Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET)

GRAMMAR
Ali G. Anudin
English Department
Philippine Normal University
COMPETENCIES:

Analyze the rules of grammatical usage
Examine sentences in terms of their
constituent elements
Distinguish the different parts of speech in
English their meanings, forms, order, and
functions
COMMON ERRORS IN GRAMMAR

A. VERB ERRORS
B. PRONOUN ERRORS
C. ADJECTIVE and ADVERB ERRORS
D. ERRORS in USAGE

PAST

PRESENT

FUTURE

SIMPLE

-ed

-s

will + V

PROGRESSIVE
BE (past) +
-ing
BE (present)
+ -ing
will + be +
-ing

PERFECT
had + -ed/-
en
has/have +
-ed/-en
will + have
+ -ed/-en
PERFECT
PROGRESSIVE
had + been
+ -ing
has/have +
been + -ing
will + have
+ been +
-ing
1. Check if the correct VERB TENSE has been
used in the sentence
When I came home, the children still didnt
finish dinner (hadnt finished dinner)
Past Perfect Tense: an action in the past
that happened before some other action
in the past.
I studied when Martin called me. (was studying)
Many people are swimming when the shark was
sighted. (had been swimming)
Past Perfect Progressive Tense: an
action was going on when something
else happened
Past Progressive Tense: an activity was
in progress at some specified time in the
past
Jessa is living In Manila for six years.
(has lived)
She had felt ill, but she feels better now.
(has been feeling)
Present Perfect Progressive Tense:
shows incompleteness or indefiniteness
very close to the present time.
Present Perfect Tense: an action that
began in the past and is still going on.
The obedience school trained fifty dogs by the
end of the year.
(will have trained)
By the end of this year, the Cruz family had lived
in the same house for a hundred years.
(will have been living)
Future Perfect Progressive Tense:
combines the ideas of completeness and
duration of time in the future.
Future Perfect Tense: an action that will
be completed in the future.
2. In REPORTED SPEECH, check if the rule of
SEQUENCE OF TENSES has been observed
Is Andrew at home? Ann asked.
Ann asked if Andrew was home.
Rowena said that she understood
the problem now.
Rowena said, I understand the problem now.
3. Check if there is SUBJECT-VERB
AGREEMENT in number
There is many reasons why I cant help you.
(are many reasons)
In sentences with Delayed Subject the
subject comes after the verb.
1. INTERVENING PLURALS
* Our order for these goods (was, were) placed
yesterday.
* The mislabeling of sizes, especially
in such articles as hats, blouses,
and stockings, (is, are) most
annoying to our customers.
SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
2. PLURAL COMPLEMENTS
* The most favorable period (is, are) the last
three weeks of the year.
* The main advantage of the new filing cabinet
(is, are) the five full-size drawers.
3. PLURAL SUBJECTS USED IN
SINGULAR SENSE
* Buy now and pay later (is, are) the
philosophy of many Filipinos.
* Two hundred pesos (is, are)
a lot of money to pay for a necktie.
4. DELAYED SUBJECT
* Still unsold from the original lot (is, are) three
generators.
* There (was, were) five packing cases in the
shipment.
5. COLLECTIVE NOUNS
* The committee (was, were) unable
to agree among themselves.
* The staff (has, have) no authority
to act.
6. WITH AND SIMILAR EXPRESSIONS
* Mr. Royo, with his lawyer, (is, are) going to
court this morning.
* Mr. Arias, together with his wife and two
children, (was, were) seen boarding the train.
7. NEGATIVE EXPLANATORY PHRASE
* The players, not the coach,
(was, were) standing on the field.
* Not Mr. Diaz but his subordinates
(was, were) reprimanded.
8. WORDS SUCH AS EACH AND EVERY
* Every farmer, laborer, and consumer (is, are)
involved.
* None of the banks officers (is, are) on the
platform.
9. COMPOUND SUBJECTS
* You and I (am, are) going together.
* Either the debtor or his co-singers
(is, are) required to be present
at the meeting.
10. WORDS SUCH AS SOME AND PART
* Some of the paint (has, have) been stolen.
Some of the papers (is, are) missing.
* Part of the oranges (is, are) mine.
Part of the shipment (is, are) going.
11. NUMBER AS SUBJECT
* A number of well-known
businessmen (was, were) involved
in the transaction.
* The number of people involved
(was, were) not large.
One of the most demanding sports
events 1. (is, are) the triathlon, which originated
in Hawaii. The race 2. (consists, consist) of
three demanding forms of competition. Every
man and woman who 3. (competes, compete) in
the event must train very hard. Each man and
each woman first 4. (swim, swims) a distance of
4.2 miles in open water. After completing that
part of the race, the leader, as well as his or her
followers 5. (puts, put) on shoes and shorts for
a bicycle ride of 112 miles.
TRY THIS:
The number of hills 6. (seem, seems) endless to
the tired competitors. When the second phase
of the events 7. (has, have) been completed, the
participant must then run a marathon: 26 miles
and 385 yards. Last year, there 8. (was, were) a
number of contestants unable to complete the
race. A different set of muscles 9. (is, are) used
in each event. Either fatigue or dehydration
10. (prevent, prevents) most contestants from
winning.
TRY THIS AGAIN!
Baseball is one of the professional
sports that 1. (is, are) popular in the U.S. Many
foreigners for whom the game of baseball is
new 2. (is, are) confused when they see a game
televised. There 3. (is, are) nine players on
each team. Each player, along with his
teammates, 4. (has, have) a specific position on
the field. The infield which 5. (enclose,
encloses) the bases, is called the diamond.
The scores made in the game 6. (occurs, occur)
when a player or players on the batting team
travel around first, second, and third bases and
return successfully to home plate. A player
who 7. (fail, fails) to hit three balls thrown by the
opposing pitcher in the strike zone is called
out on strikes. Players on the batting team
8. (is, are) also called out for failure to reach a
base successfully. Balls batted high
in the air and caught by an opposing
player also 9. (result, results) in an
out.
Batters on a team 10. (is, are) allowed three outs
before their opponents are allowed to bat. After
each of the teams 11. (has, have) had a turn at
bat, they have completed the segment of the
game called an inning. There 12. (is are)
normally nine innings in a game. If the score is
tied at the end of nine innings, the game
continues until one or the other of the teams
13. (lead, leads) at the end of an inning. Avid
fans of the game 14. (memorize, memorizes)
the statistics on their favorite players.
The batting records of players
15. (inspires, inspire) young players.
5. Check for three things in the sentence verb
and ending in TAG ENDINGS:
a) same PERSON?
b) same TENSE?
c) POSITIVE and NEGATIVE combination?
Shes been there before, isnt she?
(hasnt she)
If there is a contraction in the sentence
verb, make sure you know what the
contraction stands for.
Exceptions:
* Im right, arent I?
* We ought to go, shouldnt we?
* Lets see, shall we?
Nominative Objective Possessive
Singular
1
st
Person I Me My/Mine
2
nd
Person You Your/Yours
3
rd
Person He/She/It Him/Her/It His
Her/Hers/ Its
Plural
1
st
Person We Us Our/Ours
2
nd
Person You Your/Yours
3
rd
Person They Them Their/Theirs
CASES OF PRONOUNS
1. Check if the PRONOUN is the SUBJECT or
the OBJECT of a verb or preposition
All of us Didi, Becky, and me were late. (I)
The Subjective Case is used for subjects and
subject complements. The Objective Case is
used for direct and indirect objects, objects of
prepositions and for both subjects and objects
of infinitives. The Possessive Case is generally
used before a gerund.
I dont know who Noel meant.
(whom)
The boss approves of ours going on outings
together.
(our)
2. Check if the PRONOUN and its VERB agree
in number
Alpheus is absent, but a few of the class is here.
(are)
Everyone on the project have to come to the
meeting.
(has)
Singular Indefinite Pronouns: all, another, any,
anyone, anything, everybody, everyone,
everything, nobody, one, each.
Plural Indefinite Pronouns: few, many, several,
both, others
3. Check if POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS agree in
person and number
If anyone calls, take their name.
(his)
4. Check if the VERB TO BE is followed by a
SUBJECT PRONOUN.
It must have been her at the door.
(she)
5. Check for PARALLELISM in IMPERSONAL
PRONOUNS
One should take your duties seriously.
(ones/his or her
You should take your duties seriously)
In forms using Impersonal Pronouns,
use either One ones/his or her or
You your.
1. Which sentence does not observe a consistent
point of view?
A. I am usually patient and tolerant with
obnoxious people but a person has his limits.
B. Once one has agreed to do a job, he should
make every effort to really do it.
C. One never knows what one may do
in a moment of excitement.
D. He didnt want to argue with people,
but he could not ignore unfair criticism.

2. Which is the BEST way to write the
underlined portion of this sentence:
Many people do not take responsibility for
his own actions.
A. her C. our
B. their D. your
3. Which is a poorly constructed sentence?
A. Who is responsible to whom?
B. The debate was between Maria and I.
C. We teachers are accountable for our
decisions in the classroom.
D. A group of us teachers will fly to the
convention.

4. Which is a poorly constructed sentence?
A. Neither Bert nor Rico had brought his tools.
B. Imelda or her assistants will give their
permission.
C. If you give us your instructions for the
activity, we shall follow it to the letter.
D. We cannot accept the article for credit
because to do so would set a very bad
precedent

ORDER OF ADJECTIVES
Determiner:
Articles, Demonstratives, Possessives,
Indefinite Adjectives, Numeral

Observation

Physical Description:
Size, Shape, Age, Color

Origin

Material

Qualifier

Head Noun
Determiner Observation Physical Description Head Noun
(Numeral) (Age)
four lovely old trees

Determiner Physical Description Material Qualifier Head Noun
(possessive) (Shape) (Color)
her short black silk business suit

Determiner Physical Description Origin Head Noun
(Indefinite Adj) (Size) (Shape)
several little round Chinese beads
As a rule, avoid long strings of adjectives Two or, at
the most, three adjectives modifying one noun phrase
seem to be the limit in English.

When three adjectives of the same category are used
in series with and, use commas between the items in
the series.
Determiner Observation Head Noun
a messy, dirty, and depressing room

But never use the comma between the last adjective
and the noun it modifies.
food
some
American
inexpensive
delicious
old
table
big
dining
our
English
oak
Mexican
comfortable
that
chair
little
rocking
several
frames
narrow
black
picture
some delicious,
inexpensive American
food
that comfortable little
Mexican rocking chair
our big old English oak
dining table
several narrow black
picture frames