GALGOTIAS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

Knowledge Park II, Greater Noida (U.P)-201306

SOFT SKILLS-I NOTES

KNC-101

Unit- 1: Basics of Applied Grammar and Usage

CO1- Students will be enabled to understand the correct usage of grammar.

Why to study Unit 1? – A person’s speech delivery consists of all words and usage of grammar that
he/she knows or uses. Each of us aspires to be well equipped with rich vocabulary and correct usage of
grammar to frame our content well or to express our thoughts and ideas well. If we are at ease with
grammar and words, we will never be in a state of hesitation and without ambiguities and loss for words
we will be able to convey our ideas and thoughts in the most appropriate and articulate manner.
Grammar is important because it aids expressions and communication. Enrichment of vocabulary,
command over grammar strengthens our confidence and makes effective communication both in oral
and written modes.

1. Tenses

In grammar, tense is a category that expresses time reference. Tenses are usually manifested by the use
of specific forms of verbs, particularly in their conjugation (verb derivations/ pattern). Tenses generally
express time relative to the moment of speaking. In some contexts, however, their meaning may be
relativized to a point in the past or future which is established in the moment of speaking/spoken about.

Why should we study Tenses? -

We have been reading and practicing the use of tenses since our school days. Tenses are the most
important part of the English Language. If you wish to write a correct sentence or wish to say anything
to anyone, you need to express the idea in the right form of Tenses. Tenses form the backbone of the
English language. It is most appropriate to express the idea, should be used, else the
statement/question would express something opposite to what you wanted to state or write.
Chronology, or events and dates set in order of their happening, is expressed by English speakers
through verb tenses. Each tense indicates the connection between two or more time periods or the
exact time an activity occurred, which underlines the importance of English grammar tenses. They can
be used to create different meanings from the same verbs and help to anchor the listener and
understand the meaning behind your story. Thus, English has a lot of verb tenses with some expressing a
connection between two time periods whereas others indicate the exact timing of an activity.

Rules of Tenses-
Tenses Tenses Rule
The past simple tense form is the same for all persons (except with
the verb ‘be’). Use the past simple for the actions that have
happened at the same time, repeated actions at the same time and
the sequences of the actions.
Ex- Caesar’s troops failed to defeat the indigenous tribes.
Silverman ran to the car, jumped in and raced off into the night.
The past continuous tense is used to describe an ongoing
action/actions which has taken place earlier. We can also use past
continuous tense to contrast ongoing action with the single event
which interrupts it.
Ex- We were watching the sky and listening to the first sounds of the
dawn chorus.
Elizabeth was hunting when messengers arrived with the news of
Mary’s plot.
Past Tense The past perfect is used to describe an action which is completed
before a time in the past, to make the sequence clear. We can use
already and just with the past perfect to show that the action was
earlier than expected or prevent action to happen later.
Ex- when we got back home the babysitter had gone home.
We wanted to talk to her but she’d just left.
I left the university before I’d taken the final exams.
She sacked him before he’d a chance to explain to him.
We don’t use past perfect if the sequence is obvious. – I had opened
the door and let him in but I opened the door and let him in.

The past perfect continuous is used to describe an ongoing

situation/action which continued up to, or stopped just before, a
time in the past. We don’t use this form for the complete action but
for the action in continuity.
Ex- he had been working for over an hour before the audience
turned up.
She found her desk was empty, and security had removed
everything.

The present simple is often used to state truths and things which we
feel are facts/ permanent situations, things happen on a regular
basis, actions often with impersonal you.
Ex- British people drink a lot of tea while Americans drink a lot of
coffee.
Share prices usually change on a daily basis.
Present Tense Cross the road, go through an iron gate and follow the path to the
west.
The present continuous describes actions in progress. We use
performative verbs in the first person to actually perform the action.
Ex- She is staying in New York.
On the behalf of the company, I apologize if any inconvenience is
 caused.
We don’t use present continuous in actions like here comes and
there goes- Here comes the postman. There goes the last bus.
We don’t usually use the continuous form with the verbs which
describe a sense- hear, notice, see, smell and taste.
Ex- I can taste cream in this. I notice that your friend doesn’t come to
the party.
The present perfect is used to describe an action which is completed
before a time in the present, to make the sequence clear. We can
use already and just with the present perfect to show that the action
was earlier than expected or prevent action to happen late.
I have studied this chapter before the class.
I want to pick some flowers but I’ve already left for the party.
The present perfect continuous is used to describe an ongoing
situation/action which continued up to in the present. We don’t use
this form for the complete action but for the action in continuity.
Ex- Nakul has been working on this project since 2018.

We can use ‘to’ to talk about official arrangements. – The President

Future Tense
(other patterns than will/shall)
is to hold an official reception for the visitors.
We can use ‘not to’ with an infinitive for formal commands and
instructions. – You are not to disturb the head teacher while the
inspection is going on in the college.
We can use ‘due to’ to talk about an event which forms a part of
timetable/schedule. – The inspections on the marketing process are
due to start in December.
We can use ‘about to’ to describe an event(planned/unplanned) that
is expected to happen in the near future. – Ladies and gentlemen.
Please take your seats as the performance is about to start.
We can use ‘likely to’ with an infinitive to say that something in the
future is probable. – The experts and his team are likely to arrive
before eight.

2. Part of Speeches
The major classes of words are nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Below we list some examples of
words (vocabulary building words) belong to these classes:
Nouns : President, Hyderabad, book, intelligence
Verbs : is, seem, believe, run, eat
Adjectives : alive, intelligent, good, main
Adverbs : carefully, slowly, honestly
Nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are called “major classes” because a large number of English
words belong to one of these four classes. There are also minor classes of words like prepositions,
conjunctions, articles, demonstratives, pronouns, quantifiers, ordinals and numerals.
As opposed to the minor classes, the words in the major class form an open set. That is to say, new
words that belong to these categories can always be added to the English grammar. Thus we can find
new nouns or verbs that get into English. But one doesn’t expect to find new prepositions or
conjunctions added to the English grammar.
Prepositions : at, by, in, on, with, . . .
Conjunctions : and, but, or, because, as, . . .
Articles : the, a, an.
Demonstratives : this, that, these, those.
Pronouns : he, she, you, we, I, . . .
Quantifiers : all, every, each, some, many, few. .
A phrase may consist of a single word or a group of words. When it comes to phrases, we just need to
consider the following types of phrases: the Noun Phrase (NP), the Verb Phrase (VP), the Adjective
Phrase (Ad P), the Adverb Phrase (Adv P), and the Prepositional Phrase (PP).

Tree Structure

NP VP

The little girl ate a mango

2. NP

Det N

the book

NP

Books
3. NP

Det N

My best friend’s wedding

4.NP

Det Q N

those two books

 5. AdjP

Intens. Adj

very warm
6. PP

P NP

Det N

in the morning

7. AdvP

Intens. Adv

very fast

Practice Questions-
i. My wife’s cousin taught English for years at the Arts’ College.
ii. The boy at the back of the row looks sad.
iii. It rained.
iv. Bread and butter are quite nourishing.
v. She is one of the most efficient surgeons in Hyderabad.
vi. The movie was quite long.
vii. Whose essay on peace did you like the most?
viii. I met him at my cousin’s birthday party.
ix. The party was very interesting.
x. He took the book I liked the most.
xi. We had such a nice time at the party.
xii. They waited for a long time.
xiii. We met a stranger.
xiv. The train was very late.
xv. He ran very fast.
 3. Active and Passive Voice
What is voice? - Voice is a grammatical category that applies to the verb in a sentence. It shows the
relationship between the doer of an action (subject) and the receiver of that action (object). The action
remains the same, but the focus changes depending upon the context.
For example: Do not cross the line. (direct, crisp and to the point)
You must not cross the line. (indirect & polite with firmness)
There are two types of voices in English- active voice and passive voice

Features of Active Voice

It focuses on the subject, Direct, Unambiguous, Easy to understand, Useful in entrusting responsibilities,
giving orders to an individual or to a small group.
Using active voice makes meaning clear for the readers/listeners and keeps the sentence at a distance
from being complicated with loads of words and high vocabulary. It tries to eliminate the ambiguities
generated by complex sentences.

Features of Passive Voice

The Subject is unknown, Indirect, Ambiguous, Unclear. It is used when the subject is unknown,
unimportant and obvious, to make a polite statement and is used for general announcements. For
example, in airports, railway station etc., Risk of sounding boastful, When the action is more important
than the “Agent” [Agent = one who is involved in the action]

Points to remember where we don’t need to mention the Agent in a passive voice when:
1. if we don’t know who has done what we are talking about. Our car was stolen last night. (We don’t
know who stole it)
2. if we are not interested in who has done what we are talking about or it is not important to mention
it. He has been taken to the hospital. (What we are interested in is the fact that he has been taken to the
hospital and not who has taken him.)
3. if it is easy to understand who did something without it being mentioned. The murderer was arrested
last night. (It is not necessary to mention that he has been arrested by the police because it is self-
evident.)
4. if the subject of the active voice sentence is something like somebody, people, they, you, etc.
Someone broke the window. - The window was broken.

Rules to convert Active Voice to Passive Voice:

If the indirect object of the active voice sentence is a personal pronoun it has to be changed into subject
pronoun to be the subject of the passive voice sentence.
Subject Object
I Me
You You
He/ she Him/her
It It
We Us
You You
They Them
DOUBLE OBJECT VERBS- When we have verbs that take two objects like, for example, give somebody,
something, we can convert the active sentence into a passive one in two ways:
Rick gave me (indirect object) this book (direct object).
- I was given this book by Rick.
- This book was given to me by Rick.

Some of the verbs that take two objects are: give, tell, send, show, bring, write, offer, pay, etc.

Use of Active and Passive Voice in Tenses-

Active Voice Different Verbs and Passive Voice Structural Patterns

tenses when changed into
Passive
Voice
He writes the letters Present Simple The letters are written S+ am /is/are+ participle
by him
He wrote the letters Past simple The letters were written S+ was/were+ participle
by
him.
He is writing the letters Present Continuous The letters are being S+ is/are being+
written participle
by him
He was writing the Past Continuous The letters were being S+ were being+
letters written by him. Participle
He will write the letters Future Simple The letters will be S+ will be + participle
written by him.
He is going to write the Continuous The letters are going to S+V to be (am/is/are)
letters be written. going to+ participle
He has written the Present Perfect The letters have been S+ have/has +been+
letters Tense written by him. participle
He had written the Past Perfect Tense The letters had been S+ had + been+
letters written by him. participle
He has to write the to-Infinitive The letters have to be S + have + to+ be
letters written by him. +participle
He must write the Modal The letters must be S+ must+ be +participle
letters written by him.

4. Articles
In English there are three articles: a, an, and the. Articles are used before nouns or noun equivalents
and are a type of adjective. The definite article (the) is used before a noun to indicate that the
identity of the noun is known to the reader. The indefinite article (a, an) is used before a noun that is
 general or when its identity is not known. There are certain situations in which a noun takes no
article.
A. Definite article- the (before a singular or plural noun)
B. Indefinite article- a (before a singular noun beginning with a consonant sound)
-an (before a singular noun beginning with a vowel sound)

Count nouns - refers to items that can be counted and are either singular or plural.
Non-count- refers to the items that cannot be counted and will always be singular.

Nouns Count Non count

Specific identity not known A, an No article
Specific identity known The the
Things in general No article No article

Example- if the water that has been spilled on the table, there can be one drop (singular) or two or more
drops (plural) of water on the table. The word drop in this example is a count noun because we can
count the number of drops. Therefore, according to the rules applying to count nouns, the word drop
would use the articles a or the. However, if we are speaking of water in general spilled on the table, it
would not be appropriate to count one water or two waters -- there would simply be water on the table.
Water is a noncount noun. Therefore, according to the rules applying to non- count nouns, the word
water would use no article or the, but not a.

Rules of Articles-
Specific identity not known: Use the indefinite article a or an only with a singular count noun (identity
not known). Use the article a or an to indicate any non-specified member of a group or category.
I think an animal is in the garage
We are looking for an apartment.
Use the article a or an to indicate one in number (as opposed to more than one).
I own a cat and two dogs.
Use the article ‘a’ before a consonant sound, and use ‘an’ before a vowel sound.
a boy, an apple
Sometimes an adjective comes between the article and noun:
an unhappy boy, a red apple
The plural form of a or an is some. Use some to indicate an unspecified, limited amount (but more than
one) an apple = some apples

Specific identity known: Use the definite article the with any noun (whether singular or plural, count or
non-count) when the specific identity of the noun is known to the reader, as in the following situations:
Use the article when a particular noun has already been mentioned previously.
I ate an apple yesterday. The apple was juicy and delicious.
Use the article when an adjective, phrase, or clause describing the noun clarifies or restricts its identity.
The boy sitting next to me raised his hand.
Thank you for the advice you gave me.
Use the article when the noun refers to something or someone that is unique.
the theory of relativity
the 2003 federal budget

All things or things in general: Use no article with plural count nouns or any non-count nouns used to
mean all or in general.
Trees are beautiful in the fall. (All trees are beautiful in the fall.)
He was asking for advice. (He was asking for advice in general.)
I do not like coffee. (I do not like all coffee in general.)

4. Subject-Verb Agreement
The verb of a sentence must agree with the simple subject of the sentence in number and person.
Number refers to whether a word is singular (child, account, city, I) or plural (children, accounts, cities,
we). Person refers to whether the word denotes a speaker (I, we are first person), the person spoken to
(you- second person), or what is spoken of
(he, she, it, they; Gary, college, taxes are third person).

Third person singular Choosing verbs to agree with first and second person subjects is not usually much
of a problem, but a peculiarity of third person singular verbs causes some students, especially ESL
students, some confusion when working with third person singular subjects. It matters whether a
subject in the third person is singular or plural because the verb form for third person singular often
differs from other verb forms. For most third person singular verbs, add an s to the root form of the
verb: sit + s = sits, the third person singular form. (Be careful-while an s on a noun usually denotes a
plural, an s on a verb does not make the verb plural.) Examples of how the verb form changes in third
person singular follow; notice that even irregular helping verbs (to have, to be, to do) add an s -- has, is,
was, does -- in third person singular.

Singular Verbs Plural Verbs

Is
am are
was were
has have
does do
S form Base form

Third person Singular (he, she, it) Third Person Plural (they)
Drinks drink
Is drinking Are drinking
Was drinking Were drinking
Has drunk Have drunk
 Has been drinking Have been drinking
Does not drink/ doesn’t drink Do not drink/ don’t drink

Only the simple subject -The verb must agree with its simple subject -- not with the description or
explanation of the subject. Ex- The back wheels of the car you borrowed are wobbling.

Compound subjects A compound subject joined by and is plural and takes a plural verb form:
Olivia and Phoolan are looking for the remote control. (They are looking.)

Verb preceding the subject in questions, the subject follows the verb, but the subject still determines
the person and number of the verb:
Where in the house are the medicines kept? (They are kept.)
Under which tree do the mushrooms grow? (They do grow.)

In sentences that begin with a construction such as here is or there are, the subject follows the verb but
still determines the person and number of the verb:
Here is the famous book festival. (It is here.) mouse in the attic. (It is there.) There are mice in the
bungalow. (They are there.)

Indefinite pronoun subjects- all, another, any, anybody/anyone, anything, each, everybody/everyone,
everything, few, many, nobody, none, one, several, some, somebody/someone. Some indefinite
pronouns are always singular, and some are always plural. (Some can go either way; for more on
indefinite pronouns, some indefinite pronouns are always singular no matter how much you feel that
words like everyone are plural. They require the third person singular verb form:

Nobody knows her. Has anyone asked? Everyone says so. Each gets a ticket. One uses a hammer.
Another has arrived

Other indefinite pronouns are always plural and require a plural verb form:
Several work here. Many have done it. Few believe it. Both were yellow.

Rules for Subject-Verb Agreement-

Rules
Compound subjects connected by AND or NO,
but preceded by each every,
require a singular verb.
When a compound subject is joined by
EITHER/OR/NOR the verb agrees with the nearer
subject.
When the special pronoun “I” is one of the two
subjects connected by either/or neither/nor
follow with the singular verb “am”
Examples
Each boy and girl was given a medal.
Either Elisa or her friends are coming.
Either his friends or Carlo is coming.
Neither she nor I am going to the festival.
Either him or I am in charge of the program.

When “either” and “neither” are subjects, they Neither of them is available to speak right now.
always take singular verbs. Either of us is capable of doing the job.
 A collective noun takes a singular verb if the idea The class has prepared a program. (whole class
expressed by the subject is thought of as a unit; it has prepared something)
takes a plural verb when the idea refers to The class have given different suggestions.
separate individuals. (members/students of the class)

Measurements of length, time, distance and Five meters is all I need for the uniform.
weight take a singular verb Two hours is required to finish the game.

The verb that follows there and here is singular There is a change in the weather.
when the subject that follows the verb is singular; There are changes in the program.
it is plural when the subject is plural.

The pronoun you always take is a Plural verb. You are so beautiful.
You are not alone.

5. Antonyms and Synonyms

In communication, the choice of words is very important. If you use the same word several times, it
becomes monotonous. To break this, it is a good idea to use synonyms (words with similar meanings). It
is believed that no words have exactly the same meaning: however, they can be used interchangeably. A
word can be substituted with its synonyms only if it’s the same part of the speech. One must have
complete knowledge of the meaning and categorization of the words.
Category includes- entertainment and amusement (noun)
Slowly and gradually (adverb)
Broaden and widen (verb)
Enticing and tempting (adjective)

In Greek, syn means plus and onoma means name. Synonyms are different words with identical or
similar meanings. Synonyms can be part of any category of words as long as words are the same part
of the speech. In the figurative sense, two words are often said to be synonymous if they have the
same connotation like, dark is gloomy, merry is happiness.

Examples- small (little, miniature, minute, petite, tiny)

Why do we call a house small and a woman petite? Small and little are used interchangeably to
describe people and things or reduced dimensions. Small is preferred when describing something
concrete, that is of less than usual size, quantity, value and importance. Little more often refers to
concept or to a more drastic reduction in a scale. Diminutive and petite intensify the meaning of
small, particularly with reference to women’s figures that are very trim and compact. Tiny is used to
describe what is extremely small, often to the point where it can be seen only by looking closely,
while minute can only describe what is seen with difficulty but may also refer to a very small amount
of something. Miniature, applies specifically to a copy, model or representation of something on a
very small scale.

Malign (defame, libel, slander, vilify)

Bad: awful, terrible, horrible.
 Good: fine, excellent, great.
Hot: burning, fiery, boiling.
Cold: chilly, freezing, frosty.

Antonyms- it is derived from the word anti, which means opposite and onoma which means name.
Antonyms are the word pairs that are opposite in meaning such as dark and light, tall and short.
Words may have different antonyms depending on the meanings. The different types of opposites
are-

Absolute/ binary- such antonyms have no comparison or with no middle ground, ex- True and false
(a statement can be either be true or false, there is no middle ground)
Gradable/ polar- these are the opposites with gradations of meanings, ex- hot and cold. There are
many other words to represent intermediate stages.
Relational- the pairs such as buy and sell, where the relationship between two objects is described
fall in this category.
Auto- these are the words that mean opposite in different context such as wind up (close, start), out
(visible and invisible)

Abandon- retain, keep

Amateur- professional
Ancient- recent
Chaste- promiscuous
Create- demolish
Dismay- encourage
Elastic- rigid
Glorious- unknown
Hostile- friendly
Learned- ignorant
Omission- addition
Prior- later
Sensible- foolish
Unsightly- attractive

Understanding Semantic Field based on Synonyms and Antonyms

Words that express related meanings fall into natural classes. Consider the following set of words:
mother, father, aunt, uncle, sister, and brother. What is common between all these words is that they
express some kind of kinship. So, we can say that they belong to the semantic field of kinship
terminology. Similarly, we can think of words expressing everyday activities as belonging to one
semantic field. The set of words: girl, boy, woman, and man. All of them belong to the semantic field of
words that are used to talk about the human race.

A word like girl, on the one hand, has an opposition with boy, but on the other, it opposes with woman.
Breaking up the meaning of words like boy and girl enables us to see why this is happening. We can
think of the meaning of man as comprising “primitive” meanings like HUMAN, MALE, and ADULT. This
can be represented in terms of “features.” That is to say, we can think of the information HUMAN,
MALE, and ADULT as features. Man will oppose boy in terms of the feature ADULT. This opposition can
be captured in terms of “+” versus “-” opposition. So, man can be said to be + ADULT, while boy will be
specified as - ADULT.
Man : + HUMAN, + MALE, + ADULT
Woman: : + HUMAN, - MALE, + ADULT
Boy : + HUMAN, + MALE, - ADULT
Girl : + HUMAN, - MALE, - ADULT

6. Prefix and Suffix

Prefixes and Suffixes are sets of letters that are added to the beginning or end of another word. They
are not words in their own right and cannot stand on their own in a sentence: if they are printed on their
own, they have a hyphen before or after them.
Prefixes are added to the beginning of an existing word in order to create a new word with a different
meaning. For example

Word Prefix New word

happy Un unhappy
cultural Multi multicultural
Work Over Over work
space Cyber Cyber space
market Super Supermarket

Prefix Meaning Examples

Dis- Not, opposite, reverse, away Disagree, disappear

Ex- Out of, away from, lacking, Exhale, explosion
former
Il- not Illegal, illogical
Im- Not, without Impossible, improper
In- Not, without Insane, invisible
Mis- Bad, wrong Mislead, misplace
Non- not Non-fiction, non-sense
Pre- before Preplanned, prefix
Pro- Forward, before, for proactive
Re- Again, back Re-union, react
Un- Again, not, opposite Undo, unequal
De- From, away, down, away, Decode, decrease
opposite

ante- before antenatal, anteroom,

antedate
anti- against, opposing antibiotic, antidepressant,
antidote
circum- around circumstance, circumvent,
circumnavigate
co- with co-worker, co-pilot, co-
operation
de- off, down, away from devalue, defrost, derail,
demotivate

Suffixes are added to the end of the existing word. For Example-

Word Suffix New word

child Ish childish
work er worker
idol Ize/ise idolize
Taste Less/ like Tastelike/tasteless
like Wise/ able Likewise/likeable

Suffix Meaning Examples

-able able to, having the quality of comfortable, portable
-al relating to annual comical
-er comparative bigger, stronger
-est superlative strongest, tiniest
-ful full of beautiful, grateful
-ible forming an adjective reversible, terrible
-ily forming an adverb eerily, happily, lazily
-ing denoting an action, a material, or a acting, showing
gerund
without, not affected by friendless, tireless
-less
-ly forming an adjective clearly, hourly
-ness denoting a state or condition kindness, wilderness
-y full of, denoting a condition, or a glory, messy, victory
diminutive

7. Narration
Narration is the voice or speech delivered in a written or spoken form to convey a
message/information to the person, who was relatively absent from the course of the action. The
message is said to be delivered by the specific person, who has experienced the actions himself
(direct) and delivered by him to the other person (indirect). It is also said to be Reported Speech.
For Example- Direct speech is reporting the message of the speaker in the exact words as spoken by
him. “Maya said 'I am busy now”. Indirect speech is reporting the message of the speaker in our own
words. “Maya said that she was busy then”.
 In reported speech (indirect) we report what was said. The most common verbs we use in this are-
tell, say, think, explain, ask etc. (informal) and suggest, demand, hint, insist etc. (formal). In the
narration one could repeat the speaker’s words but with a little change. Ex- He said, Let’s get out of
here”. (direct), “He said that it might be a good idea to vacate the premises”. (indirect)

In reported statements the rule of structure is followed for the effective presentation, this is called
back-shift. The verb in the reported speech clause changes from present to past (including all forms).
Ex- “I have seen Nia last year”.
“She told me that she had seen Nia the previous year”.
Jessie said, “I can understand the programming language well”.
Jessie told me that she could understand the programming language well”.

Reported Questions-
In forming most direct questions, subject-object inversion occurs, i.e. the first auxiliary verb (be) is
moved from post subject- position to pre subject- position. When the question is reported, however, the
affirmative word order is restored.
Ex- “Where have all the computers gone?”.
“She wanted to know/asked that where all the computers had gone”.
“Where is the Post Office, please?”
“She asked me where the Post Office was.”
“What are you doing?”
“She asked me what I was doing.”

Yes/ No questions
To report yes/no questions if or whether is used. Whether seems preferable when there is an aspect of
choice, or not may be inserted immediately after/ate the end of the sentence beginning with if or
whether. It conveys ‘makeup your mind tone’.
Ex- “I was wondering whether you will buy this shirt, or not?”
“She asked me if I was coming for the football match, or not?”

Reported command, advice and request

It generally uses the infinitives. Ex- “Play the piano”.
“She ordered me to play the piano”.
“Don’t run on the stairs”.
“They advised us not to run on the stairs”.

Be and Like as Reporting Verb

There is a tendency among most of the speakers to use especially was like instead of said for describing
the actions into more certain terms.
Ex- “He just looked at me and I was like, “Have you got any problem?”

Say and Tell

The common error made by English language learners/speakers is to use “he said me….”. In this
sentence we have to keep it in our mind that say doesn’t take any personal object hence, “He said to
me…” is the typical correction which is for putting more emphasis.
Ex- “What did he say to you?” We can also use “he told me”, “he said” etc. for the correct notion.
Say conveys any utterance and tell conveys information or instruction. The verb ‘tell’ requires two
objects (di-transitive), the person concerned and the information imparted.

8. Conditional Sentences
These are the sentences that express one thing that depends/exists on something else. Ex-
“if it rains, the picnic will be cancelled”. They are called so because the impact of the main clause of
the sentence is conditional on the dependent clause.
Conditional sentence type Usage/ Forms Examples
Zero type General truths (simple If I eat breakfast, I feel good all
present)-if+ present simple, day.
present simple
First type A possible condition and its If I have a test tomorrow, I will
probable results (simple have to study all night.
present/ future)- if+ present
simple, will
Second type A hypothetical condition and If I had a million dollars, I
its probable results (simple would buy a boat.
past/ perfect)- if+ past If I were you, I wouldn’t do
perfect/past simple, would+ that.
infinitive
Third type An unreal past condition and If you had seen the movie, we
its probable result in the past could have talked about the
(past perfect)- if+ past perfect, ending.
would have/could have+ past
participle.

9. Concord

In grammar, concord refers to the way that a word has a form appropriate to the number or gender of
the noun or pronoun it relates to. For example, in 'She hates it', there is a concord between the singular
form of the verb and the singular pronoun 'she'.
Types of concord
 1. Grammatical concord- as said earlier, it refers to the agreement in number between a verb and
its subject. A singular subject takes a singular verb and a plural subject also takes a plural verb
e.g.
a. Talisha loves Obi.
b. Robert always talks gently
c. They love her.
d. Mr. Whitman and his wife always talk about holiness.

2. Proximity concord- the word Proximity simply means "nearness or closeness". Hence, proximity
concord is a situation where two nouns (one singular and the other plural) are likened by "OR"
or "NOR". In this case the verb agrees with the noun that is nearer to it. E.g.
a. The speaker or the 'members' of the house 'are' to be blamed.
b. The members or the 'speaker' of the house 'is' to be blamed.

3. Notional concord- as the name implies, it’s about the notion of the user based on his previous
knowledge about the meaning or conventional use of the word or expression. It usually applies
when the speaker uses a plural verb with a collective noun or singular verb with a subject that
has plural features. Notional concord is based on meaning rather than form. E.g.
a. England are playing with Nigeria next week. b. My family are here.
c. Patience, admiration and love for her work is boundless.

Rules
The number of the subject (singular or plural) will
not change due to words/phrases in between the
subject and the verb.
Examples
One of the glasses is empty. (Here, since the
subject is ‘one’, the verb should be ‘is’).
The bouquet of red roses smells so sweet.
(Here, since ‘bouquet’ is the subject and not
‘roses’, the verb should be ‘smells’ and not
‘smell’)

Subjects that are joined by ‘and’ in a sentence, Radha and Meera are coming home.
use a plural verb. Subjects that are joined by Neither Akshay nor Rohit is coming home
‘either/or’, neither/nor’ use a singular verb
When the subject is followed by words such as Matt, as well as his dog, is expected shortly.
‘as well as’, ‘along with’, ‘besides’, ‘not’ etc. Pratik, along with his brother, is going to school.
ignore them and use a singular verb if the subject
is singular.

In sentences that begin with ‘here’, ‘there’, the Here are the chocolates.
true subject usually follows the verb. There is a big puddle on the road.
 In the case of words such as ‘a lot of’, all’, ‘some’ All of the cake is gone.
etc. in a sentence, pay attention to the noun after All of the cakes are gone.
‘of’. If the noun after ‘of’ is singular then use A lot of the cake is gone.
a singular verb, if plural, use a plural verb. A lot of the cakes are gone.

Nouns such as ‘mathematics’, ‘civics’, ‘news’ etc. Mathematics is very difficult for some people.
while plural in form, are singular in meaning and The news is very saddening.
use singular verbs
In sentences that express a wish, request or I wish my sister were here.
contrary to fact, the word ‘were’ is used instead
of ‘was.

10. Tag Questions

Tag questions (or question tags) turn a statement into a question. They are often used for checking
information that we think we know is true. Tag questions are made using an auxiliary verb (for example:
be or have) and a subject pronoun (for example: I, you, she). Negative question tags are usually
contracted: It's warm today, isn't it (not 'is it not').

Usually if the main clause is positive, the question tag is negative, and if the main clause is negative, it's
positive. For example: It's cold (positive), isn't it (negative)? And: It isn't cold (negative), is it (positive)? If
the main clause has an auxiliary verb in it, you use the same verb in the tag question. If there is no
auxiliary verb (in the present simple and past simple) use do / does / did (just like when you make a
normal question).

Positive sentences, with negative tags

Present simple 'be' She's Italian, isn't she?

Present simple other verbs They live in London, don't they?
Present continuous We're working tomorrow, aren't we?
Past simple 'be' It was cold yesterday, wasn't it?
Past simple other verbs He went to the party last night, didn't he?
Past continuous We were waiting at the station, weren't we?
Present perfect They've been to Japan, haven't they?
Present perfect continuous She's been studying a lot recently, hasn't she?
Past perfect He had forgotten his wallet, hadn't he?
Past perfect continuous We'd been working, hadn't we?
Future simple She'll come at six, won't she?
Future continuous They'll be arriving soon, won't they?
Future perfect They'll have finished before nine, won't they?
 Future perfect continuous She'll have been cooking all day, won't she?
Modals He can help, can't he?
Modals John must stay, mustn't he?

Negative sentences, with positive tags

Present simple 'be' We aren't late, are we?

Present simple other verbs She doesn't have any children, does she?
Present continuous The bus isn't coming, is it?
Past simple 'be' She wasn't at home yesterday, was she?
Past simple other verbs They didn't go out last Sunday, did they?
Past continuous You weren't sleeping, were you?
Present perfect She hasn't eaten all the cake, has she?
Present perfect continuous He hasn't been running in this weather, has he?
Past perfect We hadn't been to London before, had we?
Past perfect continuous You hadn't been sleeping, had you?
Future simple They won't be late, will they?
Future continuous He won't be studying tonight, will he?
Future perfect She won't have left work before six, will she?
Future perfect continuous He won't have been travelling all day, will he?
Modals She can't speak Arabic, can she?
Modals They mustn't come early, must they?

11. Punctuation Marks

Punctuation is the use of spacing, conventional signs, and certain typographical devices as aids to the
understanding and correct reading of written text, whether read silently or aloud. Punctuation fills our
writing with silent intonation. We pause, stop, emphasize, or question using a comma, a period, an
exclamation point or a question mark. Correct punctuation adds clarity and precision to writing; it allows
the writer to stop, pause, or give emphasis to certain parts of the sentence. There are a total of 14
punctuation marks.

Sentence Ending

Three of the fourteen punctuation marks are appropriate for use as sentence endings. They are the
period, question mark, and exclamation point.

The period (.) is placed at the end of declarative sentences, statements thought to be complete and
after many abbreviations. Ex- Jane and Jack went to the market. (as a sentence ender)

Her son, John Jones Jr., was born on Dec. 6, 2008. (After an abbreviation)

Question mark (?) to indicate a direct question when placed at the end of a sentence. Ex- When did Jane
leave for the market?
The exclamation point (!) is used when a person wants to express a sudden outcry or add emphasis. Ex-
(Within dialogue)- "Holy cow!" screamed Jane.

(To emphasize a point)- My mother-in-law's rants make me furious!

In Between Sentences

The comma, semicolon, and colon are often misused because they all can indicate a pause in a series.

The comma is used to show a separation of ideas or elements within the structure of a sentence.
Additionally, it is used in numbers, dates, and letter writing after the salutation and closing.

(Direct address)- Thanks for all your help, John.

(Separation of two complete sentences)- We went to the movies, and then we went out to lunch.

(Separating lists or elements within sentences)- Suzi wanted the black, green, and blue dress.

Whether to add a final comma before the conjunction in a list is a matter of debate. This final comma,
known as an Oxford or serial comma, is useful in a complex series of elements or phrases but is often
considered unnecessary in a simple series such as in the example above. It usually comes down to a style
choice by the writer.

The semicolon (;) is used to connect independent clauses. It shows a closer relationship between the
clauses than a period would show. Ex-John was hurt; he knew she only said it to upset him.

A colon (:) has three main uses.

The first is after a word introducing a quotation, an explanation, an example, or a series. Ex- He was
planning to study four subjects: politics, philosophy, sociology, and economics.

The second is between independent clauses when the second explains the first, similar to a semicolon- I
didn't have time to get changed: I was already late.

The third use of a colon is for emphasis- There was one thing she loved more than any other: her dog.

A colon also has non-grammatical uses in time, ratio, business correspondence and references.

Dash and the Hyphen

Two other common punctuation marks are the dash and hyphen. These marks are often confused with
each other due to their appearance but they are very different. A dash is used to separate words into
statements. There are two common types of dashes: en dash and em dash.
En dash: Twice as long as a hyphen, the en dash is a symbol (–) that is used in writing or printing to
indicate a range, connections or differentiations, such as 1880-1945 or Princeton-New York trains.

Em dash: Longer than the en dash, the em dash can be used in place of a comma, parenthesis, or colon
to enhance readability or emphasize the conclusion of a sentence. For example, she gave him her
answer — No!

Whether you put spaces around the em dash or not is a style choice. Just be consistent.

A hyphen (-) is used to join two or more words together into a compound term and is not separated by
spaces. For example, part-time, back-to-back, well-known.

Brackets, Braces, and Parentheses

Brackets, braces, and parentheses are symbols used to contain words that are a further explanation or
are considered a group.

Brackets ([]) are the squared off notations used for technical explanations or to clarify meaning. If you
remove the information in the brackets, the sentence will still make sense. Ex- He [Mr. Jones] was the
last person seen at the house.

Braces ({}) are used to contain two or more lines of text or listed items to show that they are considered
as a unit. They are not commonplace in most writing but can be seen in computer programming to show
what should be contained within the same lines. They can also be used in mathematical expressions. For
example, 2{1+ [23-3]} = x.

Parentheses () are curved notations used to contain further thoughts or qualifying remarks. However,
parentheses can be replaced by commas without changing the meaning in most cases. Ex- John and Jane
(who were actually half brother and sister) both have red hair.

Apostrophe, Quotation Marks and Ellipsis

The final three punctuation forms in English grammar are the apostrophe, quotation marks, and ellipsis.
Unlike previously mentioned grammatical marks, they are not related to one another in any form.

An apostrophe (') is used to indicate the omission of a letter or letters from a word, the possessive case,
or the plurals of lowercase letters. Examples of the apostrophe in use include:

Omission of letters from a word: I've seen that movie several times. She wasn't the only one who knew
the answer.

Possessive case: Sara's dog bit the neighbor.

Plural for lowercase letters: Six people were told to mind their p's and q's.
Quotation marks (" ") are a pair of punctuation marks used primarily to mark the beginning and end of a
passage attributed to another and repeated word for word. They are also used to indicate meanings and
to indicate the unusual or dubious status of a word.

"Don't go outside," she said.

Single quotation marks (' ') are used most frequently for quotes within quotes.

Marie told the teacher, "I saw Marc at the playground, and he said to me 'Bill started the fight,' and I
believed him."

The Ellipsis (. . .) is most commonly represented by three periods although it is occasionally

demonstrated with three asterisks (***). The ellipsis is used in writing or printing to indicate an
omission, especially of letters or words. Ellipses are frequently used within quotations to jump from one
phrase to another, omitting unnecessary words that do not interfere with the meaning. Students writing
research papers or newspapers quoting parts of speeches will often employ ellipsis to avoid copying
lengthy text that is not needed.

Omission of words: She began to count, "One, two, three, four…" until she got to 10, then went to find
him.

Within a quotation: When Newton stated, "An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays
in motion..." he developed the law of motion.

British vs. American English

There are a few differences between punctuation in British and American English. The following charts
details some of those differences:

Symbol British English American English

. full stop A period

! an exclamation mark an exclamation mark

() brackets parentheses

[] square brackets brackets

Use of quotation marks "happiness". "happiness."

Abbreviations Dr, Mr, Mrs, St, Rd, Ct Dr., Mr., Mrs., St., Rd., Ct.