Grammar Notes

BI/SJKC_K/WLL/2013

Articles
1. There are 3 types of articles a, an and the. 2. A and an indefinite articles and only used with singular countable nouns. 2.1 a is used before words that begin with consonants sounds or words which begin with the vowel u but has a consonant sound (you). a) b) c) d) a boy a flower a pineapple a zebra e) f) g) h) a university a unit a unique school a one-way street

2.2 an is used before words which begin with vowels (a, e, i, o, u) or words which begin with the silent h. a) b) c) d) e) f) an ant an apple an earring an elephant an insect an onion g) h) i) j) an umbrella an hour an honour an honest girl

2.3 a and an are not use before uncountable nouns. E.g: rice, sand, oil, etc. 3 The definite article and is used with plural countable nouns and also 3.1 To show something that is special and one of its kinds in the world. a) b) The sun is setting in the west. The air is fresher in the countryside.

3.2 To refer to a particular person, animal, thing or place. a) b) The white cat is under the chair. That is the car which honked at me yesterday.

3.3 For the superlative form of an adjective. a) b) She is the tallest girl in her class. I bought the cheapest book.

3.4 With things which are already mentioned before. a) A pupil is in a library. The pupil is reading quietly.

Grammar Notes

BI/SJKC_K/WLL/2013

Nouns
Countable and Uncountable Nouns 1. A noun is used to refer to a person, place, animal or thing. a) teacher b) market c) rabbit d) car (person) (place) (animal) (thing)

2. Nouns can be countable or uncountable. Countable Nouns (can be counted) pen boy house cat car bag key plate Uncountable Nouns (cannot be counted) oil sand dust ink water curry rice paper

3. Can be used in the following ways. Countable Nouns a lot of many a few plenty of a few several some a large number of a small number of a lot of some any plenty of books pencils houses cars bags keys books cows durians a little a lot of plenty of some much less more a large amount of a small amount of Uncountable Nouns oil water sand rice ink butter money curry petrol

positive statements, negative statements, questions. positive statements, questions. negative statements, questions

Grammar Notes

BI/SJKC_K/WLL/2013

Collective Nouns Used to refer to people, animals or things as a unit. People 9. a patrol of policemen 10. an army of soldiers 11. a staff of servants 13. a tribe of natives 14. a troupe of artistes 15. a panel of judges 16. a party of friends

1. a band of musicians 2. a choir of singers 3. a class of pupils 4. a caravan of gypsies 5. a batch of students 6. a gang of prisoners 7. a crew of sailors 8. a crowd of people

12. a team of players

1. an army of ants 2. a brood of chickens 3. a cloud of flies 4. a nest of mice 5. a gaggle of geese 6. a flight of swallows 7. a flock of birds 8. a troop of monkeys 9. a litter of kittens a litter of puppies 10. a school of dolphins a school of whales

Animal 11. a plague of locusts 12. parliament of owls 13. a shoal of fish 14. a smack of jellyfish 15. a team of oxen 16. a swarm of bees 17. a pack of wolves 18. a pride of lions 19. a flock of birds a flock of sheep 20. a herd of buffaloes a herd of elephants

1. a string of pearls 2. a bale of cotton 3. a bowl of rice 4. a bunch of keys

Things / Plants 11. a garland of flowers 12. a layer of dirt 13. a queue of vehicles 14. a pack of cards 15. a bouquet of flowers 16. a tuft of grass 17. a wad of currency 18. a cloud of dust 19. a comb of bananas 20. a set of tools
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5. a cluster of coconuts 6. a column of smoke 7. a bundle of sticks 8. a suit of clothes 9. a clutch of eggs 10. a crate of fruits

Grammar Notes

BI/SJKC_K/WLL/2013

Singular and Plural Nouns A singular noun 1 person, animal, place or thing. A plural noun more than 1 person, animal, place or thing. 2) The letter s is usually added to form a plural noun. a) fruit fruits b) girl girls c) lamp lamps d) song songs 3) For nouns which end with s, x, sh and ch, the plural is formed by adding es. a) class classes b) box c) dish boxes dishes

d) match matches 4) For a noun which ends with y preceded by a consonant, the letter y is changed into ies to form the plural. a) activity activities b) berry berries c) lorry lorries d) puppy - puppies 5) For a noun which ends with y preceded by a vowel (ay, ey, oy, uy), the letter s is added to form the plural. a) boy boys b) day days c) key keys d) guy - guys 6) For a noun which ends with the letter o preceded by a vowel, the letter s is added to form the plural. a) radio radios b) studio studios c) bamboo bamboos d) piano pianos e) zoo zoos

Grammar Notes

BI/SJKC_K/WLL/2013

7) For a noun which ends with the letter o preceded by a consonant, s or es is added to form the plural. a) photo photos b) potato potatoes c) hero heroes 8) For a noun which ends with the letter f or fe, the plural form is made by either adding the letter s or by changing f/ fe to ves. a) leaf leaves b) knife knives c) half halves d) thief - thieves e) roof - roofs f) safe safes g) chef - chefs 9) Some nouns are called irregular as their plural form is spelt very differently from the singular form. a) ox oxen b) child children c) foot feet d) tooth teeth e) goose geese f) mouse mice g) man men h) woman women

10) A few irregular nouns maintain the same spelling and pronunciation for both singular and plural forms. a) deer deer b) sheep sheep c) salmon salmon d) furniture furniture 11) Some nouns occur only in the plural form: binoculars, glasses, scissors, spectacles, pants, pyjamas, shorts, tights, trousers, clothes, stairs, goods 12) Some nouns have no plural: news, work, homework, rubbish

Grammar Notes

BI/SJKC_K/WLL/2013

Pronouns
Singular First Second Third I You He / She / It Plural We You They

Subject of the verb Singular I like to play badminton. You are late. He is an engineer. She is an only child. It is a Persian cat. Plural We visited the museum. They won the singing competition.

Object of the verb My parents took me out. I called you last night. The teacher scolded him. They found her in the room. The car knocked it down. They are waiting for us. The teacher praised them.

Personal Pronouns I You He She It We They

Possessive Adjectives my your his her its our their

Possessive Pronouns mine yours his hers its ours theirs

Reflexive Pronouns

myself yourself himself herself itself ourselves themselves

This is my bag. This is your book. This is his pen. This is her pencil. This is its kennel. That is our house. These are their chairs.

The bag is mine. The book is yours. The pen is his. The pencil is hers. The kennel is its. The house is ours.

I paint the picture myself. You have to do it yourself. He writes the poem himself. She cut the fruit herself. The dog scratched itself. We saw it ourselves.

The chairs are theirs. They helped themselves.

Grammar Notes

BI/SJKC_K/WLL/2013

Adjectives
Comparison of Adjectives (Regular)
Positive 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 big brave bright busy cheap clean clear clever cold Comparative bigger than braver than brighter than busier than cheaper than cleaner than clearer than cleverer than colder than cooler than crueler than darker than deeper than dirtier than fatter than friendlier than greater than happier than harder than healthier than heavier than higher than hotter than larger than lazier than lighter than longer than lower than nearer than neater than nicer than noisier than prettier than poorer than quieter than richer than stronger than taller than thicker than Superlative the biggest the bravest the brightest the busiest the cheapest the cleanest the clearest the cleverest the coldest the coolest the cruelest the darkest the deepest the dirtiest the fattest the friendliest the greatest the happiest the hardest the healthiest the heaviest the highest the hottest the largest the laziest the lightest the longest the lowest the nearest the neatest the nicest the noisiest the prettiest the poorest the quietest the richest the strongest the tallest the thickest 7

10 cool 11 cruel 12 dark 13 deep 14 dirty 15 fat 16 friend 17 great 18 happy 19 hard 20 healthy 21 heavy 22 high 23 hot 24 large 25 lazy 26 light 27 long 28 low 29 near 30 neat 31 nice 32 noisy 33 pretty 34 poor 35 quiet 36 rich 37 strong 38 tall 39 thick

Grammar Notes 40 41 42 43 44 thin weak warm wise young / thinner than weaker than warmer than wiser than younger than the thinnest the weakest the warmest the wisest the youngest

BI/SJKC_K/WLL/2013

Comparison of Adjectives (By adding more and most)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Positive beautiful careful comfortable dangerous difficult exciting expensive famous helpful Comparative more beautiful more careful more comfortable more dangerous more difficult more exciting more expensive more famous more helpful more intelligent more joyful more obedient more peaceful Superlative most beautiful most careful most comfortable most dangerous most difficult most exciting most expensive most famous most helpful most intelligent most joyful most obedient most peaceful

10 intelligent 11 joyful 12 obedient 13 peaceful

Comparison of Adjective (Irregular)

Positive Comparative Superlative

bad good little many much far

worse better less more more further/farther

worst best least most most furthest/farthest

There is no comparison for positive The comparative is used to compare two things The superlative is used to compare three or more things The suffixes -er and -est are added to the positive adjectives to form most comparatives and superlatives. However, -ier and -iest are needed when a twosyllable adjective ends in y. When an adjective of one syllable ends in a single consonant, double the consonant for the comparative and superlatives forms. However, letters -w and -x are not doubled. 8

Grammar Notes

BI/SJKC_K/WLL/2013

Conjunctions
Conjunction and Usage To join two sentences with the same or similar ideas Example - Sandy likes singing. - Sandy likes dancing. Sandy likes singing and dancing. but To join two sentences with different ideas - I want to go Singapore by bus. - He insists on taking the plane. I want to go Singapore by bus but he insists on taking the plane. because To give reason - Danny was punished. - He did not do his homework. Danny was punished because he did not do his homework. so To show cause and effect - The children are tired. - They go to bed early. The children are tired so they go to bed early. or To show a choice or possibility can be made - Would you prefer tea? - Would you prefer coffee? Would you prefer tea or coffee? if To show a condition - You work harder. - You will pass your examination. If you work harder, you will pass your examination. although To show contrast (beginning / middle) - It is raining heavily. - They continue with the climb. Although it is raining heavily, they continue with the climb.

- Nobody wants to live in that mansion. - It is beautiful. Nobody wants to live in that mansion although it is beautiful.
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Grammar Notes

BI/SJKC_K/WLL/2013

Wh-question Words
Wh-question Word Who Usage To ask about people Example Who are you? Who is the man? Who is your mother? Who is your best friend? What is this? What is in your bag? What are they doing? What does he want? What did you do yesterday? Which is your pen? Which is the capital? Which book is better? Which shirt should I wear? Why are you here? Why is the bag wet? Why is he going out? Why do you want to be a singer? Whose pencil is this? Whose ruler is this? Whose car is that? Whose books are these? Where are you? Where is the ruler? Where do you live? Where is the car key? When is your brothers birthday? When are we going home? When did you come? When will you leave? How How How How are you? was your trip? do you cook the fish? do you get to London?

What

To ask about things or something general.

Which

Choices between a few possibilities (people, things / places) To ask the reason for something

Why

Whose

To ask about who the owner of something is / belong to (possessives) To ask about places

Where

When

To ask about the time something happens

How

To ask about the way how something is done / quality, quantity

* 7 W, 1 H used to ask questions.

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Grammar Notes

BI/SJKC_K/WLL/2013

Verbs to be, to have and to do

Verb to be Present Tense is am Past Tense Example He is the head prefect. was I am a boy. She was in Langkawi yesterday. were These boys are my nephews. We were there last month. She has a yellow raincoat. had You have a dictionary. He had a football practice yesterday. She does the housework every day. did We do our work quietly. They did their homework just now.

are to have

has have

to do

does do

Subject-Verb Agreement
The verb must agree with its subject. If the subject is singular, the verb must be singular. If the subject is plural, the verb must be plural as well. Singular The pupil sings during the music class. He / She prepares some food for supper. The child runs around in the field. The dog does not like its new owner. The backpacker has no place to sleep tonight. He is a friend of mine The children run around in the field. The dogs do not like their new owner. The backpackers have no place to sleep tonight. They are friends of mine. Plural The pupils sing during the music class. They prepare some food for supper.

Singular is has does

Plural are have do

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Grammar Notes

BI/SJKC_K/WLL/2013

Simple Present Tense 1) Facts, things that are always or generally true. The sky is blue. The moon is round. A hen lays eggs. A dog has four legs. The sun rises in the east. Tropical fish are beautiful. Water boils at 100 degrees. Plants die without water. My birthday is in September.

2) For situations that are (more / less) permanent. I live in Malaysia. She likes drawing. They love coffee. My father works in a bank. She has three children. The boy studies in SJK(C) Kundang.

3) Things that we do regularly / often routines, habits. (every day, once a week, twice a month, every Sunday, four times a year) (always, often, usually, sometimes, rarely, never)

I go to school by car. He always wakes up at 6 a.m. Mei Ling often listens to music. Carol brushes her teeth twice a day. I drink a cup of coffee every morning.

4) Short actions. He looks at his watch. She opens the door. I switch on the computer.
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Grammar Notes

BI/SJKC_K/WLL/2013

5) Imperatives statements / order Do not litter! Keep off the grass! Do not feed the animals. Go to your bedroom now.

6) We also use it to talk about the future after words like when, until, after, before, as soon as in a future sentence. I will call you when I have time. I won't go out until it stops raining. She'll come as soon as her babysitter arrives. I'm going to make dinner after I watch the news. I'll give you the book before you go.

***Spelling: In general, for single subject we add s in the verb. However... a) For verbs that end in -o, -ch, -sh, -ss, -x, or -z we add -es. o go goes o catch catches o wash washes o kiss kisses o fix fixes o buzz buzzes b) For verbs that end in a consonant + y, we remove the y and add -ies. o marry marries o study studies o carry carries o worry worries c) For verbs that end in a vowel + y, we just add -s. o play plays o enjoy enjoys o say says
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Grammar Notes

BI/SJKC_K/WLL/2013

Present Continuous Tense 1) Used to show something which is happening now. a. I am cutting the grass now. b. The waiter is serving the customers now. c. We are waiting for him at the bus stop. 2) Used to express the future. a. I am going camping next week. b. She is going for a holiday soon. c. We are going to China tomorrow. 3) Used to express developing and changing situations. a. The wind is getting stronger and the temperature is dropping faster. b. More people are buying organic products nowadays.

***Spelling: Verbs when adding -ing. a) Consonant after a short, stressed vowel at the end of the word. Double the consonant: sit he is sitting put he is putting travel they are travelling If the consonant is not stressed, we do not double it: benefit - benefiting (we stress the first 'e', not the 'i'.) b) One -e at the end of the word Leave out the e: write he is writing take he is taking BUT double e add ing: see he is seeing c) Verbs ending in ie Change 'ie' to 'y': lie - he is lying d) Verbs ending in c Change 'c' to 'ck': picnic - he is picnicking
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Grammar Notes

BI/SJKC_K/WLL/2013

Simple Past Tense 1) Something has happened in the past (specific time) and has finished. I took her home just now. They were at his birthday party last night. The cleaned the house last weekend. He knew the answer yesterday.

2) Telling stories or past events. Once upon a time, a lord lived in the castle. There was an ugly witch living in the middle of the forest. In the past, the knights travelled on strong horses.

3) Indicate a time in the past. I lived in Johor in 1994.

4) Express habit in the pass. I collected stamps when I was a child.

*** Spelling: Verbs in the Past Simple Tense Regular Verb -d, -ed, -ied live lived want wanted carry carried stop stopped plan planned panic panicked sell sold drink drank buy bought Irregular Verb Verb remaining same cut cut put put let let

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Grammar Notes

BI/SJKC_K/WLL/2013

Positive and Negative Statements

Positive statement in the Present Tense I You We They He She It I You We They He She It go to the towns library on weekends. goes Negative statement in the Present Tense do not go to the towns library on weekends. does not go

Positive statement in the Past Tense I You We They He She It I You We They He She It

went

to the zoo last Saturday.

Negative statement in the Past Tense

did not go

to the zoo last Saturday.

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Grammar Notes

BI/SJKC_K/WLL/2013

Prepositions of Time
Prepositions Use month year season part of the day (morning, afternoon, evening) duration specific time of day (noon, midnight) part of the day (night) celebrations days of the week dates special days something will happen later a deadline in the future through the whole of a period of time

in

at

on after by during Prepositions -

in

Examples My birthday is in December. Jenny was born in 1990. Tom wakes up early in the morning. Mr Siew will be here in three minutes. The van will be here in ten minutes. Lunch is at noon. Dinner is at 6 oclock. Tuition is at 2.30 p.m. Ali is going to Ipoh on Friday. I am going to visit my grandmother on Saturday. My birthday is on the 25th of June. We are going to the party on my birthday. I will see you after school. After the holidays, I will start studying French. I expect rain by noon. I want to have those papers by Friday. during the holidays

at

on

after

by during

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