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Modal Verbs The modal verbs in English are "can," "could," "may," "might," "must," "ought," "shall," "should," "will," and "would." Passive voice One can change the normal word order of many active sentences (those with a direct object) so that the subject is no longer active, but is, instead, being acted upon by the verb - or passive. Note in these examples how the subject-verb relationship has changed. Passive voice One can change the normal word order of many active sentences (those with a direct object) so that the subject is no longer active, but is, instead, being acted upon by the verb - or passive. Note in these examples how the subject-verb relationship has changed. A defining or identifying clause tells us which specific person or thing we are talking about in a larger group of people or things. If a defining relative clause is removed, the meaning of the sentence changes significantly. A defining relative clause is not separated from the rest of the sentence by commas or parentheses. Examples The woman who visited me in the hospital was very kind. The umbrella that I bought last week is already broken. The man who stole my backpack has been arrested. The weather that we had this summer was beautiful. A non-defining or non-essential clause gives us more information about the person or thing we are talking about. If a non-defining relative clause is removed from a sentence, we lose some detail, but the overall meaning of the sentence remains the same. Non-defining relative clauses are always set off from the rest of the sentence with commas or parentheses. Examples The farmer, whose name was Fred, sold us 10 pounds of potatoes. Elephants, which are the largest land mammals, live in herds of 10 or more adults. The author, who graduated from the same university I did, gave a wonderful presentation. My mother, who is 86, lives in Paris. ------- Phrasal Verbs Transitive and Intrasitive Transitive and Intransitive Phrasal Verbs Verbs in English can be divided into two groups: Transitive verbs and Intransitive verbs. TRANSITIVE VERBS Transitive verbs require an object to complete their meaning. Imagine that I say: I need. This sentence is incomplete. There is information that is missing. You are probably wondering what I need. Why is this sentence incomplete? Because NEED is a transitive verb and a transitive verb needs an object after it to complete the sentence. The object after a transitive verb can be a noun or a pronoun. I need a dictionary. Now the sentence is complete and we can understand it. We added the object “a dictionary” after the verb. Subject + transitive verb + object So we can see that transitive verbs need an object after them. Transitive Phrasal Verbs The same rule applies to transitive phrasal verbs. If someone says: “I’m looking for” You would automatically think “Looking for what? Looking for whom?” I am looking for my keys. My keys is the object (that you are looking for). Now the sentence is clear. We need to add an object to make the sentence complete. More examples of transitive phrasal verbs in sentences: He’s looking for his passport. You should put on a jacket because it’s cold outside. Please take off your shoes before entering the house. We will see more about the position of objects with phrasal verbs in another lesson. INTRANSITIVE VERBS Intransitive verbs cannot have a direct object after them. The subject is doing the action of the verb and nothing receives the action. An intransitive verb does not pass the action to an object. We smiled. Here we cannot have an object after the intransitive verb smile. You cannot “smile something” (incorrect). An intransitive verb expresses an action that is complete in itself and it doesn’t need an object to receive the action. Intransitive Phrasal Verbs The same rule applies to intransitive phrasal verbs. You cannot have an object after an intransitive phrasal verb. I get up at 7 every morning. You cannot “get up something”. Get up is an intransitive phrasal verb. Can you sit down please? You cannot “sit down something”. I grew up in New Zealand. My car broke down You are driving too fast. Can you slow down? We should dress up for the party. Nobody found out that I didn’t have an invitation. If you turn around, you will see your friend. Phrasal Verbs that are Transitive and Intransitive Some phrasal verbs can be both transitive and intransitive. They can be transitive in one sentence and intransitive in another sentence. You need to be careful. Sometimes the meaning of a phrasal verb changes depending on whether it is transitive or intransitive. Let’s look at the following example: Take off (transitive) = to remove something Take off (intransitive) = to leave the ground and begin to fly Please take off your shoes before entering the house. (transitive) The plane will take off in ten minutes. (intransitive) Inseparable Phrasal Verbs Inseparable phrasal verbs can be transitive (i.e., they can take a direct object), but you can’t insert that direct object into the middle of the phrasal verb. In other words, they can’t be separated, thus their name. Consider the following examples: If you focus your education solely on one area, you’ll have nothing to fall back on if you change your mind. Each child should have at least one older child to look up to . What does i.e. stand for ? It stands for id est, or that is.