PREFACEDistinction in English: Grammar Handbook is a quick reference book for all secondary school students. By addressing the functional aspect of grammar, students develop their knowledge of grammar and an understanding of the purposeful use of language at the word, phrase, sentence and text levels.

Each unit begins with a chapter opener that introduces grammar items within a meaningful context that is familiar to students, for example an article in a magazine, to provide exposure to the use of grammar. Grammatical rules and structures are further defi ned and elaborated on, and examples illustrate the effective use of these grammar items in sentences. These examples are coded systematically, with primary grammar items in blue and secondary grammar items in bold text, providing a clear guide to important terms, words and meanings. Practices at the end of each unit provide ample opportunities to revise and consolidate students’ understanding of grammar.

This book serves as a complete grammar resource for students with the aim of building their grammar skills. A strong foundation in grammar and its usage will enable students to use the language accurately, fl uently and appropriately for different purposes, audiences and contexts. With a strong knowledge of grammar, students will be able to apply their skills to the other areas of language learning, namely listening, reading, speaking and writing, and hence become effective users of the English language.

Phyllis G. L. ChewToh Weng Choy

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CONTENTSSection A: Grammar at Word and Phrase Levels

Unit 1 Nouns

What Are Nouns? Types of Nouns

Proper NounsCommon Nouns Countable NounsUncountable Nouns Collective NounsPair NounsCompound NounsGerunds

Formation of Nouns Possessive Forms of NounsGender of NounsPlural Forms of Nouns

Regular Plural NounsIrregular Plural NounsInvariable Plural Nouns

Exercises

Unit 2 Determiners

What Are Determiners?Types of Determiners

ArticlesDefi nite ArticleIndefi nite ArticleZero Article

Quantifi ersPossessivesDemonstrativesInterrogatives

Exercises

Unit 3 Pronouns

What Are Pronouns?Types of Pronouns

Personal PronounsSubject PronounsObject PronounsThird Person Personal Pronouns

Possessive PronounsRefl exive and Intensive PronounsInterrogative PronounsRelative PronounsDemonstrative PronounsReciprocal PronounsIndefi nite Pronouns

Exercises

Unit 4 Adjectives

What Are Adjectives?Types of AdjectivesFormation of AdjectivesPosition of AdjectivesComparison of AdjectivesOrder of AdjectivesAdjectives or Nouns?Adjectives or Adverbs?Exercises

Unit 5 Verbs

What Are Verbs?Main VerbsAuxiliary Verbs

Types of VerbsForms of Verbs

Infi nitivesParticiplesRegular and Irregular Verbs

Transitive and Intransitive VerbsPhrasal VerbsSubject-Verb AgreementExercises

1

222234566789111212131415

39

4040404141424344454647484849

18

1919191922242733343536

53

545455585964656667

71

727272737474747677798184

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Unit 6 Tenses

What Are Tenses?Types of Tenses

Simple Present TenseSimple Past TensePresent ContinuousPast ContinuousPresent PerfectPast PerfectPresent Perfect ContinuousPast Perfect ContinuousFuture Time

Exercises

Unit 7 Modals

What Are Modals?Types of Modals

Indicating AbilityIndicating Possibility or TentativenessConveying Necessity or ObligationConveying Intention or DeterminationMaking SuggestionsMaking RequestsIndicating PermissionIndicating Past Habits

Semi-ModalsExercises

Unit 8 Adverbs

What Are Adverbs?Types of Adverbs

Adverbs of TimeAdverbs of FrequencyAdverbs of DurationAdverbs of PlaceAdverbs of MannerAdverbs of DegreeLinking AdverbsSentence Adverbs

Formation of AdverbsPosition of AdverbsComparison of AdverbsExercises

Unit 9 Prepositions

What Are Prepositions?Types of PrepositionsPosition of PrepositionsPrepositions Used With Nouns, Adjectives and VerbsExercises

Unit 10 Phrases

What Are Phrases?Types of Phrases

Noun PhrasesVerb PhrasesPrepositional PhrasesAdjectival PhrasesAdverbial Phrases

Exercises

87

888889909192929394949597

127

128129130131

134

138

139139139141142142143144

101

102103103103105105106106107108108111

115

116116116117117118118119119120120121123124

Section A: Grammar at Word and Phrase Levels

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Section B: Grammar at Sentence Level

Unit 11 Sentences

What Are Sentences?Expansion of Sentences

Simple SentencesCompound SentencesComplex Sentences

Types of SentencesDeclarative SentencesInterrogative SentencesImperative SentencesExistential SentencesNegative SentencesExclamatory SentencesConditional SentencesSubjunctive SentencesTag Questions

Exercises

Unit 12 Active and Passive Voice

What Are Active Voice and Passive Voice?The Active VoiceThe Passive VoiceExercises

Unit 13 Direct and Indirect Speech

What Are Direct and Indirect Speech?Direct SpeechIndirect SpeechChanging Direct to Indirect SpeechExercises

Unit 14 Punctuation

What Is Punctuation?Types of Punctuation

Full StopQuestion MarkExclamation MarkCommaColonSemi-colonApostropheQuotation MarksDashEllipsis PointsBrackets or ParenthesesHyphenCapitalisation

Exercises

148

149149149151152156156157158159160161162164165167

193

194194194195196197200200201202203204204204205207

171

172172173176

180

181181182184188

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Section C: Grammar at Text Level

Section D: Practical Application of Grammar

Unit 15 Cohesion

What Is Cohesion?Types of Cohesive Devices

ReferenceEllipsis and SubstitutionLexical CohesionConnectors

Exercises

Unit 16 Text Types

What Are Text Types?Types of Texts

PoetryPersonal RecountsNarrativesProceduresLetters and E-mailsFactual RecountsInformation ReportsExplanationsExpositions

Exercise

Unit 17 Sample Exam: Paper 1

Appendices Appendix A: List of Irregular Noun PluralsAppendix B: List of Irregular VerbsAppendix C: List of Phrasal Verbs

Answers

Index

212

213213213215217218221

241

246246247250

252

261

225

226226226227229230232234236237238240

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Nouns

Gina has just moved into a new city. At her new school, she is bullied by some nasty classmates. One day, she runs into a secret room and gets transported to a strange place. It is a beautiful world where dinosaurs still roam and humans have magical powers.

A tribe of humans welcomes her and tells her that they heard of her from a prophecy. She is the only person who can stop the storm that would destroy their planet. Gina discovers that she has incredible powers, but she also fi nds out that her home planet might die if she saves the alien world.

She is forced to choose between a home that does not welcome her and a planet that worships her. What will Gina choose?

G

G

ina's C

hoice

G

ina's C

hoice

U N I T 1

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What Are Nouns?Nouns are the names of people, animals, places, titles, things or abstract qualities.

ExamplesShe has just moved into a new city.One day, she runs into a secret room.She fi nds out that her home planet might die.

Types of NounsProper Nouns

Proper nouns f are specifi c names for people, animals, places, things or titles. Proper nouns begin with capital letters.

The table shows some proper nouns.

Person Mr Ramasamy, Mrs Lim, Michelangelo

Place Germany, France, Kuala Lumpur

Thing Google, Picasa, Yahoo

Title Datuk, Her Excellency, His Highness

ExamplesMr Ramasamy won the fi rst prize in the lottery last week.Kuala Lumpur is the capital of Malaysia.Google is a popular search engine.

Common NounsCommon nouns f are general names for people, animals, places or things.

Some examples of common nouns are boy, chair, cliff, hair and lion.

ExamplesThe boy laughed.The chair is over there.The lion ate hungrily.

Common nouns can be divided into concrete nouns and abstract nouns. f

Common nouns can be countable or uncountable. f

NounsUnit 1

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Concrete nouns f are things that can be seen or touched.

ExamplesI picked up the box.The cat fell asleep.She rowed across the river.

Abstract nouns f are non-concrete things or specifi c personal qualities.

ExamplesShe loves music.My art teacher loves nature.The buffalo is a creature of great strength and endurance.

Countable NounsCountable nouns f are nouns that can be counted. They have plural forms.

Some examples of countable nouns are boat, car, hen, lamp and pen.

ExamplesHe saw two cars speeding away.There are at least fi fty lamps here.Paul bought a dozen pens.

More information can be found on p. 27, Quantifi ers.

Some f abstract nouns such as development, diffi culty, idea, misery and skill are countable in certain contexts. Such nouns can be plural or singular.

ExamplesThe new developments in the takeover battle were closely watched by the public.Kate encountered many diffi culties in her work for the school.Will came up with many new ideas for his team’s project.

Some nouns such as f arrears, arts (the humanities), clothes, condolences, congratulations, goods, police, riches and thanks are always plural.

ExamplesOur clothes were stained and torn after we crawled through the bushes.His sincere congratulations were much appreciated by the couple.The police were quick to apprehend the thief who attacked the old lady.

Nouns Unit 1

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The word fruit can be either countable or uncountable. We take fruit as uncountable when referring to fruit in general. We use fruits as a countable noun when we want to emphasise the fact that there are different types of fruits involved.

ExamplesThere is fruit in the basket.There are three fruits in the basket, including an apple, a guava and a cherry.

We do not use the indefi nite articles a and an with uncountable nouns. Instead, we use the defi nite article the to refer to a specifi c object.

Indefi nite articles f (a, an) are used with countable nouns. If the noun begins with a vowel (the ‘a’, ‘e’, ‘i’, ‘o’ and ‘u’ sounds), we use an, but if the noun begins with a consonant (any other sound), we use a. We use the defi nite article the when something is one of a kind or when the item has already been mentioned.

ExamplesThat man is a teacher from Whirlwind Secondary School.Tammy rode on an elephant for her performance. The elephant was huge.You should not look directly at the sun.

More information can be found on p. 19, Articles.

Uncountable NounsUncountable nouns f are nouns that cannot be counted.

Some examples of uncountable nouns are fl our, ice, milk, sand and water.

ExamplesMy father poured fl our into a measuring cup.There was a lot of ice in the bucket one hour ago.David took some water and poured it over the soil.

Other abstract nouns such as f beauty, cowardice, despair, honesty, ignorance, intelligence, sadness and wealth cannot be counted. Such nouns are taken as singular.

Nouns such as f clothing, equipment, furniture, information, machinery and scenery are taken as uncountable and hence have no plural form.

NounsUnit 1

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