General Education: English 📖

English in GenEd focuses on grammar rules, correct usage, reading comprehension, and basic literature.

1. Parts of Speech Review

Noun: Name of person, place, thing, or idea.
Pronoun: Replaces a noun (he, she, it, they).
Verb: Action or state of being.
- Transitive: Needs a direct object (He kicked the ball).
- Intransitive: No direct object (He slept).
Adjective: Modifies a noun (blue, tall, smart).
Adverb: Modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb (quickly, very, well).
Preposition: Shows relationship (in, on, at, by, with).
Conjunction: Connects words/clauses (FANBOYS: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So).
Interjection: Shows emotion (Wow!, Ouch!).

Basic Rule: Singular subject takes singular verb (-s); Plural subject takes plural verb (no -s).
- The dog barks. / The dogs bark.
Intervening Words: Ignore phrases between subject and verb.
- The box of chocolates is on the table. (Subject is "box", not "chocolates").
Compound Subjects:
- Joined by AND: Generally plural. (Mary and John are here.)
- Joined by OR/NOR: Verb agrees with the closer subject. (Neither the teacher nor the students are listening. / Neither the students nor the teacher is listening.)
Indefinite Pronouns:
- Always Singular: Each, every, everyone, everybody, nobody, someone, either, neither. (Everyone has a book.)
- Always Plural: Both, few, many, several.
Collective Nouns:
- Singular if acting as one unit (The team wins.).
- Plural if acting individually (The team are arguing among themselves.).

Simile: Comparison using "like" or "as". (As brave as a lion).
Metaphor: Direct comparison. (Time is a thief).
Personification: Giving human qualities to objects. (The stars danced).
Hyperbole: Exaggeration. (I'm so hungry I could eat a horse).
Oxymoron: Contradictory terms together. (Deafening silence).
Irony: Contrast between expectation and reality.
Euphemism: Milder term for something harsh. (Passed away instead of died).

Main Idea: Usually found in the first or last sentence of the paragraph.
Context Clues: Use surrounding words to guess the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary.
Inference: Reading between the lines; drawing conclusions based on evidence.
Scanning: Looking for specific details (names, dates).
Skimming: Reading quickly for the general gist.

Connect your learning with these related modules:

Filipino (GenEd) - Compare language structures and literature.
Social Studies (GenEd) - Enhance reading comprehension with historical texts.

Ready to test your knowledge? Take the GenEd English Quiz