Report Writing training

Report Writing (Grammar)

1. Tenses in general
2. Word order
3. Articles
4. Connectors
5. Punctuations
6. Phrases
7. Clauses
8. Prepositions
9. Reported Speech
 Report Writing training

Parts of speech
 Verbs express actions, events, or states of being.

 Nouns name a person, animal, place, thing, or abstract idea.

 Pronouns take the place of nouns or another pronoun.

 Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns by describing, identifying, or quantifying

them. An adjective usually precedes the noun or the pronoun which it modifies.

 Adverbs modify a verb, adjective, another adverb, a phrase, or a clause and

indicate manner, time, place, cause, or degree. Adverbs can be recognized because
 Report Writing training
they answer the question how, when, where, or how much. Adverbs often end

in ly.

 Prepositions link nouns, pronouns, and phrases to other words in a sentence and

usually indicate a relationship of time, space, or logic.

 Conjunctions link words, phrases, and clauses.

 Interjections are added to a sentence to convey emotion and are usually followed

by an exclamation point.
Report Writing training
 Report Writing training

Sentence Structures (Word order Rules)

Sentence Sentence parts Example
structure type

Simple Sentence Independent clause I like animals.

Compound Independent clause + coordinating conjunction I like animals, but Molly

Sentence (or semicolon) + independent clause prefers plants.

Complex Independent clause + subordinating I like animals because they

Sentence conjunction (or relative pronoun) + dependent are cute.
clause

Compound- Independent clause + subordinating I like animals because they

Complex conjunction + dependent clause + coordinating are cute, so I work at an
Sentence conjunction + independent clause animal shelter.
Report Writing training
Report Writing training
 Report Writing training

Phrases

In English grammar, a phrase is a group of two or more words functioning as a meaningful unit within

a sentence or clause. A phrase is commonly characterized as a grammatical unit at a level between a word and a
clause.

A phrase is made up of a head (or headword)—which determines the grammatical nature of the unit—and
one or more optional modifiers. Phrases may contain other phrases inside them.
 Report Writing training

What Are Noun Phrases? (with Examples)

A noun phrase is a group of two or more words headed by a noun that includes modifiers (e.g., 'the,'
'a,' 'of them,' 'with her').
 Report Writing training
A noun phrase plays the role of a noun. In a noun phrase, the modifiers can come before or after the
noun.

Note: A noun phrase can also be headed by a pronoun. For example:

 the dog with fleas
 the one with fleas
(This is a noun phrase headed by a pronoun.)

Examples of Noun Phrases

In real life, it is far more common for nouns to feature in noun phrases, i..e, to be accompanied by
modifiers. Here is a list of noun phrases. In this list, every noun phrase consists of a head noun
(highlighted) and at least one modifier.
 People: the soldier, my cousin, the lawyer with the big nose

 Animals: that lizard, one rat, a shark, funny Mickey

 Places: the house in the corner, inner London, dirty factory, no shelter

 Things: this table, our London Bridge, the sharp chisel, that nitrogen, last month,

an inch, her cooking

 Ideas: utter confusion, some kindness, your faith, the Theory of Relativity, a joy

So, a noun with any sort of modifier (even it's just "a" or "the") is a noun phrase.
 Report Writing training

The Function of Noun Phrases

Like any noun, a noun phrase can function as a subject, an object, or a complement within a
sentence. In each example below, the noun phrase is in bold and the head noun is highlighted.
 Singing in the bath relaxes me.

(Here, the noun phrase is the subject of the verb "relaxes.")

 I know the back streets.
(Here, the noun phrase is the direct object of the verb "know.")
 She was the devil in disguise.
(Here, the noun phrase is a subject complement following the linking verb "was.")
As most nouns feature in noun phrases, let's look quickly at the definition for "phrase":

Let’s do Noun-Noun Phrases

Eg. Sea Horse Table Tennis

Sea Game Dining Table
 Report Writing training

What Is an Adjective Phrase? (with Examples)

An adjective phrase is a group of words headed by an adjective that describes a noun or a pronoun.
 Report Writing training

Real-Life Examples of Adjective Phrases

Here are some real-life examples of adjective phrases (with the head adjectives in bold):
 An overly sensitive heart is an unhappy possession on this shaky earth. (German writer
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
(This adjective phrase modifies the noun "heart.")
 I'm a fairly intelligent person, but I don't think my grades reflected that. (American
footballer Barry Sanders)
(This adjective phrase modifies the noun "person.")
 People are so sick of these Twitter tirades. They want to be proud of their leaders. (US
politician Tom Perez)
(The first adjective phrase modifies the noun "people." The second modifies the pronoun
"they." Obviously, adjectives can modify pronouns too.)
 There is always someone better than you and more talented than you. Always.
(Restaurateur David Chang)
(The adjective phrases modify the pronoun "someone.")

More about Adjective Phrases

In an adjective phrase, the head adjective can be at the start, the middle or the end of the phrase.
 I am sad about the result. (start)
 I am awfully sad about the result. (middle)
 I am very sad. (end)
The other words inside the adjective phrase are known as the dependents of the head adjective.
They are typically adverbs ("awfully" and "very") or prepositional phrases ("about the result").
Report Writing training
Report Writing training
 Report Writing training

What Is a Verb Phrase? (with Examples)

A verb phrase consists of a main verb and any auxiliary verbs.
Report Writing training
 Report Writing training
More examples of verb phrases (highlighted):
 I painted the fence.
(The verb phrase is a single main verb.)
 I was painting the fence.
(The verb phrase is the auxiliary verb "was" and a main verb in the form of a present
participle.)
 I had painted the fence.
(The verb phrase is the auxiliary verb "had" and a main verb in the form of a past
participle.)
 I might have painted the fence.
(The verb phrase is the modal auxiliary verb "might," the auxiliary verb "have," and a
main verb in the form of a past participle.)
 I should have been painting the fence when the lightning struck.
(The verb phrase is the modal auxiliary verb "should," the auxiliary verbs "have" and
"been," and a main verb in the form of a present participle.)

Tenses Review
 Report Writing training

What Is a Prepositional Phrase? (with Examples)

A prepositional phrase is a group of words that consists of:
 a preposition
 the object of the preposition
 any modifiers
Here is an example of a prepositional phrase (shaded):
 The witch sat on her broom.
("On" is the preposition, "broom" is the object of the preposition, and "her" is a modifier.)
 Report Writing training

More Examples of Prepositional Phrases

In each example, the prepositional phrase is shaded and the preposition is bold.
 A singer with passion
 A town near London
 Keep in time.
 He acts without thinking.

Harder Examples of Prepositional Phrases

It is a little bit more complicated than shown above because the noun can be anything that plays the
role of a noun. For example:
 It's a present from her.
(Remember that the "noun" can be a pronoun.)
 She stole it from the man across the street.
(Here, the noun is a noun phrase.)
 It's obvious from what he said.
(Here, the noun is a noun clause.)
The noun that follows the preposition (i.e., everything that's shaded but not bolded in the examples)
is called the object of a preposition. There will often be modifiers in the object of the preposition
making it a noun phrase. For example:
 I sat with Simba.
(There are no modifiers in this example.)
 I sat with the wonderful Simba.
(With the modifiers "the" and "wonderful," the object of the preposition is now a noun
phrase.)
Here is another example:
 Report Writing training
 He beat Lee without trying.
(There are no modifiers in this example. The object of the preposition is a noun. In this
case, it's a gerund.)
 He beat Lee without overly trying.
(With the modifier "overly," the object of the preposition is a noun phrase.)
Report Writing training