Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

A transitive verb is one that is used with an object: a noun, phrase, or pronoun that refers to the person or thing that is affected by the action of the verb. In the following sentences, admire, maintain, face, and love are transitive verbs:

I admire your courage.

We need to maintain product quality.

I couldn’t face him today.

She loves animals. 

An intransitive verb does not have an object. In the following sentences, cry, work, laugh, and talk are intransitive verbs:

The baby was crying.

I work for a large firm in Paris.

They laughed uncontrollably.

We talked for hours.

Oxford English Grammar: https://www.lexico.com/grammar/transitive-and-intransitive-verbs

Relative Clauses

Who, which, that, and whose

WHO: This pronoun is used to refer to people. It can exercise the function of a subject or object of the sentence.

• The woman who works at my office is very efficient.
• Mark’s brother, who is 18, has just started University.

WHICH: Unlike who, this pronoun only works for things and animals. It can also be the subject or object of the sentence.

• The book which I read last week is very interesting.
• The cat, which is very friendly, is called Tom.

THAT: This is a pronoun that can be applied both to refer to people and things. Therefore, you can use it to substitute both who and which if the context allows it.

• The woman that works at my office is very efficient.
• The book that I read last week is very interesting.

WHOSE: We have the pronoun whose, which we should not confuse with who since it acts as a possessive. To better identify it, think that in Spanish it would be translated as cuyo, cuya, cuyos o cuyas.

• Yesterday I met a girl whose sister is a supermodel.
• I knew the guy whose bike you bought.

WHOM: I don't want to forget to mention the relative pronoun whom. Although rarely used, it can be very useful in formal (polite) contexts. In addition, it is ideal to demonstrate your command of English.

The pronoun "whom" replaces people when they are not the subject of the sentence but are the ones who receive it. That is to say:

• To whom it may concern. – A quien concierna/interese.
• Whom does he love? – ¿A quién ama él?

Play in quizizz: https://quizizz.com/join/quiz/5b003fec0ec18e00193b1a0b/start?studentShare=true

English Composition.

A common weakness in writing is the lack of varied sentences. Being aware of three general types of sentences (simple, compound, and complex) can help you use variety in the sentences in your writing.

The most effective writing uses a variety of sentence types explained below: 

A. SIMPLE SENTENCES: A simple sentence has the most basic elements that make it a sentence: a subject, a verb, and a complement. A simple sentence can also be referred to as an independent clause. It is referred to as "independent" because, while it might be part of a compound or complex sentence, it can also stand by itself as a complete sentence.

 
    1. Joe waited for the train.
"Joe" = subject, "waited" = verb

    2. The train was late.
"The train" = subject, "was" = verb

    3. Mary and Samantha took the bus.
"Mary and Samantha" = compound subject, "took" = verb

B. COMPOUND SENTENCES: A compound sentence refers to a sentence made up of two independent clauses (or complete sentences) connected to one another with a coordinating conjunction. Coordinating conjunctions are easy to remember if you think of the words "FAN BOYS":

• For
• And
• Nor
• But
• Or
• Yet
• So

    1. Joe waited for the train, but the train was late.

    2. I looked for Mary and Samantha at the bus station, but they arrived at the station before noon and left on the bus before I arrived.

    3. Mary and Samantha arrived at the bus station before noon, and they left on the bus before I arrived

C. COMPLEX SENTENCES: A complex sentence is made up of an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses connected to it. A dependent clause is similar to an independent clause, or complete sentence, but it lacks one of the elements that would make it a complete sentence. 

Examples of dependent clauses include the following:

• Because Mary and Samantha arrived at the bus station before noon
• While he waited at the train station
• After they left on the bus

Dependent clauses such as those above cannot stand alone as a sentence, but they can be added to an independent clause to form a complex sentence.

Dependent clauses begin with subordinating conjunctions. Below are some of the most common subordinating conjunctions:

• after
• although
• as
• because
• before
• even though
• if
• since
• though
• unless
• until
• when
• whenever
• whereas
• wherever
• while

DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH

 

Embedded Questions

 

Punctuation Marks