basic sc Flashcards
object or complement
provides more info about the verb
answers the questions what, whom?
i.e Jack threw the stone far. (the stone)
modifier
tells the time, place or manner of action
most commonly used is prepositional phrase (under the house, after breakfast…) and adverbial phrases (yesterday, quickly, last semester…)
answers the questions where, when or how?
nouns
can be a person, place, or thing
can be a subject, an object or contained in the prepositional phrase
count and non-count nouns
count nouns that can be counted
i.e chair, three boy, two dogs…
non-count nouns cannot be counted
i.e
1. WHOLE GROUPS CONSISTING OF SIMILAR ITEMS: jewelry, traffic, clothing, furniture, luggage,
scenery, mail, makeup, money, cash, food, fruit, equipment, etc.
2. FLUIDS: water, blood, oil, tea, milk, gasoline, soup, etc
3. SOLIDS: wood, meat, bread, butter, ice, gold, silver, glass, wool, paper, iron, etc.
4. GASES: air, smoke, pollution, nitrogen, oxygen, steam, etc.
5. PARTICLES: sand, salt, sugar, flour, dust, corn, wheat, grass, hair, chalk, dirt, etc.
6. ABSTRACTIONS: advice, beauty, courage, education, energy, fun, grammar, health, help,
homework, information, intelligence, knowledge, luck, music, news, peace, progress, slang,
sleep, space, time, truth, vocabulary, wealth, work, etc.
7. LANGUAGES: Chinese, English, German, Spanish, etc.
8. FIELDS OF STUDY: chemistry, history, literature, mathematics, etc.
9. RECREATIONAL SPORTS: baseball, chess, football, poker, soccer, tennis, etc.
10. ACTIVITIES (used as gerunds): driving, fishing, hiking, studying, swimming, etc.
11. NATURAL OCCURANCES: darkness, electricity, fire, fog, gravity, hail, heat, humidity, light,
lightning, rain, snow, sunshine, thunder, weather, wind, etc.
a/an
a or an precede singular count nouns
an is used when the word starts with a vowel
exceptions when you pronounce the word differently (uniform, european, university- use a )
article the is used
when you know or assume that the listener is familir with the same person, place or thing
- the with non-countable nouns only when it’s specific
i.e Water is cold.
the water in the stream is cold.
-plural count nouns the is used also when we are talking about something specifically
other/another
other and another are not specific while the other is
i.e
The knife is dull. Please give me another (non specific, any other knife)
The knife is dull. Please give me the other one. (specific- the only other option)
These apples are bad, I want the other apples. or I want the others. - can be used when the subject is specific.
collective nouns- singular
group of people or animals that are usually singular
i.e army, audience, band, choir, class, colony, committee, congress, family, police, team, staff
nouns that are always plural
binoculars, goggles, pants, jeans, glasses, shorts, scissors
verbs
present simple: used when something is always true and is happening at the moment
past simple- done, finished action
i.e I work
present perfect- 1 verb in present 1 in perfect (something started in the past and it is still happening or it finished now)
i.e I have worked
past perfect- 1 past perfect verb and 1 past simple (had finished… by the time I arrived)
i.e I had worked
future perfect- by the time i’m … I will…
I will have worked
present simple
used for something that is true and happening atm
Fresh bread smells wonderful.
present perfect
express an action that happens before another time, or event
subject+ has/have+ verb in past participle
i.e The boss has left the office.
past simple
used when action began and ended at one particular time in past
Mike fell on the slippery ice.
george ate all his dinner
past perfect
links an action which was started and finished before another past action occurred
subject+had+ver in past participle
used usually with words: before, when, after, since, by the time
future perfect
is a future action that has started and finished before another future action occurs
used with words: beffore, since, by the time, when, after…
will+be+ past participle
linking verbs
that can be followed by an adjective - links the adjective to the subject it describes
common verbs: be, feel, look, smell, sound, taste, appear, seem, become.
i.e This pie tastes delicious. (tastes delicious)
Ellen feels confident about the competition. (feels confident)
here/there
when the sentence begins with here or there the subject is located after the verb
Here was the accident. (the accident is the subject, was- verb)
say/tell
you say something
you tell someone something
say + to or that ( janice said that, bob said to…)
tell + object (bob told the boss, tom told me…)
like/as
like is used to compare only nouns- the earth like the other planets, spins…
as is used to compare clauses- use as if two actions are similar - a globe spins around an axis, as does the earth.
- you should have 2 verbs in a sentence with as comparison and one verb with like comparison
- like is usually at the beginning of the sentence on gmat when the structure is correct
between/among
between is used when talking about a distinct relationship of two individual items, groups, or people
i.e Sally had to choose between the red and white dresses.
among is used when talking about items, groups r people in general
i.e. disease spread among the earthquake survivors.
USE OF PROBLEM VERBS
TRANSITIVE/INTRANSITIVE
TRANSITIVE raise, raised, raised Tony raised his hand INTRANSITIVE rise, rose, risen Tony rises early TRANSITIVE set, set, set Julie set the book on my desk INTRANSITIVE sit, sat, sat I sit in the third row TRANSITIVE lay, laid, laid Julie is laying the book on my desk INTRANSITIVE lie, lay, lain John is lying on the floor. (Notice the changed spelling of lie when “ing” is added.) NOTE: The verb lie, which means “not to tell the truth”, is a regular verb
