The Dear Departed - Grammar

Grammar

I. Read the following sentences from the play and notice the underlined words.

1. She'll come fast enough for her share of what our father has left.

2. Mrs. Slater doesn't have enough money to buy the bureau.

In both the sentences 'enough' is underlined. 'Enough' means 'sufficient'.

In a sentence , 'enough' is used after adjectives, adverbs or verbs as an adverb, and before nouns as a determiner.

A.  Now decide whether 'enough' in the following sentences is used as an 'adjective' or an 'adverb'.

1. This house is not big enough for me.
2. We didn't leave early enough.
3. I didn't trained enough for the game.
4. Is there enough room for me.
5. I do not have enough clothes for my journey.

B.  Complete the following sentences using 'enough' / 'not enough' and one of the words given in list below.

fast       strong        time        sweet         money       old         warm      beds     hard      water

1. Harish wants to be a great wrestler but he is ___________________________ .
2. I want to sit and watch T.V. but I just don't have _____________________ .
3. He tried to win the race but he came third as he was not ________________ .
4. This bath is freezing. The water is ________________________________ .
5. We had to sleep on the floor as there were ________________________ .
6. There is ________________ to make a cup of tea! What is wrong with the pipes?
7. If Sujatha does not have ___________________, I can lend her.
8. Vasavi is not _____________________ to become a member of this club. She must be at least 18 years of age to join.
9. Is this coffee ________________ for you? Would you like some more sugar?
10. Do you think he has studied _____________________ to pass the entrance exam?

II. We generally use articles (a, an and the) before common nouns. But in some cases articles are not used before them. Read the following sentences from the play 'The Dear Departed' and notice the underlined common nouns.

1. He went out soon after breakfast to pay his insurance.
2. And when we'd finished dinner I thought I'd take up a bit of something on a tray.

In the above sentences the underlined common nouns 'breakfast and dinner' refer to the names of meals and food. In primary and general sense we don't use articles before the words that refer to the names of meals and food ie. breakfast, dinner, lunch, supper, pizza, fish fry and omelette.

The following are cases where 'the' is not used in the primary sense. (In a special or particular sense, 'the' is used before them.)

a)      Before proper nouns (Rama, Sita, Mohan, Ramya, India, Ongole, Gandhi Nagar etc.)

b)      Before abstract nouns and material nouns (honesty, beauty, poetry, iron, gold etc.)

c)       Before the words 'man, woman, society, heaven and hell'.

d)      Before the name of diseases, games and sports, seasons, days, months. (fever, cricket, summer, April etc.)

e)      Before the words 'church, jail, prison, school, college, market, hospital, office, university, temple, mosque, bank, home and nursing home.

f)       Before plural nouns (books, people, villages, pens etc.)

g)      Before the words referring to relations. (mother, father, brother, sister, aunt etc.)

h)      Before the name of languages. (Telugu, English, Hindi, Tamil, French etc.)

i)        In certain expressions or phrases ( catch fire, send word, set sail, set foot, at home, in hand, in debt, by car, at night, on demand, on earth, on foot, etc.)

Write the following paragraphs, inserting a, an, and the where needed.

1. I have horse of my own. I call her Pretty Girl. She is intelligent animal, but she is not thorough bred horse. I could never enter her in race, even if I wanted to. But I do not want to. She is companion, for my own pleasure. I took her swimming day or two ago. Horse knows when he is going to race. How does he know? His breakfast was scanty. (He is angry about that.) He does not have saddle on his back. He is being led, not ridden, to grandstand. He is led under grandstand into unusual, special stall. Horse is nervous. Sometimes he does not know what to do when starting gate flies open and track is before him. If he does not begin to run instantly, other horses are already ahead of him. During race, when he sees another horse just ahead of him, he will try to pass him. Sometimes jockey holds him back to save his energy for last stretch. Eventually horse gets to run as fast as he can. Exercise boy, watching owner's favorite jockey riding horse he has exercised day after day, says nothing. Secretly, he is planning for day when he will be jockey himself, and his horse will be first to cross finish line.

2. I have horse of my own. I can call him Pretty Girl. She is intelligent animal, but she is not thoroughbred horse. I could never enter her in race, even if I wanted to. But I do not want to. She is companion, for my own pleasure. I took her swimming day or two ago.

III. Compound Prepositional Phrases

Read the following sentences from the play 'The Dear Departed' and notice the underlined words.

1. Victoria dressed according to her mother's instructions.
2. You both say that because of what I have told you about leaving my money.
3. It was here instead of in his room.

The underlined phrases are compound prepositional phrases. The following are some more important compound prepositional phrases. Their meanings are given in brackets.

along with (together with)

on account of (because of)

by means of (through the agency of)

apart from (separate from)

ahead of (earlier than somebody / something)

in front of (located before)

in place of (as a substitute for)

in spite of (disregarding the difficulty)

in case of (in the event of)

by way of (via)

due to (on account of)

for the sake of (for the good of)

in addition to (added to)

in accordance with (in agreement with)

1. Use the above compound prepositional phrases in sentences of your own.
2. Fill in each blank with the correct compound prepositional phrase from the options given under each sentence.

1. I finished my project work several days ________________ the deadline.

(a) instead of                     (b) ahead of                       (c) in spite of

2. Sravani goes to school ______________________ Yamuna daily.

(a) according to                 (b) in spite of                     (c) along with

3. My house stands _______________ all the other houses in the street as it is big in size.

(a) apart from                    (b) in accordance with   (c) in addition to

4. Madhu got a good job ____________________ his own abilities and skills.

(a) in addition to               (b) instead of                     (c) by means of

5. She was unable to attend the party ______________ her marriage engagement.

(a) in spite of                     (b) in addition to              (c) due to

6. ______________ fire, ring the alarm bell.

(a) In spite of                     (b) In case of                      (c) In addition to

7. Sriram continued his batting carefully ________________ his team though he was hungry.

(a) for the sake of            (b) in addition to              (c) in front of

8. You should complete your B.Ed. _____________________ your B.Sc to get a teacher job.

(a) in addition to               (b) according to                (c) in spite of

9. The physical director of our school selected me ____________________ my friend, Ganesh for tomorrow's match.

(a) in spite of                     (b) in place of                    (c) ahead of

10. ________________ his poverty, he completed his Ph.D. in English.

(a) In place of                    (b) For the sake of           (c) In spite of

IV. Language Function (It's time + Simple Past Verb...):

Read the following sentence from the play and notice the underlined expression.

It's quite time you came to live with us again.

The underlined expression 'It's quite time + simple past verb' is used to say that something is not happening, but it should be happening or to express that something should be done and that it is already a little late.

Now the sentence can be understood as: It is a suitable time for you to live with us. / It is already late that you should live with us.

Note: The expressions 'It's quite time', 'It's high time', 'It's time' and 'It's about time' are all the same. The adjectives 'high' or 'quite' are used to make the feeling stronger.

Read the following contexts and express them using expressions 'It's quite time', 'It's high time', 'It's time' or 'It's about time'

1. Bhavani usually wakes up at 6 a.m. daily. It is 6.15 a.m. now. Bhavani has not woken up yet. You feel it is already late. Express your idea using 'It's high time'.

A: ______________________________________________________________

2. You and your friend have spent more time than you spend daily in the playground. You feel it is late and better to go home. What would you say to your friend? Use the expression 'It's time'.

A: ______________________________________________________________

3. You to your friend: 'You have not thought seriously about what you want to do in your life.' How would you express this idea using 'It's high time'.

A: ____________________________________________________________

4. Your friend promised you to make a phone call at 7 a.m. But you haven't received any phone call from him yet. Now it is 7.30 a.m. How would you express this idea using 'It's about time'?

A: ____________________________________________________________

5. Your friend has been working on a project for 5 months. But he has not completed it yet. You feel that your friend should take your help to complete the project fast. Give him / her advice using 'It's time.

A: ____________________________________________________________

V. Language Function (I wonder if .....):

Read the following sentence and notice the underlined part.

I'm wondering if they'll come at all.

In the above sentence the expression 'I'm wondering' is used to say that the speaker is thinking about something right now or at the moment and it emphasises that there's something the speaker doesn't now or he is not sure of.

Now the sentence means 'The speaker is thinking of their coming. At the same time the speaker doesn't know whether they come or not'. In other words 'The speaker is speculating about their coming.'

The same expression 'I'm wondering / I wonder' can be used to make a polite request or to ask a polite (less direct) question. ('I wonder ' is normally followed by 'if (whether) + subject + could/would / should + V1')

Examples:

I wonder if you could help me in troubles.

I am wondering if you will lend me your pen.

Rewrite as directed in the brackets.

1. I am thinking about going to the party but I have not made a decision yet. (Rewrite the meaning in the above sentence using 'I am wondering'.)

A: I am wondering whether I should go to the party (or not).

2. You are busily writing an examination. Suddenly your pen has struck writing. You want to take a pen from your friend, Rohit. (Make a request beginning with 'I wonder'.)

A: _________________________________________________________

3. You wish to spend some time with your friend, Swathi this evening. You want to know whether he is fee in the evening. (Ask a less direct question using ' I wonder'.)

A: __________________________________________________________

4. You have invited your childhood friend, Balaji to your birthday party. Now you are thinking about his presence in the party. You feel you are not sure of his coming. (Express this idea using 'I am wondering'.)

A: ___________________________________________________________

5. You have written your exams. You hoped to get a good rank in the exam. Now you are thinking about your exam result. ( How would express this speculation with 'I am wondering'.)

A: ___________________________________________________________

6. You are thinking about going to Ooty in summer holidays but you have not decided the schedule and have not taken permission from your father. (Express this idea using 'I am wondering'.)

A: ___________________________________________________________

7. Mahant and Soumya are moving closely. You think they will get married in future but you are not sure of this. (How will you ask Mahant and Soumya to know the fact in a polite way using 'I wonder'.)

A: __________________________________________________________

VI. The following passage has ten errors of grammar. Identify and rewrite them with necessary corrections.

Varanasi is locate on the north eastern part of India. Hindu pilgrims go to there to purify their souls. To the Hindus Varanasi is a holiest pilgrimage center to all.

Thousands of pilgrims visit this wholly city every year.

As early as four o'clock at the morning the pilgrims are seen make their way to the famous bathing steps knowed as Gatz. From there they board row boats to the holy river ganges to take bath. In doing this the pilgrims believe that their sins would be wash away.