English Writing – Session 1 The Macau New Chinese Youth Association

Introduction: This 10-hour writing course describes the various basic English writing skills from the sentence to paragraph and finally the business correspondences at entry level This course covers the following topics: 1.Parts of speech 2.Sentence patterns 3.Punctuations 4.Phrasal words and connectors 5.Paragraph/Essay writing 6.Basic business letter writing

The prerequisites for this course are as follows: 1.At senior high school level or above 2.Ability to read, write and comprehend English 3.Ability to understand spoken English Objectives: At the end of the course, students will be able to: 1.Describe the features in eight parts of speech 2.Understand and use the basic types of sentence patterns 3.Understand and use the basic punctuations in writing 4.Understand and use the basic phrasal words and connectors in writing 5.Use the techniques to write the five-paragraph essay 6.Write basic business letters

Course Details: Session 1 1.Eight parts of speech (Quick revision) 2.Sentence types (Quick revision) Session 2 1.Punctuations 2.Phrasal words and connectors Session 3 1.Five-essay paragraph Session 4 1.Five-essay paragraph (Continued) 2.Basic business writing Session 5 1.Basic business writing (Continued)

Parts of Speech 8:56 PART OF SPEECHBASIC FUNCTIONEXAMPLES Noun names a person, place, or thingpirate, Caribbean, ship Pronoun takes the place of a nounI, you, he, she, it, ours, them, who Verb identifies action or state of beingsing, dance, believe, be Adjective modifies a nounhot, lazy, funny Adverb modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb softly, lazily, often Preposition shows a relationship between a noun (or pronoun) and other words in a sentence up, over, against, by, for Conjunction joins words, phrases, and clausesand, but, or, yet Interjection expresses emotionah, whoops, ouch Article identifies and specifies a nouna, an, the

Sentence Patterns (Quick revision) A Simple Sentence: Five Basic Sentence Patterns 1.Subject + Verb I swim. Joe swims. They swam.Subject + Verb 2.Subject + Verb + Object I drive a car. Joe plays the guitar. They ate dinner.Subject + Verb + Object 3.Subject + Verb + Complement I am busy. Joe became a doctor. They look sick.Subject + Verb + Complement 4.Subject + Verb + Indirect Object + Direct Object I gave her a gift. She teaches us English.Subject + Verb + Indirect Object + Direct Object 5.Subject + Verb + Object + Complement I left the door open. We elected him president. They named her Jane.Subject + Verb + Object + Complement

Sentence Diagramming Sentence Diagramming 1: Verbs, Subjects, Adverbs 5:31 Sentence Diagramming 5: Direct Objects 3:55 Diagramming Sentences in 6 Steps 1:46 Sentence Diagrams His classmates elected him class president.

Sentence Types 1.Simple 2.Compound 3.Complex 4.Compound – Complex What is a compound sentence? 4:38 Compound Sentences: Compound sentences contain two statements that are connected by a conjunction (i.e., and, but, or, etc.). Examples 1.I wanted to come, but it was late. 2.The company had an excellent year, so they gave everyone a bonus. 3.I went shopping, and my wife went to her classes.

What is a complex sentence? 3:34 Complex Sentences: Complex sentences contain a dependent clause and at least one independent clause. The two clauses are connected by a subordinator (i.e, which, who, although, despite, if, since, etc.). Examples 1. My daughter, who was late for class, arrived shortly after the bell rang. 2. That's the man who bought our house. 3. Although it was difficult, the class passed the test with excellent marks. Sentence Types

Compound and Complex Sentences Compound - Complex Sentences: Compound - complex sentences contain at least one dependent clause and more than one independent clause. The clauses are connected by both conjunctions (i.e., but, so, and, etc.) and subordinators (i.e., who, because, although, etc.) Examples 1.John, who briefly visited last month, won the prize, and he took a short vacation. 2.Jack forgot his friend's birthday, so he sent him a card when he finally remembered. 3.The report which Tom complied was presented to the board, but it was rejected because it was too complex. Sentence Types

Making Subjects and Verbs Agree When the subject of a sentence is composed of two or more nouns or pronouns connected by and, use a plural verb. When two or more singular nouns or pronouns are connected by or or nor, use a singular verb. When a compound subject contains both a singular and a plural noun or pronoun joined by or or nor, the verb should agree with the part of the subject that is nearer the verb.

Making Subjects and Verbs Agree Do not be misled by a phrase that comes between the subject and the verb. The verb agrees with the subject, not with a noun or pronoun in the

Making Subjects and Verbs Agree The words each, each one, either, neither, everyone, everybody, anybody, anyone, nobody, somebody, someone, and no one are singular and require a singular Nouns such as civics, mathematics, dollars, measles, and news require singular

Making Subjects and Verbs Agree The word dollars is a special case. When talking about an amount of money, it requires a singular verb, but when referring to the dollars themselves, a plural verb is Collective nouns are words that imply more than one person but that are considered singular and take a singular verb, such as: group, team, committee, class, and family. In very few cases, the plural verb is used if the individuals in the group are thought of and specifically referred

Making Subjects and Verbs Agree Expressions such as with, together with, including, accompanied by, in addition to, or as well do not change the number of the subject. If the subject is singular, the verb is too.

Independent and Dependent Clauses Independent Clause (IC) An independent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and verb and expresses a complete thought. An independent clause is a sentence. Example: Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry quiz. (IC) Dependent Clause (DC) A dependent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and verb but does not express a complete thought. A dependent clause cannot be a sentence. Often a dependent clause is marked by a dependent marker word. Example: When Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry quiz... (DC) (What happened when he studied? The thought is incomplete.)

Dependent Marker Word (DM) A dependent marker word is a word added to the beginning of an independent clause that makes it into a dependent clause. Example: When Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry quiz, it was very noisy. (DM) Some common dependent markers are: after, although, as, as if, because, before, even if, even though, if, in order to, since, though, unless, until, whatever, when, whenever, whether, and while.

Connecting Dependent And Independent Clauses There are two types of words that can be used as connectors at the beginning of an independent clause: coordinating conjunctions and independent marker words. 1. Coordinating Conjunction (CC) The seven coordinating conjunctions used as connecting words at the beginning of an independent clause are and, but, for, or, nor, so, and yet. When the second independent clause in a sentence begins with a coordinating conjunction, a comma is needed before the coordinating conjunction: Example: Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry quiz, but it was hard to concentrate because of the noise. (CC)

2. Independent Marker Word (IM) An independent marker word is a connecting word used at the beginning of an independent clause. These words can always begin a sentence that can stand alone. When the second independent clause in a sentence has an independent marker word, a semicolon is needed before the independent marker word. Example: Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry quiz; however, it was hard to concentrate because of the noise. (IM) Some common independent markers are: also, consequently, furthermore, however, moreover, nevertheless, and therefore.