P.O.S

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English Parts of Speech

There are thousands of words in any language. But not all words have the same job. For example, some words express "action". Other words express a "thing". Other words "join" one word to another word. These are the "building blocks" of the language. Think of them like the parts of a house. When we want to build a house, we use concrete to make the foundations or base. We use bricks to make the walls. We use window frames to make the windows, and door frames to make the doorways. And we use cement to join them all together. Each part of the house has its own job. And when we want to build a sentence, we use the different types of word. Each type of word has its own job.
We can categorize English words into 8 basic types or classes. These classes are called "parts of speech".

Some grammar books categorize English into 9 or 10 parts of speech. At EnglishClub, we use the traditional categorization of 8 parts of speech.

It's quite important to recognize parts of speech. This helps you to analyze sentences and understand them. It also helps you to construct good sentences.

Parts of Speech Table

This is a summary of the 8 parts of speech*. You can find more detail if you click on each part of speech.
part of speechfunction or "job"example wordsexample sentences
Verbaction or state(to) be, have, do, like, work, sing, can, mustEnglishClub.com is a web site. Ilike EnglishClub.com.
Nounthing or personpen, dog, work, music, town, London, teacher, JohnThis is my dog. He lives in myhouse. We live in London.
Adjectivedescribes a nouna/an, the, 69, some, good, big, red, well, interestingMy dog is big. I like big dogs.
Adverbdescribes a verb, adjective or adverbquickly, silently, well, badly, very, reallyMy dog eats quickly. When he isvery hungry, he eats reallyquickly.
Pronounreplaces a nounI, you, he, she, someTara is Indian. She is beautiful.
Prepositionlinks a noun to another wordto, at, after, on, butWe went to school on Monday.
Conjunctionjoins clauses or sentences or wordsand, but, whenI like dogs and I like cats. I like cats and dogs. I like dogs but I don't like cats.
Interjectionshort exclamation, sometimes inserted into a sentenceoh!, ouch!, hi!, wellOuch! That hurts! Hi! How are you? Well, I don't know.
* Some grammar sources categorize English into 9 or 10 parts of speech. At EnglishClub.com, we use the traditional categorization of 8 parts of speech. Examples of other categorizations are:
  • Verbs may be treated as two different parts of speech:
    • Lexical Verbs (work, like, run)
    • Auxiliary Verbs (be, have, must)
  • Determiners may be treated as a separate part of speech, instead of being categorized under Adjectives

Parts of Speech Examples

Here are some sentences made with different English parts of speech:
verb
Stop!
nounverb
Johnworks.
nounverbverb
Johnisworking.

pronounverbnoun
Shelovesanimals.
nounverbadjectivenoun
Animalslikekindpeople.

nounverbnounadverb
TaraspeaksEnglishwell.
nounverbadjectivenoun
TaraspeaksgoodEnglish.

pronounverbprepositionadjectivenounadverb
Sherantothestationquickly.

pron.verbadj.nounconjunctionpron.verbpron.
ShelikesbigsnakesbutIhatethem.
Here is a sentence that contains every part of speech:
interjectionpron.conj.adj.nounverbprep.nounadverb
Well,sheandyoungJohnwalktoschoolslowly.

Words with More than One Job

Many words in English can have more than one job, or be more than one part of speech. For example, "work" can be a verb and a noun; "but" can be a conjunction and a preposition; "well" can be an adjective, an adverb and an interjection. In addition, many nouns can act as adjectives.
To analyze the part of speech, ask yourself: "What job is this word doing in this sentence?"
In the table below you can see a few examples. Of course, there are more, even for some of the words in the table. In fact, if you look in a good dictionary you will see that the word "but" has six jobs to do:
  • verb, noun, adverb, pronoun, preposition and conjuction!
wordpart of speechexample
worknounMy work is easy.
verbwork in London.
butconjunctionJohn came but Mary didn't come.
prepositionEveryone came but Mary.
welladjectiveAre you well?
adverbShe speaks well.
interjectionWell! That's expensive!
afternoonnounWe ate in the afternoon.
noun acting as adjectiveWe had afternoon tea.

Parts of Speech Quiz

1I bought a beautiful  dress at the mall.
2What did she  ask you to do?
3I left my shoes under  the kitchen table.
4If we finish our work quickly  we can go to the movies.
5On Saturdays I work  from nine to five.
6I want to go to a university  in the United States.
7I'm sure I have met  your girlfriend before.
8Well I don't think I will be here to answer the phone.
9Andy knocked on the door but  nobody answered.
10After  lunch let's go out for a coffee.



Verbs



What are Verbs?

The verb is king in English. The shortest sentence contains a verb. You can make a one-word sentence with a verb, for example: "Stop!" You cannot make a one-word sentence with any other type of word.
Verbs are sometimes described as "action words". This is partly true. Many verbs give the idea of action, of "doing" something. For example, words like run, fight, do and work all convey action.
But some verbs do not give the idea of action; they give the idea of existence, of state, of "being". For example, verbs like be, exist, seem and belong all convey state.
A verb always has a subject. (In the sentence "John speaks English", John is the subject and speaks is the verb.) In simple terms, therefore, we can say that verbs are words that tell us what a subject doesor is; they describe:
  • action (Ram plays football.)
  • state (Anthony seems kind.)
There is something very special about verbs in English. Most other words (adjectives, adverbs, prepositions etc) do not change in form (although nouns can have singular and plural forms). But almost all verbs change in form. For example, the verb to work has five forms:
  • to work, work, works, worked, working
Of course, this is still very few forms compared to some languages which may have thirty or more forms for a single verb.




Verb Classification

We divide verbs into two broad classifications:

1. Helping Verbs

Imagine that a stranger walks into your room and says:
  • can.
  • People must.
  • The Earth will.
Do you understand anything? Has this person communicated anything to you? Probably not! That's because these verbs are helping verbs and have no meaning on their own. They are necessary for the grammatical structure of the sentence, but they do not tell us very much alone. We usually use helping verbs with main verbs. They "help" the main verb. (The sentences in the above examples are therefore incomplete. They need at least a main verb to complete them.) There are only about 15 helping verbs.

2. Main Verbs

Now imagine that the same stranger walks into your room and says:
  • teach.
  • People eat.
  • The Earth rotates.
Do you understand something? Has this person communicated something to you? Probably yes! Not a lot, but something. That's because these verbs are main verbs and have meaning on their own. They tell us something. Of course, there are thousands of main verbs.
In the following table we see example sentences with helping verbs and main verbs. Notice that all of these sentences have a main verb. Only some of them have a helping verb.
helping verbmain verb
Johnlikescoffee.
Youliedto me.
Theyarehappy.
The childrenareplaying.
Wemustgonow.
Idonotwantany.
Helping verbs and main verbs can be further sub-divided, as we shall see on the following pages



Helping Verbs



Helping verbs are also called "auxiliary verbs".

Helping verbs have no meaning on their own. They are necessary for the grammatical structure of a sentence, but they do not tell us very much alone. We usually use helping verbs with main verbs. They "help" the main verb (which has the real meaning). There are only about 15 helping verbs in English, and we divide them into two basic groups:

Primary helping verbs (3 verbs)

These are the verbs bedo, and have. Note that we can use these three verbs as helping verbs or as main verbs. On this page we talk about them as helping verbs. We use them in the following cases:
  • be
    • to make continuous tenses (He is watching TV.)
    • to make the passive (Small fish are eaten by big fish.)


  • have
    • to make perfect tenses (I have finished my homework.)


  • do
    • to make negatives (I do not like you.)
    • to ask questions (Do you want some coffee?)
    • to show emphasis (I do want you to pass your exam.)
    • to stand for a main verb in some constructions (He speaks faster than she does.)

Modal helping verbs (10 verbs)

We use modal helping verbs to "modify" the meaning of the main verb in some way. A modal helping verb expresses necessity or possibility, and changes the main verb in that sense. These are the modal verbs:
  • can, could
  • may, might
  • will, would,
  • shall, should
  • must
  • ought to
Here are examples using modal verbs:
  • can't speak Chinese.
  • John may arrive late.
  • Would you like a cup of coffee?
  • You should see a doctor.
  • I really must go now.


Semi-modal verbs (3 verbs)

The following verbs are often called "semi-modals" because they are partly like modal helping verbs and partly like main verbs:

  • need
  • dare
  • used to

Main Verbs

Main verbs are also called "lexical verbs".

Main verbs have meaning on their own (unlike helping verbs). There are thousands of main verbs, and we can classify them in several ways:

Transitive and intransitive verbs

A transitive verb takes a direct object: Somebody killed the President. An intransitive verb does not have a direct object: He died. Many verbs, like speak, can be transitive or intransitive. Look at these examples:
transitive:
  • saw an elephant.
  • We are watching TV.
  • He speaks English.
intransitive:
  • He has arrived.
  • John goes to school.
  • She speaks fast.

Linking verbs

A linking verb does not have much meaning in itself. It "links" the subject to what is said about the subject. Usually, a linking verb shows equality (=) or a change to a different state or place (>). Linking verbs are always intransitive (but not all intransitive verbs are linking verbs).
  • Mary is a teacher. (mary = teacher)
  • Tara is beautiful. (tara = beautiful)
  • That sounds interesting. (that = interesting)
  • The sky became dark. (the sky > dark)
  • The bread has gone bad. (bread > bad)

Dynamic and stative verbs

Some verbs describe action. They are called "dynamic", and can be used with continuous tenses. Other verbs describe state (non-action, a situation). They are called "stative", and cannot normally be used with continuous tenses (though some of them can be used with continuous tenses with a change in meaning).
dynamic verbs (examples):
  • hit, explode, fight, run, go
stative verbs (examples):
  • be
  • like, love, prefer, wish
  • impress, please, surprise
  • hear, see, sound
  • belong to, consist of, contain, include, need
  • appear, resemble, seem

Regular and irregular verbs

This is more a question of vocabulary than of grammar. The only real difference between regular and irregular verbs is that they have different endings for their past tense and past participle forms. For regular verbs, the past tense ending and past participle ending is always the same: -ed. For irregular verbs, the past tense ending and the past participle ending is variable, so it is necessary to learn them by heart.
regular verbs: base, past tense, past participle
  • look, looked, looked
  • work, worked, worked
irregular verbs: base, past tense, past participle
  • buy, bought, bought
  • cut, cut, cut
  • do, did, done

One way to think of regular and irregular verbs is like this: all verbs are irregular and the so-called regular verbs are simply one very large group of irregular verbs.


Often the above divisions can be mixed. For example, one verb could be irregular, transitive and dynamic; another verb could be regular, transitive and stative.


Verb Classification Quiz

1The grocery clerk will  carry your bags out for you.
2The mail arrived  after I left.
3I have already done  my homework.
4That book you recommended sounds  interesting.
5prefer  cream rather than milk.
6Jerry studies  for three hours every day.
7We looked  at all of the art in the museum.
8Would you take  a picture for us?
9I don't want to fight  about who gets the car.
10She seemed  like an interesting person.

Nouns


What are Nouns?

The simple definition is: a person, place or thing. Here are some examples:
  • person: man, woman, teacher, John, Mary
  • place: home, office, town, countryside, America
  • thing: table, car, banana, money, music, love, dog, monkey
The problem with this definition is that it does not explain why "love" is a noun but can also be a verb.
Another (more complicated) way of recognizing a noun is by its:
  1. Ending
  2. Position
  3. Function
1. Noun Ending
There are certain word endings that show that a word is a noun, for example:
  • -ity > nationality
  • -ment > appointment
  • -ness > happiness
  • -ation > relation
  • -hood > childhood
But this is not true for the word endings of all nouns. For example, the noun "spoonful" ends in -ful, but the adjective "careful" also ends in -ful.
2. Position in Sentence
We can often recognise a noun by its position in the sentence.
Nouns often come after a determiner (a determiner is a word like a, an, the, this, my, such):
  • relief
  • an afternoon
  • the doctor
  • this word
  • my house
  • such stupidity
Nouns often come after one or more adjectives:
  • a great relief
  • a peaceful afternoon
  • the tall, Indian doctor
  • this difficult word
  • my brown and white house
  • such crass stupidity
3. Function in a Sentence
Nouns have certain functions (jobs) in a sentence, for example:
  • subject of verb: Doctors work hard.
  • object of verb: He likes coffee.
  • subject and object of verb: Teachers teach students.
But the subject or object of a sentence is not always a noun. It could be a pronoun or a phrase. In the sentence "My doctor works hard", the noun is "doctor" but the subject is "My doctor".


Countable and Uncountable Nouns

English nouns are often described as "countable" or "uncountable".

Countable Nouns

Countable nouns are easy to recognize. They are things that we can count. For example: "pen". We can count pens. We can have one, two, three or more pens. Here are some more countable nouns:
  • dog, cat, animal, man, person
  • bottle, box, litre
  • coin, note, dollar
  • cup, plate, fork
  • table, chair, suitcase, bag
Countable nouns can be singular or plural:
  • My dog is playing.
  • My dogs are hungry.
We can use the indefinite article a/an with countable nouns:
  • A dog is an animal.
When a countable noun is singular, we must use a word like a/the/my/this with it:
  • I want an orange. (not I want orange.)
  • Where is my bottle? (not Where is bottle?)
When a countable noun is plural, we can use it alone:
  • I like oranges.
  • Bottles can break.
We can use some and any with countable nouns:
  • I've got some dollars.
  • Have you got any pens?
We can use a few and many with countable nouns:
  • I've got a few dollars.
  • I haven't got many pens.



"People" is countable. "People" is the plural of "person". We can count people:
  • There is one person here.
  • There are three people here.


Uncountable Nouns

Uncountable nouns are substances, concepts etc that we cannot divide into separate elements. We cannot "count" them. For example, we cannot count "milk". We can count "bottles of milk" or "litres of milk", but we cannot count "milk" itself. Here are some more uncountable nouns:
  • music, art, love, happiness
  • advice, information, news
  • furniture, luggage
  • rice, sugar, butter, water
  • electricity, gas, power
  • money, currency
We usually treat uncountable nouns as singular. We use a singular verb. For example:
  • This news is very important.
  • Your luggage looks heavy.
We do not usually use the indefinite article a/an with uncountable nouns. We cannot say "an information" or "a music". But we can say a something of:
  • a piece of news
  • a bottle of water
  • a grain of rice
We can use some and any with uncountable nouns:
  • I've got some money.
  • Have you got any rice?
We can use a little and much with uncountable nouns:
  • I've got a little money.
  • I haven't got much rice.

Uncountable nouns are also called "mass nouns".



Here are some more examples of countable and uncountable nouns:

CountableUncountable
dollarmoney
songmusic
suitcaseluggage
tablefurniture
batteryelectricity
bottlewine
reportinformation
tipadvice
journeytravel
jobwork
viewscenery

When you learn a new word, it's a good idea to learn whether it's countable or uncountable.





Nouns that can be Countable and Uncountable

Sometimes, the same noun can be countable and uncountable, often with a change of meaning.
CountableUncountable
There are two hairs in my coffee!hairI don't have much hair.
There are two lights in our bedroom.lightClose the curtain. There's too much light!
Shhhhh! I thought I heard a noise.
There are so many different noises in the city.
noiseIt's difficult to work when there is too much noise.
Have you got a paper to read? (newspaper)
Hand me those student papers.
paperI want to draw a picture. Have you got some paper?
Our house has seven rooms.roomIs there room for me to sit here?
We had a great time at the party.
How many times have I told you no?
timeHave you got time for a coffee?
Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's greatest works.workI have no money. I need work!




Drinks (coffee, water, orange juice) are usually uncountable. But if we are thinking of a cup or a glass, we can say (in a restaurant, for example):
  • Two teas and one coffee please.



Proper Nouns (Names)

A proper noun is the special word (or name) that we use for a person, place or organization, like John, Marie, London, France or Sony. A name is a noun, but a very special noun - a proper noun. Proper nouns have special rules.

common nounproper noun
man, boyJohn
woman, girlMary
country, townEngland, London
companyFord, Sony
shop, restaurantMaceys, McDonalds
month, day of the weekJanuary, Sunday
book, filmWar & PeaceTitanic





Using Capital Letters with Proper Nouns

We always use a Capital Letter for the first letter of a proper noun (name). This includes names of people, places, companies, days of the week and months. For example:
  • They like John. (not *They like john.)
  • I live in England.
  • She works for Sony.
  • The last day in January is a Monday.
  • We saw Titanic in the Odeon Cinema.


Proper Nouns without THE

We do not use "the" with names of people. For example:

first namesBill (not *the Bill)
Hilary
surnamesClinton
Gates
full namesHilary Gates

We do not normally use "the" with names of companies. For example:
  • Renault, Ford, Sony, EnglishClub.com
  • General Motors, Air France, British Airways
  • Warner Brothers, Brown & Son Ltd

If the full (registered) name of a company starts with "The", then we use "The" if we use the full name, for example:
  • The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd

We do not normally use "the" for shops, banks, hotels etc named after a founder or other person (with -'s or -s). For example:

shopsHarrods, Marks & Spencer, Maceys
banksBarclays Bank
hotels, restaurantsSteve's Hotel, Joe's Cafe, McDonalds
churches, cathedralsSt John's Church, St Peter's Cathedral

We do not normally use "the" with names of places. For example:

townsWashington (not *the Washington), Paris, Tokyo
states, regionsTexas, Kent, Eastern Europe
countriesEngland, Italy, Brazil
continentsAsia, Europe, North America
islandsCorsica
mountainsEverest

Exception! If a country name includes "States","Kingdom", "Republic" etc, we use "the":

statesthe United States, the US, the United States of America, the USA
kingdomthe United Kingdom, the UK
republicthe French Republic

We do not use "the" with "President/Doctor/Mr etc + Name":

the president, the kingPresident Bush (not *the President Bush)
the captain, the detectiveCaptain Kirk, Detective Colombo
the doctor, the professorDoctor Well, Dr Well, Professor Dolittle
my uncle, your auntUncle Jack, Aunt Jill
Mr Gates (not *the Mr Gates), Mrs Clinton, Miss Black

Look at these example sentences:
  • I wanted to speak to the doctor.
  • I wanted to speak to Doctor Brown.
  • Who was the president before President Kennedy?
We do not use "the" with "Lake/Mount + Name":

the lakeLake Victoria
the mountMount Everest

Look at this example sentence:
  • We live beside Lake Victoria. We have a fantastic view across the lake.
We do not normally use "the" for roads, streets, squares, parks etc:

streets etcOxford Street, Trenholme Road, Fifth Avenue
squares etcTrafalgar Square, Oundle Place, Piccadilly Circus
parks etcCentral Park, Kew Gardens

Many big, important buildings have names made of two words (for example, Kennedy Airport). If the first word is the name of a person or place, we do not normally use "the":

peopleKennedy Airport, Alexander Palace, St Paul's Cathedral
placesHeathrow Airport, Waterloo Station, Edinburgh Castle




Proper Nouns with THE

We normally use "the" for country names that include "States","Kingdom", "Republic" etc:

Statesthe United States of America/the USA
Kingdomthe United Kingdom/the UK
Republicthe French Republic

We normally use "the" for names of canals, rivers, seas and oceans:

canalsthe Suez Canal
riversthe River Nile, the Nile
seasthe Mediterranean Sea, the Mediterranean
oceansthe Pacific Ocean, the Pacific

We normally use "the" for plural names of people and places:

people (families, for example)the Clintons
countriesthe Philippines, the United States
island groupsthe Virgin Islands, the British Isles
mountain rangesthe Himalayas, the Alps

Look at these sentences:
  • I saw the Clintons today. It was Bill's birthday.
  • Trinidad is the largest island in the West Indies.
  • Mount Everest is in the Himalayas.
We normally use "the" with the following sorts of names:

hotels, restaurantsthe Ritz Hotel, the Peking Restaurant
banksthe National Westminster Bank
cinemas, theatresthe Royal Theatre, the ABC Cinema
museumsthe British Museum, the National Gallery
buildingsthe White House, the Crystal Palace
newspapersthe Daily Telegraph, the Sunday Post
organisationsthe United Nations, the BBC, the European Union

We normally use "the" for names made with "of":
  • the Tower of London
  • the Gulf of Siam
  • the Tropic of Cancer
  • the London School of Economics
  • the Bank of France
  • the Statue of Liberty

Proper Nouns Quiz
1Let's have lunch at McDonalds .
2There are 12 months  in a year.
3My favourite movie is Greece .
4Lisa works as a programmer at Microsoft .
5I live in a small town  in England.
6My cousin lives in .
7I want to visit  when I finish school.
8Call me when you arrive at .
9I have a check-up with  on Friday.
10We saw whales in  Ocean.






Possessive 's

When we want to show that something belongs to somebody or something, we usually add 's to a singular noun and an apostrophe ' to a plural noun, for example:
  • the boy's ball (one boy)
  • the boys' ball (two or more boys)
Notice that the number of balls does not matter. The structure is influenced by the possessor and not the possessed.
one ballmore than one ball
one boy
the boy's ball

the boy's balls
more than one boy
the boys' ball

the boys' balls
The structure can be used for a whole phrase:
  • the man next door's mother (the mother of the man next door)
  • the Queen of England's poodles (the poodles of the Queen of England)


Although we can use of to show possession, it is more usual to use possessive 's. The following phrases have the same meaning, but #2 is more usual and natural:
  1. the boyfriend of my sister
  2. my sister's boyfriend


Proper Nouns (Names)

We very often use possessive 's with names:
  • This is Mary's car.
  • Where is Ram's telephone?
  • Who took Anthony's pen?
  • I like Tara's hair.
When a name ends in s, we usually treat it like any other singular noun, and add 's:
  • This is Charles's chair.
But it is possible (especially with older, classical names) to just add the apostrophe ':
  • Who was Jesus' father?

Irregular Plurals

Some nouns have irregular plural forms without s (man > men). To show possession, we usually add 'sto the plural form of these nouns:
singular nounplural noun
my child's dogmy children's dog
the man's workthe men's work
the mouse's cagethe mice's cage
a person's clothespeople's clothes




Noun as Adjective

As you know, a noun is a person, place or thing, and an adjective is a word that describes a noun:

adjectivenoun
cleverteacher
smalloffice
blackhorse

Sometimes we use a noun to describe another noun. In that case, the first noun "acts as" an adjective.

noun
as adjective
noun
historyteacher
ticketoffice
racehorse

The "noun as adjective" always comes first

If you remember this it will help you to understand what is being talked about:
  • race horse is a horse that runs in races
  • horse race is a race for horses
  • boat race is a race for boats
  • love story is a story about love
  • war story is a story about war
  • tennis ball is a ball for playing tennis
  • tennis shoes are shoes for playing tennis
  • computer exhibition is an exhibition of computers
  • bicycle shop is a shop that sells bicycles

The "noun as adjective" is singular

Just like a real adjective, the "noun as adjective" is invariable. It is usually in the singular form.

RightWrong
boat raceboat racesNOT boats race, boats races
toothbrushtoothbrushesNOT teethbrush, teethbrushes
shoe-laceshoe-lacesNOT shoes-lace, shoes-laces
cigarette packetcigarette packetsNOT cigarettes packet, cigarettes packets

In other words, if there is a plural it is on the real noun only.
A few nouns look plural but we usually treat them as singular (for example news, billiards, athletics). When we use these nouns "as adjectives" they are unchanged:
  • a news reporter, three news reporters
  • one billiards table, four billiards tables
  • an athletics trainer, fifty athletics trainers
Exceptions:

When we use certain nouns "as adjectives" (clothes, sports, customs, accounts, arms), we use them in the plural form:

  • clothes shop, clothes shops
  • sports club, sports clubs
  • customs duty, customs duties
  • accounts department, accounts departments
  • arms production

How do we write the "noun as adjective"?

We write the "noun as adjective" and the real noun in several different ways:
  • two separate words (car door)
  • two hyphenated words (book-case)
  • one word (bathroom)
There are no easy rules for this. We even write some combinations in two or all three different ways: (head master, head-master, headmaster)

How do we say the "noun as adjective"?

For pronunciation, we usually stress the first word:
  • shoe shop
  • boat-race
  • bathroom

Can we have more than one "noun as adjective"?

Yes. Just like adjectives, we often use more than one "noun as adjective" together. Look at these examples:
car production costs: we are talking about the costs of producing cars

noun as
adjective
noun as
adjective
noun
costs
productioncosts
carproductioncosts

England football team coach: we are talking about the coach who trains the team that plays football for England

noun as
adjective
noun as
adjective
noun as
adjective
noun
coach
teamcoach
footballteamcoach
Englandfootballteamcoach

Note: in England football team coach can you see a "hidden" "noun as adjective"? Look at the word "football" (foot-ball). These two nouns (foot+ball) have developed into a single noun (football). This is one way that words evolve. Many word combinations that use a "noun as adjective" are regarded as nouns in their own right, with their own dictionary definition. But not all dictionaries agree with each other. For example, some dictionaries list "tennis ball" as a noun and other dictionaries do not.
government road accident research centre: we are talking about a centre that researches into accidents on the road for the government

noun as
adjective
noun as
adjective
noun as
adjective
noun as
adjective
noun
centre
researchcentre
accidentresearchcentre
roadaccidentresearchcentre
governmentroadaccidentresearchcentre

Newpapers often use many nouns together in headlines to save space. Look at this example:
BIRD HEALTH RESEARCH CENTRE MURDER MYSTERY
To understand headlines like these, try reading them backwards. The above headline is about a MYSTERY concerning a MURDER in a CENTRE for RESEARCH into the HEALTH of BIRDS.
Note, too, that we can still use a real adjective to qualify a "noun as adjective" structure:
  • empty coffee jar
  • honest car salesman
  • delicious dog food
  • rising car production costs
  • famous England football team coach



Compound Nouns

A compound noun is a noun that is made with two or more words. A compound noun is usually [noun + noun] or [adjective + noun], but there are other combinations (see below). It is important to understand and recognize compound nouns. Each compound noun acts as a single unit and can be modified by adjectives and other nouns.
There are three forms for compound nouns:
  1. open or spaced - space between words (tennis shoe)
  2. hyphenated - hyphen between words (six-pack)
  3. closed or solid - no space or hyphen between words (bedroom)
Here are some examples of compound nouns:

noun+nounbus stopIs this the bus stop for the number 12 bus?
fire-flyIn the tropics you can see fire-flies at night.
footballShall we play football today?
adjective+nounfull moonI always feel crazy at full moon.
blackboardClean the blackboard please.
softwareI can't install this software on my PC.
verb(-ing)+nounbreakfastWe always eat breakfast at 8am.
washing machinePut the clothes in the red washing machine.
swimming poolWhat a beautiful swimming pool!
noun+verb(-ing)sunriseI like to get up at sunrise.
haircutYou need a haircut.
train-spottingHis hobby is train-spotting.
verb+prepositioncheck-outPlease remember that check-out is at 12 noon.
noun+prepositional phrasemother-in-lawMy mother-in-law lives with us.
preposition+noununderworldDo you think the police accept money from theunderworld?
noun+adjectivetruckfulWe need 10 truckfuls of bricks.

Pronunciation

Compound nouns tend to have more stress on the first word. In the phrase "pink ball", both words are equally stressed (as you know, adjectives and nouns are always stressed). In the compound noun "golf ball", the first word is stressed more (even though both words are nouns, and nouns are always stressed). Since "golf ball" is a compound noun we consider it as a single noun and so it has a single main stress - on the first word. Stress is important in compound nouns. For example, it helps us know if somebody said "a GREEN HOUSE" (a house which is painted green) or "a GREENhouse" (a building made of glass for growing plants inside).



British/American differences


Different varieties of English, and even different writers, may use the open, hyphenated or closed form for the same compound noun. It is partly a matter of style. There are no definite rules. For example we can find:

  • container ship
  • container-ship
  • containership
If you are not sure which form to use, please check in a good dictionary.

Plural forms of compound nouns

In general we make the plural of a compound noun by adding -s to the "base word" (the most "significant" word). Look at these examples:


singularplural
a tennis shoethree tennis shoes
one assistant headmasterfive assistant headmasters
the sergeant majorsome sergeants major
a mother-in-lawtwo mothers-in-law
an assistant secretary of statethree assistant secretaries of state
my toothbrushour toothbrushes
a woman-doctorfour women-doctors
a doctor of philosophytwo doctors of philosophy
a passerby, a passer-bytwo passersby, two passers-by

Note that there is some variation with words like spoonful or truckful. The old style was to say spoonsful or trucksful for the plural. Today it is more usual to say spoonfuls or truckfuls. Both the old style (spoonsful) and the new style (spoonfuls) are normally acceptable, but you should be consistent in your choice. Here are some examples:

old style plural
(very formal)
new style plural
teaspoonfulteaspoonsful of sugarteasponfuls of sugar
truckfultrucksful of sandtruckfuls of sand
bucketfulbucketsful of waterbucketfuls of water
cupfulcupsful of ricecupfuls of rice

Some compound nouns have no obvious base word and you may need to consult a dictionary to find the plural:
  • higher-ups
  • also-rans
  • go-betweens
  • has-beens
  • good-for-nothings
  • grown-ups
Note that with compound nouns made of [noun + noun] the first noun is like an adjective and therefore does not usually take an -s. A tree that has apples has many apples, but we say an apple tree, notapples treematchbox not matchesboxtoothbrush not teethbrush.
With compound nouns made of [noun + noun] the second noun takes an -s for plural. The first noun acts like an adjective and as you know, adjectives in English are invariable. Look at these examples:

long plural form becomes ›plural compound noun
[noun + noun]
100 trees with apples100 apple trees
1,000 cables for telephones1,000 telephone cables
20 boxes for tools20 tool boxes
10 stops for buses10 bus stops
4,000 wheels for cars4,000 car wheels



Compound noun quiz

Using compound nouns, can you shorten the following phrases?
1.a room for stores
2.a tape for measuring up to 300 cms
3.the assistant manager of the restaurant
4.a station for express trains
5.size of cables
6.reduction in cost
7.two periods of three months
8.plugs with 3 pins
9.two steel boxes for the tools
10.the husband of my daughter












Determiners

Determiners are words like theanmysome. They are grammatically similar. They all come at the beginning of noun phrases, and usually we cannot use more than one determiner in the same noun phrase.
Articles:
  • a, an, the
Possessive Adjectives:
  • my, your, his, her, its, our, their, whose
Other determiners:
  • each, every
  • either, neither
  • some, any, no
  • much, many; more, most
  • little, less, least
  • few, fewer, fewest
  • what, whatever; which, whichever
  • both, half, all
  • several
  • enough



Some grammarians do not consider determiners as adjectives, but give them a class of their own.



Determiners Quiz

1Lisa saw  shooting star yesterday.
2Don't look directly at  sun.
3Is there any milk left in  fridge?
4I need to pack  apple for my lunch.
5The dogs were  given a bone.
6The police spoke separately to  suspect.
7She was wearing a bracelet on  wrist.
8She got her license without  problem.
9I don't think  is coming to the party, except Judy and Stan.
10I always keep  money in my wallet for emergencies.





Adjective Order

There are 2 basic positions for adjectives:
  1. before the noun
  2. after certain verbs (be, become, get, seem, look, feel, sound, smell, taste)
adj.nounverbadj.
1I likebigcars.
2My carisbig.

In this lesson we look at the position of adjectives in a sentence.



Adjective Before Noun

We sometimes use more than one adjective before the noun:
  • I like big black dogs.
  • She was wearing a beautiful long red dress.
What is the correct order for two or more adjectives?
1. The general order is: opinion, fact:
  • a nice French car (not a French nice car)
("Opinion" is what you think about something. "Fact" is what is definitely true about something.)
2. The normal order for fact adjectives is size, age, shape, colour, material, origin:
  • a big, old, square, black, wooden Chinese table
3. Determiners usually come first, even though they are fact adjectives:
  • articles (a, the)
  • possessives (my, your...)
  • demonstratives (this, that...)
  • quantifiers (some, any, few, many...)
  • numbers (one, two, three)
Here is an example with opinion and fact adjectives:
adjectivesnoun
deter-
miner
opinionfact
ageshapecolour
twoniceoldroundredcandles
When we want to use two colour adjectives, we join them with "and":
  • Many newspapers are black and white.
  • She was wearing a long, blue and yellow dress.



he rules on this page are for the normal, "natural" order of adjectives. But these rules are not rigid, and you may sometimes wish to change the order for emphasis. Consider the following conversations:


Conversation 1

A "I want to buy a round table."

B "Do you want a new round table or an old round table?"



Conversation 2

A "I want to buy an old table".

B "Do you want a round old table or a square old table?"



Adjective After Certain Verbs

An adjective can come after some verbs, such as: be, become, feel, get, look, seem, smell, sound
Even when an adjective comes after the verb and not before a noun, it always refers to and qualifies the subject of the sentence, not the verb.
Look at the examples below: subject verb adjective
  • Ram is English.
  • Because she had to wait, she became impatient.
  • Is it getting dark?
  • The examination did not seem difficult.
  • Your friend looks nice.
  • This towel feels damp.
  • That new film doesn't sound very interesting.
  • Dinner smells good tonight.
  • This milk tastes sour.
  • It smells bad.
These verbs are "stative" verbs, which express a state or change of state, not "dynamic" verbs which express an action. Note that some verbs can be stative in one sense (she looks beautiful | it got hot), and dynamic in another (she looked at him | he got the money). The above examples do not include all stative verbs.
Note also that in the above structure (subject verb adjective), the adjective can qualify a pronoun since the subject may be a pronoun.


Adjective Order Quiz
1Andrea had a  in her hair yesterday.
2She lost a .
3I bought  oranges.
4We met  people at the conference.
5The clown was wearing a  hat.
6The cookies that you .
7Is it ?
8The course you are .
9My uncle wore a  to the wedding.
10Have you met that  next door?








Comparative Adjectives

When we talk about two things, we can "compare" them. We can see if they are the same or different. Perhaps they are the same in some ways and different in other ways. We can use comparative adjectives to describe the differences.



We can use comparative adjectives when talking about two things (not three or more things).



In the example below, "bigger" is the comparative form of the adjective "big":
A1 A2A1 is bigger than A2.
In this lesson we will look first at how we make comparative adjectives, and then at how we use them:





Formation of Comparative Adjectives
There are two ways to make or form a comparative adjective:
  • short adjectives: add "-er"
  • long adjectives: use "more"
Short adjectives
  • 1-syllable adjectives
old, fast
  • 2-syllable adjectives ending in -y
happy, easy
Normal rule: add "-er"old → older
Variation: if the adjective ends in -e, just add -rlate → later
Variation: if the adjective ends in consonant, vowel, consonant, double the last consonantbig → bigger
Variation: if the adjective ends in -y, change the y to ihappy → happier
Long adjectives
  • 2-syllable adjectives not ending in -y
modern, pleasant
  • all adjectives of 3 or more syllables
expensive, intellectual
Normal rule: use "more"modern → more modern
expensive → more expensive




With some 2-syllable adjectives, we can use '-er' or 'more':
  • quiet → quieter/more quiet
  • clever → cleverer/more clever
  • narrow → narrower/more narrow
  • simple → simpler/more simple
   
Exception
The following adjectives have irregular forms:
  • good → better
  • well (healthy) → better
  • bad → worse
  • far → farther/further



Use of Comparative Adjectives
We use comparative adjectives when talking about 2 things (not 3 or 10 or 1,000,000 things, only 2 things).
Often, the comparative adjective is followed by "than".
Look at these examples:
  • John is 1m80. He is tall. But Chris is 1m85. He is taller than John.
  • America is big. But Russia is bigger.
  • I want to have a more powerful computer.
  • Is French more difficult than English?
If we talk about the two planets Earth and Mars, we can compare them as shown in the table below:

EarthMars
Diameter (km)12,7606,790Mars is smaller than Earth.
Distance from Sun (million km)150228Mars is more distant from the Sun.
Length of day (hours)2425A day on Mars is slightly longer than a day on Earth.
Moons12Mars has more moons than Earth.
Surface temperature (degrees Celcius)22-23Mars is colder than Earth.





 Although we use comparative adjectives when talking about two things (not three or more things), in fact one or both of the things may be a group of things.

  • Mt Everest is higher than all other mountains.

Here, we are talking about hundreds of mountains, but we are still comparing one thing (Mt Everest) to one other thing (all other mountains).





Superlative Adjectives

A superlative adjective expresses the extreme or highest degree of a quality. We use a superlative adjective to describe the extreme quality of one thing in a group of things.
In the example below, "biggest" is the superlative form of the adjective "big":
A B CA is the biggest.
In this lesson we will look first at how we make superlative adjectives, and then at how we use them:



Formation of Superlative Adjectives

As with comparative adjectives, there are two ways to form a superlative adjective:
  • short adjectives: add "-est"
  • long adjectives: use "most"
We also usually add 'the' at the beginning.

Short adjectives
1-syllable adjectivesold, fast
2-syllable adjectives ending in -yhappy, easy
Normal rule: add "-est"old → the oldest
Variation: if the adjective ends in -e, just add -stlate → the latest
Variation: if the adjective ends in consonant, vowel, consonant, double the last consonantbig → the biggest
Variation: if the adjective ends in -y, change the y to ihappy → the happiest
Long adjectives
2-syllable adjectives not ending in -ymodern, pleasant
all adjectives of 3 or more syllablesexpensive, intellectual
Normal rule: use "most"modern → the most modern
expensive → the most expensive




With some 2-syllable adjectives, we can use '-est' or 'most':
  • quiet → the quietest/most quiet
  • clever → the cleverest/most clever
  • narrow → the narrowest/most narrow
  • simple → the simplest/most simple



Exception
The following adjectives have irregular forms:
  • good → the best
  • bad → the worst
  • far → the furthest


Use of Superlative Adjectives

We use a superlative adjective to describe one thing in a group of three or more things. Look at these examples:
  • John is 1m75. David is 1m80. Chris is 1m85. Chris is the tallest.
  • Canada, China and Russia are big countries. But Russia is the biggest.
  • Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world.
If we talk about the three planets Earth, Mars and Jupiter, we can use superlative adjectives as shown in the table below:

EarthMarsJupiter
Dia-
meter (km)
12,7606,790142,800Jupiter is the biggest.
Dis-
tance from Sun (million km)
150228778Jupiter is the most distant from the Sun.
Length of day (hours)242510Jupiter has the shortest day.
Moons1216Jupiter has the most moons.
Surface temp.
(degrees Celcius)
22-23-150Jupiter is the coldest.


When we compare one thing with itself, we do not use "the":
  • England is coldest in winter. (not the coldest)
  • My boss is most generous when we get a big order. (not the most generous)


Gradable and Non-gradable Adjectives

Adjectives describe qualities (characteristics) of nouns.
  • Some qualities can vary in intensity or grade (for example: rather hot, hot, very hot; hot, hotter, the hottest).

    The adjective hot is gradable.

  • Other qualities cannot vary in intensity or grade because they are:
    1. extremes (for example: freezing)
    2. absolutes (for example: dead)
    3. classifying (for example: nuclear)
The adjectives freezingdead and nuclear are non-gradable.


Gradable and non-gradable adjectives



Gradable Adjectives

A gradable adjective can be used with "grading adverbs" that vary the adjective's grade or intensity. Look at these examples:

grading adverbs
a little, dreadfully, extremely, fairly, hugely, immensely, intensely, rather, reasonably, slightly, unusually, very
+gradable adjectives
angry, big, busy, clever, cold, deep, fast, friendly, good, happy, high, hot, important, long, popular, rich, strong, tall, warm, weak, young

A gradable adjective can also have comparative and superlative forms
  • big, bigger, the biggest
  • hot, hotter, the hottest
  • important, more important, the most important
Look at these example sentences:
  • My teacher was very happy with my homework.
  • That website is reasonably popular. But this one is more popular.
  • He said that Holland was a little cold and Denmark was rather cold. But Sweden was the coldest.




"Gradable adjectives" are also called "qualitative adjectives". "Grading adverbs" are also called "submodifiers"


The adjective dead is non-gradable because it is anabsolute. Dead is dead. We cannot be more or less dead. One person cannot be "deader" than another. Other absolutes include: correctuniqueperfec






Non-gradable Adjectives

A non-gradable adjective cannot be used with grading adverbs:
  • It was rather freezing outside.
  • The dog was very dead.
  • He is investing in slightly nuclear energy.
Non-gradable adjectives do not normally have comparative and superlative forms:
  • freezing, more freezing, the most freezing
  • dead, deader, the deadest
  • nuclear, more nuclear, the most nuclear
Often, non-gradable adjectives are used alone:


  • It was freezing outside.
  • The dog was dead.
  • He is investing in nuclear energy.
However, a non-gradable adjective can be used with "non-grading adverbs" (which usually just give the adjective extra impact), for example:

non-grading adverbsnon-gradable adjectives
absolutelyawfulextreme
utterlyexcellent
completelyterrified
totallydeadabsolute
nearlyimpossible
virtuallyunique
essentiallychemicalclassifying
mainlydigital
almostdomestic

Here are some example sentences with non-gradable adjectives:
  • Her exam results were absolutely awful. She will have to take the exam again.
  • Is there anything like it in the world? It must be virtually unique.
  • It starts an essentially chemical reaction.




Adjectives that can be gradable and non-gradable

Some adjectives may have more than one meaning or sense. It's possible for the same adjective to be gradable with one sense and non-gradable with another sense. For example:

adjectivecommon =
He's got a very old car.gradablenot young
I saw my old boyfriend yesterday.non-gradableformer, ex-
He has some dreadfully common habits.gradablevulgar
"The" is a very common word in English.gradableprevalent
The two countries' common border poses problems.non-gradableshared

Adverbs used with gradable and non-gradable adjectives

The adverbs really (very much) and fairly and pretty (both meaning "to a significant degree, but less than very") can often be used with gradable and non-gradable adjectives:
gradablenon-gradable
Please don't forget! It's really important.He was really terrified.
He's a fairly rich man.It's a fairly impossible job.
He's pretty tall.It's pretty ridiculous when you think about it.

"Quite" with gradable and non-gradable adjectives

The meaning of the adverb "quite" changes according to the type of adjective we use it with:
adjectivequite =
It's quite warm today.gradablefairly, rather
Are you quite certain?non-gradablecompletely, absolutely

Reference 

Non-gradable adjectives
Although we don't recommend that you learn lists of non-gradable adjectives, here are some for reference. You can decide for yourself whether they are extreme, absolute or classifying.
alive, awful, black, boiling, certain, correct, dead, domestic, enormous, environmental, excellent, freezing, furious, gigantic, huge, immediately, impossible, miniscule, mortal, overjoyed, perfect, pregnant, principal, ridiculous, superb, terrible, terrified, unique, unknown, white, whole


Non-grading adverbs
Again, no need to learn lists. Here are a few examples. There are many more. Remember that you cannot use all non-grading adverbs with all non-gradable adjectives. Some collocate (go together). Some don't.
absolutely, almost, completely, entirely, exclusively, fully, largely, mainly, nearly, perfectly, practically, primarily, utterly, virtually






Gradable and Non-gradable Adjectives Quiz

1I am  happy to see you.
2The cat was  dead when the vet arrived.
3To make tea, the water should be  boiling.
4Well done! Your homework is  excellent.
5Don't see that film! It's  awful!
6The  terrified people ran for their lives.
7I am reading a  good book.
8Are you sure? - Yes, I'm  certain.
9It's  cold outside. In fact, it's nearly freezing.
10The world is in a  ridiculous situation. I laugh so much!


Adverbs

Adverbs are an important part of speech. They usually answer questions such as how?, where?when?,how often? and how much?


What is an Adverb?

An adverb is a word that tells us more about a verb. It "qualifies" or "modifies" a verb (The man ranquickly). In the following examples, the adverb is in bold and the verb that it modifies is in italics.

  • John speaks loudly. (How does John speak?)
  • Afterwards she smoked a cigarette. (When did she smoke?)
  • Mary lives locally. (Where does Mary live?)
But adverbs can also modify adjectives (Tara is really beautiful), or even other adverbs (It works verywell). Look at these examples:
  • Modify an adjective:
    - He is really handsome. (How handsome is he?)
    - That was extremely kind of you.

  • Modify another adverb:
    - She drives incredibly slowly. (How slowly does she drive?)
    - He drives extremely fast.
Note that adverbs have other functions, too. They can:
  • Modify a whole sentence: ObviouslyI can't know everything.
  • Modify a prepositional phrase: It's immediately inside the door.


Adverb Form

We make many adverbs by adding -ly to an adjective, for example:
  • quick (adjective) > quickly (adverb)
  • careful (adjective) > carefully (adverb)
  • beautiful (adjective) > beautifully (adverb)
There are some basic rules about spelling for -ly adverbs. See the table below:

Adjective endingdo thisadjectiveadverb
most adjectivesadd -lyquick
nice
sole
careful
quickly
nicely
solely
carefully
-able or -iblechange -e to -yregrettable
horrible
regrettably
horribly
-ychange -y to -ilyhappyhappily
-icchange -ic to -icallyeconomiceconomically

But not all words that end in -ly are adverbs. The words friendlylovelylonely and neighbourly, for example, are all adjectives.
And some adverbs have no particular form. Look at these examples:
  • well, fast, very, never, always, often, still

Note that the form of an adverb can also change to make it comparative or superlative



Kinds of Adverbs

Here you can see the basic kinds of adverbs.

Adverbs of Manner

Adverbs of Manner tell us the manner or way in which something happens. They answer the question "how?". Adverbs of Manner mainly modify verbs.
  • He speaks slowly. (How does he speak?)
  • They helped us cheerfully. (How did they help us?)
  • James Bond drives his cars fast. (How does James Bond drive his cars?)

We normally use Adverbs of Manner with dynamic (action) verbs, not with stative or state verbs.
  • He ran fast. She came quickly. They worked happily.
  • She looked beautifully. It seems strangely. They are happily.


Adverbs of Place

Adverbs of Place tell us the place where something happens. They answer the question "where?". Adverbs of Place mainly modify verbs.
  • Please sit here. (Where should I sit?)
  • They looked everywhere. (Where did they look?)
  • Two cars were parked outside. (Where were two cars parked?)

Adverbs of Time

Adverbs of Time tell us something about the time that something happens. Adverbs of Time mainly modify verbs.
They can answer the question "when?":
  • He came yesterday. (When did he come?)
  • want it now. (When do I want it?)
Or they can answer the question "how often?":
  • They deliver the newspaper daily. (How often do they deliver the newspaper?)
  • We sometimes watch a movie. (How often do we watch a movie?)

Adverbs of Degree

Adverbs of Degree tell us the degree or extent to which something happens. They answer the question "how much?" or "to what degree?". Adverbs of Degree can modify verbsadjectives and other adverbs.
  • She entirely agrees with him. (How much does she agree with him?)
  • Mary is very beautiful. (To what degree is Mary beautiful? How beautiful is Mary?)
  • He drove quite dangerously. (To what degree did he drive dangerously? How dangerously did he drive?)


Adverb Position

When an adverb modifies a verb, there are usually 3 possible positions within the sentence or clause:

1. FRONT - before subjectNowI will read a book.
2. MID - between subject + verbIoftenread books.
3. END - after verb/objectread bookscarefully.

When an adverb modifies an adjective or another adverb, it usually goes in front of the word that it modifies, for example:

adverbadjective
She gave him areallydirtylook.
adverbadverb
Wequiteoftenstudy English.

The position of an adverb often depends on the kind of adverb (manner, place, time, degree). The following table gives you some guidelines for placement based on the kind of adverb.

Warning: these are guidelines only, and not complete. There are many exceptions.
kind of adverbmainly modifiessentenceusual position
adverb
mannerverbsShe stroked his hairgently.END
placeverbsHe was workinghere.END
timedefiniteverbsHe finished the jobyesterday.END
frequencyWeoftengo to Paris.MID
degreeverbs, adjectives and adverbsInearlydied.MID
It wasterriblyfunny.before adjective
He worksreallyfast.before adverb





Adverbs of Frequency

Adverbs of Frequency are Adverbs of Time that answer the question "How frequently?" or "How often?". They tell us how often something happens. Here are some examples:
  1. daily, weekly, yearly
  2. often, sometimes, rarely
You probably see a difference between a) and b) above. With words like daily we know exactly how often. The words in a) describe definite frequency. On the other hand, words like often give us an idea about frequency but they don't tell us exactly. The words in b) describe indefinite frequency.
We separate them into two groups because they normally go in different positions in the sentence.
In this lesson we will look in more detail at:




Adverbs of definite frequency

Examples:
  • hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly
  • every second, once a minute, twice a year
  • once, twice, once or twice, three times
Adverbs of definite frequency, like all adverbs of definite time, typically go in END position. Look at these examples:
  • Most companies pay taxes yearly.
  • The manager checks the toilets every hour.
  • The directors meet weekly to review progress.
Sometimes, usually for reasons of emphasis or style, some adverbs of definite frequency may go at the FRONT, for example:
  • Every day, more than five thousand people die on our roads.

Adverbs of indefinite frequency

Examples:
  • never, seldom, sometimes, often, always
100%always, constantly
usually, normally
frequently, regularly
often
50%sometimes
occasionally
rarely, infrequently
seldom
hardly ever
0%never
Adverbs of indefinite frequency mainly go in MID position in the sentence. They go before the main verb (except the main verb "to be"):
  • We usually go shopping on Saturday.
  • I have often done that.
  • She is always late.
Occasionallysometimesoftenfrequently and usually can also go at the beginning or end of a sentence:
  • Sometimes they come and stay with us.
  • I play tennis occasionally.
Rarely and seldom can also go at the end of a sentence (often with "very"):
  • We see them rarely.
  • John eats meat very seldom.

Adverbs of Frequency Quiz

1Nancy and I [30%]  go out for coffee together.
2Andrea lives next door so we  see her.
3We meet  at the Annual General Meeting.
4My doctor  checks my health .
5It [0%]  rains here in the summer.
6 we take the dog off his leash at the beach.
7My sister  two days of school in a row.
8My boyfriend and I take vacations together quite .
9Andy [10%]  gets to visit with his cousins.
10 went to college .


Pronouns

Pronouns are small words that take the place of a noun. We can use a pronoun instead of a noun. Pronouns are words like: heyouoursthemselvessomeeach... If we didn't have pronouns, we would have to repeat a lot of nouns. We would have to say things like:
  • Do you like the president? I don't like the president. The president is too pompous.
With pronouns, we can say:
  • Do you like the president? I don't like himHe is too pompous.


Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns represent specific people or things. We use them depending on:
  • number: singular (eg: I) or plural (eg: we)
  • person: 1st person (eg: I), 2nd person (eg: you) or 3rd person (eg: he)
  • gender: male (eg: he), female (eg: she) or neuter (eg: it)
  • case: subject (eg: we) or object (eg: us)
We use personal pronouns in place of the person or people that we are talking about. My name is Josef but when I am talking about myself I almost always use "I" or "me", not "Josef". When I am talking direct to you, I almost always use "you", not your name. When I am talking about another person, say John, I may start with "John" but then use "he" or "him". And so on.

Here are the personal pronouns, followed by some example sentences:

numberpersongenderpersonal pronouns
subjectobject
singular1stmale/femaleIme
2ndmale/femaleyouyou
3rdmalehehim
femalesheher
neuteritit
plural1stmale/femaleweus
2ndmale/femaleyouyou
3rdmale/female/neutertheythem

Examples (in each case, the first example shows a subject pronoun, the second an object pronoun):
  • I like coffee.
  • John helped me.

  • Do you like coffee?
  • John loves you.

  • He runs fast.
  • Did Ram beat him? 

  • She is clever.
  • Does Mary know her? 

  • It doesn't work.
  • Can the engineer repair it? 

  • We went home.
  • Anthony drove us. 

  • Do you need a table for three?
  • Did John and Mary beat you at doubles? 

  • They played doubles.
  • John and Mary beat them.
When we are talking about a single thing, we almost always use it. However, there are a few exceptions. We may sometimes refer to an animal as he/him or she/her, especially if the animal is domesticated or a pet. Ships (and some other vessels or vehicles) as well as some countries are often treated as female and referred to as she/her. Here are some examples:
  • This is our dog Rusty. He's an Alsation.
  • The Titanic was a great ship but she sank on her first voyage.
  • My first car was a Mini and I treated her like my wife.
  • Thailand has now opened her border with Cambodia.
For a single person, sometimes we don't know whether to use he or she. There are several solutions to this:
  • If a teacher needs help, he or she should see the principal.
  • If a teacher needs help, he should see the principal.
  • If a teacher needs help, they should see the principal.
We often use it to introduce a remark:
  • It is nice to have a holiday sometimes.
  • It is important to dress well.
  • It's difficult to find a job.
  • Is it normal to see them together?
  • It didn't take long to walk here.
We also often use it to talk about the weather, temperature, time and distance:
  • It's raining.
  • It will probably be hot tomorrow.
  • Is it nine o'clock yet?
  • It's 50 kilometres from here to Cambridge.


Demonstrative Pronouns
demonstrate (verb): to show; to indicate; to point to
A demonstrative pronoun represents a thing or things:
  • near in distance or time (thisthese)
  • far in distance or time (thatthose)
nearfar
singularthisthat
pluralthesethose
Here are some examples with demonstrative pronouns, followed by an illustration:
  • This tastes good.
  • Have you seen this?
  • These are bad times.
  • Do you like these?
  • That is beautiful.
  • Look at that!
  • Those were the days!
  • Can you see those?
  • This is heavier than that.
  • These are bigger than those.
this that these those


Do not confuse demonstrative pronouns with demonstrative adjectives. They are identical, but a demonstrative pronoun stands alone, while a demonstrative adjective qualifies a noun.
  • That smells. (demonstrative pronoun)
  • That book is good. (demonstrative adjective + noun)


Normally we use demonstrative pronouns for things only. But we can use them for people when the person is identified. Look at these examples:
  • This is Josef speaking. Is that Mary?
  • That sounds like John.



Possessive Pronouns

We use possessive pronouns to refer to a specific person/people or thing/things (the "antecedent") belonging to a person/people (and sometimes belonging to an animal/animals or thing/things).
We use possessive pronouns depending on:
  • number: singular (eg: mine) or plural (eg: ours)
  • person: 1st person (eg: mine), 2nd person (eg: yours) or 3rd person (eg: his)
  • gender: male (his), female (hers)
Below are the possessive pronouns, followed by some example sentences. Notice that each possessive pronoun can:
  • be subject or object
  • refer to a singular or plural antecedent
numberpersongender (of "owner")possessive pronouns
singular1stmale/femalemine
2ndmale/femaleyours
3rdmalehis
femalehers
plural1stmale/femaleours
2ndmale/femaleyours
3rdmale/female/neutertheirs
  • Look at these pictures. Mine is the big one. (subject = My picture)
  • I like your flowers. Do you like mine? (object = my flowers) 

  • I looked everywhere for your key. I found John's key but I couldn't find yours. (object = your key)
  • My flowers are dying. Yours are lovely. (subject = Your flowers) 

  • All the essays were good but his was the best. (subject = his essay)
  • John found his passport but Mary couldn't find hers. (object = her passport)
  • John found his clothes but Mary couldn't find hers. (object = her clothes) 

  • Here is your car. Ours is over there, where we left it. (subject = Our car)
  • Your photos are good. Ours are terrible. (subject = Our photos) 

  • Each couple's books are colour-coded. Yours are red. (subject = Your books)
  • I don't like this family's garden but I like yours. (subject = your garden) 

  • These aren't John and Mary's children. Theirs have black hair. (subject = Their children)
  • John and Mary don't like your car. Do you like theirs? (object = their car)
Notice that the following (with apostrophe [']) do NOT exist: her's, your's, their's


Notice that the interrogative pronoun whose can also be a possessive pronoun (an interrogative possessive pronoun). Look at these examples:
  • There was $100 on the table and Tara wondered whose it was.
  • This car hasn't moved for two months. Whose is it?


Interrogative Pronouns

We use interrogative pronouns to ask questions. The interrogative pronoun represents the thing that we don't know (what we are asking the question about).
There are four main interrogative pronouns: whowhomwhatwhich
Notice that the possessive pronoun whose can also be an interrogative pronoun (an interrogative possessive pronoun).

subjectobject
personwhowhom
thingwhat
person/thingwhich
personwhose(possessive)


Notice that whom is the correct form when the pronoun is the object of the verb, as in "Whom did you see?" ("I saw John.") However, in normal, spoken English we rarely usewhom. Most native speakers would say (or even write): "Who did you see?"


Look at these example questions. In the sample answers, the noun phrase that the interrogative pronoun represents is shown in bold.

questionanswer
Who told you?John told me.subject
Whom did you tell?I told Mary.object
What's happened?An accident's happened.subject
What do you want?I want coffee.object
Which came first?The Porsche 911 came first.subject
Which will the doctor see first?The doctor will see the patient in bluefirst.object
There's one car missing. Whose hasn't arrived?John's (car) hasn't arrived.subject
We've found everyone's keys. Whose did you find?I found John's (keys).object

Note that we sometimes use the suffix "-ever" to make compounds from some of these pronouns (mainly whoeverwhateverwhichever). When we add "-ever", we use it for emphasis, often to show confusion or surprise. Look at these examples:
  • Whoever would want to do such a nasty thing?
  • Whatever did he say to make her cry like that?
  • They're all fantastic! Whichever will you choose?




Reflexive Pronouns

reflexive (adj.) [grammar]: reflecting back on the subject, like a mirror
We use a reflexive pronoun when we want to refer back to the subject of the sentence or clause. Reflexive pronouns end in "-self" (singular) or "-selves" (plural).
There are eight reflexive pronouns:

reflexive pronoun
singularmyself
yourself
himself
herselfitself
pluralourselves
yourselves
themselves

Look at these examples:

reflexive pronouns
the underlined words are NOT the same person/thingthe underlined words are the SAME person/thing
John saw me.I saw myself in the mirror.
Why does he blame you?Why do you blame yourself?
David sent him a copy.John sent himself a copy.
David sent her a copy.Mary sent herself a copy.
My dog hurt the cat.My dog hurt itself.
We blame you.We blame ourselves.
Can you help my children?Can you help yourselves?
They cannot look after the babies.They cannot look after themselves.

Intensive pronouns

Notice that all the above reflexive pronouns can also act as intensive pronouns, but the function and usage are different. An intensive pronoun emphasizes its antecedent. Look at these examples:
  • I made it myselfOR I myself made it.
  • Have you yourself seen it? OR Have you seen it yourself?
  • The President himself promised to stop the war.
  • She spoke to me herselfOR She herself spoke to me.
  • The exam itself wasn't difficult, but exam room was horrible.
  • Never mind. We'll do it ourselves.
  • You yourselves asked us to do it.
  • They recommend this book even though they themselves have never read it. OR They recommend this book even though they have never read it themselves.



Reciprocal Pronouns

reciprocal (adj.): given or done in return; [grammar] expressing mutual action
We use reciprocal pronouns when each of two or more subjects is acting in the same way towards the other. For example, A is talking to B, and B is talking to A. So we say:
  • A and B are talking to each other.
The action is "reciprocated". John talks to Mary and Mary talks to John. I give you a present and you give me a present. The dog bites the cat and the cat bites the dog.
There are only two reciprocal pronouns, and they are both two words:
  • each other
  • one another
When we use these reciprocal pronouns:
  • there must be two or more people, things or groups involved (so we cannot use reciprocal pronouns with I, you [singular], he/she/it), and
  • they must be doing the same thing
Look at these examples:
  • John and Mary love each other.
  • Peter and David hate each other.
  • The ten prisoners were all blaming one another.
  • Both teams played hard against each other.
  • We gave each other gifts.
  • Why don't you believe each other?
  • They can't see each other.
  • The gangsters were fighting one another.
  • The boats were bumping against each other in the storm.

You probably notice that each other is used in more examples above than one another. That's because in general we use each other more often than one another, which sounds a little formal. Also, some people say that we should use one another only for three or more people or things, but there is no real justification for this.



Indefinite Pronouns


An indefinite pronoun does not refer to any specific person, thing or amount. It is vague and "not definite". Some typical indefinite pronouns are:
  • all, another, any, anybody/anyone, anything, each, everybody/everyone, everything, few, many, nobody, none, one, several, some, somebody/someone


Note that many indefinite pronouns also function as other parts of speech. Look at "another" in the following sentences:
  • He has one job in the day and another at night. (pronoun)
  • I'd like another drink, please. (adjective)


Most indefinite pronouns are either singular or plural. However, some of them can be singular in one context and plural in another. The most common indefinite pronouns are listed below, with examples, as singular, plural or singular/plural.
Notice that a singular pronoun takes a singular verb AND that any personal pronoun should also agree(in number and gender). Look at these examples:
  • Each of the players has a doctor.
  • I met two girls. One has given me her phone number.
Similarly, plural pronouns need plural agreement:
  • Many have expressed their views.
pronounmeaningexample
singular
anotheran additional or different person or thingThat ice-cream was good. Can I haveanother?
anybody/anyoneno matter what personCan anyone answer this question?
anythingno matter what thingThe doctor needs to know if you have eaten anything in the last two hours.
eachevery one of two or more people or things, seen separatelyEach has his own thoughts.
eitherone or the other of two people or thingsDo you want tea or coffee? / I don't mind. Either is good for me.
enoughas much or as many as neededEnough is enough.
everybody/everyoneall peopleWe can start the meeting becauseeverybody has arrived.
everythingall thingsThey have no house or possessions. They lost everything in the earthquake.
lessa smaller amount"Less is more" (Mies van der Rohe)
littlea small amountLittle is known about his early life.
mucha large amountMuch has happend since we met.
neithernot one and not the other of two people or thingsI keep telling Jack and Jill but neitherbelieves me.
nobody/no-oneno personI phoned many times but nobodyanswered.
nothingno single thing, not anythingIf you don't know the answer it's best to say nothing.
onean unidentified personCan one smoke here? | All the students arrived but now one is missing.
othera different person or thing from one already mentionedOne was tall and the other was short.
somebody/someonean unspecified or unknown personClearly somebody murdered him. It was not suicide.
somethingan unspecified or unknown thingListen! I just heard something! What could it be?
youan unidentified person (informal)And you can see why.
plural
bothtwo people or things, seen togetherJohn likes coffee but not tea. I thinkboth are good.
fewa small number of people or thingsFew have ever disobeyed him and lived.
fewera reduced number of people or thingsFewer are smoking these days.
manya large number of people or thingsMany have come already.
othersother people; not usI'm sure that others have tried before us.
severalmore than two but not manyThey all complained and several left the meeting.
theypeople in general (informal)They say that vegetables are good for you.
singular or plural
allthe whole quantity of something or of some things or peopleAll is forgiven.
All have arrived.
anyno matter how much or how manyIs any left?
Are any coming?
morea greater quantity of something; a greater number of people or thingsThere is more over there.
More are coming.
mostthe majority; nearly allMost is lost.
Most have refused.
nonenot any; no person or personsThey fixed the water so why is nonecoming out of the tap?
I invited five friends but none have come.*
somean unspecified quantity of something; an unspecified number of people or thingsHere is some.
Some have arrived.
suchof the type already mentionedHe was a foreigner and he felt that he was treated as such.



* Some people say that "none" should always take a singular verb, even when talking about countable nouns (eg five friends). They argue that "none" means "no one", and "one" is obviously singular. They say that "I invited five friends but none has come" is correct and "I invited five friends but none havecome" is incorrect. Historically and grammatically there is little to support this view. "None" has been used for hundreds of years with both a singular and a plural verb, according to the context and the emphasis required.



Relative Pronouns

A relative pronoun is a pronoun that introduces a relative clause. It is called a "relative" pronoun because it "relates" to the word that it modifies. Here is an example:
  • The person who phoned me last night is my teacher.
In the above example, "who":
  • relates to "person", which it modifies
  • introduces the relative clause "who phoned me last night"
There are five relative pronouns: whowhomwhosewhichthat*
Who (subject) and whom (object) are generally only for people. Whose is for possession. Which is for things. That can be used for people** and things and as subject and object in defining relative clauses (clauses that are essential to the sentence and do not simply add extra information).



Relative pronouns can refer to singular or plural, and there is no difference between male and female.


Look at these examples showing defining and non-defining relative clauses:

example sentences
S=subject, O=object, P=possessive
notes
definingS- The person who phoned me last night is my teacher.
- The person that phoned me last night is my teacher.
That is preferable
- The car which hit me was yellow.
- The cars that hit me were yellow.
That is preferable
O- The person whom I phoned last night is my teacher.
- The people who I phoned last night are my teachers.
- The person that I phoned last night is my teacher.
- The person I phoned last night is my teacher.
Whom is correct but very formal. The relative pronoun is optional.
- The car which I drive is old.
- The car that I drive is old.
- The car I drive is old.
That is preferable to which. The relative pronoun is optional.
P- The student whose phone just rang should stand up.
- Students whose parents are wealthy pay extra.
- The police are looking for the car whose driver was masked.
- The police are looking for the car of which the driver was masked.
Of which is usual for things, butwhose is sometimes possible
non-definingS- Mrs Pratt, who is very kind, is my teacher.
- The car, which was a taxi, exploded.
- The cars, which were taxis, exploded.
O- Mrs Pratt, whom I like very much, is my teacher.
- Mr and Mrs Pratt, who I like very much, are my teachers.
Whom is correct but very formal.Who is normal.
- The car, which I was driving at the time, suddenly caught fire.
P- My brother, whose phone you just heard, is a doctor.
- The car, whose driver jumped out just before the accident, was completely destroyed.
- The car, the driver of which jumped out just before the accident, was completely destroyed.
Of which is usual for things, butwhose is sometimes possible

*Not all grammar sources count "that" as a relative pronoun. 

**Some people claim that we cannot use "that" for people but must use "who/whom"; there is no good reason for such a claim.




Pronoun Case

Pronouns (and nouns) in English display "case" according to their function in the sentence. Their function can be:
  • subjective (they act as the subject)
  • objective (they act as the object)
  • possessive (they show possession of something else)
The following table shows the different forms for pronouns depending on case.

subjective caseobjective casepossessive case
personal pronounssingular1stImemine
2ndyouyouyours
3rdhe
she
it
him
her
it
his
hers
its
plural1stweusours
2ndyouyouyours
3rdtheythemtheirs
relative/interrogative pronounswhowhomwhose
whoeverwhomever
which/that/whatwhich/that/what
indefinite pronounseverybodyeverybodyeverybody's

A problem of case: Mary and I or Mary and me?
  1. Mary and I are delighted to be here today. (NOT Mary and me)
  2. The letter was addressed to Mary and me. (NOT Mary and I)
In 1, Mary and I are subjects, which is why the pronoun takes the subjective case ("I"). In 2, Mary and I are objects, which is why the pronoun takes the objective case ("me"). An easy way to check the correct case is to try the sentence without Mary. Would you say "I am delighted to be here" or "Me am delighted to be here"? Would you say "The letter was addressed to me" or "The letter was addressed to I"?

Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, Nobody

That's Not My Job!

This is a story about four people named Everybody,SomebodyAnybody and Nobody.
There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.
It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

English Prepositions

preposition is a word governing, and usually coming in front of, a noun or pronoun and expressing a relation to another word or element, as in:
  • She left before breakfast.

  • What did you come for?
    (For what did you come?)


English Prepositions List

There are about 150 prepositions in English. Yet this is a very small number when you think of the thousands of other words (nouns, verbs etc). Prepositions are important words. We use individual prepositions more frequently than other individual words. In fact, the prepositions ofto and in are among the ten most frequent words in English. Here is a short list of 70 of the more common one-word prepositions. Many of these prepositions have more than one meaning. Please refer to a dictionary for precise meaning and usage.


  • aboard
  • about
  • above
  • across
  • after
  • against
  • along
  • amid
  • among
  • anti
  • around
  • as
  • at
  • before
  • behind
  • below
  • beneath
  • beside
  • besides
  • between
  • beyond
  • but
  • by
  • concerning
  • considering
  • despite
  • down
  • during
  • except
  • excepting
  • excluding
  • following
  • for
  • from
  • in
  • inside
  • into
  • like
  • minus
  • near
  • of
  • off
  • on
  • onto
  • opposite
  • outside
  • over
  • past
  • per
  • plus
  • regarding
  • round
  • save
  • since
  • than
  • through
  • to
  • toward
  • towards
  • under
  • underneath
  • unlike
  • until
  • up
  • upon
  • versus
  • via
  • with
  • within
  • without

English Preposition Rule

There is one very simple rule about prepositions. And, unlike most rules, this rule has no exceptions.

Rule

A preposition is followed by a "noun". It is never followed by a verb.

By "noun" we include:
  • noun (dog, money, love)
  • proper noun (name) (Bangkok, Mary)
  • pronoun (you, him, us)
  • noun group (my first job)
  • gerund (swimming)
A preposition cannot be followed by a verb. If we want to follow a preposition by a verb, we must use the "-ing" form which is really a gerund or verb in noun form.
Quick Quiz: In the following sentences, why is "to" followed by a verb? That should be impossible, according to the above rule:
  • I would like to go now.
  • She used to smoke.
Here are some examples:

Subject + verbpreposition"noun"
The food isonthe table.
She livesinJapan.
Tara is lookingforyou.
The letter isunderyour blue book.
Pascal is usedtoEnglish people.
She isn't usedtoworking.
I atebeforecoming.



Prepositions of Place: at, in, on

In general, we use:
  • at for a POINT
  • in for an ENCLOSED SPACE
  • on for a SURFACE
atinon
POINTENCLOSED SPACESURFACE
at the cornerin the gardenon the wall
at the bus stopin Londonon the ceiling
at the doorin Franceon the door
at the top of the pagein a boxon the cover
at the end of the roadin my pocketon the floor
at the entrancein my walleton the carpet
at the crossroadsin a buildingon the menu
at the front deskin a caron a page
Look at these examples:
  • Jane is waiting for you at the bus stop.
  • The shop is at the end of the street.
  • My plane stopped at Dubai and Hanoi and arrived in Bangkok two hours late.
  • When will you arrive at the office?
  • Do you work in an office?
  • I have a meeting in New York.
  • Do you live in Japan?
  • Jupiter is in the Solar System.
  • The author's name is on the cover of the book.
  • There are no prices on this menu.
  • You are standing on my foot.
  • There was a "no smoking" sign on the wall.
  • I live on the 7th floor at 21 Oxford Street in London.
Notice the use of the prepositions of place atin and on in these standard expressions:

atinon
at homein a caron a bus
at workin a taxion a train
at schoolin a helicopteron a plane
at universityin a boaton a ship
at collegein a lift (elevator)on a bicycle, on a motorbike
at the topin the newspaperon a horse, on an elephant
at the bottomin the skyon the radio, on television
at the sidein a rowon the left, on the right
at receptionin Oxford Streeton the way


Prepositions of Time: at, in, on

We use:
  • at for a PRECISE TIME
  • in for MONTHS, YEARS, CENTURIES and LONG PERIODS
  • on for DAYS and DATES
atinon
PRECISE TIMEMONTHS, YEARS, CENTURIES and LONG PERIODSDAYS and DATES
at 3 o'clockin Mayon Sunday
at 10.30amin summeron Tuesdays
at noonin the summeron 6 March
at dinnertimein 1990on 25 Dec. 2010
at bedtimein the 1990son Christmas Day
at sunrisein the next centuryon Independence Day
at sunsetin the Ice Ageon my birthday
at the momentin the past/futureon New Year's Eve

Look at these examples:
  • I have a meeting at 9am.
  • The shop closes at midnight.
  • Jane went home at lunchtime.
  • In England, it often snows in December.
  • Do you think we will go to Jupiter in the future?
  • There should be a lot of progress in the next century.
  • Do you work on Mondays?
  • Her birthday is on 20 November.
  • Where will you be on New Year's Day?
Notice the use of the preposition of time at in the following standard expressions:

ExpressionExample
at nightThe stars shine at night.
at the weekend*I don't usually work at the weekend.
at Christmas*/EasterI stay with my family at Christmas.
at the same timeWe finished the test at the same time.
at presentHe's not home at present. Try later.

Notice the use of the prepositions of time in and on in these common expressions:

inon
in the morningon Tuesday morning
in the morningson Saturday mornings
in the afternoon(s)on Sunday afternoons
in the evening(s)on Monday evening

When we say last, next, every, this we do not also use at, in, on.
  • I went to London last June. (not in last June)
  • He's coming back next Tuesday. (not on next Tuesday)
  • I go home every Easter. (not at every Easter)
  • We'll call you this evening. (not in this evening)

Conjunctions

A conjunction is a word that "joins". A conjunction joins two parts of a sentence.
Here are some example conjunctions:

Coordinating ConjunctionsSubordinating Conjunctions
and, but, or, nor, for, yet, soalthough, because, since, unless

We can consider conjunctions from three aspects.

Form

Conjunctions have three basic forms:
  • Single Word
    for example: and, but, because, although

  • Compound (often ending with as or that)
    for example: provided that, as long as, in order that

  • Correlative (surrounding an adverb or adjective)
    for example: so...that

Function

Conjunctions have two basic functions or "jobs":
  • Coordinating conjunctions are used to join two parts of a sentence that are grammatically equal. The two parts may be single words or clauses, for example:
    - Jack and Jill went up the hill.
    - The water was warm, but I didn't go swimming.

  • Subordinating conjunctions are used to join a subordinate dependent clause to a main clause, for example:
    - I went swimming although it was cold.

Position

  • Coordinating conjunctions always come between the words or clauses that they join.

  • Subordinating conjunctions usually come at the beginning of the subordinate clause.


Coordinating Conjunctions

The short, simple conjunctions are called "coordinating conjunctions":
  • and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so
A coordinating conjunction joins parts of a sentence (for example words or independent clauses) that are grammatically equal or similar. A coordinating conjunction shows that the elements it joins are similar in importance and structure:

+

Look at these examples - the two elements that the coordinating conjunction joins are shown in square brackets [ ]:
  • I like [tea] and [coffee].
  • [Ram likes tea], but [Anthony likes coffee].
Coordinating conjunctions always come between the words or clauses that they join.
When a coordinating conjunction joins independent clauses, it is always correct to place a comma before the conjunction:
  • I want to work as an interpreter in the future, so I am studying Russian at university.
However, if the independent clauses are short and well-balanced, a comma is not really essential:
  • She is kind so she helps people.
When "and" is used with the last word of a list, a comma is optional:
  • He drinks beer, whisky, wine, and rum.
  • He drinks beer, whisky, wine and rum.

The 7 coordinating conjunctions are short, simple words. They have only two or three letters. There's an easy way to remember them - their initials spell:
FANBOYS
ForAndNorButOrYetSo


Subordinating Conjunctions

The majority of conjunctions are "subordinating conjunctions". Common subordinating conjunctions are:
  • after, although, as, because, before, how, if, once, since, than, that, though, till, until, when, where, whether, while
A subordinating conjunction joins a subordinate (dependent) clause to a main (independent) clause:

+

Look at this example:
main or
independent clause
subordinate or
dependent clause
Ram went swimmingalthoughit was raining.
subordinating
conjunction
A subordinate or dependent clause "depends" on a main or independent clause. It cannot exist alone. Imagine that somebody says to you: "Hello! Although it was raining." What do you understand? Nothing! But a main or independent clause can exist alone. You will understand very well if somebody says to you: "Hello! Ram went swimming."

A subordinating conjunction always comes at the beginning of a subordinate clause. It "introduces" a subordinate clause. However, a subordinate clause can sometimes come after and sometimes before a main clause. Thus, two structures are possible:

+

Ram went swimming although it was raining.


+

Although it was raining
, Ram went swimming.


Interjections

Hi! That's an interjection. :-)
Interjection is a big name for a little word. Interjections are short exclamations like Oh!Um or Ah!They have no real grammatical value but we use them quite often, usually more in speaking than in writing. When interjections are inserted into a sentence, they have no grammatical connection to the sentence. An interjection is sometimes followed by an exclamation mark (!) when written.

Interjections like er and um are also known as "hesitation devices". They are extremely common in English. People use them when they don't know what to say, or to indicate that they are thinking about what to say. You should learn to recognize them when you hear them and realize that they have no real meaning.

The table below shows some interjections with examples.

interjectionmeaningexample
ahexpressing pleasure"Ah, that feels good."
expressing realization"Ah, now I understand."
expressing resignation"Ah well, it can't be heped."
expressing surprise"Ah! I've won!"
alasexpressing grief or pity"Alas, she's dead now."
dearexpressing pity"Oh dear! Does it hurt?"
expressing surprise"Dear me! That's a surprise!"
ehasking for repetition"It's hot today." "Eh?" "I said it's hot today."
expressing enquiry"What do you think of that, eh?"
expressing surprise"Eh! Really?"
inviting agreement"Let's go, eh?"
erexpressing hesitation"Lima is the capital of...er...Peru."
hello, hulloexpressing greeting"Hello John. How are you today?"
expressing surprise"Hello! My car's gone!"
heycalling attention"Hey! look at that!"
expressing surprise, joy etc"Hey! What a good idea!"
hiexpressing greeting"Hi! What's new?"
hmmexpressing hesitation, doubt or disagreement"Hmm. I'm not so sure."
oh, oexpressing surprise"Oh! You're here!"
expressing pain"Oh! I've got a toothache."
expressing pleading"Oh, please say 'yes'!"
ouchexpressing pain"Ouch! That hurts!"
uhexpressing hesitation"Uh...I don't know the answer to that."
uh-huhexpressing agreement"Shall we go?" "Uh-huh."
um, ummexpressing hesitation"85 divided by 5 is...um...17."
wellexpressing surprise"Well I never!"
introducing a remark"Well, what did he say?"






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