English Grammar 1

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 English Grammar 2

INTRODUCTION TO CDI

The Career Development Institute was established to achieve the following objectives:

You might have a professional degree ,you might be a good student you might be very
good in the subject knowledge but if you lack communication you will not be able to

communicate your knowledge to the other person henceforth losing out on the future

prospects even if you get through it you would not get the desired package.

Recognizing the importance of English Language Fluency is the success of every career,
CDI has introduced a range of programs to enhance English communication skills for

Individuals. Whether you wish to start learning English as a beginner or whether you are a

student, Executive, House wife, we have the right learning package for you, based on your

level.

CDI teaches English in a very easy way making it as a part of your daily life. The institute
emphasize in teaching British English because it is the most acceptable language over the

world with the use of correct grammar and neutral accent.

CDI offers programs catering to various levels of learners from the basics to the advances
level.

Other career Options - In todays work culture every carrier option would require an
individual to be good in communication as well as in interpersonal skills no matter how

qualified you are in the respected subject of interest.

Various Job Fields - Information Technology, Management, Retail Industry, Mass

Communication, Bioinformatics, Biotechnology, Fashion design, Allied health, Telecom,

Hospitality, Banking and Commerce, Army, Infrastructure, Sales and Marketing, Aviation,

Finance, Legal, Manufacturing and Engineering, Acting and Sports.

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 English Grammar 3

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Topic No Topic Name Page No

1 The Sentence 3 11

2 Noun 12 18

3 Adjective 19 30

4 Articles 31 35

5 Adverb 36 - 41

6 Case 42 44

7 Clauses 44 49

8 Conjunction 50 51

9 Determiners 52 52

10 Gerunds and Infinitives 53 56

11 Preposition 57 62

12 Pronouns 63 65

13 Direct and Indirect Speech 66 69

14 Pluralisation Guide 70 71

15 Punctuation Guide 72 74

16 Asking Questions 75 80

17 Spelling Guide 81 82

18 Prefixes and Suffixes 83 86

19 Tenses 87 98

20 Verb 99 113

21 Grammar Chants 101 - 102

22 1000 Most Common Phrases 103 111

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 English Grammar 4

CHAPTER 1 - THE SENTENCE

Exclamatory Sentence - A sentence that expresses
Lets take two Examples
strong feeling. E.g. how cold the night is!

Sentence No 1 Ram is a Good Boy. SUBJECT AND PREDICATE

Sentence No 2 Boy is good Ram.
When we make a sentence
- We name some person or thing and
Now can you tell which sentence is correct Sentence 1
- Say something about that person or thing
or Sentence 2?
In other words, we must have a subject to speak about
and we must say or predicate something about that
The answer is Sentence 1 because the group of words
subject.
in Sentence 1 in making sense (you can understand)
Hence every sentence has 2 parts
So a group of words like this, which makes complete
sense (you can understand), is called a Sentence. SentenceLucknow is a Beautiful city.

A sentence is a group of words which starts with a SUBJECT PREDICATE

capital letter and ends with a full stop (.), question
mark (?) or exclamation mark (!). A sentence contains
or implies a predicate and a subject. Subject The part which names
a person or thing
KIND OF SENTENCES- Sentences are of 4 kinds

Assertive or Predicate The part which tells

Declarative Imperative something about the
Sentence - They Sentences - subject
make statements Expresses a
command

PARTS OF SPEECH
Interrogative Exclamatory
Sentences - Sentence - Lets take an example
Expresses strong
Ask Questions Feeling Group 1 Group 2 Group 3

Red Apple January

Assertive or Declarative Sentence Those which Green Mango April
make statements or assertions; as,E.g.: Humpty Yellow Banana July
Dumpty sat on a wall. Blue Orange September
Interrogative Sentences Those which ask questions; Pen Spinach December
as, E.g. Where do you live? Violet Grapes Monday
Imperative Sentences A sentence that expresses a Purple Guava June
command or an entreaty. E.g. - Be Quite, Stand Up.

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 English Grammar 5

Now can you tell which is the odd word in these The young boy climbed a tall tree.
groups?
If you want to say more about how he climbed the tree
Group 1 Colors - Pen
you can use an adverb.
Group 2- Fruits - Spinach
Group 3 - Months - Monday For example:
By this example we can observe that everything has its
own category and if something comes in between we The young boy quickly climbed a tall tree.

come to know about it.

Similarly English Grammar has 8 categories of
speeches which are also called as Parts of Speech. Lets
learn them.
There are 8 parts of Speech -
The sentence becomes more interesting as it gives the
reader or listener more information.
There are more things you can add to enrich your
sentence.

1. Noun Description
2. Verb Parts of a sentence

3. Pronoun Adjective Describes things or people.

4. Adjective
Adverb Alters the meaning of the verb slightly
5. Adverb
6. Conjunction
a, an - indefinite articles
7. Interjection Article
the - definite articles
8. Articles
Conjunction Joins words or sentences together

Sentences contain clauses. A short word showing emotion or

Interjection
feeling
Simple sentences have one clause.
Noun Names things
Compound sentences and complex sentences have two
or more clauses. Preposition Relates one thing to another

used instead of a noun to avoid

Sentences can contain subjects and objects. Pronoun
repetition

The subject in a sentence is generally the person or

Proper noun The actual names of people or places
thing carrying out an action. The object in a sentence is
(subject) etc.
involved in an action but does not carry it out, the
object comes after the verb. Verb Action or doing word

For example:
For example:
The boy climbed a tree.
WHAT MAKES A COMPLETE SENTENCE?
If you want to say more about the subject (the boy) or
the object (the tree), you can add an adjective. If it helps you, think about a sentence as if it were a
skeleton, the skeleton contains various bones and these
For example: bones are put together to form different parts of the
body. So are sentences formed by words, the words
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are the bones and they are put together in different
ways to form sentences.
SIMPLE SENTENCES
A simple sentence contains a single subject and
predicate. It describes only one thing, idea or question,
and has only one verb - it contains only an
independent (main) clause.
Any independent clause can stand alone as a sentence.
It has a subject and a verb and expresses a complete
thought.
For example:
Jill reads.
Even the addition of adjectives, adverbs, and
prepositional phrases to a simple sentence does not
change it into a complex sentence.
For example:
The brown dog with the red collar always barks
loudly.
Even if you join several nouns with a conjunction, or
several verbs with a conjunction, it remains a simple
sentence.
For example:
The dog barked and growled loudly.
COMPOUND SENTENCES
Compound sentences are made up of two or more
simple sentences combined using a conjunction such
as and, or or but. They are made up of more than one
independent clause joined together with a co-
ordinating conjunction.
For example:
"The sun was setting in the west and the moon was
just rising."
Each clause can stand alone as a sentence.
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English Grammar 6
For example:
"The sun was setting in the west. The moon was just
rising."
Every clause is like a sentence with a subject and a
verb. A coordinating conjunction goes in the middle of
the sentence, it is the word that joins the two clauses
together, the most common are (and, or, but)
For example:
I walked to the shops, but my husband drove.
I might watch the film, or I might visit my friends.
My friend enjoyed the film, but she didn't like the
actor.
COMPLEX SENTENCES
Complex sentences describe more than one thing or
idea and have more than one verb in them. They are
made up of more than one clause, an independent
clause (that can stand by itself) and a dependent
(subordinate) clause (which cannot stand by itself).
For example:
"My mother likes dogs that don't bark."
Dependent clauses can be nominal, adverbial or
adjectival.
THE ANATOMY OF A SENTENCE
THE VERB
The verb is the fundamental part of the sentence. The
rest of the sentence, with the exception of the subject,
depends very much on the verb. It is important to
have a good knowledge of the forms used after each
verb (verb patterns), for example: to tell [someone] TO
DO [something]
Here we can see that the verb to tell is followed
immediately by a person (the indirect object, explained
later), an infinitive with 'to', and, possibly, an object for
the verb you substitute for DO.

Verbs also show a state of being. Such verbs, called BE
VERBS or LINKING VERBS, include words such as:
am, is, are, was, were, be, been, being, became, seem,
appear, and sometimes verbs of the senses like tastes,
feels, looks, hears, and smells.
For example:
"Beer and wine are my favourite drinks." The verb
"are" is a linking (be) verb.
Fortunately, there are only a limited number of
different verb patterns. Verbs can descibe the action
(something the subject actually does) or state
(something that is true of the subject) of the subject.
For example:
ACTION: I play football twice a week.
STATE: I've got a car.
Some verbs can represent both actions and states,
depending on the context.
For example work:
ACTION: David's working in the bank.
STATE: David works in a bank.
FINDING THE VERB
When you analyze a sentence, first identify the verb.
The verb names and asserts the action or state of the
sentence.
For example:
"Working at the computer all day made David's
head ache."
The main verb of the sentence is "made", not working.
Verbs identify our activity or state.
For example:
eat, sleep, run, jump, study, think, digest, shout,
walk ....
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English Grammar 7
THE SUBJECT
The subject is the person or thing the sentence is
'about'. Often (but not always) it will be the first part
of the sentence. The subject will usually be a noun
phrase (a noun and the words, such as adjectives, that
modify it) followed by a verb.
FINDING THE SUBJECT
Once you determine the verb, ask a wh...? Question of
the verb. This will locate the subject(s).
For example:
David works hard.
o Who "works hard"?=David does=the
subject.
Beer and wine are my favorite drinks.
o What "are my favorite drinks"? Beer and
wine are=the subjects.
The subject(s) of a sentence will answer the questions,
"who or what."
THE PREDICATE
Once you have identified the subject, the remainder of
the sentence tells us what the subject does or did. This
part of the sentence is the predicate of the sentence.
The predicate always includes the verb and the words
which come after the verb. For example:
Michael Schumaker drove the race car.
o "Michael Schumaker" is the subject; "drove
the race car" is the predicate.
MORE ADVANCED TERMINOLOGY
THE OBJECT
Some verbs have an object (always a noun or
pronoun). The object is the person or thing affected by
the action described in the verb.
Objects come in two types, direct and indirect.
The direct object refers to a person or thing affected by
the action of the verb.

For example:
"He opened the door. "- here the door is the direct
object as it is the thing being affected by the verb to
open.
The indirect object refers to a person or thing who
receives the direct object.
For example:
I gave him the book." - Here him (he)is the indirect
object as he is the beneficiary of the action.
TRANSITIVE / INTRANSITIVE VERBS
Verbs which don't have an object are called
intransitive. Some verbs can only be intransitive
(disagree). In addition they cannot be used in the
Passive Voice e.g. smile, fall, come, go.
For example:
David disagreed. - intransitive.
Verbs that have an object are called transitive verbs
e.g. eat, drive, give.
For example:
David gave her a present.
Some verbs can be transitive or intransitive e.g. sing
For example:
Xavier Nadu sings. - intransitive.
Xavier Nadu sings pop songs. - transitive.
ADVERBIALS
An 'adverbial' or 'adverbial phrase' is a word or
expression in the sentence that does the same job as an
adverb; that is, it tells you something about how the
action in the verb was done.
For example:
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English Grammar 8
I sometimes have trouble with adverbs.
He spoke very quietly.
I've read that book three times.
She's gone to the bank.
The first tells us the frequency of the action
(sometimes), the second how he carried out the action
(quietly), and the third how many times the action has
happened (three).
The fourth is a little different, as in this case the
adverbial (gone to the bank) is more or less demanded
by the verb (has).
To remember the form of such verbs use your
notebooks to write down the different forms.
For example:
to go [somewhere]
to put [something][somewhere]
This information is also useful when deciding the
order of adverbials in a sentence. Unlike the previous
parts of the sentence, a sentence can contain an
indefinite number of adverbials, although in practice
it's a good idea to keep them few in number.
COMPLEMENT
A complement is used with verbs like be, seem, look
etc. Complements give more information about the
subject or, in some structures, about the object.
There are various definitions of 'complement', which
range from the very general (anything in the predicate
except the verb, including the direct object and
adverbs) to the much more restrictive one used here.
A complement is the part of the sentence that gives
you more information about the subject (a subject
complement) or the object (an object complement) of
the sentence.
The complement to be used, if any, is dependent on
the verb used in the sentence. Subject complements
normally follow certain verbs.
For example:
 English Grammar 9

He is Spanish. You aren't or You're

You are You're You are not
She became an engineer. not
That man looks like John.
We are We're We are not We aren't or We're not
Object complements follow the direct object of the
verb- They are They're They are not They're not

For example. To be - Simple Past Form

They painted the house red.

She called him an idiot! Positive Statement Negative Statement
I saw her standing there.
Long form Short form Long form Short form
The complement often consists of an adjective or noun
I was I was not I wasn't
phrase, but can also be a participle phrase, as in the
last example. It is often not very clear whether a
He was He was not He wasn't
phrase is a complement or an adverbial.
She was She was not She wasn't
SHORT FORMS IN ENGLISH
It was --- It was not It wasn't
THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF IT

You were You were not You weren't

Verb conjugation and contraction - in other words;
"The short form". We were We were not We weren't

In English we use the short form a lot. We say things They were They were not They weren't
like: I'm / you're / didn't etc. instead of I am / you are /
did not etc. To do - Simple Present Form

We also use these short forms in informal written

English. When we write in the short form, we use an Positive Statement Negative Statement
apostrophe (') for the missing letter(s).
Long form Short form Long form Short form
Forms of the auxiliary verbs to be, to do and to have:-
I do I do not I don't
To be - Simple Present Form
He does He does not He doesn't

Positive Statement Negative Statement She does She does not She doesn't

Long form Short form Long form Short form It does --- It does not It doesn't

I am I'm I am not I'm not You do You do not You don't

He is He's He is not He isn't or He's not We do We do not We don't

She is She's She is not She isn't or She's not They do They do not They don't

It is It's It is not It isn't or It's not

To do - Simple Past Form

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 English Grammar 10

Positive Statement Negative Statement you'd not

we hadn't or
Short we'd not
Long form Long form Short form
form they hadn't or
they'd not
I / he / she / it / I / he / she / it / I / he / she / it /
you / we / they --- you / we / they you / we / they
did did not didn't The long and short forms of the modal verbs can, could,
shall, should, must, will and would

To have - Simple Present Form CAN

Positive Statement Negative Statement Positive Statement Negative Statement

Long Short
Short form Long form Short form Long form Long form Short form
form form

I have I've I have not I haven't or I've not I / he / she / it / I / he / she / it /

I / he / she/ it / you
you / we / they --- you / we / they
/ we / they cannot
He has He's He has not He hasn't or He's not can can't

She has She's She has not She hasn't or She's not
COULD
It has It's It has not It hasn't or It's not

You have You haven't or You've Positive Statement Negative Statement

You have You've
not not
Short
Long form Long form Short form
We haven't or We've form
We have We've We have not
not
I / he / she / it / I / he / she/ it / you I / he / she / it /
They They have They haven't or They've you / we / they --- / we / they could you / we / they
They've
have not not could not couldn't

To have - Simple Past Form MUST

Positive Statement Negative Statement

Positive Statement Negative Statement

Short
Long form Long form Short form Short
form Long form Long form Short form
form

I hadn't or I'd
I'd I / he / she / it / I / he / she/ it / I / he / she / it /
not
he'd you / we / they --- you / we / they you / we / they
he hadn't or
I / he / she / it / she'd I / he / she / it / must must not mustn't
he'd not
you / we / they it'd you / we / they
she hadn't or
had you'd had not
she'd not
we'd
it hadn't or
they'd
it'd not SHALL
you hadn't or

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 English Grammar 11

Positive Statement Negative Statement They'll not

You won't or
Short You'll not
Long form Long form Short form
form We won't or
We'll not
I / he / she / it / I / he / she/ it / you I / he / she / it / They won't or
you / we / they --- / we / they shall you / we / they They'll not
shall not shan't

WOULD
SHOULD

Positive Statement Negative Statement

Positive Statement Negative Statement
Short
Long form Long form Short form
Short form
Long form Long form Short form
form
I wouldn't
I / he / she / it / I / he / she / it / I / he / she / it or I'd not
you / we / they --- / you / we / He wouldn't
you / we / they
should they shouldn't or He'd not
should not
She
I'd wouldn't or
WILL
He'd She'd not
She'd I / he / she / it / It wouldn't
I / he / she / it / you /
It'd* you / we / they or It'd not*
Positive Statement Negative Statement we / they would
You'd would not You
We'd wouldn't or
Short
Long form Long form Short form They'd You'd not
form
We wouldn't
or We'd not
I won't or I'll
I'll They
not
I / he / she / it / He'll I / he / she / it / wouldn't or
He won't or
you / we / they She'll you / we / they They'd not
He'll not
will It'll will not
She won't or
You'll * Not "good" English, but you will hear occasionally.
She'll not
We'll
It won't or It'll

CHAPTER 2 - NOUN
Is a name of the person, place or things. Here are some because it is the name of a place; and boy is a noun
examples of nouns: boy, river, friend, Mexico, because it is the name of a thing.
triangle, day, school, truth, university, idea, John F.
Lets take some examples
Kennedy, movie, aunt, vacation, eye, dream, flag,
teacher, class, grammar. John F. Kennedy is a noun Ram was a great king.
because it is the name of a person; Mexico is a noun Allahabad is on the banks of river Ganga.
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 English Grammar 12

The sunshines bright. number Quality count. things

(or Goodness, which
Note Things includes Collecti Kindness,whit E.g. we
on) of eness, cannot
All objects that we can see, hear, taste, touch, or smell. persons Hardness, Book,Pen,App count.
Something that we can think of but cannot perceive by or brightness, le,boy,
senses. things Honesty, Sister, doctor, E.g.
Types of Nouns There are majorly divided into 2 taken Wisdom, horse.
groups - together Bravery. Milk, oil,
and Countable sugar,
Proper Noun Common Noun spoken Action nouns have gold,
as one Laughter, Plural form honesty.
Definition It is the Definition It is the Theft, but
name of person or place. name given in common to E.g. movement, uncountable
It always starts with a every person or thing of Judgment, nouns do not.
capital letter. the same class or kind. Crowd, hatred.
team, E.g. we say
Some examples of proper Some examples of proper heard, State Books but
nouns are: Mexico, John nouns are: class, girl, boy, army, childhood, we cannot say
F. Kennedy, Atlantic city, country. Fleet, Boyhood, milks
Ocean, February, jury youth, slavery,
Monday, New York City, ,family, Sleep,sickness,
Susan, Maple Street, 1. Girl is a common nation, death,
Burger King. noun Commit Poverty.
2. Boy is a common tee.
1. Sita is proper noun The names of
Noun 3. City is a common A Fleet Arts and
2. Hari is a proper noun Sciences are
Noun 4. Country is a Collecti also abstract
3. Kolkatta is a common noun on of nouns (E.g.
proper noun ships or Grammer,Mus
4. India is proper vessels. ic,
noun An Chemistry
army
a
Some other Types of Nouns collectio
n of
soldiers
Collecti Abstract Countable Uncount
ve Nouns Nouns able
Nouns Nouns

Definiti Definition is Definition Definiti

on is the name of are the names on are
the quality, action, of objects, the
name of state. People, etc. names of
the E.g. That we can the The Noun Gender -

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 English Grammar 13

Masculine Feminine Comm Neuter Nouns that refer to a group of people or things are
Gender Gender on Gender collective nouns.
Gende Nouns that refer to people, organisations or places
are proper nouns, only proper nouns are
r
capitalized.
Nouns that are made up of two or more words are
Def. The Def. The noun Def. Def. the called compound nouns.
noun that that denotes a The noun that Nouns that are formed from a verb by adding -ing
denotes female. noun denotes are called gerunds
male. that neither
E.g. denote male nor ABSTRACT NOUNS
E.g. Girl,Lioness,Her s either female.
Boy,Lion,H oine a male An abstract noun is a noun that you cannot sense; it is
ero or a E.g. the name we give to an emotion, ideal or idea. They
female. Book,Pen,T have no physical existence, you can't see, hear, touch,
ree smell or taste them. The opposite of an abstract noun is
E.g. a concrete noun.
Parent,
Child, For example:-
Servant
Justice; an idea, bravery and happiness are all abstract
nouns.

The Noun Number

Here is an a-z list of some common abstract nouns:-

Singular Noun Plural Noun

adoratio
artistry
n
Def. The noun that Def. The noun that
denotes one person or denotes more than one belief bravery
thing. person or thing.
childhoo compassi
calm charity comfort
E.g. Boy,Girl,Cow E.g. Boys, Girls, Cows. d on

dexterity

NOUNS ego

A noun is the word that refers to a person, thing or friends

failure faith feelings
abstract idea. A noun can tell you who or what. hip

There are several different types of noun:- happines

hate honesty hope
s
There are common nouns such as dog, car, chair etc.
Nouns that refer to things which can be counted impressi infatuati
idea
(can be singular or plural) are countable nouns. on on
Nouns that refer to some groups of countable
nouns, substances, feelings and types of activity joy
(can only be singular) are uncountable nouns.

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 English Grammar 14

law liberty love loyalty Groups of things - bunch, bundle, clump, pair, set,
stack
maturity memory
When such a group is considered as a single unit, the

omen
collective noun is used with a singular verb and
singular pronouns.
principl
peace pride power For example - The committee has reached its decision.
e

But when the focus is on the individual members of

redempti
romance the group, British English uses a plural verb and plural
on
pronouns.
sensitivi sympat
sadness skill sleep success For example - "The committee have been arguing all
ty hy
morning." This is the same as saying "The people in the
talent thrill truth committee have been ...."

wit A determiner in front of a singular collective noun is

always singular: this committee, never these committee
(but of course when the collective noun is pluralized, it
COLLECTIVE NOUNS / GROUP NOUNS takes a plural determiner: these committees).

A collective noun is a noun that is singular in form but COMMON NOUNS

refers to a group of people or things.
Sometimes they refer to a group of specific things:-
For example:-
Tables, chairs, cupboards etc. are grouped under the
collective noun furniture.
Plates, saucers, cups and bowls are grouped under the
collective noun crockery.
These collective nouns are often uncountable.
Sometimes they are more general:-
A common noun is a word that names people, places,
things, or ideas. They are not the names of a single
person, place or thing.
A common noun begins with a lowercase letter unless
it is at the beginning of a sentence.
For example:-
People:-
man, girl, boy, mother, father, child, person, teacher,
student

For example:- Animals:-

Groups of people - army, audience, band, choir, class, cat, dog, fish, ant, snake
committee, crew, family, gang, jury, orchestra, police,
staff, team, trio Things:-

Groups of animals - colony, flock, herd, pack, pod, book, table, chair, phone

school, swarm
Places:-

school, city, building, shop

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 English Grammar 15

Ideas:- 3. Sometimes they appear as two separate words.

Example: full moon
love, hate, idea, pride
A good dictionary will tell you how you should write
COMPOUND NOUNS each compound noun.

A compound noun is a noun that is made up of two or Concrete Nouns

more words. Most compound nouns in English are
formed by nouns modified by other nouns or A concrete noun is the name of something or someone
adjectives. that we experience through our senses, sight, hearing,
smell, touch or taste. Most nouns are concrete nouns.
For example: The opposite of a concrete noun is an abstract noun.

The words tooth and paste are each nouns in their For example:-
own right, but if you join them together they form a
new word - toothpaste. Cats, dogs, tables, chairs, buses, and teachers are all
concrete nouns.
The word black is an adjective and board is a noun,
but if you join them together they form a new word - Countable / Uncountable Nouns

blackboard.
A noun can be countable or uncountable. Countable
In both these example the first word modifies or nouns can be "counted", they have a singular and
describes the second word, telling us what kind of plural form .
object or person it is, or what its purpose is. And the
second part identifies the object or person in question. For example:

A book, two books, three books .....

Compound nouns can also be formed using the
An apple, two apples, three apples ....
following combinations of words:-

Uncountable nouns (also called mass nouns or

Noun + Noun toothpaste
noncount nouns) cannot be counted, they are not
Adjective + Noun monthly ticket separate objects. This means you cannot make them
Verb + Noun swimming pool plural by adding -s, because they only have a singular
form. It also means that they do not take a/an or a
Preposition + Noun underground
number in front of them.
Noun + Verb haircut
Noun + Preposition hanger on For example:

Adjective + Verb dry-cleaning

Water
Preposition + Verb output Work
Information

The two parts may be written in a number of ways:- Coffee

Sand

1. Sometimes the two words are joined together.

Example: tooth + paste = toothpaste | bed + room = Countable Uncountable
(use a/an or a number in (there is no a/an or number
bedroom
front of countable nouns) with uncountable nouns)

2. Sometimes they are joined using a hyphen.

Example: check-in
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An Apple / 1 Apple
I eat an apple every day.
Add (s) to make a countable
noun plural
apples
I eat an apple every day.
Apples are good for you.
A computer= Computers are
fun.
An elephant=Elephants are
large.
You can use some and any
with countable nouns.
Some dogs can be dangerous.
I don't use any computers at
work.
You only use many and few
with plural countable nouns.
So many elephants have been
hunted that they are an
endangered species.
There are few elephants in
England.
You can use a lot of and no
with plural countable nouns. with uncountable nouns.
No computers were bought last
week.
A lot of computers were reported
broken the week before.
Rice
I eat rice every day. (not I eat a
rice every day.)
There is no plural form for
an uncountable noun
rice
I eat rice every day. Rice is good
for you.
To make uncountable nouns
countable add a counting
word, such as a unit of
measurement, or the general
word piece. We use the form
"a ....... of ......."
Rice=a grain of rice
Water=a glass of water
Rain=a drop of rain
Music=a piece of music
You can use some and any
with uncountable nouns.
I usually drink some wine with
my meal.
I don't usually drink any water
with my wine.
You only use much and little
with uncountable nouns.
I don't usually drink much
coffee.
Little wine is undrinkable
though.
You can use a lot of and no
A lot of wine is drunk in France.
No wine is drunk in Iran.
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English Grammar 16
Making uncountable nouns countable
You can make most uncountable noun countable by
putting a countable expression in front of the noun.
For example:-
A piece of information.
2 glasses of water.
10 litres of coffee.
Three grains of sand.
A pane of glass.
Sources of confusion with countable and uncountable nouns
The notion of countable and uncountable can be
confusing.
Some nouns can be countable or uncountable
depending on their meaning. Usually a noun is
uncountable when used in a general, abstract meaning
(when you don't think of it as a separate object) and
countable when used in a particular meaning (when
you can think of it as a separate object).
For example:-
glass - A glass of water. (Countable) | A window
made of glass. (Uncountable)
Some supposedly uncountable nouns can behave like
countable nouns if we think of them as being in
containers, or one of several types.
This is because 'containers' and 'types' can be counted.
Believe it or not each of these sentences is correct:-
Doctors recommend limiting consumption to two coffees a
day.
(Here coffees refers to the number of cups of coffee)
You could write; "Doctors recommend limiting
consumption to two cups of coffee a day."
The coffees I prefer are Arabica and Brazilian.
(Here coffees refers to different types of coffee)
You could write; "The types of coffee I prefer are Arabica
and Brazilian."
 English Grammar 17

!Note - In good monolingual dictionaries, uncountable The names of cities and countries and words derived from
nouns are identified by [U] and countable nouns by those proper nouns:-

[C].
Paris - London - New York - England - English
GERUND NOUNS
Geographical and Celestial Names:-

A gerund (often known as an -ing word) is a noun

the Red Sea - Alpha Centauri - Mars
formed from a verb by adding -ing. It can follow a
preposition, adjective and most often another verb.
Monuments, buildings, meeting rooms:-

For example: The Taj Mahal - The Eiffel Tower - Room 222

I enjoy walking. Historical events, documents, laws, and periods:-

PREDICATE NOUNS the Civil War - the Industrial Revolution - World War I

A predicate noun follows a form of the verb "to be". Months, days of the week, holidays:-

He is an idiot. (Here idiot is a predicate noun because Monday - Christmas - December

it follows is; a form of the verb "be".)
Religions, deities, scriptures:-
A predicate noun renames the subject of a sentence.
God - Christ - Jehovah - Christianity - Judaism - Islam -
Margaret Thatcher was the Prime Minister. (Margaret the Bible - the Koran - the Torah
Thatcher is the subject and Prime Minister is the
predicate noun - notice it follows 'was' the past tense Awards, vehicles, vehicle models and names, brand names:-

of 'to be'.)
the Nobel Peace Prize - the Scout Movement - Ford
Focus - the Bismarck - Kleenex Hoover
PROPER NOUNS

Proper nouns (also called proper names) are the words

which name specific people, organisations or places.
They always start with a capital letter.

For example:-

Each part of a person's name is a proper noun:-

Lynne Hand - Elizabeth Helen Ruth Jones...

The names of companies, organisations or trade marks:-

Microsoft - Rolls Royce - the Round Table - WWW

Given or pet names of animals:-

Lassie Trigger Sam

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 English Grammar 18

CHAPTER 3 - ADJECTIVE
Is often defined as a word which describes or gives He gave me five mangoes. (How many mangoes)
more information about a noun or five shows how many mangoes he gave me.
pronoun. Adjectives describe nouns in terms of such
qualities as size, color, number, and kind. There is a little time for preparation. (How much time)
little shows how much time there is for preparation.
In the sentence
KINDS OF ADJECTIVES
The lazy dog sat on the mat, the word lazy is an
adjective which gives more information about the Descript
noun dog. ive Adjecti Adjectiv Exclamat Emphasi
Adjectiv ves of es of ory zing
We can add more adjectives to describe the dog as well es Quantit Number Adjectiv Adjective
as in the sentence Or y s es s
The lazy, old, brown dog sat on the rug. Adjectiv
We can also add adjectives to describe the rug as in es of
the sentence the lazy, old, brown dog sat on the Quality
beautiful, expensive, new rug.
Show the Show Show Word Are used
The adjectives do not change the basic meaning or kind or the how 'what' is to
structure of the sentence, but they do give a lot more quality of quantity many sometime emphasize
information about the dog and the rug. a person of a persons s used as the
or thing thing. or things an statement
Some are exclamato
As you can see in the example above, when more than
E.g. adjective meant, or, ry E.g.
one adjective is used, a comma (,) is used between the
s many in what adjective.
adjectives. (a) India be used order a For 1. I saw all
is a vast as of person or example: this with
Lets take some more examples country. quantity thing my own
(b) or stands. E.g. eyes.
He is a brave boy. (Boy is Noun and Adjective Brave Harish number, 2. This is
tells about boys personality) Chandra accordin E.g. 1. What a the very
was a g to (a) There boy you man who
truthful their are are! was
There are twenty boys in this class. (Boys and class are
man. use. seventeen 2. What disturbing
nouns here and twenty, this (Adjectives) because they
(c) Kabir hundred folly! the
are adding information. Dar was E.g. students 3. What a meeting.
a great 1.1 in our lucky girl 4. Mind
Sita is a clever Girl. (Girl of what kind) clever shows poet. college. she is! your own
what kind of girl Sita is; or clever describes Sita (d) The (b) Few 4. What business.
brave Indians an idea! 5. I am my
I dont like that boy. (Which Boy?) that points out boy did hate their 5. What a own
not leave culture. game! master.
which boy is meant.
the (c) How
burning many
deck. players
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 English Grammar 19

were compared. compared.

awarded
for their E.g. This boy is E.g. This boy
best
stronger than is the strongest
performa
that. in the class
nce?
Which of these
(d) No two pens is the
teachers better?
were
present in
the
Note There is another way which we can compare
meeting.
things. Instead of saying Ram is stronger than Babu
(e) The
we can say Babu is less strong than Ram.
cat drank
up all the
milk in EXAMPLES OF FORMATION OF
the pot. COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE
E.g. 1.1
By adding 'er' to form the Comparative and 'est' to
Adjectives of form the Superlative.
S.No. Adjectives of Number
Quantity
The cat drank all the Positive Comparative Superlative
1. The boy sold all his books.
milk. Great Greater Greatest
2. I have no difficulty. I have no pens. Clever Cleverer Cleverest
The man did not eat Are there any mango trees in Kind Kinder Kindest
3.
any bread. the garden? Young Younger Youngest
There is enough I have not enough plates in my Short Shorter Shortest
4.
sugar in the milk. kitchen at present. Tall Taller Tallest
My grandfather lost All the books in the bookshelf Sweet Sweeter Sweetest
5.
all his wealth. have gone out-dated. Deep Deeper Deepest
Old Older Oldest
COMPARISONS OF ADJECTIVES Small Smaller Smallest

Positive Comparative Superlative By adding 'r' to form the Comparative and 'st' to form
the Superlative when the Positive ends in 'e'.
Ramas mango Haris mango is Govinds
is sweet. sweeter than mango is Positive Comparative Superlative
Ramas. sweetest of all. Brave Braver Bravest
Def. The Fine Finer Finest
adjective is in Def.It denotes Def. It Noble Nobler Noblest
its simple form. the higher denotes the Wise Wiser Wisest
It is used when degree of the highest degree Able Abler Ablest
no comparison quality that the of quality and is Large Larger Largest
is made. positive and is used when
used when two more than two By changing 'y' into 'i' before adding 'er' and 'est'
things are things are when the Positive ends in 'y' preceded by a consonant.

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 English Grammar 20

Some adjectives are compared irregularly, that is, their

Positive Comparative Superlative Comparative and Superlative are not formed from the
Happy Happier Happiest Positive.
Healthy Healthier Healthiest
Early Earlier Earliest Positive Comparative Superlative
Costly Costlier Costliest Little Less (Lesser) Least
Heavy Heavier Heaviest Much More Most
Many More Most
When the positive is a word of one syllable and ends Fore Former Foremost, First
in a single consonant, preceded by a short vowel, this Fore Further Furthest
consonant is doubled before adding 'er' and 'est'. Late Later, Latter Latest, Last

Positive Comparative Superlative FORMATION OF ADJEVCTIVES

Sad Sadder Saddest
Thin Thinner Thinnest Many Adjectives are formed from Nouns
Fat Fatter Fattest
Hot Hotter Hottest Noun Adjective
Big Bigger Biggest Man Manly
Girl Girlish
Adjective of more than two syllables form the Boy Boyish
Comparative and Superlative by putting 'more' and Friend Friendly
'most' before the Positive. Mother Motherly
Care Careful, Careless
Positive Comparative Superlative Silk Silken
Beautiful more beautiful most beautiful Gold Golden
Industrious more industrious most industrious Difficulty Difficult
Careful more careful most careful Honesty Honest
Courageous more courageous most courageous Trouble Troublesome
Magnificent more magnificent most magnificent Courage Courageous
Bravery Brave
Glory Glorious
Some adjectives take either 'er' and 'est' or 'more' and
Storm Stormy
'most'.
Father Fatherly
Laugh Laughable
Positive Comparative Superlative
Dirt Dirty
Polite Politer Politest
Craze Crazy
Polite more polite most polite
Cream Creamy
Common Commoner Commonest
Common more common most common
Many Adjectives are formed from Verbs
Gentle Gentler Gentlest
Gentle more gentle most gentle
Handsome Handsomer Handsomest Verb Adjective

Handsome more handsome most handsome Sustain Sustainable

Pleasant Pleasanter Pleasantest Think Thinking (intelligent)
Pleasant more pleasant most pleasant Tickle Ticklish
Tire Tireless

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 English Grammar 21

Talk Talkative Some adjectives give us factual information about the

Cease Ceaseless noun - age, size colour etc (fact adjectives - can't be
Move Moveable argued with). Some adjectives show what somebody
Throw Throwaway thinks about something or somebody - nice, horrid,
Work Workable beautiful etc (opinion adjectives - not everyone may
Watch Watchful agree).
Understand Understandable
Forget Forgetful If you are asked questions with which, whose, what
Relate Related kind, or how many, you need an adjective to be able to
Go Gait answer.
Giggle Giggly
Arrogate Arrogant There are different types of adjectives in the English
Breathe Breathy language:
Breeze Breezy
Beautify Beautiful Numeric: six, one hundred and one

Fantasize Fantastic Quantitative: more, all, some, half, more than

enough
Qualitative: colour, size, smell etc.
Many Adjectives are formed from Other
Possessive: my, his, their, your
Adjectives
Interrogative: which, whose, what
Demonstrative: this, that, those, these
Adjective Adjective
Red Reddish !Note - The articles a, an, and the and the possessives
White Whitish my, our, your, and their are also adjectives.
Tragic Tragical
Three Threefold OPINION
Black Blackish
Sick Sickly Adjectives can be used to give your opinion about
Whole Wholesome
Green Greenish
something.

ADJECTIVES good, pretty, right, wrong, funny, light, happy, sad,

full, soft, hard etc.
Adjectives describe or give information about nouns
or pronouns. For example:

For example:- He was a silly boy.

The grey dog barked. (The adjective grey describes the SIZE
noun "dog".)

The good news is that the form of an adjective does

not change. It does not matter if the noun being
modified is male or female, singular or plural, subject Adjectives can be used to describe size.
or object.
Big, small, little, long, tall, short, same as, etc.

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 English Grammar 22

For example: "It was a German flag." or "They were German flags."

"The big man." or "The big woman". MATERIAL

AGE

Adjectives can be used to describe material.

Adjectives can be used to describe age.

"It was a cotton cushion." or "They were cotton

cushions."
For example:
DISTANCE
"He was an old man." or "She was an old woman."
Adjectives can be used to describe distance. l -- o -- n --
SHAPE g / short

Adjectives can be used to describe shape. long, short, far, around, start, high, low, etc.

For example:

"She went for a long walk." or "She went for lots of long
walks."
Round, circular, triangular, rectangular, square, oval,
etc.
TEMPERATURE

For example:
Adjectives can be used to describe temperature.
"It was a square box." or "They were square boxes."

COLOUR

Adjectives can be used to describe color.

Blue, red, green, brown, yellow, black, white, etc.

Cold, warm, hot, cool, etc.
For example:
For example:
"The blue bag." or "The blue bags".
"The day was hot." or "The days were hot."
ORIGIN
TIME

Adjectives can be used to describe origin.

Adjectives can be used to describe time.

For example:-

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 English Grammar 23

Late, early, bed, nap, dinner, lunch, day, morning, "David looks tired." The subject (in this case David) is being
night, etc. described as tired not the verb to look.

For example: There is also the adjective used to, which is explained
here.
"She had an early start."
ADJECTIVE ORDER
PURPOSE
Adjectives can be used to describe lots of things, from
Adjectives can be used to describe purpose. (These physical size, age, shape, colour, material, to more
adjectives often end with "-ing".) abstract things like opinion, origin and purpose. We
can use adjectives together to give a detailed
For example: description of something. Adjectives that express
opinions usually come before all others, but it can
"She gave them a sleeping bag." or "She gave them sometimes depend on what exactly you want to
sleeping bags." emphasize.

!Note - In each case the adjective stays the same,
whether it is describing a masculine, feminine,
singular or plural noun.
When using more than one adjective to modify a noun,
the adjectives may be separated by a conjunction (and)
or by commas (,).
For example:
"That nice, big, blue bag." (You like the bag.)
"That big, nice, blue bag." (You like the colour.)
When we group adjectives together there is a general
rule for the position of each type adjective, these are:-

For example: Positi 2nd

1st* 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th
on *
"Her hair was long and blonde." or "She had long, blonde
Opini Siz Ag Shap Colo Mater Purpo
hair." Origin
on e e e ur ial se

More examples: Sm Ol Squar Blac Racin

Nice Plastic British
all d e k g
Adjective Pretty Serious Fast Quiet Ne Circu Cotto Ameri Runni
Ugly Big Blue
w lar n can ng
He was a They were
She was a It was a
Example serious quiet This is just a guide as you wouldn't normally see so
pretty girl. fast car.
boy. children. many adjectives in one description.

For example:
! Note - Adjectives that go immediately before the
noun are called attributive adjectives.
"She had a big, ugly, old, baggy, blue, cotton, British,
knitting bag." Is grammatically correct but a bit too
Adjectives can also be used after some verbs. They do
long-winded.
not describe the verb, adverbs do that. Adjectives after
a verb describe the subject of the verb (usually a noun
* You might swap opinion and fact adjectives
or pronoun). They are called predicative adjectives.
depending on what you wish to emphasise:-

For example:
For example:

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 English Grammar 24

"She had a long, ugly nose." emphasising the length of FORMING THE COMPARATIVE
her nose.
For
Form Rule
example
"He was a silly, little man." emphasising that the man
was silly.
Words of one Add -r to the wide -
syllable ending in 'e'. end of the word.
COMPARATIVE FORM OF ADJECTIVES wider

Words of one Double the

When we compare two things or people we look at
syllable, with one consonant and big -
what makes them different from each other.
vowel and one add -er to the
bigger
consonant at the end. end of the word.
For example:
Words of one
Tall / Short
syllable, with more
Add - er to the high -
than one vowel or
end of the word. higher
more than one
consonant at the end.

Change 'y' to 'i',

Words of two
The man on the left is taller than the man on the right. and add -er to happy -
syllables, ending in
The man on the right is shorter than the man on the the end of the happier
'y'.
left. word.

Fast / Slow Words of two Place 'more' beautiful -

syllables or more, not before the more
ending in 'y'. adjective. beautiful

The following adjectives are exceptions to this rule:

A car is faster than a bicycle. 'good' becomes 'better'

A bicycle is slower than a car.
Comparative adjectives are used to show what quality
one thing has more or less than the other. They
normally come before any other adjectives.
For example:
Big / Small
'bad' becomes 'worse'
'far' becomes 'farther' or 'further'
! Note - When comparing two things like this we put
than between the adjective and the thing being
compared.
For example:-
"Mount Everest is higher than Mount Snowdon."

"Arguably, Rome is more beautiful than Paris.

POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES

The red bag is bigger than the blue bag. Possessive adjectives are used to show ownership or
The blue bag is smaller than the red bag. possession.
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 English Grammar 25

Subject pronoun Possessive adjective

I my
you your
he his
she her
it its
we our
they their

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