Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Your Essentials of
Competitive English
Mahesh Pareek
Jyoti Pareek
Preface
Aspirants of different competitive examinations want
to use English simply to perform better in their examination. They need to know more than the fundamental
grammar structures normally taught in academic classes.
They want to avoid misunderstandings and pitfalls while
they are solving problems in a time-bound ambiance.
They look for pragmatic grammatical descriptions to
come to a sure as shooting conclusion. In fact they are in
search for a stuff that appears in these examinations.
The concept, pattern, format and content of this book
are solely envisioned to meet the cognitive criteria of the
readers and enable them to do all that observed above.
The concept is formulated and articulated in a way that
brings forth alternative structures which is just what a
grammar adapted for competitive examinations should
manifest.
Contents
1.
Plurals
2.
13
3.
Concord
16
4.
Determiners
21
5.
Pronouns
47
6.
Adjectives
61
7.
Adverbs
106
8.
Prepositions
131
9.
Conjunctions
162
10.
174
11.
Tenses
177
12.
210
13.
Modal Verbs
214
14.
The Subjunctive
225
15.
241
16.
246
17.
Non-Finite Verbs
251
18.
256
19.
260
20.
Spelling
268
21.
Phrasal Verbs
279
22.
Appropriate Words
309
23.
348
24.
Proverbs
380
25.
Antonyms
385
26.
Review Exercises
402
27.
Irregular verbs
463
6
Plurals
1.
2.
3.
Nouns ending in y preceded by a vowel usually form the plural simply by adding -s. For example:
7
Singular
boy
day
Plural
boys
days
4.
5.
Many words from other languages have been adopted into the
English language. Most of these form the plural by adding -s
or -es, but some, particularly Greek and Latin words used for
9
scientific purposes, form the plural in the same way that they
do in the original language. For example:
Singular
Plural
analysis
analyses
axis
axes
basis
bases
crisis
crises
criterion
criteria
honorarium
honoraria
hypothesis
hypotheses
medium
media
nebula
nebulae
nucleus
nuclei
oasis
oases
parenthesis
parentheses
phenomenon
phenomena
spectrum
spectra
stimulus
stimuli
stratum
strata
synopsis
synopses
synthesis
syntheses
thesis
theses
vertebra
vertebrae
7.
10
runner-up
sister-in-law
son-in-law
runners-up
sisters-in-law
sons-in-law
8.
There are still a few words surviving from Old English, which
do not use -s to form the plural. For example:
Singular
Plural
child
children
foot
feet
goose
geese
tooth
teeth
louse
lice
mouse
mice
ox
oxen
man
men
woman
women
policeman
policemen
9.
10. Some English nouns are usually used only in the plural. Such
nouns take a plural verb, and generally have a plural form:
alms
annals
chattels
goods
measles
thanks
tidings
The following nouns, which all refer to objects with two parts,
are usually used only in the plural:
11
jeans
pliers
spectacles
shorts
pajamas
scissors
stockings
trousers
If it is desired to refer to such objects individually, the expression pair of is often used:
a pair of jeans
a pair of pajamas
a pair of pliers
a pair of scissors
11.
12