technical module 1

IGCSE

ENGLISH

PROGRAMME

TECHNICAL MODULE 1

YEAR 9 Name:

YEAR 9 TECHNICAL SKILL 1

In this lesson, you will review and revise parts of speech (also known as

‘word classes’), and build your vocabulary.

Understanding parts of speech will allow you to know how a word is used

correctly, especially if it is a new vocabulary. A part of speech is a category

of words that perform the same grammatical functions. It will then allow you

to understand sentences and paragraphs which are more complex and

complicated in nature. You can also write more effectively.

Nouns

A singular noun is a word that names one person, place, thing, or idea. For

example, brother, classroom, piglet, and joy. A plural noun names more than

one person, place, thing, or idea. For example, brothers, classrooms, piglets,

and joys.

To help you determine whether a word in a sentence is a noun, try adding it

to the following sentences. Nouns will fit in at least one of these sentences:

I know something about ________.

I know something about brothers.

I know something about a(n) ________.

I know something about a classroom.

A collective noun names a group. When the collective noun refers to the

group as a whole, it is singular. When it refers to the individual group

members, the collective noun is plural.

Edubest IGCSE English Programme Year 9 Technical 1_MC

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The class meets two days a week. (singular)

The board of trustees come from all walks of life. (plural)

A common noun names a general class of people, places, things, or ideas:

soldier, country, month, or theory. A proper noun specifies a particular

person, place, thing, event, or idea. Proper nouns are always capitalised:

General Schwartzkopf, Taipei 101 Tower, July, or Big Bang.

A concrete noun names an object that occupies space or that can be

recognised by any of the senses. For example, tuba, music, potato, and aroma.

An abstract noun names an idea, a quality, or a characteristic. For example,

courage, sanity, power, and memory.

A possessive noun shows possession, ownership, or the relationship

between two nouns. For example, Raul's house, its fur, and their soccer ball.

Verbs

A verb is a word that expresses action or a state of being and is necessary to

make a statement.

Most verbs will fit one or more of these sentences:

We _________. We _________ loyal. We ________ it. It _________.

We sleep. We remain loyal. We love it! It snowed.

A linking verb links, or joins, the subject of a sentence with an adjective, a

noun, or a pronoun.

The concert was loud. (adjective)


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I am a good card player. (noun)

A verb phrase consists of a main verb and all its auxiliary, or helping, verbs.

I have not eaten this morning.

I am waiting for a letter.

The tense of a verb expresses time.

Simple Tenses

Present Tense: She eats. (present or habitual action)

Past Tense: She ate. (action completed in the past)

Future Tense: She will eat. (action to be done in the future)

Continuous (or progressive) Tenses

Present Continuous Tense: She is eating. (ongoing action)

Past Continuous Tense: She was eating. (ongoing action in the past)

Future Continuous Tense: She will be eating. (ongoing action to be done

in the future)

Perfect Tenses

Present Perfect Tense: She has eaten. (action done at some indefinite time

or still in effect)

Past Perfect Tense: She had eaten. (action completed before some

other past action)

Future Perfect Tense: She will have eaten. (action to be completed before

some future time)

Irregular verbs form their past and past participle without adding -ed to

the base form.

Here are examples of the past form and past participle of some irregular

verbs.


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Adjectives

An adjective modifies a noun or pronoun by giving a descriptive or specific

detail. Adjectives can usually show comparisons.

hot summer hotter summer hottest summer

Most adjectives will fit this sentence:

The _________ one looks very _________.

The dusty one looks very old.

A proper adjective is formed from a proper noun and begins with a capital

letter.

Marijka wore a Ukrainian costume.

He was a Danish prince.

Base Form

Past Form

Past Participle

cut cut cut

go went gone

sit sat sat

sing sang sung

Base Form

Past Form

Past Participle

be was/were been

beat beat beaten

break broke broken

do did done


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Adverbs

An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Most adverbs

can show comparisons.

Adverbs that tell how, where, when, or to what degree modify verbs.

He walked slowly. (how)

Maria writes frequently. (when)

Put the piano here. (where)

We were thoroughly entertained. (to what degree)

Adverbs of degree strengthen or weaken the adjectives or other

adverbs that they modify.

A very happy fan cheered. (modifies adjective)

She spoke too fast. (modifies adverb)

Many adverbs fit these sentences:

She thinks ______. She thinks ______ fast. She ______ thinks fast.

She thinks quickly. She thinks unusually fast. She seldom thinks fast.


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Task 1

1. Place each of the nouns listed below in the appropriate columns. Many

nouns may be listed in more than one column.

Concrete Abstract Proper Collective

2. Underline all nouns in the following sentences. Write whether each

noun is concrete (C), abstract (A), proper (P), or collective (CL).

1. The audience showed its appreciation by giving the performers a

standing ovation.

2. Mecca is a holy city for all Muslims.

3. The team had a very high drive to succeed.

4. The creative depictions of artist Jane Hundree has won her

international acclaim.

crew democracy Hinduism

theory clan orchestra

Tysco Pythagoras aroma

hesitation resistance Fiji


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5. I knew Jonathan from my childhood. We spent a lot of time together

at the Muses Arcade at the mall.

6. After completing his education, he got the job of his dreams and

managed groups of young entrepreneurs.

7. Billionaire Jeff Bezos is famous for his wealth.

8. Her blindness didn’t stop her from being successful.

3. Fill in the following blanks with an appropriate verb. All verbs are in

past tense.

1. The light ____________________ upon the trees in the garden, making

one leaf transparent, and then another.

2. One bird ____________________ loudly, as if responding to the call of its

fellow companions.

3. Down below, the turtles ____________________ slowly, one foot in front

of the other.

4. The waves ____________________ and spread their waters swiftly over

the shore.

5. The leaves ____________________ in the wind, as if they were flying as

far away as they could.

4. Underline all linking verbs in the sentences below.

1. She said that she feels confident about the success of the plan.

2. Thai food often tastes exotic to those who have never tried it.

3. The President looked happy and pleased.

4. All the actors were proud of their performances.

5. A stubborn person, he remains certain that he is right.


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Task 2

1. Look at the sentences and decide whether an adverb or an adjective is

needed. Circle your choice. Then underline the word it modifies.

1. The house looked (empty, emptily).

2. The choir sang (good, well).

3. Those hills look (beautiful, beautifully).

4. The teams were matched (even, evenly).

5. You write so (neat, neatly).

6. Ron arrived (prompt, promptly) at ten.

7. The solution to the crime seemed (obvious, obviously).

8. The hem of the skirt was (real, really) crooked.

2. Determine whether each underlined word is an adjective or an adverb.

1. The woolly mammoth is believed to be the ancestor of the modern

elephant. ___________________

2. She jumped up suddenly and left the room. ___________________

3. This recipe calls for coarsely ground nuts. ___________________

4. The early bird gets the worm. ___________________

5. Music has accompanied drama since old times. ___________________

6. He often worked late. ___________________

7. Recently, I saw a movie that had a really good soundtrack.

___________________

8. Powerful speakers play the background music. ___________________

3. Choose the correct answer from the choices in the brackets.

1. He (correct, correctly) defined the terms. The answer sounded

(correctly, correct).


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2. The stillness of the tomb was (awfully, awful). The tomb was

(awfully, awful) still.

3. Her voice sounds (beautifully, beautiful). She sang the song (exact,

exactly) as it was written. We heard it (perfect, perfectly).

4. You must send payments (regular, regularly). We deal on a (strictly,

strict) cash basis.

5. Talk (softly, soft) or don’t talk at all. Also, the music is too (loud,

loudly).

Pronouns

A pronoun takes the place of a noun, a group of words acting as a noun, or

another pronoun.

Subject

Pronouns

Object

Pronouns

Possessive

Adjectives

Possessive

Pronouns

Reflexive

Pronouns

1st Person

(refers to the

speaker)

I Me My Mine Myself

2nd Person

(refers to the

one spoken to)

You You Your Yours Yourself

3rd Person

(Male)

(refers to the

one spoken

about)

He Him His His Himself


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3rd Person

(Female)

(refers to the

one spoken

about)

She Her Her Hers Herself

3rd Person

(Thing)

(refers to the

one spoken

about)

It It Its (not used) Itself

1st Person

(Plural)

We Us Our Ours Ourselves

2nd Person

(Plural)

You You Your Yours Yourself

3rd

Person/

Thing

(Plural)

They Them Their Theirs Themselves


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Determiners

Determiners are a kind of noun modifier. They are usually used before a

noun.

Articles Quantifiers Demonstrators Numbers

An article is a

word that

modifies or

describes the

noun.

Indefinite

articles: A, an

Definite article:

the

They are

adjectives or

phrases that

answer two

possible

questions:

1. How many?

2. How much?

Much, a

little, a bit

(of), a great

deal of, etc.

They describe

the position of

an object, seen

from the

speaker’s

viewpoint.

This, that, these,

and those

Numbers are

cardinal and

ordinal.

Cardinal: one,

two, three, etc.

Ordinal: first,

second, third, etc.

Distributives Possessives Difference

Words

Defining Words

The words all,

both, half, each,

every, either, and

neither are

known as

distributives.

Possessive

pronouns and

adjectives

indicate who an

object belongs

to.

mine, yours, his,

hers, its, my,

your, his, her,

and it.

They refer to

something

different, or

remaining, or

more.

other, another

They indicate

which thing or

person is being

referred to.

which, whose


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Prepositions and conjunctions

A preposition shows the relationship of a noun or a pronoun to some other

word. A compound preposition is made up of more than one word.

The first group of students arrived.

They skated in spite of the cold weather.

Some common prepositions include these: about, above, across, after,

against, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside,

besides, between, beyond, but, by, concerning, down, during, except, for, from,

into, like, near, of, off, on, out, outside, over, past, round, since, through, till, to,

toward, under, underneath, until, up, upon, with, within, without.

A conjunction is a word that joins single words or groups of words.

A coordinating conjunction joins words or groups of words that have

equal grammatical weight.

He and I talked for hours.

Correlative conjunctions work in pairs to join words and groups of

words of equal weight.

Russ wants either a cat or a dog.

A subordinating conjunction joins two clauses in such a way as to

make one grammatically dependent on the other.

We ate lunch when it was ready.


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Task 3

1. Fill in the blanks with the correct answer.

1. You can take two ways to get there. One is walking along Victoria

Lane, and ___________ ___________________ is to take the bus ‘V12’.

2. ___________________ you feel the need, do not hesitate to call us.

3. It is a shame that ___________________ of us can solve the easiest

problem.

4. Richard, I thought one pack of flour was enough, but it isn’t. Can you

get ___________________ packet from the market, please?

5. Both of the films are available at the moment. You can choose

___________________ ___________________ of them.

6. Oh dear! I haven’t brought my wallet with ___________________.

7. Here is the exact place ___________________ I first saw you.

8. If I were in your shoes, I would drink ___________________ cool in this

hot weather.

9. Can you see the black clouds up in the sky? Let’s go ___________________

else to protect ___________________ from the rain.

10. The room was dark as it was midnight, but I saw him sitting near

the window by ___________________.

11. ___________________ of the city is underwater because of the floods

caused by the rain.

12. Do you see three keys on the control panel? Press the blue and

green key, but do not press the ___________________.

13. Neither of you can survive in this jungle if you don’t help

___________________ ___________________.

14. This is a secret between ___________________. ___________________

should keep it until you die, and ___________________ will, too. Let

_________ ______________ know about ___________________.


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15. When I entered the room, I saw her sitting alone. She was talking

_________ ___________________.

Task 4

1. Fill in the blanks with the correct prepositions.

1. The sun was just rising ____________________ the mountains

____________________ the distance when we awoke.

2. Countless birds and insects were chirping and buzzing

____________________ us ____________________ the trees.

3. ____________________ us, the wind rustled ____________________ the leaves.

4. ____________________ us, the ground was slightly moist

____________________ morning dew.

5. ____________________ our campsite was a lovely valley where a small

stream trickled ____________________ the beautiful wildflowers that

were ____________________ full bloom.

6. We had slept soundly ____________________ the night, and now we

anticipated a day full ____________________ hiking and exploring.

2. Combine the sentences below according to the prompts given to you.

1. It had rained so heavily. We decided to stay indoors and watch a

movie.

Because __________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________.

2. I was doing my homework. My friend called.

While _____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________.


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3. Janice reflected on what she had done. She apologised.

_____________________________________________________________________ after

___________________________________________________________________________.

4. Beethoven had gone deaf. He still composed beautiful music.

______________________________________________________________ even though

____________________________________________________________________________.

5. Frank did very well for his examinations. He did not study very

much or very hard.

Considering that_________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________.

Developing your vocabulary

Having strong vocabulary will allow you to understand texts faster and

easier, and it will give you the confidence to write more expressively.

There are many ways to develop your vocabulary. A simple way to think

about a synonym, but to also think about how it can be slightly different in

conveying the meaning. You can look for words in the thesaurus.

For example, we understand the meaning of the adjective ‘scared’, and we

know how to use it. But, there are different levels of the word ‘scared’.

If someone is a little bit scared, we might use the word ‘nervous’.

If someone is scared for a short while, we might use the word

‘frightened’.

If someone is very scared, we might use the word ‘terrified’.

Reading more will help you expand your vocabulary because we also need

context to understand when and how to use the different vocabulary.


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For example:

She felt nervous before going onstage to perform.

John was frightened by the various jump scares in the ‘House of

Horror’s at the carnival.

The group huddled in a corner, terrified at what the robbers would

do.

Remember that ‘nervous’ can also be used differently.

It can be used positively, even though it means ‘a little bit scared’. For

example:

She was nervous but excited to do her best onstage for opening night.

(adjective)

John felt his heart race as he nervously waited for his bride to walk

down the aisle. (adverb)

His newcomer nerves soon disappeared and he enjoyed the rest of the

activities. (noun)

‘Nerves’ as a noun can also mean to be steady and courageous in a

demanding situation. For example:

Jamie’s solo biking trip was an amazing journey which tested her

nerves to the full.

It may seem a bit overwhelming to learn vocabulary! But remember that

being exposed to words takes time, and it is important to learn a bit at a time.


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Task 5

Read the following sentences. Then, decide which words in brackets can be

used to replace the word that is in bold without changing the meaning of the

sentence.

1. Junior will be fine because he adapts very quickly to his

environment.

(shapes, changes, familiarises, acclimatises, fits, adjusts, matches)

2. Be careful when driving down this road. It is very dangerous when

it is slippery.

(risky, fatal, perilous, bad, dynamite, shaky, treacherous)

3. The teacher responded sensibly to her students without raising

her voice or giving in.

(practically, soberly, intelligently, consciously, knowingly,

reasonably)

4. We can ask for the results to be looked at by other judges in

borderline cases.

(uncertain, undecided, debatable, controversial, problematic,

ambiguous, open)

5. Sometimes we question the leaders’ judgment in these situations.

(awareness, intelligence, reasoning, discernment, sharpness,

experience)


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6. It is understandable that some people want to have the freedom to

decide how they conduct their day-to-day lives.

(ability, opportunity, leeway, indulgence, range, abandonment,

flexibility.

7. The family decided to release the birds back into the wild.

(discharge, relieve, free, liberate, delivery)

8. That is a ridiculously planned schedule! They need to have breaks

every now and then!

(absurdly, impossibly, laughably, outrageously, hilariously,

incredibly)

Conclusion

You have reviewed and gained a better understanding of the various parts

of speech (word classes) and practised your skills. You have also learned

how vocabulary is not just finding the meanings to words but also more of

an exposure to how words can be used for many purposes.

In the next lesson, you will learn how to build vocabulary using root words,

prefixes and suffixes, and spelling.


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