English I

Structure of the simple sentence:

What is a sentence?

A sentence is a group of words that contains a subject and verb and gives a complete meaning. It
begins with a capital letter and it ends with a punctuations mark ( . , ? ᴉ)

A sentence has two parts:

Subject Predicate
The subject of a sentence is the person or thing (verb + rest of sentence )
that the sentence is talking about. It can be a noun The predicate is that part of the sentence which
or pronoun. contains the verb and tells something about the
subject.
Examples
- Ahmed Goes to university
- He Speaks good English
- Libya and Tunisia Are in north Africa
- I Visited Tunis in 2015

A sentence can be simple, compound, complex or compound complex

A simple sentence is that sentence which contains one subject and one predicate.

Simple sentence may be classified according to function (purpose) into four main kinds:

1. A declarative sentence = ( A statement)

2. An interrogative sentence = ( A question)
3. An exclamatory sentence = ( an exclamation)
4. An imperative sentence = ( a command)
A. A declarative sentence = a statement is that sentence which generally makes a statement or tells a
fact. It can be either positive or negative. It ends with a full stop (.).

The normal word- order of a declarative sentence (= statement) is:

Subject + (verb +tense) + rest of the sentence

Examples :

1. Ahmed lives in khoms.

2. Germany won the world cup of 2014.
3. Water contains oxygen.
4. We don‟t study French at school.
B. An interrogative sentence =( A question) is that sentence which asks a question
Usually begins with an auxiliary verb or a question – word and it ends with a question mark (?).
e.g.
1. Do you speak English?
2. What‟s your name?
3. Where are you from?

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C. An imperative sentence = ( A command or A request ) is that sentence which gives a command or
makes a request.
It begins with the simple form of the verb, and it ends with a full- stop (.). e.g.
- Sit down.
- Switch off your mobile phone.
- Look at the blackboard.
- Listen to me.

The word please or expression like (can/will or could/ would) you please often accompany
requests, e.g.

Could you please shut the door?

Will you please open the windows?

Sit down, please.

Please speak up.

In the negative imperative, (don‟t) precedes the imperative verb, e.g.

- Don‟t worry about it.

- Don‟t sit in the sun.
- Don‟t do that again.
D. An exclamatory sentence = (An exclamation) is that sentence which expresses a sudden strong
feeling about something.
It may begin with what or how, and it ends with an exclamation mark (ᴉ), e.g.
1. What a wonderful day it is ᴉ
2. How happy I am ᴉ
3. Look. how fast he is driving ᴉ

Now let‟s talk about the subject and the verb as being the two basic element of a sentence in
English and without which a simple sentence can‟t be framed.

The subject

The subject of a sentence is the person or thing that the sentence is talking about. It usually comes
at the beginning of the sentence. It can be a noun or pronoun.

Examples

Subject Finite verb Object

My father Teaches Arabic
We Learn English
Ahmed and his friends Visited The zoo
They Like Animals
i. Noun is the word which is used as a name of a person, an animal, a place, a thing or an
idea. Example:
o Persons like ahmed, salma, friends, boy, girl, man, women, teacher, etc
o Animals like cat, dog, giraffe, donkey, horse, etc
o Places like school, hospital, bookshop, Libya, etc

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 o Things like book, desk, car, bread, mony, etc
o Ideas like beauty, happiness, luck, etc
ii. Pronoun is that word which is used in place of a noun.
Subject pronouns:
Number Subject pronouns
First person singular I
First person singular We
Second person sing.&Plu. You
Third person singular He
She
It
Third person plural They

Examples:

I am Libyan.

We speak Arabic.

You learn English at school.

Ahmed is a nice boy. He is my friend.

Where is salama? She is at home.

Where is your car. It is in the garage.

Mariam and mair are sisters. They speak English.

The children like work. They help their father.

The verb

The verb is the word or more used to express an action or a state associated with the subject.

MAIN KIND OF VERBS

 Auxiliary (or helping verbs).

 Main (or Full verbs).

The auxiliary verbs include all those verbs that are only found in the company of another verb form,
and they are:

 Primary auxiliaries:
Infinitive Present tense Past tense
Be: am, is, are was, were
Have: Have, has Had
Do: do, does Did

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To be: For Example:

 I am playing football.
 They are having their lunch.
 Asela is learning his lessons.
 He was not preparing for the exam.

Have: For Example:

 They have come a long way to meet their families.

 Ahmed has finally bought a new house.
 A man should have been more careful while driving.
 I had been waiting to visit Dubai.

Do: For Example:

 Do you want to play?

 yasmean didn‟t put his book on the table.
 Do not apply this trick to prank me.
 Does she write a letter?

When an auxiliary verb is used to express possibility, conditionality, necessity, obligation, ability,
probability, or wishful desires then that verb is known as a Modal Auxiliary Verb.

 Model auxiliaries:
Shall Should
Will Would
Can Could
May Might
Must ---
Ought ---
For Example:

Modal Auxiliary Verb Usages of Modal Auxiliary Verb in Sentences

May May I go out for a while?
Might Kaled might be able to perform tomorrow.
Must We must focus on our studies.
Can No one can feel my pain.
Could Could you please switch off your phone?
Shall We shall be prepared for the next round.
Should Why should we hire you?
Will Who will be the next millionaire?
Would If I was educated, I would be outstanding.
Ought to You ought to obey the traffic rules.

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 Some uses of the model verbs:

Shall

It is often used to express an offer to do something (suggestion) shall I ? shall we? e.g.

 Shall I open window for you?

Yes, please

 Shall we go for a walk?

Alright
 Where shall we go?
Let‟s go to park
 Shall we hire a taxi?

Should

It is often used to indicate advice, or to give opinion, e.g.

You should work harder this year.

He should give up smoking.

People shouldn‟t drive very fast in the rain.

“People who live in glass houses should not throw stones at others”. (a proverb).

To express duty or moral obligations:

You should love your country

You should keep your city clean

Students should obey their teachers.

***the structure should + have +P.P(past participle) is used when somebody didn‟t do something
that was important, e.g.

You have attended the meeting.

You should have told me

It was my fault. I should have called you.

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Well

It is often used to make

 A polite request, e.g.

Will you please lend me your dictionary?

Of course. Here it is.

 In invitation, e.g.

Will you have some more tea?

Yes please it is testy.

Will you come to my house for lunch?

Thanks. I‟m so busy now.

Would

It is often used:

 To make a polite request, e.g.

Would you please open the window? Alright

Would you please switch off the lights?

Would you please turn down the TV? Yes certainly.

 Would is often used in the expressed I would like == I‟d like … to ask for things. It‟s more
polite than I want..e.g.

I‟d like to book a ticket for London, please.

I‟d like to confirm my reservation for Libya.

I‟d like to change 100 dollars into pounds.

 We can offer things with would you like? e.g.

Would you like to drink?

What would you like to drink?

Would you like a sandwich?

What would you like for dessert?

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 The main verbs

Main verbs
In the present simple tense In the past simple tense
 Take no “s” for I, we, you they Take the same form for all persons
 Take “s” or He, she, it
“es”

Infinitive Present simple tense Past simple tense

Live Live Lives Lived
Arrive Arrive Arrives I Arrived
Work Work Works Worked
Visit I Visit Visits We Visited Regular
Help Help She Helps Helped verbs
Finish Finish Finishes You Finished
Play We Play Plays Played
Study Study He Studies He Studied
Come Come Comes Came
Write You Write Writes She Wrote Irregular
Know Know It Knows Knew verbs
Make Make Makes It Made
They
Go Go Goes Went
They
Teach Teach Teaches Taught
Read Read Reads read
..etc..

Note: the verb in the present simple tense has the same form as the infinitive when the subject is a
plural noun or the pronouns I, we, you, they.

 The verb takes the letter –s when the subject is a singular noun or he, she, it.
 Verbs that end in – ch, -sh, -ss, -x, or o take –es.
 Verbs that end in –y preceded by a constant, change –y into –I and add –es.
In the past simple tense, the verb has the same form with all subjects.

Main verbs can be transitive or intransitive:

 Transitive verbs need objects, eg.

 I lost my mobile phone.
 Ali visited Saudi Arabia.
 We love money

Some verbs may take two objects (Ditransitive verbs) like buy, teach, give, sell, owe, pay, send, bring
write offer, tell, e.g.

 I send Ahmed a message.

 Salma bought her mother a gift
 I gave my father the money

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 Note:

1. The object that refers to people is called indirect object (IO), the object that refers to things is
called direct object (DO)

2. When the direct object is placed before the indirect object, they are joined by ( to occasionally
for). Example :

 I send a message to Ahmed.

 Salma bought a gift for her mother.
 I gave the money to my father.
 Intransitive verbs do not need objects, e.g.
 The patient died.
 Birds fly.
 Snow melts.

In English, a statement usually begins with

Subject + finite verb + object or complement

Note:

The predicate of a statement in English must contain the verb; otherwise the sentence is incorrect.

Be, Have and Do as main verbs and as auxiliary verbs.

• The verb Be (am /is/ are/ was/ were) is a main verbs in the sentence when it is used as a
linking verbs, e.g.
1. I am a student.
2. Cyprus is an Island.
3. We are friends.
4. Fatima was sick.
5. The children were at school.
• The verb Be is also used with there to express existence:

There is – are / was –were

1. There is a police station near here.

2. There are some letters for you.
3. There was a bakery in this street.
4. There were some mistakes in my homework.

 The verb be is an auxiliary verb when it is used with the present participle (verb + ing) to
form the present and past continuous tenses and with the past participle (V3) to form the
passive voice, e.g
1. I am reading a story now.
2. I was watching TV.
3. Tea is grown in India.
4. Ali‟s car was stolen.

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 The verb have (have/has/had) is a main verb in a sentence when it gives the meaning of
„possess „ , drink, eat, take, find, enjoy, receive,…..e.g.
1. I have a car.(possess)
2. I always have jam for breakfast. (Eat)
3. We have English lessons four times a week. (take)
4. We have difficulty with English grammar. (find)
5. The children had a nice time at the resort yesterday. (enjoyed)
6. I had an email from Ali last night. (received)
We often use got with have especially in the present tense. This does not change the
meaning:
I have got is the same as I have
Have you got? Is the same as Do you have?
She hasn’t got is the same as She doesn’t have

 The verb have is an auxiliary verb when it is used with the past participle to form the
perfect tenses e.g.
I have seen this film before. (Present perfect)
The patient had died before the doctor arrived. (Past perfect)

 The verb Do ( do, does ,did) can be a main verb or an auxiliary verb:
I do my homework at night.
Mum does the cooking every day.
Ali did a good work for us.
 The verb Do is an auxiliary verb when it is used to form the present simple tense and past
simple tense.
They live in zawiyah (Positive)
Do they live in zawiyah? (Question)
They don‟t live in zawiyah. (Negative)
 The verb Do is used for Question – Tags with all verbs that are not auxiliary e.g.
Your father speaks English, doesn‟t he?
You like coffee, don‟t you?
 The verb Do is used to make the emphatic form of verb, e.g.
I do like reading
I did buy some bread.
He does say the truth.
 The verb do is also used to avoid repetition of the predicate especially in short answer, e.g.
Do you know Mr Salih?
Yes I do
Who broke the window?
Ali did.
I like English.
So do I.
I don‟t understand the mathematics teacher.
Neither do I.
 Do not (=don‟t ) is always used to make the negative imperative, e.g.
Don‟t waste your time
Don‟t smoke here.

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 Study these sentences
1. Be careful! (affirmative imperative)
2. I am from Libya. I‟m Libyan.
3. I am late.
4. I‟m studying English grammar now.
5. I‟m not watching TV.
6. Learning a language is always useful.
7. Ahmed is here.
8. Is this seat free?
9. “Time is money” (A proverb)
10. “there is nothing new under the sun”
11. Are there any vegetable in the fridge?
12. Ali is coming now.
13. They are staying in a hotel.
14. You are right.
15. Are you tired?
16. There was football match on TV last night.
17. Ali was here.
18. He was watching the match.
Have: have, has, had
1. Have a nice day.
2. Have lovely weekend.
3. Have a safe nice trip.
4. Have a seat.
5. Have a cup of tea.
6. I always have toast and coffee for breakfast.
7. I have got a cold.
8. I have got examination in French next week.
9. Where have you been?
10. I have been to the new shopping mall.
11. I have no money.
12. I‟m having a lecture now.
13. I‟m going to have my hair cut later.
14. Safa has got blue eyes.
15. She has bought a new dress.
16. Khalid had a serious accident yesterday.
17. I had some guests last night.
18. They had breakfast last night.
19. The children had a great fun at the farm.
20. I had visited my father in the hospital before I went to school.
Do: do, does, did
21. Do your best to help me?
22. Don‟t be late.
23. Ali did me a good favour yesterday
24. What are you doing now?
25. Do you understand me? Yes I do.
26. I don‟t like that person. Neither do I
27. Why didn‟t you buy any bread. I did buy some.

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 There are three fundamental forms for verbs in English

Infinitive Past form Past participle

Live Lived Lived
Arrive Arrived arrived
Work Worked Worked
Visit Visited Visited
Finish Finished Finished
Play Played Played
Study Studied Studied
Watch Watched Watched Regular
Clean Cleaned Cleaned verbs
Water Watered Watered
Stay Stayed Stayed
Welcome Welcomed Welcomed
Open Opened Opened
Rain Rained Rained
Kill Killed Killed
Write Wrote Written
Come Came Come
Make Made Made
See Saw Seen
Teach Taught Taught
Go Went Gone
Read Read Read Irregular
Cut Cut Cut verbs
Meet Met Met
Find Found Found
Buy Bought Bought
Bring Brought Brought
Pay Paid Paid
Lose Lost Lost
Cost Cost Cost

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