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English Grammar
Adjectives
An adjective is a word like clever, beautiful, green, hungry, brave, which is used when we describe
people, things, events etc. Adjectives are used in connection with nouns and pronouns.
Position of adjectives
Most adjectives can go in two main positions in a sentence:
a) before a noun (attributive position)
b) after be, seem, look and other copular verbs (predicative position)
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Adverbs
Adverbs are words like tomorrow, daily, badly, once and too. They tell us more about other words,
especially verbs.
The child smiled sweetly. (The adverb sweetly modifies the verb smiled.)
She walked slowly. (The adverb slowly modifies the verb walked.)
He talked politely. (The adverb politely modifies the verb talked.)
It was a very important question. (The adverb very modifies the adjective important.)
You are so sweet. (The adverb so modifies the adjective sweet.)
He walked very slowly. (The adverb very modifies the adverb slowly.)
She sang extremely well. (The adverb extremely modifies the adverb well.)
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Articles
The articles a/an (the indefinite article) and the (the definite article) belong to a group of words called
determiners. They normally go at the beginning of noun phrases.
Points to be noted
A singular countable noun normally has an article or other determiner (my, this, her, some etc.) with it.
We can say a dog, my dog, that dog or every dog, but not just dog.
Plural and uncountable nouns can be used with or without an article or other determiner.
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Auxiliary Verbs
An auxiliary verb is one which helps other verbs to make tenses, passive forms etc. There are two
groups - primary auxiliaries and modal auxiliaries.
Primary auxiliaries
Be, do, have and their various forms are called primary auxiliaries.
Be is used with other verbs to make progressive and passive verbs forms.
I am writing.
He was punished for lying.
She is writing.
I am working.
You have done wrong.
He did not come in time.
They have arrived.
Note that be, do and have can also function as principal verbs. They are called auxiliaries only when
they help other verbs to form their tenses and moods.
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Auxiliary Verbs
An auxiliary verb is one which helps other verbs to make tenses, passive forms etc. There are two
groups - primary auxiliaries and modal auxiliaries.
Modal auxiliaries
The verbs will, would, shall, should, can, could, may, might, must, ought, dare and need are
usually called modal auxiliaries. They are used with other verbs to express actions, events or
situations that exist only as conceptions of the mind - permissions, possibilities, certainty, ability,
wishes, obligations etc. They may also express simple futurity.
I can swim.
She will come.
I must go now.
Should I call them?
She might come.
I can swim.
She can swim. (NOT She cans )
I may pass.
He may pass.
They may pass.
3. Modal auxiliaries do not have infinitives (to may, to shall etc.) or participles (maying, shalling,
shalled etc.). You cannot say to shall, to must or to may.
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Conjunctions
Conjunctions are words that join other words or clauses together.
Conjunctions not only join clauses together; they also show how the meanings of the two clauses
are related.
A conjunction and its clause can sometimes stand alone. This happens, for example, in answers.
Phrase conjunctions
Some conjunctions are made up of two or more words.
In the above sentence who stands for the beggar hence it is a pronoun. It also connects the two
sentences I saw a beggar and He was deaf and dumb hence it is a conjunction.
A relative pronoun is the subject or object of the verb that comes after it. So we do not need another
subject or object.
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Trust no man who does not love his country. (NOT Trust no man who he does not )
The snake which we could not kill crept into a hole. (NOT The snake which we could not kill
it crept )
Degrees of Comparison
Filed in English Grammar
English adjectives and adverbs commonly distinguish three degrees: the positive (the basic form),
the comparative (expressing a higher degree than is present in something else) and the superlative
(expressing a maximal degree).
John is tall.
John is taller than Peter.
John is the tallest man I know.
Susie drives carefully.
Susie drives more carefully than Alice.
Susie drives the most carefully of anybody in Paris.
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Determiners
Determiners are words like a, my, this, those, each, either, some, few, all and both. They come at
the beginning of noun phrases, but they are not adjectives.
a new book
every week
some rice
enough trouble
my mother
English grammar recognises two main groups of determiners Group A and Group B.
Group A determiners
Articles, demonstratives and possessives are often called Group A determiners. They help to
identify things.
Articles - a, an, the
Demonstratives - this, that, these, those
Possessives - my, our, your, their, her, his, its, ones, whose
Two Group A determiners cannot be put together. We can say my car, this car or the car, but not
the my car, this my car or my this car.
If we have to put two Group A determiners together, we use the structure a/this + noun + of
mine/yours.
Group B Determiners
Most of them indicate something about quantity.
Examples are:
some, any, no
each, every, either, neither
much, many, more, most
a little, less, least
a few, fewer, fewest
all, both, half
what, whatever, which, whichever
one, two, three etc.
We can put two Group B determiners together, if the combination makes sense.
Group B + Group A
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Group B determiners can be used directly before nouns without of.
But if we want to put a Group B determiner before a noun with a Group A determiner, we have to use
of.
Compare:
some children
some of the children
neither method
neither of these methods
most plants
most of the plants
Points to be noted
We can leave out of after all, both and half when they are followed by nouns.
But note that we cannot leave out of when all, both and half are followed by pronouns.
No and every are not used before of; instead we use none and every one.
no children
none of the children
every child
every one of the children
Group A + Group B
Certain Group B determiners can be used after Group A determiners. They are: many, most, least,
little and few.
a little time
his many ideas
a few questions
the most money
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Common prepositions: usage
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-ing forms
When -ing forms are used like nouns, they are often called gerunds.
Grammar notes
Note that a gerund is used like a noun. But when there is a noun which has a similar meaning to an ing form, the noun is preferred.
We are waiting for his arrival. (NOT We are waiting for his arriving.)
But note that when an ing form is used with an article, it cannot usually have a direct object. Instead,
we can use an of-structure.
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In an informal style, it is more common to use object pronouns (like John, me, him, you) instead of
possessives (your, his, my, Johns) with ing forms.
Object forms are also preferred when the gerund is in the passive form or when the noun denotes a
lifeless thing.
Some verbs (e.g. see, hear, watch, feel) are normally followed by object + -ing form.
It as a preparatory subject
When the subject is a phrase that includes a gerund, 'it' is often used as a preparatory subject to
begin the sentence.
The structure is particularly common with any/no good, any/no use, worth etc.
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Subject complements
Some clauses consist of a subject, the verb be and an expression that either modifies the subject or
denotes something identical to the subject.
Jane is a journalist.
The children were very excited.
Susie is in the shower.
The expression that modifies the subject in clauses like these is often called a subject complement.
Subject complements can also follow other copular verbs like become, seem and look.
Object complement
An object complement is a phrase which follows a direct object and either modifies that object or
denotes something identical to it.
It is important to know what kinds of complements can come after a particular word. For example,
interested can be followed by in -ing or by an infinitive; want can be followed by an infinitive, but
suggest cannot; on the other hand suggest can be followed by a that-clause, but want cannot.
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Copular verbs
We use a special kind of verb to join two parts of a sentence and to express either that the two parts
denote the same thing or that the first has the property denoted by the second. These verbs are
called copulas or copular verbs. Common copular verbs are: be, seem, look, turn, become, appear,
sound, smell, taste, feel and get.
Alice is my girlfriend. (The sentence asserts that Alice and my girlfriend are the same
person.)
Alice is British. (The sentence asserts the quality of Britishness to Alice.)
She seems happy.
She became famous.
It is getting late.
The stew smells good.
She spoke intelligently. (Spoke is an ordinary verb. It is modified by the adverb intelligently.)
She looks intelligent. (Intelligent is an adjective in predicative position. It tells you about the
person herself rather like saying She is intelligent. Look is a copular verb.)
Note that some copular verbs are also used with other meanings as ordinary non-copular verbs. They
are then used with adverbs, not adjectives. Examples are: appear, look, taste and feel.
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a dog
two books
three girls
Uncountable nouns
Uncountable or mass nouns are the names of materials, liquids, abstract qualities, collections and
other things which we do not see as separate objects. Most uncountable nouns are singular with no
plurals. Examples are: wheat, sand, weather, water, wool, milk
We cannot use numbers with uncountable nouns. They are also not normally used with the article
a/an.
Here is a list of common words which are usually uncountable in English. Corresponding countable
expressions are given in brackets.
accommodation (countable - a place to live)
advice (a piece of advice)
baggage (a piece of baggage; a bag, a case)
bread (a piece of bread; a loaf; a roll)
chess (a game of chess)
chewing gum (a piece of chewing gum)
equipment (a piece of equipment; a tool)
furniture (a piece/article of furniture)
grass (a blade of grass)
information (a piece of information)
knowledge (a fact)
lightning (a flash of lightning)
luck (a bit/stroke of luck)
luggage (a piece of luggage; a bag)
money (a note; a coin; a sum)
news (a piece of news)
poetry (a poem)
thunder (a clap of thunder)
travel (a journey/trip)
work (a job; a piece of work)
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Countable or uncountable
Sometimes it is not easy to see whether a noun is countable or uncountable. For instance, travel is
normally uncountable, while journey is countable. It is impossible to give complete details. The
following rules, however, should help.
Illnesses
The names of illnesses are usually uncountable in English. Examples are: chickenpox, measles,
cancer, diabetes, flu etc.
But note that the words for some minor ailments are uncountable. Examples are: a cold, a headache
Mixed uses
Many nouns have both countable and uncountable uses, sometimes with a difference of meaning.
Words for materials are usually uncountable. But note that the same word is often used as countable
noun to refer to something made of the material.
Many abstract nouns are uncountable when used in a general sense. The same noun can be
countable in a particular sense.
Other plural uncountable nouns include the expressions the British, the Dutch, the English, the
French, the Irish, the Spanish and the Welsh.
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If Clauses
If clauses are usually used to talk about uncertain events and situations. They often refer to a
condition - something which must happen first, so that something else can happen.
Clauses of this kind are often called conditional clauses. There are four main types of conditional
clauses in English. They are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Zero conditional
Type 1 conditional
Type 2 conditional
Type 3 conditional
Position of an if clause
An if-clause can come at the beginning or end of a sentence. When an if-clause begins a sentence,
we use a comma to separate it from the rest of the sentence.
Compare:
Leaving out If
In a formal or literary style if can be dropped and an auxiliary verb put before the subject. This is
common with had, should and were.
Were I you I would accept the offer. (= If I were you I would accept the offer.)
Had he not received her help he wouldn't have become a millionaire. (= If he had not
received...)
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Infinitives
Infinitives are forms like (to) write and (to) read. Infinitives are generally used with the
marker to. Note that this to is not a preposition; after the preposition to we use ing forms.
Negative forms
Negative Infinitives are normally formed by putting not before the infinitive.
Participles
A participle is a word which is partly a verb and partly an adjective. English has two
participles: the present participle and the past participle.
Forms like running, singing, walking and working are called present participles. Forms like
worked, broken, gone, written and walked are called past participles.
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Uses
To form verb forms
Participles are used with the auxiliary verbs be and have to make progressive, perfect and passive
verb forms.
As adjectives
Participles can be used as adjectives before nouns, or after be and other copular verbs.
Not all participles can be used as adjectives before nouns for example, we can say a lost dog, but
not a found dog. It is not possible to give clear rules.
As adverbs
Sometimes participles are used like adverbs.
Clauses
Participles can combine with other words into clause-like structures.
Nouns
Nouns are most often the names of people, places or things. Personal names (e.g. John and Alice)
and place-names (e.g. Mumbai and Chennai) are called proper nouns; they are usually used without
articles.
Nouns can be divided into several sub classes:
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Proper noun (e.g. India, Italy, Alice)
Common noun (e.g. boy, girl, child, man, tree)
Collective noun (e.g. class, jury, army, team)
Abstract noun (e.g. truth, beauty, honesty, sleep)
Proper noun
A noun denoting a particular person, place or thing is called a proper noun. Proper nouns are
normally written with initial capital letters, and most proper nouns do not take an article. Examples:
Alice, India, John, Sydney, Mt Everest.
Note that proper nouns denoting historical periods and events, as well as certain others, often do take
the articles.
Examples: The Stone Age, The French Revolution, The United States, The United Nations
Organization
Collective noun
A noun which denotes a collection of individual persons or objects is called a collective noun.
Examples are: crowd, mob, team, flock, herd, army, fleet, jury, nation, family, committee, government
etc.
In British English, a collective noun may be treated either as singular (if the whole group is being
thought of as a unit) or as plural (if the group is being regarded as a collection of individuals).
The jury has announced its verdict. (The jury is regarded as a unit.)
The jury are divided on this issue. (The jury is regarded as a group of individuals.)
In American English, a collective noun is always treated as singular, and Americans say The jury is
divided on this issue.
Common noun
A common noun refers to a class of things, such as dog, pencil, boy, tree or book. It does not refer to
a particular person or thing.
In the above examples, Solomon, Alice and John refer to particular persons. These are called proper
nouns. While king, boy and girl refer to the class or kind to which these proper nouns belong. These
are called common nouns.
Common nouns include what are called collective nouns and abstract nouns.
Abstract noun
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An abstract noun denotes something which is not physical and cannot be touched, such as pleasure,
happiness, beauty, kindness, honesty, anger and idea. Sometimes the term is extended to include
nouns denoting events and actions, such as arrival and explosion.
An abstract noun can be countable or uncountable. Uncountable abstract nouns are followed by
singular verbs. We do not use articles or numbers before them.
pronouns
Prepositions
Prepositions are words that link a noun or a pronoun to another word in the sentence.
Here is a list of some of the most common prepositions: about, between, above, beyond, across, but,
after, by, against, despite, along, down, amid, during, around, except, as, for, at, from, before, in,
behind, inside, below, into, beneath, like, beside, near, of, since, off, through, on, toward, onto, under,
opposite, underneath, out, until, outside, upon, over, with, past, within
A noun always follows a preposition. A prepositional phrase is a preposition and its object. A
prepositional phrase can be two or three words long, as these examples show: on the roof, in the
door, under the bed.
However, prepositional phrases can be much longer, depending on the length of the preposition and
number of words that describe the object of the preposition.
Most English prepositions have several different functions. At the same time, different prepositions
can have very similar uses.
When we use verbs after prepositions, we use -ing forms, not infinitives.
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In most cases, the subject of an active verb is not mentioned in the corresponding passive sentence.
If it does have to be mentioned, this usually happens in an expression with by.
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Tenses
The word tense is from the Latin word tempus, which means time. English marks tense in verbs. The
tense of a verb shows the time of an action or event.
English has three tenses: the past, the present and the future.
The present tense refers to the moment of speaking. With most English verbs the present tense is
marked by the suffix s in the third person singular but otherwise has no marking at all.
The past tense refers to a time before the moment of speaking. With most English verbs, the past
tense is marked by the suffix ed, though a number of verbs have an irregular past tense.
The future tense correlates with time later than the time of speaking.
Each of these three main tenses has four forms: the simple, the progressive, the perfect and the
perfect progressive.
personal pronouns
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Exclamations
Exclamations are often constructed with how and what or with so and such. Negative question
forms are also common.
What a beautiful smile you have! (NOT What a beautiful smile have you!)
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Direct and indirect speech
There are two main ways of reporting peoples thoughts, words, beliefs etc.
Direct speech
We can repeat or quote the exact words spoken. This kind of reporting is called direct speech.
John (on Saturday evening): I dont like this party. I want to go home now.
Peter (on Sunday morning): John said that he didnt like the party, and he wanted to go
home right away.
Dropping that
The conjunction that is often dropped, especially after common reporting verbs (e.g. say, think) in
informal speech.
That cannot be dropped after certain verbs (e.g. reply, telegraph, shout).
She shouted that she was busy. (NOT She shouted she was busy.)
I replied that I was not coming. (NOT I replied I was not coming.)
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English Sentences
A sentence is a group of words that express a complete thought. It has two main parts: a subject and
a predicate. The subject includes the noun or pronoun that tells what the subject is about. The
predicate includes the verb that describes what the subject is doing. Here are some examples of
complete sentences.
You stop!
New York City is called the Big Apple'.
Alice is my friend.
She is a doctor.
The milk turned sour.
To be a sentence, a group of words must have a subject and a predicate. It must also express a
complete thought.
Being able to recognize the subject and the verb in a sentence will help you make sure that your
sentences are complete and clear. Remember that in most sentences, the subject will come before
the verb. Not so with questions. In a question, the verb often comes before the subject. Here are
some examples.
It can be tricky to find the subject in sentences that start with here or there. Remember that here or
there never function as the subject of a sentence.
For example:
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Birds fly.
Dogs bark.
Fire burns.
Time flies.
The particle is put after the object, when the object is a personal pronoun (e.g. him, them, me, us, it)
or when it is comparatively short.
When the object is long or has to be made prominent or when it is qualified by an adjectival phrase or
clause, the particle comes before the object.
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This order is preferred when the indirect object is shorter than the direct object or when the direct
object has to be made prominent.
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Transformation of sentences
Changing an exclamatory sentence into an assertive sentence
The transformation of a sentence means changing its form without altering its sense.
The interrogative is a milder or more polite form of the imperative. However, the addition of or not
(see the last example) adds a touch of threat to the command.
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Synthesis of sentences
Synthesis means the combination of two or more simple sentences into one new sentence simple,
compound or complex.
English Grammar
Synthesis of sentences
Synthesis means the combination of two or more simple sentences into one new sentence simple,
compound or complex.
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The examination was over. The college was closed. The students left for their homes. The
campus looked deserted.
The examination being over, the college being closed and the students having left for their
homes, the campus looked deserted.
To make meaningful sentences we need to arrange words in a particular order. The usual
order of words in an English sentence is as follows:
Subject
In an affirmative sentence, the subject usually comes before the verb.
Interrogative sentences usually begin with an auxiliary verb followed by the subject.
Object
The object usually comes after the verb.
When there are two objects, the indirect object (which usually denotes a person) usually comes
before the direct object (thing).
She brought me a cup of coffee. (Indirect object me, direct object cup of coffee)
I told them a story. (Indirect them, direct story)
Adjective
When an adjective is used attributively, it comes before the noun it qualifies.
She is beautiful.
He is lazy.
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Adverb
An adverb is usually placed close to the word it modifies.
He is a rather lazy boy. (Here the adverb rather modifies the adjective lazy.)
I was pleasantly surprised. (Here the adverb pleasantly modifies the verb surprised.)
He is my friend. (Here the singular verb is agrees with the singular subject he.)
We are waiting to hear from you. (Here the plural verb are agrees with the plural subject we.)
Sometimes due to what is called the error of proximity a verb is made to agree with the nearest noun,
and not its proper subject. This practice should be avoided.
Consider the examples given below:
The quality of the apples wasnt very good. (NOT The quality of the apples werent very
good. Here the proper subject is the abstract noun quality and not apples.)
His proficiency in Indian languages is remarkable. (Here the proper subject is the singular
abstract noun proficiency and not languages.)
as well as
We use singular verbs with a singular subject followed by with or as well as.
The manager, with his subordinates, is to be present at the venue. (NOT The manager with
his subordinates are )
Alice, as well as her sisters, has been invited. (NOT Alice as well as her sisters have been
invited.)
Sanskrit, as well as Arabic, is taught here.
When one of the subjects joined by or or nor is plural, the verb must be plural in number, and the
plural subject should be placed nearest to the verb.
Neither the officer nor his subordinates were present at the meeting.
When the subjects joined by or or nor are of different persons, the verb agrees with the nearest noun.
Either he or you are mistaken. (Here the verb are agrees with the nearest pronoun you.)
Neither he nor I am interested. (Here the verb am agrees with the nearest pronoun I.)
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Collective nouns
A collective noun can take either a singular or a plural verb. Note that collective nouns are always
singular in American English.
I should go now.
We will wait.
I want to go.
We will have to wait.
Many people have, however, gained the false impression that infinitives are forms like to write and
to go. This view is mistaken and learners should realize that that to does not form part of the infinitive
at all. In fact, it is possible to separate the to from the following infinitive by a phrase. For example in
the sentence The teacher asked the student to carefully read the lesson, the adverb carefully
separates the particle to from the following infinitive read. Similarly in the sentence She decided to
never touch another beer can, the adverb never separates the particle to from the infinitive touch.
Here the sequences to carefully read and to never touch are examples of the split infinitive.
Many grammarians still feel that it is wrong to separate the particle from the following infinitive. They
are of the opinion that the adverb should be used either before to after the infinitive as in the following
example: The teacher asked the student to read the lesson carefully.
In some sentences, however, the intervening adverb cannot be shifted to another position without
changing the meaning of the sentence.
For example consider the sentence She wishes to really understand his motives. Now try changing
the position of the adverb really:
None of these sentences means the same thing as: She wishes to really understand his motives.
The use of split infinitives in such cases has been justified by modern grammarians.
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