unit 2 informational texts and sentence structure

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Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

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Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure. Subject/Verb. English sentence has: subject and verb . S ubject , placed near the beginning of the sentence, tells us what/who the sentence is about . - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Page 1: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

Page 2: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

Subject/VerbEnglish sentence has: subject and verb.

Subject, placed near the beginning of the sentence, tells us what/who the sentence is about.

Subject always consists of a noun or of some words which can function as a noun.

John, being a friendly computer salesman and baseball fan, refused to argue.

Page 3: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

Verb/ObjectVerbs needing an object are

transitive verbs (v.t.) and verbs which do not need an object are intransitive verbs (v.i.).

Object of a verb must be a noun or some other word(s) which can act as a noun.

Example:Ms Christabel has discovered my

secret.(subject) (verb)

(object)

Page 4: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

Nouns – The Subject and Object in SentencesA noun is a word used to name a person,

animal, place, thing or an abstract idea.Noun GenderNoun Plurals: s,es,ves,ies, etc.Possessive Nouns: Can function as an

adjective modifying another noun.E.g. The actor's face was covered in

dust. E.g. The film crew accidentally crushed

the platypus's eggs.

Page 5: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

 Types of Nouns

Proper noun: Begins with a capital letter, since the noun represents the name of a specific person, place, or thing.

Common noun: Refers to a person, place, or thing in a general sense -- usually,

only begins with a capital letter when it starts a sentence. Concrete noun: Anything (or anyone) that

you can perceive through physical senses: touch, sight, taste, hearing, or smell.

Page 6: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

 Types of Nouns

Abstract noun: Anything which you can not perceive through your five physical senses.

Countable noun: Has singular and plural forms, anything (or anyone)you can count.

Uncountable noun: Has no plural form and refers to something that you could (or would) not usually count.

Uncountable noun always takes singular verb in a sentence.

Page 7: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

 Types of Nouns

Some examples of uncountable nouns:

furnituremusic, art, love, happiness advice, information, news luggage rice, sugar, butter, water electricity, gas, power money, currency

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 Types of Nouns

Collective noun: A noun naming a group of things, animals, or persons.

Usually think of the group as a whole.Need to maintain subject-verb

agreement. The steering committee meets every

Wednesday afternoon. Here the collective noun "committee"

takes a singular verb, "meets".

Page 9: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

Task 11. or/er actor, painter, plumber, writer

2. ism criticism, egotism, magnetism, vandalism

3. ist artist, capitalist, journalist, scientist

4. ment arrangement, development, establishment

5. tion foundation, organisation, recognition

Page 10: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

Characteristics of Nouns

Irregular NounsDeterminers. Possession

Page 11: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

Task 2

1. a peaceful place (any other acceptable answer)

2. the tall, Indian man (any other acceptable answer)

3. this difficult child (any other acceptable answer)

4. my brown and white file (any other acceptable answer)

Page 12: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

Nouns that can be Countable and Uncountable

Sometimes, the same noun can be countable and uncountable, often with a change of meaning.

Task 31. There are two hairs in my coffee!

( C )2. I don't have much hair. ( UC )3. Draw the curtain. There's too much

light! (UC )

Page 13: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

Task 3

4. There are two lights in our bedroom. ( C )

5. Shhhhh! I thought I heard a noise. ( C ) 6. It's difficult to work when there is too much

noise. ( UC ) 7. Our house has seven rooms. ( C ) 8. Is there room for me to sit here? ( UC )

Page 14: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

Task 41. The board will meet next Monday to

consider your application. ( C )2. The information you gave to the

police was very useful. ( UC )3. I thought it was an unusual

comment to make. ( C )4. Drinking too much damages your

health. ( UC)5. Jean is studying art at college.

(UC )

Page 15: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

Verbs

The verb is the most important part of a sentence.

A verb says something about the subject of the sentence and expresses actions, events, or states of being.

My first teacher was Ms Susan, but I remember the guard, Sam, more vividly.

Paul seems unhappy.

Page 16: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

Characteristics of VerbsCertain endings are characteristic

of the base forms of verbs:Ending Base Form-ate concentrate,

demonstrate, . illustrate

-ify clarify, dignify, magnify

-ise/-ize baptize, conceptualize

Page 17: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

Forms of Verbs: Inflections Indicate TENSE. For example:The -s inflection indicates the

PRESENT TENSE The -ed inflection indicates the

PAST TENSE

Page 18: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

5 Forms of Verbs:

1. Base/Infinitive: (to) sing/cook.

2. Present tense: He sings/cooks.

3. Past Tense: He sang/cooked.4. -ing Participle: He is

singing/cooking.5. -ed Participle: He has

sung/cooked.

Page 19: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

AGREEMENT or CONCORD

This is the correspondence between the pronoun (or noun) and the verb.

Examples:She travels to work by train.  They travel to work by train. 

Page 20: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

AUXILIARY VERBS/MAIN VERBSAuxiliaries always occur with a

main verbAn important difference between

auxiliary verbs and main verbs is that auxiliaries never occur alone in a sentence.

The old lady is writing a play. 

Page 21: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

Task 4

1. I will have the bread. ( MV ) 2. Police are investigating the

accident. ( AV )3. It is very cool here. ( MV )4. Where does your sister work? ( AV

)5. They have decided to advertise the

available position. ( AV )

Page 22: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

Missing SubjectLong sentences with several

verbs usually need two or more subjects – one for each verb.

The subject of a sentence must be a noun or an ‘-ing’ gerund:

Being well prepared for the exam helped Mohammed to score distinctions.

Page 23: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

Task 8

he we they

1. We cannot work any more when _____ become old and weak.

2. Jamaluddin’s motor-cycle made a lot of noise before ____ repaired it.

3. Singapore depended on the athletes to bring back a gold medal, but ____ failed to achieve it.

Page 24: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

INFORMATIVE TEXTSAn informative text is a text that

wants to advise or tell you about something.

For example:A newspaper article might give

you information about a health issue like giving up smoking.

Page 25: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

Features of informative texts:

Avoid repetitionContain factsGive information in a clear way – introducing the subject and then developing it.

Page 26: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

Chocolate[S] stimulates[V] the release of endorphins.

These[S] are[S] natural body hormones. They[S] generate[V] feelings of pleasure and well-being.

Page 27: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

Sample Passage

Chocolate chemistrySome people [S] crave [V] {pl} chocolate. Like other sweet food, chocolate [S] stimulates [V] {sg} the release of endorphins, natural body hormones that generate feelings of pleasure and well-being. General sweetness aside, there [S] are [V] {pl} various chemical elements specific to chocolate that may help to stimulate cravings. In fact, chocolate [S] contains [V] {sg} over 300 chemicals and it [S] is [V] {sg} not known how all of these affect humans.

Page 28: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

Sample Passage

Central nervous stimulants such as caffeine [S] are [V] {pl} present in small amounts, and this [S] has [V] {sg} a mild effect on alertness as we [S] know [V]{pl}from drinking coffee. Another mild stimulant present in chocolate is theobromine [S], which also serves [V] {sg} to relax the smooth muscles in the linings of the lung. Chocolate [S] also makes [V] {sg} us feel good by reacting with our brains

Page 29: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

A)Why does cooked food go brown? All foods [S] – meat, fish, and vegetables – brown [V] {pl} at

temperatures above 154°C. This [S] is [V] {sg} known as the 'Maillard Reaction'. It [S] generates [V] {sg} the characteristic colour and aroma of foods cooked over a flame, in the oven, or in oil.

The Maillard reaction [S] was [V] {sg} discovered in 1912 by the French chemist Louis Camille Maillard. It [S] happens [V] {sg} when sugar molecules and amino acids (a chemical found in proteins) [S] are heated [V] {pl} together. The reaction [S] produces [V] {sg} a bunch of highly flavoured molecules responsible for the brown colour, smell and taste of cooked meat.

But not all cooked food [S] goes [V] {sg} brown. When you boil something in water, the temperature of the food [S] never exceeds [V] {sg} the boiling point of water (100°C). So it [S] doesn't [V] {sg} get hot enough for the Maillard Reaction to happen. However, deep-fried food [S] does go [V] {sg} brown because oil boils at over 154°C.

- Adapted from BBC Skillswise

Page 30: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

B) Born to marathon? The modern marathon [S], run over 26.2 miles or 42.195

km, is [V] {sg} the only discipline in athletics to have become a popular participation sport. However, some people [S] are [V] {pl} better adapted to marathon running than others. This [S] might be [V] {sg} by virtue of their build, physiology or mental approach. There [S] is [V] {sg} one crucial feature marathon runners must have to stand a chance of competing at the highest level – the right kind of muscles.

Marathon musclesThere [S] are [V] two different kinds of fibre in muscle:

'Slow twitch' fibres – these [S] contract [V] {pl} slowly but they [S] can keep going [V] {pl} for a long time

'Fast twitch' fibres – these [S] contract [V] {pl} quickly but are [V] {pl} rapidly worn

Page 31: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

B) Born to marathon? 'Slow twitch' fibres [S] are [V] {pl} the key to successful

marathon running. If a person [S] has [V] {sg} a preponderance of fast-twitch muscles there [S] is [V] {sg} no chance of him or her becoming a world-class marathoner. They [S] might however make [V] {pl} an ideal sprinter. The marathon runner [S] needs [V] {sg} to have a large proportion of slow twitch fibres in their muscles. This characteristic [S] is [V] {sg} largely inherited but there [S] is [V] {sg} some evidence that training [S] can make [V] {sg} a small difference to the proportions of the different fibre types. Findings [S] suggest [V] {pl} that a marathon runner must avoid any sprint training at distances less than 100m. Likewise, sprinters [S] must never engage [V] {pl} in endurance exercise.

- Adapted from BBC Skillswise

Page 32: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

Activity A) Write it! Write an informative piece on an area you are

interested in. Your work should be about 100 words long. Some possible topics are:

Global warming Overseas volunteer missions Fencing*, anyone? – An introduction to my favourite

sport [*Can be something else e.g. muay thai, belly dancing, wake boarding, etc.]

Good ways to unwind in Singapore   B) Edit it! Exchange your work with a friend to do peer-editing,

focussing on subject-verb agreement.

Page 33: Unit 2 Informational Texts and Sentence Structure

ENGLISH LANGUAGE 1ASSIGNMENT 2 (20marks), Pairwork Sentence Structure & Informative Texts

You are to work in pairs for this assignment. Find an informative text of about 150 to 200 words long (1m). You can search in magazines, books or online resources. Do state the source you took the text from. Answer the following questions using the text. You are to hand in the text together with your answers.

Describe two features of the text which you used to identify it as an informative text. (4m)

Pick out five sentences from your text. In these sentences identify the Subjects [underline and mark as S] and Verbs [underline and mark as V] used. Also, mark each subject-verb pair as {sg} for singular or {pl} for plural. (15m)