Unit I GRAMMAR CHAPTER 1 Parts of Speech
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Unit I GRAMMAR CHAPTER 1 Parts of Speech Words are the building materials of a language. When arranged in proper order, words form into sentences and convey ideas. For example : Birds live in trees. Smt. Pratibha Patel is the President of India. Sometimes a single word or a phrase may also convey an idea. For example : Thief ! Order, order! Snake! Out, out, brief candle! Nonsense! Objection overruled! Normally, different words in a sentence called parts of speech, perform different functions. We can classify these words according to their functions, as follows : 1.1 Nouns : They are names of persons, places, things, ideas, and feelings, such as, Gandhi, Hyderabad, Everest, Salarjung Museum, Buddhism, Theory of Relativity, and kindness. 1.2 Pronouns : They are words used in place of nouns to avoid their repetition, such as, I, we, you, he, she, it, they, and one. 3 4 A Handbook of English for Professionals 1.3 Adjectives : They are words used to describe nouns and pronouns, such as, good, great, kind, and lazy. 1.4 Prepositions : They are words used to relate nouns and pronouns with the other words of a sentence, such as, write with a pen, sit on the mat, see through the window, interested in games, love for music, and travel by bus. 1.5 Interjections : They are words used to express sudden feelings, such as, Alas! The poor man has lost his house in the fire! Oh, my God! What a pity! 1.6 Conjunctions : They are words used to join other words, phrases and clauses, such as, life and death, young but wise, He wrote well, so he passed, Although he is ill, he has gone to the office. 1.7 Auxiliary Verbs : They are helping verbs used in forming tenses and voices, such as, am, is, are, do, did, have, has, will, shall, must, can and could 1.8 Verbs : They are words used to express actions, such as, come, go, eat, weep, cry, and jump. 1.9 Adverbs : They are words used to describe adjectives, verbs and other adverbs, such as, very kind, come quickly, and very well. EXERCISE 1.1 Identify the parts of speech of the italicized words or phrases in the following sentences: 1. The boy ran across the road in great excitement. across : great : Unit I - GRAMMAR 5 2. The kite flew high into the sky. kite : high: 3. Sitting on the branch of a tree, the nightingale sang sweetly. on : sweetly : 4. He only is the true friend who helps us in need. he : true : 5. They have played with me too long. have played : too long : 6. The boy fell down from the tree fell : down : from : 7. He hit the ball very accurately very : accurately : 8. The teacher is deep in debts in : 9. Lo! What a fall! lo : 10. Away, away! You, scoundrel! away : 1.1 NOUN 1.1.1 KINDS OF NOUN The different kinds of noun are as follows : 1. PROPER NOUN : A proper noun is the name given to a particular person, place or thing, so that the object can be identified. 6 A Handbook of English for Professionals For example : Gandhi, Alexander, Kabir, Sachin, Lata ....... Persons Hyderabad, India, Kashmir, London ....... Places Ganges, Geetanjali, Ramzan, Sunday ....... Things 2. COMMON NOUN : A common noun is the general name given to a person, place or thing. For example : child, boy, girl, man, woman, teacher ....... Persons city, town, village, stadium, beach ....... Places language, pen, star, river, cloud ....... Things 3. COLLECTIVE NOUN : A collective noun is the name given to a collection or group of persons, animals or things. For example : group, mob, team, crowd ....... Persons flock, herd, pack, litter, brood ....... Animals heap, pile, cluster, bunch ....... Things 4. MATERIAL NOUN : A material noun is the name given to a material substance. For example : iron, gold, silver, steel, wood, stone, glass 5. ABSTRACT NOUN : An abstract noun is the name given to a feeling, action, quality, state, art or subject. For example : happiness, sorrow, shock, pity, fear ....... Feelings action, prayer, treatment, punishment ....... Actions love, kindness, justice, mercy, cruelty ....... Qualities poverty, misery, hunger, thirst, danger ....... States poetry, music, painting, architecture ....... Arts politics, history, science, engineering ....... Subjects Unit I - GRAMMAR 7 EXERCISE 1.2 Mention the kind of noun of the italicized words in each of the following sentences : 1. The lion is the king of the forest. 2. Solomon was known for his wisdom and justice. 3. The elephant is the heaviest animal. 4. The Moon is a bright satellite. 5. Her voice has sweetness in it. 6. Ashok has much love for his sister. 7. Honesty is the best virtue in a man. 8. Health is wealth. 9. The bunch of keys is missing. 10. Women wear flowers of sweet smell. 11. Gold and silver are precious metals. 12. The Red Fort in Delhi was built with red stones. 13. Cleopatra's beauty was the talk of the world. 14. Cyclops was a one-eyed giant. 8 A Handbook of English for Professionals 15. What is life without music and literature? 1.1.2 SINGULAR AND PLURAL NUMBERS The nouns of English have two numbers, namely Singular Number, indicating only one person or thing, and Plural Number, indicating two or more persons or things. The plurals in English can be formed by adding 's' in a number of ways, as follows : 1. adding, s : trees, flowers, fruits, birds, clouds, boys, girls. 2. adding, es to singular nouns ending in -s, -sh, -ch, -x and -z : glass : glasses mass : masses kiss : kisses bush : bushes dish : dishes batch : batches match : matches catch : catches box : boxes tax : taxes blitz : blitzes 3. changing the final -y into -ies when the -y is preceded by a consonant : city : cities story : stories beauty : beauties body : bodies university : universities 4. adding -s to the final -y if it is preceded by a vowel: boy : boys joy : joys key : keys Unit I - GRAMMAR 9 journey : journeys toy : toys monkey : monkeys 5. adding -es to the final -o if it is preceded by a consonant: mango : mangoes tomato : tomatoes potato : potatoes hero : heroes negro : negroes flemingo : flemingoes 6. adding -s to singular nouns ending in -o. dynamo : dynamos studio : studios radio : radios photo : photos Note : Certain nouns end in -oe. Only -s should be added to them to make them plurals. For example : foe : foes toe : toes woe : woes shoe : shoes 7. Changing the end -f or -fe into -ves. wolf : wolves half : halves self : selves shelf : shelves wife : wives leaf : leaves thief : thieves knife : knives 10 A Handbook of English for Professionals Note : Certain nouns ending in -f take only -s for the plural. For example : belief : beliefs grief : griefs kerchief : kerchiefs mischief : mischiefs Certain nouns ending in -fe take only -s for the plural. For example : safe : safes strife : strifes Certain nouns ending in -ff, and -rf, take only -s for the plural. For example : roof : roofs proof : proofs staff : staffs (sticks) dwarf : dwarfs Certain nouns ending in -f take on both -fs and -ves for the plural. For example : scarf : scarfs and scarves wharf : wharfs and wharves 8. Changing the vowels of certain singular nouns. For example : man : men woman : women foot : feet tooth : teeth 9. adding -ren to certain singular nouns. For example : child : children brother : brothren Unit I - GRAMMAR 11 10. adding -s to the principal word in certain compound words. For example : brother-in-law : brothers-in-law governor-general : governors-general engineer-in-chief : engineers-in-chief lady doctor : lady doctors Note : Certain compound words take double plural. For example : man-servant : men-servants woman-student : women-students FOREIGN PLURALS The following foreign singular and plural nouns are used in English : 1. Singular nouns ending in -a have the plural form -ae. For example : formula : formulae (formulas) nebula : nebulae (nebulas) vertebra : vertebrae (vertebras) 2. Singular nouns ending in -us have the plural form -i. For example : alumnus : alumni focus : foci (focuses) fungus : fungi (funguses) nucleus : nuclei radius : radii stimulus : stimuli 3. Singular nouns ending in -um have the plural form -a. For example : addendum : addenda bacterium : bacteria curriculum : curricula (curriculums) datum : data maximum : maxima (maximums) 12 A Handbook of English for Professionals medium : media memorandum : memoranda millemmium : millennia 4. Singular nouns ending in -ex, -ix, -s have the plural form -es. For example : index : indexes (indices) appendix : appendixes (appendices) axis : axes analysis : analyses basis : bases crisis : crises hypothesis : hypotheses oasis : oases synopsis : synopses thesis : theses 5. Singular nouns ending in -on have the plural form -a. For example : criterion : criteria phenomenon : phenomena Note : Certain singular and plural nouns have the same form. For example : innings mathematics physics series species politics economics statistics civics annals thanks measles wages Unit I - GRAMMAR 13 Certain plural nouns are always in the singular form. For example : furniture information advice machinery scenery stationery These words are always in the singular verb form. For example : 1. The furniture in the office is new. 2. The information you have given is very useful. 3. Your advice has helped me much. 4. The machinery acquired by you is costly. 5. This scenery is simply exciting. 6. There is no stationery in the office. 1.1.3 GENDER There are four Genders in English : 1. MASCULINE GENDER 2. FEMININE GENDER 3. COMMON GENDER 4. NEUTER GENDER 1. MASCULINE GENDER All the names of male persons and animals belong to Masculine Gender. For example : boy, man, father, brother, uncle, son, nephew, grandson, grandfather, brother-in-law, king, son-in-law, father-in- law, hero, villain, actor, dog, fox, bull, tiger, lion, horse. 2. FEMININE GENDER All the names of female persons and animals belong to Feminine Gender.