Chapter 1 Structures Content Words
Chapter 1 Structures Content Words
Chapter 1 Structures Content Words
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CONTENT WORDS
“If language is a flower then without grammar it will not smell.”
- Purushottam Muley
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Lesson I
Noun
OBJECTIVES
1. familiarize yourself with the types, cases, genders and numbers of noun;
2. identify common and proper nouns in the given sentences; and
3. write meaningful sentences using noun.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Nouns are one of the four major word classes along with verbs, adverbs and adjectives and they
are considered to be the largest word classes.
In grammar, the names we give to people and others, to the places they live and to the things that
surround them are called nouns. Similarly, in a sentence, nouns can play multiple roles. It can be a
subject, direct object, indirect object, subject complement, object complement, appositive and even
adjective.
Types of Noun
1. Proper noun. It refers only to a single person, place or thing. It always begins with capital
letters.
e.g. Cagayan State University
Jane Austen
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
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cellphone
lips
7. Collective noun. It refers to clusters or groups of persons, places or things taken as one.
e.g. constellation - a group of stars
brood - a group of chicken
flock, flight - a group of birds
8. Compound noun. It consists of two or three nouns appear together. Usually, compound nouns
are formed in three ways.
e.g. Separated: campus journalism,
hyphenated: commander-in-chief
combined: mailbox
Cases of Noun
The case tells us about the position of that noun in the sentence. In English, there are five cases.
1. Nominative. A noun is said to be in the nominative case if it is the subject of the verb (subject is
the person or the thing who or which carries out the action of the verb in the sentence).
e.g. Hendrick performs well in class.
(Hendrick is a proper noun in nominative case)
2. Objective or accusative. A noun is said to be in objective case if it is the direct object of the
verbs or if it is the object of the preposition. (direct object is the person or the thing upon whom
or upon which the action of the verb is carried out).
e.g. We enjoyed your friendship.
(The word “friendship” is in objective case)
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3. Dative. A noun is said to be in dative case if it is the indirect object of the verb (indirect object of
the verb is the noun for whom or for which the action of the verb is carried out).
e.g. The English professor gave his students few exercises.
(The word “students” is in dative case and it is the indirect object of the verb “gave”)
5. Vocative. A noun is said to be in vocative case if it is used to call (or to get the attention of)
someone.
e.g. Mr. Gregg, clients are waiting for you in the office.
(“Mr. Gregg” is in vocative case)
Genders of Noun
The gender tells us about the sex of the noun. In grammar, there are four genders.
4. Neuter. A noun is said to be in neuter gender if it refers to a member which is neither a male nor
a female. Normally, nouns referring to lifeless objects are in neuter nouns.
e.g. chair, pen, tree, book, laptop, mountain, cup
Numbers of Noun
There are two numbers in Noun-Number. In grammar, the number refers to the count of a noun or
pronoun.
1. Singular. A noun is said to be in singular when we speak about one person and one thing.
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e.g. The guard walks within the premises.
A group of fish is called school.
Peace is what we all want.
(In these sentences, the nouns guard, group and peace are all in singular forms)
2. Plural. A noun is said to be in plural form when we speak bout more than one person and one
thing.
e.g. The elders deserve respect and love.
Children should be given proper guidance.
Heat the loaves in oven.
(In these sentences, the words elders, children and loaves are all in plural forms)
Pluralization of Nouns
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Exceptions:
e.g. proof - proofs
belief - beliefs
chief - chiefs
mischief - mischiefs
gulf - gulfs
scarf - scarfs (also scarves)
Exceptions:
e.g. piano - pianos
banjo - banjos
photo - photos
kilo - kilos
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The following foreign nouns reta in their foreign plural.
14. Some nouns are plural in form but whose number depends on their meaning.
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Plural in meaning: ethics-principles of right conduct especially with reference to a
specific profession
Nouns that are always plural because they come in pairs and can be made singular by
the use of “a pair of”.
e.g. scissors, tongs, spectacles (eye glasses), pants
EXERCISES
A. Directions: Underline each proper noun and encircle each common noun in the sentences below.
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B. Directions: Choose five of the proper nouns you underlined in the above exercises and five of the
common nouns encircled. In your our own, use each noun in a meaningful sentence.
1. _____________________________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________________________
4. _____________________________________________________________
5. _____________________________________________________________
6. _____________________________________________________________
7. _____________________________________________________________
8. _____________________________________________________________
9. _____________________________________________________________
10. _____________________________________________________________
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Lesson 2
Verb
OBJECTIVES
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Verbs are the souls of English sentences, for without a verb, a sentence cannot stand alone.
In school, we have learned that verbs are words or combination of words that expresses action or
a state of being or condition. Similarly, we have known that verb is part of a sentence that tells us what
the subject performs.
In this lesson, we will learn more as we will be discussing various features of verbs in terms of its
kinds, properties and moods.
Kinds of Verbs
1. Action Verbs. These are words that express action or possession. Action verbs can either be
transitive or intransitive.
A verb is transitive when the action it expresses is directed toward a person or thing named in the
sentence. The action passes from the doer (subject) to the receiver of the action (objects-direct,
indirect)
Indirect object receives the action of a transitive verb indirectly. It names the person (or
thing) to whom (or to what) or for whom (or for what) something is done.
e.g. The English professor teaches learners sentence structures. (indirect object –
learners)
Transitive verb refers to an action which is complete in itself. It does not need an object to
receive the action.
e.g. They waited for the bus. (waited for what? no answer)
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2. Linking verbs. These verbs do not express action; instead, they link with the subject with the rest
of the sentence. The verb to be is the most common linking verb, but there many others, including
all the sense verbs.
e.g. Jesus is king. (is links Jesus with king, which describes Jesus.
The Forms of Be
3. Helping verbs or auxiliary verbs. These verbs help express the mains verb’s tense, mood or
voice.
The main auxiliary verbs are to be, to have and to do. They appear in the following forms:
There is another kind of auxiliary verb called a modal auxiliary verb (or modal verb). These verbs
are can, could, may might, must, ought to, shall, should, will and would. These verbs never
change their forms. They are combined with other verbs to express ideas such as necessity,
possibility, intention and ability.
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Necessity: It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.
(Aristotle)
A baby is God’s opinion that life should go on. (Carl Sandburg)
Possibility: If there were no bad people, there would be no good lawyers. (Charles
Dickens)
It is never too late to be what you might have been. (George Eliot)
Intention: We shall heal our wounds. (Mao Zedong)
Ability: No one can feel as helpless as the owner of a sick gold fish. (Kin
Hubbard)
Well, either side could win it, or it could be a draw. (Ron Atkinson)
*Sometimes, more than one sense is expressed. Here, could expresses both
ability and possibility)
Properties of Verbs
Active voice – when the subject performs the action of the sentence.
e.g. The English learners illustrate sentence patterns.
Passive voice – when the subject is acted on by the verb. A passive verb is a combination of be
verb and the past participle.
e.g. The king’s palace was adorned by gold.
Present tense expresses an action which is happening at the present or which happens
regularly. It also indicates general truth, facts that are permanently true, continuing action
and special activities and occasions to take place.
e.g. She looks at him. (happening now)
The Philippines is in the Southeast. (fact, permanently true)
I take a bath every day. (habitual action)
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Past tense expresses something happened in the past. The past may be, continuing,
customary or simple.
e.g. They lived in Calayan Island before. (continuing)
We used to visit grandma during summer. (customary)
They played Mobile Legend. (simple)
Future tense expresses action which will take place in the future.
Future tense can be formed using the words will or shall plus the basic form of the verb.
It can also be formed using the be verb and the word going to plus verb.
Perfect Tense
Present perfect tense expresses an action that was begun at some past time resulting in
its completion before the moment of speaking. It also expresses an action that started in
the past and completed at the time of speaking or states the duration of the action; hence,
expressions such as since and for are used.
This tense is formed by adding has/have to the past participle of the verb.
Past perfect tense expresses a past action that happened before another past action. The
earlier past action is expressed in the past perfect tense.
This tense is formed by adding had to the past participle of the verb.
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Future perfect tense expresses an action that will have been completed or finished at
some future time.
This tense is formed by adding will have or shall have to the past participle of the verb.
Progressive Tense
Present progressive tense expresses an action that is going on the at the moment.
e.g. The learners are listening attentively to their professor’s instructions now.
Ibrahim is singing the CSU Hymn.
The past continuous action introduced by while consisting of was/were + an ing verb is
the past progressive tense.
e.g. While I was watching my favorite noon time show, John turned off the TV.
The learners were listening when the school bell rang.
Future progressive tense expresses an activity that will occur before another activity in
the future with emphasis in the continuity of the action.
e.g. At 4 o’çlock tomorrow afternoon, we will have been leaving for Cagayan.
When he retires from his job, he will have been living a fulfilled life.
Mood is the attitude a verb conveys in a sentence. Changing the verb’s mood will change the tone
of the sentence.
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Carl Sandberg is an American poet.
EXERCISES
A. Directions: Underline the verb in each of the following sentences. Across it, identify its voice.
1. They went to the beach without proper permission from their parents.
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B. Directions: Change the voice of each of the following sentences.
2. Dolphins communicate with each other by high pitched whistles and grunts.
_____________________________________________________________
9. Moved with compassion, Jesus freed the man from the bondage of sin.
________________________________________________________
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Lesson 3
Adjective
OBJECTIVES
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Linguistically speaking, adjectives are words that describe or modify a noun or pronoun either by
specifying its limit, by pointing its location, by showing its ownership, by asking for it or by describing it.
Semantically, adjectives are meant to change information given by the noun. They exist to decorate every
name of a person, place or thing.
In this lesson, we will journey together as we will learn diverse structures of adjectives
separately. Surely, this will give us healthier understanding and better use of adjectives.
Kinds of Adjectives
1. Descriptive or qualitative adjective. It provides detail and attribute to the noun or pronoun they
describe or modify.
e.g. I am handsome. (The word “handsome” is providing information about the subject)
He has a fast car. (The word “fast” is describing an attribute of the car)
3. Compound adjective. It is formed when two or more words are joined to modify the same noun.
Oftentimes, they are separated by a hyphen.
e.g. Tanya lives in a ten-story building.
A long-time friend visited me yesterday.
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4. Limiting adjective. It defines the noun rather than describes it. Most of the time we think of
adjectives as describing or adding detail to a noun. Limiting adjectives help to limit a noun. The
articles a, an, the, indefinite pronouns and some noun determiner are limiting adjectives.
e.g. We adopted the cat two days ago.
A third-party panel issued a harshly worded report.
5. Proper adjective. It comes from a proper name. When proper nouns modify or describe other
nouns or pronouns, they become proper adjectives.
e.g. She loves Filipino cuisine.
Japanese people are hard working.
6. Numerical Adjective. It is either cardinal or ordinal. The cardinal is used to count and state
qualities while the ordinal is used to indicate a place, rank or position in a series.
8. Demonstrative adjective. It is used to modify a noun. It points to a noun or pronoun and in effect
and in effect, it also limits it.
e.g. This lot belongs to me.
That university offers teacher education courses.
9. Quantitative adjective. It indicates how much of something is spoken about. Commonly used
quantitative adjectives are much, little, sufficient, whole, many, enough, half, etc.,
e.g. Little knowledge is dangerous.
He gave me sufficient money for shopping online.
Comparison of Adjectives
Adjectives change in form when they show comparison. These degrees are applicable only for the
descriptive adjectives.
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e.g. Lastikman is tougher than Super Inggo.
Order of Adjectives
When we use more than one adjective before a noun in English, we often put the adjectives in a specific
order. It can sound strange if the adjectives are in a different order. However, there are two things to
remember. First, it is very rare to use more than three adjectives before a noun. Second, sometimes the
order can be changed, usually to emphasize something.
Determiner Quantity Quality Size Age Shape Color Proper Purpose Noun
or or adjective or
number opinion qualifie
r
A Beautiful old Italian sports car
The Three Beautiful little gold plates
An Amazing heart- Red sofa
shaped and
white
Adjectives in the first position before the noun are called attributive adjectives. Those in the second
position after the noun are called predicative. Notice that predicative adjectives do not occur immediately
after the noun. Instead, they follow a verb.
Sometimes, an adjective does occur immediately after a noun, especially in certain institutionalized
expressions.
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e.g. the Governor General
the Princess Royal
times past
We refer to these as postpositive adjectives. Postposition is obligatory when the adjective modifies a
pronoun.
e.g. something useful
everyone present
those responsible
Postpositive adjectives are commonly found together with superlative, attributive adjectives.
e.g. the shortest route possible
the worst conditions imaginable
the best hotel available
EXERCISES
A. Directions: Underline the adjectives including articles and proper adjectives in the following
sentences.
4. The one-year old baby was enthralled with the multi-colored sky.
5. Amidst the scorching heat of the sun, the old man wearing blue shirt sells food for living.
B. Directions: Given the following sets of adjectives at the left, order them properly to modify the nouns
at the right.
1. seven movies
most-watched
the
Greek
2. nine-inch hair
a
long
braided
black
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3. white bus
ten-seater
American
old
a
4. beautiful horse
black
Friesian
a
big
5. an box
Goldilocks
square
old
yellow
______________________________________________________________________________
C. Directions: On any topic that interests you, make a two-minute infomercial using adjectives. You will
be rated based on the rubric below.
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Lesson 4
Adverb
OBJECTIVES
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Adverbs are one among the content words that can perform a wide range of functions. They can
modify verbs, an adjectives or even other adverbs and as they qualify words, they give meanings to the
words they modify by telling how, when, where, why, how much, how often and to what extent. In short,
they add description to the sentences making it more detailed and interesting.
To use adverbs appropriately both in written and oral, we will discuss them accordingly as to
kinds, royal orders, positions and forms.
Modify a Verb
e.g. Brent speaks boldly. (How did Brent speak?)
She sings there. (Where did she sing?)
We walked far. (To what extent did we walk?)
Modify an Adjective
e.g. She is really beautiful. (How beautiful is she?)
He was genuinely generous. (How generous is he?)
The food was so delicious. (How delicious was the food?)
Kinds of Adverb
1. Adverb of Manner. It tells us the manner or way in which something happens. It answers the
question “how”. Words can be used are safely, cheerfully, precisely, regularly. smoothly, well,
etc…
e.g. He parked his car safely.
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They shared food to the needy cheerfully.
We go to church regularly.
2. Adverb of Time. It tells us something about the time that something happens. It answers the
questions “when, how often, how long”. Words can be used are weekly, now, shortly, today,
yesterday, daily, weekly, briefly, etc…
e.g. They open the LENS weekly.
Come now.
He visited me shortly.
3. Adverb of Place. It tells us the place where something happens. It answers the question “where,
to where, from where”.
e.g. They love to stay outside.
The team moved forward.
We looked everywhere.
4. Adverb of Degree. It tells us the degree or extent to which something happens. It answers the
questions “how much” or “to what degree”. Words can be used are quite, partly, entirely greatly,
too, very, etc…
e.g. He drives quite dangerously.
The class entirely agrees with their professor.
Queen Ivana is very beautiful.
Positions of Adverbs
Mid. The adverb is positioned between the subject and the verb.
e.g. I often comb my hair.
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2. Adverbs with Adjectives/Adverbs
When an adverb modifies an adjective or another adverb, it usually goes in front of the word it
modifies.
e.g. He gave me a really satisfying outlook.
Adv. Adj.
Forms of Adverbs
There are three forms of adverbs: adverb by adding –ly to an adjective, adverb that shares an identical
word with an adjective and adjective not derived from an adjective or any other word.
3. There are adverbs not derived from an adjective or any other word like as, even, how, never, next,
now, rather, so, soon, still, then and too.
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EXERCISES
A. Directions: Rewrite the following sentences following the Royal Order of Adverbs: manner, place
frequency, time, cause/purpose/reason.
e.g. We were once invited cordially by an old friend for a simple dinner at Hotel Roma last week.
Ans: We were invited cordially by an old friend at Hotel Roma once last week for a simple
dinner.
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Cheska drove to school fast to attend her class early this morning.
______________________________________________________________________________
3. They missed his presence during their fellowship yesterday in Claude Andrews Convention
Center.
______________________________________________________________________________
5. We planned carefully the other day on how we start the second semester at the faculty room.
______________________________________________________________________________
B. Directions: Rewrite the sentence below by adding two adverbs in each of the statements.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
REFERENCES
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