LET' S STUDY ENGLISH !

Predeterminers

noreply@blogger.com (Ayo Belajar Bahasa Inggris) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:32:00 +0000

Predeterminers

The predeterminers occur prior to other determiners (as you would probably guess from their name). This class of words includes multipliers (double, twice, four/five times . . . .); fractional expressions (one-third, three-quarters, etc.); the words both, half, and all; and intensifiers such as quite, rather, and such.

The multipliers precede plural count and mass nouns and occur with singular count nouns denoting number or amount:

This van holds three times the passengers as that sports car.
My wife is making double my / twice my salary.
This time we added five times the amount of water.

In fractional expressions, we have a similar construction, but here it can be replaced with "of" construction.

Charlie finished in one-fourth [of] the time his brother took.
Two-fifths of the respondents reported that half the medication was sufficient.

The intensifiers occur in this construction primarily in casual speech and writing and are more common in British English than they are in American English. The intensifier "what" is often found in stylistic fragments: "We visited my brother in his dorm room. What a mess!"

This room is rather a mess, isn't it?
The ticket-holders made quite a fuss when they couldn't get in.
What an idiot he turned out to be.
Our vacation was such a grand experience.

Half, both, and all can occur with singular and plural count nouns half and all can occur with mass nouns
There are also "of constructions" with these words ("all [of] the grain," "half [of] his salary"); the "of construction" is required with personal pronouns ("both of them," "all of it"). The following chart (from Quirk and Greenbaum) nicely describes the uses of these three predeterminers:

Articles, Determiners, and Quantifiers

noreply@blogger.com (Ayo Belajar Bahasa Inggris) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 18:45:00 +0000

Articles, Determiners,
and Quantifiers

Definition

Articles, determiners, and quantifiers are those little words that precede and modify nouns:

the teacher, a college, a bit of honey, that person, those people, whatever purpose, either way, your choice

Sometimes these words will tell the reader or listener whether we're referring to a specific or general thing (the garage out back; A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!); sometimes they tell how much or how many (lots of trees, several books, a great deal of confusion). The choice of the proper article or determiner to precede a noun or noun phrase is usually not a problem for writers who have grown up speaking English, nor is it a serious problem for non-native writers whose first language is a romance language such as Spanish. For other writers, though, this can be a considerable obstacle on the way to their mastery of English. In fact, some students from eastern European countries — where their native language has either no articles or an altogether different system of choosing articles and determiners — find that these "little words" can create problems long after every other aspect of English has been mastered.

Determiners are said to "mark" nouns. That is to say, you know a determiner will be followed by a noun. Some categories of determiners are limited (there are only three articles, a handful of possessive pronouns, etc.), but the possessive nouns are as limitless as nouns themselves. This limited nature of most determiner categories, however, explains why determiners are grouped apart from adjectives even though both serve a modifying function. We can imagine that the language will never tire of inventing new adjectives; the determiners (except for those possessive nouns), on the other hand, are well established, and this class of words is not going to grow in number. These categories of determiners are as follows: the articles (an, a, the — see ; possessive nouns (Joe's, the priest's, my mother's); possessive pronouns, (his, your, their, whose, etc.); numbers (one, two, etc.); indefinite pronouns (few, more, each, every, either, all, both, some, any, etc.); and demonstrative pronouns. The demonstratives (this, that, these, those, such) are discussed in the section on Demonstrative Pronoun. Notice that the possessive nouns differ from the other determiners in that they, themselves, are often accompanied by other determiners: "my mother's rug," "the priests's collar," "a dog's life."

This categorization of determiners is based on Understanding English Grammar by Martha Kolln. 4rth Edition. MacMillan Publishing Company: New York. 1994.

Some Notes on Quantifiers

Like articles, quantifiers are words that precede and modify nouns. They tell us how many or how much. Selecting the correct quantifier depends on your understanding the distinction betweenCount and Non-Count Nouns. For our purposes, we will choose the count noun trees and the non-count noun dancing:

The following quantifiers will work with count nouns:
many trees
a few trees
few trees
several trees
a couple of trees
none of the trees

The following quantifiers will work with non-count nouns:
not much dancing
a little dancing
little dancing
a bit of dancing
a good deal of dancing
a great deal of dancing
no dancing

The following quantifiers will work with both count and non-count nouns:
all of the trees/dancing
some trees/dancing
most of the trees/dancing
enough trees/dancing
a lot of trees/dancing
lots of trees/dancing
plenty of trees/dancing
a lack of trees/dancing

In formal academic writing, it is usually better to use many and much rather than phrases such as a lot of, lots of and plenty of.

There is an important difference between "a little" and "little" (used with non-count words) and between "a few" and "few" (used with count words). If I say that Tashonda has a little experience in management that means that although Tashonda is no great expert she does have some experience and that experience might well be enough for our purposes. If I say that Tashonda has little experience in management that means that she doesn't have enough experience. If I say that Charlie owns a few books on Latin American literature that means that he has some some books — not a lot of books, but probably enough for our purposes. If I say that Charlie owns few books on Latin American literature, that means he doesn't have enough for our purposes and we'd better go to the library.

Unless it is combined with of, the quantifier "much" is reserved for questions and negative statements:

Much of the snow has already melted.
How much snow fell yesterday?
Not much.

Note that the quantifier "most of the" must include the definite article the when it modifies a specific noun, whether it's a count or a non-count noun: "most of the instructors at this college have a doctorate"; "most of the water has evaporated." With a general plural noun, however (when you are not referring to a specific entity), the "of the" is dropped:

Most colleges have their own admissions policy.
Most students apply to several colleges.

Authority for this last paragraph: The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers by Maxine Hairston and John J. Ruszkiewicz. 4th ed. HarperCollins: New York. 1996. Examples our own.

An indefinite article is sometimes used in conjunction with the quantifier many, thus joining a plural quantifier with a singular noun (which then takes a singular verb):

Many a young man has fallen in love with her golden hair.
Many an apple has fallen by October.

Modals: Shall versus Will

noreply@blogger.com (Ayo Belajar Bahasa Inggris) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 03:07:00 +0000

shall versus wiill

People may sometimes tell you that there is no difference between shall and will, or even that today nobody uses shall (except in offers such as "Shall I call a taxi?"). This is not really true. The difference between shall and will is often hidden by the fact that we usually contract them in speaking with 'll. But the difference does exist.

The truth is that there are two conjugations for the verb will:

1st Conjugation (objective, simple statement of fact)
	Person	Verb	Example	Contraction
Singular	I	shall	I shall be in London tomorrow.	I'll
	you	will	You will see a large building on the left.	You'll
	he, she, it	will	He will be wearing blue.	He'll
Plural	we	shall	We shall not be there when you arrive.	We shan't
	you	will	You will find his office on the 7th floor.	You'll
	they	will	They will arrive late.	They'll

2nd Conjugation (subjective, strong assertion, promise or command)
	Person	Verb	Example	Contraction
Singular	I	will	I will do everything possible to help.	I'll
	you	shall	You shall be sorry for this.	You'll
	he, she, it	shall	It shall be done.	It'll
Plural	we	will	We will not interfere.	We won't
	you	shall	You shall do as you're told.	You'll
	they	shall	They shall give one month's notice.	They'll

It is true that this difference is not universally recognized. However, let those who make assertions such as "People in the USA never use 'shall'" peruse a good US English dictionary, or many US legal documents which often contain phrases such as:

Each party shall give one month's notice in writing in the event of termination.

Note that exactly the same rule applies in the case of should and would. It is perfectly normal, and somewhat more elegant, to write, for example:

I should be grateful if you would kindly send me your latest catalogue.

Modals: Shall versus Will

noreply@blogger.com (Ayo Belajar Bahasa Inggris) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 02:38:00 +0000

Shall versus Will

The truth is that there are two conjugations for the verb will:

1st Conjugation (objective, simple statement of fact)
	Person	Verb	Example	Contraction
Singular	I	shall	I shall be in London tomorrow.	I'll
	you	will	You will see a large building on the left.	You'll
	he, she, it	will	He will be wearing blue.	He'll
Plural	we	shall	We shall not be there when you arrive.	We shan't
	you	will	You will find his office on the 7th floor.	You'll
	they	will	They will arrive late.	They'll

2nd Conjugation (subjective, strong assertion, promise or command)
	Person	Verb	Example	Contraction
Singular	I	will	I will do everything possible to help.	I'll
	you	shall	You shall be sorry for this.	You'll
	he, she, it	shall	It shall be done.	It'll
Plural	we	will	We will not interfere.	We won't
	you	shall	You shall do as you're told.	You'll
	they	shall	They shall give one month's notice.	They'll

Each party shall give one month's notice in writing in the event of termination.

Note that exactly the same rule applies in the case of should and would. It is perfectly normal, and somewhat more elegant, to write, for example:

I should be grateful if you would kindly send me your latest catalogue.

Modal: Must Not

noreply@blogger.com (Ayo Belajar Bahasa Inggris) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 08:20:00 +0000

Must not, Mustn't (prohibition)

We use must not to say that something is not permitted or allowed, for example:

Passengers must not talk to the driver.

Structure of Must not

Must is an auxiliary verb. It is followed by a main verb. The structure for must not is:

subject + must not + main verb

The main verb is the base verb (infinitive without "to").

Look at these examples:

subject	auxiliary must + not	main verb
I	mustn't	forget	my keys.
You	mustn't	disturb	him.
Students	must not	be	late.

NB: like all auxiliary verbs, must CANNOT be followed by "to". So, we say:

You mustn't arrive late. (not You mustn't to arrive late.)

Use of Must not

Must not expresses prohibition - something that is not permitted, not allowed. The prohibition can be subjective (the speaker's opinion) or objective (a real law or rule). Look at these examples:

I mustn't eat so much sugar. (subjective)
You mustn't watch so much television. (subjective)
Students must not leave bicycles here. (objective)
Policemen must not drink on duty. (objective)

We can use must not to talk about the present or the future:

Visitors must not smoke. (present)
I mustn't forget Tara's birthday. (future)

We cannot use must not to talk about the past. We use other structures to talk about the past, for example:

We were not allowed to enter.
I couldn't park outside the shop.

Modal: Must

noreply@blogger.com (Ayo Belajar Bahasa Inggris) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 08:16:00 +0000

Must (subjective obligation)

We often use must to say that something is essential or necessary, for example:

I must go.

Structure of Must

Must is a modal auxiliary verb. It is followed by a main verb. The structure is:

subject + must + main verb

The main verb is the base verb (infinitive without "to").

Look at these examples:

subject	auxiliary must	main verb
I	must	go	home.
You	must	visit	us.
We	must	stop	now.

Use of Must

In general, must expresses personal obligation. Must expresses what the speaker thinks is necessary. Must is subjective. Look at these examples:

I must stop smoking.
You must visit us soon.
He must work harder.

In each of the above cases, the "obligation" is the opinion or idea of the person speaking. In fact, it is not a real obligation. It is not imposed from outside.

We can use must to talk about the present or the future. Look at these examples:

I must go now. (present)
I must call my mother tomorrow. (future)

We cannot use must to talk about the past. We use HAVE TO to talk about the past.

Modal: Have to

noreply@blogger.com (Ayo Belajar Bahasa Inggris) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 08:14:00 +0000

Have to (objective obligation)

We often use have to to say that something is obligatory, for example:

Children have to go to school.

Structure of Have to

Have to is often grouped with modal auxiliary verbs for convenience, but in fact it is not a modal verb. It is not even an auxiliary verb. In the have to structure, "have" is a main verb. The structure is:

subject + auxiliary verb + have + infinitive (with to)

Look at these examples in the simple tense:

	subject	auxiliary verb	main verb have	infinitive (with to)
+	She		has	to work.
-	I	do not	have	to see	the doctor.
?	Did	you	have	to go	to school?

Use of Have to

In general, have to expresses impersonal obligation. The subject of have to is obliged or forced to act by a separate, external power (for example, the Law or school rules). Have to is objective. Look at these examples:

In France, you have to drive on the right.
In England, most schoolchildren have to wear a uniform.
John has to wear a tie at work.

In each of the above cases, the obligation is not the subject's opinion or idea. The obligation is imposed from outside.

We can use have to in all tenses, and also with modal auxiliaries. We conjugate it just like any other main verb. Here are some examples:

	subject	auxiliary verb	main verb have	infinitive
past simple	I		had	to work	yesterday.
present simple	I		have	to work	today.
future simple	I	will	have	to work	tomorrow.
present continuous	She	is	having	to wait.
present perfect	We	have	had	to change	the time.
modal (may)	They	may	have	to do	it again.

Modals: Be Able To

noreply@blogger.com (Ayo Belajar Bahasa Inggris) — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 10:08:00 +0000

Be able to

Although we look at be able to here, it is not a modal verb. It is simply the verb be plus an adjective (able) followed by the infinitive. We look at be able to here because we sometimes use it instead of can and could.

We use be able to:

to talk about ability

Structure of Be able to

The structure of be able to is:

subject + be + able + infinitive

	subject	be main verb	able adjective	infinitive
+	I	am	able	to drive.
-	She	is not	able	to drive.
-	She	isn't	able	to drive.
?	Are	you	able	to drive?

Notice that be able to is possible in all tenses, for example:

I was able to drive...
I will be able to drive...
I have been able to drive...

Notice too that be able to has an infinitive form:

I would like to be able to speak Chinese.

Use of Be able to

Be able to is not a modal auxiliary verb. We include it here for convenience, because it is often used like "can" and "could", which are modal auxiliary verbs.

be able to: ability

We use be able to to express ability. "Able" is an adjective meaning: having the power, skill or means to do something. If we say "I am able to swim", it is like saying "I can swim". We sometimes use "be able to" instead of "can" or "could" for ability. "Be able to" is possible in all tenses - but "can" is possible only in the present and "could" is possible only in the past for ability. In addition, "can" and "could" have no infinitive form. So we use "be able to" when we want to use other tenses or the infinitive. Look at these examples:

I have been able to swim since I was five. (present perfect)
You will be able to speak perfect English very soon. (future simple)
I would like to be able to fly an airplane. (infinitive)

Modal verbs: Could

noreply@blogger.com (Ayo Belajar Bahasa Inggris) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:21:00 +0000

Could

Could is an auxiliary verb, a modal auxiliary verb. We use could to:

talk about past possibility or ability
make requests

Structure of Could

subject + could + main verb

The main verb is always the bare infinitive (infinitive without "to").

	subject	auxiliary verb	main verb
+	My grandmother	could	swim.
-	She	could not	walk.
-	She	couldn't	walk.
?	Could	your grandmother	swim?

Notice that:

Could is invariable. There is only one form of could.
The main verb is always the bare infinitive.

Use of Could

could: Past Possibility or Ability

We use could to talk about what was possible in the past, what we were able or free to do:

I could swim when I was 5 years old.
My grandmother could speak seven languages.
When we arrived home, we could not open the door. (...couldn't open the door.)
Could you understand what he was saying?

We use could (positive) and couldn't (negative) for general ability in the past. But when we talk about one special occasion in the past, we use be able to (positive) and couldn't (negative). Look at these examples:

	Past
	General	Specific Occasion
+	My grandmother could speak Spanish.	A man fell into the river yesterday. The police were able to save him.
-	My grandmother couldn't speak Spanish.	A man fell into the river yesterday. The police couldn't save him.

could: Requests

We often use could in a question to ask somebody to do something. The use of could in this way is fairly polite (formal):

Could you tell me where the bank is, please?
Could you send me a catalogue, please?

The material was taken from http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-modals_can_2.htm

Modal verbs: Can

noreply@blogger.com (Ayo Belajar Bahasa Inggris) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:03:00 +0000

Modal Verbs (modal auxiliaries)

Modal auxiliary verbs may sound difficult but in fact they're easy. They are invariable (no conjugation). And the main verb is always the "bare infinitive" (the infinitive without "to").

Can, Could, Be able to

Can and could are modal auxiliary verbs. Be able to is NOT an auxiliary verb (it uses the verb be as a main verb). We include be able to here for convenience.

In this lesson we look at these three verbs, followed by a quiz to check your understanding:

Can

Can is an auxiliary verb, a modal auxiliary verb. We use can to:

talk about possibility and ability
make requests
ask for or give permission

Structure of Can

subject + can + main verb

The main verb is always the bare infinitive (infinitive without "to").

	subject	auxiliary verb	main verb
+	I	can	play	tennis.
-	He	cannot	play	tennis.
-	He	can't	play	tennis.
?	Can	you	play	tennis?

Notice that:

Can is invariable. There is only one form of can.
The main verb is always the bare infinitive.

Use of Can

can: Possibility and Ability

We use can to talk about what is possible, what we are able or free to do:

She can drive a car.
John can speak Spanish.
I cannot hear you. (I can't hear you.)
Can you hear me?

Normally, we use can for the present. But it is possible to use can when we make present decisions about future ability.

Can you help me with my homework? (present)
Sorry. I'm busy today. But I can help you tomorrow. (future)

can: Requests and Orders

We often use can in a question to ask somebody to do something. This is not a real question - we do not really want to know if the person is able to do something, we want them to do it! The use of can in this way is informal (mainly between friends and family):

Can you make a cup of coffee, please.
Can you put the TV on.
Can you come here a minute.
Can you be quiet!

can: Permission

We sometimes use can to ask or give permission for something:

Can I smoke in this room?
You can't smoke here, but you can smoke in the garden.

(Note that we also use could, may, might for permission. The use of can for permission is informal.)

Tag Questions 2

noreply@blogger.com (Ayo Belajar Bahasa Inggris) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 04:40:00 +0000

Tag Questions

You speak English, don't you?

A "tag" is something small that we add to something larger. For example, the little piece of cloth added to a shirt showing size or washing instructions is a tag.

A tag question is a special construction in English. It is a statement followed by a mini-question. The whole sentence is a "tag question", and the mini-question at the end is called a "question tag".

We use tag questions at the end of statements to ask for confirmation. They mean something like: "Am I right?" or "Do you agree?" They are very common in English.

The basic structure is:

+ Positive statement,	- negative tag?
Snow is white,	isn't it?
- Negative statement,	+ positive tag?
You don't like me,	do you?

Look at these examples with positive statements:

positive statement [+]				negative tag [-]			notes:
subject	auxiliary	main verb		auxiliary	not	personal pronoun (same as subject)
You	are	coming,		are	n't	you?
We	have	finished,		have	n't	we?
You	do	like	coffee,	do	n't	you?
You		like	coffee,	do	n't	you?	You (do) like...
They	will	help,		wo	n't	they?	won't = will not
I	can	come,		can	't	I?
We	must	go,		must	n't	we?
He	should	try	harder,	should	n't	he?
You		are	English,	are	n't	you?	no auxiliary for main verb be present & past
John		was	there,	was	n't	he?	no auxiliary for main verb be present & past

Look at these examples with negative statements:

negative statement [-]						positive tag [+]
subject	auxiliary		main verb			auxiliary	personal pronoun (same as subject)
It	is	n't	raining,			is	it?
We	have	never	seen		that,	have	we?
You	do	n't	like		coffee,	do	you?
They	will	not	help,			will	they?
They	wo	n't	report		us,	will	they?
I	can	never	do		it right,	can	I?
We	must	n't	tell		her,	must	we?
He	should	n't	drive		so fast,	should	he?
You			are	n't	English,	are	you?
John			was	not	there,	was	he?

Some special cases:

I am right, aren't I?	aren't I (not amn't I)
You have to go, don't you?	you (do) have to go...
I have been answering, haven't I?	use first auxiliary
Nothing came in the post, did it?	treat statements with nothing, nobody etc like negative statements
Let's go, shall we?	let's = let us
He'd better do it, hadn't he?	he had better (no auxiliary)

Here are some mixed examples:

But you don't really love her, do you?
This will work, won't it?
Well, I couldn't help it, could I?
But you'll tell me if she calls, won't you?
We'd never have known, would we?
The weather's bad, isn't it?
You won't be late, will you?
Nobody knows, do they?

Notice that we often use tag questions to ask for information or help, starting with a negative statement. This is quite a friendly/polite way of making a request. For example, instead of saying "Where is the police station?" (not very polite), or "Do you know where the police station is?" (slightly more polite), we could say: "You wouldn't know where the police station is, would you?" Here are some more examples:

You don't know of any good jobs, do you?
You couldn't help me with my homework, could you?
You haven't got $10 to lend me, have you?

Intonation

We can change the meaning of a tag question with the musical pitch of our voice. With rising intonation, it sounds like a real question. But if our intonation falls, it sounds more like a statement that doesn't require a real answer:

	intonation
You don't know where my wallet is,	do you?	/ rising	real question
It's a beatiful view,	isn't it?	\ falling	not a real question

Answers to tag questions

A question tag is the "mini-question" at the end. A tag question is the whole sentence.

How do we answer a tag question? Often, we just say Yes or No. Sometimes we may repeat the tag and reverse it (..., do they? Yes, they do). Be very careful about answering tag questions. In some languages, an oposite system of answering is used, and non-native English speakers sometimes answer in the wrong way. This can lead to a lot of confusion!

Answer a tag question according to the truth of the situation. Your answer reflects the real facts, not (necessarily) the question.

For example, everyone knows that snow is white. Look at these questions, and the correct answers:

tag question	correct answer
Snow is white, isn't it?	Yes (it is).	the answer is the same in both cases - because snow IS WHITE!	but notice the change of stress when the answerer does not agree with the questioner
Snow isn't white, is it?	Yes it is!
Snow is black, isn't it?	No it isn't!	the answer is the same in both cases - because snow IS NOT BLACK!
Snow isn't black, is it?	No (it isn't).

In some languages, people answer a question like "Snow isn't black, is it?" with "Yes" (meaning "Yes, I agree with you"). This is the wrong answer in English!

Here are some more examples, with correct answers:

The moon goes round the earth, doesn't it? Yes, it does.
The earth is bigger than the moon, isn't it? Yes.
The earth is bigger than the sun, isn't it? No, it isn't!
Asian people don't like rice, do they? Yes, they do!
Elephants live in Europe, don't they? No, they don't!
Men don't have babies, do they? No.
The English alphabet doesn't have 40 letters, does it? No, it doesn't.

Question tags with imperatives

Sometimes we use question tags with imperatives (invitations, orders), but the sentence remains an imperative and does not require a direct answer. We use won't for invitations. We use can, can't, will, would for orders.

	imperative + question tag	notes:
invitation	Take a seat, won't you?	polite
order	Help me, can you?	quite friendly
	Help me, can't you?	quite friendly (some irritation?)
	Close the door, would you?	quite polite
	Do it now, will you?	less polite
	Don't forget, will you?	with negative imperatives only will is possible

Same-way question tags

Although the basic structure of tag questions is positive-negative or negative-positive, it is sometime possible to use a positive-positive or negative-negative structure. We use same-way question tags to express interest, surprise, anger etc, and not to make real questions.

So you're having a baby, are you? That's wonderful!
She wants to marry him, does she? Some chance!
So you think that's amusing, do you? Think again.

Negative-negative tag questions usually sound rather hostile:

So you don't like my looks, don't you?

the materia was taken from http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-questions-tag.htm

Gerund 2

noreply@blogger.com (Ayo Belajar Bahasa Inggris) — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 03:16:00 +0000

Dalam bahasan yang lalu(dalam bahasa inggris),telah dibahas tentang definisi dan fungsi Gerund. Kali ini akan dibahas tentang contoh kata kerja(verb)yang diikuti Gerund, yaitu: appreciate, avoid, delay, detest, enjoy, escape, excuse, fancy, finish, forgive, give up, risk, keep, mind, can't understand, it's worth, it's no use, deny, postpone, to object to, to look forward to, dll

Tag Question

noreply@blogger.com (Ayo Belajar Bahasa Inggris) — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 02:51:00 +0000

Question tag adalah kalimat tanya yang hanya untuk menegaskan sesuatu.Jika kalimat positif maka ekor(tag)nya negatif atau sebaliknya. Contoh: He came yesterday,didn't he? Jadi kesimpulannya auxiliary atau kata kerja bantu(baik itu to be,modal)diulang dalam ekornya(tag)
Untuk lengkapnya baca Tag Question 2

Functions Of Phrase

noreply@blogger.com (Ayo Belajar Bahasa Inggris) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 19:46:00 +0000

The Function Of Phrases

A phrase may function as a verb, noun, an adverb, or an adjective.

Verb Phrases

A verb phrase consists of a verb, its direct and/or indirect objects, and any adverb, adverb phrases, or adverb clauses which happen to modify it. The predicate of a clause or sentence is always a verb phrase:

Corinne is trying to decide whether she wants to go to medical school or to go to law school.
He did not have all the ingredients the recipe called for; therefore, he decided to make something else.
After she had learned to drive, Alice felt more independent.
We will meet at the library at 3:30 p.m.

Noun Phrases

A noun phrase consists of a pronoun or noun with any associated modifiers, including adjectives, adjective phrases, adjective clauses, and other nouns in the possessive case.

Like a noun, a noun phrase can act as a subject, as the object of a verb or verbal, as a subject or object complement, or as the object of a preposition, as in the following examples:

subject

Small children often insist that they can do it by themselves.

object of a verb

To read quickly and accurately is Eugene's goal.

object of a preposition

The arctic explorers were caught unawares by the spring breakup.

subject complement

Frankenstein is the name of the scientist not the monster.

object complement

I consider Loki my favorite cat.

Noun Phrases using Verbals

(by David Megginson)

Since some verbals -- in particular, the gerund and the infinitive -- can act as nouns, these also can form the nucleus of a noun phrase:

Ice fishing is a popular winter pass-time.

However, since verbals are formed from verbs, they can also take direct objects and can be modified by adverbs. A gerund phrase or infinitive phrase, then, is a noun phrase consisting of a verbal, its modifiers (both adjectives and adverbs), and its objects:

Running a marathon in the Summer is thirsty work.
I am planning to buy a house next month.

Adjective Phrases

An adjective phrase is any phrase which modifies a noun or pronoun. You often construct adjective phrases using participles or prepositions together with their objects:

I was driven mad by the sound of my neighbour's constant piano practising.

In this sentence, the prepositional phrase "of my neighbour's constant piano practising" acts as an adjective modifying the noun "sound."

My father-in-law locked his keys in the trunk of a borrowed car.

Similarly in this sentence, the prepositional phrase "of a borrowed car" acts as an adjective modifying the noun "trunk."

We saw Peter dashing across the quadrangle.

Here the participle phrase "dashing across the quadrangle" acts as an adjective describing the proper noun "Peter."

We picked up the records broken in the scuffle.

In this sentence, the participle phrase "broken in the scuffle" modifies the noun phrase "the records."

Adverb Phrases

A prepositional phrase can also be an adverb phrase, functioning as an adverb, as in the following sentences.

She bought some spinach when she went to the corner store.

In this sentence, the prepositional phrase "to the corner store" acts as an adverb modifying the verb "went."

Lightning flashed brightly in the night sky.

In this sentence, the prepositional phrase "in the night sky" functions as a adverb modifying the verb "flashed."

In early October, Giselle planted twenty tulip bulbs; unfortunately, squirrels ate the bulbs and none bloomed.

In this sentence, the prepositional phrase "in early October" acts as an adverb modifying the entire sentence.

We will meet at the library at 3:30 P.M.

In this sentence, the prepositional phrase "at 3:30 P.M." acts as an adverb modifying the verb phrase "will meet."

The dogs were capering about the clown's feet.

In this sentence, the prepositional phrase "about the clown's feet" acts as an adverb modifying the verb phrase "were capering."

Written by Heather MacFadyen
Taken from http://www.arts.uottawa.ca/writcent/hypergrammar/phrfunc.html

The Articles

noreply@blogger.com (Ayo Belajar Bahasa Inggris) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 19:26:00 +0000

Articles

First the good news:There are only three articles in English: a, an and the.

There are two types of articles indefinite 'a' and 'an' or definite 'the'. You also need to know when not to use an article.

The bad news is that their proper use is complex, especially when you get into the advanced use of English. Quite often you have to work it out by what sounds right, which can be frustrating for a learner.
Indefinite articles - a and an (determiners)

A and an are the indefinite articles. They refer to something not specifically known to the person you are communicating with.

A and an are used before nouns that introduce something or someone you have not mentioned before:-
For example:
"I saw an elephant this morning."
"I ate a banana for lunch."

A and an are also used when talking about your profession:-

For example:
"I am an English teacher."
"I am a builder."
Note!

You use a when the noun you are referring to begins with a consonant (b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y or z), for example, "a city", "a factory", and "a hotel".

You use an when the noun you are referring to begins with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u)

Pronunciation changes this rule. It's the sound that matters, not the spelling.

If the next word begins with a consonant sound when we say it, for example, "university" then we use a. If the next word begins with a vowel sound when we say it, for example "hour" then we use an.

We say "university" with a "y" sound at the beginning as though it were spelt "youniversity".
So, "a university" IS correct.

We say "hour" with a silent h as though it were spelt "our".
So, "an hour" IS correct.

(Lots of people get this wrong - including native speakers.)
Definite Article - the (determiners)

Strong pronunciation sound thee sound Weak pronunciation sound tho sound

You use the when you know that the listener knows or can work out what particular person/thing you are talking about.

For example:
"The apple you ate was rotten."
"Did you lock the car?"

You should also use the when you have already mentioned the thing you are talking about.

For example:
"She's got two children; a girl and a boy. The girl's eight and the boy's fourteen."

We use the to talk about geographical points on the globe.

For example:
the North Pole, the equator

We use the to talk about rivers, oceans and seas

For example:
the Nile, the Pacific, the English channel

We also use the before certain nouns when we know there is only one of a particular thing.

For example:
the rain, the sun, the wind, the world, the earth, the White House etc..

However if you want to describe a particular instance of these you should use a/an.

For example:

"I could hear the wind." / "There's a cold wind blowing."

"What are your plans for the future?" / "She has a promising future ahead of her."

The is also used to say that a particular person or thing being mentioned is the best, most famous, etc. In this use, 'the' is usually given strong pronunciation:

For example:

"Harry's Bar is the place to go."

"You don't mean you met the Tony Blair, do you?"

!Note - The doesn't mean all:-

For example:

"The books are expensive." = (Not all books are expensive, just the ones I'm talking about.)

"Books are expensive." = (All books are expensive.)
No article

We usually use no article to talk about things in general:-

Inflation is rising.

People are worried about rising crime. (Note! People generally, so no article)

You do not use an article when talking about sports.

For example:

My son plays football.

Tennis is expensive.

You do not use an article before uncountable nouns when talking about them generally.

For example:

Information is important to any organisation.

Coffee is bad for you.

You do not use an article before the names of countries except where they indicate multiple areas or contain the words (state(s), kindom, republic, union). Kingdom, state, republic and union are nouns, so they need an article.

For example:

No article - Italy, Mexico, Bolivia, England

Use the - the UK (United Kingdom), the USA (United States of America), the Irish Republic

Multiple areas! the Netherlands, the Philippines, the British Isles

Taken from http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/articlestext.htm

PHRASE

noreply@blogger.com (Ayo Belajar Bahasa Inggris) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 03:08:00 +0000

In grammar, a phrase is a group of words that functions as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence.

For example the house at the end of the street (example 1) is a phrase. It acts like a noun. It contains the phrase at the end of the street (example 2), a prepositional phrase which acts like an adjective. Example 2 could be replaced by white, to make the phrase the white house. Examples 1 and 2 contain the phrase the end of the street (example 3) which acts like a noun. It could be replaced by the cross-roads to give the house at the cross-roads.

Most phrases have a or central word which defines the type of phrase. This word is called the head of the phrase. In English the head is often the first word of the phrase. Some phrases, however, can be headless. For example, the rich is a noun phrase composed of a determiner and an adjective, but no noun.

Phrases may be classified by the type of head they take

* Prepositional phrase (PP) with a preposition as head (e.g. in love, over the rainbow). Languages that use postpositions instead have postpositional phrases. The two types are sometimes commonly referred to as adpositional phrases.
* Noun phrase (NP) with a noun as head (e.g. the black cat, a cat on the mat)
* Verb phrase (VP) with a verb as head (e.g. eat cheese, jump up and down)
* Adjectival phrase with an adjective as head (e.g. full of toys)
* Adverbial phrase with adverb as head (e.g. very carefully)

Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrase

Pronouns 1

noreply@blogger.com (Ayo Belajar Bahasa Inggris) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 20:45:00 +0000

English Pronouns

Pronouns are small words that take the place of a noun. We can use a pronoun instead of a noun. Pronouns are words like: he, you, ours, themselves, some, each... If we didn't have pronouns, we would have to repeat a lot of nouns. We would have to say things like:

* Do you like the president? I don't like the president. The president is too pompous.

With pronouns, we can say:

* Do you like the president? I don't like him. He is too pompous.

Idioms

noreply@blogger.com (Ayo Belajar Bahasa Inggris) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:29:00 +0000

Idiom

Idiom adalah suatu ungkapan (seperti istilah atau frase) yang maknanya tak dapat diturunkan dari definisi langsung dan penyusunan bagian-bagiannya, melainkan merupakan suatu makna tak langsung yang hanya dikenal melalui penggunaan umum. Dalam linguistik, idiom umumnya dianggap merupakan gaya bahasa yang bertentangan dengan prinsip penyusunan (principle of compositionality), walaupun masih terjadi perdebatan mengenai hal tersebut.

Idiom dapat membingungkan orang yang belum terbiasa dengannya. Orang-orang yang belajar suatu bahasa baru harus mempelajari ungkapan idiom bahasa tersebut sebagaimana mereka mempelajari kosa kata lain dalam bahasa itu. Pada kenyataannya, banyak kata dalam bahasa alami yang berasal sebagai idiom tapi telah terasimilasi baik sehingga justru kehilangan makna langsungnya.

untuk contoh idioms adalah sebagai berikut( dalam bahasa Inggris):

ace: make an "A" on a test, homework assignment, project, etc.

"Somebody said you aced the test, Dave. That's great!"

all right (1): expression of reluctant agreement.

A: "Come to the party with me. Please!"
B: "Oh, all right. I don't want to, but I will."

all right (2): fair; not particularly good.

A: "How's your chemistry class?"
B: "It's all right, I guess, but it's not the best class I've ever had."

all right (3): unharmed; in satisfactory condition.

A: "You don't look normal. Are you all right?"
B: "Yes, but I have a headache."

and then some: and much more besides.

A: "I'd guess your new computer cost about $2,000. "
B: "It cost that much and then some because I also bought extra RAM and VRAM."

antsy: restless; impatient and tired of waiting.

"I hope Katy calls soon. Just sitting around and waiting is making me antsy."

as easy as pie: very easy.

"I thought you said this was a difficult problem. It isn't. In fact, it's as easy as pie."

at the eleventh hour: at the last minute; almost too late.

"Yes, I got the work done in time. I finished it at the eleventh hour, but I wasn't late.
etc.

The material was taken from http://eslcafe.com/idioms/id-a.html and wikipedia

CONJUCTIONS: Subordinating Conjuctions

noreply@blogger.com (Ayo Belajar Bahasa Inggris) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 16:06:00 +0000

Subordinating Conjunctions

The majority of conjunctions are "subordinating conjunctions". Common subordinating conjunctions are:

after, although, as, because, before, how, if, once, since, than, that, though, till, until, when, where, whether, while

A subordinating conjunction joins a subordinate (dependent) clause to a main (independent) clause:

Look at this example:

main or independent clause	subordinate or dependent clause
Ram went swimming	although	it was raining.
	subordinating conjunction

A subordinate or dependent clause "depends" on a main or independent clause. It cannot exist alone. Imagine that somebody says to you: "Hello! Although it was raining." What do you understand? Nothing! But a main or independent clause can exist alone. You will understand very well if somebody says to you: "Hello! Ram went swimming."

A subordinating conjunction always comes at the beginning of a subordinate clause. It "introduces" a subordinate clause. However, a subordinate clause can sometimes come after and sometimes before a main clause. Thus, two structures are possible:

Ram went swimming although it was raining.

Although it was raining, Ram went swimming.

The material was taken from http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/conjunctions-subordinating.htm

CONJUCTIONS: Coordinating Conjuctions

noreply@blogger.com (Ayo Belajar Bahasa Inggris) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 16:04:00 +0000

Coordinating Conjunctions

The short, simple conjunctions are called "coordinating conjunctions":

and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so

A coordinating conjunction joins parts of a sentence (for example words or independent clauses) that are grammatically equal or similar. A coordinating conjunction shows that the elements it joins are similar in importance and structure:

Look at these examples - the two elements that the coordinating conjunction joins are shown in square brackets [ ]:

I like [tea] and [coffee].
[Ram likes tea], but [Anthony likes coffee].

Coordinating conjunctions always come between the words or clauses that they join.

When a coordinating conjunction joins independent clauses, it is always correct to place a comma before the conjunction:

I want to work as an interpreter in the future, so I am studying Russian at university.

However, if the independent clauses are short and well-balanced, a comma is not really essential:

She is kind so she helps people.

When "and" is used with the last word of a list, a comma is optional:

He drinks beer, whisky, wine, and rum.
He drinks beer, whisky, wine and rum.

CONJUCTIONS

noreply@blogger.com (Ayo Belajar Bahasa Inggris) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 16:02:00 +0000

Conjunctions

A conjunction is a word that "joins". A conjunction joins two parts of a sentence.

Here are some example conjunctions:
Coordinating Conjunctions Subordinating Conjunctions
and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so although, because, since, unless

We can consider conjunctions from three aspects.
Form

Conjunctions have three basic forms:

* Single Word
for example: and, but, because, although

* Compound (often ending with as or that)
for example: provided that, as long as, in order that

* Correlative (surrounding an adverb or adjective)
for example: so...that

Function

Conjunctions have two basic functions or "jobs":

* Coordinating conjunctions are used to join two parts of a sentence that are grammatically equal. The two parts may be single words or clauses, for example:
- Jack and Jill went up the hill.
- The water was warm, but I didn't go swimming.

* Subordinating conjunctions are used to join a subordinate dependent clause to a main clause, for example:
- I went swimming although it was cold.

Position

* Coordinating conjunctions always come between the words or clauses that they join.

* Subordinating conjunctions usually come at the beginning of the subordinate clause.

Degree of Comparison

noreply@blogger.com (Ayo Belajar Bahasa Inggris) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:15:00 +0000

COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES

AS + ADJECTIVE + AS

To compare people, places, events or things, when there is no difference, use as + adjective + as:

Peter is 24 years old. John is 24 years old. Peter is as old as John.

More examples:

Moscow is as cold as St. Petersburg in the winter.
Ramona is as happy as Raphael.
Einstein is as famous as Darwin.
A tiger is as dangerous as a lion.

Adverbs

noreply@blogger.com (Ayo Belajar Bahasa Inggris) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 17:11:00 +0000

Using Adverbs

Adverbs modify verbs. They tell you How something is done.

Example: How does he she sing? - She sings beautifully.

Rule: Adverbs are often formed by adding -ly to an adjective

Example: beautiful - beautifully, careful - carefully

Be Careful!

Some adjectives don't change in the adverb form. The most important of these are: fast - fast, hard - hard
Good is probably the most important exception. The adverb form of 'good' is 'well'. Unfortunately, this is a common mistake that many Americans make!

NOT!!: He plays tennis good.

Rule: Adverbs can also modify an adjective. In this case, the adverb is placed before the adjective.

Example: She is extremely happy. They are absolutely sure.

Be Careful!

Do not use 'very' with adjectives that express an increased quality of a basic adjective Example: good - fantastic

NOT!!: She is a very beautiful woman.

Rule: Adverbs of frequency (always, never, sometimes, often, etc.) usually come before the main verb

Example: He is often late for class. Do you always eat in a restaurant? They don't usually travel on Fridays.

Be Careful!

Adverbs of frequency expressing infrequency are not usually used in the negative or question form. NOT!!: Does she rarely eat fish? They don't seldom go to the cinema.
Adverbs of frequency are often placed at the beginning of a sentence. Example: Sometimes, he likes to go to museums.
Adverbs of frequency follow - come after - the verb 'to be'. Example: He is sometimes late for work.

The material was taken from http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blgr_adverbs.htm

Adjectives

noreply@blogger.com (Ayo Belajar Bahasa Inggris) — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 16:56:00 +0000

Adjectives can be identified using a number of formal criteria. However, we may begin by saying that they typically describe an attribute of a noun:

cold weather

large windows

violent storms

Some adjectives can be identified by their endings. Typical adjective endings include:

-able/-ible	achievable, capable, illegible, remarkable
-al	biographical, functional, internal, logical
-ful	beautiful, careful, grateful, harmful
-ic	cubic, manic, rustic, terrific
-ive	attractive, dismissive, inventive, persuasive
-less	breathless, careless, groundless, restless
-ous	courageous, dangerous, disastrous, fabulous

However, a large number of very common adjectives cannot be identified in this way. They do not have typical adjectival form:

bad
bright
clever
cold
common
complete
dark
deep
difficult

distant
elementary
good
great
honest
hot
main
morose
old

quiet
real
red
silent
simple
strange
wicked
wide
young

As this list shows, adjectives are formally very diverse. However, they have a number of characteristics which we can use to identify them.

Characteristics of Adjectives

Adjectives can take a modifying word, such as very, extremely, or less, before them:

very cold weather

extremely large windows

less violent storms

Here, the modifying word locates the adjective on a scale of comparison, at a position higher or lower than the one indicated by the adjective alone.

This characteristic is known as GRADABILITY. Most adjectives are gradable, though if the adjective already denotes the highest position on a scale, then it is non-gradable:

my main reason for coming	~my very main* reason for coming
the principal role in the play	~the very principal* role in the play

As well as taking modifying words like very and extremely,adjectives also take different forms to indicate their position on a scale of comparison:
big bigger biggest

The lowest point on the scale is known as the ABSOLUTE form, the middle point is known as the COMPARATIVE form, and the highest point is known as the SUPERLATIVE form. Here are some more examples:

Absolute	Comparative	Superlative
dark	darker	darkest
new	newer	newest
old	older	oldest
young	younger	youngest

In most cases, the comparative is formed by adding -er , and the superlative is formed by adding -est, to the absolute form. However, a number of very common adjectives are irregular in this respect:

Absolute	Comparative	Superlative
good	better	best
bad	worse	worst
far	farther	farthest

Some adjectives form the comparative and superlative using more and most respectively:

Absolute	Comparative	Superlative
important	more important	most important
miserable	more miserable	most miserable
recent	more recent	most recent

In the following sentences, the highlighted words are adjectives. Tick the adjective features (a-c) that each exhibits.

1. His new car was stolen.