How to use Adverbs in English ?

Manner Adverbs

Adverb is used in sentences to show how an action (verb) is performed. These adverbs are called manner adverbs and they usually end in –ly.

•    She speaks German fluently.
•    He finished the task perfectly.
•    The kids did their work cheerfully.

These adverbs tell us more about the verbs or actions. ‘She speaks German fluently’ tells us more about the verb ‘speak’. It tells us that the girl speaks German ‘fluently’.

Degree Adverbs

Degree adverbs modify the adjectives and verbs.

•    He looked extremely tired.
•    She really likes him.
•    He is fairly good at sketching.

In the above examples, ‘tired’ and ‘good’ are adjectives and they are modified by adding degree adverbs like ‘extremely’ and ‘fairly’.

Adverbs of place, time and manner

These adverbs add more information about place, time and adverbs of manner.

•    Her house is behind the school.
•    He lives nearby the central park.
•    Go backwards.

‘Behind’, ‘nearby’ and ‘backwards’ are adverbs of place.

•    He will come tomorrow.
•    The magazine comes weekly.
•    Now I will work on this project.
‘Tomorrow’, ‘weekly’ and ‘now’ are adverbs of time.

The Rules

Most of the adverbs are formed by adding –ly to the adjective in the end- fondly, happily, foolishly, kindly, quietly.

Those adjectives that end in –ic end in –ally when we form adverbs- tragic-tragically, comic-comically, basic-basically.

English lessons for students

Learning and excelling in English has become very important in today’s world. Intermediate to expert English skills are required in almost every arena these days. As a result, almost every school has included English in their curriculum today. Students are also getting proactive and are making extra efforts to learn the English language. For this, they do not only depend on their school curriculum but also take the help of the online resources that are available to them. 

Usually online English Lessons are different from textbook lessons in their approach. But what every English curriculum must include, irrespective of whether they are being taught in school or in an online medium, are comprehensive grammar chapters, literature section with short stories, poetry and plays and some interactive sections where students can apply their knowledge and measure their improvement. The grammar is perhaps the most important section among these and must be designed in a manner that is user friendly as well as interesting for the students to learn. 

There is also a need to put some emphasis on developing lessons that would enhance spoken and written English. Both speaking and writing English are very important, though people tend to give much more importance to speaking English. There’s a need to develop innovative sections on both with out of the box thinking that would not only put stress on learning but also make learning enjoyable.

Types of Nouns

A noun is a word which is used to name a person, animal, place, thing and idea. They are the names we give to everything around us. Every particular name used to define something is a noun. They are also a part of speech. For example:  Canada, iPhone, Harry, doctor, English, etc. There are many different types of nouns. They are as follows:  

Proper Nouns

They represent the names of specific persons, places, or things and therefore are always written with a capital letter. It is the opposite of a common noun. For example: February, Montreal, Diwali, Peru, etc.

Common Nouns

It refers to a person, place, or thing in a general sense and therefore need not be capitalized. It is written with a capital letter only when it begins a sentence. It is the opposite of a proper noun. For example: house, cow, refrigerator, citizen, etc.

Concrete Nouns

It names anything or anyone that can be sensed through physical senses: touch, sight, taste, hearing, or smell. It is the opposite of an abstract noun. For example: cat, music, glass, perfume, juice, etc.

Abstract Nouns

It names anything which cannot be sensed through your five physical senses. It is the opposite of a concrete noun.  For example:  adulthood, depression, happiness, justice, admiration, etc.

Countable Nouns

These are those nouns that have both singular and plural forms. They can be counted either relatively or completely, and form plurals to associate with plural verbs in a sentence. Countable nouns are the opposite of non-countable nouns and collective nouns. For example: books, pen, trees, etc.

Non-Countable Nouns

These are nouns that cannot be counted and have only a singular form.  Non-countable nouns are similar to collective nouns, and are the opposite of countable nouns. For example: furniture, oxygen, gravel, etc.

Collective Nouns

A collective noun is a noun naming a group of things, animals, or persons. You could count the individual members of the group, but you usually think of the group as a whole is generally as one unit. A collective noun is similar to a non-countable noun, and is roughly the opposite of a countable noun. For example: class, crowd, jury, flock, herd, pack, etc.

Use of Effect and Affect in English

Affect or Effect is one pair of homophone that is confused by maximum number of people. The words are pronounced almost similarly and there is only slight difference in their meanings. We often replace ‘e’ with an ‘a’ and vice versa. 

‘Effect’ as a noun and ‘affect’ as a verb

We usually make mistakes while using these words and replace one in place of the other because we simply don’t know or forget that ‘effect’ is mostly used as a noun and ‘affect’ is used as a verb. Let us understand the difference between the two through examples:

• The drought had disastrous effects on paddy fields.
• The sound effects of the movie were excellent.
• Malnutrition affects most of the children in developing countries.
• The poor income of Rita’s father affected his well-being.

In the first example, ‘drought had disastrous effects’. ‘Effect’ word has a negative connotation in the sentence. In the second example, ‘effect’ has a positive connotation and the meaning is also different. But in both the cases, it is used as a noun.

Differences in meanings 

‘Effect’ means ‘the result of something’ and ‘affect’ means ‘to have influence on someone or something’.

What are the effects of rain water harvesting?
The medicine doesn’t have any side effects.
Malaria had affected everyone in the region.
The movie affected me to a great extent. 

In the third example, ‘affect’ verb has a negative connotation. In the fourth one, it has a positive connotation. It means that the movie deeply influenced or moved me.

Nouns and its kinds

Noun is the name of a person, place, thing, idea or event. Singular nouns can be made plural by adding ‘s’ or ‘es’ at the end of the noun. But there are some nouns which need to be modified. For example, the plural of the noun ‘city’ is ‘cities’. Here we replaced ‘y’ and added ‘ies’ in the end. 

Some nouns change entirely when we make plural. For example, mouse become mice, ox becomes oxen.

Kinds of Noun. Below are the list of nouns:

Common Nouns are general names of person, thing or place.

·         Chair

·         Doctor

·         Coffee

·         Sister

·         Beach

Proper nouns are specific names of person, thing or place. A proper noun always starts with a capital letter. 

·         Rahul

·         Goa

·         Apple Macbook

·         Subway (fast food brand)

·         Nisha

Collective noun is a word used for collective group of people or things. 

·         Team

·         Poultry

·         Luggage

·         Troop

·         Herd

·         Colony 

Abstract noun is the name of an idea, concept or event.

·         Courage

·         Honesty

·         Freedom

·         Love

·         Boredom

·         Pride

  

Countable nouns are the ones that can be counted. Below are the singular nouns which can be made plural by adding ‘s’.

 

·         Dog

·         Chair

·         Apple

·         Spoon

·         Ring

Uncountable nouns are the ones that cannot be counted.

·         Salt

·         Hair

·         Pride

·         Water

·         Air

Compound noun is one that is comprised of two words.

·         Mother-in-law

·         Bed room

·         Swimming pool

·         Landlady

·         Armchair