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When studying the English language, students will come across many specific and nuanced points of language. Unit 18 covers a wide variety of these grammar topics, which includes modal auxiliary verbs, passive voice, phrasal verbs, and relative clauses. It’s important to cover each of these topics carefully, and to understand the forms and functions of each point of grammar.
Students will encounter the passive voice very frequently, so knowing its form and how to create it is crucial. In a passive sentence, the object and subject essentially switch in focus. In the passive, the object becomes the subject, and the verb is changed to the passive form. Sometimes, the original subject of the active form is left out completely, whether it’s not important, it is not known, or the speaker doesn’t want it to be known. While the sentence changes form, the meaning is still basically the same. However, it is important to keep in mind that only transitive verbs (verbs followed by an object) can be used in the passive form. Intransitive verbs cannot be used in the passive form, because it is not possible to “sleep” something, for example. So in order for students to have an easier understanding of the passive form, it’s crucial for them to have an understanding of transitive and intransitive verbs first.
Another grammar point common in English speech and text is relative clauses. Relative clauses are the part of a sentence that gives more details about a noun. There are two types of relative clauses, defining and non-defining. Defining relative clauses contain information that is crucial to the understanding of the sentence, such as “I lost the money that you gave me.” What money was lost? The money that was given. This sentence suggests that the speaker has different money (other sources), but specifically lost the money that was given to them by the other person. On the other hand, non-defining clauses contain information that’s not needed in the sentence. The non-defining relative clause can be removed from the sentence without really effecting the meaning. For example, “My purse, which you gave me, was stolen.” Commas are an integral part of non-defining clauses. There is always a comma before and at the end. The clause, “which you gave me,” is extra information, and not necessary in the sentence. Without it, the basic idea “My purse was stolen” would still be understood. Many sentences can become either defining or non-defining, depending on what the speaker considers to be vital and necessary information for the listener. Such as, “The money, which you gave me, was lost.” This is very similar to the first example, but now the details of the money is considered non-essential. While this can be difficult for students to understand, the concept can be understood by giving many different examples. Also, many relative clauses use the passive form, so once again it is essential for students to have a strong foundation of past topics and grammar.
There are many different points of English grammar that intertwine and build on one another. Two of these topics are the passive voice, and relative clauses. Unit 18 covers these two ideas along with a couple others: modal auxiliary verbs and phrasal verbs. Since many points of the English language are interconnected and build on one another, it is paramount for teachers to introduce each point in a clear and easy to understand way.
