Sentence Patterns

"Sentence patterns" is just another way talk about the way a sentence is put together; the order of the elements in the
sentence; sentence construction. Some sources say there are six English sentence patterns; some say eight. A few
sources list even more. Here are the ones we feel are the most common, and the easiest to recognize:

1.  Subject + Verb (S-V)

This is the simplest kind of sentence.  It consists of a subject, a verb, and possibly some adjectives, adverbs,  or
prepositional phrases.  There are no direct objects, indirect objects, or complements.
Abraham speaks fluently.  (subject, verb, adverb)
Many of the class members write well in class.  (subject, verb, adverbs) (The "complete" subject is "Many of the class
members"--a noun phrase.)

2.  Verb + Subject (V-S)

Sentences in English usually have the subject come first, followed by the verb. But when a sentence begins with  there is,
there was, there are, there were, the verb comes first, followed by the subject. The word There is never a subject!
There is a strange shadow in the woods.  (verb, subject--the complete subject is the noun phrase  a strange shadow,
adverb)
There were no leftovers after the buffet.  (verb, subject, adverb)

3.  Subject + Verb + Direct Object (S-V-DO)

Andrew composes music.  (subject, verb, direct object.)
Matthew helps others in several English practice rooms.  (subject, verb, direct object, adverb)
Helen tells jokes to make people smile.  (subject, verb, direct object, adverb)

4.  Subject + Verb + Complement (S-V-SC)

A complement is a word or group of words that describe or rename the subject. Complements follow a linking verb. 
There are two kinds of subject complements:  1) predicate nominative, which is a noun or pronoun that renames or
classifies the subject of the sentence and 2) predicate adjective, which is an adjective that describes the subject of the
sentence.
Mother looks tired.  (subject, verb, complement--predicate adjective)
Some students in the class are engineers.  (the noun phrase Some students in the class  is the complete subject, verb,
complement--predicate nominative)
The men are handsome, the women are clever,  and the children are above-average. (compound sentence of three
independent clauses, so three subjects, three verbs, threecomplements--all predicate adjectives)

5.  Subject + Verb + Indirect Object + Direct Object (S-V-IO-DO)

An indirect object tells for whom  or to whom. If the indirect object comes after the direct object (in a prepositional
phrase "to ________" or "for _______"), the sentence pattern is shown as  S-V-DO-IO.  Pronouns are usually used as
indirect objects (but not always).
I sent her a birthday present.  (subject, verb, indirect object, direct object)
Jay gave his dog a bone.  (subject, verb, indirect object, direct object)
Granny left Gary all of her money.  (subject, verb, indirect object, direct object)
Granny gave every last asset to Gary. (subject, verb, direct object, indirect object in a prepositional phrase)

6.  Subject + Verb + Direct Object + Object Complement (S-V-DO-OC)

This pattern isn't as common as the others, but it is used.  An object complement is a word or group of words that
renames, describes, or classifies the direct object.  Object complements are nouns or adjectives and follow the object.
Debbie left the window open during the rain storm.  (subject, verb, direct object, object complement, adverb)
The class picked Susie class representative.  (subject, verb, direct object, object complement)
What Is a Passive Sentence? (with Examples)

In a passive sentence, the subject does not perform the action in the sentence. In fact, the action is performed on it. For
example: More Examples of Passive Sentences

Here are some more examples of passive sentences:

Anita was driven to the theatre. (In this example, Anita did not perform the action of the verb to drive. The action was
done to her. She was the recipient of the action.)

Nowadays, black kites are protected.

(The action is being done to the subject, black kites.)
The olives are stoned and crushed in this room.
(The action is being done to the subject, The olives.)

With a Passive Sentence, Use By to Show the Actor

In a passive sentence, the person or thing doing the action (the actor) is usually preceded by the word by. For example:
Anita was driven to the theatre by Carla.
Nowadays, black kites are protected by law.
The olives are stoned and crushed in this room by my son.
The opposite of a passive sentence is an active sentence, in which the subject does perform the action of the verb.

Here are some interactive examples:

My cousin tackled the shoplifter. Make passive
Heidi smashed the vase. Make passive
Carl sounded the alarm in a panic. Make passive (to avoid blame)
Carl sounded the alarm due to the panic. Make passive (with blame)

What are Phrasal Verbs?

A phrasal verb is a combination of words (a verb + a preposition or verb +adverb) that when used together, usually take
on a different meaning to that of the original verb.

Phrasal Verb Examples

break down, check in, tear up
When we use phrasal verbs, we use them like normal verbs in a sentence, regardless if it’s a regular or irregular verb.

Ella tore up the letter after she read it.

Their car broke down two miles out of town.
Did the manager deal with that customer’s complaint.
More phrasal verb examples:

Be sure to put on a life jacket before getting into the boat.

We left out the trash for pickup.
It’s time to get on the plane.
What will she think up next?
I’m having some trouble working out the solution to this equation.
We’re going to have to put off our vacation until next year.
Stand up when speaking in class, please.
We’ll have to wake up early if we want breakfast.
Take off your shoes before you walk on the carpet.
My dog likes to break out of his kennel to chase squirrels.
Click here for an extensive list of phrasal verbs

Phrasal Verb Exercises

Choose the correct phrasal verb from the parenthesis at the end of the sentence.

Someone broke into my car last night and stole the stereo. (broke down/broke into)
Will you be able to get by this month with the little you have?(get off / get by)
His father always taught him not to _____ those people with less. (look up to / look down on)
Stop complaining and _____ your work! (get on with / get over)
The boss wants you to _____ your figures for this month to him. (hand out / hand in)
We’re going to have to _____ our trip to Spain until September. (put up/ put off)
I _____ Amir today at the supermarket. It was great to see him. (ran out of / ran into)
I’m so tired of Sophie _____ her engagement ring all the time. (showing off, showing up)
The police would not _____ to the kidnapper’s demands. (give up/ give in)
I thought I would _____ for a cup of coffee. Is that okay? (drop off/ drop in)
Have you ever _____ such an unusual piece of art? (come forward/come across)
It’s important to _____ on time. (show up / show off)
_____ your feet when walking; you don’t want to trip! (uplift / lift up)
The tree was _____ by the wind. (blown up / blown over)
He _____ his hat to show me his new haircut. (took off / took up)
I just can’t seem to _____ this book. (get off / get into )
Answers: look down onget on withhand input offran intoshowing offgive indrop income acrossshow uplift upblown
overtook off get into

Derivation and inflection

One of the key distinctions among morphemes is between derivational and inflectional morphemes. Derivational
morphemes make fundamental changes to the meaning of the stem whereas inflectional morphemes are used to mark
grammatical information.

Derivational morphology Derivational morphemes are affixes which are added to a lexeme to change its meaning or
function. They are used to make a new, different lexeme (for example, -ly changes the adjective sad into the adverb
sadly).
- Most derivational morphemes change the part of speech, for example, -ance changes the verb resemble into the
noun resemblance. Note that the 'e' is deleted at the end of the verb resemble when the suffix is added.
- The majority of derivational morphemes that don't change the part of speech are prefixes, for example, adding
un- changes the meaning of the adjective happy but it is still an adjective unhappy.
- When affixes are added to a base or stem, there is usually a specific order for adding them. Inflectional suffixes
are added last, and, once they are added, no more derivational affixes can be added. An example of this is given
below for the word deconstructions, showing the order in which the various affixes are added:
- The derivational prefix de- is added to the verb base construct to get the verb deconstruct
- The derivational suffix -ion is added to the verb stem deconstruct to get the noun deconstruction
- Lastly, the inflectional plural suffix -s is added to the noun to get deconstructions.

Inflectional morphology
Inflectional morphemes are affixes which carry grammatical meaning (for example, the plural -s in cats or progressive
-ing in sailing). They do not change the part of speech or meaning of the word; they function to ensure that the word is
in the appropriate form so the sentence is grammatically correct.
- All inflectional morphemes in English are suffixes and are added after any derivational suffixes.
- The most common inflectional morphemes are used in verb inflection (for example, -ed in raced, -ing in racing,
-s in races) but there are suffixes for noun inflection (for example, plural -s in horses and possessive -'s in
Norma's) and adjective inflection (for example, comparative -er in faster and superlative -est in fastest).
 Productivity
Some kinds of affixes occur more freely than others. In relation to derivational morphology, used to create new words,
we can say that some are more productive than others. For example, the suffixes -able and -ise and the prefix un- are
quite productive as they can be easily used to make new words (photocopyable, accessorise, uncool) whereas the prefix
per-, which we know from many Latin borrowings, such as percept and perspire, can not be used as freely (?percell even
though we can say excell as well as except and expire).

 Marked and unmarked terms of Word clause

 "[T]he unmarked form is the 'ordinary' or 'basic' form, while the . . . marked form differs from the first in containing extra
material or in being confined to special contexts.
"For example, cat is unmarked, while its plural cats is marked by the suffix -s. Likewise, lion is unmarked, while the female lioness is
marked by the suffix -ess, and consistent is unmarked in comparison with its negative inconsistent. The active sentence The police
arrested Susie is unmarked with respect to its passive counterpart Susie was arrested by the police, which contains more material."

Operator: An auxiliary that performs a grammatical operation. The first auxiliary in a verb phrase is an operator. In
short, this is the auxiliary that “does the work” in the verb phrase!

Examples: You have been smoking >>> have is the operator here.

Exercise: Find the operators in the following sentences:

Over the years, different methods have been developed to decaffeinate coffee.
Today three methods are used to decaffeinate coffee.
The most popular method is called water processing.
However, the decaffeinated coffee may be a little less flavorful.
Chemical processing can be used as a decaffeination method.
Carbon dioxide also may be used to decaffeinate coffee.

Class question: What do we call the verbs such as “to decaffeinate” above? Answer: These are verbs that follow finite
verbs. They are not finite. This is the infinitive. For our purposes, focus only on the finite: those verbs that can change
for tense, agree with the subject, et
Operation: A change from a simple declarative “positive” sentence to either a negative sentence or a question
(interrogative) sentence.

Class example: We reviewed the extremely simple “negative operation” in Spanish.

Example: Tengo hambre.

Operation (insert “no” before the first word in the verb phrase): No tengo hambre.
No estoy leyendo el libro. No he tenido otra alternativa.

Negative: An operation that makes a positive sentence, negative. The word “not” is placed behind the first auxiliary. If
there is no auxiliary, an auxiliary must be made with a form of the word “do.” This reforms the verb phrase because
tense and subject-verb agreement shift to the newly formed auxiliary verb. NOTE: BE is exceptional.

Examples: You have been smoking. You have not been smoking.
She smokes. She does not smoke.

How we make the negative in English:

Identify the finite verb.

Count the number of pieces in the verb phrase.
If there are auxiliaries, add “not” after the first auxiliary. Ex: I am not going.
If there are no auxiliaries, make an auxiliary with “do.” Ex: He do smokes.
Shift the tense and subject-verb agreement from the lexical verb to the auxiliary “do.” Ex: He does smoke.
Add the word “not” after the newly formed first auxiliary: He does not smoke.
Exception: When “be” is the lexical verb and there are no auxiliaries in the verb phrase, just stick “not” after the lexical
verb. I am not tired. He is not nice.
Change other sentence elements from positive to negative as needed (e.g. sometimes you have to make “some” into
any; sometimes you have to change “not” to “never”).

Exercise: Make these sentences negative:

I enjoy swimming. The pool near my house is very clean and well maintained. The water temperature usually stays at a
reasonable temperature. The city is considering some improvements on this pool. It will be a perfect pool.

How to order adjectives in English

In many languages, adjectives denoting attributes usually occur in a specific order. Generally, the adjective order in
English is:

Quantity or number
Quality or opinion
Size
Age
Shape
Color
Proper adjective (often nationality, other place of origin, or material)
Purpose or qualifier
or example:

I love that really big old green antique car that always parked at the end of the street.
My sister adopted a beautiful big white bulldog.
When there are two or more adjectives that are from the same group, the word and is placed between the two
adjectives:

The house is green and red.

The library has old and new books.
When there are three or more adjectives from the same adjective group, place a comma between each of the
coordinate adjectives:

We live in the big green, white and red house at the end of the street.
My friend lost a red, black and white watch.
A comma is not placed between an adjective and the noun.

Using Articles
What is an article? Basically, an article is an adjective. Like adjectives, articles modify nouns.
English has two articles: the and a/an. The is used to refer to specific or particular nouns; a/an is used to modify non-
specific or non-particular nouns. We call the the definite article and a/an the indefinite article.
the = definite article
a/an = indefinite article

For example, if I say, "Let's read the book," I mean a specific book. If I say, "Let's read a book," I mean any book rather
than a specific book.
Here's another way to explain it: The is used to refer to a specific or particular member of a group. For example, "I just
saw the most popular movie of the year." There are many movies, but only one particular movie is the most popular.
Therefore, we use the.

- "A/an" is used to refer to a non-specific or non-particular member of the group. For example, "I would like to go
see a movie." Here, we're not talking about a specific movie. We're talking about any movie. There are many
movies, and I want to see any movie. I don't have a specific one in mind.

Indefinite Articles: a and an

"A" and "an" signal that the noun modified is indefinite, referring to any member of a group. For example:

"My daughter really wants a dog for Christmas." This refers to any dog. We don't know which dog because we haven't
found the dog yet.
"Somebody call a policeman!" This refers to any policeman. We don't need a specific policeman; we need any policeman
who is available.
"When I was at the zoo, I saw an elephant!" Here, we're talking about a single, non-specific thing, in this case an
elephant. There are probably several elephants at the zoo, but there's only one we're talking about here.
Remember, using a or an depends on the sound that begins the next word. So...

a + singular noun beginning with a consonant: a boy; a car; a bike; a zoo; a dog
an + singular noun beginning with a vowel: an elephant; an egg; an apple; an idiot; an orphan
a + singular noun beginning with a consonant sound: a user (sounds like 'yoo-zer,' i.e. begins with a consonant 'y' sound,
so 'a' is used); a university; a unicycle
an + nouns starting with silent "h": an hour
a + nouns starting with a pronounced "h": a horse
In some cases where "h" is pronounced, such as "historical," you can use an. However, a is more commonly used and
preferred.
A historical event is worth recording.
Remember that these rules also apply when you use acronyms:

Introductory Composition at Purdue (ICaP) handles first-year writing at the University. Therefore, an ICaP memo
generally discusses issues concerning English 106 instructors.
Another case where this rule applies is when acronyms start with consonant letters but have vowel sounds:

An MSDS (material safety data sheet) was used to record the data. An SPCC plan (Spill Prevention Control and
Countermeasures plan) will help us prepare for the worst.
If the noun is modified by an adjective, the choice between a and an depends on the initial sound of the adjective that
immediately follows the article:

a broken egg
an unusual problem
a European country (sounds like 'yer-o-pi-an,' i.e. begins with consonant 'y' sound)
Remember, too, that in English, the indefinite articles are used to indicate membership in a group:

I am a teacher. (I am a member of a large group known as teachers.)

Brian is an Irishman. (Brian is a member of the people known as Irish.)
Seiko is a practicing Buddhist. (Seiko is a member of the group of people known as Buddhists.)
Definite Article: the

The definite article is used before singular and plural nouns when the noun is specific or particular. The signals that the
noun is definite, that it refers to a particular member of a group. For example:
"The dog that bit me ran away." Here, we're talking about a specific dog, the dog that bit me.

"I was happy to see the policeman who saved my cat!" Here, we're talking about a particular policeman. Even if we don't
know the policeman's name, it's still a particular policeman because it is the one who saved the cat.

"I saw the elephant at the zoo." Here, we're talking about a specific noun. Probably there is only one elephant at the
zoo.

Count and Noncount Nouns

The can be used with noncount nouns, or the article can be omitted entirely.

"I love to sail over the water" (some specific body of water) or "I love to sail over water" (any water).
"He spilled the milk all over the floor" (some specific milk, perhaps the milk you bought earlier that day) or "He spilled
milk all over the floor" (any milk).
"A/an" can be used only with count nouns.

"I need a bottle of water."

"I need a new glass of milk."
Most of the time, you can't say, "She wants a water," unless you're implying, say, a bottle of water.

Geographical use of the

There are some specific rules for using the with geographical nouns.
Do not use the before:

names of most countries/territories: Italy, Mexico, Bolivia; however, the Netherlands, the Dominican Republic, the
Philippines, the United States
names of cities, towns, or states: Seoul, Manitoba, Miami
names of streets: Washington Blvd., Main St.
names of lakes and bays: Lake Titicaca, Lake Erie except with a group of lakes like the Great Lakes
names of mountains: Mount Everest, Mount Fuji except with ranges of mountains like the Andes or the Rockies or
unusual names like the Matterhorn
names of continents (Asia, Europe)
names of islands (Easter Island, Maui, Key West) except with island chains like the Aleutians, the Hebrides, or the Canary
Islands
Do use the before:

names of rivers, oceans and seas: the Nile, the Pacific

points on the globe: the Equator, the North Pole
geographical areas: the Middle East, the West
deserts, forests, gulfs, and peninsulas: the Sahara, the Persian Gulf, the Black Forest, the Iberian Peninsula
Omission of Articles

Some common types of nouns that don't take an article are:

Names of languages and nationalities: Chinese, English, Spanish, Russian (unless you are referring to the population of
the nation: "The Spanish are known for their warm hospitality.")
Names of sports: volleyball, hockey, baseball
Names of academic subjects: mathematics, biology, history, computer science
In phonetics and phonology, elision is the omission of a sound (a phoneme) in speech. Elision is common in
casual conversation.
More specifically, elision may refer to the omission of an unstressed  vowel, consonant, orsyllable. This omission is often
indicated in print by an apostrophe. 

Elision of sounds can . . . be seen clearly in contracted forms like  isn't (is not), I'll (I shall/will), who's(who
is/has), they'd (they had, they should, or they would),  haven't (have not) and so on. We see from these examples that
vowels or/and consonants can be elided. In the case of  contractions or words likelibrary (pronounced in rapid speech as
/laibri/), the whole syllable is elided."
(Tej R Kansakar, A Course in English Phonetics. Orient Blackswan, 1998)
 Elision is the omission of sounds, syllables or words in speech. This is done to make the language easier to say, and
faster.
Example 
'I don't know' /I duno/ , /kamra/ for camera, and 'fish 'n' chips' are all examples of elision.
In the classroom 
Elision is an important area in listening skills, as learners are often unable to hear elided words correctly, especially if
they have little contact with native speakers. Word-counting and dictations are two activities that practise recognition,
whilst at the production stage drilling elided forms such as contracted forms is common.

Sentence Functions: The Four Tops

In addition to classifying sentences by the number of clauses they contain, you can pigeonhole sentences according to
their functions. There are four sentence functions in English: declarative, exclamatory, interrogative, and imperative.
1. Declarative sentences state an idea. They end with a period. For example:
o The first toilet ever seen on television was on Leave It to Beaver.
o The problem with the gene pool is that there's no lifeguard.
2. Exclamatory sentences show strong emotions. They end with an exclamation mark. For example:
o What a mess this room is!
o The cake is ruined!
3. Interrogative sentences ask a question. As you would expect, they end with a question mark. For instance: Strictly
Saking
Which type of sentence often omits the subject?
Imperative sentences, because the subject is often understood, as shown in these examples: “Clean up this mess” or “Help!”
o How you gonna keep 'em down on the farm when they've seen Paris?
o Why is it possible to tickle someone else but not to tickle yourself?
4. Imperative sentences give orders or directions, and so end with a period or an exclamation mark. For instance:
o Sit down and listen!
o Fasten your seatbelts when the sign is illuminated.

Transitive and intransitive

The batter hit the ball.
The bird sang.
What is the difference between the two verbs in the above sentences? At first thought, you may say the definition but
forget about the meaning. Instead, concentrate on the grammar. How do the verbs differ grammatically?

Notice that the first sentence has two words following the verb hit. The second sentence doesn’t have words after the
verb sang. These two facts lead us to a discussion on transitive and intransitive verbs.
What are transitive verbs?
Transitive verbs are action verbs that have an object to receive that action. In the first sentence above, the direct object
ball received the action of the verb hit.
Here are some more examples of transitive verbs:
I baked some cookies.
I rode the bicycle.
I moved the chair.
I stitched a quilt.
All of the verbs in the above sentences are transitive because an object is receiving the action of the verb.

But what about the sentence “The bird sang.” Is the verb in that sentence a transitive verb? No, in this case the verb
sang is an intransitive verb.

What are intransitive verbs?

Intransitive verbs are action verbs but unlike transitive verbs, they do not have an object receiving the action. Notice
there are no words after the verb sang.
More examples of intransitive verbs:

I laughed.
I cried.
The book fell.
The horse galloped.
The sun set.
In all of the above cases the subject is performing the action of the verb and nothing is receiving the action.

What about this sentence?

I walked to the park today.

Is walked transitive or intransitive? Think about the rules. Since walked has words coming after it, the verb must be
transitive, right? WRONG! The phrase to the park is a prepositional phrase and today is an adverb. There is no object
receiving the action of the verb walked so the verb is intransitive.

To recap, a transitive verb must be an action verb plus there must be an object to receive that action.

Definition: Unlike action verbs, linking verbs show a relationship between the subject of the sentence and a noun or
adjective being linked to it.
My dog is an Akita. (Dog and Akita are linked because they are the same thing.)
My cat is very furry. (Cat and furry are linked because furry describes the cat.)
The most common linking verbs are forms of the verb to be: am, is, are, was, were, being, been.

Other common linking verbs include: appear, become, feel, grow, look, remain, seem, smell, sound, stay, taste, and turn.

If left too long, that milk may turn sour.

I feel refreshed after that nap.
To check if these are being used as linking verbs, try replacing them with the correct form of to be. If they make sense
and have almost the same meaning, they are linking verbs.

Laurie appears tired.

Laurie appears is tired.
What are auxiliary verbs?

Basically, auxiliary verbs are function words, a type of closed class which is constituted of words that have a grammatical
function as opposed to content words, which are an open class of lexical words. An auxiliary verb is used to add
functional or grammatical content to the information expressed by another verb, considered to be the main verb.
Auxiliary verbs are also called helping verbs

Examples:
I am writing a book. Did you visit New York last holiday?
He has done the work. Do you like chocolate?
We will be there in a minute. They must get there on time.
Would you help me with this homework? List of auxiliary verbs
Can you open the door?

This is a list of English auxiliary verbs:

be (am, are, is, was, were, being), may, will,

can, might, would
could, must, Auxiliary verb or full verb?
do (did, does, doing), shall,
have (had, has, having), should,

To distinguish a full verb from an auxiliary verb, you can carry out the following test:
If the verb

allows subject-auxiliary inversion

and can take can take not in the negative form,
then it is an auxiliary verb.

Examples:

You are going to travel to London. --

Are you going to travel to London?
You are not going to travel to London.
= are is an an auxiliary verb
You see what I mean. --
*See you what I mean.
*You see not what I mean.
= see is not an auxiliary verb; it is a full verb.
(The asterisk * indicates that the sentence is not grammatical.)
Verbs which take an Indirect Object and a Direct Object are known as DITRANSITIVE verbs. Verbs which take only a
Direct Object are called MONOTRANSITIVE verbs. The verb tell is a typical ditransitive verb, but it can also be
monotransitive:

Indirect Object
Direct Object

Ditransitive David told the children a story

Monotransitive David told a story
As we've seen, an Indirect Object usually co-occurs with a Direct Object. However, with some verbs an Indirect Object
may occur alone:

David told the children

although we can usually posit an implicit Direct Object in such cases:

David told the children the news

Definition: Tenses tell us when an action happened.
Simple Tenses

Simple Tenses
Past Present Future ate walk(s) will eat
walked eat(s) will walk
Simple tenses use the past form, the present form, and the present form with the helping verb will.

Yesterday I walked home from school.

Every day I walk home from school, and my sister walks home from school.
Tomorrow I will walk home from school.
Perfect tenses show when an action happened in relation to another action. The action in the past perfect began and
ended before the event or time it is being related to. The action in the present perfect began in the past and continues
up to the present or has ended by the present. The action in the future tense will be finished a particular point in the
future.
had eaten have walked
Perfect Tenses have eaten will have walked
Past Perfect Present Perfect Future Perfect will have eaten
had walked
The perfect tenses use the helping verb to have (have/has, had) with the past participle of the verb. The verb to have
changes to show the tense.

Yesterday I rode to school, but the day before I had walked to school.
Most days I walk to school, but for the last two weeks I have walked to school.
By the time I get to school tomorrow, I will have walked to school many times.
Progressive tenses show that an action is or was ongoing or continuing at the same time as something else. The present
progressive tense is used to talk about something that is happening right now.

Progressive Tenses
Past Progressive Present Progressive Future was eating am walking
Progressive am eating will be walking
was walking will be eating
The progressive tenses use a form of the verb to be (am/is/are, was/were) and the present participle of the verb.

Yesterday I was walking to school when you saw me.

Most days I am walking to school when you see me.
Tomorrow I will be walking to school when you see me.
Perfect progressive tenses are a combination of perfect (completed before) and progressive (ongoing) tenses which
show that something began, continued, and ended before another action mentioned.

Perfect Progressive Tenses

Past Perfect ProgressivePresent had been walking have been eating will have
Perfect Progressive Future had been eating have been been walking
Perfect Progressive walking will have been eating
The perfect progressive tenses combine the perfect (with have) and the progressive (with been) and the present
participle of the verb.

Yesterday I had been walking to school when it started to rain.

Most days I have been walking to school when the weather is nice.
Tomorrow I will have been walking to school for six weeks straight.
Choosing the correct tense for use in a sentence requires you to pay close attention to the clues in the sentence.
Not a tense, but logically included in this section is the emphatic form. The emphatic form emphasizes that an action
happened. It is also used in questions and in negative statements.

Emphatic Form
Past Emphatic Present Emphatic
did walk
did eat do/does walk
do/does eat There is no future emphatic because
you can't emphasize something that
hasn't been done yet.
The emphatic form uses the verb to do with the present form of the verb.

What Are the Rules?

1. Subjects and verbs must agree in number. This is the cornerstone rule that forms the background of the concept.
The dog growls when he is angry. The dogs growl when they are angry.

2. Don’t get confused by the words that come between the subject and verb; they do not affect agreement.
The dog, who is chewing on my jeans, is usually very good.

3. Prepositional phrases between the subject and verb usually do not affect agreement.
The colors of the rainbow are beautiful.

4. When sentences start with “there” or “here,” the subject will always be placed after the verb, so care needs to be taken
to identify it correctly.
There is a problem with the balance sheet. Here are the papers you requested.

5. Subjects don't always come before verbs in questions. Make sure you accurately identify the subject before deciding on
the proper verb form to use.
Does Lefty usually eat grass? Where are the pieces of this puzzle.

6. If two subjects are joined by and, they typically require a plural verb form.
The cow and the pig are jumping over the moon.

7. The verb is singular if the two subjects separated by and refer to the same person or thing.
Red beans and rice is my mom's favorite dish.

8. If one of the words each, every, or no comes before the subject, the verb is singular.
No smoking or drinking is allowed. Every man and woman is required to check in.

9. If the subjects are both singular and are connected by the words or, nor, neither/nor, either/or, and not only/but also the
verb is singular.
Jessica or Christian is to blame for the accident.

10. The only time when the object of the preposition factors into the decision of plural or singular verb forms is when noun
and pronoun subjects like some, half, none, more, all, etc. are followed by a prepositional phrase. In these sentences,
the object of the preposition determines the form of the verb.
All of the chicken is gone. All of the chickens are gone.

11. The singular verb form is usually used for units of measurement or time.
Four quarts of oil was required to get the car running.
12. If the subjects are both plural and are connected by the words or, nor, neither/nor, either/or, and not only/but also, the
verb is plural.
Dogs and cats are both available at the pound.

13. If one subject is singular and one plural and the words are connected by the words or, nor, neither/nor, either/or,
and not only/but also, you use the verb form of the subject that is nearest the verb.
Either the  bears or the lion has escaped from the zoo.  Neither the lion nor the  bears have  escaped from the zoo.

14. Indefinite pronouns typically take singular verbs.  *

Everybody wants to be loved.

15. * Except for the pronouns (few, many, several, both, all, some) that always take the plural form.
Few were left alive after the flood.

16. If two infinitives are separated by and they take the plural form of the verb.
To walk and to chew gum require great skill.

17. When gerunds are used as the subject of a sentence, they take the singular verb form of the verb; but, when they are
linked by and, they take the plural form.
Standing in the water was a bad idea. Swimming in the ocean and playing drums are my hobbies.

18. Collective nouns like herd, senate, class, crowd, etc. usually take a singular verb form.
The herd is stampeding.

19. Titles of books, movies, novels, etc. are treated as singular and take a singular verb.
The Burbs is a movie starring Tom Hanks.

20. Final Rule – Remember, only the subject affects the verb!

Negation is the process that turns an affirmative statement into its opposite denial.

Example:
She is a nice girl - She is not a nice girl

Verbs in English are negated by placing the word not after an auxiliary or modal.
Examples:
I am not from Germany
I do not like playing tennis.
She does not listen to classical music.
I have not read this book yet.
I did not go to Moscow.
I had not had dinner when they came in.
You should not sleep late.
I cannot help you.
I will not participate in that competition.
Coordination and Subordination
Coordinating conjunctions are used to join independent clauses to make compound sentences. The
coordinating conjunctions are as follows: and, but, for, nor, or, so, and yet. You can use coordinating
conjunctions to revise run-on sentences and comma splices (see above). You can also use coordinating
conjunctions to make writing less choppy by joining short, simple sentences. Consider the following
examples.
  Independent Clauses: I wanted more popcorn. Sam wanted Junior Mints.
Joined Together: I wanted more popcorn, but Sam wanted Junior Mints.

In this example, it is necessary to put a comma before the coordinating conjunction but because there are
two independent clauses being combined. Another way to think of this is that I wanted more
popcorn and Sam wanted Junior Mints could stand on their own as independent sentences. So, there must
be a comma and a conjunction between them.

 Independent Clauses: I wanted more popcorn. I didn’t want any more soda.
Joined Together: I wanted more popcorn but no soda.

In this example, we’ve combined the sentences with the coordinating conjunction but. We’ve also
eliminated some of the words so that the sentence wouldn’t sound redundant. In this case, it isn’t
necessary to put a comma before but because there are not two independent clauses joined together. 

Subordinating conjunctions are used to join independent clauses to make complex sentences. The
subordinating conjunctions are as follows: after, although, as, as if, because, before, even if, even
though, if, if only, rather than, since, that, though, unless, until, when, where, whereas, wherever,
whether, which, and while.

You can use subordinating conjunctions to correct run-on sentences and comma splices. And you can use
them to combine sentences so that writing is less choppy. Consider the following examples.

 Complex Sentence: I wanted to get more soda because it’s hard to eat popcorn without it.

In this sentence, the subordinate clause is at the end. It would also be correct to place the subordinate
clause at the beginning of the sentence:

Because it’s hard to eat popcorn without it, I wanted to get more soda. 

Notice that when the subordinate clause comes at the beginning, it’s necessary to insert a comma.

 Complex Sentence: While I was getting more soda and popcorn, I missed a really important part of
the movie. (Subordinate clause at the beginning of the sentence).

I missed a really important part of the movie while I was getting more soda and popcorn. (Subordinate
clause at the end of the sentence).

Subordination and Coordination Exercise

Join the two independent clauses to make a compound sentence. Use one of the coordinating conjunctions
(and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet). Remember to use a comma before the connecting word.

 He enjoys walking through the country. He often goes backpacking on his vacations.
 He often watched TV when there were only reruns. She preferred to read instead.
 I didn't know which job I wanted. I decided to wait to decide.

Join the two independent clauses to make a complex sentence. Use one of the subordinating conjunctions
(after, although, as, as if, because, before, even if, even though, if, if only, rather than, since, that,
though, unless, until, when, where, whereas, wherever, whether, which, and while). Remember to use a
comma if the subordinating conjunction comes at the beginning of the sentence.

 I stayed up all night studying for my Algebra exam. I was so tired all day today.
 Jerry and Elaine always go to movies together. They don’t go to movies together when Jerry is
dating someone.
 Mad Season is a great band. They only put out one album.
 Types of Conjunctions

There are several different types of conjunctions that do various jobs within sentence structures. These include:

 Subordinating conjunctions –  Also known as subordinators, these conjunctions join dependent clauses to
independent clauses.
 Coordinating conjunction – Also known as coordinators, these conjunctions coordinate or join two or more
sentences, main clauses, words, or other parts of speech which are of the same syntactic importance.
 Correlative conjunction – These conjunctions correlate, working in pairs to join phrases or words that carry
equal importance within a sentence.
 Conjunctive adverbs – While some instructors do not teach conjunctive adverbs alongside conjunctions, these
important parts of speech are worth a mention here. These adverbs always connect one clause to another, and are used
to show sequence, contrast, cause and effect, and other relationships.
When people first learn to write, they usually begin with short, basic sentences like these: “My name is Ted. I am a boy. I
like dogs.” One of the most important jobs conjunctions do is to connect these short sentences so they sound more like
this: “I am a boy named Ted, and I like dogs.”

Conjunction Rules

There are a few important rules for using conjunctions. Remember them and you will find that your writing flows better:

 Conjunctions are for connecting thoughts, actions, and ideas as well as nouns, clauses, and other parts of
speech. For example: Mary went to the supermarket  and bought oranges.
 Conjunctions are useful for making lists. For example: We made pancakes, eggs, and  coffee for breakfast.
 When using conjunctions, make sure that all the parts of your sentences agree. For example: “I work
busily yet am careful”  does not agree. “I work busily  yet  carefully”  shows agreement.

Conjunctions List

There are only a few common conjunctions, yet these words perform many functions: They present explanations, ideas,
exceptions, consequences, and contrasts. Here is a list of conjunctions commonly used in American English:

 And  Just as  So
 As  Or  Whether
 Because  Neither  Yet
 But  Nor
 For  Not only

Examples of Conjunctions

In the following examples, the conjunctions are in bold for easy recognition:

 I tried to hit the nail but hit my thumb instead.

 I have two goldfish and a cat.
 I’d like a bike for commuting to work.
 You can have peach ice cream or a brownie sundae.
 Neither the black dress northe gray one looks right on me.
 My dad always worked hard so we could afford the things we wanted.
 I try very hard in school yet I am not receiving good grades

GRADABLE ADJECTIVES
Adjectives describe a quality that something has. To describe variations in temperature, for instance, we can use hot or cold, which
are gradable adjectives but to describe the limits of temperature we use boiling or freezing. These are ungradable adjectives.

Ungradable
Gradable bad
tiny freezing
small cold
excellent exhausted
good tired
boiling furious
warn/hot angry
enormous
big
terrible

Use adverbs to make adjectives weaker or stronger.

Adverbs with gradable adjectives – very, extremely, a bit, slightly

Adverbs with ungradable adjectives – absolutely, completely, totally, utterly.

Really is used with both.

radable / Non-gradable adjectives
Adjectives can be either gradable or non-gradable

Gradable Gradable adjectives are adjectives like ‘cold’ ‘hot’ and ‘frightened’. You can be very cold or a bit cold. Gradable adjectives
show that something can have different degrees.

Non-gradable Non-gradable adjectives are adjectives like ‘married’ or ‘wooden’. You can’t be very married or a bit married. Non-
gradable adjectives do not have different degrees.

Adjectives like ‘terrifying’, ‘freezing’ ‘amazing’ are also non-gradable adjectives. They already contain the idea of ‘very’ in their
definitions – ‘freezing’ means ‘very cold’ etc.

Using adverbs of degree

When we use adverbs of degree to modify adjectives we usually have to use different adverbs for gradable and non-gradable
adjectives.

NOT I’m completely hot.

NOT It was very fantastic!
With gradable adjectives
It’s a bit cold in here. Shall I turn the fire on?
He’s very interested in history. Why don’t you buy him a history book?
This exercise is really difficult. I don’t know any of the answers.
I’m extremely tired. I’m going to bed.
The adverbs a bit, very, really, extremely and quite can all be used with gradable adjectives.

With non-gradable adjectives

It’s absolutely freezing in here. Shall I turn the fire on?

He’s completely fascinated by history. Why don’t you buy him a history book?
This exercise is absolutely impossible.
That film is really terrifying. Don’t go and see it on your own.
The adverbs absolutely and completely can be used with non-gradable adjectives.

Notice that really can be used with both gradable AND non-gradable adjectives.

NOTE: There are other adverbs of degree that we haven’t covered in this section. The ones included here are some of the most
common.

ConjunctThe label applied to an adverbial which connects its sentence to neighbouring sentences.
Examples are: moreover, nevertheless, however, finally etc.

Conjunctions are used to express a connection between words. The most familiar conjunctions are and, but, and or:   
 
Paul and  David  
cold and wet  
tired but happy  
slowly but surely  
tea or  coffee  
hot or  cold 
They can also connect longer units:   
 
Paul plays football and David plays chess  
I play tennis but I don't play well  
We can eat now or  we can wait till later 
There are two types of conjunctions. COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS (or simply COORDINATORS) connect elements
of `equal' syntactic status:   
 
Paul and  David  
I play tennis but I don't play well  
meat or fish 
Items which are connected by a coordinator are known as CONJOINS. So in I play tennis but I don't play well, the
conjoins are [I play tennis] and [  I don't play well].  

On the other hand, SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS (or SUBORDINATORS) connect elements of `unequal' syntactic
status:   

I left early because I had an interview the next day  

We visited Madame Tussaud's while  we were in London  
I'll be home at nine if  I can get a taxi 
Other subordinating conjunctions include although, because, before, since, till, unless, whereas, whether  

Coordination and subordination are quite distinct concepts in grammar. Notice, for example, that coordinators must
appear betweenthe conjoins:   
 

[Paul plays football] and  [David plays chess]

 ~*And [David plays chess] [Paul plays football] 

However, we can reverse the order of the conjoins, provided we keep the coordinator between them:   
 
[David plays chess] and [Paul plays football]
In contrast with this, subordinators do not have to occur between the items they connect::   
 

I left early because I had an interview the next day

~Because I had an interview the next day, I left early

But if we reverse the order of the items, we either change the meaning completely:   

left early because I had an interview the next day

~I had an interview the next day because  I left early 

or we produce a very dubious sentence:   

 

I'll be home at nine  if I can get a taxi

~?I can get a taxi if I'll be home at nine 

This shows that items linked by a subordinator have a very specific relationship to each other -- it is a relationship of
syntactic dependency. There is no syntactic dependency in the relationship between conjoins. We will further explore this
topic when we look at the grammar of clauses.