UCM 101: BASIC ENGLISH

By Mrs. BIRUNGI Charity

Med. ENGLISH
Assistant Lecturer at ULK
Tel: +250788454122
Email: [email protected]
 INDICATIVE CONTENTS
UNIT 1. GREETINGS AND INTRODUCTION
UNIT 2. LANGUAGE FUNCTIONS
UNIT 3. INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH SOUNDS
UNIT 4. VERBS CATEGORIZATION
UNIT 5. PRESENT SIMPLE AND PRESENT
CONTINUOUS TENSE
UNIT 6. PLURAL OF NOUNS
UNIT 7. ARTICLES
UNIT 8. PAST SIMPLE AND PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE
UNIT 9. PRESENT PERFECT AND PRESENT PERFECT
CONTINUOUS TENSE
UNIT 10. PRONOUNS
UNIT 11. PAST PERFECT AND PAST PERFECT
CONTINUOUS TENSE
UNIT 12. ADJECTIVES
UNIT 13. FUTURE TENSES
UNIT 14. DEGREES OF COMPARISON OF
ADJECTIVES
UNIT 15. ACTIVE AND PASSIVE MODES
UNIT 16. PREPOSITIONS
UNIT 17. LETTER WRITING
 UNIT 0: INTRODUCTION AND
IMPORTANCE OF ENGLISH
LANGUAGE
0.1 Importance of English in our modern
world
 English is nowadays the main language of mass media, airports, international
business, conference, science and technology, diplomacy, to mention but a few.

• Practically, thanks to English:

• You can talk to lots of new people.
• You can use it when you are travelling.
• You can understand films, radio and T.V
broadcasts.
• You can get a job.
• You can successfully study at university.
• You can do your business all over the world.
• You can understand more about the world by
reading newspapers, watching/listening to news
on international televisions/radios.
• You can carry out research.
• Etc.
0.2 How can you learn and master English

1. Speak without fear

The fastest way to learn English is to speak it

without troubling yourself about what people
might say about your mistakes. Remember, we
learn a language by making mistakes. Also,
mistakes and errors are a natural part of the
learning process
2. Use different sources
Studying English at school is not enough by
itself. That is, do not limit yourself to that.
Stick in your mind that using as many
different sources, methods and tools as
possible will help you learn fast.
3. Surround yourself with English

The absolute best way to learn English is to

surround yourself with it. Take notes in English,
put English books around your room, set your
phone in English, listen to English language radio
broadcasts, listen to English songs, watch English
news, movies, television, get pen friends who
speak English natively, speak English with your
friends whenever you can, etc.
4. Use English everyday

In actual fact, if you use English as often as

possible you will consolidate your knowledge.
Avail every opportunity to practice speaking
and/ writing English. Otherwise, you will hardly
make progress.
5. Study as often as possible

Studying things like grammar and vocabulary,

and doing as many exercises as possible can
help you to get English in your head.
6. Record yourself for further improvement
Recording your own voice, from time to time,
will help you improve your pronunciation.

7. Make English your passion

Become a person who likes to learn English.

The more you are interested in a language, the
faster the learning. All in all, be motivated and
see learning as something entertaining
8. Get a good dictionary

The dictionary is the most important and

significant language device. It provides
information about spelling, pronunciation,
usage, etc. So, a dictionary will for sure help
you improve your English.
UNIT 1: GREETINGS AND INTRODUCTION
GREETINGS

To greet someone in a formal or professional way, you can say:

 Good morning

 Good afternoon
 Good evening

• You can add to these names or words of address, as in:

 Good morning, Sir/Madam

 Good morning, Lecturer

 Good morning, Mr. Peter
To greet someone in an informal or friendly way, you can
say:

Hi!

Hello!

How do you do!

If you meet a colleague you have not seen for
some time, you can greet him/her by saying:

John, Good to see you (again)

It’s good to see you!

How nice to see you (again)

Very nice to meet you (again)

After greeting someone, the interaction may continue by asking
how someone is. The commonest way is by saying ‘How are
you?’

• You can also say:

 How are you doing?

 How’s life treating you?
 How’s life?
 In good shape, are you?
 How are you keeping?
How are you getting on?
How is it (going)?
Are you all right/ okay/ fine?
What’s new?
How are things?
How’s everything?
Informal ways of responding:

- (I’m) cool.
- Can’t complain.
- Can’t grumble.
- (I’m) ok, thanks.
- So-so.
- Fifty-fifty.
- Not so/too bad.
- Surviving, (thanks).
- Still alive.
- Oh, (I’m) on the top of the world.
Formal ways of responding:

(I’m) very well, thank you.

(I’m) fine, thank you.
(I’m) all right, thank you.
(I’m) quite well, thank you.
1.2. MAKING INTRODUCTIONS

(a) To introduce yourself, you can say:

 How do you do? My name’s Sylvain

Nizeyimana.
 Excuse me, my name’s Abraham Mugiraneza.
Oh! How do you do?
 Excuse me/ How do you do? I don’t think
we’ve met before. My name’s Alice Umuhire
• In other situations (speaking on the
telephone), you can say:

 Hello! /Good morning/afternoon/evening.

This is (your first name and surname)
speaking.
 Hello! /….. My name’s (first name and
surname).
 Hello! /….. (Your first name and surname)
calling
 Summary on self introduction
• Include the following;
• Name
• Age
• Location
• Family
• Education/job
• Hobbies
• goals
 Name

• My name is (Your name)

• I’m(your name)
• You can call me(your name)
AGE
• I’m (Your Age) years old
• I was born in (1995)
• I’m in my early-twenties: 20-23
• Mid twenties; 24-26
• Late twenties: 27-29
(b) To introduce someone formally, you can say:

 Good morning, Mr. /Miss. ………! May I introduce Mr.

………, our new representative. He will be taking over
from me in December.

 Let me introduce (our marketing manager), Miss. Linda

Njoroge.

 Allow me to introduce (our director), Mr. John Murego.

 I’d like to introduce (our new BM), Mr. Fiacre Habimana

• In other situations (introducing a speaker,
lecturer, etc.), you can say:

It is with great pleasure that I introduce to you

Mr. Juvenal Nsengiyumva, your computer skills
lecturer.
c) To introduce someone informally, you can
say:

- Meet my friend, Peter. He’s a student from

Greece.
-This is Peter, a student from Greece.
Point to remember

After two persons have been introduced to

each other, they stretch out their right hands
and shake them saying:

‘How do you do’ or ‘Pleased/ Glad/ Nice to

meet you’
CONTEXTUALISATION

MUHIZI: Kabayiza, this is Umulisa, my cousin

from Rusizi.
KABAYIZA: Glad to meet you, Umulisa.

UMULISA: Glad to meet you, too.

 WRITING AND SPEAKING PRACTICE
Play the following conversation. Mind your pronunciation and body
language.

TOM: Umwali, may I introduce Mr. Mugabo to you? He has heard about
you and is very eager to meet you.
UMWALI: I’m delighted. How do you do?
MUGABO: How do you do?
UMWALI: What part of Rwanda do you come from, Mr. Mugabo?
MUGABO: From the Western province.
TOM: Is this your first visit to Canada, Mr. Mugabo?
MUGABO: No, I usually come here on official business. This is my wife,
Uwera. She has come with me just to attend Rwanda Day function.
UMWALI: How do you do, Mrs. Mugabo?
UWERA: How do you do?
UMWALI: So, you want to attend Rwanda Day
function for yourself?
UWERA: Yes.
UMWALI: By the way, how do you find Montreal?
UWERA: Oh, it’s a beautiful city!
TOM: Come, everybody, let’s have some tea now.
a) Assignment 1: Role-Playing Conversations
Task:
Each group will create a short dialogue where
two or more people greet each other and
introduce themselves in different situations
(e.g., formal, informal, business, social settings).
 UNIT2: FUNCTIONS IN ENGLISH
1. Ways of expressing gratitude
You can express gratitude by saying:
Thank you ( a lot / very much/ so much) or Thanks ( a
lot / very much/ so much)
Many thanks
That’s very kind of you
I’d like to thank you
Thanks a bunch
Cheers
You’ve saved my life
I’m really grateful / I’ m very appreciative / I really
appreciate
 REPLIES
There are various ways you can use for
responding to thanks, notably:
• You’re welcome
• It’s my pleasure / The pleasure’s mine /Not at
all.
• No problem
• Any time
• It’s ok
 2. INVITING AND OFFERING
2.1. INVITING
To invite someone, you can say:
Will you come and share?
Would you like to join us for dinner?
Please, come and we share.
2.2. OFFERING
To offer something in an informal way, you
can say, for example:
Do you want a cup of tea?
a cup of tea ?
Just for you.
To offer something in a formal way, you can say,
for example:
Would you like a cup of tea?
Would you care for a cup of tea?
Would you mind a cup of tea?
May I get you a cup of tea?
 REPLIES
To accept/refuse an offer informally, you can say:
Yes, please/No, thanks.
Yes, why not/No, not at the moment. Thanks.
To accept/refuse an offer formally, you can say:
Yes, that would be lovely/No, I’m alright. Thank
you.
Yes, I’d love one/ Thank you very much, but I’ve
just had one.
 WAYS OF ASKING AND GIVING
PERMISSION
Asking permission
• Can I……?
• May I …?
• Is it ok if / Is it all right if / Would it be all right
if / Do you mind if / Would you mind if ….
Giving permission
• To give permission, you can say:
• You can
• You may
• I don’t see why not
• Of course you can
• Go ahead
• Help yourself
 WAYS OF SUGGESTING SOMETHING
• How about ….? / What about….?
• Let’s …
• Why don’t/ we/you / they…?
• May / can/ could I make a suggestion?
• May / can I suggest
 WAYS OF ASKING FOR FAVOURS
MAKING A REQUEST
• Would you mind …. / Do you mind ….?
• I wonder if ….?
• Can/ could you….?
• Will you….?
Agreeing to a do a favour
• The formal ways of agreeing to do a favour are:
• With pleasure
• It’s no trouble at all.
Refusing to do a favour
• The formal ways of refusing
to do a favour are:
• No, I’ m afraid not,
because…
• I would have liked to help,
but I’m afraid I can’t.
 WAYS OF APOLOGIZING
• I’m sorry
• I (do) apologize for …
• I owe you an apology
• Please accept my / our apologies
• Excuse me
• I / we regret …
• I beg your pardon
Responses to apologies:
• That’s ok.
• No worries.
• Please, don’t worry.
• Never mind.
• That’s quite all right.
• No need to apologise
• It doesn’t matter at all.
SPEAKING PRACTICE
What would you say in the following
situations?
• After someone has done you a favour.
• When you want to use your neighbour’s phone.
• After someone has said to you, ‘I do appreciate
what you’ve done for me’.
• An esteemed customer enters your shop and
stands in front of the counter.
• After you have offended someone.
• Asking your boss to lend you some money.
• Your friend and you are hungry, and you come
across a restaurant.
• Your lecturer says to you, ‘You’re late for class
again!’
• Your guests and you are watching TV, and you feel
like smoking.
• Your friend invites you to dinner, yet you can’t make
it because you’ve arranged to share with somebody
else.
• You are hosting special people, and you want to
offer them a cold drink.
• It is lunch time, the table is set, and you want your
neighbour to join you.
• You want X or Y employee to give you
his/her employer’s contact.
• You are attending a meeting, and you decide
to interrupt the chairperson to make a
suggestion.
• You are having lunch, and you want the
person sitting next to you to pass you the salt.
• After someone has said to you, “I’m sorry”.
• After someone has said “thank you” to you.
• Someone asks you for a favour, yet you can’t
make it.
UNIT 3: INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH SOUNDS
Single vowel sounds( Short and long)
• Symbols
• Examples
• ɑ: Car, bar, far, heart, cart, father, mars
• ɔ: Ball, wall, walk, war, short
• i: Read, meet, people, weed
• u: Shoe, food, moon, June
• e Bell, bed, men
• æ Hat, bag, hand, cat, man
• ɅBus, but, mother, blood, flood
• ɒDog, what, not, God, nod
• ɪPig, sit, pit, dig
• uBook, wood, good, put
• ɜ:Skirt, first, shirt, thirsty,
purpose, journey, work,
word, world
• əTeacher, father, again, alive
Double vowel sounds( Diphthongs)
• eɪRain, take, main, fake
• aɪKite, kind, mine, shine, tidy, fine, eye
• ɔɪBoy, toy, employ, oil
• ɪəHere, hear, fear, gear, senior
• eəChair, air, heir, where, there
• auCow, how, house, trousers, mouse
• uəPoor, tourist, sure, pure
• əuGo, so, goat, coat
 CONSONANT SOUNDS
• pPerson, poverty, prayer, paper
• bBorn, boom, brave, big, brown
• tTell, television, tent
• dDesk, day, daddy, dove
• kCare, cook, kettle, cry
• gIgnore, gossip, glass, jag
• sSister, six, suit, save
• zZebra, observe, scissors, possess
• fFinish, philosophy, five, laugh
• vVery, venue, vowel
• mMother, bomb, made, move
• nNose, night, know, snow
• ƞKing, morning, sing, slang
• θBoth, mouth, south, teeth
• ðBrother, that, then, breathe
• ʃShirt, fish, shake, shout
• ʒPleasure, measure
• hHotel, hot, home, hello
• ʧChurch, check, teacher, fetch
• ʤJohn, June, jail, Japan
• rRed, right, rape, room
• lLight, lion, listen, lose, less
• ј Yes, yellow, you, yield, yawn
• w One, wow, when, waste, worst

SOUNDS OFTEN CONFUSED

• (1) [ θ ] and [ f ] or [ s ]
• Do not say f or s instead of θ .
e.g. Do not say free for three, or pass for
path.
The following instruction will help you if
you have trouble with the sound th[θ ] :
• Put your tongue between your teeth (i.e
upper and lower teeth) so that the tip of it
can actually be seen.
(2) [ð] and [d] or [v] or [z]
• Do not say d, v or z instead of ð.
• The sound th[ð] is made exactly in the
same way as th[θ]
(3) [l] and [r]
• Do not say l instead of r or conversely.
• You will at once see the difference between l
and r if you try to sing them:
• lllllllllllllllllll, rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr,
llllllllllllllllllllll, rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
• When you sing l the tip of your tongue stays
still, touching the roof of your mouth just
behind your top teeth and your voice sounds
smooth and clear
• When you sing r the tip of your tongue vibrates
and your voice sounds rather rough.
• PRONUNCIATION PRACTICE
• [ aɪ ] and [ ɔɪ ]
• I’ve never seen that KIND of COIN
• She didn’t ENJOY the FIGHT.
• What does this BOY want to BUY?
• Your sister has an APPOINTMENT with
MINE
• That NOISE isn’t NICE.
• The PILOT needs some OIL.
• I heard his VOICE TWICE.
• I think ROY is RIGHT.
• The policeman POINTED at my BIKE
• Why did you ROIL the WINE?
• [ au ] and [ ɔɪ ]
• What do you know ABOUT that BOY?
• You can find that kind of TOY in TOWN.
• I only know he’s a COW BOY.
• HOW could the COW eat a COIN?
• The ANNOUNCER looked ANNOYED.
• He POINTED at the POUND-note.
• BOY took a look AROUND.
• An OWL doesn’t like OIL.
• NOW, stop that NOISE!
• I hear a VOICE in the HOUSE.
• [ θ] and [ t ]
• I THOUGHT I had already TAUGHT that.

• The metal of this TIN is very THIN.

• His TENT is the TENTH on the left.

• BOTH fishermen have BOUGHT a new

BOAT.
• Who on EARTH has HURT you?
• POINTING at SOMETHING is very impolite.
• There’re THREE TREES in front of my house.

• Where on EARTH is BURT?

• Where’s Mrs. THATCHER? We’d like to
ATTACH her.
• Is it TRUE that you THREW the fruit
THROUGH the window?
• [ʤ] and [ʧ]
• The JEEP wasn’t CHEAP.
• I last saw MARGE in MARCH.
• The priest is in CHARGE of the CHURCH
• Her MAJESTY attended the MATCH.
• He’s chewing CHALK with his JAWS.

• JACK didn’t CHECK the plans.

• We’ll buy a LARGE house in MARCH.

• His FUTURE wife is GERMAN.

• I got a REGISTERED letter from
ROCHESTER.
• [ θ] and [f]
• 1. The three thieves are free
• 2. She pointed at the thing with her finger.
• 4. He fought better than I thought.
• 5. The first boy was very thirsty.
• [ð] and [d]
• 1. They must meet today.
• 2. This is the new disk
• 3. Is that the date you choose?
• 4. Everything is dear over there.
• 5. Dan is stronger than Tom.
• 6. Dare you go there ?
• 7. My brother wants some bread.
•
• 8. I’d rather listen to the radio.
• [r] and [l]
• I can’t WRITE without LIGHT.
• There’s a LIGHT on you RIGHT.
• He had LAIN in the RAIN for hours.
• The CROWD looked up at the CLOUD.
• Pick up that GLASS in the GRASS.
• You’re WRONG: it won’t be LONG.
• BERRY’s got a big BELLY
• You must be WRONG : it doesn’t BELONG to
him
• 9) He took his wife’s LIFE with a RIFLE.
• 10) The teacher COLLECTED the CORRECTED
paper.
• SILENT LETTERS IN ENGLISH
• Silent B
• B is not pronounced when following an M at the end of
the word.
• e.g: climb, lamb, comb, bomb
• B is also silent when followed by a T.
• e.g: Debt, doubt, subtle
• Silent C
• C is not pronounced when following an S at the
beginning of a word and followed by E or I.
• e.g: Scent, scissors, science
• C is also not pronounced in the ending scle.
• e.g: Muscle
• 3. Silent K
• K is not pronounced when followed by an N at
the beginning of a word.
• e.g: Knife, Knowledge, knee, knock

4. Silent L
• L is usually not pronounced before D, F, M, K
• e.g: Should, half, calm, walk
• 5. Silent N
• N is not pronounced when following M at the end of
a word.
• e.g: Column, autumn, hymn
• 6. Silent D
• D is not pronounced in such words as: Wednesday,
sandwich, handkerchief.

EXERCISES
Read the underlined sounds in each word here
below
Courage, court, shirt, dirty, hurt, shy fine fly, get,
gecko, stay, wonder, doctor, father, mother, help,
weigh, one, won, etc
Lord, mortar, pestle, castle, mayor, fire, higher, flour,
floor, serious, be, better, none, either, neither, exam,
question, etc
Write five words that contain each of the following
sounds
• [ð]:
• [ʤ]:
• [ʧ]:
• [au]:
• [ɔɪ]:
• [ei]:
Repeat these words
• Heal, heel; see, sea; won, one; eight, ate; nose, knows
• Hare, hair; hi, high; sell, cell; be, bee; two, too;
die, dye; I, eye
• shy, try, fry, cry, pay, say, day
• Bridge, Jesus, geography, Jamaica, Jew
• Them, then, although, thatch, with, without
• Thunder, thorn, thumb, thick, thirty, three
• Hour, sour, plow, how, mouse, louse, bounce
• I see near the sea three trees
• A poor man has poured the flour on the floor for
four hours
• Where’s the man I wanted Mary to marry?
What are the categories of verbs in
the following statements?
 VERBS CATEGORIZATION
DEFINITION
Verbs are a class of words used to show the performance of an
action (e.g. do, throw, run, teach, eat,…), existence (be),
possession (e.g. have, possess, own,…), state (e.g. be, seem,
look,...) of a subject.
CLASSIFICATION
Verbs are classified into two categories:
Helping/Auxiliary verbs
Main/ ordinary verbs
Let us look at each category in turn.
Helping verbs
These are classified into two categories that are: Primary helping
verbs and modal auxiliary verbs.
Primary auxiliary verbs
These are the verbs to be, to do and to have. They
are used in forming tenses, moods and voices of
other verbs.
Modal helping verbs
These are a type of auxiliary verbs that help the
main verb to express a range of meanings
including, for example, such meanings as
possibility, probability, wants, wishes, necessity,
permission, suggestion, etc. the main modal
verbs are: can, could, may, might, will, would,
shall, should, must and ought to.
Main verbs/lexical verbs
The main verb expresses the main action or state
of being of the subject in the sentences and
change form according to the subject (singular,
plural, 1stperson, 2ndperson, 3rdperson).
Main verbs, unlike helping verbs, have meanings
on their own. There are thousands of main verbs,
and we can classify them in several ways:
Transitive and intransitive verbs
Linking or copular verbs
Dynamic and stative verbs
Regular and irregular verbs
 What are the categories of verbs in the
following statements?
a) Joseph graduated from ULK last year.
b) They do their assignments every morning.
c) I am your friend.
d) We have lunch at 12.00 O’ clock.
e) We have had dinner.
f) He can speak five languages.
g) You will probably travel to Huye next week.
h) Jane is singing a nice song.
i) John is a hardworking person.
j) We attended the meeting.
k) He lives nearby.
l) They swim in the lake every day.
m) I was born to serve.
n) Peter cut his finger while peeling potatoes.
o) I used to wear glasses when I was young.
p) I drink tea every morning, before going to
work.
q) Peter gets up every day at five o’clock.
r) My watch keeps good time.
s) I always listen to news on the BBC.
THE USES OF ENGLISH TENSES
 PRESENT SIMPLE(verb tense)
• To express a habitual action( repeated actions
happen over and over again) eg I eat my
break everyday, I read in bed every night
• To express general truths/facts (situations that
do not change);
• To talk about events actually going on (as in
running commentary),
• To talk about past event in a vivid or
dramatic manner (historical present),
 PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE
• For an action going on at the moment of
speaking,
• For an action in progress but not necessarily
at the moment of speaking,
• For an action (especially fixed personal
arrangements) that has already been
arranged to take place in the near future,
• With always, continually, constantly,
regularly,……to express a repeated action
that is irritating to the speaker,
EXERCISES
Write the verbs in brackets in the right form
1. The students (to draw: affirmative) a nice picture
on the board.
2. We (do: interrogative) exercises of English.
3. Children (play: affirmative) football in front of
their house.
4. Nshuti (read: negative) interesting book.
5. Stop making noise I (try: affirmative) to
concentrate.
6. It (rain: negative) anymore; we can go out.
John still (wait: interrogative) for me.
7. My mother (watch: affirmative) TV.
8. Mary always (go) to church on Sundays.
9. Can you tell me where he (live).
10. John and Peter (be) good friends.
11. They (not know) the name of their lecturer.
12. These boys (swim: interrogative) like a fish.
13. I (have) a lot of books on my shelf.
14. Tom (be) a good driver.
15. They (have: negative) much money.
PRESENT PERFECT TENSE
• For actions with no definite past time
reference,
• For actions in the immediate past with
just,
• With never, ever, already, yet, so far,….,
• To denote a state or situation that began
at some time in the past and continues
up to the present moment (often used
with since-and for-phrases),
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS
TENSE
• To indicate an action that began in the
past and is still in progress.
• To indicate an action that was in progress
in the past and has just finished.
 CONJUGATE THE VERBS IN
BRACKETS
1. After he has called you, he ….. (switch) his
phone off.
2. It was said many years ago that the metal
…………. (expand) when it is heated.
3. Arnaud and Sandra ….. (tie) the knot this
Saturday.
4. How far …….(you/go) with the preparation of
your flight?
5. Lina ….. (be admitted) for one week at King
Faisal Hospital.
 PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE
• To indicate an action that began in the past and is
still in progress.
• To indicate an action that was in progress in the
past and has just finished.
 PAST SIMPLE
• To indicate an action completed at a particular
time in the past. It often occurs with adverbs or
adverb phrases of past time (e.g. yesterday, last
week, last month, a week
ago, …),
• To indicate an action in the past (which occurred
during a period of time)
PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE
• For action was progress at a certain time
in the past,
• For two actions in progress at the same
time in the past,
• For an action in progress when another
past action began,
PAST PERFECT TENSE
• This tense is mainly used to indicate an
action in the past which had happened before
another action in the past.
 PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE
• This tense is mainly used to say how long something
had been happening before something else happened.

FUTURE TENSE
 SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE
• With if-clauses to indicate an action that is likely to
happen
• To talk about things that we cannot control. It
expresses the future as a fact
• To talk about what we think will happen in the future
(predicting future happening)
 BE GOING TO
• For an action in the future that has already been
planned by the speaker
• For something that is certain to happen in the
future
 FUTURE PROGRESSIVE TENSE
• To indicate an action that will be in progress at
a certain time in the future
• talk about things which are already planned or
decided
 FUTURE PERFECT TENSE
• This is mainly used to say that something
will already have happened before a certain
time in the future
 FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS
TENSE
• This is mainly used to talk about an action
that will be in progress over a period of time
that will end in the future
 EXERCISES
Put the verbs in brackets into the correct form
as required by the context:
1. Listen to those people. What
language………………………(they/speak)?
2. Mary……………….. (Probably/help) us.
3. I needed money. So we………….(sell) our
car.
4. How many languages…………………….
(your father/speak)?
5. How long……………………(you/be) a
university student?
6. We missed the bus yesterday! When we arrived
at the station, it………(just/leave).
7. The sky is dark and cloudy.
It………………………(rain).
8. She…………………(write) that novel before
she became ill.
9. You look tired! …………………(you/work)
hard?
10. Peter lives nearby, but he seldom…………….
(visit) us.
11. Where………………………..(you/go) when you had
an accident?
12. . She………………………..(play) tennis since she
was six.
13. The house was very quiet when I got home.
Everybody ………..(go) to bed.
14. We……………………….(play) tennis for half an
hour when there was a terrible storm.
15. A: The match begins at 7.30 and ends at 9.15.
B: That is, at 8.30 we……………………..(watch)
it.
16. We………………………(wait) for no reason if our
lecturer does not come.
17. It’s been decided. I……………………(wed)
next week.
18. By the time you come back to work, I
………………….(type) the letter.
19. I …………… (Visit) many African cities.
20. Jim was leaning against the wall, out of breath.
He………………(run).
 UNIT 6: PLURAL OF NOUNS

(1) Types of nouns

(2) Rules regulating plural of nouns
 The plural of nouns is generally formed by adding –s to
the singular.
 Nouns ending in –s, -ss, -sh, -ch, or –x form their plural
by adding –es to the singular
• Most of verbs ending in –o also form the plural by
adding –es to the singular
• Note that we can say:
• Dynamo- dynamos
• Piano- pianos
• Photo- photos
• Radio- radios
• Commando- commandos
• Kimono- kimonos
• Kilo- kilos
 Nouns ending in –y preceded by a consonant
form their plural by changing –y into –I and
adding –es
Nouns ending in –f or –fe form their plural by
changing –f or –fe into –v and adding –es
 A few nouns form their plural by changing the
inside vowel of the singular.
There are a few nouns that form their plural by
adding –en to the singular
Note that:
a) Some nouns have the singular and the plural
alike.
b) Some nouns are used only in the plural.
c) Some nouns look plural but are in fact singular.
d) Abstract nouns have no plural. They are
uncountable. Here we can add on collective
nouns.
e) In compound nouns, the plural of the singular is
put on the most important word.
EXERCISES
Rewrite the sentences below in the plural forms
and make all possible changes.
a). I have a nice bag.
b). This boy does not know where she lives.
c). If she likes it, she can buy it.
d). That is my child with a radio and a potato.
e). My tooth is broken, I have to take it to
hospital.
f). My mother in law has a lot of money.
g). The man I saw was wearing a nice pair of
trousers.
h). Do you still remember the dress and the glass I
brought you on Monday?
i) The woman has met a sheep and a deer in the
bush.
2) Choose the right verb to go with the subject
a) This man (sings/sing) in my school’s choir.
b) His teeth (are/is) aching; he must go a dentist.
c) Those wives (need/needs) an urgent help from
all of us.
d) Mathematics (is/ are) not easy for most
students.
e) He told me that aesthetics (remain / remains) a
course he always dreams of studying.
f) Oh, he brought the family the news that
(was/were) truly expected.
g) The people here (thinks / think) on ways to
improve their living conditions.
h) The crossroads (has / have) been decorated due
to the coming event.
 ARTICLES
An article is a type of determiner that shows whether you are
referring to a particular thing or to a general example of
something.
• Articles are of two kinds: definite article (the), and
indefinite article (a/an).
• The form a is used before words that begin with a consonant
sound, as in:
– Buy me a pen.
– I need a yellow dress.
• The form an is used before words that begin with a vowel
sound, an in:
– He offered me an apple.
– She is an educated woman.
• Thus a is used before words beginning with a u
when they are pronounced with a y sound as
though it were a consonant, as in: a unit, a
unique kind, a usual happening, a universal
truth. Similarly, you can say a European city.
• The form an is also used, for example before
words beginning with the letter h where this is
not pronounced, as in: an hour, an honest man.
Uses of the definite article
“The” is mainly used:
• to refer back to a person or thing that has
already been mentioned, an in:
– The hunter looked up in a tree and saw a tiger.
The tiger was ready to jump at him.
• when it is clear which thing or person we
mean.
• For example, in a room we talk about the light,
the floor, the ceiling, the door, the curtains, the
carpet, etc.
• Example sentences:
– Can you turn on the light, please?(= the light in
this room)
– Where is the toilet, please?(=the toilet in this
building/house)
– I took a taxi to the station (= the station in this
town)
• (3)when we talk about a type of machine, an
invention, musical instruments, as in:
– The computer has led to the loss of many jobs.
– Do you play the guitar?
• (4) to indicate a person or thing to be the only one,
as in:
– The sun,
– The Bible,
– The White House,
• (5) instead of a possessive determiner to refer to
parts of the body, as in:
– She took him by the arm.
– The dog bit her on the leg.
• (6) in front of superlative adjectives, as in:
– It was the cheapest car we could find.
– She is the most beautiful woman of all.
• (7)with some nationality adjectives when you mean
‘the people of that country’, as in:
• The French are famous for their food. (= the French
people)
• Why do the English think they are so wonderful? (= the
English people)
• (8) with the names of newspapers, as in:
• The New Times, The Washington Post, The Evening
Standard,…
• Omission of ‘the’
• We do not normally use ‘the’ with the names of meals:
• But when there is an adjective before lunch, dinner,
…, we use a, as in:
• We had a very nice dinner.
• We do not use ‘the’ when we mean something in
general, as in:
• I love flowers. (= flowers in general, not a particular
group of flowers)
• I’m afraid of dogs.
• Doctors are paid more than teachers.
• We do not use ‘the’ with hospital, prison, school,
university, college, church when we are thinking of
the general idea of these places and what they are
used for.
– Jack had an accident a few days ago. He had to go
to hospital(= as a patient)
 – After finishing my secondary studies, I will go
to university. (= as a student)
– The criminal has been taken to prison. (= to be
jailed)
– I go to church every Saturday. (= to fellowship)
• But you can say:
– I went to the hospital to visit my sick mother.
– Mr. Ken went to the school to meet his
daughter’s teacher. (= he didn’t go there as a
pupil)
– The workmen went to the church to repair the
roof. (= they didn’t go to a religious service)
– Ken went to the prison to visit his brother. (=
he went as a visitor, not as a prisoner)
• Similarly we do not use ‘the’ with work,
bed, and home, as in:
– It’s time to go to bed.
– Tom is still in bed.
– Are you going to work?
• We do not use ‘the’ with names of
continents, countries, cities, lakes,
streets/roads/squares, airports, shops, hotels,
restaurants, banks, etc.
• So, you can say:
• Africa, Rwanda, London, Lake Victoria, Cromwell
Road, Kennedy Airport, Serena Hotel, Ecobank, ….
– Note that we say ‘the’ with names of countries and
states including ‘republic’, ‘union’, ‘kingdom’,
‘states’, as in:
• The Democratic Republic of Congo
• The Soviet Union
• The German Federal Republic
• The United States of America
• The United Kingdom
– We also use ‘the’ with plural names, as in:
• The Netherlands
•
• The Philippines
– We say ‘the’ before names of places, buildings,
etc. with of, as in:
• The Bank of Kigali
• The Bank of England
• The Tower of London
• The House of Parliament
• Uses of the indefinite article
• We use a/an:
• When the listener does not know which thing we
mean, as in:
• Tom sat down on a chair. (= we don’t know which
chair)
• Ann is looking for a job. (= not a particular job)
• When we say what someone /something is,
as in:
• Sylvain is a lecturer.
• A dog is an animal.
• What a lovely dress!
• We say once a week/ three times a month/
Rwf 10 a kilo, etc.
• I go to the cinema twice a week.
• These potatoes are Rwf 200 a kilo.
• She works eight hours a day.
 UNIT 10: PRONOUNS

Definition and Role

A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun or a
noun phrase. It is, therefore, used instead of a noun
or noun phrase to prevent repetition.
Kinds of pronouns
We can distinguish nine kinds of pronouns: personal
pronouns, possessive pronouns, reciprocal
pronouns, reflexive pronouns, demonstrative
pronouns, relative pronouns, distributive
pronouns, indefinite pronouns, and interrogative
pronouns.
• Personal pronouns
A personal pronoun is used to refer back to
someone or something that has already been
mentioned.
The personal pronouns are divided into
subject pronouns (I, you, he, she, it, we&
they), and object pronouns (me, you, him, her,
it, us, & them).
Example sentences with subject and object
pronouns
Singular form:
– I have taught English in this university for seven
years. Most of my students appreciate me.
– You speak very fast. None of us can keep up with
you.
– He works hard, that’s why his boss likes him.
– She was not ready when I went to pick her.
– It doesn’t work properly. Can help me repair it?
Plural form:
– We have taught in this university for seven years.
Most of our students appreciate us.
– You speak very fast. None of us can keep up with
you.
– They work hard, that’s why their boss appreciates
them.
– They were not ready when I went to pick them.
– They don’t work properly. Can help me repair
them?
Possessive pronouns
These are used to refer to a specific
person/people or thing/things ( known as the
antecedent) belonging to a person/people, and
sometimes belonging to an animal/animals or a
thing/things.
Possessive pronouns are: mine, yours, his, hers,
ours, and theirs
Example sentences with possessive pronouns:
Singular form:
These are my books. They are really mine.
Don’t take this pen. Just use yours.
This is my pen, and not his.
John found his clothes, but Mary couldn’t find hers.
Plural form:
These are our books. They are really ours.
Don’t take these pens. Just use yours.
These are our pens, and not theirs.
John and Peter found their clothes, but Mary and Agnes
couldn’t find theirs.
Reciprocal pronouns
A reciprocal pronoun is used to convey the idea
of reciprocity or a two-way relationship.
The reciprocal pronouns are: “each other” and
“one another”.
Examples include:

We must try to help each other.

They don’t love each other.
Peter and David seem to hate each other.
The two families are always criticizing each
other.
The members of the family blame one another
for their mother’s death.
Look at those kids. They are beating each other.
Reflexive pronouns
A reflective pronoun is a pronoun that ends in
“-self” or “-selves” and refers back to a noun or
pronoun that has occurred in the same
sentence.
The reflexive pronouns include: “myself”,
“yourself”, “himself”, “herself”, “itself”,
“ourselves”, “yourselves”, and “themselves”.
Some example sentences:

This morning, I cut myself shaving.

The children washed themselves, and then
went straight to bed.
Pay attention with that knife, else you will hurt
yourself.
Karake has cured himself of his bad habit
• Point to remember
– Reflexive pronouns are sometimes used for emphasis, as
in:
The headmaster himself punished the boys.
The movie itself was not interesting.
The mayor himself promised to support our club.
– Reflexive pronouns can also be used to indicate that
something has been done by someone by his/her own
efforts without any help, as in:

I did the assignment myself. (i.e. nobody helped me do

it)
Eric built the house himself.
Demonstrative pronouns
A demonstrative pronoun is used to show, indicate things or
people in relationship to the speaker or writer in place or
time.
The demonstrative pronouns are: this, these, that, and
those.

Example sentences:
I’d like to give you this.
What’s that?
These are interesting books.
Those are not his shoes.
Relative pronouns
A relative pronoun is a pronoun used to introduce a relative clause. In
other words, a relative pronoun refers back to a noun or noun phrase
(i.e. antecedent) in the main clause.
The main relative pronouns are: who, whom, whose, which and that.

Example sentences:

There is the man who stole my money.

She is the person to whom I gave the money.
This is the man whose wife won the prize.
They criticized the work which I had done.
That’s the house that I would like to buy.
That’s the boy that I wish to marry
Indefinite pronouns

These are used to refer to people or things without

being specific as to exactly who or what they are. They
include: everyone, everybody, everything, anyone,
anybody, someone, something, and no one, nobody,
nothing, as in:
Everyone is to make a contribution.
Anyone can enter.
Nobody cares about us.
Something will be done
Interrogative pronouns

These are pronouns used to ask a question, as in:

Who asked you to do that?
Who broke the vase?
What did they say?
What happened next?
Whose are those books?
Whose is that old car?
To whom was that remark addressed?
To whom did you talk to?
Which of my sons insulted you?
Practice exercise
Complete with the most suitable pronouns, as required by the
context:
• The wild monkey looked at………………..in the mirror.
• We stay with our elder sister. She takes a good care of……….
• Jack and John were happy to meet ……………..
• Are you the man………….son won the prize?
• …………..of these three books do you like most?
• The trains were late, ……….had been delayed.
• Paul and……..are good friends. We got to know each other in 1995.
• I visited several towns, but………..of them was clean
Replace the underlined word or groups of words with a
personal pronoun

• Mary has gone to Byumba.

• You and I are good friends.
• I will speak to all the students in the afternoon.
• The teachers have bought books and rulers.
• Where did you put my bag?
• Rwanda is a country.
• Bakame, the Hare, wanted to meet all the animals in the
bush.
• There are five fingers on my hand.
• Burundi and Uganda are some African countries.
• This hen and that dove have the same colour
 ADJECTIVES

What is meant by the word adjective?

An adjective is a word that describes or gives
information about a noun or pronoun. It is said to
qualify a noun or pronoun since it limits the word
it describes in some way, by making it more
specific.
Types of adjectives
Descriptive Adjectives, Quantitative Adjectives,
Proper Adjectives, Demonstrative Adjectives,
Possessive Adjectives, Interrogative Adjectives,
Indefinite Adjectives.
What do adjectives tell us about?
• Position of adjectives
• The adjective is placed immediately before the noun
that it qualifies
• After verbs like “to be”, “to seem”, “to look”, “to taste”
• Formation of adjectives
– Many adjectives are formed from either the past
participles of verbs, and so end in –ed, or from the
present participles and so end in –ing.
• Examples of adjectives ending in –ed include: annoyed,
blackened, jailed, damaged, developed, coloured,
guarded,….
• Examples of adjectives ending in –ing
include: amusing, interesting, horrifying,
worrying, satisfying, amazing,…
Other suffix
es are: –ful, -less, -y, -able, -ible, -ous, -
en
 DEGREES OF COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES
 Positive degree
Comparative degree
 Equality
 For all adjectives (short/long) the rules is: as +
adj + as.
 Superiority
 For short adjectives (i.e. adjectives of one or
two syllables), the rule is: adj + er + than
 For long adjectives (i.e. adjectives of three or
more syllables), the rule is: more + adj. + than
 Inferiority
 For all adjectives, the rule is: less + adj. + than
Superlative degree
 For short adjectives, the rule is: the + adj. + est
 For long adjectives, the rule is: the + most +
adj.
• POINTS TO NOTE
 Certain adjective are irregular. That is, they do
not apply to the rules mentioned previously.
• Positive Comparative Superlative
• Good Better Best
• Bad Worse Worst
• Far Farther/Further Farthest/Furthest
• Little Less Least
• Many/much More Most
 Inferior, superior, prior, anterior, posterior,
senior, and junior used as comparative
adjectives are followed by to instead of than
 The rules mentioned previously can be
applied to adverbs. So, you can say, for
instance :
• John speaks quickly.( Positive)
• John speaks more quickly than I do.
(Comparative)
• John ran the fastest. ( Superlative)
• Peter works harder than Alice. ( Comparative)
Write the adjective in its correct form
a. DR Congo is (big) country in Central Africa.
b. My uncle Matama is (young) than your sister
Ellen.
c. The Nile is (long) River In Africa.
d. Paul is (old) as me.
e. Do you think Maths is (interesting) course in
your life?
f. In geography, they believe that (high) you climb,
the (cool) it becomes.
g. (more) you study, (good) marks you get in
exams.
 PREPOSITIONS
What is a preposition?
A preposition is a word that relates two elements of a
sentence, clause or phrase together. Prepositions
show how the elements relate in time or space and
generally precede the words that they govern.
Words governed by prepositions are nouns or
pronouns.
Prepositions are often very short words, as: at, in, on,
to, before, and after. Some other prepositions
consist of more than one word, as: instead of, in
place of, in accordance with, in addition to, with
reference to, ahead of,…
Prepositions often confused
– At or To
At is used to denote position or rest.
e.g. Mugabo is at school now.
Mother is at home.
To is used to denote movement from one place to
another.
e.g. Mugabo is going to school.
The goats went to the forest in search of food and
water.
• However, do not use to when the word home is
referred to.
 –In and Into
• In is used to denote position or rest inside
something.
e.g. We’re in the classroom.
• Sister Ann is in the garden
• Into is used to denote movement towards the
inside of something.
e.g. The students are walking into the hall.
The thugs got into the forest and disappeared.
• N.B.: Do not use into after the verb to enter.
• I entered his office (not I entered into his office).
• At and In
While At is used for small places, In is used for
big places (towns, cities, districts, provinces,
countries, etc.).
• e.g. I live at Nyundo.
• I was born in Kigali.
Uses of prepositions after adjectives
• Angry / annoyed / furious about something
• OR with somebody for doing something.
• What are you so angry about ?
• Our teacher is angry with us …
• Happy / Delighted / Pleased / Satisfied with
• e.g. You should be satisfied with what God
gave you.
• I’m happy with you.
• 3.Different from
• e.g. People are different from one another.
• 4. Disappointed with
• e.g. I’m very disappointed with your exam
results.
• 5. Good / excellent / brilliant at
• e.g. I am not good at sciences.
• You can also say: bad at, quick at, slow at,
clever at ; but weak in.
• I’m good at languages, but very weak in
sciences.
Dependent on
• e.g. Children are dependent on their parents.
• But independent of
• I’m looking for a job so that I can be
independent of my elder brother.
Jealous / envious of
• e.g. Why are you so jealous of me ?
Interested in
• e.g. I wonder if you are interested in your
new job.
Married to
• e.g. Sarah is married to a rich man.
Capable of
e.g. I’m sure, he’s capable of doing this job.
But we say ‘able to’.
Crazy about
e.g. Teaching is my life. I’m crazy about it.
Crowded with
• e.g. Yesterday, Gisenyi was crowded with
tourists from all over the world.
Full of
• e.g. Your composition is full of mistakes.
• But filled with
• e.g. This jag is filled with oil.
Similar to
• e.g. Your handwriting is similar to mine.
Tired of
• e.g. I’m tired of waiting.
Sorry for
• e.g. I’m so sorry for what happened to you.
• Sorry for disturbing you.
•
• 17. Worried about
• e.g. I’m worried about my future.
•
• 15.3 Uses of prepositions after verbs
• Apologise ( to someone) for sth
• e.g. I do apologise to you for offending
you in public.
 • Apply for
• e.g. I think you’d be good at this job. So,
why don’t you apply for it ?
• 3) Concentrate on
• e.g. Stop lecturing me. I’m concentrating
on my assignment.
• Depend on
• e.g. A : What time will you arrive ?
• B : It will depend on the traffic.
• Insist on
• e.g. The headmaster insisted on the fact that we
should use French or
• English on the Campus.
• Dream about / of
• e.g. I dreamt about you last night.
• Have you ever dreamt of becoming a
lecturer?
• Think about / of
• e.g. I think about you every single
minute of my life.
• Thank for
• e.g. Thank you for joining us.
• Congratulate on sth / for doing sth.
• e.g. I congratulate you on your
appointment.
• I congratulate you for having done
well in the exam.
• Live on
• e.g. Many birds live on insects.
• Prefer to
• e.g. I prefer tea to coffee.
• Borrow from.
• e.g. I borrowed this book from the NUR
main Library.
• Die of
• e.g. Bob Marley died of cancer.
• Spend on
• e.g. It’s silly of you to spend your money
on useless things.
• Aim at
• e.g. This course aims at helping you
improve and develop your English skills.
• Divide / split into
• e.g. Divide this chalk into 3 pieces .
• Split those students (up) into 2 groups.
• Buy from
• e.g. I bought this book from that Library.
The following verbs do not take prepositions:
• To access , To address, To answer, To ask, To
approach,
• To enter ( = go into), To discuss, To leave
(depart from), To obey ( act according to), To
reach, (arrive at), To resemble (= to be
similar to), To tell (to say to)
 ACTIVE AND PASSIVE MODES
 General information about the form of the passive
voice
 Be in tense of A.V + Past participle of the verb
• Examples:
• A.V: Mother cleans my room every morning.
• P.V: My room is cleaned every morning (by mother).
• A.V: Asoumpta is reading a book.
• P.V: A book is being read (by Asoumpta).
• A.V: Does she help her parents?
• P.V: Are her parents helped (by her)?
• A.V: Did they sing that song?
• P.V: Was that song sung (by them)?
• Note that sentences expressing commands apply
to the structure:
• Let……. Be + past participle.
• e.g. A.V: Close the door.
• P.V: Let the door be closed.
Change the following into passive voice:
• The teller is going to cash your cheque.
• He has ordered the bank to pay.
• After I have made an entry, I’ll give you your money.
• Should the government reduce taxes? What’s your
view?
• Did Mr. Ken open a bank account yesterday?
• They are expecting to pay you back tomorrow.
• Someone took my pen.
• No one had eaten my food.
• Mary does not like music.
• We pointed at him.
 QUESTION TAGS AND COMMENT
QUESTIONS
 Question tags
These are short additions to the end of statements,
used to ask for confirmation of the truth of the
statements.
Examples:
• It’s hot in here, isn’t it ?
• You are weak in languages, aren’t you?
• John can’t ride, can he?
• Rules :
• Positive statement Negative question-tag
Peter likes his job, doesn’t he? (I assume Peter
likes his job. Am I right?)
• Negative statement Positive question tag
They have not informed you, have they?

• More about question tags

• The subject of the tag is always a pronoun.
e.g. Murego is kind to everybody, isn’t he ? (not
isn’t Murego?)
• Note that you can say :
There’s a lot of water in the tank, isn’t there?
• If the subject of the sentence is someone,
somebody, anybody, anyone, no-one, nobody,
none neither, …, we use the pronoun they as
subject of the tag.
e.g. Somebody is knocking on the door, aren’t they?
• Statements containing words like no, none,
nobody, scarcely, rarely, hardly, seldom, never,
neither, …, are treated as negative statements
and are thus followed by a positive tag.
e.g. No-one passed the exam, did they?
• She never pays us a visit, does she?
• Nobody will find out the truth, will they?
• After “Let’s….”, the question tag is shall we?
e.g. Let’s go out for a short walk, shall we?
• Let’s not wait again, shall we?
After an imperative sentence expressing an
order or a request, the tag is will you ?
e.g. Open the window, will you?
• Don’t befriend that guy, will you?
Note that we say “aren’t I ?” instead of
“amn’t I?”
• e.g. I’m your English teacher, aren’t
I?
• But you can say: I’m not your Biology
teacher, am I?
• It’s a waste of time / money
• Spend / waste time …
• Be busy.
• Look forward to
• It’s a waste of time / money
• Spend / waste time …
• Be busy.
• Look forward to
After certain verbs ( e.g. Stop, finish, risk ,
practice, see, hear, avoid, enjoy, mind, keep,
suggest, consider, delay, imagine, detest,
hate, like, dislike,…)

The infinitive

• 1 Infinitive with to

• (a) After such adjectives as difficult / hard /

impossible/ easy/ interesting, etc.
• (b) After adjectives expressing feeling, like
sorry / surprised / delighted /
• happy/glad/relieved….
• (c) After such words as the first / the second /
the next / the last.
• d) After such expressions as : It’s wise of
someone…, It’s silly of someone…,
• (e) After certain verbs, notably : decide,
want, try, promise, need, intend, remember,
forget, like, love, begin, plan, tend, pretend,
persuade, allow, seem, etc.
• (f) After question words, like what, how,
which…
• (g) To express the purpose.

• 2 INFINITIVE WITHOUT TO

• This is used:
• (a) After such verbs as: let, make, dare, bid,
ask, recommend, order, need,
• see, hear, help
• (b) After will / would / shall / should/can /
could/ may/might/must
• (c) After such expressions as : would rather,
had better, rather than,…
 RELATIVE CLAUSES AND APPOSITIVES

1. RELATIVE CLAUSES
• A relative clause is a subordinate clause that
has the function of an adjective. It is
introduced by a relative pronoun.
• Look at the following sentences:
• The young man who was here a little while
ago is the President of the student’s union.
• That is the house that I would like to buy.
• She is the only lady that I love.
• The people whom we met on holiday were French.
• She is the person to whom I gave the money.
• The house which they are renting is very small.
• N.B. When the adjectival clause defines a place,
time or reason, we use where, when and why in
place of the relative pronoun.
• e.g. We visited the house where Gandhi was born.
• At the time when prices are high, we must
minimize our expenditures.
• Could you tell me the reason why he has resigned?
•
• Note also that the possessive form whose
can also introduce a relative clause.
• e.g. Here is the man whose house was
burgled.
• The woman whose daughter is ill is very
upset.
 2. APPOSITIVES
• An appositive is a word or a group of words
that tells more about the noun it follows.
• e.g. Robin, our class representative, planned the
party.
• ‘our class representative’ is an appositive.
• More examples:
• Our bus driver, Mr. Adams, won a safety award.
• I found this cat, a gray stray, on the porch.
• I take lessons from Mr. Cord, a music teacher.
• On my lucky day, Monday, I won a radio.
• Lyn bought along her favorite juice, orange.
• Another store, Will’s Market, opened today.
• Appositives can help you improve your
writing. Instead of writing, for instance:
• Our summer party was a barbecue. It was great
fun, you can use an appositive and write: Our
party, a barbecue, was great fun.
• Combine the sentences into one sentence with an
appositive.
1. My mother lost her favorite ring. It was a gift from her
great grandmother.
2. The Han River flows through Seoul. It is South Korea’s
second longest river.
3. The first man in space was from Russia. He was Yuri
Gagarin.
4. I sat beside Mr. Jones. He is a city policeman.
5. Jack’s dog sat beside a tree and panted. His dog is a big
black mutt.
6. Jenny loves to bake bread, cake and cookies. She is a
prize-winning baker.
 PAST PARTICIPLE CLAUSES
• Accompanied by his brother, Peter walked quickly
on his way to visit his grandmother who had been
bed-ridden for a year, weakened by a long illness.
• When he reached his grandmother’s compound,
she found no one about in the compound. All was
quiet. Convinced that his grandmother was dead,
Peter asked his brother to go into the hut and
check.
• Note that the past participle phrases are separated
from the main clause by a comma. Past participle
phrases are useful in combining single sentences in
compound sentences.
• Now look at the following sentences:
• Led by the police band, the procession marched along
the city streets.
• Convinced that he was the people’s favorite
candidate, the ex-member of Parliament did not
bother to campaign.
• Discouraged by my wife, I decided to drop out of
school.
• Interested in the lesson, all the students were all eyes
and all ears.
These sentences up are the results of the combination of
two clauses like in :
• (i) The procession marched along the city streets.
. Combine each of the following pairs of sentences
I

in one sentence containing an appositive.

• A college of education is worth pursuing. It is a
dream of many.
• He is going to play his favorite game. His favorite
game is chess.
• Esther is my best friend in the world. She is setting
off for America next month.
• My brother is a chess champion. His name is
Franklin.
• The students raised money for a good cause. They
raised money to help the poor.
• Join each of the following pairs of
sentences to add a relative clause to its
corresponding main clause.
• What is the name of that girl? Her mother
died yesterday.
• I don’t know the center. That center may
have a garage.
• Paul is the blind boy. He caught the bird.
• Richard has got a car. It goes fast.
• This is the man. I gave money to this man
this morning.
Combine each of the following pairs of sentences in one
sentence introduced by a past participle phrase
• We were defeated by RTUC debate club. We quit the
competitions.
• The doctor told my sister that her HIV status was negative.
She sighed with relief.
• We were tired of waiting. We decided to leave.
• Peter was convinced that he was the right person for the job.
He did not bother to apply.
• The police watched me all the time. I could not escape.
• My boss sent for me. I left at once.
• The examiners were satisfied with my answers. They nodded
their heads.
• My wife mistreated her. She decided to go back to her parents.
 INVERSION OF SUBJECT
This is the reversal of the usual word order. It
particularly refers to subjects and verbs.
SOME USES OF INVERSION
1. Inversion is used in questions (an auxiliary
verb is usually put in front of the subject and
the rest of the verb after the subject).
• e.g. Are you going to see her?
• Have they inspected the goods yet?
• Did he commit the crime?
• 2. Inversion is used in conditional clauses that are not
introduced by conjunction.
• e.g. Should we abandon the plan, we will ring you
tonight (-If we abandon the plan, we will ring you
tonight)
• Were he a weak character, he would break down. (- If he
were a weak character, he would break down.)
• Had it not been for Peter, I would have collapsed. (- I
would have collapsed, if it had not been for Peter.)
• Had you arrived earlier you would have got a meal. (- If
you had arrived earlier, you would have got a meal.)
• Had we some more money we could do more for the
refugees. (- We could have done more for the refugees if
we had some more money.)
. Inversion used in negative statements.
3

• When hardly, no sooner, not only, rarely, seldom,

scarcely, never, under no circumstances, only, etc come at
the beginning of a sentence, inversion must be used. This
use in negative sentences is rater formal.
e.g.
a. We had hardly settled in Mexico when I got an attack of
measles.
b. Hardly had we settled in Mexico when I had an attack
of measles.

a. I had no sooner spoken to her than I realized that my

knowledge of French was faulty.
b. No sooner had I spoken to her than I realized that my
knowledge of French was faulty.
• a. The teacher was not only strict with us, but she was
also very supportive.
• b. Not only was the teacher strict with us, but she
was also very supportive.
• a. We had rarely had time to admire the beauty of the
countryside.
• b. Rarely had we had the time to admire the beauty
of the countryside.
• a. I have seldom witnessed such an act of selfishness.
• b. Seldom have I witnessed such an act of
selfishness.
• a. She had never experienced such pain.
• b. Never had she experienced such pain.
• a. He would under no circumstances accept the changes
suggested.
• b. Under no circumstances would he accept the
changes suggested.
• a. You only realize the beauty of hard work by devoting
yourself to your work.
• b. Only by devoting yourself to your work do you
realize the beauty of hard work.
• a. He was scarcely out of the room when his name
became the subject of the next gossip.
• b. Scarcely was he out of the room that his name
became the subject of the next gossip.
• 4. Inversion frequently involves adverbial
clauses of place
• e.g.
• -Beyond the town stretched field after field.
• -Above them soared the eagle.
• -Along the driveway grew multitudes of
daffodils.
• -Into the flood went all my certificates.
• -Out of the house comes an old man, waving a
walking-stick.
• Note
• Generally, inversion is considered as a stylistic
device, whether in oral or written language.
• Types 1 and 2 are more commonly used than
types 3 and 4, the latter two being more
common in written English where they are used
for emphasis. These two sound unusual when
brought into conversation and the sentences in
which they are used sound mechanical and
bookish.
• DISCUSSION TOPICS
• Here are the topics, discuss them and get ready to present
1. Conspiracy is a very common form of political behaviour.
2. Drinking and driving is dangerous to yourself and others.
3. Passive smoking is equally harmful.
4. City curfews help to prevent juvenile crime and to protect
youth from victimization.
5. Gambling should be allowed from the age of sixteen.
6. It is important to hold value in what you argue.
7. Should schools distribute condoms?
8. Life imprisonment is a good alternative to capital punishment.
9. Affirmative action draws people to work they never
considered before.
10. Female presidents are more powerful than the male.
 CONJUNCTIONS
Conjunctions are words that join two or more
words, groups of words or sentences. They are of
two types: coordinating and subordinating.
1. Coordinating conjunctions (coordinators)
There are single and correlative conjunctions.
Single coordinating conjunctions are: and, or, nor
whereas correlations are:
- not only …….. but also
- Both …………and
- Either………or
- whether ………….or
- Neither …………… nor
Note that these conjunctions join words or groups
of words of the same nature.
2. Subordinating conjunctions
These conjunctions are to connect clauses. They
can be used to introduce causes, time, reasons,
oppositions, manners, etc. they can be the
following: when, while, once, if, however,
whatever, no sooner ……. Than, scarcely
……..when, despite/ in spite, after, before,
because, etc.
 Lena had scarcely got through the door when
the phone rang. It was Mrs Bate.
No sooner had I finished my meal than I
started feeling thirsty.
Although she was unwell, she ran the race.
I was hungry, so I went to the kitchen.
However hard this exercise is, we shall work
on it.
Whatever tragic that movie is, she enjoys
watching it.
I. Complete the sentences below with the appropriate
subordinators.
a) We will have to wait ….. the rain stops.
b) They ran ……. a wild dog were after them.
c) The police knocked on the door, …. the thief did not answer.
d) …. you know where he lives, why don’t you show me his
house?
e) …….. intelligent you may be, you must study your lessons.
f) ……..hard she works, she won’t pass the exam.
g) ……. some people say that industry should be developed,
others insist on the importance of agriculture.
h) They earned ….. low wages in town …. they preferred to
return to
their village.
II. Combine the following pairs of statements with
the appropriate subordinators.
(a) He was very sick. He could not take the exam.
(b) I was studying my history lesson. At the same
time my friend was making a noise outside.
(c) It was very disturbing. I asked them to stop.
(d) They heard me. They did not stop making a
noise.
(e) I could say something. They laughed at me.
(f) They saw the headmaster coming with me. They
stopped making a noise immediately.
 COMPOSITION WRITING
WRITING SENTENCES
e.g: Rwanda is a beautiful country.
• John loves Mary.
• Mixed lemon juice and water. Not a sentence
• Then the woman. Not a sentence
• She wrote a message on the paper. Sentence
• A sentence has two parts: subject and predicate.
• The subject of a sentence names someone or
something. When you write, vary the subjects of
your sentences.
• The predicate of a sentence tells what the
subject is or does. When you write, add variety
by using a different predicate in each sentence.
Examples:
• John is a good artist.
S P
• Claudien paints a picture.
S P
• Classification of sentences
• Classification 1
4 kinds of sentences:
• (1) Declarative or Assertive sentences (those
which make statements or assertions); as in:
• Peter fought bravely.
• They did not attend the meeting.
• (2) Interrogative sentences (those which ask
questions); as in:
• Where do you live?
• How often does Jane pay you a visit?
(3) Imperative sentences (those which express
commands, requests or
• entreaties); as in:
• Be quiet!
• Have merry upon us.
• (4) Exclamatory sentences (those which
express strong feelings); as in:
• How cold the night is!
• What a shame!
Classification 2
• Here, two kinds are distinguished:
• (1) Major sentences (sentences that contain at
least one subject and a finite verb); as in:
• We are going.
• They won.
• Note
• Major sentences frequently have more than this;
as in:
• They bought a car.
• They arrived yesterday.
• We are going away next week.
• Major sentences are sometimes described as
regular because they divide into certain
structural patterns: a subject, finite verb,
adverb or adverb clause, etc.
• (2) Minor/ irregular/ fragmentary sentences
• These include:
• Formula expressions such as ‘ Good morning’,
‘Bravo’ and ‘Well done’
• Short forms of longer expressions, as in
‘Traffic diverted’, ‘Shop closed’, ‘No dogs’
and ‘Flooding ahead’.
Such short expressions could be rephrased to
become major sentences, as in ‘Traffic has been
diverted because of roadwork’, ‘The shop is
closed on Sunday’, ‘The owner does not allow
dogs in her shop’ and ‘There was flooding ahead
on the motorway’.
Classification 3
• (1) Simple sentence
• This is a sentence that cannot be broken into other
clauses. It generally contains a subject and one
finite verb in the predicate. Simple sentences
include ‘The man stole the car’ and ‘He kicked the
ball’.
• (2) Compound sentence
• This is a type of sentence with more than one main
clause and linked by a coordinating conjunction,
such as ‘and’ or ‘but’, as in ‘He applied for the job
and got it’ and ‘I went to the cinema but I did not
like the film’.
• More examples:
• John worked hard and he passed in the first division.
• You may go home or read in the library.
• You may either stay in a hotel or stay with a relative
of yours.
• The old man could neither read nor write.
• (3) Complex sentence
• This is a type of sentence in which there is a main
clause and one or more subordinate clauses.
• e.g.
• The sentence ‘We went to visit him although he had
bee unfriendly to us’ is a complex sentence since it is
composed of a main clause ( ‘We went to see him’)
and one subordinate clause (‘although he had been
unfriendly to us’).
• More examples:
• If you have flown a kite, you will know that it goes up
to the air when you pull it against the wind.
• We visited the house where Gandhi was born.
WRITING A PARAGRAPH
• What is a paragraph?
• A paragraph is a group of sentences that relate to
one main idea in a coherent logical sequence.
• Often a paragraph contains a sentence that tells
what the main idea of the paragraph is. This is
called the topic sentence. The other sentences give
supporting details about the main idea.
Paragraphs can be short or long. However they
always have a beginning, middle and an end.
Parts of the paragraph are: a title, the topic sentence,
supporting ideas, concluding or closing
sentence.
Topic/Support/Conclusion model is the standard for paragraph
writing.

1. The Topic Sentence tells the reader exactly what the paragraph
will be about.

2. The Supporting sentences are the muscle of the paragraph. They

provide the hard facts that relate to the paragraph’s Claim or Topic
Sentence.

3. The Conclusion re-states the claim in a different manner that also

“wraps” it up into a nice neat package.

If you follow these three easy steps (Topic/Support/Conclusion),

your paragraphs will be easily understood.
 Man’s Best Friend
It is often remarked that throughout history, a dog is
man’s best friend. For centuries, man has kept a dog by
his side- as pets, as guards, and as friends. Dogs have
proven to be very loyal. A dog will never abandon his
master and will often do anything to protect him. The
bond shared between dog and man is deep. While a
dog depends on man for food, water and affection, man
depends on dog for protection and companionship.
This bond is so strong that sometimes dogs do not eat
or drink, if their master is unwell. There several books
and movies that document this unique relationship
between man and dog. Scores of years pass by and
things change, yet dog remains man’s best friend.
STEPS OF WRITING A PARAGRAPH
• Step One: Choose a topic
• Step Two: Write your paragraph
• Step Three: Revise your paragraph
• Step Four: Proofread your paragraph
• Step Five: Make a final copy to share