OVERHAUL YOUR

GRAMMAR!
BY M S M A R L I N A A B D U L G H A N I E

WHAT ARE WE GOING TO TALK ABOUT

TODAY?
What is subject?
What is verb?
How to use verb?
What is simple present tense?
What is simple past tense?

SUBJECT
Thesubjectof a sentence is the person, place,
thing, or idea that is doing or being something.
You can find thesubjectof a sentence if you
can find theverb.
Ask the question, "Who/what does the verb?
and the answer to that question is thesubject.
You must also remember types of subject; singular or plural
subject

Examples:

James dropped the glass

Subject question: Who dropped the glass?
We will read the book.
Subject question: Who will read the book?
Amanda washed the car.
Subject question: Who washed the car?
The students like their new professor.
Subject question: Who likes the new professor?
I'm buying some bread.
Subject question: Who is buying some bread?

LETS TRY
1) The car is in the garage
2) Julie loves ice cream
3) The food was on the table
4) The student is from Colombia
5) David has lost his wallet

VERB
In a sentence, every verb must have a subject. If the
verb expresses actionlike sneeze, jump, bark, or
studythe subject is who or what does the verb. Take
a look at this example:
a) Last night, Tommy danced on the table.
Danced is an action verb. Tommy is the person who
did the dancing.

USING VERB
Verbs should agree with the tense of the sentence.
For example:
It was in the past when I saw Robert, but I may see him today, and when
Robert sees me, Ill give him the photo he has seen a long time ago.
Present tense

Present
participle

Past tense

Past participle

see

Is/are seeing

saw

seen

Advise

Is/are advising

Advised

advised

Now is your turn:

1. Allow
2. Hang
3. Speak

SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

Simple past tense is a tense that is in the form of a verb which is used to
express routine action or fact.
For singular subject, we add s or es to the verb
For plural subject, we use the root word.
We use present tense when expressing:
-actions that happen regularly, sometimes or never
Examples:

She usually drives to work

Does your mother play tennis?
We always wash our hands before and after meals.

-Actions that are happening now

Examples:

I see a child laughing

He has his passport in his hand.
Do you have your book with you now?
-Actions which will happen in the future
Examples:

I start school next Monday

My family goes on holiday to Japan tomorrow
The plane leaves in fifteen minutes

-Facts or statements which are always true

Examples:

Man needs oxygen to survive.

Some animals sleep through winter.
Dolphins swim by moving their tails up and down.

SIMPLE PAST TENSE

we add d or ed to regular verb
Examples:
Did you shout?
Did you call him?
I shouted at him.
I called her last night.
I did not shout.
I did not call.
We change y to ied to a verb which end in y
Examples:
Carry, worry, try, fry
Carried, worried, tried, fried

 Irregular verb is somehow different.

Examples:
Drive -> drove
Catch -> caught
Buy -> bought
Speak-> spoke

LETS TRY
1. I finished my homework, walked to the mall and (shop) ____________ for
two hours.
2. My brother (ride)________ his bicycle to school every morning.
3. We never (fail) _________ to receive our pocket money everyday.
4. Our school holiday (end) ________ next Friday.
5. That woman (carry)______________her baby to the changing room just now.
6. (do)_____ the Earth revolve round the Sun?
7. He always (forget) ____________ his wallet.
8. I (go)_______ to school this morning.

1. Every morning, the traffic condition along the Central Expressway (is/was)
very bad. Many drivers(avoid/avoided) taking that route as much as
possible.
2. The management (rewards/rewarded) shoppers by giving them rebated
and free gifts if they (spend/spends) more than RM100 in a single receipt.
3. Most working mothers (have/have) no choice but to (bring/brought) some
of their work home to complete so that they can juggle between work and
family.
4. If you are unable to (turned/turn) up for the appointment, please call to
(inform/informed) us.
5. Fred cannot (help/helped) but touch his nose whenever he (tells/told) a lie.
6. This camera (has/had) many functions that other models (do/did) not
have. However, its price is also much higher than the rest.

There are 10 grammatical errors in the passage.

Timothy are very interested in marine biology. He loved sea creatures and
has always been amazed with how the animals can stayed underwater
throughout their entire lives. No matter how he tries, he could never stay
underwater for longer than one minute.
Due to his great interest in marine biology, he visit the Underwater World
at least once a month. While others may usually lose their curiosity for the
underwater aquarium after two visits, Timothy is the exception. He felt that
marine life is constantly evolving. There were always something exciting and
happening in the aquarium and all the visits are never the same.
timothy is so fascinated with marine life that he aspired to be a marine
biologist. He wants to dive at the Great Barrier Reef and saw for himself how
majestic the legendary corals were.