Grammar Review – Cycle 1 097

Subject + Be + Adjective.

I am smart.
She/he/it is intelligent.
You/ We/ They are confident.

Subject + Be + Noun / Noun phrase.

I am a teacher.
Paella is a Spanish dish.
The players are a team.

Subject + Be + Prepositional Phrase

I am at the supermarket.
The board is on the wall.
Her papers are in the drawer.

NH 1
 Prepositional phrases

Time Place
(Tells you about time) (Tells you about location)

She had her birthday at night. We had breakfast at home.

He had cornflakes in the morning. The table is in the room.
The meeting will be on Monday. Her tests are on the desk.

NH 2
Time Phrase – answers the question when? And can be at the end of the sentence.

Justin plays the guitar daily.

Right now, she is making dinner.
They go to class every morning.

Here are some common phrases:

There is / There are + Prepositional Phrase

We use there is/ there are + prepositional phrase to say where something is.

Eg: There is one earth in this world.

There are two people at the meeting.

Capital letters

There are six main uses to capital letters.

1. The first word in a sentence

• The man at the coffee shop was buying a banana.
2. The word “I” and people’s names
• I was very shocked when I heard the news from Josh.
3. Names of specific places, institutions, and languages.
• She used to live in Australia to learn English, but all her neighbours were Spanish.

NH 3
 • They study at the Gulf University for Science and Technology and their brother
studies at Kuwait University.
4. Calendar items – days, months, and holidays

• June is the best month in Kuwait. The weather is really nice, and some people
travel for the summer vacation and return the last Saturday of August.
5. Titles – Titles of books, magazines, movies, series, and articles are capitalized.
• The children were watching National Geographic when they noticed the
different elephant types that they read in the Explorer magazine.
• The Big Bang Theory is her favourite show, and her favourite character is
Sheldon.

Adjectives
Adjectives – when you are describing a noun.
• She wore a beautiful dress.
• The mall was big and spacious.
• The boy writes useless letters.
• Her brother is very dependable.
• My cousin is very passionate about drawing.
• The energetic cat jumped all over the house and broke the vase.

Describing Adjectives in Comparison.

When comparing two things, we add -er to one syllable words.
• The car is faster than the bus.
• She cooks better than her brother.
We add more for two or more syllables.
• The girl is more intelligent than her brother.
• She sings more beautifully than I do.
When comparing three things, we add -est to one syllable words.
• The car is faster than the bus, but the motorcycle is the fastest.

NH 4
 • She cooks better than her brother, and her mother cooks the best.
We add most for two or more syllables.
• The girl is more intelligent than her brother, but their sister is the most intelligent.
• They sing more beautifully than I do but her sister sings the most beautifully.

Remember:
You cannot have -er and -est WITH more or most for the same adjective.
Certain short adjectives and adverbs are irregular.
Comparing two Comparing three
Bad, badly worse Worst
Good, well Better Best
Little Less Least
Much, many More Most

For adjectives:
When talking about OUR feelings we use –ed =

 I am excited about the movie.

 She is scared from her test result.
 They are bored from the gathering.
When talking about something that CAUSES our feelings we use –ing.

 The circus was very entertaining.

 The end of the series was very exciting.
 The final goal was very surprising.

NH 5
Linking Verb + Adjective
Linking verbs connect the subject to the words after the verb.
Eg: Verb to be (am, is, are) and the five senses (look, taste, smell, sound, seem and feel).
If the main verb of a sentence is a linking verb, the adjective comes after the verb.

Here are some examples:

Pronouns
A pronoun is a word that can replace a noun.
Subject pronouns.
Subject pronouns act as the subject of the verbs:
First Person Second Person Third Person
Singular I you he, she, it
Plural we you they

• I have a chocolate ice-cream.

• They have a concert today.

NH 6
Object pronouns
Object pronoun act as the objects of verbs or prepositions:
First Person Second Person Third Person
Singular me you him, her, it
Plural us you them

• Clara pinched him.

• Sara is addicted to Pepsi. She drinks it every morning.

Possessive pronouns/ adjectives

Possessive pronouns show that something is owned or possessed:
First Person Second Person Third Person
Singular my, mine your, yours his, her, hers, its
Plural our, ours your, yours their, theirs

• My daughter needed a sweater, so I gave her mine.

• My daughter needed a sweater, so I gave her my sweater.

Simple Sentences

A simple sentence consists of ONE complete thought.

It has to have a subject and a verb.

Subject  Person or thing that does the action.

Can be a noun or pronoun.

Verb  shows the action or state of the subject.

an action word such as go, speak, write, swim, or watch.
a non-action word such as be, like, want, or need.

NH 7
Simple Present

Simple present discusses the present tense (NOW)

 Regular activities or habits

o The manager begins his day with a meeting with his employees.
o Children like to play in the playground during their breaktime.

 Facts of things that are true.

o The earth revolves around the sun.
o The people in the country love to eat food.
 A process (how to make something) o
First, the cook adds the ingredients in the pot.
o Finally, you add the cheese and place it in the oven.

Subject Verb
I/ You/ We/ They Like to go to the movies.
He/ She/ It Likes to go shopping.

For most verbs we add -s to the main verb. But in these cases:
We add es in ss, sh, ch, z or x = teaches, passes, finishes, relaxes.
We remove the y and add -ies for a verb that ends with a consonant +y = cries, flies, copies,
carries
We only add an -s if the y has a vowel before it = plays, obeys.
These verbs are irregular.

Subject Verb
I/ You/ We/ They have a lot of work to do this week.
go to a gathering on Wednesday. do
the chores on time.
He/ She/ It has enough money to buy a watch.
goes to his/her grandfathers house on the
weekend. does exercise twice a week.

NH 8
The verb to be:
Subject Verb
I am a smart student.

He/ She/ It Is on the way to the airport.

You/ We/ They are at the top of the mountain.

To make negative statements we add do not before the verb.

Subject Verb
I/ You/ We/ They do not Like to go to the movies.
He/ She/ It does not like to go shopping.

Remember: When we have do or does, the verb has to be in the basic form (no -s added).

With the verb to be we only add not after the verb.

Subject Verb
I am not ready to lose the game.

He/ She/ It is not going to leave the room.

You/ We/ They are not at home.

Compound Sentences

Compound sentences have TWO complete thoughts joined with and, but and so.

And is used to add information.

But is used to contradict or different information.
So is used to give the result.

My brother has to wash the dishes, and I have to make dinner.

Kate watches the movie with her family, but her mind was somewhere else. I
need to sleep early, so I will not drink caffeine after 6pm.

NH 9
Remember: When you have a compound sentence, you MUST add a comma before and, but
and so.

A/ An/ The

We use a and an before different sounds.

A is used with consonant sounds :

A blanket a cup a dog a giraffe

is used with u or eu when they sound like y:

A university A union A European A uniform

An is used with vowel sounds ( a,e,i.o.u)

An apple an owl an umbrella an elephant

Is used with h when it is silent:

An hour an honest

The is used when you have only one of something:

The sun the front door the manager the teacher

NH 10