preface
English for Foreign Students
By Gopal Rayappa Kolekar
DEDICATION
THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO
ALL FOREIGN STUDENTS
WHO ARE INTERESTED IN LEARNING ENGLISH
Begging is hazardous to one’s existence in all walks
of life. Hence none should indulge in begging in
whatsoever a manner.
English for Foreign Students
- A Book in English
Author: Gopal Rayappa Kolekar
© Under the Indian Copyright Act, all rights of the contents of this book are reserved with the author, Gopal Rayappa Kolekar. No part of this book, including the name, title, design or inside matter may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means, in full or in part, in any language. Breach of any of these conditions is liable to legal action.
All disputes are subject to the jurisdiction of Bengaluru courts.
First BookRix Edition: December 2016
Published by:
Gopal Rayappa Kolekar (Mech. Eng.)
Door No. 341,
Lane: Patil Galli, Post Kangrali B.K.,
Taluka and District: Belagavi: 590 010
State: Karnataka. Country: India
Email: gopalkolekar@yahoo.com
INTRODUCTION
In the preparation of this book the writer has kept one thing foremost, i.e., to make it helpful for those it is meant for, mainly for persons who do not have the time or the opportunity to peruse voluminous grammar books. This book is merely an effort to help ordinary people to express themselves in everyday language, in a correct manner.
Some broad guidelines are laid down, the following of which will enable the reader to keep within the rules of oral and written English. Many examples have been given, besides a number of common mistakes and also it guides the reader on how to avoid them.
P R E F A C E
I was born in the village of Kangrali B.K., in Belagavi district, within the state of Karnataka in India. I am a certified Mechanical Engineer. It may be of interest to note that I have three books published to my credit.
They are as follows:
- How Should the Indian Education System Be?
- The Modern Administration of the Earth
- Secrets from Gopal
This is my fourth book. I am sure the readers will show the same enthusiasm in receiving it as they have of my earlier books.
I studied in a regional school in rural India and therefore found it very difficult to understand English during my college education. That was when I decided that I should write a book on English. I targeted this book at foreign students who are not native speakers of English or were made to take compulsory college education in English.
In this book I have specifically excluded all grammar principles because it’s a never ending game throughout life. I am not saying that you should not read a grammar book; I recommend that you please read your own language grammar book first and then read the English grammar book in its translated form in your mother tongue.
Before you commence your English training with this book you should master grammar of your mother tongue and then English grammar. In this book only practical examples are given for your study. I request you to refer a newspaper in your mother tongue with its version of English of the corresponding day. Compare similar news items in both the newspapers. While referring the dictionary, please remember which word comes under which ‘Parts of Speech’ as this is very important to know which word comes at what position in a sentence. This is very essential to learn proper writing and speaking in English.
Similarly you can relate with TV News Channels. Initially watch the news on TV Channels in your mother tongue and then watch the same on English Channels. This will definitely help in learning English. Also please view English TV channels with translations of what is spoken in vernacular languages. This book does not contain principles of grammar but helps you to learn English in a practical manner.
MY SINCERE REQUEST
My honest advice to foreign students who are reading this book is that they should cultivate the habit of regularly reading English magazines / English newspapers for at least a year. Identify difficult words and understand as to which particular part of speech the word appears and at which position in the sentence. By keenly doing this for a year you are sure to perfectly understand about the positioning of the particular word in an English sentence. This will also enhance your vocabulary.
After one year of following this you will definitely feel that there is no longer a necessity to learn the English language with back translations from your mother tongue. You will certainly find that you will be able to speak and write in English properly without any help. I request you to sincerely follow the guidelines mentioned in this book for better understanding of the English language in this English dominated world.
I wish you all the best in your endeavor.
(GOPAL RAYAPPA KOLEKAR)
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
NECESSITIES OF SPEECH
CHAPTER II
BASICS OF GRAMMAR
CHAPTER III
AUXILIARIES AND MODALS
CHAPTER IV
GERUND, INFINITIVE AND PARTICIPLE
CHAPTER V
TENSES
CHAPTER VI
THE DETERMINER
CHAPTER VII
OMISSION OF WORDS IN SENTENCES
CHAPTER VIII
THE POSITION OF WORDS IN SENTENCES
CHAPTER IX
ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE
WHEN TO USE WHICH VOICE
CHAPTER X
THERE AND IT AS SUBJECT
CHAPTER XI
THE FORMATION OF WORDS
CHAPTER XII
ERRORS – EXAMPLES AND CORRECTIONS
CHAPTER XIII
IMPACT OF THE INTERNET AND ENGLISH IN
URBAN AND RURAL INDIA
chapter 1
CHAPTER I
NECESSITIES OF SPEECH
Man can produce many words by employing sounds. Man invented language for his communication. Combination of sounds refers to a certain thing. When man realized that it is tough to convey his voice across long distances he established the written language to convey the same meaning.
A letter of the alphabet that denotes a speech sound created by the free passage of breath through the oral cavity is a vowel. Written English has five vowel letters, A, E, I, O, and U. Letters that are not vowels are called consonants. In English, the 26 letters of the alphabet contain 5 vowels and 21 consonants. In spoken English, there are 20 vowels and 24 consonants. It is because of this difference there is complexity and inconsistency in English spelling.
Grammar is the study of language; we are studying the rules of that language. We should follow these rules when we speak or write. It is easy to learn how to speak and write correctly. For all purposes of normal conversation and communication, only about 2,000 different words are needed. The proper grasp of just 2,000 words, the knowledge of where to place them, will make us experts of correct speaking and writing. It is a small number compared to what is in the dictionary. No one ever uses all the words in the dictionary and there is no need for using them.
There are more than 2, 00,000 words in the large dictionaries, but just one per cent of this is sufficient for us. Of course you may not be comfortable to call things by their common names; you may want to show-off before others. You may not want to call a spade a spade. You may want to call it a spatulous device for digging the surface of the soil. However it is better to stick to the old simple name that has stood the test of time.
To use a big word when a small word or a familiar one will answer the same purpose is a sign of inexperience. Great scholars and polite speakers always use simple words.
For all practical purposes of conversation and writing, 2,000 words is sufficient and a great many people in society who are polished, refined and less educated use less, for they know less. The greatest scholar alive hasn't more than four thousand words at his command, and he has no occasion to use half of it.
In the works of Shakespeare, there are 15,000 different words, but almost
10,000 of them are meaningless today. All persons of intelligence should be able to use his mother tongue correctly. It only requires a little pain, a little care, a little study to enable one to do so, and the recompense is great.
Consider the difference between the polite man who knows how to choose and use his words correctly and the underbred, whose language grates upon the ear and jars the sensitiveness. The mistakes of the latter, his infringement of all rules of grammar, make his very presence a pain, and one is glad to be rid of his company.
The proper grammatical formation of the English language, so that one may be a correct conversationalist or be able to write and express his thoughts in the right manner, may be achieved in a few lessons.
The purpose of this book is to briefly direct the reader along a straight course, pointing out the mistakes that he must avoid and giving him such assistance as will make him reach the goal of correct knowledge of English. It is not Grammar in any sense, but a silent guide pointing the way in the right direction.
English language put in a nutshell
All words in English are divided into nine classes called the Parts of Speech. They are Article, Noun, Adjective, Pronoun, Verb, Adverb, Preposition, Conjunction and Interjection. The Noun is the most important, as all the others are dependent on it. A Noun is the name of any person, place or thing. In fact there are two kinds of Nouns - Proper Noun and Common Noun. Common Nouns are names which belong in common to a class, as man, city. Proper Nouns distinguish individual members of a class as John, New York. In the former case man is a name which belongs
in common to the whole race of mankind, and city is also a name which is common to all large centers of population, but John signifies a particular individual of the race, while New York denotes a particular one from the other cities of the world.
Nouns are varied by Person, Gender, Number, and Case. Person is that relationship existing between the speaker, those addressed and the subject under consideration. The Persons are First, Second and Third and they represent respectively the speaker, the person addressed and the person or thing under consideration.
A Number is the distinction of one from more than one. There are two numbers, singular and plural; the singular denotes one, the plural two or more than two. The plural is normally formed from the singular by the addition of s or es.
The Gender has the same relation to nouns that sex has to persons, but while there are two sexes, there are 4 genders, namely, masculine, feminine, common and neutral. The masculine gender denotes all the male kind, the feminine gender all the female kind, the neutral gender denotes inanimate things or that without life and common gender is animate beings, the sex of which is indeterminable, such as fish, bird, etc. Sometimes things which are without life and which belong to the neutral gender, are by a figure of speech called Personification, changed into the masculine / feminine gender, as, for example, of the sun, He is rising; of the moon, She is setting.
Article is a word placed before a noun to show whether it is used in a particular or general sense. There are but two articles - a / an and the.
Adjective is a word that qualifies a noun, which shows some unique characteristic of belonging to the noun.
A pronoun is used for or instead of a noun to keep us from repeating the same noun. Pronouns have case, number, gender and person. There are three kinds of pronouns - personal, relative and adjective.
A verb signifies action or the doing of something. A verb is inflected by tense and by number and person, though these two belong to the subject of the verb.
An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective and sometimes another adverb.
A preposition connects words and to show the relationship between the objects which the words are expressing.
A conjunction is a word that joins words, clauses, phrases and sentences together.
An interjection is a word that expresses surprise or some unexpected emotion of the mind.
3 ESSENTIALS
The 3 essentials of the English language are - Purity, Perspicuity and Precision.
Purity signifies the use of good English. It excludes the use of all slang words, vulgar phrases, or any ungrammatical language. Neither does it allow the use of any newly formed word until it is adopted by the dictionary.
Perspicuity stresses the clearest expression of thought conveyed in language, so that there is no misunderstanding whatever of the thought the speaker or writer wants to convey. All vague words and words that might possibly be interpreted in a sense different from that intended are strictly forbidden. Perspicuity requires a style that is clear and comprehensive and completely free from pomp and affectation or any straining after effect.
Precision involves crisp and exact expression, free from, a style terse and clear and simple enough to allow the hearer or reader to comprehend immediately the meaning of the speaker or writer. It bans, on the one hand, all long and involved sentences, and, those that are too short and abrupt.
chapter 2
CHAPTER II
BASICS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR
Divisions of Grammar▬Definitions--Etymology
In order to speak and write the English language correctly, it is vital that the necessary principles of the Grammar be understood, for no matter how much we may read or how much we may associate or imitate the best speakers, if we don’t know the basic principles of the proper formation of sentences and the relationship of words to each another, we will be like the parrot, which only repeats what it hears without understanding the meaning of what is spoken. Of course the parrot, being a creature without reason, cannot understand; it can just repeat what is said to it, and so by the same analogy, when we without having understood the grammar of the language, we may be making lot of blunders while thinking that we are speaking with great accuracy.
DIVISIONS OF GRAMMAR
There are 4 broad divisions of Grammar, namely:
Orthography, Etymology, Prosody and Syntax
Orthography treats letters of the alphabet and the way of combining them into words.
Etymology treats of the various types of words and the alterations that they undergo.
Syntax treats the link and arrangement of the words in a sentence.
Prosody treats the manner of speaking and reading and the different kinds of verse.
LETTERS
A letter is a character used to indicate a communicative sound. These letters (of the alphabet) are divided into vowels and consonants. A vowel is a letter which makes a separate sound by itself. Consonants cannot be expressed without the help of vowels. The five vowels are a, e, i, o, u, and at times w and y when they don’t begin a word or syllable.
WORDS AND SYLLABLES
A syllable is a separate sound produced by – e.g. shall, pig, dog. In each syllable there must be a minimum of one vowel. A word consists of one or a group of syllables.
There are many rules for the dividing of words into syllables.
THE PARTS OF SPEECH
ARTICLE
An article is a letter or word placed in front of a noun to show whether the noun is used in a particular or a general sense.
There are three articles, ‘a’ or ‘an’ and ‘the’. A or an is called the indefinite article as it does not point to any particular person or thing but states the noun in its broadest sense.
‘The’ is definite article because it points out some particular person or thing; hence, the man means some single individual.
NOUN
A noun is the name of any person, place or thing as Peter, London, table. Nouns are proper and common.
Proper nouns are names given to particular persons or places.
Common nouns are names given to a whole kind or species.
Number is that inflection of the noun through which we indicate whether it signifies one or more than one.
Gender is that by which we signify whether the noun is the name of a male, a female, of an inert object or something which has no division of sex.
Case is that inflection of noun which signifies the state of the person, place or thing denoted, as the subject of an affirmation or question, the owner of something mentioned, or the object of an action.
For example, "Peter tore the pages of Betty's book," the distinction between book which represents only one object and pages which represent two or more objects of the same type is called number; the distinction of sex between Peter, a male, and Betty, a female, and book and pages, things which are inert and neither male nor female is called Gender; and the difference of state between Peter, the person who tore the book, and the subject of the affirmation, Betty, the owner of the book.
ADJECTIVE
An adjective is a word which qualifies a noun, it points out some feature of the noun; for example - A white horse.
Adjectives have 3 forms called degrees of comparison, the positive, the comparative and the superlative.
The positive is the simple form of the adjective without expressing increase or decrease of the original quality: good.
The comparative is that form of the adjective which expresses increase or decrease of the quality: better.
The superlative is that form which expresses the highest increase or decrease of the quality: best.
or
An adjective is in the positive form when it does not indicate comparison; as, "A poor woman."
An adjective is in the comparative form when it indicates comparison between two or between one and more collectively, as, "Peter is richer than Tom"; "he is richer than all the men in London."
An adjective is in the superlative form when it indicates a contrast between one and a number of individuals taken individually; as, "Peter is the richest man in London."
Adjectives are compared in 2 ways, either by adding ‘er’ to the positive to form the comparative and 'est' to the positive to form the superlative. For example - bright, brighter, brightest or bright, more bright, most bright.
Many adjectives are irregular when compared; as, bad, worse, worst;
Good, better, best.
PRONOUN
A pronoun is used in place of a noun; as, "Peter gave his pencil to Tom and he lent it to Mary to write with it." Without pronouns we will have to write this sentence, -- "Peter gave Peter's pencil to Tom and Tom lent the pencil to Mary to write Mary's copy with the pencil."
There are 3 kinds of pronouns: They are - Personal, Relative and Adjective.
Personal Pronouns are used instead of the names of persons, places or things. The Personal Pronouns are - I, He, She, and It, with their plural forms, We, You and They.
I is the pronoun of the 1st person because it represents the person who is speaking.
You is the pronoun of the 2nd person because it represents the person spoken to.
He, She and It are the pronouns of the 3rd person because they represent the persons or things about which we are speaking.
Like nouns, the Personal Pronouns have number, gender and case. The gender of the 1st and 2nd person is clear, as they represent the person or persons speaking and those who are spoken to. The personal pronouns are thus not used :( N-nominative, P-possessive, O-objective)
First Person
Male or Female
Singular Plural
- I We
- Mine Ours
- Me Us
Second Person
Male or Female
Singular Plural
- You You
- Your Yours
- You You
Third Person.
Male or Female
Singular Plural
- He They
- His Theirs
- Him Them
Third Person
Male or Female
Singular Plural
- She They
- Hers Theirs
- Her Them
Third Person
Neutral
Singular Plural
- It They
- Its Theirs
- It Them
Note: The plural form ‘you’ is used for both the nominative and objective singular in the second person and ‘yours’ is generally used.
The Relative Pronouns relate to a word or a phrase going before; as, "The man who told the tale;" "He has done well, which gives me great joy."
In this instance, who and which are used in the place of other words, but also who refers to the man, and which to the circumstance of him, having done well.
The word or clause to which a relative pronoun denotes is called as Antecedent.
The Relative Pronouns are - which, who, that and what.
Who is applied to persons only; as, "The man who was here."
Which is applied to the animals, birds and things without life; as, "The cat which I sold." "The cot which I hired."
That is applied to both the persons and things; as, "The conductor that helps." "The parakeet that sings." "The scissor that cuts."
What is a compound relative, including both the antecedent and the relative and is equivalent to that which; as, "I did what he wanted," i. e. "I did that which he wanted."
Relative pronouns have the singular and plural alike.
Who is either masculine or feminine; which and that are masculine, feminine or neuter; what as a relative pronoun is always neuter.
That and what are not inflected. Who and which are thus declined:
Singular and Plural
- Who N. Which
- Whose P. Whose
- Whom O. Which
Who, which and what when used to ask questions are known as Interrogative Pronouns.
Adjective Pronouns take of the nature of adjectives and pronouns and are therefore subdivided as below:
Demonstrative Adjective Pronouns that directly point out to the person or object. They are this, that with their plurals these, those, same, etc.
Distributive Adjective Pronouns are used in a distributive manner. They are each, every, either and neither.
Indefinite Adjective Pronouns are used more or less indefinitely. They are - any, all, one, other, another, few, some, several, none.
Possessive Adjective Pronouns denote possession. They are my, his, her, its, our, your, their.
Note: The possessive adjective pronouns differ from the possessive case of the personal pronouns. The latter can stand alone whereas the former cannot. "Who owns that file?" "It is mine." You cannot say "it is my,"-- the word file must be repeated “it is my file”.
THE VERB
A verb is one which implies action or the doing of a thing, or it may be defined as a word which affirms or asks a question.
Therefore, the words Peter the chair, contain no assertion, but when the word hits is introduced, something is affirmed, hence the word hits is a verb and gives meaning to the sentence.
The simple form of the verb without inflection is known as the root of the verb; for example ‘trust’ is the root of the verb, - "To Trust."
Verbs are regular or irregular, transitive or intransitive.
A verb is regular when it forms the past tense by adding ‘ed’ to the present or ‘d’ if the verb ends in ’ e’. When the verb’s past tense does not end in ‘ed’ it is irregular.
A transitive verb is one where the action affects some object; as "I struck the chair." Here the action of striking affected the object chair, thus struck is a transitive verb.
An intransitive verb is one in which the action remains with the subject; as "I walk," "I sit," "I run."
Many intransitive verbs, however, can be used transitively; thus, "I walk the horse;" walk is here transitive.
Verbs are influenced by number, person, tense and mood.
Number and person as applied to the verb actually belong to the subject; they are used along with the verb to denote whether the statement is made concerning one or more than one and whether it is made with reference to the person speaking, the person spoken to or to the person or thing being spoken about.
THE ADVERB
An adverb is a word that is used to change or qualify the meaning of an adjective, a verb, a clause, another adverb, or any other type of word or phrase with the exception of determiners and adjectives that directly modify nouns.
Examples of Adverbs
Kindly, slowly, here, often, and very are examples of adverbs. Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Modify means to add to or change the meaning of a word.
Many adverbs end in “-ly”. If you are not sure of the part of speech a word would be, and it ends with “-ly”, it is probably an adverb.
What is an adverb of degree?
Adverbs of degree tell us about the intensity or degree of an action, an adjective or another adverb. Common adverbs of degree: Almost, nearly, quite, just, too, enough, hardly, scarcely, completely, very, extremely.
Adverbs of degree tell us the intensity, concentration, or even depth of a particular action. Adverbs of degree usually modify verbs.
Some adverbs of degree can modify adjectives, other adverbs, or clauses.
They answer to the question “how much” or “to what extend”
They can come
Impressum
Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG
Texte: Gopal Rayappa Kolekar
Bildmaterialien: Mr. Suresh
Lektorat: Mr. Manjunath Narayana
Übersetzung: Gopal Rayappa Kolekar
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 17.11.2016
ISBN: 978-3-7396-8374-4
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MY SINCERE REQUEST
My honest advice to foreign students who are reading this book is that they should cultivate the habit of regularly reading English magazines / English newspapers for at least a year. Identify difficult words and understand as to which particular part of speech the word appears and at which position in the sentence. By keenly doing this for a year you are sure to perfectly understand about the positioning of the particular word in an English sentence. This will also enhance your vocabulary.
After one year of following this you will definitely feel that there is no longer a necessity to learn the English language with back translations from your mother tongue. You will certainly find that you will be able to speak and write in English properly without any help. I request you to sincerely follow the guidelines mentioned in this book for better understanding of the English language in this English dominated world.
I wish you all the best in your endeavor.