Module 1 Participate in Workplace Communication

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COMPETENCY-BASED LEARNING MODULE ON ENG 111. ENGLISH COMMUNICATION SKILLS 1

MODULE 1

PARTICIPATING WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION By:

RIZZA R. RENOMERON National Assessor for VG NC III CA-VGD0313140909003

SHERYL R. MORALES National Assessor for BKP NC III CA-BKP0313140911226

MODULE 1

PARTICIPATING WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION • • • • •

Information Sheet 1 PARTS OF SPEECH Information Sheet 2 BUILDING SENTENCE Information Sheet 3 TENSES Information Sheet 4 MODAL VERBS Information Sheet 5 ACTIVE AND PASSIVE

MODULE TITLE

PARTICIPATING WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION

Description:

Language is the most commonly used medium of selfexpression in all spheres of human life – personal, social and professional. A student must have a fair knowledge of English language and skills to communicate effectively to handle the future jobs in industry. This module covers the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to obtain, interpret and convey information in response to workplace requirements.

Course Objective:

At the end of the course, the student will be able to develop comprehension skills, improve vocabulary, use proper grammar, acquire writing skills, correspond with others and enhance skills in spoken English.

CONTENTS: Information Sheet 1 Parts of speech 1.1 Nouns 1.2 Pronouns 1.3 Adjectives 1.4 Verbs 1.5 Adverbs 1.6 Prepositions 1.7 Conjunction 1.8 Interjection Information Sheet 2 BUILDING SENTENCE 2.1 Sentence Forms 2.2 The Anatomy of a Sentence 2.3 Sentence Patterns 2.4 Subject Verb Agreement Information Sheet 3 VERB TENSES Information Sheet 4 MODAL VERBS Information Sheet 5 ACTIVE AND PASSIVE

MODULE 1. LEADING WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION

LEARNING GUIDE Learning Steps

1. Read Information Sheet 1 on Parts of Speech 2. Answer Self-Check 3. Read Information Sheet 2 on Building Sentence 4. Answer Self-Check 5. Read Information Sheet 3 on Tenses 6. Answer Self-Check 7. Read Information Sheet 4 on Modal Verbs 8. Answer Self-Check 9. Read Information Sheet 5 on Active and Passive Voice 10. Answer Self-Check

Resources

Information Sheet 1 Self-Check 1 Information Sheet 2 Self-Check 2 Information Sheet 3 Self-Check 3 Information Sheet 4 Self-Check 4 Information Sheet 5 Self-Check 5

Module 1. Leading Workplace Communication

INFORMATION SHEET 1

PARTS OF SPEECH

This unit focuses on the basics of English grammar you need to speak and write as effectively as possible. Everyone already knows a lot about grammar and uses it correctly most of the time. Whenever people read, write, speak, or listen, they are using their knowledge of grammar. When they were learning to talk, they learned the names of things (vocabulary), the different forms of a word (sings, sang, singing, sung, songs), and they learned how to put them into sentences in the right order (syntax) so they would be understood and get what they wanted unrecognized.

WHAT IS GRAMMAR? Dictionaries define grammar as the rules and explanations which deal with the forms and structure of words (morphology1), their arrangement in phrases and sentences (syntax2), and their classification based on their function (parts of speech). Like many dictionary definitions, this makes grammar sound more difficult than it really is. . This module gives you a chance to find and correct any grammar mistakes you may be making. Unless you correct those errors in grammar, you may be unfairly judged, and your true abilities may go. Let’s start by learning the parts of speech.

PARTS OF SPEECH Learning about the eight parts of speech will help you understand the grammar explanations of some of the mistakes you make and figure out how to correct them. Because some words can be used in several different ways, you have to look at what a word is doing in a specific sentence before you can classify it (name its part of speech). For example, look at these sentences. He ran fast so he wouldn’t be late. (describes how he ran...adverb) They will fast to raise money for UNICEF. (tells about an action...verb) Their fast lasted for three days. (names a thing...noun) The word “fast” is spelled the same, but it functions differently in each sentence.English has hundreds of thousands of words, every one can be placed into at least one of eight groups, or classifications. The system of classifying words based on their function is known as the parts of speech.

The eight parts of speech are noun pronoun verb adjective adverb preposition conjunction interjection

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INFORMATION SHEET 1.1

PARTS OF SPEECH (NOUN)

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SELF-CHECK 1.1A

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SELF-CHECK 1.1B

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INFORMATION SHEET 1.2

PARTS OF SPEECH (PRONOUNS)

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SELF-CHECK 1.2A

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SELF-CHECK 1.2B

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INFORMATION SHEET 1.3

PARTS OF SPEECH (ADJECTIVES)

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SELF-CHECK 1.3A

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SELF-CHECK 1.3B

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INFORMATION SHEET 1.4

PARTS OF SPEECH (VERBS)

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SELF-CHECK 1.4A

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SELF-CHECK 1.4B

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SELF-CHECK 1.4C

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INFORMATION SHEET 1.5

PARTS OF SPEECH (ADVERBS)

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SELF -CHECK 1.5A

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SELF-CHECK 1.5B

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INFORMATION SHEET 1.6

PARTS OF SPEECH (PREPOSITIONS)

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SELF-CHECK 1.6A

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INFORMATION SHEET 1.7

PARTS OF SPEECH (CONJUNCTIONS)

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SELF-CHECK 1.7A

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INFORMATION SHEET 1.8

PARTS OF SPEECH (INTERJECTIONS)

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SELF-CHECK 1.8

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INFORMATION SHEET 2.1 SENTENCE FORMS

A sentence is a group of words which starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop (.), question mark (?) or exclamation mark (!). A sentence contains or implies a predicate and a subject. • Sentences contain clauses. • Simple sentences have one clause. • Compound sentences and complex sentences have two or more clauses. • Sentences can contain subjects and objects. The subject in a sentence is generally the person or thing carrying out an action. The object in a sentence is involved in an action but does not carry it out, the object comes after the verb. For example: The boy climbed a tree. If you want to say more about the subject (the boy) or the object (the tree), you can add an adjective. For example: The young boy climbed a tall tree. If you want to say more about how he climbed the tree you can use an adverb. For example: The young boy quickly climbed a tall tree. The sentence becomes more interesting as it gives the reader or listener more information. What makes a complete sentence? If it helps you, think about a sentence as if it were a skeleton, the skeleton contains various bones and these bones are put together to form different parts of the body.

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So are sentences formed by words, the words are the bones and they are put together in different ways to form sentences.

Simple Sentences A simple sentence contains a single subject and predicate. It describes only one thing, idea or question, and has only one verb - it contains only an independent (main) clause. Any independent clause can stand alone as a sentence. It has a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought. For example: •

Jill reads.

Even the addition of adjectives, adverbs, and prepositional phrases to a simple sentence does not change it into a complex sentence. For example: •

The brown dog with the red collar always barks loudly.

Even if you join several nouns with a conjunction, or several verbs with a conjunction, it remains a simple sentence. For example: •

The dog barked and growled loudly.

Compound Sentences Compound sentences are made up of two or more simple sentences combined using a conjunction such as and, or or but. They are made up of more than one independent clause joined together with a co-ordinating conjunction. For example: "The sun was setting in the west and the moon was just rising."

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Each clause can stand alone as a sentence. For example: "The sun was setting in the west. The moon was just rising."

Every clause is like a sentence with a subject and a verb. A coordinating conjunction goes in the middle of the sentence, it is the word that joins the two clauses together, the most common are (and, or, but) For example: •

I walked to the shops, but my husband drove.

•

I might watch the film, or I might visit my friends.

•

My friend enjoyed the film, but she didn't like the actor.

Complex Sentences Complex sentences describe more than one thing or idea and have more than one verb in them. They are made up of more than one clause, an independent clause (that can stand by itself) and a dependent (subordinate) clause (which cannot stand by itself). For example: "My mother likes dogs that don't bark." adverbial or adjectival.

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Dependent clauses can be nominal,

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SELF-CHECK 2.1A

SENTENCE FORMS Write S if the sentence is Simple, C if the sentence is compound or X if the sentence is complex in form.

1. _________Sara began planning her summer vacation in December. 2. _________Because I left the play early, I missed the surprise ending. 3. _________After Alison finished playing the video game, she shut down the computer. 4. __________For Halloween, each of the children had dressed up as a different Disney character; however, not one of them had dressed up as Mickey Mouse. 5. __________Some of the books in the library will be given to charity. 6. __________After the hurricane, many of the offices needed new carpeting. 7. __________he meaning of this poem is difficult to understand. 8. __________Fiona became interesting in long-distance running several years ago; in fact, she ran in the New York Marathon last year. 9. __________Since we bought our new wide-screen television, the prices have dropped dramatically. 10. __________Duane doesn't think he passed the test, although he studied several hours last night.

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SELF-CHECK 2.1B

Identify if the sentence is Simple, Compound, or Complex. 1: The Americanization of Shadrach Cohen is a short story about values by Bruno Lessing.

2: Shadrach Cohen had two sons, Abel and Gottlieb. 3: When Abel and Gottlieb moved to New York, they opened their own business in their father's name. 4: The business was successful, so Abel and Gottlieb told their father to join them in New York City. 5: When Shadrach came, he brought Marta, the family maidservant. 6: When the ship landed, Shadrach was met by two dapper-looking young men. 7: Each son wore a flashy tie with a diamond pin. 8: Shadrach's sons welcomed him to the new land, but they were amazed by his old fashioned appearance. 9: Shadrach looked like so many new immigrants that Gottlieb and Abel had ridiculed in the past. 10: Gottlieb and Abel first wanted to take their father to a barbershop to trim his beard to make him look more like an American. 11: Although Gottlieb and Abel already had a servant, Marta stayed with the family. 12: At their first meal together, Shadrach saw a wall between him and his sons. 13: Shadrach was puzzled because he realized that some change had occurred. 14: When the meal was over, Shadrach donned his praying cap and began to recite grace. 15: While Abel and Gottlieb thought their father would change after a few months, he didn't.

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INFORMATION SHEET 2.2

THE ANATOMY OF A SENTENCE

The Verb

The verb is the fundamental part of the sentence. The rest of the sentence, with the exception of the subject, depends very much on the verb. It is important to have a good knowledge of the forms used after each verb (verb patterns), for example: to tell [someone] TO DO [something] Here we can see that the verb to tell is followed immediately by a person (the indirect object, explained later), an infinitive with 'to', and, possibly, an object for the verb you substitute for DO. Verbs also show a state of being. Such verbs, called BE VERBS or LINKING VERBS, include words such as: am, is, are, was, were, be, been, being, became, seem, appear, and sometimes verbs of the senses like tastes, feels, looks, hears, and smells. For example: •

"Beer and wine are my favourite drinks." The verb "are" is a linking (be) verb.

Fortunately, there are only a limited number of different verb patterns. Verbs can descibe the action (something the subject actually does) or state (something that is true of the subject) of the subject. For example: •

ACTION: I play football twice a week.

•

STATE: I've got a car.

Some verbs can represent both actions and states, depending on the context. For example work: •

ACTION: David's working in the bank.

•

STATE: David works in a bank.

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Finding the Verb When you analyze a sentence, first identify the verb. The verb names and asserts the action or state of the sentence. For example: •

"Working at the computer all day made David's head ache."

The main verb of the sentence is "made", not working. Verbs identify our activity or state. For example: •

eat, sleep, run, jump, study, think, digest, shout, walk ....

The Subject The subject is the person or thing the sentence is 'about'. Often (but not always) it will be the first part of the sentence. The subject will usually be a noun phrase (a noun and the words, such as adjectives, that modify it) followed by a verb. Finding the Subject Once you determine the verb, ask a wh...? question of the verb. This will locate the subject(s). For example: •

David works hard. o

•

Who "works hard"?=David does=the subject.

Beer and wine are my favorite drinks. o

What "are my favorite drinks"? Beer and wine are=the subjects.

The subject(s) of a sentence will answer the questions, "who or what."

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The Predicate Once you have identified the subject, the remainder of the sentence tells us what the subject does or did. This part of the sentence is the predicate of the sentence. The predicate always includes the verb and the words which come after the verb. For example: •

Michael Schumaker drove the race car. o

"Michael Schumaker" is the subject; "drove the race car" is the predicate.

More Advanced Terminology The Object Some verbs have an object (always a noun or pronoun). The object is the person or thing affected by the action described in the verb. Objects come in two types, direct and indirect. The direct object refers to a person or thing affected by the action of the verb. For example: •

"He opened the door. "- here the door is the direct object as it is the thing being affected by the verb to open.

The indirect object refers to a person or thing who receives the direct object. For example: •

" I gave him the book." - here him (he)is the indirect object as he is the beneficiary of the action.

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Transitive / Intransitive verbs Verbs which don't have an object are called intransitive. Some verbs can only be intransitive (disagree). In addition they cannot be used in the Passive Voice e.g. smile, fall, come, go. For example: David disagreed. - intransitive.

Verbs that have an object are called transitive verbs e.g. eat, drive, give. For example: •

David gave her a present.

Some verbs can be transitive or intransitive e.g. sing For example: •

Xavier Nadu sings. - intransitive.

•

Xavier Nadu sings pop songs. - transitive.

Adverbials An 'adverbial' or 'adverbial phrase' is a word or expression in the sentence that does the same job as an adverb; that is, it tells you something about how the action in the verb was done. For example: •

I sometimes have trouble with adverbs.

•

He spoke very quietly.

•

I've read that book three times.

•

She's gone to the bank.

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The first tells us the frequency of the action (sometimes), the second how he carried out the action (quietly), and the third how many times the action has happened (three). The fourth is a little different, as in this case the adverbial (gone to the bank) is more or less demanded by the verb (has). To remember the form of such verbs use your notebooks to write down the different forms. For example: •

to go [somewhere]

•

to put [something][somewhere]

This information is also useful when deciding the order of adverbials in a sentence. Unlike the previous parts of the sentence, a sentence can contain an indefinite number of adverbials, although in practice it's a good idea to keep them few in number.

Complement A complement is used with verbs like be, seem, look etc. Complements give more information about the subject or, in some structures, about the object. There are various definitions of 'complement', which range from the very general (anything in the predicate except the verb, including the direct object and adverbs) to the much more restrictive one used here. A complement is the part of the sentence that gives you more information about the subject (a subject complement) or the object (an object complement) of the sentence.

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The complement to be used, if any, is dependent on the verb used in the sentence. Subject complements normally follow certain verbs. For example: •

He is Spanish.

•

She became an engineer.

•

That man looks like John.

Object complements follow the direct object of the verbFor example. •

They painted the house red.

•

She called him an idiot!

•

I saw her standing there.

The complement often consists of an adjective or noun phrase, but can also be a participle phrase, as in the last example. It is often not very clear whether a phrase is a complement

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SELF-CHECK 2.2A

Identify the subject and predicate in these simple sentences. Circle the simple subject and underline the simple predicate. 1. My best friend in the whole world is coming over to my house to visit me this afternoon. 2. Three beautiful little kittens looked up at me from inside a box of old clothes. 3. At the stroke of midnight, the carriage turned into a huge orange pumpkin. 4. A really friendly old man with long white whiskers lives in the apartment above my aunt’s and uncle’s apartment. 5. Several of her favorite romantic love songs were playing on the radio that afternoon in the park. 6. Cool, deep, dark blue water flowed through the rough limestone rocks in the gorge. 7. One-hundred fifty-five dollars is certainly a lot of money for a young person living with his or her parents. 8. The large red book sitting on the hall table was a dictionary published by an encyclopedia company in the United States. 9. The three girls carried back packs filled with books, food, candy, clothes, make-up, pens, paper, hairbrushes, and other assorted items. 10. I don’t remember the name of that tall, thin actor with the sparkling blue eyes.

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INFORMATION SHEET 2.3

SENTENCE PATTERNS

SENTENCE PATTERNS A knowledge of basic sentence structure is necessary to write well. Despite the complexity of our language there are only six basic sentence patterns into which words are arranged. Once the six basic patterns have been learned, the study of more complicated patterns will be easier. Most of the more difficult sentences are merely combinations of the basic sentences or well-defined orderly alterations of them. Note that in each of the six basic sentence patterns, the function of the verb and the nature of the complement or completer required by the verb, are what distinguishes one pattern from another. Verbs are identified as transitive or intransitive. Transitive verbs transfer the action of the verb to a receiver. Intransitive verbs have no noun or object to act upon. Sentence Pattern #1: Made up of a subject and a verb plus any modifiers--there is no complement or completer; therefore, the verb is intransitive: SV Examples (subject is bold, verb is underlined, and prepositional phrases are in parentheses): Boys sing. The boys (in the choir) (from Detroit) sing sweetly (at Christmas). One (of the thieves) must have been hiding (in the basement).

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Sentence Pattern #2: Made of a subject and a verb and a direct object. The verb is transitive because it is acting upon an object directly: S V DO Examples (subject is bold, verb is underlined, and direct object is italicized): Students write essays. JCCC students write amazingly well-written essays about themselves. With one special kind of verb there is a problem of distinguishing between a direct object and an object of a preposition. Notice these two sentences: Harry jumped off the box. Harry took off his raincoat. The first sentence is Pattern #1. Off is a preposition, box is the object of the preposition, and the prepositional phrase is used as an adverbial modifier, because it tells where Harry jumped. The second sentence is Pattern #2. The verb, with its adverbial modifier off, is the equivalent of the transitive verb remove. Raincoat is the direct object. There is another way to distinguish between the adverbial use and the prepositional use of such a word as off in the above examples. When the word is a vital adverbial modifier of the verb, it can, in most cases, be used in either of two positions: immediately following the verb or following the direct object--"Harry took off his raincoat" or "Harry took his raincoat off." But when the word is a preposition, the alternate position is not possible. "Harry jumped the box off" is non-English. Here are some other examples of this kind of verb with adverbial modifier(s). Notice that in each case you can easily find a transitive verb synonym for the combination: ...give up (relinquish) his rights ...leave out (omit) the second chapter ...put out (extinguish) the fire ...make over (alter) an old dress ...make up (invent) an excuse

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Sentence Pattern #3: Consists of a subject and a verb with two completers of the verb: the direct object, which directly receives the action of the transitive verb and answers who or what, and the indirect object, which indirectly receives the action of the verb and answers to whom (or which) or for whom (or which). S V IO DO NOTE: There cannot he an indirect object without a direct object. A typical verb for this sentence pattern is give, allow, assign, ask, tell, write, send, show, pay, grant, etc. (Nearly all sentences using these verbs can make essentially the same statement by using a prepositional phrase, the preposition usually being to or for. When the preposition is present in the sentence, it is a Pattern #2 sentence.) Pattern #3: S V IO DO Examples (subject is bold, verb is underlined, direct object is italicized, and indirect object is in all capital letters): I gave the TEACHER my essay. I nervously gave my demanding English TEACHER my perfectly correct essay. REMEMBER: 1. Every verb has a subject.

2. Some verbs have a direct object. 3. A few verbs have both a direct object and an indirect object.

Sentence Pattern #4: Consists of a subject and a verb and two completers. The one closer to the verb is the direct object and the second one is the objective complement, which is either a noun that renames the direct object or an adjective that describes the direct object. S V DO OC NOTE: You may test this pattern by inserting to be. Sometimes the word as is used between the direct object and object complement.

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The following verbs are the most frequently used in Sentence Pattern #4: elect, appoint, name, call, consider, find, make, think. S V DO OC Examples (subject is bold, verb is underlined, direct object is italicized, and object complement is in all capital letters): The parents considered their child a GENIUS. The teacher thought him STUPID.

Sentence Pattern #5: Consists of a subject, a special kind of intransitive verb called a linking verb (a list follows) and a subjective complement (may be a noun which renames the subject): S LV NC

Example (subject is bold, linking verb is underlined, subjective complement— noun—is italicized): The child is a genius.

Sentence Pattern #6: Consists of a subject, a special kind of intransitive verb called a linking verb and a subjective complement (may be an adjective which describes the subject): S LV AC Example (subject is bold, linking verb is underlined, subjective complement— adjective—is italicized): The child is stupid. Linking Verbs--Verbs that do not always express action. Become She became a housewife. Grow He grew weary of the lecture. Turn Mac turned green with envy.

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Seem Appear Look Remain Stay Continue Feel Smell

Mary seemed ill to me. Gladys appeared well to me. Frances looks good in red. He remained calm. He stayed my friend. The weather continued warm. Later he felt better. The fish smells spoiled.

Taste Sound Prove Get Wear

The fish tastes terrible. This sentence sounds all right to me. She proved faithful to the end. The roads have been getting progressively worse. Her patience is wearing thin.

The following to be verbs: Be Shall be Being Will be Am Has been Are Have been Is Had been Was Shall have been Were Will have been

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SELF-CHECK 2.3A

Identify the sentence pattern (#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, or, #6) of each of the following sentences. 1. The museums provide something for everyone. 2. The runner ran around third base. 3. Trying to let in some fresh air, Doris opened a window. 4. The air outside was worse than the air inside. 5. Annie yielded to Jack's sweet talk. 6. Unemployment is getting worse. 7. Partying is fun. 8. Sue wants to quit her job. 9. Bert stumbled through the lobby of the union. 10. The excited horse threw its rider. 11. Have they started the game yet? 12. The hunter on safari killed two lions. 13. I haven't got any money for the movie. 14. There are two new theaters in town. 15. I enjoy going to the movies. 16. The pitcher pitched a wild pitch. 17. That wild pitch of his cost him the game. 18. The following students should report to the dean's office. 19. I have been following tennis for years. 20. This sentence is the last one in this exercise.

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SELF-CHECK 2.3B

Write two sentences as examples of each of the sentence patterns. Be sure to mark subject (S), verb (V), and complement (DO, IO, OC, AC, and/or NC). Sentence Pattern #1 __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ Sentence Pattern #2 __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ Sentence Pattern #3 __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ Sentence Pattern #4 __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ Sentence Pattern #5

__________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ Sentence Pattern #6

__________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

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INFORMATION SHEET 2.4

SUBJECT VERB AGREEMENT

Understanding Subject Verb Agreement When discussing subject verb agreement, it’s helpful to remember that a singular subject takes a singular verb and a plural subject takes a plural verb. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. For example: •

Anyone, everyone, someone, no one, and nobody always require singular verbs.

•

Neither and either require singular verbs even though they seem to be referring to two separate things.

•

Sums of money or periods of time require a singular verb.

•

When a sentence compounds a positive and a negative subject and only one is plural, the verb should agree with the positive subject.

•

Words that indicate portions of a whole, such as percent, fraction, some, all, none, and remainder require a singular verb only if the object of the preposition is singular.

•

Who, that, and which are singular or plural according to the noun directly in front of them.

•

Typically, you should use a plural verb with two or more subjects when they are connected by and.

•

There and here are never considered to be subjects. In sentences beginning with here or there, the subject follows the verb.

•

As well as and along with do not function the same as and. The phrase introduced by as well as or along with modifies the earlier word, but does not compound the subjects.

•

If a sentence includes modifiers between the subject and verb, this does not affect whether the verb is singular or plural.

•

Just because a word ends in –s does not automatically make it plural. Consider the word is as an example of this rule.

•

A collective noun such as team or staff can be either singular or plural depending upon the rest of the sentence.

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The 20 Rules of Subject Verb Agreement in Standard English 1.

Subjects and verbs must agree in number. This is the cornerstone rule that forms the background of the concept. The dog growls when he is angry. The dogs growl when they are angry.

2.

Don’t get confused by the words that come between the subject and verb; they do not affect agreement. The dog, who is chewing on my jeans, is usually very good.

3.

Prepositional phrases between the subject and verb usually do not affect agreement. The colors of the rainbow are beautiful.

4.

When sentences start with “there” or “here,” the subject will always be placed after the verb, so care needs to be taken to identify it correctly. There is a problem with the balance sheet.Here are the papers you requested.

5.

Subjects don't always come before verbs in questions. Make sure you accurately identify the subject before deciding on the proper verb form to use. Does Lefty usually eat grass? Where are the pieces of this puzzle.

6.

If two subjects are joined by and, they typically require a plural verb form. The cow and the pig are jumping over the moon.

7.

The verb is singular if the two subjects separated by and refer to the same person or thing. Red beans and rice is my mom's favorite dish.

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8.

If the words each, every, or no come before the subject, the verb is singular. No smoking and drinking is allowed.Every man and woman is required to check in.

9.

If the subjects are both singular and are connected by the words or, nor, neither/nor, either/or, and not only/but also the verb is singular. Jessica or Christian is to blame for the accident.

10.

The only time when the object of the preposition factors into the decision of plural or singular verb forms is when noun and pronoun subjects like some, half, none, more, all, etc. are followed by a prepositional phrase. In these sentences, the object of the preposition determines the form of the verb. All of the chicken is gone.All of the chickens are gone.

11.

The singular verb form is usually used for units of measurement. Four quarts of oil was required to get the car running.

12.

If the subjects are both plural and are connected by the words or, nor, neither/nor, either/or, and not only/but also, the verb is plural. Dogs and cats are both available at the pound.

13.

If one subject is singular and one plural and the words are connected by the words or, nor, neither/nor, either/or, and not only/but also, you use the verb form of the subject that is nearest the verb. Do your sisters or your girlfriend want any pizza?

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14.

Indefinite pronouns typically take singular verbs. Everybody wants to be loved.

15.

* Except for the pronouns (few, many, several, both) that always take the plural form. Few were left alive after the flood.

16.

If two infinitives are separated by and they take the plural form of the verb. To walk and to chew gum require great skill.

17.

When gerunds are used as the subject of a sentence they take the singular verb form of the verb, but when they are linked by and they take the plural form. Standing in the water was a bad idea.Swimming in the ocean and playing drums are my hobbies.

18.

Collective nouns like herd, senate, class, crowd, etc. usually take a singular verb form. The herd is stampeding.

19.

Titles of books, movies, novels, etc. are treated as singular and take a singular verb. The Burbs is a movie starring Tom Hanks.

20.

Final Rule – Remember, only the subject affects the verb!

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Module 1. Leading Workplace Communication

SELF-CHECK 2.4A

In each sentence below, underline the verb that agrees with the subject. 1. (Does, Do) every boy and girl in kindergarten visit the museum? 2. Clowns and fools, as well as heroes, (appear, appears) in many of Shakespeare's plays. 3. Either the plaintiff or the defendant (has, have) changed his mind about the suit. 4. Neither the President nor his family members (was, were) safe. 5. Fish and chips (is, are) a specialty of local restaurants. 6. Every dog and cat (is, are) required to wear a tag certifying that it has been vaccinated. 7. The cook and housekeeper (is, are) paid a larger salary than the gardener because of the extra requirements of her job. 8. Rain, snow, or fog (is, are) hazardous to beginning drivers. 9. (Do, Does) dogs and monkeys have the ability to think? 10. Both Jane and her brother (like, likes) riding horses.

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INFORMATION SHEET 3.1

Module 1. Leading Workplace Communication

VERB TENSES

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Tenses Sheet

SELF-CHECK 3.1A

Module 1. Leading Workplace Communication

Complete these sentences by using the right tense of the verb. You will have to read ahead. 1. Yesterday, I __________ football with James. 2. Tomorrow, I _____ ______ to Liverpool. 3. Last week, I __________ to school everyday. 4. Next Year, I ____ _____ ten years old. 5. Last Tuesday, Mary _______ to Brownies. 6. Now, I ____________ this worksheet. Now complete this table. Remember, the past tense tells us what has happened and the future tense tells us what will happen. The present tense tells us what is happening, VERB

PAST TENSE

To run To say To complete To score

I _________ You _______ He __________ We __________

PRESENT TENSE I ________ She _________ We __________ She __________

FUTURE TENSE We _____ run They _____ say She will_________ He ______ score

Write a few lines about what you did last Saturday. Remember your tenses!

Now write a few lines about what you will do this Saturday.

Tenses A. 13/11/00

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Tenses Sheet

SELF-CHECK 3.1B

Module 1. Leading Workplace Communication

Complete these sentences by using the right tense of the verb. You will have to read ahead. 7. Yesterday, I __________ football with James. 8. Tomorrow, I _____ ______ to Liverpool. 9. Last week, I __________ to school everyday. 10.Next Year, I ____ _____ ten years old. 11.Last Tuesday, Mary _______ to Brownies. Now complete this table. Remember, the past tense tells us what has happened and the future tense tells us what will happen. VERB To run To say To complete To score

PAST TENSE I _________ You _______ He ______________ We __________

FUTURE TENSE We _____ run They _____ say She will ___________ He ______ score

Write a few lines about what you did last Saturday. Remember your tenses!

Now write a few lines about what you will do this Saturday.

Tenses B. 13/11/00

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SELF-CHECK 3.1C Tenses Sheet

Module 1. Leading Workplace Communication

Complete these sentences by using the right tense of the verb. You will have to circle the form of the verb you think is correct. 12.Yesterday, I will play/played football with James. 13.Tomorrow, I will go/went to Liverpool. 14.Last week, I went/will go to school everyday. 15.Next Year, I was/will be ten years old. 16.Last Tuesday, Mary will go/went to Brownies. Now complete this table. Remember, the past tense tells us what has happened and the future tense tells us what will happen. The present tense tells us what is happening, VERB To run To say To score

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PAST TENSE I _________ You _______ We __________

FUTURE TENSE We _____ run They _____ say He ______ score

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INFORMATION SHEET 4

MODAL VERBS

What are Modal Verbs? Modal verbs are special verbs which behave very differently from normal verbs. Here are some important differences: 1. Modal verbs do not take "-s" in the third person. Examples: •

He can speak Chinese.

•

She should be here by 9:00.

2. You use "not" to make modal verbs negative, even in Simple Present and Simple Past. Examples: •

He should not be late.

•

They might not come to the party.

3. Many modal verbs cannot be used in the past tenses or the future tenses. Examples: •

He will can go with us. Not Correct

•

She musted study very hard. Not Correct

Common Modal Verbs Can Could May Might Must

Ought to Shall Should Will Would

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Modal

Can

Function

Form in the Present

Form in the Past

To show ability

I can run 10 miles.

I could run 10 miles when I was young.

To suggest a possibility or give an option To ask for or to give permission To show impossibility

Students can pre-enroll in classes. Can you call me? You can leave now. It cannot be Jim standing there. He went away for the weekend.

To show past ability To ask a polite question To show possibility

I could run 10 miles when I was young. Could I call you? Why isn’t Mary here? She could be busy.

Could To show impossibility

May

Might

Should

To suggest a possibility/opportunity or give an option To ask for or to give permission (formal) To show possibility

May I call you? The instructor may come to class late today.

To show possibility

The instructor might come to class late today.

To show advisability

You should try the new restaurant downtown. I should renew my driver’s license. You should receive my letter in two days. You ought to exercise regularly. I ought to register to vote.

To show obligation To show expectation

Ought to

He could not be here at the party. He is out of town. You could try going this way.

To show advisability To show obligation To show expectation

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Why wasn’t Mary at the party last night? She could have been busy. He could not have been at the party last night. He was out of town. You could have tried going that way.

You ought to receive my letter in two days.

The instructor may have come to class late yesterday. The instructor might have come to class late yesterday. You should have tried the new restaurant downtown. I should have renewed my driver’s license. You should have received my letter in two days. You ought to have exercisd regularly. I ought to have registered to vote by October. You ought to have received my letter two days ago.

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Had better To show advisability

Must

To show probability or to make a logical assumption To show necessity

To show prohibition Have to

To show necessity To show lack of necessity To indicate future time To make a promises or to show willingness

Will To state a general truth

We had better leave. It is getting late. Janice must be out this evening. She does not answer the telephone. I must call my parent tonight. You must not cross the street on red light. Mike has to make up the class he missed. I am glad that I do not have to cook tonight. He will leave for the plane at 7 a.m. The federal government will provide assistance to the hurricane victims. The new car they have developed will run on either gasoline or ethanol. Will you help me with these boxes? Would you help me with these boxes?

To ask a polite question To ask a polite question To indicate a repeated action in the past Would To indicate future time in the sentence that is in the past Would To show a preference I would rather go to rather summer school than graduate late. Would like To express a desire I would like to go to medical school.

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Janice must have been out last evening. She did not answer her telephone. I was late for the meeting because I had to call my parents last night.

Mike had to make up the class he had missed. I did not have to cook last night.

When I lived in LA, I would go to the beach every day. Mark promised that he would help me with my math homework.

I would have liked to go to medical school.

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Module 1. Leading Workplace Communication

SELF-CHECK 4A

Fill in the blanks in each sentence using a modal verb, such as can, could, would, should, might, may, must, or have to, based on the situational hints shown in italics. Select the modal that seems most appropriate for the situation described. 1. I _______________not know what to say to him if he showed up. (I’m unprepared to speak to him.) 2. She ____________ look at things differently once the facts are in. (A change in opinion is possible after all the information becomes available.) 3. It’s company policy; you _________do it this way or your expenses won’t be reimbursed. (The company requires that this procedure be followed for expense reimbursements.) 4. I’m in terrible shape! I ___________exercise more! (I’ve decided that more exercise is an absolute necessity for me.) 5. ___________you get this report done for us by tomorrow morning? (Are you willing and able to prepare this report by tomorrow if we ask you?) 6. __________you handle this much work on a regular basis? (Do you have the capacity to handle this much work regularly?) 7. We were worried about you. You __________have called us as soon as you knew you’d be late. (Calling someone when you will be late is a good idea, in my opinion.) 8. You _________want to think a little more carefully about that before trying it next time. (I think you were stupid not to think more carefully about it.) 9. This computer’s not working. It ___________have been damaged by the thunderstorm. (The damage is a logical deduction based on the information available) 10. Ellen _______be sent to London this summer, if the board decides that the situation there warrants it. (The trip is certainly possible, but whether or not she goes depends on the board’s preference

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Module 1. Leading Workplace Communication

SELF-CHECK 4B

Fill in the blanks in each sentence using a modal verb, such as can, could, would, should, might, may, must, or have to. 1. My trainer says I’m in terrible shape. According to him I ___________exercise more. 2. You _____always try reinstalling Windows, that might work if the disk is corrupt. 3. I ___________not do that if I were you! 4. When she was young, she _______play tennis every single day, rain or shine. 5. _________ I suggest this dark blue jacket? 6. I _________admit, it’s very nice-looking car. 7. She __________---admit that it was a very nice-looking car. 8. I _________think not! 9. __________we be required to ditch the aircraft, there are flotation devices under your seats. 10. You _____________say that.

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INFORMATION SHEET 5

ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE

Active Voice, Passive Voice There are two special forms for verbs called voice: 1. Active voice 2. Passive voice The active voice is the "normal" voice. This is the voice that we use most of the time. You are probably already familiar with the active voice. In the active voice, the object receives the action of the verb:

subject verb object active

> Cats

eat

fish.

The passive voice is less usual. In the passive voice, the subject receives the action of the verb:

subject verb passive

object

< Fish

are eaten by cats.

The object of the active verb becomes the subject of the passive verb: subject active

verb

Everybody drinks

passive Water

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object water.

is drunk by everybody.

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► Use the active voice when the actor’s identity is important. Active: The butler did it. Passive: It was done by the butler. The first sentence is stronger; it sounds like an accusation. The second sentence is weaker; it sounds like the butler did nothing more sinister than a load of laundry. ► Use the active voice when you want to be direct and emphatic. Active: Management expects the staff to follow the rules. Passive: It is expected by Management that the rules will be followed by the staff. In this instance, the active voice delivers the message more effectively. ► Use the passive voice when you do not need to tell the reader who is acting. Active: Ned will prosecute trespassers. Passive: Trespassers will be prosecuted. In this case, it is not necessary to say who will be doing the prosecuting. Fear of being prosecuted, not fear of being prosecuted by Ned, will prevent most people from trespassing.

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Module 1. Leading Workplace Communication

► Use the ‘objective’ passive for writing in disciplines such as the sciences. Active: Dr. Cranium considered the drug to be a medical breakthrough, but after he tested the drug further, he found that it had serious side effects. Passive: The drug was considered to be a medical breakthrough, but after further testing, it was found to have serious side effects.

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Module 1. Leading Workplace Communication

SELF-CHECK 5A

Rewrite the following sentences by replacing passive verbs with active verbs, and by adding a subject if necessary. 1. The building has been left by Elvis. 2. When I was prosecuted by Ned, I felt very foolish. 3. A superb dinner was prepared by the famous chef. 4. The dog was given a bath, and the cat was rescued from the tree. 5. The story of the albatross will be told many times by the ancient mariner. 6. The sentiments of the speaker were applauded. 7. It was proven by Atticus that the crime was not committed by the accused. 8. The site will be excavated as soon as permission is granted by the local government.

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SELF-CHECK 5B

The following paragraph is written with some verbs in the passive voice. Rewrite the paragraph, and change the verbs from the passive voice to the active voice. Supply new subjects for some sentences. Last year a hurricane was experienced by my family and me for the first time. It was Hurricane Ellen, and much damage to our property and neighborhood was caused by its fierce winds of 200 miles per hour and its heavy rains. The old oak tree in our backyard was uprooted and hurled across the roof of our house, creating a large hole through which the rain poured in. Our living room was flooded by the water, which rose to a height of three feet. When we began to think that the worst of the storm was over, we heard a loud crash and looked out the window to see that our car had been hit by our neighbor’s fallen tree, caving in the roof and breaking all the windows. Having recently moved to the East Coast from North Dakota, we thought that a hurricane was little more than a thunderstorm. Next time, when people in our area are advised to evacuate before a hurricane comes, I’m sure our family will be the first to leave.

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Module 1 - Leading Workplace Communication Recording Sheet For Oral Questioning / Interview Student name: Module Title/No: Qualification: Oral/interview questions

Satisfactory response Yes

No

1.





2.





3.





4.





5.





The student's underpinning knowledge was: Satisfactory 

Not satisfactory 

Student's Signature:

Date

Trainor's signature:

Date:

Acceptable answers are:

Trainor's signature:

Date:

Rating Sheet Module 1 - Leading Workplace Communication

1. Self-Check 1.1A 2. Self-Check 1.1B 3. Self-Check 1.2A 4. Self-Check 1.2B 5. Self-Check 1.3A 6. Self-Check 1.3B 7. Self-Check 1.4A 8. Self-Check 1.4B 9. Self-Check 1.4C 10. Self-Check 1.5A 11. Self-Check 1.5B 12. Self-Check 1.5A 13. Self-Check 1.6B 14. Self-Check 1.7B 15. Self-Check 1.8 16. Self-Check 2.1A 17. Self-Check 2.1B 18. Self-Check 2.2A 19. Self-Check 2.3A 20. Self-Check 2.3B 21. Self-Check 2.4B 22. Self-Check 3.1A 23. Self-Check 3.1B 24. Self-Check 3.1C 25. Self-Check 4.1A 26. Self-Check 4.1B 27. Self-Check 5A 28. Self-Check 5B

Performance Feedback

Remarks

S

C

NS

NYC

S - Satisfactory NS – Not Satisfactory C - Completed NYC – Not Yet Completed Module is Completed Remarks:



Not Yet Completed 

Student's Signature

Date

Trainor's signature:

Date: