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English
POSTGRADUATE STUDY- FIRST SEMESTER

UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Building and Construction Engineering Department
Dr. SAAD FAIK ABBAS AL-WAKEL

References: 1. A Practical English Grammar by A. J. Thomson and A. V. Martinet. 2. English Grammar in Use by Raymond Murphy. 3. English Solutions for Engineering and Sciences Research Writing by Adam Turner.

1. The Sentence * A sentence is a group of words that are put together to mean something. A sentence is the basic unit of language which expresses a complete thought. It does this by following the grammatical rules of syntax.
A complete sentence has at least a subject and a main verb to state a complete thought. The first word of a written sentence has a capital letter, and at the end of the sentence there is a full stop or full point. The sentence consists of: subject + verb + object or (preposition + noun) 2.1 Sentence Structure * The basic unit of grammar is the clause. All clauses have at least two parts: a noun phrase (subject) and a verb phrase. clause = subject + verb
We can join two or more clauses together to make a sentence.
Example:
(subject) (verb)
(verb)
(subject)
Although the method improved accuracy, it caused a significant increase in

computation time. * There are two types of clause: main clause (independent clause) and subordinate clause (dependent clause): (1) Main clause (Independent clause)
A main clause contains a subject and a verb that has a tense that expresses a complete thought. It can make sense as a sentence by itself as the underlined clause shows below.
A main clause is formed with subject + verb.
Example:
Although the method improved accuracy, it caused a significant increase in computation time.

(2) Subordinate clauses (Dependent clause) A subordinate clause begins with a subordinator such as when, although, if, that, or who. A dependent clause does not express a complete thought and does not make sense as a complete sentence by itself, it supports the main idea in the main clause. A subordinate clause is formed with subordinator + subject + verb.

Although the method improved accuracy, it caused a significant increase in

subordinate clause

main clause

computation time. The difference between a clause and a sentence is that, a main clause makes sense as a complete sentence. A subordinate clause lacks some information to make it a complete sentence. * Clauses are made up of phrases. A phrase is a group of words that does not have a subject and verb; for example, “in the morning”, “To improve writing skills” etc. 1.2 Types of Sentence Structure
There are three basic types of sentences: (1) Simple sentence A simple sentence has one main (independent) clause. Example: The earth shook. (2) Compound sentence A compound sentence has two main (independent) clauses joined by a coordinator or conjunctive adverb.
Examples:
(A) Coordinator main clause | ,coordinator | main clause | He borrow a book | ,and | started reading it. | He worked hard | ,but | he did not pass the exam. | Study hard | ,or | you will fail. |

* and: is used when the statements are similar. * but: is used to connect statements that express opposite ideas.
(B) Conjunctive adverb main clause | ; conjunctiveadverb, | main clause | Writing well is a difficult skill to develop | ; however, | it is important for professional success. |

* A conjunctive adverb is an adverb that connects two independent clauses. The conjunctive adverb shows cause and effect, sequence, contrast, comparison, or other relationships. * The conjunctive adverbs are: accordingly, consequently, for example, furthermore, hence, in addition, in contrast, in fact, indeed, instead, moreover, nevertheless, otherwise, therefore, thus.

(3) Complex sentence
A complex sentence has one independent and one (or more) dependent clauses. There are three kinds of subordinate clauses:
(A) Adverb clause,
(B) Adjective clause and
(C) Noun clause. * In an adverb clause, the subordinate clause can be either in the beginning or end of the sentence. Words like while, when, if, because, since, whereas, as, etc. introduce subordinate adverb clauses.
Examples:
(A) Adverb clause subordinate clause (adverb clause) | , | main clause | Because using multimedia is more interesting to students | , | they may be more motivated to learn. | | main clause | No comma | subordinate clause (adverb clause) | They may be more motivated to learn | | because using multimedia is more interesting to students. | (B) Adjective (relative) clause main clause | | subordinate clause (adjective clause) | Communicative teaching is done using group work, | | which helps students to have more time to use the new language in conversation. |

C) Noun clause main clause | | dependent clause (noun clause) | The teachers do not agree | | that the teaching method is effective. |

2. Articles
Articles are the forms a, an, and the, it is a part of speech that comes before a noun.
2.1 The Indefinite Articles (a/an): * The form a is used before a word beginning with a consonant, or a vowel with a consonant sound: a plane a one-way * The form an is used before words beginning with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) or words beginning with a silent h: an iron an hour * Use of the indefinite articles:
The indefinite articles (a/an) are used: (1) Before a singular noun which is countable (i.e. of which there is more than one) when it is mentioned for the first time and represents no particular person or thing: The four centers lie in a plane. (2) With a noun complement:
The noun complement is a word or phrase used to complete a grammatical construction. There are two kinds of noun complements; subject complement and object complement.
A subject complement is a predicative expression that follows a linking verb (the term linking verb is used to refer to verbs that describe the subject or link the subject to some complement such as a predicate adjective or predicate noun) and that completes the subject of the sentence by either renaming it or describing it.
The subject complement is bold in the following examples: The lake was a tranquil pool.
Predicate adjective

It was an earthquake.
Predicate noun

The object complement is a noun, pronoun, or adjective which follows a direct object.
Indirect object (entity indirectly affected by the action)

The advisor sent him a paper

2.2 The Definite Article (the):
The definite article the is used with countable nouns in the singular/plural and uncountable nouns in the meaning “mentioned earlier.” * Use of the definite articles:
The definite article (the) is used: 1. In generalizations with singular countable nouns to refer to a class of things.
The brain is a complex biological system. 2. Before the superlative degrees of adjectives, ordinal numerals, and specifies (such as same, only, principal, etc.).
Ordinal numbers
Superlative degree of adjective The best results were obtained during the second experiment.

The only paper on this problem was published ten years ago.

3. With the names of unique objects.
The Universe is thought to contain 1011 kilograms of matter. 4. With the names of theories and devices modified by a proper name used as an adjective: the Dirichlet problem, the Celsius scale
BUT: when a proper name is used in possessive form, no article is used:
Dirichlet’s conditions
Note:
The definite article “the” is not used with the first mention of the constructions that denote part of a whole: a molecule of hydrogen

3. Agreement of Subject and Verb
The subject and the main verb of a sentence (clause) must agree in number.
1. A singular noun, pronoun, or an uncountable noun is used with a singular verb. A plural noun or pronoun is used with a plural verb.
The water in the river is fresh and transparent. 2. After “or” or “nor” a verb agrees with the subject closest to it.
The chairman or the committee members decide when to meet next. Neither the doctors nor the patient wants to continue treatment. 3. The following singular expressions with plural nouns agree with plural verbs: a number of..., the majority of..., a couple of..., a lot of....
A number of researchers from your university are taking part in the conference.
Note:
The verb after the number of is singular.
For example: The number of students is not known. 4. The following nouns ending in -s agree with singular verbs: means, dynamics, physics (and other like subjects of study).
Physics is a natural science. 5. Names of quantities thought of as one unit have singular verbs.
Five miles is too much to walk. 6. The name of a book is singular. “Grammar and Idiom” is a useful book.

4. The Parts of Speech
Part of speech is the common name for a word class--a category into which words are placed according to the work they do in a sentence. 5.1 Noun (n.): A noun is a word that names or identifies a person, place, thing, quality, or activity. * Physical objects: hammer, Earth, atom, stones, etc. * Actions: diffusion, explosions, electrification, etc. * Qualities: length, weight, roundness, symmetry, etc. * Ideas: mathematics, resistance, etc. * The usages of noun: a. As a subject: e.g. Prevention is better than cure. b. As an object (after a verb and preposition): e.g. He shows interest in reading books. I have something of importance to say. c. After an adjective:
e.g. Columbus is a famous discoverer.
Note:
A plural noun is used after the following words: these, those, several, a lot of, a few, many, one of, some, various, all...
A noun is used after possessive adjective (his in this example) e.g. After several trials the scientist succeeded in his experiment.

4.2 Pronoun (pron.): A pronoun is a word which is often used in order to avoid repeating a noun that has already been mentioned (i.e. a pronoun is used instead of a noun). * Types of pronouns (a) Personal pronouns The personal pronouns refer to people apart from it which refers to a thing, and they which can refer to people or things. (i) Subject pronouns The subject pronouns are used as the subject of a sentence. The subject pronouns are: I, you, he, she, it, we, they The subject pronouns are used before the verb. For example: He is a clever student. (ii) Object pronouns The object pronouns are used as the object of a verb or preposition. The object pronouns are: me, you, him, her, it, us, them The object pronouns are used after the verb or preposition. For example: Take these books and put them on the desk. He gave it to them. (b) Possessive adjectives Possessive adjectives describe to whom or to what something belongs. The possessive adjectives are: my, your, his, her, its, our, their

(c) Possessive pronouns The possessive pronouns show who something belongs to or is connected with. The possessive pronouns are: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs Notes:
(1) A possessive adjective is similar to a possessive pronoun, it is used as an adjective and modifies a noun or a noun phrase. (2) The possessive adjectives are followed by a noun but the possessive pronouns are not. (3) After the preposition “of” a possessive pronoun always comes and not a possessive adjective. Example: I go to the library with a friend of mine.
4.3 Adjective (adj.): Adjectives are words that are used to describe nouns and pronouns and to quantify and identify them.
There are certain rules regarding the placement of different kinds of adjectives in a sentence. The general order followed is: 1. Determiners: These are the various articles (the, a, an), demonstratives (this, that, these, those), possessives (my, mine, your, yours, etc.), quantifiers (all, many etc.), numerals (one, twenty, thirty-seven etc.) and distributive (each, every, neither, either). 2. Observations (quantity and opinion): Then come the adjectives that give a quantity (also known as post-determiners) and subjective opinion to the noun. few, most, one, three/ beautiful, difficult etc.
The beautiful house. 3. Size: The position after observations is for the adjectives that tell about the size of the noun, they can be used for an object as well as living thing. huge, little, bulky, thin, tiny, lean etc.
The beautiful little house. 4. Age: Then is the turn of the adjectives that tell about the age of a noun either by itself or in relation to another noun. old, recent, bygone etc.
The beautiful little old house. 5. Shape: Next are the adjectives that tell about the shape or appearance of the noun. circular, triangular, oval, wavy, straights etc.
The beautiful little old square house. 6. Colour: After that are the adjectives that tell the shade and hue of a noun. pastel, red, blue, brown, colorless, translucent etc.
The beautiful square brown colored house. 7. Origin: Next are the adjectives that show the different geographical locations associated with a noun. southern, northern, English etc.
The beautiful brown colored English house. 8. Material: Next are the adjectives that talk about the raw material or texture of the objects or the behavior of the living nouns. wooden, plastic, steely, metallic, etc.
The beautiful English limestone house. 9. Qualifier: Lastly, the qualifier or the grammatical modifier comes, which an additional word or phrase is provided to change the meaning of the noun in a sentence. 4. Adverb (adv.): The part of speech (or word class) that is primarily used to modify a verb, adjective, or other adverb. * Uses of Adverb: (1) An adverb usually modifies a verb or a verb phrase. It provides information about the manner, place, time, frequency, certainty, or other circumstances of the activity denoted by the verb or verb phrase.
Note: An adverb that modifies a verb is generally flexible. It may appear before or after the verb it modifies, or it may appear at the beginning of the sentence. e.g.
(2) Adverbs can also modify adjectives and other adverbs. Note: An adverb that modifies an adjective or another adverb appears immediately in front of the word it modifies.
e.g. You are quite right. (The adverb quite modifies the adjective right.) She spoke very loudly. (The adverb very modifies another adverb- loudly.)