English 7 grammar
Students of English 7 will need to master advanced grammar and theory in order to apply those skills in academic writing and speaking. Rarely do we challenge ourselves to use more complex language but rather continue to express ourselves in habitual ways. However, this page attempts to remedy just that! The following grammar exercises are structured according to the modules of English 7. Let's begin, shall we?
Grammar references are based on BBC's advanced grammar guide.
Compound-complex sentences (Course introduction)
Compound-complex sentences- moving from simple to advanced sentence structures
Switching between independent and dependent clauses will develop the way you express yourself. These are known as compound and complex sentences.
Compound sentence: two independent clauses connected by a conjunction, FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so.
Complex sentence: at least one dependent clause and an independent clause with a connected with a subordinate conjunction: although, after, while, when, unless, because, before, if, since.
Let's look at some examples, shall we?
Start with two independent clauses, for example:
The frog leapt into the lake. The water rippled.
Combine the independent clauses into a compound sentence using FANBOYS:
The frog leapt into the lake and the water rippled.
Add a dependent clause before, in middle of, or at the end of the two independent clauses. This creates a compound-complex sentence:
Because the frog was chased by a bird, the frog leapt into the lake and the water rippled.
The frog leapt into the lake and the water rippled, because the frog was chased by a bird.
I read and after eating, I watched tv.
Exercises
Write the sentences and draw a circle around the independent and dependent clauses. For example:
While looking at her phone, she watched Youtube for many hours and she was making an attempt to study.
While looking at her phone (dependent) she watched Youtube for many hours (independent) and she was making an attempt to study (independent).
I only drink coffee in the morning because I am rarely hungry, but most people eat a full breakfast.
When I listen to music, my body moves involuntarily and I enjoy humming to the tune.
The politician jumped at his opponent and the auditorium exploded in violence because everyone started fighting.
Inversions (Monroe's Motivated Sequence)
Inversions - improve your formality with dramatic and idiomatic patterns
Inversions improve drama or formality by swapping the subject-verb order and adding a negative or limiting adverb. For example:
I rarely write letters to strangers. ➜ Rarely do I write letters to strangers.
We create inversions using the following pattern:
Move a negative or limiting adverb to the beginning of the sentence
Add an auxiliary (helping) verb
If necessary, change the tense of the verb
Add a subject
Furthermore, inversions can be divided based on their uses. We will mainly focus on the following:
a unique situation
a short amount of time or almost not
understanding a situation
not understanding a situation
A unique situation
A situation where something occurs infrequently.
He never argued that ferociously.
➜ Never did he argue that ferociously. (Observe that argue changed from past tense to infinitive)
Rarely has someone been so wrong as you.
Seldom did she take the bus.
When expressing a unique situation, the negative or limiting adverbs used are:
Never
Rarely
Seldom
A short amount of time or something that almost did not happen
A situation where a short amount of time has passed or almost did not happen.
She had hardly sat down to eat dinner when there was a knock on the door.
➜Hardly had she sat down to eat dinner when there was a knock on the door.
Barely had I got out of the shower when the phone rang.
No sooner had I gotten my receipt than I realized that I had paid for everyone’s food.
When expressing that a short amount of time has passed or something almost did not happen, the negative or limiting adverbs used are:
Hardly
Barely
Scarcely
No sooner
Understanding a situation
A situation where something is going to happen or not.
He knew when she told him.
➜ Only when she told him did he know.
Only after they had finished their homework were they allowed to rest.
Only when I took the test did I realise how prepared I was.
When expressing that someone understands a situation, the negative or limiting adverbs used are:
Only if ..
Only when ..
Only now ..
Not understanding a situation
A situation that expresses a lack of understanding.
I was not aware that she was home
➜ Little was I aware that she was home.
Little did she grasp the gravity of the situation.
When expressing that someone does not understand a situation, the negative or limiting adverbs used are:
Little ... was
Little ... did
Advanced linking words (Experiences of The Color Purple)
Elaboration - synonym to “and”; gives more information, provide examples
Basic
And, he / she / it is, you are, has/ have
Intermediate
For example, such as, as well as
Advanced
In addition, furthermore, moreover, for instance, often
Let's look at some examples, shall we?
Feke studies English and Japanese.
Feke studies English in addition to Japanese.
Cause and effect - synonym to “because”; tells us why, provide results
Basic
because, so, and so
Intermediate
in order to, due to
Advanced
therefore, on the condition that, consequently
Let's look at some examples, shall we?
Feke teaches English because he enjoys it.
Feke teacher English, consequently enjoying it. (see here that I changed the verb to continuous form)
Compare and contrast - synonym to “but”; compare to see if examples are similar or not
Basic
but, but also
Intermediate
Meanwhile, although, while
Advanced
In contrast, however, moreover, whereas, despite, in comparison, nonetheless, similarly.
Let's look at some examples, shall we?
Feke speaks Swedish but he does not teach it.
Feke speaks Swedish, however, he does not teach it.
Exercise
A basic example: next - after - later - finally - first - then - and
Making ramen.
(1) __________________, turn on the kettle to boil some water. (2) __________________, open the package. (3) __________________, put the ramen noodles into a bowl and pour the boiling water onto them. (4) __________________ a few minutes, add the spices and oils that were included inside the package. (5) __________________, add any toppings to your liking. (6) __________________, enjoy your meal!
An intermediate-advanced example: In conclusion - additionally - eventually - firstly - secondly
Recycling
Recycling by means of a compost is not as difficult as one might think. Regardless of what many think, even the smallest contribution helps. (1) __________________, create a routine where you separate organic waste from non-degradable waste. (2) __________________, you will require a container where you can dispose of your fruit or vegetables. (3) __________________, the compost might have a slightly pungent smell and (4) __________________ attract flies. But do not worry! This is your signal to take the compost-bag outside. (5) __________________, it is simple yet effective. Plus, you will contribute to a more eco-friendly world!
Answer key
Basic example: First, then, next, after, later, finally
Intermediate-advanced example: Firstly, secondly, eventually, additionally, in conclusion
Discourse markers and questions tags (The Power of Language)
...
Basic
umm, aaa, errr
Yes, no, yeah
Intermediate
Uh-huh, mmm, sooo
Quite, right
Advanced
I mean, you see, I know
That's a fair point, indeed
Discourse markers
List of covered discourse markers:
To tell you the truth
I mean
You see
In other words
But at the end of the day
I know
So to speak
To tell you the truth. Used meaning = stating your opinion, often more honestly or bluntly.
"Right, to tell you the truth, I don’t like children."
I mean. Used meaning = used as a filler when wanting to explain something.
"Saturday was wild it seems... I mean, did you see their insta?"
You see. Used meaning = to explain some new information.
"Why I don’t eat meat? Well, you see, there’s this Youtube-video where they show..."
In other words. Used meaning = to rephrase or explain something in a new way.
"He said he would go see the doctor but that something came in between. In other words, he’s afraid."
At the end of the day. Used meaning = summarising or concluding your statements.
"Nowadays people only care about looking good, where you have travelled and how many parties you attend. But at the end of the day, what really matters is how good of a person you are."
I know. Used meaning = realising something or coming up with a new idea.
"Oh you are upset with him? I know, why don’t you write an angry tweet about it?"
So to speak. Used meaning = making it clear that you have used a methaphor to explain something.
"Man this food is the bee’s knees, so to speak!"
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/towards-advanced/unit-27/tab/grammar
Question tags
Question tags are used to ask for more information or confirmation in order to make a conversation more smooth. They follow the grammar rule: auxiliary verb + pronoun (do they? / can you? Hasn’t it?)
Positive main clause + negative question tag.
"You like freedom, don’t you?" *cheers in Republican*
Negative main clause, positive question tag.
"They don’t like coffee, do they?"
More complex grammar combinations make use of limiting advebrs and indefinite nouns with a positive and negative question tag repspectively.
Negative / limiting adverbs (hardly, never, little, scarce.. ) are used with a positive question tag.
“They never eat at McDonald’s, do they?”
Indefinite nouns (anyone, someone, no one, everyone .. ) use "they" in their question tags
“someone ate all of the chips, didn’t they?”
“Everyone’s gone, aren’t they?”
Attention! Together with something and everything, we use "it":
“Something wrong happened, hasn’t it?”
“Everything is going to hell, isn’t it?”
Imperatives (commands, advice, offers) such as “be quite!” add "won't, will, would, could or can".
“Be quite, won’t you!”
“Go out with the trash, will you?”
“Pass the butter, could you?”
When including the other speaker in an action, it is common to use let’s. Let’s is put in the start of the sentence and is paired with the question tag “shall”.
“Let’s go, shall we”?
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/towards-advanced/unit-28/tab/grammar
Particple clauses (A Warning to the Future)
asdasdasd
Basic
asd
asd
Intermediate
asd
asd
Advanced
asd
asd
Let's look at some examples ..
On formality and style, jargon and vocabulary and an analysis of these.
The section below is copied from Linguapress and all text and images belong to their authors (retrieved 2020-01-06).
"In the following examples, the same message is expressed in six different styles, from an extremely formal written style, to a very informal spoken style. Note in particular how the colour coded word groups evolve.
In order to demonstrate a full range of styles using a single "message", it is necessary to choose a subject or topic which people actually write or talk about in a whole range of contexts. These examples show the different styles, from the very formal to the informal, that could be used for expressing a message about government fiscal policy (or, to put it less formally, government tax policy). Different parts of the message are colour-coded: see how they change from one style to the next. Note that the British currency is formally known as "Sterling", and most often spoken about as "the Pound". (https://linguapress.com/grammar/styles-of-english.htm )"
