English Grammar

Prof. M. Basanna.
*****

A Word …

Some of us find it difficult to read and write English. Learning English is as easy as learning
any other language. In learning a language, we must know two things.
1. Vocabulary –A rich collection of words.
2. Basics of Grammar – Agreement of verb and Order of words.
The first one can be acquired by regular reading of news paper and books. Whenever we
come across new words, we must find their meaning and usage (noun or verb etc.)
immediately using a good dictionary. While selecting books to read, we must also choose
the books of our interest. If we are interested in science or humanity or religion we must
select books in that field. This will help in reading the book with interest and learn the
language easily. Attending lectures, debates and the like conducted by various organizations
may add to this. Talking to friends in English will be an added advantage. In all we must
have a zeal to learn the language.
Basics of grammar are briefly covered in this article. Examples wherever necessary are given
by suitable indent. Detailed coverage - such as changing singular number to plural number,
masculine gender to feminine gender, present tense to past tense etc - has been skipped.
(For this a good book on grammar may be referred.) It is enough if we know whether the
noun is singular or plural, masculine or feminine and whether the verb is present tense or
past tense, etc. This will help in writing good and correct English.
A good dictionary and grammar text book will certainly be useful. Dictionary will give you
the meaning and usage (noun, verb, adjective, adverb, etc.) of the words in English.
Grammar will amplify your knowledge and depth of understanding.

Sentence
A sentence is a group of words which gives clear and full meaning.
Black is beautiful.
Hill is tall.
Chat is not hot.
Sentences are of four kinds:
Declarative sentence, makes a statement.
 (a) A sentence making a positive statement is called affirmative sentence.
e.g., Mangoes are sweet.
(b). A sentence making a negative statement is called negative sentence.
e.g., Water is not pure.
Interrogative sentence, asks a question. (ends with ? mark)
What is in the bag?
Who goes there?
Imperative sentence, makes a request or command.
Give me a pen.
Open the door.
Exclamatory sentence, expresses joy, sorrow or feeling.
Oh, what a beautiful sight ! (ends with ! mark)
Alas ! the cup is broken. (uses ! mark)

Subject and Predicate

A sentence has two parts – Subject and Predicate.
The part which we speak about is called subject.
The part which tells about the subject is called predicate.
In the sentence:
The boy goes to the school.
“The boy” (which we speak about) is the subject.
“goes to the school” (which tells about the boy) is the predicate.
Note: 1. Usually subject of a sentence comes first.
Sometimes, after the predicate.
The man comes here. Here comes the man.
Note: 2. In imperative sentence, the subject is understood.
Eat the fruit. Do not go late.

Phrase and clause

A group of words which makes sense but not complete sense is called phrase.
The moon shines in the sky. (in the sky is a phrase)
A group of words which makes complete sense and contains subject and predicate of its
own is called clause.
The moon which is in the sky shines. (which is in the sky is a clause)

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 Parts of speech
Words are classified into eight classes known as parts of speech. This is based on the
function the words could do. They are
1. Noun 2. Pronoun 3. Verb 4. Adjective
5. Adverb 6. Preposition 7. Conjunction 8. Interjection
Noun – A noun is a word used to denote a person, place or thing.
The rose is red.
The milk is white.
Pronoun – A pronoun is a word used instead of a noun.
He is a tall boy.
It is a mango tree.
Verb – A verb is a word used to express an action or state.
The man went to hill.
The tree is big.
Adjective – An adjective is word used to describe or add some thing to the meaning of noun.
That is a white cat.
She is a brave girl.
Adverb – An adverb is word used to modify or add some thing to the meaning of verb,
adjective or another adverb.
He walked slowly. (slowly modifies verb walked)
The garden is very beautiful. (very modifies adjective beautiful)
You speak very clearly. (very modifies adverb clearly)
Preposition – A preposition is a word used to show the relationship between persons or
things.
The book is on the table.
Milk is in the glass.
Conjunction – A conjunction is a word used to join words or sentences.
He and I are good friends.
I worked hard, but failed to reach the goal.
Interjection – An interjection is a word used to express sudden feeling.
Alas! He missed the train.
Hey! We won the game.

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 Noun
Name of a person, place animal or thing is called noun.
Man, park, tiger, chair are some examples.
Nouns are of five kinds. 1. Common noun, 2. Proper noun, 3. Collective noun,
4. Abstract noun, 5. Material noun.
Common noun – Name common to every person, place or thing.
Boy, city, cow, table are some examples.
Proper noun – Name of a particular person or place.
John, Bangalore are some examples.
Collective noun – Name of a group (or collection) of persons or things.
Crowd , herd, bunch are some examples.
Abstract noun – Name of quality, action or state.
Truth, theft, beauty, youth are some examples.
Material noun – Name of things that cannot be counted. They have
no plural forms.
Milk, water, steel, sand are some examples.

Noun – Number

Two types of number: 1. Singular number and 2. Plural number.

Singular Number – Denotes one person or thing.
Boy, class, mango, baby, wife, man, etc.
Plural Number – Denotes more than one person or thing.
Boys, classes, mangoes, babies, wives, men, etc.
Note: Observe how plurals are formed.
Plurals can be recognized by the nouns ending in -s, -es, -ies, -ves.

Noun – Gender

Four types of gender: 1. Masculine, 2. Feminine, 3. Common and 4. Neuter.

Masculine gender – Denotes male person or animal.
Father, husband, boy, cock, etc.
Feminine gender – Denotes female person or animal.
Mother, wife, girl, hen, etc.
Common gender – Denotes either male or female person or animal.
Parent, spouse, child, chick, etc.
Neuter gender – Denotes neither male nor female person or animal.

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 Tree, stone, book, pencil, etc.
Feminines can be recognized by the nouns ending in -ess, -ine, -trix.

Noun – Case

A noun can be used as the subject or object of a verb. The difference between subject and
object can be understood clearly by asking the questions who and what before the verb.
The noun answering the question who will be the subject and the noun answering the
question what will be object. In the example,
The boy is reading a book.
Who is reading the book? Answer is boy, which is the subject.
What the boy is reading? Answer is book, which is the object.
Sometimes, there will be two objects in a sentence. Consider
Father gave money to son.
Here are three nouns – father, money and son.
Who gave money? Father –> Subject.
What father gave? Money –> Object.
Whom father gave money? Son – Another object.
The noun that answers the question what is called Direct Object.
The noun that answers the question whom is called Indirect Object.
Three cases: 1. Nominative case, 2. Objective (Accusative) case, 3. Possessive (Genitive)
case.
Nominative case – Noun used as the subject of the verb is said to be in nominative case. In
example above, father is in nominative case.
Objective case – Noun used as the object of the verb is said to be in objective case. In
example above, money and son are in objective case.
Possessive case – Noun used to show possession or ownership is said to be in possessive
case.
The boy’s book is torn. (Boy’s – Possessive case, singular)
This is boys’ school. (Boys’ – Possessive case, plural)
To find nominative case, ask question who or what before verb.
To find objective case, ask question whom or what before verb.
To find possessive case, ask the question whose before verb.
Note: Same noun may be used as the subject, object or to show possession.
Mango is sweet. (Subject – Nominative case)
He ate a mango. (Object – Objective case)

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 Mango’s taste is fine. (Possession – Possessive case)

Pronoun
Pronoun – Word used instead of noun. They are eight in number.
Personal pronoun: Stands for persons. They are three

Person Means Singular Plural

I Person Person speaking I We
II Person Person spoken to You You
III Person Person spoken of He, She, It They

Forms of personal pronoun

Person → I Person II Person III Person

Case ↓ Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural
Nominative I we you you he/she/it they
Objective me us you you him/her/it them
Possessive my our your your his/her/ their
mine ours yours yours hers/its theirs

Reflexive Pronoun – Pronoun used to reflect the action on the object. Reflexive pronoun is
formed by adding self or selves to the personal pronoun possessive case. e.g., myself,
ourselves, itself, themselves etc.
I did it myself.
We read the lessons ourselves.
Emphatic pronoun – Same form as reflexive pronoun. Used to stress or emphasize the
action.
I myself did it.
We ourselves read the lessons.
Demonstrative pronoun – Pronoun used to point out persons or things. e.g., This, that,
these, those etc.
This is my book.
Those are mango trees.
Indefinite pronoun – Pronoun used to refer persons or places or things once at a time. e.g.,
One, none, all, some, few, many etc.
Some will attend the function.
None are present at the park.

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Distributive pronoun – Pronoun used to refer persons or places or things one at a time. They
are always singular and take singular verb. e.g., Each, every, either, neither etc.
They quarreled each other.
Either pay price or reject the offer.
Relative pronoun – Pronoun used to relate some noun with another one used earlier. e.g.,
who, whose, whom, which, that.
This is the man whom I wanted.
Bring the book that is on the table.
Interrogative pronoun – Pronoun used for asking questions. e.g., who, what, when, which
etc.
Who is this boy?
Whom do you want to meet?

Verb
Verb is an important word in the sentence. It tells us or asserts something about the
subject.
The boy runs. (Subject does something)
The man was killed. (Something is done to the subject)
Tomorrow will be holiday. (Tells something about subject)
Verb Tense – Tense is the form of a verb which shows the time and the state of action or
event.
Three main tenses: Present, Past and Future.
Present tense denotes events happening at present.
Past tense denotes events happened in the past.
Future tense denotes events going to happen in the future.

Forms of verb I : Write

Present tense Past tense Future tense

Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural
I Person I write We I wrote We wrote I will write We will
write write
II Person You write You You wrote You wrote You will You will
write write write
III Person He writes They He wrote They He will They will
write wrote write write

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Each of the main tenses has four forms.
1. Simple – Action simply stated, progress not known.
2. Continuous – Action is still going on.
3. Perfect – Action has completed.
4. Perfect continuous – Action not completed but still going on.

Forms of verb II : Write

Present tense Past tense Future tense

Simple I write I wrote I will write
You write You wrote You will write
He writes He wrote He will write
Continuous I am writing I was writing I will be writing
You are writing You were writing You will be writing
He is writing He was writing He will be writing
Perfect I have written I had written I will have written
You have written You had written You will have written
He has written He had written He will have written
Perfect I have been writing I had been writing I shall have been writing
continuous You have been writing You had been writing You shall have been writing
He has been writing He shall have been writing
He had been writing

Verb – Complement – A word or group of words required to complete the predicate. It tells
something about person or thing.
e.g., If we say ‘He seems’, the meaning will not be complete. Instead, if we say ‘He seems
miserable’ or ‘He seems sleepy’ it completes the meaning.

Verb – Transitive and Intransitive verbs

A verb that takes an object is called transitive verb .

The man killed a snake
The cow eats grass.
A verb that does not require an object is called intransitive verb.
The lion rests in the cave.
The baby sleeps at night.

Verb – Auxiliary and Defective verbs

Auxiliary verbs – Verbs be, have and do are called auxiliary or helping verbs.

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Third person singular auxiliary verb takes -s in present tense.
Infinitives (to be, to have, to do), participles and gerunds (being, having, doing) can be
formed from auxiliary verb.

Forms of verb: be

Present tense Past tense Future tense

Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural
I Person I am We are I was We were I will be We will be
II Person You are You are You were You were You will be You will be
III Person He/She/It They are He was They were He will be They will be
is

Forms of verb: have

Present tense Past tense Future tense

Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural
I Person I have We have I had We had I will have We will
have
II Person You have You have You had You had You will You will
have have
III Person He/She/It They He had They had He will have They will
has have have

Forms of verb: do

Present tense Past tense Future tense

Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural
I Person I do We do I did We did I will do We will do

II Person You do You do You did You did You will do You will do

III Person He/She/It They do He did They did He will do They will do
does

Defective verbs – Verbs shall, will, can, may (in present tense), and should, would, could,
might (in past tense) are called defective verbs.
Third person singular defective verb does not take -s in present tense.
Infinitives, participles and gerunds cannot be formed from defective verbs.

Verb – Infinitive

Verb followed by to is called infinitive. It is the form of verb doing the work of verb and
noun. Therefore, infinitive is verb-noun.

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 He was ready to go home. (Verb)
To find fault is easy. (Noun – Subject)
I like to swim. (Noun – Object)

Verb – Participle

Verb ending with -ing is called participle. It is the form of verb doing the work both verb and
adjective. Therefore, it is called verb-adjective.
Dog was barking at the man. (Verb)
Barking dog does not bite. (Adjective)

Verb – Gerund

Verb having the same form as participle (i.e., ending with -ing) is called gerund. It is the
form of verb doing the work both verb and noun. Therefore, it is called verb-noun.
He was reading the book. (Verb)
Reading is a good habit. (Noun)

Regular(Weak) and Irregular(Strong) Verbs

Regular verbs – Verbs forming their past tense and past participle by adding –ed, -d, -t -en
are called regular verbs.
Base form Past tense past participle
talk talked talked
burn burnt burnt
bend bent bent
beat beat beaten
Irregular Verbs – Verbs not forming their past tense and past participle by adding –ed, -d, -t
-en are called irregular verbs.
Base form Past tense Past participle
cut cut cut
come came come
sit sat sat
drink drank drunk

Verb – Voice

Voice refers to the form of verb.

Kinds – 1. Active voice, and 2. Passive voice.
Active voice – Form of verb showing that subject does something.

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 The boy reads a book. (Verb reads is in active voice.)
Passive voice – Form of verb showing that something is done to the subject.
A book is read by the boy. (Verb is read is in passive voice.)
In active voice, the subject will be in nominative case and the verb follows the subject in
number and person.
Man kills the snakes. Singular subject and singular verb.
The master teaches us.
In passive voice, the object will be in nominative case and the verb follows the object in
number and person.
Snakes are killed by man. Plural subject and plural verb.
We are taught by the master.

Forms of Person in active voice and passive voice.

Active voice – I, We, You, He, She, It, They

Passive voice – Me, Us, You, Him, Her, It, Them.
Active voice is used when the agent or doer is to be made prominent. Passive voice is used
when the person or the thing acted upon is to be made prominent.
Therefore, passive form is preferred when we do not know the agent or doer.
My book was stolen. (by somebody)
I was told to come. (by someone)
When both indirect and direct objects are involved, either object may become the subject of
passive voice.
He gave me fruits. (Active voice.)
Fruits were given to me by him. (Passive voice, Direct object)
I was given fruits by him. (Passive voice, Indirect object.)
Only transitive verbs can be used in passive voice.

Agreement of verb with subject

1. Verb must agree with its subject in number and person.

2. Two or more singular subjects joined by or or nor take single verb.
Coffee or tea needs some sugar.
3. Either, neither, each, every, everyone take a singular verb.
Each of the passengers was fined.
Every dog has his day.
4. Some nouns plural in form take singular verb.
The news was very bad.

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 Physics is an exact science.
5. Two or more singular nouns joined by and take plural verb.
Cat and dog are tamed animals.
Red, green and blue are primary colors.
6. If the nouns suggest one idea or refer to the same thing then verb must be singular.
Bread and butter is staple food.
The horse and carriage is waiting at the gate.
Note that:
A black and white cat is at the door. (One cat – singular)
A black and a white cat are at the door. (Two cats – plural)
7. Some nouns singular in form, plural in meaning take plural verb.
A dozen of mangoes cost Rs. 60.
8. Collective nouns take singular verb.
A bunch of keys is on the table.
9. Singular subject joined by words with, as well as, along with, etc. take singular verb.
The house with its belongings was sold.
Apple as well as orange is good food.
10. Nouns like some, none, etc. singular in form take plural verb.
None are happy these days.
Some are crazy for money.

Adjective
Adjective is a word used to describe or add more meaning to the noun.
Five kinds of adjectives: 1. Descriptive, 2. Demonstrative, 3. Quantitative,
4. Interrogative, 5. Distributive.
Descriptive adjective – Shows the quality or kind of person or thing. (Answers the question:
What kind of?)
This is a black cow.
It is a beautiful garden.
Demonstrative adjective –Points out a person or thing. (Answers the question: Which?)
This city is crowded.
Those mangoes are sweet.
Quantitative adjective – Tells how much or how many person or thing. (Answers the
question: How much?)
The cat drinks little milk.

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 There are many people in the mob.
Interrogative adjective – Asks question. (Answers the question: What, which, whose)
What book do you want?
Which place you like most?
Distributive adjective – Indicates one person or thing at a time. (Answers the question:
Who, which)
Each class must have a leader.
Every dog has his day.

Comparison of adjectives

Three degrees of comparison:

1. Positive degree, 2. Comparative degree, 3. Superlative degree.
Positive degree – Denotes simple quality.
He is a tall boy.
She is a smart girl.
Comparative degree – Denotes higher degree of quality. Used to compare two persons or
things (followed by than).
He is taller than other boys.
She is smarter than other girls.
Superlative degree – Denotes the highest degree of quality. Used to compare more than two
persons or things (follows the).
He is the tallest boy.
She is the smartest girl.

Formation of comparative and superlative degree:

Adjectives with one or more syllable form the comparative degree by adding -er and
superlative degree by adding -est to the positive (with or without little modification)

Positive Comparative Superlative

(No change)
tall taller tallest
sweet sweeter sweetest
wise wiser wisest
(Final e dropped)
fine finer finest
(Final y changes to i)

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happy happier happiest
easy easier easiest
(Final consonant is doubled)
big bigger biggest
hot hotter hottest

Articles (Demonstrative Adjectives)

They are two in number. (i) a or an and (ii) the.

A or an is called indefinite article. It does not point to any particular person or thing.
A man – means any man.
The is called definite article. It points to a particular person or thing.
The man – means a particular man.
Indefinite article a is used before a singular countable noun.
A boy, an apple, a house, a university, etc.
Definite article the is used before singular or plural, countable or uncountable persons or
things.
The man, the men, the chair, the milk, etc.
A is used before a word beginning with a consonant or consonant sound or long vowel
sound.
A boy, a tiger, a table, a uniform, a university, etc.
An is used before a word beginning with a vowel or vowel sound.
An ass, an orange, an hour, an honest, etc.
The is used before a particular person or thing.
The teacher, the Himalayas, the Vedas, etc.
It is the man whom I saw in the market.
That is the place where we met last.

Adverb
Adverb is a word used to modify or add more meaning to the verb, adjective or another
adverb.
Four kinds: 1. Adverb of time, 2. Adverb of place, 3. Adverb of manner, 4. Adverb of
quantity.
Adverb of time – Answers the question: When? Before, after, daily, soon, late, etc.
He arrived late.
We walk daily.

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Adverb of place – Answers the question: Where? Here, there, up, down, etc.
He was here yesterday.
Stand up on the bench.
Adverb of manner – Answers the question: How? Slowly, clearly, bravely, etc.
He walks slowly.
She reads loudly.
Adverb of quantity – Answers question: How much? Too, very, pretty, partly, etc.
The hall is too big.
The T.V. is very beautiful.

Formation of adverbs from adjectives:

By adding -ly with or without modification.

quick - quickly happy - happily humble – humbly
rapid - rapidly nice - nicely heavy - heavily
kind - kindly double - doubly ready - readily

Comparison of adverbs:

Three degrees of comparison. Positive degree, Comparative degree, Superlative degree.

1. An adverb of single syllable forms comparative degree by adding -er, and superlative
degree by adding -est.

Positive Comparative Superlative

fast faster fastest

long longer longest
early earlier earliest
2. Adverbs ending with -ly take more and most respectively.
happily more happily most happily
quickly more quickly most quickly
3. Some adverbs form their comparative and superlative irregularly.
good better best
bad worse worst
much more most
little less least

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 Preposition
Preposition is a word used to show the relationship between persons or things. In, on, of,
under, above, below, etc.
The book is in the shelf.
The cloud floats above the hill.

Conjunction
Conjunction is a word used to join words or sentences. e.g., and, or, nor, but, because, etc.
Tiger and lion are wild animals.
Man built the house and lived in it.

Interjection
Interjection is a word used to express sudden feeling or emotion. e.g., hello, alas, oh, ah,
etc.
Hello! How are you?
Oh! It is wonderful.

Verb Pattern:

In writing good English, we must remember two things.

(i) Agreement of verb with number and person, (ii) Order of words
The order of words plays an important role. It must be meaningful and the meaning
conveyed must not change. Consider the following examples.
The dog has a tail. OK
The tail has a dog. Meaningless-
Man killed snake. OK
Snake killed man. Gives a different meaning.
She came with a cup of tea. OK
With a cup of tea, she came. OK, Meaning not changed.

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Verb pattern helps us how to write sentences. Some important patterns are given below.
Normal order is indicated in the table.

No. Pattern Explanation

1. S+V S – Subject
2. S+V+A V – Verb
3. S+V+C A – Adverb
4. S+V+O C – Complement
5. S + V + IO + DO IO – Indirect Object
6. S+V+O+C DO – Direct Object
7. S+V+O+A

1. S + V Pattern

Subject Verb
1. Birds fly
2. The dog barks
3. The sun shines in the sky
4. My brother is a professor
5. This lady is very beautiful

2. S + V + A Pattern

Subject Verb Adverb

1. He walked slowly
2. The wind blows from east
3. The tiger entered the cave
4. Boy went to home
5. I want to go shop

3. S + V + C Pattern

Subject Verb Complement

1. The sky is clear
2. He seems depressed
3. The table was there
4. The shop will be let
5. The tree is flowering

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4. S + V + O Pattern

Subject Verb Object

1. He eats cake
2. You buy a pen
3. The cow gives milk
4. We paid taxes
5. They brought a bag

5. S + V + IO + DO Pattern

Subject Verb IO DO
1. I sold him my car
2. My father gave me ten rupees
3. Please lend me a book
4. The teacher taught us logic
5. The servant feeds horse some grass

6. S + V + O + C Pattern

Subject Verb Object Complement

1. I saw him guilty
2. He made us waiting
3. His words made them joyful
4. Something will do him work
5. You can make me happy

7. S + V + O + A Pattern

Subject Verb Object Adverb

1. We won the match easily
2. The dog bit him on his leg
3. We drink milk at night
4. I wrote letters to my son
5. You may do it at once

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