Notes For English Grammar

Nouns [ Proper nouns ]

A proper noun is a specific (i.e., not
generic) name for a particular person,
place, or thing. Proper nouns are always
capitalized in English, no matter where they
fall in a sentence. Because they endow nouns
with a specific name, they are also sometimes
called proper names.

Pronouns (personal pronouns: 1st, 2nd and

3rd person, relative pronouns)
- Personal
A personal pronoun is a short word we
use as a simple substitute for the proper
name of a person. Each of the English
personal pronouns shows us the
grammatical person, gender, number, and
case of the noun it replaces. I, you, he,
she, it, we they, me, him, her, us, and
them are all personal pronouns.
Personal pronouns are the stunt doubles
of grammar; they stand in for the people
(and perhaps animals) who star in our
sentences. They allow us to speak and
write with economy because they enable
us to avoid repeating cumbersome proper
nouns all the live-long day.
Verbs
- Powerful verbs
Powerful verbs are simply verbs which are
more descriptive and accurate and impactful
than other words. The best way of
explaining this is to show a simple sentence
like this: The old man told the young lad to
get down from the table.

- Imperative verbs
Imperative verbs are verbs that create an
imperative sentence (i.e. a sentence that
gives an order or command). When
reading an imperative sentence, it will
always sound like the speaker is bossing
someone around. Imperative verbs don’t
leave room for questions or discussion,
even if the sentence has a polite tone.
Examples-
Give me that book!
Clean your room.
Do your homework.
Verbs
-Modal verbs
Modal verbs show possibility, intent, ability, or
necessity. Because they’re a type of auxiliary
verb (helper verb), they’re used together with
the main verb of the sentence. Common
examples include can, should, and must.
Modal verbs can be tricky, especially when it
comes to using them in a sentence. The good
news is that they’re simple once you learn
how they work. Below, we explain everything
you need to know to use modal verbs with
ease.
Examples –
can
may
might
could
should
would
will
must
Verbs
Active and passive
When we talk about active and passive verbs,
we usually talk about voice. In the active
voice, the subject performs the action of the
verb, while in passive voice, the subject
receives the action.
Active voice: The cat was chasing the mouse.
In this sentence, 'the cat' is the subject, 'was
chasing' is the verb and 'the mouse' is the
object. Passive voice: The mouse was being
chased by the cat.

Adjectives
- Possessive Adjectives
A possessive adjective is an adjective that
modifies a noun by identifying who has
ownership or possession of it. For
example, in the sentence Andrew lost his
keys the word his is a possessive
adjective that indicates the keys belong to
Andrew.
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Direct and Indirect speech

Direct Speech
When we want to describe what someone said, one
option is to use direct speech. We use direct speech
when we simply repeat what someone says, putting the
phrase between speech marks:

Paul came in and said, “I’m really hungry.”

It is very common to see direct speech used in books or
in a newspaper article. For example:

The local MP said, “We plan to make this city a safer

place for everyone.”
As you can see, with direct speech it is common to use
the verb ‘to say’ (‘said’ in the past). But you can also find
other verbs used to indicate direct speech such as ‘ask’,
‘reply’, and ‘shout’. For example:

When Mrs Diaz opened the door, I asked, “Have you

seen Lee?”
She replied, “No, I haven’t seen him since lunchtime.”
The boss was angry and shouted, “Why isn’t he here?
He hasn’t finished that report yet!”
Indirect Speech
When we want to report what someone said without
speech marks and without necessarily using exactly the
same words, we can use indirect speech (also called
reported speech). For example:

Direct speech: “We’re quite cold in here.”

Indirect speech: They say (that) they’re cold.
When we report what someone says in the present
simple, as in the above sentence, we normally don’t
change the tense, we simply change the subject.
However, when we report things in the past, we usually
change the tense by moving it one step back. For
example, in the following sentence the present simple
becomes the past simple in indirect speech:

Direct speech: “I have a new car.”

Indirect speech: He said he had a new car.
All the other tenses follow a similar change in indirect
speech. Here is an example for all the main tenses: