Course: English Compulsory (651) Semester: Autumn, 2017

Level: B.Ed Total Marks: 100

Pass Marks: 40
ASSIGNMENT No. 1
(Units: 1–4)

Q. 1 (i) Explain the following with the help of at least two examples.
a. Concrete Noun
b. Abstract Noun
c. compound Noun
d. Collective Noun
e. Material Noun
Ans:

A. Concrete Noun:

A concrete noun is a noun that can be identified through one of the five senses (taste, touch, sight, hearing,
or smell). Consider the examples below:

Would someone please answer the phone?

In the sentence above, the noun phone is a concrete noun: you can touch it, see it, hear it, and maybe even
smell it or taste it.

What is that noise?

Even though noise can’t be touched—and the noise may even be coming from several places—you can hear
the noise, so it’s a concrete noun.

After his retirement, Mr. Bond pursued his dream of photographing rainbows.

B. An abstract noun names an idea, event, quality, or concept (freedom, love, courage...) Concrete nouns
name something recognizable through the sense (table, dog, house...)

An abstract noun is a noun that cannot be perceived using one of the five senses (i.e., taste, touch, sight,
hearing, smelling). Look at the examples below:

We can’t imagine the courage it took to do that.

Courage is an abstract noun because it cannot be seen, heard, tasted, touched, or smelled.

Below are two more examples of abstract nouns in context.

Early paleontologists assumed that the small brains of some dinosaurs indicated stupidity of the species.
Higher education is strongly recommended.

C. Compound nouns refer to two or more nouns combined to form a single noun (sister-in-law, schoolboy,
fruit juice)

D. A collective noun describes a group of things or people as a unit (family, flock, audience...)

Collective nouns refer to a group of objects. They are like a collection or a unit.

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 You can have more than one unit, so they may appear as singular or plural. For example: one family or two
families, or one school or two schools.

Other collective nouns are: faculty, team, troupe, gaggle, herd, swarm, coven, and senate.

Material Noun is the name of a material or a substance or an ingredient of an alloy.

Examples :

1. Cotton dress is cheap.

2. I purchased a gold ring.

3. This is a shop for diamonds.

4. Calcium is good for health.

5. Plastic is for ordinary use.

6. Iron is very useful metal.

 This is a building of marbles.

 The child drank the milk.

 Fibre is widely used in all industries.

 Brass was used in the old days

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 (ii) Pick out the concrete, abstract, compound, collective and material
nouns from the following: Group, Gold, Redhead, Wall, Loyalty, Book,
Drawback, Diamonds, Mouse, Marbles, Council, Haircut, Intelligence, Table,
Staff, Peace, Calcium, Honesty, Series, Confidence. (10)

Q. 2 Differentiate among the following terms; Give at least five examples for
each
term. (20)
a. Action and Linking Verb
b. Transitive and Intransitive Verb
c. Auxiliary and Lexical Verbs
d. Regular and Irregular Verbs
Ans:

An action verb is a verb that describes an action, like run, jump, kick, eat, break, cry, smile, or
think.

When using action verbs, the sentence structure will be SUBJECT--->ACTION VERB---> THE REST
OF THE SENTENCE (noun)(verb)(adjective, adverb, noun, complement, or nothing). Here are some
examples of action verbs in sentences.Greg is kicking the ball now.The action verb is kicking. It describes
what Greg is doing. The wind blows constantly in Chicago. The action verb is blows. It describes what the
wind does.He accepted my apology.The action verb is accepted. It describes what 'he' did.

What are LINKING verbs?

A linking verb is a verb that links (connects) the subject of the sentence to information about that
subject. Linking verbs do not describe action. When using linking verbs, the sentence structure will be :
SUBJECT--->LINKING VERB---> INFORMATION ABOUT THE SUBJECT (noun)(verb)(adjective,
noun, or complement)

Some verbs are ALWAYS linking verbs because they never describe an action. Other verbs can be linking
verbs in some sentences and action verbs in other sentences.

The following three verbs are ALWAYS linking verbs:

to be (is, am, are, was, were, has been, have been, had been, is being, are being, was being, will have been,
etc.)to become (become, becomes, became, has become, have become, had become, will become, will have
become, etc.)to seem (seemed, seeming, seems, has seemed, have seemed, had seemed, is seeming, are
seeming, was seeming, were seeming, will seem)Here are some examples of linking verbs that are ALWAYS
linking verbs in sentences: “The ball is red.”'Is' is a linking verb that connects the subject, ball, to
information about that subject (that it is red). “The children are smart.”'Are' is a linking verb that connects
the subject, children, to information about that subject (that they are smart). “The child will be tall five years
from now.”'Will be' is the linking verb connecting 'child' to the fact that he will be 'tall five years from
now.'“The cat seems fine.”'Seems' links the subject, cat, with information about the cat (that it is fine). “The
dog became thin after his surgery.” 'Became' links the subject, the dog, with information about him (that he
became thin).

Verbs that can be both ACTION and LINKING verbs

There are verbs that can be linking verbs in SOME sentences, but are action verbs in other sentences. One
way to determine if the verb is functioning as an action verb or a linking verb is to substitute the word “is”

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for the verb in question. If the sentence still makes sense, then it is probably a linking verb. If the sentence
would not make sense with the word “is,” then it is probably an action verb in the sentence.The following
are examples of verbs that can be linking verbs in some sentences and action verbs in other
sentences:looksmellappear provesoundfeelremaintastegrowHere are some sample sentences of verbs used as
linking verbs and actions verbs. Used as Linking VerbsExplanationJane appeared uninjured after the
accident. You could substitute the word 'is,' for the word 'appears,' and the sentence would still make sense:
"Jane is uninjured after the accident." This lets you know that appeared is a linking verb in this
sentence.The cake smells good!This sentence describes the cake. “Smells” is a linking verb in this
sentence. It connects the subject, cake, with information about that subject—it smells good.The woman
grew silent.This sentence may seem confusing. Remember that the word “grow” has more than one
meaning! In this sentence, “grew” means BECAME. The woman became silent. Used as Action
VerbsExplanationBefore I could leave, Jane appeared.In this sentence, appeared is not linking anything. It
is telling the action that Jane did. She appeared, or showed up.Ellen smells the cake.The word, smells is not
linking anything. If you replaced smells with 'is' the sentence would not make sense. That means smells
must be an action verb in this sentence. Ellen performed the action of smelling the cake.The gardener grew
some flowers. The word, grew, is not linking two things together here. If you tried to replace grew with 'is'
the sentence would not make sense. This means that grew must be an action verb. The gardener performed
the action of growing some flowers.

A verb can be described as transitive or intransitive based on whether it requires an object to express a
complete thought or not. A transitive verb is one that only makes sense if it exerts its action on an object.
An intransitive verb will make sense without one. Some verbs may be used both ways.

The word transitive often makes people think of transit, which leads to the mistaken assumption that the
terms transitive and intransitive are just fancy ways of describing action and nonaction. But these terms
have nothing to do with whether a verb is active or not. A better word to associate when you see transitive is
transfer. A transitive verb needs to transfer its action to something or someone—an object. In essence,
transitive means “to affect something else.”

Once you have this concept committed to memory, spotting the difference between transitive and intransitive
verbs is quite easy.

How to Identify a Transitive Verb

Transitive verbs are not just verbs that can take an object; they demand objects. Without an object to affect,
the sentence that a transitive verb inhabits will not seem complete.

Please bring coffee.

In this sentence, the verb bring is transitive; its object is coffee, the thing that is being brought. Without an
object of some kind, this verb cannot function.

Please bring.

Bring what, or who? The question begs itself because the meaning of bring demands it.

Here are some more examples of transitive verbs and their objects.

The girls carry water to their village.

Juan threw the ball.

Could you phone the neighbors?

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I caught a cold.

She loves rainbows.

Lila conveyed the message.

Each of the verbs in these sentences have objects that complete the verbs’ actions. If the objects were taken
out, the results would be illogical and questions would be raised in the mind of the reader; for example, Lila
conveyed. Conveyed what?

How to Identify an Intransitive Verb

An intransitive verb is the opposite of a transitive verb: it does not require an object to act upon.

They jumped.

The dog ran.

She sang.

A light was shining.

None of these verbs require an object for the sentence to make sense, and all of them can end a sentence.
Some imperative forms of verbs can even make comprehensible one-word sentences.

Run!

Sing!

A number of English verbs can only be intransitive; that is, they will never make sense paired with an object.
Two examples of intransitive-only verbs are arrive and die. You can’t arrive something, and you certainly
can’t die something; it is impossible for an object to follow these verbs.

Transitive or Intransitive? Some Verbs Can Be Both

Many verbs can be classified as both transitive and intransitive depending on how they are used in a
sentence.

Urged by the others, she sang.

She sang the national anthem at the hockey game.

After he cleaned up, he left.

He left the gift on the table.

To decide whether the verb is being used transitively or intransitively, all you need to do is determine
whether the verb has an object. Does she sing something? Does he leave something? The verb is only
transitive when the answer is yes.

When in doubt, look it up. In the dictionary, verbs will be listed as transitive, intransitive, or both right under
the pronunciation key, and any possible differences in meaning between the two uses will be given as well.

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Phrasal Verbs and Transitivity

Phrasal verbs can also be classified as transitive or intransitive.

Cindy has decided to give up sweets while she diets.

I hope Cindy doesn’t give up.

Give up is just one of many phrasal verbs that can be transitive or intransitive. Whether give up has an object
or not will alter the meaning it conveys. The first sense of give up means “to forgo something,” whereas the
second sense means “to stop trying.”

If we refuse to learn about transitivity, the Grammar Police will blow up our building.

When the Grammar Police confronted her about her verbs, she blew up.

The first sense of to blow up means to explode, whereas the second sense means “to express rage.”

Transitive or intransitive is just one of the many classifications a verb can have. Perhaps you will be
inspired to read about more about the fascinating qualities of verbs.

Q. 3 (i) Explain an adjective and its types giving at least three examples
for each type. (8)
(ii) Explain conjunction and its types with the help of suitable
examples for each type. (5)
(iii) What is an adverb? Explain different types of adverbs with at least
three examples for each type. (7)

Q. 4 (i) Define a pronoun. Explain the different types of pronouns with at

least three examples for each type. (10)
(ii) What is a preposition? Also describe it different types with the
three examples for each type. (10)

Q. 5 (i) What is a sentence? How many types of sentences are there?

Explain them with the help of examples. (5)
(ii) Differentiate among Present Perfect tense, Past Perfect tense and
Future Perfect tense with the help of at least one example for each type.
(5)
(iii) Convert the following affirmative sentences into negative
sentences. (5)
All the exercises are useful.
I am grateful to you.
The water is clean.
She is a good football player.
You are writing a letter.
(iv) Convert the following affirmative sentences into interrogative
sentences. (5)
He is cleaning his teeth.
They will be visiting your house next month.
The young boy is playing with the toy.

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The doctor is treating the patient.
We will go to the part in the evening.

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