Download Baptist Wing Lung Secondary School

Baptist Wing Lung Secondary School
S4 English
English Sentence Patterns Golden Rules (Adjective)
1. Adjectives are used to describe nouns
e.g. Mary is beautiful.
Mary is a beautiful girl.
2. Adjective Phrase
- Phrase = a group of words that does not contain a verb.
- Preposition + noun
e.g. on the table / in the classroom / with a schoolbag
- Directly follows the noun it describes
e.g. The keys on the chair belong to me.
The fruit in the basket is fresh.
I saw a little girl with a schoolbagh/ with long hair.
I saw a little girl in a red dress.
Adjective Phrases
Adverbial: giving extra information like
I sit on the chair.
I put the books in my schoolbag
where something happens.
3. Participle Phrase
- Phrase = a group of words that does not contain a verb.
- Present participle (sending) or Past participle (sent)
- Directly follows the noun it describes
e.g. The girl reading the newspaper is Dorothy Lee (present participle + noun)
The boy speaking loudly wants a drink. (present participle +adverb)
I want the book lying on the table. (present participle + adverbial)
The boy injured seriously died two hours ago. (past participle + adverb)
I know the man injured in the accident. (past participle + adverbial)
Present participle: active in meaning
Past participle: passive in meaning
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After conjunctions of time such as 'while', 'when', 'before', 'after', 'on' and 'upon', we
may use a participle or participle phrase if both clauses share the same subject.
e.g. They always watch television while eating dinner.
After finishing lunch, George helped his mother with the housework.
4. Adjective clause
- Clause: a group of words that contains a subject and a verb.
- Begin with a word like 'that', which', 'who', 'whom', whose' or' where' (relative
pronouns). Adjective clause is also called 'relative clause'.
- Directly follows the noun it describes
e.g. The book that is lying on the floor is Peter's.
I've seen the film which is showing at the Oriental Theatre.
The people who live next door to us are Japanese.
The man whom the car ran down is now in hospital.
The woman whose car was stolen has reported the theft to the police.
That is the building where Helen works.
Different relative pronoun have different functions. Look at this table:
Relative
Function
Example
pronoun
which
To describe things
-I like this book which has many pictures.
(as the subject / object of
-The book which I like has many pictures.
the clause)
Who
To describe people
-Mary is the girl who is sitting next to John
(as the subject of the clause)
Whom
To describe people
-Mary is the student whom I dislike most.
(as the object of the clause)
Whose
To describe possession
-The boy whose mother is a singer behaves
(as part of the subject of the badly in class.
clause)
Where
To describe place( as the
-Nobody wants to buy the flat where the
object of a preposition)
murder took place
That
To replace which/ who/
-I like this book that has many pictures.
whom
-The book that I like has many pictures.
-Mary is the girl that is sitting next to John.
-Mary is the student that I dislike most
Can't replace whose
The boy that mother is a singer behaves
badly in class.
Can replace 'where' but a
preposition is needed
Nobody wants to buy the flat that the
murder took place in.
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