The eight parts of speech

Brighter grammar
The eight parts of speech
There are eight parts of speech:
• Nouns (names of anything)
• Pronouns (words standing instead of nouns)
• Adjectives (words limiting the meaning of nouns)
• Verbs (words expressing an action or state of being)
• Adverbs (words limiting the meaning of verbs)
• Conjunctions (joining words)
• Prepositions (words used with nouns or pronouns to make phrases)
• Interjections (words used to express a sudden feeling)
Lesson one
If you are asked, ‘What part of speech is watch?’ or ‘What part of speech is
iron?’ the right answer is , ‘I don’t know. But if you put the word into a sentence,
then I can give you the answer.’

Now why is this? It’s because you tell what part of speech a word is by the
work it is doing. So you must see (or hear) the word at work in a sentence.
For example, take watch in the sentence.

My father gave me a new watch for my birthday.

In that sentence watch is the name of something, and so it is a noun.
Now look at this sentence,
I am going to watch a foot ball match.
Here, of course, watch expresses an action: it tells what I am going to do. So in
this sentence watch is a verb.
What about this sentence?
No thieves can come to our house because we have a good watch dog.
What kind of dog? – a watch dog. As you know, words that tell ‘what kind’ are
adjectives. So here, watch is an adjective qualifying the noun dog.
Or take the word spring in these three sentences:
1 The spring of my watch is broken.
2 The dog tried to spring over the gate.
3 I love spring flowers.
In 1 it is the name of something – a noun.
In 2 it expresses an action – a verb.
In 3 it tells what kind of flowers – an adjective.

So remember:
You tell what part of speech a word is by the work it does.
Exercises
A What part of speech are the words in italics?
Example: Turn to the right at the corner.
Answer: Turn – verb; corner – noun
1 Use a big hammer for those nails.
2 Hammer the nails in well.
3 Nail the picture on the wall.
4 I can answer that question.
5 Give me the answer to the question.
6 We are going to stay in Athens.
7 Our stay there will be for only a week.
8 We drink tea from tea-cups.
9 Will you come and have a drink?
10 The smoke is going up the chimney.
B Give the part of speech of the words in italics.
1 Bath the baby in the small bath, and dry him with the bath towel.
2 John’s mother is using an electric iron to iron John’s shirt.
3 That iron gate is made of iron that came from England.
4 These plants need water. You must water them every day in dry weather.
5 I am going to plant some water –lilies in my pond.
6 I want you to colour these pictures any colour you like.
C Use the following words in sentences (a) as nouns and (b) as verbs.
Example: film
Answer: (a) Have you seen the new film at the Odeon?
(b) They filmed some of the scenes in Rome.
1 walk 3 work 5 use 7 box
2 fire 4 wish 6 wave 8 rain
D Here is a short story.
Newspaper headlines
My Harlow newspaper had a big headline: GERMAN WORKS FOR HARLOW.
There was picture of a German businessman, and I read these words the
picture: Mr. Schwarz in Harlow yesterday.
‘That’s the man,’ I thought.
‘That’s the German, but what does he do for Harlow?’
I began to read the article.
GERMAN WORKS FOR HARLOW
Car assembly works plan
Final arrangements have been made for the German firm of Schwarz to assemble
their Lakeland and Riverside cars in Harlow. The company plans to build the
works on sixty acres of land close to Harlow. When assembly starts, several
hundred Harlow people will work there. Mr. Schwarz, the managing director,
expects to open the factory in March next year.
12 words are underlined in the headlines and the article. Say what part of speech
each word is in the sentence you find it in. We have done the first two words for
you as an example.
Examples: GERMAN –
WORKS –
Lesson Two
Nouns
A noun is the name of anything. Nouns that are the names for all people or
things or places of the same kind are common nouns. The special names of
people, places or things are proper nouns. Proper nouns all begin with a capital
letter.
Nouns can be singular or plural.
The possessive of singular nouns is formed by putting ’s after the noun that
stands for the possessor.
The possessive of plural nouns is formed by putting an apostrophe after the
noun if the plural does not end in s (children’s shoes).
The possessive form is not generally used for nouns that name things, only for
people (and for most animals).
Abstract nouns
There are some other kinds of nouns. Look at these sentences:
The car went at a speed of 90 miles an hour.
Thank you for your great kindness.
Lloyd has toothache.
He bore the pain with great courage.
Health is better than wealth.
The words speed, kindness, toothache, pain, courage, health, wealth are all
nouns. Each of them is the name of something. But they are not quite like the
other nouns that you have met so far. They don’t really name things. They name
qualities or ideas. They don’t name things you can touch or see. You can see and
touch the tooth, but you can’t see the ‘ache’.
Toothache is an abstract noun.
The nouns kindness, speed, health, etc. don’t name material things; they name
abstract things. We call nouns like this abstract nouns.
Collective nouns
There are some nouns that are the names not of just one person or thing, but of a
whole collection of people or things, considered as one.
For example, in the school’s hockey team there are eleven players but we think
of it as a single team, that is, as one thing. We call it a team. In this case, team is
a collective noun.
Nouns that stand for a number of things considered as one are called collective
nouns. Collective nouns generally (but not always) take a singular verb.
The crowd was one of the largest I have ever seen.
A flock of sheep is coming down the hill.
The class has an English lesson every day.
Exercises
A Pick out the abstract nouns in these sentences.
Example: Some British people don’t like the heat.
Answer: heat
1. The soldiers fought with great courage.
2. He has always had very good health.
3. The flight of the birds is very beautiful.
4. I made this table without any help.
5. That flower is a pretty colour.
6. He was filled with admiration for my skill in rowing the boat.
7. The explorer was suffering from hunger and thirst but was full of hope of
success.
8 . There is wisdom in the old man’s advice.
9 . I want you to get the measurements of this room. Write down its length,
breadth, and height.
10. We all admire beauty not ugliness; strength not weakness; bravery not
cowardice; kindness not cruelty; generosity not meanness.
B Pick out the collective nouns in these sentences.
Example: The team was chosen by a committee.
Answer: team, committee
1. The man was driving a heard of cattle.
2. That ship has a crew of a hundred men.
3. He has a whole library of books.
4. A swarm of bees flew out of the hive.
5. The audience listened in breathless silence to the singer.
6. The regiment of soldiers marched into battle.
7. A pack of wolves chased the sledge.
8. The fishermen saw a big shoal of fish.
9. The police were trying to control the mob.
10. Men are wanted for the army, the navy and the air force.
C Pick out the nouns in the following story and arrange them in columns under
these headings. (We’ve done the first two sentences as an example.
Common Proper Abstract Collective
man Pat cold family
morning hunger
Wit can gain a breakfast
Pat was a poor man with a large family. One morning, cold and hunger made him
wake up early. He decided to go shooting in a wood near his cottage.
The wood belonged to Lord Northwood, a rich gentleman, and Pat had no
right to go there. But there were families of rabbits in the wood, and Pat
determined to take the risk. Suddenly he saw the owner, with a group of friends,
coming towards him through the wood. There was a look of anger on Lord
Northwood’s face as he caught sight of the gun in Pat’s hands. Pat’s heart sank
with fear, but he saw there was no hope of escape. So he walked boldly towards
the company and said to Lord Northwood, ‘Good morning, sir. What was
brought you out so early this morning?’
 Lord Northwood was rather surprised but he said, ‘My friends and I are
taking a little exercise to get an appetite for our breakfast.’ Then, looking at Pat
with suspicion, he said, ‘But why are you out so early in the morning?’
‘Well, sir,’ said Pat, ‘I just came out to try to get a breakfast for my
appetite.’
The whole crowd burst into laughter at Pat’s ready wit, and with a smile
Lord Northwood walked on, leaving Pat to try his luck with the rabbits.
Lesson Three
Plurals of nouns
Singular nouns generally make their plurals by adding s.
Some (ending in a ‘hissing sound’ or in –o) add – es.
Some (ending in –f or –fe) change to –ves.
Some (ending in –y) change to –ies.
Here are some more points about plural nouns.
1 A few nouns have the same form for singular and plural.
Two common ones are sheep and deer.
There is a sheep in that field. (singular)
There are some sheep in that field. (plural)
I saw a deer in the woods. (singular)
I saw two deer in the woods. (plural)
Usually fish has the same form in the singular as in the plural.
How many fish have you caught today? (plural)
We have only caught one fish today. (singular)
2 Some nouns have no plural: information, advice, furniture, news. So we say,
I bought three pieces of furniture (never three furnitures).
He gave me two good bits of advice (not two advices).
The news is good (never the news are good).
News looks like a plural word, but it isn’t.
Pence is the usual plural for penny.
This rubber cost ten pence.
Some people say p instead of pence.
‘I paid ten p for it.’
But you should write pence.
3 Some nouns have no singular: scissors, trousers, clothes, riches.
These scissors are not sharp. (or This pair of scissors is not sharp.)
Tommy’s trousers were torn as he was climbing the tree.
Her clothes are always very smart.
Riches do not always bring happiness.
4 There are some nouns that are made up of two nouns: schoolroom, girlfriend,
boyfriend, bookcase, workman.
In the plural, only the second part changes.

Singular Plural
classroom classrooms
girlfriend girlfriends
boyfriend boyfriends
bookcase bookcases
workman workmen
Exercises
A Make the following sentences plural.
Example: The fisherman caught a fish in his net.
Answer: The fishermen caught (some) fish in their nets.
1. There is a deer on the hillside.
2. This sheep is white, but that sheep is black.
3. The bookcase is made of oak.
4. I am going to pay the workman.
5. My grandfather is coming to visit me.
6. He is a schoolboy but he isn’t at school today.
7. A sheep is eating a cabbage in my garden.
8. She has invited her boyfriend to the party.
9. That newspaper used to cost a penny. (Use two in your answer).
B Put the missing verbs (is, are, was, were) in the following sentences. Write
singular or plural after each sentence.
Example: The boy’s trousers ____ torn.
Answer: The boy’s trousers were torn. (plural).
1. There ___ some bad news in the paper this morning.
2. His clothes ___ made by a good tailor.
3. That furniture ___ very dear.
4. The advice that he gave me ___ good.
5. The people in that room ___ waiting for me.
6. My scissors ___ not very sharp.
7. This information ___ just what I want.
8. All the fish in the pond ___ gold and red.
Verbs: tense 1

Teacher: What day is it today?

Pupil: It is Wednesday today.
T: What day was it yesterday?
P: It was Tuesday yesterday.
T: What day will it be tomorrow?
P: It will be Thursday tomorrow.

Elizabeth: (A) This year I am in the 2nd Year English Class.

(B) Last year I was in the 1st Year English Class.
(C) Next year I will (I’ll) be in the 3rd Year English Class.
Henry: (A) I have a flower in my coat today.
(B) I had one in my coat yesterday.
(C) I will (I’ll) have another one tomorrow.
Teacher: (A) This week the students do their lessons in Room 4.
(B) Last week they did them in Room 3.
(C) Next week they will (they’ll ) do them in Room 5.

Present Past Future

am was will be
have had will have
do did will do
These different forms are called tenses.
The present tense is used for actions in present time.
The past tense is used for actions in past time.
The future tense is used for actions in future time.
Here is the simple present tense, the simple past tense and the future tense of the
verbs be and have.

Simple present tense Simple past tense Future tense

be
I am I was I
he, she, it is he, she, it was he, she, it
we are we were we will be/
you are you were you ’ll be
they are they were they
have
I have I I
he, she, it has he, she, it he, she, it
we have we had we will have/
you have you you ’ll have
they have they they
Lesson Twelve
Present continuous tense
We have just learned that the tense of a verb shows the time of an action; it
shows whether it happens in present time, past time, or future time.
But the tense of the verb can also show whether the action is finished or not.
For example, look at these sentences:
I am writing on the blackboard.
You are learning grammar.
Tom is reading his book.
Mary is studying maths.
The flower is dying.
We are singing ‘Ten Green Bottles’.
They are fighting.
All those actions are in the present time and they are all still continuing. The
writing, learning, reading, singing, fighting are still going on; they are all still
continuing. So this verb form is called the present continuous tense.
The present continuous tense expresses an action that is still going on now.
It is quite easy to make the present continuous. As you se, it has two parts. The
first part is the present tense of the verb be (am, is or are). The second part is the
form of the verb that ends in –ing: learning, reading, singing, etc. When you
make the –ing form of a verb, notice these points of spelling.
1. Verbs that end in a silent –e, drop this –e when they add –ing: dance,
dancing; write, writing; save, saving.
2. Some verbs double the last letter: stop, stopping; get, getting; hit, hitting.
3. Verbs ending in –ie, change this to –y: lie, lying; die, dying; tie, tying.
The present continuous tense is made by using am, is or are with the –ing
form of the verb.
Exercises
A Write down the –ing form of these verbs.
1 walk 5 dance 9 swim 13 reply
2 sing 6 write 10 save 14 die
3 talk 7 run 11 offer 15 lie
4 eat 8 dig 12 try 16 get

B Write out the present continuous tense for I, she and we of these verbs:
speak, take, cut, play, tie.
Example: laugh
Answer: I am laughing. She is laughing. We are laughing.
C Change the verbs in these sentences from the simple present tense to the present
continuous tense. Add a word or phrase from the box to each sentence. Leave out the words in
brackets.
now, today, at this moment, at present
Example: My father (sometimes) uses a typewriter.
Answer: My father is using a typewriter at this moment.
1. I (often) write a letter.
2. Richard (always) walks to school.
3. We (usually) get up at six.
4. My mother (sometimes) works in the garden.
5. The old man lies down (after lunch).
6. He (often) stops the bus here.
7. We travel to Port of Spain (every day).
8. The gardener (sometimes) cuts down a tree.
9. John comes home (in the evening).
10. The shopkeeper (always) ties up the parcel.
Lessen Thirteen
Past continuous tense
Sometimes we want to speak of an action that was going on or continuing in the
past time. In that case we use the past tense of the verb be with the –ing form of
the verb.
We are looking at this grammar book now. (present continuous)
This time yesterday, we were looking at this grammar book. (past continuous)
Here are some other examples of the past continuous tense:
A year ago I was working in the Barbados.
‘I saw Richard at the station this morning.’- ‘Yes, he was waiting for
John, who was coming home from Oxford.’
Here is the past continuous tense of the verb go:
Singular Plural
1st person I was going 1st person We were going
2nd person You were going 2nd person You were going
3rd person He, she, it was 3rd person They were going
going
The past continuous is very often used to show that an action was going on (or
continuing) at a time when something else happened. An example will make that
clear. Let’s take an action that was still continuing:
‘As I was coming to school this morning …’
Then something happened;
‘… I saw a car run into a bus.’
Notice that the thing that suddenly happened is expressed by the simple past
tense (saw).
Here are some further examples:

Past Continuous (action going on) Simple past (for new action)

The teacher was giving us a lesson when a little dog walked into the room.

While we were having supper, all the lights went out.

The fire was still burning when I passed the house the next day.

While the man was looking in the the thief picked his pocket.
shop window,
Sometimes the sentences may be the other way round, with the verb in the
simple past tense first, and the verb in the past continuous tense second:

Simple past Past continuous

All the lights went out while we were having supper.

When I passed the house next day, the fire was still burning.

Harry did his homework while the other boys were playing
football.
Exercises
A Write out the past continuous tense of the verbs do, rise, stop.

B Put the verb in brackets into the past continuous tense.

1 John got off the train while it (go).
2 It (rain) when we went out.
3 I (play) the piano when he came into the room.
4 I came into the room when Mary (play) the piano.
5 Joshua (work) all day yesterday.
6 She (live) in England when the war began.
7 He hurt his foot while he (climb) the tree.
8 The baby (eat) its dinner when I came home.
9 He (walk) home when the rain began.
10 The car hit a tree while it (travel) at 60 miles an hour.
11 He (write) a letter when I saw him.
12 The man fell down as he (run) for the bus.
Simple present tense and present continuous tense
Do you know when to use the simple present tense and when to use the present
continuous tense? Compare these sentences.
(A) Mary plays the piano every evening.
(B) Mary is playing the piano now.

(A) You often write on the blackboard.

(B) You are writing on the blackboard now.
What is the difference between sentences (A) and sentences (B)?
The present continuous tense truly expresses an action in the present time, an action
that is happening now. ‘Mary is playing the piano’ and ‘I am writing on the
blackboard’ mean that these actions are going on at this very moment. They haven’t
ended when I say (or write) those sentences.
The simple present tense is generally used for an action that is done regularly, for an
action that happens, perhaps, every day. So you often find words like usually,
generally, every day, sometimes, always with it.

I am dancing now. I dance every day.

(present continuous) (simple present)
Now here is a short composition that Mark Brown wrote. It will show you the use of
the simple present tense.
My daily programme – by Mark Brown
I wake up every day about seven o’clock. I get out of bed and go and wake Jeremy
and Richard. I sometimes drip some water on them to wake them. Then they get up
and chase me to the bathroom. We wash, and we brush our teeth and then we go
back to the bedroom to dress. Mother usually calls upstairs, ‘Come one, boys,
breakfast is ready.’ So we hurry downstairs. We say, ‘Good morning, mother,’ ‘Good
morning, father,’ and sit down to breakfast. Father goes to the office at half-past
eight, but before he goes, he usually sits and reads his paper. We have our breakfast
and ask if we can leave the table. Then we go and get our books and school things.
We say good-bye to mother, take out our bicycles and cycle to school.

As you see, all those verbs are in the simple present tense because Mark is telling
you his daily habits. He is telling you what he does every day, not what he is doing at
that moment.
The simple present tense is used for a repeated or habitual action.
The present continuous tense is used for an action that is still continuing now.
There are one or two small but rather important points that you should notice. In the
simple present tense the 3rd person singular ends in –s. (There are some
exceptions, which you will meet in the next lesson.)
1st person singular 3rd person singular
I sit he sits
I get he gets
I read he reads

Sometimes the 3rd person singular ends in –es. I wash he washes

I go he goes
Sometimes it changes from –y to –ies
I try he tries
I cry he cries
Exercises
A Here is the simple present tense of eat:
I eat we eat
he, she, it eats you eat
they eat
Now write out the simple present tense of the verbs get, sit, catch, smash, go, do.

B Change the following from 1st person singular to 3rd person singular. Use
the new subject given in brackets.

Example: I watch my school hockey team. (My brother)

Answer: My brother watches his school hockey team.
1. I like chocolate. (My sister) 14. I must finish my work. (My daughter)
2. I write the exercise. (He) 15. I ought to be more careful. (Tom)
3. I know the answer. (She)
4. I try to do my work well. (Mary)
5. I wash my face and neck. (John)
6. I eat my breakfast. (My father)
7. I brush my teeth. (He)
8. I say good morning to my mother. (That boy)
9. I go to school on my bicycle. (This girl)
10. I do my work carefully. (A good lady teacher)
11. I can speak English. (He)
12. I will help you. (She)
13. I may come here tomorrow. (The cat)
C In the following sentences the verbs have been left out. Some of the verbs
ought to be in the present simple tense, others in the present continuous
tense. Rewrite the sentences putting in the verbs. (The verb to use is in brackets.)
Example: (cut) It’s Saturday, and my brother ____ wood for the fire. He always ____
wood on Saturdays.
Answer: It’s Saturday, and my brother is cutting wood for the fire. He always cuts wood
on Saturdays.
1. (play) Elizabeth always ____ the piano well. She ____ it now.
2. (drive) My mother ____ to her office every day. She ____ there now.
3. (rain) It ____ today. It usually ____ in winter.
4. (speak) He generally ____ Chinese, but he ____ English today.
5. (make) Father ____ toast in the kitchen just now. He usually ____ toast for
breakfast.
6. (set) The sun always ____ in the west. It ____ now, and it will soon be dark.
7. (dig) My sister always ____ the garden. She ____ it now.
8. (ring) The telephone ____ again. It sometimes ____ twenty times a day.
9. (do) John ____ his homework now. He usually ____ it in the evening.
10. (go) Richard ____ to school every day.
11. (do) Careless students never ____ their work well.
12. (write) ‘What is the teacher doing?’ – ‘He ____ on the blackboard.’
13. (live) That fat man ____ next door to us.
14. (go) He ____ just ____ in at the front door.
15. (strike) Listen, the clock ____ . Count the strokes.
16. (go, give) Whenever we ____ to my aunt’s house, she always ____ us a good tea.
D Revision exercise on verbs. Here is a story. Some of the verbs should be in the
simple present tense, some in the simple past tense, some in the past continuous and
some in the future. Rewrite the story with the verbs in the right forms.
The rich lady and the poor beggar
A wealthy lady (live) in a big hotel beside New York’s Central Park. One day as she
(look) out of the window, she (see) a very poor man dressed in rags. He (sit) on a
wooden seat and he (look) up at the windows of the hotel. She (look) the next day and
the next, and the next, and every day he (look) up at the windows of the hotel. At last
one day while she (drive) in her car, she (stop) by the seat where the man (sit). She (get)
out and (speak) to him and (ask) him why he (look) at the hotel windows.
‘Lady,’ he (say), ‘I (sit) on this seat every day and I (sleep) on this seat every
night, and all the time I (think) that some day I (sleep) in that hotel.’
The lady said, ‘I (make) your dream come true. Tonight you (sleep) in the best
room in the hotel.’
The next morning as she (sit) at breakfast she (see) the man and (call) him to
come to her table. She (say), ‘How did you sleep?’
 ‘Lady,’ he (say), ‘my seat in the park was better.’
‘Surely not,’ (say) the lady.
‘Yes,’ he (say). ‘You see, I (sleep) on the seat every night; but every night I
(dream) I (be) in a soft warm bed in the hotel. But all last night while I (sleep), I dreamt
that I was back on the cold hard seat. So I (go) back to my seat in the park tonight.’
Lesson Fifteen
Negative of verbs:
‘method A’ – the ‘peculiars’ 1
There are two main ways for verbs to form their negatives. Let’s call them ‘method A’
and ‘method B’.
There are only a few verbs that use ‘method A’, but they are verbs that are used very
often. They are a strange little group. They don’t behave like other verbs in a number of
ways, so let’s call them the ‘peculiars’. Here are some of them:
be (am, is, are, was, were) may
have (has, had) might
can (could) must
will (would) ought to
shall (should)

Others, which we will consider later, are need, used to, do (does, did) and dare.
The ‘peculiars’ form their negative simply by adding not.

And they are the only verbs out of the thousands of English verbs that make their
negative in that way (the way we have called ‘method A’). Here are some examples:
Affirmative Negative
He is English. He is not English.
She can speak English. She cannot speak English.
We will have a lesson tomorrow. We will not have a lesson tomorrow.
You may have another cake. You may not have another cake.
Contracted forms
These negatives are often shortened, especially in conversation. Here are the contracted
(shortened) forms:

Contracted Contracted
Negative form Negative form
is not isn’t cannot can’t
are not aren’t will not won’t
have not haven’t must not mustn’t
has not hasn’t ought not oughtn’t

Notice that the apostrophe (’) takes the place of the o of not.
Exercises
A Write down the contracted forms of:
1 is not 3 are not 5 have not 7 will not
2 ought not 4 must not 6 has not 8 cannot
B Make the following sentences negative.
1. She is a teacher.
2. I am Greek.
3. You are my pupils.
4. We are your pupils.
5. Richard can swim very well.
6. I will go to see him tomorrow.
7. You ought to write your exercise in this book.
8. I will do what you ask me.
9. You must go now.
10. Have you any money? (Use the contracted form.)
Negative of verbs:
‘method A’ – the ‘peculiars’ 2
Here is the simple past tense of some of the ‘peculiars’:
Present tense Past tense Present tense Past tense
am/is was have/has had
are were can could

Here are some examples:

He was in Tokyo yesterday.
She had a bicycle last year.
The other ‘peculiars’ do not have a past tense, but some of them can sometimes be used to
express the meaning of others in the past. Here they are:
‘Peculiar’ Past meaning sometimes expressed by

shall should
will would
may might
Here are some examples:
I’ll go now.
I wouldn’t go before.
‘We’ll come to the party.’
They said they would come to the party.
The negative of these forms of the ‘peculiars’ is often shortened. Here are the
contracted or short forms:

Negative Short form Negative Short form

was wasn’t should not shouldn’t
had not hadn’t would not wouldn’t
could not couldn’t might not mightn’t
were not weren’t
Some people think that the contracted forms can only be used in conversation. But
nowadays you needn’t be afraid to write them. Indeed, I advise you to use contracted
forms in negative questions, even in serious writing.
Isn’t English a useful world language?
Couldn’t the Government help the poorer countries?

Here are some examples of the ‘peculiars’ in affirmative and negative statements:
Affirmative Negative
He was here yesterday. He was not (wasn’t) here yesterday.
John could swim when he was six. John could not (couldn’t) swim when he was
six.
He said that he might come. He said that he might not (mightn’t) come.
She said that she would help us. She said that she would not (wouldn’t) help us.
Exercises
A Write down the contracted (shortened) forms of:
1 was not 3 might not 5 had not
2 would not 4 should not 6 could not

B Make the following sentences negative.

1 Sidney was at our house last night.
2 John could swim when he was three years old.
3 Your friends were at the party last night.
4 He would go there if the weather was fine.
5 If the sky was clear, you could see the stars.
C In the second part of the sentence, use the past form negative of the ‘peculiar’ that is
in the first part.
Example: She’s an old woman now, but she ____ old in 1950.
Answer: She’s an old woman now, but she wasn’t old in 1950.

1. There are two houses here now, but there ____ any houses here a year ago.
2. He has heard the news now, but he ____ heard it an hour ago.
3. There are a lot of computers in the world now, but there ____ a lot in 1960.
4. I’ve seen Paris now, but I ____ ever seen it before.
5. There’s a cat in the garden this afternoon, but there ____ one there this morning.
D In the second part of the sentence, use the same verb as in the first part, but change
the ‘peculiar’.
Example: I can swim now, but I ____ when I was younger.
Answer: I can swim now, but I couldn’t swim when I was younger.

1. He’ll take us to the cinema next week, but he ____ us last week.
2. She can read his writing now, but she ____ it last year.
3. My friends will come with me this year but they ____ with me in 1984.
4. My grandfather could hear well a few years ago, but he ____ well now.
5. He wouldn’t believe the story at first, but perhaps he ____ it now.
Negative of verbs: present continuous and past continuous
You remember, of course, that the present continuous tense and the past continuous
tense are formed by using parts of the verb be with the –ing form of the verb. So they
form their negative, as the ‘peculiars’ do, simply by adding not.
Present continuous
Affirmative
I am writing on the blackboard.
You are learning English.
Ali is reading his history book.
We are living in the twenty first
century.
Past continuous
Affirmative
He was working when I saw him.
When I looked at the baby, it was
sleeping.
They were singing an English song.
Negative
I am not writing (I’m not writing) on the
blackboard.
You are not (aren’t) learning English.
Ali is not (isn’t) reading his history book.
We are not (aren’t) living in the twentieth
century.
Negative
He was not (wasn’t) working when I saw him.
When I looked at the baby, it was not (wasn’t)
sleeping.
They were not (weren’t) singing an English
song.
Exercises
A Make these sentences negative. Use contracted forms.
Example: We are sitting outside the classroom.
Answer: We aren’t sitting outside the classroom.
1. We are listening to the teacher.
2. I am writing on the blackboard. (I’m not…)
3. You are learning English grammar.
4. It is raining hard now.
5. He is watching television.
6. The horses are running very fast.
7. Mark is helping his mother to cook.
8. I am working very hard at present.
9. Tom’s sister is learning to drive a car.
10. You are singing very well today.
B In these sentences, find the verb in the past continuous and make it negative. Use
contracted forms.
Example: When the train arrived, we were waiting for it.
Answer: When the train arrived, we weren’t waiting for it.
1. The horses were running very fast.
2. They were pulling a very heavy load.
3. This time yesterday we were sitting here.
4. Yesterday, the snow was covering the garden.
5. It was raining hard when I came to school.
6. When I came to school, it was raining hard.
7. The boys were swimming when we saw them.
8. When we saw them, the boys were swimming.
9. You were working hard when I called.
10. When I called, you were working hard.
Interrogative of verbs:
‘method A’ – the ‘peculiars’
The ‘peculiars’ are different from other verbs not only in the way they make their
negative. They are different, too, in the way they make their interrogative or question
form. They do it by inversion, that is by putting the ‘peculiar’ before its subject, like
this:
Statement
He (subject) is (verb) a teacher.
It (subject) is (verb) ten o’clock.
His name is Ali Shah.
He can speak English.
They must go home now.
They can’t understand the lesson.
He mustn’t open the box.
He was here yesterday.
John could swim when he was six
years old.
Inversion of the subject and the ‘peculiar’ also happens when the ‘peculiars’ help
to make a tense.
Question
Is (verb) he (subject) a teacher?
Is (verb) it (subject) ten o’clock.
Is his name Ali Shah?
Can he speak English?
Must they go home now?
Can’t they understand the lesson?
Mustn’t he open the box?
Was he here yesterday?
Could John swim when he was six years old?
Statement Question
Present continuous
They are working hard. Are they working hard?
Past continuous
They were working hard. Were they working hard?
Future
She will help us. Will she help us?
Present perfect
They have finished the exercise. Have they finished the exercise?
He was here yesterday. Was he here yesterday?
The ‘peculiars’ are the only verbs that form their interrogatives by inversion.
The way we use have is changing. We will explain it in later.
Exercise
Change the following statements into questions.
Don’t forget the question mark (?) at the end of your sentences.
Example: The farmer is planting rice.
Answer: Is the farmer planting rice?
1. It is six o’clock.
2. The children are in the house.
3. You can see them through the window.
4. You will come with us to the football match.
5. There are boys as well as girls in the class.
6. John is sitting in the garden.
7. His sister is with him.
8. She is helping him with his work.
9. I must do the work now.
10. Wayne is very late.
11 They are Greek children.
12 He can go now.
13 She must keep the money.
14 The clock is slow.
15 I am right.
16 My exercise is right.
17 The girls were afraid of the bull.
18 He can come here tomorrow.
19 Carl’s sister was with him.
20 The children were sleeping.
21 The children are sleeping.
22 The boys were looking at the picture.
23 The boys are looking at the picture.
24 The boys can look at the picture.
25 The boys can’t look at the picture.
Direct and indirect speech
T: Where are you, Richard, and what are you doing?
R: I am in the classroom, and I am writing my exercise.
T: Joshua, what did Richard say?
J: He said that he was in the classroom and was writing his exercise.
T: What are you holding in your hand. Richard?
R: I’m holding a pencil.
T: What did Richard say, Mark?
M: He said that he was holding a pencil.
T: Where are your books, Richard?
R: They are on my desk.
T: What did he say, Harry?
H: He said that his books were on his desk.
In that conversation you had a number of sentences expressed in two ways:
1. By Richard.
2. By the students who reported what Richard said.
When you read Richard’s words you have the exact words of the speaker. Richard’s
sentences are direct speech.

When you read the words of the other students you have a different form. You don’t get
the words exactly as Richard said them. You get them as they were reported, indirectly,
by another speaker. It is no longer Richard saying ‘I’, but someone speaking about
Richard, and so saying ‘he’. And it is not Richard speaking in the present time, but
someone else, telling you what Richard said in the past. The students’ sentences are
indirect speech.
Let us put some of those sentences side by side and see the differences between direct
speech and indirect speech.
Direct Indirect
The student said that:
I am in the classroom and am writing he was in the classroom and was writing.
I’m holding a pencil. he was holding a pencil.
I come to school at nine o’clock. he came to school at nine o’clock.
I’ll go out and play. he would go out and play.

John said, ‘I’m going to London with John said that he was going to London with
my father.’ his father.
Margaret said, ‘Our train will arrive Margaret said that their train would arrive
in five minutes.’ in five minutes.
You will notice that:
1 When a sentence changes form direct to indirect speech, it is introduced by a verb in
the past tense: He said [that]…
2 The verbs are changed from present tense to past tense.
The present perfect is changed to the past perfect.
3 Pronouns and possessive adjectives in the 1st person are changed to pronouns and
possessive adjectives in the 3rd person: my and our change to his or her and their.
4 In direct speech you have quotation marks (‘…..’). In indirect speech you do not.
Change the following from direct speech to indirect speech.
Example: I’ll give you a lift.
Answer: She said she would give me a lift.
1. ‘I like my dog Jock.’
2. ‘I am going to the part with my brother.’
3. ‘We have plenty of time to do our work.’
4. ‘George has written me a long letter.’
5. ‘We are very tired.’
6. ‘You sing very nicely, Margaret.’
7. ‘I am giving a prize for the best homework.’
8. ‘I am Japanese but I have learned English at school.’
9. ‘I will take you to my house.’
10. ‘You can come with us if you like.’
11. ‘If it rains I’ll get wet.’
12. ‘I am going to give you an exercise on indirect speech. It will not be easy, but if you
are thoughtful you can do it, as I have given you all the information you need. You can
look in your book if you wish, but I don’t want you to ask anyone to help you.’
သာမန္ဘ၀… အံ့ၾသဘြယစ
္ တ
ိ ္
္ ူးက
Tim Bermers-Lee ္ိိုၾ္ည္ံ့ရတာ သာမန္ပါ။ သက္ အသ္္ ၅၀ ေလာ္္ရရိၿပူး
အညိိဳေရာင္ဆပင္ရရိတယ္။ သက္ အဂၤလန္မရာေမြူးခံ့ၿပူး အခို ယကအ္္စ္ေအ္
ေဘာ္စတန္မရာေနတယ္။ ဒါေပမယ္ံ့ ၁၉၈၉ မရာ Tim မရာ အရမ္ူးအေရူးၾ္ူးတံ့ စိတ္္ကူးရရရိခံ့တယ္။
သက္ world wide web (www) ္ိုိ တထြင္ခံ့တယ္။ Tim ္ လန္ဒန္္ေ္ ာင္ူး္ိုိသြာူးခံ့တယ္။
သက႔မိဘႏရစ္ပါူးစလိုူး္ ္ြန္ျပဴတာေတြန႔ အလိုပ္လိုပ္ခံ့တံ့အတြ္္ သကငယ္စဥ္္ာလမရာ
္ြနျ္ ပဴတာေတြ္ိို ခ စ္တာ အၾံ့ သစရာမဟိုတ္ခံ့ပါဘကူး။ သက ဆယ္ံ့ရရစ္နရစ္မရာ ေ္ ာင္ူးထြ္္ခံ့ၿပူး ရကပေဗဒ
သင္တံ့ Oxford university ္ိိုသြာူးခံ့တယ္။ Oxford မရာ ္ြနျ္ ပဴတာေတြ္ိို ပိိုၿပူးပိုိၿပူး
စိတ္၀င္စာူးခံ့ၿပူး သက႔ရ႕ ပထမဆိုူး္ြန္ျပဴတာ္ိုိ တဗြအေဟာင္ူးထ္ လိုပ္ခံ့တယ္။ သက ၁၉၇၆ မရာ
ဘြ႔ရချံ့ ပူး ္ြန္ျပဴတာ္ိုမၸဏမရာ အလိုပ္ရခံ့တယ္။ ၁၉၈၉ မရာ ဆြစ္ဇာလန္္ိို အလိုပ္လိုပ္ဖ႔ိုိ သြာူးခံ့ၿပူး
သက႔ရ႕ ္ြနျ္ ပဴတာန႔ ခ ိတ္ဆ္္ၿပူး နိိုင္ငတ္ာ သတင္ူးအခ ္္အလ္္ ္ြန္ရ္္အတြ္္ ပထမဆိုူး
စိတ္္ကူးရခံ့တယ္။
An ordinary life… an amazing idea

Tim Berners-Lee looks very ordinary. He’s about fifty years old and has brown hair. He
was born in England but now lives in Boston in the USA. But in 1989 Tim had a very
important idea. He invented the world wide web (www). Tim went to school in London.
Both his parents worked with computers so it isn’t surprising that he loved computers
from an early age. When he was eighteen, he left school and went to Oxford University
where he studied physics. At Oxford, he became more and more interested in
computers, and he made his first computer from an old television. He graduated in 1976
and got a job with a computer . In 1989, he went to work in Switzerland where he first
had the idea of an international information network linked by computer.
Direct and indirect speech:
Questions and commands
Exercises
Example: Mary asked John if he wanted some cake.
Answer: Mary said, ‘Do you want some cake, John?’
or: ‘Do you want some cake, John?’ asked Mary
or: ‘Do you want some cake?’ Mary asked John.
1. Mrs Lee asked Margaret if she was tired.
2. George asked if they had taken his dog Jock for a walk.
3. The hunter asked if they had heard the sound of wolves.
4. The little girl asked if the baby had a name yet.
5. The passenger inquired what time the train for Bridgetown left.
6. Carl asked William if he had read ‘Treasure Island’.
7. The stranger asked where the railway station was.
8. The lady asked Lloyd if he could swim.

B.
1. Mother to Margaret: Have you finished your homework yet? (asked Margaret if she)
2. Jeremy: Have you been using my toothpaste, Richard? (asked Richard if)
3. Mary said, ‘Is your new baby a boy or a girl, Mrs. Thompson?’ (if or whether)
4. Elizabeth said, ‘Did Margaret feed the cat before she went out?’
5. Richard’s mother: Did you brush your teeth properly, Richard? (asked him)
6. The hunter said, ‘Do you hear the roar of a lion?’ (asked them if they or us if we)
7. Visitor (to boy): Do you go to school every day?
8. George: May I borrow your bicycle, John?
A
1. Teacher to Richard: Write that exercise out carefully.
2. Hunter to friend: Shoot the wolf.
3. Officer to soldiers: Bring the gun into position.
4. Mary said to John: Open the box for me, please.
5. Mrs. Sangster said, ‘Please sing at out party, Joyce.’
6. ‘Release the prisoners,’ said the officer to the sergeant.
7. The captain of the shipwrecked vessel said to the sailors, ‘Lower the boats at once.’
8. Teacher to George: Be careful. Think before you answer.
9. Richard: Read my exercise, John, and tell me if it is correct.
10. The pirate chief said to the prisoner, ‘Look at this map and show me where the
treasure is hidden.’
Simple Present Tense (V1)
The Simple Present Tense is used
(1) For habitual actions.
1. I always take my coffee without condensed milk.
2. He usually gets up at six every morning.
3. My brother often goes to see English films.
4. School begins at eight o’clock.
5. Paul always cycles to work.
(2) For timeless and universal statements.
1. The sun rises in the East.
2. Water boils at 100 ºC.
3. Ice melts above 0 ºC.
 4. The day is short in winter and long in summer.
5. Fish lives in water.
(3) For current facts.
1. I live with my parents in Phakant.
2. My holidays begin next week.
3. We sleep at least six hours a day.
(4) For the instantaneous present when an action has begun and will be
completed approximately at the moment of speaking.
1. Michael has the ball again. He kicks it to David who scores a goal.
2. I add some eggs and mix them with flour.
3. I put the cake in the oven and bake it.
(5) When an event has been fixed in advance, and when we talk about
timetables, programmes, public transport, cinema etc.
1. The flight takes off tomorrow morning at 6 a.m.
2. School doesn’t start till Monday.
3. The computer course commences next week.
4. The train leaves Plymouth at 11:30 and arrives in London at 14:45.
5. What time does the film begin?
(6) When giving directions (with a second person subject).
1. Please drive straight, then turn left at the next junction.
2. You walk down the road until you reach an overhead bridge then turn
right.
3. Do not stop till you reach the post-box.
(7) In conditional sentences to express a real possibility.
1. “I shall buy you a present if you pass your examinations with flying
colours,” said Father.
2. If it rains, we won’t be going to the zoo.
3. She will scold him if he misbehaves.

Exercises 1: Complete the sentences using one of the following:

cause / close / drink / live / speak / take place / open
1. Ann _speaks_ German very well.
2. I never ______ coffee.
3. The swimming pool ______at 9 o’clock and ______ at 18.30 every day.
4. Bad driving _____ many accidents.
5. My parents _____ in a very small flat.
6. The Olympic Games _____ every four years.
Exercises 2: Put the verb into the correct form:
1. Jane doesn’t drink (not/drink) tea very often.
2. What time _____ (the banks/close) in Britain?
3. A: Where _____ (Martin/come) from?
B: He’s Scottish.
4. A: What _____ (you/do)?
B: I’m an electrical engineer.
5. A: It _____ (take) me an hour to get to work.
B: How long _____ (it/take) you?
6. I _____ (play) the piano but I _____ (not/play) very well.
7. I don’t understand this sentence. What _____ (this word/mean)?
Exercises 3: Use one of the following to complete these sentences. Sometimes you
need the negative:
believe / eat / flow / go / grow / make / rise / tell / translate
1. The sun goes round the earth.
2. Rice doesn’t grow in Britain.
3. The sun _____ in the east.
4. Bees _____ honey.
5. Vegetarians _____ meat.
6. An atheist _____ in God.
7. An interpreter _____ from one language into another.
8. A liar is someone who _____ the truth.
9. The River Amazon _____ into the Atlantic Ocean.
Exercises 4: Ask Mary questions about herself and her family.
1. You know that Mary plays tennis. You want to know how often.
Ask her. : How often do you play tennis?
2. Perhaps Mary’s sister plays tennis too. You want to know.
Ask Mary. : _____ your sister ______
3. You know that Mary reads a newspaper every day. You want to know which
one.
Ask her. : ______________________
4. You know that Mary’s brother works. You want to know what he does.
Ask Mary. : _______________________
5. You know that Mary goes to the cinema a lot. You want to know how often.
Ask her. : _______________________
Exercises 5: Complete using one of the following.
I apologise / I insist / I promise / I recommend / I suggest
1. It’s a nice day. I suggest we go out for a walk.
2. I won’t tell anybody what you said ______ .
3. (in a restaurant) You must let me pay for the meal. _______.
4. ______ for what I said about you. It wasn’t true and I shouldn’t have said it.
5. The new restaurant in Hill Street is very good. ________ it.
2. Present Continuous Tense, am, is, are + Ving
(A)The action is happening at the time of speaking.
Alice is in her car. She is on her way to work.
She is driving to work. This means : She is driving now, at the time of speaking.
The action is not finished.
1. Please don’t make so much noise. I’m working. (not ‘I work’)
2. A: Where’s Margaret?
B: She’s having a bath. (not ‘She has a bath’)
3. Let’s go out now. It isn’t raining any more. (not ‘It doesn’t rain’)
4. (At a party) Hello, Jane. Are you enjoying the party? (not ‘Do you enjoy’)
5. What are you doing?
6. The baby is crying.
7. Father is reading a newspaper.
(B) The action is not necessarily happening at the time of speaking.
For example:
1. Tom and Alice are talking in a café.
I’m reading an interesting book at the moment.
I’ll lend it to you when I’ve finished it.

Tom

Note: Tom is not reading the book at the time of speaking.

He means that he has started it but not finished it yet.
He is in the middle of reading it.
Some more examples:
2. Catherine wants to work in Italy, so she is learning Italian.
(but perhaps she isn’t learning Italian exactly at the time of speaking)
3. Some friends of mine are building their own house.
They hope it will be finished before next summer.
4. I am learning to use the computer.
5. I am practicing the piano.
6. Richard is training to prepare for his National Service.
(C) We use the present continuous when we talk about things happening in a
period around now (for example, today / this week / this evening etc.) :
1. A: You’re working hard today.
B: Yes, I have a lot to do. (not ‘You work hard today’)
2. A: Is Susan working this week?
B: No, she’s on holiday.

Note : We use the present continuous when we talk about changes happening around now:

3. The population of the world is rising very fast. (not ‘rises’)

4. Is your English getting better? (not ‘Does your English get better?)
(D) For a habitual or characteristic activity (used with Adverbs of Frequency
such as ‘forever’, ‘continually’ and ‘always’)
1. I’ve lost my key again. I’m always losing things.
2. You’re always watching television. You should do something more active.
3. John is never satisfied. He’s always complaining.
4. She is often daydreaming.
5. They are continually arguing among themselves.
6. I am always losing my keys.
7. My brother is forever complaining.
(E) He is selfish & He is being selfish.
1. I can’t understand why he’s being so selfish.
He isn’t usually like that. (being selfish = behaving selfishly at the moment)
But
2. He never thinks about other people.
He is very selfish. (not ‘He is being’)
(He is selfish generally, not only at the moment.)
We use am, is, are + being to say how somebody is behaving.
It is not usually possible in other sentences :
1. It’s hot today. (not ‘It is being not’)
2. Sarah is very tired. (not ‘is being tired’)
(F) Look and feel
You can use the present simple or continuous when you say how
somebody looks or feels now.
1. You look well today. Or You’re looking well today.
2. How do you feel now? Or How are you feeling now?
3. I usually feel tired in the morning.
Exercise 1: Are the underlined verbs right or wrong? Correct the ones that are
wrong.
1. I’m seeing the manager tomorrow morning.
2. I’m feeling hungry. Is there anything to eat?
3. Are you believing in God?
4. This sauce is great. It’s tasting really good.
5. I’m thinking this is your key. Am I right?
Exercise 2: Use the words in brackets to make sentence.
1. (you / not / seem / very happy today) You don’t seem very happy today.
2. A: (what / you / do ?) _____________________________
B: Be quiet! ( I / think ) _____________________________
3. A: (who / this umbrella / belong to ?) ___________________________
B: I’ve no idea.
4. (the dinner / smell / good ) _____________________________
5. A: Excuse me. ( anybody / sit / here ?) __________________________
B: No, it’s free.
6. A: Can you ring me back in half an hour? _______________________
( I / have / dinner )
Exercise 3 : Put the verb into the correct form, present continuous or simple
present.
1. Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat? (you / want)
2. Alice is interested in politics but she _____ to a political party. (not / belong)
3. Don’t put the dictionary away. I ______ it. (use)
4. Who is that man? What _____ ? (he / want)
5. George says he’s 80 years old but nobody _____ him. (believe)
6. She told me her name but I ______ it now. (not / remember)
7. I _____ of selling my car. (think)
Would you be interested in buying it?
8. I _____ you should sell your car. (think)
You _____ it very often. (not / use)
9. I used to drink a lot of coffee but these days I ____ tea. (prefer)
Exercise 4: Complete the sentence using the most suitable form of ‘be’.
Sometimes you must use the simple ( am / is / are ) and sometimes the continuous
is more suitable ( am / is / are + being )
1. I can’t understand why he’s being selfish. He isn’t usually like that.
2. Jack _____ very nice to me at the moment. I wonder why.
3. You’ll like Jill when you meet her. She _____ very nice.
4. Normally you are very sensible, so why _____ so silly about this matter?
5. Why isn’t Sarah at work today? ______ ill?
3. Future Tenses
There is no special verb form to talk about the future in English.
’ll leave
’re going to leave
We ’re gonna leave at seven o’clock tomorrow morning.
’re leaving
leave

Will / shall = going to = gonna + Base verb

Note : All these are correct. They give the same facts.
The choice depends on the reason the speaker sees for the future
event.
Future Time can be expressed with shall / will + B.V
1. We shall see her tomorrow evening.
2. The club will hold a party at the end of the year.
3. I shall buy a new shirt this evening.
(1) When we predict a future happening or situation.
1. A: Where will you be this time next year?
B: I’ll be in America.
2. A: That plate is very hot. You’ll burn yourself.
3. A: Do you think Richard will pass the exam?
B: Yes, he’ll pass easily.
4. A: Don’t phone Ann now. She’ll be busy.
(2) When we decide to do something at the time of speaking:
1. A: Oh, I’ve left the door open.
B: I’ll go and shut it.
2. A: What would you like to drink?
B: I’ll have an orange juice, please.
3. A: Did you phone Ruth?
B: Oh no, I forgot. I’ll phone her now.
Transformation of Sentences
To transform a sentence is to change its form without any change of meaning.
Variety of sentences is a help to the force and beauty of a composition. If your
sentences are constructed in various ways, you will make a forceful and beautiful
composition.
(1) Degrees of Comparison
A. (1) Mount Everest is the highest peak in the world.
(2) Mount Everest is higher than all other peaks in the world.
(3) No other peak in the world is as high as Mount Everest.
B. (1) London is one of the largest cities in the world.
(2) London is larger than most other cities in the world.
(3) Only a few cities in the world are as large as London.
C. (1) No other city in Myanmar is as big as Yangon.
(2) Yangon is bigger than any other city in Myanmar.
(3) Yangon is the biggest city in Myanmar.
D. (1) Very few teachers are as good as my teacher.
(2) My teacher is better than most other teachers.
(3) My teacher is one of the best teachers.
E. (1) Alfred is not the tallest boy in the class. (Negative comparison)
(2) Some boys in the class are taller than Alfred.
(3) A number of boys in the class are at least as tall as Alfred.

Note : The three sentences express the same meaning but use different
degrees of comparison.
(2) Sentences and phrases
Sentences
When we want to express our thoughts we use a group of words.
A group of words that makes complete sense is a sentence.
The first sentence tells us something; it tells us that Tommy
has a bicycle. It makes a statement.

1 Tommy has a bicycle. (statement) The second sentence doesn’t tell us anything; it asks
something; it asks where someone is going. It is a question
The answer to this question will be a statement.

2 Where are you going? (question) The third sentence is neither a statement nor a question. It
doesn’t give us some information (like a statement), and it
doesn’t ask for information (like a question). It orders
3 Open the door. (command) someone to do something. It is a command.
So, you see, a sentence can do one of three things.
1 Make a statement to tell us something.
2 Ask a question.
3 Give a command.
Some statements can be turned into questions and some questions can be turned into
statements, by changing the order of the words. Here are some examples:
Statement Question
That is Mary’s bicycle. Is that Mary’s bicycle?
John can speak French. Can John speak French?
You have had your lesson. Have you had your lesson?
The boy will do the work. Will the boy do the work?
And here are some examples of commands:
Look at this sentence.
Be quiet!
Please come here.
Come here, please.
Jane, answer the question.
Answer the question, Jane.
1. Everyone wishes to be happy. Who …………………………..?
2. Their glory can never fade. When ………………………....?
3. I shall never forget his kindness. Shall …………………………..?
4. Everyone loves his country. Who …………………………..?
5. We should not waste our time like that. Why …………………………..?
6. I cannot tell you. How ………………………….?
7. I am not afraid of you. Do you think …………………?
8. I would not apologize. Why …………………………..?
9. I don’t care if I die. What though …………………?
10. There is nothing nobler than love. Is there anything ……………...?
Phrases
You may have a group of words that makes sense but not complete sense, for example: into
the house; at nine o’clock; for eight pence.
Groups of words like these are phrases. A sentence has a verb in it; a phrase hasn’t. You can
turn a phrase into a sentence by adding other words to it, but one of the words that you add
must be a verb. Let us make the phrases in our example into sentences by adding something
(including a verb) to them.
John went into the house.
I left home at nine o’clock.
George bought the book for eighty pence.
Add words to turn these phrases into sentences.
Example: beside the river
Answer: Let’s walk beside the river. (Or any other addition that contains a verb)
1 a few years ago 9 after six o’clock
2 every summer 10 on page sixteen
3 in the garden 11 by Friday night
4 with a hammer 12 along the High Street
5 into the sea 13 with you and me
6 near the railway station 14 with Jeremy and Richard
7 through the window 15 on the blackboard
8 in his pocket