The most common tenses of the verb are the simple tenses. You use them most often in your speaking and writing. Present simple tense. Look at the following sentences. (a) I know Kisumu (b) He goes to school everyday. (c) The sun rises from the east. All the above sentences contain a verb in the … Read more
A verb which is in past tense shows what has already happened. Example: Tito liked his grandmother’s story. The verb liked tells that the action in the sentence happened before now. Rules for forming the Past Tense Most verbs: Add -ed Play – played Talk – talked Climb – climbed Verbs ending with e: Add -d … Read more
The time of an action or the state of being is expressed by different forms of the verb. These forms are called the tenses of the verb. There are three main forms of a verb: the present, the past, or the future. The Present Tense A verb which is in present tense indicates what … Read more
Am, will, can, would Is, shall, could, must Are, have, may Was, has, should Were, had, might Some verbs, such as do, have and be, can either be used as main verbs or as helping verbs. Examples: As main verbs As helping verbs I will do the job, I do like the job. Who has … Read more
In some sentences, the verb is more than one word. It is in form of a phrase, which is called a verb phrase. A verb phrase consists of a main verb and one or more helping verbs. The main verb shows the action in the sentence. The helping verb works with the main verb. Helping … Read more
A linking verb links the subject of a sentence with a word or words that: (i) express (es) the subject’s state of being Example: She is here (expresses state of being) She seems ready (state of being) (ii) Describe (es) or rename (es) the subject. Examples: Anna is a nurse (a nurse, describes Anna) Joyce … Read more
A verb is a word that: (i) Expresses an action (ii) Expresses the state that something exists, or (iii) Links the subject with a word that describes or renames it. Hence, there are two kinds of verbs. These are action verbs and linking verbs. Action Verbs Action verbs express actions. They show what the … Read more
Double subjects We all know that every sentence must have a subject. Sometimes we incorrectly use a double subject – a noun and a pronoun – to name the same person, place, or thing. Incorrect Correct Jane she is my cousin. Jane is my cousin. She is my cousin. Her scarf it is pretty. Her … Read more
REFLEXIVE AND INTENSIVE PRONOUNS Reflexive and intensive pronouns end in -self or -selves. These are myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself, ourselves, and themselves. There is, however, one difference between reflexive and Intensive pronouns. A reflexive pronoun refers to an action performed by the subject of the sentence. The meaning of the sentence is incomplete without … Read more
INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS An interrogative pronoun is used to ask a question. These pronouns are who, whose, whom, which and what. Examples: Who is the mayor of this town? Whose is the red car? Which is her blouse? What did she ask you? Whom should I trust with my secret? USING WHO, WHOM, AND WHOSE Who, whom, … Read more
A demonstrative pronoun is used to single or point out one or more persons or things referred to in the sentence. These pronouns are this, that, these, and those. This and these point to persons or things that are near. Examples: This is a gazelle. These are the students of ABC Secondary School. That and those … Read more
An indefinite pronoun is a pronoun that does not refer to a specific person or thing. In English, there are singular indefinite pronouns, plural indefinite and both singular and plural indefinite pronouns. Singular Indefinite Pronouns Another, anything, everybody, neither, one Anybody, each, everyone, nobody, somebody Anymore, either, everything, no one, someone. An indefinite pronoun must … Read more
PLURAL POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS Correct: Several reported their findings. Incorrect: Several reported his/her findings. Both singular and plural indefinite pronouns All, some, any, none These indefinite pronouns may be singular or plural, depending on their meaning in the sentence. Examples: All of my story is true – singular All of the guests are here – plural None … Read more
A contraction is a shortened form of two words. One or more letters are omitted and an apostrophe (’) is used in place of the letters left out. A contraction is formed by combining pronouns and the verbs am, is, are, will, would, have, has, and had. Pronoun + verb Contraction Pronoun + verb … Read more
Object pronouns can replace nouns used after action verbs. These pronouns are: (i) Singular – me, you, him, her, it (ii) Plural – us, you them Examples: The driver drove him. (direct object) The parents thanked us. (direct object) The reporters asked him many questions. (indirect object) In the above examples, the personal pronouns are … Read more
A pronoun is a part of speech that takes the place of a noun. They include such words as I, we, he, she, thy, me and us. Pronouns enable you to avoid repeating the same names (nouns), when writing or speaking, which would otherwise make you sound very awkward and wordy. By using pronouns effectively, … Read more
A subject pronoun takes the place of a noun as the subject of a sentence. These pronouns are: (i) Singular forms – I, you, he, she, it (ii) Plural forms – we, you, they Examples: Noun Subject Pronoun The house girl takes care of the baby She takes care of the baby The dog guards the … Read more
A plural possessive noun shows possession or ownership of a plural noun. Example: The cars that belong to the teachers are parked here. The teachers’ cars are parked here. When a plural noun ends in s, add only an apostrophe after the s to make the noun show possession. Not all plural nouns end in … Read more
A possessive noun shows who or what owns something. A possessive noun can either be singular or plural. A singular possessive noun shows that one person, place, or thing has or owns something. To make a singular noun show possession, add an apostrophe and s (‘s). Example: the feathers of the chick – the chick’s feathers … Read more
These are nouns that represent a group of people or things as a single unit. Some collective nouns can take plural forms Examples: Crowd (s) flock (s) Group (s) herd (s) Team (s) committee (s) Pair (s) Some collective nouns, however, cannot be used in the plural: Examples Furniture* beddings* Equipments* informations* Luggages* baggages* … Read more