Sub-Verb Link - B3

The subject verb agreement  

Subject                                                      

 When we speak or write, we always speak about  some person or thing.  The person or  thing we speak about  is called subject. Generally the subject comes first in a sentence. 

Verb

Verb is an important word in a sentence the three important types of verbs are (a)  State of being verb e.g. am, is are (b) Action verb like, read, walk, see etc. (c) Linking Verb (e.g. The apple looks fresh) appear, taste, smell, feel, look, For more detail please visit http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/parts-of-speech/verbs/Linking-Verbs.html

1. Bill  is a student . (Bill = subject,  is = verb)

2. Shane and Clara are friends. (Shane and Clara = subject, are = verb)

3. The old building is (a museum. The old building = subject, is = verb)

4. These four books are mine. (These four books = subject, are = verb)

5. The climate of Alaska is very cool. (The climate of Alaska = subject, is = verb)

6. The president of India is coming. (The president of India = subject, is = verb.)

7. The Chinese  team plays well. (The Chinese team = subject, plays = verb)

8. Th Students are busy. (The students = subject, are = verb)

9. Jim and Jack have shower every day. (Jim and Jack = Subject, have  = verb)

10.The crowd has entered the palace. (The crowd = subject, has = verb)

After reading the above sentences you would have found;

1. Some sentences like the first one has one word subject like Bill (simple subject)and some sentences like sixth one has four words subject.(compound subject) 

NOTE: Subjects of a  sentence may be any form of a noun, if it's a single word it's  called just noun e.g. Bill (in the first sentences), if the subject consists of group of words (e.g. The President of India in the 6th sentence) , it's called a noun phrase.

2. Some subjects take  is verb form (e.g. Bill is) some take are verb form (e.g. Shane and Clara) some take has verb form and some take have verb form. In other words every subject should agree with its verb form . Now the question arises there are millions of subjects (that we use daily in our talks), are there millions of verbs too? (Those agree with the subject),  No we have very limited number of verb forms.  Now  another question arises how to use these limited verb forms with the unlimited subjects we speak about?  To avoid this confusion the subject of a sentence is mentally converted into its pronoun form (called Subject-pronoun).

What is a Pronoun?

Pronoun is a word used in the place of a noun.

Jim is a teacher (Jim is a noun) .

e.g. He is a teacher ( he is a pronoun)

Sky is blue.(sky, is a noun).

e.g. It is blue ( It  is a pronoun)

 
Conversion of   subject  to subject-pronoun

SUBJECT Shane Father Mother Teacher President Manager Customer Brother Shop Asst. Driver Friend Students Machine Animal

PRONOUN She He She He/she He/she He/she He/she He He/she He/she He/she They It It

SUBJECT Jack  Pain Thought Crowd Team Nation Herd Audience Water Tea House Shops Chairs meeting

PRONOUN he It It It It It It It It It It They They It

                                                                                   

This way millions of subjects are converted (mentally) into their pronoun forms  he, she, it, they. 

I ,we, you ( Singular) and you (Plural) are also pronouns.It is easier to frame sentences with pronouns. When a pronoun is used as a subject of a sentence it is  called a subject pronoun or simply a subject 

Subject pronoun

Person	Singular	Plural
First	I	we
Second	you	you
Third	He  She  it	They

He includes all male names  e.g. Robert, Alex, Jim, and common nouns like President , Director, Chairman, Friend, Father, Uncle etc.

She includes all female names e.g. Elizabeth, Mary, and common nouns like President,  Director, Chairman, Friend, Mother, Aunt etc.

It includes all types of nouns and pronouns (Singular form of things, animals etc.) and collective nouns (like team, army, group etc.)

They includes all types of nouns and pronouns (Plural form of things, people, animals etc.) 
                         

 CONCEPT OF FIRST SECOND AND  THIRD  PERSON

Concept of the first, second and third person is important in making a sentence.

First  person refers to the person who speaks (to someone) Second person refers to the listener. Third  person refers to the person or  thing, which the first and second person talk about. The term ‘person' includes non-living things, animals etc.

Person	Singular	Plural
First	I	we
Second	you	you
Third	He  She  it	They

Why should we Learn about First, Second and Third Person? 

Read the 10 sentences given at the top of this post, some subjects take  is verb form (e.g. Bill is) some take are verb form (e.g. Shane and Clara) some take has verb form and some take have verb form. In other words every subject should agree with its verb form , in other words  First Second and third person take different verb forms (sometimes first, second and Third Person may make same verb form)

          

End of the post

Sub and Predicate - B2

Making speech in English-1

 Good English, Better jobs, Bright future

When we want to speak a sentence, we should have a some/something (Subject) to speak about and we should also tell something (Predicate) about the subject. In other words we do two things when we make a sentence.

1. When we Speak we say the name of a person or thing. The name of the person or thing is called subject.

Jack is an expert swimmer.

The weather is fine.

2. When We speak we say something about the person of thing. The part of the sentence that says something about the person/thing is called predicate.

Jack is an expert swimmer.

The weather is fine.

Generally the subject comes at the beginning of the sentence (before predicate), but sometimes it may come after predicate.

Here comes shane.

In imperative sentences the subject is left out.

Imperative sentences are command/order  type sentences e.g. don’t shout

Don’t shout (= you don’t shout) the subject you is left out.

Some times tag question is added at the end, ‘don’t shout,  will you?’

These sentences do not  require any subject

Speak these sentences at high pitch (so that you can hear) and repeat them several times and wear appropriate expression on your face, preferably in front of a mirror. After sufficient practice use them in context (real life)

1.When someone does a favor to you, say

Thank you very much

Thanks

That’s very kind of you.

Thanks a lot

Reply to the above statement

It’s O.K

That’s alright/it’s alright

You are welcome

Doesn’t matter

It’s my duty

It’s my pleasure

2.When you require someone’s help, say

Could you please ………

Would you please mind…….

Please help me lift this bag.

3.When you want to interrupt someone’s talk/ privacy say

     Excuse me

4.When you didn’t hear something, say

Pardon me/excuse me / could you please repeat that/sorry

5.When you cause harm to others unintentionally, or when you didn’t hear, ……………say

I am sorry, I am extremely sorry, sorry for……, Sorry I didn’t ……

6 appreciating someone

That’s it,  fantastic,  marvelous, well-done etc.

7.When you are introduced to someone for first time, say

    Hello, glad/pleased/happy, to meet you.

8. When you are unaware of something, say

Sorry, Sorry I don’t know, Sorry I am not aware of this/that

9. Addressing people

Doctor/ Professor as Doctor/professor + last name, friend as Hi+ last name. Address a women as madam, Married women as Mrs. + her husband’s last name, Married or unmarried women as Ms + last name ( used in business environment), unmarried women as Miss + last name (Not common these days). For males use Mr. + last name

NOTE: When the people are well known to you.  You may use first name

10.Wishing/Greeting people                                                      

   12.01 a.m. Up to 11.59.a.m. Good morning

   Exactly at 12.00 noon -  Good noon

   12.00 noon to 4.00 p.m. Good afternoon

   4.00 till 12.00 midnight – good evening

   After 12.00 midnight- good morning

    

11.Parting with someone.

   Day time – say good day, see you/see you soon , bye etc.

   Evening – say goodnight/ bye/see you (up to 11.59 p.m.)

   Good day/night is same as saying bye

12.Congratulating people

   Birth day – Happy grand day, congratulation

   New year  - Wish you a very happy/prosperous new year

   Married   - Wish you a very happy married life/congratulation

   Achievement – Well done/excellent/marvelous/congratulation + firm 

   hand shake.

13 Command/Order

     Come here, Switch off the fans etc.

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English Speaking skill - B1

 Experience English in action 

                                       Spoken English - An introduction 

   SPOKEN ENGLISH ?                                              

 Is there any book on swimming strokes or driving skill ? One has to author  as many spoken English  books as there are learners, because no two individuals speak, listen or understand in the same way. Contexts and word combinations, popular in a region may be a taboo in another region. One should be fully aware of the culture of  the region before uttering a particular word combination. There is an amusing anecdote for all. Some time  back a popular brand  of  a soft drink (company) in a very popular country repeatedly  released its slogan in mass media,  taste the thunder , which means passing out gas  (Flatulence),  The brand was very popular.

                        

WHY THIS SITE FOR SPOKEN ENGLISH SKILL? 

 There are many sites  available on  this subject, all  justify their existence,  then what makes this site a unique one?

Language learning is a complex process, it is a tool  of communication , it is different from the subject (Science, Economics etc.) learning.  We do not recommend grammar approach, this will make the speech mechanical and robot like. Spoken sentences cannot be gauged with grammar  rules,   for   spoken  sentences  accompany emotions  expressions  signals (body language) etc,  some times silence too  conveys some meaning.  Our approach is purely based on functional   or   practical   grammar/structures,  we   call  it  utility grammar.  This approach is a usage based,  we   provide   the   basic   structure  which  would help the learners to generate their own sentences   (we are not for memorization  of dialogues, idioms, phrases etc.  of a particular situation). We use plain language to avoid confusion.

No two individuals can speak in same way (Though they might have been  taught in the same way). The delivery of sentences depends on  individual’s personality, emotions, experiences etc.  Once the learner is familiar with the basic grammar/structure, he/she  can switch over to idiomatic English or his/her own style, at later stage. Please do remember the ads and news headlines seldom follow grammar rules.  Our simple methodology will make you  speak English on you own right now.

CAN ANYONE SPEAK   ENGLISH WITH THE HELP  OF THIS WRITTEN MATERIAL?

Surely the words in this written work are mute spectators,but  they guide and direct you like a sign board on the carriage way/highway. We show you the direction, it is up to you to reach the   destination,  please   do  remember  speed   is  important  on the carriage way/highway  (neither too slow  nor too fast). This methodology will make you master of yourself. The best learning is learning by self. Look at the dash board,you are on the carriage way/high way of your career, best wishes.

FIVE IMPORTANT TYPES OF SPOKEN SENTENCES (There are many, but I  stress the following five)

1.This is a machine (Simple sentence/statement)

  2.This is not (= isn't) a machine (Negative sentence)

 3.Is this a machine? (‘Yes/No’ Question)  

4.Is this not a machine?/Isn’t this a machine?(‘yes/no’Negative question)

    ('Yes/no' question requires just 'yes/no' answer.)

5.What is this? (‘Wh’ question)

('Wh' question starts with question words like: which, what where how etc., this question requires full answer.)

 6.Why is this not a machine?/.Why isn’t this a machine? (‘wh’-negative question)

    

The above five types of spoken sentences can be spoken in eight or more ways of utterance, (by changing stress tone body language etc.) Culture also plays an important role in sentence formation/style, slightest change in voice modulation/ facial expression/ body language conveys  different meanings of  the same sentence. Punching words can be made soft and soft words can be made punching  using the above technique.

Eight or more ways of uttering each of the above five types of sentences.

1. This is a machine. statement/declaration/information/truth/message.

2.This is a machine?(stress on ‘machine’)  Declarative question.

3.This is a machine! ( When it doesn’t appear as machine, but something else) Exclamatory sentence.

4.This is a machine  ? (When you are not satisfied with the machine)  Angry statement.

5. This is a machine .( When the machine is assembled of fixed improperly) Joke statement

6.This is a machine? (When you are not satisfied) Insulting  statement

7.This is a machine. ( when the machine looks clumsy/improper)Complaint statement.

 8. This is a machine! Happy mood

In the same way we can change the other five  types of spoken sentences (Mentioned above) into eight or more moods of utterance.   

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