Revision: English Structure, Narrative Essay and Monopthongs

      Review of Verbs/Adverbs, Argumentative Essay and Dipthongs

      Review of Adjectives/Prepositions and Features of Letters (Formal, Informal)

      Revision of Last Term’s Work

Revision: English Structure, Narrative Essay and Monopthongs

English Language JSS3 Third Term

Week 2

Contents:

• English Structure: Revision of Noun and Pronoun
• Narrative Essay
• Monophthongs

A. English Language: Revision of Nouns and Pronouns

Noun

A Noun is a name of a person, animal, place or things.

There are four kinds of nouns:

1. Common Nouns
2. Proper Nouns
3. Concrete Nouns
4. Abstract Nouns

a. Common Nouns

A common noun names a class of similar things (chair, box), and not an individual member of a specified group of people or things. We do not capitalize the first letter of a common noun unless it is the first word in a sentence.

Common nouns are names of people, things, animals and places, etc.

Examples:

• People – aunt, boy, butcher, carpenter, cousin
• Things – bicycle, book, car, computer, dress
• Animals – armadillo, baboon, bee, caterpillar
• Places – airport, beach, bullring, cemetery

b. Proper Nouns

A proper noun is a special name of a person, place, organization, etc. We spell a proper noun with a capital letter. Proper nouns also refer to times or to dates in the calendar.

We can use plurals for proper nouns in exceptional cases.

• There are three Johns in my class.

We can also use the, an, or a for a proper noun in special circumstances.

• This is no longer the London I used to live in.

Proper nouns are names of people, places, organization, etc.

Examples:

• People – Joke Thompson, Barack Obama
• Places –  Jump Street,  Museum of Modern Art
• Things – Financial Times, Eiffel Tower
• Organization – International Labour Organization, Red Cross
• Animals – King Kong, Lassie
• Times and dates – Sunday, April

b. Proper Nouns

One of the problem with proper nouns is to know whether or not you should use the (definite article) with them. Here are some guidelines:

Without THE – 

• Names of people (with or without title) – Paul, Chief Mrs Busola, Dr Sunday, Bobola
• geographical features such as continents, countries, states, regions, cities, islands, mountains, lakes – Nigeria, Oregun, Everest, London
• Days of the week, months, festivals – Thursday, Easter, April
• Schools, colleges, universities – Government college Ketu, University of Abuja

With THE –

• Groups of mountains or islands – the Himalayas
• Seas and Oceans – the Atlantic Ocean
• Descriptive titles – a) one in which only common nouns are used – the School of Agriculture. b) one that has a common noun preceding the particular name  the University of Lagos

c. Nouns: Concrete Noun

A concrete noun is something we see or touch. It is the opposite of an abstract noun. There are countable concrete nouns and uncountable concrete nouns

Countable and Uncountable

1. Common nouns are either Countable or Uncountable. Can you remember the rules for using each type? (Countable, but not uncountable nouns, (i) can be used in the plural as well as the singular, (ii) can be preceded  by the indefinite article a(n). In the following list of common nouns, which ones are examples of which type?

road, wood, village, question, cupboard, electricity, newspaper, fuel, windscreen, box, blame, information, appointment.

2. Uncountable nouns often name a substance or abstract quality which cannot easily be separated into different parts. If we want to speak of a part of it, we need to use a Unit word (which is itself countable), followed by of, followed by the uncountable noun.  For example: a cup of water, ten litres of kerosene, a bit of luck, a flash of lightning. Note that cigarette is countable, not uncountable, so it is wrong to say He was smoking a stick of cigarette; just say He was smoking a cigarette.

Assessment 1

Certain nouns are sometimes countable, sometimes uncountable; and there is some difference in meaning. For example, man when uncountable means human beings in general; when countable it means the male of the human species. Give a list of countable and uncountable nouns you know.

d. Abstract Nouns

An abstract noun is a quality or something that we can only think of rather than as something that we can see or touch, e.g. beauty, courage, friendship, intelligence, truth. We can form abstract nouns from common nouns (child – childhood); from verbs (know – knowledge); and from adjectives (happy – happiness).

 Collective Nouns

Collective Nouns are words to represent a group of people, animals, or things.  A collective noun is a name used for a number of people, animals or things that we group together and speak of as a whole

Common collective nouns

• An army of ants
• A flock of birds
• A flock of sheep
• A herd of deer
• A gang of thieves
• A pack of thieves
• A panel of experts

Collective nouns are are nouns that in the singular refer to a collection of items: e.g. furniture, cutlery, equipment, alphabet, vocabulary e.t.c The first three of these should never be used in the plural.

The last two can be used in plural only if we are considering different languages. Use one of these words to fill the gaps below

1. They have filled their new house with some very nice ____
2. English and arabic are languages that use different ____
3. We can not eat our food because we have no ____
4. Our company’s biggest problem is out of date ____
5. The English ____contains 26 letters

A collective noun can take a singular or a plural verb.

The following nouns can be singular or plural. Viewed as a single unit, the noun takes a singular verb; regarded as a group of separate members or parts, it becomes a plural noun used with a plural verb.

Examples:

• The new government has helped my community.
• The Government are determined to keep inflation in check.

A collective noun treated as singular uses a singular possessive pronoun; a plural collective noun takes a plural possessive pronoun.

Examples:

• Our team has won its first trophy. (The singular possessive pronoun is its. The singular possessive pronoun its agrees with the singular collective noun team.)
• Our team are deciding on the strategy for their next game. (Plural possessive pronoun: their) 

Pronoun

A pronoun is a word we use to take the place of a noun, which can be a person, place or thing. We use it (pronoun) to avoid repeating a noun that had already been mentioned. A word (one of the traditional parts of speech) that takes the place of a noun, noun phrase, or noun clause. A pronoun can function as a subject, object, or complement in a sentence. Unlike nouns, pronouns rarely allow modification.

We can write or say, “Bobs has a bicycle. Bobs rides his bicycle every day.” But there’s a better way of putting it using pronouns: Bobs has a bicycle. He rides it every day. The words he and it are pronouns used to replace the nouns Bobs and bicycle.

Examples of pronoun are I, you, he, she, it, we, they, anyone, everyone,himself, myself, nobody, yourself, who.

Other examples include this, that, all, any, each, none, some, that, what,which, etc. These pronouns can also be determiners, so how can we tell whether they are pronouns or determiners. It all depends on how they are used. As pronouns, they are used independently, that is without a noun following them.

• This is a green apple. (This is a pronoun as it occurs independently.)
• This apple is green. (This comes after the noun apple, so it is not a pronoun.)

Here, this is a determiner. A determiner modifies a noun, which a pronoun does not do.

• Some of the goats were rather skinny. (Pronoun)
• Some goats were rather skinny. (Determiner).

Types of Pronouns

1. Personal Pronouns
2. Relative Pronouns
3. Possessive Pronouns
4. Demonstrative Pronouns
5. Indefinite Pronouns

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns take the place of nouns that refer to people, but not all personal pronouns refer to people. The third person pronoun it refers to animals and things.

Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Subject pronouns		Possessive pronouns
		Determiner
I	we	my	our
you	you	your	your
he	they	his	their
she	they	her	their
it	they	its	their
Object pronouns		Possessive pronouns
me	us	mine	ours
you	you	yours	yours
him	them	his	theirs
her	them	hers	theirs
it	them

Personal pronouns have number, person, and gender. The Personal Pronoun must be of the same number, gender, and person as the noun for which it represents.

Number:

The pronoun must agree with the noun it represents in number.

• Singular: The boy is playing with his ball. He has a blue ball.
• Plural: The boys are playing with their balls. They have balls of different sizes.

Person:

• First person: I hate eating rice.
• Second person: You should not have done it.
• Third person: It is a rare species of fish.

Gender:

The pronoun must agree with the noun it represents in gender.

• Masculine: Jill has a boyfriend. He comes across as a bit of a bore to her.
• Feminine: Jeff’s sister loves to eat pizza. She eats it almost every day.
• Neuter: We have an old kitchen table. It has a broken leg.

Relative Pronouns

A relative pronoun comes at the beginning of a relative clause. A relative clause is a subordinate clause that tells us more about the noun in the main clause. The relative clause comes immediately after the noun. Relative pronouns are that, which, who, whom, whose, whatever, whichever, whoever, whomever, etc. That and which refer to animals and things. Thatmay also refer to people. We use the relative pronouns who and whom for people, and whose for people and things.

• I know the dog that ate my bone.

In the above sentence, the relative pronoun is that and it introduces the relative clause (in bold). ‘I know the dog’ is the main clause. The relative clause that ate my bone tells us something about the noun dog.

Possessive Pronouns

The possessive pronouns are the possessive forms of personal pronouns. We use the personal pronouns in the possessive case to express possession. A possessive pronoun is able to stand on its own as subject, object, etc.A pronoun that can take the place of a noun phrase to show ownership (as in “This phone is mine“).

Possessive pronouns
Singular	Plural
mine	ours
yours	yours
his	theirs
hers	theirs

Possessive pronouns examples:

• This puppy is mine. That kitten is yours.
• I think the puppy that wandered into our house is theirs.
• Your bicycle is much bigger than ours.

The weak possessives (also called possessive determiners) function as adjectives in front of nouns. The weak possessives are my, your, his, her, its, our, and their.

In contrast, the strong (or absolute) possessive pronouns stand on their own: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, and theirs. A possessive pronoun never takes an apostrophe.

Examples: We were both work-study kids with University jobs. Hers was in the library; mine was in the cafeteria, Mine is a long and sad tale.

B. Composition: Narrative Essay

What is a Narrative?

A narrative or a narrative essay can be defined as an account of an individual experience. This explains a personal experience that had a significant impact on the individual’s life. It can be of a journey, a special day such as the first day in school, one’s marriage, an unforgettable day, etc. This highlights that through a narrative the individual can express and share something special with the reader. A narrative entails a sequence of events that are often related in chronological order. A narrative can be presented in the first person narration that uses words such as I, myself, me, etc. However, a narrative can be in the third person as well when relating stories. This will have various characters and a specific plot surrounding that story will be built.

A narrative allows the reader to comprehend the point of view, attitudes, perspectives and construction of reality of the narrator. It allows the reader not only to be a part of the experience but also understand the personality of the narrator. In Social Sciences, narratives are usually used as empirical evidence for research purposes as they allow the researcher to understand the subjective experiences of people and also their interpretations of events.

Assessment on Narrative Essay – Topic: My Experience in my Former School

Outline

• Start by introducing the topic; tell us you felt about your former school
• The body of the message; tell us about your experience in paragraphs(not more than four)
• The conclusion or the conclusive paragraph; now you can summarize your introduction, tell us your feeling about the experience so far

C. What is a Monophthong?

A monophthong is simply a vowel. Derived from the old Greek language (with Mono meaning one/single and the -phthong meaning sound/tone and  the basic word phthalein which means to speak/create sound with the voice), the word monophthong  shows that a vowel is spoken with exactly one tone and one mouth position. Take for example when you say “teeth”; while you are creating the sound of the “ee”, nothing changes for that sound.

A monophthong can be a lexeme of a language and as such it can as well be a syllable. There is no shorter syllable than a single monophthong.

Assessment

1. What is a noun?
2. List and discuss the different noun forms and their functions.
3. What do you understand by the word monophthong? Discuss.

Review of Verbs/Adverbs, Argumentative Essay and Dipthongs

English Language JSS3 Third Term

Week 3

Contents:

• Review of Verbs and Adverbs
• Argumentative Essay
• Diphthongs
• Figure of Speech

A. Review of Adverbs and Verbs

An adverb is the part of speech (or word class) that is primarily used to modify a verb, adjective, or other adverb. Adverbs can also modify prepositional phrases, subordinate clauses, and complete sentences. In other words, adverbs tell us in what way someone does something. Adverbs can modify verbs (here: drive), adjectives or other adverbs.

POSITIONS OF ADVERB

An adverb that modifies an adjective (“quite sad”) or another adverb (“very carelessly”) appears immediately in front of the word it modifies. An adverb that modifies a verb is generally more flexible: it may appear before or after the verb it modifies (“softly sang” or “sang softly“), or it may appear at the beginning of the sentence (“Softly she sang to the baby”). The position of the adverb may have an effect on the meaning of the sentence.

FUNCTIONS OF ADVERB

Temporal Adverb – An adverb (such as soon or tomorrow) that describes when the action of a verb is carried out. It is also called a time adverb. An adverb phrase that answers the question “when?” is called a temporal adverb. e.g I always thought that the river was deep, but now I see that deep down it’s shallow.

Manner Adverb – An adverb (such as quickly or slowly) that describes or shows the way an action is carried out. In most cases, the comparative and superlative of manner adverbs are formed with more (or less) and most (or least) respectively. A manner adverb most often appears after a verb or at the end of a verb e.g Ade spoke sharply, and brought his head around towards me. Plantings that had been carefully arranged to frame natural or architectural features were carelessly cleared away.

Place Adverb – An adverb (such as here or inside) that describes where the action of a verb is carried out. Also called an adverb of place or a spatial adverb. e.g Television programmes produced in New York and Hollywood are seen worldwide.

Many adverbs–especially adverbs of manner–are formed from adjectives by the addition of the ending -ly (easily, dependably). But many common adverbs (just, still, almost, not) do not end in -ly, and not all words that end in -ly (friendly, neighborly) are adverbs.

TYPES OF ADVERB

Adverb of Emphasis – A traditional term for an intensifier (such as certainly, obviously, undoubtedly) used to give added force or a greater degree of certainty to another word in a sentence or to the sentence as a whole. e.g Deterrence, obviously, is one of the aims of punishment, but it is surely not the only one.

Conjunctive Verb – An adverb that indicates the relationship in meaning between two independent clauses. Unlike a conventional adverb, which usually affects the meaning of only a single word or phrase, the meaning of a conjunctive adverb (or conjunct) affects the entire clause of which it is a part. e.g They were not sleeping on board the brig. On the contrary, they were talking, singing, laughing.

Relative Adverb – An adverb (where, when, or why) that introduces a relative clause, which is sometimes called a relative adverb clause. e.g The reason why worry kills more people than work is that more people worry than work.

Speech-act Adverb – An adverb (such as frankly, briefly, or seriously) that identifies how a speaker intends to speak (or perform the speech act). e.g I prepared a rough draft several months ago, but, frankly, she hasn’t been inclined to sign it.

Flat Adverb – A traditional term for an adverb–such as high, fast, and hard–that has the same form as its corresponding adjective. Unlike most adverbs in English, flat adverbs (also known as plain adverbs) do not end in -ly.

A few adverbs have both a plain form and an -ly form: slow and slowly; loud and loudly;fair and fairly. The plain form is most commonly used in informal speech and in short sentences, especially short imperative sentences: “Go slow“; “Play fair. e.g Drive slow and enjoy the scenery. Drive fast and join the scenery.

Prepositional Adverb – An adverb that can also function as a preposition. Unlike an ordinary preposition, a prepositional adverb is not followed by an object. Prepositional adverbs (also called adverbial particles) are used to form phrasal verbs. e.g We’re all tumbled down. He ran up a bill.

Verbs

A verb is a word or more than one word that is used to express an action or a state of being. A verb is an action or a doing word. Every sentence must have a verb. This makes the verb the most important word as far as the construction of a sentence is concerned. In a sentence, a verb connects the subject to the object. There are two different objects: direct object and indirect object.

A verb can be just a word.

• She bought a cake.
• They ate some food.

A verb can be more than one word.

• He is running a race.
• You have broken my glass.

A verb connects the subject to the object.

• Lola rides a bicycle. (Subject: Lola / Object: bicycle)
• Someone has eaten my chicken. (Subject: someone / Object: chicken)

A verb may not have an object.

• The sun shines.
• It is raining.

Types of Verbs

• Transitive and Intransitive
• Linking Verbs
• Regular and Irregular verbs

A verb that has a direct object to complete the sentence is a transitive verb. A verb that does not need an object to make its meaning clear is an intransitive verb.

The transitive verb

A transitive verb must have an object. Without an object, it does not convey a clear meaning.

• Example: He drove.

The question inevitably arises: What did he drive? No one in the world knows the answer to this question as there is no direct object to tell us what he drove. The meaning becomes clear when an object is added: He drove a car. Now everyone of us knows what he drove.

• The subject (he) performs the action: drove. The object of the action verb drove is car.

A transitive verb may take an indirect object. An indirect object is something or someone to whom or for whom the action is carried out.

• He bought her a cake. = He bought a cake for her.
• She is reading grandpa the newspaper. = She is reading the news to grandpa.

In the first sentence, the indirect object is her as it is for her that the cake was bought. In the second sentence, the indirect object is grandpa as it is to him that the news was read. The indirect object usually comes before the direct object as shown in above two sentences.

 The intransitive verb

An intransitive verb does not have an object. Without an object, the meaning is not affected.

• Example: Babies cry. / The dog is barking. / Tolani is coming

All the verbs (cry, is barking, is coming) are intransitive as they do not need an object to make the meaning clear.

• Example: The villagers caught a bat yesterday, but it escaped this morning.

The verb caught is transitive as it has the direct object bat. The other verb escaped is intransitive since it is not followed by an object.

B. Argumentative Essay

A) Introduction to the Meaning of Argumentative Essay:

Argumentative essay writing requires a writer to establish a position on a given  topic, using evidence to persuade the reader to see things from the point of view [perspective] of the writer. In order to write a good argumentative essay, it is important for the writer to first of all investigate the several aspects to any given topic. Doing this allows sides the writer to have a broader perspective of the topic and as such, arrive at an educated stance. Please note that investigating the topic is a process that involves collecting evidence, facts, statistics and expert opinions on the topic which will enable you write a great piece.

The General Approach to Writing Argumentative Essays

Two things need to be planned out:

a. The arguments- for and against. We call these the pros and the cons

b. The relevant facts

The skill comes in developing your arguments, and in supporting them in a logical way by the facts.

The  Method

1. Make sure that you have read and understood the question. In particular, check whether you are required to develop only one side of the case, or whether you are required to consider both the pros and the cons. Usually, you will be asked to argue for or against a point of view.

2. Jot down in note form all the relevant arguments you can think of.

3. Decide which arguments seem stronger, and try to form your own opinion

4. Plan you essay. Rearrange the arguments under the headings For and Against (or Pro and Con), and jot down next to each one any relevant facts that you can think of. In your plan consider, and then demolish the arguments you disagree with first. Here is an example;

a) Introduction

b) Pros (arguments for X)

c) Cons (arguments against X; it may be that you are mentioning them in order to attack them!)

d) Conclusion

How to Write an Argumentative Essay

1. To write an argumentative essay, the writer should first of all choose a topic that gives them a platform to argue.
2. The writer then gathers information about the topic.
3. In writing, the writer provides a clear thesis statement in the first paragraph.
4. The writer then writes the essay using logical and clear transitions between the paragraphs.

C. Diphthongs

Speech Work: Diphthong Contrasting / əʊ/ and /ʊə/

/ əʊ/ sound

This is another diphthong. A long sound made up of two shorter ones. The sound begins with /ə/ in the middle of the mouth, and then moves to /ʊ/. The lip becomes very slightly rounded. The sound is spelt in different ways.

·         So

·         Go

·         Tone

·         Phone

·         Moan

·         Goat

·         Toe

·         Hoe

·         Know

·         Grow

/ʊə/ sound

This diphthong is the last diphthong in English. To say /ʊə/ you have to first say /ʊ/ then change it to /ə/. Say the following words.

·         Poor

·         Pure

·         Tour

·         Fury

·         Endure

·         Europe

·         Fuel

Contrasting / əʊ/ and /ʊə/

·         So           sore

·         To           tour

·         Foe         fury

·         Row        roar

D. Figures of Speech

A figure of speech or figurative language is a literary device used to gain a particular effect. It is the use of a word or an expression beyond its ordinary or literal meaning.

There are over two hundred kind of figure of speech but the one mostly used will be discuss. They are simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, paradox,irony.

A figure of speech is used in prose and drama. Whenever an expression or word used to give a special effect and it is known as poetic devices in poetry. Collectively, most of the figures of speech are categorized into six groups

Category of figure of speech

• Comparison or association
• Contrast
• Exaggeration
• Under statement
• Word manipulation
• Sounds

Figures of comparison or association

Under this category, the following are simile, metaphor,personification, allusion, allegory

• Simile: This is a short comparison that directly or explicitly compares one thing and another by using the  word “as” or “like” Simile involves figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more.

Examples: He is as short as a dwarf

                     Curses are like chicken

• Metaphor: A metaphor is a compressed comparison actually substituting one thing for another. It lets the reader makes the necessary translation from the figurative to the literal. Where a simile draws a comparison between two ideas , a metaphor goes a step further and substitutes then second idea for the first, that is why it is called compressed. Example: He is a lion on the field, she is a sheep
• Personification: Personification can be defined as the transfer of human traits to animate object. Personification  is a figure of speech where human qualities are given to animals, objects or ideas. In the arts, personification means representing a non-human thing as if it were human.

Examples: Let the floor claps their hand,

                    Confusion heard his voice

• Allegory:This is a narrative which has a secondary and deeper meaning which may be religious,political or normal. It is used to draw a parallel between one story that is told on the surface and the deeper meaning intended.Allegory is generally designed to teach some abstract truth.

Examples: John Bunyan’s pilgrim progress is a religious allegory.

• Synecdoche: a figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa, It is the use of a part to represent   a whole or a whole can be used to represent a part

Example: I want all heads on dock

                  She controls all the heads in the village

                  Thousands of eyes gaze on on him at the occasion

Assessment

1. What is an adverb?
2. What are the functions of an adverb?
3. An adverb that modifies an adjective or another adverb should appear immediately in front of the word it modifies; true or false?
4. List and explain the different types of adverb that you know.

Review of Adjectives/Prepositions and Features of Letters (Formal, Informal)

English Language JSS3 Third Term

Week 4

Contents:

• Review of Adjectives and Prepositions
• Features of Letters

A. Grammar: Prepositions and Adjectives

Preposition

A preposition is a word which precedes a noun (or a pronoun) to show the noun’s (or the pronoun’s) relationship to another word in the sentence. (The word preposition comes from the idea of being positioned before. It is not true to say that a preposition always precedes a noun or a pronoun, but it does most of the time.) Prepositions are mostly single words used before a pronoun, noun, noun phrase, or verb to express their relationship with the rest of the sentence. They are used to show when something happens (prepositions of time), where something happens (prepositions of place), or where something is going (prepositions of movement). 

The following are all prepositions:

above, about, across, against, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, by, down, during, except, for, from, in, inside, into, like, near, of, off, on, since, to, toward, through, under, until, up, upon, with and within.

Role of a Preposition

Prepositions are important when constructing sentences. A preposition sits before a noun to show the noun’s relationship to another word in the sentence.

Examples:

• It is a container for butter.

(The preposition for shows the relationship between butter and container.)

• The eagle soared above the clouds.

(The preposition above shows the relationship between clouds and soared.)

Pitfalls with Prepositions

For native English speakers, grammatical errors involving prepositions are rare. The most common errors involving prepositions are shown on the right. That said, there are several points to be aware of:

A preposition always goes with a noun or pronoun which is called the object of the preposition.  The preposition is almost always before the noun or pronoun and that is why it is called a preposition.  The preposition and the object of the preposition together are called a prepositional phrase.  The following chart shows the prepositions, objects of the preposition, and prepositional phrases of the sentences above.
 

Preposition	Object of the Preposition	Prepositional Phrase
to	the store	to the store
by	bus	by bus
at	three o’clock	at three o’clock
under	the table	under the table

Prepositional phrases are like idioms and are best learned through listening to and reading as much as possible.   Below are some common prepositions of time and place and examples of their use.

A preposition can also be a two-word or three-word combination. It is called a compound preposition. Two-word compound prepositions include according to,because of, different from, due to, and instead of. Some examples of three-word compound prepositions are as far as, in addition to, in front of, and in spite of. There are many more two-word and three-word compound prepositions.

Prepositions of Time:
at two o’clock
on Wednesday
in an hour, in January; in 1992
for a day

Prepositions of time indicate the period of time that something happens (during, from, since, throughout, until, etc).

Examples:

• She swears never to talk to me again from tomorrow.
• His girlfriend has been missing since last Saturday

Prepositions of time used to indicate a particular time (at, by, in, on, etc)

• I had a big argument with my best friend  at lunchtime.

Prepositions of time used to indicate a particular time in relation to another (after, before, etc)

• I usually brush my teeth after dinner

Prepositions of Place:
at my house
in New York, in my hand
on the table
near the library
across the street
under the bed
between the books

Prepositions of place tell us the position of something (across, in, inside, on, outside, etc)

Example: 

• There was a fly on his nose
• The boy went outside to play

Prepositions of place tell us the position of something in relation to another (behind, beside, between, in front, near, etc).

Example:

• I sat beside a dirty man in the bus
• Someone parked a car in front of my house

Preposition of Direction:

These prepositions show direction of movement to somewhere (into, onto, to, etc)

Example:

• A fly got into his soup while he was eating it.
• He went to the cinema

These prepositions show direction of movement from somewhere (away from, from, off, etc)

Example: 

• He warned them to keep away from his meat
• He fell off the table

Compound Preposition: 

Two-word compound prepositions (according to, aside from, because of, next to, etc).

• According to his brother, he likes noodles.
• Her face was perfect aside from that one hairy mole

Three-word compound prepositions (as far as, in addition to, in front of, in spite of, on account of, etc)

• The explosion could be heard as far as the police station, which is five kilometers away

He can’t sing any more on account of his failing health

 Adjectives

An adjective is a word that is used to describe and modify a noun. It tells us more about the noun. We can identify adjectives in words by knowing their features i.e. the descriptive feature of an adjective to a noun and also the modification.

Types of Adjectives

There are different types of adjectives in English. These are:

Adjectives of Quality: These adjectives are used to describe the nature of a noun. They give an idea about the characteristics of the noun by answering the question ‘what kind’.

Examples: A beautiful day, A good girl.

Adjectives of Quantity: These adjectives help to show the amount or the approximate amount of the noun or pronoun. These adjectives do not provide exact numbers; rather they tell us the amount of the noun in relative or whole terms. e.g. All, Half, Many, Few, Little, No, Enough, Great

Examples: There are few books on the shelf

Many people came to the fair

Adjectives of Number: These adjectives are used to show the number of nouns and their place in an order. There are three different sections within adjectives of number; they are –

Definite Numeral Adjective – Those which clearly denote an exact number of nouns or the order of the noun.

One, Two, Twenty, Thirty-Three etc. also known as Cardinals.

First, Second, Third, Seventh etc. also known as Ordinals.

Indefinite Numeral Adjective – Those adjectives that do not give an exact numerical amount but just give a general idea of the amount.

Some, Many, Few, Any, Several, All etc.

E.g.: There were many people present at the meeting.

Distributive Numeral Adjective – Those adjectives that are used to refer to individual nouns within the whole amount.

Either, Neither, Each, Another, Other etc.

Taxes have to be paid by every employed citizen.

Adjective of Size: These adjectives  tell you about the size of the noun, they can be used for an object as well as living things.

Examples: A big rat, A short ladder

Adjective of Age: These are Adjectives that tell about the age of a noun either by itself or in relation to another noun.

e.g. Young, Old, Teenage, Mature

Examples: A young man, An old car

Adjective of Temperature: A warm evening, A hot bath

Adjective of Shape: These adjectives tell about the shape or appearance of the noun.

e.g. Circular, Crooked, Triangular

Examples: A square table, A round box

Adjective of Colour: These are the adjectives that tell about the shade and hue of a noun.

e.g. Pastel, Red, Blue, Metallic, Colourless

Examples: A red shirt, A colourless  liquid

Adjective of Origin: These are adjectives that tell the geographical location of a noun.

Examples: A french car, A chinese watch

Descriptive Adjectives

The most common type of adjective is the descriptive adjective. These are simply words that help to describe nouns. They can be colours, sizes, or other describing words.

Possessive Adjectives

Possessive adjectives are like possessive pronouns, but act as adjectives. They are: my, your, its, our, and their. They demonstrate a relationship of ownership. In the examples below, the possessive adjectives are in red. The nouns they modify are in blue. Remember: it’s an adjective if it comes with the noun; it’s a pronoun if it replaces the noun.

It is my ball.                                       

Demonstrative Adjectives

Demonstrative Adjectives are identical to demonstrative pronouns, but are used for a different purpose. The demonstrative adjectives are: this, that, those, and what. In the following sentences the demonstrative adjectives are in red and the nouns they modify are in blue.

Take this job and shove it..

Interrogative Adjectives

Another type of adjective is the interrogative adjective. Interrogative adjectives include the words which and what. In the following sentences the interrogative adjectives are in red and the nouns they modify are in blue.

Which company do you want to invest in?

Indefinite Adjectives

 It’s an adjective that’s not definite. Too vague? How about a word like “some” or “many.” Getting clearer?

1. Some people wanted to buy stocks.
2. Many people wanted to buy bonds.
3. A few people wanted to buy gold.
4. Why indefinite? Because it’s not exactly clear how many or who.

B. Features of Letters

Letter Writing: When writing a semi-formal letter, you must observe certain steps. Take note of the following points in Mary’s letter-

1. The address and date: Notice the position and layout of the address. Here are some examples of the way dates should be written:
1st February, 2007  2nd May, 2006  3rd July, 2009 

2. The salutation: We usually start letters with Dear….
Note that in more affectionate forms: My dear Lizzy, the word dear does not start with capital letter (Compare Dear Elizabeth)

3. The body of the letter: The letter is laid out in well-organised paragraphs. There is an indentation at the beginning of each paragraph. Remember, marks are awarded for sensible paragraphing.

4. The style of the letter: The language of the letter is semi-formal: it is very like ordinary speech, but a little more grammatical. The semi-formal features of the letter include the following. Can you find some examples in the letter?

• Informal expressions like don’t panic, etc
• Contracted forms like I’m and here’s.
• The use of dashes and Exclamation marks.

5. Ending the letter: The last paragraph of a letter should ’round it off’ in a suitable way, and send greetings. The usual way of signing off is with the phrase Yours sincerely and your signature.

6. The signature: With semi-formal letter and informal letter, you just write your given name. You do not print your full name under the signature in semi-formal or informal letters – they know who you are!

Mary’s Letter

Informal Letter

Note these points about Tokunbo’s Letter

1. The address and date: Notice the position and layout of the address. Here are some examples of the way dates should be written:
1st February, 2009  2nd March, 2006  3rd April, 2012 

2. The salutation: We usually start letters with Dear…. and this begins with a capital letter.
Use first name when writing an informal letter.
Note that in more affectionate forms: My dear Lizzy, the word dear does not start with capital letter (Compare Dear Elizabeth)

3. The body of the letter: The letter is laid out in well-organised paragraphs. Each one has a topic. Marks are awarded for sensible paragragphing; In this letter, there are five paragraphs.  There is an identation at the beginning of each paragraph. Decide which paragraph has the following topics:

• Offer of help
• Expressing sympathy
• What the writer knows
• Communications
• Concluding attempts to cheer Harriet up

4. The style of the letter: The language of the letter is informal: it is very like ordinary speech, but a little more grammatical. The informal features of the letter include the following. Can you find another example in the letter?

• Informal expressions like drop it in, (paragraph 3)
• Contracted forms like I’m (paragraph 3)

5. Ending the letter: The last paragraph of a letter tries to ’round it off’ in a suitable way, – in this case, Tokunbo tries to cheer Harriet up. A common feature of such letters is the one-liner at the end, which adds a personal touch. Other possible one-liners in this context could have been:
God bless! Please don’t get too depressed
Much love!
Look after yourself, etc.

With informal letters (and even some formal letters when the writer is known to you) it is always safe to end Yours sincerely (on a separate line – capital Y small s).
Depending on your relationship, other possibilities include: Yours ever and Much Love.

6. The signature: With informal letter, you just write your given name. You do not print your full name under the signature in  informal letter- they know who you are without that!

Tokunbo’s Letter

Informal Letter

Informal Introductions

Sometimes we wear smart clothes, and sometimes we wear casual clothes.

When would you wear

• very smart clothes? (formal clothes)
• casual clothes? (informal  clothes)

It is the same thing with language. We use different words on different occasions.

In threes, read the dialogue below. Betty and Amy are friends. Decide

• who is talking to whom
• on what sort of an occasion they are talking

Dialogue 1: Hi Amy! Have you met Philly? She’s the cleverest student in the class. But don’t ask her how she does it!
Dialogue 2: Hi, Philly. Nice to meet you!
Dialogue 3: Nice to meet you, Amy. I’ve heard a lot of about you
Dialogue 4: Don’t believe a word of it!

When we introduce people to each other, we have two main jobs:

1. To convey important information about the people to each other.
2. To put everyone at their ease.

This means that we should mention both names clearly. In addition, it is helpful to include an interesting or important fact about each person. This helps them to build a conversation with each other.

For example:

• She/He is one of my oldest friends.
• He was the goalkeeper in yesterdays match.
• I believe you met her cousin in Enugu last month

Useful Expressions:

I’d like you to meet … He′s from….
Have you met my friend…? She′s …
I’d like to introduce…, who is….
Have you two met? Fela, meet Eze. Eze, this is fela.
Summary of Informal and Semi-formal Letters

Informal Letter

1. Your address

Top right hand corner, properly punctuated with full stops and commas

2. Addressee

Do NOT include the name, position and address of the addressee

3. Date

Below your address, you may follow either style as of formal letters

4. Salutation

Depending on the circumstances and relationship,  Dear (first name/nickname) is appropriate

5. Subject of the letter

Omit

6. Body of the letter

Paragraphs should be indented. The style should be appropriate: use colloquial language, abbreviations, jokes etc

7. Complimentary Close

This goes at the bottom of the letter. Yours sincerely is always acceptable, followed by your name or nickname. Variations are possible for very close relationships e.g. Your friend, Your sister, Lots of love, etc.

Semi Formal Letter

1. Your address

Top right hand corner, properly punctuated with full stops and commas

2. Addressee

Do NOT include the name, position and address of the addressee

3. Date

Below your address, you may follow either style as of formal letters

4. Salutation

Depending on the relationship, any of the following might be appropriate: Dear Mr/Dr/Mrs (name), Dear (first name)

5. Subject of the letter

Omit

6. Body of the letter

Paragraphs should be indented. The style should be appropriate for semi-formal letters.

7. Complimentary Close

This goes at the bottom of the letter. Yours sincerely is always acceptable, followed by your name.

Assessment

Identify and name the types of Adjective in the following sentences

1. How much rise do you want to buy?
2. Those girls are wayward
3. Tolu has five red balls
4. I gave Chika my lunch
5. The fat man couldn’t walk through the tiny door
6. The English man paid 5 pennies for a cup of black coffee
7. The heavy blue round box was placed on the light table
8. The big fat black man ran as fast as his strong legs could carry him at the sound of  gun fire
9. The faithful dog brought back his master’s brown book

Answers

1. How – Interrogative Adj
2. Those – Demonstrative Adj
3. Five, Red – Descriptive Adj
4. My – Possessive Adj
5. Fat, Tiny – Adj of size
6. English -Adj of origin, 5 – Adjective of number, black – Adj of colour
7. Heavy – Adj of size, blue – Adj of colour, round – Adj of shape
8. Big – Adj of size, Fat – Adj of size, Black – Adj of colour, strong – Adj of Quality
9. Faithful – Adj of Quality, Brown – Adj of colour.

English Language JSS3 Third Term

Week 1

Topic: Revision of Last Term’s Work

Teachers and Student are expected to do a revision of last term’s work.

ASSESSMENT

Summary on last term’s work?