Prepositions

A preposition is important because it shows the relationship betwen a noun or a pronoun and the rest of the sentences.

Types of prepositions:
a) Prepositions of Place or Position
    (in, on, under, against, above, in front of, beside,between, under, among, opposite, by)

b) Preposition of Direction
    (across, through, around, to, from, up, over, down, into, off, along, past)

c) Preposition of Time
    (in, on, after, before, by, at, during, for, since)

Simple Conjunctions

Conjunctions are used for different purposes:

a) and- to show things of similar functional value
    e.g. : She is young and active.
            I want an apple and an orange.

 b) but- to show contrast
      e.g. : Azmin studied hard for the exam but he still failed.
              My mother is very strict but kind at the same time.

 c) or- to indicate a choice
     e.g. : Do you want a pencil or a pen?
             You can choose the blue bag or the red bag.

 d) so- to show consequences
      e.g. : I was late to school so I was punished by the discipline teacher.
              Mila was hungry so she bought two plates of nasi lemak.

 e) because- to show reason
     e.g. : Majid could not come because he was sick.
             The babies cried because they were hungry.

SENTENCE VARIETY

SIMPLE SENTENCE

·         A simple sentence contains one subject and one finite verb.

          E.g.     Shawn       is             my nephew.

                                      (S)         (V)

                                    All of us      sleep     early.

                                        (S)          (V)

COMPOUND SENTENCE

·         A compound sentence two or more main clauses/ideas which are equal in importance.

·         The clauses/ideas are usually joined together with the use of conjunctions.

E.g.  I was tired     so    I went to bed early.

                                            (main clause)             (main clause)

      

                                            Tina was ill    but    she refused to stay at home.

                                            (main clause)                     (main clause)

COMPLEX SENTENCE

·         A complex sentence contains one main clause and one or more subordinate clauses.

·         A main clause is an independent clause. A subordinate clause is incomplete and cannot exist as a separate sentence. 

 

E.g.         She is the girl  whose father died recently.

                                                   (main clause)           (subordinate clause)

                                                   We must work hard  in order to excel in our exams.

                                                     (main clause)                (subordinate clause)

USING SENTENCE VARIETY (UPGRADING SENTENCES)

              Hindi movies are all the same. The new film ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ focuses on good songs and dances. The plot is predictable. Rahul and his best friend Anjali are very close in college. However, they do not show any feelings for each other. Rahul does not realize that Anjali loves him. Anjali feels very sad when Rahul falls in love with someone else. Hence,  she quits college.

              Hindi movies are all the same. Like all of them, ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ is nothing more than a good excuse for a song and dance. It has a highly predictable plot. It is hard to see how a young boy and a young girl, Rahul and Anjali, played by Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, could be such intimate college buddies and yet maintain an innocence in their relationship. Furthermore, it is incredible that Rahul does not realize the love that Anjali has for him, even after she quits college suddenly, upon seeing that Rahul loves someone else. 

See? Now the sentences sound nicer, right? Just try to mix up these three types on sentences in your paragraph and you will write a much better paragraph in your essay. Just try, alright? 

:) 

BASIC SENTENCE PATTERN (part 4) Subject-Verb-Complement (SVC)

d)      Subject-Verb-Complement (SVC)

The verb to be/do/have (am, is, are, was, were, has, have, had, do, does, did) does not require an object but it needs other words to complete the sentence. These other words are called COMPLEMENTS. Study the examples below. Notice that the action verbs are not used in these examples.

SUBJECT	VERB	COMPLEMENT
Ali and Ahmad	are	clever boys.
The books	were	on the desk.
Emily	has	a guitar.
They	did	their work.
I	am	a teacher.

 

EXERCISE G

Underline the complements in these sentences.

1. Mrs. Jones was angry.
2. That man is my dentist.
3. She has a car.
4. The bracelets are beautiful and expensive.
5. They had three houses.
6. Rita’s mother does her work well.
7. That salesgirl is my cousin.
8. My cat is very cute.

EXERCISE H

Make these sentences complete by adding suitable complements.

1. The maid is ________________________________________.
2. We were __________________________________________.
3. The officer was _____________________________________.
4. I am _____________________________________________.
5. My grandfather has __________________________________.
6. Mr. and Mrs. Tan had _________________________________.
7. Our parents have ____________________________________.
8. Those hawkers are ___________________________________.
9. It was ____________________________________________.
10. My two brothers do ___________________________________.

BASIC SENTENCE PATTERN (part 3) Subject-Verb-Expansion (SVE)

c)      Subject-Verb-Expansion (SVE)

Expansion means making complete sentences longer. You can expend a complete sentence by adding more words. Use WH-Questions to help expand the sentences. Look at these examples:

1.        The car stopped. (This is a complete sentence)

The car stopped suddenly. (How)

The car stopped in front of the house. (Where)

The car stopped yesterday. (When)

The car stopped for five minutes. (For how long)

EXERCISE E

Underline the expansions in these sentences.

1. A child cried in the night. (When)
2. That cat ran into the house. (Where)
3. The clown joked for an hour. (For how long)
4. All people clapped loudly. (How)
5. The telephone rang for a long time. (For how long)
6. They arrived at six o’clock. (When)
7. The terrorists hid in the jungle. (Where)
8. The children played happily. (How)
9. We stood on the beach. (Where)
10. The examination started on Monday.  (When)

EXERCISE F

Expand these sentences by adding a suitable expansion.

1. My grandfather danced ______________________ . (How)
2. Our teacher stood __________________________. (Where)
3. Nordin swims ______________________________. (When)
4. The couple quarrelled ________________________. (For how long)
5. The boys fought ____________________________. (Where)
6. Mr. Lim slept _______________________________. (How)
7. The tree fell _______________________________. (When)
8. The speaker spoke_________________________________. (How) (For how long)
9. The boys played football ____________________________. (Where) (When)
10. Kim Seng walked _________________________________________________. (How) (For how long) (Where) (When)

BASIC SENTENCE PATTERN (part 2) Subject-Verb-Object (SVO)

b)      Subject-Verb-Object (SVO)

We saw that a complete sentence has two basic parts:

1.        subject             (S)

2.       verb                 (V)

Sometimes, a sentence has these two parts but it looks incomplete. Look at the following sentences:

1.        The policemen caught …..

2.       All students carried …..

3.       His sister sold …..

Now, see how these incomplete sentences can be complete. To do this, you must add an object. Look at the following sentences:

1.        The policemen caught the robbers.

2.       All students carried their chairs.

3.       His sister sold nasi lemak.

Notice that the object usually comes after the verb. The object is a noun or a word used in place of a noun.

EXERCISE C

Underline the objects in the following sentences.

1. The babies drank milk.
2. Everyone watches the game.
3. My mother cooked rice.
4. He caught a rabbit.
5. Mr. Johnson wrote a letter.
6. We cut the grass.
7. The flood destroyed the houses.
8. I studied languages.
9. Ali’s sister washed the clothes.
10. Puan Tina bought vegetables, meat and fish.

EXERCISE D

Complete the following sentences with suitable objects. Use only nouns. Use ‘a’, ‘an’ or ‘the’ where necessary.

SUBJECT	VERB	OBJECT
1. The pupils	asked
2. She	ate
3. Muthu	broke
4. We	finished
5. The postman	delivered
6. They	clean
7. You	take
8. The lecturer	taught
9. That woman	found
10. I	sing

BASIC SENTENCE PATTERN (part 1) Subject-Verb (SV)

Alright my dear students, here are my first notes for you. I used this notes when I was teaching in Terengganu and it helped my previous students when they tried to construct a simple sentence.  It's divided into four parts and please, do try to complete the exercises, ok! ;)

BASIC SENTENCE PATTERN

a)      SUBJECT-VERB (SV)

Every sentence has at least two parts: Subject and Verb ( SV ). The subject is usually a noun or something that can take place of a noun.

A NOUN is usually the name of a person, animal, place or things.

A VERB is:

1) an action word which shows

          what people, animals and things do

• e.g. walk, run, swim, talk, eat, drink, study, read, shout

      2) a non-action word

·         e.g. am, is, are, was, were, has, have, had, do, does, did

Look at the following

SUBJECT	VERB
1. The dog	barked.
2. The bus	left.
3. The children	cried.
4. The babies	slept.
5. The robbers	run.
6. He	dies.
7. I	cook.
8. They	smiled.

EXERCISE A

Underline all the subjects in the following sentences.

1. The train arrived.
2. The girl skipped.
3. Father and mother laughed.
4. That convict escaped.
5. The rain ceased.
6. The grasshopper hopped.
7. We talk.
8. All the boys sing.
9. My teacher reads.
10. The child played.

EXERCISE B

Underline all the verbs in the following sentences.

1. The bridge capsized.
2. The water froze.
3. The thunder rolled.
4. Our team wins.
5. The ice melted.
6. The plant grew.
7. Their helicopter flew.
8. Aidil’s car skidded.
9. The ducks quacked.
10. The bomb exploded.