We invite our students to print this grammar section to and do at least one colour-coding exercise for each chapter of the intermediate course. We also would like students to practise titles, captions, lists, basic sentences, basic sentences with attribute, basic sentences with circumstantial complements, basic sentence with direct object complement as well as complex sentences bound with a conjuction. Try to use one of each of these types of sentences when doing the summary exercise. Also look up the plural and feminine form (if they exist) of the words you pick for each intermediate chapter. Do not learn this page by heart, you just need to know how to use it. Go through the grammar section before every chapter from the intermediate course.

types of words in a sentence, colour-coding exercise template,
verb dictionary. root of words with prefix and or suffix, types of prepositions (static locative, or moving locative), definition of an intransitive verb.

Article

an article is a small word that tells you how many units of noun there are, and what gender the noun is. Numbers and portions can be used as articles.

A noun

A noun is a word to name a person, a place or thing.

Common nouns are the names for things we can see and touch. Abstract nouns are the names for things we cannot see and touch.

Proper nouns are the special names, used for a person, a place or a thing. A proper noun starts with a capital letter.

Pronoun

a pronoun is a word that can take the place of a noun.

"Thing" and "person" and "location" are not exactly pronouns because they need an article you can use them to replace a noun if you can't remember its name but do not forget

Adjectives

an adjective is a word that describes a noun or a pronoun. It can also describe who the noun or the pronoun belongs to or how many there are.

Verb

A verb is a word that is used to tell what a person or thing does. Verbs change according to who is involved. Verbs change according to when they take place.

Adverb

An adverb is a word that describes a verb. Usually it describes how, where, when or how often it happens.

Preposition

A preposition is a word that links one noun or a pronoun to another one. Prepositions often describe where someone or something is, or where it is moving towards, or where it is moving towards.

Or

a particle that you can find after a verb that changes its meaning.

Conjunction

A conjunction is a word to join two parts of sentences or two words together. Conjunctions are used when you want to make lists, or comparisons, or explain things with two sentences.

Expressions and proverbs

An expression is a group of words that never changes. A proverb is a sentence that never changes. A quote is a group of words that someone has used before and you need put them into "...." . An interjection is a single word expression and it doesn't need a full sentence.

Punctuation

The punctuation are symbols that help understand the sentence. A sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop. If you want to mark a pause within the sentence, you can use a comma. If you want to write down a quote, you need to put it in between expression marks. If your sentence is not finished you use suspension. If you want to join two sentences together without a conjunction, you have use a semi-colon or a -, . If you want to show something, you need to use colon : and if you have words that do not fit into the sentence but you want them here, you need brackets ( ...) .

You can use square brackets if you are not sure how a word is written ->[ ...]. If during translation you have missing words you can use [...] as well.

And you use double dash /..../ if you want to show how a word is pronounced.

you can print/copy this text, spot the different types of words and highlight them with colour (either colouring pencil or the colour option from your computer).   We recommend this exercise for beginners and learners, this will help you understand a text in your foreign language.

Maintenant, vous pouvez imprimer/copier ce texte, repérer les différents types de mots et les accentuer avec de la couleur (crayon de couleur ou l'option couleur sur votre ordinateur). Nous recommandons cet exercice aux (= à les) étudiants et débutants. Il vous aidera à comprendre un texte dans votre langue étrangère.

Jetzt können Sie diesen Text drucken/kopieren, die verschiedenen Arten von Wörtern erkennen und sie mit Farbe (entweder Farbstiften oder der Farbenwahl von Ihrem Computer) hervorheben. Wir empfehlen diese Übung für Anfänger und Erlerner: diese wird Ihnen helfen, einen Text in Ihrer Fremdsprache zu verstehen.

Many words are derived from basic words. Therefore if you remember the basic word and then you know how to change the basic (root) to form another word, it can be helpful. This means, that you don't need too many words to express yourself if you are familiar with word structures.

Prefix:
if you see a word like "neo-conservative" and you know what is meant as "conservative", then all you need to know is what "neo" means rather than looking for the whole word in the dictionary. In this example the term means a new conservative

these little particles in front of a root are called prefix.

here are the most common ones:

a- or ab- , in- im- = changes the meaning of root to the opposite. --> atheist ---> not a theist (theist = believer in god)
intolerant (tolerant) --> not tolerant
ante: before , pre- : before
ante-natal clinic :---> natal = related to birth ---> a clinic for people before birth
pre-op : (op = short for surgical operation) --> before operation
anti- : against
anti-social (social related to society in general or human in society) --> against society, against social activity
de-, un- : dismantle
de-clutter (clutter means "a lot of stuff) --> to de-clutter means to get rid of the lot of stuff.
to undo --> to do ---> undo means the dismantling what has been done. (to undo a knot)
bio- (related to biology or living organisms)
bio-chemistry --> chemistry --> study of living organisms in chemistry
post- (after)
post-modern (modern) after the modern
post-war (war) after the war
inter- (between)
international (national) between the nations
circum-: (movement around)
circumnavigate: (navigate) navigate around the world
physio (related to the body)
physiotherapy (therapy) therapy to the body
tele- : remote
television: (vision) something you see that come from a remote place
telecommunication: communications from a remote place
trans- (across)
transgender : across the genders
transmission: broadcast across the waves
translation: from one language across to the other language

The good news is that if you are learning a latin based language or dealing with sciences and medicine, these prefixes are going to be very much the same.

some don't change the meaning, knowing them may help to improve spelling and pronunciation, and they give hint on the syntax.

-ation --> nation, consolation, deprivation, pronunciation, attention (if the language you are translating is a latin based one, then it is highly likely that most of these word will look very similar in the other language), these -ation words are very easy to translate. You also need to know that most of these are abstract words (you can take a picture of them)
-ity --> quality, quantity, entity, modernity
same as with -ation words, most words with -ity are likely to look the very similar in the other language. (most likely to be an abstract noun)
-ly --> in English this ending/suffix means that the word you are reading is highly likely to be an adverb (if the root looks like an adjective --> adjective: slow, adverb: slowly) ,  Find out its equivalent in the other language, and this might help you.
-ful --> In English, this means that the root is a unit for something or full with something. Find its equivalent in the target language and again you should get some benefits.
a spoonful --> either the spoon is full with something or you are asked to measure something by filling one spoon.

There you go, I hope this section was a bit helpful. Remember learning languages is not pure science so consider many things I give you as handy tips.

many modern words are formed using morphonology.

a new word that is not (yet) in the dictionary is a neologism (logos --> word) or a buzzword (if lots of people start using it). ex: to twitter (sending a message via the Twitter website)

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11) Prepositions

  locative preposition

on
by
with
to
since
of
between
from

these are the trickiest ones because in some languages they change the "grammatical case of a sentence" (there are some latin and germanic based languages which use grammar cases) so watch those. You need to keep an eye if you locative preposition indicates a static position or if there is movement involved. If you are not translating into a case based language, then you are a lucky one.

locative prepositions are not too difficult is you remember that they indicate a position in time or space, or a movement in time or space, or a sense of belonging

static (no movement)
the cat sits on the table
the table is by the door (near the door)
a guitar with a guitar strap (a guitar and a strap that belongs to it)
He talks to me. (i am the person who is having a conversation with him)
He has lived here since 1954 (indicates when he moved here)
The king of pop (of indicated what he is king of)
The red car is between the black car and the blue one (you should be able to find it)
he is from Sierra Leone (he was born there/or he lived there)

moving locative preposition

away
off
into
onto
forward
backward
sideways
up and down
up
down
to the right
to the left


he is running away (from A to B)
he is getting off the train (from the train to the platform)
the cat jumps into the box (from outside the box into the box)
the cat jumps onto the box (from somewhere he jumps on top of the box)
he moves forward (he makes steps in front of him)
he moves backwards (he makes steps without facing the direction he is walking to)
he is moving sideways (he walks to the side without facing the direction he is walking to)
he is moving up: from a lower position to a higher one
he is moving down : from a higher position to a lower one.

FOR
it is used for various uses
for can mean: an intended recipient. it is a present for my friend
it can mean: a reason . For I am a reasonable chap (old fashioned sense means because I am a reasonable chap).


PREPOSITIONS THAT ARE ATTACHED TO VERBS
an intransitive verb has a preposition attached to it. Your dictionary will tell you if a verb is intransitive and which preposition is attached to it.

in English, a preposition can change the meaning of a verb, again, your dictionary should tell you about the different meaning. Treat each meaning as a different word and don't forget to write them down.

I would say that is just about enough basic knowledge you need for the prepositions and grammar at intermediate level. The main thing to know is to keep your sentences clear and simple until you are familiar, then you can start experimenting with the various grammatical structures. A clear sentence should not have more than 10 words (unless there is a list in it).

you can practise on the sentences in our articles and/or your reading material.

 same. There are many many more but you have your work cut out with those.

(structure of the words part 2, endings, plural, feminine form, verb, conjugation, structure of sentences: one word sentence, titles, captions, lists, basic sentence, basic sentence with attribute, basic sentence with circumstantial complement, basic sentence with direct object complement, basic sentence with indirect object complement, complex sentences bound by conjunction




endings for verbs and nouns

conjugated endings (verbs)
as we saw in the verb section, the conjugaison is all about adding an ending to a root to signify who does the action and when the action happened. for these I'll refer to what is known as conjugaison table in your grammar section. Take note that there are regular and irregular verbs and nouns. On our e-cards, we state the irregular past particle when applicable.

conjugaison: ROOT (of verb) + ENDING (signifying subject and time)
we have three variations of verb endings that may prove handy
1) the infinitive (that's what's given in the dictionary) in English it's TO+ROOT (to do)
2) the past participle ( to pass -> passed , to do ---> done)
in English it's relatively easy, either add: ROOT + -ed  but look up for the irregular forms
3) the gerund  - very easy to do --> in English it's:  ROOT + -ing  --> doing

plural and feminine forms of noun
here the root is the basic form of the noun as given in the dictionary (most nouns will be given in the singular and masculine form)


the noun may change according to number and gender. The english language doesn't bother with gender but other languages are not as cosy. Again you will have to check out your grammar to see what endings apply.

1) Plural:
most of the time you add an "S" to the root. --> 1 cat / 2 cats (CAT+S)
again there may be some exceptions, take note of those.
1 man --> 2 men
if you know for example that workman is derived from the root "man", then it becomes easy to form the plural: workmen. On our e-cards, we state irregular plurals when applicable.

you may come accross a plural where an S is replaced by a Z --> catz (cat-Z) it's not the regular plural but more a dialect form/urban language).

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this section will help you build sentences of your own. For people who are learning a "case based" language (eg. German), you may find some comments in here quite handy.


it's a quote by a French guy called Vauvenargues. He is well known for it, very few people know who he is. He brings the whole business straight to the point.

If you want to express yourself, you want to be as clear as possible.

if you imagine that the words you learnt so far plus some bits and bob called "punctuation" are part of a construction kit, and you want to create a complete object. Let's imagine we would like to build a train from the kit pieces that we have...

then let's get started!

A train consists of an engine, energy supply and waggons which are all linked and run smoothly. A train is an articulated entity. Same as a train, a sentence is an articulated entity because this is all about linking word structures in order to form an articulated language entity. All we need to know now, is how to link our various components from the kit and what to put on the waggons. Everything we load into this entity is a piece of information, and together they give the sentence a meaning. info+info+info+info = meaning

1) one word/sign sentence .
a one word sentence is given as a reply to another sentence or bits of conversation.
Yes. No. , 1. 2. 3. Perhaps. Red.
are all examples of one word sentences.
It you write it down as a sentence, you need to start with a CAPITAL letter and end with a full stop: .

Yes. ---> this is a one word sentence.
The rule of capital letters does not apply to pictures, graphics, emoticons and numbers.


No full stop after pictures and emoticons.

You can write everything in small letters if you are writing a draft, or in a style that does not use capital letters.

2) Titles, Captions and Lists


a child with a trainset
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Titles, captions and expressions are a group of words. A title usually headlines something, a caption usually describes a picture and an _expression is a group of word that is quoted or used in general vocabulary.

A title does not use a full stop, but you should start all the nouns with a Capital letter.
ex: Titles, Captions, Lists


Caption:
a caption is anything descriptive and accompanies a picture, or a graphic

_> a child with a trainset

In printed media, you may find the caption written in a smaller size and perhaps in italic. However, you are free do improvise the best caption.

List
a list is a sequence of words, or expressions, or numbers, or pictures, or graphics, or whatever. You can separate each single item with punctuation (comma ,), numbers, signs (bullets, +). Usually, if you separate the items with a comma, then before the last one you add "and" or "or". This is not compulsory. If your list goes on and on then you can leave suspension marks (...) A list is introduced by ":"

The Tears: Here come The Tears: Refugees, Autograph, Co-Star, Imperfection (....) A love as strong as Death.

or
The Tears: Here come The Tears:
Refugees, Autograph, Co-Star ...

or
The Tears: Here come The Tears
1) Refugees
2) Autograph
3) Co Star
...

3) Expressions/Quotes/Brackets/Proverbs

"Keep off the grass". He said: "Red". "Time is money".

Postmodern philosopher Jacques Derrida said that he believed everything we say is a quote and that we have nothing original to say.
Postmodern philosopher Jacques Derrida said: "I believe everything we say is a quote and that we have nothing original to say.".
(apologies because I don't know the exact quote).

If you don't know where to put an additional but not too relevant piece of information in your sentence, then you can use a bracket:
The cat is in the kitchen. (the black cat)
or you can use a more modern: -
the cat - black - is in the kitchen.

For learners, brackets can also be handy if you are not sure about the conjugaison of the verb. I (to go - past tense) to the shop. This way you don't lose what you wanted to express in the first place. It's not perfect but it's a great help. If you are not sure about how a word is spelt you can have a bracket like this: (?) beautifull (?) (?) also says that you who is writing this sentence may not know what this word means. Therefore someone who will read it will be able to correct you.

(!) means: "I find this funny".
(sic) means: "Ironic"

Not all sentences end with full stop. Some of them end with ... (incomplete), or ? (question) or ! (exclamation)

4) basic sentence

the basic sentence is the subject and the verb. The equivalent to the trainset is the engine that you get moving.

For those who study a language that is "case based" (eg German), the subject is known as "nominative". Every word in the dictionary is given in the nominative form.

(capital letter) SUBJECT+VERB (full stop), (suspension points), (exclamation marks).

If you end your sentence with a question mark : ? then check out if the position of SUBJECT and VERB are affected. (cf grammar rule).

The SUBJECT is:
Name
or (nominative) Pronoun
or (nominative)Article + noun
or Article+adjective+noun

Most sentences like this do not give much information. You only get to know who and what kind of action is involved.

He runs.

Basic sentence plus expressions/List/quotes/brackets/proverbs

SUBJECT+VERB+ : expressions/List/quotes/brackets/proverbs

The songs are: "Refugees", "The Ghost of You"...

5) Basic sentence plus adjective attribute/circumstancial complements

an attribute is an adjective or any kind of description. Attributes are always in the nominative form and basically mean "=" or ":". Such sentences are easy to construct.

This sentence means nothing. (sentence = nothing to me)
The cat is black (the cat: black. It's a black cat)
You are welcome to add as many attributes you want.
The cat is black, old, tame and mine .
The man is a long-distance runner and a British champion.

Circumstancial complements
Circumstancial complements give us a clue about time, manner and location. They are placed either at the beginning of the sentence or at the end.

Circumstancial complement (comma), +subject+verb.
Subject+Verb+attribute+(comma)+circumstancial

In the old days, he said: "nothing like a good log fire". (In the old days is circumstancial of time) usually time information (when) are at the front of the sentence.

He spoke in a kind manner. ("in a kind manner" is a circumstancial of manner, and answers the question: how)

In London, he felt fine. He lives in London.
("in london" is circumstancial of location)

the only exception to this is if your circumstancial information is an adverb, you can build a structure like this:
Subject+Adverb+Verb or Subject+verb+adverb
I really do. ("really" is an adverb and puts an emphasis on "I do", hence it answers the question "how"?)

6) basic sentece with direct object complements
they answer the questions "what" and/or "whom". They are not the subject of the sentence. In a case based language a direct object complement is known as "accusative" (the grammar will tell you how to alter the spelling of the words accordingly).

In English, there are no worries about changing the spelling. The only thing you have to worry about it to remember to place the direct object complement directly after the verb. Any circumstancial complement (see above) is relegated after it or in front of the sentence. Do not worry, there is no chance you will have attribute and direct object complement in the same sentence because these attributes are only introduced by TO BE or TO FEEL, TO SEEM, TO MEAN,

I have a cat means : "I" is in the possession of a cat.
I give a present means: "I" is in the process of giving something.
you can make your direct complement as simple or complex as you want.
I have a cat which is black. (= I have a cat and the cat is black)
I have a cat, a dog, a rabbit, a horse... (list)
The owner of the castle owns 15.000 acres of land.

7) Indirect object complement.
this one is a bit of a baddie. First of all he may demands either a  dativ case or an accusative case (if you learn a case based language), then he fiddles about with prepositions, and then queries his position in the sentence. Get to know him better, and he might be less of a bother and fulfill his purpose to give answers about "whom" and "what"

SUBJECT+VERB+DIRECT OBJECT COMPLEMENT+INDIRECT OBJECT COMPLEMENT.

Any circumstancial complement gets relegated to the front or to the very end of the sentence.

Yesterday, he gave a present to his brother.
a present: direct object complement
to his brother: indirect object complement.
he: subject
gave: past form of verb "to give"
yesterday: circumstancial complement of time.

propositions are coming after the next segment.

8) joining sentences/complex sentences
A simple sentence has one verb in it. A complex sentence can have more than one verb.
For example you can do a list of actions: .
He runs, walks. jumps, falls....
(rules for lists apply)

you can use a verb in a subordinate way. (within the subject or a complement)
The cat, which is black, ran away.
("which is black" is subordinate to the subject and fulfills the role of an adjective). Do not forget the commas: one before the subordinate starts and one after the subordinate stops.

I found the reason why he left town. (He left town. I found out the reason why he did that)
I discovered a treasure that was buried in a field (the treasure was buried in a field. I discovered the treasure).
I met a man who said he knows your mother. (A man knows your mother. I met him. He told me that he knows your mother.)
etc

The cat is black - the dog is white
you can link two different sentences with a ; or a coordination conjunction (but, however, or, and, therefore, because, either... or, neither... nor) or with a "-"
The cat is black; the dog is brown.
The cat is black and the dog is brown.
The cat is black - the dog is brown

10) Paragraph
Sentences are arranged in a paragraph. If you feel like you have written enough sentences to give the paragraph a meaning of its own, then you can start another one. Simple rules to make texts easy to understand are: keep most sentences to 10 words maximum, and do not put more than 5 small sentences (or 3 long ones) in a paragraph.

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c) DKav/zebras54 2002-2010 "morpho-phonology" "morpho-syntax" terms 1989 University of Montpellier France Languages LEA