English grammar and usage.pdf

Chapter 1

A few grammatical terms and

what they mean

Sentence:

Sentence is a group of words, which makes a complete sense. A sentence has two parts. Subject and

predicate.

Subject:

The person, thing or idea that performs the action in the verb (do-er of the verb) or shows the being ness in

the verb (be-er of the verb) is the grammatical subject of the sentence.

E.g. He plays cricket. (He is the do-er of the verb, hence He is the subject)

He is a great cricketer. (He is the be-er, hence the subject)

E.g. He was awarded the Man of the Match by the ICB.

(He in a way shows the being ness of the verb Òwas awardedÓ, hence He is the grammatical subject of the

sentence. This is the case in the passive voice; the grammatical subject may look like the beneficiary of the

action performed by another agency and not appear to be the do-er or the be-er. The do-er or the be-er will

then be the object of the preposition ÒbyÓ (the ICB). In the passive voice most sentences will make perfect

sense without the Òby ...Ó phrase.

Predicate:

What is said about the subject is predicate.

E.g. Lovebirds are parrots.

Lovebirds tend to sit close to their mates with their heads touching.

The italicized part is the predicate in each case.

Phrase:

A group of words which makes sense but not complete sense.

E.g. tend to sit close to their mates with their heads touching.

Clause:

A group of words that makes sense and contains a predicate in itself, but is different from a sentence in that

it still does not make complete sense.

E. g. that tend to sit close to their mates with their heads touching. (Òtend to sit close to their mates with

their heads touchingÓ functions as a predicate though there is no subject.)

Parts of Speech:

The words in English are classified into eight groups depending on their function in a sentence.

(The key here is function of a particular word in a sentence. The same word can be of different parts of

speech depending on its function in another sentence.)

The parts of speech are: Nouns, Pronouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs, Conjunctions, Prepositions and

Interjections.

(Some authorities would not list ÒinterjectionsÓ, but would list ÒdeterminersÓ, instead.). We will study

determiners (a, an, the, some, etc.) under adjectives.

Chapter 2

Nouns

Grammar

A noun is a name. The moment we name something that exists or does not exist, that name becomes a

noun. A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or an idea.

A Proper Noun Ï names a specific person, place, or thing. A proper noun almost always begins with a

capital letter.

E.g. Sachin, King Asoka, Far East, Delhi, India, God, Hindi, Hinduism, the Bharatiya Janata PartyÈ.

Common Nouns Ï name everything else. Common nouns usually are not capitalized.

E.g. man, city, nation, pen È.

Abstract Nouns Ï These are names of ideas and are theoretical and intangible.

E.g. information, anger, education, melancholy, softness, violence È.

Compound Nouns Ï These are combinations of different nouns.

E.g. girl friend, fish merchant, play ground È

Collective Nouns Ï These are nouns which can take a singular form but are composed of more than one

individual person or items.

E.g. jury, team, class, committee, herd, flock

A Noun Phrase Ï A Noun phrase is frequently a noun accompanied by modifiers, is a group of related

words acting as a noun.

E.g. the fee reduction proposal, the oil depletion allowance, the abnormal behaviour, hideously enlarged

nose

A Noun Clause Ï A group of related words can act as a single noun-like entity within a sentence. A Noun

clause contains a subject and verb and can do anything that a noun can do:

What he does to the street children is a blessing.

Take a closer look at the following categories of nouns, as situations in competitive exams test your

awareness of these.

Count Nouns Ï Simply, these can be counted

E.g. six books, a dozen eggs, many players, a few mistakes, some coins

Non-Count Nouns Ï Sometimes these are called Mass Nouns as it is not always possible to count them.

E.g. wood, cloth, ice, etc.

Usage Notes on Nouns

Òfewer mistakesÓ or Òless mistakesÓ?

Which of the following sentences is correct?

She made fewer mistakes in her paper today

She made less mistakes in her paper today.

All count nouns will take fewer. All non-count nouns will take less/lesser.

Hence ÒShe made fewer mistakes in her paper todayÓ is the correct sentence.

Count nouns are used with: a, an, the; many, few/fewer, number; this, that, every, each, either, neither;

these, those, some, any, enough, a number of.

Non-count nouns are used with: much, less/lesser, this, that, some, any, enough, amount of.

Òsome troublesÓ or Òmany troublesÓ?

We should note that some words can be either a count noun or a non-count noun depending on how theyÓre

being used in a sentence.

He got into trouble. (The noun trouble is used as an uncountable noun)

He had many troubles. (The noun troubles is here used as a countable noun)

Experience (non-count) is the best teacher.

We had many exciting experiences (countable) in college.

Whether these words are count or non-count will determine whether they can be used with articles (a, an,

the) and determiners (a few, some, etc.) or not.

We would not write ÐHe got into the troubles,Ñ but we could write about ÐThe troubles of IndiaÑ.

Since ÒsomeÓ as a determiner can precede both the countable and the uncountable nouns, both Òsome

troublesÓ and Òmany troublesÓ are correct depending on the context.

ÒfoodstuffÓ or ÒfoodstuffsÓ?

The categories of count and non-count nouns can be confusing at times. However, it doesnÓt take a genius

to figure out if something is count or non-count if the context in which it is used is understood well.

Count nouns can be pluralized when appropriate. We can use expressions such as

many pens

few pens

a few pens

These nouns, both singular and plural, can be preceded by the appropriate definite and indefinite articles Ï

the with both singular and plural, a or an with singular count-nouns.

Singular count nouns can be preceded by this and that and by every, each, either, and neither.

Plural count nouns can be preceded by these and those and by some, any, enough, and the zero article.

The phrase number of is accompanied by count nouns. Count nouns cannot be preceded by much.

The phrase amount of is also a sure sign that you are not dealing with a count noun.

Here is a list of Mass Nouns (non-count) for you to consider. Can you count any of these things? Do we use

the plural form of any of these words in common speech and writing?

I. wood, cloth, ice, plastic, wool, steelÈ

II. water, milk, wine, beer, sugar, rice, meat, cheese, flour È

III. reading, boating, smoking, dancing, hockey, weather È

IV. Chinese, Spanish, English, luggage, equipment, furnitureÈ.

Generally, nouns under III and IV categories cannot be pluralized.

The non-count nouns of the second column (foodstuff) are pluralized when we use the word to express a

ÒtypeÓ:

There are new beers being introduced every day. (types of beers)

The waters of the Atlantic are much warmer this time of year. (The Atlantic is presumed to be divided

into different parts or seas.)

The Indians are famous for their curries.

The rains came early this year.

These foodstuffs are exceedingly rich in fat and can harm your heart.

All the above are good sentences. ÒFoodstuffÓ belongs to the second type of mass nouns which depending

on the context can take a plural form. Hence, both ÒfoodstuffÓ and ÒfoodstuffsÓ are correct depending on

what you want to communicate.

ÒMorning sunlight is healthfulÓ or ÒThe morning sunlight is healthfulÓ?

We can use expressions such as

much sunlight

little sunlight

a little sunlight

It is appropriate to precede these nouns (II and III categories) with a definite or indefinite article.

the sunshine

an experience

a beer

But they frequently appear with zero article:

Smoking is bad for you.

Sugar is sweet.

Experience is the best teacher.

Sunlight is good for your skin.

These nouns can be preceded by some, any, enough, this, that, and much. You can now reason that with or

without (zero) definite article Òsunlight È..Ó sentences have exactly the same meaning. Some of you would

merely want the article because you are comfortable with the sound. However, both are correct.

Also, remember that because they are not countable, these nouns cannot be preceded by these, those, every,

each, either, and neither.

ÒÈ the friendshipÓ or ÒÈ the friendshipsÓ?

Look at the list of these abstract nouns. Think about each category of abstract nouns. Can you count any of

them? Can you create sentences in which some of these words can be used as plurals?

I. peace, warmth, hospitality, information, anger, education È

II. conduct, courage, leisure, knowledge, safety È.

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