Finite Verbs

Definition of finite verb :

    a verb that has a subject, this means that it can be the main verbs in a sentences. It shows tense (past/present, etc) or number (singular/plural), A finite verb makes an assertion or expresses a state of being and can stand by itself as the main verb of a sentence.

Modals in Past Form

   Modals are helping words that are used to express: (1)possibility, (2)ability, (3)degree of certainty, and (4) level of authority

   Kinds of modals such as:

      Can, could, may,might, must, ought to, shall, should, will, and would.

    are used in the past time.They are could, would, should, and might.

Noun Phrase

noun is a word that names a person, animal, place, thing, idea, or concept, or anything considered as noun 

The Noun examples

•       Persons: girl, boy, instructor, student, Mr. Smith, Peter, president

•       Animals: dog, cat, shark, hamster, fish, bear, flea

•        Places: gym, store, school, Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota, village, Europe

•       Things: computer, pen, notebook, mailbox, bush, tree, cornflakes

•       Ideas: liberty, panic, attention, knowledge, compassion, worship

•       The Functions of Nouns in Sentences

•                       1.Subject of the sentence
               2.Predicate Noun (also Predicate Nominative or Subjective Complement)

•                       3. Appositive (noun in apposition)

•                       4. Direct object of a verb

•                       5. Indirect object of a verb

•                       6. Object of the preposition

•                       7. Object Complement (Objective Complement)

Gerunds can also be classified as noun

• For example:

•       I like swimming

•       The word ‘swimming’  is a gerund

•     

PHRASES

•       A  phrase is a group of related words that lacks both a subject and a predicate. Because it lacks a subject and a predicate it cannot act as a sentence.

•       A noun phrase consists of a pronoun or noun with any associated modifiers, including adjectives, adjective phrases, and other nouns in the possessive case.

•       Like a noun, a noun phrase can act as a subject, as the object of a verb or verbal, as a subject or object complement, or as the object of a preposition, as in the following ...

•       Small children often insist that they can do it by themselves.

Direct and Indirect Speech

Direct speech refers to reproducing another person’s exact words or saying exactly what someone has said (sometimes called quoted speech)
Here what a person says appears within quotation marks ("...") and should be word for word.

News Item

 News Item:  is a factual text which informs the readers about events of the day which are considered newsworthy or important.

•          Social function of news item is: to inform readers, listeners or viewers about events of the day which are considered newsworthy or important

Introductory It

A :     To understand this lesson is easy.

B :     It    is easy to understand this lesson.

•          In this pattern, it has no meaning. It is used only to fill the subject position in the sentence. Thus, it is called introductory “it”.

•          A and B mean the same thing, but sentence B is more common and useful than A. A was introduced mainly to make the meaning of B easier to understand.  

Example of Introductory “it” :

•          To watch musical programs is pleasant.

•          It is pleasant to watch musical program.

•          To play football must be fun.

•          It is fun to play football

Passive Voice

When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:

¢  the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence

¢  the finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle)

¢  the subject of the active sentence becomes by Agent in the passive sentence (or is dropped)

¢  Only active sentence containing object which can be changed into passive form

¢  The two forms should have the same tenses