ADVERBS An Adverb is a word we use to modify a verb, an adjective or another adverb. Example; My father drove slowly. How did he drive? The adverb slowly is modifying the verb drive. My father drove a very fast car. How fast was the car? The adverb very is modifying the adjective fast. The game ended rather suddenly. How suddenly was it? The adverb rather is modifying the other adverb suddenly. As you can observe, most adverbs answer the questions, where? When? How often? Or how? Here are some of the most frequently used adverbs of each kind. Question Where? When? or How often? How? Adverbs Away, around, back, elsewhere, here, nowhere, out, outdoors, somewhere, there. Always, finally, later, monthly, never, now, once, often, seldom, sometimes, soon, then, today, twice, usually, weekly, yearly. Badly, brightly, quickly, happily, loudly, patiently, sadly, shyly, slowly, well. A few adverbs can be used to answer the question to what extent? To what extent? Almost, more, much, only, quite, too, very, largely, so, surprisingly, really. There are different kinds of adverbs: Adverbs of Manner She moved slowly and spoke quietly. Adverbs of Place She still lives there now. Adverbs of Frequency She takes the boat to the mainland every day. She often goes by herself. Adverbs of Time It's starting to get dark now. She finished her tea first. She left early. You can see that many adverbs end in -ly. More precisely, they are formed by adding -ly to an adjective: Adjective slow quick soft sudden gradual Adverb slowly quickly softly suddenly gradually However this is NOT the case in all the adverbs.
Exercise1: Find and underline the adverbs in the following passage A CHANGING DAY Suzanne was a very efficient secretary. She always finished the reports first and she never arrived late but one day everything changed rather quickly. That day she woke up very late so she didn t have breakfast. She ran fast in order to catch the bus, however it was too late. Angrily she decided to take a cab and when she was in her job, her boss had been asking for her. She had an important report to hand in. The boss had already gone so she couldn t deliver it. That day everything was terribly bad for her, and the worst part of it was that she was nearly fired.
PREPOSITIONS When you write a sentence about two different things, you often want to show how one thing is related to the other. Take a cat and a tree for instance. You could say that the cat is in the tree, under the tree, near the tree, behind the tree, or use yet another word. In, under, near and behind are all prepositions. A preposition is a word used to show the relation of a noun or a pronoun to some other word in the sentence. Examples; - I will gladly lend that book to you. - The red house on the corner is big. - He ran after the bus. Here is a list of some of the most commonly used prepositions: Generally, a preposition does not stand alone in a sentence. Usually, it begins a group of words which ends with a noun or a pronoun. A group of words which begins with a preposition and ends with a noun or a pronoun is called a prepositional phrase.
Be careful! A word that looks like a preposition but is actually part of a verb is called a particle. This particle is what is forming a phrasal verb. Held up is a verb meaning to rob. Therefore, up is not a preposition, and bank is not the object of a preposition To avoid confusing prepositions with particles, test by moving the word (up) and words following it to the front of the sentence: Up the bank four armed men held. If the resulting sentence does not make sense, then the word belongs with the verb and is a particle, not a preposition. Note the difference:
The resulting sentence makes sense. Therefore, up is a preposition. The resulting sentence does not make sense. Therefore, up is a particle in this sentence. Exercise 2: Underline the prepositional phrases in these sentences. Circle each object of a preposition. 0. The turtle was an important animal for many Native American 1. After school, the boys played a game of baseball at the park. 2. We hid our canoe in the bushes and set up camp by the river. 3. Candy signed her name on the line and passed the paper across the table. 4. Without any warning, the dog dashed to the door and barked loudly. 5. The storm caused the tree in our front yard to fall against the house. Try to determine whether the boldfaced word is a preposition or a particle. 6. Pull up a chair and sit down by Steven. 7. Throughout the day, Carla hummed a favorite song to herself. 8. Please bring the newspaper inside. 9. After brushing her teeth, Margaret likes to read in bed before going to sleep. 10. Run to the store across the street and pick up a gallon of milk, please.
CONJUNCTIONS (also called CONNECTORS) Conjunctions are words used as joiners. Different kinds of conjunctions join different kinds of grammatical structures. The following are the kinds of conjunctions: KINDS OF CONJUNCTIONS Coordinating Conjunctions (there are seven): And Or But Nor So For Yet Subordinating Conjunctions (these are only a few): After Although As As If As Long As Because Before Even If Even Though If Once Provided Since So That That Though Till Unless Until What When Whenever Wherever Whether While Both coordinating conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions can join clauses. EXAMPLES: - My sister drives a truck, and she smokes cigars. (Two clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction form a compound sentence.) - Some people do not like Cecil because he never listens. (Two clauses joined by a subordinating conjunction form a complex sentence.) - Although Milly is terrified of heights, she is an airline pilot, and she lives in a penthouse. (Clauses joined by a combination of coordinating and subordinating conjunctions form a compoundcomplex sentence.) A subordinating conjunction can appear at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence. Correlative Conjunctions both / and not only / but also either / or neither / nor whether / or
Correlative conjunctions come in pairs. Correlative conjunctions join similar concepts in a sentence together. EXAMPLES: - We talked both to her parents and her doctor. - Jason not only speaks Chinese, but also Japanese and Korean. - You can have either pie or a cake. - She neither liked the hotel nor the restaurant. - Everything depends on whether he gets the teaching job in June or the one in September. Exercise1: Choose the best conjunction to the sentence provided. 1. Receptionists must be able to relay information pass messages accurately. (A)or (B) and (C) but (D)because 2. I did not go to the show I had already seen it. (A)until (B) because (C) so (D)but 3. Mary is a member of the Historical Society the Literary Society. (A)as (B) or (C) and (D)but 4. Read over your answers correct all mistakes before you pass them up. (A)or (B) and (C) because (D)while 5. Keep the food covered the flies will contaminate it. (A)or (B) and (C) until (D)though 6. he is thin, he is strong. (A)But (B) As (C) Though (D)Because 7. Susie phoned wrote after she left home. (A)either, or (B) neither, nor (C) while, and (D)though, or 8. She had an unpleasant experience she was in Thailand. (A)but (B) and (C) because (D)while 9. The committee rejected the proposal they did not think it was practical. (A)or (B) but (C) though (D)because 10. John welcomed his guests offered them drinks. (A)and (B)while (C) until (D)as