COMMON MISSPELLED WORDS; THE USE OF THE DICTIONARY; IDIOMS
SUMMARY: PRACTICAL APPROACH TO WRITING GOOD SUMMARY; WORDS ASSOCIATED WITH ADVERTISING; ADJUNCTS
SUMMARIZING TO IDENTIFY THE WRITER’S PURPOSE; WORDS ASSOCIATED WITH STOCK EXCHANGE; HOW TO WRITE AN ARTICLE
DIFFERENTIATING BETWEEN MAIN AND SUPPORTING IDEAS; WORDS ASSOCIATED WITH GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS; CONSONANT CLUSTERS, WRITING SKILLS AND WORD INFERENCE
SS1 ENGLISH LANGUAGE THIRD TERM: WRITING SKILLS: SCANNING, STRUCTURE: CONJUNCTS, DISJUNCTS, DETERMINERS AND QUALIFIERS.
SS1 ENGLISH LANGUAGE THIRD TERM: SKIMMING AND SCANNING; PUBLIC SPEAKING; CONJUNCTS AND DISJUNCTS; PHRASAL VERBS
SS1 ENGLISH LANGUAGE THIRD TERM: PLURAL FORMS OF NOUNS; CHARACTERISTICS OF DIFFERENT WRITING STYLES; QUESTION TAGS AND HOMOPHONES
SS1 ENGLISH LANGUAGE THIRD TERM: UNDERSTANDING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A WRITER’S PURPOSE AND TONE; PRONOUN REFERENCES TO THREE PERSONS
SS1 ENGLISH LANGUAGE THIRD TERM: HOMOPHONES; WORDS ASSOCIATED WITH SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT; FEATURES OF COMPLEX SENTENCES
SS1 ENGLISH LANGUAGE TERM THIRD: SPOKEN ENGLISH: CONSONANT SOUNDS FOLLOWED BY /KW/; PUNCTUATION; DIFFERENCES BETWEEN COMPOUND AND COMPLEX SENTENCES
SUMMARY WRITING; DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ARTICLES AND SPEECHES

Common Misspelled Words; The Use of the Dictionary; Idioms

English Language Third Term

Week 2

Topic: Commonly Misspelled Words

In written language, spelling is the choice and arrangement of letters that form words, it can also mean, forming of words with letters in an accepted order; orthography (the act or process of writing words using the letter conventionally accepted for their formation).

Note: Orthography is the art of writing words according to accepted usage.

Heterography: is the practice of spelling in way contrary to standard usage.

Here are some of the reasons people misspell words.

Mispronunciation

Mispronunciation is known to be one of the commonest causes of misspelling. Hence, phonetic misspelling is common, once a word is mispronounced; for example, the word “realize” may be misspelled as “relize”.

Typing errors

Some spelling errors are introduced because people’s typing isn’t perfect, such as

letters are doubled, or more frequently double letters tripled, such as “betwween” and “betweeen”
letters are singled, such as “betwen”
keys are transposed, so “because” becomes “becuase”.

Some of the errors listed may be due to mistyping rather than ignorance, for example “solider” for “soldier”.

These misspellings can also happen in handwritten text.

Examples of commonly misspelled words are seen in the table below

Correct Spelling	Common Misspelling
Absence	Absense
Accidentally	Accidentaly, Acidentally
Accommodate	Accomodate, Acommodate
Acknowledge	Acknowlege, Aknowledge
Acquaintance	Acquaintence, Aquaintance
Acquit	Aquit
Advisable	Adviseable
Aggression	Aggresion, Agression
Annually	Annualy, Anually
Atheist	Athiest
Buoyant	Bouyant
Camouflage	Camoflage, Camoflague
Caribbean	Carribean
Committed	Commited, Comitted
Conscientious	Consciencious
Conscious	Consciuos
Consensus	Concensus
Disappoint	Disapoint
Drunkenness	Drunkeness
Disastrous	Disasterous
Embarrass	Embarass
Fascinating	Facinating
Fulfil	Fullfil
Gauge	Guage
Grateful	Gratefull, Greatful
Harass	Harrass
Hierarchy	Heirarchy
Humorous	Humerous
Inoculate	Innoculate
Intelligence	Inteligence
Leisure	Liesure
Liaison	Liason
Maintenance	Maintainance, Maintnance
Millennium	Millenium, Milennium
Misspell	Mispell, Misspel
Necessary	Neccessary
Neighbor	Nieghbor
Occasion	Occassion
Occurrence	Ocurrence, Occurrence
Omission	Ommission, Omision
Personnel	Personel
Perseverance	Perseverence
Plagiarize	Plagerize
Playwright	Playright
Possession	Posession, Possesion
Privilege	Privelege, Priviledge
Pronunciation	Pronounciation
Questionnaire	Questionaire
Referred	Refered
Repetition	Repitition
Rhythm	Rythm
Separate	Seperate
Skillful	Skilfull, Skilful
Successful	Sucessful, Successfull, Succesful
Supersede	Supercede
Surprise	Suprise

Lesson Two: Use of the Dictionary

DICTIONARY

A dictionary is a collection of words in one or more specific languages, often listed alphabetically with usage of information, definitions, etymologies, phonetics, pronunciation, translation, and other information. It is also a book of words in one language with their equivalents in another, also known as a lexicon. It is a lexicographical product designed for utility and function, curated with selected data, presented in a way that shows inter-relationships among the data.

Dictionary is usually understood to refer to a monolingual general-purpose dictionary.

CATEGORIES OF DICTIONARY

General dictionary
Specialized dictionary

Specialized dictionary doesn’t contain information about words that are used by ordinary people in everyday situations. Lexical items that describe concepts in specific fields are usually called terms instead of words.

General dictionary is supposed to be semasiological, mapping word to definitions, while specialized dictionary is supposed to be onomasiological, first identifying concepts and then establishing the terms used to designate them. In practice, the two approaches are used for both types.

There are other types of dictionaries that don’t fit neatly in the above distinction, for instance bilingual (translation) dictionaries, dictionaries of synonyms (thesauri), or rhyming dictionaries, Encyclopedic dictionaries. The word dictionary (unqualified) is usually understood to refer to a monolingual general-purpose dictionary.

USES OF DICTIONARY

It tells one the meaning of words
It ensures that you learn how to spell new words
It also helps you with the correct oral translation/pronunciation of words

A dictionary is essential for finding the meaning of words and it has the capacity of defining words and phrases including multiple meaning.

WHAT A DICTIONARY DOES

A dictionary will give you the following information about a word:

How to spell the word and its special plural form
Whether or not the word is capitalized or abbreviated
How to break the word into syllables
How to pronounce the word
The part of speech of a word
Different meanings that the word has, as well as synonyms (same meaning) and antonyms (opposite meaning)
A sentence or expression with the word used correctly
The meanings of important prefixes and suffixes
The special uses of the word
The history of the word
Other words derived from the main word

Special sections in some dictionaries tell you about:

Foreign words and phrases
Abbreviations
Addresses of colleges or government offices
The population of cities and countries

Applying the following pointers will save time when you use a dictionary:

Know and use proper alphabetical order
Use guide words to save time
Check all abbreviations and symbols in the special sections
If at first you don’t succeed in finding the word, don’t give up. You might need to check several possible spellings before finding the word
Substitute the meaning you find for the word in the sentence. Be sure you select the most appropriate meaning, not merely the first one you come to
Try saying the word aloud after you look at the pronunciation key.

Lesson Three: Idioms

An idiom is a commonly used expression whose meaning does not relate to the literal meaning of its words. A group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words. An idiom’s figurative meaning is different from the literal meaning. There are thousands of idioms, and they occur frequently in all languages.

Examples of Idiomatic Expressions

1. She is pulling my leg – To pull someone’s leg means to trick them by telling them something untrue.

Literal meaning is physical pulling of the leg is quite different from the figurative expression.

2. Wow! It’s raining cats and dogs out there – It is raining heavily.

Literal meaning is instead of water from the rain we have cats and dogs which isn’t possible.

3. That shoe costs an arm and a leg. – an arm and a leg means something is very expensive

4. Every cloud has a silver lining – Be optimistic, even difficult times will lead to better days.

5. Oh no! You spilled the beans! – to spill the beans means to let out a secret.

Practice:

Find the meanings of these idioms

1. Tolu let the cat out of the bag

2. I warned you not to put all your eggs in one basket

3. I perceive there is a method to his madness

4. Hmmmm!!! Speak of the devil

5. Mr Mashana has kicked the bucket

ASSESSMENT

——–is said to be the commonest cause of misspelling? (A. Mispronunciation B. Incomplete English alphabet C. Inability to pay attention to details D. None of the above)
Writing words according to the accepted usage is called——–? (A. Orthography B. Phonetics C. Vowels D. Alphabets)
What is heterography?
What is a dictionary and what are some of its uses?
Explain what you understand by idioms.

ANSWER

A
B
The use of the same letter or combination of letters to represent different sounds, as, in English, the useof s in sit and easy.
a book or electronic resource that lists the words of a language (typically in alphabetical order) and gives their meaning, or gives the equivalent words in a different language, often also providing information about pronunciation, origin, and usage.
A group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words (e.g. over the moon, see the light ).

Summary: Practical Approach to Writing good Summary; Words Associated with Advertising; Adjuncts

English Language Third Term

Week 3

Topic: Summary: How to Write a good Summary

How do you go about summarizing a composition? There are five stages

1. Find the relevant parts of the text: First you have to find quickly the relevant parts of the text.

2. List or find the key points: Summaries must contain the key points, each point included earns a mark. Some students make a list of pints to include if there is time, others underline them in the book if it is their own.

3. Write a rough draft of the entire composition.

4. Write your own final draft of the summary and make necessary adjustments.

5. Final check: Check your final draft for careless errors.

Notes:

The summary must bring out the key elements in the composition.

The first person ‘I’ must be avoided in summary.

The summary should be written in your own words, it does NOT just lift whole sentences from the original composition.

Lesson Two

Vocabulary: Word Register (Advertising)

What is Advertising?

Advertising refers to a paid, mediated, form of communication from an identifiable source, designed to persuade the receiver to take some action, now or in the future.

Words Associated with Advertising

Advertising Allowance
Advertising Budget
Advertising Elasticity
Advertising page exposure
Advertising plan
Advertising research
Advocacy Advertising
Acronym: A.I.D.A
Aided recall
Appeal
Acronym: A.A (Average Audience)
Bill board
Card rate
Channel of distribution
Operative advertising
Jingle
Market segmentation
Marketing research

Read the passage below and fill in the blank spaces with the most suitable words from options A to D below the passage. Discuss your answers with your teachers.

Advertising

A notice on the noticeboard in your school is a form of advertising. It might advertise an event, such as football match, or a play, or a concert. Its aim is to attract people to the event, and to inform them about (1)………

In the world beyond school, advertising has become big business. The success or failure of a new (2)…….. on the market may depend on how it is advertised. For a local shop in a small town, a (3) …… can be produced and distributed in the street. Even if it is to give out the right message.

If large sums of money are involved, companies will often go to an advertising (4) ….. This kind of organization specializes in the best methods of advertising, and can play a key part in the (5) ….. of a product. They may make advertisements for TV or radio and design (6) ……. to go on advertising (7)…..

Sometimes an organization may wish to improve its public (8) ……. the way members of the public perceive it. For example, NEPA may wish to make people feel more appreciative of its efforts to serve the public despite the many problems it faces. To do this, a company might sign a (9) ……. with a (10)…… agency which will advise them on their public image.

Options

S/N	A	B	C	D
1	Inform	Details	Information	Events
2	Produce	Product	Event	Factor
3	Handbill	Handout	Poster	Sheet
4	Body	Advisory	Corporation	Agency
5	Prestige	Publicity	Market	Promotion
6	Handbills	Posters	Stickers	Pictures
7	Hoardings	Signposts	Signs	Neon
8	Perception	Spending	Image	Relationship
9	Agreement	Contract	Paper	Poster
10	Public relations	Publicity	Cosmetics	News

Lesson Three

Adjuncts

An Adjunct means ‘something adjoining’ or ‘added on’. An adjunct is a word or group of words (i.e., a phrase or a clause) which can be removed without making the sentence grammatically wrong. An adjunct could be left out, and the sentence would still have a meaning.

Adjunct is something added in, but not part of the whole if refers to a word or word group that qualifies or completes the meaning of another word or other word and is not, itself a main structure element in its sentence.

In addition adjunct refers to a word, phrases of clauses usually an adverbial that integrated within the structure of a sentence. Unlike a disjunct or sentence adverb and that can be omitted without making the sentence ungrammatical.

Adjunct is optional or secondary elements in a construction. An adjunct may be removed without the structural. An adjunct may be removed without the structural identify of the rest of the construction using affected.

Example: She told me the news joyfully

‘She told me the news’ is a perfectly good sentence. Why Adjuncts at all? The answer is that adjuncts like joyfully make what we say more interesting and informative.

Multiple Adjuncts

There can be more than one adjunct in a sentence. You can find adjuncts by stripping down the sentence to its base components usually subject, verb and object. Everything else then is an adjunct.

Example: Eventually she found the money on the table near the wall clock.

The basic sentence here is ‘She found the money’. How many adjuncts are there?

Two adjuncts: ‘On the table’ and ‘near the clock’

Types of Adjuncts

There are different types of Adjuncts.

Adjunct of Place : It answers the question Where?

The burglars came again to the house

Adjunct of Time: It answers the question When?

He is traveling later today

Adjunct of Manner: It answers the question How?

He presented his case carefully

Adjunct of Reason: It answers the question Why?

The glass cup broke due to his negligence

Adjunct of Purpose: It answers the question What for?

I need money to buy a black pen

Practice:

Identify the adjuncts in the following sentences and state what type of adjunct

1. He was sleeping on the bed in his mother’s room

2. Her mother visited he last Friday

3. Sorrowfully she left the room

4. On 25th December he traveled to Port Harcourt to see his cousin

5. Owing to his eye problem, he couldn’t take his examination last week Tuesday

6. One morning, a boy was cycling slowly along the express way

7. After the match, the boys celebrated happily

ASSESSMENT

1. Briefly explain how to write a good summary.
What is advertising?
What is an adjunct?
List and explain the different types of adjunct that you know.

ANSWER

1. Find the relevant parts of the text: First you have to find quickly the relevant parts of the text.

3. Write a rough draft of the entire composition.

4. Write your own final draft of the summary and make necessary adjustments.

5. Final check: Check your final draft for careless errors.

A notice or announcement in a public medium promoting a product, service, or event or publicizing a job vacancy.
An adjunct is a word or group of words (i.e., a phrase or a clause) which can be removed without making the sentence grammatically wrong.
Adjunct of Manner: It answers the question How?

He presented his case carefully

Adjunct of Reason: It answers the question Why?

The glass cup broke due to his negligence

Adjunct of Purpose: It answers the question What for?

I need money to buy a black pen

Summarizing to Identify the Writer’s Purpose; Words Associated with Stock Exchange; How to Write an Article

English Language Third Term

Week 4

Topic: Summary: Identification of a Writer’s Purpose

What are the reasons behind why people write what they write? Could they be writing to persuade, to entertain, to inform or to express? There is a reason behind any topic a writer chooses to write about. As a matter of fact, a writer may have more than one purpose for writing a piece; said purpose which may be explicitly stated or left to be inferred by the readers.

Having said that, it is therefore the work of readers to be reflective and be able to analyze information contained in their reads so that they may be able to pinpoint any writer’s purpose. This is important because identifying the authour’s purpose will give readers clues about how to approach a text and what strategies to use before, during, and after reading to build understanding. Below are some guiding tips (questions you must strive to answer while reading) to help you understand an authour’s purpose for writing anything-

Tips: Guiding Questions

Based on the title, why do think the author wrote this selection?
Which words do you think best describe the main reason the author wrote this selection: to provide readers with information? To describe a person, event, or issue? To express their own thoughts and feelings? To persuade readers to think about an issue in a certain way and to take action? Or to entertain the reader?
Why did the author write the article from a particular point of view?
How did the author influence your response to the selection?
Was the author’s purpose specifically stated?
Do you think that the author achieved his/her intended purposes? Did the article effectively give information? Entertain readers? Express the author’s thoughts and feelings? Persuade readers to think about an issue and/or take action?
What examples from the text support your conclusions about author’s purpose?

Lesson Two

Words Associated with Stock Exchange

Bear: Business someone who expects the prices of shares to fall, so they sell them

Bearish: Expecting the prices of shares to fall; A bearish market is one in which the prices of shares are falling

Bear market: A situation in the stock market in which the prices of shares are falling

Bid: Business an offer to buy the shares in a company and take control of it

Bid price: The price at which shares are bought on a stock exchange

Bondholder: Someone who owns government or company bonds

Broker-dealer: A person or company that buys and sells stocks, shares, or goods for other people

Bull: Business someone who expects the prices of shares to rise and may buy them so they can sell them later at a profit

Bullish: In business, a bullish market is one in which the prices of shares are rising

Buy-back: An arrangement in which someone agrees to buy back shares or goods that they previously sold to someone

Buy-in: A situation in which a group of managers buys some or all of the shares in a company that they do not work for

Buyout: situation in which the managers or people employed in a company take control of it by buying all of its shares

Capitalization: The total value of all the shares in one or more companies on a market

close: Business to have a particular value when people stop buying and selling on a stock exchange at the end of a day

Controlling interest: A situation in which someone owns enough shares in a company to be able to make decisions about what the company does

Corporate bond: A type of bond (=official document given to someone who has lent money, promising to pay that money back) that is provided by a public company

Corporate raider: A person or organization that tries to take control of a company by buying a large number of its shares

Correction: Business a fall in values on the stock market following a period when values have risen very fast

Crash: Economics if the stock market crashes, its value falls suddenly

Day trading: The activity of buying shares and selling them for a profit later in the same day

Dealing room: A room at a stock exchange where shares are bought and sold

Equity: The value of a company’s shares

Float: Business to start to sell a company’s shares on the stock market

Floor: An area where shares in companies are bought and sold

Flotation: The sale of shares in a company for the first time

Futures market: The activity of buying and selling shares, goods, or currency at an agreed price to be delivered at a time in the future

Gain: If shares or the markets gain, the value of shares increases

grey market: The activity of buying and selling company shares before they are officially available

Hedge: To buy and sell shares in such a way that the risk of losing money is low

Holding: A part of a company that someone owns in the form of a share or shares

IPO: Initial public offering: an occasion when shares in a company are first sold to the public

irredeemable: Irredeemable stock cannot be sold in return for money

Market Capitalization: A way of measuring the value of a company calculated by multiplying the number of the company’s shares by their price on the stock market

Market maker: Someone whose job is to buy and sell stocks and shares for other people on the stock market

Ordinary shares: The majority of the shares into which the capital of a company is divided. The people who own these shares have the right to a part of the company’s profits.

Lesson Three

Writing: How to Write an Article

The way you write an article depends very much on whom you are writing for. For example, if you are writing an article about Islam for someone who is not a Muslim, the article will be very different from one you write for someone who is a Muslim.

Articles vary a great deal in the way they are arranged, but as we have seen you can’t go wrong with following all purpose plan.

Introduction

Define the subject and purpose of your article. Try to start off in an interesting way to capture the attention and interest of the reader.

The Body of the Article

Arrange the information logically. Each paragraph should deal with a single thought or set of information. In the case of a sequence of events, you will need to decide how to ‘parcel them up’ in neat groups. For example, in the case of Muhammad, you might have one paragraph describing the events before he went to Medina, one on while he was in Medina and one after his return from Mecca.

The Conclusion

This could be a general summing up of the contents or an overall statement of the importance or value of the subject. It might also indicate possible future developments or possible lines of study.

Practice:

Write an article on the topic “The Merits and Demerits of Peer Group”

Lesson Four

Oral English: Sounds /s/ and /z/

The /s/ and /z/ sounds are another unvoiced – voiced pair: /s/ unvoiced and /z/ voiced. Although /s/ should not be a problem but some Nigerians have difficulty with /z/.

Now pronounce these words

/s/	/z/
Sink	Zinc
Cease	Seize
Police	Please
Price	Prize

Note that the usual spelling of /s/ is ‘s’ or ‘ce’ and the usual spelling of /z/ is z. However, ‘s’ in spelling often has a /z/ sound, not an /s/ sound, especially at the end of a word.

Pronounce the following words, giving ‘s’ at /z/ sound.

his those was rains years names

knees sings praise bodies feeds dogs

Sometimes a word can be spelt in one way but have two different pronunciations – one with /s/, one with /z/. And sometimes, though two words may have nearly the same sound or spelling, one contains /s/ while the other contains /z/

Read the following words or phrases line by line, carefully noting the difference

/s/	/z/
Used to	To use
A close friend	To close
A fine house	To house
Advice	To advise
Decease	Disease
The rain ceased	They seized their bags
Loose talk	Don’t lose your money
A diploma course	Cause and effect

Practice:

1. spare

a. stomach

b. usual

c. busy

d. zone

2. please

a. sixth

b. ignorance

c. neighbors

d. police

3. miss

a. sugar

b. simple

c. sham

d. realize

4. tease

a. vest

b. zip

c. crisis

d. sir

ASSESSMENT

Different writers have different reasons for writing. True of false?
Why is it important for a reader to identify the writer’s purpose?
List and explain some of the words associated with the stock exchange.
Briefly discuss the different parts of an article.

ANSWER

True
To understand the writer
Gain: If shares or the markets gain, the value of shares increases

grey market: The activity of buying and selling company shares before they are officially available

Hedge: To buy and sell shares in such a way that the risk of losing money is low

Holding: A part of a company that someone owns in the form of a share or shares

IPO: Initial public offering: an occasion when shares in a company are first sold to the public

irredeemable: Irredeemable stock cannot be sold in return for money

Introduction

Define the subject and purpose of your article. Try to start off in an interesting way to capture the attention and interest of the reader.

The Body of the Article

The Conclusion

This could be a general summing up of the contents or an overall statement of the importance or value of the subject. It might also indicate possible future developments or possible lines of study.

Differentiating between Main and Supporting Ideas; Words Associated with Government and Politics; Consonant Clusters, Writing Skills and Word Inference

English Language Third Term

Week 5

Topic: Differentiating between Main and Supporting Ideas

The main idea and supporting idea are two of the most confusing elements when writing sentences and paragraphs. However, knowing the differences between the two can actually brought an end to said confusion. The truth is that differentiating between the two is just as easy as knowing the difference between day and night. The terms ‘main idea’ and ‘supporting idea’ both have to do with the central idea of a sentence or a paragraph. Yet, inasmuch as both may mean the same thing, they are absolutely different. How so? Read on to find out.

The main idea is the most general idea that the writer wishes to convey. It is composed of an entire phrase or sentence expressing the main thought of the sentence or paragraph. Examples of main ideas are, dogs can be trained, cats have nine lives, my grandmother is old, your mistakes cost the team’s defeat, her comb was custom-made, and many others. Main ideas are stated using full statements.

On the other hand, supporting ideas are additional details that support the main idea or topic sentence in a paragraph. In other words, the main idea lets the reader understand and learn more about the main idea. These details can be reasons, descriptions, examples, explanations or comparisons.

Lesson Two

Words Associated with Government and Politics

Administration: The government of a country

Affairs: Events and activities relating to the government, politics, economy etc of a country, region, or the world

Government: The process, method, or effects of governing

Political: Relating to politics; interested or involved in politics

Politicise: To bring an issue, organization, way of doing something etc to the attention of the public so that it can be discussed; to make someone more interested and involved in politics

Politicking: Political activity by someone who is only interested in doing things for their own advantage, not in helping other people

Public affairs: Political issues that affect most people

Public life: Work that involves being known to a lot of people, especially in politics, but also in religion and education

Public office: A job in the government that you have because you were chosen or elected

Public service: Work or important positions in government, or in organizations controlled by the government

Representation: In politics, the job of officially helping people and making decisions for them

Sociopolitical: Involving a combination of social and political matters

State: She government of a country

Play politics: To use politics for your own reasons, without caring about the effects on other people

The corridors (of power): The places where people use their political influence and major political decisions are made

Lesson Three

Consonant Clusters

A common consonant cluster is /k/ followed by /w/, giving /kw/. It usually has the spelling ‘qu’. Practice saying following words. If you find it difficult to pronounce the /w/ (=u) after the /k/ (=q), try saying each sound very slowly at first, but be careful to avoid putting a vowel (e.g. /u/ between the /k/ and /w/).

qualify quality quick quench

acquire question quota choir

/kw/ and /k/

Some people try to put a /w/ sound after /k/ when it is not supposed to be there. For example, these words start with /k/ NOT /kw/

/k/	/kw/
Kill	Quill
Kick	Quick
Keen	Queen
Kit	Quit
Coral	Quarrel

Note that when ‘que’ comes at the end of a word or syllable, it is pronounced not as /kw/ but as /k/. Try these words

unique masquerade opaque picturesque

Also note that the letter ‘u’ is silent in some words

biscuit guilt guest quay

/skw/

This is a three consonant cluster written as ‘squ’. Try the following

squeeze squander squeak squash

Lesson Four

Writing: Hints on Writing a Summary

Mr Iloma’s speech contains 143 words. Complete the blanks below with eight words to produce a short version of his remarks in no more than 50 words.

The speaker said that new ……….. and …….. developments had not …….., and this had had bad results. The …… of the oil market had also contributed. As a ……, beer consumption had grown only ……. during the year. Despite these …….., the company’s ……… had nearly doubled.

Here are some common ways of shortening a text.

1. Use an adverb to express a complex idea, for example the word ‘unfortunately’ makes it unnecessary to say that the company had hoped X, and were disappointed.

2. Use one abstract noun instead of longer noun phrases, for example replace ‘the weak position’ by ‘the weakness’.

3. Use simple phrases to summarize ideas expressed more wordily, for example what do the words ‘had had bad results’ replace?

4. Avoid repeating unnecessary words or ideas, for example ‘The weakness of the oil market had also contributed’.

5. Cut out unnecessary words, for example saying that the profits had nearly doubled makes the reference to ‘impressive and commendable operating results’ unnecessary.

SS1 English Language Third Term: Writing Skills: Scanning, Structure: Conjuncts, Disjuncts, Determiners and Qualifiers.

English Language SS1

Week 6

Contents:

Writing Skills: Scanning

Structure: Conjuncts and Disjuncts

Determiners and Qualifiers

A. Reading Skills: Scanning

Scanning means reading very quickly through a text to find specific information. When you scan, you don’t read all the words on the page. You let your eye move over the page quickly to pick out the information you want.

Skills Focus: How Link words help us Scan.

In a well developed paragraph, each idea must be linked to the idea that comes before or after it. There are certain words or phrases in English that we can use to show these links. When we scan a text, spotting these links help us follow a writer’s thinking quickly and easily.

Here are some examples of link words:

1. To give a purpose or result: so, so that, therefore.

2. By restarting a point: in other words

e.g. in other words, these manufacturers are not only selling cream but hope

3. To show a sequence or list

4. To give a reason: because, for this reason, why

e.g. I slapped him because he stole my sweet

5. To add information: another, other, also

He gave Tolu 500 naira and he also gave Teni too

6. To present a contrasting idea: but, however, though, on the other hand

e.g. He is friendly though he lacks manners.

7. To provide examples: for instance, for example.

Sometimes we find a link when a word in one paragraph is repeated in the next.

Link words are very important for scanning to be made possible.

B. Structure: Conjuncts and Disjuncts

A Conjunct relates what is said in a sentence to another sentence. As such, it is not part of the structure of the sentence in which it is used.

Example of a conjunct: However, things turned out much worse than expected. (‘However‘ relates what is said to contrast it with previous information about the speaker’s expectations.)

Conjuncts can appear initially before a negative statement.

e.g. Therefore, he couldn’t come

A disjunct is a type of adverbial that expresses information that is not considered essential to the sentence it appears in, but which is considered to be the speaker’s or writer’s attitude towards, or descriptive statement of, the propositional content of the sentence.

For example:

Fortunately, we managed to get there on time.
“Fortunately” shows us that the speaker was pleased about the result of the action.

More generally, the term disjunct can be used to refer to any sentence element that is not fully integrated into the clausal structure of the sentence. Such elements usually appear peripherally (at the beginning or end of the sentence) and are set off from the rest of the sentence by a comma (in writing) and a pause (in speech).

Disjuncts are evaluative
They express the speaker’s mind:
Judgement of the truth of the utterance (modal disjuncts)
For example:

probably, certainly, maybe

The speaker’s evaluation of a fact (fact-evaluating disjuncts)
For example:

fortunately, actually, to my surprise

The speaker’s comment on his/her own wording of the sentence
For example:

briefly, in other words, to tell you the truth

Or the speaker’s comment on the subject referent (subject-evaluating disjuncts) For example:

Wisely, she spent the money
* She was wise to spend the money’

Examples of Disjuncts

Honestly, I couldn’t believe it.
Unfortunately, Kim has had to leave us.
Honestly, I didn’t do it.
Fortunately for you, I have it right here.
In my opinion, the green one is better.
Frankly, Martha, I don’t give a hoot.

C. Determiners and Qualifiers

Determiners are a small group of short but highly important words which come before nouns. A determiner specifies a noun but does not describe it. This is the job of an adjective. The main kinds of determiners are:

1. articles – definite (the) and indefinite (a or an)

2. possessives – my, your, his, its, our

3. quantifiers – some, much, many, few

4. numerals – one, two, three

Practice:

Use the best option to fill the blank spaces.

1. …….. developments have taken place in this state in recent years

a. Much b. Many c. A little d. Every

2. Rural life has …… advantage than town life, in my opinion

a. much b. enough c. few d. more

3. I saw ….. people on the streets, but most stayed at home

a. many b. enough c. no d. a few

4. ………. time you bang the door the handle falls off.

a. Every b. No c. Several d. That

Quantifiers are one of the major sub groups of determiners. To use them properly, you need to pay attention to the number or proportion of persons or things that you want to refer to.

Examples:

a. All students were late

b. Each man insisted he was innocent

c. Both men were guilty

d. Neither man was innocent

Practice:

At the debate, (1) ……. of those who attended (a. all b. most c. many) agreed that it was highly successful, with a high degree of participation: (2) …….. of the (a. both b. most c. some) students contributed to the debate, even though there wasn’t (3) ……. time for (a. much b. few c. many) everyone to speak. (4) ….. of the students (a. None b. Some c. Few) were disappointed by the speeches, but (5) …. of them thought they were excellent.

ASSESSMENT

A conjunct relates what is said in a sentence to another sentence, whereas a disjunct does—? (A.Express the speaker’s opinion B. Divides the sentence into fragments C. None of the above D. All of the above)
Make five sentences, indicating the disjunct.
What is scanning and why is it important in the reading process?

SS1 English Language Third Term: Skimming and Scanning; Public Speaking; Conjuncts and Disjuncts; Phrasal Verbs

English Language Third Term

Week 7

Topic: Skimming and Scanning

What is it? Skimming involves running your eye very quickly over large chunks of text. It is different from previewing because skimming involves the paragraph text. Skimming allows you to pick up some of the main ideas without paying attention to detail. It is a fast process. A single chapter should take only a few minutes.

When to use it: to quickly locate relevant sections from a large quantity of written material. Especially useful when there are few headings or graphic elements to gain an overview of a text. Skimming adds further information to an overview.

How to skim:

note any bold print and graphics.
start at the beginning of the reading and glide your eyes over the text very quickly.
do not actually read the text in total. You may read a few words of every paragraph, perhaps the first and last sentences.
always familiarise yourself with the reading material by gaining an overview and/or skimming before reading in detail.

What is Scanning? Scanning is sweeping your eyes (like radar) over part of a text to find specific pieces of information.

When to use it: to quickly locate specific information from a large quantity of written material.

To scan text:

after gaining an overview and skimming, identify the section(s) of the text that you probably need to read.
start scanning the text by allowing your eyes (or finger) to move quickly over a page.
as soon as your eye catches an important word or phrase, stop reading.
when you locate information requiring attention, you then slow down to read the relevant section more thoroughly.
scanning and skimming are no substitutes for thorough reading and should only be used to locate material quickly.

Lesson Two

Oral English: Public Speaking

Although there is not an examination in Oral English in which you are required to give a talk or take part in an interview, Oral English remains very important for several reasons:

a. Paper 3 of WASSCE tests oral English with a written paper of multiple choice questions worth 60 marks.

b. A great deal of communication in the modern world requires a command of Oral English. Within Nigeria it is often necessary to use English but internationally, it is essential.

Skills Focus: How to Speak in Public

When speaking English, it is good to bear in mind the following points.

1. Your voice should be of the right volume. Do not speak too loudly or too softly. If you are speaking to a group of people in quite a large room- for example, in a debate, – make sure that your voice can be heard in any part of the room. Generally, talk quietly and convincingly and people will want to listen to you.

2. Do not speak too fast or mumble your words. Many people speak too fast and can not be heard clearly.

3. Try not to feel nervous – relax. Feel confident that your listeners will be interested in hearing what you have to say. Try to smile from time to time.

4. Point 3 is particularly important if you are having a job interview – don’t try to be a know-it-all! Indicate clearly that you are willing to learn.

5. Try to read your audience psychologically in order to know if they are following or not. Get their attention if they are not.

6. If you are called on to give a public speech of some kind, it is a good idea to jot down points, and generally prepare as you would for a written examination. Never just read out your speech.

Practice:

Read a novel and relate in your own words the story of an interesting novel you have read to a friend of yours who suddenly comes visiting your house.

Lesson Three

Conjuncts and Disjuncts

A conjunct serves the purpose of introducing a new sentence in a series and link it logically with what has been said before. They include: nevertheless moreover yet consequently besides as a result in any case on the other hand considering all that to conclude all tings considered that is to say what is more what is more important. Like disjuncts , conjuncts can come at the end of a sentence , after a comma as in Our triumph is very satisfactory, that is to say. Finally, note the difference between the adjunct yet and the conjunct yet : I have not seen any sign of triumph for the Israelis yet. (adjunct) Yet ( conjunct) I have heard so much about the Israeli triumphs that I feel they have lost their battle in the full sense of the word.

Disjuncts express the speaker’s or the writer’s attitude or approach to the statement he/she is making. They include: (a) single-word adverbs such as briefly, certainly, frankly, generally, honestly, perhaps, personally, really; (b) phrases: in a few words in short of course (c) non-finite clauses speaking frankly to tell you the truth to cut a long story short d finite clauses if I may say so if you don’t mind my pointing it out.

Lesson Four

Grammatical Structures: Phrasal Verbs

A phrasal verb is a verb that is combined with a preposition (at, on, over, etc.) or adverb (back, down, off, etc.), and together has its own special meaning. For example, get away means escape; and speak up means speak louder.

Some phrasal verbs retain the meaning of the original verb while some others have meaning completely different to the original verb.

Examples of Phrasal Verbs:

I asked them to come in.

(The phrasal verb come in means enter which is easily understood as we are familiar with the meaning of the words: come, in.)

The deal fell through at the last minute.

(The phrasal verb fell through means not completed successfully which is different in meaning to the verb fell.)

Every text you read is almost bound to contain a phrasal verb. For example: Mabel Segun wrote in her essay

‘As I passed by, I wondered…’

Pass by is a phrasal verb.

You need to take some care when using phrasal verbs. Our advice is for you to consult a dictionary whenever you are in doubt of the meaning of a phrasal verb. We will be discussing two sets of phrasal verbs, one with get and the other with give.

Phrasal verbs with Give

Phrasal Verbs	Meaning	Examples
Give away	a) To pass on something no longer wanted b) To reveal a secret c) To present	a) She gave away all her old clothes b) When she coughed, she gave away her hiding place c) The visiting professor gave away the prize
Give back	To return	Give me back my pen – please I need it!
Give in	a) To surrender b) To hand in	a) When the police arrived, the bandits gave in b) Give in your work when you are finished
Give off	To produce	The chemical gave off a strange smell when heated
Give out	a) To hand out b) To stop working properly	a) We gave out flyers publicizing our passnownow website b) We got into the car but the engine gave out immediately
Give over	a) To be kept for a purpose b) To dedicate one’s self	a) The land was given over for agricultural use b) When her mother dies, she gave her life over to the church
Give up	a) To stop doing something b) To spend time c) To hand over d) To lose emotional control	a) Everyone should give up smoking b) She gave up her spare time to training the girls how to use passnownow.com c) The boy gave up his seat on the bus to an old lady d) She gave herself up to despair

Phrasal verbs with Get

Phrasal verbs	Meaning	Examples
Get about	a) To travel b) To be known to many people	a) He got out despite his lameness b) She didn’t want the news to get about
Get around	a) To travel b) To persuade	a) Although she is 80, she still gets around b) Tony always managed to get around his mother
Get across	To communicate	I will get across to you as regards the wedding later today
Get along	a) To be friendly b) To make progress c) To go	a) The two girls get along with each other very well b) How is your friend getting along? c) I’d better get along now
Get at	a) To criticize b) To imply c) To reach somewhere new d) To threaten e) To reach or find	a) She is always getting at me b) What are you getting at when you say that? c) I am trying to fix the machine but it’s hard to get at the back d) The people accused tried to get at the witnesses e) Sometimes it’s hard to get at the truth
Get away	To escape	The police allowed the thieves to get away
Get back	a) To return to a place b) To start something new	a) They got back in time for supper b) Let’s get back to the main point, shall we?
Get by	To have enough	We have enough food to get by till the end of the month
Get down	a) To write b) To make someone unhappy	a) As the lecturer spoke, they got down the main points b) Their poverty was beginning to get her down
Get in	To enter/arrive	The train got in at 8pm. They got in the train
Get off	a) To start (a journey) b) To escape c) To send d) To finish	a) They got off early next day b) The criminal got off lightly with a small fine c) You must get that letter off as soon as possible d) What time does she get off work?
Get on	a) To be friendly with b) To continue c) To make progress d) To pass (time) e) To be growing old	a) The two men got on well with each other b) The teacher told them to get on with their work c) How are they getting on? d) Tell them to hurry – it’s getting on e) My uncle’s getting on a bit now
Get out	a) To escape b) To become public	a) How did the cattle get out of the pen? b) She was very angry when the news got out
Get through	To survive To Pass To communicate To spend	It’s going to be hard to get through the next few days Did you get through the exam? I finally got through to her on the phone My uncle got through this wages within two days

Practice:

Complete the sentences below with suitable phrasal verbs from the tables. Remember to use the correct tense forms.

1. Hooray! Our team has ……… to the finals!

2. The smell in the chemistry lab was so strong that we ……….. as soon as we could.

3. The relay team …… to a good start.

4. Do you know who is going to …… the prizes this afternoon?

5. The police surrounded the bank, but the armed robbers refused to .

6. They tried to …….. at the back, but the police caught them.

7. Haruna said he wanted to ……. science next term, but the teacher persuaded him not to.

8. Generators always seem to ….. when they are most needed.

9. We should all …… some of our spare time to working for the community………

10. Some very religious people decide to …… all their material possessions.

ASSESSMENT

In English language, the main purpose for skimming is to ——? (A. Avoid reading a given text B. To quickly locate the relevant sections from a given text C. To pretend to read the text D. None of the above)
Briefly explain how to skim.
From what you understand by this lesson, would you say that there is much of a difference between skimming and scanning? Explain.
Explain some of the important things a good public speaker must take into account

ANSWER

note any bold print and graphics.
start at the beginning of the reading and glide your eyes over the text very quickly.
do not actually read the text in total. You may read a few words of every paragraph, perhaps the first and last sentences.
always familiarise yourself with the reading material by gaining an overview and/or skimming before reading in detail.

3. Skimming involves running your eye very quickly over large chunks of text. It is different from previewing because skimming involves the paragraph text.Scanning is sweeping your eyes (like radar) over part of a text to find specific pieces of information.

Do not speak too fast or mumble your words. Many people speak too fast and can not be heard clearly.
Try not to feel nervous – relax. Feel confident that your listeners will be interested in hearing what you have to say. Try to smile from time to time.
Point 3 is particularly important if you are having a job interview – don’t try to be a know-it-all! Indicate clearly that you are willing to learn.
Try to read your audience psychologically in order to know if they are following or not. Get their attention if they are not.
If you are called on to give a public speech of some kind, it is a good idea to jot down points, and generally prepare as you would for a written examination. Never just read out your speech.

SS1 English Language Third Term: Plural forms of Nouns; Characteristics of different Writing Styles; Question tags and Homophones

English Language Third Term

Week 8

Topic: Plural Forms of Nouns

A plural noun is a word that indicates that there is more than one person, animal place, thing, or idea. When you talk about more than one of anything, you’re using plural nouns. When you write about more than one of anything, you usually use the same word, simply adding an s, es, or ies to the end. There are a few exceptions to this rule, but not many – one of the best is that a single moose is a moose, and a group of moose are still moose.

The difference between singular and plural nouns is simple once you know what to look for. Here, we take a look at singular and plural nouns, providing both singular nouns examples and plural noun examples to help you recognize plural nouns when you see them.

Examples of Plurals of Nouns

Most nouns make their plurals by simply adding –s to the end (e.g. cat/cats, book/books, journey/journeys). Some do change their endings, though. The main types of noun that do this are:

Nouns ending in -y

If the noun ends with a consonant plus -y, make the plural by changing -y to -ies:

Singular	Plural
berry	berries
activity	activities
daisy	daisies

If the noun ends with -ch, -s, -sh, -x, or -z, add -es to form the plural:

Singular	Plural
church	churches
bus	buses
fox	foxes

There’s one exception to this rule. If the -ch ending is pronounced with a ‘k’ sound, you add -s rather than -es:

Singular	Plural
stomach	stomachs
epoch	epochs

Nouns ending in -f or -fe

With nouns that end in a consonant or a single vowel plus -f or -fe, change the -f or -fe to -ves:

singular	plural
knife	knives
half	halves
scarf	scarves

Nouns which end in two vowels plus -f usually form plurals in the normal way, with just an -s

singular	plural
chief	chiefs
spoof	spoofs

Nouns ending in -o

Nouns ending in -o can add either -s or -es in the plural, and some can be spelled either way.

As a general rule, most nouns ending in -o add -s to make the plural:

singular	plural
solo	solos
zero	zeros
avocado	avocados

Those which have a vowel before the final -o always just add -s:

singular	plural
studio	studios
zoo	zoos
embryo	embryos

Here’s a list of the most common nouns ending in -o that are always spelled with -es in the plural:

singular	plural
buffalo	buffaloes
domino	dominoes
echo	echoes
embargo	embargoes
hero	heroes
mosquito	mosquitoes
potato	potatoes
tomato	tomatoes
torpedo	torpedoes
veto	vetoes

Here are some of the common nouns ending in -o that can be spelled with either -s or -es in the plural:

singular	plural
banjo	banjos or banjoes
cargo	cargos or cargoes
flamingo	flamingos or flamingoes
fresco	frescos or frescoes
ghetto	ghettos or ghettoes
halo	halos or haloes
mango	mangos or mangoes
memento	mementos or mementoes
motto	mottos or mottoes
tornado	tornados or tornadoes
tuxedo	tuxedos or tuxedoes
volcano	volcanos or volcanoes

Lesson Two

Characteristics of different Writing Styles

A writer’s style is a reflection of his or her personality, unique voice, and way of approaching the audience and readers. However, every piece writers write is for a specific purpose—for example, writers may want to explain how something works or persuade people to agree with their point of view. While there are as many writer’s styles as there are writers, there are only four general purposes that lead someone to write a piece, and these are known as the four styles, or types, of writing. Knowing all four different types and their usages is important for any writer.

Here are the categories and their definitions:

Expository

Expository writing explains or informs. It talks about a subject without giving opinions. Expository writing’s main purpose is to explain. It is a subject-oriented writing style, in which authors focus on telling you about a given topic or subject without voicing their personal opinions. These types of essays or articles furnish you with relevant facts and figures but do not include their opinions. This is one of the most common types of writing. You always see it in textbooks and how-to articles. The author just tells you about a given subject, such as how to do something.

Key Points:

Usually explains something in a process.
Is often equipped with facts and figures.
Is usually in a logical order and sequence.

When You Would Use Expository Writing:

Textbook writing.
How-to articles.
Recipes.
News stories (not including opinion or editorial pieces).
Business, technical, or scientific writing.

Example:

Many people associate the taste of pumpkins with fall. In October, companies from Starbucks to McDonalds roll out their pumpkin-flavored lattes and desserts. Here is how to make an easy pumpkin pie using only five ingredients. First, make sure you have all of the ingredients.

This writing is expository because it is explaining. In this case, you can already tell that the piece will be about how to make a pumpkin pie.

Non-example:

Everyone knows that the best part about fall is all of the pumpkin-flavored desserts. Pumpkin pie is the best fall treat because it is not only delicious but also nutritious. Pumpkin is filled with vitamin A, which is essential for a healthy immune system and good vision.

This is not expository because several opinions are stated, such as “Pumpkin pie is the best fall treat…” Although this excerpt contains a fact about pumpkin containing vitamin A, that fact is used as evidence to support the opinion. These opinions make this an example of persuasive writing.

Descriptive

Descriptive writing focuses on communicating the details of a character, event, or place. Descriptive writing’s main purpose is to describe. It is a style of writing that focuses on describing a character, an event, or a place in great detail. It can be poetic when the author takes the time to be very specific in his or her descriptions.

Example:

In good descriptive writing, the author will not just say: “The vampire killed his lover.”

He or she will change the sentence, focusing on more details and descriptions, like: “The bloody, red-eyed vampire, sunk his rust-colored teeth into the soft skin of his lover and ended her life.”

Key Points:

It is often poetic in nature
It describes places, people, events, situations, or locations in a highly-detailed manner.
The author visualizes what he or she sees, hears, tastes, smells, and feels.

When You Would Use Descriptive Writing:

Poetry
Journal or diary writing
Nature writing
Descriptive passages in fiction

Example:

The iPhone 6 is unexpectedly light. While size of its screen is bigger than those of the iPhones that came before, it is thinner, and its smooth, rounded body is made of aluminum, stainless steel, and glass. The casing comes in a whitish silver, gold, or a color the company calls “space gray,” the color of the lead of a pencil, with darker gray accents.

This is an example because it describes aspects of the phone. It includes details such as the size, weight, and material.

Non-example:

So you just brought home a shiny new smartphone with a smooth glass screen the size of your palm. The first thing you will want to do when purchasing a new cell is buy a case. Cracking your screen is an awful feeling, and protection is inexpensive when you compare it to the costs of a new phone.

Even though this example uses adjectives, you can tell that this is not an example of descriptive writing because the purpose is not to describe the phone—it’s to persuade you to buy a case.

Persuasive

Persuasive writing tries to bring other people around to your point of view. | Source Persuasive writing’s main purpose is to convince. Unlike expository writing, persuasive writing contains the opinions and biases of the author. To convince others to agree with the author’s point of view, persuasive writing contains justifications and reasons. It is often used in letters of complaint, advertisements or commercials, affiliate marketing pitches, cover letters, and newspaper opinion and editorial pieces.

Key Points:

Persuasive writing is equipped with reasons, arguments, and justifications.
In persuasive writing, the author takes a stand and asks you to agree with his or her point of view.
It often asks for readers to do something about the situation (this is called a call-to-action).

When You Would Use Persuasive Writing:

Opinion and editorial newspaper pieces.
Advertisements.
Reviews (of books, music, movie, restaurants, etc.).
Letter of recommendation.
Letter of complaint.
Cover letters

Example:

Following the 2012 Olympic Games hosted in London, the UK Trade and Investment department reported a £9.9 billion boost to the economy. Although it is expensive to host the Olympics, if done right, they can provide real jobs and economic growth. This city should consider placing a bid to host the Olympics.

This is persuasive writing because the author has a belief—that “this city should consider placing a bid to host the Olympics”—and is trying to convince others to agree.

Non-example:

According to legend, the Olympics were founded by Hercules. Now almost 100 countries participate in the Games, with over two million people attending. So cities from Boston to Hamburg begin considering their bid to be a host city more than 10 years in advance.

All of these statements are facts. Therefore it’s expository. To be persuasive writing, you must have an opinion that you’re trying to persuade people of—then, of course, you will support that opinion with evidence.

Narrative

A narrative tells a story. There will usually be characters and dialogue. | Source Narrative writing’s main purpose is to tell a story. The author will create different characters and tell you what happens to them (sometimes the author writes from the point of view of one of the characters—this is known as first person narration). Novels, short stories, novellas, poetry, and biographies can all fall in the narrative writing style. Simply, narrative writing answers the question: “What happened then?”

Key Points:

A person tells a story or event.
Has characters and dialogue.
Has definite and logical beginnings, intervals, and endings.
Often has situations like actions, motivational events, and disputes or conflicts with their eventual solutions.

Examples of When You Would Use Persuasive Writing:

Novels
Short stories
Novellas
Poetry
Autobiographies or biographies
Anecdotes
Oral histories

Example:

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” said Jaelyn.

“You never used to be such a girl!” retorted Orin, pushing open the door.

Reluctantly, Jaelyn followed.

This is a narrative because it’s telling a story. There are different characters conversing, and a plot is unravelling.

Non-example:

Cutting Edge Haunted House holds the Guinness World Record for the largest haunted house on earth. It’s located in a district in Fort Worth, Texas known as “Hell’s Half Acre” in a century-old abandoned meat-packing plant. The haunted house takes an hour to complete, winding through horrific scenes incorporating the factory’s original meat-packing equipment.

While this would serve as a worthy setting for a story, it would need a plot before it could be called a narrative.

In conclusion, these are the four different types of writing that are generally used. There are many sub-types of writing that may fall in any of those categories. A writer must know all these styles in order to identify the purpose of his or her own writing and make sure it’s something the audience wants to read.

Lesson Three

Structure: Question Tags

Question tags are short questions at the end of statements. A question tag is a question added at the end of a sentence. Speakers use question tags chiefly to make sure their information is correct or to seek argument.

They are mainly used in speech when we want to:

confirm that something is true or not, or
to encourage a reply from the person we are speaking to.

Tags are very common in spoken English, and have many functions. One of the common functions is to start a conversation or help keep it going. The two basic rules about tag questions are:

1. A positive statement is followed by a negative question tag

Jack is from Spain, isn’t he?
Mary can speak English, can’t she?

While A negative statement is followed by a positive question tag.

He doesn’t go to school, does he?
They aren’t on their way already, are they?

2. The tense of the tag is determined by the tense of the auxiliary/modal verb of the statement that precedes it. If the statement does not use an auxiliary/modal (i.e. it is in the present or past simple tense), then the auxiliary to do must be used.

With auxiliary verbs

The question tag uses the same verb as the main part of the sentence. If this is an auxiliary verb (‘have’, ‘be’) then the question tag is made with the auxiliary verb.

They’ve gone away for a few days, haven’t they?
They weren’t here, were they?

Without auxiliary verbs

If the main part of the sentence doesn’t have an auxiliary verb, the question tag uses an appropriate form of ‘do’

You don’t know me, do you?
He beat her last night, didn’t he?

With the Simple Present Tense we use do / does – don’t / doesn’t? With the Simple Past Tense we use did / didn’t?
– They like going to the movie theater, don’t they?
– Rafael listens to music, doesn’t he?
– Alan works at a bank, doesn’t he?
– You all watched TV during the night, didn’t you?
– Alicia went to the movie theater, didn’t she?
– He didn’t read the novel, did he?

If the statement contains words such as no , no one , nothing , nobody , scarcely , hardly , hardly ever , never , neither , seldom, under no circumstances … etc, it is considered a negative statement and followed by an affirmative tag.

– Julia hardly ever drinks coke, does she?
– Nothing will cure his illness, will it?
– He never acts like a gentleman, does he?

Some introductory phrases such as “I am afraid, I think, I believe, I am sure, I suspect, I suppose , it appears that , it seems that , it looks as if , as far as I remember , as far as I can see … so on “ don’t affect question tags except for the transfer of negation.

– I suppose you are not serious, are you?
– I think my mom returned home, didn’t she?
– I don’t suppose you are serious, are you?
– I don’t believe you have paid for it yet, have you?
– I don’t think anyone will volunteer, will they?
– I hope he won’t object to our plan, will he?

Let’s has the tag “shall we?”

– Let’s go to the movie theater, shall we?
– Let’s have a party, shall we?
– Let’s drink tea, shall we?

Practice:

1)She’s from a small town in China, ……

2) They aren’t on their way already, ……..

3) We’re late again, ………

4) I’m not the person with the tickets, ……..

5) Julie isn’t an accountant, ………

6) The weather is really bad today, ……..

7) He’s very handsome, …….

8) They aren’t in Mumbai at the moment, ……..

9) You aren’t from Brazil, …….

10) John’s a very good student, …..

11) I like chocolate very much, ……..

12) She doesn’t work in a hotel, ……..

13) They need some new clothes,…….

14) We live in a tiny flat, ……

15) She studies very hard every night, …….

Intonation in Question Tags

When a tag is spoken, the voice can go up or down. If the voice goes up, it is called Rising Intonation and if it goes down, it is called Falling Intonation. It is a nice day today, isn’t it?
A falling intonation means that the speaker is sure (or almost sure) that the statement is true. The speaker knows that it is a nice day. The tag is not a real question. He is inviting his friend to continue the conversation.
You have been on holiday, haven’t you?
A rising intonation means that the speaker is less sure. He thinks that his friend has been on holiday, but he isn’t sure. The tag is more like a real question.

Lesson Four

Homophones (Sound – alike words)

A homophone is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning, and may differ in spelling. The words may be spelled the same, such as rose (flower) and rose (past tense of “rise”), or differently, such as to, two, and too. Homophones (Sound-alike words) are words that are pronounced identically although they have different meanings and often have different spellings as well. These words are a very common source of confusion when writing. Common examples of sets of homophones include: they’re and their; bee and be; sun and son; which and witch; and plain and plane.

Some Examples of Homophones are:

Compliment, Complement

Compliment: a polite expression of praise or admiration.

Complement: a thing that completes or brings to perfection.

leach, leech

Leach: (with reference to a soluble chemical or mineral) drain away from soil, ash, or similar material by the action of percolating liquid, especially rainwater.

Leech: This is a segmented worm.

leak, leek

Leak: (of a container or covering) accidentally lose or admit contents, especially liquid or gas, through a hole or crack.

Leek: a plant related to the onion, with flat overlapping leaves forming an elongated cylindrical bulb that together with the leaf bases is eaten as a vegetable.

sale, sail
sane, seine

Sane: (of a person) of sound mind; not mad or mentally ill.

Seine: a fishing net that hangs vertically in the water with floats at the top and weights at the bottom edge, the ends being drawn together to encircle the fish.

maize, maze
mall, maul
for, fore, four
foreword, forward
manna, manner
cell, sell
censer, censor, sensor

Censer: a container in which incense is burned, typically during a religious ceremony.

Censor: an official who examines material that is about to be released, such as books, movies, news, and art, and suppresses any parts that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security.

Sensor: a device that detects or measures a physical property and records, indicates, or otherwise responds to it.

cent, scent, sent
mantel, mantle

Mantel: a structure of wood, marble, or stone above and around a fireplace.

Mantle: an important role or responsibility that passes from one person to another

satire, satyr
sauce, source
lean, lien
lessen, lesson

List some homophones that you have come across in English Language and their different meanings.

ASSESSMENT

What do you understand by the plural forms of nouns?
Give several examples of the plural forms of nouns.
List the writing styles you know?
Expository writing is most suitable for?
What are question tags? Give ample examples.

ANSWER

A plural noun is a word that indicates that there is more than one person, animal place, thing, or idea.

Singular	Plural
berry	berries
activity	activities
daisy	daisies

Descriptive, Persuasive and Narrative
Textbooks and articles
Question tags are short questions at the end of statements. Jack is from Spain, isn’t he?

SS1 English Language Third Term: Understanding the Relationship between a Writer’s Purpose and Tone; Pronoun References to Three Persons

English Language Third Term Week 9 Topic: Understanding the Relationship between a Writer’s Purpose and Tone Instruction: Read the comprehension passage below [carefully] after which you should check the next segment to examine the authour’s purpose and tone. Car alarms are a public nuisance. Their persistent and disruptive noise has been shown to boost stress hormones that are linked to physiological illness and psychological distress. Studies also show that children regularly exposed to car alarm noise have difficulty concentrating on quiet tasks like reading. Because car alarm noise makes people irritable, it also increases the tendency to be impatient and rude. In short, noisy car alarms are helping erode public civility. And for what? For nothing. According to police, criminologists, insurance companies, auto manufacturers, and even car thieves themselves, car alarms are next to useless. A 1997 analysis of insurance claims from 73 million vehicles concluded that alarms did not deter car theft. No one pays any attention to car alarms any more because 95 to 99 percent of the alarms are false. According to the Progressive Insurance Company, fewer than 1 percent of people surveyed say that they would call the police if they heard a car alarm. Plus, today’s car thieves are professionals undeterred by the presence of alarms, which they can readily disable when necessary. Consequently, GM, Ford, and other manufacturers have begun to stop putting alarms in their cars. This is their way of acknowledging that the alarms are nothing but “noisemakers.” It’s outrageous that audible car alarms continue to needlessly reduce our quality of life. They should be made illegal immediately.
	The author’s purpose is:
	a. to inform
	b. to persuade
	The author’s tone is:
	a. emotionally neutral
	b. irritated
	c. amused
	d. puzzled

Pronoun References to Three Persons

First-Person Point of View

When we talk about ourselves, our opinions, and the things that happen to us, we generally speak in the first person. The biggest clue that a sentence is written in the first person is the use of first-person pronouns. In the first sentence of this paragraph, the pronouns appear in bold text. We, us, our,and ourselves are all first-person pronouns. Specifically, they are plural first-person pronouns. Singular first-person pronouns include I, me, my, mine and myself.

I think I lost my wallet! I can’t find it anywhere! Oh, I could just kick myself!

We could do ourselves a favor and make a reservation for our group.

Many stories and novels are written in the first-person point of view. In this kind of narrative, you are inside a character’s head, watching the story unfold through that character’s eyes.

When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.

Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games

Second-Person Point of View

The second-person point of view belongs to the person (or people) being addressed. This is the “you” perspective. Once again, the biggest indicator of the second person is the use of second-person pronouns: you, your, yours, yourself, yourselves.

You can wait in here and make yourself at home.

You should be proud of yourselves for finishing this enormous project!

Stories and novels written in the second person exist, but they are much rarer than narratives written from a first- or third-person perspective.

You are not the kind of guy who would be at a place like this at this time of the morning. But here you are, and you cannot say that the terrain is entirely unfamiliar, although the details are fuzzy.

Jay McInerney, Bright Lights, Big City

Third-Person Point of View

The third-person point of view belongs to the person (or people) being talked about. The third-person pronouns include he, him, his, himself, she, her, hers, herself, it, its, itself, they, them, their, theirs, and themselves.

Tiffany used her prize money from the science fair to buy herself a new microscope.

The concert goers roared their approval when they realized they’d be getting an encore.

You can’t always rely on pronouns to tell you the perspective of a sentence. Not all sentences include pronouns, especially in the third person:

Mike always hated school.

But if you look at this sentence and think “Mike isn’t me,” you can eliminate the first person. You can also think “I’m not talking to Mike,” so that eliminates the second person. You’re left with the third person.

Plenty of stories and novels are written in the third person. In this type of story, a disembodied narrator describes what the characters do and what happens to them. You don’t see directly through a character’s eyes as you do in a first-person narrative, but often the narrator describes the main character’s thoughts and feelings about what’s going on.

Sam Vimes sighed when he heard the scream, but he finished shaving before he did anything about it.

Terry Pratchett, Night Watch

Speaking in the Third Person

Most of the time when people talk about themselves, they speak in the first person. It would certainly be eccentric to talk about yourself in the third person all the time, but you may do it once in a while for comedic effect or to grab someone’s attention.

Tina: Let’s get sushi for lunch. It’s Jeff’s favorite! Tom: No, Jeff hates sushi. I think he’d rather get burritos. Jeff: Um, does Jeff get a vote?

ASSESSMENT

When we talk about ourselves, our opinions, and the things that happen to us, we generally speak in the___
What are pronouns?
Write short notes on The first person point of view.

ANSWER

First person
Pronouns are word that can function as a noun phrase used by itself and that refers either to the participants in the discourse (e.g. I, you ) or to someone or something mentioned elsewhere in the discourse (e.g. she, it, this ).

3. First-Person Point of View

I think I lost my wallet! I can’t find it anywhere! Oh, I could just kick myself!

We could do ourselves a favor and make a reservation for our group.

SS1 English Language Third Term: Homophones; Words Associated with Sports and Entertainment; Features of Complex Sentences

English Language Third Term

Week 10

Topic: Homophones

Some Examples of Homophones are:

Compliment, Complement

Compliment: a polite expression of praise or admiration.

Complement: a thing that completes or brings to perfection.

leach, leech

Leach: (with reference to a soluble chemical or mineral) drain away from soil, ash, or similar material by the action of percolating liquid, especially rainwater.

Leech: This is a segmented worm.

leak, leek

Leak: (of a container or covering) accidentally lose or admit contents, especially liquid or gas, through a hole or crack.

Leek: a plant related to the onion, with flat overlapping leaves forming an elongated cylindrical bulb that together with the leaf bases is eaten as a vegetable.

sale, sail
sane, seine

Sane: (of a person) of sound mind; not mad or mentally ill.

Seine: a fishing net that hangs vertically in the water with floats at the top and weights at the bottom edge, the ends being drawn together to encircle the fish.

maize, maze
mall, maul
for, fore, four
foreword, forward
manna, manner
cell, sell
censer, censor, sensor

Censer: a container in which incense is burned, typically during a religious ceremony.

Sensor: a device that detects or measures a physical property and records, indicates, or otherwise responds to it.

cent, scent, sent
mantel, mantle

Mantel: a structure of wood, marble, or stone above and around a fireplace.

Mantle: an important role or responsibility that passes from one person to another

satire, satyr
sauce, source
lean, lien
lessen, lesson

List some homophones that you have come across in English Language and their different meanings.

Lesson Two

Words Associated with Entertainment

1. amusement 2. music 3. gaming 4. leisure 5. entertaining 6. hospitality 7. theater 8. recreation 9. entertain 10. animation 11. enjoyment 12. entertainer 13. fun 14. spectacle 15. recreational 16. showmanship 17. attraction 18. civic 19. relaxation 20. concert

21. hobbies 22. spectator 23. spectacles 24. pastime 25. respite 26. show 27. pleasure 28. pageant 29. game 30. distraction 31. comfort 32. shows 33. playground 34. representation 35. play 36. performing 37. hobby 38. performance 39. receptions 40. diversion

41. gig 42. artist 43. conversation 44. unsuitable 45. reception 46. representational 47. sight 48. maintenance 49. détente 50. edutainment 51. receipt 52. trigger 53. infotainment 54. multimedia 55. nightlife 56. karaoke 57. television 58. cinema 59. videogame 60. media

61. showbiz 62. comedy 63. amusements 64. performing arts 65. audiovisual 66. arts 67. programming 68. ballad opera 69. sports 70. entertainers 71. dining 72. beverages 73. escapism 74. movies 75. broadcasting 76. theater ticket 77. leisure time 78. motorsports 79. lusorious 80. conflux

81. television set 82. kirmess 83. storytelling 84. theme park 85. summer stock 86. attractions 87. extravaganza 88. horse opera 89. educational 90. Opry 91. kiddie 92. ticket booth 93. merchandising 94. smorgasbord 95. television program 96. digital 97. Roman Holiday 98. Social Event 99. catering 100. vaudeville

A complex sentence combines a simple sentence (often called an independent clause) with a subordinate clause. These sentences are the fundamental type used in academic writing–and thus a major feature in the reading and writing of ESL/EFL learners who are studying (or who wish to study) in the U.S. (or other English-speaking countries).

Subordinate Clause Types

Complex sentences come in many varieties based on the types of subordinate clauses that are available in English. In the Longman Student Grammar (and other studies of English grammar), subordinate clauses are divided into two major types: (1) finite clauses snf (2) non-finite clauses. Let’s go through these one by one.

Finite Clauses

Finite clauses are the basic subordinate clauses that are the focus of most work with complex sentences and dependent clauses in ESL/EFL grammar/writing courses and materials. The “finite” just means that there a full verb phrase–and that the clause has some type of “time” meaning. Finite clauses include (1) adverbial clauses, (2) noun clauses, (3) wh-clauses, and (4) relative clauses. In each of the following examples, the verb phrase is given in bold type to focus your attention on that feature of the clause.

Finite Clauses Adverbial Clause 1. Because humans are notmonkeys, we must be careful about extrapolating from animal studies to human behavior. Wh-Clause 2. We imagine how we appear to those around us. Noun Clause 3. For example, we may think that others see us as witty or dull. Relative Clause 4. Cantonese (the language of Canton, which differs in sound from Mandarin roughly the way French does from Spanish) is the second most common Chinese dialect.

Non Finite Clauses

Non-finite clauses are built around verbs that do not have tense or modality–verbs that are not sentence verb phrases. These are clauses with (1) infinitives and (2) participles (both –ed and –ing).

Non-Finite Clauses Infinitive Clause 1. He wondered why he had forsaken physics to study human culture in the first place. Present Participle Clause 2. Entering the world of the Yanomamo, the anthropologist experienced culture shock. Past Participle Clause 3. Confused by the differences between his culture and theirs,he wanted to flee and return home.

ASSESSMENT

What is a homophone?
Write about words that are related to entertainment and learn their meanings.
What is a subordinate clause?

ANSWER

A homophone is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning, and may differ in spelling.

1. Amusement- the state or experience of finding something funny. 2. Music- vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion. 3. Gaming- the action or practice of playing gambling games. 4. Leisure- time when one is not working or occupied; free time. 5. Entertaining- providing amusement or enjoyment.

Complex sentences come in many varieties based on the types of subordinate clauses that are available in English. In the Longman Student Grammar (and other studies of English grammar),

SS1 English Language Term Third: Spoken English: Consonant Sounds Followed by /KW/; Punctuation; Differences between Compound and Complex Sentences

English Language Third Term

Week 11

Topic: Introduction to the Consonant Sounds Followed by /KW/

Although now written with a consonant and a vowel as qu-, the /kw/ sound is made up of two consonants. As a result, it falls under the consonant cluster category. The letter q is used the most rarely of all English letters with the exception of z. In the Old English period it was very rarely seen, as even the sound /kw/ was usually represented by the letters cw- as in cwen “queen”. However, in the Middle English period, English began using q more frequently due to the massive influence of French, which used it much more. Q has thus taken on two sounds /kw/ and /k/, the latter often being spelt qu- in French as in words like plaque /plæk/, clique /kli:k/ and cheque /tʃek/, which English has borrowed from that language. In this post, we will deal with qu- words with the /kw/ sound.

Some of the modern qu- words that have evolved from forms in Old English appear to have a trembling shaky quality. These words are dynamic and mobile, they are all aquiver. Many are fearful and pulsating, others, like quell and quash may cause trembling or subdue an uprising. Below are more examples of words with the /WK/ consonant sound-


	quite	He’s quite good-looking.
	quiet	If the baby is asleep there is peace and quiet.
	quilt	The quilt is filled with feathers from the eider duck.
	query	I sent my query by email.
	question	He was reluctant to answer my question.
	squid	A squid has eight arms.
	square	There is a fountain in the market square.
	liquid	Evaporation is a type of vaporisation of a liquid that occurs only on the surface of a liquid. *
	request	I hope you won’t refuse my request.
	conquest	The small country was his last conquest.
	require	Playing in a team requires commitment.
	equal	Make sure you get an equal share.
	equator	Latitude is how far North or South a place is from the Equator. *
	equipment	A machine operator installed the equipment. *
	inquiry	There will be an inquiry into the plane crash.
	aquarium	There were many exotic fish in the aquarium.
	earthquake	The earthquake made the ground shake.
	inquisitive	An inquisitive child asks many questions.

Punctuation Marks

Punctuation marks are symbols that are used to aid the clarity and comprehension of written language. Some common punctuation marks are the period, comma, question mark, exclamation point, apostrophe, quotation mark and hyphen. The puntuation marks in English language are exclusively discussed below-

Punctuation Marks: Punctuation is used to create sense, clarity and stress in sentences. You use punctuation marks to structure and organise your writing.

We use a variety of punctuation marks, such as full stop/period, comma, question mark, brackets, etc. in our writing to separate sentences, phrases, etc., and to clarify their meaning. We need to familiarize ourselves with some basic rules in order to use these punctuation marks correctly.

Examples of Punctuation Marks

– SENTENCE ENDINGS {QUESTION MARK (?), EXCLAMATION MARK (!), FULL STOP (.)}

Three of the fourteen punctuation marks are appropriate for use as sentence endings. They are the period, question mark, and exclamation point.

THE PERIOD OR FULL STOP (.) is placed at the end of declarative sentences, statements thought to be complete and after many abbreviations. A full stop is placed at the end of each sentence to indicate the end of the sentence, which can be a statement, request or command. A full stop is not used at the end of a phrase or subordinate clause. Doing so does not create complete sentences.

For example:

• As a sentence ender: I am going home.

• After an abbreviation: Her sept. birthday came and went.

Usage of Full Stop or Period (.)

a. The period is used after most abbreviations:

Example: Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr., Rev. Wed., Oct.

b. Most short versions of some specific expressions end in a period.

Example: A.M./a.m., P.M./p.m., p.a.

c. Only one full stop is used if a sentence ends with an abbreviation.

Example: Her biggest ambition is to successfully complete her M.A.

d. The period is used to show the shortened form of a word.

Example: Opp., mo. (Written abbreviations of ‘opposite’, ‘month’)

e. A full stop is always placed inside quotation marks, whether or not it is part of the quotation.

Example: John said, “That stray dog is not mine.”
NOT: John said, “That stray dog is not mine”.

THE QUESTION MARK (?) is used

to indicate a direct question when placed at the end of a sentence.

E.g.: When did Jane leave for the market ?

A question mark is used after a question that ends with an abbreviation.

E.g.: You said you saw the film show at about 7 p.m.?

THE EXCLAMATION MARK (!) is used when a person wants to express a sudden outcry or add emphasis. An exclamation mark is used after interjections or commands. (An interjection is a word or phrase used to express a strong feeling.) It expresses an emotion such as surprise, anger, fear, pain or pleasure.

Within dialogue: “Holy moses!” screamed Joke.
To emphasize a point: My sister-in-law’s rants make me furious !
To express an emotion: What a complete waste of resources! / Sit over there and be quiet for an hour!

THE COMMA (,)

The comma, semicolon and colon are often misused because they all can indicate a pause in a series.

The comma is used to show a separation of ideas or elements within the structure of a sentence. Additionally, it is used in letter writing after the salutation and closing.

Separating elements within sentences: Suzi wanted the black , green, red, pink, white and blue shoes.

Note that in a list, the final two items are linked by the word ‘and’ rather than by a comma.

Letter Salutations: Dear Uncle Jola , Dear Miss Busola,
Separation of two complete sentences: We went to the theatre, and we went to the beach.

The comma is useful in a sentence when the writer wishes to:

pause before proceeding

add a phrase that does not contain any new subject

separate items on a list

use more than one adjective (a describing word, like beautiful)

For example, in the following sentence the phrase or clause between the commas gives us more information behind the actions of the boy, the subject of the sentence:

The boy, who knew that his mother was about to arrive, ran quickly towards the opening door.

THE COLON (:)

A colon (:) has two main uses:

The first is after a word introducing a quotation, an explanation, an example, or a series. It is also often used after the salutation of a business letter.

The second is within time expressions. Within time, it is used to separate out the hour and minute: 11:00am.

A colon is used before a list and usually after ‘as follows.’

E.g.: This basket contains the following fruits: mango, pawpaw, watermelon, apple and pineapple.

It is used to separate the hour from the minutes when telling time

E.g.: 12:13am

It can be used within a heading, or descriptive title.

Example:

Comedy or Reality: A man slapped his wife over lunch.

SEMI-COLON (;)

The semi-colon is perhaps the most difficult sign of punctuation to use accurately. If in doubt, avoid using it and convert the added material into a new sentence.

As a general rule, the semi-colon is used in the following ways:

A semicolon is used to join two sentences, independent clauses or a series of items which are closely connected in meaning.

Examples:

We leave for Ibadan at noon; the weather looks promising.

He gives up smoking; obviously, he fears contracting one of the smoking-related diseases

The semi-colon can also be used to assemble detailed lists.

E.xamples:

The conference was attended by delegates from Ikeja, Lagos; Agbowo, Ibadan; Wuse, Abuja; Daura, Katsina; and Sabongari, Kano.

The semicolon (;) is used to connect independent clauses. It shows a closer relationship between the clauses than a period would show. For example: John was hurt ; he knew she only said it to upset him.

THE APOSTROPHE (‘)

An apostrophe (‘) sometimes called inverted comma is used to indicate the omission of a letter or letters from a word, the possessive case, or the plurals of lowercase letters.

The apostrophe indicates possession or ownership.

For example:

The boy’s car is red, (girl is in the singular).

This shows the reader that the car belongs to the boy.

The boys’ cars are green, (boys in this instance are plural, i.e. more than one boy, more than one car).

This indicates that the cars belong to the boys.

to form contractions by showing the numbers or letters that have been left out.

E.g.: ’89 =1989
E.g.: I am = I’m / we are = we’re / he will, you’re

to form the possessive of a noun.

Add ‘s to a single noun or name: uncle’s pipe; Tony’s girlfriend; dog’s tail; Bobola’s car.
Add ‘s to singular noun that end in –s: actress’s role; princess’s lover; rhinoceros’s skin.
Add ‘s to plural nouns that end in –s: boys’ bicycles; friends’ houses; books’ covers
Add ‘s to other plural nouns: children’s toys; women’s clothes; men’s boots.
Add ‘s to a person’s office or shop: I’ll buy the pork at the butcher’s. / I’ll be visiting Tom’s.
Add ‘s only after the second name: Jack and Jill’s pail; Bonnie and Clyde’s loot.

to form the plural of abbreviations: many Dr.’s; many M.D.’s; many Ph.D.’s.

QUOTATION OR SPEECH MARKS (“….”)

Quotation or speech marks are used to:

To mark out speech

When quoting someone else’s speech

For example:

My grandma said, “Share your chocolates with your friends.”

“George, don’t do that!”

“Will you get your books out please?” said Mrs Jones, the teacher, “and quieten down!”

HYPHEN (-)

The hyphen is used to link words together.

For example:

twentieth-century people
second-class upper
non-verbal

Generally, hyphens are used to join two words or parts of words together while avoiding confusion or ambiguity.

EXAMPLES

show-down

up-to-date

There are some cases where hyphens preserve written clarity such as where there are letter collisions, where a prefix is added, or in family relations. Many words that have been hyphenated in the past have since dropped the hyphen and become a single word (email, nowadays).

EXAMPLES

co-operate
oval-like
anti-bomb
post-colonial
great-grandmother
mother-in-law

HYPHENS IN NUMBERS

Hyphen is used with compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine.

EXAMPLES

Twenty-two
seventy-five
thirty-three
sixty-nine

In written fractions, a hyphen is placed between the numerator and denominator except if there is already a hyphen in either the numerator or the denominator.

EXAMPLES

two-thirds

one-eight

three-tenths

six-hundredths

A Hyphen is used when a number forms part of an adjectival compound

EXAMPLES

Bobola has a 55-hour working week.

Busola won the 12000-metre marathon race.

Wole Soyinka was a great nineteenth-century novelist.

DASHES

Dashes can be used to add parenthetical statements or comments in much the same way as you would use brackets. In formal writing you should use the bracket rather than the dash as a dash is considered less formal. Dashes can be used to create emphasis in a sentence.

EXAMPLES

You may think she is a liar – she isn’t.

Osas might come to the party – you never know.

BRACKETS ( )

Brackets always come in pairs ( ) and are used to make an aside, or a point which is not part of the main flow of a sentence. If you remove the words between the brackets, the sentence should still make sense.

For example:

“The strategy (or strategies) chosen to meet the objectives may need to change as the intervention continues.”

SQUARE BRACKETS […]

A different set of square brackets [ ] can be used:

to abbreviate lengthy quotations

to correct the tense of a quotation to suit the tense of your own sentence

to add your own words to sections of an abbreviated quotation.

To abbreviate lengthy quotations in an essay or report

Example:

“We can define class as a large-scale grouping of people who share common economic resources that strongly influence the types of lifestyle they are able to lead. Ownership of wealth, together with occupation, are the chief basis of class differences. The major classes that exist in Western societies are an upper class […]; a middle class […] and a working class […].”

SLASH (/)

Many people use the slash instead of or, and etc., but this is not always helpful to the reader. There is, however, a modern convention in gender-neutral writing to use ‘s/he’.

Slashes are important symbols in web-addresses (URLs). The full URL for this page is https://www.passnownow.com/classwork-support/

ELLIPSIS (…)

An ellipsis (three dots) indicates that part of the text has been intentionally been left out.

Example: List of odd numbers between 1 and 99 – 1,3,5,… 99.

General Punctuation Rules

Since proper punctuation is an essential part of successful communication, remembering basic punctuation rules will make it easier for you to write clearly and effectively.

Periods
Commas
Semicolons
Colons
Quotation Marks
Parentheses and Brackets
Apostrophes

Periods

Rule 1. Use a period at the end of a complete sentence that is a statement.

Example: I know him well.

Rule 2. If the last item in the sentence is an abbreviation that ends in a period, do not follow it with another period.

Incorrect: This is Alice Smith, M.D..

Correct: This is Alice Smith, M.D.

Correct: Please shop, cook, etc. We will do the laundry.

Rule 3. Question marks and exclamation points replace and eliminate periods at the end of a sentence.

Commas

Commas and periods are the most frequently used punctuation marks. Commas customarily indicate a brief pause; they’re not as final as periods.

Rule 1. We use commas to separate words and word groups in a simple series of three or more items.

Example: My estate goes to my husband, son, daughter-in-law, and nephew.

Note: When the last comma in a series comes before and or or (after daughter-in-law in the above example), it is known as the Oxford comma. Most newspapers and magazines drop the Oxford comma in a simple series, apparently feeling it’s unnecessary. However, omission of the Oxford comma can sometimes lead to misunderstandings.

Example: We had coffee, cheese and crackers and grapes.

Adding a comma after crackers makes it clear that cheese and crackers represents one dish. In cases like this, clarity demands the Oxford comma.

We had coffee, cheese and crackers, and grapes.

Fiction and nonfiction books generally prefer the Oxford comma. Writers must decide Oxford or no Oxford and not switch back and forth, except when omitting the Oxford comma could cause confusion as in the cheese and crackers example.

Semicolons

It’s no accident that a semicolon is a period atop a comma. Like commas, semicolons indicate an audible pause—slightly longer than a comma’s, but short of a period’s full stop.

Semicolons have other functions, too. But first, a caveat: avoid the common mistake of using a semicolon to replace a colon (see the “Colons” section).

Incorrect: I have one goal; to find her.

Correct: I have one goal: to find her.

Rule 1. A semicolon can replace a period if the writer wishes to narrow the gap between two closely linked sentences.

Examples:
Call me tomorrow; you can give me an answer then.
We have paid our dues; we expect all the privileges listed in the contract.

Rule 2. Use a semicolon before such words and terms as namely, however, therefore, that is, i.e., for example, e.g., for instance, etc., when they introduce a complete sentence. It is also preferable to use a comma after these words and terms.

Example: Bring any two items; however, sleeping bags and tents are in short supply.

Rule 3. Use a semicolon to separate units of a series when one or more of the units contain commas.

Incorrect: The conference has people who have come from Moscow, Idaho, Springfield, California, Alamo, Tennessee, and other places as well.

Note that with only commas, that sentence is hopeless.

Correct: The conference has people who have come from Moscow, Idaho; Springfield, California; Alamo, Tennessee; and other places as well.

Rule 4. A semicolon may be used between independent clauses joined by a connector, such as and, but, or, nor, etc., when one or more commas appear in the first clause.

Example: When I finish here, and I will soon, I’ll be glad to help you; and that is a promise I will keep.

Colons

A colon means “that is to say” or “here’s what I mean.” Colons and semicolons should never be used interchangeably.

Rule 1. Use a colon to introduce a series of items. Do not capitalize the first item after the colon (unless it’s a proper noun).

Examples:
You may be required to bring many things: sleeping bags, pans, utensils, and warm clothing.
I want the following items: butter, sugar, and flour.
I need an assistant who can do the following: input data, write reports, and complete tax forms.

Rule 2. Avoid using a colon before a list when it directly follows a verb or preposition.

Incorrect: I want: butter, sugar, and flour.

Correct:
I want the following: butter, sugar, and flour.
OR
I want butter, sugar, and flour.

Incorrect: I’ve seen the greats, including: Barrymore, Guinness, and Streep.

Correct: I’ve seen the greats, including Barrymore, Guinness, and Streep.

Rule 3. When listing items one by one, one per line, following a colon, capitalization and ending punctuation are optional when using single words or phrases preceded by letters, numbers, or bullet points. If each point is a complete sentence, capitalize the first word and end the sentence with appropriate ending punctuation. Otherwise, there are no hard and fast rules, except be consistent.

Examples:

I want an assistant who can do the following:

input data
write reports
complete tax forms

The following are requested:

Wool sweaters for possible cold weather.
Wet suits for snorkeling.
Introductions to the local dignitaries.

These are the pool rules:

Do not run.
If you see unsafe behavior, report it to the lifeguard.
Did you remember your towel?
Have fun!

Rule 4. A colon instead of a semicolon may be used between independent clauses when the second sentence explains, illustrates, paraphrases, or expands on the first sentence.

Example: He got what he worked for: he really earned that promotion.

If a complete sentence follows a colon, as in the previous example, it is up to the writer to decide whether to capitalize the first word. Capitalizing a sentence after a colon is generally a judgment call; if what follows a colon is closely related to what precedes it, there is no need for a capital.

Note: A capital letter generally does not introduce a simple phrase following a colon.

Example: He got what he worked for: a promotion.

Rule 5. A colon may be used to introduce a long quotation. Some style manuals say to indent one-half inch on both the left and right margins; others say to indent only on the left margin. Quotation marks are not used.

Example: The author of Touched, Jane Straus, wrote in the first chapter:
Georgia went back to her bed and stared at the intricate patterns of burned moth wings in the translucent glass of the overhead light. Her father was in “hyper mode” again where nothing could calm him down.

Rule 6. Use a colon rather than a comma to follow the salutation in a business letter, even when addressing someone by his or her first name. (Never use a semicolon after a salutation.) A comma is used after the salutation in more informal correspondence.

Formal: Dear Ms. Rodriguez:

Informal: Dear Dave,

Quotation Marks

The rules set forth in this section are customary in the United States. Great Britain and other countries in the Commonwealth of Nations are governed by quite different conventions. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Rule 3a in this section, a rule that has the advantage of being far simpler than Britain’s and the disadvantage of being far less logical.

Rule 1. Use double quotation marks to set off a direct (word-for-word) quotation.

Correct: “When will you be here?” he asked.

Incorrect: He asked “when I would be there.”

Rule 2. Either quotation marks or italics are customary for titles: magazines, books, plays, films, songs, poems, article titles, chapter titles, etc.

Rule 3a. Periods and commas always go inside quotation marks.

Examples:
The sign said, “Walk.” Then it said, “Don’t Walk,” then, “Walk,” all within thirty seconds.
He yelled, “Hurry up.”

Rule 3b. Use single quotation marks for quotations within quotations.

Example: He said, “Dan cried, ‘Do not treat me that way.’ “

Note that the period goes inside both the single and double quotation marks.

Rule 4. As a courtesy, make sure there is visible space at the start or end of a quotation between adjacent single and double quotation marks. (Your word processing program may do this automatically.)

Not ample space: He said, “Dan cried, ‘Do not treat me that way.’”

Ample space: He said, “Dan cried, ‘Do not treat me that way.’ “

Rule 5a. Quotation marks are often used with technical terms, terms used in an unusual way, or other expressions that vary from standard usage.

Examples:
It’s an oil-extraction method known as “fracking.”
He did some “experimenting” in his college days.
I had a visit from my “friend” the tax man.

Rule 5b. Never use single quotation marks in sentences like the previous three.

Incorrect: I had a visit from my ‘friend’ the tax man.

The single quotation marks in the above sentence are intended to send a message to the reader that friend is being used in a special way: in this case, sarcastically. Avoid this invalid usage. Single quotation marks are valid only within a quotation, as per Rule 3b, above.

Rule 6. When quoted material runs more than one paragraph, start each new paragraph with opening quotation marks, but do not use closing quotation marks until the end of the passage.

Example: She wrote: “I don’t paint anymore. For a while I thought it was just a phase that I’d get over.
“Now, I don’t even try.”

Parentheses and Brackets

Parentheses and brackets must never be used interchangeably.

Parentheses

Rule 1. Use parentheses to enclose information that clarifies or is used as an aside.

Example: He finally answered (after taking five minutes to think) that he did not understand the question.

If material in parentheses ends a sentence, the period goes after the parentheses.

Example: He gave me a nice bonus ($500).

Commas could have been used in the first example; a colon could have been used in the second example. The use of parentheses indicates that the writer considered the information less important—almost an afterthought.

Rule 2. Periods go inside parentheses only if an entire sentence is inside the parentheses.

Example: Please read the analysis. (You’ll be amazed.)

This is a rule with a lot of wiggle room. An entire sentence in parentheses is often acceptable without an enclosed period:

Example: Please read the analysis (you’ll be amazed).

Rule 3. Parentheses, despite appearances, are not part of the subject.

Example: Joe (and his trusty mutt) was always welcome.

If this seems awkward, try rewriting the sentence:

Example: Joe (accompanied by his trusty mutt) was always welcome.

Rule 4. Commas are more likely to follow parentheses than precede them.

Incorrect: When he got home, (it was already dark outside) he fixed dinner.

Correct: When he got home (it was already dark outside), he fixed dinner.

Brackets

Brackets are far less common than parentheses, and they are only used in special cases. Brackets (like single quotation marks) are used exclusively within quoted material.

Rule 1. Brackets are interruptions. When we see them, we know they’ve been added by someone else. They are used to explain or comment on the quotation.

Examples:
“Four score and seven [today we’d say eighty-seven] years ago…”
“Bill shook hands with [his son] Al.”

Rule 2. When quoting something that has a spelling or grammar mistake or presents material in a confusing way, insert the term sic in italics and enclose it in nonitalic (unless the surrounding text is italic) brackets.

Sic (“thus” in Latin) is shorthand for, “This is exactly what the original material says.”

Example: She wrote, “I would rather die then [sic] be seen wearing the same outfit as my sister.”

The [sic] indicates that then was mistakenly used instead of than.

Rule 3. In formal writing, brackets are often used to maintain the integrity of both a quotation and the sentences others use it in.

Example: “[T]he better angels of our nature” gave a powerful ending to Lincoln’s first inaugural address.

Lincoln’s memorable phrase came midsentence, so the word the was not originally capitalized.

Apostrophes

Rule 1a. Use the apostrophe to show possession. To show possession with a singular noun, add an apostrophe plus the letter s.

Examples:
a woman’s hat
the boss’s wife
Mrs. Chang’s house

Rule 1b. Many common nouns end in the letter s (lens, cactus, bus, etc.). So do a lot of proper nouns (Mr. Jones, Texas, Christmas). There are conflicting policies and theories about how to show possession when writing such nouns. There is no right answer; the best advice is to choose a formula and stay consistent.

Rule 1c. Some writers and editors add only an apostrophe to all nouns ending in s. And some add an apostrophe + s to every proper noun, be it Hastings’s or Jones’s.

One method, common in newspapers and magazines, is to add an apostrophe + s (‘s) to common nouns ending in s, but only a stand-alone apostrophe to proper nouns ending in s.

Examples:
the class’s hours
Mr. Jones’ golf clubs
the canvas’s size
Texas’ weather

Care must be taken to place the apostrophe outside the word in question. For instance, if talking about a pen belonging to Mr. Hastings, many people would wrongly write Mr. Hasting’s pen (his name is not Mr. Hasting).

Correct: Mr. Hastings’ pen

Another widely used technique is to write the word as we would speak it. For example, since most people saying, “Mr. Hastings’ pen” would not pronounce an added s, we would write Mr. Hastings’ pen with no added s. But most people would pronounce an added s in “Jones’s,” so we’d write it as we say it: Mr. Jones’s golf clubs. This method explains the punctuation of for goodness’ sake.

Rule 2a. Regular nouns are nouns that form their plurals by adding either the letter s or -es (guy, guys; letter, letters; actress, actresses; etc.). To show plural possession, simply put an apostrophe after the s.

Correct: guys’ night out (guy + s + apostrophe)

Incorrect: guy’s night out (implies only one guy)

Correct: two actresses’ roles (actress + es + apostrophe)

Incorrect: two actress’s roles

Rule 2b. Do not use an apostrophe + s to make a regular noun plural.

Incorrect: Apostrophe’s are confusing.

Correct: Apostrophes are confusing.

Incorrect: We’ve had many happy Christmas’s.

Correct: We’ve had many happy Christmases.

In special cases, such as when forming a plural of a word that is not normally a noun, some writers add an apostrophe for clarity.

Example: Here are some do’s and don’ts.

In that sentence, the verb do is used as a plural noun, and the apostrophe was added because the writer felt that dos was confusing. Not all writers agree; some see no problem with dos and don’ts.

Rule 2c. English also has many irregular nouns (child, nucleus, tooth, etc.). These nouns become plural by changing their spelling, sometimes becoming quite different words. You may find it helpful to write out the entire irregular plural noun before adding an apostrophe or an apostrophe + s.

Incorrect: two childrens’ hats

The plural is children, not childrens.

Correct: two children’s hats (children + apostrophe + s)

Incorrect: the teeths’ roots

Correct: the teeth’s roots

Rule 2d. Things can get really confusing with the possessive plurals of proper names ending in s, such as Hastings and Jones.

If you’re the guest of the Ford family—the Fords—you’re the Fords’ guest (Ford + s + apostrophe). But what if it’s the Hastings family?

Most would call them the “Hastings.” But that would refer to a family named “Hasting.” If someone’s name ends in s, we must add -es for the plural. The plural of Hastings is Hastingses. The members of the Jones family are the Joneses.

To show possession, add an apostrophe.

Incorrect: the Hastings’ dog

Correct: the Hastingses’ dog (Hastings + es + apostrophe)

Incorrect: the Jones’ car

Correct: the Joneses’ car

In serious writing, this rule must be followed no matter how strange or awkward the results.

Rule 2e. Never use an apostrophe to make a name plural.

Incorrect: The Wilson’s are here.

Correct: The Wilsons are here.

Incorrect: We visited the Sanchez’s.

Correct: We visited the Sanchezes.

Rule 3. With a singular compound noun (for example, mother-in-law), show possession with an apostrophe + s at the end of the word.

Example: my mother-in-law’s hat

If the compound noun (e.g., brother-in-law) is to be made plural, form the plural first (brothers-in-law), and then use the apostrophe + s.

Example: my two brothers-in-law’s hats

Rule 4. If two people possess the same item, put the apostrophe + s after the second name only.

Example: Cesar and Maribel’s home is constructed of redwood.

However, if one of the joint owners is written as a pronoun, use the possessive form for both.

Incorrect: Maribel and my home

Correct: Maribel’s and my home

Incorrect: he and Maribel’s home

Incorrect: him and Maribel’s home

Correct: his and Maribel’s home

In cases of separate rather than joint possession, use the possessive form for both.

Examples:
Cesar’s and Maribel’s homes are both lovely.
They don’t own the homes jointly.

Cesar and Maribel’s homes are both lovely.
The homes belong to both of them.

Rule 5. Use an apostrophe with contractions. The apostrophe is placed where a letter or letters have been removed.

Examples: doesn’t, wouldn’t, it’s, can’t, you’ve, etc.

Incorrect: does’nt

Rule 6. There are various approaches to plurals for initials, capital letters, and numbers used as nouns.

Examples:
She consulted with three M.D.s.
She consulted with three M.D.’s.
Some write M.D.’s to give the s separation from the second period.

Many writers and editors prefer an apostrophe after single capital letters only:

Examples:
I made straight A’s.
He learned his ABCs.

There are different schools of thought about years and decades. The following examples are all in widespread use:

Examples:
the 1990s
the 1990’s
the ’90s
the 90’s

Awkward: the ’90’s

Rule 7. Amounts of time or money are sometimes used as possessive adjectives that require apostrophes.

Incorrect: three days leave

Correct: three days’ leave

Incorrect: my two cents worth

Correct: my two cents’ worth

Rule 8. The personal pronouns hers, ours, yours, theirs, its, whose, and oneself never take an apostrophe.

Example: Feed a horse grain. It’s better for its health.

Rule 9. When an apostrophe comes before a word or number, take care that it’s truly an apostrophe (’) rather than a single quotation mark (‘).

Incorrect: ‘Twas the night before Christmas.

Correct: ’Twas the night before Christmas.

Incorrect: I voted in ‘08.

Correct: I voted in ’08.

NOTE

Serious writers avoid the word ‘til as an alternative to until. The correct word is till, which is many centuries older than until.

Rule 10. Beware of false possessives, which often occur with nouns ending in s. Don’t add apostrophes to noun-derived adjectives ending in s. Close analysis is the best guide.

Incorrect: We enjoyed the New Orleans’ cuisine.

In the preceding sentence, the word the makes no sense unless New Orleans is being used as an adjective to describe cuisine. In English, nouns frequently become adjectives. Adjectives rarely if ever take apostrophes.

Incorrect: I like that Beatles’ song.

Correct: I like that Beatles song.

Again, Beatles is an adjective, modifying song.

Incorrect: He’s a United States’ citizen.

Correct: He’s a United States citizen.

Rule 11. Beware of nouns ending in y; do not show possession by changing the y to -ies.

Correct: the company’s policy

Incorrect: the companies policy

Correct: three companies’ policies

ASSESSMENT

The /kw/ sound falls under the consonant cluster category because of——-? (A. It is made of two consonants B. It does not have the required number of consonants C. The consonants it has are the right consonants D. All of the above)
What is your understanding of punctuation marks?
List three punctuation marks?

ANSWER

A
Punctuation marks are symbols that are used to aid the clarity and comprehension of written language. Some common punctuation marks are the period, comma, question mark, exclamation point, apostrophe, quotation mark and hyphen.
Full Stop, Question Mark, Comma.

Summary Writing; Differences between Articles and Speeches

English Language Third Term

Week 12

Topic: Summary Writing

When we are studying a text, perhaps with a view to writing notes or summary, the main point or idea in a paragraph is conveyed through the “topic sentence”. This is the sentence which states the main idea r topic of a paragraph.

All other sentences in the paragraph develop the idea or theme stated by the topic sentence. An important summary skill is the ability to identify topic sentences of paragraphs as a way of identifying the main points or ideas of individual paragraphs. You may never be asked to summarize a whole passage.

How do you go about summarizing a composition? There are five stages

1. Find the relevant parts of the text: First you have to find quickly the relevant parts of the text.

3. Write a rough draft of the entire composition.

4. Write your own final draft of the summary and make necessary adjustments.

5. Final check: Check your final draft for careless errors.

When you skim read text successfully, you get the gist very swiftly, but when you are asked to write a summary, you need to be much more careful. A summary is a short statement of what someone has said or written about a subject. It should contain only the main points. Non-essential or irrelevant information should be omitted.

The diagram indicates steps you should go through to write a summary:

Notes:

The summary must bring out the key elements in the composition.

The first person ‘I’ must be avoided in summary.

The summary should be written in your own words, it does NOT just lift whole sentences from the original composition.

Follow these four steps

Understand: These four steps are strongly recommended – (a) survey (b) a quick read (c) read the question carefully (d) a careful read of the passage
Choose: Choose those parts of the text relevant to the question. If the book is yours, mark it in pencil; make rough notes – a list of points will do
Rough draft: Write a rough draft of your answer, and compare it with the question. Alter as necessary. Don’t worry if you make several false starts.
Final Version: Write out your corrected answer and check it through for any careless errors.

Differences between Articles and Speeches

Are there differences between the techniques implied when writing speeches and essays? The answer is yes. Speeches for instance use some different techniques such as repetition and the use of signposts. This is very much unlike what obtains when writing a scholarly essay; you don’t want to repeat yourself because the reader can just read the essay again. In this sense therefore, we can say that essays are a lot more academic [formal] in scope whereas speeches are not written with such level of seriousness.

However, in a speech the rules flip-flop. In a speech you do want to do these things because you need to get your point across to the audience. The audience will most likely not attentively hear every word you say, so you need to remind them throughout your essay what you’ve told them and what you will tell them. These are called signposts. In your conclusion of a speech you DO want to summarize what you’ve said.

The reason why speeches use a lot of repetition is to keep the audience’s attention. This is needless in scholarly essays because if the reader does not understand your previous point, all s/he needs to do is re-read.

Also, depending on the type of speech, most speeches are not written out word for word because they are not supposed to be memorized. You’re just supposed to know the topics of your essay, supporting arguments, and sub-sections, but not an actual word for word written out speech.

ASSESSMENT

In a few paragraphs, explain how to summarise a composition.
What is an article?

ANSWER

Find the relevant parts of the text: First you have to find quickly the relevant parts of the text.
List or find the key points: Summaries must contain the key points, each point included earns a mark. Some students make a list of pints to include if there is time, others underline them in the book if it is their own.
Write a rough draft of the entire composition.
Write your own final draft of the summary and make necessary adjustments.
Final check: Check your final draft for careless errors.

2. A piece of writing included with others in a newspaper, magazine, or other publication.