Grapple with Grammar

NOUN
A noun may be defined as the name of a person,
place or thing.
e.g. Bipasha is beautiful.

PRONOUN
A pronoun may be defined as a word used instead
of a noun. It helps us to avoid the repetition of
the noun.
e.g. Shilpa is a woman. She is beautiful.

ADJECTIVE
An adjective can be defined as a word which
qualifies a noun or adds something to its
meaning.
e.g. Himesh is a good singer.

VERB
A verb is a word which describes the action or
condition of the subject. It describes what the
subject is, what it does or what happens to it.
e.g. Ravan was killed by Ram.

ADVERB
The word which modifies the verb is called
adverb. It can also add something to the
meaning of an adjective or an adverb.
e.g. The boy spoke loudly.

PREPOSITION
A preposition is a word which generally comes
before a noun or a pronoun to show its relation
to some other word in the sentence.
e.g. My computer is on the table.

CONJUNCTION
A conjunction is a word which joins together
words, phrases or sentences.
e.g. Harshal gave me tea and biscuits.

INTERJECTION
An interjection is a word which is used to express
sudden feelings or excitement.
e.g. Oh! I have lost my girlfriend.

NUMBER: SINGULAR & PLURAL
• By adding ‘s’ e.g. boy-boys
• By adding ‘es’ [nouns that end in ‘y, sh, ch, x or z]
e.g. gases, dishes, branches, topazes
• When the noun ends in ‘y’ and there is a consonant
before ‘y’ add ‘ies’ e.g. cities, cries
• When the final ‘y’ has a vowel before it, the ‘y’ is
not changed and only ‘s’ is added to the noun. e.g.
keys, boys
• When the noun ends in ‘o’ and there is a consonant
before ‘o’ add ‘es’ e.g. radios, studios

• Nouns which end in ‘f’ or ‘fe’ add ‘ves’ e.g. wives,
thieves
• Nouns ending in ‘ff, rf, oof, eef’ add ‘s’ e.g. roofs,
beliefs
• [Exception: café-cafes, strife-strifes, staff-staffs or
staves, wharf-wharfs or wharves]
• Few nouns form their plurals by changing their
internal vowels only: ‘Irregular Plurals’ e.g. man-
men, foot-feet, goose-geese, mouse-mice
• Add ‘en’ e.g. child-children, ox-oxen

• Compound nouns use plural of main word:
Brothers-in-law
• Some compound nouns take double plurals e.g.
Man-servant = Men Servants
• ‘Foreign Plurals’ e.g. larva-larvae, Fungus-Fungi,
Criterion-Criteria
• Some nouns cannot be put into plural forms e.g.
Imagery, Machinery
• Some nouns are always in plural forms e.g.
Trousers, News, Pants
• Same for in singular & plural e.g. Deer, Fish

GENDER
• Masculine: man, king, lion
• Feminine: woman, queen, lioness
• Common: teacher, child, servant
• Neuter: chair, crowd, room

PRONOUNS
PERSONAL
First Person: I, We etc.
Second Person: You, Your, Yours etc.
Third Person: He, She, It etc.
REFLEXIVE
Myself, Himself, Herself, Ourselves, Themselves etc.
RECIPROCAL
Each other [for two], one another [more than two]

DEMONSTRATIVE
This, that, these, those
INTERROGATIVE
Who [persons], what [things], which [persons &
Things]
RELATIVE
Interrogative pronouns used in statements and
pronouns like ‘that’ and ‘but’ used in complex
sentences
e.g. He is the man who saved a girl from drowning.

UNIVERSAL
Pronouns: each, all, every
Compounds: each one, everyone
PARTITIVE
Pronouns: Some, any, no
Compounds: something, anything, nothing
POSSESSIVE
Mine, his, hers etc.
INDEFINITE
Refer to persons or things in general e.g. one
should be faithful to one’s country

ADJECTIVES
ADJECTIVES OF NUMBER: All men are mortal.
DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES: These grapes are sour.
DISTRIBUTIVE ADJECTIVE: Whose house is that?
ADJECTIVES OF QUALITY: Amitabh is a good actor.
ADJECTIVES OF QUANTITY: There is little water in the
well.

DEGREE
POSITIVE: Sandra is a clever girl.
COMPARATIVE: Sandra is cleverer than Jessica.
SUPERLATIVE: Aditi is the most beautiful girl in
my class.

VERBS
Main Verb or Lexical Verb: This is the verb which can
make a meaningful sentence on its own.
e.g. Sweety reads books.
Helping Verb or Auxiliary Verb: This verb cannot
form a meaningful sentence on its own. But it
helps the main verb to get more meaning.
e.g. I can speak English.

Transitive Verb: A verb which has an object
e.g. Ram killed Ravan .
Intransitive Verb: A verb that has no object
e.g. Birds fly in the sky.
Finite Verb: limited by person, number & tense
e.g. Boys go to school.
Non-Finite Verb: not affected by tense & number
e.g.I saw an apple falling on the ground.

REGULAR VERBS: can be turned into the past tense
by the addition of ‘-ed’.
e.g. kill killed
IRREGULAR VERBS: verbs that are turned into the
past tense by other than ‘-ed’.
e.g. go went

AUXILIARIES OR HELPING VERBS
PRIMARY AUXILIARIES: can be used both as Main
Verb & the Helping Verbs. Forms: Be, Do, Have
Vividh is a lecturer. [is-Main Verb]
Vividh is singing a song. [is-Auxiliary]
Vividh has many books. [has-Main Verb]
Vividh has killed a tiger. [has-Auxiliary]
They do right things. [do-Main Verb]
They do not work hard. [do-Auxiliary]

MODAL AUXILIARIES
SHALL future action[command, promise, threat]
You shall go at once.
You shall get a medal, if you stand first.
Shall I call the police?
WILL future action[promise, threat, willingness]
I will do anything for you.
I will teach you a lesson.
I will come with you.

SHOULD, OUGHT TO, MUST
‘should’ is used as the past tense of ‘shall’
‘should’ is used for moral obligation
‘ought to’ is just like ‘should’
‘must’ is used for compulsion
We should help the blind.
We ought to be faithful to our country.
We must learn to earn.
MODAL AUXILIARIES

WOULD: used as the past tense of ‘will’
He said that he would come soon.
CAN & COULD: ‘can’ expresses ability
‘could’ is the past tense of ‘can’
I can speak English.
Till last year, I could read without glasses.
MODAL AUXILIARIES

MAY: indicates future time
Used to express permission, possibility, wish
May I come in, sir?
He may come tomorrow.
May god bless you.
MIGHT: past tense of ‘may’
Indicates more doubtful possibility than ‘may’
I might pass.
The boy said that he might stand for election.
MODAL AUXILIARIES

MARGINAL MODAL AUXILIARIES
These, like Primary Auxiliaries, can function as
both Main or Principal Verbs and Auxiliaries.
NEED
You need not take the medicine now.
DARE
He dare not meet his father.
USED TO
In my childhood, I used to sell pots.

VOICE: ACTIVE & PASSIVE
STATEMENTS/SIMPLE SENTENCES
Take the object first
Take the proper form of ‘be’ according to the
tense form of the verb in the sentence
Take ‘being’ if the verb has ‘-ing’ form
Take the third form of the verb [verb-3]
Take the word ‘by’
Then take the subject
Use the remaining words, if any, properly

STATEMENTS/SIMPLE SENTENCES
[Object + be + (being) + verb -3 + by + subject
+ (remaining words)
Atul is writing a novel.
A novel is being written by Atul.

ORDERS OR REQUESTS
Start the answer with the word ‘Let’
Take the object
Use the word ‘be’
Take the third form of the verb
Use the remaining words, if any, properly
Let + Object + be + Verb -3 + (remaining words)
Open the door.
Let the door be opened.

QUESTIONS
A question should be turned into a passive question.
First write the answer to the given question.
Then turn the answer which is a simple sentence or
a statement into the Passive voice.
Then turn the passive statement into a question.
Does he like coffee?
Yes, he likes coffee.=Coffee is liked by him.
Is coffee liked by him?

ADVERBS
SIMPLE ADVERBS
Adverbs of Time: late, early, daily etc.
Adverbs of Place: here, out, in etc.
Adverbs of Number: always, seldom, secondly etc.
Adverbs of Manner: slowly, seriously, bravely etc.
Adverbs of Degree: enough, very, too etc.
Adverbs of Reason: therefore, hence etc.
Adverbs of affirmation or negation: indeed, surely
not etc.

ADVERBS
INTERROGATIVE ADVERBS
These are adverbs used for asking questions:
When did he come?
How did he behave?
Why did he resign?
RELATIVE ADVERBS
These are wh- words used as adverbs. They connect
adjectival clause to the main clause.
That was the reason why I called you.

ARTICLE
INDEFINITE ARTICLE: A OR AN
‘a’ or ‘an’ is used for countable and singular
nouns e.g. a table, an orange etc.
The nouns which begin with any of ‘A,E,I,O,U’ take
‘an’ e.g. an apple
Exception: The noun which starts with a vowel
letter but the pronunciation of its first vowel
letter is like a consonant, takes ‘a’ and not ‘an’
e.g. a one-eyed boy

DEFINITE ARTICLE: THE
For the thing which is only one of its kind in the
world e.g. The earth
For the superlative degree e.g. The tallest
For the names of mountains, deserts, oceans,
rivers forests, etc. e.g. The Himalayas
For the names of religions and holy books
e.g. The Hindus, The Bible
For the names of inhabitants of a country but not
for the languages they speak e.g. The Indians
speak Hindi

DEFINITE ARTICLE: THE
For the name of a country when it is in plural.
This name shows that the country is not a
federal nation but made up of several states or
parts e.g. The U.S.A.
When a noun is repeated in a paragraph, the is
not used for the first time but consequently e.g.
A man and a dog were friends. The man…
For the singular noun which is used to represent
the whole class of things to which it belongs
e.g. The camel is the ship of the desert.

For a proper noun when it is used as a common
noun
e.g. Kalidasa is the Shakespeare of India.
For the names of inhabitants of a country but not
for the languages they speak e.g. The Indians
speak Hindi

Vividh Pawaskar
vividhpawaskar@gmail.com
www.youthempowermentsolutions.org
9822988918

Grapple with Grammar

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