1.1 Spotting Errors | unit 1 communicative grammar

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Unit- 1

Communicative Grammar

1.1 Spotting Errors

1.1.1 Tenses

Simple Present Tense

Simple Present Tense sentences include happening of work in present time.
Subject + 1 st form of Verb

1. Subject (Singular form /third person) + 1st Form of Verb + s/es

Noun Subject is also a third person.

2. Subject(Plural ) + 1st Form of Verb

3. For I and You , we will not use 's' and 'es' with Verb.

Example :I study on daily basis.

Present continuous tense

Expresses an action continued at present time.
1. Subject (Singular /third person/He,She,It) + is + (1st Form of Verb + ing) +

Object

2. Subject (Plural /You,We,They) + are + (1st Form of Verb + ing) + Object

3. I + am + (1st Form of Verb + ing)

Example:I am reading a novel.

Ram is going office.

We are getting late.

Present perfect tense

An action which happened or completed in the present time
1. Subject (Singular /third person/He,She,It) + has + 3rd Form of Verb + Object
2. Subject (Plural /I,You,We,They) + have + 1st Form of Verb + Object

Example: Divya has gone to school.

He has filled a case.

Ram is going office.

We are getting late.

Past Tense

Simple Past Tense

Subject (Singular/third person/Plural ) + 2nd Form of Verb

Different number of subject can not change verb.

Example:I worked on the project last night.

Past continuous tense

1. Subject (Singular /third person/He,She,It) + was + (1st Form of Verb + ing) + Object
2. Subject (Plural /You,We,They) + were + (1st Form of Verb + ing) + Object

Example :
I was reading harry potter last night

Past perfect tense

An action which happened or completed in the past time or usually the two actions which happened or completed one by one in the past time.
1. Subject (Singular /third person/Plural ) + had + 3rd Form of Verb + Object

Example:Ramya went to school after she had completed her homework.
I had already heard this news.

Future Tense

Simple future tense

Subject (Singular/third person/Plural) + will + 1st Form of Verb

I or We + shall + 1st Form of Verb

Example:
We shall go to school tomorrow.

You will read a book.

Future continuous tense

I, We + Shall be + (1st Form of Verb + ing) + Object

Subject(Other than I, We) + will be + (1st Form of Verb + ing) + Object

Example:

We shall be coming to your house.

We will be playing football in evening.

Future perfect tense

Subject + will have/shall have + 3rd Form of Verb + Object

3. Wherever you'll see the use of the two sentences in this tense, the action which would be completed first would be in 'Future Perfect Tense' and the action after would be in 'Present Simple Tense'.

Example:

They will have played the match before the sun sets.

I shall have read my book before you come.

Rule 1:

In Present Indefinite sentences the number and the person of the subject play very important role. If the subject is Singular number third person, affix ‘s’ or ‘es’ to the verb. If the verb ends in any of the following : ss, o , x, z, sh,ch , add, ‘es’ instead of ‘s’ with the verb.

Eg: Pass-passes, miss-misses, do – does, mix – mixes, fix – fixes etc.

Rule 2.

When the main verb is in Future Tense, use Present Simple in clauses with if, till, as soon as, when, unless, before, until, even if, in case and as.

Eg:

We shall wait till she arrives.

I shall not go there even if it rains.

Rule 3.

Present Simple Tense must be used instead of Present Continuous Tense with verbs of perception (feel, hear, smell etc.), verbs of cognition (believe, know, think etc.), verbs of emotion (hope, love, hate etc.) which cannot be used normally in continuous form.
Eg:

Incorrect – We are seeing with our eyes. Correct – We see with our eyes.

Incorrect – The water is feeling cold. Correct – The water feels cold.

But these words can be used in progressive form in the following cases.

The Session Judge is hearing our case.

We are thinking of going to London next year.

I am seeing my lawyer today.

I am having some difficulties with this puzzle.

Rule 4.

One must not use adverbs of past time like yesterday, last year, last month, ago, short while ago etc. with Present Perfect Tense.

Eg:

Incorrect – He has completed his book yesterday. Correct – He completed his book yesterday.

Incorrect – We have met 3 days ago. Correct – We met 3 days ago.

Rule 5.

If two or more actions took place in sequence, we use Simple Past to denote the actions. (Otherwise Past Perfect is used to denote the earlier action). This is usually used with conjunction Before.

Eg:

He switched on the light before he opened the door.

The train started just before I reached the station.

When Rahul reached home, Tina had had her lunch.

Rule 6.

The use of Simple Past Tense with , ‘wish’ and ‘If only’ shows unreal Past and present state of things.

Eg:

I wish I were a millionaire! (I am not a millionaire)

I wish I were a queen! (I am not a queen)

If I only knew her! (I don’t know her.)

Rule 7.

In the following structure the use of Simple Past denotes unreal past and present time situation.

Eg:

It is time we went home. (It is time for us to go home.)

It is time you finished. (It is time for you to finish.)

Rule 8.

Use of Past Continuous with ‘When’ and ‘While’

When is usually used when one action was completed and another action was going on.

When gives the meaning ‘at the time that’.

Eg:

When he arrived, his wife was washing her clothes.

When she went to Banaras, she bought a sari.

While is used to denote a period.

Eg:

While I was teaching, I put through my best.

While I was in Opera, I could enjoy very much.

Rule 9.

Past Perfect is used when we look back on earlier action from a certain point in the past.

Eg:

She had completed her work, before I reached there.

I had started teaching before Manu came to my class.

Rule 10.

The Past Perfect is also used for an action which began before the time of speaking in the Past and which stopped sometime before the time of speaking.

E.g.

He had served in a bank for twenty years; then he retired and established his business. His children were now well settled.

Rule 11.

Past Perfect Continuous is used when the action began before the time of speaking in the past, and continued up to that time.

Eg:

It is now eight and she was tired because she had been cleaning the house since dawn.

This city has been prosperous since a very long time.

Rule 12.

When two actions are to be taken place on some future time, we use Future Perfect for the action completed first and Present Simple for the action to be completed afterwards.
Eg:

The student will have left the class before the teacher comes.

The Principal will have started before I reach there.

Rule 13.

Future Perfect is also used for such incidents/actions about which we presume that another person had the knowledge of that incident or the action is already completed.

Eg:

You will have heard about Mother Teresa.

He will have read the newspaper so far.

1.1.2 What is a Conditional?

A conditional is a sentence or part of a sentence that expresses a condition. It usually begins with the words "when," "if" and "unless."

A condition is what must happen before something else can happen.
There are four basic conditionals in English, or in other words: there are four ways to express that something is dependent on something else.

There are mainly 4 types of conditional sentences and fifth one is a derived one.

Zero conditional sentences

It expresses general truths or situations in which one thing always causes another. When we use a zero conditional sentence, we are talking about a general truth rather than a specific instance of something. In such case we prefer to use simple present tense in both of the clauses.

How to identify Zero conditional sentences?

Statement shows general truths /scientific facts and the condition always has the same result.
Structure – Both clauses – simple present tense.

EXAMPLES:
If you go out in the rain, you will get wet.×

If you go out in the rain, you would get wet.×

If you go out in the rain, you get wet.✓

2. First conditional sentences

First conditional sentence starting with ‘if’ clause, is used to express situations in which the outcome is likely (but not guaranteed) to happen in the future.We use simple present tense in if clause and simple future tense in the main clause.

How to identify First conditional sentences?

Handy tip – Statement shows a possible situation in the future and it’s likely result in the future.

Structure – If clause – simple present

Main clause – simple future

1)
If I win the lottery , I would buy a new car.

If I win the lottery , I will buy a new car. ✓

2) If you study dedicatedly, you would pass the exam.

If you study dedicatedly, you will pass the exam. ✓

3. TYPE 2 CONDITIONAL

Type 2 conditional refers to a hypothetical situation and its probable result. In such case we use (would +verb) in the main clause and the past tense in the subordinate clause(hypothetical part).

How to identify TYPE 2 conditional sentences?

Handy tip – Statement shows a hypothetical /unlikely situation and it’s probable results. It’s not the actual situation.

Structure – subordinate clause(hypothetical part) – past tense

Main clause – would +verb

EXAMPLES
1) If I were a bird, I would fly in the sky. ✓

2) If I were you, I had bought that bungalow.

If I were you, I would buy that bungalow. ✓

4. Third conditional sentences

Third conditional sentences are used to explain that present circumstances would be different if something different had happened in the past.

We use (had +past participle) in if clause and (would+ have +past participle) in the main clause.

EXAMPLES
1) If you had studied harder, you would have passed the exam. ✓
2) If I had known you were sick, I would have visited you in the hospital. ✓
3) If she had not been ill, she would have gone to the party. ✓

For a hypothesis about present or future, we use would in the main clause and the past tense in a sub ordinate clause.

EXAMPLES
I would always help someone, If they really need it.×

I would always help someone, If they really needed it. ✓

1.1.3. Concord

In every language, sentences are spoken in a manner that make them meaningful speech. The shared ideas regarding a meaningful sentence are called Concord. The Concord or agreement are of three types: grammatical Concord, notional Concord, syntatic Concord.

a) Grammatical concord: The words or phrases of the sentence have same number, gender or person both in subject as well as in verb. This is called grammatical Concord or agreement. For example, in the sentence The students go to school, the plural form of verb “go” is in agreement/ in Concord with the plural subject ' the students'.

b) Notional Concord: Meaningful sentence is also built by guess, estimate or some cross reference that may or may not exist. For example the sentence: Slow and steady wins the race implies that there is only one person who both is ‘Slow & steady'. Therefore, it has a singular verb ‘ wins’, not Plural verb ‘win’. In real life there may not be a person who is both slow and steady, but slow and steady are considered very desirable qualities in a person for winning the race of life. That is why slow and steady…. has a singular verb.

1.1.4. Subject-Verb Agreement

Subjects and verbs must agree with one another in number (singular or plural). Thus, if a subject is singular, its verb must also be singular; if a subject is plural, its verb must also be plural.

The list of 10 suggestions for subject-verb agreement.

A subject made up of nouns joined by and takes a plural subject, unless that subject’s intended sense is singular.

She and I run every day.

Peanut butter and jelly is my favorite sandwich. (intended sense of singular)

When a subject is made up of nouns joined by or, the verb agrees with the last noun.

She or I run every day.

Potatoes, pasta, or rice goes well with grilled chicken. (last noun: rice)

Collective nouns (team, couple, staff, etc.) take a singular verb.

The football team is practicing night and day for the Super Bowl.
Boston’s school committee disagrees about what to cut from the school budget.

Connectives, phrases such as combined with, coupled with, accompanied by, added to, along with, together with, and as well as, do not change the number of the subject. These phrases are usually set off with commas.

Oil, as well as gas, is a popular heating choice.

Peanut butter combined with bread and jelly is a tasty snack.

(Here, the peanut butter, bread, and jelly are one unit, a sandwich, so no commas are needed and we keep the singular verb.)

Collecting noun phrases (a bunch of, a group of, a set of, etc.) take a singular verb.

A set of 12 dishes is all you need for the dinner party.

“Each” takes a singular verb.

Each boy is excited about the meet; each is well prepared.

“None” takes a singular verb if what it refers to is singular and a plural verb if its referent is plural.

None of the book is reproducible without permission.

None of the peas are left on Sean’s plate. (“peas” is the referent and is plural)

With fractions, the verb agrees with the whole.

One-fourth of the books are gone. (“books” is a plural noun)

One-fourth of the sand is white. (“sand” is a singular noun)

With money, if the amount is specific, use a singular verb; if the amount is vague, use a plural verb.

Within a year, $5 million was spent on building a new factory, and millions more were spent on training future factory workers. (“$5 million” is a specific amount. Therefore the verb is singular.)

Funds are allocated each year to help medical research. (“Funds” is a vague term rather than a specific amount. Therefore, the verb is plural.)

The phrase “more than one” takes a singular verb.

More than one box is sitting in the hallway.

More than one car was involved in the race.

1.2 VOICE

Active and Passive Voice

Meaning of voice

The voice of a verb tells whether the subject of the sentence performs or receives the action. Voices are of two types: active and passive.

Active Voice: In the active voice, the subject performs the action expressed by the verb.

Eg.- Ram sings a song.

Here ‘Ram” is the subject and the verb is ‘sing’ and ‘song’ is the object. Here the action of ‘singing’ is being done by the subject i.e. ‘Ram’.

Passive Voice: In passive voice subject receives the action expressed by the verb.

Eg.- A song is sung by Ram.

Here the ‘song’ is subject ‘sing’ is the verb and ‘Ram’ is the entity who did the action of singing and ‘song’ is the entity on whom action has been done.

General rules of conversion active voice to passive voice:

The subject in the active voice becomes the object in the passive voice and the object in the active voice becomes the subject in the passive voice.

Put ‘by’ in front of the subject in the passive voice.

Use 3rd form of verb + is/ am/ are/ was/ were/ been/ being according to the tense in passive voice.

The following pronouns are used in the passive voice as:

Active Voice	Passive Voice
I	Me
He	Him
You	You
We	Us
She	Her
They	Them
It	It
Who	Whom

There is no passive voice of present/ past/ future perfect continuous sentences and future continuous.

Generally, passive voice can be made of transitive verb i.e. verbs which have an object attached to them.

Sentences of an intransitive verb cannot be converted into passive voice.

They laughed- No passive

The laughed at- The teacher was laughed at by them.

In the first sentence, there is no object thus it cannot be converted into passive voice.

But in the second sentence ‘teacher’ is the object thus its passive voice is possible.

General rules of conversion from passive voice to active voice

The subject of passive voice becomes object in active voice and the object in passive voice becomes the subject in active voice.

Remove the preposition ‘by’.

Use 1st form of the verb.

Let us understand the conversion from active to passive voice with the verb ‘sing’ in the following forms of tense.

Tense . . Verb (Active) . Verb (Passive)

Simple present am/ is/ are sung

Simple past was/ were sung

Simple future shall/ will be sung

Present continuous is/ am/ are singing is/ am/ are being sung

Past Continuous was/ were singing was/ were being sung

Present Perfect has/ have sung has/ have been sung

Past Perfect had sung had been sung

Future Perfect will/ shall have sung will/shall have been sung

Rules for conversion of interrogative sentences in passive voice:

Interrogative sentence starting with:

(a)Is/ am/ are

Passive rule: Is/ am/ are + subject + 3rd form of verb + by + object ?

Eg.- Active: Is he writing a letter.

Passive: Is a letter being written by him.

(b)Does/ do

Passive rule: Is/ am/ are + subject + 3rd form of verb + by + object?

Eg.- Active: Does he need a pen.

Passive: Is a pen needed by him.

Passive Voice: was/ were + subject + 3rd form of verb + by + object?

Eg.- Active: Did Ram write a letter?

Passive: Was a letter written by him?

(d) was/were

Passive Rule: was/ were + subject + being + 3rd form of verb + by + object?

Eg.- Active: Was she cooking food?

Passive: Was food being cooked by her?

(e) Has/ have/ had

Passive Rule: Has/ have/ had + subject + been + 3rd form of verb + by + object?

Eg.- Active: Has she written a book?

Passive: Has a book been written by him?

(f) Modal auxiliary verb Eg.- may/ can etc.

Passive Rule: Modal Auxiliary + subject + be + 3rd form of verb + by + object?

Eg.- Active: Can she control the situation.

Passive: Can the situation be controlled by her?

(g) ‘Wh’ words eg. Why, when, where etc.

Passive Rule: The sentence will start by ‘wh’ word and then convert according to the above rules.

Eg.-

 Active: Who broke this beautiful glass?

 Passive: By whom was this beautiful glass broken?

Imperative sentences are those sentence which empress order, request advice or suggestion.

(a) Order

Passive Rule: let+ subject+ be+ 3rd form of verb

Eg.- Active: shut the window.

Passive: Let the window be shut.

(b) Request

Passive Rule: You are requested + to + 1st form of verb + object.

Eg.- Active: Please open the door.

Passive: You are requested to open the door.

Passive Rule: subject + should be + 3rd form of the verb

Eg.- Active: Always speak the truth.

Passive: The truth should always be spoken.

(d) Advice

Passive Rule: You are advised + to + object

E.g.-Active: Work hard.

Passive: You are advised to work hard.

The sentences which express the state of mind or feelings we don’t use by in them.

Sentences starting with ‘there’

Passive Rule: there + be + 3rd form of verb + object

E.g.- Active: There is no milk to waste.

Passive: There is no milk to be wasted.

2.2.1 Reported Speech.

In the English language, there are two ways of conveying what someone else has said:

direct speech and indirect speech.

Direct speech, involves quoting the exact words uttered by the person, within inverted commas or quotation marks. For example: She said, “I won’t be coming home tonight ” is an example of direct speech. Note that in this type of speech, a comma is most often used before starting the exact quote within the inverter commas.

Indirect speech, on the other hand, does not have to be within quotes or reported word-to-word. For example: She told us that she wouldn’t be coming home that night is an example of reported speech. Note that the verb tense necessarily changes in reported speech. This is because when we report speech, we are talking, obviously, about something that was said in the past. Hence, it becomes necessary to use the past tense of the verb.

Generally, the verb that comes before inverted commas is ' Reported verb'. The part within the inverted commas is called the ‘Reported Speech'.

Points to remember about Direct Speech.

1.Reported Speech is put with Inverted commas(“ “).

2.Commas is used after Reporting Verb & before Reported Speech.

3.First letter of Reported Speech must be capital.

Points to remember about Indirect Speech.

1.No inverted commas are used.

2.The Reported Speech is introduced by some Conjunctions, as – that, if , whether, what, why,etc.

3. The Reporting Verb changed according to b tense.

4. The tense of Reporting Verb is never changed.

5. The tense of Reported Speech changes according to the tense of the Reporting Verb.

6.Persons of the Reporting Speech are changed.

Direct Speech to Indirect Speech Conversion – Change of Time

In direct speeches, the words that express nearness in time or place are changed to words that express distance in indirect speech such as :

Now becomes then

Here becomes there

Ago becomes before

Thus becomes so

Today becomes that day

Tomorrow becomes the next day

This becomes that

Yesterday becomes the day before

These become those

Hither becomes thither

Come becomes go

Hence becomes thence

Next week or month becomes following week/month.

Direct Speech to Indirect Speech Conversion – Pronoun

The first person in direct speech changes as per the subject of the speech.

Direct speech to indirect speech examples-

Direct: He said, “I am in class Twelfth.”

Indirect: He says that he was in class Twelfth.

The second person of direct speech changes as per the object of reporting speech.

Direct speech to indirect speech examples –

Direct: She says to them, “You have done your work.”

Indirect: She tells them that they have done their work.

The third person of direct speech doesn’t change.

Direct speech to indirect speech examples –

Direct: He says, “She dances well.”

Indirect: He says that she dances well.

Direct To Indirect Speech Conversion – Reporting Verb

When the reporting verb of direct speech is in past tense then all the present tenses are changed to the corresponding past tense in indirect speech.