English Notes :D

(Cherry)

Connectors
-Link or join two phrases/sentences together to form
one sentence.
-Connectors of Addition
-combine similar ideas
-exp:both…and
-exp:Lisa is intelligent. John is intelligent too.
Since both sentences have the same idea that both
children are intelligent, we can combine the sentence.
-Hence, the sentence would be: Both Lisa and John are
intelligent.
Another connector for addition would be:
Exp:as well as
Let's say we use the same scenario of Lisa and John.
The sentence would be : Lisa, as well as John, is intelligent.
-The commas in the sentence above is important as it
strengthens the emphasis on Lisa.
IF we switch the order around: John, as well as Lisa, is
intelligent.
The emphasis would be on John.
This is because we would use a pair of comma to separate
the additional information, which in this case, would be the
information in between(or sandwiched between) the
commas.
-However, the verb would also need to agree with the noun
‘as well as’
*Do not always use ‘in addition’ for connectors of addition
as it does not mean ‘and’

-Connectors of contrast
-This is used to join phrases/sentences that are differing
or opposing in ideas(i.e. Opposing in meaning)
-This usually occurs at the beginning of the sentence
-exp. However, although/though,in spite of/despite
of,but,yet
-You would need to include a comma
Exp:They are rivals on the stage. They are friends off the
stage.
Hence there is a contrast between the two ideas, we have
to add a connector of contrast.
Hence, the sentence would look like this: They are rivals
on the stage, but friends off the stage.
Another example would be: Jovann started dancing at the
age of seventeen. Claire started dancing at the age of
five.
Since of the contrast of ages, the sentence would look like
this after editing: Jovann started dancing at the age of
seventeen,however, Claire started dancing at the age of
three.
-However, sometimes, the connector is at the beginning of
the sentence.
-Hence, we would insert a comma in the middle of the
sentence.
-exp: It was a close race. Ali won by one second.
We would add the connector at the start of the sentence:
Although it was a close race,Ali won by one second.
The important part of the sentence is that Ali won by one
second and it is shocking as it was a close race.

-Connectors of reason
-to show reason
-to show cause and effect
-exp. because,since,as ,for
-exp: Roy is crying. Roy had fallen down.
The reason for crying —> Roy had fallen down
-Hence, we would add in the connector ‘as/since’ to show
the connection between the fact that Roy had fallen down
and as so he is crying
-Hence, the sentence would be : As/Since Roy had fallen
down,he is crying.
The comma in the above sentence is important as to
separate the two ideas.
-Adverb of Reason: Consequently
Used to show ‘as a result’
cause=reason
-exp: Irene was doing her job well. She was promoted.
We would add in the adverb and the sentence would be:
Irene was doing her job well. Consequently,she was
promoted.
-Another connector would be: so…that
1.The full moon is so beautiful. → the adverb is the so
2.The moon is so pretty that we spent time admiring it.
The ‘so’ in the above sentence is the connector of reason
which led to the effect of spending time admiring the
moon.
Sentence clauses
-The main clause is the independent clause
-The subordinate clause is the dependent clause.
-A clause will have a verb
exp:If I do well in my examination,my mother will reward
me with a toy.
The ‘do’ is the clause.
Let’s break the sentence into two parts
1. If I do well in my examination
2. My mother will reward me with a toy
1. Is the subordinate clause as the sentence cannot stand
on its own without the reason in the second part of the
sentence.
2. Is the Main clause

-Clause p.2-
-describe event/state
-a clause = 1 Verb + 1 Subject + object (if required add the
adverb) (optional)
Simple sentence = SVO (only one clause exp: (I screamed
at the boy)
Complex sentence=More than one sentence, join together
with a connector
Exp: I screamed at the boy but he had no response

-A complex sentence :have a main and subordinate clause

Exp: if you feel hungry, you can go to the canteen
Main clause can stand on its own to make sense
Subordinate clause must have a main clause to make sense

Relative pronoun/ clause (RP)

-occur behind the noun it is referring to
-to give additional info/identify the noun

Who - person/Subject/ Doer of action

Which - Object/ Animals
Whom - Person/ Object/ Doer of the ation
That - Person/ Object/ Animal
Whose - Possessive form
Where - Place
When - Time

Relative Clause
-Starts with an RP
Exp:
The boy who is sitting on the tree
The chat which belongs to my neighbour

Reported speech
Types: Statement, Question, Command
Statement: add ‘that’ ( however still depends on the
context)
Command: add the ‘to’ infinitive
Question: 5W1H (remains)
-Switch from VS(Verb before Subject) to SV
(Subject before Verb)structure
If the question is a Yes-NO question,delete the ‘do’ verb

Remember the TPTP :

Tense: one tense back rule
Pronoun:check for gender and purality, subject vs object
pronoun
Time: change time adverb
Pronoun:near becomes far

Verbs:
-Present continue-
-is/are verb-ing
-how, sometime
-how, at the moment

-Future-
-would+verb modal infinitive
-happen in the future
-later
-tommorrow

-Past-
-Verbs+ed suffix
-event happened in the past
-last night,yesterday
-Tense=indicate time of event

-Present-
-Verb(root) or verb+s suffix
-Repeated order/Statement is a fact
-Everyday,everyweek

-Past Continue-
-was/were
-verb+ing
-event happened for some time
-time: when/while

-Past perfect-
-event had occurred/happened
-before another past event
-had +past participle
-verb-ed/en
-before/after

-Past-
-Action happened in the past and is over
-Event happened at a specific time
-Verb+ed
-Time adverb: yesterday, last week

-Present-
-Action happens regularly or repeatedly
-Fact
-Verb+s - singular
-Base verb- plural
-Time adverb: everyday,usually
-Future-
-Action happenes in the future
-will+base verb
-is/are+ verb-ing
-Time adverb: tomorrow/next week

-Present continue-
-Action is happening in the present for some time and is
still happening
-is/are+verb-ing
-Time adverb:now, at the moment

-Past continue-
-Action happening in the past for quite some time and was
continuing
-was/were+verb-ing
-Time adverb:while,when

-Present perfect-
-Action start in past and continues up to present
-Action happened at an unknown time
-(has/have + past participle (ed-en))
-Time adverb: since yesterday, for a few days

There are also different type of verbs:

-Action: doing/performing an action
Exp: catch,jump, kick

-Linking: being, relating to

Exp: is, are, become, seem

-Saying: involves speech

Exp: said, ask, shout, speak

-Sensing: smell, touch, see, hear, taste

Exp: see, watch,listen

-Mental: thinking,feel,know
Exp: worry imagine

Some verbs may fall under more than one category:

Exp:
Thanking- Action/Saying
Respect- Action/Mental
Remain- Action/ Linking

Who: Subject (doer of action)

Whom: Object (Receiver of action)

-Tense-
-Present perfect tense
has/have + past participle
(SVA) (verb-ed/-en)
(form of verb)
-Exp :
- has made (has is singular)
-have been (have is plural)
-Time adverbs are : since/yet

-Present perfect tense

-Start in the past
-Still present now
-May continue in the future

(past)--------->(present)--------->(future)
-Past tense:
-the event is over
-Present Perfect Tense:
-The action/event is not over

Past tense:
-I lived in China for 10 years.
(Meaning: I do not live there now)
(Specific time/duration)

Present perfect tense:

I have lived in China for 10 years.
(Meaning: I still live there)
(Unknown time and duration)
(Present) (Past) (Past participle)
Paint painted painted
Love loved loved
Freeze froze frozen
Take took taken
Buy Bought Bought
Blow Blew Blown
-Collocation-
-Relationship between words that frequently go together

Exp:
Fork and spoon
Rain or Shine
Trial and Error

-When these words are together, they can mean more

Exp:
Butter and bread
Thunder and lightning
Quiet and peace
Black and White

-Metaphor-

Jane is a lion (1)

Jane is as brave as a lion (2)

The first one is a Metaphor

The second is a simile
It compares the two different thing as being alike in a
particular circumstance

-sometimes, we use a ‘be’ verb

(is,are,was,were)

-usually writers use a Metaphor to describe as their

readers would be able to feel how the character in the
story is feeling more intensely

Exp: Theo is feeling nauseated and sickly.

If we used the Metaphor technique, we can change it to:

Theo’s legs are noodles. The ends of his hair are poison
needles. His tongue is a bristly sponge, and his eyes are
bags of bleach.

We would also use senses to describe:

Exp:
The world was ghost-quiet, except for the crack of sails
and the burbling of water against the hull.
The word ‘crack’ is a sense of motion
The word ‘burbling’ is a sense of touch

-The difference between colon vs dash-

-Colon
-used to introduce a list of ietms
-indicate direct speech

-Dash
-break down sentence

-Phrasal Verbs-
-consist of a verb and preposition/adverb
-meaning is different from the definitions of individual
words
-can be two words, eg. run down or end up with
-can have different meanings depending on the usage
Eg.
1. Mr Teo’s car broke down at the side of the road
2. The lady broke down when the police said that her
bag was yet to be found.

-Idioms-
-Words with figurative meaning
Ie. I do not mean what I say
-Not literally
-It adds flavour to the sentence
-Make readers understand topic in a fun way

Exp: raining cats and dogs

=exaggerate that it is raining heavily
: In the same boat
=same difficult position
: miss the boat
=unable to take advantage of something because it is too
late
: rock the boat
= do something that causes problem
:jump on the bandwagon
=do something because of the trend
:steer clear of
= avoid a person because they might cause problems

-Preposition-
-tell us the relationship between a noun and another word
or phrase.
-occurs before a verb to form phrasal verb/verb phrase.
-occurs before a noun to form a noun phrase
-can occur between 2 noun phrases to link them up

-Preposition of time
-tell us when the event take place

Verb ------> Preposition ------->Noun phrase

Or
Noun phrase------> Preposition------>Verb

Exp: Through the years

In my twenties…
Before a race
-Preposition of Comparison-
-helps us to distinguish between two or more nouns (ie.
ideas, people, things,etc.)

Exp: Faster than the ball

faster= adj
than= preposition/comparison
The ball= noun phrase
Exp:
like playing catch
than me

-Preposition of support/ opposition-

-tell us if you are for or against something

Exp:
Against him
With my friends
For the teacher

-Cloze passage answering technique-

When doing your cloze passages, refer to this table to
check your answers
-The difference between double quotation and single
quotation-

“”= provide more info

‘’= quote a title or saying or proverb

-Determiners-
-occurs before a noun
-articles and quantifiers are under determiners

-Active to Passive changing of sentences-

1. Identify the Subject, Verb and Object
2. Switch the Subject and the Object positions over
with each other
3. Identify the tense of the verb
4. Change the verb to the passive form without changing
the tense
(‘Be’ + past participle)
(‘Been’ + past participle)
(‘be = being= present participle)
5.Check for SVA
6. Add the ‘by’ preposition, only if Doer is unknown, in
front of the Object

-Gerunds-
-they are verb+ ing
Exp:
He is reading a book now.

Gerunds are nouns that looks like verbs

-Modal verbs-
-modal verbs must change verbs
Exp:
shall= should/would

Word class-pronoun

Close proximity rule => neither nor/ either or

Myself/ Herself/ ourselves/ themselves = reflexive

pronoun

● If- conditional
● Unless - contrast/ conditional
● Although - contrast
● As - Reason/ time
Situational writing:
Purpose: why are you writing?
Audience: who is reading?
Context: What is the mode of writing

Formal letter:

Date( optional)

Salutation (Dear ______)( use Sir/Madam if you don’t

know the name) ( if you don’t know the name and gender,
use both Sir and Maam)

Intro of self (I am ______) (if it is for school pls write:

I am _______ from (class))
And continue to write your purpose of writing ( I am
writing to_________)

Details( your six points)

(Restate your purpose of writing)

Thank the person( Thank you for your kind attention)
(if you need a reply, write: (I hope to receive your
favourable reply soon)
Sign off: ( Yours sincerely( if you know the person)/ Your
faithfully ( if you don't know the person)

(Name and Surname)

(add your class if it is for school)
(and add your school if it is for other matters out of
school but still regarding school)

If it is informal…

Date

Dear (who)
How are you (Your salutation/Greeting) I am writing to
(purpose)

6points
I hope (restate purpose). (See you soon/ Take care!)

Regard,
Your name ( Do not write full name, just your first name)

Tips for situational writing:

-do not use contractions
- do not use exclamation marks unless it is informal
writing
- use this guide below:
Must = obligation
Should= advice
must= no choice
would= certainty
might= possibility

-for formal writing please use : could, would,

Instead of should, must