Question-words

  • Read the following conversation between a student and a teacher. Study the use of question-words carefully:

 

Teacher What is your name?

Student – My name is Jack.

Teacher – In which class do you study?

Jack – Sir, I study in fifth class.

TeacherWhen do you come to school?

Jack – I come to school at 8’oclock.

Teacher Where do you live?

Jack – I live near Oxford Street.

Teacher What subject do you like?

Jack – Sir, I like English.

Teacher Why do you like English?

Jack – Sir, English is an interesting subject. I love reading English stories.

  • The above sentences have words like what, which, when, where, why. These words help us to ‘ask questions’. They are also called question-words.
  • Who and whose are also question words; e.g.

Q. Who are you?

A. I am a student.

Q. Whose book is that?

A. It is my book.

  • When questions time.
  • Where questions place.
  • Why questions reason.
  • What questions identity, manner and action.
  • Which questions choice?
  • Who and whose question identity and possession.

Comparisons

  • Study the following sentences:
  1. John is a tall boy.
  2. John is taller than Jack.
  3. John is the tallest boy in the class.

 

  • The first sentence is a statement. We are not comparing John with any other boy. We simply say that John is a tall boy.
  • In the second sentence, we use the word taller. It shows comparison between two boys John and Jack. We show that one is taller than the other.
  • In the third sentence, we use the words the tallest. It shows that no one in the class is as tall as John. He is the tallest boy in the class.

 

  • Let us look at some more examples:
  1. Grandfather is older than grandfather.
  2. Fanny is prettier than Lizzy.
  3. The poor are happier than the rich.
  4. Tina’s dress is more beautiful than Kuku’s dress.
  5. An elephant is bigger than a lion.

These sentences show comparisons between two things. We use the -er form of the word or we use more. We also use the word than.

 

  • Now look at these sentences:
  1. The whale is the largest animal.
  2. This is the finest silk.
  3. Sam is the fastest child I have ever seen.
  4. The giraffe has the tallest neck.
  5. He is the most intelligent boy in the class.

 

We show comparison among more than two objects by using the –est form of an adjective – smallest, shortest, bravest. Sometimes, we use most with the adjective – most beautiful, most interesting. We also use the with the –est form.

Conjunctions

Conjunctions: Joining Words

  • Read the following sentences:

1.  Jack and Jill went up the hill.

2.  Bill is a clever but lazy boy.

3.  Work hard or you will fail.

4.  They are poor yet happy.

5.  I like John because he is intelligent.

6.  I will not go to see the film if you do not come.

In the above sentences the words and, but, or, yet, because and if join words or sentences together. Such words that join words or sentences together are called Conjunctions.

  • Some common Conjunctions:

And, but, or, nor, therefore, because, if, both, only, that, after, before, unless, as, else, till, until, whether, though, although, than, yet, etc.

Use of is, am are, was, were

Look at the following sentences:

  1. I am a girl.
  2. He is a lazy boy.
  3. She is a teacher.
  4. It is a ball.
  5. This is her purse.
  6. That is his bat.
  7. Molly is in the kitchen
  8. We are sisters.
  9. You are late.
  10. These boys are hungry.
  11. Those girls are tall.
  12. There are many birds on the tree.
  13. There were ten students in the class.
  14. They are very rich.
  15. Mary and Anne are friends.

 

The words is, am, are, was, were, help us to say something about the noun or pronoun. These words are also called Verbs. They say or tell what a person, animal or thing is. Was/were show past activity i.e. what happened in the past. We use was as the past form of am and is. We use were as the past form of are.

 

Study this:

I am  

ten years old.

We

You

They

The girls

The boys

 

are

She

He

Mary

Jack

 

is

 

  • We use is with he, she, it, this, that and singular nouns like Mary, Jack, boy, girl, etc. We write is for one.
  • Am is always used with I.
  • We use are with we, you, they, these, those and plural nouns like boys, students, children, animals etc. We write are for many.
  • Are/were is also used with you when it is singular. Example:

Teacher: Mary, you are a good girl.

Teacher: Mary, why were you absent yesterday?

Nouns – Common and Proper

  • Look at the following sentences:

 

  1. Jack is boy.
  2. Tom is a boy.
  3. John is a boy.
  4. Dick is a boy.

 

  • The word boy occurs in all the four sentences. It is a common name used for all the boys. But all boys have special names too. Jack, Tom, John and Dick are special names of these four boys.
  • Pets and places also have special names. Cat and dog are common names used for all cats and dogs. But we often give special names to our pets:

       1.   My cat’s name is Silky. 

      2.   I call my dog, Naughty.

  • Jackie, Jimmy, Buddy, Molly, Rover, Rustam, Rosebud, Tiger, Pussy, Snowy, Snowball, Rocky, Jumbo, Appu, are some special names of our pets.
  • Places also have both common and special names. The words village, city, town, country, school, college, hospital, park, street are common names. But India, Australia, Delhi, Aton School, Sony Hospital, White Park are special names of places.
  • Similarly books, newspapers, magazines, days, months, festivals, institutions, companies, products etc. also have special names .The Bible, The Gita, Great Expectations, Harry Potter, The Times, Femina, Sunday, January, Christmas, Diwali, are all special names.
  • These special names are called Proper Nouns and common names are called Common Nouns.
  • Special names or Proper nouns always begin with a capital letter.
  • Some examples:
  1. Susan is a good girl.      
  2.  Peter is a smart boy.
  3. Bombay is a big city.
  4. Jackie is my dog.     
  5. Ganga is a holy river
  6. Femina is a woman’s magazine.

 

Susan, Peter, Bombay, Jackie, Ganga and Femina are Proper Nouns and girl, boy, city, dog, river, woman, magazine are Common Nouns.

 

  • A Proper Noun is the special name of a particular person, place or thing.
  • A Common Noun is a name given in common to all persons or things of the same class or kind.

 

 

 

Words

CHOOSE THE RIGHT WORD.

There are some universal saying that are always true look at the following sentences:

  1. The sun shines during the day.
  2. The moon shines at night.
  3. The stars twinkle at night.
  4. The sun rises in the east.
  5. The sun sets in the west.
  6. Fish live in water.
  7. Birds fly in the sky.
  8. Cows give us milk.
  9. Cows eat grass.
  10. The whale is the largest water animal.
  11. Peacocks dance in the rainy season.
  12. The sunflower always faces the sun.
  13. A crow is black.
  14. The sky is blue.
  15. A week has seven days.
  16. There are twelve months in the year.
  17. The earth is round.
  18. The earth revolves round the sun.
  19. The moon revolves round the earth.
  20. Two and two make four.
  21. There are but two sides of a coin.
  22. There are millions of stars in the sky.
  23. Plants gives us fresh air.
  24. Plants help to bring rain.
  25. We cannot live without air.

There are numerous such saying which are true. We cannot quote them all here. Here are some exercises where you have to choose/ pick the right word .

Exarcise 1 :- Choose the right words from the brackets and fill in the blank spaces . The first one has been done for you;-

  1. Fish line in water. (in water/on land)
  2. Birds ______ in the sky.(swim/ fly)
  3. We see with our ______ . (eyes/ears)
  4. We smell with our ______ . (ears/nose)
  5. We hear with our ______ . (ears/eyes)
  6. We taste with our ______ . (tongue/lips)
  7. We need ______ and _____ to line. (air and water/milk and bread)
  8. _______ are good for our health. (fruits/chocolates)
  9. Sugar is ______ . (sweet/sour)
  10. Butter and cheese are made of _______ . (milk/water)
  11. Bread is made of _______ . (floor/flour)
  12. Apples are _______ . (red/blue)
  13. A dog is a faithful ______ . (animal/bird)
  14. Lion is a ________ animal. (domestic/wild)
  15. Ships sail on _____ . (water/land)
  16. A rainbow has ________ colours. (seven/ten)
  17. We must eat _______ food. (fresh/stale)
  18. We should not play with _______ . (fire/toys)

Exarcise 2 :- Here are some sentences with almost similar sounding words. Fill in the blanks with the right word .

  1. Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a _____ of water. (pale/pail)
  2. Baa, Baa Black _______ . (ship/sheep) Have you any ______ . (wool/cool)
  3. My grandmother told me a _______ . (tail/tale)
  4. The monkey has a long ______. (tail/tale)
  5. The hen lays _______. (eggs/legs)
  6. Birds lay eggs in ______. (nests/vests)
  7. Ship _____ in water. (sail/rail)
  8. A lion lines in a _____. (den/pen)
  9. Goat’s baby is called a ______ . (kid/lid)
  10. _______ gives us wool. (Ship/Sheep)
  11. Mother cooks foods in a _______. (pen/pan)
  12. Birds have ______ (rings/wings)
  13. He plays in a _______ . (band/hand)
  14. We ______with our hands. (clap/tap)
  15. We ______ with our feet. (clap/tap)