Mistakes were made.
aida luz
viernes, 16 de diciembre de 2011
ACTIVE / PASSIVE VOICE
Mistakes were made.
ACTION VERBS
Linking Verbs
A linking verb connects a subject to a subject complement which identifies or describes the subject, as in the following sentences:
- The play is Waiting for Godot.
In this sentence, the linking verb "is" links the noun phrase "the play" to the identifying phrase "Waiting for Godot," which is called a subject complement.
- Some of us thought that the play was very good.
In this sentence, the verb "was" links the subject complement "very good" to subject "the play."
- Others thought it became tedious after the first fifteen minutes.
In this sentence, the linking verb "became" links the subject "it" to the subject complement "tedious." The phrase "after the first fifteen minutes" functions as an adverb modifying the clause "it became tedious."
- The cast appears disorganised and confused; perhaps Beckett intended this.
Here "appears" is functioning as a linking verb that connects the subject "the cast" to its subject complement "disorganised and confused."
- The play seems absurd to me.
The subject "the play" is joined to its subject complement "absurd" by the linking verb "seems."
Linking verbs are either verbs of sensation ("feel," "look," "smell," "sound," "taste") or verbs of existence ("act," "appear," "be," "become," "continue," "grow," "prove," "remain," "seem," "sit," "stand," "turn").
Many linking verbs (with the significant exception of "be") can also be used as transitive or intransitive verbs. In the following pairs of sentences, the first sentence uses the highlighted verb as a linking verb and the second uses the same verb as either a transitive or anintransitive verb:
- Linking
- Griffin insists that the water in Winnipeg tastes terrible.
In this sentence, the adjective "terrible" is a subject complement that describes a quality of the water.
- Transitive
- I tasted the soup before adding more salt.
Here the noun phrase "the soup" identifies what "I tasted." "The soup" is the direct object of the verb "tasted."
- Linking
- My neighbour's singing voice sounds very squeaky despite several hours of daily practice.
In this example, the phrase "very squeaky" is a subject complement that describes or identities the nature of the "singing voice."
- Transitive
- Upon the approach of the enemy troops, the gate-keepersounded his horn.
Here the verb "sounded" takes a direct object, the noun phrase "his horn."
- Linking
- Cynthia feels queasy whenever she listens to banjo music.
In this sentence, the adjective "queasy" is a subject complement that describes Cynthia.
- Transitive
- The customer carefully feels the fabric of the coat.
Here the noun phrase "the fabric of the coat" is the direct object of the verb "feels" and identifies what the customer feels.
INTERJECTION
An interjection is a word added to a sentence to convey emotion. It is not grammatically related to any other part of the sentence.
You usually follow an interjection with an exclamation mark. Interjections are uncommon in formal academic prose, except in direct quotations.
The highlighted words in the following sentences are interjections:
- Ouch, that hurt!
- Oh no, I forgot that the exam was today.
- Hey! Put that down!
- I heard one guy say to another guy, "He has a new car, eh?"
- I don't know about you but, good lord, I think taxes are too high!
- FOR EXAMPLE:
A: aha, ahem, ahh, ahoy, alas, arg, aw
B: bam, bingo, blah, boo, bravo, brrr
C: cheers, congratulations
D: dang, drat, darn, duh
E: eek, eh, encore, eureka
F: fiddlesticks
G: gadzooks, gee, gee whiz, golly, goodbye, goodness, good grief, gosh
H: ha-ha, hallelujah, hello, hey, hmm, holy buckets, holy cow,
holy smokes, hot dog, huh?, humph, hurray
O: oh, oh dear, oh my, oh well, ooops, ouch, ow
P: phew, phooey, pooh, pow
R: rats
S: shh, shoo
T: thanks, there, tut-tut
U: uh-huh, uh-oh, ugh
W: wahoo, well, whoa, whoops, wow
Y: yeah, yes, yikes, yippee, yo, yuck
PREPOSITION
A preposition links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in asentence. The word or phrase that the preposition introduces is called the object of the preposition.
A preposition usually indicates the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence as in the following examples:
- The book is on the table.
- The book is beneath the table.
- The book is leaning against the table.
- The book is beside the table.
- She held the book over the table.
- She read the book during class.
- FOR EXAMPLE:
- We get up in the morning.
- We go to bed at night.
- It’s always hot in summer.
- The movie starts at two in the afternoon.
- Autumn begins in September.
- They were married in 1990.
- Joe arrived after me.
- It has not rained at all for two weeks.
- Breakfast is served at seven o’clock.
- Kevin and Joe have been in the same
- class since first grade.
CONJUNCTION
Subordinating Conjunctions
A Subordinating Conjunction (sometimes called a dependent word or subordinator) comes at the beginning of a Subordinate (or Dependent) Clause and establishes the relationship between the dependent clause and the rest of the sentence. It also turns the clause into something that depends on the rest of the sentence for its meaning.
- He took to the stage as though he had been preparing for this moment all his life.
- Because he loved acting, he refused to give up his dream of being in the movies.
- Unless we act now, all is lost.
Correlative Conjunctions
Some conjunctions combine with other words to form what are called correlative conjunctions. They always travel in pairs, joining various sentence elements that should be treated as grammatically equal.
- She led the team not only in statistics but also by virtue of her enthusiasm.
- Polonius said, "Neither a borrower nor a lender be."
- Whether you win this race or lose it doesn't matter as long as you do your best.
ADJECTIVES
Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
rich | richer | richest |
lovely | lovelier | loveliest |
beautiful | more beautiful | most beautiful |
Certain adjectives have irregular forms in the comparative and superlative degrees:
Irregular Comparative and Superlative Forms | ||
good | better | best |
bad | worse | worst |
little | less | least |
much many some | more | most |
far | further | furthest |