Unit - 1

Basics of Applied Grammar and Usage

1.1 Tenses

The concept of time can be split into:

The Present - What you are currently doing.

      I eat, I am eating

The Past - What you did some time back.

      I ate, I was eating

The Future - What you will do later.

      I will eat, I will be eating

In the English language, tenses play an important role in sentence formation. The tense of a verb shows the time of an event or action.

There are four types of tenses. Simple, Perfect, Continuous and Present Perfect Continuous and each of these has a present, past and future form.

Present Tense

Present Tense can be defined as an expression for an activity that is currently in action or is habitually performed. It is used for a state that generally exists or is currently ongoing.

Simple Present

In Simple Present, the action is simply mentioned and there is nothing being said about its completeness.

PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE

In Present Continuous, the action is on-going/ still going on and hence continuous.

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

In Present Perfect, the action is complete or has ended and hence termed Perfect.

PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

In Present Perfect Continuous, the action has been taking place for some time and is still ongoing.

Past Tense

Any event or action that took place in the past can be referred to as the past tense. Below we have discussed in detail the four sub parts of past tense in English grammar. 

SIMPLE PAST TENSE

In Simple Past, the action is simply mentioned and understood to have taken place in the past.

PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE

In Past Continuous, the action was ongoing till a certain time in the past.

PAST PERFECT TENSE

Past Perfect is used to express something that happened before another action in the past.

PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

Past Perfect Continuous is used to express something that started in the past and continued until another time in the past.

Future Tense

The actions that are to take place in the future fall in the category of the future tense. 

SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE

Simple Future is used when we plan or make a decision to do something. Nothing is said about the time in the future.

FUTURE CONTINUOUS TENSE

The future continuous tense is used to express action at a particular moment in the future. However, the action will not have finished at the moment.

FUTURE PERFECT TENSE

Future Perfect expresses action that will occur in the future before another action in the future.

FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

Future Perfect Continuous is used to talk about an on-going action before some point in the future.

1.1.1 Parts of Speech

The content bearing words in a sentence are often divided into different kinds or classes on the basis of their functions. These parts are termed as Parts of Speech. The Parts of Speech are right in number as given below:

1. Noun- A Noun names a person, place, animal or thing. It is known as naming word. Things which exist as idea are also nouns. Example

Columbus discovered America.

Ganga is the sacred river of India.

Honesty is the best policy.

New Delhi is the capital of India.

Gold is a precious metal.

2. Pronoun- A word which stands for a noun is called Pronoun. Thus, pronoun stands for a noun. Example.

3. Adjective- An adjective is a word that describes a noun/ pronoun. In other words, an adjective is a modifier which tells something about a noun/ a pronoun. Example.

4. Verb- A verb describes an action. Usually, a word / phrase that denotes what somebody/ something does, what state somebody/ something is in or what is becoming of something/ somebody is termed as verb. In short, a verb is used to say something about some person, place/ thing. Example

5. Adverb- Words that modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs is called Adverbs. Example:

6. Preposition- The word ‘preposition’ is made up of 'pre' & ‘position' which means that ' ‘which comes before.’ A preposition is a word which is used before a noun/ pronoun to show its relation to another word in a sentence. Example.

7. Conjunction- Conjunctions are words that link or join two or more words or a group of words/ sentences. They are also called joining words. Example-

8. Interjection- An interjection is a word which expresses some sudden feeling like joy, surprised, grief or applause. Example.

1.2 Active and Passive 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.

E.g.- 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.

E.g.- 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:

      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?

E.g.- Active: Is he writing a letter.

Passive: Is a letter being written by him.

Does/ do

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

E.g.- Active: Does he need a pen.

Passive: Is a pen needed by him.

(c) Did

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

E.g.- Active: Did Ram write a letter?

Passive: Was a letter written by him?

was/were

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

E.g.- 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?

E.g.- Active: Has she written a book?

Passive: Has a book been written by him?

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

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

E.g.- Active: Can she control the situation.

Passive: Can the situation be controlled by her?

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

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

E.g.- Active: Who broke this beautiful glass?

Passive: By whom was this beautiful glass broken?

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

(a) Order

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

E.g.- Active: shut the window.

Passive: Let the window be shut.

(b) Request

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

E.g.- Active: Please open the door.

Passive: You are requested to open the door.

(c) Suggestion

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

E.g.- 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.

1.3 Articles

Articles: -

What is an article?

An article is a word that modifies or describes the Noun. It is used before the noun to show whether it refers to something specific or not. So, in a way, articles can also be described as a type of adjectives as they also tell us something about the nouns, like adjectives.

Types of Articles

There are two types of Articles in the English language. They are as follows:

Definite article:

Definite means to be clear, exact or obvious about something. It is called definite because it is used in relation to a particular thing or person. “The” is the definite article in English, which is used to refer to particular nouns, the identities of which are known. The definite article indicates that the noun is specific. The speaker talks about a particular thing. For example:

Notice how the reference is not left indefinite in both the sentences. It is clear that a particular cat sat on the couch in the first sentence and a specific dog that attacked the speaker is being spoken about in the second example.

Indefinite articles:

Indefinite means something which is not clear, obvious or exact. They are called indefinite because the identity of the thing or person being spoken about is left unclear or indefinite. The indefinite article indicates that the noun is not someone or something in particular. The speaker talks about any one of that type of things. The indefinite articles in English are "a" and "an." For example:

Notice how the speaker is not asking for a particular pencil or apple, but any pencil or apple in the above sentences.

Difference between “A” and “An”

Indefinite articles ‘a/an’ are used as follows:

‘A’ is used before a word beginning with a consonant sound. Consonant letters in the English alphabet are B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, W, X, Y, Z.

For example: A boy, a cat, a dog, a fight, a gym, a horse, a joke, a kite, a lion, a mirror, a noise, a pin, a quilt, etc.

‘An’ is used before a word beginning with a vowel sound. Vowel letters in the English alphabet are A, E, I, O, U.

For example: An apple, an elephant, an idiot, an orange, an umbrella, etc.

Note here that the usage is on the basis of sound and not only the letter the word starts with.

For example:

“An hour”

“An honest man”

“A one eyed dog”

Do these seem wrong to you?

They’re not and the reason is that the ‘usage is on the basis of sound’. The words 'hour' and 'honest' both begin with a vowel sound, as the consonant 'h' is not pronounced. Similarly, the word 'one' begins with the consonant sound of 'w' and hence is written as 'a one eyed dog', not 'an one eyed dog'.

Also, remember that we use "a" and "an" only before a singular noun. We can't use "a" and "an" before a plural noun. For example:

Tips to remember the differences in a nutshell

* a + singular noun beginning with a consonant: a bag; a pen, etc.

* an + singular noun beginning with a vowel: an egg; an orphan, etc.

* a + singular noun beginning with a consonant sound: user (sounds like 'yoo-zer,' i.e., gives a 'y' sound, so 'a' is used); a university; a European, etc.

* an + nouns starting with silent "h":an hour; an honest man, etc.

NOTE: These rules also apply in Acronyms. For example:

The rule also applies when acronyms start with consonant letters but have vowel sounds. For example:

When/If the noun is modified by an adjective, the choice between a and an depends on the initial sound of the adjective that immediately follows the article.

For example:

A/An is used to indicate membership in a group. For example:

Difference between “A” and “The”

"The", as mentioned earlier, is used to give information about particular or known nouns. These are usually things that have been mentioned before or that the listener is familiar with.

On the other hand, "A" or "an" is used to talk about things which are not particular. Usually, these are things that haven't been mentioned before or that the listener is unfamiliar with. For example, study these sentences:

It is clear that in the first sentence, the speaker did not go to see a particular tattoo artist. He/she went to see any tattoo artist and was speaking to a friend about the same. The tattoo artist in this case has either not been mentioned before or is not that important, and therefore their identity is unknown.

Whereas in the second sentence, the speaker refers to the tattoo artist that had already been mentioned before. The identity is already known, therefore, “the” has been used to refer the tattoo artist.

Usage of ‘the’

Let’s study the different cases where ‘the’ can or cannot be used.

Count and Uncountable Nouns

The can either be used with uncountable nouns or the article can be omitted entirely. For example:

‘A’/’An’ can be used only with single count nouns.

Use of ‘the’ in case of geography

There are some specific rules for using ‘the’ with geographical nouns.

Do not use ‘the’ before:

*names of most countries/territories: India, Brazil, Canada; however, the Netherlands, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, the United States

* names of cities, towns, or states: Toronto, Delhi, Sao Paolo

* names of streets: Callowhill Drive, Park Avenue

* names of lakes and bays: Lake Michigan, Lake Ontario; except while referring to a group of lakes - the Great Lakes

* names of mountains: Mount Everest, Mount Fuji except with ranges of mountains like the Andes or the Rockies or unusual names like the Matterhorn

* names of continents: Asia, Europe

* names of islands (Easter Island, Maui, Key West) except with island chains like the Andaman Islands, the Canary Islands

Use ‘the’ before:

* names of rivers, oceans and seas: the Ganga, the India Ocean

* points on the globe: the Equator, the South Pole

* geographical areas: the South East, the Asia Pacific

* deserts, forests, gulfs, and peninsulas: the Kalahari, the Sunderbans

Where articles are not used?

The usage of articles is one of the most confusing things to remember for many English learners. It is not always necessary to use articles everywhere. Our tip is to remember the cases where articles should not be used.

Do not use articles:

* When you talk about things in general.

For example: I like birds.

Here, the speaker wants to imply that he/she likes any bird in general, and not a specific type of a bird.

* When talking about plural count nouns.

For example: Dogs make great pets.

Here, you are not talking about one specific dog or one specific pet; you are talking about all dogs in general.

* When talking about un-count able nouns.

For example: I love music.

Here, the speaker is saying that he enjoys music, in general – not any specific kind of music or song.

* When talking about specific days or holidays, geography, companies, languages.

For example: I have bought candles for Diwali.

Here, the speaker is talking about the candles he has bought to use on the day of Diwali.

* When talking about Geography.

Articles are not used before countries, states, cities, towns, continents, single lakes, single mountains, etc.

For example: I live in Canada.

Mt. Rosa is part of the Alps Mountain range.

Here, Mt. Rosa is one mountain, whereas The Alps refer to a group of mountains.

NOTE:

The United Arab Emirates, The Russian Federation", The People's Republic of China, The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, The Dominion of Canada, etc., all contain articles because of the usage of common nouns such as kingdom, republic, states, united, dominion, emirates, etc.

The Netherlands, the Philippines, The Bahamas, The Maldives, etc. have ‘the’ before them due to the plural nature of the names of the countries.

The Ukraine, the Sudan, etc. are exceptions to all of these rules. It is perhaps, due to common use, or at least previous common use. There have been historical uses of articles before names of countries that don't fit into either category.

* When you talk about companies.

For example: Steve Jobs founded Apple.

I use Facebook every day.

Here, the speaker is referring to companies like Apple and Facebook.

* When you talk about languages.

For example: I speak Hindi.

Here, the speaker is talking about the language Hindi.

* When you talk about places, locations, streets.

For example:

Here, a street called Callowhill Drive and speaker’s home are being talked about.

However, there are specific places that do need the use an article. For example:

the bank, the hospital, the post office, the airport, the train station, the bus stop, etc.

* When you talk about sports and physical activities.

For example: I love to play cricket.

She enjoys dancing.

Here, cricket and dancing are being talked about.

* When there is a noun + number

For example: She is staying at the Hilton hotel in room 127.

The train to Montreal leaves from platform 9.

Here, the nouns are followed by numbers; hence, no article is used.

* When talking about academic subjects.

For example: I hate attending Mathematics classes.

Here, the mathematic classes are being discussed.

1.3.1 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.

She and I run every day.
Peanut butter and jelly is my favorite sandwich. (Intended sense of singular)

She or I run every day.
Potatoes, pasta, or rice goes well with grilled chicken. (Last noun: rice)

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.

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.)

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

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

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) 

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

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.)

More than one box is sitting in the hallway.
More than one car was involved in the race.

1.4 Antonyms and Synonyms

Antonyms

Antonyms can be used to demonstrate contrast between two things or provide clues as to what is meant. Antonyms can be formed in the following ways:

Synonyms

Words with similar meaning are called Synonyms. Synonyms provide variety in our speech or writing. In addition, since there are endless arrays of synonyms, it is possible to avoid over-usage and repetition. There are some examples of synonyms:

      Amazing: astounding, surprising, stunning

      Fertile: fruitful, abundant, and productive

      Polite: courteous, cordial, and gracious

      Annihilation: destruction, carnage, extinction

      Gargantuan: colossal, mammoth, tremendous

      Portion: piece, part, segment

      Benefit: profit, revenue, yield

      Hungry: empty, ravenous, starved

      Risky: dangerous, perilous, and treacherous

      Brave: courageous, valiant, heroic

      Injured: damaged, wounded, harmed

      Sleepy: drowsy, listless, and sluggish

1.5 Prefix and Suffix

Prefixes and suffixes are also called Particles.

A prefix is a group of letters which we add to the beginning of a word to make a new word with a different meaning. Prefixes can, for example, create a new word opposite in meaning to the word the prefix is attached to.

What is A Suffix?

A suffix is a group of letters placed at the end of a word to make a new word. In this article, you will find a list of suffix with their meaning and examples in English.

1.5.1 Narration

The art of reporting the words of a speaker is termed as ‘Narration’.

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/reported 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.

There are some major rules to change these speeches from direct to indirect. We need to consider the tense, pronoun, words that describe time, place, distance, types of sentences, etc. let’s have a glance at the following rules:

Rule 1 – 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. 

Direct to indirect speech example: 

Direct: She said, ‘I am happy’.

Indirect: She said (that) she was happy.

In indirect speech, tenses do not change if the words used within the quotes (‘’) talk of a habitual action or universal truth.

Direct to indirect speech example:

Direct: He said, ‘We cannot live without air’.

Indirect: He said that we cannot live without air. 

The tenses of direct speech do not change if the reporting verb is in the future tense or present tense. 

Direct to indirect speech example:

Direct: She says/will say, ‘I am going’

Indirect: She says/will say she is going.

Rule 2 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech conversion – Present Tense 

Present Perfect Changes to Past Perfect.

Direct to indirect speech example:

Direct: “I have been to Boston”, she told me.

Indirect: She told me that she had been to Boston.

Present Continuous Changes to Past Continuous

Direct to indirect speech example:

Direct: “I am playing the guitar”, she explained.

Indirect: She explained that she was playing the guitar.

Present Perfect Changes to Past Perfect

Direct to indirect speech example:

Direct: He said, “She has finished her homework “.

Indirect: He said that she had finished her homework.

Simple Present Changes to Simple Past

Direct to indirect speech example:

Direct: “I am unwell”, she said.

Indirect: She said that she was unwell.

Rule 3 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech conversion – Past Tense & Future Tense

Simple Past Changes to Past Perfect

Direct to indirect speech example:

Direct: She said, “Irvin arrived on Sunday.”

Indirect: She said that Irvin had arrived on Sunday.

Past Continuous Changes to Past Perfect Continuous

Direct to indirect speech example

Direct: “We were playing basketball”, they told me.

Indirect: They told me that they had been playing basketball.

Future Changes to Present Conditional

Direct to indirect speech example

Direct: She said, “I will be in Scotland tomorrow.”

Indirect: She said that she would be in Scotland the next day.

Future Continuous Changes to Conditional Continuous

Direct to indirect speech example

Direct: He said, “I’ll be disposing of the old computer next Tuesday.”

Indirect: He said that he would be disposing of the old computer the following Tuesday.

Rule 4 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech Conversion – Interrogative Sentences

No conjunction is used, if a sentence in direct speech begins with a question (what/where/when) as the “question-word” itself acts as a joining clause.

Direct to indirect speech example

Direct: “Where do you live?” asked the boy.

Indirect: The boy enquired where I lived.

If a direct speech sentence begins with an auxiliary verb/helping verb, the joining clause should be if or whether.

Direct to indirect speech example

Direct: She said, ‘Will you come for the party’?

Indirect: She asked whether we would come for the party.

Reporting verbs such as ‘said/ said to’ changes to enquired, asked, or demanded.

Direct to indirect speech example

Direct: He said to me, ‘What are you wearing’?

Indirect: He asked me what I was wearing.

Rule 5 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech Conversion – Changes in Modals

While changing direct speech to indirect speech, the modals used in the sentences change like:

Can becomes could

May becomes might

Must becomes had to /would have to 

Direct: She said, ‘She can dance’.

Indirect: She said that she could dance. 

Direct: She said, ‘I may buy a dress’.

Indirect: She said that she might buy a dress.

Direct: Rama said, ‘I must complete the assignment’.

Indirect: Rama said that he had to complete the assignment.

There are modals that do not change – Could, Would, Should, Might, Ought to

Direct: She said, ‘I should clean the house’

Indirect: She said that she should clean.

Rule 6 – 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.

Rule 7 – Direct Speech to Indirect Speech Conversion – Request, Command, Wish, Exclamation

Indirect Speech is supported by some verbs like requested, ordered, suggested and advised. Forbid-forbade is used for negative sentences. Therefore, the imperative mood in the direct speech changes into the Infinitive in indirect speech.

Direct: She said to her ‘Please complete it’.

Indirect: She requested her to complete it.

Direct: Hamid said to Ramid, ‘Sit down’.

Indirect: Hamid ordered Ramid to sit down.

In Exclamatory sentences that express grief, sorrow, happiness, applaud, Interjections are removed and the sentence is changed to an assertive sentence.

Direct: She said, ‘Alas! I am undone’.

Indirect: She exclaimed sadly that she was broke.

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.

1.6 Conditionals

Conditionals are structures in English that establish what will happen if a certain event takes place or if a certain action is performed. This means that if a certain condition is true, a certain result occurs.

First Conditional

This conditional is used to talk about future events that might happen. It uses the present tense to discuss the possible future events. For example:

      If it rains, we will have to cancel the picnic.

      If you come with me, I will make it worthwhile for you.

      If I go abroad, I will get something back for you.

      If you wait till 1pm, you can go back with him.

      If you visit Paris, you must see the Eiffel Tower.

Second Conditional

This conditional is used to talk about unreal possibility or impossible events. They establish the course of action that would follow, where something to happen is either hypothetical or surreal. For example:

      If I had a million dollars, I would buy a penthouse on Park Avenue.

      I could stop working if I won the lottery.

      If I were well-versed in the subject, I would help you with your assignment.

      If I were you, I would ask her to marry me.

      What would you do if it were to rain later?

Third Conditional

This conditional talks about the past, unlike the first and second which discusses events in the real or unreal future. These conditions, too, are therefore impossible, because they have either already occurred or might have occurred but won’t anymore. For example:

      If I had studied a little more in college, life would have been easier.

      If we had gotten to the airport on time, we would have caught our flight.

      I could have asked him about the matter if he had shown up.

Sometimes the ‘if’ clause is merely implied, as in:

      I would have done it. (...if you had asked me to)

      I wouldn’t have allowed it. (...if it had been tried with me)

Zero Conditional

The zero conditional discusses an absolute certainty; the result of the condition is always true. The most common types of zero conditionals are scientific facts. For example: If you cool water to zero degrees, it turns into ice.

Zero conditionals, therefore, do not deal with the future or the past; they simply deal with facts. The ‘if’ in these conditionals can be replaced with ‘when’:

      When you cool water to zero degrees, it turns into ice.

1.6.1 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.

c)     Syntatic Concord:   The principle of actor- action, i.e., Subject & verb, is very often lost in spoken speech as well as in construction of sentences in a paragraph.

1.7 Tag questions

Tag questions are required features of spoken English. Normally, they are not used in written standard English.

Tag questions itself has the answers to the questions asked. Generally, such questions are posed to expect some sort of response from the interlocutor (speaker), but often his reply is taken for granted.

Tag questions represent a very important feature of human nature. Up The forms of the tag questions are interrogative, but their contents are affirmative. Tag questions are pronounced in a lower pitch than the main clause.

A positive statement takes a negative statement. Example.

A negative statement takes a positive tag. Example.

1.7.1 Punctuation Marks

Punctuation is the system of symbols that we use to separate written sentences and parts of sentences, and to make their meaning clear. Each symbol is called a "punctuation mark"

There are 14 punctuation marks that are commonly used in English grammar. They are the period, question mark, exclamation point, comma, semicolon, colon, dash, hyphen, parentheses, brackets, braces, apostrophe, quotation marks, and ellipsis. 

Three of the fourteen punctuation marks are appropriate for use as sentence endings. They are the period, question mark, and exclamation point.

As a sentence ender: 

After an abbreviation: 

Use a question mark (?) to indicate a direct question when placed at the end of a sentence.

The exclamation point (!) is used when a person wants to express a sudden outcry or add emphasis.

To emphasize a point: 

Comma, Semicolon, and Colon

The comma, semicolon, and colon are often misused because they all can indicate a pause in a series.

The comma is used to show a separation of ideas or elements within the structure of a sentence. Additionally, it is used in numbers, dates, and letter writing after the salutation and closing.

Whether to add a final comma before the conjunction in a list is a matter of debate. This final comma, known as an Oxford or serial comma, is useful in a complex series of elements or phrases but is often considered unnecessary in a simple series such as in the example above. It usually comes down to a style choice by the writer.

The semicolon (;) is used to connect independent clauses. It shows a closer relationship between the clauses than a period would show.

A colon (:) has three main uses. The first is after a word introducing a quotation, an explanation, an example, or a series.

The second is between independent clauses when the second explains the first, similar to a semicolon:

The third use of a colon is for emphasis:

A colon also has non-grammatical uses in time, ratio, business correspondence and references.

Dash and the Hyphen

Two other common punctuation marks are the dash and hyphen. These marks are often confused with each other due to their appearance but they are very different.

A dash is used to separate words into statements. There are two common types of dashes: en dash and em dash.

En dash: Twice as long as a hyphen, the en dash is a symbol (–) that is used in writing or printing to indicate a range, connections or differentiations, such as

Em dash: Longer than the en dash, the em dash can be used in place of a comma, parenthesis, or colon to enhance readability or emphasize the conclusion of a sentence. For example, 

A hyphen is used to join two or more words together into a compound term and is not separated by spaces. For example,

Brackets, Braces, and Parentheses

Brackets, braces, and parentheses are symbols used to contain words that are a further explanation or are considered a group.

Brackets are the squared off notations ([]) used for technical explanations or to clarify meaning. If you remove the information in the brackets, the sentence will still make sense.

He [Mr. Jones] was the last person seen at the house.

Braces ({}) are used to contain two or more lines of text or listed items to show that they are considered as a unit. They are not commonplace in most writing but can be seen in computer programming to show what should be contained within the same lines. They can also be used in mathematical expressions. For example, 2{1+ [23-3]} =x.

Parentheses (()) are curved notations used to contain further thoughts or qualifying remarks. However, parentheses can be replaced by commas without changing the meaning in most cases.

John and Jane (who were actually half brother and sister) both have red hair.

Apostrophe, Quotation Marks and Ellipsis

The final three punctuation forms in English grammar are the apostrophe, quotation marks, and ellipsis. Unlike previously mentioned grammatical marks, they are not related to one another in any form.

An apostrophe (') is used to indicate the omission of a letter or letters from a word, the possessive case, or the plurals of lowercase letters. Examples of the apostrophe in use include:

Omission of letters from a word: I've seen that movie several times. She wasn't the only one who knew the answer.

Possessive case: Sara's dog bit the neighbor.

Plural for lowercase letters: Six people were told to mind their p's and q's.

It should be noted that, according to Purdue University, some teachers and editors enlarge the scope of the use of apostrophes, and prefer their use on symbols (&'s), numbers (7's) and capitalized letters (Q&A's), even though they are not necessary.

Quotations marks (" ") are a pair of punctuation marks used primarily to mark the beginning and end of a passage attributed to another and repeated word for word. They are also used to indicate meanings and to indicate the unusual or dubious status of a word.

"Don't go outside," she said.

Single quotation marks (' ') are used most frequently for quotes within quotes.

Marie told the teacher, "I saw Marc at the playground, and he said to me 'Bill started the fight,' and I believed him."

The ellipsis is most commonly represented by three periods (. . . ) although it is occasionally demonstrated with three asterisks (***). The ellipsis is used in writing or printing to indicate an omission, especially of letters or words. Ellipses are frequently used within quotations to jump from one phrase to another, omitting unnecessary words that do not interfere with the meaning. Students writing research papers or newspapers quoting parts of speeches will often employ ellipsis to avoid copying lengthy text that is not needed.

Omission of words: She began to count, "One, two, three, four…" until she got to 10, then went to find him.

Within a quotation: When Newton stated, "An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion..." he developed the law of motion.

References: