English Grammar Class #08

Hello, Dear Friends!


In our class today we are going to discuss about: The Gender Of a Noun.


There are four kinds of a Gender Noun.


(I) Masculine Gender
(II) Feminine Gender
(III) Common Gender and
(IV) Neuter Gender.


Basically, there are only two kinds of a Gender Noun, Masculine and Feminine Gender. The modern teachers of the English language suggest that there are actually four kinds of a Gender Noun including Common and Neuter Gender.


First, let's discuss about Masculine and Feminine Genders of a Noun.


(I) Masculine Gender-------------- A Noun that mentions a male animal or person is said to be of the Masculine Gender.


(II) Feminine Gender-------------- A Noun that denotes a female animal or person is said to be of the Feminine Gender.


The next thing that we need to know comprehensively is how to change a Masculine Gender Noun into a Feminine Gender Noun.


Followings are some rules that help in forming Masculine Gender Nouns into Feminine Gender Nouns. Let's consider them thoroughly.


-1st Rule:- By adding (-ess) in the end of a Masculine Gender to form a Feminine Gender. For example:


-Author -------------- Authoress
-Baron ------------ Baroness
-Giant -------------- Giantess
-Heir ---------------Heiress
-Poet ------------- Poetess
-Actor --------------- Actress


-Adding (-ess) in the end of a Masculine Gender to form a Feminine Gender is the most common one.


-2nd Rule:- By adding (-ine, -trix, -a, and -en) in the end of a Masculine Gender to form a Feminine Gender. For example:


-Hero ------------ Heroine
-Testator -----------Testatrix
-Czar ----------- Czarina
-Signor ---------- Signora
-Sultan ------------ Sultana
-Fox --------------- Vixen


-3rd Rule:- By adding a word before a Masculine Gender to form a Feminine Gender. For example:


-Grandfather ------------- Grandmother
-Manservant -------------- Maidservant
-Landlord ------------------ Landlady
-Milkman ---------------- Milk-woman
-Peacock ----------------- Peahen


-4th Rule:- By using entirely a different word. For example:


-Boy ------------- Girl
-Papa ------------ Mama
-Brother ----------- Sister
-Husband ------------ Wife
-Horse ------------ Mare
-Nephew ------------ Niece
-Drake ------------- Duck
-Earl ---------------- Countess
-Sir ------------------- Madam.


-We had been talking about Masculine and Feminine Genders of a Noun so far. Let's move on to talk about Common and Neuter Genders also.


(III) Common Gender ----------------A Noun that mentions a thing that is either a male or a female is said to be of the Common Gender. It means it is applied to both male or a female. For example: Parent, Child, Friend, Thief, cousin etc. Nothing is added with them to form a female gender because they can be applied to both male and a female.


(IV) Neuter Gender -------------------A Noun that mentions a thing that is neither male nor a female (i.e. a thing without life) is said to be of the Neuter Gender. It means, like Common Genders they cannot be changed into Feminine or Masculine Genders. For example: Book, pen, table, chair etc.


We hope that today's class provided you with a valuable tutorial about the Gender Of a Noun.
If you have any questions about the tutorial, please feel free to contact us in our inbox of our Facebook page English Speaking Cub .



Best of luck.

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.