English Language Tips

Copyright in 2009   Written  By Abdullah  Ghorbani

Adjuncts

Adverbs of time, place, frequency, degree and manner, together with Adverbials (phrases that have a function similar to Adverbs ), all of which modify the Verb in the Clouse or Sentence are known as Adjuncts

Adverbials

Phrases that function like Adverbs are known as Adverbials.

Adverbs

An Adverb is a word that can change the meaning of all sorts of grammatical categories, including Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs and Nouns

There are a number of different types, such as Adverbs of time, place, frequency, degree and manner.

Articles

A and AN are the Indefinite Articles, used to show that a Countable Nouns is Singular and doesn't refer to any particular example of that Noun

THE is  the  Definite Article, used to refer to a specific example of a Noun either Singular or Plural.

As

AS can be an Adverb, a Conjunction and a Relative Pronoun.

Auxiliary Verbs

An Auxiliary Verb is used together with another Verb to make a Question, make it NEGATIVE, give EMPHASIS, show Tense or a combination of these.

BE, DO and HAVE are the Auxiliary Verbs.

Conjunctions 2

Conjunctions, like AND, AS, BECAUSE, BUT and LIKE, join up information in a Sentence or Clouse.

Conjuncts

A Conjunct links or relates what is said in two sentences, like HOWEVER; THEREFORE and NEVERTHELESS. Conjuncts are members of the wider group known as Conjunction.

Countable & Uncountable Nouns

A Countable Noun can be Singular or Plural.

An Uncountable Noun does not have a Plural form.

Demonstratives

Demonstratives indicate a specific Noun or noun group. The category can be divided into two sub-categories; Demonstrative Adjective, which are used with the Noun they point to, and Demonstrative Pronoun , which replace the Noun as well as pointing to it.

NB THIS; THAT; THESE and THOSE are identical whether they are functioning as Pronouns or Adjectives.

Determiners

Articles, Numerals, Possessive Adjectives, Quantifiers and Demonstrative Adjectives are all Determiners, which means that they restrict a Noun to a single example or to an identifiable group.

Disjuncts

A  Disjunct  modifies a whole Sentence or Utterance by expressing the speaker's attitude, opinion or evaluation of what is being said. Disjuncts are members of the group known as Sentence (or Sentencial ) Adverbs and Adverbials.

Ditransitive Verbs

Ditransitive Verbs can take a Direct Object and an Indirect Object.

Interrogative Adjectives

Question words, like WHAT and WHICH that accompany and ask for a Noun to be specified, identified or given a number are INTERROGATIVE Adjectives.

Interrogative Adverbs

Question words that affect the Verb in terms of concepts like TIME (WHEN), MANNER (HOW), REASON (WHY) or LOCATION (WHERE) are INTERROGATIVE Adverbs.

Interrogative Pronouns

Question words that act like Pronouns, like WHAT, WHICH, WHO and WHOM are called Interrogative Pronouns.

Intransitive Verbs do not take an Object

Only Transitive Verbs can have a Passive form.

Its & It's

IT'S is a contraction of either "it is" or "it has". (TAKES APOSTROPHE)

ITS shows possession. (NO APOSTROPHE)

Like

LIKE can be an Adjective, Adverb, Conjunction, Noun, Pronoun or Verb.

Modal Verbs

A Modal Verb is used to express the speaker's ideas about such things as the possibility, intention, obligation and necessity of the action or state described by the Verb it accompanies.

CAN, COULD, WILL, WOULD, etc, are examples of  Modal Verbs.

Monotransitive Verbs

MONOTRANSITIVE VERBS take a single Object.

Negative Pronouns

NO-ONE; NOBODY; NEITHER; NONE and NOTHING are the Negative Pronouns, which are used to replace a Noun or Noun Phrase and make it negative.

Noun Phrase

A Noun Phrase consists of a Noun together with any of the words that modify it, including Determiners and Adjectives

Numerals

Numerals are part of the family of Determiners and consist of Cardinal Numbers (one, two, three ...) and Ordinal Numbers(first, second...).

Parts of Speech- Alone

As an Adjective, ALONE is Predictive- it cannot come before a Noun.

It is also an Adverb- live ALONE, etc.

Parts of Speech- Because

BECAUSE can be either an Adverb or a Conjunction

Parts of Speech- But

BUT is a Conjunction, Preposition& Adverb

Parts of Speech- Few

FEW, FEWER and FEWEST can used an Adjective, Noun or Pronoun

Parts of Speech- How

HOW can be either an Adverb or a Noun

Parts of Speech- If

IF is a Conjunction (occasionally a Countable Noun used in the Plural= IFS)

Parts of Speech- Just

JUST can be an Adjective or an Adverb. As an Adjective, it means being fair and doing what ought to be done.

Parts of Speech- Little

LITTLE, LESS and LEAST can be used as Adjectives, Nouns and Pronouns

Parts of Speech- Many

MANY can be an Adjective, Noun, or Pronoun

Parts of Speech- Much

MUCH, MORE and MOST can be used as Adjectives, Nouns, Pronouns& Adverbs

Parts of Speech- Nevertheless

NEVERTHELESS = Adjective & Conjunction

Parts of Speech- Since

SINCE can be an Adverb, a Conjunction or a Preposition

Parts of Speech- These & Those

THESE is the Plural of this and, likewise, it can be a Demonstrative Adjective or a Demonstrative Pronoun

THOSE is the Plural of that. It can also be a Demonstrative Adjective or a Demonstrative Pronoun

Parts of Speech- This & That

THIS can be a Demonstrative Adjective or a  Demonstrative Pronoun

THAT can be an Adverb, Conjunction, Demonstrative Pronoun, Adjective, or a Pronoun.

Parts of Speech- What

WHAT can be an Adjective, Adverb or a Pronoun

Parts of Speech- Where

WHERE can be an Adverb, Conjunction, Noun or Pronoun

Parts of Speech- Which

WHICH can be either an Adjective or a Pronoun

Parts of Speech- While

WHILE can be a Conjunction, Noun or Verb.

Parts of Speech- Who

WHO can be either an Adjective or a Pronoun

Parts of Speech- Whom

WHOM can be either an Adjective or a Pronoun

Parts of Speech- Why

WHY – Adverb or Noun

Personal Pronouns

I; YOU; SHE; HE; IT; WE; and THEY are the Personal Pronouns that can act as the Subject of a Verb.

ME; YOU; HER; HIM; IT; US and THEM are the Personal Pronoun that can act as the Object. of a Verb.

NB: YOU and IT do not change and HER can also be used as a Possessive Adjective.

Possessive Adjectives

MY; YOUR; HER; HIS; ITS; OUR and THEIR are the  Possessive  Adjectives  that are used to show who owns something.

NB: HER is the same when used in the   Personal Pronoun form and HIS and ITS can also act as Possessive Pronouns.

Possessive Pronouns

MINE; YOURS; HERS; HIS; ITS; OURS & THEIRS are Possessive Pronouns that show who owns something and replace the Noun itself.

NB: HIS and ITS are the same when they are acting as Possessive Adjectives.

Prepositions

Prepositions like IN, OF and ON link Nouns, Pronouns & Gerunds to other words.

Pronouns

Pronouns are words that can replace or substitute a Noun or a Noun Phrase, inc. I; ME; MINE; MYSELF; SOME; ANY; NO; NOBODY; NO-ONE; NOTHING; THIS; THAT; THESE; THOSE; WHAT; WHICH; WHO and WHOM.

Quantifiers

Words that show how much of a Noun there is or how many examples of a Noun there are called Quantifiers, a category that includes Numerals and words like SOME and ANY; NONE; EITHER and NEITHER.

Reciprocal Pronouns

Reciprocal Pronouns show that an action works both ways:

James and Kate love EACH OTHER. (This means that James loves Kate and that Kate loves James)

Reflexive Pronouns

MYSELF; YOURSELF; HERSELF; HIMSELF; ITSELF; OURSELVES; YOURSELVES & THEMSELVES are the Pronouns used when the Subject and Object or complement of the Verb are the same.

NB: The second person (YOU) has either a Singular or Plural reference. THEMSELF and  ONESELF are often used as an impersonal Singular reflexive pronoun when it isn't clear if the person referred to is male or female.

Relative Pronouns

Words used to introduce clauses in sentences, like THAT; WHICH; WHO; and WHOSE are Relative Pronouns.

So

SO can be used to emphasise an Adjective, Adverb or a combination of Adverb +Adjective.

So & Such 1

SO can be an Adverb, Conjunction or Pronoun.

SUCH can be an Adjective, Adverb or Pronoun

Some & Any 1

SOME and ANY can be Pronouns or Quantifiers.

Spell

SPELL can both regular (SPELL\SPELLED\SPELLED) and irregular (SPELL\SPELT\SPELT).

Such

SUCH can be used to emphasise a Noun (with or without an Article), or an Adjective+ Noun .

Themself & Themselves

THEMSELF is used as an alternative to HIMSELF or HERSELF when the Gender is unknown or indeterminate. It is, therefore, Singular, which some people use as grounds to find fault with it as a word and call it wrong.

THEMSELVES is Plural.

They're, Their & There

THEY'RE = THEY ARE

THEIR = Possessive Adjective

THERE can be used as an Adverb or a Noun .

Transitive & Intransitive Verbs

Transitive Verbs can take an Object.

Examples

Examples- Adjectives that look like Adverbs 1

BEASTLY; BROTHERLY; COSTLY; COWARDLY; DAILY; ELDERLY; FATHERLY; FORTNIGHTLY; FRIENDLY; GHASTLY; GHOSTLY; LEISURELY; LIKELY; LIVELY

Examples- Adjectives that look like Adverbs 2

LONELY; LOVELY; MONTHLY; MOTHERLY; NIGHTLY; SILLY; SISTERLY; TIMELY; UGLY; WEEKLY; YEARLY

Examples- Adverbials

IN FACT; ALL IN ALL; ALL TOLD; AFTER LUNCH; IN FRANCE

Examples- Adverbs of degree 1

ABSOLUTELY; WHOLLY; COMPLETELY; DEFINITELY; ENTIRELY; FAIRLY

Examples- Adverbs of degree 2

FULLY; NEARLY; PARTIALLY; SIMPLY; SURELY; THOROUGHLY; TOTALLY; UTTERLY

Examples- Adverbs of frequency 1

ALWAYS; USUALLY; GENERALLY; NORMALLY; FREQUENTLY; REGULARY; OFTEN; SOMETIMES

Examples- Adverbs of frequency 2

OCCASIONALLY; SELDOM; RARELY; NEVER; EVER; DAILY; WEEKLY; MONTHLY; YEARLY

Examples- Adverbs of manner 1

ANGRILY; BADLY; BEAUTIFULLY; CAREFULLY; CARELESSLY; CASUALLY; CHEERFULLY; CLEVERLY; CORRECTLY; FORMALLY; GENTLY

Examples- Adverbs of manner 2

HAPPILY; IMPOLITELY; INFORMALLY; UNHAPPILLY; KINDLY; LUCKILY; UNLUCKILY; POLITELY; POWERFULLY; QUICKLY; QUIETLY; RUDELY

Examples- Adverbs of manner 3

SADLY; SHYLY; SLOWLY; SOUNDLY; STUPIDLY; SWEETLY; SUDDENLY; THOROUGHLY; WELL; WILDLY

Examples- Adverbs of place 1

AHEAD; AROUND; BACK; DOWNHILL; DOWNSTAIRS; DOWNTOWN; HERE; THERE

Examples- Adverbs of place 2

INDOORS; INSIDE; LOCALLY; OUTDOORS; OUTSIDE; UPHILL; UPSTAIRS

Examples- Adverbs of time 1

AFTERWARDS; ALREADY; BEFOREHAND; EARLY; EVENTUALLY; FINALLY

Examples- Adverbs of time 2

JUST; LATELY; NOW; RECENTLY; SOON; STILL; TODAY; TOMORROW; YESTERDAY

Examples- Auxiliary Verbs 1

AM; 'M; ARE; 'RE; AREN'T; IS; ISN'T; WAS; WASN'T; WERE; WEREN'T; BE; BEING; BEEN

Examples- Auxiliary Verbs 2

DO; DON'T; DOES; DOESN'T; DID; DIDN'T

Examples- Auxiliary Verbs 3

HAVE; 'VE; HAVEN'T; HAS; HASN'T; HAD; HADN'T; HAVING

Examples- Conjunctions 1

AND; AS; BECAUSE; BUT; LIKE; OR

Examples- Conjunctions 2

HOWEVER; ALTOGETHER; THEREFORE; THUS; HENCE; LIKEWISE; NEVERTHELESS; NONETHELESS

Examples- Conjunctions 3

ALTHOUGH; THOUGH; WHERE; WHEREVER; WHEREAS; WHILE

Examples- Conjunctions 4

IF; SO; THAT; UNLESS

Examples- Conjunctions 4

AFTER; BEFORE; SINCE; TILL; UNTIL; WHEN; WHENEVER

Examples- Conjunctions 5

WHEREBY; WHEREUPON; WHILST

Examples- Conjuncts

HOWEVER; ALTOGETHER; THEREFORE; THUS; HENCE; LIKEWISE; NEVERTHELESS; NONETHELESS

Examples- Definite Article

THE

Examples- Demonstrative Adjectives

THIS; THAT; THESE; THOSE

Examples- Demonstrative Pronouns

THIS; THAT; THESE; THOSE; NONE; NEITHER; ONE

Examples- Disjuncts 1

ADMITTEDLY; CERTAINLY; DEFINITELY, IN FACT; NATURALLY; FRANKLY; PERHAPS; STRANGELY

Examples- Disjuncts 2

POSSIBLY; REALLY; ACTUALLY; OFFICIALLY; SURPRISINGLY; FORTUNATELY; LUCKILY; PREFERABLY

Examples- Indefinite Article

A & AN

Examples- Interrogative Pronouns

WHAT; WHICH; WHO; WHOM

Examples- Modal Verbs

CAN; CANNOT; CAN'T; COULD; COULDN'T; MUST; MUSTN'T; WILL; WON'T; 'LL; WOULD; WOULDN'T; SHALL; SHAN'T; SHOULD; SHOULDN'T; MAY; MAYN'T; MIGHT; MIGHTN'T; OUGHT; OUGHTN'T; NEEDN'T; DARE; DAREN'T

Examples- Negative Pronouns

NO-ONE; NOBODY; NEITHER; NONE & NOTHING

Examples- Numerals (Cardinal Numbers)

ZERO; ONE; TWO; THREE; FOUR; FIVE; SIX; SEVEN; EIGHT; NINE; TEN

0; 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10

Examples- Numerals (Ordinal Numbers)

FIRST; SECOND; THIRD; FOURTH; FIFTH; SIX; SEVENTH; EIGHTH; NINTH; TENTH

1st; 2nd; 3rd; 4th; 5th; 6th; 7th; 8th; 9th; 10th

Examples of Irregular Adjectives

BAD; WORSE; WORST; FAR; FURTHER; FARTHER; FURTHEST; FARTHEST; GOOD; BETTER; BEST; LITTLE; LESS; LEAST; MUCH; MANY; MORE; MOST

Examples of Some, Any & No 1

ANY; ANYONE; ANYBODY; ANYWHERE; ANYWAY; ANYHOW; ANYTHING; ANYPLACE

Examples of Some, Any & No 2

SOME; SOMEONE; SOMEBODY; SOMEWHERE; SOMEWAY; SOMEHOW; SOMETHING; SOMEPLACE

Examples of Some, Any & No 3

NO; NOONE; NO-ONE; NOBODY; NOWHERE; NOHOW; NOTHING

Examples- Parts of Speech

Adjectives; Adverbs; Articles; Auxiliary Verbs; Conjunctions; Ditransitive Verbs, Gerunds; Infinitives; Intransitive Verbs; Modal Verbs; Nouns;  Prepositions; Pronouns; Relative Pronouns; Transitive Verbs

Examples- Personal Pronouns (Object)

ME; YOU; HER; HIM; IT; US & THEM

Examples- Personal Pronouns (One)

ONE, ONE'S and ONESELF can be used as Impersonal Pronouns, but they are rather old-fashioned now.

Examples- Personal Pronouns (Subject)

I; YOU; SHE; HE; IT; WE; & THEY

Examples- Possessive Adjectives

MY; YOUR; HER; HIS; ITS; OUR & THEIR

Examples- Possessive Pronouns

MINE; YOURS; HERS; HIS; ITS; OURS & THEIRS

Examples- Prepositions 1

AT; BY; IN; INTO; OFF; ON; ONTO; TO UNDER

Examples- Prepositions 2

ABOUT; ABOVE; AFTER; ALONG; AMONG; AROUND

Examples- Prepositions 3

FOR; FROM; OF; OVER; PAST; TOWARD; TOWARDS THROUGH

Examples- Prepositions 4

SINCE; TILL; UNTIL; WITH; WITHOUT

Examples- Prepositions 5

AMID; AMIDST; AMONGST

Examples- Prepositions 6

BEFORE; BEHIND; BELOW; BESIDE BETWEEN

Examples- Quantifiers 1

SOME; MUCH; MANY; FEW; LITTLE; SEVERAL; A LOT OF; LOTS OF; HALF; PLENTY OF; 1; 1st

Examples- Quantifiers 2

ALL; ANY; EVERY; EACH; BOTH; ENOUGH; NEITHER; EITHER; NONE; NO

Examples- Quantifiers 3

MORE; MOST; FEWER; FEWEST; LESS; LEAST

Examples- Reciprocal Pronouns

EACH OTHER; ONE ANOTHER

Examples- Reflexive Pronouns

MYSELF; YOURSELF; HERSELF; HIMSELF; ITSELF; ONESELF; OURSELVES; OURSELVES; THEMSELVES; & THEMSELVES

Examples- Relative Pronouns

THAT; WHICH; WHO; WHOM; WHOSE

Examples- Sentencial Adverbs 1

YES; NO

Examples- Words that can give emphasis 1

REALLY; SO; SUCH

Examples- Words that can give emphasis 2

MYSELF; YOURSELF; HERSELF; HIMSELF; ITSELF; OURSELVES; YOURSELVES; THEMSELVES (Reflexive Pronouns)

Examples- Words that can give emphasis 3

DO + (Adverb +Verb); DOES + (Adverb +Verb); DID + (Adverb +Verb)

Examples- Words that can give emphasis 4

HOW + Adjective or Adjectival Phrase

WHAT + Noun or Noun Phrase