Who Said English Grammar Was Boring?

By Francis A. Andrew

The world of education is full of grammar books. For most teachers and students of foreign languages, grammar books are generally dry and dusty and only to be consulted on a reference basis. However, Who Said English Grammar Was Boring is not your conventional grammar book. Its core dynamic is based upon a conversation between the author and an English language instructor colleague. Apart from being an exposition of English grammar, the book also incorporates advice on teaching methodology and practice exercises for students. Apart from focusing on the four key areas of language learningreading, writing, listening, and speakingthe book introduces another concept in the form of a practicum, which asks the students to take turns in giving a lesson to their classmates on what they have learned. It is hoped that this book will serve to take the monotony out of grammar learning.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Sep 13, 2017
• ISBN: 9781490784236

Francis A. Andrew

Francis A. Andrew was born in Aberdeen in Scotland. Although he is not a scientist by training, he has had a life-long passion for astronomy and space technology. In his childhood years, he was influenced by the works of Sir Fred Hoyle and by Sir Patrick Moore's monthly television programme, "The Sky at Night."

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Copyright 2017 FRANCIS A. ANDREW.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

ISBN: 978-1-4907-8422-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4907-8424-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4907-8423-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017913172

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Table of Contents

Introduction.

Unit 1:     The present simple tense

Unit 2:     The present continuous tense

Unit 3:     Simple past tense – regular verbs & past of ‘to be’

Unit 4:     Simple past tense – irregular verbs/past continuous

Unit 5:     How much/How many/ There is/ There are/ Have to do/Had to do

Unit 6:     Some/any/ a few/ a little

Unit 7:     Past tense with ‘ago’

Unit 8:     ‘Use’ as a verb/ ‘use’ as an adjective meaning ‘worth’ and ‘used to’ for past habit

Unit 9:     ‘Used to’ as in ‘accustomed to’ (all tenses learned to date)

Unit 10:   Adjectives

Unit 11:   Adverbs

Unit 12:   Future tense will/ going to do/ future of have to

Unit 13:   Requests and offers. Take/get/bring/show someone something

Unit 14:   Present perfect – completed actions

Unit 15:   Present perfect – incomplete actions with ‘for’ & ‘since’

Unit 16:   Present perfect with ‘just’/ ‘already’

Unit 17:   Present perfect negative form ‘haven’t done yet’

Unit 18:   Present perfect continuous

Unit 19:   Had better do/have something done

Unit 20:   Past continuous and past simple

Unit 21:   ‘Can’ in simple future requests and offers

Unit 22:   Present perfect and past simple

Unit 23:   The gerund as a noun

Unit 24:   The present participle as an adjective

Unit 25:   The past participle as a noun

Unit 26:   The past participle as an adjective

Unit 27:   Future simple contrasting ‘If’ and ‘when’

Unit 28:   Want/ let/ask/tell/make someone do something

Unit 29:   Future in the past

Unit 30:   Past in the future

Unit 31:   Past perfect and past simple

Unit 32:   Conditional Type 1

Unit 33:   Conditional Type 2

Unit 34:   Conditional Type 3

Unit 35:   The passive voice (present simple & present continuous)

Unit 36:   The passive voice (past simple & past continuous)

Unit 37:   The passive voice (present perfect & present perfect continuous)

Unit 38:   The passive voice (past perfect & past perfect continuous)

Unit 39:   The passive voice (future simple & future continuous)

Unit 40:   The passive voice (future perfect, future perfect continuous & passive infinitive)

Unit 41:   Modal verbs

Unit 42:   Semi-modal verbs

Unit 43:   Reported speech (present simple & present continuous)

Unit 44:   Reported speech (past simple & past continuous)

Unit 45:   Reported speech (future simple & future continuous)

Unit 46:   Emphatic pronouns / Reflexive Pronouns

Unit 47:   Clauses and phrases

Unit 48:   Linking verbs and the complement

Unit 49:   Transitive and intransitive verbs

Unit 50:   The subjunctive Mood

PREFACE.

B oth of us, the conversationalists of this book, are hands on English language instructors. We are therefore cognisant of the fact that the methodologies and techniques inherent in the pedagogical aspects of the English language require the instructor to be in continuous awareness of the need to keep in balance the four aspects involved in language learning – speaking, reading, writing and liste ning.

However, a common phantom that haunts these four basic components is the awful spectre of grammar. Its ghostly presence sends shivers down the spines of both teachers and students alike. And what is the curse that this ghastly ghost brings in its wake as it stalks the desks of the classes through which it prowls as a most unwelcome observer of the lessons it constantly disrupts? Boredom!

However, the authors of this work see themselves as the grammar ghost-busters who intend to break the curse and, once and for all, exorcise this spectral nuisance from the haunted halls of English departments and English language institutes throughout the world.

Once this daemon has been dispatched to its proper abode in the fiery abyss of grammar boredom, we, like welcome good angels, intend to come in the role of bringers of a totally new and refreshing spirit pouring out its sweet tidings that grammar can in fact be fun. Great fun! Come on – join in the fun!

For whom is this work intended?

Although this work encompasses a comprehensive sweep of the English grammar, and as such, starts at the basics, it is essentially intended for students who wish to revise the English they originally learned as beginners but with the basic grammar placed within a more mature setting. This mature framework will become more apparent in the story, An Amazing Discovery, and the other shorter stories which are part of the course work placed in this book. While each episode of the story deals with the grammar topic of the unit in which it is embedded, the vocabulary items will be more complex than those that are found in the more traditional English language teaching books. As this work does not really have raw beginners in mind, the units will at times contain more complex grammar than what the title of the unit specifies.

The conversational parts of the work between Francis and Yashu are essentially concerned with teaching methodology and grammar exposition, and as such, are aimed mainly at the teacher. The students’ book therefore will not contain the Francis/Yashu conversations.

INTRODUCTION.

Yashu : Hi, Francis.

Francis : Hi Yashu, How are the things with you?

Yashu : Oh, absolutely fine. And with you?

Francis: It’s fine here at my end too.

Yashu : I’ve been thinking about English grammar recently; and English grammar books in particular.

Francis : What brought that to your mind?

Yashu : Well, as an instructor in English language and literature, I had been mulling over the reasons as to why so many students are so low in their motivational levels when it comes to learning English.

Francis : I’ve often wondered along the same lines.

Yashu: I had been thinking of the methodology involved in presenting the pedagogical aspects of grammar and how this may have a dampening effect upon students’ motivation.

Francis : Let’s not always put the blame on the poor teacher. Although we instructors bear a lot of responsibility for those placed under our care, there still remain aspects of the teaching phenomenon other than the inter-personal relationship between teacher and pupils.

Yashu: Exactly! That is why I was focusing my thinking on the format and layout of grammar books. The conventional grammar book, for most students, is a rather dull affair, let’s face it.

Francis: I couldn’t agree with you more, Yashu. In fact, grammar books are merely reference works for both teacher and pupil, though to be fair, some grammar books provide exercises which serve to reinforce the material being covered in them.

Yashu: That’s why I was thinking of a grammar book which is not only different from the usual, but is much more interesting for both teachers and students.

Francis: Let’s construct a grammar book format that is something of a cross between the English language text book and the conventional grammar book.

Yashu: That’s a superb idea, Francis. Let’s start our book right this very moment by beginning at the beginning and considering the very origins of the English language.

Francis: Yes, we put the target language within a historico/linguistic framework.

Yashu : Yes, it would be of great interest to students to know the very genesis of the language they are studying. I have heard that English is a modern language, not nearly as old as Sanskrit and Greek are though. It has its roots in other European languages. Am I right?

Francis : Like other European languages, including Greek and Latin, it has its roots in the Indo-European family of languages.

Yashu: Language, rightly considered, then, is an organised set of sounds. These sounds convey a meaning from the mind of the speaker to the mind of the hearer, and thus serve to connect man with man.

Francis : So, what does this mean?

Yashu: We speak of the English tongue or of the French language; and we say of two nations that they do not understand each other’s speech. The existence of these three words— speech, tongue, language -- proves to us that a language is something spoken, that it is a number of sounds; and that the writing or printing of it upon paper is quite a secondary matter. However, I wonder why written language displays a fair number of divergences from its spoken counterpart?

Francis :It took many hundreds of years—perhaps thousands— before human beings were able to invent a mode of writing upon various media of communication – stone tablets, papyrus, and, eventually paper - that is, of representing sounds by signs on these materials. These signs are called letters; and the whole set of them goes by the name of the ‘alphabet’ - from the two first letters of the Greek alphabet, which are called alpha, beta. There are languages that have never been phonetically represented as script on a medium of visual communication – examples of these may be found in Africa, the South Sea Islands and among tribal peoples in places like the Amazon rainforest and the jungles of Indonesia. But in all cases, every language that we know anything about— English, Latin, French, German - existed for hundreds of years before anyone thought of writing them down on paper or some other material. The spoken language always precedes the written language. That means a language grows as we grow.

Yashu : Exactly. Language grows; it is growing still; and it has been growing for many hundreds of years. As a particular language grows, it loses something, and it gains something; it alters its appearance; changes take place in this and that part of it, until at length its characteristics are something almost entirely different from what they were in its early youth. If we had the photograph of a man of forty, and the photograph of the same person when he was a child of one year old, we should find, on comparing them, that it was almost impossible to point to the smallest trace of likeness in the features of the two photographs. And yet the two pictures represent the same person. And so it is with the English language. The oldest English, which is usually called Anglo-Saxon, is as different from our modern English as if they were two distinct languages – yet, in fact, this is exactly what they are. Apart from specialists in Anglo-Saxon, no Englishman understands Anglo-Saxon today. Modern English differs from the oldest English as a giant oak does from a small oak sapling, or a broad stalwart man of forty does from a feeble infant of a few months.

Correct me if I am wrong. ‘The English language is the speech spoken by the Anglo-Saxon race in England, in most parts of Scotland, in the larger part of Ireland, in the United States, in Canada, in Australia and New Zealand, in South Africa, and in many other parts of the world. In the middle of the fifth century it was spoken by a few thousand men who had recently landed in England from the Continent: it is now spoken by more than one hundred million people. In the course of the next sixty years, it will probably be the speech of two hundred million.

Francis: As you rightly said, English has completely diverged from Anglo-Saxon; the latter is no longer the common speech in the countries which you have just mentioned. English is a language which has evolved over time – an evolution which continues to this day. English in the forms that we would recognise it today probably began with Geoffrey Chaucer (c 1343 – 1400) who is credited with being the Father of English Literature. Since then, English has been in a constant state of evolutionary flux.

Yashu: You say that English is by no means a static language: can you give me an example, from the modern period, to demonstrate this?

Francis: Yes I can; and one from personal experience. Unlike French, for example, English is not a fossilised language; it is not, as we would say ‘written in stone;’ rather, it is a progressive language that adapts to changing circumstances and endeavours to render articulation to new concepts and new developments in the arts, sciences and other aspects of human achievement.

Yashu: So, what is the example you can give?

Francis: A friend of mine, by the name of Ajinkya Bhede, is working with me on a science fiction novel. Ajinkya coined a new word – ‘artinatural’. It is essentially a hybrid of two words, ‘artificial’ and ‘natural.’

Yashu: What does it represent?

Francis: It represents a device which is of itself a hybrid of the natural and the artificial. In our novel, the artinatural forms are crosses between biological and synthetic materials used by scientists to create types of plants that can grow and thrive on the harsh Martian landscape.

Yashu: Has Ajinkya’s new word been incorporated into the English lexicon yet?

Francis: Ajinkya sent his word to Chambers dictionaries. They told him that they could use the word if it became common parlance.

Yashu: That is an encouraging development.

Francis: Yes it is; they did not give immediate acceptance to his word, but then neither did they dismiss it out of hand; in fact, as I mentioned, they said they would use his word if it became ‘common currency’ so to speak.

Yashu: Come to think of it, even within the realms of science fact, many developments in current technology are based upon biological processes. Velcro is an example of this. It is a fastener based on burrs, the plant seed-sacs that cling to the fur of animals so that they can get to fertile new grounds for growing in. In fact, there is a term for this – biomimicry.

Francis: Yes, but I think Ajinkya’s term is more precise in that it describes the combination of the natural and the artificial. Nevertheless, I think that ‘biomimicry’ and ‘artinatural’ could well develop into interchangeable terms.

Yashu: Yes. Scientists are currently examining the feet of geckos and other such creatures that can cling to walls so that the substances that render them this natural ability can be incorporated into industrial processes. This is a clear example of an artinatural application in industry.

Francis: Yes it is. I think Ajinkya’s word has a great linguistic future ahead of it.

Yashu: About the book we want to write – what do you think the format of it should be?

Francis: Each unit should begin with an explanation of the grammar in the form of a conversation – like the one we are having now.

Yashu: Except that it should be focused on the grammatical point being highlighted in the unit.

Francis: Of course. We then explain the recommended pedagogical methods to the instructors using the book.

Yashu Then we present the first episode in a story. Each episode looks at the grammar point of the unit in which it is embedded but also with the use of grammar in previous units as a way of revision. As the book is intended for ‘false beginners’ more complex grammar than that presented in the unit may be used in the story.

Francis: That is an excellent idea Yashu. We then ask questions based on the episode to test students’ understanding of what they have read.

Yashu: And not only questions and answers, but multiple choice tests, true and false statements and matching. Dictionary work should be given as there will doubtless be many new vocabulary items presented in the units. And of course, homework should be encouraged.

Francis: I think that the informality and friendliness of our book should be reflected in the way teachers present themselves to their classes.

Yashu: If I am ever HOD in the Department of English in any educational establishment, I will introdcue a new dress code for my staff.

Francis: I see, suit and tie - right?

Yashu: Wrong! Blue jeans. This informality puts both the students and teachers at ease one with another.

UNIT 1

The present simple tense

Francis: Hi Yashu.

Yashu: Hi Francis. So – we are now ready to start.

Francis: We can begin with a very basic verb tense called the present simple tense.

Yashu: Yes. First of all we have to dispel certain common misconceptions about this tense.

Francis: What do you mean Yashu?

Yashu: Because its first name is ‘present’, many students tend to think it is referring to ‘now.’

Francis: The first thing language instructors have to tell their students is that it denotes habitual, regular and routine action.

Yashu: Also, that adverbs of frequency may also accompany them.

Francis: So how should the teacher proceed with a lesson on the present simple?

Yashu: By writing sentences on the board using this tense. So, Francis, let’s go to the blackboard now.

(Francis and Yashu are now standing at the blackboard. The sentences in bold below are what they write on the board. It is recommended that what is written in bold here should be written on the blackboard by instructors using this book).

Francis: All the persons should be used:

I go to school every day.

You come home in the afternoon.

He eats dinner at seven o’clock.

She drinks tea every morning.

It starts on Monday.

We play football every Friday.

You read books every day.

They watch television every night.

Yashu: We should then explain the meaning of the word ‘habit’ to the students. And also explain the second use of ‘you’ as the Second Person Plural.

Francis: Yes – and write this under the sentences

Habit a Now X ing X

Yashu: This is very important as so many mistakes are made with this tense. For example:

I eating dinner every day. X

And then we have to explain to them the s in the third person singular. I suggest we put the following on the board.

I: First Person Singular

You: Second Person Singular

He: Third Person Singular Masculine

She: Third Person Singular Feminine

It: Third Person Singular Neuter

We: First Person Plural

You: Second Person Plural

They: Third Person Plural

We emphasise the fact that this s is only for the third person singular; only in affirmative sentences; only in the present simple tense; it is not used in interrogatives and negatives.

Francis: We then give some more sentences with the adverbs of frequency.

I always have lunch at 12.30.

John often listens to the radio.

My friends usually phone me on Saturday.

Those people sometimes wait for the bus.

We never go to school on Saturday.

Yashu: The next thing we have to do is to deal with the present simple tense in its negative form.

Francis: We can take the first set of sentences and write negative ones next to them. It should also be explained that ‘don’t’ and ‘doesn’t’ are contractions of ‘do not’ and ‘does not’ respectively. On the blackboard write:

do not = don’t       does not = doesn’t

I go to school every day. I don’t go to the market every day.

You come home in the afternoon. You don’t come home in the evening.

He eats dinner at seven o’clock. He doesn’t eat dinner at six o’clock.

She drinks tea every morning. She doesn’t drink coffee every morning.

It starts on Monday. It doesn’t start on Tuesday.

We play football every Friday. We don’t play football every Thursday.

You read books every day. You don’t read newspapers every day.

They watch television every night. They don’t watch television every morning.

Yashu: And as with the affirmative sentences, we explain to the students how the auxiliary verb changes with the third person singular.

Francis: Yes. We must also emphasise the fact that the main verb does not undergo any change.

Yashu: Now, Francis, we have to deal with the interrogative forms in the present simple.

Francis: This is an area of grammar that must be dealt with right at Beginner level.

Yashu: Why is that?

Francis: It is essentially because students do not know when to use the verb to do and the verb to be when formulating questions. Even advanced students say things like Does he coming soon?/ Is he come soon?/ Do they teachers.

Yashu: I have an idea about how to tackle this.

Francis: Tell me.

Yashu: We write the following on the board:

Do/Does? + verb ‘ing’ X

To be

Am ?

Is ? a.) + verb ‘ing’

Are ? b.) when the verb to be is the only verb in the sentence.

Francis: The continuous form will come in Unit 2.

Yashu: Yes, but we can make passing reference to it now.

Francis: I suggest we write the following on the board – basically turning the above sentences into the interrogative, one for an affirmative answer and the other for a negative one.

Do I go to school every day? Yes you do.

Do you come home in the afternoon? Yes I do.

Does he eat dinner at seven o’clock? Yes he does.

Does she drink tea every morning? Yes she does.

Does it start on Monday? Yes it does.

Do we play football every Friday? Yes we do.

Do you read books every day? Yes we do.

Do they watch television every night? Yes they do.

Yashu: Why did you put the auxiliary verb in italics?

Francis: This is to highlight the fact that in ‘yes/no’ questions, the auxiliary verb which begins the questions is repeated as the last word in the answer. It is also important to explain how the first person plural is used in an answer to a question in the second person plural.

Yashu: We also have to explain the change in the auxiliary with the persons.

Francis: Yes, that is important.

Yashu: Let’s now deal with the negative answers. I suggest the following:

Do I go to the market every day? No you don’t.

Do you come home in the evening? No I don’t.

Does he eat dinner at six o’clock? No he doesn’t.

Does she drink coffee every morning? No she doesn’t.

Does it start on Tuesday? No it doesn’t.

Do we play football on Thursday? No we don’t.

Do they watch television every morning? No they don’t.

Francis: We also show the students that the rules for the interrogative are the same as for the negative – there is no s in the main verb in the third person singular but that the change comes in the auxiliary. We should once again remind the students how don’t and doesn’t are abbreviated forms of do not and does not respectively.

Yashu: We now have to give examples of the use of the verb to be.

Francis: I’ll put them on the board now.

I am in the classroom.

You are a student.

He is happy.

She is at her desk near the window.

It is on the wall next to the door.

We are in class FB 110

They are now on the field with the football team.

Yashu: We tell the students that these sentences correspond to rule b of the above grammatical diagram. Other than the verb to be there is no other verb in them.

Francis: Now we have to give them examples in the negative and explain to them the position of the negative particle in the sentences – i.e. it comes after the verb to be.

Yashu: I’ll chalk up some examples now:

I am not in the kitchen.

You are not a teacher.

He is not sad.

She is not at her desk near the cupboard.

It is not on the wall next to the window.

We are not in class FB 111.

They are not in the gym with the basketball team.

Francis: And now the interrogative forms.

Am I in the classroom? Yes you are.

Are you a student? Yes I am.

Is he happy? Yes he is.

Is she at her desk near the window? Yes she is.

Is it on the wall next to the door? Yes it is.

Are we in class FB 110? Yes we are.

Are they now on the playing field with the football team? Yes they are.

Yashu: The teachers have to point out clearly the difference between how a question is formed with action verbs and with the verb to be. We tell the students that we turn a sentence with to be in it into a question by what is called inversion – i.e. we change the position of the verb to be to the beginning of the sentence.

Francis: While we explained that the auxiliary verb in a do/does question is repeated as the last word in the answer, we have to show the students that this is the same for the verb to be except in the first and second persons singular.

Yashu: I am now going to show these questions with negative answers.

Am I in the kitchen? No you aren’t.

Are you a teacher? No I’m not.

Is he sad? No he isn’t.

Is she at her desk near the cupboard? No she isn’t.

Is it on the wall next to the window? No it isn’t.

Are we in class FB 111? No we aren’t.

Are they in the gym with the basketball team? No they aren’t.

Francis: Do you think it is wise at this stage to explain the alternative abbreviation to the students?

Yashu: It depends on the class. If they are quick to grasp grammatical points, then the alternative can be given; if not, then it is wise to wait as a rendering of the alternative abbreviation may confuse the students.

Francis: Anyway – here are the alternatives.

No I’m not

No you’re not

No he’s not

No she’s not

No it’s not

No we’re not

No they’re not

Yashu: And explain how there is no such an abbreviation as ‘amn’t’. There is only one possibility for the first person singular.

Francis: We have to show the students how this tense is used with ‘wh’ questions.

Yashu: A good idea. We should