WHAT IS IDIOM?

-able/-ible: credible, achievable, gullible, capable, illegible,

- An idiom is a phrase or an expression that has a figurative, sensible, remarkable, horrible
or sometimes literal meaning. An idiom’s figurative -al: annual, functional, individual, logical, essential
meaning is different from the literal meaning. -ful: awful, cheerful, doubtful, faithful, forceful
- known as a form of formulaic language -ic: terrific, cubic, manic, rustic
- Most idioms have an extensive history of being used over -ive: intensive, adaptive, attractive, dismissive, inventive,
an extended period of time. Many have origins in the Bible persuasive
and even more are derived from Old English or Latin -less: doubtless, endless, fearless, helpless, homeless,
phrases and words. breathless, careless, groundless, restless
-Well-known authors like Shakespeare, Chaucer, and many -ous: adventurous, famous, generous, courageous,
others dangerous, tremendous, fabulous

Adjective Gradability
Adjectives describe qualities (characteristics) of
nouns. Some qualities can vary in intensity or "grade", for
example:
• rather hot, hot, very hot; hot, hotter, the hottest

The adjective hot is gradable.

Other qualities cannot vary in intensity or grade because
they are:
•extremes (for example: freezing)
•absolutes (for example: dead)
•classifying (for example: nuclear)

The adjectives freezing, dead and nuclear are non-gradable.

A gradable adjective can be used with "grading adverbs"
have used or are solely responsible for the creation of some that vary the adjective's grade or intensity. Look at these
idioms in their works of poetry, drama, plays, and more. examples:
ADJECTIVE
Adjectives can be used in many ways and help the
speaker or writer to better describe something, giving the
audience a clearer picture about what is being discussed.
Adjectives can come in various forms and depending on
their form and what type of word they are modifying, will "Gradable adjectives" are also called "qualitative
depend on where they are placed within a sentence. adjectives". "Grading adverbs" are
- Adjectives provide details about people, places, and also called "sub modifiers".
things.
- We use adjectives to alter nouns and pronouns. A gradable adjective can also have comparative and
- While adjectives can make your writing more descriptive, superlative forms:
it is • big, bigger, the biggest
crucial not to overuse them. • hot, hotter, the hottest
- In the simplest terms, an adjective is a word used to • important, more important, the most important
describe a noun. These words can add a more descriptive Examples:
flavor to a • My teacher was very happy with my homework.
• That website is reasonably popular. But this one is more
popular.
• He said that France was a little cold and Denmark was
rather cold. But Sweden was the coldest.

❑ Non-gradable adjective cannot be used with grading

adverbs.
❑ Non-gradable adjectives do not normally have
comparative and superlative forms: (e.g. freezing, dead,
nuclear)
❑ Non-gradable adjectives are used alone:
• It was freezing outside.
• The dog was dead.
• He is investing in nuclear energy.
sentence.
- An adjective can denote the color, size, condition, sense, However, a non-gradable adjective can be used with "non-
quantity, appearance, time, or personality of a noun or grading adverbs"
pronoun. Also, adjectives are capable of expressing (which usually just give the adjective extra impact), for
comparisons by degrees. example:
Adjective Examples
English Adjectives can be identified by their endings.
Common adjective endings are as follows:
 5. Indefinite adjectives: are non-specific. Examples of
indefinite adjectives include no, few, any, several, and
many.
Examples:
I saw several friends over the holiday season.
I have few friends.
I have no family.
6. Sequence adjectives: assign numbers to nouns; however,
they do not demonstrate order with ordinal numbers.
Examples:
I enjoyed the first read.
I was the second child.
My third doctor made a difference.
7. Proper adjectives: forms from proper nouns. It is
Types of Adjectives essential to capitalize these adjectives to stay true to the
Two main types of Adjectives: proper noun from which they arise.
1. Descriptive adjectives describe the quality of the noun. Examples:
a. Attributive adjectives appear before a noun in a sentence. I have a German grandmother.
b. Predicate adjectives tend to follow verbs. She enjoyed Shakespearean plays.
Canada is an English and French-speaking country.
2. Limiting adjectives limit the noun being described. Each
type of adjective helps to organize the almost limitless 8. Quantitative adjectives: alter pronouns and nouns
amount of adjectives. Where a particular adjective belongs numerically. They answer questions of how much or how
depends on where we place it in a sentence. many.
Examples:
a. Definite & Indefinite Articles She wants three children.
b. Possessive Adjectives She keeps her four dogs in the house.
c. Demonstrative Adjectives I have two jackets from which to choose.
d. Indefinite Adjectives 9. Adjectival Nouns: When a noun modifies another noun
e. Interrogative Adjectives they become a functioning adjective. We call these
f. Cardinal Adjectives transformed nouns adjectival nouns or noun modifiers.
g. Ordinal Adjectives Examples:
h. Proper Adjectives Sports car
i. Nouns used as Adjectives strawberry salad

Some categories use to sort the Adjectives: Alternatively, adjectives can masquerade as nouns. This
1. Descriptive adjectives: accomplish this task by occurs when groups of people are being described. The
modifying a pronoun or noun with an attribute. Hence, this modified noun disappears and the adjective adopts the
type of adjective will come before a noun or pronoun. noun’s placement.
Examples: Examples:
The blue dog saved the day. The young people would change to the young.
The horrid woman cursed at me.
The smiling cat hid behind the couch. These adjectives always follow the.
2. Distributive adjectives: point to a particular noun.
Usually, these adjectives appear before the noun they wish Order of Adjectives
to modify. In addition, they tend to accompany singular 1. Determiner 5. Color
nouns. (e.g: Any, each, every, neither, and either are 2. Observation (Opinion) 6. Origin
examples of distributive adjectives.) 3. Size and Shape 7. Material
Examples: 4. Age 8. Qualifier (Purpose)
I do not want either jacket.
I do not want any candy.
Each choice is miserable.
3. Possessive adjectives: suggest ownership. Examples of
possessive adjectives include the following: her, his, their,
whose, your, its, our, and my.
Examples:
I liked his song.
I love your jacket.
I lost our money.
4. Interrogative Adjectives: that ask a question are
interrogative. What, which, and whose are interrogative
adjectives.
Examples:
Whose shoes did you take?
Which dress will you wear?
What dog did you adopt?

Adjective Placement
Three types of placement adjectives: The small girl likes cake.
1. Attributive adjectives come before the noun they modify. Loki knows that he’s tall.
Example: 2. Comparative adjective is used in order to compare two
A clear day things; it is quite often followed by the word than. When we
2. Predicate adjectives follow a linking verb. These describe two items or two individuals we use the
adjectives include seemed, are, am, is, was, were, and comparative degree. Usually, we add the suffix -er to an
looked. adjective to produce this form.
Example: Examples:
“I was famished after dinner” Fred’s party was more fun than Suzi’s.
3. Postpositive adjectives follow immediately after a She is smarter than she thinks.
pronoun or noun. Balto is taller than Merida.
Example: 3. Superlative adjective is used as a way of comparing more
The phrase tickets available than two things and as a way to say that the thing you are
talking about is the ‘most’. We use the superlative degree
The Position of Adjectives in a Sentence when comparing three or more things. Adjectives in this
An attribute adjective is placed before the noun it is form have the -est ending added to them. If an adjective
modifying. Let’s take a look at some examples of this. ends in the letter y, it changes to i before adding the suffix.
• She is a pretty girl. Examples:
• This is my green dress. She is the smartest girl in the school.
• Today, we will have heavy rain. Robbi is the tallest when compared to his friends.
• Ants have tiny legs. She is more fun than the whole team combined.
• It is a hot day.
Multipart Adjectives
You can also have a predicative adjective which is placed Coordinate Adjectives: Two adjectives of equal weight
after the noun which it is modifying. Here are some constitute coordinate adjectives. We separate them with a
examples to demonstrate this. comma.
• This sandwich is tasty. Example:
• The boy is tall. The girl had a vibrant, gorgeous smile.
• My cats eyes are yellow.
• The cake is not healthy. Cumulative Adjectives: A cumulative adjective has two
• My daughter is beautiful. adjectives that build upon each other. There order only
works one-way to create meaning. These adjectives cannot
There is also the opportunity to place an adjective have the word and separate them.
after certain verbs in order to modify them. This does not Example:
apply to all verbs. The following verbs can be modified
with an adjective.
(e.g. appear, become, go, get, turn, feel, keep)
Examples:
I feel amazing after my spa day.

He has become lazy having not had a job for weeks.

The dog appears aggressive.
You can also use an adjective after the verbs to
smell, to taste, to sound and to look. Let’s take a look at
some examples of the adjective placement for these verbs.
Examples:
That pizza tastes fantastic.
The music sounds good.
It looks stunning.
That smells awful.

Adjectives Without A Noun

Examples:
“He is rich”
“The largest must go at the back.”
Adjectives in Pairs
Examples:
“This is a large, red car.”
“I am a clever, thoughtful person.”

Comparison of Adjectives
Adjectives come in a three-degree hierarchy:
1. Positive adjective. We use the positive degree when
referencing a single person, thing, or place. is used to
describe something without making any sort of comparison
to anything else.
Examples:
The boy is smart.
 The sickly sweet smile scared everyone. Examples:
Drivers should always wear a seat belt.
ADVERB Richard doesn’t usually smoke.
An adverb is a part of speech used to describe a R4. Sometimes we use frequency adverbs at the beginning
verb, an adjective or another adverb. It tells us how, where, of the sentence.
when, how much and with what frequency. Examples:
Example: Always wash your hands before the meal!
“Luckily, I had enough money.”
In this example, we see that the adverb luckily modifies the
rest of the sentence in its entirety.
Adverb Examples
An adverb is a word that tells us more about a verb.
It "qualifies" or "modifies" a verb. (e.g, “The man ran
quickly.”)
Examples:
- John speaks loudly. (How does John speak?)
- Afterwards she smoked a cigarette. (When did she
smoke?)
- Mary lives locally. (Where does Mary live?)
But adverbs can also modify adjectives (Tara is
really beautiful), or even other adverbs (It works very well).
Look at these examples:
Modify an adjective:
- He is really handsome. (How handsome is he?)
- That was extremely kind of you.
Modify another adverb:
- She drives incredibly slowly. (How slowly does she
drive?)
- He drives extremely fast.
It is important to remember that adverbs should not
be used with a linking verb, examples of these might be to
smell, to feel, to seem, to appear or to taste. If you consider
the following sentence you will see that the adverb does not
fit, and that an adjective might be more appropriate.
• He feels terribly about the death of his aunt.

Adverbs to Modify a Sentence

An adverb can be used to modify a whole sentence
and in this case will appear usually at the beginning. When
used in this way, the adverb is not talking about any
specific thing but is rather being used as a way to give an
overall feeling for all of the information presented. Often he walked.
Examples: R5. Sometimes we use frequency adverbs at the end of the
- Generally, people take the train into London. sentence.
- Luckily, my family lives in a nice location. Examples:
- Interestingly, the ancient people ate the same meats as we We read books occasionally.
do. They like to watch TV often.
B. Adverb of Manner. Adverbs of manner are the largest
Types of Adverb group of adverbs. Some of them can be used as either
Types of adverbs are classified according to their adjectives or adverbs. Adverbs of manner are formed by
functions. adding –ly to the corresponding adjectives.
A. Adverb of Frequency. Tell us how often something takes
place or happens. (always, sometimes, often/frequently,
normally/generally, usually, occasionally, seldom,
rarely/hardly ever, never, etc.)

Position of Frequency Adverb

R1. Most adverbs come before the verb.
Example:
I sometimes watch Chinese films.
She never eats vegetables.
R2. Use adverbs of frequency after these five forms of be:
am, is, are, was, were.
Example:
She is always cooking spaghetti.
You are seldom anxious about my health.
R3. When a verb has a helping verb, the adverb goes after
the first part of the verb.
(cheerfully, efficiently, painfully, secretly, quietly, The doctor was extremely old.
The dog is too small.

Examples of adverbs that follow verbs, adjectives, or

adverbs:
She could not eat enough.
The dough would not be hard enough.
*Enough follows the verb eat in the first sentence and the
peacefully, carefully, slowly, badly, closely, easily, well, adjective hard in the second. To + the infinitive form often
fast, quickly, etc.) follow the adverb “enough“.
For example:
C. Adverb of Time. Tells you the time of occurrence of an She could not eat enough to repress the memory.
incident and also its duration and frequency. It also The dough would not be hard enough to throw.
describes the relationship in time between two occurrences.
(now, yesterday, soon, later, tomorrow, yet, already,
tonight, today, then, last month/year, etc.)
Examples:
I went to the doctor yesterday.
Jason will go to his hometown tomorrow.
Angelo completed his graduation last year.

Types of Adverbial Clauses/Adverbs of Time

1. Adverb telling you a definite point of time of the
occurrence of an incident. For example- now, today,
yesterday and tomorrow as used in the sentences below-
I will do it now.
I will visit my doctor today.
I visited my brother yesterday.
D. Adverbs of Place. Tell us the place where something
happens. They answer the question “Where?". Adverbs of
Place mainly modify verbs. (off, above, abroad, far, on, F. Adverbs of Certainty. Express how certain we feel about
away, back, here, out, outside, backwards, behind, in, an action or event. Adverbs of certainty go before the main
below, down, indoors, downstairs, etc.) verb unless the main verb is 'to be', in which case the
Examples: adverb of certainty goes
He looked around, but he couldn’t find his keys. after.
You’re going back to church.
Examples:
Types of Adverb in Place He definitely left the house this morning.
He surely won't forget.
E. Adverb of Degree. Degree adverbs are words that He is probably in the park.
describe the intensity of a particular adjective, verb, or He is certainly a smart man.
adverb. They alter the meaning of the word they describe by If there is an auxiliary verb, the adverb of certainty goes
making them stronger or between the auxiliary and the main verb.
weaker. For example, degree adverbs like extremely will Examples:
produce thoughts of abundance while words like slightly He has certainly forgotten the meeting.
will lessen the impact of the word it seeks to modify. (quite, He will probably remember tomorrow.
fairly, too, enormously, entirely, very, extremely, rather, He is definitely running late.
almost, absolutely, just, barely, completely, enough, etc.) Sometimes these adverbs of certainty can be placed at the
Examples of adverbs that precede verbs, adjectives, or beginning of the sentence.
adverbs: Examples:
 VERB
A verb is a word which describes an action, often
known
as a ‘doing’ word. In the English language, the verb is the
only kind of word which will change to show whether the
past or present is being spoken about. The verb is
considered to be the most vital part of any sentence, without
it you would be left literally speechless. A verb is a word or
group of words that describes an
action, experience or expresses a state of being.
Undoubtedly, Winston Churchill was a great Verb Examples
politician. He speaks English
Certainly, I will be there. I don’t know how to spell the word
Probably, he has forgotten the meeting. She studies hard
When the adverb of certainty surely is placed at the Verb Rules
beginning of the sentence, it means the speaker thinks
➢ When talking in the third person, the verb requires an -es
something is true, but is looking for confirmation.
or -s form,
Examples:
Example:
Surely you've got a bicycle.
He uses the bathroom.
Surely you're not going to wear that to the party.
Adverb of Evaluation ➢ If the verb and the subject have a long phrase between
G. Adverbs of Attitude. Express the speaker’s attitude them, the verb has to agree with the original subject and not
towards an action. They are generally used to refer to whole that of the phrase.
sentences and not to small phrases or words. (frankly, Example:
fortunately, honestly, hopefully, interestingly, luckily, The sweets which he gave to his wife were very
sadly, seriously, surprisingly, tasty.
unbelievably, etc.) ➢ If the subject is preceded by the phrase ‘one of’, the
Examples: following verb should be singular.
Frankly, I feel tired so I don’t want to come with Example:
you. One of the children is crying.
Doctors healed the wound of the patient, ➢ If two nouns are within a sentence and refer to the same
fortunately. thing or person, the following verb should be singular.
The side effects of the pill hopefully were weak. Example:
H. Adverbs of Judgement. We can use the evaluative The doctor and the nurse are working in the
adverbs to make judgments about someone’s actions. hospital.
(bravely, carelessly, fairly, foolishly, generously, kindly, ➢ If there are two nouns which are synonymous within a
rightly, spitefully, stupidly, unfairly, wisely, wrongly, etc.) sentence, they should be followed with a singular verb.
Examples: Example:
She kindly lent me her bicycle. His power and might is huge.
The jacket is very generously cut. ➢ Plural nouns on their own will use a plural verb
I carelessly broke the glass. Example:
I. Conjunctive Adverb. ((Linking adverb): besides, His shoes are too big.
comparatively, conversely, equally, further, hence, in However, if the plural noun is preceded by the words ‘a pair
comparison, incidentally, namely, next, now, rather, of’ then a singular verb is required.
undoubtedly, additionally, anyway, certainly, elsewhere, For Example: A pairs of shoes is quite expensive.
finally, in addition, in contrast, indeed, moreover,
nonetheless, similarly, subsequently, thereafter, yet, also,
➢ If the noun is uncountable then a singular verb should
meanwhile, consequently, nevertheless, etc.)
always follow it.
Examples:
Example:
I don’t want to go; besides, I’m too tired.

Adverb Placement
Different types of adverbs and adverbials go in different
positions in the clause. These adverb positions in a sentence
is also called adverb placement. Furthermore, they had not
consulted with her.
 The poetry that he writes is very romantic.
➢ When a collective noun is referring to a single entity, it And, some indefinite pronouns (some, any, all, most) may
should use a singular verb. be either singular or plural,
Example: depending upon their use in a sentence: with uncountable,
The military is very strict. use singular; with countable, use
However, if it is being used to refer to an individual then a plural.
plural verb should be used Example: Some of the books are out of place. Please put
Example: them in the right order.
The military are requesting new members.
(Books are countable.)
Subject Verb Agreement Rules Some of the music was weird. (Music is uncountable.)
The subject and verb within a sentence need to
agree with each other in number in order for a sentence to RULE #8. Use a singular verb for expressions of
make sense. measurement, time. money and weight when
RULE #1. (Basic Rule) The subject and verb must agree in the amount is considered one unit.
number. A singular subject takes a singular verb, whereas a Example: Fifty dollars seems a reasonable price.
plural subject takes a plural verb.
Example: Three miles is too far to walk.
A good medicine tastes bitter.
He goes to work by bus. BUT:
They visit us every other week.
RULE #2. The subject is separated from the verb by “with”, Five dollars were scattered on the ground.
“as well as”, “together with”, “along with”. These words
and phrases are not part of the subject. The verb agrees with RULE #9. Plural form subjects with a singular meaning
the subject. take a singular verb (such as mumps,
Example: home economics, social studies economics, measles,
The politician, along with the newsmen, is expected calisthenics, statistics, civics, physics,
shortly. gymnastics, phonics, news, acrobatics, aesthetics, thesis,
RULE #3. Two subjects joined by “and” are plural. mathematics, ...).
Example: Example: Gymnastics is his favorite sport.
Mary and Joan are quite different.
Exceptions: Bacon and eggs is my favorite dish. Mathematics is the science of pure quantity.
In this sentence, bacon and eggs is a compound
noun. RULE #10. Titles of single entities (books, organizations,
RULE #4. Two subjects joined by “or/not”, countries, etc.) are always singular.
“either...or/neither...nor”, “not only...but also” take the verb
that agrees with the subject closest to it. Example: Harry Potter is an interesting novel.
Example:
Neither my mother nor my father goes to Type of Verb
university. A. IRREGULAR VERB - are common verbs in English
Either my father or my brothers are coming. that do not follow the simple system of
Not only you but also I am planning to go. adding “d” or “ed” to the end of the word to form the past
RULE #5. With collective nouns, the verb might be singular tense (the past simple and/or the
or plural, depending on meaning. past participle).
Example:
The audience was clearly enchanted by her
performance.
The audience are strangely subdued, clapping
politely after each song.
RULE #6. In sentences beginning with “here” or “there“,
the true subject follows the verb.
Example:
There is a bush near the school playground.
Here are the keys.
RULE #7. The verb is singular if the subject is a singular
indefinite pronoun such as each, either, neither, one, no one,
every one, someone, anyone, nobody, somebody, anybody,
everybody, one, no.
Example:
Nobody gets rich from writing nowadays.
Either of the plans is equally dangerous.

The verb is plural if the subject is a plural indefinite

pronoun such as several, few, both,
many.

Example: Several villages have been isolated by the heavy

snowfall.