BI

Book 1 (Lesson 1)

Idea units & fluency

KevNair

Unifying the world thro' nuent English... "'

.Q"'
Adult Faculties'"

World's 1 st & oldest fluency course

 3

Contents

A word before the Lessons start, 5

Read aloud and silently, 5
lmponance of theory. S
lmponance of oral practice, S

How to do your study, 6

Non-detailed study, 6
Detailed srudy, 7
Learning in bursts, 7

Do a lot of general reading, 9

Ordinary novels suit fluency-building best, 10
Recommended reading, 10

You need a good d ictionary, 11

Avoid bilingual dictionaries, 11
Avoid high-sounding and rarely-used words, 12
What dictionary shou ld you buy? 12

Fluency, only through Idea units, 13

'Speech' comes first, and 'writing', only next, 13
Non-narive speakers learn English the 'wrong' way, 13

Learning words alone won't help, 14

Bite-sized pieces of ideas, 1S
How does natural speech come out?, 16
What does nawral speech come out in?, 16

Let ready-to-assemble units do your work for you, 17

Idea units - Your key to speech and fluency, 19
'Idea unics' of speech, and "sentences" of writing, 19
How context helps the speaker, 20
lmponance of context, 21
4

Types of idea units, 23

Phrases, 23
Phrases as idea unics, 24
Oon'1 let a few grammatical 1erms scare you, 25
Word knowledge and word masrery. 25

Clauses, 26
lndependenr clauses, 26
Non-independent clauses, 27
No complicated grammatical scuff, 28

Incomplete clauses and incomplete phrases, 29

'Whole p lus' clauses and phrases, 29

Why can't we speak In ' sentences'? 31

Just a little at a time, and not a mouthful, 32

Strands or information, 33
Length and shape of idea units, 34

Poi nts for dividing speech, 34

Boundary of a 'whole' grammatical unit, 35
Boundary or an 'incomplete' grammatical unit, 36
Boundary of a 'whole plus' grammatical unit, 36
Other spots, 36
Guidelines for dividing speech into idea units, 37
Embedding and lining up, 45
Roundabout connectivity, 46
Straight connectivity, 47

Speak in idea units, and not in sentences. 47

The thing to do, 48
 5

A word before the Lessons start

I'm sure of one thing: By the time this course is over, you'll notice that
you've gained a priceless skill: The skill of fluency in spoken English
- the skill that gets your words flow readily and easily when you
speak English.

Read aloud andsllently

As you go through the Lessons, you11 notice one other thing: You11
notice that I've wriuen the Lessons in a conversational style, and not
in a high-sounding written English style.
Of course, one reason for this is plain enough: I want you to clearly
understand what I say - quickly and without much effort. But you
see, there's one other reason: I want you to keep reading this sort of
English for some time - English wrinen in a conversational style.
Why? Because that'll help you pick up the 'feel' of the real English
speech - to a great extent. And that11 help you ro get our of the
written English track and to get inro the spoken English track.
So it's not enough if you read through the Lessons silently. No. You
should read the Lessons aloud as well. Aloud and silently. Nor loudly
or by producing a lot of noise, but just aloud in your normal voice, so
that you can hear yourself. You'll chen get the 'feel' of spoken English.

Im portance of theory
You know, the course is made up of theory as well as practice mareri·
als. That is, the Lessons and Supplements in this course are made up
not only of practice-materials. They're made up of theory, roo.
By 'theory', r mean the derailed and basic practical aspects of the
things you should know (in order to become fluent) - and noc a set
of abstract ideas. The theory pans teach you the nuts and bolts of
fluency developmenr, the rules and principles that form the basis of
the fluency skill.
So the parts containing theory are very important. They tell you what
you should practise, why you should practise those things, how you
should practise those things. and all other details of principles. Un·
demand the theory, and you'll be half way through to your goal.

Importance of o ral practice

The practice-materials should be said aloud, and that too, again and
again. This is important. Why? Bttause, first off, you should get to
6

know these materials well. Secondly (and this is very important), you
have to train your tongue, lips and other organs of speech - train
them to produce the sounds and groups of sounds of the English
language in the right way. Thirdly, you have to train your ears to
listen to these sounds and groups of sounds, and to get to know them
closely.
Do you know why you should train your ears? Because you see, no
matter how often youve read a group of words, and no matter how
often you've written it, there·s still a problem: Your tongue and mouth
would hesitate to produce in speech the sound combinations it con-
tains. Your mind will fight shy of the sound combinations, too.
And when will you be able to break free of rhis hesitation? Not until
those sound combinations have stop~ sounding strange to your
ears. And when wiU they stop sounding strange? Only when you·ve
let your ears hear them said through your own mouth often enough.
Yes, often enough, and not once in a while. And this is only possible if
you do oral practice with word groups of different typeS: Not with
just any word groups whatever, but with word groups that contain the
kind of sound combinations that are essential.
Mind you, your tongue, lips and other pans in your mouth and throat
- these organs of speech have learnt certain habits. These are the
habits of your mother-tongue. And the habits of our mother-tongue
are different from the habits of the English language - AOt in one
way, but in several ways. The way groups of sounds are produced in
English, and the way idea units are produced in English - these ways
are different from the way sound-groups and idea units are produ~ed
in your mother-tongue. So if you want to speak English well, do rou
know what you should do? You should train your organs of speech
and your mind: You should train them to learn the habits of English.
You should train your organs of speech and your mind to produce the
sound-groups and idea units of spoken English.
So give great importance to saying the practice-materials aloud.

How to do your study

Now let me teU you how you can go about learning from the various
Lessons and Supplements in this course.

Non-detailed study
Before starting detailed study, do a non·detailed study. That is, first
you should spend some time trying to get a general understanding of
everything in the course (or in the pan of the course that you\•e got
 7

under the inscalment scheme). Go through all the Lessons and

Supplements - once or twice. Read through them quickly, without
making any attempt to study any panicular portion thoroughly. This
would give you a general idea of everything in the course. A general
idea. And whenever you take up a particular part for intensive study
later, this general idea would act as a helpful background.
First, go through Lessons l to 4 (in that order) and the Supplements
you've received along with them. Then, go through Lessons 5 to 8 (in
that order) and che Supplements you've received along with them.
Then, go through Lessons 9 to 12 (in that order) and the Supple-
ments you've received along with them .
• When you do the non-detailed study, use a pen or pencil, and mark
every part that strikes you as particularly helpful or interesting.

Detailed study
Once you've finished the non-detailed study, you can pick up each
individual Lesson/Supplement for detailed study. Now, as far as pos·
sible, you should spend a definite length of time every day, reading
and learning from the Lessons/Supplements, and doing drills and
e.xercises. Can you spend two hours in the morning and at least an
hour in the evening every day - six days a week? That'd be ideal.
You must complete four Lessons and their Supplements in about four
days' time. Organize !he periods you plan to spend on the Lessons/
Supplements accordingly. You can then spend the remaining three
days on extra practice and revision.
Am I asking too much of you? Perhaps many of you are already work·
ing hard on other things. For those learners, it may be a bit difficult to
find much time every day for this sort of intensive study and practice.
I'm sure they'll work out on their own a different schedule that suits
them. For example, even if they cannot devote sufficient time to their
study for a few days at a stretch, they'll find a way of compensating
for the lost time on some other day - by spending extra hours on
that day. But the best plan would be to spend regular hours every day
on the learning activities. Otherwise, for many learners, the progress
• would be a bit slow. But remember this: Slow progress is better than
no progress at all. So feel free to work out your own timetable.

Learning in burs ts
Some learners may not like to study at a regular pace, or may not be
able to do that, because of the type of jobs they have. They may like
ro work in short bursts. That is, they may like to spend a few days at
a stretch teaming from several Lessons at once and with great effort.
8

Then 1hey may like 10 relax their effons for a few days or for a few
weeks. Then they may again work with another bum of acrivity.
As far as fluency training is concerned, 1his son of learning in burs1s
is not a bad plan at all. You see, each bum of learning activity adds 10
your fluency skill, and a series of such burs1S have a cumula1ive ef·
fea. Jmerim improvemenlS are extremely imponani, you know.
So, as far as fluency training is concerned, even during the periods
when you're not studying, you're actually learning. You see, once you
learn about a few stumbling blocks to fluency from a Lesson, this is
what happens: From then on, you stan becoming aware of their pres·
ence in every real-life speech situation tha1 you come across. Till
then, you haven't been noticing them, but from then on, you start
no1icing 1hem. And you start dealing with those stumbling blocks -
by putting to practical use the fluency techniques that the Lesson has
taught you. From each of those situations, you'll be learning abou1
the nicer aspecrs of the fluency techniques. So you know, even during
the periods when you're not studying from the Lessons, the things
you've already Jearn1 are working inside your mind - working hard
to build fluency in you.
You know, as far as the fluency skill is concerned, there's no such
performance as can be called a final performance. No. Your perfor·
mance keeps on becoming better and better throughou1 1he course
period (and throughout your life) - through gradual additions to it.

Lessons 1 to 4 and Supplements 1 to 3

First, pick up Lesson I and read through all the pages in it slowly,
carefully and seriously.
1)'y and understand what the explanatory parts say. Make a conscious
effort to get to know what they mean. Mark every pan that you find
especially helpful or interesting. These pans would be in addition to
1he parts you had marked when you had done 1he non-detailed study.
Go 1hrough the examples and find ou1 how they illustrate the points
in 1he explanatory parts. Practise 1he drills and work 1hrough the
exercises. Whenever a Lesson/Supplement asks you 10 do your read·
ing aloud, read aloud. And whenever a Lesson/Supplement asks you
to repeat saying word groups several times, repeat them several
times. (Repeal saying each word group 3 to S times a1 each sitcing).
When you've finished Lesson I in this way, you can pick up Lesson 2
and complete i1 in the same way. Then you can complete Lessons 3
and 4 also (in that order) in the same way.
When you've finished Lessons I to 4, you can pick up and complete
 9

the Supplemems (that reach you along with those Lessons) one after
another in their serial order.

Lessons 5 to 8 and Supplements 4 & 5

When you've finished Lessons I to 4 and the Supplements (that reach
you along with them), you can pick up and complete Lessons S to 8
and the SupplemenlS in the same detailed way.
Revise Lessons I to 4 and their Supplements at least once a week. Pay
particular attention to the pans you've marked as imponam in those
Lessons and SupplemenlS. Practise the "word group repetition drills"
in Lessons I to 4 and their Supplements. Say each of those wor d
groups at least two times.

Lessons 9 to 12 and Supple m ents 6 to 8

When you've finished Lessons S to 8 and the Supplements (that reach
you along with them), you can pick up and complete Lessons 9 to 12
and their SupplemenlS in the same detailed way.
Revise Lessons I to 4 and their Supplements as wtll as Lessons 5 to 8
and their Supplements at least once a week. Pay panicular attention
to the pans you've marked as important in those Lessons and Supple·
mems. Practise the "word group repetition drills" that those Lessons
and their Supplements ask you to do. Say each of those word groups
at least two times.

All 12 Lessons and all 8 Supplements

Revise Lessons l to 12 and all the eight Supplements at least twice.
Pay particular attentio n to the "word group repetition drills" and
other exercises. You can now follow any o rder you want. You can pick
up any Lesson or Supplement or any part in any of it first or next. But
do revise all the Lessons and all the Supplements at least twice.

Do a lot of general reading

Every week, you should read at least one English novel (or play).
Read a light one - one that's enjoyable, entertaining and easily un·
derstood, rather than a serious one. This is because light novels and
plays are normally written in everyday English. And that's the kind of
English that brings you nuency. Of course, books dealing with serious
subjects would also help you - if they are in everyday English. My
aim is just this: I want to get you exposed to a large amount of a
panicular type of English - the type of English that native speakers
of English actually use in speech in today's world.
10

Ordinary nove ls s uit fluency-building best

Understand chis: In general, classics of English literature won't suit
our purpose. No, they won't. In general, they won't help you supple-
ment your nuency efforcs. No.
Of course, classics of English literature are splend id when your aim is
appreciation of literature. But nor when your aim is to get help with
your fluency efforts. The reason is this: Classics of Engl ish literature
are generally written in a literary style, and not in an easy, conversa·
tional, everyday style. And they're often full of literary words and
expressions. Most of them even contain structures, words and expres-
sions that are rare in speech or that are no longer used even in writ·
ing. And they may mislead you into thinking that the style of writing
and vocabulary items used in them are appropriate for use in speech.
And you may even unconsciously scan copying them. That would be a
disaster. An utter disaster.
On the other hand, light novels and plays are normally wrircen in an
ordinary, everyday style, and not in a literary style. And they're full of
structures, words and expressions that are used every day in real-life
speech. These structures, words and expressions are the power-house
of the English that's actually in use - of the living English. And these
are the structures, words and expressions you need to have a mastery
of. Light novels and light plays gee you to come across these struc·
cures, words and expressions again and again in a variety of everyday
contexts. This develops your familiarity with them remarkably well,
and these srructures, words and expressions begin to occur to you
readily whenever you think of putting facts and thoughts into words.
Ordinary crime stories, romances, humorous novels and plays may
not be books of high literary merit. But they'll give you a lot of expo-
sure to these living structures. words and expressions. For a start, it's
bercer co confine yourself to one author. You'll then be exposed re-
peatedly to the same language, style, expressions, etc. in a large num-
ber of situations. After you've read five or six books by the same au-
thor, rurn to another author. Then you'll come across a sizable
amount or the same language, style, expressions, etc. in a variety of
situations created by this other author. The cumulative effect of all
this reading experience would be this: A bank of ready-to-use English
phrases and expressions gets set up in your brain. And through asso-
ciation of ideas, this bank scans supplying you with ready-to-use
phrases and expressions when you think of expressing your ideas.

Recommended reading
Books by Erle Stanley Gardner, James Hadley Chase and John
 11

Grisham are ideal from 1his point of view. These authors would keep
you soaked in 1he living pan of modern-day English. This is the kind
of English tha1 you'll find to be of \he most general use.
Of course, books even by lhese authors contain here and there vo-
cabulary items and usages that are dated. Any book by any author is
almos1 cenain to contain a certain percentage of dated elements. But
what these authors repeatedly expose you to is !hat pan of \he En-
glish language \hat has achieved some son of permanence over the
last 100 years or so, and not those pans that only had a shon life or
will only have a shon life. These authors would get you immersed in
English that is neither too old nor too modem.

You need a good dictionary

You must get into 1he habi1 of looking up words in a dictionary every
now and 1hen. Pick any word. From any page. Check \heir meanings,
usage, pronunciation. Read all the example sentences under an entty.
Don't try to learn anything by hean. Nei1her the meanings nor the
examples. Jusl pay attention to 1hem. Tha~s all. Look at \he meanings
and examples. Listen 10 what the meanings and examples tell you.
Just be with 1hem for some time. Spend some rime wi\h them.
You must do this dictionary work every day for some time - even if
you think you know all 1hc imponant words quite well. You must.
This dictionary work is very imponant, because it helps you develop a
feel for words aod their colloca1ions (•words that normally tend to
occur with those words). And if you want ro achieve a real mastery of
the core vocabulary, 1his 'feel' is essential.
But 1here are two things you must be careful about:

1. Avoid bilingual dictionaries

You should generally use only an English-English dictionary, and NOT
• a dictionary that gives 'English meanings' for your 'mother-tongue
words' or a dictionary tha1 gives your 'mother-tongue meanings' for
English words.
,
You sec, bilingual dictionaries can only help beginners starting to
learn English, and not advanced learners like you. In fact, they'll
harm you. Yes. First of all, if you keep on using a bilingual dictionary,
your mind will get into the habit of thinking in your mother-tongue
and of trying to translate those thoughts in10 English - instead of
getting in10 the habit of connecting your thoughts directly to English
speech. This translation-instinct will stand as a barrier between your
1hough1 and speech. and you'll find it difficult to become fluent in
12

English. And secondly, the English you speak will be stilted and artifi-
cial, and noc like the genuine English that native speakers of English
speak - or even write.
So you should avoid using a bilingual dictionary.

2. Avoid high-sounding and rarely-used words

When you run your eyes over the pages of a dictionary, your aim must
not be to le am all sorts of high-sounding and rarely.used words. No.
Your aim must be to learn how you can use frequently.occurring
words. And even if you look up high-sounding words and rarely-used
words, your aim must not be to acrually use those words, but to find
out how you can avoid them - by making use of simpler words in
their place. The meanings of those words will give you a clear idea.
You'll get lists of frequently-occurring words in the various Lessons in
this course. They're the words you should pay all your attention to.

What dictionary s hould you buy?

Now, here's a list (in alphabttical order) of some of the most helpful
dictionaries on the market:
• Cambridg• International Dictionary of English.
• Collin's COBUllD English Dictionary for Advanced Learners.
• Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English .
• Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of English .
Chances are, you already have one of these dictionaries with you. But
if you don't, buy at least one of them now. Today. Don't worry about
which of them to buy. You can buy any of them blindly. You won't go
wrong. They're all equally suitable for our purpose. Of course, each
gives greater attention to one or rwo aspects, and the others don't
give as much anention to them. But this doesn't take away the gen·
eral usefulness of any of them for our purpose. So you should have at
least one of these dictionaries with you. All the time, if possible. And
you should make use of them every day.
Of course, these are ' British' dictionaries, and not \'Jnerican' ones. But
you should buy and use one of them, even if your sole interest is in
\'Jnerican' English. Yes. This is because these dictionaries deal with
the common core of British, American, Australian and other variet-
ies of English thoroughly. But if you're very particular that you must
have an \'Jnerican' dictionary meant for advanced leamers, you can
also think of buying one of the following dictionaries - in addition ro
one of the four dictionaries listed earlier.
• NTC's American English Learner's Dictionary
• Random House Webster's Dictionary o( American English
 13

But don't forget to buy one of the four dictionaries listed earlier -
because the English language that has international acceptance is the
common core of the British, American, Australian and other varieties
of English. And chac is the kind of English you should be fluent in.
That's it. Ler's go for the Lesson now.

Fluency, only through idea units

You want to achieve a high level of fluency in spoken English. And
this is only possible if you're aware of certain fundamental things. So
let's start off with them.

'Speech' comes first, and 'writing', only next

You know, the first thing you should understand about a language is
this: A language has two sides, like a coin. Yes, two sides. A 'spoken'
side and a 'written' side.
Listen. Doesn't a child learn to speak long before it sees writing?
Hadn't people been speaking, long before writing came? So isn't one
thing clear - that the 'spoken' stage of a language comes before the
'written' stage? Isn't this also clear - that 'speech' and 'writing' are
different things, and aren't to be looked at or learnt in the same way?
This is true about any language. It's true about English, too.
Don't you get one thing now? Don't you see why most non-native
speakers of English find it hard to speak fluent English?

Non-native speakers learn English the 'wrong' way

By 'non-native speakers of English', I mean people for whom English
is not their first language or mother-tongue, but a second language -
or just a foreign language. You see, for people in India, English is a
foreign language - but it's also a second language. For people in
several other countries, English is simply a foreign language, and not
even a second language.
Most non-native speakers of English find it hard to speak English
fluently, because they can't learn English the way they learn their first
language. You see, they're born and brought up in a country where
English is not spoken as· the first language. And so they can only learn
English in the wrong way: In a way that is just the reverse of the
natural process of language acquisition. Haven't we seen just now
what the natural way is? Haven't we seen that the natural way is to
learn to speak first, and then only to learn to write? But most non-
14

native speakers of English don't have the opportunity of learning

English in that way.
So you sec, as a non-native speaker of English, you've been learning
English in the 'non-natural' way- in a way that's opposite to the
natural way of language acquisition. You~ been learning to write
English first, rather than to speak it. That's what you've been doing at
school and coUege. You've been learning to produce written English.
And the methods you had to follow never fully made you understand
this: The 'spoken' style is quite different from the ·written' style.
You see, the spoken word is the basis for the written word, and not
the other way round . And so spoken English is more fu ndamental
than written English. But che non-natural way in which you had to
learn English planted the wrong notion in your mind: A wrong notion
that things arc'the,other way round - that written English is more
fundamental than spoken English.
So the result is this: You're now~~ in written English. And your
written English orientation has been preventing )'OU all along from
understanding one thing. It has been preventing you from under·
standing that spontaneous speech has to be composed differently -
that is, in a way quite different from the way wri1111g is produced.
Result? You always cry to speak the way you write. And you do this by
!tying hard to follow principles of grammar and usage as applied to
writing, and not as applied to speech itself.
ls there any wonder fluency has eluded you so for?
So 1 want you to understand one thing here and now: When they
speak spontaneously, fluent speakers apply principles of grammar and
usage in a way chat is different from the way they apply those prin-
ciples when they wrice. And the spoken sryle has a number of devices
and conventions of its own, and these devices and conventions are
not derived from the written scyle.

Learning words alone won't help

Now just think about this: Suppose you learn a number of English
words very well - say, a nice big stock of them. Then, will you be
able to speak English fluendy? I'm sure you know the answer. The
answer is, you won't. You won't be able to speak English fluently just
because you've mastered all the common words there are. If this
hadn't been so, would speaking have been a problem? In face, you
may yourself have an exceUent vocabulary. Why, even a student who
has completed high school knows all the common words we use in
everyday spoken English! But, is every student who completes high
 15

school able co speak Ouent English? The truth is, even most post-
graduates aren't able to speak English Ouently- even though they
know all the English words commonly used in speech!
Why is chis so? Here's a ch ief reason: People who aren't Ouent try to
speak in 'words', by trying to put individual words together. They're
not aware char this is nor the right way of speaking English. The right
way co speak English is to speak it in '\vord groups", by putting word
groups cogether - and to use individual words only when an indi-
vidual word can do the work of a word group. This is because the real
units of speech are 'ideas' (or ' information') . And ideas normally get
expressed in groups of words, rather than in individual words.

Bite -sized piec e s of i deas

So the point you should understand is this: Natural speech comes out
in units or very short pieces of ideas. And most often, these units of
ideas are said and heard in groups of words. Sometimes they're said
and heard in individual words, too.
Let's take a look at a few spoken texts, so chat you can get a clear idea
of all this. Here we go:
• He unl<>CUd the fron t door + and we went in + and he said +-rlLkr
\ back in a minute + and ~wenlupsrairs +$OJ n:mained in the ball +
,.nd then the phone staned ringing + and-he sbouted to me to answer it
't and I picked up the recei)'.tt +'1n<U ~eljo' +•but the pe®n a t
lhe other end suddenly hung up ~$0 r~UieJeceiver.
• He-passed the exam + "-ith a very higll score +\and he was thrilled +
wery pie~ + '1nd happy +'and he tn!ited us to ice"""""11 +tthe ~
\ne~day.
• f bey were close friends + ' nd they bad sillll~ + and 1imilar
oidw ~titudes + •nd m..y've worked tc>1ether +"" several projects,
• ~he gave him $0rnething to eat -11SOmething oofr and truck -<t stidty +
' toffee·~e tl)ing.
• It's a bit heavy + aid so you ca!!'t move.it eas.ily + Yrom ~ to_place
+ " uU t doesn't cake up much s~ + 'IO )'Oll can put it in yourJ>edroom
+ '" in the hall.
• ~~ + ' don't like that idea + ttlough I c:an't say l!l>Ything against
• it +'because I can't give any ~+ ind I don't know whyJ.have this
- eli!!s + b ut $0mething in ~ me + that this idea may not work +
and it may eve.n 'achieve th• owosite result + ifom the-orie we want to
aollleve + And that ls not going to be a good thing.
Go through these five examples. Three of them contain one one-word
idea unit each. Did you spot them the first time you went through the
examples. If you didn't, why don't you cry and spot them now?
16

How does natural speech come out?

When a child wants something, what does it say? It says: "Give it to
me". Do you think the child first learns the words 'Give', 'it', 'to', and
'me' separately, and, then connects them together? When a child
doesn't want a thing, it says: "I don't want it". When a child gets tired
of walking, and wants to be carried, it says: "Pick me up". Do you
think the child first learns the \\ ords •11 •don r', \vant', 'ir', pick 'me',
1
1
1 1 1
,

and 'up' separately, and, then, connects them also together?

foor the child, "Give it to me" is the same as a single word 'givimmee'.
and not four separate words. "I don't want it" is the same as a single
word '.Aidonwantit', and not four separate words. "Pick me up" is the
same thing as a single word ' Pickmeeyup', and not three separate
words. The child says each of these word groups as a single utterance
without any gap berween any two words. It doesn't make separate
utterances for each of the words in a word group. The child says each
word group as a single unit - as though it were a single word.
This is what normally happens when a fluent native speaker of En·
glish speaks English. And this is what normally happens when a flu-
ent native speaker of any other language speaks that language. Think
about what happens in your own mother-tongue. Notice how you
yourself speak in your own mother-tongue.

What does natural speech come out in?

From what I've said so far, don't you see one thing? Normally, natural
speech doesn't come out in 'words'. It comes out in word groups.
Strictly speaking, natural speech comes out neither in single words
nor even in word-groups. Actually, it comes out in units of ideas. Of
course, mosr often, these units of ideas get expressed through multi·
word units ( = word-groups) - and sometimes in single words.
Now listen: What was the child doing when it had said "Give it to
me"? Wasn't the child just giving expression to a unit of "idea" or a
"thought" or a piece of "information"? The idea (or thought or infor-
mation) came up in its mind, and it just made an utterance - an
utterance that the child thought would express that idea (or thought
or information). This was so when it had said "I don't want it" and
"Pick me up'', too.
Actually, this is always so. Children always speak in their mother
tongue by uttering idea by idea, and not word by word. So do adults,
and everyone who speaks their mother-tongue fluently. When they
speak spontaneously, do fluem speakers consciously search through
their brain for word after word? No, normally, they don't. Do they
 17

consciously stop to think about how to string the words together? No,
normally they don't. They just say what they have in mind by using
such vocabulary items as occur readily ro them - spontaneously and
without any conscious effort. And normally, the stretches of speech
that come out happen ro be in groups of words.
But how do they get this skill? This course will rel! you how. And this
course will help YOU get this skill, too. J ust read on, and don't worry.
So, don't you see what the natural way of speaking is? It's to make
"utterances", each carrying one component of an idea or thought -
that is, one strand of information.
Let's call such an utterance an "idea unit".

Let ready-to-assemble units do your work for you

Now listen. Take the case of someone who has had considerable expo·
sure to everyday English - for example, through deliberate practice
of the type you do through this course or through reading a number
of novels, plays and story books.
Suppose that an idea occurs to them and that they're trying to express
it. The moment they form the intention to speak, this is what nor-
mally happens: Several ready-to-assemble word groups come rushing
into their minds - automatically, without any effort on their part.
These are word groups like speech initiators, ftxed and semi-fixed
expre.ssions and phrases, collocations, everyday idioms, etc. Here's a
list of some of the very useful ready-to-assemble units:
by accident. achieve your aim, in action, out of action, ·take advantage or
somebody/something, break the agreement, go it alone, reach an
agreement, as always, ans\ver the door/the phone, within arm's reach.
go bad, havw 1a.1<e a ba1h, 10 1he best of my knowledge/ability, you bet,
better off, that's better, a bit of a problem, bit by bi1, for a bit, you'll only
have yourself to blame, at full blast, break a promise, out of breath, by
air, by bus, by car, by force, by himself/ herself, etc., by plane, by train.
in that case, certainly not, in charge, take charge, under the circum·
j sta_nces, under no circ-ums1anccs, come true, come to a conclusion, as far
as I am concerned, take a chance, by chance, how come?, out of control,
cover the cost, at all cost(s), a course of action, go to court.
keep a dairy, out of date, these days, in dead trouble, make no differ·
e.nce, get into difficulties, down the road, get dressed, on duty, off dury.
from beginning to end, in the end, excellent val ue (for money).
fair enough, in fashion, out of fashion, fast asleep, on fire, open fire (on
the crowd, etc.), pul a fire out, set fire 10 something, at first, go up in
names, in a flash, fall na1, on foot, for free, free of charge, free time,
fresh air, have fun, make fun of somebody, that's funny, make a fuss.
18

have a hair<Ut, by hand, these things happen, hard at work, come to no

hanm, there is no hanm in ..., with all your hean, a heavy sleeper, a heary
smoker, here and there, here it is, think highly or somebody. hold your
breath, go on holiday. on holiday. hope for the ~t. I hope (that) ... , Jose
hope, have high hopes, for hours, in an hour, how about ... ?, in a hurry.
have no Idea, Do you mind ff... >, ir I we re you ... , was taken ill, make an
Impression on somebody, on the increa~. in ink, take out insurance.
ju.st a minute,jusc a moment, keep quiec, keep a secret, as ra.r as I know.
at lut, l.augh at somebody/something, against the law, at leut, least or
all, not in the least, less and less, let's see, as long as, looks as if.
go mad. like mad, make sure, no easy matter, what's the maucr?, a mild·
manner~d person, change your mind, I don't mind, in o minute, too good
to mis.s, by mistake, at any moment, n\ake a living~ make money, more
and mor e, more or less, at (1he) most, move house, remain a mystery.
never mind, no doubt, no wonde~ for nothing, at shon notice, ri.g ht now.
how often?, in the old days. on the lefl/right, 3l once, once more. once
or twice, keep things in order, the other day, out of order, over there.
I beg your pardon, pay attention to somebody/something, pick a quarrel,
I can•t Stt any point in...• point of view. in pract,k e, in the presence of.
on the r.adio, pouring with rain, raise your vo~. out of reach, within
reach, break a record, as a lut reson, right away. nght now, quite right.
for goocln<SS sake, I must say, make sense, set an example, settle a bill,
shake hands with somebody, Wbat a shame!, go Into shock, have/rake a
shower, reel sick, sleep soundly, go to sleep, so far, or so, soaking wet,
something like that, soon after, that son or thing, without a sound, spare
time, in spite of, stay behind, in stock, out of stock, straight away, call a
strike off, go on S<rike, on srrike, all or a sudden, moral s uppon.
What &fit you talking about?, take a seat, in 1heory, tell tales, have a
temperature, that's it, all the time, al a time, a t times, from time co time,
in t'I month's time,jus-1 in time, I told you so, J 1hink, I thought, top of the
class, get in touch, keep in touch, by public rranspon, get into trouble, in
1rouble, no trouble, tell the truth, 1ake it In turns, turn a comer.
get undressed, up and down, up 1he road, a stomach upset, as u$ual.
wait your tum, at war, declare \var, go 10 war, keep a close watch on
somebody, by the way, find your way, I~ your way, on the way, out of
the way, weacher penmining, lose weight, put on weight, In other words,
a long way. wear well, what about, What•s wrong with ...?, the whole of,
on the whole, have a word with somebod~ send word, wone off.
Ust your dictionary. Ma kt these rtady-to-auemble unit$ part of your
everyday speech. (You11 be getting more ready-to-assemble units in
other Lessons).
Of course, many of the ready-t o-assem ble units may only be capable
of expressing your ideas in a very 'vague way - or of j ust helping
them start off by saying something connect ed to that idea. But re-
 19

member this: In spontaneous speech, things are made clear not

through tight structures and precise vocabulary, but through a num-
ber of speech-specific techniques.
Haven't you wondered how nuent speakers produce newer and newer
speech units effortlessly? They do this by combining these ready-to-
assemble pa1tS among themselves and with other vocabulary items.
So when you're speaking spontaneously, don't ignore the ready-to·
assemble units that occur readily. And don't spend rime trying to find
the most suitable word or expression (in place of those ready-to·
assemble units). Don't.

Idea units - Your key to speech and fluency

From what I've said so far, one thing must be clear to you:
Most often, an idea unit contains more than one word, and so, most
often, an idea unit occurs in groups of words. But sometimes an idea
unit may happen to contain only one word. These are situations when
a single word would do the work of a word group. In those situations,
idea units come our as one-word units. Thus, suppose somebody asks
you, "When do you want me to come?", and suppose you reply, ''To-
morrow". In that context, doesn't this single word 'Tomorrow' do the
work of a word group and convey an idea? Yes, it does. So here, 'To·
morrow' is an idea unit, even though it's a single word. In this con-
text, you don't always need to reply: "I want you to come tomorrow".
All you need to do is ro say "Tomorrow", and the idea would be clear.
Here the single word "Tomorrow" does the work of the word group "I
want you to come tomorrow".
A few pages back, we looked at a few spoken texts. Here are three
one-word idea units that three of those spoken texts contained:
• + arcitudes + • + sticky + • + Actually +
Go back to those spoken texts and spot these one-word idea units.

'Idea units' of speech, and "sentences" of writing

Here's an important fact, and you may have noticed it by now from
what I've said so far: An idea unit isn't always the same thing as a
sentence that we use in written English. No. Often, an idea unit has a
form that is quite different from that of a sentence. Of course, this
doesn't mean that short sentences cannot occur as idea units. Espe-
cially, simple sentences that are short. In fact, simple sentences that
are short can occur as idea units and they often do.
But first let's look at word groups that can only function as idea units
in spoken English, but nor as sentences in written English.
20

Suppose you ask a person, "When did you come?'', and suppose he
replie.s: '!lust now". Then in that context, doesn't this group '!lust
now" make sense? And isn't chis word group "Just now" a grammati-
cally acceptable combination of words? And so, in that context, isn't
this word group an idea unit? Just see! In the context we've just· now
seen, the addressee doesn't need 10 reply: "I came just now". The
addressee need only reply, "Just now", and the idea would be clear.
This is because the words 'I' and 'came' are understood from the
context. But is the word group '!lust now" a 'sentence' - as a sen-
tence is usually understood in written English? It isn't hard to cell. No.
This group is not a sentence. You see, as it is generally understood in
written English, a sentence is a group of words that contains a verb -
or a subject a nd a verb. But the word group '!lust now" doesn't con-
tain a verb. And it doesn't contain a subject, either. So it isn't a sen-
tence. But haven't we seen just now that this group is an idea unit,
when the context is clear?
But let me ask you: Even if the context is clear, is this word group a
sentence? No, it's not. You can tell this even if you know nothing
about the grammatical definition of a sentence. Yet haven't we seen
that you can use it in speech- to do the work of a 'sentence'?
Now let's take the word "Tomorrow". ls this word a sentence? No. Of
course, not. It's only a word, and not a sentence. But haven't we al-
ready seen that a single word like this can be used as an idea unit?
Haven't we seen chat it can be used in conversations - to do the
work of a full 'sentence'?

How context helps the speaker

Now what helped the word group "J ust now" and the single word
"Tomorrow" to make sense and do the work of sentences? The con-
texts in which they were uttered, of course. Contexts.
Suppose that a stranger comes to you now and says all of a sudden:
':Just no\v". Will it make any sense to you? No. it won't. It \Von't con·
vey any meaning. But suppose you had .first asked a question, "When
did you come?", and suppose he had chen said '!lust now" in reply to
that question. Then this word group would certainly have made
sense, because 1hen the question would have provided enough con-
text for the reply to be understood. So a context is a thing of great
help in speech. It'd save you from a burden - the burden of having
to make up full sentences all the time.
Suppose that somebody comes to you now and says: "Tomorrow''.
Will it make any sense to you? No, it won't. But suppose he'd said this
word in reply to a question from you, "When do you want me to
 21

come?", then ir'd have made sense, because rhen this question would
have provided enough comext for it to be understood.
So the word group '!lust now" and the word "Tomorrow" are idea
units in spoken English, but they cannot function as sentences in
written English.
Now let's take a word group that is noc only an 'idea unit' in speech,
but also a 'sentence' in written English.
For example, take this word group: "Can J have a look ac it?"'. Sup·
pose a Stranger comes to you and says all of a sudden : "Can 1 have a
look at it?'". Would it make any sense? No, it wouldn't - because he
hasn't given you any idea abouc what he means by che word 'it'. But
suppose he points towards a book lying on your table and says, "Can I
have a look at it?". Then, wouldn't this word group make sense? Of
course, it would - because the concexc rhen ma.kcs the meaning of
the word ' it' clear and shows chat che word 'ir' refers co the book.

lmportance of context
So don't you see? There's a great advantage on the conversational
side of a language. You can make the concexc co help you speak. You
see, in speech, your hearers undent:and several things even if you
don't use words to say those things. The factor that makes your hear·
ers understand these 'unsaid' chings is che context.
By 'context', I mean everything that helps you make the meaning of
an iden unit to be clearly understood : The verbal or linguistic context
( • the things you say before and after that idea unit), the situational
context ( e the place, time, attending circumstances, CCC.), the shared
knowledge ( ~ the things that boch you and your addressee know
about each other, about the world in general, about the copic of che
conversation, etc.) and the body language.
As there's always the concexc co help you in speech, you don't have to
make up and say full sentences on many occasions. And even if you
do make up a full sentence. you don't have co express everything fully
and clearly in that sentence. And you don't have to hunt up and use
'right' words in order to make your meaning graphically clear and
detailed through words alone. And often, you don't have co complete
your sentences at all, but can leave chem half-finished and start an-
other one. And you don't even have to scan your uuerance in a sen-
tence-form. All that you need to do is to just uuer what stands out in
your mind - just utter the bite-sized word groups that readily occur
to you through association of ideas. If what you utter doesn't make
the idea complete, the conrext would.
For example, take a look at the following strings of idea units:
22

I fl like him + Hard-working +"°lite +Wways cheerful (You don't

always have to say like this: [ like him. because he is hard-working,
polite and always cheerful).
2. 'lie is a famil)' ID!!P +~n chil!kl!o (You don't always have to say
like this: He is a family man and has seven children).
3 .1.Wbere have yqu ~n? + lllu or somethil!I? (You don't always have to
say: Where have you been? Were you in bed \Vith flu Or something?).
4. Nice dress. Paris? (You don't always have to say: That's a nice dress
you have on. Did you buy it in Paris?).
S.t'lip the swili:h +"'-fore you do that. (The speaker as well as the
addressee know \vhat the word 'that' stands for in this context, and so
the speaker doesn•t have to use more words to describe the thing that
the word 'tha( refers to).
Keep this in mind: Whenever you speak, a number of contextual
elements would normally be there to help you. You won't have to find
out and add more words to what you utter just for the sake of making
up a perfectly-formed sentence.
In fact, if you find that your meaning has become clear to your hearer
(even before you've completed saying what you started saying), you
can even leave unfinished the word group you're uttering.
Eg: "fI'here's no truth in his stOf)' + t· don't believe a word of what... + <\'ou
llill<bY' + l'his isn't ~fim lime .. . +'lie always tells 110$.
• 'l'wO thousand rupe6? + ll>aylight robbery or what? +'I never thought
die !>ill woul!I c;ome to .... + l'his mUst be the most expensive ttsl31118Dt
+if town.
• • think + 1!11 have to ref!lse + 1bu know + •'Ve thougbt about it +
,.,.,fully+ ~d for_11 lc!!ig... + tvell, I don't want to acqpt thotJ>l!er.
In the 1st example, the speaker has left the word group " I don't be-
lieve a word of what..." unfinished. But it's clear from the context that
what the speaker wanted to say was something like this: "I don't
believe a word of what he's said". In the 2nd example, the speaker
has left the word group "I never thought the bill would come to ... "
unfinished. But it's clear from the context that what the speaker
wanted to say was something like this: "I never thought the bill would
come to so much". In the 3rd example, the speaker has left the word
group '\A.nd for a long ..." unfinished. But it's clear from the context
that what the speaker wanted to say was something like this: "And for
a long time".
So when the speaker's meaning is clear to the hearers from the con-
text, the speaker can leave a word group unfinished and start the next
one. Actually, a speaker can do this under other circumstances, too.
We'll take up this topic for detailed study later.
 23

Types of idea units

From what we've seen so far, one thing must be clear to you: There
are four types of word groups that can occur as idea units:
• Phrases (including single words}. • Clauses. • Incomplete clauses
and incomplete phrases. • 'Whole plus' clauses and phrases.

1. Phrases
You see, there are S types of phrases in English:
• • Verb Phrase (VP). • Noun Phrase (NP). • Adjective Phrase (Adj .
P) . • Adverb Phrase (Adv. P). • Prepositional Phrase (Prep. P).
You'll be learning about the various types of phrases from the Ouency
development angle later. But for the time being, let's take a general
look at what phrases a re like.
In general, we can say that a phrase is (a) a single content word, or
(b) a small group of words that stand together as a unit of meaning
- with a content word as the main word in the group. Generally
speaking, a content word is a verb, noun, adjective or adverb.
A phrase normally occurs in speech in rwo ways: Either it occurs as
an idea unit by itself or it occurs as pan of an idea unit (that is, as a
constituent element in a short independent clause - a clausal idea
unit). And mind you, in modern grammar, even a single content word
is created as a phrase.

(i) Verb phrase (VP)

VP = (helping verbs) + full verb.
'Helping verbs' are words like am, is, are, have, etc. a nd words like
can, may, will, etc. The term 'helping verbs' have been given in brack-
ets, because words that are helping verbs may or may not occur in a
• VP. In the following examples, you'll find verb phrases given in italics.
• She laughed. • They disap~artd suddenly. • This be.longs to me.
• He madt a suggescion. • lam wOrking. • She is crying. • They are
having a meeting. • He waJ doing something. • We wt.r t trying to help
them. • This son of life dotsn'c suic me. • I don't know. • He didn't
answer the question. • She has a headache. • They have changed their
plan. • We have bttn waiting for the result. • She can speak Gennan and
French. • He couldn't do it. • They will come tomorrow. • If I may
interrupt for a moment, here's an urgent message you should see now.
• They would havt ltft by now. • They might have been expecting all that.
• You should .dtcidt what to do now. • I musf exercist more. • You ought
ro ap0logiu to her.
24

(ii) Noun phrase (NP)

NP = determiners + (pre modifiers} + noun + (post-modifiers}
Eg: Ajhh, Jai Shankar, India, Great Britain, the US, science, au1horities, a
pair of glovos, my fomily, Dr. John, th• 1op of 1ho nairs, 1he water level,
rwo catJ, 1ha1 book, her son, some experience, .some oranges, a big car, a
ploasant ovening, a disappoin1od man, th• ruling pany, all thoso poople
there, the civil servitt, 1he shop across 1hc s1~1. the girl who \o\'t:nt in
just now, a feeling o( sa1Uraccion, the width of the road, her uncle1s
house, the man you were speaking 101 the boy in blue shin.

(iii) Adjective phrase (Adj. P)

Adj. P = (pre-modifiers) + adjective + (post-modifiers}
Eg: very tall, very happy, rather dull, quit• comfonablt, acrually hot, com·
pararively chtap, deeadfully ill, oqually corr«t, extremely busy, relatively
mild, really amasi.,, terribly sorry, largt onough.

(iv) Adverb phrase (Adv. P)

Adv. P • (pre-modifiers) + adverb + (post-modifiers}
Eg: very careful(y, ra1her 100 quick(y, very striously indeed, a liule more
clearly, as quietly as he could, preuy faithful(y, extremely well, quite
foolishly, most cunning(y, more sinctrt(y 1han l expected, more and more
effmivtly, fairly tasily, somewhat qu1<c(y, really professionally.

(v) Prepos itfonal ph rase (PP)

PP = preposition + a complement ( = a noun phrase, generally}
Eg: about thal lOplc, above my head, along the road, among the trees.
around/round our house, ai the shop. btfort lhc next juncrion, below the
knee, besidt 1he bed, b<twctn 1hcm, beyond control, by cheque, from
London, io his pocke1, lnsidt 1he house, into his mou1h, near the door, off
duty, on 1he ground, oppositt 1hc Ubrory, ouuidt tha1 building, over the
1able, posr bodilme, ihrough 1he fronl door, towards the gate, under the
bed, up the s tairs, within earsho1 .

Phrases a s idea. units

This is what we've seen so far: In general, a phrase is -
• a single lexical word. Or,
• a group of gram matically related words.
The importance of a phrase in speech is this: On the one hand, it can
function as an idea unit by itself. On the other hand, it can act as part
o( ocher rypes of idea unitS ( • 'clauses').
So by itself, a phrase can occur as an idea unit - if it is short enough
for you to utter it as a single unit. And a phrase is short enough, if it
 25

doesn't contain more than 5 or 6 words on an average. For example,

we've already seen that words and word groups such as the following
can occur as idea unirs:
"Ju.st now"", "'Tomorrow"", 'with a very high scort:'", •on seve.ral proj«t.s· .
•a toffee-like thing'", "from place 10 place", "Hard·working•, "Polite",
"Always cheerful", "Seven children".
These are all phrases.
In fact, just as single phrases, combinations of phrases also often
occur in speech - short combinations. For example, we've already
seen that the word group "Flu or something?" is an idea unit: See
example 3 under rhe sub-heading "Importance of context" above. This
is a combination of two noun phrases 'Flu' and 'something', and the
combining has been done by using the connector 'or'. Here are a few
more examples of combinations:
Eg: ·~ OM her /other + ~trere. • 'My whole body + _,,iWred o.nd
•cll<d. •~. deals witti t:hlnP.fil:lblY + YoU bow + D«IJIWly and Jinn1l<•
• ' - ~I)' rited + 'l"fi'od ilnclhlllll'J'.

Do n ' t let a few grammatical te rms scare you

Go through the examples carefully. They'll give you a clear idea of
what a phrase is like.
Now let me tell you something importanc: Don't let what I've said so
far (about phrases) give you a wrong idea. You see, in order to speak
English nuencly, ir's not necessary that you should learn to define a
verb, noun, etc. No. And ir's not necessary that you should be able to
look at a word group and say that ir's a noun phrase, verb phrase, etc.
No. You don't have to learn to label phrases by their names.
All that is needed is this: You should have a feel for what a phrase is
- no maucr what its name. You should have a clear understanding of
what a close group of words is: A dose group of words that go to·
gcthcr and form a unit.
The easiest and quickest way of developing this feel is to train your-
self with the word groups you'll be getting in the various Le$sons in
this course. Go through them silently several rimes. And utter them
aloud several times.
So don't let the names of different types of phrases scare you.

Word knowledge and word mas tery

An important part of your nuency training is lO get to know the vari-
ous types of word-dusters called 'phrases' and to rrain your organs of
speech in uttering them.
26

You should do this training seriously and in 'earnest. You shouldn't let
up, even if you're very highly educated in English and even if you're
extremely good at wrinen English. You see, phrase training is one of
the most effective 1echniques for mas1ering English vocabulary. Mind
you, one reason why many educa1ed people can'• speak nuent English
is !his: They haven't mastered essential English vocabulary. They
think they have, but they haven't, actually.
Of course, they know a very large number of words. Bui their know!·
edge of most of these words is superficial and is limited to recogniz·
ing these words in reading - or to understanding them when some·
body else uses them in speech. Their knowledge of lhese words
doesn't extend to a mastery of 1he full details of how to use !hem -
how to use !hem along with other words. They have no clear idea of
the other words that occur regularly whenever that word is used, or
about the typical syntactic panerns in which that word tends to occur
normally. No, they haven't achieved a real mastery of these words. A
real mastery - 1he skill of using them easily in order to express what
!hey see, hear, feel.
And !he phrase training in this course will help you achieve a real
mastery over the essential words. Yes, essential words - because a
serious problem with educated learners is this: A lot of the words
they've spent time in learning are nor essential words. This is because
those are not 'production' words, 'speech-production' words. No.
They're just recognition vocabulary or reception vocabulary. If you
want to produce English on your own, you should have a mastery not
of just a set of random words (or of words belonging to the reception
or recognition vocabulary), but of speech-production words. That's
why phrase-training is going to be extremely important.

2. Clauses
In general, a clause is a combination of different types of phrases in a
certain order. So it is a grammatical unit that is one rank higher than
a phrase. Broadly speaking, there are two type.s of clauses:
• Independent clauses. • Non-independent clauses.

(i) Independent clauses

At the minimum, an independent clause consists of a Subject elemen1
( = SJ and a Verb element ( = V). This is the SY-pattern.
Eg: • The door opened. • They laughed. • My stomach huns. • A car
crashed. • She coughed. • Somebody screamed . • The jewels sparkled.
But most often, there will be one more element after the Verb ele-
 27

ment. And this other element is usually an element called the Object
element ( = 0). This is the SVC-pattern. This is the most common
clause pattern you'll find in spoken English.
Eg: • She picked a red rose. • They welcomed him. • I enjoyed that book. •
She heated s.ome milk. • The news upset her. • He threatened revenge.
• She praised him. • The cat climbed a tree. • Her behaviour pleased
those people. • That man grabbed her handbag. • He lit a cigarette. •
She wrote a cheque. • Most of them break traffic rules.
There are, of course, other patterns that are not as common as the
SVO pattern. In fact, we'll be taking a detailed look at all the clause
patterns (common as well as less common) later in other Lessons.
Now, if an independent clause is short enough (for you to utter it as a
single unit), it can occur as an idea unit in speech.
For example, we've already seen that word groups such as the follow-
ing can occur as idea units:
• He unlocked the front door. • He passed the exam. • They were close
friends. • She gave him something to eat. • It's a bit heavy. • l don't like
that idea. • Give i1 to me. • Pick me up. • I don't want it. • Can I have a
look at it? • l like him . • He is a family man. • Where have you been?
I
These are all single independent clauses. You know, a single indepen-
dent clause is also known as a simple sentence.

(ii) Non·independent clauses

We saw that the word group "before you do that" can occur as an idea
unit. (See example $ under the sub-heading "Importance of the con-
text" above) . Grammatically speaking, this is a non-independent
clause - more commonly known as a 'dependent clause' or a 'subor-
dinate clause'.
So you see, like an independent clause, a non-independent clause can
also occur as an idea unit - if it is short enough for you to utter it as
a single unit. Here are the various types of non-independent clauses
you'll come across in speech:

(a ) Subordinate clauses
• Subordinate clauses starting with a 'subordinator' like after, as if,
because, before, if, so and chough.
Eg: • They arrived + afrer you had left. • He spoke to me + as if I had done
something wrong. • He bought it + because it's so cheap. • They'll come
+ if you invite them. • Discuss it with him + so he can give you some
tips. • He hadn'c left the office + chough it was past 7.
• Subordinate clauses starting with a wh-word like when, whenever,
wherever, etc.
28

Eg: • She was out + whtn you phoned. • 1 always visit chem + whtn~r I'm
in Bombay. • The poli«! wiU find him + whcre""r he is. • You won't be
disappointed + which<>U you choose.

(b) to-infinitive clauses

£g: • They're planning to do everything possible + to cut cosu. • Why don't
you ask him + to come 1·omorrow? • He look it home + to show it to his
wife. • You should tell him + to stop doing that.

(c) -ing participle clauses

Eg: • I waved to that man + thinking that he was Hamid. • We sat there for
some 1nore time + talking about this and that. • I don't wane to go to
them + asking for help.

(d ) -en participle clauses

Eg: Taktn by surprise + he couldn't answer their questions.
NOTE: Clauses like these are rare in speech.

(e) Ver bless clauses

Eg: While in Bombay + he used to take some in\ erest in soda! activities.
Now remember chis: Among clausal idea units ( • idea units that arc
clauses), independent clauses occur far more frequently as idea units
than non·independent clauses. Yes, far more frequently. And among
non-independent clauses, those introduced by subordinators [(a)
above) are more common than the other types. Jn fact, the last two
categories of non ·independent clauses (·en participle clauses, and
Verblcss clauses) are not common at all.
We'll be learning about all the types or non-independent clauses later.

No complicated grammatical stuff

Before we go ahead, let me ask you something: Do these grammatical
terms scare you? Don't start thinking that fluency work requires you
to leam a lot of complicated grammatical stuff by heart. It doesn't.
And so don't worry. (Just treat these grammatical terms as names -
names for rhings). Just as I told you while we were dealing with
phrases, understand this: In order to speak English Ouently, you don't
have to leam to describe the various cypes of clauses to anyone. No.
And you don't have to be able to look at a word group and say chat
it's such and such a type of clause. No. You don't have to team to
label clauses by their names. All that is needed is this: You should
have a feel for what a clause is - whatever its name.
In the various Lessons in this course, you'll be getting collections of
 29

various types of clauses that are usual in spoken English. Train your·
self with them as the Lessons tell you. And you'll soon develop the
kind of feel that's needed.

3. Incomplete clauses and incomplete phrases

Under the sub-heads 'Phrases' and 'Clauses' above, we saw clausal
idea units and phrasal idea units that are whole ones - clauses and
phrases that are complece in themselves. But in spontaneous speech,
you'll find one more class of idea units. They're incomplete clauses
and phrases: Clauses and phrases chat are partly uttered and then
discarded, left unfinished . Yes, fragmentary clauses and fragmentary
phrases. They're as important for spontaneous speech composition as
whole clauses and whole phrases. We've already looked at a few
unfinished word groups that can occur as idea units. Here they are:
• I don't believe a \vord of \'/hat... • I never thought the bill would come
And for a long ...
10 ... •
Now here are a few spoken texts. They contain other examples of
incomplete word groups occurring as idea units:
Eg: • He's a very... + You k.no\v + He's al\vays annoyed about something +
or other + And so he's very difficult to be w ich. • You'll have to ... + You
shouldn't give up + though it's a bit difficult + And you should keep
trying to do it. • He came and told me all about it + And he was very...
+ And he showed how much he enjoyed it + And he was very exciced +
I could tell that + by the way he ... + you know + he described it 10 me
in great detail + and with a lot of enthusiasm.

4. 'Whole plus' clauses and phrases

A 'whole plus' clause = A 'whole' clause + one or rwo extra words
(The extra words are not grammatically part of the whole clause).
A 'whole plus' phrase = A 'whole' phrase + one or rwo extra words
(The extra words are not grammatically part of the whole phrase).
So you see, a 'whole plus' clause is a l '/• clause, and.a 'whole plus'
phrase is a l 'I• phrase. A few examples would make the nature of
'whole plus' clauses and phrases clear:

' Whole plus' clauses

(i) " Independent clause and Extra word(s) + "
In the examples that follow, you'll find the extra words (that convens
'whole' clauses into 'whole plus' clause.s ) given in italics.
30

• (lie handled the situation + wi1h a great deal of courage) - He

handled the situation with + a g"'a' deal or courage. • (He has a good
chance + or getting tha1 job) - He has a good chance of+ getting 1ha1
job. • (I can do it + with the help or those people) - · I can do it with the
+ help of those people. • (I didn't want him + 10 do all those things) -
I didn't wane him to + do all those things. • (He smiled II me + and
+
said something) - He smiled at me and said something. • (Handle it
properly + or ii can be dangerous) - Handle ii properly or + it can be
dangerous. • (I like him + but I don't wane 10 work with him) - I like
him but + r don't want to work \vith him.
In these examples, the 'whole plus clauses' are the following:
'He hondled 1he situation with', 'He has a good chance or, 'I can do it
whh the', 'f didn't want him to', 'He smiled at n1e and', 'Handle h
properly or', 'I like him but'.

(il) "Extra word(s) and Comment clause +"

Comment clauses are pre-fabricated or ready-to-use expressions like 'I
believe', 'you know', etc. They're o~en used as fillers in spomaneous
speech. Commem clauses become 'whole plus' clauses when they're
used medially ( = in the middle of an independent clause, rather than
at the beginning or the end).
In the examples that follow, the extra words occur immediately ~fore
comment clauses. The pan that are not in italics before the'+' sign is
a comment clause. The words in italics are the extra words.
• That man I believe + is a doclor. • This I think + is that girl's idea. •
This plan I'm afraid + isn't going to work. • That waJn't you know +
wha1 they had expected. • They wtre you sec + trying 10 help us. • He is
If you osk me + very rude. • Ht isn'1 if I may be frank + experienced
enough 10 get 1ha1 job. • That was if I may be blunt + a very foolish
thing ro do. • They have since you want to know + decided to cancel
your ~ontract. • You shouldn't havt if 1 may say so + refused rhat offer.
You'll be learning more about comment clauses later in this course.
Let me point out one thing here: 'Whole plus clauses' occur quite
frequently as idea units in spontaneous speech. So whenever they
occur to you naturally, don't try to avoid them.

' Whole plus• phrases

You see, idea units happen to take the shape of 'whole plus' phrases
when the speaker adds an optional phrase in the middle of an inde-
pendent clause - rather than at the beginning or at the end.
The following examples would make this point clear. In these ex-
amples, you'll find the extra words added at the beginning of the
optional phrases given in italics.
 31

• He had for twenty years + worked for that company. • She hadn't
before her marri~ge + seen him at all. • She had by the.n + left the
building. • He could with the help or those people +complete the work
in lime. • He occasionally + g~s and mttts them. • He doesn•r usually
+ criticize ainybody's work. • I wa& frankly + a bil worried. • He's
obviously + in love with htr. • The whole campaign was in shon + a
disasler. • They wtrt o( course + a bit disappointed. • He wasn"t strictly
speaking + guilty. • He~ a(ter all + their boss. • Their /0$$ -.. in
comparison + quite small
Here are some examples containing vocatives used medially. (A voca-
tive is a word like 'madam' that you use when you're speaking to
someone or when you want to attract their a11ention).
• That u madam + a '~IY good idea. • Wtll you Mr. Saxena + be
standing again in 1ht nt:Xt election? • You mwrn'r Dad + be so nasty to
them. • That wasn't professor + what I meant. ; Ltt's Grandma + sit
here and talk. • Thar you stupid idiOt + bn't what you should do.

Why can't we speak in 'sentences'?

What we've seen so far can be summed up like this: If your speech is
to be fluent, you'll have to learn to speak by stringing 'idea units'
together. Very roughly, about 50% or these idea units would gram-
matically be the same as wri11en English sentences. And m ost or these
are simple sentences ( • independent clauses). The remaining 50% of
idea units won't be sentences. They'd only be phrases, non-indepen-
dent clauses and incomplete clauses and phrases - that is, units chat
are lower in rank than a sentence, and the fragments of those units.
Now why aren't we able to speak spontaneously by stringing sen-
tences or the written English kind alone? Why do we have to use a lot
of 'non-sentence' idea units, too? Why?
The chief reason is this: Spontaneous speech is produced under con-
ditions that are quite different from conditions in which a piece of
writing is planned and produced. And speech is generally processed
by hearers who hear it under conditions that are quite different from
conditions in which a piece of writing is read and understood.
When we speak spontaneously, we compose our speech as we go on
speaking. That is, we give shape to our speech at the same time as we
speak. So when we speak spontaneously, we only have a very limited
time to construct what we say. And that limited amount or time we
have is nor surlicient to plan and construct sentences or the written
English type, and to put them together into a 'text'. We need much
more time to do a thing like that. And so, when we speak spontane-
ously, we won't be able to speak by conslIUcting and stringing sen-
32

tences of the written English kind. While speaking spontaneously,

we'll only be able to say what we want to say chunk by chunk - bite-
sized chunks, each chunk containing a few closely related words and
carrying one unit of information. These chunks may or may not hap-
pen to be sentences. In fact, many won't be sentences at all, but just
sentence-fragments and phrases.

Just a little at a time, and not a mouthful

Remember this: Unlike writing, speech is produced orally. This means
that each group of words that you utter at a rime will have ro be short
enough, so that it's length is manageable for you to utter as a single
unit. That is, it should not be a mouthful - or so complicated or long
that it is difficult to say as a single unit. ·
You see, normally, our organs of speech will have no difficulty in
uttering chunks containing 5 or 6 words on an average - if these
words are short and simple, and are closely related grammaticaily
and lexically. But if the chunks contain more than 9 words each, the
organs of speech will find it difficult to produce them without falter-·
ing - even if the words are short and simple.
But listen: This does not mean that all your chunks must contain as
many as 5 or 6 words. No. The length of the chunks keeps varying
from 1 to 9 words. Of course, chunks with a single word are not very
frequent. And chunks with as many as 9 words or more are not fre-
quent, either. In fact, on an average, a native English speaker's chunks
tend to contain only 5 or 6 words, and not more. Yes, on an average.
Most of the chunks contain around 5 words. Many chunks contain
less than 5 words. And some chunks contain more than 5 short words
(but less than 10 words). Normally, only about 20% of the chunks
would contain more than 7 words. And here's something you should
note: For uttering a standard chunk with 5 to 6 words, a nuent En-
glish speaker takes about 2 seconds.
Fluent speakers produce a series of these chunks or segments con-
tinuously, one after another. Connectors like and, but, or, then and so
help them move smoothly from one segment to the next or from a
group of segments to the next. In this way, nuent speakers produce a
series of speech-segments as a stream.
Here's an example of a series of speech-segments lined up end to end:
She's had two job offers + and she can't decide + which one to accept +
because both the companies + you know + both offer a generous salary
+ and the working conditions are good + at both places + and she'll
have to giv~ a reply + by this Saturday + and her father says + her
career prospects would be beuer + in the first company + but her
 33

friends say + thar's nor so + and they want her to join the second
company + though she'll have to be miles away + from home + if she
joins the second compan}' + but her mother wanes her + ro reject both
the offers + because ...
So an idea unit is nothing but a bite-sized speech-segment: A shott
group of words that is unered as a single unit. And each unit usually
carries one srrand or unit of information.

Strands of information
Now, what exactly is a strand of information? This is something that
is difficult to define or state in precise terms. But I can give you a
general idea. You see, a strand of information is a one-component
thought, .a one-component idea that the speaker has in mind - a
thought or idea that only has a single component or a single ingredi·
cnt. Thus, if a thought or idea has more than one component part,
each component pan can be treated as a separate unit of informarion.
In practical terms, a strand of information is nothing but what the
speaker himself chooses to present as one thin piece of information to
his addressee. That is, the speaker has the freedom to decide how
much of a thought or idea he must present as a single unit of infor·
mation. Of course, he'll have to limit the content of the information to
5 or 6 words on an average - or he'll find it difficult to utter the unit
as a single chunk.
For example, take this word group:
They had a country home in that village.
You can see that the information contained in this word group has
two informative components: (i) 'They had a country home'; and (ii)
'The country home was in that village'. If the speaker chooses to treat
the whole information as a thought with two component parts, he'll
utter it as two idea units:
They had a country home + and it was in that village
But if the speaker chooses to treat the whole information as a thought
with only one component, he'll utter it as a single idea unit:
They had a country home in that village.
Here are a few more examples:
• The explanation he gave was not satisfactory. ( • He gave an explana-
tion + and it \vas not satisfactory). • A man carrying a brief case left
1hat house. ( = A man left lha( house + and he \Yas carrying a brief
case). • He gave her some nowcrs done up in tissue paper. (; He gave
her some f1o\vers + and it had been done up in tissue paper).
• He cricicized her harshly and upse( her. ( = He criticized her harshly +
34

and he upset her). • lie opened the door and went out.( • He opened
the door+ and ht wcnl out) . • You can show it co her or her husband.
( • You can show i1 to her + or you can show it to her husband). • He
was very happy and In high spirirs. ( • He was very happy + and he was
in high spirits).
• I like him though he's o bit rude. ( • I like him + though he's a bit
rude). • I'll speak to you after I get bock. ( • I'll speak to you + after I
get back). • I gove u to her tittause I hke her. ( = I gave it to her +
beca'"" I like her). • lie spoke to me before he left. ( = He spoke to me
+ before he left). • You can have it if you want h. ( • You can have ir +
if you want it). • I saw ham v.1ten he came in. ( = I saw him + when he
came 1n). • I'll ask him 1fter the meeung. ( • 111 ask him + aker the
meeting).
• Both of them had come from far away. ( • Both of them had come +
from far away). • He showed 11 to us during the interval. ( = He showed
it to us + during the Interval).

Length and shape of Idea units

By now, you must have noticed that the length of an idea unit is an
imponant factor. You see, if you speak continuously for a long time
(say, for an hour), almost 80% of the idea units that you uner is likely
to be I to 7 words long - and the most common lengths would rend
to be Sor 6 words. As I've already told you, idea units of more than 9
words are nor very common.
Obviously, by their very nature, the lengths of idea units tend co vary
considerably with in these rnnges. This is because the speaker has to
adjust their lengths depend ing on the communicative convenience
and need s of himself and his hearers. So this is what you must under-
stand fro m all this: The speaker o nly says at n rime what is possible
for him to say as a single unit, and he says it in a shape that is possible
for him to give at that moment. That is, the speaker has the freedo m
to decide what information, and how much of it, is to be presented to
the addressee through an idea unit.

Points for dividing speech

By now, we've leamt one thing: English speech does not come out of
the speaker's mouth word by word or as a continuous stream or at a
non-stop or uniform rate. It comes out as shon chunks or shon
stretches of language. Each chunk or stretch is what we call an idea
unit. And each idea unit highlights one piece of information. Now a
question naturally arises 1n your mind. What are the points at which a
stream of speech can be split up into idea units?
 35

Boundary of a 'whole' grammatical unit

In connected speech, the boundary of a 'whole' clause and the bound·
ary of a 'whole' phrase arc grammatical junctions.
A grammatical junction mark> the tt1d of one clause or phrase and the
begmrring or the nc.i rlau~c or phra<c. This means ihat gramma1ical
Junc1ions are ideal po1ms for sphuing up a siream of speech into idea
uniis. This is 1he general principle you should follow for splitting
up a long uiterance into idea units. In fact, idea units that native
speakers or English produce do generally •end to form their bound·
aries a1 gramma11cal junctions.
Here are the grammatical junctions of various typCS. The examples
would give you a dear idea. In these examples, you·u find the idea
unit marker'+' at grammatical junctions.

(a) Th e junction be tween two clauses

Eg: • ThC:)• ,,·ert \tty 11rcd + and he ask~ 1hem 10 rest for a 'vhilc. • He
must be very busy + or he "·ould h3\'e come. • You can cell him + bu1 1
don'1 kno'"' how he"s going to react. • If you don't \VOtk harder+ you
\von't be able to go 10 uni"ersuy. • I te decided co resign + though C\'Cty·
body \V3.S ag:11ns1 11. • JJc ahvays .s.ays exaclly \vhat he 1hinks + even if
tha1 m11y offend 01her people. • lie said+ he was leaving. • She , ...as
very happy + 1h:u chcy ca1ne. • She asked me + to go and meet Sekhar.
• I had an awful job + P"rsuading him 10 come.

(b ) The junction between a claus e a nd a phrase

Eg: • There \Vas a bil of a confusion + over their hotel reservations. • lie
took a firnl gras1, ,. on the rope. • I found the sug.gestions + very help-
ful. • Could you gci me + • gln<s of wnicr? • I know bo1h of 1hem +
perfectly well. • That'> the way he behaves+ all 1he time. • The con·
tractors con1plc1cd the \vork + Inst 1nonth.

(c) The junction between the Subject a nd the Predi-

cate (within a claus e)
You sec, the Predicate is 1he p.1rt of a clause that follows the Subject
element. (An independent clause w Subject + Predicate).
Eg: • People like ham +can't be 1rus1ed. • The finance committee+ has
made some recomn1cndationJ. • She and her sister + hate house\vork. •
l-ler fa1hcr + as a doctor.

(d ) Th e j ancti on between two phras es

Ex: • An old building + on o bad s1a1c or repair. • A lively little girl + very
chttrful + ond plca1'!n• • V•ry friendly + and •asy 10 talk to. • At 4 o'
clock t- ncJi..t \londJ\ t at tht Ch.t'ltrman's office.
36

(e) The j u nction between a ' phras e ' and a claus e

Eg: • After the meeting + they \vent out for lunch. • for a fe,v days + I'll be
out of 10\Vn. • The w·hoJe day + they ,..,ere here. • Next month + our
sales \viii be going up. • George Thomas + That's his name. • Obviously
+ he does n't \vant to be interrupted. • Curiously e nough + he ..vasn'1 a1
the party.

Boundary of an 'incomplete' grammatical unit

The point at which speakers give up a fragmentary grammatical unit
and start uttering another idea unit - that point is a suitable point
fo r splitting up a stream of speech. Here are some examples:
• I don't kno'v what your... + If you \va nr to tell me something + stop
be.a ting about rhe bush. • I 1hink he \Yanrs 10... + ls he planning to join
the artny? • Ask them if.. . + Do they have enough supplies of food + for
a week? • They all thought she ... + I knew she would get the job.

Boundary of a 'whole plus' grammatical unit

We've already looked at 'whole plus' clauses and 'whole plus' phrases
in some detail. Here are some examples that'll show you the bound·
aries of idea units belonging to this category:
• He handled the situation with + a great deal of coutage. • Thar man I
believe + is a doctor. • He had ror (\\•en1y years + \VOrked for tha1
company. • Will you Mr. Saxena + be standing again in the next
e lec1ion?
For more examples, go back to the d iscussion under the heading "4.
'Whole plus' clauses a nd phrases" a few pages back.

Other spots
Here's an important thing you should note: There are n o rigid rules
that say that you can only split up a stream of speech at grammatical
junctions or at boundaries of 'whole' clauses and 'whole' phrases - or
at the boundaries of fragmentary grammatical units. No. There are no
such rigid rules.
This is an important thing to understand. And once you're clear about
it in your mind, you'll realize that you have a lot of freedom in mark·
ing off one idea unit from the next. And once you understand this
clearly, your speech·production·strcss would instantly get relieved to
a great extent.
In fact, when you speak spontaneously (that is, without any prior
planning or preparation), your idea units can form their boundaries.
 37
at vinually any point. Yes, even at points that are nor boundaries of
'whole' clauses and phrases or of 'incomplete' or 'non·whole' clauses
and phrases. Your idea units can form their boundaries at vinually
any ocher point - at any other point you choose ac:cording to your
communicative convenience.

Guidelines for dividing speech Into Idea units

'
By now, we've seen a few general principles of speech composition.
Based on those general principles, here's a set of guidelines. These
guidelines will help you split up a stream of speech into idea units.

Gu id eline 1: Sh ort clauses: Undivide d

Utter a short independent clause ( = simple sentence) as a single idea
unit. A shon idea unit is one that contains nor more than 9 simple
and shon words. Usually, a shon independent clause contains S to 6
words on an average.
IMPORTANT: Here's a tip : You'll find it easy to utter a shon
clause as a single idea unit if you use as the Subject element a
pronoun (I, He, She, Ir, You, We or They) or a simple noun -
rather than a noun phrase containing 2 or more words.
Eg: • They've gone. • E"erybody has come. • He'll help you. • The meeting .
began at J1. • V.'e~ve met before. • His \YOrk has improved. • She made
a cake. • He's won the election. • He loves classical music. • I admire
her courage. • Nothing satisfies our boss. • She can't keep a secret. •
He's applied For several jobs. • He's aiming at a promotion. • She called
him a liar. • They've chosen him captain. • We elected him (as) our
President. • She served our Food hot. • He dyed his hair brown.

Guideline 2: Short clauses: Divide d

Even if a clause is short, you arc free to split it into more than one
idea unit, if you want to highlight a particular element.
Eg: • He used a box + as a stool. • He was lying + on his bed. • That book
+ iJ mine. • My back + is aching. • The lights + have become dim. •
The surface + felt smooth. • Your coffee + has turned cold. • The fire +
was burning low.

Guideline 3: Long clauses: Subject (Svroe~r ~'Pll.EJ>lCATE)

Split up a long independent dause (or one with a complex Subject
element), into its Subject and Predicate, and utter the two as separate
idea units. As I've already told you, the Predicate is the part of a
dausc that follows the Subject element.
I
38

(a) Subject element: A short noun phrase

Eg: • America + \Viii have a ne'v government soon. • Arrogance + \Vill get
you nov.1here. • Corruption + seen1s to be on the increase. • The 'veekly
1nee,ing + will be ,._.hen rhe boss gers back. • That blue bag + is l000
rupees. • All <:hildrcn + like runny s1ories. • The girl \\•ho just left + is
his secretary. • Some po,..,erful and influential people + have agreed 10
back che scheme. • People like him + are inlpossible 10 deal \Vith.

(b) Subject element: A long noun phrase

If the Subject element itself is long, divide it up imo two (or more)
idea units. (Sec the rip given under Guideline I}.
Eg: • Cheap + and inferior products + 'von't give you value f'or money. •
Her cider brother +and my next·door neighbour + were standing out·
side the gate. • People he \Vas living with + in Delhi + \Vere from En·
gland. • The thing I like + abour his style + is irs simpliciry.

Guideline 4: Long clauses: Predicate

As I've already told you, the Predicate is the part of the clause that
follows the Subject e lement. You know, sometimes, the Predicate may
happen to be long or its elements may happen to be complex. When
that happens, divide up the Predicate into more than one idea unit.
Eg: • [lie] (takes a lot or imercs1 + in everything we do]. • [She] [did the
job + with a great deal or enthusiasm]. • (All this) (shows + a lack of
experience of life) . • (He) (tries 10 impress+ people \vho arc listening
+by exaggerating 1hings] . • IHe] [1hough1 + t hm ii was an easy job]. •
fThe spot over there) + [is \vhere the ne\v building is going to come
up). • (The tourist season] + [is \Vhen their '>ales usually go up].
NOTE l: In each example, 1he first pair of brackets encloses the Subject
clcn1enl. The follo\ving pa ir of brackets encloses the Predicate.
NOTE 2: For 1he lime being. if you feel like pausing before a full stop,
pause only \.,.here }'Ou sec 1he ·+ ·sign (= the gran1n1a1ical junction
n1arkcr). 'v\'e'U be learning in detail about ·pauses· later.

Guideline 5: 'Fron ted' elements

Sometimes you'll find it easier to speak if you can arrange the ele-
mems in a clause in a different order than usual. You can do this, by
placing a later-occurring element before all other elements - even
before the Subject. This process is known as 'fronting'. If you from an
elcn1cnc in lhis ~vay1 you can urter the fronted e len1cnt as a separate
idea unit.

{a) Fronted Object (Direct Object)

Eg: • Some of the branches + She had to cut off. • Both the exams + He's
 39

passed. • A firecracker or something + He exploded during the meeting.

• Her hair + She tied '"ith a ribbon. • The dishes + \i\'e'll have to wash
and dry now. • Complicated methods + Let's avoid. • Traffic regulations
+ Many people occasionally break. • The \vay mothers take care of their
babie.s + You should watch. • A doll + He gave her for her birthday. •
One more question + I would like to ask you.
• How much they had to pay +They haven't told me yet. • Which of the
t\vo offers is better + You have to decide. • What they \Vant + I don't
kno,v. • Wherher they'll agree + I doubt. • Sitting at home doing
nothing + 1 can't imagine. • Working with 1hose people + I enjoyed very
much. • Waiting for half an hour or so + I don't mind. • Gossiping +
She hates. • Being criricized + She can't stand.

(b) Fronted Complement

Eg: • About five feet tall + She was. • Sweet + Those flowers smelt. • Very
heavy+ That box felt. • Guilty +The judge found him. • Veiy calm +
She \va.s. • Very strange + Her voice sounded. • Rather biuer + Thal cea
tasted. • Veiy odd + Eveiybody found what happened.
• Her cousins + They are. • An expen + He's become. • A nice girl +
She found him. • A good idea + It sounded. • Chairman + They elected
him. • Clean and tidy + You shou1d keep the room. • That man + 1can't
trust. • Wry serious + The whole situation \Vas.

Guideline 6: Co-ordination: Clauses

If you use the link-words 'and', 'or', or 'but' and connect two (or more)
independent clauses, you can treat the word group up to ·and', 'or', or
'bur' as one chunk, and the remaining portion (including ·and; 'or' or
'bur) as another chunk.
Eg: • 1 met hini there + and he came with me. • 1 like novels + but he likes
plays. • He may not be there + or she \VOuld have seen him.

'and'
• He saw smoke + and he raised an alarm. • She did well at che
intervie\'1 + and she got the job. • Sales have improved + and we'JI be
able to make some profit this year. • He opened the door + and (then)
he flicked a light-switch on. • Life is splendid + and we're quite happy
here. • He's a bit reserved + and she's very outgoing. • He \VOrks hard
+ and {yet) they're 001 sarisfied. • Give him so1ne money + and (then)
he'll do it for you. • Let him apologize to her + and she'll forgive him.

'or'
• V\'e can go for a film .+- or \Ve can go to the museum. • You have to do
a lot or learning yourself + or you can't be a good teacher. • He must
have killed her + or he knows who killed her. • That must be an old car
40

+ or thal's not In good condition. • You ean call him bac.k +or you can
leave a message. • You must~ very carerul + or you'll make mi.stakes.
• tie doesn't like 1his job + or that's wha1 he said.

'but '
• She saw him + but she didn't smile at him. • He panicked + but she
remained calm. • Our income hasn't inc:reased much + but our expenses
ha,.., gone up considerably. • I am all for this campaign + but I'm
against the way it's being planned. • I'll wai1 for you + but you should
hurry up. • I an uplain it to them + but I don't know if they'll
understand me correctly.

Gu id eline 7: Co-ordination : Pre dicates

If you use ·and', 'or; or 'bur' and connect two (or more) Predicates
together, you can treat the word group up to 'and', ·or', or 'but' as one
chunk, and the remaining portion (including 'and', 'or' or 'bur') as
another chunk.
Eg: • [He) [picked up a novel) + [and sraned reading). • (He) (wantS it) +
(but hasn't 1old me yet) . • [Wei lean go for a film) + [or visit some
friends).

Guidelin e 8 : Su bordination: Clauses

Suppose that you use a subordinator and connect two independent
clauses 1ogc1hcr. Then one independent clause becomes the main
clause and the other independent clause becomes a subordinate
clause. Herc arc t he simple subordinmors t hat speakers normally use
in spontaneous speech for making t his son of connection:
after, although, os, because, before, ho,vcver, if, once, since, thal,
lhough, tilVuntll, unless. \vhen , whcr~. \Vhile, as fur as, as/so long as, as
soon as, as if/as though, ijus1) in case, rather 1han, so, so that.
You can uuer the combination of the 1wo clauses as a single idea unit
- if the combination is shore enough (that is, if it doesn't contain
more than 9 simple and short words) .
Eg: • He left after l had come. • They came because you called 1hem. • Ask
her if she saw him. • He was sure (1hat) you would.
Of course, even if the combination of the two clauses is not long,
you're free to utter the two clauses separately as two idea units, if you
want to highlight a particular element in each of the clauses - or if
that is what you find convenient to do.
Eg: • He left • after I had come. • They came + because you called them. •
Ask her + if she saw him. • He was sure + (that) you would.
But suppose that the combination of the rwo clauses contains more
than 9 words. Then you must divide up the combination and treat the
 41

ma in clause and the subordinate clause as separate idea units. Nor·

mally, in speech. the main clause comes first, and the subordinate
clause comes next. Here you can make the division immediately be·
fore the subordinator.
Eg: • He lef1 the place + after John and the others had come. • Their house
is qui1c large and has plenty of space + although it's a bit old. • They
looked surprised + as she started speaking in nuenr French. • He be·
haved in a s1range \vay +as if he didn't rrust us. • They came all the
'vay from lhere + because you "'anted to see them. • You can do it +
ho\vever you \\•ant. • lie \Vanted to ask her + if she sa"' him an)'\vhere
there. • Take a copy of that rcpon \vith you + in case he asks for it. •
His attitude to,vards \vork changed + once he got his promotion. • They
decided to go by car + rather than 1aking a train. • They've never n1ade
a loss + since they started that business. • It is not seen here + so it
must be with my \Vife. • You must start early + so that you can avoid
rraffic jams. • f.lc \vas not very sure + 1hat your brother \VOuld come. •
He's very hard·\vorking + though he isn'c as competent as others. • I had
to wait + till he came out of his office. • We \Von't be able to do much in
this 1na11e1 + unless you co·opcrale \Vith us. • I hate ir + \Vhcn people
speak 10 me like rhat • J didn't kno\v + \\1here he had gone. • I can't sit
back and \Vatch + while they suffer Jike this. • He's still with that com·
pany + as far as I know. • There \von't be any disputes + as long as you
keep 10 the agreement. • I fell asleep + as soon as I \vent to bed.
But sometimes you may choose to speak by reversing the order of
binding the two clauses. You may then utter the subordinate clause
first, and the main clause next. Even here, you can treat the clauses
as separate idea units. Here the point of division is at the boundary of
the subordinate clause:
Eg: • After I had come + nobody left the place. • Because you called 1hem +
1hey came. • lf you \Vant it + you can have it.

Guideline 9: Scene-setting adverbials

You can uner scene-setting adverbials as separate idea units.
NOTE: Adverbials arc vocabulary iten1s tha1 express circumstantial informa ·
tion such as the position of someone or somerhing, lhe direction of 1heir
moven1enl, the manner in \\•hich something happened or \\•as done, etc.
SinglC·\VOrd adverbials arc often adverbs, and sometimes nouns. Multi·
'vord ~1d ve rbials are usually prepositional phrases.
Eg: • For several years + she's been suffering from a disease of the liver. •
On ~'1onday + there'll be another n1ecting. • For an hour + he studied
hard. • From 4 to 6 + \Ve waited for them. • For nvo months + he'll be
a\vay. • 1\vicc a day + you must take 1hese tablets. • Once a month +
he goes lhcre. • That evening + rhcy had a quarrel. • The whole day +
he lay on the sofa. • Till 10 + the rain has been pouring down. • During
rhe meeting + he remained s ilent. • Last week + several " 'Orkers re·
42

poned .sick. • On Friday next + she's getting married. • A week ago +

1hcy cul orr our clecirichy supply. • All 1he year round + 1hey ge1 ple n1y
of wa1er for their crops. • Every day+ •hey s1ar1 work a1 9. • Generally
+ he doesn'c make mlstake.s like this. • Originally + thi.s was not what
we had planned to do. • Daily + he leaves a1 dawn. • Suddenly + her
face bccam• very sad. • All of a sudden + sh• gor up and left 1he room.
• Thi$ paSI y<ar + 1heir company didn'1 make much profil.

Guideline 10: Attitude-dis closing adverbials

You can treat attitude-disclosing adverbials, and field-marking
adverbials placed initially (or finally) as separate idea units, espe-
cially when the adverbials are polysyllabic adverbs.

Polysyllabic adverbs
Eg: • Aaually + I\.., juSI had my lunch. • Admiuedly + rhey were against
th e proposal. • Apparendy + he didn'1 hke 1he idea. • Basically + he's
agains1 political ideologies hke 1hos•. • Bri<Ry + that's all 111 be abl• to
do. • Cenainly + thi.s is a very imponan1 even1 in his life.
• Clearly + his work isn't good. • Cleverly + she avoided all 1hose
difficultios. • Confld•n1ially + 1hey're no1 sa1isfied with her work. •
Definilely + he doserves some reward. • Essen1ially + you should have a
c1.,ar id•a of 1h• proeeduro you should follow. • Evidendy + he isn'1
in lCrtSled. • Foolishly + w• decided 10 change t he plans. • Frankly + I
didn't like it. • f"und3mcn11illy + our legal system is quite sound. •
Honestly + 1ha l music affoc1ed me deeply.
• Ideally + we should ask 1he opinion or each one or 1hem. • Maybe +
he doesn'l wan• 10 do 1he job you've given him. • Naturally + 1hey
couldn'l believe what they heard. • Obviously + she's ha ving a fin e time.
• Orricially + 1he news hasn'l been confirmed. • Plainly + 1hey don't
want to give you o friendly welcome. • Perhaps + chis is the best time co
sort ou• the dispute.
• Personally + I like II very much. • Possibly + m any of lhe passengers
arc badly hurt • Privalcly + I d ldn'1 like ir. • Probably + her fee1 were
wet • Really + you s hould consider yourself lucky. • Rightly + 1hey
decided 10 call off the strike. • Seriously • 1his job needs a lo• of skill
and knowledge. • Curiously (•nough) + he wasn'1 disappoimed at all. •
Funnily (enough) + I ron inm 1ha1 man again in rhe stre<t. • Oddly
(enough) + 1h• bag was emp1y. • Sirangely (enough) + rhey haven'•
even sent a reply yet.
• Fortunately (for me) + I am on good 1erms wi1h them. • Hopefully +
they'll come to an agreemcn1 soon. • Luckily (for her fa1her) + that bus
was going to Pune. • ~1crc1fully + i1 was not a serious accident. •
Thankfully + 11 d1dn'1 rain 1ha1 day. • Unfonuna1<ly (for 1hem) + rhere
· was a long period of dry woa1hor 1ha1 yoar.
• Even more important + we should pre\•ent the situation becoming
worse. • Most decidedly + 1here's someihing wrong. • MoSI likely +
 43

he'll be back in an hour. • .\lost unexi><a<dly + ccnain problems came

up. • Quite likely • she \'\'3S trying 10 B\'Oid him. • Very likely + he "'·as
afratd 10 1eU him abou1 it

Prepositional phrases
• A5 a roug.h estimate + it may cos1 a mtlhon. • From "'h~u I kno'"'
about him + he won't hesitate 10 betray hf.s (riends. • (n all fairness +
the)' tried their best to help us. • ln all frankness + I won•1 trust him for
a monlcnt. • In shore + that portrah \VM n fraud. • In pr..cticc + rules
hkc these are more often broken thon obeyed. • Jn theory + these things
mny appear possible. • On paper + that's our only task. • lie failed the
driving test once again + to his grcal disaJ>pohun1ent. • To my kno\'/I·
edge -t he's o very couneous man . • To n1y misfortune + that \Y3Sa
holiday. • To my regret + they refused my offer. • To everybody's
su11>risc + he got pro1no1ed \\'ithin a year. • With assistants like them +
you'll be able to get any job done easily. • Without some help from them
+ \-\IC \YOn't be able to complete che project 1n time. • \Vithout a bank
loan + '"' \\'On' t be able to buy a car.

to-infinitive clauses
• To be fair + he muSt get all the credit. • To be frank + I don't think
this dress suilS you at all. • To be honest + ,...c don't have enough money
for all this. • To judge from 'vhat he said + he stems 10 be an auchoriry
on this subject. • To be precise + this happened on the 1s• of July ( +
last year). • To put it frankly + I didn't expc<t him to beha'" like that.

· ing participle clauses

• Frnnkly speaking + I don't like people ploying jokes on others. •
Generally speaking +jobs like chesc take a Jong tifne 10 complete.
• Puuing il bluntly + you take yourself too seriously. • Puuing it
crudely + they don't care t\\'O hoots about a ll this. • Pu11ing il (rankly +
\VC don't want to charge chem for che damogc. • Pulling it mlldly + your
criticism \vas a bit too rnuch. • Roughly speaking + he dra\vs about Rs.
75.000.00 a month. • Speaking frankly+ neither of 1hem is correct. •
Spe:aking generally + ,,•e're not conscious of our Jhoncomings. •
Speaking peoonally + I feel some hcsilailon. • Speoking (purely) for
m)'self + I lik<d that film ,-ery much. • Stricdy spealong + he's a L1.
Colonel ( + and not a Colonel).

Guideli ne 11 : Clause-Felating adverbials

You can treat clause-relating adverbials (multiword phrases as well as
polysyllabic adverbs) as separate idea units.
Eg: • You can raise prices + (Or) Alternatively + you can cut coses. •
Their food is superb + And you get excellent service + Altogether +
That's a very good restaurant. • That house Is 100 big for us + Anyhow
+ we can't <'fford it. • We \"an•t be able to cornplctc it today + An.y way
44

+ there are rwo more days left. • He's very good at this sort of \vork +
Besides + his charges are very reasonable. • You must pay a small
advance + O t h e nvise + Lhcy may sell it to somebody else. • He's very
generous in giving help + And he has done a lot for us + Above all +
he has a kind hean. • You should rreat them \veil + After all + they're
here 10 help yot1. • (All) in all + it was an excellent idea. • Sometimes
he behaves very rudely + All the same + I like him. • He doesn't \vant
to get married + At any rate + not right no\v, • I don't think they
expected 10 \vin + At the same time + this defeat muSl be disap-
pointing. • They didn't ask you to do it + By the way + why d id you
do ir? • There are several reasons + First of all + he's new to this job.
• I don't think we should accept this offer+ For one thing + 1he price
they've quoted is roo high + (And) for another (thing) + their ser-
vice is very poor. • They haven't done a good job + For example/
instance + look al those ciles + They're out of alignment. • You must
gee as much inrormation on this as possible + For a start + why don't
you make a few phone calls? • He's an experienced engineer + and an
expen in this field + For all that + he couldn't find out what caused
the explosion + at the plant. • They've already hired 1wo buses + In
addition + they've asked us to provide t\VO or rhree cars. • \Ille haven't
received a reply yet + In any case + the worst they can do is say 'no'.
• In the first place + he didn't have the necessary qualifications + In
the second place + he \V3S over-aged. • They're planning to simplify
the procedure + In the m eantime + \VC'll have to follow the present
system. • He's a District Collector + In other words + he's a civil
servant. • All these no\vers smell S\Veet + In particular + this flower
has a very pleasant smell. • You earn your living as a photographer + In
the same way + l earn my living as a journalist. • Vt.'e did everything
we could 10 persuade him co s1ay on + In spite of it all + he resigned
and left. • He trained hard for several mon1hs + In spite of that + he
couldn't reach his bes1 form. • You think he's for this proposal + In that
case + why did he speak against it at the meeting? • There a re a num·
ber of mistakes in that report + But of course + she had 10 rype it in a
hurry. • He didn't like 1he film + On the contrary + I found it quite
enjoyable. • On the one hand + he \vants to continue as a doctor +
But on the other hand + he \vants to practice as a la\vyer. • Their
attitude to\vards all this has changed + Similarly + they have softened
their position on several other government policies. • His car broke
do\vn on the way+ Therefore + he couldn't get there on t ime. • To
begin/start with + this idea may noc \-\'Ork in practice + And sec·
ondly + how are you going to find the funds?

Guideline 12: Vocatives

Vocatives are attention-drawing words and word groups. You can
treat them as separate chunks - if they arc uttered at che beginning.
Eg: • Sheela + give it to me. • Mr. Gupta + please conle here. • Excuse me
+ are these yours? • Look at that one + madam. • Sir + can l have a
 45

word \'lith you? • Whac's for dinner + mum? • Listen 10 this + kids. •
You fool + cha1•s not rhe way to do it. • That's all + ladies and gentle-
men. • Doctor + is it anything serious? • Don't do that + darling.

Embedding and lining up

There are two techniques that help you combine several strands of
ideas : 'Embedding' and 'Lining up'. But if you want to achieve flu·
ency in speech, 'embedding' is something you should avoid as much
as possible. And 'li ning up' is what you should go after.
'Embedding' happens (i) when you work one clause or phrase into
another phrase as an element within this phrase (the way an egg is
placed inside a ball of dough); or (ii) when you work one clause into
another clause as an element within the second clause (the way one
tube is forced inside another tube).
'Lining up' happens when you place one phrase or clause next to
another phrase or clause - end.to end (the way an egg is placed side
by side with a ball of dough or the way one tube is placed next to
another rube - end to end) .
Here's an example of embedding:
A tall girl {from an office [in that building (across the street)]} gave that
co him.
And here's an example of lining up:
A tall girl gave that to him. She's from an office + in that building + 1he
building across the street.
Here's another example of embedding:
Somebody \ ..•ho had come from the US where he \vas a computer
engineer told our bos.s something.
And here's an example of lining up:
Somebody told our boss something + That person had come from the US
+ and he was a computer engineer there.
Here's another example of embedding:
When \Ye had a huge mass or data 10 analyze. somebody cold our boss
something.
And here's an example of lining up:
We had a huge mass of data 10 analyze + and somebody told our boss
something.
You see, li ning up is the natural way in which strands of information
come out of their minds when fluent speakers speak spontaneously.
But wriring depends on embedding to a great extent, because it
serves a useful purpose in writing. Within limits, embedding helps the
46

\vriter to save words and space, and to save his reader from having to
spend much time and energy trying to separate essential points from
what is strictly unnecessary.
Take a look at this group of clauses:
..When \..,e had a huge mass of data co analyze. somebody who had come
from che US, ,.,,here he was a computer engineer, told our boss chat we
needed a computer to do the job, as i1 \Vas impossible to analyze a.II that
data by hand".
This is a written English sentence. Now, how many strands of infor-
mation are there in this sentence? At least six, and not just one:
(i) We had a huge mass of data co analyze; (ii) It was i1npossible co
analy<e all that data by hand; (iii) We needed a computer to do the job;
(iv) Somebody told this to our boss; (v) That person was somebody who
had come from rhe US; (vi) He \'/as a computer engineer in the US.
Acrually, you can see that some of the srrands can still be split up and
separated into thinner strands of information (as you'll see below),
depending on rlie speaker's communicative convenience.

Roundabout connectivity
You see, what the writer of the sentence has done is this: He has
connected together the individual strands of information in a round-
about way - through the process of embedding.
This is what he has done: He has worked the 3rd strand into the 4th,
chen he has worked the !st strand into this combination of the 3rd
and 4th strands, rhe11 he has worked the 6th strand into the Sth
strand, then he has worked this combination of the Sth and 6th
strands into the 4th, chen he has worked the 2nd strand into the 3rd,
chen he has worked this combination of 2nd and 3rd strands into the
combination of 3rd and 4th.
So you can see that he has passed the connecting threads across each
other in a criss-cross fashion, and has made up a single sentence. A
complex one.
In natural speech, embedding and roundabout connectivity do not
nom1ally happen - to this extent. No. Instead, fluent speakers line
up scrands of information end to end, and conncc1 one LO the next,
that co the next and so on, and move srraighr from one srrand co the
next, and keep the strands separate, yet connected. They don't bind
the strands cogcchcr, the \Vay several strands or cord arc l"\\'isccd to·
gether into a rope or the way several cards are bound together by
putting a rubber band around them.
 47

Straight connectivity
In natural speech, the things that come straight out of your mind
(and your mouth) would be simple idea units - each containing one
strand of information, and each sa id as one utterance. And they
would appear as a chain of railway coaches that are all connected
together end to end. So in natural speech, you'd say something like
this:
"We had a huge mass of data co analyze + And it \Yas impossible to
analyze all that data by hand + And somebody told our boss + \Ve
needed a computer to do the job + That was somebody \Vho had come
from the US + where he \vas a computer engineer".
Or something like this - by dividing up some of the longer idea units
into shorter ones:
"We had a huge mass of data to analyze + And i1 was impossible + 10
analyze all that data by hand + And somebody told our boss + we
needed a computer to do the job + Somebody who had come from the
US + and he was a computer engineer there...
Or something like this - by dividing up some of the longer idea units
into still shoner ones and by adding a few 'fillers' like you see, yo.u
knolv, I mean, and yes:
"We had a lot"of data + to analyze + A huge mass, actually+ And you
see + it was impossible + quite impossible you kno\v + to analyie all
that data + [ mean + by hand + And somebody rold ou.- boss + \,..e
needed a computer + yes + a computer+ ro do rhe job + And that man
+ you know + he had come from the US + and he was a computer
engineer there".
The point of all this is this: When you speak spontaneously, don't try
to do what you do when you write: Don't try and fuse two or more
strands of information together into a single unit. Let the strands
remain separace, but connected -- end co end.

Speak in idea units, and not in sentences

By now, you must be convinced about one thing: "Sentences" are not
part of natural spoken English. They're part of written English. Spo-
ken English is made up of idea units, instead. So don't even think of
speaking in sentences. Speak in idea units, instead.
And we saw one thing: You started learning English the wrong way-
that is, not in the narural way. You staned learning to WRITE firsr, and
not to speak And perhaps, for several years since you started learning
English, you haven't been living in a place where you could regu larly
listen to a lot of conversational English.
48

So, don't you see? Because of these reasons, your mind is immersed
in written English. And so, which way does your mind work? The
written-English-way, of course. And what's your automatic instinct,
when you want to speak English? It's to speak in the way you write.
To follow the written English style.
So whenever you want to speak in English, what do you do? You try
to express your ideas and feelings - not by speaking out idea units,
but by making up 'sentences'. By using t he wrong thing, written En-
glish, as your model.
When your mind is so set on making up written English sentences,
what happens? Your mind turns away from what you say... to how
you say it. You stop paying attention to the substance of your speech
a nd start concentrating on theform. Result? You lose crack of what to
say, you get lost a nd confused, and you find yourself at a loss for
speech.

The thing to do
The thing for you to do now is to read w hat I've said so far - not
once, but several times.
The aim should not be to learn anything by heart. No. The aim
should be to understand the principles. Yes, to understand them. Get
to know the "why"s - get to know the reasons behind the principles.
Then your progress would be faster. But don't get too worried over
the principles. You'll get to know them gradually - as you go through
the course. What is more important now is to read everything the
Lesson says. And to let your mind rema in with those things. Your
mind will then scan working, consciously and unconsciously, and
ultimately everything will sink in, and you'll understand them fully.
Actually, there's only one major point you should understand from
all that I've said so far. Only one major point: You should produce
speech, idea unit by idea unit - and nor word by word or sentence
by sentence. All else are matters of detail, and they're only meant to
make you understand this one major point.
Have you undersrood this one point thoroughly? Not just verbally,
but deeply - in your blood? If you have, you've crossed a major
barrier that stands between you and the fluency skill. And from now
on, this understanding itself will check your tendency to construct
complicated sentences orally. So pay all your attention to this one
major point.
That's all for this week. 'Bye for now.