Big picture
Grammar describes how words work together to express meaning. Sentence craft applies that knowledge to make writing clear, accurate and varied. An examination may ask you to fill a gap, correct an error, reorder words, join sentences or transform a sentence while preserving its meaning.
The same choices matter outside an examination. “Please return the books tomorrow” gives a clear request; “Books return tomorrow please” makes the reader work harder. Learn a rule through examples, then check the intended meaning before applying it mechanically.
Learning goals
Identify parts of speech, sentence elements, phrases and clauses.
Choose tense and aspect according to time and meaning.
Apply subject–verb agreement, articles, determiners and pronouns.
Use modals, prepositions and conjunctions appropriately.
Transform suitable sentences into passive voice and reported speech.
Edit punctuation, sentence fragments and poorly joined clauses.
Core ideas
1. Parts of speech and sentence elements
A noun names a person, place, thing or idea; a pronoun can stand in place of a noun phrase. A verb expresses an action or state. An adjective modifies a noun, while an adverb can modify a verb, adjective or another adverb. Determiners introduce noun phrases; prepositions show relationships; conjunctions connect grammatical units; interjections express sudden feeling.
In “Those careful pupils arranged the books neatly”, those is a determiner, careful an adjective, pupils a noun, arranged a verb and neatly an adverb. A word's function can change: “We water plants” uses water as a verb, whereas “The water is warm” uses it as a noun.
The subject is what the clause is about. The predicate says something about it and contains the verb. In “The caretaker opened the gate”, the caretaker is the subject and the gate the object. A complement completes meaning without receiving an action: quiet in “The room became quiet” describes the subject.
2. Phrases, clauses and sentence types
A phrase works as a unit without a subject–finite-verb structure: “under the old staircase”. A clause has such a structure: “because the staircase was wet”. A finite verb is related to tense and the clause's subject; “she walks” contains a finite verb, while “to walk” alone does not.
Structure | Explanation | Example |
|---|---|---|
Simple | One independent clause | The bell rang after lunch |
Compound | Independent clauses joined | The bell rang, and pupils returned |
Complex | Main clause with a dependent clause | Pupils returned when the bell rang |
By function, sentences may state, ask, command/request or exclaim. “Close the window” is imperative, with an understood subject you. Avoid a fragment such as “Because the road was blocked.” Complete it: “We walked because the road was blocked.”
3. Tense and aspect
Tense places an event in time; aspect presents it as habitual, ongoing or connected to another point. Use context, not just a memorised signal word. “Every Saturday, Dev visits his aunt” describes a habit. “Dev is visiting her now” describes an ongoing situation.
Form | Pattern | Use and original example |
|---|---|---|
Present simple | base verb; he/she/it adds s or es | Habit: She repairs bicycles |
Present continuous | am/is/are + ing | Now: She is repairing a bicycle |
Present perfect | has/have + past participle | Present result: She has repaired the brake |
Past simple | past form | Finished time: She repaired it yesterday |
Past continuous | was/were + ing | Background: She was working when I arrived |
Past perfect | had + past participle | Earlier past: She had left before I arrived |
Future with will | will + base verb | Prediction: The repair will take time |
Perfect continuous | has/have/had been + ing | Duration: She has been working for an hour |
Incorrect: “She has repaired it yesterday.” Correct: “She repaired it yesterday.” A finished past-time expression normally calls for the past simple. Incorrect: “I am knowing the answer.” Correct: “I know the answer.” Stative verbs such as know generally use simple forms in this meaning. Use since with a starting point and for with a duration: since Monday; for three days.
4. Subject–verb agreement
A singular third-person subject generally takes is, has or a present verb ending in s; a plural subject takes are, have or the base form. Find the head of the subject before choosing the verb. “The box of crayons is missing”: box controls agreement, not crayons.
Incorrect: “Each of the players have a badge.” Correct: “Each of the players has a badge.” Each and everyone are grammatically singular. “Rita and her brother are ready” has a compound subject. With either…or and neither…nor, agreement commonly follows the nearer subject: “Neither the teacher nor the pupils are late.” For clarity, recast awkward mixtures where possible.
Uncountable nouns normally take singular verbs: “The information is useful.” Do not write “informations”. Distinguish “There is a problem” from “There are several problems”; the noun after the verb determines the number here.
5. Determiners, articles and pronouns
Use a/an for one nonspecific singular countable noun; choose by sound. “A university” begins with a consonant sound; “an honest reply” begins with a vowel sound. The commonly identifies something already known: “I saw a kite. The kite was blue.” General plural or uncountable nouns can take no article: “Books help us learn”; “Water is necessary.”
Use many/few with countable plurals and much/little with uncountables. A few means some; few suggests an insufficient number. “There is little paint” suggests scarcity, whereas “There is a little paint” confirms some remains. Incorrect: “How much chairs?” Correct: “How many chairs?”
Pronouns must have clear references. “Sonal told Pihu that she had won” is ambiguous. Write “Sonal told Pihu, ‘You have won’” if Pihu is the winner. Use subject forms before a verb and object forms after a verb or preposition: “She and I volunteered”; “The teacher thanked her and me.” Its shows possession; it's means it is or it has.
6. Modals and non-finite forms
Modals express ability, permission, advice, obligation or possibility. They take the base verb: “She can swim”, not “She can swims”. May can request permission; should often gives advice; must can express strong obligation. Meaning determines the best choice because several modals can be grammatical in the same gap.
Compare “You must not enter” with “You need not enter”. The first prohibits entry; the second removes an obligation. “You should carry water” advises rather than guarantees that someone will carry it.
An infinitive often uses to + base verb: “They hope to win.” A gerund is an ing form working like a noun: “Swimming strengthens stamina.” A participle can modify a noun: “The broken handle needs repair.” Incorrect: “She enjoys to sketch.” Correct: “She enjoys sketching.” Learn the verb pattern with the verb rather than assuming every verb accepts the same form.
7. Prepositions and conjunctions
Prepositions establish relationships: at noon, on Tuesday, in November; between two buildings; through a tunnel. Since marks a starting point and for marks duration. Incorrect: “We discussed about the plan.” Correct: “We discussed the plan.” Some verbs take direct objects without an extra preposition.
Conjunctions connect ideas logically. “Although it rained, we played indoors” concedes an obstacle. “We played indoors because it rained” supplies a cause. Avoid doubling connectors in standard examination writing: “Although it rained, but we continued” should become “Although it rained, we continued.”
Use parallel forms with paired connectors: “She likes both cycling and skating”, not “both cycling and to skate”. When combining sentences, preserve their relationship: addition, contrast, reason, result or condition. “If you practise, you will improve” presents a real future possibility; the if-clause normally uses present simple, not will.
8. Active and passive voice
In active voice, the subject performs the action: “The monitor collected the sheets.” In passive voice, the affected object becomes the subject: “The sheets were collected by the monitor.” Use an appropriate form of be plus the past participle, and keep the tense.
Active | Passive |
|---|---|
The team cleans the room | The room is cleaned by the team |
The team cleaned the room | The room was cleaned by the team |
The team will clean the room | The room will be cleaned by the team |
The team has cleaned the room | The room has been cleaned by the team |
A by-phrase can be omitted if the agent is unknown or unimportant. A verb without an object usually cannot form this kind of passive: “The baby slept” does not become “The baby was slept.” Incorrect: “The sheets was collected.” Correct: “The sheets were collected.”
9. Direct and reported speech
Direct speech gives the speaker's words. Reported speech conveys their content. With a past reporting verb, tenses often move back when appropriate: “Leena said, ‘I am ready’” becomes “Leena said that she was ready.” Pronouns change according to who spoke and who is reporting.
Time and place words change only when the reporting situation requires it: today may become that day; here may become there. A continuing universal truth need not backshift: “The teacher said that the Earth moves around the Sun.”
For questions, use statement order: “He asked, ‘Where do you live?’” becomes “He asked where I lived”, not “where did I live”. A yes/no question takes if or whether: “She asked whether the gate was open.” For commands, use an object and infinitive: “The coach told us to wait.” Negative command: “The coach told us not to run.”
10. Punctuation, transformation and editing
Use a capital at the beginning and a suitable end mark. An apostrophe can mark possession or omitted letters: the pupil's notebook; the pupils' notebooks; don't. Do not use it to create an ordinary plural: books, not book's.
Avoid a comma splice, where a comma alone joins complete clauses: “The bus arrived, we boarded.” Write “The bus arrived, and we boarded” or use two sentences. In dialogue, mark the actual spoken words consistently: Mira said, “Please wait.”
A transformation must preserve meaning. “He was too tired to continue” can become “He was so tired that he could not continue.” For editing, check one level at a time: sentence completeness, verb, noun/pronoun, connecting word and punctuation. Reordering also requires meaning: “the / quietly / librarian / spoke” becomes “The librarian spoke quietly.”
A reliable approach to questions
Read the complete sentence or paragraph to establish meaning and time.
Identify the subject, finite verb and any object or complement.
Decide which rule the question tests before changing a word.
Apply the rule while preserving tense, reference and intended meaning.
Reread the completed version aloud mentally for missing words or awkward joins.
Check punctuation and ensure that only the requested transformation has been made.
Connections that matter
Narrative writing uses past tense consistently while flashbacks may require past perfect.
Functional writing depends on polite modals, complete instructions and clear pronoun reference.
Reading comprehension uses conjunctions and verb forms to follow time, contrast and cause.
Common mistakes
Choosing agreement from the nearest noun: locate the subject's head first.
Applying a/an by written letter: use the following sound instead.
Keeping question order in reported questions: change to statement word order.
Changing meaning during transformation: preserve obligation, possibility, tense and participants.
Revision checklist
I can identify a phrase, clause, subject and predicate.
I can select and explain a suitable tense and agreement form.
I can choose determiners, pronouns and modals in context.
I can join clauses without fragments or comma splices.
I can transform suitable voice and speech examples accurately.
I can edit punctuation while preserving meaning.