Language Proficiency

Synonyms, Antonyms, Homonyms

Certain words have identical meanings; some have similar meanings; others are as distinct as
night and day. As for words with similarities, they're known as synonyms. Antonyms, however, are words
that have opposite meanings.

Homonyms are words that are pronounced and spelled the same, although they have different
meanings

Parts of Speech

1. Nouns
The first real word you ever used probably was a noun-a word like mama, daddy, car, or cookie. Most
children begin building their vocabularies with nouns. A noun names something: a person, place, or
thing. Most other parts of our language either describe nouns, tell what a noun is doing, or take the
place of a noun.
- Nouns have these characteristics:
- They are abstract or concrete.
- They are proper or common.
- Most are singular or plural, but...
- Some are collective.

In English, nouns are often preceded by noun markers--the articles/adjectives a, an, the, or some for
example; or possessive words like my or your. A noun always follows a noun marker, though adjectives
or other words may come between them:
- my former roommate
- a sunny June day
- an objective and very thorough evaluation
- some existential angst

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Because of their noun markers, you could safely guess that roommate, day, evaluation and angst are
nouns (even if you didn't know what angst was). Although not all nouns are preceded by markers, you
can use a noun marker test to identify many, including abstract nouns. Consider this example:

Enthusiasm and willingness to work hard are a remedy for the existential angst of many students.

Remedy is marked as a noun by the noun marker a. Angst is preceded by the noun marker the.
Students is preceded by the adjective (adjectives modify nouns) many. Test the remaining words: can
you have an enthusiasm or some enthusiasm? Certainly: "I have an enthusiasm for snowboarding" or
"Show some enthusiasm!" So enthusiasm is a noun. Can you have an and or some and? Uh, no. So and
is not a noun. Can you have a willingness or some willingness? Sure, you can have "a willingness to
learn"; willingness is also a noun.

Every noun is either abstract or concrete.

Nouns like enthusiasm, willingness and angst are abstract nouns. Abstract nouns name things we
cannot see, touch, or detect readily through our senses. Abstract nouns name ideas (existentialism,
democracy), measurements (weight, percent), emotions (love, angst), or qualities (responsibility). Con-
crete nouns, on the other hand, name persons, including animals (cousins, Roger Rabbit), places (beach,
Chico), or things we can see, touch, or otherwise detect through our senses (smoke, beer).

Every noun is either proper or common.

A proper noun identifies a particular person, animal, place, thing, or idea--Roger Rabbit, for example.
The first letter of each word of a proper noun is capitalized. A common noun does not name a particular
person or thing; rather, it refers to a whole class or type. Common nouns do not require capitalization.

Proper noun
common noun
(capitalized)

Sierra Nevada Crystal Wheat is his favorite beer.

The Rooks and the Rangers are our local soccer and baseball teams.

Bidwell Park is one of the largest municipal parks.

Lundberg Family Farm is a sustainable, organic farm.

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Most nouns are either singular or plural…

Most nouns are made plural with the addition of s or es. Thus, instructor becomes instructors, and
class becomes classes. Some nouns have irregular plural forms: man becomes men, and woman be-
comes women. Child becomes children, and person becomes people.

Many people, both men and women, believe that having children will be a remedy for their
existential angst.

Some nouns have the same form in both singular and plural: "A moose is crossing the river. No, wait--
three moose are crossing the river!"

...but some nouns are collective.

A collective noun names a collection or group of things. Although a collective noun refers to a group of
many things, it is usually singular in form. We think of a collective noun as singular because its mem-
bers act in one accord:

The army is withdrawing from those Asian countries that are in negotiations.

Here, army is a collective noun referring to a group of many people acting with one will. We treat it as
a singular noun. Countries is a plural noun. If several countries joined together to form an alliance, we
could say this:

The Asian alliance is united in its determination to repel foreign invaders.

In some instances a collective noun describes a group that is not acting with one will, whose members
rather are taking independent, divergent actions. In this case, the collective noun is treated as a plural
to reflect the plurality of the members' actions:

The jury were unable to come to any consensus.

If the jury had reached a unanimous decision, we would have said:

The jury was unanimous in its verdict.

2. Pronouns

Pronouns replace nouns. Without them, language would be repetitious, lengthy, and awkward:
President John Kennedy had severe back trouble, and although President John Kennedy approached
stairs gingerly and lifted with care, President John Kennedy did swim and sail, and occasionally Pres-
ident John Kennedy even managed to play touch football with friends, family members, or co-workers.

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With pronouns taking the place of some nouns, that sentence reads more naturally:
President John Kennedy had severe back trouble, and although he approached stairs gingerly and
lifted with care, he did swim and sail, and occasionally he even managed to play touch football with
friends, family members, or co-workers.

The pronoun he takes the place of the proper noun President John Kennedy. This makes President
John Kennedy the antecedent of the pronoun. The antecedent is the noun or pronoun that a pronoun
replaces. There are six types of pronouns:
Personal Reflexive
Indefinite Relative
Possessive Demonstrative
Personal pronouns

Since nouns refer to specific persons, places, or things, personal pronouns also refer to specific per-
sons, places, or things. Pronouns have characteristics called number, person, and case.
Number refers to whether a pronoun is singular (him) or plural (them). Thus John Kennedy becomes he
or him, while the president's friends would be they or them.

Person is a little more abstract. The first person is the person speaking-I. The sentence "I expect to
graduate in January," is in the first person. The second person is the one being spoken to–you:
"You may be able to graduate sooner!" The third person is being spoken of-he, she, it, they, them:
"She, on the other hand, may have to wait until June to graduate." A pronoun must match (agree with)
its antecedent in person as well as number. So graduating students must be referred to as they or
them, not as us; a valedictorian must be referred to as he or she, him or her, not as we or you.

Case refers to what job a pronoun can legally perform in a sentence. Some pronouns can be subjects
and others cannot. For example, we are allowed to say "I expect to graduate soon," but we are not al-
lowed to say "Me expect to graduate soon." Pronouns that may be subjects are in the subjective case;
they are subject pronouns. Some pronouns cannot be subjects; they are, instead, used as direct ob-
jects, indirect objects, or objects of prepositions. They are in objective case; they are object pronouns:
"His uncle hired him after graduation." "Uncle Joe gave her a job, too." "Without them, he would have
been shorthanded."

First Person Second Person Third Person

Subjective Objective Subjective Objective Subjective Objective

him, her, it,

I, we me, us you you he, she, it, they
them

Subject pronouns also are used after linking verbs, where they refer back to the subject: "The valedic-
torian was she."

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Indefinite pronouns

While personal pronouns refer to specific persons, places, or things, indefinite pronouns refer to
general persons, places, or things. Indefinite pronouns all are third-person pronouns and can be sub-
jects or objects in sentences.

Many indefinite pronouns seem to refer to groups–everybody seems like a crowd, right?-and so are
often mistakenly treated as plurals ("Everybody overfilled their backpack"). However, any indefinite pro-
noun that ends in -one, -body, -thing is singular: "Everybody overfilled his (or her) backpack."
The following indefinite pronouns are usually singular; if one of these words is the antecedent in a
sentence, the pronoun that refers to it must also be singular. Thus, we must write, "Does anyone know,"
rather than "Do anyone know"; "Each of them knows," rather than "Each of them know"; and "Someone
left her cell phone," rather than, "Someone left their cell phone."

anyone anybody anything either each

no one nobody nothing another one

someone somebody something any

everyone everybody everything

On the other hand, some indefinite pronouns are plural:

both few many several each

Plural indefinite pronouns take plural verbs and plural pronouns: "Both were rewarded for their cour-
age." "Many attend in spite of their other obligations."

A few indefinite pronouns can be either singular or plural, depending on the context:

most any all none some neither

Thus, we may write, "All is well," (singular) in reference to the general condition of things, or
"All are attending," (plural) in reference to individuals. (For more, look up count and non-count nouns in
an English grammar reference or online.)

(Some of the indefinite pronouns above can also be used as adjectives. In "Many left their trash on the
riverbank," many is a pronoun replacing swimmers. In contrast, in "Many students went tubing on the
river," many is an adjective modifying students. For more information, see the TIP sheet "Adjectives.")

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Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns replace possessive nouns. Thus, Jamie's Corvette becomes her Corvette.
Possessive pronouns never take apostrophes.

my our your his, her its their whose

mine ours yours his, hers theirs

In the table above, the words in the upper row must accompany nouns: her Corvette, our Nissan. The
pronouns in the lower row stand alone, as replacements for the adjective + noun pair– "Hers is fast;
mine is slow."

Reflexive pronouns

Reflexive pronouns add emphasis. They always follow a noun or personal pronoun and do not appear
alone in a sentence: "Jamie herself changed the tire." "She herself changed the tire." The meaning is
that she, and no one else, changed the tire, and the emphasis is on the independence of her action.
Reflexive pronouns also show that someone did something to himself or herself: "She surprised herself
with how well she did on the test."
yourself himself, herself, itself
myself ourselves
yourselves themselves

A reflexive pronoun cannot replace the subject of a sentence, such as in "Burcu and myself are taking
that class together." Instead, use a personal pronoun: "Burcu and I are taking that class together" or
"Burcu and I myself are taking that class together."

There is no theirself or theirselves. "They waxed the car themselves at home." There is no hisself: "Jes-
se taught himself French."

Relative pronouns

A relative pronoun begins a clause that refers to a noun in a sentence. (A clause is a word group with
its own subject and verb.) Who begins a clause that refers to people: "Krista is the math tutor who
helped me the most." That may refer either to persons or things: "Laura is the math tutor that knows
the most about calculus; calculus is the class that I am taking in the fall." Which begins a clause that
refers to things: "Statistics, which is the interpretation of collected numerical data, has many practical
applications."

that who whoever whose

which whom whomever what

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Who is a subject pronoun; it can be the subject of a sentence: "Who was at the door?" Whom is an
object pronoun. It cannot be the subject of a sentence, but it can be a direct or indirect object or the
object of a preposition: "Don't ask for whom the bell tolls." Who and whom often appear in questions
where the natural word order is inverted and where the words you see first are the pronouns who or
whom, followed by part of the verb, then the subject, then the rest of the verb. So it isn't always easy to
figure out if you should use who or whom. Is it "Who did you visit last summer?" or "Whom did you visit
last summer?" To decide, follow these steps:

1. Change the question to a statement: "You did visit who/whom last summer." This restores
natural word order: subject, verb, direct object.
2. In place of who/whom, substitute the personal pronouns he and him: "You did visit he last
summer"; "You did visit him last summer."
3. If he, a subject pronoun, is right, then the right choice for the original question is
who–another subject pronoun. If him, an object pronoun, is correct, then the right choice for the
original question is whom–another object pronoun.
4. Based on step three, above, correctly frame the question: "Whom did you visit last summer?"

Similarly, whoever is a subject pronoun, and whomever is an object pronoun. Use the same test for,
"Whoever/whomever would want to run on such a humid day?" Change the question to a statement,
substituting he and him: "He (not him) would want to run on such a humid day." The right word, there-
fore, would be whoever, the subject pronoun. On the other hand, you would say, "Hand out plenty of
water to whomever you see." You would see and hand the water out to him, not to he; this sentence
requires the object pronoun.

Demonstrative pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns indicate specific persons, places, or things: "That is a great idea!" That is a
pronoun referring to the abstract noun idea.

this these

that those

(Like some indefinite pronouns, demonstrative pronouns can also be used as adjectives. In "That band
started out playing local Chico clubs," that modifies the noun band.)

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 3. Verbs

If a noun was the first word you ever spoke (Mama or cookie), a verb probably followed just as soon as
you learned that "Give cookie" got you better results than "Cookie." In a sentence, the verb expresses
what the subject does (She hopes for the job) or what the subject is (She is confident). All verbs are
one of three types:
- Action verbs
- Linking verbs
- Helping verbs

Action verbs

In a sentence, an action verb tells what the subject does. Action verbs express physical or mental
actions: think, eat, collide, realize, dance. Admittedly, some of these seem more active than others.
Nevertheless, realize is still as much a verb as collide:
- I finally realized my mistake.
- The outfielder collided with the second-baseman.
- She dances every Friday night.

(In the present tense, statements with subjects of he, she, or it, we add an s to the verb: I go downstairs,
we go downstairs, and ballplayers go downstairs, but he goes downstairs and Loren goes downstairs.
For more, see the TIP Sheet "Subject-Verb Agreement.")

Linking verbs

Linking verbs are the couch potatoes of verbs, that is, not very active at all. In a sentence, a linking verb
tells what the subject is rather than what it does; linking verbs express a state of being. For example,
all the forms of the verb to be are linking verbs:
3rd person (she, he,
1st person (I; we) 2nd person (you)
it; they)
present am; are are is; are
past was; were were was; were

participle [have] been; [had] been [have] been; [had] been [has] been; [had] been

These verbs connect a subject, say, Loren, with more information about that subject: Loren is an ath-
lete, or Loren was glad.

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Another set of linking verbs are those pertaining to our five senses--seeing, tasting, touching,
hearing, and smelling--and how we perceive the world: the verbs appear, seem, look, feel, smell, taste,
and sound, for example. When used as linking verbs, they connect the subject with a word offering
more information about that subject:
- Loren seems anxious about the test.
- The well water tastes wonderful.
- My carpet still feels damp.
- You sound hoarse.
- The curtains smell a little smoky.
As linking verbs, these "sense" verbs have about the same meaning as is. Loren seems anxious is roughly
equivalent to Loren is anxious; the curtains smell smoky is about the same as the curtains are smoky.
However, these same "sense" verbs can sometimes be action verbs instead. The real test whether one of
these verbs is or is not a linking verb is whether it draws an equivalence with the subject, almost like a
math equation: Loren = anxious; curtains = smoky. Consider the sentence I can't taste my lunch because I
have a cold. Taste here does not draw an equivalence between I and lunch; rather, here it is an action verb,
something the subject does. In the sentence Can you smell smoke? smell does not describe what the subject
is, but what the subject does; it is an action verb.
Other common linking verbs include become, remain, and grow, when they link the subject to more
information (either a noun or an adjective) about that subject:
- You will soon become tired of the monotony.
- Pha has become a very responsible teenager.
- I remain hopeful.
- Daniel grew more and more confident.
Again, these verbs might be action verbs in other sentences, such as in I grew carrots.

Helping verbs

Verbs often appear with helping verbs that fine-tune their meaning, usually expressing when
something occurred. The complete verb is the main verb plus all its helping verbs.
Verb tense is the name for the characteristic verbs have of expressing time. Simple present tense
verbs express present or habitual action, and simple past tense verbs express actions that were
completed in the past; neither simple present nor simple past tense verbs require helping verbs.
However, most other verb tenses require one or more helping verbs. Moreover, some helping verbs
express more than just time-possibility, obligation, or permission, for example.

...have, has, had

Every verb has three basic forms: present or simple form, past form, and participle form. All participle
forms require a helping verb that fine-tunes the time expression:
- Comets have collided with earth many times.
- Stan had known about the plan for some time.
- The table below demonstrates these three forms with their required helping verbs:

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 present or
past form participle form participle + helper
simple form
collide collided collided has, have, had collided
is was been has, have, had been
choose chose chosen has, have, had been
know knew known has, have, had been

Participles used as verbs in a sentence must be used with has, have, or had. Participles used without
helpers become adjectives: The early explorers sailed beyond the known world.

...to be: am, are, is, was, were, been

Verbs with -ing endings require a helper from the to be family of verbs. These progressive verb
tenses express ongoing present action, continuous past action or future planned action:
- They are still working on the contract.
- Phanat was studying all night.
- Holly had been reviewing her notes since the day before.
- We are holding student elections next September.

Verbs with -ing endings must be used with one of the to be helpers; an -ing word without a helper is
ineligible to act as the verb of a sentence. It can, however, be a noun (Hiking is fun) or an adjective
(The hiking trail is closed).

...do, does, did

The helping verbs do, does, and did may be used optionally to add emphasis: She certainly does like
her morning mocha.

While adding emphasis is optional, these helpers must be used when forming questions: Does
Andrea ski every weekend? They must also accompany the verb in sentences that combine not with
an action verb: Don't you want to take the train? Do not wait for me past 4:30.
When do and does are used, they change form to match the subject while the main verb remains in
simple form: instead of She likes coffee, we would say, She sure does like her coffee. Similarly, for
questions, we change the form of the helper and leave the main verb in simple form: Does Andrea
ski? The negative is Andrea does not ski, even though the statement would have been Andrea skis.
(In the past tense, with did, the verb never changes form.)

...will and shall

Future tense verbs require a helper, will or shall, and express intention, expectation, or action that
will happen later.
- We shall drive to Santa Barbara in August.
- Krista will not attend.
- We will be holding student elections in September.

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...would, could, should, can, may, might…

The verb helpers would, could, should, can, may, might, must, supposed to, ought to, used to, and
have to are examples of modal helpers. (Will and shall are technically modals as well.) Modal helpers
are little different from real verbs because they never change form. They are easy to use because
they always are used with the simple form of the verb:
- I may want to change my flight.
- You can cash your check at the grocery store.
- Paul must notify his employer soon.

Instead of expressing time, modals help verbs express a variety of other things:

Expresses For example

I never used to eat breakfast; I would never

past habit
eat breakfast.
He would like us to clean up; could you
requests
clean up? Can you do it?
Yes, you can go. You may change the chan-
permission
nel. He could leave early.
necessity, ad- You must see that movie! We ought to go
visability soon; we will have to call later.
I might pay with cash; we may write a
possibility
check. That could be true.
Active and passive voice
Active voice - subject does the action:
She gives gifts.

Passive voice - subject receives the action:

Gifts were given by her.

Verb tenses
Simple Present - actions occurring repeatedly, discussing facts, describing
- She brushes her teeth every morning and every night.
- The sky is blue.
- Her brothers are both over six feet tall.

Simple Past - happened at an earlier point in time

- Olivia closed the door behind her.
- I read the book yesterday.

Simple Future - to happen in the future

- I will go to school later.

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Present Progressive - happening right now, an action that is occurring at the same time
as another one
- I am walking to school right now.
- Most days we are walking to school when you see us.

Past Progressive - an action that was occurring at the same time as another past action
- I was walking to school when you saw me yesterday.

Future Progressive - an action that will occur at the same time as another future action
- I will be walking to school when you see me tomorrow.

Present Perfect - an action that began in the past and continues in the present or has ended by the
present, can also be used to talk about past actions that happened multiple times
- I have finished my homework already.
- I take the bus to school most days, but for the last two weeks I have walked to school.

Past Perfect - an action in the past perfect began and ended before another past event
- I rode the bus to school yesterday, but I had walked to school the day before.
- I was watching TV because I had finished my homework already.

Future Perfect - an action in the future perfect tense will be finished by a particular time in the future
- By the time I arrive at school tomorrow, I will have walked 100 days in a row.
- By midnight, I will have finished my homework.

Present Perfect Progressive - used for recent past actions that happened repeatedly or for continu-
ous past actions that are affecting the present in some way
- I have been walking to school on sunny days.
- I have been walking to school a lot, so I'm in much better shape than I was before.

Past Perfect Progressive - express actions that happened in the more distant past that happened
repeatedly and is frequently used in relation to another past action that occurred at a later time
- Isabella had been finishing her homework on time all month, but then she caught a cold and
missed school.

Future Perfect Progressive - used when you are anticipating a time in the future when a continuous
action will be finished
- By tomorrow, I will have been walking to school for six weeks straight.

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 4. Adjectives

An adjective is a word used to describe, or modify, noun or a pronoun. Adjectives usually answer
questions like which one, what kind, or how many:
- that hilarious book
- the red one
- several heavy books

In English adjectives usually precede nouns or pronouns. However, in sentences with linking verbs,
such as the to be verbs or the "sense" verbs, adjectives can follow the verb (for more information on
to be or "sense" verbs, see the TIP Sheet "Verbs"):
Dave Barry's books are hilarious; they seem so random.

One good adjective can be invaluable in producing the image or tone you want. You may also "stack"
adjectives--as long as you don't stack them too high. In general, if you think you need more than
three adjectives, you may really just need a better noun. For instance, instead of saying the unkempt,
dilapidated, dirty little house, consider just saying the hovel. (It's not true that he who uses the most
adjectives wins; it's he who uses the most suitable adjectives.)

Descriptive adjectives

Descriptive adjectives (steamy, stormy) call up images, tones, and feelings. Steamy weather
is different from stormy weather. Steamy and stormy conjure different pictures, feelings, and
associations.

Many descriptive adjectives come from verbs. The verb had broken, without the helper had, is an
adjective: a broken keyboard. Likewise, the -ing verb form, such as is running, used without its helper
is, can be an adjective: running shoes. (For more on -ed and -ing forms, see the TIP SheetS "Verbs"
and "Consistent Verb Tense.")

Nouns can be used as adjectives, too. For instance, the noun student can be made to modify, or
describe, the noun bookstore: the student bookstore. Nouns often combine to produce compound
adjectives that modify a noun as a unit, usually joined by hyphens when they precede the noun. When
they follow the noun, the hyphens are omitted:
He was an 18-year-old boy, but the girl was only 16 years old.

Other compound adjectives do not use hyphens in any case. In income tax forms, income tax is a
compound adjective that does not require a hyphen.

Articles

The, an, and a, called articles, are adjectives that answer the question which one? The modifies a
noun or pronoun by limiting its reference to a particular or known thing, either singular or plural. A
expands the reference to a single non-specific or previously unknown thing. An is similar to a, but is
used when the word following it begins with a vowel sound:
- the books on the table
- a book from an online store, the one we ordered last week

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Demonstrative adjectives
Demonstrative adjectives answer the question which one(s)? They are the only adjectives that have
both a singular and plural form--this and that are singular; these and those are plural. Demonstrative
adjectives point to particular or previously named things. This and these indicate things nearby (in
time or space), while that and those suggest distance (in time or space):
- This novel is the worst I've ever read; these biographies are much better.
- Tell me more about that author; why does she write about those events?

Possessive adjectives
Possessive adjectives answer the question whose? They include my, our, your, his, her, its, and their:
- our joke book
- its well-worn pages

Indefinite adjectives
Indefinite adjectives include some, many, any, few, several, and all:
- some jokes
- few listeners

Note that these words can also be used as pronouns: Some were in bad taste; few could carpool. For
more, see the TIP Sheets "Pronouns" and "Pronoun Reference."

Questioning adjectives
Which and what are adjectives when they modify nouns or pronouns:
Which joke did you like better, and what reason can you give for your preference?

Like indefinite adjectives, the questioning (or interrogative) adjectives can also function as pronouns.

Adjective order and punctuation

Some stacks of adjectives can be rearranged freely without changing the meaning. They are
coordinate adjectives, and they are equal and separate in the way they modify a noun. For example,
we can freely rearrange a dull, dark, and depressing day: a depressing, dark, dull day. Separate two or
more coordinate adjectives with commas (note that no comma goes immediately before the noun).

Other adjective groups cannot be freely rearranged. These cumulative adjectives are not separated
by commas. Rich chocolate layer cake cannot be changed to layer chocolate rich cake. For more on
identifying and punctuating coordinate and cumulative adjectives.

If you were born to English, you may not realize that there are rules for placing adjective groups in
order. For example, the determiner (a, an, the) comes first, then size words, then color, then purpose:
a large, purple sleeping bag

You can't freely rearrange these adjectives and say, for example, sleeping, purple, a large bag
without awkwardness, absurdity, or loss of meaning, The rule is that a stack of adjectives generally
occurs in the following order: opinion (useful, lovely, ugly), size (big, small), age (young, old), shape
(square, squiggly), color (cobalt, yellow), origin (Canadian, solar), material (granite, wool), and purpose
(shopping, running).
- scary, squiggly solar flares
- lovely, cobalt, Canadian running shoes

Cobalt, running, Canadian, lovely shoes doesn't work.

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 5. Adverbs

An adverb is a word used to modify a verb, adjective, or another adverb. An adverb usually modifies
by telling how, when, where, why, under what conditions, or to what degree. An adverb is often formed
by adding -ly to an adjective.

Conjunctive adverbs form a separate category because they serve as both conjunctions (they
connect) and adverbs (they modify). Groups of words can also function as adverb phrases or adverb
clauses.

(In the examples below, the adverb is in bold and the modified word is underlined.)

An adverb can modify a verb.

- The girls ran quickly but happily through the puddle. (The adverbs quickly and happily
modify the verb ran by telling how.)
- Go to the administration office first, and then come to class. (The adverb first
modifies the verb go, and the adverb then modifies the verb come. Both modify the
verbs by telling when.)
- They are moving her office upstairs. (The adverb upstairs modifies the verb moving by
telling where.)

An adverb can modify an adjective. The adverb usually clarifies the degree or intensity
of the adjective.
- Maria was almost finished when they brought her an exceptionally delicious dessert.
(The adverb almost modifies the adjective finished and exceptionally modifies
delicious by describing the degree or intensity of the adjectives.)
- He was very happy about being so good at such an extremely challenging sport. (The
adverb very modifies the adjective happy, so modifies good, and extremely modifies
challenging by describing the degree or intensity of the adjectives.)
- Students are often entertained and sometimes confused, but never bored in that
class. (The adverb often modifies the adjective entertained, sometimes modifies
confused, and never modifies bored by describing the degree or intensity
of the adjectives.)

An adverb can modify another adverb. The modifying adverb usually clarifies the degree or
intensity of the adverb.
- Eating her lunch somewhat cautiously, Carolyn tried to ignore the commotion. (The
adverb somewhat modifies the adverb cautiously by telling to what degree.)
- Stan can discuss the English language very thoroughly. (The adverb very modifies the
adverb thoroughly by telling to what degree.)
- Even in the other room, Vickilee was never completely unaware of the crying kittens.
(The adverb never modifies the adverb completely by telling to what degree.)

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Additional Notes on Adverbs

In addition to the rules that apply to the use of adverbs, the following points further discuss their
formation and function.

• Adverbs are often made by adding -ly to an adjective.

adjective: slow adverb: slowly
adjective: deep adverb: deeply
adjective: fair adverb: fairly
Ø However, not all words that end in -ly are adverbs!
nouns: family, homily, rally, lily
adjectives: friendly, worldly, lovely, sly

• Some common adverbs do not originate from adjectives.

Very
Quite
Only
So

• Some adverbs modify by negating a statement. These are referred to as negative adverbs.
Hardly
Never
No
Not
Scarcely

Ø When using negative adverbs, be careful to avoid a double negative.

(Incorrect double negative)
He can't hardly understand the words of the speaker.
(Correct)
He can hardly understand the words of the speaker.
(See TIP Sheet "Avoiding Modifier Problems" regarding "limiters" for further information on negative
adverbs.)

• In order to form the comparative or superlative forms of adverbs, add the ending of -er or
-est to certain adverbs of only one syllable (fast, faster, fastest). However, all adverbs which
end in -ly and most adverbs of more than one syllable form the comparative and superlative
with the addition of more or most.
- Todd drives faster than I do, but I get there sooner and more efficiently by taking a
shorter route. Amy drives most slowly of all of us.

Language Proficiency | 19
Conjunctive Adverbs

Words that function as adverbs (telling how, when, where, why, under what conditions, or to what
degree) and which also function as conjunctions (joining grammatical parts) are called conjunctive
adverbs.

• Conjunctive adverbs

accordingly finally likewise similarly

also furthermore meanwhile specifically
anyway hence moreover still
besides however nevertheless subsequently
certainly incidentally next then
consequently indeed nontheless therefore
conversely instead otherwise thus
Conjunctive adverbs join and create transitions between independent clauses. A conjunctive adverb
may begin a sentence and is often followed by a comma. When place between independent clauses,
a conjunctive adverb is preceded by a semicolon and is usually followed by a comma.
- Her husband is a rice farmer; consequently, these days he is busy from sunrise until nightfall.
Nevertheless, he is still home every night to read his sons a story.

Adverb Phrases and Adverb Clauses

Sometimes groups of words function together to form an adverb phrase or adverb clause.
• Adverb prepositional phrase
- The puppy is sleeping under my desk. (Under my desk is a prepositional phrase that
functions as an adverb because it modifies the verb sleeping by telling where.)
• Adverb infinitive phrase
- To prevent the theft of your food, use a locked cabinet to store your camp supplies.
(To prevent the theft of your food is an infinitive phrase that functions as an adverb
because it modifies the verb use by telling why.)
• Adverb dependent clause
- Marco departed before the storm arrived. (Before the storm arrived is a dependent
clause that modifies the verb departed by telling when.)
-
6. Prepositions

Prepositions are common; they are not flashy. They are sometimes very little words, like on, in, and
unlike; sometimes they are two words, like according to. A preposition combined with a noun (or
pronoun), in that order, makes a prepositional phrase:
- in Duffy's Tavern
- on the dashboard of my car
- unlike most biologists
- according to most moviegoers

Prepositional phrases usually tell where or when. Or, as most instructors are fond of saying, they show
relationship, for example, of location (in Duffy's Tavern) or of time (in February).
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The formula, with variations:
- To describe a prepositional phrase we can borrow some math shorthand (although our
description does not really function like an equation--the preposition must always come
first!):
- preposition + noun or pronoun = prepositional phrase:
- without Suzanna
- without her

Words can be added between, usually in the form of various adjectives, but a prepositional phrase
always begins with the preposition and ends with the noun (or pronoun):
preposition + adjectives + noun or pronoun = prepositional phrase
- in a yellow submarine
- of the best and brightest students
- above it

The second example above adds multiple adjectives (as well as a conjunction) but it begins with the
preposition and ends with the noun, and that is what matters.

The noun (or pronoun) that ends a prepositional phrase is called the object of the preposition. If
all prepositional phrases ended with nouns, you might not care to know this; however, prepositional
phrases may also end with pronouns, and those pronouns must be objective pronouns: her (not she),
him (not he), me (not I), them (not they), us (not we).
- Rossi will come with her and me.
- Why council members didn't explain about it was beyond us.

Notice that prepositional phrases may end with double nouns or double pronouns (compound objects
of the preposition), as illustrated above.

A complete list of prepositions would be huge. You do not need to know all of them, but become
familiar with at least some common prepositions:

about below inside throughout

above beneath into to
across beside like toward
after between near under
against beyond of underneath
along by off unlike
among down on until
around during out up
as except outside upon
at for over with
before from past within
behind in through without

Language Proficiency | 21
The no-subject rule

Is there any practical advantage to knowing about prepositional phrases, you ask? Well, consider
that it is a common mistake for beginning writers to misidentify the subject of a sentence (randomly
picking out a likely noun, perhaps), make punctuation choices based on this mistake, and end up with
basic sentence errors in their writing. And consider further that you will not make this mistake if you
remember this rule: a prepositional phrase never contains the subject of a sentence.

This is the advantage to knowing how to recognize prepositions and prepositional phrases in
your own writing. You need to be able to identify the subjects of sentences to be sure you have
constructed and punctuated them correctly. For example, you must be able to identify subjects in
order to avoid creating comma splices and fragments; ESL learners need to be able to identify the
subject in order to make sure the verb is in agreement with the subject.

To make this rule work for you, place parentheses around the prepositional phrases in your
sentences. Whatever is inside the parentheses is not the subject, no matter how prominently it is
placed:

(After the homecoming game), (before midnight), we will leave.

Since the nouns in this sentence, game and midnight, occur in prepositional phrases, they are
disqualified as subjects. That leaves only we--a simple pronoun subject buried near the end of the
sentence and easily overlooked.

Preposition look-alikes
"Preposition" is a function of the word, not the word itself. A preposition, to be a preposition, must
be in a prepositional phrase. Sometimes a word on the list of common prepositions above occurs
alone in a sentence, without a noun or pronoun following. In the following example, outside is not a
preposition at all, but a simple adverb modifying the verb practice:
Please practice your soccer dribbling outside!

Another preposition look-alike occurs when the word to appears followed by a verb rather than by a
noun. This is a type of verbal phrase called an infinitive:
They practiced their dribbling outside to avoid breaking the furniture.

Yet another preposition look-alike is the phrasal verb-two-word verbs such as check out, run into, or
show up:
Carol never showed up for the soccer game on Sunday.

Which prepositions go with which verbs in which expressions is often a matter of custom rather than
rule. The prepositions describing when something occurs are a good example. If you wish to state
that an event occurred generally within a particular season, week, month, or year, use during or in:
- During the winter break I worked at the Heavenly Valley ski resort.
- In 2002 the snow was pretty sparse; we're hoping for more this year.
- That year we were already getting spring snow conditions in February!

On the other hand, if you are stating that an event occurred on a particular calendar date, weekday, or
holiday, use on:
- You'd be surprised how many families ski on Christmas.
- I'll meet you there on the 24th.
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For specific times of day and clock times, use at:
- The best time to catch the gondola to the top is at 11:30, just before the lunch rush.
- Our favorite ski run of the day is the run from the top at sunset.

In addition, one can be on time for a scheduled event, but in time for an unscheduled one:
- He met me at the bottom of the expert run right on time, as we had agreed.
- The Ski Patrol arrived just in time to keep Jeff from breaking his neck.

Other expressions mean very different things depending on which prepositions they are paired
with, for example, differ from (be dissimilar) and differ with (disagree with). In comparisons, a thing
is similar to another thing. We agree with a person, but we agree on a plan and agree to particular
actions.

7. Conjunction

Conjunctions join words, phrases, or clauses. The three different types of conjunctions indicate
different relationships between the elements joined. Coordinating conjunctions link elements of
equal value. Correlative conjunctions are used in pairs to establish a specific relationship between
elements of equal value. Subordinating conjunctions indicate that one element is of lesser value
(subordinate) to another element.

1. Use a coordinating conjunction to connect elements (words, phrases, or clauses) of equal

grammatical value.
• There are seven coordinating conjunctions in English:
and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet
(Note: These are often remembered with the acronym FANBOYS.)
• Coordinating conjunctions link equal elements.
Swimming and reading are my two favorite summer activities. (Swimming and reading
are both subjects in the sentence.)

Please place the papers on top of the desk or in the drawer. (On top of the desk and in the drawer
are both prepositional phrases.)

She wanted to drive the car, but she had never received her license. (She wanted to drive the car and
she had never received her license are both independent clauses.)

2. Use correlative conjunctions in pairs to connect words, phrases, or clauses of equal grammatical
value. Correct use of these conjunctions is critical in achieving parallelism in sentence structure (see
TIP Sheet on "Achieving Parallelism").
• Correlative conjunctions always come in pairs:
- as...as
- Both...and
- not only...but also
- Either...or
- neither...nor
- whether...or

Language Proficiency | 23
 • Make sure that the grammatical structure following the second half of the pair is the same as
that following the first half.
- You must decide either to fly or to drive. (The elements to fly and to drive are both
infinitives.)
- Contrary to my plans, I spent much of my vacation both correcting papers and
contacting students. (The elements correcting papers and contacting students are
both participial phrases.)
- I hope not only that you will attend the play, but also that you will stay for the cast
party afterwards. (The elements that you will attend the play and that you will stay for
the cast party afterwards are both subordinate clauses.)

3. Use a subordinating conjunction to connect a subordinate (dependent) clause to an independent

clause.
• Common subordinating conjunctions include the following:

after even though than whenever

although if that where
as in order that though whereas
as if rather than unless wherever
because since until whether
before so that when while

(Note: Some of the words listed can serve as different parts of speech, depending on how
they are used.)
• A subordinating conjunction indicates that the dependent clause is not complete without an
attached independent clause.
- If you finish your homework, you will be prepared for the test. (If you finish your
homework by itself is an incomplete thought.)
- I lose myself in the music whenever I practice the piano. (Whenever I practice the
piano by itself is an incomplete thought.)
-
4. Conjunctive adverbs (sometimes called adverbial conjunctions) are used to indicate a relationship
between sentences and independent clauses.
• Common conjunctive adverbs include the following:
however therefore moreover nevertheless
• When a conjunctive adverb appears at the beginning or in the middle of an independent
clause, it is usually set off by commas. When a conjunctive adverb introduces a second clause
within a sentence, a semicolon precedes it and a comma follows it.
- Carrot cake is very tasty. Moreover, the carrots make it a "healthy" choice for dessert.
- I realize you were busy. It is unfortunate, however, that you missed that phone call.
- The hurricane has lessened in intensity; nevertheless, we are evacuating in an hour.

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 8. Interjection

Interjections are words intended to express different levels of emotion or surprise, and are usually
seen as independent grammatically from the main sentence.
• Interjections usually stand alone and are often punctuated with an exclamation point.
Oh! Wow! My goodness!
• Sometimes mild interjections are included within a sentence and are then set off by commas.
Well, it's about time you showed up.

Punctuation Marks

Punctuation
Symbol Definition Examples
Mark
An apostrophe is used as a substitute for
a missing letter or letters in a word (as in
the contraction cannot = can't), to show I can't see the cat's tail.
the possessive case (Jane's room), and in Dot your i's and cross
apostrophe '
the plural of letters, some numbers and your t's.
abbreviations. Note: groups of years no 100's of years.
longer require an apostrophe (for exam-
ple, the 1950s or the 90s).
There are many punctua-
tion marks: period, com-
A colon is used before a list or quote.
ma, colon, and others.
A colon is used to separate hours and
colon : minutes.
The time is 2:15.
A colon is used to separate elements of a
mathematical ratio.
The ratio of girls to boys
is 3:2.
The dash is also known
as an "em dash" because
A comma is used to sepearate parts of a
comma , it is the length of a print-
sentence.
ed letter m — it is longer
than a hyphen.
An ellipsis (three dots indicates that part
ellipsis ... 0, 2, 4, ... , 100
of the text has been intentionally left out.
exclamation An exclamation point is used to show
! It is cold!
point excitement or emphasis
A hyphen is used between parts of a
compound word or name. It is also used The sisteen-year-old girl
hyphen -
to split a word by syllables ro fit on a line is a full-time student.
of text.

Language Proficiency | 25
 Punctuation
Symbol Definition Examples
Mark
Parentheses are curved lines used to
separate explanations or qualifying state-
This sentence (like others
ments within a sentence (each one of the
parantheses () on this page) contains a
curved lines is called a parenthesis). The
parenthical remark.
part in the parentheses is called a paren-
thetical remark.
A period is used to note the end of a
period . I see the house.
declarative sentence.
A question mark is used at the end of a
question mark ? When are we going?
question.
Quotation marks are used at the begin-
quotation ning and end of a phrase to show that it
" She said, "Let's eat".
mark is being written exactly as it was originally
said or written.
Class was canceled to-
A semicolon seperates two independent day; Mr. Smith was home
clauses in a compound sentence. sick.

semicolon ;
A semicolon is also used to seperate Relatives at the reunion
items in a series (where commas are included my brother, Bob;
already in use). my cousin, Art; and my
great-aunt, Mattie.

Error Identification, Sentence Improvement, and Sentence Correction

This checklist outlines the questions you need to ask about each part of speech or common category
of word.

The word types are arranged in the order you should check them, though not every question will be
relevant in a given sentence.

Keep in mind that some underlined sections may contain more than one type of word: the most
common such pairs are pronoun/verb, adverb/adjective, and verb/pronoun combos. When you see
these, just check each part.

#1: Verbs
• Is the verb in the correct form and tense?
• Does it agree with the subject?

#2: Pronouns
• Does the pronoun agree with the noun it's replacing?
• Is it in the correct case?

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#3: Gerunds (-ing verbs)
• Is the gerund replacing a main verb and creating a sentence fragment?
• Is it part of a list that isn't parallel?
• Has it been incorrectly switched with an infinitive?

#4: Prepositions
• Is the preposition idiomatically correct?
• Does it incorrectly complete a word pair?

#5: Adjectives and Adverbs

• Is the modifier of the correct type?
• Are -er and -est used appropriately?

#6: Conjunctions
• Is the conjunction creating a sentence fragment?
• Does it logically connect ideas?

#7: Nouns
• Is the noun part of a faulty comparison?
• Is the sentence consistent in its use of plural and singular nouns?

#8: Relative pronouns (who, which, that, etc.)

• Is the correct pronoun used for the context?
• Does the pronoun have a clear noun antecedent?

Other issues to watch out for

• "Any" underlined often indicates an illogical comparison
• The presence of comparison words like "than," "like," and "as" also tends to indicate
illogical comparisons
• A sentence with a list often has a parallelism issue
• Make sure to watch for redundancy: the use of different two words

Sentence Completion

Sentence Completion is a common test item in most competitive exams. A sentence contains one
or two blanks (usually), to be filled in using the choices. These questions test your vocabulary and
knowledge of the finer distinctions among words. A good vocabulary can be a great help here. But
you can use many strategies for these questions, even without knowing all the choices.

1. Read the Sentence

Use the sentence clues by reading the sentence thoroughly. Two things make a question
difficult: difficult words and sentence structure. If you cannot dissect a sentence to figure out
what fits best, you CANNOT crack the question though you know the word meanings. We need
to properly take apart the sentences and improve our vocabulary.

Language Proficiency | 27
 2. Hints
The hints indicate what should go into the blank for the sentence to make sense. Here’s a
test to locate the right hint: if you change the hint, the choice in the blank MUST be changed.
Often, you can use the hint by putting that word or phrase into the blank itself.

3. Pluses and Minuses

Once you find the word clues, indicate the kind of word you’re looking for with a + (positive
meaning) or – (negative) sign. Also, to indicate synonyms or antonyms, you can use these
symbols.

4. Structure Words
Look for words like but, rather, although, however, and, while, but, therefore. They reveal the
sentence organization and the hint-blank relationship. They tell you what kinds of words to
look for as they change the thought process in the sentence.

5. Visualize
Before you go to the choices, think of the possible words for the blanks. It will save you
from wrong choices. If you know roughly the KIND of words needed, the elimination is much
easier. The word you visualize doesn’t have to be fancy – a general idea is fine.

This is better than trying out the choices to find out “what sounds good.” It is faster and less
prone to errors.
Examples:
• Neem has _______qualities and in many clinical trials, doctor have saved countless
lives by using raw Neem leaves on serious wounds.
- remedial
- flavouring
- inferior
- doubtful
- notorious
We need a positive word with a “life saving”-like meaning. Choices C, D, and E are negative
and are ruled out. You may be unaware of remedial but you know that “flavouring” doesn’t
mean anything like life saving. Therefore, the answer is remedial.

• The much-hated bill sparked off a wave of public ________which could not_________by
the concessions the British announced.
- enthusiasm…dampened
clamour…misled
- curiosity…complemented
- adoration…channelized
- discontent…abated

Much-hated indicates a negative choice for the first blank indicating anger or protest here.
The second one needs harder thinking; even the British concessions did not “lessen” the
public anger. Once you are clear about the word SHADES needed, find the words similar to
the ones you had visualized.

6. Elimination
Ruling out the wrong choices should be easy now. But remember, BOTH the words have to
fit in the given ORDER for the right answer. If one word is a perfect choice but the other one
doesn’t make sense, the answer is WRONG. DO NOT rule out choices if you don’t know their
meanings and unless you are sure they do not work. If you have doubts, leave and return after
checking the other choices.
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 7. Improve Your Vocabulary
Improving your vocabulary and usage can help you do better as the words meaning help you
find the right answer.

8. Working Backwards
The two-blank questions can be easier as you have more opportunities to eliminate wrong
choices. If you can eliminate a choice based on one word, you don’t need to know the other
word. Often, working BACKWARDS i.e. picking the second blank choice first works better.

Sentence Organization

Listed here are some common patterns for organizing a paragraph:

• Cause and Effect: for showing how one thing leads to another
• Chronological Order: for narrating events that occurred over time
• Classification: for grouping things together according to their features
• Compare and Contrast: for showing how things are similar or different
• Definition and example: for defining a term or idea then expanding it with examples
• Description: for listing details
• Episode: for presenting details or information about a specific event or anecdote
• General/Specific order: for presenting a general idea followed by specific examples
• Generalization/Principal: for making a general statement or applying a broad principal to
explain the supporting details
• Listing: for presenting ideas from the least to most important
• Order of Importance: for building up to or leading away from the most important point.
• Problem and Solution: for presenting an issue and ways to address it
• Process/Cause: for explaining what or how something happens and then why
• Spatial Order: for ordering details directionally

References

• https://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-antonyms-synonyms-and-homonyms.html
• http://www.butte.edu/departments/cas/tipsheets/grammar/parts_of_speech.html
• https://www.enchantedlearning.com/grammar/punctuation/#:~:text=The%20punctuation%20
marks%20are%3A%20period,colon%2C%20semicolon%2C%20exclamation%20point.
• https://blog.prepscholar.com/how-to-approach-identifying-sentence-errors-sat-writing-strategies
• http://www.montereysat.com/uploads/5/1/5/3/51535499/the_topic_sentence_and_paragraph_organizationrev.pdf

Language Proficiency | 29