UNIT 1 Parts of Speech
Lesson 1
Sumona is a brilliant student.
You can divide the above sentence in different parts, such as:
Sumona/is/a/brilliant/student.
Again these parts play different functions as:
i) Sumona-------- refers to a person
ii) is --- states something
iii) brilliant --- gives more information about 'student
iv) student —refers to Sumona
Now, you understand that in Parts of Speech words are classified according to
their functions. In English, there are eight parts of speech.
The lessons in this unit will discuss parts of speech. Do you remember them?
Here is a beautiful poem that will help you remember the parts of speech.
Discuss the following questions in pairs:
a) What do the bold words in the poem tell about each part of speech?
b) What examples of different parts of speech are given in the poem?
c) Can you think of more examples of each part of speech? What are
some of them?
Read the sentences below and identify each type of part of speech in it:
1. A frightened man was seeking help desperately.
2. The sun was setting slowly in the west.
3. A village boy came and asked the man, "Where did you find the
golden chain around your neck?"
Now, read about each type of parts of speech:
Nouns
A noun is a word used to name something: a person/animal, a place, a thing, or
an idea. For example, all of the following are nouns.
• Rahul, Ann, Hamida, Malek
• Japan, Venezuela, the Atlantic, London, the Bay of Bengal
• pencil, store, music, air
• biology, honesty, geometry
Pronouns
A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun. It helps us to avoid repetitions.
For example: Instead of Elina talked to Elina's child, you might say Elina talked
to her child. Her is the pronoun. It refers to the noun, Elina.
Adjectives
An adjective modifies (describes) a noun or pronoun. Usually, in English, the
adjective comes before the noun.
For example: The smart student earned an 'A'.
Adjectives also come after linking verbs. For example: I feel happy.
Verbs
Verbs generally express an action or a state of being. There are several
classifications for verbs - action verbs, linking verbs, main verbs, auxiliary verbs,
transitive, intransitive and phrasal verbs.
For example:
Action verbs show action.
He runs. She plays. They study.
Linking verbs link the subject to an adjective or a noun.
Matin is intelligent. He is a teacher.
Here the linking verbs connect the adjective (intelligent) or a noun
(teacher) with the subject.
Adverbs
An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb.
The teacher carefully checks the homework. (Here carefully is an adverb that
modifies the verb check.)
Examples:
Tomal was extremely_enthusiastic about doing his homework. (Here
extremely is an adverb that modifies the adjective enthusiastic.)
Maliha ran out of the classroom very quickly. (Here very is an adverb that
modifies the adverb quickly.)
Prepositions
Prepositions are words that connect a noun or pronoun to another word in a
sentence. Some common prepositions are on, in, at, with, about, for, to,
though.
Conjunctions
Conjunctions join together words, phrases and clauses.
Examples: He and his brother will come. (words)
He came to the class and started teaching.(clauses)
It is easy to say but difficult to do. (phrases)
She is intelligent; therefore, she does not need too much help.
(clauses)
Interjections
Interjections are words used to express emotional states. They can usually be
found in narrative writing, interviews, and in spoken English. They can stand
alone.
Examples:
Oh!, Wow!, Ouch! Oops! Hey!
They can also be used in a phrase or sentence.
Examples: What a lovely day!
How strong the man is!
The same word as different parts of speech
Remember that the same word can be used as different parts of speech. Its
function in the sentence will help you to determine the part of speech. Look at
the following sentences and notice the functions of the word 'well in each of
the sentences:
He does not look well. (adjective)
The student did well in the test. (adverb)
Well, I don't know about that. (interjection)
Exercise
Identify what part of speech each word is in the following sentences:
1. Wow! That is really nice.
2. He seemed sorry as he apologised to us.
3. Mother wanted an answer, but she did not get any reply from her daughter.
Read the song and guess why it leaves out one part of speech. Share your idea
with a partner.
A NOUN's the name of anything,
As: school or garden, toy, or swing.
ADJECTIVES tell the kind of noun,
As: great, small, pretty, white, or brown.
VERBS tell of something being done:
To read, write, count, sing, jump, or run.
How things are done the ADVERBS tell,
As: slowly, quickly, badly, well.
CONJUNCTIONS join the words together,
As: men and women, wind or weather.
The PREPOSITION stands before a noun
As: in or through a door.
The INTERJECTION shows surprise
As: Oh, how prettyl Ahl how wisel
The whole are called the PARTS of SPEECH,
Which reading, writing, speaking teach.
[By David B. Tower & Benjamin E. Tweed]
Noun is one of the eight parts of speech. You must have read about noun in
your previous classes. Do you remember what kinds of words nouns are?
Read the story below and underline the nouns.
Friend
in their friendship.
One day Bubbly heard the loud
barking of the wild dogs. As hewas timid, he became afraid.
He decided to ask for help. He
quickly went to his friend,
deer. He said: "Some wild dogs
are chasing me. Can you drive
I am busy. Why don't you ask the bear for help?"
Bubbly, the rabbit, ran to the bear. "My dear friend, you are very strong. Please
help me. Some wild dogs are after me. Please chase them away," he requested
the bear.
The bear replied: "I am sorry. I am suffering from hunger and weakness. I need
to find some food. Please ask the monkey for help”.
Poor Bubbly went to the monkey, elephant, goat and all his friends. Bubbly felt
sad that nobody showed any interest to help him.
He understood that he has to think of a way out. He hid under a bush. He lay
there till the wild dogs went their way.
[Adapted from http://www.kidsworldfun.com/shortstories_friends.php]
Now, compare your underlined words with a partner.
In pairs, discuss the following questions:
a) What is a noun?
b) What different types of nouns are there in English?
c) What roles do nouns play in a sentence?
Look at some more examples of nouns
Names of people and profession: Alam, Rosy, teacher, doctor
Names of animals: rat, zebra, lion, tiger
Names of places: house, Dhaka, factory, school
Names of objects: table, camera, printer, computer
Names of materials: lead, nitrogen, water, ice
Names of qualities: kindness, beauty, bravery, faithfulness
Names of actions: rowing, cooking, driving, reading, listening
Names of measures: minute, second, day, month, litre
Read the story above again and see whether the words underlined by you are
all nouns. As you read the text, try to find the different types of naming words
e.g. words that name a particular person/character, words that name an idea
and words that name something in general, etc.
Discuss the questions below
a) What type of noun is Bubbly in the story?
b) What type of noun is dogs, deer, bear or elephant?
c) What type of noun is pride, hunger or weakness?
Read the section below to know more about different types of nouns.
Common nouns: These are the general names of people, places, things, or
ideas.
Examples: writer, city, park, religion
Proper nouns: This type of noun has two features: i) It names a specific (usually
a one-of-a-kind) item, and ii) It begins with a capital letter (no matter where it
occurs in a sentence.]
Examples: Rabindranath Tagore, Paris, Dhaka, Islam
The chart below shows examples of common nouns and proper nouns:
Common Noun Proper Noun
writer Humayun Ahamed-
teacher Prof. Abdur Razzaque
boy Shubho
city Khulna
mango Langra
school Ideal High School
Abstract nouns: Look at the following list. Can you touch or see any of
them? Can you count any of them?
peace conduct speed taste
warmth courage experience evil
hospitality leisure time liberty
They name something that you cannot experience with your five senses – they
do not physically exist.
Concrete nouns: Concrete nouns physically exist and can be experienced by
the five senses.
For example:
Can you chase them away with your sharp horns?
Horns is an example of a concrete noun. You can see horns of an animal and
touch them with your finger and smell its breath. Look at this chart contrasting
abstract and concrete nouns:
Abstract nouns Concrete nouns
love table
intelligence laptop
kindness COW
mercy plants
honesty building
Collective nouns: These are nouns that refer to a group of things. Look at the
chart below:
army council minority
audience department navy
board faculty senate
crowd family society
class farm team
committee group troupe
company jury corporation majority
Exercise 1
Read the following sentences in pairs and look at the italicized word in each
sentence and say whether the italicized nouns are common, proper, collective
or abstract.
1. Honesty is the best policy.
2. Solomon was famous for his wisdom.
3. A committee of five was appointed.
4. Jamil is a bright student.
5. Wisdom is better than riches.
6. I didn't believe the clown's story.
7. A teacher must have patience.
8. Cleanliness is next to godliness.
9. My sister is a doctor.
10. My family lives in that house.
Exercise 2
Circle the proper nouns and underline the common nouns in the following
sentences:
1. To make cakes, we need eggs, flour, sugar, and butter.
2. Jafrin read Gulliver's Travels last week.
3. Every Tuesday in June, my team takes part in a charity match.
4. Spelling Bee is my favorite show on television.
5. The Shishu Park is a place to visit with friends and parents.
Exercise 3
Circle the proper nouns and underline the collective nouns. (There are 10 all
together.)
1. Junaid is the captain of the school cricket team.
2. My family is going to Kuakata on vacation.
3. I love the month of June because schools have holidays.
4. I want a computer for my birthday.
What do nouns do?
Nouns can do lots of things in sentences. Let's look at some of the jobs noun
do:
1. Subjects are nouns that tell us who or what a sentence is about.
e.g. Maya kicked the ball.
2. Direct objects are nouns that receive the action of certain kinds of
verbs (transitive active verb)
e.g. Maya kicked the ball.
3. Indirect objects are nouns that receive the direct object.
e.g. Mary kicked Joya the ball.
4. Objects of prepositions are nouns that come after prepositions in
prepositional phrases.
e.g. Maya kicked the ball to Joya.
Exercise 4
Identify the function of the underlined nouns as indicated below:
subject direct object indirect object object of preposition
1. The jury selected Rima as winner.
2. What is Jewel doing on his birthday?
3. Bipasha is my friend.
4. The committee elected Mahfuz its new Vice President.
Lesson 3: Countable and Uncountable Nouns
In the previous lesson you learnt about various kinds of nouns. In this lesson
you will look at two types of nouns - countable and uncountable.
Read the text and underline the nouns in it. Then discuss the following
questions in pairs.
• Which nouns can you count?
• Can you find any nouns that you cannot count?
• Which nouns take an article before them?
When I am free, I listen to the radio. There are some good radio stations that
play music I like, and other stations play a lot of music I don't really like. I like to
listen to both old songs and new songs. In fact, I listen to a lot of different music,
from classical to modern. Some music on the radio reminds me of when I was
younger. I still like those old songs.
Have you got any idea about countable and uncountable nouns from your
discussion? Read the section below:
Nouns can be divided into two categories – countable and uncountable.
Countable nouns are words that represent things we can count. For example,
the word song is a countable noun. Here are some more examples:
• An old song, two new songs, etc.
• A collection of 100 songs
Uncountable nouns are words that represent things we do not count. For
example, the word music is an uncountable noun. Here are some examples:
• a lot of music
• the music of the 70s
Now, let's look at countable and uncountable nouns in more details.
Countable nouns
Countable nouns are either singular or plural. They can be counted and
expressed in numbers.
• I need to buy four new suitcases. - Suitcase (s) is a countable noun as
adding 's' to it makes it plural.
• I want five oranges? - Here five is used to count the number of
oranges.
Countable nouns are easy to recognise. They are things that we can count. For
example: 'pen'. We can count pens. We can have one, two, three or more pens.
Most countable nouns become plural by adding an 's' at the end of the word.
We can use the indefinite article a/an with countable nouns:
• a good book
When a countable noun is singular, we must use a word like a/the/my/this with
it:
• I want an orange. (not I want orange.)
• Where is my watch? (not Where is watch?)
We can use some and any with countable nouns:
• I've got some coins.
• Have you got any pens?
We can use a few and many with countable nouns:
• I've got a few coins.
• I haven't got many pens.
Now, in the above examples you must have noticed the way plural nouns are
formed. Discuss with a partner the following questions:
1. How do we convert singular nouns into plural?
2. Do we follow the same rules for making plurals with all nouns?
3. What do the names ‘regular nouns' and 'irregular nouns' suggest?
Read the sections below to check your ideas.
Formation of plural of regular nouns
Most nouns form the plural by adding -s.
Singular Plural
house houses
cat cats
river rivers
boat boats
A noun ending in s, x, ch, sh makes the plural by adding - es
Singular Plural
bus buses
wish wishes
pitch pitches
box boxes
A noun ending in a consonant and then y, makes the plural by dropping the y and
adding -les
Singular Plural
spy spies
baby babies
city cities
daisy daisies
Formation of plural of irregular nouns
There are some irregular formations of plural nouns. Some of the most
common ones are listed below:
Singular Plural
woman women
man men
child children
tooth teeth
foot feet
person persons
leaf leaves
mouse mice
goose geese
half halves
knife knives
wife wives
life lives
elf elves
loaf loaves
potato potatoes
Some nouns have the same form in the singular and the plural.
Singular Plural
sheep sheep
fish fish
deer deer
species species
aircraft aircraft
Remember, these are singular nouns.
news The news is at 6.30 p.m.
athletics Athletics is good for young people.
linguistics Linguistics is the study of language.
darts Darts is a popular game in England.
politics Politics is played all over the world.
Some nouns have a fixed plural form and take a plural verb.
Plural noun with plural verb Sentence
trousers My trousers are too tight.
jeans Her jeans are black.
glasses Those glasses are new.
Uncountable nouns
Uncountable nouns are the exact opposite of Countable Nouns. These nouns
are the names of things that cannot be counted and have only a singular form.
These nouns use singular verbs in a sentence.
• The furniture was new. (Furniture is an uncountable noun and
therefore, we use the singular 'was' in referring to it.)
• Is 250gm of sugar enough? (Sugar is an uncountable noun as sugar
itself cannot be counted. It can only be weig
• He is praised for his honesty. - Honesty is an uncountable noun as it
has no plural and cannot be counted in physical terms either.
List of some Uncountable Nouns
General Abstract
homework advice
equipment help
luggage fun
clothing recreation
furniture enjoyment
machinery information
gold knowledge
silver news
cotton patience
glass happiness
jewelry progress
Using Countable & Uncountable Nouns
Look at the following list and notice which words are used with countable and
uncountable nouns:
Note: Usage of few, a few, little, a little
The expressions a little and a few mean some.
We use a little with singular nouns.
Example:
I havea little money.
We use a few with plural nouns.
Example:
Kaberi has a few friends.
Note that there are differences of meaning when you use a little / a few or little
I few with nouns. Without the article, the words have a restricted or negative
meaning.
a little means 'some'
little means 'hardly any'
Examples:
I need a little money. That means - I need some money.
I need little money. That means - I need hardly any money.
Again read about the differences between a few and few.
a few = some
few = hardly any
Examples:
A few friends visited me. - Some friends visited me.
Few friends visited me. - Hardly any friends visited me.
Exercise 1:
Are these nouns countable or uncountable? Discuss in pairs and write C for
countable and U for uncountable next to each noun.
1. water________
2. fruit_________
3. coconut_______
4. bread __________
5. DVD_________
6. meat_________
7. ball_________
8. sandwich _______
9. glasses__________
10. pen __________
11. milk__________
12. chair_________
13. patrol__________
14. table__________
15. cream___________
16. money__________
17. oil___________
18. insect_________
19. sofa__________
20. soap__________
Exercise 2
Use a /an/some/any with the nouns in the sentences below.
1. Lisa's got a / an towel.
2. Anna's got a / some handbag.
3. Lucky's got an / some insect spray.
4. Jibon hasn't got some / any sunglasses.
5. Raqib's got a / some swimming costume.
6. Ameer has got an / a apple.
7. I haven't got any / some money.
8. Have you got some / any sun cream?
9. We need a / an torch for our camping trip.
10. There isn't some / any litter on the beach.
11. Can I have some / a strawberries?
12. You can have this cereal with some / a milk.
13. I've got any / some fruit.
14. There isn't some / an elephant.
15. Are there some / any plants?
Lesson 4: Adjectives
What are adjectives? You must have read about adjectives in your previous
classes. Do you remember their uses?
Let's read the story below and underline the adjectives.
Universal Rabindranath
Tagore is known as Bishwa Kabi (World Poet) because his literature has
universal appeal and is read by many people of the world. His translation of
Gitanjali (Song Offerings) won him the Nobel Prize in literature in 1913.
Rabindranath dearly loved the land, rivers, people and natural beauty of his
motherland. He roamed around rural Bangladesh and wrote about her glory
and beauty in songs, poetry, novels and short stories. Besides Tagore was also a
social reformer. He was the founder of Bishwa Bharoti. Despite all, Tagore loved
to relax in the peaceful environment of East Bengal, now Bangladesh. He spent
his golden days in the quietness of Kuthi Bari in Kushtia, where he translated his
famous Gitanjali. Tagore also established an experimental agricultural project
at his estate at Patisar in Naogaon. Bengali culture cannot be fulfilled without
the colourful presence of Tagore's literature. We will be more enlightened if we
apply Tagore's philosophy in our life.
In pairs discuss the following questions.
a) What parts of speech the italicized words are in the text above?
b) What is an adjective?
c) What different types of adjectives are there in English?
d) What roles do adjectives play in a sentence?
Identify appropriate adjectives from the dialogue below:
A: Hello! What are you reading?
B: Good evening! I am reading a book by Rabindranath Tagore.
A: What's the name of the book?
B: I am reading Gitanjali which won him the Nobel Prize in literature.
A: Oh! That's the best poetry book I have ever read.
B: He is known as a World Poet because of the universal appeal of his works
and his wonderful style of writing.
A: Tagore is also the writer of our national anthem Amar Sonar Bangla.
B: Yes, he is.
A: We need to read more of his writings. Thank you for the interesting
discussion.
B: I think we need to read more books of Tagore. Thank you too.
Now, let's try to describe adjectives.
Adjectives are words that are used to describe nouns and pronouns and to
quantify and identify them. For example:
He was wearing a blue shirt.
Here 'blue' is an adjective as it is describing the noun ‘shirt' by answering the
question 'What kind of shirt?'
There are seven rooms in the house.
Here 'seven' is also an adjective as it is mentioning the quantity/the number
of the noun 'rooms', answering the question 'how many rooms?'.
There are different types of adjectives based on their relationship with a noun
and what they describe about the noun. There are five categories of
adjectives:
1. Adjectives of Quality - These adjectives are used to describe the nature of
a noun. They give an idea about the nature of the noun by answering the
question 'what kind', e.g. honest, kind, large, bulky, beautiful, ugly, etc.
Dhaka is a large city with many places of historical interest.
Shaila is a beautiful woman.
2. Adjectives of Quantity - These adjectives help to show the approximate
amount of the noun or pronoun. These adjectives do not provide exact
numbers; rather they tell us the amount of the noun, e.g. all, half, many, few,
little, no, enough, great, etc.
They have finished most of the rice.
Many people came to visit the fair.
3. Adjectives of Number - These adjectives are used to show the number of
nouns and their position in a phrase. There are three different types within
adjectives of number; they are:
one, two, twenty, thirty-three, etc. (also known as cardinals)
first, second, third, seventh, etc. (also known as ordinals)
4. Demonstrative Adjectives - These adjectives are used to indicate a
particular noun or pronoun - this, that, these and those.
That bag belongs to Neela.
Try using this paintbrush in your art class.
These flowers are lovely.
5. Interrogative Adjectives - These adjectives are used to ask questions about
nouns or pronouns. They are - what, which and whose.
What test did I miss?
Which book of this author do you like?
Whose pen is this?
Lesson 5: Verbs
What are Verbs? You must have read about Verbs in your previous classes. Do
you remember their uses?
Let's read the passage below and note the verbs.
All About the Zoo
A zoo is a place where many kinds of animals and birds live together in
harmony. Many years ago, animals in a zoo were kept in cages and people
would them from outside their cages. However, these days, things have
significantly changed. Most zoos try to provide animals with surroundings that
resemble their natural habitat. Many of the endangered species successfully
bred in the zoo are later re-introduced to their natural environment to continue
their survival. Many of the species are successfully protected and later
introduced to the wild. A visit to the zoo will allow you the chance to see many
kinds of animals and birds. Zoos help educate people of the importance of
conservation. They also help scientists carry out various studies that are aimed
to improve the lives of the animals by understanding them better.
Now, talk about the highlighted words with a partner. In pairs discuss the
following questions:
a) What is a verb?
b) What different types of verbs are there in English?
c) What roles do verb play in a sentence?
Let's read the above passage again and discuss in pairs and identify verbs
from the dialogue below:
A: Hello! Good Morning!
B: Hello! Good Morning to you too!
A: We have come here to see the zoo.
B: OK, come on, we have good arrangements for children.
A: Thank you! All students will go in a line to see the animals.
B: Please make sure that students don't disturb the animals.
A: Yes, of course, they won't.
B: Thank you, please let them know that zoo animals are not domestic
animals.
A: Ok, I'm sure students will be able to know many things about the wild life by
visiting the zoo. And thanks a lot for your advice.
B: They will if they remain calm and observe carefully. Thank you all for coming
to visit the zoo.
Now, let's try to describe the verbs:
A word or phrase that describes an action, condition or experience is a verb.
The words 'run', 'keep', and 'feel are all verbs. The grammatical forms of verbs
include number, person, and tense.
We learnt about auxiliary verbs in our previous classes.
Now, read the following examples and talk with your partner about the uses
of different verbs. Here are some examples of auxiliary verbs expressing tense
(main verbs in bold)
Examples of Auxiliary Verbs:
- I have been sitting here since 7 o'clock.
- Sabit was waiting for the train to arrive.
- He will have broken the record by then.
Auxiliary Verbs and Verb Phrases:
An auxiliary verb (also called a helping verb) accompanies a main verb to
express its tense, mood, or voice. The most common auxiliary verbs are be, do,
and have. You will see these in the following forms:
Be: am, is, are, was, were, being, been
Do: does, do, did
Have: has, have, had, having
Modal auxiliary verbs are also auxiliary verbs. They are can, could, may, might,
must, ought to, shall, should, will, and would. (These never change their
forms.)
A verb phrase is made up of the auxiliary verb(s) and the main verb. In the
examples below, the verb phrase is underlined with main verb in bold:
For example, He is reading a book. Here 'is reading' is a verb phrase where 'is'=
an auxiliary verb and 'reading,= main verb
Now, let's try to find out the differences between regular and irregular Verbs.
Regular Verbs
Those verbs that form their past participle with ď' or 'eď are regular verbs.
These verbs do not undergo major changes while changing forms.
1 .If the verb ends with a vowel, only 'd' is added. For example:
Present tense Past tense
share shared
scare scared
2. If the verb ends with a consonant, 'ed' is added. For example:
Present tense Past tense
want wanted
shout shouted
kill killed
Irregular Verbs
These type of verbs undergo considerable changes when changing forms.
Present tense Past tense
go went
run ran
think thought
seek sought
Transitive Verb
When a verb takes an object, it is called transitive verb. Look at the example
below:
• He has kicked the ball.
• We shared the idea together.
Here, kick and share are transitive verbs because they have objects and without
these objects e. g. the ball, the idea; 'he has kicked and we shareď are
incomplete.
In fact, transitive verbs transfer their actions to the object.
Here are some examples of transitive verbs:
I want an apple.
He is carrying a suitcase.
She looked at me.
Intransitive verb
When a verb does not take an object, it is called intransitive verb. Intransitive
verb means a verb without an object. Here are some examples of intransitive
verbs:
• She shouted loudly.
• She was singing.
• Dogs bark.
• She is laughing.
Some verbs can be both transitive and intransitive depending of how they are
used in sentences.
Examples:
Intransitive Transitive
She sang. She sang a song
The bell rang He rang the bell .
We ate. We ate some fish
Exercise
Choose the correct form of the verb in brackets and fill in the gaps.
Kuheli is a student of class eight. Her final exams (be)____ next week, so
there are no classes. Like all the other students in her class she
(revise)____ her lessons. But she (not study)___ very hard right now.
She (sit) ____in the garden of her house (read)___ her notes. It is a
beautiful day. Birds ( sing)___ in the trees. She (not sit/usually)___ in
the garden. Normally she (go)___ to school at nine o'clock to
(attend) _classes. She (have)___ lunch at about one with her friends.
Lesson 6 : Adverbs
Read the story below and notice the words in italics that describe the
actions in the story.
I nearly missed my flight!
I live at Shahbag in Dhaka. I decided to visit my son, who lives in New York in
December last year. I had booked my flight to leave Dhaka on Monday
morning. It was due to leave at 9 am and I was expected to report at the
airport by 7 am. I was completely happy with arrangements I had made for
the trip.
I work in an office and usually go there at about 9 am. I never go to office late
and I almost always arrive there on time. I come back home at about 5 pm. I
usually go to bed at 11 at night and get up at 5 in the morning.
The night before my flight I had to do a bit of packing. Still I expected to get
up from bed at my usual time. Unfortunately, I overslept and when my wife
woke me up it was 7 am. I quickly washed and dressed myself and called for
a taxi. I was hoping to get to the airport by 8 am. But as we reached the
Airport Road, it was crowded with cars, buses and taxis and we could only
move very slowly. I was gradually becoming impatient. But there was nothing
we could do. I finally reached the airport at 8.30 am.
I reached the check-in-desk and an official of the airlines hurried me through
the immigration, and eventually I was able to get on board.
Discuss in pairs which of the Italisized words tell us about the 'how,' 'when' or
'where' of an action that took place in the story.
Write down the underlined words in each column to show which of them
answer the how, when, why or where of an action in the story. (One is done
for you in each column.)
How?
The words above are used to answer the questions of how, when, why or
where. These are adverbs. In fact, an adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an
adjective or another adverb. It also refers to manner, place, time, degree or
frequency
Look at the following examples. Here adverbs are shown in bold and the verbs
that they modify are in italics.
• Rabbi speaks loudly. (How does Rabbi speak?)
• Afterwards she talked with the journalists. (When did she talk?)
• Dilruba lives nearby. (Where does Dilruba live?)
Look at the examples of adverbs that modify adjectives and adverbs.
Adverbs modifying an adjective:
- He is really handsome. (How handsome is he?)
- That was extremely kind of you.
Adverbs modifying another adverb:
- She drives incredibly slowly. (How slowly does she drive?)
- He drives extremely fast.
Remember that adverbs can also modify adjectives or even other adverbs.
Look at the sentences below.
• Tania is really beautiful.
• The plan worked very well.
Note that adverbs have other functions too. Now look at the sentences below
and find out what functions the adverbs have in these sentences.
• Obviously I don't know everything.
• He arrived immediately after the meeting.
You may have noticed two more functions of adverbs here, e.g. they can modify
a whole sentence and they can modify a prepositional phrase.
Exercise 1
Find the adjective in the first sentence of each pair of sentences below and fill
in the gap with an adverb. The first one is done as an example.
1. Jhorna is happy. She smiles happily.
2. The boy is loud. He shouts ............
3. Her English is fluent. She speaks English. ..
4. Our mother was angry. She spoke to us ..............
5. My neighbour is a careless driver. He drives ......
6. The painter is awful. He paints ............
7. Zahir is a wonderful guitar player. He plays the guitar
8. This girl is very quiet. She often keeps sitting at a corner ... ....
9. She is a quick runner. She runs .........
10.This exercise is simple. You ...........have to put one word in each space.
..
Notice the adverbs you have used in the above sentences. In pairs, discuss
how adverbs are formed. Now read the following section to know more about
how adverbs are formed.
Most of the adverbs are formed by adding ly with an adjective. For example, the
word nice is an adjective and we can make the adverb nicely to talk about an
action that is done in a nice manner.
As you have seen so far, adverbs frequently end in -ly; however, some adjectives
also end in ly. For example: lovely, lonely, motherly, friendly, neighbourly are
adjectives. For example:
That lovely woman lives in a friendly neighborhood.
Some adverbs have two forms, one that ends in -ly and one that doesn't. In
certain cases, the two forms have different meanings.
Examples:
He arrived late. (later than the scheduled time)
Lately, he couldn't seem to be on time for anything. (recently)
In pairs, try to find more adverbs having two forms with two different
meanings. Make sentences with them and share with another pair.
Position of Adverbs
Read the sentences below and notice the position of adverbs in each sentence.
1. Cheerfully the gold medalist greeted the crowd.
2. The gold medallist cheerfully greeted the crowd.
3. The gold medalist greeted the crowd cheerfully.
Now discuss the two questions in pairs:
• Do all these adverbs have the same position in the above sentences?
• What positions does the adverb cheerfully take in each sentence?
Let's read the following section to know more about positions that can
be taken by adverbs in a sentence.
Adverbs can appear in various positions in a sentence. For example, you
may find an adverb:
• before the main verb: I never get up before nine o'clock.
• between the auxiliary verb and the main verb: I have rarely written to
my father without an emergency.
• before the verb used to: I always used to see him at his summer home.
Exercise 2
Fill in the blanks with suitable adverbs from the box. The same adverb can be
used more than once:
occasionally sometimes usually rarely once
very never mostly often always
1.I_________go to school at 9 o'clock.
2.I have_______been to Germany.
3. I have been to Kuakata ______just
4. I_______have a cup of tea after breakfast.
5. My friends are______ vegetarians.
6. My grandparents live in Khulna. I visit them_______
7.I was_______happy to see him again.
8. I______go for a walk by the river side.
9.I watch films_______
10. They_______come to visit me.
Lesson 7: Types of adverbs
Look at the picture. What is it about? Can you remember a cricket match in
which you saw some great catches?
In small groups discuss a recent cricket match in which you have seen some
great catches taken by the fielding side. Talk about those actions of catching by
answering the following questions:
1. How were the catches
taken?
2. Where in the field were the
catches taken?
3. How many times did they
drop a catch?
4. When were the catches
taken?
You might have noticed that adverbs are used to describe various aspects of a
particular action - the time, place, manner or frequency of the action. Thus
adverbs are categorised as follows:
1. Adverbs of manner
2. Adverbs of place
3. Adverbs of time
4. Adverbs of frequency
Adverbs of manner Read the following seven pieces of advice on making a happy and successful life. Notice the words ending in ly. Can you tell what kinds of words they are?
Intransitive verb
When a verb does not take an object, it is called intransitive verb. Intransitive
verb means a verb without an object. Here are some examples of intransitive
verbs:
• She shouted loudly.
• She was singing.
• Dogs bark.
• She is laughing.
Some verbs can be both transitive and intransitive depending of how they are
used in sentences.
Examples:
Intransitive Transitive
She sang. She sang a song
The bell rang He rang the bell
We ate. We ate some fish.
Exercise
Choose the correct form of the verb in brackets and fill in the gaps.
Kuheli is a student of class eight. Her final exams (be)_______ next week, so
there are no classes. Like all the other students in her class she
(revise)________ her lessons. But she (not study)_________ very hard right now.
She (sit)________ in the garden of her house (read)________ her notes. It is a
beautiful day. Birds ( sing)________ in the trees. She (not sit/usually)_________ in
the garden. Normally she (go)________ to school at nine o'clock to
(attend) ________classes. She (have) lunch at about one with her friends.
Discuss in pairs which of the Italisized words tell us about the 'how,' 'when' or
'where' of an action that took place in the story.
Write down the underlined words in each column to show which of them
answer the how, when, why or where of an action in the story. (One is done
for you in each column.)
The words above are used to answer the questions of how, when, why or
where. These are adverbs. In fact, an adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an
adjective or another adverb. It also refers to manner, place, time, degree or
frequency.
Look at the following examples. Here adverbs are shown in bold and the verbs
that they modify are in italics.
• Rabbi speaks loudly. (How does Rabbi speak?)
• Afterwards she talked with the journalists. (When did she talk?)
• Dilruba lives nearby. (Where does Dilruba live?)
Look at the examples of adverbs that modify adjectives and adverbs.
Adverbs modifying an adjective:
- He is really handsome. (How handsome is he?)
- That was extremely kind of you.
Adverbs modifying another adverb:
- She drives incredibly slowly. (How slowly does she drive?)
- He drives extremely fast.
Remember that adverbs can also modify adjectives or even other adverbs.
Look at the sentences below.
• Tania is really beautiful.
• The plan worked very well.
Note that adverbs have other functions too. Now look at the sentences below
and find out what functions the adverbs have in these sentences.
• Obviously I don't know everything.
• He arrived immediately after the meeting.
You may have noticed two more functions of adverbs here, e.g. they can modify
a whole sentence and they can modify a prepositional phrase.
Exercise 1
Find the adjective in the first sentence of each pair of sentences below and fill
in the gap with an adverb. The first one is done as an example.
1. Jhorna is happy. She smiles happily.
2. The boy is loud. He shouts ............
3. Her English is fluent. She speaks English........ ..
4. Our mother was angry. She spoke to us ..............
5. My neighbour is a careless driver. He drives .............
6. The painter is awful. He paints .................
7. Zahir is a wonderful guitar player. He plays the guitar..............
8. This girl is very quiet. She often keeps sitting at a corner ............ ....
9. She is a quick runner. She runs ................
10.This exercise is simple. You ...........have to put one word in each space.
Notice the adverbs you have used in the above sentences. In pairs, discuss
how adverbs are formed. Now read the following section to know more about
how adverbs are formed.
Adverbs can appear in various positions in a sentence. For example, you
may find an adverb:
• before the main verb: I never get up before nine o'clock.
• between the auxiliary verb and the main verb: I have rarely written to
my father without an emergency.
• before the verb used to: I always used to see him at his summer home.
Exercise 2
Fill in the blanks with suitable adverbs from the box. The same adverb can be
used more than once:
occasionally sometimes usually rarely once
very never mostly often always
1.I________go to school at 9 o'clock.
2. I have_________been to Germany.
3. I have been to Kuakata just_______.
4. I________have a cup of tea after breakfast.
5. My friends are__________ vegetarians.
6. My grandparents live in Khulna. I visit them_______.
7.I was_________ happy to see him again.
8. I_________go for a walk by the river side.
9.I watch films__________.
10. They_________come to visit me.
Lesson 7: Types of adverbs
Look at the picture. What is it about? Can you remember a cricket match in
which you saw some great catches?
In small groups discuss a recent cricket match in which you have seen some
great catches taken by the fielding side. Talk about those actions of catching by
answering the following questions:
1. How were the catches
taken?
2. Where in the field were the
catches taken?
3. How many times did they
drop a catch?
4. When were the catches
taken?
You might have noticed that adverbs are used to describe various aspects of a
particular action - the time, place, manner or frequency of the action. Thus
adverbs are categorised as follows:
1. Adverbs of manner
2. Adverbs of place
3. Adverbs of time
4. Adverbs of frequency
Adverbs of manner
Read the following seven pieces of advice on making a happy and successful
life. Notice the words ending in ly. Can you tell what kinds of words they are?
Think creatively
Live adventurously
Work diligently
Share generously
Listen patiently
Try fearlessly
Laugh heartily
Help willingly
Speak graciously
Run steadily
Love completely
[collected]
The words ending with ly are examples of adverbs. But do you know what kind of
adverbs they are? They are known as adverbs of manner.
An adverb of manner tells us how something happens or is done. Most adverbs
of manner end in – ly such as badly, happily, sadly, slowly, quickly. There are
also some adverbs that do not end in-ly. For example: well, hard, fast, etc.
Here you have more examples to see how the adverbs of manner have been
used.
• The soldiers were badly injured in the battle.
• They had to act fast to save the others floating in the water.
• She is 60 but still sings very well.
• She speaks loudly.
• The new driver was driving slowly.
Exercise 1
Choose a word from brackets to fill in the gaps. The first one is done as an
example.
1 They did the work beautifully. (beautiful / beautifully)
2. She planned their trip to Italy very ___________ (careful / carefully)
3. He painted the wall very_____________. (bad / badly)
4. She speaks very___________· (quiet / quietly)
5. He walked_____________along the road to school. (slow / slowly)
6. He drives too___________. (fast / well)
7. She knows the road__________. (good / well)
8. He plays the guitar____________. (terrible / terribly)
9. We will catch the train in the morning. So we have to get up_________.
(early / late)
Adverbs of place
An adverb of place tells us where something is done or happens. We use it after
the verb, object or at the end of a sentence.
Adverbs of place include words such as above, below, here, outside, over there,
there, under, upstairs, near, somewhere, outside, ahead, on the top, at some
place.
1. We can stop here for lunch.
2. The hospital is over there on your right.
3. The classroom is on the floor below.
4. The children are playing outside.
5. He was standing near the wall.
6. There was a house on the top of the hill.
7. He lives somewhere in Dhaka.
8. She went upstairs.
Exercise 2
Make sentences and put the adverbs (in italics) in them correctly. The first one
is done as an example.
1. is / over there / the cinema -The cinema is over there.
2. inside/go/let's ---------------------------------------------
3. the kitchen/downstairs / is - --------------------------------
4. playing/the kids / are / outside ----------------------------------
5. she / not / been / here / has ---------------------------------------
6. the bathroom / is / upstairs-----------------------------------------
7. were / everywhere / we / for / looking / you -------------------------
8. we / anywhere / you / find / couldn't ------------------------------------
9. ? / there / a post office / nearby / is ----- -----------------------------------
10. must / we / walk / back home-----------------------------------------------
Adverbs of time
An adverb of time tells us the time when something happens. We use it at
the beginning or at the end of a sentence. We use it as a form of emphasis
when we place it at the beginning.
Adverbs of time include afterwards, already, always, immediately, last
month, now, still, soon, then, yesterday, tomorrow, today, tonight, again and
early.
1. He went for a walk yesterday.
2. He got a new job a few months ago.
3. Last week, we went to our village home.
4. I will buy a computer tomorrow.
5. Do it now.
6. She is stillwaiting for her brother.
7. He got up early in the morning.
Exercise 3
Fill in the blanks with the suitable time adverb. Do not use WHEN or IN
1. Titanic is the most beautiful film I have .................seen.
2. People of Bangladesh are ...............in favour of democracy.
3. The wedding was celebrated in a community hall and ............a party
was arranged.
4. It's only fifty years .............. the computer was invented.
5. People .............believed that women were inferior to men.
6. Many painters ..............go to Paris to get inspiration.
Adverbs of frequency
Read the following conversation between friends about watching movies.
Notice the words in italics. What do these words tell us about their frequency
of going to the cinema?
Rajib : Hi Subrata, I saw you the other day in front of Star Cinema. Do
you often go to the cinema?
Subrata : Not really. I don't go to the cinema quite often. But I always
watch movies at home.
Sumona : I also don't go to the cinema regularly. But sometimes I watch
good films on television.
Rajib : But don't you think
that cinema halls are
ideal places for
watching films? You
can never have the
atrnosphere of a
cinema hall at your
home.
Subrata :I agree with you. Cinema halls are always better. But we can't go
to cinema halls every week. We actually go to the cinema once in
a month.
Sumona : You are lucky Subrata. I hardly ever go to the cinema. I actually
go there very rarely,
An adverb of frequency tells us how often something is done or happens.
Words used as adverbs of frequency include again, almost always, ever,
frequently, generally, hardly ever, nearly, nearly always, never, occasionally,
often, rorety, seldom, sometimes, twice, usually daily, sometimes, often,
monthly, yearly and weekly.
Look at some more examples of adverb of frequency.
1. While overseas, he frequently phoned home.
2. We only write to each other very occasionally.
3. Sometimes he goes to the cinema to see a film.
4. He phoned me twice on the same day.
5. He goes to school daily.
6. She is never late for class.
7. They always come in time.
8. Barking dogs seldom bite.
9. The employees are usually paid monthly.
Exercise 4
Rewrite the complete sentences using the adverb in brackets in its usual
position.
Example: I play tennis on Sundays. (often)
Answer: I often play tennis on Sundays.
1. He listens to the radio. (often)
2. They read a book. (sometimes)
3. Pijush gets angry. (never)
4. Piya is very friendly. (usually)
5. I take sugar in my coffee. (sometimes)
6. My son and daughter are hungry. (often)
7. My aunt goes for a walk in the evening. (always)
8. Rajesh helps his father in the kitchen. (usually)
Exercise 5
Complete the following sentences using appropriate adverbs. Choose your
answers from the options given in the brackets.
1. He was driving ............... and crashed into the car in front. (carefully /
carelessly)
2.................. the tiger appeared from nowhere. (suddenly /
slowly)
3. The rain poured ................. and we took shelter under a tree.
(heavily / lightly)
4. The teacher told a funny story and the children laughed ...............
(loudly / softly)
5. The dancers performed ....................... and we all clapped. (gracefully /
clumsily)
6. Why are you shouting ..................(loudly / quietly)?
7. She has a sweet voice. She sings ............................ (beautifully /
badly)
.8. Don't take a decision ....................., think it over for sometime.
(hastily / slowly)
9. The soldiers fought so ....... ......... that the enemy troops fled.
(bravely / timidly)
10. If you walk...................., you will not reach there in time.
(slowly / fast)
Lesson 8: Prepositions
What are prepositions? You must have read about prepositions in your
previous classes. Do you remember their uses? Now, let's read the passage
below and note the prepositions.
We and Our Environment
Our environment comes from water, air, animals, wastes, plants, and other
things that surround us. The environment is a combination of many things. All
the things in the environment relate with each other to give us what we need
for survival. The environment is important and we should all aim to protect it by
avoiding bad practices such as pollution, cutting down of trees and any other
human activities that cause the degradation of the environment. Being aware
of surroundings helps us take the right steps to protect it. As living things we
interact with the environment and not just live in it. Natural disasters such as
earthquakes, landslides, etc. affect the environment. The environment needs to
be protected by all means and the right measures need to be taken to lessen
the damage that natural disasters cause.
Read the following dialogue and notice the highlighted words. In pairs
discuss which preposition is expressed by each of the underlined words.
A: Good morning! How are you today?
B: Good Morning! I am fine. How are you?
A: I am excellent today as I saw the sun rising in the morning.
B: Oh! I couldn't rise early but I felt sorry to see open dustbin at the corner of
the road while I was coming over here.
A: That's really bad; open dustbins spread diseases in the air and when we
inhale the air we feel sick.
B: Besides vehicles on the road cause environmental pollution.
A: The brick fields in the villages also cause pollution by emitting smoke.
B: What can we do about this environmental pollution?
A: We should be friendly with our environment.
B: Yes, we have to be careful to protect it. Thank you!
Now, let's read the following examples of prepositions to learn about various
uses of prepositions in our daily conversations.
Prepositions of place
1. in, at, and on are the most common propositions of place.
Words we use to say where something or someone is or where an
action takes place :
I was in the kitchen when you phoned.
I'll be at home from seven this evening.
The keys are on the kitchen table.
2.Here are some more examples of prepositions of place.
I was outside the building.
I could see people inside it.
Your keys are under the table.
There were clouds above us.
A man in a suit was sitting next to/beside me and a girl was sitting
opposite me.
There is a tree in front of the house.
The drummer was behind other musicians.
Look at the following examples:
1. We use in with streets, cities, districts and countries:
She lives in Eskaton/ in Dhaka/ in Bangladesh.
We use in the with regions (the north, etc.):
They live in the south of Spain.
We use at with addresses:
I live at 20, New Eskaton.
2. We use in the with rooms:
My mom is in the kitchen now.
We use in a/an/the / my, etc. with other enclosed places:
She gave me the Letter in an envelop.
My dresses are in the cupboard.
We use on the with surfaces:
There was dust on the floor.
The books are on the table.
We use on the second floor, etc. to talk about part of a building:
My flat is on the third floor.
3. We use at home, at work, at school, at university to talk about being in the
place where we live, work, or study:
I was at work/at home yesterday.
Sabit is at school and he will be taking his exams soon.
But we say in hospital, in prison to talk about a patient or a prisoner in those
places:
Fatema is very ill and she is in hospital.
4. We use at the to describe being in or using a building:
Some friends met me at the airport.
You can buy this at the super market.
Exercise A
Now let's read the following story where an office worker describes her
working place. Complete her description by putting in the correct
prepositions.
Where I work
I work____ Dhaka, which is a capital city of Bangladesh. It is____ the south of
Dhaka. The place where I work is_____ the centre of the city. To be exact, it is
____ 1/New Baily Road. My office is ____the 5th floor of a big ancient building.
When I am_____ work, I usually stay ___ my office doing my work____ my
desk.
Exercise B
Now, let's read the following description of a party to complete the passage
by putting in the correct prepositions from the box below:
The house I live in
I live in the New Market area____ Teachers' Training College. __of it there is
a government degree college. I live in a flat. There is a lot open space___ the
building.___ the building, there is a prayer room. There is a shopping mall
____our building. Near the flat there is a commercial bank and a medicine
store. You can see a big tree just___ our building and a tea stall___ it. We
can see the sky___ our flat at night full of stars.
Now, we will learn different uses of prepositions. Read the following
examples with your partner and try to find out the differences.
Prepositions of movement
1. Look at the sentences about movement:
He walked out of the house.
He got into his car.
He drove across the road.
He drove under a bridge.
He drove through a tunnel.
He drove along the motorway.
He drove up a hill.
He drove down the hill
He drove around the corner
He drove onto a ferry
He drove off the ferry
He drove towards the city.
2. We use these phrases to talk about transport and travelling:
by car/train/plane/boat/bus/taxi
I go to work by car.
We went home by bus.
on foot
We went to the nearby market on foot.
in the /my, etc. car
We went to the station in our car.
on my, etc. bike
He goes to work on his bike.
on the train/plane/bus/boat
She travelled to Chittagong on the train.
in a taxi
She went there in a taxi.
Exercise C
Read the following passage silently. A school boy is describing her journey from
home every morning. Complete her description by putting in the correct
prepositions. You may need to use the same preposition more than once.
My Journey to School
I live in a village named Chowkibari________Pabna district. It is_______
the river Isamoti. My school is about three kilometres_ _______ my home. I
have to cross the river________boat and walk all the way
________school. Most of my friends also go to school on foot_______
me. Our school stands_______the highway to Pabna. Our school building
is two storied. I enter the school_______the main gate. Our class is on the
first floor. __________the holidays, we do not go______school and we
either play _______the village field or swim_________the river.
More examples of prepositions
In, with, by, without
1. Some example sentences with in, by, with and without.
• She goes to school inan uniform.
• A man with a beard came into the room.
• By studying hard, you can pass in the exams without failing.
We use in with clothes to describe what somebody is wearing:
• She went out in a saree.
• He went to the school in his new uniform.
We use with to talk about of a person's body or parts of an animal's body:
• She is a little girl with long hair and black eyes.
• A giraffe is an animal with a very long neck.
We use with to talk about part of an object or one thing that is included
in something:
My father has got a suitcase with wheels.
The room is full of shelves with books in them.
We use with to talk about using something in order to do an action:
I cleaned my teeth with my new toothbrush.
I cleaned the floor with a piece of cloth.
1.We use by + ... ing to talk about how people do things, and actions that
produce particular results:
You can change the temperature by turning this switch on.
2.We use without + ... ing to talk about not doing something. We often
use without + ing to say that we are surprised that an action does not
happen but we expect it to happen:
She left the house without closing the door. (= and she didn't close the
door)
Exercise D
A teacher is giving instructions to a class about a trip to a museum the next day.
Complete what the teacher says, using the correct prepositions.
1. Come_______your own lunch boxes.
2. I want you to get into the bus _______ making lot of noise.
3. We are going to see things in the museum______ _ a guide.
4. There will be a quiz_______20 questions on them.
5. You will answer the questions _________ finding the information in the
museum.
6.__________answering all the questions correctly, you may win a prize.
Exercise E
Complete the rewritten facts about someone's job. Use in, with, by, or without
as needed.
1. My brother has a very interesting job.
My brother is a person_______
2. When he goes to work, he wears a uniform.
He goes to work_____________
3. He works for a company. It has about 50 employees.
He works for a company,__________________
4. He has an office. It has a view of the city.
He has an office________________________
5. Sometimes he works all day and he doesn't stop for lunch.
Sometimes he works all day_________________
6. My brother's job has a good salary.
My brother has a job______________
Prepositions of Time: at, in, on
We use:
• at for a precise time
• in for months, years, centuries and long periods
• on for days and dates
at in on
(precise time) (months, years, centuries (days and dates)
and long periods)
at 3 o'clock in May on Sunday
at 10.30 am in summer on Tuesdays
at noon in the morning on 6 March
at dinner time in 1990 on 25 December, 2010
at bed time in the evening on Eid Day
at sunrise in the next century on Independence Day
at night in the Ice Age on my birthday
at the moment in the past/future on New Year's Eve
Look at these examples:
• I have a meeting at 9 am.
• The shop closes at midnight.
• Jane went home at lunchtime.
• In England, it often snows in December.
• There would be a lot of progress in the next century.
• Do you work on Mondays?
• Her birthday is on 20 November.
• Where will you be on New Year's Day?
Notice the use of the preposition of time at in the following expressions:
Expression Example
at night The stars shine at night.
at the weekend I don't usually work at the weekend.
at Christmas/Easter I stay with my family at Christmas.
at the same time We finished the test at the same time.
at present He's not home at present.
Notice the use of the prepositions of time in and on in the following
expressions:
in on
in the morning on Tuesday morning
in the mornings on Saturday morning(s)
in the afternoon (s) on Sunday afternoon(s)
in the evening (s) on Monday evening(s)
When we say last, next, every, this we do not use at, in, on.
• Father went to London last June. (not in last June)
• He's coming back next Tuesday. (not on next Tuesday)
• We go to our village every Eid . (not at every Eid)
• We'll call you this evening. (not in this evening)
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