12/06/2023
study corn for all
VERB FORMS
The best way to know verb forms at a glance.
PRESENT
TENSE
SIMPLE PRESENT PRESENT CONTINUOUS PRESENT PERFECT PRESENT PERFECT
CONTINUOUS
I/you/they play,
He/she/It plays
I am playing, they are playing.
He/she/It is playing.
I/we/you/they have played.
He/she/it has played
I/we/you/they have
been playing.
He/she/It has been
playing.
PAST TENSE
SIMPLE PAST PAST CONTINUOUS PAST PERFECT PAST PERFECT
CONTINUOUS
I/we/you/he/she/It/
they played
I/he/she/It was playing.
We/you/they were playing.
I/we/you/he/she/It/they
had played.
I/we/you/he/she/It/the
y had been playing.
FUTURE
TENSE
SIMPLE FUTURE FUTURE CONTINUOUS PRESENT PERFECT PRESENT PERFECT
CONTINUOUS
I/we/you/he/she/It/
they will/shall play.
I/we/you/he/she/It/they
will/shall be playing.
I/we/you/he/she/It/they
will/shall have played.
I/we/you/he/she/It/the
y will/shall have been
playing.
We use simple present tense
- To talk about things in general, not about something happening now, but about something
happening all the time:
I play the flute.
- To express scientific facts or permanent truths:
Water boils at 100 degree centigrade.
Sun rises in the East
We use present continuous tense
- to express an action taking place at the time of speaking:
someone is knocking at the door.
We use present perfect tense
- to express an action that has just been completed:
I have just got the letter from him.
- to express an action completed sometime in the past but connected with the present.
The Police have closed the road today.
We use present perfect continuous tense
- to express an action that began in the past and has been in the progress till the time of
speaking.
It has been raining for fifteen minutes.
We use simple past tense
- to express actions finished before the time of speaking:
We saw a suspense movie last night.
We use past continuous tense
- to express an action in progress at some moment before the time of speaking:
It was raining hard at 5 o’clock last night.
We use past perfect tense
- To express an action completed before a given moment in the past:
The message came after he had left the office.
We use past perfect continuous tense
- to express an action that began in the past and has been in the progress till the time of
speaking:
I have been waiting for the bus since 7 o’clock.
We use simple future tense
- to decide to do something at the time of speaking:
I will go and take a cup of tea.
- to express the speakers view:
I think I will consult a doctor
We use future continuous tense
- to express an action which will be in the progress at a given moment in the future:
tomorrow at 7 o’clock he will be flying to New York.
We use future perfect tense
- to express an action completed before a given moment in the future:
But tomorrow he will have changed his profile.
We use future perfect continuous tense
- to express an action which will begin before a definite moment in the future, will continue
up to that moment and will be in progress even at that moment:
By 4 o’clock, baba ramdev will have been sitting in meditation for two hours.
DETERMINERS
Are the words which identify or specify a noun in some way. They do not describe a noun; they
determine it; they point it out. eg-the best boy, that tree and my brother etc.
KINDS OF DETERMINERS
We have the following kinds of determiners;
1. Articles (a, an, the )
2. Demonstratives (this, that, these, those)
3. Possessives (my, your, his, her, etc.)
4. Distributives (either, neither, each, every)
5. Quantifiers (some, any, much, several, etc.)
6. Interrogatives (what, which, whose, etc.)
Articles
We already know that there are three articles in English: a, an, and the. Of these a and an are
indefinite articles while the is the definite article.
Uses of article A and An :
- before countables in the singular number:
A train, A question, An uncle, An umbrella
- A before a countable in the singular number beginning with a consonant sound:
A lecture, A one-eyed man (w sound)
- An before a countable noun in the singular number beginning with vowel sound:
An invention, An M.A. (here M is sounded as em; so it begins with vowel sound)
Uses of article The
- Before a noun whenever we want to make it particular:
the train by which I came, the books I usually read
- This article can be used with both countable (train, book) and uncountable (mercy,
information). And also can be used with the countables both in the singular number (train)
and the plural number (books).
- With a noun that has already been mentioned:
I got a watch as a gift.
The watch is beautiful.
- When it is clear from the situation which people or things we mean:
The principal is taking round of the school.
- With superlatives:
The brightest star
DEMONSTRATIVES
This and These refer to persons or objects close by. This is used before singular nouns and
These before plural nouns:
This book contains all information.
These flowers are for you.
- That and Those refer to persons or objects at a distance. That is used before singular nouns
and Those before plural nouns:
That car belongs to my father.
Those cars are for sale.
- This and
- That can be used before the uncountables also:
This food is not good.
That rose is beautiful.
POSSESSIVES
Possessives can be used both before singular and plural nouns:
My book, My books
Your purse, Your purses.
DISTRIBUTIVES
Either
It has two meanings
- any of the two different persons or things:
You can take either bus. (any of the two buses)
- the both
Restaurants have come up on either sides of the road. (on both the sides)
Neither
- It means opposite to either or it means not the one nor the other:
Neither candidate deserves our support.
Each, every
- Each is used when we think of things separately, one by one:
Talk to each child.
- Every is used when we think of things as a group. The meaning is without exception:
Every child needs love and protection.
QUANTIFIERS
- many and several suggest number, they are used with countables:
many pens, several trees
- some and any can be used with both countables and uncountables:
some books, some tea
any shirts, any bread
- Much is generally used before the uncountables. It means: a large quantity of.
Much labour, much loss
- Many is used before the countables in the plural number. It means a large number of:
Many students, many artists
INTERROGATIVES
Determiners that helps to ask questions may be described as interrogatives like what,
which, whose, etc.
What train, which basket, whose bats
MODALS
Modals are verbs used to express the mood or attitude of the speaker. They are used to give
advice, seek or give permission, make suggestions, make polite requests, give invitations, etc. The
most commonly used modals are:
- can, could, may, might, will, would, shall, should, must, ought to, need, dare
- Asking for and giving permission:
May, can, and could
Preeti: Mummy, I ‘am awfully hungry. Can I eat these butter biscuits?
Mother: Why not? You can eat all of them if you like.
- Vinay: Could I use your phone please?
Mr Bhushan: Yes of course.
Ritu: May I go to the medical room madam? I “am feeling giddy.
Madam: Yes please do.
- To ask or give permission we use
Can, could or may.
Can is informal; could is very polite; may is formal. All of them are correct. The choice
depends on the situation and the speaker’s relation to the listener.
-Asking for things:
Can, could, may, will
- To ask for things we normally use can or could
Can I have those pillow covers, please?
Could you pass on the salt, please?
- May is also possible, but being very formal is not preferred. However, we can use will if we
like:
- Will you pass on the salt, please?
- Possibility:
May, might
Both may might are used to suggest possibility. But might suggests a lesser possibility than
may.
In these sentences, could is also possible:
He could be in his office.
But could suggests still lesser possibility.
Must doesn’t have a past tense form. So we can use must to talk about the present or the
future:
We must phone Sathish now {present}
We must phone Sathish tomorrow {future}
- Should is not as strong as must or have to. Look at this example:
You should wear a helmet while driving a motor bike.
- Ought to conveys the same sense as should. But it carries with it a sense of moral duty.
You ought to take care of your old parents.
ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE
- We can begin a sentence either with the subject or object. This fact decides whether a
sentence is active or passive.
- In other words, it is possible for us to recognise the active and the passive voice. For
example, if a sentence has one of the helping verbs such as am, is, are, was, were, been,
being, be and past participles of the verb like eaten, broken, spent, learnt, incented,
discovered, it is passive voice.
- Voice: Voice is the form of the verb which indicates whether a person or a thing does
something or something has been done to a person or a thing.Kinds of voice: there are two
kinds of voice, namely:
- Active voice
- Passive voice
- Active Voice: When a verb form shows that the subject has done something, it is known
as active voice.
Ex: Madhavi wrote a letter.
- Passive voice: when a verb form shows that something has been done to the subject, it
known as passive voice.
Ex: A letter was written by Madhavi.
NOTE: we can turn active voice into passive voice by using some guide lines. It is not
much difficult for us to change the voice of the verb.
BASIC RULES
-A sentence can be separated into subject(S), verb(V) and object(O).
eg: MADHAVI WROTE A LETTER
S V O
-The object of the sentence must be turned into subject.
eg: MADHAVI WROTE A LETTER
S V O
A LETTER WAS WRITTEN BY MADHAVI
S V O
-The ‘be’ form must be used according to the tense of the verb.
eg: A letter ‘was’.
Past participle of the verb must be used.
eg: A letter was written.
-Preposition ‘by’ must be added.
eg: A letter was written by
-The subject must be made the object.
eg: A letter was written by Madhavi.
ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE TABLE
-An easy way to find out to change the active voice to passive voice and vice versa.
DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH
Akshay said, “I am really sorry for the mistake.” ……….. (1)
Akshay said that he was really sorry for the mistake. ………. (2)
-There are two ways of reporting, what some body said.
We produce the exact words of the speaker, as in above. This is called direct speech.
Or, we can express the speech in our own words, as in (2) above. This is called indirect or
reported speech.
Direct speech is set off by inverted commas (“…….”) indirect speech usually begins as:
Miru said that ……
Shashank asked Dhanshree if ………
Kiran told Puneet to………….
We do not normally report someone’s words as soon as they are spoken, or at the place
where they are spoken. Besides, the reporter is usually different from the actual speaker. So
the reported speech differs from the direct speech in certain respects:
TENSE FORM
• Present Simple
• Continuous Tense (Present)
• Present Perfect Tense
• Simple Past Tense
• Past Continuous Tense
• Past Perfect Tense
• Simple Future Tense
• Future Perfect Tense
am/is/are + Past Participle
am/is/are + being + Past Participle
have/has + been + Past Participle
was/were + Past Participle
was/were + being + Past Participial
had + been + Past Participle
will/shall + be + Past Participle
will/shall + have been + Past Participle
Sushmita said, “I ‘am not free today, for somebody is coming to interview me.”
Sushmita said that she was not free that day, for somebody was coming to interview her.
-Besides dropping inverted commas and using some conjunctions(that, if, etc.), we have to
take care of three things while reporting speeches:
Tenses. Most of the times, the reported speech is in the past tense. (she was not free…….
Somebody was coming…….)
Personal pronouns like I, we, you, etc. And possessives like my, our, your, etc. , which
change according to the situation. (she was …… , coming to interview her)
Words detonating nearness of time and place are changed. (not free today- not free that
day)
DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH
this/that these/those
here there
now then*
Ago Before
Today/tonight That day/that night
Yesterday The day before/the previous day
Tomorrow The next day/the following day
The day before yesterday The day before the previous day
The day after tomorrow The day after the next day
Last week/year, etc. The previous week /year, etc.
Next week/year, etc. The following week/year, etc.
(*But then is very often omitted from the indirect speech)
CHANGING TENSES
REPORTING VERB IN THE PRESENT OR FUTURE TENSE – THE TENSES IN THE REPORTED
SPEECH UNCHANGED
Prakhar says, ”Arunima is not keeping well”.
Prakhar says that Arunima is not keeping well.
He will say, “Good music makes a good film.”
He will say that good music makes a good film.
There are situations in which even if the reporting verb is in the past tense, we leave the tenses
in the reported speech unchanged:
-The reported speech expresses a universal truth or a habitual fact:
Our science teacher said, “The pole star does not change it’s position in the sky.”
(The reported speech is a universal truth.)
Our science teacher told us that the pole star does not change its position in the sky.
I said to the tourist, “the Indian summer is usually very hot.”
REPORTING VERB IN A PAST
TENSE
THE TENSES IN THE REPORTED SPEECH CHANGE
INTO A CORRESPONDING PAST TENSE
IS/ARE/AM WAS/WERE
WAS/WERE HAD BEEN
HAD BEEN NO CHANGE
HAS/HAVE HAD
HAD NO CHANGE
DO DID
DID HAD DONE
HAD DONE NO CHANGE
WILL/SHALL
(IN CERTAIN CASES, SHALL MIGHT
BE CHANGED INTO SHOULD)
WOULD
MAY/CAN MIGHT/COULD
WOULD/SHOULD/MIGHT/COULD
/OUGHT TO/USED TO
NO CHANGE
MUST HAD TO
(This reported speech is habitual fact)
I told the tourist that the Indian summer is usually very hot.
-The reported speech describes a situation which still exists when the speech is reported :
The station master said, “All the trains are running late because heavy rains have damaged
some parts of the track.” (The situation continues to be unchanged at the time of reporting.)
The station master said that all the trains are running late because heavy rains have damaged
some parts of the track.
-The reported speech contains two clauses, both in the past:
Neeraj said to me, “Abhilash was unwell so she didn’t go to the school.”
Neeraj told me that Abhilash was unwell so she didn’t go to the school.
-However, in this case it would also be correct to say:
Neeraj told me that Abhilash had been unwell, so she hadn’t gone to the school.
PREPOSITION
- A preposition is used to show the relationship of a noun or pronoun to another word in the
sentence. Here are some common prepositions :
About, above, after, at, behind, below, between, down, during, for, from, in, inside, of, off,
on, through, to, under, with.
- A prepositional phrase is made up of a preposition, its object, and all the words in between.
The object of the preposition is the noun or pronoun that follows the preposition.
The pirates buried their treasure under (preposition) a tree (object).
I kicked the ball between (preposition) the goalposts (object).
- Examples of prepositional phrases –
In the front, of cake, at the park, down the hill, across the street, under the bridge, from
my big brother, behind the counter, after school, for breakfast, of the tree, during
summer vacation.
- Adjective phrases tell what kind or which one.
She lives in a house with a red door. (What kind)
The boy in the backseat was yelling loudly. (Which one)
- Adverbial phrases tell how, when, or where.
-
Tell the story in your own words. (How)
Mr Raj jogs in the afternoon. (When)
She ran behind the house. (Where)
