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Dear readers,

This English Digest is docket of Questions which can be asked in upcoming BITSAT Examination 2018.

1. Subject Verb Agreement

In any sentence the use of verb according to the number of subjects or the persons is called
subject verb agreement. The basic rule is that a singular subject requires a singular verb
and a plural subject requires a plural verb.

Examples:
Maya plays piano. (Maya is a single person or subject, therefore the singular verb ‘plays’
has to be used.)
The students play drums. (‘Students’ is a plural noun, therefore, the plural verb ‘play’ is
used.)
Let’s understand the singular and plural in order to use correct forms of verbs:

Singular Verb Plural Verb

is are

was were

has have

V1 + s/es (sings, makes, plays, etc.) V1 (sing, make, play, etc.)

Keep the following in mind for Subject- Verb Agreement:

1. If two subjects are connected with the conjunction ‘and’, use the plural form of verb.
EG.Priya and Malika are cleaning the room.

2. If several nouns or adjectives are used for a single subject, use singular verb.
EG.My friend, philosopher and mentor has come.

3. If two subjects are connected by “as well as”, “with”, “along with”, “together with”, “and
not”, “in addition to”, “but”, “besides”, “except”, “rather than”, “accompanied by”, “like”,
“unlike”, “no less than”, “nothing but”, then the verb should agree with the first subject.

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EG.Megha as well as Kareena are is going to the seminar. EG.My older son unlike the
younger one is cranky.

4. If two subjects are connected with “neither...nor”, “either…or”, “not only…but also”,
“nor”, “or” and “none- but”, then the verb will be according to the latter subject.
EG.Neither Karuna nor Vidya has reported yet.
EG.Either you or your sisters should come.

5. The verb should agree with the main verb. Be careful not to place it in accordance with
the nearest subject.
EG.The quantity of apples is less.
EG.Sudhir and not his friends is the culprit.

6. If a relative pronoun (who, which, that etc.) is used to connect a subject and a verb, then
the verb would be according to that subject which precedes that relative pronoun.
EG.This is one of the oldest turtles that (relative pronoun) have ever walked on the Earth.

2. Parallel Construction

Parallelism refers to using elements in sentences that are grammatically similar or identical
in structure, sound, meaning, or meter. This technique adds symmetry, effectiveness and
balance to the written piece. Elements in a sentence that have the same function or express
similar ideas should be grammatically parallel, or grammatically matched.

Examples:
I. He described singing at a concert, dancing in an award function, and the drive across the
city. (faulty parallel construction)

He described singing at a concert, dancing in an award function, and driving across the city.
(parallel construction)

II. Alex loves to wear her fancy dress costume, standing in front of the mirror and
pretending to be a rockstar. (faulty parallel construction)

Alex loves wearing her fancy dress costume, standing in front of the mirror and pretending
to be a rockstar. (parallel construction)

III. He liked their bravery, truthfulness, and enigma. (parallel)

He liked their bravery, their truthfulness, and their enigma. (parallel)
He liked their bravery, truthfulness, and their enigma. (not parallel)

3. Relative Pronoun

A relative pronoun is one which is used to refer to nouns mentioned previously, whether
they are people, places, things, animals, or ideas. Relative pronouns can be used to join two
sentences. The most common are which, that, whose, whoever, whomever, whatever, who,

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and whom.
EG.The girl who won the gold medal is my cousin.
EG.The bag that I bought last month is already torn.
EG.You can do whatever you want to.

Difference between That and Which:

“That” defines a restrictive clause while “which” defines a non- restrictive clause.
If the relative pronoun “that” is used in a sentence, it restricts or limits the meaning of the
nouns it modifies.

Example: The red sedan that exploded yesterday in the neighbourhood belonged to my
friend.
Here only the red sedan that exploded is being talked about and not the others. There could
be many red sedans but the sentence talks about a particular car- the one which exploded.
We cannot leave out that adjective clause because otherwise the reader wouldn’t know
which of the red sedans belonged to the speaker’s friend.

Now, consider the following example:

The red sedan, which exploded yesterday in the neighbourhood, belonged to my friend.
Here we have a non- restrictive “which” clause. It indicates that there was one red sedan
and it belonged to the speaker’s friend and happened to explode. Here, the part about
explosion acts as an added information and is not necessary to be mentioned in order to
convey the central idea.

Note: In case of confusion, look for a pair of commas in the sentence. Non- restrictive
clauses and phrases are separated from the rest of the sentence by a pair of commas.
(EG.The restaurant, which serves authentic Bengali cuisine, is my favorite) or by a single
comma if they come at the end of the sentence. (EG.We went to Mahabaleshwar on Priya’s
birthday, which happened to fall on a Sunday this year). On the other hand, restrictive
clauses are not separated from the rest of the sentence by commas, as in the given
sentence.

4. Determiners

Determiners are words placed in front of a noun to clarify what the noun refers to. The
various kinds of determiners are:

• Definite article: the

EG.The sun and the moon are heavenly bodies.
• Indefinite articles: a, an
EG.An ant is a diminutive creature.
• Demonstratives: this, that, these, those
EG.Those mansions belong to the British period.
• Pronouns and possessive determiners: my, your, his, her, its, our, their
EG.This is his house.
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• Quantifiers: a few, a little, much, many, a lot of, most, some, any, enough
EG.A few people think that the sun goes around the sun.
• Numbers: one, ten, thirty
EG.There are two tables in the room
• Distributives: all, both, half, either, neither, each, every
EG.Either you or Garima has broken the vase.
• Difference words: other, another
EG.The police took the other three culprits into custody.

5. Preposition

A preposition is a word which is used to describe the relationship between other words in a
sentence. Prepositions are used before a noun or a pronoun to show their relationship with
another word in the sentence. The noun or pronoun which follows a preposition is called its
object. Consider the following examples:
a. There is some water in the bottle. (the word ‘in’ shows the relation between two
things, water and bottle)
b. He is fond of his daughter. (the word ‘of’ shows the relationship between adjective
fond and the noun daughter).
Commonly Confused Prepositions:
• Beside and Besides
“Beside” is a preposition means ‘at the side of’ or ‘next to’. EG.Geeta is standing beside
Priyanka.
“Besides” is a preposition or a linking adverb. It means ‘in addition to’ or ‘also’. EG.Besides
Kathak, Uzma is a trained in Bharatnatyam.
• Since and For
“Since” indicates a point of time in the past, while “for” indicates a duration/ period of time.
EG.I have been waiting for you since 10 in the morning.
EG.She has been absent for 5 days.
• Between and Among
Use between when you're referring to two things or entities and use among when referring
to more than two.
EG.Divide the chocolates among the children.
EG.Divide the chocolates between Prerna and Megha
• On, in, at and by (with respect to time)
‘At’ shows an exact point of time; ‘on’ shows a more general point of time and ‘in’ shows a
period of time.
EG.I have a meeting at four p.m.
EG.I was born on April 21st.
EG.I was born in June.
• In and at (with respect to place)
‘In’ is usually used with large places- countries, districts, large cities, etc. EG.I have left my
family in India and migrated to a foreign land.

‘At’ is used to refer to a position or location which we see as a point.

EG.The manager is sitting at his desk.
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Moreover, at is also used to talk about locations at companies, workplaces when we see
them as a place of activity.
EG.Let’s meet tomorrow at the party.

• Across and Through

“Across” indicates a movement from one side to another.
EG.The fire of Nationalism spread across the country.
“Through” is used to indicate movement in a three-dimensional space, with things on all the
sides,
EG.We walked past through a dense wood to reach our destination.

6. Modals

A modal is a type of auxiliary (helping) verb that is used to express: ability, possibility,
permission or obligation.
• Can and could: used to express the ability/ lack of ability and possibility/ impossibility/
to ask permission/ give permission or to make a suggestion.
EG.Gauri can do the work very well (ability)
EG.You can catch that train if you leave early (possibility)
EG.Could I talk to you in private? (permission)
EG.You can come again tomorrow if you want. (suggestion)

• May and Might: Used to give formal permission/ formal prohibition, make a polite
request, express possibility/ negative possibility. These modals are also used to make
suggestions, often polite ones.
EG.You may start your work now. (formal permission)
EG.You may not wear casuals to work. (formal prohibition)
EG.May I come in? (polite request)
EG.We may leave the city by the end of the next month. (possibility)
EG.We might drop the idea of joining college this year. (negative possibility)
EG.You might as well accompany me to the dinner party. (suggestion)
EG.You might want to purchase the extravagant toiletry. (polite suggestion)
• Shall, Should and Ought to: used to indicate obligation or duty/ to offer of assistance
or polite suggestion (when you are quite sure of a positive answer) or make a
prediction or expectation that something will happen.
EG.You should/ ought to come on time (obligation/ duty)
EG.Should I call the police? (assistance)
EG.I should not be late. These parties usually don’t start early. (prediction)

7. Adjectives

Adjectives are words that describe or modify a noun or a pronoun in the sentence.
Examples:
• Shrishti is a cunning girl. (cunning describes what kind of girl Shrishti is, therefore it
is an adjective.)

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• Many bees are buzzing around. (Many describes the quantity of bees buzzing
around.)

A group of words with a subject and a verb, can also function as an adjective. In such
cases, the group of words is called an adjective clause. While
EG.My sister, who is an engineer, is a strict person.
The clause in bold modifies the noun “sister” and is called an adjective clause.
Types of Adjectives:
• Adjectives of Quality: They describe the kind, quality or characteristic of a noun or a
pronoun they are referring to. EG.Priyam is a quick learner.

• Adjectives of Quantity: They indicate how much of a thing is meant or it answers the
question ‘How much’? These are mostly used with uncountable nouns. Some of these
adjectives are many, much, some, little, great, any, enough, etc. EG.Could you lend
me some money?

• Adjectives of Number: They indicate how many people or things are meant and it
answers the question ‘How many’? Adjectives of number are used with countable
nouns.
EG.I bought ten pencils today.
EG.Several people I know are selfish.
EG.Every student will have to make a contribution.

• Demonstrative adjectives: They point out at pronouns and nouns, and always come
before the words they are referring to: these, that, those.
EG.These girls are talented.

•Interrogative adjectives: They are used to ask questions and are always followed by a
noun: which, what, who.
EG.Whose book is this?

Degree of Adjectives:
There are three degrees of adjectives, also known as degrees of comparison, namely,
positive, comparative, and superlative.
• Positive Degree- When you talk about or describe only a single person, place, or thing,
you should use the positive degree. EG.Riya is a smart girl.

• Comparative Degree- When two persons, places, or things are compared, the
comparative degree of the word is used. Normally, “-er” is added at the end of the
word to transform the word into its comparative form. Some words do not take “-er”
as a suffix the word “more” is put before them. Also, the word “than” should be
added after the adjective in the comparative degree.
EG.Riya is smarter than Preeti
EG.Mahu is more intelligent than Gaurav

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• Superlative Degree- When two or more things are compared, the superlative form of
the adjectives should be used and the word “the” should be added before the
adjective. In order to transform the adjective into its superlative form, the suffix “-
est” or the word “most” should be added before the word.
EG.Riya is the smartest girl in the whole class.
EG.You are the most active person I know.

8. Question tags

Question tags are the short questions that we place at the end of sentences. EG.The get
together was eventful. Wasn't it?

Key points:
1. If the main part of the sentence is positive, the question tag is negative. EG.He’s your
friend. Isn't he?
2. If the main part of the sentence is negative, the question tag is positive. EG.You do
not work in the firm anymore. Do you?
3. If the verb in a sentence is an auxiliary verb (‘have’, ‘be’, ‘is’, has, etc.) then the
question tag is made with the auxiliary verb. EG.You were the one who shut the door.
Weren’t you?
4. If the main part of the sentence doesn’t have an auxiliary verb, the question tag uses
an appropriate form of ‘do’. E.G:
• I told you. Didn’t I?
• You don't know me. Do you?
• Radha plays football. Doesn’t she?

5. If there is a modal verb (can, could, will, would, may, might, shall, should, etc) in the
main part of the sentence the question tag uses the same modal verb. EG.You cannot keep
quiet. Can you?
6. The question tag for ‘I am’ is ‘aren’t I? EG.“I am a kind person. Aren't I.

9. List of commonly used Phrasal Verbs

1. Aim at => to point a weapon at someone or something; to plan, hope, or intend to

achieve something
2. Abide by => to respect or obey a decision, a law or a rule
3. Appeal to => to plead or make a request; to be attractive or interesting
4. Back off => draw back from action or confrontation
5. Boil down to => to be summarized as
6. Break down => to go out of order, cease to function; to lose control of one’s emotions
7. Break out => to start suddenly
8. Call off => to cancel
9. Carry out => to do something as specified (a plan, an order, a threat); to perform or
conduct (test, experiment)
10. Count on => to rely or depend on (for help)
11. Cut down on => to reduce in number or size
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12. Die down => to calm down, become less strong

13. Ease off => to reduce, become less severe or slow down (pain, traffic, work)
14. Fall through => to fail; doesn’t happen
15. Figure out => to understand, find the answer
16. Get along (with) => to be on good terms; work well with
17. Iron out => to resolve by discussion, eliminate differences
18. Look down on => to consider as inferior
19. Look up to => to admire
20. Make up => to invent (excuse, story)
21. Pass out => to faint
22. Pass away => To die
23. Take after => to resemble, in appearance or character
24. Wear out => To become unusable; to become very tired
25. Wipe off => To clean (board, table)

10. Active/Passive Voice

1. Structure

The basic rules to be followed for Active/Passive conversions are:

1. The object of the active verb becomes the subject of the passive verb.
2. The finite form of the verb is changed (to be+ past participle).
3. The subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is
dropped).
4. Preposition "by" is used before object.\

Examples:

I. Active: We will visit the monument tomorrow.

Passive: The monument will be visited by us tomorrow.

II. Active: Who submitted the assignment yesterday?

Passive: By whom was the assignment submitted yesterday?

III. Active: I am writing my exam.

Passive: The exam is being written by me.

IV. Active: I have written a letter.

Passive: A letter has been written by me.
V. Active: I have to write a letter.
Passive: A letter has to be written by me.

2. Kinds of sentences

Simple present tense

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Active: Subject + verb (“s“ or “es” with singular noun) + object…

Passive: Object + Is/are/am + verb (IIIrd form) + by + subject…

Present continuous tense

Active: Subject + is/are/am + verb (ing) + object…

Passive: Object + is/are/am + being + verb (IIIrd from) + by + subject...

Present perfect sentences

Active: Subject + has/have + verb (IIIrd form) + object...

Passive: Object + has/have + been + verb (IIIrd form) + by + subject...

Simple past sentence

Active: Subject + verb (IInd form) + object...

Passive: Object + was/were + verb (IIIrd form) + by + subject...

Negative simple past tense

Active: Subject + did not + verb (Ist form) + object...

Passive: Object + was/were + not + verb (IIIrd form) + by + subject...

Past continuous tense

Active: Subject + was/were + verb (ing) + object…

Passive: Object + was/were + being + verb (IIIrd from) + by + subject...

Past perfect sentences

Active: Subject + had + verb (IIIrd form) + object...

Passive: Object + had + been + verb (IIIrd form) + by + subject...

Simple future tense

Active: Subject + will/shall + verb (Ist form) + object...

Passive: Object+ will/shall + be + verb (IIIrd form) + by + subject...

Future perfect tense

Active: Subject + will/shall + have + verb (IIIrd form)....

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Passive: Object + will/shall + have + been + verb (IIIrd form) + by + subject...

Intransitive verb tenses

Such sentences are called Mid-voice or Quasi-Passive voice. Such sentences seem in active
voice but their meaning is in passive voice. These sentences have verbs which are
intransitive (without a direct object).

For example: Honey tastes sweet.

Passive form: Honey is sweet when it is tasted.

In the given sentence, the verb ‘tastes’ is intransitive (without any object) and sweet is the
adverb. So, we use "it" to refer to the subject on which the action is being taken. In such
sentences, we do not use the connector "by". We use "when".

Di-transitive verbs

There are some verbs which can take two objects, for example-

He gave me some money.

You presented her a ring.

There are two objects in these sentences.

Gave me some money

Presented her a ring

The verbs which takes single object are called mono-transitive verbs. For example-

They betrayed you.

The verbs which takes two objects are called Di-transitive verb. The sentences which have
Di-transitive verbs can be made using any of the two objects.

“Give” is a di-transitive verb, so the the question sentence can be made in two ways:

Active: Mohan gave the beggar an old shirt.

Passive: 1. An old shirt was given to the beggar by Mohan.

2. The beggar was given an old shirt by Mohan.

‘to be’ sentences

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In the sentences in which the subject does not work but is worked upon by someone, the
passive voice is made following the structures given below:

Active: Subject + Is/Are/Am/Was/Were/Has/Have/Had + To + Verb (Ist form) + Object..

Passive: Object + Is/Are/Am/Was/Were/Has/Have/Had + To + Be + Verb (3rd form) + By

+ Subject…

‘verb + preposition + object’ structure

There are some verbs which are followed by a particular preposition and take an object with
them.

Active: Subject + verb + preposition + object...

While converting such sentences into passive voices, the verb is always followed by the
particular preposition.

Passive: Object + to be + verb (IIIrd form) + preposition + by + subject...

Example:

Active: The police enquired into the case.

Passive: The case was enquired into.

Active: The children laughed at him.

Passive: He was laughed at by the children.

The verb in this sentence is a prepositional verb since it carries preposition with it. While
changing the voice of the sentence, we do not drop the preposition (it remains unchanged).

let/request/order sentences

The imperative sentences which suggest order, suggestion or request can be made in two
ways:

Active: Verb + object

Passive: 1. Let + object + be + past participle

2. You are requested/ordered/suggested + to + verb (Ist form) + object

modal verbs tense

Active: Subject + modal verb + verb (Ist form) + object...

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Passive: Object + modal verb + be + verb (IIIrd form) + by + subject...

When ‘modal’ is used in Interrogative structures

Active: Modal verb + subject + verb (Ist form) + object...

Passive: Modal verb + object+ be + verb (IIIrd form) + by + subject...

Present interrogative

1. Active: Do/does + subject + verb (Ist form) + object ....?

Passive: Is/are/am + object + verb (IIIrd form) + by + subject ....?

2. Active: Wh-question word + do/does + subject + verb (Ist form) + object…?

Passive: Wh-question word + Is/are/am + object + verb (IIIrd from) + by + subject…?

Present continuous interrogative

Active: Is/are/am + subject + verb (ing) + object…?

Passive: Is/are/am + object + being + verb (IIIrd from) + by + subject…?

Past interrogative

Active: Did + Subject + verb (Ist form) + object...

Passive: Was/Were + Object + verb (IIIrd form) + by + subject...

Who (present) sentences

Active: Who + verb (s or es) + object...?

Passive: By whom + is/are/am + object + verb (IIIrd form)?

Who (past) sentences

Active: Who + verb (IInd form) + object...?

Passive: By whom + was/were + object + verb (IIIrd form)?

11. Direct/Indirect Speech

1. General Rules (changes as per the tense)

The rules for changing the direct speech into indirect speech are given below:

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• The inverted commas (“___”) used in Direct Narration is removed in Indirect Narration
and ‘that’ conjunction is used.
• If the reporting verb is in present or future tense, no changes are made to the
verb/tense of the reported speech.
• If the reporting verb is in past tense, we make changes to the reported verb as per
the below rule:
• Simple present changes to simple past.
• Present continuous changes to past continuous.
• Present perfect changes to past perfect.
• Present Perfect continuous changes to past perfect continuous.
• Simple past changes to past perfect.
• Past continuous changes to past perfect continuous.
• Can, shall, will, may, must change to could, should, would and might respectively.
• If there is any universal truth or habitual fact in the reporting speech, no changes are
made to the reported verb’s tense.

The rules for changing the pronouns are:

• First person pronoun changes according to the subject of reporting speech.

• Second person pronoun changes according to the object of reporting speech.
• Third person pronoun does not change in indirect speech.

Note:

Words like this, these, tomorrow, yesterday change to that, those, the next day, the
previous day respectively.

2. Kinds of sentences and their conversion

Imperative sentences:

In such sentences, order, request, advise or negative command is given. In negative

command, the reported speech starts with Do not or Don't.

• Say/said to changes to
order/ordered/request/requested/advise/advised/ask/asked/tell/told.
• Inverted commas (" ") is removed and to is used before the main verb.
• The pronoun of the reported speech changes accordingly.
• The words like kindly, please are removed.
• For negative command, inverted commas are removed and not + to + verb (first form) is
used. For example, do not go changes to not to go.
• In negative commands, forbid/forbade + object + to + verb (first form) is also used.

Optative sentences:

• Said changes to prayed/wished/bade/cursed as per the sense of the sentence.

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• Inverted commas (" ") are removed and that is used instead.
• Reported speech (which has the verb and subject) is now written in the form of (subject
+ verb); reported speech is made assertive.
• If may is hidden, one can use may/might accordingly and the first form of verb is used
with it.
• Sign of exclamation (!) if given is removed and full stop is used.

Exclamatory sentences:

• Said is changes to exclaimed/exclaimed with joy/exclaimed with sorrow/ exclaimed with

grief/ confessed with regret/ shouted with applause/ cried out/ eagerly wished.
• If the reporting verb is in present or future tense, no changes are made to the
verb/tense of the reported speech. In such cases, says to changes to tells/comments.
• Inverted commas (" ") are removed and that is used instead.
• The verb and tense of the reported speech changes accordingly.
• Sign of exclamation (!) if given is removed and full stop is used.

Interrogative sentences:

• Said/say is changed to ask/asked/wonder/wondered/enquire of/enquired of.

• Inverted commas (" ") are removed.
• If the reported speech is in YES/NO question form then if/whether is used before
reported speech.
• If the reported speech is in the form of WH-Question
(who/what/why/how/where/when/which etc), no conjunction is used before the question
word. The question word itself works as a conjunction.
• Reported verb is made assertive; i.e. it is kept in the order of subject + verb.
The sign of interrogation (?) is removed and full stop is used.

Rules for sentences that start with Let

The word “let” is used to suggest, to propose or to allow something. Below are the rules for
changing such sentences in indirect speech:

• Say/said to changes to propose/proposed; suggest/suggested etc as per the sense of

the sentence.

• If the reporting verb has an object, then it is used with “to” after proposed/suggested.

• The inverted commas (“ “) used in is removed and “that” conjunction is used.

• “Should + verb (Ist form)” is used after subject of the reported verb.

• In some sentence, “let” is replaced by “might be allowed” in indirect speech.

12. TENSES

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PRESENT TENSE

Tense Structure Example Comments Usage

Simple Subject + Samar 2. For positive 1. When the

Present auxiliary drives a sentences, action is
Tense verb (do) + taxi. the auxiliary general
main verb I live in verb is not 2. When the
(base) New usually action is
Delhi. used. habitual
Do you 3. For to be, 3. Facts or
like auxiliary universal
coffee? verb is not truth
used - even
for questions
and
negatives.
4. For the 3rd
person
singular, -s
is added to
the
auxiliary or
-es to the
main verb.

Present Subject + Sarah is 1. For actions

Continuous auxiliary reading a happening now
Tense verb (be) + book. Eg: I am
main verb They are looking at the
(base+ing) not screen.
playing 2. For actions
cricket. happening
around now
Eg: I am living
with my
relatives until I
get placed.
3. For actions
in the future
Eg: We are
going clubbing
tonight.

Present Subject + Sara has The subject The three basic

Perfect auxiliary not been and the contexts in

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Tense verb (have) to auxiliary which the

+ main verb London. verb are tense is used
(past They usually are:
participle) have contracted. 1. experience
finished 2. change
their 3. continuing
work. situation

Present Subject + She has The subject

Perfect auxiliary been and the first
Continuous verb talking auxiliary are
(have/has) too much. usually
+ auxiliary They contracted.
verb (been) have not (I have been
+ main verb been = I’ve been)
(base+ing) doing
their work
correctly.

PAST TENSE
Tense Structure Example Comments Usage
Simple Past a) Past form only I lived in 1. When the
Tense b) Auxiliary did + Delhi when I event is in
base form was young. the past
2. When the
Positive Sentence I didn’t like event is
Subject + main the movie. completely
verb (past) over
Did you
Negative Sentence attend the
Subject + auxiliary conference
verb (did) + not + last week?
main verb (base)

Question Sentence
Auxiliary verb (did)
+ subject + main
verb (base)

Past Subject + auxiliary I was For negative When the

Continuous verb Be playing sentences, action is
Tense (conjugated in badminton. insert NOT expressed
simple past He was not between the at a
tense/was,were) + joking. auxiliary particular

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main verb (present verb and moment in

participle/base+ing) main verb. the past.
For question
sentences, Important:
exchange Past
the subject continuous
and the tense +
auxiliary Simple
verb. past tense

Past
Continuous
Tense –
long action
Simple Past
Tense –
short action

These
actions can
be joined
using
when/while.

While Saran
was parking
the van, it
exploded.

When the
van
exploded,
Saran was
walking past
it.
Past Perfect Subject + auxiliary Ram had The subject For
Continuous verb (have) + been and the first expressing
Tense auxiliary verb (be) working. auxiliary are longer
+ main verb We had not often actions in
been contracted. the past
working (I had been before other
well. – I’d been) action (in
Had they the past)
been
drinking? Saran had
been sitting
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there for
two hours
when I
arrived.

FUTURE TENSE
Tense Structure Example Comments Usage
Simple Subject + I will do it. The subject 1. When
Future Tense auxiliary I will not be and the there is no
verb (will) + able to do it. auxiliary firm plan
main verb Will I be able verb are before
(base V1) to do it? often speaking.
contracted.
(I will - I’ll) We’ll see
(I will not – what can be
I won’t) done.

2. Prediction

Who do you
think will
get
selected?

3. Be
When the
main verb is
be.

Saran will be
in New York
tomorrow.

Future Subject + I will be Sometimes To express

Continuous auxiliary working till shall is used action at a
Tense verb (will) + 10pm. instead of particular
auxiliary Saran will will, moment in
verb (be) + not be especially for future.
main verb having I and we.
(base + ing) dinner at
home.
Future Subject + Saran will Sometimes To express
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Perfect auxiliary have it done shall is used action in the

Tense verb (will) + by instead of future before
auxiliary tomorrow. will, another
verb (have) especially for action in the
+ main verb I and we. future
(past
participle,
V3)
Future Subject + You will To talk
Perfect auxiliary have been about a long
Continuous verb (will) + working for action before
Tense auxiliary four hours. some point
verb (have) in the future
+ auxiliary
verb (be) +
main verb

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