Grammar Tutorial: Subject-Verb Agreement Carrie was with Emmy yesterday.

I am tired.
If the subject is singular the verb should have “s” at the My son will be here tomorrow.
end. If the subject is plural there is no “s” at the end of the As you already know, verbs are also affected by the
verb, except for the word “I” which always take the plural subject. Singular subjects take singular verbs, while plural
form of the verb. subject take plural verbs. For example, in the first
Example: Jenna writes a poem. sentence above, if Carrie has another companion, say,
In this sentence, the subject Jenna is singular, so the Abby, then was will become were. That is,
verb writes has “s” at the end. Carrie and Abby were with Emmy yesterday.
Example: We visit our grandparents every Sunday. This is called the subject-verb agreement. This is also an
In this sentence, the subject we is plural, so the important concept which we will discuss in the next post
verb visit has no “s.” because we start with simple tenses.

1.) Yen (call, calls) Socks the cat to come inside the Grammar Tutorial: Simple Present Tense
house. We use the simple present tense when expressing action
2.) Gaute (cook, cooks) his own dinner. in the present taking place once, never or several times,
3.) They (come, comes) in time for the movie. facts, actions taking place one after another, and action set
4.) She (eat, eats) apple for breakfast. by a timetable or schedule
5.) Mickey and Minnie (is, are) on the cover of the The simple present tense obeys the subject verb
Kleenex tissue. agreement and, of course, the verb is in present tense.
6.) I (love, loves) cheesecake. Simple present tense are used in the following situations.
7.) Ryan (run, runs) to the nearest exit. (a) Facts and generalizations
8.) Justin (go, goes) for work again. 1.) The sun rises from East.
9.) Vivian (offer, offers) me a drink. 2.) The dog barks.
10.) We (celebrate, celebrates) the fourth on July with a
barbeque on the front porch. (b) Repeated actions, customs, and habits
1.) People celebrate Christmas on 25th December.
Verbs and Tenses: An Introduction 2.) Kenyans go for elections every five years.
In the next few weeks, we will be looking at tenses. When
we talk about the tenses, we cannot look at them in (c) Things happening now.
isolation. We are actually looking at verbs. (1) He balances on a rope.
In this post we will review the basics of verbs. It is (2) He begins his speech now.
through them that we will tell the tense in which a
sentence is. (d) Things happening in the near future.
(1) The train leaves in 2 minutes.
Verbs are actions in sentences. A verb denotes the action (2) The program starts in 1 hour.
or state of being of the subject in a sentence. The actions
can be physical or mental. When asking questions in this tense, the auxiliary must
reflect the number.
Examples e.g. Does he walk to school ?(singular subject)
She went to the party. Do they walk to school? (plural subject)
Anna considers the job easy. If you are not sure whether it is in present tense or not,
In the sentences above, went and considers are the verbs there words we would consider markers of present tense,
of the subjects she and Anna respectively. The for example: always, every …, never, normally, often,
verb went refers to physical action, while the seldom, sometimes, usually… e.t.c
verb considers refers to mental action.
There is also a group of verbs that you often use PRESENT SIMPLE TENSE
but probably don’t know that they are verbs. They 1.) The food in Japan is expensive. It ___ a lot to live
denote state of being. The base of these verbs is to be. there.
They are the following: am, is, are, was, were, and will a. cost
be. b. costs
When we talk about verbs, we also want to indicate the c. costing
time they happened. Is it the past, present, or future? This
is called tense of the verbs. Even if you are not a native 2.) His job is great because he ___ a lot of people.
English speaker, you would now that you should a. meet
use was when the event has already happened, use is if it b. meets
is happening, and use will be if the event is going to c. is meeting
happen in the future.
3.) He always ___ his car on Sundays.
Examples a. wash
b. washes
c. is washing
 c.) In regular verbs, the past simple ends in -ed
4. My watch is broken and it ___ to be fixed again. Examples
a. need walk – walked
b. needs talk – talked
c. needed worship – worshiped
wash – washed

5. I ___ to watch movies. d.) Some verbs are irregular

a. love Examples
b. loves  write – wrote
c. loving  see – saw
 go – went
6. I ___ to the cinema at least once a week.  throw – threw
a. go  cost – cost
b. goes  hit – hit
c. went
simple past tense
7. They never ___ tea in the morning. 1. Linda ______ in my house last week.
a. drink a. stay
b. drinks b. stays
c. drunk c. stayed

8. We both ___ to the radio in the morning. 2. I ______ the bunny at Nordstrom’s.
a. listen a. buyed
b. listens b. bawt
c. listened c. bought

9. He ___ a big wedding. 3. He just ______ “Hi.”

a. want a. said
b. wants b. sayed
c. wanted c. sought

10. George ___ too much so he’s getting fat. 4. I ______ the article in the newspaper.
a. eat a. read
b. eats b. red
c. eaten c. readed

Grammar Tutorial: Simple Past Tense 5. She ______ 10 gifts.

Simple past tense is used when the action referred to a. choosed
happened in the past. b. chosed
Example: They walked to the police station yesterday. c. chose
In this example, the verb walk is added with “ed” since
the situation happened the day before. This is indicated by 6. The water rise during the 1962 floods ______ about 10
“yesterday.” feet.
Rules in Forming the Verbs a. rise
a.) Verbs ending in e are usually just appended by -d. b. rised
Examples c. rose
 dive – dived
 tie – tied 7. Andy ______four chicken legs and one chicken breast.
 carve – carved a. fried
b.) Verbs ending in a consonant preceded by a single b. freid
stressed vowel double the consonant in the past tense. c. freed
Examples
 hop – hopped 8. He ______ the glass by accidentally knocking it over
 stop – stopped with his elbow.
 fit – fitted a. broke
b.) Most verbs that end in y change the y into -ied b. brake
Examples c. broked
 Hurry – hurried
 Bury – buried 9. How did they send the letter?
 Reply – replied They ______ the letter by airmail.
 Worry – worried
 a. saint The Subject-Verb Agreement Rules Part 2
b. sent We have learned seven rules of the subject-verb
c. sunt agreement. We now continue with the 8th rule.

10. I ______ that Japanese would be hard for me to learn. Rule 8: Modifiers between the subject and the verb does
a. knew not affect the number of the subject.
b. know Jason, who is a father of four, is currently suffering liver
c. knowed cancer.
In this sentence, the phrase “who is a father of four” is a
Simple Tenses: Summary and Quiz modifier of Jason. It does not affect Jason as a subject and
To recapitulate, simple tenses consist of present therefore takes a singular verb ‘is.’
tense, past tense and future tense. The simple present
tense is formed using the base form of the verb such Rule 9: Some nouns (collective nouns) can be used as
as talk, walk, etc. (for plural noun or pronoun) or the s- singular or plural depending on the context and usage.
form of the verb (talks, walks, etc) for singular noun or Rica’s family plans to go on a vacation this summer.
pronoun. Other forms of the verbs like the “be” verb The staff have gone their separate ways after the meeting.
such as is/ are;auxiliary verbs like has / have, do / In the first sentence, the family is a collective noun and
does can be used. These forms of the verb are used to functions as one group. In the second sentence, the staff
express actions that are habitually done, to state a fact or refers to the persons individually.
general truth.
Rule 10: Uncountable nouns or nouns that can’t be
The past tense is formed with the following verbs counted takes singular verbs.
like was (singular) / were (plural), had and did (both Too much sugar was put in this coffee.
for singular and plural). For regular verbs you just add – Money is the root of all evils.”
ed (talked, walked, etc) or a change in spelling is In this sentence, sugar is an uncountable noun, so we used
needed for irregular verbs (eat = ate, write =wrote, ‘was’ instead of ‘were.’ It is the same with the second
etc). This tense of the verb is used for actions that sentence.
happened or completed in a definite past time. Time
expressions like yesterday, last month, few days ago, Rule 11: There are words that end in s that are always
etc. are used. considered as singular.
For actions that are intended to be completed or done in a The news about her death is spreading very fast.
particular time in the future, Future tense of the verb is Mathematics is a very difficult subject.
used. Here, expressions like tomorrow, next year, next Diabetes is not a curable disease.
summer, etc. will signify futurity. Though, will /shall +
base form of the verb can be used most of the time will Rule 12: Fractional expressions ‘half of,’ ‘part of,’
+ base form of the verb is preferred by most people both ‘portion of’ may take singular or plural verbs depending
in oral / written communication. on the context.
Half of the audience are asleep because of his boring
Exercises: speech.
A portion of his wealth was donated to cancer patients.
1. Citizens in a democratic country (has, have) to
select a leader through election process. Rule 13: In inverted sentences especially those that use
2. Pump prices (go, goes) up rapidly depending on here and there, the subject follows the verb.
the scarcity of supply. Here are the towels.
3. Terrorists groups (behead, beheaded) foreign A good snack is a salad.
journalists last year.
4. Transport group (express, expresses) fare hike if Subject-Verb Agreement Practice Test 1 Answers
oil prices (will continue, continues) to rise next week.
5. Overseas workers (is expected, are expected) to Below are the answers to the Subject-Verb Agreement
increase in the coming years. Practice Test 1. The incorrect verb in each sentence is
6. Today’s youth (know, knows) the difference BOLD & UNDERLINED; and the correct verb in the
between real friendships from mere acquaintances. corrected sentence is BOLD & UNDERLINED. An
7. Typhoon Hayan (was, were) the most destructive explanation follows every correction.
typhoon last year.
8. Merchandises from China (will continue, 1. My brother or my sister are arriving tomorrow.
continue) to flock the global market. Correct sentence: My brother or my sister is arriving
9. Persona non-grata (is, are) declared whenever a tomorrow
person / an individual utters or behaves inappropriately in Explanation: Two singular subjects connected
a particular place or country. by or require a singular verb. In this sentence,
10. Global warming (become, becomes) an alarming there brother and sister are both singular, so the sentence
problem worldwide. should use the singular verb is.
2. Neither Ella nor her friends is available to assist you.
Correct sentence: Neither Ella nor her 11. One-tenth of the people in this city are unemployed.
friends are available to assist you. Explanation: No error. See no. 9 for explanation.
When a singular subject and a plural subject are
connected by neither/nor or either/or, the verb agrees 12. He is one of the men who does the work without
with the subject nearest to it. In the sentence above, the complaining.
plural verb are is used because it is nearer to the plural Correct sentence: He is one of the men who do the work
subject friends. without complaining.
Explanation: The pronouns who, which, and that which is
3. Armand, together with his friends, are going on a the subject of the verb in the middle of the sentence
camping trip tomorrow. become singular or plural according to the noun directly
Correct sentence: Armand, together with his in front of them. In the sentence above, the noun in front
friends, is going on a camping trip tomorrow. of who is men which is plural, so the plural verb do must
Explanation: In general, phrases such as together be used.
with, along with, as well as, should be ignored when
considering the verb of the sentence. The verb should 13. The team are going to practice tomorrow for the final
always agree with the subject. In this sentence, Armand is competition
the singular subject, so the singular verb is is used. Correct sentence: The team is going to practice tomorrow
for the final competition
4. Jim and Mike are going to take the Subprofessional Explanation: Collective nouns such as team and staff may
Civil Service Examination next month. either be singular or plural depending on their use in the
Explanation: No error. Jim and Mike is a plural subject, sentence. In the sentence above, the team acts as a unit
so the plural verb are is used. and therefore requires a singular verb.

5. Each of the boys play piano well. 14. The committee are in disagreement whether to use the
Correct sentence: Each of the boys plays piano well. fund in a feeding program or donate it to a hospital.
Explanation:The Explanation: No error. Unlike in number 13,
pronouns each, anyone, anybody, everyone, every the committee in this sentence act as individuals and not
one, everybody are singular and require singular verbs. In as a unit.
the sentence, each is singular so, the singular verb
plays must be used. 15. Nina, as well as his brother and sister, is attending a
birthday party.
6. Neither of them are available to meet you at the airport. Explanation: No error. See no. 3 for explanation.
Correct sentence: Neither of them is available to meet
you at the airport. Grammar Rules: Future Perfect Tense
Explanation: Sentences that use either or neither (without Future perfect expresses the idea that something will
or) always require singular verb. happen before another action in the future. It also shows
that something will happen before a specific time in the
7. Ten years are such a long time to wait my love. future. Just like the past perfect tense there must be two
Correct sentence: Ten years is such a long time to wait actions. In this case, these actions should be completed or
my love. done in the future. The action that will happen first,
Explanation: Periods of time take singular verb. though in the future, will follow the will + have + past
participle of the verb. Then, the other future action will
8. Five thousand pesos are a high price to pay for a single use the simple present tense.
T-shirt. Form: will + have +past participle of the verb
Correct sentence: Five thousand pesos is a high price to The common time expressions are: before, by tomorrow/
pay for a single T-shirt. 7 o’clock / next month, etc., until or till.
Explanation: Amount of money takes singular verb.
Examples:
9. Fifty percent of the cake have disappeared after just 1. By next year, I will have moved to my new house.
two minutes. 2. By the time the husband gets home, the wife will have
Correct sentence: Fifty percent of the cooked dinner.
cake has disappeared after just two minutes. 3. He will have perfected his English by the time he
Explanation: The verb used in words that indicate moves to the US.
portions such as percent, fraction, part, all, some, etc.
depends on the noun in the “of phrase.” In the sentence Exercise: Use the future perfect form of the verb in the
above, the cake in “of the cake” phrase is singular, following sentences.
therefore, the singular verb has should be used. 1. They (graduate) from college by April 2025.
2. Melissa (turn) 40 by the end of the year.
10. Everybody is happy about the result of the 3. The students (submit) the report until the teacher
examination (arrive).
Explanation: No Error. See no. 5 for explanation. 4. I (complete) the needed reports by the time the
president (need) them. Practice Quiz
5. A better model of cellular phones (release) in the Choose the correct form of the perfect tense for each of
market by next month. the following sentences.
1.) Ebola virus (has, have) spread in countries like Africa.
Answers: 2.) The reinforcement team (arrived, had arrived) after the
1. They will have graduated from college by April 2025. forty-four Special Action force members (has died, had
This means that come 2025 the students are definitely died) in the encounter.
done with their studies. 3.) The country (will have experienced, will experience)
drought before the summer comes next year.
2. Melissa will have turned 40 by the end of the year. This 4.) The government of China (expressed, has expressed)
statement tells us that before the end of December its desire to end the territorial row with the Philippines.
Melissa will have celebrated her 40th birthday. Therefore, 5.) Melinda (will have become, had become) a lawyer
the birthday comes first before the year ends. before her mother retires.
World Health Organization (WHO) (warned, had warned)
3. The students will have submitted the report until the the public about the MERS-COV before it became
teacher arrives. The idea here is that when the teacher widespread.
comes to school the students have already submitted the 6.) The government (ordered, has ordered) recall of a
report. Therefore, she doesn’t have to wait for them certain brand of apples in the market because of its toxic
because she has it probably on her table. contamination.
7.) Food and Drug Administration (has advised, have
4. I will have completed the reports by the time the advised) the public against the proliferation of untested
president needs it. The two future actions here are the diet pills in the market.
completion of the reports and the time when the report is
needed. In this sentence the completion happened first 8.) The US government (has tested, had tested) all its
even before the president asks the secretary probably, to local produce before it reached the market.
hand him the copy of the reports. 9.) Two years from now, Melinda (will have been, will
become) a licensed physical therapist.
5. A better model of cellular phones will have released in
the market by next month. In this number the two future Grammar Tutorial: Simple Future Tense
events are the release of the new cellular phones and next The simple future tense indicates that the action is in the
month. Therefore the market is expected to have the new future relative to the speaker. Verbs in the future tense are
unit of cell phones before we turn to another month. not changed (or inflected), instead, helping verbs such
as will and shall are added before the base form of the
Perfect Tenses: Summary and Quiz verb.
Summarized the simple tenses. In this post, we
summarize the perfect tenses. Review exercises are Examples
provided below to assess your mastery of the lesson. I will buy a computer tomorrow.
Perfect tenses have three types: Present perfect, Past I shall return.
perfect and future perfect. Shall we dance?
Will you help me?
The present perfect tense denotes actions that began in
the past and continues up to the present time. It is also In the first example, the helping verb will is added
used to suggest events that happened at unspecific time before buy which is a verb in base form. In the second
before now. Has (singular) and have (plural) + past sentence, the helping verb shall is added before the verb
participle of the given verb are used to form the present return. The future tenses in question are also shown
perfect tense. above.
If we use a diagram, the simple future tense can be
The past perfect tense of the verb is formed with Had represented in the timeline as the red x below.
(for singular and plural noun)+ past participle of the verb. Aside from will and shall, the form will be, shall be, be +
This tense of the verb is used to express an action that going to are also several ways of expressing things in
happened before another past action occurred. Always simple future.
remember that the second past action must use the simple I will make a sandwiches for breakfast.
past tense of the verb. I will be in Tokyo next week.
I am going to buy a dictionary tomorrow.
Similarly, for the future perfect tense two actions/events It is going to be sunny tomorrow.
are required here. But, these actions are intended to be I shall be back in a month’s time.
completed in the future. Expressions such as by As shown above, some of the common usage of future
tomorrow, by next year, ten years from now, etc. are sentences include: voluntary action (sentence 1),
commonly used plus the future perfect tense (will have + expressing a plan (sentence 2) or prediction (sentence 3),
past participle). This is to suggest that the action is and making a promise (sentence 4).
completed before a certain time. Take note however that the form of the verb is changed to
past tense in passive simple future sentences.
Active: Annie will finish the job at 6pm. Example 2: My English has improved since I migrated to
Passive: The work will be finished by Annie at 6pm. America.
We also use the present perfect tense of the verb to tell an
Grammar Rules: Past Perfect Tense action that began in the past but continues up to the
Past perfect tense is used to express an action that took present.
place before another past action. The auxiliary verb had + Example 3: I have been in Japan since October.
past participle of the verb is used to form the past perfect Exercise: Choose the correct form of the present perfect
tense. This tense is also called the had tense. tense in the following sentences.
1. My friend Claire (has been, have been, was) in
Examples England for six months.
1. I had prepared the salad when my nephews arrived 2. Many policemen (have died, has died, died) in
home. the Mindanao siege.
2. Frieda had entered the grades before Melissa started to 3. The army (has attacked, have attacked, attacked)
compute her grades. that city five times.
3. The student had received the report card before her 4. The principal (has been, have been, was) in the
mother asked for it. meeting since this morning.
4. Kristine had never complained before yesterday. 5. The baby (has grown, have grown, grew) so fast!
5. Julius had studied Thai before he moved to Thailand.
Exercise: Underline the correct form of the verb for each Answer:
sentence. 1.) The correct answer to this number is Has been for the
1. We (waited, had waited) at the mall for half an hour following reasons: first, the subject, Claire is singular that
when my friend (came, had came) into view. is why we use HAS not HAVE. Second, the exact time
The correct answer here is had waited and came. This she moved to England was not stated. But, the action
means that the waiting part took place before the arrival began six months ago and until now she is still in
of her friend. England.
2. The family of the fallen policemen (receive, had 2.) The answer here is Have died. The subject is plural
received) financial help from NGOs before the (policemen) therefore, have must be used together with
government (announced, had announced) its monetary the past participle of the verb die. We cannot use the
assistance. simple past tense here (died) because the specific time is
3. Josefa (had worked, worked) as a secretary before she not mentioned.
(became, had become) the company president. 3.) The answer is has attacked. Again, there is no specific
4. Rumors about the wedding (had come, came) out when time when the attacked happened. But the idea here is that
people (saw, had seen) them together from the church. from the first time the city was attacked until now it
5. There (was, is) heavy traffic because it (had rained, happened only six times.
rained) so much the whole day. 4.) The correct answer is Has been. The subject
(principal) is singular so, has been is used. This sentence
Grammar Rules: Present Perfect Tense means that the meeting started in the morning until the
Like simple tenses, perfect or sometimes called time of speaking the meeting is still on-going.
compound tenses have three categories namely: Present 5.) The sentence tells us that the change happened for a
Perfect, Past Perfect, and Future Perfect. Each of these period of time (but unspecified).
has a corresponding usage depending on the time of
action is completed or intended to be done. Answers to Grammar Practice Test 1

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE Below are the answers and the explanations to
Present Perfect Tense is used to express an action the Grammar and Correct Usage Practice Test 1.
happened at an unspecific time before now. The exact The incorrect word or phrase in the sentence is BOLD &
time is not important. Unlike the simple past tense, the UNDERLINED, while the correct word or phrase is
action is done at a particular time. Hence, time expression BOLD & UNDERLINED.
such as yesterday, last month, etc. must be stated. The 1. The inventor stood to except the award.
only time expressions accepted in this tense are: ever, Correct Sentence: The inventor stood to accept the award.
never, once, many times, several times, before, so far, Explanation: Accept means “to receive”, except means
already, yet, etc. “to exclude.”
FORM: for singular subject =Has + past participle of the
given verb 2. Between the three of us, I think I am the slowest
For plural subject = Have + past participle of runner.
the given verb Correct Sentence: Among the three of us, I think I am the
*** slowest runner.
Example 1: I have seen the movie Serendipity more than Explanation: Among is used to refer to 3 or more
ten times. members of the group, while between is used to refer to
Present perfect tense is also used to talk about change that two member of the group.
has happened over a period of time. 3. There are scarcely no more birds in this city.
Correct sentence: There are scarcely any birds in this city. consonant sound (a car, a pencil), while an is used to
Explanation: Double negative. Scarcely and no more are before words beginning with vowel sounds (an ant, an
both negative word/phrase. egg). An is also used to before words beginning with the
consonant h when h is not pronounced (such
4. This fruit contains fewer sugar. ashonorable).
Correct sentence: This fruit contains less sugar.
Explanation: Fewer is used to describe plural nouns (how 13. The recently heavy flooding effected the crops of
many) while less is used to describe singular nouns (how farmers.
much). Sugar is singular. Correct sentence: The recently heavy
flooding affected the crops of farmers.
5. I have never seen nothing as beautiful as this city. Explanation: Affect means “to influence” while effect
Correct sentence: I have never seen anything as beautiful means “the result of some actions.”
as this city.
Explanation: Double negative. Never seen and nothing are 14. Emmanuel could of passed the examinations if he had
both negative word/phrase. studied hard enough.
Correct sentence: Emmanuel could have passed the
6. Place the mirror on the wall to give you an allusion of examinations if he studied hard enough.
bigger room. Explanation: The word “of” is not used after the verb
Correct sentence: Place the mirror on the wall to give you could.
an illusion of bigger room.
Explanation: Allusion means “a passing or casual 15. I believe that were going to have a prosperous new
reference,” while illusion means “something that deceives year.
by producing a false or misleading impression of reality.” Correct sentence: I believe that we’re going to have a
prosperous new year.
7. We were lucky we didn’t have typhoon this month. (No Explanation: The word were is the past tense
Error) of was while we’re is the contraction of we are.

8. My favorite vegetable are peas. Grammar and Correct Usage Practice 2 Answers and
Correct sentence: May favorite vegetable is peas. Explanations
Explanation: The subject is favorite is singular, therefore Below are the answers and the explanations to
the verb are should be is. the Grammar and Correct Usage Practice Test 2.
The incorrect word or phrase in the sentence is BOLD &
9. Either James or John are going to lead the choir in the UNDERLINED, while the correct word or phrase is
recital tommorow. BOLD & UNDERLINED.
Correct sentence: Either James or John is going to lead
the choir in their recital tomorrow. 1. Paul Erdos was a mathematician who writes a lot of
Explanation: In either or statements, the verb considers research papers in collaboration with other
the subject after the or statement. The subject John is mathematicians.
singular, so the verb should be is. The correct spelling Correct Sentence: Paul Erdos was a mathematician
is tomorrow. who wrote a lot of research papers in collaboration with
other mathematicians
10. The additional supplies that we need to bring Explanation: The tense of the verbs in a sentence must be
are: band aids, cottons, alcohol, and gauze. consistent unless there is a reason to change. The
Correct sentences: verb was is past tense, so the verb writes must be changed
The additional supplies that we need to bring are band to wrote.
aids, cottons, alcohol, and gauze. (The colon was
deleted). 2. Anna lay her books on the table before opening her
The additional supplies that we need to bring are the laptop.
following: band aids, cottons, alcohol, and gauze. Correct Sentence: Anna laid her books on the table before
Explanation: The colon is used before a list of items opening her laptop.
especially after expressions like the following and as Explanation: Laid is the past tense of lay (to put). Note
follows. Do not use a colon before a verb or a preposition. that lay is also be the past tense of lie (to rest).

11. All the students has finished their report. 3. Please seat here, Mr. Reyes. I’ll just call the doctor.
Correct sentence: All the students have finished their Correct: Please sit here, Mr. Reyes. I’ll just call the
report. doctor.
Explanation: In this sentence, “all” refers to many Explanation: Seat is a noun (a place on or which one sits),
students, therefore “have” is the correct verb. while sit is a verb (to rest the body supported by the
buttocks). Another correct sentence would be “Please be
12. He was a honorable man. seated here… ”
Correct sentence: He was an honorable man.
Explanation: A is used before words beginning with a
4. Which constellation do you see most often, Leo Minor
or Pegasus? 14. In betting a lottery you can win from one million
Correct Sentence: Which constellation do you to Php200 000 000.
see more often, Leo Minor or Pegasus? Correct Sentence: In betting a lottery you can win from
Explanation: Only two constellations are compared, so one million to two hundred million pesos.
the more should be used. Most is used to compare more Explanation: As a general rule, rounded numbers are
than two things. usually spelled out. In addition, be consistent within a
sentence. In writing large numbers, if you used symbols,
5. He is the one which called earlier. use symbols all throughout. For example, another correct
Correct Sentence: He is the one who called earlier. sentence would be “In betting a lottery you can win from
Explanation: The pronoun which refers only to things, Php 1 000 000 to two Php 200 000 000.”
while who refers to persons.
15. I wish you would; oh never mind.
6. I am taking japanese class next semester. Correct Sentence: I wish you would — oh never mind.
Correct Sentence: I am taking Japanese class next Explanation: In a sentence with an abrupt change in
semester. thought, emdash (long dash) should be used.
Explanation: Japanese is a proper noun, so the first letter
must be capitalized. Grammar and Correct Usage Quiz 3

7. Marie and Pierre Curie invented radium. 1. Many anime nowadays are not good for children
Correct Sentence: Marie and Pierre because of their violence. I think Disney movies are more
Curie discovered radium. _____ for them.
Explanation: The word invent means “to be the first to a.) suitable (suitable means appropriate)
make or do something,” while the word discover means b.) suited
“to find or see something that already exists.” c.) unsuitable
d.) suitless
8. Her powerful speech regarding the abolition of pork
barrel really affected the audience. (No Error) 2. Your mother is gone. If she were alive, I think she
would love to see you ______ the truth and move on.
9. We were lucky we didn’t have no earthquake this year. a.) accept
Correct Sentence: We were lucky we didn’t b.) except
have earthquake this year. c.) acceptance
Explanation: Double negative. The word didn’t is d.) exception
negative, so there is no need to add no. 3. I think _____ made him a snobbish person.
a.) successfulness
10. Running in the last marathon was a fun, challenging, b.) successful
exhausting, experience. c.) succeed
Correct: Running in the last marathon was a fun, d.) success
challenging, exhausting experience. (The comma before 4. I couldn’t focus listening to the speaker’s lecture
experience was omitted). yesterday. The person beside me was thinking ____ while
Explanation: Commas must be used to separate two or taking down notes.
more adjectives preceding a noun (experience) but not a.) aloud (thinking aloud is the phrase use for speaking
after the last adjective before the noun. one’s thoughts
b.) loud
11. Anna the quiz blower of the class bagged another c.) allowed
medal in a declamation contest. d.) loudly
Correct Sentence: Anna, the quiz blower of the 5. You cannot leave the company until next month. They
class, bagged another medal in a declamation contest. could sue you for ____ of contract.
(commas separate the quiz blower of the class) a.) breach
b.) breech
12. I think that bolder must be removed from the street to c.) break
avoid accident. d.) breaking
Correct Sentence: I think that boulder must be removed 6. I think she sings ______.
from the street to avoid accident. a.) beauty
Explanation: Boulder means “rock,” while the noun b.) beautiful
“bold” means “courageous and daring.” c.) beautifully (adverb describing sing)
13. The movie was censured because of its many violent d.) beautiness
scenes. 7. You look too exhausted. If I ____ you, I’ll go for a
Correct Sentence: The movie was censored because of its holiday vacation.
many violent scenes. a.) am
Explanation: Censure means “to criticize strongly” b.) was
while censor means “disallow.” c.) were (“If I were” is used to make a statement that is
contrary to fact.) a.) them
d.) be b.) their
8. Melissa, ____ true that the president of our company is c.) there
leaving? d.) his (everybody means every person, hence singular)
a.) it is 7. Yesterday, our teacher ____ us a difficult exam.
b.) is a.) give
c.) isn’t b.) gave
d.) is it c.) was giving
9. Did you ____ up with your boyfriend again? That’s d.) was give
twice in a month. That’s not right. 8. Who do you think is the best dancer ___ the group?
a.) break When you use did, the verb (break) should be a.) between
in present tense. Brake is a device that inhibits motion b.) among
(e.g. in cars). c.) inside
b.) brake d.) with
9. Gemma said thank you. She was ____.
c.) broke
a.) greetful
d.) broken
b.) greatul
10. The news is that the supposed ____ killer escaped c.) grateful
from prison yesterday. d.) gretful
a.) serial (serial comes from the word series) 10. This is just between you and __. Don’t tell anyone.
b.) serious a.) I
c.) cereal b.) me (between should be followed by an objective
d.) surreal pronoun such as me, him, her and us
c.) myself
Grammar and Correct Usage Quiz 4 d.) mine

1. We just came from Mount Apo. That was an exciting Grammar and Correct Usage Quiz 5
_____. Fill in the blanks with the most appropriate word.
a.) trip (all of them are synonyms, but trip is more 1. They _______ TV while I was cleaning the dishes.
appropriate) a.) are watching
b.) journey b.) was watching
c.) voyage c.) were watching
d.) expedition d.) had watched
2. It is normal for some controversial things to ____ 2. James ____ in Manila for the past 8 years.
debates. a.) stayed
a.) in sight b.) has stayed
b.) incite (incite means stir or encourage) c.) stays
c.) insight d.) is staying
d.) in cite
3. __ hour ago, I met ___ beautiful woman. 3. Are there ____ cookies in the fridge?
a.) A, a a.) many
b.) An, a An, a. An hour ago, I met a beautiful woman. b.) much
c.) A, an c.) any
d.) An, an d.) a
4. I liked it. That _______ interesting movie.
a.) was a
b.) was an
c.) is
4. In my room, _____ three chairs and a table. My brother d.) is an
and I usually eat there in the morning. 5. I went __ the market yesterday.
a.) there is a.) to
b.) there are b.) at
c.) there was c.) in
d.) there were d.) on
5. Aliyah, did you see Amanda’s new dress? I’m sure 6. Ron: Gabby, look at the new girl. You know her right.
____ going to love it. What ___ she like?
a.) you Gabby: She’s very bubbly.
b.) your a.) does
c.) youre b.) is
d.) you’re (contraction of you are) c.) did
6. See you tomorrow. Remember, everybody must bring d.) has
___ own lunch. 7. Please hurry up. I need ____ immediately.
a.) go a.) imminent (ready to take place, likely to happen very
b.) going soon)
c.) to going b.) eminent
d.) to go c.) immanent
8. I ____ a new mobile phone yesterday. d.) iminent
a.) bought 8. When I was young, I _____ sing classical music.
b.) buyed a.) use to
c.) had bought b.) use too
d.) did bought c.) used to
9. How ____ was the phone? d.) used too
a.) many 9. Kathy, together with her cousin, ___ going to Paris
b.) much next month.
c.) few a.) is Phrases such as together with, as well as, along
d.) more with, etc. usually modifies the subject (in this case Kathy)
10. I love ______ classical music.. but does not function like “and”. Kathy, is the subject,
a.) listen and the time is in the future (next month) so the verb must
b.) listen to be is.
c.) listening to b.) are
d.) to listening to c.) was
d.) were
Grammar and Correct Usage Quiz 6 10. I have read the ____ of our History textbook and it
1. The coffee is sweet. I think you put too ___ sugar. was really interesting. I think I am going to read the book
a.) many from cover to cover.
b.) much (many is used for nouns that you can count) a.) foreword (a foreword is an introduction to a book)
c.) more b.) foreward
d.) excessive c.) four word
2. The princess wanted to leave the palace, but the king d.) fourward
wouldn’t let her go. So, she escaped in ____ wearing a
guard’s armor. Grammar and Correct Usage Quiz 7
a.) disgrace 1. The group insisted on an investigation of ___ member’s
b.) disguise ( disguise means to give (someone or oneself) dismissal and threatened to sue the company.
a different appearance in order to conceal one’s identity) a.) its (group is a singular noun)
c.) disgust b.) their
d.) guise c.) there
3. ___ I arrived earlier, I would have passed the exam. d.) it’s
a.) Have 2. People with _____ problems are likely to have a more
b.) When positive outlook in life.
c.) Had a.) less
d.) Has b.) fewer (fewer is used for countable items, less for
4. You are a bit far. Can you ____ me? uncountable)
a.) listen c.) more
b.) listening d.) without
c.) hear 3. I can accompany you tomorrow ___ Tuesday — you
d.) hearing choose..
a.) if
b.) and
5. It’s hard to ____ accurate information from a man who c.) but
was trained to lie. d.) or (you are to choose between tomorrow and
a.) elicit (elicit means to draw out, illicit means illegal) Tuesday)
b.) illicit 4. I am sorry but I have ___ idea what you are talking
c.) solicit about?
d.) associate a.) don’t
6. Anna: I found ___ key under the table. b.) doesn’t
Barry: No, ___ not mine. c.) no
a.) your, its d.) not
b.) your, it’s You’re means “you are,” so it is not 5. This time next Tuesday, some people in this group
correct. It’s mean “it is.” As such, “It’s not mine” means _______ to Paris.
“it is not mine.” a.) will travel
c.) you’re, its b.) will be traveling
d.) you’re, it’s c.) will traveling
7. After sensing the danger was ______, we went out of d.) traveling
the house immediately.
6. The panel has chosen Kyle to represent the company.
He is the _____ _____ the two candidates. Rule 3: The conjunction ‘or’ does not conjoin
a.) better, between Better is used to compare two like ‘and.’ When you use or, the verb takes the number of
persons/things, and best is used to compare three or more the closest subject.
persons/things. Between is used in comparing two or Your father or his sisters are going to take care of Anna.
more persons/things, while among is used in comparing Your sisters or your father is going to take care of Anna.
three or more persons/things.
b.) better, among Rule 4: Just like in Rule 3, when the subject words are
c.) best, between joined by either … or, neither . . . nor, or not only … but,
d.) best, among the verb agrees with the subject closest to it.
7. Guys, have a piece of cake. I baked them _____. Examples:
a.) my own Either her friend or her mother has the money.
b.) myself Neither her uncle nor her aunts have the money.
c.) mine In sentence 1, the verb “has” which is singular agrees
d.) my way with the subject “mother” (singular). In the second
8. He’s ___ young to travel on his own. Accompany him. sentence, the verb “have” (plural) agrees with the subject
a.) so “aunts” (plural).
b.) too
c.) very Rule 5: The indefinite pronouns no
d.) such one, anyone, everyone, someone, anybody, everybody,
9. When Anna took the Civil Service Exam, she somebody, and nobody are always singular. They take
________ in the government form 5 years already. singular verbs.
a.) worked Examples:
b.) is working No one is above the law.
c.) had been working (past perfect continuous) Everyone was happy.
d.) was working Rule 6: When word groups or modifiers separate the
10. If you have difficulty in ______ the questions in subject and the verb, locate the subject word to determine
English, there’s a Filipino translation at the back of the whether to use a singular or plural verb.
page. Examples:
a.) answer The flowers in the pot on the balcony need watering.
b.) answering An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
c.) to answer
d.) to answering Rule 7: Phrases starting with the following words are
normally not part of the subject: along with, together
The Subject-Verb Agreement Rules Part 1 with, accompanied by, in addition to, as well as, except,
Subject-verb agreement means that the subject and verb with, no less than.
endings agree in number. Determining singular or plural Risa, together with her friends, goes to a party every
endings can be confusing because an -s ending on a noun weekend.
indicates plural, whereas an -s ending on a verb indicates Dana and Gemma, together with their father, go to church
singular form. The subject of every sentence is either every weekend.
singular or plural, and that determines the ending of the
verb. Present Progressive Tenses
In the examples below, the subjects in the sentences The tenses under this category denote that the action is
are underlined the verbs are italicized. on-going depending on time the action is done or
completed. Below is an in-depth explanation of the
Rule 1: Singular nouns (usually without s) take singular correct usage of these progressive tenses.
verbs (usually with s). Plural nouns (usually with s) take PRESENT PROGRESSIVE TENSE shows continuing
plural verbs (usually without s). action, something is going on at the time of speaking.
Examples: FORM: (for singular subject) am / is + verb –ing
The bee buzzes every night. (One bee = singular verb) (For plural subject) are +verb – ing
The bees buzz every night. (More than one bee = plural Example:
verb) The president is accepting Mr. Purisima’s very timely
The stamps stick. resignation.
Time flies so fast. They are preparing for school right now.
Note: The nouns “I” and “you” always take a plural verb. Sometimes the present progressive tense is used to
I eat a lot. express future action.
You are so beautiful. Our delegates are arriving in 25 minutes.

Rule 2: Compound subjects or subjects joined EXERCISES:

by and take a plural verb. 1.) Charina (speak, is speaking) as a representative of the
Example: faculty members.
My father and my brother visit me every year.
The subject, Charina, here is singular that is why we use until now it is still their dream. Please take note that the
is + the –ing form of the verb speak. Imagine that Charina subject here is the couple which is a singular that is why
is actually in front of you right now speaking. we use has here plus been then the present participle
2.) The Filipinos (express, are expressing) their frustration praying.
over the death of the 44 SAF members.
The subject is plural (Filipinos) so, we use the “are” plus 4. The students (submit) requirements to avail of the
the –ing form of the verb express. scholarship grants since last month.
3.) There are rumors that some militant groups (want, are The answer here is, have been submitting. The subject,
wanting) the president’s resignation. students, is plural. So, we use have plus been then,
Our subject here is the militant groups which is plural that submitting. So, imagine here that the office started
is why the verb “are” is the correct form plus the–ing of receiving requirements from last month until now.
the verb want. Obviously, the two foregoing sentences are
controversial issues at the present time. Everywhere you 5. My Canadian friend (travel) Asian countries for five
go people have different opinions on the so called fallen years now.
44. The subject, friend, is singular therefore we use has plus
4.) Claire (expect, is expecting) her fiancé to come home been then; traveling (has been traveling). To get the idea
in two weeks time. in a clearer picture count five years back, that was the first
5.) The teacher (call, is calling) Nancy to recite the time his friend traveled Asian countries until now.
Desiderata.
Sentence 4 and 5 has singular subjects, Claire and teacher Past Perfect Progressive Tense
respectively. The use of verb “is” is appropriate plus the – Past perfect progressive tense of the verb is used to state
ing form of the given verbs. Both sentences give us the an action that is continuous in the past when another past
idea of the two individuals expecting something to happen action occurred.
and calling someone to do something all at the present Form: had been + present participle
time of speaking. Just like a video footage telecast real- Examples:
time. 1. We had been waiting for my brother to come when I
received a phone call from a friend.
Present Perfect Progressive Tense 2. The program had been going on when I arrived.
Present perfect progressive is used to tell an action that 3. The teachers had been preparing to welcome the new
began in the past and continues up to the present time. principal when the office received and advice for its
Form: Has been + present participle of the verb (for postponement.
singular subject) Always remember here that this tense of the verb requires
Have been + present participle of the verb (for plural two past actions. One is ongoing in the past uses the had
subject) plus been then, another past action (which is in simple
Examples: past) happened.
1. She has been teaching English since last year. Exercises:
2. They have been receiving complaints for two days 1. The Philippine government (try) diplomatic tactics to
now. solve territorial dispute over China when Visiting Forces
3. The government has been appealing for executive Agreement (begin) its “Balikatan Exercises”.
clemency for the convicted Filipina.  Had been trying, began
Exercises: 2. The people (support) the call for peaceful settlement
1. The president (express) sympathy over the imminent when the opponent country (start) aggressive action
execution of the convicted Filipina since last week. towards our military.
In this sentence the subject is singular (the president)  Had been supporting, started
therefore, has is the correct auxiliary verb plus been For sentence 1 and 2, the first past on-going action uses
followed by the present participle, expressing (Has been the past perfect progressive. For sentence 1, had been
expressing). The idea here is that the expression of trying and sentence 2, had been supporting. Notice that
sympathy began last week and until now the same the subsequent verbs are in the simple past tense began
emotion is shown for the convicted Filipina. and started respectively.
3. Before my brother (join) the band, he (sing) in a five
2. Different countries all over the world (donate) to help star hotel.
Nepal on the road to their recovery since the strong  Joined, had been singing
earthquake happened. 4. When the rain (pour), my family (pack) our things to
The correct answer, have been donating. The subject is go home.
plural (countries). The Nepalese government began  Poured, had been packing
receiving donation after the earthquake hit the country For sentence 3 and 4, if you notice the simple past tense
and still continuing up to the present time. comes before the past perfect progressive. Here, careful
attention is needed to identify which comes first before
3. The couple (pray) to have a child for six years now. another one happens. In this case, you can tell that one
In this number the answer is, has been praying. We can cannot automatically say that the first verb given will
conclude here that the couple has been married for six always use the past perfect progressive.
years. Since then probably they wanted to have a child but
 5. I (do) my laundry when my sister (ask) me to If you had planned things at the start, we wouldn’t be in
accompany her to the mall. this mess now (=We are in trouble now – Third + Second
 Had been doing, asked Conditionals)
Please go back to the above explanation for this number. All types of conditionals can be mixed. Any tense
Future Perfect Progressive Tense combination is possible if the context permits it.
Future perfect progressive is used to state an action that is Conditional clause main clause
perceived to be continuously happening when a certain If nobody phoned him he won’t come to the meeting.
time comes. If he knew her, he would have spoken to her.
Form: will have been + present participle If he had found a job, he wouldn’t be searching for one
Examples: now.
1. By this afternoon, the teachers will have been arriving Exercises:
to attend the meeting. If you (not spend) so much money, I (not be) angry now.
2. Few months from now, politicians will have been  If you hadn’t spent so much money, I wouldn’t be angry
preparing for the forthcoming national election. now.
If they (post) the parcel yesterday, it (get) here before
Exercises: Friday.
1. By tomorrow, the patient (recover, will have been  If they posted the parcel yesterday, it won’t get here
recovering) from the trauma. before Friday.
This means that before tomorrow ends the patient already If you (not wake) me up in the middle of the night, I (not
recovered from trauma. feel) so tired now.
2. Four years from now, my friend (complete, will have  If you hadn’t woken me up in the middle of the night, I
been completing) her papers to Australia. wouldn’t feel so tired now.
The idea here is that before the four Years of preparation If Tom (be) a bit more ambitious, he (find) himself a
ends my friend already completed all papers document for better job years ago.
Australia.  If Tom was a bit more ambitious, he would have found
3. By the next decades, scientists (explore, will have been himself a better job years ago.
exploring) different planets. If you (know) me better, you (say) that.
This sentence tells us that in the coming decades scientists  If you knew me better, you wouldn’t have said that.
will try exploring different planets.
4. A few weeks from now, teachers (train, will have been Future Progressive Tense
training) for the K12 seminar for this coming school year. Future Progressive Tense is used to express an action that
In this particular sentence, it gives us a picture of the is going on in the future before another action is about
teachers in the k12 seminar which will last for a certain when a certain time comes. If you are going to analyze
week starting today. this tense of the verb is almost similar to the future perfect
5. By tomorrow, Myrna (visit, will have been visiting) her tense in idea.
sick mother for a long time. Form: will be + present participle or verb –ing (will be
This means that before the day tomorrow ends Myrna sleeping, will be eating, etc)
already came to visit her ailing mother for a long time. Time markers, such as by the year ends, weeks from now,
a few months from now, etc., are commonly used to
Understanding Conditionals IV: Mixed Conditionals express the future progressive tense.
There are two mixed types of sentences of unreal Example:
condition: 1. By the time she retires, she will be participating in
1.) If – clause refers to the present and the main clause many civic activities.
refers to the past. 2. I will be sleeping by 12 midnight.
e.g. If he were a fast runner, he would have won the race. 3. He will be receiving many meritorious awards by the
If – clause refers to the past and the main clause refers to time he graduates from the academy.
the present. Exercises:
e.g. If he had found a job, he wouldn’t be searching for 1. By the time she (finish) cleaning the yard, the
one now. unexpected visitors (arrive) to give her a surprise birthday
party.
Sometimes we make sentences which mix Second and  The answers are finishes, will be arriving. The pronoun,
Third Conditionals, especially when a past event has an she, is singular so, we use the s-form of the verb here.
effect in the present. Then, the verb in –ing (arriving) is used after the will + be
Example: phrase to denote future progressive tense.
a.) If you hadn’t invited me, I wouldn’t have gone to the 2. Students (flock) the public schools a few months from
party. (=I did go to the party – Third Conditional). now.
If you hadn’t invited me, I wouldn’t be here now. (=I’m at  The future time expression, a few months from now, tells
the party now. – Third + Second Conditionals) us futurity of the action. It is foreseen that during these
b.) If you had planned things properly, you wouldn’t have months the students will be flocking the public schools.
got into a mess. (=You didn’t plan – Third Conditional) 3. The family (expect) another baby by the year ends.
 Another time expression is used in this sentence: by the Conditional clause main clause
year ends. The family will be expecting another baby to If + Present Simple – will + bare infinitive
be born before New Year comes. If we hurry, we’ll catch the bus.
4. By the time the candidate (file) his protest, the people If we miss it, there’ll be another one.
(elect) a new president. The Conditional clause can come before or after the main
 The subject in the phrase, by the time, is the noun clause. We use a comma at the end of the Conditional
candidate which is singular. Therefore, the verb files, is clause when it comes first.
used. Then, the correct future progressive form of the
verb (elect), will be electing. The idea here is that before If I hear any news, I’ll phone you.
the filing of the protest the winner in the election has I will phone you if I hear any news.
already been declared. Other structures are possible, depending on what you
5. By the time she (submit) the report, the fact finding want to say.
committee (release) its own report of the probe. Conditional clause main clause
If + Present Simple – modal verb
If + Present Simple – be going to (future)
Summary of the Progressive Tenses If + Present Simple – Imperative
Let us begin our summary with the Present progressive If + Present Continuous – will + bare infinitive
tense. This tense of the verb is used to show an on-going If + Present Perfect – will + bare infinitive
action at the time of speaking. Here, we use the am/ is/ are If + Present Perfect – modal verb
+ present participle or the verb in –ing (talking, walking, Imperative – and/or + will
etc.) Sometimes it is also used to denote future action.
Next is past progressive tense. To express this tense Exercises:
correctly, you have to remember that there should be two If you (see) Tom (tell) him I have message for him.
past actions: One is going on at the time when another If you’d like some ice I (get) some from the fridge.
thing happened. The form is: was (singular) / were That book is overdue. If you (not take) it back to the
(plural) + present participle (walking, talking, etc.) library tomorrow you (have) to pay a fine.
Lastly, the future progressive tense of the verb is used If you (want) to see some of his drawings I (send) them
almost similar to the usage of the future perfect tense. It round to your office.
tells us continuous action in the future before another (take) more exercise and you’ll soon feel better.
future action occurs. Time markers such as: by the year
ends, by the start of the week, a week from now and so on Answers:
are commonly used. To form the future progressive tense, If you see Tom tell him I have message for him.
we have to use the will be + present participle of the verb If you’d like some ice I will get some from the fridge.
(will be celebrating, will be eating, etc.) That book is overdue. If you don’t take it back to the
library tomorrow you will have to pay a fine.
Write the correct form of each given verb in the If you want to see some of his drawings I will send them
parentheses. Check your answer /s below. round to your office.
1. The students (protest, were protesting) over the tuition Take more exercise and you’ll soon feel better.
fee hike. Note: Conditional clauses are often used in imperative
2. By the time she (graduate, graduates), Melissa (receive, structures. Present Simple in Conditional clause and
will be receiving) many job invitations. imperative in the main clause.
3. Many people (file, were filing) their income tax returns When you are talking about a possible situation in the
when they (announce, announced) the deadline. present, or a possible future occurrence, you usually use
4. She (come, will be coming) home by the year ends. the simple present tense in the conditional clause and the
5. The teacher (retire, is retiring) next month. simple future tense in the main clause.
6. She (tell, will be telling) them the good news in a few If the sentence starts with the Imperative verb, you use
weeks from now. simple future tense in the main clause.
7. The principal (leave, will be leaving) her post by the
time she (receive, receives) complaints from the faculty Understanding Conditionals II: Second Conditional
members. We use Second Conditional for unlikely situations in the
8. My mother (contemplate, is contemplating) on a present or future:
possible change of career. Conditional clause – Main clause
9. She (travel, will be traveling) to different places by the If + Past Simple – would
time she (reach, reaches) the age 40. If I had a million pounds, I would probably buy a yacht.
10. Melissa (read, was reading) the novel fifty shades of The if – clause is usually past simple. However, we can
Gray when a friend (invite, invited) her to watch its movie also use the past continuous, could, or were/was to:
version. If you were coming with me, I’d give you a lift.
If I could have the day off, I’d come with you.
Understanding Conditionals I: First Conditional If you were to ask John, I’m sure he would do it.
We use First Conditionals to talk about events which are In the conditional clause, `were’ is sometimes used
possible. The Conditional clause can refer to the present instead of `was’, especially after `I’.
or the future. If I were as big as you, I would kill you.
If I were asked to define my condition, I’d say `bored’. I had no map; that’s why I got lost. If I had had a map I
The main clause often has ‘would’. We can also use would have been all right.
‘could’ or ‘might’. It’s a pity he never patented his invention. If he had
If we had a calculator, we could work this out a lot patented it he would have made a lot of money.
quicker. The club secretary is useless. He never tells anybody
If she worked harder, she might do even better at her anything. We wouldn’t have known about this meeting if
studies. the chairman hadn’t told us.
Note: When you are talking about something that might
Exercises: have happened in the past but did not happen, you use the
If we (work, worked) all night we (finish, would finish) in past perfect tense in the conditional clause. In the main
time, but we have no intention of working all night. clause, you use `would have’.
If someone (ring, rang) my doorbell at 3 a.m. I (be, would
be) very unwilling to open the door. How to Use the Articles A, An, and The
If I (have, had) heaps of money I (drink, would drink) A, an, and the are called articles. The definite article the
champagne with every meal. is used to refer to a specific noun, while the indefinite
If the earth suddenly (stop, stopped) spinning we all (fly, articles a and an are used to refer to non-specific nouns.
we would all fly) off it. Consider the following examples.
Of course I’m not going to give her a diamond ring. If I 1.) Please give me the notebook.
(give, gave) her a diamond ring she (sell, would sell) it. 2.) Please give me a notebook.
Note: When you are talking about an unlikely situation, In the first sentence, a specific notebook is referred to. It
you use the simple past tense in the conditional clause, is assumed that both the speaker and the listener know
and `would’ in the main clause. which notebook is referred to. On the other hand, in the
second sentence, the speaker asks for a notebook, any
Understanding Conditionals III: Third Conditional notebook will do.
We use the Third Conditional to talk about an event or
situation that did not happen in the past: Rules in Using A and An
Conditional clause main clause A and an are both used to refer to non-specific nouns but
If + Past Perfect – would + Perfect there are rules that you must remember to use them.
If David had been more careful, he wouldn’t have fallen.
If you hadn’t made the mistake, you’d have passed your Rule 1a: a is used before a SINGULAR noun beginning
test. with a CONSONANT letter (with exception of Rule 1b).
We can use could + perfect in the if-clause. Examples: a laptop, a car, a mirror, a pen
If I could have warned you in time, I would have done. Rule 1b: a is used before a SINGULAR noun beginning
We can use other modal verbs such as could or might+ with a VOWEL letter that sounds like a consonant
perfect in the main clause. Examples: a user (sounds like yooser), a university
If I’d written the address down, I could have saved myself (yooniversity), a unique (yoonik) trait
some trouble. In the previous examples, u sounds like yu which starts
The plan might not have worked if we hadn’t had one with y.
great piece of luck.
We can also use continuous forms. Rule 2: an is used before a SINGULAR non beginning
If he hadn’t been evicted by his landlord, he wouldn’t with a VOWEL
have been sleeping in the streets. Examples: an English teacher, an umbrella, an amicable
If he had been traveling in that car, he would have been settlement
killed too.
Exercises: Rule 3: A and an are both used before words starting with
If he (not take) his gloves off he (not get) frost bitten. h. If h sounds like a CONSONANT, a is used. If it sounds
He didn’t tell me that he was a vegetarian till halfway like a VOWEL, an is used.
through the meal. If he (tell) me earlier I (cook) him Examples: a hammer, a human being, an hour (sound like
something more suitable. “our”), an honorable man (sounds like “onorable”)
I had no map; that’s why I got lost. If I (had) a map I (be) In Grammar Quiz 4, number 3, you were asked the
all right. following question. If you got this item wrong, now, you
It’s a pity he never patented his invention. If he (patent) it should be able to answer it correctly. :-)
he (make) a lot of money. 3. __ hour ago, I met ___ beautiful woman.
The club secretary is useless. He never tells anybody a.) A, a
anything. We (not know) about this meeting if the b.) An, a
chairman (not tell) us. c.) A, an
Answers: d.) An, an
If he had not taken his gloves off, he wouldn’t have got
frost bitten. When to Use the Personal Pronouns I and Me
He didn’t tell me that he was a vegetarian till halfway We use the word “I” when the pronoun is the subject of
through the meal. If he had told me earlier I would have the verb. Meanwhile, we use the “me” if we are referring
cooked him something more suitable. to the object of the verb.
If you are confused, try to temporarily take out the other Answer
subject and read out loud. If it sounds nice, then it should Ben – noun
be the correct one. 9. Be careful of the cutter.
Example: (I, me) will go to Dumaguete with Jhody. Answer
1. I will go to will go to Dumaguete with Jhody. Cutter – noun
2. Me will go to Dumaguete with Jhody. 10. His printer is next to the door.
Answer
Exercise: His – pronoun
1. Joy and (I, me) went out for lunch.
2. (I, me) will go with Richard. How to Use Contractions
3. That is for (I, me), thank you very much! We use contractions to make our conversations more
4. Stephen and (I, me) are going to see the latest fluid. It can also be engaging and user-friendly. I am sure
installment of the Transformers later. there are more reasons but these are just mainly what
5. Do you have anything for (I, me)? contractions are for.
6. Raymond and (I, me) love strawberries. Although grammatically correct, these are only use
7. It’s you and (I, me) against the world, baby! informally.
8. Sometimes my husband drives (I, me) crazy. Example instead of saying :
9. Those apples over there at the counter are for you and 1. “We have arrived.” Use instead “We’ve arrived.”
(I, me). 2. “I am not eating the leftovers!” You can use “I ain’t
10. (I, me) beg to differ! eating the leftovers.”
Contractions may appear in the Grammar and Correct
Usage part of the Civil Service Examination. Be sure that
Identifying Nouns and Pronouns you are familiar with them.
You might say that this is very basic, but it is important
since nouns and pronouns are usually the subject of the Exercises:
sentence. Identifying the subject can be useful. For 1. I am – I’m
example, once you identified the subject, you will now 2. Does not – Doesn’t
which correct verb to use in the subject-verb agreement. 3. Shall not – Shan’t
Nouns are proper names that usually start with a capital 4. There is – There’s
letter. Pronouns are substitute for proper names. 5. You are – You’re
He, she, it, they, us, we – are examples of pronouns. 6. I do – I’d
7. She will – She’ll
Example: 8. We have – We’ve
George and Martha are Dennis the Menace’s neighbors. 9. What shall – What’ll
(In bold letters are nouns) 10. Where has – Where’s
They are Dennis the Menace’s neighbors. (They is a
pronoun which is a substitute for George and Martha 5 Effective Ways to Improve Your Vocabulary
collectively.) English Proficiency makes up about 50% of the
1. I would love to be with him. Philippine Civil Service Examinations both Professional
Answer and Subprofessional. Vocabulary test items such as word
I , him – pronouns meaning and analogy are included in these exams. For a
2. Mr. de Veyra will be right over. higher probability of passing, it is important that you have
Answer a wide vocabulary when taking these examinations. In
Mr. De Veyra – noun this post, I am going to give you some tips on how to
3. Luis Suarez made FIFA 2014 popular because of the improve your vocabulary in English based on personal
biting incident. experience. I think these tips will not only improve your
Answer vocabulary, but also will improve your command of the
Luis Suarez – noun English language in general. One thing to remember
4. She will have none of that nonsense. though: a wide vocabulary does not just develop
Answer overnight. It takes time.
She – pronoun 1. Read, Read, and Read
5. We will follow soon. Reading is one of the best ways to improve your
vocabulary and you should do this everyday. In reading,
Answer you do not only meet new words, you see how they are
We – pronoun used in sentences. Try reading an article or two a day and
6. There they are with bags full of groceries. you will see your progress in a few months.
Answer Reading novels will introduce you to conversational
They – pronoun English and reading news will introduce you to technical
7. Tsuey Lin does not like it. English. If you are observant with sentence structure,
Answer reading will also introduce you to correct grammar and
Tsuey Lin – noun usage. In effect, if you have not learned grammar
8. Ben will be there in half an hour.
formally, you’ll have an idea if a sentence is constructed they begin with “in fact,” “indeed” and “not only that.”
correctly or not. These are clauses that refer to ‘something’ that has
2. Play Word Games already been introduced. Therefore, we are only left with
Playing word games especially Scrabble against a A and C as possible topic introduction.
computer will surely introduce you to new words. If you It looks like A and C is both good candidates for
own a gadget, download a word game app and play introduction, but notice that all of the sentences talk about
against a computer. Download also a dictionary app so action figures which is obviously the topic. In A, the
that you can look up the new words that you have learned. subject of the sentence is “small children, adult, and
In playing word games, you will not just enjoy, you will adults” which is not the topic. In C on the other hand, the
also learn. sentence talks about collecting action figures. Therefore,
3. Watch English Movies the first sentence is C.
Watching English movies can also help improve Locating the Second Sentence
vocabulary. If you are not native English speaker (I The second sentence usually elaborates the first sentence.
assume that this is also read in other countries), I Looking from the paragraph, A and B are the only
recommend that you watch movies with subtitles. In so candidates (Why?). However, notice that in the first
doing, you will most likely meet new words that are used sentence, we are talking about many Filipinos. Now, who
in daily conversations especially in movies with modern is ‘closer’ to “many Filipinos”? The author’s father, or the
settings. Be warned though that in order to make the children, teenagers, and adults? In addition, observe
movies more realistic, some dialogues may be below that it is a bit “strange” if we place B as the second
grammatically incorrect. This is because it happens in sentence. Further, if we place B as the second sentence,
reality. we would not find any place for A later. Therefore, the
4. Take Notes correct answer is A.
Whether reading, playing word games, or watching Correct
movies, you might also want to take note of the new Collecting action figures has become a popular hobby for
words that you encounter. Look up their meaning in a many Filipinos nowadays. Small children, teenagers, and
dictionary and use them in sentences. After writing a even adults would spend money just to get a hold of their
sentence using the new words, you might also want to favorite action heroes.
look at online dictionaries. Most online dictionaries Incorrect
nowadays (such as TheFreeDictionary.com) have sample Collecting action figures has become a popular hobby for
sentences on how to use words. many Filipinos nowadays. In fact, even my father who is
5. Write, Write, and Write already 40 years old has a big Transformer robot.
Third Sentence
Writing a blog or a journal can also help improve your In the third sentence, the author may talk about his father
vocabulary. In writing your thoughts, you search for (B) or his neighbor (E). This is logical because we talked
appropriate words to use. This will also help you better about many Filipinos, then children, teenager adults.
remember those words. Notice that we are talking about a topic from general to
After all I said, you are probably asking the following specific.
questions in your mind. Now, B and E may be interchangeable, but looking at the
How about memorizing? beginning of the sentences, the word “in fact” is more
What if I randomly look up a word at a dictionary and appropriate as the third sentence. The phrase “not only
memorize them? that” if put on the third sentence would reinforce the idea
Well, picking some words and memorizing their meaning of “small children, teenagers, and adults” which is not
will help you a little. This strategy based on personal connected to “neighbor.” Read the paragraphs below and
experience is not effective. Most word meanings that are you will see that putting E on the third sentence makes the
memorized without context are easily forgotten. flow of the paragraph disconnected. Therefore, the correct
answer is B.
How to Answer Paragraph Organization Tests Part 1 Correct
Paragraph Organization or arranging separate sentences Collecting action figures has become a popular hobby for
into a coherent paragraph composition is probably one of many Filipinos nowadays. Small children, teenagers, and
the most difficult types of test in the Civil Service even adults would spend money just to get ahold of their
Examination. In this series, I am going to show that it is favorite action heroes. In fact, even my father who is
actually not that hard. already 40 years old has a big Transformer robot.
In this post, I am going to show you how to analyze in Incorrect
details a Paragraph Organization sample question. The Collecting action figures has become a popular hobby for
task is to arrange the five sentences below in correct many Filipinos nowadays. Small children, teenagers, and
order. Please read the sentences thoroughly before you even adults would spend money just to get a hold of their
continue. favorite action heroes. Not only that, our rich neighbor
Paragraph organization 2 Locating the First Sentence who is already in his late 50’s just came back from Japan,
Knowing the first sentence is very crucial in Paragraph bought a life-size statue of Vegeta.
Organization questions. Always remember that the first Fourth and Fifth Sentences
sentence is a topic introduction. From the sentences It is clear after we have chosen the third sentence that D is
above, B, C, and E cannot be topic introductions because the conclusion of the paragraph. You will also see that the
phrase “not only that” in E reinforces the idea of old you have a 50% chance of getting the correct answer in
people (ages 40 and 50’s) collecting action figures. Sample Choices 2
Collecting action figures has become a popular hobby for you have a 33.33% chance of getting the correct answer
many Filipinos nowadays. Small children, teenagers, and in Sample Choices 3.
even adults would spend money just to get a hold of their In other types of exams with 5 choices where you don’t
favorite action heroes. In fact, even my father who is know the answer and you just guess, you only get 1/5
already 40 years old has a big Transformer robot. Not chance of getting the correct answer or 20%. Since it is
only that, our rich neighbor who is already in his late 50’s likely that you will know the introduction sentence in a
just came back from Japan, bought a life-size statue of Paragraph Organization test based on the tips that I have
Vegeta. given you, I think it is quite reasonable to use the
Therefore, the correct order of the above question is C-A- calculation above.
B-E-D. That is why Paragraph Organization is easier than many
This is probably what you are thinking now: multiple-choice type exams.
What the heck, you said it is not that hard. This is so In the next post in this series, I will give share with you
freaking hard! my personal strategy on how to answer Paragraph
In the next part of this series, I will tell you why Organization questions.
Paragraph Organization questions are easier to answer
than other question types. How to Answer Paragraph Organization Tests Part 3
This is the third part and the conclusion of How to
How to Answer Paragraph Organization Tests Part 2 Answer Paragraph Organization Tests Series. In the first
In the previous post, we have discussed in detail some part, we have learned how to strategically order random
strategies on how to arrange shuffled sentences into a sentences into a coherent paragraph, and, in the second
coherent paragraph. Although I have mentioned in that part, we have learned how to make use of the choices in
post that it was not that hard, it appeared to be the Paragraph Organization questions to increase the chance
opposite. This time, we discuss why it is actually not as of getting the correct answer.
hard as you think. In this post, I will share with you a personal strategy, the
In actual examinations, what makes a Paragraph things I usually do when I answer Paragraph Organization
Organization test a bit easy is the availability of choices. questions. Note, however, that different strategies work
For instance, let us answer the question in the previous for different persons, so be careful. You should try out the
post — this time with choices. Use Sample Choices 1 in strategy first before using it in actual exams.
the table below. Let us use the question below for discussion.
paragraph organization 2 Choices a. A-C-B-E-D b. C-A-B-E-D c. C-E-B-A-D d.
If the person who constructed the test used Sample D-B-A-E-C e. E-D-B-A-C
Choices 1, then it is very easy to answer because once you This is what I do when I answer Paragraph Organization
know that C is the first sentence, then you don’t have to questions:
read the whole paragraph. There is only one choice which I read the question thoroughly by reading all the
has C as the first sentence; that is, b. sentences.
Now, suppose the person who constructed the example I look for the sentence that might be a candidate as a first
used Sample Choices 2. In the choices, there are only two sentence in the paragraph. This is usually easy to see
sample choices which begin with C (b and d), so still, you since it introduces the topic.
eliminate the three wrong answers. I look at the choices and see which of them has my choice
Sample Choices 3 is well-thought because each choice as first sentence. For example, in the paragraph above, if I
might be equally likely to be chosen. A and C are good know that the first sentence is C, then I only have to
candidates as the first sentence and D is a very good consider b and c. This narrows the choices to 2 instead of
candidate for a conclusion. Still, even though Sample 5.
Choices 3 is better made (on the perspective of the Once I already narrowed the choices, I look for the
examinee), knowing the first sentence will still eliminate sentence that might be a conclusion. In the case above it’s
three choices. D. Note that both b and c has D as the last sentence, so I
have now to choose between b and c.
That is the reason why I was saying that Paragraph I read the paragraph in the order of b and c and see check
Organization is not that hard. This is because in Paragraph which is more coherent.
Organization questions, once you know the first sentence Note that the strategy above happens very fast because of
(or sometimes the last), it is possible for you to eliminate time constraint. You have to read as fast as you can.
the other wrong answers. The more wrong answers you
eliminate, the higher is the chance of getting the correct Now, all you have to do is to practice it and see if it works
answer. for you. Remember, just knowing the first sentence
Let’s Do the Math! already increases your chance of getting the correct
If you know the first sentence in a Paragraph answer.
Organization question, then
you have a 100% chance of getting the correct answer in Strategies in Answering Paragraph Organization
Sample Choices 1 Tests
This is the summary of the last three posts about How to Answer Word Analogy Questions Part 2
answering paragraph organization tests. This is the second post in the Word Analogy Tutorial
The first part discusses strategies on how to order random Series. In the previous post, we have discussed a double
sentences into a coherent paragraph. The sentences that word analogy question. In this post, we are going to look
can easily be seen in terms of order is the first sentence at a single word analogy question and discuss how to
which usually introduces the topic and the last sentences answer it. In single word analogy, we are just looking for
which is the conclusion. As for the second sentence, it one word, not a pair of words.
usually explains, supports, or elucidates the first sentence. example
paragraph organization Question: [ ____ : launch] [breakfast:lunch]
The second part discusses what makes paragraph Choices:
organization easy. Although in the first part, ordering the a. sandwich
sentence is somewhat difficult, this is complemented by b. dinner
the available choices. Reading all the sentences and c. eggs
looking at the options will likely narrow the choices for d. countdown
the correct answer. This gives you a higher probability of Analysis
getting the correct answer. One of the best ways to answer analogy questions is to
The third part concludes the advantages of paragraph know the meaning of the words. If you do not know the
organization over other multiple choice questions. meaning of the words, then it is likely that you will just
Knowing the beginning of the paragraph, which is likely have to rely on your best guess. That is why it is
to happen, reduces the chance of getting the wrong important to always improve your vocabulary by reading,
answer. In this part, I have also given some personal tips writing, etc.
on how I answer questions. Note that these tips are based In the example above, I think we all understand the
on my own experience and may or may NOT work with meaning of lunch and breakfast, so we only need to know
others. There is no harm in trying though, but you have to about “launch.” Well, launch is not really a difficult word.
practice it first before using in actual examinations. Companies launch products, scientist launch rockets. So,
to launch means to start something (start a product, start a
How to Answer Word Analogy Questions Part 1 rocket so it can take off). Now, that we know the meaning
One type of question in the Civil Service Examination is of all the words, we analyze what goes into the blank.
Word Analogy. Word Analogy, tests your knowledge to First, it is quite tempting to choose sandwich and eggs
see the relationship between words. In this kind of test, because they are related to breakfast and lunch. However,
first, you have to know the relationship between two choosing sandwich or eggs would mean that “launch”
words, and then look for another pair of word that has the should be strongly related to them as breakfast relates to
same relationship. In particular, this is called double-word lunch. Looking closely, it is easily to see there is none.
analogy and the first post in the Word Analogy Tutorial So, it seems that (a) and (c) are not the correct answer.
Series. Therefore, we are left with dinner (b) and countdown (d).
Let’s try putting dinner in the blank. Well, it has some
example. connection. You probably have dinner if you launch
Given: PEN: WRITE something. But then, breakfast and lunch are both ‘eating
Choices: events’ and so there is no connection between the launch
a. bath: shampoo and dinner. Launch is not necessarily an eating event!
b. scissors:cut [dinner: launch] [breakfast:lunch]
c. computer:type Remember that we are looking for the relationship
d. eat:spoon between [breakfast:lunch] that is the same as the
Personally, I think the most effective strategy in relationship of [dinner:launch] and looks like we can’t
answering questions such as this is to put the words in a find any. Can you think of one?
sentence. I do this every time I take English examinations Now let’s put countdown. Can you see the relationship
and I find it effective. For example, between countdown and launch?
A pen is used to write. [countdown: launch] [breakfast:lunch]
As we can see, it seems that all of them are correct
because a shampoo is used in bathing, a scissors is used to When there is a launch, there is usually a countdown. And
cut, a computer is used to type, and a spoon is used to eat. when does the countdown happens? A countdown
However, in looking at relationship like this, order happens before a launch. Is this relationship connected to
matters. Therefore, in the sentence [breakfast:lunch]. Oh yes, breakfast happens before lunch.
“__ are used to ___.” So, we can see that the relationship between the pair
words is the order in which they happen.
we must used the first word to fill the first blank and the Hmmm, you can probably argue that [dinner:launch] is
second word to fill the second blank. Doing this will form also a correct answer since it is possible to have dinner
the following sentences. before a launch. Yes, it’s possible, but it’s not absolute.
a. A bath is used to shampoo. Meaning, we can have dinner after a launch. But breakfast
b. Scissors are used to cut. ALWAYS happens before dinner. And nobody does a
c. A computer is used to type. countdown after a launch — it’s ALWAYS before. So,
d. A eat is used to spoon. the correct answer is (d) for countdown.
There are many relationships that can exist between pair Explanation: A petal is an essential part of a flower. A
of words, so it is impossible to discuss them all. However, keyboard is an essential part of a computer. Other parts
in the next post, we are going to discuss the common such as pinter and scanner are just accessories. A
relationships that are easy to spot. So share this post and spreadsheet is a software and is not included as a
keep posted. hardware.

How to Answer Word Analogy Questions Part 3 6. Objects and Their Functions
This is the third and the last part of the Word Analogy This is the example in first part of this series.
Tutorial Series. In the first part and second part of this
word analogy series, I have given you examples on how 7. Objects and Their Characteristics
to analyze word analogy (or verbal analogy) questions. ball:round::paper: ____
Those examples are, of course, not enough as there are a. light
many relationships that can exist between and among b. white
words. In this post, we are going to look at some of the c. rectangular
most common word analogy relationships. d. smooth
1. Definition Answer: c. rectangular
brother: sibling:: mother: ______ Explanation: Although all the choices are characteristics
a. father of a paper, round describes shape.
b. sister
c. parent 8. Objects and Their Groups
d. daughter fish:school::cow: _____
Correct Answer: c. parent a. flock
Explanation: A brother is a sibling by definition. A b. herd
mother is a parent by definition. c. pack
d. pride
2. Synonyms or Sameness Answer: herd
pity: compassion:: grief:_____ Explanation: School is the term used to call a group of
a. sorrow fish and herd is used for cows, antelopes, etc. The term
b. comfort pack is used for wolves, coyote, etc. while pride is used
c. blunt for lions.
d. regret Aside from the examples above, you should also watch
Correct Answer: a. sorrow out for things that go together (spoon:fork::bread:butter),
Explanation: Pity and compassion are synonyms. Grief problem and solution (thirsty:drink::tired:rest), verb
and sorrow are synonyms. tenses (walk:walked::seek:sought), and performer and
their actions (singer:sings::actor:acts).
3. Antonyms or Oppositeness There are so many relationships that could exist between
attentive:careless::firm: _____ words, so it is important that you analyze the words
a. stiff carefully before answering word analogy questions.
b. flexible That’s it. In the next post, we are going to summarize
c. substantial what we have learned in this series.
d. alert
Correct Answer: flexible The Word Analogy Tutorial Series
Explanation: Attentive and careless are synonyms. Firm How to Answer Word Analogy Questions Part 1 uses
and flexible are also synonyms. double word analogy question as an example to answer
basic questions on verbal analogy. It uses the strategy of
4. Cause and Effect putting the words in sentences in order to see the
rain: flood::smoke: _____ relationship easily. It also teaches a strategy like looking
a. pollution at the words if they are noun, verb, etc. to identify the
b. fire answer.
c. inhale How to Answer Word Analogy Questions Part 2 uses
d. heat single word analogy as example and discusses in-depth
Correct Answer: a. pollution analysis in finding the relationships between words. This
Explanation: Rain is the cause of flood. Smoke is the includes step-by-step analogy and elimination.
cause of pollution. How to Answer Word Analogy Questions Part 3 lists the
5. Whole and Part most common relationships that usually appear in single
flower: petal: computer: _____ word analogy and double word analogy exams. This
a. printer includes synonyms, antonyms, cause and effect, whole
b. keyboard and part, and many others.
c. scanner
d. spreadsheet
Answer: b. keyboard