UNBRIDGED ENGLISH GRAMMAR

PAMPHLET FOR JUNIOR SECONDARY

SCHOOL

Compiled by C.H.NKHOMA.(2022)
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PARTS OF SPEECH

A. NOUNS

 A noun is a word used to name a person, place, thing, idea, quality, or action.
 Nouns can be classified in several ways. All nouns can be placed in at leasttwo
classifications. They are either common or proper. All are also either abstract or concrete.
Some nouns can be classified as compound, collective, and possessive as well.

1. Common Nouns

 These are general names, common to an entire group.

 Examples are: motor, tree, time, and children.

2.Proper Nouns

 These are name specific, one-of-a-kind things.

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  Examples are: Lilongwe, Blantyre, and Eastern Region.

3.Concrete Nouns

 These are names of things that can be perceived by the senses.

 Examples are: Stadium, Jacket, St. Louis, and Planet.

4.Abstract Nouns

 These are names of things that cannot be observed by the senses.

 Examples are: Intelligence, Fear, Joy, Loneliness, Love, and Beauty.

5.Compound Nouns

 These are nouns formed from two or more words but express a single idea.
 They are written as single words, as separate words, or with hyphens.
 Examples are: Sunshine, Call waiting, Job-sharing.

6.Collective Nouns

 These are singular nouns that refer to groups of people or things.

 Examples are: Army, Flock, Class, and Species.

7.Possessive Nouns

 These nouns show who or what owns something. See the chart below on the proper usage
of the possessive apostrophe.

Category Possessive Nouns Rule Examples

All singular nouns Add apostrophe plus –s Lester’s, Phiri’s, Daughter-
in-law’s.
Plural nouns not ending in Add apostrophe plus –s Children’s, Women’s,
-s People’s.
Plural nouns ending in –s Add apostrophe only Witnesses’, Churches’,

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 Males’, Johnsons’

GRAMMAR PRACTICE
For each underlined nouns, tell whether it is common or proper. Then tell whether it is
concrete or abstract.

1.Lester says many Malawians seem to be looking through a one-way mirror.

2. Malawian society has been accused of having an identity crisis.

3. There are some disputes about minor issues such as fish.

4. She reads poetry in Spanish.

5. Sounds burst forth from the radio broadcast like confetti.

6. Yankho Pambalipe thought that both superpowers suffer from arrogance.

7. She misses the pleasure of weaving in and out of Chichewa and English.

B. PRONOUNS

 A pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun or another pronoun. The word or
word group to which the pronoun refers is called its antecedent.

1. Personal Pronouns

 These are pronouns that change their form to express person, number, gender, and case.
The forms of these pronouns are shown in the chart below.

Singular Nominative Objective Possessive

First person I Me My, Mine
Second person You You Your, Yours
Third person She, He, It Her, Him, It Her, Hers, His, Its
Plural
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 First person We Us Our, Ours
Second person You You Your, Yours
Third person They Them Their, Theirs

2. Pronoun Agreement

 Pronouns should agree with their antecedents in number and person.

 Singular pronouns are used to replace singular nouns.
 Plural pronouns are used to replace plural nouns.
 Pronouns must also match the gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter) of the nouns
they replace.
 He…. is the subject.
 Them...is the object.
 Us…is the object of the preposition.
 A Possessive Pronoun
o It shows ownership. The pronouns mine, yours, his, its, ours, andtheirs can be
used in place of nouns.
o Example; This horse is mine.
o The pronouns my, your, her, his, its, our, and there are used before nouns.
o Example; This is my horse.

4. Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns

 These pronouns are formed by adding -self or –selves to certain personal pronouns. Their
forms are the same, and they differ only in how they are used.
 Reflexive pronouns
o These pronouns follow verbs or prepositions and reflect back on an earlier noun
or pronoun.
o Examples are;
 Lester likes himself too much.
 She is now herself again.
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  Intensive pronouns
o These pronouns intensify or emphasize the nouns or pronouns to which they
refer.
o Examples are;
 They themselves will educate their children.
 You did it yourselves.

Singular
First person Myself
Second person Yourself
Third person Herself, Himself, Itself
Plural
First person Ourselves
Second person Yourselves
Third person Themselves

 Avoid using hisself or theirselves becauseStandard English does not include these forms.

NB; Reflexive and Intensive pronouns should never be used without antecedents. For
example;

Incorrect: Read a tale to my brother and myself.

Correct: Read a tale to my brother and me.

5. Demonstrative Pronouns

 These are pronouns that point out things and persons near and far.

Singular Plural
Near This These
Far That Those
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 NB: Avoid using the objective pronoun themin place of the demonstrative those. For
example;

Incorrect: Let’s dramatize one of them tales.

Correct: Let’s dramatize one of those tales.

6. Indefinite Pronouns

 These pronouns do not refer to specific persons or things and usually have no
antecedents.
 The chart below shows some commonly used indefinite pronouns.

Singular Plural Singular or Plural

Each Both All Half
Either Few Any Plenty
Neither Many More None
Another Several Most Some

 Here is another set of indefinite pronouns, all of which are singular. Notice that, with one
exception, they are spelled as one word:
Anyone Everyone No one Someone

Anybody EverybodyNobody Somebody

Anything Everything Nothing Something

NB: Since all these are singular, pronouns referring to them should be singular. For example;

Incorrect: Did everybody play their part well?

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Correct: Did everybody play his or her part well?

If the antecedent of the pronoun is both male and female, his or her may be used as an

alternative, or the sentence may be recast;

Examples are;

 Did everybody play his or her part well?

 Did all the students play their parts well?

GRAMMAR PRACTICE

Write the correct form of all incorrect pronouns in the sentences below.

1. In ‘By the waters of Babylon,’ him who touches the metal in the Dead places must be priest

or son of a priest.

2. The narrator’s father hisself questioned him.

3. He feared that the swift current would carry the raft and he out into the Bitter Water.

4. When Lester Phiri saw a hip of broken stones, he cautiously approached them stones.

5. Each of the god roads Ruth saw were in constant motion.

7. Interrogative Pronoun

 These are pronouns that tell the reader or listener that a question is coming.
 The interrogative pronouns are who, whom, whose, which and what.
 Examples are:
 Who is going to rehearse with you?
 From whom did you receive the script?
 Usage tip!Who is used for subject, whom for objects. To find out which pronoun to use
in a question, change the question to a statement. For instance;
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 Question; (Who/whom?) did you meet there?
Statement; You met (?) there.
Since the verb has the subject (you), the needed word must be the object form, whom.
Example; Whomdid you meet there?
 Watch out! A special problem arises when you use an interrupter such as do you think
within a sentence. For instance;
(Who/whom) do you think will win?
If you eliminate the interrupter, it is clear that the word you need is who.

8. Relative Pronouns

 These pronouns relate, or connect, clauses to the words they modify in

sentences. The noun or pronoun that the clause modifies is the antecedent of the
Relative pronoun.
 Here are the relative pronouns and their use;

Replacing Subject Object Possessive

Persons Who Whom Whose
Things Which Which Whose
Things/persons* That That Whose
*That generally will not replace specific names, such as Lester Phiri.

Often short sentences with related ideas can be combined using relative pronouns to create a
more effective sentence.

 Short sentence; McDonald Vumu won a writing contest at the age of eight.
 Related sentence;McDonald Vumu did not plan to have a literary career.
 Combined sentences; McDoldad Vumu, who won a writing contest at the age of
eight did not plan to have a literary career.

GRAMMAR PRACTICE

Choose the appropriate interrogative or relative pronoun from the words in parentheses.
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 1. The narrator thinks people gossip and say, ‘(who/whom) does she think she is, to be
choosy?’
2. Dickson Kazembe, (who/whom) she is considering marrying, is a health officer and
handsome.
3. She thinks it would be sad to marry a man (who/whom) she doesn’t love.
4. Law and morality are factors (that/who) bind a married couple.
5. Her nurse, (who/whom) is shrewd but uneducated, is critical of the narrator’s reluctant to
marry.
6. Her mother had told her about her father, (who/whom) was a fine handsome fellow.
7. The narrator wonders whether her mother was miserable, being deprived of a man to
(who/whom) she was devoted.

C. VERBS

 A verb is a word that expresses an action, a condition, or a state of being.

 There are two main kinds of verbs;
 Action and
 Linking.
o Other verbs, called auxiliary verbs, are sometimes used with action
verbs and linking verbs.

1. Action Verbs

 These are verbs that tell what action someone or something is performing, physically or
mentally.
 Examples are;
 Physical action:You hit the target.
 Mental action:She dreamed of me.

2. Linking Verbs

 These are verbs that do not express action.

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  They link subjects to complements that identify or describe them.
 They are divided into two groups;
 Forms of to be:She is our queen.
 Verbs that express condition: The writer looked thoughtful.

3. Auxiliary Verbs

 They are sometimes called helping verbs.

 They precede action or linking verbs and modify their meanings in special ways.
 The most commonly used auxiliary verbs are parts of the verbs be, have, and do
 Be: am, are, is, was, were, be, being, been.
 Have: have, has, and had.
 Do: do, did, does.
 Other common auxiliary verbs are; can, could, will, would, shall, should, may,
might, and must.
 Examples are;
o I always have admired her.
o You must listen to me.

4. Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

 Action verbs can be either transitive or intransitive.

 A transitive verb directs the action towards someone or something. The
transitive verb has an object.
 An intransitive verb does not direct the action towards someone or something. It
does not have an object.

NB:Since linking verbs convey no action, they are always intransitive.

o Examples are;
 Transitive: The storm sank the ship.
 Intransitive: The ship sank.

5.Principle Parts
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  Action and linking verbs typically have four principle parts, which are used to form verb
tenses.
 The principle parts are; the present, the present participle, the past, and the past
participle.
 If the verb is a regular verb, the past and past participle are formed by adding the
ending –d or –ed to the present part. Here is the chart showing four regular verbs:

Present Present Participle Past Past Participle

Risk (is) risking Risked (have) risked
Solve (is) solving Solved (have) solved
Drop (is) dropping Dropped (have) dropped
Carry (is) carrying Carried (have) carried

NB:Note that the present participle and past participle forms are preceded by a form of be or
have. These forms cannot be used alone as main verbs and always need an auxiliary verb.

o Examples are;
 She once thought her mother was wastingher time.
 Now she has stopped trying to be like everyone else.
 The past and past participle of irregular verbs are not formed by adding –d or –ed to the
present; they are formed in irregular ways.

Present Present Participle Past Past Participle

Begin (is) beginning began (have) begun
Break (is) breaking Broke (have) broken
Bring (is) bringing Brought (have) brought
Choose (is) choosing Chose (have) chosen

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Go (is) going Went (have) gone
Lose (is) losing Lost (have) lost
See (is) seeing Saw (have) seen
Swim (is) swimming Swam (have) swum

6. Verb Tenses

 The tense of a verb tells the time of the action or the state of being. An action or state of
being can occur in the present, the past, or the future.
 There are six tenses, each expressing a different range of time.
a). Present Tense
 These verb tenses express an action that is happening at the present time, occurs
regularly, or is constant or generally true. Use the present part.
 Examples are:
 Now: This soup tastes delicious.
 Regular: I make vegetable soup often.
 General: Crops require sun, rain, and rich soil.

b). Past Tense

 These verb tenses express an action that began and ended in the past. Use the past
part.
 Example;
 The storyteller finished his tale.

c). Future Tense

 These verb tenses express an action (or state of being) that will occur. Use shall or
will with the present part.
 Example;
 They will attend the next graduation to be held at Mzuzu University.

d). Present Perfect Tense

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  These verb tenses express an action;
 That was completed at an indefinite time in the past or
 That began in the past and continues into the present.
 Use have or has with the past participle. For example;
 Poetry has inspired readers throughout the ages.

e). Past Perfect Tense

 These verb tenses shows an action in the past that came before another action in
the past. Use had before the past participle.
 Example:
 Before we left, we had asked him to find a place to stay.

f). Future Perfect Tense

 These verb tenses shows an action in the future that will be completed before
another action in the future. Use shall have or will have before the past
participle.
 Example:
 They will have finished the novel before seeing the movie version of the
table.
8. Progressive Forms
 The progressive forms of the six tenses show ongoing action. Use a form of
bewith the present participle of a verb.
 Examples are:
 Present Progressive: Bertha Zuze is rehearsing her lines.
 Past Progressive: Bertha Zuze was rehearsing her lines.
 Future Progressive: Bertha Zuze will be rehearsing her lines.
 Present Perfect Progressive: Bertha Zuze has been rehearsing her lines.
 Past Perfect Progressive: Bertha Zuze had been rehearsing her lines.

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  Future Perfect Progressive: Bertha Zuze will have been rehearsing her
lines.
 Watch Out! Do not shift tenses needlessly. Watch out for these special cases.
o In most compound sentences and in sentences with predicates, keep the
tenses the same. For instance;
 Incorrect: I keyed in the password, but I get an error message.
 Correct: I keyed in the password, but I got an error message.
o If one past action happens before another, do shift tenses-from the past
perfect. For instance;
 Incorrect: They wished they started earlier.
 Correct: They wished they had started earlier.

GRAMMAR PRACTICE

Identify the tense of the verb(s) in each of the following sentences. If you find unnecessary

tense shift, correct it.

1. Rodger’s story ‘initiation’ is about the Mzuzu University sorority/group initiation.

2. No one who joined the sorority fails to get through initiation.
3. Thokozani tells Jennipher they still will be best friends after the initiation.
4. Hodges thought, ‘This is getting serious.’
5. When Ellina made her decision, she remembers the reply of the man on the bus.
9. Active and Passive Voice
 The voice of a verb tells whether the subject of a sentence performs or receives
the action expressed by the verb.
 When the subject performs the action, the verb is in the active voice.
 When the subject is the receiver of the action, the verb is in the passive
voice.
o Compare these two sentences:
 Active: Her sunglasses hid most of her face.
 Passive: Most of her face was hidden by her sunglasses.

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 o To form the passive voice use a form of be with the past participle of the
main verb.
o Use the passive voice sparingly. It tends to make writing less forceful
and less direct. It can also make the writing awkward. For instance;
 Awkward: She was given the handmade quilts by her mother.
 Correct: Her mother gave her the handmade quilts.
 There are occasions when you will choose to use the passive voice because:
 You want to emphasize the receiver.
 The king was shot.
 The doer is unknown.
 My books were stolen.
 The doer is unimportant.
 Chichewa is spoken here.

9. Mood
 The mood identifies the manner in which the verb expresses an idea.
 There are three moods:
 The indicative mood: This mood states a fact that or ask a question. You
use this mood often. For example:
 His trust was shuttered by the betrayal.
 The imperative mood: This is used to give a command or make a request.
For example:
 Be there by eight o’clock sharp.
 The subjunctive mood: This is used to express a wish or a condition that
is contrary to fact. For example:
 If I were you, I wouldn’t get my hopes up.
 GRAMMAR PRACTICE
For the first five items below, identify the boldfaced verbs as active or passive.
1. In her stories, Ruth Ndhlovu has shown the dignity of people who are her subjects.

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 2. The story ‘Life at Mzuni’ was written by Chiyembekezo Rodgers.
3. The mother in the story knows both her daughters very well.
4. The yard in front of the house was swept clean as a floor.
5. Their other house had been burned down.

For the following items, identify the boldfaced verbs as indicative or subjunctive in
mood.

6. The story shows how the mother respects the everyday use of the quilts/beddings.
7. If Hodges were more like Lester, he would understand the value of the quilts in a
different way.
8. JennipherKawulawanted to hang the blankets on the wall because of their beauty and
their history.
9. Synab and her mother were planning to use the quilts as bedcovers.
10. If Thokozani Themuka were not such a good writer, she might have made the story
seem commonplace.

D. MODIFIERS

 Modifiers are words or groups of words that change or limit the meanings of other words.
 The two kinds of modifiers are:
 Adjectives and
 Adverbs.
1. Adjectives
 An adjective is a word that modifies a noun or pronoun by telling which one,
whatkind, how many, or how much.
a). Which One: This, that, these, those.
 Example: These tomatoes have grown quickly.

b). What Kind: Tiny, impressive, bold, rotten.

 Example: The bold officer stood in front of the crowd.

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c). How Many: Some, few, thirty, none, both, each.

 Example: Some of us had three helpings of sweet potatoes.

d). How Much: More, less, enough, scarce.

 Example: There was enough chicken to serve everyone.

 The Articlesa, an, and theare usually classified as adjectives. These are the
most common adjectives that you will use.
 Examples are:
 The bridge was burned before the attack.
 A group of peasants led the procession in the town.
I. Predicate Adjectives
 Most adjectives come before the nouns they modify, as in the examples above.
 Predicate adjectives, however, follow linking verbs and describe the subject.
 Example: My friends are very intelligent.
 Be especially careful to use adjectives (not adverbs) after such linking
verbs as look, feel, grow, taste, and smell.
 Example: The weather grows cold.
II. Order of Adjectives
 Below is a summary on the order of adjectives.
 Determiner: that, an, the, a.
 Option/ Quality:beautiful, interesting, lovely, magnificent, golden
 Age: old, modern, new, ancient.
 Size:huge, big, large, small.
 Shape:round, oval, spherical, cylindrical.
 Colour:red, brown, pink.
 Origin:Malawian, ngoni, yao, chewa.
 Material:nylon, woolen.
 Purpose/ Use:killing, skinning, freezing.
 Noun:umbrella, house, desk.

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  The above order of adjective yields in DOASSCOMPN as an acronym for easy
remembering whenever need arise.
 GRAMMAR PRACTICE
Give the correct order of the following adjectives.
1. An, blue, old, nylon, trouser, magnificent.
2. Broken, writing, that, desk, ancient.
3. Young, beautiful, a, lady.
4. That, Mzuni, student, intelligent, new.
5. Black, cloud, a, huge.
6. Malawian, rose, pink, beautiful, a.
7. That, ngoni, pointed, long, spear, hunting.
8. Chines, carpet, ancient, a, golden, square.
2. Adverbs
 An adverb modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs by telling where, when, how,
or to what extent.
o Where: The children played outside.
o When: The author spoke yesterday.
o How: We walked slowly behind the leader.
o To what extent: He worked very hard.
 Unlike adjectives, adverbs tend to be mobile words: they may occur in many
places in sentences.
 Examples are:
 Suddenly the wind shifted.
 The wind suddenly shifted.
 The wind shifted suddenly.
o Changing the position of the adverb within sentences can vary the
rhythm in your writing.
i. Adjective or Adverb
 Many adverbs are formed by adding –ly to adjectives.
 Examples: sweet, sweetly: gentle, gently.
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  However, -ly added to a noun will usually yield an adjective.
 Examples: Friend, Friendly: Woman, Womanly.
ii. Comparison of Modifiers
 The forms of an adjective or adverb indicates the degree of comparison that the
modifier expresses. Both adjectives and adverbs have three forms, or degrees:
the positive, comparative, and superlative.
 The Positive Form: This is used to describe individual things, groups, or
actions. Examples are:
 The emperor’s chariots are fast.
 Lester’s speed was effective.
 The Comparative Form: This is used to compare two things, groups, or
actions. Examples are:
 The emperor’s chariots are faster than the senators’ chariots.
 Rodgers’ speech was more effective than Lester’s speech.
 The Superlative Form: This is used to compare more than two things,
groups, or actions. Examples are:
 The emperor’s chariots are the fastest in the empire.
 Ellina’s speech was the most effective of all.
iii. Regular Comparisons
 One-syllable and some two-syllable adjectives and adverbs form their
comparative and superlative forms by adding –er or –est. All three-syllable and
most two-syllable modifiers form their comparative and superlative by using
more or most.

Positive Comparative Superlative

Small Smaller Smallest
Thin Thinner Thinnest
Sleepy Sleepier Sleepiest
Useless More useless Most useless

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Precisely More precisely Most precisely

NB: Note that spelling changes must sometimes be made to form the comparative and
superlative of modifiers.
 Examples are:
 Friendly, Friendlier(change y to i and add the ending)
 Sad, Sadder(double the final consonants and add the ending)
iv. Irregular Comparisons
 Some commonly used modifiers have irregular comparative and superlative
forms. You may wish to memorize them.

Positive Comparative Superlative

Good Better Best
Bad Worse Worst
Far Farther or further Farthest or furthest
Little Less or lesser Least
Many More Most
Well Better Best
Much More Best

v. Using Modifiers Correctly

 Study the tips that follow to avoid common mistakes.
 Farther and further: farther is used for distances; use further for everything.
 Avoiding double comparison: You make a comparison by using -er/-est or by
using more/most. Using –er with more or using –est with most is incorrect. For
example;
 Incorrect: I like her more better than she likes me.
 Correct: I like her better than she likes me.
 Avoiding illogical comparison: An illogical or confusing comparison results if
two unrelated things are compared or if something is compared with itself. The
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 word other or the word else should be used in a comparison of an individual
member with the rest of the group. For example;
 Illogical: Shakespeare’s plays are more popular than those of any
Elizabethan writer. (Was Shakespeare an Elizabethan writer?)
 Correct: Shakespeare’s plays are more popular than those of any other
Elizabethan writer.
 Bad vs. Badly: Bad, always an adjective, is used before nouns or after linking
verbs to describe the subject.Badly, always an adverb never modifies a noun. Be
sure to use the right form after a linking verb.
 Incorrect:Lester felt badly after his team lost.
 Correct:Lester felt bad after his team lost.
 Good vs. well: Good is always an adjective. It is used before nouns or after a
linking verb to modify the subject. Well is often an adverb meaning properly.
Well can also be used as an adjective after a linking verb, when it means ‘in
good health’.
 Incorrect:Salatiel writes very good.
 Correct:Salatiel writes verywell.
 Correct:Yesterday I felt bad; today I feel well.
 Double Negatives:If you add a negative word to a sentence that is already
negative, the result will be an error known as a double negative. When using not
or –n’t with a verb, use ‘any-’ words, such as anybody or anything, ratherthan
‘no-’ words, such as nobody or nothing, later in the sentence.
 Incorrect: I don’t have no money.
 Correct:I don’t have any money.
 Incorrect:We haven’t seen nobody.
 Correct:We haven’t seen anybody.
 Using hardly, barely, or scarcely after a negative word is also incorrect.
 Incorrect: They couldn’t barely see two feet ahead.
 Correct: They could barely see two feet ahead.

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  Misplaced Modifiers: A misplaced modifier is one placed so far away from the
word it modifies that the intended meaning of the sentence is unclear. Place
modifiers as close as possible to the words they modify.
 Misplaced: We found the child in the park who was missing. (The child
was missing not the park.)
 Clearer: We found the child who was missing in the park.
 GRAMMAR PRACTICE
Choose the correct word from each pair in parentheses:
1. Shakespeare’s plays are (popularer/more popular) than those of any playwright.
2. The play Julius Caesar is about the death of the (powerfulest/most powerful) emperor
of Roman times.
3. Hodges didn’t pay (no/any) attention to the soothsayer who warned him about the
ideas of March/Protest.
4. Lester (could/couldn’t) hardly know what lay in store for him.
5. Lester thought Yankho loved him (well/good).
6. He didn’t have (any/no) fear of his friends.
7. Some Malawians thought that Muluzi was the (most good/best) leader they would
ever have.
8. Between Ruth and Jennipher, Ruth was supposed to be the (better/best)public
speaker.
9. In the scene, we learn that Chiyembekezo Rodgers felt (bad/badly) that Lester was
forsaken.
10. Zachariah Hodges didn’t want (anyone/no one) to know his plans.

E. PREPOSITIONS

 A preposition is a word used to show the relationship between a noun or pronoun and
another word in the sentence.
 Some of the commonly used prepositions are given in the table below:

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 Above Down Near Through
At For Of To
Before From On Up
Below In Out With
By Into Over Without

 The preposition is always followed by a word or group of words that serve its
object. The preposition, its object, and modifiers of the object are called the
prepositional phrase. In each example below, the prepositional phrase is
underlined and the object of the preposition is in boldface type.
 The future of the entire kingdomis uncertain.
 We searched through the deepest woods.
 Prepositional phrases may be used as adjectives or as adverbs. The phrase in the
first example is used as an adjective modifying the noun future. In the second
example, the phrase is used as an adverb modifying the verb searched.
 Prepositional phrases must be as close as possible to the word they modify. For
instance;
 Misplaced: We have clothes for leisure wear of many colours.
 Clearer: We have clothes of many colours for leisure wear.

F. CONJUNCTIONS

 A conjunction is a word used to connect words, phrases, or sentences.

 There are three kinds of conjunctions:
a) Coordinating conjunctions
b) Correlative conjunctions
c) Subordinating conjunctions
o Coordinating Conjunctions
 These connect words or word groups that have the same function in a sentence.
These include and, but, or, for, so, yet, and nor.

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  Can join nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases, and
clauses in a sentence.
 The examples below shows coordinating conjunctions joining words of the
same function:
 I have many friends but few enemies. (two noun objects)
 We ran out the door and into the street. (two prepositional phrases)
 They are pleasant yet seem aloof. (two predicates)
 We have to go now, or we will be late. (two clauses)
o Correlative Conjunctions
 These are similar to coordinating conjunctions. However, correlative conjunctions
are always used in pairs.
 The table below shows some of these correlative conjunctions.

Both………..and Neither……….nor Whether…..or

Either………or Not only………but also

o Subordinating Conjunctions
 These introduce subordinate clauses-clauses that cannot stand by themselves as
complete sentences. The subordinating conjunction shows how the subordinate
clause relates to the rest of the sentence. The relationships include; time, manner,
place, cause, comparison, condition, and purpose.

Relationships Subordinate Conjunctions

Time After, as, as long as, as soon as, before, since,
until, when, whenever, while.
Manner As, as if.
Place Where, wherever.
Cause Because, since.
Comparison As, as much as, than.
Condition Although, as long as, even if, even though, if,

25
 provided that, though, unless, while.
Purpose In order that, so that, that.

o In the example below, the boldface word is the conjunction , and the underlined words
are called a subordinate clause:
 We singbecause we are happy.
o We sing is an independent clause because it can stand alone as a complete sentence.
Because we are happy cannot stand alone as a complete sentence; it is a subordinate
clause.

G. INTERJECTIONS

 These are words used to show strong emotions, such as wow and cool. Often followed by
an exclamation point, they have no grammatical relationship to the rest of a sentence.
 Example: You have written a poem? Great!

 GRAMMAR PRACTICE
Label each of the boldfaced words as a preposition, conjunction, or interjection:
1. Lester Phiri was a writer and lecturer.
2. He is well-known for his poetry, but he also won prizes for his biographies.
3. In Clement’s poem ‘life at Mzuni’ the lovers feel they won the moon. Wonderful!
4. They felt this way because they were in love.
5. They thought the moon looked like a silver button as well as a plaque of gold.
6. The lovers talk together of love, yet they notice the way things look and smell.
7. They looked at the moon one evening when they could smell leaves and roses.
8. They looked long at the moon and talked about it as if it were special just for them.
Terrific!
9. It is spring because there is the smell of ‘the beginnings of roses and potatoes.
10. They sat together until late in the evening.

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H. THE SENTENCE AND ITS PARTS

 A sentence is a group of words used to express a complete thought. A complete sentence

has a subject and predicate.
a) Kinds of Sentences
 Sentences make statements, ask questions, give commands, and show feelings.
 There are four basic types of sentences:

Type Definition Example

Declarative States a fact, wish, intent, or I read Ruth’s essay last night.
feeling.
Interrogative Asks a question. Did you like the essay?
Imperative Gives a command, direction Read this paragraph aloud.
Exclamatory Expresses strong feeling or I wish I had thought of that!
excitement.

 Writing Tip! One way to vary your writing is to employ a variety of different types of
sentences. In the first example below, each sentence is declarative. Notice how much
more interesting the revised paragraph is.
 Sample Paragraph: You have to see Kapichira Falls in person. You can truly
appreciate their awesome power in no other way. You should visit them on your
next vacation. They are a spectacular sight.
 Revised Paragraph: Have you ever seen Kapichira Falls in person? You can
truly appreciate their awesome power in no other way. Visit them on your next

Complete Subject Complete Predicate

The poets of the time wrote about nature.
This new approach was extraordinary.

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I). PHRASES

 A phrase is a group of related words that does not have a subject and predicate and
functions in a sentence as a single part of speech.
1. Prepositional Phrases
 A prepositional phrase is a phrase that consists of a preposition, its object, and
any modifiers of the object.
 Prepositional phrases that modify nouns or pronouns are called adjective
phrases.
 Prepositional phrases that modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb are
adverb phrases.
 Adjective Phrase: The central character of the story is a wicked villain.
 Adverb Phrase: He reveals his nature in the first scene.
2. Appositives and Appositive Phrases
 An appositive is a noun or pronoun that usually comes directly after another
noun or pronoun and identifies or provides further information about that
word.
 An appositive phrases includes the appositive and all its modifiers.
In the following example the appositive are underlined:
 The poem was written by Lester Phiri, a great poet.
 He wrote this poem a sad remembrance of war, about artilleryman.
 Occasionally, an appositive phrase may precede the noun it tells about.
 Example: A great poet, Lester Phiri wrote man of the poems we are
studying.

J). VERBALS AND VERBAL PHRASES

 A verbal is a verb form that is used as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb.

 A verbal phrase consist of a verb, all it modifiers and all its components.
 There are three kind of verbs:

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  Infinitives
 Participles
 Gerunds
I. Infinitive and Infinitive Phrases
 An infinitive is a verb form that usually begins with to and functions as a noun,
adjective, or adverb.
 The infinitive and its modifiers constitute an infinitive phrase. The examples that
follow show several uses of infinitive and infinitive phrases. Each infinitive
phrase is underlined.
 Noun:
 To know her is my only wish. (subject)
 She wrote to voice her opinions. (direct object)
 Her goal was to promote women’s rights. (predicate nominative)
 Adjective:
 We saw his need to be loved. (adjective modifying need)
 Adverb:
 I’m planning to walk with you. (adverb modifying planning)
 Like verbs themselves, infinitives can take objects (her in the first noun example), be
made passive (to be loved in the adjective example), and take modifiers (with you in the
adverb example).
 Because to, the sign of the infinitive,precedes infinitives, it is usually easy to recognize
them. However, sometimes to may be omitted.
 Example: Let no one dare [to] enter this shrine.
II. Participles and Participial Phrase
 A participle is a verb form that functions as an adjective. Like adjectives,
participles modify nouns and pronouns. Most participles use the present participle
form, ending in –ing, or the past participle form, ending in –ed or –en.
 In the examples below the participles are underlined:
 Modifying a Noun: The dying man had a smile on his face.
 Modifying a Pronoun:Frustrated, everyone abandoned the cause.

29
  Participial phrases are particles with all their modifiers and complements. For
example:
 Modifying a Noun: The dogs searching for survivors are well trained.
 Modifying a Pronoun:Having approved your proposal, we are ready to
Gerunds and Gerunds Phrases
 A gerund is a verb form ending in–ing that functions as a noun. Gerunds may
perform any function nouns perform.
 Subject: Running is my favourite pastime.
 Direct Objects: I truly love running.
 Subject Complement: My deepest passion is running.
 Object of Preposition: Her love of running keeps her strong.
 Gerund Phrases are gerunds with all their modifiers and complements. The
Gerund phrases are underlined in the following examples.
 Subject: Wishing on a star never got me far.
 Object of Preposition: I will finish before leaving the office.
 Appositive: Her avocation/occupation, flying airplanes, finally led to the
full-time employment.
 GRAMMAR PRACTICE
Identify the underlined phrases as appositive phrases, infinitive phrases, participial
phrases, or gerund phrases.
1. Born into an aristocratic family, Yankho was orphaned at the age of nine.
2. Love and Pain, Lester’s longest novel, was published in 2012.
3. His attempt to get rid of his property brought about disagreements with his wife.
4. Dancing with Victoria made Salatiel indescriba

_____________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________2marks

K). CLAUSES

30
  A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb. There are two kinds of
clauses:
 Independent clauses
 Subordinate clauses
a. Independent and Subordinate Clauses
 An independentclause can stand alone as a sentence, as the word independent suggests.
 Independent Clauses: Hodges Zachariah did not wish his poems to be published.
A sentence may contain more than one independent clause.
 Example: Hodges Zachariah did not wish his poems to be published, but seven
were published during his lifetime.
In the example above the coordinating conjunction but joins the two independent
clauses.
 A subordinateclause cannot stand alone as a sentence. It is subordinate to, or dependent
on, the main clause.
 Example: Hodges Zachariah did not wish his poems to be published, although he
shared them with friends.
Although he shared them with friendscannot stand by itself.
b. Adjective Clauses
 An adjective clause is a subordinate clause used as an adjective. It usually follows the
noun or pronoun it modifies.
 Example: Tionge Manda wrote about birch tree branches that boys swing on.
 Adjective clauses are typically introduced by the relative pronouns who, whom, whose,
which, and that. In the examples that follow the adjective clauses are underlined.
 Examples are:
 One song that we like became our theme song.
 Ellina Thimba, whose poems have touched many, lived a very quiet life.
 The candidate whom we selected promised to serve us well.

Watch Out! The relative pronouns whom, which, and that may sometimes be omitted

when they are objects of their own clauses. For example:

31
  Pius Nyondo is a poet [whom/that] many have read.
c. Adverb Clauses
 An adverb clause is a subordinate clause that is used as an adverb to modify a verb,
an adjective, or another adverb. It is introduced by a subordinating conjunction.
 Adverb clauses typically occur at the beginning or end of sentences. The clauses are
underlined in these examples:
 Modifying a verb: When we need you, we will call.
 Modifying an Adverb: I’ll stay here where there is shelter from the rain.
 Modifying an Adjective: Lester felt good when he finished his essay.
d. Noun Clauses
 A noun clause is a subordinate clause that is used in a sentence as a noun. A noun
clause may be used as a subject, a direct object, an indirect object, a predicate
nominative, or an object of a preposition.
 Noun clauses are often introduced by pronouns such as that, what, who, whoever,
which and whose, and by subordinating conjunctions, such as how, when, where,
why, and whether.
 Usage tip! Because the same words may introduce adjective and noun clauses, you
need to consider how the clause functions within its sentence.
To determine if a clause is a noun clause, try substituting something or someone for
the clause. If you can do it, it is probably a noun clause.
 Examples are:
 I know whose woods these are. (‘I know something.’ The clause is a noun
clause, direct object of the verb know)
 Give a copy to whoever wants one. (‘Give a copy to someone.’ The clause is a
noun clause, object of the preposition to)

 GRAMMAR PRACTICE
Identify each underlined clause as an adjective clause, an adverb clause, or a noun clause.
1. J.W Mphenzi, who is regarded as one of the Malawian’s greatest writers, was a
teacher very briefly.

32
 2. The teacher in Narayan’s ‘Like the Sun’ thought that telling the absolute truth was
important.
3. When he told his wife the meal wasn’t very good, he made her angry.
4. He seemed not to question whether he really should tell exactly what he thought.
5. His decision, which would last one day, might have cost him his job.

QUESTION TAGS

Question tags are asked for confirmation other than seeking any new information.

The one responding to such questions has to answer as per speaker’s statement

Look at the following examples: He is a man isn’t he? Yes, he is. Noel played didn’t he?
Yes, he did.

Points to take note of

pronouns are used not nouns

 make tags from auxiliary verbs

 put question marks at the end of the question

 put a comma at the end of the statement

33
 supply correct pronouns in the question tag

 do not also forget to look at the verb tense

 question tags begin with a small letter

 positive sentences take negative questions

 negative sentences take positive questions

 negative sentences take negative responses

 positive sentences take positive responses.

General examples

She killed the dog, didn’t she?

They have arrived, haven’t they?

It is notable also that the verb: am, if used positively takes: aren’t not am I? It is wrong to write:
am I not?

It is however accepted to use: ain’t I? if used as slang not as pure grammar.

The same: am if used negatively takes, am I? It is therefore wrong to use, are I? in this regard.

The other observation is that, when you use the pronoun I, when responding, it takes, you.

Look at these sentences: i) I am ready, aren’t I? Yes, you are. (Correct). It is wrong to say: Yes,
I am, in that response as if you are crazy. ii) I am not refusing, am I? No you aren’t. We are
young, aren’t we? Yes, you are. These questions are life like. It is assumed that when using
them, two people converse naturally. Mr. X says the sentence and the question; while Mrs Y
answers the question.

34
Now look at the tags for main verbs other than auxiliary verbs.

You don’t talk, do you?

Kondwa stays there, doesn’t he?.

2 Question tags in commands

The negative- positive rule is flouted upon in commands. We therefore use shall and will when
formulating the tags. Use will for the rest of the subjects and shall for constructions taking let us
or let me.

Look at this example.

Let’s talk here, shall we?

Hand over this to her, will you?

Note that the use of shall or will is there to make the sentences sound polite and request like.

There are also some adverbs which when included in a sentences, make the sentence negative.
Such adverbs are: seldom, scarcely, rarely, never, hardly.

They rarely talk, do they?

It hardly grew up, Did it? .

Other examples

None of us saw it, did we?

No-one was caught, did you ?

There were four, weren’t there?

5 Need and dare in tags

35
These are used in two folds: negatively and positively; as auxiliary verbs or main verbs.

Used negatively, dare and need are auxiliary verbs and repeat them in tags.

We need not tell you this, need we?

She dare not laugh, dare she?

If used positively, substitute them for do, does or did depending on the verb tense. These are
treated as main verbs. If the verb is present and the subject singular use does. If the verb is
present and the subject plural use do. If the verb is past and the subject is in any form, use did.

Look at these examples:

We need this data, don’t we?

I dare to protest, don’t I?

She needed a little of that oil,

didn’t she?

If you look critically at the sentences above, you will see that in the first group, dare and need
were repeated to form tags. While in the second group, dare and need were substituted for do,

36
CLOSE PASSAGE

In this topic, you will learn about a close passage. This is an examinable area in the Malawi
Junior certificate examinations. The main aim of this task is to improve your writing skills.

General hints In close passages,

• you will be given a passage.

 read the passage twice or more to grapple with its content

 do not worry about difficult words since there are no questions asking you for meanings

 try to make sense out of the passage as a whole

 get the meaning and impression drawn by a particular paragraph before supplying the right
word

 put in the gaps one word answer not more than that

 put words that fit in the sentences, paragraphs and the passage as a whole

 mostly, the gaps will be evenly placed: say after every eighth or ninth word.

Now read this passage: the first few gaps underlined have been done for you as examples.

37
 Malawi is one of the countries in Africa that heavily depends on agriculture. Unlike Zimbabwe,
South Africa and Namibia, that have minerals and good lakes, Malawi, is a land locked country
and hence gets her foreign reserves through selling of crops.

This article will discuss some of the challenges that countries like Malawi experience in
sustaining their foreign exchange earners.

First and foremost, our crops, for instance: tobacco faces a stiff competition with tobacco from
other countries. This is so since ours is of low quality due to poor farming methods and lack of
grading machines that would help us grade the best from the worst.

Facing the tobacco industry negatively is the value at which the traders buy the crop. Indeed the
crop fetches-------Kwachas when it goes to the Auction----- despite government efforts to
intervene in the costing processes. Farmers have ----along time cried -------over these low prices.

The other problem is poor climate. The rainfall ---- is so unpredictable that we have in some
years continuous droughts. For the past three to four years, the country has experienced a terrible
drought that affected the ----- --sector negatively. As a result, we have experienced shortage of
both cash and-----crops. This in turn forced government to suspend some-------its development
projects.

Perhaps to say that the climate has not been very good would be crying----spilt milk. The issue
should be what should we do in order to prepare ourselves for future possible droughts?

The answer is simple: there is need for government and NGOs to intensify -------agriculture by
digging dams that will supply farmers with water even in times of---- drought. Some countries
solely rely on water from dams and out of that come bumper yields. As Malawians, we should---
the Chinese and other developed countries. There is also need for the farmers to grow
different---------varieties that ---- very little amount of rainfall such as potatoes-----cassava.
People should know that cassava can be used instead of maize to-----us with nsima------the
homes.

38
Farmers should-------be taught that improved varieties of maize may help them ----more even
when rainfall season is short. There are a lot of farmers who still prefer local variety -----
hybrid------- for their own reasons. The only thing needed here is to change their-- ------set. The
proposals are many, but these are the most important ones that if---------, the country will realise
bumper harvest that will in turn promote the economy of the country.

Note You have finished doing a close passage. There is no concrete principle to guide you
master this task. But practice usually makes it perfect. What you should do is to try to read a lot
of papers and past papers. Try to read magazines and remove some words then put in your own
words. Ask someone to mark your work. In close passages, two or more answers can be correct.
This means, if you are using a newspaper, you have removed words and you try to put your own,
if they are making sense, they are correct. Don’t think that all the students in Malawi can get the
same answers.

PUNCTUATIONS

1 The Full stop or the period (.)

Indicates that a sentence has come to an end. If the sentence is an interrogative, a full stop is not
used.

Look at the following example: We are playing.

39
The full stop is used in abbreviations that do not form names.

i)He was born in 33 A.D.

ii) He lives in the D.R.C.

The period is not used after exclamation or question marks.

i) Did you go there?

ii) ii) He said, ‚Hey!‛

The full stop is put at the end of indirect questions. He asked me what my name was.

2 The Question mark (?)

This is used at the end of a direct question.

i) What is your name?

ii) ii) Are you a doctor?

Do not use this in indirect questions such as the one below.

He asked me what my name was.

3 The Comma (,)

a It is put between a conditional and subordinate clauses.

Eg,If she comes, I shall be happy.

B If the subordinate clause has come at the end, the comma is not used eg

40
I shall be happy if she comes.

C It is also used in a list of things, clauses and adjectives. He gave me goats, sheep and rats.

The comma is rarely used after the conjunction ‚and‛ The Chairman came to my room and told
me to live.

D The comma is used to set off direct speech eg The man said, ‘I will die here.’

E.The comma is used in participial phrases eg Tired, Kabunduli went to bed.

F The comma is used to set off non-defining clauses Students, entitled to free tickets, should
register now. The comma should not be used in defining adjectival clauses The girl who came
yesterday is Filesi.

G The comma is used between two main clauses connected by and, but, nor, or , etc if the
clauses are considered too long. They have stayed in that lab for three hours, but have read only
two books.

H. The comma sets off words that are in apposition to a noun Goliath,eg the thief, has been
defeated.

It is used to set off words that are not part of the original sentence; though they add sense i)
Many of you, as a matter of fact, will not see God. ii) I must admit, without doubt, that I was one
of them.

41
4.An apostrophe (’) It is used in contracted words to represent the missing letters It’s very hot.
It is very hot.

It is used to show that the noun is in possessive case. i) Mr Singo’s car. ii) Lillian’s father left for
Mangochi.

5. Inverted commas (‚‛ ) The inverted commas go in pair of open and closed ones. There are
two types of inverted commas: The double tattoo of American type (‚ ‛) and the single tattoo of
British type (‘ ’)

8 Interjection or exclamation marks (!) This is an exclamation mark and is used to show
happiness, excitement, fear and worry, etc

Never! I will never do that to my child.

The bracket sets off instruction keys Write down uses of cotton in Malawi. (Five uses only)

10 The colon (:) It is used as a comma to set off a direct speech He said: ‚I am here today.‛

It is used to list items instead of a comma He gave me many things: mangoes, chairs and food.

It also introduces sentences that explain the first one The boy was very rude: he refused to help
me.

11 The semi colon (;) The semi colon is used before words such as, consequently, nevertheless,
because, although, since and however, etc. These words show a connection between the
expression in question. Jabu is very strong; however he did not pick the wood.

The semi colon also shows closely connected clauses; There were no people in the stadium; it
was completely empty.

Assessment questions. Punctuate the sentences 1 the teacher gave us chickens oranges bread 2
‚Where do you live‛ 3 Dube had no more copies of that book the shelves were empty. 4 He said
We must be living now.

42
IDIOMS

By definition, an idiom is a word or phrase used in any way that is peculiar to a certain region
and whose meaning cannot be deduced from its grammatical or its component parts. Some
idioms are single words that carry an unexpected meaning.

Examples of idioms

Ace (noun): Someone who has exceptional talent at a particular activity. Drogba is the team’s
ace pitcher. (talented player)

All ears: Eager to hear what someone has to say. She phoned to tell me what she had heard, and

I was all ears.‛

Antsy (adjective): restless; impatient; tired of waiting. The children got antsy while waiting for
the train.

At the eleventh hour: At the last minute I finished the project at the eleventh hour and
managed to turn it in on time.

Bad blood (noun): (enmity) The two men had not spoken in years; there was a lot of bad blood
between them.‛

Bad-mouth (verb) say unkind and unflattering things about someone He continued to bad-
mouth his boss even though his co-workers seemed offended.

43
Basket case (noun) be emotionally or physically unable to take care of oneself, Rex was a
complete basket case after he lost his job.

Beats me: I have no idea Question: How much did it cost? Answer: ‚Beats me.‛

Be on the go: Very busy (going from one project to another) I will be on the go everyday
between now and Christmas.

Be on the road; travelling We would like to be on the road by five because it is a long drive.

Beat one’s brains out: try very hard to comprehend or do something I have been beating my
brains out trying to solve this linear equation.

Bite off more than one can chew: take on more responsibility than one can manage If you say
yes to one more thing, you’ll bite off more than you can chew.

Bitter pill (noun): a big disappointment that is hard to accept: Losing that contract was a bitter
pill to swallow.

Blabber- mouth (noun): a very talkative person, especially one who shares secrets I never tell
him anything important because he is such a blabber-mouth.

Break up: (verb) (phrasal verb) to terminate; to bring to an end She decided to break up with
her boyfriend.

Break-up (noun) (phrasal verb): the end of a relationship. The break-up has been very
difficult for him.

Broke (adverb): to be without money: I am broke until I get paid on Friday.

Bull-headed: Stubborn; inflexible He was too bull-headed to listen to the advice of others.

Burn the midnight oil: study or work either all night or late into the night To finish the project
on time, I will have to burn the midnight oil.
44
By the skin of one’s teeth: barely succeed at something; Joe passed his final exams by the skin
of his teeth.

Call it a day: Stop working for the day;It’s late, so we should call it a day.

Catch some Zs; take a rest or nap; After the game, he was ready to catch some Zs.

Chicken (adjective or noun): cowardly He will go off the high dive because he’s chicken.

Double-cross: promise one thing and do another. She double-crossed her partner and tried to get
away with a lot of money.

Down the dumps: depressed or sad; The rainy weather makes everyone feel down in the dumps.

Egghead: a very intelligent person; He makes excellent grades but is offended when people call
him an egghead.

Elbow grease: hard work; extra effort We got the truck cleaned, but it took a lot of elbow grease.

Far-fetched: hard to believe or accept His stories are far-fetched and sometimes absurd.

Fender-bender: an automobile accident; There were several fender-benders because of the

potholes.

Go along with: agree; I can’t go along with him on his budget ideas.

Give someone the run around: avoid something; I asked several questions, but he just wanted
to give me the run around.

Green: in-experienced; The coach did not want to count on his young quarterback; he was too
green.

Gut feeling: an instinctive feeling; Everyone said he was wrong, but I had a gut feeling he was
right.

Hard-headed: stubborn, inflexible; She is hard-headed, and no amount of talking will change
her mind.

45
Have a ball: slang for enjoying oneself; The children will have a ball at the water park.

High time: a time when circumstances force action; It was high time he apologised.

In the know: expert; someone with knowledge; He is close to the CEO and always seems to be
in the know about what is going on in the country.

Jump the gun: do something before it should be done; She jumped the gun and left the house
too soon.

Jump to conclusions: decide too quickly or without knowing or considering all the facts; He
was sure she didn’t like him, but everyone thinks he was jumping to conclusions.

Keep an eye on: check on something or something regularly or to watch carefully; I trust him to
keep an eye on the children while I go to the market.

Keep one’s fingers crossed: hope for what is best; I know you’re worried you won’t get a raise
this year; but I keep my fingers crossed.

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Lend someone a hand: help someone; He will need to lend him a hand to push his car out of
the ditch.

Mend fences: make amends with someone’s; to restore friendship After their argument, it took
several months to mend their fences.

Nuts: crazy; nonsensical; She was laughing loudly and saying strange things, and everyone
began to think she was nuts.

On the dot: at the precise time; We told the children to be ready by 9:00 on the dot.

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Pull someone’s leg: tease by trying to make others believe something that is untrue or
exaggerated: He kept telling stories about the ghost in the attic, but his daughter knew he was
only trying to pull her leg.

Put one’s foot in one’s mouth: carelessly say things that hurt someone’s feeling; He put his foot
in his mouth when he talked about my hair styles being a bore.

Turn over a new leaf: to start again: to begin a new; After he was admonished for his behaviour
in class, he vowed to turn over a new leaf.

With flying colours: with complete success; Maliro passed his final exam with flying colours.
Draw a blank: get nothing; When the police arrived at the scene, they drew a blank.

Make ends meet: do with a little you have; His salary is not enough to take him through but he
is trying to make end meet.

A lazy borne: sluggish, slothful, lazy person; All the lazy bones will not pass this exam.

Final words on idioms

There are lots of idioms that you will meet during your research. You can also get many of them
in one of my books Senior Secondary English Grammar for Schools. I advise you to get a copy
of this book so that your studies are complete and comprehensive. Also take note that this is just
a sampling of idioms designed to help you recognise idioms in writing and speech. Anytime you
read or hear a word or phrase that seems to make no sense if taken literally, you can assume it is
an idiom. Many idioms are metaphors and are symbolic extensions of the concrete words within
them. An example of this is the idiom ‚bad egg.‛ A rotten egg is spoiled, not good at all, and
unpleasant to be around. When the term ‚bad egg‛ is applied to a human being, it implies the
qualities of being spoiled, not good and unpleasant to be around.

If you don’t know the meaning of an idiomatic expression, make a guess based on what you
know about the words in the idiom.

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CONDITIONS (“IF” CLAUSES)

There are three types of conditions.

I. likely conditions (future tense) The speaker talks about the future action, but for the
future action to happen a certain action must be done now. It shows that there is a
possibility of the action to take place in future.
For example, 1. If Mavuto goes to town, he will meet his uncle. =If Mavuto does
not go to town, he will not meet his uncle. (it means that when one clause is positive,
the other should also be positive and vice versa.) 2. If you work hard, you will pass
the examinations. Rule: if + a verb in the present simple, “work” as in 2.above
(subordinate clause) + future present “will pass” as in 2. above (main clause)
Other examples : If you pass exams, I will give you gift.
I will give you my heart if you give me yours.
If she likes English, she will enjoy it further in senior classes.
II. unlikely condition (present tense) The speaker uses the past tense but he or she talks
about the present action. The condition shows that the action at present cannot happen
because the speaker is late. For example
If Mavuto went to town, he would meet his uncle. .
If John were rich, he would buy a house in town.
Rule: if + past simple “were” as in 2. above (subordinate clause) + conditional present
“would buy” as in 2. above (main clause)

More examples: If he saw you, he would greet you.

She could go back to school if she were young

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III. hypothetical condition or rejected condition (past tense) The speaker uses the past perfect. It
shows that the speaker is regretting for not having done a certain action which he or she ought to
have done. For example:

1. If I had known that he was a crook, I would have refused to go home with him.

2. If Mavuto had gone to town, he would have met his uncle.

Rule: if + past perfect “had gone” as it is in 2 above (subordinate clause) + conditional perfect
“would have” + past participle “met” as it is in 2.above (main clause)

ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE

Examples;

3) Active voice : The boy opened the door

Passive voice : The door was opened by the boy

4) Active voice : The snake watched the boy

Passive voice : The boy was watched by the snake

5) Active voice : The dog killed the rat .

Passive voice :The dog was shot by the man

6) Active voice :The child drank the milk .

Passive voice :The milk was drunk by the child

7) Active voice : My sister wrote the letter .

Passive voice : The letter was written by my sister

8) Active voice :The man shot the dog

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 Passive voice : The dog was shot by the man.

9) Active voice : My uncle repaired the car

Passive voice : The car was repaired by my uncle

10)Active voice : Takondwa ate the bread

Passive voice : The bread was eaten by Takondwa .

11)Active voice : The watchman keeps the keys .

Passive voice : The keys was kept by the watchman

12)Active voice : The chief will welcome the Minister

Passive voice : The Minister will be welcomed by the chief

13)Active voice : The Minister will open the conference .

Passive voice : The conference will be opened by the Minister

SUBJECT – VERB AGREEMENT (CONCORD)

1. When the subject is singular, the verb must also be singular . e.g. She learns English
everyday.

2. plural subject + plural verb e.g. They learn English everyday.

3. subject (not object of preposition ) + verb. e.g. The basket of oranges costs K1000.

4. two subjects which are joined by preposition “with” , the verb agrees with the first
subject, e.g. The chairperson with his advisors is in a meeting.

5. Inverted verb sentences, especially questions, the subject is the one near the helping verb.
e.g. Does he want new books? Is she in Blantyre?

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6. A sentence which starts with “ Here” or “There” the order is verb + subject. e.g. There
are three people in the office. =Three people are there in the office. (subject + verb)
Here is your pen. =Your pen is here.

7. sentences which start with a prepositional phrase, the order is verb + subject. e.g. In
front of the garage was the cat. =The cat was in front of the garage. Near the office were
the students. =The students were near the office.

8.When a sentence has a word pair “either …..or”, “neither……..nor”, the sentence has
two subjects and the verb agrees with the second subject. e.g. Either the teacher or the
students have the answer to the question.

9. Indefinite pronouns such as anybody, anything, each, each one, either, neither,
everybody, everyone, everything, nobody, no one, nothing, something, someone,
somebody are singular and they are followed by a singular verb. e.g. Everybody has
come. Each of the students has carried a book.

10. The pronouns “some, most, all half” are followed by a singular verb if the question is “How
much……?” e.g. Most of the bread is bad. (How much bread is bad? most of it) If the
question is “How many……?” the verb is plural e.g. Most of the actors are present.(How
many actors are present? = most of them)

11. Nouns which end with an “-s” but are singular are followed by a singular verb.
Examples of such nouns are news, mathematics, politics, physics, economics and
electronics.e.g. Mathematics is a cornerstone of all sciences.

12. units of time, weight, measurement, distance, money are singular and are followed by
singular verbs because the amount is thought of as a unit. e.g. Ten thousand kwacha is a lot
of money. Twenty dollars is the money she has. Twenty kilometres is a long distance.

13. When two nouns are joined by “and” and form a unit, the subject is singular and it is
followed by a singular verb.) For example, a. Bread and margarine is delicious with hot milk.
b. Sugar and water makes a sweet drink.

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14. a. When two subjects which cannot make one thing are joined by “and”, the
subject becomes plural and it is followed by a plural verb. e.g. Mavuto and Titani are
in form three. b. When “each, every, any” are used as adjectives, the subject becomes
singular and it is followed by a singular verb. e.g. Each boy and girl at the age of
six starts standard one.

COMPREHENSION

General hints when answering comprehension questions

i) scan through the passage for the first time to grab its content and general impression
ii) read again slowly up to questions section to have a picture
iii) shade words and paragraphs you feel contain answers
iv) read again back and forth while trying to answer the questions
v) leave confusing questions until you have done the simple ones
vi) don’t use wrong expressions, subjects, pronouns and verb tenses
vii) make sure that the original tense is kept unless otherwise advised to do so
viii) use right presentation of plurality, singularity and gender.

Look at this example

1 Who killed Nyembezi?
Answer a) Holla is killed Nyembezi.
b)Nyembezi was killed by Holla.
c) Nyembezi will be killed by Holla.
Of the three answers: b) and is correct. Answer number b) is good in writing, but
answer number d) is the best when examiners are marking.

2 When did the soldiers invade the city of Bwezani?

a) The soldiers invading the city in 2004.
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 b) The soldiers invaded the city of Bwezani in 2004.
.
The correct answers is b Remember these when answering comprehension questions:
 be precise
 do not repeat questions
 number of the question should be indicated
 Do not create your own questions or your own numbers

 use the numbering style as used by the examiner

 be strict with spellings, punctuation and grammar
 why- reason, where-place, how- manner, when- time, who – people; what and
which- things/ animals
 grasp what exactly the examiner wants from you
 do not just answer when you are not sure.

SUMMARY

A summary is a brief account containing the main points of something read or heard. News
stories either written or broadcasted are event summaries. Writing a summary over a reading
assignment helps you know how much you retained and understood of what you read.
Summaries are a useful tool for practicing writing skills and reading comprehension.

Guidelines for writing a summary

 Read the written selection you intend to summarise to familiarise with it.

 Re-read the selection and take note of key words, phrases, and ideas.

 Identify the main idea of the selection and include it in your opening sentence.

 Include only the important information and keep it in the same order as it appears in the
selection.

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 Use only your own words.

LETTER WRITING

There are two types of letters: friendly and business letters.

In business letters, you must use two addresses: yours first then where it is going later.

 do not greet one another nor ask for special favours

 do not use slang and informal expressions

 end the letter with yours faithfully, not other wise

 do not end with yours sincerely in any case.

In friendly letters, you:

 use your address only

 greet one another at the end of the letter

 sometimes informal language is permissible

 discuss issues your friend likes or enjoys most

 advise each other on the good things

 end with yours friend or yours cousin, etc

 do not write your surname but first name only

 discuss as many issues as you can

Questions
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1.Write an application letter to the Personnel Officer, Mulira Limited, P.O Box 10148, Mzuzu;
applying for the post of Accounts Clerk. Requirements: a minimum of Junior Certificate of
Education. Experience is important though not a must.

2. Write a letter to your friend telling her/him that you have been selected to go to a new
Secondary School to do form three.

3.Write a letter to your friend who has been suspended from school because she is pregnant. You
may wish to encourage and help her not to lose hope.

4. Write a letter to your uncle asking for school fees and pocket money.

5. Write a letter to the Division Manageress asking for an inter- school transfer.

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 REFERENCES

Price, T. (2004) English Grammar for African Schools, Blantyre, CLAIM Publications.

Banda, M.A. (1979). English Grammar for Schools. Blantyre: Dzuka Publishing
Company

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Kuiper, K. & Allan, W.S. (2010). An Introduction to English Language Word, Sound and
Sentence. Algarve: MacMillan.

Chibambo, M. (2011) Senior Secondary English Grammar for Schools, North Charleston,
CreateSpace.

Ngoma, S.J. (2006) Chanco Senior English, Zomba, Chanco.

http://www.idioms.thefreedictionary.com/

http:www.lowersecondarygrammar.com/

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