrate)
through thick and thin (endurance)
11. to work from 8 to 5 (until)
a quarter to 11:00 (before)
He is honest to such extent. (degree)
12. under in under an hour (less than)
under stress (condition)
13. with He grew smarter with the years. (together)
rank with the best (equal standing or ability)
delivered his speech with ease (manner)

Variations in Use of Prepositions

1. spatial proximity a house near/by the lake

2. time/degree approximation cost about/around Php1,500.00
3. telling time a quarter of/to ten
a quarter after/past ten
4. location along something linear the houses on/along the river
5. in a time period It occurred in/during 1901.
6. temporal termination studied from 8 until/till/to 5
7. location lower than something below/beneath/under/underneath the bed
8. location higher than something above/over the piano
9. location in/at the rear of something behind/in back of the cabinet
10. location adjacent next to/beside the cave

VERBS

A verb can be recognized by means of the following characteristics:

 Denotes an action (e.g., read) or a state of being (e.g. know). Action verbs
are dynamic. State of being verbs (or stative verbs) include the copula or
linking verbs, e.g. the be-verbs, remain, appear, and become.

 Has four inflections

- {-s} of third person singular present tense verbs
- {-ed} of simple past tense verbs
- {-en} of the past participle
- {-ing} of the present participle

10
 The third person singular –s has the same allomorphs as the noun plural and
the noun possessive.
The –ed past tense inflection has three allomorphs:
- / əd / after morphs which end in / t / or / d / as in planted, raided
- / t / after morphs that end in voiceless sounds except / t / as in
brushed, jumped, walked
- / d / after morphs which end in voiced sounds except / d / as in
cleaned, grabbed, agreed
 Follows a subject noun and may be followed in turn by adjectives

}______ eager [to enhance their knowledge].

The reviewees }______ seriously.
}______ their handouts.

 May fall under one more or more of these types

 intransitive verbs, which does not take an object (direct)
Flowers bloom.
 transitive verbs, which require an object (direct)
Flowers need water and sunlight.
 ditransitive verbs, which take two objects (direct and indirect)
Alex gave his girlfriend three red roses.
 linking/copula verbs, where what follows the verb relates back to the
subject (subject complement -- a predicate noun or a predicate
adjective)
Roses are lovely Valentine’s Day gifts.
Roses are sweet.
 complex transitive verbs, where what follows the object (direct)
relates to the object
They chose Niña, muse of the team.
 prepositional verbs, which requires a preposition phrase to be
complete
We looked at the pictures taken during our graduation

 Have tense and aspect qualities. Tense and aspect have to do with form.
TENSE is “the grammatical marking on verbs that usually indicates time
reference relative to either the time of speaking or the time at which some
other situation was in force” (Jacobs 1995). Time reference has to do with
meaning. Events and situations are located in time, perhaps to our speaking
about them, perhaps while we are speaking about them, or perhaps at some
later time. English has three tenses – present, past, and future. The present
and the past tenses have inflectional markings, while the future is marked by
the inclusion of the modals will or shall. Simply put, tense is a set of verb
forms that indicate a particular point in time or period of time in the past,
present, or future.

ASPECT isa general name given to verb forms used to signify certain ways in
which an event is viewed or experienced. Aspect can view an event as
completed whole (simple), or whether or not it has occurred earlier (perfect
aspect) or is still in progress (progress).

Noel has attended the review classes. (perfect)

Now he is studying for the LET exam. (progressive)

The tenses in combination with aspects make up the following 12 tense-

aspect categories. These make up the traditional 12 tenses.

11
 Simple Perfect Progressive Perfect Progressive
0 have + -en be + -ing have + -en be +-ing
Present dream/dreams has/have dreamed am/is/are dreaming has/have been
dreaming
eat/eats has/have eaten am/is/are eating has/have been eating
Past dreamed had dreamed was/were dreaming had been dreaming
ate had eaten was/were eating had been eating
Future will/shall will/shall have will/shall be will/shall have been
dream dream dreaming dreaming
will/shall eat will/shall have will/shall be eating will/shall have been
eaten eating

Sometimes, if we want to draw attention to the time of the action, we use an

ADJUNCT OF TIME, which can be an adverb, a noun group, or a
prepositional phrase, e.g..:

She’s coming tomorrow. (adverb)

Results of the examination were released last week. (noun group)
He will feel relieved after the exam. (prepositional phrase)

Meanings and Common Uses of Verb Tenses

Simple Aspect: complete wholes; unchanging

1. Simple present: the present in general

a. To talk about our thoughts and feelings at the present moment or
about our immediate reactions to something
I’m terribly busy.
He looks excited.

b. To talk about a settled state of affairs which includes the present

moment
He lives in Sagada now.
Our teacher is very competent and considerate. We like her
very much.

c. To say something is always or generally true

There are 24 hours in a day.
The earth revolves around its axis.

d. To talk about something that a particular person or thing does

regularly or habitually.
I get up early to take a bath.
Every Sunday, I attend church services.

e. To discuss what happens in a book, play or film

In the movie, he plays the character of Juan Tamad.
In those early chapters, he keeps himself isolated to other
people in the village.

f. To describe an event such as a sports match or a ceremony at the

time it is happening as radio and TV commentators do
Doods takes the ball, then passes quickly to Alfie. Alfie turns,
shoots, and scores two points.

2. Simple past: Stating a definite time in the past

12
 An adjunct of time or other time expression is necessary o specify the
particular time in the past we are referring to.

a. To say that an event occurred or that something was the case at a

particular time in the past.
The university officials flew into Jakarta last week to sign a
memorandum of agreement with a sister school.

b. To say that a situation existed over a period of time in the past.

He lived in his ancestral home in the countryside during his
last years.

c. To talk about an activity that took place regularly or repeatedly in the

past, but which no longer occurs
We swam in the river a great deal in my childhood.

3. Simple future: An expression of what we think might happen or what we

intend to happen
a. To say that something is planned to happen, or that we think it is likely
to happen in the future
What do you think Ella will do to fix it?
b. To talk about general truths and to say what can be expected to
happen if a particular situation arises
An attack of dengue fever can keep a man off work for a few
days. He will earn nothing and he have trouble paying his
hospital bills.

Perfect Aspect: prior

1. Present Perfect: the past in relation to the present

We cannot use adjuncts or expressions which place the action at a definite
time in the past. But we can use adjuncts of duration, e.g. forever, always.
*I have watched it the other day.
I ate raw vegetables, which I always avoided, and there was no other
choice.
To mention something that happened in the past but we do not want
to state a specific time.
I have read the book several times.

2. Past Perfect: Events before a particular time in the past

To talk about a past event or situation that occurred before a particular
time in the past
By noon, students had gathered at the quadrangle with their
placards.

3. Future Perfect
To refer to something that has not happened yet, but will happen
before a particular time in the future.
By the time he graduates, his parents will already have left for
New Zealand

Progressive Aspect: incomplete action; changing

1. Present progressive: Accent on the present

a. To talk about something that is happening at the moment we are
speaking
I’m already feeling bored and hungry.

b. To emphasize the present moment or to indicate that a situation is

temporary
She’s spending the summer in her hometown.

13
 c. To indicate changes, trends, developments, and progress
He’s performance in class is improving.

d. To talk about a habitual action that takes place regularly, especially

one which is new or temporary
She’s spending a lot on clothes these days.

2. Past Progressive: accent on the past

a. To talk about continued states or repeated actions which occurred in
the past
His body was trembling; his fever was rising.

b. To contrast a situation with an event which happened just after that

situation existed. We use the past continuous to describe the first
event and the simple past to describe the event which occurred after
it.
We were standing at the main gate waiting to welcome the
guest speaker. He arrived 20 minutes later.

3. Future progressive
a. To say something will surely happen because arrangements have
been made
They will be sending their students regularly to the University
for English proficiency enhancement.

b. To emphasize the duration of a recent event

She’s been crying bitterly.

Perfect-Progressive Aspect

1. Present perfect progressive

a. To talk about an activity or situation that started at some time in the
past, continued, and is still happening now.
The economy has been declining in many parts of the world.

2. Past perfect progressive

a. To emphasize the recentness and duration of a continuous activity
which took place before a particular time in the past.
The old woman had been living alone in that dilapidated
house.

b. To say that something was expected, wished for, or intended before a

particular time in the past.
I had been expecting a phenomenal rise in his political career.

3. Future perfect progressive

a. To emphasize the duration to an event at a specific time in the future
By January 2011, she will have been serving this university for
38 years.

Other concepts related to verbs

1. Verb phrase/verb complex: consists of an auxiliary + a main verb, e.g., must

work, have been reading, will be informed. The word or words in boldface
are the auxiliary or help verbs.

2. Auxiliary/helping verbs

A. Modal auxiliaries and their related phrasal forms

14
 True Modals Phrasal Modals
can, could be*able to
will, shall be going to, be about to
must have* to, have got to
should, ought to be to, be supposed
would (= past habit) used to
may, might be allowed to, be permitted to

 Non-modal auxiliaries : be, do, and have verbs

Of all the auxiliaries, only the non-modals can change form.
Distinguishing characteristics between true modals and phrasal
modals

True Modals Phrasal Modals

1 Do not inflect, i.e., the forms Inflect like other ordinary verbs
remain unchanged am/is/are/was/were able to pass
can pass
2 Lacks tense and a resultant lack of Subject-agreement rule applies
subject-verb agreement except the form used to
We can pass the LET. We are able to pass the LET.
He can pass the LET. He is able to pass the LET.
3 Do not require an infinitive marker Requires an infinitive marker to to
to to precede the main verb precede the main verb
must study hard has/have/had to study hard

3. Operators/operator verbs

 The operator is a verb that has three main functions: 1) It precedes

the negative and combines with it when the negative is contracted to –
n’t; 2) It is the verb that moves around the subject to the sentence
initial position in yes-no questions; and 3) It is also the verb that
appears in the tag phrases of interrogative sentences or tag
questions.
My father will not approve your marriage proposal.
My father won’t approve your marriage proposal.
Will your father approve my marriage proposal?
Will your father not approve my marriage proposal?
Won’t your father approve my marriage proposal?
Your father will approve my marriage proposal, won’t he?

 When a clause contains no verb eligible to be an operator, do is

introduced.
He attends the graduation ball tonight.
 He does attend the graduation ball tonight.
He does not attend the graduation ball tonight.
Does he attend the graduation ball tonight?
He attends the graduation ball tonight, doesn’t he?

 If there are two auxiliary or more auxiliary verbs present in the verb
phrase, the first auxiliary serves as the operator.
He has been reading the Obama autobiography.
He has not been reading the Obama autobiography.
*He has been not reading the Obama autobiography.
Has he been reading the Obama autobiography.
He has been reading the Obama autobiography, hasn’t he?

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT/CONCORD RULES WHICH OFTEN CAUSE

ERRORS

15
1. Collective nouns may take either a singular or plural verb inflection depending on
the meaning.
 Conceived of a one entity – takes singular verb
Our school team has won its games.
 Conceived of as more than one entity or refers to individual membership –
takes plural verb
Our school team have won all their games.

2. Some common and proper nouns ending in –s, including –ics nouns and certain
diseases are always conceived as single entity – take a plural verb.
The recent news is exciting.
Mathematics is repelling to many students.
Measles is a contagious disease.
The United States is still a powerful country.

3. Titles of works even when plural in form are conceived of as single entitles.
The Ten Commandments is a beautiful movie.
The Syntax Files is good reading for those in linguistics.
The song Greenfields brings nostalgia to people of my generation.

4. Nouns occurring in sets of two take the singular when the noun pair is present but
take the plural when pair is absent.
That pair of Lee jeans is expensive.
My glasses are missing.

5. Fractions and percentages takes a singular verb inflection when modifying a

noncount noun and the plural verb when they modify a plural noun. Either a singular
or plural verb inflection may be used when they modify a collective noun, depending
on the speaker’s meaning.
More than half of the cake is eaten.
Twenty percent of the students are not joining the field trip.
One-fourth of the audience is/are teachers.

6. A number normally takes the plural. The number takes the singular.
A number of parents are coming for the meeting.
The number of signatories is substantial to merit approval of the motion.

7. When we use a number and a plural noun to talk about two or more things, we
usually use a plural verb. We use a singular verb with ‘one’.
Seven days make up a week.
One solid evidence is enough to prove his dishonesty.

8. When we are talking about an amount of money or time, or a distance, speed, or

weight, we usually use a number, a plural noun, and a singular verb.
Five hundred dollars is a lot of money.
Three years is a long time to wait for a family member from abroad to
come home.
Eighty kilometers per hour of travel is quite risky on slippery roads.
Seventy-five pounds is all she weighs now.

9. Arithmetic operations take the singular because they are perceived as reflecting a
single numerical entity on both side of the equation or equal sign.
Two plus two is/equals four.

10. The quantifiers a lot (of), lots of, plenty of take a singular verb if the subject noun
is noncount by plural verb if the subject head noun is plural.
A lot of sound views were advanced during the discussion.
A lot of nonsense is evident from uninterested participants.

11. Traditional grammar states that when used as a subject, none (meaning not one)
is always singular regardless of what follows in a prepositional phrase.
None of the boys joins the mountaineering group.

16
 None of rice is eaten at all.

12. Traditional grammar maintains that the antecedent of the relative pronoun is the
noun before.
Alice is one of the graduate students who have finished her master’s
degree in a short period of time.

13. For correlatives either . . . or and neither . . . nor, traditional grammar argues for a
proximity rule, i.e., subject-verb agreement should occur with the subject noun
nearest to the verb.
Either my friend or my classmates are expected to help me with my
project.
Neither my classmates nor my friend volunteers to lend support.

14. A singular noun or pronoun should take a singular verb inflection regardless of
what else occurs between the subject and the verb.
Jimmy, along with his co-teachers, conducts a cleanliness campaign in
the barangay.

VOICE

VOICE pertains to who or what serves the subject in a clause. In the active voice, the
subject of a clause is most often the agent, or doer, of some action. In the passive
voice, the subject of a clause is the receiver or undergoer of the action. The passive
“defocuses” the agent. (Shibitani 1985 in Celce Murcia and Larsen-Freeman 2001)

The lifeguard saved the child. (active)

The child was saved [by the lifeguard]. (passive)

The passive voice is more limited than the active in that it requires only the transitive
verbs – verbs that take direct objects.

The passive morphology is be . . . –en, i.e., a form of the be verb + the past
participle. Usually in passive sentences the agent is not mentioned at all, referred to
as the agentless passive. If the agent is mentioned (= agented passive), it appears in
a prepositional phrase marked by the preposition by.

Some passive sentences have no active counterparts.

Justin was born in Canada.

Advantages of the Active Voice

1. An active clause can give more information in fewer words.

2. A active verb makes writing livelier and more vivid.

Uses of the Passive Voice

1. A passive construction emphasizes the result in an impersonal style. This use

is sometimes desirable in scientific and technical writing.
A new strain of malaria was discovered.

2. A passive verb emphasizes a victim or the result of a disaster.

Active: The child broke the antique vase.
Passive: The antique vase was broken.

3. Use the passive when the agent or the actor is so unimportant or obvious that
you do not need to mention it.
Rica was born in Seychelles.

17
 4. Use a passive verb if you want to hide the name of the person who is
responsible for an unpleasant decision or result.
An increase in tuition fees was proposed.

When to use the passive presents the greatest challenge to ESL learners.

Forms of the English Passive

We usually form simple passives like these:

Paper is produced from trees. (simple present)

Paper was produced from trees. (simple past)

Here are other possible forms:

1. With modals
Paper can be produced from trees.

2. With present perfect

Paper has been produced from trees.

3. With present progressive

Paper is being produced from trees.

4. With past progressive

Paper were being produced from trees.

5. With be going to for future

Paper is going to be produced from trees.

PHRASAL VERBS

These are verbs which consist of two or three words. They consists of:
1. a verb followed by an adverb;
go up, spill over, push through
2. a verb followed by a preposition; or
come upon, reckon with, bank on
3. a verb followed by an adverb and a preposition
break out of, look forward to, go along with

Just like ordinary verb, phrasal verbs may be used:

1. intransitively
Why don’t you speak up?
2. transitively
Let’s cut pollution down to conserve our environment
3. both intransitively and transitively
A plane took off.
She took her coat off because it was warm.

Meaning

A two-word verb often has a one-word synonym, which is generally more formal.
Here are some examples:

Phrasal Verb Synonym Phrasal Verb Synonym

call up telephone give in/up surrender
keep on continue leave out omit
pick out choose put off postpone

18
Separable and Inseparable Verbs

 Parts of inseparable phrasal verbs cannot be separated. If there is a direct

object, it follows the phrasal verb.

Look after your baby brother.

Look after him

 On the other hand, the object of separable phrasal verbs is movable. A

pronoun object comes between the first and second part. A short noun object
can come between the two parts or can follow the second part.

Donna turned on the light.

Donna turned it on.

 Some phrasal verbs can be either separable or inseparable according to their

meanings in a certain context.

She passed out. (fainted)

She passed the brochures out. (distributed)

The car broke down. (stopped running)

The polite broke the door down. (opened by force)

Separable Phrasal Verbs with Their Objects

back it/the car up

blow it/the candle out
it/the balloon up
break them/the statistics down down
them/the negotiations off
bring it/the change about
it/the subject up
burn it/the building down
them/the papers up
clear them/the dishes away
it/the misunderstanding up
close it/the business down
draw it/the agreement up
fill it/a form in/out
it/the cup up
find it/the answer out
give it/this old bag way
it/eating candy up
it/the news out
hand it/the work in/out
keep them/expenses down
it/the radio on
leave it/the question out
let them/our friends in/out
lock them/the prisoners up
look them/our relatives in Manila up
make it/the handwriting out
it/a story up
mix it/food being prepared up
them/people up
pass it/the responsibility on
pay it/the money back
them/my enemies back

19
 pick it/a new shirt out
point it/the problem out

ADJECTIVES

An adjective –

1. Is a word which describes or denotes the qualities of something

2. Commonly occurs between a determiner and a noun, or after be or other

linking verbs or immediately following the intensifier very
the _____ baby seems (very) _____
the hungry baby seems (very) hungry

3. Is associated with certain derivational morphemes

{-y} healthy, leafy
{-al} racial, normal
{-able} understandable, visible
{-ed} aged, learned
{-ful/-less} hopeful, hopeless
{-ish} childish, boyish
{-ive} active, native
{-ous} famous, marvellous

4. Has inflectional morphemes for comparative and superlative forms

pretty prettier prettiest

5. Modifies or complements nouns

the honest man (modifier)
The man is honest. (complement)

6. Has various types in terms of characteristic positions: ATTRIBUTIVE, which

precede nouns, and PREDICATIVE, which follow linking verbs
The diligent students pass the tough exam. (attributive)
They are happy with their high scores. (predicative)

Other related concepts

1. restrictive/nonrestrictive adjectives
RESTRICTIVE adjectives are necessary for defining which noun is being referred
to while NON-RESTRICTIVE adjectives merely add information without being
essential for identification.

A concrete house (restrictive)

My uncle owns a house, built of concrete materials. (non-restrictive)
2. polarity
POLARITY refers to positive and negative contrasts in a language.
Positive polarity Negative polarity
big small, little
old young
long short
good bad
fast slow

Adjectives with positive polarity are unmarked forms because they are used
more frequently in a given language, learned earlier by children, and used in
neutral contexts. Adjectives of negative polarity are marked. They are less
frequently used.

3. gradability

20
 a. Adjectives can be placed in continuum of intensity, with the intensity
increasing or decreasing depending on the intensifier chosen.

[Less intense] [More intense]

Somewhat rare, rare, quite rare, very rare, extremely rare

 Adjectives that can be compared are also called gradable adjectives.

Comparative forms (adjectives marked by -er, more, or less) show
differences/contrasts between two things or groups. Superlative forms
(marked by –est, most, or least) show differences in three or more
things or groups.

 Comparison do nor apply to absolutes such as unique, possible,

impossible, horizontal, round, square, and fatal. They can co-occur
with words like nearly and almost.
The accident was fatal.
The accident was nearly fatal.
The accident was almost fatal.

 The as . . . as construction is used to show that two things or groups

are similar.
Ella is as tall as her mother.

Order of Adjectives in Noun Groups

When two or more adjectives are used in a structure, they usually occur in a
particular order or sequence as follows:

DET opinion size shape condition age color origin NOUN

many pretty small round chipped antiqu blue chinese vases
e

COORDINATION

Conjunction or coordination is the process of combining ideas. Two constituents of

the same type can be put together to produce another larger constituent of the same
type. Traditional grammar calls this process compounding.

Compound sentence: The boys sang and the girls danced last night.
Compound subject: The teacher and her students will join the parade.
Compound verb: The children play and eat during recess.
Compound object: We boiled corn and cassava.

Conjoining like constituents as shown above is referred to as simple coordination.

Here are other ways of coordinating ideas:

1. Ellipsis: Omission or elision of the first verb phrase in the second and adding
the word too or either (for uninverted forms), and so or neither (for inverted
forms).
Affirmative forms
My friends like to read storybooks and I, too. (uninverted)
A horse runs fast, and so does an ostrich. (inverted)
Negative forms
Donna can’t climb a tree, and his little brother can’t, either.
(uninverted)
Ducks can’t fly high, and neither can chickens. (inverted)

2. Use of pro-form, i.e., the substitution of pronoun for a repeated noun.

Luis plays the guitar and he plays the harp, too.

3. Complex or correlative conjunctions like both . . . and..

21
 My father is both kind and sincere.

Forms of Coordinating Conjunctions

Other than and, simple coordinating conjunctions include: for, nor, but, or, yet, and
so. Note the following examples:
milk or chocolate
small but/yet terrible
The table is big, so heavy to lift. (non-clausal)
He came late, so he missed the fun. (clausal)
They accepted the verdict, for they failed to counter the charges against
them. (clausal)

Other forms of correlative conjunctions are either . . . or, not only . . . but also, and
neither . . . nor. These pairs are used together
Either Tony or Nico will top the test.
Anna is neither friendly nor generous.
Our teacher is not only competent but also very understanding.

Use of Coordinating Conjunctions

Below is a straightforward account of the simple conjunctions:

Conjunction Meaning Conjunction Meaning

for because or one or the other of two
alternatives is true
and plus yet but at the same time
nor conjoins two negative so therefore
sentences, both of which
are true
but shows contrast

A deeper and thorough study of each conjunction, however, reveals certain

properties beyond the given straightforward account. To illustrate, here are the other
meaning and uses of and.

1. As logical operator (the truth-conditional meaning)

The entire conjoined statement is true so long as each conjunct that makes it
up is true. If one conjunct is false, then the statement is false.

2. As marker of many meanings

Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (2001) citing Posner (1980) provides
these illustrations:
 Annie is in the kitchen, and she is making doughnuts. (and there . . .)
 Annie fell into a deep sleep, and her facial color returned. (and during
this time . . .)
 The window was open, and there was a draft. (and coming from it . . .)
 Peter married Annie, and she had a baby. (and after that . . .)
 Paul pounded on the stone, and he shattered it. (and thereby . . .)
 Give me your picture, and I’ll give you mine. (If you give me your
picture, I’ll give you mine.)

3. As inferential connective

A reader/listener can draw an inferential connection from sentences like

Susan jumped and hurt her ankle. The use of and invites the listener/reader
to seek some other implicit relevant connection between stated conjuncts.

4. As marker of speaker continuation

In conversational discourse, sometimes a speaker uses and to signal that the
utterance to follow is in some way connected with what has come before. This

22
 particular use of and goes beyond the usual content conjunctive use; rather it
places and into the category of discourse markers like oh and well.

SUBORDINATION

SUBORDINATION means putting less important ideas in less important grammatical

structures like dependent clauses. One means of subordination is sentence
combining or reducing.

Sentence combining

Melissa topped the test.

Melissa was late by twenty minutes.

Although late by twenty minutes, Melissa topped the test.
dependent clause independent clause


Although late, Melissa topped the test
dependent clause independent clause

Subordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions do the job of connecting dependent clauses to

independent clauses. Shown below are different types.

Type Conjunction Type Conjunction

time when, before, conditional if, unless
after, since, while,
until, as
purpose in order to, so that reason because, since, as
result so that concessive although, though,
while, despite
place where, wherever manner as, like

Time Her father died when she was young.

Conditional If I could afford it, I would buy a car.
Purpose They had to extend the session in order to discuss all concerns
raised.
Reason I couldn’t ignore him because he was my childhood playmate
Result She had difficulty moving house so I extended help by
transporting her things.
Concessive While I did well in class, I was a poor performer at club
activities.
Place Wherever I stayed, I found troublesome neighbors.
Manner Is she often rude and cross like she’s been this past week?

Relative clauses
Another form of subordination involves the embedding of one clause within another.
For example:

The lady came into the room.

The lady was small and slender.
 The lady [the lady came into the room] was small and slender.
The lady who came into the room was small and slender.

The most common relative pronouns which mark relative clauses are: that, which,
who, whom, and whose. Their uses are presented earlier in the section on pronouns

23
NEGATION

In English, negation affects words, phrases, and sentences.

Forms to Express Negation

The following forms mark negation in English (Celce-Mucia and Larsen-Freeman,

2001.):

Affix-Negation No-Negation Not-Negation

a- (atypical) no (no plans) not, n’t
dis- (dishonest) nothing (I cannot/can’t) play the
in/im/ir/il- nobody piano.)
(inadequate/impossible/ no one never (not + ever)
irrelevant/illegal) nowhere (My aunt has never left
non- (non-formal) our town.)
un- (uncomfortable) neither (not + either)
-less (useless) nor (and + not)
-free (fat-free) Neither his brother nor
his sister helps support
him in his studies.

Negation at the lexical or word level can simply use the negative affix. For example:

untidy untidily
impossible impossible
inadequate inadequately
illegally illegally
dishonest dishonestly
atypical atypically

Determining which affix to use is not always predictable. However, the choice of im-,
in-, il- or ir- is phonologically conditioned by the consonant which follows it, i.e., im- is
used if the following consonant is bilabial (b, p, m), il- goes with a stem beginning
with l, and ir- with a stem beginning with r. The prefix in- is the most common.

Nothing, nobody, and no one are indefinite pronouns while nowhere is an adverb.

Other negative items include never (negative adverb of frequency), nor (negative
coordinating conjunction, and neither . . . nor (negative correlative conjunction.

The basketball players never admitted their mistake.

They preschoolers can neither read nor write, nor can they comprehend do
mathematical computations yet.

At the phrase level, no can function as a negative determiner in a noun phrase.

No agreement has been reached yet.

No may also be followed by a gerund as in no reading, no parking, or no littering.

Not is used before infinitive verbs to make the phrase negative.

She reminded her friends not to forget their bathing suits.

At the sentence level, not or its contraction n’t is the main negator. This applies to
different sentence types.

Mrs. Palma is not/isn’t our teacher. (statement)

24
 Are you not/Aren’t we meeting today? (question)
Do not/Don’t laugh. (command)
Was it not/Wasn’t it exciting! (exclamation)

No and not are negative substitutes. No can be a negative substitute for a whole
sentence while not for a subordinate clause.

A: Is she coming with us?

B: No. She’ll do library work for an hour.

Are you joining us on Friday? If not, please let me know by tomorrow.

A: Is Pepito interested in the post?

B: I’m afraid not. He’d rather be a plain member.

Placement of not

1. Not usually follows the be-verb, whether functions as a main verb (copula) or an
auxiliary/helping verb.

Surprisingly today, the birds are not noisy. (main)

I’m wondering why they are not chirping. (auxiliary verb)

2. Other than be, not follows the auxiliary verb if one is present or the first auxiliary
(modal, phrasal modal, or have) if there are two or more.

I cannot swim well.

The principal must not have been joking when he said that.
We have not been analyzing the data since we received them.

3. With other main verbs, a do-verb is introduced before negation can take place.

The child swims in the pool.  The child does swim in the pool.
The child does not swim in the pool.

YES/NO QUESTIONS

Inverted and Uninverted Yes/No Questions

YES/NO QUESTIONS are

often defined as questions for which either “yes” or “no” is the
expected answer. They are produced with a rising intonation.

Yes/no questions are formed by inverting the subject and the operator.

Lucy is your cousin.  Is Lucy your cóusin?

She can speak fluently.  Can she speak flúently?
She has been a consistent debater.  Has she been a consistent debáter?
She loves (= does love) to read opinion columns.  Does she love to read
opínion columns?

Yes/no questions may have a statement word order, i.e., the word order is
uninverted. This sentence, however, is likewise said with a rising intonation.
2
Lucy is your 3cousin3↑
2
She can speak 3fluently3↑

Answers to Yes/No Questions

Yes/no questions usually take short answers using the operator. The operator is
italicized below.

25
1. Is your sister fond of sweets? {Yes, she is.
{No, she isn’t.
{*Yes,she’s.

2. Can you speak Chinese? {Yes, I can.

{No, I can’t.

3. Are we supposed to attend? {Yes, we are.

{No, we aren’t

4. Have they eaten? {Yes, they have.

{No, they haven’t

5. Does the baby walk? {Yes, it does.

{No, it doesn’t.

If the sentence contains more than one auxiliary verb, the short answer may also
contain an auxiliary verb in addition to the operator.

Will they have joined? {Yes, they will have.

{No, they won’t have.

If the second or third auxiliary is a be form, it is usually omitted.

Will she be able to pass? {Yes, she will.

{No, she won’t.
Negative Yes/No Questions

Semantic problems may arise for many ESL learners who react to a negative yes/no
question in a literal manner in their language. This means that they agree or disagree
with the form of the yes/no question, thus causing miscommunication.

Don’t you feel sorry? {Yes (I don’t feel sorry).

{No (I feel sorry).

Among native speakers of English, the expected response is:

Don’t you feel sorry? {Yes, (I feel sorry).

{No, I don’t feel sorry}.

Focused Yes/No Questions

While neutral yes/no questions, as in the preceding cases, query on the whole state,
activity or event, this query can be more focused sometimes.

Does Álex plan a foreign trip with Melly? (or did someone else?)
Does Alex plán a foreign trip with Melly? (or did he only suggest?)
Does Alex plan a foreign tríp with Melly? (or is it something else?)
Does Alex plan a foreign trip with Mélly? (or is it with someone else?)

The focused sentence element gets the primary stress as shown above.

Some Versus Any in Questions

Some and any can both occur with different question types depending on the
meaning.

 In open or unmarked questions, any is used in questions as well as in negatives.

Is there any sugar?

There isn’t any sugar.

26
 However, some is used in questions that expect a positive response, e.g., an
offer:

Would you like some cold drink? (encourages a “yes” answer)

 Here are questions to consider:

Is there some relief? (expects a “yes” answer)

Is there any relief? (neutral question/no special meaning involved)
Isn’t there some relief? (Surely there is.)
Isn’t there any relief? {
{(hopeful that there would be)
Is there no relief? {

Other Functions of Yes/No Questions

1. Direct request: Can I borrow your notes on phonology?

2. Less direct request: Could I borrow your notes on phonology?
3. Polite request: I wonder if I could borrow your notes on phonology.
4. Offers or invitations: Would you like to have a cup of coffee?
5. Commands Would you please pay attention?
6. Reprimands Don’t you have enough sense to do such a thing?
7. Complaints Have you ever tried using this gadget at all?

WH-QUESTIONS
WH-QUESTIONSare used to seek specific information so they are also referred to as
information questions. Except for how, these words begin with wh- : who, whose,
whom, what, which, where, when, why, and how.

A variety of constituents can be queried in a wh-question. Consider this sentence:

Liza bought a beautiful house for her parents before she went to Canada.

Subject NP: Who bought a beautiful house? (Liza)

Object NP: What did Liza buy? (a beautiful house)
Object of the For whom did Liza buy a beautiful house? (her parents)
preposition: Who(m) did Liza buy a beautiful house for? (her parents)
Verb phrase: What did Liza do when she came home? (She bought a
beautiful house).
Determiner: Whose parents did Liza buy a beautiful house for when she
came home? (her parents)
Adjective: What kind of house did Liza buy? (a beautiful house)
Adverbial: When did Liza buy a beautiful house? (before she went to
Canada)
Adverbial: Where did Liza go? (to Canada)

Wh-questions elicit specific kinds of information.

What? The answer is non-human.

Who? The answer will be human.
Which? The answer is one of a limited group.
When? The answer will be a time or an occasion.
Where? The answer will be a place or situation.
Why? The answer will be reason.
How? The answer will show manner, means, or degree.
How much? The answer will be connected with an uncountable noun.
How many? The answer will be connected with a countable noun.
How often? The answer will indicate frequency.

27
Forming Wh-Questions

If who, what, or which is the subject of the sentence, it is followed by the normal word
order of a statement.

Statement: Grammar study is exciting.

Question: What is exciting?

Statement: Those big dogs chased the cat.

Question: Which dogs chased the cat.

Statement: Their teacher gave a test.

Question: Who gave a test?

Whom/who, what and which as objects form questions by putting the wh-words first,
and do, does, or did next.

Statement: He planted fruit trees.

Question: What did he plant?

Statement: Mothers bathes my baby sister.

Question: Who (Whom) does my mother bathe?

Statement: The children catch yellow butterflies.

Question: Which butterflies do the children catch?

A modal (e.g., can) cannot be replaced by do, does, or did. The do-verb replaces the
main verb.

Statement: My three-year-old sister can read.

Question: What can my sister do?

Social Uses of Wh-Questions

Certain fixed formulaic wh-questions serve social functions (Celce-Murcia and Larsen
Freeman 2001). Among them are:

Introductions: How do you do?

Greetings: How are you? How have you been? What’s up?
What’s new?
Eliciting personal reactions: How was the test?
Making suggestions: Why don’t you seek advice? How about a trip?
Responding positively Why not?
to a suggestion:
Expressing exasperation: What now?
Seeking another’s opinion: How about you? What do you think?
Challenging another’s opinion: What for? How come? Since when?
Expressing perplexity: What to do?
Asking for clarification/expansion: What about it?

ADVERBS

Adverbs modify or change the meaning of other words such as verbs, adjectives,
another adverb, or even a whole sentence.

The athlete can run fast. (verb modifier)

Sailboats are really beautiful to watch. (adjective modifier)
The athlete can run very fast. (adverb modifier).
Perhaps, Nena’s family will give a party.(sentence modifier)

28
Adverbs or adverbials vary in form as follows:

Adverbial clause: The child cried because he was hungry.

Adverbial phrase: Diane sang very sweetly.
Prepositional phrase: She sang during our class reunion.
Word: We eagerly look forward to your graduation.

Adverbs can be readily recognized through certain affixes. For example:

1. Suffix –ly hopefully, popularly

2. Prefix a- aloud, adrift, anew
3. Suffix –wise lengthwise, clockwise
4. Suffix –wards backward(s), forward(s)

Kinds of adverbs

1. Adverbs of frequency: answer the question how often?

(always, never, usually, rarely)
2. Adverbs of relative time can be used with all tenses as meaning permits
(just, still, already, lately)
3. Adverbs of manner answer the question how? or how well?
(carefully, eagerly, clearly, quickly)
4. Adverbs of place answer the question where?
(here, in the city)
5. Adverbs of time answer the question when?
(today, on April 15)
7. adverbs that emphasize only and even

Where we put only makes a big change in the meaning of a clause. To illustrate:

1. Only he (no one else) invited Alex to join the team this year.
2. He only invited Alex to join the team this year this year. (not ordered)
3. He invited only Alex (no one but Alex) to join the team this year.
4. He invited Alex only to join the team this year. (to join, not to do anything else)
5. He invited Alex to join the team only this year. (Before an adverb of time, only
means as recently as or at no other time.)

Positions of Adverbials

While some adverbials are fixed in their positions in the sentence, others are
movable. They can occur sentence initially, medially, or finally.

Sentence-initial: Doubtlessly, we must conclude that the findings are correct.

Sentence-medial: We, doubtlessly, must conclude that the findings are correct.
Sentence-final: We must conclude that the findings are correct, doubtlessly.

Order of Adverbials

When two or more adverbials co-occur in final position in the same sentence,
ordering should be observed.

{direction} + position ↔ manner + time ↔ frequency + {purpose}

{goal } {reason}

He walks home leisurely every day because he wants to feel relaxed.

29
PART II: ANALYZING TEST ITEMS

Directions: Read each item carefully, then choose the letter of the correct answer

1. The judges chose Mawmaw the best dog in the show. The italicized phrase
functions as _____.
A. object complement
B. direct object
C. indirect object
D. appositive

The answer is A. An object complement has the same reference as the

direct object, which in this item is Mawmaw. Option C is incorrect. There is
no indirect object in the sentence. The indirect object has a different
reference from the direct object. It serves as the recipient or beneficiary of
the direct object. OIption D is incorrect, either. An appositive may have the
same reference as the noun before it; however, its function is to clarify the
meaning of the noun it follows, If the appositive occurs in sentence medial
position, it is bounded by a commas before and after.

2. Which of the following simple past verb forms is a marked form?

A. wrote
B. dreams
C. weighed
D. kept

The answer is A. A marked is one which is not the typical, common, or

regular form. The unmarked or regular form of the simple past ends in –ed.
Options B, C, and D are incorrect. B is a 3rd person singular present tense
form. C and D are regular simple past forms, thus unmarked.

3. It’s raining hard. We have put _____ our work for today.
A. across
B. away
C. out
D. off

The answer is D. To put across means “ _____,” e.g., while to put away
means “_____ ” as in _____ On the other hand, to put out means “_____,”
e.g.,

BEGIN HERE:

1. The sentence “The audience class clapped when the musical rendition was
over,” illustrates one of these patterns.
A. N InV
B. N LV Adj
C. N TrV N
D. N InV Adv
2. In the sentence, “The club meeting will be in an hour,” the underlined phrase
functions as _____.
A. subject complement
B. predicate noun
C. prepositional phrase
D. adverbial
3. Which of the following sentences does not have a linking verb?
A. The tall building appears haunted.
B. The principal is busy observing classes.
C. The ugly bud becomes a beautiful flower after two days.
D. The class are working on their science project.

30
4. Which of these is a passive sentence?
A. The box contains a pair of shoes.
B. He has bought a new house by the lake.
C. Bob got excused for his first offense.
D. The choir sang an early folk tune.
5. In the sentence “My aunt tenderly mothers her youngest son,” the word
mothers is _____.
A. a noun
B. a verb
C. an adjective
D. a possessive
6. Which of the following sentences does not contain a phrasal verb?
A. The Board winded their meeting up quite early.
B. We look up to him as our role model.
C. Do not lean against the wall.
D. Am I going to round off the numbers?
7. Which of the following words is not a derived noun?
A. nature
B. vision
C. bigamy
D. martyrs
8. I can hardly hear the news. Please turn _____ the volume.
A. over
B. up
C. about
D. away

9. Which of the following plural nouns is an unmarked form?

A. students
B. bacteria
C. women
D. sheep
10. In the verb phrase, will have been properly chosen, the operator verb is
_____.
A. will
B. have
C. been
D. chosen
11. Which of the following adjective phrases is syntactically correct?
A. the most perfect
B. nearly perfect
C. very perfect
D. less perfect than
12. Which of the following is properly sequenced?
A. an old ugly gray wooden statue
B. a wooden old ugly gray statue
C. an ugly old gray wooden statue
D. a gray wooden old ugly statue
13. Which of the following questions is properly phrased?
A. How young are you today?
B. How old are you today?
C. What’s your age today?
D. All of the above
14. One of the most powerful countries which existed several years back is
_____ Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. What article is missing?
A. a
B. an
C. the
D. none

31
15. You can sleep on the beach or in the woods. The sentence has conjoined
_____.
A. clauses
B. predicates
C. verb phrases
D. prepositional phrases
16. _____ you learn to swim, you cannot go on this trip. The appropriate
subordinating conjunction to complete the sentence is _____.
A. If
B. Unless
C. Because
D. Since
17. You look attractive in _____ the blue sweater _____ the yellow. To complete
the sentence which correlative conjunction is appropriate?
A. not only . . . but
B. neither . . . nor
C. either . . . or
D. whether . . . or
18. The amount which she paid for is a student loan. The underlined words is
considered _____.
A. an independent clause
B. a dependent clause
C. a fragment
D. a subject complement
19. My brother don’t like meat and neither do I. The underlined words show
_____.
A. uninverted affirmative elision
B. inverted affirmative elision
C. uninverted negative elision
D. inverted negative elision
20. Which of the following is a prototypical imperative sentence?
A. Let’s gather wild berries.
B. Could you please sharpen my pencil?
C. Don’t wash your dirty linen in public.
D. Wait for your turn.

32
PART III. ENHANCING TEST-TAKING SKILLS

1. In the sentence, “The water supplier delivers on Tuesdays and Fridays,” the verb
is a _____ verb.

E. transitive
F. intransitive
G. linking
H. two-word
2. Which of these is an active sentence?
I. The dishes have been washed.
J. Much corn is raised in the Ilocos Region.
K. The boy scouts raised the flag.
L. The drums are played at 7:45 in the evening.
3. A commentary of a sports match, a ceremony or an event makes use of the
_____.
A. simple present
B. present progressive
C. present perfect
D. past progressive

4. Which aspect carries the meaning of “prior.”

A. simple
B. progressive
C. perfect
D. perfect progressive
5. Which sentence has a ditransitive verb?
A. He looked at the mountain with binoculars.
B. We were happily chatting under the tree.
C. Mother made dresses for my doll.
D. She put a rocking chair on the lawn.
6. Which of the following sentences shows an error in subject-verb agreement?
A. Measles is contagious.
B. The committee works hard even on holidays.
C. One hundred pesos are hard to earn in one day.
D. My pajamas are still wet.
7. We watch the softball game on the front porch. Which question elicits the direct
object constituent?
A. Who watched the softball game?
B. What did we do?
C. What did we watch?
D. Where did we watch the game?
8. Which of the following yes/no questions is not formed accurately?
A. Have you all the things that you need for the trip?
B. Do you want to play badminton?
C. Won’t you have been the rightful heiress?
D. Can you not deliver your speech without a script?
9. Father drove the car into the garage beside our house with its headlights on. The
reference of the underlined word is _____.
A. headlights
B. car
C. garage
D. house
10. Which of the following sentences is the most acceptable?
A. Everyone passed his or her paper on time.
B. Everyone passed their project on time.
C. Everyone passed his/her project on time.
D. All the students passed their project on time.
11. Which of the following nouns show inflection?
A. friendship
B. helplessness
C. advocacy

33
 D. librarians
12. Which of the following sentences expresses negation?
A. The dogs are not well trained.
B. Many never pray before sleeping.
C. Usually the lame can neither run nor jump.
D. All of the above.
13. The imperative “Have an enjoyable vacation,” is used as _____.
A. a suggestion
B. a wish
C. an advice
D. an invitation
14. Which of the following shows is not a correct coordination of these sentence?
Mark loves to eat fruits.
I love to eat fruits.
A. Mark and I love to eat fruits.
B. Mark loves to eat fruits and I do, either.
C. Mark loves to eat fruits and so do I.
D. Mark loves to eat fruits and I do, too.
15. In the sentence, “The awardee that the committee chose comes from a poor
family,” the underlined word functions as _____.
A. a sentence marker
B. object of the verb
C. subject of the clause
D. a subordinating conjunction

16. Ella was a girl who could surf but who was afraid to swim. The conjuncts in the
sentence are _____.
A. sentences
B. relative clauses
C. relative pronouns
D. independent clauses
17. Which of the following sentences should have the article a on the blank?
A. The artist I talked in the art fair is _____ Michelangelo.
B. _____ Philippines has a lot of wonderful tourist destinations.
C. Obama Wins by _____ Landslide
D. _____ sampaguita lei is usually given to a guest of honor.
18. In the sentence, “The red roses given as a birthday gift by my best friend realy
smell sweet,” which adjective is predicative?
A. red
B. birthday
C. best
D. sweet
19. In the noun phrase, a sound advice from my grandmother who came last
weekend, the head is _____.
A. sound
B. advice
C. grandmother
D. weekend
20. Which of the following is a gradable adjective?
A. unique
B. round
C. perfect
D. healthy

34
Pre-Board Items

1. Which of the following imperatives suggests prohibition?

A. Beware of dog.
B. Keep off the grass.
C. Avoid strangers.
D. Observe silence.
2. Which of the following structures need the operator do to form negation?
A. The house on the hill was wrecked by the tornado.
B.Many of my college friends have been preparing for the exam.
C. The flowers bloom all year long.
D. We will join the trip to Palawan next time.
3. Which of the following does not function as a pronoun?
A. we
B. my
C. me
D. I
4. My father fixed the doghouse himself. The underlined word is a_____
pronoun.
A. a reciprocal
B. a reflexive
C. an intensive
D. an interrogative
5. A yes/no question with a statement word order has a _____ intonation.
A. falling
B. sustained
C. rising
D. melodic
6. The question “Won’t you rake up the dry leaves in the yard?” is used asn a
_____.
A. polite request
B. command
C. reprimand
D. complaint
7. Which of the following wh-questions elicits clarification?
A. What do you think?
B. Why don’t we meet immediately?
C. How have you been?
D. What does that mean?
8. Which of the following sentence correctly observes subject-verb agreement?
A. Two-thirds of the buko pie are eaten.
B. A number of chairs is occupied.
C. Twelve months make up a year.
D. A lot of opinions is presented in the discussion.
9. Which sentence has a complex transitive verb?
A. The club president appointed Jason chair of the committee.
B. The teacher read the story aloud.
C. The firm sent a letter to all its customers.
D. The coffee smells good.
10. In the sentence, “Before Karen came to the university, she had served the
DepEd for ten years,” the underlined verb phrase exemplifies _____ tense-
aspect combination.
simple past
B. past perfect
C. past progressive
D. past perfect progressive

35