Structure of English

LET Competencies: • Demonstrate understanding of grammatical concepts by being

able to describe and analyse, meaning, and use of various English language
structures

BASIC SENTENCE PATTERNS

Below are basic patterns around which most English sentences are built.

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
verbbe means “may be described as.

” Roses are sweet. (subject complement = predicate adjective)

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. (adverbial)

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.

Her neighbor is my cousin. (subject complement = predicate nominative)

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 forher.
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 choices of different forms in sentence final position. These are illustrated
as follows:

(object complement) The class voted Henry secretary.

(adjective) The principal found the gardener efficient.
(pronoun) We considered the writer you.
(adverb of place) The teacher directed them outside.
(present participle) She saw them praying.
(past participle) 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. 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 /ǰ
/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, /ǰ

3. They may be marked by noun-forming DERIVATIONAL SUFFIXES added to

bases or stems, usually belonging 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 rosesbloom 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/STRESS PATTERNS occasionally identify nouns from

other 2
1. 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 tablein 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/
• predicate nouns We are LET reviewers.
• object noun predicates/
• object complements The reviewees chose him their representative.
• objects of prepositions in our review class
• appositives The LET, a professional examination, is conducted every year.
• vocatives/nouns of address Anne, how did you find the exam?
Noun Types

1. COMMON NOUNS refer 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 are names for unique individuals or places
3. COLLECTIVE NOUNS are 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 teamhaswon all its games.
The teamhave 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 articles)

-before singular (sg) countable nouns (CNs)
1 Before an unidentified sg CN, one example of its class a chair (furniture)
2 Before an unidentified sg CN that is representative of its class a dog (a domestic
animal)
3 Before a predicate N after a be verb if no determiner is used… is a good neighbor.
4 With UNs to mean akind of, or withkind of, or certain a smile an insight
5 Before few and little to mean some but not many afew friends alittle salt
6 When using a proper noun to indicate the characteristics of the person named She
is a Sister Teresa. (a saintly person)
7 To name “a certain person whose name is.” AMr. Alba came to see you.

the (definite article)

- Before uncountable/mass nouns (UNs) and countable plural (pl) nouns
- Backward reference to a N already mentioned A dog . . . and here is the dog now.
- Forward reference to an identification soon to be made, often by modifiers
following a noun The history of his town
- Before superlatives and before ordinal numbers, except ordinal numbers used
alone (first in her batch)
The best cake I have ever seen
The first person to fly in space
-Content know to both writer and reader Thechapel in the village (only one chapel)
- Identification of a class, especially in a generalization, followed by a noun, or an
adjective
The youth is the hope of the future.
…the physically challenged
- Beginning of a phrase containing an appositive Interpret this item, the one with an
illustration
--For a family name in the plural TheBasas have arrived. Distinguishes people who
have the same name TheJessica Reyes who joined the beauty pageant is notthe
Jessica Reyes who is my cousin.
- When the article is part of a geographical name ThePhilippines TheUnited States
TheRed Sea
- When the article is accepted as part of any kind of proper name
ThePhilippine Star
The Princess of Negros
The Hilton
TheUniversity of St. Tomas
The United Nations

no/zeroarticle Only
-Identifies certain indefinite meanings of nouns
-Refers to all members of a class øDogs are domestic animals.
-Distinguishes one class from another øMen, not women, are protectors.
-Refers to an indefinite number but not necessarily to all members of a class.
øSeedlings are beginning to sprout. (many)
-With plural nouns after be. His brothers are øengineers.
-With institutions and practices felt to be unique øOffices open at 7 o’clock. øDinner
is usually late.
-With set phrases, usually pairs øHeaven and hell
-With prepositional phrases At ørest, in ødanger, on øtime
-With nouns used in headlines in newspapers, captions in books, signs, labels and
the like øMURDERER ESCAPES BEWARE OF øDOG
- With common nouns used as terms of address and therefore capitalized. We are
ready to go, øMother.

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.

Personal and Related Pronouns

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 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 feeditself.
Luis cut himselfwith 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
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 mean
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.
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.
(distance) This is mine; that is yours over there.
(contrast) Which ones do you prefer, these or those?

Indefinite Pronouns

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.

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

4. That is a neutral form. It can be marked +humanor–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

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

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/RESTRICTIVE and

nonessential/NON-RESTRICTIVE clauses.
The man, who came to dinner, is the mayor. (nonessential/non-restrictive,
bounded by commas)
The man who came to dinner is the mayor. (essential/restrictive, without
commas)

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.
*The poster, that won first prize, pleased both the judges and the viewers.
(*means ungrammatical)

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.
(noun clause as subject) Whatever you offer will be appreciated.
(noun clause as direct object) He will befriend whoever he gets acquainted
with.

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.

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

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

o INTRANSITIVE VERBS which does not take an object (direct) Flowers bloom.
o TRANSITIVE VERBS which require an object (direct) Flowers need water and
sunlight.

o DITRANSITIVE VERBS which take two objects (direct and indirect) Alex gave his
girlfriend three red roses.
o 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.
o COMPLEX TRANSITIVE VERBS where what follows the object (direct) relates to
the object They chose Niña, muse of the team.
o PREPOSITIONAL VERBS which requires a prepositional 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 is a 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.

Tense-Aspect Combinations
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.:

(adverb) She’s coming tomorrow.

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

VERB TENSES: Their Meanings and Common Uses

SIMPLE ASPECT: complete wholes; unchanging

1. SIMPLE PRESENT: the present in general

• 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.
• 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.
• To say something is always or generally true There are 24 hours in a day.
The earth revolves around its axis.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 it quickly to Alfie. Alfie turns, shoots, and scores two points.

2. SIMPLE PAST: Stating a definite time in the past

An adjunct of time or other time expression is necessary to specify the
particular time in the past we are referring to.
• To say that an event occurred or that something was the case at a particular
time in the past. The university officials flew into Jakartalast week to sign a
memorandum of agreement with a sister school.
• 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.
• 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

intendto happen
• 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?
• 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

• To talk about something that is happening at the moment we are
speaking I’m already feeling bored and hungry.
• To emphasize the present moment or to indicate that a situation is
temporary She’s spending the summer in her hometown.
• To indicate changes, trends, developments, and progress He’s
performance in class is improving.
• 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

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

2. FUTURE PROGRESSIVE
• 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.

• To emphasize the duration of a recent event She’s been crying

bitterly.

PERFECT-PROGRESSIVE ASPECT
1. PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE
• 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

• 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.
• 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

• 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.

AUXILIARY/HELPING VERBS

1. VERB PHRASE/VERB COMPLEX: consists of an auxiliary + a main verb, e.g.,

mustwork, have been reading, will be informed. The underlined word or words are
the auxiliary or helping verbs.

2. AUXILIARY/HELPING VERBS

A. MODAL AUXILIARIES and their related phrasal forms

 B. NON-MODAL AUXILIARIES : be, do, and have verbs Of all the auxiliaries,
only the non-modals can change form.

4. 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?
Willyour father not approve my marriage proposal?
Won’t your father approve my marriage proposal?
Your father will approve my marriage proposal, won’the?

• When a clause contains no verb eligible to be an operator, do is introduced.

He attends the graduation ball tonight.
He doesattend the graduation ball tonight. 
He doesnot 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 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

1. Collective nouns may take either a singular or plural verb inflection depending
on the meaning.
• Conceived of as one entity – takes a singular verb
Our school teamhas won its games.

• Conceived of as more than one entity or refers to individual membership –

takes plural verb
Our school teamhave 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.
Mathematicsis repelling to many students.
Measlesisa contagious disease. [
The United Statesis 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 Filesis 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 a 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 cakeis eaten.
Twenty percent of the studentsare not joining the field trip.
One-fourth of the audienceis/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 daysmake 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 sides of the equation or equal
sign.
Two plus two is/equals four.

10. The quantifiers a lot (of), lots of, and 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 boysjoinsthe mountaineering group.
None of the riceis 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.

15. In questions, subjects don’t always come before verbs. Identify accurately the
subject before deciding on the proper verb to use.
Does your father usually go jogging?
What are the pages our teacher wants us to read?

VOICE

VOICE pertains to who or what serves as 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 savedthe 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. An 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 is obvious
that you do not need to mention it.
Rica was born in Seychelles.

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.

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 consist of:

1. a verb followed by an adverb; go up, spill over, and push through

2. a verb followed by a preposition; come upon, reckon with, and bank on
3. a verb followed by an adverb and a preposition break out of, look forward to,
and go along with

Just like ordinary verbs, phrasal verbs may be used:

1. intransitively Why don’t you speak up?

2. transitively
Let’s cut down pollution to conserve our environment./
Let’s cut pollution down to conserve our environment.

Note that some phrasal verb may be separable. This is further explained below.

3. both intransitively and transitively

A plane took off. She took off her coat because it was warm./
She took her coat off because it was warm.
Meaning of Some Phrasal Verbs

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

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 your baby brother after.
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 it on.
Donna turned the light on.
Donna turned on the light.

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

meanings in a certain context.
She passed out. (fainted)
She passed he brochuresout. (distributed)
The car broke down. (stopped running)
The polite broke the door down. (opened by force)

Separable Phrasal Verbs with Their Objects

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 hungrybaby 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 toughexam. (attributive)
They arehappywith 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.

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

• 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:

ADVERBS

ADVERBS modify or change the meaning of other words such as verbs, adjectives,
another adverb, or even a whole sentence.
(verb modifier) The athlete can run fast.
(adjective modifier) Sailboats are really beautiful to watch.
(adverb modifier). The athlete can run very fast.
(sentence modifier) Perhaps, Nena’s family will give a party

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? orhow 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:

(no one else) 1. Onlyhe invited Alex to join the team this year.
(not ordered) 2. He onlyinvited Alex to join the team this year this year.
(no one but Alex) 3. He invited only Alex to join the team this year.
(to join, not to do anything else) 4. He invited Alex only to join the team this year.
(recently as or at no other time) 5. He invited Alex to join the team only this year.

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 at 5:30 PM every day because he wants to feel relaxed.
He walks home leisurely every day at 5:30 PM because he wants to feel relaxed.

CONJUNCTIONS

Coordination
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 ofPRO-FORM, i.e., the substitution of pronoun for a repeated noun.

3. Luis plays the guitar andhe plays the harp, too.
 4. COMPLEX orCORRELATIVE CONJUNCTIONS like both . . . and..

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
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:

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 MARKERof many meanings Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (2001) citing

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

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

Reducing

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.
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 reviewed very hard so that she would pass the LET.
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 likeshe’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

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

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

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

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, 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 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.

• 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

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

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

Forms to Express Negation

Negation at the lexical or word level can simply use the negative affix. For example:
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 neveradmitted their mistake.
The pre-schoolers 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.
(statement) Mgrs. Palma is not/isn’t our teacher.
(question) Are you not/Aren’t we meeting today?
(command) Do not/Don’t laugh.
(exclamation) Was it not/Wasn’t it exciting!

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.

A: Is Pepito interested in the post?

B: I’m afraidnot. He’d rather be a plain member.

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

Placement of not

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

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

(auxiliary verb) I’m wondering why they are not chirping.
3. 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.

4. 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.

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.

Answers to Yes/No Questions

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

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.

(question) Is there any sugar?
(negative) There isn’t any sugar.

• 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? (hopeful that there would be)

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-QUESTIONS are 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 awh-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 preposition: For whom did Liza buy a beautiful house? (her parents)
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 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.

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: Wha tdid 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: