Page 12 - New Grammar with a Smile 8

Transformation

2 of Sentences—I

Warm-up

Read the sentences below and pay special attention to the meaning
they convey.

• Your hair is longer than mine. Your hair is not as long as mine.

• My brother is taller than I am. I’m shorter than my brother.

• If only he had listened to me! He should have listened to me.

Did you find anything common in the sets of sentences that you read? Yes/No

What is the common factor?

Transformation of Sentences

When we talk of the transformation of sentences, what we mean is the changing of
the shape or type of a sentence without any change in its meaning. For example,

• Ramu is of average height.
• Ramu is neither tall nor short.

These two sentences convey the same idea, i.e., they have the same meaning. The
difference lies in the way they convey their content.

Let us now study the various ways in which sentences can be transformed. You will
realise that you have already come across some of them.

1. By changing individual words
Substituting nouns for verbs or adjectives, and vice versa, or adjective to
adverb and vice versa

You may recall that many nouns, particularly abstract nouns, are formed from
adjectives. Many are also formed from verbs. This gives us a place to start.

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