Cleft sentences and inversion

English language gives its users, the liberty to express their thoughts in different ways. One such way is to invert the word orders in a sentence to give more emphasis on a particular prose or clause. Sometimes, inverted sentences take time to comprehend as the (auxiliary) verb comes before the subject.   This topic is available in: https://www.grammar.com/cleft_sentences_and_inversion

Inverted sentences –

Consider the following example –

We have never seen this kind of support before.

Here, the subject is ‘We’, ‘have’ is the auxiliary verb. Let us change the order now –

Never have we seen this kind of support before.

Notice that changing the order of sentences has changed the emphasis.  The second sentence gives more importance to the information than the person.

More examples –

They like pancakes for breakfast. ----  Pancakes is what they like for breakfast.

The task that was given to the students was daunting for the teachers as well -- Given to the students was a task that was daunting for the teachers as well.

We got delayed because of the rains -- It was the rains that caused us the delay.

Cleft sentences

It is the cleft sentences that we are going to talk about now! Do you get the air of it?

The above sentence can be re-written as –

 we are going to talk about cleft sentences now!

These sentences put the sentence which needs emphasis in a separate clause for clarity. The information that gets the emphasis is the new information.

There are 2 types of cleft sentences –

It-cleft sentences: The sentence is changed in such a way that it starts with it. The information that comes after ‘it is/was’ is the one that gets the emphasis. Examples –

My phone broke yesterday à It was my phone that broke yesterday.

The Barcelona team won the match yesterday. -- It was the Barcelona team that won the match yesterday.

Most of the times, these sentences are used in answering a question –

a. Who was on the phone? à It was your sister on the phone.

b. You met my friend, haven’t you? à No, it was your cousin I met.

c. When are you getting married? à It is in September we are getting married.

Wh-cleft sentences

The 4 W’s is where we use these types of cleft sentences. Most of the times, what is used.

Example –

You look tired, do you need some water? à What is need now is some rest.

Where were you all this while?--- Where I went is the place that has 5 lakes together.

There are many ways to change a sentence to make it a cleft sentence from a non-cleft based on the information we want to emphasize on. Here is one sentence which we will change in multiple ways to give more emphasis to certain part of the sentence.

Non-cleft sentence – My grandfather was killed in an encounter during World War II.

Cleft-sentence 1 – It was my grandfather who was killed in an encounter during World War II.

Cleft-sentence 2 – It was in an encounter that my grandfather was killed during World War II.

Cleft-sentence 3 – It was in World War II that my grandfather was killed in an encounter.

Notice that all the four sentences mean the same but give emphasis on different parts of the sentence.  

Cleft sentences are a great way to make sentences more expressive and  put special emphasis on certain clauses.

Adjectives – gradable and non-gradable

Adjectives in English can be both gradable and non-gradable. This means that there are adjectives that we are allowed to emphasize to a greater or lesser extent.   We took this post from:
British Council, available in: https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/intermediate-to-upper-intermediate/adjectives-gradable-and-non-gradable

Do you know how to use adjectives in phrases like a bit cold, really cold and absolutely freezing?

Look at these examples to see how gradable and non-gradable adjectives are used.

It's really cold.
It's absolutely freezing.
This exercise is really difficult.
This exercise is completely impossible.

Grammar explanation 

Gradable adjectives

Most adjectives are gradable. This means we can have different levels of that quality. For example, you can be a bit cold, very cold or extremely cold. We can make them weaker or stronger with modifiers:

She was quite angry when she found out.
The film we saw last night was really funny!
It can be extremely cold in Russia in the winter.

Here is a list of some common gradable adjectives and some modifiers that we can use with them.

Modifiers	a little/a bit →	pretty/quite →	really/very →	extremely
Adjectives	angry, big, boring, cheap, cold, expensive, frightening, funny, hot, interesting, old, pretty, small, tasty, tired, etc.

Non-gradable: absolute adjectives

Some adjectives are non-gradable. For example, something can't be a bit finished or very finished. You can't be a bit dead or very dead. These adjectives describe absolute qualities. To make them stronger we have to use modifiers like absolutely, totally or completely:

Thank you, I love it! It's absolutely perfect!
Their farm was totally destroyed by a tornado.
My work is completely finished. Now I can relax.

Here is a list of some common absolute adjectives and some modifiers that we can use with

them.

Modifiers	absolutely/totally/completely
Adjectives	acceptable, dead, destroyed, finished, free, impossible, necessary, perfect,  ruined,  unacceptable, etc.

Non-gradable: extreme adjectives

Adjectives like amazing, awful and boiling are also non-gradable. They already contain the idea of 'very' in their definitions. If we want to make extreme adjectives stronger, we have to use absolutely or really:

Did you see the final match? It was absolutely amazing!
After 32 hours of travelling, they were absolutely exhausted.
My trip home was really awful. First, traffic was really bad, then the car broke down and we had to walk home in the rain.

Here is a list of some common extreme adjectives and some modifiers that we can use with them.

Modifiers	absolutely/really
Adjectives	amazing, ancient, awful, boiling, delicious, enormous, excellent, exhausted, fascinating, freezing, gorgeous, terrible,     terrifying, tiny, etc.

What Are Emphatic Pronouns? (with Examples)

Reflexive pronouns are not used much in English. We use them when the same person is both the subject and the object of the action.  This is a interesting blog that talk about what are the emphatic pronouns and why should we care about them.
This topic is available in: Grammar Monster, Free Grammar Lessons and Exercises, available in: https://www.grammar-monster.com/glossary/emphatic_pronouns.htm

Emphatic Pronouns

The emphatic pronouns are myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves. (NB: These words can be either emphatic pronouns or reflexive pronouns. This page is about their use as emphatic pronouns.)

The Use of Emphatic Pronouns

An emphatic pronoun refers back to another noun (or pronoun) in the sentence to emphasize it. For example:

·         The Queen herself attended the party.

(The Queen is the noun being emphasized. It is called the antecedent of the emphatic pronoun.)

When used for emphasis, a word like herself is called an emphatic pronoun.

Examples of Emphatic Pronouns

Here are some more examples of emphatic pronouns. In each example, the emphatic pronoun is shaded, and the thing being emphasized (i.e., the antecedent of the emphatic pronoun) is in bold.

·         She will do it herself.

(The emphatic pronoun herself emphasizes that she will do it. The waiter won't do it. Her husband won't do it. Her son won't do it. SHE will do it.)

·         The scouts cooked these cakes themselves.

(The emphatic pronoun themselves emphasizes that the scouts cooked the cakes, i.e., not their mothers.)

·         I heard the lie myself.

(The emphatic pronoun myself emphasizes that I heard the lie.)

Note: It's not always about people:

·         The cat opened the door itself. 

You can test if it's an emphatic pronoun by removing it and seeing if you get the same effect by emphasizing the thing you're trying to emphasize with your voice (shown here in uppercase).

·         SHE will do it.

·         I heard the lie.

·         THE CAT opened the door.

Real-Life Examples of Emphatic Pronouns

·         The only thing we have to fear is fear itself, but raptors are pretty dang scary.

·         Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself. ("Weiler's Law" by American writer AH Weiler)

·         You must learn from the mistakes of others. You can't possibly live long enough to make them all yourself. (American journalist Sam Levenson)

Why Should I Care about Emphatic Pronouns?

There are two good reasons to know about emphatic pronouns.

(Reason 1) Emphasizing something (obviously)

Using an emphatic pronoun is far slicker than bolding a word, WRITING IT IN UPPERCASE LETTERS, or underlining it. Yuk!

When speaking, you can emphasize a word with your voice, so there is an alternative to using an emphatic pronoun. In writing, however, the alternatives are often unwieldy or ambiguous.

An emphatic pronoun can be removed from a sentence without affecting the sentence's core meaning. In other words, an emphatic pronoun just provides emphasis, but that's a pretty important job. It's often the reason the sentence exists.

·         She will attend the reception drinks herself.

(Reason 2) Avoiding errors with myself, yourself, herself, etc.

The words myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves are not posh versions of me, you, her, him, it, us, you, and them.

·         If you have any questions, please contact myself or your line manager. 

(Remember that an emphatic pronoun emphasizes a nearby noun or pronoun, i.e., its antecedent. There isn't an antecedent in this example.)

·         If you have any questions, please contact me or your line manager. 

(Myself is not a post version of me.)

Determiner: Types of Determiners with Useful Examples

There are many types of determiners and each one performs a different function on the noun, in this post we will see all the types of determiners and how they are used.

ESL Grammar, available in: https://eslgrammar.org/determiner/

DETERMINER DEFINITION

What are determiners in English?

Determiners are a kind of noun modifier; they precede and are necessarily followed by nouns. While adjectives perform a similar function, the term ‘determiner’ refers to a relatively limited set of well-established words that can be said to ‘mark’ nouns.

The function of determiners is to ‘express reference’; i.e. they clarify what a noun is referring to. For example, when one says, ‘that box’, the listener knows which box is being referred to.

Types of determiners: There are many types of determiners:

Articles

There are three articles: a, an, and the.

Indefinite Articles

A and an are indefinite articles that serve the same purpose, but they cannot be used interchangeably, because ‘a’ is only used before words that begin with consonants, and ‘an’ is used only before words that begin with vowels. (Note: ‘an’ before ‘h’ when it is silent, as in ‘hour’ and ‘honor’; ‘a’ before ‘u’ and ‘eu’ when they sound like ‘you’, as in ‘European’ and ‘university’.

The uses of the indefinite article are as follows:

·      To refer to some member of a group, class or category. For example, He is a doctor (profession)/an Indian (nationality)/a Hindu (religion).

·         To refer to a kind of or example of something. For example, He has a large nose/a thick beard/a strange aunt.

·         Preceding singular nouns, with the words ‘what’ and ‘such’. For example What a car! Oh, that’s such a shame!

·         To mean ‘one’ object, whether a person or thing. For example, The thieves stole a necklace and a portrait.

·         To refer to something that is being mentioned for the first time. For example, There was a chill in the air.

1. Note: 

      We usually say a hundred, a thousand, a million, etc.
     
 ‘    A’ is not indiscriminately used to refer to singular objects; ‘one’ is used when emphasis is required. For example, there is only one way out of this mess. 

      Definite Article

‘The’ is known as the definite article in English. Its uses are as follows:

      When something is being referred to that has already been mentioned. For example, I saw a pretty girl at the mall today. The pretty girl did not, however, see me.
        
          When both parties involved in the conversation are aware of what is being discussed. For example Where is the restroom?

     
         To refer to unique objects. For example, the sun, the moon, the Earth, the Taj Mahal.

4.    With superlatives and ordinal numbers (numbers used to rank a set of objects). For example, Mt Everest is the tallest mountain on earth, Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon.

     
     To refer to groups of people, geographical areas, and oceans, and with decades or groups of years. For example, the Americans, the Sahara/Pacific, the fifties/sixties/seventies/eighties.

Quantifiers

What are quantifiers?

Quantifiers form a sub-class under determiners. They are adjectives or phrases that serve to answer two possible questions:

1. How many?

2. and How much?

Quantifier Usage:

It is used to describe quantity.

It is used to express attitude.

For examples:

much

a little/little/very little *

a bit (of)

a great deal of

all

enough

many

a few/few/very few **

a number (of)

 

Demonstratives

This, that, these and those are known are demonstratives; they describe the position of an object, seen from the speaker’s viewpoint.

This and these (used for singular and plural nouns respectively) refer to objects that close by. For example: Whose car is this? Whose cars are these?

That and those (used for singular and plural nouns respectively) refer to objects that are further away. The closeness can be physical or psychological. For example: Who lives in that house?

Numbers

Numbers are cardinal (one, two, three, etc) and ordinal (first, second, third, etc). Cardinal numbers are adjectives that indicate quantity (There are fives apples on the table), and ordinal numbers indicate rank or order (This is the first time for me on a plane).

Distributives

The words all, both, half, each, every, either and neither are known as distributives.

All, Both, Half – These three words can be used in the following ways:

All +

Uncountable Noun:

§        Don Bradman is the greatest batsman of all time.

‘the’ + uncountable noun/countable noun in plural form

§        We have all the time in the world.

§        All the people in the hall went quiet.

‘my’, ‘your’, etc + uncountable noun/countable noun in plural form

§        All my life I have been waiting for this moment.

§        All your friends have been invited to the party.

‘this’, ‘that’ + uncountable noun/‘these’, ‘those’ + countable noun in plural form

§        Look at all this dust!

§        I do not have time for all these formalities.

Both +

‘the’ /‘my’, ‘your’, etc/‘these’, ‘those’ + countable noun in plural form (note: used only when two objects are being referred to).

§       Both the dogs have passed away.

§       Both my ankles have been hurting since I jumped from the balcony.

§       Both these books must be returned within the week.

Half +

‘a’ + uncountable noun

§       We bought half a kilo of rice.

‘the’/‘my’, ‘your’, etc/‘this’, ‘that’, ‘these’, ‘those’ + noun

§       Half the village perished in the floods.

§        I spent half my inheritance on travelling the world.

§       You may have half (of) this cake.

§       Only half (of) those points are relevant.

Possessives

Possessive pronouns and adjectives indicate who an object belongs to.

The pronouns are:

§        mine (first person: This car is mine = I own this car)

§       yours (second person: This car is yours = You own this car)

§       his, hers, and its (third person: This cars is his/hers = He/she owns this car).

The corresponding adjectives are:

§        my

§        your

§       his, her, and it

Difference Words

‘Other’ and ‘another’ are ‘difference words’; they refer to something different, or remaining, or more. ‘Other’ is used with singular and plural nouns, while ‘another’ is used strictly with singular nouns.

§      What other colours can I get this in?

§      Is there another colour that this is available in?

Defining Words

Which and whose are ‘defining words’; they indicate which thing or person is being referred to.

§      This is the house which I used to live in as a child.

§      This is the man whose window you broke.

Question Words

There are a number of words in the English language that are used primarily to make questions; these words are ‘question words’, sometimes known as ‘WH question words’, owing to the fact that all of them start with the letter ‘w’, except one which starts with ‘h’.