GRAMMAR-I

1. The scenery of Kashmir is enchanting.

2.The news is being aired live.

3. Mathematics is fun to do.

4. Ethics as a subject tends to put you in moral dilemmas.

1. The cattle are grazing in the field.

2. The police are inspecting the case threadbare.

3. The artillery are kept in the gallows.

4. The peasantry were forced to revolt.

1. Where are the trousers I bought yesterday?

2. The spectacles are kept on the table.

3. The stockings are rather long.

4. The scissors have been lost.

1. It is a three year degree course.

2. I have ten dozen of shoes.

3. It is a five hundred year book.

4. That was a six metre long snake.

1. The jury/team are divided in their opinion.

2. The team is performing live.

3. This orchestra is a wonderful one.

4. The government is not doing its job well.

Subject Verb Agreement Rules

Rule 1: Singular subject – Singular verb

Ravi writes
She drinks

Rule 2: Plural subject – Plural Verb

They write
we Smile

Rule 3: Two Subjects – Plural Verb

Doctor and Nurse work
Subject Verb Agreement Rules

Rule 4: Two singular subjects joined by ‘or’ or ‘nor’ will take a

singular verb.

 The boy or the girl is going to Shimla.

Rule 5: Singular subject + plural subject [joined by ‘or’ , ‘nor’]

will take singular/plural verb depending on which subject is
nearer the verb.

 Neither my father nor my brothers are attending Uncle Sam’s

wedding.

 Neither Hira nor Deepak is joining the meeting.

Rule 6: Indefinite pronouns like someone, somebody, each, nobody,
anyone, anybody, one, no one, everyone, everybody take a singular
verb.

 Each of my friends calls me everyday

 One of the boxes is open

Rule 7: Collective nouns (fleet, army, committee, family) are
singular when the group works together as a unit. They take
singular verbs.

 The army is doing its job; The Indian team is playing against
England ; The Jury has decided unanimously.

But collective nouns wherein members of the group act

individually take plural verbs.

 The Jury have argued for five hours.

Rule 8: Words ending in -- s (news, measles, mumps,
mathematics, rupees, dollars) but representing a single unit –
singular verbs.

 Mumps has been eliminated from this country.

 This breaking news is spreading like wildfire.

Rule 9: If two subjects are joined by ‘with’, ‘together with’,

‘along with’, ‘accompanied by’, ‘as well as’, ‘combined with’,
‘including’ -- verb (as per first subject)

 The doctor together with the nurses was attending the seminar

 The organisers as well as the players were seen cheering for

the team.
Rule 10:

With words that indicate portions-percent, fraction, part, majority, some,

all, none, remainder, the object of the preposition (“of”) determines
whether to use a singular or plural verb. If the object of the preposition is
singular, use a singular verb. If the object of the preposition is plural, use
a plural verb.

E.g.
a. Fifty percent of the pie has disappeared. (Pie is the object of the
preposition ‘of’.)
b. Fifty percent of the pies have disappeared.
c. One-third of the city is unemployed.
d. One-third of the people are unemployed.
e. All of the pie is gone.
Rule 11: Use a singular verb with sums of money or period of time.

E.g. Ten dollars is a high price to pay.

E.g. Five years is the maximum sentence for that offense
Pronouns
Some other Rules-

1. “Who” denotes subjects and “whom” denotes objects.

Eg Who do you think won the award?

Eg Whom are you talking to?

2. “Whose” is used for living persons and “which” for lifeless objects.

Eg Whose photograph is lying there?

Eg Which books do you read?

3. ‘Many a’ is always followed by a singular verb.

Eg Many a man was drowned in the sea.
Some other Rules-

4. “Though” is followed by “yet” and not by “but”

Eg Though he is poor yet he is honest.

5. “No sooner” is followed by “than”

Eg No sooner had I entered the class than the students got up.

6. “Lest” should be followed by “should”

Read regularly lest you should fail.

7. “Such” is followed by “that” if we emphasize the degree of something by mentioning the

result.
Eg The extent of the disaster was such that the authorities were quite unable to cope.
Some Rules Related to pronouns:

1. If in a sentence an apposition has been used, the verb will follow not the
apposition but the noun or pronoun preceding it.
Eg You, my son, are a good boy. (Apposition is My son)
You, my son, is a good boy

2. Clauses in a sentence beginning with a relative pronoun (who, which, that)

take a verb according to the noun or pronoun preceding the relative pronoun.
Eg It is I who have done it.

3. The relative pronoun “that” is used in preference to “who” or “which” after

adjectives in the superlative degree.
Eg The wisest man that ever lived made mistakes.
This is the best that we can do.
Q: Rewrite the sentence with correct grammar
usage.

1. The visitors complained at the poor accommodation

they were given.

2. One of the biggest industrial house in Maharashtra are

declaring a lockout.

3. Work hard in English lest you may not fail in this

subject.
4. He had hardly leave the room when it begun to
rain.

5. Mary is more smarter to anybody in her class.

6. John’s salary is very larger than Bobby.

7. The old man no longer believe that money was the

most important thing in life.
8. Many Indian states have hardly no dearth of talent.
Q: Which part of the sentence contains an error?

1. (a) The reason we have not been able to pay

income tax/ (b) is due to fact / (c) that we did
not receive pay on time. /(d) No error.

2. (a) My brother-in-laws/ (b)who live in

Bombay/(c) have come to stay with us./(d) No
error
Q: Which part of the sentence contains an error?

3.(a)He could not plan his strategy /(b) until he

knew/ (c) whom his opponents could be/(d) No
error.

4. (a) If I were / (b) in his shoes / (c) I would die

with shame./(d) No error
Q: Which part of the sentence contains an error?

5. (a)All the furniture have been/ (b) sent to the

new house/(c) located in a village/(d) No error

6. (a) One of the drawbacks/(b) of modern

education are/(c) that it does not encourage
original thinking./(d)