singular verb and noun and phrase and clause

singular verb and noun:

a. Read the following sentence:

1. The book is open.                The books are open.

2. The kite is beautiful.            The kites are beautiful.

3. The bird is in the sky.          The birds are in the sky.

In the first sentence the singular verb is used for the singular noun. In the second sentence the plural verb is used for the plural noun.


Fill in the blanks with the correct noun or verb forms.

1. The bird __________in the sky.

2. The ________ are in the sky.

3. The doors __________ open.

4. The buses _________ full.

5. The train __________ long.



phrase and clause:

Read the following sentence.

1. In spite of illness, kala went to school

A B

There is a group of words both in A and B. What is the difference between them?

There is no finite verb in A - It is a phrase.

There is a finite verb in B - It is a clause.


2. On seeing the elephant, the child was happy

A B

Phrase - on seeing the elephant

Clause - the child was happy

Note: ‘seeing’ is not a finite verb. It is non finite.

Read the following sentences and tabulate the phrases and clauses. The first one is done for you.

1. On account of Pongal, tomorrow will be a holiday.

2. I saw the sunrise, walking along the road.

3. The match was cancelled, owing to rain.

4. In the event of a good monsoon, we will get better yield.

5. She fell ill due to overwork.

6. In case of war, there will be a shortage of oil.

Phrase                                                                  Clause

1 On account of Pongal                                       1 tomorrow will be a holiday

2                                                                             2

3                                                                             3

4                                                                             4

5                                                                             5


6                                                                             6

Phrasal verbs

Phrasal verbs are verbs that consist of two or three words. The first word is a verb and it is followed by an adverb or a prepositions or both. These adverbs or prepositions are sometimes called particles. In some cases it is easy to guess the meaning of the phrasal verb.

e.g.     *  I cannot put up with his behaviour any more. - tolerate

           * Nobody could quarrel with your conclusion. - oppose

Do not hang around here. - move with no aim They left Iraq before the war broke out. - started suddenly Generally when the verbs are transitive (they take an object) the phrasal verb is separable and the object can be between the verb and particle or after the particle.

e.g.      * He tore up the letter.

           * He tore the letter up.