Monya Le Hanie

1. Sentences
 A sentence is a group of words which expresses a complete thought.
o It starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, question mark or an
exclamation mark, depending on the type of sentence.
o Sentence contains a subject and a finite verb.
 Subject can be checked by asking who or what before the verb.
 Pronouns can replace subjects, e.g. he, she or it.

The boy plays – Who plays? – He plays

 Types of sentences:

Statements Gives information Michael is going to the mall.

Shane is studying.
Questions Ask for information Where is Michael going?
What is Shane doing?
Exclamations Expressions of surprise, anger, There is a ghost!
fear or alarm Ouch, that hurts!
Commands Giving of orders or instructions Sit down!
(Imperatives) Read your book.

 Sentence classification:

Simple sentence Consists of one clause. Jane went to the store.

Deals with one idea. Anton reads a book.
Compound sentence Consists of two or more clauses Sarah walked to class, but Kevin ran.
Two or more simple sentences joined It was very hot outside, and the ice
by a co-ordinating conjunction cream melted.
Complex sentence Contains a subordinate clause as one Sarah cried when her cat got sick, but
of its constituents. he soon got better.
Joined by subordinating conjunctions. The sun is shining through the clouds,
so I think that we can go swimming.

 Subject and predicate:

o Subject: Person or thing that is doing an action.
Person or thing that is the focus of the sentence.
o Predicate: Part of the sentence that contains the action.

o Examples:

Subject Predicate
The dog ran. Dog Ran
The water bottle sat on the Water bottle. Sat on the table.
table.
Amy and her brother were sick. Amy and her brother Were sick
 2. Clauses
 A clause is a group of words that contains both a subject and a predicate (or verb).
 There are two types of clauses:

Main (Independent Complete sentences. I want some cereal.

clause) Can stand alone and express Marie likes cats.
complete thought. Joseph is a good soccer player.
Main idea of the sentence.
Subordinate Contains a subject and predicate, I fished until the sun went down.
(Dependent clause) but they do not express a complete While the engine was running, the man
thought. jumped out of the car.
Dependent on the main clause.

3. Punctuation

Capital letters Sentences start with capital letters. We are reading our books.
Proper nouns and proper adjectives need
capital letters. She is going to Pretoria.
Titles of books, films or plays are written in
capital letters. Lord of the Rings.
First word in direct speech is capitalized. The man said, “I am tired.”

Period (Full stop) Indicates the end of a sentence. Parys is in the Free State.
(.) Also in abbreviations. Prof. abbr. e.g.

Comma Separate word or phrases in a list. For dinner I had soup, fish,
(,) chicken, dessert and coffee.
Indicates where one phrase or clause ends, The Proteas won the test series,
and another starts. to the delight if the supporters.

Additional information that could be added Mrs. Fourie, the accountant, is

in brackets or between dashes. analyzing the company’s books.

Before and after words such as however and She was, however, late for her
nevertheless. dentist appointment and this
caused a problem.
Introductory words or phrases are separated Once again, this was a great
from the rest of the sentence. opportunity.

Exclamation marks Follow exclamations or interruptions. Ouch! Get off my foot!

(!) To accentuate and strengthen the tone of a The man yelled, “You there!”
statement. Use the words yelled, shouted,
exclaimed, commanded.
After sentences, phrases or emotional words It’s a ghost!
such as fear, anger, anxiety, shock, misery. Your work is unacceptable!
Question marks At the end of a question. What is the main idea?
(?) To ask rhetorical questions. What else is there to do?

Colon At the beginning of a list. This is a list of insects: ants,

(:) beetles, moths and bees.
With a quotation. She said: “I will be there.”
The colon follows a speaker in a dialogue. Mr. Green: “Do your
homework.”
Jane: “Yes, sir.”

Semicolon Long pause which balances two equally She went by train; she would
(;) important ideas. rather have drove.

Shows opposite ideas. In the morning she reads; in the

afternoon she jogs.

To connect two main clauses into a single I could tell that it was getting
sentence. late; it was growing darker by
the second.

Can be replaced by a period of by and, but, Saturday the sun was shining
so, for and although. and Sunday it was raining.

Quotation marks Indicate direct speech. Shawn said, “I am studying.”

(“ “)
To quote or repeat someone else’s words James said, “We are leaving.”

To show metaphoric usage. Chris is the ‘black sheep’ of the

family.

Apostrophe To show ownership / possession. It is the boy’s room.

(‘) This is Jason’s book.

In contractions, when joining two small Cannot becomes can’t

words. It is becomes it’s.

Hyphen It links prefixes to words. Pre-school; well-deserved, life-

(-) threatening.

To differentiate meaning. Re-make vs remake.

Dash Indicates added emphasis, an interruption, You are the friend – the only
(–) abrupt change of thought. friend – who offered to help.
 I pay the bills – she has all the
fun.
Parentheses / To enclose information that clarifies or is He finally answered (after
brackets used as an aside. taking five minutes to think)
( ) that he didn’t understand.

Often possible to use commas or dashes The bull terrier – the clown of
instead of brackets. dogs – are a great dog breed.

Ellipses When omitting a word, phrase, line, So much more could be said…
(…) paragraph, etc.

4. Parts of speech

Definition / function Example

NOUN Naming word
Common noun Ordinary, everyday things. cat, fireman, house, pencil

Proper noun Names of places, people. Jane, John, South-Africa,

Starts with a capital letter. Johannesburg.

Collective noun Collection or group. Staff of teachers.

Class of students.
Gang of thieves.

Abstract noun Something which is not visible/tangible. Friendship, courage, happiness,

belief

PRONOUN A word used in place of a noun. He, she, it, they, you, we

ADJECTIVE Word used to describe a noun. Happy, sad, red, green, short,
tall, fat, hairy
VERB Tells what someone or something does. Sit, laugh, run, jump, work, play
Action word or word of being.

ADVERB Can be added to a verb to modify its Cheerfully, briskly, wickedly,

meaning. delicately, fast, never, now
Tells you when, where, how, in what manner
or to what extent an action is performed.
Many end in “ly”, but not always.

CONJUNCTION Word used to connect other words, phrases And, but, or, because
and clauses
PREPOSITION Word placed before a noun or pronoun to To, with, against, on, by, from,
show its location or direction. at, for, across, in
May also show a noun or pronoun’s Under, over, in front of, behind,
relationship to some other word in the next to
sentence.
ARTICLE Define a noun as specific or unspecific. A prize, the long day, the cup of
Words ‘a’, ‘an’ or ‘the’ which precedes nouns tea, an interesting story.
or adjectives.

5. Nouns

COMMON Names given to ordinary objects. Sea, fly, house, fruit, roof, doctor, teacher, sky
NOUNS
PROPER Always begin with CAPITAL LETTERS
NOUNS
Names given to:
- Persons Shane, Jane, Eric, John, Mary
- Places Johannesburg, Free State, London, Wits
- Days Monday, New Year, Easter
- Months November, March, June

Ideologies, educational subjects Mathematics, History, Philosophy

Titles of books Cry the Beloved Country, Wuthering Heights

ABSTRACT Something which can’t be seen, Love, courage, respect, kindness, fear, attitude
NOUNS touch or measure.

COLLECTIVE Name of a collection or a group of String of pearls, cloud of smoke, bale of wool.
NOUNS objects, people, creatures
 6. Pronouns
 The pronoun takes the place of a noun.

PERSONAL Refer to people or things. He, she, I, you, they, him, her, me
He plays rugby.
She wears a dress.
I work at the Spur.
They are running.

POSSESSIVE Shows ownership. Their, his, hers, yours, mine, its, my.
My house is clean.
His shirt is gone.
Their bikes are blue.
Your race horse is running away.

INDEFINITE Do not point to any particular nouns, Few, everyone, all, some, anything,
but refer to things or people in general. nobody.
Everyone is already here.
Some people have all the luck.
Nobody wants to do the dishes.

RELATIVE Used to connect a clause or phrase to a Who, whom, whoever, whomever,

noun or pronoun. whichever, that.
The driver who ran the stop sign.
This is Jane, whose brother went to
school with me.
I have an uncle that I inherited money
from.

INTENSIVE Used to emphasize a noun or pronoun. Myself, himself, herself, themselves,

itself, yourself, yourselves, ourselves.
He himself is his worst critic.
She herself is going to the dance.

DEMONSTRATIVE Focus attention on the nouns that are These, those, this, that, such.
replacing. Such was his understanding.
Those are totally awesome.
This tastes good.
These are bad times.

INTERROGATIVE Interrogate or ask questions Who, whom, what, which, whose

Who told you?
Whom did you tell?
What is happening?
Which came first?
REFLEXIVE Reflect back to the noun or pronoun. Ends in “self” or “selves”
I told myself not to spend so muct
money.
My friend hurt himself badly.

7. Plurals

Words which simply take an s. Garden – gardens bedroom – bedrooms.

House – houses pool – pools
Words ending in ch, sh, s, ss or x, then add es. Church – churches dish – dishes
Glass – glasses box – boxes
Word ending in a vowel + y, add an s. Holiday – holidays key – keys
Monkey – monkeys boy – boys
Word ending in a consonant + y, drop the y and Sky – skies baby – babies
add ies. Party – parties country – countries
Words ending in a f or fe, drop the f and add ves. Calf – calves shelf – shelves
Knife – knives wolf – wolves
Word ending in a o, add es. Echo – echoes hero – heroes
Tomato – tomatoes potato – potatoes
Some words ending in an o, takes an s. Piano – pianos radio – radios
Photo – photos kilo – kilos
Words ending in oo, adds s. Zoo – zoos igloo – igloos
Words ending in us, either add es or an i. Octopus – octopuses/octopi
Syllabus – syllabuses / syllabi
Some words keep the same form in the singular Sheep –sheep deer – deer
and the plural forms. Fish – fish moose – moose
Some nouns take a singular form as they are Advice, baggage, bread, coffee, gold, hair, paper,
‘uncountable’. weather
Some words appear only in the plural form. Scissors, trousers, pliers, tweezers, clothes,
police, goods, earnings, premises, savings, news
Some words change in the plural form. Tooth – teeth mouse – mice
Man – men foot – feet
Die – dice ox – oxen
Louse – lice goose – geese
Child – children woman – women
In compound nouns, the last word is usually given Travel-agents boy-friends
the plural. Break-ins
In words containing a preposition, the word Sisters-in-law brothers-in-law
before the preposition takes the plural. Ladies-in-waiting hangers-on
Runners-up lookers-on
Initials and abbreviations are made plural by MPs VIPs pgs
adding an s.
 8. Articles
 The words a, an and the which usually precede nouns or adjectives.

Definite – Refers to something specific or definite. The award, the house, the flower, etc.
(the)
Indefinite Non-specific or indefinite An award, a person, a car, an apple
– (a / an)

9. Gender
 Masculine: boy, husband, brother, father
 Feminine: girl, wife, sister, mother
 Neuter: book, engine, computer, chair, table, motorcar, bike
 Common: guest, composer, friend, orphan, player, scholar

Masculine Feminine
Bachelor Spinster
Boy Girl
Bridegroom Bride
Brother Sister
Brother-in-law Sister-in-law
Father Mother
Father-in-law Mother-in-law
Gentleman Lady
Grandfather Grandmother
Grandson Granddaughter
Heir Heiress
Hero Heroin
Male Female
Husband Wife
Son Daughter
Uncle Aunt
Sir Madam
Mr Mrs
Prince Princess
King Queen
Bull Cow
Lion Lioness
Monk Nun
Nephew Niece
Widower Widow
Fox Vixen
Cock Hen
Buck Doe
 10. Diminutives

Adult Young
Bear Cub
Hare Leveret
Fish Fry
Cat Kitten
Bull Calf
Butterfly Caterpillar
Goose Gosling
Lion Cub
Hen Chicken
Sheep Lamb
Mare Filly
Moth Caterpillar
Dog Puppy
Horse Foal
Frog Tadpole
Goat Kid
Deer Fawn
Elephant Calf
Kangaroo Joey

11. Animal sounds

Animal Sound
Antelopes Snort
Bears Roar, growl
Calf Moo
Cats Purr, meow
Bees Buzz, hum
Dogs Bark, growl, snarl
Frogs Croak
Geese Cackle, hiss
Apes Gibber
Hyenas Laugh, scream
Owls Hoot, screech, cur
Pigs Grunt, squeal
Snakes Hiss
Swans Cry
Wolves Howl
Seagulls Scream
Mice Squeak
Grasshopper Chirr
 12. Adjectives
 Adjectives are describing words.
 Described as modifying or quantifying a noun or pronoun.
 Make sentences more interesting and add spice to writing.

Descriptive or What kind? The kind/loyal/helpful/happy child

quality Most commonly used

Proper Proper nouns used as adjectives The Durban office is closed.

The August winds are strong.
Quantity / number How many? Two/many/several/few/some/most
/ each/every/neither
Order Position? First/second/last

Demonstrative Which one? This/that

These/those
Possessive Belonging to My/his/her/our/their/your/its

Interrogative Which one? Which/what/whose

Compound Joined by hyphens Well-deserved/feather-light/ half-
ripe

13. Degrees of comparison

 There are 3 degrees of comparison
o Positive: refers to one thing
o Comparative: compares two things
o Superlative : compares more than two things and describes best or most

Positive Comparative Superlative

Angry Angrier Angriest
Anxious More anxious Most anxious
Big Bigger Biggest
Brave Braver Bravest
Bright Brighter Brightest
Broad Broader Broadest
Calm Calmer Calmest
Cold Colder Coldest
Cool Cooler Coolest
Curly Curlier Curliest
Dark Darker Darkest
Dirty Dirtier Dirtiest
Dull Duller Dullest
Dry Drier Driest
Early Earlier Earliest
Easy Easier Easiest
Embarrassed More embarrassed Most embarrassed
Evil More evil Most evil
Famous More famous Most famous
Fine Finer Finest
Fresh Fresher Freshest
Hard Harder Hardest
Heavy Heavier Heaviest
Immense More immense Most immense
Late Later Latest
Light Lighter Lightest
Long Longer Longest
Lovely Lovelier Loveliest
Nervous More nervous Most nervous
New Newer Newest
Old Older Oldest
Perfect More perfect Most perfect
Quick Quicker Quickest
Rich Rich Richest
Sad Sadder Saddest
Simple Simpler Simplest
Small Smaller Smallest
Smart Smarter Smartest
Soft Softer Softest
Sweet Sweeter Sweetest
Thin Thinner Thinnest
Bad Worse Worst
Good Better Best
Far Farther Farthest
Late Latter Last (order)
Little Less Least
Much More Most
Some More Most
Many More Most
 14. Verbs
 A simple sentence contains a subject and a predicate.
o The subject is the doer of the action.
o The predicate is the remainder of the sentence, and must contain a verb.
o REMEMBER: A VERB IS A DOING WORD.

Type Description Example

Finite and infinitive verbs
Finite verb Make sense by itself. - Together with subject, it
Must have a subject, number (singular of makes a complete sentence:
plural) and tense. She reads. They work.
Change according to the subject of the - Indicates number:
sentence and the tense. The girl (one) knits. The girls
(many) play soccer.
- It has tense:
Today I read. Yesterday I
swam. Tomorrow I shall read.

Infinitive verb When verb is preceded by a ‘to’ – infinitive. - to read, to play, to wash, to
They need another verb to help them make study.
sense. - She wants to walk… They
Cannot stand alone. start to argue… We tried to
Stay the same, do not change according to study…
the subject and the tense. - The infinitive should not be
split:
I am definitely going to run
the race tomorrow.
Transitive and intransitive verbs
Transitive A verb that is followed by a direct object is
called a transitive verb.
Some verbs are always transitive, example The boy keeps the book.
keep.
Intransitive A verb that makes sense without an object is
an intransitive verb.
Some verbs, like sang, can be both transitive The girl sings. – Intransitive
and intransitive. The girl sings a song –
transitive.
Auxiliary verbs
- Helping verb.
It always precedes a verb. She has done her work.
Regulates the tense of its sentence. You could see the clouds.

- Common auxiliary verbs. am, are, be, can, could, had,

has, have, is, may, might,
 must, shall, should, was, were,
will, would

- Depending on sentence, verb may be He is the goalkeeper of the

classified as finite or an auxiliary verb. team.
He is hoping to be the best
goalkeeper.
The linking verb – the verb ‘to be’
- The verb ‘to be’ (is, am, are) is also
referred to as the linking verb.
- It connects a noun with another noun, or a The man is a soldier. The boy
noun with an adjective. is naughty.
- The word that follows the linking verb is
not the object; it is known as the
complement.

15. Irregular verbs

 Some of the most common used irregular verbs:

Present Past tense Past participle

Be Was/were Been
Begin Began Begun
Break Broke Broken
Bring Brought Brought
Buy Bought Bought
Build Built Built
Choose Chose Chosen
Come Came Come
Cost Cost Cost
Cut Cut Cut
Do Did Done
Draw Drew Drawn
Drive Drove Driven
Eat Ate Eaten
Feel Felt Felt
Find Found Found
Get Got Got
Give Gave Given
Go Went Gone
Have Had Had
Hear Heard Heard
Hold Held Held
Keep Kept Kept
Know Knew Known
Leave Left Left
Lead Led Led
Let Let Let
Lie Lay Lain
Lose Lost Lost
Make Made Made
Mean Meant Meant
Meet Met Met
Pay Paid Paid
Put Put Put
Run Ran Run
Say Said Said
See Saw Seen
Sell Sold Sold
Send Sent Sent
Set Set Set
Sit Sat Sat
Speak Spoke Spoken
Spend Spent Spent
Stand Stood Stood
Take Took Taken
Teach Taught Taught
Tell Told Told
Think Thought Thought
Understand Understood Understood
Wear Wore Wore
Win Won Won
Write Wrote Written

16. Tenses

Past Present Future

Simple Refers to an action that Refers to an action that Refers to an action that
happened in the past. always happens. will happen in the future.
He scored a goal The sun rises in the east. I will eat pizza.
Also refer to an action we
repeat regularly.
I play netball at school.
Continuous Refers to an action that Refers to an action that is Refers to an action that
happened in the past and happening now and has will be happening in the
continued for some time. not stopped. It is formed future. It is formed by will
Formed by was / were by am, is or are followed or shall + be + ing form of
followed by –ing form of by the verb + ing. the verb.
the verb. I am painting a picture.
 It was raining on Saturday. She is riding a bicycle. My mother will be coming
There were dancing in the We are reading a book. to the show.
hall. I shall be waiting for you.
Perfect Refers to an action in the Refers to an action in the Refers to an action in the
past that happened before past that is related in some past from a viewpoint in
another action. way to the present. the future.
It is formed by had + past It is formed by has or have It is formed by will or shall
participle. + past participle. + have + past participle.
When the game had She has written a letter. The parcel will have
finished, the players left. We have driven all over arrived before his
After he had eaten, he South Africa. birthday.
read his book. Next year we shall have
studied English for ten
years.
Perfect Is formed by had + been + Is formed by have or has + Is formed by will or shall +
continuous ing of verb been + ing of verb. have + been + ing of verb
I had been eating pizza for I have been eating pizza I will have been eating
2 hours when you arrived. for 2 hours. pizza for two hours when
I had been doing my She has been reading a you arrive.
homework when my father book the whole day. She will have been
came home. walking a long way when
the rain starts/

17. Active and passive voice/verbs

Description Example
Active Most statements in everyday language is in active The girl was making a card.
voice. Girl – active
Subject is doing the action. Making (made) – active voice.
Passive Sometimes, you make statements in the passive The card was made by the girl.
voice. The card – did nothing, action
Passive is the opposite of active – you don’t do any was done to the card.
action. Was made – passive voice.
  Basic rules for changing active voices into passive voices

Rule 1 The structure of sentences will be reversed in Passive Active: He buys a camera.
voice. Passive: A camera is bought by
Places of the Subject and Object will interchange. him.
Subject shift to the place of the object and the object will
take the place of subject in Passive Voice.

Rule 2 Only past participle form or 3rd form of verb will always
be used as main verb in Passive voices for all tenses.
No other form of verb will be used as main verb.

Rule 3 The word “by” will be used before subject in the Passive Active: She drink water.
voice. Passive: Water is drunk by her.

Rule 4 Other words such as ‘with’ or ‘to’ may also be used Active: I know him.
instead of word ‘by’ depending upon the subject of the Passive: He is known by to me.
sentence. Active: Water fills a tub.
These words are used in a very few cases. Passive: A tub is filled with
The word ‘by’ is used in the most cases. water.

Rule 5 The auxiliary verb will be changed in Passive Voice

depending upon the tense of sentence in its Active
Voice.

Rule 6 Subject may not be always mentioned in Passive Voice. Active: Women are not treated
A passive voice sentence can be written without having as equals.
subject, if it clear idea about the subject. Passive: Sugar is sold in
kilograms.

Active (Regular) Voice Passive Voice

Present The boy kicks the ball. The ball is kicked by the boy.
Past The boy kicked the ball. The ball was kicked by the boy.
Future The boy will kick the ball. The ball will be kicked by the boy.
 18. Adverbs
 Adverbs are words that tell us more about verbs.
 There are five types of adverbs.

Manner How? Quickly, hungrily, fast, well I drove to the school quickly.
Place Where? Here, there, down, near, far, The shop is near our home.
home, nowhere, up
Time When? Today, tomorrow, yesterday, Tomorrow is school sport day.
immediately, now, then, soon
Degree To which extent? Very, rather, quite, really, It is just too hot to stay inside.
nearly, so, almost, fairly,
radically, hardly, extremely,
well, just, too
Frequency How often? Always, never, occasionally, I will never go to that club.
frequently, often, seldom,
once, usually

19. Agreement (concord)

 The words in a sentence must match or agree with one another.
 Rules:

Rule 1 A subject will come before a phrase beginning with A bouquet of yellow roses lends
of. color.
Rule 2 Two singular subjects connected by or, either/or, or My aunt or my uncle is arriving
neither/nor require a singular verb. by train today.
Neither James nor Shawn is
available.
Either Amanda or Simon is
helping today.
Rule 3 The verb in an or, either/or, or neither/nor sentence Neither the plates nor the serving
agrees with the noun or pronoun closest to it. bowl goes on that shelf.
Neither the serving bowl nor the
plates go on that shelf.
Rule 4 As a general rule, use a plural verb with two or more A car and a bike are my means of
subjects when they are connected by and. transport.
Except:
Breaking and entering is against
the law.
Bed and breakfast was charming.
Rule 5a Sometimes the subject is separated from the verb by The politician, along with the
such words as along with, as well as, besides, not, etc. newsman, is expected shortly.
These words and phrases are not part of the subject. Excitement, as well as
Ignore them and use a singular verb when the subject nervousness, is the cause of her
is singular. shaking.
Rule 5b Parentheses are not part of the subject. Joe (and his trusty mutt) was
always welcome.
Rule 6 In sentences beginning with here or there, the true There are four hurdles.
subject follows the verb. There is a high hurdle.
Here are the keys.
Rule 7 Use a singular verb with distances, periods of time, Three miles is too far to walk.
sums of money, etc. when considered as a unit. Five years is the maximum
sentence for that offence.
Ten dollars is a high price to pay.
BUT
Ten dollars (dollar bills) were
scattered on the floor.
Rule 8 With words that indicate portions – e.g. a lot, a A lot of the pie has disappeared.
majority, some, all – Rule 1 given earlier in this A lot of the pies have
section is reversed, and we are guided by the noun disappeared.
after of. If the noun after of is singular, use a singular A third of the city is unemployed.
verb. If it is plural, use a plural verb. A third of the people are
unemployed.
All of the pie is gone.
All of the pies are gone.
Some of the pie is missing.
Some of the pies are missing.
Rule 9 With collective nouns such as group, jury, family, All of my family has arrived OR
audience, population, the verb might be singular or have arrived.
plural, depending on the writer’s intent. Most of the jury is here OR are
here.
Rule 10 The word were replaces was in sentences that If Joe were here, you’d be sorry.
express a wish or are contrary to fact. I wish it were Friday.
She requested that he raise his
hand.

20. Conjunctions
 Conjunctions are words that join sentences, words and phrases. They do not always come
in the middle of two sentences.
 A conjunction at the beginning of a sentence is followed by a comma.
o Money is useful. However, it cannot buy everything.
 Different conjunctions have different functions. It is important to understand what each
conjunction means, so that you know how to use each one correctly.
 Conjunctions that develop an idea are used when the next sentence or idea builds on the
previous sentence or idea. They are used to develop an argument logically.
o and, in addition, furthermore, moreover.
 Conjunctions that contrast or challenge an idea are used when the new sentence or idea
introduces a different idea to the sentence that appears before the conjunction. It tells the
 reader that this difference or opposition is coming up and helps them to follow the
argument that is being presented.
o However, but, nevertheless.

21. Prepositions
 Prepositions are words that show the position or direction of things.
o The fish in the river are dying.
o Waste from a factory is poisoning them.
o Children who play near the river could get sick.
 A preposition and a noun that go together make up a prepositional phrase.
o The fish in the river are dying.
o Waste from a factory is poisoning them.
o Children who play near the river could get sick.
 Some prepositions show the position of things or events in time.
o At four o’clock, the inspector will check the water in the dam.
o He always does his inspection on Fridays, after lunch.

22. Direct and indirect speech

 Direct speech
o Use the exact words that someone says.
o These words are put in quotation marks (“and”) to show what the person is saying.
 “There is an advert for a new cellphone,” said Busi.
 Phumla asked, “What is your favourite cooldrink?”
o The words in quotation marks always start with a capital letter.
 Use the words said, asked, complained, shouted.

 Reported speech
o When you tell someone what another person said, you use reported speech (or
indirect speech).
o Rules:
 Do not use quotation marks.
 The verb is usually in the past tense, for example: said, told, asked.
 The verb is usually followed by that or if.
 Mufara said that he was going to the shop.
 The pronoun (I, we) often changes, and so do words showing time and place
(now, here).
 “Dani, please put your book here now!” shouted the teacher.
(Direct speech).
 The teacher shouted that Dani must put his book there
immediately. (Indirect speech).
 23. Prefixes
 Prefixes come before a word and change the meaning of the word.
 They can create new words, such as preoccupied.
 They can create antonyms, such as unfriendly.
 The prefixes dis- and un- mean not.
o James is dishonest and untrustworthy. This means that James is not honest and
cannot be trusted.

24. Suffixes
 Suffixes are word endings.
 They change the parts of speech of the word.
o Sudden (adjective) = suddenly (adverb)
 The suffix –ful means full of.
o Sandy is careful. Means: Sandy is full of care.
 The suffix –less means without.
o Sandy is careless. Means: Sandy is without care.

25. Synonyms
 Words of the same or of similar meanings.
 Synonyms are often interchangeable but the word choice is dependent on the context.
 Examples of synonyms

Word Synonym
Active Energetic, busy
Baffle Confuse, deceive
Beautiful Attractive, pretty, lovely, stunning
Bossy Controlling, tyrannical
Fair Just, objective, impartial, unbiased
Funny Humorous, comical, hilarious, hysterical
Happy Content, joyful, mirthful, upbeat
Hardworking Diligent, determined, industrious, enterprising
Honest Honorable, fair, sincere, trustworthy
Hypocrisy Duplicity, falseness
Important Required, vital, essential, primary, significant,
critical
Intelligent Smart, bright, brilliant, sharp
Kind Thoughtful, considerate, amiable, gracious
Old Antiqued, ancient, obsolete, extinct
Pacify Appease, placate
Rich Affluent, wealthy, well-off, well-to-do
Introverted She, bashful, quiet, withdrawn
Lazy Idle
Unhappy Sad, depressed, melancholy, miserable
 26. Antonyms (Opposites)
 These are words of opposite meaning
 Examples:

Words Antonyms
Above Below
Ask Reply, answer
Asset Liability
Big, large Small
Brave Cowardly
Create Destroy
Cool Warm
Huge Tiny
Humorous Serious
Joy Sorrow
Late Early
Laugh Cry
Neat Untidy
Narrow Wide
Play Fight
Noisy Quiet
Loose Tight
Open Closed
Many Few

27. Homonyms
 Words spelt and pronounced in an identical way, but they have different meanings and
functions.
o He plays cricket at school. The cricket chirps merrily.
 More examples:

Word Homophone
Bow Bow
Play Play
Bit Bit
Tear Tear
Wind Wind
Dear Dear
Cool Cool
Ball Ball
Firm Firm
Sound Sound
Peer Peer
Object Object
 28. Homophones
 Words that are pronounced in the same way, but differ in spelling and meaning.
o We talk aloud. We are not allowed to go there.
 More examples:

Words Homophones
Aisle Isle
Pane Pain
Principal Principle
Paws Pause
Knows Nose
Sell Cell
Passed Past
Break Brake
Flower Flour

29. Idioms
 An idiom is a group of words used to figuratively exaggerate or contradict.
 They are phrases that mean something different than what the words say.
o I’m over the moon – I am very happy.
 Examples:

Idiom Meaning
Worked my fingers to the bone. Worked extremely hard.
Play grown-up games. Misbehave in an adult way.
A roof over their heads. A home to live in.
You’re up to no good. You are doing something wrong.
Driving me crazy. Making me very frustrated and angry.
It’s raining cats and dogs. It’s raining very heavily.
It never rains but it pours. Lots of problems happen together.
He is a fair-weather friend. He is only friendly when things are going well.
She is a ray of sunshine. She is always happy.
I ran as quickly as lightning. I ran extremely fast.
I feel under the weather. I feel sick or depressed.
 30. Abbreviations
 An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or series of words. Two types of
abbreviations that often get confused are acronyms and initialisms.
 An acronym is a word made up of the first letter (or first few letters) of a number of words.
o Cosatu – acronym for Congress of South African Trade Unions.
 An initialism is an abbreviation where the first letter of a number of words is used instead of
saying the whole name out loud.
o LOL – laugh out loud
 The key to remembering the difference is that acronyms are said as one word but with
initialism you still pronounce each letter separately. Test whether it is an acronym or
initialism by saying out loud: do you say it as one word or as a series of separate letters?
 Truncations are words that have prat of them cut off.
o Exam – examination
o Maths – mathematics
 Blended words mix parts from two other words.
o Infomercial – from information and commercial.
 Examples:

Abbreviation Meaning
Jan. January
par. paragraph
cnr corner
c century
Deg. Degree
ANC African National Congress
AWOL Absent without leave
abbr. abbreviation
e.g. example
tv television
fax facsimile
www world wide web
IT Information Technology
sms short message service
31. Words often confused