Thursday, November 24, 2011

Parts of Speech with Brief Definition


Sr.#
Part of Speech
task, job, function
words as example
sentences as example
1.    
NOUN
thing or person
pen, dog, work, music, town, Lahore, teacher, Ali
This is my pen. He lives in my house. We live in Lahore.
2.    
PRONOUN
replaces a noun
I, you, he, she, some
Aafia is Pakistani. She is beautiful.
3.    
ADJECTIVE
describes a noun
a/an, the, 69, some, good, big, red, well, interesting
My cat is big. I like big cats.
4.    
VERB
action or state
(to) be, have, do, like, work, sing, can, must
Google is a web site. I like google.com.
5.    
ADVERB
describes a verb, adjective or adverb
quickly, silently, well, badly, very, really
My cat eats quickly. When she is very hungry, she eats really quickly.
6.    
PREPOSITION
links a noun to another word
to, at, after, on, but
We went to school on Monday.
7.    
CONJUNCTION
joins clauses or sentences or words
and, but, when
I like dogs and I like cats. I like cats and dogs. I like dogs but I don't like cats.
8.    
INTERJECTION
short exclamation, sometimes inserted into a sentence
oh!, ouch!, hi!, well
Ouch! That hurts! Hi! How are you? Well, I don't know.


NOTE: 
Some grammar sources categorize English into Nine (9) or Ten (10) parts of speech by dividing verbs into two parts (Lexical Verbs & Auxiliary Verbs) and by including Determiners as well. But we use the traditional categorization of eight (8) parts of speech.


Thursday, November 17, 2011

TENSES


The Present Tenses

Present Simple       Used to say what someone usually does     I always study English on Tuesday.
Present Progressive     Used to say what someone is doing now     I am studying English now
Present Perfect Simple Used to show unfinished time          I have studied English twice this week.
Present Perfect Progressive
Used to say how long someone has been doing something.
I have been studying English for 2 years.
I have been studying English since 1997.
 
The Past Tenses
Simple Past 
Used to show a completed action
I studied English last Saturday.
Past Progressive
Often used to say when something was being done or what was happening when something else happened
I was studying English last Monday when my friend rang.
I was studying English at 5pm last Monday.
Past Perfect Simple
The past of have done.  Used to say when something was done by.
I had done my English homework by 6.30 pm last Saturday.
I had done my English homework by the time I ate dinner last Saturday.

Past Perfect Progressive
The past of have been. Used to show how long something was done for by a certain time.
I'd been doing my English homework for 30 minutes when my friend rang last Saturday.
I'd been doing my English homework for 30 minutes by 1 pm last Saturday.
The Future Tenses
The future can be indicated in several different ways in English. It is often created with the use of auxiliaries: "She will be a student.", "She is going to drive a new car."
English can even create the future by using the simple present (used for timetables, programs etc.), "The train arrives at 10pm" or the present progressive (used for future plans), "He is collecting his mother from the station tonight."

Simple Future (uses will or shall or going to + base form)
Simple Future (Some uncertainty)
Decide to do something at the time of speaking
I think I'll do my English homework tonight.

Simple Future (Certain)
Have already decided or arranged to do something
I am going to study English next Saturday.
 Future Progressive/Continous (uses will be, shall be or going to be +-ing form)
Future Progressive (Some uncertainty)
The English lesson should begin at 7.30 and end at 9.15, so the person should be studying at 7.30 (but the lesson might start late).
I will be starting my English lesson at 7.30 pm.
Future Progressive (Certain)
The English lesson begins at 7.30 and ends at 9.15, so he's certain to be studying when his friend arrives at 8.00 
I am going to be studying English when my friends arrive at 9.00 pm.





Future Perfect Simple (uses will have or shall have + past participle)
Future Perfect Simple
Used to say something will already be complete by a time.
I will have already done my English homework by the time I eat dinner on Saturday.
Future Perfect Progressive/Continuous (uses will have been or shall have been + ing form)
Future Perfect Progressive
Used to say how long something will have been happening in the future by a certain time.
I will have been studying English for 30 minutes when my friends arrive.