English Grammar Complete Guide

ARTICLESDEFINITE ARTICLE The

INDEFINITE ARTICLE A/An

● The (SINGULAR AND PLURAL)a) When a singular noun (animal or

thing)stands for a whole class

Eg: The tree is known by its fruit

NOTE 1) When you want to use a plural noun i.e ‘trees’ instead of ‘tree’,then you should avoid the article ‘the’-trees are man’s best friends.

NOTE 2) “The” is never used before ‘Man’ and ‘woman’ when these words represent the whole class.

Eg:Man is the most intelligent of all living ceatures

b)To denote a particular person ,thing or one already mentioned.

Eg: I forgot the name of that fair haired girl

c) With superlatives:

Eg: This is the best biryani that i ever tasted

d) When we refer to classical books of scriptures

eg:The Gita.

e) When referring to names of newspaper or periodicals.

eg:The Reader’s Digest.

f) When referring to the names of rivers,canals,

Oceans,seas,gulfs,mountains,peaks,hills,glaciersbays,groups of islands,straits,ocean currents,sea channels etc.

Eg: The Ganga, The Himalayas.

g) When referring to the various geographical imaginary lines.

eg:The Tropic of cancer ,The equator.

h) Before a proper noun only when it is qualified by an adjective.Eg: The great Amitabh bachchan

I) Before nouns that are unique

eg: The sun, The Earth etc.

j) When emphasis is needed to be given to a noun.

Eg: Rohan is the man of the match

k) Before comparatives as an adverbeg:The more one’s effort the greater his success will be.

l) With ordinals:

Eg: The fifth chapter of this book is very boring.

m) With names of musical instruments

Eg: The guitar,the mouth organ,the trumpet.

“A” (SINGULAR)

a) Before a word beginning with a consonant to denote one number.

Eg: a table,a rupee note etc.

b) Before a word starting with a vowel having a consonantal sound to it.

Eg: a unit,a useful article,a university etc.

“An“ (singular)a) Before a word beginning with a vowel

i.e a.e.i.o.u;

Eg: an eye ,an aeroplane etc.

b) Before a word beginning with a vowel sound even though it is starting with a consonant

Eg: an hotel,an hour,an historical monument.

Note: With the words hotel and historical ‘a’ is also used though the more correct form to use is ‘an’.

Omission of the articlesa) Before the two common nouns ‘man’ and ‘woman’

when these nouns are used to represent mnkind or womankind as a whole eg: Man is not immortal

b) Before a proper noun: Eg: Mumbai is the commercial capital of India

c) When used before common nouns taken in their

Widest sense.

Eg:What kind of bird is this?

d) Before Abstract nouns:

Eg: Silence is golden

e) Before material nouns:

Eg: Gold is the king of metals.

f) Before titles preceding proper nouns:

Eg: Grand Canyon

g) Before languages: Eg: We speak Hindi at home.

h) In many phrases in which a Transitive verb is followed by its object.

Eg: To setfoot,to send word ,to give ear,to pay attention etc.

i) Before names of relations,like sister ,brother etc.

Eg: sister leaves for mumbai tonight.

‘The’ is used to be used before the superlative degree.

‘The’ is used for what has already been mentioned

‘The’ is used before races eg: The Aryans.

Exercise:

1) The Yamuna is a tributary of the Ganges.

2) Most children remain in school of the ages of six and sixteen (preposition).

3) He saw a star shooting down towards the earth.

4) The rich must always help the poor

Degrees

Positive

Comparative

Superlative

KEYWORDS:

Positive degree: Comparative degree:

1) As-as 1) er-than

2) So-as 2) -

Superlative degree :

1) the_est

Regular forms

Tall-taller-tallest

Small-smaller-smallest

Y=i1) Easy-easier-easiest

2) heavy-heavier-heaviest

Double + er

Thin thinner thinnest

Hot hotter hottest

Fat fatter fattest

Irregular forms:

Good better best

Bad worse worst

Beautiful more beautiful most beautiful

Difficult more difficult most difficult

Type 1:

(Comparison between two people or objects)

Here only two people or two things are compared therefore only two degrees are required

I.e positive and comparative

There is no need to change into superlative degree.

Type 2:

Superlative -the best

Comparative-better than any other

Positive-no other as good as

Type 3:

Superlative- one of the best.

Comparative- better than many(or most) other

Positive- very few as good as

Positive Degree Comparative Degree Superlative degree

1 ) As-as not er-than X

2)Not as-as er-than X

3)No other as-as er-than any other the est

4)Very few as-as er than many one of the est

/most other

Eg 1: Virat is as tall as Sachin-Positive

Sachin is not taller than Virat- Comparative

Superlative : X

Eg 2: Kashmira is not as fat as Rohini- Positive

Rohini is fatter than kashmira- Comparative

Superlative: X

Eg 3: Sachin is a best batsman -Positive

Sachin is better than any other batsman-Comparative

No other batsman is as good as Sachin.

PREPOSITIONS

A preposition is a word which is placed before a noun or a pronoun and many indicate different things:

Prepositions denoting place: in,at,on,into,among,against,before,behind,below,

between,beside,from,near,over,through,towards,under

up,within ,without,upon.

Prepositions denoting time: on,by,in,during,after,from,at,before,behind,for,under,

Since,throughout,till,to until,with,within,upto.

Prepositions denoting possession: of ,with.

Phrase prepositions:

Are made up of more than one word

Eg: according to,fond of,in order to,because of,instead of,on account of,in comparison to,owing to,in lieu of etc.

Between: is used when two person is there

Among: is used when more then two person is there

Upon:when there is any activity on the table.

RULES:

1) Interchange the position of subject and the receiver object.

2) Add verb ‘tobe’ in the tense of the Active verb

3) Add the past participle of the Active verb(in some cases it may already be present in the active sentence)

Active and passive voice

4) Add the preposition(Mostly by)

ACTIVE VOICE PASSIVE VOICE

I me

She her

He him

They them

Active voice Passive voice

We us

Who whom

You you

It it

Tense Active voice Passive voice

Simple present

s+v1(or)s-es form+o+c

o+is/am/are+v3+by+s+c

Simple past s+v2+o+c o+was/were+v3+by+s+c

Simple future s+modal+v1+o+c o+modal+be+v3+by+s+c

Present continuous

s+is/am/are+v1+ing+o+c

o+is/am/are+being+v3+by+s+c

Past continuous

s+was/were+v1+ing+o+c

o+was/were+ being+v3+by+s+c

Present perfect

s+has/have+v3+o+c

o+has/have+been+v3+by+s+c

Past continuous

s+was/were+v1+ing+o+c

o+was/were+being+v3+by+s+c

Present perfect

s+has/have+v3+o+c

o+has/have+ been+v3+by+s+c

Past perfect s+had+v3+o+c o+had +been+v3+by+s+c

Future perfect

s+modal+have+v3+o+c

O+modal+have been+v3+by+s+c

PRESENT PAST FUTURE

SIMPLE We go We went We shall go

CONTINUOUS We are going

We were going

We shall be going

PERFECT We have gone

We had gone

We will have gone

PERFECT CONTINUOUS

We have been going

We had been going

We will have been going

Degrees

Positive

Comparative

Superlative

keywords:

Positive degree: Comparative degree:

1) As-as 1) er-than

2) So-as 2) -

Superlative degree:

Superlative degree:1) The-est

Regular forms:

1) Tall-taller-tallest.2)Small smaller smallest.

● Y=i

Easy-easier easiest

heavy-heavier-heaviest

Double + er

Thin thinner thinnest

Hot hotter hottest

Fat fatter fattest

Irregular forms:

Good better best

Bad worse worst

Beautiful more beautiful most beautiful

Difficult more difficult most difficult

Type 1:(comparison between two people or objects)

Here only two people or two things are compared therefore only two degrees are required

I.e positive and comparative

There is no need to change into superlative degree.

Type 2:

Superlative -the best

Comparative -better than any other

Positive- no other as good as

Type 3:

Superlative degree - one of the best

Comparative degree - better than many (or most)other

Positive degree - very few as good as

Positive Comparative Superlative Degree Degree DegreeAs-as not er-than x

No other as-as er-than x

No other as-as er-than any other the est

Very few as-as er-than many/ one of the est

/most other

Present

A) Simple present

Eg: He goes to school.

Interrogative

Eg: Doesn’t he goes to school.

SIMPLE PRESENT

1) In this tense ‘the verb’ is also in present form

2) If the subject is of singular nos then ‘es’ or ‘s’ is added to the verb.

3) If the subject is of plural nos the verb remain as it is

Eg : they write letters.

4) if the sentence is neg or interrogative ’does ’ with singular no.subject and ‘do’ with plural no.subject.

5) if the sent is in passive voice from then ‘is’ or ’are’ are used as ‘to be’ form of the helping verb & the main verb is used in it’s third form ‘past participle’.

Q.where to use this tense

1.Indicate habit.

2.Indicate routine.

Clause Analysis

A complex sentence is made up to main clause and a subordinate clause.

Noun clause: what ? (ask)

Type example explanation

1) subject of where he hid his The subordinate

the verb money is a noun clause comes

mystery before the verb in

the main clause

Type Example Explanation 2) object of do you know why The subordinate

the verb the animals look noun clause

sad ? comes after the

verb in the main

clause

Type Example Explanation

3) object of an The child tried to The subordinate

Infinitive explain what he noun clause comes

saw after an infinitive

in the main clause

Type Example Explanation

4) object of a it all depends The subordinate preposition how you speak noun clause comes after a preposition in the main clause

Type Example Explanation

5) Complement A man can The subordinate

of a verb become what clause noun

he thinks completes the

meaning of a verb of

Incomplete prediction

Type Example Explanation

6)

In apposition It is certain that The meaning of

to a noun or you will succeed a noun or

a pronoun pronoun in

Type Explain Explanation

main clause is

expressed by

the subordinate

noun clause.

Eg: 1) They agreed that one of them would work

Ans: They agreed: Main clause

that one of them would work- Subordinate

Noun clause object of the verb ’agreed’ in

the main clause.

Adjective clause :

It qualifies a noun or a pronoun in main clause

ask : which or who to the main clause

Q:1) One of the places that i visited was the Buddhist temple

One of the places was the Buddhist temple -Main clause

That i visited -subordinate adjective clause qualifying the noun ‘places’ in the main clause

ANSWER

Adverb clause:

It modify a verb,an adjective or another adverb.

Three types of adverb clause can be identified by asking questions whereas the rest can be identified with the help of subordinators.

Ask: when ,where ,how?

Type QTS Subordinator Examples

Time when when,whenever, she left

while,till,until, after she

after,before, had given

since her vote

Type QTS Subordinators Examples

Place where where,wherever He makes

friends

whereever

he goes

Type QTS Subordinators Examples

Manner how as,asif It happened

as I told to

You

Type QTS Subordinators Examples

Reason Sub as,since,because since you say

so, I must

believe it.

Type QTS Subordinators Example

Purpose Sub so that,such that, we eat so that

In order that we may live

Type QTS Subordinators Example

Contrast Sub though,although This would be

even though, a good place

evenif to come to

Type QTS Subordinators Example

relax,though

when the

weather

warmed

Type QTS Subordinators Example

Condition Sub if,unless,whether If I make a

promise,

I keep it.

Type QTS Subordinators Example

Result Sub so...that,such...that He was so

(so,such_main clause happy

that-sub clause) (that he

jumped

with joy.

Type QTS Subordinators Example

Comparison Sub as….as,so...as , He is not

than(first as, so rich(as

so-main clause he

as,than-sub clause) appears)

NOTE

The 1st seven types modify verb in main clause

The 8th type modifies the adverb in main clause

The 9th type modifies the adjective or adverb in main clause.

Transformation of sentences Types of transformation

1. Interchanging affirmative to Negative sentences.

2. Interchanging exclamatory to assertive sentences.

3. Interchanging interrogative to assertive sentences.

4. Remove ‘too’.

5. Use ‘Not only….but also’.

6.Use ‘No sooner…..than’/As soon as

7.Remove ‘If /unless’.

8.Use ‘Question tag’.

Q.1 Interchanging affirmative to negative sentence & vice versa

Negative Affirmative

1. Nothing except / only

nothing but / None

Negative Affirmative

2. not allowed to/not prohibited from/

more than forbidden from…..ing.

3. could not + verb failed to + verb

4. Negative adjective opposite adjective

Negative Affirmative

5. Not only…..but also As well as /both… and...

6. not many few/hardly

7. not often rarely/seldom

8. never always

Negative Affirmative

9. no one everyone

10. neither -nor both...as…./as well as

11. positive degree of The comparative & super-

comparison is very lative degree is generally

affirmative

Negative Affirmative

So….that + negation too...to+affirmation

nowhere anywhere

If + negation unless + affirmative

No sooner….than as soon as

Negative Affirmative

Couldn’t unable

do ,does,did refused,hardly

Little much

Q.2 Interchanging exclamatory to assertivesentences and vice versa

There are only two types of exclamatory sentences

1.How…..!

2.What a…..!

3. How is used for pronoun(He,She)

what is used for nouns or a/an is used

Q.3 To convert exclamatory sentences to assertive sentences we use indeed, really,truly,extremely.

4.The assertive sentence ends with fullstop while exclamatory sentences ends with (!)

Q.4 Remove ‘too‘

1.Too = also /not only…..but also/as well as/both… and….

2.Too= very/extremely.

3.Too-to + negation=so that + affirmative

Q.5 Remove ‘If/unless’

Q.6 Use ’not only-but also’

Q.7 Use ‘no sooner-than’/As soon as

Q.8 Question tag

Statement ,Auxiliary verb + subject pronoun + ?

RULES:

1. Statement is affirmative then Question tag is negative

2. Statement is negative then Question tag is opposite(affirmative)

3. If the sent contains an auxiliary verb,use the same to form a Question tag.

4. If the sentence does not contain an auxiliary verb,use do/does/did to form a Question tag.To the above sentences do not contain an auxiliary verb so we do/does/did.

If the verb in the sentence is a form of ‘to be’ use the same verb as an auxiliary to form the question tag.

Imperative sentences

Eg: If it is an order the question tag is ’will you ? ’

If it is an a request the question tag is

‘won’t you’?

Some peculiar types:

Eg: I am angry, aren’t I ?

Let’s go to the beach, shall we?

There were many people on the road ,weren’t there?

Everybody has learnt the lesson ,haven’t they?

Modal Auxiliaries

Two types of auxiliary verbs:

a) Primary Auxiliary and

b) Modal Auxiliary

Three types of primary auxiliary verbs:

1) to be: am,is,are,was,were.

2) to do: do,does,did.

3) to have: have,has,had

Functions of modal auxiliaries :

Can

Ability,permission

Polite request Permission

Suggestion

Past tense of can

Past ability

Could

●May

Possibility

Permission

Prayer,Wish or Curse

Offer help

●Might

Past tense of May

Remote possibility

●Will

Future tense Determination/willingness,

Polite request certainity.

Order

Invitation

●Would

Past tense of will

Polite request

Action in past

Shall Should Will

Threat Past tense of shall certainity

Prohibition Obligation

suggestion Probability

Suggestion

Condition

Must Ought to Used to Need

Obligation Obligation Past habit Necessity

Guess Probability Existence of

Compulsion something

in past

●Dare

Courage

Challenge

Question Formation

Interrogative word Denotes

Where Place

When time

Who subject

Interrogative word Denotes

Whom (Person)direct object

What (Thing)subordinate object

Whose Possession

Why Reason

Interrogative word Denotes

How Manner

How much Quantity

How many numbers

Which Specific things

Eg:1) Mini turned off the T.V ?

Ans: Who turned off the T.V ?

2) The end of school was a momentous occasion

Ans: what was a momentous occasion?

Figures of Speech

1. Simile : direct comparison

Words: so,as or like

2. Metaphor : indirect comparison

Words: as,so,like are not used

Antithesis: Words with opposite meaning

Alliteration: Sound of initial letters is repeat

Inversion : order of sent is changed

Personification: giving human quality

Repetition : words are repeated

Interrogation: A question is asked

Euphemism: A harsh fact is stated in a mild way

Climax : words are arranged in ascending order

Synecdoche: It could denote part for the whole for

the part used to signify a part of

something

Eg: The whole world is used to signify people

Apostrophe: direct address to something non-living

or dead

Paradox: opposite or contrasting ideas

Exclamation: where exclamation is used

Hyperbole: exaggerated statement

Transferred Epithet: adjective is transferred to

other word

Tautology: use of unnecessary words to express

the same idea

Onomatopoeia: sound or echo

Pun: play upon words

Simple, Compound and Complex

Making simple sentences :

Simple sentence contains 1 subject + 1 finite verb

You may have to change from compound to simple or complex to simple or synthesize two or

In all above cases the question will contain more

than one finite verb and your task while making a

simple sentence is to retain one finite verb.

more sentence into one single simple sentence.

The question you face is ‘what can i do about the other Finite verb ? ’

Well,the other Finite verb can be deleted if it repeat or the following option can use:

Non finite verb like participle(ing),gerund or infinitive (To +V) or other forms of verb like Noun,adjective,adverb.

● By using participle

ing form or past participle ‘en ,ed ,t’

By using infinitive:( To + verb )

By using preposition with gerund or noun gerund -ing preceeds by preposition

By using noun or phrase in apposition

By using adjective

By using adverb or adverbial phrase.

Making Compound sentence

A Compound sentence is made of two or more co-ordinate clause, joined by coordinator

By using cumulative coordinators:

Ideas are similar : and,both...and,as well as,not only...but also,not as well as

By using adversative coordinators:

Ideas are opposite : but,yet,however,still.

By using alternative coordinators:

Choice : or,either/or,neither/nor.

By using illative coordinators :

Cause,reason,effect relation,so,for,therefore

Making simple to compound:

One part of the simple sentence ,which sounds

as a complete sentence should be retained as

one coordinate clause.

The other part which could be a phrase or a word should be made into a clause by adding a subject and a verb.

Both should be joined by using a suitable coordinator.

Making complex to compound:

A complex sentence has one main clause and one or more subordinate clauses,which starts with a subordinator

The main clause should be retained as one coordinate clause.

The subordinate clause should be changed to a coordinate clause by removing the subordinator.

Both should be joined by using an appropriate

coordinator

Making complex sentence:

Made up of one main clause and one or more subordinate clause starts with subordinator

Subordinators

Who,whoever,which,whichever,what,whatever,

When,whenever,where,wherever,why,while,

Whether,if,so….that,since,how,as,after,although,

before,such that,because,unless.

Making simple to complex:

One part of simple sentence, which sounds as complete sentence should be retained as Main clause

The other part which could be a phrase or a word should be made into a subordinate clause by adding a subject or a verb.

Making compound to complex:

A Compound sentence has two coordinate clause join with a coordinator.

One of the coordinate clause should be named as main clause.

The other clause should be changed into a subordinate clause by adding a subordinator.

The coordinator should be removed.

Basic Grammar

A verb tells about a person in state of:

Doing, being, possession

Verbs can be classified into:

Transitive : passes over from subject to object

(action)

Intransitive: does not passes over from subject

to object

Finite verb: Action + tense

Non finite verb : Action but X tense

Types of non-finite verb:

1. Praticiple:

Present participle: verb+ing

Past participle: ed/en/t/nt/n…...

Collocation

2. Gerund: verb + ing

3. Infinitive: to + verb Eg: concrete jungle

Strong tea

Determiners

Definite: This ,may, the etc

Indefinite: Many,some,few ,much

Negative: No

Word formation

Noun form :

Adding ance, al, ty,ment,sion,tion,ence

answer should be a abstract noun

Eg: accept: acceptance

Inspire: inspiration

Adjective form: Hint:to be

Adding to a noun: al,ous,ve,ate,ful,ic,able,ly,y,ent,

arcy,ory,ant.

Verb form: verb governed by subject

HINT : to

Adverb form: adverb modifies a verb add ’ly’

Eg: glamour : glamourly

homophones:

Sea:see

be:bee