English Grammar Class #05 (Part-2)

Dear Friends!


In our previous class #05 (Part -1), we discussed about the first four Parts of Speech-------- Noun, Pronoun, Adjective and Verb. In our class today we will discuss about the other four Parts of Speech--------- Adverb, Preposition, Conjunction and Interjection. Let's begin with an Adverb.

5. Adverb------------ is used to add something to the meaning of a Verb, an Adjective or another Adverb.

Let's understand this little bit complex definition with easy and simple examples. Consider the following sentences.

I) He finished his assignment quickly.
II) This girl is very clever.
III) She pronounced the word quite clearly.


Notice the prefix 'Ad' in Adverb, which means to 'add' something. Let's consider the above sentences in this context.

I) He finished his assignment quickly.

In this sentence, the word 'quickly' adds something to the meaning of the Verb 'finished'. Therefore, 'quickly' is an Adverb. In this case, an Adverb comes after a Verb.

II) The girl is very clever.

In this sentence, the word 'very' adds something to the meaning of the Adjective 'clever'. Therefore, 'very' is an Adverb. In this case, an Adverb mostly comes before an Adjective.

III) She pronounced the word quite clearly.

In this sentence, the word 'quite' (which is also an Adverb) adds something to the meaning of another Adverb 'clearly'. Therefore, 'quite' and 'clearly' are the Adverbs. In this case, an Adverb comes before another Adverb.
There are two most important tips to find an Adverb from a sentence.


i) Most commonly, if any word in a sentence ends with 'ly', is an Adverb. Like: quickly, slowly, successfully etc.

ii) If an Adverb is taken out of a sentence, the sentence doesn't lose its grammatical accuracy. It means that an Adverb is an 'addition' in a sentence. For example, if we take the Adverb 'quickly' from the sentence: He finished his assignment quickly', we will get: He finished his assignment', which is still grammatically correct and giving the complete meaning. Likewise, if we take the Adverbs 'quite' and 'clearly' out of the sentence: 'She pronounced the word quite clearly', we will get: 'She pronounced the word', which is still grammatically correct and giving a complete meaning.

6. Preposition----------is used to provide information about the position or movement of a Noun or a Pronoun. Let's understand this situation with some easy and simple examples. Consider the following sentences:


I) There are twenty students in the class.

II) A fair little girl sat under a tree.

III) They will leave from Manila to Bangkok.


In the first sentence, what is the position of the Noun students? Or where are they? The answer is, they are 'in' the class. Therefore, this 'in' is the Preposition because it is informing about the position of those twenty students.

In the second sentence, what is the position of the Noun 'girl'? Or where is she sitting? The answer is, she is sitting 'under' a tree. Therefore, this 'under' is a Preposition because it is informing about the position of 'a fair little girl'.

In the third sentence, what is the movement of the Pronoun 'they'? Or where are they moving to? The answer is, they are moving 'from' Manila 'to' Bangkok. Therefore, 'from' and 'to' are the Prepositions because they are informing about the movement of the Pronoun, 'they'.

-To, from, of, for, under, on, in, with etc. are the examples of a Preposition.


7. Conjunction------- is used to join or connect two words or two sentences.


Notice the prefix 'con' in Conjunction, which means 'to connect'. Let's understand the word Conjunction in this context. Consider the following sentences.

I) Marilyn and Josephine are sisters.
II) I ran fast, but I missed the train.
III) Please, take care of my house, while I am away.


In the first sentence, 'Marilyn' and 'Josephine' are the two different persons or words. They are joined or connected by the word, 'and'. Therefore 'and' in this sentence is a Conjunction.
In the second sentence, 'I ran fast' and 'I missed the train' are the two different sentences which are connected or joined by the word 'but'. Therefore 'but' in the sentence is a Conjunction.
In the third sentence, 'Please, take care of my house' and ' I am away' are the two different sentences which are connected or joined by the word 'while'. Therefore, 'while' is a Conjunction in the sentence.

-And, but, while, whether etc. are the examples of a Conjunction.


8. Interjection----------is used to express some sudden outburst of feelings from inside.


Notice the prefix 'inter' in Interjection, which means 'inner' or 'inside' and '-jection' which can be taken as 'projection'. So the meaning of the word, Interjection can be: projecting or expressing (sudden) feelings from inside.

Consider the following sentences.

I) Alas! He is no more.
II) Oh, how beautiful the night is!
III) Waow! She looks gorgeous.


The sentences of Interjection carry an exclamation mark (!) with them because they express some sudden and uncontrollable feelings from inside.

-Imperative and Optative Sentences fall into the category of an Interjection. (For details about Imperative and Optative Sentences, read our English Grammar Class #04).


We hope you find this class helpful for you. If you have difficulty in understanding the tutorial, you can ask us for help in our inbox of our Facebook page English Speaking Club .


Best of luck.

English Grammar Class #05 (Part-1)

Dear Friends!


Today we are going to discuss about the Parts of Speech. Keeping in view the length of this Class, we have divided this class into two equal parts. Each part will cover four Parts of Speech.

Before going to the main topic, let's discuss briefly: What role is played by Parts of Speech in a language? Let's try to understand this point. Have you ever heard about a post mortem of a dead body? A post mortem is performed on a dead body to examine the exact cause of a death. Likewise, when we become experts in Parts of Speech, it helps us to examine each and every word to know its proper place and meaning in a grammatically accurate sentence. This is what makes a language scientific.

Now let's focus on the main topic. We will begin with a Noun.

1.Noun-------- used as a name of anything I.e person, place or thing or a gender.

For example:

I) Martha travelled to Canada three years ago with her two young boys.

In the above example:

'Martha' is the name of a person
'Canada' is the name of a place
'years' is the name of a thing, and
'boys' is the name of a gender.



2. Pronoun------- is used in the place of a Noun to avoid Noun's unnecessary and awkward repetition in a sentence.

Consider the following example.

-Safina travelled to Russia last year to see her aunt Sarah. Safina stayed with Sarah for two weeks. Sarah loved Safina so much. Safina and Sarah adored each other.

You can notice that there is an awkward and unnecessary repetition of the nouns 'Safina' and 'Sarah'. To avoid this unnecessary and awkward repetition of the two nouns, we can rewrite the above paragraph in this way:

-Safina travelled to Russia last year to see aunt Sarah. She stayed with her aunt for two weeks. Her aunt loved her so much. They adored each other.

You can observe that the Pronouns 'She', 'her' and 'they' is used to avoid the unnecessary and awkward repetition of the nouns 'Safina' and 'Sarah'.

I, We, You, He, His, She, Her, They etc. are all Pronouns.


3. Adjective--------used to tell the quality, quantity, vice and virtue of a Noun or a Pronoun.

For example:

-Strong, broad etc. ( Quality)
-Little, more, many or a number etc. (Quantity)
-Honest, good (Virtue)
-Dishonest, bad (Vice)

Let's have a look at the following sentences.

I). His strong character was admired by everyone. ( 'strong character' defines a quality)

II). There are twenty five students in this class. ( 'twenty five' defines a quantity)

III). Honest people leave noble example. ('Honest people' and 'noble example' define virtue)

IV). Bad thoughts beget evil actions. ('Bad thoughts' and ' evil actions' define vice).


4. Verb---------- used to express an action or state of a Noun or a Pronoun.

For example:

-They are running hard to catch the train.

In the above example, 'are' is a Verb of state and defining an action of 'running' which is also a Verb.

Note: All the auxiliary verbs (is, am, are, was, were, have, had, can, could, will, would etc.) are Verbs of state.

All the main Verbs (write, fight, run, wrote, drive, loved, worked etc.) are verbs of the action.


We hope today's class has provided you with a valuable tutorial on the first four Parts of Speech. If you have any difficulty in understanding them properly, you can ask for our help by messaging us into the inbox of our page English Speaking Club


Best of luck.

English Grammar Class #04

The topics that we are going to discuss today are: Sentence and the Kinds of a Sentence.

*Let's start our discussion with the question: What is a Sentence?

You see, all the people in the world talk to each other using words. Therefore:
-A collection of meaningful words which are grammatically accurate also is called a 'Sentence'.
For example:
1. Marry and John are travelling to Canada.
2. It has been raining since night.
You will notice that the above sentences not only give a complete meaning but they are grammatically correct also. A sentence contain a Subject and a Predicate. (For a comprehensive understanding of a 'Subject' and a 'Predicate' read our English Grammar Class #02).
A Sentence is different from a Phrase and a Clause because it is a complete sentence and gives a complete meaning.
-What are the kinds of a Sentence?
A many renowned books on English Grammar tell us that there are four(4) kinds of a Sentence but the modern research tells us that there are actually five(5) kinds of a Sentence.
They are---

I) Declarative Or Assertive Sentence
II) Interrogative Sentence
III) Imperative Sentence
IV) Exclamatory Sentence
V) Optative Sentence

We will discuss them one by one.

I) Declarative or Assertive Sentences--------- such sentences are making simple statements.
For example:
1. The fish market is two miles away.
2. We are not searching for new items.

II) Interrogative Sentences--------- such sentences are asking questions.
For example:
1. Is this your workplace?
2. Do you believe in those people?

III) Imperative Sentences--------such sentences are making requests or commands.
For example:
1. Bring me a glass of water, please.
2. Go back to your classroom.

IV) Exclamatory Sentence--------Such sentences are expressing a surprise, shock or disbelief.
For example:
1. Waowww! How beautiful the night is!
2. Alas! Her father died yesterday.
3. Oh, my God! This is unbelievable.

V) Optative Sentences--------such sentences are expressing a wish or desire.
For example:
1. I wish these people could help her.
2. I wish I were a successful lawyer.

We hope you find today's class quite comprehensive to your understanding. If you have any questions to ask, you can drop them directly into the inbox of our Facebook page English Speaking Club
Best of Luck. 

English Grammar Class #03

The topics that we are going to discuss today are: 'Phrase' and 'Clause'.

Let's first discuss Phrase. What is a 'Phrase' in a grammatical context?

-A 'Phrase' is a small part of a complete sentence which makes some sense but does not give a complete meaning. A 'Phrase' generally comes after a Preposition in a sentence.
Let's understand Phrase with a few simple and easy examples.
I) He reads a newspaper in the morning.
II) They are looking for another opportunity.
III) The tops of the mountains are covered with
snow.
In the above examples, 'in the morning', 'for another opportunity', and 'of the mountains' are Phrases respectively, because they appear immediately after the Prepositions 'in', 'for' and 'of' respectively.
A Phrase can also appear after 'to + Verb'.
For example:
I) They tried to climb the mountain.
II) Maria was studying hard to pass the exams.
III) She decided to visit her aunt yesterday.
In the above examples, 'to climb the mountain', ' to pass the exam', and ' to visit her aunt yesterday' are Phrases respectively.

 *What is a 'Clause' in a grammatical context?

- A Clause is a part of a complete sentence and contains a Subject, a Verb and sometimes an Object also.
Let's understand a 'Clause' with simple and easy examples.
I) I think, you have taken a wrong turn.
II) People who speak the truth are trusted.
III) We can't start while it is raining.
In the above examples, 'you have taken a wrong turn', 'who speak the truth are trusted' and 'while it is raining' are Clauses respectively because they appear immediately after the Subjects 'you', 'who' and 'while'.
You will also notice that in the above sentences the Verbs like 'have', 'speak', and 'is raining' are also present.
In Clause situations, the part of a sentence that contains, 'which', 'while', 'who', that' etc. are also considered as Subjects.

Note: For the comprehensive understanding of a Subject, read our English Grammar Class lesson #02.

We hope you find today's class very comprehensive. If you have any questions, you can ask in the inbox of our Facebook page directly English Speaking Club .
Best of Luck.

English Grammar Class #02

-What is a Subject and a Predicate in a grammatical language?

-Subject--------- In any grammatical language, 'Subject' is the most important part. A 'Subject' is the doer of an action or someone or something that performs on a task. A Subject could be a Noun or a Pronoun.

-Predicate-------- A 'Predicate' tells us something about an action performed by a Subject. In other words, a Predicate works as a reporter of a Subject. A Predicate contains a Verb and an Object.
Have a look at this example.
Tina forgot her cellphone at the desk.
If we break the above sentence into 'Subject' and a 'Predicate', we get:
Subject = Tina
Predicate = forgot her cellphone at the desk.
Or another example..
Angie is going to the concert tomorrow.
Here Subject is 'Angie' and the Predicate is 'is going to the concert tomorrow.'
Sometimes a Subject can be lengthy and complicated. Have a look at these following examples:
I) The noise of buses disturbed the citizens.
Here the Subject is 'The noise of buses' and the Predicate is 'disturbed the citizens.'
Or for that matter..
II) The cackling of geese saved the Rome.
Here the Subject is 'The cackling of geese' and the Predicate is 'saved the Rome.'
You can find out a Subject in a sentence by putting 'What' or 'Who' before a Predicate.
For example: 'Who' forgot her cellphone at the desk? The answer is 'Tina' which is a Subject in the previous example.
'What' saved the Rome? The answer is, 'The cackling of geese', which is a Subject in the previous example.
We hope that you find this class very comprehensive. If you have any questions to ask, you can drop them directly into the inbox of our Facebook page English Speaking Club
Best of Luck...

English Grammar Class #1

-English Grammar Class #1

-What is grammar?

There are many complicated and unrealistic definitions of 'grammar' available in the market by many different authors. But we will provide you with a very simple and workable definition of the word, 'grammar'.

-Grammar is an art of putting the right words in the right places.

How?

Let's understand this simple definition through an easy example. Consider the following sentence:

drivinng Maria is to collage...

What do you notice?

In the above sentence we notice two things:

I) Some words like 'driving' and 'college' are incorrectly spelled as 'drivinng' and 'collage', which means they are not in the right shape.

II) There is a general way of constructing a sentence properly. Grammatically it is:

Subject + helping Verb + main Verb + Object.

When we consider the sentence above, we come to know that the words are not put into the right places. Therefore we need to put them into the right places grammatically:

Subject = Maria

Helping Verb = is

Main Verb = driving

Object = College.

So the grammatically correct sentence will be:

Maria is driving to college.

That's why we say------'Grammar is an art of putting the right words in the right places.

We hope you find today's class quite comprehensive. If you have any questions, please ask us directly into the inbox of our Facebook page English Speaking Club

Best of luck..