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Adjectives

Adjectives are words that are used to describe (what kind of?) nouns and pronouns and to quantify (how much of?) and identify (which one?) them. In a nutshell, Adjectives are what define nouns and give them characteristics to differentiate them from other nouns. For example:
He was wearing a blue shirt.
Here ‘blue’ is an adjective as it is describing the noun ‘shirt’ by answering the question ‘what kind of shirt?’

There are seven rooms in the house.
Here ‘Seven’ is also an adjective as it’s telling the quantity/the number of the noun ‘rooms’, answering the question ‘how many rooms?’.

There are different types of adjectives based upon their effect on a noun and what do they tell about the noun. There are five categories of adjectives

1. Adjectives of Quality - These adjectives are used to describe the nature of a noun. They give an idea about the characteristics of the noun by answering the question ‘what kind’.

o Honest, Kind, Large, Bulky, Beautiful, Ugly etc.

New Delhi is a large city with many historical monuments.

Sheila is a beautiful woman.

2. Adjectives of Quantity - These adjectives help to show the amount or the approximate amount of the noun or pronoun. These adjectives do not provide exact numbers; rather they tell us the amount of the noun in relative or whole terms.

o All, Half, Many, Few, Little, No, Enough, Great etc.

They have finished most of the rice.

Many people came to visit the fair.

3. Adjectives of Number - These adjectives are used to show the number of nouns and their place in an order. There are three different sections within adjectives of number; they are -

o Definite Numeral Adjective - Those which clearly denote an exact number of nouns or the order of the noun.

One, Two, Twenty, Thirty-Three etc. also known as Cardinals.

First, Second, Third, Seventh etc. also known as Ordinals.

o Indefinite Numeral Adjective - Those adjectives that do not give an exact numerical amount but just give a general idea of the amount.

Some, Many, Few, Any, Several, All etc.

E.g.: There were many people present at the meeting.

o Distributive Numeral Adjective -Those adjectives that are used to refer to individual nouns within the whole amount.

Either, Neither, Each, Another, Other etc.

Taxes have to be paid by every employed citizen.

4. Demonstrative Adjectives - These adjectives are used to point out or indicate a particular noun or pronoun using the adjectives - This, That, These and Those.

o That bag belongs to Neil.

o Try using this paintbrush in art class.

o I really like those shoes.

o These flowers are lovely.

5. Interrogative Adjectives - These adjectives are used to ask questions about nouns or in relation to nouns, they are - Where, What, Which and Whose.

o Where did he say he was going?

o What assignment did I miss out on?

o Which is your favorite author?

o Whose pen is this?

In some instances, we find that we need to use more than one adjective to describe a noun in a satisfactory manner. In these cases, commas are used to separate the adjectives but some series of adjectives do not require a comma. Therefore, we need to know the difference between Coordinate and Non-coordinate Adjectives -

Coordinate Adjectives - Are those words which can be re-arranged in the series easily and are still grammatically sound. This kind of series makes use of commas. This series can also insert ‘and’ between them and still be correct.

She was a kind, generous, loving human being.

She was a generous, loving, kind human being.

She was a loving, kind and generous human being.

Here we can see that all three sentences are grammatically correct. In this case, the adjectives only need to be separated by commas.

Non-coordinate Adjectives - These are those adjectives which cannot be rearranged in the series. These do not use commas to separate the adjectives. Also, this kind of series do not make sense if we insert ‘and’ between them.

She has two energetic playful dogs.

She has playful two energetic dogs.

She has energetic and playful and two dogs.

Here we see that only the first sentence makes sense and is grammatically correct. The second and third ones are incorrect. Hence, the sentence uses non-coordinate adjectives and does not need commas.

There are certain rules regarding the placement of different kinds of adjectives in a sentence. The general order followed is -
1. Determiners – These are the various articles (the, a, an), demonstratives (this, that, these, those), possessives (my, mine, your, yours, -‘s), quantifiers (all, many etc.), numerals (one, twenty, thirty-seven etc.) and distributives (each, every, neither, either)

2. Observations/Quantity and Opinion - Then come the adjectives that give a quantity (also known as post-determiners) and subjective opinion to the noun, telling ‘how much’ and ‘how was’ the noun.

Few, Most, One, Three/ Beautiful, Ugly, Difficult etc.

The beautiful house.

3. Size - The position after Observations is for the adjectives that tell about the size of the noun, they can be used for an object as well as living thing.

Huge, Little, Bulky, Thin, Vast, Tiny, Lean etc

The beautiful little house.

4. Age -Then is the turn of the Adjectives that tell about the age of a noun either by itself or in relation to another noun.

Young, Old, Teenage, Mature, Recent, Bygone etc.

The beautiful little old house.

5. Shape - Next are the adjectives that tell about the shape or appearance of the noun.

Circular, Crooked, Triangular, Oval, Wavy, Straights etc.

The beautiful little old square house.

6. Colour - After that are the adjectives that tell the shade and hue of a noun.

Pastel, Red, Blue, Metallic, Colourless, Translucent etc.

The beautiful square blue coloured house.

7. Origin - Next are the adjectives that show the different geographical locations associated with a noun.

Southern, Northern, Lunar, Mexican, French etc.

The beautiful blue coloured Mexican house.

8. Material - Next are the adjectives that talk about the raw material or texture of the objects or the behaviour of the living nouns.

Wooden, Plastic, Steely, Metallic, Cottony etc.

The beautiful Mexican limestone house.

9. Qualifier – Lastly, the qualifier or the grammatical modifier comes, which is an additional word or phrase provided to change the meaning of the noun in a sentence.

Pink + eye, Royal + treatment, Hot + fudge etc.

The beautiful Mexican limestone doll house.

List of Adjectives, Adjective Examples

Abundant	Elderly	Nasty
Accurate	Elegant	Naughty
Addicted	Embarrassed	Nervous
Adorable	Empty	New
Adventurous	Encouraging	Noisy
Afraid	Enthusiastic	Nutritious
Aggressive	Excellent	Obedient
Alcoholic	Exciting	Obese
Alert	Expensive	Obnoxious
Aloof	Fabulous	Old
Ambitious	Fair	Overconfident
Ancient	Faithful	Peaceful
Angry	Famous	Pink
Animated	Fancy	Polite
Annoying	Fantastic	Poor
Anxious	Fast	Powerful
Arrogant	Fearful	Precious
Ashamed	Fearless	Pretty
Attractive	Fertile	Proud
Auspicious	Filthy	Quick
Awesome	Foolish	Quiet
Awful	Forgetful	Rapid
Bad	Friendly	Rare
Bashful	Funny	Red
Beautiful	Gentle	Remarkable
Belligerent	Glamorous	Responsible
Beneficial	Glorious	Rich
Best	Gorgeous	Romantic
Big	Graceful	Royal
Bitter	Grateful	Rude
Bizarre	Great	Scintillating
Black	Greedy	Secretive
Blue	Green	Selfish
Boring	Handsome	Serious
Brainy	Happy	Sharp
Bright	Harsh	Shiny
Broad	Healthy	Shocking
Broken	Heavy	Short
Busy	Helpful	Shy
Calm	Hilarious	Silly
Capable	Historical	Sincere
Careful	Horrible	Skinny
Careless	Hot	Slim
Caring	Huge	Slow
Cautious	Humorous	Small
Charming	Hungry	Soft
Cheap	Ignorant	Spicy
Cheerful	Illegal	Spiritual
Chubby	Imaginary	Splendid
Clean	Impolite	Strong
Clever	Important	Successful
Clumsy	Impossible	Sweet
Cold	Innocent	Talented
Colorful	Intelligent	Tall
Comfortable	Interesting	Tasty
Concerned	Jealous	Tense
Confused	Jolly	Terrible
Crowded	Juicy	Terrific
Cruel	Juvenile	Thick
Curious	Kind	Thin
Curly	Large	Tiny
Cute	Legal	Ugly
Damaged	Light	Unique
Dangerous	Literate	Untidy
Dark	Little	Upset
Deep	Lively	Victorious
Defective	Lonely	Violent
Delicate	Loud	Vulgar
Delicious	Lovely	Warm
Depressed	Lucky	Weak
Determined	Macho	Wealthy
Different	Magical	Wide
Dirty	Magnificent	Wise
Disgusting	Massive	Witty
Dry	Mature	Wonderful
Dusty	Mean	Worried
Early	Messy	Young
Educated	Modern	Youthful
Efficient	Narrow	Zealous

Comparison of Adjectives

When we want to compare two or more nouns using adjectives, we use the comparative and superlative forms of the adjective to show the comparison between the nouns. E.g. -
Honey is sweet, sugar is sweeter but victory is the sweetest.
In this sentence, we are comparing the three nouns using the positive, comparative and superlative forms of the word ‘sweet’.

Positive Form -

These are the simple adjectives that simply describe the noun without comparing it to another - big, sweet, clean, etc.

She has a big black dog.

He is a sweet boy.

The cupboard is clean.

Comparative Form -

These are used when we are comparing two nouns and need to show which noun possesses the adjective or character in a greater or lesser amount, when compared with the other. - bigger, sweeter, cleaner, etc.

I have a big dog but hers is bigger.

He is sweeter than the other boys.

The cupboard is cleaner than before.

Superlative Form -

This form is used when three or more nouns are being compared and we need to show that one or more of the nouns posses the adjective or characteristic to the highest amount possible. We usually add ‘the’ before the superlative form. - biggest, sweetest, cleanest, etc.

She has the biggest dog in the colony.

He is the sweetest boy in his class.

The cupboard is the cleanest thing in the house.

Making Comparatives and Superlatives
There are certain rules that must be followed in the making of the comparatives and superlatives of the adjectives. Not all adjectives form their comparatives and superlatives in the same way and there are also some irregular adjectives that form completely different comparative and superlative forms.

Single Syllable Words and Double Syllable Words ending with -y, -er, -ow, -le -
We use ‘-er’ to make the comparative and ‘-est’ to make the superlative.

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Black	Blacker	Blackest
Fair	Fairer	Fairest
Clever	Cleverer	Cleverest

When there is a silent ‘e’ at the end of the positive form, we remove that and add ‘-er’ and ‘-est’

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Nice	Nicer	Nicest
Late	Later	Latest

When the adjective ends with a ‘y’, we convert the ‘y’ into ‘i’ before adding ‘-er’ and ‘-est’

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Pretty	Prettier	Prettiest
Lazy	Lazier	Laziest

If the adjective is a small one with little stress on the vowel, we double the last consonant.

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Hot	Hotter	Hottest
Wet	Wetter	Wettest

Other Words with Two or More Syllables -
For other double syllable words that do not end with -y, -er, -ow, -le, and for adjectives with more than two syllables we use more and most to form the comparatives and superlatives.

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Difficult	More Difficult	Most Difficult
Careful	More Careful	Most Careful
Handsome	More Handsome	Most Handsome
Interesting	More Interesting	Most Interesting

Special Adjectives -
There a few adjectives that can use both ‘-er and -est’ and ‘more’ and ‘most’ to form their comparative and superlative forms. The distinction between these is that ‘-er and -est’ are used when we are comparing the noun to another noun and ‘more’ and ‘most’ is used when we are comparing characteristics within the noun.

Positive	Comparative	Superlative	Example
Clever	Cleverer/ More Clever	Cleverest/Most Clever	He is cleverer than her. He is more clever than studious.
Quiet	Quieter/ More Quiet	Quietest/ Most Quiet	This is the most quiet it gets here. This is the quietest place.
Brave	Braver/ More Brave	Bravest/ Most Brave	She is braver than other girls. She was more brave than afraid.
Sure	Surer/ More Sure	Surest/ Most Sure	He was surer of the result than others. You’ll be more sure about the concept after you read the chapter.

Irregular Comparisons -
These adjectives do not make their comparative and superlative forms using the rules above. Their comparative and superlative forms are different words altogether.

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Bad	Worse	Worst
Good	Better	Best
Far (place & time)	Further	Furthest
Far (place)	Farther	Farthest
Old (people)	Elder	Eldest
Little (amount)	Less	Least
Late (order)	Latter	Last

Adverbs

Adverbs are words that are used in sentences to describe or change the meaning of a Verb or Adjective or even another Adverb. They add description to the sentence to make it more detailed and interesting. For example:
He walked slowly across the square.
Here, one can see that the Adverb ‘slowly’ is describing the Verb ‘walk’ by telling that the person was walking slowly.

Types of Adverbs

Adverbs are used in sentences to answer many questions about the Verbs/Adjectives/Adverbs themselves. The different types of Adverbs are as following:

Adverb of Time
E.g.: The results were announced yesterday.
Here the Adverb is yesterday which is answering the question: When were the results announced? ‘Announced’ is the verb in this sentence.
She will visit the hospital tomorrow.
Here the Verb is ‘visit’ and the Adverb is tomorrow as the question being asked is: Whenwill she visit the hospital?
Other examples of Adverbs of Time are – Once, Never, Tomorrow, Daily etc.

Adverb of Place
E.g.:They will meet you there.
The Adverb here is there that is specifying a place for the Verb meet and the question being answered is: Where will they meet you?
In spring, flowers bloom everywhere.
Here the Verb is bloom and the Adverb is everywhere, answering the question: Where do the flowers bloom in spring?
Other examples of Adverbs of Place are - Anywhere, Somewhere, Near, Far etc.

Adverb of Manner
E.g.: He quietly slipped away.
The Adverb here is quietly which is telling the way or manner in which the action was carried out and the Verb is slipped which is telling: How did he slip away.
She works fast.
The Verb here is work and the Adverb is fast and the question being asked is: How does she work?
These Adverbs tell about the manner of the action being done, whether it is done happily or haltingly etc. Other examples of Adverbs of Manner are - Honestly, Joyfully, Cunningly etc.

Adverb of Frequency
He likes to watch TV every day.
Here, the Adverb is every day and it is telling about the amount of time spent in doing the Verb, which is watch. The question in this sentence is: How often does he watch TV?
They meet every week.
The Adverb here is every week and it is telling the frequency and the Verb is meet. The sentence is telling us: How often do they meet?
These Adverbs are used to show the duration or timing of the action that is happening/had happened/will happen. They also tell us how often and how long these actions would be. Other examples of Adverbs of Frequency are - Frequently, Often, Yearly, Briefly etc.

Adverbs of Degree
She almost finished the work.
The Verb here is finished and the Adverb is almost which is telling us about the amount of the work finished. The question being asked is: How much of the work did she finish?
They were completely surprised by the windfall.
The adverb here is completely which is showing the degree to which ‘they’ were surprised which is the Verb. The question being asked here is: How much were they surprised?
The Adverbs of Degree are used to show to what extent or how much has an action been done or will be done. Other examples of these Adverbs are - Fully, Partially, Altogether etc.

Adverbs of Confirmation and Negation
They will certainly like this vase.
The Adverb here is certainly which is reinforcing the Verb like in answer to the question: Will they like this vase?
He never leaves his house.
The Adverb never is negating the Verb leave. It is answering the question in denial: Does he ever leave his house?
These Adverbs either confirm or deny the action of the Verb. They are also used to reinforce the action that is described by the Verb. Other examples of Adverbs of Confirmation are - Definitely, Absolutely, Surely etc. Examples for Adverbs of Denial or Negation are - No, Don’t, Can’t etc.

Adverbs of Comment
These Adverbs are used to make a comment on the entire sentence. They give a look at the speaker’s viewpoint or opinion about the sentence. These Adverbs don’t just change or describe the Verb; they influence the whole sentence.

They found his secreteasily.

Unfortunately

Unfortunately, they found his secret easily.

Here, we see that adding the Adverb unfortunately has changed the entire tone of the sentence. Earlier, it was a passive tone, now it has a negative or disappointed tone.
Other examples of Adverbs of Comment are -

Luckily, the dog did not bite the children.
Happily, the power returned before the big match.
Did he honestly expect me to lie for him? (Adverb adds comment on the anger of the speaker.)
And they would win the world cup, obviously. (Can be said in a sarcastic as well as positive manner)

Adverbs of Conjunction
These Adverbs are used to connect ideas or clauses, they are used to show consequence or effect or the relation between the two clauses. To use these Adverbs to conjugate two clauses you need to use a semicolon (;) to connect them.
Clause 1: He was going for an important interview.
Clause 2: He made sure he reached on time.
He was going for an important interview; accordingly, he made sure he reached on time.
Here, we see how the Adverb ‘accordingly’ is joining the two clauses and showing the relation between them with the use of a semicolon (;). Accordingly means- therefore or that is why.
A few other Adverbs of Conjunction are -

However - Yet, on the other hand, in spite of
Consequently - As a result, resulting in
Moreover - Beside, in addition
Conversely - Opposite of, contrary to

List of Adverbs, Adverb Examples

Accidentally	Happily	Really
Always	Highly	Regularly
Angrily	Honestly	Reluctantly
Arrogantly	Hopelessly	Repeatedly
Badly	Immediately	Rudely
Beautifully	Innocently	Sadly
Bitterly	Instantly	Safely
Blindly	Interestingly	Seldom
Boldly	Jealously	Selfishly
Bravely	Joyfully	Seriously
Briefly	Kindly	Silently
Busily	Lazily	Slowly
Carefully	Less	Softly
Certainly	Loudly	Sometimes
Clearly	Lovingly	Soon
Courageously	Loyally	Strictly
Cruelly	Madly	Suddenly
Curiously	More	Surprisingly
Daily	Mysteriously	Sweetly
Delightfully	Naturally	Terribly
Easily	Nearly	Thankfully
Enthusiastically	Nervously	Thoughtfully
Eventually	Never	Tomorrow
Exactly	Obediently	Unexpectedly
Excitedly	Officially	Unfortunately
Extremely	Often	Urgently
Fairly	Openly	Usually
Faithfully	Painfully	Valiantly
Fast	Patiently	Very
Foolishly	Politely	Violently
Fortunately	Poorly	Well
Frankly	Positively	Wisely
Generally	Properly	Yearly
Generously	Quickly	Yesterday
Gently	Quietly
Gracefully	Rarely

Placement of Adverbs

Adverbs can be used in diverse ways, which means that they are very flexible in sentences; they can be moved around quite a bit without causing any grammatical irregularities.
Take a look at the following sentence: The speaker grimly faced the audience. The adverb in this sentence is ‘grimly’; moving it around a little, we get The speaker faced the audience grimly. There is nothing wrong with either of the two sentences. What this goes to show is that an adverb can be positioned at multiple points in a sentence, and the guide below will help you decide where your chosen adverb should go:

Adverbs used to begin sentences/clauses
Connecting adverbs
To place an adverb at the beginning of a sentence or clause is also known as ‘initial position adverb placement’, and the adverbs that are commonly used in these positions are known as ‘connecting adverbs’, such as:

Consequently

However

Next

Still

Then

These adverbs are known as connecting adverbs, quite simply, because they are used at the beginnings of phrases and sentences to connect them to what has been said before. For e.g.:

I did not care for her tone. However, I let it go.

I began to dislike my course within months having signed up for it. Consequently, I never did well.

That was the Medieval section of the museum; next, we have the Industrial Revolution.

Adverbs of time
Time adverbs, like ‘tomorrow’, ‘yesterday’ and ‘sometimes’, are among the most flexible of all adverbs, and can often take initial position. For e.g.:

            Yesterday I was very busy, which is why I was unable to meet you.
            Tomorrow I am leaving for Calcutta.
            Sometimes we feel as if we do not belong in this group.

Adverbs in the middle
Focusing adverbs
‘Focusing adverbs’ are those adverbs that emphasise a part of the clause or sentence to which they belong, and are generally used mid-sentence. Focusing adverbs include adverbs of frequency (often, rarely, never, always, etc), adverbs of certainty (perhaps, probably, certainly, maybe, etc) and adverbs of comment (adverbs that are used to express opinion, such as smartly, responsibly, intelligently, etc). For e.g.:

            You are always late.
            I will probably be absent at the party.
            He acted responsibly by informing the authorities about the wallet he had found.

Note: Adverbs of frequency are used before the main verb, not the auxiliary verb.

Adverbs to end sentences
This is the most common position for adverbs in sentences.
Adverbs of manner
Adverbs of manner are used to describe how something is done, and are generally placed at the ends of sentences or clauses. For e.g.:
            He wrote the answers correctly.
            His stammer caused him to speak haltingly.

Adverbs of place
Adverbs of place are used to describe the place where an event occurs, and are also positioned at the ends of sentences or clauses. For e.g.:
            Father is sleeping upstairs.
            In a couple of days I will be travelling north.

Adverbs of time
Adverbs of time, as discussed earlier, can also find their ways to the ends of sentences or clauses. For e.g.:
            I leave tomorrow afternoon.

Forming Adverbs from Adjectives

Here are some guidelines on forming adverbs from adjectives:

In a large number of the cases, the adverb can be formed by simply adding ‘-ly’ to the adjective.

ADJECTIVE ADVERB

Cheap Cheaply

Quick Quickly

Strong Strongly

If the adjective ends in with ‘y’, replace the ‘y’ with an ‘i’ and add ‘-ly’.

ADJECTIVE ADVERB

Ready Readily

Merry Merrily

Easy Easily

If the adjective ends with ‘-le’, replace the ‘e’ at the end with ‘y’.

ADJECTIVE ADVERB

Understandable Understandably

Forcible Forcibly

Possible Possibly

If the adjective ends with ‘-ic’, add ‘-ally’.

ADJECTIVE ADVERB

Idiotic Idiotically

Tragic Tragically

Basic Basically

An exception to this rule is ‘public’, whose adverbial form is ‘publicly’.

Some adjectives do not change form at all.

ADJECTIVE ADVERB

Fast Fast

Straight Straight

Hard Hard

In the case of the adjective ‘good’, the corresponding adverb is ‘well’.

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:
The cat sat on the couch.
The dog attacked me and ran away.
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:
Do you have a pencil?
I want to have an apple.
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:

A book - correct
A books - incorrect

An egg - correct
An eggs – incorrect

Tips to remember the differences in a nutshell

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

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

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

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

NOTE:
These rules also apply in Acronyms.
For example:
He is a DU (Delhi University) student.
He is an IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) graduate.
The rule also applies when acronyms start with consonant letters but have vowel sounds.
For example:
She is an MBA (Master of Business Administration).
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 beautiful umbrella

an unusual situation

a European country (pronounced as 'yer-o-pi-an,' i.e., sounds like consonant 'y')

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

I am a journalist. (I am a member of a large group of professionals known as journalists.)
She is an Indian. (She is a member of the people from India, known as Indians.)

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:
I went to see a tattoo artist.
The tattoo artist has given me an appointment next week.
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 Noncount Nouns
The can either be used with noncount nouns or the article can be omitted entirely. For example:

She liked to sail over the water. Here, some specific body of water is being talked about.

She liked to sail over water. Here, no particular water is being talked about. It can refer to any water.

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

I need a bottle of juice.

I need an eraser.

Use of ‘the’ in case of geography
There are some specific rules for using ‘the’ with geographical nouns.
Do not use ‘the’ before:

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

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

Ø names of streets: Callowhill Drive, Park Avenue

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

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

Ø names of continents: Asia, Europe

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

Use ‘the’ before:

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

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

Ø geographical areas: the South East, the Asia Pacific

Ø 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:
Ø 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.

Ø 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.

Ø When talking about non-count 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.

Ø 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.

Ø 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.

Ø 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.

Ø When you talk about languages.

For example: I speak Hindi.

Here, the speaker is talking about the language Hindi.

Ø When you talk about places, locations, streets.

For example: My house is located on Callowhill Drive.

I left my pen at home.

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.

Ø When you talk about sports and physical activities.
For example: I love to play cricket.

She enjoys dancing.

Here, cricket and dancing is being talked about.

Ø 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.
Ø When talking about academic subjects.
For example: I hate attending Mathematics classes.
Here, the mathematic classes are being discussed.

A table to remember when or when not to use Articles

Different cases		Examples
‘A’/ ‘An’ is used	When mentioning something for the first time.	I went for a movie.
	When talking about something which belongs to a set of the same thing.	This is a pen.
	When talking about someone who belongs to a certain group.	She is an engineer.
	When talking about a certain kind of a thing.	I've have made a great movie.
	When wanting to say that someone is a certain kind of person.	She is a shy girl.
‘The’ is used	When talking about a particular thing.	The movie that I went for was fantastic.
	When talking about something that you are sure of.	I cleared the interview.
	When there is only one such thing.	I don’t like to go out in the sun.
No article is used	When talking about something in general.	Swimming is a great physical activity.
No article is used	When talking about cities, countries, streets, sports, etc.	We visited France. We watched soccer together.

Nouns

Nouns are simply the names we give to everything around us, whether it be a person, an event, a place or an object, etc. Every particular name used to define something is a noun. E.g. : Amsterdam, Anita, Blackberry, Honesty, Waiter, etc.
The names given to a group of noun to identify them as a whole are called Collective Nouns. E.g.: pride of lions, gaggle of geese etc.
Nouns or pronouns can also modify themselves to show possession of another noun, usually by attaching‘s to the end of the noun. These nouns that show possession are called Possessive Nouns.
Sometimes nouns have different forms for different genders, although this practice has been largely abandoned by the people who prefer to use the same noun for both genders. For example - Actor (male) - Actress (female), but people nowadays refer to women who act as female actors rather than actresses.
Most nouns can be converted into plural forms by adding ‘-s’ or ‘-es’ at the end of the word. E.g.: box-boxes, cat-cats, echo-echoes , etc.
But some nouns require the last consonant to be modified before adding ‘-es’. For e.g.: the ‘Y’ in ‘city’ changes to ‘I’ to form cities, kitty to kitties and ‘f’ to ‘v’ in dwarf to dwarves, wharf to wharves, etc.
Some nouns become plurals irregularly by changing the entire word: mouse- mice, ox - oxen, etc.
You can learn more about Plurals here: How to make Plurals : Making Plurals-Easy Guide

Grammarians have divided nouns into different categories based on their use and purpose. Learning these divisions within the nouns will help in sentence construction and vocabulary. The different types of Nouns are -

PROPER NOUNS
These nouns are the names of specific people and places. These nouns also refer to the names of the days of weeks and months, and also the various names for religions, organizations, institutions, etc. Proper nouns basically refer to the names that are specific to that particular noun. These nouns are always capitalised as they need to be distinct from other nouns.

William Shakespeare was a playwright. - Proper noun that is the name of a specific person.
I will be visiting New York next month. - Proper noun that is the name of a specific place.
Everyone dislikes Monday mornings. - The names of days are proper nouns.
The holy book of Islam is the Koran. - Name of a religion and religious text.

COMMON NOUNS
These are the nouns that are used to denote a general category of people, places or things. They are capitalized only when they are at the beginning of a sentence. Common Nouns don’t refer to something specific rather they are a general term used for every noun of a particular kind or type.

The boys went to play cricket. - Both boys and cricket are common nouns as they can refer to any boy or any cricket match. There is nothing specified by these nouns.
This neighbourhood is one of the best in the area. - Here neighbourhood is the common noun as there are innumerable neighbourhoods all over the world.
She was trying to answer her phone while buying coffee. - Here we see phone and coffee that both are general indicators of the object and the drink.

ABSTRACT NOUNS
These nouns are the names of things that we cannot perceive through our five senses of touching, smelling, seeing, hearing and tasting. These nouns can also refer to medical conditions related to the mind and are also used to express thoughts.

She screamed with great delight. - Delight is an abstract noun as it tells about the state of a person’s mind and any actual physical thing.
His bravery in the war won him a medal. - The abstract noun bravery is used to name the motivation behind certain actions made by people.
One should learn to be as independent as possible. – Here, independent describes a state or a way of being, hence it is an abstract noun.

COUNTABLE NOUNS
The nouns that fall under this category are the ones that have both singular and plural forms. They can be counted either relatively or completely, and form plurals to associate with plural verbs in a sentence. They can also be expressed in numerical terms

I need to buy four new suitcases for my trip. - Suitcase (s) is a countable noun as adding ‘s’ to it makes it plural.
Does anyone want some oranges? - Here some is being used to count the noun orange(s).
She had a pet dog. - Dog is also a countable noun as its plural is dogs.

UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
These nouns are the exact opposite of Countable Nouns. These nouns are the names of things that cannot be counted and have only a singular form. These nouns use singular verbs in a sentence.

The furniture was damaged in moving out. - Furniture is an uncountable noun and therefore, we use the singular ‘was’ in referring to it.
Is 250gms of sugar enough? - Here, sugar is an uncountable noun as sugar itself cannot be counted. It can only be weighed.
He always answers questions with honesty. - Honesty is an uncountable noun as it has no plural and cannot be counted in physical terms either.

List of Nouns, Noun Examples

Nouns Exercise 1

Actor	Garden	Oil
Advertisement	Gas	Orange
Afternoon	Ghost	Oxygen
Airport	Girl	Oyster
Ambulance	Glass	Painting
Animal	Gold	Parrot
Answer	Grass	Pencil
Apple	Greece	Piano
Army	Guitar	Pillow
Australia	Hair	Pizza
Balloon	Hamburger	Planet
Banana	Helicopter	Plastic
Battery	Helmet	Portugal
Beach	Holiday	Potato
Beard	Honey	Queen
Bed	Horse	Quill
Belgium	Hospital	Rain
Boy	House	Rainbow
Branch	Hydrogen	Raincoat
Breakfast	Ice	Refrigerator
Brother	Insect	Restaurant
Camera	Insurance	River
Candle	Iron	Rocket
Car	Island	Room
Caravan	Jackal	Rose
Carpet	Jelly	Russia
Cartoon	Jewellery	Sandwich
China	Jordan	School
Church	Juice	Scooter
Crayon	Kangaroo	Shampoo
Crowd	King	Shoe
Daughter	Kitchen	Soccer
Death	Kite	Spoon
Denmark	Knife	Stone
Diamond	Lamp	Sugar
Dinner	Lawyer	Sweden
Disease	Leather	Teacher
Doctor	Library	Telephone
Dog	Lighter	Television
Dream	Lion	Tent
Dress	Lizard	Thailand
Easter	Lock	Tomato
Egg	London	Toothbrush
Eggplant	Lunch	Traffic
Egypt	Machine	Train
Elephant	Magazine	Truck
Energy	Magician	Uganda
Engine	Manchester	Umbrella
England	Market	Van
Evening	Match	Vase
Eye	Microphone	Vegetable
Family	Monkey	Vulture
Finland	Morning	Wall
Fish	Motorcycle	Whale
Flag	Nail	Window
Flower	Napkin	Wire
Football	Needle	Xylophone
Forest	Nest	Yacht
Fountain	Nigeria	Yak
France	Night	Zebra
Furniture	Notebook	Zoo
Garage	Ocean

Collective Nouns

Collective nouns are the name we give to a group of nouns to refer to them as one entity. The most common method of doing this is by using words like group or bunch that can be applicable to most of the nouns in the language today. But there are some specific names given for certain groups of nouns to make things more interesting and funny.
Now, these collective nouns are not based in scientific thought or fact. Most of them come from the poetry and imagination of early to late Medieval English times e.g. - an eloquence of lawyers – Eloquence itself is defined as fine persuasion in speaking or writing, so this particular collective noun is a comment on the profession of lawyers while being their collective noun as well.
The same goes for the collective nouns we find for animals; the names arose from 15^th century French and English hunting traditions, where hunting was common and names and terms were given to all aspects of the sport. These names were called Terms of Venery and it had become a tradition of the court to keep extending the list and by the 1500s the list was up-to 165 items long.
Here we have listed some of the more commonly used collective nouns for humans, animals and objects.

These collective nouns are commonly used under the category of people.

A class of students.
An army of soldiers.
A choir of singers.
A crew of sailors.
A band of musicians.
A bunch of crooks.
A crowd of people/spectators.
A gang of thieves.
A group of dancers.
A team of players.
A troupe of artists/dancers.
A pack of thieves.
A staff of employees.
A regiment of soldiers.
A tribe of natives.
An audience of listeners.
A panel of experts.
A gang of labourers.
A flock of tourists.
A board of directors.

Collective Nouns Exercise 1
Collective Nouns Exercise 2
The following collective nouns are used for animals.

A catch of fish.
An army of ants.
A flight of birds.
A flock of birds.
A haul of fish.
A flock of sheep.
A herd of deer/cattle/elephants/goats/buffaloes.
A hive of bees.
A litter of cubs.
A host of sparrows.
A team of horses.
A troop of lions.
A zoo of wild animals.
A pack of wolves.
A litter of puppies/kittens.
A swarm of bees/ants/rats/flies.
A team of horses/ducks/oxen.
A murder of crows.
A kennel of dogs.
A pack of hounds.

The following collective nouns are used for things.

A group of islands.
A galaxy of stars.
A wad of notes.
A forest of trees.
A stack of wood.
A fleet of ships.
A string of pearls.
An album of stamps/autographs/photographs.
A hedge of bushes.
A library of books.
A basket of fruit.
A bowl of rice.
A pack of cards.
A pair of shoes.
A bouquet of flowers.
A bunch of keys.
A chest of drawers.
A pack of lies.
A range of mountains.
A cloud of dust.

Collective nouns are endless and these are just a list of those used more often. As you continue to work on improving your English, you will stumble across many more. Be sure to add them to your list and use them as frequently as you can.

Using Nouns to Show Possession

Possessive nouns are those nouns that show possession. Possessive Nouns are used to show ownership.
A noun is possessive only when a phrase can be modified to say that an idea or commodity belongs to something or someone. Possessive nouns are an integral part of learning English, use them as often as you can to gain confidence.

In the singular form, the possessive case is formed by adding 's to the noun.

The clothes of the girl.
The girl’s clothes.
The toys of the boy.
The boy’s toys.
Mary goes to this school.
This is Mary’s school.

King’s castle, grandfather’s stick, my dog’s bowl and all of the above are formed by adding the 's.
Modify the following sentences by using the apostrophe (') to show possession:
The king’s servants.
The computer’s cover.
My phone’s charger.

The servants of the king.
Cover of the computer.
The charger of my phone.

For certain words, instead of 's, only ' is used to avoid a hissing noise. Keep this is mind when using possessive nouns.
Some examples would be:

Boss’ office.
Dr.Briuss’ house.
For goodness’ sake.

There are two rules to follow in case the noun is in plural form.

If the noun ends in s then the possessive case is formed by adding the apostrophe
E.g. the donkeys’ tail, the boys’ hostel, the cousins’ aunt.
If the noun does not end in s then the possessive case is formed by adding 's.
E.g. the children’s park, the men’s room.

It’s simple as long as you know the plural form of the noun. The plural form of ‘god’ will be ‘gods’ and so the apostrophe will be used after 's' (gods’). In case of nouns like ‘woman’, the plural form is ‘women’ and so the apostrophe followed by 's' will be used (women’s).
Add the apostrophe in the following sentences.

Our cousins short uncle. (Apostrophe can be before or after 's')
Businessmens briefcase. (Businessmen’s)
The ladies washroom. (Ladies’)

Here are some more examples to show you other possible cases.

Alex and Philip’s shop. (Two nouns are used closely and showing joint possession; here, the apostrophe will be used with the second noun)

Shakespeare’s and Wordsworth’s works. (Two nouns are used together yet separate possession is implied thus the apostrophe is used with both nouns)

Nouns as Adjective

Sometimes in the English language, a noun is used to describe another noun; in other words, the first noun performs the function of an adjective. Look at the following examples:

Basketball coach – here the noun basketball is being used to describe the noun coach
Garment shop – here the noun garment is being used to describe the noun shop
Painting exhibition – here the noun painting is being used to describe the noun exhibition

In all the above examples, the first noun acts as an adjective.

Rules related to Nouns as Adjective
1. The ‘nouns as adjective’ always come first or before the second or main noun. Let’s see a few more examples:
A cricket bat
A soccer ball
A car race
A love story

2. In general, like adjectives, nouns being used as adjectives are used in the singular form, although in the case of certain words, like clothes, customs, sports, etc, an exception is made. For example:
Bathroom or bathrooms, and not bathsroom or bathsrooms
Badminton racket or badminton rackets, and not badmintons racket or badmintons rackets
In short, the plural form will always appear on the second noun only.
Some nouns are always written or spoken in the plural forms, but we generally treat them as a singular form. For example:
A billiards player
A news editor

Some nouns are always treated in the plural forms when used as an adjective. For example:
Sports museum
Clothes outlet
Accounts manager

3. Multiple nouns can also be used as adjectives. For example:
School cricket team coach
Motor production cost
Child health care research centre

4. We can also use a true adjective before nouns as adjective. For example::
Famous Indian cricket player
Cute coffee mug
Delectable Chinese cuisine
Honest school teacher
Increasing air pollution

Verbs

Verbs are the most important component of any sentence. These words tell about the action or the state of any noun or subject. This means that Verbs show what the subject is doing or what is the state or situation of the subject. For example:
He ran to the store. - Here the verb ran describes the action of the subject ‘he’
She is a creative person. - Here there is no action being done. Instead the auxiliary verb ‘is’ shows the state of the subject ‘she’ as being ‘creative’.
There are different types and classifications of Verbs; some of the most important ones are listed below:

Action Verbs
These verbs tell what the subject is doing in the sentence. Action Verbs are one of the most easily identifiable types of verbs. To recognize them, you simply have to look for the word in the sentence that answers the question ‘What is the subject doing?’ e.g. -
Rose is painting the kitchen walls.
The subject here is Rose, and what is Rose doing? Rose is painting. Hence painting is our action verb.
My dog is sleeping on the sofa.
The subject here is dog, and what is the dog doing? The dog is sleeping. So sleeping is our action verb.

There are two types of Action Verbs which describe the Verb and the Subject doing the action and the Object on which the action is done, they are -
Transitive Verbs -
These Action Verbs have a definite object on which, or for which the action is being performed. That means that the action has a definite recipient or object. To identify them you can ask the question what is the/did the subject -verb-?
Rose is painting the kitchen walls.
Here the verb is painting and the subject is Rose.
If we form the question - what is Rose painting?
The answer is- The kitchen walls.
Thus, we see that there was a specific object on which the action of painting was being done.
Hannah gave him a big hug.
Here we see that the action ‘gave’ is being performed by the subject Hannah. So the question is what did Hannah give? And the answer is - A big hug.
Here, we also have a indirect object as ‘him’. This indirect object would be the answer to the question-
Who did the subject (Hannah) -verb- (give) the object (hug) to?
Intransitive Verbs -
These verbs also show an action but here there is no specific object on which the action is being done. To recognize these verbs, we ask the question what is the/did the subject -verb- ? If there is no answer present, then the verb in the sentence is an Intransitive Verb.
Rose is painting right now.
Here, if we ask the question what is Rose painting? There is no answer which means that in this sentence painting is an Intransitive Verb.
It is telling us about the action of the subject but there is no specific object for the action.
Hannah sneezed repeatedly.
Here, the verb is sneezed. If we ask the question what did Hannah sneeze? There is no answer present for it making sneezed a intransitive verb.

Dynamic and Stative Verbs
This category of verbs deals with the verb words themselves; and whether they indicate an action or a state of the subject. This category is not concerned with the object in particular.
Dynamic Verbs
These verbs denote an actual action or expression or process done by the subject. They mean an action which can be seen or physically felt or the result of which is seen or physically felt by the object or an indirect object.
She buys new clothes every week.
Here the verb is buys which is an action done by the subject ‘she’, hence it is a dynamic verb.
He is swimming at the beach.
Here again we have the definite action swimming done by the subject ‘he’, making ‘swimming’ a dynamic verb in this sentence.
Stative Verbs
These verbs refer to the state of the subject or the situation of the subject. Stative Verbs tell us about the state of mind of the subject, or the relation between the subject and the object.
She prefers strawberry jam.
Here the Stative Verb is ‘prefers’ which shows the thinking of the subject ‘She’ towards the object, which is ‘jam’.
The cupboard requires a new coat of paint.
Here the subject is ‘cupboard’ and the stative verb is ‘requires’ which is telling about the relation between the subject ‘cupboard’ and the object ‘paint’.

Linking Verbs
These verbs are unlike other verbs as they do not tell anything about a subject themselves, instead Linking Verbs connect the subject to a noun or adjective that helps in describing or providing additional information about the subject. Those nouns or adjectives are called the subject complements.
Lisa is fussy about food.
Here we see the subject is Lisa and the linking verb is ‘is’ which is connecting Lisa to the subject complement ‘fussy about food’ which is giving additional information about Lisa’s preferences.
They are stubborn children.
Here the linking verb is ‘are’ which is combining the subject They to the subject complement of ‘stubborn’ which is an adjective.
The best to recognize linking words in a sentence is to see whether the verb can be replaced by ‘is, am or are’. If the sentence still sounds logical you know you have a linking verb.
The students felt relieved. - The students are relieved.
Hence ‘felt’ was a linking verb and not an action verb. As ‘felt’ here is simply connecting the subject to the adjective.
Every student felt the relief. - Every student is/am/are the relief.
Hence in this sentence ‘felt’ is action verb as it is the action of ‘feeling an emotion.’

Using Verbs in Sentences -
To use verbs correctly in sentences you need to learn more about the construction and use of the various verbs. And how they change form according to tenses and use in a sentence. For correct application verbs in written text you will need to know about -
Regular and Irregular Verbs - These are the two different ways in which verbs change to form different tenses. Whether to simply add ‘-ed’ at the end of a verb or does it take a different form altogether.
Finite and Non-Finite Verbs - These are verbs which can be either the main verb of a sentence or just one that is used as an adjective or noun as well.
Modal Verbs - These verbs tell us whether something is probable or about the skills of a noun etc. There are 10 modal verbs in total and each have an important part in sentence formation.

List of Verbs, Verb Examples

Accept	Disagree	Obey
Achieve	Drag	Offend
Add	Drive	Offer
Admire	Drop	Open
Admit	Earn	Paint
Adopt	Eat	Pay
Advise	Employ	Pick
Agree	Encourage	Play
Allow	Enjoy	Pray
Announce	Establish	Print
Appreciate	Estimate	Pull
Approve	Exercise	Punch
Argue	Expand	Punish
Arrive	Explain	Purchase
Ask	Fear	Push
Assist	Feel	Quit
Attack	Fight	Race
Bake	Find	Read
Bathe	Fly	Relax
Be	Forget	Remember
Beat	Forgive	Reply
Become	Fry	Retire
Beg	Gather	Rub
Behave	Get	See
Bet	Give	Select
Boast	Glow	Sell
Boil	Greet	Send
Borrow	Grow	Sing
Breathe	Guess	Snore
Bring	Harass	Stand
Build	Hate	Stare
Burn	Hear	Start
Bury	Help	Stink
Buy	Hit	Study
Call	Hope	Sweep
Catch	Identify	Swim
Challenge	Interrupt	Take
Change	Introduce	Talk
Cheat	Irritate	Teach
Chew	Jump	Tear
Choose	Keep	Tell
Clap	Kick	Thank
Clean	Kiss	Travel
Collect	Laugh	Type
Compare	Learn	Understand
Complain	Leave	Use
Confess	Lend	Visit
Confuse	Lie	Wait
Construct	Like	Walk
Control	Listen	Want
Copy	Lose	Warn
Count	Love	Wed
Create	Make	Weep
Cry	Marry	Wink
Damage	Measure	Worry
Dance	Meet	Write
Deliver	Move	Yell
Destroy	Murder

Regular and Irregular Verbs

The distinction between regular verbs and irregular verbs is a very simple one:
Regular Verbs
Those verbs that form their past participle with ‘d’ or ‘ed’ are regular verbs. These verbs do not undergo substantial changes while changing forms between tenses.

If the verb ends with a vowel, only ‘d’ is added. For example:

PRESENT TENSE PAST TENSE

Share Shared

Scare Scared

Dare Dared

If the verb ends with a consonant, ‘ed’ is added. For example:

PRESENT TENSE PAST TENSE

Want Wanted

Shout Shouted

Kill Killed

Irregular Verbs
Those verbs that undergo substantial changes when changing forms between tenses are irregular verbs. The changed forms of these verbs are often unrecognizably different from the originals. For example:
                        PRESENT TENSE                             PAST TENSE
                        Go                                                       Went
                        Run                                                     Ran
                        Think                                                   Thought

There is no way to tell what form an irregular verb is going to take in a changed tense; the only option for an English speaker is to commit the changes to memory. With practice, it will become a matter of habit.

Finite and Non-finite Verbs

Finite Verbs
Finite Verbs are those verbs that have a definite relation with the subject or noun. These verbs are usually the main verb of a clause or sentence and can be changed according to the noun. They are used only in present and past tense. They can be indicative of passive or active voice and also of number (singular or plural).
She walks home. - Here we see that the finite verb is walks and the pronoun is 'she'.
She walked home. - Here we can see how the verb changed/modified to change the tense of the sentence.

Non-Finite Verbs
These verbs cannot be the main verb of a clause or sentence as they do not talk about the action that is being performed by the subject or noun. They do not indicate any tense, mood or gender. They are used as nouns, adverbs and adjectives. They are also used to form non-finite clauses which are simply dependent clauses that use non-finite verbs.
He loves camping in the woods. - Here the non-finite verb is camping and it is used as a noun. These kind of non-finite verbs are called Gerunds.
I need to go to sleep. - Here the non- finite verb phrase is to sleep, it is acting as a noun. Non-finite verbs that use ‘to’ before them are called Infinitives.
The sleeping dog caused a delay. - The non-finite verbs that have ‘-ing’ or ‘-ed’ as suffixes and cause the verb to come an adjective are called Participles.

Participles, Gerunds & Infinitives

Participles, Gerunds and Infinitives are called verbals. Verbals are words which are formed from a verb but which function as a different part of speech.

PARTICIPLE
A participle is usually formed by adding –ing or –ed to a verb. It functions as an adjective.

Examples:
The singing bird was the main attraction at the event.
The injured man was waiting for the doctor.

GERUND
A gerund is formed by adding –ing to a verb. It functions as a noun.

Examples:
Swimming is very good for the body.
Smoking is prohibited in the hospital.

INFINITIVE
An infinitive is formed by using the word ‘to’ before the verb in its stem word. It functions as a noun, adjective or adverb.

Examples:
He was made to clean his room.
Shalini loves to talk.

Auxiliary Verbs

These verbs are also called Helping Verbs, as they ‘help’ the main verb to denote the actions of the subject. They help in making compound tenses of the main verb and also help in making negative statements, questions and passive voice statements. There are only four auxiliary verbs - Be, Have, Will and Do.

BE
The verb ‘be’ can be used as an auxiliary and a full verb, we can distinguish between the two uses as the auxiliary ‘be’ will always have another main verb coming after it in a sentence. ‘Be’ is an irregular verb with many different forms according to the different tenses. Please refer to the Irregular Verbs list to avoid confusion.
Progressive Tense Use of Be:
In progressive tense sentences made with ‘be’, we always use the ‘-ing’ suffixed version of the main verb.

Tense	Meaning	Use of ‘Be’
Present Progressive	The action which is ongoing	She is baking a cake today.
Past Progressive	An action that was ongoing in the past.	She was baking a cake yesterday.
Present Perfect Progressive	Action that began in the past and is still going on.	She has been baking a cake today.
Past Perfect Progressive	Action that started in past and finished at another time in the past.	She had been baking a cake last night.

Passive Voice Use of Be:
Using passive voice means when we want to put the emphasis on the object, to which the action is being done instead of on the subject or not include the subject at all e.g. -
The dishes are washed. - Here the dishes are the object that received the action of washing but no subject is mentioned to show ‘who’ was washing the dishes.

Passive	Use of ‘Be’
Simple Present	The cake is made.
Simple Past	The cake was made.
Present Perfect	The cake has been made.
Past Perfect	The cake had been made.
Future	The cake will be made.

HAVE
The verb ‘have’ can also be used as full verb or a helping verb. The way to differentiate between them is that if ‘have’ is used as an auxiliary verb, then it has to be followed by a main verb as well. The verb ‘have’ is used to make compound tenses in active and passive voices, and also used in the making of negative sentences and questions. It is an irregular verb that changes form according to tense.
Using ‘Have’ in Compound Tenses:
When we use ‘have’ in simple tense with an active voice, we use the ‘-ed’ suffixed form of the main verb unless it is an irregular verb. While for progressive tenses we use the ‘-ing’ suffixed form of the main verb. Have is used for only two compound tenses in the passive voice.

Tense	Meaning	Use of ‘Have’
Present Perfect	Action that happened at unspecified time before now	She has baked a cake.
Past Perfect	Action that happened before another action in the past	She had baked a cake.
Present Perfect Progressive	Action that began in the past and is still going on.	She has been baking a cake.
Past perfect Progressive	Action that started in past and finished at another time in the past.	She had been baking a cake.
Present Perfect (Passive Voice)	Action that happened at unspecified time before now	The cake has been made.
Past Perfect (Passive Voice)	Action that happened before another action in the past	The cake had been made.

Negative Sentences and Questions:
While making negative sentences and questions with ‘have’ as an auxiliary verb, we need to be careful to put ‘have’ before the other verb otherwise ‘have’ becomes the main verb of the sentence.

She does not have a cake.

- In this sentence ‘have’ is the main verb while ‘does not’ becomes the auxiliary verb.

She has not got a cake.

- In this sentence ‘have’ is the helping verb for the main verb which is ‘got’.

Has she got cake?

- Here the main verb is ‘got’ and the helping verb is ‘have’ as it comes before the main verb.

Does she have cake?

- In this sentence the main verb is ‘have’ as it comes after the helping verb ‘does’.

WILL
The verb ‘will’ is the only auxiliary verb that can never be a main verb. It is always used as an auxiliary to make future tenses and negative sentences. Also, it remains the same throughout every tense and person.
Future Tense Use of ‘Will’:

Tense	Meaning	Use of ‘Will’
Future I	An action promised/assumed in the future.	She will not bake a cake.
Future I I	An action that will be finished in the future.	She will have baked a cake.

Negative Sentences:
In negative sentences, the verb ‘will’ does not change its form when used with ‘not’. But it does form the contraction ‘won’t’ that is equally correct to use depending upon the language and flow of the sentence.
She will not have cake. = She won’t have cake.

- As ‘will’ can only be an auxiliary verb, both the sentences are grammatically correct.

DO
The helping verb ‘do’ can also act as a full verb only in positive sentences. When do is used in a negative sentence, it is an auxiliary verb. The helping verb ‘do’ is also used to make questions for most verbs except other auxiliary verbs and the modal verbs. Do is an irregular verb that changes its form according to the tense.
Negative Sentences:

Tense	Meaning	Use of ‘Do’
Simple Present	Action taking place now - once or several times or never.	She does not bake cakes.
Simple Past	Action that happened in the past - once/ many times/ never.	She did not bake cakes.

Questions:
When ‘do’ is used to make a sentence, we can only ask the question in the simple tense. For other tenses, we have to use other verbs whether main or auxiliary.

Tense	Meaning	Use of ‘Do’
Simple Present	Action taking place now - once or several times or never.	Does she bake cakes?
Simple Past	Action that happened in the past - once/ many times/ never.	Did she bake a cake?

Places Where ‘Do’ is Not Used:
There are certain instances where the auxiliary verb ‘do’ is not used for negative sentences or questions. The following table tells the different reasons and instances where and why ‘do’ is not used.

Reason	Negative Sentence	Question
The main verb is ‘Be’	There was no cake.	Is there any cake?
There is another Helping Verb	There won’t be any cake.	Will you have some cake?
There is a Modal Verb	She can’t make a cake	Can she make a cake?

Stative Verbs

Stative verbs are verbs that describe a state rather than an action. When describing states, they never take the continuous (‘-ing’) form. Here are some examples of stative verbs and instances of their correct and incorrect usage.

STATIVE VERB	CORRECT USAGE	INCORRECT USAGE
Like	I like you.	I am liking you.
Love	I love you.	I am loving you.
Hate	I hate you.	I am hating you
Appear	It appears to be cloudy.	It is appearing to be cloudy.
Believe	I believe in God.	I am believing in God.
Fit	This shoe fits me.	This shoe is fitting me.
Sound	This song sounds good.	This song is sounding good.
Remember	I remember everything.	I am remembering everything.

Modal Verbs

There are 10 modal verbs in the English language:

Can
Could
May
Might
Will
Would
Must
Shall
Should
Ought to

Uses:

To indicate that something is probable or possible, or not so. For example:

It is sunny today; it must be warm outside. = It is sunny today; it is probably warm outside.
His mobile is not reachable; he may/might/could be travelling by metro. = His mobile is not reachable; it is possible that he is travelling by metro.
This can’t be our bill. = It is not possible that this is our bill.

‘Can’ and ‘could’ are used to refer to skills and abilities. For example:

He can cover a hundred metres in under ten seconds.
My father could see perfectly before the age of fifty.
I can’t ride a horse.

‘Must’ is used to indicate that something is necessary or of extreme importance, and ‘should’ is used to suggest that something is advisable. For example:

You must do your homework.
You mustn’t skip school.
You should say sorry.
You shouldn’t smoke.

‘Can’, ‘could’ and ‘may’ are used to ask for, give and withhold permission. For example:

Can I try my hand at it?
Could we disperse early today?
You may not enter the premises.

‘Will’ and ‘would’ are used to refer to habits and inclinations.

When I was a child, I would often climb trees.
I will never refuse you anything.
He would never do such a thing.

These verbs differ from ordinary verbs in 3 respects.

When used with the third person singular (he, she), they don’t require the addition of an ‘s’.
They can be used to form questions by inverting the structure of the sentence.
They can be followed directly by the verb, without the use of ‘to’.

Prepositions

Prepositions are the words which are used to connect the different nouns, pronouns and phrases in a sentence. It functions to introduce or precede the word or phrase to be connected, called the object of the preposition.
The preposition usually indicates the relation between the words it is connecting. It tells whether the words are connected in actual space or a place, or related through time or are they part of a thought or process.
Prepositional phrases are the preposition and its object and any adjectives or adverbs that were applied to the object. The prepositional phrase as a whole can also be used as a noun, adverb or adjective.
He found the book on the table.

Here the preposition is ‘on’ as it shows the relation in place between the book and the table.
The prepositional phrase is ‘on the table’ which is acting as an Adverb telling where the book was found.

She went to sleep early.

In this sentence the preposition is ‘to’ which is introducing where or in what state had the noun gone into.

Her house was beside a steep hill.

The preposition here is beside which is telling the place where the house was.
The prepositional phrase is ‘beside a steep hill’ which is acting as an adverb.

Kinds of Prepositions -
Simple Prepositions -

§ These prepositions are constructed by only one word like -

§ On, at, about, with, after, for, etc.

§ He found the book about dogs on the table, in the bedroom.

Double Prepositions-

§ These prepositions are formed by combining two words or two Simple Prepositions-

§ Into, within, upon, onto, etc.

§ The dog jumped onto the bed and left marks upon the sheets.

Compound Prepositions-

§ These prepositions are formed by attaching a preposition as a prefix to a word. In the words that begin with ‘a’ like above or ‘be’ in beside or ‘in’ in within ‘a’, ‘be’ and ‘in’ act as prepositions.

§ About, above, behind, within, inside, between, etc.

§ He was angry to see the dog inside the room and mud between the sheets.

Participle Prepositions-

§ Participles are actually verbs that end with ‘-en’ or ‘-ing’. As these verbs were commonly and very popularly used as prepositions by the people, these verbs have been given a special status as prepositions.

§ Considering, during, given, including etc.

§ Considering what he had to work with, he did a pretty good job.

Phrase Prepositions-

§ These prepositions are a combination of the preposition + a modifier (optional) + the object. They are used to modify the nouns, verbs or sentences and also complete clauses.

§ At home, in time, with me, from my father, under the blanket, etc.

§ The clothes left on the bed have been ironed and kept back. In this sentence, ‘on the bed’ is acting as an adjective.

These classifications are based on the construction of the prepositions themselves. Apart from this, prepositions are also categorized based on their use in a sentence as -

Prepositions of Place
Prepositions of Time
Prepositions of Movement

List of Prepositions

Prepositions can only be learnt by memory; unfortunately there is no method or particular way to recognize and learn them. To help you with memorizing the different prepositions, here is a list of common prepositions.

Simple Prepositions
For
By
At
On
Of
Off
To

Double Prepositions
Into
Onto
Upto
From Behind
From Beneath
Out Of
Upon

Compound Prepositions
Across
Along
Beside
Behind
Before
Without
Inside

Participle Prepositions
Concerning
Notwithstanding
Pending
During
Given
Failing
Excluding

Phrase Prepositions
At high speed
By all means
For a change
In accordance with
On a journey
Out of curiosity
To the best of

Prepositions of Place

Prepositions of place refer to those prepositions that can be used to show where something is located.
There are three prepositions of place:

At
‘At’ is used for a point:

            At the end of the lane.
            At the door/entrance/exit.
            At the corner.
            At the desk.

Note: There are many standard expressions that are exceptions to this rule:

            At home.
            At work.
            At school/college/university.
            At the side.

In
‘In’ is used for enclosed spaces:

            In Mumbai/India.
            In the room.
            In the store.
            In my pocket/bag.
            In the building/tower.

Note: There are some standard expressions that are an exception to this rule:

            In the book/magazine/newspaper.
            In the sky.

On
‘On’ is used for surfaces:

            On the table.
            On the rug.
            On the floor.
            On the cover.
            On the page.
Note: There are many standard expressions that are exceptions to this rule:

            On the bus/train/plane/ship.
            On the radio/television.
            On the left/right.
            On the way.

Prepositions of Time

There are three prepositions of time:

At
‘At’ is used for precise times:

            At ten o’clock.
            At 10.30am.
            At the moment/present/same time.
            At sunrise/sunset/noon/dinnertime/bedtime/dusk/dawn.

Note: At night is a standard expression that is an exception in this case.

In
‘In’ is used for months, years, decades, centuries, and long periods of time:

            In January.
            In 1991.
            In the 70s.
            In this century.
            In the Dark Ages.
Note: In the morning(s)/afternoon(s)/evening(s) are standard expressions that are exceptions in this case.

On
‘On’ is used for days and dates:

            On Wednesday.
            On Friday.
On the 10^th of January
            On Christmas.

Note: ‘on’ is also used when you specify the day followed by the part of the day. For e.g. on Wednesday mornings.

Prepositions of Movement

There are 9 prepositions that pertain to movement:

To
‘To’ is used when there is a specific destination in mind. The destination can be a number of things:

A place:

I’m going to the doctor’s.

Can you direct me to the nearest post office?

An event:

Are you going to the party?

I have never been to a concert.

A person:
                                    She came up to me.
                                    I go to my father for advice.

A position:
                                    The bathroom is to your left.
                                    Keep to the left.

Towards
‘Towards’ is used in the following instances:
When one has movement in a particular direction in mind, rather than simply a destination:

He was walking menacingly towards me.

Or to refer to a position, in relation to a direction from the point of view of the speaker:

He was sitting with his back towards me.

Through
‘Through’ refers to the following types of movement:

Within a space, which can be thought of as surrounding, enclosing or around the object:

The train went through the tunnel.

Movement across something, i.e. from one side of it to the other:

He cut through the gauze.

Into
‘Into’ refers to the following types of movement:
Movement from the outside to the inside of something that can be imagined as surrounding, enclosing or around the object:

He got into the car.

Movement causing something to hit something else:

He swerved into the tree.

Across
‘Across’ is used to describe:

Movement from one end of something to the other:
                                    He walked across the road.
                                    He strode across the bridge.

Something’s position when it stretches over the surface it is on:
                                    There was a barricade across the road.

To describe something’s position when it is at the opposite end from one’s position:
                                    We went to the restaurant across the road.

Over
‘Over’ is used in the following instances:

To describe something’s position when it is above something else:

The bottle is in the cabinet over the sink in the kitchen.

To describe something’s position when it covers a surface:

A white cloth had been spread over the corpse.

Along
‘Along’ is used to describe:

Movement in a line:

We walked along the river.

The collective position of a group of things that are in a line:

He lived in one of the houses along the river.

In
‘In’ is used in the following instances:

Something’s position in relation to the area or space or place surrounding it:

We are going to have our picnic in the park.

I left my car in the garage.

To express towards the inside of something:

Put the pickle in the cabinet.

On
‘On’ is used in the following instances:

To describe something’s position in relation to a surface:

There was an array of food on the table.

To describe movement in the direction of a surface:

The rain falling on the roof kept me from sleeping.

Pronouns

Pronouns are words that we use in place of Nouns (or other Pronouns) in a sentence to make it less repetitive and less awkward. Some of the most common Pronouns are - he, she, you, they, it, etc. These Pronouns are divided into different categories based on their use -

Personal Pronouns
These pronouns are used for a specific object or person and they change their forms to indicate the different genders, numbers, case and persons speaking -
Tanya told him to take the food to them as soon as possible as it was urgently needed.
‘Him’ is a Pronoun of gender.
‘Them’ is a Pronoun of number showing that there is more than one person, and it is also a Pronoun of case as it is referring to a specific group in an objective manner.
‘It’ is also a Pronoun of gender showing the object (food).
So we can see that the Personal Pronouns can be based on -
Gender –
He went to the market. - He is used for the male gender. Other examples are - His, Him, He, etc.
She is doing the laundry. - She is used for the female gender. Other examples are - Her, Hers, etc.
It is important to them. - It is gender neutral as it shows an object, them is also gender neutral as them can consist of both genders. Other gender neutral pronouns are - Their, They, Its, etc.
Number –
Singular Pronouns - Where the pronoun is only referring to one specific noun.
That book belongs to me. - Me refers to one singular person only.
Plural Pronouns - Where the pronoun is used to refer to a number of nouns.
That is their book, not yours. - Their shows a number of people, hence it’s a plural personal pronoun. Whereas the ‘yours’ in this sentence is another example of singular personal pronoun.
Cases -
Subjective Case -
She is at work. -‘She’ is the main subject of the sentence, hence in this sentence, ‘she’ is the subjective personal pronoun. You can ask the question ‘who/what is doing ______?’ to recognize whether a pronoun is subjective or objective.
Objective Case -
He will meet us later. -‘Us’ is the objective personal noun as it the object of the verb meet. ‘He’ is the subject as he is the person who will be doing the action of meeting.
Possessive Case -
That is our clubhouse. - ‘Our’ shows the possession of the object ‘clubhouse’. Possessive pronouns can also be used to show possession over people.

Demonstrative Pronouns
Demonstrative Pronouns are used to show or identify one or a number of nouns that may be far or near in distance or time. They are only four in number - This, That, These and Those. This and That are singular demonstrative pronouns and These and Those are plural demonstrative pronouns. They can also be used to show an unspecified quantity in a sentence.
That is a beautiful house. - That is a demonstrative pronoun that is referring to a specific noun (house). This is a singular pronoun as it is referring to only one house.
These were made by me. - These is showing an unspecified quantity of something that was made by a person. This is a plural demonstrative pronoun as it’s referring to a number of objects.
Everyone remembers those days. - Those is showing a particular time or period of days in the past; it is being used in place of a noun that could be - school, summer, college, etc. Here also those is a plural demonstrative pronoun as it’s indicating a number of days.
This is what he is charging? - This is used as pronoun in place of a number and it is also acting as a quantifier by referring not only to the noun but to the amount/number of the noun as well. This is a singular demonstrative pronoun.

Interrogative Pronouns
Who, Whom, Which and What are Interrogative Pronouns as they are used to ask questions about a person or object that we do not know about. Compounds of these words are made by attaching ‘-ever’ to the words to strengthen the emphasis on the word.
Which one would you like? - Here, ‘which’ is being used to ask someone to make a choice between different things, instead of naming every single choice that is available.
What is your name? - What is used to ask a personal noun that the speaker doesn’t know.
Who will be managing the buffet? - Who is used to ask about a specific person related to a task.
Whom did you tell about this? - Whom is showing/asking the person who was told something by ‘you’.
Whoever could have done this? - Whoever is the compound of ‘Who’ and it is used here to emphasise the feeling of confusion in the sentence while still asking a question.
Whichever one will you choose? - Whichever is used here to show strong emotion while asking a person’s choice.
In the case of Who and Whom -
Who is always the subject of the verb. The emphasis is on the identity of the person who did the action.
Who rang the bell? Here, we can see that the verb phrase rang the bell is secondary and the main emphasis is on the identity of the person ringing the bell.
Whom is never the subject of the verb. It is used to show the person to or for whom the action is being done. In other words, it is the object of the verb.
Whom were you meeting with? Here, we can see that the subject of verb or the person who was meeting someone is ‘you’. Whom is the object of the verb or the person ‘you’ were ‘meeting’.

Relative Pronouns
Relative Pronouns are used to join or relate two different clauses together by referring to the noun in the previous clause using the pronouns - Who, Whom, Whose, Which and That.
Which and That are generally used for objects; while Who and Whom are used for people, and Whose is used to show possession.
She will choose the colour which looks good on everyone.
Here, which is joining the two related clauses about choosing a colour and a colour which would look good on everyone.
She is complaining to whoever she comes across nowadays.
Here, the whoever is the object of the verb ‘complaining’ and it is linking the two clauses about someone complaining and the frequency of their complaints.
There is a car in the parking lot that someone has painted a bright pink.
That is joining the two sentences related to the object and its location in the first and its appearance in the second.
She needs to know by tomorrow who will be accompanying her on the trip.
Who here stands for the unknown person and it also joins the two different clauses together.
Is there anyone here whose mobile phone has a signal?
Whose is used here to ask if anyone has possession of something that the speaker needs.

Indefinite Pronouns
These pronouns are used to show unspecified objects or people, whether in plural or in singular. They are used to indicate the entire noun or some of the noun or none of the noun. They are used when we want to refer to group of nouns without actually specifying who or how much.
Some common indefinite nouns are - anyone, someone, none, everything, many, few, etc.
If anyone has seen my notebook please return it to me. – Here, we see the pronoun anyone is being used to refer to everyone without any specification.
A few of the members were not satisfied with the service. - Few means a small number of people/objects. Hence, it is a plural indefinite pronoun.
Nobody was answering when I called them last. – Here, we see a pronoun nobody being used to show no one at all. It is a singular indefinite pronoun.

Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns
Reflexive Pronouns are those which are used to indicate a noun which has been used in an earlier part of the same sentence. These pronouns are - Myself, Themselves, Yourself, Ourselves, Herself, Himself and Itself.
Rosa was going to take it to the shop but ended up fixing it herself one afternoon. – Here, we can see that herself is being used to refer to ‘Rosa’ again at the end of the sentence.
He prefers to be by himself after a game. – Here, himself is used to refer to ‘him’.
Apart from ordering in, they cooked a few snack themselves. – Here themselves is used to show that ‘they’ cooked something.
The horse hurt itself while trying to escape. - Since itself is a gender neutral pronoun, it is used to show the nouns that have no definite gender. E.g. : material things or ideas, etc.; or whose gender is unknown. E : animals.
These same words are also called Intensive Pronouns, which are used to lay emphasis on the pronoun that comes before them in the sentence.
They themselves knew that the prank was in bad taste. - Here, the pronoun themselves is used to emphasise ‘they’.
Avoid reporting things that you yourself haven’t witnessed. - Here yourself is used to emphasise the pronoun ‘you’.

Reciprocal Pronoun
There are just two Reciprocal Pronouns - Each other and One another. They are used when two or more nouns are doing or being the same to one another. Both of these pronouns are plural in nature as they can only be used in situations where there is more than one noun.
Jamie and Jack always sit beside each other in break. – Here, the reciprocation is between the children as they both sit together.
They haven’t seen one another since last year. – Here, neither of the two parties has seen each other in some time.
The trees seem to reach towards each other in a strong wind. – Here, we have an unspecified amount of trees bending towards the others in a strong wind.

Conjunctions

A conjunction is a word which connects two words or clauses or sentences and shows the relation between them. They are used to avoid making the text seem like bullet points and to make the text flow. E.g. -
Jai saw a dog on the road. He decided to adopt the dog. Jai brought the dog home.
Jai saw a dog on the road and decided to adopt the dog, so he brought the dog home.
Here ‘and’ and ‘so’ are conjunctions which are used to join the sentences and show the relation between them.
There are three main categories of conjunctions that are explained below. Apart from these, there are also Adverbs of Conjunctions,. To learn more about the Adverbs of Conjunctions visit the Adverbs page.

Coordinating Conjunctions
These conjunctions are used to link or join two words or phrases that are equally important and complete in terms of grammar when compared with each other. That is to say, the sentences or words do not depend on anything to give themselves meaning.
There are seven main coordinating conjunctions -

For

And

Nor

But

Yet

Soon

As you can see, these conjunctions are arranged in this way to provide the mnemonic acronym of FANBOYS so that it is easier to remember them. These conjunctions are always placed between the two clauses or words that they are joining. The following are some examples of the coordinating conjunctions -
Chris does not want tea. Chris does not want coffee. - Chris does not want tea or coffee.

Here, we see how ‘or’ was used to combine the two words and make a cohesive sentence using them. Also, notice how the ‘or’ is between the two words.

I scored 60% in the exams this year. Anita scored 7% more than me this year. - I scored 60% in the exams but Anita scored 7% more than me this year.

Here we see that ‘but’ was used in the middle to combine and show the relation between the two sentences that were both equally important and cohesive by themselves.

Subordinating Conjunctions
These conjunctions are used to join an independent and complete clause with a dependent clause that relies on the main clause for meaning and relevance. The dependent clause cannot exist on its own as a sentence and often does not make sense without the main clause.
The subordinating conjunction always comes before the dependent clause but the dependent clause itself can be placed either ahead of or following the independent clause.
Since they had misbehaved, the boys were given one week suspensions from school.
Here, we see the dependent clause is ‘they had misbehaved’ which is not a valid sentence by itself.
The independent main clause is ‘the boys were given one week suspensions from school’.
They are joined by the subordinating conjunction ‘since’.
He was fond of playing basketball because it was his father’s favourite game.
In this sentence, because is the subordinating conjunction as it introduces the dependent clause ‘it was his father’s favourite game’
The main clause in this sentence is ‘he was fond of playing basketball’ as it is the sentence which can be said independently and still be grammatically correct.
Other subordinating conjunctions are - Although, As, Before, Once, Though, Until, Whether, etc.

Correlative Conjunctions
Correlative Conjunctions are simply pairs of conjunctions used in a sentence to join different words or groups of words in a sentence together. Correlative Conjunctions are generally not used to link sentences themselves, instead they link two or more words of equal importance within the sentence itself. Some of the more commonly used correlative conjunctions are -
Both the shoes and the dress were completely overpriced.

This is an example of using the correlative conjunctions ‘both/and’ in a sentence. As you can see in this sentence, the ‘shoes’ and the ‘dress’ were equally important elements that needed to be given the same importance.

They should either change their strategy or just forfeit the game.

The ‘either/or’ conjunctions are used to suggest a choice between two options. Here the choice being suggested is between - ‘change their strategy’ or ‘forfeit the game’.

Just as she loves hiking so she enjoys travelling as well.

The correlative conjunctions ‘just as/so’ are used to link two phrases that have a similar theme or are referring to a similar thing together. This conjunction is used to show the correspondence between two phrases or words.

He neither helps around the house nor does he look for a job.

‘Neither/nor’ are conjunctions that are used to deny or negate words and phrases. In the case of ‘neither’, it gives two options that are both negated. ‘Nor’ is the negative form of ‘or’.

Not only does he play the lead guitar but he is also the band’s songwriter.

The correlative conjunctions ‘not only/but’ are used to show an additional and important element in the sentence that is used to indicate excess when combined with the first element. For instance, in this sentence the fact that he is a guitarist and a song writer are equally important but when shown together, they indicate an excess of talent in the person.

It doesn’t matter whether the roses are fresh or if they are drooping, just buy them.

‘Whether/or’ is used as a conjunction to show two different options in the sentence. The conjunction can be used both in a manner of negation and confirmation.

Interjection

Interjections are small words that bear no grammatical connection with the sentences in which they are used. They express the emotions or sentiments of the speaker or convey hesitation or protest. They are usually followed by an exclamation mark.
Since many interjections are mainly written forms of actual sounds that were produced by humans, they are hardly used in academic or scholarly writing, unless they are a part of a direct quote or otherwise.

Ah! Now that’s what I call a good shot! Bravo!

Both Ah and Bravo are interjections used to show the speaker’s admiration in the sentence. There are many different uses for various interjections; the following is a list of the common interjections you may hear around you in daily life -

Interjection	Meaning	Use
Aah	Exclamation of fear	Aah! The monster’s got me!
Ahh	Realization or acceptance	Ahh, now I see what you mean.
Aww	Something sweet or cute	Aww! Just look at that kitten.
Bingo	Acknowledge something as right	Bingo! That’s exactly what we were looking for!
Eh	Question something	So that was all she said, eh?
Eww	Something disgusting	Eww! That movie was so gory.
Hmph	To indicate displeasure	Hmph. I could that for half the amount he charged.
Oh	I see/ I think	Oh, it’s been around a week since I saw her.
Oops	Making a mistake	Oops! Sorry I didn’t see those skates there.
Ouch	Exclamation of pain	Ouch, that hurt! Stop pinching me!
Shh	An indication for silence	Shh! The show is about to start.
Uh oh	Showing dismay	Uh oh! The teacher’s caught him.
Whew	Amazement and/or relief	Whew! I can’t believe we actually finished it all.
Wow	Expressing surprise or admiration	Wow! That’s really great news!
Yay/Yaay	Congratulatory exclamation	I can’t believe you’re actually coming here! Yaay!
Yeah	Variant of ‘yes’	Yeah, I’d love some orange juice.
Yikes	For fear or concern (not serious)	Yikes, my mother’s home!
Yippee	Exclamation of celebration	Yippee! We won, lets head to the bar.

Some interjections are used to stall for time or indicate that the speaker is thinking of something. These interjections are also used when someone doesn’t know what to say. The following is a list of these sounds or words; they are also called Hesitation Devices -

Interjection	Meaning	Use
Uh	Indicates a pause/ need for more time	Wait I know this… uh… is it Ruskin Bond?
Hmm	Thinking/Hesitating about something	Hmm, I’m not sure this colour is the best for this room.
Er	Not knowing what to say	I don’t think…er… wait… let me call my boss.
Um	Pausing or being skeptical	Not that I don’t believe you but, um, you say it’s a ghost?

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 TENSES
SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE
In Simple Present, the action is simply mentioned and there is nothing being said about its completeness.
I eat.
I sleep.
I play.
PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE
In Present Continuous, the action is on-going/ still going on and hence continuous.
I am eating.
I am sleeping.
I am playing.
PRESENT PERFECT TENSE
In Present Perfect, the action is complete or has ended and hence termed Perfect.
I have eaten.
I have slept.
I have played.
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE
In Present Perfect Continuous, the action has been taking place for some time and is still ongoing.
I have been eating.
I have been sleeping.
I have been playing.

PAST TENSES
SIMPLE PAST TENSE
In Simple Past, the action is simply mentioned and understood to have taken place in the past.
I ate.
I slept.
I played.
PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE
In Past Continuous, the action was ongoing till a certain time in the past.
I was eating.
I was sleeping.
I was playing.
PAST PERFECT TENSE
Past Perfect is used to express something that happened before another action in the past.
I had eaten.
I had slept.
I had played.
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.
I had been eating.
I had been sleeping.
I had been playing.

FUTURE TENSES
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.
I will eat.
I will sleep.
I will play.
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.
I will be eating at 9 a.m.
I will be sleeping when you arrive.
I will be playing at 5 p.m.

FUTURE PERFECT TENSE
Future Perfect expresses action that will occur in the future before another action in the future.
I will have eaten before 10 a.m.
I will have slept before you arrive.
I will have played before 6 p.m.
FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE
Future Perfect Continuous is used to talk about an on-going action before some point in the future.
I will have been sleeping for two hours when you arrive.
I will have been playing for an hour when it is 5 p.m.

Simple Present Tense

In Simple Present, the action is simply mentioned and there is nothing being said about its completeness. It is used to talk about an action which happens on a regular basis.

POSITIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	VERB	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	study	in Bal Bharti school.
You	study	in Bal Bharti school.
He	studies	in Bal Bharti school.
Mohan	studies	in Bal Bharti school.
The boy	studies	in Bal Bharti school.
She	studies	in Bal Bharti school.
Pooja	studies	in Bal Bharti school.
The girl	studies	in Bal Bharti school.
We	study	in Bal Bharti school.
You	study	in Bal Bharti school.
They	study	in Bal Bharti school.
The children	study	in Bal Bharti school.

Notice how we use ‘study’ for the subjects I, You, We, You and They and we use ‘studies’ for the subjects ‘He’ and ‘She’.

NEGATIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	DON’T (DO NOT) / DOESN’T (DOES NOT)	VERB	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	don’t	play	football.
You	don’t	play	football.
He	doesn’t	play	football.
Mohan	doesn’t	play	football.
The boy	doesn’t	play	football.
She	doesn’t	play	football.
Pooja	doesn’t	play	football.
The girl	doesn’t	play	football.
We	don’t	play	football.
You	don’t	play	football.
They	don’t	play	football.
The men	don’t	play	football.

Notice how we use ‘don’t’ for the subjects I, You, We, You and They
and we use ‘doesn’t’ for the subjects ‘He’ and ‘She’. The verb form remains the same for all subjects.

INTERROGATIVE STATEMENTS / QUESTIONS

DO / DOES	SUBJECT	VERB	REST OF THE SENTENCE
Do	I	sleep	in the afternoon?
Do	you	sleep	in the afternoon?
Does	he	sleep	in the afternoon?
Does	Mohan	sleep	in the afternoon?
Does	the boy	sleep	in the afternoon?
Does	she	sleep	in the afternoon?
Does	Pooja	sleep	in the afternoon?
Does	the girl	sleep	in the afternoon?
Do	we	sleep	in the afternoon?
Do	you	sleep	in the afternoon?
Do	they	sleep	in the afternoon?
Do	the men	sleep	in the afternoon?

Notice how we use ‘Do’ for the subjects I, You, We, You and They
and we use ‘Does’ for the subjects ‘He’ and ‘She’. The verb form remains the same for all subjects.

Present Continuous Tense

In the Present Continuous tense, the action is on-going/ still going on and hence continuous. The present continuous tense is used to talk about actions that are happening at this current moment.

POSITIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	AM / ARE / IS	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	am	watching	television.
You	are	watching	television.
He	is	watching	television.
Mohan	is	watching	television
The boy	is	watching	television.
She	is	watching	television.
Pooja	is	watching	television.
The girl	is	watching	television.
We	are	watching	television.
You	are	watching	television.
They	are	watching	television.
The children	are	watching	television.

Notice that we use
‘am’ with ‘I’,
‘is’ with ‘He’ and ‘She’
‘are’ with ‘You’, ‘We’ and ‘They’
The verb form remains the same for all subjects.

NEGATIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	AM NOT / ARE NOT / IS NOT	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	am not	playing	chess.
You	are not	playing	chess.
He	is not	playing	chess.
Mohan	is not	playing	chess.
The boy	is not	playing	chess.
She	is not	playing	chess.
Pooja	is not	playing	chess.
The girl	is not	playing	chess.
We	are not	playing	chess.
You	are not	playing	chess.
They	are not	playing	chess.
The men	are not	playing	chess.

Notice that we use
‘am not’ with ‘I’,
‘is not’ with ‘He’ and ‘She’
‘are not’ with ‘You’, ‘We’ and ‘They’
The verb form remains the same for all subjects.

INTERROGATIVE STATEMENTS / QUESTIONS

AM / ARE / IS	SUBJECT	VERB	REST OF THE SENTENCE
Am	I	reading	a book?
Are	you	reading	a book?
Is	he	reading	a book?
Is	Mohan	reading	a book?
Is	the boy	reading	a book?
Is	she	reading	a book?
Is	Pooja	reading	a book?
Is	the girl	reading	a book?
Are	we	reading	a book?
Are	you	reading	a book?
Are	they	reading	a book?
Are	the men	reading	a book?

Notice the structure of the interrogative statements. We use
‘am’ with ‘I’,
‘is’ with ‘He’ and ‘She’
‘are’ with ‘You’, ‘We’ and ‘They’
The verb form remains the same for all subjects.

Present Perfect Tense

In the Present Perfect tense, the action is complete or has ended and hence termed Perfect. The exact time when the action happened is not important and hence, it is not mentioned in this tense.

POSITIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	HAVE / HAS	VERB (past participle)	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	have	seen	this movie.
You	have	seen	this movie.
He	has	seen	this movie.
Mohan	has	seen	this movie.
The boy	has	seen	this movie.
She	has	seen	this movie.
Pooja	has	seen	this movie.
The girl	has	seen	this movie.
We	have	seen	this movie.
You	have	seen	this movie.
They	have	seen	this movie.
The children	have	seen	this movie.

Notice that we use
‘have’ with the subjects ‘I’, ‘You’, ‘We’ and ‘They’
‘has’ with the subjects ‘He’ and ‘She’
The verb form remains the same for all subjects.

NEGATIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	HAVE NOT / HAS NOT	VERB (past participle)	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	have not	eaten	lunch.
You	have not	eaten	lunch.
He	has not	eaten	lunch.
Mohan	has not	eaten	lunch.
The boy	has not	eaten	lunch.
She	has not	eaten	lunch.
Pooja	has not	eaten	lunch.
The girl	has not	eaten	lunch.
We	have not	eaten	lunch.
You	have not	eaten	lunch.
They	have not	eaten	lunch.
The children	have not	eaten	lunch.

Notice that we use
‘have not’ with the subjects ‘I’, ‘You’, ‘We’ and ‘They’
‘has not’ with the subjects ‘He’ and ‘She’
The verb form remains the same for all subjects.

INTERROGATIVE STATEMENTS / QUESTIONS

HAVE / HAS	SUBJECT	VERB (past participle)	REST OF THE SENTENCE
Have	I	finished	the work?
Have	you	finished	the work?
Has	he	finished	the work?
Has	Mohan	finished	the work?
Has	the boy	finished	the work?
Has	she	finished	the work?
Has	Pooja	finished	the work?
Has	the girl	finished	the work?
Have	we	finished	the work?
Have	you	finished	the work?
Have	they	finished	the work?
Have	the men	finished	the work?

Notice that we use
‘have’ with the subjects ‘I’, ‘You’, ‘We’ and ‘They’
‘has’ with the subjects ‘He’ and ‘She’
The verb form remains the same for all subjects.

Present Perfect Continuous Tense

In the Present Perfect Continuous tense, the action has been taking place for some time and is still ongoing. The duration for which the action has been going on is usually mentioned in the present perfect continuous tense.

POSITIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	HAVE BEEN/ HAS BEEN	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	have been	waiting	for an hour.
You	have been	waiting	for an hour.
He	has been	waiting	for an hour.
Mohan	has been	waiting	for an hour.
The boy	has been	waiting	for an hour.
She	has been	waiting	for an hour.
Pooja	has been	waiting	for an hour.
The girl	has been	waiting	for an hour.
We	have been	waiting	for an hour.
You	have been	waiting	for an hour.
They	have been	waiting	for an hour.
The children	have been	waiting	for an hour.

Notice that we use
‘have been’ with the subjects ‘I’, ‘You’, ‘We’ and ‘They’
‘has been’ with the subjects ‘He’ and ‘She’
The verb form remains the same for all subjects.

NEGATIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	HAVE NOT BEEN / HAS NOT BEEN	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	have not been	living	in Mumbai since March.
You	have not been	living	in Mumbai since March.
He	has not been	living	in Mumbai since March.
Mohan	has not been	living	in Mumbai since March.
The boy	has not been	living	in Mumbai since March.
She	has not been	living	in Mumbai since March.
Pooja	has not been	living	in Mumbai since March.
The girl	has not been	living	in Mumbai since March.
We	have not been	living	in Mumbai since March.
You	have not been	living	in Mumbai since March.
They	have not been	living	in Mumbai since March.
The children	have not been	living	in Mumbai since March.

Notice that we use
‘have not been’ with the subjects ‘I’, ‘You’, ‘We’ and ‘They’
‘has not been’ with the subjects ‘He’ and ‘She’
The verb form remains the same for all subjects.

INTERROGATIVE STATEMENTS / QUESTIONS

HAVE / HAS	SUBJECT	BEEN	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
Have	I	been	working	hard for the last three days?
Have	you	been	working	hard for the last three days?
Has	he	been	working	hard for the last three days?
Has	Mohan	been	working	hard for the last three days?
Has	the boy	been	working	hard for the last three days?
Has	she	been	working	hard for the last three days?
Has	Pooja	been	working	hard for the last three days?
Has	the girl	been	working	hard for the last three days?
Have	we	been	working	hard for the last three days?
Have	you	been	working	hard for the last three days?
Have	they	been	working	hard for the last three days?
Have	the men	been	working	hard for the last three days?

Notice that we use
‘have’ with the subjects ‘I’, ‘You’, ‘We’ and ‘They’
‘has’ with the subjects ‘He’ and ‘She’
The verb form remains the same for all subjects.

Simple Past Tense

In the Simple Past tense, the action is simply mentioned and understood to have taken place in the past. The action started and ended sometime in the past but the time may or may not be mentioned.

POSITIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	VERB (in past form)	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	played	cricket yesterday.
You	played	cricket yesterday.
He	played	cricket yesterday.
Mohan	played	cricket yesterday.
The boy	played	cricket yesterday.
She	played	cricket yesterday.
Pooja	played	cricket yesterday.
The girl	played	cricket yesterday.
We	played	cricket yesterday.
You	played	cricket yesterday.
They	played	cricket yesterday.
The children	played	cricket yesterday.

For making positive statements in the simple past tense, notice how we use the verb in the past form for all subjects.

NEGATIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	DIDN’T (DID NOT)	VERB (in base form)	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	didn’t	talk	to Mohit last week.
You	didn’t	talk	to Mohit last week.
He	didn’t	talk	to Mohit last week.
Mohan	didn’t	talk	to Mohit last week.
The boy	didn’t	talk	to Mohit last week.
She	didn’t	talk	to Mohit last week.
Pooja	didn’t	talk	to Mohit last week.
The girl	didn’t	talk	to Mohit last week.
We	didn’t	talk	to Mohit last week.
You	didn’t	talk	to Mohit last week.
They	didn’t	talk	to Mohit last week.
The men	didn’t	talk	to Mohit last week.

For making negative statements in the simple past tense, notice how we use ‘didn’t’ or ‘did not’ and the verb in the base form for all subjects.

INTERROGATIVE STATEMENTS / QUESTIONS

DID	SUBJECT	VERB (in base form)	REST OF THE SENTENCE
Did	I	complete	the work?
Did	you	complete	the work?
Did	he	complete	the work?
Did	Mohan	complete	the work?
Did	the boy	complete	the work?
Did	she	complete	the work?
Did	Pooja	complete	the work?
Did	the girl	complete	the work?
Did	we	complete	the work?
Did	you	complete	the work?
Did	they	complete	the work?
Did	the men	complete	the work?

For making questions in the simple past tense, notice how we use ‘did’ and the verb in the base form for all subjects.

Past Continuous Tense

In the Past Continuous tense, the action was ongoing till a certain time in the past. This tense is used to talk about an action at a particular time in the past.

POSITIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	WAS / WERE	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	was	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
You	were	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
He	was	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
Mohan	was	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
The boy	was	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
She	was	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
Pooja	was	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
The girl	was	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
We	were	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
You	were	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
They	were	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.
The children	were	sleeping	at 11 p.m. last night.

For making positive statements in the past continuous tense, notice how we use
‘was’ for the subjects ‘I’, ‘He’ and ‘She’ and ‘were’ for the subjects ‘You’, ‘We’ and ‘They’
And the verb +ing all subjects.

NEGATIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	WAS NOT/ WERE NOT	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	was not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
You	were not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
He	was not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
Mohan	was not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
The boy	was not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
She	was not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
Pooja	was not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
The girl	was not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
We	were not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
You	were not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
They	were not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.
The men	were not	listening	to music at 4 p.m. yesterday.

For making negative statements in the past continuous tense, notice how we use
‘was not’ for the subjects ‘I’, ‘He’ and ‘She’ and ‘were not’ for the subjects ‘You’, ‘We’ and ‘They’
And the verb +ing all subjects.

INTERROGATIVE STATEMENTS / QUESTIONS

WAS / WERE	SUBJECT	VERB (in base form)	REST OF THE SENTENCE
Was	I	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Were	you	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Was	he	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Was	Mohan	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Was	the boy	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Was	she	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Was	Pooja	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Was	the girl	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Were	we	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Were	you	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Were	they	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?
Were	the men	eating	breakfast at 7 a.m. yesterday?

For asking questions in the past continuous tense, notice how we use
‘was ’ for the subjects ‘I’, ‘He’ and ‘She’ and ‘were ’ for the subjects ‘You’, ‘We’ and ‘They’
And the verb +ing all subjects.

Past Perfect Tense

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

POSITIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	HAD	VERB (past participle)	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	had	finished	the work.
You	had	finished	the work.
He	had	finished	the work.
Mohan	had	finished	the work.
The boy	had	finished	the work.
She	had	finished	the work.
Pooja	had	finished	the work.
The girl	had	finished	the work.
We	had	finished	the work.
You	had	finished	the work.
They	had	finished	the work.
The children	had	finished	the work.

Notice that we use ‘had’ and the past participle form of the verb for all subjects.

NEGATIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	HAD NOT	VERB (past participle)	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	had not	talked	to my brother.
You	had not	talked	to my brother.
He	had not	talked	to my brother.
Mohan	had not	talked	to my brother.
The boy	had not	talked	to my brother.
She	had not	talked	to my brother.
Pooja	had not	talked	to my brother.
The girl	had not	talked	to my brother.
We	had not	talked	to my brother.
You	had not	talked	to my brother.
They	had not	talked	to my brother.
The children	had not	talked	to my brother.

Notice that we use ‘had not’ and the past participle form of the verb for all subjects.

INTERROGATIVE STATEMENTS / QUESTIONS

HAD	SUBJECT	VERB (past participle)	REST OF THE SENTENCE
Had	I	seen	the movie?
Had	you	seen	the movie?
Had	he	seen	the movie?
Had	Mohan	seen	the movie?
Had	the boy	seen	the movie?
Had	she	seen	the movie?
Had	Pooja	seen	the movie?
Had	the girl	seen	the movie?
Had	we	seen	the movie?
Had	you	seen	the movie?
Had	they	seen	the movie?
Had	the men	seen	the movie?

Past Perfect Continuous Tense

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

POSITIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	HAD BEEN	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	had been	standing	at the bus stop for thirty minutes.
You	had been	standing	at the bus stop for thirty minutes.
He	had been	standing	at the bus stop for thirty minutes.
Mohan	had been	standing	at the bus stop for thirty minutes.
The boy	had been	standing	at the bus stop for thirty minutes.
She	had been	standing	at the bus stop for thirty minutes.
Pooja	had been	standing	at the bus stop for thirty minutes.
The girl	had been	standing	at the bus stop for thirty minutes.
We	had been	standing	at the bus stop for thirty minutes.
You	had been	standing	at the bus stop for thirty minutes.
They	had been	standing	at the bus stop for thirty minutes.
The children	had been	standing	at the bus stop for thirty minutes.

Notice that we use ‘had been’ and the verb + ing the same for all subjects.

NEGATIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	HAD NOT BEEN	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	had not been	exercising	at the gymnasium.
You	had not been	exercising	at the gymnasium.
He	had not been	exercising	at the gymnasium.
Mohan	had not been	exercising	at the gymnasium.
The boy	had not been	exercising	at the gymnasium.
She	had not been	exercising	at the gymnasium.
Pooja	had not been	exercising	at the gymnasium.
The girl	had not been	exercising	at the gymnasium.
We	had not been	exercising	at the gymnasium.
You	had not been	exercising	at the gymnasium.
They	had not been	exercising	at the gymnasium.
The children	had not been	exercising	at the gymnasium.

Notice that we use ‘had not been’ and the verb + ing form for all subjects.

INTERROGATIVE STATEMENTS / QUESTIONS

HAD	SUBJECT	BEEN	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
Had	I	been	waiting	for a long time?
Had	you	been	waiting	for a long time?
Had	he	been	waiting	for a long time?
Had	Mohan	been	waiting	for a long time?
Had	the boy	been	waiting	for a long time?
Had	she	been	waiting	for a long time?
Had	Pooja	been	waiting	for a long time?
Had	the girl	been	waiting	for a long time?
Had	we	been	waiting	for a long time?
Had	you	been	waiting	for a long time?
Had	they	been	waiting	for a long time?
Had	the men	been	waiting	for a long time?

My Pages

FOLLOW YEASIR SIR

Monday 6 May 2013

Basics of English Grammar-01

Adjectives

List of Adjectives, Adjective Examples

Comparison of Adjectives

Adverbs

Types of Adverbs

List of Adverbs, Adverb Examples

Placement of Adverbs

Forming Adverbs from Adjectives

Articles

Nouns

List of Nouns, Noun Examples

Collective Nouns

Using Nouns to Show Possession

Nouns as Adjective

Verbs

List of Verbs, Verb Examples

Regular and Irregular Verbs

Finite and Non-finite Verbs

Participles, Gerunds & Infinitives

Auxiliary Verbs

Stative Verbs

Modal Verbs

Prepositions

Prepositions of Place

Prepositions of Time

Prepositions of Movement

Pronouns

Conjunctions

Interjection

Tenses

Simple Present Tense

Present Continuous Tense

Present Perfect Tense

Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Simple Past Tense

Past Continuous Tense

Past Perfect Tense

Past Perfect Continuous Tense

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