Examples:
A noun does not change its form whether it is used in the subjective case or the objective case
-
Her husband called her. (Subjective case)
- She called her husband. (Objective case)
(The noun husband does not change, whether it is used in the subjective or objective case.)
Unlike a noun, a pronoun has different forms when used in the subjective case or the objective case.
-
He called his wife. (Subjective case)
-
His wife called him. (Objective case)
(The subjective pronoun he becomes the objective pronoun him when it is changed from the subject to the object.)
Examples:
- Incorrect: The pangolin is mine pet.
(The word mine is a possessive pronoun and it is incorrectly used before a noun.) - Correct: The pangolin is mine.
(The possessive pronoun mine is correctly used in place of the noun pet.) - Correct: The pangolin is my pet.
(The possessive adjective my is correctly used before a noun.)
The possessive adjective my comes before a noun that it modifies in the sentence. It shows to whom the noun belongs. A possessive adjective is not a possessive pronoun.
The second verb is to + infinitive, and, together with all the words that follow, can be described as the direct object of the first verb.
Examples:
- We tried to reach home before it rained.
(The catenative verb tried is followed by the to-infinitive to reach.) - They expect to win this game.
(The catenative verb expect is followed by the to-infinitive to win. To reach home before it rained in the first sentence and to win this game in the second sentence are direct objects of the verbs tried and expect.)
The catenative verb that is followed by verb+ing/gerund.
Examples:
- His parents love birdwatching..
-
I always enjoy lying on the beach..
- While you were away, I fed your goldfish and hamsters.
The independent clause is I fed your goldfish and hamsters, which is also called a main clause. While you were away is the subordinate clause introduced by the subordinating conjunction while.
- She told me to keep quiet, but I wouldn’t until I had said all the things I wanted to say.
Independent clauses: She told me to keep quiet and but I wouldn’t; dependent clause: until I had said all the things I wanted to say.
In each of the following sentences, the subject has more than one verb (in bold) which is called a compound verb.
Examples:
- She said there were ghosts in the kitchen, for she saw them.
- He punched his younger brother and kicked him on the knee.
- They neither know nor care what she said about him.
- I support the home team, but I bet it will lose.
- You can come along or stay at home.
- The team played very well, yet it lost the match.
- She felt insulted by him, so she slapped him..
The types of compound verbs include prepositional verb, phrasal verb, verb with auxiliaries, and single-word verb.
Examples:
- A tile fell off the roof.
-
The building burned down last month.
-
He bumped into me from behind.
Examples:
- Our meeting came about by accident.
- Someone broke into their house while they were away.
- The building burned down last month.
- The bank robbers made off before the police arrived.
Verb with auxiliaries
Examples:
- She is lying on the beach.
- We are preparing for the trip.
- They will be arriving in an hour’s time.
Examples:
- We cherry-pick the television programs to watch.
-
She deep-fried the chicken for us.
-
She sunbathes every week..
-
They honeymooned in Antarctica.
The conditional clause is introduced by a conditional conjunction, most commonly if or unless. Such a clause either goes before or follows the independent clause, which is also called the main clause.
Conditional conjunctions include after, as long as, as soon as, assuming that, because, before, despite, even if, if, if only, in case, in order, now that, provided, providing that, should, since, supposing, therefore, unless, until, when, whenever, wherever, whether or not, and yet.
Examples of sentences containing conditional conjunctions
Examples:
The subordinate clauses are in bold. A comma is used when a subordinate clause comes earlier.
- You won’t get cancer so soon as long as you smoke moderately.
-
As long as you smoke moderately
, you won’t get cancer so soon.
- I will be glad to eat the whole cake if you want me to.
-
If you want me to
, I will be glad to eat the whole cake.
- You can join the drinking session provided you don’t get yourself drunk.
-
Provided you don’t get yourself drunk
, you can join the drinking session.
-
Should you feel sea sick
, you could lie in the cabin.
- Since it is quite late, the shop is not open.
- You will not go for dinner with me unless you pay for it.
Examples:
The conditional conjunction if, used to express a hypothetical statement, can be removed without affecting the meaning of the sentence.
- If you had tasted my beef soup, you would know how spicy it was.
- Had you tasted my beef soup, you would know how spicy it was.
- If the rescuers found them within the first week, most of them would be alive..
- Were the rescuers to find them within the first week, most of them would be alive.