Faculty: Health science

Department: Nursing
Semester: One
Course Name English Hand Book

LEARNERS’ HAND BOOK.

Grammar, comprehensions, conversations, writing skills, vocabulary practice

Learning ,competencies & skills, emphasized in this book
, listening ,comprehensive reading ,speaking & writing

BOOK 1

Lecturer:By Abdulaahi Abdishakur

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 Table of Contents

Alphabets ………………………………………………………………………………………3

The days of the week in English ………………………………………………………………4

Months…………………………………………………………………………………………..5

Indefinite and Definite Articles……………………………………………………………………………………………6

Cardinal and ordinal numbers………………………………………………………………...8

Demonstratives - This, that, these, those …………………………………………………………………………..10

The verb to be –is, are and am………………………………………………………………..11

Nouns………………………………………………………………………………………….13

Count Nouns vs. Non-Count Nouns………………………………………………………….15

English plural nouns…………………………………………………………………….. …..17

Pronouns……………………………………………………………………………………….22

Subject Pronouns …………………………………………………………………………......24

Possessive pronoun……………………………………………………………………………25

Reflexive pronouns …………………………………………………………………………...26

Conjunctions…………………………………………………………………………………..30

Negative forms………………………………………………………………………………...44

Contracted form………………………………………………………………………………45

Contractions……………………………………………………………………………..........46

Review of English tenses……………………………………………………………………...48

Regular verbs…………………………………………………………………………………..54

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Irregular verbs…………………………………………………………………………………56

Reading Comprehension ……………………………………………………………………..60

Short Conversations / dialogues…………………………………………………………….66

Writing skills ………………………………………………………………………………...73

Punctuation rules…………………………………………………………………………….73

Capitalization rules………………………………………………………………………….77

Alphabets
There are 26 letters of alphabet, arranged in alphabetical order from A-Z.

Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee F f Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk
Ll Mm N n Oo PpQ q Rr S s Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy
Zz

Five of the above letters are vowels

a e i o u

The remaining 21 letters are consonants.

b, c, d, f, g , h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z

Forming Words from the alphabets

A-apple-nail

O-onion

B-boy-person

C-cow Q-queen

D-dog-rat

E-eats-sun

F-food-tin

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G-girl-uniform

H-hen-vehicle

I-inkW-woman

J-juiceX-x-ray

K-kingY-yellow

L-lionZ-zigzag

M-man

Activity 1. Fill in the missing letters.

1. M__n
2. H__u__e
3. G__at
4. Writ__
5. C__me

The days of the week in English:

Sunday (Sun.)

Monday(Mon.)

Tuesday(Tue.)
Wednesday (Wed.)
Thursday(Thurs.)
Friday (Fri.)
Saturday(Sat.)

As you can see, there are 7 days of the week, but they can be divided into two categories:
weekdays and weekend. There are 5 weekdays: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday, and Friday, Saturday; while Saturday and Sunday are part of the weekend.

Plural forms of the days of the week 

The plurals of the days' name are formed by adding an "s" at the end of the word, like
this:

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Sundays ,Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays

1. What is the first day of the week?

2. What is the last day of the week?

_______________________________________

3. What day comes after Monday?

_____________________________________

4. What day comes before Wednesday?

_____________________________________

5. How many days are there in a week?

_____________________________________ __

6. What's the first day of the work week?

_______________________________________

7. If today is Tuesday, what day is the day after tomorrow?

________________________________________

8. How many weeks in a fortnight?

_________________________________________

9. What date is your birthday?_________________________________________

1O. What days is the weekend on?

_________________________________________

11. How many weeks in a month?

_________________________________________

How many weeks in a year?

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MONTHS

The table below shows the months of the year used in English-speaking countries and many
other parts of the world. The list shows the order of the months, starting from January (month 1).

  Month short form Days Season

1 January Jan. 31
Winter
2 February Feb. 28/29 The seasons are approximate and depend on latitude.
3 March Mar. 31
Some parts of the world have only three seasons for
4 April Apr. 30 Spring
5 May May 31 example Somalia.
6 June Jun. 30
7 July Jul. 31 Summer Questions on months of the year
8 August Aug. 31
9 September Sep. 30 1. How many months in a year?
10 October Oct. 31 Autumn
11 November Nov. 30
12 December Dec. 31 Winter
_________________________________________________
2. What is the last month?______________________________________________________
3. What is the 4th month?______________________________________________________
4. How many months in 2 years?________________________________________________
5. What month is it next month? ________________________________________________
6. Which month is your birthday? _______________________________________________
7. Which month is the hottest? __________________________________________________
8. Which month is the coldest? _________________________________________________
9. Which month does summer begin? ____________________________________________
10. What month does school start in your country? ___________________________________

Indefinite and Definite Articles

The words a, an, and the are special adjectives called articles.

Indefinite Articles—a, an

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an—used before singular count nouns beginning with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) or vowel sound:

 an apple, an elephant, an issue, an orange

a—used before singular count nouns beginning with consonants (other than a, e, i, o, u):

 a stamp, a desk, a TV, a cup, a book

Definite Article (the)

Used to indicate a noun that is definite or has been previously specified in the context:

 Please close the door.

 I like the clothes you gave me.

Used to designate a natural phenomenon:

 The nights get shorter in the summer.

 The wind is blowing so hard.

[Quiz 28.1]

Choose the correct article in each sentence.

1) Did you bring                      (a, an, the) umbrella?

2) Are you looking for                      (a, an, the) shampoo?
3) I checked                      (a, an, the) mailbox again.
4) Can I have                      (a, an, the) spoon please?
5) I was born into                      (a, an, the) poor family.
6) She will come back in                      (a, an, the) hour.
7) Have you been to                      (a, an, the) Space Needle Tower in Seattle?
8) I would love to talk to one of                      (a, an, the) managers.
9) What                      (a, an, the) amazing view!
10) The helicopter landed on                      (a, an, the) roof of a building.

CARDINAL AND ORDINAL NUMBERS

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Cardinal and ordinal numbers are used for counting and putting things in order.

What is a cardinal number? Cardinal numbers are numbers that describe quantity, like one pot,
two kettles, or three pans.

What is an ordinal number? Ordinalnumbers are numbers that signify relative position.

(When writing ordinal and cardinal numbers, you should use a hyphen for numbers from
twenty-one to ninety-nine.)

English Ordinal
Cardinal Ordinal
Number Abbreviations
1 One First 1st
2 Two Second 2nd
3 Three Third 3rd
4 Four Fourth 4th
5 Five Fifth 5th
6 Six Sixth 6th
7 Seven Seventh 7th
8 Eight Eighth 8th
9 Nine Ninth 9th
10 Ten Tenth 10th
11 Eleven Eleventh 11th
12 Twelve Twelfth 12th
13 Thirteen Thirteenth 13th
14 Fourteen Fourteenth 14th
15 Fifteen Fifteenth 15th
16 Sixteen Sixteenth 16th
17 seventeen Seventeenth 17th
18 Eighteen Eighteenth 18th
19 Nineteen Nineteenth 19th
20 Twenty Twentieth 20th
22 twenty-two twenty-second 22nd

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 25 twenty-five twenty-fifth 25th
30 Thirty Thirtieth 30th
40 Forty Fortieth 40th
50 Fifty Fiftieth 50th
60 Sixty Sixtieth 60th
70 Seventy Seventieth 70th
80 Eighty Eightieth 80th
90 Ninety Ninetieth 90th
100 one hundred one hundredth 100th
one hundred one hundred
125 125th
twenty-five twenty-fifth

Exercise1. On Ordinal numbers (write the figures in words and words in figures)

1. 15________________________3. forty three__________________________

2. 16__________________________4. thirteen__________________________

Exercise2. On Cardinal numbers (Write the figures in words and words in figures)

1. 17th ___________________________3. Thirty third____________________________

2. 2. 23rd _______________________4. One hundred twelfth______________________

Exercise3. (Use the correct words for the (numbers in brackets). Write the cardinal or
ordinal numbers in word forms into the gaps).

Cardinal and ordinal numbers in English

1. I have breakfast at o'clock. (6)

2. My brother is in the class. (6)

3. Omar is years old. (10)

4. Today is the of April. (10)

5. It costs only pound. (1)

6. I am so happy, that he won the prize. (1)

7. It takes hours to get from London to Cairo by air. (5)

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 8. It's the day of our holiday in Florida. (5)

9. He scored goals in games. (3)/(2)

10. It was his goal in the last games. (3)/(2)

11. Bottom of Form

Demonstratives - This, that, these, those

Demonstratives are words that show which person or thing is being referred to. In the sentence:

'This is my brother',

'this' is a demonstrative

The demonstratives in English are this, that, these, and those

Use of demonstratives

Demonstratives differ according to:

 distance: near or far,

 or number: singular or plural.

Here are the main distinctions:

 This modifies or refers to singular nouns that are near to the speaker.
 That modifies or refers to singular nouns that are far from the speaker.

 These modifies or refers to plural nouns that are near to the speaker.

 Those modifies or refers to plural nouns that are far from the speaker.

Exercise5: Questions and Answers

 1. _________ books are blue.
 2. __________pencil is new.

 3. __________pencils are new.

 4. __________book is purple.

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  5. ___________ car is old.
 6. ___________ cars are old.
 7. ___________ exercises are difficult.
 8. ___________ shoes are new.
 9. ___________ girl is from China.
 10. ___________ jeans are new.

Exercise 6: Use here/there/this/that/these/those to answer these questions

1. Could you bring me that chair over __________?

Use there to speak about something away from you.

2. Here are __________ pictures you were asking about earlier.

Use those to refer to something you've discussed earlier.

3. Can you see __________ building next to the bank?

Use that to point out large structures that are away from you.

4. Is __________ a book behind the desk for me?

Use there in the questions is there / are there to ask if something is available.

5. _____ are three boys sitting on the bench.

Use there to indicate people who are away from you.

The verb to be –is, are and am

The “to be” is a verb used to describe something or someone. In English, it can be used to say
different things according to the context. However, the most common use of the to be verb is to

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talk about names, age, feeling, nationalities, and professions, especially when talking in the
present tense

E. g. This is a cup, I am a student, The students are reading.

Am: We use am when only talking about yourself for example

 I am an English student
 I am writing the lesson
 I am happy

Is: We use is on all singular things or people. For example;

 Fatima is a student
 Maria is sick
 Omar is speaking English

Are: We use are on plural things or people. For Example:

 The students are sitting

 The flowers are beautiful
 Those are children

Exercise7: (put am, is or are )

1. Those _____________ students

2. I ________________ reading
3. The children ______________ playing
4. She ________________ my teacher
5. Garowe _______________ beautiful

The verb “to be’’

The verb to be shows the state of being. The verb to be has different variations/differences.

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 to be
I Am
He, she, it Is
We, you, they Are

Exercise: Put the right verb to be

6. I _____a footballer. 7. You _____singing.

7. She_______washing. 8. They ______mopping the house.
8. He _________my cousin. 9. Water ___is in important in life.
9. It__________a tree. 10. Sulekha _____is dancing in the room.
10. We_________going home.
11. I _________enjoying music with my friends.

Nouns
Nouns are described as words that refer to a person, place, thing, event, substance, quality,
quantity, etc.

Nouns Can Be Pluralized

Most English nouns can be made plural simply by adding an "s" to them, but there are a few
exceptions.

 Nouns whose singular forms end in s, z, x, ch or sh need to add -es to become plural (e.g.,
boss/bosses, box/boxes, watch/watches, bush/bushes).
 Certain nouns that end in o also need -es to become plural (e.g., potato/potatoes,
hero/heroes, volcano/volcanoes).

 For nouns that end in f or fe, change the f to a v and add -es (e.g., knife/knives,
hoof/hooves, wolf/wolves).

 If a singular noun ends in a single or double consonant followed by y, change the y to i,

and add -es (e.g., lady/ladies, bully/bullies, spy/spies).

Types of Nouns

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Clearly, nouns do a lot and they're a part of nearly every sentence we utter. Now that we've
addressed what they do, their gender, and their plural forms, let's take the, "What is a noun?"
question one step further by exploring the different types of nouns.

a). Common Nouns - Common nouns are simply things that exist in mass quantities. For
example, "building", people, books, table, chairs, windows, etc is a common noun. There are
millions of them in the world. They're common.

b). Proper Nouns - Proper nouns name specific people, places, or things. For example,
Abdirahman, Fatuma, Garowe, Bosaso , etc. While common nouns aren't capitalized (unless
they begin a sentence, of course), proper nouns are always capitalized.

c). Countable Nouns - Countable nouns can be counted and therefore can make plural. You can
have just one book, but more likely, you have two books. one chair ,two chairs, friends, chairs,
desks, windows ,etc - you can count them.

d). Uncountable Nouns - Uncountable (or non-countable) nouns are those that we do not
generally pluralize. Things like liquids, powders, and grains fall into this category. Even though
there are many corn flakes in your bowl, you say you eat cereal for breakfast, not cereals. And
you put sugar on it, not sugars, milk, water, juice, air, wind, coffee, money, etc.

e). Concrete Nouns - Concrete nouns are those that can be perceived with the five senses. If you
can see, taste, smell, touch and/or hear it, it's a concrete noun. for example food, water, music,
woman, etc

f). Abstract Nouns - Abstract nouns refer to a concept or idea that can't be physically perceived,
like love, peace, hate, and justice.

g). Possessive Nouns - Possessive nouns function in the same way as possessive adjectives and
pronouns; they indicate possession over another person, place, or thing. In this capacity, they're
functioning as adjectives or pronouns, depending on how you use them. Examples include
Juma's, Binti’s , countries' and theirs.

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h). Animate noun- refers to a person , animal or other creature for example man, elephant,
sheep, cow, goat, came ,…………. etc.

i). Inanimate noun-refers to a material object for example, soil, stone, tree, chair, table, house,
etc.

j). Collective nouns –describe a group of things or people as a unit for example, family, herd of
camels, flock of sheep, herd of cattle, etc

k). Compound nouns-refer to two or more nouns combined to form a single noun ,for
example ;schoolboy, headmaster, prime minister, classroom, brother-in-law, sister-in-law,
English teacher etc

Exercise 8: I identify the following nouns and fill in the table where they are supposed to be

Type of Nouns Examples of nouns

Concrete
Abstract
Animate
Collective
Proper
Inanimate
Compound
Common

Rat, Khalif, boy, pencil ,chair ,head master , class monitor, head prefect ,trees, herd
of cattle, family, house, beautiful, sheep, Somalia, lake ,milk, sugar, water, flowers,
pen ,Galkayo, town, market, laptop ,army, man, girl, pride of lions.

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 Count Nouns vs. Non-Count Nouns

Count nouns

Can be counted as one or more.

 pen, computer, bottle, spoon, desk, cup, television, chair, shoe, finger,
flower, camera, stick, balloon, book, table, comb, etc.
Take an s to form the plural.

 pens, computers, bottles, spoons, desks, cups, televisions, chairs, shoes,

fingers, flowers, cameras, sticks, balloons, books, tables, combs, etc.

Work with expressions such as (a few, few, many, some, every, each, these, and the
number of).

 a few pens, a few computers, many bottles, some spoons, every desk, each
cup, these televisions, the number of chairs, a few shoes, a few fingers, many
flowers, some cameras, every stick, each balloon, these books, the number of
tables, many combs, etc
Work with appropriate articles (a, an, or the).

 a pen, the computer, a bottle, the spoon, a desk, the cup, a television, the
chair, a shoe, the finger, a flower, the camera, a stick, the balloon, a book,
the table, a comb, etc.

Do NOT work withmuch(for example, you would never say much pens or much
computers).

Non-count nouns

Cannot be counted. They usually express a group or a type.

 Water, wood, ice, air, oxygen, English, Spanish, traffic, furniture, milk,
wine, sugar, rice, meat, flour, soccer, sunshine, etc.

Generally cannot be pluralized.

Work both with and without an article (a, an, or the), depending on the context of

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the sentence.

 Sugar is sweet.
 The sunshine is beautiful.
 I drink milk.
 He eats rice.
 We watch soccer together.
 The wood is burning.

Work with expressions such as (some, any, enough, this, that, and much).

 We ate some rice and milk.

 I hope to see some sunshine today.
 This meat is good.
 She does not speak much Spanish.
 Do you see any traffic on the road?
 That wine is very old.

Do NOT work with expressions such as (these, those, every, each, either, or
neither).

Exercise 9: Choose all of the non-count nouns in the following list:

wine, student, pen, water, wind, milk, computer, furniture, cup, rice, box, watch,
potato, wood

English plural nouns

In order to change a singular noun to its plural form in English, you usually add "s".
For example, the plural of book is books. The plural of table is tables. These are
regular plurals.

But there are many nouns which don't follow this rule. For example the plural of fish
is fish. The plural of tooth is teeth. These are irregular plurals

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 Regular plurals:

Form:

Add "s" to the noun:

Noun +S

While many plural nouns follow this rule, the spelling sometimes differs.

Examples:

Singular Plural

Lorry Lorries

Chair Chairs

Box Boxes

Girl Girls

Snake Snakes

Potato Potatoes

Knife Knives

Spelling of plurals:

The plural form of most nouns is created simply by adding the letter "s".

 more than one snake = snakes

 more than one girl = girls
 more than one window = windows

Nouns that end in -ch,x,s, z or s-like sounds, however, will require an es for the plural:

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  more than one witch = witches
 more than one box = boxes
 more than one gas = gases
 more than one bus = buses
 more than one kiss = kisses

Nouns that end in a vowel + y take the letter s:

 more than one boy = boys

 more than one way = ways

Nouns that end in a consonant + y drop the y and take ies:

 more than one baby = babies

 more than one lorry = lorries

A lot of nouns that end in o take es in the plural:

 more than one potato = potatoes

 more than one hero = heroes

o becomes oes

Echo Echoes

Embargo Embargoes

Hero Heroes

Potato Potatoes

Tomato Tomatoes

Torpedo Torpedoes

Veto Vetoes

Some nouns ending in o break the above rule and get os in the plural form:

o becomes os

Auto Autos

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Kangaroo Kangaroos

Kilo Kilos

Memo Memos

Photo Photos

Piano Pianos

Pimento Pimentos

Pro Pros

Solo Solos

Soprano Sopranos

Studio Studios

Tattoo Tattoos

Video Videos

Zoo Zoos

Other nouns ending in o get either os or oes i the plural forms:

o becomes os or oes

Buffalo buffalos/buffaloes

Cargo cargos/cargoes

Halo halos/haloes

Mosquito mosquitos/mosquitoes

Motto mottos/mottoes

No nos/noes

Tornado tornados/tornadoes

Volcano volcanos/volcanoes

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Zero zeros/zeroes

Plurals of nouns that end in f or fe usually change the f sound to a v sound and add s or -es.

 more than one knife = knives

 more than one leaf = leaves
 more than one hoof = hooves
 more than one life = lives
 more than one self = selves
 more than one elf = elves

Irregular plurals:

There are several nouns that have irregular plural forms.

Singular Plural

Fish Fish

Sheep Sheep

Barracks Barracks

Foot Feet

Tooth Teeth

Goose Geese

Tooth Teeth

Goose Geese

Child Children

Man Men

Woman Women

Person People

Mouse Mice

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Plurals formed in this way are sometimes called irregular plurals or mutated (or mutating)
plurals.

 more than one child = children

 more than one woman = women
 more than one man = men
 more than one person = people
 more than one goose = geese
 more than one mouse = mice
 more than one barracks = barracks
 more than one deer = deer

Exercise 10: Chance the nouns in brackets to form plurals.

1. Eating_______________is healthy. (potato)

2. I have five _______________.(mango)
3. Mother cooks with _________________.(knife)
4. Many people like_____________.(tomato)
5. ___________________are wonderful cars. (Lorry)
6. I buying _____________for my children.(fish)
7. This tree has few_______________.(leaves)
8. I brush my _______________every day before and after eating food.(tooth)
9. Garowe has few______________.(sheep)
10. There are many __________________in this home.(mouse)

Pronouns
A pronoun takes the place of a noun.

They include; I, you, he , she, it, we, you, they

For example:

Hawa likes her sister.

Hawa and her sister can be replaced by she and her.

She likes her.

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Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns refer to a person:

 I go to school.
 You are a student.
 They are Koreans.
 He works here.
 We gave her food.

The word ‘it' refers to an object:

 I drank it.
 It is big.
 They cut it into halves.

Memorize the personal pronouns:

Subject Possessive Possessive Reflexive Object

Pronouns adjectives Pronouns Pronouns Pronouns
I My mine myself me
You Your yours yourself you
He His his himself him
She Her hers herself her
It Its its itself it
We Our ours ourselves us
You Your yours yourselves you
They Their theirs themselves them

Exercise 11:Write the correct pronoun in each blank.

1) I ate an apple.  ____________was delicious.

2) Youlook tired.____________should rest.
3) She is a teacher. I gave____________ a book.
4) They are my friends. I like___________very much.
5) He saw the movie.__________was fun.

Subject Pronouns

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A subject pronoun , also called subjective or subject personal pronoun , is used as substitute for
proper and coming nouns.

Pronouns. A subject pronoun indicates:

1: Number: singular or plural.

2: Gender: male or female.

3: Person: first, second or third person.

Subject Pronoun Examples

In the following examples, you can see exactly how this method works. The subject pronoun is
in bold and is underlined, the verb is in italics, and the object is in bold.

1. Wegave them a head start in the race.

2. Youtold Abdullahithat his score was among the best; that made him feel better.
3. Shelost weight by cutting out junk food.
4. Theydrank water from a spring that ran right out of the mountainside.

Subject Pronouns Exercise 12 :(put the subject pronoun fot the nouns in the brackets)

1. __________ kicked the ball so hard that his shoe came off.
2. The dog stole Tara’s ice cream before __________ ran away.
3. __________ enjoys going to the gym early each morning.
4. __________ prefer hiking to movies.
5. __________ is raining again.
6. __________ puts ketchup on everything she eats.
7. You can have ice cream after __________ finish your dinner.
8. ____________________are playing.(Nafisa and Najma)
9. ________________are English Students.(Osman and I)
10. Where is __________________(Hawa)

Object pronouns

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Object pronouns are those pronouns that receive the action in a sentence. They are me, you,
him, her, us, them, and whom. Any noun receiving an action in the sentence, like these
pronouns, is an object and is categorized as objective case. An object pronoun can also be
used after prepositions.

The seven basic pronouns take on different forms when used as object pronouns rather than as
subject pronouns:

 I becomes Me
 You becomes You (this rule applies for singular and plural use)
 He becomes Him
 She becomes Her
 It becomes It
 We becomes Us
 They becomes Them

Just like subject pronouns, object pronouns can be singular or plural, masculine, feminine, or
gender neutral. The masculine or feminine subject pronoun is used whenever the gender is
known. When referring to the weather, temperature, time, an inanimate object or a child or
animal of undetermined gender, the neuter form “it” can be used.

Object Pronoun Examples

In the following examples, the subject is in bold, the verb is in italics, and the object pronoun is
in bold and is underlined.

1. Bob took her to work Monday.

2. Will you please tell them to come in?
3. He told you a lie about where he was Saturday.
4. Our grandparents gaveus candy and our teeth are just fine.

Exercise13:(Put the object pronouns for the nouns in brackets)

1. Mary wants to talk to __________ about your homework.

2. The plate shattered when John dropped __________ on the floor.
3. Be careful; he lied to __________ before and he may do it again.
4. Where are Jill and Cherie? Didn’t you invite __________?

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 5. The spider bit __________ on my ankle.
6. I heard that Jeremy was cut from the team just because Tyler doesn’t like __________.
7. The bread is stale. You can feed __________ to the birds.
8. The movie was hilarious! We really liked __________.

Possessive pronoun

Possessive pronouns are pronouns that demonstrate ownership, showing that something belongs
to a particular someone. Like other pronouns, they're great for brevity and for avoiding
repetition.

Possessive pronouns include my, mine, our, ours, its, his, her, hers, their, theirs, your and yours.
These are all words that demonstrate ownership. If the book belongs to me, then it is mine. If the
book belongs to her, then it is hers. Examples of possessive pronouns used in sentences:

 The kids are yours and mine.

 The house is theirs and its paint is flaking.
 The money was really theirs for the taking.
 We shall finally have what is rightfullyours.
 Their mother gets along well with yours.
 What's mine is yours, my friend.
 The dog is mine.
 The cat is yours.
 The ring is hers.
 The bag is theirs.

Exercise 14: Put the possessive pronouns for the nouns in brackets

1. Your book is old but_________ is old ( I )

2. My bag is green but______________is blue (he)
3. That house is___________(we)
4. Which basin is ___________(your)
5. This laptop is _____________(their)

Reflexive pronouns

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In English grammar, a reflexive pronoun indicates that the person who is realizing the action of
the verb is also the recipient of the action. In fact, you will probably notice that you yourself use
reflexive pronouns frequently when speaking or writing.They are as follows:

Myself,Yourself, Herself, Himself, Itself, Yourselves, Ourselves, Themselves

Examples of Reflexive Pronouns

In the following examples of reflexive pronouns, the reflexive pronoun in each sentence is
italicized.

1. I was in a hurry, so I washed the car myself.

2. You’re going to have to drive yourself to school today.
3. He wanted to impress her, so he baked a cake himself.
4. Jennifer does chores herself because she doesn’t trust others to do them right.
5. That car is in a class all by itself.
6. We don’t have to go out; we can fix dinner ourselves.
7. You are too young to go out by yourselves.
8. The actors saved the local theatre money by making costumes themselves.

Reflexive Pronoun Exercise 15: Put the correct reflexive pronoun in the following
sentences.

1. Each morning, I brush my teeth and stare at ______________ in the mirror. .

2. Dad and I painted the trailer _______________.
3. The children made holiday decorations by ________________.
4. Paul copies his friend’s homework instead of doing it _______________.
5. Please make ________________ at home while you wait.

Gender: Masculine and Feminine Nouns

Grammatical gender is a system of noun classification. A common gender classification

includes masculine and feminine categories. Masculine nouns are words for men, boys and male
animals. Feminine nouns are words for women, girls and female animals.

Masculine and feminine nouns

Masculine Feminine

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actor Actress

boy Girl

Bridegroom Bride

brother Sister

Dad Mum

man Woman

father Mother

Grandfather Grandmother

Heir Heiress

Hero Heroine

Host Hostess

Husband Wife

King Queen

Master/mister Mistress/miss/misses

Murderer Murderess

nephew Niece

policeman Policewoman

Prince Princess

Sir Madam

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son Daughter

uncle Aunt

waiter Waitress

Common gender nouns

Some nouns are used for both males and females. These nouns are referred to as common gender
nouns.

Examples
 baby, dancer,
 bird, guest,

 cat, owner,
 cattle,guardian,
 child, teacher,
 companion,passenger,
 comrade, friend,
 cousin, parent,
 deer,infant,
 relative, pupil,
 singer, sheep,
 student,
 president

Exercise 16: Give the opposite gender noun of the word in brackets.

1. This __________________is very beautiful .(bride)

2. His________________likes making noise. (daughter)
3. The _______________served us with very delicious food.(waiter)
4. The _________________was very handsome.( actor)
5. Our _________________ is very rich. ( queen)

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Animals

With animals, there is one general word for the animal. However, many species of animals,
particularly those domesticated, have been given specific names for the male and the female.

Animal Masculine feminine

Rabbit Buck Doe

Horse Stallion mare

Sheep Ram Ewe

Chicken Rooster Hen

Duck Drake duck

Cattle Bull Cow

Goose Gander goose

Fox Fox vixen

Tiger Tiger tigress

Lion Lion lioness

Exercise17: (put those opposite gender noun of the one in brackets)

1. The _________eats our goat. (vixen)

2. I have a _______________. (cow)
3. A ___________ is a male rabbit. (does)
4. My __________________ is sick. (hen)
5. Our __________________ is a doctor. ( aunt)

Conjunctions

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A conjunctions is a part of speechthat joins two words, phrases or clauses together

Examples of conjunctions Meaning

And Used to join sentences that are similar in meaning
But Used to join sentences that have different meanings
Who Used to join sentences that talk about a person
.
Examples of “And”

 My mother is coming. My father is coming.

My mother and father are coming.
 Abdi is in class. Amina is in class.
Abdi and Amina are in class.
 She has a car. She has a house.
She has a car and house.

NOTE: When joining sentences with “And” you have to change the sentences into plural and do
not repeat ant sentences words.

Examples of ‘’ but’’

1. I am sick. I am going to school.

I am sick but I am going to school.

2. She is clever. She does not do homework

She is clever but does not do homework.

3. Nashad is reading. Fatuma is writing.

Nashad is reading but Fatuma is writing.

Note: When joining sentences with “but” you do not repeat any sentence word except I.

Examples of “who”

1. That is the teacher. He teaches English language.

That is the teacher who teaches English language.

2. That is the boy. He is looking for you.

That is the boy who is looking for you.

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 3. She is the girl. She is fluent in English.

She is the girl who is fluent in English

Note: When joining sentences with “who” you do not repeat any sentence word.

Exercise 18:

Join the sentences using “And”Join these sentences with “who”

1. I have a mango. I have an orange. 11. that is the boy. He rides a motorcycle.
2. I like singing. I like dancing. 12. This is my nephew. He is a mechanic.
3. I speak English. I speak Spanish.
4. He has two sons. He has two daughters.

Join the sentences using “but”

5. Amuza likes watching films. Amuza does not like studying.

6. He writes well. He does not read well.
7. I have a vehicle. I do not have a house.
8. He is sick. He is working.
9. I have a wife. I do not have children.
10. This house looks beautiful. That house is dirty.

Prepositions "On," "At," and "In"

A preposition is a word that links a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase to some other part of the
sentence.

Prepositions can be tricky for English learners. There is no definite rule or formula for choosing a
preposition. In the beginning stage of learning the language, you should try to identify a
preposition when reading or listening in English and recognize its usage.

 to the office
 at the desk
 on the table
 in an hour
 about myself

A preposition is used to show direction, location, or time, or to introduce an object.

Here are a few common prepositions and examples.

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On

Used to express a surface of something:

 I put an egg on the kitchen table.

 The paper is on my desk.

Used to specify days and dates:

 The garbage truck comes on Wednesdays.

 I was born on the 14th day of June in 1988.

Used to indicate a device or machine, such as a phone or computer:

 He is on the phone right now.

 She has been on the computer since this morning.
 My favorite movie will be on TV tonight.

Used to indicate a part of the body:

 The stick hit me on my shoulder.

 He kissed me on my cheek.
 I wear a ring on my finger.

Used to indicate the state of something:

 Everything in this store is on sale.

 The building is on fire.

At

Used to point out specific time:

 I will meet you at 12 p.m.

 The bus will stop here at 5:45 p.m.

Used to indicate a place:

 There is a party at the club house.

 There were hundreds of people at the park.
 We saw a baseball game at the stadium.

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Used to indicate an email address:

 Please email me at abc@defg.com.

Used to indicate an activity:

 He laughed at my acting.
 I am good at drawing a portrait.

In

Used for unspecific times during a day, month, season, year:

 She always reads newspapers in the morning.

 In the summer, we have a rainy season for three weeks.
 The new semester will start in March.

Used to indicate a location or place:

 She looked me directly in the eyes.

 I am currently staying in a hotel.
 My hometown is Los Angeles, which is in California.

Used to indicate a shape, color, or size:

 This painting is mostly in blue.

 The students stood in a circle.
 This jacket comes in four different sizes.

Used to express while doing something:

 In preparing for the final report, we revised the tone three times.
 A catch phrase needs to be impressive in marketing a product.

Used to indicate a belief, opinion, interest, or feeling:

 I believe in the next life.

 We are not interested in gambling.

Exercise 22: Choose a correct preposition in the sentence.

1) I want to lose 5 kilogram__________ one month. (On, at, in).

2) Could you get me this pants______ a larger size? (On, at, in)

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 3)She seems to be interested _______ Psychology. (On, at, in)
4)I will come to pick you up_______2 pm tomorrow. (on, at, in)
5)This class will be held _______ Mondays.(on, at, in)

Use of some and any

Some and any are used to state the quantity, amount of something. When using some or any, the
exact number is not stated. Some and any are quantifiers.

Some and any can be used when:

1. The exact number is not known.

2. The exact number is not important or relevant.
3. Some and any are used with countable and uncountable nouns.

Study the following tables:

Interrogative Affirmative Negative

Are there any tomatoes in the fridge? Yes, there are some. No, there aren't any.

Is there any orange juice? Yes, there is some. No, there isn't any.

Offering Responding

Would you like some coffee? Yes please I'd like some.

Making a request Responding

Would you mind lending me some money? Of course here you are.

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The rules of some and many:

SOME:

Use some in positive (affirmative) sentences. Some is used for both countable and uncountable
nouns.

Examples:

I have some friends. (friends is countable)

I'd like some water. (water is uncountable)

ANY:

Use any for countable and uncountable nouns in:

1. Interrogative sentences.
Examples:
Have you got any cheese? (cheese is uncountable)
Have you got any friends? (friends is countable)
2. Negative sentences.

Example:
He hasn't got any cheese.
He hasn't got any friends in Chicago.

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