Big picture
Grammar makes relationships between words clear. It shows who acts, when something happens, how certain a statement is, and how ideas connect. In an examination, the aim is not to name every rule in isolation but to use a rule to produce a meaningful, accurate sentence.
Consider a message about a school trip: “Each of the students have submitted their form yesterday.” The reader can guess the meaning, yet the agreement and tense need repair. “Each of the students submitted the form yesterday” communicates the completed action clearly. This chapter develops that habit of checking meaning and structure together.
Learning goals
Select tenses that match time and aspect.
Apply subject–verb agreement and determiner rules.
Choose modals according to permission, ability and obligation.
Convert statements, questions and commands into reported speech.
Combine clauses and transform sentences without changing meaning.
Edit errors using grammatical evidence rather than sound alone.
Core ideas
1. Find the sentence backbone
A subject is the person, thing or idea about which a clause makes a statement. A finite verb changes with tense or agreement. An object receives an action, while a complement completes a meaning. In “The volunteers painted the wall blue”, “the volunteers” is the subject, “painted” the finite verb, “the wall” the object and “blue” an object complement.
A complete statement needs an independent clause. “Because the library closed early” is a fragment if left alone: it gives a reason without stating the main event. Correct: “We returned home because the library closed early.” Likewise, “The gate opened, the children entered” is a comma splice. Correct it with a full stop, semicolon, or conjunction: “The gate opened, and the children entered.”
2. Tense and aspect
Tense places a situation in time; aspect shows whether it is viewed as habitual, ongoing or connected to another point. Learn the meaning rather than selecting a form from a single signal word.
Form | Main use | Correct example |
|---|---|---|
Simple present | Habit or general fact | Kavya reads on the bus |
Present continuous | Action in progress or temporary situation | Kavya is reading in the courtyard |
Present perfect | Past action connected to now | Kavya has returned the book |
Present perfect continuous | Activity continuing over a period | Kavya has been reading since breakfast |
Simple past | Finished event at a past time | Kavya returned it yesterday |
Past continuous | Action underway at a past moment | Kavya was reading when I arrived |
Past perfect | Earlier of two relevant past situations | Kavya had left before the rain began |
Simple future | Prediction or decision expressed with will | Kavya will return tomorrow |
Incorrect: “I have visited Jaipur last Monday.” Correct: “I visited Jaipur last Monday.” A completed past-time expression normally requires the simple past here. Incorrect: “She is knowing the answer.” Correct: “She knows the answer.” Many stative verbs, such as know and believe, normally use a simple form in this meaning.
Use since for a starting point and for for a duration: “since April”, “for several weeks”. For a future time clause, use the present form: “I will call when the bus arrives”, not “when the bus will arrive”. The main clause already establishes future time.
3. Subject–verb agreement
The finite verb agrees with the subject's head, not with a nearby noun. Incorrect: “The box of pencils are missing.” Correct: “The box of pencils is missing.” “Pencils” belongs to the phrase describing the singular box.
Construction | Rule and example |
|---|---|
Each, everyone, neither used alone | Singular: Each is ready |
Two subjects joined by and | Usually plural: Ritu and Dev are ready |
Either ... or; neither ... nor | Agree with the nearer subject in standard school exercises: Neither the teachers nor the principal is absent |
Uncountable noun | Singular: The information is useful |
A number of + plural noun | Plural: A number of students are waiting |
The number of + plural noun | Singular: The number of applicants is rising |
Some collective nouns allow variation according to whether the group is treated as a unit or as individuals. Use clear examples in objective answers rather than relying on an ambiguous collective noun. “The team is ready for its match” clearly presents one unit.
4. Determiners and articles
A determiner introduces a noun and helps identify its reference or quantity. Use “a” or “an” before a singular countable noun when introducing an unspecified member. The choice follows sound: “an honest reply” but “a useful reply”. Use “the” for an identified noun: “I borrowed a map. The map was torn.”
Use many/few/a few with plural countable nouns and much/little/a little with uncountable nouns. “Few seats remain” emphasises scarcity; “a few seats remain” emphasises that some are available. “Little water remains” suggests almost none; “a little water remains” says some remains.
Incorrect: “She gave me an advice.” Correct: “She gave me some advice” or “a piece of advice”. Incorrect: “Every students has a card.” Correct: “Every student has a card.” “Each” and “every” take a singular countable noun in this construction. In offers and requests, “some” can appear in questions: “Would you like some water?”
5. Modals and meaning
A modal auxiliary is followed by the base verb: “She can solve it”, not “can solves”. The modal's meaning depends on context.
Meaning | Example | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
Ability | I can swim | I have the skill |
Permission | May I enter? | I request permission |
Possibility | It might rain | Rain is possible, not certain |
Strong obligation | You must wear a helmet | The requirement is strong |
Advice | You should revise the diagram | This is recommended |
Prohibition | You must not enter | Entry is forbidden |
Absence of necessity | You need not bring paper | Bringing paper is unnecessary |
Do not interchange the last two. “You need not pay” permits non-payment; “You must not pay” forbids payment. For a past obligation, use “had to”: “We had to wait.” A modal perfect can refer to past judgement: “She should have checked” means the desirable checking did not occur or is being criticised as omitted.
6. Reported statements
In reported speech, adjust the viewpoint, pronouns and relevant time expressions. Direct: “I am preparing my chart,” Nisha said. Reported: “Nisha said that she was preparing her chart.” With a past reporting verb, present forms commonly shift into corresponding past forms.
Typical shifts include simple present to simple past, present continuous to past continuous, and present perfect to past perfect. “Will” commonly becomes “would”; “can” commonly becomes “could”. Past perfect normally remains past perfect. A continuing universal fact need not shift: “The teacher said that water expands on freezing.”
Time and place expressions change only when the reporting situation requires it. “Tomorrow” becomes “the next day” if the report is made from a later viewpoint. Do not mechanically change “here” if speaker and reporter remain in the same place. Reported speech communicates the original meaning from the reporter's position.
7. Reported questions and requests
A reported question uses statement order. Direct: “Where do you live?” she asked Arun. Reported: “She asked Arun where he lived.” Incorrect: “She asked where did he live.” The auxiliary inversion belongs to the direct question, not the reported clause.
For a yes/no question, introduce if or whether: “The guard asked whether we had tickets.” For a command, use an appropriate reporting verb followed by object + to-infinitive: “The coach instructed us to stretch.” A negative command becomes “not to”: “The librarian asked them not to shout.”
Choose a reporting verb that preserves purpose. “Please lend me your notes” is a request, so “She requested him to lend her his notes” fits better than “She ordered him”. No question mark is needed when the whole reported sentence is a statement.
8. Clauses, connectors and transformations
An independent clause can stand alone; a dependent clause relies on another clause. Relative clauses describe nouns: “The student who repaired the model explained it.” Use “who” for people, “which” for things, and “whose” for possession where suitable.
Connectors express logical relations. Incorrect: “Although it rained, but we continued.” Correct: “Although it rained, we continued” or “It rained, but we continued.” “Because” introduces a clause; “because of” introduces a noun phrase: “because the road flooded” versus “because of the flood”.
Transform without changing meaning. “The bag is too heavy for me to lift” becomes “The bag is so heavy that I cannot lift it.” Do not omit the negative consequence. In a real future condition, use “If you practise, you will improve.” An unreal present condition can use “If I had more time, I would join.” Match the intended situation rather than mixing structures.
9. Active, passive and editing
In active voice, the subject performs the action: “The club organised the exhibition.” In passive voice, the receiver becomes subject: “The exhibition was organised by the club.” Preserve the tense using the suitable form of be + past participle. Passive voice is supplementary sentence-craft practice; prioritise the forms named in your course's assessment.
For editing, identify the exact relationship broken. In “Each of the players have a badge”, replace “have” with “has” because “each” is singular. In “He did not went”, replace “went” with “go” because “did” already carries the past tense. In “She asked where was the hall”, use “where the hall was” because reported questions require statement order. Explain the correction rather than saying only that it sounds better.
A reliable approach to questions
Read the full sentence and establish its intended meaning and time.
Locate the subject and finite verb before checking nearby nouns.
Identify whether the gap requires a verb, determiner, modal or connector.
In reported speech, track speaker, listener, time and clause order.
Substitute the proposed answer and reread the whole sentence.
Check that a transformation preserves tense, reference and meaning.
Connections that matter
Functional writing depends on accurate requests, agreement and formal sentence structure.
Reading comprehension uses tense and modals to distinguish completed facts from possibilities.
Creative writing uses controlled changes of tense and viewpoint to tell coherent stories.
Common mistakes
Matching the verb to the closest noun: find the subject's head instead.
Using a present perfect with a finished past time: use the simple past in that context.
Keeping question inversion in reported speech: use statement order.
Treating prohibition as lack of necessity: distinguish “must not” from “need not”.
Revision checklist
I can select a verb form from time and aspect.
I can explain agreement with each, number and uncountable nouns.
I can choose determiners and modals according to meaning.
I can report statements, questions and commands accurately.
I can combine or transform sentences without changing their message.
I can justify an editing correction with a specific rule.