Grammar

Question 1

What is the Indicative (mood)

Answer 1

The most frequent type of mood. Is used in sentences when you state a fact or ask about something. E.x: It is raining outside. I enjoy the rain

Question 2

What is the Imperative mood

Answer 2

It is used to give directions, e.x: Take out the trash

Question 3

What is the Subjunctive mood

Answer 3

It is used to express wishes, suggestions, demands, conditions, etc. E.x: I insist he stop talking, I wish I were an astronaut

Question 4

Explain Intransitive verbs

Answer 4

Takes no object, e.x: Peter fainted (some can take obligatory adverbials)

Question 5

Explain Transitive verbs

Answer 5

Takes a direct object, e.x: she ate an apple (some can take an obligatory adverbial)

Question 6

Explain Complex Transitive Verbs

Answer 6

Takes a direct object and an object predicative, e.x: We consider her a good candidate

Question 7

Explain Ditransitive verbs

Answer 7

Takes both a direct object and a indirect object, e.x: James gave Richard a present

Question 8

What are proper nouns?

Answer 8

Proper nouns are names. They do not vary in number - always plural or singular. Singular proper nouns takes no definite determiners, e.x the Anne*

Question 9

What are common nouns?

Answer 9

Common nouns are general, non-specific people, places, things or ideas. Has no unique reference in themselves. Determiners helps determine what the referent is; e.x: a book.
They are countable or uncountable. Can be proceeded by; indefinite article ‘a’, numerals, countable determiners

Question 10

What are invariable nouns?

Answer 10

Always singular or always plural nouns. e.x:
always singular: names of diseases, sports and games, subjects in -ics
Always plural: Two-part clothes/instruments, groups of some animate things

Question 11

What are collective nouns?

Answer 11

Refers to groups of people, like government, family, team. Are like normal countable nouns; having both singular and plural forms. (one team, many teams)

Question 12

What is the genitive and how can it be used?

Answer 12

The genitive’s main function is to express possession. (Peter’s friend) It has the function of a determiner within the noun phrase.
-Can be used to classify a noun; children’s book (children’s being a pre-modifier of book)
-Is used to measure expressions; a two weeks’ stay, a four months’ delay
a (det) four months’ (pre-mod) delay (head)

Question 13

Explain the of-construction

Answer 13

Use the of construction (roof of the house) with inanimate possessors
Use the genitive with animate possessors (the cat’s toy)

Question 14

What is the difference between tense and aspect?

Answer 14

Tense: looks at when something happened/took place
Aspect: Whether an action is goin on or completed (progressive, perfect and simple)

Question 15

What are the rules for countable nouns? (4)

Answer 15

1. Can appear both in singular and plural
2. Can be preceded by the indefinite article ‘a’
3. Can be precede by numerals
4. Can appear with countable determiners (many sheep)

Question 16

What are the rules for uncountable nouns? (5)

Answer 16

1. Can only appear in the singular
2. Cannot be preceded by the indefinite article ‘a’
3. Cannot be preceded by numerals
4. Can appear with uncountable determiners (much butter)
5. Can be measured with unit nouns: two kilos of butter

Question 17

What is the progressive aspect?

Answer 17

be + present participle
Used to express temporary, ongoing events, incomplete events, speaker attitude and future (she is dancing)

Question 18

What is the present perfect?

Answer 18

have + past participle
Is used with things that happened in the past with some relevance to the present

Question 19

What is the past perfect?

Answer 19

Have + past participle
Is used with things that happened in the past with some relevance for a point in time in the past (not having to be connected to the present like present perfect)

Question 20

Explain passive and active voice

Answer 20

Has to do with what perspective is taken on an event.
Active sentences are about what people (or things) do, while passive sentences are about what happens to people (or things). The passive voice is formed by using a form of the auxiliary verb “be” followed by the past participle of the main verb

Question 21

Explain primary auxiliaries

Answer 21

English has three primary auxiliary verbs: do, be, and have. All three take part in the formation of various grammatical constructions, but carry very little meaning themselves.

Question 22

Explain modal auxiliaries

Answer 22

Modal auxiliary verbs include: can, could, may, might, must, ought, shall, should, will, and would. These verbs - which never change forms the way most other verbs do - indicate possibility, capability, necessity, or willingness. All modals are finite verb forms, and always first verb in VPs.

Question 23

Explain marginal modal auxiliaries

Answer 23

Marginal modal auxiliaries are verbs (such as dare, need, used to, ought to) that displays some but not all of the properties of an auxiliary. The marginal modals all have meanings that are related to necessity and advice. A marginal modal can be used as either an auxiliary or a main verb. They can be constructed either as pure auxiliaries or as main verbs without a difference in meaning.

Question 24

What are nominalized adjectives?

Answer 24

Adjectives that have become nouns: two kinds: Groups of people (the poor) or Abstract phenomena (the supernatural). Both kinds are used in a generic way.
Good to know: Groups of people are always interpreted as plurals, therefore takes plural verbal agreement.

Question 25

Explain circumstantial adverbials

Answer 25

Names circumstances relating to the event, saying; where, when, how and why an event takes place. e.x: … In that shop, last week

Question 26

Explain modal adverbials

Answer 26

Expresses the likelihood of an event taking place, or the speaker’s attitude. E.x: Actually, probably, hopefully

Question 27

Explain linking adverbials

Answer 27

Provides links between clauses and between larger units like paragraphs. E.x: Firstly, secondly, however, for this reason, on the other hand (PPs)
To conclude, to be more precise (dependent clauses)

Question 28

Explain; temporal, spatial and conditional adverbials

Answer 28

Temporal: Short adverbials of indefinite time or frequency: often, never
Spatial: Adverbials of place; in the garden
Conditional: Expresses future time, appear in simple present tense: if they come back early

Question 29

Explain Partial inversion (word order)

Answer 29

The first auxiliary appears before the subject.
-In yes/no questions: do you come here often?
Wh-questions: what did you think?
With initial negating or restricting adverbials: Not until they arrived here did they realize they had…

Question 30

Explain Full inversion (word order)

Answer 30

The whole VP, not just the first auxiliary, inverts with the subject. Full inversion is not obligatory.
Where the subject and the main verb switch positions and the word order becomes verb + subject. Generally this order is used when a sentence starts with an Adverb of place, with initial adverbials, intransitive or linking verbs (on the chair a little bear was sitting)

Question 31

What are personal pronouns, possessive and interrogative pronouns?

Answer 31

Personal: I, me, she, it, we, they (different form if subject or object) +(don’t like to appear with determiners or modifiers)
Possessive: used to indicate indicate ownership (e.g., “This hat is mine”). The English possessive pronouns are mine, ours, yours, his, hers, theirs, and whose
Interrogative: An interrogative pronoun is a pronoun that is used to introduce a question. The main English interrogative pronouns are what, which, who, whom, and whose.

Question 32

What are relative pronouns?

Answer 32

Relative pronouns introduce relative clauses = Dependent clauses functioning as post-modifiers in NPs: That I need

Question 33

What is the main difference between prepositions and adverbials?

Answer 33

Prepositions always takes a complement, e.x he looked outside the window
Adverbials do not take complements: He went outside

Question 34

What are adverbial particles and phrasal verbs?

Answer 34

In most cases, particles are prepositions used in conjunction with another word to form phrasal (multi-word) verbs. Words like in, off, up, by, along, down, forward, under (all prepositions) can be particles.
ex: Called of (cancelled), found out (discovered)
Phrasal verbs is analyzed as the predicate verb, and the following NP the direct object
They (S-np) called off (PV-vp) the meeting (DO-np)

Question 35

What are prepositional verbs?

Answer 35

Combines a verb and preposition to make a new verb with a distinct meaning, e.x: care for, long for, apply for.
With phrasal verbs the object can come before or after the particle if the object is not a pronoun. With prepositional verbs, the object is always immediately after the preposition.