English Grammer

Tense

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Tense is the form of the verb used to express the time of an action. Mainly there are three tenses viz. Present Tense, Past Tense and Future Tense.

The ‘Present Tense’ is used:-

To express an action that is happening now.

Examples:

I now go to school

I am going to school.

I have purchased this book.

I have been going to school.

To express the universal truths:

Examples:

The sun rises in east.

The Ganges falls into the Bay of Bengal.

Twice two is four.

Mohan sings well.

To express a future action:

Examples:

The office opens on Monday week.

He comes tonight.

To quote from the existing work of authors:

Examples:

Tulsidas says, “Rama was incarnation of Lord Vishnu.”

Shakespeare says, “There is a tide in the affairs of men.”

The ‘Past Tense’ expresses an action finished in a past time.

Examples:

I wrote a letter yesterday.

I was writing a letter yesterday.

I had written a letter yesterday.

I had been writing a letter yesterday.

The ‘Future Tense’ represents an action that is yet to come.

Examples:

I shall go to school.

I shall be going to school.

I shall have gone to school.

I shall have been going to school.

Mood

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The manner of an action is expressed by the ‘Mood’ of verb. There are three moods of verbs viz. Indicative, Subjunctive and Imperative.

Indicative Mood: The ‘Indicative Mood’ simply describes the facts.

Examples:

Mohan goes school daily.

He is taught Arithmetic.

My writing is legible.

Rama killd Ravana.

Subjunctive Mood: The ‘Subjunctive Mood’ expresses an action under condition.

Examples:

If the day be fine, I shall call on you.

If I were you, I should not waste time.

I shall go, if he come.

If he fail, I am to help him.

The subjunctive mood also expresses the wish.

Examples:

God defend the right.

Long live to you, my friend.

God save the king.

I wish that Mohan would help me.

The subjunctive mood also expresses the purpose.

Examples:

I work hard that I may succeed.

Take care, that no mistakes be made.

Imperative Mood: ‘Imperative Mood’ expresses a command or advice.

Examples:

Attend to your duty.

Forgive me.

Come here.

Take care of your money.

Voice

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Voice shows whether the subject of the verb acts or is acted upon. There are two voices viz. Active Voice and Passive Voice.

Active Voice: A verb is called in ‘Active Voice’ when its subject acts.

e.g. Rama helps Mohan.

Passive Voice: A verb is called in ‘Passive Voice’ when its subject does not act but remain passive and is acted upon.

e.g. Mohan is helped by Rama.

Some more examples:

Active Voice	Passive Voice
Suresh loves Sohan.	Sohan is loved by Suresh.
The builder is building the house.	The house is being built by the builder.
The servant opened the room.	The room was opened by the servant.
Some boys were helping the injured man.	The injured man was being helped by the boys.
I will finish the work shortly.	The work will be finished by me shortly.
Why did write such a letter?	Why was such a letter written by you?
The boss told him that.	He was told that by the boss. or That was told him by the boss.
I am doing it.	It is being done by me.
Shall I do it?	Shall it be done by me?

Incomplete Verbs

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Please read the following sentences:

The baby sleeps.

They made him king.

The first sentence shows complete sense without any help of any other word whereas the sense of second sentence completes only with the help of the word ‘king’.

Incomplete Verbs: The verbs, which require help of any other word(s) are called ‘Incomplete Verbs’. The word, which helps to complete the sense of incomplete verb are called ‘Complement of the Verb or Completion of the Predicate.

Intransitive verbs like appear, be, become, get, grow, live, look, seem etc. are generally used as incomplete verb.

But some transitive verbs also are incomplete and require some other word or words besides their object to give a complete predication.
Examples:

They call him rascal.

The boys made Mohan captain.

His parents named him Sohan.

I consider the man trustworthy.

The Verbs

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Words stating something about a person or thing are called verbs.

The verbs have been divided into two parts viz. Transitive Verbs and Intransitive Verbs.

Transitive Verbs: The verbs, the action of which is not limited to its subject but reflects to some object, are called ‘Transitive Verbs’. e.g. Mohan kicks the football. In this sentence the action (kicking) of subject (Mohan) reflects to other object (football), hence ‘kick’ is a transitive verb.

Intransitive Verbs: The verbs, the action of which does not pass to any object but limits to the subject only, are called ‘Intransitive Verbs’. e.g. Mohan sleeps. In this sentence the action (sleep) does not reflect to any object, hence ‘sleep’ is intransitive verb.

A number of verbs can be used as both the kinds of verbs (either transitive or intransitive):

Examples:

Verb used as transitive	Verb used as intransitive
Fire burnt his finger.	Fire burns.
See the fun.	A blind person can’t see.
John drinks whisky.	I never drink.
Mohan wrote a letter to his brother.	Ram writes well.

The Articles

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Demonstrative adjectives ‘a’, ‘an’ and ‘the’ are called ‘Articles’.

‘A’ and ‘an’ are called ‘Indefinite Articles’ as it does not indicate any definite or particular thing.

But ‘the’ is called ‘Indefinite Article’ as it indicates a definite or particular thing.

There must be an article before common nouns in the singular number.

Examples:

I have a cycle or I have the cycle.

I bought a book or I bought the book.

‘A’ is used before:

A consonant

Such vowels as have the sound of ‘yu’ e.g. a unit, a university, a European etc.

collective words e.g. a dozen

Plural nouns with “few”, “great many” and “good many” e.g. ‘a few days’, ‘a great many mangos’, ‘a good many mosques’ etc.

‘An’ is used before:

Vowels e.g. ‘an article’, ‘an egg’, ‘an Indian’, ‘an order’ etc.

Consonants have a vowel sound e.g. ‘an hour’, ‘an honourable’, ‘an M.A.’ etc.

‘The’ is used before:

The names of oceans, seas, bays, gulfs, rivers e.g. ‘the Pacific’, ‘the Baltic’, ‘the Bay of Bengal’, ‘the Persian Gulf’, ‘the Ganges’ etc.

The names of groups of islands e.g. ‘the Andaman islands’, ‘the West Indies’, etc.

The name of mountains e.g. ‘the Himalayas’, ‘the Alps’ etc.

Descriptive names of countries e.g. ‘the United States’, ‘the Punjab’, ‘the Netherlands’ etc.

Compound geographical names e.g. ‘the Land’s End’

The names of ships e.g. ‘the Titanic’

The name of newspapers e.g. ‘the Hindu’, ‘the Statesman’ etc.

The date of the month e.g. ‘the 15th August’, ‘the 26th January’ etc.

Adjective

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Words describing some speciality of any noun or pronoun are called adjectives.

Classification of Adjectives

Adjectives have been classified into seven classes as per their use. viz. i. Demonstrative Adjectives ii. Interrogative Adjectives iii. Relative Adjectives iv. Possessive Adjectives v. Bulk or In Mass Adjectives vi. Numeral or In Number Adjectives & vii. Common Adjectives.

Demonstrative Adjectives: This, that, those, the, such, the same etc. form ‘Demonstrative Adjectives’ as per their use.

Examples:

This flower is very beautiful.

That forest is dense.

Those people are crazy.

The book is interesting.

I have never seen such man as this.

This is the same girl that I saw yesterday.

Interrogative Adjectives: Which and what forms ‘Interrogative Adjectives’ as per their use.

Examples:

Which boys are to be selected?

What country is most civilised?

Relative Adjectives: Which and what forms ‘Relative Adjectives’ as per their use.

Examples:

Have what fruits you please.

This is the book which is wanted.

Possessive Adjectives: My, your, his, her, its, their etc. form ‘Possessive Adjectives’ as per their use.

Examples:

If I loose my honour, I lose all.

Give every man your ear, but few your voice.

My bicycle and yours are both lost.

Bulk or In Mass Adjectives: Much, great, small, some, any, all, whole, enough, little, no, none etc. forms ‘Bulk or In Mass Adjectives’ as per their use.

Examples:

He has much wealth.

I have great love for kids.

It is very difficult to carry on with small income.

Give me some water please.

He has some paper.

He has not any paper.

You have not enough money to buy a car.

He has little strength.

Numeral or In Number Adjectives: Numerals one, two etc., first, second etc., many, any, all, some, certain, several, whole, few, most etc. form ‘Numeral or In Number Adjectives as per their use.

Examples:

They came by twos.

Do not act against any rules.

All men are mortal.

I have few bucks.

Qualitative Adjectives: Broad, loud, useful, quick, Indian etc. form ‘Qualitative Adjectives’ as per their use.

Examples:

This is a broad road.

Loud sound has low frequency.

The Pronoun

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Words which are used instead of nouns are called pronouns.

Classes of Pronouns: Pronouns are divided into seven classes viz. (i) Personal Pronoun, (ii) Relative Pronoun (iii) Demonstrative Pronoun, (iv) Interrogative Pronoun (v)Reflexiv Pronoun, (vi) Indefinit Pronoun and (vii) Distributive Pronoun.

Personal Pronoun: The pronoun, which represents a person,is called
'Personal Pronoun'. e.g.: I, you.

Personal pronouns have been divided into 'persons'.

First Person Pronouns: The pronouns, which are used by the person who is taking for himself, are called 'First Person Pronouns'. e.g.: I, we, me, us, my, our.

Second Person Pronouns: The pronouns, which are used for the person who is listening, are called 'Second Person Pronouns'. e.g. you, your.

Number and Gender of Personal Pronouns: As the 'pronouns' are used in place of some 'noun', the number nad gender of it are same as that of the relative noun.

Relative Pronoun: A pronoun which connects two statments is called 'Relative Pronoun'.

Example: I met Mohan who lives in Raipur. Here 'who' is relative pronoun.

Demonstrative Pronouns: The pronouns which points to some other person, place or thing, are called 'Demonstrative Pronouns'. e.g. he, she, they, it, him, his, her, them, their.

Note: Often demonstrative pronouns are erroneously treated as personal pronoun of third person, but a pronoun which do not denote a person directly can not be a personal pronoun. For personal pronous (like I, you etc.) naming of person no not necessary but 'He is a good man.' can not be said without naming the person for whom the pronoun 'he' is being used.

Interrogative Pronouns: The pronouns used for asking questions are called 'Interrogative Pronouns'. These are who, which and what.

Some example sentences are shown below as examples:

Who are you?
Which do you want?
What do you want?

Reflexiv Pronouns: Pronouns used to denote that the action of the subject is turned back upon himself, are called 'Reflxive Pronouns'.
Some example sentences are shown below as examples:

I hurt myself.
Know yourself.

Indefinite Pronouns: Pronouns which do not signify any particular person place or thing are called 'Indefinite Pronouns'. e.g. anybody, other etc.

Some example sentences are shown below as examples:

Anybody can do it.
Let another eat.

Distributive Pronoun: The pronouns each, either and neither are called 'Destributive Pronouns' as they denote all of of a class taken separately.

Some example sentences are shown below as examples:

Each of them has performed satisfactorily.
Either of the two pencils will do.
Neither of them came.

The Noun

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We have already defined the noun but for the purpose of revision let us repeat it: Words used as a name of anything are called nouns.

Classes of Nouns

There are five classes of nouns:

Proper Noun: The name of a particular person, place or thing is called Proper Noun.

e.g. John, Krishna, Akbar, London, Delhi, Banana etc.

In this definition thing includes the days of months as Sunday, the branches of knowledge as Physics, Name of oceans, rivers, mountains etc. as the Pacific, Ganges, Alps Languages as English, diseases as Diarrhoea etc. etc.

Common Noun: The name which can be given to each individual in the same class or things is called Common Noun.

e.g. man, country, river etc.

Collective Noun: The name of a number or collection of persons or things of the same class considered as a whole and spoken as one object is called Collective Noun.

e.g. army, party, bunch etc.

Material Noun: A material or substance considered as a single collection is called Material Noun.

e.g. silver, rice, water, mist etc.

Abstract Noun: The name of quality, action or state of an object considered apart from the object itself is called Abstract Noun.

e.g. honesty, wisdom, softness etc.

Number of Noun:

Nouns are divided into two kinds of numbers viz. Singular Number and Plural Number.

Singular Number: Only one person, place or thing is denoted by Singular Number.

e.g. man, country, car etc.

Plural Number: More than one persons, places or things are denoted by Plural Number.

e.g. men, countries, cars etc.

Gender of Noun:

Masculine Gender: Masculine Gender is applied to the names of male animals as man, dog etc.

Feminine Gender: Feminine Gender is applied to the names of female animals as woman, bitch etc.

Neuter Gender: Neuter Gender is applied to the names of lifeless objects as pen, ring etc.

Parts of Speech

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Word: Any sound having some meaning is defined as a word. Word is represented with combination of letters.

Parts of Speech

Words are divided into the following eight parts:

Noun: Words used as a name of anything are called nouns.
e.g. Shakespeare is a great writer.

Pronoun: Words which are used instead of nouns are called pronouns.
e.g. He has written the “Comedy of Twins”.

Adjective: Words describing some speciality of any noun or pronoun are called adjectives.
e.g. Johnny is good player.

Verb: Words stating something about a person or thing are called verbs.
e.g. Mohan runs.

Adverb: Words describing some speciality of any verb, adjective or another adverb are called adverbs.
e.g. (i) She cooks well. (ii) He is a very good boy. (iii) Mohan runs too fast.

Preposition: Words showing relation between two nouns, two pronouns or noun and pronoun are called prepositions.
e.g. Dashrath is father of Rama.

Conjunction: Words joining two words or two sentences are called conjunctions.
e.g. Ram and Lakshman are brothers.

Interjection: Words representing sudden emotion are called interjections.
e.g. Oh, I am sorry.

Basics of English Grammer

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Definitions

Letter: Letter is the lease part of a word. Letter can be defined as a symbol to express a simple sound.

There are twenty six letters in English alphabet which are furnished below:

a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y and z.

Forms of Letters: There are two forms of Letters viz. Capital Letters and Small Letters:-

Capital Letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y and Z.

Small Letters: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y and z.

Capitals are used only in the following places:

The first letter of every sentence.

The title of a book or person; as, My First Book, Ramayan, Mahabharat, His Excellency, Maharaja, Rai Bhahadur etc.

Proper nouns; as, William Shakespeare, Kalidas, Washington, London, Avanti, Varanasi etc.

Most adjectives derived from Proper nouns; as Indian, English, Pakistani etc.

The first word of a quotation; as, you told, “In my opinion Ramayan, written by Maharshi Valmiki is the greatest epic.”

The personal pronoun “I” is always written in Capitals.

The names of the Deity and the Persons that refer to Him; as, God, the Almighty, Lord Rama, Goddes Durga, it was His will etc.

Every line of poetry.

Single letters forming abbreviations; as, M.A., B.Sc., Ph.D.

Vowels And Consonants

Letters which represent a simple vocal sound are called vowels. In English a, e, i, o and u are vowels.
Note: ‘w’ and ‘y’ are semi vowels as they are treated as vowels when they do no begin a word; as by, syntax etc.

The letter which can be sounded only with a vowel are called consonants; b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y and z are consonants.