Shule Poa: ENGLISH GRAMMAR NOTES

SECTION ONE: PARTS OF SPEECH

NOUNS.

A noun is a naming word. Nouns refer to names of things, ideas, or situations.

There are several ways of classifying nouns.

(a) Countable and uncountable nouns

(b) Concrete or abstract nouns

(d) Collective nouns

(e) Compound nouns

(A) Countable and uncountable nouns

Look at the lists below

List A List B

Pen Water

Man Ink

Poem Wool

Son Mud

Pin Darkness

The items in list A can be described using numerals, e.g. one pen, five men, six poems e.t.c.

List B consist of items that would be impossible to quantify numerically.

We cannot say one water, five muds e.t.c.

The items in list A are countable and those in B are uncountable.

Nouns for materials such as glass, wood e.t.c and those for liquids e.g. milk, oil, e.t.c, are usually uncountable. Other uncountable nouns are the class called abstract nouns. These include such nouns as love, excitement, concern e.t.c.

B. CONCRETE AND ABSTRACT NOUNS

Concrete nouns are those that are appreciated with any of the five senses. These senses are sense of touch, sight, smell, taste and sense of hearing.

Below is a table of several nouns and the senses that they appeal to.

	NOUN	TOUCH	SIGHT	SMELL	TASTE	SOUND
1.	Wood	√	√	√	√	´
2.	Dust	√	√	√	√	´
3.	Smoke	´	√	√	?	´
4.	Fire	√	√	√	?	√
5.	Book	√	√	√	√	´
6.	Water	√	√	´	√	√
7.	Love	´	´	´	´	´
8.	Justice	´	´	´	´	´
9.	Understanding	´	´	´	´	´
10.	Humour	´	´	´	´	´

Nouns 1-6 can appeal to any of the five senses, they are concrete. Nouns 7-10 are abstract.

C. COMMON AND PROPER NOUNS

Common nouns are names that are shared by common classes of things. For instance, the term ‘boy’ is a noun which refers to ‘male youth’. All male youths share this common term.

Proper nouns are specific names of people, things or places. All abstract nouns are common nouns unless they are given names for certain stylistic purposes.

Proper nouns are names given to specific entities. For example, Peter, Monday, June, English e.t.c

The first letter of all proper nouns is capitalized in writing. Proper nouns do not have plural forms but common nouns are pluralized.

D. COLLECTIVE NOUNS

These nouns are (collectively) identified as a group.

Some collective nouns are, Audience, Congregation, Crowd, Swarm, Class, Group, Staff, School e.t.c.

E. COMPOUND NOUNS

These are nouns, which are formed by more than one word, i.e two, or more words are compounded to form a noun.

Compound nouns may be formed by: -

(i) Noun + noun

e.g. Kitchen table, riverbank, bedroom.

(ii) Gerund + noun

e.g. waiting list, dining room, swimming pool e.t.c

(iii) Noun + Gerund

e.g. name calling, weight lifting, sight seeing e.t.c

(iv) Noun + preposition + noun

e.g. mother – in – law

Sister – in – law

(v) Noun + preposition + gerund

e.g. Doctors – in – waiting

NUMBER IN NOUNS

Singular and Plural.

In the previous topic, we looked at the different ways of classifying nouns. We shall now look at ways of deriving plurals from singular nouns.

(i) The plural of a noun is usually made by adding S to the singular.

e.g. Book - books

Cow- cows

Shoe – shoes.

(ii) Nouns ending in ‘O’ ‘ch,’ ‘sh’, ‘ss’ or ‘x’ form their plurals by adding ‘es’.

e.g. Singular Plural

Tomato tomatoes

Church churches

Brush brushes

Kiss kisses

Box boxes

(iii) Nouns ending in ‘y’ following a consonant from their plural by dropping the ‘y’ and

adding ‘ies’

Singular Plural

Baby Babies

Country Countries

Fly Flies

(iv) Nouns ending in ‘f’ or ‘fe’ drop the ‘f’ or ‘fe’ and add ‘-ves’

Singular Plural

Half Halves

Life Lives

Shelf Shelves

Wife Wives

(v) Nouns ending in ‘y’ following a vowel form their plural by adding ‘s’

Singular Plural

Boy Boys

Way Ways

Donkey Donkeys

(vi) A few nouns have irregular plural derivations.

(a) Some form their plural by a vowel change

Singular Plural

Foot Feet

Tooth Teeth

Goose Geese

Mouse Mice

Woman Women

(b) Some nouns remain unchanged for both singular and plural

Singular Plural

Sheep Sheep

Water Water

Fish Fish

(vii) Collective nouns can take a singular or plural verb.

Singular if we consider the word to mean single group or unit

e.g. The audience is laughing

The audience are laughing

(viii) Certain words are always plural.

These include, police, clothes, trousers, pajamas, scissors, spectacles, shears, glasses

e.t.c

These take a plural verb.

(ix). Some words of Greek or Latin origin make their plurals according to the rules of

Greek or Latin.

e.g. Phenomenon - Phenomena

Memorandum - Memoranda

Oasis - Oases

(x) Normally the last word in a compound noun is made plural.

e.g. Boy friend Boyfriends

Lucky winner Lucky winners

(xi) Where man or woman is prefixed, both parts are made plural

e.g. Man nurse Men nurses

Woman driver Women drivers

(xii) Compound nouns formed by verb + er or nouns and adverbs have their first word

changed.

e.g. runners up, lookers on e.t.c

(xiii) Compound nouns formed by a noun + preposition + noun have the first word

changed for plural.

e.g. Sister – in – law - Sisters – in – law

Kenyan – at – heart - Kenyans – in – heart

(ix) Initials can be made plural.

e.g. M.O.D. (Master on Duty) - M.O.DS

VIP - VIPS

DC - DCS

ARTICLES IN ENGLISH

3. ARTICLES IN ENGLISH

Articles come before nouns or noun clauses.

(a) The indefinite article ‘THE’

USES:

(i) When the noun is known to the reader or the hearer

e.g. The sun cast its golden rays in to the clouds

I gave him a letter. He tore the letter into pieces

(ii) Before known natural physical features.

e.g. The Nile, the Amazon, the Indian Ocean e.t.c

(iii) In certain names of countries which may comprise of an adjective and a noun.

e.g. The United Kingdom

The United Arab Emirates e.t.c

(iv) In proper nouns with a plural form.

e.g. The Chinese

The Philippines

(v) Before superlatives

e.g. The best boy

The disciplined girl

(vi) Before an adjective used as a noun to give the meaning ‘all the’

e.g. the youth, the poor, the rich e.t.c

(vii) Before comparatives expressing parallel increase or decrease.

e.g. the older he becomes, the wealthier he gets.

The higher you go, the cooler it becomes.

(viii) Before certain expressions of time.

e.g. the next morning

The day after

(ix) When the noun is considered unique or of its kind

e.g. the Equator, the Rift valley, the Earth e.t.c

(x) Before proper nouns consisting of noun + of + noun

e.g. the Cape of good hope.

The United States of America

(xi) In names of people when referring to a whole family.

e.g. the Mwikali’s ( i.e. all members of her household)

(xii) Before titles containing ‘of’

e.g. the president of Kenya

the Kabaka of Uganda e.t.c

Omission of the:

i. Before names of people except No.( xi) above.

ii. After a noun in the possessive case

e.g. we say the boy’s cousin NOT the cousin of the boy

iii. Before names of games

e.g. we say soccer NOT the soccer

(b) Definite Articles

a / an

Both these articles are used similarly except that ‘a’ is used before nouns beginning with a consonant sound and ‘an’ comes before nouns beginning with a vowel sound.

(i) The two articles are used before singular countable nouns.

e.g. a book

a church

an egg

an hour

(ii) They are also used in certain expressions of quantity.

e.g. a dozen

a couple

a glass of water e.t.c

(i) They are used with numbers such as a hundred, a thousand, a million e.t.c

(ii) Before expressions of distance, Time, speed, ratio e.t.c

e.g. a kilometer, three times a week, three kilometers, an hour e.t.c

(iii) In exclamation before singular countable nouns

e.g. such a brilliant boy!

such a dirty toilet!

(iv) Before titles; Mr., Mrs., Miss surname

e.g. a Miss Mutuku

a Mr. Ochieng

This means that the person referred to is a stranger to the speaker.

GENITIVE CASE IN NOUNS

POSSESSIVE:

‘s form

(i) ‘S is used with singular nouns and plural nouns NO ending in ‘s’

e.g. Men’s wear

Girl’s wear

Teacher’s key

(ii) A simple apostrophe (’) is used with plural nouns ending in`S’.

e.g. girl’s room

Student’s records

(iii) Classical names ending in `s’ usually add only the apostrophe

e.g. Achimedes’ principle, Pythagoras’ theorem

(iv) Names ending in s can take ‘s or the apostrophe alone

e.g. James’ book or James’s book

Jones’ job or Jones’s job

(v) In compound nouns, the last word takes the ‘s

e.g. My sister – in – law’s car

(b) Uses of the possessive

(i) The possessive case is chiefly used of people, countries or animals.

e.g. Mutua’s, Kenya’s, the elephant’s tusk e.t.c

(ii) It can also be used of planes, ships, trains, cars and other vehicles: though the ‘of’ construction is safer.

e.g. the train’s wagon’s – the wagons of the train (preferable)

(iii) Possessive is also used in time expressions.

e.g. An hour’s drive

Tomorrow’s assignment

N.B: We can have ‘a thirty minute’s break’ or a thirty minute break

(iv) The possessive form is also used in expressions of money + worth

e.g. ten shillings worth of candy

(v) A few expressions such as ‘a stone’s throw’, ‘a journey’s end’ e.t.c will use the possessive.

(vi) Nouns in certain occupations can have the possessive without the second

noun. e.g. the chemist’s, the baker’s, the butcher’s e.t.c

C. OF + NOUN

Uses

(i) When the possessor noun is followed by a phrase or a clause.

e.g. I saw the face of a man wearing glasses.

(ii) In inanimate ‘possessors’

e.g. The roof of the church (NOT the church’s roof)

(iii) N.B: It is possible to replace these expressions (i.e. of + noun) by having the ‘noun possessor’ coming before the ‘noun- possessed’

e.g. The keys of the car – the car keys

The roof of the church – the church roof.

NOUN DERIVATION

In any language, words are formed by morphs.

In English, these morphs are either prefixes or suffixes.

For example, from the bare form of the verb ‘act’, we can derive the following words: -

React (v)

Reacted (past tense)

Reactive (adjective)

Reaction (noun)

Reacting (present participle) e.t.c

Some of the suffixes added to words to derive nouns include: - er,…ee,…ness,…ion,…ship,…ence e.t.c

We may derive nouns from:

(i) Verbs - Nouns

e.g. Worship worshiper

Detain detainee

Interview interview/interviewer/interviewee

Differ difference

Adjective - Noun

Busy business

Lazy laziness

Beautiful beauty

Able ability

Nouns - Nouns

Review reviewer

King kingship

Kin kinship

Statesman statesmanship

GENDER SENSITIVE WORDS

Gender refers to the specific roles or duties assigned to different sexes. These roles are culture based and they keep changing. Roles that were predominantly male dominated are now assigned to women.

It is important to develop a gender sensitive language.

Chairman Chairlady - Chairperson

Headmaster Headmistress - school head

History (his-story) ?

Manliness ?

Husbandry ?

Mankind ?

Man made e.t.c ?

There is need to develop gender sensitive language

FUNCTIONS OF NOUNS IN SENTENCES

Before we examine the functions of nouns in sentences, certain terms must be understood.

(a) Noun phrase:

This is a group of words acting as a noun but without a finite verb (verb with tense).

Noun phrases usually consist of: - an article + adjective(s) + noun.

e.g. The ridiculous incident

article adj. Noun

(b) Noun clause:

This is a group of words consisting of a subject and a finite verb. The noun clause acts as a noun in a sentence.

(i) NOUNS/NOUN PHRASES/NOUN CLAUSES AS SUBJECTS OF A SENTENCE

This refers to what or whom the sentence refers to.

In sentences with transitive verbs, the subject is the doer of the action stated by the verb.

Nouns, noun phrases and noun clauses can act as subjects of sentence.

e.g. The boys (n) were called in.

The most improved students were rewarded.

S (noun phrase)

The students who came late, were sent away.

S (noun clause)

(ii). OBJECT

NOUNS/NOUN PHRASES/NOUN CLAUSES AS DIRECT OBJECTS

The direct object refers to the receiver of the action stated by the verb.

A noun, noun phrase and noun clause can act as a direct object in a sentence.

e.g. He kicked the ball.

D.O (noun)

They received the exercise books.

D.O (noun phrase)

He slapped a girl who sat behind the class.

D.O (noun clause)

NOUNS/NOUNPHRASES/NOUN CLAUSES AS INDIRECT OBJECT

The indirect object (1.0) receives the direct object

e.g. He gave the card to Juma.

1.0 (n)

He gave the card to the brightest boy in class.

1.0 (noun phrase)

They gave letters to all who had shouted.

Noun clause (1.0)

(iii) NOUN CLAUSES AS COMPLIMENTS

Look at the sentences below.

What they found were broken chairs.

n. phrase (C)

Mary is a bellicose student.

Noun phrase (C)

The underlined phrases compliment (describe, modify) the subject.

The direct object and indirect object can also be complimented by noun clauses.

Kioko gave it to Mary, the short brown girl.

Compliment of object

In brief, nouns, noun phrases and noun clauses may act as subjects, objects and compliments in sentences.

CHAPTER TWO: PRONOUNS.

1. CATEGORIES:

These are words which substitute nouns. Pronouns are useful if one wishes to avoid repetition when linking phrases, clauses or sentences.

Pronouns may be classified as personal, possessive, reflexive, interrogative and relative.

(A) PERSONAL PRONOUNS

	Subject	Object
1^st person singular 2^nd person singular 3^rd person singular 1^st person plural 2^nd person plural 3^rd person plural	I You He/she/it We You They	Me You Him/her/it Us You Them

The first person refers to the person(s) speaking.

The second person refers to the person(s) being spoken to.

The third person refers to the person(s) referred to or the one spoken about.

(B) POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS

Persons	Possessive adjectives	Possessive pronouns
1^st person singular 2^nd person singular 3^rd person singular 1^st person plural 2^nd person plural 3^rd person plural	My Your His/her/its Our Your Their	Mine Yours His/hers/its Ours Yours Theirs

N.B We do not use the apostrophe for the possessive pronouns.

It’s means` it is’.

Its means ‘belonging to it’ or ‘of it’

Examples:

That book is yours. Mine is in the library.

Theirs is a very serious court case.

This is my book. Yours is in the library.

Mine is a very serious court case.

C. REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS:

Reflexive pronouns are used when the action of the verb returns to the subject.

e.g. I hurt myself

S (s/o)

‘Myself’ is the ‘object’ of the sentence and it is actually the subject.

Below is a list of ‘reflexive pronouns’

Person	Singular	Plural
First person Second person Third person	Myself Yourself Himself/herself/itself	Ourselves Yourselves Themselves

The reflexive pronoun ‘oneself’ is indefinite.

As observed above,

Reflexive pronouns are used when the action of the verb returns to the subject.

e.g. I saw myself in the mirror

I thanked myself for the victory

They branded themselves rogues.

Mutua loved himself so much.

Reflexive pronouns are also used to emphasize the nouns or pronouns in the subject position.

e.g. The president himself opened parliament.

She supervised it herself.

D. INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS

These are pronouns used while asking questions.

Below is a list of interrogative pronouns.

	Subject	Object	Possessive
For persons For things	Who Which What Which	Who/whom Which What Which	Whose - -

e.g. Who came here?

Which/what is available? E.t.c

Which is used for persons or things when the choice is restricted.

e.g. Which did you buy?

Who wrote the essay and ‘which’ (of the boys) wrote the essay’ are different.

In ‘who wrote the essay?’ the speaker may not even know that it was a boy. In the second, it is specified or restricted to a particular group.

E. DEMONTSRATIVE PRONOUNS

These pronouns are used to indicate the position of a particular noun.

They include:

Singular	Plural	Meaning
This That	These Those	Near (close) to the speaker Farther away from the speaker

When these words are immediately followed by nouns, they act as adjectives.

e.g. This book is mine, but this is yours

adj n pronoun

Those in uniform were ushered in to the class.

Pronoun

Those students in uniform…

Adjective

F. RELATIVE PRONOUNS

Relative pronouns are used to introduce clauses.

Defining relative pronouns introduce a clause which distinguishes the noun being described from the rest of its class hence they introduce adjectival clauses.

e.g. The boys who sneaked from school were punished.

This sentence implies that only those boys who sneaked from school were punished. Those who did not sneak from school were not punished.

Non-defining relative clauses simply augment (or are in apposition to the noun being described.

e.g. The boys, who sneaked from school, were punished.

The second sentence implies that all the boys sneaked from school; hence they were all punished.

Below is a list of relative pronouns used in defining relative clauses.

	Subject	Object	Possessive
For persons For things	Who That Which That	Who /whom That Which That	Whose Where /of which

Examples of relative pronouns used in defining clauses

The boys who play soccer were rewarded

The dog that vomited has disappeared

Men who worship Satan will regret in future

The above sentences have all been used in the subject position.

The sentences below have relative pronouns introducing clauses in the object position.

He punished the boys who came late.

Mwikali dislikes boys who constantly ogle at her.

Below is a list of relative pronouns used in non- defining relative clauses.

	Subject	Object	Possessive
First persons	Who	Whom / whom	Whose
For things	Which	Which	Whose / of which

Examine the sentences below:

The doctor, who welcomed us, registered his appreciation .

The clause, ‘who welcomed us’, is in apposition. It simply adds more information that the doctor also welcomed them.

Compare:

The doctor, who welcomed us, registered his appreciation.

The doctor who welcomed us registered his appreciation.

In the second sentence (which has a defining clause) implies that only the doctor (there were other doctors) who welcomed us registered his appreciation. In the first sentence the relative clause is non- defining. It implies that there was only one doctor and he is also the one who welcomed us /them.

Distinguish the meanings in the following pairs of sentences

The girls, whose books were taken, are complaining.

The girls whose books were taken are complaining.

The students, who excelled in last year’s exams, were rewarded.

The students who excelled in last year’s exams were rewarded.

The man, whom I saw, was in a red jacket.

The man whom I saw was in a red jacket.

CHAPTER THREE: VERBS

1. DEFINITION AND CATEGORIES

Verbs are actions in sentences.

A verb denotes the action or state of being of the subject in a sentence.

e.g. She dashed into class (indicates action)

S verb (v)

Mary is unwell

S verb - (indicates state of being)

Verbs also carry the tense or the time when a particular action took place or is to take place.

e.g. She went home yesterday

She goes home this evening

Verbs also carry the perfective or the progressive aspect of the action.

e.g. She had eaten the food implies that the action came to completion before another action in the past happened. This verb is in the perfective aspect.

e.g. 2 She is writing an essay.

The verb in this sentence implies that the action of writing is in progress. The verb therefore carries the progressive aspect.

There are two main types of verbs:

Lexical and auxiliary verbs

(A) LEXICAL VERBS

These are action words which occur independently and singly in clauses.

e.g. The boy kicked the ball

The verb ‘kick’ is independent and may not need another verb.

The boy kicked threw the ball. This is wrong because lexical verbs occur singly in clauses or sentences.

(i) Verbs will always agree with the subject of the sentence in relation to number (i.e.

singular or plural)

For example:

Juma goes to school

S. Subject V

The boy goes to school

S. Subject V

The boys go to school

Pl. subject V

A singular subject has a corresponding singular form of a verb.

A plural subject will have a corresponding plural of a verb.

(ii) Verbs will change for tense.

e.g. I see him (simple present)

I saw him (simple past)

Below are the different tenses in English and examples of how two verbs may change in the respective tenses.

(a) Simple present tense

- He eats rice for supper

- He walks to school

(b) Present continuous:

- He is eating rice for supper

- He is walking to school

- He has eaten rice for supper

- He has walked to school

(d) Present perfect continuous:

- He has been eating rice for supper

- He has been walking to school

(e) Past simple:

- He ate rice for supper

- He walked to school

(f) Past continuous

- He was eating rice for supper

- He was waking to school.

(g) Past perfect:

- He had eaten rice for supper

- He had walked to school

(h) Past perfect continuous:

- He had been eating rice for supper

- He had been walking to school

(i) Future Simple:

- He will / shall eat rice for supper

- He will walk to school

(j) Future continuous:

- He will be eating rice for supper

- He will be walking to school

(k) Future perfect:

- He will have eaten rice for supper

- He will have walked to school

(l) Future perfect continuous:

- He will have been eating rice for supper

- He will have been walking to school

Before looking at the way all these tenses and time aspects are derived, let us first look at the other category of verbs: Auxiliary verbs.

(B) AUXILIARY VERBS

Auxiliary are also called helping verbs. They help carry the tense, the progressive or perceptive aspect and in the case of modals; the mood or mode of the verb.

There are two types of auxiliary verbs:

(a) Main auxiliary

(b) Modal auxiliary

(a) Main Auxiliary:

There are three primary auxiliaries; to be, to have and to do

The different forms of these verbs are tabled below:

Infinitive	Present tense	Past tense	Past participle
be	am, is, are	Was	been
have	have, has	Had	had
do	do, does	Did	done

The three primary auxiliaries can be used as ordinary verbs.

e.g. He has a book.

He is lazy.

He did the job.

These three auxiliaries can also, unlike lexical verbs, occur in the same sentence.

e.g. He has been doing the job

(to have) (to be) (to do)

have

- When it occurs independently in a sentence, it implies ‘possesses’

e.g. She has a car means she possesses a car.

- When used as an helping verb, it carries the perfective aspect

e.g. I have returned the book

(b) Modal auxiliaries

These combine with infinitives to indicate permission, possibility, obligation, deduction e.t.c.

They include: -

Present	Past
Can May Must Ought Shall will	Could Might Had to Should Would

Unlike primary auxiliaries, a single clause cannot have more than one modal auxiliary.

e.g. We must walk

We could must walk

We shall look at several uses of modal auxiliaries in other chapters.

VERB AND TENSE

1. The simple present tense

The Simple Present tense is used for:

(a) Facts:

e.g. The sun rises from East.

Dog barks.

(b) Repeated actions, customs and habits

- People celebrate Christmas on 25^th December.

- Kenyans go for elections every five years.

- He balances on a rope.

- He paints walls.

When asking questions in this tense, the auxiliary must reflect the number.

e.g. Does he walk to school ?(singular subject)

Do they walk to school? (plural subject)

B. Simple past tense

(i) This tense is used when the action referred to happened in the past

e.g. They walked to the police station yesterday.

(ii) Verbs ending in a consonant preceded by a single stressed vowel double the

consonant in the past tense.

e.g. Hop – hopped

Stop – stopped

Fit – fitted

(iii) Most verbs that end in Y change the Y in to -ied

e.g. Hurry – hurried

Bury – buried

Reply – replied

Worry – worried

(iv) In regular verbs, the past simple ends in -ed

e.g. Walk – walked

Talk – talked

Worship – worshiped

Wash – washed

(v) Several verbs are irregular

e.g. Write – wrote

See – saw

Go – went

Throw – threw

Cost - cost

Hit - hit

C. Present continuous tense

This tense is used when we want to talk about an action which ‘is still going on’

It talks of a continuation or progressiveness.

e.g. I am writing an essay now.

Constructions in this tense comprise of an auxiliary verb in the simple present and a present participle (verb with –ing form).

They are walking home

(be) V + ing

To derive the present participle from the verb:

(a) Most verbs ending in ‘e’ drop the ‘e’ and add –‘ing’ to the stem.

e.g. Come – coming

Wake – waking

Type – typing

(b) A few verbs with long vowels or diphthongs retain the ‘e’ and add the -ing

e.g. Flee – fleeing

Dye – dying

Canoe – canoeing

be replaced.

e.g. Die – dying

Lie – lying

(d) A verb which ends in a consonant that is preceded by a short vowel sound doubles

that consonant before adding the –‘ing’ ending.

e.g. Hit – hitting

Slap – slapping

Sit – sitting

Map – mapping

(iv) Verbs with a long vowel or diphthong before the last consonant do not have the last

consonant doubled.

e.g. Deal – dealing

Steal – stealing

Wail – wailing

D. THE PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE

This tense is formed by changing into past auxiliary verb ‘be’ + verb + ing.

She is watching a movie. (present continuous)

She was watching a movie. (past continuous)

The past continuous tense implies that the action which has already been done was happening progressively.

e.g. We are reciting a poem.

He was making cookies.

They were waiting for the teacher.

E. THE PRESENT PERFECT

This tense is formed by has / have + past participle

e.g. She has come.

They have sung.

The past participle often ends in –‘ed’

e.g. washed, talked

However, several verbs are irregular.

e.g. Do – done

Write – written

Be – been

Beat – beaten

Bend – bent

The past participle forms do not always directly correspond to the simple past forms.

For example:

Infinitive Past simple Past participle

Be was /were been

Bet bet bet

Catch caught caught

Drink drank drunk

Grow grew grown

Leave left left

Lie lay lain

Sew sewed sewn / sewed

Show showed shown / showed

Write wrote written

Swear swore sworn

Split split split

Most good dictionaries and textbooks provide lists of verbs in their past simple and past participle forms.

The present perfect implies that an action has just been completed. We can sense the effects of the action.

e.g. Who has banged the door (the noise is disturbing)

The bell has gone (students can be seen running)

F. PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

This tense is formed by has / have + been + verb in the present participle.

e.g. She has been singing

I have been reading A Man of the People.

This tense implies that the action has been happening progressively for its perfective completion.

G. PAST PERFECT

It is formed by had + past participle

e.g. They had eaten the food.

She had seen him.

We had finished the examination.

H. PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

It is formed by had + been + present participle.

e.g. She had been washing clothes.

They had been swimming.

The tense implies that before a particular action took place something was going on continually to completion.

e.g. She had been singing when we arrived

This means that when they arrived:

- She had just stopped singing

- She was singing continuously.

- All the events took place in the past.

(i) WAYS OF EXPRESSING FUTURE TIME

There are several forms of expressing the future.

(a) Simple present + time aspect

e.g. They start school on Monday.

We go to the museum next Tuesday.

(b) Present continuous + time aspect.

I am going to Nairobi next week

They are opening school next Monday.

The simple present is more impersonal than the present continuous form.

(i) I go home tomorrow

(ii) I am going home tomorrow

The first sentence may imply that it is not part of my decision to go home, whereas the second one implies that I have actually decided.

The simple present form can also sound more formal than the continuous.

e.g. ‘Learners sit for the exam next week’ is more formal than ‘Learners are sitting for exams next week’.

Will + infinitive expresses intention at the moment of decision.

e.g. The bell has gone, I’ll dash to class.

(d) Be + going to form

e.g. I am going to buy a dictionary.

This form is used to express subject’s intention to perform a certain future action.

This intention is always pre-meditated.

It means I have decided.

e.g. I am going to draw a timetable.

(f) The future continuous

This is expressed by:

Will / shall + present participle

e.g. I will be singing.

Mutua will be running round the field.

(g). Future Perfect

It is expressed by:

Will + have + past participle

e.g. I will have done my exams by 2010

They will have laid the trap.

(h). Future perfect continuous.

It is expressed by:

Will / shall + have + been + present participle

e.g. I will have been doing the paper.

They shall have been singing.

3. TRANSITIVE AND INTRANSITIVE VERBS

All verbs that take an object after them are called transitive verbs.

e.g. James prepared buns

v.t

Intransitive verbs do not accept an object after them.

Most of the intransitive verbs are followed by adverbs, adjectives or descriptive phrases.

e.g. We arrived in the morning.

v.i

He yawned twice

v.i

He shouted

v.i

Some verbs can be used both transitively and intransitively.

e.g. I fought him (transitively)

v.t

I fought courageously (intransitively)

v.i

The good dictionaries will indicate whether a verb is used transitively or not.

4. QUESTION TAGS

A question tag is a phrase added at the end of a statement to make the statement a question.

Question tags may also be defined as short additions to sentences asking for agreement or confirmation.

Rules of forming question tags:

(a) After negative statements, we use the ordinary interrogative.

e.g. You didn’t see him, did you?

He wasn’t there, was he?

(b) After affirmative (positive) statements, we use the negative the negative interrogative.

Peter saw you, didn’t he?

Mary was there, wasn’t she?

ever and seldom are treated as negative hence the statements containing them are

followed by an ordinary interrogative tag.

e.g. He hardly ever goes to school, does he?

No one saw him, did they?

Nothing was said, was it?

No salt is allowed, is it?

(d) When the subjects of the sentence is anyone, anybody, no one, nobody, none and

neither, we use the pronoun they as subject of the tag.

e.g. Neither of them complained, did they?

Any one is welcome, are they?

No one would object, would they?

(e) If the statement does not have any auxiliary verb, we use ‘do’ as the auxiliary verb.

e.g. Edward lives here, doesn’t he?

She baked cakes, didn’t she?

No one came in time, did they?

(f) In statements with everybody, everyone, somebody and someone, we use they as the

subject of the tag.

e.g. Everyone was excited, weren’t they?

Someone made away with my book, didn’t they?

Somebody had seen him, hadn’t they?

NOTE:

When question tags are used, the speaker doesn’t normally need information but

merely expects agreement.

Tags are therefore usually said with a falling intonation as in statements.

Sometimes however, the speaker does want information. He is not quite sure that the statement (he has made) is true and wants to be reassured. In this case, the question tag is said with a rising tone (as in ordinary interrogatives) and the important word in the first sentence is stressed.

5. THE PARTICIPLES

A. The present participle

It is formed by the bare form of the verb (infinitive) + ing.

The present participle has several uses:

(i) To form continuous tenses

e.g. He is singing.

(ii) As adjectives.

e.g. Leaking pipes

Running water

Boiling pot e.t.c

(iii) After have + object

e.g. We have many people registering for this course.

Object

We have few students coming late.

(iv) It can sometimes replace a relative pronoun + verb

e.g. A line that cuts across two points

A line cutting across two points

A map that shows Lake Victoria

A map showing Lake Victoria

(v) To introduce statements in indirect speech

e.g. He told me to avoid the route, reminding me that several people had been

recently mugged.

(vi) After verbs of sensation (i.e. see, hear, feel, smell, listen to and watch).

e.g. I see him crouching under the table.

I heard them singing a hymn.

I listened to him shouting to the girl.

(vii) After catch / find / leave + object.

e.g. I caught him stealing from the school farm

I left her sitting on a rock.

He found him reading in the library.

(viii) After go / come / spend / waste / be busy

e.g. They came shouting

They are going swimming

Jane was busy reading

He spend ten thousand shillings furnishing the room.

N.B

The present participle after verbs of sensation may express both complete and incomplete actions.

I saw him digging the grave.

This sentence may imply that the action is still going on.

It may also mean that he was found doing that (digging the grave) and the action is complete.

If these verbs are followed by a bare infinitive, we may imply that the action is complete.

e.g. I saw him dig the grave.

Compare the meaning in the two pairs of sentences below.

Maria was seen running round the field

Maria was seen run round the field.

I watched the actors performing the play.

I watched the actors perform the play.

Catch / find + object + present participle

The action expressed by the participle is one that displeases the subject.

e.g. I caught him jumping over the fence.

She was found writing a love letter.

Leave

This verb can be used with a participle.

e.g. I left him shouting in the dormitory.

A present participle replacing a main clause

(i) When two actions by the same subject occur simultaneously, it is usually possible to

express one of them by a present participle.

The participle can be before or after the finite verb.

e.g. He ran away. He shouted as he ran - He ran away shouting.

(ii) When one action is immediately followed by another of the same subject, the first

action can often be expressed by a present participle.

The participle must be placed first.

e.g. He opened the door and threw the keys inside.

Opening the door, he threw the keys inside.

(iii) When the second action forms part of the first or is as a result of it, we can express

the second action by a present participle.

e.g. She went out, banging the door.

The police fired, shooting a suspect.

Present participle replacing a subordinate clause

The present participle can replace as / since / because + subject + verb

It can help to explain the action which follows.

e.g. Knowing that the examinations would be tough he studied hard.

Since he knew…

Or because / as he knew …

These constructions are chiefly found in written English.

B. The perfect participle

(i) It is formed by having + past participle.

It can be used in place of present participle in sentences where the action is immediately followed by another with the same object.

Bolting one tyre firmly in its place, he threw the other in the back cabin. – Having bolted one tyre firmly in its place, he threw the other in the back cabin.

(ii) The perfect participle is necessary where there is an interval of time between two

actions.

e.g. Having failed twice, he didn’t want to try again.

(iii) It is also used when the first action covered a period of time.

e.g. Having been a prefect for three years, he found his stay in school as a common

student difficult.

(iv) The perfect participle may be used where the present participle mighty lead to

ambiguity.

Eating his lunch, he went out of the hall.

(This statement has two meanings)

It can be disambiguated by using the perfect participle; having eaten his lunch, he went out of the hall.

C. Past participle (passive)

The past participle of regular verbs is formed by adding ‘ed’ or ‘d’ to the infinitive.

These constructions are in the passive.

The passed participle can be used;

(i) As an adjective

e.g. Broken glass

Written report

Torn dress e.t.c

(ii) To form the perfect tenses / infinitives / the passive voice and participles.

e.g. He has seen

It was broken

(iii) To replace a subject + passive verb.

e.g. She enters . She’s accompanied by her sister.

She enters accompanied by her sister.

The roof had been worn out over the years and was no longer useful.

- Worn out over the years, the roof was no longer useful.

The perfect passive

It is formed by having been + past participle.

It is used when it is necessary to emphasize that the action expressed by the participle happened before the action expressed by the next verb.

e.g Having been informed about him, I gave him no money.

N.B

A participle is believed to belong to the noun or pronoun which precedes it.

e.g. James, troubled by what he had seen, went to the police station

- If there is no noun / pronoun in this position, the participle is considered to belong to the

subject of the following main verb.

e.g. Troubled by what he had seen, James went to the police station.

If this principle is disregarded, confusion results.

e.g. Waiting for a taxi at the kerb, a mouse passed by.

This may imply that the mouse was waiting for the bus.

A participle linked in this way to the wrong noun or pronoun is said to be misrelated.

The above sentence should be re-written;

I was waiting for a taxi at the kerb when a mouse passed by.

6. PHRASAL VERBS

These are formed by verb + preposition or verb + adverb.

e.g. Look after – means to take care of.

Note that phrasal verbs are considered as independent and they have quite different meanings from the verbs which form them.

Phrasal verbs, like all other verbs will change for tense and number.

e.g. He gave in. (Simple past)

He gives in (Simple present)

He has given in (present perfect) e.t.c.

- Like lexical verbs, phrasal verbs can be used transitively or intransitively.

e.g. They have to look after the babies

v.t

They took off when the police arrived.

v.i

Below is a list of phrasal verbs.

Good dictionaries will provide the phrasal verbs formed from verbs.

Answer back (v.i)

- Answer a reproof imprudently.

Ask after / for (v.t) – ask for news of

Ask for ( vt) ask to speak to

- request, demand

Back away (v.i) move back slowly / retreat

Back out (v.i) – discontinue or refuse to provide previously promised help or support.

Back (somebody) up – support morally or verbally.

Close down (vt, v.i)

- Shut permanently (e.g. a business)

Close in (v.i) – approach from all sides / come nearer.

Close up (v.i) come nearer together ( of people in a line)

Do away with (v.t) abolish

Do up (v.t) redecorate

Do without (v.t) manage in the absence of a person or thing.

Enter for (v.t) become a competitor / candidate (e.g. for a contest. Examination)

Fade away (v.i) disappear, become gradually fainter (usually of sounds)

Grow out of (v.t) – abandon, on becoming older

Grow up intr) become an adult

Hang about / around (vt / vi) loiter or wait (near)

Hang back (v.i) show unwillingness to act

Hang on to (vt) retain, keep in one’s possession.

Join up (v.i) enlist (e.g. in the army)

Knock off (vt, v.i) stop work for the day (informal)

Knock out (v.t) hit someone so hard that he falls unconscious.

Look for (v.t) search for or seek.

Miss out (v.t) leave out

Order (somebody) about – give a lot of orders.

Point out (v.t) indicate, show

Rub out (v.t) erase pencil or ink marks.

Rub up (v.t) revise one’s knowledge of subject.

Sell of (v.t) sell cheaply (what is left as stock)

Sell out (v.i) sell all that you have of a certain type of article.

Think over (v.t) – consider

Wipe out (v.t) destroy completely.

IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS:

An idiomatic is a phrase or clause whose meaning like that of the phrasal verb is different from the words that constitute it. Therefore one has to know the meaning of the idiom.

The more one learns the use of idioms in conversation, the more he becomes proficient in their usage.

Idioms can be used as adjectives nouns and as verbs.

Below are a few idioms used as verbs.

1. Lay/put ones cards on the table – to be honest and open about one’s resources and intentions.

e.g. The warring factions can only reach a consensus if they put their cards on the table.

2. Give somebody his cards – dismiss somebody.

The corrupt officials were given cards by the new government.

3. To be at sixes and sevens – to be confused.

I have a lot of work and I am at all sixes and sevens about what to do first.

4. Skin somebody alive (said as a threat) – punish somebody severely.

5. Be on the look out for somebody/ something – Be somebody’s concern or responsibility.

6. Throw/fling/sling mud at somebody – try to damage somebody’s reputation by slander, libel e.t.c

7. Lay down office - resign a position of authority.

8. Come to harm (usually negative) be injured physically, mentally or morally.

e.g. I’ll escort her to the bus station to ensure that she comes to no harm.

9. Earn /turn an honest penny – earn money by working hard and fairly

10. Be in the red / get somebody in to the red – Have more liabilities than assets.

11. Get out of the red – get out of debt.

Careful use of idioms is important. Some of them are used in formal contexts and others are used informally. A good dictionary indicates the usage of common idioms in the English language.

Using idioms wrongly is not only a sign of ignorance but it is also irritating.

CHAPTER 4 : ADJECTIVES

1. DEFINITION AND CLASSFICATION:

Adjectives are words which describe or modify nouns or pronouns.

There are six main kinds of adjectives: -

(a) Demonstrative – This, that, these, those.

(b) Distributive – Each, every, either neither

(d) Interrogative – Which, what, whose

(e) Possessive – My, your, his, her, its our, your, their

(f) Qualitative e.g. clever, dry, fat good, heavy e.t.c

We shall closely look at each of these when examining the functions of adjectives.

2. POSITIONS OF ADJECTIVES:

The normal position of an adjective is directly before the noun it modifies.

e.g. The dirty worn out book was thrown out.

However, for stylistic reasons, adjectives may come after the noun they modify

e.g. The book, dirty and worn out was thrown out.

When an adjective comes before the subject of the sentence (or immediately after the subject and before the verb) we say it is attributive.

An attributive adjective comes at the subject position.

A predicative adjective is separated form the word it modifies by a verb.

e.g. The girl is fast and meticulous.

Adj adj

Predicative adjectives occur at the predicate position.

As observed in chapter one nouns, some words may be used as both adjectives and pronouns.

These include all the relative pronouns (i.e. who, that, whose, those, which), all, another, any, both, each, either, many, more neither, one, other, several, some, these, this, those, what, e.t.c.

e.g. Which pen do you want?

Adj.

Which do you want

Pronoun.

I want more food

Adj.

I want more

Pronoun

3. PARTICIPLES USED AS ADJECTIVES

Both present participle (verb + ing) and past participles (verb + ed) can be used as adjectives.

e.g. Amusing incident

Tiring exercise

When they are used, they mean ‘having this effect’

Past participle adjectives (e.g. amused audience, tired students e.t.c.) are passive and means ‘affected in this way’

Agreement of adjectives:

Adjectives in English have the same form for singular and plural; masculine and feminine.

e.g. A good boy good boys

A good girl good girls

The only exceptions are demonstrative adjectives, this and that which take these and those in plural nouns.

4. COMPARISON IN ADJECTIVES

Adjectives in English have three degree of comparison:

Positive Comparative Superlative

Dark darker darkest

Short shorter shortest

Good better best

Beautiful more beautiful most beautiful

One-syllable adjectives form their comparative and superlative by adding er and est to the positive form.

e.g. Dark darker darkest

One –syllable adjectives ending in ‘e’ add ‘r’ and st to the comparative and superlative respectively. E.g. brave – braver – bravest.

Adjectives of three or more syllables put more and most before positive for comparative and superlative respectively.

e.g. Interested more interested most interested

Cunning more cunning most cunning

Adjectives of two syllables follow one or other of the above rules.

Those ending in –ful or –re usually take more or most.

e.g. Useful more useful most useful

Obscure more obscure most obscure

Those ending in er, y, or ly usually add er or est.

e.g. Clever cleverer cleverest

Pretty prettier prettiest

Some adjectives have irregular comparisons.

e.g. Bad worse worst

Good better best

Many more most

Little less least

Old elder eldest

older oldest

N.B elder/eldest implies seniority rather than age.

Elder is not used with than.

Constructions with comparisons:

Positive

With the positive form, we use as… as in the affirmative and not as / not so… as in the negative.

e.g. He was as gracious as Mother Teresa

Coffee is not as expensive as tea

Coffee is not so expensive as tea.

Comparative

With comparative form, we use than.

e.g. Kioko is faster than Kiprono (affirmative)

Kioko is not faster than Kiprono (negative)

Superlatives

For both affirmative and negative constructions, the… in/of is used.

e.g. Kioko is the fastest runner in the team (affirmative)

Kioko is not the fastest runner in the team (negative)

Jumba is the most disgusting character in the play.

Or of all the characters, Jumba is the most disgusting.

Parallel increase is expressed by

the + comparative…the + comparative.

e.g. The faster he ran, the more tired he become.

The higher you go, the cooler it becomes.

The shorter a van is, the more stable it is.

Gradual increase or decrease is expressed by two comparatives expressed by and.

e.g. He became more and more embarrassed.

The audience became less and less amused

The weather was getting hotter and hotter.

FUNCTIONS OF ADJECTIVES.

(a) Demonstrative adjectives

These adjectives indicate the position of a particular noun in relation to the speaker.

These are the only adjectives which change for number.

SINGULAR	PLURAL	POSITION
This	These	Very close to the speaker
That	Those	Noun further away from speaker or Close to the listener.

These adjectives can also be used as pronouns if the adjective that they describe is omitted.

e.g. This car is hers (adjective)

This is hers (pronoun)

Demonstrative adjectives usually come before the nouns that they modify.

These students were all late.

Adj (n)

(b) Distributive adjectives

These include each, every, either, neither e.t.c

They are used to indicate the ‘distribution’ of the specific nouns.

e.g. Every boy came – implies that all boys came.

Each boy got a fruit – this implies that there were many fruits and all the boys got at

least a fruit.

These adjectives specify quantities or amounts of a particular noun or nouns.

They include: -

little/ a little, few/ a few/ some, many, any, much ,one, three, no. e.t.c

(i) A Little / Little:

These are used for uncountable nouns.

A little implies enough

e.g. There is a little tea in the kettle – implies that one may take it.

I had a little sugar, so I did not buy more.

Little:

It implies ‘hardly any’

e.g. There is little sugar, so I’ll buy some at the shop.

(ii) A few / few:

These two adjectives are used for countable nouns.

A few implies several or enough.

e.g. There were few good books in the library so I did not go there.

N.B little and a little can also be used as adverbs. E.g. It rained a little last week.

We shall examine adverbs in the next unit.

(iii) Some, any, much, many:

(a) Some

(i) This adjective is used in affirmative sentences.

e.g. There is some water in the jug.

There are some girls in the dormitory.

(ii) Some is used for both countable and uncountable nouns.

e.g. Put some soil in the bag (uncountable)

Call some boys from the hostel. (countable)

(iii) It is used in questions expecting the answers ‘yes’

e.g. Would you like some coffee?

Did you say there are some girls in the dormitory?

(iv) It is also used to mean ‘not all’

e.g. Some girls bought the school uniform

(i.e. Not all girls bought the school uniform)

(b) Any

(i) It is used in negative sentences

e.g. There aren’t any girls in the hostel

(ii) It is used for both countable and uncountable nouns.

e.g. Don’t carry any books out of the library.

(iii) It is used in conditional clauses.

e.g. If there had been any student in the hostel, he would have been harmed.

(iv) It is used to mean ‘no matter which’

- You can send any student to the canteen

- Please bring any book from the library.

N.B The adjective ‘no’ does not precede ‘any’ in statement as - there are no any boys in the

hostel.

(v) In spoken language, the form –nt is normal after ‘be’ and ‘have’ forms.

e.g. There aren’t any keys in the room.

They haven’t any milk at the dairy.

Much is used before uncountable nouns and many before countable nouns.

Both these words mean ‘a lot of’

e.g. I gave him much water

I gave him a lot of water.

There are many books in class – there are a lot of books in class.

These words can also be used with the words ‘too’ and ‘so’ to express emphasis.

e.g. I drunk too much water

I have so much home work

She has too many books

Much and many can also be used with ‘as’ for positive degree in adjectives.

e.g. She has as much work as John.

(vi) Enough:

(a) The word enough can be followed by a clause indicating possibility.

e.g. He is big enough to ride a bicycle.

(b) If enough is preceded by a negative verb, then the following idea is negative.

e.g. He isn’t big enough to drive

Jane isn’t big enough to get married.

When it comes before the noun, it means ‘ satisfactory number; right amount or

quantity.

e.g. There are enough books in the library

5. TYPICAL ENDINGS OF ADJECTIVES:

Like nouns, adjectives have morphs that are characteristics of them. Some suffixes which are used to derive adjectives from other parts of speech include

- ful, - les, - ous, - ing, - ly, - sy, - cal

Below is a list of words and their corresponding adjective derivatives

Noun Adjective

Man manly

Beauty beautiful

Ambition ambitions

State stately

Topic topical

Verb Adjective

Amaze amazing

Use useful

Dare daring

Ease easy

Most adjectives are lexical items; they occur in their bare form and are therefore not derived from other words.

e.g. Humid

Trivial

Humble e.t.c

To have mastery of the good use of adjectives the learners will be required to practice English, read widely and listen keenly to correct use of adjectives.

Pages

ENGLISH GRAMMAR NOTES

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