English for the Eager Learners

Copyright © 2012 by Ira P. Boone, Maria Company
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, photocopying, mechanical, recording or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the copyright owner.
ISBN-10: 1468191837
ISBN-13: 978-1468191837
Published by Maria Company
Printed in the United States of America
Please send inquiries to: mariacompany@rocketmail.com
http://englishfortheeagerlearners.blogspot.com/

Contents
Table of Contents
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5
Lesson 6
Lesson 7
Lesson 8
Lesson 9
Lesson 10
Lesson 11
Lesson 12
Lesson 13
Lesson 14
iii
Nouns and Adjectives
Verbs, Suffixes
Sentences and Phrases
Adverbs
......................... P.1 - P.17
.................................. P.18 - P.29
....................... P.30 - P.41
............................................ P.42 - P.54
Prepositional Phrases
Pronouns
Passive Voice
........................ P.55 - P.65
.......................................... P.66 - P.75
..................................... P.76 - P.88
Gerunds and Noun Phrases (Infinitives)
Complements
P.89 - P.99
................................. P.100 - P.111
Clauses, Sentences,
and Coordinating Conjunctions
... P.112 - P.123
Subordinating Conjunctions,,
Adverb Clauses,
Subject-verb Agreement (1) ......... P.124 - P.136
Adjective Clauses,
Subject-verb Agreement (2)
Noun Clauses, Tenses and Time
Tenses - Past Events
....... P.137 - P.149
... P.150 - P.160
.................... P.161 - P.175

Lesson 15
Lesson 16
Lesson 17
Lesson 18
Lesson 19
Lesson 20
Lesson 21
Lesson 22
Lesson 23
Lesson 24
Lesson 25
Prefixes
Summary
Answers
Index
Contents
Past Progressive Tense .................. P.176 - P.187
Future Time
................................. P.188 - P.201
Conditional Sentences....................
P.202 - P.214
Modals and Auxiliary Verbs ......... P.215 - P.227
Negation
........................................ P.228 - P.239
Punctuation ................................... P.240 - P.254
Articles .......................................... P.255 - P.266
Direct and Indirect Speech ............ P.267 - P.278
Verbless Clauses,
Comment Clauses / Phrases,
Absolute Phrases .......................... P.279 - P.292
Inversions
..................................... P.293 - P.304
Contractions and Omissions
........ P.305 - P.320
..................................................................... P.321
.......................................................... P.322 - P.324
......................................................... P.325 - P.346
......................................................... P.347 - P.350
iv

A NOUN is the NAME of anything.
Lesson 1
Nouns and Adjectives
1. John kicked the football through the goal. (goal - a wooden frame)
2. The result was one goal to nil. (goal - a point)
3. His team won a narrow victory.
4. His wish came true.
5. John got excited and drank up a can of beer.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Reminder
Nouns
1
Please don't get deceived by the simple appearance of Lesson One.
In fact, it lays the sound foundations of all upcoming lessons
and is often referred to later on when your studying gets stuck.
When we WRITE, a noun has to be decided first.
We put a noun
before a verb.
after a verb.
after a preposition.
after a 'be'.
n.
v.
Lesson 1
- John kicked
v.
n.
- kicked the football
prep.
n.
- through the goal
v.
n.
- was one goal
1

Lesson 1
2
2
3
When we READ, a verb or preposition should catch our eyes first. Then a noun comes next.
a. Before any verb we can find a subject noun
- John kicked.
b. After a verb we can find an object noun
- kicked the football.
c. After a preposition we can find an object noun
- through the goal.
d. After a ‘be’ we can find a complement noun
- was one goal.
Now turn our thoughts the other way round.
Any words or a group of words will be taken as nouns when they are found in these
four positions:
a. Before a verb.
b. After a transitive verb.
c. After a preposition.
d. After a ‘be’.
This important concept will help us understand the formation of noun phrases, gerunds
(pages 89 - 91) and even noun clauses (pages 150, 155, 237, 310, 312, 324).
Kinds of Nouns:
1. 2.

1. Proper Noun
2. Common Nouns
a. Concrete Noun
Note:
(countable)
b. Collective Noun
(countable)
c. Abstract Noun
(uncountable)
d. Mass Noun
(uncountable)
A name for a special person,
place or company, such as John,
Paris, IBM, etc.
Things that we can see
and touch, such as
book, table, cup, bottle,
car, house, etc.
Lesson 1
A number or collection that we
treat as a whole, such as family,
mob, flock, army, fleet, etc.
Something that we can‛t touch or
see but only feel, such as happiness,
success, bravery,
energy, wisdom,
honesty, etc.
Things that don‛t have separate units,
such as wood, water, gold, cotton,
homework, money, advice, travel,
weather, jewelry, news, etc. In
‘two pieces of gold‛, we count ‘pieces‛.
A common noun is the name used for any one of a class, such as ‘book’ (concrete),
‘family’ (collective), ‘happiness’ (abstract) and ‘copper’ (mass). It is contrasted with a
proper noun, which is used for a special person or place.
3

Lesson 1
4
A.
Please put the underlined nouns of the following passage in the boxes
below.
The Dog and His Shadow
Lucky, a little dog, is crossing a bridge with a piece of
meat in his mouth when he happens to see his shadow
in the water below. He mistakes his own shadow to be
another dog with a bigger piece of meat. Now he wants
the other dog’s meat and tries to snatch it. While he
does so, the piece of meat in his mouth drops into the
water and disappears in darkness forever. Sadly, Lucky
goes back to join his family with empty hands.
(You may lose everything if you are greedy.)
Proper Concrete Collective Abstract Mass

Why do we classify a noun?
(1)
(2)
From the kind of noun we can get: (1) its exact meaning, (2) its countable or
uncountable nature. This nature will guide us to the correct uses of: (3) articles
(a, an, the), (4) verb forms (singular / plural) and (5) adjectives of quantity.
We come to understand the meaning of a noun according to its type.
My cat Beauty does not like fish. (proper noun)
Mary is still a beauty in her middle age. (concrete noun)
Everybody admires her beauty. (abstract noun)
Countable or uncountable nature of a noun carries a different meaning.
Beer [U] an alcoholic drink (mass noun – uncountable)
Beer is sold here.
Singular Plural
FORCE
MANNER
PAPER
RETURN
WATER
- strength
- method of doing things
- sheet
- coming back
- liquid
FORCES
MANNERS
PAPERS
RETURNS
WATERS
- army
- politeness
- documents
- profits
- an area of water
Lesson 1
[C] a bottle, can or glass of beer (concrete noun – countable)
Give us two beers, please. (=two bottles, two cans or two glasses)
(3) Countable concrete and collective nouns take articles (a, an, the); uncountable
mass and abstract nouns don’t.
concrete n. collective n.
In a bar the attendants were serving a group of tourists from an India town.
mass n. abstract n.
Beer brings temporary pleasure to drinkers. (no articles)
(4) Some nouns in singular number take a singular verb under one meaning, and
in plural number take a plural verb for another meaning.
The return of the company’s former CEO was good news to the staff.
The returns on the new investment of the company were encouraging.
(5) Some adjectives of quantity such as ‘many’ and ‘few’ are used to qualify
countable nouns, while ‘much’ and ‘little’ to describe uncountable nouns.
mass n.
Much beer has been sold during holidays.
concrete n.
At the close of business hours, only a few beers were left unsold.
proper n.
5

Lesson 1
6
Know Kno Kno your name!
Know your name!
Know Know KKnow your yo y name!
Know Knoww your your your name! na na !
First Christian name name
Ronald GEORGE Wilson WALKER Reagan BUSH
Christian First name name
Forename
Forename
(Given Name)
(Given Name)
Teacher:
First boy:
Teacher:
Second boy:
Middle name
Middle name Last name
Surname
Family name
We usually write:
Ronald W. Reagan or Ronald Reagan
Barack Hussein Obama
A noun is the name of a person or
a thing. Who can give me a noun?
A cow.
Very good. Another noun?!
Another cow!

Nouns: singular and plural
Nouns that refer to “only one” are singular.
Nouns that refer to “more than one” are plural.
Regular
Nouns that end in
a “hissing” sound
(-sh,-ch,-s,-x,-z)
Nouns that end in
-o
Nouns that end in
-f or -fe
Nouns that end in
-y
Nouns that don’t
follow any of these
rules
Singular Plural Exceptions
book
horse
cat
dish
bench
box
buzz
ass
glass
inch
potato
tomato
echo
life
knife
loaf
shelf
thief
dwarf
scarf
wharf
duty
army
lady
city
fly
body
man
tooth
goose
child
mouse
sheep
ox
German
books
horses
cats
dishes
benches
boxes
buzzes
asses
glasses
inches
potatoes
tomatoes
echoes
lives
knives
loaves
shelves
thieves
dwarfs/ dwarves
scarfs/ scarves
wharfs/ wharves
duties
armies
ladies
cities
flies
bodies
men
teeth
geese
children
mice
sheep
oxen
Germans
stomachs
monarchs
photos
pianos
casinos
hippos
proofs
beliefs
chiefs
keys
days
valleys
monkeys
(A vowel before ‘y’)
Lesson 1
(‘ch’ pronounced as ‘k’)
7

•
•
•
An adjective adds information to a noun.
We say that the adjective qualifies the noun.
Usually an adjective goes before a noun or comes after a linking verb.
(Please see page 19.)
Any word that adds information to a noun is an adjective.
adjective noun
The adjective qualifies the noun.
Adjectives are classified in order to make a neat stacking (arrangement) for
a smooth, natural description of a noun. (Please see page 12.)
1. Demonstrative Adjectives
These adjectives point out people, things, etc.
This and these
That and those
This and that
These and those
The
This house is old. (singular)
That house is old. (singular)
These houses are new. (plural)
Those houses are new. (plural)
The school is open. (singular)
The children are playing. (plural)
(this, that, these, those, the, a(n), etc.)
refer to things close to the speaker.
point at things less close to the speaker.
go with singular nouns.
go with plural nouns.
goes with both singular and plural nouns.
Lesson 1
This house
9

3. Adjectives of Quantity
some money much patience
enough food all his wealth
no sense whole amount
many days each boy
These adjectives answer the question: How much or how many?
4. Adjectives of Quality
i
a nice man an old car a beautiful big round old table
ii
‘Many’ goes with countable nouns. (concrete and collective nouns)
‘Much’ goes with uncountable nouns. (abstract and mass nouns)
a large city a blue shirt a black Japanese car
iii
Note:
a square table the English language
These adjectives answer the question: Of what kind?
Note:
iv
v
vi
i ii iii iv v vi
(opinion, size/shape/age, color , proper adjectives)
i ii iii iv
v vi
Adjectives of opinion include beautiful, ugly, nice, bad, dirty, good ... .
Lesson 1
some money
thin man
11

Lesson 1
12
A NOUN QUALIFIES
Function:
n. n.
A beauty salon (A salon that provides beauty services)
adj. n.
A beautiful salon (A salon that looks beautiful)
An information center
adj. n.
An informative talk
Element:
A gold chain
adj. n.
Golden hair
n.
n.
A silk suit
adj. n.
A silky voice
n. n.
n.
n.
ANOTHER
NOUN
NOUN
A noun can be used as an adjective to qualify another noun in order to show the
Function or Element of the second noun.
Word order of the adjectives
(A center that provides information)
(A talk that gives people helpful ideas)
(A chain that has the element of gold)
(Hair that has bright yellow color)
(A suit that is made of silk)
(A gentle voice that is like soft silk)
opinion size shape age color proper adj.
The chairman’s two beautiful large round old brown Indian teak tables.
demonstrative possessive of quantity of quality noun used as adj.
to show ‘element’
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)

Collocation (matching of different parts of speech)
A noun and an adjective are close partners.
An adjective can qualify a few nouns, and, likewise, a noun can be qualified by a
few adjectives.
Adjectives Nouns
female
secondary
adult
vital
(= chief)
all-round
full-time
consumer
{
charm
intuition (= feeling)
a ... dog
a ... officer
a ... fig-tree
{
a ... role
a ... person
a ... game
clues
importance
Adjectives Nouns
education
{
Lesson 1
13

Lesson 1
14
The secret of writing good English lies in a good match between nouns and adjectives.
ONLY through extensive reading can a learner acquire such a kind of valuable knowledge.
5
B.
10
a rare
an extinct
a new
the human
an endangered
species
(singular and plural)
Please underline all the adjectives in this passage.
{
Janet’s family had a big, old house with a beautiful
garden, a lot of flowers and many old trees. One morning,
Janet came in from the garden. She was a tall, fat woman,
thirty years old. It was the hottest day of the year, but
she wore a warm, brown skirt and yellow shirt. She went
into the kitchen to get a refreshing drink of cold water.
Just then the back door opened. And her mother came in.
Her mother Molly was a tall, dark woman with gray hair.
A black and white dog came into the kitchen after her
and ran across to her. She sat down, put her hands on
its head and said to Janet, “I usually did the same to you
when you as a kid were having a sad and depressed look.”

Comparison of Adjectives
Lesson 1
Most adjectives have the positive degree, the comparative degree followed by ‘than’ to
compare 2 things, and the superlative degree preceded by ‘the’ to compare more than 2 things.
All one-syllable adjectives follow the -er / -est pattern.
Positive Comparative Superlative
tall
quick
old
taller
quicker
older/elder
If the positive ends in -e, only -r and -st are added.
brave
cute
wide
braver
cuter
wider
tallest
quickest
oldest/eldest
If the vowel of the positive is short, the last consonant is doubled.
big
red
wet
If the positive ends in -y, it changes to -ier and -iest.
dry
sly
shy
bigger
redder
wetter
drier
slier /slyer
shier /shyer
biggest
reddest
wettest
bravest
cutest
widest
driest
sliest /slyest
shiest /shyest
Most two-syllable adjectives, especially those ending in -able, -ful, -ing, -ish, -ive, -less
and -ous, take MORE / (LESS) in the comparative and MOST / (LEAST) in the superlative.
readable
hopeful
charming
foolish
active
more readable
more hopeful
more charming
more foolish
more active
most readable
most hopeful
most charming
most foolish
most active
Other two-syllable adjectives follow the -er / -est pattern as the one-syllable adjectives do.
clever
simple
happy
friendly
cleverer
simpler
happier
friendlier
cleverest
simplest
happiest
friendliest
15

Lesson 1
16
However, some two-syllable adjectives can take EITHER -er / -est OR more / most:
common; stupid; pleasant; handsome; polite; gentle
e.g.
Your servant was stupider than I thought.
Your servant was more stupid than I thought.
Irregular Comparison
The following Adjectives are exceptions:
good
bad
little
much
many
far
sENTENCE WRITING
John is as fat as Jack.
Mary is not as fat as John.
better
worse
less, lesser
more
more
farther/further
We use ‘as...as’ with the positive degree.
We use ‘than’ with the comparative degree.
John is fatter than Mary.
This dress is more beautiful than that dress.
‘The’ is used with the superlative degree.
John is the fattest of the three boys.
Mary is the most beautiful girl in the class.
This is the fastest car on the running track.
best
worst
least
most
most
farthest/furthest
Note:
‘MOST’
can be used
without ‘the’
to mean ‘very’.
E.g.
-The movie
was most
interesting.
-People
opposed
the bill most
strongly.

To Learn English (1)
Lesson 1
Clear and correct English makes people easily understand you, and they would
immediately decide that you are well educated. As a result, they truly respect you:
this brings to your career every chance of success.
However, to achieve good English, people need some basic tools for the long,
steep climb to the goal. These are determination, patience and effort.
To begin with, the meaning of a word varies according to what part of speech it
is. Often, a different part of speech of a word carries a different meaning:
Examples:
1)
2)
So English is a language of definition (to read according to rules).
Remarks:
The dog was taken ill. (adjective - sick)
Poverty is an ill. (noun - problem)
The children are running about. (adverb - in different directions)
The report is about the weather. (preposition - concerning)
The movie is about to start. (adjective - soon going)
3)
To understand a clause, we first find out its verb and next its subject/object.
Tokyo office costs cost a lot of money.
(‘Cost’ is a transitive verb, meaning ‘need’)
(‘Costs’ is a plural noun, meaning ‘expenses’, subject of the transitive verb ‘cost’.)
Bush ducks shoe throw in Iraq.
(‘Ducks’ is a transitive verb, meaning ‘avoids’.)
(‘Throw’ is a noun, object of ‘ducks’.)
(‘Shoe’ is a noun, used as an adjective to qualify ‘throw’.)
Was taken ill (idiomatic expression) = fell ill
‘Bush ducks shoe throw in Iraq’ is newspaper English, which usually omits the
articles (a,an,the). Traditional English is ‘Bush ducks a shoe throw in Iraq.’
(‘Throw’ is a countable noun, which requires an article.)
17

Lesson 2
18
Lesson 2
Verbs
A VERB tells us something about a person or thing and is
the most important word in a sentence.
When we write, we first have some nouns in our mind, such as ‘key’
and ‘door’. (Please refer back to page 1.) Then we look for a suitable
verb ‘opens’ to match the nouns like this:
Subject
(noun)
Verb Object
(noun)
A key opens a door.
*
‘Key’ and ‘door’ are countable concrete nouns, which need an article ‘a’.
Here the noun ‘key’ governs the verb ‘opens’. It is subject (the action doer) of the verb.
The second noun ‘door’ (the action receiver) is the object governed by the verb ‘opens’.
Transitive verb
The verb ‘opens’ is a transitive verb because it passes the action from the action doer ‘key’
(subject) to the action receiver ‘door’ (object). A transitive verb must take an object.

Intransitive verb
Subject Verb
The world laughs.
The action verb ‘laughs’ stops with the action doer ‘world’ (subject).
There is no action receiver (object).
More Examples:
Linking verb
(Please see page 100.)
Lesson 2
Why is it first and foremost to classify a verb?
The answer is easily seen in the following examples:
intr. v.
1. He stopped to smoke. (= He walked no farther and stood there and smoked.)
tran. v.
2. He stopped smoking. (= He gave up smoking and smoked no more.)
In 1, the intransitive 'stopped' ends with the subject 'he', and 'to smoke' tells us why he
stopped. (Please see page 98.)
In 2, the transitive 'stopped' means 'quitted' and takes the noun (gerund) 'smoking' as its
object. (Please see page 90 for more explanations of gerunds.)
intr. v.
She turned, and dropped the ball. (= She went round and dropped the ball.)
tran. v.
She turned and dropped the ball. (= She turned the ball and dropped it.)
The linking verb ‘be’ (am, is, are, was, were, been, being, be) is used most frequently. It
links a noun or an adjective with the subject to make the meaning of a sentence complete.
Subject Complement
John is a doctor.
(noun) (linking v.) (noun)
Subject Complement
John is happy.
(noun) (linking v.) (adjective)
19

Lesson 2
20
Complements
Both the noun ‘doctor’ and the adjective ‘happy’ are complements of ‘is’. There are
many other linking verbs, such as seem, appear, become, grow, turn, prove, look,
come, go, feel, get, etc. They take a noun or an adjective as their complements, NOT
as objects.
For Example:
n. link. v. adj.
The weather looks fine.
We can understand the sentence in two ways:
• The adjective ‘fine’ is complement of the
linking verb ‘looks’.
• The adjective ‘fine’ qualifies the noun
‘weather’.
Noun or adjective?
If we put a noun instead of an adjective after a linking verb, we say the two nouns
refer to the same person or thing.
So the following sentence is incorrect.
John becomes a teacher. (John = a teacher )
John is happiness.
The weather looks fine.
‘John’ is a man, and ‘happiness’ is an abstract noun. They are different things. Here
we must use the adjective form ‘happy’ instead.
John is happy. ( = happy John / a happy man)

Tips
A verb in different types suggests different meanings:
Play
The children are playing. (intransitive – are having fun)
n. (obj)
The wife played the violin badly. (transitive – performed)
n. adj.
The husband played deaf. (linking – pretended)
The following are the most frequently used sentence patterns:
(1) SV
(subject + intransitive verb / transitive verb in the passive voice)
My dog barked.
A rat was caught.
(2) SVO
(subject + transitive verb + object)
The dog killed the rat. (concrete noun)
The rat stole some food. (mass noun)
(3) SVC
(subject + linking verb + complement)
The food was cheese. (mass noun)
The cheese smelt good. (adjective)
(4) SVOC (Please see page 105.)
(subject + transitive verb + object + complement)
I called the dog a good boy. (concrete noun)
The dog made me happy. (adjective)
(5) SVOO
(subject + transitive verb + object + object)
I gave the dog some cookies.
Tom handed Susan a present.
Lesson 2
21

Lesson 2
22
A.
Please find out the sentence pattern of each of the following sentences.
Example: The tree has been blown away. ( 1 ) SV
1. Someone is coming.
2. She is the champion.
3. Tiffany feels bad.
4. All of the witnesses are being investigated.
5. Tom found his wallet.
6. We showed the official our passports.
7. I found Tom sleepy.
B. The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs
In paragraph 1, please write ‘I’ for ‘intransitive verb’, ‘T’ for ‘transitive verb’ and
‘L’ for ‘linking verb’. The first one has been done for you.
PARAGRAPH 1
(I)
The night fell. A farmer came to his goose’s nest. He found a heavy, yellow egg
there. He felt strange, ‘Someone has played a trick on me.’ Still, he took it home but
was very happy because the egg was a lump of gold.

In paragraph 2, try to look for a noun/pronoun in the FOUR positions:
( 1 ) before a verb,
( 2 ) after a transitive verb,
( 3 ) after a linking verb,
( 4 ) after a preposition.
The 1st sentence has been done for you.
Lesson 2
PARAGRAPH 2
(1) (2) (4) (4)
The farmer sold the egg for a handsome sum of money. Every evening the goose
laid an egg of gold, and very soon he became a rich man.
In paragraph 3, try to write ‘subject’ for the noun/pronoun before a verb, ‘object’
after a transitive verb OR a preposition, and ‘complement’ after a linking verb.
PARAGRAPH 3
subj. subj. compl. subj.
As the farmer grew rich, he turned greedy man. But he didn’t want to get only one
egg everyday. He said, “ I’d better cut the goose open to take all the eggs out of her at
one time.” So he cut open the goose but found nothing. Now he became an unhappy
man. (N.B. There is no ‘a’ before ‘greedy man’. Please see ‘turn’ on page 104.)
For ONLY, please point out which is a noun and which is a verb in the
following sentence.
Shaw saw saws saw saws.
See page 95 for tips.
23

Lesson 2
24
Note:
TRANSITIVE VERBS NOUNS
conserve
preserve
discipline
custom
world peace
living standard
a person’s outlook
historic buildings (prevent decay)
food (prevent decay)
electricity, water, etc.
(not to waste)
land, forest or other natural resources
(prevent them from damage)
historic buildings (prevent decay)
food (prevent waste)
Both historic buildings and food can be governed by either preserve or conserve.
Here we can see how an object noun can be governed by several transitive verbs and
qualified by several adjectives. If the noun is uncountable, no article is needed.
VERBS
keep
maintain
impose
lack
ADJECTIVES
strict, lax
tough
proper
normal
NOUN
discipline (uncountable)

Lesson 2
Likewise, a transitive verb can also govern a few different nouns, and each noun can be
qualified by a few adjectives, too. If the noun is countable, an article is needed.
main, major, great
grave, deep
little
express genuine
concern
public
growing
sincere
deepest
(uncountable)
humble
express a apology
public
profound
(countable)
Verbs, adjectives and nouns are 3 in 1. And we should not study an English word singly.
Verb + (a/ an/ the/ no article) + adjective + noun is a core pattern of sentence-writing.
To read more and to consult dictionaries often will help (to) pave the way to success.
C.
Please say what part of speech each word in italics is in the following sentences.
int. v. adj.
Example: I spring over the garden gate to pick some spring flowers.
1. Bath the little dog in this bath, and wrap it up with a bath towel.
2. Iron this shirt with an electric iron on this iron table made of iron from the USA.
3. Water this plant with water from these water bottles.
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Lesson 2
26
Summary (At this first stage, it is good enough to understand the following.)
To think this way
Word(s)
(before a verb)
Word(s)
(after a verb / prep.)
Word(s)
(after a linking verb)
=
=
=
Subject
Object
Complement
=
=
=
Noun
(before a verb)
Noun
(after a verb / prep.)
Noun / Adjective
(after a linking verb)
To think the other way
(See P.107.)
Here is a little test for OUTSTANDING learners.
Please find out the subjects and objects in the following sentences:
EXAMPLES:
A wolf walking by the mountain’s side in the evening saw his
own shadow.
wolf subject of the transitive verb ‘saw’.
side object of the preposition ‘by’.
evening object of the preposition ‘in’.
shadow object of the transitive verb ‘saw’.
1. A frog braver than the rest putting his head above the
water cried to the boys loudly.
2. Near an apple tree grew a rose bush. (Please refer to P.294.)

Suffixes
Different suffixes can help us easily understand whether a word is a noun,
verb or adjective and hence their meanings. (Please try to memorize them.)
Of Nouns
(1) Denoting mainly the agent or doer of a thing.
-ain (-an, -en, -on)
-ate (-ee, -ey, -y)
-ar (-er, -eer, -ier, -ary)
(2) Denoting state, action, result of an action.
-cy
ca ptain, musician,
citizen, surgeon.
-age
marriage, leakage,
bondage.
fancy, accuracy,
bankruptcy
-ty
difficulty,
advocate, employee,
attorney, company.
-ness-ship
darkness, goodness,
sweetness, boldness.
beauty, cruelty.
-ion
action, union,
opinion.
-ure
scholar, teacher, engineer,
financier, missionary.
-ance (-ence)
brilliance, assistance,
excellence, innocence.
-er (-ar, -or, -yer)
-th
friendship, partnership,
hardship.
pleasure, picture,
treasure.
painter, beggar,
sailor, employer.
health, growth,
strength.
-ling
duckling, darling,
nestling.
-dom
-ment
freedom, wisdom,
kingdom.
-ice (-ise)
punishment, judgment,
improvement.
service, practice,
exercise.
-y
victory, story,
misery.
Lesson 2
27

Lesson 2
28
Suffixes
Of Adjective
-al
-ed
having;
-ar
national, usual,
final, gradual, legal.
gifted, learned,
talented.
-ful
full of;
hopeful, joyful,
beautiful, fruitful.
familiar, similar,
regular.
Of Verb
-ish (transitive)
publish, punish,
banish.
-ble (-ible, -able)
able, possible,
laughable, sensible.
-ate
fortunate, obstinate,
temperate.
-fy (transitive)
simplify, purify,
terrify, verify.
-y
with the quality of;
wealthy , healthy ,
greedy needy , dirty .
-ive
-less
free from, without;
fearless, shameless,
hopeless, senseless.
-en
made of;
-ary
active, attentive,
attractive.
-se (transitive)
to make;
cleanse, rinse,
realise.
wooden, golden,
woolen, earthen.
necessary, ordinary,
contrary.
-lent
-ish
somewhat like;
girlish, foolish,
womanish.
-ous
dangerous,
-en (transitive)
causative, forming;
weaken, sweeten, harden,
widen, strengthen.
excellent, violent,
turbulent.
copious, tedious.

To Learn English (2)
Lesson 2
An English word must be learned together with other words at the same time. This
word-matching, or word-combining is called collocation. Such a close connection among
words spreads through the whole language. It includes proverbs, idioms, phrasal verbs,
and many fixed expressions.
Examples: No news is good news. (Proverb)
Dancing is not my cup of tea. (Idiom)
We ran out of money after our holidays. (Phrasal verb)
The story is about love at first sight. (Fixed expression)
There are many types of matching as the following sentence shows.
:Adjective :Adverb
A very reasonably large company has recently bought 50,000 shares wholly through a leading stockbroker.
A very reasonably large company have recently bought 50,000 shares wholly through a leading stockbroker.
very
quite
utterly
fairly
Adjective
50,000
large
20%
reasonably
(adverb)
shares
(noun)
subject tran. v. object prep. object
Adverb Adverb
Adverb
reasonably
very
rather
quite
Adverb
wholly
partly
completely
large
(adjective)
through
(prep.)
recently
cheaply
quickly
Adjective
a
leading
large
Download more chapters at: http://englishfortheeagerlearners.blogspot.hk/
Tips to learn
collocations:
1. Through all kinds of
reading materials.
2. With dictionaries.
buy
(verb)
stockbroker
(noun)
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