Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from April, 2010

INTRANSITIVE VERBS USED AS TRANSITIVE VERBS

Intransitive verb can be used as Transitive verb. For example: The horse walks. The verb /walks/ is in Intransitive verb. But when the verb is used in a Causative sense, it becomes transitive. He walks the horse. Study this follows! 1.The birds fly. 2.The boys flies their kites. A few verbs in common use are distinguished as Transitive or Intransitive by their spelling, the Transitive being causative forms of the corresponding Intransitive verbs. Besides, some intransitive verbs may become Transitive by having Preposition added to them. For example: All his friends laughed at him. He will soon run through his forture. I wish for nothing more. Sometimes the preposition is prefixed to the verb. For example: He bravely withstood the attack. Intransitive verbs sometimes take after them an Object similar in meaning to the verb. This type is called Cognate Accusative or Cognate Object . For example: I dreamt a s

OMISSION OF THE ARTICLES

The article will be omitted: (a) Before a common noun used in its widest sense, as; Man is mortal. What kind of flower is it? (b) Before names of materials, as; Gold is a precious metal. Cotton grows in India, America and Egypt. (c) Usually before proper noun, as; China is a modern country. Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia, not Bali. Notice that when the article is used before proper noun, they become common nouns, as; This man is a second Newton . (d) Before Abstract noun used in a general sense, as; Wisdom is the gift of heaven. Notice that an abstract noun, when iti is qualified by an adjective or an adjectival phrase or clause, may have the article, as; The wisdom of Solomon is famous. (e) Before a name of Language, as; We are studying English. (f) Before the words like, school, college, bed, table, prison, market, etc. When these places are visited or used for their primary purpose, as; I learnt English at school. Notice that /Th

PARALLEL STRUCTURE

Def .Parallel structure is a conjunction which is used to connect words or phrases that have the same grammatical function in a sentence. Conjunctions: And, but, or, nor. Those conjunctions are also called coordinate conjunctions. For examples: (a) Rina and Billy are having a meeting today. (b) My brother and his English teacher went camping yesterday. (c)He tried to tell the truth or (to) lie to us. (d)The presentation is bad but reasonable . (e)She walked to the door and seized the bag. Explanation: In (a) the conjunction /and/ connects noun /Rina/ and noun /Billy/. So, /and/ connect the same type of words. In (b) the conjunction /and/ connects noun /my brother/ and a phrase /his English teacher/. In (c) the conjunction /or/ connects infinitive /to tell/ and infinitive /(to) lie/. In this case, the type of infinitive is /to infinitive. Notice that the preposition /to/ here can be omitted. In (d) the conjunction /but/ connects adjective /bad/ and adjective /r

VERB PATTERN (VP7-VP10)

VP7 : SUBJECT + VERB + PREPOSITION + PREPOSITIONAL OBJECT For example: He agreed to our proposal. VP8 : SUBJECT + VERB + TO INFINITIVE (Object of a verb) For example: I want to learn English VP9 : SUBJECT + VERB + NOUN/PRONOUN + TO INFINITIVE For example: He wants me to go. VP10 : SUBJECT + VERB + GERUND For example: She begins dancing. VP11 : SUBJECT + VERB + NOUN/PRONOUN + PRESENT PARTICIPLE For example: I heard him attending the meeting. VP12 : SUBJECT + VERB + NOUN/PRONOUN + BARE-INFINITIVE For example: She let him go. VP13 : SUBJECT + VERB + NOUN/PRONOUN + PAST PARTICIPLE For example: I heard your name mentioned. VP14 : SUBJECT + VERB + NOUN/PRONOUN + (TO BE) + COMPLEMENT For example: I call him a fool. My father suggest me to be a doctor. VP15 : SUBJECT + VERB + THAT (CLAUSE) For example: I suggest that she would come today. VP16 : SUBJECT + VERB + NOUN/PRONOUN + THAT (CLAUSE) For example: He informed me that I have

VERB PATTERN (VP4-VP6)

VP4 : SUBJECT + VERB + INDIRECT OBJECT + DIRECT OBJECT In this pattern, the direct and indirect object placed behind the verb. Study This follows! For example: The boy gives the girl a beuatiful flower. In the sentence above, /the girl/ is indirect object and /a beuatiful flower/ is direct object. However, the structure of the object can be changed like this below. The boy gives a beautiful flower to the girl. From the change above, we can see that there is /to/ between direct object /a beautiful flower/ and indirect object /the girl/. The use of the /to/ is not a must. We can use /for/ in other cases, like: - My girl friend makes coffee for me , or - My girl friend makes me coffee. In other words, the addition of /to/ or /for/ depends on the characteristic of the verb. This pattern is also called as Verb Pattern Five. VP5 : SUBJECT + VERB + DIRECT OBJECT + PREPOSITION (TO/FOR) + INDIRECT OBJECT Take notice that we can use pronoun (Objective Pronoun, li

VERB PATTERNS

VP1 : SUBJECT + VERB In this pattern, verb is in Intransitive verb. This verb expresses complete sense (e.g. fly, burn, shine, cry, sing, dance, go, ring, rise, come, etc.) although no other words follow, eg. Object. For examples: The birds fly. Fire burns. The moon is shining. The baby was crying. The artists are singing. He is dancing. The bell rings. The sub rises. When there is a word follows, it might be an adverb of manner, place or time. For examples: The baby was crying loudly. (Adverb of Manner) The man goes to Lampung every years. (Adverb of place) He always comes in time (Adverb of time) Take notice that the verb here must be in bare-infinitive. The birds to fly. (False) The artist is sing. (false) VP2 : SUBJECT + VERB + COMPLEMENT Study This follows! The man is an officer. The leaves turns brown. The students keep quiet. The man in the picture is I (me). The thing looks small. The verbs which are used in the sen

WHAT'S WRONG WITH /BE/

In the previous lesson I have already discussed the types of word in English, they are ; Lexical-meaning-word and structural-meaning-word. In this chance, I would like to discuss about types of Infinitives in English Grammar. When you look up your Oxford dictionary which is published and distributed by Oxford University, London - Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English,  by A S Hornby with A P Cowie abd A C Gimson, in Irregular Verbs Page, you'll find that /Be/ or /To Be/ is also called Infinitive (page 1005/Appendix 1). This has made most of Indonesian learners confused. Why? First, We have known and learnt that There are two types of words; Lexical-meaning-word and Structural-meaning-word. Second, /Be/ Is included in Structural-meaning-word because we don't get any clear or exact meaning for it. In other discussion (like above), /Be/ is also Infinitive. Third, Infinitive is devided into two types; To Infinitive and Bare Infinitive. From the steps

BE AS A NEW SENTENCE BUILDER

In the previous lesson we have been discussing that /be/ is included in Infinitive; either bare-infinitive or to infinitive. Futher, /be/ has a spesific usage in a sentence building. In other words, we can find tha usage of /be/ in many cases of sentence building. However, most of Indonesian learners get confused to understand the usage of /be/ because the discussion is too complicated and only few can master this uniquee lesson. In this chance, let me take you to the details of /be/. 1.What is /be/? 2.What is the /be/ for? 3.Resolving the complicated problem. If we identify the usage of /be/ in many cases of sentences, then we try to classify it according to its characteristic and condition, we will find that /is/ is used together with noun, pronoun, adjective, adverb and phrase as well as with a verb, like the third verb and present participle. Study this follows! (1)I am a student. (2)They are happy. (3)She is here now. (4)It is I. (it is me - informal) (5)He is a y

SUBJECT OF A VERB

A group of words can be called or named "A Sentence" when there are, at least, one subject and one verb. Whatever types of a sentence, It must contain a subject and a verb. A group of words doesn't mean a sentence when there is no one of the elements. The two elements are the primary requirements and the existance is a Must and can be negotiated. Study this follows! 1.Stay with me! 2.Don't leave me alone! 3.Be careful! 4.Don't be late anymore! 5.Who spoke to him last night? The subject in those sentence doesn't appear. However, the sentences have the subjects. Let me say that the subject in the sentences are hidden. What subjects do they have? And Why? In sentence (1) is called Command Expression. The command has a subject, that is, "You". So, the complete sentence must be : (You) stay with me! So, It is impossible to say, like: (They) stay with me! Command (no.1 and 3) and prohibition (no.2 and 4) is used to say something or act

BEEN VS GONE

Been is used when someone has been to a place and he has travelled there and returned, For example: Candy : Where have you been?. Tony : I've been in the City for two days. GONE is used when someone is till there or at a place or on the way there. For example: Candy : Good Morning, Could I speak to Mr.Ali?  Tony : He's gone to Berlin Candy : I'll call back later. 

HOW TO INCREASE STUDENTS' BRAIN CAPACITY

Understanding something or discussion is needed by students. Looking for as much information as possible to enlarge capability and skills becomes priority. Most of students take a course or training to prepare themselves to go to university or a better job in the future. When I established PUSPIRA (PUSAT PENELITIAN ILMIAH REMAJA) or students club for scientific research in Bukit kemuning, lampung province, Indonesia, only 17 girls joined. I had prepared it for long time and took time to learn all the things to establish it to help students to enrich their insigts, knowledge and science. I just hope that they can use it for their own needs. However, it had stopped. It ran during 3 months. No activities left and I really left it without knowing why and It was because I had other personal problem which I couldn't avoid from it. Well, I was so green at that time. PUSPIRA is a group of students, say, a club, which has some agenda to enrich students capacity specially in increasin

A FUNCTIONAL PURPOSE : ENGLISH LEARNING SYSTEM (Continued)

(Continued) Curriculum that has been running should be reformed and restructured because the result from the system has not been satisfied and we still have many learners in quantity but only few in quality. Output is the target. The target here is both conversation and writing capabality. We do not need formal system but no effective result. Senior high school students should have been able to speak both target. Because of directly applicable subject, English language should be placed in its position and its characteristic. Here is the classification of applied subjects; 1. Foreign Language (spec.English lang.) 2. TIK (Computer) 3. Sport Those three subjects should be managed and organized and separated from others like math, physic, history, etc. Because the subject needs deeper learning comprehensively. However, The three subject should be in core-subjects at school not additional subjects. This is important because the assumption will be different when the students find

A FUNCTIONAL PURPOSE : ENGLISH LEARNING SYSTEM

For indonesian learners , English language is a foreign language and it is urgently required to support other aspects specially to enlarge knowledges and sciences by reading, speaking, listening and writing. Most of students in Indonesia can not speak English well both spoken and written. Mostly experts and teachers focus on themselves to find the best solution for English Teaching Method for Indonesian Students and they say that there must be more effective English Teaching System. For that, they mostly spends a lot of money to find the best method in teaching English Language. This always occurs for years but, in fact, the improvement and betterment in mastering Foreign language specially English language is still far from what their targets. What's wrong with this? Here, let me say something about the problem. /Method/ is different of /System/. Perhaps, experts know about this (I'm quite sure ...... .) and I do not say that most of them forget about the differences and I do

SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD

Mood is a statement of fact or a question. When a statement or expression or verb expresses an action, that will be called Moods. Actually there three kinds of moods, they are; 1. Indicative mood Indicative mood is used to make a statement of fact and ask a question. For examples: - Statement of fact: He read a lot of book years ago. She was punished by her parent. - Ask A Question: Are you sure? Will you be back again? Have you finished your duty? 2. Imperative Mood Imperative mood is used to express a supposition. For examples: - Command: Come here! speak up! Read the passage loudly! - Exhortation: Be careful! Take care of yourself! Be self-confidence! Be deligent! Try to do the best! - An entreaty or prayer: May god bless you! Have mercy upon us! 3. Subjunctive Mood Subjunctive is a statement which is used to express possibility, hypothesis or a condition. There are two kinds of subjunctive moods, they are: 1) Present Subjun

CONFLICT OF DETERMINER

Determiners is like an indicator that characterizes a word's function and existance. Determiner of noun is different of determiner of adjective. In other words, each of the determiners has its spesific uses. Understanding Determiner is important because it gives us information about what kinds of word is spoken or written after that. For examples: My Home A Car Some books The determiner at the phrase above is /My/, /A/ and /Some/. /My/ is possessive adjective. /A/ is an article or indefinite article. /Some/ is an adverb of quantity. From the example above, the determiners determine or indicate or give information that there are nouns after them. (/Home/, /Car/ or /Books/ is noun) In this case, there are three kinds of determiners found from the examples. ( see DETERMINERS OR MODIFIERS on a page in this blog). WHY CONFLICT? 1 .Determiners will be in trouble or in conflict when there are two determiners in determining or indicating a word . For examples: T

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

KEY : Present Perfect Tense is used to express something happened and started in the past time and extends to the present time. This includes actual fact or in the mind of speaker. In other words, this could happen or never happened at an unspesified time in the past. (The exact time it happened is not important. see Betty Schrampfer Azar, p.29, 1989) Study this following illustration! From the illustration above, we find that time when the event or activity or imagination (in the speakers' mind) happened in the past with unspesified time mentioned. When the event extends in the present, the event still exists but does not know when it stops. For examples: We have lived in the town since 1999. The word /since/ just represents the year, but we can't find what date, what month, what time it happens.To express the sentence which contains Present Perfect pattern, we can use the time signal. For examples: so far (=Sejauh ini) up to now (=Hingga saat ini) up

HOW TO PRONOUNCE ENGLISH WORDS

For non native speakers, To read a word by using good pronounciation is very hard specially for Indonesian learners. They say that the writing is different of the way to read or to pronounce. How to pronounce is different of how to spell. But in Indonesian language, The spelling of a word is the same as the way to read or to pronounce. Study this follows! /Home/ /Home/ is pronounced; /houm/ /Rumah/ /Rumah/ is pronounced; /rumah/ In other words, word - in indonesian language - is pronounced as in its spelling. These differences make English Language hard to learn. And, the references for this topic is rare and only few can satisfy the learners. Therefore, in this opportunity, let me contribute what I know about How To Pronounce English Words for Non native speakers, specially for Indonesian and (or) ASEAN. All languages have their own characters and sometimes the characteristic of the language makes English learners feel frustrated to go on their study. To support th

USED TO OR BE USED TO

CASE STUDY THREE : Some of my students asked me about habitual action in present time. And I explained that habitual action in present time is used in present simple. Then, some of others asked me whether there was habitual action in the past time. Then, I said,"Yes!". To express Habitual action in the past time, we then use /used to/. Here, /used to/ is used to express a habit, acitivity or situation that existed in the past but which no longer exists in the present time ( Betty Scrampfer Azar, P.101, 1989). For example: Melinda used to take an English Course at Delta English Course. The sentence above describes habitual activity in the past time but no longer exists in the present time. In Indonesia language, /used to/ is (Dulu Pernah). This expression is different of Simple Present tense which describes a habit or habitual action in the present time. For example: I often learn Math together. or, I visit my grandma every sunday. To express something habitua

MODIFYING ADVERB CLAUSES

CASE STUDY TWO : We have already discussed on the previous pages that a clause is built from one main clause and one sub clause. To determine types of clauses (noun, adverb or adjectives) depends on the sub clause. When the sub clause denotes an adjective characteristic, the clause is called "Adjective Clause". This is the same as adverb or noun clause. For Example: After I watched the film , I went to sleep. Here, the sub clause is /After I watched the film/ because there is a conjunction /after/ is being used. Remember that Main Clause or a full sentence can be changed into Sub clause by adding a conjunction at the beginning or before the subject. We can modify adverb of clauses and change it into phrase. To do that, we have to know which sub clause and main clause is. Here, Only sub clause will be changed, not main clause. To change the sub clause into phrase then the subject of the sub clause must be the same as the subject in the main clause. For example:

QUALIFICATION AND TERMS

LEARN ENGLISH ONLINE FIND YOUR GROUP, AT LEAST, IN TWO  OR FIVE *)  Please Visit me later ...

CLASSIFICATION OF UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

On the previous page we have discussed about the definition of Uncountable noun (Herman,2010) and, in this opportunity, we try to classify the uncountable nouns based on the definition. How do we start to? Like I told you before that what you have to do before classifying the nouns that are included as Uncountable nouns is to identify all nouns you know. 1.Fluids Fluids is a group of things which are included as uncountable nouns, such as, water, coffee, tea, soft drink, blood, flood, gasoline, soup, oil, milk, etc. Therefore, you should start from all the things which are included as fluids. When you find something different, separate it and keep it for other classes beside fluids. 2.Solids Solids is a group of things which are also included as uncountable nouns, such as, ice, bread, butter, cheese, iron, meat, paper, wool, cotton, wood, golf, etc. Everthing will be called solids when the things are in crystal shapes or like solids, e.g. sand, stone, etc. 3.Gases e.g. stre

UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

CASE STUDY ONE : Most learners said, " I am tired of classifying the uncountable nouns ". Perhaps, classifying uncountable nouns makes us bored and tired. But for me, more difficult the lessons, more enjoyable I get. That's who I am. I get accustomed to meet and make a friend with problem, case study and this makes me feel comfortable and I can enjoy this life as long as I can. You know something? problem is not a problem for me (I tell you this honestly), but it is my uniquee toy that will take me to the highest objectives as much as I want. Let's go to the point!. I start this article with the pesimistic utterance, because I heard it very often from most of people around me who learn English grammar. They straightly said that Uncountable noun was impossible to classify because it contains many things and we need a lot of time to do that. Then I make a group which will discuss it. At last, we got it!. Here's the conclusion! To classify the uncountable nouns ( y

ENGLISH CLASS ONLINE

I do appreciate for all visitors or readers that visit to my simple blog to learn English Grammar. Therefore, I would like to say that There must be something improved in content and in all aspects in this blog. And, In this opportunity, let me please introduce you my new program that I call this "English Class Online". To assist all English Learners, English Class Online (ECO) is suitable for English learners that don't have much time to go to or learn at convensional english courses or university. From here, you can Learn English At Home and share with your own group. This program is not derived or taken from others because we have different in practise and different in tests. This is a Grammar Class Online. Here, we just focus our lessons and discussions on structure or sentence building.  To join this program is very easy and free. All the things that are included or programmed are free for registered members. Therefore, invite your friends to be a goup