ENGLISH Subject Object Predicate
ENGLISH Subject Object Predicate
Subject Object Predicate is the combination of three words which form any sentence.
SUBJECT:
Subject is the person or a thing who or which carries out the action of the verb.
Examples:
Mr. Clinton is teaching Algebra to the students.
Monkeys are playing around in the garden.
In the first sentence, the action is teaching. That action is carried out by Mr. Clinton. So,
Mr. Clinton is the subject of the verb.
In the second sentence, the action is playing. That action is carried out by the monkeys.
So, The monkeys is the subject of the verb.
The subject of sentence may be a simple noun or a simple pronoun as in the following
sentences.
Examples:
1. Oxygen is essential for life on earth.
2. John F. Kennedy was elected as US President in 1960.
3. Honesty is the best policy.
4. Horses are majestic animals.
5. When students travel to US, they usually go by air.
The subject may be also noun-phrase as in the following cases.
Examples:
1. The Earth revolves around the sun.
2. Borrowed-garments never fit well.
3. All matter is destructible.
4. No man can serve two masters.
5. The greatest similarity between India and China is that they both have huge population.
The subject may also be an infinitive or an infinitive phrase as in the following sentences.
Examples:
1. To err is human, but to forgive is divine.
2. To retreat was difficult; to advance was impossible.
3. To seek admission in a US college is the purpose with which I take TOEFL.
4. To bribe a public servant is a penal offence.
5. To score high marks in this examination means to have bright future.
The subject may be gerund or a gerund phrase as in the following sentences.Examples:
1. Reading French is easier that speaking it.
2. Looking after children requires patience.
3. Hunting of tigers was a favorite sport of Indian Kings.
4. Bribing of public servant is a penal offence.
5. Scoring high marks in this examination is not as easy as you think of.
The subject may be a full subordinate clause as in the following cases.
Examples:
1. How he reached home after the accidents was mystery to himself.
2. Why the people voted against the ruling party can be easily explained
.3. What the minister spoke was not audible because of the failure of the microphone.
4. Where the prisoners went after escaping from jail was not known to the police.
5. How he scored high marks is open secret.
Examples:
Every member was ready to speak.
Each day and each hour has its work to be done.
Every man, woman and child has to be looked after.
In these sentences, you can see how perfectly "Verb and Subject" agree with each other.
5. Two or more singular subjects connected by or,nor, eitheror, neithernor
take singular verb.
Examples:
His gather or he is expected here.
Either he or his brother might have done this.
Neither he nor they were present.
Neither they nor he was present.
Neither laziness nor dishonest is going to help you.
The verb agrees in person with the subject that comes just before it.
Examples:
He or I have to be there.
I or he has to be there. (Between this sentence and the above sentence, the above
sentence is preferable)
Either he or you are mistaken.
Neither you nor I am to be blamed.
8. When subjects which are different in person or number or both areconnected by
and, the verb is plural.
Examples:
He and I are friends.
You and I are responsible for this.
My father and I work in the same office.
He and his friends have come.
You and he are class-mates.
In these sentences, you can see how perfectly Verb and Subject agree with each other.
9. For a collective noun, usually a singular verb is used, but when the individuals
in the group are taken into consideration, a plural verb is used.
Examples:
The committee meets tomorrow.
The committee was divided in its views.
There is a large number of boys in this group.
A number of boys have given their names to participate in this competition.
The crew of ship was efficient.
Grammar :
Noun-Types
In this lesson we are going to see only Noun-Types. Other parts will be dealt with in the
following lessons.
What is NOUN?
A Noun is a word used as a name of a person, place, thing, state, quality, activity, action
etc...
Examples:
Mr. John is our English teacher.
In this sentence the words Mr. John and teacher are Nouns.
Harvard University is the oldest University.
In this sentence the words Harvard and University are Nouns.
Lions live in forest.
In this sentence the words Lion and forest are Nouns.
He is my best friend.
In this sentence, the words He and friend are Nouns.
London, New Delhi, Himalaya, philosophy, beauty, car, road,
Management, science, school, students, books, Mrs. Raman, tree,
mango, fruits; flowers are few of the Nouns.
Nouns can be classified into four Noun-Types.
Articles
Three words are used as articles.
They are:
1. a
2. an
3. the
Of these, a and an are indefinite articles.
Because, the indefinite-articles are used to indicate not any specific object or subject in the
sentence.
The is the only definite article
The definite article is used to indicate a specific object or subject in the sentence.
1. Indefinite articles:
Examples:
A man is standing at the corner of the road.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
He demolished a temple in the next town.
What he needed was an umbrella.
We need a building to set an office for our company.
He gave me an onion.
An honor of this type is what everybody dreams to get.
Uses of the Indefinite articles:
I. The indefinite articles are used before a singular countable noun.
Examples:
II. An is used before a word beginning with a vowel (or a vowel sound).
Examples:
He gave me an onion.
An ass is leaping into your field.
An enemy need not be far away from you. He may be beside you.
An orange is what you have to take to overcome thirsty.
Before you go out in the winter season, please remember to take an umbrellawith you.
III. A is used before a word beginning with a consonant.
Examples:
A cat is running behind the rat.
We need a man to safeguard our car.
A hole in the boat will endanger its safety.
IV. An is used before the word beginning with h in case the h is silent in pronunciation.
Examples:
An hour is a long time for the students who take this examination.
An honor of this type is what everybody dreams to get. (A vowel sound)
It is difficult to find an honest policeman.
The train was late by an hour.
V. A is used before the words beginning with a vowel which is pronounced like the y in
young.
Examples:
The employees of this company formed a union.
A European is better placed to reach the Oxford University than an Asian.
The government decided to set a university in this area of the country.
The ornithologist has written about a unique bird.
VI. When the word such is applied to countable things, the indefinite article is used after
such.
Examples:
Mr. Ram is an honest man. You can not find such a man.
He confused everybody with his witty talk. Such a blunder is rare to find in our lives.
VII. A is used in expression like:
Examples:
A few students came forward to organize this function.
A little sugar should be added to this coffee.
A certain number of books have been sold off by the authorities of this library.
VIII. The indefinite article is used when a singular noun stands for a whole group or species.
Examples:
A cow is a useful animal.
A dog is a faithful animal.
NOTE:
Countable noun is the noun which can be counted as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
Five animals, seven students, eight stars, ten countries etc
So, animals, stars, students, colleges, computers, countries, books and boats are countable
nouns.
Uncountable nouns are the nouns which can not be counted.
Time, rice, sky, sugar, soil, water, honesty, virtue and wisdom are the nouns which can not
be counted.
So, they are called uncountable nouns.
2. Definite articles:
Examples:
The lion is a majestic animal.
The boy who is standing there is my nephew.
The Andamans belong to India.
Examples:
There is a chair but the chair is broken.
The book that you want is not available in this library.
The President arrived by a special plane.
iii. To refer to a singular noun that represents a whole class.
Examples:
The elephant is a huge animal.
The scientist is a useful person to the society.
The definite article the is used:
iv. With superlatives:
Examples:
The highest mountain is Mount Everest.
This is the best book on Ornithology.
The two words Man and Woman in the general sense do not take any article.
Man (not The Man) is the only animal that has intelligence.
ix. To refer to rivers, seas, oceans, groups of islands, mountains, ranges trains etc
Examples:
The Frontier mail will arrive in time.
Grammar : Participle
Participle
is a word used to add extra meaning to the sentence.
Examples:
1. Hearing the noise, the boy woke up.
Here, the boy woke up is a fact. But why did he wake up?
He woke up because he heard the noise.
In order to add extra meaning to the sentence, the phrase hearing the noise has been
added.
The word hearing is formed from the verb hear and governs an object.
The word hearing qualifies the noun boy as an Adjective does.
The word hearing, therefore, partakes of the nature of both a verb and an Adjective and is
called PARTICIPLE.
It may be called a Verbal Adjective.
The word, which partakes of the nature of both a verb and an Adjective, is called
PARTICIPLE
2. I saw an elephant carrying a pack of Vegetables on its back.
In this sentence, the word carrying qualifies the noun elephant. So carrying is a
participle.
Here as well as in the above sentence, the participles are in the continuous forms (hearing &
carrying) of their verbs (hear & carry).
This type of participle is called PRESENT PARTICIPLE.
3. Being the eldest son, John had to shoulder all the responsibilities of his familyafter
his father died.
In this sentence, the word being qualifies the pronoun John. That is a Present Participle.
4. Driven by hunger, He stole a piece of bread.
In this sentence, the word driven qualifies the noun he. You see that the word is not in the
Present Participle form.
This type of participle is called PAST PARTICIPLE.
5. Deceived by his friends, he lost all his properties.
In this sentence also the word deceived is a Past Participle.
6. Having elected him President, the people gave him the royal support.
In this different sentence the phrase having elected qualifies the noun people.
But this phrase is neither Present participle nor Past Participle.
This phrase indicates an action which came to an end in the near past.
This type of participle is called PERFECT PARTICIPLE.
7. Having come of age, John entered into partnership with his father.
In this sentence, the phrase having come is a Perfect Participle.
B.Past Participle:
Examples:
C.Perfect Participle:
Examples:
Having failed in the first attempt, he made no further attempts.
Having lost my certificates, I applied for the duplicates.
Having gained the truth, He remained calm.
Grammar : Voice
There are TWO TYPES of Voices in English language.
They are:
1.Active voice.
2. Passive voice.
When we express an idea giving importance to the doer, the sentence is written in the active
form.
That means that the doer of the action is active.
He wrote a letter.
When we express an idea giving importance to the action rather than to the doer, the
sentence is written in the passive form.
That means that the doer of the action is not active but passive.
A letter was written by him.
In passive form, the verb will be in past participle form.
Write is Present tense form of the verb.
Wrote is past tense form of the verb
Written is past participle form of the verb
Since a letter was singular form, it is followed by singular-past tense verb was.
Let us see one by one:
1.Active voice.
As we saw already, when we express an idea giving importance to the doer, the sentence is
written in the active voice.
In active voice the verb is controlled by the subject.
The object in the active voice becomes the subject in the passive voice.
The subject in the active voice becomes the object of the preposition by in the
passive voice.
Examples:
He helped them in their studies.
They invite me.
The boys pluck flowers.
I take the responsibility.
BHEL exports boilers.
My mother prepares delicious foods.
We expect you.
In this example, in Active voice the verb (damages) is controlled by the singular form of the
subject (he).
In passive voice, the verb (are damaged) is controlled by the plural form of the object
(they).
Examples:
They tell the story. (Active voice)
The story was told by them. (Passive voice)
He helps us. (Active voice)
We are helped by him. (Passive voice)
We take him seriously. (Active voice)
He was taken seriously by us. (Passive voice)
Let us see the passive voices of the sentences given under the active voicesection above.
He helped them in their studies. (Active voice)
They were helped by him in their studies. (Passive voice)
They invite me. (Active voice)
I am invited by them. (Passive voice)
The boys pluck flowers. (Active voice)
The flowers were plucked by the boys. (Passive voice)
I take the responsibility. (Active voice)
The responsibility was taken by me. (Passive voice)
BHEL exports boilers. (Active voice)
Boilers are exported by BHEL. (Passive voice)
My mother prepares delicious foods. (Active voice)
Delicious foods were prepared by my mother. (Passive voice)
We expect you. (Active voice)
You are expected by us. (Passive voice)
The Prime Minister inaugurated the conference. (Active voice)
The conference was inaugurated by the Prime Minister. (Passive voice)
Few verbs, with certain meanings are always used with prepositions.
In such situations the prepositions should not be omitted in the sentences.
Examples:
We are looking at the game. (Active voice)
The game is being looked at by us. (Passive Voice).
The fire-brigade put out the fire. (Active voice)
The fire was put out by the fire-brigade. (Passive Voice).
The Government will set up a factory. (Active voice)
A factory will be set up by the government. (Passive Voice).
5. With IT:
In few sentences, instead of a word or a phrase, a clause may be the object of a verb.
In such cases there are two ways of changing the sentences into the passive voice.
A. By making the clause itself as the subject in the passive voice.
Examples:
I hope that he will realize his mistake. (Active voice)
That his mistake will be realized is hoped by us. (Passive Voice).
I expected that they would take up the matter. (Active voice)
That the matter would be taken up by them was expected by me. (Passive Voice).
B. By substituting the clause with pronoun it.
Examples:
The Romans expected that they would conquer Carthage. (Active voice)
It was expected by the Romans that Carthage would be conquered by them. (Passive
Voice).
We have learned that you have secured the first rank. (Active voice)
It has been learned by us that the first rank has been secured by you. (Passive Voice).
Exercises:
The grandmother was telling her grandchildren an interesting story. (Active voice)
An interesting story was being told by the grandmother to her grand children. (Passive
Voice).
Her grand children were being told an interesting story by their grandmother. (Passive
Voice).
Degrees of Comparison
are used when we compare one person or one thing with another.
There are three Degrees of Comparison in English.
They are:
1. Positive degree.
2. Comparative degree.
3. Superlative degree.
Let us see all of them one by one.
1.Positive degree.
When we speak about only one person or thing, We use the Positive degree.
Examples:
This house is big.
In this sentence only one noun The house is talked about.
He is a tall student.
This flower is beautiful.
He is an intelligent boy.
Each sentence mentioned above talks about only one noun.
When we compare more than two persons or things with one another,
We use all the three Positive, Comparative and Superlative degrees.
Examples:
ii. This is not better than few other solutions to this problem.
iii. Other solutions to this problem are not as good as this one.
ii. New York is not the largest city in America.
New York is not bigger than many other cities in America.
Few other cities in America are at least as large as New York.
Few adjectives and adverbs get their Comparative forms by simply getting more before
them.
And their superlative terms, by getting most before them.
Examples:
Beautiful..........more beautiful..........most beautiful
Effective.more effectivemost effective
Effectivelymore effectively.most effectively
Enjoyable.more enjoyable.most enjoyable
Useful.more useful..most useful
Different..more differentmost different
Honest..more honest..most honest
Qualifiedmore qualifiedmost qualified
Few adjectives and adverbs get their Comparative forms by simply getting er after them
and their superlative terms, by getting est after them.
Examples:
Hard..harder..hardest
Big.bigger.biggest
Tall..tallertallest
Longlongerlongest
Short..shorter.shortest
Costlycostliercostliest
Simple.simpler.simplest
Degrees of Comparison add beauty and varieties to the sentences.
Grammar : Mood
MOOD
is the mode or manner in which the action denoted by the verb is represented.
We usually use a verb to make a statement of fact or ask a question.
Examples:
I write a letter to my parents every month.
May I know your name, please?
But a verb can be used to express a command.
Examples:
Stand up.
Come here.
Pay your fees.
At the same time, a verb can be used to express a supposition.
Examples:
If I were the Prime Minister of this country, I would reduce the income-tax ceiling.
If you were I, you would do the same thing.
These different modes or manners in which a verb can be used to express an action are
called MOODS.This word comes from the Latin word modus which means manner.
There are three moods in English.
1. Indicative mood.
2. Imperative mood.
3. Subjunctive mood.
1. Indicative mood:
This type is used just to indicate the fact or to raise a question as follows.
i. To make a statement of fact.
Examples:
i. A command:
Examples:
Get up.
Go out.
Come here.
Wait for your boss.
Close the doors.
Kneel down.
Follow him.
Read quickly.
ii. An exhortation.
Examples:
Grammar :
Sentence
A Sentence is a group of clauses or words, conveying a complete meaning.
Examples:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
2.Interrogative Sentences:
These sentences are used to ask questions.
Examples:
3.Imperative Sentences:
These Sentences are used to express commands or request or entreaties.
Examples:
Get up.
Go out.
Come here.
Wait for your boss.
Close the doors.
Kneel down.
Follow him.
Read quickly.
Be aware of pick-pockets.
Try your level best to score the maximum marks.
Take this test once again.
Bless us.
Have mercy upon us.
Forgive them.
Take care of your health.
4.Exclamatory Sentences:
These Sentences are used to express strong feelings.
Examples:
These are the only four types of sentences that we come across in our daily lives.
Grammar :
Tense
The tense of a verb indicates the time of an action or event.
The word tense comes from Latin word tempus which means time.
Read the following sentences.
Grammar :
12 Tenses
I eat an apple.
He eats an apple.
2. Simple Past Tense :
I ate an apple.
He ate an apple.
3. Simple Future Tense :
I am eating an apple.
We are eating apple.
He was eating an apple.
5. Past Continuous Tense :
They have been building this bridge for the last seven months.
He has been working in this company for a long time.
They have been playing cricket since 5pm.
I have been writing a novel for the last one year.
Future Tense
As we have seen already, the Future Tense is used when the verb refers to the Future
time.
There are four forms in this Tense.
They are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
ii. This Simple Future Tense can be used to talk about what we believe will happen in the
future.
Examples
iii. This Tense can be used to indicate what we have planned to do in the future.
Examples