English Grammar : Can, Could, Was Able, Etc.

English Grammar : Can, Could, Was Able, Etc.

rayhan fadillah       Comment   

Can has two main uses :

1. To express permission or possibility (=may).
Example : You can go now.

2. To express ability or capacity (= know how to).
Example : I can swim very well.

Form	1	2
Future	Can	shall (will) be able to
Past	Could	could or was (were) able to

Say the following using the given time-expressions, first for the future and the for the past.

Example :
You can drive. when you are 17/after you got your license.

Answer 1 : You can drive when you are 17.
Answer 2 : You could drive after you got your license.

I can fly a plane. after a few more lessons/when I was in the air force.

Answer 1 : I can fly a plane after a few more lessons.
Answer 2 : I could fly a plane when I was in the air force.

Seeing in a grammar book that could can be past or conditional of can, students are always puzzled by having such sentences as :

• "I could pass my examination ten years ago."
• "I could go to the country yesterday and had a good time,.." etc.

corrected to was able to.

A careful analysis of all sentences where we cannot use could as simple past tense of can shows the following idea to be common to all of them. They deal with the attainment of something through some capacity. Mere capacity may have could or was able to.

• He could (was able to) swim very well when he was young. (Could is more usual)

But something attained through a capacity may not have could.

• He was able to swim half-way before he collapsed. (Could is impossible here)

Managed to also expresses this idea.
The past of can meaning permission always has could.

• I could put it wherever I liked. (permission granted)
• I was able to put it on the top shelf. (capacity or ability to reach)

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English Grammar : Can, Could, Was Able, Etc.

English Grammar : Can, Could, Was Able, Etc.

rayhan fadillah       Comment   

Can has two main uses :

1. To express permission or possibility (=may).
Example : You can go now.

2. To express ability or capacity (= know how to).
Example : I can swim very well.

Form	1	2
Future	Can	shall (will) be able to
Past	Could	could or was (were) able to

Say the following using the given time-expressions, first for the future and the for the past.

Example :
You can drive. when you are 17/after you got your license.

Answer 1 : You can drive when you are 17.
Answer 2 : You could drive after you got your license.

I can fly a plane. after a few more lessons/when I was in the air force.

Answer 1 : I can fly a plane after a few more lessons.
Answer 2 : I could fly a plane when I was in the air force.

Seeing in a grammar book that could can be past or conditional of can, students are always puzzled by having such sentences as :

• "I could pass my examination ten years ago."
• "I could go to the country yesterday and had a good time,.." etc.

corrected to was able to.

A careful analysis of all sentences where we cannot use could as simple past tense of can shows the following idea to be common to all of them. They deal with the attainment of something through some capacity. Mere capacity may have could or was able to.

• He could (was able to) swim very well when he was young. (Could is more usual)

But something attained through a capacity may not have could.

• He was able to swim half-way before he collapsed. (Could is impossible here)

Managed to also expresses this idea.
The past of can meaning permission always has could.

• I could put it wherever I liked. (permission granted)
• I was able to put it on the top shelf. (capacity or ability to reach)

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Pengertian, Fungsi Dan Hukum Question Tags Bahasa Inggris

Grammar Question Tags 6/19/2015

Pengertian, Fungsi Dan Hukum Question Tags Bahasa Inggris

rayhan fadillah       Comment   

Question tags atau Tag question adalah pernyataan singkat di simpulan kalimat yang terletak sesudah pernyataan. Pembicara yang menggunakann tag question atau question tag dalam kalimatnya berusaha untuk menemukan kepastian apakah pernyataan yang ia sampaikan benar atau dengan kata lain pembicara berusaha  mencari persetujuan.

Question tag atau tag question dipakai oleh pembicara untuk meminta penegasan dari pendengar ihwal sesuatu yang belum begitu meyakinkan pembicara  atau sanggup dikatakan untuk meminta persetujuan dari pendengar atas pernyataan yang diucapkan.

Question tag sanggup diartikan dengan “bukan?” atau “kan?”
Berikut ini ialah pola Question tags:

You like tea, don’t you ?   
( kau suka teh, kan ? )

They have left, haven’t they ?
( mereka sudah pergi, bukan?)

Dino is a student, isn’t he ?
( Dino ialah seorang pelajar, bukan ? )

 Mary isn’t here, is she ?
( mary tidak ada di sini, kan ? )

They didn’t go to school yesterday, did they ?
( Mereka tidak pergi ke sekolah kemarin, bukan ? )

Kalimat yang bercetak tebal di atas disebut sebagai Question tags atau tag question atau pernyataan penegas.

Question tag dibuat dari auxiliary verb ( is, am, are, does, do, did,  can, have, may, etc ) yang digabungkan dengan personal pronoun yaitu I, We, You, They, He, She, dan It.

Untuk membentuk question tag, ada beberapa hukum yang harus kita ketahui, sebagai berikut :

1.    Apabila pernyataannya ialah kalimat positif, maka tag questionnya harus negatif. Misalnya:
He is a doctor, isn’t he ? ( beliau ialah seorang dokter, bukan ? )

2.    Apabila pernyataannya ialah kalimat negatif, maka tag questionnya harus positif. misalnya:
You are not happy, are you ? ( kau tidak senang, bukan ? )

3.    Subjek dalam question tag harus selalu berbentuk personal pronoun/kata ganti orang atau benda. Misalnya:
Umar goes to course by bicycle, doesn’t he ?  ( Umar pergi ke tempat  kursus dengan sepeda, bukan ? )
 Kalimat di atas ialah kalimat yang benar. JANGAN
Umar goes to course by bicycle, doesn’t Umar ?  ( SALAH )

4.    Apabila kalimat pernyataan memakai “TO BE” yaitu is, am, are, was, were, maka “To Be” tersebut harus diulang dalam Question tag yang berlawanan. Misalnya:
You are not a soldier, are you ? ( kau bukan seorang tentara, bukan ? )

Pengecualian:
Apabila dalam kalimat pernyataan positif terdapat  TO BE “am” yang berpasangan dengan subjek I, maka dalam Question Tags  “TO BE” harus diganti dengan “are”.

Misalnya:
I am a Student, aren’t I ?  ( aku ialah seorang pelajar, bukan ? )

Sedangkan apabila kalimat yang memakai subjek “I am” berbentuk negatif, maka dalam pernyataan penegasnya , TO BE “am” tidak mengalami perubahan.
Misalnya:
I am not a servant, am I ?  ( aku bukan seorang pelayan, bukan ? )

Dalam buku Betty Schrampfer Azar berjudul “ Understanding and Using English Grammar second edition”, dijelaskan sebagai berikut:
I am supposed to be here, am I not ? ( aku seharusnya berada di sini,kan? )
I am supposed to be here, aren’t I ? ( aku seharusnya berada di sini,kan ? )

“Am I not ? “ ialah bahasa Inggris formal. Sedangkan,
“aren’t I? “ ialah bahasa Inggris umum dalam percakapan.

5.    Apabila kalimat pernyataannya memakai kata kerja bantu ( Auxiliary verb ), yaitu “ can, may, should, would, will, shall, has, had”, selain “to be”, maka kata kerja bantu tersebut harus diulang dalam question tag-nya dengan bentuk berlawanan. Misalnya:
Hera will invite us, won’t she ?   ( Hera akan mengundang kita, bukan ? )

6.    Apabila dalam pernyataan tidak terdapat kata kerja bantu dan hanya berupa kata kerja, contohnya dalam kalimat verbal positif simple present atau simple past, maka tag questionsnya memakai “do, does, atau did”. Misalnya:
Patricia looks pale, doesn’t she ? ( Patricia terlihat pucat, bukan ? )
Cece went to the museum yesterday, didn’t she ? ( Cece pergi ke museum kemarin, bukan ?)

7.    Pada kalimat perintah atau ajakan, maka question tags dibuat dengan memakai “will you” dan “shall we”. Misalnya:
Stop the noise, will you ? ( tolong hentikan keributan ? )

8.    Beberapa kalimat positif dianggap sebagai kalimat negatif kalau diikuti oleh kata “ never, seldom, rarely, hardly, few, little, barely”, sehingga tag question-nya berbentuk positif. contoh:
She never wake up in the morning, does she ? ( beliau tidak pernah bangkit pagi, bukan ? )

9.    Negatif tag harus disingkat. Contoh:
Do not disingkat Don’t,
Will not disingkat Won’t,
Must not disingkat Mustn’t,
Etc.

10.    “It” dipakai untuk menggantikan posisi subjek yang berupa “ everything, nothing, that, this, maupun singular noun lainnya. sedangkan “They” dipakai untuk menggantikan posisi subjek berupa “everyone, every body, no one, no body, some one, somebody, those, these, dan plural noun lainnya.
Contoh:
This is your book, isn’t it ? ( ini ialah bukumu bukan ? )
These are your books, aren’t they ? ( ini ialah buku-bukumu, bukan ? )

11.    Pada kalimat yang menggunakan  “There+ be”, maka there dipakai di dalam tag question. Contoh:
There is a meeting tonight, isn’t there ? ( ada rapat malam ini, kan ? )

12.    Kalimat yang mempunyai arti negatif menggunakan tag question positif. contoh:
Nothing is wrong, isn’t it ? ( tidak ada yang salah bukan ? )

Demikianlah klarifikasi mengenai tag question, fungsi dan aturan-aturan umumnya. Semoga goresan pena ini sanggup memperlihatkan kita semua pengetahuan baru.

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Common Problems In Recognizing The Verbs

Common Problems In Recognizing The Verbs

rayhan fadillah       Comment   

Some of you might have duduk kasus regarding to the verbs in English grammar. Most of the duduk kasus are commonly about recognizing the verb. Which on this post, you'll find it simply explained, quiet useful, and easy to understand.

How To Recognize Action Verbs, Helping Verbs, and Verb Phrases

A verb expresses the action of the subject.

Examples :

• The aircraft turned for an emergency landing.
• Martha remembered to call the switchboard supervisor.

Note that, a sentence may have two or more separate verbs.
e.g. The teller smiled and asked us to endorse the check.

In addition to action verbs, we also have helping verbs (sometimes called auxiliary verbs). Here are the twenty-three helping verbs :

• Was
• Were
• Is
• Am
• Are
• Be
• Being
• Been
• Has
• Had
• Have
• Do
• Does
• Did
• Shall
• Will
• Should
• Would
• May
• Might
• Must
• Can
• Could

Remember, many of these helping verbs may be used alone as the main verb.

Examples :

• I had the wrench in my tool box.
• He is strong.

Whenever a main verb is combined with one, two, or three helping verbs, a verb phrase is formed.

Examples :

• Apprenticeship applicants in the building trades are required to be in good health. (verb phrase)
• Our body shop personnel should have repaired the dents in your fender. (verb phrase)

So, when you are looking for the verb in sentences containing contractions, remember that part of the contraction may represent a verb. e.g. You've ruined the new uniforms for our employees.

've stands for have, a helping verb which is part of the verb phrase have ruined.

How To Recognize Linking Verbs

Most of verbs express physical or mental action, but some verbs help to complete a statement by linking a predicate noun (a word that stands for the same thing as the subject) or a predicate adjective (a word that describes the subject) to the subject.

Do not confuse the direct object with the predicate noun. The direct object will always be a word that applies to something different from the subject.

Example 1 :

Lassie is a dog.

The predicate noun (dog) stands for the same thing as the subject Lassie. Dog is linked to Lassie by the linking verb is.

Example 2 :

Lassie is beautiful.

The predicate adjective (beautiful) describes the subject Lassie. The verb is links Lassie and beautiful.

Example 3 :

Lassie buried a bone.

Bone does not stands for Lassie; it answers the question.

What did Lassie bury?
Bone is the direct object, and buried is not a linking verb.

Please notice that the verbs in the first two examples do not express action; they link the subject to the word following the verb. In the third example the verb buried tells what Lassie (subject) did.

Some verbs may function as either action or linking verbs.

Examples :

• Jim looked thin. (looked is a linking verb)
• Jim looked for his lab equipment. (looked is an action verb)
• Marry appeared in a television commercial. (action verb)
• Marry appeared happy. (linking verb)

The most frequently used linking verb are the various forms of the verb be (is, am, are, was, were, been). Remember that forms of be also function as helping verbs.

Examples :

• The uniform of our drivers are brown. (linking verb)
• The wages of intercity bus drivers are computed on a mileage basis. (helping verbs)

Among other words that function as linking verbs are appear, become, feel, get (when it means become), grow, remain, seem, smell, sound, and taste.

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Common Problems In Recognizing The Verbs

Common Problems In Recognizing The Verbs

rayhan fadillah       Comment   

Some of you might have duduk kasus regarding to the verbs in English grammar. Most of the duduk kasus are commonly about recognizing the verb. Which on this post, you'll find it simply explained, quiet useful, and easy to understand.

How To Recognize Action Verbs, Helping Verbs, and Verb Phrases

A verb expresses the action of the subject.

Examples :

• The aircraft turned for an emergency landing.
• Martha remembered to call the switchboard supervisor.

Note that, a sentence may have two or more separate verbs.
e.g. The teller smiled and asked us to endorse the check.

In addition to action verbs, we also have helping verbs (sometimes called auxiliary verbs). Here are the twenty-three helping verbs :

• Was
• Were
• Is
• Am
• Are
• Be
• Being
• Been
• Has
• Had
• Have
• Do
• Does
• Did
• Shall
• Will
• Should
• Would
• May
• Might
• Must
• Can
• Could

Remember, many of these helping verbs may be used alone as the main verb.

Examples :

• I had the wrench in my tool box.
• He is strong.

Whenever a main verb is combined with one, two, or three helping verbs, a verb phrase is formed.

Examples :

• Apprenticeship applicants in the building trades are required to be in good health. (verb phrase)
• Our body shop personnel should have repaired the dents in your fender. (verb phrase)

So, when you are looking for the verb in sentences containing contractions, remember that part of the contraction may represent a verb. e.g. You've ruined the new uniforms for our employees.

've stands for have, a helping verb which is part of the verb phrase have ruined.

How To Recognize Linking Verbs

Most of verbs express physical or mental action, but some verbs help to complete a statement by linking a predicate noun (a word that stands for the same thing as the subject) or a predicate adjective (a word that describes the subject) to the subject.

Do not confuse the direct object with the predicate noun. The direct object will always be a word that applies to something different from the subject.

Example 1 :

Lassie is a dog.

The predicate noun (dog) stands for the same thing as the subject Lassie. Dog is linked to Lassie by the linking verb is.

Example 2 :

Lassie is beautiful.

The predicate adjective (beautiful) describes the subject Lassie. The verb is links Lassie and beautiful.

Example 3 :

Lassie buried a bone.

Bone does not stands for Lassie; it answers the question.

What did Lassie bury?
Bone is the direct object, and buried is not a linking verb.

Please notice that the verbs in the first two examples do not express action; they link the subject to the word following the verb. In the third example the verb buried tells what Lassie (subject) did.

Some verbs may function as either action or linking verbs.

Examples :

• Jim looked thin. (looked is a linking verb)
• Jim looked for his lab equipment. (looked is an action verb)
• Marry appeared in a television commercial. (action verb)
• Marry appeared happy. (linking verb)

The most frequently used linking verb are the various forms of the verb be (is, am, are, was, were, been). Remember that forms of be also function as helping verbs.

Examples :

• The uniform of our drivers are brown. (linking verb)
• The wages of intercity bus drivers are computed on a mileage basis. (helping verbs)

Among other words that function as linking verbs are appear, become, feel, get (when it means become), grow, remain, seem, smell, sound, and taste.

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(Grammar) How We Use Too And Enough In English

(Grammar) How We Use Too And Enough In English

rayhan fadillah       Comment   

Too. An adverb of excess; with to + infinitive and/or for + (pro)noun.

This soup is very hot; I can't drink it.
This soup is too hot (for me) to drink.

That's a lot of money; a book like that shouldn't cost so much.
That's too much money for a book like that.

*Expect the mistake :
This soup is too hot for me to drink it.

The infinitive, even of a transitive verb, has no object if this would represent the same person or thing as the subject of the main verb, be, seem, etc.

Enough. Whereas too has a negative sense, enough, also with infinitive, has positive sense.

Compare :

He is too ill to need a doctor.
= He is so ill that it's useless to send for a doctor.

He is ill enough to need a doctor.
= He is so ill that we must send for a doctor at once.

Enough comes in front of a noun and after an adjective or adverb.

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(Grammar) How We Use Too And Enough In English

(Grammar) How We Use Too And Enough In English

rayhan fadillah       Comment   

Too. An adverb of excess; with to + infinitive and/or for + (pro)noun.

This soup is very hot; I can't drink it.
This soup is too hot (for me) to drink.

That's a lot of money; a book like that shouldn't cost so much.
That's too much money for a book like that.

*Expect the mistake :
This soup is too hot for me to drink it.

The infinitive, even of a transitive verb, has no object if this would represent the same person or thing as the subject of the main verb, be, seem, etc.

Enough. Whereas too has a negative sense, enough, also with infinitive, has positive sense.

Compare :

He is too ill to need a doctor.
= He is so ill that it's useless to send for a doctor.

He is ill enough to need a doctor.
= He is so ill that we must send for a doctor at once.

Enough comes in front of a noun and after an adjective or adverb.

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