Comparison of Degree

Degrees of Comparison are used when we compare one person or one thing with another.

There are three Degrees of Comparison in English.

They are:

1. Positive degree.

2. Comparative degree.

3. Superlative degree.

Let us see all of them one by one.

1.Positive degree.

When we speak about only one person or thing,We use the Positive degree.

Examples:

• This house is big.

In this sentence only one noun “The house” is talked about.

• He is a tall student.

• This flower is beautiful.

• He is an intelligent boy.

Each sentence mentioned above talks about only one noun.

The second one in the Degrees of Comparison is...

2.Comparative degree.

When we compare two persons or two things with each other,

We use both the Positive degree and Comparative degree.

Examples:

a. This house is bigger than that one. (Comparative degree)

This house is not as big as that one. (Positive degree)

The term “bigger” is comparative version of the term “big”.

Both these sentences convey the same meaning.

b. This flower is more beautiful than that. (Comparative)

This flower is not as beautiful as that. (Positive)

The term “more beautiful” is comparative version of the term “beautiful”.

Both these sentences convey the same meaning.

c. He is more intelligent than this boy. (Comparative)

He is not as intelligent as this boy. (Positive)

The term “more intelligent” is comparative version of the term “intelligent”.

Both these sentences convey the same meaning.

d. He is taller than Mr. Hulas. (Comparative)

He is not as tall as Mr. Hulas. (Positive)

The term “taller” is comparative version of the term “tall”.

Both these sentences convey the same meaning.

The third one in the Degrees of Comparison is...

3.Superlative degree:



When we compare more than two persons or things with one another,

We use all the three Positive, Comparative and Superlative degrees.

Examples:

a. This is the biggest house in this street. (Superlative)

This house is bigger than any other house in this street. (Comparative)

No other house in this street is as big as this one. (Positive)

The term “biggest” is the superlative version of the term “big”.

All the three sentences mean the same meaning.

b. This flower is the most beautiful one in this garden. (Superlative)

This flower is more beautiful than any other flower in this garden. (Comparative)

No other flower in this garden is as beautiful as this one. (Comparative)

The term “most beautiful” is the superlative version of the term “beautiful”.

All the three sentences mean the same meaning.

c. He is the most intelligent in this class. (Superlative)

He is more intelligent than other boys in the class. (Comparative)

No other boy is as intelligent as this boy. (Positive)

The term “most intelligent” is superlative version of the term “intelligent”.

Both these sentences convey the same meaning.

d. He is the tallest student in this class. (Superlative)

He is taller than other students in this class. (Comparative)

No other student is as tall as this student. (Positive)

The term “tallest” is superlative version of the term “tall”.

Both these sentences convey the same meaning.


http://www.english-for-students.com/Degrees-of-Comparison.html

Noun Clause

Noun Clause

Look at the following sentences.

• He expected to get a prize.
• He expected that he would get a prize.

In the first sentence the group of words ‘to get a prize’ does not have a subject and a predicate.

This group of word does the work of a noun.

Whereas in the second sentence, the group of words ‘that he would get a prize’ has both a subject and a predicate.

Here this group of words does the work of a noun. This is a clause.

This clause is the object of the verb EXPECT and so does the work of a noun.

Since this group of words does the works of both a noun and a clause, it is called NOUN-CLAUSE.

Definition:

A Noun-Clause is a group of words which contains a Subject and aPredicate of its own and does the work of a noun.

Examples:

• I often wonder how you are getting on with him.

• He feared that he would fail.

• They replied that they would come to this town.

• Do you know who stole the watch? 

• I thought that it would be fine day.

• No one knows who he is.

• I did not know what he would do next.

• How the budget got in is a mystery.

• Pay careful attention to what I am going to say.

• I do not understand how all it happened.

The Noun-Clauses can be replaced with suitable Nouns or with suitable Noun-Phrases.

• No one knows when he will come. (Noun-Clauses)
• No one knows the time of his coming. (Noun-Phrases)

• I heard that he had succeeded. (Noun-Clauses)
• I heard of his success. (Noun-Phrases)

• We will never know why he failed. (Noun-Clauses)
• We will never know the reason for his failure. (Noun-Phrases)

• The law will punish whosoever is guilty. (Noun-Clause)
• The law will punish the guilty. (Noun)

• The police want to know where he is living. (Noun-Clauses)
• The police want to know his residence. (Noun) 

http://www.english-for-students.com/Noun-Clause.html

Gerunds

Gerunds 

In English, the gerund is identical in form to the present participle (ending in -ing) and can behave as a verb within a clause (so that it may be modified by an adverb or have an object), but the clause as a whole (sometimes consisting of only one word, the gerund itself) acts as a noun within the larger sentence. For example: Eating this cake is easy.

In "Eating this cake is easy," "eating this cake," although traditionally known as a phrase, is referred to as a non-finite clause in modern linguistics. "Eating" is the verb in the clause, while "this cake" is the object of the verb. "Eating this cake" acts as a noun phrase within the sentence as a whole, though; the subject of the sentence is the non-finite clause, specifically eating.

Other examples of the gerund:

• I like swimming. (direct object)
• Swimming is fun. (subject)

Not all nouns that are identical in form to the present participle are gerunds.^[3] The formal distinction is that a gerund is a verbal noun – a noun derived from a verb that retains verb characteristics, that functionssimultaneously as a noun and a verb, while other nouns in the form of the present participle (ending in -ing) are deverbal nouns, which function as common nouns, not as verbs at all. Compare:

• I like fencing. (gerund, an activity, could be replaced with "to fence")
• The white fencing adds to the character of the neighborhood. (deverbal, could be replaced with an object such as "bench")

[edit]Double nature of the gerund

As the result of its origin and development the gerund has nominal and verbal properties. The nominal characteristics of the gerund are as follows:

1. The gerund can perform the function of subject, object and predicative:
   • Smoking endangers your health. (subject)
   • I like making people happy. (object)
2. The gerund can be preceded by a preposition:
   • I'm tired of arguing.
3. Like a noun the gerund can be modified by a noun in the possessive case, a possessive adjective, or an adjective:
   • I wonder at John's keeping calm.
   • Is there any objection to my seeing her?
   • Brisk walking relieves stress.

The verbal characteristics of the gerund include the following:

1. The gerund of transitive verbs can take a direct object:
   • I've made good progress in speaking Basque.
2. The gerund can be modified by an adverb:
   • Breathing deeply helps you to calm down.
3. The gerund has the distinctions of aspect and voice.
   • Having read the book once before makes me more prepared.
   • Being deceived can make someone feel angry.

[edit]Verb patterns with the gerund

Verbs that are often followed by a gerund include admit, adore, anticipate, appreciate, avoid, carry on, consider, contemplate, delay, deny, describe, detest, dislike, enjoy, escape, fancy, feel, finish, give, hear, imagine, include, justify, listen to, mention, mind, miss, notice, observe, perceive, postpone, practice, quit, recall, report, resent, resume, risk, see, sense, sleep, stop, suggest, tolerate and watch. Additionally,prepositions are often followed by a gerund.

For example:

• I will never quit smoking.
• We postponed making any decision.
• After two years of deciding, we finally made a decision.
• We heard whispering.
• They denied having avoided me.
• He talked me into coming to the party.
• They frightened her out of voicing her opinion.

Verbs followed by a gerund or a to-infinitive

With little change in meaning

advise, recommend and forbid:

These are followed by a to-infinitive when there is an object as well, but by a gerund otherwise.

• The police advised us not to enter the building, for a murder had occurred. (Us is the object of advised.)
• The police advised against our entering the building. (Our is used for the gerund entering.)

consider, contemplate and recommend:

These verbs are followed by a to-infinitive only in the passive or with an object pronoun.

• People consider her to be the best. – She is considered to be the best.
• I am considering sleeping over, if you do not mind.

begin, continue, start; hate, like, love, prefer

With would, the verbs hate, like, love, and prefer are usually followed by the to-infinitive.

• I would like to work there. (more usual than working)

When talking about sports, there is usually a difference in meaning between the infinitive and gerund (see the next section).

[edit]With a change in meaning

like, love, prefer

In some contexts, following these verbs with a to-infinitive when the subject of the first verb is the subject of the second verb provides more clarity than a gerund.

• I like to box. (I enjoy doing it myself.)
• I like boxing. (Either I enjoy watching it, I enjoy doing it myself, or the idea of boxing is otherwise appealing.)
• I do not like gambling, but I do like to gamble."

dread, hate and cannot bear:

These verbs are followed by a to-infinitive when talking subjunctively (often when using to think), but by a gerund when talking about general dislikes.

• I dread / hate to think what she will do.
• I dread / hate seeing him.
• I cannot bear to see you suffer like this. (You are suffering now.)
• I cannot bear being pushed around in crowds. (I never like that.)

forget and remember:

When these have meanings that are used to talk about the future from the given time, the to-infinitive is used, but when looking back in time, the gerund.

• She forgot to tell me her plans. (She did not tell me, although she should have.)
• She forgot telling me her plans. (She told me, but then forgot having done so.)
• I remembered to go to work. (I remembered that I needed to go to work.)
• I remembered going to work. (I remembered that I went to work.)

go on:

• After winning the semi-finals, he went on to play in the finals. (He completed the semi-finals and later played in the finals.)
• He went on giggling, not having noticed the teacher enter. (He continued doing so.)

mean:

• I did not mean to scare you off. (I did not intend to scare you off.)
• Taking a new job in the city meant leaving behind her familiar surroundings. (If she took the job, she would have to leave behind her familiar surroundings.)

regret:

• We regret to inform you that you have failed your exam. (polite or formal form of apology)
• I very much regret saying what I said. (I wish that I had not said that.)

try:

When a to-infinitive is used, the subject is shown to make an effort at something, attempt or endeavor to do something. If a gerund is used, the subject is shown to attempt to do something in testing to see what might happen.

• Please try to remember to post my letter.
• I have tried being stern, but to no avail.

stop, quit:

When the infinitive is used after 'stop' or 'quit', it means that the subject stops one activity and starts the activity indicated by the infinitive. If the gerund is used, it means that the subject stops the activity indicated by the gerund.

• She stopped to smell the flowers.
• She stopped smelling the flowers.

Or more concisely:

• She stopped walking to smell the flowers.

• He quit working there to travel abroad.

Gerunds preceded by a genitive

Because of its noun properties, the genitive (possessive case) is preferred for a noun or pronoun preceding a gerund.

• We enjoyed their [genitive] singing.

This usage is preferred in formal writing or speaking. The objective case is often used in place of the possessive, especially in casual situations:

• I do not see it making any difference.

Really, 'I do not see its making any difference' is the correct option.

This may sound awkward in general use, but is still the correct manner in which to converse or write. And this form of gerund is applicable in all relative cases, for instance:

• He affected my going there.
• He affected your going there.
• He affected his/her/its going there.
• He affected our going there.
• He affected their going there.

This is because the action, of doing or being, belongs, in effect, to the subject/object (direct or indirect) practising it, thus, the possessive is required to clearly demonstrate that.

In some cases, either the possessive or the objective case may be logical:

• The teacher's shouting startled the student. (Shouting is a gerund, and teacher's is a possessive noun. The shouting is the subject of the sentence.)
• The teacher shouting startled the student. (Shouting is a participle describing the teacher. This sentence means The teacher who was shouting startled the student. In this sentence, the subject is the teacher herself.)

Either of these sentences could mean that the student was startled because the teacher was shouting.

Using the objective case can be awkward, if the gerund is singular but the other noun is plural. It can look like a problem with subject-verb agreement:

• The politicians' debating was interesting.

One might decide to make was plural so that debating can be a participle.

• The politicians debating were interesting.

Gerunds and present participles

Insofar as there is a distinction between gerunds and present participles, it is generally fairly clear which is which; a gerund or participle that is the subject or object of a preposition is a gerund, if it refers to theperformance of an action (but present participles may be used substantively to refer to the performer of an action), while one that modifies a noun attributively or absolutely is a participle. The main source of potential ambiguity is when a gerund-participle follows a verb; in this case, it may be seen either as a predicate adjective (in which case it is a participle), or as a direct object or predicate nominative (in either of which cases it is a gerund). In this case, a few transformations can help distinguish them. In the table that follows, ungrammatical sentences are marked with asterisks, per common linguistic practice; it should be noted that the transformations all produce grammatical sentences with similar meanings when applied to sentences with gerunds but either ungrammatical sentences, or sentences with completely different meanings, when applied to sentences with participles.

Transformation	Gerund use	Participle use
(none)	John suggested asking Bill.	John kept asking Bill.
Passivization	Asking Bill was suggested.	*Asking Bill was kept.
Pronominal substitution	John suggested it.	*John kept it.
Use as a noun	John suggested the asking of Bill.	*John kept the asking of Bill.
Replacement with a finite clause	John suggested that Bill be asked.	*John kept that Bill be asked.
Use with an objective or possessive subject	John suggested our asking Bill.	*John kept his asking Bill.
Clefting	Asking Bill is what John suggested.	*Asking Bill is what John kept.
Left dislocation	Asking Bill John suggested.	*Asking Bill John kept.

None of these transformations is a perfect test, however.

English gerund-like words in other languages

English words ending in -ing are often transformed into pseudo-anglicisms in other languages, where their use is somewhat different from in English itself. In many of these cases, the loanword has functionally become a noun rather than a gerund. For instance, camping is a campsite in Bulgarian, Dutch, French, Greek, Italian, Romanian, Russian, and Spanish; in Bulgarian, Dutch, French, Polish, and Russian parking is a car park; lifting is a facelift in Bulgarian, French, German, Italian, Polish, Romanian, Hebrew, and Spanish. The French word for shampoo is (le) shampooing.

The gerund in popular culture

In the Molesworth books by Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle, Searle included a series of cartoons on the private life of the gerund, intended to parody the linguistic snobbery of Latin teachers' striving after strict grammatical correctness and the difficulty experienced by students in comprehending the construction.

Owen Johnson's "Lawrenceville Stories" feature a Latin teacher who constantly demands that his students determine whether a given word is a gerund or a gerundive.

In the new episode of Dan Vs., "The Ninja", after Dan's milk carton exploded from the ninja's shuriken, a teenager said to Dan "Drinking problem much?" and Dan complained that the sentence had no verb, just a gerund.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerund

TENSES

T E N S E S

I. PRESENT

   1. Simple Present Tense

    POLA:

Subject + Verb 1 + …. They /   We I   /   You

Subject + Verb s-es + ….     He  /   She  It

           

     FUNGSI:       

     a. Untuk menyatakan suatu kebiasaan (habitual action) atau kegiatan yang terjadi berulang – ulang dan terus menerus.

   Contoh :

 The students go to school everyday.

 She studies English twice a week.

 I go to church on Sundays

 We celebrate our independence day once in a year.

     b. Untuk menyatakan kebenaran umum (general truth).

         Contoh:

 The sun rises in the east and sets down in the west.

 The earth revolves round the sun.

 The pineapple never grows up on a tree.

      c. Digunakan dalam bahasa drama, komentar radio dan sejenisnya.

When the curtain rises, Juliet is writing on her desk. Suddenly the window opens and a masked man enters.

      KETERANGAN WAKTU:

1. Every morning/day/week/month/year
2. Once, twice, three times, four times, …
3. Adverb of frequency : always, usually, sometimes, often, never, seldom.

    2. Present Continuous Tense

      POLA :

Subyek + to be (is, am, are) + V-ing

      FUNGSI;

1. Untuk menyatakan suatu kegiatan yang sedang berlangsung pada waktu diucapkan.

Contoh:

 They are still playing at the moment.

 She is reading a novel now.

2. Untuk menyatakan kegiatan yang sedang berlangsung tetapi belum tentu sedang berlangsung ketika pernyataan diucapkan.

Contoh:

       I am learning French this year.

       Mr. Brown is teaching English.

      KETERANGAN WAKTU:    Now, at the moment, this afternoon, this evening, right now, today.

      Note : Ketika ada kata kerja seperti: Look!, Listen!, Watch!, Notice! ( Imperative), maka tenses

                nya Present Continuous.

      Contoh:     *  Look! The man is climbing.

                 *  Listen! The girls next door are singing my favourite song.

3. Present Perfect Tense

    POLA:

Subject + Have  +  Verb 3 + ….                  Has

    FUNGSI :

    a. Untuk menyatakan suatu perbuatan yang terjadi pada waktu lampau dan waktunya tidak tertentu.

     Contoh :

       William Shakespeare has written many short stories.

       I have swept the floor. It looks clean now.

2. Untuk menyatakan peristiwa yang pernah dilakukan dan mungkin dilakukan lagi di waktu yang akan datang.

Contoh:

       My friends and I have gone to Bali.

       Shinta has visited her grand parents many times.

      KETERANGAN WAKTU: Since, for, just (baru saja), already, yet, so far.

4. Present Perfect Continuous Tense

    POLA :

Subject + Have  + Been + Verb-ing                  Has

    FUNGSI :

Untuk menyatakan suatu kegiatan yang mulai dilakukan pada waktu lampau dan sampai sekarang masih berlangsung.

Contoh:

       My sister has been studying English for three months.

       The students have been doing the test since 11 o’clock.

     KETERANGAN WAKTU: For, since.

5. Simple Past Tense

        POLA:

Subject + Verb 2 + Object + ….

       FUNGSI:

Untuk menyatakan kegiatan yang terjadi pada waktu tertentu di masa lampau.

Contoh:

       I met my music teacher yesterday.

       My mother bought a new carpet last Sunday.

       Rendy closed the window five minutes ago.

       The students presented their project work this morning.

       KETERANGAN WAKTU:

-          Last ….                         -       …ago                                -       This afternoon

-          Just now            -       This morning                     -       Yesterday

6. Past Continuous Tense

         POLA:

Subject + was  + Verb- ing                 were

         FUNGSI:

1. Untuk menggambarkan peristiwa yang sedang terjadi pada masa lampau.

 Contoh:

       I was studying at my friend’s house.

       My parents were chatting in the living room.

2. Untuk menggambarkan suatu peristiwa yang sedang berlangsung pada waktu lampau, dimana peristiwa lain juga terjadi .

Contoh:

       When I was studying, someone knocked the door.

       When I was walking to school, I met Dian sastro.

7.  Past Perfect tense

   POLA:

Subject + Had + Verb 3

     FUNGSI:

Untuk menyatakan kegiatan yang terjadi sebelum kegiatan lain di waktu lampau muncul.

Contoh:  

       The teachers went home after they had finished teaching.

       When I arrived Kridosono, my favourite artist had performed.

    KETERANGAN WAKTU: when, after, before.

8. Future Tense

       POLA:

Subject + shall  + Verb 1 + …                 will

       FUNGSI:

1. Untuk menggambarkan suatu peristiwa yang akan terjadi.

Contoh:

       Bobby will come here tomorrow.

       I shall call my parents when I get home.

2. Untuk menyatakan sesuatu yang terjadi di masa mendatang yangbukan merupakan keinginan atau kehendak.

Contoh:

       Tomy will be fourteen years old next year.

       We shall die one day.

      KETERANGAN WAKTU: Tomorrow, next week/month/year, the day after tomorrow.

Future Perfect Tense

I will have sung

The future perfect tense is quite an easy tense to understand and use. The future perfect tense talks about the past in the future.

How do we make the Future Perfect Tense?

The structure of the future perfect tense is:

subject	+	auxiliary verb WILL	+	auxiliary verb HAVE	+	main verb
		invariable		invariable		past participle
		will		have		V3

Look at these example sentences in the future perfect tense:

	subject	auxiliary verb		auxiliary verb	main verb
+	I	will		have	finished	by 10am.
+	You	will		have	forgotten	me by then.
-	She	will	not	have	gone	to school.
-	We	will	not	have	left.
?	Will	you		have	arrived?
?	Will	they		have	received	it?

In speaking with the future perfect tense, we often contract the subject and will. Sometimes, we contract the subject, will and have all together:

I will have	I'll have	I'll've
you will have	you'll have	you'll've
he will have she will have it will have	he'll have she'll have it'll have	he'll've she'll've it'll've
we will have	we'll have	we'll've
they will have	they'll have	they'll've

 

We sometimes use shall instead of will, especially for I and we.

nahdy.student.umm.ac.id/files/2010/02/Tenses.doc