Ash Talk: English Grammar

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Monday, May 15, 2023

English Grammar May 15, 2023

Unveiling the Secrets of Parts of Speech: A Comprehensive Guide

As experts in language and grammar, we understand the importance of mastering the parts of speech. Whether you're a student or a professional, having a solid foundation in the parts of speech is crucial for effective communication and writing. In this comprehensive guide, we'll take you through each part of speech, its function, and give you examples of how to use them correctly in your writing.

Nouns: The Foundation of Your Sentence

Nouns are the foundation of any sentence, as they are the words that give meaning to the subject of a sentence. Words that convey the identity of people, places, things, or concepts are known as nouns.

The cat chased the mouse.

In this sentence, "cat" and "mouse" are nouns as they represent the names of animals.

Proper nouns, which refer to specific people, places, or things, are capitalized to differentiate them from common nouns.
Common nouns are not capitalized and refer to general categories of people, places, or things.

For example, "John" is a proper noun, while "man" is a common noun.

Verbs: The Action of Your Sentence

Verbs are the words that express an action or a state of being. They are the second most important part of a sentence after the subject.

The children are playing in the park.

"Playing" is a verb that shows the action of the children.

Verbs are categorized into three types: action verbs, linking verbs, and helping verbs.

Action verbs describe an action or movement.
Linking verbs connect the subject to a word that describes or renames it.
Auxiliary verbs, also known as helping verbs, aid the main verb in expressing tense, aspect, or voice.

Adjectives: The Descriptors of Your Nouns

Adjectives are descriptive words that modify or provide more information about a noun or pronoun in a sentence. They provide more detail and color to the subject or object of a sentence. Adjectives can describe the quality, quantity, size, or color of a noun.

I have a beautiful flower in my garden.

"Beautiful" is an adjective that describes the flower, giving it a specific quality.

Adverbs: The Modifiers of Your Verbs

Adverbs are words that provide additional information about a verb, adjective, or other adverb in a sentence, modifying or describing the manner, time, place, frequency, degree, or certainty of the action or state being conveyed. They provide more detail to the action or state of being expressed by a verb. Adverbs can describe the manner, place, time, frequency, degree, or certainty of a verb.

He speaks softly.

"Softly" is an adverb that tells us how he speaks, providing more detail about the action.

Pronouns: The Replacements of Your Nouns

Pronouns are words used in place of nouns in a sentence to avoid repetition and to make the sentence more concise. They can refer to a specific person, place, thing, or idea, or they can refer to a general group of people, places, or things. Pronouns make sentences less repetitive and more concise.

Zara is my class fellow. She is my best friend.

Here, "she" is a pronoun used to replace the name of the person, Zara.

Prepositions: The Positional Words of Your Sentence

Prepositions are words that show the relationship between a noun or pronoun and other words in a sentence, indicating how they are related to each other. They indicate the location, direction, time, or manner of a noun or pronoun. Common prepositions include "in," "on," "at," "by," "from," and "to."

The book is on the table.

"On" is a preposition that shows the relationship between the book and the table.

Conjunctions: The Connectors of Your Sentence

Conjunctions are words that link words, phrases, or clauses in a sentence to indicate a relationship or connection between them. They indicate the relationship between the connected elements. Coordinating conjunctions connect elements of equal importance, while subordinating conjunctions connect a dependent clause to an independent clause.

I want to go to the park, but it's raining.

"But" is a conjunction that connects two contrasting ideas, indicating the presence of rain as an obstacle.

Interjections: The Expressions of Your Emotions

Interjections are words or phrases used to express strong emotions or feelings in a sentence. They are often used to express surprise, excitement, or anger. Interjections are usually set apart from the rest of the sentence by an exclamation mark or a comma.

Wow! What a stunning view!

"Wow" is an interjection that expresses excitement or surprise.

In conclusion, mastering the parts of speech is essential for effective communication and writing. Each part of speech has a unique function and contributes to the structure and meaning of a sentence. By using them correctly, you can make your writing clearer, more concise, and more engaging.

AsherKabir 0

Saturday, December 8, 2018

English Grammar December 08, 2018

How to Identify Transitive and Intransitive Verb in a Sentence

Identification of a transitive and an intransitive verb in a sentence is super easy if one knows to differentiate between direct and indirect objects.

Transitive Verb

Transitive verbs are those action verbs which are always followed by direct objects.

Let’s look at the following examples.

Last night, I kicked the football out of the ground.

I = Subject; Kicked = Verb and football = Object.

To identify the verb either transitive or intransitive, first, we need to find out whether the object right after the verb is a direct object or an indirect one. A direct object always answers “What and Whom”. In this case, the object, football, is the direct object, therefore, without further thinking, we can say that “Kicked” is a transitive verb.

He has bought a white cap from the market.

Bought = Transitive Verb; white cap = direct object.'

He always skips his classes due to his company.

Skips = transitive verb; his classes = direct object. [What does he skip? He skips his classes.]

She hates him since when he has betrayed her.

Hates = transitive verb; him = direct object. [She hates whom? She hates him.]

Intransitive Verb

On the other hand, an intransitive verb is also an action verb but it does not have a direct object to receive the action. It is always followed by an indirect object. It is often followed by a prepositional phrase. If a verb is not followed by a direct object, it can never be a transitive verb.

Let’s look at the following examples.

Zara was sitting in the shade of a tree.

Sitting = Intransitive verb, in the shade = prepositional phrase.

He came to the school after a week.

Came = Intransitive verb; to the school = prepositional phrase.

Aslam gave my friend a gift.

In the example, the verb “gave” is followed by an indirect object.

Gave = Intransitive verb; my friend = indirect object. [Aslam gave a gift to whom? Aslam gave a gift to my friend.]

He was running over the desks in the classroom.

Running = Intransitive verb; over the desks = prepositional phrase.

To conclude, a verb can be transitive or intransitive depending on whether followed by a direct object or not.

AsherKabir 12

Monday, October 29, 2018

English Grammar October 29, 2018

How to identify an adverb clause in a sentence

First, let me remind you what a clause is. A clause is a group of words that consists of a subject and a verb. E.g. He is wearing a red cap. In this sentence, “he is wearing” is a clause because it consists of a subject “he”, and a verb “wearing”.

An adverb is a word which modifies verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs whereas an adverb clause is a subordinating or dependent clause that modifies a verb, adjective or another adverb. So both have the same functions. It almost always starts with subordinating conjunctions. Below is the list of most common subordinating conjunctions.

After, although, as, because, before, even, if, even though, in order that, once, provided that, rather than, since, so that, than, that, though, unless, until, when, whenever, where, whereas, whenever, whether, why, why.

Try to memorize a few of them until you can spot them based on their work in a sentence.
Let’s we look at some of the examples:

He bought a new pair of sports shoes because he loves to play cricket.

In the sentence, first, we’ve got to find the trigger word which is always at the beginning of a subordinating clause. In our sentence “because” is the trigger word which introduces a dependent or subordinating clause in the sentence. Now we can find the rest of the clause which should consist of a subject and a verb.

In the sentence given above, “he” is the subject and “loves” is the verb. Therefore, “because he loves to play cricket” is our adverb clause. But what does it modify?
As we know an adverb clause can modify a verb, an adjective or an adverb, therefore, our clause cannot modify “he” and “shoes” because these are nouns. It must modify the verb “bought”. Let’s put it to the test using our adverb questions:

Where
When
How
Why
To what extent
In what manner
Under what conditions.

Bought where? NO ANSWER!

Bought when? NO AGAIN!

Bought why? Because he loves to play cricket.

In this way, we can modify our adverb clauses.

TIP ABOUT ADVERB CLAUSES: When they are at the beginning of a sentence, they are always almost followed by a comma.

Even though I don’t feel like eating, I made breakfast.

Again first find the trigger word, “EVEN THOUGH”. Because it is at the beginning of the sentence, we can assume that when we get to the comma, we’ve found the adverb clause. So our adverb clause is “Even though I don’t feel like eating” and the rest is our main clause. So what does it modify in the main clause?

It is modifying the word “MADE” in the main clause because there is no other word in the main clause which can possibly be modified. But let’s test it anyway.

Made where? NO ANSWER!

Made when? NO ANSWER!

Made why? AGAIN NO!

Made under what condition? Even though I don’t feel like eating.

Hina was angry because I broke her mobile.

Our adverb clause is “because I broke her mobile”. What does it modify in the main clause? Since adverb can neither modify a noun or a linking verb, therefore, it must modify the predicate adjective “Angry”. Let’s test it out.

Angry why? Because I broke her mobile.

She returned to the classroom slowly because she was ill.

Our adverb clause is “because she was ill”. The clause modifies the adverb “slowly” in the main clause. To verify it, let’s put it to the test.

Why slowly? Because she was ill.

In this way, we can spot adverb clauses and also find out which word of the main clause in being modified by the clause using our adverb questions.

AsherKabir 11

Thursday, August 30, 2018

English Grammar August 30, 2018

Compliments| Direct Objects and Indirect Objects

Compliments-english-grammar-direct-and-indirect-objects-kashmir-rawalakot.

The most basic order of a sentence in the English language is

Subject + Predicate

And if we break it down further, then the basic order of a sentence is
Subject + Verb + Object.

And those objects are called compliments because these are the words that complete the meaning of a verb.

There are two types of compliments in the English language.

Direct Object
Indirect Object

Direct Objects

Direct Objects are super easy to spot because their position is very regular. These objects always follow transitive action verbs and answer the questions: what or whom. Their general formula is
Subject + Verb +What/Whom.
Subject + Verb + Direct Object.

For example,

Rayyan and Ali play tennis in the court.

Rayyan and Ali = Subjects; play = verb, which is our action verb which needs another word to receive the action in order to complete the meaning of the sentence, called transitive verb.

Now we can ask our "Direct Objects" questions.

Rayyan and Ali played what? Tennis = Direct object.

Let's look at another example of Direct Object.

Adriana loves singing more than anything else.

Again Adriana = Subject; loves = verb; Adriana loves what? Direct Object = singing.
Example:

She is wearing her beautiful clothes.

She = Subject; wearing = verb. What is she wearing? Beautiful clothes = Direct Object.
Example:

He hates dogs.

He = subject; hates = verb; He hates whom? Dogs = Direct object.

Indirect Objects

Indirect objects are very easy to spot as they are found after the transitive verb and before the direct object.

Transitive Verb ------ Indirect Object ------ Direct Objects

Indirect objects answer the questions; To whom, for whom, and to what.

Let's look at the following examples.

She gave my friend a gift.

The object has been given is a gift and it was given to MY FRIEND.

She = Subject; gave = verb; what did she give to my friend? A gift = Direct Object;
She gave a gift to whom? Friend = Indirect Object.

This sentence can also be written as

She gave a gift to my friend.

There is no difference in meaning between the two sentences but the last one does not contain an Indirect Object. Do you know why? To understand, look at the "POSITION" of the word friend; is it where it needs to be in order to be considered an Indirect Object?

No, it is not!

In fact, it is just a part of a prepositional phrase and cannot be an indirect object.

AsherKabir 14

Sunday, July 29, 2018

English Grammar July 29, 2018

How to identify adjectives clauses

A clause has a subject and a verb. An adjective clause is a dependent or subordinate clause which performs the same function as an adjective. As an adjective always modifies a noun or a pronoun, similarly an adjective clause also modifies a noun or a pronoun in a sentence.

Most of the adjectives clauses start with relative pronouns and these are only five in the whole language. These are:

Who
Whose
Whom
That
Which

And on occasion, they start with subordinating conjunctions called relative adverbs such as Where, Where. I suggest you memorize these relative pronouns and relative adverb as they are very little in numbers. Because the adjective clauses often start with the relative pronouns, they are also called relative clauses.

Let’s look at some of the examples.

The book that I’m studying has been written by Alama Tahir-ul-Qadri.

As I said, an adjective clause often begins with the relative pronouns. In the sentence, can you spot any of them?

Let’s first find it and them the whole clause.

In this sentence, “that” is the relative pronoun, and then we can find the rest of the clause for subject and verb. Our whole adjective clause is “THAT I AM STUDYING”, where “I” is the subject and “studying” is the verb.

Notice that if we eliminate the relative pronoun, we are left with two independent clauses:

The book has been written by Alama Tahir-ul-Qadri.
I’m studying.

Both the clauses have the subjects and the verbs. It is the relative pronoun which makes the one clause dependent on the other. Now let's look at the function of the adjective clause we've just spotted.

The function of the Clause

As we know adjectives are always adjacent to things they modify unless they are predicate adjectives. Based on this information, we can say there is the only thing our adjective clause can possibly modify is the word “BOOK”. It can also be verified using adjective questions.

Which book? The one I’m studying!

Examples of Adjective Clause

Let’s look at another example.

Students who work hard often get good marks.

First look for the relative pronoun and that is “WHO”. We can find the rest of the clause by finding and eliminating the main clause which is “STUDENTS OFTEN GET GOOD MARKS”. All the rest is our adjective clause: WHO WORK HARD.

You might think that there is no subject in our adjective clause but in this case, the relative pronoun “WHO” is the subject of the sentence. Now let’s look at the function of our relative or adjective clause.

If you note, there are two nouns in the sentence that are “STUDENTS” and “MARKS”. Now the questions is: Which of the two nouns is being modified by our adjective clause?

There should be a no problem figuring it out as there is only one noun adjacent to our adjective clause and that is “STUDENTS”. You can also test it through adjective questions.

Which students? Who work hard!

Two girls I have coached have participated in the finals

In the sentence, we cannot see any relative pronoun but does that mean there is no adjective clause in it. Let’s see!

If I break the sentence, I can see two distinct clauses. But how do I know this? I know this because the subject of the sentence “GIRLS” is followed by the pronoun “I” which are both subjects and only one verb. So there have to be two clauses:

Two girls have participated in the finals
I have coached

Which one of the two is the main clause and which one is subordinate? Well just think for a moment what the sentence is all about. It is about the two girls participated in the finals; therefore it is our main clause. Also the subordinate clause “I HAVE COACHED” is capable of modifying the noun of our main clause.

Which girls? The one I coached!

To summarize, if you do not see the relative pronouns or adverb in a sentence where you are asked to spot an adjective clause, then fear not, as you have got the way discussed above to figure this out.

Types of Adjective Clauses

Adjective clauses have two types

Essential or Restrictive Clause
Non-essential clauses. or Non-restrictive Clause.

Essential clauses cannot be removed without changing the basic meaning of a sentence.

I visited the Banjosa’s picnic point, where the lake had an enchanting view.
I visited the city where the prices were very high.

Both sentences have adjective clauses starting with the same relative pronouns but only one of them is essential, however.

If we eliminate the adjective clause from the first sentence, then what do we lose? Off course, nothing as everyone knows that the Lake of Banjosa has an enchanting view. Therefore, this clause is non-essential or non-restrictive.

In the second sentence, we lose the important information about the city if we eliminate the adjective clause. Since, we cannot say that the prices are always high or something that is always true, therefore, we need this clause. It is the essential or restrictive clause.

The match, which was played yesterday, ended in a tie.
The match that was played tomorrow ended in a tie.

The two adjective clauses in both the sentences are “WHICH WAS PLAYED TOMORROW” and “THAT WAS PLAYED TOMORROW”. Both are almost exactly alike, then how we can tell the difference?

In the first sentence, the adjective clause provides us just extra information, it is the non-essential clause. In the second sentence, the adjective clause provides important information. You can understand it by assuming that there had been more than a match. Here’s a tip:

Non-essential clauses often begin with the word “WHICH” and enclosed in commas. Essential clauses often begin with “THAT” and do not have commas around them.

AsherKabir 14

Saturday, July 14, 2018

English Grammar July 14, 2018

How to identify adverbs in a sentence

Identifying an adverb in a sentence can be a little tricky at times but if we know certain questions of adverbs, and then we can identify an adverb easily in a sentence.

First, let me remind you what an adverb is.

An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb by making its meaning more specific.

Below of some of the adverb questions related to different types of adverbs. When we think about a certain word in a sentence as an adverb, then we can ask these adverb questions, given below, to identify the function of the word in that sentence.

How something occurs
When something occurs
Where something occurs
Why something occurs
How frequently something occurs
To what degree something occurs

Adverb as a Verb Modifier

Let’s first look through an example of how it functions as a verb modifier.

Uzma silently enters in her class.

Procedure to identify an adverb:

First, look for the word you think is an adverb, and then find the verb you think it gets modified by the word.In the above sentence, “silently” is our adverb which is modifying the verb “enters”. Now let us put it to the test using the questions.

How does Uzma enter in her class? The answer is “silently”.

It can be seen that the word we identify is really modifying our verb and that’s how we’ve proven the silently is our adverb.

Trick: If there is an answer to your question, that answer is your adverb.

Remember that an adverb can also come after a verb. For example:

Uzma studies well.

Here, “well” modifies the studies of Uzma and it comes after the verb.Let’s take a look at another example of identifying an adverb.

Zara has completely done her homework.

In the above sentence, the word “completely” could be an adverb but let’s put it to the test in order to verify it as an adverb.

To what extent has Zara done her homework? The answer is “completely”. Again, we’ve proven it.

Adverb as an Adjective Modifier

As we said that adverb can also modify an adjective, therefore, let’s look at the following examples to see how it works.

Al-Reyyan is an extremely friendly boy.

In this example, “boy” is a noun and “friendly” is its modifier, therefore, friendly is an adjective here. We can also check it by using adjective questions.

What kind of boy? The answer is “friendly”. So clearly it is an adjective but does the word “extremely” also modifies “boy”? Let’s try our adjective questions.

What kind of lady? Off course, we cannot answer it as “extremely”. It does not make sense, does it?

Let’s put it to an adverb question.

To what degree is Al-Reyyan a friendly boy? The answer is “Extremely”. Because the word “extremely” answers the adverb question, therefore, it is an adverb which modifies “friendly” which in return modifies “boy”.

Adverb modifying another adverb

Now let’s talk about some of the sentences where an adverb is modifying another adverb.

Very often, she goes to the gym.

To identify the adverb, let’s put it to the test through adverb questions.

How often she goes to the gym? The answer is often, isn’t it? Again, the word which has answered the adverb’s question is an adverb. But what about the word “very”?

To what degree was it often? The answer is very often. Clearly the word “very” is modifying the adverb “often”. In this way, an adverb can modify another adverb.

Places of an Adverb

Now when an adverb modifies a verb, it can go almost anywhere in a sentence. For example

Alisha was crying badly.

Alisha was badly crying.

Alisha badly was crying.

Badly, Alisha was crying.

When an adverb modifies an adjective or an adverb, it must appear immediately before the word it modifies. For example

My very dear friend needs money.

In this example, “dear” modifies the noun “friend”, therefore, it is an adjective. And the word “very”
coming before it modifies “dear”.

Which friend = Dear friend

Dear to what extent = Very

He almost always takes extra time in the examinations.

We know about the pronoun and the verb. In order to identify an adverb and words it modifies, we need to put it to our adverb questions.

When does he take extra time in the examinations? The answer is “always”, so always modifies our verb. The adverb “always” is then followed by the word “almost” which is an adverb of degree answering to what extent. In this example, one adverb is modifying another adverb.

In this way, you can place or identify an adverb in a sentence. But let me tell you one more thing.

The following words are always adverbs when followed by a verb: not, really and very.

AsherKabir 0

Sunday, June 24, 2018

English Grammar June 24, 2018

Noun Clauses and its examples

What is a noun clause and how to identify a noun clause in a sentence can be pretty demanding at times? I’m going to discuss noun clauses with some of its examples.

Firstly, a clause has always a subject and a verb. A noun clause always acts as a noun, whatever a noun can do, a noun clause can also do. We know that a noun can be used as

Subject
Direct Object
Indirect Object
Objects of Preposition
Object Complement
Predicate Noun
Appositive.

So a noun clause can perform all these functions of a noun, they are just a bit longer. They usually begin with one of the following subordinate conjunctions: How, that, what, whatever, when, where, which, whichever, who, whom, whomever, whose, and why.

Some of these words appear in adjective and adverb clauses as well. To differentiate between the noun clauses from others, we have just to look how the clause functions in a sentence.
Let’s look at some examples of noun clauses.

Whoever visits our shop becomes our customer

I said above that noun clause begins with one of those given subordinate conjunction, remember? In the sentence, our trigger word is “Whoever” (the subject of the sentence), it gives us a clue that our noun clause starts from this word. Let’s look for the whole noun clause now. After the subject, we have the verb “visits” and our whole noun clause is “Whoever visits our shop”. As this clause is at the beginning of the sentence, so there is a strong chance that it works as a subject of the sentence. To verify this, we can use substitution principle here. As I said, a noun clause can work as a noun; therefore, if I substitute a noun here, then our noun must be functioning as a subject. Let’s see.

I substitute a simple noun, say Amir, then our sentence becomes:

Amir becomes our customer.

The substitution word tells us how the noun clause functioning in the sentence. It is clear that it is functioning as a subject.

Let’s look at another example of noun clauses

I believed that the thief would be in jail.

First, we have to look for our trigger word, which is “that” in the sentence. Now probably everything that follows our trigger word is the rest of the clause but let’s first look at the subject and verb.

The subject and verb are “thief” and “would be” followed by the prepositional phrase “in the jail”. Therefore, our whole noun clause is “that the thief would be in jail”.

How is it functioning in the sentence?

The subject and verb of the overall sentence are “I” and “believed”. The verb, being transitive, must be followed by the direct object.

I believed what? I believed the thief would be in jail. If I substitute the noun phrase with a simple noun, say Naina, then our sentence becomes “ I believed Naina” which clearly makes sense. Therefore, our noun phrase is acting as a direct object.

Let's take another example of a noun clause.

The principal gave the prices to whomever stood first in the class.

Our noun class is “whomever stood first in the class”. But how is it functioning in a sentence?
The noun class follows the preposition “to” and we know that prepositions cannot exist by themselves, they need objects. Therefore, our noun clause is functioning as the object of the preposition to.

Now let’s look at a complicated example of a noun clause

What I did not know was that terrorists had no religion.

Now there are two words that are introducing noun clauses: what and that. Here our first clause is “what I did not know” and the second one is “that terrorists had no religion”. Both of the clauses are connected by the linking verb “was”.

Let’s substitute two different nouns to test how both of the clauses are functioning in the sentence. Suppose I replace the first clause with a noun, say Ali, and the second clause with a noun, say a doctor, then our sentence becomes

Ali was a doctor.

Our first class is acting as a subject and the second is functioning as the predicate nominative. Noun clauses can be long but you should have no problem finding them if you know how nouns function in a sentence.

AsherKabir 16

Monday, June 4, 2018

English Grammar June 04, 2018

How to identify Prepositional Phrases in a sentence

What are prepositions, prepositional phrases and how we can spot them from prepositional phrase sentences, that is what this article is all about.
There are actually five types of phrases altogether. Prepositional phrases, gerund phrases, participle phrases, infinitive phrases, and appositives.

In form prepositional phrase always starts with a preposition and end with a noun or a pronoun which is called the object of the preposition (Preposition + object of the preposition). You can add any number of modifiers between the preposition and its object.
Functions of Prepositional Phrases

They have only two functions to perform. They can do the job of either an ADJECTIVE or an ADVERB.

Those prepositional phrases acting as adjectives are called ADJECTIVE PHRASES and prepositional phrases acting as adverbs are called ADVERB PHRASES.

Adjective Phrases

Let us look at adjective phrases first.

Remember that the adjectives modify nouns or pronouns and same is true for a prepositional phrase acting as an adjective. Because they do the same job, the adjective questions can be used again to help us prove that they are functioning as adjectives.

ADJECTIVE QUESTIONS: which one, what kind, how many, and how much.

Let us look at an example of prepositional sentence.

The girl from Paniola bought a new suit.

We need to spot the preposition first from the sentence, once we are done then just read to the right. When we encounter a noun or pronoun, we’ve got ourselves a prepositional phrase.

In the above example, “from” is the preposition and it is immediately followed by the proper noun “Paniola” which is the object of the preposition.

Therefore “from Paniola” is our prepositional phrase. Keep in mind that adjectives always appear right next to the word they modify. Since “from Paniola” is right after the “girl”, chances are that it is modifying the “girl”.

Using the adjective questions, you can ask yourself: which girl?

The answer is “the one from Paniola”. In this way, you’ve proved the prepositional phrase which is modifying the noun “Paniola”.

Here’s another example:

Shaz hides his books under the table.

The prepositional phrase is “under the table”. The word right next to the phrase is “books”, which is a noun, cool?

Now ask yourself: which books?

The answer is “the one under the table”, isn’t it? Again this is a prepositional phrase functioning as an adjective, called adjective phrase.

Adverb Phrases

Now let us look at prepositional phrases that function as an adverb, called adverb phrases.

Adverb phrases modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.

These phrases can be proven using the ADVERB QUESTIONS: where, when, how, and to what extent or degree.

Unlike adjective phrases, adverb phrases can appear anywhere in a sentence. They can be moved all over the place. Let us look at an example:

After the break, Zara returned to the classroom.

It’s pretty easy to find the phrases once you know the list of prepositions. In the sentence, “after the break”, Preposition + object of the preposition, is a prepositional phrase. This phrase is right in front of the noun “Zara” but it doesn’t answer any adjective questions: which Zara, what kind of Zara, how many Zara, how much Zara, therefore, the prepositional phrase “after the break” doesn’t modify “Zara”. (to the classroom is also a prepositional phrase, try to verify it on your own).

Now we know automatically that it is an adverb phrase. But which word in the sentence this phrase can modify?

Well, the only word, it can modify is the verb “returned”.

Let us check it out by using our adverb questions: returned when?

The answer is “returned after the break”. I hope you got it.

Remember as I said adverb phrases could move around in a sentence. Look at these sentences.

Zara returned to the classroom after the break.

Zara, after the break, returned to the classroom.

No matter where you place it, the prepositional phrase still acts as an adverb modifying the verb of the sentences.

Here’s another example of a prepositional sentence,

Inside the classroom, Aleena shouted for hours.

Hopefully, you’ve spotted the prepositional phrases: “Inside the classroom” and “for hours”.

Both of them seem to modify the verb “shouted”.

But let’s put them to the test anyway: Shouted where?

The answer is “Shouted inside the classroom”.

Shouted to what extent?

The answer is “Shouted for hours”.

In this way, we've verified the adverb phrase.

Now let’s look at a complicated example.

By ten O’clock on the opening day of the sports week, the ground was jam-packed with fans.

There are four prepositional phrases.

1. By ten O’clock

2. on opening day

3. of the sports week

4. with fans

You may use a bunch of questions to figure this one out.

Let’s start with adverb questions.

Packed is our verb here so our first question: “was packed when?”

The answer is “by 11 O’clock” and “on opening day”.

And packed by whom: “with fans”. So 1, 2 and 4 are acting as adverb phrases as we’ve just proved them.

Now let’s try adjective questions to figure the third prepositional phrase out.

Which day of the sports week? : “opening day of the football season”. As the phrase “of the sports week” modifies the noun “opening day” right behind it, it acts as an adjective phrase.

Conclusion

Prepositional phrases act either adjectives or adverbs. ADJECTIVE PHRASES modify nouns or pronouns and can be found right next to the word they modify. ADVERB PHRASES modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs and can appear anywhere in a sentence.

Finally, prepositional phrases can sometimes be removed from a sentence without destroying a sentence. For example:

After the break, Zara returned to the classroom.

If we remove the prepositional phrases, we are left with

Zara returned.

It is still a correct sentence but the one with phrases provides more information.

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AsherKabir 15

Sunday, June 3, 2018

English Grammar June 03, 2018

Infinitive and Infinitive Phrase

What is an infinitive, infinitive phrase and how to spot an infinitive and infinitive phrase in a sentence, this is what I'm gonna discuss in the post today.

An infinitive is a verb in its base form, “to _____ “ , it is usually preceded by the word “to”. For example, to run, to eat, to sleep, to move etc.

Infinitives can be used as nouns, adjectives or adverbs.

How can we recognize them?

Simply figure out how an infinitive functions in a sentence. Let’s look at some examples.

Ali loves to sing.

Can you spot the infinitive? “to sing” is the infinitive and as it acts as a direct object here, then we know it is used as a “Noun”.

Let us look at another example of the infinitive,

To play, Afridi puts on his helmet.

“To play” is our infinitive but how it is functioning in the sentence?

It functions as an "adverb" which modifies the word “put”. If it does not makes sense to you, just think it over, "put" under what condition?

Puts to play!

Ex: Einstein was a person to admire.

“To admire” is our infinitive and it functions as an adjective modifying the noun “person”.

Infinitive Phrases

Now let us look at infinitive phrases.

An infinitive phrase is the combination of the infinitive and its object or any modifier. For example:

To see the football world cup, he leaves for Russia.

“To see” is off course our infinitive. What is the object of the infinitive?

To see what?

The football World Cup! That’s our object!

Therefore, “to see the football world cup” is our whole infinitive phrase. This one functioning as an "adverb" modifying the verb “leaves”.

Ex: Our school is a place to teach the students.

“To teach” is our infinitive. Now teach to whom?

Teach to the students!

Therefore, “teach to the students” is the infinitive phrase. And infinitive phrase functioning as an adjective as it is modifying the word “place”.

(Which place? The place to teach the students! Phrase qualifies the noun, isn’t it?)