BAYERO UNIVERSITY, KANO

FIRST SEMESTER 2020/2021 ACADEMIC

SESSION
GSP 1201/2201 Use of English
Module 2 lecture 2
Lecture Slides and Voicing for Group B2
Agricultural, Chemical, Civil, Petroleum and Automotive
Engineering
By
Dr. Adamu Idris
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FORMS OF VERBS IN ENGLISH

• Verbs have five forms in English from which they form their principal parts.
• 1. to or bare infinitive --- to arrive, to do, arrive, call, close
• 2. s form---------------------- arrives, does, calls, closes
• 3. present participle (--ing)------ arriving, doing, calling, closing
• 4. past tense (ed1)----------- arrived, did, called, closed
• 5. past participle (ed2)------ arrived, done, called, closed
• These verbs forms are essential in our subsequent discussion on the concept
of tense in English grammar.
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TENSES
• Tense is a term in grammar which indicates the time of an action or event.
On the other hand, tense is one of the forms of a verb that shows the time
and continuance or completion of an action or state expressed by the verb.
Universally, tense or time is divided into three: present, past and future.

• PRESENT TENSE
• The present tense generally deals with actions that are either existing or
being considered now. The present tense has the idea of the currency
associated with it. This category of the tense is divided into four as follows:
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TENSES…CONT.
1. The present simple tense: This tense can be used in various situations. It is formed by using the base form of the
verb. For example:
To express a present action
• Adamu likes rice.
• You enjoy the lecture.
• Musa attends the class.
To express a repeated or habitual action
• We go to mosque every Friday.
• I take tea every morning.
To express a general action that is true, was true and is likely to be true in the future (such as scientific principles)
• The sun sets in the west.
• Mosquitoes transmit malaria.
• The earth is spherical.
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TENSES…CONT.

2. The present continuous tense: This is used to express an action in progress at

the time of speaking. It is formed by using am/is/are plus the -ing form of the
verb. For example:
• I am lecturing now. am I lecturing now?
• You are listening. are you listening?
• She is jumping. is she jumping?
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TENSES…CONT.
3. The present perfect tense: This is used to describe an action that is completed in the
past whose effect continues till the present. There are two situations in which the
present perfect tense is used. It is formed by using has/have plus the participle form of
the verb
• To express an action just completed
• They have arrived.
• He has finished the work.
• They have eaten the food.
To express an action that is completed in the past, whose effect continues up to the
present. For example:
• I have known Shehu for ten years.
• The students have sat down.
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TENSES…CONT

4. The present perfect continuous tense: This is used to show an action which
started in the past but continues up to the present time. Its formed by using
has been/have been plus the -ing form of the verb. For example:
• We have been receiving lectures for the past two weeks.
• She has been reading her book.
• It has been raining heavily.
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TENSES…CONT.
• PAST TENSE
This tense expresses an action that is completed in the past. We normally use past tense when
narrating a story. This is also divided into four as follows:
1. The past simple: This is the commonest of all the tenses. The past simple tense is generally used to
describe events, habitual activities and states in the past. It consists of only one verb. It is formed by
using the past form of the verb. For example:
An action completed at the point in time in the past
• I phoned my mother last 2 month.
• Nigeria gained independence in 1960.
• She sat for SSCE last year.
Habitual activities in the past:
• It rained every day in August.
• They went to church every Sunday.
• The boys ran to school daily.
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TENSES…CONT.
• A state in the past:
• The soup was tasteless.
• Musa became rich later.
2. The past continuous:
This tense is used to express an action in progress or incomplete in the past. It is
formed by using was/were plus –ing form of the verb. For example:
• I was eating when my sister called me.
• You were shouting at the top of your voice when I entered the class.
• I was praying in the mosque.
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TENSES…CONT.
3. The past perfect:
This tense shows an action that had completed earlier in the past before another action
began. It is formed by using had plus past participle form of the verb. For example:
• I had finished lecture before she arrived.
• We had taken lunch.
• The train had left the station when she came.
4. The past perfect continuous:
This tense shows or expresses an action that had been taking place up to when another
action began. It is formed by using had been plus -ing form of the verb. For example:
• She had been keeping the money.
• I had been teaching the English language.
• Students had been cheating in exams since before independence.
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TENSES…CONT.
FUTURE TENSE
The future tense of verbs expresses events or actions that have not yet happened and that will
happen at some point in the future. There are four forms of the future tense as follows:

1. Simple future: This shows an action that will take place in future. It is formed by using will/shall plus
the base form of the verb. For example:
• The Super Eagle will play tomorrow.
• I shall go to Lagos next week.
• She will like it.
2. Future continuous: This shows an action that will be in progress in future. It is formed by using will
be/shall be plus the -ing form of the verb. For example:
• We shall be finishing this lecture by next month.
• You will be coming next week.
• I will be driving to home.
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TENSES…CONT.
3. Future perfect: This tense shows an action that will be finished in future. This is formed
by using will have/ shall have plus past participle form of the verb. For example:
• We shall have completed this course by the end of November.
• Boys will have eaten by night.
• She will have gone home by noon.
4. Future perfect continuous: This tense shows an action that will have been in progress
in future. It is formed by using will have been/shall have been plus the -ing form of the
verb. For example:
• Adamu will have been eating his lunch by this time tomorrow.
• We shall have been completing this course by this time next month.
• Students will have been going home by six o’clock tomorrow.
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PUNCTUATION
• PUNCTUATION
• Punctuation provides divisions between sentences and parts of sentences. It
makes reading easy because you know where to stop a little and where to
stop a little longer. Punctuation makes understanding of a passage or
writings easier. There are three types of punctuations used at the end of
each sentence (terminal punctuations). These are: full stop, question mark
and exclamation mark.
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PUNCTUATION…CONT
The Full-stop
The full-stop, or what is sometimes called ‘period’, is used in the following ways:
• The full-stop is used to mark the end of a declarative sentence. A declarative sentence is a statement:
i. All Bayero University students are to bring their dictionaries to the class tomorrow.
ii. It is raining.
• The full-stop is used at the end of an imperative sentence, if the imperative not strong enough to require an
exclamation mark. An imperative sentence is a command:
i. Open the windows.
ii. Go and call me a doctor.
iii.Eat as much as you like.
• The full-stop is used after abbreviations:
i. Alh. B.M. Muhammad
ii. Mr. T.M. Awaisu
iii. Aliyu Kamal Ph.D.
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PUNCTUATION…CONT.
Apart from using full-stop in the names of people, companies and government agencies
are often referred to by their initial letters. For example:
N.T.A., N.P.F, N.I.T.E.L, B.U.K, M.T.N, etc.
The Question Mark
The question mark is used after a direct question or a rhetorical question. A rhetorical
question is a question which does not require an answer.
Examples of direct questions are:
• When do you want to finish the work?
• How can I get to the Post Office?
• Do you know his name?
Examples of rhetorical questions are:
• Can a man ever learn from his past mistakes?
• How would I know that he would be angry?
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PUNCTUATION…CONT.
The Exclamation Mark
As the name implies, exclamation marks are used at the end of exclamatory
sentences. For example:
• Come here, if you dare!
• How wonderful!
• Oh, amazing!
• What a nice idea!
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PUNCTUATION…CONT.
• The Comma
Commas are used between words in a list. This means that they are used to
separate words. For example:
• He has milk, sugar, biscuits, soap and bottled water in his house.
• She came across a short, fat, ill-tempered fellow.
Commas are also used to separate clauses in compound sentences. For
example:
• The Chairman arrived at the conference on time, and everybody stood up.
• The sun was not shining, but still, it was hot.
• He could not accept the invitation, for he had been ill.
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PUNCTUATION…CONT.
The Colon
Colon is used in a sentence to introduce a list. For example
• The subjects I like are: English, Geography, Economics, Government and Biology.
• The following School Prefects have been appointed: Head Boy, Head Girl, House
Captains and Labour Prefect.
Colon can also be used for an extension of an expressed idea or information. For
example:
• -We submitted our term papers to the teacher at different times as follows: Adamu,
early in the morning; Halima, at noon; Muhammad, in the evening.
Colon is used for formal introduction of quotation. For example:
• -Commenting Bilkisu’s brilliant performance, the teacher said: “You are a pride to my
class”.
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PUNCTUATION…CONT.
The Semi-Colon
The semi-colon is used to separate clauses in a compound sentence when
there is no coordinating conjunction. For example:
• The farmer planted millet; he did not plant rice.
• I told him to wait; I did not tell him to eat.
The semi-colon can also be used to separate clauses in a compound
sentence which has but as a coordinating conjunction. For example:
• The trader has different kinds of goods; but they are expensive.
• Some students do not work hard; but they want to pass their examinations.
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PUNCTUATION…CONT.
The Apostrophe
In writing, we sometimes use contraction that is we omit a letter or some letters
in a word. In most cases when we contract a word, we combine it with
another word so that we have a single expression. To indicate the place
where the letters are missing, we use the apostrophe. For example:
• I don’t know.
• Adam won’t come.
• The meeting will be held at four o’clock.
• I’m sorry to hear that.
• Aren’t you coming with me?
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PUNCTUATION…CONT.
We also use the apostrophe with –s after a noun or pronoun to form the
possessive. If the noun is singular, we place the apostrophe before the –s. If the
noun is plural and it ends in –s, the apostrophe comes after the nouns. For
example:
• Muhammad’s book is missing.
• The boy’s cap is blue.
• The girls’ shoes were well polished.
• The men’s bags were put on the floor.
• The dogs’ tails were wagging.
• The women’s toilet is on the school premises.
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PUNCTUATION…CONT.
The Capitals
We use a capital letter for the first letter of all proper nouns. For example:
• Names of persons:
Sani, Abdul, Ibrahim, Ladi, David, John, A’isha.
• Names of places:
Calabar, Ibadan, Kano, Babura, Abuja, Kaduna.
• Names of countries:
Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Cameroun, Libya, Germany.
• Names of Mountains:
Mountain Kilimanjaro, Mountain Kenya, Mountain Everest.
• Names of rivers:
River Niger, River Benue, River Nile.
• Names of lakes:
Lake Chad, Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika.
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PUNCTUATION…CONT.
• Names of oceans:
Atlantic, Pacific, Indian.
• Names of continents:
Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia.
• Names of months:
January, March, December, April.
• Names of days of the week:
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.
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PUNCTUATION…CONT.
Other uses of the Capital
• We capitalise the first letter of the first word of every sentence.
• We capitalize the first letter of every line of poetry
• We capitalize the pronoun ‘I’.
• We capitalize the first letter of the first word of opening and closing of a
letter. For example:
Dear Abdul,
Yours sincerely,
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CONCLUSION
This takes us to the end of all our discussion on the items in module two,
lecture one and two. We have so far explained word classes, sentence
structure and functions, tenses and punctuations.

Thus, we have five modules left to cover course contents.

Thank for listening