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Notion Press
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McNichols Road, Chetpet
Chennai - 600 031
First Published by Notion Press 2016
Copyright © Annie Bindra 2016
All Rights Reserved.
ISBN 978-1-945688-50-8
This book has been published with all efforts taken to make the material
error-free after the consent of the author. However, the author and the
publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for
any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such
errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause.
No part of this book may be used, reproduced in any manner whatsoever
without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Contents
Prefacexi
Acknowledgementsxiii
1. The Sentence
1
General structure of the sentence
3
More about subject and predicate
3
2.Articles
Indefinite article
Definite article
3. Labels used in Grammar
7
7
11
13
Categorical labels
13
Functional labels
16
4.Noun
21
Kinds of Nouns
21
Nouns – countable and non-countable
22
A list of collective nouns
23
Noun – Gender
24
Nouns – Plurals
25
Foreign plurals
28
5.Pronoun
Kinds of pronouns
6.Adjective
29
30
45
Kinds of Adjectives
46
Comparison of adjectives
50
Forming adjectives
53
Contents
7.Adverb
57
Kinds of Adverbs
58
Intensifiers63
8.Prepositions
66
Collocations with prepositions
9.Conjunctions
77
80
Types of conjunctions
81
Conjunction Reduction
83
10.Apostrophe
85
11.Verbs
87
Main or ordinary and Auxiliary verbs
89
What is a tense?
89
Use of Auxiliaries in short answers
94
Progressive and state verbs
99
The Auxiliaries ‘Be’ and ‘Have’
101
12.Modals
110
13.Tenses
120
The simple present tense
120
The simple past tense
123
Progressive or Continuous tense
124
The present continuous tense
125
The Past continuous tense
127
Future forms
128
The Future continuous tense
128
The Present Perfect Simple tense
130
The present perfect continuous tense
132
The past perfect tense
133
The past perfect continuous tense
134
viii
Contents
The future
135
Simple future tense
136
The future perfect tense
136
The future perfect continuous tense
137
The going to form
137
14. Verbals: Infinitives, Gerunds and Participles
139
The Infinitive
139
The Gerund
147
The Participles
148
15. Phrase Structure
153
Noun phrase
154
Modifiers155
Adjective phrase
156
Adverb phrase
157
Prepositional phrase
157
The object of the preposition
158
Verbal phrases
159
Participle phrase
160
Gerund phrase
161
Infinitive phrase
162
16.Clauses
165
Noun clause
167
Adjective clauses
170
Adverb clause
172
17. Direct and Indirect speech
174
18. Active and Passive Voice
182
19. Spelling Rules
189
Index193
ix
The Sentence
Words represent ideas, and we express our thoughts by means of spoken
or written words. Words are combined into larger units to express complete
thought.
The largest unit that is described in grammar is the sentence.
Not every group of words is a sentence. Look at the following groups:
Some little children
A bunch of grapes
The sun
The trees on the hillside
The first group may be completed thus
Some little children are playing in the park
Exercise: Complete each of the other groups of the words above so that it
becomes a sentence.
Exercise: Read the following and tell which are sentences and which are
not. Complete those which are not sentences and place a full stop after those
which are sentences.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
k.
They came here yesterday
A big balloon
We sat under a big tree
All the boys played
All the boys in the team
I like to sketch
A bunch of grapes
The trees on the hillside
My brother works in a steel company
This box of chocolates
My friend gave me this box of chocolates
English Grammar
We may express our thoughts in various ways.
A sentence may tell or assert something:
I like apples.
It may ask a question:
Where is my book?
It may give a command or make a request:
Sit down.
Please help me.
It expresses a strong feeling:
How beautiful the day is!
The sentence is a group of words that makes complete sense.
The words in a sentence are placed in proper order to make complete sense.
A sentence can be made up of any number of words.
A sentence always begins with a capital letter.
A sentence has full stop (.) or a question mark (?) or a mark of exclamation
at the end (!).
A sentence can contain one or more clauses.
A sentence must contain at least one main clause. A main clause contains an
independent subject and verb and expresses a complete thought.
Remember: Every sentence must have a subject and a verb. If not, it is
a sentence fragment, not a sentence.
Examples:
Sentence fragment; no verbA television set in the room
Sentence fragment; no subjectThen drove my car to a garage
DDD
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Annie Bindra
General structure of the sentence
An English sentence has two fundamental parts:
Subject
Predicate
The subject or the simple subject is normally the topic of the sentence. It
tells us what the sentence is about or it names the person or thing we are
talking about. So the subject contains a noun or a noun equivalent.
The predicate is what is asserted of the topic of the sentence. It says
something about the subject. The predicate contains the verb.
Examples:
Subject
Predicate
Birds
Flowers
Riana
sing
bloomed everywhere
safely crossed the river
More about subject and predicate
The complete subject may or may not be identical to the simple subject.
The complete subject is the entire noun phrase including the noun and
any modifier (e.g. the, few) of that noun, that occurs in subject position in a
sentence.
The simple subject is either the noun or a pronoun of a complete
subject.
All the words included in the predicate make up the complete predicate.
The main part of the complete predicate is called the predicate.
Example:
Little blue flowers grew everywhere.
Simple subject: flowers
Predicate: grew
In an imperative sentence, the subject may not be stated. It may be implied.
3
English Grammar
Example:
Brush your teeth.
This sentence means you brush your teeth.
Thus the subject in this sentence is you.
Examples:
Complete Subject
Complete Predicate
My horse
The woman
Few people
The stars of evening
ran away
accepted the job
write well these days
shone brightly
Exercise:
Divide the following sentences into complete subject and Complete predicate.
a. My parents love me dearly.
b. My painting was praised by everyone.
c. The thief escaped from the prison.
d. The accident was not very serious.
e. Every Indian should be proud of India.
f. Raja’s grandfather is eighty years old.
g. A large number of people were killed in the bomb blast.
h. Can you spare this book?
i. On the table lay all his books.
j. On the bank of the river stood a tall tree.
k. The bird in the cage flew away.
l. A morning walk is good for health.
m.Children’s day is celebrated on November 14.
n. A cool breeze is blowing.
o. Go away.
p. Take care of your health.
q. Count your books.
r. Don’t run.
s. Give me your books.
DDD
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Annie Bindra
Kinds of Sentences according to meaning
1. Assertive or declarative:
A sentence which tells or asserts something is called an assertive sentence.
Examples:
 I go to school every day.
 I play tennis.
 Ravi has lost his book.
 The house near the hill is beautiful.
 This mango is very sweet.
Statements are used chiefly to convey an information.
2.Interrogative:
A sentence which asks a question is called an interrogative sentence and
is followed by a question mark.
Examples:
 Who are you?
 Why are you fighting?
 Where is your book?
 How are you?
 What is your name?
 When will you come home?
 Do you have your own PC?
Questions are used chiefly to request information.
3.Imperative:
A sentence, directive which expresses a command, permission, request or
advice is called an imperative sentence.
Examples:
 Please, give me the book.
 Let him come.
 Take a seat.
 Don’t go out.
 Stand up.
 You may go.
 Close the window.
Directives are used chiefly to request action.
5
English Grammar
4.Exclamatory:
When a sentence expresses a strong feeling such as delight, impatience
or anger, it is called an exclamatory sentence and is followed by an
exclamation mark.
Examples:
 How beautiful the day is!
 Oh dear!
 How sweet!
 Ouch! It really hurts.
 Oh, I am depressed!
 Bravo! Well done.
Exclamations are used chiefly to express strong feelings.
Exercise:
Which of the following sentences tell or assert something? Which are
questions? Which are commands or requests? Punctuate these sentences
properly.
a. Henry went home at recess
b. Go home at once
c. Who did that
d. The soldiers fought bravely during the war
e. Do you know where my diary is
f. Keep silent
g. Hey it’s a snake
h. Please buy me an ice-cream
i. I am enjoying the party
j. Is he able to pay the money
k. Ah the questions are easy
l. Shut the door
m.Hurray we won the match
DDD
6
Articles
Articles are often used at the beginning of nouns or noun phrases.
There are two articles:
 A or An
 The
‘A’ or ‘An’ is the indefinite article because it does not define some particular
person or a thing; it usually leaves indefinite the person or thing spoken of:
 I met an actor. (It can be any actor)
 I saw a house. (It can be any house)
‘The’ is the definite article because it defines a particular person or a thing
we are talking about:
 Ann is in the garden. (i.e. the garden of her house)
 He sent for the doctor. (i.e. his own doctor)
DDD
Indefinite article
The form ‘a’ is used before a word beginning with a consonant or a vowel that
sounds like a consonant: a man, a table, a university, a useful thing.
The form ‘an’ is used before a word beginning with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) or
words beginning with a mute ‘h’: an egg, an umbrella, an hour, an honourable
man.
We use ‘A’ before a consonant and ‘An’ before a vowel but it depends
on the pronunciation of the following word, not the spelling.
Examples:
A cat, a house, a union, an orange, an hour, an MP
It is same for both the genders: a man, a woman, an actor, an actress.
English Grammar
Exercise: Choose the correct alternative:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
A/An apple a day keeps a/an person healthy.
A/An honest person is a/an useful friend to have.
A/An hyena is a/an horrible kind of animal.
A/an white tiger is a/an unusual one.
A/An interesting book is a/an object worth finding.
The indefinite article ‘a’ or ‘an’ is used:
a. Before a singular countable noun, when it is used for the first time and
represents no particular person or thing:
 I see a man.
 A cat likes to play with a mouse.
 An aeroplane is very big.
b. Before a singular countable noun which is used as an example of a class
of things:
 A rhino has one horn.
 A dinosaur is huge.
 An elephant never forgets.
 A coconut tree is very tall.
c. With a noun complement. This includes names of professions:
 He is an engineer.
 She is a doctor.
 She is a good girl.
 He became a great artist.
d. In certain numerical expressions:
 A couple, a dozen, a hundred, a thousand, a million, a great many, etc.
e. In expressions of price, speed, ratio:
 Hundred rupees a kilo, fifty rupees a dozen, fifty kilometres an hour,
three times a day.
f. In its original numerical sense of one:
 A bird fell down.
 I have reserved a table here.
Note: one is not always interchangeable with ‘a’ or ‘an’ because ‘a handkerchief ’
means any handkerchief, no particular handkerchief, while ‘one handkerchief ’
means no more than one.
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Annie Bindra
A shotgun is no good (i.e. it is the wrong sort of thing).
One shotgun is no good (i.e. I need two or three).
As ‘a’ or ‘an’ cannot be used as pronouns, one is used instead:
 One of my friends.
 Reserve a table and try to get one near the door.
g. With few and little:
 I have a few friends.
 Only a little water is left in the bottle.
h. In exclamation before singular countable nouns:
 What a hot day!
 What a pretty girl!
 Such a pity!
i. Before Mr./Mrs./Miss + Surname:
 A Mr.Sood, a Mrs.Sen, a Miss Jones.
It means that the speaker is certain of the person’s name but does not
know him/her.
Example: A Miss Jones was asking about you.
A Miss Jones means ‘a woman called Miss Jones’ and implies that she is a
stranger to the speaker.
A/An and One
We use one, not a/an:
In contrast with another or other(s)
In the expression one day
With hundred and thousand when we want to sound precise
In expression like only one and just one
Examples:
One girl wanted to go out, but the others wanted to stay at home.
One day I’ll take you to meet my family.
How many are there? About a hundred? Exactly one hundred and eight.
We have got plenty of apples, but only one egg.
9
English Grammar
Indefinite article is not used:
a. Before plural nouns.
b. Before non-countable nouns:
Knowledge is considered non-countable but when used in a particular
sense, takes the article ‘a’.
Examples:
A knowledge of language is always useful.
He has a good knowledge of maths.
Materials; glass, wood, iron, paper, cloth, tea, etc are non-countable but
when these nouns denote one particular thing, they take an article.
Examples:
Windows are made of glass (Non-countable)
I use an electric iron. (Countable)
I have got a paper (Countable)
Have a glass of water. (Non-countable)
c. Before abstract nouns: beauty, happiness, fear, hope etc. except when they
are used in a particular sense.
Examples:
He was pale with fear.
Some people suffer from a fear of the dark. (a particular fear)
d. Before names of meals, except when preceded by an adjective.
Examples:
We have breakfast at eight.
I was invited to dinner. (at their house, in the ordinary way)
He gave us a good breakfast. (Breakfast preceded by good)
(Indefinite article is also used when it is a special meal given to celebrate
something or in someone’s honour.)
Example: I was invited to a dinner given to welcome the new
chairman.
DDD
10
Annie Bindra
Definite article
The definite article is ‘the’. It is the same for singular and plural and both the
genders:
The boy, the boys, the girl, the girls.
The is pronounced/de/before words that start with a consonant, and/
di/before words that start with a vowel or a mute h.
The definite article is used:
a. Before nouns of which there is only one or which are considered one:
The earth, the sky, the North Pole, the sea.
b. Before a noun that has become definite as a result of being mentioned
for the second time:
His car hit a boy. The boy is injured seriously.
c. Before a noun made definite by the addition of a phrase or a clause:
…… the boy that you met yesterday…
…… the lady in the pink dress…
…… the man on the black horse…
d. Before a noun, which by reason of locality can represent only one
particular thing:
Ann is in the garden. (i.e. in the garden of her house)
e. Before superlatives, ordinals – best, tallest, first, second, etc and only:
Mount Everest is the highest mountain.
Tenzing was the first to conquer Mt. Everest.
Kalpana Chawla is the only woman to go to space.
f. Before singular nouns used to represent a class of objects:
The Cuckoo is lazy. (= all cuckoos are lazy)
g. Before an adjective used to represent a class of persons: we use the when
referring to a group of people by use of an adjective rather than a noun.
The old and the young should be able to live together.
h. Before names of seas, rivers, oceans, mountain ranges, groups of islands
and plural names of countries:
The Pacific Ocean, the Ganga, the Amazon, the United States of America,
the Andes, the Netherlands, the Hawaiian island.
i. Before musical instruments:
She learned to play the guitar.
11
English Grammar
j. With a special meal given to celebrate something or in someone’s honour:
He gave the dinner to celebrate their victory.
k. We use the before a title that is used without a name:
The president, the queen, the professor
l. Before the name of a school that has ‘of ’ in its title:
The University of Delhi
m. Before a plural or non-countable noun which is followed by of + noun:
The wines of France are famous.
The lakes of Italy are big.
The languages of India are unrelated to European languages.
n. We use the when we use expressions that identify part of a larger group:
All of the students
None of the students
Both of the players
All of the players
The definite article is not used:
a. Before countries, towns, proper names:
Mr. Singh returned to India and bought a house in Delhi.
b. Before abstract nouns except when used in a particular sense:
Man fears death. (But – the death of the party president left the party
without a leader)
c. After a noun in the possessive case or possessive adjective:
The boy’s bicycle. (It means the bicycle of the boy)
It is my book. (It means the book is mine)
d. Before names of meals:
I have porridge for my breakfast.
e. Before parts of the body and articles of clothing as these normally prefer
a possessive adjective:
Raise your hand.
He took off his coat.
DDD
12
Labels
used in
Grammar
It is difficult to talk about English grammar without terms like noun, verb,
subject, object, etc. Consider terms like noun and adjective on one hand and
subject and object on the other hand. How do we distinguish between them?
Nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. are categorical labels. They indicate the
class or category to which an item belongs.
On the other hand subject, object, etc. are functional labels. They
indicate the role or function of an item in a construction.
Categorical labels are formal labels. Read the following sentence:
Ronnie is writing a letter.
To say that ‘Ronnie’ is a noun in the above sentence is to say something
about the form of the word.
But to say that ‘Ronnie’ in the above sentence is the subject is to specify
the function of the word in the sentence.
We use the term category or class to refer to the grouping of words
into different word classes. The traditional term for this is ‘parts of
speech’.
DDD
Categorical labels
Parts of Speech
There are eight parts of speech:
Noun, Adjective, Pronoun, Verb, Adverb, Preposition, Conjunction,
Interjection.
1.Noun:
A noun is a word used to name a person, place, thing, an idea or a group
of persons or things:
Maharaja was a great king.
English Grammar
The sun shines bright.
Experience is the best teacher.
The word ‘thing’ includes
a. All objects that we can see, hear, taste, touch or smell.
b. Something that we can think of but cannot perceive by the senses.
Nouns are sometimes called ‘naming words’.
2.Adjective:
An adjective is a word used to add something to the meaning of the noun
or pronoun in a sentence. An adjective modifies a noun or a pronoun:
He is a brave boy.
They were beautiful.
Adjectives are sometimes called ‘describing words.’
3. Pronoun:
A pronoun is a word used instead of a noun. Generally pronouns stand
for or refer to an individual or individuals or a thing or things whose
identity is made clear earlier in the text:
Ravi is absent because he is ill.
Pronouns make us think of persons or things but do not name
them.
4.Verb:
A verb is used to say something about some person place or thing. It
shows action of being. Action does not mean just physical action like
jump, dance, walk, etc. It also means quiet, slow, peaceful action like think,
listen, sleep, read, breathe, wonder, etc.:
She wrote a letter to her brother.
Kolkata is a big city.
The verb is the asking, telling, or commanding word in the sentence.
5.Adverb:
An adverb is a word that modifies or adds something to the meaning of a
verb, an adjective or another adverb:
He worked the sums quickly.
She walks gracefully.
14
Annie Bindra
6. Preposition:
A preposition is a word used with a noun or a pronoun to show how the
person or thing denoted by the noun or pronoun stands in relation to
something else:
There is a dog in the garden.
Words placed at the beginning of some phrases to show the relation
of the principal word in the phrase to some other word in the
sentence are called prepositions.
Prepositions give information about position or movement.
When a preposition is used in front of a noun, the two together do the
work of an adverb:
He is coming in the morning.
I found him near the gate.
7.Conjunction:
A conjunction is used to join words or sentences. A conjunction is a
joiner; a word that connects (conjoins) parts of a sentence:
Rhea and Ravi are cousins.
He ran fast but missed the train.
A conjunction is a word used to join words or groups of words.
8.Interjection:
An interjection is a word which expresses some sudden feeling.
Interjections are used to exclaim, protest or command:
Hurray! We have won the match.
Alas! He is dead.
Wow! I won the lottery!
Some common interjections are:
Ah! (Expressing surprise or satisfaction)
Bah! Or pooh! (Disdain)
Bravo! (Approval, encouragement)
Alas! (Disappointment, grief)
Oh! (May express a variety of feelings)
The interjection is often followed by an exclamation mark (!), but the
comma may be used, in which case the sentence is usually followed by an
exclamation mark.
15
English Grammar
Oh, what a treasure!
Interjections sometimes stand by themselves, but they are often contained
within larger structures e.g.
Oh! I don’t know about that.
A word which is used to express sudden or strong feeling is an
interjection.
Strictly speaking, it is not related to any other word.
DDD
Functional labels
Read the following sentences:
a. Last night, I saw a movie.
b. The attempt unfortunately didn’t succeed.
c. Some boys were sleeping in the class.
In case of each sentence, the elements in the boxes are essential to the
sentence structure. Thus you can leave out ‘last night’ and yet the sentence
‘I saw a movie’ would be a grammatical sentence. If on the other hand we
leave out one of the elements in the boxes, we get unacceptable sentence
construction.
The items which are essential in a construction are called nuclear
items. Those which can be left out are called marginal elements or adjuncts.
So ‘last night’, ‘unfortunately’ are adjuncts. They serve to modify the nuclear
elements.
We use the terms, subject, predicate, object, complement, etc. to refer
to the various nuclear elements.
1.Subject:
The two most important characteristics of the notion subject are:
a. The verb agrees with the subject:
Examples: Those boys are going away.
Riana is reading.
This feature is called agreement or concord.
The noun or the noun phrase with which the verb agrees is the
concord subject.
16
Annie Bindra
b. When an interrogative sentence is formed out of a declarative sentence,
the first verbal element is shifted to the front of the subject. Thus:
Those boys (subject) are running away. (Declarative sentence)
Becomes
Are those boys running away? (Interrogative sentence)
This shifting is called inversion. The noun involved in the case of
inversion is the inversion subject.
In other words, the noun which comes immediately after the verb in
an interrogative sentence is the inversion subject.
In most sentences the concord subject and the inversion subject are the
same. Consider however these sentences:
There are some books on the table.
Are there some books on the table?
There is a plant in the room.
Is there a plant in the room?
‘There’ is the inversion subject in the above sentences and ‘some books’
and ‘a plant’ are concord subjects.
2.Predicate:
In the nuclear part of the sentence construction (or we can say essential
part) which is not the subject is the predicate. The predicate contains the
verb.
Example:
A man
attacked a lion.
(Subject)(Predicate)
Now we can attach adjuncts to this sentence:
A few days ago, a man attacked a lion. (Adjunct)
3.Object:
Notice the verb in the following sentence:
My dog plays.
Plays is the predicate and makes a complete assertion about my dog.
Now notice the verb in the following:
My dog chased.
17
English Grammar
Chased is the predicate, but requires the addition of something such as the
cat to complete the predicate.
My dog chased the cat.
Cat not only completes the predicate but also names the receiver of the
action.
Study the following sentences:
Ravi kicked the ball.
The boys hurt the little pigeon.
The lion shook him.
The little rabbits ate lettuce and carrots.
Ravi, boys, lion, rabbits are the subjects and are the doers of the action.
Ball, pigeon, him, lettuce and carrots are the receivers of the action.
When the receiver of the action completes the predicate, it is called
the object of the verb. We call such an object the direct object.
Sometimes we find that a verb has two objects.
Examine the following sentence:
The librarian gave the boy a book.
Book is the direct object.
Boy is the answer to the question, “to whom was the book given?”
The act of giving involves the boy, though the book was the thing actually
given. Boy is the indirect object.
Read the following carefully:
She gave him a pen.
Pen is the direct object.
Him is the answer to the question, “to whom was the pen given?”
He bought us apples.
Apples is the direct object.
Us is the answer to the question, “for whom were the apples bought?”
The boy made the dog a bed.
Bed is the direct object.
Dog is the answer to the question, “for what was the bed made?”
Him, us and dog are the indirect objects.
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Annie Bindra
The indirect object is that part of the predicate which tells to or for
whom (or what) something is done.
4. Complement:
Quite often a predicate contains, in addition to the verbal elements one
or two objects or a complement. We can say that complement is ‘that
which is necessary to complete the meaning of the verb’. But this is not a complete
definition. Read the following sentences:
The man is (crazy)
The man is (a sailor).
The man became (an engineer).
The man seems (a foreigner).
Without the words in brackets the verbs is, became, and seems cannot make
a full assertion about the man.
The words crazy, a sailor, an engineer, a foreigner fill out or complete the
meaning of the verbs and in each case mean the same person as the subject,
man.
Study the following sentences:
The boy was (hungry).
The boy appears (happy).
The boy feels (sick).
The words in the brackets not only complete the meaning of the verbs
but describe the subject, boy.
That part of the predicate which completes the meaning of the
verb is called the complement.
When the complement means the same person, place or thing as the
subject or describes the subject, it is called the subjective complement.
In the sentences which we have just been studying, the complements
either described the subject or meant the same person or thing as the
subject.
Now study the following examples;
The man angered the boy.
The verb angered makes the assertion.
Boy is the object of the verb angered.
The man made the boy angry.
19
English Grammar
The verb made and the word angry together mean about the same as angered
and both are required to make assertion.
Boy is the object.
Angry describes the object, boy, and completes the meaning of the verb
made.
A word which completes the meaning of the verb by describing the object
or naming the same person, place or thing as the object, is called the
objective complement.
DDD
20
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