My book

English language:
English is the language, originally of England, now spoken in many other
countries and used as a language of international communication throughout the
world. In Uganda English is official language the teaching of English remains of
paramount importance on the school curriculum. Learners need English for
communication and as a basis for further education.
N.B: an official language is that language used in the country and which cuts
across the boundaries. It can be used in schools, courts of law, offices, in market
places and in many places.
A national language is a language that is used within one country i.e. it does not
cut across the boundaries.
Aims of learning English language;
1. To assist the learners develop their ability to understand with reasonable
ease rapid standard speech in situations such as classroom discussions,
radio, T V programs, recorded plays, full-length films and every day
speech.
2. To enable learners to express themselves intelligently, appropriately and
effectively in speech.
3. To cultivate or inculcate in learners the desire to read by themselves and
for their own satisfaction.
4. To encourage learners to develop the ability to read a variety of written
materials for enjoyment, information and knowledge.
5. To stimulate the student’s response to the art of language as in prose and
poetry, as a means of inspiring creativity, and to assist them articulate
their response intelligently.
6. To guide the learners in developing their ability to write correctly,
creatively and effectively.
To use and make correct sentence or speeches In English language there rules
to follow and it is not easy to master them unless you follow what we call
parts of speech in English language.

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 Parts of speech these are elements which can be combined to gather
following their rules and principles to form a sentence or a speech, there are
eight parts of speech plus two important elements i.e. tenses and articles, but
the eight parts of speech includes the following;
a) Nouns
b) Verbs
c) Adverbs
d) Adjectives
e) Pronouns
f) Preposition
g) Interjections
h) Conjunctions
Plus tenses and articles.
These elements can make a clear and standard speech if correctly combined e.g.
1. Innocent is riding smartly and gently a small bike on a big and rough road.
2. James is reading a big book while singing a lovely song and is sitting on a
tall chair.

Nouns.
Are names of people, places and things e.g. Mary, Kampala, Chair, Cold,
Faithfulness. Nouns are characterised into two forms: countable nouns and un
countable nouns.
There are other several ways by which nouns may be classified these
include:
1. Common nouns.
2. Compound nouns
3. Possessive nouns
4. Collective nouns
5. Proper nouns. Etc.
Countable nouns.
Can be singled and easily counted as two girls, four brick, ten
women etc.
They have plural and singular forms.

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Uncountable nouns
These are nouns which deals in singular form only because they are
not countable e.g. sugar, smoke, sand, ash, furniture, luggage, fire, soil,
property, water etc.
For their measuring capacity words like some, few, much e.t.c are
normally used.
N.B
Few goes with countable nouns e.g. few cars, few people e.t.c
though it can be used in the measuring capacity of uncountable nouns
e.g. few kilograms of salt, little is used for uncountable nouns e.g. .little
water, little food, little sugar.
Proper nouns.
Proper nouns are names of a particular person, place or things.
Proper nouns are spelled with a capital letter e.g. Kampala, Kagadi,
Chair, Innocent. Etc
A noun which is a particular person, thing or place is called A Common
Noun e.g. books, sugar, man, girl, boy etc. Common nouns are spelled
with small letters.
Collective nouns
Refers to the collection of people, animals or things as a group.
E.g. team, furniture, government etc.
The government is going to look into this matter.
The government are going to look into this matter.
Concrete nouns.
Is a noun which refers to a physical thing rather a quality, state or
action for example university, house, camera, black board are concrete
nouns refers to a quality state called on abstract noun e.g. love,
happiness, sadness, hunger, anger, greedy, shame, goodness and
punishment are abstract nouns.
Nouns can be formed from verbs, adjectives and other words.
List of collective nouns
Nouns collective
Cattle herd
Fish school/ schoal
Furniture suite
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Angels hosts
Actors company/cost
Teachers staff
Stone heap/pile
Trees forest
Worshippers congregation
Singers choir
Stars cluster
Pupils school/class
Tools kit/set
Ship fleet/squard
Birds flock
Bees swarm/hive
Wolves Park
Beads string
Grapes bunch
Bananas banch/cluster
Pictures collection
Rabbit nest
Locusts plague
Poems anthology
Friends party
Priests clergy
Pressman journalists
Dancer troope
A part from collective nouns we can have group names which they
belong e.g.
Africa
Asia -continents
Europe
Australia
America (North and south)

Summer
Winter
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Autumn -seasons
Spring

Carrots
Cabbages -vegetables
Tomatoes

Red
Yellow
Blue -colours
White
Violet
Green

Lorry
Tractors
Bus -vehicles
Taxi

Uganda
Kenya
Tanzania -countries
Burundi

Millet
Oats
Wheat -cereals
Barley

Chicken
Duck
Turkey -poultry
Goose

Fork
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Knife -utensils
Spoon

Ebola
Aids
Cholera -diseases
Measles

Oranges
Mangoes
Lemon -fruits
Guava

Teachers
Doctors -professionals
Painters

Adders
Cobra -snakes

Gold
Copper -minerals
Coal

Tilapia
Nile perch -fish
Mud fish
Star fish
Nouns once again can be divided according to gender/ sex for man
we call it masculine and female we call it feminine and for nouns that
involves both sex called neuter
Those nouns have special name which should not be confused
although some are shared e.g. one who whites books and stories is an
author but the son of a king cannot be called princess because it
belongs to the feminine gender.
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MASCULINE FEMININE
Actor Actress
Bachelor Spinster
Baron Baroness
Beau Belle
Bridegroom Bride
Brother Sister
Buck Doe
Bull cow
Bullock Heifer
Cockerel Hen
Conductor Conductress
Count Countess
Dog Bitch
Duke Duchess
Emperor Empress
Executor Executive
Father Mother
Fox Vixen
Giant Giantess
God Goddess
Governor Governoress
Headmaster Headmistress
Heir Heiress

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Host Hostess
Hunter Huntress
Husband Wife
Hero Heroine
King Queen
Landlord Landlady
Manager Manageress
Mr. Mrs.
Monk Nun
Murderer Murderess
Nephew Niece
Ram Ewe
Sir Madam
Son Daughter
Waiter Waitress
Uncle Aunt
Nouns to adjectives
Nouns adjective
Clear clearless
Accuse accusation
Conform conformation
Abolish abolition
Accept acceptance
Accompany accompaniment

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Admit admission/ admittance
Advertise advertisement
Advise advice
Allow allowance
Apply application
Arrive arrival
Assist assistance
Behave behavior
Attract attraction
Begin beginning
Believe belief
Betray betrayal
Bore boredom
Calculate calculation
Circulate circulation
Collect collection
Combine combination
Commence commencement
Communicate communication
Compare comparison
Complain complaint
Congratulate congratulation
Converse conversation
Create creation

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Deceive deceit
Decide decision
Defend defence
Declare declaration
Deliver deliverance
Disturb disturbance
Depart departure
Depend dependence
Destroy destruction
Encourage encouragement
Enter entrance
Exclaim exclamation
Expel expulsion
Exist existence
Explode explosion
Explore explosion
Concrete nouns
A concrete noun is a noun which refers to a physical thing rather a quality state
or action e.g. university, house, camera, black board are concrete nouns.
A noun which refers to a quality/ a state is called an abstract noun. E.g. love,
anger, greedy, shame are abstract nouns.
Proper nouns
These are nouns for certain things.
Proper nouns proper adjective
Africa African

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Army soldiers
Britain British
Buganda Muganda
Canada Canada
Egypt Egyptian
France French
Ghana Ghanaian
Holland Dutch
Japan Japanese
Management Manager
Pakistan Pakistani
Police Police man/police woman
Prison prisoners
Alps Alpine
Europe Europeans
Iraq Iraqs
Israel Israelite
Mexico Mexican
Paris Parisian
Poland Polish
Switzerland Swiss
Turkey Turkish
Venice Venehan

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List of common nouns and their adjectives
Nouns adjectives
Accident accidental
Advantage advantageous
Adventure adventurous
Affection affectionate
Ancestor ancestral
Angel angelic
Anger angry
Anxiety anxious
Bible Biblical
Beauty beautiful
Boy boyish
Capacity capacious
Centre central
Charity charitable
Choir choral
Circle circular
Child childish
Colony colonial
Comfort comfortable
College collegious
Coward cowardily
Crime criminal

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Custom customary
Danger dangerous
Disaster disastrous
Deceit deceitful
Effect effective
Economy economic
Faith faithful
Fame famous
Fashion fashionable
Fool foolish
Conjunctions
A conjunction is a word that links words, phrases or clauses. There are three
types of conjunctions, these are;
a. Coordinating conjunctions
b. Correlative conjunctions and
c. Subordinating conjunctions
A conjunction is useful in linking sentence to sentence, verbs to verbs, objects to
objects, adjectives to adjectives, subjects to subjects, adverbs to adverbs etc.
Coordinating conjunctions
These are conjunctions which join single words or group of words but they must be of
the same element or kind i.e. subject to subject, verb to a verb, sentence to sentence
e. t. c.
The subject of the sentence is the doer or the action if it is an active sentence for
instance
Innocent is eating smartly from a big plate.
Hence subject to subject as words of the same kind or element could be;
1. John and Alex are smartly sitting on a big mat.

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 2. The cows and sheep have been taken to graze.
This portrays that a conjunction and belongs to coordinating conjunctions.
Coordinating conjunctions can be remembered be always recalling the word
FANBOYS
Whereby each letter stands for;
F - For e.g. for Jane’s case she must be forgiven
A – And e.g. come and take this cup in the house.
N – Nor e.g. Mary does not know the answer nor does Darren.
B – But e.g. I would have gone to the market, but I had been ill.
O – Or e.g. have you seen or heard about him.
Y – Yet e.g. you have not got the answer yet it was on the chalk board
S – So e.g. I wanted to get a front seat so I ordered my ticket early.
As we had early seen that a conjunction can join sentence to sentence, verbs to verbs,
adjectives to adjectives, and adverbs to adverbs, here are some of the examples;
VERB PHRASE + VERB PHRASE
Here any coordinating conjunction used must join a verb phrase to a verb phrase e.g.
1. Denis cried and laughed at the same time.
2. The teacher ordered and commanded the class to keep quiet.
3. Have seen or heard the story of titanic.
4. Come and take the cows to graze.
5. Shalloon will go and peel matooke for our supper.
6. You should drive and park at Gapico.
SENTENCE + SENTENCE
Here a conjunction is used to join the whole sentence to the other as member of the
same element e.g.
1. I wanted to sit in front of the balcony so I left home early.
2. The orchestra rehearses on Tuesday but the chorms rehearses o Wednesday.
3. The teacher punished tom for late coming to school yet he had an accident on
the way.

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ADJECTIVES + ADJECTIVES
1. Peter had a smart and clean shirt.
2. Mary sent a nice and big flower to mother.
3. They gave birth to a big but stupid child.
4. Jack is a tall and slim girl.
ADVERB + ADVERB
1. The teacher teaches slowly but steadily.
2. He behaves stubbornly and arrogantly.
3. Jenipher stupidly and cowardly accepted the bribe.
4. She quickly and ignorantly let the cat out of the bag.
5. He honestly and thankfully accepted the bribe.
Correlative conjunctions
These are used to join or link sentence or phrases but must be of the same element or
kind like the way coordinating ones do.
A difference comes whereby as coordinating conjunctions belong to a closed class
(FANBOYS) correlative conjunctions belong to open class and must be used in pairs
e.g.
(i) Both------------and
(ii) Either ----------nor
(iii) Either-----------or
(iv) So-------------that
(v) Prefer-------------------to
(vi) No sooner--------------------------than
(vii) Not only-------------------------but also
(viii) Hardly -------------------------when
(ix) Barely -------------------------when
(x) Scarcely ----------------------when
(xi) Enough -----------------------to
(xii) Such a /an -----------------that e.t.c
When linking singular or plural subjects, this/those subject(s) determine whether
the verb will be singular or plural.

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Examples;
1. Neither Peter nor Tom knows when innocent will come back.
2. Neither boys nor girls know when James will go home.
3. Both Paul and Agnes know the answer.
4. We are to watch either Mozart or Beetheren.
5. Not only Dorcus run swiftly but also steadily.
6. Hardly had kaberenge seen a lion when he screamed loudly.
SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS
Conjunctions under this category forms the largest class. They are called subordinate
clause because they connect dependent clause to main clause.
Subordinate clause are also called dependent clause or incomplete clauses and they
always bow to the main clause because it is dependent, hence can stand on its own
e.g.
If john money gets, he will buy a car.
Subordinating conjunctions are classified according to their use regarding time, cause
and effect, opposition, and condition as below:
Time Cause and effect Opposition Conditions
After Because Although/though Ifs 1 2 and 3 only
Before Since Even though Whether or not
When As Where as Even if
While So While In case
Until Now that In spite Never the less
Since So----that Despite etc.
Etc. In order Etc.
Etc.
Examples:
TIME
1. We are going to Kampala after the rain.
2. Before it stops raining cats and dogs, we won’t go to the garden.
3. When Christians are celebrating Christmas, I shall come to visit you.
4. Since 2000, we have been living in Kagadi.

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 5. While I was coming to school, I met a crackersed man.
6. I shall not go to the dance until ten of the clock in the evening.
CAUSE AND EFFECT (CLAUSES OF REASON)
1. I did not attend the morning prayers because I was sick.
2. Since it is raining, we must go with an umbrella.
3. As Kemigisha is young, she should not go to fetch water alone.
4. Now that tom has accepted the crime, he must be imprisoned.
5. Zachaus climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus.
6. As soon as the teacher went out, the students got a chance of shouting.
OPPOSITION
1. Although Robert is stubborn, he is clever in class.
2. Sarah should be arrested even though she is the chief’s daughter.
3. Whereas Mempe is the president’s daughter, she deserves the same justice as
the others.
4. In spite of the fact that Sabiiti is innocent, he is hated by all students.
5. Despite the fact that Sadura is proud, everybody likes talking to her.
CONDITION
1. Even if you have already bought your ticket, you must come early.
2. If Tumusiime wants to school, he will first apologise to his father.
3. Whether the class wants it or not, they must cooperate (by hook or crook)
4. In case of rain, you must go with an umbrella.
5. In case john comes, he must report to the police immediately.
6. Mary must take the books to the head-teacher’s office whether she wants it or
not.

ALTHOUGH / THOUGH CLAUSES

This one belongs to subordinating conjunctions of the opposition class / group. Like all
adverbial clauses although clauses can go either before the main clause or after it.
To successfully use and pass though set questions is to never and never at one
moment use but with although ------- when although/though conjunction begins the
sentence it means the main /independent clause will come after the subordinating
clause here a comma is needed. But when although comes in the middle of the two
sentences that seems to be opposing each other, a comma may not be needed.

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Examples:
1. Doreen wanted to go to the dance but her sisters told her to stay at home.
 Although Doreen wanted to go to the dance, her sister told her to stay at
home.
 Doreen’s sisters told her to stay at home although she wanted to go to the
dance.
2. Aeroplanes fly very fast. Rockets fly faster.
 Although Aeroplanes fly very fast, Rockets fly faster.
 Rockets fly faster too although Aeroplanes fly very fast.
3. Most cars run on petrol, but a few have diesel engines which run on oil.
 Though most cars run on petrol, a few have diesel engines which run on oil.
 A few cars have diesel engines which run on oil although most of them
run on petrol.
4. Britain is a small country, but it has a large population.
 Although Britain is a small country, it has a large population.
 Britain has a large population although it is a small country.
5. Many of them were Christians, but the old beliefs were still very much alive.
 Although many of them were Christians, the old beliefs were still very
much alive.
 The old beliefs were still very much alive although many were Christians.
AS AND SINCE
Are clauses of reason (cause and effect) they belong to subordinating conjunctions,
other clauses of reason include: because, in order, so, now that etc.
As and since can either go before the main clause or after it. When they go before the
main clause, a comma is needed and if they come after the main clause, no comma is
needed.
Examples on as:
1. The good grass is soon eaten, so the cattle have to be driven from one place to
another.
 As the good grass is soon eaten, the cattle have to be driven from one
place to another.
 The cattle have to be driven from one place to another as the good grass
is soon eaten.
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 2. Petrol catches fire much more easily than paraffin so we should be careful with
it.
 We should be very careful with petrol as it catches fire the fire much
more easily than paraffin.
 As petrol / it catches the fire much more easily than paraffin, we should
be very careful it.
3. The earth is shaped like a ball so we can never get to the end of it.
 As the earth is shaped like a ball, we can never get to the end of it.
 We can never get to the end of the earth as it is shaped like a ball.
Examples on since:
1. Biologists do not regard a spider as an insect as it has eight legs.
 Since a spider has eight legs, biologists do not regard it as an insect.
 Biologists do not regard a spider as an insect since it has eight legs.
2. The earth is shaped like a ball so we can never get to the end of it.
 Since the earth is shaped like a ball, we can never get to the end of it.
 We can never get to the end of the earth since it is shaped like a ball.
AS SOON AS
This conjunction belongs to subordinating ones. It means almost immediately. It is
used as no sooner, barely, hardly and scarcely, only that those correlative
conjunctions use had, than, and when which as soon as doesn’t.
As soon as belongs to subordinating clauses hence can begin the sentence or come in
the middle. When it begins the two sentence, it is to like together, a comma is used
the onset of the second sentence. When it comes in the middle of the two sentence,
no comma is needed. Never use as soon as with quickly or immediately unless it does
not affect it. Always observe the tense in the question.
Examples:
1. The bus left the station. It got involved in a fatal accident.
 As soon as the bus left the station, it got involved in a fatal accident.
 It got involved in a fatal accident as soon as it left the station.
2. Josephine saw a lion. She started screaming loudly.
 As soon as Josephine saw a lion, she started screaming loudly.
 Josephine started screaming loudly as soon as she saw a lion.

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 3. Joan forewent supper her stomach started rumbling throughout the night.
 As soon as Joan forewent supper, her stomach started rumbling
throughout the night.
 Joan’s stomach started rumbling throughout the night as soon as she
forewent supper.
IN SPITE OF
This is a subordinating conjunction (opposition) in spite of are three words hence in
spite should be spaced. Whenever in spite is used, a preposition “of” must follow it
immediately.
Once of is left out for in spite, then the answer immediately qualifies to be wrong.
In most of the sentences of in spite there are six correct answers. Three taking the
fact that, noun and being/having with a comma in the middle of the sentences to be
joined together and other three taking the same procedure but without a comma as
below;
1. In spite of the fact that---------------------------
2. In spite of (using a noun or adjective)
3. In spite of (using being for adjectives and having for verbs)
4. ---------------the fact that---------------------------
5. ----------------noun/adjective-----------------------
6. ------------------being or having---------------------
IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT----------------
Here in spite takes “of” and then “the fact that” if the subordinate clause follows this
in spite of the fact that-----a comma is needed but if this in spite of the fact that
comes to the middle of the sentence, no comma is needed.
Examples;
1. Sarah is proud. She is loved by all students.
 In spite of the fact that Sarah is proud, she is loved by all students.
 Sarah is loved by all students in spite the fact that she is proud.
2. Peter is arrogant. He is clever in class.
 In spite of the fact that peter is arrogant, he is clever in class.
 Peter is clever in class in spite of the fact that he is arrogant.

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 3. Joan arrived at the market, many people refused to come and see her.
 In spite of the fact that Joan arrived at the market, many people refused
to come and see her.
 Many people refused to come and see Joan in spite of the fact that she
arrived at the market.
4. Tracy was stubborn but she staged a strike against racial discrimination.
 In spite of the fact that Tracy was stubborn was stubborn, she staged a
strike against racial discrimination.
 Tracy staged a strike against racial discrimination in spite of the fact that
she was stubborn.
IN SPITE OF -------------NOUN / ADJECTIVE
This one is followed by a noun formed from either adjectives or verbs following
possessive pronouns or nouns.
Subjective pronoun Objective pronoun Possessive pronoun
She Her Her
He It Its
It Him His
You You Our
We Them Your
They Me Their
I Us my

Hence: many verbs change to their nouns when they are following possessive
pronouns e.g.
Verbs Nouns
Arrive Arrival
Announce announcement
Accept Acceptance
Abolish Abolition
Accuse Accusation
Admit Admission
Proud Pride
Arrogant Cruelty
Cruel Beauty

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Beautiful Innocence
Innocent Smartness
Smart Etc.

Examples:
1. Amiri is proud. She is loved by all students.
 In spite of Amari’s pride, he is loved by all students.
 Amiri is loved by all teachers in spite of her pride.
2. Peter is arrogant. He is clever in class.
 In spite of peter’s arrogance, he is clever in class.
 Peter is clever in class in spite of his arrogance.
3. Saraphina was stubborn. She staged a strike against racial discrimination.
 In spite of Saraphina’s stubbornness, she staged a strike against racial
discrimination.
 Saraphina staged a strike against racial discrimination in spite of her
stubbornness.
4. Ben was innocent but he was sentenced seven years behind the bars.
 In spite of ben’s innocence, he was sentenced seven years behind the
bars.
 Ben was sentenced seven years behind the bars in spite of his innocence.
IN SPITE OF BEING/HAVING
1. Amiri is proud. She is loved by all students.
 In spite of Amiri’s being proud, he is loved by all students.
 Amiri is loved by all teachers in spite of him being proud.
2. Peter is arrogant. He is clever in class.
 In spite of peter’s being arrogant, he is clever in class.
 Peter is clever in class in spite of him being arrogant.
3. Tom-tom arrived at the market and many people refused to come and see him.
 In spite of tom-tom’s having arrived at the market, many people refused
to come and see him.
 Many people refused to come and see tom=tom in spite of him having
arrived at the market.

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 DESPITE - THE FACT THAT NOUN / BEING / HAVING
This almost like in spite of because it is a subordinating conjunction belonging to
those of opposition only that it does not use “of” unlike in spite. It also has six correct
sentences and also can be put at the beginning of the sentence and also be put in the
middle of the dependent and independent clauses as below;
DESPITE THE FACT
1. Debra was stubborn. She staged a war on stealing food from the kitchen.
 Despite the fact that Debra was stubborn, she staged a war on stealing
food from the kitchen.
 Debra staged a war on stealing food from the kitchen despite the fact
that she was stubborn.
2. John announced the PLE results. The parents remained vexed.
 Despite the fact that john announced the PLE results, the parents
remained vexed.
 The parents remained vexed despite the fact that john announced the
PLE results.
DESPITE BEING / HAVING
1. Tina Tana was beautiful. Everybody hated her.
 Despite Tina Tana’s being beautiful, everybody hated her.
 Everybody hated Tina Tana despite her being beautiful.
2. Amin was cruel but many Ugandans preferred him to Obote.
 Despite Amin’s being cruel, many Ugandans preferred him to Obote.
 Many Ugandans preferred Amin to Obote despite him being cruel.
3. Kaija was hilarious. He became the stock of laughter in his class.
 Despite kaija’s being hilarious, he became a stock of laughter in his class.
 Kaija became the stock of laughter in his class despite him being
hilarious.

DESPITE (NOUN)
1. Thomas was innocent but he was executed at London tower due to Richard
Rich’s behaviour.
 Despite Thomas’s innocence, he was executed at London tower due to
Richard Rich’s behaviour.
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  Thomas was executed at London tower due to Richard Rich’s
behaviour/perjury despite his innocence.
2. Innocent was generous. He fell a prey of bribery.
 Despite innocent’s generosity, he fell a prey of bribery.
 Innocent fell a prey of bribery despite his generosity.
3. Amin was cruel but many Ugandans preferred him to Obote.
 Despite Amin’s cruelty, many Ugandans preferred him to Obote.
 Many Ugandans preferred Amin to Obote despite his cruelty.

SUCH A/AN ------------- THAT:

Such a/an ---------that is a correlative conjunction because it is used in pairs.
Whenever we use such a/an must be used before the adjective or left out if there are
nouns or noun in plural form.
We use such an---------that for adjectives realised in the dependent clause and if they
begin with initial vowel sounds or silent vowel sounds like in ugly, innocent, arrogant,
honesty etc.
We leave a/an if there is a noun or if the noun used is in plural form e.g.
 They were women. They killed their husbands
 They were such women that they killed their husbands.
We use that at the point where the second sentence should be linked to the first one.
EXAMPLES:
1. Juliet is a bad girl. She tries to poison her step brother every day.
 Juliet is such a bad girl that she tries to poison her step brother every
day.
2. Tugume was arrogant. His fellow class mates hated him.
 Tugume was such an arrogant boy that his fellow class mates hated
him.
3. Topista had been so ugly that many of her fellow women had been avoiding
her.
 Topista had been such an ugly woman that her fellow women had
been avoiding her.
4. The class is very stubborn. All teachers hate teaching there.
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  The class is such a stubborn one that all teachers hate teaching there.
5. Opio is an adamant student. He quarrels and fights with his teachers.
 Opio is an adamant student that he fights and quarrels with his
teachers.
6. Jolly is a good foot baller. She cores in every game.
 Jolly is such a good foot baller that she scores in every game.
7. Tuhaise was so innocent that he was always pleaded by the villagers till he was
set free from prison.
 Tuhaise was such an innocent citizen that he was always pleaded by
the villagers till he was set free from the prison.
8. The accident was so terrible that many passengers joined the heavenly choir
from it.
 The accident was such a terrible one that many passengers joined the
heavenly choir from it.
 It was such a terrible accident that many passengers joined heavenly
choir from it.

NO SOONER
No sooner are two words and as a conjunction it belongs to those of correlative
because once it is used to like the two phrases, it must be used with than as its pair.
No sooner whenever used at the beginning of a phrase or sentence, it is followed by
had as the auxiliary verb which is the past tense of have and has. Once had is used it
must be followed by a verb in past participle e.g. had seen, had spoken, had written,
had dug, had swum, had eaten etc., and then than at the fulcrum of the two
sentences.
Examples:
1. The bus left the station. It got involved in a fatal accident.
 No sooner had the bus left the station than it got involved in the fatal
accident.
2. Flo saw a lion. She decided to run and climb the tree.
 No sooner had Flo seen a lion than she decided to run and climb the tree.

25
 3. As soon as the nurses admitted Becky to the hospital, the doctor arrived on
time to save her.
 No sooner had the nurses admitted Becky to the hospital than the doctor
arrived on time to save her.
4. It rained cats and dogs. Many farmers commenced planting trees immediately.
 No sooner had it rained cats and dogs than many farmers commenced
planting trees.

HARDLY, BARELY, AND SCARCELY

These three conjunctions belong to correlative conjunctions like no sooner. They are
used almost in exact way we use no sooner because they are immediately followed by
had the auxiliary verb which is the past tense of has and have hence a past perfect
tense, then a verb in past participle like seen, spoken, written, dug etc. like no sooner
only that the three conjunctions, unlike no sooner that takes than for them they take
when, at the point where the second phrase is supposed to join the first phrase into
one.
Examples:
Hardly
1. The bus left the station. It got involved in a fatal accident.
 Hardly had the bus left the station when it got involved in the fatal
accident.
2. Flo saw a lion. She decided to run and climb the tree.
 Hardly had Flo seen a lion when she decided to run and climb the tree.
3. As soon as the nurses admitted Becky to the hospital, the doctor arrived on
time to save her.
 Hardly had the nurses admitted Becky to the hospital when the doctor
arrived on time to save her.
4. It rained cats and dogs. Many farmers commenced planting trees immediately.
 Hardly had it rained cats and dogs when many farmers commenced
planting trees
BARELY
1. The police took Mandela to the prison. The South Africans started rioting.

26
  Barely had the police taken Mandela to prison when the South Africans
started rioting.
2. As soon as Henry developed a muscle pull, Robert substituted him.
 Barely had Henry developed a muscle pull when Robert substituted him.
3. As soon as peter heard pings of the bullets, he jumped into water to save
himself.
 Barely had peter heard the pings of the bullets when he jumped into
water to save himself.
4. The match began. The goal keeper conceded one goal immediately.
 Barely had the match begun when the goal keeper conceded one goal.
5. As soon as the test bean, Annet was caught red handed copying from the book.
 Barely had the test begun when Annet was caught red handed copying
from the book.
SCARCELY
1. As soon as Mary refused to sweep the class the teacher punished heavily and
severely.
 Scarcely had Mary refused to sweep the class when the teacher punished
her heavily and severely.
2. The police went to stop the student’s strike and were all killed.
 Scarcely had the police gone to stop the student’s strike when they were
all killed.
3. Harriet wrote a letter to her father. The mail boy took it immediately.
 Scarcely had Harriet written a letter to her father when the mail boy took
it.
4. Immaculate spoke English so fluently that the district education officer
appreciated her.
 Scarcely had Immaculate spoken English fluently when the district
education officer appreciated her.

ENOUGH ----------------- TO
Enough ----- to is a conjunction that belongs to correlative conjunction because
whenever enough is used to link sentences together, “to” must be used hence both
used in pair.

27
Enough like more, so and too does not by itself tell us anything about the actual
amount. It may mean a very large or small one.
We place the word to in connecting the sentence together using enough immediately
after the adjective or noun or before the beginning of the second sentence but shortly
after the adjective or noun or the word enough e.g.
------------ tall enough to ----------
------------- enough water for peter to ----------
1. There is much water. It can last for years.
 There is enough water to last for years.
2. Innocent is very tall. He can touch the ceiling.
 Innocent is tall enough to touch the ceiling.
To note is that after the word to, the sentence shifts to the second part where the
verb will be supported and written in its infinitive form e.g. to see, to touch, to last, to
jump etc.
If the subject of the second sentence before being linked to the first one does not
agree with that in the first sentence, we use the word for e.g.
The bus was swift. Kakyo appreciated it.
The bus was swift enough for Kakyo to appreciate.
If a sentence has a negative word in it e.g. not, refuse, deny etc. there are two ways of
giving the correct answer. We look for the opposite of the adjective e.g.
1. Peter is very short. He cannot touch the ceiling.
 Peter is not tall enough to touch the ceiling.
 Peter is short enough not to touch the ceiling.
2. The tea is very hot. Tom cannot drink it.
 The tea is not cold enough for tom to drink.
 The tea is hot enough for tom not to drink.
3. Robert is very dull. He will not pass the interview.
 Robert is not clever enough to pass the interview.
 Robert is dull enough not to pass the interview.
EXERCISE.

28
Re write the following as one sentence using------------enough-----------------
1. We have money. We can build a house.
2. There isn’t much room. We cannot sit down.
3. He did not run fast. He did not catch the bus.
4. Are there many people. Can they form a football team?
5. There was information against her. It could put her in prison.
6. He loved us. He died for us.
Possible answers
1. We have enough money to build a house.
2. There isn’t enough room for us to down.
3. He did not run fast enough to catch the bus.
4. Are there enough people, can they form a football team?
5. There was enough information against her to be put in prison.
6. He loved us enough to die.
TOO --------- TO, AND SO ------- THAT
 In the sentences:
1. I am too happy at school.
2. This house is too fine.
Can be
1. I am very happy at school.
2. This house is very fine.
To not is that too does not mean the same as very e.g.
1. It is too hot to play football (i.e. so hot that we don’t want to play football)
2. She is too honest to tell a lie (so honest that she cannot tell a lie.)
N.B
The word too is itself a negative. Therefore, on using too there is no need for a second
negative.
Too does not mean very, the reason it can be best used using so---------that followed
by not e.g.
1. The tea is too cold for tom to drink.
 The tea is so cold that tom cannot drink.
2. The driver is too drunk to see the way.

29
  The driver is so drunk that he cannot see the way.
3. This is too heavy for john to lift.
 This is so heavy that john cannot lift.
Join the following sentences using too + infinitive and so -------- that.
1. There was a lot of luggage. As a result we would not park it all into the back of
the car. (Join into one sentence using ….. so …… that…..)
 There was too much luggage to be packed at the back of the car.
 There was so much luggage that we could not park it all into the back of the
car.
2. It was spoken quietly. It was almost inaudible.
 It was spoken so quietly that it was almost inaudible.
 It was spoken too quietly to be heard.
3. The head teacher was busy. He could not see me.
 The head teacher was too busy to see me.
 The head teacher was so busy that he could not see me
4. He was poor. He could not buy food.
 He was too poor to buy food.
 He was so poor that he could not buy food
5. I am ill. I cannot go out.
 I am too ill to go out.
 I am so ill that I cannot go out,
6. Richard is lazy. He will not do any work.
 Richard is too lazy to do any work.
 Richard is so lazy that he will not do any work.
7. Rose was clever. He did not fall in to the trap.
 Rose was too clever to fall into a trap.
 Rose was so clever that she did not fall into the trap.
8. The child is old. He should not go about naked.
 The child is too old to go about naked.
 The child is so old that he should not go about naked.
9. I love my mother very much. I wouldn’t hurt her feeling.
 I love my mother too much to hurt her feelings.
 I love my mother so much that I could not hurt her feelings.
10.She knows me well. She is not afraid.

30
  She knows me so well that she is not afraid.
 She knows me too well to be afraid.
11.He has done this job often. He does not make mistakes.
 He has done this job too often to make mistakes.
 He has done this job so often that he does not make mistakes.
12.He is important. He should not go about dealing with small matters.
 He is too important to deal with small matters.
 He is so important that he should not deal with small matters.
Some of the UCE sentences on conjunctions;
1. As soon as the guest of honour arrived, everybody stood up to welcome her.
(Re write to use: No sooner……………….)
 No sooner had the guest of honour arrived than everybody stood up to
welcome her.
2. Because Muto was not well prepared for examinations, he failed miserably. (Re
write beginning If…………….)
 If Muto had prepared well for examinations he would not have failed
miserably.
3. He attended the wedding but he did not see the bride. (use: although )
 He did not see the bride although he attended the wedding
4. Although she was wise she failed to solve even one problem. (use: Despite)
 Despite the fact that she was wise, she failed to solve even one problem.
 Despite her wisdom, she failed to solve even one problem.
5. The accident was first reported to be very serious. It turned out to be less
serious. Everybody was relived. (join into one sentence without using : and, but
or so)
Everybody was relieved when the accident that had at first been reported to be
very serious turned out to be less serious.
6. He was so stupid that he opened the door when the thieves knocked. (Begin:
So………….)
 So stupid he was that he opened the door when the thieves knocked.
7. I did not attend the party. None of my friends attended the party. (join using:
neither)
 I did not attend the party, neither did any of my friends.

31
8. All needed to do was to keep quiet. He would not have found you out. (Use: If
only……..)
 If only you had kept quiet, he wouldn’t have found you out.
9. He wants to leave home but he is afraid of his mother (begin: If……………)
 If he were not afraid of the mother, he would leave home.
10.She told me that her father was ill. (Use: of instead of ……that……)
 She told me of her father’s illness.
11.You will miss the train if you don’t hurry. (Begin: Unless……………..)
 Unless you hurry, you won’t get the train.
12.The school was too small to host the annual athletics competition. (use a
negative wasn’t)
 The school wasn’t big enough to host the annual athletics competition.
13.He did not want to meet his uncle, so he went out with his friends. (Begin:
Rather than……….)
 Rather than meeting his uncle, he went out with his friends.
14.As soon as they entered the train, it steamed away. (Use: No sooner……….)
 No sooner had they entered the train than it steamed away.
15.The examination was very simple. It was also very tricky. (combine using
“though”)
 The examination was very simple though tricky.
16.That pool is too dirty for swimming. (use “not”)
 The pool is not clean enough for swimming.
 The pool is dirty enough not to swim in it.
17.The Nairobi bound bus was very crowded. It could not go up the steep hill. (join
using too------to---)
 The Nairobi bound bus was too crowded to go up the hill.
18.I’d rather stay at home than go out this weather. (I’d prefer………)
 I’d prefer staying at home to going out in this weather.
19.The only reason my sister failed to win the competition was because she didn’t
train hard. (Begin: If……)
 If my sister had trained hard, she would have won the competitions.
20.My mother is short tempered. She beat up my little sister for breaking the
plates. (Re write using: Owing to………..)
 Owing to her short-temper, my mother beat up my little sister for
breaking the plates.
32
21.If you had not helped me I would not have made it. (Use: But for……………..)
 But for your help I made it.
22.The policeman said to the driver. “You have twenty four hours within which to
produce your driving license, otherwise, you will be fined.” (Begin: The
policeman told the driver that unless………..)
 The police told the driver that unless he produced his driving license in
twenty four hours, he would be fined.
23.We have ten packets of butter. My sister wants me to go to the shop and buy
ten more. I don’t understand why. (re write as one sentence without using
“and” but end it with …………ten already)
 I don’t know why my sister wants me to go the shop to buy ten packets
of butter yet we have ten already.
24.Alice is quite fit now. She can begin training with the rest of the netball team.
(join using enough)
 Alice is fit enough now to start/begin training with the rest of the netball
team.
25.The girl desisted from being unruly because she did not want to be branded a
stubborn student. (re write using for fear of instead of because)
 The girl desisted from being unruly for fear of being branded a stubborn
student.
26.He is too big. He cannot run that fast. (re write it into one sentence)
 He is too big to run fast.
27.Judging from appearance, I should say he is a wealthy man. (Begin If………..)
 If judged from his appearance, he is a wealthy man.
 If I judge from his appearance, he is a wealthy man.
28.We reached pride theatre so early that we could not buy our tickets because
the booking office was still closed. (end…………………..early to buy)
 We reached pride theatre too early to buy our tickets from the booking
office which was still closed.
29. Who will the head teacher choose to represent the school? We must accept his
decision. (Re write as one sentence beginning: No matter……………)
 No matter who/whom the heater teacher chooses to represent the
school, we must accept his decision.
30.As there was no lift, I had to climb six flights of stairs. (re write beginning :
There ……….. without using “so” or “and”)
33
  There being no lift, I had to climb six flights of stairs.
31.Although he was sick, he went to the meeting to protest against the chairman’s
cruelty. (Begin: Sick…………..)
 Sick as he was, he went to the meeting to protest against the chairman’s
cruelty.
32.The problem may be difficult but one should not lose heart. (Begin: No
matter……………)
 No matter how difficult the problem may be, one should not lose heart.
33.My brother gave us detailed instructions. His purpose was to help us avoid
contracting the AIDS disease. AIDS could kill us. ( Join into one sentence
without using “and” , “ but”, “so” or therefore)
 My brother gave us detailed instruction on how to avoid contracting the
AIDS disease which could kill us.
34.The young boy ran to the stranger because he thought he was his father. (re
write omitting “because”)
 The young boy ran to the stranger thinking (that) he was his father.
35.She would rather be punished than be suspended. (use: Prefer)
 She would prefer punishment to suspension.
36.I did not see him there. Nobody else saw him there either. (use neither to join
the sentences)
 I did not see him there, neither did anybody else.
37.Most people in southern Sudan haven’t enough to eat. (Use………….too……………)
 Most people in southern Sudan have too little to eat.
38.The truck is so slow that it won’t get fort-portal before dusk.
(Use………….too………)
 The truck is too slow to get to fort-portal before dusk.
39.My husband helped me a lot or I could not have written this story. (Begin:
Without………)
 Without my husband’s help, I would not have written this story.
40.That girl is very naughty. She can easily make a goat break its tether (re write as
one sentence using ………..such………..)
 That girl is such a naughty one that she can easily make a goat break its
tether.
 She is such a naughty girl that she can make a goat break its tether.
41.The Hilton is the most expensive hotel in Nairobi. (Use……as…………as…………)
34
  There is no hotel in Nairobi as expensive as Hilton.
42.He recovered from his cold quickly. There was no need for him to see a doctor.
(Re write as one using ………so……….needn’t……….)
 He recovered from his cold so quickly that he needn’t see a doctor.
43.It rained at lunch time but sports Day was a great success. (Begin: In spite
of…………)
 In spite of the rain at lunch time, sports day was a great success.
 In spite of the fact that it rained at lunch time, the sports day was a
success.
44.It started to rain during the match but we decided to continue until the end.
(Begin: Although………)
 Although it started raining during the match, we continued until the end.
45.In case of emergency, ring 999 (begin: If…………….)
 If there is any emergency ring 999.
46.Asiimwe is too young to enter the competition. (Re write using
……….enough…………….)
 Asiimwe is not old enough to enter the competition.
 Asiimwe is young enough not to enter the competition.
47.You may go with your friends but you must return by ten. (use provided)
 You may go with your friends provided you return by ten.
48.Your dog was barking at a stranger when I shouted at him. (Begin: I ……………….)
 I shouted at a stranger as your dog was barking at him.
49.After the gale the farmer had to have his fence repaired. (re write
using……………………arranged)
 After the gale, the farmer arranged for the repair of his fence.
50.As Juliet was strikingly beautiful, she became a dream of ever young man in the
college. (Begin: strikingly…………….)
 Strikingly beautiful as she was, Juliet became the dream of every young
man in the college.
51.If head teacher had not been merciful, Alice would not have sat her
examinations. (Begin: But for………)
 But for the head teacher’s mercy, Alice would not have sat her
examination.
52.If you were a teacher, you would have known how tedious it is to teach a class
of more than a hundred students. (Use: Not being ………………….)
35
  Not being a teacher, you cannot know how tedious it is to teach a class of
more than a hundred students.
53.You may be a very good singer, but you still need to study music. (Begin: No
matter………………)
 No matter how what a good singer may be, you still need to study music.
54.We did not realise how badly john was injured until we saw him. (Begin: It was
not…………)
 It was not until we saw him that we realised how badly injured he was.
55.Although the situation was serious, we did not give up. (Begin: Serious……………)
 Serious as the situation was, we did not give up.
56.Veronica has not eaten fish for the last six months. (end…………….ago)
 Veronica last ate fish six months ago.
57.He hit his child with a club because he thought he was a thief. ( omit because
from the sentence)
 He hit his child with club thinking that he was a thief.
58.The housewife was surprised to find that all the meat had been eaten (Begin:
Much to ……………..)
 Much to her surprise, the house wife found out that all the meat had
been eaten.
59.I have to get some money. I want to travel to Jinja tomorrow. (join using if)
 I will travel to Jinja tomorrow if I get money.
 If I get money, I will travel to Jinja tomorrow.
60.The girl left home to go for the dance, the mother found her with the man
kissing each other. (Begin: Barely…………..)
 Barely had the girl left home, when the mother found her with the man
kissing each other.
Speeches
What is speech?
This is a way in which a particular person speaks. When we wish to record what
people have said or reproduce what they once wrote, we can either quote their
actual words (direct speech) or employ our own words to give a gist or picture
of what they said (indirect speech or reported speech)
Direct speech
Direct speech is the direct representation in writing of the words actually
spoken. For instance:
36
 John said, “I am late because I over slept.”

In direct speech the actual words of the speaker are not altered or changed. All
we have to do is to add the quotation to such words.
RULES PARTAINING DIRECT SPEECH
1. Direct speech is normally indicated by enclosing the quoted words between
single (‘ ’) or double (“ ”) inverted commas commonly known as
quotation marks for example:
a). “I shall help you when the time comes” she said.
b). ‘It is too much to believe.’ She said.
2. A first word of the speaker’s words (i.e. inside the quotation marks) must
begin with a capital letter. For example;
a. She asked, “Where is the road?”
3. In actual words ending with a quotation mark or exclamation mark, the
closing quotation mark comes after the question mark or exclamation mark
but not before it. For example;
a. He asked, “Can I help you?”
b. He asked, “What do you plan to do?”
4. In speech, we must also show who is talking and what the speaker does in
relation to speech. This is known as the SPEECH TAG for example;
a. The judge said, “You have a fine horse there.”
b. ‘Can I help you?’ he asked.
5. The speech tag is usually introduced by ‘ who is speaking’ followed one of
these verbs:
Tell, ask, order, request, wonder, replied, answer, exclaim, wanted to know,
inquired etc. (i.e. any verb of speech) for instance
a. “May I go out?” asked john.
b. “No wait until I go away” replied the teacher.
6. The speech tag can appear at the beginning in the middle of the broken
quotation or at the end of the quotation, for example;
a. He asked, “What is your purpose in raising such a difficult question?”
Speech tag at the end of the quotation.
b. “What is your purpose in raising such difficult question?” he asked.
NOTE:

37
(i) If the speech tag is at the beginning of the sentence or followed by the
words of the speaker, it must end with a comma. For example
a. John said, “I will come when I get time.” Or
b. “Alright, he said, “you can do as you wish.”
(ii) In the broken quotations the capital letter is not needed at the second part
of the speech. For example
a. “Alright, “he said, “you can do as you wish.” (No capital letter is needed.)
(iii) When the speech tag appears at the end of the sentence ending with a full
stop, the full stop is replaced by a comma. for example
a. She answered, “It is too much to believe.”
But not
b. “It is too much to believe,” she answered.
(iv) If a speech tag at the end of the sentence contains a noun for example,
John, man etc. the noun should come after a saying verb. For instance;
a. “Be careful,” my uncle shouted.
(v) If the speech tag at the end of the sentence contains a pronoun for instance,
he, she, it, they etc. the pronouns should come before the saying verb for
instance;
a. “What do you plan to do?” he asked.
But not
b. “What do you plan to do?” asked he.

RULES PARTAINING INDIRECT SPEECH (I. E. HOW TO CHANGE DIRECT TO

INDIRECT SPEECH)
1. The leading verbs in direct speech should change as follows;
a. Past – past perfect for example
(i) He said, “John came yesterday.”
He said john had come the previous day.
(ii) “John was sick,” said Jane.
Jane said, that john had been sick.
b. Present – past for example
(i) The man said, “my wife is charming but hasn’t much sense.”
The man said that his wife was charming but hadn’t much sense.

38
2. The following forms of the verbs change as follows;
Am – was
Are – was /were
Is – was
Shall – should
Can – could
Come – go
Will – would
Must – had to
May – might
For example;
(i) He said, “Come here.”
He ordered me to go there.
(ii) He said, “She can dance better than them.”
He said she could dance better than them.
3. Conditional sentences (i.e. sentences with could, would, should, might etc,)
Change to conditional perfect for instance;
 The mother said, “You could go to school.”
The mother said he could have gone to school.
4. Adjectives and adverbs indicating nearness in place and in time in direct speech
are changed in reported speech into adjectives and adverbs expressing a
remote effect: to that effect the following words change as follows;

This ---------------------------------- that

Here -----------------------------------there
Today ---------------------------------that day
Now ------------------------------------then
Yesterday ---------------------------- previous day or the day before
Yesterday morning ------------------ the morning before/ the previous morning
Yesterday afternoon -------------------- the afternoon before/the previous evening
Yesterday evening ----------------------- the evening before/the previous evening
Tomorrow --------------------------------- the next/ following day
Next week, year etc. --------------------- the following week, year
Last ----------------------------------- previous
………..ago……. ---------------------- ………… before
39
5. In questions introduced by a question – words like who, what, how, when etc.
these words serve as a link between the introducing verb and the reported
question. For example
“What is your name?” she asked.
This becomes she asked what my name is or she wanted to know what my
name is.
6. If the question is of yes to no type;
“Whether” or “if” is used as a link between the introducing verb and the
reported question for example;
“Have you seen him anywhere?” he asked.
This becomes: he asked whether they had seen him anywhere.
7. Facts are not changed into indirect speech. For example;
“The sun sets in the west,” said the teacher.
He taught me that the sun sets in the west.
8. Colloquialisms and contractions are not used in reported speech I. e.
(expressions that make no contribution to meaning are ignored) for example;
The speaker said, “ladies and gentlemen, I am very happy to be here with you
to day.” The words “ladies and gentlemen” do not add or contribute to the
meaning of a sentence. They are only used to call for attention, therefore
becoming colloquial and hence have to be ignored in reported form; therefore
the sentence becomes;
The speaker said he was very happy to be there with them that day.
9. First and second person pronouns and adjectives change to third person
pronouns and adjectives in reported speech.
I ---------------------------- he/she
We ------------------------- they
You (singular) ------------he/she
You (plural) --------------------- they
You (singular object) ---------- him/her
You (plural object) -------------- them
Your – (plural) -------------------- their
Yours (singular) ------------------- his/hers
Me ---------------------------- him/her
Us ----------------------------them
40
 My ---------------------- his/hers
NOTE: “must”
Must is changed in different forms as below;
a. Must in present in direct speech changes to had to in indirect speech. for
example
(i) “I must write my novel this year,” he said.
He said he had to write his novel that year.
b. Must used for the future in direct speech change to would have to in indirect
speech. For instance
(i) “I must join form four next term,” she said.
She said that she would have to join form four next term.
c. Must used for the rules and regulations in direct remains the same in indirect
speech. For example
(i) “All men must pay the government taxes,” said the chief.
The chief said all men must pay the government taxes.
(ii) “All mothers should breast feed their babies,” said the doctor.
The doctor said all mothers must breast feed their babies.
d. Where there is certainty in using must also does not change. For example
(i) Jesca must be over thirty years since she has grown grey hair. Said the
friend.
The friend said that Jesca must be over thirty years since she has grown grey hair.
Exercise 2
Re write the following sentences in reported speech. (Introduce an appropriate
speech tag to each sentence)
1. “I’m sorry I can’t finish it at once, but I expect to do it the following week,” She
said.
2. “The clock will never work again if you try to mend it,”
3. “The earth and the moon are round and they rotate around the sun,”
4. “I lost my temper yesterday morning,”
Answer to exercise 2
1. She said she was sorry she couldn’t finish it at once, but she expected to do it
the following week/the week after.

41
2. The mechanic said, the clock would never work again if he tried to mend it.
3. The scientist said the earth and the moon are round and they rotate around the
sun.
4. Ritah said she had lost her temper the previous morning/the morning before.
UCE set questions on reported and direct speeches.
1. “you have the whole of this week to prepare for the wedding of our daughter.”
John said to his wife. (re write in to indirect speech)
 John told his wife that she had the whole of that week to prepare for the
wedding of their daughter/for their daughter’s wedding.
2. “Have you ever been told that scorpions are poisonous?” asked the teacher. (re
write in indirect speech)
 The teacher asked me whether I had ever been told that scorpions are
poisonous.
3. “Kapere must be over eighteen years old since he is at university.” The judge
told the court. (Put it into indirect speech beginning: The judge……….)
 The judge told the court that Kapere must be over eighteen years since
he is at university.
4. “We,” the police men said, “are of the opinion that you were here last week.”
(re write in indirect speech)
 The police said that they were of the opinion that they had been there
the previous week.
5. “Did you close the gate?” he wondered, (Begin: He wondered………)
 He wondered whether he had closed the gate.
6. The guest of honour regretted that the party had come to an end. (Re write
“………..” said the guest of honour.
 “I regret that the party has come to an end,” said the guest of honour.
7. “Will William be able to come home at Christmas?” asked his youngest sister.
(remove the inverted commas”)
 William’s younger sister asked whether he would be able to go home at
Christmas.
8. “I hope I shall win the first prize in the competition.” Simon said. (Begin: Simon
hoped …………)
 Simon hopped that he would win the first prize in the competition,
9. “How many trees did you plant last year?” she asked. re write in indirect
speech)
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  He wanted to know the number of trees I had planted the previous year.
10. “You must finish your compositions before the end of the lesson as I am going
to mark them this evening.” (Begin: The teacher……………..)
 The teacher said that we had to finish our composition before the end of
the lesson as he was going to mark them that evening.
11.He wondered what would become of Michael’s future if he didn’t he didn’t
heed his mother’s advice. (re write ending “…………………” he wondered)
 “What will become of Michael’s future if he does not heed his mother’s
advice”? he wondered.
12.“Gentlemen, I am sorry but the party must come to an end,” announced Mr.
Mubakye. (re write using……………….regretted to)
 The M.C. regretted to announce to the gentlemen that the party had
come to an end.
13. The head teacher allowed the sixth form to use the library whenever they like.
(re write using the head teacher’s actual words to the sixth formers)
 “Use the library whenever you like.” the head teacher said to the sixth
form.
14.Maria asked Juma why he had gone to town the previous day. (re write using
direct speech)
 “Why did you go to town yesterday,” Maria asked john.
15.I wondered how old Annah was. (use direct speech)
 “How old is Annah,” she wondered.

Verbs
Two verb sentences
There are situations when a sentence has more than one verb. If this happens the first
verb will determine the nature of the second verb. For example;
a. I denied copying from my neighbour.
b. I refused to copy from my neighbour.
c. I made her copy from my neighbour.
In (a) above, we could not not use the infinitive to copy: likewise in (b) we could
not use – ing word copying.
The verb deny always takes – ing, and a verb refuse nearly always takes an infinitive.

43
VERBS FOLLOWED BY INFINITIVE
A. VERB + TO + INFINITIVE
(i) Agree
He agreed to company me to kampala.
(ii) Afford
We can’t afford to go abroad this summer.
(iii) Aim
The government aims to reduce unemployment by 50 percent.
(iv) Appear
She appeared to be in her late thirties.
They appeared not to know what was happening.
There appears to have been a mistake.
(v) Arrange
Have you arranged to meet him?
(vi) Ask
I asked to see the manager.
(vii) Attempt
I will attempt to answer all your questions.
The prisoners attempted to escape but failed.
(viii) Bail
He was bailed to appear in court on 15th of March.
(ix) Care
I have done this job more times than I care to remember.
(x) Claim
I don’t claim to be an expert.
(xi) Conspire (to make plans to harm someone)
Everything conspired to make her life a misery.
(xii) Decide
We have decided not to go away after all.
(xiii) Deserve
They did not deserve to win.
(xiv) Expect
House prices are expected to rise sharply.

44
 (xv) Forgot
I forgot to ask him for his address.
(xvi) Fail
He failed to get into the art college.
(xvii) Hope
I hope to come back soon than later.
(xviii) Neglect
You neglected to mention the name of the company.
(xix) Offer
He offered to pay school fees.
(xx) Omit
She omitted to mention that they were staying the night.
(xxi) Refuse
I refused to accept the bribe he was offering me.
(xxii) Rejoice
They rejoiced to see their son well again.
(xxiii) Threaten
The rain threatens to destroy the wind.
(xxiv) Wish
I wish to speak to the manager.
I wish something good to happen.
(xxv) Weep
I wept to see her looking so sick.
B. INFINITIVE WITHOUT “TO” (BARE INFINITIVES)
(i) The commonest use of the infinitive without “to” is with the auxiliary
verbs like: will, shall, may, must, can etc. for example,
I can go.
The verb go is a bare infinitive.
(ii) Bare infinitive are also used with would rather and had better and
sometimes with need and dare.
I would rather be clean than dirty.
It is late, so we had better hurry.
Fatima dare not tell lies to her father.
(iii) Make: Active: we made the patient take some medicine.

45
 Passive: the patient was made to take some medicine.
Help: I helped him push the car.
See, hear, watch, notice, observe, feel, and listen to:
We saw the tree fall on the house.
I heard him say he was not coming.
I felt something touch my arm.
Watch me hit that post with a stone.
C. VERBS + OBJECT + TO + INFINITIVE:
1. Advise
He advised me to revise my books.
2. Allow
She allowed me to enter the class.
3. Cause
The rain caused us to abandon the match.
4. Command
The teacher commanded the students to go home.
5. Encourage
He encouraged us to pay school fees in time.
6. Force
He forced me to leave the school.
7. Instruct
The manager instructed the clerk to write the letter.
8. Invite
We invited the president to attend the party.
9. Oblige
Bad weather obliged us to postpone the visit.
10.Order
The doctor ordered him to rest.
11.Persuade
The chairman persuaded us to leave the matter to the next meeting.
12.Teach
My father taught me to read and write.
13.Remind
I reminded her to bring back my note book.
14.Tell
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 I told her to spend this money wisely.
15.Warn
The president warned the people to prepare food for a drought.
16.Consider
I considered her to be the best person for the job.
17.Enable
Revising enables us to pass highly.
18.Adjure (to ask or order sb to do sth)
He adjured them to tell the truth.
19.Admonish (to strongly advise sb to do sth)
A warning voice admonished him not to let this happen.
20.Advance
The cashier advanced some money to buy books.
D. VERBS FOLLOWED BY – ING WORD (VERBS + ING)
(i) Admit
Admitted stealing my book.
(ii) Advance
I would advise buying your ticket in advance.
(iii) Anticipate
They anticipate moving to a bigger house next year.
(iv) Adore
She adores working with children.
(v) Avoid
I avoided crossing the road because of the heavy traffic.
(vi) Consider
She considered leaving school when she was twenty.
(vii) Contemplate
I have never contemplated living abroad.
(viii) Delay
He delayed replying my letter.
(ix) Deny: he denied having been outside in the compound.
(x) Detest (hate/loathe)
I detest writing composition about fat and short women.
(xi) Dislike
I dislike putting up in the same room with short people.
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(xii) Discuss
We briefly discussed buying another car.
(xiii) Begin
Everybody began talking at once.
(xiv) Continue
The rain continued falling all afternoon.
(xv) Escape
My brother escaped being hurt in the car accident.
(xvi) Finish
He finished reading that book before I did.
(xvii) Fancy
Do you fancy going out this evening.
(xviii) Feel like
I feel like killing a person.
(xix) Imagine
I imagine sleeping with a ghost in the same house.
(xx) Mind
Do you mind giving me some money?
(xxi) Postpone
The official postponed visiting the school.
(xxii) Recollect (recall/remember)
Do you recollect seeing him?
(xxiii) Recommend
He recommended reading the books before watching a movie.
(xxiv) Resist
He resisted eating another cake.
(xxv) Resent (feeling bitter/angry)
He bitterly resents being beaten like a child.
(xxvi) Risk
They knew they risked being arrested.
(xxvii) Persist
Why do you persist in blaming yourself for the mess?
(xxviii) Not mind
I don’t mind helping if you can’t find anyone else.

48
 (xxix) Stop
He stopped smoking on advice of his doctor.
(xxx) Appreciate
She appreciated having an opportunity to visit her brother.
NOTE
All verbs which are governed by a preposition take on – ing examples;
 Look forward to
 Give up
 Keep on
 Succeed in
 Go on
 Persist in
 Object to
 Be used to
 Put off/up etc.
E. VERBS FOLLOWED BY AN INFINITIVE OR –ING;
(i) Attempt
I attempted to finish the work as agreed up on
He attempted bringing me.
(ii) Begin
When will we begin recruiting?
It began to rain as soon as I entered the house.

(iii) Cease (stop)

The company ceased trading in June.
You never cease to amuse me.
(iv) Continue
The rain continued to fall all afternoon. Or the rain continued falling all
afternoon.
(v) Dread (to fear)
I dread being sick.
I dread to think what will happen after your death.
(vi) Hate

49
 He hates making mistakes.
He hates to think what will happen after your death.
(vii) Like
I like to sleep late at weekends.
He doesn’t like asking his parents for help.
(viii) Love
My dad loves going for football matches.
I love to go out dancing.
(ix) Intend
I don’t intend staying long.
I tend to identify myself with his community.
(x) Plan
They planned to arrive sometime after three.
They planned on going anywhere this evening.
(xi) Prefer
Would you prefer me to stay?
I prefer playing in defence.
(xii) Propose
He proposed changing the name of the company.
It was proposed to pay the money from public fund.
(xiii) Start
It started to rain.
She started laughing.
NOTE: OTHER EXPRESSIONS THAT TAKE ON VERB + ING;
1. For fear of:
Mary tied the key around her neck for fear of losing it.
2. In spite of:
He attended the, meeting in spite of coming late.
3. Look forward to:
We are really looking forward to seeing you again.
4. In addition to:
Bukenya makes carvings in addition to painting pictures.
F. PREPOSITION + ING

50
 a. The phrases or any word governed by a preposition or preposition group,
cannot take an infinitive but –ing. Such phrase include the following:
 In addition to
 As well as
 Apart from
 Instead of
 There up on
 Instead
 Besides
Examples:
1. She is a talented musician as well as being a photographer.
2. The audience thereupon rose cheering to their feet.
b. “used to” which means

Pronouns
Pronouns are words used instead of nouns or words that take the place of a noun
or pronoun. The noun or pronoun that the pronoun replaces and refers to is called
the antecedent of the pronoun. Pronouns help writers to avoid repetition add
variety to writing. There are different kinds of pronouns in English and we shall list
some of them below;
o Personal pronouns
o Relative pronouns
o Possessive pronouns
o Demonstrative pronouns
o Integrative pronouns
o Indefinite pronouns
o Reflexive pronouns
o Emphatic pronouns
PERSONAL PRONOUNS
A personal pronoun refers to one or more persons or things except for the pronoun
you, personal pronouns have separate singular and plural forms.
SIGULAR PLURAL
51
1. first person: I, me, my, mine We, us, our, ours
2. second person: you, your, yours You, your, yours
3. third person: he. she, him, her, his, hers, They, them, theirs, their
It, its
N.B. the person of a pronoun indicates the relationship of that pronoun to the
speaker.
1. First person pronoun: I, me, we, and us refer to the speaker or to a group which the
speaker is part of. For example;
a. I sat on my lunch accidentally (the speaker)
b. I enjoy reading poetry.(the speaker)
c. we finished our assignment. (the speaker and others)
d. we are supposed to obey our parents. (The speaker and others)
2. second person pronouns: refers to the person or persons being spoken to. Notice
that the singular and plural forms of the 2nd persons are the same. For example
a. you are the only person who got the answer right. (One person)
b. you have succeeded because all of you have worked together. (More than one
person)
3. Third person pronoun: refers to person or things other than the speaker or the
speaker’s listeners. For example
a. she is an excellent net baller. (one person)
b. they have the best pancakes in the town. (more than one person)
when a noun and a personal pronoun are used together in a sentence, the
sentence starts with the noun e.g.
a. my mother and I are going to the market.
b. jane and I are in the same class.
Never say:
a. I and my mother
b. I and jane.
52
 When the pronoun I forms part of a double subject, it should be placed last. e.
g.
a. he and I attend the same school.
b. Apollo and I will participate in the race
subject personal pronouns are also used in sentences after liking verbs for
example
a. I think it was he who came here.
b. she said it was I to write the letter.
Never say
a. I think it was him who came here.
b. she said it was me to write the letter.
N.B. personal pronouns are usually of two forms or types i.e. subject pronoun and
object personal pronouns.
Subject personal pronouns include: I, you, he, she, it, we, they etc. they are usually
used as subjects of sentences e.g.
a. I enjoy dancing.
b. he is the son of the president.
c. she likes to wear red dresses.
d. it becomes very hot in the afternoon.
e. we are supposed to obey our teachers and parents
f. they are driving to Mombasa next week.
Objective personal pronouns
These include: me, you, him, her, it, us, them etc.
They are usually used as objects of verbs in sentences or they follow preposition. e.g.
a. I saw him in the church.
b. amindo gave her a blue pen.
53
c. juma asked them to come for dinner.
d. Sheila welcomed us to her house.
e. I shall send you out if you continue making noise.
f. innocent picked it from the garden.
In all the above sentences, the subject personal pronouns are used as objects of
verbs. Study the following sentences where the personal pronouns are used following
prepositions;
a. alice sat beside him.
b. he ran against her.
c. father always writes letters to me.
Relative pronouns
These are: who, whom, whose, which that.
They are used in sentences with finite verbs and they refer to noun or pronoun
previously mentioned. e.g.
1. that is the man whose house caught fire on Tuesday.
2. she is the woman who beats me.
3. this is the shop to which I was referring.
4. kemigisa is the girl to whom you gave the oranges.
5. The pen that you reported lost has been found.
a. who: refers to only persons and is used as the subject of the verb in the relative
clause e.g.
 That is the girl who lost her pen.
b. whom: refers only to persons and is used either as the verb in the relative clause or
after a preposition e.g.
 We know the girl whom you like.
 That is the man against whom you will be competing.

54
c. which: only refers to pronoun or noun which is not a person and it may be used as
a subject or object of the verb in the relative clause. It may also follow a preposition
e.g.
 That is the goat which owino bought.
 I admired the car in which I travelled
d. whose:indicates possession by either persons or things e.g.
 That is man whose cow was stolen.
 That is the bull whose horn was broken.
POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS
These are: mine, yours, our, his, its, hers, their and theirs etc. they are used to show
possessions, e.g.
 That car is mine.
 The blue pen is yours.
 That house over there is hers.
 The yellow shirt is his.
 The first two offices are ours.
 This is my orange, they left theirs on the table.
Possessive pronouns should never be confussed with possessive adjectives, e.g.
Adjectives pronouns
My mine
You yours
His jacket the jacket is his
Her book the book is hers
Their theirs
We use possessive pronouns without a noun and possessive adjectives with a
noun. Sometimes we use a possessive pronoun with of e.g.
 Ester is a friend of yours.
 I rarely meet that friend of hers.
DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS
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These are: this, these, those, that. They are used to point out a specific persons,
place, thing or idea. Example
 That is my pen.
 These are some of the things I don’t like.
 That is terrible.
 All those will finally belong to you.
 That answer is wrong.
 These roumours are unfounded.
Do not confuse these pronouns with their forms as demonstrative
adjectives e.g.
 The pen belongs to me.
 Those houses are new.
 This car is very first.
 The shops stock clothes.
In these sentences the words describes nouns but as pronouns they stand in for
nouns.
INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS
These are: who, whom, what, which, whose, when. They are used to ask questions
e.g.
 Whom did you give the money to?
 What happens when the train fails to come?
 Which colour do you prefer?
 Who gave you that shirt?
 Whose book is this?
When one of the words in the preceding list modifies a noun, however, it is no longer
considered an interrogative pronoun but rather a modifier. The words what, which
and whose may function as either interrogative or as modifiers.
Example.
 What is a volcanic mountain?(interrogative pronoun)
 Which vitamins are soluble?(modifier)
 Which is the right answer? (interrogative pronouns)

56
  Whose coat is that? (modifier)
INDEFINITE PRONOUNS
These consist of: anybody, somebody, everyone, all, both, each, few, several, one,
some, nobody, everybody, either, and neither. In the following sentences the
above words are used as indefinite pronouns;
1. Somebody came here in the morning.
2. Nobody goes to that room at the basement.
3. Everybody needs some shelter.
4. Everyone will have to attend the service.
5. Anybody could do that job.
6. Any of them can accompany me.
7. All must practice singing.
8. He said that both had to come.
9. He gave each a book.
10. She wanted me to take all but I took neither.
11.Only one came to day, but several will arrive tomorrow.
12. All play football but one specializes in hocky.

REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS
These are: myself, yourself, himself, herself, ourselves, themselves, itself, yourselves,
and oneself.
They are treated as pronouns when they are used as objects of sentences or are
followed by prepositions. Look at the following examples;
1. I was only amusing myself.
2. We went to the dance to enjoy ourselves.
3. They will do the work themselves.
4. You must learn to wash yourself.
5. She likes watching herself in the mirror.
6. To do a good job one must do it oneself.
7. I shall travel to kasese by myself.
8. You have to go there by yourself.
9. He ate all the biscuits by himself.

57
We use reflexive pronouns to talk about the same person or thing that we mentioned
in the subject o the sentence.

EMPHATIC PRONOUNS
These are the same words as in the reflexive pronouns only that here we use them to
lay emphasis on nouns or noun phrases. e. g.
1. We did it ourselves.
2. Only you yourself can carry out the message.
3. I shall do it myself.
4. The man himself milked the cows.

Exercise one
Re write each of the following sentences replacing the italicized words with a
pronoun.
1. James spoke to sarah and made sarah laugh.
2. Innocent bought a mango and gave the mango to his sister.
3. Awino shouted to Mugisha but Mugisha did not respond.
4. Jane has a pal, the pal goes to school in kasese.
5. Kemigisha advised her cousins but the cousins never heeded kemigisha’s
advice.
Answers
1. her 2. It 3. He 4. She 5. Hers

Exercise 2
From each of the following sentences, write down a pronoun.
1. Alex laughed at that yesterday.
2. These belong to mugume.
3. Bring the tomatoes which are on the table.
4. Where did john get it ?
5. James prefers this.
6. Where is the man whose cow was stolen?

58
 7. Whom can you trust among the boys?
8. Kasiime admires them.
9. Kagadi is a town which is growing.
10. Twine loves himself.
Answers
1.that 2.These 3.Which 4.it 5. This 6. Whose 7.
Whom 8. Them 9. Which 10. Himself

Exercise 3
Write down the following sentences putting in the correct pronoun.
1. I have seen the man………….house was broken into.
2. This is the lady from…………….we borrowed the money.
3. All the people to……………we wrote have replied.
4. She has lost the pen………….you gave her.
5. Jacinta spilt the soap…………..caused the stain.
6. I greeted the woman…………..i saw in the meeting.
7. Do you know the man…………..addressed the meeting.
8. The boys…….minds are sharp will have no problems.
9. This is the river into……….he was swimming.
10.This is the cow………tail was cut.

Answers
1. whose 2. Whom 3. Whom 4. That/which 5. That/which 6.
Whom 7. Who 8. Whose 9. Which 10. Whose
UNEB Set questions on pronouns

TENSES
There are seven forms of tenses in English, these include;
1. present tense
2. past simple

59
 3. future simple tense (coloured future) shall/will
4. present perfect (has and have)
5. past perfect (had)
6. past continuous (were and was + ing)
7. progressive forms

SIMPLE TENSES
The three simple tenses are the present tense, the past tense and the future tense.
PRESENT SIMPLE TENSE.
Verbs in the present simple tense express an action happening at the present
moment or an action that occurs repeatedly.
Examples;
1. Power mike hits back. (present action)
2. The drunkard shouts and falls. (present action)
3. The sun sets in the west. (habitual action)
4. My dog eats posho and meat. (habitual action)
N.B. the present progressive form of the verb also shows action happening in the
present or occurring repeatedly. Example;
1. The chicken is roasting in the oven. (present action)
2. We are saving money to build a house. (habitual action)

THE PAST SIMPLE TENSE

Verbs in the past simple tense show or express action or state of being that occurred
in the past. In past simple tense we use the word last------- e.g. last Sunday, week,
month, year, long ago, many years ago, during the reign of------------, last Easter, last
Christmas etc.
The auxiliary verb that is used even in questions to show the need of a past simple
tense is did. Once an adverb of time that indicates past simple tense is stressed in a
sentence, then the past simple forms of the verbs are used as below:
You we Verb in past simple tense Yesterday

60
He she e.g. came last year
They I + Last night etc.
It
Examples;
1. I swallowed meat yesterday. (swallow)
2. She danced calpso last week. (dance)
3. Peter met a mad man while going to Kampala. (meet)
4. They wrote letters to their pals previous week. (write)
5. We played football from dawn to dusk yesterday. (play)
6. It rained cats and dogs last Sunday. (rain)
7. We had to dance yesterday. (must)
8. Gorge revised for the English test. (past action)
9. The old man drank himself silly. (state of being)
N.B. does / does not and do of the singular and plural pronouns or nouns in the
present simple change to did in the past simple tense. Example;
1. I did not swallow the meat yesterday.
2. You did your test last week.
Etc.

FUNTURE SIMPLE TENSE

The future tense is formed with the helping verbs shall and will added to the present
form of the verb. Verbs in the future tense express an action that will occur in the
future.
Future tense verbs may also give orders or make predications.
Shall is used by the pronoun I and we and the rest of the pronouns take will.
I and we = shall they, you, he, she, it, you = will
For the future simple, shall and will take a verb in infinitive form e.g. shall go, eat,
come or will sleep, dance etc.

61
Examples;
1. We shall hold the next meeting three weeks from today. (future action)
2. You will study harder from now on words. (an order)
3. It will rain cats and dogs tomorrow.
4. Urdt girls school will emerge victor in this year’s athletics competition.
(predication)
Progressive form of the above tenses.
The past progressive form of verb express an action in the past that was on going.
Examples:
1. We were hunting for thieves in the cave.
2. My mother was working in a law office then.
The progressive form of the future tense also describes an action that will be on going
in the future. For example;
1. Next week we will be having holidays.
2. If it continues raining like this, rivers will be seen flooding.
PERFECT TENSES (HAVE, HAS, HAD)
The three perfect tenses are the present perfect, the future perfect (will/shall) and
past perfect (had).

THE PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

Here we expect has/have for both singular and plural pronouns. Whenever the word
perfect sounds in our ears, the above three auxiliary verbs are anticipated. We use
has and have for both singular and plural pronouns respectively with exception of a
pronoun I.
Singular pronouns plural pronouns
He they
She has you have
It we

62
 I also goes with have.
From the above we don’t use had because it is a present perfect and had is a past
tense of has and have hence a past perfect.
Once one uses has for he, she, it or have for they, you, we, I a verb in past participle
like gone, dug, eaten, seen etc. must be used/ fellow them as below;
He
She has
Complete the sentence.
It + a verb in past participle
e.g. eaten
They, I have
You, we
Examples;
1. He has gone to Kampala. (go)
2. We have just written a letter to the president. (write)
3. The dog has run after a rabbit. (run)
4. We have dug in our garden. (dig)
5. Julius has foregone lunch because of being abused by his parents.
N.B. like other tenses, the present tense has a progressive form. The progressive form
express an action began in the past and is continuing in the present.

Examples;
1. My uncle Fred has been saving money for twenty eight years.
2. The college football team has been practicing all week.

PAST PERFECT TENSE

This is very similar to the present perfect only that has and have change to their
past tense had. Once had is used as an auxiliary verb for verbs, they must be in
past participle e.g. seen, spoken, written, rid, risen, sung, stolen etc. as below:
You, it, they
We, I, she Had a verb in past participle -------------

63
 He
Examples;
1. I had done my home work by the time it rained. (do)
2. By the time we reached the station, the bus had left. (leave)
3. If I had seen a lion, I would have screamed loudly. (see)
4. She had finished writing a letter when john rang her. (finish)
5. You gained a lot of presents because you had played very hard. (play)
6. They had foregone supper due to lack of fire wood. (forego)
7. Grace had danced calpso interestingly. (dance)
FUTURE PERFECT TENSE
Here shall and will are used for I, we, and you, he, she, it, they respectively to make
the sentence future. To create a perfect in the sentence that is in the future, we only
use have leaving out has and had. Once shall/will and have are used for the future
perfect, then a verb mostly in the past participle like eaten, drunk, spoken etc. are
used below;
I, we shall
Have + verb in past participle ---------------
He, she, it
You, they will

Examples;
1. You will have eaten all the food.
2. By the time it rains, we shall have planted trees.
3. It will have rained cuts and dogs at the church.
4. The English teacher will have taught by the time the one of mathematics
comes.
5. Peter will have beaten Paul by the time the policemen come.
6. The dog will have barked at us by the time we saw it.

PRESENT CONTINOUS TENSE

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This is what is commonly known as the now tense because it tells the action being
done and which is continuous. Hence there is use of gerunds i.e. verbs with ing e.g.
going, seeing, dancing, putting, revising etc.
To create this gerund, we need some auxiliary verbs ahead of pronouns for instance.
He
She is + a gerund i.e. verb +ing ---------------
It

You
They are + a gerund i.e. a verb + ing form -------------
We
I + am + a gerund i.e. a verb with ing form -----------
Examples;
1. The lion is roaring loudly.
2. It is howling and barking at the thieves.
3. Tom is crying for peace now.
4. It is raining cats and dogs now.
5. We are dancing and praising the lord now.
6. I am coming to see you now.
7. You are cleaning the chalk-board now.\
8. It isn’t raining cats and dogs now.
9. Mary is singing the national anthem.
10.We are studying English now.

PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE

Past continuous tense is similar in usage to present continuous only that there is an
element of the past. Hence “is” becomes “was” and “are” becomes “were” and “am”
becomes “was” since it is also continuous, the verb must bare – ing form as below;
He Continue and finish the

65
She Was +verb + ing form Sentence
It
I
Examples;
1. When I was going to Kampala, I meet a mad man.
2. As it was raining cats and dogs, I had to come with the umbrella.
3. Mary was writing a letter to her father.
4. Innocent was teaching English to senior fours yesterday.
5. It was barking at the strangers when the bullet pinged.
6. She was peeling matooke when I went to visit her.
We
They Were + a verb with ing Continue------
You Form
Examples;
1. They were jubilating when the bomb exploded.
2. We were slaughtering the cow when peter cut himself.
3. Mary and Sarah were peeling potatoes yesterday.
4. You were stealing our books when the teacher caught you.
5. You were running after the night dancer when you broke your leg.
6. They were writing the letter to the DEO when the senior 4 results were
announced over the radio.

PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

This tense is like present perfect continuous tense as it also has a gerund to show the
continuity only that has and have change to had for it is past. And perfect continuous
there must be been between the auxiliary verb had and the gerund for the –ing form
to be effectively applicable. As below;
He
She
Had +been + verb with ing Continue……………………………
It
Form.
They
66
You
We
I
Examples.
1. They had been dancing since morning.
2. Peter had been drawing the map of Uganda since December.
3. Mary had been spleening herself in a mirror since morning.
4. It had been roaring up to morning.
5. You had been dancing at the party for the last two weeks.
6. The cow had been calving every eight month.
7. Betty had been praising and worshiping the lord.
8. The Israelites had been murdering the palastines for the last 20 centuries.
9. It had been hooting though out the night.
10.You had been repairing the stool since yesterday morning. e.t.c

FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

This shows the action that has been and is still recarrying in future. As
continuous , there must be a gerund i.e. a verb with – ing form , then since it is
future “shall” for “y” and “we” and “will” for “you ,she, he, it, they,” will used.
To create a perfect of the future , we only use have and any continuous of
perfect , must have been as below;
I
We shall
Have + been + verb + ing…………………………….
They
He
She will
It
You
Examples:
1. She will have been crying by the time her mother comes.
2. John will have been coming to visit me when the accident occurs.
3. It will have been crowing.
4. They will have been marking our English papers.
5. We shall have been feeding on meat.
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6. The painter will have been drawing the picture of a cow.
7. They will have been planning to commit suicide when the decision to
save their lives rings in.
8. Sarah will have been dancing roll dance.
9. You will have been peeling matooke. E.t.c.

CONDITIONAL TENSES
This is the tense that transforms will into would , can into could ,shall
into should and may into might. This tense is common in conditional
sentence especially if 2.
Once could/might/should and would are used in the tense, a verb in it’s
infinitive form follow them e.g. would go , could see , might come ,should
go e.t.c.
I would go to Kampala if I got money.
He i
She you Would/could/should/ + a verb in it’s infinitive
It might Form e.g. go, come, see,
They Jump. E.t.c.
we

Examples.
1. If I had money , I would go to London.
2. If Jane came , she might see the president.
3. She should peel matooke .
4. You would clap your hands.
5. They could dance calpso.
6. It would rain cats and dogs.
7. He would laugh stupidly.
8. They might strike.
9. You could fight together.
10.They should jump over the pit.

CONDITIONAL CONTINUOUS TENSE:

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 This one is the same as conditional tense only that we use a gerund to
portray that continuity .hence a verb with ing form . to create this
would/might/could/should/must have the word “be” as below:
He
She Would , should , +be + verb with ing
We Could , might. form
It
They
You
I

Example:
1. We should be going to Kampala.
2. It would be raining heavily.
3. They might be watching Arsenal vs. man u.
4. They should be speaking English.
5. You could be deceiving the court.
6. She could be dancing calpso.
7. He would be fetching water.
8. They should be praising the lord.
9. They should be leaving for England.
CONDITIONAL PERFECT TENSE
This is also common in if sentences especially if 3 in the main or independent clause .
it must have “have” to make it perfect .this verb “have” must come after would,
could, should or might and must precede a verb in past participle e.g. gone , seen,
dug, swim, run, spoken, written etc.
They
You
Could/should/might/ +have + verb in past
We
would Participle form………………..
I
She
He
it

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Examples
1. If I had gone to Kampala, I would have visited Sheraton.
2. We would have run away if we had got a chance.
3. She should have come back.
4. You could have written it yourself.
5. Mary might have seen the elephant.
6. The farmers would have planted trees if it had rained cats and dogs.
7. Peter could have laughed stupidly.
8. The driver could have caused the accident intentionally.
9. The prisoners could have fought from the prison.
10.The car might have failed to labour the hill.
11.We should have spoken to them nicely.

CONDITIONAL PERFECT CONTINUOUS

This is tense is as exact as the past ones only that the perfect is preceded by a
conditional (might, could, should, and would) and follows a gerund to portray the
continuity. Since it is perfect continuous been will be used to show that continuity.
He you Would, should
She we Might, could + have + been +verb with
It I Ing form
They
Examples;
1. We should have been smelling a rat.
2. He might have been trying to squate a circle.
3. It would have been raining cats and dogs.
4. She should have been dressing to kill.
5. It might have been barking throughout the night.
6. I might have been going to school.
7. They could have been scorning at every hour.

CONDITIONALS (IF I, II, AND III)

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These are statements that give a condition to be fulfilled in order for something to
happen.
Conditional statements have words like ‘if”, “unless”, “provided”, “whether or not”,
“only”, “even if”, “in case”, “supposing”, “had” etc. modal auxiliaries can also be in
place of if.
If 1
The if 1 is the open condition which may be possible/true or impossible/not true if a
particular condition is not fulfilled. The condition can be at the beginning of the
sentence or at the end of the sentence.
The result clause can use an imperative , if the sentence begins with an if clause.
Imperative can also be used at the beginning of the sentence if the condition is at the
end of the sentence instead of will.
The present simple tense is used in the if clause and the future simple tense in the
main clause. This condition is known as a future possible condition because it
describes a simple situation which may or may not take place in the future. Examples;
1. If mugisa studies hard, he will pass his examinations.
2. If tusiime doesn’t complete his work, the teacher will punish him.
3. It Martha stops chewing gum in class, we shall remain friends.
N.B. when the if clause comes first it is followed by a comma. If it comes last no
comma is required.
Exercise.
Complete the following sentences;
1. If I see her,…………………………………………………
2. We shall blame him……………………………………
3. If peter goes to America, …………………………………..
4. If it does not rain today, ……………………………………..
5. I will be very pleased if …………………………………………
6. You must ask …………………………………………………….
7. If he misses the bus, ……………………………………………
8. If she works hard, she …………………………………………..

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 9. If I pass my examinations, ……………………………………
10.I won’t go ……………………………………………………
If 2
we use if clause ii when we want to show that the condition is either impossible,
undesirable, or unlikely and we imagine the results. It is also known as the present
unreal condition because it describes a situation which is based on possibility rather
than actuality (taken to be true although its truth has not been proved)
note that: in fi ii one is just imagining what would happen if the impossible came true.
In if ii the condition can not be fulfilled at all. It is just day dreaming. Examples:
1. If I were you, I wouldn’t eat posho.
2. If I was god, I would leave man to live forever.
We often use “were” instead of “was” in order to put emphasis on the nature of the
impossibility. Examples;
1. If he were a snake, he would bite all sinners.
2. If I were a teacher, I would not beat pupils.
Other examples;
1. If atuhura was a boy, he would be very handsome.
2. If john studies hard, he would pass his examinations
Thus john does not study hard, but if he studied hard, he would pass his exams.
ORDER OF FORMATION
We use the past simple tense in the if clause and would + verb + tense in the main
clause (could, should, might, are also used)

See the following sentences;

1. If he studied hard, he would go to the university.
2. If kunihira knew how to swim, she would not drown.
3. If a six year old girl drove a car, she would cause an accident.
4. If I had two heads, I would think better.

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 If 3
If clause iii is used to indicate that what was supposed to have happened did not
happen because a certain condition was not met. It is commonly used to express
regrets. Here are example;
1. If brazil had worked hard, it would have taken the world cup for the fifth time.
(this means that brazil did not work hard and therefore, didn’t take the cup)
2. If the lion had seen him, it would have eaten him. (this means that the lion
didn’t see him and so did not eat him.)
Study the sentences below;
1. If he had had enough money, he would have gone to Entebbe.
2. Had he climbed the pole, he would have fallen down.
3. If she had come, I would have gone with her.
4. Had she come, I would have been punished.
ORDER OF FORMATION
For if clause iii we use the past perfect tense in the if clause and would have, should
have, could have in the main clause + the past participle form of the verb.
N.B: we get rid of would, should and could when must, need, and may are used.
Examples;
a. If he wants food, he must go to the kitchen. This will become;
 If he had wanted food, he must have gone to the kitchen.
b. If she wants meat, she must go to hunt. This will become;
 If he had wanted meat, he must have gone to hunt.
UNLESS
Unless as a conditional means if not.
Examples;
I. If he comes, I will go with him. This becomes;
Unless he comes, I won’t go with him.
I won’t go with him unless he comes.

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 II. She will buy a new dress if she goes to town. This becomes;
Unless she goes to town, she won’t buy a new dress.
She won’t buy a new dress unless she goes to town.
Exercise
 If you don’t stop telling lies, you won’t go to heaven.
 If they do well, they will be given presents.
 They will lose the money if they are careless.
 She will go to London if she gets money.
 They will drink beer if the party is on.

CONFUSING VERBS
Been and gone
The past participle of go is gone. But when we want to imply that somebody or
something has not only gone to a place but left it as well, we use been as a past
participle. E.g.
1. He has gone to kampala. (he is there now)
2. He has been to kampala. (he was there but is there no longer)
Similarly with the past perfect:
1. He had already gone to the disco when I called on him. (he was at the disco or
on his way there)
2. He had already been to the disco when I called on him. (he had returned from
the disco when I called on him)
Borrow and lend
Although these two words are opposites, they are often confused . borrow means
receive on loan; lend means give on loan.
He borrowed some money from his friend.
The opposite process:
He lent some money to his friend.
(note that we cannot say I borrowed him some money)

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Do and Make
These two words have almost the same meaning and it is difficult to devise to enable
one to distinguish between them. Rather than rely on any rule it is wiser to learn the
following expressions by heart:
Do one’s duty make a mistake
Do an exercise make a request
Do harm make money
Do one’s best make a living
Do a favour make the bed
Do homework make trouble
Do business with make a speech
Do the homework make a good impression
Do good make plans
Note the construction make somebody do something. A common mistake is to use
make with the infinitive including to:
1. The police made him to confess .(wrong)
2. The police made him confess.(right)
with the passive, however, we do use to:
he was made to confess by the police.

Lie, lay and lie

Lie (with the meanings be in a horizontal position or be situated) is intransitive
and therefore has no object:

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 1. He lies in bed every morning till nine.
2. The lies in a valley.
Lay is transitive verb and therefore has an object:
1. That hen lays a lot of eggs.
2. The servant always lays the table for dinner.
Lie (with the meaning tell an untruth) is quite regular:
1. He often lies to his parents.
2. He lied to the head teacher.
The principal parts of these verbs are:
Present Past simple Present Past
simple participle participle
Lie Lie Lay Lying Lain
(intransitive)
Lay Lay Laid Laying Laid
Lie (tell an Lie Lied Lying lied
truth)

Lose and loose

Lose is a verb meaning the opposite opposite of find:
 She is afraid she might lose her ring.
Loose is an adjective meaning the opposite of tight and is connected with the
verb loosen:
 His watch was loose and fell off.
There is also the verb to loose meaning to set free (the opposite of bind)

Reach and arrive

Reach is a transitive verb and therefore, must have an object.
 We reached London in the morning.
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Arrive is intransitive and cannot take an object.
 We arrived in the morning.
Of course, where we arrived can be shown by using the preposition at or in. e.g.
1. We reached there in the morning.
2. We arrived there in the morning.
Salute and greet
Salute describes the action of raising the hand to the head in the way soldiers do
when they meet a superior. (In some countries a salute is the raising of the hand
in some other way.) Greet simply means give greetings to by saying hullo or
something similar. E.g.
1. The captain saluted the general.
2. John greeted his friend when he saw him in the street.
Say and tell
Rather than attempt to learn difficult and unreliable rules for the use of these
two verbs, it is better to commit the following sentences to memory.
Say;
1. He said nothing.
2. He said to me, “pass me the book.”
3. He said few words to me.
Tell;
1. He told the truth to the judge.
2. He told him about his plans.
3. He told me about the battle.
4. He told me to pass the book to him.

Steal and rob

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Steal is followed by the thing stolen, rob by a person or place. When we wish to
indicate what was stolen as well as the person or place affected we use the
construction rob somebody of something.
1. He stole my watch.
2. He robbed the house.
3. He robbed me of my wallet.
Wear, put on and dress
Wear describes a state, put on an action. we wear clothes for some hours, it
takes us a short time to put them on. Both are transitive and require articles of
clothing, etc. as objects.
1. I shall wear my new suit to the party.
2. I shall put on a jacket when it’s cooler.
Dress usually describes an action but it cannot take an article of clothing as an
object;
He is dressing at the moment. (he is putting his clothes on.)
It can take a person as an object:
 She is dressing her small sister.
In a special sense it can describe the state:
 She dresses very well. (she wears smart clothes.)
Win and beat
Unlike beat win can be used intransitively; e.g.
 Our team won.
Objects of win are words like match, game, war etc. e.g.
 Our team won the match.
Beat used in this way has the meaning of defeat; it must be followed by the noun
for who was beaten. e.g.
 Our team beat the champions last week.

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Wound, injure, hurt, and damage
These four verbs are used in these ways:
Wound for injuries received from weapons in wars and fighting.
Injure for injuries received in accidents.
Hurt for any injury to the body, usually minor.
Damage only for objects and not for persons.
Examples;
1. Over a thousand troops have been wounded in the battle.
2. Two cars collided and the passengers were injured.
3. The goal-keeper hurt his leg in the match.
4. The explosion damaged many shops and houses.
RISE AND RAISE
Rise means to go up. Raise means to life or make something go up. Consider the
sentences given below.
1. The sun rises in the morning.
2. The teachers rose from their seats.
3. Please , raise your right hand up.
4. Fames raised the ladder to reach the roof.
WEATHER AND WHEATHER
Weather refers to the condition of the atmosphere , such as heat and cold,
wetness and dryness.
Weather indicates the choice between two things. E.g.
1. The weather in Kampala is usually pleasant.
2. Ask Julius whether he is going or staying.

YOURS AND YOU’RE

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Your shows possession by you.
You’re in the contraction for you are or you were.
See the difference in meaning between the following sentences:
1. When is your birthday.
2. You’re john stone, aren’t you?
ACCEPT AND EXCEPT
Accept is a verb which means to agree to something or to take something.
Except, as a conjunction , means other than, or apart from. examples:
1. I accept the blame.
2. We bought all the supplies except glue.
Other words that are often confused.
PRINCIPAL AND PRINCIPLE
Principal means leading or drief or highest in importance , rank or degree.
Principle refers to a basic truth, rule or law.
Examples
1. The basic principle of this country is a free and democratic society.
2. The principal of this institution is Mr. kabasomi.
STATIONARY AND STATIONERY
Stationary means not moving or fixed.
Stationery refers to writing , papers , envelopes, pens. Etc
1. That bus can move, but right now, it is stationary.
2. That shop sells stationery.
ALL TOGETHER AND ALTOGETHER
All together means everybody or everything at the same time or in the company.
Altogether is an adverb meaning entirely or on the whole. E.g.
1. All together, they were seven hundred people present.
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 2. His composition is altogether too difficult for us to understand.
EVERY BODY AND EVERYBODY
Every body is an adjective + noun. If used this way, body was corpse or group of
people or things.
Everybody is a pronoun, meaning all the people.
Examples
1. Every body was washed before burial
2. Everybody here in my country-mate.
EVERY ONE AND EVERYONE
Every one means each one, every one means all of them. e.g.
1. Every one of the six girls was pregnant.
2. Everyone who left late missed the train.
Exercise
Write out the following sentences using the correct words from the alternatives
given in the brackets.
1. If you are not more careful, you will (loose/ lose) your purse.
2. When I saw him in the church, he was (wearing/ putting on) a blue shirt.
3. The teacher told the pupils to (make/ do) his homework regularly if he
wanted to (make/ do) progress.
4. The servant (lay/ laid/ lain/ lied) the table.
5. Our teacher always (puts on/ wears) smart clothes.
6. Our team………….more goals than theirs. (Won, put, played, scored)
7. Being tired, grace…………. On the way. (Laid down, had lain, lay down, lied
down)

HOMOPHONES.

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Some words are pronounced alike but spelt differently:
Assistance (aid) assistants (helpers)
Bear (carry, animal) bare (naked)
Boarder (person living in a place) border (edge)
Bow (bend) bough (of tree)
Brake (of vehicles) break (smash)
Cite (mention) sight (sense of seeing, what is
seen)
Site (place)
Complement (what completes) compliment (polite word)
Council (group) counsel (advice)
Course (direction, of study) coarse (rough)
Currant (fruit) current (flow)
Die (opposite of live) dye (to make materials a certain colour)
Heal (cure) heel (of foot)
Hear (with ears) here (this place)
Pair (two of the same kind) pear (the fruit)
Peace (opposite of war) piece (bit)
Plain (level land, clear, ordinary) plane (aero plane, level)
Principal (drief) principle (basic truth, rule, law)
Sew (with cotton) sow (seeds)
Stationary (motionless) stationery (paper and enhetoplopes)
Straight (not bent) strait (narrow water passage)
There (in that place) their (of them) they ‘re (they are)
Waist (of the body) waste (not use profitably)
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 Wear (use of clothing) where (in what place)
Weather (natural conditions) whether (if)
Weight (heaviness) wait (defer action)

Adjectives
An adjective is a word that is used to describe a word, nouns or another. Or it
is a word used to add something to the meaning of a noun. Forexample;
He is a brave girl man.
There are twenty boys in this class.
The rose smells sweet.
The sun shines bright.
A word used with a noun to describe or point out, the person, animal,
place or thing which the noun names or tell the number or quantity is called
an adjective. Forinstance;
1. Tusiime is a clever girl. (girl of what kind?)
2. I don’t like that got. (which goat?)
3. He gave me too books. (how many books?)
4. There is little time for prepration.(how much time?)
Types of adjectives
Adjectives are classified according to classes, those of;

a) Quality or descriptive adjectives that show the kind or quality of a person

or thing: like large, honest, small, foolish mention them.
b) And those formed from proper nouns, for example Ugandan beer, Kenyan
tobacco, Indian movie etc.
Some times we call them proper adjectives. They are normally adjectives
of quality and gives the answer to questions like what quality?
Adjectives of quality depicts how much of a thing is meant.
For example: some, much, little, enough, all, great, half, sufficient, whole
and others. They answer questions like how much?

83
 Adjectives of number (numeral adjectives) portray how many persons or things
are meant, or in what order a person or thing stands. For example: ten, few,
twenty, no, most, all, some, several, first second etc.

Adjectives of number answer questions like. How many?

Exercise

Complete the sentences below supplying a suitable word from the given list in
the table;

Large, honest, foolish, old, Swahili, Ugandan, Indian, some, enough, half,
sufficient, whole, five, few, many, several, first, much.

1. Kampala is a ………… city.

2. She showed …………. Patience.
3. We have had …………. Exercise.
4. We have seen a ……….. Movie.
5. People drink a …………. Beer.
6. This is a poem written in …………….
7. The bag contains ………. Mangoes.
8. The ………… garden was covered with weeds.
9. ……………goats eat residuals.
10. In this novel they are ………… mistakes.

Adjectives of number are of three kinds;

a) Definite numeral adjective: which gives a real number like: one, two, three,
four, which are called cardinals.
Cardinals show how many, and ordinal the order of things in series.
b) Indefinite numeral adjectives: that do not show an exact number like: all,
no, many, few, some, sundry etc.
c) Distributive numeral adjectives: which refer to each one of a number like:
each, every, either, neither etc.

The same adjectives may be classified according to quantity or number,

accordance with its use.

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Adjective of quantity Adjective of number

I ate some meat. Some women are beautiful.

She lost all her money. All men must work hard.

He married a woman with no sense. There are no photos in the album.

I have enough money to construct a There are no enough pangas to use.

house.

Demonstrative adjectives: which point out person or thing is meant like:

1. The boy is stronger than joan.

2. These mangoes are ripe.
3. That woman is very industrious.
4. Those radical plans need great courage to deal with them.
5. I hate such things.

NB

(i) This and that are used with singular nouns.

(ii) Those and these are used with plural nouns.
(iii) What, whose and which, when they are used with nouns to ask
questions are called interrogative adjectives.
(iv) What is used in a general sense.
(v) Which in a selective sense.
For instance;
a. What kind of a boy is he?
b. Which colour do you prefer?
c. Whose book is this?

Some words serve as emphasizing adjectives when used in sentence construction

like own and very. E.g.

1. I saw it with my own eyes.

2. He was beaten at his own game.
3. That is the very man I was referring to.

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 4. My very son betrayed me in court.

The word what sometimes it is used as an exclamatory adjective. E.g.

1. What a party it was!

2. What a fool are you!
3. What a blessing I have!
4. What a pretty girl is she!

This and that are the only adjectives that are inflected or charged in form to
show number i.e.

This lady is good These ladies are good

That boy is stupid Those boys are stupid

This pen is blue Those pens are blue

Note:

(i) This and these indicate something near to the speaker.

(ii) That and those indicate remoteness.
Formation of adjectives

Noun adjective
Boy boyish

Fool foolish

Care careful/careless

Play playful

Hope hopeful

Venture venturesome

Trouble troublesome

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Shame shameless

Silk silken

Gold golden

Pardon pardonable

Dirt dirty

Storm stormy

Laugh laughter

Outrage outrageous

Courage courageous

Glory glorious

Envy envious

Man manly

Woman womanly

King kingly

Gift gifted

Verb adjective
Tire tireless

Talk talkative

Cease ceaseless

Move moveable

Amuse amused

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Ease easeful/easily

Adjective adjective
Tragic tragical

Whole wholesome

Three threefold

Black blackish

White whitish

Sick sickly

Comparison of adjectives
Comparison is the name given to the change in the form of adjectives and
adverbs when they are used to compare the degree of the qualities they express.
There are three degrees of comparison i.e. positive, comparison, and superlative.

See the sentences below;

1. Mugume’s orange is sweet’

2. Katusiime’s orange is sweeter than Mugume’s.
3. Bakaiha’s orange is the sweetest of all.

In sentence 1, the adjective sweet merely tells us that Mugume’s orange has the
quality of sweetness, without saying how much of this quality it has.

In sentence 2, the adjective sweeter tells us that Katusiime’s orange compared

with Mugume’s has more of quality of sweetness.

In sentence 3, the adjective sweetest tells us that of all these oranges Bakaiha’s
orange has the greatest amount or highest degree of the quality of sweetness.

Therefore, adjectives change in form (sweet, sweeter, sweetest) to show

comparison.

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  The adjective sweet is said to be in the positive degree.
 The adjective sweeter is said to be in the comparative degree.
 The adjective sweetest in the superlative degree.

The positive degree of an adjective is the adjective in its simple form. It is used to
denote the mere existence of some quality of what we speak about. It is used
when no comparison is made. E.g.

 John is tall.
 Mount Kilimanjaro is high.
 The girl is brown.
 The car is quick.

The comparison degree of an adjective gives higher degree of the quality than
positive and is used when two thing or sets of things are compared e.g.

 This boy is taller than you.

 This story is better than that.
 This man is stronger than my father.

The superlative degree of an adjective gives the highest degree of the quality,
and is used when more than two things or sets of things are compared: e.g.

1. This girl is the tallest in this village.

2. The Nile is the longest river in the world.
3. Everest is the biggest mountain in the world.

Note:

(i) There is another way in which we can compare things instead of saying
“tugume is stronger than mwebaze” instead of saying “kato is the
laziest boy in the class,” we can say “ kato is the least industrious boy in
the class.”
(ii) The superlative with most is sometimes used where there is no idea of
comparison, but merely a desire to indicate the possession of a quality
in a very high degree: e.g.
a) This is most unfortunate.
b) It was a most eloquent speech

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 c) Truly, a most ingenious device!

This usage sometimes we call it superlative of eminence, or the absolute

superlative.

Formation of comparative and superlative

Most adjectives of one syllable and some of more than one form the
comparative by adding er and the superlative by adding est to the positive

Positive comparative superlative

Sweet sweeter sweetest

Small smaller smallest

Tall taller tallest

Short shorter shortest

Bold bolder boldest

Clever cleverer cleverest

Kind kinder kindest

Young younger youngest

Great greater greatest

Soft softer softest

Crisp crisper crispest

Clean cleaner cleanest

Long longer longest

Far farther farthest

Fast faster fastest

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Neat neater neatest

Deep deeper deepest

Strange stranger strangest

Hard harder hardest

Soon sooner soonest

When the positive end in e, only r and st are added. E.g.

Brave braver bravest

Fine finer finest

Late later latest

White whiter whitest

Large larger largest

Able abler ablest

Noble nobler noblest

Wise wiser wisest

When the positive ends in y preceded by a consonant, the y is changed into I

before adding er and est.

Happy happier happiest

Easy easier easiest

Heavy heavier heaviest

Merry merrier merriest

Wealthy wealthier wealthiest

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When the positive is a word of one syllable and ends a single consonant,
preceded by a short vowel, this consonant is doubled before adding er and est.

Red redder reddest

Big bigger biggest

Hot hotter hottest

Thin thinner thinnest

Sad sadder saddest

Fat fatter fattest.

Adjectives of more than one syllable form the comparative and superlative by
putting more and most before the positive. E.g.

Beautiful more beautiful most beautiful

Difficult more difficult most difficult

Industrious more industrious most industrious

Courageous more courageous most courageous

Efficient more efficient most efficient

Adverbs that end in ly form their comparative and superlative degrees with the
words more and most.

Quickly more quickly most quickly

Obviously more obviously most obviously

Stubbornly more stubbornly most stubbornly

All adverbs that have degrees of comparison are compared in a negative way
with words like less and least. Less is used to compare two items negatively. Lest
is used to compare three or more items negatively.

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Quickly less quickly least quickly

Obviously less obviously least obviously

Far less far least far

Soon less soon least soon

Punctual less punctual least punctual

Honest less honest least honest

Two syllable adjectives ending in ful e.g. useful, less e.g. hopeless, ing e.g. boring
and ed, e.g. surprised and many others like modern, recent, foolish, famous,
certain, take more and most

The following take either er or est or more and most;

Polite, simple, feeble, gentle, narrow, cruel, common, handsome, pleasant,

stupid etc.

For example;

1. She is politer than her sister

2. She is more polite than her sister.
3. He is the politest of them.
4. He is the most polite of them

The comparison in er is not used when we compare two qualities in the same
person or thing.

If we wish to say that the courage of Mugisa is greater than the courage of
mujuni, we say;

Mugisa is braver than mujuni.

But if we wish to say that the courage of Mugisa is greater than mujuni. We must
say;

Mugisa is more brave than mujuni.

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When two adjectives are compared with each other the latter term of
comparison must exclude the former; as,

Matooke is more useful than any other food; this is the same thing as saying
“matooke is more useful than any food.” Since matooke is itself food.

Irregular comparison

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