Pronoun - a word used in place of a noun. All pronouns have antecedents. An antecedent is a noun to which the pronoun refers. As such, the pronoun and its antecedents should agree in person, number and gender.

Kinds:a) Personal Pronoun – indicates whether the person is speaking, is spoken to, or is spoken of. It has

person, number and case. Common error in personal pronoun is a confusing shift in person. Ex: We try to eat well because good food keeps you healthy. What is the error?

Nominative Case Possessive Case Objective Case Person Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural

1st I we my, mine our, ours me us2nd you you your, yours your, yours you you

3rd he, she, it they his, her, hers, its their, theirs him, her, it them

b) Relative Pronoun - introduces a group of words that refers to a noun or another pronoun e.g. that, whom, which, who. Who is a subject pronoun; whom is object pronoun; which refers to things, places and animals; that refers to people, places or things.

Ex.: The book which I read last night taught me to use my imagination. He who desires success must work hard.

c) Reflexive Pronoun reflects on the subject or refers to it. It can act as direct object, indirect object, object of the preposition or a predicate nominative.Ex. I love myself. (direct object of love)

I give myself a break. (indirect object) I smile at myself in the mirror. (object of the preposition) I am truly myself everytime. (predicate nominative)

d) Interrogative Pronoun - asks a question who, whom, which, why, where, what, when, how. e) Demonstrative Pronoun - points out noun without naming it. (this - these ; that - those)f) Indefinite Pronoun - refers to vague or unknown word, e.g. one, any, anybody, anyone, anything, other,

another, some, someone, somebody, something, none, nobody, nothing, each, else, all, neither, either, everybody, everyone, everything, one.Both, few, many and several are always plural in form; all, any, most and some may either be singular or plural depending on their meaning in a sentence.

Adjective - modifies a noun or pronoun either by signifying its limit or describes it. Kinds

a) Descriptive - tells “what kind”. It gives the quality, size, shape, and color of the noun. If some or all of these adjectives are given in a sentence e they should follow this order:Limiting adjective – quality – size – shape – color Ex: 1) Six tiny round and white objects have been seen in that box.

2) Tina gave her friend a durable, small-sized, red t-shirt.b) Limiting - tells “which one, how many, how much”. The articles a, an, the, indefinite pronouns and some

noun determiners are limiting adjectives.Ex.: The girl is looking at some ants crawling on the bread.

c) Noun Adjective - a noun used as adjective. Ex. apple green; baby-pink dress; snow white; paper roses

d) Proper Adjective - come from a proper name hence it begins with a big letter.Ex. German leather is expensive.

Japanese cuisine is palatable.e) Numerical Adjective - either cardinal or ordinalf) Indefinite Adjective - acts as a modifier of a noun

Ex: several books both singers few singers some friendsg) Demonstrative Adjective - points to a noun or pronoun and in effect also limits it.

Ex: This land is mine God gave this land to me. That store sells second hand books.

h) Quantitative Adjective - indicates how much of something is spoken about, e.g. much, little, some, Ex: Your grades show little improvement in English and Math.

Adverb - modifies a verb, an adjective and another adverb. They qualify the meaning of the words they modify by telling how, when, where, why, how much, how often, and to what extent.Ex: She walked there. (where)

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She walked slowly. (how)She walked far. (to what extent)She walked then. (when)

Kindsa) Adverb of Time - tells when, how often, how long, e.g. today, yesterday, daily, weekly, brieflyb) Adverb of Place - tells where, to where, e.g. here, there, nearby, backward, forwardc) Adverb of Manner - often ends in ly and tells how something is done, e.g. precisely, regularly, welld) Adverb of Degree - tells how much how little, e.g. partly, entirely, greatly, too

Verb - is a word that expresses action or state of being.Ex.: The player hurled the ball. (action) The ball is slippery. (state of being)

Kindsa) Transitive - the action is directed toward a person or thing named in the sentence; the action passes from

the doer (subject) to the receiver of the action (object: direct, indirect)b) Intransitive - refers to an action complete in itself. It does not have an object.c) Linking - does not express action instead joins or links a modifier in the predicate to the subject. Note:

some verbs can be used as linking and as action verb, e.g. appear, feel, look, seen, sound, stay, become, grow, remain, smell, taste, turn.Ex: The police officers looked for clues. (action)

The police officers looked surprised. (linking)d) Auxiliary or Helping - help to form some of the tenses, the mood and the voice of the main verb.

Ex: She has prepared the table for a special friend. Dino will read the book on success. The party has been postponed.

Properties of the Verbs Number: singular or plural Person: 1st, 2nd, 3rd. Voice: indicates whether subject is acting (active) or being acted upon (passive) Tenses: indicates time - simple, perfect and progressive (past, present and future) Mood: indicates the tone or attitude with which the statement is made.

a) indicative – used to state a fact. Ex.: Mark is a diligent and God-fearing person.

Call centers provide employment to Filipinos.b) imperative - used to give a command or request.

Ex.: Stop smoking. Please come early. Drop the gun.

c) subjunctive - used to express the following:1. condition contrary to fact - ex: If I were, I would travel around the world.2. doubt or uncertainty - uses “as though” or “as if”

Ex.: He acts as though he is the only person present. Donna looks at him as if she were scared.

3. a wish Ex.: I wish I were a millionaire. I wish I were Rose in the movie, Titanic.

SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENTAgreement - means the “state of being in accord” or conformity. In Grammar, the person and number correspond, thus, when a subject agrees with its predicate, both subject and predicate verb have the same person and number.

Rule1. A verb must agree in person and in number with its subject.

Ex.: She is a popular singer. (singular) They are popular singers. (plural)

2. Compound subjects joined by and usually require a plural verb.Ex.: The manager and the employees attend their regular meeting.Note: If the nouns joined by and are considered as one unit, the verb is singular.Ex.: Bread and butter is her breakfast.

3. Singular subjects joined by or or nor take a singular verb.Ex.: Either Susie or Candy is in the office.Note: When the subjects joined by or or nor is singular and one is plural, the verb agrees with the subject nearer the verb.

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Ex.: Either the teacher or the students are in the gym. My friends or Andrew works at the Call Center.

4. If the subject consists of two nouns, each is preceded by “the”, verb must be plural but if the second noun is not preceded by “the”, verb is singular.Ex.: The cook and the helper are left in the resto bar. The cook and helper is left in the resto bar.

5. Indefinite pronouns such as each, either, neither, one, everybody, another, anybody, everything, somebody and someone require singular verb.Ex.: Everybody is required to attend the program. Everything is in order. Each of the girls is invited to attend the party.

6. Indefinite Pronouns such as all, both, many, several, few require a plural verb.Ex.: Many are expect to come. Both are interested in winning.

7. The expression a number of is plural; the number is singular.Ex.: A number of delegates are in the social hall. The number of piracy cases is alarming.

8. Many is plural; many a is singular.Ex.: Many refuse to attend the seminar. Many a participant in the play prefers ad-lib.

9. Nouns denoting quantity, fraction, percentage, currency, take a singular verb, but if they are followed by the phrase of the, the object of the phrase determines the number of the verb.Ex.: 50% prefers Chinese cuisine. 50% of the employees prefer Filipino dishes.

10. Nouns ending in s but singular in meaning is singular.Ex.: Physics is a difficult subject.

11. Nouns in pairs take plural verb, except in the expression a pair of is used.Ex.: The pants are printed with logo. A pair of pants is sold at a low price.

12. A collective noun taken as one unit takes a singular verb. It is plural if every member of the group is thought of as an individual doing his own task.Ex.: The jury decides on the case. The jury sign the letter.

13. The expressions together with, as well as, including, plus, in addition to, accompanied by (intervening words after the subject) do not affect the number of the subject.Ex.: The contestant, together with the trainer, is given the permit to travel around the city. The student, as well as the teachers, sings in the program.

Preposition - is a word or group of words that shows the relationship between its object (a noun or pronoun that follows the preposition) and another word in the sentence. It indicates:a) place and position - at, in, below, between, behind, across, above, through, beneath, beside, near,

under, alongb) direction and motion - in, towards, out, about, around, through, by, down, overc) time - at, before, after, during, since, untilEx.: Nena placed the bag under the table.(under shows the relationship between the verb placed and the object of the preposition table)

Kinds1. Simple - at, in, of, on, with, to2. Compound - in front of, by means of

Commonly used Prepositionsaboard before except in/on/at over up underabout behind but inside past upon amongabove beneath by into since with betweenacross beside concerning like through within exceptafter below despite of to underneath fromagainst besides during off toward throughout until

Conjunctions - connect individual word or group of words. Kinds

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1. coordinating - joins words, phrases or clauses of equal or same types, e.g. and, but, or, nor, for, yet, soEx.: It was cold and windy when we went to Singapore.

2. correlative - are coordinate conjunctions used in pairs, e.g. either.. or, neither.. nor, but also, whether..or, just.. as, just.. so, so.. asEx.: Neither I nor you should be in the caucus.

3.subordinating - a word or group of words that connects and shows the relationship between two clauses which are not equally important. It connects a dependent clause to an independent clause to convey a complete thought or meaning.Ex.: He made a promise that he would soon return.

Frequently used Subordinating Conjunctionsafter as soon as if though wheneveralthough as though in order that till whereas before since unless whereveras if because so that until whileas long as even though than when

Interjection - used to communicate strong emotion or surprise. It can be very effective in adding realism to dialogues. It is followed by an exclamation mark (!)

Common interjections that express strong feeling or emotionJoy : Hurrah! Huzza!Grief : Oh! ah! alas! alack!Approval : Bravo!Weariness : Heigh - ho!Attention : Lo! hark! hush! hist!Reproof : Fie! Fie!Contempt or Ridicule : Stuff! bosh! tut-tut! Pooh! pish! Pshaw! Tush!

READING COMPREHENSION

Reading Comprehension tests measure your mastery of the following reading skills:1. getting the main idea2. noting and locating details3. inferring4. making generalizations5. predicting outcomes6. using vocabulary in context

Useful tips to improve your reading comprehension: Read carefully the passage then read the questions; skim or read the passage quickly; go back to the passage to answer the questions; answer the difficult questions last; and know the type/kind of questions to be answered.

Types of Reading Comprehension Questions:1) Noting and Locating Details -

a) Noting Details. This type of question asks about specific information in the passage such aa name, a date, or a number. It often begins with phrases like according to the author ……; according to the passage ………To answer this type of question, take note of the key word or words used in the question. The correct answer may come in the form of a synonym or a restatement of the idea in the passage but not necessarily the exact words – as stated in the passage.

b) Questions about what is not in the passage. This type often asks what is not true according to the passage or what is not found in the passage. It often bears the word NOT or EXCEPT.

c) Locating Details. Here you are asked where a particular information is found in the passage. It is often introduced by: Where in the passage did the author state that ……….

Which line shows the author’s answer …………………….. To answer, scan the passage and look for the key word or words used in the questions.

Example 1: Read the paragraph that follows and choose the best answer from the choices given:1The dessert is a strange and wonderful laboratory for the study of animal life. 2Here, if one is properly endowed with patience and the power of observation, one finds the unusual and the unique. 3Life is not easy in an area where it does not rain for months; yet living creatures are to be found there in abundance. 4Bird, insect, snake, lizard, mammal – all have adopted themselves to their environment and strange as it seem, they, not only survive but flourish, and they have developed many ingenious way of doing so. 5When you live in a place where

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the harsh sun can be your mortal enemy, the smart thing to do is to stay out of the sun, so most of the dessert creatures are nocturnal in their habits and it is at night that the dessert comes so wonderfully and vigorously to life nor is the lack of water a problem for these dessert creatures. 6Moisture can be obtained from plants or from living things preyed upon; so life goes on in a placid rhythm.1. According to the passage, animals living in the dessert have difficulty

a) getting water c) looking for foodb) adopting to their environment d) manufacturing their food

2. Which of the following is NOT true to life in the dessert.a) Living creatures are abundant. c) Life becomes active at daytime.b) The sun becomes one’s mortal enemy. d) Creatures are nocturnal in habits.

3. In which sentence does the author show that life in the dessert is wonderful.a) 1 b) 6 c) 4 d) 5

Example 2. Read the paragraph that follows and choose the best answer from the choices given:1Horace Pippin, as an African-American soldier during World War I, was wounded in his right arm. 2He discovered, however, that by keeping his right wrist steady with his left hand, he could paint and draw. 3Pippin was not trained, but his artistic sensitivity and intuitive feel for two-dimensional design and the arrangement of color and patterns made him one of the finest primitive artists America has produced. 4Pippin did a series of paintings on the abolitionist John Brown and one of his war experiences, but he shied away from social issues for the most part and achieved his greatest success with scenes of the people and places of his hometown of West Chester, Pennsylvania. 5His Domino Players, featuring four women gathered around a wooden table in a simple kitchen setting, is an excellent example of his rural scenes.1. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true about primitive art?

a) It is two-dimensional. c) Artists do not have to be trained for it.b) Colors and patterns are important. d) It is used primarily for painting portraits.

2. Horace Pippin discovered he could paint and draw.a) when someone reminded him of his artistic sensitivity c) during World War Ib) by holding his right hand steady with his left hand d) when he completed his artistic training

3. Where in the passage is the name of Pippin’s hometown?a) 1 b) 2 c) 3 d) 4

4. The author includes the fact that Pippin was woundeda) because violence was a major theme in his paintingsb) as an example of rural domestic scenec) to show that he succeeded in spite of a handicapd) in order to classify him as a primitive artist

--------------------5. It may be inferred from the passage that Pippin

a) was obsessed with the subject of abolition c) had a simple upbringingb) was devastated by his was experiences d) wanted nothing to do with his past

6. The word “arrangement” in sentence 3 could be best replaced bya) purpose b) fixture c) composition d) blend

7. The word “rural” in sentence 5 is closest in meaning toa) primitive b) urban c) country d) beautiful

8. The word “gathered” in sentence 5 can be nest replaced by a) seated b) scattered c) collected d) domesticated

9. The word “intuitive” in sentence 3 is closest in meaning toa) educated b) artistic c) intense d) instinctive

10. The phrase “shied away from” in sentence 4 is closest in meaning toa) postponed b) avoided c) painted d) feared

11. This passage would most likely be required reading in which course?a) Anthropology b) drama c) Sociology d) Art History

12. With which of the following statements would the author probably agree?a) Horace Pippin was a poorly trained, mediocre artist.b) Primitive art is an excuse for lack of training and talent.c) Horace Pippin made a significant contribution to American art.d) Horace Pippin placed too much emphasis on social issues in his work.

2. Getting the Main Idea This type of question tests your ability to find out/get the central thought of the paragraph. It is the most important idea in the passage or what the passage is about. It may start with:

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The main topic of the passage is ………….The primary idea of the passage is …………………. or ………………..What is the main idea expressed in the passage?What does the passage mainly discuss?

The main idea should elate to the entire passage and not just to one part of it. It should not be too general that it goes beyond the passage. Choices often mistaken as main ideas come in the form of:

a) Statements that focus on one paragraph or a detailb) Statements that are too general or too specific or incorrect interpretations.

Try this sample item: HAS MISS KENTON CHANGED?

1For the first twenty or so minutes, I would say we exchanged the sort of remarks strangers might; she inquired politely about my journey thus far, how I was enjoying my holiday, which towns and landmarks I had visited and so on. 2 As we continued to talk, I must say I thought I began to notice further, more subtle changes which the years had wrought on her. 3For instance, Miss Kenton appeared, somehow, slower. 4It is possible this was simply the calmness that comes with age, and I did try had for some time to see it as such. 5But I could not escape the feeling life; the spark which once made her such a lively, and at times volatile person seemed now to have gone. 6In fact, every now and then, when she was not speaking, when her face was in repose, I thought I glimpsed something like sadness in her expression. 7But then again, I may well have been mistaken about this.Which of the following best states the main idea of the paragraph?a) Miss Kenton appeared largely unchanged over the years.b) I was confused by Miss Kenton and unsure of what to make of her life.c) Old age comes to everyone.d) Miss Kenton seemed to have lost the optimism of her youth..e) I never knew Miss Kenton well.

3. Vocabulary/Reference QuestionsThese questions test your ability to get the meaning of unfamiliar words from their context. Reference questions ask what certain reference words like they, it, them or this refer to. To answer, substitute the choices given for the reference word. The best substitute for it is the correct answer.

Try this:Acid rain in the form of particles, snow and fog attacks a tree on all fronts. Airborne pollution settles first on the highest treetops of the forest crown which acts as a natural windbreak. Acid precipitation filters down the soil, eats away the root system and eventually leaches out key nutrients such as calcium and potassium and mobilizes toxic metals like aluminum. Once on a leaf or needle, acid rain disrupts the operation of the stomata, the tiny openings that permit a tree to “breath”. The process of photosynthesis is thrown off balance, and subtle changes take place in the internal chemistry of the tree that result in discoloration and premature aging. Finally, it washes away vital nutrients from the leaves and needle so that a tree slowly starves to death, its respiratory, circulatory and digestive systems crippled. When death comes, it is often due to drought. Much like an AIDS victim whose immune system has broken down, the ailing tree is lifeless against the ravages of nature.Choose the correct referent of the underlined pronoun.Which refers to: a) airborne pollution c) dry particles

b) acid rain d) highest tree topthat refers to: a) operation c) stomata

b) acid rain d) leafit refers to: a) acid rain c) chemical changes

b) photosynthesis d) premature agingits refers to: a) the leaves a) the tree

b) the needles d) respiratory and digestive systemswhose refers to: a) system c) tree’s system

b) victim d) the leaves

The ailing tree is left lifeless against the ravages of nature. Ravages means:a) ruin b) entrance c) rapture d) charm

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