In the phrase "the book on the table" the prepositional phrase is "on the table." It tells us the location of  "the book."

• He walked through the park.

We use adverb phrases most commonly to modify verbs. In the examples the adverb phrases are in bold. The verbs that they modify are underlined:

Children grow up really quickly.

I exercise very regularly and I eat quite healthily.

Adverb + be

We use adverb phrases with be. This is especially typical of adverbs of place:

I’m upstairs. I’ll only be a minute.

A:

Have you seen my gloves?

B:

They’re right there, on the table.

Adverb + Adjective/Adverb

We use adverb phrases (adv) to modify adjectives and other adverbs:

I found it [ADV]extremely [adjective]difficult to talk to her.

He drives [ADV]really [ADV]carefully.

Here are a few bolded adjective phrases that serve this purpose:

• The horse’s large, menacing eyes said a fight was imminent. 

• Your cluttered ’90s-era living room badly needs an update. 

• I didn’t enjoy the book because it was too long and convoluted for me to follow.

premodifiers :

These parts of the noun phrase are called premodifiers because they go before the noun.

The order :

determiners / quantifier > number > adjectives + noun

examples

I’ve lived in a lot of houses.

postmodifiers :

Postmodifiers can be:

• prepositional phrases:

a man with a gun
the boy in the blue shirt
the house on the corner

• –ing phrases :

the man standing over there
the boy talking to Angela

• relative clauses :

the man we met yesterday
the house that Jack built
the woman who discovered radium
an eight-year-old boy who attempted to rob a sweet shop

• that clauses. These are very common after nouns like idea, fact, belief, suggestion:

He's still very fit, in spite of the fact that he's over eighty.
She got the idea that people didn't like her.
There was a suggestion that the children should be sent home.

• to infinitives :

I've got no decent shoes to wear.

These are very common after indefinite pronouns and adverbs:

You should take something to read.
I need somewhere to sleep.
 

There may be more than one postmodifier:

an eight-year old boy with a gun   who tried to rob a sweet shop
that girl over there   in a green dress   drinking a Coke

There are two types of infinitive clauses:

• To-infinitives

• Bare infinitives

Infinitive clause as a subject

To swim after a meal is always wrong.

as an object

I have decided to go to Iran for holidays.

as object complement

He asked me to help him.

as subject complement

I advised you to consult a lawyer at once.

Types :

1. Present participle clauses

2. Past participle clauses

3. Perfect participle clauses

Present participle clauses are used for :

• show that two actions are taking place simultaneously

• show that an action is the result of the other action

• indicate that an action is the reason of the other action

• provide additional information about the subject of the main clause

Past participle clauses are used for :

1. to shorten a passive clause

2. to show condition similar to an if condition

3. to give the reason for an action

4. to add extra information about the subject of the main clause

Perfect participle

'Perfect participle' clauses are used to indicate an action that was completed before the action in the main clause. 'Perfect participles' can be used to form either active or passive sentences.

example :

Whoever wrote the graffiti needs grammar lessons.

This sentence has two clauses: an independent clause and a noun clause. The noun clause is the phrase “whoever wrote the graffiti”; this group of words work together as a single noun and include both a subject (whoever) and a verb (wrote).

Noun clause examples

1. Noun clause examples: Subject

The subject is the person or thing that does the main action in a sentence. The subject usually comes at the beginning of a sentence.

Whoever wins the race gets the trophy.

Whichever you pick is fine with me.

2. Noun clause examples: Direct object

The direct object is the noun that receives the action of transitive verbs.

I couldn’t see whether it was day or night.

The chess player didn’t know if they could win.

3. Noun clause examples: Indirect object

In sentences with transitive verbs, indirect objects receive the direct object. They typically come between the verb and the direct object.

She told whoever would listen her sad story.

Look for open teammates; don’t just pass whoever is closest the ball.

4. Noun clause examples: Prepositional object

Nouns act as objects to prepositions like on, about, or for. Together the preposition and its object form a prepositional phrase.

Our suspect depends on who owns the murder weapon.

The people want to hear about why you’re running for congress.

5. Noun clause examples: Predicate nominative

Predicate nominatives are nouns that follow linking verbs like be or seem. Instead of describing an action like other verbs, linking verbs describe the subject—the action is simply existing.

Is this what you wanted?

His reason for being late was that his cat got sick.

Keep in mind the relative pronoun that is often optional and can be removed from a sentence. In the next example, it is still assumed but not stated.

His reason for being late was his cat got sick.

See how adverbial clauses and adverbs compare in these examples:

• He bakes cakes weekly.

• He bakes cakes before he leaves for work every Sunday.

• Eagerly, my brother agreed to the business proposal. 

• As dollar signs flashed in his eyes, my brother agreed to the business proposal.

Here are a few examples of adverbial phrases: 

• Andrei eats his lunch with gusto.

• We thought, through logic, that the next bus would come at 3:10.

And here are similar examples of adverbial clauses: 

• Andrei eats his lunch faster than everyone else eats.

• We thought, because the bus has been so predictable lately, that the next one would come at 3:10.

Types

manner - She addressed the crowd as she had practiced in the mirror.

place - My son told me another fight broke out where he eats lunch at school.

condition - We’ll be sitting in the conference room until they tell us to leave.

reason - We adopted these two cats because they are a bonded pair.

time - Before she got home, she called and ordered a pizza.

purpose - We studied all night so we would pass the exam.

Lord Thompson, who is 76, has just retired.
This is the house which Jack built.
Marie Curie is the woman that discovered radium.

We use:

• who and whom for people

• which for things

• that for people or things.

1.  We use relative clauses to make clear which person or thing we are talking about:

Marie Curie is the woman who discovered radium.
This is the house which Jack built.

In this kind of relative clause, we can use thatinstead of who or which:

Marie Curie is the woman that discovered radium.
This is the house that Jack built.

We also use relative clauses to give more information about a person, thing or situation:

Lord Thompson, who is 76, has just retired.
We had fish and chips, which I always enjoy.
I met Rebecca in town yesterday, which was a nice surprise.

With this kind of relative clause, we use commas (,) to separate it from the rest of the sentence.

whose and whom

We use whose as the possessive form of who:

This is George, whose brother went to school with me.

We sometimes use whom as the object of a verb or preposition:

This is George, whom you met at our house last year.
(whom is the object of met)

Relative pronouns with prepositions

When who(m) or which have a preposition, the preposition can come at the beginning of the clause:

I had an uncle in Germany, from who(m)I inherited a bit of money.
We bought a chainsaw, with which we cut up all the wood.

or at the end of the clause:

I had an uncle in Germany, who(m) I inherited a bit of money from.
We bought a chainsaw, which we cut all the wood up with.

when and where

We can use when with times and where with places to make it clear which time or placewe are talking about:

England won the World Cup in 1966. It was the year when we got married.
I remember my twentieth birthday. It was the day when the tsunami happened.

– A statement is a sentence that provides information, expresses a fact, or conveys an idea.

– Example: "The sun rises in the east."

– A question is a sentence that seeks information or asks for clarification. It often begins with a question word (who, what, when, where, why, how) or an auxiliary verb.

– Example: "Where is the nearest grocery store?"

– A request is a sentence that asks someone to do something or asks for something to be done. It often uses polite language.

– Example: "Could you please pass me the salt?"

– A suggestion is a sentence that offers advice or recommends a course of action. It's often more polite and less direct than a command.

– Example: "Why don't we try the new Italian restaurant for dinner?"

– Advice is a recommendation or guidance given to help someone make a decision or take a specific action.

– Example: "You should start exercising regularly for better health."

“I’m thinking of going to Thailand next week,” she said.

“I will probably do it tonight,” I told her.

Reported speech is when we tell someone what another person said. To do this, we can use direct speech or indirect speech.

direct speech: 'I work in a bank,' said Daniel.
indirect speech: Daniel said that he worked in a bank.

Present simple, present continuous and present perfect

When we backshift, present simple changes to past simple, present continuous changes to past continuous and present perfect changes to past perfect.

'I travel a lot in my job.'

• Jamila said that she travelled a lot in her job.

'The baby's sleeping!'

• He told me the baby was sleeping.

'I've hurt my leg.'

• She said she'd hurt her leg.

Past simple and past continuous

When we backshift, past simple usually changes to past perfect simple, and past continuous usually changes to past perfect continuous.

'We lived in China for five years.'

• She told me they'd lived in China for five years.

'It was raining all day.'

• He told me it had been raining all day.

Past perfect

The past perfect doesn't change.

'I'd tried everything without success, but this new medicine is great.'

• He said he'd tried everything without success, but the new medicine was great.

No backshift

If what the speaker has said is still true or relevant, it's not always necessary to change the tense. This might happen when the speaker has used a present tense.

'I go to the gym next to your house.'

• Jenny told me that she goes to the gym next to my house. I'm thinking about going with her.

Pronouns, demonstratives and adverbs of time and place

Pronouns also usually change in indirect speech.

'I enjoy working in my garden,' said Bob.

• Bob said that he enjoyed working in his garden.

We also change demonstratives and adverbs of time and place if they are no longer accurate.

'This is my house.'

• He said this was his house. [You are currently in front of the house.]

• He said that was his house. [You are not currently in front of the house.]

In yes/no questions, we use if or whether to report the question. If is more common.

'Are you going to the Helsinki conference?'

• He asked me if I was going to the Helsinki conference.

Questions with a question word

In what, where, why, who, when or howquestions, we use the question word to report the question.

'What time does the train leave?'

• He asked me what time the train left.

Reporting verbs

The most common reporting verb for questions is ask, but we can also use verbs like enquire, want to know or wonder.

'Did you bring your passports?'

• She wanted to know if they'd brought their passports.

Offers, requests and suggestions

If the question is making an offer, request or suggestion, we can use a specific verb pattern instead, for example offer + infinitive, ask + infinitive or suggest + ing.

'Would you like me to help you?'

• He offered to help me.

Notes from TSLB 1104

Intransitive Verb

• an intransitive verb is a verb that does not require a direct object to

complete its meaning in a sentence.

• an intransitive verb expresses an action or state of being that does

not act upon a direct object. The action or state is complete without

the need for something or someone to receive the action.

Example -

1. She dances.

2. He sings.

3. They stutter.

4. I write.

Simple Past tense

1. Liam drank beer.

2. Marie ate pasta.

Simple Present tense

1. I kick the ball.

2. They grow plants.

Future Tense

1. I will pick the flowers.

2. She will drink her hot chocolate.

Examples: jumped yesterday, talks fast, sings loud, very pretty, luckily for us

• Maria laughs loudly.

• The dog jumps high.

• Apples are everywhere.

TSLB 1104

• She runs quickly.

• They speak softly.

• He works diligently.

• The students listen attentively.

• We play tennis every weekend.

• The birds sing at dawn.

• I studied French intensively.

• They laughed at the joke.

• The train arrived late.

• She writes passionately.

Examples of linking verbs include "be," "become," "seem," "appear," and "feel." These verbs do not show action but instead connect the subject to the subject complement. For instance, in the sentence, "He is a doctor," the linking verb "is" connects the subject "he" to the subject complement "doctor."

Here are some examples of subject complement in sentences:

• She became a lawyer. (Predicate Nominative)

• The flowers smell wonderful. (Predicate Adjective)

• He looks tired. (Predicate Adjective)

• The cake tastes delicious. (Predicate Adjective)

• The book is heavy. (Predicate Adjective)

• She seems happy. (Predicate Adjective)

• My sister became a doctor. (Predicate Nominative)

• The sky looks beautiful tonight.(Predicate Adjective)

Predicate Nominative

A predicate nominative is a noun/pronoun which follows our linking verb and renames or identifies the subject.

Predicate Adjective

A predicate adjective comes after linking verbs and describes our subject. It is called "predicate" because it comes after the verb, and "adjective" because it is an adjective.

She considers him a friend.

We found the house empty.

He painted the wall green.

That case made the lawyer famous.