Grammar - I Can’t Climb Trees Anymore

Grammar

Degrees of Comparison

Comparison can be made using the three forms of an adjective.

Adjective is a word that describes or qualifies a noun. It gives more information about a noun.

eg. The tiger is a strong animal. Meena is a girl.

There are three degrees of comparison (1) Positive (2) Comparative (3) Superlative

eg. Kumar is a kind man.

eg. A tsunami is more destructive than a cyclone.

eg. Mount Everest is the highest peak in the world.

Read the following examples

The Positive Degree is used to express or describe a quality.

The Positive Degree of an adjective states the characteristic of the noun.

·        It is a tall building.

·        Mango is sweet to taste.

The Comparative Degree is used when two things (or two sets of things) are compared.

·        This building is taller than any other building.

·        Mango is sweeter than pineapple.

The Superlative Degree is used when more than two things are compared.

·        This is the tallest building.

·        Mango is the sweetest fruit.

Examples

·        Prabhu is young. (Positive Degree)

·        Prabhu is younger than Amirtha. (Comparative Degree)

·        Prabhu is the youngest of all. (Superlative Degree)

A. Work with a partner and fill in the table with information about your locality. You may add more information, if necessary. When you finish filling the table, write a short paragraph comparing the two places.

B. Give your opinion and compare the items in each picture using -er, more, less, or an irregular form. Use the words. You may form your sentences in more than one way.

C. Look at the bar-graph. Write five sentences using the appropriate de-grees of comparison.

D. *Listen to the conversation between Leena and her mother and list down a few new words. Using a dictionary find out the meaning for those words.

E. Just a Minute

The class will be divided into groups of five. Each one of you will get a topic to speak on, which will be related to the theme of the unit. A preparation time of one minute will be given. Then, you have to speak for one minute continuously. The teacher will ring the bell to signal the end of a minute. Next person in the team will take over.

The challenges of the one minute speech are to speak without

·        hesitation, stuttering and stammering.

·        pauses, gesticulations and repetitions.

·        deviating from the topic.

F. Work with a partner.Match the words and pictures by writing the numbers in the space provided.Use an encyclopedia to find out more about these adventure sports.

Now, read this hilarious anecdote from the life of a journalist and enjoy.

1. In 1977, Mr .Nicholas Scotti,a journalist from San Francisco,fl ew from America to Italy to visit some cousins.The plane stopped for an hour in JFK Airport in New York. Mr Scotti thought he was at Rome Airport and got off the plane. Of course his cousins were not there to meet him.

2. Mr. Scotti spent two days in New york believing he was in Rome. In their letters his cousins always talked about the traffic problems and the famous building in Rome. Mr Scotti decided to find their home without their help.On his journey round the city,Mr Scotti asked a policeman to tell him the way to the bus station .Mr Scotti asked him in Italian .Luckily, the policeman was an Italian from Naples, Italy and could reply in the same language.

3. On the next day, after 12 hours of travelling round by buses, Mr Scotti was surprised that the policemen and drivers speak in English. A policeman tried to tell him that he was in New york, but Mr Scotti didn’t believe it and even got angry.

G. Complete the following table with information from the anecdote about Mr Scotti’s short trip.

H. Circle the best option.

1. In New York Mr Scotti left the plane because he thought he

a)     had to change the plane.

b)    was in Rome.

c)     had to phone his cousins.

d)    changed his mind.

2. He decided to find his cousins’ home without their help. He asked the policeman for information in Italian because he

a)     thought he was in Italy.

b)    knew the policeman.

c)     didn’t speak any other language.

d)    liked the language.

3. On  the  next  day,  Mr  Scotti  was __________ at how the local people responded to his queries.

a)     surprised

b)    unhappy

c)     glad

d)    upset

4. Circle three words that best describe Mr.Scotti

clever / unlucky / stupid / successful / miserable / happy

I. Have you experienced any unexpected turn of events in your life? What happened? How did you feel about it at that moment? How do you feel about it now? Write an article for your school magazine describing your experience in about 150 words.

_________________________________

_________________________________

_________________________________

_________________________________

_________________________________

Non-Finite Verbs

Finite verb:

Finite verbs change tense and number according to the subject.

Arun invited Sujith to his daughter’s birthday.

Her friends presented the girl with a toy.

His friend presented a watch.

Non-finite verbs have no subject and do not change according to the tense or number. Non-finite verbs are broadly classified as follows:

i. Gerunds

1. Walking is a healthy habit(Present participle used as a noun)

ii. Infinitive

2. I like to walk early in the morning. (to infinitive)

iii. Present participle

3. These are my walking shoes.(Present participle used as an adjective)

iv. Past participle

4. Having walked a long distence I felt tired

J. Look at the action words in bold. Identify whether they are either finite or non-finite verb.

Infinitives And Gerunds

The infinitive is often called a ‘to verb’

Infinitives may be used without to and we call such infinitives a plain infinitive or a bare infinitive.

Eg. She made me do my project.

We use plain/bare infinitives with these modals.

The infinitive may function as a subject, direct object, subject complement, adjective, or adverb in a sentence. Although an infinitive is easy to locate because of the to+verb form, deciding what function it has in a sentence depends on the meaning.

·        To wait seemed foolish when decisive action was required.(subject)

·        Everyone wanted to go. (direct object)

·        His ambition is to fly. (subject complement)

·        He  lacked  the  strength  to  resist. (adjective)

·        We must study to learn.(adverb)

Gerunds

A gerund is an action word that ends in –ing and functions as a noun

K. Read the following pairs of sentences

·        Travelling might satisfy your desire for new experiences.

·        The  study  abroad  program  might satisfy your desire for new experiences.

Identify the subject in the first sentence _______________ .

·        They do not appreciate my singing.

·        do not appreciate my assistance.

Identify the direct object in the first sentence _________________

·        My cat’s favourite activity is sleeping.

·        My cat’s favourite food is salmon.

Identify the subject complement in the first sentence ______________

·        The police arrested him for speeding.

·        The police arrested him for criminal activity.

Identify the object of the preposition in the first sentence________________

Dinesh and Deepa have been assigned homework on non finites.They are not sure when to use a gerund and when to use an infinitive. They decide to meet their teacher and get their doubts cleared. The teacher introduces them to Mr.Gerund and Ms.Infinitive.

L. You may role-play the conversation.

Teacher :

This is Mr.Gerund.You may have seen him after these verbs ‘enjoy’, ‘finish’, ‘keep’, ‘mind’, ’suggest’, ’forgive’, ’excuse’, ‘postpone’,’go’

Gerund :

I come after a Preposition too.

Teacher :

Mr.Gerund comes in handy to describe a real action.

Infinitive :

Hello friends, I am Infinitive. Words such as ‘like’, ‘refuse’ are followed by me.

Dinesh :

I know you. I take your help to describe a general or future action.

(I think I need to get up early tomorrow to complete my grammar exercise.)

Divya :

You have helped me to express ‘reason’, ’intention’,’ purpose’.

(I wish to finish my assigment by tonight.)

Gerund :

Do you know, after verbs like ‘begin’,’ love’,’ continue’, ‘try’, ‘learn’, ‘start’, ‘neglect’, you can use either of us?

Infinitive :

But remember we mean different things when used after ‘stop’.

Dinesh :

Divya,When we saw Rajesh at the mall, I stopped to talk to him.Why didn’t you wait?

Divya :

Don’t you know I stopped talking to him?

Gerund :

I am also used after these phrases –‘It’s no use ‘ , ‘It’s no good‘

Dinesh and Divya :

Thank you , mam. Bye Mr.Gerund and Ms.Infinitive.

M. Now, work in pairs and help Dinesh and Divya complete the exercise given below.

Where are the astronauts headed to?

1. Write the gerund/infi nitive form of the verbs in the blanks.

1. The astronauts managed ___________ (complete) their training in record time.

2. They learned how __________ (survive) in space without gravity.

3. The best astronaut almost quit _________ (try) to learn the complex information.

4. Their mission appeared __________ (be) in jeopardy.

5. Then Marina encouraged him by saying, "It’s no good __________ (quit) the project right at the end."

6. Being an astronaut will enable you __________ (achieve) great success in life.

7. If you give up ____________ (study) now, our mission will be scrubbed.

8. Think of your fellow astronauts who wouldn’t hesitate __________ (help) you in time of trouble.

9. We astronauts must keep on _______________ (prepare) for our space launch.

10. Some say it’s no use _____________ (travel) to distant planets, because it takes too long.

11. But we really want ____________ (visit) other planets and fi nd out if life exists on them.

12. Can you imagine ___________ (walk) up to a Martian and shaking hands and ____________ (say), “Hello, how are you? “

13. We really look forward _____________ (meet) alien creatures and ________ (fi nd) out what they are really like.

14. Many scientists have warned us not _____________ (take) this dangerous journey, but we are not discouraged.

15. Travelling to far away planets involves ____________ (risk) our lives for the thrill of discovery.

16. However we won’t delay ____________ (blast) off into space.

17. Would you like __________ (accompany) us on our journey if you could?

18. During our training we have got used to ___________ (be) weightless and ___________ (live) under diffi cult conditions.

19. Scientists admit to __________ (be) intensely curious about life on other planets.

20. I’m sure they would also enjoy __________ (travel) with our crew.

21. We told them ____________ (come) with us on our trip, but some of them think it is a waste of time ____________ (search) for life that doesn’t exist.

22. We have been taught how __________ (endure) hardships during our training and now we can’t afford __________ (waste) money.

We’re on our way!

Which planet are the astronauts heading to fi rst? Add the infi nitives.

·        Neptune-10

·        Venus-09

·        Mars-18

·        Jupiter-11