CXC ENGLISH
Hello there! Now that the English A and B CSEC exams are over, we turn our attention to those of you who will be writing the exam in 2017 or 2018. We will be going back to basics to find ways to improve your written work, so make sure you check out your CXC English page every week. To help you with English B, we will spend the “summer” months looking at figures of speech and how to discuss their effectiveness. Read on, and enjoy!
RHETORICAL QUESTIONS TEST YOUR SKILLS
Cover up the information given in “How is your spelling?” and decide whether you need ie or ei in these words (you can check your answers and see how well you did):
Bel—f, r—n , ch—f, n—ghbour, perc—ve, h—r, th—r, rel—f, sover—gn, w— rd, f—nt, shr—k, fr—ght, fr—nd, ach—ve, sk—n, h—ght, soc—ty, r—gn, f—ld, f—gn, l—sure, for—gn, h—fer, p—ce.
Well done if you got all right!
TALKING ABOUT NOUNS
Last week we talked a bit about how to form the plural of nouns, and we gave you some examples of unusual plurals. We saw, too, that verbs and adjectives often have a noun in their family: long (adjective) lengthen (verb) length (noun). If you like playing with words, you can play this game with your friend or, if your teacher agrees, in class.
Suggest an adjective, and challenge your friend to provide the corresponding noun. For example:
It’s fun. Try it!
COMMON NOUNS AND PROPER NOUNS
Common nouns are the names of ordinary things around us: tree, flower, bird, computer, book, glass, happiness, poverty. Common nouns do not begin with a capital letter. Proper nouns are the names of people and places: Sussex Street, New Amsterdam, Savita Parsram, Kevon Saunders, New Diamond Hospital, St Joseph High School, Canje River, France. Notice that proper nouns begin with a capital letter. Some common nouns can be used as part of the name of a person or place, and in that case they are capitalized.
Compare the following and explain why certain words are sometimes capitalized and sometimes not: ● We go to school by bus. I go to Mackenzie High School. ● We took our friend to the hospital when he had his accident. We took him to Georgetown Public Hospital. ● Selwyn swam across the river when he was just twelve. The floating bridge spans the Demerara River.
Can you think of some more examples? RULES FOR ADDING ENDINGS TO VERBS
● Omit the final silent “e” when you add a suffix starting with a vowel: e.g. make—making, ride—riding, hope—hoping, shine—shining, write— writing. If the word has a single vowel and a single consonant, then double the consonant before adding +ing or +ed: e.g. hop—hopping, tap—tapping, rip—ripping, bat—batting, occur—occurring, begin—beginning. ● Simply add the –ing to words ending in –y, but when adding –ed, change the y to i: Marrying/married, copying/copied, hurrying/hurried, partying/partied. ●
Anxious—anxiety Bored—boredom. Pleased—pleasure Amusing—amusement
TEST YOUR SKILLS
Put in a suitable form of the verb in brackets:
1. Doctor, I have this strange dream that keeps (recur). 2. Have you (photocopy) that document for me? 3. We spent a long time (plan) the trip. 4. You have (omit) an important ingredient. 5. We (stop) to watch some men (dig) the road. 6. The man (admit) that he had been (drive) without a licence. 7. Ms. Lee has (refer) your matter to me. 8. It’s (begin) to rain. 9. Mum has gone (shop), so I’m (hurry) to cook lunch. 10. At the auction, the man was (bide) his time before he started (bid) 11. More crimes are (commit) in December than in other months. 12. Tell us what (occur) after the doctor left. 13. (Answers are at the bottom of the page)
ANSWERS Test Your Skills
Recurring, photocopying, planning, omitting, stopped, digging, admitted, driving, referring, beginning, shopping, hurrying, biding, bidding, committed, occurred.