REVIEWER IN COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Parts of Speech

Noun – a noun is a word for a person, place, thing, or idea. Nouns can be singular or plural.

Different types of nouns:

 Proper – proper nouns always start with a capital letter and refers to specific names of
persons, places, or things.

Examples: Volkswagen, Shakey’s Pizza, Italiannis

 Common– common nouns are the opposite of proper nouns. These are just generic names
of persons, things, or places.

Examples: car, pizza parlor, restaurant

 Concrete– this kind refers to nouns which you can perceive through your five senses.

Examples: folder, sand, board

 Abstract- unlike concrete nouns, abstract nouns are those which you can’t perceive
through your five senses.

Examples: happiness, grudge, bravery

 Count– it refers to anything that is countable, and has a singular and plural form.

Examples: kitten, video, ball

  Mass– this is the opposite of count nouns. Mass nouns are also called non-countable
nouns, and they need to have “counters” to quantify them.

Examples of Counters: kilo, cup, meter

Examples of Mass Nouns: rice, flour, garter

 Collective– refers to a group of persons, animals, or things.

Example: faculty (group of teachers), class (group of students), pride (group of

lions)

Different roles of nouns:

 Subject of a verb – a noun can be that which is the subject of a verb.

Example:

The children are playing joyfully.

“The children" is the subject of the verb “are playing”.

 Object of the verb – a noun can be that which is the object of the verb. An object can be a
direct object or an indirect object.

o You can identify the direct object by asking who or what received the verb.
 Example:

Dennis and Susan ate omelets for breakfast.

The subject is “Dennis and Susan,” and the verb is “ate.”

What did the subjects eat in the sentence? The omelets. Therefore, the direct
object are the omelets.

o You can identify the indirect object by asking who or what received the direct
object.

Example:

Samuel sent his aunt a postcard from Venice, Italy.

The subject is “Samuel” and the verb is “sent”

What did the subjects sent? The postcard. Therefore, the direct object is the
postcard.

Who received the direct object? Samuel’s aunt. Therefore, Samuel’s aunt is the
indirect object.

 Object of the preposition – a noun can be that which is modified by a proposition.

Example:

The children are throwing rocks at the stray dogs.

The subject is “children” and the proposition is “at”.

What is being modified by the preposition? The stray dogs. Therefore, the stray
dogs are the object of the preposition.
  A noun descriptive of another noun – a noun can be used to describe another noun. These
nouns are commonly in apposition with another noun.

Example:

President Donald Trump, the President of the United States, is faced with issues
of racism.

The noun subject here is “President Donald Trump”, and that which is in
apposition with the noun subject is “President of the United States” therefore the
latter is the noun descriptive of another noun.

Pronoun – a pronoun functions as a replacement for a noun.

 Singular Pronouns:

Pronoun Subjective Case Objective Case Posessive case

First Person I me my, mine
Second Person you you your, yours
Third Person he, she, it him, her, it his, hers, its

 Plural Pronouns:

Pronoun Subjective Case Objective Case Posessive case

First Person we us our, ours
Second Person you you your, yours
Third Person them they their, theirs

Adjective – an adjective is used to modify a noun or a pronoun.

Order of adjective:

Quantity > Quality > Size > Age > Shape > Color > Proper Adjective > Purpose or Qualifier
  Articles – an article is classified as an adjective because it gives information on a noun. It
can be classified between definite article (the) and indefinite articles (a/an). Definite
articles offers a more particular modification of a noun as opposed to indefinite articles.

Example:

“I ate an apple.” vs “I ate the apple.”

The first sentence can mean any apple but the second sentence pertains to a
certain apple.

Verb – a verb shows an action or the state of being of a subject or a noun.

Kinds of verb:

 Transitive verbs – these are action verbs that needs an object and s often attached to a
noun. The common formula is: Subject + Verb + Object

Example:

She took a book in one of the bookshelves.

She baked a massive cake.

 Intransitive verbs – these are action verbs which does not need an object but needs an
adverb.

Example:

He sings beautifully.

She dances gracefully.

*Note: Both the Transitive and the Intransitive verb are classified as action verbs.
 Linking verb – also called “be verbs”. A linking verb connects a noun to a subjective
complement. The subjective complement can be an adjective or a noun or pronoun.

Example:

She is stunning tonight.

He is the president of the student body organization.

 Auxiliary Verb – usually used with a main verb to form questions or many different kinds
of tenses

Example:

Be verb (forming a continuous tense): Your dog is biting the child!

Have/Has (forming a perfect tense): They have known me for years!

Do/Does (forming a question): Do you love her?

 Modal Verbs – modal verbs are used to talk about ability, permission, obligation and
necessity, obligation and advice, possibility, probability, request, offer, suggestion, habit
and promise.

Example:

Ability (using can): He can play the guitar.

Permission (using may): May I be excused?

Obligation/Necessity (using must): The journey is long, we must eat before

leaving.

Obligation/Advice (using ought): You ought to return the money you borrowed.

Possibility (using might): We might go to the beach later this afternoon.

 Probability (using should): She should be at work by now.

Request (using may): May I have some more coffee?

Offer (using would): Would you like me to help you?

Suggestion (using could): We could go to the cinemas if you like.

Habit (used to): Robert used to run for the senate seat.

Promise (will): I will scream!

Different tenses of the verb:

Tense Use Example

Simple Present Action in the present taking place He speaks of a story.
regularly, never, or several times.
Present Progressive Action taking place at the moment He is speaking of a story.
of speaking.
Simple Past Action in the past taking place He spoke of a story.
once, never, or several times.
Past Progressive Action going on at a certain time in He was speaking of a story.
the past.
Present Perfect Simple Action that stopped recently. He has spoken of a story.

Present Perfect Progressive An action putting emphasis on the He has been speaking of story.
duration.
Past Perfect Simple Action taking place before a certain He had spoken of a story.
period in the past.
Past Perfect Progressive Action taking place before a period He had been speaking of a
in the past and is emphasizing
story.
duration.
Future Simple Action in the future. He will speak of a story.
Future Progressive Action that is going on at a certain He will be speaking of a
time in the future
story.
 Future Simple (2nd kind)
Future Progressive (2nd kind)
Conditional Simple
Conditional Progressive
Conditional Simple (2nd kind)
Conditional Progressive (2nd
kind)
Action that will be finished at a
certain time in the future.
Action taking place before a certain
time in the future.
Action that might take place.
Action that might take place putting
emphasis on the duration.
Action that might have taken place
in the past.
Action that might have taken place
in the past putting emphasis on the
duration.
He will have spoken of the
story.
He will have been speaking
of a story.
He would speak of a story.
He would be speaking of a
story.
He would have spoken of a
story.
He would have been speaking
of story.

Gerund vs Infinitive

 Gerund – verb in their -ing form.

Example:
He is running last night.

 Infinitve – to + verb form that acts as a noun or an adjective.

Example:
Noun: To run is his ultimate dream.
Adjective: The singer to watch for is her.

Adverb – an adverb is used to modify an adjective, a verb, or another adverb.

Different types of adverb:

 Adverb of Manner– this refers to how something happens or how an action is done.

Example: Annie danced gracefully.

  Adverb of Time- this states “when” something happens or “when” it is done.

Example: She came yesterday.

 Adverb of Place– this tells something about “where” something happens or ”where”
something is done.

Example: Of course, I looked everywhere!

 Adverb of Degree– this states the intensity or the degree to which a specific thing happens
or is done.

Example: The child is very talented.

Preposition – a preposition is used to specify a position or a position in time.

Example:

Position: The box is placed under the bed.

Position in time: She sang during the opening ceremonies.

Conjunction – a conjunction is used to connect words, phrases, or clauses together.

Example:

Words: Peanut butter and strawberry jam is his go to sandwich spread.

 Phrases: Being a good husband and being an even greater dad is rare nowadays.

Clauses: She always wanted to join the singing contest but she is always wary of
the audience.

Interjection – an interjection is used to express emotions.

Example:

Ouch! That must have hurt so bad.

Parts of a Sentence

Sentence – a string of words, clauses, or phrases giving a complete thought.

Parts of a sentence:

 Subject – the subject is the part of the sentence which refers to whom or what the
sentence is addressing. The subject can be a simple subject, a full subject or a compound
subject.

Example:

Simple Subject: Kitty is my aunt.

Full Subject: Kitty’s letter to his late husband made their family and friends cry.

Compound Subject: Kitty and Robert is the golden couple of politics.

 Predicate – the subject is the part of the sentence which modifies the subject. A predicate
can be a simple predicate, a full predicate, or a compound predicate.
 Example:

Simple Predicate: Nora bakes!

Full Predicate: Nora bakes delicious cookies.

Compund Predicate: Nora is a loving grandmother to Daniel and I and a great

mother to my aunts and aunties.

 Clause – is usually some sort additional information on a sentence. A clause can be a

dependent or an independent clause

Example:

They like to eat their chocolate hot fudge during summer days.

“During summer days” is a dependent clause.

He finished the baked broccoli, but he didn’t want to.

“He didn’t want to.” Is a independent clause.

Different kinds of sentence:

 Declarative Sentence- a declarative sentence states a fact.

Example:

Tommy is a tenacious businessman.

  Imperative Sentence – an imperative sentence states a command or a polite request.

Example:

You should give this smoked turkey to Kevin and Scotty.

 Interrogative Sentence – and interrogative sentence asks a question.

Example:

Is this supposed be signed by Sarah?

 Exclamatory Sentence – an exclamatory sentence expresses an emotion.

Example:

Uncle Saul should not have done that!

Different structures of sentence:

 Simple Sentence – a simple sentence has one independent clause.

Example:

Sebastian was absent last night.

 Compound Sentence – as simple sentence consists of two independent clauses.

Example:

Izzy was an expert in hand-to-hand combat but she likes archery the best.

 Complex Sentence – consists of an independent clause and one dependent clause.

Example:
 Alec and Magnus likes to travel a lot, especially to Paris.

 Compound-Complex Sentence – a compound-complex sentence has at least two

independent clauses and one dependent clause.

Example:

Jace is sporadic in his work while Clary believes in consistency, but they work!