Higher National Diploma in English

First Year, Second Semester Examination – 2018

EN 1214: Language Structure Usage and Linguistics-II (Full Time / Part Time)

Marking Scheme with Model Answers

Question 01

I. Briefly explain Gerunds, Infinitive and Participles with appropriate examples.

The three verbals— gerunds, infinitives, and participles—are formed from verbs, but are
never used alone as action words in sentences. Instead, verbals function as nouns,
adjectives, or adverbs. These verbals are important in phrases.

The gerund ends in –ingand functions as a noun.

Jumping is fun.

He liked skiing.

He had a unique way of whistling.

The infinitive is the base form of a verb with to. Usually it functions as a noun, although it
can also function as an adjective or adverb.

To jump is fun. (noun; subject of the verb is)

I like to ski. (noun; direct object of the verb like)

She had a suggestion to offer. (adjective modifying suggestion)

He called to warn her. (adverb modifying the verb called)

A participle is a verb that ends in -ing (present participle) or -ed, -d, -t, -en, -n (past
participle). Participles may function as adjectives, describing or modifying nouns.

The dancing parrots entertained the crowd.

The wrecked sailboat washed up on shore.

But participles have another function. When used with helping verbs such as to be and to
have, they are action verbs and form several verb tenses.

She is thinking of the children.

The conference room had been cleaned before they arrived

(10 Marks)
II. Identify the tense, aspect, mood and voice of the following sentences in the table.

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 No Sentence Tense Aspect Mood Voice

a Is it real? present simple interrogative active

b It was not her fault. past simple indicative active

c Who has been given the job? present perfect interrogative passive

d Be on time! present simple imperative active

e Heaven forbid that that present simple subjunctive active

should happen to me.
(0.5 x 20 = 10 Marks)
(20 Marks)
Question 02
I. Briefly explain the changes that occur in verb phrase when active voice sentences
transformed into passive voice in the following tenses with appropriate examples.
a. Past continuous Tense
was ~ ing has to be changed into was being + past participle
eg: was giving – was being given
b. Present Perfect Tense
Has + past participle has to be changed intohas been + past participle
eg: has given – has been given
c. Simple Future Tense
Will/ shall + base form of the verb has to be changed into will be + past participle

Eg: will give – will be given (2 x 3 =06 Marks)

II. Name four (04) uses of passive voice.

Passive voice is used when,

● The actor is unknown.

● The actor is irrelevant.

● You want to be vague about who is responsible.

● You are talking about a general truth.

● You want to emphasize the person or thing acted on. For example, it may be your
main topic.

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 ● You are writing in a scientific genre that traditionally relies on passive voice. Passive
voice is often preferred in lab reports and scientific research papers, most notably in
the Materials and Methods section (04 Marks)

III. Turn the active voice sentences into passive voice and vice versa.
a. We shall forward the goods within two weeks from receipt of order.
The good shall be forwarded within two weeks from the receipt of order.

b. We place this order on the understanding that the goods arrive here before 31
March.
This order is placed on the understanding that the goods arrive here before 31
March.

c. A discount of 30% is usually granted for cash payment.

They usually grant a discount of 30% for cash payment.

d. There had been an accident last night. Now someone is repairing the fence.
There had been an accident last night. Now the fence is being prepared.

e. One type of air pollution is caused by hydrocarbons.

Hydrocarbons cause one type of air pollution.

f. When will the results be announced?

When will they announce the result?

g. When the visitors arrived, an elaborate supper had been prepared by Mr. Patel
and his children.
When the visitors arrived, Mr. patel and his children had prepared an
elaborate supper.

h. Hypertension is a silent killer, Can anybody cure it?

Hypertension is a silent killer. Can it be cured?

i. Who was invited by you?

To whom did you invite?

j. The school was struck by lightning.

Lightning struck the school. (10 Marks)
(20 Marks)
Question 03

I. Fill in the blanks with correct word given in the brackets.

(Simply,good, quiet, complicated, hardly, strangely, wide, nearly, shortly, fantastic)

a. The play was simply marvelous.

b. The instructions he got were very complicated.
c. The students hardly asked any questions.
d. Have you seen this fantastic new invention?
e. It was strangely quiet in the room.

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 f. The door was wide open, so I just went in.
g. The speaker will be arriving shortly.
h. He nearly fell when he stepped down from the ladder.
i. In school I was always good at math. (10 Marks)

II. Underline the adverbial and identify the form (structural classes) of the adverbials in
the given sentences.

E.g. He literally doesn't stop talking. - Adverb

a. When she isn't working(Finite verb clause), my sister visits on

Sundays.(Prepositional phrase)
b. The parcel would reach you quite soon.(Adverb phrase)
c. He barged inside(Noun)unexpectedly.(Adverb)
d. The telephone was ringing all morning,(Noun phrase)while I was trying to
concentrate for study. (Finite verb clause)
e. Ben was not happy because of his friend’s absence. (Prepositional phrase)
f. After the bash(Prepositional phrase)they left with a smile. (Prepositional
phrase)

(10 Marks)
(20 Marks)

Question 04

I. Classify the following words into American English (AE) and British English (BrE).

BrE AE
boot trunk
Car automobile
crisps chips
tram streetcar
At the weekend On the weekend

(10 Marks)

II. Sri Lankan English has got its uniqueness especially because of its identity of
vocabulary and pronunciation. Do you agree? Justify your answer with examples.

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 SLE became more indigenous in the mid-19th century. In addition to the usual terms
for flora and fauna, new idioms, referred to as Lankanisms, emerged.

used in informal speech, but not always in the

bugger person usual pejorative sense of the word: sometimes
similar to 'guy' in American English.

parallelly in parallel

Used to say someone is okay with something,

"shape" "It's alright"
mainly around urban areas

pass out graduate

confinement pregnancy Not just the last trimester.

lady's fingers okra Not Lady finger bananas.

Sometimes shortened to sorties. This is usually

shorteats snacks
due to mispronunciation.

hotel restaurant

Something that
cover envelops something
like a bag

pattice or pattis a vegetable patty cake

Not, "Where are you lodging for the time

stay reside being?" This usage also occurs in Scotland and
in the United States.

batchmate classmate Meaning a student contemporary.

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cousin-brother a first male cousin (or cousin-sister).

petrol shed gas station (US) filling station (UK) or petrol station (Aust.)

ragging hazing (US) fagging (UK)

"in vain" unnecessarily or, "a shame"

keep put or place "Keep it on the table" means "put it on the table"

naughty, pushy,
too much Expressing excess.
forward etc.

fully worth good in value

get down from

alight
the [bus]

get [them]
invite [them] over
down

played [me]
deceived [me]
out

ask from ask Meaning, ask something of a particular person.

For example, "put a complaint" means "make a

put "make"
complaint".

current electricity or power

today morning this morning

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yesterday night last night

Pronunciation of vowel sounds

Using /e:/ instead of /eI/ -Take: /te:k/ /teik/

Using /ͻ:/ instead of /Əu/ or /ͻu/-boat: /bƏut /

/bɔ :t/

Pronunciation of consonant sounds

Using / ʈ /, / ɖ / instead of /t/, /d/-kat: /kæt/

/kæʈ /
Using / ʃ / instead of / Ʒ /-vision: /viʃ Ən/ / viƷ Ən /

(10 Marks)

(20 Marks)

Question 05

I. Briefly explain any 03 of the followings with appropriate examples.

a. Dialect

A dialect is a distinctive variety of a language, usually associated with social or

geographical distinctions, which is characterized by differences in pronunciation (accent),
vocabulary, and grammar with regard to other varieties of the same language.For
example, in the English dialects of England, the most widespread past tense of
catch/kæʧ / is catched /kæʧ t/, while the standard dialect and some other dialects
havecaught /kɔ :t/. The English past tense forms catched/kæʧ t/ and caught/kɔ :t/
aredifferent linguistic items.

b. Slang

It is a type of language consisting of words and phrases that are regarded as very
informal, are more common in speech than writing, and are typically restricted to a
particular context or group of people.

"grass is slang for marijuana"

c. Register

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 Whereas dialects are the varieties according to the users, registers are the varieties of
language associated with people’s occupation. Registers are the languages that are used in
the pursuance of one’s job, i.e. usually sharingthe same occupation (e.g. doctors, lawyers)
or the same interests (e.g.stampcollectors, and baseball fans). A particular register often
distinguishesitself from other registers by having a number of distinctivewords, by using
words or phrases in a particular way (e.g. in tennis:deuce, love, tramlines), and sometimes
by special grammatical constructions(e.g. legal language).

d. Standard language

A standard language (standard variety, standard dialect, standard) is defined either as a

language variety used by a population for public purposes, or as a variety that has
undergone standardization. Typically, varieties that become standardized are the
local dialects spoken in the centers of commerce and government, where a need arises for
a variety that will serve more than local needs. Standardization typically involves a
fixed orthography, codification in authoritative grammars and dictionaries and public
acceptance of these standards.

(4 x 3=12 Marks)

II. Briefly explain the followings in relation with intonation.

a. Tone unit
A tone unit is the minimal unit which can carry intonation. It can be one syllable long, but
usually extends over a few syllables. Atone unit can also be called an 'intonation unit'
or 'foot group'.

b. Tonic syllable
The nucleus, or tonic syllable (TS), is the most significant syllable in the tone unit.(It is not
necessarily the loudest or most prominent stress). It is the syllable where the main
intonation pattern of the tone unitstarts.

c. Pitch
Pitch, in speech, is the relative highness or lowness of a tone as perceived by the ear, which
depends on the number of vibrations per second produced by the vocal cords.
d. Tone
Tone is the use of pitch in language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning – that is, to
distinguish or to inflect words.

(2 x 4=08 Marks)
(20 Marks)

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 Question 06

I. Write short notes on the followings.

a. Elision

Elision is very simply the omission of certain sounds in certain contexts.

Avoidance of complex consonant cluster.
Omission of /v/ in, of or before consonants

b. Intonation
Intonation refers to variations in the pitch of ones’ voice. There are four major variations in
intonation as Falling, Rising, falling-rising and Rising –falling intonation. These
intonation patterns do for your speech what punctuation does for your writing. They
indicate pauses, stops, and questions and also communicate emotions. Varied
intonation tells your listener whether you are finished talking or not, if you are asking
a question, and whether you are excited, angry, surprised or confused. Not using these
rising and falling patterns can confuse the listener and can also leave your speech
sounding monotone.

c. Word stress
In many languages such as in English, all the syllables in multisyllabic words are
not equally stressed (spoken with some kind of a force or strength) when they are
pronounced. WORD-STRESS is also sometimes referred to as word accent.In
English, we do not say each syllable with the same force or strength. This means that
one part of a certain word is said louder and longer than other parts of the same word.
In one word, we accentuate ONE syllable. We say one syllable very loudly (big,
strong, important) and all the other syllables very quietly.

d. Assimilation
Assimilation is the influence of a sound on a neighboring sound so that the two
become similar or the same. Assimilation may be partial or total. In the phrase ten
bikes, for example, the normal form in colloquial speech would be /tem baiks/, not
/ten baiks/, which would sound somewhat 'careful.' In this case, the assimilation has
been partial: the /n/ sound has fallen under the influence of the following /b/, and has
adopted its billability, becoming /m/.

(2.5 x 4=10 Marks)

II. Transcribe (in phonetics) the full (strong) and reduced (weak) forms of the following
words in the table.

words Full/ strong forms Reduced/ Weak form

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a should ʃ ud ʃ Əd

b her hз: Ə

c am æm Əm

d you Ju: jƏ

e were wз: wƏ

f had hæd Əd

g is Iz z

h them ðem ðƏm

i shall ʃ æl ʃ Əl

j to tu tƏ

(0.5 x 20=10 Marks)

(20 Marks)

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