Grammar Review

Normal Sentence Pattern in English

subject verb complement modifier

John and I ate a pizza last

night.

We studied “present perfect” last week.

Subject: The subject is the agent of the sentence in the active voice; it is
the person or thing that does the action of the sentence, and it normally
precedes the verb

• The subject may be a single noun.

Example: Coffee is delicious.

Milk contains calcium.

• The subject may be a noun phrase. A noun phrase is a group of words

ending with a noun. (It cannot begin with a preposition.)

Example: That new, red car is John’s.

Mini-test:

1. George likes boats.

2. Mary, John, George, and I went to a restaurant last night.

3. The weather was very bad yesterday.

4. The chemistry professor cancelled class today.

5. The bank closed at two o’clock.

In some sentences there is not a true subject. However, it and there can often
act as pseudo-subjects and should be considered as subject when rules call for
moving the subject of a sentence.

It is a nice day today.

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There was a fire in that building last month.

There were many students in the room.

It is raining right now.

Verb: The verb follows the subject; it generally shows the action of the
sentence.

Example: John drives too fast.

They hate spinach.

The verb may be a verb phrase. A verb phrase consists of one or more
auxiliaries and one main verb. The auxiliaries always precede the main verb.

Example: John is going to Miami tomorrow.

(auxiliary-is; main verb-going)

Jane has been reading that book.

(auxiliary-has, been; main verb-reading)

Examples of verbs and verb phrases:

She will go to Boston next week.

Jane is very tall.

She must have gone to the bank.

Joe has gone home.

Mary is watching television.

It was raining at six o’clock last night.

Complement: Acomplement completes the verb. It is similar to the subject

because it is usually a noun or noun phrase; however, it generally follows the
verb when the sentence is in the active voice.

Examples of complements:

John bought a cake yesterday. (What did John buy?)

Jill was driving a new car. (What was Jill driving?)

He wants to drink some water. (What does he want to drink?)

She saw Johnat the movies last night. (Whom did she see at the
movies?)
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 They called Mary yesterday. (Whom did they call?)

He was smoking a cigarette. (What was he smoking?)

Modifier: A modifier tells the time, place, or manner of the action. Very
often it is a prepositional phrase. A prepositional phrase is a group of words
that begins with a preposition and ends with a noun.

Example of prepositional phrases:

in the morning, at the university, on the table

A modifier can also be an adverb or an adverbial phrase.

last night, hurriedly, next year, outdoors, yesterday

Example of modifiers:

• John bought a book at the bookstore. (Where did John buy a book?)
• Jill was swimming in the pool yesterday. (Where was Jill swimming?)
and(When was Jill swimming?)
• He was driving very fast. (How was he driving?)
• The milk is in the refrigerator. (Where is the milk?)
• She drove the car on Main Street. (Where did she drive?)
• We ate dinner at seven o’clock. (When did we eat dinner?)
Note: The modifier normally follows the complement, but not always.
However, the modifier, especially when it is a prepositional phrase, usually
cannot separate the verb and the complement.

Incorrect: She drove on the street the car.

verb complement

Correct: She drove the car on the street.

verb complement

Exercise: Subject, Verb, Complement, and Modifier

Identify the subject, verb, complement, and modifier in each of the following
sentences. Remember that not every sentence has a complement or modifier.

• George is cooking dinner tonight.

• Henry and Marcia have visited the president.
• We can eat lunch in this restaurant today.
• Pat should have bought gasoline yesterday.
• Trees grow.
• It was raining at seven o’clock this morning.
• She opened a checking account at the bank last week.
• Harry is washing dishes right now.
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 • She opened her book.
• Paul, William, and Mary were watching television a few minutes ago
The Noun Phrase

The noun phrase is a group of words that ends with a noun. It can contain
determiners (the, a, this, etc.), adjectives, adverbs, and nouns. It cannot begin
with a preposition. Remember that both subjects and complements are
generally noun phrases.

• Count and non-count nouns: It is possible, however, to count some non-

count nouns if the substance is placed in a countable container.

glass of milk-one glass of milk, two glasses of milk, …………

• Some determiners can be used only with count or non-count nouns,

while others can be used with either.

WITH COUNT NOUNS WITH NON-COUNT NOUNS

a, the, some any the, some, any

this, that, these, those this, that

none, one, two, three,…. none

many much

alot of a lot of

alarge number of a large amount of

a great number of

afew a little

fewer…than less……than

more….than more…than

The following list contains some non-count nouns that you should know.

sand food information air mathematics

money news economics soap politics

measles mumps physics advertising

homework
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 Note: Although advertising is a non-count noun, advertisement is a count
noun. If you wish to speak of one particular advertisement, you must
use this word.

Example: There are too many advertisements during television shows.

• Some non-count nouns, such as food, meat, money, and sand, may be
used as count nouns in order to indicate different types.

Example: This is one of the foods that my doctor has forbidden me to eat.

(indicates a particular type of food)

He studies meats.

(for example, beef, pork, lamb, etc.)

• The word “time” can be either countable or non-countable depending on

the context. When it means an occasion, it is countable. When it means
a number of hours, days, years, etc., it is non-countable.

Example: We have spent too much time on this homework.

She has been late for class six times this semester.

Exercise: Count and Non-Count Nouns

Identify the following nouns as count nouns or non-count nouns according

to their usual meaning.

television atmosphere food cup

car person tooth money

news water soap hydrogen

geography pencil soup minute

Exercise: Determiners

Choose the correct determiners in the following sentences.

1. He doesn’t have (many / much) money.

2. I would like ( a few / a little ) salt on my vegetables.
3. She bought ( that / those ) cards last night.
4. There are ( less / fewer ) students in this room than in the next
rooms.
5. There is ( too much / too many ) bad news on television tonight.
6. I do not want ( these / this ) water.
7. This is ( too many / too much ) information to learn.

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 8. A ( few / little ) people left early.
9. Would you like ( less / fewer ) coffee than this?
10.This jacket costs (too much / too many ).

• A and an: A or an can precede only singular count nouns; they mean
one. They can be used in a general statement or to introduce a subject
which has not been previously mentioned.

Example: A baseball is round. (general-means all baseballs)

I saw a boy in the street. (We don’t know which boy.)

An is used before words that begin with a vowel sound. A is used before words
that begin with a consonant sound.

Some words can be confusing because the spelling does not indicate the
pronunciation.

A house (begins with a consonant sound)

An hour (begins with a vowel sound)

A university(begins with a consonant sound)

An umbrella (begins with a vowel sound)

The following words begin with a consonant sound and thus must always be
preceded by a.

house home heavy half

uniform university universal union

The following words begin with a vowel sound and thus must always be
preceded by an.

uncle umbrella hour heir

• The: The is used to indicate something that we already know about or

something that is common knowledge.

Example: The boy in the corner is my friend. (The speaker and the
listener know which boy.)

The earth is round. (There is only one earth.)

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With non-count nouns, one uses the article “the” if speaking in specific
terms, but uses “no article” if speaking in general.

Example: Sugar is sweet. (general-all sugar)

The sugar on the table is from Cuba. (specific-the sugar

that is on the table)

Normally, plural count nouns, when they mean everything within a certain
class, are not preceded by the.

Example: Oranges are green until they ripen. (all oranges)

Athletes should follow a well-balanced diet. (all athletes)

Normally a proper noun is not preceded by an article unless there are

several people or things with the same name and the speaker is specifying
one of them.

Example: There are three Susan Parkers in the telephone directory. The
Susan Parker that I know lives on First Avenue.

Normally words such as breakfast, lunch, dinner, school, church, home, and
college do not use any article unless to restrict the meaning.

Example: We ate breakfast at eight o’clock this morning.

We went to school yesterday.

Use the following generalizations as a guide for the use of the article “the”.

Use THE with DON’T use THE with

• oceans, rivers, seas, gulfs, plural singular lakes

lakes Lake Geneva, Lake Erie

e.g. the Red Sea, the Atlantic

Ocean, the Persian Gulf, the

Andes

• mountains mounts

the Rocky Mountains, the Mount Vesuvius, Mount

McKinley

Andes
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• earth, moon planets, constellations

e.g. the earth, the moon Venus, Mars, Orion

• schools, colleges, universities schools, colleges, universities

when the phrase begins when the phrase begins

with

with school, etc. a proper noun

e.g. the University of Florida, the Santa Fe Community

College,

College of Arts and Sciences Cooper’s Art School

• Ordinal numbers before nouns cardinal number after

nouns

e.g. the First World War, the World War One, chapter
three
third chapter

• Wars(except world wars) countries preceded by New or

The first World War, the an adjective such as a

Korean War direction New Zealand,

South Africa, North Korea

• Certain countries or groups countries with only one word

Of countries with more than France, Sweden, Venezuela

One word (except Great Britain) continents

Use THE with DON’T use THE with

the United states, the United Europe, Africa, South

America

Kingdom, the Central states

African republic Florida, Ohio, California

• Historical documents

the Constitution

• Ethnic groups

The Indians, the Aztecs

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 sports

baseball, basketball

abstract nouns

freedom, happiness

general areas of subject matter

mathematics, sociology

holidays

Christmas, Thanksgiving

Exercise: Articles

In the following sentences supply the articles (a, an, or the) if they are
necessary. If no article is necessary, leave the space blank.
1. Jason’s father bought him………..bicycle that he had wanted for his
birthday.

2. ………….Statue of Liberty was a gift of friendship from…………..France

to……………United States.

3. Rita is studying…………English and………..math this semester.

4. …………judge asked………….witness to tell……….truth.

5. Please give me………..cup of………..coffee with………cream and…………

sugar.

6. ………….big books on……….table are for my history class.

7. No one in…………..Spanish class knew…………..correct answer to…………

Mrs. Perez’s question.

8. My……….car is four years old and it still runs well.

9. When you go to …………store, please buy………..bottle of………..

chocolate milk and………..dozen oranges.

10.There are only……….few seats left for……….tonight’s musical at………

university.

11.John and Marcy went to……….school yesterday and then studied in………
library before returning home.

12. ……….Lake Erie is one of………….five Great Lakes in…………North

America.

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13. On our trip to………….Spain, we crossed………..Atlantic Ocean.

14. ………..Mount Rushmore is the site of………….magnificent tribute to……

…..four great American presidents.

15.What did you eat for……….breakfast this morning?

16.Louie played…………basketball and…………baseball at……..Boy’s Club.

17. Rita plays………violin and her sister plays………..guitar.

18. While we were in…………Alaska, we saw……….Eskimo village.

19.Phil can’t go to……..movies tonight because he has to write………essay.

20. David attended……….Princeton University.

21.Harry has been admitted to………School of Medicine at………midwestern

university.

22.Mel’s grandmother is in……….hospital, so we went to visit her………..last

night.

23. ……….political science class is taking………..trip to………..Soviet Union

in………..spring.

24. …………Queen Elizabeth II is…………monarch of…………..Great Britain.

25. ………….Declaration of Independence was drawn up in 1776.

26. Scientists hope to send…………expedition to…………..Mars during………..

1980s

27.Last night there was……….bird signing outside my house.

28.……….chair that you are sitting in is broken.

29.……….Civil War was fought in………..United States between 1861 and

1865.

30. ……….Florida State University is smaller than…………. University of

Florida.

➢ Other: The use of the word other is often a cause of confusion for
foreign students. Study the following formulas.

WITH COUNT NOUNS WITH NON-COUNT NOUNS

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Note: Another and other are nonspecific while the otheris specific. If the
subject is understood, one can omit the noun and keep the determiner and
other so that other functions as a pronoun. If it is a plural count noun that is
omitted, other becomes others. The word other can never be plural if it is
followed by a noun.

e.g. I don’t want this book. Please give me another.

(another = any other book-not specific)

I don’t want this book. Please give me the other.

(the other = the other book-specific)

This chemical is poisonous. Others are poisonous too.

(others = other chemicals-not specific)

I don’t want these books. Please give me the others.

(the others = the other books-specific)

Note: Another way of substituting for the noun is to use other + one or ones.

e.g. I don’t want this book. Please give me another one.

I don’t want this book. Please give me the other one.

This chemical is poisonous. Other ones are poisonous too.

I don’t want these books. Please give me the other ones.

Exercise: Other

Fill in the blanks with the appropriate form of other.

1. This pen isn’t working. Please give me……………….. (singular)

2. If you’re still thirsty, I’ll make…………………pot of coffee.

3. This dictionary has a page missing. Please give me……………… (the last
one)

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4. He does not need those books. He needs……………….. (all the
remaining)

5. There are thirty people in the room. Twenty are from Latin America
and…………………are from………………….countries.

6. Six people were in the store. Two were buying meat. ……………… was
looking at magazines. …………………..was eating a candy bar. ……………
………. Were walking around looking for more food (notice the verbs)

7. This glass of milk is sour. …………….glass of milk is sour too.

8. The army was practicing its drills. One group was doing artillery
practice. ………………. Was marching; ………………….was at attention;
and……………………was practicing combat tactics.

9. There are seven students from Japan. ………………. Are from Iran, and …
……………..are from ……………..places.

10.We looked at four cars today. The first two were far too expensive, but…
……………..ones were reasonably priced.

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