Unit 3Grammar and usage:

Lessons 37-43

Present Perfect and Past Perfect

The present perfect expresses an action or state that is completed at some indefinite past time, but which still applies in the present. The present perfect tense consists of has or have + the past participle. › Example: The Queen has visited Canada many

times. The past perfect expresses some action or

state that was completed before some other past action.› Example: We had already eaten when we arrived at

the hotel.

Progressive Tenses

Progressive tenses indicate a continuing action or state. The present progressive shows that an action began in the past and is now continuing in the present. The past progressive indicates an action that was in progress at some point in the future, or an action that will occur at a particular time in the future.

Progressive tenses are formed by using the verb be plus the present participle. The present participle is the form of the verb that ends in –ing. › Examples:

Present Progressive: (is/are + present participle) My head is pounding.

Past Progressive: (was/were + present participle) A fly was buzzing all night.

Future Progressive: (will be + present participle) We will be arriving on Tuesday.

Activity

Write a sentence for each of the following verbs and tenses

1. Fall (present progressive)2. Discuss (past progressive)3. Prepare (future progressive)

Commonly Confused Words

Use may to ask for permission. Use can to express the ability to do something. › Examples:

May I build a skateboard ramp in the backward. Errol can do amazing tricks

Teach means “to give instruction.” Learn means “to acquire knowledge.”› Examples:

Mme. Lefarge teaches us French. When will you learn to accept people for who

they are?

Sit means “to take a resting position.” Its principal parts are sit, sat. Set means “to place.” Its principal part is set.› Examples:

Sit down and rest. She set the vase on the table and left the room.

Lie means “to recline” or “to occupy a certain space.” Its principal parts are lie, lay, lain. The present participle is laying. Lay means “to place.” Its principal parts are lay, laid. The present participle is laying.› Examples:

He lay down on the bed for a brief rest. She laid the sleeping baby in the crib.

Verbals: Participles, Gerunds, and Infinitives

A verbal is a verb form that cannot function on its own as a verb. Three forms of verbals are participles, gerunds, and infinitives.

The past participle and present participle can be used on their own as adjectives. › Examples:

Past Participle: burnt toast, frozen tuna Present Participle: a laughing smile, a running jump.

A gerund is a present participle that is used as a noun in a sentence. › Examples:

Running is hard on your knees. Irwin enjoys baking.

The infinitive is the basic form of the verb, which is often preceded by to.

Examples: To help, to feel, to arrive The infinitive can be used as an adjective,

an adverb, or a noun. Examples: His will to live was very strong. (adjective) He was lucky to survive. (adverb) To err is human. (noun)

Subject-Verb Agreement•A verb must agree in number with its subject. Examples: The dog is barking. The cats are hissing.•Difficulties with subject-verb agreement arise in the following instances.

Situation Rule Example(Subject/verb)

Collective noun as the subject Usually, use with a singular verb.

The jury was out for three days.

Indefinite noun as the subject Usually, use a singular verb, except with both, many, few, others, and several, which take a plural.

Everyone is happy for you.One of the players is hurt.

Some of the cake is left over.Some of the houses are sold.

Compound subjects connected by and

Usually, use a plural verb, unless the items form a single unit, or refer to the same person or thing.

Harry and Manny are knocking down a wall. The soup and sandwich is on sale today. (single unit)My oldest friend and best buddy has moved away. (refer to the same person)

Compound subjects connected by or or nor

Make the verb agree with the part closest to it.

Either your job performance or your marks are going to suffer.Either your job performance is going to suffer.

When words seperate the subject and the verb in a sentence, be sure to make the verb agree with the true subject.› Example: A pair of gloves was left in the

snow. (subject is pair, not gloves)

In sentences that begin with There is or There are, the verb agrees with the subject that comes after the verb, not with there.

Activity

Complete the sentences below. Use a verb in the present tense that agrees with the subject.

1. The Singer family and I_______________2. The school band___________3. Neither the kittens nor their

mother_____

Active and Passive Voice

Voice refers to the relation of a subject tot he action expressed by the verb.

In the active voice, the subject does the action.› Example: The passengers tackled the hijacker.

In the passive voice, the subject is acted upon. Form the passive voice by using a form of be (e.g., is, was, has been, will be) plus the past participle. › Example: The hijacker was tackled by the

passengers.

Use the passive voice when the doer of the action is unknown., unimportant, or obvious. In most other cases, use the active voice.› Examples:

A man was robbed near here last night. (unknown actor)

The solution was heated to 130 °C. (unimportant actor)

The defendant was found guilty of murder. (obvious actor)

Activity

Rewrite each sentence in the active voice.

1. Each of the tales in told by a different character.

2. Many writers have been influenced by Chaucer’s bawdy humour and insightful characterizations.

Pronouns and Antecedents

A pronoun is a word that replaces or stands for a noun or another pronoun. Some common pronouns include the following:

The word that a pronoun replaces or refers back to is called its antecedent. Pronouns must agree with their antecedents in number and, in some cases, in gender.› Example: antecedent pronoun

My mother thought that she had forgotten the car keys.

I it Me He She We

They Them Himself Herself This That

those Any some everyone who what

When one of the singular indefinite pronouns listed below is used as the antecedent to a pronoun, the pronoun must be singular.

In everyday conversation, the plural pronouns they, them, or their are often used to replace a singular indefinite pronoun. However, this is not acceptable in formal writing. Instead, use his or her, or change the subject to make it plural.

Examples: Incorrect: Everyone is responsible for their own belongings. Correct: Everyone is responsible for his or her own belongings. Correct: Passengers are responsible for their own belongings.

Everyone Everybody Someone Somebody

Anyone Anybody No one Nobody

each either neither nothing