I.            WORD ORDER - Review

The basic structure of a sentence in English is: Subject - verb - complement  (S - V – C)

When adding other elements, you must respect some rules to make sure you don’t ‘break’ this structure.

Rule 1: You cannot repeat a subject!  One and only one subject per sentence! (Dan, he is nice)

Rule 2: Don’t separate a verb from its complement. Most adverbs go before the verb (or at the beginning or end of the sentence for longer adverbial phrases) (I like a lot action movies -> a lot.)

Rule 3: Adjectives must be placed before the noun they modify. (An interesting man)

Rule 4: One negation marker is enough. “not” is attached to an auxiliary verb (ex: do not, have not) (I like not comedies => I do not like // I don’t never eat fish => I never eat fish)

Rule 5: In indirect questions, don’t invert the subject and verb. Indirect questions in reported speech follow the regular word order. (I don’t know why isn’t he coming => I don’t know why he isn’t coming.)

=>  REVIEW EXERCISE: Week6 Word order1

      II.            COMPLEMENTS, ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS:

Rule: 6: Usually, the order for complements is: verb – object – place – time

He is taking his son to Disneyland next week end.

I sent a package to New York last week, but it never arrived.

Rule 7: Adverbs need to be in front of the word they modify. Most adverbs which modify the verb go before the verb (between the auxiliary and verb in some tenses).

I completely agree with you. (the adverb modifies the verb)// He was completely wrong. (the adverb modifies the adjective)

I always drink coffee in the morning. (before the verb) //  I have never visited Dubai. (after the auxiliary, before the verb)

Exception with BE in the simple past (was, were) or simple present (am, is, are): after BE.

My parents were also happy to see me. Jill is always late.

Rule 8: “opinion” (subjective) adjectives go before “factual” (objective) adjectives:

An interesting young man /a beautiful Victorian house

When using several adjectives, the order usually is:
Size 1/ age2/ color3/ origin4/ material or measure5 - NOUN

Ex: a tall young man (1,2) / a small black plastic bag (1,3,5) / an old Russian song (2,4)

=>  EXERCISE: Week6 Word order2

  IF YOUR SCORE WAS LOWER THAN 90% ON THESE EXERCISES, READ MORE AND DO ADDITIONAL EXERCISES:

English grammar in use (with answers) [425 MUR] (+ CD-ROM in Centre de Langues Salle Multimedia)

_  Units on Adjectives (99), Word order (109 and 110)

Grammaire raisonnée 2 [425 PER] (livre + livret de corrigé des exercices)

_  Chapitre 5 – Place de l’adverbe

_  Chapitre 13 - Adjectifs

  III.            QUESTIONS - Review

1) Types of question

a) Why did he leave? / b) Was he upset?

The first question starts with a wh- word (question word)  That’s why we call these “WH" questions. They require a developed answer.

The second question starts with the auxiliary. We expect yes or no as a basic answer, which is why they are called “yes/no” questions.

The second question can be transformed into a Wh- question: “Why was he upset?”

2) Construction

a) The basic structure for a yes/no question involves inversion of the auxiliary and subject:

auxiliary + subject (+ verb) (+ complement(s))

If there is already the auxiliary BE or HAVE, or a modal in the sentence, just invert the order of the subject and auxiliary:

  • It is snowing. = Is it snowing?
  • He can speak German. = Can he speak German?
  • They have lived here a long time. = Have they lived here a long time?

If there is no auxiliary, only a lexical verb, you will need to introduce DO in the appropriate tense.

  • You speak fluent French. = Do you speak fluent French?
  • She lives in Brussels. = Does she live in Brussels?
  • He had an accident. = Did he have an accident?

Important: the verb after DO appears as an infinitive! No double conjugation! (Did he saw)

 

b) The basic structure for a wh question involves inversion of the auxiliary and subject as well. Just add the question word in front of the auxiliary. (who, where, when, etc)

Note: who and what can be the subject. (no other subject in the sentence) Compare:

  • Who is coming to lunch? (who is the subject of the verb)
  • What did you do? (you is the subject of the verb)
  • Who do you want to invite to lunch? (you is the subject of the verb)
  • What happened? (what is the subject of the verb)

Note the position of the prepositions in these questions:

  • Who did you speak to?
  • What are you looking at?
  • Where does he come from?

=> EXERCISE: Week6 Questions1a and 1b, and Week6Questions2

IF YOUR SCORE WAS LOWER THAN 90% ON THESE EXERCISES, READ MORE AND DO ADDITIONAL EXERCISES:

English grammar in use (with answers) [425 MUR] (+ CD-ROM in Centre de Langues Salle Multimedia)

_  Units on Questions (49 and 50)

Grammaire raisonnée 2 [425 PER] (livre + livret de corrigé des exercices)

_  Chapitre 3.3 Enoncés interrogatifs

Modifié le: jeudi 19 février 2015, 16:04