UNIVERSITY OF DOUALA

FACULTY OF SCIENCE

LANGUAGE COURSE

MIAGE: 1
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Pr Jesse MOBA
694-756-321
Niveau 1 681-560-570
Nom de l’Auteur

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CODE: DURATION: ddcnsnsBIBI

General Objectives:
This course is designed to help students build their English language skills so as to cope with
academic materials by integrating the development of the following skills:
- Listening
- Speaking
- Reading
- Writing
Specific Objectives:
- To use the rules of grammar in the development of skills in reading, speaking, listening
and writing
- To train learners to develop a wide and varied vocabulary in the English language.
- Improve on their fluency and skills in grammar, spelling and to write comprehensible
sentences using conventionalized formats.
- Have a good understanding of the mechanics of writing and the ability to read and analyse
assigned materials.

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PROGRESSION OF LECTURES
UNITS THEMES DURATION
- Parts of speech
 Noun
- (un)countable
- Possessive
- Noun and Gender
- Noun and Number
UNIT 1:  Verb
GRAMMAR - Auxiliary Verbs and uses
REVISION - Verb Inflection
- Tenses
- Phrasal and prepositional verbs
 Pronoun
- Pronoun
- Classes of Pronoun
- Drills
UNIT 2: - Active
VOICE - Passive
UNIT 3:
- Direct
SPEECH
- Indirect
UNIT 4: - Question Tag
USE OF ENGLISH
UNIT 5: - Compounding
VOCABULARY: - Affixation
WORD - Conversion
FORMATION
UNIT 6: - Spelling Rules
WRITING - Letter writing

UNIT 7:
- Numbers and Simple Calculations
ENGLISH IN
- Fractions
MATHEMATICS
UNIT 8:
- Written Test
ASSESSMENT

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SELECTED READING LIST.
- Bobda, A Simo. 2002. Watch Your English. A Collection of Remedial Lessons on
English Usage. 2nd Edn. Yaoundé: Atelier Materiel Audio-Visuel.

- Bornarel, Jean. Minimum Competence in Scientific English. Pool de langues de

l’université Joseph Fourier de Grenoble.

- Butterworth, A. 1997. International Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

- Eastwood, John. 2003. Oxford English Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

- Jackson, T. 2001. Practical English Workbook Bamenda: Flourishers’ Educational

Publishers.

- Mark, Ibbotson. 2008. Cambridge English for Engineering. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

- Matie Daniela et als. 2009. English for Electrical Engineering and Computer. FESB, Split.

- Bobda, A Simo. and Mbangwana Paul. An introduction to Spoken English. Lagos:

University of Lagos Press.

- Ward, John Millington. 1976. Practice in Structure and Usage. London: Longman.

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Table of contents.
Course Objective______________________________________2
Course Progression ____________________________________3
Introduction __________________________________________6
Parts of Speech _______________________________________6
The Noun ____________________________________________7
The verb ____________________________________________15
Phrasal and prepositional verbs __________________________ 21
The Pronoun _________________________________________ 22
Voice _______________________________________________ 25
Speech ______________________________________________ 27
Question Tag _________________________________________ 29
Word Formation_______________________________________ 31
Spelling Rules ________________________________________ 35
Letter Writing ________________________________________ 38
English in Mathematics _________________________________ 42

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Introduction:
English language is now spoken in many parts of the world and owes its widespread use to
the fact that it is one of the most progressive of modern languages. The majority of words are of
Anglo-Saxon origin but, with the progress of civilization and continuous contact with other
countries and languages, many words are now in common use which have their origin in such
languages as Latin, Greek, Celtic, Dutch and German.

PARTS OF SPEECH:
The words of English are classified as parts of speech and are named according to their
functions and not according to their appearances. This means that every word, dependent on its
use falls into one of the following classes:
Then NOUN.
Is a word which names a person, place, animal or thing, idea (concept). e.g. John, Douala,
dog, book, Easter etc.
The VERB.
Is an action word or a word which shows action and the state of being. e.g. eat, think, write
sing, play, am etc.
The PRONOUN.
Is a word which takes the place of a noun. e.g. he, she it.
The ADJECTIVE.
Is a word which describes a noun or a pronoun. It provides information about the size,
shape, colour, texture, feeling, sound, smell, number or condition of a noun or a pronoun.
The ADVERB.
Is a word which modifies a verb. e.g. here, beautifully, suddenly, quietly etc.
The PREPOSITION.
Is a word which shows the relation between one thing and the other. e.g. on, near, under,
etc.
The CONJUNCTION.
Is a word which is used for joining words and clauses. e.g. and, but, etc.
The EXCLAMATION/INTERJECTION.

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 Is a word which expresses sudden emotions/feelings. e.g. Oh! Hullo! Stop! Ah!
2:1- The noun:
It names:
- a person; e.g. John, Mary, boy, father uncle etc.
- Place: e.g. Douala, market, town, city etc.
- Thing/ animal: e.g. book, dog, ruler etc.
- Idea/ Concept: Easter, happiness, St. Valentine’s Day, Women’s Day etc.
Types of noun: Proper nouns and Common nouns
Proper Noun : Names a specific:
- Person : John, Mary, Papa, etc.
- Place : Douala, Yaoundé, Bamenda, etc.
- Thing : River Sanaga, Lake Nyos, etc.
- Animal : Pitto, etc.
- Idea or Concept : International Women’s Day, Teachers’ Day, Saint Valentine’s Day,
Monday, October, Easter, etc.
B_ Common Nouns are the names of general:
- Persons: boy, girl student, teacher, driver, scientist, etc.
- Places: town, village, church, school, city, etc.
- Things: pen, book, table, chairs etc.
- Animals: dog, cat, goat, horse, tiger, lion, etc.
- Concepts or ideas: success, knowledge, power, wisdom, importance, love, etc.
NB: The first letter in a sentence and the first letter in proper nouns are capitalised: A B C D E F
GHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Common Nouns can be Concrete or abstract
Concrete Nouns – Name things that we can see and touch or things that can be identified
by one of the human senses or things that can occupy space. e.g. stars, gas, milk, books etc.
Abstract Noun – intangible- It names an idea, a quality, or a characteristic. e.g.
happiness, beauty, necessity, length etc.
Finally, nouns can be classified in terms of our ability to count them:
- Countable nouns
- Uncountable nouns

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 - Collective nouns
1- Countable nouns:
- A class of tangible nouns that identify things which we can normally count or
consider in terms of how many physical units there are.
- Countable nouns take the plural form.
- Countable nouns include:
a- Concrete nouns – tangible items- book, ruler, pencil etc.
b- Units of measurement – litre, kg, francs, km, etc.
c- Individual parts of a mass – piece, log, bit, slice, loaf, cube, bar etc.
2- Uncountable Nouns:
- Also called MASS NOUNS or NON COUNT NOUNS
- Uncountable nouns do not take the plural form
- Uncountable nouns include:
a- Many abstract nouns: knowledge, courage, intelligence, madness etc.
b- Substances and gases: oxygen, maize, wood, copper etc.
c- Most diseases: cholera, fever, malaria, etc.
d- Many verbal nouns – gerunds -: driving, jogging, singing, dancing, eating etc.
I am singing – singing here is a verb
I love singing – singing is a verbal noun
NB: Uncountable nouns are not found in the plural form, and it is not possible to express the
singular of uncountable nouns. However, we can place a suitable countable noun before the
uncountable noun as in the following:
cube → a cube of soap, a cube of sugar, a cube of sugar
bar → a bar of soap
piece → a piece of furniture, a piece of bread, pieces of information, a piece of
equipment, a piece of advice, a piece of land, pieces of chalk etc.
loaf = a loaf of bread
grain = a grain of corn, a grain of sand, a grain of salt etc.
3- Collective nouns:
A collective noun names a group of individuals: e.g.
an army of soldiers

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 a team of players
a choir of singers
a band of musicians
a board of directors
a staff of teachers
a class of students
a gang of thieves
a library of books
a class of scholars etc.
NB: Collective nouns can be considered singular or plural depending on the message we want to
convey:
- If a collective noun refers to a group as a whole, it is considered singular.
- If the collective noun refers to individual members of the group, it is considered
plural: e.g.
Singular: The committee wants our attention.
: The class likes to read books.
: The army begins its march. – it = singular
Plural: The committee have gone their different ways.
: The class take their seats.
: The army eat their sandwiches – they = plural
POSSESSIVE NOUNS:
Possessive nouns show ownership. A possessive noun is used to tell who owns or possesses
something:
- Possessive nouns are formed with an apostrophe – (’) – or with an apostrophe and the
letter s – (’s).
- Possessive nouns describe or limit the nouns they precede. e.g. The player’s medal
was silver. The possessive noun; player’s modifies medal by telling whose medal it
is. That is, the medal of the player.
FORMATION OF THE POSSESSIVE NOUNS.
1- Observe/see/decide if the noun is singular or plural
2- See if the noun ends with letter S

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 3- If the noun is singular or plural and does not end with letter S, add ’S ,e.g.
- The book of the teacher. → The teacher’s book.
- The room of the men. → The men’s room.
4- if the noun is plural and ends with letter S, add only the apostrophe –(’)-
- The award of the players. → The players’ award
- The book of the teachers. → The teachers’ book
5- possessive of compound nouns
- brother-in-law → brother’s-in-law – singular noun
- brothers-in-law → brothers’-in-law - plural noun.
NOUN AND NUMBER.
- Number refers to if the noun is singular or plural
- a singular noun names one. e.g. a (one) pen
- a plural noun names more than one. e.g. (two, three, etc.) pens
Formation of Plurals
1- Most nouns form their plurals be adding –s or –es
Singular Plural
Shoe Shoes
Clock Clocks
Camera Cameras
Dog Dogs
Book Books
Pen Pens

2- For nouns that end in -x, -z, -ch, -sh, or -ss, add –es
Singular Plural
box boxes except ox = oxen
Waltz Waltzes
Match Matches
Brush Brushes
Glass Glasses

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3- For nouns that end in -y preceded by a consonant, change the -y into i and add -es
Singular Plural
city Cities
Army Armies
Fly Flies
Lady Ladies
Story Stories
Party Parties

4- For nouns that end in -y preceded by a vowel, add -s

Singular Plural
day days
boy boys
monkey monkeys
monday mondays

5- For nouns that end with -o, add -s

Singular Plural
zoo Zoos
radio Radios
tattoo Tattoos
studio studios
piano Pianos

6- For nouns that end with -f or -fe, change f to v and add –s or -es
Singular Plural
leaf Leaves
wolf Wolves
calf Calves
knife Knives

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 wife Wives
Life Lives

7- For nouns that end in -o add –es

Singular Plural
tomato tomatoes
hero Heroes
echo Echoes
Potato potatoes

8- For some nouns that end in -f, add only -s

Singular Plural
Cliff Cliffs
Roof Roofs
Chief Chiefs
Belief Beliefs

9- For some nouns that end in f or -fe, change -f to v and add – s or – es

Singular Plural
Leaf Leaves
Wolf Wolves
Knife Knives
Life Lives

10- Some nouns do not change spelling when they make plural
Singular Plural
Deer Deer
Sheep Sheep
Equipment equipment
Furniture Furniture

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 luggage Luggage
Information Information
News News

11- Some nouns experience change of spelling when they become plural
Singular Plural
Ox Oxen
Man Men
Tooth Teeth
Mouse Mice
Child Children
Goose Geese
Foot Feet

12- The plural of compound nouns is formed by adding –s or –es to the main word in the noun.
Singular Plural
maid-servant maid-servants
brother-in-law brothers-in-law
relative-in-law relatives-in-law
mother-in-law mothers-in-law

13- Compound nouns which are not hyphenated take –s or – es after appropriate plural endings
Singular Plural
mouthful mouthfuls
Spoonful spoonful
third floor third floors
Cupful Cupfuls

14- Foreign plurals: There are many nouns of foreign origin that have been absorbed into the
English language. Sometimes, especially in the technical language of science, these nouns

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 have not been thoroughly “naturalized” and they keep their foreign plural forms. The
majority of these foreign plurals are of Latin and Greek origins.
Singular Plural
Axis Axes
Stratum Strata
Bacterium Bacteria
Radius Radii
Erratum Errata
Larva Larvae
Alumnus Alumni
Analysis analyses
Crisis Crises
Hypothesis hypotheses
Phenomenon phenomena
Basis Bases
Criterion Criteria

The longer the words have been in the language the more they tend to conform to the
English plural of ending in –s. Some words are at the half-way stage with two plurals; the original
foreign one and the English one.
Singular Plural
Appendix appendixes/appendices
Formula formulae/formulas
Fungus fungi/ funguses
Aquarium aquariums/aquaria
Stadium stadiums/stadia
Focus foci/focuses
Maximum maxima/maximums
memorandum memorandums/memoranda
Bureau bureaux/bureaus

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 Tableau tableaux/tableaus

NOUN AND GENDER.

Gender is the distinction of sex. In French language for example, words have grammatical
gender. That is, the form of a word suggests its gender. Most nouns in French ending with – e or
– se are of feminine gender. In English, nouns and pronouns belong to one or another of four
genders in grammar. They are:
1- Masculine – words denoting male creatures, e.g. boy, king, man, uncle, prince etc.
2- Feminine - words denoting female creatures, e.g. girl, queen, woman, aunt, princess
3- Common – words denoting creatures of either sex, e.g. child, teacher, student, doctor
4- Neuter – words denoting things of neither sex, e.g. house, book, box, pen etc.

2:2- THE VERB.

A verb is a word which shows action and the state of being.
There are two types of verbs: Transitive and Intransitive.
1- A Transitive Verb is a verb which requires an object to complete its meaning. e.g.
a- Peter (S) is cooking (V) rice (O).
b- The teacher (S) beat (V) the boy (O)
c- Susan (S) dances (V) Makossa (O) etc.
Where S is the subject, V the verb and O the object.
2- An Intransitive Verb is a verb which does not require an object to complete meaning:
a- Peter (S) cooks (V) → Peter is a cook.
b- John (S) teaches (V) → John is a teacher.
c- Susan (S) dances (V) etc. → Susan is a dancer.
NB: Some verbs can be used transitively and intransitively as suggested by the example above.
Auxiliary verbs:
An auxiliary verb is a helping verb of the main verb. It helps to indicate the voice and the
tense of the verb.
Types of Auxiliary Verbs.
1- To have: Forms: have, has, had, having
Uses:

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 These forms are used to form the perfect tense. e.g.
- You have written a letter.
- S/he has written a letter.
- John had written a letter.
- Having written the letter, John left.
NB: To form the perfect tense, we use a form of to have + the past participle of the main
verb.
2- To be: Forms: be, being, been, is, am, was, are, were.
Uses:
a- To form the progressive tense. e.g.
- Peter is working.
- Peter was working.
- Peter has been working etc.
b- To form the passive voice. e.g.
- John is beaten.
- John was beaten.
- John has been beaten.
- They were beaten. Etc.
NB: 1) To form the passive voice, we use a form of to be + the past participle of the
main verb.
2) Only verbs used transitively, can be changed from active voice to passive voice.
3- To do: Forms: do does did, done, doing,
Uses:
a- Do, does and did are used in asking questions e.g.
- Do you see well?
- Does he see well?
- Did she see well?
b- To emphasise a point. e.g.
- Though she plays in class, she does pass her exams.
- Though she played in class, she did pass her exams.
- Though I play in class, I do pass my exams.

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 4- Modals: Forms: will, would, shall, should, can, could, may, might, dare to, ought to,
need to, must etc.
Uses:
a- To form the future tense (shall, will) e.g.
- He will come tomorrow
- I shall come next week.
b- To express degree of necessity (need to)
- You need to work hard.
- She needs to be faithful
c- To express uncertainty (may)
- Eto’o may play for Canon next football season.
- She may succeed in her exams.
d- To express obligation (must)
- He must sweep the class.
- She must marry the old man.
e- To express degree of ability (can)
- I can swim upstream.
- Peter can play football.
Verb Inflection:
Verbs are inflected to represent changes in person, number, voice, mood, and tense.
Person and Number:
a- Person denotes whether the subject of the sentence is first person, second person or third
person.
b- Number denotes whether the subject of the sentence is singular or plural.
NB: There is a close relationship between person and number. that is, if the subject is
singular, the verb must be singular and vice versa.
Infinite Mood. The forms of the verb express action or state of being without reference to
the subject. An infinitive is the base form of the verb often preceded by the word to. e.g. to read,
to write, to paint, to draw etc.

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Tense:
It shows the form a verb takes to indicate the time of action. Time is divided into three:
present, past, future.
The simple tenses of a verb are:
- The simple present tense
- The simple past tense
- The future tense.
THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE.
Form – In the affirmative form, the Simple Present Tense has the same form as the
infinitive but adds an –s for the third person singular.

AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE INTERROGATIVE NEGATIVE

Interrogative
I work I do not work Do I work? Do I not work?
You work You do not work Do you work? Do you not work?
She/he/it works She/he/it does not work Does she/he/it work? Does she/he/it work?
We work We do not work Do we work? Do we not work?
You work You do not work Do you work? Do you not work?
They work They do not work Do they work? Do they not work?

USES OF THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE.

1- FOR FACTS:
- The sun rises in the East and sets in the West.
- Herbivorous animals do not eat meat.
2- FOR REPEATED ACTIONS, CUSTOMS AND HABITS:
- She visits her family every weekend.
- He goes to bed at eleven o’clock every night.
3- FOR ABILITIES:
- Mary plays football very well.
4- AFTER if AND unless IN LIKELY CONDITIONAL CLAUSES:
- If he comes tomorrow, we shall remind him.

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 - I can’t go until he speaks.
- If Stephen studies hard, he will probably pass.
5- AFTER WORDS LIKE when, before, as soon as:
- When the rain stops, we shall go out.
- We can’t begin before she arrives.
- They will stop playing as soon as the whistle blows.
6- TO SHOW FUTURE PLANNED ACTION CONNECTED WITH TRAVEL:
- He leaves for Douala on Monday and arrives Bamenda on Thursday.
- My train leaves at 5:30pm.
7- IN EXCLAMATORY SENTENCES:
- Here comes the bride!
- Here they are!
Etc. etc.
THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE.
Form: The Simple Past Tense in regular verbs is formed by adding –ed to the infinitive.
e.g. to work → worked
However, with verbs ending in-e, add –d only to the infinitive. e.g. to love → loved.
NB: The same form is used for all persons. e.g.
I worked.
You worked.
He worked.
For irregular verbs, forms vary considerably in their simple past forms. e.g.
INFINITIVE SIMPLE PAST
to eat ate
to leave left
to write wrote
to see saw
to draw drew
to speak spoke

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 The Simple Past form of each irregular verb must be learnt by heart but once this is done,
there is no other difficulty as irregular verbs have no inflexions in the past tense.

USES OF THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE.

a- To express an action wholly completed at some point, or during some period in the
past:
- They live in Yaoundé for six years.
- The priest arrived the parish yesterday.
b- When the time is asked about:
- What time was it when she arrived?
- When did you send the letter?
- When did he go there?
c- In some conditional sentences, or sentences expressing a supposition: ref: G
- If Suzan worked, he would pass the exam.
- If I were in your place, I should confess.
- I wish I had a farm like yours.
d- When action clearly took place at a definite time even though this time is not
mentioned:
- The train was twenty-five minutes late.
- I bought this shirt in Bamenda.
e- For past habits:
- I read many novels when I was a student.
- The ancient Africans worshipped many gods.
f- In place of the present tense after It is time…..:
- It is time we went home.
- It is time we ate the food.
g- After wish or if only when an imaginary or unreal situation is mentioned:
- I wish I had a car.
- If only I owned all the property.
THE FUTURE TENSE
Forms: There are several ways of expressing the future in English.

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 a- The future tense is formed by using the auxiliaries shall and will:
In conversation, will is often shortened to ‘ll and the negative will not to won’t. The interrogative
is made by inversion e. g shall I, will they, shall you etc. and the negative of shall → shan’t.
- I shall be thirty-one on Friday.
- It will be bright tomorrow.
- When shall we see again?
- We’ll leave on Sunday.
b- By using the simple present for the future. The tense can be used with a time
expression for a definite future arrangement:
- Mary begins school next month.
- Peterson leaves tonight for Paris.
c- Will + infinitive is used to express intention at the moment of the decision:
- He is calling. I’ll answer him.
- I know what to do. I’ll sell my car and buy a house.
d- The be going to form. The present continuous tense of the verb to go the full infinitive.
- I’m going to read the book.
- He’s not going to be in class.
PHRASAL AND PREPOSITIONAL VERBS
Phrasal verbs constitute short verbs that can combine with various prepositions or adverbs to
give different meanings. They are an important feature of the English language. Their importance
lies in the fact that they form such a key part of everyday English; oral and written. Meanings in
phrasal verbs often bear no relation to the meaning of either the verb or the particle which is used
with it. They are very useful as they can generate a large number of different meanings. Examples
of phrasal verbs include:
blow up own up taken aback
put up with break away draw back
call off fall out big heart
pass away take after put down
wear out button up cope with
face up to set up knock out

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 check in hand in taken in
put off put on etc.

2:4- THE PRONOUN.

A Pronoun is a word used in the place of a noun.
Kinds of pronouns: Personal, Reflexive, Relative, Indefinite, Interrogative,
Demonstrative, Possessive, Double Possessive, Distributive, Quantitative, Exclamatory.
Personal Pronoun maybe used in place of nouns that name persons or things. Personal
Pronouns are used in most conversations:
- We use we and I when we talk about ourselves.
- We use he, she, it and they when we talk about persons or things.
- We use you when we talk to someone.
NB: Personal Pronouns have numbers (plural or singular) and persons. They can be grouped
according to first person (the speaker), second person (the person spoken to), or third person (the
person spoken about).
PERSON SINGULAR PLURAL
first (1st) person i, me we, us
second (2nd) person You You
third (3rd) person he, she, it, him, her they, them
Reflexive Pronouns are used to add emphasis and when so used are called Intensive
pronouns. e.g. She wrote the examination herself.
SINGULAR PLURAL
myself ourselves
yourself yourselves
himself, herself, itself themselves
Relative Pronouns are pronouns which while taking the place of nouns also connect
dependent and main clauses. Relative Pronouns include: who, whom, which, that.
Uses of Relative Pronouns:
1- Who refers to persons.
2- Which refers to animals, things and plants.
3- That refers to persons, things, animals, plants

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 4- Whom refers to the person spoken of.
Indefinite Pronouns is a pronoun that does not refer to any particular person, place or thing:
e.g. Does someone/anybody/somebody etc. know when the world will end?
Most relative pronouns are either singular or plural.
SINGULAR PLURAL
another,, everybody, no one both
everybody, everyone, nothing few
anyone, everything, one many
anything, much, somebody others
each, neither, someone several
either, nobody, something several

The indefinite pronouns all, any, most, none, and some are singular or plural depending on the
message. When an indefinite pronoun is used as the subject of the sentence, the verb must agree
with it in number:
- Everyone talks about it. (singular)
- Both talk about the pandemic. (plural)
- All of mathematics is about calculations. (singular)
- All of the sciences are about research. (plural)
Interrogative pronouns are pronouns that are used to introduce interrogative sentences:
- Who is the Dean of your Faculty?
- For whom is she preparing the food?
- What is Josephine’s curiosity about?
- Whose son is this thief?
- Which prize did he receive?
NB: 1- who and whom refer to people.
2- who is used when the interrogative pronoun is the subject of the sentence.
3- whom is used when the interrogative pronoun is the object of a verb/preposition.
- Who gives Paul his book? (subject)
- Whom does he dislike?
4- which and what are used to refer to things:

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 - Some gifts are for Paul. Which are they?
- Peter makes bread. What does Suzan make?
5- whose shows that someone possesses something:
- The dress is in Dora’s room. Whose dress is it?
NB: Do not confuse whose and who’s.
- whose is an interrogative pronoun while who’s is the contracting form of who is.
DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS function to indicate the thing or person being referred to.
They include: this, that, these, those e.g.
- This is my book.
- These are our friends.
- That is her father.
- Those are their computers.
A POSSESSIVE PRONOUN indicates ownership or possession. They include:
- my, our, her, your, mine. hers, yours, ours, theirs etc.
- The house is ours.
- The pencil is mine.
- Give the children the ball. It is theirs.
- My brother is in politics.
- Her cousin abandoned the village last year.
- Their house was destroyed last year.
DISTRIBUTIVE PRONOUNS include: each, everybody, everyone, everything, either,
neither, each other, one another.
- Everybody is out.
- Give two to each.
- They respect each other.
- Neither has come yet.
- They helped one another.
QUANTITATIVE PRONOUNS include: some, somebody, someone, something, any,
anybody, anyone, anything, none, more, much, few, all etc.
EXCLAMATORY PRONOUNS: what! Why?

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Voice: Active/Passive
Look at these sentences:
1- The boy beat the teacher.
2- The teacher was beaten.
In sentence 1, the subject; the boy, stands for the performer of the action and the verb beat is
in the active voice.
In sentence 2, the subject; the teacher, stands for the receiver of action and the verb; was
beaten is said to be in the passive voice. We notice that the object in sentence 1 becomes the
subject in sentence 2 when we move from active voice to passive voice.
Definition: The active voice is the form of the voice used when the subject of the sentence
is the performer of action and the passive voice is the form of the verb used when the subject of
the sentence is the receiver of action.
NB:
1- Only verbs used transitively can be changed from active voice to passive voice.
2- The Passive voice is formed by using the appropriate tense of the verb to be + the past
participle of the main verb. e.g.
TENSE ACTIVE VOICE PASSIVE VOICE
Present simple Jane teaches English. English is taught.
Present continuous Jane is teaching English. English is being taught.
Past simple Jane taught English. English was taught.
Past continuous Jane was teaching English. English was being taught.
Past perfect Jane had taught English. English has been taught.
future simple Jane will teach English. English will be taught.
Future continuous Jane will be teaching English. English will be being taught.
Future perfect Jane will have taught English. English will have been taught.

Uses of the Passive Voice: We use the Passive Voice;

1- When it is not necessary to mention the performer of the action as it is obvious who does
or who did what:
- The car has been collected.
- The house is swept every day.

25
- Your tooth will be extracted.
2- When we don’t know, or don’t know exactly, or have forgotten the performer of the
action. e.g.
- The boy was beaten.
- My car has been repaired.
- I have been told that he buys stolen goods.
3- When the subject of the active verb is people. e.g.
- He is suspected of buying stolen goods. (People suspect him of ….)
- They are supposed to be living in Nkambe. (People suppose that they’re living ….)
4- When the subject of the active sentence is the indefinite pronoun one. e.g.
- One hears this type of music every morning.
- These sorts of voices are heard every night.
5- When we are more interested in the action than the performer of the action: e.g.
- The house next door has been bought.
- His car was stolen.
6- The passive maybe used to avoid an awkward sentence. e.g.
- When he arrived home he was arrested. is better than: When he arrived home a detective
arrested him.
- When she was ill, her children were looked after by neighbours. is better than:
Neighbours looked after her children when she was ill.
7- The passive is sometimes preferred for psychological reasons: e.g.
A speaker may use it to disclaim responsibility for disagreeable announcement: e.g.
- Employer: Overtime rates will be/will have to be reduced.
8- For the have + subject + past participle construction: e.g.
- - I had the car repaired.

26
SPEECH – Direct/Indirect (Reported)
There are two ways of relating what a person has said: Direct and Indirect or reported
speech.
Direct speech refers to what is said directly by the speaker. Here, we repeat the original words
of the speaker. e.g.
- She said, “I have lost my book.”
In composition, remarks thus repeated are placed between quotations or inverted commas and a
comma or a colon is placed immediately before the remark. Direct speech is found in conversations
books, plays and in quotations.
In indirect speech, we give the exact meaning of a remark or a speech without necessarily
using the speaker’s exact words. e.g. She said (that) she had lost her book.
NB:
1- Statements, questions, commands, and exclamations become emphatic when delivered
in direct speech.
2- The words of the speaker become part of a clause beginning with that.
3- That can be omitted and it is wrong to put a comma after that when it introduces reported
speech.
4- The tense changes from present to past except in cases such as the permanent present,
repeated or habitual actions etc.
5- Observe changes in the possessive adjectives, pronouns. e.g. I becomes he/she.
DIRECT INDIRECT
I, me my, mine he/she his/her, hers
we, us our, ours him/her his
you your, yours they, them their, theirs

6- Observe changes in the verbs

Tense Tense
Present Simple Past Simple
Present Continuous Past Continuous
Present Perfect Past Perfect
Past Simple Becomes Past Perfect

27
 Future Tense Future in the past
Shall/Will Should/would
Conditional Conditional

7- Other changes.

this that
these those
here there
now becomes then
ago before
today that day
tomorrow the next day
yesterday the previous day/ the day
before

Areas of use of direct speech:

- Statement
- Questions
- Commands/ Requests
- Exclamations/ Wishes
i- As a Statement, we use: say, tell. e. g.
- I must sing well. → He said he had to sing well.
- you must be careful. → He told him to be careful.

- He is my father. → He said that it was/is his father.

- We are here. → They said that they were there.

- They drank the tea yesterday. → He said that they had drunk the tea the day before.
ii- As Questions, we can use either: questioned, inquired, demanded, asked, wanted:
- “Where are you going?” → He asked me where I was going.

28
 - “Where do you come from?”, said the police. → The police enquired where I come
from.
- “Who is your mother?”, asks the teacher. → the teacher wanted to know who
her mother was. / The teacher demanded to know who her mother was. / The
teacher asked her who her mother was.
NB: Questions with will and shall.
- “Shall I come along?” → He asked whether (if) he should come along.

- “Shall I love this girl?” → He wondered whether (if) he should love that girl.
iii- As a Command or a Request we use: commanded, requested, ordered, told, asked.
- “Come here”, said the police → The police commanded him to come there.

- “Stand up”, said the teacher. → The teacher ordered him to stand up.

- “Please wait for me”, said the friend. → He requested me to wait for him.
iv- For Exclamations and Wishes, we can say:
- “Alas! The president has resigned”. → He exclaimed that the president had resigned.

- “Bravo! You have done well”. → He congratulated/ praised/ applauded him that he
did well.

USE OF ENGLISH:
QUESTION TAG
Question tag is conversational. In conversation, we sometimes ask questions not because
we need information but a confirmation of what we already know. That is, we want the person
being addressed to agree with us. To do this, we add a tag question to the statement.
NB:
1- Question tag is conversational and thus informal. It uses the shortened form of the
negative. e.g. → n’t
- Will not → won’t.
- Does not → doesn’t.
- Did not → didn’t.
- Shall not → shan’t.
- Do not → don’t. etc.

29
2- Question tag has three parts:
- Statement: Mary is cooking rice.
- Tag Question: Isn’t she?
- Short response: Yes, she is.
3- If the statement is negative, the question positive:
- Statement: Mary is cooking rice.
- Tag Question: Isn’t she?
4- If the statement is positive, the question negative
- Statement: Mary isn’t cooking rice.
- Tag Question: Is she?
5- Question tag uses the auxiliary verb.
- Statement: → Mary is cooking.
- Question: → Isn’t she?
- Response: → Yes, she is.
6- Where there is no auxiliary verb in the statement, we use a form of to do:
- Statement: Mary cooks rice.
- Tag Question: Doesn’t she?
- Response: Yes, she does.
7- The verb in the statement must be repeated in the question and in the statement:
- Statement: Mary isn’t cooking rice.
- Tag Question: Is she?
- Response: No, she isn’t.
8- Need to and dare to when used affirmatively in the statement are not repeated in the tag:
- We need to buy a new computer. Don’t we?
- He dared to touch the lion. Didn’t he?
9- Let your yes be yes and your no be no:
- Yes, I do.
- No, I don’t. DON’T SAY: Yes, I don’t.
10- The question consists of the subject and the auxiliary verb:e.g. Is she?
11- The response consists of: Yes/No + comma ( , ) + subject + auxiliary verb. e.g. Yes, I
do.

30
 12- There is no form as amn’t in English. Instead we say aren’t I?
13- An imperative can be made into less of a command and more of a request by the
addition of an affirmative tag in the future tense:
- Pass me the book. Will you?
- Open the window. Will you?
- Let us leave now. Shall we?

WORD FORMATION.
A word is a guanine linguistic unit.
Word Formation is a process whereby words change their forms and/or their classes. A form
to which the rule of word formation is applied, is called the base/root.
Ways of forming words:
- Compounding
- Affixation
- Conversion
COMPOUNDING:
compounds are complex lexical items consisting of more than one word. The different
constituents of a compound word give one meaning and only the first lexical item in a
compound word is stressed.
Compounds can be noun, adjective, verb or multiple class compounds. e.g.
- post office
- bus stop
- train station
- police station
- television set
- self-employed
- duty free
- bus station terminal
- duty free etc.

31
AFFIXATION:
Affixation is the adding of a prefix or a suffix to the root. Prefixes come/precede the main
word while suffixes follow the base/root.
There are two types of suffixes:
- Derivational
- Inflectional
Derivational suffixes: in most cases, derivational suffixes change word class. e.g. fool + -ish =
foolish ie Noun → Adjective. However, in some cases they don’t change class. e.g. man + -hood
= manhood i.e. N → N.
SEMANTIC FUNCTIONS OF PREFIXES:
a- PEJORATIVE: false, wrong, bad.
- Pseudo: pseudo name, pseudopodia etc.
- Mis: misguide, mislead, misguide etc.
- Mal: malfunction, maltreat, malformed etc.
b- NEGATIVE: opposite.
- Un: undo, unfortunate, unfair etc.
- Non: nonstop, non-smoker etc.
- Dis: disagree, disfavour, discontent etc.
c- ATTITUDE: agree, disagree.
- Co: cooperate, coordinate etc.
- Pro: Pro-Western, pro-communist etc.
- Counter: counter revolution, counteract etc.
- Anti: anti-intellectual, anti-social, anti-Communist etc.
d- NUMBER: Quantity
- Bi: bilingual, bilateral etc.
- Mono: monogamy, monotheism etc.
- Poly: polyglot, polygamy, etc.
- Multi: multinational, multimedia, multiracial etc.
e- Time and order: situations/events
- Pre: pre-independence, pre-classical, pre-election period etc.
- Post: post war, post romantic, post-election etc.

32
 - Ex: ex-wife, ex-boyfriend etc.
f- CLASS: position/rank.
- Arch: archangel, archbishop, etc.
- Super: superman, supernatural, super market etc.
- Sub: substandard, subdivision, subhuman etc.
- Over: overdose, overconfident etc.
- Hyper: hypertension, hyper sensitive etc.

SEMANTIC FUNCTIONS OF SUFFIXES.

Most suffixes have the grammatical functions of changing word class of base words. Some
prefixes can, e.g. im + prison → imprison.
a- NAMING AND ACTIVITY.
- eer/er: driver, killer, engineer etc.
- ster/ar: burglar, gangster etc.
b- STATUS.
- hood: childhood, adulthood etc.
- ship: kingship, friendship etc.
- ry: slavery
c- SIZE:
-ette: statuette, kitchenette etc.
-let: leaflet, booklet etc.
d- GROUP MEMBERSHIP:
-ist: educationist, artist, scientist etc.
-ian: Cameroonian, Nigerian etc.
-ese: Chinese, Gabonese, Lebanese, etc.
e- STATE OF THE MIND:
-ness: hopelessness, carelessness, madness, sadness, happiness etc.
f- QUALITATIVE.
-ful: colourful, careful, useful etc.
-less: careless, hopeless etc.
-ous: dangerous, famous, treacherous etc.

33
C- CONVERSION.
It is a linguistic phenomenon which is concerned with changes in word class without the
addition of an affix. Unlike affixation, stress indicate change in word class. e.g.

a- FROM NOUN TO VERB/VICE VERSA.

NOUNS VERBS
The girl is a cheat. The girl cheat men.
We will have a walk to the market. I will walk you to the market.
They have love for their son. They love their son.
John has contacts with many people. John has contacted many people.
My mother is a nurse. They nurse our children
She is staying in our house. We house her.
I received a mail yesterday. I will mail some letters soon.

b- FROM ADJECTIVES TO VERBS/VICE VERSA

ADJECTIVES VERBS
Tom’s glass is empty. Tom has emptied his glass
Paul is now calm. Sickness will calm Tom.
My father is hard now. Circumstances have hardened my father.

c- FROM ADJECTIVES TO NOUNS.

Adjectives
Poor people are always hungry.
Young people have no regard for customs.
Successful people easily forget the past.
Rich people are heartless.
Nouns
The poor are always hungry.
The young/youth have no regard for customs.
The successful easily for the past.
The rich are heartless.

34
INTRODUCTION TO SPELLING RULES
Experience shows that even when the main difficulties of grammar are mastered, spelling
mistakes continue to spoil every piece of written work.
In this part of the work, we will be concerned with certain general rules that can help
overcome spelling difficulties. However, there are about three percent of words that are frequently
misspelled but not covered by any rule which only needs to be studied and practised.
Vowel: a e i o u
Consonant: b c d f g h j k l m n p q r s t v w x y z
NB: An affix is a letter or a group of letters added to a word. A prefix precedes a word and a suffix
follows the word.
1- A word ending with a silent e loses the e if the suffix beginning with a vowel is added.
hate hating
like liking
write writing
continue continuation

NB: a- If the suffix begins with a consonant, the e is not dropped. e.g.
extreme extremely
encourage encouragement

b- In some cases, e is maintained to keep the consonant soft. e.g.

change changeable
notice noticeable

2- The suffix –ful has only one l.

- Delightful - playful
- Beautiful - hopeful
3- If the word has only one syllable, contains a single vowel and ends with a single consonant,
the final consonant is doubled:
sit sitting

35
 big bigger

4- When the final the final syllable is unstressed we do not double the final consonant:
differ differed
merit merited
credit credited

5- When the final syllable ends with two consonants, we do not double the final consonant:
- select → selected
6- when –ly is added to an adjective ending in –l to form an adverb, the result is a double l:
delightful delightfully
successful successfully
oral orally

7- When the prefix ends with the same letter as the first letter of the main word/root/base, the
result is doubling:
spell misspell
legal Illegal
regular irregular
mature immature
migrant immigrant
notice unnoticed

8- When the suffix -ness is added to a word ending in -n, the result is a doubling -n:
keen keenness
mean meanness
drunken drunkenness

9- Some verbs contain s while their correspondent nouns contain c:

VERBS NOUNS

36
 practice practice
prophesy prophesy
advise advice

10- Final ie is changed to y when -ing is added:

die dying
lie lying

11- When a suffix is added to a word of more than one syllable ending in -y, the y changes to
i. For example:
study studious
happy happiness

12- When a word ends with hard -c, (like c in cat), we add a k before the suffix beginning with
e, I, or y:
panic panicking
picnic picnicking

13- Q is always followed by u:

equation
equal
quantity
quality

14- There are only three verbs ending in -ceed:

succeed
proceed
exceed

NB: All other verbs with the final syllable pronounced in this way end with -cede:

37
 precede
concede
recede

15- A final y preceded by a consonant is changed to -ies in the plural:

SINGULAR PLURAL
cry cries
baby babies
country countries

NB: If the final -y is preceded by a vowel, the -y remains in the plural:

SINGULAR PLURAL
donkey donkeys
monday mondays
key Keys
monkey Monkeys

Mechanics of Writing: Letter Writing.

We have two main types of letters:
- Formal letters
- Informal letters.
A Formal letter also called a business or an administrative letter is a letter that is addressed
to an authority, administration or an enterprise.
An Informal letter is a letter addressed to a friend.
The type of letter is determined by tone. Tone reflects the attitude of the writer to the
addressee and the relationship that exists between them and the writer’s awareness of the etiquette
of written communication. A wrong tone can give a wrong impression.
The form of letter constitutes the mechanics of letter writing. The following parts are to
be respected in formal letter writing.
a- Personal Address:

38
 The personal address is written at the top right hand corner of the page. It contains personal
information about the writer and his contact addresses. If the correspondent lives in another
country, add the name of your own and the end of your address.
b- The Date:
The date is important because it tells the time that the letter was/is written. Note
that the date is not part of the address and must be written as such. When the date is written
in full, the month and the year must be separated by a comma (,). e. g. 30th March, 2020.
c- The Address of the Addressee:
In addition to the personal address, the address of addressee is on the left hand side
of the page; starting below the last line used for the date. NB: Do not address letters to
companies of government departments by names of authorities. Rather, designations such,
The General Manager, The Director of Personnel, The Registrar etc.
d- Greetings/Salutation:
All formal letters begin with salutation of some sort as a mark of politeness. This
is followed by a comma. Greetings is written at the margin and NOT as a paragraph.
e- Subject Matter:
Immediately after the greetings, write in form of a heading the topic of the letter.
The subject of the letter is a summary/objective of the letter which must be short and
concise.
f- The Body:
This part contains all information relative to the letter; your personal information,
your qualification, your experience etc.
g- Enclosures:
In case documents are attached to the letter, the must be listed in an outlined form.
h- The Conclusion:
The conclusion shows politeness and like salutation, indicates tone. For example:
- Yours faithfully,
- Faithfully yours,
- Sincerely yours,
- Yours sincerely,

39
 NB: The punctuation of the conclusion: The first letter of the first word of conclusion is
capitalised and the conclusion ends with a comma (,) and NOT a full stop/period (.).
i- The Signature.
All formal letters must be signed otherwise; it will be considered as a track.

40
 1- Personal Address
2- Date

3 - addressee’s Address

4 - Salutation/ Greetings:

Ex: Sir,
5 - Subject of letter:
Ex: An Application for a Job

6 – Body:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7 - Enclosures:
-
8 - Closing:
Ex: Yours sincerely,

9 – Signature:
Ex: Ꜻꜻꜽ

41
ENGLISH IN MATHEMATICS:

NUMBERS AND SIMPLE CALCULATIONS

In relation to other subjects, Mathematics is of fundamental importance to technicians and
engineers. Scientists need to be familiar with numbers, figures, mathematical signs, symbols and
terms. In Algebra, we use letters and symbols to express a relationship. In Geometry, we have
different figures, shapes and angles. With mathematical terms, we can describe rules, structures,
quantities and change. As science/engineering students, you must be acquainted with all types of
calculations; from Pure Mathematics to Applied Mathematics in Physics or Computational
Mathematics in information technology. Now you’re expected to express equations, values and
quantities in English.
Numbers.
An Integer is any of the positive or negative whole numbers. e.g, -1, -2, -3, +1, +2, +3 etc.
Digits are the 10 symbols: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 used to create numbers in the base
of decimal number system. 1, 2, 3 . . . . etc.
Whole Numbers are natural numbers including zero. e.g; 0, 1, 2, 3, . . . .10, 100 1000 etc.
A cardinal number says how many of something there are; such as: one, two three, four
etc. A cardinal number answers the question; “How many?”. Cardinal means counting.
Writing Cardinal numbers:
1- Tens and ones are separated by a dash/hyphen ( - ) e.g. 44 → forty-four, 23 = twenty-three
2- The word and follows hundred when written in full. e.g. 215 → two hundred and fifteen
3- Thousands are separated by a comma. e.g. 1,366 → one thousand, three hundred and sixty-
six
An Ordinal number tells us the position/rank of something in a list. e.g. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc.
- 1 → the first → 1st
- 2 → second → 2nd
- 3 → third → 3rd
- 4 → fourth → 4th,
- 40 → fortieth → 40th etc.
A Nominal number is a number used only as a name or to identify something (not as an actual
value or position). Nominal means name.

42
 Testing: in a photo there are 6 cars. Car Number “99” with the yellow colour is in the 1st
position.
1- 6 is a Cardinal Number (it tells us how many)
2- 1st is an ordinal Number (it tells us the position)
3- “99” is a Nominal Number (it is basically just a name for a car)
A Decimal Numbers are numbers used to represent numbers that are smaller than the unit 1.
NB: Decimals are written to the right of the digit, separated by a period/full stop (.) e.g. .1, 0.5 etc.
NB: Digits after decimal points are read separately.
An Even Number is a number that is divisible by 2 or that can be divided into 2 groups without
a fraction or a remainder. e.g.; 2, 4, 6, 8 etc.
An Odd Number is a number/integer which is not a multiple of 2 or a number that is not
divisible by 2 or that can be divided into 2 groups without a fraction or a remainder. e.g; 3, 5, 7, 9,
etc.
A Prime Number is a number that can be divided only by 1 and itself without a remainder.
e.g. 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17 etc. It can be defined as a number whose factors are 1 and itself.
NB:
- 2 is the only even prime number;
- Zero (0) and 1 are not prime numbers;
- A prime number is greater than 1;
- Prime numbers have only two factors i.e. 1 (one) and themselves.
Factors are the numbers we multiply together to get another number. e.g. Factors of 6 are 2, 3
(2 x 3), Factors of 12 are:
 2 x 6 = 12
 3 x 4 = 12
 1 x 12 = 12. Consequently 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 12 are factors of 12.
NB: Factors are usually positive or negative whole numbers (not fractions).
: Negative numbers are also included as factors because when we multiply two
negatives, it becomes a positive. E.g. -2 x -3 = 6.
A Composite Number is a number with more than one factor excluding one (1). e.g.
factors of 4, 6, 8, 16, as composite numbers = 4 → 2 x 2, 6 → 2 x 3, 8 → 2 x 2 x 2, 16 → 2 x 2 x
2 x 2, etc. etc.

43
NB: 1 (one) is neither a prime number nor a composite number.
A square Number (perfect square) is the product of some integer multiplied by itself.
e.g. 9 where 9 = 3 x 3, 81 = 9 x 9 etc. __n , √9 etc.
NB: 1 (one) is called square free because it is a positive integer that has no perfect square division.
e.g. 0𝑥02 = 0, 1𝑥12 = 1
Square root therefore is the factor of a square number. e.g. 2 is the square root of 4 where
2x2 = 4.
Cube Numbers (perfect cube or a cube) is the product of some integer multiplied by
itself twice. e.g. 2x2x2 = 8. Where 8 is therefore a cube number just like 16, 27, etc.
FRACTIONS
A fraction consists of a numerator (number above the fraction bar) and a denominator
(number below the fraction bar). Fractions can be simple or mixed. Further, a simple fraction can
be proper or improper. A proper fraction is a fraction where the numerator is less/smaller than the
𝟏 𝟑
denominator. e.g. , etc. An improper fraction is a fraction where the numerator is
𝟐 𝟒
𝟒 𝟔 𝟓
greater/bigger than the denominator. e.g. 𝟑, 𝟒, etc. A mixed fraction is an arithmetical equation
𝟐
𝟏 𝟐 𝟔
consisting of whole numbers and fractions. e.g. 2 𝟐, 4 𝟑, 6𝟓 etc.

We can do all kinds of arithmetical calculations with fractions. That is, we can add,
subtract, divide, multiply and even cancel fractions.
Reading Fractions:
𝟏
1- 𝟐
= half
1
2- = a third
3
𝟏
3- = a quarter
𝟒
𝟐
4- = two fifths
𝟓
𝑑𝑦
5- 𝑑𝑥
𝟏
6- When the numerator is singular (1), the denominator is read singular. e.g. 𝟒 → a quarter/
𝟏
one quarter, → one third/ a third etc.
𝟑

44
 𝟐 𝟑
7- When the numerator is plural, the denominator is read plural. e.g. 𝟓 = two fifths, 𝟒 →
𝟓
three quarters, 𝟖 → five eighths.

8- Numerators are read as cardinal numbers.

9- While denominators are read as ordinal numbers except 2 and 4.
Observe and note: Sum, difference, ≥, ≤, ÷, ×, −, ∙, =, of, etc.

45