English Language
Overview
LESSON FOR GRADE 7 ENGLISH LEARNERS
Subject Content
Table of Contents:
Watch the following Video, to learn more about the English Language Subject:
The English Language encourages:
Creative thinking and Innovation
Group work and Collaboration
Structure and Language Skills
Why study the English Language?
Answer:
Sentences
What is a Sentence?
A sentence is a group of words giving a complete thought. A sentence must contain a subject and verb (although one may be implied).
A More Formal Definition of Sentence
A sentence is a set of words that is complete in itself, typically containing a subject and predicate, conveying a statement, question, exclamation, or command, and consisting of a main clause and sometimes one or more subordinate clauses.
A sentence can convey a statement, a question, an exclamation, or a command. There are four types of sentence:
Declarative sentence:
- A declarative sentence states a fact and ends with a full stop. For example:
- He has every attribute of a dog except loyalty. (Politician Thomas P Gore)
- I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult. (Comedian Rita Rudner)
- (Remember that a statement which contains an indirect question (like this example) is not a question.
Imperative sentence:
- An imperative sentence is a command or a polite request. It ends with an exclamation mark or a period (full stop). For example:
- When a dog runs at you, whistle for him. (Philosopher Henry David Thoreau, 1817-1862)
Interrogative sentence:
- An interrogative sentence asks a question and ends with a question mark. For example:
- Who knew that dog saliva can mend a broken heart? (Author Jennifer Neal)
Exclamatory sentence:
- An exclamatory sentence expresses excitement or emotion. It ends with an exclamation mark. For example:
- In Washington, it's dog eat dog. In academia, it's exactly the opposite! (Politician Robert Reich
For more information on sentences follow the following link:
Punctuation marks
What is a punctuation mark?
| Full Stop | A Sentence is the Expression of a Complete Thought! When we complete a thought while speaking, we pause and when we write the same thought, we end it with a full stop/period. |
| Question Mark | The question mark is used as a punctuation mark to show that a direct question has been asked whether in direct speech enclosed within inverted commas or as a part of a passage of writing. |
| Exclamation Mark | The exclamatory mark is used to exclaim over something- a dramatic confession, a warning, an expression of anger, joy etc. It is used by writers to convey an emotion to the reader. |
| Colon | |
| Apostrophe | The apostrophe is used to indicate possession. |
| Hypen | The hyphen and the dash look alike. But in the printed matter the hyphen is made shorter than the dash. |
| Slash | The slanting line/stroke known as slash or oblique is most often used to represent exclusive or inclusive or, division and fractions, and as a date separator in writing. |
| Capital Letter | Capital Letters are also considered a part of Correct Punctuation. Capitals are used: |
Watch the following 2 videos on punctuation marks:
Complete the following activity:
Punctuate the following.
- women in south africa are cool
- on his way to the movies kyle met the principal of her school
- have you seen the movie shrek asked kyle
- hooray i am so excited
Antonyms and Synonyms
Antonyms and Synonyms:
Antonym:
is a word opposite in meaning to another word.
For example: "hot" is a antonym of "cold"
To Find examples of antonyms, follow the following link:
Examples of antonyms: click here
Synonym:
A synonym is a word that means exactly the same as, or very nearly the same as, another word in the same language.
For example, "close" is a synonym of "shut".
To Find examples of synonyms, follow the following link:
Examples of synonyms: click here
For a better understanding of the two concepts, watch the following videos:
Parts of Speech
Watch the following video to get a understanding of Parts of Speech:
The 8 parts of speech
1. Nouns
A noun is a person, place, concept, or object. Basically, anything that’s a “thing” is a noun, whether you’re talking about a basketball court, San Francisco, Cleopatra, or self-preservation.
Nouns fall into two categories: common nouns and proper nouns. Common nouns are general names for things, like planet and game show. Proper nouns are specific names for individual things, like Jupiter and Jeopardy!
2. Pronouns
Pronouns are the words you substitute for specific nouns when the reader or listener knows which specific noun you’re referring to.
You might say “Jennifer was supposed to be here at eight,” then follow it with “she’s always late; next time I’ll tell her to be here a half-hour earlier.”
Instead of saying Jennifer’s name three times in a row, you substituted she and her and your sentences remained grammatically correct. Pronouns are divided into a range of categories, and we cover them all in our guide to pronouns:
3. Adjectives
Adjectives are the words that describe nouns. Think about your favorite movie. How would you describe it to a friend who’s never seen it?
You might say the movie was funny, engaging, well-written, or suspenseful. When you’re describing the movie with these words, you’re using adjectives. An adjective can go right before the noun it’s describing (I have a black dog), but it doesn’t have to. Sometimes, adjectives are at the end of a sentence (my dog is black).
4. Verbs
Go! Be amazing! Run as fast as you can! Win the race! Congratulate every participant for putting in the work to compete!
These bolded words are verbs. Verbs are words that describe specific actions, like running, winning, and being amazing.
Not all verbs refer to literal actions, though. Verbs that refer to feelings or states of being, like to love and to be, are known as nonaction verbs. Conversely, the verbs that do refer to literal actions are known as action verbs.
5. Adverbs
An adverb is a word that describes an adjective, a verb, or another adverb. Take a look at these examples:
Here’s an example: I entered the room quietly. Quietly is describing how you entered (verb) the room.
Here’s another example: A cheetah is always faster than a lion. Always is describing how frequently a cheetah is faster (adjective) than a lion.
6. Prepositions
Prepositions tell you the relationship between the other words in a sentence.
Here’s an example: I left my bike leaning against the garage. In this sentence, against is the preposition because it tells us where I left my bike.
Here’s another example: She put the pizza in the oven. Without the preposition in, we don’t know where the pizza is.
>>Read more about prepositions
7. Conjunctions
Conjunctions make it possible to build complex sentences that express multiple ideas.
I like marinara sauce. I like alfredo sauce. I don’t like puttanesca sauce. Each of these three sentences expresses a clear idea. There’s nothing wrong with listing your preferences like this, but it’s not the most efficient way to do it.
Consider instead: I like marinara sauce and alfredo sauce, but I don’t like puttanesca sauce.
In this sentence, and and but are the two conjunctions that link your ideas together.
>>Read more about conjunctions
8. Articles
A pear. The brick house. An exciting experience. These bolded words are known as articles.
Like nouns, articles come in two flavors: definite articles and indefinite articles. And just like the two types of nouns, the type of article you use depends on how specific you need to be about the thing you’re discussing.
A definite article describes one specific noun, like the and this. Example: Did you buy the car?
Now swap in an indefinite article: Did you buy a car?
See how the implication is gone and you’re asking a much more general question?