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4.0 PHRASAL VERBS:
These are the combination of two word classes for a single meaning: in most cases the formulae for phrasal verbs are:
Verb + Preposition = Phrasal verb
(a) Kick + off = k i c k - o f f (starts)
(b) walk + out = w a l k - o u t (abandon)
(c) round + off = r o u n d - o f f (conclude)
(d) round + up = r o u n d - u p (capture)
(e) take + after = t a k e - a f t e r (resemble)

Adjective + preposition = phrasal verb
(a) Warm + up = w a r m - u p (prepare)
(b) Tidy + up = Tidy – up (clean)
(c) Slow + down = Slow – down (delay)

Noun + Preposition = phrasal verb
(a) Book + in = Book – in (registered)
(b) Iron + out = Iron – out (solve / resolve)
Note: If the combination can be translated literally, it is not a phrasal verb. It must be idiomatic i.e. it must have a hidden meaning. The meaning should not be on the surface.

Consider the following examples
1. The man ran down the street (S P A C Structure)
2. The man ran down his business (S P C Structure)
Example 1 is a straightforward verb + adverb (ran + down) the verb (ran) representing the action while the adverb (down) pointing to the place/ direction of the action.
Example 2 is a phrasal verb that combine (vb + prep) to mean ruin.

5.0 USE OF PREPOSITION:
Prepositions look very simple but difficult to determine or understand when it comes to making choices of
them. Prepositions are defined as words that help to show the relationship between Nouns or Pronouns in a sentence. e.g.
1. The book is on the desk
2. The book is under the desk
3. The book is inside the desk
4. The book is beside the desk
5. The book is above the desk
The words in italics above look so simple but they effected a change in the meaning of each of the sentences in which they appear. Preposition can be classified functionally as follows:

(a) To indicate position or place
1. He is at home
2. The plane is in the sky
3. The boat is above the water

(b) To show direction or movement
1. They are travelling to America
2. We are moving from our house
3. He is running after the cat
4. She is going toward the hostel

(c) To indicate location
1. He lives in Lagos (if you know where he stays there)
2. He lives at Aguda (if you don’t know where exactly)
3. He lectures at the University of Lagos. (General)
4. He lectures in the Faculty of Art (more specific)

(d) To express the purpose for an action
1. I am saving towards an investment
2. You should listen for the sake of your children

(e) To indicate the manner or style of doing something
1. The book is fashioned after Achebe
2. He spoke with anger
3. She destroyed the goods in annoyance

(f) To give an idea of time / duration
1. The meeting did not hold for three days
2. They will not come till next week
(g) To indicate extent of space or distance
1. He travelled for two days and night
2. They are putting 12,000 kilometres of road under construction

(h) To indicate antagonism or opposition
1. Ali fought with Bassey
2. Hogan contested against the warriors

(i) To indicate ownership or origin
1. I am the son of Elijah
2. This book is written by Sola Agunbiade

(j) To indicate “IN SPITE OF”
1. He did not win the contract after all his effort
2. I love you with all your weakness
3. I still like the game for the dangers involved

(k) To express goodwill
1. I congratulate you on your new appointment
2. I commend you for your patience
3. I want you to be at your best tomorrow
These are few of the functions of prepositions and you will notice that some prepositions perform more than three or more of these functions. The choice of one over another is a matter of appropriateness in the context in which they are used.

MORE ABOUT PREPOSITIONS
Historically, some English prepositions started off as phrases: for example:
in to = into
on to = onto
a cross = across
be side = beside
Some English prepositions today are made up of more than one word and they are referred to as complex prepositions.
Examples are as follows:
along with, in search of, apart from, in accordance with
aside from, owing to, as for, due to, away from, but for, in charge of, because of, in view of, by means of, in need of, in lieu of, in line with, in favour of, in face of, in respect of, by dint of, with respect to, instead of, up to, in case of, with reference to, in spite of, by virtue of, on behalf of etc.
(a) He attended the meeting on behalf of his director
(b) I write with reference to your advertisement
(c) She got a first class degree by dint of hard work
(d) The party held in spite of the curfew
(e) He is the officer in charge of homicide

CHOOSING A PREPOSITION
Prepositions have different meanings because they indicate many relationships other than those involving time, movement, direction and place. For example
(a) We are in the class / we are in luck
(b) We are under the tree / we are under attack
(c) She acted on the stage / she acted on my advice

‘AT’, ‘ON’ and ‘IN’ for instance, are used for expressing time.
At is mainly used for points of time i.e. clock time or period.
At 2 0’ clock
At noon
At night
At the time
At that time
At Christmas
At Easter

On is used for the exact day and date
On Monday
On June 12
On Tuesday morning
On the following afternoon

In is used for period of time
In the evening
In December
In summer
In 1980
In the 17th Century

The following can also be used for time relation
By 10 0’clock
During Easter
Until evening
Throughout weekend
Before Sunday
After Christmas
Apart from the instances above, the preposition AT can be used in various other forms to convey different lexical meanings in different contexts. Here are some
examples:
1. She is at it again (gone back to her old ways)
2. The drug baron is ill at ease (uncomfortable)
3. They are at dagger’s drawn (enemies)
4. You are at fault (blamable)
5. They are at work (busy)
6. The madman snatched at my tie (reach for)
7. We shall meet at Phillip (place)
8. Do keep him at arm’s length (distance)
9. Come in at the other gate (direction)
10. He gained admission at twelve (age)
11. He passed UME at the second attempt (occasion)
12. I am not good at mathematics (knowledgeable in)
13. I was at sea in the meeting (lost/ didn’t understand).
14. At best; at least; at worst (with superlative)

On can be used in different other ways than has been stated.
1. Do you have any money on you (possess)
2. They are on course (right direction)
3. He will retire on a pension next year (live on)
4. The professor gave a lecture on AIDS (about)
5. Friday is on the staff of AP College (employed by)
6. We are not on speaking terms (unfriendly)
7. He went on holiday (away from work)
8. He is on sabbatical (leave of absence)

With when it means “in company of”, the structure that it is involved in takes a singular verb.
e.g.
(a) Jane, with her friends (is) coming to the party
(b) Rice with beans, (is) my best dish
(c) The man, with his wives and children (is) here

Since is used to designate “point of time”
e.g.
(a) He has being on admission since December
(b) They have not seen me since Monday

For is used to indicate “period or length of time”
(a) She has been here for three years
(b) The baby has been sleeping for three hours

Between is always used when speaking of two persons/things
(a) Share the food between the two boys
(b) The quarrel is between Ife and Modakeke

Among is usually used when speaking of more than two persons or things.
(a) Ethnic clashes are common among rural communities
(b) Jesus shared the bread among his disciples
Beside means “close to” “near” or “next to”
(a) The Director stood beside the Governor
(b) The chair is beside the table

Besides means “in addition to” or “apart from”
(a) I have a Master degree besides my B.A. Ed.
(b) He is the presidential flag-bearer besides, he has been re-elected to contest the next election

PREPOSITIONAL COLLOCATIONS
Some word classes (Adjectives and verbs) usually collocate with certain prepositions.
It is important to note them for the choice of preposition in such context.
ADJECTIVE + PREPOSITION ------VERB + PREPOSITION
Equal to, Superior to ---------cope with, d i s a g r e e with
Dependent on, Intent on -------boast of, e x c l u d e from
Afraid of, ignorant of --------beware of, differ from
Exempt from, ashamed of -------approve of, disapprove of
Accustomed to, addicted to---- agree with, die of(a person)
Used to, angry with----------- agree to, rely on(a proposal)
Similar to, different from---- agree upon(a plan) prefer to
Acquainted with indifferent to -aim at, deprive of
Guilty of, proud of -----------allude to, deprive of
Peculiar to, exposed to------- abstain from, associate with
Jealous of, full of, --------- object to, deter from
Envious of etc. ----------------p r o t e s t against, excel in -------------------------------comply with, consist of
-------------------------------protect from etc.

For instance, in the example below
Ayu has been in hospital ———— three months
(a) from (b) since (c) for (d) after (SSCE Nov. 1999:48)
The most appropriate answer is (c) which indicates time duration.

If the word AGO is added to the sentence
* Ayu has been in hospital __________three months ago
Option B will be the most appropriate

If the verbal group HAS BEEN is changed to DIED
* Ayu died in hospital ____________ three months
Option D will be the most appropriate
If the sentences is changed entirely into
* Ayu will be discharged ______the hospital after three months
Then option A will be relevant

6.0 USE OF PRONOUNS
Pronouns are substitutes for nouns (which are naming words). Whatever function a noun performs, a pronoun will do likewise. Whatever position a noun occupies, a pronoun will stand in.
e.g.
Olu is the captain – He is the captain
Olu gave Ade a book– He gave him a book
OR –
He gave him something
Olu and Ade are friends – T h e y are friends
Pronouns are classified into various categories, some of which are:
1. Personal – relating to persons
2. Demonstrative – used to illustrate
3. Interrogative – used to ask questions
4. Indefinite – endless/not specific in its reference
5. Reciprocal – complementary in its reference
Generally, pronouns are marked for the following:
1. Persons –
1st person (speaker),
2nd person (listener) and
3rd person (referent)

2. Number – singular or plural

3. Case – subject, object, possession, reflection/emphasis.
One or all of the above may relate to the different classes of pronouns as the case may be.

1. Personal Pronouns: These are marked for persons, number and case as shown in the table below.
PERSON -----CASE --------------------NUMBER
1st Person -------------------Singular ----Plural
-----------Subjective-----------I ---------We
-----------Objective------------Me---------Us
-----------Possessive 1---------My---------Our (Determiner)
-----------Possessive 2---------Mine-------Ours (Genitive)
-----------Reflexive &----------Myself-----Ourselves
-----------Emphatic

2nd Person-----CASE------------Singular-----Plural
-----------Subjective-----------You--------You
-----------Objective------------You--------You
-----------Possessive 1---------Your-------Your(Determiner)
-----------Possessive 2---------Yours------Yours (Genitive)
Reflexive &---------------------Yourself---Yourself
Emphatic

2nd Person-----CASE------------Singular-------Plural
----------------------------Mas. Fem. Neut.
-----------Subjective-------He---She—-It----They
-----------Objective--------Him—-Her—-It----Them
-----------Possessive1------His-—Her—-Its---Their(Determiner)
-----------Possessive 2-----His—-Hers—-Its--Theirs(Genitive)
Reflexive & ------------Himself—Herself-Itself--Themselves
Emphatic

POINTS TO NOTE ABOUT PERSONAL PRONOUNS
1. Subjective cases would normally function in subject position of a sentence. e.g.
(a) I go to school
(b) We are friends
(c) You are lazy
(d) He/she/it is friendly
(e) They are responsible

2. Objective cases would normally function in the object position of a sentence e.g.
(a) The teacher called me
(b) the man gave us money
(c) the girl invited you
(d) The baby liked it
(e) The boy wooed her

3. Subjective and objective cases are both used as subject complements e.g.
(a) It is I ____________ prescriptive Grammar, common usage
(b) It is Me _________ if the sentence ends there.
(c) It is I __________ if the sentence continues
as in
e.g. It is I who sent for you

4 In verbless sentence, the objective case is used e.g.
(a) Who goes there? Me
(b) Who is that? Me

5. Prepositions like ‘to’, ‘by’, ‘for’, ‘without’, ‘over’, ‘at’,
and ‘between! Usually take the objective case form. e.g.
(a) Between you and me
(b) They cannot do without him
(c) He took the egg from them
(d) Speak to us
(e) Stand by him
(f) Wait for them etc.

6. After “but” and “except” the objective case is used (where BUT has he meaning of EXCEPT).
(a) Everyone except him was happy
(b) Everyone was sad but me
(c) They all passed but/except her

7. If ‘than’ and ‘as’ are seen as conjunction with incomplete predicates, they require the subjective case form e.g.
(a) She is taller than he
(b) She is as clever as they
With complete predicates, we have
(a) She is taller than he is
(b) She is as clever as they are
But when ‘then and ‘as’ are interpreted as prepositions which require the objective case form, we have
(a) She is taller than him
(b) She is as cleaver as them

NB: The possessive case 1 (determiners) has no primary syntactic function in English without a Noun head. It is impossible to say * my is better
but we can say Mine is better. To use my therefore, we need a noun head as in my pen is better.
Others like Our, Your, Their, Her, His are not pronouns per se, because they cannot replace nouns but determiners, which help
to form Noun Phrases.

2. DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS
Demonstrative pronouns are marked only for number and range. They are used to point out a referent.
Singular Plural
1. This These
2. That Those
The members of (1) are for shot range
i.e. within reach while the members of (2) are for long range i.e. not within reach.
The members of (1) are for shot range i.e. within reach while the members of (2) are for long range i.e. not
within reach.
(a) This is the man - close / short range
(b) These are the men - close / short range
(c) That is the man - far / long range
(d) Those are the men - far / long range
They can also be used as demonstrative Adjectives as in
(a) This boy is wicked
(b) Those men were arrested

3. INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS
These pronouns have the same form as Relative Pronouns. They only differ in function. They are Interrogative when used in a question and Relative when used in place of a noun and joins two parts of a sentence. e.g.
Who are you _____Interrogative
I don’t know who stole the money _____Relative
WHO – Subjective
WHOM – Objective
WHOSE – Possessive
WHICH – Subjective & Objective(both personal & non-personal)
WHAT – Subjective & Objective (non personal)
e.g.
(a) Who is that – Subjective
(b) Whose is this house – Possessive
(c) Whom did you slap – Objective personal
(d) Which of you is Ade – Personal
(e) What is your opinion – non – personal

4. INDEFINITE PRONOUNS
They are used for nouns that are not clearly defined. They do not stand for any definite noun. Examples are:
Some, any, every, one
Someone, anyone, everyone, no one
Somebody, anybody, everybody, nobody
Something, anything, everything, nothing
All, few, both, none
Each, much, each one
Another, such, either

5. RECIPROCAL PRONOUNS
These are pronouns standing together and are complementary in their reference.
Each other - two people in complimentary reference
One another - three or more people of closed class/membership in
complimentary reference.
(a) Sola and Wunmi love each other (not themselves)
(b) Nigerians should love one another (open ended membership)
(c) The students love themselves (close membership)

6.0 CONCORD
Concord can be described as the relationship between two grammatical elements. It is the agreement of one part of a sentence with the other(s).

PRINCIPLES OF CONCORD
1. Grammatical – This conforms strictly with grammatical rules for instance, the idea of number (singular and plural).
2. Notional - This reckons more with the idea of meaning rather than grammar.
e.g. The man with his wife and children is here
The meaning behind husband, wife and children is one family though it looks like a plural subject.
3. Proximity - This reckons with the closest subject, having little or no regard for the farther ones.
e.g. Many (a man) is polygamous in nature
Neither they, nor (I) am to blame.

STRUCTURAL OCCURRENCE
1. Subject And Verb: A verb agrees with its subject both in number and in person. The subject of a sentence is either
singular of plural (number). Any verb in the present tense also agrees with its subject in person. For instance, the pronouns He, she, it and the nouns they stand for, are in the 3rd person
singular. Therefore, they add ‘s’ or ‘es’ as the case may be, to the base.
e.g.
He eats everyday
Ade kicks the ball
She drinks a lot
The girl catches the ball
The man tries to escape
Okocha passes the ball
It shows three colours, etc.
Subjects that refer to the speaker is in the 1st person, those that refer to the person spoken to (listener ), are in the 2nd person while those referring to the person or thing being talked about (referent) is in the 3rd person.
Verbs in the present tense do not add ‘s’ or ‘es’
• if the subject is 1st person singular or plural
• if the subject is 2nd person singular or plural
• if the subject is 3rd person plural
Below is an example of how a finite verb changes form in the present tense.

--------------Singular-------Plural
1st Person ----I do----------we do
2nd person ----You do--------You do
3rd person ----he does
---------------she does------They do
---------------it does
The contracted negative form of the verb “do” should also be treated accordingly.
--------------Singular-------Plural
1st Person ----I don’t-------we don’t
2nd person ----You don’t-----you don’t
3rd person ----He doesn’t
---------------She doesn’t---they don’t
---------------It doesn’t
The same goes for the verb Go
A phrase or clause in the position of subject count as singular for the purpose of Concord.
(a) How Ade and Kemi got here (is) a surprise
(b) Treating human beings as animals (is) criminal
(c) After the exam (is) the time to relax.
The logical explanation for this is that the phrase/clause can be substituted for the pronoun “IT”.

2. Linking Verb: A linking verb agrees with its subject. A linking verb joins its subject and a subject ‘completer’ that refer to the subject. In this case, the verb should agree with the subject and not the ‘completer’.
(a) He becomes the president
(b) They become the executives
(c) Paul is a part time student
(d) We are studious students
When “HERE” or “THERE” or any adverb indicating place or manner is in the subject position in front of the verb, the verb should agree with the following noun or pronoun
e.g.
(a) There remains a lot of work to be done
(b) Here lies the remains of the tyrant
(c) Here comes a letter for you
(d) There arises lots of opposition against him

3. The verb BE and HAVE, have special forms to show agreement with their subjects.
They do not change regularly like other verbs but their forms should agree with their subjects. Attention should be paid to matching the correct verb tense and form of BE and HAVE, both in
person and number.
BE (in the present tense) HAVE (in the present tense)
-----------Singular--Plural-------------Singular---Plural
1st Person I am------We are---1st Person I have----We have
2nd Person You are---You are--2nd Person You have--You have

3rd Person He is--------------3rd Person He has
-----------She is---they are-------------She has---they have
-----------It is ------------------------It has

BE (in the Past tense) HAVE (in the Past tense)
----------Singular----Plural------------Singular-----Plural
1st Pers. I was-------We were -1st Pers. I had--------We had
2nd Pers. You were----You were-2nd Pers. You had------You had
3rd Pers. He was --------------3rd Pers.-He had
----------She was-----they were----------She had------They had
----------it was-------------------------It had
The verbs BE and HAVE are used a great deal in English both as main verbs and as auxiliary verbs. e.g.
(a) I am a teacher – used as main verb
I am writing a book – used as auxiliary
(b) She has a car – used as main verb
She has bought a car – used as auxiliary

4. A compound subject joined by “AND” usually takes a plural verb e.g.
(a) Peter and Paul are friends
(b) Radio and Television have taken sports to millions of people
(c) Nigeria and Cameroon are in dispute over the Bakassi Pennisula
But a singular verb is used with conjoining which represents a single entity. e.g.
(a) Law and order is very important for the sustenance of democracy
(b) Bread and butter is good for breakfast.
(c) The goal-keeper of the Super Eagles and the team captain was Peter Rufai.
Expressions such as “in addition to”, “together with”, “along with”, “as well as” and “including” do not form compound subjects and must therefore take singular verbs e.g.
(a) Okoro together with his wives and children was at the meeting
(b) Johnson, as well as Tedlance, is coming to the party.
The main subject in (a) above is Okoro, while that of (b) is Johnson. The other combinations are extra “luggage” and the main subject should control the sentence.

5. When a compound subject is joined by “or”, “nor”, “either … or …”, “neither … nor …”, the verb agrees with the nearer subject in number (proximity) e.g.
(a) You or I am to report in the principal’s office.
(b) Jide nor Segun is not in the school
(c) Neither the proprietor nor his teachers were present at the conference
(d) Neither the directors nor the company secretary was present at the conference
(e) Either the governor or his aides were to welcome the visitors
(f) Either the governor or his aide was to welcome the visitors.
Note the differences in (c) & (d) and (e) & (f)

6. When a group of words come between the subject and the verb, the verb still agrees with the subject e.g.
(a) The coloured glass in these windows is lovely
(b) The best glass-makers in the city have worked on the building.
(c) A factory with many employees is a busy place.

7. Certain nouns and phrases that name quantity may appear to be plural, but they take singular verb.
(a) Period of time
(b) Amounts of money
(c) Measurement and weight
They are generally regarded as a single unit and must take singular verb e.g.
(a) No news is good news
(b) Fifteen years is a long time to wait
(c) One thousand Naira is small for a donation
(d) Ten miles is too far for a child to trek

8. Collective nouns are singular in form but may be singular or plural in meaning. For instance, class, army, club, team,
committee, jury etc.
Most of the time, a collective noun takes a singular verb e.g.
(ai) A new government has been formed
(bi) The ten-man committee is hereby constituted
(ci) The jury has submitted its verdict
However, a collective noun takes a plural verb when it is used to mean the separate members of the group e.g.
(aii) The committee were not unanimous in their decision
(bii) The jury have given their verdict on the murder case.
Note the consistency in (bi) and (aii) above and that of (ci) and (bii).
When the verb is singular, the pronoun should agree with it.
Indefinite pronouns that are singular in meaning take the singular form of the verb. For instance, one, every, each, no one, everyone, someone, everybody, etc., even when joined by and, they take singular verbs e.g.
(a) Each goat and each sheep has its place in the garden.
(b) Every book and magazine is coded in the library.
(c) No one wants to suffer.
(d) Neither of the air-conditioners is working.
(e) Everybody is responsible for his/ her success.
(f) All is well that ends well.
(g) Everything has turned upside down.

9. The Indefinite Pronoun “ All” “any” “most” “none” and “some” take either a singular or a Plural verb depending on the reference e.g.
(a) None are so deaf as those who will not listen.
(b) None is around to deliver the speech.
(c) None of the cattle were infected.
(d) All of this cattle was infected.

10. Nouns that are singular in meaning but Plural in form take singular verb, including title of books written in Plural form e.g.
(a) Physics is a science subject.
(b) Measles is a deadly disease.
(c) News travels fast in Nigerian campuses.
(d) Gulliver’s Travels is a fiction.
(e) Romeo and Juliet is a Shakespearean tragedy.
(f) The Canterbury Tales is quite interesting.

8.0 CONJUNCTIONS, CLAUSE MARKERS AND SENTENCE CONNECTORS.
Conjunctions are words that join words or group of words together. Group of words could be phrases, clause or sentence. e.g
Conjuction joining 2 nouns
Olu and Abu are friends
He knows Lagos and Abuja very well.
Conjuction joining a word and a phrase
Atiku and his friend will meet again
You or your brothers can do it.
Conjuction joining clauses
The man who stole the money and the boy that saw him have reported for interrogation.
I came to your house but did not meet you

Conjunction either links or binds together. When it links, the word or group of words must be of equal status.
When it binds, the word or group of words will be of unequal status.
For instance,
(a) Tolu or the captain is guilty_______ linker
(b) Tolu and the captain are guilty_____ linker
(c) Tolu came but the captain did not_______linker
(d) Tolu is guilty but was punished__________binder
(e) Tolu came and conquered __________binder
(f) She failed the exam because she was lazy________ linker
The point to note here is that a conjunction can be a linker and a binder depending on the capacity in which it operates. Some conjunctions are natural subordinators even when they link clauses of equal status.

TYPES OF CONJUNCTIONS AND MEANINGS
Conjunctions have some semantic relationships. The mathematical
representation used in this text will help to decode such semantic relationships.
1. CO-ORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS: They are natural linkers which join words, phrases and/or clauses together.
Examples are: and, but, or
AND 1+1 =2
BUT 1+1 =2 ( if it functions in a linking capacity)
OR 1 of 2 =1
e:g
(a) Chika and Ngozi are getting married.
1 + 1 = 2 (hence the choice of a plural verb)
(b) Tolu or the captain is guilty.
1 of 2 = 1 (hence the choice of a singular verb)
(a) Tolu cries but the captain does not
2 x ½ =1 (hence the choice of a singular verb)


SEMI – CO-ORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS:
These are conjunctions whose usage do not really join but particularly attaches to words or group of words.
They include as well as, much as, along with, rather then, more than.
They are appendages that are not regarded grammatically for the purpose of concord.
e.g.
(a) George, more than anyone else, is happy
1(0) =1(the verb choice is therefore singular)
(b) The principal, as well as the students is ready.
(Hence, a singular subject is chosen in agreement)
Jane, along with Tina has travelled.

2. CORRELLATING CONJUNCTIONS: These are conjunctions that works in pairs. They include: Either…. Or…. , Neither …Nor …, Both… And..., Not only… But …
e.g.
(a) Either the man or his wife is capable
2- 1 = 1 (i:e 1 out of 2) ½ score
(b) Neither the man nor his wives attended the party.
2– 2 = 0 ( i:e 2 out of 2 ) 0/2 score
(c) Both the teachers and the students run for safety
Not only the criminal but his lawyer was arrested.
(d) 1 1 = 1 ( i:e 2 but 1 a piece ).

3. SUB-ORDINATING CONJUNCTION: These are mostly binders and majority of them are naturally subordinate clause markers. They include: after, because, if, unless, although, when, while, since, etc.
• Refer to Adverbial clause markers in Section A*
(a) He came when the man died
The man died is ordinarily an Independent clause but has been
subordinated (by the time marker “when”) to the main clause “He came”.
Other subordinating conjunctions behave in the same manner, expressing relationship of time, place, manner, condition, purpose, etc.
(b) If it rains, I will not go out
(c) I came so that I may set you free
Another form of relationship between sentences is the connection between a previous thought, expression, idea or opinion and the present one. These are expressed by sentence connectors such as: however, nevertheless, after all, furthermore, on the other hand, consequently, etc.

NB: In the mathematical analysis above, all whole numbers represent subject of the sentence. ‘n’ represents the elements making up the subject position.
The Mathematical signs are not actually as used in Mathematics but a hypothetical analysis for the sake of understanding.

9.0 ADJECTIVES (USAGE AND ORDER)
Adjectives are defined as words which qualify, describe or supply further information about nouns, pronouns and their equivalents i.e. any other words class that can function as nouns or pronoun.


FORMATION OF ADJECTIVES
Adjectives are formed in different ways, some of which are:
1. By affixation
2. By inflection
3. By pre-modification
4. By variant
5. By dual formation

FORMATION BY AFFIXATION: These are formed by the addition of a suffix (elements added after) to the root word.
Examples of such suffixes are:
— ful: use + ful = useful
— less: hope + less = hopeless
— y: rain + y = rainy
— ly: live+ly = lively
— like: child + like = childlike
— ory: introduce + ory = introductory
— able: suit+ able = suitable
— ive: elect + ive = elective
— ible: fall + ible = fallible
— ous: courage + ous = courageous
— able count + able = countable
— al: fate + al = fatal , logic + al = logical
— ic: hygiene + ic = hygienic
— ical: irony + ical = ironical
— ish: child + ish = childish
— ant: import + ant = important

FORMATION BY INFLECTION: This is the addition of a suffix to form the comparative and superlative form of a given adjective.
The morpheme “-er” is added to form comparatives. The morpheme “-est” is added to form superlative
e.g.
Adjective Comparative Superlative
Short-----shorter-----shortest
Great-----greater-----greatest

FORMATION BY PRE-MODIFICATION: These are adjective whose comparative and superlative forms are derived from the addition of the pre-modifiers “more” and “most” respectively e.g.
Adjective Comparative Superlative
beautiful more beautiful most beautiful
disgraceful more disgraceful most disgraceful
FORMATION BY VARIATION: These are adjectives that have irregular pattern of formation for their comparative and superlative forms, thereby having a varied or different adjective in each
case.e.g.

Adjective--------Comparative Superlative
Bad/ill,/evil----worse-------worst
Good / well------better------best
Many/much--------more--------most

5. DUAL FORMATION: These are adjectives whose comparative and superlative formations are a combination (2) and (3) above i.e.
inflection and pre-modification e.g.
Adjective------Comparative------Superlative
Common---------commoner or------commonest or
---------------more common------most common
Handsome-------handsomer or-----handsomest or
---------------more handsome----most handsome
among others
NB: Some of these formations may look very awkward and unheard of, but they are nonetheless correct. Some adjectives cannot be compared because, logically they are already in a positive level of description.
e.g.
perfect
full
round
Note also, that an adjective does not accept an intensifier (very, too etc) plus comparative form at the same time. And it is wrong to use two comparative forms together.
*The child is very happier than the other - (wrong)
*This is more better than the other -(wrong )
• The child is very happy - no comparison
• The child is happier than the other - comparing two
•The child is the happiest of them all - comparing more than two

ADJECTIVES AND PARTICIPLES
You might have heard the expression “verbal adjectives” This explains the relationship of verb forms of words functioning as adjectives. These words appear with the “-ed” or “-ing” morpheme.
But instead of them functioning as verbs in the participle form, they become participial adjectives. e.g.
(a) Surprising:
He told a surprising story — participial adjective
The story is surprising — participial adjective
(b) Published:
He has various published works to his credit — participial adjective
other examples are:
...their crying babies
...the winning team
...the captured soldier
...the boiling water, etc.



ORDER OF ADJECTIVES
When two or more adjectives qualify a noun it is usually a problem of choice in the arrangement of the adjectives. There is a pattern of arrangement that should not be altered, if we are to have a perfect Noun phrase/clause. This problem of choice can
be handled in many ways.
(a) General Rules:
1. Noun or Nominal Adjectives come nearest to the headword (usually a Noun too) e.g. a female teacher - Nominal Adj. Noun (headword)
* female is a noun used as an adjective
2. Adjectives denoting the source of the headword comes next in line .e.g.
an African female teacher
3. Adjectives of colour appear next to source
e.g. a dark African female teacher
4. Adjectives of shape appear next to colour
e.g. a fat dark African female teacher
5. Adjectives of age come next to shape
e.g. a young fat dark African female teacher
6. Adjectives of size appear next to age
e.g. a tall, young, fat, dark African female teacher
-----8---7------6-----5----4-----3-------2-------1
The arrangement above must be in the labelled order. Any of the
slots could be missing, but the order must be retained. For instance, we can have:
8,7,4,3,2,1 a tall dark African female teacher
8,5,3,1 a fat African teacher
8,6,4,2,1 a young dark female teacher
In this analysis, you will notice that 8 and 1 are constant. 1 is constant as one of the two obligatory elements, the other being 8.
The formula below could also help in the order.
D Determiner (articles and pronouns)
O Ordinal (number and numerals)
E Epithet (adjectives)
N Nominal (Noun/headword)
This arrangement should not be altered as well, even when a slot is missing.

A ten-man committee(DON)
Two beautiful ladies (OEN)
The general rules have adequately taken care of Determiner position and Nominal position i.e. obligatory 1 and 8.
The position of ordinal was not taken care of in the general rule but the DOEN formula has accounted for it. The general rules have taken care of the position of the Epithet (which
are Adjectives) to a large extent.
The appearance of multiple adjectives to qualify a noun can be further handled by this formula.
In the formula above, the E(Epithet) which are represented by Adjectives, can appear in multiple and there will be more complexity. Therefore, the E is broken down into Q, S, Sh and C as follows:
Q - Quality
S - Size
Sh - Shape
C - Colour
An + expensive little conical red + toy
Det. quality size shape colour noun(head)
D----------------E---------------N
We can have
a beautiful girl (DEN)
The arrangement should also be maintained even when a slot is missing

10.0 ADVERBS AND THEIR USAGE:
An Adverb is a word which modifies i.e. monitor or restrict the scope of operation of a verb. (cc: Section A).
Like adjectives, adverbs qualify verbs and other word classes and they supply circumstantial information about verbs. But to avoid confusion the word Qualify will be restricted to
Adjectives in this book while the word modify will be restricted to Adverbs.
e.g.
She talks slowly — Adverb modifying the verb
They come here always
— Here modifies the verb come.
— Always modifies the adverb here

FORMATION OF ADVERB:
Adverbs are classified into two general classes.
1. Primary Adverbs: These function chiefly as verb qualifiers. They have no suffixes or other markings to distinguish them from
other word classes. They are not morphologically marked and they are not inflected for comparison. They are mostly monosyllabic.
e.g. hence, here, how, never, not, since, soon, then, there, thus, twice, too, where, whence, so, etc.
2. Derivative Adverbs: These are root words which take additional elements to form adverbs i.e. they are derived from
other root forms. This happens in many ways.
(a) By Suffixation: This is the morphological marking of an adjective with the “ly” suffix to form an adverb.
Quick + ly = quickly
Slow + ly = slowly
Accidental + ly =
accidentally, etc.
Other suffixes such as “wise” and “wards” can also be added to a root form to form an adverb.
e.g.
back + wards = backwards
clock + wise = clockwise
like + wise = likewise
(b) By compounding or joining nouns and modifying adjectives
mid + way = midway
mean + time = meantime
some + times = sometimes
straight + away= straightway
(c) Compounding adverbs or adjectives plus prepositions
here + after = hereafter
there + fore = therefore
for + ever = forever
where + by = whereby
(d) By Prefixes: Some adverbs are formed by adding the following prefixes to root words.
a:
a + head = ahead
a + part = apart
a + broad = abroad
for:
for + ward = forward
for + sake = forsake
in:
in + deed = indeed
in + ward = inward
in + let = inlet
per:
per + chance = perchance
per + adventure =
peradventure
to:
to + day = today
to + morrow = tomorrow
to + ward = toward
NB: It is not every word that ends in “-ly” that is an adverbs. Some words have the “-ly” marking but which are adjectives. Such are sometimes mistaken for adverbs e.g.
friendly, fatherly, deadly, costly, beastly, godly, homely, ugly, kingly, likely, timely, womanly, etc.
A friendly advice.———— Adjective qualifying the noun advice
A fatherly role ———— Adjective qualifying the noun role.
Some other words end in “-ly” and function both as adjectives and adverbs. e.g.
daily, only, early, weekly, monthly, etc.
Our daily activity___________Adjective
We pray daily ____________ Adverb
Some other group adverbs have double forms. They are called Flat Adverbs because they can have”-ly” endings or not, but usually with some modification in meaning. Note the difference in the following pairs of sentences.
(1) He works hard. (2) He turned right
(3) He hardly works(4) He judged rightly

Other examples of Flat Adverbs are:
Bright, deep, fair, fast,
Long, late, hard, loud,
Quick, sharp, right, first,
Strong, thick, wide, low,
Some Adverbs, especially morphologically marked ones, usually exhibits the characteristic of mobility; i.e they can appear in
different parts of a sentence or move from one part to another without affecting the meaning of the sentence.
e.g.
She walked slowly out of the office.
She walked out the office slowly.
Slowly, she walked out of the office.

FUNCTIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF ADVERBS
Adverbs are categorized into various classes depending on the relationship they express in a sentence.

1. Adverb of time:
They supply answer to the question WHEN.
The man died yesterday.
He will travel tomorrow.

2. Adverb of Place:
They supply answer to the question WHERE.
Leave the box inside
He went outside
I will follow you anywhere.
NB: Care must be taken to distinguish adverbs of place from prepositions. e.g.
He leaves the box outside the hall — preposition
They played the game under the rain — preposition.
Other adverbs that can also function as preposition are:
around, about, between, off, within, below, beneath, over, etc.

3. Adverb of Manner:
They supply answer to the question HOW
They ran fast
The band played beautifully
She spoke quietly
He openly declared his intention.
4. Adverbs of Degree:
They supply answer to the question TO WHAT EXTENT/HOW MUCH
He was seriously injured
You are very kind
The man is too rich.

5. Adverbs of affirmation:
They supply answer to the question ARE YOU SURE
He will certainly come
They shall obviously win the match.
He surely fulfilled his promise.

6. Adverbs of Frequency.
They supply answer to the question HOW OFTEN
They always fight themselves
He visits us frequently.
She travels to London often
I never eat snake.

7. Adverbs of Reason:
They supply answer to the question WHY.
He won therefore, he was sworn in
He was found guilty. So, he will be jailed.

8. Adverbs of Result:
They supply answer to the question WHAT HAPPENED
She stole and was consequently arrested.
The prisoner was eventually released.

COMPARISON OF ADVERBS
Like adjectives, many adverbs can occur in comparative and superlative degrees. In such comparisons, adverbs use either:
1. Inflection: addition of the “-er” and the “-est” morpheme or
2. Pre-modification: addition of “more” and “most”.
e:g
(i)
The boy ran fast
The boy ran faster
The boy ran fastest in the relay.
(ii)
Olu spoke courteously
Olu spoke more courteously than his friend.
Olu spoke most courteously among his friends.

NB: Comparative forms (both adjectives of adverbs) are used when comparing two things while superlative forms are used when the object of comparison becomes more than two.
Some adverbs have irregular comparisons:
e:g
Well better best
Little less least
Badly worse worst
Far farther farthest
Some adverbs are referred to as INTENSIFIERS because they make the words they modify clearer, more specific and sometimes more emphatic.
(a) Those that emphasize
(i) Very (ii) too (iii) so… that… (iv) so (v) so much.
(b) Those expressing disapproval
(i) too (ii) pretty (iii) so (iv) much too
(c) Those expressing incompleteness
(i) not quite (ii) fairly (iii) somewhat (iv) rather
(d) Those expressing completeness or sufficiency.
(i) quite (ii) … enough

NB: ‘enough’ in this case will come after an adjective or another adverb.
He performs well enough to pass the exam.
His performance was good enough to earn him a credit.
(e) When used with comparatives and superlatives.
(i) very much… (ii) far… (iii) much the… iv) far the…
e.g.
This building is far taller than the other one
That building by is far the tallest of all the buildings.

11.0 NOUNS & NOMINALS
Nouns are best defined as naming words i.e any word in English that names anything, be it person, place, animal,
event, concept, qualities, abstraction etc.
Some nouns take the form of verb in the progressive tense and are therefore called Gerunds (ing Nouns) e.g.
Dancing, Fishing, etc.
He is dancing __________ verb (Continuous Tense)
Dancing is an exercise __________ Noun
She loves dancing ____________ Noun

FORMAL CHARACTERISTICS OF NOUNS
Nouns in English occur mostly in four distinct forms:
1. Singular form (general case)
e:g boy, girl, lady, teacher etc
2. Plural form (general case)
e:g boys, girls, ladies, teachers etc.
3. Singular form (possessive case)
e:g boy’s, girl’s, lady’s, etc
4. Plural form (possessive case)
e:g boys’, girls’, ladies’ etc.
We can summarize this by saying that Nouns are marked for NUMBER (singular and plural) and CASE (general / possessive).

CLASSES OF NOUNS
Nouns are classified generally into 2. Count or Countable Nouns
Non – Count or Uncountable Nouns
A countable noun never occurs in the singular form without a determiner.
Uncountable nouns always appear without determiners because they do not show number contrast. Therefore, an uncountable noun is always singular.
Nouns can further be sub – divided into:

1. COMMON: Name for a class of things or for members of a class of things having essential things in common.
e:g city, state, country, person, table, etc.

2. PROPER: Specific name for individual class of things. e.g. Lagos, Ogun, Nigeria, Sola etc. All proper nouns have initial capitals wherever they appear in a sentence.
e.g Olu travels to London every December.
Proper Nouns are special names of places, people and events. It also includes the names of the days of a week and months of the year, e.g. Monday, April, Easter etc.

3. COLLECTIVE: Names of a group or collection of people, animals or objects. Each collective noun has common nouns as it members. For instance, “army” is a collective noun that has “ soldiers” (a common noun) as its member. Therefore, when common characteristics are put together and given a single name, it becomes a collective name.
e.g.
table + chair + desk + bench = furniture.
book + biro + pencil + eraser + ruler = stationery.

N.B: Collective nouns can take both singular and plural verb depending on the attitude of the speaker or writer to them.
e.g.
The police is after the criminal,
The police are after the criminal.

4. ABSTRACT: Name of qualities, attributes, features and characteristics which cannot be seen or touched but can be perceived i.e they exist in the imagination.
e.g. honesty, wisdom, intelligence, etc.

CONCRETE NOUNS: Name of events or objects that can be observed, seen or touched i.e real objects. e.g paper, desk, wall, etc.
NB: Concrete nouns are forms of common nouns.

FEATURES OF NOUNS
(a) Nouns are often used with articles, demonstratives and adjectives e.g a book, an egg, the boys, beautiful ladies, my sister, our home, their pigeons, your husband, their money, his car, this baby, those students, these babies, ten monkeys, etc.
(b) Most nouns form their possessive with the addition of apostrophe before ‘s’ for singular and apostrophe after ‘s’ for plural with regular plural pattern.
e.g. girl’s girls’
Baby’s babies’
With irregular plural pattern the apostrophe is before ‘s’ as in men’s and children’s.
Noun especially names of people that already end in ‘s’ sometimes add another ‘s’ after the apostrophe or leave the apostrophe after the ‘s’ without adding another.
e.g. James’s or James’
Charles’s or Charles’
(c) Nouns are often used after prepositions.
e.g. in Lagos, at Abuja, from school, near the table.
(d) Nouns usually appear with the following morphemes
1.-age = homage
2.-hood = boyhood
3.-ocracy = democracy
4 -al = refusal
5.-ist = motorist
6.-ship = friendship
7.-tion = action
8.-ity = locality
9.-sion = provision
10.-er = teacher
11.-ment = punishment
12.-ster = youngster
13- ery = stationery
14.-ness = lateness

THE PLURAL SYSTEM
Of all the word classes in English, nouns are the most marked for number. There are various styles of plural formations in English.
1. (a) Regular Plural: These form their plural by adding ‘s’ to the root form (where the noun ends with a consonant) or ‘es’ to
the root form(where the noun ends with a vowel)
e.g
book + s = books
can + s = cans
plot + s = plots
box + s = boxes
mango + es = mangoes
church + es = churches

(b) Some nouns ends in ‘fe’ but change the ‘f’ to ‘v’ before adding ‘s’ to the ‘e’
e.g
life live + s = lives
half halve + s = halves
shelf shelve + s= shelves
wolf wolve + s = wolves

(c) Some nouns end in ‘f’ (e) and simply add ‘s’ to form their plural.
e.g
chief + s = chiefs
safe + s = safes
belief + s = beliefs

(d) Some nouns end in ‘y’ preceded by a consonant. So, they form their plural by changing the ‘y’ to ‘i’ before adding ‘-es’
e.g.
baby babi + es = babies
country countri + es = countries
beauty beauti + es = beauties
lady ladi + es = ladies
currency currenci + es = currencies

(e) Some nouns end in ‘y’ preceded by a vowel. They simply add ‘s’ to form their plural.
e.g key + s = keys
monkey + s = monkeys
holidays + s = holidays
Sunday + s = Sundays
trolley + s = trolleys
volley + s = volleys

2. Irregular Plural: These form their plural by changing the spelling of part or the entire root form without adding ‘s’ or ‘es’. Example are:
man ___________ men
foot ___________ feet
goose ___________ geese
louse ___________ lice
mouse ___________ mice
tooth ___________ teeth
index ___________ indices
medium ___________ media

3. Zero Plural: Zero plurals are nouns that remain the same in form both as singular and plural.
e.g sheep __________ sheep
swine __________ swine
moose __________ moose
deer __________ deer
salmon _ _ _ salmon etc.

Some Nationality ending in ‘ese’ also have Zero plural
e.g Chinese – Chinese
Japanese – Japanese
Lebanese – Lebanese
Vietnamese – Vietnamese
Some nouns were borrowed from other languages and have therefore retained their other plural while some of them have acquired a new plural.
e.g alumnus – alumni
alumna – alumnae
index – indexes or indices
antenna – antennae or antennas

4. Invariable Plural: Some nouns which appear plural in form and remain so both in singular and plural form are called invariable plurals.
(a) Marked with ‘s’ or ‘-es’: pliers, Scissors, shorts, spectacles, shoes, trousers, pyjamas, earrings, thanks, troops, wages, valuables, premises, savings, headquarters, particulars,
etc.
(c) Unmarked with either ‘s’ or ‘-es’: cattle, gentry, people, police, the poor, the rich, etc.

5. Proper Noun Plural: Proper nouns can be pluralized to indicate more than one member as in
The Agunbiades (members of the family)
The Americas (North and South America)
Or to treat a proper Noun as common noun as in:
There are few Soyinkas in our generation (writers.)

6. Compound Noun Plural: Compound Nouns form their Plurals in different ways:
(a) Plural in first element
Attorney general – attorneys general
Notary public – notaries public
Passerby – passersby
Mother–in–law – mothers–in–law
Grant-in-aid – grants-in-aid
Man-of-war – men-of-war
Coat-of-arm – coats-of-arm

(b) Plural in both first and last element
Gentleman farmer – gentlemen farmers
Manservant – Menservants
Woman doctor – women doctor

(c) Plural in last element:
Assistant director – assistant directors
Grown up – grown ups
Lay-by – lay-bys
Forget-me-not – forget-me nots
Gin-and-tonic – g i n - a n d - tonics
Take-off – take-offs
Stand-by – stand-bys
Sit-in – sit-ins
Close up – close ups
Breakdown – breakdowns
Boyfriend – boyfriends
Woman hater – woman haters
Fountain pen –fountain pens
Husband snatcher –husband snatchers
NB: Whenever you are in doubt about the correct plural of any noun, the dictionary is your best companion.
GENDER: English makes a few gender distinctions
(a) Masculine:
Father, Brother, Bachelor, Monk, Boy, King, Uncle, Bull, Man.
(b) Feminine:
Mother, Sister, Spinster, Nun, Girl, Queen, Aunt, Cow, Woman.
(c) Common: This may be male or female, as in:
Professor, Teacher, Baby, Artist, Pupil, etc.
For clarity, a gender marker is sometimes used.
e.g Male nurse, Female student, Girl friend, Female engineer, etc.
(d) Neuter: These are neither male nor female.
e.g Harbour, House, Car, Money, etc.
A good number of masculine nouns change their endings to become feminine: Examples:
Tiger – tigress
Duke – Duchess
Steward – stewardess
Emperor – Empress
God – goddess
Waiter – waitress
Lion – lioness
Host – hostess
FUNCTIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF NOUNS
1. Noun as Subject – Ade is a boy
2. Noun as Object – Ade beats Olu
3. Noun as Complement – Ade became Captain
4. Noun as Apposition – Ade, the captain is here
5. Noun as Complement of preposition – We met in Lagos
NB: This classification has been treated extensively in Section A under Noun Phrases and Noun Clauses.

12.0 VERBS: TENSE, TIME & ASPECT:
A Verb can be defined as a word, which expresses an action, a process or a state of being, e.g.
The boy kills the snake – Action
He is a boy – state
He is coming tomorrow – process

VERB FORMS
There are five basic forms of the English verb
Form 1 – v = write/try/work
Form 2 – v+s = writes/ tries/ works
Form 3 – v+ed = wrote / tried/ worked
Form 4 – v+ed or en = written / tried/ worked
Form 5 – v+ing = writing / trying/ working

Form 1 is the base form of the verb.
Form 2 is the simple present tense that goes with the 3rd person singular numbers (he/ she/ it).
Form 3 is the simple past tense.
Form 4 is the past participle
Form 5 is the continuous or progressive tense of the verb.
Out of these 5 forms, some verbs have four or three forms because of overlapping i.e. appearing the same way in 2 or more
levels.

FORMAL CHARACTERISTICS OF VERBS
1. Regular Verbs: These are verbs that form their past tense by simply adding ‘d’ or ‘ed’ to the original base form. Most
verbs in English belong to this category.

-----V------V + S-----V + ed-----V + past------V + ing
(Base form) 3rd person ---Past--------Participle-----Present
------------Singular----Tense---------------------Participle &
------------Present--------------------------------Gerund
--1---------2----------3-----------4------------5
Move------Moves------Moved-------Moved--------Moving
Look------Looks------Looked------Looked-------Looking
Cry-------Cries------Cried-------Cried--------Crying
Walk------Walks------Walked------Walked-------Walking
Jump------Jumps------Jumped------Jumped-------Jumping
Watch-----Watches----Watched-----Watched------Watching
State-----States-----Stated------Stated-------Stating
Note, however, that the v+ed and v+en (3&4) forms representing the past tense and the past participle forms respectively remain
the same. The regular verbs in English therefore exhibit only 4 out of the 5 forms.
(a) If the base has only one syllable and ends in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel, the final consonant is doubled before “ed” is added e.g.
fan fanned
trim trimmed, etc.
(b) If the base has more than one syllable, and the accent fall on the last syllable of the base, the last consonant is doubled before “ed” is added e.g.
Refer referred
Confer conferred
(c) Verbs ending in ‘y’ change the ‘y’ to ‘i’ before adding ‘ed’ or ‘es’ (same as plural formation with nouns)
e.g.
try tries/ tried
fry fries/fried
(d) A few verbs ending in “ay” change the ‘y’ to ‘i’ before adding ‘d’ to form past tense. e.g.
say said
pay paid
lay laid

2. Irregular Verbs: These are verbs that form their past tense in some other ways (apart from the regular pattern of adding
‘d’ or ‘ed’). They alter their base to form their past tense. e:g
--V------V + S-----V + ed-----V + en-----V + ing
(Base---3rd Pers.---Past-----Past---------Pres.Participle
form)---Singular----Tense----Participle---Gerund
-1--------2---------3----------4------------5
Sit-----sits-------sat--------sat---------sitting
Hold----holds------held-------held--------holding
Teach---teaches----taught-----taught------teaching
Wake----wakes------woke-------woken-------waking
Lie-----lies-------lay--------lain--------lying
Speak---speaks-----spoke------spoken------speaking
Write---writes-----wrote------written-----writing
Hide----hides------hid--------hidden------hiding
Choose--chooses----chose------chosen------choosing
Sweep---sweeps-----swept------swept-------sweeping
Get-----gets-------got--------got/gotten--getting
Catch---catches----caught-----caught------catching
Bring---brings-----brought----brought-----bringing
Think---thinks-----thought----thought-----thinking
Shoot---shoots-----shot-------shot--------shooting

4. Zero verbs: These are verbs that remain the same both in the present and past. They never change form except with the present tense 3rd person singular (he,she and it) and in the progressive tense (V + ing). Examples are as follows:

-----V------V + S-----V + ed-----V + past------V + ing
(Base form) 3rd person ---Past--------Participle-----Present
------------Singular----Tense---------------------Participle &
------------Present--------------------------------Gerund
-1---------2----------3-----------4------------5
Hit-------hits-------hit---------hit---------hitting
Set-------sets-------set---------set---------setting
Spread----spreads----spread------spread------spreading
Shed------shed-------shed--------shed--------shedding
Rid-------rids-------rid---------rid---------ridding
Burst-----bursts-----burst-------burst-------bursting
Cost------costs------cost--------cost--------costing
Hurt------hurts------hurt--------hurt--------hurting
Let-------lets-------let---------let---------letting
Shut------shuts------shut--------shut--------shutting
Split-----splits-----split-------split-------splitting
Thrust----thrusts----thrust------thrust------thrusting
Cast------casts------cast--------cast--------casting
Put-------puts-------put---------put---------putting
Cut-------cuts-------cut---------cut---------cutting
Broadcast-broadcasts-broadcast---broadcast---broadcasting
etc.

5. The verbs BE, DO and GO have unique past tense
-----V------V + S-----V + ed-----V + past------V + ing
(Base form) 3rd person ---Past--------Participle-----Present
------------Singular----Tense---------------------Participle &
------------Present--------------------------------Gerund
--1-----------2----------3-----------4----------5
Be(am/is/are)is-------was/were------been------being
Do----------does--------did---------done------doing
Go----------goes--------went--------gone------going

(i) TRANSITIVE VERBS: Verbs (usually action verbs) that takes
direct object
(a) The boy kills a snake
(b) Celine sang a beautiful song
(c) I have a million Naira
They are verbs that allow a “passing on” to an object on whom
it has a direct effect or impact.
In (a) above, the action KILLS affects THE SNAKE
In (b), the action SANG has a direct impact on A BEAUTIFUL SONG in (c), A MILLION NAIRA is the object of the verb HAVE.

(ii) INTRANSITIVE VERBS: Verbs that do not take objects. They have an air of finality about them that nothing is “passed on” to any object. e.g.
(a) The man died
(b) The baby laughed
(c) The boy fell down
(d) The Pastor fasts every week
The verbs italicized are all intransitive because they take
no object after them.
However, a verb is not absolutely transitive or intransitive. Some verbs can be used both transitively and intransitively. For instance:
(a) The man died — Intransitive use
(b) The man died a shameful death — transitive use
(c) He asked him — transitive use
(d) He asked for direction — Intransitive use
Direction in example (d) is not an object because it is a prepositional complement of (for)
(iii) LINKING VERBS: A linking verb is a verb that does not denote any action but links a subject to a complement. e.g.
Ade is goal keeper
The girl feels happy
They were the soldiers
He was a good man
He becomes the president
The complement that a linking verb links a subject to, can either be a noun or an adjective.

TENSE AND ASPECTS
Tense is related to verbs only and it is not the same as time. It is the change that takes place in the form of the verb to indicate time. On this basis, there are two basic changes that occur in verb i.e. present time indication and past time
indication. We can say therefore that there are two tenses in English.
1. Present Tense: Apart from the forms of the verb BE, the only change in the form of the verb to indicate the present time is
the addition of the ‘s’ morpheme when using the 3rd person singular numbers as subject. The present tense is said to be simple when the verb form is a single word.
e.g.
I sleep-----He sleeps
We sleep----She sleeps----They sleep
You sleep---It sleeps
Changes with the verb BE are as follows
I am a student----------He is a student
We are students---------She is a student
You are a student-------It is a student…
You are students--------They are students
The Simple Present
The simple present tense appears in the following forms;
(a) Habitual Present: Expressing a habit or habitual action
I:
We:
You: ---eat everyday
They:

He:
She: ---eats everyday
It:

(b) Universal Present: Expressing a truism i.e a statement that is acceptable as a general truth.
The sun rises in the East
The earth is spherical.
God is able
Fire is hot
Men are mortals

(c) Present Action: Expressing an action, a process or state right now.
He owns ten houses.
They know what they do.
I understand you.

(d) Spontaneous Present: Expressing an action that is taking place under the speaker’s nose and the speaker reporting it as it is happening, for instance, in a football commentary.
e.g. Okocha passes the ball
The goalkeeper catches it
He dribbles the opponent
They score three goals.

2. PAST TENSE: This is the form of the verb indicating the time before now which begins from the last second to eternity. What happens only a second ago will be expressed in the past tense and what happened a million years ago will be expressed in the past tense.
e.g.
He just stopped breathing – 1 second ago.
Jesus died and resurrected over 2000 years ago.
The different forms of the past tense formation have been discussed under Regular and Irregular verbs. A simple past tense
contains a single verb.

FUTURE TENSE: There is no change, taking place in the simple form of the verb to express future time, therefore, we do not have a future tense per se but English has a few ways of expressing futurity. Some of which are:
(a) Auxiliary verb construction
(i) Shall + vb + infinite (1st person singular only )
(ii) Will + vb + infinite (all persons) e.g.
I shall try to do my best
She will be here in a moment
(iii)Future orientation in the past(will + perfect)
e.g.
She will have finished her exams by next week
(iv) Will / shall + be + vb + ing + (time) e.g.
I shall / will be doing my best in this test.
(b) Be + going to + verb
(i) Future of present intention
When is Wale going to get married.
(ii) Future of present cause
It is going to rain.
(c) Be + vb + ing + (time)
(i) Future anticipation in the present.
He is travelling tomorrow
(ii) Present continuous / progressive
I am watching that video tonight
(iii) Transition
The Governor is coming to Christ College.
(d) Be + about to + vb
Imminent fulfillment
We are about to leave.
(e) Vb + s
(i) Subordinate conditional clause
What will you do if she marries the chief?
(ii) Immutable event
When is summer?
(iii) Calendar statements
Tomorrow is Friday.
(f) Be + infinitive + vb
(i) Arrangement
They are to be married today
(ii) Command
You are to be here at 10.00am
(iii) Pre-destined future
If you are to succeed, you must work hard.
(g) Vb + s + (time)
She travels tomorrow
The robbers die by hanging
The train leaves at 10.00pm
(h) Wil + shall + vb + time
I will see you next week
She will travel on Monday
We shall meet soon

ASPECTS OF TENSE
1. Continuous / Progressive Aspect: This is an expression of time that is yet to terminate i.e. an action that is still going on. The formula for this is (aux + vb + ing)
e.g
Present:
I am writing
You are reading
He is playing football
Past:
I was writing
You were reading
He was playing football

2. Perfect Aspect: This is the expression of an action that is already completed as at the time of report. This is formed in the order of (aux + participle) i:e the appropriate form of the primary auxiliary HAVE plus the participle form of the verb.
e.g.
Present:
I have done the job
You have killed the snake
He has taken the drugs

Past:
I had done the job…
You had killed the snake…
He had taken the drug…

NB: Past perfect aspect of tense is used when we have two actions in the past and it is used with the first of the two actions.
(a) I had done the job… He came in
• •I had done the job before he came in
(b) He had taken the drug… The doctor arrived
• •He had taken the drug when the doctor arrived.

3. Continuous + Perfect: This is a combination of the two aspects in one sentence. e.g.
I have been writing since my undergraduate days.
It had been raining before we arrived.
He has been doing the job.

4. Complex Combination: There are more complex combinations of different aspects of tenses in most naturally occurring
sentences in English.
e.g.
He is expected to have been doing the job
They ought not to have started the job
It ought not to have started raining by now

FUTURE TIME IN THE PAST
1. Past Progressive
e.g. She was seeing me the next day
2. Auxiliary verb construction
e.g. He would regret his actions
3. Be + infinitive + Vb
e.g. The conference was to be held the following month
4. Be + going to + infinitive
e.g. You were going to give me your GSM number
5. Be + about to + infinite
e.g. She was about to shoot him

12.0 PRIMARY AND MODAL AUXILIARY VERBS
A. Primary Auxiliary: This is an auxiliary that can stand and function as main verbs in other contexts. They also function as
auxiliary in other contexts.
e.g. I am a lecturer — Main verb
I am writing a book — Aux. Verb

The three main primary auxiliaries we have in English are the forms of BE, HAVE and DO. The verb BE and HAVE have been treated earlier. The verb DO has also been treated but it has some extra functions as stated below.

FUNCTIONS OF THE ‘DO’ PERIPHRASES
1. Used for questions involving inversion where the verb is simple present or past.
e.g.
Did Jane stay long?
What did Paul say?

2. Used in statements negated by NOT where the verb is imperative simple present or past.
e.g.
I do not like Mathematics
Yemi didn’t like masquerades

3. Used in question tags or substitute clauses where the verb is simple present or past.
e.g.
He knows how to drive, doesn’t he?
You don’t swim, do you?

4. Used in sentences with inversions caused by introductory words like negative adverbs (never, hardly, etc.) where the verb is simple present or past.
e.g.
Hardly did I notice the arrival of the cops.
Never did she think that the movie ends

5. Used in emphatic or persuasive construction where the verb is simple present, past or imperative.
e.g.
Do shut up
I did call at your house yesterday.

Modal Auxiliary: This is an auxiliary that cannot function as a main verb in any statement. They go with ordinary verbs and help to make their meaning clearer because they each have an implied meaning behind them.
There are ten major Modal Auxiliaries
in English.
(1) Can (2) Could (3) Shall (4) Should (5) May (6) Might (7) Will (8) Would (9) Must (10) Ought to (11) *Used to (12) *Need
(13) *Dare
Modal Auxiliary verbs in English perform a variety of functions, some of which are:
(a) Obligation
(b) Assumption
(c) Ability
(d) Possibility
(e) Probability
(f) Habit

USES OF MODAL AUXILIARIES
(a) Can/Could
(i) To express permission
— Can I borrow your pen
— Ade could go out if he wants
(ii) To express possibility
— The millionaire can be arrested
— That could be his father
(iii) To express capacity or ability
— Ican do the job
— The flood can cause a lot of damage
(b) May/Might
(i) To express permission
— May I use your pen ?
— He might come with us
(ii) To express possibility
— I may travel tomorrow.
— He might die.
(iii) To express a wish
— May God help me
— May you live long
— That your reign might be peaceful
(iv) To pronounce a curse
— May thunder strike them
— May your roads be rough (this could be a challenge).
(c) Shall/Will
(i) To express futurity
–I shall travel tomorrow
– We shall meet on pay day
– You will like the film
Here, SHALL is used with 1st persons and WILL is used with 2nd and 3rd persons
(ii) To express willingness or intention
– I will attend the party
– You shall take the money
(iii)To express obligation or insistence
– I will go with you
– You shall do what I say
(d) Should
(i) To express obligation
— You should stay where you are
— He should swear an oath
(ii) To express condition
— Should you see him, please notify me
— We should be in the university if we passed English
(iii) After certain expressions (of pity, surprise etc.)
— I am sorry that such thing should happen
— It is a pity that he should disappoint us
(iv) To express tentativeness
— You should wait
— You should exercise some patience
(v) As an advice
— You should work hard
— We shouldn’t do that.
Here, WILL goes with 1st person and SHALL goes with 2nd and 3rd
Persons WILL goes with 1st person and SHALL goes with 2nd and 3rd persons.
(e) Would
(i) To express habitual action in the past
— Then, I would visit my girlfriend in the night
— He would travel to his village every December
(ii) To express a polite request
— Would you take us there, please?
— Would you deliver this for me?
(iii) To express a probability
— That would be my father’s car
— He would score that goal
(iv) In conditional clauses
— If I had money, I would buy a car
— Iwould take it if you don’t
(f) Must
(i) To express obligation or compulsion
— You must say the fact
— I must see you now
(ii) To express a logical necessity or assumption
— He must be crazy to behave like that
— They must be wicked to have treated him so
N.B: The expression used as the opposite of MUST is NEED NOT
— You must work hard / You needn’t work hard
— Must I go now / You need not go now
(g) Ought To
(i) To express expectation or logical necessity
— You ought to know better
— They ought to come to the party
(ii) To express obligation i.e. the equivalent of SHOULD
— You ought to do this job
— Every student ought to study hard
The following are lexical verbs, which are also used as modal auxiliaries.
Used To, Need and Dare.
They are called semi-modal auxiliaries for their dual membership.
(h) Used To (To express a habitual action in the past)
— I used to wet my pant
— He used to smoke cigarette
• I am used to this weather – used as lexical verb
• They are used to his behaviour – used as lexical verb
(i) Need
(i) In negative sentences, to express absence of obligation
• You need to go right away
• The boy need not argue with the teacher
(ii) To question a necessity or obligation
— Need you do that?
— Need we fight over this?
• You need money – used as a lexical verb
(j) Dare
(i) To express disappointment on an expectation
— How dare you insult the principal
(ii) To express a challenge
— You dare not touch him
— No one dare drink an AIDS victim’s blood
•David dared the giant Goliath – used as a lexical verb.

12.0 QUESTION TAGS
As the name implies, Question Tags are questions hung on every statement and the response that follows. English Language is a rule-governed language and every major topic is guided by rules which also have exceptions. The rules guiding the English Tag system are:
1. A positive statement requires a negative tag
2. A negative statement requires a positive tag

FORMATION OF TAG
(a) Identify the verbal position
(b) Change it to positive (if negative) or negative (if positive)
(c) Use the auxiliary (modal) where the verbal position contains more than one element
(d) Use the pronoun equivalent of the subject after the appropriate verb formation
(e) Where an action verb is used, form your tag with the appropriate form of DO.
(f) Positive response is YES plus positive statement
(g) Negative response is NO plus negative statement
•It is wrong to say No, I do because I do is positive and NO is negative. So, positive and negative cannot go together or vice-versa. We cannot say *Yes, I don’t.

-----Statement(Positive)----Tag-------+ Response----- - Response
1. I am a teacher. -Ain’t I/Am I not?--Yes, I am.--No,I am not/I ain’t
2. We are students.-Aren’t we? -------Yes, we are.---No, we aren’t
3. You were wrong.--Weren’t you?-----Yes, you were.--No, You weren’t
4. He has gone home.--Hasn’t he?-----Yes, he has.----No, he hasn’t
5. She does it well.--Doesn’t she?---Yes, she does.--No, she doesn’t
6. It is very beautiful.-Isn’t it?---Yes, it is.-----No, it isn’t
7. They should know.-Shouldn’t they?Yes,They should -No,They shouldn’t
8. I can do it -----Can’t I?--------Yes, I can-------No, I can’t
9. We shall pray hard --Shan’t we?--Yes,we shall-----No,we shan’t
10. You must read this--Mustn’t you?-Yes,you must----No,you mustn’t
11. They bought it ----Didn’t they?--Yes, they did---No, they didn’t

-----Statement(negative)---Tag-------+ Response----- - Response
1. I am not a fool------Am I?------Yes, I am--No, I am not/No I ain’t
2. We are not ready-----Are we?----Yes, we are---No, we aren’t
3. You were right-------Were you?--Yes,you were--No, you weren’t
4. He hasn’t gone yet---Has he?----Yes, he has---No, he hasn’t
5. She does not know----Does she?--Yes, she does-No, she doesn’t
6. It is not so difficult-Is it?---Yes, it is----No, it isn’t
7. They shouldn’t go--Should they?-Yes, they should-No, they shouldn’t
8. I ought not to travel-Ought I?--Yes,I ought----No,I oughtn’t
9. We shall not play the fool-Shall we?--Yes, we shall--No, we shan’t
10. You must not read--Must you?---Yes, you must--No, you mustn’t
11. He does not know him--Does he?-Yes,he does----No,he doesn’t
The auxiliaries in English and their contracted negative are as follows:
Auxilliary--Contracted ----------Auxilliary Contracted
------------Negative------------------------Negative
Am----------Ain't/Am not---------Can--------Can't
Is----------Isn't`---------------Could------Couldn't
Are---------Aren't---------------Will-------Won't
Were--------Weren't--------------Would------Wouldn't
Do----------Don't----------------Shall------Shan't
Does--------Doesn't--------------Should-----Shouldn't
Did---------Didn't---------------Must-------Mustn't
Has---------Hasn't---------------Might------Mightn't
Have--------Haven't--------------May ________
Had---------Hadn't---------------Ought to---Oughtn't
Need--------Needn't
Dare--------Daren't
Used to-----Wasn't (was for past)

13.0 THE ARTICLES AS DETERMINERS
The articles in English are classified into
1. Indefinite — a, an
2. Definite — the
They are determiners because they determine the number and specification of Nouns. They are used before Nouns to show the number or to specify it for emphatic or reference purposes. “A” is used with Noun or adjective beginning with a vowel
e.g. an orange, an elephant etc.
These are the general rules guiding the use of the indefinite articles in English and we probably know them right from our kindergarten days. But what most candidates do not know is that
there are always exceptions to every rule.
We know for instance, that an adjective like HONEST will take AN
even when it begins with a consonant ‘H’ and the noun HOUR will take “AN”.
The exception is that the ‘H’ is silent and since it is not pronounced, we use ‘AN’ because the first sound in the word is a vowel sound. Many people still over generalize this rule by
using ‘AN’ for every Noun or Adjective that begin with ‘H’.
•An hospital (wrong)-----a hospital (correct)
•An husband (wrong)------a husband (correct) etc.
if the ‘H’ is not silent, use the general rule and take ‘A’ instead of ‘AN’. Examples are unit, European, university, union, etc.
The reason for this exception is that the first sound of these words when transcribed is consonantal /j/ in /junin/, /junivsiti/ etc.
The exception in the case of the use of the indefinite article is therefore a phonological consideration rather than grammatical consideration.
The definite article ‘THE’ on the other hand specifies its reference and is used in the following senses.
A:
1. Something previously mentioned
— I got a message and the message was good
2. Something known to both speaker and listener
— Everybody watched the match
3. Something very definite, like the only object in a locality
— The market is at the centre of the town
4. Something unique or different
— The earth is spherical / The sun rises from the East
5. All members of a class used as an adjective to describe that class
— The poor are not recognized in the society
5. Members of the same specie when used with the singular form of the word
— The goat is a stubborn animal
B:
The definite article is also used with proper Noun in the following senses.
1. Name of certain countries
— The United States of America
— The Netherlands
2. Names of institutions (comprising p l a c e names modified by the “of” phrase)
— The University of Lagos
— The Lagos State University
— The University of Nigeria
3. Names of Ships, Hotels, Cinemas Theaters.
— The Titanic
— The Nicon Noga Hilton
— The Federal Palace Hotel
— The Casino Cinema
— The National Arts Theatre.
4. Names of Newspaper outfit
— The Guardian
— The National Concord
— The Punch
5. Names of traditional titles
— The Obas are respected
— The Emirs are rulers in the north
— The Ezes are custodians of culture.
6. Personal names used as common noun.
— The Agunbiades are from the south West.
— The Bellos are from Ilorin
7. Names of languages used as adjectives.
— The Yoruba language
— The English language
8. Names of rivers, seas, oceans, deserts and the poles.
— The Atlantic Ocean
— The River Niger
— The Sahara Desert
— The North Pole