Interactive Grammar Notes

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1. ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS

Function:

  • Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns (describe them). E.g., "The assignment looked easy." ('easy' describes 'assignment').
  • Adverbs modify verbs (describe how, when, where, why an action is done), adjectives (modify their intensity), or other adverbs. E.g., "Students did well.", "danced really well.", "Drive carefully."

Form:

  • Use an adverb (like well, carefully, pleasantly) to describe *how* an action verb is performed, not an adjective (good, careful, pleasant).

Comparisons:

  • as ... as Structure: Used for equality/inequality. Use the base form of the adjective or adverb between 'as' and 'as'. E.g., "not as expensive as", "work as hard as".
  • Comparative Adverbs: Use 'more + adverb' (e.g., more carefully) or '-er' form (e.g., harder) when comparing two actions using than. E.g., "drives more carefully than..."

Quantifiers (Words for Amount/Number):

  • Use little with uncountable nouns (like 'rain') for a small amount. E.g., "very little rain".
  • Use few with countable nouns for a small number.
  • Use many with countable nouns for a large number.
  • (Distinctions between more were not fully illustrated beyond being comparative).

2. SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT

  • Neither...nor / Either...or: The verb agrees with the subject *closer* to it. E.g., "Neither my mother nor my sisters are...", "Neither students nor their teacher is..."
  • Interrupting Phrases: Phrases like as well as, along with, together with coming between subject parts do *not* change the subject number. The verb agrees with the *main subject* before the phrase. E.g., "The class monitor, as well as his friends, performs...", "The Principal along with experts was..."
  • One of the...: The subject is One (singular) and takes a singular verb. E.g., "One of the boys is working..." (But note the relative clause exception under that section).
  • Compound Subjects with and: Subjects joined by and are usually plural and take a plural verb. E.g., "He and I have (been)..."
  • Collective Nouns: Nouns representing a group (herd, team, etc.) usually take a singular verb when the group acts as a single unit. E.g., "The herd runs..."
  • Specific Plural Nouns: Some nouns ending in 's' or referring to pairs are treated as plural (pajamas). E.g., "...the pajamas fit me."

3. PREPOSITIONS

Verb/Adjective/Noun Collocations:

Many words require specific prepositions. Examples covered:

  • lead to (result/direction)
  • belong to (membership)
  • accompanied by (agent in passive)
  • stare at (target of gaze)
  • respect for (the respected entity)
  • based on (foundation)
  • suspected of (crime)
  • interested in (topic/activity)

Movement:

  • through: Movement within and out of a passage (e.g., through the tunnel).
  • out of: Movement from inside an enclosed space (e.g., came out of the office).

Phrasal Verbs:

The preposition/particle changes the verb's meaning.

  • call off: Cancel (e.g., parties were called off).

4. MODAL VERBS

  • Possibility/Speculation: might, could (e.g., "He might be his father.")
  • Necessity/Obligation:
    • must (strong obligation): "You must finish..."
    • need + gerund (necessity): "My fingernails need cutting."
  • Deduction (Certainty based on evidence):
    • must (strong positive deduction): "He must be mad.", "They must have a great chef."
    • can't (strong negative deduction/impossibility): "You can't be hungry."
    • must have + past participle (strong past deduction): "She must have missed the bus."
  • Past Possibility: might have + pp, could have + pp (e.g., "There might have been a demonstration.")
  • Lack of Necessity: needn't (e.g., "You needn't be hungry.")

5. TENSE AND ASPECTS

  • Future Continuous (will be + -ing): Used for an action that will be in progress at a specific time in the future. E.g., "...we will be having dinner then."
  • Past Perfect (had + past participle): Used for an action completed *before* another past action. E.g., "He had had breakfast before he set out."
  • Future Perfect Continuous (will have been + -ing) / Future Perfect (will have + pp): Used for the duration of an action up to a specific point in the future. E.g., "...she will have been working... for fifteen years."
  • Simple Past: Used for completed actions in the past. Necessary for sequence after past perfect. E.g., "After the lesson had finished, we ran out..."
  • Passive Forms: Use the correct tense of be + past participle. E.g., "She was overcome" (Simple Past Passive). "His company is greatly sought after." (Present Simple Passive).

6. INFINITIVES AND GERUNDS

Use Gerund (-ing form):

  • After prepositions (e.g., fond of gardening, look forward to hearing).
  • After possessive adjectives/nouns (e.g., thankful for his coming).
  • After certain verbs (e.g., finish doing, deny committing, dislike [doing something], resent [doing something]).

Use to-Infinitive:

  • After It's + adjective (e.g., It's best to dig).
  • After certain verbs/phrases (e.g., be likely to show, advised me to put, want someone to do).

Use Bare Infinitive (without to):

  • After let (e.g., let me read).

Passive Forms:

  • Passive Gerund: being + past participle (e.g., dislike being given, resent being interrupted).
  • Passive Infinitive: to be + past participle (e.g., want to be respected).

7. CONJUNCTIONS

  • Contrast: although, even though, though (connect clauses despite contradiction). however (connects sentences/clauses showing contrast). E.g., "Although she worked hard, she didn't pass." "We got wet although we had an umbrella."
  • Cause/Reason: because, as, since (introduce the reason why). E.g., "I wanted to go back because I was uneasy."
  • Result: so (introduces the consequence). E.g., "I had to work late, so I was tired."
  • Time Sequence: as soon as (indicates immediate succession). E.g., "As soon as they saw the tiger, they attacked."
  • Condition: unless (means 'if not'). E.g., "Impossible to succeed unless one works hard."

8. RELATIVE CLAUSE

  • Function: Adds information about a noun (the antecedent).
  • Relative Pronouns/Adverbs:
    • People: who (subject), whom (object - not explicitly tested here), whose (possessive), that (can replace who in defining clauses).
    • Things/Animals: which (subject/object), that (can replace which in defining clauses).
    • Places: where (replaces 'in/at/on the place'), in which, from where.
    • Possession: whose (for people, animals, sometimes things). E.g., "...consultant whose advice I rely on.", "...man whose son plays..."
  • Choosing Pronoun: Must match the antecedent (person/thing/place) and its function (subject/object/possessive) in the relative clause.
  • Verb Agreement: The verb inside the relative clause agrees with the antecedent. E.g., "...one of the few girls who have passed..." ('who' refers to plural 'girls').

9. VOICE (ACTIVE AND PASSIVE)

  • Use: Passive is used when the receiver of the action is the focus, or the doer is unknown/unimportant.
  • Formation: Form of BE + Past Participle.
  • Changing Active to Passive:
    1. Object of active sentence becomes subject of passive.
    2. Change verb to passive form (correct tense of be + pp).
    3. Subject of active sentence becomes agent (with by) or is omitted.
    4. With two objects, either can become the subject.
  • Changing Passive to Active: Reverse the process; supply a logical subject if agent is missing.
  • Passive Gerunds/Infinitives: Use being + pp (gerund) or to be + pp (infinitive) when the action expressed by the gerund/infinitive is received by the subject. E.g., resent being interrupted, want to be respected.
  • Passive Questions: Invert the be verb and the subject. E.g., Was the crime confessed?

10. REPORTED SPEECH (INDIRECT SPEECH)

  • Tense Backshift: Verbs usually shift one tense back (Present -> Past, Past -> Past Perfect, etc.) when reporting past speech.
  • Pronoun/Possessive Changes: Adjust according to speaker perspective.
  • Time/Place Expressions: Change relative to the time of reporting (e.g., this -> that, these -> those, now -> then).
  • Reporting Statements: Use (reporting verb) + that + clause.
  • Reporting Yes/No Questions: Use (reporting verb) + if/whether + clause (statement word order).
  • Reporting Wh-Questions: Use (reporting verb) + Wh-word + clause (statement word order).
  • Reporting Commands/Requests: Use (reporting verb) + object + (not) + to-infinitive.
  • Modals: Some change (can -> could, will -> would), others may not (must not for prohibition).
  • Reporting Verbs: Choose appropriately (ask for questions, tell/warn/advise/order for commands, request for polite requests, wonder for questions asked to oneself).

11. QUESTION TAG

  • Structure: Auxiliary verb + pronoun, added to a statement.
  • Rule: Positive statement => Negative tag. Negative statement => Positive tag.
  • Verb: Use the *same auxiliary* as the statement. If no auxiliary, use do/does/did.
  • Subject: Use the *same subject* as a pronoun.
  • Special Cases: I am... => ..., aren't I?

12. MISCELLANEOUS

  • Word Forms: Use the correct part of speech (e.g., adverb culturally to modify adjective diverse; noun practice vs. verb practise [BrE spelling]).
  • Tense in Clauses: Use appropriate tense (e.g., past continuous was waiting with while for simultaneous past actions).
  • Determiner Order: All/Both usually precede possessives (All my books, Both his brothers).
  • Plural Nouns: Use plurals after numbers > 1 (a hundred rupees).
  • Pronoun Case: Use objective case (me, him, us, etc.) after prepositions, including except (e.g., except me).
  • Adverb Placement: Adverbs of frequency (like often) usually go before the main verb (except be).