TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT OF THE GRAMMAR

MODULE 10-C (6 hrs)

COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE COMPETENCE: ESSENTIALS OF GRAMMAR

(PARTS OF SPEECH – PRONOUN, PREPOSITION, CONJUNCTIONS AND OTHERS)
Introduction

Communicative competence includes the grammatical use of the different parts of speech. The previous
modules treated the major parts of speech including nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. There are
other parts of speech needed to string them together to form coherent thought. This module will treat
all these other parts of speech one by one and exercises are provided to for students to acuire mastery
of the concepts.

Objective: This module will enable the you to:

1. Acquire mastery of the concepts of pronoun, preposition, conjunction and other

parts of speech essential in developing communicative language competence in
English.
2. Perform Exercises M-10. C (1) and M-10.C (2) with the least errors possible.

Anticipatory Set

Read the short narrative in BOX D.

BOX E
Two Teachers
More than 50 teachers taught me during my 13 years in school. I don’t remember any of
them except two, Ali and Ahmad. Both of them were Egyptian and taught math. Ali taught
me in sixth grade and Ahmad taught me in seventh grade. They were well-known teachers in
the school. Ali was hated by many students, but Ahmad was a good teacher and a lot of
students liked him. The differences between these two teachers were attitude and teaching
method. The worst math class I ever had was in sixth grade when Ali was the teacher. His
attitude was very bad. Basically, he was lazy. He didn’t give us any homework because he
didn’t want to correct it. In contrast with Ali, Ahmad was the best teacher in the school.
When he taught me in the seventh grade, I got full marks because I understood everything he
taught. His attitude about the students was very good. He made his students like him
because he believed that if students like the teacher, they will like his class and will do their
best to satisfy the teacher. Ali also had a bad method of teaching. He just sat down on the
desk in front of the class and read the book. After he finished reading, he asked if there were
any questions. Then he sat down until the class time was over. Once one of my friends told
him that we didn’t understand anything from the reading and that he should explain the
lesson on the backboard. Ali replied, “I am just responsible to teach you what is in the book
and I can do no more.” Unlike Ali’s teaching method, the teaching method Ahmad used was
very good; all the students liked it. Ahmad began the class with a review of the last lesson, to
make sure we understood the lesson. Then he began to explain the new lesson on the
blackboard several times. Because of his method, it was easy to understand the lesson. A
year later, Ali quit teaching and went to work in a private company; Ahmad is the manager of
the best school in my city.
- Abdullah Al-Shamisi
Read the sentences below. Remember that the narrative was written by Abdullah Al-Shamisi, What
make them sound awkward?

1. More than 50 teachers taught Abdullah Al-Shamisi during Absulla Al-Shamisi’s 13 years in
school.
2. Abdullah Al-Shamisi doesn’t remember all the 50 teachers except Ali and Ahmad.
3. Ali and Ahmad were both Egyptians and Ali and Ahmad taught math.
4. Ali and Ahmad were well known in the school but Ali and Ahmad had different attitudes and
Ali and Ahmad used different methods of teaching.
5. When Ali taught Abdullah in the seventh grade, Abdullah got full marks because Abdullah
understood everything Ali taught Abdullah.

Yes, the repeated use of the subjects and the objects of the sentences. Can you imagine how awkward
our essays are if we were not using pronouns.

Exercise M=10 C (1)

Pronouns

Pronouns are used to take the place of nouns. There are subjective pronouns acting as subjects of verbs
like I, we, he, she and they, it and objective pronouns such as me, us, him, her, them and it which act as
the objects of verbs and prepositions.; possessive pronouns like hers, his, ours, theirs and its; and
reflexive pronouns like myself, ourselves, himself, herself, themselves and itself.

Instruction. Select the pronoun(s) in each sentence and put it/ them under the appropriate category.
Take note, a sentence may have more than one pronoun. There are 20 pronouns in all in
all the sentences.

Sentence Subjective Objective Possessive

1. More than 50 teachers taught me during my 13
years in high school
2. I don’t remember any of them except two, Ali and
Ahmad.
3. Both of them were Egyptian and taught math.
4. Ali taught me in sixth grade and Ahmad taught me
in seventh grade.
5. He made his students like him because he
believed that if students like the teacher, they wil
like his class and will do their best to satisfy the
teacher.
6. Once, one of my friends told him that we didn’t
understand anything from the reading and that he
should explain the lesson on the blackboard.
7. “I am just responsible to teach you what is in the
book.”
8. Ahmad began the class with a review of the last
lesson to make sure we understood it.
 Exercise M=10 C (2)
Prepositions
A preposition is a word such as after, in, to, on and with. Prepositions are generally used in front of
nouns or pronouns and they are used to describe:
 The position of something: The cast was under the chair. [Prepositions of place]
 The time when something happens: They arrived on Sunday.
 The way in which something is done: We went by train.
Part I: Complete the sentences with one of the following prepositions – above, against, at, below,
from, in, into, of, on, opposite, through, under.
1. We have just moved ________ our new house. 1. ________
2. We moved ________ three days ago. 2. ________
3. He stood the ladder _______ the wall. 3. ________
4. My wife and I were sitting quietly _______ home. 4. ________
5. There was a fire in the apartment _______ ours. 5. ________
6. I saw smoke coming _____ the letter box on the door. 6. ________
7. The heater _____ the kitchen was in flames. 7. ________
8. My apartment is ______ the third floor. 8. ________
9. Water was dripping _______ the ceiling and forming a pool 9. ________
10. ____ the floor. 10. ________

Part !!. Complete the sentences with one of the following prepositions – after, down on, for, forward
to, into, on, out, over, to, up.
1. I am looking ___ my record player. Have you seen it anywhere? 1. ________
2. She has been looking _____ her holidays since last summer. 2. ________
3. I’ll look ____ the children for you while you are out. 3. ________
4. If you don’t know the name of re artist, look it _____ in the catalogue. 4. ________
5. I looked ____ her for advice when I was in trouble. 5. ________
6. I didn’t take part in the argument. I just looked _____. 6. ________
7. Look! There’s a car coming. 7. ________
8. She looks ____ us because she belongs to an exclusive club. 8. ________
9. I’d like to look ____ the house before deciding whether to buy it. 9. ________
10. I’ll look ____ your complaint, madam, and find out what went wrong. 10. _______
Part III. Complete the sentences with one of the following prepositions – after, back down, in, off, out
on, over, up (2) .
1. If you don’t believe me, you can take the matter ___ with the company. 1. _____
2. I’ll take ___ your name and address and you can pay the company later. 2. _____
3. It’s no use taking it ___ the bill collector. He doesn’t make the rules. 3. _____
4. We ought not to take ____ the poor man’s time. He’s busy. 4. _____
5. You can see from his nose that he takes ____ his father. 5. _____
6. The airplane is just going to take ____. 6. _____
7. He’s far too busy to take ____ any more work. 7. _____
8. The company have been taken ____ by a larger firm. 8. _____
9. If you speak slowly and clearly the students with ___the meaning. 9. _____
 10. When I visited my hometown again, it took me ___ to my childhood. 10. _____

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT COMMONLY USED BUT CONFUSING PREPOSITIONS

IN, AT

Both of these prepositions are used in specifying the position or whereabouts of a person, thing,
event, etc. the difference bring that IN is used when the idea being conveyed is that being somewhere
within the boundaries of a given area, while AT is correctly used when one is indicating an exact
position. The following examples may help to clarify the rule:

I live in Zone 3 / in Mamlad/ in Murokbudok (i.e. somewhere within the boundaries of Pio Duran
Albay BUT I live at 143 Balagtas Street (my exact address).
The same ‘specific’/non-specific’ distinction between AT and IN applies also to their use with
buildings:
When a type of building or place of work is referred to , in is used, but when a particular place is
referred to it should be preceded by at: I work in a garments factory. But I work at UNLAD Garments
Factory; I work in a hotel but I work at Hilton Hotel.

BELOW, BENEATH, UNER, UNDERNEATH

Underneath is mostly used when two things are touching or very close to each other, often with the
implication of one thing covering the other:
He lifted the stone to see what was underneath it.
Underneath, he found a piece of paper.
The key is underneath the mat.
Even where the two things linked by underneath are not so close together, there is often still an
implication of the one thing completely covering or sheltering the other.
The mouse hid underneath the chair.
Underneath is also used to refer to people’s ‘hidden qualities,’ as in:
He seems uncaring but he’s a kind man underneath.
The word under is used when there is a fairly close or direct connection between the things being
referred to, especially where one thing is on or directly above the under:
He could feel the branch shaking under him (i.e. he was sitting or lying on it.
The mouse ran under the chair.
The river flows under the bridge.
Below on the other hand means ‘at or to a lower level than’, and the relationship between the things
referred to is usually less close or direct:
He could see cows and sheep in the valley below him (i.e. he is looking down from a hill; the
valley is not literally under his feet).
Under and below are both used also in a figurative sense, and here again there is a more direct
relationship between things related by under than between things related by below For example:
He has twenty people under him (= he is in charge of, has authority over, twenty people) and
There are twenty people below him (= there are twenty people lower in rank than him, or in less
important positions than his; he may not, however, have authority over any of them.
Beneath is felt by many people to be more formal, archaic, or literary than below or under when used to
describe the position of one thing in relationship to another. However, in certain figurative used,
beneath must be used:
His behaviour was beneath contempt.
He thought it beneath him to clean the house.