GRAMMAR FOR FORM FOUR

GRAMMAR FOR FORM FOUR

GRAMMAR FOR FORM FOUR:PARTS OF SPEECH

NOUNS

FUNCTIONS OF NOUNS IN SENTENCES

The noun functions in a sentence are:

• It can be the subject of a verb. Examples,

My niece chairs the meetings.

“My niece” is the subject of the verb “chairs”.

• The deer ate all my flowers.
• The students are doing assignment.
• Jane is washing my clothes.

• It can be the direct object of a verb. Examples,I will buy bread.

“Bread” is the direct object of the verb”buy”.

• I like you.
• The dog bit the postman.

• It can be an Indirect object of a verb, for example, He called me Helen.

“me” is the indirect object.

• Timothy bought Kamjesh fish.

GRAMMAR FOR FORM FOUR

 PRONOUNS

• INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS

We use interrogative pronouns to ask questions.

An interrogative pronoun represents that thing we don’t know and that is why we ask question about it.

There are four main interrogative pronouns:

• Who
• Whom
• What
• Which

It worth noting that the possessive “whose” can also be used as an interrogative pronoun  commonly known as an interrogative possessive pronoun.

“who”, “whom”, and “whose” are used to represent a human being.  “What” represents a thing , but sometimes, a person.

Interrogative Pronouns and Case

• An interrogative pronoun can either be in the subjective case or in the objective case.
• When the pronoun is in the subjective case we use the forms,

i.Whoii.Whatiii.Which

Who came last?

Domnic came last.

Which pleases you?

Horror movie pleases me?

The nouns represented by such pronouns are the subjects in the response.

• “What” and “which” can also be in the objective case. Consider:

1. What have you seen?

I have seen a new towel.

“A new towel” is the object of the verb “seen”. “What” that is representing it in the first sentence is also the object.  ii.   Which did you see first?

I saw the black car first.

• “Whom” is the correct form when the pronoun is the object of the verb. For example,

1. Whom did you meet?

I met Abraham.

“Whom” represents “Abraham”, which is the object of the verb “meet” ii.      Whom do you like?

GRAMMAR FOR FORM FOUR

• RELATIVE PRONOUNS

A relative pronoun introduces a relative clause.

A relative pronoun relates to the word it modifies. For example, The man who died last night is my neighbour.

In this example, the relative pronoun “who” relates to the noun “man” which it modifies.

It also introduces the relative clause “who died last night”   There are five main relative pronouns. They are:

• Who
• Whom
• Whose
• Which
• That

Who (subject) and whom (object) are used for people.

Whose is for possession.

Which is for things. That is also for things.

 Examples in Sentences

1. The car, which the terrorists used, exploded. ii. The driver whom I called yesterday will be here soon. iii.    Patients whose relatives are wealthy pay extra.

1. The car that left she drives is new.
2. The doctor whose phone is switched off has left. vi. The teacher, who is tall, is my class teacher. vii.          My cousin, whose car has been washed, is an engineer.

Whose can be used with things. Of which can be a substitute.  For example, The security officer is looking for the phone whose owner is complaining.

The security officer is looking for the phone of which the owner is complaining.

Exercise

Fill in the correct relative pronoun.

1. I am talking to the boy _____________ bike is missing.
2. The lady, ______________ Jonathan married, is seeking my guidance.
3. Joel, ______________ is the new school principal, has bought a secondhand car.
4. The truck __________ carried the garbage was white.
5. This is the girl ____________ comes from Moyale.
6. The teacher, _____________ every student likes, is really kind.
7. We often visit our uncle in Garbatula ______________ is in Isiolo.
8. The car, ______________ driver is a young man, is from Kitui.
9. What did you do with the money ____________ your mother gave you?
10. The children, ________________ shouted in the street, are not from Mwingi.
11. Look at the donkeys _________________ are grazing in the field.
12. Thank you for sending me the letter ________________ was very interesting.
13. I am the girl _________ George dated for years.
14. That is Peter, the priest __________ has just been ordained bishop.
15. I put my pencils in my bag, ___________ is on the chair.

    GRAMMAR FOR FORM FOUR

 VERBS

(a) PARTICIPLE PHRASES

A participle with one or more objects or modifiers forms a participle phrase. The sentence below illustrates this.

The cat eating meat and fish belongs to me.

In the sentence, underlined phrase is the participle phrase.

The participle in this phrase is “eating” Meat and fish are the objects.

A participle phrase modifies nouns. In the examples below, the participle phrases are underlined while the words modified are in boldface.

1. Washed with soap and water, the skirt looked bright. ii. The house, painted yellow and white, appeared new.

Participle phrases function as adjectives in a sentence.

A participle phrase is used to combine sentences two or more sentences, or to shorten them. For example,

• The teacher sat in his office. He sent the secretary to call Jonathan. Sitting in his office, the principal sent the secretary to call Jonathan.
• I forgot my pen at home. I borrowed a pen from Elianto.

Having forgotten my pen at home, I borrowed one from Elianto.

• The author is being interviewed. The author is a Caribbean. The author being interviewed is a Caribbean.
• Have you read this novel? It was written by Margaret Ogola.

Have you read this poem written by Margaret Ogola?

• I am a vegetarian. I don’t eat meat.

Being a vegetarian, I don’t eat meat.

Exercise 

Combine the pair of sentences using a participle phrase. The first one has been done for you.

• The students worked around the clock. They completed the project.

  GRAMMAR FOR FORM FOUR

Working around the clock, the students completed the project.

• The student was frustrated by lack of progress. The student dropped out of school.
• The dog was wounded. The dog stumbled through the muddy field.
• The man threw out the television. The television was broken.
• Martha was listening to loud music. Martha could not hear her parent calling.
• The man was sitting in the library. He was reading a newspaper.
• She walked home. She met an old friend.
• The dog wagged its tail. It bit the thief.
• The technician was working in the lab. He cut his finger.
• Njoroge was relaxing on his chair. Njoroge fell asleep.
• The man was disappointed. He stomped his foot and left angrily.

(b) GERUNDS

A gerund is a noun formed by adding “-ing” to a base form of a verb. For example,

Reading

Smoking

Drinking

Swimming etc

A gerund can be used as the subject or the complement of a sentence. For example,

• Learning is important. “Learning” is the subject.
• The most important thing is learning. “Learning” here is the complement

ADJECTIVES

(a) TYPICAL ENDINGS OF ADJECTIVES

Adjectives end in various suffixes. These suffixes include:

1. –able or –ible, for example,

• Achievable           Incredible
• Capable           Remarkable
• Illegible           Understandable, etc

1. –al, for example,

• Functional           Beneficial
• Internal           Mathematical
• Influential           Chemical
• Logical           Physical, etc

1. –ic, for example,

• Manic           Cubic
• Terrific           Rustic
• Historic           Artistic, etc

ful, for example,

• Careful Beautiful
• Hopeful           Grateful
• Helpful           Harmful, etc
• Bashful

  GRAMMAR FOR FORM FOUR

1. –less , for example,

• Harmless           Ruthless
• Fearless           Breathless
• Careless           Groundless
• Jobless Restless, etc

1. –ive , for example,

• Dismissive           Persuasive
• Attractive           Inventive
• Submissive           Intuitive, etc

1. –ous , for example,

• Dangerous           Mysterious
• Disastrous           Courageous
• Fabulous           Adventurous, etc
• Gorgeous

 Exercise

Fill in the correct form of word in brackets to complete the sentence.

1. They live in a ________________ town. (beauty)
2. She is wearing a ___________ shirt today. (sleeve)
3. Gloria and the driver are ____________ individuals. (talk)
4. The doll has ____________ arms. (move)
5. We had to be _______________ not to be seen. (care)
6. The woman went to a ___________ restaurant. (fashion)
7. She is a very _____________ woman. (attract)
8. That is a ______________ issue. (content)
9. Do you remember ___________ visit in Kenya? (pope)
10. how she landed the job remains _____________ . (question)

    GRAMMAR FOR FORM FOUR

(b)FUNCTIONS OF ADJECTIVES

Adjectives perform the following functions in sentences:

1. They modify noun phrases.
2. They function as subject complements. iii. They also function as object complements. iv.     Function as appositives.

Adjectives as noun, Pronoun,Noun Phrase Modifiers

An adjective can describe a noun, pronoun, or a noun phrase. For example,

1. My niece brought yellow
2. The tiny cat ate all the meat. iii.  The students picked someone stupid to lead them.     The cook served us bland African salad.

Adjectives as Subject Complements

A subject complement is a word, phrase, or a clause that follows a linking verb (copular verb like is, are, appears, etc), and describes the subject.

Adjective phrases that function as subject complements are also known as predicate adjectives.

The underlined words are the adjectives describing the subjects in boldface:

1. The bread tastes
2. She is tall. iii. My coat is black.

Adjectives as Object Complements

An object complement is a word, phrase, or a clause that directly follows and modifies the direct object.

In the sentences that follow, the direct objects have been underlined, while the adjectives are in boldface.

1. The carpenter painted the table red.
2. Catholics consider saints holy. iii. You make them sad.

Adjectives as Appositives

An appositive is a word, phrase, or a clause that supports another word, phrase, or clause by describing that word, phrase, or clause.

In the sentences that follow, appositives have been italicized.

1. The boy, hungry and exhausted, passed out. ii. Aware of our approach, the terrorist flee.

iii.        The lady, rich and kind, cleared my bill.

Can you tell what they modify? They modify “the boy”, “the terrorist”, and “the lady”, respectively.

GRAMMAR FOR FORM FOUR

ADVERBS

(a) POSITION OF ADVERBS IN SENTENCES

There are three normal positions for adverbs in a sentence:

1. Initial position – before the subject
2. Mid position – between the subject and the verb
3. End position – after the verb

Notice that different types of adverbs favour different positions.

Initial Position

Adverbs that favour this position are:

1. Adverbs of time, when contrasting with a previous reference of time, for example, The pastor arrived early today, but tomorrow he will be late.

“Tomorrow” precedes the subject “he” ii.     Comment and viewpoint adverbs like officially, luckily, presumably, etc. Officially, Mr. Brown is the new school security guard.

Mid Position

Some adverbs used in this position are:

• Focusing adverbs like just, even
• Adverbs of indefinite frequency like often, never, always, etc
• Adverbs of certainty, for example, obviously, probably, etc
• Adverbs of degree such as clearly

Examples in Sentences

1. Jane has just been to Kericho.
2. I am obviously the tallest girl here.

• I am almost

End Position

Adverbs of time and those of definite frequency favour this position. They are like every month, last year, etc. for example

1. I watched the game last week. ii. They travel to Nairobi often.

Adverbs of manner such as quickly, well, etc, also favour this position.

1. She drove the car
2. The athlete ran fast.

   GRAMMAR FOR FORM FOUR

Exercise 1

Rewrite the complete sentence using the adverb in brackets in its correct position.

1. Charles must travel. (also)
2. She was kidding. (only)
3. Did you do the assignment? (both)
4. The priest sees movies. (hardly)
5. He talks to them. (carefully)
6. The bag was hidden. (under the bed)
7. They left the school. (yesterday)
8. Samantha fell off the bike. (almost)
9. Her teacher will reward her hard work. (probably)
10. Daniel is getting transferred this month. (definitely)

Exercise 2

The sentences below are jumbled up. Arrange the words to make correct sentences.

1. Haven’t lately him talked to I
2. I’ll him soon see
3. She help asked immediately for
4. You where now are?
5. Loudly barks the dog
6. She secretly him met
7. Out sneaked house of they quietly out
8. Won hasn’t my lately club
9. Carefully plays piano the brother my
10. Speaks well English Njeri

(b) TYPICAL ENDINGS OF ADVERBS

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives,, or other adverbs.

Adverbs often tell how, when, where, why, or under what conditions things happen.

Adverb Endings

Most adverbs end in “-ly”. They are formed by adding –ly to an adjective. For example,

1. Softly
2. Quickly
3. Slowly
4. Gradually
5. Electronically
6. Carefully
7. Horribly etc

In comparative and superlative forms, some adverbs change their endings. For example

• Run faster if you if you don’t want to be late.
• The student who runs fastest will be the one to receive the award.

There are those adverbs that end in –wards, for example,

• Towards
• Homewards
• Downwards
• Backwards etc

There are adverbs that end in –wise, for example,

• Likewise
• Otherwise
• Clockwise
• Lengthwise etc

There are those that end in –where, for example,

• Nowhere
• Everywhere
• Somewhere, etc Examples in Sentences

1. I am going nowhere. ii. He drove slowly.

   GRAMMAR FOR FORM FOUR

 Exercise

Complete the following sentences using the correct forms of words in brackets.

1. She laughed _______________ . (happy)
2. Jane is always _____________ dressed. (smart)
3. There is ___________ no water left in the basin. (near)
4. The cow could ____________ walk after the bus knocked it. (hard)
5. We are going for break ___________ . (short)
6. I ran _________ . (quick)
7. The wind is blowing __________ . (east)
8. That was the _______________ done performance I have seen I seen in years. (skill)
9. Edith did the assignment ___________ . (easy)
10. Can you turn __________ ? (clock)
11. Helen spoke about her teacher ____________ . (dramatic)
12. His temperature went up ________ . (fast)

 PREPOSITIONS

FUNCTIONS OF PREPOSITIONS IN SENTENCES

Prepositions as Adjectives

Prepositional phrases modify the nouns. For example,

1. Give me the pencil next to the book.

The prepositional phrase “next to the book” modifies the noun “pencil”. We know which pencil that is needed.

2. Park the car behind the house

Prepositions as Adverbs

A prepositional phrase modifies a verb. For example,

1. The cheetah runs after the antelope.
2. The team won without their captain.

Prepositions as Nominals 

1. The church is before the hospital.
2. The school is adjacent the supermarket.

CLAUSES

(a) INVERSIONS

Inversion in a sentence happens when the subject-verb order is reversed.

When the order is reversed, the verb comes before the subject.  To achieve inversion, we use:

Time adverbials, like

Never

Never before

Rarely

Scarcely (barely, hadly) …when/before

No sooner ….than

For example

1. Hardly had I begun to speak when she interrupted me. ii. No sooner had I arrived than they started to cry.

After exclamations with here and there, for example,  Here comes the teacher!

There goes the woman.

After adverbial expressions beginning with only and not only  Only after I met her did I realise I knew her.

Only when the bus stopped did he calm down.

To ask questions, for example, Did you see her?

After so, neither, nor

Daniel has never been to China, neither do I.

GRAMMAR FOR FORM FOUR

More Examples in Sentences

Not until you grow up will you be allowed in here.

Under no circumstance can you smoke here.  Little does she realise how beautiful she is.

SUBSTITUTION

This is the replacement of a word, or group of words in a sentence in order to aviod repetion.  To do this, we use the fillers or proforms.

Proforms used in Substitution

There are different words and phrases used in substitution:

Neither

Less

Some  Many

Both

Little

So

Do

One

Ones etc

Examples in Sentences

1. I don’t like it, neither does Dorcas.
2. Salim has been to Eldoret, so have I.

(b)SENTENCE CONNECTORS

A sentence connector links ideas from one sentence to the next.

Sentence connectors give paragraphs coherence.

The sentence connectors are used to:

1. Sequence ideas. The connectors used here are:

• Firstly, thirdly, etc
• In addition/ additionally
• Furthermore
• Also
• Afterwards
• Presently/at present
• Next, last, finally, etc

1. Contrast ideas, for example,

• However
• On the contrary
• In(by) comparison
• In contrast
• On the other hand, etc

1. State results, for example,

• As a consequence
• As a result
• Therefore
• Thus
• Hence
• Consequently

1. Compare ideas, for example,

• Likewise
• Similarly
• Also

1. Give order of importance, for example,

• Most significantly
• More/most importantly
• Above all
• Primarily
• Essentially

1. Give reason, for example,

• The cause of
• The reason for

  GRAMMAR FOR FORM FOUR

 Examples in Sentences

1. My brother works eight hours a day. However, he doesn’t earn much money. ii. This hotel has the best décor. Moreover, their chefs are lively.

iii. The student failed to do the assignment. As a result, the teacher punished him. iv.           The public refused to pay for the entry fee. Consequently, the show was cancelled.  v.   The house had seven rooms, each with a bathroom. Additionally, there was a large swimming pool.

Exercise

Fill in the blanks with appropriate sentence connectors. Choose the connector from the ones given.

Similarly

On the contrary

Presently

However Otherwise

Likewise Therefore

Eventually

Afterwards 

1. There are no red biros left. __________________ , there are black ones.
2. The white car has carried many passengers. _______________ , the white car has carried many passengers.
3. Clean the room first. _____________ , you can go out to play.
4. Let us work hard. _____________ we may receive bad grades.
5. I worked in Narok for ten years. _____________ , I work at home.
6. She loves John. ___________ , John loves someone else.
7. He has been looking for her. ________________ , he found her at the restaurant.
8. The final exams are coming soon. ____________ , it would be advisable to start revising.

   GRAMMAR FOR FORM FOUR

GRAMMAR ANSWERS

(c) RELATIVE PRONOUNS

1. Whose Whom         11. which
2. Whom Which          12. Which
3. Who Whose          13. Whom
4. That/which Which/That 14. Who
5. Who Who
6. Which

 ADJECTIVES

TYPICAL ENDINGS OF ADJECTIVES 

1. beautiful
2. sleeveless
3. talkative
4. movable/immovable
5. careful
6. fashionable
7. attractive
8. contentious
9. papal
10. questionable

ADVERBS

POSITION OF ADVERBS IN SENTENCES

Exercise 1

1. Charles must also travel.
2. She was only kidding.
3. Did you both do the assignment?
4. The priest hardly sees movies.
5. He talks to them carefully.
6. The bag was hidden under the bed.
7. They left the school yesterday.
8. Samantha almost fell off the bike.
9. Her teacher will probably reward her hard work.
10. Daniel is definitely getting transferred this month.

 Exercise 2

• Haven’t lately him talked to I haven’t talked to him lately.
• I’ll him soon see I’ll see him soon.
• She help asked immediately for She asked for help immediately.
• You where now are?

Where are you now?

• Loudly barks the dog The dog barks loudly. 6) She secretly him met She met him secretly.
• Out sneaked house of they quietly out They sneaked out of the house quietly.
• Won hasn’t my lately club My club hasn’t won lately.
• Carefully plays piano the brother my My brother plays the piano carefully.
• Speaks well English Njeri Njeri speaks English well.

(c) TYPICAL ENDINGS OF ADVERBS

1. Happily Eastwards
2. Smartly Least skillfully
3. Nearly Easily
4. Hardly Clockwise
5. Shortly Dramatically
6. Quick Faster

SENTENCE CONNECTORS 

• However
• Likewise/similarly
• Afterwards
• Otherwise
• Presently
• On the contrary
• Eventually

  GRAMMAR FOR FORM FOUR

ALL ENGLISH NOTES FORM 1-4 WITH TOPICAL QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

PRIMARY NOTES, SCHEMES OF WORK AND EXAMINATIONS