English for Communication

Lincoln University College English II
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ENGLISH II
(COURSE CODE: ENG 423)
By
Sheikh Jefrizal

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MODULE ONE : INTRODUCTION TO GRAMMAR
AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE
1.0 Introduction
Welcome to the study of English Grammar, which is the foundation for the understanding and
accurate usage of the language in your perusal for further enhancement of knowledge and skills
in the academic field. Beginning from the identification of grammatical terms, the formation of
simple, compound and complex sentences, to the complexities of the tenses and the application
of these tenses to the Active and Passive Voices, you will be guided through samples and
relevant exercises that lead to the mastery of the language. This mastery will help you to write
with grammatical accuracy and in the accepted academic style and thus to reach your primary
goal as a student at the university level.
1.1 Introduction to grammar
1.1.1 What is Grammar and why study it?
The word “grammar” is defined by the Concise Oxford English Dictionary (1982: p. 432) as “the
art and science of dealing with a language’s inflexions or other means of showing relation
between words, as used in speech or writing.” It is therefore the body of forms and usages in a
language, in this case the English language. The best speakers and writers of the English
language are judged by their standard of usage of grammatical accuracy in their works.
The usage becomes accepted when it has been practised over a long period of time and
adopted by most of the people in the English-speaking world. Hence, for example, while

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American English has gained acceptance, other forms such as Pidgin English, Singlish and
Manglish are not accepted. (Important Note: You must note from the beginning that this
module emphasises usage of Standard English, or what is referred to as “Queen’s English,”
hence American spellings are not accepted).
English is not only one of the official languages used in the United Nations (UN), it is also one of
the main languages of communication and information throughout the world for individuals, as
well as governments, businesses and commercial organisations. In the contemporary world, the
increasing usage of information and communication technologies has propelled the usage of
English to the forefront. It is for these reasons that you should study English and there is no
better way than to start with grammar.
We shall begin with a discussion and demonstration of parts of speech. This will be followed by
an explanation of the types of sentences used in the English language.
1.1.2 Parts of Speech
Different schools of grammar present different classifications for the parts of speech.
Traditional grammarians, for example, base designations on a word's meaning or
signification.
Example: A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea.
Structural grammarians see parts of speech as often identifiable through their position in
sentences.

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Example: Her (noun)_______ was on the table.
Using valuable ideas from both groups, we may divide parts of speech into two major groups, as
follows:
1) content words (open class)
2) function words (closed class)
Content words are words that have meaning. They are words we would look up in a
dictionary, such as "lamp," "computer," "drove." New content words are constantly added to the
English language; old content words constantly leave the language as they become obsolete.
Therefore, we refer to content words as an "open" class.
Nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are content parts of speech.
Common Nouns: e.g. table, girl, boy, town, village, country.
Proper Nouns: he, she, it, you, we, they, I.
Pronouns: Objective and Subjective: him, his, her, hers, it, its, your,
yours, our, ours, they, them, my, mine.
Reflective Nouns:himself, herself, itself, yourself/ yourselves, ourselves, themselves,
myself.
Emphatic Nouns: a Pronoun + a Reflective Noun e.g. He himself.
Abstract Nouns: cold, hot, angry, love, hate, etc.
Collective Nouns:Are words that denote a collection or group of people, animals and
things, e.g.
a bench of judges a bunch of flowers a herd of buffaloes
a pride of lions a flock of birds a mob of hooligans
Verbs: Words that describe an action. e.g. walk, talk, jump, cook, sing, laugh

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Adjectives: Words that describe nouns.e.g. a round table; a square object, a long story
Adverbs:
1. Words that describe a verb. e.g. walk slowly, talk softly, sing loudly
2. Words that describe an adjective, e.g. a very long table
3. Words that denote time: e.g. always, never, seldom, often, weekly, usually
Function words are words that exist to explain or create grammatical or structural relationships
into which the content words may fit. Words like "of," "the," "to," they have little meaning on
their own. They are much fewer in number and generally do not change as English adds and
omits content words. Therefore, function words are referred to as a "closed" class.
Pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, determiners, qualifiers/intensifiers, and interrogatives are
some parts of speech that have specific functions.
Prepositions are short words (Example: on, in, to) that usually stand in front of nouns,
sometimes also in front of gerund verbs. Even advanced learners of English find prepositions
difficult, as direct translation is usually not possible.
There are hardly any rules as to when to use which preposition. The only way to learn
prepositions is by looking them up in a dictionary, reading a lot in English, especially English
literature, and learning useful phrases off by heart
Prepositions can be divided into two broad types, i.e. prepositions of measure and
prepositions of manner.
The following table contains rules for some of the most frequently used prepositions in English:

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Prepositions – Time
English Usage Example
on  days of the week  on Monday
in  months / seasons
 time of day
 year
 after a certain period of time (when?)
 in August / in winter
 in the morning
 in 2006
 in an hour
at  for night
 for weekend
 a certain point of time (when?)
 at night
 at the weekend
 at half past nine
since  from a certain point of time (past till
now)
 since 1980
for  over a certain period of time (past till
now)
 for 2 years
ago  a certain time in the past  2 years ago
before  earlier than a certain point of time  before 2004
to  telling the time  ten to six (5:50)
past  telling the time  ten past six (6:10)
to /
till /
until
 marking the beginning and end of a
period of time
 from Monday to/till Friday
till /
until
 in the sense of how long something is
going to last
 He is on holiday until Friday.
by  in the sense of at the latest
 up to a certain time
 I will be back by 6 o’clock.
 By 11 o'clock, I had read five pages.

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Prepositions – Place (Positionand Direction)
in  room, building, street, town, country
 book, paper etc.
 car, taxi
 picture, world
 in the kitchen, in London
 in the book
 in the car, in a taxi
 in the picture, in the world
at  meaning next to, by an object
 for table
 for events
 place where you are to do something
typical (watch a film, study,work)
 at the door, at the station
 at the table
 at a concert, at the party
 at the cinema, at school,at work
on  attached
 for a place with a river
 being on a surface
 for a certain side (left, right)
 for a floor in a house
 for public transport
 for television,radio
 the picture on the wall
 London lies on the Thames.
 on the table
 on the left
 on the first floor
 on the bus, on a plane
 on TV, on the radio
by,
next to,
beside
 left or right of somebody or
something
 Jane is standing by / next to / beside
the car.
under  on the ground, lower than (or covered
by) something else
 the bag is under the table
below  lower than something else but above
ground
 the fish are below the surface
over  covered by something else
 meaning more than
 put a jacket over your shirt
 over 16 years of age

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 getting to the otherside (also across)
 overcoming an obstacle
 walk over the bridge
 climb over the wall
above  higher than something else, but not
directly over it
 a path above the lake
across  getting to the otherside (also over)
 getting to the otherside
 walk across the bridge
 swim across the lake
through  something with limits on top, bottom
and the sides
 drive through the tunnel
to  movement to person or building
 movement to a place or country
 for bed
 go to the cinema
 go to London / Ireland
 go to bed
into  enter a room / a building  go into the kitchen / the house
towards  movement in the direction of
something (but not directly to it)
 go 5 steps towards the house
onto  movement to the top of something  jump onto the table
from  in the sense of where from  a flower from the garden
Other important Prepositions
from  who gave it  a present from Jane
of  who/what does it belong to
 what does it show
 a page of the book
 the picture of a palace

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by  who made it  a book by Mark Twain
on  walking or riding on
horseback
 entering a public transport
vehicle
 on foot, on horseback
 get on the bus
in  entering a car / Taxi  get in the car
off  leaving a public transport
vehicle
 get off the train
out of  leaving a car / Taxi  get out of the taxi
by  rise or fall of something
 travelling (other than walking
or horseriding)
 prices have risen by 10 percent
 by car, by bus
at  for age  she learned Russian at 45
about  for topics,meaning what
about
 we were talking about you
(Source: http://www.englishclub.com)

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Practice Exercise No.1
Construct your own sentences using all the prepositions cited above. Each sentence should
be made up of a minimum of five words.
1. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….
2. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….
3. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….
4. ………………………………………………………………………………………………..
5. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….
6. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….
Articles: a, an, the
Definite article
A definite article indicates that its noun is a particular one (or ones) identifiable to the
listener. It may be something that the speaker has already mentioned, or it may be
something uniquely specified. The definite article in English, for both singular and plural
nouns, is the.
The children know the fastest way home.
Indefinite article
An indefinite article indicates that its noun is not a particular one (or ones) identifiable to the
listener. It may be something that the speaker is mentioning for the first time, or its precise
identity may be irrelevant or hypothetical, or the speaker may be making a general
statement about any such thing. English uses a/an, forms of the number 'one', as its primary
indefinite article. The form an is used before words that begin with a vowel sound (even if
spelled with an initial consonant, as in an hour), and a before words that begin with a
consonant sound (even if spelled with a vowel, as in a European).

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Look at the following example:
Give me a book and an apple.
Here the book and the apple do not specify which book or which apple is to be given.
The preposition an is also used before some words beginning with a pronounced (not silent)
h in an unstressed first syllable, such as hallucination, hilarious, historic(al), horrendous, and
horrific, and before the word u if it has an ah sound as the word umbrella. e.g. That is an
umbrella.
Conjunctions:
These are words used to connect ideas or sentences. Examples are:
1. And, but, or
2. either/ neither
Mr Chea did not order the furniture.
Mrs Chea did not order the furniture.
a. Mr Chea did not order the furniture and Mrs Chia didn’t either.
or
b. Mr Chea did not order the furniture and neither did Mrs.Chea.

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Determiners
Determiners are words like the, an, my, some. They are grammatically similar. They all come
at the beginning of noun phrases, and usually we cannot use more than one determiner in the
same noun phrase. They can be articles or possessive adjectives, as in the following examples:
Articles:
a, an, the
Possessive Adjectives:
my, your, his, her, its, our, their, whose
Other determiners:
 each, every either, neither
 some, any, no much, many; more, most
 little, less, least few, fewer, fewest
 what, whatever; which, whichever both, half, all
 several enough
(Source: Pyle and Munoz, 1987: p. 44)
Qualifiers
A Qualifier is a word or phrase that precedes an adjective or adverb, increasing or decreasing
the quality signified by the word it modifies.
The most common qualifiers in English are (though some of these words have other functions
as well): very, quite, rather, somewhat, more, most, less, least, too, so, just, enough, indeed,

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still, almost, fairly, really, pretty, even, a bit, a little, a (whole) lot, a good deal, a great deal, kind
of, sort of.
Intensifier
This is a word that emphasises another word or phrase. Intensifying adjectives generally modify
nouns, verbs, gradable adjectives, and other adverbs.
Examples:
1. A very beautiful girl.
2. An ugly animal
(Source: Richard Nordquist- About.com guide) (www.englishclub.com)
Interrogatives
1. An interrogative pronoun is a pronoun that is used to ask a question, as
demonstrated in the table below.
Subjective Possessive Objective
Singular who whose whom
and which whose, of which
which
Plural what of what what

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Of what occurs in such sentences:
a) Of what are you talking?
b) What are you talking of?
(Reference:Funk and Wagnall’s Dictionary, p.1010)
Such questions that give more than a mere “yes” or “no” answer are called informative
questions.
2. When forming a question we must place the auxiliary or the verb be before the subject. If
there is no auxiliary or be, we must use the correct form of do, does or did, the simple form of
the verb must be used.The tense and person are only shown by this auxiliary verb, not by the
main verb.
3. Yes/no questions: These are questions for which the answer is yes or no.
Look at the following examples:
 Is Johan going to school today?
 Was he sick yesterday?
 Have you seen this girl before?
 Will the department decide on the proposal today?
 Do you want to watch a movie today?
 Does Rubin like pop-corns?
Auxiliary
be + subject + verb
do, does, did.
when
where
how + auxiliary + subject + verb + (complement) + (modifier)
why

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Some other examples:
 When did he go?
 Where did he go?
 Why did she leave so early?
 Where has your mother gone?
 When will she return home?
Practice exercise 2
Write sentences that are not more than six words using the interrogative pronoun.
1. …………………………………………………………………………………………
2. ………………………………………………………………………………………….
3. ………………………………………………………………………………………….
4. ………………………………………………………………………………………….
5. ………………………………………………………………………………………….
1.2 Sentence structure
(Source: http://www.towson.edu/ows/sentelmt.htm)
1.2.1 Subjects and Predicates
Parts of speech have specific tasks to perform when they are put together in a sentence.
A noun or pronoun functions as the sentence subject when it is paired with a verb functioning as
the sentence predicate.

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Every sentence has a subject and predicate.
A subject can be a noun or pronoun that is partnered with an action verb.
Look at the example below:
Sometimes a verb will express being or existence instead of action, as shown in the following
example:
Sometimes we use sentences in which a subject is not actually stated, but is, nevertheless,
understood in the meaning.
Example:

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A sentence like this gives an order or a request to someone.
Because we use such statements when we are talking directly to someone, we omit the word
you. It is understood in the sentence. Therefore, in statements like this one, we say the
subject is
you (understood).
This kind of sentence is an imperative sentence.
A predicate is a verb that expresses the subject's action or state of being, as shown in the
example below:
Sometimes the predicate will be composed of two or three verbs that fit together - the main
verb preceded by one or more auxiliary (helping) verbs.

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IMPORTANT NOTE: To be a predicate, a verb that ends in -ing must ALWAYS have a helping
verb with it. An -ing verb WITHOUT a helping verb cannot be a predicate in a sentence.
A subject and predicate may not always appear together or in the normal order, as the following
examples show:

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1.2.2 Phrases
A phrase is a group of related words that
(a) does not express a complete thought, and
(b) does not have a subject and predicate pair
One type of phrase is a prepositional phrase.
Examples:
Another kind of phrase is a verbal phrase.
Examples:
Even though these phrases contain nouns (pronouns) and/or verb forms, none of the
nouns/pronouns/verbs are subjects or predicates. None of them work as a partnership.
Also, these phrases DO NOT express complete thoughts.
1.2.3 Clauses
Words and phrases can be put together to make clauses.
A clause is a group of related words that contain a subject and predicate.
Note the difference between phrases and clauses in the following examples:

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Only one of the clauses is a sentence.
Clause #1 gives a thought or an idea that is COMPLETE, that can stand by itself, independent
of other words.
However, Clause #2 gives an INCOMPLETE thought or idea, one that cannot stand by itself,
one that needs some more words to make it whole. The word “after” changes the meaning,
making the thought incomplete. After reading this clause, we are left hanging.
These two clauses illustrate the two kinds of clauses:
Independent clauses and dependent clauses
An independent clause is a group of words that contains a subject, a predicate, and a
complete thought.
A dependent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a predicate, but does NOT
express a complete thought, as discussed further in Section 1.4 .

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1.2.4 Compounding Sentence Elements
Words, phrases, and clauses may be joined to one another inside a sentence with a
conjunction.
The coordinating conjunctions and, but, or, and nor may join subjects, predicates, adjectives,
adverbs, prepositional phrases or dependent clauses within a sentence. This process is called
"compounding."
The following examples in the illustrations below show the process of compounding WORDS

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Phrases
Dependent Clauses
When entire independent clauses (simple sentences) are joined this way, they become
compound sentences.
Avoiding Fragments
A complete sentence needs only two elements:
a subject - predicate unit AND a complete thought
In other words, a simple sentence is actually the SAME thing as an independent clause.
Dependent clauses or phrases are called fragments because they are missing one or more
parts needed to make a sentence.
Therefore, they are only pieces or fragments of complete sentences.
Look at these examples:

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Avoiding Comma Splices and Fused Sentences
Sometimes two independent clauses (simple sentences) can be joined to form another kind of
sentence: the compound sentence.
Two major errors can occur when constructing compound sentences.
Error #1: The Comma Splice
Writers make this error when they try to separate the two independent clauses in a compound
sentence with a comma alone.
A comma is not a strong enough punctuation mark to separate the two independent clauses by
itself; thus, using it causes the clauses to be spliced together.
Example of a comma splice:

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This sentence can be repaired in three ways:
1. by adding an appropriate coordinating conjunction
2. by changing the comma to a semicolon
3. by changing the punctuation and adding an appropriate conjunctive adverb
Error #2: The Fused Sentence
Writers make this error by joining two independent clauses into a compound sentence without
using any punctuation between them.
No punctuation between the two independent clauses causes them to "fuse" into an
INCORRECT compound sentence.
Example of a fused sentence:

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This sentence is also repaired in three ways:
1. by adding a comma and an appropriate coordinating conjunction
2. by placing a semicolon between the two clauses
3. by adding the needed punctuation and an appropriate conjunctive adverb
Another way to repair a comma splice or fused sentence is to make each independent clause
into a simple sentence.
There are three types of sentences, as follows: Simple, Compound and Complex sentences.

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Experienced writers use a variety of sentences to make their writing interesting and lively. Too
many simple sentences, for example, will make the writing look choppy and immature while too
many long sentences will be difficult to read and hard to understand. The different types of
sentences are explained in the next three sections.
1.3 Simple Sentences
A simple sentence, also called an independent clause, contains a subject and a verb, and it
expresses a complete thought.
In the following simple sentences, subjects are in yellow, and verbs are in blue.
A. Many people like to bathe in the mornings.
B. Rani and Vani play volleyball every afternoon.
C. Rozan goes to the library and reads every day.
The three examples above are all simple sentences. Note that sentence B contains a
compound subject, and sentence C contains a compound verb. Simple sentences, therefore,
contain a subject and verb and express a complete thought, but they can also contain a
compound subjects or verbs.

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1.4 Compound Sentence
A compound sentence contains two independent clauses joined by a coordinator. The
coordinators are as follows: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. (Helpful hint: The first letter of each of
the coordinators spells FANBOYS.) Except for very short sentences, coordinators are always
preceded by a comma. In the following compound sentences, subjects are in yellow, verbs are
in blue, and the coordinators and the commas that precede them are in red.
Look at the examples below:
A. I tried to speak Malay,, and my classmate tried to speak Chinese.
B. Ah Cheng played football, so Maimunah went shopping.
C. Ah Cheng played football, for Maimunah went shopping.
The above three sentences are examples of compound sentences. Each sentence is made up
of two independent clauses, and they are joined by a coordinator with a comma preceding it.
Note how the use of different coordinators can change the relationship between the clauses.
Sentences B and C, for example, are identical except for the coordinators. In sentence B, which
action occurred first? Obviously, "Ah Cheng played football" first, and as a consequence,
"Maimunah went shopping.” In sentence C, "Maimunah went shopping" first. In sentence C,
"Ah Cheng played football" first because, possibly, he didn't have anything else to do, for or
because "Maimunah went shopping." How can the use of other coordinators change the
relationship between the two clauses? What implications would the use of "yet" or "but" have
on the meaning of the sentence? Think about these questions and discuss them with your
facilitator.

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1.5 Complex Sentence
A complex sentence has an independent clause joined by one or more dependent clauses. A
complex sentence always has a subordinator such as because, since, after, although, or when
or a relative pronoun such as that, who, or which. In the following complex sentences, subjects
are in yellow, verbs are in blue, and the subordinators and their commas (when required) are in
red.
Look at the table below:
A. When he handed in his test paper, he forgot to give the teacher the last
page.
B. The master returned the homework after he spotted the error.
C. The pupilsare studying because they have an exam in the afternoon.
D. After they finished studying, Sin Mei and Rani went to the movies.
E. Sim Mei and Rani went to the movies after they finished studying.
When a complex sentence begins with a subordinator as do sentences A and D, a comma is
required at the end of the dependent clause. When the independent clause begins the sentence
with subordinators in the middle as in sentences B, C, and E, no comma is required. If a comma
is placed before the subordinators in sentences B, C, and E, it is wrong.
Note that sentences D and E mean the same except sentence D begins with the dependent
clause which is followed by a comma, and sentence E begins with the independent clause
without a comma. The comma after the dependent clause in sentence D is required, and as

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you read this sentence you will have to pause between the two clauses. In sentence E,
however, there is no pause when the independent clause begins the sentence.
Complex Sentence/Adjective Clauses
Sentences containing adjective clauses (or dependent clauses) are also complex because they
contain an independent clause and a dependent clause. The subjects, verbs, and
subordinators are marked the same as in the previous sentences, and in these sentences, the
independent clauses are also underlined.
The examples below illustrate this:
A. The lady who called my mom makes bags.
B. The paper that Minnie read is on the table.
C. The house which Mahathir was born in is still standing.
D. The village where I grew up is in Indonesia.
It is important to know that sentences containing adjectival clauses are complex.
(Source: About.comguide, www.englishclub.com)

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1.6 Chapter Summary and Self-Administered Exercises
This chapter has provided you with an introduction to grammar and sentence structure. Among
the sentence structures we have discussed are – simple sentence, complex sentence and
compound sentence. In order to practice what you have learnt, you should now work on the
following exercises:
Exercise 1 - Articles
Fill in with the correct article
---- ape ---- MAS plane ---- uniform
---- egg ---- mas plane ---- university
---- honour ---- Singapore Airlines plane
---- horse ---- SIA plane
---- hour ---- umbrella
Exercise 2 - Prepositions
Make sentences with the given prepositional phrases below:
1. Agree to, with 11. Engaged in, to, with
2. Angry at (person), angry with (thing, e.g. rudeness) 12. Enter upon, into
3. Answer to (person), answer for 13. Experience in, of
4. Arrive at, in, with 14. Fall among, on, into, under, in
5. Beg of, for, from 15. Glad of, at
6. Break into, through, of, to, with 16. Indebted to, in, for
7. Call on, of, for 17. Inquire into, about, of

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8. Come across, into, by, of, to 18. Intrude upon, into
9. Cause of, for 19. Lavish in, for
10. Communicate with, to 20. Live for, by, on, within
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Exercise – 3 Conjunctions
Join the following sentences (a) using either and (b) using neither.
1. Mr Karu did not go to the Mall.
Puan Karu did not go to the Mall. …………………………………………………
2. Sharli does like playing chess.
Sree doesn’t like playing chess……………………………………………………..

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3. MGS Book Centre does not have the book of animals.
Silverfish Book Centre does not have the book of animals.
………………………………………………………………………………………..
4. Mrs. Raja has not filled in the disembarkation card.
Puan Rose has not filled in the embarkation card.
……………………………………………………………………………………….
5. Aman is not a lazy boy.
Amina is not a lazy girl.
…………………………………………………………………………………………...
Exercise 4 - Determiners
Choose the correct determiners, and make sentences with each.
much/many money these/this water
a few/a little salt too many/too much information
that/those cards few/little people
less/fewer students less/fewer coffee
too much/too many bad news too much/too many (cost)
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………

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Exercise 5 - Sentence Construction
(a) Give five examples of simple sentences
1. ………………………………………………………………………….
2. ……………………………………………………………………………
3. ……………………………………………………………………………
4. ……………………………………………………………………………
5. …………………………………………………………………………….
(b) Give five examples of compound sentences
1…………………………………………………………………………….
2. ……………………………………………………………………………
3. ……………………………………………………………………………
4. ……………………………………………………………………………
5. …………………………………………………………………………….
(c) Give five examples of complex sentences
1…………………………………………………………………………….
2. ……………………………………………………………………………
3. ……………………………………………………………………………
4. ……………………………………………………………………………
5.…………………………………………………………………………….

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MODULE TWO
VERBS, ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE AND DIRECT
AND INDIRECT SPEECH
2.0 Introduction
In this Chapter, we shall focus on the following: regular and irregular verbs; auxiliaries; active
and passive voice; and direct and indirect (reported) speech. You are reminded that you should
work on the exercises at the end of this chapter.
2.1 Regular and irregularverbs
A regular verb is any verb wherein the conjugation follows the typical pattern of the language
usage. Verbs such as play, enter, walk etc are regular verbs because they form extensions by
adding typical endings such as –s, -ing and –ed. Hence, we have the following examples:
Play – plays, playing, played
Enter – enters, entering, entered
Walk – walks, walking, walked
Irregular verbs are verbs whose conjugation follows a different pattern, for example drink, hit
and have. Thus, you have the following derivatives:
Drink – drank, drunk (not drunked)
Hit – hit (not hitted)
Have – has, had (not haves or haved)
Discussion exercise: Based on the above examples, write down at least three other examples
each of regular and irregular verbs.

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Verb tenses
The verb changes according to the various tenses that are to be used. Some tenses require a
form of to be and a present participle.
Present participles have an -ing ending: Examples: is coming, were cooking.
Other tenses require a past participle. Regular verbs form the past tense and past participle in
the same way - just add ed: Examples: worked, have worked.
The perfect tenses of both regular and irregular verbs are a combination of a form of to have
plus a past participle.
Examples:
I have worked.
Nithya has seen it.
You had broken the vase.
Chandini will have discovered the secret.
Examples of a regular verb change in tenses: cook, cooked, has/have/had cooked
Examples of an irregular verb tense change in tenses: give, gave, has/have/had given.
Discussion exercise: Write down at least three other examples each of changes in tenses of
regular and irregular verbs.
1. ……………………………………………………..
2. …………………………………………………….
3. …………………………………………………….

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2.2 Auxiliaries
Auxiliaries can be defined generally as helping verbs; to have and to be are common auxiliaries
or helping verbs.
Helping verbs or auxiliary verbs such as will, shall, may, might, can, could, must, ought to,
should, would, used to, need are used in conjunction with main verbs to express shades of
time and mood. The combination of helping verbs with main verbs creates what are called verb
phrases or verb strings.
In the following sentence, "will have been" are helping or auxiliary verbs and "studying" is the
main verb; the whole verb string is underlined:
 As of next August, I will have been studying chemistry for ten years.
You should remember that adverbs and contracted forms are not, technically, part of the verb.
In the sentence, "He has already started." the adverb already modifies the verb, but it is not
really part of the verb. The same is true of the 'nt in "He hasn't started yet" (the adverb not,
represented by the contracted n't, is not part of the verb, has started).
Shall, will and forms of have, do and be combine with main verbs to indicate time and voice. As
auxiliaries, the verbs be, have and do can change form to indicate changes in subject and time.
 I shall play now.
 He had won the game last week.
 They did write the musical notes together.
 I am going now.
 He was winning the election at the beginning.
 They have been writing that novel for a long time.

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2.3 Active and Passive Voice
There are two special forms for verbs called voice, and these are:
1. Active voice
2. Passive voice
Active Voice
The active voice is the "normal" voice. This is the voice that we use most of the time in
conversations and in writing as it is more direct. You are probably already familiar with the active
voice. In the active voice, the object receives the action of the verb, as shown below:
active
subject verb Object
>
Cats eat Fish
Passive Voice
The passive voice is less commonly used. In the passive voice, the subject receives the action of
the verb, as shown below:
passive
subject verb object
<
Fish are eaten by cats
The object of the active verb becomes the subject of the passive verb, as shown below:
subject verb object
active Everybody drinks water
passive Water is drunk by everybody

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Passive Voice:
As shown above, the passive voice is less commonly used than the active voice. The active
voice is the "normal" voice and is preferable for usage in Academic English. But sometimes we
need the passive voice. In this section, we will look at how to construct the passive voice, when
to use it and how to conjugate it.
Construction of the Passive Voice
The structure of the passive voice is very simple:
subject + auxiliary verb (be) + main verb (past participle)
The main verb is always in its past participle form.
Look at these examples:
subject auxiliary verb (to be) main verb (past participle)
Water Is Drunk by everyone.
100 people Are Employed by this company.
I Am Paid in euro.
We Are not Paid in dollars.
Are They Paid in yen?
Use of the Passive Voice
We use the passive when:
 we want to make the active object more important
 we do not know the active subject

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See the examples below:
Subject verb object
give importance to active object
(President Kennedy)
President
Kennedy
was killed
by Lee Harvey
Oswald.
active subject unknown My wallet
has been
stolen. ?
Note that we always use by to introduce the passive object (Fish are eaten by cats).
Look at this sentence:
 He was killed with a gun.
Normally we use by to introduce the passive object. But the gun is not the active subject. The
gun did not kill him. He was killed by somebody with a gun. In the active voice, it would be:
“Somebody killed him with a gun.” The “gun” is the instrument. “Somebody” is the agent or
doer.
Conjugation for the Passive Voice
We can form the passive voice in any tense. In fact, conjugation of verbs in the passive tense is
rather easy, as the main verb is always in past participle form and the auxiliary verb is always
be. To form the required tense, we conjugate the auxiliary verb. So, for example:
 present simple tense: It is made
 present continuous tense: It is being made
 present perfect tense: It has been made

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Below are some examples to illustrate most of the possible tenses:
infinitive to be washed
simple
present It is washed.
past It was washed.
future It will be washed.
conditional It would be washed.
continuous
present It is being washed.
past It was being washed.
future It will be being washed.
conditional It would be being washed.
perfect simple
present It has been washed.
past It had been washed.
future It will have been washed.
conditional It would have been washed.
perfect continuous
present It has been being washed.
past It had been being washed.
future It will have been being washed.
conditional It would have been being washed.
(Source: www.active.voice.net)

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2.4 Directand IndirectSpeech
In order to give information about what people say or think, we can use two approaches, namely
direct or quoted speech, or indirect or reported speech. The differences between direct and
indirect speech and their usage are discussed in this section.
Direct Speech/Quoted Speech
Saying exactly what someone has said is called direct speech (sometimes called quoted
speech). Here, what a person says appears within quotation marks ("...") and should be written
or reported word for word.
For example:
She said, "Today's lesson is on presentations."
or
"Today's lesson is on presentations," she said.
Indirect Speech / Reported Speech
As you can see, the main difference is that indirect speech (sometimes called reported speech),
doesn't use quotation marks to enclose what the person said and it doesn't have to be word for
word.
Note also that when reporting speech, the tense usually changes. This is because when we use
reported speech, we are usually talking about a time in the past (because obviously the person
who spoke originally spoke in the past). The verbs therefore usually have to be in the past too.

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For example:
Direct speech Indirect speech
"I'm going to the cinema", he said. He said he was going to the cinema.
Tense change
As a rule, when you report something someone has said you go back a tense: (the tense on the
left changes to the tense on the right). See the examples below:
Present simple
She said, "It's cold." ›
Past simple
She said it was cold.
Present continuous
She said, "I'm teaching English online." ›
Past continuous
She said she was teaching English online.
Present perfect simple
She said, "I've been on the web since
1999."
›
Past perfect simple
She said she had been on the web since 1999.
Present perfect continuous
She said, "I've been teaching English for
seven years."
›
Past perfect continuous
She said she had been teaching English for seven
years.
Past simple
She said, "I taught online yesterday." ›
Past perfect
She said she had taught online yesterday.
Past continuous
She said, "I was teaching earlier." ›
She said she had been teaching earlier.
Past perfect
She said, "The lesson had already started
when he arrived."
›
Past perfect
NO CHANGE - She said the lesson had already
started when he arrived.
She said, "I'd already been teaching for
five minutes."
›
NO CHANGE - She said she'd already been
teaching for five minutes.

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Modal verb forms also sometimes change, as shown in the table below:
will
She said, "I'll teach English online tomorrow."
›
would
She said she would teach English online
tomorrow.
can
She said, "I can teach English online." ›
could
She said she could teach English online.
must
She said, "I must have a computer to teach
English online."
›
had to
She said she had to have a computer to teach
English online.
shall
She said, "What shall we learn today?" ›
should
She asked what we should learn today.
may
She said, "May I open a new browser?" ›
might
She asked if she might open a new browser.
Note - There is no change to; could, would, should, might and ought to.
"I might go to the cinema", he said. He said he might go to the cinema.
You can use the present tense in reported speech if you want to say that something is still true
i.e. my name has always been and will always be Lynne so, it can be constructed as follows:-

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"My name is Lynne," she said.
She said her name was Lynne.
or
She said her name is Lynne.
You can also use the present tense if you are talking about a future event, as in the example
below:
Direct speech (exact quote) Indirect speech (not exact)
"Next week's lesson is on reported
speech," she said.
She said next week's lesson will be on reported
speech.
Time change
If the reported sentence contains an expression of time, you must change it to fit in with the time
of reporting.
For example we need to change words like here and yesterday if they have different meanings
at the time and place of reporting. Look at the examples below:
Now + 24 hours - Indirect speech
"Today's lesson is on presentations."
She said yesterday's lesson was on
presentations.
or
She said yesterday's lesson would be on
presentations.

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Expressions of time if reported on a different day
this (evening) › that (evening)
Today › yesterday ...
these (days) › those (days)
now › then
(a week) ago › (a week) before
last weekend › the weekend before last / the previous weekend
here › there
next (week) › the following (week)
tomorrow › the next/following day
In addition if you report something that someone said in a different place to where you heard it,
you must change the place (here) to the place (there).
For example:-
At work At home
"How long have you worked here?" She asked me how long I'd worked there.
Pronoun change
In reported speech, the pronoun often changes, as shown in the example below:
Me You
"I teach English online."
Direct Speech
She said, "I teach English online."
"I teach English online", she said.
Reported Speech

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She said she teaches English online.
or
She said she taught English online.
Reporting Verbs
Said, told and asked are the most common verbs used in indirect speech.
We use asked to report questions:-
For example: I asked Vishnu what time the lesson started.
We use told with an object.
For example: Nisha told me she felt tired.
Note - Here “me” is the object.
We usually use said without an object.
For example: Sharlini said she was going to teach online.
If said is used with an object we must include to:
For example: Chandini said to me that she'd never been to China.
Note - We usually use told.
For example: Chandini told me (that) she had never been to China.
There are many other verbs we can use apart from said, told and asked.
These include:-
accused, admitted, advised, alleged, agreed, apologised, begged, boasted,
complained, denied, explained, implied, interrogated, invited, offered, ordered,
promised, questioned, reiterated, replied, suggested, thought, verified

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Using them properly can make what you say much more interesting and informative.
For example, take the following sentence:
He asked me to come to the party
The following are the alternatives:-
He invited me to the party.
He begged me to come to the party.
He ordered me to come to the party.
He advised me to come to the party.
He suggested I should come to the party.
Use of 'that' in reported speech
In reported speech, the word that is used quite often.
For example: He told me that he lived in Kajang.
However, that is optional.
For example: He told me he lived in Kajang.
Note - That is never used in questions, instead we often use if.
For example: He asked me if I would come to the party.
The use of the comma
The comma is a useful device for breaking up a sentence or for giving emphasis to certain
words and phrases. You should learn how to use it in the appropriate places. In Queen’s
English usage, we place the comma inside quotation marks when it is part of the sentence
being quoted.

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2.5 Chapter Summary and Self-administered Exercises
In this Chapter, you have been exposed to what is meant by regular and irregular verbs. Next,
we have discussed the difference between active and passive voice, and their usage. This has
been followed by an explanation of the differences between direct and indirect speech. A
number of examples have been included in each section so as to make the explanations
clearer.
Now try the following exercises:
Exercise 1 – Change the irregular verbs given in the list into their simple past and participle
forms:
Present Past Participle
bend ……….. …………
come ……….. …………
shut ……….. …………
swim ………. …………
Exercise 2 - Make the tense changes to the following sentence.
To Sing - a habit of repeated action
Present Tense: She sings well.
Past: ……………………………………………………….
Present Perfect: ………………………………………….
Past Perfect: ………………………………………………

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Future: ……………………………………………………..
Future Perfect: ……………………………………………
TO BE SINGING - a continuous action
Present Tense:Who is singing?
Past: ………………………………………………………
Present Perfect: ………………………………………….
Past Perfect: …………………………………………….
Future: ……………………………………………………
Future Perfect: ………………………………………….
DO YOU SING? - A question with a form of to do
Present: Do you sing English songs?
Past: ……………………………………………………………
Present Perfect: ………………………………………………..
Past Perfect: ……………………………………………………
Future: …………………………………………………………..
Future Perfect: …………………………………………………
Note: Because the perfect and future tenses in the preceeding example have an auxiliary verb
(have, had, will) in the question, a form of to do is not necessary)

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SHE DOESN’T SING - negation of the verb with a form of to do
Present: She doesn’t sing English songs.
Past: ………………………………………………………………………
Present Perfect: …………………………………………………………
Past Perfect: …………………………………………………………….
Future: ……………………………………………………………………
Future Perfect: ………………………………………………………….
Note: Because the perfect and future tenses in the preceding example have an auxillary verb
(hasn’t, hadn’t, won’t) in the sentence, a form of to do is not necessary.
(Source: McGraw – Hill, Writing Better English)
Exercise 3 - Change the following from Direct Speech to Indirect Speech.
2) Reena complained, “The coffee is too sweet.”
…………………………………………………………………….
3) Ah Chong complimented, “You look beautiful.”
……………………………………………………………………….
4) Meena shrieks, “It is painful!”
……………………………………………………………………..
5) Halimah announces, "Lal rides his new bicycle."
…………………………………………………………………………
6) Jaimie and Hi Siang said, "We have to go now."
……………………………………………………………………..
7) Sheela complains, "Leila doesn't collect stickers."

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…………………………………………………………………….
8) Simmie says, "Tan doesn't invite girls to his parties.”
…………………………………………………………………….
9) Nur confided, "Mr Dorai is rude to Santi."
………………………………………………………………………
10) Pretap added, "I often have a big chappati."
…………………………………………………………………
11) Samy: exclaimed, "She understands Chinese!"
…………………………………………………………………..

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MODULE THREE : ORGANISED WRITING TECHNIQUES
3.0 Introduction
This is the first of two chapters on organised writing techniques. Here, you will be exposed
to writing techniques that are appropriate for dealing with printed prose. Since this is mostly
a how-to-do-it chapter the introductory sections will be brief, and there will be more
exercises in the concluding section,
3.1 Writing techniques
In any printed prose writing, we see that each chapter is divided into several sections.
The first line of each is indented slightly to the right. These sections are known as
paragraphs. The beginning of a new paragraph marks a change of topic, indicating the
development of an argument or of a story. A paragraph can be defined as a number of
sentences that relate to the topic, or a group of related sentences that develop a single
point. The most important principle to be observed in constructing a paragraph of a
prose is its unity. Just as each sentence deals with one thought, each paragraph must
deal with one topic or idea.
In writing an essay, for example, every head and every sub-head should have its own
paragraph to itself. Every sentence in the paragraph must be closely connected with the
main topic of the paragraph. Every paragraph should contain an expression of one
theme or topic.
Topic Sentence: The Topic Sentence (TS) is the most important sentence in every
paragraph. This can be the first sentence of a paragraph, the third sentence or the last

53
sentence in a paragraph. For a start we will place the TS at the beginning of the
paragraph. For example:
Topic: 1. Water
1. Topic Sentence:
Water is a preserver, as well as a destroyer of all lives on earth.
Topic: 2. Water
2. Topic Sentence:
Water which is composed of hydrogen and oxygen is an essential element to all lives
on earth.
Topic: 3. Water
3. Topic Sentence:
The planet earth is composed of two thirds of water and a third of land mass.
Now try the following exercises:
Exercise 1:
Read aloud the following passage, and give a short heading/title to each paragraph which will
express in a word or a brief phrase the subject of the paragraph.
a) Although the period that we call the Renaissance began in Italy in the fourteenth
century, this idea of rebirth in learning characterised other epochs in history in
different parts of the world.

54
In 800 A.D. Charlemagne became king of the Franks and initiated the Carolingian
Renaissance, a period which saw beautiful and more modern cities patterned on
Roman architecture. His improvements in instruction for boys expanded the
educational system, helped maintain Roman culture, and continued a society in
Western Europe, as well as created libraries (a carryover from Alexandrian Egypt of
323 B.C.).
Kievan Russia also enjoyed a period of rebirth some 200 years later under the able
rule of Yaroslav the Wise. Like Charlemagne, he founded schools, established
libraries, and brought about many architectural achievements.
Exercise 2: Write a Topic Sentence each for the following Topics below.
For the initial practice of writing paragraphs, place your Topic Sentence as the
introductory sentence, that is, as the first sentence of the paragraph.
1. Home: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. School:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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3. Village:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exercise 3: Write a short piece of prose consisting of three paragraphs on any one
local fruit that is your favourite.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exercise 4:
Circle the correct writing/sentence: (a) or (b)?
1. a) All day I was putting on a sweater. b) All day I was wearing a sweater.
2. a) I have disposed off my car. b) I have disposed of my car.
3. a) Please see this painting. b) Please look at this painting.
4. a) I have ordered for a new computer. b) I have ordered a new computer.
5. a) Why don’t you hear me? b) Why don’t you listen to me?
6. a) He came putting on a blue jacket. b) He came wearing a blue jacket.
7. a) He denied to come. b) He refused to come.
8. a) He lived there for a day. b) He stayed there for a day.
9. a) He did no mistake. b) He committed no mistake.
10. a) We ought to make exercise. b) We ought to exercise.
Exercise 5: More practice in writing - Story Completion.
In this section of the writing exercise you are given bits of a story; fill in the missing phrases that
make sense in the sentences and develop the story line. Make the story interesting by filling in
appropriate phrases, paying attention to the grammar of the sentence, so as to develop the plot
of the story. Now complete this story.
A Plunge Indeed. The story line: A young lady, Mina decides that the time has now come to
change her way of living after being a single woman for thirty years. She realizes that she needs

57
to be married and have a home and raise a family. She has been wondering for months as to
how to give it a start. Finally she decides to talk to her best friend Laila. Laila arranges for Mina
to meet her distant relative Bob, who is an eligible bachelor. During their first meeting over tea
at “Secret Recipe”, the couple realise that they have a lot in common. Soon, they date regularly,
and ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
.….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………...
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
But soon, as happens most of the time in any relationship between two individuals, they
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
problems and decide
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Meanwhile Bob……………………………………………………………………………………………..
…...………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………….and…………..
Laila develops affection and attraction towards Bob, Bob on the other hand pines for Mina.
He………………………………………………..………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
They got together and had a long talk. Then, they decided …………………………………………
Several months went by before Mina could come to any decisions. She began to ……………..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………..
As Bob found out what was in Laila’s mind, he woke up to the reality and avoided meetings with

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Laila. However, he needed to speak to someone who could help him in his reconciliation with
Mina.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
He confided in his friend, Rubin, who suggested that…………………………………………………
……………………………but that was not much of a help, because he actually …………………...
……………………..………………………………………………………………………………………...
Bob now realised that he has to take his own decision, and act on his desires. He will not wait
any longer. Six months had gone since he had Last met Mina; he should not put this off any
longer. The anguish was unbearable. …………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
He had to something right away to ……………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
He soon arranged to ………………………………………………………………………………..
Mina of course……………………………………………………………………………………………
she……………………………………………………and………………………………………………
………………………………………………….When they………again……………………………….
………………………………………it was a celebration.
So now, Laila and Rubin came into the picture and they were invited to join in the
celebration which was………………...............................................................................................
………………………………………………………………………………….. ………………………….

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--------------------------------------It was a pleasant surprise , when Rubin and Laila were
introduced. They immediately fell for each other. It was love at first sight.
Another romantic relationship …………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
The evening passed by fast, and from then on the two couples lived in their own world of
happy moments……………………………………………… ……………………………………………
during the next ……………………………………, and with the start of spring started the
jubiliations. A lot of planning, and two engagements within a month.
And on July fourth
….………........................................................................................................................................
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Exercise 6: Writing Original Themes.
In this exercise you will create stories and present them in an interesting and
entertaining manner. Go ahead and experiment and try something unusual or fun. Enjoy
your writing.
You are given 30 minutes to write on each given topic. Write at least three paragraphs
on each title.
6.1 The joke I played.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………

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………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
6.2 A shopping spree
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………

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………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
6.3 A TV addict
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
3.2 Nature and Characteristics of Academic Writing
3.2.1 What is Academic Writing?
Academic writing encompasses all kinds of writing undertaken by undergraduate and
postgraduate students, media professionals and faculty members attached to academic
institutions – for assignments, seminar/conference papers, theses, dissertations, journal articles,
book chapters and books. It encompasses all types writing that you will undertake when you
begin life as a student in a college/university setting.
The common types of academic writing are:

62
• Course/module assignments
• Theses, also known as graduation exercises
• Dissertations – these are lengthier than theses or graduation exercises and are
usually required at postgraduate level
• Seminar papers
• Journal articles
• Books and book chapters
• Book and article reviews
Differences between academic and technical writing
• Purpose
• Knowledge of the topic
• Audiences
• Criteria for evaluation
• Statistical and graphical support
General preparations to be a writer
 Have a dictionary or thesaurus handy at all times.
 Become familiar with the style book used in the organisation.
 Critically read examples of academic writing and evaluate them
 Prepare a scrap book that can include examples of good academic writing,
glossary of terms etc.
3.2.2 Process of Academic Writing
Academic writing can be planned and executed in three stages, as follows:

63
• Stage 1 – Planning
• Determine purposes
• Analyze readers
• Collect research
• Complete outline
• Stage 2 – Drafting
• Write initial drafts
• Write revised drafts
• Stage 3 – Revising and editing
• Edit for style
• Edit for grammar
• Edit for mechanics
(Note:Editing techniques are discussed in greater detail in Section 8.2.2 below)
3.3 Writing and editing techniques
3.3.1 Writing techniques
Academic documents have a three-part structure consisting of a beginning, middle and end.
(This is also known as the ABC format):
 Abstract: beginning component containing the introductory summary
 Body: longer middle component, contains the supporting details

64
 Conclusion: brief ending component, suggesting actions that readers need to
take.
The following are some of the techniques that you can follow in order to improve you academic
writing:
(a) Five Cs of good writing:
• Is it clear?
• Is it correct?
• Is it concise?
• Is it comprehensive?
• Is it complete?
• Writing clear sentences and paragraphs:
• Sentences should not be too long
• Place the main point near the beginning
• Focus on one main clause in each sentence
• Vary sentence length
• Each sentence should contain a related idea
• Paragraphs can vary in length from 3 lines to about 12 lines
• Each paragraph should contain sentences that have related ideas.
• Being crisp and concise:
• Replace abstract nouns with verbs
• Shorten wordy phrases
• Replace long words with shorter words

65
• Don’t use cliches and trite expressions; the word cliché is defined as a fixed or
stereotyped expression that has lost its significance and originality through
frequent repetition (See box below for some commonly-used examples)
• Make writing more direct by reading it aloud
• Avoid qualifying words and phrases that are not needed, especially superlatives
• Cut out extra words such as those shown below
• Accuracy in writing:
• Distinguish facts from opinion; if it is an opinion, it must be attributed to you or to
someone that you are quoting
• Include obvious qualifying statements when needed
• Use absolute words and phrases carefully e.g excellent, very poor
Examples of clichés and trite expressions
We often tend to use clichés and trite examples in our speaking and writing,
and they often become mannerisms that are difficult to erase or remove.
Here are some commonly-used examples:
As we all know as is commonly known
We all know that you can see that
It is a known fact that we are all aware that
The whole world knows that it is understood that
This is unique, only one of its kind this is very, very good

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• Use active rather than passive voice to make the writing more dynamic
• Using non-sexist language:
• What is sexist language?
• Why should sexist language be avoided?
• Techniques for non-sexist language:
• Avoid personal pronouns
• Use plural pronouns instead of the singular
• Use forms like “he or she”, “his or hers” and “him or her.”
• Change to second person pronouns
• Be careful of titles and letter salutations.
• Having a reader focus:
• Understand more about the audience and their role
• Analyse what academic writing superstructure can be adopted
• Plan your graphics and visual aids
• Be aware of motivational aspects of writer-reader relationship
• Provide for feedback channels from readers, especially your supervisor
• Feed forward – before the final printing stage, ensure supervisor approves
3.3.2 Document editing
Introduction:
• Document editing is one of the most important aspects of academic writing.

67
• At this stage it is important to ensure that the document is edited in accordance
to the writing style of the organisation.
• Throughout the editing process you should always remember the five Cs of good
writing, as mentioned earlier:
• Is it clear?
• Is it correct?
• Is it concise?
• Is it comprehensive?
• Is it complete
• Three levels of editing are:
• Broad level revisions that entail re-thinking organisation and substance of
the document
• Paragraph and sentence level revisions that entail editing the structure of
paragraphs and sentences
• Mechanical revisions that entail checking for correct grammar, spelling,
word usage and punctuation.
3.4 Other Considerationsin Academic Writing
In this section you will be exposed to aspects of referencing and citation, as well as to steps in
the preparation of a thesis and/or dissertation.
3.4.1 Importance of Referencing and Citation

68
Referencing and citations are two useful techniques that are used in academic writing,
especially to overcome the risk or charge of plagiarism, which is defined as the act of taking
someone else’s writing and presenting it as your own writing. With the growing number of
websites and online sources, there is a tendency for students to cut and paste large chunks of
other people’s works and pass them off as their own.
While plagiarism could not have been easily detected in the past, it can now be detected
through a software programme called turnitin.com that is widely available. Thus, students incur
the risk of failing, especially if their assignment, term paper or thesis constitutes the large part of
the grading for their course.
3.4.1 What is referencing?
• Referencing is very important for any piece of academic writing because you are
required to acknowledge the sources of information you have used for writing your
paper, graduation exercise or thesis/dissertation.
• Reasons:
• To prove that your work is based on facts
• To give evidence of the research you have done
• To enable the reader to identify and check the references
• To distinguish between your own writing and what you have taken from other
sources

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3.4.2 What is citation?
• Citation is the act of citing (or recording in writing or speech) something that you have
taken from some source that is not your own. It can be a word or phrase or even a
lengthy passage.
• There are two types of citations, i.e. in-text citation and citation at the end, in the list of
references, usually listed as end notes. (Note: In the past, the practice was to have the
notes inserted as footnotes at the bottom of the page. While some journals still follow
this practice, most journals and academic publications have opted for end notes, mainly
because of problems in the layout of the text.)
• Using citation reduces the chances that you will be accused of plagiarism.
• Materials taken from on-line sources must also be acknowledged. You should state the
full address of the website and date accessed.
Traditional concerns in academic writing
• Grammar:
• Tense – past, present, future, participles
• sentence structure – simple, compound, complex
• agreement of subject with verb/object,
• parts of speech (noun, pronoun, verb, adverb, adjective, prepositions)
• Vocabulary and word choice
• Spelling – American or British?
• Office style –refer to Harvard style, APA style or any other style prescribed by the
college/university
• Reader cues: these are useful devices to help readers understand information in
the document and can be either prose cues or graphical cues

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• Prose cues – statements or phrases that guide the reader to the next section
• Graphical cues - design elements such as bullets, italics/bold, arrows, shading,
fonts and indentation.
• Prose cues and graphical cues can be combined.
The following table lists some of the words commonly spoelt in both American and
British usage:
TABLE: AMERICAN AND BRITISH SPELLING – COMMON WORDS
AMERICAN SPELLING BRITISH SPELLING
analyze analyse
behavior, behavioral Behavior, behavioural
color colour
criticize criticise
democratize, democratization Democratise, democratisation
hypothesize hypothesise
labor labour
organize, organization, organizational organise, organisation, organisational
program programme
privatize, privatization privatise, privatisation
rigor rigour
summarize summarise
synthesize synthesise
valor valour

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