Some Important Facts on Narration

1. Look at the following sentence.

Raju said, "I am happy."
The first part of the sentence - 'Raju said' is called Reporting speech / Reporting clause / Reporting
verb, etc.
The second part of the sentence - 'I am happy' is called Reported speech / Reported clause /
Reported statement, etc.
The principal said, "The school shall remain closed for a month." (Reported speech at the beginning
of the sentence.)
(ii) "Let's go for long drive", he said to his friends. (Reported speech at the end of the sentence.)
(iii) "Shakespeare", said the teacher, "was a world-famous dramatist". (Reported speech in the
middle of the sentence.)

Classification of Prepositions
1. Preposition of Direction
Such as - to, towards, for, along, against, across, up, down, into, etc.
2. Prepositions of Place / Position
Such as - at, in, on, above, below, over, under, between, among, amongst, amid, amidst, before,
behind, etc.
3. Prepositions of Time
Such as - at, on, for, since, before, after, within, in till, by, during, from, etc.

The Present Tense

Present Indefinite Tense (Simple Present)
Construction:
(i) Subject + V1 (Base form of the Verb) +Object
(ii) Subject + is / are / am + complement
Usage:
1. To express any permanent state or work at present.
2. To express any present habit.
3. To express any definite future course of action.

Present Imperfect/Continuous Tense

Construction: Subject + is / are / am + (Verb + ing) + Object
Usage:
1. To express any course of action that is ongoing.
2. To express any course of action that is going on presently, but not necessary that the action is
ongoing at this moment.
3. To express any definite programme about to occur in the near future.

Present Perfect Tense

Construction: Subject + have / has + V3(Past Participle) + Object
Usage:
1. To express any course of action that has completed just now.
2. To express any course of action that has taken place before, but its importance still exists.
3. To express a course of action that has begun in the past, but is still ongoing.

Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Construction: Subject+ have/has + been + (Verb + ing) + Object (for/since+ time)
1. To express a course of action that has begun in the past and is yet to get completed.
2. To express a course of action that was ongoing till a few moments ago, but its effect is still
prevailing.

The Past Tense

Past Indefinite Tense (Simple Past)
Construction:
(i) Subject + V2 (Past form of the verb) + Object
(ii) Subject + was / were + complement
Usage:
1. To express a course of action that has happened in the past.
2. To express the nature of the past.
3. To express the unfulfilled wish / condition / desire, etc. in the present, / wish / If/As if/ As though /
It is time / It is high time, etc. is used.

Past Imperfect/ Continuous Tense

Construction: Subject + was / were + (Verb + ing) + Object
Usage:
1. To express an action that was going on in the past.
2. To express two actions occurred at the same time in the past.
3. To express any gradual development of something or any incident that makes laugh, occurred in
the past.
4. To express the nature of a person in. the past, which caused others to feel rude, harsh, etc.
 Past Perfect Tense
Construction: Subject + had + V3 (Past participle of the verb) + Object
Usage:
1. When two incidents are stated that took place in the past, past perfect tense is used to express
the first incident and past indefinite tense for the second incident.
2. To express any unfulfilled wish / condition / desire, etc. of the past, past perfect tense is used with
/ wish / If/As if / As though, etc.
3. If the reporting verb in direct narration is in past tense and the reported speech is in present
perfect or past indefinite tense, then in indirect narration, past perfect tense is used in the reported
speech.

Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Construction: Subject + had + been + (Verb + ing) + Object + for / since + Time.
Usage: To express an action that began in the past and continued for some time.

The Future Tense

Future Indefinite Tense
Construction: Subject + shall / will + V1 + Object
Usage:
To express an action that will happen in future.

Future Imperfect/Continuous Tense

Construction: Subject + shall / will + have + (Verb + ing) + Object
Usage:
To express a course of action that is going on at some future time.

Future Perfect Tense

Construction: Subject + shall / will + have + V3 + Object
Usage:
To express an action that will be completed at some point of time in the future.
Note: The Future Perfect Continuous Tense is no longer in practical use, so it has been not been
discussed here.
Verb

Introduction: A Verb is a word which affirms or predicts something of some person or thing, or a
part of speech expressing being, action or the suffering of action.
Verbs are divided into two main classes
(i) Main (Principal)
(ii) Auxiliary
(i) When a verb is used independently, it is called a Main (Principal) Verb.
Principal Verbs (or Main Verbs)
Principal Verbs are divided into two classes: Transitive Verbs and Intransitive Verbs.
(A) Transitive Verbs are those verbs that require an object to make the sense clear.
Eg:
He did this.
I love her.
Note that, some transitive verbs like: Tell, teach, ask, show, give, send, etc. take two objects,
Direct and Indirect.

Eg:
He gave me a book. (Indirect Object Direct Object)
I told him this. (Indirect Object Direct Object)
(B) Intransitive Verbs are those that do not require any object to make the sense clear.
He sleeps.
I run.
Birds fly.
Remember that, 'born' is only used in Passive Voice, like - He was born in 1982.
(ii) Find Found Found
(iv) Hang Hung Hung
(vi) Lie Lay Lain
(viii) Lie Lied Lied
(ix) Rise Rose Risen
Auxiliary Verbs
There are some Primary Auxiliaries:
(i) To be - is / are / am / was / were (be, being, been)
(ii) Have - have / has / had (having)
(iii) Do - do / does / did (doing, done)
Modal Verbs
Like: can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must, need, dare, used (to), out (to), etc.

Subject - Verb Agreement

Introduction: Subject-Verb agreement is one of the most important topics in Grammar. It can be
called the structure or the skeleton. For correct and confident English, you have to have a good
understanding of this agreement. Subject: Verb agreement is based on two basic rules.
Rule - 1

SUBJECT is SINGULAR ____________ VERB is SINGULAR

Eg:

i) She tells stories. (Sing. Sub. Sing. Verb)

ii) Poonam sings well. (Sing. Sub. Sing. Verb)
Exception:
(i) With I, excluding am and was, there is always a Plural subject.
(ii) You always takes a Plural subject.
Rule - 2
SUBJECT is PLURAL __________VERB is PLURAL
i) They are playing a game, (Plural Sub. Plural Verb)
ii) We are planning to get our daughter married. (Plural Sub. Plural Verb)
In general, the number and person of any Finite Verb are corresponding to the number and person
of the subject.
(i) They dance. (Plural Sub. Finite verb)
(ii) She goes. (Plural Sub. Finite verb)
Here in (i), dance is a Finite verb, where 'They' is a plural subject in the plural form.
But in (ii), goes is a Finite verb, where it is with the singular subject 'She' and in singular form.
A. Subject-Verb Agreement
1. Two or more Singular Subjects connected by and usually take a Verb in the Plural.
Ram and Sham is here. (Incorrect)
Ram and Sham are here. (Correct)
2. If two singular Nouns refer to the same person or thing, the Verb must be Singular.

The Secretary and Principal are coming. (Incorrect)

The Secretary and Principal is coming. (Correct)
3. If the Singular Subjects are preceded by each or every, the Verb is usually Singular.

Every boy and girl were ready. (Incorrect)

Every boy and girl was ready. (Correct)
4. Two or more Singular Subjects connected by or, nor, either....or, neither...nor take a Verb
in the Singular.

Neither he not I were there. (Incorrect)

Neither he nor I was there. (Correct)
5. When the Subjects joined by or/nor are of different numbers, the Verb must be Plural, and
the Plural Subject must be placed next to the Verb.

Neither the Assistant Masters nor the Headmaster was present. (Incorrect)
Neither the Headmaster nor the Assistant Masters were present. (Correct)
6. When the Subject joined by or/nor are of different persons, the Verb agrees in person with
the one nearest to it.

Either he or I is mistaken. (Incorrect)

Either he or I am mistaken. (Correct)
7. Some Nouns which are singular in form but plural in meaning, take a Plural Verb.
Mathematics are a branch of study in every school. (Incorrect)
Mathematics is a branch of study in every school. (Correct)
Uses of Participles and Infinitives

Ask, advise, allow, command, force, forbid, invite, encourage, compel, beg, order, imagine, instruct,
permit, persuade, tell, require, remind, tech, etc. are followed by Object + To
He advised to do it by me. (Incorrect)
He advised me to do it. (Correct)
If a certain condition is true, then a particular result happens.
There are four basic conditionals that we use in English.
(i) Zero Conditional
(ii) First Conditional
(iii) Second Conditional
(iv) Third Conditional

Zero Conditional: Certainty

The Zero Conditional is used for things that are always true as long as the condition is met.
Formation: if+ present simple + present simple

First Conditional
A First Conditional sentence is for future actions dependent on the result of another future action or
event, where there is a reasonable possibility of the conditions for the action being satisfied.
Formation: if + present simple + will

Second Conditional: Imaginary Present or Unlikely Future

The Second Conditional can be used to talk about imaginary present situations, where we are
imagining something different from what is really the case. We can also use it to talk about things in
the future that are unlikely to happen, as the condition is unlikely to be met. We use the past tense in
the condition part and would for the result.
Formation: if + past simple, + would + base form

Third Conditional: Imaginary Past

The Third Conditional is used when we are talking about the past and imagining something different
from what actually happened, that means for imaginary past actions, where the conditions for the
action were not satisfied.
Formation: If + past perfect, + would have + past participle