1

HANDOUT OF WRITING FUNDAMENTALS

By
Baiq Sumarni, M.Pd.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
I. UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION (Who Am I)…………………………………………. 3
1.1 Sentence Structure (S-V Pattern) …………………………………………… 3
1.2 Pronoun ……………………………………………………………………... 5
2. UNIT 2: WRITING ABOUT PEOPLE …………….……………………………...12
2.1. Simple Present Tense ………………………………………………………. 12
2.2. Present Continues Tense …………………………………………………… 14
3. UNIT 3: NARRATION …………………………………………………….……20
3.1. Time Orders ………………………………………………………………… 21
3.2. Types of Sentence Structure ……………………………………………….. 21
4. UNIT 4: DESCRIPTION ……...……………………………………………….. 27
4.1. Spatial Orders ……………………………………………………………… 27
4.2. Preposition Phrase …………………………………………………………. 27
4.3. Expletive It and There …………………………………………………….. 29
5. UNIT 5: STORY ………………………………………………………………. 31
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Unit 1

Introduction (Who Am I)

In unit 1, you are expected to:

1. Write a summary about yourself using simple sentences
2. Understand sentence structure, S-V patterns, punctuation, use of pronouns, use of
correct spelling.

1.1 Sentence Structure (S-V Patterns)

There are five basic patterns around which most English sentences are built.
They are as follows:

S-V Subject-Verb John sleeps.

Jill is eating.
Jack will arrive next week.

S-V-O Subject-Verb-Object I like rice.

She loves her job.
He’s eating an orange

S-V-Adj Subject-Verb-Adjective He’s funny.

The workers are lazy.
Karen seems angry.

S-V-Adv Subject-Verb-Adverb Jim is here.

Flowers are everywhere.

S-V-N Subject-Verb-Noun She is my mom.

The men are doctors.
Mr. Jones is the teacher.

At the heart of every English sentence is the Subject-Verb relationship. Other

elements can be added to make a sentence more interesting, but they are not essential
to its formation.
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The following sentences are examples of the S-V pattern.

She sleeps. Core sentence

She sleeps soundly. An adverb is added to describe how she sleeps.
She sleeps on the sofa. A prepositional phrase is added to tell where
she sleeps.
She sleeps every afternoon. A time expression is added to tell when she
sleeps.
She is sleeping right now. Verb tense is changed, but S-V relationship
remains the same.
Mary will sleep later. Subject is named and another tense is used.
The dogs are sleeping in the garage. New subject may require a different form of
the verb.

Note: Any action verb can be used with this sentence pattern.

The following sentences are examples of the S-V-O pattern.

They like rice. Core sentence

The people like rice. Specific subject

The friendly people like rice. Subject modified with an adjective

The people in the restaurant like rice. Subject modified with an adjective

The people like boiled rice. Object modified with an adjective

The people like hot, white rice. Object modified with more than one adjective

Note: Only transitive action verbs can be used with this sentence pattern.

The following sentences are examples of the S-V-Adj pattern.

The man is a doctor. Basic sentence

The women are doctors. Using plural noun and verb

My father is a nice guy. Modified subject and complement

My grandparents are senior citizens. Modified plural subject and complement

Note: Only linking verbs can be used with this sentence pattern.
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1.2. Pronoun
What is a pronoun?
Take a look at the chart below:

 The subject position is at the beginning

E.g. I am 25 years old.
She is 45 kilograms.

 Position of the Object after the predicate (be or verb)

E.g. She likes me.
The suspect is her.

 The Possessive Adjective position always precedes a noun which

means to show ownership.
E.g. It is my bag.
That is his house.

 Another form of possession is to use 's’ called

apostrophe s after the noun.
E.g. Linda’s hair is black.
Brian’s shoes are expensive
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Note:
If someone's name ends with the letter 's' or' x 'there is no need to add' s at the end
of the word.
E.g. Hans’ computer is very modern.
Alex’ car is very expensive.

 A possessive pronoun replaces ownership with a note that the object referred
to by the first speaker is already known to the second speaker.
E.g. This is Paula’s car and that one is mine. (my car).
My grammar book is red and his is blue.

 As with the possessive adjective, 's can also be used but the object in question
does not need to be included.
E.g. (Eddie is dividing a bar of chocolate with Anita)
Eddie: “Anita, the red is mine, the blue is yours and the yellow is your
brother’s.”

 Reflexive Pronoun can mean… alone. For example myself, him alone and so
on.
e.g. I do my homework by myself.
She comes here by herself.

 If there is a person, the word "by" can be added. However, if we don't know, we
don't need to write it down.

Ex E R C is E

Exercise 1
Complete the conversation below using pronouns.
Conversation 1
Alice : Excuse ____Are Fred Brugman?
Fred : Yes, am.
Alice : Oh, name is Alice Spears.
Fred : How do do?
Alice : How do do?
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Conversation 2
Bob : What is name?
Carla : name is Carla.
Bob : What is hobby?
Carla : hobby is swimming. How about ?
Bob : hobby is traveling.
Carla : Do travel by ?
Bob : No, with ______ family.
Carla : See ___, Bob.
Bob : See _______, Carla.

 Language in use
Create a question for the answer below.
E.g. 167 centimeters. How tall are you?
1) 59 kilograms.
2) My hair is black.
3) I am 23 years old.
4) No, I don‟t wear glasses.
5) I am punctual and out going.
6) My eyes are grey.
7) Sorry, I don‟t know.
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WRITING: Describe yourself

Read the short sentences below. Then, can you estimate the physical form
of the person described in these sentences?
 My name is Rahmansyah.
 I am an English teacher.
 I am 31 years old. I am 169 centimeters tall and my weight is 59
kilograms.
 I am slim.
 I have got short straight black hair.
 I comb my normal hair tidily.
 My skin is fair.
 My face is oval.
 My eyes are brown and my eyebrows are dark black.
 My nose is straight atau I have got a stright nose.
 I don‟t have mustache or beard.
 I wear glasses.
 The color of the frame is brown.
 I am friendly, helpful and nice.
 I am good looking.
 I like humor and seeing new people.

Now, try to write a physical description of your character and then give it to
your friend. Do your friends think that the information you provide is really a
written portrait of yourself?
Take a look at the information below relating to the description of yourself
or others. To find out the meaning, it is recommended that you open a dictionary.

Height weight hair character

tall heavy/thin/fat curly dark friendly clever
short solid/heavy side/slim wavy light helpful outgoing
medium straight brown nice unfriendly
long black bright articulate
red blond strict short-tempered
grey kinky
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Exercise 2
Make a sentence with the subject I with the words below:
1) (heavy)
2) (slim)
3) (tall)

Exercise 3
Make a sentence with the subject I with the words below:
1) (curly)
2) (grey)
3) (wavy)

Exercise 4
Arrange the words below into the correct sentence!
1) name - Susan - . - My – Black– is
2) the - in - my - All - class - absent - today- students -.– are
3) Main - 235 – Street -. -My - is-address
4) States- of- the - George W. Bush - president - United -.- is- the
5) is– Mexico -.- She- from

Execise 5
Make a sentence from the word fragments below!
1) She/an elementary teacher. (positive sentence)
2) He/happy. (negative sentence)
3) My parents/from Brazil. ( positive sentence )
4) Jack/at home/ on Sundays. (negative sentence)
5) You/a student/ of IOLU(Indonesian Open Learning University.
(Interrogative sentence)
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FORMATIVE TEST 1

Question 1

Fill in the blanks below with pronouns.

Paul is always busy. (1) works in an office in Jakarta. Paul‟s friends
rarely see (2) . When they see (3) , (4) is
usually very happy. (5) friends like (6) very much. (7)
house is always open for
everyone.

Paul has a sister. (8) name is Paula. (9) is an actress. (10)

movies are very popular. When (11) is in public places,
people always say „hi” to (12) and tell (13) how much (14)
like (15) movies.

The students in my English class are interesting. (16) are from
different countries. Chu is a Chinese. (17) is from Beijing.
(18)
English is good. Natasha is Russian. (19) is from Moscow.
Everybody likes (20) . Roberto and Juan are from Puerto Rico.
Sometimes, I can‟t understand (21) English. (22)
are brothers. Ahmad is from Oman. (23) always brings a
praying carpet with (24) . (25) is made of wool. Nakata and Nakamura
are Japanese. (26) can hardly to pronounce „L‟. Budi, Bayu and
Wati are from Indonesia. The only thing I remember about (27) is
that (28)
only want to eat rice.
I teach (29) three times a week. Although I have been teaching the
for three months, I like _____(30) students very much.

Question 2

Make 10 sentences from the information below. Use the subject I.

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PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION
Name : Rowena Atkinson
Address : 14 Church Streets, California
Age : 25 years old
Height : 169 centimeters
Weight : 45
kilograms Hair : curly,
black, long Eyes : blue
Nose : straight
Marital status : single
Nationality : Canadian
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Unit 2

Writing About People (Family and Idol)

In this unit 2, you are expected to:

1. Describe about your family
2. Understand the use of the simple present, the present continues, the use of pronouns

2.1. Simple Present Tense

Simple Present Tense is a change in the form of the verb used to express current
events or events, activities, activities and so on. The Present Tense is also used to express
a fact, or something that happens repeatedly in the present. Present tense.

In English, the Present Tense or Simple Present Tense is used to express current
events or events, activities, activities and so on. Present Tense is also used to state a fact,
or something that happens repeatedly in the CURRENT. Remember, PRESENT means
now.

The pattern:
Positive: S + V1 (s/es)
Negative: S + DO/DOES + NOT + V1
Interrogative: DO/DOES + S + V1

Examples of positive sentences:

I drink coffee
She drinks coffee
We drink coffee

How to Read Formulas:

S means Subject, V1 means Verb1 or first form verb.
When to use S or ES?
If the subject is He, She, It, John, Mufli, Ellen or 3rd person SINGLE then the verb adds
S or ES.
Based on the statement above, there is the term Third Person Singular, meaning the third
person is the person we are talking about. Meanwhile, the first person is the one who
speaks. The second person to talk to. Single means, namely one. So the single third
person is the person we are talking about and the only one he is. Let's say we both talk
about John Scoping. Who spoke I, heard you, who talked about John Scoping (third
person singular). Do you understand?

Example :
John Scoping learnS Tenses.
John Scoping learnS english.
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John Scoping goES to School (tambah ES).

Negative Sentences Present Tense

Negative form, which means stating NO. Then according to the Present Tense formula,
after SUBJECT is added DO or DOES, then NOT, then adds the first form of verb
without S or ES again. Where's the S or ES? Already in doES earlier.
Note:
For I, WE, YOU, THEY add DO
For SHE, HE, IT, Mufli, Ellen added DOES

Example:
1.I do not drink coffee.
2.She does not drink coffee.
3.John Scoping does not learn English.

Try to pay attention to She does not drink coffee. The drink doesn't use S anymore, move
to doES. Just get used to it, this Present Simple Tense seems complicated, but if you
understand, it's really good. Just repeat reading from above 10 more times, so that it
sinks in properly. Also make 10 examples of your own with different verbs. Yes,
learning English shouldn't be spoiled, you have to be active, then you can.

Question Sentence Present Tense

The question sentence for the Present Tense is according to the formula above.
Question: DO / DOES + S + V1

For I, WE, YOU, THEY plus DO

For SHE, HE, IT, Mufli, Ellen added DOES
The positive sentence: I drink coffee
The question sentence becomes: DO you drink coffee?
Positive sentence: She drinks coffee
Question: DOES She drink coffee?
The question sentence like the one above is also called the YES / NO Question. Because
the answer is Yes or No. Do you drink coffee? "Yes I do" he replied. Or it can be
answered in full: "Yes, I do drink coffee". It is also permissible to remove the DO,
becoming a positive sentence again: "Yes I drink coffee".

Well, if earlier the Question Present Tense the answer is Yes or No. What if the question
has a long answer or the answer is a sentence? Just add When, Where, Why, Who, What,
etc. in front of it.
Example:
-When Do you drink coffee?
Answer: I drink coffee everyday.

-What does she drink?

She drinks coffee
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2.2. Present Continuous Tense

Present Continues Tense is used to denote an ongoing activity. The sentence pattern,
see the explanation below:

She/He/It + is + verb-ing + object + (now/at She is watching television at

the moment/at present) the moment.
Is she watching television at
the moment?
She is not watching television at
the moment.
I + am + verb-ing + object + (now/at the moment/at I am reading a book
present) now. Am I reading a
book now?
I am not reading a book now.
We/You/They + are + verb-ing + object + We are studying English at
(now/at the moment/at present) present. Are we studying English
at present? We are not studying
English at
present.

There are some words which cannot be formed in the Present Continues Tense. These
words are:

like love hate want need prefer know realize suppose

mean believe remember belong contain consist depend seem

Example:
I am very thirsty. I want something to drink. (not I am wanting). She does not
believe in what I said. (not She is not believing)..

Ex E R C is E

Exercise 1
Fill in the blanks in the sentence below using the Present Continues Tense.
1) Anne is buying (buy) some vegetables.
2) Brad and Tom (wash) their father‟s car?
3) Look! The birds (fly).
4) Sam (dance/negative form), he
(sing).
5) Some animals (run) while others (hide).
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6) Where they (sleep)?

7) The President (smile) to me.
8) Rod (ride) his horse.
9) My parents (stay/negative form) at home now.
10) The dolphins (swim).

Exercise 2
Make as many sentences as possible from the following picture. One
example has been given.

Image quoted from:Vistas An Alternative Course In English Workbook 4

by H. Douglas Brown.

1) The woman is smoking.

2) (etc.)

2.3. Article a and an

Articles a and an are placed in front of a singular countable noun which
means one. Article a is used before a sounding letter that sounds a consonant.
The article an is used before the letters that sounds a vowel.
Contoh: a bag a car
a house an hour
a university an umbrella
a doctor an artist

Exercise
Fill in the sentence below with article a or an.
1. Would you like an apple?
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2. Cameron is smart girl.

3. She got anonymous letter yesterday.
4. __ union needs leader.
5. There is small restaurant at the end of the street I live in.
6. My father has just got job in a bank in Jakarta.
7. _ hour is too long for me to stay in this class room.
8. Mr. White has got hen and rooster.
9. _ cowboy rides horse in a prairie.
10. untouchable criminal was killed two days ago.

• LANGUAGE IN USE
Complete the sentences below with the words in the boxes.

come get happen look make start stay try work

1. You hard today.‟ „Yes. I have a lot of to do.‟

2. Ted for Mary. Do you know where she is?
3. It cold. Shall I close the windows?
4. I haven‟t got anywhere to live at the moment. I with Jane
until I find somewhere.
5. Are you ready, Paul?‟ “Yes, I .‟
6. Have you got a raincoat? It to rain.
7. You a lot of noise. Cold you be quieter? I to
concentrate.
8. Why are those people here? What ?
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 WRITING: Describing a family and idol.

Notice the example below.
 Cecilia is my sister.
 She is about 165 centimeters and her weight is about 55 kilograms.
 Her face is oval.
 Her eyes are black and so are the eyebrows.
 Her has got long black hair.
 Her skin is fair. She wears glasses.
 The frame is silver.
 She is pretty.
 She is short-tempered.
 She gets angry easily especially if she is offended.
 Her cheeks are red and she has got straight nose.
 At the moment I am wearing white T-shirt and blue jeans.
 She also wears my glasses.

From the above, can you imagine Cecilia's face and character?

Exercise 4
List the physical and character descriptions of the three members of your
family below. Make it in separate sentences. Then count how many of these
three characters you can describe.
1) Ayah
2) Ibu
3) Saudara/saudari

Exercise 5
Look for information about your idol. After that, write down and start writing a
physical description and character of your idol. Then count, how much can you describe
your idol.
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FORMATIVE TEST 2

Question 1

Fill in the blanks below using Present Continuous Tense.

1) Anita (read) a novel at the moment.

2) Some students in my class _ (take) the final
examination.
3) Robert (not/attend) the wedding ceremony.
4) Blake (arrange) the program?
5) The Sun (shine).
6) Pam (not/prepare) her dinner.
7) Joe (submit) his report?
8) Sue (not/polish) her shoes.
9) Dan (reply) his friend‟s letter.
10) Maria and Sam (date)?
11) A robber (bind) his victim to a tree.
12) Stephen Hawkins (tear) his love letter.
13) Some employees (strike) in front of a factory.
14) She (spend) too much money on food.
15) Sony and Jerry (admire) my new
necklace?
16) Juan (not/celebrate) his birthday.
17) The ship (sail) to Buenos Aires.
18) The guards (catch) the prisoners.
19) the secretary (file) all documents?
20) The new president (not/deliver) speech. He (chat).

Question 2
Fill in the sentence below with article a or an.
1) bug is animal.
2) The sales said that this was unbreakable bucket.
3) There was accident near my house last night.
4) Mark is European.
5) Mona is waiting taxi.
6) Can you give me example?
7) When I was child, I lived in island.
8) They sheltered under hut during heavy rain.
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9) We had lunch in Indian restaurant.

10) They stayed in expensive hotel.
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Unit 3
Narration
• Daily Activity
• A Memorable Event in My Life

In Unit 3, you are expected to:

1. Students can write about daily activities (time orders, sentence structure: compound
sentences).
2. Students can write their past experiences (Grammar: past tense, the writing process).

3.1. Time Orders

Time order words can be placed anywhere in a sentence. Their most popular
placement is at the start of a paragraph. When they come at the start of a sentence of
paragraph, they're typically followed by a comma. For example, "In conclusion, the final
product was spectacular," or, "Consequently, it went on to become an international
bestseller."

Here are some time order words to consider for your next piece of writing:

Before First Next Sometimes Last

Earlier To begin After At times Finally
Previously Starting with Consequently From time to time In conclusion
Formerly Initially Following Occasionally To conclude
Previous to... Originally In turn Periodically In the end
In the past At the onset Second Rarely Ultimately
Prior to... At the beginning Soon after Seldomly To finish
Preceding that To begin with Then Some of the time At the end
Yesterday At the outset Henceforth Every so often Lastly
Last time Before all else Third On occasion At last
Until that time In the first place Subsequently Every now and then In the long run
In advance To start with Later Intermittently At long last

Ready to see these time order words in action? Examining them within the context of a
sentence may show just how powerful they can be.

Earlier, I thought I saw you sitting in the courtyard.

Consequently, I ran down the stairs to find you.
In the end, it wasn't meant to be.
She was writing a book but, preceding that, she was practicing law.
She was very happy, at the beginning, until she wasn't.
I find that, every so often, we could be happy if we practiced gratitude.
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Ultimately, life is what we make of it.

Now we are free, at last.
At the onset, my horse was trotting along happily.
Periodically, he'd stop to pick a berry off a tree.
At long last, we arrived at the castle.
Every now and then, I find myself dreaming about those soft, golden fields.

Order Your Story

At the onset of this article, we wanted to make it clear that time order words develop a
natural pattern in our writing that aids readers in their journey. Every so often, it's wise to
include these words in your academic writing. It will tie your paragraphs together with
concision and ease.

3.2. Types of Sentence Structure

In English, sentence types can be divided into some main categories: simple, complex,
and compound sentence.
» Simple sentence consists of a single clause ( a subject, a verb and an object or
complement)
E.g. I kick the ball.
I make a cake.
» Complex sentences consist of a main clause and one or more other clauses subordinate
to it.
E.g. I know who he is.
The person who is responsible has been known.

» Compound sentences consist of two or more clauses joined by conjunctions.

E.g. Justin married Hannah and Henry married Diana.

Robert loved Carla but Carla loved Rick.

3.3. Past Tense

Definition of the simple past tense
The simple past tense, sometimes called the preterite, is used to talk about
a completed action in a time before now. The simple past is the basic form of past tense in
English. The time of the action can be in the recent past or the distant past and action
duration is not important.
Examples:
John Cabot sailed to America in 1498.
My father died last year.
He lived in Fiji in 1976.
We crossed the Channel yesterday.
You always use the simple past when you say when something happened, so it is
associated with certain past time expressions.
 22

frequency: often, sometimes, always.

Example:
I sometimes walked home at lunch time.
I often brought my lunch to school.

A definite point in time: last week, when I was a child, yesterday, six weeks ago.
Example:
We saw a good film last week.
Yesterday, I arrived in Geneva.
She finished her work atseven o'clock
I went to the theatre last night

An indefinite point in time: the other day, ages ago, a long time ago
Example:
People lived in caves a long time ago.
She played the piano when she was a child.

Note: the word ago is a useful way of expressing the distance into the past. It is
placed after the period of time: a week ago, three years ago, a minute ago.

Forming the simple past tense

Patterns of simple past tense for regular verbs
Affirmative

Subject + verb + ed

I skipped.

Negative

Subject + did not + infinitive without to

They didn't go.

Interrogative

Did + subject + infinitive without to

Did she arrive?

 23

Interrogative negative

Did not + subject + infinitive without to

Didn't you play?

Simple past tense of to be, to have, to do

Subject Verb

Be Have Do

I was had did

You were had did

He/She/It was had did

We were had did

You were had did

They were had did

Notes on affirmative, negative, & interrogative forms

• Affirmative
The affirmative of the simple past tense is simple.
Example:
I was in Japan last year
She had a headache yesterday.
We did our homework last night.

Negative and interrogative

For the negative and interrogative simple past form of "to do" as an ordinary verb, use the
auxiliary "did", e.g. We didn't do our homework last night.
The negative of "have" in the simple past is usually formed using the auxiliary "did", but
sometimes by simply adding not or the contraction "n't".
The interrogative form of "have" in the simple past normally uses the auxiliary "did".
Examples:
They weren't in Rio last summer.
We didn't have any money.
 24

We didn't have time to visit the Eiffel Tower.

We didn't do our exercises this morning.
Were they in Iceland last January?
Did you have a bicycle when you were young?
Did you do much climbing in Switzerland?

Note: For the negative and interrogative form of all verbs in the simple past, always use
the auxiliary 'did''.

Simple past, irregular verbs

Some verbs are irregular in the simple past. Here are the most common ones.
Example:
He went to a club last night.
Did he go to the cinema last night?
He didn't go to bed early last night.

Ex E R C is E ____________________________________

EXERCISE 1

Now, tell about your daily activities using compound sentence. You can add with the time
orders.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………..

EXERCISE 2
Everyone has a memorable event in their life. Now tell about your own memorable event in
your life. Certainly you must use simple past tense.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………..
 26

Unit 4
Description
1. My House
2. My City

4.1. Spatial Order

What Is Spatial Order?
In spatial order essays, objects are arranged according to their respective positions
from your perspective. You can start from the left or to the right, it’s up to you. Let’s say
that Object #1 is located to the left while Object #2 is in front of the former. Do you
understand? Your objective is to provide your reader a mental image of where the objects
are located. Simply put, you have to be the visual tour guide.

List of Signal Words for Spatial Order Essays

There are various signal words that are useful in writing your spatial order essays.
Here are some signal words for you:
To the left
To the right
Between
Below
Under
Behind
In front
Parallel to
Adjacent to
Across
To the side
Over
There
Beyond
Center
Middle
Inside
Outside
Nearby
Around
Although this is not a comprehensive list of signal words, these words are commonly
seen in spatial order essays. Nevertheless, please take note of these signal words that
signifies the location of an object.

4.2. Prepositional Phrase

Prepositional phrase is a group of words consisting of a preposition, its object, and

any words that modify the object. Most of the time, a prepositional phrase modifies a verb
 27

or a noun. These two kinds of prepositional phrases are called adverbial phrases and
adjectival phrases, respectively.
At a minimum, a prepositional phrase consists of one preposition and the object it
governs. The object can be a noun, a gerund (a verb form ending in “-ing” that acts as a
noun), or a clause.
Example
He arrived in time .
Is she really going out with that guy ?

To these two basic elements, modifiers can be freely added.

He arrived in the nick of time.
Is she really going out with that tall, gorgeous guy?

Some of the most common prepositions that begin prepositional phrases are to, of,
about, at, before, after, by, behind, during, for, from, in, over, under, and with.

» Prepositional Phrases That Modify Nouns

When a prepositional phrase acts upon a noun, we say it is
behaving adjectivally because adjectives modify nouns. A prepositional phrase that behaves
adjectivally is called, quite logically, an adjectival phrase.
Example:
The cat in the middle is the cutest.
I always buy my milk from the convenience store on Main Street .
My mother has always wanted to live in a cabin by the lake.

In the first of these sentences, in the middle answers the question of which cat the
writer thinks is the cutest. Similarly, on Main Street gives us information about which store
the writer is describing, and by the lake tells us what kind of cabin the writer’s mother is
dreaming about. All of these adjectival phrases provide specificity to a noun in order to
enhance our understanding.

» Prepositional Phrases That Modify Verbs

When a prepositional phrase acts upon a verb, we say it is
behaving adverbially because adverbs modify verbs. A prepositional phrase that behaves
adverbially is called an adverbial phrase.
Example:
To find the person who stole the last cookie, look behind you.
Harry drank his Butter beer with fervor.

In the first sentence, behind you answers the question “Look where?” In the
second, with fervor answers the question “Drank how?”

» Prepositional Phrases Acting as Nouns

Less frequently, prepositional phrases can function like nouns in a sentence.
Example:
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During the national anthem is the worst time to blow your nose.
After the game will be too late for us to go to dinner.

4.3. Expletive IT and THERE

Expletive are "empty words" or words that have no meaning which are added to a
sentence.In the conversation, expletive is useful for giving a speaker time to think for a
moment about what to say; whereas in writing the purpose of using empty words is to
emphasize a certain part in a sentence.
English has two expletive pronouns: there and it. The word is then combined with the
verb "be" to form an expletive construction.

Examples of There / It as Expletive:

There is a haunted house.
It was the player that hit the tennis ball over the net.
Examples of there/It as not expletive:
He is watching the football match there.
It is good!

An expletive formula with pronoun there and it:

There + be (is/are/was/were…) + noun/pronoun + …

It + be (is/was) + noun/adjective/past participle + subordinate clause

Ex E R C is E ____________________________________

EXERCISE 1
There is an outline to help you in writing your spatial order essay. As always, this is only a
basic outline. It is subject to change depending on your preferences.
Let us pretend that we are observing the objects you see in a dining room.

Left
Object #1 (Ex: wall)
Object #2 (Ex: picture frames)

Right
Object #1 (Ex: cabinet filled with porcelain)
Object #2 (Ex: large vase)

Across/Front
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Object #1 (Ex: table)

Object #2 (Ex: Chairs)
Object #3 (Ex: Plates of food)

Do you see what the outline mean there?

An outline helps if you want your thoughts to be organized, or if you want your essay to
have a consistent flow. Create a good essay based on the outline!
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UNIT 5

Story
In unit 5, you are expected to write a short story.

What is the setting of a story? Setting has two broad elements: Place and time. In a
novel, it’s where and when the events of your chapters unfold. Why is setting important?
Setting is more than simply a geographical location or time period that serves as a
backdrop to characters’ actions.

• Fictional settings have many uses:

» Using place in story settings:
‘Place’ in a story has multiple purposes and effects:
1. The places you set your scenes contribute mood and tone (a dark, eerie wood creates a
very different sense of danger or mystery compared to a bright, open plain)
2. Places restrict (or open) possibilities for your characters’ lives and actions (a character
living in a small mining town might have very different perceptions and options compared
to a character who lives in a large city)
3. Places can evolve and change as your story progresses. You can use their evolution to
show the changing circumstances affecting your characters’ views and options (for
example, in Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, the narrator visits a grand manor he
knew in his youth. He finds it crumbling due to the onslaught of the war. This creates
melancholic nostalgia. Waugh uses changing physical setting to convey the idea of loss.)
•Time is an equally important element of setting:
»Using time in setting
It would be incomplete to answer ‘what is story setting?’ without including time. Time in a
story, for example the historical period or epoch the story spans, is equally vital:
1. Like place, time (for example, the social attitudes in the Victorian era) restricts or
rather determines, to some extent, possibilities for your characters. The time setting of
your novel impacts what types of lives your characters can lead and what choices they can
make. Characters living in Victorian England will have very different choices and lifestyles
available to them compared to characters living in contemporary England (women, for
example, are far less pressured to marry and be homemakers)
2. Time in your novel’s setting determines what kind of technology is available (historical
fiction often describes old-fashioned tools such as manual clothes washers that most
modern city-dwelling readers wouldn’t know)
3. Time in your story setting is equally useful for showing and underscoring changes that
contribute to character and plot development (e.g. changes of government, scientific
discovery, social beliefs and customs)

Now create your own short story. Be clear about the setting that is used in your story.
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