English Grammar - Spoken English Institute - Lucknow

English Grammar

Confidence, Fluency & Personality

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English Grammar

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INTRODUCTION TO CDI

The Career Development Institute was established to achieve the following objectives:

 You might have a professional degree ,you might be a good student you might be very good in the subject knowledge but if you lack communication you will not be able to communicate your knowledge to the other person henceforth losing out on the future prospects even if you get through it you would not get the desired package.

 Recognizing the importance of English Language Fluency is the success of every career, CDI has introduced a range of programs to enhance English communication skills for Individuals. Whether you wish to start learning English as a beginner or whether you are a student, Executive, House wife, we have the right learning package for you, based on your level.

 CDI teaches English in a very easy way making it as a part of your daily life. The institute emphasize in teaching British English because it is the most acceptable language over the world with the use of correct grammar and neutral accent.

 CDI offers programs catering to various levels of learners from the basics to the advances level.

 Other career Options - In today’s work culture every carrier option would require an individual to be good in communication as well as in interpersonal skills no matter how qualified you are in the respected subject of interest.

Various Job Fields - Information Technology, Management, Retail Industry, Mass Communication, Bioinformatics, Biotechnology, Fashion design, Allied health, Telecom, Hospitality, Banking and Commerce, Army, Infrastructure, Sales and Marketing, Aviation, Finance, Legal, Manufacturing and Engineering, Acting and Sports.

Confidence, Fluency & Personality

English Grammar

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Topic No Topic Name

Page No

1

The Sentence

3 – 11

2

Noun

12 – 18

3

Adjective

19 – 30

4

Articles

31 – 35

5

Adverb

36 - 41

6

Case

42 – 44

7

Clauses

44 – 49

8

Conjunction

50 – 51

9

Determiners

52 – 52

10

Gerunds and Infinitives

53 – 56

11

Preposition

57 – 62

12

Pronouns

63 – 65

13

Direct and Indirect Speech

66 – 69

14

Pluralisation Guide

70 – 71

15

Punctuation Guide

72 – 74

16

Asking Questions

75 – 80

17

Spelling Guide

81 – 82

18

Prefixes and Suffixes

83 – 86

19

Tenses

87 – 98

20

Verb

99 – 113

21

Grammar Chants

101 - 102

22

1000 Most Common Phrases

103 – 111

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English Grammar

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CHAPTER 1 - THE SENTENCE Exclamatory Sentence - A sentence that expresses

Let’s take two Examples –

strong feeling. E.g. how cold the night is!

Sentence No 1 – Ram is a Good Boy.

SUBJECT AND PREDICATE

Sentence No 2 – Boy is good Ram.

When we make a sentence –

Now can you tell which sentence is correct Sentence 1 or Sentence 2?

-

We name some person or thing and

-

Say something about that person or thing

In other words, we must have a subject to speak about

The answer is Sentence 1 because the group of words in Sentence 1 in making sense (you can understand) So a group of words like this, which makes complete sense (you can understand), is called a Sentence.

and we must say or predicate something about that subject. Hence every sentence has 2 parts – Sentence–Lucknow is a Beautiful city.

A sentence is a group of words which starts with a

SUBJECT

PREDICATE

capital letter and ends with a full stop (.), question mark (?) or exclamation mark (!). A sentence contains or implies a predicate and a subject.

Subject

•

The part which names a person or thing

Predicate

•

The part which tells something about the subject

KIND OF SENTENCES- Sentences are of 4 kinds

Assertive or Declarative Sentence - They make statements

Interrogative Sentences Ask Questions

Imperative Sentences Expresses a command

Exclamatory Sentence Expresses strong Feeling

PARTS OF SPEECH Let’s take an example – Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Red

Apple

January

Assertive or Declarative Sentence – Those which

Green

Mango

April

make statements or assertions; as,E.g.: Humpty

Yellow

Banana

July

Dumpty sat on a wall.

Blue

Orange

September

Interrogative Sentences – Those which ask questions;

Pen

Spinach

December

as, E.g. Where do you live?

Violet

Grapes

Monday

Imperative Sentences – A sentence that expresses a

Purple

Guava

June

command or an entreaty. E.g. - Be Quite, Stand Up. Confidence, Fluency & Personality

English Grammar

Now can you tell which is the odd word in these

5

The young boy climbed a tall tree.

groups? If you want to say more about how he climbed the tree

Group 1– Colors - Pen

you can use an adverb.

Group 2- Fruits - Spinach Group 3 - Months - Monday

For example:

By this example we can observe that everything has its own category and if something comes in between we come to know about it.

The young boy quickly climbed a tall tree. The sentence becomes more interesting as it gives the

Similarly English Grammar has 8 categories of

reader or listener more information.

speeches which are also called as Parts of Speech. Let’s learn them.

There are more things you can add to enrich your sentence.

There are 8 parts of Speech 1.

Noun

2.

Verb

3.

Pronoun

4.

Adjective

5.

Adverb

6.

Conjunction

7.

Interjection

8.

Articles

Description Parts of a sentence Adjective

Describes things or people.

Adverb

Alters the meaning of the verb slightly

Article

Conjunction

Sentences contain clauses.

Interjection

a, an - indefinite articles the - definite articles Joins words or sentences together A short word showing emotion or feeling

Simple sentences have one clause. Noun

Names things

or more clauses.

Preposition

Relates one thing to another

Sentences can contain subjects and objects.

Pronoun

Compound sentences and complex sentences have two

The subject in a sentence is generally the person or thing carrying out an action. The object in a sentence is involved in an action but does not carry it out, the object comes after the verb.

used instead of a noun to avoid repetition

Proper noun

The actual names of people or places

(subject)

etc.

Verb

Action or doing word

For example: For example: The boy climbed a tree.

WHAT MAKES A COMPLETE SENTENCE? If you want to say more about the subject (the boy) or the object (the tree), you can add an adjective.

If it helps you, think about a sentence as if it were a skeleton, the skeleton contains various bones and these

For example:

bones are put together to form different parts of the body. So are sentences formed by words, the words Confidence, Fluency & Personality

English Grammar

are the bones and they are put together in different

6

For example:

ways to form sentences. "The sun was setting in the west. The moon was just

SIMPLE SENTENCES

rising."

A simple sentence contains a single subject and

Every clause is like a sentence with a subject and a

predicate. It describes only one thing, idea or question,

verb. A coordinating conjunction goes in the middle of

and has only one verb - it contains only an

the sentence, it is the word that joins the two clauses

independent (main) clause.

together, the most common are (and, or, but)

Any independent clause can stand alone as a sentence.

For example:

It has a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought. For example:

  

I walked to the shops, but my husband drove. I might watch the film, or I might visit my friends. My friend enjoyed the film, but she didn't like the actor.



Jill reads.

COMPLEX SENTENCES Even the addition of adjectives, adverbs, and prepositional phrases to a simple sentence does not

Complex sentences describe more than one thing or

change it into a complex sentence.

idea and have more than one verb in them. They are made up of more than one clause, an independent

For example:

clause (that can stand by itself) and a dependent (subordinate) clause (which cannot stand by itself).



The brown dog with the red collar always barks loudly.

Even if you join several nouns with a conjunction, or

For example: "My mother likes dogs that don't bark."

several verbs with a conjunction, it remains a simple sentence.

Dependent clauses can be nominal, adverbial or adjectival.

For example:

THE ANATOMY OF A SENTENCE 

The dog barked and growled loudly. THE VERB

COMPOUND SENTENCES The verb is the fundamental part of the sentence. The Compound sentences are made up of two or more

rest of the sentence, with the exception of the subject,

simple sentences combined using a conjunction such

depends very much on the verb. It is important to

as and, or or but. They are made up of more than one

have a good knowledge of the forms used after each

independent clause joined together with a co-

verb (verb patterns), for example: to tell [someone] TO

ordinating conjunction.

DO [something]

For example:

Here we can see that the verb to tell is followed immediately by a person (the indirect object, explained

"The sun was setting in the west and the moon was

later), an infinitive with 'to', and, possibly, an object for

just rising."

the verb you substitute for DO.

Each clause can stand alone as a sentence. Confidence, Fluency & Personality

English Grammar

Verbs also show a state of being. Such verbs, called BE

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THE SUBJECT

VERBS or LINKING VERBS, include words such as: am, is, are, was, were, be, been, being, became, seem,

The subject is the person or thing the sentence is

appear, and sometimes verbs of the senses like tastes,

'about'. Often (but not always) it will be the first part

feels, looks, hears, and smells.

of the sentence. The subject will usually be a noun phrase (a noun and the words, such as adjectives, that modify it) followed by a verb.

For example: 

"Beer and wine are my favourite drinks." The verb

FINDING THE SUBJECT

"are" is a linking (be) verb.

Once you determine the verb, ask a wh...? Question of Fortunately, there are only a limited number of

the verb. This will locate the subject(s).

different verb patterns. Verbs can descibe the action (something the subject actually does) or state (something that is true of the subject) of the subject.

For example: 

David works hard.

o

For example:

Who "works hard"?=David does=the subject.

 

ACTION: I play football twice a week.

Beer and wine are my favorite drinks.

o

STATE: I've got a car.

What "are my favorite drinks"? Beer and wine are=the subjects.

Some verbs can represent both actions and states, depending on the context.

The subject(s) of a sentence will answer the questions, "who or what."

For example work:  



THE PREDICATE

ACTION: David's working in the bank. STATE: David works in a bank.

Once you have identified the subject, the remainder of the sentence tells us what the subject does or did. This

FINDING THE VERB

part of the sentence is the predicate of the sentence.

When you analyze a sentence, first identify the verb.

The predicate always includes the verb and the words

The verb names and asserts the action or state of the

which come after the verb. For example:

sentence.



o

For example: 

Michael Schumaker drove the race car. "Michael Schumaker" is the subject; "drove the race car" is the predicate.

"Working at the computer all day made David's head ache."

MORE ADVANCED TERMINOLOGY THE OBJECT

The main verb of the sentence is "made", not working. Some verbs have an object (always a noun or Verbs identify our activity or state.

pronoun). The object is the person or thing affected by the action described in the verb.

For example: 

Objects come in two types, direct and indirect. eat, sleep, run, jump, study, think, digest, shout, walk ....

The direct object refers to a person or thing affected by the action of the verb. Confidence, Fluency & Personality

English Grammar

For example: 

"He opened the door. "- here the door is the direct object as it is the thing being affected by the verb to

   

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I sometimes have trouble with adverbs. He spoke very quietly. I've read that book three times. She's gone to the bank.

open.

The first tells us the frequency of the action The indirect object refers to a person or thing who

(sometimes), the second how he carried out the action

receives the direct object.

(quietly), and the third how many times the action has happened (three).

For example: 

The fourth is a little different, as in this case the ‚I gave him the book." - Here him (he)is the indirect

adverbial (gone to the bank) is more or less demanded

object as he is the beneficiary of the action.

by the verb (has). To remember the form of such verbs use your

TRANSITIVE / INTRANSITIVE VERBS

notebooks to write down the different forms.

Verbs which don't have an object are called

For example:

intransitive. Some verbs can only be intransitive (disagree). In addition they cannot be used in the Passive Voice e.g. smile, fall, come, go.

 

to go [somewhere] to put [something][somewhere]

This information is also useful when deciding the

For example:

order of adverbials in a sentence. Unlike the previous parts of the sentence, a sentence can contain an

David disagreed. - intransitive.

indefinite number of adverbials, although in practice Verbs that have an object are called transitive verbs

it's a good idea to keep them few in number.

e.g. eat, drive, give. COMPLEMENT

For example: A complement is used with verbs like be, seem, look 

etc. Complements give more information about the

David gave her a present.

subject or, in some structures, about the object. Some verbs can be transitive or intransitive e.g. sing There are various definitions of 'complement', which For example:  

range from the very general (anything in the predicate except the verb, including the direct object and

Xavier Nadu sings. - intransitive.

adverbs) to the much more restrictive one used here.

Xavier Nadu sings pop songs. - transitive.

A complement is the part of the sentence that gives ADVERBIALS

you more information about the subject (a subject

An 'adverbial' or 'adverbial phrase' is a word or expression in the sentence that does the same job as an adverb; that is, it tells you something about how the action in the verb was done. For example:

complement) or the object (an object complement) of the sentence. The complement to be used, if any, is dependent on the verb used in the sentence. Subject complements normally follow certain verbs.

For example: Confidence, Fluency & Personality

English Grammar

  

He is Spanish.

You aren't or You're

You are

You're

You are not

We are

We're

We are not

verb-

They are

They're

They are not They're not

For example.

To be - Simple Past Form

She became an engineer.

9

not

That man looks like John. We aren't or We're not

Object complements follow the direct object of the

  

They painted the house red. She called him an idiot!

Positive Statement

Negative Statement

I saw her standing there. Long form

Short form

Long form

Short form

The complement often consists of an adjective or noun I was

I was not

I wasn't

He was

He was not

He wasn't

She was

She was not

She wasn't

It was not

It wasn't

You were

You were not

You weren't

"The short form".

We were

We were not

We weren't

In English we use the short form a lot. We say things

They were

They were not

They weren't

phrase, but can also be a participle phrase, as in the last example. It is often not very clear whether a phrase is a complement or an adverbial. SHORT FORMS IN ENGLISH

It was

THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF IT

Verb conjugation and contraction - in other words;

---

like: I'm / you're / didn't etc. instead of I am / you are / did not etc.

To do - Simple Present Form

We also use these short forms in informal written English. When we write in the short form, we use an

Positive Statement

Negative Statement

apostrophe (') for the missing letter(s). Long form

Short form

Long form

Short form

Forms of the auxiliary verbs to be, to do and to have:I do

I do not

I don't

He does

He does not

He doesn't

She does

She does not

She doesn't

It does not

It doesn't

To be - Simple Present Form

Positive Statement

Negative Statement

Long form Short form Long form

Short form

It does

---

I am

I'm

I am not

I'm not

You do

You do not

You don't

He is

He's

He is not

He isn't or He's not

We do

We do not

We don't

She is

She's

She is not

She isn't or She's not

They do

They do not

They don't

It is

It's

It is not

It isn't or It's not

To do - Simple Past Form

Confidence, Fluency & Personality

English Grammar

Positive Statement

Negative Statement

10

you'd not we hadn't or

Long form

Short

Long form

form

we'd not

Short form

they hadn't or they'd not

I / he / she / it / you / we / they

---

did

I / he / she / it /

I / he / she / it /

you / we / they

you / we / they

did not

didn't

The long and short forms of the modal verbs can, could, shall, should, must, will and would

CAN

To have - Simple Present Form

Positive Statement Long form

Negative Statement

Short form Long form

Short form

I have

I've

I have not

I haven't or I've not

He has

He's

He has not

He hasn't or He's not

She has

She's

She has not She hasn't or She's not

It has

It's

It has not

It hasn't or It's not

You have

You haven't or You've

not

not

Positive Statement

Long form

Short

Long form

form

I / he / she / it / you / we / they

Negative Statement

---

can

Short form

I / he / she/ it / you / we / they cannot

I / he / she / it / you / we / they can't

COULD

You have You've

We haven't or We've

Positive Statement

Long form

We have We've

We have not

They

They have

They haven't or They've

you / we / they

not

not

could

Short

They've

Long form

Short form

Negative Statement

Long form

Short form

I hadn't or I'd not

he'd I / he / she / it /

she'd

I / he / she / it /

you / we / they

it'd

you / we / they

had

you'd

had not

they'd

I / he / she/ it / you I / he / she / it / ---

/ we / they could

you / we / they

not

couldn't

MUST

I'd

we'd

Short form

not

To have - Simple Past Form

Positive Statement

Long form

form

I / he / she / it / have

Negative Statement

he hadn't or he'd not

Positive Statement

Long form

form

I / he / she / it / you / we / they must

she hadn't or she'd not it hadn't or it'd not

Short

SHALL

you hadn't or

Confidence, Fluency & Personality

---

Negative Statement

Long form

Short form

I / he / she/ it /

I / he / she / it /

you / we / they

you / we / they

must not

mustn't

English Grammar

Positive Statement

Negative Statement

They'll

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not You won't or

Long form

Short

Long form

form

You'll not

Short form

We won't or We'll not

I / he / she / it / you / we / they

---

shall

I / he / she/ it / you I / he / she / it /

They won't or

/ we / they shall

you / we / they

They'll not

not

shan't

WOULD SHOULD Positive Statement Positive Statement

Long form

Short form

Negative Statement

Negative Statement Long form Long form

Short form

Short

Long form

form

Short form

I wouldn't I / he / she / it /

I / he / she / it /

you / we / they

---

should

you / we / they should not

I / he / she / it

or I'd not

/ you / we /

He wouldn't

they shouldn't

or He'd not She I'd

WILL

He'd I / he / she / it / you /

Positive Statement

Long form

wouldn't or

Short form

Negative Statement

Long form

Short form

we / they would

She'd not

She'd

I / he / she / it /

It wouldn't

It'd*

you / we / they

or It'd not*

You'd

would not

You

We'd

wouldn't or

They'd

You'd not We wouldn't or We'd not

I won't or I'll

I'll I / he / she / it /

He'll

I / he / she / it /

you / we / they

She'll

you / we / they

will

It'll

will not

You'll We'll

They

not

wouldn't or

He won't or

They'd not

He'll not She won't or She'll not

* Not "good" English, but you will hear occasionally.

It won't or It'll

CHAPTER 2 - NOUN Is a name of the person, place or things. Here are some

because it is the name of a place; and boy is a noun

examples of nouns: boy, river, friend, Mexico,

because it is the name of a thing.

triangle, day, school, truth, university, idea, John F. Kennedy, movie, aunt, vacation, eye, dream, flag, teacher, class, grammar. John F. Kennedy is a noun

Let’s take some examples – Ram was a great king.

because it is the name of a person; Mexico is a noun Allahabad is on the banks of river Ganga. Confidence, Fluency & Personality

English Grammar

The sunshine’s bright.

number

Quality –

(or

Goodness,

Collecti

Kindness,whit

on) of

eness,

All objects that we can see, hear, taste, touch, or smell.

persons

Hardness,

Book,Pen,App

Something that we can think of but cannot perceive by

or

brightness,

le,boy,

senses.

things

Honesty,

Sister, doctor,

Types of Nouns – There are majorly divided into 2

taken

Wisdom,

horse.

groups -

together

Bravery.

Note – Things includes

and Proper Noun

Common Noun

Definition – It is the

Definition – It is the

name of person or place.

name given in common to

It always starts with a

every person or thing of

capital letter.

the same class or kind.

count.

which E.g. –

sugar,

Action –

nouns have

gold,

as one

Laughter,

Plural form

honesty.

Theft,

but

movement,

uncountable

Judgment,

nouns do not.

E.g. – Crowd,

hatred. E.g. – we say State –

‚Books‛ but

nouns are: Mexico, John

nouns are: class, girl, boy,

army,

childhood,

we cannot say

F. Kennedy, Atlantic

city, country.

Fleet,

Boyhood,

‚milks‛

Ocean, February,

jury

youth, slavery,

Monday, New York City,

,family,

Sleep,sickness,

Girl is a common

nation,

death,

noun

Commit

Poverty.

Boy is a common

tee.

1.

Sita is proper

2.

A Fleet

Arts and

noun

–

Sciences are

Country is a

Collecti

also abstract

common noun

on of

nouns (E.g. –

proper noun

ships or

Grammer,Mus

4.

India is proper

vessels.

ic,

noun

An

Chemistry

3.

Hari is a proper Noun

3.

The names of

noun City is a common

Noun

4.

Kolkatta is a

army – a collectio

Some other Types of Nouns –

n of Collecti

Abstract

Countable

Uncount

ve

Nouns

Nouns

able

Nouns

soldiers

Nouns

Definiti

Definition – is

Definition –

Definiti

on – is

the name of

are the names

on – are

the

quality, action,

of objects,

the

name of

state.

People, etc.

names of

the

E.g. –

That we can

the

E.g. – Milk, oil,

Some examples of proper

2.

count.

Countable

Some examples of proper

Burger King.

we cannot

heard,

1.

things

spoken

team,

Susan, Maple Street,

12

The Noun Gender -

Confidence, Fluency & Personality

English Grammar

Masculine

Feminine

Comm

Neuter

Gender

Gender

on

Gender



capitalized.

 Def. – The

Def. – The noun

Def. –

Def. – the

noun that

that denotes a

The

noun that

female.

noun

denotes

that

neither

E.g. –

denote

male nor

E.g. –

Girl,Lioness,Her

s either

female.

Boy,Lion,H

oine

a male

ero

Nouns that refer to people, organisations or places are proper nouns, only proper nouns are

r

male.

Nouns that refer to a group of people or things are collective nouns.



Gende

denotes

13

Nouns that are made up of two or more words are called compound nouns.



Nouns that are formed from a verb by adding -ing are called gerunds

ABSTRACT NOUNS An abstract noun is a noun that you cannot sense; it is

or a

E.g. –

the name we give to an emotion, ideal or idea. They

female.

Book,Pen,T

have no physical existence, you can't see, hear, touch,

ree

smell or taste them. The opposite of an abstract noun is

E.g. –

a concrete noun.

Parent, For example:-

Child, Servant

Justice; an idea, bravery and happiness are all abstract nouns.

The Noun Number – Singular Noun

Here is an a-z list of some common abstract nouns:Plural Noun

adoratio n

Def. –The noun that

Def. – The noun that

denotes one person or

denotes more than one

thing.

person or thing.

E.g. – Boy,Girl,Cow

E.g. – Boys, Girls, Cows.

artistry

belief

bravery

calm

charity

childhoo d

comfort

dexterity ego

NOUNS A noun is the word that refers to a person, thing or abstract idea. A noun can tell you who or what. There are several different types of noun:-

failure

happines s

 

feelings

hate

honesty

There are common nouns such as dog, car, chair etc. Nouns that refer to things which can be counted (can be singular or plural) are countable nouns.



faith

idea

impressi infatuati on

Nouns that refer to some groups of countable nouns, substances, feelings and types of activity

joy

(can only be singular) are uncountable nouns.

Confidence, Fluency & Personality

on

friends hip

hope

compassi on

English Grammar

law

liberty

love

14

Groups of things - bunch, bundle, clump, pair, set,

loyalty

stack maturity

memory

When such a group is considered as a single unit, the collective noun is used with a singular verb and

omen

singular pronouns. peace

redempti on

pride

principl e

power

For example - The committee has reached its decision. But when the focus is on the individual members of

romance

the group, British English uses a plural verb and plural pronouns.

sadness

sensitivi ty

skill

sleep

success

sympat hy

For example - "The committee have been arguing all morning." This is the same as saying "The people in the

talent

thrill

committee have been ...."

truth

A determiner in front of a singular collective noun is

wit

always singular: this committee, never these committee (but of course when the collective noun is pluralized, it

COLLECTIVE NOUNS / GROUP NOUNS

takes a plural determiner: these committees).

A collective noun is a noun that is singular in form but

COMMON NOUNS

refers to a group of people or things. A common noun is a word that names people, places, Sometimes they refer to a group of specific things:-

things, or ideas. They are not the names of a single person, place or thing.

For example:A common noun begins with a lowercase letter unless Tables, chairs, cupboards etc. are grouped under the

it is at the beginning of a sentence.

collective noun furniture. Plates, saucers, cups and bowls are grouped under the

For example:-

collective noun crockery. People:-

These collective nouns are often uncountable. man, girl, boy, mother, father, child, person, teacher, Sometimes they are more general:-

student

For example:-

Animals:-

Groups of people - army, audience, band, choir, class,

cat, dog, fish, ant, snake

committee, crew, family, gang, jury, orchestra, police, Things:-

staff, team, trio Groups of animals - colony, flock, herd, pack, pod, school, swarm

book, table, chair, phone Places:-

school, city, building, shop Confidence, Fluency & Personality

English Grammar

Ideas:-

15

3. Sometimes they appear as two separate words. Example: full moon

love, hate, idea, pride A good dictionary will tell you how you should write

COMPOUND NOUNS

each compound noun.

A compound noun is a noun that is made up of two or

Concrete Nouns

more words. Most compound nouns in English are formed by nouns modified by other nouns or

A concrete noun is the name of something or someone

adjectives.

that we experience through our senses, sight, hearing, smell, touch or taste. Most nouns are concrete nouns.

For example:

The opposite of a concrete noun is an abstract noun.

The words tooth and paste are each nouns in their

For example:-

own right, but if you join them together they form a Cats, dogs, tables, chairs, buses, and teachers are all

new word - toothpaste.

concrete nouns. The word black is an adjective and board is a noun, but if you join them together they form a new word -

Countable / Uncountable Nouns

blackboard. A noun can be countable or uncountable. Countable In both these example the first word modifies or

nouns can be "counted", they have a singular and

describes the second word, telling us what kind of

plural form .

object or person it is, or what its purpose is. And the second part identifies the object or person in question. Compound nouns can also be formed using the following combinations of words:-

For example:  

A book, two books, three books ..... An apple, two apples, three apples ....

Uncountable nouns (also called mass nouns or

Noun

+ Noun

toothpaste

Adjective

+ Noun

monthly ticket

separate objects. This means you cannot make them

Verb

+ Noun

swimming pool

plural by adding -s, because they only have a singular

Preposition

+ Noun

underground

Noun

+ Verb

haircut

Noun

+ Preposition

hanger on

Adjective

+ Verb

dry-cleaning

Preposition

+ Verb

output

The two parts may be written in a number of ways:-

noncount nouns) cannot be counted, they are not

form. It also means that they do not take a/an or a number in front of them. For example:     

Water Work Information Coffee Sand

1. Sometimes the two words are joined together. Example: tooth + paste = toothpaste | bed + room = bedroom

Countable

Uncountable

(use a/an or a number in

(there is no a/an or number

front of countable nouns)

with uncountable nouns)

2. Sometimes they are joined using a hyphen. Example: check-in Confidence, Fluency & Personality

English Grammar

An Apple / 1 Apple

I eat an apple every day.

Rice

Making uncountable nouns countable

I eat rice every day. (not I eat a

You can make most uncountable noun countable by

rice every day.)

putting a countable expression in front of the noun.

Add (s) to make a countable

There is no plural form for

noun plural

an uncountable noun

apples

rice

I eat an apple every day.

I eat rice every day. Rice is good

Apples are good for you.

for you.

16

For example:    

A piece of information. 2 glasses of water. 10 litres of coffee. Three grains of sand. A pane of glass.

To make uncountable nouns countable add a counting

Sources of confusion with countable and uncountable nouns

A computer= Computers are

word, such as a unit of

fun.

measurement, or the general

The notion of countable and uncountable can be

word piece. We use the form

confusing.

"a ....... of ......."

Some nouns can be countable or uncountable An elephant=Elephants are large.

Rice=a grain of rice

depending on their meaning. Usually a noun is uncountable when used in a general, abstract meaning

Water=a glass of water

(when you don't think of it as a separate object) and countable when used in a particular meaning (when

Rain=a drop of rain

you can think of it as a separate object).

Music=a piece of music

For example:-

You can use some and any

You can use some and any

glass - A glass of water. (Countable) | A window

with countable nouns.

with uncountable nouns.

made of glass. (Uncountable)

Some dogs can be dangerous.

I usually drink some wine with

I don't use any computers at

my meal.

work.

I don't usually drink any water with my wine.

You only use many and few with plural countable nouns. So many elephants have been hunted that they are an endangered species. There are few elephants in England.

Some supposedly uncountable nouns can behave like countable nouns if we think of them as being in containers, or one of several types.

You only use much and little

This is because 'containers' and 'types' can be counted.

with uncountable nouns. I don't usually drink much coffee. Little wine is undrinkable though.

Believe it or not each of these sentences is correct:Doctors recommend limiting consumption to two coffees a day. (Here coffees refers to the number of cups of coffee)

You can use a lot of and no

You can use a lot of and no

with plural countable nouns. with uncountable nouns. No computers were bought last

A lot of wine is drunk in France.

week.

No wine is drunk in Iran.

You could write; "Doctors recommend limiting consumption to two cups of coffee a day."

A lot of computers were reported

The coffees I prefer are Arabica and Brazilian.

broken the week before.

(Here coffees refers to different types of coffee) You could write; "The types of coffee I prefer are Arabica and Brazilian." Confidence, Fluency & Personality

English Grammar

17

!Note - In good monolingual dictionaries, uncountable

The names of cities and countries and words derived from

nouns are identified by [U] and countable nouns by

those proper nouns:-

[C]. Paris - London - New York - England - English

GERUND NOUNS

Geographical and Celestial Names:-

A gerund (often known as an -ing word) is a noun formed from a verb by adding -ing. It can follow a preposition, adjective and most often another verb. For example: 

the Red Sea - Alpha Centauri - Mars Monuments, buildings, meeting rooms:-

The Taj Mahal - The Eiffel Tower - Room 222

I enjoy walking.

Historical events, documents, laws, and periods:-

PREDICATE NOUNS

the Civil War - the Industrial Revolution - World War I

A predicate noun follows a form of the verb "to be".

Months, days of the week, holidays:-

He is an idiot. (Here idiot is a predicate noun because

Monday - Christmas - December

it follows is; a form of the verb "be".) Religions, deities, scriptures:-

A predicate noun renames the subject of a sentence. God - Christ - Jehovah - Christianity - Judaism - Islam Margaret Thatcher was the Prime Minister. (Margaret

the Bible - the Koran - the Torah

Thatcher is the subject and Prime Minister is the predicate noun - notice it follows 'was' the past tense of 'to be'.)

Awards, vehicles, vehicle models and names, brand names:-

the Nobel Peace Prize - the Scout Movement - Ford Focus - the Bismarck - Kleenex – Hoover

PROPER NOUNS Proper nouns (also called proper names) are the words which name specific people, organisations or places. They always start with a capital letter. For example:Each part of a person's name is a proper noun:-

Lynne Hand - Elizabeth Helen Ruth Jones... The names of companies, organisations or trade marks:-

Microsoft - Rolls Royce - the Round Table - WWW Given or pet names of animals:-

Lassie Trigger Sam

Confidence, Fluency & Personality

English Grammar

18

CHAPTER 3 - ADJECTIVE Is often defined as a word which describes or gives

He gave me five mangoes. (How many mangoes) –

more information about a noun or

‘five’ shows how many mangoes he gave me.

pronoun. Adjectives describe nouns in terms of such qualities as size, color, number, and kind.

There is a little time for preparation. (How much time) – ‘little shows how much time there is for preparation.

In the sentence –

KINDS OF ADJECTIVES The lazy dog sat on the mat, the word lazy is an adjective which gives more information about the

Descript

noun dog.

ive

Adjecti

Adjectiv

Exclamat

Emphasi

Adjectiv

ves of

es of

ory

zing

We can add more adjectives to describe the dog as well

es

Quantit

Number

Adjectiv

Adjective

as in the sentence

Or

y

s

es

s

The lazy, old, brown dog sat on the rug.

Adjectiv

We can also add adjectives to describe the rug as in

es of

the sentence the lazy, old, brown dog sat on the

Quality

beautiful, expensive, new rug. Show the

Show

Show

Word

Are used

The adjectives do not change the basic meaning or

kind or

the

how

'what' is

to

structure of the sentence, but they do give a lot more

quality of

quantity

many

sometime

emphasize

information about the dog and the rug.

a person

of a

persons

s used as

the

or thing

thing.

or things

an

statement

Some

are

exclamato

adjective

meant, or,

ry

s many

in what

adjective.

(a) India

be used

order a

For

1. I saw all

is a vast

as of

person or

example:

this with

country.

quantity

thing

(b)

or

stands.

E.g. –

He is a brave boy. (Boy is Noun and Adjective Brave

Harish

number,

tells about boy’s personality)

Chandra

accordin

E.g. –

1. What a

the very

was a

g to

(a) There

boy you

man who

truthful

their

are

are!

was

man.

use.

seventeen

2. What

disturbing

hundred

folly!

the

As you can see in the example above, when more than one adjective is used, a comma (,) is used between the adjectives. Let’s take some more examples –

There are twenty boys in this class. (Boys and class are nouns here and twenty, this (Adjectives) because they are adding information.

E.g. –

(c) Kabir

E.g. –

my own eyes. 2. This is

Dar was

E.g. –

students

3. What a

meeting.

a great

1.1

in our

lucky girl

4. Mind

Sita is a clever Girl. (Girl of what kind) – ‘clever’ shows

poet.

college.

she is!

your own

what kind of girl Sita is; or ‘clever’ describes Sita

(d) The

(b) Few

4. What

business.

brave

Indians

an idea!

5. I am my

I don’t like that boy. (Which Boy?) –‘that’ points out

boy did

hate their

5. What a

own

which boy is meant.

not leave

culture.

game!

master.

the

(c) How

burning

many

deck.

players

Confidence, Fluency & Personality

English Grammar

were

19

compared.

compared.

E.g. – This boy is

E.g. – This boy

stronger than

is the strongest

that.

in the class

awarded for their best performa nce?

Which of these

(d) No

two pens is the

teachers

better?

were present in the

Note – There is another way which we can compare

meeting.

things. Instead of saying ‚Ram is stronger than Babu‛

(e) The

we can say ‚Babu is less strong than Ram‛.

cat drank up all the milk in

EXAMPLES OF FORMATION OF

the pot.

COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE

E.g. 1.1 By adding 'er' to form the Comparative and 'est' to Adjectives of

S.No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Adjectives of Number

Quantity

form the Superlative. Positive

Comparative

Superlative

Great

Greater

Greatest

Clever

Cleverer

Cleverest

The man did not eat Are there any mango trees in

Kind

Kinder

Kindest

any bread.

the garden?

Young

Younger

Youngest

There is enough

I have not enough plates in my

Short

Shorter

Shortest

sugar in the milk.

kitchen at present.

Tall

Taller

Tallest

My grandfather lost All the books in the bookshelf

Sweet

Sweeter

Sweetest

all his wealth.

Deep

Deeper

Deepest

Old

Older

Oldest

Small

Smaller

Smallest

The cat drank all the milk. I have no difficulty.

The boy sold all his books. I have no pens.

have gone out-dated.

COMPARISONS OF ADJECTIVES – Positive

Comparative

Superlative

By adding 'r' to form the Comparative and 'st' to form the Superlative when the Positive ends in 'e'.

Rama’s mango

Hari’s mango is

Govind’s

is sweet.

sweeter than

mango is

Positive

Comparative

Superlative

Rama’s.

sweetest of all.

Brave

Braver

Bravest

Fine

Finer

Finest

Def. – The adjective is in

Def.–It denotes

Def. – It

Noble

Nobler

Noblest

its simple form.

the higher

denotes the

Wise

Wiser

Wisest

It is used when

degree of the

highest degree

Able

Abler

Ablest

no comparison

quality that the

of quality and is

Large

Larger

Largest

is made.

positive and is

used when

used when two

more than two

By changing 'y' into 'i' before adding 'er' and 'est'

things are

things are

when the Positive ends in 'y' preceded by a consonant.

Confidence, Fluency & Personality

English Grammar

20

Some adjectives are compared irregularly, that is, their Positive

Comparative

Superlative

Comparative and Superlative are not formed from the

Happy

Happier

Happiest

Positive.

Healthy

Healthier

Healthiest

Early

Earlier

Earliest

Positive

Comparative

Superlative

Costly

Costlier

Costliest

Little

Less (Lesser)

Least

Heavy

Heavier

Heaviest

Much

More

Most

Many

More

Most

When the positive is a word of one syllable and ends

Fore

Former

Foremost, First

in a single consonant, preceded by a short vowel, this

Fore

Further

Furthest

consonant is doubled before adding 'er' and 'est'.

Late

Later, Latter

Latest, Last

Positive

Comparative

Superlative

FORMATION OF ADJEVCTIVES

Sad

Sadder

Saddest

Thin

Thinner

Thinnest

Fat

Fatter

Fattest

Hot

Hotter

Hottest

Noun

Adjective

Big

Bigger

Biggest

Man

Manly

Many Adjectives are formed from Nouns

Girl

Girlish

Adjective of more than two syllables form the

Boy

Boyish

Comparative and Superlative by putting 'more' and

Friend

Friendly

'most' before the Positive.

Mother

Motherly

Care

Careful, Careless

Positive

Comparative

Superlative

Silk

Silken

Beautiful

more beautiful

most beautiful

Gold

Golden

Industrious

more industrious

most industrious

Difficulty

Difficult

Careful

more careful

most careful

Honesty

Honest Troublesome

Courageous

more courageous

most courageous

Trouble

Magnificent

more magnificent

most magnificent

Courage

Courageous

Bravery

Brave

Glory

Glorious

Storm

Stormy

Father

Fatherly

Laugh

Laughable

Dirt

Dirty

Craze

Crazy

Cream

Creamy

Some adjectives take either 'er' and 'est' or 'more' and 'most'. Positive

Comparative

Superlative

Polite

Politer

Politest

Polite

more polite

most polite

Common

Commoner

Commonest

Common

more common

most common

Gentle

Gentler

Gentlest

Gentle

more gentle

most gentle

Handsome

Handsomer

Handsomest

Verb

Adjective

Handsome

more handsome

most handsome

Sustain

Sustainable

Pleasant

Pleasanter

Pleasantest

Think

Thinking (intelligent)

Pleasant

more pleasant

most pleasant

Tickle

Ticklish

Tire

Tireless

Many Adjectives are formed from Verbs

Confidence, Fluency & Personality

English Grammar

21

Talk

Talkative

Some adjectives give us factual information about the

Cease

Ceaseless

noun - age, size colour etc (fact adjectives - can't be

Move

Moveable

argued with). Some adjectives show what somebody

Throw

Throwaway

thinks about something or somebody - nice, horrid,

Work

Workable

beautiful etc (opinion adjectives - not everyone may

Watch

Watchful

agree).

Understand

Understandable

Forget

Forgetful

If you are asked questions with which, whose, what

Relate

Related

kind, or how many, you need an adjective to be able to

Go

Gait

answer.

Giggle

Giggly

Arrogate

Arrogant

There are different types of adjectives in the English

Breathe

Breathy

language:

Breeze

Breezy

Beautify

Beautiful

Fantasize

Fantastic



Numeric: six, one hundred and one



Quantitative: more, all, some, half, more than enough

Many Adjectives are formed from Other Adjectives



Qualitative: colour, size, smell etc.



Possessive: my, his, their, your



Interrogative: which, whose, what



Demonstrative: this, that, those, these

Adjective

Adjective

Red

Reddish

!Note - The articles a, an, and the and the possessives

White

Whitish

my, our, your, and their are also adjectives.

Tragic

Tragical

Three

Threefold

Black

Blackish

Sick

Sickly

Whole

Wholesome

Green

Greenish

OPINION Adjectives can be used to give your opinion about

something.

ADJECTIVES

good, pretty, right, wrong, funny, light, happy, sad, full, soft, hard etc.

Adjectives describe or give information about nouns or pronouns.

For example:

For example:-

He was a silly boy.

The grey dog barked. (The adjective grey describes the

SIZE

noun "dog".) The good news is that the form of an adjective does not change. It does not matter if the noun being modified is male or female, singular or plural, subject

Adjectives can be used to describe size.

or object. Big, small, little, long, tall, short, same as, etc. Confidence, Fluency & Personality

English Grammar

For example:

"It was a German flag." or "They were German flags."

"The big man." or "The big woman".

MATERIAL

22

AGE

Adjectives can be used to describe age.

Adjectives can be used to describe material.

"It was a cotton cushion." or "They were cotton cushions."

For example: DISTANCE "He was an old man." or "She was an old woman." Adjectives can be used to describe distance. l -- o -- n -SHAPE

g / short

Adjectives can be used to describe shape.

long, short, far, around, start, high, low, etc. For example: "She went for a long walk." or "She went for lots of long

Round, circular, triangular, rectangular, square, oval, etc.

walks." TEMPERATURE

For example:

Adjectives can be used to describe temperature.

"It was a square box." or "They were square boxes." COLOUR Adjectives can be used to describe color. Blue, red, green, brown, yellow, black, white, etc.

Cold, warm, hot, cool, etc. For example: For example: "The blue bag." or "The blue bags". "The day was hot." or "The days were hot." ORIGIN TIME

Adjectives can be used to describe origin. Adjectives can be used to describe time.

For example:Confidence, Fluency & Personality

English Grammar

23

Late, early, bed, nap, dinner, lunch, day, morning,

"David looks tired." The subject (in this case David) is being

night, etc.

described as tired not the verb to look.

For example:

There is also the adjective used to, which is explained here.

"She had an early start."

ADJECTIVE ORDER PURPOSE Adjectives can be used to describe lots of things, from Adjectives can be used to describe purpose. (These

physical size, age, shape, colour, material, to more

adjectives often end with "-ing".)

abstract things like opinion, origin and purpose. We can use adjectives together to give a detailed

For example:

description of something. Adjectives that express opinions usually come before all others, but it can

"She gave them a sleeping bag." or "She gave them

sometimes depend on what exactly you want to

sleeping bags."

emphasize.

!Note - In each case the adjective stays the same,

For example:

whether it is describing a masculine, feminine, singular or plural noun.

"That nice, big, blue bag." (You like the bag.) "That big, nice, blue bag." (You like the colour.)

When using more than one adjective to modify a noun, the adjectives may be separated by a conjunction (and)

When we group adjectives together there is a general

or by commas (,).

rule for the position of each type adjective, these are:-

For example:

Positi on

"Her hair was long and blonde." or "She had long, blonde hair."

Adjective Pretty

She was a pretty girl.

Nice Serious He was a serious boy.

Fast

Quiet

It was a fast car.

*

3rd 4th

5th

6th

e

e

e

ur

Sm Ol Squar Blac all

Ugly Big

d

e

Ne Circu w

lar

k Blue

ial

7th Origin

Plastic British

8th Purpo se Racin g

Cotto Ameri Runni n

can

ng

They were quiet

This is just a guide as you wouldn't normally see so

children.

many adjectives in one description.

! Note - Adjectives that go immediately before the noun are called attributive adjectives.

For example: "She had a big, ugly, old, baggy, blue, cotton, British,

Adjectives can also be used after some verbs. They do not describe the verb, adverbs do that. Adjectives after a verb describe the subject of the verb (usually a noun or pronoun). They are called predicative adjectives. For example:

2nd

Opini Siz Ag Shap Colo Mater on

More examples:

Example

1st*

knitting bag." Is grammatically correct but a bit too long-winded. * You might swap opinion and fact adjectives depending on what you wish to emphasise:For example:

Confidence, Fluency & Personality

English Grammar

"She had a long, ugly nose." emphasising the length of

FORMING THE COMPARATIVE

her nose. Form

Rule

"He was a silly, little man." emphasising that the man was silly.

Words of one

COMPARATIVE FORM OF ADJECTIVES When we compare two things or people we look at what makes them different from each other.

Add -r to the

syllable ending in 'e'. end of the word. Words of one

Double the

syllable, with one

consonant and

vowel and one

add -er to the

consonant at the end. end of the word.

For example: Tall / Short

24

For example

wide wider

big bigger

Words of one syllable, with more than one vowel or more than one

Add - er to the

high -

end of the word. higher

consonant at the end.

The man on the left is taller than the man on the right. The man on the right is shorter than the man on the left. Fast / Slow

Words of two syllables, ending in 'y'.

Words of two

Change 'y' to 'i', and add -er to

happy -

the end of the

happier

word. Place 'more'

beautiful -

syllables or more, not before the

more

ending in 'y'.

beautiful

adjective.

The following adjectives are exceptions to this rule: A car is faster than a bicycle.

'good' becomes 'better'

A bicycle is slower than a car.

'bad' becomes 'worse' 'far' becomes 'farther' or 'further'

Comparative adjectives are used to show what quality one thing has more or less than the other. They

! Note - When comparing two things like this we put

normally come before any other adjectives.

than between the adjective and the thing being compared.

For example: For example:Big / Small "Mount Everest is higher than Mount Snowdon." "Arguably, Rome is more beautiful than Paris.

POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES The red bag is bigger than the blue bag.

Possessive adjectives are used to show ownership or

The blue bag is smaller than the red bag. possession. Confidence, Fluency & Personality

English Grammar

Subject pronoun

Possessive adjective

I

my

you

your

he

his

she

her

it

its

we

our

they

their

Confidence, Fluency & Personality

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