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Prepositions
Read the following sentences:
·
There is some water in
the bottle.
·
He is fond of his
daughter.
·
He fell off the
ladder.
In sentence 1, the word in shows
the relation between two things – water and bottle.
In sentence 2, the word of shows
the relation between the adjective fond and the noun daughter.
In sentence 3, the word off shows
the relation between the verb fell and the noun ladder.
These words which are used before a noun or a
pronoun to show its relationship with another word in the sentence are calledprepositions. The
noun or pronoun which follows a preposition is called its object. Note that
pronouns used after a preposition should be in the objective case.
·
He is fond of
her. (NOT He is fond of she.)
A preposition may have two or more objects.
Between you and me there are
few secrets. (Here the pronouns you and me are the objects of the preposition
between.)
Kinds of prepositions
There are different kinds of prepositions.
Simple prepositions
These are words like at, in, for, to,
with, on, off, out, etc.
·
He is in the
office.
·
She sat on the
bench.
·
She is angry with him.
Compound prepositions
These are words like above, before,
behind, below, across, among, around, beside and between. Compound
prepositions are generally formed by adding the prefix ‘a-‘ or ‘by-‘ to a noun,
an adjective or an adverb.
Phrase prepositions
These are groups of words that serve as
prepositions. Examples are:according to, along with, because of, in front
of, by means of, on behalf of, in accordance with, in addition to, with
reference to and in spite of.
·
Owing
to his ill health, he
retired from business.
·
He succeeded by
dint of perseverance and hard work.
·
She stood in
front of the mirror.
·
I can’t get
along with him.
Personal
pronouns
I, we, you, he, she,
they and it are
called personal pronouns because they stand for the three persons:
1.
the person speaking
2.
the person spoken to
3.
the person spoken of
The pronouns I and we, which
refer to the person or persons speaking are said to be the personal
pronouns of the first person.
·
I am fed up.
·
We have to go.
The pronoun you, which refers to
the person or persons spoken to, is said to be a personal pronoun of
the second person. Note thatyou has the same form for the
singular and plural. Both singular and plural you are followed
by the plural verbs are and have.
·
You
are my best friend.
·
You
have betrayed my
trust.
The pronouns he, she and they,
which refer to the person or persons spoken of are said to be personal
pronouns of the third person. It is also called a personal
pronoun of the third person.
Personal pronouns have different forms:
The pronouns that are used as subjects of
verbs are: I, he, she, they, you and we.
The personal pronouns that are used as objects
of verbs are: me, him, her, them, you and us. Note that you does
not change.
Personal pronouns in the possessive case has
the following forms:mine, his, hers, theirs, yours and ours.
Note that the possessive pronouns shall not be
confused with the possessive adjectives my, his, her, their, your and
our. The possessive adjectives are used before nouns.
Compare:
·
This is my dog.
(Here the possessive adjective my qualifies the noun dog.)
·
Those are their books.
(Here the possessive adjective their qualifies the noun books.)
·
This dog is mine.
·
Those books are theirs.
·
This is my coat.
Where is yours?
Correct Use of Personal Pronouns
A personal pronoun must be of the same number, gender and person as the noun it stands for.
John is a good boy. He loves and respects his parents and teachers. (Here the pronoun he is of the same number, gender and person as the noun John.)
Alice is my sister. She lives abroad. (Here the pronoun she is of the same number, gender and person as the noun Alice.)
The students worked hard. Their teacher praised them. (Here the plural pronoun them is of the same number, gender and person as the plural noun students.)
Alice is my sister. She lives abroad. (Here the pronoun she is of the same number, gender and person as the noun Alice.)
The students worked hard. Their teacher praised them. (Here the plural pronoun them is of the same number, gender and person as the plural noun students.)
A personal pronoun referring back to a collective noun must be in the singular number if the collective noun is viewed as a whole.
The jury has given its verdict.
The fleet will reach its destination in a week.
The fleet will reach its destination in a week.
If the focus is on the individual members of the group, the pronoun should be in the plural number.
The jury were divided in their opinion.
When two or more singular nouns are joined by and, the pronoun used for them must be plural in number.
Both John and Peter played well. They were praised by the coach.
When two singular nouns joined by and refer to the same person, the pronoun must be singular in number.
The Secretary and Treasurer is negligent of his duty. (Here the nouns Secretary and Treasurer refer to the same person. Therefore we use a singular pronoun to refer back to them.)
Note that when two nouns refer to the same person, the determiner (the, my, this etc.) is used only before the first one.
My uncle and guardian is a doctor. (Here the nouns uncle and guardian refer to the same person.)
My uncle and my guardian are doctors. (Here the nouns uncle and guardian refer to two persons.)
My uncle and my guardian are doctors. (Here the nouns uncle and guardian refer to two persons.)
When two singular nouns joined by and are preceded by each orevery, the pronoun must be singular in number.
Every soldier and every sailor was in his place.
When two or more singular nouns are joined by or, either …or orneither…nor, the pronoun should be singular in number.
Either Alice or Mary forgot to take her umbrella.
Neither Peter nor John has done his homework.
Neither Peter nor John has done his homework.
What are adverbs?
Adverbs are words like now, then,
today, tomorrow and carefully. An adverb modifies the
meaning of a verb, an adjective or another adverb. Read the following
sentences:
Alice smiled sweetly.
Those mangoes were very sweet.
He spoke quite loudly.
Those mangoes were very sweet.
He spoke quite loudly.
In sentence 1, the adverb sweetly shows
how (or in what manner) Alice smiled. It modifies the verb smiled.
In sentence 2, the adverb very says
something about the sweetness of the mangoes. It modifies the adjective sweet.
In sentence 3, quite says
something about the manner in which he spoke. It modifies the adverb loudly.
Note that adverbs standing at the beginning of sentences sometimes modify the whole sentence, rather than a particular word.
Note that adverbs standing at the beginning of sentences sometimes modify the whole sentence, rather than a particular word.
·
Unfortunately no one was present there. (= It was
unfortunate that no one was present there.)
·
Probably I am mistaken. (= It is probable that I
am mistaken.)
Kinds of adverbs
There are very many kinds of adverbs.
There are very many kinds of adverbs.
Adverbs of time
Adverbs of time answer the question ‘when’. Examples are: today, yesterday, now, before, daily, already, since, ago, never etc.
Adverbs of time answer the question ‘when’. Examples are: today, yesterday, now, before, daily, already, since, ago, never etc.
·
I met him yesterday.
·
His father died two
years ago.
·
I have seen him before.
·
They have already come.
·
We will have to
start now.
Adverbs of frequency
Adverbs of frequency answer the question ‘how often’.
Examples are: often, always, once, never, again, seldom, frequently
etc.
·
We seldom go
out on Sundays.
·
I have seen him
only once.
·
He called again this
morning.
·
We must always try
to do our best.
Adverbs of place
Adverbs of place answer the question ‘where’. Examples are: here,
there, up, down, everywhere, out, in etc.
·
She sat down.
·
He looked up.
·
I searched for
him everywhere.
·
Come in.
Adverbs of manner
Adverbs of manner answer the question ‘how’ or ‘in what manner’. Note that this class includes nearly all those adverbs ending in -ly. Examples are:
quickly, carefully, sweetly, clearly, bravely, beautifully, well, fast etc.
Adverbs of manner answer the question ‘how’ or ‘in what manner’. Note that this class includes nearly all those adverbs ending in -ly. Examples are:
quickly, carefully, sweetly, clearly, bravely, beautifully, well, fast etc.
·
The soldiers
fought bravely.
·
This essay is well written.
·
she walked slowly.
·
The baby slept soundly.
Adverbs Part
II
Adverbs of degree or
quantity
Adverbs of degree answer the question ‘how much’ or ‘in
what degree’ or ‘to
what extent’. Examples are: very, too, fully, quite, rather, enough, any, partly, almost, utterly, as, entirely etc.
what extent’. Examples are: very, too, fully, quite, rather, enough, any, partly, almost, utterly, as, entirely etc.
·
That was very tragic.
·
I have almost finished.
·
He was rather busy.
·
Is he any good?
·
You are partly right.
·
You are entirely wrong.
Adverbs of reason
Adverbs of reason answer the question ‘why?’. Examples
are:therefore, hence, consequently etc.
·
Consequently he refused to go.
·
Therefore they decided to boycott the meeting.
·
He is hence unable
to refute the charge.
Adverbs of affirmation
or negation
Examples are: surely, certainly, not,
probably, indeed etc.
·
You are certainly right.
·
I am not going.
·
He is a fool indeed.
Interrogative adverbs
Adverbs which are used for asking questions
are calledinterrogative adverbs. Examples are: when,
where, how, why etc.
·
When will you go to New York? (Interrogative
adverb of time)
·
How
long will you stay
here? (Interrogative adverb of time)
·
Where are my keys? (Interrogative adverb of place)
·
How
often does the
committee meet? (Interrogative adverb of number)
·
How did he behave? (Interrogative adverb of
manner)
·
How far did he go? (Interrogative adverb of
quantity)
·
Why did you resign? (Interrogative adverb of
reason)
Relative adverbs
Read the following sentences:
Do you know the place where the
meeting will be held?
In this sentence, where is an
adverb as it modifies the verb will be held. Where is also a
relative as it connects the two clauses of the sentence and at the same time
refers back to its antecedent, place.Where is therefore called
a relative adverb. Note that a relative adverb connects an
adjective clause to the main clause.
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