Who Said English Grammar Was Boring?

by Francis A. Andrew

Overview

The world of education is full of grammar books. For most teachers and students of foreign languages, grammar books are generally dry and dusty and only to be consulted on a reference basis. However, Who Said English Grammar Was Boring is not your conventional grammar book. Its core dynamic is based upon a conversation between the author and an English language instructor colleague. Apart from being an exposition of English grammar, the book also incorporates advice on teaching methodology and practice exercises for students. Apart from focusing on the four key areas of language learning—reading, writing, listening, and speaking—the book introduces another concept in the form of a practicum, which asks the students to take turns in giving a lesson to their classmates on what they have learned. It is hoped that this book will serve to take the monotony out of grammar learning.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781490784229
Publisher:	Trafford Publishing
Publication date:	09/13/2017
Pages:	456
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.02(d)

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

UNIT 1

The present simple tense

Francis: Hi Yashu.

Yashu: Hi Francis. So – we are now ready to start.

Francis: We can begin with a very basic verb tense called the present simple tense.

Yashu: Yes. First of all we have to dispel certain common misconceptions about this tense.

Francis: What do you mean Yashu?

Yashu: Because its first name is 'present', many students tend to think it is referring to 'now.'

Francis: The first thing language instructors have to tell their students is that it denotes habitual, regular and routine action.

Yashu: Also, that adverbs of frequency may also accompany them.

Francis: So how should the teacher proceed with a lesson on the present simple?

Yashu: By writing sentences on the board using this tense. So, Francis, let's go to the blackboard now.

(Francis and Yashu are now standing at the blackboard. The sentences in bold below are what they write on the board. It is recommended that what is written in bold here should be written on the blackboard by instructors using this book).

Francis: All the persons should be used:

I go to school every day.

You come home in the afternoon. He eats dinner at seven o'clock. She drinks tea every morning.

It starts on Monday.

We play football every Friday. You read books every day.

They watch television every night.

Yashu: We should then explain the meaning of the word 'habit' to the students. And also explain the second use of 'you' as the Second Person Plural.

Francis: Yes – and write this under the sentences

Habit [check] Now X ing X

Yashu: This is very important as so many mistakes are made with this tense. For example:

I eating dinner every day. X

And then we have to explain to them the s in the third person singular. I suggest we put the following on the board.

I: First Person Singular

You: Second Person Singular

He: Third Person Singular Masculine She:

Third Person Singular Feminine

It: Third Person Singular Neuter

We: First Person Plural

You: Second Person Plural

They: Third Person Plural

We emphasise the fact that this s is only for the third person singular; only in affirmative sentences; only in the present simple tense; it is not used in interrogatives and negatives.

Francis: We then give some more sentences with the adverbs of frequency.

I always have lunch at 12.30.

John often listens to the radio.

My friends usually phone me on Saturday.

Those people sometimes wait for the bus.

We never go to school on Saturday.

Yashu: The next thing we have to do is to deal with the present simple tense in its negative form.

Francis: We can take the first set of sentences and write negative ones next to them. It should also be explained that 'don't' and 'doesn't' are contractions of 'do not' and 'does not' respectively. On the blackboard write:

do not = don't does not = doesn't

I go to school every day. I don't go to the market every day.

You come home in the afternoon. You don't come home in the evening.

He eats dinner at seven o'clock. He doesn't eat dinner at six o'clock.

She drinks tea every morning. She doesn't drink coffee every morning.

It starts on Monday. It doesn't start on Tuesday.

We play football every Friday. We don't play football every Thursday.

You read books every day. You don't read newspapers every day.

They watch television every night. They don't watch television every morning.

Yashu: And as with the affirmative sentences, we explain to the students how the auxiliary verb changes with the third person singular.

Francis: Yes. We must also emphasise the fact that the main verb does not undergo any change.

Yashu: Now, Francis, we have to deal with the interrogative forms in the present simple.

Francis: This is an area of grammar that must be dealt with right at Beginner level.

Yashu: Why is that?

Francis: It is essentially because students do not know when to use the verb to do and the verb to be when formulating questions. Even advanced students say things like Does he coming soon?/ Is he come soon?/ Do they teachers.

Yashu: I have an idea about how to tackle this.

Francis: Tell me.

Yashu: We write the following on the board:

Do/Does? + verb 'ing' X

To be

Am ?

Is ? a.) + verb 'ing'

Are ? b.) when the verb "to be" is the only verb in the sentence.

Francis: The continuous form will come in Unit 2.

Yashu: Yes, but we can make passing reference to it now.

Francis: I suggest we write the following on the board – basically turning the above sentences into the interrogative, one for an affirmative answer and the other for a negative one.

Do I go to school every day? Yes you do.

Do you come home in the afternoon? Yes I do.

Does he eat dinner at seven o'clock? Yes he does.

Does she drink tea every morning? Yes she does.

Does it start on Monday? Yes it does.

Do we play football every Friday? Yes we do. Do you read books every day? Yes we do.

Do they watch television every night? Yes they do.

Yashu: Why did you put the auxiliary verb in italics?

Francis: This is to highlight the fact that in 'yes/no' questions, the auxiliary verb which begins the questions is repeated as the last word in the answer. It is also important to explain how the first person plural is used in an answer to a question in the second person plural.

Yashu: We also have to explain the change in the auxiliary with the persons.

Francis: Yes, that is important.

Yashu: Let's now deal with the negative answers. I suggest the following:

Do I go to the market every day? No you don't.

Do you come home in the evening? No I don't.

Does he eat dinner at six o'clock? No he doesn't.

Does she drink coffee every morning? No she doesn't.

Does it start on Tuesday? No it doesn't.

Do we play football on Thursday? No we don't.

Do they watch television every morning? No they don't.

Francis: We also show the students that the rules for the interrogative are the same as for the negative – there is no s in the main verb in the third person singular but that the change comes in the auxiliary. We should once again remind the students how don't and doesn't are abbreviated forms of do not and does not respectively.

Yashu: We now have to give examples of the use of the verb to be.

Francis: I'll put them on the board now.

I am in the classroom.

You are a student.

He is happy.

She is at her desk near the window.

It is on the wall next to the door.

We are in class FB 110

They are now on the field with the football team.

Yashu: We tell the students that these sentences correspond to rule b of the above grammatical diagram. Other than the verb to be there is no other verb in them.

Francis: Now we have to give them examples in the negative and explain to them the position of the negative particle in the sentences – i.e. it comes after the verb to be.

Yashu: I'll chalk up some examples now:

I am not in the kitchen.

You are not a teacher.

He is not sad.

She is not at her desk near the cupboard.

It is not on the wall next to the window.

We are not in class FB 111.

They are not in the gym with the basketball team.

Francis: And now the interrogative forms.

Am I in the classroom? Yes you are.

Are you a student? Yes I am.

Is he happy? Yes he is.

Is she at her desk near the window? Yes she is.

Is it on the wall next to the door? Yes it is.

Are we in class FB 110? Yes we are.

Are they now on the playing field with the football team? Yes they are.

Yashu: The teachers have to point out clearly the difference between how a question is formed with action verbs and with the verb to be. We tell the students that we turn a sentence with to be in it into a question by what is called inversion – i.e. we change the position of the verb to be to the beginning of the sentence.

Francis: While we explained that the auxiliary verb in a do/does question is repeated as the last word in the answer, we have to show the students that this is the same for the verb to be except in the first and second persons singular.

Yashu: I am now going to show these questions with negative answers.

Am I in the kitchen? No you aren't.

Are you a teacher? No I'm not.

Is he sad? No he isn't.

Is she at her desk near the cupboard? No she isn't.

Is it on the wall next to the window? No it isn't.

Are we in class FB 111? No we aren't.

Are they in the gym with the basketball team? No they aren't.

Francis: Do you think it is wise at this stage to explain the alternative abbreviation to the students?

Yashu: It depends on the class. If they are quick to grasp grammatical points, then the alternative can be given; if not, then it is wise to wait as a rendering of the alternative abbreviation may confuse the students.

Francis: Anyway – here are the alternatives.

No I'm not

No you're not

No he's not

No she's not

No it's not

No we're not

No they're not

Yashu: And explain how there is no such an abbreviation as 'amn't'. There is only one possibility for the first person singular.

Francis: We have to show the students how this tense is used with 'wh' questions.

Yashu: A good idea. We should write the following "wh" interrogative words on the board and explain what they mean.

Where – place When – timeWhy – purpose/reason Who – peopleWhose – possession How – methodWhat – things/objects Which – choiceHow much – quantity uncountable How many – quantity countable

Francis: We should then give examples using these wh interrogative words with each of the persons.

First write: Where am I?

Teach the students to point and say: You are near the blackboard.

Ask each student to come to the front of the class and to position himself/herself and ask the same question. The teacher points to the student and says: You are under the desk.

The teacher then asks the class: Where is he/she/it? (depending on the gender of the student). The students then point to the student saying: He/She/It is under the desk.

The teacher then asks the class: Where are we? In chorus, the students answer: We are in the classroom.

Ask two students at a time to come to the front of the classroom and to position themselves somewhere. The teacher asks: Where are you? The students reply: We are near the door.

The teacher turns to the class and asks: Where are they? The class answer: They are near the door.

Yashu: The same must be demonstrated for the other interrogative wh words: Using the same methodology you described, here are examples the teacher can use:

When am I in class? When are you in class? When is he/she/it in class? When are we in class? When are you in class? (plural form) When are they in class?

Why are you in class? I am in class to learn English. And so on for the other persons.

Who are you? I am Manan. Who am I? You are the English teacher. Who is he? He is Monish. Who is she? She is Aishwarya. Who are we? We are the English class. Who are you? (plural form) We are Deva and Kumar. Who are they? They are Deva and Kumar.

For 'whose' we need to explain the possessive 's'. Whose book is this? (The teacher holding up his/her book) It is Mr. Pandey's book.

Yashu: We should, at this point teach them the possessive adjectives: Whose book is this? The students reply: It is your book. The teacher then points to objects belonging to the students.

Whose pencil is that? The student responds: It is my pencil. The teacher then asks the same question to the entire class, who respond It is his/her pencil. The teacher then draws a cat and a saucer of milk on the blackboard and asks: Whose saucer of milk is this? The response to be elicited is: It is its saucer of milk. The teacher now asks: Whose classroom is this? In chorus the students reply: It is our classroom. The teacher then brings two students at a time to the front of the class. The students take with them various items. The teacher then asks: Whose books are those? The students reply: They are our books. Turning to the class, the teacher asks: Whose books those? The class replies: They are their books.

Francis: Now we need to teach the 'how' question form. Basically this should be How am I? How are you? etc You are very well. I am very well. etc

Yashu: We now teach 'what' with objects. We need to elicit the singular and plural from students: What is this/that?(depending on the distance of the object from the teacher)What are these/those? The students should also be given a turn to ask the question.

Francis: How should we teach 'which?'

Yashu: The teacher takes his own book and a student's book and holds them up and asks the student: Which book is mine? The student replies: That is your book (pointing to the teacher's book). The teacher then asks: Which is your book? The student answers: That is my book (pointing to his own book). The student now asks the same two questions and the teacher answers. The teacher now brings a male student to the front of the class. He takes his book with him. The teacher then places his/her own book in another part of the classroom. The teacher asks a student: Which is his book? The students point to the student's book and say That is his book. The question and answer are repeated in chorus. The same methodology is used for a female student and for the drawing of the cat with the saucer of milk. The teacher now asks: Which is our classroom? When a student successfully answers: This is our classroom the class repeats the question and answer in chorus. The teacher then opens the classroom door and points down the hallway to another classroom and asks: Which is their classroom? When a student successfully answers: That is their classroom the teacher gets the whole class to repeat the question and answer in chorus.

We should also teach 'which' using the plural: Which are my books? They are your books. And so on for the other persons.

We now have to teach the interrogative wh word using the verb 'to do.' I suggest the following using 'where.'

Where do you go every day? I go to school every day. And so on for the other persons.

When do you go to school? I go to school in the morning. And so on for the other persons.

Why do you go to school? I go to school to learn. And so on for the other persons

Who do you see at school? I see my friends at school. And so on for the other persons.

'Whose' is a bit trickier so I'll give more examples of it.

The teacher asks a student: Whose book do you read every day? Train the students to say: I read my book every day. Divide the class into pairs and train the students to ask each other this question – one student asks and another answers. The teacher walks around the class listening to the pairs performing.

(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Who Said English Grammar Was Boring?"
by .
Copyright © 2017 Francis A. Andrew.
Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents

Introduction, ix,
Unit 1: The present simple tense, 1,
Unit 2: The present continuous tense, 25,
Unit 3: Simple past tense – regular verbs & past of 'to be', 38,
Unit 4: Simple past tense – irregular verbs/past continuous, 53,
Unit 5: How much/How many/ There is/ There are/ Have to do/Had to do, 70,
Unit 6: Some/any/ a few/ a little, 89,
Unit 7: Past tense with 'ago', 97,
Unit 8: 'Use' as a verb/ 'use' as an adjective meaning 'worth' and 'used to' for past habit, 103,
Unit 9: 'Used to' as in 'accustomed to' (all tenses learned to date), 118,
Unit 10: Adjectives, 124,
Unit 11: Adverbs, 136,
Unit 12: Future tense will/ going to do/ future of have to, 143,
Unit 13: Requests and offers. Take/get/bring/show someone something, 152,
Unit 14: Present perfect – completed actions, 158,
Unit 15: Present perfect – incomplete actions with 'for' & 'since', 167,
Unit 16: Present perfect with 'just'/ 'already', 177,
Unit 17: Present perfect negative form 'haven't done yet', 185,
Unit 18: Present perfect continuous, 193,
Unit 19: Had better do/have something done, 201,
Unit 20: Past continuous and past simple, 216,
Unit 21: 'Can' in simple future requests and offers, 224,
Unit 22: Present perfect and past simple, 232,
Unit 23: The gerund as a noun, 238,
Unit 24: The present participle as an adjective, 244,
Unit 25: The past participle as a noun, 249,
Unit 26: The past participle as an adjective, 256,
Unit 27: Future simple contrasting 'If' and 'when', 262,
Unit 28: Want/ let/ask/tell/make someone do something, 268,
Unit 29: Future in the past, 274,
Unit 30: Past in the future, 280,
Unit 31: Past perfect and past simple, 287,
Unit 32: Conditional Type 1, 293,
Unit 33: Conditional Type 2, 300,
Unit 34: Conditional Type 3, 306,
Unit 35: The passive voice (present simple & present continuous), 311,
Unit 36: The passive voice (past simple & past continuous), 317,
Unit 37: The passive voice (present perfect & present perfect continuous), 322,
Unit 38: The passive voice (past perfect & past perfect continuous), 327,
Unit 39: The passive voice (future simple & future continuous), 332,
Unit 40: The passive voice (future perfect, future perfect continuous & passive infinitive), 338,
Unit 41: Modal verbs, 344,
Unit 42: Semi-modal verbs, 355,
Unit 43: Reported speech (present simple & present continuous), 363,
Unit 44: Reported speech (past simple & past continuous), 370,
Unit 45: Reported speech (future simple & future continuous), 378,
Unit 46: Emphatic pronouns / Reflexive Pronouns, 384,
Unit 47: Clauses and phrases, 390,
Unit 48: Linking verbs and the complement, 418,
Unit 49: Transitive and intransitive verbs, 424,
Unit 50: The subjunctive Mood, 431,