Instructor: Joana Balubal-

VERBS
Verbs are words that express actions, states, or occurrences. They are essential components of
sentences, providing the action or linking the subject to additional information. There are several types
of verbs, each serving a specific function in the sentence.

1. Action Verbs
Action verbs express physical or mental actions.
Examples: run, jump, think, write, dance
"She runs every morning." / "He thinks deeply about the problem."
2. Linking Verbs
Linking verbs connect the subject of the sentence to a subject complement (a word or phrase that
describes the subject).
Examples: am, is, are, was, were, seem, become
"She is a teacher." / "They seem happy."

3. Helping (Auxiliary) Verbs

Helping verbs are used together with a main verb to form a verb phrase that expresses tense,
mood, or voice.
Examples: am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been, have, has, had, do, does, did, will, shall, would,
should, can, could, may, might, must
"She is running fast." / "They have finished their homework."
4. Modal Verbs
Modal verbs are a type of auxiliary verb used to express possibility, ability, permission, or
obligation.
Examples: can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would
"She can swim." / "You must complete the assignment."

5. Transitive Verbs
Transitive verbs require a direct object to complete their meaning.
Examples: eat, bring, take, give, make
"She eats an apple." / "He gave her a gift."

6. Intransitive Verbs
Intransitive verbs do not require a direct object to complete their meaning.
Examples: sleep, laugh, arrive, go, sneeze
"She sleeps peacefully." / "He laughed loudly."
ADJECTIVES

An adjective modifies a noun or pronoun by providing descriptive or specific detail.

Adjectives answer the following questions: what kind?, How many?, Or which ones?

Examples:
• Tom bought a used car.
• Sally baked ten pies for the school bake sale.
• Bob climbed that tree in the backyard.

TYPES OF ADJECTIVES
1. Descriptive Adjectives
Name a quality of the noun or pronoun that it modifies.
Examples:
brown dog fluffy cat
bigger house tall kid
2. Proper Adjectives
Derived from a proper noun.
Examples:
French class
Spanish food
European car

3. Limiting Adjectives
Restrict the meaning of the word it modifies.
Examples:
that car
this room
the tree
4. Interrogative Adjectives
Used to ask a question.
Example:
Whose book is this?

5. Coordinate Adjectives
Consist of two or more adjectives separated by a comma instead of by a coordinating
conjunction.
Example:
a cold, rainy day
Note:
To determine if you can replace the coordinating conjunction with a comma, see if the
adjectives can be reversed or if and can be added between the adjectives without changing the
meaning. If the adjectives can be reversed, they are coordinate and a comma can be used.
 Examples:
1. The clowns arrived in a bright, shiny car.
2. The clowns arrived in a shiny, bright car. (Reversing bright and shiny does not change the
meaning.)
3. The clowns arrived in a bright and shiny car. (Adding and between bright and shiny does
not change the meaning.)

However, if the adjectives cannot be reversed or if and cannot be used, a comma cannot be
used.
Examples:
The clowns arrived in two colorful cars.
The clowns arrived in colorful two cars. (Reversing two and colorful changes the
meaning.)
6. Compound Adjectives
Consist of two or more words that function as a unit. Depending on its position within
the sentence, the compound adjective is punctuated with or without a hyphen. When a
compound adjective comes before the noun it modifies, use a hyphen to join the adjectives.
When a compound adjective follows the noun it modifies, do not use a hyphen to join the
adjectives.

Examples:
She is taking a class on nineteenth-century literature.

She is studying literature from the nineteenth century.

7. Determiners as Adjectives
Determiners, such as articles, pronouns, and numbers, can function as adjectives. When a determiner
is used as an adjective, it restricts the noun it modifies, like a limiting adjective. Determiners
functioning as adjectives tell which one?, How many?, And whose?
• Articles (a, an, the)
• Possessive pronouns (my, our, your, his, her, its, their)
• Relative pronouns (whose, which, whichever, what, whatever)
• Demonstratives (this, these, that, those)
• Indefinite pronouns (any, each, other, some, etc.)
• Cardinal numbers (one, two, three, etc.)
• Ordinal numbers (last, first, second, etc.)
• Possessive proper nouns (Bob’s, Sarah’s)

Example:
Bob’s house is only three blocks from that house.
ADVERBS

Read the given paragraph, then observe the italicized words.

Elena was a very pretty student. When she walked slowly down the street, people turned around to
look at her. Her hair was always neatly combed; her clothes were always very clear; her shoes were
always well polished. She smiled charmingly at people when she spoke to them. She listened politely to
whatever they had to say. Everyone liked Elena very much.

Adverbs
Adverbs are words that modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
Examples:
1. My friend speaks fluently. (The adverb fluently modifies the verb speaks.)
2. Our leader is very visionary. (The adverb very modifies the adjective visionary.)
3. Our maintenance does not work too slowly. (The adverb too modifies the adverb slowly.)
 CLASSIFICATIONS OF ADVERBS

1. Adverb of manner tells how the action is done.

bitterly concisely audibly fondly

articulately furiously frightfully stubbornly

sweetly cheerfully softly actively

wisely gladly carefully politely

sincerely boldly calmly wrongly

Examples:
Many students talk with their teachers politely.
The boy entered the room furiously.
2. Adverb of time tells when or how long the actions happened.

already immediately once presently soon

today tomorrow still lately before
next shortly now currently after

Examples:
Please call me soon.
Surrender your belongings immediately.
3. Adverbs of frequency answers the question how often?

always frequently seldom rarely

regularly occasionally sometimes usually

generally scarcely never often

Examples:
I never entertain problems along my way.
We seldom make mistakes with our decisions.

4. Adverbs of place tell where the action takes place.

above across around here inside

within sideward back below there

Examples: here in away up along

The answers lie within.
I will be coming back.
CONJUNCTIONS
A conjunction is a word that joins words or groups of words in a sentence. The most common
conjunctions are and, but and or. A comma should be placed before the conjunction in a compound sentence.
When a conjunction is used for a compound subject or a compound predicate, no comma is used.

TYPES OF CONJUNCTION
1. Coordinating Conjunctions
A coordinating conjunction is the most common type of conjunction.
And and or are used to form compound subjects.
And, but and or are used to form compound predicates and compound sentences.

 And is used to introduce an additional idea.

Ex. My books and pencils fell on the floor.
 But is used to introduce a contrasting idea.
● Ex. I would go to the movies, but I didn’t earn any allowance this week.
 Or is used to introduce a choice or second possibility.
● Ex. You can play basketball or football next year.
2. Correlative Conjunctions
Correlative conjunctions are a pair of conjunctions such as either, or; neither, nor; both, and.
a. Ex. Either Mary or Jan will bring snack today.

3. Subordinating Conjunctions
Subordinating conjunctions join a subordinate clause with a main clause.
It comes at the beginning of the subordinate clause.
Common Subordinating Conjunctions
after although because before
if if only once rather than
since so that than that
though till unless until
when whenever where whereas
wherever while
PREPOSITIONS

A preposition is defined as “a word that connects a noun, a noun phrase, or a pronoun to another word, esp. to a
verb, another noun, or an adjective”, according to the Cambridge Dictionary.

TYPES OF PREPOSITIONS
Based on the different uses and functions of prepositions, they can be divided into four main types. They are as
follows:

 Prepositions of Time – used to show when something is happening.

For example:
 We will be meeting on Friday.
 The supermarket will be closed from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m.
 Can you come after some time?
 We have been asked to work from home until the end of May.
 The whole country was asked to stay home during the pandemic to ensure safety and well-being.
 Prepositions of Place – indicate the place or position of something.
For example:
 I have kept the book I borrowed from you on the table.
 Henry hid behind the door.
 The dog jumped over the fence.
 Can you place the red roses in between the white daisies?
 He was waiting in front of the EB office.

 Prepositions of Direction – used to denote the direction in which something travels or moves.
For example:
 The girl ran toward her father the moment she saw him.
 Jerry jumped into the river to help his sister.
 Veena passed the book to Priya.
 When will Salvia be returning from London?
 Neena lives across the street.
 Prepositions of Spatial Relationship – used to denote an object’s movement away from the source
and towards a source.
For example:
 Navya sat leaning against the wall.
 The circus was stationed opposite the children’s park.
 Lakshmi sat beneath the trees.
 Shankar sat beside the stairs.
 We spent the evening walking around the lake.

 Prepositional Phrase – a combination of a preposition and a noun(the object it is affecting).

For example:
 See to it that you reach the venue on time.
 The medicines you asked for are out of stock.
 Why don’t we try taking classes outside for a change.
 Make sure you fill in all the forms at once.
 Salmaan was able to finish it only with the help of his friends.
 Examples of Prepositions Used in Sentences
To know how exactly prepositions can be used in sentences, check out the following sentences.
 I will be going to church in the morning.
 She placed the plates on the dining table.
 Baskar found the cat hiding under the bed.
 Will you be with Raimy or Mazeeka?
 I love sitting on the beach at night.
 Rachel met Phoebe by the lake.
 Finn stood opposite Lisa.
 The grocery store is right in front of the bus stop.
 My brother climbed onto the roof.
 It feels great to sit beneath the trees and read.
Commonly Confused Prepositions
With the huge number of prepositions in the English language, it almost seems impossible to have no
confusion at all. Here is a list of prepositions that cause confusion among the users of the language.

 In/On/At
These three prepositions can be used to depict both time and position. Take a look at the table below to have
a better understanding of how it works.
INTERJECTIONS
An interjection is a word or group of words that expresses strong feeling.

Common interjections:
Great! Oh!
Oh, no! Wow!
Well! Ouch!
Oops! Yes!
 Punctuating Interjections
▪ An interjection with very strong emotions will be followed by an exclamation mark, and it will stand
alone either before or after a sentence.
Example:
Oh, no! My grade was lower than I wanted.

▪ An interjection with a milder feeling is a part of the sentence and is separated by a comma.
Example:
Oh, I wanted to go to the park instead.
ARTICLES
Articles are used before nouns or noun equivalents and are a type of adjective. The definite article (the) is
used before a noun to indicate that the identity of the noun is known to the reader. The indefinite article
(a, an) is used before a noun that is general or when its identity is not known. There are certain situations
in which a noun takes no article.

As a guide, the following definitions and table summarize the basic use of articles. Continue reading for a
more detailed explanation of the rules and for examples of how and when to apply them.

Definite article
the (before a singular or plural noun)
Indefinite article
a (before a singular noun beginning with a consonant sound)
an (before a singular noun beginning with a vowel sound)
Count nouns - refers to items that can be counted and are either singular or plural
Non-count nouns - refers to items that are not counted and are always singular
 COUNT NOUNS NON-COUNT NOUNS

Rule #1 a, an (no article)

Specific identity not known

Rule #2 the the

Specific identity known

Rule #3 (no article) (no article)

All things or things in general

LESSON 1. UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS OF ENGLISH