English Majorship

Phonetics
● Phonemic Chart: Study for transcription and pronunciation. Available online.
● Unvoiced Consonants: Producing the sound does not cause vibration.
● Voiced Consonants: Producing the sound causes vibration.
● Monophthongs: Single vowel sounds. Tongue and mouth position stay relatively
constant.
○ Example: cat (
○ a
○ a)
● Diphthongs: Two vowel sounds combined. Tongue and mouth position change
during pronunciation.
○ Example: boy (
○ oi
○ oi)
● Schwa (
● ∂
● ∂):
○ Unstressed vowel sound.
○ Never used in stressed syllables.
○ Example: "sister"

Practice Examples

● Voiced vs. Unvoiced TH:

○ "ther-mo-meter" (unvoiced)
○ "those" (voiced)
○ "that" (voiced)
○ "think" (unvoiced)
○ "thumb" (unvoiced)
● Monophthongs:
○ "sister" (schwa)
○ "teacher" (schwa)
○ "pet" (e)
○ "cat" (
○ ae
 ○ ae)
○ "far" (
○ a
○ a)
○ "computer" (schwa)
○ "mad" (
○ ae
○ ae)
● Long vs. Short Vowel Sounds:
○ "sleep" (long ee)
○ "hip" (short i)
○ "meat" (long ee)
○ "dip" (short i)
○ "rich" (short i)
○ "reach" (long ee)
○ "make" (diphthong)
○ "tape" (diphthong)
○ "type" (diphthong)
○ "write" (diphthong)
● Diphthongs: (
● oi
● oi), (
● au
● au)
○ "wow" (
○ au
○ au)
○ "boy" (
○ oi
○ oi)
○ "toy" (
○ oi
○ oi)
○ "cow" (
○ au
○ au)
 ● "ch" vs. "j" sounds:
○ "check" (ch)
○ "jump" (j)
○ "June" (j)
○ "cheese" (ch)

Sentence Structure
● Simple Sentence: One independent clause.
○ Contains a subject, a verb, and expresses a complete thought.
● Compound Sentence: Two independent clauses joined by a coordinating
conjunction.
○ Coordinating Conjunctions: FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)
● Complex Sentence: One independent clause and one dependent clause joined
by a subordinating conjunction.
○ Subordinating Conjunctions: Example "when"
● Compound-Complex Sentence: Two independent clauses, one dependent
clause, a coordinating conjunction, and a subordinating conjunction.

Sentence Patterns
1. S-IV: Subject - Intransitive Verb
● Intransitive verbs do not need an object.
● Example: "The sun rises."
2. S-LV-C: Subject - Linking Verb - Complement
● Linking verbs join the subject to a complement.
● Complement can be:
○ Predicate Nominative (noun)
○ Predicate Adjective (adjective)
● Example: "The soup smells delicious." (Delicious is a predicate adjective).
"You are a teacher." (Teacher is a predicate nominative.)
3. S-TV-DO: Subject - Transitive Verb - Direct Object
● Transitive verbs need a direct object.
● Direct objects answer "what?" or "whom?" after the verb.
● Example: "Alex writes poems." (Writes what? Poems.)
4. S-TV-IO-DO: Subject - Transitive Verb - Indirect Object - Direct Object
● Indirect objects answer "to whom?" or "for whom?".
● Example: "I gave my friend a gift." (Gave what? A gift. To whom? My
friend.)
5. S-TV-DO-OP: Subject - Transitive Verb - Direct Object - Object of Preposition
 ● Object of preposition comes after the preposition.
● Example: "I wrote a poem under the tree." (Under is the preposition, tree
is the object of preposition).
6. S-TV-DO-OC: Subject - Transitive Verb - Direct Object - Object Complement
● Object complement completes the meaning of the direct object.
● Example: "The committee appointed Jelmar chairperson." (Jelmar is the
direct object, chairperson is the object complement.)

Parts of Speech
● Nouns: Names of objects, places, things.
○ Proper Noun: Specific name, always capitalized (e.g., Chris)
○ Common Noun: General name (e.g., dog)
○ Collective Noun: Group (e.g., team)
○ Concrete Noun: Perceived by senses (e.g., table)
○ Abstract Noun: Cannot be perceived by senses (e.g., love)
○ Countable Noun: Can be counted (e.g., chairs)
○ Non-countable Noun: Cannot be counted (e.g., water)
● Pronouns: Substitute for nouns.
○ Personal Pronoun: Replaces proper nouns (e.g., I, he, she)
○ Reflexive Pronoun: Doer and receiver of action are the same (e.g., myself)
○ Intensive Pronoun: Used for emphasis, removal does not affect the
sentence.
○ Demonstrative Pronoun: Points out something (e.g., this, that, these,
those) - NOUN
○ Indefinite Pronoun: Non-specific (e.g., some, few, none, all)
○ Interrogative Pronoun: Asks a question (e.g., who, what, which) - NOUN
○ Distributive Pronoun: Refers to persons or things separately (e.g., each,
every, either, neither)
○ Relative Pronoun: Joins clauses and relates back to antecedent (e.g.,
who, which, that)
○ Possessive Pronoun: Shows ownership (e.g., his, hers, theirs)
● Adjectives: Modify nouns or pronouns.
○ Demonstrative Adjective: Modifies nouns (e.g., This car)
○ Interrogative Adjective: Asks a question while modifying a noun (e.g.,
Which dress)
○ Cardinal Adjective: Describes quantity (e.g., nine siblings)
○ Ordinal Adjective: Describes order (e.g., first take)
○ Coordinate Adjective: Groups of adjectives modifying a noun (e.g., black
and white shirt)
 ○ Possessive Adjective: Shows possession (e.g., your license)
○ Proper Adjective: Capitalized adjective (e.g., Korean cuisine)
○ Descriptive Adjective: Describes qualities (e.g., filthy cage)
● Verbs: Show action or state of being.
○ Regular Verb: Past and past participle formed by adding -d or -ed (e.g.,
agree, agreed, agreed)
○ Irregular Verb: Past and past participle are not formed by simply adding -d
or -ed (e.g., write, wrote, written)
○ Linking Verb: Connects subject to complement (e.g., is, are, was, were,
seems)
○ Auxiliary Verb: Helps the main verb (e.g., is planning)
○ Transitive Verb: Needs a direct object (e.g., fixed my laptop)
○ Intransitive Verb: Does not need a direct object (e.g., You snore)
○ Ditransitive Verb: Takes two objects (e.g., I promised you a good grade)
○ Ergative Verb: Can be transitive or intransitive (e.g., I broke the glass /
The glass broke)
○ Prepositional Verb: Needs a preposition to complete the idea (e.g.,
dropped out of school)
● Adverbs: Modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.
○ Adverb of Time: Answers when (e.g., I watch television everyday.)
○ Adverb of Place: Answers where (e.g., there)
○ Adverb of Manner: Answers how (e.g., politely)
○ Adverb of Degree: Answers to what extent (e.g., so)
○ Adverb of Frequency: Answers how often (e.g., usually)
● Prepositions: Show position, location, direction, time (e.g., at, in, on, by, towards)
● Interjections: Express feelings (e.g., aha, oh my, amazing)
● Conjunctions: Connect words, phrases, or clauses.
○ Coordinating Conjunctions: FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)
○ Subordinating Conjunctions: Connect independent and dependent clauses
(e.g., when)
○ Correlative Conjunctions: Always come in pairs (e.g., neither/nor,
either/or)

Verbals
● Words formed from verbs but used as other parts of speech (noun, adjective,
adverb).
● Infinitives: "to + verb". Can function as a noun, adjective, or adverb.
● Participles: Function as an adjective.
● Gerunds: Function as a noun.
Identifying Verbals

● Gerund: Replace the word with "it". If the sentence still makes sense, it is a
gerund.
● Infinitive as Adverb: Insert "in order to" before the infinitive. If it works, it is an
adverb.

Properties of Verbs
● Person and Number: Indicate who is acting and whether singular or plural.
● Voice: Active (subject performs the action) or Passive (subject receives the
action).
● Mood:
○ Indicative: Statement or question.
○ Imperative: Command or request.
○ Subjunctive: Wish or doubt.
● Tense:
○ Simple Tenses:
■ Simple Present: Routine, habits, facts (e.g., I watch television every
day.)
■ Simple Past: Actions that started and finished in the past (e.g., I ate
rice last night.)
■ Simple Future: Actions expected to happen in the future (e.g., I will
watch a movie tomorrow.)
○ Progressive (Continuous) Tenses: Ongoing actions.
■ Present Progressive: Happening right now (e.g., I am talking right
now.)
■ Past Progressive: Action occurred at a certain time in the past while
another action took place (e.g., I was eating when the phone rang.)
■ Future Progressive: Action expected to happen at a particular time
in the future (e.g., I will be watching television for the next few
hours.)
○ Perfect Tenses: Completed actions.
■ Present Perfect: Action happened in the past and completed in the
present (e.g., I have finished my homework.)
■ Past Perfect: Action completed before another past action (e.g., I
had finished my homework before she arrived.)
■ Future Perfect: Action will be completed before a certain time in the
future (e.g., She will have moved to a new apartment before the
end of the month.)
○ Perfect Progressive Tenses:
 ■ Present Perfect Progressive: Action started in the past and is still
happening now (e.g., I have been talking for two hours.)
■ Past Perfect Progressive: Action was ongoing in the past and
interrupted by another past action (e.g., She had been working
before the power went out.)
■ Future Perfect Progressive: Emphasizes the length of an event at a
time in the future (e.g., We will have been living in Cebu for a
decade this January.)

Structure of English
Possessive (Genitive) Case

● Shows ownership.
● Example: brother's

Tag Questions

● If the statement is positive, the tag should be negative, and vice versa.
● Example: Donnie Pangilinan is a great actor, isn't he?

Comparison of Adjectives

● Positive: Good
● Comparative: One vs. One
● Superlative: One vs. Many
○ Short adjectives (one or two syllables): add "-er" and "-est".
○ Long adjectives (three or more syllables): use "more" or "most".

Clause vs. Phrase

● Clause: Has subject and verb.

● Phrase: Group of words that functions as a single unit.

Noun Cases

● Nominative:
○ Subject of the verb
○ Predictive Nominative
○ Appositive
● Objective:
○ Dative (indirect object)
 ○ Accusative (direct object)
○ Object of preposition
● Possessive (Genitive)

Parataxis vs. Hypotaxis

● Parataxis: Does not use conjunctions to clarify the relationship between clauses.
● Hypotaxis: Uses conjunctions.

Periodic vs. Cumulative Sentences

● Periodic Sentence: Main point is delayed until the end.

● Cumulative Sentence: Main point is at the beginning.

Conditionals

● Zero Conditional: Facts, general truths. (If you heat ice, it melts.)
● First Conditional: Possible to happen in the future. (If we study, we will pass the
test.)
● Second Conditional: Imaginary, unlikely situations. (If I won the lottery, I would
buy an island.)
● Third Conditional: Situations that cannot be changed because they already
happened. (If I had studied harder, I would have passed the test.)

Syntactic Structures

● Predication: Subject and predicate.

● Modification: Head and modifier.
● Complementation: Follows SLVC or STVDOOC patterns.
● Coordination: Uses coordinates (and, either/or, etc.) to join units.