Big Picture

Week 1-2. Unit Learning Outcomes (ULO): At the end of the unit, you are expected to:
a) Use targeted grammatical structures meaningfully and appropriately in different
communication settings.
b) Describe the nature, principles, and ethics of communication in multicultural contexts

Big Picture in Focus: ULOa.

Use targeted grammatical structures meaningfully and
appropriately in different communication settings

Metalanguage

In this section, you will review about the basic grammatical structures that are
necessary for your journey in purposive communication. You will encounter these grammar
rules, as these are important consideration when you are communicating, may it be oral, or
through writing. Please refer to these definitions in case you will encounter difficulty in
understanding educational concepts.

Key Terms:
modifier. A word, phrase, or clause that limits or qualifies the sense of another word or phrase.
clause. Typically contains at least a subject noun phrase and a finite verb. The two main
categories are independent and subordinate (or dependent).
complement. A word, phrase, or clause that is necessary to complete the meaning of a given
expression.
phrase. A group of words that cannot stand on its own because it does not have both a subject
and a verb.
fragment. An incomplete sentence, lacking a subject or a predicate.
subject. In a clause, the word or word group (usually a noun phrase) that represents a person,
place or thing. In active clauses with verbs denoting an action, the subject and the actor are
usually the same.
predicate. The part of the sentence (or clause) that states something about the subject or the
object of the sentence.
sentence fragment. An incomplete sentence; a phrase or clause that is punctuated and
capitalized as a sentence but does not constitute a complete grammatical sentence. It is usually
caused either by the failure to include a subject and a verb in a sentence or by beginning a
sentence with a subordinate conjunction or relative pronoun.
simple predicate. The verb or verb phrase of a sentence.
object. The noun or pronoun which is being acted upon, or at which the action is directed. There
are two types: direct and indirect.

GE 2 - PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION 1
Essential Knowledge
To perform the aforesaid big picture (unit learning outcomes) in the next two weeks
of the course, you need to fully understand the following essential knowledge that will be laid
down in the succeeding pages. Please note that you are not limited to exclusively refer to the
these resources. Thus, you are expected to utilize other books, research articles and other
resources that are available in the university’s library e.g. ebrary, search.proquest.com etc.

Review of English Grammar and Mechanics

English features four core sentence elements (subjects, predicates, objects, and modifiers)
that make up phrases and clauses, which in turn make up sentences.

In order to successfully craft sentences, one must first understand the core elements of
complete English sentences: subjects, objects, predicates, and modifiers. The most important
of these are subjects and predicates: in order for a sentence to be "complete," it must contain
an action and someone (or something) doing it. The action is the predicate, and the person
(or thing) doing it is the subject.

Core Sentence Elements

Subject. The subject of a sentence is a noun or pronoun (and its article, if it has one). In
active-voice sentences, it is the noun or pronoun performing the action in the sentence. See
the italicized subjects in the examples below:

1. The girl is eating her lunch.

2. She decides to quit.
3. John is a good person.

In example 1, the subject, "the girl," is both a noun and its article. It is also a simple subject.
In example 2, the subject is a pronoun, and is a simple subject. In example 3, the subject is a
noun (no article) and is a simple subject.

An example of a sentence with a compound subject (consisting of two or more simple subjects
joined together by a conjunction) is shown below.

1. Lois and Clark are dating inside the café.

Predicate. The predicate explains the action of the sentence. The simple predicate refers to
just the verb or verb phrase, linked to the subject, which tells what action is being performed
by that subject. In the examples below, "is," "sets," and "died" are all simple predicates.

Sample Sentences:
1. She is pretty.
2. The sun sets.
3. My battery died.

GE 2 - PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION 2
There are more complex definitions of "predicate." Sometimes "predicate" can simply mean
"everything except the subject." But just remember: the simple predicate is the action (verb or
verb phrase) of a sentence.

In the examples below, the predicates are underlined. These predicates are simple
predicates.

1. I lost my book.
2. She ate her lunch.
3. The salesman called me yesterday.

In the examples below, the predicates are underlined. These predicates are compound
predicates.

1. Lalaine washed the dishes and cleaned the house.

Activity 1A. Identify the subject and the predicate in the following sentences below.
The first one is done for you.

Sentence Subject Predicate

1. The building collapsed in the building collapsed
cloud of dust.
2. The captain is peering through Is
the periscope.
3. The cat stared at the mouse. Stared
4. I lost my green notebook. Lost
5. She is lovely in her new dress. Is
6. They conducted enrichment Conducted
programs for senior citizens.
7. The topic is focused and is
relevant to the course.
8. Multiple errors in information Are
are evident.
9. Visual aid is very detailed. Is
10. She will focus on writing the Will focus
outline of her speech.

Activity 1B. Draw a vertical line between the complete subject and the complete
predicate. The first one is done for you.

1. The robin |hopped across the yard.

2. The University of Mindanao heeds the call as it innovates its delivery of quality
education beyond the four corners of a classroom.
3. The university is utilizing online technology to the current COVID19 situation.
4. UM students have two flexible learning options to choose from -the online mode
and distance mode.
5. Consuming alcoholic beverages the night before donating blood is prohibited.

GE 2 - PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION 3
Object. Object. The object of a sentence is the noun or pronoun which is being acted upon, or
at which the action is directed. There are two types of objects: direct objects and indirect
objects.

1. Direct Object. The direct object is the object which is being acted upon in the sentence.
See the underlined direct objects in the examples below:
a. She passed the exam.
b. Jenny loves her gift.
c. I owe you an apology.

2. Indirect Object. The indirect object answers the questions “to whom/what?”or “for
whom/what?” in a sentence. It is not acted upon. See the underlined indirect objects
in the examples below:
a. The student brought her teacher a glass of water.
b. My boss offered me a great new job.
c. I owe you an apology.

3. No object. Some sentences do not need an object and consist of only a subject and a
verb predicate. For example:
a. She lied.
b. The cockroach died.

This can happen because some verbs (like the ones above) don't require an object. When a
verb doesn't need an object, it is called an intransitive verb.

Activity 2A. Identify the verb and the direct object in the following sentences below:

Sentence Verb Direct Object

1. Always write the body of your write the body
speech first.
2. Jerson remembers the formula remembers The formula
for speech writing.
3. Colene avoided distractions avoided Distractions
during her speech
presentation.
4. Tara explained the sentence to explained The sentence
her classmate.
5. Jared asked Adina and asked Adina and Winston
Winston to come home.
6. Fine arts represent an represent An exploration of human
exploration of human condition. condition
7. After the meeting, Jona cleaned The garage
cleaned the garage.
8. Angelo closed the door behind closed The door behind her
her.
9. Malcolm adjusted the lens of adjusted The lens
the microscope.

GE 2 - PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION 4
 10. Jerry paints the apples and paints The apples and oranges
oranges on the table.

Activity 2B. Identify the direct object and the indirect object in the following sentences
below. The first one is done for you.

Sentence Direct Object Indirect Object

1. He brought me roses on our roses me
first date.
2. The secret agent gave the Government files Police and the general
police and the general the
government files.
3. Jem lent me her pen. pen Her Me
4. My older brother built me a kite. kite Me
5. You should throw her the ball! ball Her
6. Kristan guarantees us results Us
excellent results.
7. Erin promised Raylene a copy video Raylene
of the video.
8. Flora will paint Jena a portrait portrait Jena
of herself.
9. Finn wrote her boyfriend a long letter Her boyfriend
letter.
10. They give us the keys to an keys us
abandoned house.

Modifier. A modifier is a phrase in a sentence that provides additional information about an

element within that sentence. There are three basic kinds of modifying constructions:

1. Single-word modifiers (adjectives and adverbs): It was an enjoyable movie.

2. Modifying phrases (e.g., prepositional, participial, infinitive, and appositive phrases):
Sheena, the psychometrician, received an award as best employee. (appositive
phrase)
3. Modifying clauses (a clause is any group of words with its own subject and predicate):
The only student who did not submit her requirements for this course is Karina.
(adjective clause)

Compound Elements

In a given sentence, there may be more than one of any of the five core sentence elements.
Compound elements can include:

Compound subject: Janet and Joy attended the meeting.

Compound predicate: They went to the school and filed an official leave.
Compound modifier: She bought a new red car.

GE 2 - PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION 5
Phrases

A phrase is a collection of words that may have nouns or verbals, but it does not have a subject
doing a verb. The following are examples of phrases:

capturing an odd number of subjects

a popular geometric design
from the late 10th century
best demonstrated by illuminated manuscripts
leaving the nest

In these examples, you will find nouns (number, subjects, design, century, manuscripts). You
also have some verbals (capturing, leaving), but in no case is the noun functioning as a subject
doing a predicate verb. They are all phrases.

Clauses

A clause is a collection of words that has a subject that is actively doing a verb. The following
are examples of clauses:

since the plane landed

when the dog bark at them
because she ate the food
for it was meant to be

Note that in the examples above, we find either a noun or a pronoun that is a subject (italicized)
attached to a verb phrase (also italicized).

PARTS OF SPEECH

Noun
A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea.

1. A noun can be singular, plural, possessive, concrete or abstract.

A singular noun names one person, place, thing, or idea, and a plural noun names
more than one.

Ex. Quipper is the official LMS of the university.

The possessive form of a noun shows possession, ownership, or the relationship

between two nouns.

Ex. UM’s official LMS is Quipper.

A concrete noun names an object that occupies space or can be recognized by any
of the senses. An abstract noun names an idea, a quality, or a characteristic.

GE 2 - PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION 6
 Ex. The university student handbook can be claimed at the Office of the
Student Affairs.

One of the core values of UM is excellence.

2. A noun can be proper, common, collective.

A proper noun names a specific person, place or thing. Capitalize proper nouns. A
common noun refers to people, places or things in general.

Ex. UM Digos College is a private higher institution is located in Roxas

Extension St., Digos City.

A collective noun names a group. A collective noun is singular when it refers to the
group as a whole. A collective noun is plural when it refers to the individual members
of a group.

Ex. The committee will decide on this matter.

Activity 3A. Identify the nouns in the following sentences. The first one is done for you.

Sentence Nouns
1. She received three scholarships after scholarships, audition
her audition.
2. Did your kitten run under the Kitten, table
principal’s table?
3. The decision of the committee to Decision, committee, rules, Annie, freedom,
suspend the rules gave Annie more proposal
freedom to present her proposal.
4. Many people in the current society People, society, art, sewing
have forgotten the beautiful art of
sewing.
5. Art serves its economic purpose, as Art, purpose, creations, art, society
there are creations of art that are
useful in the society.
6. An artwork is a direct source of Artwork, source, pleasure, response
sensual pleasure and it elicits
perhaps an intrinsically aesthetic
response.
7. People in the prehistoric period relied People, period, works, art, gods, deities
on works of art to worship their gods,
as evidenced by statues of gods, and
deities.
8. The man can take the beauty of Man, beauty, nature, paper, people, time, image
nature through a piece of paper so
that other people may take time
appreciating the captured image.

GE 2 - PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION 7
 9. The term technique is the manner in Manner, artist, medium, effects
which the artist controls the medium
to achieve the desired effects.
10. Stained glass is a common art in Glass, art, cathedrals, churches
Gothic Cathedrals and churches.

Pronoun

A pronoun takes the place of a noun, a group of words acting as a noun, or another pronoun.
We call the word or group of words that a pronoun refers to its antecedent.

1. A pronoun can be personal, possessive, reflexive, or intensive.

A personal pronoun refers to a specific person or thing by indicating the person

speaking (the first person), the person being addressed (the second person), or any
other person or thing being discussed (the third person).

Ex. We always think outside the box to provide the best solutions for our
customers.

A possessive pronoun shows possession or control. It takes the place of a

possessive noun.

Ex. We always think outside the box to provide the best solutions for our
customers.

A reflexive pronoun refers to a noun or another pronoun and indicates that the same
person or thing is involved.

Ex. She told herself it was nothing.

An intensive pronoun adds emphasis to a noun or another pronoun. Reflexive and

intensive pronouns look alike. Their usage reveals the difference.

Ex. Did you yourself saw your classmates at the mall today?

2. A pronoun can be demonstrative, interrogative, relative, or definite.

Use an interrogative pronoun to form questions. Interrogative pronouns are who,

whom, whose, what, and which. The intensive forms of the interrogative pronouns are
whoever, whomever, whatever, and whichever.

Ex. Which of the UM’s core values refers to the commitment of working
hard toward continual improvement in everything we do?

GE 2 - PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION 8
 Use a relative pronoun to begin a special subject-verb word group called a
subordinate clause.

Ex. The student who stood up earlier knew about the answer.

A demonstrative pronoun points out specific persons, places, things, or ideas.

Ex. A huge opportunity like this should not be taken lightly.

An indefinite pronoun refers to persons, places, or things in a more general way than
does a personal pronoun.

Ex. Everybody is required to familiarize the university core values.

Activity 4A. Identify the pronouns and their classification in the following sentences.
The first one is done for you.

1. If we take an initial look at Plato’s and Aristotle’s suggestions on how man can live
an ethical existence, their positions are teleological.
Answer: we = personal pronoun; their = possessive pronoun
2. Socrates stressed the need for a person to make an effort to understand how he
thinks of the world.
Answer: __he – personal
pronoun______________________________________________________
3. This is the meaning of his statement: Virtue is Knowledge.
Answer: _this – demonstrative ; his – personal pronoun (possessive
case)_______________________________________________________
4. In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato narrates this story of individuals who have been
living inside the cave all of their lives.
Answer: ________________________________________________________
5. Their hands and legs have been chained in such a way that their movements are
constrained and highly limited.
Answer: ________________________________________________________
6. How can a philosopher-king provide an advice for his community if he himself is
detached from their experiences?
Answer: ________________________________________________________
7. When one is rash, this person is quick to decide on things even for reasons that
not understood.
Answer: ________________________________________________________
8. When one has temperance, he has a moderate disposition towards pleasure and
pain/discomfort.
Answer: ________________________________________________________
9. When one engages in flattery, the person intentionally exaggerates an attribute.
Answer: ________________________________________________________
10. This just shows that before one can speculate and think of abstract thoughts, one
has to be keen on how the world operates and functions.
Answer: ________________________________________________________

GE 2 - PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION 9
Verbs

A verb expresses action or a state of being and is necessary to make a statement. An action
verb tells what someone or something does. Action verbs can express either physical or
mental action.

1. A verb can be a transitive verb or an intransitive verb.

A transitive verb is an action verb that is followed by a word or words that answer the
question what? or whom?

Ex. The university provides a dynamic and supportive academic environment.

An intransitive verb is an action verb that is not followed by a word that answers the
question what? or whom?

Ex. The teacher arrived early this morning.

2. A linking verb links, or joins, the subject of a sentence with a word or expression that
identifies or describes the subject. The most common linking verbs are the forms of
be.

Ex. Every employee is integral to the success of the institution.

She is lovely.

3. The verb in a sentence may consist of more than one word. We call the words that
accompany the main verb auxiliary, or helping, verbs. A verb phrase consists of a
main verb and all its auxiliary verbs.

Ex. I do not know the answer.

She is singing.

Activity 5A. Encircle each action verb in the following sentences. Write TRANS in the
blank if the verb is transitive, INT if it is intransitive, LINK if it is a linking verb. The
first one is done for you.

TRANS 1. St. Augustine shares many similarities with Plato’s philosophy.

TRANS 2. Plato’s philosophy provided him the foundation for his intellectual
conversion.
INT 3. Dewey’s concepts on social philosophy disappeared inside my head.
INT 4. It rained while the teacher discussed concepts on philosophy.
TRANS 5. Plato maintained this gap between the world of senses and the world
of ideas.
6. St. Augustine favors the values of God’s Kingdom from the illusions
and temptations of the world.

GE 2 - PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION 10
 7. Social philosophy is the study of questions about social behavior and
interpretations of society and social institutions in terms of ethical
values rather than empirical relations.
8. Kant wrote his social and political philosophy in order to champion the
Enlightenment in general and the idea of freedom in particular.
9. The philosopher laughed heartily.
10. Kant provides two distinct discussions of social contract.

Adjective

An adjective modifies a noun or a pronoun by limiting its meaning. Adjectives include the
articles a, an, and the. A and an are indefinite articles; the is a definite article. Because they
modify nouns, possessive nouns and pronouns are considered adjectives as well.

1. A proper adjective is formed from a proper noun and begins with a capital letter.
Properadjectives are often created by using the following suffixes: -an, -ian, -n, -ese,
and -ish.

Ex. We always think outside the box to provide the best solutions for our
customers.

2. Many adjectives have different forms to indicate their degree of comparison.

Ex. Eating healthy vegetables is a safe way to improve our diet.

Wearing medical grade mask is safer than dust mask.
Stay at home – it’s the safest place to be!

Activity 6A. Underline each adjective in the following sentences.

1. One day when Apollo, the god of light and truth, was a young man, he came upon
Cupid, the god of love, playing with one of his bows.
2. With that ominous threat, Cupid flew into the sky and landed on top of a high
mountain.
3. Cupid aimed his first arrow at Daphne, a beautiful nymph hunting deep in the
woods.
4. Cupid aimed his second arrow—the sharp, gold-tipped one—at Apollo, who was
wandering in the woods.
5. Just as the young god came upon Daphne, Cupid pulled back the tight string of his
bow and shot the golden arrow into Apollo’s heart.
6. Even though the huntress’s hair was wild and she wore only rough animal skins,
Apollo thought she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
7. Apollo ran after her, shouting, “Stay! Stay!” But Daphne fled as fast as the wind.
8. Daphne continued to run, her bare limbs lit by the sun and her soft hair wild in the
wind.
9. She had become a laurel tree; and nothing was left of her, but her exquisite
loveliness.
10. “You’ll always be young and green—my first love, Daphne.”

GE 2 - PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION 11
Adverb
An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb by making its meaning more
specific. Adverbs answer the questions how? when? where? and to what degree? When
modifying a verb, an adverb may appear in various positions in a sentence. If modifying an
adjective or another adverb, an adverb appears directly before the modified word.

Ex. The university continuously demonstrates excellent performance in

the areas of instruction.
Sheila is very beautiful.
Sheila eats slowly.
Sheila eats too slowly.

The negatives no and not and the contraction -n’t are adverbs. Other negative words, such as
nowhere, hardly, and never, can function as adverbs of time, place, and degree.

Ex. I hardly go out anymore because of this pandemic.

Activity 6A. Underline the adverbs in the following sentences.

1. Orpheus had a divinely gifted voice that could charm everyone who heard it.
2. Orpheus fell in love with Eurydice a woman of unique beauty; they got married
and lived happily for many years.
3. Orpheus, singer, musician and poet, carrying a lyre on his shoulder, had recently
married Eurydice, but on the day of their wedding, ‘in the very bloom of her life’,
she was bitten by a viper and died of its venom.
4. Orpheus sang his grief with his lyre and managed to move everything living or not
on the world; both humans and Gods were deeply touched by his sorrow and
grief.
5. Hades openly wept, Persephone's heart melted and even Cerberus, the gigantic
three-headed hound guarding the entry to the underworld, covered his many ears
with his paws and howled in despair.
6. The only caveat was that Orpheus must not glance back at Eurydice until she was
safely ensconced in the upper world.
7. He wanted to turn around and hug her immediately but managed to control his
feelings.
8. Many operas, songs and plays have been composed to honour these two great
lovers who tragically lost the chance to enjoy their love.
9. His misfortune tormented him, forcing him to abstain from contact with any other
woman and slowly but surely he found himself shunning their company
completely.
10. His soul descended down to Hades where he was finally reunited with his beloved
Eurydice.

Conjunction

GE 2 - PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION 12
A conjunction joins single words or groups of words.

1. A coordinating conjunction joins words or groups of words that have equal

grammatical importance. Coordinating conjunctions include and, but, or, nor, for, and
yet.

Ex. Honesty and integrity goes together.

2. Correlative conjunctions work in pairs to join words and groups of words of equal
importance. Correlative conjunctions include both...and, just as...so, not only...but
also, either...or, neither...nor, and whether...or.

Ex. She is both charming and intelligent.

3. A subordinating conjunction joins a dependent idea or clause to a main clause.

Ex. Don't play the odds with coronavirus because the disease could
permanently damage your body.

Activity 6A. Underline the at least one (1) conjunction in the following sentences below.
Write COORD in the blank if the conjunction is coordinating, CORR if the conjunction
is correlative, or SUB if the conjunction is subordinating. The first one is done for you.

COORD 1. Do you write letters to your friends or do you use only one phone?
COORD 2. In the ancient world, the establishment of large governments and the
development of trade necessitated formal message-carrying systems.
COORD 3. At first, governments reserved these systems for their own use,
commercial interests and the private sector were later included.
CORR 4. The Romans established a large system that remained very reliable so
long as the empire maintained its central world authority.
5. Based on the Persian model, Roman relay stations were both large
and numerous.
6. Roman government posts carried only official letters, whereas
commercial companies served businesses and private citizens.
7. After Rome’s authority weakened, reliable posts either disappeared or
became undependable.
8. The Renaissance in western Europe sparked a boom in official,
commercial, ecclesiastical, and private correspondence.
9. This increase made it necessary for regional monarchies not only to
rehabilitate the postal systems but also to extend them greatly.
10. France established a nationwide postal service in 1497 as England
had done earlier in 1481.

Preposition

A preposition shows the relationship of a noun or a pronoun to some other word in the
sentence.

GE 2 - PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION 13
 Ex. Jose Rizal wrote short verses on sheets of paper and on the pages of
textbooks.

A compound preposition is a preposition that is made up of more than one word.

Ex. Use something red in front of that black background.

Phrases that begin with a preposition usually end with a noun or pronoun called the object of
the preposition.

Ex. They relied on food donations. (In this example, the object of the
preposition is “food donations”, and the preposition is “on”)

Activity 7A. Draw one line under each prepositional phrase and circle its object. The
first one is done for you.

1. Early in the morning, Jose acts grumpy.

2. Without hesitation, Leonor Rivera ran towards Jose Rizal.
3. The Dominican professors left their horses in front of the municipal hall.
4. The boats were tied downstream below the dam.
5. Eluding the Spaniards, the Katipuneros made their escape by means of the truck.
6. According to Andres, there will be no meeting this afternoon in the Balintawak cave.
7. All members of KKK have paid their dues except Edwin.
8. The dry weather ruined the crop despite their desperate irrigation attempts.
9. Aboard the train, Padre Damaso settled down for the long ride from the province
to the city.
10. We found the missing book underneath the bed.

Subject and Verb Agreement

A verb must agree with its subject in person and number. In the present tense, add -s or -es
to the base form for the third-person singular.

1. Intervening Prepositional Phrases. The verb must agree with the subject of the
sentence, not with the object of a preposition. Thus, the subject of a sentence is never
contained in a prepositional phrase.

Ex. The text messages from the teacher were helpful reminders.

(Messages is the plural subject. The teacher is the object of the preposition
and is singular. The verb, were, is plural to agree with the subject messages.)

2. Agreement with Linking Verbs. In sentences with linking verbs, the verb agrees with
the subject, not the predicate nominative.
Ex. Cookies were Jenny's favorite dessert.

GE 2 - PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION 14
 (The plural verb, were, agrees with the plural subject, cookies. The verb is not
affected by the predicate nominative, dessert.)

3. Agreement with Inverted Sentences. In most sentences the subject comes before
the verb. However, some inverted sentences begin with a prepositional phrase
followed by the verb and then the subject. The verb in such sentences must always
agree with the subject, not with the object of the prepositional phrase.

Ex. Here are the books you lost.

(The plural verb are agrees with the plural subject books.)

4. Agreement with Special Subjects. A collective noun names a group. In a sentence,

a collective noun is singular when it names the group as a whole. It is plural when it
refers to individual members of a group.

Some nouns ending in -s, such as mumps, measles, and mathematics, take singular
verbs. Other nouns ending in -s, such as scissors, pants, binoculars, and eyeglasses,
take plural verbs. Many nouns that end in -ics are either singular or plural, depending
on the context.

Ex. Statistics is Jake’s favorite subject.

(Statistics is used as a singular subject with a singular verb is.)

A noun of amount can refer to a single unit, in which case it is singular.

It can also refer to several individual units, in which case it is plural.

Ex. The researcher’s statistics are the basis for his argument.
(Statistics is used as a plural subject with the plural verb are.)

5. Agreement with Compound Subjects. Some sentences have more than one subject.
A compound subject that is joined by and or both . . . and is usually plural. However,
some compound subjects have two parts that make up one unit. These take a singular
verb.

Ex. John and Ryan are going to school to school to enlist subjects for the
first semester.
(The plural subject John and Ryan agrees with plural verb are.)

Compound subjects joined by or, nor, either . . . or, or neither . . . nor always have a
verb that agrees with the closer subject.

Ex. Neither snakes nor the rats are considered nice pets.
(Snakes and rats are plural and agree with the plural verb are.)
Ex. Neither these snakes nor a rat is considered nice pets.

GE 2 - PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION 15
 (The singular subject rat is closest to the verb so the singular verb is
used.)

When a compound subject is preceded by many a, every, or each, the subject takes a
singular verb.

Ex. Every student and teacher has to wear a uniform. (The singular verb
has agrees with every, not student and teacher.)

6. Intervening Expressions. Certain expressions seem to create a compound subject,

but do not. Accompanied by, as well as, in addition to, plus, and together with are
expressions that introduce phrases that tell about the subject. However, the subject
remains singular and takes a singular verb.

Ex. The farmhouse, including the tractor and a pickup, was damaged by
the storm.

(A word or phrase coming between the subject and verb (“including the
tractor and a pickup) does not go against the subject-verb agreement.

7. Indefinite Pronouns as Subjects. Many subjects are indefinite pronouns. A verb

must agree with an indefinite pronoun used as a subject.

Ex. Everyone is required to attend the student orientation.

(Everyone is always singular and agrees with the singular verb is.)

Some pronouns can be either singular or plural, depending on the nouns to which they
refer.

Ex. All of the food is bad.

(All of the food refers to a single unit so the singular verb is is used.)
Ex. All of the cars are damaged.
(All of the cars refers to numerous cars so the plural verb are is used.)

8. Agreement in Adjective Clauses. When the subject of an adjective clause is a

relative pronoun, the verb in the clause must agree with the antecedent of the relative
pronoun.

Ex. She is one of the students who speak Spanish.

In the preceding example the antecedent of who is students, not one, because other
students besides “she” speak Spanish. Since students is plural, who is considered
plural, and the verb in the adjective clause, speak, must also be plural.

Ex. John is the only one of my brothers who has a scar.

GE 2 - PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION 16
 In the preceding example the antecedent of who is one, not brothers, because only
one brother has a scar. Since one is singular, who is considered singular, and the verb
in the adjective clause, has, must also be singular.

Activity 8A. Underline the verb in the parenthesis that agrees with the subject.

1. Astrophysics (is, are) a branch of space science that applies the laws of physics
and chemistry to explain the birth, life, and death of stars, planets, galaxies,
nebulae, and other objects in the universe.
2. The nebula (is, are) a star-forming region that hosts dusky dust clouds silhouetted
against glowing gas.
3. Branches from pine trees (makes, make) a good shelter for a garden.
4. The bird’s bright wings (was, were) a beautiful sight.
5. Onto the floor (falls, fall) the spaghetti.
6. Across the floor, (rolls, roll) the meatball.
7. Twenty-two pesos (is, are) too much to pay for a cup of coffee.
8. Three-quarters of the cake (has, have) been eaten.
9. Every hill and mountain (is, are) covered with snow.
10. The brook, as well as the lake and the pond, (freeze, freezes) in winter.

Self-Help: You can also refer to the sources below to help you
further understand the lesson:

1. Madrunio, M. R. & Martin, I.P. (2018). Purposive communication: Using English in

multilingual contexts. Quezon: C & E
2. Aquino, A. et. al (2018). Purposive communication for the 21 st century learners.
Malabon: Jo-Deh Publishing.
3. Dapat, R. et. al (2018). Essence and Essentials of Purposive Communication in the
21st Century. Mandaluyong: Books Atbp.

Let’s Check
Activity 1. Encircle the letter of the correct answer.

1. The goals of astrophysics (is, are) "to discover how the universe works, explore
how it began and evolved, and search for life on planets around other stars."
2. Another of these elements (is, are) carbon, which together with oxygen, make
up the bulk of the mass of all living things, including us.
3. Astronomers predicted the position of a new planet, which (was, were) then
observed and named Neptune.
4. That group of stars (is called, are called) the Big Dipper.

GE 2 - PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION 17
 5. Many secrets of the universe (has, have) yet to be discovered.
6. Life forms beneath the sea (seems, seem) mysterious.
7. Sounds of distant music (floats, float) through the air.
8. Rising mists from the moor (casts, cast) an aura of mystery over the scene.
9. Both my uncles and my aunt (has, have) called.
10. Neither ice cream nor cookies (is, are) a low calorie snack.
11. The baby, besides her mom and dad, (looks, look) happy.
12. Milk, besides beans and meat, (is are) a source of protein.
13. Many of the ruins found (is, are) from the Stone Age.
14. One of the archaeologists (believes, believe) that this happened without human
intervention.

Activity 2. Write in the blank the form of the verb in the parenthesis that agrees with the
subject. The first one is done for you.

(to be) 1. Here ___is______ the story the old woman told me.
(to reveal) 2. Jose ___________ to his brother Paciano his decision to study
abroad.
(to be) 3. There ___________ several more can openers in this box.
(to require) 4. Gymnastics ___________ a lot of flexibility.
(to vote) 5. The labor union ___________ on a president next week.
(to build) 6. Vitamins and minerals ___________ strong bodies.
(to go) 7. Both Andre and John ___________ to day care.
(to be) 8. A headache, accompanied by sniffles and sneezing, ___________ a
symptom of the flu.
(to weigh) 9. Gold, as well as iron and steel, ___________ a lot.
(to know) 10. Nobody ___________ how these huge toms were built.

GE 2 – PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION 18
Let’s Analyze

Activity 1. Writing link. Write sentences that contain the following intervening prepositional
phrases:

1. of these video games

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
2. with the tractor
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
3. under the computer set
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
4. at the ballet
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
5. of the correct answer
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

Activity 2. Writing link. Write sentences a paragraph about your favorite show. Write at
least four sentences that contain intervening expressions.

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

GE 2 – PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION 19
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

In a Nutshell
Our discussion to cover ULOa can be summarized by the following key points below:

Grammar is important because it is the language that makes it possible for us to talk
about language.
Grammar lays the successful groundwork for effective and purposive communication.
A strong foundation of grammatical knowledge will ensure clarity and confidence in
communication.
Improving your knowledge of and using English structures makes it easier for English
speakers to understand you.

Your turn. What did you learn about this review on grammatical structure?

1. ___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

GE 2 – PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION 20
 ___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

Q & A List
This section is a place for you to raise your questions and queries that you feel the
instructor should give attention to. Feel free to ask relevant questions related from the course
here. This Q & A portion helps in the review of concepts and essential knowledge.

Do you have any question for clarification?

Questions/Issues Answers
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Big Picture in Focus: ULOb.

GE 2 – PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION 21