Articles

Nouns

Conjunctions

Adjectives

Adverbs

PrepositionsTenses

Pronouns

Singular and Plural Nouns

By adding “s” Eg: apple – apples orange – oranges

By adding “es” to nouns that end in “s”. “ss”,”x”, “ch”, “sh”, ”o”Eg: bus – buses glass – glasses box – boxes brush – brushes

By adding “ies” to nouns ending in “y”

Eg: baby – babies lady – ladies

Exception: valley – valleys key – keys

By adding ‘ves” to nouns ending in “f”

Eg: calf – calves loaf – loaves

Exception: dwarf – dwarfs hoof – hoofs roof - roofs

Complete changeEg: child – children ox – oxen goose – geese

Without changeEg:

deer – deer sheep – sheepfurniture – furniture

Countable and Uncountable Nouns

Countable Nouns are nouns that can be counted

Eg : Alice, teacher, cat, fish, Malaysia, school, house, rice, clock, table

These words are used with Countable Nouns:

“many”, “several”, “ a few”

Eg:- There are many people in the market.

- Several stray dogs were caught today.

Uncountable Nouns

- are nouns that cannot be counted

Eg : rice, sugar, water, oil, tea, sand, wood , cloth

The words are used with Uncountable Nouns: “ much”’ “a little”

Eg:

- Don’t put too much sugar in my coffee.

- Add a little salt to the soup.

These words are used with both countable and uncountable nouns.

“some”’, “a lot of”Examples:

- She bough some mangoes.

- There is some soup in the pot.

- I ate a lot of biscuits.

- A lot of dust has gathered on the desk.

Collectives Nouns- A Collective Noun refers to a group of people, animals and things

An army of soldiers

A band of musicians

A clutch of eggs

A bouquet of flowers

A school of whales, dolphin

A flock of birds

A loaf of bread

A gaggle of geese

Collectives Nouns

A Collective Noun refers to a group of people, animals and things.Eg:A bale of cottonA bouquet of flowersA bunch of grapes, keys,bananasA choir of singersA group of islandsA herd of buffalo, elephantsA library of booksA litter of cubs, pups, kittensA nest of rabbits, miceA staff of teachersA stud of horsesA shoal of fishA suite of furnitureA swarm of beesA team of horses,oxen,playersA troop of lions, monkeys

Pronouns Personal Pronouns

- Personal pronouns are used to replace the names of people, animals or things to avoid repetition.

(a) Personal pronouns may be used at the beginning of the sentence, as the subject.

Examples:

IYouWe

They

eat

fresh food.HeSheIt

eats

Personal Pronouns

- may be used as the object of a sentence:

after prepositions

Examples:

- Basri gave the book to me.

- Leela is looking for you.

- Henry wants to come with us.

after words that show action

Examples

- Bee Hooi took them home.

- Mr Tan gave him some money.

- Puan Nina scolded her.

POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS

- Possessive pronouns show ownership.

Examples:

This is my book. It is mine.

That is your money. It is yours.

This is our house. It is ours.

That is their cat. It is theirs.

This is her car. It is hers.

This is its bone. It is its.

Reflexive pronouns

- Reflexive pronouns are used to show that the action of the verb returns to the doer.Examples:

I made the desk myself.

You must go there by yourself.

We did the work ourselves.

They painted it themselves.

He bought the tickets himself.

She wrote the letter herself.

The snake coiled itself up.

ADJECTIVESAn adjective tells us more about a person, animal or thing (nouns and pronouns).

TYPES OF ADJECTIVES

Descriptive Adjectives

To tell us about the quality of a nounor pronoun (fat, good, heavy, dry, etc.)

Examples

- Irene is a clever girl.

- He is a strong man.

- She is a humble girl

Demonstrative Adjectives

To point out the noun:

(this, that, these, those)

Examples

- Have you read this book?

- Who are those men?

Possessive Adjectives

To show possession(my, your, his, her, its, our, their)

Examples

- This is my friend, Sita.

- The lizard broke its tail.

COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES

Adjectives have three degrees of comparison.

The Positive is used

- to describe one object/person- to compare two equal or - similar objects/persons using

as + adjective + as

Examples

- Encik Osman is rich.

- His house is big.

- Encik Osman is as rich as Encik Rais.

- His house is as big as my house.

The Comparative is used

- to compare two objects/persons that are not equal, using adjective + er + than.

Examples

- Encik Osman is richer than Encik Rais.

- His house is bigger than my house.

bigbravebrightBusy

cheap clever clumsy

bigger thanbraver than

brighter thanbusier than

cheaper thanCleverer than clumsier than

Positive Comparative

The Superlative is used

- to compare three or more objects / persons using the + adjective + est.Examples

- Encik Osman is the richest man in town.

- Her house is the biggest in the housing estate.

bigbravebrightBusy

cheap clever clumsy

the biggestthe bravest

the brightestthe busiest

the cheapestthe cleverest the clumsiest

Positive Superlative

“More” and “most” are used with adjectives of two or more syllables

Example

Positive Comparative Superlativebeautiful more beautiful most beautifulintelligent more intelligent most intelligentexspensive more expensive most expensive

With some adjectives, the Comparative and Superlative are different from the Positive.Example

Positive Comparative Superlativebad worst worst

good better bestmuch more most

ADVERBS- Adverbs tell us more about an action (verb).

TYPES OF ADVERBS

Adverbs of Manner

- To describe how an action is done (softly, quickly, angrily, etc.)

Examples

- The old man walked slowly.

- She carried the box carefully.

- Siva did well in the examination.

Adverbs of Time

- To describe when an action happens (after, before, already, now, since, soon, seldom)

Examples:

- They went home after the show.

- Her parents will be home soon.

- I have not seen her since last night.

Adverbs of Place

- To show where an action is done (here, there, everywhere, nowhere)

Examples:

- Please sit here.

- She has lived there for two years

- They threw rubbish everywhere.

COMPARISON OF ADVERBS- Adverbs have three degrees of comparison:

The Positive is used 1) to describe one situation

Examples

- She walks slowly.

- We worked hard.2) to compare two equal or similar situations

Examples- Jill walks as slowly as Lisa.

- I worked as hard as everyone.

The Comparative is used

-to compare two situations that are not equal.

Examples:

- Rani walks more slowly than Rina.

- Jamal worked harder than them.

The Superlative is used

- to compare three or more situations.

Examples

- She walks most slowly of all.

- Jamal worked hardest of the three boys.

Positive Comparative Superlativeearly earlier than the earliestfast faster than the fastestlate later than the latest

ARTICLES

- A is used to show singular in number before words beginning with a consonant sound (p. b, t, d, etc.).

NOTE:

UNIVERSITY is used with “a” because it begins with a “y” sound.

Examples

- boy, cat, duck, fan, girl, jar, kite, lorry, mouse, plate, queen, rat, soap, toy, university, van, watch, xylophone, year, zoo

An is used to show singular in number before words beginning with a vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u).

NOTE

“Hour” and honour” are used with “an” because they begin with an “o” sound.

Examples”

ant, accident, elephant, egg, ice-cube, an iron ,

owl, orange, umbrella, uncle, hour,

The is used:i) to refer to person or thing that is mentioned a second time

Examples

- I bought a book. The book cost ten ringgit.

ii) to refer to a particular person or thing

Examples - He has a car. The car is old.

iii)to refer to a place or or thing where there is only one.

Examples

- moon, sun, earth,

We do not use a or an before- plural nouns- uncountable nouns- names of people and places

iv)to show comparison before adjectives in the superlative form

Examples

- most beautiful, most colourful

v) before names of certain countries rivers, mountains, etc.

Examples

- Philippines, United States of America, - Indian Ocean, Sahara Desert

PREPOSITIONSPrepositions are used to show position, direction, time, etc.Prepositions of Place or Position

(in, on, at, under, above, against, beside, behind, between)

Examples:

- He put the mouse in a box.

- Eddie is standing on the table.

- Someone is at the door.

- Bobby hid under the hole.

- He held the paper above his head.

- Lina leaned against the wall.

- He was trapped between two pillars.

Prepositions of Direction(to, over, from, along, across, around, up, down)

Examples

-The driver turned to the left.

-Gino jumped over the fence.

-They arrived from Penang yesterday.

-I saw him walking along Jalan Lima.

-The dog ran across the road.

-She became dizzy running around the tree

- They keep running up and down the stairs.

Prepositions of Time(in, on, at, for, during, since, after, before)

Examples:

- Ben died in 1980.

- Jill was ill on Monday.

- The bus will leave at 8 p.m.

- I stayed in lpoh for two days.

- Rina visited us during the holidays.

- I have not seen Ravi since Sunday.

- They went home after dinner.

- She brushed her teeth before going to bed.

C o n j u n c t i o n s

CONJUNCTIONS- Conjunctions are used to join two words, clauses or sentences:

And

- To join words, phrases, clauses or sentences

Examples:

- Bannu can sing and dance.

- I am tired and I need to rest.

But-To join ideas that are opposite of each other.

Examples:

i) David is hardworking but his sister is lazy.

ii) She wants to work but her father won’t let her.

Or- To show a choice between two things

Examples:

- Do you want tea or coffee?

- She can take the bus or walk there.

If

- To show condition

Examples:

- Mr Lee will buy a car if he has the money.

- If we don’t hurry, we will miss the bus.

so and therefore- To show cause and effect / result

Examples:

- I was hungry so I ate the biscuits.

- They were tired so they slept early.

- He is ill. Therefore he is absent from school.

because

- To show reason for an action

Examples:

- He was late because he missed the bus.

- The man shouts loudly because he is angry.

although

- To join two contrasting facts to contrast

Examples:

- Although he is rich, he is not happy.

- He came to school although he was sick.

- Although it is raining, he continues to play in the rain.

either...or/neither...nor

To join two words, phrases, clauses or sentences

- You can either walk up the stairs or take the lift.

- Neither he nor she went to school yesterday.

Examples

Simple Present TenseWe use the simple present tense(a) to express habitual actions. These are actions which we do all the time or every day.

Examples:

1. I always help my mother to cook dinner.2. They visit their parents in Seremban.3. My friends take a bus to school every morning.

(b) to express facts or general truths. Examples: 1. Frogs live on land and in water. 2. Plants need air and sunlight to grow. 3. A cow gives us beef and milk.

Table of Simple Present Tense

We use the present continuous tense to express an action that is going on at the time of speaking.

We form the Present Continuous Tense by using:- am / is / are + Present Participle [ + ing]

Examples:

1. I am eating a plate of rice.2. Benjamin is singing on the stage.3. Sharon is talking to her friends now.4. The duck is swimming in the water.

Present Continuous Tense

Table of Present Continuous Tense

Simple Past Tense

We use the simple past tense to express an action that happened at a given time in the past.

We form the simple past tense by adding

(a) adding ‘- ed or d’ to a verb . They are called regular verbs.

stay – stayed watch – watched cry – cried carry – carried drop – dropped reply – replied tie – tied live - lived

(b) changing the spelling of the verbs. They are called irregular verbs.Examples:

ring - rang choose - chosedig – dug draw - drewdrink - drank feed - fedtake - took catch - caughtcome - came begin – began

Not changing the spelling of the verbs at all.

put - put read - readcut – cut hit - hitshut - shut let - letcost – cost beat - beat

1. They cut all those trees yesterday.2. We played netball yesterday afternoon.3. Puan Mary taught us English just now.4. David did not visit his uncle last Sunday.5. The men did not go fishing last week.6. Did they see the headmaster yesterday?

Past Continuous Tense

We use the past continuous tense when we want to talk about an action that was going on in the past.

We usually use it to talk about two actions that are happening at the same time in the past.

- The words ‘when’, ‘while’ and ‘as’ are usually used in the sentences.

was / were + Present Participle [ verb + ing]

1. Joseph was eating breakfast when his friend called.2. Sharon was talking to her friends while her mother swept the floor.3. Hashim was bathing when the phone rang.

Table of Past Continuous Tense