Introductory "It"

 

We use introductory “it” to:

1.To tell the time:

Examples:

a. It is 3 o’clock.

b. It is half past four.

c. It is a quarter past three.

d. It is a quarter to ten.

e. It is morning now.

Note: In these sentences, the words indicating time are subjects. “It” is only introducing them. This is called the introductory use of “it”.

 

2. For non-living things and animals:

Examples:

a. It is a table.

b. It is a cat.

c. It is an elephant.

 

3. For telling the day/date/month/year/season:

Examples:

a. It is Monday today.

b. It is the month of March.

c. It was winter.

d. It was the third year.

 

4. For activities related to nature:

Examples:

a. It is raining.

b. It is snowing.

c. It is drizzling.

d. It is thundering.

e. It is very hot today.

f. It was very cold that day.

g. It was a dark night.

 

5. Special uses of “it”:

Examples:

a. It is the boy who has stolen my pen.

b. It is John who has done it.

c. Who was it that broke my pen?

d. It is we who are helpful.

e. Are it they?

 

6. Negative and Interrogative sentences:

Examples:

a. Is it that girl who has topped the examination?

b. It is not that girl who has broken my chair.

c. It was not only Tom who committed the theft.

d. Is it difficult to learn English?

e. Is it not she who has written this book?

As and Like

 

“As + noun” means “in the role of’.

Example: As your brother, I’ll help you as much as I can. (The speaker is the listener’s brother.)

 

“As” is used to describe the function of a person or object.

Example: He works as a teacher. He was using the pen as a knife.

 

“As” can also be used as a conjunction.

Example: Nobody loves me as you do.

 

“Like + noun” means “similar to” or “in the same way as”.

Example: Like your brother, I’ll help you as much as I can. (The speaker is not the brother but wishes to act in the similar way to the brother.)

 

“Like” is used as a preposition. It is used to compare two things.

Example: She looks like her mother. That house looks like a palace.

 

“Like” can also be used like a conjunction. (Connecting two clauses.)

Example: She looked like she was about to cry.

 

 

 

Ago and Before

 

“Ago” is used with a past tense and a time expression to count back from the present.

“Ago” means “before the present”.

“Ago” refers to length of time measured only from now.

“Ago” is an adverb.

“Ago” is generally used with Simple Past.

“Ago” always counts back from the present time.

Examples:

1. She left ten minutes ago.

2. He died seven years ago.

3. It happened ten years ago.

4. She called me five minutes ago.

5. I met her three years ago.

 

“Before” is used with a past perfect tense to count back from a past moment.

“Before” can also be used to mean “at any time before now/then”. With this meaning, it can be used with both present and past tenses.

“Before” means the period of time that precedes a particular event, date or time.

“Before” is used for past times from another time in the past.

“Before” should be used only when dating the length of time is not from now. It refers to past events that one is talking about.

“Before” is an adverb, preposition and conjunction.

“Before” is often used with the past perfect tense.

“Before” counts back from a past point.

 

Examples:

1. I reached the railway station at 7:00, but the train had left ten minutes before.

2. I have seen him before.

3. He has never done it before.

4. It happened before you were born.

5. She had never seen that man before.

 

 

Noun - Case

 

There are three cases:

1. Nominative case/Subjective case

2. Accusative case/Objective case

3. Possessive case/Genitive case

 

Nominative case: A noun is said to be in the nominative case if it is the subject of a verb in a sentence.

Examples:

1. Mumbai is a big city.  – sub – Mumbai – in nominative case

2. Pankaj is my friend.    – Sub – Pankaj    - in nominative case

 

Accusative case: A noun is said to be in the accusative case when it is the object of a verb in a sentence.

Examples:

1. He broke the glass. – obj – glass – in accusative case

2. I met him. – obj – him – in accusative case.

 

Sentences with two objects:

I gave him a pen. I gave a pen to him.

In this sentence, him and pen are the two objects. Him is the indirect object and pen is the direct object.

 

Note: An indirect object denotes the person to whom or for whom something is given or done, while a direct object usually denotes a thing.

 

The direct object is said to be in the accusative case, and the indirect object is said to be in the dative case.

 

Possessive case: A noun is said to be in the possessive case when it shows possession.

Examples:

1. This is Rahul’s house.

2. The price of the chair is very high.

 

How to form the possessive case:

For living beings, singular or plural, we use apostrophe (‘) with a noun.

Noun + ‘   + s       

Examples:

1. Boy - boy’s

2. Rahul - Rahul’s

3. Father - father’s             

4. Boys - boys’                

5. People - people’s

6. Children - children’s

 

For non-living beings, singular or plural, we use “of” before a noun.

of + noun

Examples:

1. School – of the school          

2. Chair    - of the chair

 

3. Houses – of the houses

4. Chairs    - of the chairs