Unit 1

Simple Sentences

A simple sentence is a sentence with one clause that consists of one subject and one verb.

Two kinds of simple stentences:

A. Sentences with Auxiliary Verbs (Nominal Sentences)
B. Sentences with Verbs (Verbal Sentences)

A. Nominal Sentence is a sentence that uses be (am, is, are, was, were, be, been, being) as a
predicate of the sentence.

Pattern of Nominal Sentence

 Subject + be + noun
I am a student
John is a driver
Mr. Amir is a farmer

 Subject + be + adjective
Ani is pretty
She is young

 Subject + be + adverb
I am in the classroom
Mother is in the kitchen

Example of Nominal Sentences

Mary is very clever.
This book is interesting.
Dhika will be here.
Didik will be alone forever.
They are teachers of ENGLISH ONLINE.
I am really handsome.
He is in the classroom.
I was busy last night.
We were in her home yesterday.
I have been here since 3 hours ago.
Jhon has been at office since 07.00 o’clock
My brother has not been at the market
The farmer has been in the field

B. Verbal Sentences
A Verbal Sentence is a sentence that uses verb as a predicate of the sentence.
Two kinds of verbal sentences:
 Sentences with transitive verb
 Sentences with intransitive verb

Transitive verb is a verb that needs an object of the sentence.

Example: buy, eat, write, sell, etc.

1
Pattern of Verbal Sentence with transitive verb

Subject + Transitive Verb + Object

Examples:

The farmer sells vegetables every week

The students read some books everyday
The police caught a thief last night

Intransitive verb is a verb that does not needs an object of the sentence
Example: run, smile, walk, etc.

Pattern of Verbal Sentence with intransitive verb

Subject + intransitive Verb + Complement

Example:

He walks to schooll everyday

He run fast yesterday

Examples of Verbal Sentences

Fika is reading a history book right now.
Budi comes from Bandung.
Lia can speak Arabic well.
She will study hard.
I go to school every morning.
Agung went to Thailand last week.
We did the test yesterday.
She visited Bali in 2005.
I have been learning English since 2007.
I have already eaten.
Dina has just come.
They haven’t read those books.
I haven’t met Dina yet.
My mom has cooked fried chicken.
Smoking damages lungs.
We learn English at ENGLISH ONLINE every day.
The sun rises from the east.
Shinta looks very happy.

2
Exercise 1: Write nominal sentences and verbal sentences.

Nominal sentence:

a. Subject + be + Noun
1.........................................................................................................................
2................................ ..........................................................................................
3............................... ..........................................................................................
4................................ ...........................................................................................
5................................ ...........................................................................................

b. Subject + be + adjective

1................................ ..........................................................................................
2................................ ..........................................................................................
3............................... ...........................................................................................
4................................ ...........................................................................................
5................................ ...........................................................................................

c. Subject + be + adverb

1................................ ..........................................................................................
2................................ ..........................................................................................
3............................... ...........................................................................................
4................................ ...........................................................................................
5................................ ...........................................................................................

d. Verbal Sentences with transitive verb

1................................ ..........................................................................................
2................................ ..........................................................................................
3............................... ...........................................................................................
4................................ ...........................................................................................
5................................ ...........................................................................................

e. Verbal sentences with intransitive verb

1................................ ..........................................................................................
2................................ ..........................................................................................
3............................... ...........................................................................................
4................................ ...........................................................................................
5................................ ...........................................................................................

3
Exercise 2: Identify and write 6 nominal and verbal sentences in the following text .

Agriculture

Agriculture is one of the world’s most important industries. It produces food and
provides employment for millions of people. Farmers work on the land and try to control and
adapt the natural ecosystem. They use fire to clear the land and they irrigate crops. They plant
crops at certain times of the year. They try to control pests and diseases. In hunting and
gathering societies, people have very little impact on the natural environment. In urban
societies, people have a very large impact.
Agricultural ecosystems affect the environment more than hunting and gathering
Societies, but not as much as urban societies. Agro-ecosystems can be complex, with hundreds
of crops and animals, or they can have just one type of plant and animal. Two of the most
important agro-ecosystems in Asia are slash-and-burn cultivation (also called ‘swidden’ or
‘upland agriculture’) and lowland rice cultivation.
Slash and burn farming is a form of shifting agriculture where the natural vegetation is
cut down and burned as a method of clearing the land for cultivation, and then, when the plot
becomes infertile, the farmer moves to a new fresh plot and does the same again. This process
is repeated over and over. By slashing and then burning tropical forest, these landless farmers
can sustain themselves for only 2 consecutive years on the same patch of soil.
Lowland rice cultivation is practised in all countries in tropical Africa and on about half of the
total rice area. Although rice is both the main crop and staple food of many farmers in Africa,
most sources of information on small-scale rice production are focused on Asia. The aim of this
Agrodok is therefore to provide extension workers and smallholder rice farmers in tropical
Africa with practical and current information about efficient, profitable and sustainable lowland
rice farming applicable to their local circumstances.

Adapted from : Fardhani (1) and Rainforest Saver 2012 Scottish Registered Charity no. SC039007

Exercise 3. Choose the best of form of the word in the bracket

The Parts of a Plant and their Functions

A plant 1(a. am; b. is; c. are; d. be) a living organism. It is 2(a. make; b. makes; c. making;
d. made) up of different parts, each of which has particular purpose, or specialized function. If
one part of the plant is not 3(a. function; b. functions; c. functioned; d. functioning) properly the
whole plant will suffer. But we may cut flowers off the plant or prone the roots. Such damage
4
(a. are; b. is; c. be; d. been) only temporary and so the plant will continue to grow.

The basic parts of a plant are the root system, which 5 (a. is; b. are; was; d. were) below
the ground, and the shoot system above. The root of a plant 6(a. have; b. has; c. had; d. having)
two main functions. It takes in, or 7(a. absorb; b. absorbs; c. absorbed; d. absorbing), water and
minerals from the soil through the root hairs, which are single cells near the tip of each root.
The other main function of the root is to hold, or anchor, the plant firmly in position in the soil.

Plants such as sugar beet and carrots are able to48 (a. store; b. stores; c. stored; d.
storing) food in their roots. In this way they can keep growing for more than one season. In
addition, plants such as clover and lucerne, known as “legumes”, have special bacteria which
live on the roots. These simple forms of life 9 (a. take; b. takes; c. taken; d. taking) nitrogen out
of the air which is in the soil. Such leguminous plants are usually ploughed under the soil. By
doing this the soil is 10 (a. make; b. made; c. maked; d. making) more fertile.