SIMPLE SENTENCE
A simple sentence is a complete thought with a subject and a predicate.
She is typing now.
COMPOUND SENTENCE
A compound sentence involves two or more independent clauses linked by coordinate conjunction such as and, but/yet, or, so, for.
I'm an old man and I'm sick.
My son has a car but he doesn't take me for a drive. He knew there were excuses for his father, yet he felt sick at heart.
COMPLEX SENTENCE
A complex sentence involves an independent clause or clauses and one or more dependent clauses. Subordinate conjunctions link them.
When Mr Brown returns from the meeting, I will give him your message.
I have come here because I want you to help me. I don't like the man who does the gardening here.
| Main clause + | Subject clause | ||
| Predicative clause | |||
| Object clause | |||
| Attributive clause | |||
| Adverbial clause | |||
| Kind of clause | Usual conjunctions | Example | |
| Subject clause | Who, which, what, where, when, how, why, etc. | What is done cannot be undone. | |
| Predicate clause | That, if, whether, as if | The truth was that he didn 't love her. | |
| Object clause | who, which, what | I don 't know what happened yesterday. | |
| Attributive clause | Who, whose, which as, where, when | He is the customer whose address I lost. | |
There are different types of adverbial clauses. They are as follows:
| Kind of an adverbial clause | Usual conjunctions | Examples |
| Time clauses | when, before, after, since, while, as soon as, once | When he had gone, she sighed. I'll call you as soon as you come home. |
| Conditional clauses | if, unless | What will I do if he doesn 't come? I'll go to the country unless it rains. |
| Purpose clauses | in order to, so that | The police locked the door so (that) no one could get in. |
| Reason clauses | because, since, as | Since it was Sunday, he stayed in bed. |
| Result clauses | so that | She got such a shock that she fainted. |
| Concessive clauses | although, though, while | Though he is French, he speaks English well. |
| Place clauses | where, wherever | He said he was happy where he was. |
COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCE
A compound-complex sentence contains a dependent clause linked to two or more independent clauses.
Please let me know if my flight arrangements have been confirmed; if they have, contact the hotel to make a reservation.
Practice
1. Read the story and choose the correct conjunction in brackets. (Not so) Merry - Go Round!
The customers at the funfair were leaving (and / but) the lights were going out. The last two people on dodgem cars paid (and / so) left. The big wheel stopped (for / and) the merry-go-
round stopped (as well / not only). The stalls closed down (so / and) the stall - owners went home. At 2 a. m. four night watchmen walked round the funfair, (but / so) there was no one to be seen. "I'm fed up walking round, one of them said, (yet / and) and what can we do? We can (or / either) play cards (either / or) sit and talk". They were bored, (so / for) there was nothing to do. "We can have a ride on the merry-go-round!" one of them cried. "That'll be fun!" Three of them jumped on merry-go-round horses (yet / and) the forth started the motor. Then he jumped on too (and / but) round they went. They were having the time of their lives, (but / so) suddenly realized there was no one to stop the machine. They were not rescued till morning (and / but) by then they felt very sick indeed!
2. Find and identify the subordinate clauses in these sentences.
1. A bee performs a special dance, when it has found food, to inform the others about it.
2. Most people will be happy if the law to reduce taxes is passed.
3. The house where Shakespeare lived has been visited by many people.
4. Many people came to California in the 1860s believing that they would find gold.
5. All the offices are closed because it's Sunday.
6. Mother's Day, which is celebrated in May, has been observed since 1914.
7. Benjamin Franklin, who was a famous statesman, was also a scientist and an author.
8. Although we call them shooting stars, meteorites are bits of matter from other planets entering the earth's atmosphere.
3. Fill in the blanks with one of the words from (A), (B), (C) or (D).
1. It looked dark and heavy ... it was going to rain.
(A) although
(B) unless
(C) as if
(D) whereas
2. I get your car, I will leave.
(A) as soon as
(B) as though
(C) by the time
(D) now that
3. ... he had read the instructions several times, he knew what to do.
(A) whereas
(B) after
(C) until
(D) while
4. ... he cannot afford a car, he rides a bicycle.
(A) unless
(B) whereas
(C) though
(D) because
5. ... the cities do not provide better and cheaper mass transportation, the traffic problem will get worse.
(A) so that
(B) even though
(C) if
(D) before
6. ... you go to Canada, you should visit Toronto.
(A) when
(B) as
(C) since
(D) unless
7. ... riding a bicycle is good leg exercise, it does not use a lot of calories.
(A) as
(B) although
(C) because
(D) so that
8. She turned off the cassette player ... she could study.
(A) now that
(B) even if
(C) so that
(D) in case
4. Use a subordinating conjunction to combine the following sentences.
1. The boy walked quickly. He was late.
2. I know a woman. She writes detective stories.
3. The horses were frightened. The wind howled.
4. The photographer went to Loch Ness. She wanted to photograph the monster.
5. The storm continued four days. The snow was deep.
6. Two persons told the reporter. They saw UFO's.
7. I'll tell you a ghost story. You promise not to laugh.
8. We were driving down Central Avenue. We heard a siren.
5. Rewrite the paragraph below by making compound and complex sentence where possible.
We went to the balloon races. They were held in France. Each huge, crumpled balloon was filled with hot air. It grew large and light. Two people climbed into the basket. A basket was attached to each balloon. Sand was in the basket. The sand was thrown out by handfuls. The crowd cheered with delight. The balloons rose in the air. The people in the balloon waved to the people. The balloons rose higher and higher. The young man and woman in the blue-and-green balloon were from the United States. They were entering the race. It was their first time. We wished them luck.
The Noun
The noun is a word expressing substance in the widest sense of the word.
Nouns fall under two classes:
1. Proper nouns: Mary, London, Nelson, France, Mr Manson, Mrs Bush.
2. Common nouns: dog, woman, man, wind, table, snow, beauty, etc.
There are three groups of common nouns: Class nouns: a shop - shops, a forest - forests, a house -
houses, a boy - boys. Collective nouns: money, police, crowd, linen, furniture, team,
staff, etc.
Nouns of material and abstract nouns: gold, water, courage, fear, etc.
Nouns can be countable and uncountable. Countable nouns (that can be counted) have two numbers: the singular and the plural:
a girl - girls, a river - rivers, a son - sons, etc. Before countable nouns we can say a I an / the I some I any I many I a lot of I few I a few I this I these I my I his, etc.
He decided to take his way to Paris for their anniversary. He got on a train and found a seat and stared out of the window.
Uncountable nouns (that we cannot count) are always singular and are not used with a I an (music, blood). Before uncountable
nouns we can say: some I any / no I much I a lot of I little / a little/this /his, etc. Also: a bit ofla slice of/apiece of, etc. a bit of news a piece of advice a bar of chocolate a cake of soap a sheet of paper a slice of bread
I don't want (any) advice or help. Music enriches our life.
Many nouns can be used as countable or uncountable nouns. Usually there is a difference in meaning:
She had beautiful hair. There is a hair in my soup.
I bought some paper. I bought a paper.
We drink wine. but: We enjoy a good wine.
The Singular and the Plural
The general rule for forming the plural is by adding the ending -s (-es) to the singular:
a flower - flowers [z], a hat - hats [s], a bridge - bridges [iz] If the noun ends in -s, -ss, -x, -sh, -ch, -tch, the plural is formed by adding -es to the singular.
bus - buses box - boxes bench - benches
glass - glasses brush - brushes match - matches
If the noun ends in -o preceded by a consonant, the plural is generally formed by adding -es.
hero - heroes piano - pianos
potato - potatoes but: photo - photos
volcano - volcanoes stereo - stereos
tomato - tomatoes kilo - kilos
echo - echoes radio - radios
If the noun ends in -y preceded by a consonant, -y is changed into i before -es.
army - armies but: day - days In proper names:
lady - ladies boy - boys Mary - Marys
The nouns ending in -f (in some cases followed by a mute e) change it into -ves.
thief-thieves wife-wives roof-roofs serf-serfs
leaf-leaves shelf-shelves belief - beliefs safe-safes
knife - knives wolf-wolves but: chief-chiefs handkerchief -life-lives half-halves proof-proofs handkerchiefs
NOTE: The nouns scarf, hoof, wharf take either -s or -ves in the plural.
Some words borrowed from Latin or Greek keep their original plural forms:
datum - data phenomenon - phenomena
basis - bases formula - formulae / formulas
crisis - crises memorandum - memoranda / memoran-
thesis - theses dums criterion - criteria
There are seven nouns which form the plural by changing the root vowel and two nouns in the plural end in -en. man - men goose - geese ox - oxen
woman - women mouse - mice child - children
foot - feet louse - lice
tooth - teeth
In some nouns the plural form does not differ from the singular.
deer - deer fruit - fruit (fruits = kinds of fruit)
sheep - sheep fish - fish (fishes = kinds of fish)
swine - swine salmon - salmon
aircraft - aircraft cod - cod
Other nouns add -s: crabs, herrings, sardines, sharks, lobsters, eels.
We can say: one fish, two fish; one deer, two deer; Also: All the fishes in the sea (-the different varieties offish) This is a fine cheese. (- a fine variety or type) These cheeses are produced in Italy. (= these types)
Some uncountable nouns are used only in the singular:
linen money progress food chaos
furniture business traffic sugar machinery
knowledge information hair beef behaviour
advice trouble scenery music failure
luggage accommodation wood bread fear
permission luck weather spaghetti
death equipment sand macaroni
The following nouns ending in -s are usually treated as singular:
the word: news the subjects: economics, mathematics / maths, physics, statistics
the games: billiards, dominoes, darts, bowls the activities: gymnastics, athletics the words: politics, tactics, optics the illness: measles, mumps, rickets, shingles
Mathematics is an exact science. The news is interesting.
Words for drinks are usually uncountable. This means we use no article or we use some/any. Is there any coffee ? Will you have some tea ?
However, when we are ordering or offering drinks we normally treat them as countable nouns.
I'd like a coffee, please. or I'd like a cup of coffee.
Two teas, please. Two teas and a glass of
milk, please.
Some nouns are uncountable when they refer to material and substances, but they are countable when they refer to single items or to an object made from that material.
Would you like some chicken ? We ate a whole chicken!
Glass is made from sand and lime. I've broken a glass.
The following collective nouns are usually singular: family crowd congress majority'
team jury government minority
group public committee audience
staff army media company
But in some cases these nouns are plural if the sentence indicates that the individual members are acting separately (when we think of them as members of a group ("they"), not as a single unit ("it").
The government wants (want is also possible) to reduce taxes. Majority believes that we are in no danger. The majority of the students have passed the exams well.
Some nouns are used only in the plural:
sights contents spectacles congratulations
goods customs opera-glasses surroundings
sweets savings binoculars clothes
arms outskirts lodgings trousers
holidays slums poultry jeans
riches wages gentry shorts
people stairs cattle tights
police scissors jury
These clothes are expensive.
Where are the scissors? - They are on the table.
NOTE: We cannot use a/an or a number with a pair noun (a
thing made of two parts). We use some or a pair of... .
I need some jeans, or: / need a pair of jeans.
She bought a pair of jeans and two pairs of tights.
In the expression a pair of + a pair noun the verb is singular if it is in the same clause; and plural if it is in a relative clause.
This pair of trousers is expensive. I'll buy a pair of trousers which are cheaper.
If the word majority is used alone it is usually singular, if it is followed by a plural noun, it is plural.
As singular and plural may be used the nouns: means a means of transport - various means of transport
series a television series - many television series
species a species of birds - different species of birds
works/factory The steel works has/have closed down
Sometimes we use a plural noun with a singular verb. We often do it when we talk about a sum of money, a period of time, a distance, etc.
Five thousand pounds (=it) was stolen in the robbery. Three years (=it) is a long time to be without work.
Compound nouns form their plural in different ways. As a rule a compound noun forms the plural by adding -s to the headword. If there is no noun-stem in the compound, -s is added to the last element.
brother-in-law - brothers-in-law
forget-me-not - forget-me-nots
merry-go-round - merry-go-rounds
But: man (woman)-driver - men (women)-drivers
Case
Nouns denoting living beings: people and animals (and some nouns denoting lifeless things), have two cases: an unin-flected form called the common case (pen, student, etc.) and the possessive case ... 's (apostrophe 's).
the singular: the plural:
Man's dream the children's toys
the girl's name the girls' names
the butcher's (shop) the eagles' nests
Dickens's novels or Dickens'novels
After a singular noun we use 's. After a plural noun we use only an apostrophe (').
The possessive case expresses possession and answers the question whose? The syntactic function of the nouns used in the possessive case is that of an attribute.
Besides nouns denoting living beings we can use 's when a first noun is:
1) an organization (=a group of people), ships and boats; names of people to mean's house:
the government's decision the ship's captain
the company's success We met at Bill's
2) the place: town, city, country, river, ocean, world, names of the countries:
the city's new center the world's population
Britain's government Russia's exports
3) time and distance:
an hour's rest month's holiday
two hours' drive night's sleep
five minutes' walk in two years' time
4) time words:
tomorrow's meeting yesterday's talks
today's newspaper Sunday's dinner
We can say: ten minutes' break or a ten-minute break.
Also with the nouns: the sun, the moon, the earth, the ship; and 's can be used after more than one noun. The possessive sign is put to the latter.
Jack and Jill's wedding. William and Mary's reign.
Proper names are generally used in the possessive case: Jane's hobby is drawing. This is Tim's car.
NOTE: You can use 's without the following noun:
a / the baker's / butcher's / chemist's, etc. It means a / the
baker's shop, etc.
Tom's report is much more interesting than Ann's. It can also be used after the initials and the names of the owners of some businesses:
the PM's secretary, the MP's briefcase. Self ridge's, Claridge's, Sotheby's (some names drop the apostrophe: Harrods, Foyles).
In compounds and names consisting of several words the last word takes apostrophe 's:
My sister-in-law's guitar. My father-in-law's son. Henry the Eight's wives. The Prince of Wale's plane.
NOTE: When the possessive case is used, the article before the person or thing "possessed" disappears: the question of the teacher - the teacher's question. of + noun is used for:
1) things, ideas, etc.:
the roof of the house, the title of the book, the owner of the cafe.
We can say: the daughter of the politician or the politician's daughter, the plays of Shakespeare or Shakespeare's plays.
We normally use of with the beginning I end I top I bottom I front I back, etc.
the back of the car, the beginning of the year, in the middle of the room
2) We can use o/or 's after an organization:
the decision of the government or the government's decision
3) 0/is used:
a) when the possessor noun is followed by a phrase or clause / took the advice of the policeman I met at the station.
b) with the words denoting quantity: part, piece, slice, bit, etc.
a piece of cake, a slice of bread, a pound of butter, a bit of news
NOTES:
a) However, we often prefer to use a compound noun instead of of- phrase: the river bank, the car keys, the town parks, etc.
b) British nouns render the meaning of Russian cases by means of the prepositions of, to, for, by, with, about with the nouns in the common case and the word order in the sentence:
What caused the explosion at the station ? What was the cause of the explosion ?
Give these papers to the secretary, please. Mrs Green often makes cakes for her children. The program was watched by millions of people. The door was opened with a key. We talked about the entrance examinations.
Gender
In Modern English there is no grammatical category of gender.
But according to their lexical meaning all nouns denoting living beings are of either the male or female sex: man -woman, poet-poetess, etc.
The nouns that denote male beings are considered of the masculine gender.
The nouns that denote female beings are of the feminine gender.
Names of lifeless things and abstract notions are of the neuter gender: a book, a pen, a room, kindness, friendship.
A ship is always spoken as she.
Collective nouns are also considered to be of neuter gender.
There are three ways of forming the feminine of nouns:
1) by using an entirely different words, as father - mother, sister — brother, bull — cow, king — queen, etc.
2) by adding the syllable (-ess, -ine, -a, etc.): actor - actress, hero—heroine, heir— heiress, signor — signora, tzar — tza-rina, etc.
3) by placing a word before or after, as: man-servant -maid-servant; land lord - land lady.
Functions:
The main syntactical functions of the noun in the sentence are those of the subject and the object; they may be also used in the functions of a predicative, an attribute and an adverbial modifier.
Grammar is the art of putting the right words in the right places. King George VI was the ruler of Great Britain before Queen Elizabeth II.
According to the morphological composition we distinguish simple (room, house), derivative (which have prefixes or suffixes: misunderstanding, inexperience) and compound(built from one or more stems or words: noun + noun: sunglasses, time-table, bus stop) nouns.
adjective + noun: fast food, first aid, youth hostel verb + preposition: checkout, breakup three words: ready-made meal, air traffic control gerund + noun: swimming pool, driving license noun + gerund: coal-mining, weight-lifting
NOTE: There are no exact rules about weather we join the words or not (if you are not sure, it is usually safe to write two separate words).
Noun-forming suffixes and prefixes:
a) - er, or teacher, actor - ism heroism
- ist scientist, artist - ant assistant
- ess actress, hostess - ence conference
- ment movement - ty cruelty
- ance importance, distance - ing building
- (t)ion translation - dom freedom
- ity majority, complexity - ion discussion
- y difficulty, energy - sion revision
- ian musician, politician - ness happiness
- hood childhood - ure pressure
- ship friendship, leadership - ness backwardness
- age marriage, passage
b) re - reconstruction in - information
co - coexistence im - impossibility
dis - disarmament un - unemployment
mis - misunderstanding il - illiteracy
Practice
/. Analyze the nouns in the following dialogue.
The Jones's House
Mr Brown: Excuse me. Do you know where the Jones's house is?
Passerby: Yes, it's over that mountain along the railway. It's a red brick house surrounded with a stone wall.
Mr Brown: Oh. Is it outside the town?
Passerby: Yes. It's south of the town. You go past the town park, turn to the right and take any bus in that direction. The Jones's house has large windows and there are beautiful flower-beds with yellow roses growing around. It's a real pleasure to be the owner of such a house!
2. Form abstract nouns from the following:
a) adjectives: b) verbs: c) common nouns:
young wise live protect child man
true high know discover author friend
free poor hate move hero patriot
good just punish die agent coward
wide strong think advise owner mother
3. State the number of the following nouns and write down the corresponding singular or plural, if any.
money clothes man means thesis ship
news goods woman species datum berry
hair police child series family valley
advice riches foot deer life editor in chief
knowledge trousers mouse sheep roof phenomenon
4. Join two nouns using apostrophe (') or of-phrase.
1) the newspaper/today, 2) the birthday/my father, 3) the manager/the company, 4) the economic policy/the government, 5) the garden/Mr Brown, 6) the new headmaster/the school, 7) the dean/the Law faculty, 8) the camera/the boy, 9) the top/the page, 10) the name/the street, 11) the house/my uncle and aunt, 12) the toys/the children, 13) the author/the book, 14) the children/Ann.
5. Use the possessive case if possible.
\) the crown of the queen 8) the success of the firm
2) the house of Mr and Mrs Green 9) the clothes of the children
3) the wedding of Jack and Jane 10) the hats of men
4) the favourite of the boss 11) the owner of the cafe
5) the title of the book 12) the distance in a mile
6) the beginning of the performance 13) the health of my mother
7) the decision of the President 14) the present of my parents
6. Write a new sentence using 's with underlined words.
1) The meeting tomorrow has been cancelled.
2) The storm last week caused a lot of damage in our town.
3) The only cinema in the town has been closed down.
4) Exports from Britain to the USA have fallen recently.
5) Tourism is the main industry in the region.
6) There will be a big crowd at the football match this evening.
7) The son of my elder brother Peter is a doctor.
8) I usually buy bread at the bakery not far from my house.
9) I'm looking forward to spending my holiday in the house of my aunt near the sea.
10) Russia has the largest deposits of oil in the world.
11) The crew of the ship stood on the deck.
12) There are a lot of interesting books in the libraries of the city.
7. Give the feminine gender of the following nouns:
king poet host grand-father
uncle actor landlord milk-man
sir hero cook-sparrow salesman
cook Czar man-servant gentlemen
son Sultan Prince boyfriend
husband steward lion tiger
8. Put the information before the noun: number + noun + noun. Model: a sixteen-year-old girl, a ten-hour-flight
1) a note that is worth 10 pounds
2) a language course that lasts four weeks
3) a drive that takes three hours
4) a meal that consists of three courses
5) a holiday that lasts two weeks
6) a house that was built two hundred years ago
7) a delay in the airport that went on for two hours
8) a letter that goes on for ten pages
9) a university course that takes three years
10) a prison sentence of ten years
11) a hotel with five stars
12) a speed limit of 40 miles an hour
9. Write a new sentence according to the model.
Model: a) Our holiday lasted three weeks. It was a three-week holiday.
b) The girls were 15 years old. They were 15 year-old girls.
1) The woman was 27. She was a ....
2) The flight lasted three hours. It was a ....
3) The strike lasted four days. It was a ....
4) The book has 200 pages. It is a ....
5) The boys were 10 years old. They were ....
6) The television series has 10 parts. It is ....
7) The bottle holds 2 liters. It is ....
8) Each of the tickets cost 10 pounds. They were ....
9) The building has 10 floors. It is ....
10) This bag of potatoes weights 5 kilos. It is ....
11) We walked for 5 miles. It was ....
10. Which part of these sentences is right?
Model: She was very helpful. She gave me some good advice/advises, ("advice" is right.)
1) Margaret has got very long black hair/hairs.
2) We had a very good weather/very good weather when we were on holiday.
3) Sorry I'm late. I had trouble/troubles with the car this morning.
4) I want something to read. I'm going to buy a/some paper.
5) I want to write some letters. I need a/some paper.
6) It's very difficult to find work/job at the moment. Most people prefer a job/work which is near home.
7) Bad news don't/doesn't make people happy.
8) Our travel/journey from London to Istanbul by train was very interesting.
9) The flat is empty. We haven't got any furniture/furnitures yet.
10) When the fire alarm rang there was a complete chaos/ complete chaos.
11)1 had to buy a/some bread because I wanted to make some
sandwiches.
12) They will give you plenty of information/informations here.
11. Complete each sentence with a noun formed from a word given in the list, ending as shown.
art astonish great free explain employ agree
short ' politics music teach neighbour play paint shy science invite equal partner smoke save
1. I don't want to be a slave. I demand my ... dom.
2. My friend plays the guitar, but he isn't a very good ... ian.
3. This school has closed because there is a ... age of... ers.
4. A small country can still achieve ... ness.
5. Imagine my ... ment when the dog started to speak.
6. Perhaps I should give you an ... tion for my choice.
7. My parents have just moved into a new ... hood.
8. My new ... er is paying me a much higher salary.
9. He is a terrible card ... er. He is really hopeless.
10. Mr Manson works in ... ship with two other architects.
11. Most people say that they believe in the ... ity of men and women.
12. Doctors have proved that... ing is harmful.
13. Mr Smith regrets that he is unable to accept your ... tion.
14. ... ists are hopeful that a cure for this disease will be found.
15. Most countries have signed an international ... ment banning whaling.
16. ... ings by this ... ist have been sold for million of pounds.
17. Mr Smith never wanted to be ... dan. First of all, he suffered from terrible ... ness and blushed violently when he had to make a speech.
18. We^are going to spend all our ... ings on a new car.
12. Choose the correct form, singular or plural.
1) The trousers you bought doesn't/don't fit you. They are/It is too short for you.
2) Physics was/were my best subject at school. - Really? But I think mathematics is/are much easier than physics.
3) Fortunately the news wasn't/weren't as bad as we had expected.
4) The police want/wants to interview me about the robbery.
5) Three days isn't/aren't long enough for a good holiday.
6) Where does/do your family live? - All my family live/lives with me.
7) England has/have lost all the football matches this season.
8) Does/do the police know about the stolen money?
9) Can I borrow your scissors? Mine isn't/aren't sharp enough.
10) I'm going to take a taxi. Six miles is/are too far for me to walk.
11) The danger of the forests fires is/are very serious for the environment.
12) The fear of the murder and robbery has/have caused many people to leave big cities.
13) The effects of that crime was/were very devastating for the city.
14) Fifty dollars is/are too much to pay for these trousers.
15) Mr Smith accompanied by his wife and daughter is/are arriving tonight.
16) The doctor and his assistant have/has already finished their work today.
17) The majority of the people believe/believes him to be innocent.
18) Neither Bill nor Mary is/are going to the party tonight.
19) Neither Jane nor her parents was/were at home.
20) The mass media, TV and the press have/has enormous power in any society.
21) The police have /has weighed all the evidence and have/ has found the accused guilty.
22) When Продолжение »