In my previous post I explained the difference between adjectives and determiners. Determiners can be sub- divided into three sub- classes : pre-determiners, regular determiners and post- determiners .
Pre- Determiners come before regular determiners in a Noun Phrase . I this post I will discuss some commonly used pre-determiners and their proper use in sentences .
ALL. BOTH AND HALF
These pre-determiners are followed by the + noun or demonstrative + noun (these+ noun)
All the ministers resigned from the cabinet .
Both the boys are clever.
Half the apples are rotten.
Of-construction is optional
All of the ministers resigned from the cabinet .
Both the boys are clever.
Half of the apples are rotten .
Please note that if pronouns are used of-construction is required
All of them resigned from the cabinet n.
Both of them are clever.
Half of them are rotten.
There are some intensifiers which are used as pre-determiners , especially in conversational English . These intensifiers are : such, quite rather and what . These pre-determiners indicate the attitude of the speaker. They are followed by a/an and a noun or an adjective .
He is such a darling! (admiration)
It was quite a calm place .(I liked it )
It is rather a small house (I don't like it ) )
What a pretty girl!(wonder)
Multipliers like twice , thrice etc are pre-determiners They are followed by the +noun
She gets thrice the salary of her husband
.
Possessives can be used in the place of the
He gets twice my salary.
Words indicating fractions like one-third, two- fourths etc are pre-determiners
He spends one third salary on travel.
Of- construction is optional
He spends one -third of his salary on travel.
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Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Determiners and Adjectives --Difference Explained
Adjectives are words that describe the intrinsic or inherent qualities of persons and things. Determiners , on the contrary , show attributes which are not inherent in persons or things , but are extraneous to them.
Good, bad, pretty, young , old etc are qualities that are inherent in persons and things , and so they are adjectives
Words denoting possession ( my, your , his ,her their etc ) , proximity ( this , that , these , those ) , distribution ( each, every , either, neither, both, all etc ) , quantity ( how much of something or how little of something like many, few, some , several ,little and the counting numbers one, two , three etc ) , reference (both anaphoric and cataphoric like the definite article the and the indefinite article a/an ) , order ( like the ordinal numbers , first, second, third etc ) ---these show attributes which are extraneous to the objects the nouns signify .
These words form a category by themselves ; and they are called determiners because they determine the way a noun is used in the context .
Determiners can be sub- divided into pre-determiners, regular determiners and post -determiners . I will discuss them in detail in my next post .
Thank you for visiting !
Good, bad, pretty, young , old etc are qualities that are inherent in persons and things , and so they are adjectives
Words denoting possession ( my, your , his ,her their etc ) , proximity ( this , that , these , those ) , distribution ( each, every , either, neither, both, all etc ) , quantity ( how much of something or how little of something like many, few, some , several ,little and the counting numbers one, two , three etc ) , reference (both anaphoric and cataphoric like the definite article the and the indefinite article a/an ) , order ( like the ordinal numbers , first, second, third etc ) ---these show attributes which are extraneous to the objects the nouns signify .
These words form a category by themselves ; and they are called determiners because they determine the way a noun is used in the context .
Determiners can be sub- divided into pre-determiners, regular determiners and post -determiners . I will discuss them in detail in my next post .
Thank you for visiting !
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Emphatic Pronouns and Reflexive Pronouns
Emphatic Pronouns and Reflexive Pronouns look alike in form , but they are different in usage .
Both of them are formed by adding -self or -selves to the possessive or object-form of pronouns .
I ----------------Myself
You--------------Yourself
He----------------Himself
She---------------Herself
It-----------------Itseff
We----------------ourselves
You----------------Yourselves (plural)
They---------------Themselves
Emphatic Pronouns are used to emphasize the subject of the sentence . They are often placed at the end of sentences .
*I did it myself . ( that is , no other person did it )
*She cooked the meals herself .
* He cleaned the room himself .
* I drove the car all the way myself .
Emphatic Pronouns sometimes come immediately after the subject
I myself did it .
She herself cleaned the whole house .
Reflexive Pronouns
Reflexive Pronouns are used when the doer is affected by his or her own action
* She hurt herself while cutting vegetables,
* He blamed himself for what had happened .
* Othello stabbed himself to death
*She pricked herself with a needle .
Please note that there are some verbs which are used with reflexive pronouns and then these verbs have different meanings !
* She enjoyed herself during her stay in Cochin .( that is , she had a nice time )
*You should behave \yourself in public. . ( that is , you should behave decently .)*
Enough for today !
Thank you for visiting!
Both of them are formed by adding -self or -selves to the possessive or object-form of pronouns .
I ----------------Myself
You--------------Yourself
He----------------Himself
She---------------Herself
It-----------------Itseff
We----------------ourselves
You----------------Yourselves (plural)
They---------------Themselves
Emphatic Pronouns are used to emphasize the subject of the sentence . They are often placed at the end of sentences .
*I did it myself . ( that is , no other person did it )
*She cooked the meals herself .
* He cleaned the room himself .
* I drove the car all the way myself .
Emphatic Pronouns sometimes come immediately after the subject
I myself did it .
She herself cleaned the whole house .
Reflexive Pronouns
Reflexive Pronouns are used when the doer is affected by his or her own action
* She hurt herself while cutting vegetables,
* He blamed himself for what had happened .
* Othello stabbed himself to death
*She pricked herself with a needle .
Please note that there are some verbs which are used with reflexive pronouns and then these verbs have different meanings !
* She enjoyed herself during her stay in Cochin .( that is , she had a nice time )
*You should behave \yourself in public. . ( that is , you should behave decently .)*
Enough for today !
Thank you for visiting!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Difference between Word Stress and Sentence Stress
Dear Readers,
Stress is the force with which we pronounce a syllable in a word . A syllable may consist of a single vowel or a combination of two vowels called diphthongs or it may consist of a vowel or diphthong in combination with one or more consonants .
An English word may be divided into a number of syllables .All syllables do not get the same degree of stress . One syllable gets the maximum degree of stress called the primary stress .and the remaining syllables get varying degrees of stress This is the phonic identity of that word . Thus the word examination has five syllables and the primary stress is on the syllable - na -
What happens to a syllable when it is stressed?
1 It has greater duration
2 it has greater resonance /
3It has greater loudness or volume
What happens to unstressed syllables?
The vowel or diphthong in unstressed syllables becomes the central vowel sound such as you can hear as the first syllable in words like a-bout or a-round.
This phenomenon is called vowel reduction
However, when words are put together in sentences they may lose their phonic identity . English does not like two stressed syllables coming close together. In such situations a word may lose its stress distribution pattern Which syllable will lose its stress depends on the speaker's meaning .
The word English normally has stress on the first syllable . But in the phrase English Channel it may lose its stress.because Channel has stress on the first syllable . Adjectives normally are stressed words, but in the phrase Old English it loses its stress because English has stress on the first syllable .
Please remember that Stress-Time Rhythm is a fundamental feature of English speech and word stress must make way for it !
Thank you for visiting!
Stress is the force with which we pronounce a syllable in a word . A syllable may consist of a single vowel or a combination of two vowels called diphthongs or it may consist of a vowel or diphthong in combination with one or more consonants .
An English word may be divided into a number of syllables .All syllables do not get the same degree of stress . One syllable gets the maximum degree of stress called the primary stress .and the remaining syllables get varying degrees of stress This is the phonic identity of that word . Thus the word examination has five syllables and the primary stress is on the syllable - na -
What happens to a syllable when it is stressed?
1 It has greater duration
2 it has greater resonance /
3It has greater loudness or volume
What happens to unstressed syllables?
The vowel or diphthong in unstressed syllables becomes the central vowel sound such as you can hear as the first syllable in words like a-bout or a-round.
This phenomenon is called vowel reduction
However, when words are put together in sentences they may lose their phonic identity . English does not like two stressed syllables coming close together. In such situations a word may lose its stress distribution pattern Which syllable will lose its stress depends on the speaker's meaning .
The word English normally has stress on the first syllable . But in the phrase English Channel it may lose its stress.because Channel has stress on the first syllable . Adjectives normally are stressed words, but in the phrase Old English it loses its stress because English has stress on the first syllable .
Please remember that Stress-Time Rhythm is a fundamental feature of English speech and word stress must make way for it !
Thank you for visiting!
Saturday, November 21, 2009
How to Improve Your English Skills
Dear readers,
When you learn English ,your aim is to learn it fast . It is possible to learn English faster if you adopt modern scientific methods of learning it . Unfortunately, out-dated grammar- translation method is still used in several countries . This method may have certain advantages over other methods , but it is unsuitable for the needs of the present world where speaking and listening skills are more important than the traditional skills , namely, writing and reading skills .
You are learning English to speak it . Righr? Then you are on the right track. Speaking skill is the primary skill to be acquired , particularly in the context of globalization . Its complementary skills is listening skill .
While learning to speak English , the first thing for you to be on the guard against is Mother -tongue Interference Never ever speak English with the rhythm your first language ! I have heard several learners complain that the native speakers of English speak English too fast and so they are not able to follow them . I must say that this is a wrong impression The truth is that you cannot follow them because you have not familiarized yourself with the Stressed-timed rhythm of English ! What is stressed-timed rhythm?
The native speakers of English have a tendency to put stress on certain words or syllables in their sentences and slur over other words and syllables . The stressed syllables or words come at regular intervals of time
Then what about the unstressed words or syllables in between them ? Well, they are slurred. , That is, they are rapidly pronounced or drawled . This ensures regularity of rhythm . This is the stressed- timed rhythm of E nglish . You have to become familiar with this rhythm in order to follow English spoken by native speakers .
I these days of satellite television a learner can improve his / her listening and speaking skills by listening to TV serials and newscasts . When you have doubts about the pronunciation of a word , consult a good pronouncing dictionary .
Remember, English is an international language ! You can't speak it with the rhythm of your first language . Your English must conform to an accepted standard , British or American . A good English pronunciation is a must for success in the present globalized world .It is the key to success!
I wish you all success in your efforts to learn English!
Thank you for visiting!
.
When you learn English ,your aim is to learn it fast . It is possible to learn English faster if you adopt modern scientific methods of learning it . Unfortunately, out-dated grammar- translation method is still used in several countries . This method may have certain advantages over other methods , but it is unsuitable for the needs of the present world where speaking and listening skills are more important than the traditional skills , namely, writing and reading skills .
You are learning English to speak it . Righr? Then you are on the right track. Speaking skill is the primary skill to be acquired , particularly in the context of globalization . Its complementary skills is listening skill .
While learning to speak English , the first thing for you to be on the guard against is Mother -tongue Interference Never ever speak English with the rhythm your first language ! I have heard several learners complain that the native speakers of English speak English too fast and so they are not able to follow them . I must say that this is a wrong impression The truth is that you cannot follow them because you have not familiarized yourself with the Stressed-timed rhythm of English ! What is stressed-timed rhythm?
The native speakers of English have a tendency to put stress on certain words or syllables in their sentences and slur over other words and syllables . The stressed syllables or words come at regular intervals of time
Then what about the unstressed words or syllables in between them ? Well, they are slurred. , That is, they are rapidly pronounced or drawled . This ensures regularity of rhythm . This is the stressed- timed rhythm of E nglish . You have to become familiar with this rhythm in order to follow English spoken by native speakers .
I these days of satellite television a learner can improve his / her listening and speaking skills by listening to TV serials and newscasts . When you have doubts about the pronunciation of a word , consult a good pronouncing dictionary .
Remember, English is an international language ! You can't speak it with the rhythm of your first language . Your English must conform to an accepted standard , British or American . A good English pronunciation is a must for success in the present globalized world .It is the key to success!
I wish you all success in your efforts to learn English!
Thank you for visiting!
.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Verbs followed by Gerunds
Dear Readers,
While speaking and writing English , you may have come across situations in which one verb follows another as its object . In such situations you may have to choose either to-infinitive or gerund
In today's post I propose to give a list of very commonly used verbs which are followed by gerunds ,along with illustrative sentences :
1 avoid
You should avoid making friends with bad people .
2 consider
I will condider accepting your offer .
3 delay
Don't delay seeing a doctor anymore !
4 dislike
I dislike talking with opinionated people .
5 enjoy
I enjoy listening to good music .
6 finish
She has finished cooking
7 imagine
I can't imagine doing such a wicked thing .
8 keep
She kept singing though her time was up .
9 mind
I don't mind vacating my seat for you .
10 stop
It stopped raining
Please remember that phrasal verbs end in preposition or adverb particles and hence they are followed by gerunds
1 Don't put off meeting a good doctor !
2 He gave up drinking .
3 She went on dancing though she was tired.
4 I look forward to seeing you soon .
5 She left off reading when I entered the room .
N.B verbs confess and admit are often followed by preposition+ gerund
She confessed to knowing little about current events
He admitted to having a secret relationship with that girl .
Enough for gerunds!
Thank you foy visiting !
While speaking and writing English , you may have come across situations in which one verb follows another as its object . In such situations you may have to choose either to-infinitive or gerund
In today's post I propose to give a list of very commonly used verbs which are followed by gerunds ,along with illustrative sentences :
1 avoid
You should avoid making friends with bad people .
2 consider
I will condider accepting your offer .
3 delay
Don't delay seeing a doctor anymore !
4 dislike
I dislike talking with opinionated people .
5 enjoy
I enjoy listening to good music .
6 finish
She has finished cooking
7 imagine
I can't imagine doing such a wicked thing .
8 keep
She kept singing though her time was up .
9 mind
I don't mind vacating my seat for you .
10 stop
It stopped raining
Please remember that phrasal verbs end in preposition or adverb particles and hence they are followed by gerunds
1 Don't put off meeting a good doctor !
2 He gave up drinking .
3 She went on dancing though she was tired.
4 I look forward to seeing you soon .
5 She left off reading when I entered the room .
N.B verbs confess and admit are often followed by preposition+ gerund
She confessed to knowing little about current events
He admitted to having a secret relationship with that girl .
Enough for gerunds!
Thank you foy visiting !
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Proper Nouns vs Common Nouns
Dear Readers,
The English word "proper" is taken from a Latin word which means "own" .So, proper nouns refer to the "own" names of persons and places . These names are specific to the individual person or place . and not shared by a class of entities . For example, John is the name of an individual person and , therefore, it is a proper noun . It is the "own" name of a person . Similarly, Cochin is the "own" name of a city Therefore, john and Cochin are proper nouns .
Please remember that proper nouns are capitalized and they are not usually preceded by the definite article the
Common Nouns , on the contrary, are names of a class of persons or places . For example the name "city" is shared by several entities . Hence, "city" is a common noun . Similarly, " .boy" is a common noun .
There will be a corresponding common noun for every proper noun.
Example :
proper noun( common noun )
John ( boy)
Jane ( girl)
London ( city)
India ( country )
The distinction between proper nouns and common nouns is a useful one for learners of English , but don't stretch it too far !
I will carry on the discussion on classification on nouns in my next post
.
Thank you for visiting !
The English word "proper" is taken from a Latin word which means "own" .So, proper nouns refer to the "own" names of persons and places . These names are specific to the individual person or place . and not shared by a class of entities . For example, John is the name of an individual person and , therefore, it is a proper noun . It is the "own" name of a person . Similarly, Cochin is the "own" name of a city Therefore, john and Cochin are proper nouns .
Please remember that proper nouns are capitalized and they are not usually preceded by the definite article the
Common Nouns , on the contrary, are names of a class of persons or places . For example the name "city" is shared by several entities . Hence, "city" is a common noun . Similarly, " .boy" is a common noun .
There will be a corresponding common noun for every proper noun.
Example :
proper noun( common noun )
John ( boy)
Jane ( girl)
London ( city)
India ( country )
The distinction between proper nouns and common nouns is a useful one for learners of English , but don't stretch it too far !
I will carry on the discussion on classification on nouns in my next post
.
Thank you for visiting !
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