ENGLISH FOR LAWYERS

WORD POSITION
PART OF SPEECH
WORD FORMATION
Wednesday, Jan 01, 2022
Zubhin Mehfta

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WORD POSITION & = Subject, Predicate, Object and Predicate Nominative
PART OF SPEECH

Noun, Pronoun Noun, Pronoun

(TENSES)
Verb, Tobe

• NOUN
• Understanding parts of speech is essential for determining the correct
• Pronoun
MEANING and USE of a word in the sentence.
• Verb
We have yet to receive his (respond/response) to the proposal.
• ADJECTIVE He needs to quickly (respond/response) to the proposal
• ADVERB
• An individual word can function as more than one part of speech when
• Preposition
used in different circumstances.
• Conjunction
The local library has facilities such as ramps and low tables for the
• Interjection disabled
1. NOUN
Noun is the name
• A noun is a word for a person, place, thing, or idea. of a person, place,
thing, or idea:
• Nouns are often used with an article (the, a, an), but not always. man, house,
Hansel, Jakarta,
• Proper nouns always start with a capital letter; common nouns do not.
happiness, pride,
• Nouns can be singular or plural, concrete or abstract, countable or uncount. EXCITEMENT and
etc.
• Nouns show possession by adding 's.

• Nouns can function in different roles within a sentence: as a subject, object of a verb,
object of a preposition or predicate in a nominal sentence

The young girl brought me a very long letter from the

teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!
1. NOUN

NOUN takes the position of SUBJECT, OBJECT of verb,

OBJECT of preposition or Predicate Nominative

• The WITNESS told the truth (noun as a SUBJECT)

• We saw the WITNESS at the court (noun as an OBJECT of a verb)
• We are worried about the WITNESS (noun as an OBJECT of a PREPOSITION)
• She is the WITNESS of the case (noun as a PREDICATE in a NOMINAL sentence)
 2. PRONOUN
Pronoun is a word
• A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun. used in place of a
noun: she...her…
• A pronoun is usually substituted for a specific noun, called its antecedent. herself… hers…
• Pronouns are further defined by type: who… whose…
which this…these
 Personal pronouns refer to specific persons or things;
 Possessive pronouns indicate ownership;
 Reflexive pronouns are used to emphasize another noun or pronoun;
 Relative pronouns introduce a subordinate clause; and
 Demonstrative pronouns identify, point to, or refer to nouns.

The young girl brought me a very long letter from the

teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!
3. VERB

• A Sentence has at least a main verb and sometimes one or more helping A verb expresses
action or state:
verbs. jump... is... write...
("She can sing." Sing is the main verb; can is the modal.) become… EXCITE

• A verb MUST AGREE with its subject IN NUMBER.

(both are singular OR both are plural).
• VERBS also take different forms TO EXPRESS TENSE.

The young girl brought me a very long letter from the

teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!
4. ADJECTIVE

• An adjective is a word used TO MODIFY or DESCRIBE a noun or a An adjective

modifies or
pronoun.
describes a noun or
• It usually answers the question of which one, what kind, or how pronoun: pretty...
old... blue...
many.
smart… EXCITING…
• Articles [a, an, the] are classified as adjectives. EXCITED.. NO…

The young girl brought me a very long letter from the

teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!
5. ADVERB

• An adverb describes or modifies a verb, an adjective, or An adverb modifies or

describes a verb, an
another adverb, but never a noun.
adjective, or another
• It usually answers the questions of when, where, how, why, under adverb: gently...
carefully...EXCITEDLY
what conditions, or to what degree.
… well… so… very…
• Adverbs often end in -ly. NOT

The young girl brought me a very long letter from the

teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!
6. PREPOSITION
A preposition is a
word placed before a
noun or pronoun :
• A preposition is a word PLACED BEFORE A NOUN or pronoun to in… on… at… from…
by... with.... about...
form a phrase modifying another word in the sentence. Therefore, a
until… in… for… next
preposition is always part of a prepositional phrase. to… BECAUSE OF

The young girl brought me a very long letter from the

teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!
7. CONJUNCTION
A conjunction joins
words, phrases, or
clauses: and... but...
• A conjunction JOINS words, phrases, or clauses, and INDICATES or... while...
BECAUSE…
the relationship between the elements joined.
• Coordinating conjunctions connect grammatically equal elements:
for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. (Compound sentences)
• Subordinating conjunctions connect clauses that are not equal:
because, although, while, since and etc. (Complex sentences)

The young girl brought me a very long letter from the

teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!
8. INTERJECTION
An interjection is a word
used to express emotion:
Oh!... Wow!... Oops!...
• It is often followed by an exclamation point. Iw!... Dafuq! :D

The young girl brought me a very long letter from the

teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!
 Commonly Confused Words
 
1. They have found a new supplier for the office stationary.
1. They have found a new supplier for the office stationery.
2. The law is not clear on the extend to which you can
(remember “e” for envelope)
undertake these activities.
2. The law is not clear on the extent to which you can
3. We have yet to receive his respond to the proposal.
undertake these activities.
4. If you loose your wedding ring, you will be in big trouble.
3. We have yet to receive his response to the proposal.
5. Because of his absent from the meeting, they could not
4. If you lose your wedding ring, you will be in big trouble.
resolve the issue.
5. Because of his absence from the meeting, they could not
6. They did not proof his guilt so he walked free.
resolve the issue.
7. Please insure that he signs the contract with his original
6. They did not prove his guilt so he walked free.
signature 😊
7. Please ensure that he signs the contract with his original
8. The principle amount of the loan is US$250,000.
signature 😊
9. The affects on her were very severe.
8. The principal amount of the loan is US$250,000.
10. We adviced the Client to seek accountant opinions
9. The effects on her were very severe.
regarding this issue.
10. We advised the Client to seek accountant opinions
regarding this issue.
 According to or in accordance with?
Which one is correct?
1. The PJV Agreement shall be governed by and construed according to the laws of Malaysia
2. The PJV Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Malaysia

In accordance with...." means in agreement or compliance with, or in

obedience to a rule, law, principle, or possibly an agreement TIPS: “According to”
and “in accordance
• In accordance with our contract, I will deliver the work on Tuesday with” clearly have the
same root (accord,
and expect the payment on Wednesday.
meaning agreement),
but they cannot be
"According to..." simply means “as stated by” which refers to your source used interchangeably.
or origin of information, whether that is a person, a book, a state
agency, etc.

• According to my mother, I was born on a Tuesday.

• According to the dictionary, an apple is a kind of fruit.
 One Word or Two?

Do you know which of the two options is the correct one for each sentence below?

1. After the (take over, takeover), it will be the biggest mining company in the country.
2. You should (back up, backup) your computer every week.
3. It is alleged that there was a (pay off, payoff) in that case.
4. We are planning to (take over, takeover) several more companies. TIPS: recognize
5. The (hand over, handover) will take place next week. whether the missing part
6. She never really intended to (buy back, buyback) Indosat. of the sentence is a
7. The computer (back up, backup) was done very quickly. noun or a verb. If it is a
8. You must (hand over, handover) all the documents before the signing. verb, it should be two
9. If they do not go through with the (buy back, buyback), they will be in breach. words (eg. buy back). If
10. They tried to (pay off, payoff) the witnesses. it is a noun, it should be
one word (eg. Buyback)
Use Verbs/Nouns/Adjectives with the Right Preposition
Some verbs must be followed by particular Do you get something from the two sentences below?
prepositions. See the following examples:
1. This is due to the request for an extension
1. I will respond to his email. 2. This is due to the request of the attorneys
2. I strongly object to the proposal.
3. The company disposed of the waste in the river.
4. They applied for the license last week.
5. They applied to BKPM for the license last week.
6. They can impose severe sanctions on any companies that do not comply with the regulation.
(not: impose sanctions to any companies)
7. We set out below our comments on the case. (not: comment to the case)
8. Employees are prohibited from smoking on the company property

But ‘request’ as a verb doesn’t need a preposition because ‘request’ means ‘ask for’.
• We will request an extension of the term.
• Our request for an extension was rejected.
Similarly with ‘request’, ‘discuss’ means ‘talk about’, so we don’t say ‘discuss about’.
 BEWARE OF PRONOUN AND THE WORD IT REFERS TO

ORIGINAL TIPS:
e.g. = contohnya. So, do not end the
However, there are some business sectors that are not
list of items with “etc” to avoid
even affected by this situation, and they can even record
redundancies as both carry the same
high profit. These businesses are such as health,
function, that is, eliciting some items
pharmaceutical, telecommunication and medical
out of so many others.
device industries
i.e. = yaitu, used when eliciting all the
items. You don’t end the list with “etc”
REVISION
either.
However, there are industries in some business sectors
e.g., health, pharmaceutical, telecommunication and
However, there are industries in
medical device industries that are not even affected by
some business sectors: health,
this situation; they can even record high profits.
pharmaceutical, telecommunication,
medical device industries, etc., that
are […]
 WORD FORMATION

 Ex. Beauty (n)

Noun & Pronoun = Subject or Object
Verb = Predicate
beautiful (adj)
Adjective = Defining a noun or pronoun beautify (v)
beautification (n)
beautified (v3)
beautician (n, person)
beautifully (adv. Manner)
WORD FORMATION

By adding affixes
PREFIX-ROOT WORD-SUFFIX
Uncomfortable
Irregularly
Disorganised
Unconfidently
Disrespectfully
 WORD FORMATION

VERB – NOUN

ION- admit—admission -MENT—disagree—disagreement -AL—arrive-arrival

Apply—application Amuse—amusement Renew—renewal
Discuss-discussion Employ—employment Bury—burial
Assume-assumption Disappoint—disappointment Approve—approval
Expand-expansion Argue—argument Dismiss—dismissal
Persuade-persuasion Arrange—arrangement
Explode—explosion
Relax-relaxation
Educate-education
 WORD FORMATION

VERB – NOUN

-CE—advise—advice
-AGE Avoid-avoidance
Marry-marriage Choose--choice
Pass-passage Assist—assistance
Post-postage Allow—allowance
Appear—appearance
 WORD FORMATION

NOUN – VERB

-IZE—apology—apologize -FY—beauty—beautify
Symbol—symbolize Class—classify
Modern—modernize Clarification—clarify
Mobilize Justification—justify
nationalize
 WORD FORMATION

ADJECTIVE—VERB

-EN EN-
bright-brighten large—enlarge
Fasten Enslave
Heighten Entrust
Lengthen Enrich
encourage
 WORD FORMATION

ADJECTIVE—NOUN

-NESS effective-effectiveness -NCE

Aware—awareness
Conscious—consciousness
Silent-silence
Important-importance
Violent-violence
Arrogant-arrogance
Confident-confidence
Elegant-elegance
Preference
 WORD FORMATION

VERB—ADJECTIVE
-ING
-ABLE -ED confuse—confusing
advise—advisable confuse—confused Assist-assisting
Apply—applicable assist—assisted
Receive-receiving
Argue—arguable receive-received
Avoid—avoidable Bore-bored Bore-boring
Believe-(un)believable Annoy-annoyed Annoy-annoying
Eat—edible Excite-excited
Excite-exciting
Disappoint-disappointed
Disappoint-disappointing
 WORD FORMATION

ADJECTIVE

-LESS -IVE -OUS -IC

Care—careless Adventurous economic
Effective Classic
Limit—limitless Dangerous
End-endless Inactive Disastrous Energetic
Decisive Enormous Emphatic
anonymous Fantastic
-FUL Abusive
Systematic
beauty-beautiful corrective tragic
Care—careful
 WORD FORMATION

ADJECTIVE—ADVERB

Applicable-applicably
Quick-quickly
Apparent-apparently
Annoying-annoyingly
Unbelievable-unbelievably
 NOUN WORD FORMATION
-TY
Locality -CY accuracy NOUN—people -ANT
Majority Buoyancy -ENT correspondent accountant
Morality Discrepancy Respondent Applicant
Priority emergency Assistant
Student
Security
Similarity Recipient Attendant
Safety Superintendent Claimant
Equality Defendant
Diversity
Immigrant
Originality
Complexity Participant
Authenticity
NOUN WORD FORMATION

-ER, occupation -EE, someone who is

Driver affected by an action
Commander Addressee
Employer Appointee
Leader Assignee
Lecturer Examinee
Observer Franchisee
Speaker Interviewee
Examiner Nominee
Franchiser Trainee
Interviewer Transferee
Trustee
 NOUN WORD FORMATION

• A word can function as more than one part of

speech without changing the form when
used in different circumstances. VERBS AS ADJECTIVES
See-through material
VERBS AS NOUNS a stand-up comedian
A must/ a guess/ a spy
a takeover/a hand-out/a
print-out
ADJECTIVES AS VERBS
To dirty/to empty
 You can click the links
below to study more about
word formation.

https://aliciateacher2.wordpress.com/grammar/word-formation/

https://elt.oup.com/elt/students/grammarspectrumitaly/pdf/OLG_word_formation.pdf

https://www.english-grammar.at/worksheets/language-in-use/word-formation/wf011-sentences.pdf

https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/20471213/word-formation

https://www.kau.edu.sa/Files/0008867/Subjects/8714_5Word%20Formation%20Processes.pdf

http://wa.amu.edu.pl/wa/files/WORD%20FORMATION%20LIST%20EFL%20EXAM%202009-10.pdf
 THANK YOU

mehfta@adcolaw.com