Grammar - Pronouns

II.Possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives

Both possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives show belonging.
Possessive pronouns are not followed by nouns in sentences.
Examples
a. The toys are mine.
b. The shoes are theirs.
Possessive adjectives are followed by nouns in sentences.
Examples
a. Those are her books.
b. They were my classmates.

Below are more examples.
Possessive pronouns Possessive adjectives
mine my
ours our
yours your
theirs their
his his
hers her

its


Pronouns
I.Personal Pronouns
Personal pronouns are used in the place of names of people or animals.
Names Personal pronouns
Azmil He
Betty She
Adnan and Faridah They
Gruff, the cat It
Personal pronouns can be subject or object in a sentence.
Examples
a. Sally visited Halim last week. = She visited him last week.
(subject) (object)
b. Nazri read to Janet yesterday. = He read to her yesterday.
(subject) (object)

The table below gives more examples.
Subject Object
I saw her dancing
We spoke to them last night
You will see him later
They are taking to us now
He has paid me already
She fed it yesterday
It can save her now


III.Reflexive Pronouns
Reflexive pronouns are used to show that the action (verb) in the sentence affects the person doing the action.
Examples
1. She helped herself to some food.
2. He taught himself how to read.
3. They are laughing among themselves.

The table below gives you more examples of reflexive pronouns.
Personal pronouns Reflexive pronouns
I myself
we ourselves
you (singular) yourself
you (plural) yourselves
they themselves
he himself
she herself
it itself
Remember: There are no such words like "hisself" and "theirselves".








IV.Relative pronouns
Relative pronouns are used to join sentences.
Different relative pronouns are used for people, animals and things.
For people
who
Pandian is the boy who won the
first prize.
whose
Jill is the girl whose book was
stolen.
whom
The woman whom Fred saved is
my aunt.
For animals and things
which
That is the cat which stole the
fish.
that
This is the horse that won the
race.


Wh-Questions
The following words are used to ask questions.
1. Who, whom, and whose are used for people.
Examples
a. To whom must I send this letter?
b. Who won the first prize in the contest?
c. Whose book was found in the dustbin?
2. What and which are used for people and things.
Examples
a. What is she doing there?
b. Which chair is broken?
c. What were the cats playing with?
3. Why is used to ask for reasons.
Examples
a. Why did Henry cry?
b. Why does she like to sleep in the afternoon?
4. How is used to ask the way in which something is done. It can also be used to ask
about amount and number.
Examples
a. How do you make a kite?
b. How much water does she need?
c. How many people will be here tomorrow?
5. Where is used to ask about places.
Examples
a. Where are they meeting?
b. Where is the game going to be held?
6. When is used to ask about time.
Examples
a. When does the school holiday start?
b. When will your father come?


Tenses
We uses different tenses to show when an action happens.
I.The Simple Present Tense
1.The simple present tense take two verb forms.
with s for singular subject (He, She, It, Daud) except I and You
without s for plural subjects (We, They, Joe and Laili) and also I and You
Examples
He
She
It
Farid
enjoys
likes
music.

I
You
We
They
Zalia and
Latifah
enjoys
like
More examples:
a. He enjoys collecting stamps. f. You run fast.
b. She sings in the band. g. We watch television at night.
c. Wendy writes very neatly. h. They sell vegetables at the market.
d. The dog barks at cats.

i. Mariam and Sabariah carry a lot of books to
school.
e. I like to eat ice cream.

The forms of the verb "to be" in the simple present tense.
Read the table below.
I am
hungry.
tired.
clever.

You
We
They
Sam and
Badrul
are
He
She
It
Ghazali
is
We use:
am only for I
is for all singular subjects (he, she, it, Farid) except you
are for the singular subject you and for all plural subjects (we, they, you, Samy and Jasmine)
Examples
a. I am hungry.
Daud is the tallest boy in
class.
She is ten years old. It is a very greedy cat.
e. They are late for class.
You are lucky to win the
first prize.
We are all happy to meet
you.
Chee Soon and
Marlina are friends.

The form of the verb "have" in the Simple Present Tense.
Read the table below.
I
You
We
They
Simrit and Jason
have
some food.
He
She
It
Edward
has
We use:
have with plural subjects (we, they, you, Sunny and Sumitha) and also for the
singular subjects I and You
has with singular subjects (he, she, it, Fred)
Examples
a. I have some interesting storybooks.
b. You have a letter from your pen pal.
c. They have a Bahasa Malaysia test on Tuesday.
d. Salina and Ramli have a new car.

e. He has three cats and a goldfish.
f. She has the newest toys.
g. It has two leaves.
h. Gary has a lot of coins from England.
The forms of the verb "do" in the simple present tense
Read the table below.
IYou
We
They
Khalid
and
Fauzi
do
the
exercises.

He
She
It
Danny
does
We use:
do with plural subjects (we, they, you, Henry and Devan) and also for the singular subjects I and you.
does with singular subjects (he, she, it, Fred)
Examples
a. I do not like eating mangoes.
b. You do go to the cinema often.
c. We do all our homework in the afternoon.
d. They do all the packing in the factory.
e. Tahir and his uncle do not want to go for the party.

f. She does her best to please her father.
g. She does not want to play football.
h. It does not like to eat fish.
i. James does his exercises in the morning.
2. We use the simple present tense:
for actions that take place at the time whesn we are talking about them
Examples
a. Jalil is in his office.
b. My brother stays with our uncle in Ipoh.
c. I live at No. 2 Jalan Nilam.
to show a habit or some actions we repeat
Examples
d. I wash my face every night.
e. He goes to school by bus.
f. We play football on Saturdays.
to show a fact or a truth
Examples
g. The sun rises in the east.
h. The young of mammals drink milk.
to show a future happening or action
Examples
i. He leaves for Perlis tomorrow.
j. We hope to win the competition.
k. The campaign starts next week.
when we give instructions, directions and commands
Examples
l. Take the right turn after the post office.
m. Cut the paper into two.


IV.The Past Continuous Tense
1. The form of the Past Continuous Tense is as follows:
verb "to be" + verb + ing
(was/were)
Examples
a. was eating
c. were
dreaming
b. was rising
d. were
climbing
Read the table below.
I
He
She
It
Norman
was sleeping
was eating
at ten o'clock last night.
You
We
They
The Children
were
sleeping
were eating
2. We use the Past Continuous Tense to show:
that two past actions were happening at the same time
Examples
a. I was reading while she was talking to Elaine.
b. We were studying while Edwin was listening to the radio.
c. He was cooking while they were searching for their keys.
d. The cow was mooing while the sheep was bleating.
that the action happened while another was still going ond
Examples
e. I was reading when she fell down.
f. He was giving her work when I came into the office.
g. They were playing when their mother called them in.
h. Ramli was cutting the bread when Zakian screamed.
that something was a past habit

Examples
i. We were always quarrelling when we were young.
j. He was always playing football when they stayed in Ipoh.
k. They were often missing breakfast because they got up late.
l. Rani was always biting her nails when she was a teenager.
a past action that happened over a period of time
Examples
a. I was washing my clothes for two hours this morning.
b. They were painting the house all day yesterday.
c. Sarah was cleaning the kitchen the whole morning.
d. The dog was barking the whole night long.
LIST OF ADVERBS ACCORDING TO THE DEGREES OF COMPARISON
Simple Present Simple Past Continuous Past Participle Form
add
agree
allow
am/is
arrange
arrive
added
agreed
allowed
was
arranged
arrived
adding
agreeing
allowing
being
arranging
arriving
added
agreed
allowed
been
arranged
arrived
are
bake
bark
bathe
bear
beat
become
begin
bite
blow
breathe
break
bring
build
burst
buy
care
carry
catch
cause
change
clap
close
come
complete
copy
cost
cry
cut
dance
decorate
die
were
baked
barked
bathed
bore
beat
became
began
bit
blew
breathed
broke
brought
built
burst
bought
cared
carried
caught
caused
changed
clapped
closed
came
completed
copied
cost
cried
cut
danced
decorate
died
being
baking
barking
bathing
bearing
beating
becoming
beginning
biting
blowing
breathing
breaking
bringing
building
bursting
buying
caring
carrying
catching
causing
changing
clapping
closing
coming
completing
copying
cost
crying
cutting
dancing
decorating
dying
been
baked
barked
bathed
borne
beaten
become
begun
bitten
blown
breathed
broken
brought
built
burst
bought
cared
carried
caught
caused
changed
clapped
closed
come
completed
copied
cost
cried
cut
danced
decorated
died
divede
deal
dig
do
draw
dream
drink
drive
drop
eat
enter
escape
fall
feed
fight
find
finish
fit
forget
forgive
freeze
get
give
go
grow
hand
hang (something)
hang (someone)
has/have
hear
hide
hit
divided
dealt
dug
did
drew
dreamt
drank
drove
dropped
ate
entered
escaped
fell
fed
fought
found
finished
fitted
forgot
forgave
froze
got
gave
went
grew
handed
hung
hanged
had
heard
hid
hit
dividing
dealing
digging
doing
drawing
dreaming
drinking
driving
dropping
eating
entering
ascaping
falling
feeding
fighting
finding
finishing
fitting
forgetting
forgiving
freezing
getting
giving
going
growing
handing
hanging
hanging
having
hearing
hidding
hitting
divided
dealt
dug
done
drawn
dreamt
drunk
driven
dropped
eaten
entered
escaped
fallen
fed
fought
found
finished
fitted
forgotten
forgiven
frozen
gotten
given
gone
grown
handed
hung
hanged
had
heard
hidden
hit
hold
hope
hurry
hurt
join
keep
kneel
know
laugh
lay
lead
leave
let
lie (down)
lie
live
lose
make
marry
meet
move
pay
put
read
reply
ride
ring
rise
run
say
see
sell
held
hoped
hurried
hurt
joined
kept
knelt
knew
laughed
laid
led
left
let
lay
lied
lived
lost
make
married
met
moved
paid
put
read
replied
rode
rang
rose
ran
said
saw
sold
holding
hoping
hurrying
hurting
joining
keeping
kneeling
knowing
laughing
laying
leading
leaving
letting
lying
lying
living
losing
making
marring
meeting
moving
paying
putting
reading
replying
riding
ringing
rising
running
saying
seeing
selling
held
hoped
hurried
hurt
joined
kept
knelt
known
laughed
laid
led
left
let
lain
lied
lived
lost
made
married
met
moved
paid
put
read
replied
ridden
rung
risen
run
said
seen
sold
send
set
sew
shake
shine
shoot
show
shut
sing
sink
sit
sleep
speak
spend
sent
set
sewed
shook
shone/shined
shot
showed
shut
sang
sank
sat
slept
spoke
spent
sending
setting
sewing
shaking
shining
shooting
showing
shutting
singing
sinking
sitting
sleeping
speaking
spending
sent
set
sewn
shaken
shone/shined
shot
shown
shut
sung
sunk
sat
slept
spoken
spent


II.The Present Continuous Tense
1. The form of the present continuous tense is as follows:
verb "to be" + verb + -ing
(am/are/is)
Examples
am sleeping is walking are writing

Read the table below.
I am
running.
walking.
We
You
They
The teachers
are
He
She
It
Shamsul
is
2. We use the Present Continuous Tense to show that:
something is happening at the time of speaking
Examples
a. He is washing the car now.
b. She is attending a meeting out of town.
c. They are sitting for their test now.
d. I am listening to my favourite singer.
an action is happening over a period of time
Examples
e. Maimunah is writing another book this year.
f. He is training to become a mechanic.
g. We are taking four subjects for our examination.
h. They are studying to become doctors.
an action is planned for the future
Examples
i. I am going to Johor Bahru next week.
j. He is teaching a new class next month.
k. We are meeting my father tonight.
l. They are camping on Gunung Ledang next Thursday.
an action that is often repeated or is a habit
Examples
m. They are always fighting lately.
n. My mother is often talking about you.
o. We are always eating fried rice.
p. I am often telling her the answers.


III.The Simple Paste Tense
1. The forms of the verb in the Simple Past Tense are as follows:
-ed is added to the verb to form the Past Tense
Examples
Simple Present Tense Simple Paste Tense
wash
talk
play
washed
talked
played
the verb is spelt differently from the verb in the Simple Present Tense
Examples
Simple Present Tense Simple Past Tense
break
sleep
do
have
fly
broke
slept
did
had
flew
lay laid
the form of the verb is not changed. It is the same as the verb in the Present Tensese
Examples
Simple Present Tense Simple Past Tense
cut
hit
put
read
cut
hit
put
read
Read the table below.
I
cleaned
the
garden
last week.

You
We
They
broke
the vase
yesterday.
He
She
cut
the
branches.
Rahim
2. We use the Simple Past Tense to show that an action:
happened in the past or no longer happens
Examples
a. They stayed with us last week.
b. He studied in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
c. He studied in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
d. I cut my finger last night.
has been finished or completed
Examples
e. The war ended yesterday.
f. I wrote him a letter last week.
g. He blew all the balloons by himself.
h. We finished all the drinks.