Verb+al=Verbal/Verbal Phrase

Verbal/Verbal Phrases

Participle

Just so you won't strain your brain too much, we'll call "traveling in Italy" a participial phrase and later we'll find out how it can also be used as a gerund and an infinitive. But, do remember that you can have a phrase within a phrase. A participial phrase is a participle and all the words that relate to it. The words associated with the participle can be nouns or modifiers. Participle phrases can function as adjectives or adverbs.
Participle: verb + ending (ing, -en, -ed, -t) that acts like a modifier.

Participle phrases can usually be deleted from the sentence without destroying the sentence. Let's look at that sentence again:
"My friends traveling in Italy feared earthquakes. "
What's the main verb ............ Right, "feared." Now, travel can be used as a verb and it does have an ending (ing), but do not jump to conclusions and say that it must be participle--yet. Can the participle phrase "traveling in Italy" be deleted?............ yes. You would then have "My friends feared earthquakes." Can the participle phrase be moved around? "Traveling in Italy, my friends feared earthquakes is ok." "My friends feared earthquakes traveling in Italy" is grammatically correct, but it is wrong because it indicates that earthquakes are on a tour bus( or something like that) traveling around in Italy and we logically know that earthquakes can't be on buses. But, the phrase does fulfill three of the tests for a participle phrase: verb with an ending, can be deleted, can be moved, somewhat.

Find the participle phrase in these sentences:
Destroying many crops of corn and oats, storms lashed the Midwest (Are there any phrases within phrases?)
The bridge, covered with ice, was dangerous.

Underline the participle and the participial phrase (the participle and the words associated with it) in the following paragraph:
Walking through the woods, Jack was terrified, The path, streaked with shadows, was narrow and spooky. Worried about the approaching dark, Jack lost all track of where he was. Suddenly, he heard a strange noise coming from his left. Creeping toward the spot, he wondered what it might be. The moon loomed large and bright as Jack pushed a veil of ferns aside. What he saw made his heart race.
Gerunds
Gerunds: students tend to get gerunds and participles confused but they are really very easy to tell apart. Gerunds are verbs that ALWAYS end in "-ing" and act like NOUNS, and since they act like nouns, they can't be deleted or moved. (Sometimes you will encounter gerunds that can be moved--nothing is foolproof-- and gerunds acting as appositive can be deleted, but that structure is very unusual).

Let's go back to our Italy sentence: What is one way you could turn "travel" into a gerund? Here is one possibility: "Traveling in Italy caused my friends to fear earthquakes." What is the gerund? __________ Right. "Traveling" is the gerund, and the gerund phrase is "Traveling in Italy."

What is the gerund phrase acting as? __________ A noun. And this noun is the __________ of the sentence. Can the gerund phrase be deleted? "...caused my friends to fear earthquakes"--is that a sentence? __________ Can it be moved around? __________ "Caused my friends to fear earthquakes traveling in Italy?" (Again, a crazy sentence since earthquakes don't travel) So, it must be a gerund.

Look at these sentences and find the gerunds. "His winning the game caused singing in the streets." The gerunds are __________and __________. "Winning the game" is functioning as the __________and "singing in the streets" is functioning as the __________Check out this sentence: "He caused confusion by changing lanes." The gerund is __________and it is acting as the object of a preposition and that preposition is" by. "

Find the gerunds in this paragraph:
Finding a job was not going to be easy. Mary decided to take inventory of the things she could do. In despair, she concluded that reading books, writing papers, taking notes, and listening to lectures, had not at all prepared her for supporting herself
There are six gerund phrases here. Be careful not to get gerunds confused with participles and parts of the predicate remember--gerunds act as nouns, can't be deleted or moved. Do the "who/what" check to find out if a verb is functioning as a predicate.
Joe walked along the path talking to himself and before too long he had wandered across the old swimming hole, and there he decided to sit down and to rest his aching bones. Swimming was his favorite sport but he didn't like to swim in icy water and he especially didn't like to swim in a river that was strewn with broken beer bottles and rusty tin cans.
List all the prepositional phrases, gerund phrases, and participial phrases in the above paragraph. And see if you can figure out what they are functioning as. Remember to apply the various tests that we have studied.
Infinitive Phrase
An infinitive phrase is composed of an infinitive, its object (if there is one) and modifiers. Infinitive phrases function as modifiers or subjects or objects. (Infinitive: An infinitive is composed of the word "to" immediately followed by a verb, to+verb.) This verb will have no endings of any kind; it is the base form of the verb, ("to kill", "to see," "to be," "to love," etc.) Any infinitive phrase can perform almost any function except that of a Predicate.

Underline the infinitives in this sentence: "To return home seemed the only way to please his parents." Try this one: "To find the answer Joe went to town." If you underlined "to town" as an infinitive you have just made the most common error associated with infinitives; you have mistaken a prepositional phrase for an infinitive. Remember: prepositional phrase= preposition + (art) + (adj) + noun. So if the word sitting to the right of the to is a noun, adjective, or article, then you have a prepositional phrase and not an infinitive Infinitive phrase= to + verb (no endings). Find the infinitives in the following sentences:
1. Language to suit the occasion is very important.
2. To see her was his only ambition.
3. He decided to buy the car at any cost.
In S1 "to suit the occasion" modifies "language" so it is acting like an ________. In S2 "to see her" is acting as the subject so this infinitive phrase is acting as ________. In S2 "to see her" is acting like a ________. In S3" to buy a car" is acting as the ________ and is acting as a ________.
Find the infinitives in the following paragraph.
For as long as he could recall, Tom had always wanted to go to the big city. He had waited for years to see his dream come true. Finally he had decided to leave home, to go to the city, and to try a new life on his own.

(There are five infinitive phrases) List the prepositional phrases:

(http://www.southwesterncc.edu/bobh/P&CWRK.htm)

Modifying Using Clauses

Adverbial Clauses

Adverbial clauses are dependent clauses that modify verbs and verb phrases. Adverbial clauses answer questions about the verb phrase that relate to time, location, purpose, and condition. When teaching students to identify adverbial clauses, you should ask them to consider what kinds of questions the clause answers. If the clause they are tying to identify answers the question "why?", "when?", "where?", "to what degree?", or "under what conditions?" then it is an adverbial clause. Consider the following examples of adverbial clauses:

The hostess wouldn't seat us because the restaurant was closed.

The clause because the restaurant was closed answers questions about why the hostess wouldn't seat us.

The seeds will take root wherever there is enough light.

In this example, wherever there is enough light is an adverbial clause because it specifies where the seeds will take root.

Sean will come to your party if you promise to let his band play.

The adverbial clause if you promise to let my band play clarifies the conditions under which Sean will come to the party.
Subordinate Conjunctions

As you can see from the above examples, in most situations, adverbial clauses can be identified by the words or phrases that introduce them. Known as subordinating conjunctions, these words and phrases signify time, cause and effect, opposition and condition. If students can identify the following list of subordinate conjunctions, they will be well equipped to identify adverbial clauses in sentences:

afteralthoughasbecausebeforeeven ifeven thoughifin order thatonceprovided thatrather thansinceso thatthanthatthoughunlessuntilwhenwheneverwherewhereaswhereverwhetherwhilewhy
Adverbial Clauses are Movable

Another useful tool to employ when teaching adverbial and adjective clauses to students is to demonstrate how adverbial clauses are more easily movable within sentences than adjective clauses. The following examples from above can be restructured and still be grammatical:

* The hostess wouldn't seat us because the restaurant was closed.
* Because the restaurant was closed, the hostess wouldn't seat us.
* The seeds will take root wherever there is enough light.
* Wherever there is enough light, the seeds will take root.

It is important to note that when an adverbial clause precedes the sentence's independent clause, it is always separated with a comma.
Adjective Clauses

Adjective clauses are dependent clauses that modify nouns or pronouns. Much like adverbial clauses, students who are trying to identify adjective clauses should try to determine what kinds of questions the clause in questions answers. Adjective clauses clarify the noun or noun phrase by answering questions about "which?" or "what type of?"

* The guitar, which was the one Elvis used to own, was found at a garage sale.
* Whitey broke the law which lead to his incarceration.
* Jeremy, who won the lottery, now lives in Malibu.

In these examples, the adjective clauses provide information that answers the question of "which."

Unlike adverbial clauses, adjective clauses typically can't be moved without constructing sentences that are ungrammatical.

* Which was the one Elvis used to own the guitar was found at a garage sale.
* The guitar was found at a garage sale which was the one Elvis used to own.

Neither sentence above makes grammatical sense when the adjective clause is moved. This is a useful fact to consider when teaching students how to determine if a clause is an adverbial clause or an adjective clause. If the sentence ceases to make sense when the clause is moved, it is more likely an adjective clause rather than an adverbial clause.
Relative Pronouns

Adjective clauses are typically introduced by relative pronouns. The most common relative pronouns are as follows:

whowhomwhosewhomeverwhoeverwhicheverthatwhichwhatwhatever
Teaching Adverbial and Adjective Clauses to Students

Students should first understand the different functions of adverbial and adjective clauses. Adverbial clauses modify verbs and verb phrases and answer questions such as "why?", "when?", "where?", "to what degree?", or "under what conditions?" Adjective clauses modify nouns and noun phrases and answer questions such as "which?" or "what type of?"

Adverbial clauses are typically introduced by subordinate conjunctions and adjective clauses are usually introduced by relative pronouns. Being able to identify these conjunctions and pronouns will assist students in recognizing adverbial and adjective clauses.

A final test students can use is to try to move the clause in question to another place in the sentence. Adverbial clauses are typically movable, whereas adjective clauses are rarely movable without creating an ungrammatical sentence.

(http://www.yourdictionary.com/dictionary-articles/Teaching-Adverbial-and-Adjective-Clauses.html)

Identifying Adjectives

Attention SSPII-1 Students

ASSIGNMENT

TO BE ANSWERED IN YOUR ASSIGNMENT NOTEBOOK

Directions: Give the adjectives you find in each sentence.

1. Alyssa is excited about going to her new school.
2. Anna lost her new job after working there for only two months.
3. It's not easy to develop such a good memory.
4. That bird has colorful feathers.
5. It is too cold to go swimming.
6. Three students were absent from class today.
7. Do you think that movie will be good?

Thank you and God bless you...

Be A Grammarian!

Good Day ENGLISH ENTHUSIASTS!!!

English, as a universal language back in the 20th century, has flourished the entire world. In the Philippine setting, most of us, Filipinos, are fond of criticizing those who use wrong grammar in English, the fact that we are not native speakers of the language. However, we are using it. So, there is a need for us to use it correctly to change the negative effect of using "carabao english", in which others are using.

On the other hand, to all my students, I really appreciate your effort and time in reading my blog. Here is another challenge for you all. Be a grammarian! To test your English grammar, please click here for Round 1 of Grammar test. Thank you.

Video on Vocabulary

here is a video on english vocabulary:
Video 1

Context Clues

I. Objectives : Get meanings of words using context clues.
II. Content : Context Clues
III. Materials : laptop / personal computer
IV. Strategies : (4 A’s)

Activities:

1. For an introduction to context clues, click here:

2. Go through the slide show and do all three activities. For more practice

with context clues, click this link.

Read, answer the questions, and check your answers.

Analysis:
How do you find activities?
What do you think is the most essential skill to answer the activity?

Abstraction:
Asking the students what context clues are.

Application:

Now that you have learned to be more aware of the words around unfamiliar

words and to use them as clues to find the meanings of unfamiliar words, you

are mastering the skill of context clues. Pay attention as you read and see

how often you use this skill.

For a test, click here:

English Vocabulary Quest

The Underestimated Importance of Vocabulary in the Foreign Language Classroom
By Keith S. Folse, Coordinator of TESOL Programs, University of Central Florida[Non-copyright article reproduced here from CLEAR News 8:2. Fall 2004. pp. 1, 3, 6. ]

In the last decade, our field has seen enthusiastic interest in the role of vocabulary in foreign language courses. This recent interest has led to research with practical classroom applications for foreign language classrooms. In order to progress in a foreign language, learners need to be able to understand what they are hearing and reading. That is, the input must be comprehensible in order for it to be useful and meaningful to the learner and help with acquisition (Krashen, 1982), but if learners do not understand a sizable portion of the vocabulary in the language that they are reading or hearing, then this language is not comprehensible and therefore cannot be useful for acquisition. Many argue that vocabulary is one of the most important-if not the most important components in learning a foreign language, and foreign language curricula must reflect this.

Though each language has its own vocabulary intricacies, the vocabulary needs and learning processes of the learners of foreign languages are similar. Support for this position comes from vocabulary research from a wide variety of foreign languages, including research with Dutch learners of French, English learners of Japanese, Swedish learners of Finnish, and Chinese learners of English. In fact, some of the most useful foreign language vocabulary research for classroom teachers has come out of the Netherlands (Hulstijn, 1992) and Israel (Laufer &: Shmueli, 1997). What emerges from these studies are vocabulary universals that are not tied to anyone language; these include the importance of vocabulary, the variety of learner strategies, and the value of explicit vocabulary teaching.

To test your vocabulary skill, just click the following link:

Link 1

Click the link below to take the short quiz: