c. The teaching process also can contribute to the students’ errors. According
to those who support behaviorism theory, error is evidence of failure, of ineffective teaching or lack of control. If materials well chosen, graded,
and presented with meticulous care, there should never be any error.
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4. Types of Error
There are several types of error. It consists of four items which is discussed further in this sub-chapter. They are parts of speech, sentence pattern, subject-verb
agreement, and tense. These types of error were mostly made by the students.
a. Parts of Speech
The sentence maybe further divided according to the function each word has in the subject predicate relationship. Each of these functions is classified as a
different part of speech. The words that form the central core of the sentence- around which all the other words “cluster”-are the part of speech known as nouns
or pronouns and verb; the word that modify the central core words are the part of speech called adjectives and adverbs; the word that show a particular kind of
connecting relationship between these four parts of speech are called prepositions and conjunctions.
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1. Nouns
A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea.
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Some noun may belong to more than one of the types given below.
A proper noun names a particular person place, or thing, and always begins with a capital letter. The examples of proper noun are Susan B. Anthony, Salt
Lake City, January, Liberty Bell.
17
. Hubbard, et al., A Training Course for TEFL, … P.140-142
18
. Marcella Frank, Modern English: a practical reference guide, New Jersey: Prantice Hall Inc., 1972 P.1
19
. John E. Warriner, English Grammar and Conposition. 3
rd
course., New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1982 P. 4
A common noun names one of a general class of persons, places, or things,
and does not begin with capital letter. The examples of common noun are woman, month, herd, bell.
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A concrete noun is a word for physical object that can be perceived by the
sense-we can see, touch, smell the object. The examples of concrete noun are girl, flour, flower, bag.
An abstract noun is a word for a concept- it is an idea that exists in our minds
only. The examples of abstract noun are beauty, justice, mankind, strength.
Countable nouns name things that can be numbered and counted. A
countable noun may be preceded by a or an. The examples of countable nouns are woman, child, leaf, and baby.
Noncountable nouns name items that cannot be counted. Mass noun form is
one type of noncountable noun. noncountable noun are coffee, milk, sugar, iron.
A collective noun is a word for a group of people, animals or objects consider
as a single unit. The examples of collective nouns are audience, government, class, faculty.
Compound noun is two or more words joined together into one vocabulary
unitthat function as a single part of speech. The examples of compound nouns are volleyball, bathroom, handshake, lifeguard, sister-in-law.
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2. Pronouns
A pronoun represents a person, place, thing, or idea without naming it. Pronouns may occur before a verb, after a verb, after a preposition, or before a
noun. There are several types of pronouns personal, reflexive, intensive, indefinite, demonstrative, interrogative, and relative pronoun.
a. Personal Pronoun
20
. Majorie Farmer, Steve Zemelman, Seymour Yesner, and Lizabeth M. Richmond, Composition and Grammar.
Illinois: Laidlow, 1985P.312
21
. Marcella Frank, Modern English: a practical reference guide,… P. 6-8
Personal pronouns are those that refer to the person speaking first person, the person spoken to second person, or the person or thing spoken about third
person. First
Second Third
I will tell you about it.
Following table show the difference among subject, object, possessive pronoun, and possessive adjective.
Singular Plural
Subject Object
Possessive Subject
Object Possessive
First
I me
my, mine we
us Our, ours
Second
you you
you, yours you you
your, yours
Third
she he
it her
him it
her, hers his
its they
them their’
theirs
b. Reflexive Pronoun
A reflexive pronoun refers to reflects a noun or a pronoun in the same sentence and functions as an object in the sentence. It is formed by adding –self or
–selves to certain personal pronouns. They include the following: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves. The
followings are the examples of reflexive pronoun.
Audrey refinished the bookcase by herself. Allan drove himself o the airport.
c. Intensive Pronoun
Intensive pronouns, having the same form as reflexive pronoun, are used for emphasis. They function as appositives and are often placed next to the noun or
pronoun they emphasize intensity. They sometimes appear at the end of a sentence. The followings are the examples of intensive pronoun.
Fernanda herself received the prize money. The boys did the laundry themselves.
d. Indefinite Pronoun
Indefinite pronouns refer to persons, places, or things that are unspecified, unknown, or unrevealed. Because indefinite pronouns do not refer to specific
nouns, their antecedents are not given.
Someone knock on the door of the cabin. Ray explained the situation to anybody who would listen.
The following indefinite pronouns are ordinarily used in singular sense:
The following indefinite pronouns are ordinarily used in plural sense:
The following indefinite pronouns are ordinarily used in plural sense:
e. Demonstrative Pronoun
Demonstrative pronouns point out certain persons or things. The four demonstrative pronouns are the singular form this and that and the plural these
and those.
This is a well-written book. I ordered a dozen of those.
f. Interrogative Pronoun
Interrogative pronouns are those that introduce questions. The main interrogative pronouns are who, which, and what. The subject form who has two
other forms-the object form whom and the possessive form whose.
Who ordered the tossed salad? What will happen to the old building?
g. Relative Pronoun
Relative pronouns begin adjective clauses and show the relationship between a clause and the noun it modifies. The main relative pronoun are who whose,
whom, which, and that. anybody
either someone everybody
someone neither somebody
everything anyone
no one something
anything each
nobody everyone
one
few several
both many
Some none
most all
The runner who finished the marathon first was disqualified. I didn’t see the car that you described.
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3. Adjectives
An adjective is the word used to modify a noun or a pronoun-that is, to make it more specific or exact. It may appear 1 before a noun or noun substitute or 2
after the verb. Sometime adjective follow the noun they modify.
The dog, weak and thin, prowled the alleys.
There are four types of adjectives descriptive and proper adjectives. a.
Descriptive Adjectives Descriptive adjectives add sensory details of color, shape, size, sound, feature,
and taste.
Loud voices shouted happy greetings, and eager hands waved large posters and red, white, and blue flags at the jubilant marchers.
b. Proper Adjectives
Proper adjectives are formed by adding suffixes like –an, -ian, -ese, or ish to proper nouns. They identify place or time of origin.
Spanish moss hangs from cypress boughs.
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4. Verbs
