STUDY SKILLS

READING

 Description:

This topic will discuss the skill of reading which will help students to improve their approaches
to studying and adopt active reading for comprehension and response to reading texts. It will
help motivate reluctant or poor readers to begin to take an interest in reading by learning to apply
the sub-skills of reading. Students will be exposed to the different principles and guidelines of
effective reading used by efficient and fluent readers. The topic will also deal with some
common reading weaknesses and how to overcome them.

What is reading?

Reading is a discount ticket to everywhere,” (Mary Schmich)

Reading is the knowledge process of deriving meaning from written or printed text. Reading is
both a sensory and a mental process. It involves use of the eye and the mind. It is a process rather
than a subject. Reading is a complex cognitive process of decoding symbols in order to construct
or derive meaning. It is limited to the interpretation of written and printed symbols.

Reading is fundamental to function in today’s society. For example, there are many people who
cannot read well enough to understand the prescriptions on a medicine bottle. That is a scary
thought - especially for their children. Filling out applications becomes impossible without help.
Reading road or warning signs is difficult. Even following a map becomes a chore. Day-to-day
activities that many people take for granted become a source of frustration, anger and fear.
Reading is a vital skill in finding a good job. Many well-paying jobs require reading as a part of
job performance. There are reports and memos which must be read and responded to. Poor
reading skills increase the amount of time it takes to absorb and react in the workplace. A person
is limited in what they can accomplish without good reading and comprehension skills. Reading
is important because it develops the mind. The mind is a muscle that needs to be exercised.

The Purpose of Reading

 Why are you reading a text?

1. To acquire / enhance knowledge: It is through reading that we discover new things. books, 
magazines and even the internet are great learning tools which require the ability to read and
understand what is read. A person who knows how to read can educate themselves in any area of
life they are interested in.  

2.  For mental development.

 3. To improve conversational skills. Lack of listening skills can result in major
misunderstandings which can lead to job loss, marriage breakup, and other disasters - small and
great. Reading helps one to focus on what someone else is communicating.

4. To develop vocabulary and language skills

 5. To enjoy learning about other people’s experiences, stories, information, etc. Reading enables
us to interact and understand the world around us. It helps us to explain our ideas and opinions to
others and to record what has taken place so future generations can understand their history. 
Reading is fundamental in developing a good self- image. Non-readers or poor readers often
have low opinions of themselves and their abilities. Many times they feel as if the world is
against them. They feel isolated [everybody else can read - which isn't true] and behavior
problems can surface. They can perform poorly in other subjects because they cannot read and
understand the material.  Often the reader tends to "give up."

6.  Good reading skills, especially in a phonic reading program improve spelling. As students
learn to sound out letters and words, spelling becomes easier. Also, reading helps to expand the
vocabulary. Reading new words puts them in their mind for later use. Seeing how words are used
in different contexts can give a better understanding of the word usage and its definitions rather
than just the cold facts of a dictionary.

7. Reading is important because words - spoken and written - are the building blocks of life. You
are, right now, the result of words that you have heard or read and believed about yourself. What
you become in the future will depend on the words you believe about yourself now. People,
families, relationships, and even nations are built from words. Think about it.

EFFECTIVE/ EFFICIENT READING

Efficient reading is about reading in a way that allows you to understand the writer's message
without spending too much time in the process. It's also about reading with a clear purpose in
mind so that you only read material that is relevant.  Effective Reading entails strategies used by
active readers to help themselves to save time and cover a lot of ground. Effective reading
strategies will ensure you read efficiently. Effective readers are selective, active, and critical.

Selective reading means you read only the parts that are particularly relevant to your purpose.
You don’t always have to read every single word, especially if your eyes are glazing over. If
you’ve done your pre-reading, then you should be able to find the information you need pretty
quickly. If not, take another scan of the text and look for keywords relating to your topic
(remember you can use the search function to search electronic text quickly and easily). Not sure
what you’re looking for? Go back to why you are reading what you’re reading. Is it for a lecture,
tutorial, or assignment? Is there a question you need to answer, or a concept you need to
understand?

Active reading means doing something with the text, either physically or intellectually. The
physical options include highlighting, underlining, or writing notes in the margin, but ONLY –
we can’t stress this enough – ONLY if the book belongs to you or you’ve printed the article out.
Do not ever write in or on someone else’s book, especially a library book! If it’s not yours, don’t
worry, you can still be an active reader – you just need to make notes on another piece of paper
or on your device, and/or think over issues in your mind.

 Critical reading means using your critical thinking skills on the text you are reading. Some of
the aspects of the text you might think about include:

→ the writer’s purpose (are they trying to persuade you of something?)

 → the writer’s stance and any biases

 → the language the writer is using to make their case

 → the evidence being cited → how what you’re reading fits with or challenges your own views
and ideas.

REQUIREMENTS FOR EFFECTIVE READING

Strategic readers have the following four characteristics;

 Read for meaning: Since the goal is to find meaning in the material, successful readers
use inquiry and critical reading to search for key ideas, make connections to previous
knowledge, evaluate the worth of the ideas, and apply to new situations.
 Monitor their reading: Blindly reading a passage is the opposite of actively reading.
Successful readers keep themselves from zoning out by frequently checking to make sure
that they understand what they are reading. Successful readers adjust their reading rate:
Challenging readings may call for a decreased speed of reading, whereas if you are
rereading or skimming your reading rate may be quite quick. It is also important that
when you are sitting down to read that you track your progress to make sure you are in
fact accomplishing what needs to be done.
 They select reading strategies appropriate for the text.
 They establish goals for reading.
 They have a positive attitude toward reading
  Good readers summarize as they read. To summarize is to retell the main ideas or events
in a story in your own words. This helps you focus on the key points and make sure you
understand what you’re reading.
  Good readers make and revise predictions as they read. When you make predictions you
try to figure out what is going to happen in the text. This keeps your interest level high. It
also causes you to notice details and to change and update your predictions.
 Good readers make inferences as they read. When you make an inference you draw a
reasonable conclusion based on information in the text. Authors often expect you to make
inferences; they don’t come right out and say everything you need to know.
 Good readers ask questions as they read. Good readers ask themselves questions to make
sure that they’re  understanding the text, and that the meaning they’re constructing makes
sense.
  Good readers visualize as they read. To visualize is to try to picture what the author is
describing. This helps give you a very clear image of what you’re reading. It can also
help you get into a story and imagine you’re there.
 Good readers synthesize as they read. When you synthesize you combine new
information with information you already know. You also combine the parts of what
you’re reading and put them together to figure out what the whole thing is saying.
 Good readers make connections as they read. Good readers connect what they’re reading
to their personal lives and to the world around them. They try to figure out how the text
fits in with the rest of life.
 Good readers determine important ideas as they read. Good readers think about which
information is essential and most important.

ACHIEVING READING EFFICIENCY

Reading checklist

·       Establish a purpose for your reading. Define reading goals..Ask questions of the text.  Why
are you reading? What do you want to find out? Ask yourself why you are reading the material
(e.g. to get an overall impression, to identify main ideas, to find a specific piece of information) 
Use questions to guide your reading; for instance,·  Use learning outcomes from the course
outline to form questions* about the topic, and read to answer these questions.  Read to answer
the questions at the end of your textbook chapters.*  If you are reading for an assignment, keep
the assignment question* in mind and use your research plan to guide your reading.

·       Adopt a reading style to reflect your needs Vary the way you read according to the
information you are seeking

·       Be methodical.  Don't simply read for long periods of time - plan your reading activities for
each text and each subject

·       Be methodical.  Don't simply read for long periods of time - plan your reading activities for
each text and each subject

·       Be flexible If the book or journal does not provide you with the answers that you need, be
prepared to put it straight down and turn to another. Abandon it once you have checked for the
information you want.

·       Control your environment Make sure you have sufficient light, but avoid glare. Reading is
best done with light coming from above, or over one shoulder, and it should not be reflected
back at you. Avoid too harsh a contrast between your reading pool of light and the light in the
surrounding area. If you suffer from eyestrain or headaches take a break from reading and think
about getting your eyes checked by an optician. This could be a sign that you are straining them.

·       Remember to adopt a comfortable reading position and posture to reduce body fatigue and
mental strain. This will enable you to work more effectively and, if necessary, for longer.
·       Speed reading can be useful, but initially greater benefit is to be gained by rationalising
your reading.

·       Use a variety of reading approaches to suit your purpose. (Not everything has to be read
carefully and fully.)

BENEFITS OF EFFECTIVE READING

Effective reading can provide the reader with a comprehensible input from the book or document
that is read. It can enhance your general ability to use other language skills such as listening,
speaking, and writing. It can enhance your vocabulary, that is, you can always learn new words,
phrases, and expressions. Effective reading also helps you keep your mind focused on the
material and prevents it from unnecessary distractions. Moreover, this enables you to extract
useful information much more efficiently within a limited time. It can help you consolidate both
previously learned language and knowledge. It helps in building confidence as you start reading
longer, and later, voluminous texts. It gives you pleasure and relaxation as books are the best and
most reliable friends. It facilitates development of various other skills, such as predictions,
comparing and contrasting facts, creating samples, hypothesizing, reorganizing the message as
transmitted by the text, improving your critical thinking, and hence developing a sharp acumen
with passage of time.

READING DIFFICULTIES

Reading disorders occur when a person has trouble reading words or understanding what they
read. Dyslexia is one type of reading disorder. It generally refers to difficulties reading individual
words and can lead to problems understanding text.

Most reading disorders result from specific differences in the way the brain processes written
words and text. Usually, these differences are present from a young age. But a person can
develop a reading problem from an injury to the brain at any age.

People with reading disorders often have problems recognizing words they already know and
understanding text they read. They also may be poor spellers. Not everyone with a reading
disorder has every symptom.

Reading disorders are not a type of intellectual or developmental disorder, and they are not a sign
of lower intelligence or unwillingness to learn.

People with reading disorders may have other learning disabilities, too, including problems
with writing or numbers. Dyslexia is the most well-known reading disorder. It specifically
impairs a person’s ability to read. Individuals with dyslexia have normal intelligence, but they
read at levels significantly lower than expected. Although the disorder varies from person to
person, there are common characteristics: People with dyslexia often have a hard time sounding
out words, understanding written words, and naming objects quickly.
Most reading problems are present from the time a child learns to read. But some people lose the
ability to read after a stroke or an injury to the area of the brain involved in the reading. This
kind of reading disorder is called alexia.

Fluency: People who lack fluency have difficulty reading quickly, accurately, and with proper
expression (if reading aloud).

·       Poor reading comprehension (comprehension or language deficit): People with poor

reading comprehension have trouble understanding what they read. They struggle with
understanding what the words mean after they’ve read or heard the word. 

·       Word decoding (orthographic or processing speed deficit): People who have difficulty

sounding out written words struggle to match letters to their proper sounds. Readers struggle
with the visual print structure. They are struggling to look at letters and quickly recognize what
that letter (or letter group) is in order to pair a sound. They may struggle with letter reversals
such as b/d/p/q or recognizing the difference between t, th, tch, tion since each of those pair with
a different sound.

These are problems associated with reading, whether it be with the mechanical skill of the
reading process and or the comprehension of what is read. Other difficulties include:

•       Lack of concentration

•       Eye fixation- reading, when one is unable to progress well beyond a thought, expression, or
word

•       Regression- habitually going back to the part where it occurs in a passage or simply reading
the test again and again to understand the idea.

•       Reading aloud or turning the head from side to side

•       Indiscriminate use of the dictionary- tendency to refer to it the moment one comes across a
word one finds difficult to understand.

•        Poor Vision

•       Hearing loss Inability to pay attention

•       Lack of focus

•       Getting easily distracted

Questions:

1.     Explain three reading difficulties and how to overcome them.

2.     Discuss ways of overcoming the following::

a.     Vocalization

b.     Poor reading speed

c.     Regression

d.     Poor concentration.

Summary:

The topic has expose the learner to a deeper understanding of reading for study purposes. It has
outlined the guidelines to efficient reading and benefits of reading. Some common reading
difficulties have been discussed for self- correction and improvement. The trainer will also be
able to understand the reading challenges faced by the learner.

READING STRATEGIES:

Topic Description:

The learner should familiarize with reading strategies that are used in study reading. They should
be able to apply the reading techniques learnt on various reading texts to acquire appropriate
study skills. Learners should also be able to appreciate reading a variety of texts for research and
study purposes. Materials for practice will be in form of short texts extracted from various
sources. These may be sourced from texts, newspapers, magazines, and the internet. Various
reading activities will be carried out as continuous assessment. 

SKIMMING AND SCANNING

Reading is a technical process of perceiving and understanding. It helps a person to improve the
learning capacity and develop knowledge, improve understanding of the language and build
vocabulary. Most of the people treat Reading as a hobby.

Reading practices involve two important techniques; Skimming and Scanning. These two
techniques have always been in practice. We use these techniques unknowingly many times
when we search for documents in a hurry or while finding a piece of specific information.

These skills help students, researchers and other people to find needed information more
effectively in a limited period. Skimming and Scanning are techniques chosen depending on the
purpose of reading.

 What is Skimming?
Skimming is a reading technique which helps to quickly go over a text to understand the concept.
Skimming technique is considered to be as fast as survey. It is usually used to determine whether
a text is suitable for reading. 

It is a reading tool used to cover more content in less time. It involves going over a text in order
to get the main ideas or points. The reader chooses the areas that are important guided by the
purpose of reading. It is suitable for both fiction and factual content.

Most of the people use skimming when they want to save time or to get a general idea about
chapter, article or a newspaper for their preliminary research. With skimming, readers mainly go
over the introduction, conclusion, topic and concluding sentence, headings, subheadings, bold
words, dates to get the general meaning.  

Skimming is always faster than normal reading, A skimmer does not give equal attention to
everything.

There are three types of Skimming that is, Preview, Overview and Review.

Preview Skimming is used in selecting a book, finding appropriate material or chapter to use in
research or survey.

Overview Skimming is used to read material more thoroughly than preview reading.

Review Skimming is used to re-read a text that has been read once in order to get ideas and
more details about the concept. 

What is Scanning?

Scanning, as the name implies is a technique used to keenly go through an article or any book to
identify particular information that the reader requires. Types of texts that are easily  scanned are
directories, advertisements, lists of items or names, minutes, notices, letters, diaries, food menus,
flight schedules etc

The text may be structured alphabetically, as in the dictionary or encyclopedia. The information
arranged by time or numerical order is chronological. The material or information can be also
arranged in non-alphabetic order like TV programs so on. Some information or material can be
arranged by category such as entertainment, finance, economics, or social so on. The reader
quickly goes over a text and selects only the sections required.

Scanning may be used in study reading when one requires to summarize, answer questions or
make notes.

Using a highlighter or pointer while scanning helps to focus on the specific material we are
looking for. Keep the keyword in mind while scanning and look for outer or related words.
Scanning is not substituting for reading, the people who only choose to scan may end up in a
problem. If they miss a single word it may change the whole meaning of a passage. Through
scanning, we learn about a piece of information not the concept of article or document.

When we use scanning there is a purpose and the question in mind gets an answer. Once we find
the information that we are looking for, we will stop reading.                        .

Main Differences Between Skimming and Scanning

1.     The main difference between Skimming and Scanning is, the former is a quick read through
to know what the plot is, while scanning is a method to investigate a particular context.

2.     Skimming gives the idea of what is a full text about and Scanning helps to find specific
information in the text.

3.     Skimming includes reading the main parts quickly; introduction, conclusion, headings, and
subheadings. While Scanning is looking over the whole text or a particular part to find specific
information.

4.     Using the Skimming technique, a reader can read the maximum text in a limited period and
Scanning is used to find required data.

Skimming is a technique helps to know a lot of information in a shorter period while scanning
gives limited but concrete information.

Quiz:

i.               Outline the advantages and disadvantages of skimming and scanning

ii.              What is the importance of scanning?

Summary

Skimming and Scanning are two techniques in reading mainly used in research work. They helps
save a lot of time reading time and gain a lot of information. They also enhance reading speed
and interest. Once we are done with skimming a document, it is easy to scan for particular
information from the same text or document. The two techniques also enable efficiency in
reading comprehension.

SURVEY

Survey refers to the act of examining the parts of a whole text in order to make a decision about
reading it
This involves preliminary structuring or discovering, before reading thoroughly, the main parts
into which the material is organized, and the most important ideas. The process involves the
following activities:

1.     The Establishing a purpose. Decide what you want to get out of the material and how
thoroughly you need to understand it. Are you reading merely for a general idea or are you
reading for details? Are you reading for a test, for business requirements or for pleasure?

2.     By carefully defining your purpose, you can set your reading strategy to accomplish this
purpose. If you are reading for details, your reading speed will be slower than if reading for just a
general idea or for pleasure. However, if you are reading only to get some idea of the theme and
the main points, then the Survey Reading alone may be sufficient.

3.     Estimating Difficulty and Time. Consider the total amount of time which you have available
and estimate the difficulty of the material. Decide how you will budget your time, if you plan to
go beyond Survey Reading. A realistic time estimate, in accordance with your purpose and the
material's difficulty, will help you set up an effective schedule and give you greater control over
your reading.

4.     Questioning. Now that you know something about the book or chapter, what don't you
know? Should you go on reading? If so, what do you expect to learn from a thorough reading?
How did the author get from his introduction to his conclusion? What are the steppingstones
along the way? Are they logically connected? What is the author's purpose? Does this
information add to or contradict what you already know about this subject? Questions can be
specific and fact-finding or broad and searching.

Questions aid concentration by stimulating curiosity. The satisfaction of finding answers

strengthens retention. Questions make a passive reader into an active one. Through questioning,
you can establish a dialogue with the author, a conversation which will increase your enjoyment.

Questions will occur during and after reading, but start them early, during Survey Reading.

Parts of the text to examine

1. Details about the author.

2. Date of publication.
3. Title and sub-title.
4. Abstract.
5. Introduction.
6. Conclusion.
7. Section headings.
8. Graphics (charts, diagrams, etc.)

INTENSIVE READING
Intensive reading refers to careful reading of short texts for details and with clear goals, such as
answering comprehension questions or identifying how sentences are linked. The main goal is to
gain a deeper understanding of that text.

Importance of intensive reading

-       Comprehension

-        learning subject matter,

-       vocabulary acquisition and

-       Studying the authors’ intentions.

 Intensive reading involves keen examination of texts that are more complex, in terms of content
and language, than those used for extensive reading. Such texts that may present a significant
challenge in terms of vocabulary, grammar and/or concepts, learners should focus on reading
skills, such as identifying main ideas and guessing the meaning of unfamiliar words from
context.

Intensive reading involves

-        Focusing on new language items such as vocabulary and grammar

-        Focusing on ideas such as themes and topics

-        Learning new skills such as making inferences and identifying main ideas

-       Paying attention to text features such as genre structure and cohesion

Before reading intensively, the reader skims the text to get the general meaning and answer the
question ‘what is the text talking about’? Scanning of the text is done after reading for details to
help the reader to respond to the text or answer questions. When focusing on reading strategies,
teachers can introduce the idea of skimming (reading rapidly for overall idea) and scanning
(reading rapidly to find specific information).

Advantages of Intensive Reading

1.     Acquisition of vocabulary

2.     Acquisition of sentence structure

3.     Practice of other reading skills such as survey, skimming and scanning, 

4.     Enhances reading for study purposes

5.     Enhances concentration in reading 

EXTENSIVE READING

It is the reading of longer texts for pleasure for general understanding. Extensive reading
involves reading large quantities of texts for enjoyment and to develop general reading skills.

Sources of extensive reading are novels, magazines, story books, motivational texts

 Objectives in extensive reading

 to increase student confidence in their English reading ability

 to increase student motivation in their English reading
 to increase student reading fluency, specifically
o to decrease dependence on word by word comprehension
o to increase reading speed (number of pages read per hour)
 to increase student narrative interpreting ability, specifically so that students write and
discuss in English their own ideas and opinions about what has been read, and their own
reading progress
 to foster a clear, strong and constant sense of personal success in reading English

This approach to reading is used when encouraging students to read widely, especially outside
of class, at their free time. Extensive reading is also known as pleasure reading, since its
purpose is free, independent reading that is not overly dependent upon either teacher or
dictionary. 

Wide reading for enjoyment and improving reading and interpretive skills. 

Reading for pleasure is an information gathering activity.

In the classroom extensive reading is often overlooked, especially as a classroom activity.

Teachers often feel it is not an effective use of class time or are just uncomfortable with the
extended silence. 

There are many reasons why Extensive Reading is good for language development.

1.     Vocabulary building.

When learners read a lot, they meet thousands of words and lexical (word) patterns that are not
taught in textbooks. Extensive Reading allows the learner to develop an awareness of
collocations (common word partnerships) and thousands of lexical phrases.

2.      Understanding grammar.

In textbooks learners meet hundreds of grammar patterns. However, textbooks do not provide
enough meetings with grammar for real acquisition to occur. Extensive Reading provides
opportunities to see grammar in context so learners can deepen their understanding of how
grammar is really used.

3.     Improving reading speed and reading fluency.

 In particular, developing reading speed is important because it helps learners to understand
language faster and better.

4.     Acquiring good reading habits.

The more the learner is exposed to wide reading the more their good reading habits such as silent
reading, concentration, good recognition span etc are refined. 

5.     Improves reading interest.

Interaction with interesting books and the fact that the reader derives enjoyment motivates the
reader.

6.      Reading for pleasure. This builds confidence and motivation which makes the learner a
more effective user of language.

Questions

1.     Point out the main differences between intensive reading and extensive reading
techniques.

2.     Explain how extensive reading can help the learner to enhance speaking and writing
skills.

Summary:

At the end of this topic the learner should be distinguish between intensive and extensive reading
skills and use them appropriately to improve their language use. 

THE SQ3R METHOD OF READING

SQ3R is a reading comprehension method named for its five steps: survey, question, read,

recite, and review. Follow the steps below to learn how to glean as much information as possible
from the text requirements from any class. Remember: The information you gain
from reading is important. If you just “do it,” without learning something, you’re wasting a lot
of your time. Train your mind to learn while reading with SQ3R.

SURVEY

Gather the information necessary to focus and formulate goals

·       Read the title – Help your mind prepare to receive the subject at hand.

·       Read the introduction and/or summary – Orient yourself to how each chapter fits the
author's purposes, and focus on the author's statement of most important points.

·       Notice each boldface heading and subheading – Organize your mind before you begin to
read and build a structure for the thoughts and details to come.

·       Notice any graphics – Charts, maps, diagrams, etc. are there to make a point. Don't
overlook them.

·       Notice reading aids – Italics, bold face print, chapter objective, and end-of -chapter
questions are all included to help you sort, comprehend, and remember.

QUESTION

Help your mind engage and concentrate

Turn the boldface heading for each section into as many questions as you think will be answered
in that section. The better the questions, the better your comprehension is likely to be. You may
always add further questions as you proceed. When your mind is actively searching for answers
to questions it becomes engaged in learning.

READ

Fill in the information around the mental structures you've been building

Read one section at a time with your questions in mind and look for the answers. Recognize
when you need to make up some new questions.

RECITE

Retrain your mind to concentrate and learn as it reads

After each section, stop and recall your questions and see if you can answer them from memory.
If not, look back at the text again (as often as necessary), but don't move to the next section until
you can recite the answers from the previous one.

REVIEW

Refine your mental organization and begin building memory

Once you've finished the entire chapter using the preceding steps, go back over the questions you
create for every heading. See if you can still answer them. If not, look back and refresh your
memory and then continue.
Quiz Items:

a.     Explain the relationship between intensive reading and SQ3R.

b.     What are the benefits of questioning in reading?

Summary:

The SQ3R method of reading equips the learner with a special approach to study reading and in
particular research reading.

COMPREHENSION

Topic description: 

This topic involves reading for comprehension and responding to texts by answering a variety of
questions, summary writing and note making. These activities will develop the ability of the
learner to grasp the meaning of written texts and culminate in enhancement of study skills which
is a routine requirement for a trainer. A variety of short texts will be used for practice and
assessment. They will be derived mainly from expository writing in text books, magazines,
newspapers and any other form of continuous writing. The learner will be required to apply the
reading strategies learnt for better understanding of the texts. 

What is Comprehension?

Comprehension simply means “understanding”. To comprehend is to understand. It is grasping

what is read with the mind. Comprehension is the understanding and interpretation of what is
read. To be able to accurately understand written material, the reader should be able to decode
what they read, make connections between what they read and what they already know and think
deeply about what they have read.

 To comprehend is the effort of successfully accessing the writer’s thoughts from a written text. 
During a reading comprehension exercise, the reader is actively involved in a sort of meaning
negotiation with the writer. The greater the number of the constituent words and sentences in the
passage that the reader finds familiar, the wider the scope of comprehension.

It needs be emphasised that comprehension is said to have taken place only when one has been
able to recall, interpret or explain the content of a written text in one’s appropriately chosen
words to reflect as much as possible what represents the encoder’s original thoughts.

Importance of Comprehension

1. Good comprehension skills enable students to go through schooling

with great ease. Reading takes a major part of the student’s study time.
 

2. Such ability would facilitate mastery of the learning content and activities in

other subjects and courses. A student that is able to extract meanings from written or printed
texts can be said to have many sources of knowledge. .

3. Acquisition of good comprehension skills enable the reader to enhance other abilities
such as quick and easy resolution of conflicts, facilitation of cooperative attitudes and
progress, rationality and so on. This shows that if comprehension skills are properly and
adequately developed and 

nurtured, the benefits transcend formal examinations. The advantages are all-pervasive to the
teacher. 

Features that cause comprehension difficulties, and how to handle them:

1. Difficult or unfamiliar words:  Find the clue from the context.

2. Anaphora:  - supply the noun even if it means repeating.  For instance, you will notice
that the first of the following two examples has some ambiguity, which is eradicated
when the relevant noun is repeated in the main cause: 

v  When Koech broke ranks with retired Daniel, he described him a politician with runaway
ambition.

v  When Koech broke ranks with the group chairman, Koech described him as a politician with
runway ambition.

3. Long, complex sentence:  break them up into simple sentences.  Relate any relative
clause to their nouns to remove them altogether.
4. Complex noun phrases:  Identify the head word, i.e the main word which is being
expanded.
5. Connectors: What do they introduce? Contradiction, addition or contrast?  How do these
relate what is being said to what has already been said?
6. Difficult topic:  e.g. science, statistics, economics, e.t.c: place the work in context.  Make
notes as you read.
7. Long text:  - Dialogue? Direct speech? If these make the text long, try to change to
indirect speech or make a mental note of the summary of the dialogue.  In other word,
establish the intention and gist of the dialogue.  A text may have unnecessary details. 
This may be deliberate.  Big chunks of such texts are removable.  Look out for the
removable e.g. examples, paraphrases, explanations, additions, statistics, direct quotes,
etc.
8. Cleft sentences:  Rewrite as direct sentences, e.g.:  it is on Monday that the school was
closed.  (cleft sentence)  The school was closed on Monday. (Direct sentence).
9. Opinion and perspective:  Establish whose opinion or perspective is dominant.  Some
questions ask for opinion.  Make sure you distinguish between:
                        i.         Author’s opinion.

                       ii.         Your opinion.

                     iii.         A third party’s opinion.

Procedure of handling comprehension.                                          

1)    First read through the passage quickly, making a mental note of the type of passage it is.
( skimming)

2)    Read the passage intensively or thoroughly to grasp the details

3)    Go through the questions and mark the key words and phrases and the marks allocated to
each question. ( scanning)

4)    Keep referring to the questions and the passage as you answer each question. Use your own
words as much as possible, keeping the answer as relevant to the question as possible.

5)    Give definitions strictly according to the way the words are used in the text, not necessarily
the dictionary meaning.  Give preferences to contextual meaning. 

Comprehension Indicators

1.              The first indicator is the topic.  

A general understanding of the topic places the text in a context that is easier to comprehend. 
This knowledge of the subject forms an important background.  Let this knowledge guide your
comprehension.  Summon or recall it and activate it for the task of comprehension at hand, i.e.
use it to place the text and improve comprehension.

2.              Look for the main gist as brought out through the topic sentences. 

After the first reading try and identify the topic sentence of every paragraph.  In most texts the
topic sentence comes first.  It could also come last.  Look for it as it is a very key indicator. 

In the following paragraphs, the main points, carried by the topic sentences, are italicized.

i)               The butterflies fluttered over the beautiful flowers and the birds piped their tunes. 
The sun’s rays were just warm enough.  It was a lovely, bright morning.

ii)             None of the political parties admits to having had a hand in the post-election violence
of 2008.  The incumbent party reckons its members were physically harassed and intimidated by
opposition goons.  The opposition on their part accuses the provincial administration of having
used the police to intimidate their members.  It is difficult to establish the true position.

iii)           Boys and girls can be seen loitering in the compound while classes are in
progress.  Some schools perform dismally in national examinations due to poor administration. 
Why else would students be loitering during class time?  It would be illogical, with such an
observation, to expect such a school to achieve high academic standards.

3.              Identify the emphasis area:

a)     Physical, i.e. print. Colour. Size e.t.c.

b)    Main clauses – in a complex sentence a main clause carries the emphasis.

c)     Space – writers sometimes give more space to the idea they wish to emphasize.

d)    Position – emphasized ideas often come first, e.g. in the first sentence of a paragraph.

4.              Logical, step-by-step presentation.  Some information is presented in some order

that is both predictable and consistent.  In some cases the points or facts are enumerated either
directly or indirectly.

a)    Direct

-       First …

-       The second thing to note …

-       Finally …

-       …and most importantly…

-     In conclusion…  

b)    Indirect

The formation may be presented without using the direct enumeration or ranking/ordering, but
indistinct chronological sentences or paragraph.  Follow this chronology or order and everything
will fall in place.

5.              Specific punctuation marks such as inverted commas, slashes, question marks,

brackets etc will draw your attention to important points as will italics, capital letters, colour,
font type and size, etc.
 

Types of comprehension questions

1.               Recall information questions:

a)    What, why, when, which, who?

                       The 5W questions require straight answers.

b)    State, name, identify, mention

These questions usually ask for a specific number of reasons, factors, or features.  Remember to
give the number of reasons, factors or features as asked for.  Number them or separate using
space.

2.              Meaning of Vocabulary

Special words are usually marked by bold, italics, different font size etc.  When asked for
meaning of such words you should give the meaning as used in the passage, which is not always
the dictionary meaning.

3.              Inferences and implications

As you read a passage you may arrive at some conclusion based on a statement or assertion. 
You may infer from what the writer implies.  If, for instance, the writer mentions heavy rains and
later on in the passage mentions planting, you may infer that it is the onset of the rainy season.

4.              Attitude

You may be asked to write about the writer’s or character’s or reader’s attitude to something/
someone/ idea.  In answering such, we look for the words used to express the information.
 

EXAMPLE:

There are many girls who are not in school.  It is unfortunate that the girl-child continues to
assist her mother while her brother is in school.

The writer uses the word ‘unfortunate’ to imply that the girl-child should  at home while her
brother  goes to school, and that he is unhappy (does not like this state of affairs).  We therefore,
infer that he thinks that society ought to do more to help the girl child.

Tone can also bring out the writer’s attitude.  The tone of a passage may be objective, sarcastic,
ironical, humorous, cynical, condescending, bossy, etc.

5.              Questions on reference or anaphora

A question may ask what some pronoun refers back to.  An example here would be a story in
popular West African novel.  In this story, a woman loses her children soon after their birth.  She
tries all the names to no avail.  In anger, she names a child something like … “may death please
itself.”  Then the writer continues: “…and it did…”

What would “it” refer to?

6.              Opinion questions

The first thing is to distinguish between your opinion and the author’s.  The question may also
ask you for the opinion of a third party.

            Your opinion

            Question asking for your opinion:

 What do you think…?

 What is your opinion …?

The author’s opinion

Questions asking for the author’s opinion:

 What does the author feel …?

 From the passage, what do …?

Third party’s opinion

Questions asking for the third party’s opinion:

·       What would one think …?

·       What does … (character) think, believe …?

Summary

To be able to effectively read for comprehension the learner is expected to understand the
meaning of comprehension as a reading activity and the recommended steps of reading a text.
The learner should be aware of reading difficulties and the aspects of text that aid better
understanding. Most important bear in mind the type of comprehension questions to expect and
how to tackle them and the appropriate reading strategies to adopt for reading efficiency.

SUMMARY WRITING

Description: This topic discusses what summary writing is. It guides the

students on when how to write a summary thus equipping
them with skills of writing a good summary. The students are
required to read the notes provided by the lecturer, do online
 research as well as read textbooks.
 

What is a summary?

 A summary is a record in a reader's own words that gives the main points of a piece of
writing such as a newspaper article, a passage, a chapter of a book, or even a whole
book. 
 A summary is a condensed version of an original text, usually a full article, a passage or a
book. Summaries are usually around a paragraph long, and may even be a few paragraphs
long depending on the length of the work being condensed.

 When to write a summary

 Summaries are used in variety of situations:

a)     When you want to summarize only the main points of a meeting with a co-worker because
you're running late for another meeting.

b)    When you want to introduce a complex design idea you could begin by summarizing what
your design would accomplish, to give key people an overall sense of your plan without
overwhelming them.

c)     Students might summarize an article for a class, or when preparing and writing research
papers, annotated bibliographies passages and essays. The writer of a research paper is especially
dependent upon summary as a means of referring to source materials. Through the use
of summary in a research paper, you can condense a broad range of information, and you can
present and explain the relevance of a number of sources all dealing with the same subject.

How to write a summary

1. To summarize, you must read a passage closely, finding the main ideas and supporting
ideas.
2. Then you must briefly write down those ideas in a few sentences or a paragraph. It is
important to understand the difference between a summary and a paraphrase. A
paraphrase is simply a rewriting of a passage in your own words.
3. The title should be a brief statement of the central theme. It should be pointed, not vague.
4. Read the passage again, as carefully as possible trying to understand every sentence.
Since you have already understood the central theme of the passage, it should be easy for
you to find out what is important and what is not important.
5. Anything that is not related to the central theme is irrelevant or superfluous and should
not be mentioned the summary.
 6. In the passage the author may have expressed the same idea in different words for
emphasis. There is no room for repetition of ideas in a summary.
7. Examples and illustrations are often easy to dispense with. If you find an example
indispensable, it may be included in the summary.
8. Do not include quotations, metaphors, similes and other figures of speech.
9. Before you start writing the summary, jot down the important ideas in the passage. Do
not copy words and phrases from the passage. As far as possible the summary should be
written in your own words

Summary Writing Format

 When writing a summary, remember that it should be in the form of a paragraph.

 A summary begins with an introductory sentence that states the text’s title, author and
main point of the text as you see it.
 A summary is written in your own words.
 A summary contains only the ideas of the original text. Do not insert any of your own
opinions, interpretations, deductions or comments into a summary.
 Identify in order the significant sub-claims the author uses to defend the main point.
 Write a last sentence that “wraps” up your summary; often a simple rephrasing of the
main point.
 A summary omits details, and does not include the reader's interpretation of the original

Qualities of a summary

A good summary should be comprehensive, concise, coherent, and independent.

§   A summary must be comprehensive: You should isolate all the important points in the

original passage and note them down in a list. Review all the ideas on your list, and include in
your summary all the ones that are indispensable to the author's development of her/his thesis or
main idea.

§   A summary must be concise: Eliminate repetitions in your list, even if the author restates the
same points. Your summary should be considerably shorter than the source. You are hoping to
create an overview; therefore, you need not include every repetition of a point or every
supporting detail.

§   A summary must be coherent: It should make sense as a piece of writing in its own right; it
should not merely be taken directly from your list of notes or sound like a disjointed collection of
points.

§   A summary must be independent: You are not being asked to imitate the author of the text
you are writing about. On the contrary, you are expected to maintain your own voice throughout
the summary. Don't simply quote the author; instead use your own words to express your
understanding of what you have read. After all, your summary is based on your interpretation of
the writer's points or ideas. However, you should be careful not to create any misrepresentation
or distortion by introducing comments or criticisms of your own.

Summary:

The topic is a guide to summarizing a text by careful reading, selecting the most essential details
and writing them out separately as required.

Note Making

What is note making?

Note-making is the practice of recording information captured from another source. This source
can be any book, article, meeting or any oral discussion. It is not just about writing down
everything you hear or read. It is a process of reviewing, connecting and synthesizing ideas from
your lectures or reading. The writer records the essence of the information, freeing their mind
from having to recall everything.

Note making is an important part of academic studies. Developing an effective note making
strategy will support a student in both revision and research. Some students struggle in their
studies because they have never learned an effective way to record and organize the array of
information they come across. For example, you may feel that you spend so much time reading a
text and trying to write down almost everything you are reading leaving little or no time to think
about what it is you are actually recording. Being able to make good notes can alleviate this.
There are many ways to make notes, and everyone seems to have their preference when it comes
to note making. Like any skill, note making develops with practice. Practicing proven note
making techniques can dramatically improve a student’s academic performance.

Techniques for making notes

There are many different ways to make notes. Whatever format you decide on, you should
devise   a logical and memorable way to set out notes to aid recall. These include:

Marking important ideas

 This entails the use of underlining, highlighting, capitals, bullet points, numbering, brackets,
lines, arrows, abbreviations, colours, and symbols. For example, you can develop your own
abbreviations and symbols but ensure you are consistent so that you remember what they
represent such as:

e.g. for example,

NB take note,
w/o without

gov government

+ plus

= equals etc.

Annotation

 This involves adding comments to a text that explain or critique what you have read. These can
be written in the margins and may accompany words you have highlighted to identify key
information. Unfortunately, this cannot be done on borrowed texts.

Diagrams 

This helps to show the connections between ideas and information and is particularly memorable
for visual learners. They could be mind-maps (a form of note-making that uses a branching
format to show relationships and links between ideas), charts, tables, graphs, or perhaps a
drawing to capture a process or cycle for example.

Heading and sub-headings

Heading and sub-headings often with bullet points are used to reveal further detail. The notes can
be used over time to begin to condense longhand notes. The headings and subheadings then
become memorable prompts that encourage the recall of information that is ideal for revision.

 Summaries 

Summaries are focused on the main points of the source material so they are a shorter
overview. Simply note down the key points – often reflecting the subject of each paragraph. The
advantage of this approach is that it encourages you to think carefully about the content of the
work as you are summarising it. Try to put as much of what you read into your own words as
possible.

WHY IS NOTE MAKING IMPORTANT?

If you develop effective note-making strategies you will greatly enhance your ability to retain the
key information you need for exams, assignments, debates, presentations, etc. Making notes
helps you to stay active and engaged during your lectures, reading and revision thus helping you
to concentrate on what you are learning by focusing only on the important facts. By writing the
information down you are helping your brain to examine it in a different way. Writing notes
boosts comprehension and retention. Notes help you to summarise the material you are trying to
learn. During revision, then, it is more time-efficient to focus only on the key information you
have summarised. You can read your revision notes rather than re-reading whole chapters. The
skill of note-making helps you to clarify your understanding of a topic because you are using
your own words to describe major concepts.

PARTS OF SPEECH

                                                PARTS  OF SPEECH

The part of speech indicates how the word functions in meaning as well as grammatically

within the sentence. There are eight parts of speech in the English language: noun, pronoun,
verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection.

This is a summary of the 8 parts of speech

part of function or "job" example words example sentences

speech
Verb action or state (to) be, have, do, like, English Club is a web site.
work, sing, can, must I like English Club.
Noun Thing, person, place, pen, dog, work, This is my dog. He lives in my house.
animal, a quality or an music, town, London, We live in London.
idea teacher, John, strength
Adjective describes a noun good, big, red, well, My dogs are big. I like big dogs.
interesting
Adverb describes a verb, quickly, silently, well, My dog eats quickly. When he
adjective or adverb badly, very, really is very hungry, he eats really quickly.
Pronoun replaces a noun I, you, he, she, some Tara is Indian. She is beautiful.
Preposition links a noun to to, at, after, on, but We went to school on Monday.
another word
Conjunction joins clauses or and, but, when I like dogs and I like cats. I like
sentences or words cats and dogs. I like dogs but I don't
like cats.
Interjection short exclamation, oh!, ouch!, hi!, well Ouch! That hurts! Hi! How are
sometimes inserted you? Well, I don't know.
into a sentence
 

THE NOUN

A noun is usually the name of a person, place, thing, or idea. In English, nouns can be singular or
plural. Every language in the world has nouns, but they are not always used in the same ways.

Types of Nouns:
·         Common noun.

·         Proper noun.

·         Concrete noun.

·         Abstract noun.

·         Collective nouns.

·         Count and mass nouns.

Types of Nouns

There are several types of noun, as follows:

1.     Common noun

A common noun is a noun that refers to people or things in general, e.g. boy, country, bridge,
city, birth, day, happiness.

2.     Proper noun

A proper noun is a name that identifies a specific person, place, or thing, e.g. Steven, Africa,
London, Monday. In written English, proper nouns begin with capital letters.

3.     Concrete noun

A concrete noun is a noun which refers to people and to things that exist physically and can be
seen, touched, smelled, heard, or tasted. Examples include dog, building, coffee, tree, rain,
beach, tune.

4.     Abstract noun

An abstract noun is a noun which refers to ideas, qualities, and conditions  - things that cannot be
seen or touched and things which have no physical reality, e.g. truth, danger, happiness, time,
friendship, humour.

5.     Collective nouns

Collective nouns refer to groups of people or things, e.g. audience, family, government, team,
jury. In American English, most collective nouns are treated as singular, with a singular verb:

The whole family was at the table.

In British English, the preceding sentence would be correct, but it would also be correct to treat
the collective noun as a plural, with a plural verb:

The whole family were at the table.

 A noun may belong to more than one category. For example, ‘happiness’ is both a common
noun and an abstract noun, while ‘Mount Everest’ is both a concrete noun and a proper noun.

6.     Count and mass nouns

Nouns can be either countable  or uncountable.

A noun is a word that refers to person, place, thing, event, substance or quality; can be either
countable or uncountable.

Countable nouns have singular and plural forms while uncountable nouns can be used only in the
singular form.

In English grammar, words that refer to people, places or things are called nouns. There are
several ways to classify nouns. One way is whether they are countable (also known as count) or
uncountable (also known as non-count) nouns. Countable nouns, as the term suggests, are things
that can be counted. deferment

They have singular and plural forms.

 E.g.  table, tables; month, months; pen, pens.

A countable noun becomes plural by adding s at the end of the word. Of course, there are nouns
that form plurals in other ways.

E.g.  man, men; child, children; goose, geese.

In contrast, uncountable nouns cannot be counted. They have a singular form and do not have a
plural form – you can’t add an s to it, e.g. dirt, rice, information and hair. Some uncountable
nouns are abstract nouns such as advice and knowledge.

E.g.   Her jewellery is designed by a well-known designer.

  I needed some advice, so I went to see the counsellor.

Some nouns can be countable or uncountable depending on the context or situation.

 E.g.    We’ll have two coffees (countable).

  I don’t like coffee (uncountable).

1.     PRONOUNS

A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun or noun phrase that has already been mentioned in a
text or conversation.

There are several types of pronouns. Among them are personal, possessive, demonstrative,
indefinite, reflexive and relative pronouns. Personal pronouns stand in for nouns and noun
phrases, and usually refer back in a text or conversation to them.

 E.g.   Jane is going to watch the parade tomorrow. She plans to leave at 4 pm.  

 We are collecting old photographs for our project.  They should still be in good condition.

Types of Pronouns

PERSONAL

A personal pronoun is a short word we use as a simple substitute for the proper name of a person.
Each of the English personal pronouns shows us the grammatical person, gender, number, and
case of the noun it replaces. I, you, he, she, it, we they, me, him, her, us, and them are all personal
pronouns.

Personal pronouns are the stunt doubles of grammar; they stand in for the people (and perhaps
animals) who star in our sentences. They allow us to speak and write with economy because they
enable us to avoid repeating cumbersome proper nouns all the live-long day

PERSON SIGULAR PLURAL

FIRST I, me We, us
SECOND You you
THIRD He, she, it, him, her They, them
 

REFLEXIVE /EMPHATIC PRONOUNS.

They emphasize, or intensify nouns and pronouns. Typically, we find them right after the noun
they're intensifying. These pronouns typically end in -self or -selves.
 

PERSON SINGULAR PLURAL

First myself ourselves
Second yourself yourselves
Third Himself, herself, itself themselves
 

POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS

Examples of possessive pronouns are mine, ours, yours, his, hers, , its.  theirs

Unlike personal pronouns, these usually stand alone and do not have to precede a noun. 

  E.g.   Karen told me that she had lost her phone. That must be hers.

They have found their seats. Have you spotted ours?

 The cat is looking for its master.

Note: The possessive pronoun its is different from it’s. It’s is a contracted form of it is.

 INDEFINITE PRONOUNS

The indefinite pronoun is used when referring to no particular person or thing.

Some indefinite pronouns refer to people, e.g. someone, anyone, everybody, no one, everyone,
nobody.

Some indefinite pronouns refer to things, e.g. something, anything, everything, nothing.

 E.g. Someone is at the door.

Where is everyone? 

 Has anyone seen the television remote control?

 DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS

Singular:  this, that     Plural: these, those

A demonstrative pronoun points to a specific thing or things to indicate whether they are close or
far and to show space and/or time. Like possessive pronouns, demonstrative pronouns stand
alone and do not have to precede a noun.
e.g This is yours and that is mine.

RELATIVE PRONOUN

 REFERS TO

who a person or people

whom a person or people

which a thing or things

whose a person, people, a thing or things

that animal(s) or thing(s)

Who, whom, whose, which and that function as relative pronouns when they add more
information to the things or people mentioned in the sentence.

Who is used as the subject of a verb.

 E.g.  Isn’t that Shyla who objected to the proposal?

These are the candidates whom we interviewed last week. ( we interviewed them)

Whom is used only as the object of a verb. Both who and whom can be the object of a
preposition but if the preposition comes before the pronoun, you must use whom. This is
illustrated in the examples below.

 E.g.  Whom/who did you speak to about this matter?

To whom did you speak about this matter?

The relative pronoun ‘that’ can often be used instead of who, whom and which.

 E.g.  The shirt that Matthew bought has some stains on it.

3. ADJECTIVES

An adjective is a word that describes people, objects, events, substances and ideas

  -adjectives give more information about nouns and pronouns.

 

Do you want to add colour to your speech or writing? Try using appropriate, vivid adjectives to
express your thoughts and feelings.

Adjectives describe nouns by telling us more about them, e.g. their size, colour or shape.

Using adjectives to describe the things, people or ideas we are talking about helps our readers
and listeners form a more vivid picture of them.

 E.g.    Please bring that beautiful leather bag to me.  (expresses a positive opinion)

 She was a timid, nondescript girl when she was at school. (expresses a negative opinion)

 TYPES OF ADJECTIVES

Possessive  

Show about the ownership; that something belongs to a person or thing. – e.g my, your, his, her,
their, its

-That is your cat.

-This is my dog.

Demonstrative  

Points out a fact about a person or thing. This, that, these, those

-This puppy is mine. These puppies are mine

 -That woman is my sister. Those women are my sisters.

Interrogative

Used with nouns to ask questions; as

 -Whose book is this?

-Which way shall we go?

Adjectives of quantity

Show how much of a thing is meant.eg all, few, no, many,little, much, more, some,any
-I did not eat any bread.

-There is little sugar in the dish.

Qualitative adjectives

Describe an object by telling us of what quality ,of what sort or in what state the object is. They
are gradable

           -Robert is an adventurous boy.

 - I’m going to feed the small wild cat.

4.     VERBS

. Verbs are words that express action or state of being.

A verb is a doing word that shows an action, an event or a state.

There are two types of verbs: action/main verbs, linking/helping /auxiliary verbs.

Action verbs are words that express action (give, eat, walk, etc.)

A sentence may either have a main verb, a helping verb or both. In other words, a verb is a word
that expresses an action, an existence of something or an occurrence. The verb is the main word
in a sentence. No sentence can be complete without a verb.  

1.     We are learning about helping verbs. (are: helping verb; learning: main verb)

2.     We are in the Green House Club. (are: helping verb)

3.     You should complete the work by tomorrow (should: helping verb; complete: main

verb) are one of the most important classes of words.

5. PREPOSITIONS

A preposition is a word that shows the relationship between an object – a noun or pronoun – and
other words in a sentence.

The preposition is placed before a noun or pronoun. It shows the relationship between nouns and
pronouns in the same sentence. It may be used to indicate position, place, direction or time.
Prepositions of place

With regard to place, in tends to be used with larger or enclosed areas such as cities, countries
and tunnels, whereas at tends to be used for smaller places, points on a journey, or for activities
typically associated with a place.

 E.g. The couple will spend their money in London. (large area)

Their train stops at London Paddington.  (point on a journey)

The boys are running around in the library. (enclosed area)  

They boys are at the library reading. (reading is associated with libraries)

When talking about heights or levels, you use below, over or under.

          E.g. The dog is sleeping under the bed.

The plane flew over the hills.

Prepositions of Direction

These prepositions indicate a movement towards a goal.

 E.g.  Let’s go to the market.

 The swimmers walked into the sea.

The students eagerly ran towards the campsite.

Prepositions of Time

On is used for days and dates.

 E.g. The wedding will be on Saturday.

At is used to indicate a specific time.

 E.g.   I’ll see you at six o’clock.

From ... to and during are used to indicate a period of time.

E.g.  The tulip festival is from March to May.   

During the school holidays, students engage in community projects.

Other prepositions indicating time are before, until, after, since and by.

E.g. My wife exercises before breakfast.  

You can visit her after office hours.

You must submit the forms by 1st July.

Until now, I’ve always thought that she was a meticulous officer.

 She has been making a lot of progress since she started her exercise programme.

Troublesome prepositions

There are times when we are unsure which preposition we should use. These are some
troublesome prepositions.

Beside and Besides

Beside means “next to”.

                   E.g.  She sits beside me in the office.

Besides means “other than” or “apart from”.

                   E.g.  Besides enjoying cooking, I like reading a book when I’m free.

Troublesome Prepositions

Between and Among

Between is used when referring to two people, places or things.

Among is used for three or more people, places or things.

E.g.  Divide the cake among the five of you.

 The twins shared the sweets between themselves.

‘Differ with’ and ‘Differ from’

When you differ with someone, you disagree with that person’s opinion or idea.

When you differ from someone, it means that you are unlike that person.
 E.g.  The class teacher differed with the English teacher on the boy’s abilities.  Mr Chan differed
from his predecessor in terms of management style.

Sometimes you may find it hard to decide which preposition you should use with a word.

Here is a list to help you.

  according to,  angry with,  ashamed of,  bored with (something) , comment on, disagree with, 
disappointed in (something), disappointed with (somebody)  disgusted at (something) , disgusted
with (somebody) , pride oneself on (something) , protest against , rely on , similar to , write
about (something) , write to (somebody)

7.     ADVERBS

An adverb is a word that modifies verbs, adjectives, adverbs and prepositions.

While adjectives tell you more about a noun or pronoun, adverbs do the same for verbs. Adverbs
tell you, among other things, how (manner), when (time) or where (place) an action took place. 

 E.g.  She sang beautifully. (manner)

She came early for the interview. (time)

 I stayed here when I visited Hanoi. (place)

Some adverbs also moderate or intensify adjectives or adverbs.

 E.g.   That was an extremely entertaining performance. 

 I wouldn’t recommend it. It was a very bad show.

I went to the market rather early on Saturday.

She danced remarkably well.

At the beginning of a sentence (usually to emphasise a point).

Finally, we found our way back to the camp.

In the middle of a sentence.  

The philanthropist rarely reveals his identity when he makes his donations.

At the end of a sentence, after a verb.

 She screamed loudly.

Manner : gracefully, sadly, slowly, well

Time : before, now, since, eventually

 Place : here, there, everywhere, nowhere

Degree : almost, quite, very, rather

frequency : once, twice Interrogative : where, when, how

Adverbs of manner: They express the manner of a verb or how an action is performed.

The story is well written.

Slowly we laid him down.

The soldiers fought bravely

Adverbs of place: They show where an action took place.

He followed us everywhere.

My cousin is out

Place that ball here.

Adverbs of time

Adverbs of time answer the questions when? how long? and how often?

E.g.  Lunch will be ready soon.  

Jenny visited us twice last year but we haven’t seen her since.  

Harold rarely visits his grandparents.

Adverbs of Degree

Adverbs of degree answer the question how much? or to what extent? They increase or reduce
the force of the word they describe.
They are usually used with adjectives and are placed before the adjective that they describe.

 E.g.  The students put up a totally entertaining performance.

 They are used with other adverbs and are placed before the adverb they describe.

 E.g.  The young man walked incredibly slowly.

When used with verbs, they come before the verb.

 E.g.  The audience absolutely hated the show.

Adverbs are used to indicate comparison in the same way as adjectives. They generally form the
comparative or superlative by adding more and most to the positive adverb.

Positive Comparative Superlative

early earlier earliest

long longer longest

bravely more bravely most bravely

carefully more carefully most carefully

greedily more greedily most greedily

Positive Comparative Superlative

badly worse worst

well better best

Exceptions:

Adjectives describe nouns and pronouns. Using adjectives to modify verbs, adverbs or other
adjectives is not Standard English.

 E.g.  He behaves strange. (not Standard English) He behaves strangely. (Standard English) After
a few lessons Tom sang real well.  (not Standard English)  After a few lessons Tom sang really
well. (Standard English)

·         CONJUNCTIONS

A conjunction is a word that connects similar words or group of words such as phrases, clauses
and sentences. Conjunctions are connectors that link words, phrases, clauses or sentences. There
are two main types of conjunctions: coordinating and subordinating conjunctions. Coordinating
conjunctions join equivalent word classes, phrases or clauses. Joined words and phrases should
be of the same class or type, and joined clauses should be main clauses.

Coordination can take place between two or more main clauses.

 E.g.  Emily went to see a doctor and was given two days’ medical leave but went to work
anyway.

The main coordinating conjunctions are and, but and or.

Conjunctions are useful as they help avoid unnecessary repetition of words or phrases. 

 It is a small kitchen. It is a practical kitchen. 

It is a small but practical kitchen.    

John will inform you of the results. John’s assistant will inform you of the results.

John or his assistant will inform you of the results.   

They gave their opinions. I gave my opinions.  

They gave their opinions and I gave mine.

Coordinating conjunctions may be used in several ways.

The conjunction connects words and phrases that are linked in some way.

 E.g.  Sam and I will not be attending the meeting.

The conjunctions both … and are used as a pair for emphasis.

 E.g.  Both the girls and I were eager to participate in the competition.

Correlative Conjunctions

Misuse of “either … or”

This construction presents a choice between two alternatives. However, the two alternatives
should belong to the same word class.

E.g.  We can go to either Bangkok or Bali for our vacation this year. (Both are nouns.)

 They can eat either now or after the show.  (Both are adverbs.)
Sometimes either is placed in an incorrect position. 

  E.g. She can take either the exam or ask to be interviewed. (One is a noun – exam – and the
other is a verb – ask.) The correct phrasing should be: She can either take the exam or ask to be
interviewed. (Both are verbs.)

·         INTERJECTIONS

An interjection is a part of speech that demonstrates the emotion or feeling of the author. These
words or phrases can stand alone, or be placed before or after a sentence. Many times, as within
the examples of interjections below, you'll notice many interjections are followed by
an exclamation point..

They are short exclamation, sometimes inserted into a sentence

—  Wow! We won!

—  Ouch! That cooking pot is hot!

—  Yes! I got an A!

—  Oh dear! I don't know what to do about this mess.

—  Good grief! Why are you wearing shorts in the winter?

—  Congrats! You finally got your master's degree.

—  Alas! I'm lost in the wilderness.

—  Bah! That was a total waste of time.

—  Bless you! I couldn't have done it without you.

—  It's time for me to go. Cheers!

  -Some interjections are followed by commas, and indicate a mild feeling instead or a strong one

—  Ahh, that feels wonderful.

—  Oh, how I dread Mondays.

—  Well, I better get started.

FUNCTIONS OF PARTS OF SPEECH

FUNCTIONS OF PARTS OF SPEECH

A noun may be used as:

·         a subject of a sentence

·          a direct object

·         an indirect object,

·          the object of a preposition.

1.      Noun as subject of verb

The subject can be a person, place, thing or idea. It performs an act or shows a state of
being as expressed by the verb. The subject is easily recognized as it usually comes at the
beginning of a sentence and is followed by a verb.

a.       The man stepped on my toes.

b.      The car smashed into a wall.

c.       Both of them fell down the stairs.

d.      I accidentally hit my head on the bookshelf

A phrase may function as a subject. A noun functioning as a subject is said to be in the

nominative case.

Identify the subject in each of the following sentences

a.       Running across the road, the girl was hit by a car.

b.      Many people visited the sick woman.

c.       Has the teacher given enough homework?

d.      Although he hurt himself , Kigen continued playing soccer

e.       Ngoiri is a good friend of mine.

                               

2.      as direct object Noun

An object receives the action of the verb.

The direct object is a noun in a sentence. The object is acted upon by the subject – it is the
recipient of the action and comes after the verb. A noun functioning as an object is in the
accusative case.

The direct objects are in bold below:

a.       Tom bit his nail.

b.      I am painting the doghouse.

c.       Her dog followed her.

d.      Strong wind blew their tent down.

3.      Noun as indirect object

A sentence may have two objects; direct and indirect. The indirect object answers questions
like for whom or to whom was something done?

The indirect object is a noun or a pronoun. An indirect object represents a person or thing
that receives the effect of the action of the verb. It usually comes between the verb and the
direct object.

Practice: Identify the indirect object in each of the following:

a.     The mother was cooking her family a seafood dinner.

b.    Jack sent his parents a letter. 

c.     She gave the boys some drinks.

d.    Mother gave Jack a present.

e.     I asked Peter a question.

4.      Noun as object of a preposition

The object of preposition is a noun in a sentence. The object comes after the preposition as
shown below.

Identify the object of a preposition in each of the following:

a.       Joe broke his nose in school.

b.      Two puppies followed behind the girl.

c.       Birdwatching is a favourite hobby of the villagers.

d.      Everyone is complaining about the boss.

5.      Noun as subject complement

Complement gives quality or attributes to either the subject or the object. They complement
the subject.

Examples:

a.       Patrick became a great pilot.

b.      My cousin is a lawyer.

c.       She is the head of this institution.

The noun phrase (subject complement) comes after the linking verb.

6.      Noun as an object complement

The object complements describe the objects in the sentences. They give qualities or   
attributes to the object.
a.       They elected Musau governor.

b.      He called Otieno a thief.

c.       The teacher appointed me a class representative.

Functions of Pronouns

 Pronouns stand in for nouns hence they share functions in sentences.

Pronouns as subjects: They are the main topic that is, what is spoken about.

1.      They visited the archive.

2.      She is cleaning the house.

3.      We shall soon sit for examinations.

Pronouns as objects

1.      The soldier hit him with a blunt object.

2.      He denied me permission to see you.

3.      Peter bought me a ball.

Reflexive pronouns act as objects and are used for emphasis.

1.       The workers often deceive themselves.

2.       I met with the robber himself.

3.       The students talked to the trainer himself.

Possessive pronouns show ownership or possession.

1.       The book is mine

2. Their chance is lost.

3. The man stole my bag yesterday.
Relative pronouns can be used as subordinate connectors or linking words.

They combine clauses in sentences.

1.       The boy came yesterday. The boy is sick.  

The boy who came yesterday is sick.

2. We met the soldiers. Their camp was raided.

We met the soldiers whose camp was raided.

3. He is the soldier. He was given a special commendation.

He is the soldier who was given a special commendation.

Join the following using relative pronouns

Do you know this man? We are indebted to him.

The residents lost their cattle. They will be compensated.

This is the question. It has baffled philosophers for a long time.

This is the student. His examination results were nullified.

These are the cheques. These cheques were forged.

My mother has many friends. They are all teachers.

FUNCTIONS OF ADJECTIVES

Adjectives function as nouns.

 The rich also cry.

The old must not be neglected.

The wise are rare on earth.

Adjectives function as modifiers of nouns in two positions.

a.       Attributive adjectives come before the noun

            Kigen is a generous man.

A yellow dress is my choice.

b.       Predicative adjectives come after a linking verb

The news is wonderful.

The party was successful.

Adjectives as object complements. A complement is the term used for a word or words that
are needed to complete the meaning of an expression.

            He made the class restless.

            She is painting the wall white.

Adjectives as intensifiers

They have a heightening or lowering effect on the noun they modify.

            These two are great friends. 

That was a magnificent gift.

            This is a bad day. 

He brought sad news.

Practice

Identify the adjectives in the following and indicate whether they are used attributively or
predicatively

1.      Makhanu is a pleasant person.

2.      Most students are cunning.

3.      The prominent lawyer defende his client well.

4.      Janet loosk weary.

5.      These fruits are fresh.

6.      I felt helpless.

7.      The sick baby was taken to hospital.

8.      Harriet’s doctor is very dedicated.

9.      Committed doctors are pleasant to work with.

10.  Marvelous message he gave!

FUNCTIONS OF ADVERBS

Adverbs function as adverbials. Adverbials tell us more about a verb.

            He was walking within the compound.

            Mary spoke to the teacher rudely.

            The school opened yesterday.

Adverbs function as adjective modifiers

            They give the degree of the quality or attribute denoted by the adjective.

            very beautiful, extremely attractive, strikingly visible

            Your newborn baby daughter is very tiny.

            Students who are clearly sick may not attend lessons.

Adverbs are modifiers of other adverbs

            very slowly, nearly there, absolutely fast, almost always

            The project is progressing very slowly.

            We are nearly there.

Mboya,s car is extremely fast.

Adverbs function as complements of prepositions:

Some adverbs of place and time act as complements of prepositions

            Was he at home when you arrived?

            I have been standing there since morning.

            Jane is talking about last year.           

You may find an adverb modifying an entire sentence:

            Certainly, the thief chose the wrong profession.

Quietly, the thief sneaked into the vacant building.

James answered my call immediately.

Adverbs as Conjunct Adverbials ( connectors)

A conjunct adverbial is a word or phrase that expresses a textual relationship. A conjunct

adverbial serves to link two or more clauses

            First, wash your hands.

            Noun phrases and prepositional phrases, however, can also function as       

adverbials.

            Do you like to write about grammar too?

            Nevertheless, students must turn in all assignments before the next class.

NB: Most connectors are adverbs – consequently, subsequently, moreover, however, yet,
since, firstly etc

Practice

Identify the adverbs in the following sentences and indicate their function.

1.      Tarus was very tired after walking the whole morning.

2.      Mary is very proud because she has won a scholarship to study in Britain.

3.      David is rude although he is very bright in class.

4.      Chepkemoi is very serious with her academic work.

5.      The students were shouting hysterically at the assembly ground last week.

6.      Kamau ate one chapatti only.

7.      Unfortunately the patient died on the way to the theatre.

FUNCTIONS OF PREPOSITIONS

Prepositions indicate time

            She arrived at four o’clock.

            The lady left after the speech.

They indicate place

            He sat on the chair.

            Wanja stood beside the road.

            Joe placed the stone in the bucket.

Prepositions indicate cause or reason

            She died of malaria.

            Bernice took a mixture for the flu. 

They indicated agency or instrument

            The students travelled by bus.

            The newly wedded couple rode on a cart after the ceremony.

A Prepositional phrase can function as a noun modifier.

A prepositional phrase is a group of words introduced by a preposition followed by a noun

or a pronoun.

            The man at the gate is mad.

            The lions in the forest are resting.

            The woman in a green skirt is a teacher.

The highlighted prepositional phrases describe the subjects in the above sentences.
A prepositional phrase can modify adjectives.

            We all felt sad for the injured man.

            Men are good in driving.  

Practice

Fill in the blanks spaces with an appropriate preposition.

1.      The live …………………… Naivasha.

2.      He was killed ………………. thugs.

3.      They are very fond ………………. their grandparents.

4.      I will not part …………….. a single coin.

5.      My parents are satisfied …………….. our homework.

6.      Our teachers are keen ……………… our homework. 

FUNCTIONS OF CONJUNCTIONS

Coordinating conjunctions combine sentences or clauses of equal parts.

            He left early but he will be back soon.

            You will buy milk and deliver it at the hotel.

They also join words.

            The girl is quiet but intelligent.

            Did he buy milk or bread?

Subordinating conjunctions introduce dependent or subordinate clauses in a complex

sentence.

            Although it was dark, we walked all the way home.

            Despite the weather, we continued playing football.

            Unless he works hard he will fail his examinations.

Correlative conjunctions are in pairs;

            neither … nor combine two negative clauses

Neither Jane nor June was present for the meeting.

            either … or express a choice or an alternative

                        You will either sit here or at the balcony.

            both … and add emphasis to two coordinated elements

                        Both Otieno and Celestine are my students.  

            not only … but also indicate an additive relationship

Not only did she break the windowpane but also stole my bag.                    

Task: Provide examples for the notes above.

THE VERB

INTRODUCTION

The verb is a very important word in a sentence. It expresses action or state of the subject.
The English language consists of a variety of verbs that function in different ways in
sentences.

There are two types of verbs, that is, the main verb and the auxiliary verb.

The main verb is the principal verb in a sentence while the auxiliary adds meaning and
grammatical function to the main verb. (The chair was pushed away by John.)

A verb may consist of one or more words (single or phrase)

E.g. He kicks the ball.

He kicked the ball.                                               

He will kick the ball.

He has kicked the ball.

He is kicking the ball.

He has been kicking the ball. 

VERB TENSE

Verbs show tense. The tense of a verb is the time of an action.

Simple Continuous Perfect Perfect continuous

Present He writes. He is writing He has written He has been writing

Peter bakes. Peter is baking Peter has baked Peter has been baking
Past He wrote He was writing He had written He had been writing

Peter baked Peter was writing Peter had baked Peter had been baking
Future He will write He will be writing He will have written He will have been writing

Peter will bake Peter will be baking He will have baked He will have been baking

VERB TENSE PRACTICE EXERCISE

Identify and underline the verb tense expressed in each of the following.

1. The sun sets in the west.

2. An old woman is standing at the gate.
3. I shall bring my camera with me.
 4. We have been discussing Molly’s problem.
5. They opened all the windows.
6. We shall have completed our work by dusk.
7. The meeting is progressing well.
8. Students were discussing political trends. 

TRANSITIVE AND INTRANSITIVE VERBS

A transitive verbs requires an object to complete its meaning.

The action of the verb is passed from the subject to the recipient

Construct sentences using the following transitive verbs. Vary the tense in the sentences as
indicated.

e.g. Joyce has bought a house. (The verb ‘has bought’ is used transitively)

·         Buy ( simple present)

·         Clean ( simple past)

·         Teach ( present perfect)

·         Meet ( past perfect)

·         Pull ( present continuous)

·         Find ( past continuous)

Intransitive verbs do not take objects. They do not require objects to complete their
meaning. e.g. He sleeps early.

Construct sentences using the list of verbs intransitively below. Vary the verbs in the
sentences as indicated. 

·         Rise ( simple present)

·         Raise ( simple past)

·         fall  ( simple future)

·         cry, ( future perfect)

·         arrive ( present continuous)

·         feel ( past perfect)

·         was ( past perfect)

 VOICE

Verbs may be in the active or passive voice.

When a verb is in the active voice, the subject is in the active, the subject is the doer of the
action.

This kind of a sentence is direct and to the point.

1. The dog poured my food

2. I am writing a long essay.
3. He rewarded the top performers.

When a verb is in the passive, the subject becomes the agent of the action.

The passive is formed by the verb ‘to be’ followed by the past participle.  

The house was destroyed by fire.

The regulation has been changed. 

The radio was being repaired .

When the passive should be used:

-When the doer of the action is unknown. His father was jailed for fraud

-When it is unnecessary to state who the performer is.

This book was printed in London

-When we wish to draw attention to the subject rather than the agent.

She was knocked down by a bicycle.

The constitution is being changed

A lot has been said but not much has been done

.
PRACTICE EXERCISE

Change the following to active or passive voice

 1. Kilonzo was making a stool.

2. The letter has just been posted.

3. The nurse has cleared the sick students.

4. The captive was bound to a tree.

5. I know the deputy chairman.

6. The clerk has brought all my files.

PARTICIPLE TENSE

Participles are forms of verbs that can be used as verbs or adjectives

The hunting dog was shot by a police officer.

We found Joshua shouting at his daughter.

There are two types of participles.

Present participle – formed by adding –ing to the base verb e.g. shouting, digging,
sweeping, dining, hunting

Past participle – formed by adding –ed to regular base verb and –en to the base verb e.g.
hunted, shaken, marked, woken

NB: Some irregular verbs form their participle differently e.g. swim-swam; go-gone; drink-
drunk; throw-thrown; sew-sown; ring- rung

The participle is mainly use to express perfect tense and the passive verb.

They have eaten their food. He has picked my bag.

Their food has been eaten.     My bag has been picked.

The participle can be used to describe a noun or a pronoun

The blowing wind chilled the air.

The broken vase was discarded.

 

Construct sentences using the following participles as adjectives.

            exhausting

            amusing

            sleeping

            exciting

            worried

            torn

            growing          

            fallen

            running

            cooking

REGULAR AND IRREGULAR VERBS

   Regular verbs are those main verbs that form their past tense and past participle by
adding –ed to the root verb.

Past participle is the form of a verb, typically ending in -ed which is used in forming perfect
and passive tenses e.g. has been blocked, will have been blocked, was damaged 

Base Past Past participle Examples

Paint painted painted Loise had painted the wall white

Joy  painted it.
answer answered answered I answered him politely

We were answered by a child

Talk Talked talked Oduor talked to her parents.

He has talked to them today.

Walk Walked walked He walked lazily.

 He had walked for six kilometers
 

Irregular verbs form their past tense and past participle in various ways. 

Some remain the same in all forms.

Base Past tense Past participle Examples

Burst burst burst Njane burst the balloon.

The baby burst the balloon.

Cut Cut Cut Cut the orange into two.

I have cut the orange into

two.
Hit Hit Hit Juma had hit the jackpot.

Gerald hit the rolling ball.

Split cost cost It cost me a fortune.

Two of the verb forms are the same

Base Past tense Past participle Examples
bear Bore borne The burden of paying school fees was borne by
her.
drink drank drunk Tom has drunk more water than us.
Forsake Forsook forsaken The cats were forsaken by their owner.
wear wore  worn I had worn the shoes before you arrived.
Lie Lay lain The lazy man has lain on the grass the whole day
Fly Flew flawn The bird has flown away.
draw drew drawn This picture was drawn by Uhuru
shrink shrank shrunk He had shaken the bottle before throwing it.
 

Construct sentences using the following irregular participles

            given

            hidden

            known

            shrunk

            sworn

            written

            risen

            driven

            hung

            mistaken

THE INFINITIVE

The infinitive is the root verb / base e.g. eat, walk, dig, cry, invite

This is the verb you will find in a dictionary.

The infinitive takes two forms:

            the to-infinitive  (to + base)  to eat, to cry, to invite

            the bare infinitive (base) keep, clean, drink, fly

The negative infinitive is formed by putting not before any form of the infinitive

I decided not to go to London.

He asked me not to cry over spilt milk.

As a subject of the verb

To pass will be my goal.

To sing was her hobby.

To indicate the purpose or intention of an action

In this case to has the same meaning as in order to or so as to. 

            She came to collect her pay cheque.

            The three boys went to fetch firewood.

To indicate what something can or will be used for

In this pattern, the to-infinitive follows a noun or pronoun.

            The children need a garden to play in.

            I would like a sandwich to eat.

 To make a comment

This is the right thing to do.

Those were the wrong kind of eggs to buy

Wafula is the best person to hire.

As a complement of a verb

Her greatest talent is to draw.

His habit has been to clean daily

It used frequently with the adverbs too and enough to express the reasoning behind

our satisfaction or dissatisfaction.

I had too many books to carry.

This soup is too hot to drink.

She was too tired to work.

I've had enough food to eat.

There isn't enough work to do.

In English there are special verbs that are followed by infinitives e.g. afford  

 We cannot afford to hesitate.

Use the following verbs to construct similar sentences

agree, aim, appear, attempt,  ask, arrange, beg, begin, care, choose, claim,
consent, continue, dare, decide, demand deserve, dislike, expect,  fail, forget, get,
hesitate,  hope,  hurry,  intend,  learn, like,  love,  manage, mean, neglect, need, offer,
plan, prefer    

  FURTHUR PRACTICE

Combine the following pairs of sentences using an infinitive.

1. He did not have a shilling with him. He could not even buy a loaf of bread.

2. Every cricket has a captain. He directs the other players.

3. You must part with your purse. On this condition only will you save your life.

4. I speak the truth. I am not afraid of it.

5. He has five children. He must provide for them.

6. Everyone should perform his duty. Kenya expects this of every man.

7. That young man has squandered away his money. He must have been very foolish.

THE GERUND

A gerund is a verbal noun. It takes the form of both a verb and a noun. It is that form of a
verb which ends in –ing.

Walking, approaching, drinking , dining.

A gerund can function as a subject.

Playing tennis is good for your health.

Writing has become my pre-occupation.

Cooking is Mary’s hobby.

Listening to spoken English will help you to improve your language use.

It can also function as a direct object

She enjoys listening to local music.

 He admitted spending too much money on food.

 He likes playing golf on Sundays.

The gerund as objects of prepositions

I was afraid of walking in darkness.

They have voted against working at night.

They were worried about informing the police.

There are many verbs in English that are followed by the gerund.

Some examples; avoid e.g. He avoids paying fees into that account.

 Construct similar sentences using the following:

admit

 discuss

postpone

suggest

advise             

enjoy               

recommend                

tolerate

consider          
finish               

regret

delay               

keep                

risk

THE LINKING VERB

Linking verbs are verbs that serve as a connection between a subject and further
information about that subject.

They do not show any action; rather, they “link” the subject with the rest of the sentence.

The verb to be is the most common linking verb, but there are many others, including all the
sense verbs.

They express the state of the subject

The girl is unwell.                    He is a nurse.

We were angry.                       Joseph has been a farmer for years.  

He became sober.                   Maina became governor.

They felt uneasy.                      He might be the prefect.

PHRASAL VERBS

Phrasal verbs are formed by combining two or more words.

The first word is usually a verb while the rest are either adverbs or prepositional particles.

Some phrasal verbs form special vocabulary that have no relationship with the individual
words that are combined.

            e.g. go over ( recover),put out( extinguish), give up ( stop), carry on( continue) 

Sometimes the meaning of a phrasal verb is similar to the base verb while the adverb
emphasizes the meaning of the base verb.         
e.g. stand up, wake up, hurry up , sit down, lie down , send off

Phrasal verbs should be regarded as vocabulary and their meanings interpreted in context
or using a dictionary.

Use the following phrasal verbs to construct sentences. Indicate

the meaning of each phrasal verb

go up , find out, look after, look up, look at, get on with, try out, fall out, run into, take after,

Fill the blanks below with suitable phrasal verbs.

            1. I am coming to …………….. at the airport.

            2. I would like to …………….any other matters before the meeting closes.

            3. Stop worrying. Don’t let the scolding …………..

            4. I am sorry we will have to ……………. the meeting. The chairman will not come.

4. I am tired. I have to ………..

PLACEMENT OF WORD CLASSES IN SENTENCES
WORD PLACEMENT

The position or `environment' of a word in a sentence

This refers to where words typically occur in a sentence, and the kinds of words which occur
near to them. Some parts of speech come in many varieties and may appear just about
anywhere in a sentence.To know for sure what part of speech a word falls into, look not only
at the word itself but also at its meaning, position, and use in a sentence. The placement of
words is critical when communicating in English because it can impact the meaning of what
you’re trying to say.

 Different kinds of words go in different positions in a sentence. For example, nouns usually
go at the beginning of a sentence. Adjectives usually go before nouns. They can also go
after verbs. Nouns, too, can go after verbs. The main factor that determines the position of a
word is its function. For example, a noun used as the subject of the verb has to go at the
beginning of the sentence. A noun used as the object of a verb can only go after the verb.
As the placement of words can significantly affect the meaning of a sentence it is important
to learn the rules regarding the position of words..

ADJECTIVES

Adjectives usually go before the nouns they modify.

That was a wonderful experience.

We met an interesting

Note that we cannot put another word between an adjective and the noun it modifies.
However, we can use any number of adjectives to modify the same noun.

·         She married a tall, dark, handsome man.

When more than one adjective modify the same noun, we usually separate them using a
comma. No commas are used to separate the last adjective in the series from the noun it
modifies.

Adjectives can also go after linking verbs. Note that the most common linking verbs in
English are: is, am, are, was, were, become, seem, appear, taste, feel, grow and turn.

When adjectives go after linking verbs, they usually describe the subject.

·         Susie is beautiful. (Here the adjective beautiful describes the noun Susie.)

·         The fish tasted funny. (Here the adjective funny describes the taste of the fish.)

·         The night grew dark.

·         The milk turned sour.

 ADVERBS

¢  There are three main positions for adverbs in a sentence:

         -At the beginning just before the subject.

         -In the middle of a sentence or between the subject and the verb.

         -At the end of a sentence immediately after the verb.

 NB: The position of adverbs in the sentence depends on what type of adverb it is.

Adverbs at the beginning

Adverbs placed at the beginning are often separated by a comma. The comma is obligatory
after however, therefore, nevertheless, moreover, furthermore and still.

Adverbs of time can begin a sentence when we want to show a contrast with a previous
reference to time.

s (1)    Usually the summer is hot and humid

Comment and viewpoint adverbs (e.g. luckily, officially, presumably) can also come

here when we want to highlight what we are about to say

¢  (2)    Unfortunately, this summer is particularly hot.

Adverbs placed at the middle

Adverbs of degree:

¢  They come immediately after the verb- Very, Too, Wholly, completely

The lawyer has completely forgotten my appointment.

¢  Adverbs of frequency:

They come between the subject and the verb:  Often, Generally, usually, rarely.

The students are rarely late for class

Adverbs of manner:

1)      These are either placed before or after the verb

2)       If the verb has an object, the adverb comes after the object

Slowly, Quickly, Sadly

The journalist sadly narrated the story

The winning team danced happily

Adverbs at the end

Adverbs of place, time and manner are usually placed at the end of a sentence.

Place: there, here, over, under-  She will meet you there,

Time: soon, now, then- The guests will arrive soon.

 Adverbs of time that end in –ly are placed at the end position: Yearly, Annually, Daily

The newspaper is produced daily

The rite of passage is organizedss annually in the community

Adverbs that can be placed at the beginning, middle sand at the end

 Adverbs of place: everywhere, underground

He ran with his pet everywhere.

 He ran everywhere with his pet.

Adverbs of frequency:  Sometimes, Usually, Occasionally.

We occasionally drink wine.

Occasionally we drink wine.

We drink wine occasionally.  

GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR KNOWING THE POSITION OF ADVERBS

¢  When there are two or more adverbs modifying the same verb, they are placed in the
order of manner, place and time.

  -The students will perform better in the exams next year.

-   The president spoke earnestly at the ceremony last evening.

¢  Do not place an adverb between a verb and its object

-I carefully painted the house.

-I painted the house carefully. 

-I painted carefully the house. (incorrect)

¢  When adverbs modify adjectives, they are placed immediately before them:

       -We had some really interesting news last night.

         -Otieno has been offered the prestigious post. He's absolutely delighted.
       - Kiprop bought an incredibly expensive suit last week which fits him perfectly.

   -An exception to this rule is enough which is placed after the adjective or adverb that it
modifies:

   -I got up quite early but not early enough to eat a good breakfast.

PREPOSITIONS

Generally, but not always, a preposition goes before a noun or a pronoun. Examples –I put
the things in the box. (‘in’ is placed before the noun ‘’box’)

¢  That noun is called the object of the preposition.

¢  E.g.  He went to the store.

¢   “to the store” is the prepositional phrase, “to” is the preposition, and “store” is the object
of the preposition. The preposition “to” connects  the noun “store” to the verb “went.”

- Jane lives across the street from me. (identify the preposition  and its object.

A verb can never be the object of a preposition. Although a preposition is usually placed

before its object, sometimes it is necessary to place it after its object. Examples:

-He is selling it for ten thousand shillings. (In this sentence, the preposition is before the
object).

- What price is he selling it for? (In this sentence, the preposition is after the object).

-In the second sentence, the preposition was placed after the object in order to form a
question.

 Interjections

PLACEMENT OF INTERJECTIONS
There is no strict rule governing the placement of interjections. An interjection can be placed
either at the beginning or at the end of a sentence. They can also be used alone only that
one  make sure they have explained the situation before otherwise it may become a little
difficult to understand what you are saying.

.Eureka! I’ve solved the puzzle!

There are some instances where you can use an interjection even in the middle of a
sentence.

I may not have finished the race, but, hey, at least I tried!

I forgot to finish the assignment (oops), but my instructor gave me some extra time.

 The Sentence
BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURE AND SENTENCE TYPES

What is a sentence?

A sentence is a group of words that includes a subject and a predicate and expresses a
complete thought.

Parts of Sentences: Subject, Predicate, Object, Indirect Object, Complement

Every word in a sentence serves a specific purpose within the structure of that particular
sentence.  The two most basic parts of a sentence are the subject and predicate.

SUBJECT

The subject of a sentence is the person, place, or thing that is performing the action
of the sentence. The subject represents what or whom the sentence is about. The
simple subject usually contains a noun or pronoun and can include modifying words.

-The mason builds a house.

-The artistic mason builds a house.

-He builds a house.

The words in bold are the subject elements in each of the sentences above.

PREDICATE

The predicate expresses action or being within the sentence. The simple predicate
contains the verb and can also contain modifying words.

The mason builds a house.

The mason builds a beautiful stone house.

The subject and predicate make up the two basic structural parts of any complete sentence.
In addition, there are other elements, contained within the subject or predicate that add
meaning or detail. These elements include the direct object, indirect object, and subject
complement. DIRECT OBJECT

The direct object receives the action of the sentence. The direct object is usually a
noun or pronoun.

-The mason builds a house. 

-The mason builds it.

 The noun a house and the pronoun it are direct objects.

INDIRECT OBJECT

The indirect object indicates to whom or for whom the action of the sentence is being
done. The indirect object is usually a noun or pronoun.

The mason builds his family a house. 

The mason builds them a house.

SUBJECT COMPLEMENT

A subject complement either renames or describes the subject, and therefore is

usually a noun, pronoun, or adjective. Subject complements occur when there is
a linking verb within the sentence (often a linking verb is a form of the verb to be).

The man is a good father. (The word father is noun which renames the subject)

The man seems kind. (The word kind an adjective which describes the subject)

SENTENCE TYPES: Simple, Compound, Complex, and Compound-Complex

Sentences are made up of clauses and phrases. All sentences must have at least one
independent clause. A clause is a group of words which has:  a subject, ie. the focus of the
clause, or someone or thing which does something in the clause and  a complete finite verb,
ie. a verb which has a subject and a sense of time.

There are two kinds of clauses: independent (or main) clauses and dependent (or
subordinate) clauses.

 Independent

An independent clause expresses a complete thought and can stand on its own as a
sentence.
 e.g. Learning a new language is often frustrating.

 Dependent

 A dependent clause does not express a complete thought and needs to be joined to an
independent clause to become a sentence. It usually begins with a word such as although,
while, because, who, which, if, etc.

e.g. Although learning a new language is often frustrating, experienced teachers make

it easier. The bolded part of the sentence constitutes a dependent clause because it cannot
stand on its own as a complete sentence. The latter is an independent clause since it
expresses a complete thought.

Simple Sentences

A simple sentence contains a subject and a verb. It expresses a single complete thought
that can stand on its own. Examples:

1. The baby cried for food.

There is a subject (The baby) and a verb (cried) that expresses a complete thought.

2. The intelligent students completed and turned in their homework.

A simple sentence does not necessarily have to be short. It can have adjectives. In
sentence 2 above, there are two verbs “completed” and “turned in.” However, the sentence
expresses one complete thought and therefore is a simple sentence.

3. Maina and Rono ate too much and felt sick.

Although there are two subjects ( Maina and Rono) and two verbs (ate and felt), it is still a
simple sentence because both verbs share the same subjects and express one complete
thought.

Compound Sentences

A compound sentence has two independent clauses. An independent clause is a part of a

sentence that can stand alone because it contains a subject and a verb and expresses a
complete thought. Basically, a compound contains two simple sentences. These
independent clauses are joined by a conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so).

Examples: 1.The thief had stolen clothes, so he ran once he saw the police.

Both sides of the conjunction “so” are complete sentences. “The thief had stolen clothes”
can stand alone and so can “he ran once he saw the police.” Therefore, this is a compound
sentence.

2. They spoke to him in Kiswahili, but he responded in English.

This is also a compound sentence that uses a conjunction to separate two individual
clauses.

Complex Sentences

A complex sentence is an independent clause joined by one or more dependent clauses. A

dependent clause either lacks a subject or a verb or has both a subject and a verb that does
not express a complete thought. A complex sentence always has a subordinator (as,
because, since, after, although, when) or relative pronouns (who, that, which).

 Examples: 1. After eating lunch at the hotel, Lenana went to the gym to exercise.

 The independent clause is ‘Lenana went to the gym to exercise.” The subordinating clause
before it is dependent on the main, independent clause. If one were to say “after eating
lunch at the hotel,” it would be an incomplete thought.

Although we are tired, we worked hard.

 The dependent clause in this sentence is “Although we were tired” because if removed, the
rest of the sentence “we worked hard’’, would stand as an independent clause.

Compound-Complex Sentences

A compound-complex sentence has two independent clauses and at least one dependent
clause.

Examples: 1. After the two soccer players lost their game, they joined their other teammates
for lunch, and they went to the movies.

If we remove the dependent clause “after the two soccer players lost their game,” we have a
compound sentence. The dependent clause makes this sentence compound-complex.

2. The man believed in the system, and he knew that justice would prevail after the
murderer was sent to jail.

In the above sentence the parts in bold are independent clauses with one italicised
dependent clause.

QUIZ

Identify the different sentence elements (subject, predicate, direct and indirect object
and subject complement) in each of the following sentences. 

1. The leather seats feel comfortable

2. Onyango is extremely intelligent.

3. They taught their students the importance of and usefulness of writing skills.

4. The judges announced a set of rules.

5. Two detectives questioned the suspect.

Identify whether the sentences are simple, complex, compound or compound-

complex. Underline dependent clauses where it applies.
1. Gor Mahia is my favourite team, but I also love Tusker FC.

2. Because she did not know the route well, she drove slowly.

3. The student cleaned the board that was filled with last week’s notes.

 3. The trendy fashion designer released her new line on Wednesday.

4. Since we lost, we were sad, but we didn’t cry.

5. Although she felt guilty for missing her friend’s birthday, she took her out to dinner the
next day, and they had a great time.

6. She went to class even though she was sick.

7. Johnny rode his bike to school.