CAPE WINELANDS EDUCATION

DISTRICT

ENGLISH FAL
SURVIVAL GUIDE
 1. Parts of Speech
Parts of speech are groups of words that obey certain rules about how they can be used in a sentence.

8 Parts of Speech:
• Nouns • Adverbs • Determines
• Verbs • Adjectives • Conjunctions
• Pronouns • Prepositions

Compound Nouns
Compound nouns are made up out of two words, such as ‘haircut’, ‘toothpaste’ and Christmas tree.

Gerunds
A gerund is a noun that has been made from a verb ending with ‘ing’.
Example: I want to get into marketing.

Nouns & Size

Diminutive form – indicates smallness. Example: a small drop is a droplet.

Augmentative form – indicates great size or importance. Example: supermarket, grandfather, megastar.
Concord

The word ‘concord’ means ‘agreement’…the agreement between the SUBJECT and the VERB.
A singular subject takes a singular verb. A plural subject requires a plural verb.

SPECIAL RULES OF AGREEMENT

1. When the subject is made up of two or more nouns connected by ‘AND’, use a plural verb.
EXAMPLE: Susy AND her friends are…

2. When the subject is made up of two or more singular nouns connect by ‘OR’, use singular verb.
EXAMPLE: The television OR the radio is…

3. When the subject is made up of singular and plural nouns connected by ‘OR’, the verb should agree
with the noun closest to it.
EXAMPLE: The president or his assistants run… | The assistants or the president runs…

4. Don’t be misled by phrases that come between the subject and the verb

 one of the boxes is

 the people who read that report are
 the team leader, as well as his developers, is
 the manual, including all the chapters in the first section, is
 the woman with all the answers sits

5. The following words always require a singular verb

 each, each one

 either, neither
 everyone, anyone, someone, no one
 everybody, anybody, nobody
 civics, mathematics, news

6. Collective nouns are usually considered a single unit

 group  committee  family

 team  class

7. Always plural

Nouns like the following are always plural (because they are made of two parts):

 scissors
 tweezers
 trousers
 pants
 shears
12 Tense Cheat Sheet
 2. Sentence Structure
Subject: The person or thing that does the action described.

Object: The person or thing that is affected by the subject in the way described by the verb.

(Subject) (Object)
Example: Tshepiso baked the cake.
(Verb)

Remember
Phrase (P – Part of a sentence)
Clause (C – Complete sentence)

Three Main Sentence Types

Statements Sentences that give information and do not require a response. Typically
structured as Subject, Verb, Object)
The dog is barking at us.
Questions Sentences that request information, and they usually require a response from the
listener.
Example: Whose dot is it?
Commands Commands express a desire of the speaker. The usually start with a verb.
Example: Feed the dog.
 3. Direct & Indirect (Reported) Speech
When we represent a person’s spoken words we can do this using direct or indirect (reported)
speech.

Direct speech: When we use the actual words of the person speaking.

Indirect speech: When we report what was said without using the speaker’s exact words.

REWRITING FROM DIRECT TO INDIRECT SPEECH

1. Start with an appropriate opening.

IF YOU ARE… THEN USE…

REPORTING ON A STATEMENT ‘said’, ‘stated’, ‘remarked’, ‘reported’
REPORTING ON A QUESTION ‘asked’, ‘enquired’, ‘requested’, ‘questioned’
REPORTING ON A COMMAND ‘advised’, ‘insisted’, ‘ordered’, ‘commanded’,
‘instructed’
REPORTING ON AN EXCLAMATION ‘exclaimed’, ‘shouted’, ‘proclaimed’, ‘rejoiced’

When reporting the word, “Please”, you can use the phrase
‘…politely asked’.

2. Change pronouns, adverbs and adjectives.

PRONOUNS
First-person Third-person
I He/she
Me Him/her
My His/her
We They
Us Them
Our their

Adjectives/Adverbs of time & place

Direct Speech Indirect Speech
Here There
This That
Now Then
Today That day
Yesterday The previous day
tomorrow The following day / next day
Last week The previous week / the week before
Ago before
3. What about the tense?

The verbs within the quotation marks are rewritten one step back in the past when they are
converted into indirect speech.

Example:

Direct Speech: Tshegofatso said, “I will always love Trevor.”

Indirect Speech
Change the pronoun

Tshegofatso said that she would always love Cindy.

Change the tense of the verb

4. Active & Passive Voice

The term ‘voice’ refers to the ‘activeness’ or ‘passiveness’ of a verb, depending upon whether the
subject is doing the action of the verb or receiving the action of the verb.

Active voice: In this voice the object is being acted upon.

Example: The chef prepared the meal.

 The active voice is a clear way of writing and it can have a strong impact on the reader.
 Verbs in the active voice reveal the performer or ‘doer’ of the action.

Passive voice: The subject is being acted upon.

Example: The meal was prepared by the chef.

 The passive form gives a sentence a formality that makes it appropriate for official contexts.
 It focuses on the procedure and results rather than on the person doing the action.
 It can ‘disguise’ responsibility or remove emphasis from the doer.

When changing between active and passive voice, first identify the
SUBJECT (S), the VERB (V) and the OBJECT (O).
Changing from Active to Passive
When changing a sentence from the active to the passive voice, there are a few changes that need to
be made.

Personal Pronouns
Subject Form Object Form
I Me
You You
Singular He Him
She Her
It It
We Us
Plural You You
they Them

Example:

The leader inspires the soldiers.

1) Identify the subject, the object and the verb

S V O
2) The leader inspires the soldiers. 

3) Ask yourself…in which tense is the verb and what are the auxiliary verbs for this tense.
Simple Present – are (plural) 

4) Make the object the subject…

The soldiers… …by the leader. 

5) What about the tense? It remains the same! Remember the auxiliary.

The soldiers are inspired by the leader. 

Changing from Passive to Active

Example:
That artwork was admired by many students.
1) Identify the subject, the object and the verb
O V S
The artwork was admired by many students. 

2) Ask yourself…in which tense is the verb.

Simple past (was admired – singular) 
3) Move the subject to the front…move the object to the back.

Many students… …that artwork. 

4) What about the tense? It remains the same! Remember the auxiliary.

Many students admired that artwork. 

5. Synonyms, Antonyms, Homonyms, Homophones, Homographs

Synonyms: Words with similar meanings.

Example: happy, glad, joyful

Antonyms: Words that have the opposite meaning to another.

Example: legal -> illegal

Homonyms: Words that sound the same or are spelt the same, but have different
meanings.
Example: Bark - the noise a dog makes
Bark – the outer coating of a tree’s trunk

Homophones: Words that sound alike, but are spelt differently and/or have
different meanings.
Example: eight - a number & ate - past tense of ‘eat’

Homographs: Words that are spelt alike but have different meanings, and may
also be pronounced differently.

Example: wind – the movement of air

wind - turning a mechanism
 8. Punctuation
PUNCTUATION USE EXAMPLE
Capital Letters  Beginning of a sentence  This is the second time.
 Indicate proper nouns  James Jones, Johannesburg
 Used to construct acronyms  SARS
 Used for emphasis  Are you READY?
Full stops .  Indicates the end of a sentence.  Today is Monday.
 Used at the end of some abbreviations  Prof.
Question marks ?  Indicates the end of a question.  What colour is the sky?
Exclamation marks !  Used to indicate an interjection, command  Wow!
or heightened state of emotion.  Sit down!
Ellipses …  Indicates an incomplete thought.  I gave it to…
 Indicates a trail of thought.
 Indicates an interruption.
 Indicates hesitation.
Commas ,  Separate items or descriptive words in a  With dignity, grace and empathy he
list. delivered a moving eulogy.
 Separate two parts of a sentence (phrase  I had no idea that he was so ill, and
and/or clauses) that we would never see him again.
 Function like brackets (), containing and  Martinus, who is a rock-climber,
separating extra information. broke his arm this weekend.
 Separate the name of the person being  Lori, please stop by my office before
addressed from the rest of the sentence. you leave for the day.
Hypens -  Make compound words from single words.  Mother-in-law, well-crafted
 Separate two vowels to prevent  Co-operative
awkwardness.
 Show that a word is unfinished at the end
of a written line.
 Connect prefixes to nouns.  Anti-violence, pre-war
Quotation marks ‘ ‘ “ “  Indicate direct speech  Grace said, “I will always love you.”
 Show a title of a literary work.  “African Thunderstorm”
 Distance yourself from a word that you do  We find ourselves in “paradise”.
not agree with.
 Show sarcasm.  John was simply “adorable” when he
drew a picture on the wall.
 Quote from a text.  “70% of students enjoy sport”
 Enclose nicknames  Greg “The Shark” Norman
 Scare quotes (Indicates euphemism/  He rarely spoke of the “incident” that
doubt) cause him to leave his previous
employer.
Backslashes /  Shows where a line break was in a piece  “My only love sprung from my only
of poetry that is being quoted. hate! / Too rarely seen unkown, and
known too late.”
Apostrophes ‘  Show possession  John’s, Tshepo’s
 Show that letters have been omitted  Hissin’
(omission)
 Show that a phrase/word has been  Don’t
contracted (contraction)
Colons :  Introduce a list.  The bookstore specializes in: art,
architecture and graphic design.
  Used in direct speech. Kaleb said: “I haven’t seen you in
ages.”
Semi-colons ;  Separate items in a list.  I like: running; swimming; ball sports
such as tennis, netball and cricket;
and various types of dancing.
 Separate two main clauses in the place of  Everybody knows; nobody is telling.
a co-ordinating conjunction.
Dashes –  Show a longer break than a comma  She has changed a lot this year –
mainly for the better.
 Replaces “to” in a range.  1829-1904
 Function like brackets to enclose  When the car was finally delivered –
additional information in a sentence. nearly three months after it was
ordered – she decided she no longer
wanted it.
Brackets  Separate non-essential information from  He won a lot of money (about R1
(parenthesis) () the rest of a sentence. million)
 Encloses an explanation of what a word  Break (a short pause)
means.
Bold  Used to emphasise the words.
Italics  Used to emphasise the words.  He is so cute.
 Show that a word is from a foreign  Te amo
language.
 Titles of literary works are printed in  The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Italics.
Underlining  Often used for the same reasons as
italics.
 9. Comprehension
To comprehend mean to understand. The comprehension section of an exam tests your
understanding of the texts provided.

Comprehension tasks have to ask literal, reorganization, inference, evaluation and appreciation
questions.

 Literal Questions (Level 1) – are questions that deal with information explicitly stated in the text. For
example, literal questions could ask you to name or describe people or places, or to identify certain
facts or reasons.

 Reorganisation questions (Level 2) – are questions that require the analysis or synthesis or
organisation of information explicitly stated in the text. Reorganisation questions can ask you to
summarise main ideas, state similarities or differences between things or to group common elements.

 Inference questions (Level 3) – are questions that require you to draw on your personal experiences
to engage with information not explicitly stated in the text. For example, inference questions can ask
you to explain the cause of something, the main idea of a text, or to say what a character’s actions
reveal about that character.

 Evaluation questions (Level 4) – deal with judgements concerning value, facts and opinions, realism,
credibility, validity, logic and reasoning and issues such as desirability and acceptability of decisions
and actions in terms of moral values. For example, you could be asked to evaluate whether an
argument is logical or a story is realistic.

 Appreciation questions (Level 5) – are intended to assess how you are

affected by a text. The focus on emotional responses to the content,
identification with characters or incidents, and reactions to the writer’s use of
language. For example, you could be asked what your response would have
been in a particular situation, or to say how effective the writer’s use of imagery
is.
 12. Advertisements
A public notice promoting a product, a service, an opportunity or a cause.

Appeals

Advertisements appeal to our human desires, needs and values.

Appeals are usually made to people’s desire for:

 Health  Success  Physical safety

 Enjoyment  Power  Financial security
 Excitement  Social status  Saving money
 Luxury  Freedom  Hunger
 Beauty  Escape  Being a good
 Romance  Belonging parent/wife/citizen etc.
 Independence  Love

Terminology
Product The object being advertised. EXAMPLE: Big Mac Burger
Service The service being advertised. EXAMPLE: car insurance, medical aid, home loans
Target market The particular group of people the advertisement is aimed at. EXAMPLE: young
people, parents, students
Brand The name of the product/service. EXAMPLE: McDonalds, GEMS, Coca-Cola,
Standard Bank
Slogan The catch phrase of the company or product. EXAMPLE: “I’m loving it”

Logo The symbol associated with the particular brand. The logo can include the brand
name if it is written in a consistent font
Written copy/body The written text of the advertisement
copy
Visual copy The visual text/images
Layout Refers to the way in which different elements of written and visual text are placed
together to form the advertisement.

Key Features
 The Aida Principle

Something used to attract the reader’s attention. e.g.

photo, picture, bold typed words, white spaces, ad’s size.

Advertisements arouse interest by delivering messages that

are relevant to this market.

Something used to make you desire the product. E.g. a celebrity

may appear in the ad or the ad may suggest you will benefit from
the product.

Something is done to urge you to act NOW. There may be a time

limit on a sale price or limited supply

Language in Advertisements

• Emotive language • 1st person pronouns (I, we, • Exclamation marks

• Manipulative language us) • Names of celebrities
• Dramatic statements • Repetition • Half-truths (may, most,
• Catchy phrases • Puns some)
• Questions directed at target • Rhymes • Scientific evidence
audience • Alliteration • Scientific language
• Humour

13. Cartoons
A cartoon is a piece of art, usually humorous in intent.

Usually, people find something

humorous when it disrupts their
expectations. In the exam it
does not matter whether your
find the cartoon funny.
 Types of cartoons

Comic strip

Single-panel cartoon

Editorial cartoons
An editorial cartoon is more serious in tone and uses visual metaphors and irony to satirise social or
political situations.
TECHNIQUES used to create humour

Satire Sarcasm

Aim is to educate and entertain. Humour that

Witty language used to convey insults or scorn.
mocks human weaknesses or aspects of society.
 Stereotyping
Humour based on A fixed
idea about what a particular
type of person or thing is
like, which is often not true

Irony Puns

Humour in which the intended meaning is

opposite, or nearly opposite, to the literal Play on words. Often as homophones homonyms
meaning.

Parody Hyperbole

Humorous imitation often intended to ridicule an

Humorous presentation marked by exaggeration
author, or a genre.
and outsized characterization.
 ANALYSING CARTOONS

 Look carefully at the picture and read the writing attentively.

 Take note of the character’s body language and facial expressions.
 Pay attention to the type of language used.
 Look at the punctuation and the words written in bold.
 Take note of the setting and background details.
 Identify when the viewer’s expectations are overturned to create humour.
 Determine the intention of the cartoonist.

14. Summary
A summary is a shortened version of an original piece of writing. In your exam you will be asked to reduce a
text of about 350 words to a summary of 80-90 words.
A point-form summary is a summary of a text that is written as a set of bulleted sentences.
A paragraph summary is a summary of a text that is written in the form of a paragraph.
You will be expected to write a PARAGRAPH summary that contains SEVEN POINTS.
When writing a summary:
 Be accurate, clear and straightforward.
 Use your own words as far as possible.
 Use full sentences.
 Leave out examples.
 Leave out figurative expressions.
 Leave out lengthy descriptions.
 Leave out quotations and direct speech.
 Avoid writing in the first person (‘I’, ‘we’, etc.). Rather use the third-person voice (‘he’, ‘she’, ‘it’, ‘they’) or
when giving instructions the second-person voice (‘you’, ‘your’, etc).
Steps in Summary writing
1. Read the question carefully.
2. Read the original text to get the feel of what it is about.
3. Identify the direct words that you want to use by highlighting or underling.
4. Plan your summary using the ‘block-method’.

Direct quote Own words

5. Rewrite your summary in paragraph form.

6. Write the number of words which you have used at the end of your summary.
How a summary is marked

A summary is marked out of 10. The marker takes into account both content, and style, giving:
 1 mark per main point, up to 7 marks.
 3 marks for language, style and expression.
If a summary is too long the marker will read up to 5 words over the limit and ignore the rest of the summary.
17. Common Mistakes
Split infinitive – when one or more words are inserted between the ‘to’ and the base form of
an infinitive verb.
Example: I expect him to completely fail in this task.

Redundancy – when words are used to vive information that is already contained in other
words.
Example: In my personal opinion, we should postpone this until later.
(Opinions are always personal, and when something is postponed it is always postponed until
later)

Tautology – when two words are used that have the same meaning. It is a form of
redundancy.
Example: She has a big huge dog. You need to reverse backwards.

Verbosity – when too many words are used.

Example: Up until the current time, the municipality mad e no objections to the festival.
(The municipality had not previously objected to the festival)

Ambiguity – when it is unclear how something is meant to be interpreted.

Example: Let’s eat Grandma. I rode a white horse in full leather armour.

Comma splice – when a comma is used to join sentence, and it is an error.

Example: I walked after her, I started running.

Use of it’s to show possession – it’s = it is

Error of case – when a subject pronoun is used in the object of the sentence and vice versa.

Example: She invited you and I. (She invited you and me)
Example: The mugged tourist who I helped was very grateful. (The mugged tourist whom I
helped…)

Number or amount?

Amount: Used for uncountable nouns e.g. water, bravery

Number: Used for countable nouns e.g. Dog, year, people

Few or less?

Fewer: Used for countable nouns e.g. cookies

Less: Used for uncountable nouns e.g. milk
 18. Figurative Language Guide
Poetic devices that use sound devices:
Repeated consonant sounds occurring at the beginning of words or within words.
Alliteration Example: She was wide-eyed and wondering while she waited for Walter to waken.
Takes place when two or more words close to one another repeat the same vowel
Assonance sound.
Example: The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.
Repeating consonant sounds in the middle or end of words.
Consonance Example: Do not go gentle into that good night.
A word that mimics a sound.
Onomatopoeia Example: Ka-boom!, Splat!, grumbling
A phrase or line of poetry that is repeated throughout a poem.
Refrain
When a sentence runs on into the next line without a break.
Example: A thing of beauty is a joy forever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Enjambment Pass into nothingness but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and asleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses.
Example:
For those who ran in the streets,
There were no faces to welcome them back.
Anaphora Jose escaped and loved the war.

For those who swam with bitterness

Of as scorched love
There was a rusted car to work on.
Figures of speech that use comparisons:
Comparison of two unlikely things using “like” or “as.”
Simile Example: She is as sweet as candy.
A figure of speech which involves an IMPLIED COMPARISON between two relatively
Metaphor unlike things using a form of be. The comparison is not announced by like or as.
Example: All the world is a stage.
A figure of speech which gives the qualities of a person to an animal, an object, or an
Personification idea.
Example: The sunlight danced.
Other:
An exaggerated statement used to heighten effect.
Hyperbole Example: My house is a million miles away.
Language that appeals to the senses. Descriptions of people or objects stated in terms
of our senses in the reader’s mind.
Imagery Example: The bright red rose.
 The practice or art of using an object or a word to represent an abstract idea.
An action, person, place, word, or object can all have a symbolic meaning and
significance
Example: In the spring, I asked the daisies
Symbol If his words were true,
And the clever, clear-eyed daisies
Always knew.
 In the above lines “spring” and daisies are symbols of youth.
A story in which the characters represent abstract (symbolic) qualities or ideas.
Allegory Example: In Westerns, the Sheriff often represents good and the outlaw represents
evil.
Sayings or expressions we use every day that wouldn’t make sense literally, but we
Idioms understand what they mean.
Example: “When pigs fly” – Something that will never happen.
3 Types:
 Dramatic: When the audience knows something is coming, but the characters do
not
Example: In Home Alone – we know Kevin planted traps all over the house but
Irony the burglars didn’t.
 Verbal: opposite of what is said, is meant (sarcasm).
Example: You tell someone to break a leg but you mean have a good time.
 Situational: When the opposite of what is expected to happen, happens. Example:
a fire station burns down.
Comic Relief A humorous scene, incident, or speech that relieves the overall emotional intensity.
 A brief reference to a person, event, or place, real or fictitious, or to a work of art.
Allusion  An allusion may be drawn from history, geography, literature, or religion.
Example: The girl’s love of sweets was her Achilles heel.
An address to a dead or absent person, or personification as if he or she were
Apostrophe present
Example: Romeo, Romeo wherefore art thou, Romeo?
A phrase, line or expression that has been so over-used it has become common place
Cliché and unoriginal
Example: They lived happily ever after
The substituting of a mild, indirect, polite or vague term for one considered harsh or
Euphemism offensive
Example: Saying someone has “passed away” instead of “died”.
When two words, that contradict each other, are put together.
Oxymoron Example: Only choice
A statement that apparently contradicts itself and yet might be true.
Paradox Example: It was the best of times, It was the worst of times.
A form of “word play” in which words have a double meaning.
Pun Example: A boiled egg every morning is hard to beat.
The name of one object is substituted for something closely associated with it
Metonymy Example: “Hollywood” refers to the film industry.