Classification of Consonant Sounds

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Course: GNS102 - Use of English II
Book: Classification of Consonant Sounds
Printed by: Hassan RAFIU
Date: Friday, 7 July 2023, 1:09 PM
 Description
Classification of Consonant Sounds

Consonants can be categorised based on three parameters:

i. the categorisation of consonants depending on what part of the anatomy is used to restrict the air flow
which is regarded as manners of articulation The classification of the consonant sounds based on the
manners of articulation include:

a. plosives/stops (/p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/);

b. affricates (/ʧ/, /ʤ/);

c. fricatives (/f/, /v/, /θ/, /ð/, /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /Ʒ/, /h/);

d. nasals (/m/, /n/, /ŋ/; and

e. the approximants (/l/, /r/, /w/, /j/).

ii. classification based on the state of the glottis. Consonants with relatively little vibration of the vocal
cords are called voiceless consonants. Consonants with relatively more vibration of the vocal cords are
called voiced.

iii. categorisation based on the places of articulation. Here, the organs of production of the sounds are put
into consideration. Based on the places of articulation, consonants can be grouped into: labial, dental,
labiodental, alveolar, post alveolar, palatal, velar and glottal (Jones, 2005, p. x).
 Table of contents
1. Illustrations of Consonant Sounds
 1. Illustrations of Consonant Sounds
A Phonetic Alphabet for the English Consonant Pronunciation

Consonants

/p/ - pat, pill, spat, captain, tap,

loop, etc.

/t/ - till, table, stop, attack,

mat, slept, jumped, booked, etc.

/k/ - kill, kettle, accord,

occurrence, park, junk, etc.

/b/ - bill, book, rubber, rumble,

above, job, lab, etc.

/d/ - dill, duck, study, crowd, God,

etc.

/g/ - gill

/m/ - mill

/n/ - nil

/Ƞ/ - ring

/f/ - feel

/s/ - seal

/h/ - heal
/v/ - veal

/z/ - zeal

/l/ - leaf

/θ/ - thigh

/ʧ/ - chill

/r/ - reef

/ð/ - thy

/ʤ/ - gin

/j/ - you

/ʃ/ - shill

/w/ - witch

/Ʒ/ - measure
 What are consonant Sounds?
Site: KWASU-Virtual
Course: GNS102 - Use of English II
Book: What are consonant Sounds?
Printed by: Hassan RAFIU
Date: Friday, 7 July 2023, 1:07 PM
 Table of contents
1. The Consonants
2. Stress and Intonation
2.1. Stress in English
2.2. Intonation in English
3. Factors Militating Against Effective Display of Speaking Skills among Nigerians
 1. The Consonants
Consonant are sounds produced with total or partial flow of air. Consonants are produced by restricting
and then releasing the flow of air in three ways: vibrating the vocal cords, changing the part of the anatomy
which restricts the air flow, and changing the extent to which the air flow is restricted (Blevins, 2006).

Unlike vowels, consonants are speech sounds that are realised with either partial or total obstruction of
the airstreams in the mouth and nasal regions. While some of them are voiced, others are voiceless.
Short Description of Consonant SoundsWord Examples
/p/: voiceless bilabial plosive people, cap
/b/: voiced bilabial plosivebubble, bond
/t/: voiceless alveolar plosive title, top
/d/: voiced alveolar plosivedad, dupe
/k/: voiceless velar plosive kick, lack
/ɡ/: voiced velar plosive goggle, jug
/ʧ/: voiceless palato-alveolar affricatechurch, catch
/ʤ/: voiced palato-alveolar affricate judge, gem
/f/: voiceless labio-dental fricative flag, physical
/v/: voiced labio-dental fricative valve, calves
/θ/: voiceless inter-dental fricative thought, birth
/ð/: voiced inter-dental fricativethem, bathe
/s/: voiceless alveolar fricative sissy, set
/z/: voiced alveolar fricative zigzag, bags
/ʃ/: voiceless palato-alveolar fricative shop, champagne
/ʒ/: voiced palato-alveolar fricativegenre, garage, vision
/h/: voiceless glottal fricative house, rehearsal
/m/: voiced bilabial nasal mummy, maim
/n/: voiced alveolar nasal nanny, nine
/ŋ/: voiced velar nasalbank, trying
/l/: voiced alveolar laterallull, like
/r/: voiced post-alveolar frictionless continuant rare, gradual
/w/: voiced bilabial semi-vowel (glide)woman, twinkle
/j/: voiced palatal semi-vowel (glide) yonder, _university, t_une

These are re-presented in the consonant table below:

State of the Glottis Place of Articulation Manner of Articulation
Voiceless Voiced
pb Bilabial Plosive
td Alveolar Plosive
kɡ Velar Plosive
 fv Labio-dental Fricative
θð Inter-dental Fricative
sz Alveolar Fricative
r Post-alveolar Frictionless Continuant
ʃʒ Palato-alveolar Fricative
ʧʤ Palato-alveolar Affricate
w Bilabial Semi-vowel / Glide
j Palatal Semi-vowel / Glide
m Bilabial Nasal
n Alveolar Nasal
ŋ Velar Nasal
l Alveolar Lateral
h Glottal Fricative

In view of the high level of discrepancies which characterise spellings and resultant sounds in English
words, there is the need to learn the pronunciation of each word separately. This is necessary owing to a
possibility that different spellings have same pronunciation and another possibility that same spellings
have different pronunciation in English words.

Memory Jog 1

Task 1
The teacher should take the lead in assisting the students to discriminate between the following pairs of
contrastive sounds:
/æ/ and /ɑ:/, /ɔ/ and /ʌ/, /ɪ/ and /i:/, /ʃ/ and /ʧ/, /d/ and /ð/ , /t/ and /θ/, /ʤ/ and /ʒ/

Exercise 1
Arrange the following sounds under their respective categories in the table that follows:
/əu, i:, ə, m, eɪ, s, ɡ, ʧ, ð, uə, ɑ:, æ, ŋ, p, θ, ε, ɔ:, ɪ, aɪ, u:/

Short Long Diphthong Voiced Voiceless

Monophthong Monophthong Consonant Consonant
Exercise 2
Identify the underlined sound segments in the following words:

ABCD
(i)worker:/ɛ//æ//a//ə/
(ii)impressed:/ɛd//t//d//sd/
(iii)independence:/з://ə//ʌ//ɛ/
(iv)refusal:/ju://u//uj//u:/
(v)revision:. /s//z//ʒ//ʃ/
(vi)churches:/z//i:s//ɪs//ɪz/
(vii)coarse:/oa//uə//ɔ//əuə/
(viii)lasted:/i://ɪ//ɛ//ɜ:/
(ix)for instance:/ɔ:r//ɔ//r//ŋ/
(x)information:/ʃ//s//ʒ//ʧ/
 2. Stress and Intonation
Just as we have the grammatical rank scale ranging from the lowest level of morpheme to the highest level
of sentence, there are also the phonological units hierarchically structured in human language. Meaningful
words and structures are generated by combining certain vowels and consonants in acceptable manners.
These words and utterances formed are rendered in accordance with syllabic and tonic specifications. In
words, certain syllables are louder and longer than others. Such syllables are stressed. Stress is the force
(accent) placed on salient syllables in utterances to achieve unique senses from other possible senses that
the grammatical structure may convey. For instance:

'That is my 'pen

That is my 'pen
That is my 'pen?

These three utterances would be understood differently even though they have the same underlying
morphological structure. The fact that the tonic prominence in the three utterances are on different
segments is enough reason for the utterances to convey different senses.
 2.1. Stress in English
For a clear understanding of the concept of stress in any human language, the phonological unit popularly
known as syllable is central. A syllable is a phonological chunk that coincides with a chest-pulse when an
utterance is rendered. For example, the word ‘departmental’ contains four syllables; each of which has a
vowel segment as its nucleus.
/dɪ - pɑ:t - 'm ɛ n - tәl/
st nd rd th
1 2 3 4
Note that all the syllables are not rendered exactly with the same amount of energy. The third syllable is
louder and longer than the surrounding ones. Such a syllable is marked as stressed. Therefore, stress is a
measure of energy expended in the articulation of a strong syllable – the force with which a salient syllable
is rendered. A stroke is used to mark or indicate stressed syllables in dictionaries. A stress can be primary (
' ), secondary ( ˌ ) or weak. Where more than one syllable is stressed in a word, then it means there must be
one primary and one secondary stresses (and not more than one each) in the structure of the word, e.g.

ˌinde'pendence
ˌeduˈcation

Word stress is also a crucial factor in differentiating words with same spelling but different grammatical
functions. For instance, the stress placement in the following pairs of words determines the correct
pronunciation of the words in line with their intended meaning.

A (Noun)B (Verb)
'recordre'cord
'conductcon'duct
'insultin'sult

Quite often, second language learners like Nigerian undergraduates misconstrue stress timing for tonal
marking in utterances. Some would even resort to superfluous substitution of primary, secondary and
weak stresses in English with high, fall and mid tones in the native languages respectively. It should be
noted that under no circumstance should stress be confused with tone or intonation as the case may be.
They are different aspects of the prosody of a language.

Task 2
The students should be guided on how to realise the primary stress in appropriate positions in the
following words.

.refu'gee 2. re'dundant3. 'honestly

4.uni'versity5. 'standardise 6. per'fection
7.'perfect8. infra'structure 9. co'mmunity
0.me'morial
 2.2. Intonation in English
Intonation is used to describe fall and rise in pitch of utterances. When we speak, at certain points of
momentary or longer pauses, our voice rises or falls drastically. Such points are marked as boundaries in
tone contours. There are two basic tunes in English: these are falling tune [ ] and rising tune [ ]. Each of
these basic tunes exhibits variant forms with respect to intention behind the utterance. These variant
forms are called allotones. Wales (2001, p.221) says that “intonation is variedly, but systematically, used in
English to convey attitudinal meaning, illocutionary force, grammatical structure and information value”. In
essence, the degree of rise or fall of the voice is indicative of the degree of emotional involvement on the
part of the speaker.
At this point, it is pertinent to examine the major uses of the two basic tunes in English.

Falling tune
1.It is used to mark declaratives/statements e.g.
I will come over tomorrow
Cleanliness is next to Godliness
2.It is used at the end of wh- interrogatives, e.g.
What is your name?
Who is she to you?
When will you complete the talk?
Where are you coming from?
3.It is a common prosodic feature that accompanies imperatives and exclamations, e.g.
Get out!
Do the work now
Oh Gawd!
Rising tune
1.It is used to make polite requests. e.g.
Make me your friend please
You will lend me a helping hand, right?
2.Rising tune is also used in casting questions that anticipate Yes/No responses e.g.
Is that my pencil?
That will not be enough. Will it?
You love rice. Don’t you?
3.It is also used in listing in continuative speech, e.g.
I went to the stall to buy some rice beans sugar medication and soup ingredients (Note that the final
element in the list of items takes a falling nucleus to indicate the end of a declarative utterance).
Task 3
The students should be assisted by the teacher in differentiating the rising tune from the falling intonation nucleus
in spoken utterances taking a cue from the following:
Can’t I have a day or two to rest?” He queried. “You can, surely, but before then, I expect you would have
completed the task at the site, cleared the desk of all untreated files, prepared the holiday routine and
settled all the ad-hoc workers of their wages”. The boss responded.

Memory Jog II
 Exercise 3
Compose a minute dialogue involving two of your friends in writing. Make an attempt to indicate the intonational
junctures by introducing appropriate marks
 3. Factors Militating Against Effective Display
of Speaking Skills among Nigerians
Interference of the phonological features of the indigenous languages (first languages) is a major problem
confronting Nigerian speakers of English as a second language. This is because, most of the time, such
users have already acquired their native languages before being exposed to English. So, in the learning of
the target language, there is every tendency of carrying over the linguistic traces and traits into the
learning of English, and thus, error ensues especially at the level of phonology. The rules of the first
language naturally interfere with the rules of English; hence, resulting in ‘adulterated accent’.
The English phonological system displays a high level of inconsistencies of spellings with sounds realised
therefrom in different word contexts unlike what obtains in many of our indigenous languages in the
country. It is pertinent to therefore study the points and observations made in the following section so that
you can get over your mother tongue (MT) interference problems. MT interference exists at all the levels of
phonological analysis – sound segments of vowels and consonants and suprasegmentals of stress, rhythm
and intonation. The errors which sprang up as a result of MT interference are grouped into seven as
follows:

Over-differentiation of sounds: This happens when distinctions in Nigerian languages which are not
present in English are forced into English e.g. Hausa will say /*kworent/ for ‘current’ instead of /kʌrənt/; Ibo
will say /*ɔjɛl/ instead ‘oil’ /ɔɪl/; and Yoruba will say /*wɛdnɛsdei/ instead of ‘Wednesday’ /wɛnzdeɪ/.
Under-differentiation of sounds: This occurs when one sound in the MT is used for more than one sound in
English. For instance, Nigerians use vowel /i/ in the MT for /ɪ/ and /i:/ in English; also /a/ in the MT for /æ/
and /a:/ in English among others: /*sit/ for both ‘sit’ /sɪt/ and ‘seat’ /si:t/; /*baʤ/ for both ‘badge’ /bæʤ/ and
‘barge’ /bɑ:ʤ/
Hypercorrection: This is a peculiar problem faced by many Nigerian speakers during the learning of
English. For example, individuals who have been taught to pronounce /ʧ/ and /z/ etc. may go on to say
*watch for wash and *zeed for seed.
Sounds substitution: Since the totality of English phonemes is considerably greater in number than the
segmentals of our MT, the substitution of alien sounds with the close equivalents in MT seems inevitable.
Thus, /eɪ/ may be substituted with /e/ and /z/ with /s/; /ð/ with /d/, /θ/ with /t/ as in “*dose tins” instead of
‘those’ /ðəuz/ ‘things’ /θɪŋz/.
Re-interpretation of Sounds: One of the phonetic features of English is the existence of consonant clusters
which do not feature in most Nigerian languages. Thus we intrude such clusters with epenthetic vowels.
This is why some people would mispronounce ‘screw’ as ‘*sicrew’, ‘*maginifying glass’ instead of
‘magnifying glass’.
At the suprasegmental level, many Nigerian languages are syllable-timed. Accent is placed on each syllable.
So, the transfer of this quality into English would destroy the desired and correct intonation and rhythm of
the utterance.
Nigerians over-use the falling tunes (as consistent in MT) and this destroys the phonetic quality of their
spoken English.

Major Issues to be Borne in Mind towards the Development of Effective Speaking Skill

Positive (personal) attitude towards speaking of good English.

Avoid total dependence on written English as a guide.
Know how to effectively use the pronouncing dictionary.
Selection of just one dialect of English for study as the target variety.
Stick to just one standard variety. Do not inter-mingle different varieties.
Try to improve your speaking skill by listening to BBC news, VOA, etc. and proper use of recorded voices of
native speakers.
Be more conscious of your areas of MT interference.
… thus, getting over the problems of achieving fluency.
Technical Tips on how to Perfect your Spoken English in Speech Delivery

In view of the issues raised so far in this chapter, it is pertinent to suggest certain guidelines to Nigerian
students in an attempt to assist them to improve on their speaking skills. Serious attention should be made
to imbibe the following:

The plural morphemes in regular nouns are allophonic depending on voiced or voiceless quality of the final
phoneme e.g. boy+/z/, tape+/s/, judge+/ɪz/.
Errors in pronunciation may lead to grammatical errors too. There is tendency that those who delete the
initial from the word hospital, for instance, would end up saying ‘*an ospital’ instead of ‘a hospital’.
We also err in saying; ‘*an European lady’ instead of ‘a European lady’ as we are being deceived by the
initial letter instead of paying attention to the sound the letter conveys.
The past tense morpheme (-ed) is allophonic too. /-t/, /-d/ or /-ɪd/ can be used depending on whether the
last letter in the root word is a voiceless, voiced or alveolar plosive sound respectively, e.g. slap+/t/,
beg+/d/, start+/ɪd/.
-er/-or and -ar spellings in word final positions are always rendered as /ə/ in spoken English as in divider
/dɪvaɪdə/, sailor /seɪlə/ and cellular /sɛljələ/ respectively.
Note that ‘-es’ forms in plural nouns and third person singular present tense verbs (e.g. classes; raises) and
the past tense morpheme ‘-ed’ (e.g. stranded) are realised as /-ɪz/ and /-ɪd/ respectively. Do not realise
them as /is/, /i:s/ or /ɛd/.
The comparative and superlative morphemes of regular adjectives have /-ə/ and /-ɪst/ endings respectively;
not /a/ or /ɛst/, e.g. faster /fɑ:stə/ and fastest /fɑ:stɪst/ not */fɑ:sta, fɑ:stɛst/
The noun-forming derivational morphemes like -ian, -al, -ion, -ment, -ance, -ence have /ə/ as their vowel in
such syllables in spoken English, e.g. segment /sɛgmənt/, information /ɪnfəmeɪʃən/, assistance /əsɪstəns/.
In present day English however; in some of these words, the /ə/ is dropped to give way to syllabicity as we
have in ‘botton’ /bʌtn/ instead of /bʌtən/.
Derivational suffixes such as -try, -cy, -et, -ry, -ice, -tive, -ish, -dy, -ness, -ism,
-ship, -less, etc. have /ɪ/ as their vowel nucleus in such environments, not /i:/ or */ɛ/ in words like ‘gasket’.
It should be borne in mind that most suffixes in English have /ɪ/ or /ə/ as the nucleus of the syllable in
which they are couched. Their replacement with either /i:/ or /ɛ/ will negatively affect spoken English.
The nucleus of spelling -age or -iage in words such as drainage, carriage, etc. is pronounced /ɪ/. Do not
change this to /eɪ/ in your spoken English.
The spellings -ew, -eu and very frequently -u, usually have an intrusive /j/ just before the /u:/ or /u/ in their
pronunciation, e.g. news /nju:z/, music /mju:zɪk/, tune /tju:n/, etc.
Many instances of -sion spellings in word final positions are rendered in speech as /-ʒn/ or /-ʒən/. This is
unlike -ssion and -tion which are rendered as /-ʃn/, e.g. in session /sɛʃn/ and caption /kæpʃn/ respectively.
Words such as roar, hoarse, etc. with -oar spellings are pronounced /ɔ:/, e.g. roars /rɔ:z/.
Some consonants are silent in certain environments, e.g. /b/, /l/, /t/ and /p/ in words like bomb, stalk, listen
and receipt respectively.
Note the /ʒ/ in words such as exposure, treasure, vision, etc. Do not use /s/ or /ʃ/ as replacement in such
words.
The length of sound or sound sequence is usually affected by the kind of sound that follows it, e.g. long
vowels are rendered in their full length if they are followed by voiced consonant or if they occur at words
final positions e.g. food /fu:d/, car /kɑ:/ as opposed to beef /bi.f/ and cake /keɪk/ not /keik/.
The linking-r occurs frequently in the environment where a word closed with ‘r’ spelling is followed in
connected speech by a vowel sound that begins the following word, e.g. ‘silver and gold’ /sɪlvə rən gəuld/.
Do not drop any sound that should be realised from your speech, e.g. /h/ and /k/ as in ‘heat’ and ‘inject’
respectively.
Do not substitute English strong and weak stress with low and high tunes in your tonal mother tongue.
Learn how to distinguish among the degree of pulmonic force that accompanies the primary, the
secondary and the unstressed syllables.
Perfect your distinction between the rising and falling tunes via constant exercises, practice, and by
listening to native/good speakers’ renditions.
 Techniques to Improve the English
Speaking Skills
Site: KWASU-Virtual
Course: GNS102 - Use of English II
Techniques to Improve the English
Book:
Speaking Skills
Printed by: Hassan RAFIU
Date: Friday, 7 July 2023, 12:58 PM
 Description
Techniques to Improve English Speaking Skills
There are also a variety of techniques to help improve your English speaking skills. These include:
Speech shadowing: Basically, this is copying how a native speaks. Speech shadowing can be done
most simply by watching videos or a movie with subtitles. First, read the sentence and speak it out
loud. Then, play it back with the native speaker speaking it. Try to pause in between to copy the flow
and pattern as closely as possible. If you want, you can record yourself doing this to compare it with
the way the native speaker sounds.
Self-talk: Whether you choose to speak your thoughts out loud or record yourself singing, talking to
yourself and hearing the words will help you improve. You can also read out loud.
Think in English: This probably will not come naturally, but you can help train yourself to think in
English by first translating the thoughts in your head. Otherwise, you can keep a journal or diary of
thoughts and write them in English.
Recount your Experience in English: Start with something simple, like telling colleagues about your
last visit to your home town. Then you can take this to the next step and challenge yourself to retell a
story that someone else shares in English. This helps to check your comprehension and understanding.
To express proper intonation and pitch, be aware that you modulate your voice, make adjustments in
tone, and use a range of pitch with everything you say to among your colleagues. We do this naturally
anyway; for example, our voices rise at the end of a question.
 Table of contents
1. Techniques for Improving English Speaking Skills
 1. Techniques for Improving English Speaking
Skills
Speech Shadowing

Self Talk

Think in English

Recount your Experience in English

Express Proper Intonation and Pitch

 Speaking Skills
Site: KWASU-Virtual
Course: GNS102 - Use of English II
Book: Speaking Skills
Printed by: Hassan RAFIU
Date: Friday, 7 July 2023, 12:54 PM
 Description
Speaking Skills

Speaking skills are one of the most important skills we learn. It is also regarded as the Oracy Skill. Unlike
listening which is receptive skill, speaking is a productive skill as it allows us to communicate with others
and express our thoughts and feelings. Speaking skills are the skills that give us the ability to communicate
effectively by conveying messages in passionate, thoughtful, and convincing manners. Speaking skills also
help to assure that one will not be misunderstood by those who are listening.

Speaking skills can be separated into formal and informal speaking skills, and we use both types of
speaking skills in a variety of contexts throughout life. The contexts where informal speaking skills are
required include home, among peers, at motor parks, in the market, etc. contrarily, the formal speaking
skills are required in situations such as at school, conferences, meetings, and at official gatherings.
Informal speaking skills are important for conversations with friends and family, helping us to form
emotional connections. Formal speech, on the other hand, is necessary for workplaces, in presentations or
for conversations with people you do not know. Formal language is important as it helps us to make a good
impression on people and communicate politely.
 Table of contents
1. The Four Speaking Skills
 1. The Four Speaking Skills
The Four Speaking Skills

The four speaking skills are fluency, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. Each of these is discussed
one after the other in relation to their significances toward developing good speaking skills.
 What is Tense?
Site: KWASU-Virtual
Course: GNS102 - Use of English II
Book: What is Tense?
Printed by: Hassan RAFIU
Date: Friday, 7 July 2023, 1:01 PM
 Description
1. 1. DEFINITION OF TENSE
Tense is the relation of words or state of being to time. The tense of a verb helps tell when action
occurs or something exists.
1. 2. TYPES OF TENSES
2. Present Tense
3. Past Tense
1. 3. FUNCTIONS OF THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE
Present tense states present action or existence. It is used for
1. Habitual actions e.g (a) The baby cries. (b) The teacher teaches
2. Eternal truths e.g (a) The earth is round. (b) The sun shines.
3. Commands e.g (a) Go home now. (b) Lock the door
4. Instructions e.g (a) Mix Garri and sugar. (b) Teach the students well.
5. Future actions on which decision has been taken. e.g (a) Examination starts……….. (b) Lecture
ends…………….
PRESENT PROGRESSIVE/CONTINOUS TENSE

Present progressive tense is used for action taking place now but which is yet to be completed as in: (a) We
are reading our lecture notes (b) Dayo is cheating his parents.

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

Present perfect tense tells of past action that may or does continue. It is used for an idea that has just been
completed. i.e the time of completion is not far from now as in: (a) The Vice chancellor has just addressed
us. (b) John has just written his promotion examination.
 Table of contents
1. TYPES OF TENSES
2. FUNCTIONS OF THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE
3. FUNCTIONS OF SIMPLE PAST TENSE
4. SEQUENCE OF TENSES
5. TENSE AND TIME
6. TENSE AND ASPECTS
 1. TYPES OF TENSES
1. 1. TYPES OF TENSES
2. Present Tense
3. Past Tense
Module learning outcomes

At the end of this module, learners should be able to:

MLO1: List the two basic tenses in English

MLO2: Enumerate types of tenses under each of the two basic tenses, Present Tense and Past Tense.
 2. FUNCTIONS OF THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE
1. 1. FUNCTIONS OF THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE
Present tense states present action or existence. It is used for
1. Habitual actions e.g (a) The baby cries. (b) The teacher teaches
2. Eternal truths e.g (a) The earth is round. (b) The sun shines.
3. Commands e.g (a) Go home now. (b) Lock the door
4. Instructions e.g (a) Mix Garri and sugar. (b) Teach the students well.
5. Future actions on which decision has been taken. e.g (a) Examination starts……….. (b) Lecture
ends…………….
PRESENT PROGRESSIVE/CONTINOUS TENSE

Present progressive tense is used for action taking place now but which is yet to be completed as in: (a) We
are reading our lecture notes (b) Dayo is cheating his parents.

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

Present perfect tense tells of past action that may or does continue. It is used for an idea that has just been
completed. i.e the time of completion is not far from now as in: (a) The Vice chancellor has just addressed
us. (b) John has just written his promotion examination.
 3. FUNCTIONS OF SIMPLE PAST TENSE
1. 1. FUNCTIONS OF SIMPLE PAST TENSE
Past tense tells of past action or existence that has stopped

(a) Simple Past Tense

Simple past tense is used for:

1. An action that took place before now, as in:
(a) Final year students did well in the examination.

(b) Dr. Haruna passes the test

1. A state of being that existed before now as in:
(a) The boy married last year.

(b) The students protested last week.

1. After an action, as in:
(a) It is high time we left the University.

(b) If I were you, I would withdraw.

(c) I wish I were in his shoes.

(b) Past Progressive/Continous Tense

Past progressive tense is used for an action that took place over a period of time before now, as in:

(a) Professor Jowilt was teaching History

(b) Dada was playing with snake.

(c) Past Perfect Tense

Past Perfect Tense states past action or existence completed before some other action or existence is
mentioned. It is used for an action that took place at a point in time before now and which was completed
a long time before now and which was completed a long time ago, as in:

(a) I had married before he was born.

(b) He had died before he was taken to the hospital.

 4. SEQUENCE OF TENSES
SEQUENCE OF TENSES

Sequence of tenses refers to the rules of governing the relationship between the grammatical tenses
of verbs in a related clause or even sentence.

Rule 1: If the verb in the main clause is in the present tense or future, the verb in the subordinate clause
can be in the present, past or future tense. Examples include;

I love what Dada likes

I love what Dada liked

I love what Dada like

Rule 2: Nevertheless, if the verb is in the main clause is in the past tense, its subordinate clause must retain
the past tense as in;

We didn’t know that he was good.

However, we have three exceptions to this rule

a) If the verb in the subordinate clause states a universal truth or a habitual fact the verb must be in the
present tense even if the verb in the main clause is in the past.

The lecturer said that the earth is spherical.

b) If the word ‘than’ introduces the subordinate clause, the sense determines the tense required as in;

The man hated me more than he hates Bayo.

He cared for others more than he cares for his parent.

Rule 3: If the subordinate clause is an adverb or adjective, the verb therein may be in any tense according
to the sense implied even if the verb in the main clause is in the past tense.

I don’t like what she did.

Bala killed rats when he sees any.

He talks as if he were the king.

 5. TENSE AND TIME
TENSE AND TIME

Tense informs the listener/reader of the time an event associated with main verb occurs with respect
to the time of utterance. It could be before, after or during the time of utterance. Temporal adverbs such
as ‘tomorrow or now’ are used.

Temporal connectives – informs the reader about the relationship between the event in the main
clause and the events in the subordinate clause as;

I was sleeping when he arrived.

 6. TENSE AND ASPECTS
TENSE AND ASPECTS

Tense in the verbs expresses time. Aspect expresses how the speaker views the action of verbs.

E.g. The house is burning right now.

The house will burn next year.

Verbs fall into 4 categories in terms of lexical aspects

Stative verbs – describes situations rather than action. They are continuous and unchanging. It could be
emotional, physical or cognitive.

He loves his wife

Activity verbs – verbs that express action that go on for an indefinite period.

I brush my teeth daily

Atelic verbs – verbs that lack end point.

He travels around the world.

He beats his child always.

Accomplishment verb – verbs that have termination that is logical in terms of their actions

He built a house.

He bagged a degree.
 LETTER WRITING
Site: KWASU-Virtual
Course: GNS102 - Use of English II
Book: LETTER WRITING
Printed by: Hassan RAFIU
Date: Friday, 7 July 2023, 12:50 PM
 Description
This chapter will introduce you to types of letters, their formats and give you some tips on how to write the
type of letters discussed. Letter writing is a common feature in most public examination. It is owing to the
centrality of letter writing in most public examinations that you will be introduced to all the nitty-gritty of
letter writing. Letters are written messages or information that are sent to people through various means.
There are different types of letters; Formal or business letters, semi-formal letters and informal or personal
letters. The difference between semi- formal and informal letter is simply the tone. Otherwise, every other
thing is the same in the two types of letters. The form and tone of a letter largely depends on its type.

THE PARTS OF A LETTER

Every letter whether Formal, Semi formal or Informal has certain parts, which will be discussed here to
assist you, master the skills of letter writing. The parts are; The Address of the Writer, The Date of Writing,
The Body, The Conclusion and The Subscription.
THE ADDRESS
The address is always the first thing in any letter. It comes on the top right margin of the paper. It is not
necessary to write your name as part of the address. The address may be slanting (indented) or block)
(straight). It may be punctuated or not. If you decide, to however, punctuate the address, there should be a
full stop placed at the last stage of the address. It is, however, advisable to punctuate all letters irrespective
of their types.
THE DATE OF WRITING
The date the letter was written has to be written directly under the address of the writer in any of the
following forms:

10th October, 2003.

October 10, 2003.

13 October, 2003.

October 13, 2003.

Any of the above methods of writing addresses may be used. The first two are, however, more acceptable
especially for formal or business letters.

EXAMPLES

P. O. BOX 361,

Apapa, Lagos.

15th October, 2021.

8, Dibusari Road, Shiya,

Baruten Local Government Area,

Kwara State.

15th October, 2021.

th
While writing the date, you should not hang the “th” like this, “15 ” October, 2021.

Rather you should bring it on the line like 15th October 2021. You should also remember to bring a comma
after the month or the date depending on the model used by you. End the date with a full stop after the
year.
SALUTATION
This should come close to the left hand margin of the paper below the line of the date of writing. The
salutations of the three types of letters differ considerably. That of a formal letter is usually “'Dear
Sir/Madam,” followed by a comma that of an informal letter is usually in the form of “Dear” plus only the
first name of the recipient. E.g. Dear Jane, Dear Abubakar, Dear Kareem etc. For family relationship, use;
Dear brother, Dear Sister, Dear cousin, My dear brother Jacob, My dearest... etc. Do not write “dear” plus
the surname of the recipient. For semi former letters, you simply say; Dear father, Dear mother, Dear
uncle, Dear pastor Christopher, etc. Make sure that a comma follows the name.
THE BODY
It is in the body of a letter that we discuss our reason for writing the letter. This is done in paragraphs.
Every paragraph opens with a point we wish to discuss. It is then followed by explanations, examples,
illustrations and incidents if necessary. The body of a letter will depend on your purpose for writing. Our
thoughts should, however, be discussed in carefully arranged and organized paragraphs. We should use
simple and grammatically correct sentences. It is also important that we punctuate the body of the letter
appropriately. Failure to do this will result in loss of marks.
SUBSCRIPTION
This is usually the complimentary closing and it varies from letter to letter. It comes at the right hand
margin of the paper below the body of the letter. While the subscription of formal letters is usually “Yours
faithfully, followed by a comma, that of semi-formal and informal letters is usually “Yours sincerely,” “Your
son,” “Your daughter,” “Your niece,” “Your nephew,” etc. depending on the closeness or family relationship.
Note that “Yours” starts with a capital letter and there is usually no apostrophe before and after the s-
(Your’s or Yours’ x). The small -s- only comes after the “faithfully” or “Sincerely”. We should write only our
first name for informal letters while we write our names in full for formal letters e.g.

Yours sincerely, or Yours faithfully,

Ade. Abubakar Kazeem.

 Table of contents
1. Types of letter and their formats; formal letter
2. Types of letters and their formats; semi-formal letter
3. Types of letters and their formats; informal letter
 1. Types of letter and their formats; formal
letter
Formal letters are also called official or business letters. Business or formal letters are written to top
executives such as directors, managers, editors of newspapers presidents of youth clubs or organization
chairmen, secretaries etc. Business letters are also written to corporate organizations in the form of
orders, inquiries, claim letters, job application etc. The parts of a formal letter are as follows:

The address of the writer.

The date of writing

The address of the recipient

The salutation

The heading or title

The body

The subscription.

We shall use these parts to demonstrate the format of a formal letter below. There will, however, be no
discussion on the body rather we shall concentrate on the language and tone of the formal letter. You are,
therefore, advised to try and practice writing as many formal letters as possible until you master the act of
writing these types of letters.

42B Ogunlana
drive,

Surulere, Lagos.

October 15, 2021.

The Minister,

Ministry of Education,

106 Maitama Road,

Abuja.

Dear Sir,

THE EFFECTS OF STRIKES ON OUR TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------.

Yours faithfully,

Abdullahi, Idris

It should be noted that the signature of the writer should come in the next line below the subscription
before writing his name in full in the next line as illustrated above. We should always remember to
underline the heading of the formal letter if it is written in small letter. This is, however, unnecessary if the
heading is written in capital letters.

The main body of the formal letter should be written in a formal language. The body should begin with a
suitable introductory paragraph followed by the main body where our points are marshalled paragraph by
paragraph. We may use the following guidelines in the main body of a formal letter:

You should go straight to the point and avoid irrelevant materials as much as possible.

A formal or official letter does not require irrelevant ideas as we may find in some informal letters. It is,
therefore, advisable to concentrate on the aim of a formal letter strictly instead of deviating to other things
that add little or nothing to the subject matter.

You should avoid being chatty in the tone of the letter. This is not appropriate for a formal letter. We create
an informal tone when we decide to be chatty. We should, therefore, avoid this in the best way possible.

Do not show familiarity even if the recipient is known to you. You should be official, as much as possible, in
the tone of your letter even if the recipient is your brother or uncle.

Avoid the use of contracted words such as "shouldn't" for "should not," "couldn't" “for could not” “isn’t” for
“is not” etc. Write every word in full, this will go a long way to make the letter more formal.

The language should be formal throughout. We should avoid the inclusion of slang or local proverbs. This is
not necessary in a formal letter.

Avoid the use of contracted names such as “Joe” for “Joseph” or “sunny” for “Sunday” etc. All names that
should appear in a formal letter must be written in full.
You should be respectful but do not be over-respectful. You should not reduce yourself to nothing even if
your letter is an application for a job.
 2. Types of letters and their formats; semi-
formal letter
These are letters written to either known or unknown elderly people. Letter to our parents, uncles, aunts,
and the pastors of our churches are all examples of semi-formal letters. The parts of a semi-formal letter
are as follows:
The address of the writer: This could be in either block or slanting form. The address should,
however, be properly punctuated.
Salutation: This should be in the form of “Dear plus the name e.g. “Dear Mr. Woru” ”Dear Miss Gloria”,
Dear father”, Dear mum”, Dear uncle, Dear principal Pastor
Dear Joseph”, etc.
The body of the letter: This is where we discuss the purpose of writing the letter in detail. Our points
should be discussed in well- developed paragraphs. We should present our ideas or arguments in
simple sentence that are grammatically correct until we get to the concluding paragraph.
Conclusion: This is where we re-echo the points we have earlier discussed in the main body of the
letter. We may also give some suggestions or recommendations at this level if necessary.
The tone of a semi-formal letter should be made to suit the degree of intimacy or familiarity that exists
between the two of you. You should be humble enough, do not be chatty and you should avoid the use of
contracted words and names. You should also avoid the use of slang because you are addressing elderly
people who must be respected or honoured considerably.
Subscription: This may differ to some measure. For examples, for unfamiliar personalities, that is,
those you don’t know very well, close with “Yours sincerely”. For relatives or parents particularly, you
may use “Your affectionate son, your lovely daughter” etc. at the end, you should write only your first
name.
 3. Types of letters and their formats; informal
letter
These types of letter are also called personal or friendly letters. They are written to either close or distant
relatives who are about the same age group with us. Such letters may also be written to our
contemporaries. Similarly, letters to our brothers, sisters, cousins, classmates, wives or husbands are all
examples of informal letters.

THE PARTS OF AN INFORMAL LETTER

As in semi-formal letter, the informal letter also has the following parts:
The address of the writer.
The date of writing
The salutation
The body which most begin with a suitable introduction.
The subscription (complimentary closing). This is always followed by the writer's first name only.
The body of every essay or letter is the most important part, we should, therefore, try as much as possible
to write proper expressions and ideas taking note of our spellings, tense, grammar and punctuation. The
following guidelines may be of help to you in writing an informal letter.

Your letter must be well-paragraphed. Here, paragraph structure, length and unity should be taken into
cognisance. In addition, the ideas in each Paragraph must properly cohere.

You should be chatty; that is the letter should sound like an ordinary friendly conversation with either your
best friend or brother.

You may use contracted form of words e.g. “I'II', for “I will”, “I'm’ for “I am”, “Isn't for “is not”, etc. the use of
contracted form of nouns e.g “Maggie”, Keny” “lizy” is also allowed in an informal letter.

Local terms or slang may as well be used in order to create a friendly atmosphere in the letter.

You may also add personal information in detail for the letter to meet the required length of words.

You should end the letter with a suitable concluding paragraph. Here you may express your greetings,
hopes of receiving an immediate reply or any other necessary inquiry and bid the recipient good bye.

The following are some useful expressions that may come at the beginning or end of different informal
letters:

In expressing thanks you may begin by saying:

It is good to hear from you------------

Thanks a lot for your nice letter written------------

I am very grateful for your lovely letter that was written on------------

May God bless you for------------

Polite request:

I will be grateful if you------------

I'll appreciate it very much if------------

Could you please------------

May I please------------

Request for reply:

I look forward to reading a reply from you soon.

I look forward to reading from you at your earlier possible convenience.

Apologies:

I must apologies for------------

I am sorry for not------------

I had intended to write earliest but------------

Pardon me for------------

Greetings:

I send you best regards------------

With best wishes to------------

Accept my warmest (greetings, love, regards etc.).

The following are the formats of the three types of letters (informal, semi-formal, and formal).
 The Four Speaking Skills
Site: KWASU-Virtual
Course: GNS102 - Use of English II
Book: The Four Speaking Skills
Printed by: Hassan RAFIU
Date: Friday, 7 July 2023, 12:55 PM
 Description
The Four Speaking Skills

The four speaking skills are fluency, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. Each of these is discussed
one after the other in relation to their significances toward developing good speaking skills.

Fluency

Fluency is about how comfortable and confident you are in speaking English. Fluency in spoken language is
something that naturally develops as you go through school and as you are using and practising speaking
skills every day. Reading widely (and out loud) is a good way to improve fluency as it introduces you to new
vocabulary and reinforces your knowledge of spoken language. Fluency is the ability to hear words and
understand them straight away. Reading aloud and speaking among friends build your confidence and also
helps you to annunciate better.

Vocabulary

Of course, if you don't have the words to say what you want to say, then you cannot say it. To develop our
speaking skills, we first need to know the right words. Vocabulary development begins when we are
infants, as we learn to describe the world around us and communicate our needs. This progresses from
single words to sentences when children are 2 or 3, at which point they will normally have a vocabulary of
150-300 words.

Vocabulary development involves the understanding of the meanings and pronunciations of words
necessary for communication. When you understand what a word means, you can check what the word or
sentence means. This is so important to keep up a conversation. If you understand what the other person
is saying and you know what vocabulary to say back, you are halfway there to communicating effectively.
To be considered fluent in a language, you need to have a vocabulary of around 10,000 words?

Grammar

You may think that grammar is something we only need for written language. But grammar includes lots of
important areas for spoken language such as an understanding of tenses and the correct way to structure
sentences. Grammar helps us to convey information in a way that the listener will recognise and
understand.

Pronunciation

Understanding how to correctly pronounce words is another important element of speaking skills. We
learn how to pronounce words by listening to those around us, such as our parents, friends and teachers.
Pronunciation varies from country to country, and even city to city!

A lot of this comes from sound awareness. This involves understanding the small units, that is, sounds that
make up the spoken language in a given speech community. English can differ quite a lot compared to
other languages. Some sounds might not be in one’s native language and one’s mind is trained to
categorise sounds in the first language, so it can become confusing. Developing this ability in English can
come from watching foreign movies, especially those where the British English is spoken. This will enable
one to see the relationship between the sounds of spoken language and graphemes which are the letters
and spellings representing sounds in written language.
 Table of contents
1. The Four Speaking Skills
 1. The Four Speaking Skills
Fluency

Vocabulary

Grammar

Pronunciation