English grammer made easy, Exercises of English Language

Download English grammer made easy and more Exercises English Language in PDF only on Docsity! Easy Pace Learning Grammar Easypacelearning.com Nouns A noun is the word that refers to a person, thing or abstract idea. A noun can tell you who or what. There are several different types of noun:-  There are common nouns such as dog, car, chair etc.  Nouns that refer to things which can be counted (can be singular or plural) are countable nouns.  Nouns that refer to some groups of countable nouns, substances, feelings and types of activity (can only be singular) are uncountable nouns.  Nouns that refer to a group of people or things are collective nouns.  Nouns that refer to people, organizations or places are proper nouns, only proper nouns are capitalized.  Nouns that are made up of two or more words are called compound nouns.  Nouns that are formed from a verb by adding -ing are called gerunds EXERCISES: 1. The book was heavy. 2. The child is happy. 3. The box was empty. 4. The synopsis is accurate. 5. The tomato was being baked. ANSWERS: 1. The books were heavy. 2. The children are happy. 3. The boxes were empty. 4. The synopses are accurate. 5. The tomatoes were being baked. Verb The verb is perhaps the most important part of the sentence. A verb or compound verb asserts something about the subject of the sentence and express actions, events, or states of being. The verb or compound verb is the critical element of the predicate of a sentence. In each of the following sentences, the verb or compound verb is highlighted: Transitive Verbs followed by Adverbs back up: support I will back up your story. bail out: rescue If you run into difficulties, who will bail you out? break in: make something new fit for use I broke in my new hiking boots. breathe in: inhale We breathed in the fresh air. breathe out: exhale I breathed out a sigh of relief. Easy Pace Learning Grammar Easypacelearning.com bring back: return She brought back her library books. bring around: persuade We gradually brought her around to our point of view. bring up: raise Bringing up children is never easy. butter up: flatter We buttered him up, hoping that he would agree to our proposal. call in: ask to assist I think it is time we called in an expert. call off: cancel We called off the meeting. call up: telephone Why don't you call him up? cheer on: cheer, encourage I will be there to cheer you on. chop down: fell They chopped down the dead tree. clean up: tidy The mayor asked everyone to help clean up the city streets. fend off: repel The goalie fended off every attack. ferret out: find with difficulty We managed to ferret out the information. figure out: solve, understand I can't figure out what happened. fill in: complete Please fill in this form. fill out: complete I filled out the form. fill up: make full We filled up the glasses with water. give back: return I gave back the bicycle I had borrowed. give off: send out Skunk cabbage gives off an unpleasant odor. hand down: give to someone younger The tradition was handed down from father to son. hand in: give to person in authority The students handed their assignments in to the teacher. hand on: give to another person I am not sorry to hand the responsibility on to you. hand over: transfer We had to hand the evidence over to the police. hang up: break a telephone connection After receiving a busy signal, I hung up the phone. hold back: restrain, delay He is so enthusiastic; it is hard to hold him back. iron out: remove I am sure we can iron out every difficulty. knock out: make unconscious Boxers are often knocked out. lap up: accept eagerly The public lapped up the story. lay off: put out of work The company laid off seventy workers. leave behind: leave, not bring I accidentally left my umbrella behind. leave out: omit Tell me what happened. Don't leave anything out! let down: disappoint We will let him down if we don't arrive on time. live down: live so that past faults are forgotten This will be hard to live down! look up: find (information) We looked up the word in a dictionary. make up: invent She likes to make up stories. pass up: not take advantage I couldn't pass up such an opportunity. pension off: dismiss with a pension He was pensioned off at the age of sixty. phase in: introduce gradually The new program will be phased in over the next six months. Easy Pace Learning Grammar Easypacelearning.com 3. The ______________ rabbit stayed perfectly still. (to frighten) 4. We had a ________________ experience. (to frighten) 5. The play is ________________. (to entertain) ANSWERS: 1. surprising 2. rented 3. frightened 4. frightening 5. entertaining Preposition A preposition links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. The word or phrase that the preposition introduces is called the object of the preposition. A preposition usually indicates the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence as in the following examples: The book is on the table. The book is beneath the table. The book is leaning against the table. The book is beside the table. She held the book over the table. She read the book during class. In each of the preceding sentences, a preposition locates the noun "book" in space or in time. A prepositional phrase is made up of the preposition, its object and any associated adjectives or adverbs. A prepositional phrase can function as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. The most common prepositions are "about," "above," "across," "after," "against," "along," "among," "around," "at," "before," "behind," "below," "beneath," "beside," "between," "beyond," "but," "by," "despite," "down," "during," "except," "for," "from," "in," "inside," "into," "like," "near," "of," "off," "on," "onto," "out," "outside," "over," "past," "since," "through," "throughout," "till," "to," "toward," "under," "underneath," "until," "up," "upon," "with," "within," and "without." Each of the highlighted words in the following sentences is a preposition: The children climbed the mountain without fear. In this sentence, the preposition "without" introduces the noun "fear." The prepositional phrase "without fear" functions as an adverb describing how the children climbed. There was rejoicing throughout the land when the government was defeated. Here, the preposition "throughout" introduces the noun phrase "the land." The prepositional phrase acts as an adverb describing the location of the rejoicing. The spider crawled slowly along the banister. The preposition "along" introduces the noun phrase "the banister" and the prepositional phrase "along the banister" acts as an adverb, describing where the spider crawled. The dog is hiding under the porch because it knows it will be punished for chewing up a new pair of shoes. Here the preposition "under" introduces the prepositional phrase "under the porch," which acts as an adverb modifying the compound verb "is hiding." The screenwriter searched for the manuscript he was certain was somewhere in his office. Easy Pace Learning Grammar Easypacelearning.com Similarly in this sentence, the preposition "in" introduces a prepositional phrase "in his office," which acts as an adverb describing the location of the missing papers. Conjunction You can use a conjunction to link words, phrases, and clauses, as in the following example: I ate the pizza and the pasta. Call the movers when you are ready. Coordinating Conjunctions You use a coordinating conjunction ("and," "but," "or," "nor," "for," "so," or "yet") to join individual words, phrases, and independent clauses. Note that you can also use the conjunctions "but" and "for" as prepositions. In the following sentences, each of the highlighted words is a coordinating conjunction: Lilacs and violets are usually purple. In this example, the coordinating conjunction "and" links two nouns. This movie is particularly interesting to feminist film theorists, for the screenplay was written by Mae West. In this example, the coordinating conjunction "for" is used to link two independent clauses. Daniel's uncle claimed that he spent most of his youth dancing on rooftops and swallowing goldfish. Here the coordinating conjunction "and" links two participle phrases ("dancing on rooftops" and "swallowing goldfish") which act as adverbs describing the verb "spends." Subordinating Conjunctions A subordinating conjunction introduces a dependent clause and indicates the nature of the relationship among the independent clause(s) and the dependent clause(s). The most common subordinating conjunctions are "after," "although," "as," "because," "before," "how," "if," "once," "since," "than," "that," "though," "till," "until," "when," "where," "whether," and "while." Each of the highlighted words in the following sentences is a subordinating conjunction: After she had learned to drive, Alice felt more independent. The subordinating conjunction "after" introduces the dependent clause "After she had learned to drive." If the paperwork arrives on time, your cheque will be mailed on Tuesday. Similarly, the subordinating conjunction "if" introduces the dependent clause "If the paperwork arrives on time." Gerald had to begin his thesis over again when his computer crashed. The subordinating conjunction "when" introduces the dependent clause "when his computer crashed." Midwifery advocates argue that home births are safer because the mother and baby are exposed to fewer people and fewer germs. In this sentence, the dependent clause "because the mother and baby are exposed to fewer people and fewer germs" is introduced by the subordinating conjunction "because." Easy Pace Learning Grammar Easypacelearning.com Correlative Conjunctions Correlative conjunctions always appear in pairs -- you use them to link equivalent sentence elements. The most common correlative conjunctions are "both...and," "either...or," "neither...nor,", "not only...but also," "so...as," and "whether...or." (Technically correlative conjunctions consist simply of a coordinating conjunction linked to an adjective or adverb.) The highlighted words in the following sentences are correlative conjunctions: Both my grandfather and my father worked in the steel plant. In this sentence, the correlative conjunction "both...and" is used to link the two noun phrases that act as the compound subject of the sentence: "my grandfather" and "my father". Bring either a Jello salad or a potato scallop. Here the correlative conjunction "either...or" links two noun phrases: "a Jello salad" and "a potato scallop." Corinne is trying to decide whether to go to medical school or to go to law school. Similarly, the correlative conjunction "whether ... or" links the two infinitive phrases "to go to medical school" and "to go to law school." The explosion destroyed not only the school but also the neighbouring pub. In this example the correlative conjunction "not only ... but also" links the two noun phrases ("the school" and "neighbouring pub") which act as direct objects.