ENGLISH VIII Miss.

Nashieli López

GRAMMAR EXPLANATIONS BOOKLET

Contenido
Personal Description .........................................................................................................................2

Comparative and superlative adjectives...........................................................................................3

Comparative adjectives .......................................................................... 3

Superlative adjectives .......................................................................... 3

Prepositions of Place .........................................................................................................................6

Intensifiers Too and Enough..............................................................................................................9

Conjunctions ....................................................................................................................................10

Relative pronouns ...........................................................................................................................13

Relative clauses ................................................................................. 13

Formal Letter ...................................................................................................................................14

Heading............................................................................................ 14

Date ................................................................................................ 14

Address ........................................................................................... 14

Salutation ......................................................................................... 14

Body................................................................................................ 15

Complimentary Close .......................................................................... 15

Signature .......................................................................................... 15

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 Personal Description
To describe a person, you need some of the following phrases
Expression Clothing Things
Appearance Personality
and Hobbies
adjective adjective
accesories Activities
I am / You are / He is / smart
tall
we are… lazy
chubby
friendly N/A N/A
young
happy
old
I have / You have / He long hair
has / we have (got) … black hair
blue eyes
N/A N/A N/A
brown skin
a
moustache
I wear / You wear / He
N/A N/A N/A
wears / we wear… earrings
I am wearing / You N/A N/A a necklace
are wearing / He is a jacket
N/a
wearing / We are jeans
wearing…
I like/ you like / he I like ice cream
likes/ we like + NOUN I like horror movies
I don’t avocado
I like/ you like / he I like playing soccer
likes/ we like + VERB I don’t like reading
I like going out with
_ing… friends

Example:
Hello! My name is Ana Delgado Benítez. I’m sixteen years old. I’m tall and thin I
have got brown hair and blue eyes. I haven’t got freckles. I am tall. I like music. I
don’t like football. I like reading and skipping. I don’t like writing. I am wearing a
white shirt, a gray sweater, blue trousers, red socks and black boots.

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 Comparative and superlative adjectives

Comparative adjectives
We use comparative adjectives to show change or make comparisons:

This car is certainly better, but it's much more expensive.

I'm feeling happier now.
We need a bigger garden.

We use than when we want to compare one thing with another:

She is two years older than me.

New York is much bigger than Boston.
He is a better player than Ronaldo.
France is a bigger country than Britain.

When we want to describe how something or someone changes we can use

two comparatives with and:
The balloon got bigger and bigger.
Everything is getting more and more expensive.
Grandfather is looking older and older.

We often use the with comparative adjectives to show that one thing depends on
another:

The faster you drive, the more dangerous it is.

(= When you drive faster, it is more dangerous.)

The higher they climbed, the colder it got.

(= When they climbed higher, it got colder.)

Superlative adjectives

We use the with superlative adjectives:

It was the happiest day of my life.
Everest is the highest mountain in the world.
That’s the best film I have seen this year.
I have three sisters: Jan is the oldest and Angela is the youngest.

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How to form comparative and superlative adjectives

We usually add –er and –est to one-syllable words to make

comparatives and superlatives:

Older than The oldest

old
long Longer than The longest

If an adjective ends in –e, we add –r or –st:

Nicer than The nicest

nice
large Larger than The largest

If an adjective ends in a consonant vowel and a consonant (CVC),

we double the consonant:

Bigger than The biggest

big
fat Fatter than The fattest

If an adjective ends in a consonant and –y, we change –y to –i and

add –er or –est:

Happier than The happiest

happy
silly Sillier than The silliest

We use more and most to make comparatives and superlatives for most
two syllable adjectives and for all adjectives with three or more
syllables:

more careful than The most careful

careful
interesting more interesting than The most interesting

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The adjectives good, bad, fun and far have irregular comparatives and
superlatives:
good better best
bad worse worst
far farther/further farthest/furthest
fun More fun The most fun

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 Prepositions of Place
A preposition of place is a preposition which is used to refer to a place where
something or someone is located. There are only three prepositions of place,
however they can be used to discuss an almost endless number of places.

USE SENTENCES
PREPOSITION

above higher than sth. The picture hangs above my bed.

You mustn't go across this road here.

from one side to the other
across
side
There isn't a bridge across the river.

The cat ran after the dog.

after one follows the other
After you.

against directed towards sth. The bird flew against the window.

in a line; from one point to

along They're walking along the beach.
another

among in a group I like being among people.

around in a circular way We're sitting around the campfire.

at* position at a point I arrived at the meeting.

behind at the back of Our house is behind the supermarket.

below lower than sth. Death Valley is 86 metres below sea level.

beside next to Our house is beside the supermarket.

Our house is between the supermarket

between sth./sb. is on each side
and the school.

by near He lives in the house by the river.

close to near Our house is close to the supermarket.

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 USE SENTENCES
PREPOSITION

down from high to low He came down the hill.

from the place where it starts Do you come from Tokyo?

the part that is in the

in front of Our house is in front of the supermarket.
direction it faces

inside opposite of outside You shouldn't stay inside the castle.

place seen in three

We slept in the car.
dimensions
in*
larger areas I was born in England.

into entering sth. You shouldn't go into the castle.

near close to Our house is near the supermarket.

next to beside Our house is next to the supermarket.

off away from sth. The cat jumped off the roof.

touches a surface There is a fly on the table.

on* is seen as a point on a line We were on the way from Paris to Rome.

by a lake or sea London lies on the Thames.

onto moving to a place The cat jumped onto the roof.

opposite on the other side Our house is opposite the supermarket.

out of leaving sth. The cat jumped out of the window.

outside opposite of inside Can you wait outside?

over above sth./sb. The cat jumped over the wall.

past going near sth./sb. Go past the post office.

round in a circle We're sitting round the campfire.

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 USE SENTENCES
PREPOSITION

going from one point to the

through You shouldn't walk through the forest.
other point

I like going to Australia.

to towards sth./sb. Can you come to me?

I've never been to Africa.

towards in the direction of sth. We ran towards the castle.

under below sth. The cat is under the table.

up from low to high He went up the hill.

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 Intensifiers Too and Enough.
Puede que a veces te cueste ver la diferencia entre too and enough. En este
apartado veremos algunas explicaciones y ejemplos con los que seguro
comprendes su uso.

➢ Enough
Enough significa suficiente. Se usa con adjetivos adverbios o nombres:
Detrás de adjetivos:
You are old enough to go to school on your own. – Eres lo suficiente mayor para ir
al colegio solo.
I think she is strong enough to get over this. – Creo que ella es lo suficiente fuerte
como para superar esto.
Detrás de adverbios:
I am not well enough today. I’m still feeling bad. – No estoy suficientemente bien
hoy. Aún me siento mal.
Delante de sustantivos:
I don’t have enough space in my house. – No tengo espacio suficiente en casa.
Is there enough cold water in the fridge? – Hay suficiente agua fría en la nevera?
Solo. Cuando se sobreentiende el objeto a cuantificar:
I don’t want to eat more. I’ve had enough. – No quiero comer más. He tenido
suficiente.
Enough of.
I have heard enough of your poems to know you have a great talent. – He
escuchado suficientes de tus poemas, como para saber que tienes un gran
talento.

➢ Too
Cuando hablamos de too hablamos de una palabra de la clase de los adverbios.
Significa demasiado.
Con adjetivos o adverbios:
You are too old to know this – Eres demasiado mayor como para saber esto.
I don’t like to wake up too early. – No me gusta levantarme demasiado temprano.
Too many/too much:
Too many se usa con sustantivos contables y too much con incontables.
I don’t want to eat too much meat. – No quiero comer demasiada carne.
I like too many Spanish writers – Me gustan demasiados escritores españoles.

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 Conjunctions
A conjunction is a part of speech that is used to connect words, phrases, clauses,
or sentences. Conjunctions are considered to be invariable grammar particle, and
they may or may not stand between items they conjoin.

There are a few important rules for using conjunctions. Remember them and you
will find that your writing flows better:

• Conjunctions are for connecting thoughts, actions, and ideas as well

as nouns, clauses, and other parts of speech. For example: Mary went to
the supermarket and bought oranges.
• Conjunctions are useful for making lists. For example: We made pancakes,
eggs, and coffee for breakfast.
• When using conjunctions, make sure that all the parts of your
sentences agree. For example: “I work busily yet am careful” does
not agree. “I work busily yet carefully” shows agreement.

They are classified according to their specific function:

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 Relative pronouns
We use relative pronouns to introduce relative clauses. Relative
clauses tell us more about people and things:
Lord Thompson, who is 76, has just retired.
This is the house which Jack built.
Marie Curie is the woman that discovered radium.
We use:
• who and whom for people
• which for things
• where for places
• when for times
• that for people or things.

Relative clauses
Relative clauses are clauses starting with the relative pronouns who*, that,
which, whose, where, when. They are most often used to define or identify the
noun that precedes them.
Relative clauses are non-essential parts of a sentence. They may add meaning,
but if they are removed, the sentence will still function grammatically.

There are two kinds of relative clause:

1. We use relative clauses to make clear which person or thing we are talking
about:
Marie Curie is the woman who discovered radium.
This is the house which Jack built.
In this kind of relative clause, we can use that instead of who or which:
Marie Curie is the woman that discovered radium.
This is the house that Jack built.
2. We also use relative clauses to give more information about a person, thing or
situation,
With this kind of relative clause, we use commas (,) to separate it from the rest of
the sentence.
Lord Thompson, who is 76, has just retired.
We had fish and chips, which I always enjoy.
I met Rebecca in town yesterday, which was a nice surprise.

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 Formal Letter

The seven parts of the formal letter.

Heading

Most professional business correspondence is printed on a letterhead template. A

letterhead contains the company name, address and contact information. An
individual may also create a letterhead that contains his name and personal contact
information. While some individuals may choose not to create a formal letterhead, it
is always necessary to include a header with the sender's information.

Date

Simply put, the date is the day the letter is sent. The most commonly used date
format is: June 21, 2011. Do not abbreviate the month and always include all four
digits of the year.

Address

This is the address of the recipient. If applicable, the first line in the address block
should include the recipient's name and title, and the second line should state the
recipient's company or business. The third and fourth lines are designated for the
actual address. For example:
Mr. John Doe, Director of Sales The Sales Firm 123 Main Street Townsville, AR
45678

Salutation

Different circumstances determine which salutation or greeting is most appropriate.

Use "Dear" when the recipient's name or title is known. Examples include "Dear Mr.
Doe" or "Dear Sales Director." When the name or title is unknown, use "To Whom It
May Concern." Always punctuate the salutation of a business letter with a colon
instead of a comma.
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Body

The body is the longest part of a letter and is usually divided into three subcategories:
introduction, main content and summary. The introductory paragraph states the
purpose of the letter. The main content conveys all necessary detailed information
and has no set length requirements. The last paragraph summarizes the information
provided, restates the letter intent and offers either instructions or an inquiry
regarding follow-up correspondence.

Complimentary Close

The complimentary close is a word or short phrase that basically means "goodbye."
"Sincerely" is the most common closing remark. Others include "cordially," "best
wishes," and "best regards." The complimentary close can vary in degrees of
formality and is dependent upon the relationship between the sender and recipient.

Signature

In letters that are sent via email, the signature is simply the sender's name and title
typed immediately below the complimentary close. When a letter is mailed, faxed or
hand-delivered, however, there should be a large enough space below the closing
and above the typed name and title for the sender to provide her written signature

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