Objective 2: Check verb, agreement, tense, and form Verbs: Key Concept Verbs are the most complex part of speech in English. They can take many different forms and function in many different ways. Verbs indicate the person and number of the subject and the tense and voice (active and passive) of the action. Every sentence has at least one clause and every clause has at least one verb. Understanding verbs, therefore, is crucial to success on the TOEFL ® . Rules for subject-Verb agreement: Singular subjects 1. When the following words are used as Subjects, they are always singular. Some of the words are Plural meaning, but they always require singular verbs. Everyone Someone Anyone No one Each Everybody Somebody Anybody Nobody Either Everything Something Anything Nothing Neither Everyone is here. S V Neither of these book is very new. 2. When each or every comes before singular subjects joined by and, a singular verb is required. Every man and woman is eligible to vote S S V Each student and teacher has a locker. S S V 3. Introductory it is singular and always followed by a singuler verb. 1 It was the dogs which awakened me S V It is his grades that worry him. 4. Words that come between a subject and its verb do not change the number of the subject. Prepositional pharse often have this position. The man S Everyone except him has a book. S V The teacher along with her student is viewing a film. S V One of the most enjoyable parties was given by Helen. S V 5. There, here, and where are never subjects (except in a sentence like this one). When a sentence begins with one of these words, the subject comes after the verb. There are no dogs in this neighborhood. V S Here are the result of the experiments. V S together with his ten children is leaving soon. V in addition to along with as well as 2 Rules for subject-verb agreement: Plural subjects 1. Subjects joined by and or both… and… take a plural verb. A red Honda and a blue Ford are packed outside. S S V Both tigers and elephants are becoming extinct. S S V 2. Some nouns are always plural in form and always take plural verbs. Clothes: trousers, pants, jeans, sunglasses Tools: scissors, pliers, tweezers Abstract: riches, thanks, means However, some of them are followed by a singular verb when used in expressions such as a pair of…., a word of…. His pants are still at the cleaners. But: That pair of pants is dirty. S V S V Your thanks are enough for me. But: A word of thanks is enough. S V S V 3. Several, many, both, few are plural words and always take a plural verb. Both are going to attend the University of Texas. S V Only a few have passed the exam. S V Rules for subject-verb agreement: Alternatives 1. When subjects are joined by the following structures, the verb must agree with the closer subject. Neither the students nor the teacher is allowed to smoke. S S V Either the teacher or the students have your books. 3 S S V Not only the nurse but also the doctor is coming soon. S S V 2. Many words may be singular or plural depending on what they refer to: none, all, some, any, majority, most, half. When these words are followed by a prepositional phrase, the number of the object of the preposition will determine whether the words are singular or plural. All of the book has been destroyed. S V All of the books have been thrown away. S V All of the money is in the bank. S V 3. The expression a number of is plural, and the expression the number of is singular A number of students were missing from class. S V The number of Mexican students in class is small. S V Rules for subject- agreement: unusual singular 1. Expression stating one amount of time, money, weight, volume… is plural in form but take a singular verb. Two weeks is enough time for a nice vacation. S V Five hundred dollars is required as a down payment. S V Ten extra pounds is a lot to lose in a week. S V Twenty gallons of gasoline costs a lot of money. 4 S V 2. Some words are always plural in form but singular meaning. These words require singular verbs. Academic subjects: mathematics, physics, economics, statistics, civics… Diseases: measles, mumps, herpes… Abstract nouns: news, ethics, politics…. Mathematics is a difficult subject. S V The news was very good. S V 3. Title of books and movies, even if plural in form, take singular verbs. The New York Times is a good newspaper. S V Star Wars was a good movie. S V Rules for subjects-verb agreement: Singular and Plural subjects with the same form. 1. Collective nouns are usually singular, but may be plural if the members are functioning independently. Watch the pronouns for clues to the singular or plural nature of the subject. Some of these words are class, team, police, committee, audience, family, faculty,etc. That class has its final test on Friday. S V The class are working on their individual projects today. S V 2. Some nouns use the same form for both singular and plural meanings. The pronouns and modifiers with these words will indicate whether they are singular or plural in meaning. Always with s: species, series, etc. 5 That species is rare. Those species are common. S V S V Never with s: sheep, deer, etc That deer is young. Those deer are old. S V S V Rules for subject-verb agreement: Nationality and foreign words. Nouns for nationality that end with –ese, -ch, -sh may be singular or plural depending on their meaning. Some of these words are Chinese, French, English, etc. When the word refers to a language, it takes singular verb. When the word refers to the people of the country, it takes a plural verb and is preceded by the article the. French is a romance language. The French are romantic. S V S English is spoken in the USA. The English love tea. S V S V 6 Objective 3: Check for full subordination. The complex sentence: Key Concepts. 1. A complex sentence contains at least two clauses: a main clause and a subordinate clause. 2. A subordinate clause, which is dependent on the main clause for its meaning, may function in a sentence as an adjective, an adverb, or a noun. (i) An adjective clause (also called a relative clause) usually begins with a pronoun, such as who, whom, whose, that, which, where, or when, and immediately follows the noun or pronoun which it describes. (ii) An adverb clause clause begins with an adverbial conjunction, such as because, although, if, or while, and is frequently found at the beginning or the end of a sentence. (iii) A noun clause begins with the word that or a question word, such as why, what, or how, and can function in a sentence in any of the ways that a noun can. 1.To distinguish between main clause and subordinate clause. A main clause is a subject-verb combination that can function independently as a sentence. A subordinate clause is a subject-verb combination that begins with a word such as because, which, after, if and cannot function independently as a sentence. For example: Main clause (MC): the rain stopped. Subordinate clause (SC): after the rain stopped. 7 2. A subordinate clause contains a subject and a full verb; a phrase does not. For example: SC: if the doctors operate soon. Phrase (PHR): before finishing dinner. 3. Remember that a main clause, in either statement form or question form, can function alone. An adjective clause is a subordinate clause which must always follow a noun in the main clause. Some of these clauses can function in both ways (both). For example: MC: adults do well on only six hours per night. SC: that is used by navigators. Both: whom did they visit. 4. Complex sentence contain at least one main clause and one subordinate clause. Each of the following complex sentences contain at least one subordinate adjective clause which begins with a word such as: who, whom, which, that, where, when, etc. For example: Modern man struggled for many years to develop a process that he could Main clause use to separate aluminum from other element to which it was bonded. Subordinate adjective clause 1 subordinate adj clause 2 + Adj clause may be marked by introductory words such as which, whom, that, etc, or they may be unmarked. For example: The capsule [the astronauts rode in] was also designed to be used only once. (In this case, the word ” which ” is obmitted because the subject referred is object. This sentence is combined from two sentences: The astronaut road in the capsule. The capsule was also designed to be used to only once.). 5. To identify all the adverb clauses within a complex sentence. Here is the table of some of the words that can introduce subordinate adverb clauses, arranged in columns according to their meanings. Some introductory words can have more than one meaning. Time Cause/result Condition Opposition Manner Comparison After Because If even if Although As though Than 8 Since Before By the time When Whenever While Now that Until Once As soon as As\ so long as As Since So (that) Whereas In order that Unless Only if Once In case (that) Whether or not In the event (that) Provided (that) While Though Whereas even though As if as A noun clause is a subordinate clause that function as a noun. Noun clause can function as subjects, but they are more commonly used as objects of verbs of telling, feeling, and thinking. These noun clause frequently begin with the word that. For example: The doctor said that the man would get well quickly. S V O That it rained so much this year is fortunate for farmers. S V O +When a noun clause functions as an object, the word that is frequently obmitted. For example: Ambitious students feel (that) hard works is ultimately rewarded. (That can be obmitted). Noun clause can also begin with question words such as what, why, how, and so on. This type of noun clause can also function as a subject or as an object. For example: (What you said) was very nice. (Noun clause: what you said functions subject) S V Everyone knows (what you said). (Noun clause: what you said functions object) 9 S V Noun clause and infinitive phrase are often found in sentences beginning with the subject it. Both noun clause and adjective clauses following special words like fact, hope, etc, can begin with the word that but only adj clause can also begin with the word which. There is a quick way to test a clause to determine whether or not it is a noun clause: If you can insert the word is between the noun and its clause, you have a noun clause, if you cannot insert is the clause is an adj clause. Objective 4: check the verbal An infinitive is a verbal which is formed with to and the based form of the verb. Although the word to may be the first word of an infinitive, it also begins many prepositional phrases. For example: Infinitives: to eat, to walk, to enjoy Prepositional phrase: to school, to Alaska, to the dance. A gerund is a verbal which is formed by adding the suffix –ing to the base form of a verb. A gerund never function as a verb in a sentence. It always function as a noun. Gerunds should not be confused with –ing words that are part of all progressive tense verbs. For example: Gerund: swimming, singing, participating Verbs: are swimming, were singing, have been participating A verbal adjective can be formed by reducing an adjective clause to a phrase or a word. A one-word verbal adjective goes before the noun it describes. A verbal phrase follows the noun it describes. For example: Adjective clause: Doctors couldn’t save the man who was dying of cancer Verbal adj phrase: Doctors couldn’t save the man dying of cancer One-word verbal adj: Doctors couldn’t save the dying man. Like gerund and infinitive, verbal adj are formed from verbs but do not function as finite verbs. Each verb has two basic verbal adj forms: the present participle and the past participle. Verb: eat  verbal adj: eating, eaten Verb: interest  verbal adj: interesting, interested A verbal adj can take the form of either the present participle (-ing) or the participle (-d, -n, -t). when the noun that is being described is actively “doing” the 10 [...]... Pronoun form, Agreement, and Reference Rules for Pronoun forms: Subject forms 1 The subject form is used for a subject of a main clause or of a subordinate clause He left his book in the classroom.(main clause) John talked to the man who was standing near him.(adjective clause) After he left, I went to bed.(adverb clause) I know who broke the window.(noun clause) 2 The subject form is used for pronouns... Possessive adjective form 1 The possessive adjective form is used to modify a noun and indicate possession This is his coat I lost my wallet in the park Whose book is this? 2 The possessive adjective form is used when a pronoun modifies an –ing noun form The audience rally like his singing I appreciate your helping me Her singing will calm the baby Rules for Pronoun forms: Possessive pronoun form The possessive... The object form is used for a pronoun that functions as an object of a preposition Everyone except her took the test Between you and me, I didn’t like party The person with whom I live is my cousin 3 The object form is used when the objects of two clauses are being compared The teacher likes you better than (she likes) me The child responds to her more readily than to him Rules for Pronoun form: Possessive... that follow the verb tobe It was he at the door It must have been they who left the massage 3 The subject form is used when the subjects of two clauses are being compared She is taller than he (is) They have more money than we (have) Rules for Pronoun forms: Object form 1 The object form is used for a pronoun that functions as the object (either direct or indirect) of a verb in a main clause or in a... for Pronoun forms: Possessive pronoun form The possessive pronoun form is used to replace a noun functioning as subject or object 13 Objective 7: Check word order Rules for word order: inversion of subject and verb The most common word order of the core parts of sentences in English is subject + verb + object (S +V +O) The subject comes before the verb in all but few special situations In these situations... beginning of a sentence for emphasis, the verbs is placed before the subject 7 When a sentence begins with such, so, few, little (except, of course, where “little” is an adj) 8 When a passive verb is split and the main verb begins the sentence Note: normal word order (S+V+O) is required in indirect question No inversion is possible +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Một bài speaking test gồm 3 section:... before the verb in all but few special situations In these situations the word order of the core parts is inverted and the verb is placed before the subject: just as it in all direct question Inverted order is needed: 1 When a sentence begin with there: There is no basis for this complaint V S There are few excuses that teacher will accept V S 2 When a sentence begins with a prepositional phrase, has an... “done” to it, the part participle is used The burning sun (active) The sun burned the hikers The sunburned hikers (passive) Subordinate clause of time beginning with a word such as after, while, or before and subordinate clause of cause\result beginning with a word such as because, or since, can be reduced to a verbal phrase This reduction is possible only when the subject of the subordinate clause . Objective 5: Check Pronoun form, Agreement, and Reference Rules for Pronoun forms: Subject forms 1. The subject form is used for a subject of a main clause. (is). They have more money than we (have). Rules for Pronoun forms: Object form 1. The object form is used for a pronoun that functions as the object (either