professional communication notes unit -2

PARTS OF SPEECH 

In English language there are 8 parts of speech. They are listed below, order is not necessary. Learn these 8 Parts of speech here.

1. Noun
2. Pronoun
3. Verb
4. Adjective
5. Adverb
6. Preposition
7. Conjunction
8. Interjection

Noun:

A Noun is a word which is used to refer People, Animals, Events, Objects, Places, States, Ideas

• Example: Ram is going to Delhi along with his Dog (The words which are highlighted are Nouns)
• List of Nouns:Man, Mountain, State, Ocean,Animals, Buildings ….

Pronoun

The word which replaces with a Noun ie., which is used in the place of Noun is said to be Pronoun

• Example: AmirKhan is Indian, he is a Bollywood actor.(The words which are highlighted are Pronouns)(AmirKhan is noun and he is pronoun)
• List of Pronouns:I,we, me, us, you, she, her, he, him, they, them

Verb

Verb shows action or state of action.

• Example: Techfresherspoint is a website. I like this website.(The words which are highlighted are Verbs)(AmirKhan is noun and he is pronoun)
• List of Verbs: be, am, is, are, was, were, been, being, have, has, had, could, should, would, may, might, must, shall, can, will, do, did, does, having ……

Adjective

Which describes about a Noun and pronoun

• Example: I have two pens. My pens are very big(The words which are highlighted are Adjectives)
• List of Adjectives: American, Politician, Christian, Banker….

Adverb

Which modifies verbs, adjective and other abverbs

• Example: I eat quickly when I am very hungry(The words which are highlighted are Adverbs)
• List of Adverbs: happily,eagerly, beautifully, lazily…..

Preposition

It is a relation between a noun and a pronoun.

• Example: we went to america on monday(The words which are highlighted are Prepositions)
• List of Prepositions: above, across, around, to, under, up, with, behind….

Conjunction

Which joins clauses, sentences, two or more words.

• Example: I like pens and pencils (The words which are highlighted are Conjunctions)
• List of Prepositions: both, and, either, or, neither, not, not only, but also, whether, or…

Interjection

Which shows emotions, It is a short exclamation which is inserted in sentence

• Example: Today Gayle batting was awesommeee….(The words which are highlighted are Interjection)
• List of Prepositions: aha, hurrey, wow..

CONCORD-SUBJECT AND VERB AGREEMENT

Concord in broad term means agreement between the subject and the verb and other elements of the sentence.

Working agreement of Subject with Verb is known as Concord. A correct sentence can only be framed when there is a perfect agreement with its constituents.

 To know the agreement there are certain rules :

 Subject—Verb Agreement

Subject is the doer of the action denoted by the verb. It can be either a noun phrase or a pronoun.

Subject —Verb agreement means the agreement between the subject and the predicate. The agreement is on the basis of the following:

(a) Singular subject agrees to work with singular verb Example: A dog is a faithful animal. How foolish he is! The Captain of team the received the prize

(b) when the subject is plural, the verb too is expected to be plural, Example: Indians are lovers of knowledge. They played a miraculous match.

 MODALS

Primary Auxiliary-  Be, Have and Do are the primary auxiliaries.

Use of ‘Be’

 In Present Continuous Tense ‘Be’ verb is used in the form of is, am. are. And With it We use Verb no. 1 + ing.

 In Past Continuous Tense ‘Be’ verb is used in the form of was and were with verb no. I + ing.

 In Future Continuous Tense we use ‘will be‘ and ‘shall be’ with Verb no. I + ing

Examples using ‘Be’ in Present Continuous, Past Continuous or Future Continuous I.

1.       It is raining. (Present Continuous Tense)                  2. He is standing at the gate. (Present Continuous Tense)

3. Rohan was talking on the phone. (Past Continuous Tense)        4.A cat was sleeping on my bed. (Past Continuous Tense)

Use of ‘Have’

 Have is used as Auxiliary verb in third form of the verb in following Tenses:

Present Perfect: Shubh has gone to the X—Mall.    Past Perfect: Aayaan has gone to the watch IPL.

 Future Perfect: Shobhan will have gone.

Use of ‘Do’

Do is used as auxiliary verb in present time. . Indefinite tense and Past Indefinite tense to make the verb into negative or interrogative. Example:

Present Indefinite Tense:

 1. John sings.

2. John does not sing.

3. Does John sing?

Past Indefinite Tense:

 1. Himani played

2. Himani did not play.

3. Did Himani play?

 ARTICLES

Indefinite Article: ‘A’ and ‘An’

Indefinite article is an article which does not talk about a definite or particular person or thing. Example: I bought a book and an umbrella. We use An when the word starts with a vowel.

Definite Article: ‘The’ When we speak of a definite or particular person or thing. Example: This is the man whom I was searching for.

INFINITIVES

Infinitive is a grammatical term, which means’ infinite. It is mostly used as non—finite verbs

It is a verb phrase which is constructed with the verb in Infinitive form. Infinitives express the normal expression of verb. It is not related to any subject. Though it is not disciplined by any subject still it is effected by Tense and Voice. With few verbs infinitive ‘to’ is not used for instance: bid, make, see, let, hear, need and dare. ‘

Example:

1.I bade him keep quite.  2. I made him cry. 3. I saw him come. 4. I said him lock the door.  5. He dare not enter any room.

GERUND

 A verb form which functions as a noun ending in—lng.

WHEN TO USE GERUND AND INF INITIVE?

 Gerunds are often used when actions are real and complete. e.g., I stopped smoking. . ‘

(In the above sentence the action smoking was real and happened until I stopped.)

- Infinitives are often used when actions are unreal, abstract - e.g., I stopped to smoke.

(In the above sentence I was doing something else, and I stopped: the smoking had no: happened yet.)

- Gerunds are formed by adding ‘ing’ to a word. e.g., walking, thinking, listening, bullying, etc.

 Infinitives are formed with ‘to’.

THE ART OF CONDENSATION OR PREClS WRITING

The word—Précis is from the old French noun which means ‘cut short.‘ or used in English as verb Precise. Precise means brief summary of a long passage. Writing the summary of a long passage needs proper understanding of the passage there is no rule to cut the length of a note. But generally it should be one third of the given passage. For example , if the actual passage is of 300 words. the précis should not extend 110 words length. But never compromise with the important point while writing a précis in order to make it brief. It should be complete with all the necessary information. facts and ideas present in the actual passage.

Précis writer is expected to provide an accurate, but brief, map of the original text. The personal perception of the writer is not required.

A précis is usually written in Reported Speech, Third Person and in the Past Tense. The basic characteristic of precies are—

conciseness, clarity, completeness, unity and coherence. (7 c’s of communication)

 Techniques of Precis Writing

While writing a précis three steps should be followed:

 1- Reading, 

2. Writing and 

3. Revision.

At a Glance—How to Write A Precis?

·         Read the passage carefully as many times as to understand its main theme.

·         Second and third reading to be done to make sure of the meaning of each sentence and picking up the core information or essence of the passage.

·         Supply a short title which will reflect the intention of the writing.

·         Select and jot down the important points in support of the topic sentence.

·         Note that the length of the précis is one-third of the original passage.

·         Prepare a first draft.

·         In the process don’t forget that you are supposed to write the summary of the passage in your own words rather copying the phrases or quotation of the original passage.

·         Add nothing, make no comments and correct no facts as your perception about the passage is not asked. ‘

·         Revise your last rough draft. Compare it with the original passage so as to ensure that no important point is missing.

·         Write the précis finally on a fair sheet neatly. It should be written in Reported Speech, Third Person and in the Past Tense.

·         Correct all mistakes related to spelling, grammar and idiom. Check the punctuation mark. Keep the language of the précis simple and direct.

Sentence

A sentence is a group of words which expresses a complete thought. It constructed with the help of words and phrases which should be arranged in proper sequence. It is made up of subject and predicate

A sentence must contain a subject, predicate and a verb (although one may be implied).

Subject -a part which refers to the person or thing about which we say something is called the subject of sentence.

Predicate-The part in which we say something about the subject is called the predicate of the sentence.

Examples : Sheep live in flocks.  In the above sentence sheep is the subject and live in flocks is the predicate because this part says something about the sheep, the subject.

Few requisites of a good sentence construction are :

(a)    Write short sentences. (b) Avoid odd sentence structure. (C) Avoid sentence fragments. d) choose appropriate words. (e) Avoid ambiguity prefer simplicity. (f) Consistency in expression. g) cut unnecessary  words. h) stay positive. g) make it fluent. i)make it fluent and clear

-A sentence needs a capital letter at the beginning.
- A sentence needs a period, a question mark, exclamation mark,comma, quotation mark, semi colon at the end.
-Use of proper articles.

-Know the proper use of preposition.

- A sentence needs a subject.
- A sentence needs a finite verb (either a simple verb or an auxiliary, such as is, were, has, had, will, can, might, should, do or does, followed by another verb form).
- A sentence needs standard word order. In English, the regular sequence is SVO (Subject-Verb-Object), with insertions possible at several points in the sequence.

PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT

A paragraph is a group or specially and intentionally related sentences; a thought;  that revolve around a single idea.

A group of sentences which makes a complete sense.

 (i) ORGANIZATION OF PARAGRAPH: Organizing a paragraph is an art. There are mainly three points on which the whole paragraph is based:

1. Presentation of main idea

2. Elaboration of the main idea and supporting details

3. Concluding the main idea

1. Presentation of Main Idea—The introductory sentence is called as topic sentence. The topic sentence is the eye catcher of the paragraph; it grab the attention of readers . It gives the writers primary message about the topic.

2. Elaboration of the Main Idea and Supporting Details: Examples, statements and facts which help in understanding of the main idea is known as supporting details. Supporting details help to develop the story. The answers of the question raised by the main idea—who. what. when. why or how, must be answered here. Supportive details can be a comparisons, contrast. statistics, graphs. quotations or a description.

 Concluding the Main Idea: Concluding the main idea is called to be the conclusion of the paragraph. It is the line which justifies the topic sentence with the support of supporting details.

ESSENTIALS OF PARAGRAPH WRITING

• A paragraph should present a single idea.
• Ambiguous expression should be avoided.
• Unity of main idea-supporting details-and conclusion makes an ideal paragraph
• Repetition of words decrease the beauty of the paragraph, hence avoid it.
• Conciseness and exactness.
• Use examples phrases picture and graphs makes your paragraph understandable by your readers.
• consistency of ideas, thoughts. speech and reasoning is must.
• Linking of every sentence with each other and revolving around the main idea frames a good paragraph.
• Sequential arrangement of ideas .

METHODS OF PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT

Inductive Method: it starts with evidence or reasons which gives information about the  topic at the end. It is basically ‘conclusion oriented’ method.  The core idea of the topic is mentioned at the end with all supporting details in the beginning. Feature of an inductive paragraph:

1. Conclusion is the main claim 2. Support for the main claim is given before the conclusion 3. This method is often used while narrating a story and there after the moral of the story.

 Deductive Method: Deductive method of paragraph writing starts with the topic sentence introducing the topic. It is just the reverse of Inductive method. The supporting details connect with the topic sentence and the whole paragraph revolves around the topic sentence reflecting unity.

Features of a deductive paragraph: 1. Main idea is given at the beginning through topic sentence.

2. Supporting details are given after the topic sentence. 3. It is a method where the topic sentence is strengthen by factual evidence as a support.

Chronological Method: Chronological order refers to time. This method or paragraph writing is solely used for the topic related to any event, or historical facts, life history, medical report etc. It is a sequential arrangement of events arranged according to the importance of time and date. The correct method of writing this type of paragraph is to pretend as if you are telling the information to a friend. Start with the topic sentence and list everything that happened in order—from beginning  to the end.

Spatial Method: Spatial method of paragraph writing refers to space, layout, view etc. seen and feel by the writer. To describe the place based on location spatial method is used. It explains the physical traits of the topic. For example- if one is to write a paragraph about the layout of your college. begin at the entrance,. then describe every section of the college including auditorium. canteen and cafeteria. 

LINEAR METHOD: The logically proceeding of sentences with unity and coherence towards an idea in one dimension is called to be linear method of paragraph development. In this methodone sentence leads to the next sentences proceeding towards the topic of the paragraph.

Sentence (some additional information about sentence)

A sentence is a group of words which expresses a complete thought.

A sentence must contain a subject and a verb (although one may be implied).

The Four Types of Sentence

There are four types of sentence.

·         A declarative or assertive sentence.

A declarative sentence states a fact,where we declare something and ends with a period / full stop. For example:

o    He has every attribute of a dog except loyalty.

o    I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult.

(Remember, a statement which contains an indirect question (like this example) is not a question.)

·         An imperative sentence.

An imperative sentence is a command or a polite request. It ends with an exclamation mark or a period / full stop. For example:

o    When a dog runs at you, whistle for him.

·         An interrogative sentence.

An interrogative sentence asks a question and ends with a question mark. For example:

o    Who knew that dog saliva can mend a broken heart?

·         An exclamatory sentence.

An exclamatory sentence expresses excitement or emotion. It ends with an exclamation mark. For example:

o    In Washington, it's dog eat dog. In academia, it's exactly the opposite!

The Four Sentence Structures

A sentence can consist of a single clause or several clauses. When a sentence is a single clause, it is called a simple sentence (and the clause is called an independent clause). A sentence must contain at least one independent clause. Below are the four types of sentence structure (with their independent clauses shaded:

·         A Simple Sentence.

A simple sentence has just one independent clause. For example:

o    You can't surprise a man with a dog.

·         A Complex Sentence.

A complex sentence has an independent clause and at least one dependent clause. For example:

o    Diplomacy is the art of saying "nice doggie" until you can find a rock

o    When you're on the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog. 

·         A Compound Sentence.

A compound sentence has at least two independent clauses. For example:

o    Cry "Havoc," and let slip the dogs of war. (William Shakespeare, 1564-1616)

·         A Compound-Complex Sentence.

A compound-complex sentence has at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause. For example:

o    When a dog bites a man, that is not news because it happens so often, but if a man bites a dog, that is news. (John B Bogart)

referenced by- google image, oxford definition,  book- professional communication dr raavee tripathi katson books, professional communication malti agarwal krishna publications.