The table below has columns with different sounds. Pronounce each of the words in the list and classify, according to the highlighted letter(s), under the column that bears that sound.

Chip

Jeep

Creek

Wet

Greased

Teal

Hill

Sit

Still

Blip

Fill

Bed

cheat

blink

thrill

jet

/i:/	/ᶦ/	/e/

PRONUNCIATION OF CONSONANT SOUNDS

The sound /ᵗᶴ/

Made by releasing the stopped air through your teeth by the `tip of your tongue.
It is voiceless because vocal cords do not vibrate when you say it.
Most words with letters ‘CH’ say this sound, for example,

Church

Chips

Teach

Pinch

Crunch

Much

There are those with letters ‘TCH’ for example,

Catch

Watch

Batch

Itch

Kitchen

witch

Some are with letters ‘TU’, for example,

Century

Spatula

The Sound /ᵈᶾ/

Pronounced the same way as /ᵗᶴ/. It is just that it is voiced.
Letters representing this sound include:
Letters ‘DG’

Fudge
Budge
Bridge
Judge

Letter ‘J’

Judge
Jump
Joy
Joke
Eject
July
Jake
Project

Letters ‘DU’

Procedure
Graduate
Individual

When letter ‘G represents the sound

It does that when it is in front of an ‘e’, ‘i’, or ‘y’

Letters ‘GE’, for example,

Agent
Germ
Gem
Budget
Gel
Angel
Danger
Emergency
Gentle
Bilge
Urgent
Knowledge
Large
Singe
Enlarge
Challenge
Ridge
Emerge

Letters ‘GI’, for example,

Agile
Allergic
Apologize
Contagious
Gist
Digitize
Eligible
Giraffe
Engineer
Fragile
Fugitive
Legion
Original
Vigilant

Letters ‘GY’, for example,

Allergy
Clergy
Egypt
Analogy
Zoology
Stingy
Gym
Liturgy
Panegyric

The Sound /f/

The sound is unvoiced or voiceless.
Air is stopped by pushing the bottom lip and top teeth together. The air is then pushed through to produce this sound.
The /f/ sound has the following letters saying it:
Letter ‘F’

Four
Wife
Knife
Life
Family
Staff
Puff
Five

Letters ‘PH’

Phone
Graph
Paragraph
Phrase

Letters ‘GH’

Cough
Rough
Laugh
Enough
Tough
Draught

The Sound /v/

The same mouth shape as /f/ is formed when pronouncing the sound /v/.
It is voiced.
Your top teeth is put on your bottom lip.
Words bearing this sound include:

Van
Vehicle
Vice
Unvoiced
Voice
Obvious
Previous
Drive
Save
Jovial
Virtue
Care
Wolves
Knives

The Sound /d/

/d/ is voiced. The vocal cords vibrate.
The low of air is stopped at the front of the mouth by tongue.
Practice speaking the words below:

Dad
Do
Did
Dog
Mad
Sad
Bad
Done
Loud
And

Sound /t/

To make this sound, your tongue stops the flow of air at the front of your mouth.
It is a voiceless/unvoiced sound.
It said in words like:

To
Top
Get
Hot
Pot
Butter
Later
What
Today
Tuesday

The sound /k/

There are various letters that say the sound /k/. let’s study these letters.

Letter ‘K’ always say this sound. Examples of words include:
Kill
Key
Kick
Sake
Kitten
Keep

Letter ‘C’, for example,
Call
Corn
Cane
Campaign
Camp
Confusion
Cucumber
Colic etc.
Letters ‘CK’ for example
Kick
Mock
Truck
Back etc.
Letter ‘Q’ for example,
Quack
Quail
Quartz
Quarter
Quick

Letters ‘CH’, for example,
Chaotic
Character
Ache

The Sound /g/

Found in words such as:

Galaxy
Game
Gate
Gibbon
Give
Goat
Gazelle
Gecko
Gold
Gown
Girl
Ghost
Geyser
Garbage

The Sound /ᶴ/

This sound is unvoiced – only air passes through the mouth when said.
The teeth are put together and the corners of the lips are brought together towards the middle.
Most words with letters ‘sh’ this sound. For example,

Shape

Shop

bishop

There are words with letters ‘CH’ that say this sound, for example,

Brochure

Cache

Cachet

Chagrin

Champagne

Charade

Chute

Chef

Chiffon

Niche

Ricochet

Charlotte

Chicago

Michigan

Chevrolet

Fuchsia

Cliché

Chivalry

Quiche

chaise

Some words with ‘SU’ also say it, for example,

Sugar

Surmac

Sure

Issue

Pressure

There are yet those with letters ‘TIO’, for example,

Nation

Motion

Option

Caution

Then there are those with letters ‘SIO’, for example,

Submission

Commission

Confession

Sound /ᶿ/

Pronounced with your tongue between your teeth.
It is unvoiced.
The words bearing this sound include:

Mouth
Thing
Faith
Fourth
Thick
Think
Three
Thought
Tenth
Math
Myth
Thumb
Youth
Thrive
Growth
North
Truth
Pith
Thank
Thorn
Thimble
Three
Theme
Therapist
Thigh
Thickness

Sound /ᶞ/

Unlike /ᶿ/, it is voiced.
It also pronounced with tongue touching or between your teeth.
It is found in such words as:

With
There
Clothing
These
Thence
Then
Their
they

Sound /s/

This is a hissing sound like a snake.
It is voiceless.
The few rules for some of the common spellings that say the sound /s/ are:
Letter ‘S’, for example,

Sit

Wise

Dogs

Say

Sad

Sound

Boss

This

Lips

Misty

Sunday

Letter ‘SC’, for example,

Muscle

Descend

Science

Scream

Letter ‘X’, for example,

Fix

Fox

Mix

Letter ‘C’, for example,

Face

Practice

City

Circle

Fence

License

Sound /z/

The /z/ is like the sound of buzzing bees.
It is voiced.
Most words with the letter ‘Z’ say /z/, for example,

Zoo
Zip
Zebra
Quiz
Buzz
Freeze
Doze
prize

There are those words with letter ‘S’ saying this sound, for example,

Is
Was
His
Hers
Nose
Noise
Noises
Rose
Roses
Frogs
Girls
Friends
Lies
Busy
Tuesday
Wednesday
Sounds
Pose
Reason
Rise
Eyes
These
Days
Says
Ties
Has
Flows
Because
Shoes
Visit
Those
Bananas
cows

The other group of words are those with letter ‘X’, for example,

Exist, anxiety

Sound /ᵌ/

Words bearing this sound are borrowed from French.
Pronounced in the same way as /ᶴ/ only that is voiced.
The examples of words with this sound are:

Garage

Beige

Massage

Sabotage

Genre

Measure

Treasure

Closure

Seizure

Leisure

Persian

Conclusion

Casual

Casually

Usual

Usually

Amnesia

Collision

Division

Version

Television

Exposure

Occasion

Persuasion

Cashmere

Asia

Visual

Vision

Lesion

Decision

Caucasian

Practice in sentences

Measure the beige door on the garage.
It was my decision to fly to Asia to seek treisure.

Sound /r/

Raise the back of your tongue to slightly touch the back teeth on both sides of your mouth. The centre part of the tongue remains lower to allow air to move over it.
It is voiced.
It is found in words with letter ‘R’ e.g.
Red
Friday
Worry
Sorry
Marry
It is also said in words with letters ‘WR’ e.g.
Write
Wrong
Wrath
Wry
Wring

Sound /w/

Your lips form a small, tight circle when making the sound /w/.
Letters representing the /w/ sound are:
Letter ‘W’

Woman

Wife

New

Sweet

Win

Rewind

Towel

Wait

Letters WH

Why

Where

When

While

What

White

Whom

Who

Whole

Letters ‘QU’

Quit

Quick

Quite

Quiet

Queer

Queen

Quota

Quickly

Others

One

Choir

Sound /m/

Made by pressing the lips lightly.
The words that follow contain the sound:

Mum
Mine
Me
Morning
Farmer
Shame
Meat
Myself

Exercise 1

Read the sentence below pronouncing each word correctly and then group the words in their appropriate columns. Consider the highlighted letters.

The seven students took the first test for their driver’s licenceson Thursday.

/s/	/z/

Exercise 2

Considering the pronunciation of highlighted letters, pick the odd word out.

Judge, gesture, garage
Jump, gift, geological
Fungi, just, go
Digit, game, gamble
Hygiene, prodigy, entangle
Gecko, gem, zoology

Exercise 3

Pronounce each word correctly and then group it under the column containing the sound that the highlighted letter(s) bear.

Tissue

Caucasian

Division

Passion

Ocean

Cautious

Leisure

Solution

Pressure

Vision

Persian

Casual

Chef

Conclusion

Television

Decision

Collision

Sure

Precious

Exposure

/ᶴ/	/ᶾ/

Exercise 4

Circle the letter(s) that say /f/ and underline those saying /v/ in the sentences below.

Please forgive me for forgetting the leftover food.
Save the four wolves that live in the cave.

DIPHTHONGS

A diphthong is a combination of two vowel sounds.
Some of the diphthongs include:
/ᵊᶹ/
/ᵃᶸ/
/ᵉᶦ/

/ᵊᶹ/

In words like;

Role
Bone
Phone
Stone
Close
Note
Notice
Lonely
Home
Hope
Open
Ocean
Remote
Solar
Polar
Modal
Total
Motor
Moment
Bonus
Focus
Vogue
Social
Soldier
Coworker
Most
Post
Host
Ghost
Both
Low
Know
Mow
Sow
Show
Tow
Owe
Own
Bowl
Blow
Grown
Throw
Go
Ago
No
So
Toe
Hero
Zero
Veto
Ego
Echo
Radio
Studio
Mexico
Potato
Tomato
Logo
Motto
Cold
Gold
Bold
Sold
Told
Roll
Poll
Control
Bolt
Colt
Folk
Comb
Won’t
Don’t
Soul
Shoulder
Road
Load
Boat
Coast
Coat
Oak
Soak
Approach
Boast
Ok
Obey
Omit
Hotel
Motel

/ᵃᶸ/

Said in words such as:

How
Cow
Now
Allow
Owl
Brown
Down
Town
Clown
Drown
Crown
Crowd
Powder
Browse
Loud
Proud
Cloud
Out
Shout
About
Doubt
Foul
Noun
House
Mouse
Mouth
South
Couch
Found
Ground
Around
Pound
Sound
Count
Amount
Mountain
Announce
Bounce
Allowing
Towel
Bowel
Power
Tower
Flower
Shower
Hour
Our
Sour
Flour
coward

/ᵉᶦ/

The words containing this diphthong are:

wait
late
bait
date
tale
bail
bale
sale
gate
waste
wade
baby
bacon
paper
April
Danger
Angel
Stranger
Basis
Lazy
Crazy
Fail
Mail
Sail
Rail
Raise
Raid
Afraid
Wait
Straight
Faint
Paint
Fate
Rate
Kate
Race
Base
Place
Lake
Take
Name
Ache
Rage
Patient
Racial
Nation
Nature
Fatal
Patriot
Radio
Vacant
Weight
Eight
Vein
Neighbour
Break
Steak
Age
Wage
Save
Cave
Wave
Ray
Gray
Play
Lay
Day
May
Pray
Convey
Survey
Stain
Change etc.

Exercise

Write another word pronounced the same way as:

Gait
Made
Mail
Pale
Pain
Plain
Sale
Tale
Vain
Waist
Wait
Eight
Sew
No
Toe
Grown

MINIMAL PAIRS

Study the pairs of words below carefully.

Fit – feet

Let – late

Van – fan

Pun – pan

What do you notice? You realize that only one sound makes the pronunciation of one word distinct from the other. Each pair is called a minimal pair.
A minimal pair is therefore a pair of words that vary by only one sound especially those that usually confuse learners, such as /l/ and /r/, /b/ and /p/, and many others.

Minimal Pairs of Vowel Sounds

Sound /i/ and /i:/

Bid – bead
Bit – beat
Bitch – beach
Bin – bean/ been
Chip – cheap
Fit – feat/ feet
Fist – feast
Fizz – fees
Gin – gene
Sin – seen/ scene
Still – steal/ steel
Sick – seek
Is – ease
Itch – each
Risen – reason
Piss – piece/ peace
Pick – peak/ peek
Mill – meal

Exercise

Write another word in which either sound /i/ and /i:/ will make it vary from the one given.

Hit
Sheet
Tin
Peach
Lip
Neat
Kip
Eel
Greed
Pill
Skied
Skim

Sounds /i/ and /e/

Did – dead
Disk – desk
Built – belt
Bit – bet
Lipped – leapt
Middle – meddle
Fill – fell
Bid – bed
Bill – bell
Lit – let
List – lest
Clinch – clench

Exercise

Complete the table below with a word in which either the sound /e/ or /i/ brings the difference in pronunciation.

	/e/	/i/
1	Head
2		Miss
3		Hymn
4	Led
5	Fen
6		Lid
7	Den
8	Peg

Sounds /e/ and /ei/

The following words vary by one having the vowel sound /e/ and the other a diphthong /ei/

Wet – wait
Bread – braid
Fen – feign
Bed – bade
Get – gate/ gait
Let – late
Met – mate
Lest – laced
Tech – take
West – waste/ waist
When – wane
Edge – age
Gel – jail
Lens – lanes
Breast – braced
Sent – saint
Test – taste
Best – based
Wren – rain/ reign
Led – laid
Bled – blade
Fed – fade

Exercise

Each word below has another word in which either the sound /e/ or /ei/ will bring the distinction in pronunciation. Write that word.

Fell
Pain
Hail
Sell
Well
Mate
Raid
Date
Men
Stayed
Bet
Jail

Sounds /ᵆ/ and /ᶺ/

Batter – butter
Cap – cup
Cat – cut
Back – buck
Brash – brush
Dabble – double
Rang – rung
Track – truck
Bad – bud
Began – begun
Bag – bug
Pan – pun
Drank – drunk
Fan – fun
Hat – hut
Badge – budge
Hang – hung
Massed – must
Rash – rush
Sank – sunk
Ran – run
Swam – swum
Ban – bun
Ham – hum

Exercise

Complete the table below with the minimal pair of the word. Consider the sound indicated in each column.

	/ᵆ/	/ᶺ/
(a)		But
(b)	Match
(c)	Mad
(d)		Flush
(e)	Cam
(f)		Dumb
(g)	Sang
(h)		Uncle
(i)	Crash
(j)	Sack
(k)		Dump
(l)		Tug

Sounds /ᵆ/ and /e/

look at the list below.

Bad – bed
And – end
Had – head
Jam – gem
Pat – pet
Sat – set
Shall – shell
Man –men
Bag – beg
Ham – hem
Pan – pen
Sad – said
Manned – mend
Land – lend

Exercise

Complete the table with appropriate word that vary with the sound indicated in the column.

	/ᵆ/	/ᵉ/
(a)	Marry
(b)		Blend
(c)	Cattle
(d)	Vat
(e)	Sacks
(f)		Trek
(g)	Trad
(h)		met

Minimal Pairs of /ɑ˸/ and /ᵌ˸/

fast – first
bath – berth/birth
heart – hurt
bard – bird
car – cur
card – curd
guard – gird
pa – per
bar – bur
barn – burn
carve – curve
dart – dirt
par – purr
park – perk
star – stir
arc – irk

Exercise 6

Considering the sounds /ɑ˸/ and /ᵌ˸/, write the minimal pair of:

far
heard/herd
pass
farm
shark
curt

Minimal Pairs of /b/ and /v/

bat – vat
beer – veer
bowl – vole
bow – vow
gibbon – given
bale – veil
bane – vein
curb – curve
bolt – volt
bowl – vole
broom – vroom
dribble – drivel
dub – dove
jibe – jive
rebel – revel

Exercise 7

There is another word that will vary with the one written below with just one sound. Depending on the sounds /b/ and /v/, write that word.

van
boat
Vest
Vowels
Vent
Bury
Loaves
Verve

Minimal pairs of /f/ and /v/

Fan – van
Off – of
Fat – vat
Fee – v
Foul – vowel
Fender – vendor
Serf/Surf – serve
Duff – dove
Fie – vie
Foal – vole
Guff – guv
Waif – waive
Gif – give
Life – live
Safe – save
Belief – believe
Feel – veal
Staff – starve
Feign – vain/ vein
Foist – voiced
Fox – vox
Reef – reeve

Exercise 8

Write the minimal pair of the word below with consideration being either the sound /f/ or /v/.

Ferry
Leaf
Vast
Fine
Half
Proof
Veil
Grief
Calf
Fault
Vile
Strive

Minimal Pairs of Sounds/s/ and /ᶿ/

Mouse – mouth
Sing – thing
Face – faith
Force – fourth
Sick – thick
Sink – think
Sort – thought
Tense – tenth
Mass – math
Miss – myth
Pass – path
Saw – thaw
Seem – theme
Some – thumb
Song – thong
Worse – worth
Gross – growth
Sigh – thigh
Sin – thin
Sum – thumb
Piss – pith
Sawn – thorn
Symbol – thimble
Sore – thaw
Truce – truth
Suds – thuds
Sought – thought
Moss – moth
Sank – thank
Sump – thump

Sounds /t/ and /d/

Town – down
Touch – Dutch
Tear – dare
Ten – den
Tongue – dung
Tart – dart
Tech – deck
Tin – din
Toe – doe
Tough – duff
Tuck – duck
Tab – dab
Tank – dank
Tick – dick
Tine – dine
Hat – had
Spent – spend
Too/ to/two – do
Train – drain
Tide – dyed/died
Torn – dawn
Teal – deal
Teen – dean
Tyre/tire – dire
Toes – doze
Tout – doubt
Tug – dug
Tale/ tail – dale
Teed – deed
Tier – deer
Tint – dint
Sheet – she’d
Wait – weighed
Tie – die
Try – dry
Tear – dear
Tip – dip
Tame – dame
Team – deem
Tent – dent
Toast – dosed
Tomb – doom
Tower – dour
Tux – ducks
Tamp – damp
Tell – dell
Till – dill
Tusk – dusk
Sight – side
Beat – bead

Exercise 9

Each word below has another word in which all the sounds are the same except either the sound /t/ or /d/ is different. Write that word.

Bat
God
Write
And
At
Bed
Bored
Eight
Bet
Feet
Hit
Hurt
Mat
Mend
Neat
Nod
Set
Played
Sat
Dead

Minimal Pairs of /k/ and /g/

Initial

Came – game
Card – guard
Cold – gold
Clean – glean
Crate – great
Cap – gap
Coast – ghost
Kale – gale
Can – gone
Course – gorse
Cram – gram
Crepe – grape
Crew – grew
Croup – group
Crow – grow
Key – ghee
K – gay
Clamour – glamour
Clad – glad
Crane – grain
Creed – greed
Krill – grill
Cunning – gunning
Cab – gab
Cape – gape
Clam – glam
Cord – gored
Coup – goo
Crate – grate
Cuff – guff

Final

Clock – clog
Dock – dog
Frock – frog
Muck – mug
Brick – brig
Broke – brogue
Crack – crag
Prick – prig
Puck – pug
Shack – shag
Slack – slag
Snuck – snug
Stack – stag
Whack – wag
Wick – wig
Jock – jog
Lack – lag
Luck – lug
Beck – beg
Cock – cog
Hack – hag
Pick – pig

Exercise 10

Complete the table with appropriate word that only differs with one sound with the one given. Consider the sounds in the columns.

	/k/	/g/
(a)	Tack
(b)		Flog
(c)	Tuck
(d)		Gum
(e)		Gash
(f)	Jack
(g)	Cave
(h)		Sag
(i)	Leak
(j)	Crab
(k)	Class
(l)		Good
(m)		Goat
(n)		Blog
(o)	Kill
(p)		Dug
(q)		Gut
(r)		Log
(s)	Rack
(t)	Cot

HOMOPHONES

Words pronounced the same way but have different spellings and meanings are the homophones. The list below is English homophones.

Accessary accessory
Ad, add
Ail, ale
Air, heir
Aisle, I’ll, isle
All, awl
Allowed, aloud
Alms, arms
Altar, alter
Ante, anti
Arc, ark
Aural, oral
Away, aweigh
Awe, oar, or, ore
Axel, axle
Aye, eye, I
Bail, bale
Bait, bate
Baize, bays
Bald, bawled
Ball, bawl
Band, banned
Bard, barred
Bare, bear
Bark, barque
Baron, barren
Base, bass
Bay, bey
Bazaar, bizarre
Be, bee
Beach, beech
Bean, been
Beat, beet
Beau, bow
Beer, bier
Bell, belle
Berry, bury
Berth, birth
Bight, bite, byte
Billed, build
Bitten, bittern
Blew, blue
Bloc, block
Boar, bore
Board, bored
Boarder, border
Bold, bawled
Boos, booze
Born, borne
Bough, bow
Boy, buoy
Brae, bray
Braid, brayed
Braise, brays, braze
Brake, break
Bread, bred
Brews, bruise
Bridal, bridle
Broach, brooch
Bur, burr
But, butt
Buy, by, bye
Buyer, byre
Call, caul
Canvas, canvass
Cast, caste
Caster, castor
Caught, court
Caw, core, corps
Cede, seed
Ceiling, sealing
Censer, censor, sensor
Cent, scent, sent
Cereal, serial
Cheap, cheep
Check, cheque
Choir, quire
Chord, cord
Cite, sight, site
Clack, claque
Clew, clue
Climb, clime
Close, cloze
Coarse, course
Coign, coin
Colonel, kernel
Complacent, complaisant
Complement, compliment
Coo, coup
Cops, copse
Council, counsel
Cousin, cozen
Creak, creek
Crews, cruise
Cue, queue
Curb, kerb
Currant, current
Cymbol, symbol
Dam, damn
Days, daze
Dear, deer
Descent, dissent
Desert, dessert
Deviser, divisor
Dew, due
Die, dye
Discreet, discrete
Doe, dough
Done, dun
Douse, dowse
Draft, draught
Dual, duel
Earn, urn
Ewe, yew, you
Faint, feint
Fair, fare
Farther, father
Fate, fete
Faun, fawn
Fay, fey
Faze, phase
Feat, feet
Ferrule, ferule
Few, phew
File, phial
Find, fined
Fir, fur
Flair, flare
Flaw, floor
Flea, flee
Flex, flecks
Flew, flu, flue
Floe, flow
Flour, flower
Foaled, fold
For, fore, four
Foreword, forward
Fort, fought
Forth, fourth
Foul, fowl
Franc, frank
Freeze, frieze
Friar, fryer
Furs, furze
Gait, gate
Gamble, gambol
Gays, gaze
Genes, jeans
Gild, guild
Gilt, guilt
Gnaw, nor
Gneiss, nice
Gorilla, guerrilla
Grate, great
Greave, grieve
Greys, graze
Groan, grown
Guessed, guest
Hail, hale
Hair, hare
Hall, haul
Hangar, hanger
Hart, heart
Haw, hoar, whore
Hay, hey
Heal, heel, he’ll
Hear, here
Heard, herd
He’d, heed
Heroin, heroine
Hew, hue
Hi, high
Higher, hire
Him, hymn
Ho, hoe
Hoard, horde
Hoarse, horse
Holey, holy, wholly
Hour, our
Idle, idol
In, inn
Indict, indite
It’s, its
Jewel, joule
Key, quay
Knave, nave
Knead, need
Knew, new
Knight, night
Knit, nit
Knob, nob
Knock, nock
Knot, not
Know, no
Knows, nose
Laager, lager
Lac, lack
Lade, laid
Lain, lane
Lam, lamb
Laps, lapse
Larva, lava
Lase, laze
Law, lore
Lay, ley
Lea, lee
Leach, leech
Lead, led
Leak, leek
Lean, lien
Lessen, lesson
Levee, levy
Liar, lyre
Licker, liquor
Lie, lye
Lieu, loo
Links, lynx
Lo, low
Load, lode
Loan, lone
Locks, lox
Loop, loupe
Loot, lute
Made, maid
Mail, male
Main, mane
Maize, maze
Mall, maul
Manna, manner
Mantel, mantle
Mare, mayor
Mark, marque
Marshal, martial
Mask, masque
Maw, more
Me, mi
Mean, mien
Meat, meet, mete
Medal, meddle
Metal, mettle
Meter, metre
Might, mite
Miner, minor
Mind, mined
Missed, mist
Moat, mote
Mode, mowed
Moor, more
Moose, mousse
Morning, mourning
Muscle, mussel
Naval, navel
Nay, neigh
None, nun
Od, odd
Ode, owed
Oh, owe
One, won
Packed, pact
Pail, pale
Pain, pane
Pair, pare, pear
Palate, palette, pallet
Paten, pattern,
Pause, paws, pores, pours
Pawn, porn
Pea, pee
Peace, piece
Peak, peek
Peal, peel
Pearl, purl
Pedal, peddle
Peer, pier
Pi, pie
Place, plaice
Plain, plane
Pleas, please
Plum, plumb
Pole, poll
Practice, practise
Praise, prays, preys
Principal, principle
Profit, prophet
Quarts, quartz
Quean, queen
Rain, reign, rein
Raise, rays, raze
Rap, wrap
Raw, roar
Read, reed
Read, red
Real, reel
Reek, wreak
Rest, wrest
Retch, wretch
Review, revue
Rheum, room
Right, rite, write
Ring, wring
Road, rode
Roe, row
Role, roll
Roux, rue
Rood, rude
Root, route
Rose, rows
Rota, rotor
Rote, wrote
Rough, ruff
Rouse, rows
Rung, wrung
Rye, wry
Saver, savour
Spade, spayed
Sale, sail
Sane, seine
Satire, satyr
Sauce, source
Saw, soar, sore
Scene, seen
Scull, skull
Sea, see
Seam, seem
Sear, seer, sere
Seas, sees, seize
Sew, so, sow
Shake, sheikh
Shear, sheer
Shoe, shoo
Sic, sick
Side, sighed
Sign, sine
Sink, synch
Slay, sleigh
Sloe, slow
Sole, soul
Some, sum
Son, sun
Sort, sought
Spa,spar
Staid,stayed
Stair,stare
Stake,stoak
Stalk,stork
Stationary,stationery
Steal,steel
Stile,style
Storey,story
Straight,strait
Sweat,sweet
Swat,swot
Tacks,tax
Tale,tail
Talk,torque
Tare, tear
Taught,taut,tort
Tea,tee
Team,teem
Teas, tease
Tare, tear
Tern,t urn
There,their, they’re
Threw,through
Throes,throws
Throne, thrown
Thyme,time
Tic,tick
Tide,tied
Tire,tyre
To,too,two
Toad,toed,towed
Told,tolled
Tole,toll
Ton,tun
Tor,tore
Tough,tuff
Troop,troupe
Tuba,tuber
Vain,vane,vein
Vale,veil
Vial,vile
Wail,wale,whale
Wain, wane
Waist, waste
Waive, wave
Wall, waul
War, wore
Warn, worn

Watt, what
Wax, whacks
Way, weigh
We, wee
Weak, week
We’d, weed
Weal, we’ll, wheel
Weather, whether
Weir, we’re
Were, whirr
Wet, whet
Weald, wheeled
Which, witch
Whig, wig
While, wile
Whine, wine
Whirl, whorl
Whirled, world
Whit, wit
White, wight
Who’s, whose
Wood, would
Yaw, yore, your, you’re
Yoke, yolk
You’ll, yule

Exercise

Write two words pronounced the same way as each of the following words.

SILENT LETTERS

In English there are letters that are usually not pronounced in certain words. Let us have a look at these letters and words in which they are silent.

Letter ‘A’

Logically
Musically
Romantically
Stoically
Artistically

Letter ‘B’

Aplomb
Bomb
Climb
Comb
Crumb
Debt
Jamb
Lamb
Limb
Numb
Plumb
Subtle
Succumb
Thumb
Tomb
Womb

Letter ‘C’

Ascend
Abscess
Ascent
Conscience
Conscious
Crescent
Descend
Descent
Discipline
Fascinate
Fluorescent
Isosceles
Luminescent
Muscle
Obscene
Resuscitate
Scenario
Scene
Scent
Scissors

Letter ‘D’

Wednesday
Hedge
Dodge
Pledge
Grudge
Sandwich
Handkerchief

Letter ‘E’

Hate
Name
Like
Hope
Lessen
Surprised

Letter ‘G’

Align
Assign
Benign
Campaign
Champagne
Cologne
Consign
Gnarl
Gnash
Gnaw
Gnome
Gnu
Reign
Sign

Letter ‘H’

Honest
Hour
Heir
Honour
Ache
Anchor
Archeology
Architect
Archives
Chaos
Character
Cholera
Charisma
Chemical
Chemist
Chorus
Choir
Echo
Loch
Shepherd
Monarch
Scheme
psych

Letter ‘I’

Business
Parliament

Letter ‘K’

Knock
Knapsack
Knave
Knead
Knee
Kneel
Knell
Knew
Knickers
Knife
Knight
Knit
Knob
Knock
Knot
Know
Knowledge
Knuckle

Letter ‘L’

Calm
Half
Talk
Walk
Would
Should
Calf
Salmon
Yolk
Folk
Balk

Letter ‘N’

Autumn
Column
Condemn
Damn
Hymn
Solemn

Letter ‘O’

Lesson

Letter ‘P’

Psychology
Pneumonia
Pseudo
Psychiatrist
Psychotherapy
Psychotic
Receipt
Corps
Coup

Letter ‘S’

Island
Aisle
Apropos
Bourgeois

Letter ‘T’

Apostle
Bristle
Bustle
Castle
fasten
glisten
hustle
jostle
listen
moisten
mortgage
nestle
rustle
thistle
trestle
whistle
wrestle

Letter ‘U’

baguette
biscuit
build
built
circuit
disguise
guess
guide
guild
guile
guillotine
guilt
guilty
guilty
guise
guitar
rogue
silhouette
colleague
tongue

Letter ‘W’

awry
playwright
sword
wrangle
wrap
wrapper
wrath
wreak
wreath
wreck
wreckage
wren
wrench
wretched
wriggle
wring
wrinkle
wrist
writ
write
wrote
wrong
writhe
wrong
wrought
wrung
wry

Exercise

Identify the silent letter(s) in:

debtor
isle

mock

depot
acquit
womb

patios
thyme

handsome
sandwich
government

listen
Christmas
Whether

Rapport

Ballet
Chalet
Aplomb
Ricochet

Clothes

Cupboard
Faux
Mnemonic
Numb
Rendezvous
Catalogue
Vegetable
Asthma
months
debris

RIDDLES

A riddle is a statement or a question with veiled meaning posed as a puzzle to be solved.
The riddles play functions such as:
They boost the creativity of kids.
They entertain.
Some examples of riddles include:
What gets wetter and wetter the more it dries? A towel.
What can you catch but not throw? A cold.
What goes around the world but stays in a corner? A stamp.
Give me food, and I will live; give me water, and I will die. What am I ? Fire.

Riddling Process

There are two parties involved: the audience (respondents) and the challenger(or the riddler).
There are basically four stages of a riddling process, but at times six.
The parts of the riddling process are:
The riddlerchallenges the audience. The challenge differs from community to community. Some phrases used here include: riddle riddle!, I have a riddle! Etc.
The respondents accept the challenge. The invitations include: riddle come! Throw it! Etc.
The riddler then poses the riddle.
The guess or guesses. The audience tries to come up with the solution. If they are unable, then the next part follows.
The challenger asks for a prize. The prize can be a town or city, or any other thing. The challenger accepts the prize.
Then the solution is given by the challenger.

Exercise

Read the riddling convention below and then identify its six parts.

Challenger: I have a riddle!

Respondent: Throw it.

Challenger: What comes down but never goes up?

Respondent: Wind

Challenger: no, try again.

Respondent: Bird

Challenger: What will you give me if I offer the solution?

Respondent: You will have the entire fire to yourself.

Challenger: The answer is rain.

FEATURES OF OGRE STORIES AND TRICKSTERS

OGRE STORIES
An ogre usually represents an evil.
Ogre are usually destroyed at the end.
They have happy ending.

Functions of Ogre Stories

They warn against strangers.
They caution youth against marrying the people they don’t know.

TRICKSTER STORIES
A character makes up for a physical weakness with cunning and subversive humour.
The trickster alternatives between:

Cleverness and stupidity;
Kindness and cruelty;

Deceiver and deceived; and

Breaker of taboos and creator of culture.

MASTERY OF CONTENT

DEBATE

A formal contest of argumentation between two sides is what debate is.
Debate embodies the ideals of reasoned argument, and tolerance for divergent points of view.
There are two sides in the debate: the proposition and the
These two teams are presented with a resolution, such as, ‘Girls and Boys Should play in a mixed football team.’
The teams are given enough preparation time.
The team affirming the resolution speaks first.
The opposing team then must refute the arguments offered by the affirming team and offer arguments rejecting the resolution.
Both sides are given the opportunity to present their positions and to directly question the other team.
Neutral judge (s) then evaluate the persuasiveness of the arguments and offer constructive feedback.

Preparation Time

This is the time you have from when the motion is announced to the beginning of the debate. During this time:

Research on the motion to get facts. The facts can be got from the teachers, other students, etc.
Write notes on the facts. You can once in a while look at them during your presentation.
Practice how to speak. Do it in front of friends and relatives, as well as in front of a mirror.
If anxious, do some physical exercise. You can also take a deep breath just before your presentation.
Dress decently.

Points Delivery

Here are the points that will help you be successful during your points delivery:

Deliver your points in a confident and persuasive way.
Vary your tone to make you sound interesting. Listening to one tone is boring.
Speak quite loudly to be comfortably heard by everyone in the room. Shouting does not win debates.
Make eye contact with your audience, but keep shifting your gaze. Don’t stare at one person.
Concisely and clearly express your points to be understood by your audience members.
Provide a proof for each point you put across. If you don’t you will not earn a point.
Speak slowly and enunciate your words. When you slow down your speech, you give your audience and the judge more time to process your strong points.
Use gestures to elaborate on your points.
Pause to divide your major points.

Heckling

Only supportive and argumentative heckling is permitted.
Heckling is a brief phrase (about two words) or other non- verbal actions that are directed to the judge of the debate.
They are reminder to the judge to pay close attention to the message immediately expressed by the speaker.
There are two types of heckles:
Those that are non-verbal, such as,
Rapping the knuckles on the desktop.
Rapping the palm on the desk.
Stamping the feet

They are meant to encourage the judge to heed a particularly strong point being made by the speaker.

Those that are verbal, such as,
Objective
Evidence
Point of information

They are said after standing up by one member of the opposing side. These are meant to alert the judge to a problem in the opposing side’s argument.

Exercise

After you deliver your points during the debate, everyone claps for you. How could you have delivered your points to earn their heckling?

ETIQUETTE

Etiquette is the rules that indicate the proper and polite manner to behave.

USE OF COURTEOUS LANGUAGE

When one uses courteous language, he/she uses a language that is very polite and polished to show respect.
At no time should you allow yourself be rude, ill-mannered, impolite, inconsiderate, or even thoughtless.
Being and remaining polite will go a long way in building relationships.
To show politeness and respect:
Use the word please in request;
Say thank you to those who help or compliment you.
Start your requests or interrogatives beginning with words such as can, could, may, will, or would.
Say excuse me when you interrupt other people or intrude into their time or privacy.
Use question tags.
In this section, we shall learn the words and phrases that show respect.

Please
We use it when you want someone to do something for you. For example: Can you pass that cup, please?
also used when you want something from someone. For example: Lend me ten shillings, please.
Thank you
Use it whenever someone does something for you.
Use it when someone commends you.
Sorry
Say it any time you inconvenience someone.
Say it when step on someone’s toes, etc.
Also when someone asks you something you cannot do.
Excuse me

To introduce a request to someone, or to get past someone, use this phrase. For example

Excuse me, can you show me where Amina lives?

Pardon me

Almost as ‘excuse me’

Exercise 1

Jennifer has gone to the shop to buy a bar of soap. The shopkeeper tells her to be polite the next time she comes to buy from him. Showing where, which polite phrases could Jennifer have failed to use?

Exercise 2

Read the dialogue below and then explain how Jacinta expresses politeness.

John: I would like to send this letter to japan by airmail, how much is the charge?

Jacinta: It’s one pound, do you need extra stamps?

John: I do, I have been also expecting a package from New-York. Here is my identity card and receipt.

Jacinta: Would you mind signing this form? Here is the package.

John:Finally, I would like to send this registered letter to London.

Jacinta:Please fill in the complete address in capital letters.

NON VERBAL SKILLS IN LISTENING AND SPEAKING

IMPORTANCE OF RESPECTING PERSONAL SPACE

A personal space is an imaginary area between a person and their surrounding area. This space makes the person feel comfortable and should therefore not be encroached.

The distance can exist at work, at home and in our social circles.

The personal space varies depending on factors such as:

Gender
Trust
Relationship
Familiarity with the person.

Why Respect People’s personal Space?

To make them feel comfortable.
To maintain good relationships.
To enhance listening. Especially during a talk.

General Personal Space Rules

The personal space guidelines below will help enhance listening and speaking:

Respectfully keep your distance if you walk into a room and see two people in private conversation.
Pay attention to your volume when you speak, whether on the phone or in person, to ensure you don’t distract attention of others.
Maintain physical space at table and chair rows so the people around you have enough room to write, raise their hands, etc.
Be mindful of amount of perfume or cologne you wear as if it is in excess it might distract others.
Never lean on the other person’s shoulder unless invited to.
Don’t eavesdrop on another person’s phone conversation. In case you overhear details of the conversation, keep it confidential.

Dealing with Space Intrusion

Depending on the nature of the intrusion, you would deal with space encroachment in different ways. Here are the steps of dealing with a person who leans on your shoulder:

Lean away or take a step back away from the person hoping they would take a hint.
Come right out and say you feel discomfort being too close.
Explain why you need more space. You can for example tell them you need more space to write.

Exercise

You have attended a one day seminar. The person sitting next to you is said to be intruding your personal space. What four personal space guidelines could this person have failed to follow?

LISTENING AND SPEAKING ANSWERS

PRONUNCIATION OF VOWEL SOUNDS

/ᶦ/

Hill
Sit
Still
Blip
Fill
Blink
Thrill

/i:/

Jeep
Creek
Greased
Teal
cheat

/e/

PRONUNCIATION OF CONSONANT SOUNDS

Exercise 1

Sound /s/: seven, students, first, test, licences

Sound /z/ : driver’s, licences, Thursday

Exercise 2

Garage
Gift
Go
Digit
Entangle
Gecko

Exercise 3

Sound /ᶴ/ :tissue, passion, ocean, cautious, solution, pressure, Persian, chef, sure, precious

Sound /ᶾ/ :Caucasian, division, leisure, vision, casual, conclusion, television, decision, collision, exposure

Exercise 4

Sound /f/ : forgive, for, forgetting, leftover, food

Sound /v/ :forgive, leftover

DIPHTHONGS

Gate
Made
Male
Pail
Pane
Plane
Sail
Tail
Vane/vein
Waste
Weight
Ate
Sow
Know
Tow
Groan

MINIMAL PAIRS

Exercise 1

Heat
Shit
Teen
Pitch
Leap
Knit
Keep
Ill
Grid
Peel
Skid
Scheme

Exercise 2

Hid
Mess
Hem
Led
Fin
Led
Din
Pig

Exercise 3

Fail
Pen
Hell
Sail/sale
Whale
Met
Read/red
Debt
Main
Stead

Exercise 4

Bat
Much
Mud
Flash
Come
Dam
Sung
Ankle
Crush
Suck
Damp
Tag

Exercise 5

Merry
Bland
Kettle
Vet
Sex
Track
Tread
Mat

Exercise 6

Fir/fur
Hard
Purse
Firm
Shirk
Cart

Exercise 7

Ban
Vote
Best
Bowels
Bent
Very
Lobes
Verb

Exercise 8

Very
Leave
Fast
Vine
Halve
Prove
Fail
Grieve
Carve
Vault
File
Strife

Exercise 9

Bad
Got
Ride
Ant
add
Bet
Bought
Aid
Bed
feed
Hid
Heard
Mad
Meant
need
Not
Said
Plate
Sad
Debt

Exercise 10

Tag
Flock
Tuck
Come
Cash
Jag
Gave
Sack
League
Grab
Glass
Could
Coat
Block
Gill
Duck
Cut
Lock
Rag
got

HOMOPHONES

bee, be
see, sea
aye, eye
pee, pea
tea, tee
ewe, you

SILENT LETTERS

RIDDLES

Challenge – I have a riddle!
Acceptance – Throw it.
Pose/ Riddle – What comes down but never goes up?
Guesses – wind, bird
Prize – Fire
Solution – rain

Exercise 2

aabcddbceeccffccgghh

DEBATE

I could have:

Spoken confidently
Varied my tone appropriately
Spoken loud enough to be heard by everyone
Made my contact with my audience
Provided proofs for my points in persuasive way.
Spoken slowly and enunciated words correctly
Used gestures that reinforced my ideas
Paused at key points

USE OF COURTEOUS LANGUAGE

Exercise 1

Failed to use ‘thank you’ after being given the bar of soap.
Failed to use ‘please’ when asking to be given the bar of soap.
Failed to use ‘excuse me’ to get the shopkeeper’s attention.

Exercise 2

She has used ‘please’ when asking John to fill the address.
She has used ‘would’ in asking questions.

IMPORTANCE OF RESPECTING PERSONAL SPACE

He could have failed to:

Speak in a low voice during the talk.
Maintain the physical distance between the two of us at the table.
Resist leaning on my shoulder or chest.
Resist eavesdropping on my phone conversation

READING FOR FORM ONE

READING SKILLS

SILENT READING

It involves reading without pronouncing the words out loud.
It is reading to oneself.

Bad Silent Reading Habits

The following are some of the bad silent habits which you must try to break:

(a) Moving your lips when you read

(b) Vocalizing
Vocalizing means that you are pronouncing words in the voice box of the throat without making sounds. This also slows your reading rate to that of speaking.

(c) Regressing out of habit
Regressing means rereading a word, phrase, or sentence out of habit and not because of need. Sometimes, it is necessary to reread something, especially in a difficult passage. But habitual, unnecessary regressing really slows you down.

(d) Reading one word at a time

(e) Moving of the head as one reads.

(f) Pointing the words as you read.

USING A DICTIONARY

Reasons for using a dictionary

A dictionary is a very important tool for anyone who is learning a new language. With a good dictionary you can do the following:

look up the meaning of an English word you see or hear
find the English translation of a word in your language
check the spelling of a word
check the plural of a noun or past tense of a verb
find out other grammatical information about a word
find the synonym or antonym of a word
look up the collocations of a word
check the part of speech of a word
find out how to say a word
find out about the register of a word
find examples of the use of a word in natural language

To be a good dictionary user, however, it is not enough to know what to use the dictionary for. You must also decide which is the best dictionary for any of the purposes listed above.

Finding words quickly

You will need to know the English alphabet perfectly.
Use the guide words at the top of each dictionary page.

Finding the right meaning of an English word

Very often when you look up a new English word, you find that it has more than one meaning. If you are not sure which one is correct, check through all the meanings and find the one that makes most sense in the context where you found the word.

Finding the right spelling

Another problem you may have is when you want to check your spelling but you can’t find the word you’re looking for. Here is what to do:

If you are sure of the first few letters, just look down the page until you find the right spelling.
If you are not sure of the first few letters, try some other possibilities. You know for example that some words that start with an -n sound have p as their first letter; e.g. . So if you can’t find the word under N, try looking in the P pages.

USING THE LIBRARY
When you walk into a library, there are many resources at your fingertips. You just need to know what to use, how to use it, and when to ask for help.

Different Types of Libraries to Use

Depending on the topic you need to study, you might find that different libraries might serve you better.

The different types of libraries include:

Public: This library is the typical library working to make sure the local community has the books it needs without having to charge anyone to read them.
Home library
Class library.
School library

Using the library is easy and it only takes a little direction from you in order to fully realize how many books can help you with your topic of study.

Consulting the Librarian

At times, you may not know where to begin with a research topic. If you are not sure where to go or what questions to ask, it can help to bring in a third party who is not attached to your research: the librarian.

Talking to the librarian will help have book titles that have been helpful to you. If you already have found helpful books, show the librarian so they can look for similar books in the stacks.

COMPREHENSION SKILLS

SUMMARY AND NOTE-MAKING

SUMMARIES

SUMMARY

An excellent summary is a summary written to show that you have read and understood something.
You will get assignments that ask you to read a certain material and summarize it.

How to produce a summary:

1.Read the material to be summarized and be sure you understand it.

2.Outline the major points.

3.Write a first draft of the summary without looking at the material.

4.Always use paraphrase when writing a summary.

5.Target your first draft for approximately 1/4 the length of the original.

6.Never put any of your own ideas, opinions, or interpretations into the summary. This means you have to be very careful of your word choice.

Write in prose – not point form.

NOTE-MAKING

NOTE MAKING

How to Make Notes

The following tips will come in handy when making notes:

Read the material carefully and thoroughly.
Underline the key sentences as you read. This will help in forming the title.
Make a rough note of the main points in a logical sequence.
Write the final notes.

You should have in mind that a note:

Should be short and to the point.
Contain all the important and relevant information.
Should have information systematically divided and subdivided.
Should have a short title. Avoid long sentences as titles.
Must be written in points only.

Notes Template

TITLE …………………….

………………………………………….
…………………………………………
………………………………………..
………………………………………..

GRAMMAR FOR FORM ONE

PARTS OF SPEECH

NOUNS

COMMON NOUNS
They are simply words that name people, places, things, or ideas.
They are not the actual names.
The word ‘teacher’ is a common noun, but the word ‘Halima’ is not.
A common noun identifies a thing, etc.
Example of common nouns are:
People: teacher, father, secretary, woman, girl, etc
Animals: Tiger, Dog, Cow, etc
Things: Chair, desk, cup, phone, etc
Places: City, town, continent, etc
Ideas: envy, hate, love, pride, etc

How to Capitalize Common Nouns

The simple rule is: don’t capitalize a common noun, unless it is the first word in a sentence, or part of a title.

Examples in Sentences

Let’s go to that hotel.
I visit a town during the holidays.

Exercise

Substitute the underlined word(s) with a common noun. You can add a word before the noun.

John and Nick were taught.
I have visited Asia.
She lives in Nairobi.
We eat at the Hilton.
Have you ever swum in the Nile?
I drive Mercedes Benz.
Everyone went shopping at Tuskys.
Corporal Jones has died.
I come from Rwanda.
I am teach at Alliance.

PROPER NOUNS
A proper noun is a name used for an individual person, thing, or a place.
They always begin in capital letters no matter where they occur in sentences.
Look at the table below.

Common Noun

Proper Noun

Example in a Sentence

Teacher

President

City

Mr. Kamau

Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta

Mombasa

Mr. Kamau is our teacher of English.

Mr Uhuru Kenyatta is in the state house.

Mombasa is the place I go every weekend.

Exercise

Identify proper nouns in the sentences below.

I will take you to Rich’s Palace.
Sarah is the girl I told you about.
Of all the continents, I like Africa the most.
Gracy is the cutest kitten ever.
I am craving Oreos.
I used Tilly in cooking.
Jupiter is one of the planets.
Margaret was a great author.

CONCRETE AND ABSTRACT NOUNS

Concrete Nouns

A concrete noun register to our senses.
You can see, hear, taste, smell, or even feel them.
The examples are:
Table
Ball
House
Rice
Water
Wool

Abstract Nouns

They don’t register to one’s senses.
They are just ideas, feelings, or qualities.
Some examples of abstract nouns include:

Health
Interest
Sleep
Traffic
Advice
Education
Business
Insurance
Happiness
Peace
Knowledge
History
Noise
Intelligence
Anger
Fun
Pride
Confidence
Determination
Law
Laughter

Example in Sentences

Education is the key to life.
All the teacher wanted was a proof.
I will apply once the opportunity presents itself.
They are calling for justice.
You need to change your behaviour.
Love makes the world go round.

Exercise 1

Identify the nouns in the sentences and write whether it they are concrete or abstract.

A man must always have the courage to face every challenge.
No matter what happens, we must not lose hope.
My faith in God is very strong.
A person should buy a beautiful dress.
Have you seen the black dog?
Love is blind.

Exercise 2

Fill the blank with the appropriate form of the word in brackets.

She asked for my _______________ about this book. (advise)
The _________________ in Kenya is not as good as it was 10 years ago. (educate)
The way she answers questions shows she has above average _____________. (intelligent)
She explained the ________________ of physical exercise. (important)
_____________ means different things to different people. (happy)
___________ is all that will help. (confident)
It is _______________ that comes before a fall. (proud)
His ______________ led him to kill Ojwang. (angry)
The composition she wrote showed a high level of ______________. (imagine)
You will die out of ___________. (lonely)

COUNT AND NON COUNT NOUNS

A concrete noun can either be categorized as count or non-count.

Count Nouns

A count noun can be expressed in plural form, normally with an “-s”, for example,
Season – seasons
Dog – dogs
Teacher – teachers

When you look around the classroom, there are things that you can count. What are they? The list of things you can probably see are:
Chairs
Tables
Flag
Textbooks
Desks
Cups
Such nouns can be preceded by appropriate articles, whether singular or plural.

Non-Count Nouns

Also referred to as mass nouns.
Nouns falling under this category are those:
That cannot be counted
That do not have plural forms.
Below are the examples of non-count nouns.

Luggage
Weather
Equipment
Oxygen
Wood
Plastic
Hair
Air
Milk
Juice
Beer
Soccer
Biology
Reading
Glass
Sunshine
Rice
History
News
Mathematics
Electricity
Meat
Furniture

Examples in Sentences

This is school equipment.
Plastic is a non conductor.

PLURAL NOUNS
There are rules for spelling plural nouns.

General Rules for Spelling Plural Nouns

Most nouns add “-s”, for example

Book – books
Pen – pens
Phone – phones

Most nouns that end in “-ch”, “-sh”, “-s”, “-x”, or “-z” add “-ies”, for example,

Church – churches
Box – boxes
Prize – prizes
Bus – buses

Most nouns that end in a consonant and “-y” becomes “-ies”, for example,

Spy – spies
Community – communities
Activity – activities
Country – countries

Most nouns that end in “-f”, or “-fe” add “-ves”, for example,

Elf – elves
Wolf – wolves
Half – halves
Knife – knives
Scarf – scarves

Some nouns that end in a consonant and “o”, add “-es”, for example,

Tomato – tomatoes
Buffalo – buffaloes
Volcano – volcanoes
Hero – heroes
Mosquito – mosquitoes

Some nouns only change their vowels, for example,

Goose – geese
Man – men
Mouse – mice
Tooth – teeth

There are those that do not change at all, for example,

Deer
Species
Fish
Sheep
There are a few nouns that have plural forms which are left from old English, for example,
Child – children
Ox – oxen
Then there are those of Latin origin. They are like:
Antenna – antennae
Appendix – appendices, appendixes
Cactus – cacti
Stadium – stadia, stadiums
Terminus – termini, terminuses
Referendum – referenda, referendums
Index – indices, indexes
Formula – formulae, formulas
Curriculum – curricula, curriculums

ARTICLES

An article is a kind of adjective.
It is used with a noun and gives some information about that noun.
There are two articles:
A
The
The article “a” has a form “an”.
Article “a” is known as the indefinite article. It is called indefinite since the noun it goes with is indefinite or general.
The form “an” is used when the noun it precedes begins with a vowel.
The article “a” has the same meaning as number “one”. For example, one can say:

I have bought a pen. Or

I have bought one pen.

The article “the” is definite article.
A definite article indicates a specific thing. Can you identify the difference between the pair of sentences below?
I bought a pen.
I bought the pen.

The second sentence shows that I bought a particular pen, and not any other.

The article “the” is used with count nouns when:
We use the noun a second and subsequent times.
The listener knows what you are referring to.

Exercise

Fill in the blank with appropriate article. Leave the space blank if no article is needed.

I have to eat ______________ apple today.
She has __________ dog at home.
My son has learnt how to play __________ piano.
Tom likes to play ______________ basketball.
There is ___________ new book on the table.
___________ teacher is late this morning.
___________ ink in my pen is black.
She speaks _________ Japanese.
What ___________ expensive bike!
He is _____________ honest person.

PRONOUNS

PERSONAL PRONOUNS

They represent specific people or things.
They are used depending on:
Number: whether singular or plural
Person: whether first, second, or third persons
Gender: whether male, female, or neuter
Case : whether in the case of subject or object

Number versus Person

Number	First Person	Second Person	Third Person
Singular	I	You	He/she/it
Plural	We	You	They

Gender versus Person

Person	Gender
Person	Male	Female	Neuter
First person
Second person
Third person	He	She	It

Case

The pronouns used as subjects are:
I
We
He
She
It
They
You
The pronouns below are used as objects:
Me
Us
Him
Her
It
You
Them

Examples in Sentences

I like it.
You are my best friend.
She is running from the truth.
Get me that book please.
They are interviewing them.

Exercise 1

Fill the blanks with correct forms of pronouns in brackets.

__________ am the new class prefect. (me)
___________ doesn’t matter. (they)
Does Martha like ____________? (he)
Killion helped ___________. (I)
Did you see ___________ ? (she)

Exercise 2

Replace the underlined words with an appropriate pronoun.

The old gate doesn’t look good.
Tom and Mary went to school.
The dog bit the doctor and the chief.
Moses runs faster than Rebecca.
Phiona and Ruth played doubles.
Christine is clever.
I brought the dress.
Antony drove Junet and me.

POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS

We use possessive pronouns to refer to a specific person or people, or thing or things that belong to a person or people, or things.
Just like personal pronouns, they are used depending on:
Number
Person
Gender
Case

Number and Person

In singular we use:

Mine – first Person

Yours — second person

His/hers/its – third person

In plural, use:

Ours – first person

Yours – second person

Theirs – third person

Gender

For male gender, the pronoun below are used:

His

For female gender use, hers

Case

A possessive pronoun can either be a subject or object.

Examples in Sentences

Mine is that one.
This one is mine.
The cars are yours.
Yours are those ones over there.
Hers has been stolen.
This building is ours.

Exercise

Complete each sentence with the possessive pronoun form of the word(s) underlined.

Martha did _____________ homework in time.
Have you got ___________ money.
I like your name. Do you like ___________ ?
Hector and Emmy have seen your bag. Have you seen ____________?
Jane, my flowers are dying. ____________ are good.
I have come with my sister. ___________ name is Alice.
Sophie and Gerges study Science. _____________ teacher is kind.
We love __________ new boss.
He is in __________ house.
Are you and your friend enjoying __________ weekend?
The cat has bit ___________ tail.
Right has a brother. ___________ is 10 years old.

REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS

They are special kind of pronouns.
A reflexive pronoun is used when the object of a sentence is the same as the subject.
Each personal pronoun has its own reflexive form.
The table below shows personal pronouns with their equivalent reflexive pronouns.

Personal Pronoun	Reflexive Pronoun
I	Myself
You (singular)	Yourself
You (plural)	Yourselves
He	Himself
She	Herself
It	Itself
We	Ourselves
They	Themselves

When Reflexive Pronouns are Used

Reflexive pronouns are used when:

The object and the subject are similar. For example,
She bit herself.

The subject she and the object herself are similar.

They betrayed
Matthew likes himsel
They are used as the object of prepositions. In the sentences below, the words underlined are the prepositions and the ones in boldface are the objects of those prepositions.
Young bought a pencil for himself.
Halima mopped the room by herself.
The mad man talks to himself.
They are also used when emphasizing the subjects. Examples
I ate all the rice myself. This means no one else had any.
Dan will wash the clothes himself. This means she will be helped by no one.

Can you differentiate between the pair of sentences below?

She bought the pen herseif.

She bought the dress for herself.

Exercise

Fill the correct form of reflexive pronoun for each blank space.

In the evening, we went to the market to buy _________________ food to cook.
I don’t know whether they went to school or whether they taught ______________ .
If you hurt ______________ , don’t cry to anyone.
This cat caught the rat _____________ .
Whenever I see ___________ in a mirror, I smile to ___________ .
That little duck is washing _____________ in the pond.
Jonathan ate all the food _____________ .
Good evening everyone? Please make _____________ comfortable.
Since the school is their father’s, they give _______________ break whenever they feel like.
Mary bought the dress for _____________ .

FUNCTIONS OF PRONOUNS

A pronoun can be used where a noun or a noun phrase can be used in a sentence.
Pronouns perform the following functions in a sentence:
As the Subject of a Verb
The subject of verb is that which performs that action.
Some of the pronouns used as subjects of the verbs are:

She

They

We etc

Examples in Sentences

He is my best friend.
You are the one I saw.

They are the school administrators.

As the Object of A Verb
An object is the recipient of the action.
Some object pronouns include:

You

Him

Her

Them

It etc

Examples in Sentences

Richard escorted him.
He separated them.

I saw her.
As the Object of a preposition

An object of preposition immediately follows the preposition.

Examples

I will think about it.
I bought it for him.

VERBS

A verb is a word that shows an action, state, or even an occurrence.
There are two main verb types:
Lexical verbs
Auxiliary verbs
In this section, we shall study Lexical verbs.

LEXICAL VERBS

A lexical verb is the main verb in a sentence.
It does not need a helping verb as it carries the meaning.
The examples are:
Talk
Sing
Run
Jump
Eat
Go etc
Depending on how they form their past tense and past participle forms, they are grouped as regular or irregular verbs.

Examples in Sentences

I work at the station.
She drives a fancy car.
I gave you all I had.

REGULAR AND IRREGULAR VERBS

Verbs are subdivided into regular and irregular verbs depending on how their past tense and past participles are formed.
A regular verb adds –ed or –d to the end of the base forms.

Examples of Regular Verbs

Verb

Past Tense

Past Participle

Call

Plan

Jump

Kill

Fill

Called

Planned

Jumped

killed

filled

Called

Planned

Jumped

Killed

filled

Examples In Sentences

He jumped over the fence.
He killed the cat.

For Irregular verbs, there is no formula that predict their past tense and past participle forms.
They include:

Verb

Past Tense

Past Participle

Sweep

Cut

Come

Meet

Is/am

Swept

Cut

Came

Went

Met

Was

Swept

Cut

Came

Went

Met

Been

Examples in Sentences

He ran towards the river.
Have you repaid the loan?
I have swum.

TENSES

SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

The simple present tense is used to express:

Habitual actions, for example,
She eats fish.
She washes her clothes every week.

We see movies every evening.

Some general truths, for example,
Water boils at 100 degrees.
The month of April has 30 days.

Points to Remember on The Simple Present Third Person Singular

The verb usually ends in –s, for example,

He runs
She runs

It runs
Negative and question are “does”, for example,

He does not run.
Does he run?

She does not run.

Does she run?

In case of negative and question, the next verb after “does” does not add an -s

Present Simple Tense – Negative

A negative sentence is usually formed by using “not”.

Examples in Sentences

I do not like it.
We do not like it.

You do not like it.

She does not like it.
He does not like it.
They do not like it.

Present Simple Tense – Questions

The questions are formed by using either “do” or “does” at the beginning.

Examples in Sentences

Do you like it?
Do we like it?

Do you like it?

Does she like it?
Does he like it?
Do they like it?

Exercise 1

Rewrite each sentence below following the instruction in brackets. Do not change the meaning of the sentence.

I live in Maragua. (begin with: do)
Right comes to school daily. (begin: does)
She does not play rugby. (do not use: not)
The train leaves at 8.00 am. (use: 9.00 am)
Does he forget his wallet? (begin: he)

Exercise 2

Use the correct form of the verb in brackets to complete each of the following sentences.

I ______________ fifteen years old now. (be)
Moureen ______________ at Githurai. (live)
Emilly ___________ dinner for them. (cook)
The students ____________ lunch at 1.00 pm. (eat)
My grandmother ____________ medicine when she is sick. (take)
It normally ____________ here in April. (rain)
It _____________ in May as much as it does in March. (rain)
They ___________ French twice a week. (study)
Mr Gregory ______________ Geography at Lukenya High School.
George _____________ to church every Sunday. (go)

SIMPLE PAST TENSE

A simple past tense is used to talk about a completed action in a time before now.
The time of action can be in the recent past or the distant past.

Examples

I walked all the way to school.
We saw them at the restaurant.
They played the piano.
She ate her lunch at 1.00 pm.

How to Form the Simple Past Tense

Simple Past in Negative Statement

The pattern here is:

Subject+Auxiliary+not

She did not call.

Simple Past in Interrogative

Did she call you?

Exercise

Fill in the correct form of word in brackets to complete each sentence.

I ______________ to the theatre last week. (go)
It _________ interesting. (be)
I __________ three sites last year. (visit)
It ____________ as it did the the previous week. (rain)
She ____________ a single card from her relatives.(receive)
We ___________ to a new house last month. (move)
They ____________ us pizza yesterday. (bring)
I ____________ a big lion. (see)
Where _______________ your last weekend? (spend/you)
It was cold, so I _________________ off my coat. (take)
Since the door was opened, the bird _____________ into the house.
The car wasn’t expensive. It _____________ very much. (cost)

ADJECTIVES

COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE FORMS

Comparatives

The comparative form of an adjective is used to compare two people or things. Example

He is quicker than Ngure.

Superlatives

The superlative form of an adjective is used to compare more than two people or things. Example

He is the quickest of the three.

Ways of Making Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

Adjectives with One Syllable

In general, if an adjective has one syllable, then –er or –r for comparative and –est or –st for supelatives are added to the adjective. Examples

Adjective

Comparative Form

Superlative Form

Hot

Tall

Small

Large

Thin

Nice

Hotter

Taller

Smaller

Larger

Thinner

Nicer

Hottest

Tallest

Smallest

Largest

Thinnest

Nicest

Adjectives with Two Syllables
There are those that simply add –er or –r for comparative, and –est or –st for superlative. Examples

Feeble Feebler Feeblest

some use theword “more” for comparative, and “most” for superlative forms. Examples

famous more famous most famous

There are those that can do with either –er or –r , or more for comparative and –est or –st , or most for superlative. They are special adjectives.Examples

Clever Cleverer (more clever) Cleverest (most clever)
Simple Simpler (more simple) Simplest (most simple)

Other special adjectives are:
Quiet
Polite
Pleasant
Likely
Commonly
Sure
Adjectives with Three or More Syllables

Word more for comparative and most for superlatives are used. Examples

Interesting moreinteresting most interesting

Attractive more attractive most attractive

Irregular adjectives

Some adjectives have Irregular comparative and superlative forms. Examples

Adjective

Comparative Form

Superlative Form

Bad

Good

Little

Much

Worse

Better

Less

Worst

Best

Least

Most

REGULAR AND IRREGULAR ADJECTIVES

The way an adjective make comparative and superlative forms is what determines whether it is regular or irregular.

Regular Adjectives

A regular adjective adds –er or more in comparative form, and –est or most for superlatives.
The table below illustrates this.

Adjective

Comparative

Superlative

Small

Nice

Pretty

Beautiful

Smaller

Nicer

Prettier

More beautiful

Smallest

Nicest

Prettiest

Most beautiful

Irregular Adjectives

They have completely different forms.
It is not easy to predict their comparative and superlative forms.
Examples are:
Good
Bad etc

GRADABLE AND NON GRADABLE ADJECTIVES

Gradable Adjectives

A gradable adjective has different degrees.
You can say “very hot” or “a bit hot”. Hot is therefore a gradable adjective. Other gradable adjectives are:
Cold
Warm
Tall
Nice etc

There are grading adverbs that can be used with gradable adjectives. They include:
A bit
Very
Extremely
Quite
Really
So etc

Examples in Sentnces

It is extremely cold
This novel is quite interesting.

The girl is very beautiful.

She is reasonably popular.

Non-Gradable Adjectives

They do not have different degrees.
Some examples of non gradable adjectives are:

Excellent
Impossible
Digital
Domestic
Unique
Absolutely
Nearly
Chemical
Totally

One cannot say “very dead” or “really dead”. The adjective “dead” is thus, a non-gradable adjective.
A grading adverb cannot be used with the non-gradable adjectives.

Example in a Sentence

The dead relative will be buried soon.

ADVERBS

ADVERBS OF MANNER

They tell us the manner in which the action happened, happens, or will happen.
The examples are:
Carefully
Slowly
Loudly
Easily etc

Examples in Sentences

She answered it correctly.
The problem was solved easily.
He drives
He walked quickly.
He runs fast.

ADVERBS OF TIME

An adverb of time tell us when an action happens.
An adverb of time can also tell us for how long that action occurred. For example, three months.
Some examples of adverbs of time are:
Today
Next week
Late
Early
Morning
Last year
Two months time, etc

Examples in Sentences

I saw it yesterday.
He came to school late.

She watched the whole day.

ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY

These are adverbs that answer questions “How frequently?” or “how often?”.
They tell us how often something happens.
There are two types of adverbs of frequency:

Adverbs of definite frequency, for example,

Monthly
Daily
Hourly
Weekly
Yearly
Every minute
Twice a month
Once
Three times a day, etc

Examples in Sentences

Employees pay taxes monthly.
The storekeeper checks the store every day.
I review my notes every week.

Adverbs of indefinite frequency, for example,

Never
Sometimes
Often
Always
Seldom
Frequently
Occasionally
Usually

Examples in Sentences

She is never
I often do my assignment.

They sometimes visit me.

PREPOSITIONS

SIMPLE PREPOSITIONS

A preposition joins words together and show the relationship between the different parts of a sentence.
The following are the simple prepositions with examples in sentences:

In, on, at

He is in the house.

The cup is on the table.

He teaches at a school in Wajir.

Above, below

Most students scored above 50.

Few students scored below 4o.

Over, under

Don’t jump over the fence.

The cat is hiding under the bed.

Around, through

The flowers we planted around the house.

The spear went through his body.

Before, after

I will see him before lunch.

He is leaving after lunch.

To, from

I am coming from Limuru.

I am going to Nairobi.

About, by

Have you read the story about an ogre?

The story was written by Kendagor.

With, without

He didn’t want to go with us.

We went without him.

Between, among

This is a secret between you and me.

There is no secret among many.

Inside, outside

The bottle is inside the box.

The spoon is outside the box.

PREPOSITIONS COMBINATIONS

Adjective+Preposition

Specific prepositions are used after certain adjectives. There is no definite rule to ascertain which preposition should be used with which adjective. We simply need to learn them.

Here is a list of some commonly used adjectives and the prepositions that normally follow them:

ADJECTIVE	PREPOSITION
accustomed	To
Afraid	Of
Accused	Of
acquainted	With
Addicted	To
Annoyed	about/with/at
Allergic	To
Amazed	at/by
Anxious	About
appreciated	For
Ashamed	Of
associated	With
astonished	at/by
Aware	Of
Angry	With
Afraid	Of
Attached	To
Bad	At
Based	On
beneficial	To
Boastful	For
Bored	With
Brilliant	At
Busy	With
Capable	Of
Careful	with/about/of
Certain	About
characteristic	Of
Clever	At
connected	With
conscious	Of
Content	With
Crazy	About
Crowded	With
Curious	About
dissatisfied	With
Doubtful	About
Delighted	at/about
Derived	From
Different	From
disappointed	With
Eager	For
Eligible	For
enthusiastic	About
Excellent	in/at
Excited	About
experienced	In
Exposed	To
Envious	Of
Faithful	To
Familiar	With
Famous	For
fed up	With
Free	of/from
frightened	Of
Friendly	With
Fond	Of
Furious	About
Furnished	With
Full	Of
Generous	with/about
Guilty	of/about
Gentle	With
Good	At
Grateful	To
Happy	About
Hopeful	of/about
Identical	with/to
Immune	To
impressed	With
Inferior	To
indifferent	To
Innocent	Of
interested	In
Involved	With
Incapable	Of
Jealous	Of
Kind	To
Keen	On
Late	For
Limited	To
Lucky	At
Nervous	of/about
Notorious	For
Opposed	To
Patient	With
pessimistic	About
Pleased	With
Polite	To
Popular	With
Presented	With
Proud	Of
Punished	For
Puzzled	by/about
Qualified	For
Ready	For
Related	To
Relevant	To
respectful	For
responsible	For
Rid	Of
Sad	About
Safe	From
Satisfied	With
Scared	Of
Sensitive	To
Serious	About
Sick	Of
Similar	To
Shocked	By
Skilful	At
Slow	At
Sorry	for/about
successful	In
Suitable	For
Sure	of/about
Superior	To
Surprised	At
suspicious	Of
sympathetic	With
terrible	At
terrified	Of
tired	Of
thankful	to/for
trilled	With
troubled	With
typical	Of
unaware	Of
upset	About
used	To
wrong	with/about
worried	About

Examples in Sentences

1. It was nice of you to help me.

2. Why are you so angry about it? They were furious with me for not inviting them to my party.

3. I was disappointed with the book she bought me.

4. I was pleased with the present you gave me. Were you disappointed with your examination result

5. They have been astonished by something.

6. Everyone was surprised by /at the news.

7. Are you excited about going on holiday next week?

8. Are you afraid of dogs?

9. I’m not ashamed of what I did.

10. I’m not very good at driving big cars.

11. Your composition is full of errors.

12. Your name is similar to mine.

Verb +Preposition Combination

Some verbs need a preposition before an object or another verb.
These kinds are called dependent prepositions and they are followed by a noun or a gerund (‘ing’ form).
Here are some other verbs with their dependent prepositions.

account for

accuse SO of ST

adapt to

add SO/ST to SO/ST

add to

adjust to

admit ST to SO

admit to

agree on

agree to

agree with

apologize to SO for ST

appeal to SO for ST

approve of

argue with SO about SO/ST

argue with SO over ST

arrange for SO (to do something)

arrest SO for ST

arrive at (a place)

ask for

base on

be absent from (a place)

be accustomed to

be acquainted with

be addicted to ST

be afraid of

be angry at SO for ST

be angry with SO for ST

be annoyed at SO for ST

be annoyed with SO for ST

be anxious about ST

be associated with

be aware of

be blessed with

be bored by

be bored with

be capable of ST

be cluttered with ST

be committed to

be composed of

be concerned about

be connected to

be connected with

be content with

be convinced of ST

be coordinated with ST

be crowded in (a building or room)

be crowded with (people)

be dedicated to

be devoted to

be disappointed in

be disappointed with

be discouraged by

be discouraged from (doing something)

be discriminated against

be divorced from SO

be done with ST

be dressed in

be encouraged with

be engaged in ST

be engaged to SO

be envious of

be equipped with ST

be excited about

be exposed to

be faced with

be faithful to

be familiar with

be famous for

be filled with

be finished with

be fond of

be friendly to SO

be friendly with SO

be frightened by

be frightened of

be furnished with ST

be grateful to SO for ST

be guilty of ST

be happy about ST

be innocent of ST

be interested in

be involved in ST

be involved with

be jealous of

be known for ST

be limited to

be made from ST

be made of (material)

be married to

be opposed to

be patient with SO

be pleased with

be polite to SO

be prepared for

be protected from

be proud of

be related to

be relevant to

be remembered for ST

be responsible for

be satisfied with

be scared of

be terrified of

be thankful for

be tired from (doing something)

be tired of (doing something)

be worried about

beg for

begin with

believe in

belong to

benefit from

blame SO for ST

blame ST on SO

boast about

borrow ST from SO

care about

care for

catch up with

cater to

charge SO for ST

charge SO with ST

choose between SO/ST and SO/ST

chose ST from ST

collide with

come from

comment on

communicate with SO

compare SO/ST to SO/ST

compare SO/ST with SO/ST

compete with

complain about

compliment SO on ST

concentrate on

concern SO with ST

confess to

confuse SO/ST with SO/ST

congratulate SO on ST

consent to ST

consist of

contribute to ST

convict SO of ST

cope with

correspond with SO

count on

cover with

crash into

cure SO of ST

deal with

decide against

decide between SO/ST and SO/ST

decide on

dedicate ST to SO

demand ST from SO

depend on

derive ST from ST

deter SO from ST

devote ST to SO

differ from

disagree with

disapprove of

discourage SO from ST

discuss ST with SO

distinguish between SO/ST and SO/ST

distinguish SO/ST from SO/ST

distract SO from ST

dream about

dream of

dress SO in ST

drink to

elaborate on ST

emerge from ST

escape from (a place)

exchange SO/ST for SO/ST

exclude SO from ST

excuse SO for ST

expel SO from (a place)

experiment on

explain ST to SO

feel about

feel like

fight about

fight against

fight for

fight with

forget about

forgive SO for ST

gamble on

gawk at

gaze at

get back from (a place)

get married to SO

get rid of

get through with

get tired of

get used to

give ST to SO

glare at

gloat at

grieve for

gripe at SO

grumble at SO about ST

happen to

harp on

hear about

hear from SO

hear of

help SO with ST

hide ST from SO

hinder SO/ST from ST

hinge on

hope for

insist on

insure against

interfere in ST

interfere with ST

introduce SO/ST to SO/ST

invest in

invite SO to

involve SO/ST in ST

jabber about

joke about

joke with SO about SO/ST

jot down ST

laugh about

laugh at

learn about

lend ST to SO

listen for

listen to

long for

look at

look forward to

meet with SO

mistake SO/ST for SO/ST

nod at

nod to

object to

operate on

participate in ST

pay for

persist in

plan on

praise SO for ST

pray for

prefer SO/ST to SO/ST

prepare for

present SO with ST

prevent SO/ST from (doing something)

prohibit SO from (doing something)

provide for

provide SO with ST

provide SO/ST for SO

punish SO for ST

react to

recover from ST

refer to ST

relate to

rely on

remind SO of SO/ST

reply to

rescue SO from SO/ST

resign from ST

respond to

result in ST

retire from ST

save SO from ST

search for

sentence SO to ST

separate SO/ST from SO/ST

share ST with SO

shout at

show ST to SO

smile at SO

speak to SO about SO/ST

specialize in ST

spend (money/time) on

stand for

stare at

stem from

stop SO from (doing something)

subject SO to ST

subscribe to

substitute SO/ST for SO/ST

subtract ST from ST

succeed at ST

succeed in (doing something)

suffer from

suspect SO of ST

take advantage of

take care of

talk about

talk to

tell SO about ST

thank SO for ST

think about

think of

toast to

translate ST into (a language)

trust SO with ST

turn to

use ST for ST

vote against

vote for

wait for

warn about

waste (money/time) on

wish for

work for

work on

worry about

write about

write to SO

yap about

yearn for

Exercise 1

Fill the blank spaces with the most appropriate prepositions.

She has placed the cup _____________ the table.
I will allow you go _________ the field.
She is singing _________ her room.
Is he ________ home now?
He lives _________ Nairobi.
Don’t be late _________ class.
Compare your points __________ your friend’s.
Are the new student ________ Ethiopia?
Rich is still ________ vacation.
My daughter’s birthday is ________ May.

Answers

On
To
In
At
In
For
With
From
On
In

Exercise 2

Complete the sentences with the most appropriate prepositions.

It was stupid …………………her to go out without a coat.
Everyone was pleased ………………….the marks they scored.
I am bored ………………..singing every morning.
Are you interested ………………..sports?
Kenya is famous ……………… her athletes.
I will be happy to see married ……………. Gregory.
The town is crowded with people.
You will be held responsible …………………anything that happens.
She is sorry ……………….. her behavior last night.
You should be sorry …………………..missing the lesson.
Jemimah is fond …………………. dogs.
I am keen ………….. leave this school.
What are you excited ……………..?
It seems she is upset ………………something.
You shouldn’t be worried …………………anything as long as I am around.

Answers

Of
With
With
In
For
To
With
For
About
For
Of
On
About
About
About

CONJUNCTIONS

COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

A coordinating conjunction connects words, phrases, and clauses.
And, but, for, nor, or, so, and yet are the known coordinating conjunctions.

Examples in Sentences

This is a beautiful girl, but a difficult one to convince.
It was cold, so I put on my jacket.

This tea is thick and sweet.

Do you like white rice, or brown rice?

Functions of Coordinating Conjunctions

Conjunction	Function	Example in a Sentence
And	Joins two similar ideas	Jane and Mary are in form one.
But	Joins two contrasting ideas	He drives slowly, but sure.
Or	Joins two alternative ideas	We can go to Naivasha, or stay here and watch news.
So	Shows the second idea is the result of the first	I was sick, so I did not go to school.
Nor	Joins two negative alternatives.	He doesn’t wake up early, nor do I.
For	Give a reason	I was punished, for I was late.
Yet	Joins two contrasting ideas (means “but”)	I was punished, yet I arrived early.

Exercise

Join each pair of sentences with an appropriate coordinating conjunction.

I love to travel. I hate travelling by bus.
You should go to bed now. You will be tired tomorrow.
The bus stopped. Two passengers got out of it.
Helen was angry with Jane. Helen went out to cool down.
I arrived at school late. I left home early.

Answers

I love to travel but I hate travelling by bus.
You should go to bed now, or you will be tired tomorrow.
The bus stopped and two passengers got out of it.
Helen was angry with Jane, so she went out to cool down.
I arrived at school late, yet I left home early.

PHRASES

A phrase is a group of words without a subject and a verb and which does not make sense on its own.
There are various types of phrases. They include:
Noun phrases
Verb phrases
Adjective phrases
Adverb phrases
Prepositional phrases
At your level, we will only study noun phrases.

NOUN PHRASES

A noun phrase is a group of words that plays role of a noun and has a noun has the head word (main word).
Look at the example below.
I saw Bingo. The word in bold is a noun
I saw your dog. In boldface, is the noun phrase that has replaced the noun in above sentence.

Examples of Noun Phrases

The new car

My old shirt

The best car safety device

Constituents of a Noun Phrase

A noun phrase consists of:
A determiner, which can be an article, a number, or an adjective.
Modifiers, which can be an adjective, or combinations of adjectives.

Modifiers can either be premodifier if it comes before the main noun, or post modifier if it follows the noun.
Determiners precede modifiers.
Study the noun phrases.

Phrase

Determiner

Pre modifier

Main noun

Post Modifier

The tall woman

The longest river

Your sister

Any big supermarket nearby

The

Your

Any

Tall

Longest

Big

Woman

River

Sister

Supermarket

Nearby

Exercise

Underline the noun phrase in each of the sentences below.

Did you see the tall man?
He called all the stubborn students.
He wishes to see the president.
He bought her a beautiful white blouse.
An horse prefers living in dark stables.
It is disgraceful to write such rubbish.
The people’s president is in Mombasa.
The girl in blue skirt is my sister.
The soldiers are true heroes.
My best friend is Teris.

SIMPLE SENTENCES

A simple sentence has one clause —independent

SENTENCE STRUCTURE (SUBJECT, PREDICATE)
A simple sentence has the formula:

Subject + Predicate

Look at the example below.

This desk is mine.

This desk – Subject
Is mine – the predicate

A subject is the one doing the action.
Predicate is the part of the sentence which talks about the subject and which has a verb.
The predicate must contain a verb. The other constituents of a predicate can be an adverb, adjective, pronoun, etc.
Can you identify the subject and predicate in each of the sentences below?
She came to see me.
Njoroge was here.
I saw them dancing.
This is the cheapest dress in town.
You are a big fool.

TYPES OF SENTENCES

INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES

An interrogative sentence is used to ask questions.
There are various question types:
Yes/no questions
Alternative questions
Tag questions
w/h questions

Yes/No Questions

They are answered with yes or no as answers.
Examples are:
Did you score everything?
Have you seen it?

Alternative Questions

There are options two to be chosen from.
Examples are:
Would you like to take tea, or coffee?
Do you want a red pen, or blue one?

Tag Questions

There is the statement part, which is followed by a comma, and then the question part.
Examples are:
She is the thief, isn’t she?
It does not smell good, does it?

W/H Questions

The first word start with the two letters “w and h”.
Those words used for asking these questions are: who, where, which, how, why, what
Examples
Who sent you?
Where do you live?

Exercise

Form three different question types from the sentence:

You stole my cap.

Answer

Did you steal my red cap? Yes/no
Who stole my red cap? w/h
You stole me red cap, didn’t you?

IMPERATIVE SENTENCES

An imperative sentence issues a request or a direct command.
Usually, imperative sentences begin with verbs.
Depending on the strength of the emotion, and the forcefulness of the command, it can end in either a full stop (.) or an exclamation mark (!).

Examples

Complete your assignment by afternoon!
Kindly open the door.

Turn left at the cross road.

End Punctuation Marks with Imperative Sentences

If the command is forceful, use an exclamation mark (!). for example,

Leave now!

Open the door!

If the command is polite, or in the form of advice, put a period (.). examples,

Please get me my book.

Leave the door open.

EXCLAMATORY SENTENCES

An exclamatory sentence expresses emotion.
The emotion can be of love, happiness, confusion, anger, etc.
Usually ends with an exclamation mark.
Use the word “what” or “how”before a noun.

Examples

What a day!
What awful plastic!
What funny people they are!
What a match!

Exercise

Rewrite each sentence beginning with the word “what” or “how”.

He is a foolish man.
This is a pleasant day.
That is clever of you.
They are lovely flowers.
He came early

Answers

What a foolish man!
What a pleasant day
How clever of you!
What lovely flowers!
How early he came!

AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCES

There are two types:

Declarative
Negative

DECLARATIVE SENTENCES/

Used to make statements.
End with a full stop or period (.).
Here are examples of declarative sentences.
My name is George.
He brings me chocolate.
She visited last year.
I will leave in the evening.

NEGATIVE SENTENCES

A negative sentence states that something is untrue.
A negative adverb is added to negate the validity of the sentence.
A negative statement is formed by adding the word “not” to the first auxiliary verb. Examples
I did not abuse you.
This novel does not have a good ending.
You are not among the lucky ones.
Dan did not steal from me, it was you.

Exercise

Negate the following sentences.

She has a bag.
I am sick.
He sells flowers.
They work there.
She writes good compositions.
It is interesting.

Answers

She does not have a bag.
I am not sick.
He doesn’t sell flowers.
They don’t work there.
She doesn’t write good compositions.
It is not interesting.

ANSWERS

PARTS OF SPEECH

NOUNS

COMMON NOUNS

The students were taught
I have visited a continent.
She lives in the city.
We eat in the hotel.
Have you ever swum in the river?
I drive a car.
Everyone went shopping at the supermarket.
A soldier is dead.
I come from a country.
I teach at a school.

PROPER NOUNS

I will take you to Rich’s Palace.
Sarah is the girl I told you about.
Of all the continents, I like Africa the most.
Gracy is the cutest kitten ever.
I am craving Oreos.
I used Tilly in cooking.
Jupiter is one of the planets.
Margaret was a great author.

CONCRETE NOUNS ABSTRACT NOUNS

Exercise 1

A man must always have the courage to face every challenge.

Man – concrete

Courage – abstract

No matter what happens, we must not lose hope.

Hope – abstract

My faith in God is very strong.

Faith – abstract

God – concrete

A person should buy a beautiful dress.

Person, dress – concrete

Have you seen the black dog?

Dog – concrete

Love is blind.

Love – abstract

Blind – concrete

Exercise 2

Advice
Education
Intelligence
Importance
Happiness
Confidence
Pride
Anger
Imagination
Loneliness

NUMBER

ARTICLES

An
A
The
No article
A
The
The
No article
An
An

PRONOUNS

PERSONAL PRONOUNS

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

The old gate doesn’t look good.

It doesn’t look good.

Tom and Mary went to school.

They went to school.

The dog bit the doctor and the chief.

It bit them.

Moses runs faster than Rebecca.

He runs faster than Rebecca.

Phiona and Ruth played doubles.

They played doubles.

Christine is clever.

She is clever.

I brought the dress.

I brought it.

Antony drove Junet and me.

Anthony drove us.

POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS

Her
Your
Mine
Theirs
Yours
Her
Their
Our
His
Your
Its
His

REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS

Ourselves
Themselves
Yourself
Itself
Myself, myself
Itself
Himself
Yourselves
Themselves
Herself

PHRASES

NOUN PHRASES

Did you see the tall man?
He called all the stubborn students.
He wishes to see the president.
He bought her a beautiful white blouse.
An horse prefers living in dark stables.
It is disgraceful to write such rubbish.
The people’s president is in Mombasa.
The girl in blue skirt is my sister.
The soldiers are true heroes.
My best friend is Teris.

WRITING FOR FORM 1

SPELLING

SPELLING RULES

The following rules will help you spell words correctly.

Rule 1: “I before E except after C”;

achieve, believe, bier, brief, hygiene, grief, thief, friend, grieve, chief, fiend, patience, pierce, priest
ceiling, conceive, deceive, perceive, receipt, receive, deceit, conceit

Exceptions

neighbor, freight, beige, sleigh, weight, vein, and weigh and there are many exceptions to the rule: either, neither, feint, foreign, forfeit, height, leisure, weird, seize, and seizure.

Rule 2: “Dropping Final E”

When adding an ending to a word that ends with a silent e, drop the final e if the ending begins with a vowel:

advancing
surprising

However, if the ending begins with a consonant, keep the final e:

advancement
likeness

(However, if the silent e is preceded by another vowel, drop the e when adding any ending: argument, argued, truly.)

Exceptions: to avoid confusion and mispronunciation, the final e is kept in words such as mileage and words where the final e is preceded by a soft g or c: changeable, courageous, manageable, management, noticeable. (The word management, for example, without that e after the g, would be pronounced with a hard g sound.)

Rule 3: “Dropping Final Y”

When adding an ending to a word that ends with y, change the y to i when it is preceded by a consonant.

supply becomes supplies
worry becomes worried
merry becomes merrier

This does not apply to the ending -ing, however.

crying
studying

Nor does it apply when the final y is preceded by a vowel.

obeyed
saying

Rule 4: “Doubling Final Consonants”

When adding an ending to a word that ends in a consonant, we double that consonant in many situations. First, we have to determine the number of syllables in the word.

Double the final consonant before adding an ending that begins with a vowel when the last syllable of the word is accented and that syllable ends in a single vowel followed by a single consonant.

submit is accented on the last syllable and the final consonant is preceded by a vowel, so we double the t before adding, for instance, an -ing or -ed: submitting, submitted.
flap contains only one syllable which means that it is always accented. Again, the last consonant is preceded by a vowel, so we double it before adding, for instance, an -ing or -ed: flapping, flapped. This rule does not apply to verbs that end with “x,” “w,” “v,” and “y,” consonants that cannot be doubled (such as “box” [boxing] and “snow” [snowing]).
open contains two syllables and the last syllable is preceded by a single vowel, but the accent falls on the first syllable, not the last syllable, so we don’t double the n before adding an ending: opening, opened.
refer contains two syllables and the accent falls on the last syllable and a single vowel precedes the final consonant, so we will double the r before adding an ending, as in referring, referral. The same would apply to begin, as in beginner, beginning.
relent contains two syllables, but the final consonant is preceded by another consonant, not a vowel, so we do not double the t before adding an ending: relented, relenting.
deal looks like flap (above), but the syllable ends in a consonant preceded not by a single vowel, but by two vowels, so we do not double the final l as in dealer and dealing. The same would apply, then, to despair: despairing, despaired.

PUNCTUATION

CAPITALIZATION

Capitalization Rules

Capitalization is the writing of a word with its first letter in uppercase and the remaining letters in lowercase.

Capitalize the first word of a document and the first word after a final punctuation mark (full stop, question mark, exclamation mark).

Capitalize proper nouns—and adjectives derived from proper nouns.

Examples:
he is Brian’s father

In Juja

Capitalization Checklist

Brand names
Companies
Days of the week and months of the year
Holidays
Institutions
the University of Nairobi
Natural and artificial landmarks
the Fourteen Fall, the Mount Kenya
Religions and names of deities
Note: Capitalize the Bible (but biblical). Do not capitalize heaven, hell, the devil, satanic.
Special occasions
the Olympic Games, the Cannes Film Festival
Streets and roads

Capitalize specific geographical regions. Do not capitalize points of the compass.

FINAL PUNCTUATION MARKS

The Period, Full Stop or Point

The period (known as a full stop) is probably the simplest of the punctuation marks to use. You use it like a knife to cut the sentences to the required length.
Generally, you can break up the sentences using the full stop at the end of a logical and complete thought that looks and sounds right to you.

Mark the end of a sentence which is not a question or an exclamation

Examples

Kisumu is the third largest city in kenya.
I am writing you soon.

Indicate an abbreviation

Examples

I will arrive between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m.
We are coming on Fri., Jan. 4.

Period after a single word

Sometimes a single word can form the sentence. In this case you place a fullstop after the word as you would in any other sentence. This is often the case when the subject is understood as in a greeting or a command.

Examples

“come.”
“Stop.”

Periods in numbers

Numbers use periods in English to separate the whole number from the decimal. A period used in a number is also called a “decimal point” and it is read “point” unless it refers to money.

Examples

Sh. 10.50 is its price.
Her weight is 60.60

The Exclamation Mark

The exclamation mark is used to express astonishment, or surprise, or to emphasise a comment or short, sharp phrase. In professional or everyday writing, exclamation marks are used sparingly if at all.

Examples

Help! Help!
That’s unbelievable!
Get out!
Look out!

You can also use exclamation marks to mark a phrase as humourous, ironic or sarcastic.

Examples

What a lovely day! (when it obviously is not a lovely day)
That was clever! (when someone has done something stupid)

The Question Mark

Use the question mark at the end of all direct questions.

Examples

What is your name?
Do you speak Italian?
You’re spanish, aren’t you?

Do not use a question mark for reported questions

Examples

He asked me what my name was.
She asked if I was Spanish.
Ask them where they are going.

The Comma

Use comma to separate phrases, words, or clauses in lists

Ø A series of independent clauses (sentences)

Example

I cried to her, she asked me to stop crying, and afterwards she took me out for lunch..

Ø A series of nouns

Examples

Don’t forget to buy milk, ice cream, and fish.
Gregory, David, and Christine arrived in time.

Ø A series of adjectives

A list of adjectives usually requires commas. However, if an adjective is modifying another adjective you do not separate them with a comma (sentence 3).

Examples

She was young, beautiful, kind, and intelligent.
The house we visited was dark, dreary, and run-down.

Ø A series of verbs

Examples

Tony ran towards me, fell, yelled, and fainted.
The boy leapt, spun, twisted, and dove into the water.

Ø A series of phrases

Examples

The car smashed into the wall, flipped onto its roof, slid along the road, and finally stopped against a tree.
The dog leapt into the air, snatched the Frisbee in its mouth, landed, and ran off into the forest.

More Uses

1. Enclosing details

Use a comma to enclose non-defining relative clauses and other non-essential details and comments. The comma is placed on either side of the insertion.

Examples

China, one of the most powerful nations on Earth, has a huge population.
Goats, unlike cows, do not like grass.

2. Participial phrases

Examples

Hearing the sad news, Fred fainted.
Walking home from school, I met my old friend.

3. Tag questions

Examples

She hates you, doesn’t she?
We have no business together, have we?

STUDY WRITING

MAKING NOTES

How to Make Notes

The following tips will come in handy when making notes:

Read the material carefully and thoroughly.
Underline the key sentences as you read. This will help in forming the title.
Make a rough note of the main points in a logical sequence.
Write the final notes.

You should have in mind that a note:

Should be short and to the point.
Contain all the important and relevant information.
Should have information systematically divided and subdivided.
Should have a short title. Avoid long sentences as titles.
Must be written in points only.

Notes Template

TITLE …………………….

………………………………………….
…………………………………………
………………………………………..
………………………………………..

TAKING NOTES

How to Take Notes

There is no one “right” way to take notes. Very different approaches can be equally effective, depending on the context.
The key thing is to ensure that you remain actively engaged with the material whilst taking notes.
If all you do is copy down what you hear or read, then you won’t actually be learning anything at all. You may not even understand your notes when you come back to review them later!
Do the following:
Be concise
be as neat as possible
use headings and numbered points
use abbreviations/shorthand
Leave spaces in between your notes in case of any additions.
Avoid the following:

copying out sentences or passages verbatim (i.e. word for word)
copying a mass of factual information

After the lesson, rewrite the notes in a more organized way adding details left out.

CREATIVE WRITING

POEMS

Poem Writing Tips

There are a few things to think about before you start writing your poem. The following tips on writing poems will help you get started.

Know your purpose. Know why you are writing a poem and what you want it to do.
Pick a subject. Poems can be written about any topic under the sun.
Avoid clichés. These are sayings that have been overused, like busy as a bee, or blind as a bat.
Use imagery. Paint with your words and use concrete words that appeal to the senses. Abstract words cannot give the reader a good picture of what you are trying to say.
Use similes and metaphors. Similes compare two things, like “you are sweet as honey” and usually use the word “like” or “as.” Metaphors state that one thing is another thing, like “you are a pig.” Things being compared in a metaphor have at least one thing in common but are very different in other ways.
You can also consider using rhyme, alliteration, consonance, etc

IMAGINATIVE COMPOSITIONS

Elements of Imaginative Compositions

In order to write a good story, use these important elements:

a) Characters: Refers to those who act in the story. They should be people, animals or objects that think and talk.
b) Setting: Describes time and place of the story for example: classroom, lakeside, town etc.
c) Plot: Refers to the series of actions that the characters go through as they try to solve a problem. In the plot, we have the:

Introduction: This is usually short. It presents the character, the situation or the problem, and part of the setting.
Development: This simply shows how the situation affects the characters and what they do to try and solve the problem.
Conclusion: This shows the solution of a problem. It is usually short. It may lead to a happy, sad or surprise ending.

When writing a story, remember to organise the flow of your events so that the reader’s interest is maintained throughout the story. The element of suspense should also be created and maintained so that the reader will want to find out what is most likely to happen in your story.

You can create suspense by:

Including mystery
Changing the scene
Creating unexpected events
Including dialogue
Giving surprise ending
Moving from one character to another

PERSONAL WRITING

Diaries
A diary is a written record of things that happen each day.
It is also a record of things you plan to do per day and the time you plan to do so.
A diary is also the book in which you write down things that happen to you on daily basis.

Diaries to Record what is planned to be done

Here, we record things we plan to do.
Let us look at the sample below:

MY DIARY

DAY	DATE	TIME	EVENT
Saturday	23^rd April, 2015	8.00 am 8.15 am 8.30 am 8.40-10.30 10.35am – 12.30pm 1.00 pm 2.00 pm 7.30 pm	Waking up Taking shower Breakfast Reading History Going for skating Lunch Reading the Bible Supper
Sunday	24^th April, 2015	7.00 am 8.00 am 11.00 am 1.00 pm 2.30 pm 4.00 pm 6.00 pm 8.00 pm	Breakfast Attending mass Reading CRE(St Luke’s Gospel) Taking lunch Playing video games Watching movies Writing notes Supper
Monday	25^th April, 2015	7.30 am 8.00 am 8.30 am 9.30am 11.30 am 12.30 pm 3.00 pm 5.00 pm 8.30 pm	Waking Shower Breakfast Washing clothes Playing video games Lunch Reading Chemistry Watching movies Supper

Diaries for Recording the Daily Observation

MY DIARY

Calendar

April, 2016

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thur Frid Sat

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31

ENTRY

Dear Diary,

Today, I started writing my first poem. I thought of what to write and by lunch time, an idea crossed my mind. I decided to write about corruption. I entitled it “Another Bond – Eurobond”. I had a lot to write about it. As I write now, my dear, I have completed writing it. Hopefully, I will write another one before the week ends. I will inform you about it once that is done. Bye

ADDRESSES
An address is a superscription of a letter directing who the letter is meant to reach.
The writer also writes their address in the letter to allow for the reply.
An address is written on an envelop, letter, or package.

Addresses in Letters

Address format vary according to the type of letter written.
Even though they are written differently, there are common features such as:
The post office box number
The postcode
The street, road, or building where the post office is located
The city or town
The country
There are two formats of writing addresses:
Block format; and
Indented format

Block Format

Address written in a block.
Paragraphs also blocked.
An example is

KILIMAMBOGO FOOD AND BEVERAGE,

P.O. BOX 555-35400,

KILIMAMBOGO – KENYA.

Indented Format

Written on a slant.
The paragraphs in the letter are also indented.
An example is:

KILIMAMBOGO FOOD AND BEVERAGES,

P.O. BOX 555-35400,

KILIMAMBOGO – KENYA.

Exercise

Write each of the addresses below as they would appear on your envelope:

Migori Polytechnic-40400- P.O. Box 654- The Principal-Kenya- Migori
Kenya Labour-The Director-30210- P.O. Box 90100- Kenya- Nairobi

PACKING LISTS
At times you find yourself forgetting something when packing for a trip.
It is important to get organized. Writing a packing list will be key in ensuring no item intended to be carried during a trip is forgotten.
A packing list is therefore a checklist for what to bring along with them.
To make the most out of your trip you have to pack the right items.
What you pack will highly depend on factors such as:
The place you are visiting. If for example, you are visiting a place where it is hot, there will be no need of carrying heavy clothes.
Means of transport. There is a limit to what one should carry depending on the weight.
Number of days.
The reason for visiting. For example if going on a camp, you need carry camping gear.

How to Start

Get a piece of paper and a pen and write “PACKING LIST”. This forms part of the title. The other part is the place to visit.
Write number of days. It is advisable to do this as it will help you tell how many clothes you will need. It might not sound good to carry only two underpants, for example, if the trip will last a week.
Draw a table with columns containing item category, item, quantity, and description. The various item categories are:
Entertainment list, for example, CDs, Radio, etc.
Clothing List, for example, underpants, skirts, etc.
Camping Gear, for example, sleeping bag,
Toiletries, for example, toothpaste, soap, etc.
In that table fill all the items and all its columns appropriately.

Sample Packing List

TRIP TO MACHAKOS PACKING LIST

DAYS: 3 Days

NO.	ITEM CATEGORY	ITEM	QUANTITY	DESCRIPTION
1.	CLOTHING LIST	Trousers Shirts Underpants	3 3 4	Purple one 2 white ones The pink one The one printed “Newyork”. The newly bought one. The black, yellow, red and indigo ones.
2.	ENTERTAINMENT LIST	CDs Laptop Earphone	3 1 1	Nigerian movies The one recently bought. Purple one.
3.	TOILETRIES	Bathing soap Washing soap Toothpaste	1-250gm ½ bar 50 gm	Fa Bathing soap. Jamaa Colgate
4.	DRINKS	Afya Soda	2-500 ml 2-500 ml	Guava flavored. Fanta

Exercise

You are Manchester City Football club Player. During one of the summer holidays, your club go for a 5 day camp to a very hot place in United Arab Emirates. Here, no beddings are provided. Write a packing list of all the items you would carry with you to this trip.

SOCIAL WRITING

Informal Letters

Usually written to people known to people you know fairly well. These can be friends and relatives.
Also referred to as friendly letters.
They are meant to:
Give news;
Request information;
Congratulate people;
Ask questions; or
Give advice.

How to Write Informal Letters

An informal letter has such elements as:
Sender’s address. Write your address here. Example,

MAALIK AHMED

P.O. BOX 6454-90800

KITALE

Date when the letter is written.
Example,

Dear Timothy,

Write the body of the text. Include greetings, news, other questions, etc.
Sign of with your name. example,

See you soon,

Denis

The table that follows is of a format of an informal letter blended with explanations:

The Format	Explanation
Address	At the top right hand corner, write your address. For example, Keicy Kimito P.O. Box 567 RONGO
Date	Below the writer’s address, is the date. For example, 13^th December, 2015
Salutation	Written on the left hand side of the letter. Start with: · Dear ………. , e.g. Dear Drinkwater, · Dearest………, or My Dear……., ( for close friends and relatives) Example, Dearest Drinkwater, Or My Dear Drinkwater,
Opening Paragraph	You may ask about the recipient’s health. For example, · How is your family? · How are you Njuguna? I hope that you and your family are in the pink. · I am fine and I hope you are as fit as a fiddle.
Content Paragraphs	This is where: · You mention your main reason for writing (paragraph 2) · Give the news · Ask questions You can start with: · I am writing this letter to…
Closing Paragraph	It is proper to inform your recipient that you are ending the letter. Some phrases you can use are: · Do write me soon. · Please convey my warm regards to… · Allow me to pen off here. · Hope to receive a reply from you. · Bye/ Goodbye
Closing	Sign off with your name. you can sign off using: · Your loving friend, · Yours lovingly, · Yours affectionately, · Your nephew, · Yours sincerely, · Keep in touch, Your name should follow. Your first name is preferred.

The Language of Informal Letters

The language used is simple as well as friendly.
You can use contractions such as I’m, won’t, you’re, etc.

Sample Friendly Letter

Brigit Annabel

P.O BOX 454—40400

SUNA- MIGORI

5^TH September, 2015

Dear James,

Hi James! Hope you are fine back there in Rongo. My sister and I are very much fine.

I’m just writing to let you know I quit my old job and found something new in Migori town.

I was really fed up with working at Banana Academy as there was little work enough to challenge me anymore. You know me; if there is no enough, I get bored too easily and have to find something new.

I’m now teaching at Sunsun in Migori and the kind of work I do suits me to the ground. I teach two candidate classes. The work here is not only challenging, but it is rewarding as well. I know you will find it hard to believe… but you just have to.

That is not all for now! I’m getting married in a couple of weeks. He is working in the neighbouring school. So many promises I hope he will fulfill he has not stopped to give. I also find him the best among the many. When the time comes I believe you will come and celebrate with us.

Keep in touch,

Brigit

Exercise

You have recently joined another school. Write a letter to your friend. In your letter

Explain why you changed school
Describe your new school
Tell him/her your other news

INSTITUTIONAL WRITING

PUBLIC NOTICES
A public notice is a notice given to provide information for the public that is widespread in a wide geographical area via media.
They are mostly placed in newspapers by businesses, county and national government, and individuals.
They include:
Unclaimed property
Wanted person
Dangerous person
Government contracts
Aunction
Foreclosures, etc.

Public Notice Format

The parts of a public notice include among others:

Name of the organization/institution. Letterhead is preferred.
Then write/type “PUBLIC NOTICE”.

The topic/theme/subject. Let the public know what you want to inform them about.

Date, time, and venue(if need be).
Picture to reinforce the message.
Name of the writer of the notice and the job position(and signature, for the more formal ones)

Sample Public Notice

MAJI MACHAFU LANDS DEALERS COMPANY

(P.O. Box 123-00200 Nanyuki, Email: majchaf@hotmail.com, Mobile: 0715234343)

PUBLIC NOTICE

Notice is hearby given that son of Amos Kinyanjui resident of Plot(5) located opposite Kadika Plaza, Kilgoris Estate has agreed to sell the plot mentioned in the schedule hereto dated 5^th June, 2015.

All persons claiming interest in the land or any part thereof by any way are hearby required to bring their complaints at our Mukomi office within 10 days from the date hearof, failing which the sale will be completed.

Yours Sincerely

[sign]

Fredrick Wainaina

SALES MANAGER

In the notice above, a picture of the plot can be included.

INVENTORIES
An inventory is a complete list of items such as equipment,property, goods in stock, or even the contents of a particular place.
A list of things possessed by a person or company.
It is a good idea to keep the records of items owned by a person or company.
An inventory will have the following basic elements:

Name of the institution. Name of the person, if individually possessed.
Date when the records are taken.
Item number
Item category
Item
Quantity of items
Description of the item
Approximate value of the item
The name and designation of the person keeping the records.

Here is a sample inventory.

KILIMANJARO MIXED DAY AND BOARDING HIGH SCHOOL

INVENTORY OF THE EQUIPMENT AS AT 24^TH MARCH, 2016

NO.

ITEM CATEGORY

LABORATORY EQUIPMENT

ELECTRONICS

FURNITURE

GAMES EQUIPMENT

ITEM

Test tubes

Microscopes

Computers

Radios

Printers

Teachers’ tables

Staffroom Chairs

Classroom chairs

Students’ Lockers

Office Cupboards

Beds

Balls

Volley ball nets

QUANTITY

400

500

300

DESCRIPTION

Good condition

Damaged

New ones

Damaged

Not working

New ones

Damaged

Good Condition

Newly Bought ones

Good Condition

Broken

Good condition

New Ones

Good Condition

Punctured

Good Condition

APPROXIMATE VALUE IN KSH.

1200

9800

72 000

12 000

6 800

68 700

14 600

48 000

110 000

200 000

44 500

250 000

60 000

12 000

600 000

3 000

6 000

RECORDS KEPT BY: Jeniffer Kwamboka

sign

School Store Keeper

Exercise

You are St. Monica’s Mission Hospital Resource Manager. At this hospital, records of items in it are kept at the end of every August. Write the inventory of all the items here.

By Editorial Team

The Education News Hub Editorial Team is made up of vibrant and experienced editors. Brian Yano is an accomplished longtime Digital Media Journalist at Educationnewshub.co.ke with a great passion for research and fact-checking. He delivers engaging content across diverse topics, with a special interest in Education matters. On her part, Yvonne Kemunto is a journalist, dedicated to unraveling stories that matter. With a keen eye for detail and a passion for storytelling, she brings a fresh perspective to the world of media. Her commitment to detail and excellence shines through in every piece she crafts. Our newest member of the Editorial Team is Jennifer Mumbo. She is a Seasoned Multimedia Journalist with several years' experience; dating back to 2018. Jennifer has a passion for education, sports, tech, politics and entertainment. You can reach the editors at educationnewshub3@gmail.com.

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HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH NOTES

Download more free unlimited English resources here: Educationnewshub.co.ke

READING SKILLS

Reasons for using a dictionary

Finding words quickly

Finding the right meaning of an English word

Finding the right spelling

The following rules will help you spell words correctly.

Rule 1: “I before E except after C”;

Rule 2: “Dropping Final E”

Rule 3: “Dropping Final Y”

Rule 4: “Doubling Final Consonants”

PUNCTUATION

CAPITALIZATION

Capitalization Rules

FINAL PUNCTUATION MARKS

The Period, Full Stop or Point

Mark the end of a sentence which is not a question or an exclamation

Examples

Indicate an abbreviation

Examples

Period after a single word

Examples

Periods in numbers

Examples

The Exclamation Mark

Examples

Examples

The Question Mark

Examples

Examples

The Comma

Use comma to separate phrases, words, or clauses in lists

Ø A series of independent clauses (sentences)

Example

Ø A series of nouns

Examples

Ø A series of adjectives

Examples

Ø A series of verbs

Examples

Ø A series of phrases

Examples

More Uses

1. Enclosing details

Examples

2. Participial phrases

Examples

3. Tag questions

Examples

How to Take Notes

Poem Writing Tips

Elements of Imaginative Compositions

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