English for Foreign Students

By Gopal Kolekar

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gopal Kolekar
• Release date: Aug 16, 2020
• ISBN: 9783736857407

Gopal Kolekar

Gopal Rayappa Kolekar Author is Mech. Engg. born in village Kangrali B.K. INDIA

Book preview

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

By Gopal Rayappa Kolekar

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 Smashwards Edition: Dec 2019

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: [e-mail]

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.

PREFACE

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 ENGLISH GRAMMAR

CHAPTER III  AUXILIARIES AND MODALS

CHAPTER IV  GERUND, INFINITIVE AND PARTICIPLE

CHAPTER V  TENSES

CHAPTER VI  DETERMINER - DIFFERENT KINDS WITH EXAMPLES

CHAPTER VII  OMISSION OF WORDS IN A SENTENCE

CHAPTER VIII  POSITION OF WORDS IN A SENTENCE

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 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