Basics of English Grammar-02

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.

POSITIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	WILL BE	VERB  + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	will be	studying	at 4 p.m. tomorrow.
You	will be	studying	at 4 p.m. tomorrow.
He	will be	studying	at 4 p.m. tomorrow.
Mohan	will be	studying	at 4 p.m. tomorrow.
The boy	will be	studying	at 4 p.m. tomorrow.
She	will be	studying	at 4 p.m. tomorrow.
Pooja	will be	studying	at 4 p.m. tomorrow.
The girl	will be	studying	at 4 p.m. tomorrow.
We	will be	studying	at 4 p.m. tomorrow.
You	will be	studying	at 4 p.m. tomorrow.
They	will be	studying	at 4 p.m. tomorrow.
The children	will be	studying	at 4 p.m. tomorrow.

Notice that we use ‘will be’ and the verb + ing for all subjects.

NEGATIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	WILL NOT BE	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	will not be	playing	at 6 p.m. tomorrow.
You	will not be	playing	at 6 p.m. tomorrow.
He	will not be	playing	at 6 p.m. tomorrow.
Mohan	will not be	playing	at 6 p.m. tomorrow.
The boy	will not be	playing	at 6 p.m. tomorrow.
She	will not be	playing	at 6 p.m. tomorrow.
Pooja	will not be	playing	at 6 p.m. tomorrow.
The girl	will not be	playing	at 6 p.m. tomorrow.
We	will not be	playing	at 6 p.m. tomorrow.
You	will not be	playing	at 6 p.m. tomorrow.
They	will not be	playing	at 6 p.m. tomorrow.
The children	will not be	playing	at 6 p.m. tomorrow.

Notice that we use ‘will not be’ and the verb + ing for all subjects.

INTERROGATIVE STATEMENTS / QUESTIONS

WILL	SUBJECT	BE	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
Will	I	be	sleeping	at 7 a.m tomorrow?
Will	you	be	sleeping	at 7 a.m tomorrow?
Will	he	be	sleeping	at 7 a.m tomorrow?
Will	Mohan	be	sleeping	at 7 a.m tomorrow?
Will	the boy	be	sleeping	at 7 a.m tomorrow?
Will	she	be	sleeping	at 7 a.m tomorrow?
Will	Pooja	be	sleeping	at 7 a.m tomorrow?
Will	the girl	be	sleeping	at 7 a.m tomorrow?
Will	we	be	sleeping	at 7 a.m tomorrow?
Will	you	be	sleeping	at 7 a.m tomorrow?
Will	they	be	sleeping	at 7 a.m tomorrow?
Will	the children	be	sleeping	at 7 a.m tomorrow?

Future Perfect Tense

The Future Perfect tense expresses an action that will occur in the future before another action or time in the future.

POSITIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	WILL  HAVE	VERB  (past participle)	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	will have	eaten	by half past nine.
You	will have	eaten	by half past nine.
He	will have	eaten	by half past nine.
Mohan	will have	eaten	by half past nine.
The boy	will have	eaten	by half past nine.
She	will have	eaten	by half past nine.
Pooja	will have	eaten	by half past nine.
The girl	will have	eaten	by half past nine.
We	will have	eaten	by half past nine.
You	will have	eaten	by half past nine.
They	will have	eaten	by half past nine.
The children	will have	eaten	by half past nine.

Notice how we use ‘will have’ and the past participle of the verb for all subjects.

NEGATIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	WILL NOT HAVE	VERB (past participle)	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	will not have	finished	my assignment by Monday.
You	will not have	finished	my assignment by Monday.
He	will not have	finished	my assignment by Monday.
Mohan	will not have	finished	my assignment by Monday.
The boy	will not have	finished	my assignment by Monday.
She	will not have	finished	my assignment by Monday.
Pooja	will not have	finished	my assignment by Monday.
The girl	will not have	finished	my assignment by Monday.
We	will not have	finished	my assignment by Monday.
You	will not have	finished	my assignment by Monday.
They	will not have	finished	my assignment by Monday.
The children	will not have	finished	my assignment by Monday.

Notice how we use ‘will not have’ and the past participle of the verb for all subjects.

INTERROGATIVE STATEMENTS / QUESTIONS

WILL	SUBJECT	HAVE	VERB	REST OF THE SENTENCE
Will	I	have	joined	the course by Thursday?
Will	you	have	joined	the course by Thursday?
Will	he	have	joined	the course by Thursday?
Will	Mohan	have	joined	the course by Thursday?
Will	the boy	have	joined	the course by Thursday?
Will	she	have	joined	the course by Thursday?
Will	Pooja	have	joined	the course by Thursday?
Will	the girl	have	joined	the course by Thursday?
Will	we	have	joined	the course by Thursday?
Will	you	have	joined	the course by Thursday?
Will	they	have	joined	the course by Thursday?
Will	the children	have	joined	the course by Thursday?

Future Perfect Continuous Tense

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

POSITIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	WILL HAVE BEEN	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	will have been	watching	television for four hours when you come home.
You	will have been	watching	television for four hours when you come home.
He	will have been	watching	television for four hours when you come home.
Mohan	will have been	watching	television for four hours when you come home.
The boy	will have been	watching	television for four hours when you come home.
She	will have been	watching	television for four hours when you come home.
Pooja	will have been	watching	television for four hours when you come home.
The girl	will have been	watching	television for four hours when you come home.
We	will have been	watching	television for four hours when you come home.
You	will have been	watching	television for four hours when you come home.
They	will have been	watching	television for four hours when you come home.
The children	will have been	watching	television for four hours when you come home.

Notice how we use ‘will have been’ and the verb + ing for all the subjects.

NEGATIVE STATEMENTS

SUBJECT	WILL NOT HAVE BEEN	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
I	will not have been	waiting	for too long when Arun arrives.
You	will not have been	waiting	for too long when Arun arrives.
He	will not have been	waiting	for too long when Arun arrives.
Mohan	will not have been	waiting	for too long when Arun arrives.
The boy	will not have been	waiting	for too long when Arun arrives.
She	will not have been	waiting	for too long when Arun arrives.
Pooja	will not have been	waiting	for too long when Arun arrives.
The girl	will not have been	waiting	for too long when Arun arrives.
We	will not have been	waiting	for too long when Arun arrives.
You	will not have been	waiting	for too long when Arun arrives.
They	will not have been	waiting	for too long when Arun arrives.
The children	will not have been	waiting	for too long when Arun arrives.

Notice how we use ‘will not have been’ and the verb + ing for all the subjects.

INTERROGATIVE STATEMENTS / QUESTIONS

WILL	SUBJECT	HAVE BEEN	VERB + ing	REST OF THE SENTENCE
Will	I	have been	playing	cricket for more than two hours when it gets dark?
Will	you	have been	playing	cricket for more than two hours when it gets dark?
Will	he	have been	playing	cricket for more than two hours when it gets dark?
Will	Mohan	have been	playing	cricket for more than two hours when it gets dark?
Will	the boy	have been	playing	cricket for more than two hours when it gets dark?
Will	she	have been	playing	cricket for more than two hours when it gets dark?
Will	Pooja	have been	playing	cricket for more than two hours when it gets dark?
Will	the girl	have been	playing	cricket for more than two hours when it gets dark?
Will	we	have been	playing	cricket for more than two hours when it gets dark?
Will	you	have been	playing	cricket for more than two hours when it gets dark?
Will	they	have been	playing	cricket for more than two hours when it gets dark?
Will	the children	have been	playing	cricket for more than two hours when it gets dark?

Subjects, Verbs, Predicates and Objects

Subjects, verbs, predicates and objects are the building blocks of any sentence. To be able to identify and use them correctly is one of the first steps to writing and speaking good English.

A sentence is the conventional unit of connected speech and writing. It is a group of words that together makes sense as a statement, question, command or exclamation.

Sentences:
Begin with a capitalised letter,
Conclude with a full stop, a question mark or an exclamation mark,
And are, at the most basic level, comprised of a subject and a predicate.

The subject is the word that is the main component of the sentence, it can be defined as the ‘who’ or the ‘what’ of the sentence. A subject is always required in a sentence in the English language; it can be a noun or a noun phrase or a pronoun.

The dog barked.  - Here there is a single noun as the subject
The five dogs barked.  - Here there is a noun phrase as the subject
It started barking.  - Here there is a pronoun as the subject

The next thing you must know is the predicate which is a phrase in the sentence, which tells us what exactly is the subject doing. The predicate informs us about the relation between the subject and the action performed; it always contains the verbs which are the words that show the action being performed.
The dog was barking.  - Here the predicate containing the verb is ‘was barking’ and the verb is ‘barking’
The ball was kicked by the boy.  - Here the subject is ‘the boy’ and the predicate is ‘was kicked by’ and the verb is ‘kicked’

The next building block is the object which is not a necessity in a sentence. The object is the thing that is directly or indirectly receiving the action that was performed by the subject. For example
The dog barked at the postman.  -  Here we see that the object is ‘postman’ who is the person who is being barked at by the ‘dog’ which is the subject.
The ball was kicked by the boy.  - Here the object is ‘the ball’ which is being ‘kicked’ by the subject ‘the boy’

To conclude, let us analyse another sentence and see if we can identify the subject-predicate-object pattern:

Rita was furious with me.

Here,

1.        The subject is ‘Rita’ as she is the one who is performing the action

2.        The predicate is ‘was furious with’ which is connecting the subject ‘Rita’ with the verb

3.        The verb is ‘furious’ which is describing a state of anger

4.        The object is ‘me’ as it is the word that is receiving the subject ‘Rita’s verb action ‘furious’ . 

Conditionals

Conditionals are structures in English that establish what will happen if a certain event takes place or if a certain action is performed. This means that if a certain condition is true, a certain result occurs.
There are four types of commonly used conditionals in the English language that are differentiated on the basis of the degree of possibility implied by each of them. They are the first conditional, the second conditional, the third conditional and the zero conditional.

First Conditional
This conditional is used to talk about future events that might happen. It uses the present tense to discuss the possible future events. For e.g.:
If it rains, we will have to cancel the picnic.
If you come with me, I will make it worthwhile for you.
If I go abroad, I will get something back for you.
If you wait till 1pm, you can go back with him.
If you visit Paris, you must see the Eiffel Tower.

Second Conditional
This conditional is used to talk about unreal possibility or impossible events. They establish the course of action that would follow, where something to happen is either hypothetical or surreal.. For e.g.:
If I had a million dollars, I would buy a penthouse on Park Avenue.
I could stop working if I won the lottery.
If I were well-versed in the subject, I would help you with your assignment.
If I were you, I would ask her to marry me.
What would you do if it were to rain later?

Third Conditional
This conditionals talks about the past, unlike the first and second which discusses events in the real or unreal future. These conditions, too, are therefore impossible, because they have either already occurred or might have occurred but won’t anymore. For e.g.:
 If I had studied a little more in college, life would have been easier.
If we had gotten to the airport on time, we would have caught our flight.
I could have asked him about the matter if he had shown up.
Sometimes the ‘if’ clause is merely implied, as in:
I would have done it. (...if you had asked me to)
I wouldn’t have allowed it. (...if it had been tried with me)

Zero Conditional
The zero conditional discusses an absolute certainty; the result of the condition is always true. The most common types of zero conditionals are scientific facts. For e.g.:  If you cool water to zero degrees, it turns into ice.
Zero conditionals, therefore, do not deal with the future or the past; they simply deal with facts. The ‘if’ in these conditionals can be replaced with ‘when’: When you cool water to zero degrees, it turns into ice.

Determiners

Determiners are a kind of noun modifier; they precede and are necessarily followed by nouns. While adjectives perform a similar function, the term ‘determiner’ refers to a relatively limited set of well-established words that can be said to ‘mark’ nouns.
The function of determiners is to ‘express reference’; i.e. they clarify what a noun is referring to. For e.g. when one says ‘that box’, the listener knows which box is being referred to.
There are many types of determiners:

1. Articles

There are three articles: a, an, and the.
Indefinite Articles
A and an are indefinite articles that serve the same purpose, but they cannot be used interchangeably, because ‘a’ is only used before words that begin with consonants, and ‘an’ is used only before words that begin with vowels. (Note: ‘an’ before ‘h’ when it is silent, as in ‘hour’ and ‘honour’; ‘a’ before ‘u’ and ‘eu’ when they sound like ‘you’, as in ‘European’ and ‘university’.
The uses of the indefinite article are as follows:

1. To refer to some member of a group, class or category. For e.g. He is a doctor (profession)/an Indian (nationality)/a Hindu (religion).
2. To refer to a kind of, or example of something. For e.g. He has a large nose/a thick beard/a strange aunt.
3. Preceding singular nouns, with the words ‘what’ and ‘such’. For e.g. What a car! Oh, that’s such a shame!
4. To mean ‘one’ object, whether a person or thing. For e.g. The thieves stole a necklace and a portrait.
5. To refer to something that is being mentioned for the first time. For e.g. There was a chill in the air.

Note:

1. We usually say a hundred, a thousand, a million, etc.
2. ‘A’ is not indiscriminately used to refer to singular objects; ‘one’ is used when emphasis is required. For e.g. There is only one way out of this mess.

Definite Article

‘The’ is known as the definite article in English. Its uses are as follows:

1. When something is being referred to that has already been mentioned. For e.g. I saw a pretty girl at the mall today. The pretty girl did not, however, see me.
2. When both parties involved in the conversation are aware of what is being discussed. For e.g. Where is the restroom?
3. To refer to unique objects. For e.g. the sun, the moon, the Earth, the Taj Mahal.
4. With superlatives and ordinal numbers (numbers used to rank a set of objects). For e.g. Mt Everest is the tallest mountain on earth, Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon.
5. To refer to groups of people, geographical areas and oceans, and with decades or groups of years. For e.g. the Americans, the Sahara/Pacific, the fifties/sixities/seventies/eighties.

2. Quantifiers

3. Demonstratives

This, that, these and those are known are demonstratives; they describe the position of an object, seen from the speaker’s viewpoint.

This and these (used for singular and plural nouns respectively) refer to objects that close by. For e.g. Whose car is this? Whose cars are these?

That and those (used for singular and plural nouns respectively) refer to objects that are further away. The closeness can be physical or psychological. For e.g. Who lives in that house?

4. Numbers

Numbers are cardinal (one, two, three, etc) and ordinal (first, second, third, etc). Cardinal numbers are adjectives that indicate quantity (There are fives apples on the table), and ordinal numbers indicate rank or order (This is the first time for me on a plane).

5. Distributives

The words all, both, half, each, every, either and neither are known as distributives.

All, Both, Half

These three words can be used in the following ways:

All +

            uncountable noun

                        Don Bradman is the greatest batsman of all time.

            ‘the’ + uncountable noun/countable noun in plural form

                        We have all the time in the world.

                        All the people in the hall went quiet.

            ‘my’, ‘your’, etc + uncountable noun/countable noun in plural form

                        All my life I have been waiting for this moment.

                        All you friends have been invited to the party.

‘this’, ‘that’ + uncountable noun/‘these’, ‘those’ + countable noun in plural form

                        Look at all this dust!

                        I do not have time for all these formalities.

Both +

‘the’ /‘my’, ‘your’, etc/‘these’, ‘those’ + countable noun in plural form (note: used only when two objects are being referred to)

                        Both the dogs have passed away.

                        Both my ankles have been hurting since I jumped from the balcony.

                        Both these books must be returned within the week.

Half +

            ‘a’ + uncountable noun

                        We bought half a kilo of rice.

            ‘the’/‘my’, ‘your’, etc/‘this’, ‘that’, ‘these’, ‘those’ + noun

                        Half the village perished in the floods.

                         I spent half my inheritance on travelling the world.

                        You may have half (of) this cake.

                        Only half (of) those points are relevant.

Each, Every, Either, Neither

See articles.

6. Possessives

Possessive pronouns and adjectives indicate who an object belongs to.

The pronouns are

mine (first person: This car is mine = I own this car)

yours (second person: This car is yours = You own this car)

his, hers, and its (third person: This cars is his/hers = He/she owns this car).

The corresponding adjectives are

my

your

his, her, and it

7. Difference words

Other and another are ‘difference words’; they refer to something different, or remaining, or more. Other is used with singular and plural nouns, while another is used strictly with singular nouns.

What other colours can I get this in?

Is there another colour that this is available in?

8. Defining words

Which and whose are ‘defining words’; they indicate which thing or person is being referred to.

This is the house which I used to live in as a child.

This is the man whose window you broke.

9. Question words

Question Words

There are a number of words in the English language that are used primarily to make questions; these words are ‘question words’, sometimes known as ‘WH question words’, owing to the fact that all of them start with the letter ‘w’, except one which starts with ‘h’. Here are the question words and their functions:

What
‘What’ is used when asking for information about something, as in:
            What did you do last evening?
            What would you like for dinner?
            What did you say when you were caught?

When
‘When’ is used when asking for time, as in:         
            When do you arrive?
            When is the show?
            When did that happen?

Where
‘Where’ is used when asking for place, as in:
            Where do we go now?
            Where have you kept the book?
            Where do you go for your tuitions?

Who
‘Who’ is used when asking for identity of person or persons, as in:
            Who is that?
            Who wrote Moby Dick?
            Who called earlier?
Note: For the differences between ‘who’ and ‘whom’ (a variation of the former), see the article Who and Whom

Whose
‘Whose’ is used when asking about possession, as in:
            Whose car is this?
            Whose place are you staying at?
            Whose are these shoes?

Which
‘Which’ is used to ask about choice, as in:
            Which flavour of ice cream would you like?
            Which route do you think we should take?
            Which of the two is better?

Why
‘Why’ is used when asking for reasons, as in:
            Why would you say something like that?
            Why does the food smell bad?
            Why did you not go for work today?

How
‘How’ is used when asking about manner or quality or condition, as in:
            How did you do that?
            How was the movie?
            How is life?

Quantifiers

Quantifiers form a sub-class under determiners. They are adjectives or phrases that serve to answer two possible questions:

1.    How many?

2.    and How much? 

For example: a few, a little, much, many, most, some, any, enough, etc., are quantifiers.

Quantifiers that describe quantity
Words and phrases that describe quantity include a little, none, a few, etc. Some of these are used only with:
 Countable nouns - These are the nouns  that answer the question How many? For example: a few, a number of, several, etc.
Uncountable nouns - These are the nouns that answer the question How much? For example:   a little, a bit of, etc.)
Some of them are also used with both. These are the ones that answer both questions. For example: such as no/none, some, a lot of, etc.

Quantifiers that express attitude
The words few, little and the phrases - a few and a little serve to describe the speaker’s attitude to the quantity being described. The first two carry negative suggestions, whereas the last two carry positive suggestions. For e.g.:
 The phrase I have little time means that the speaker hardly has time, whereas the phrase I have a little time means that while the speaker may not have all the time in the world, but s/he has enough for the purpose at hand.

‘Enough’
Enough is used to indicate the necessary amount or quantity; it is placed before nouns. For e.g.: There is enough time, You have enough money, Is there enough food?, etc.

Comparative quantifiers
There are ten comparative or grade quantifiers: much, many, more, most, few, fewer, fewest, little, less, and least.

Much, many, more and most describe  (in ascending order) increase; much is used only with uncountable nouns, many only with plural countable nouns, and more and most with both.

            I have much time. < I have more time. < I have the most time.
            I have many apples. < I have more apples. < I have the most apples.

Few, fewer, fewest, little, less and least chart decrease. The first three (in descending order) are used only with countable plural nouns. The last  three (in descending order) are used only with uncountable nouns.

            He has few friends. > He has fewer friends. > He has the fewest friends.
            He has little time. > He has less time. > He has the least time.

Subjunctive

The subjunctive is a verb form in English that is relatively rare, but is structurally very simple. It is a special kind of present tense; for all verbs except the past tense of ‘be’ (‘were’), the subjunctive is the same as the infinitive without ‘to’. Therefore, the subjunctive is simply the basic verb form (for e.g., do, work, demand, hire), with the difference that no ‘s’ is added to the verb when it is used with the third person singular. For e.g. in the sentence I suggested that he take the matter to the proper authorities, ‘take’ is the subjunctive. 
The subjunctive is generally used when talking about something that may or may not happen; it could be something that the speaker wants, hopes for, expects, or imagines. The following are more examples of subjunctives:
If I were king, there would be no more famines.
The chairman requests that all members of the board be present at the meeting.      
I demand that he provide us with a full explanation.
As you can see, the structure that the subjunctive takes is generally as follows: [subject] (I) [verb] (demand) ‘that’ [object] (he) [subjunctive] (provide)... The verbs that are commonly used before subjunctives are advise, ask, beg, decide, decree, desire, dictate, insist, intend, move, order, petition, propose, recommend, request, require, resolve, suggest, urge, and vote.
Another pattern exists as well, in which ‘that’ is preceded by an expression rather than the verb. For e.g. in the sentence It is essential that the goods be delivered on time, ‘it is essential’ is the expression. The expressions that are commonly used with subjunctives are it is desirable/imperative/essential/necessary/important, etc. 
Now, in the example If I were king..., there seems to be a slight problem, which is that ‘king’ is a singular noun, so the verb preceding it should normally be ‘was’, not ‘were’. However, this construction does not use ‘was’. ‘Were’ is the ‘past subjunctive’ of ‘be’, and is formally always with ‘if’, and certain other words/phrases, such as ‘I wish’ and ‘as if’; it is simply a quirk of the language.  The following are more examples of the same:
            If I were you, I would take a stand on the issue.
            If he were not so intelligent, I would have fired him for his insolence.
            I wish she weren’t so dull.
            You act as if you were king.

Direct and Reported Speech

In the English language, there are two ways of conveying what someone else has said: direct/quoted speech and indirect/reported speech.
Direct/quoted speech, involves quoting the exact words uttered by the person, within inverted commas or quotation marks. For example: She said, “I won’t be coming home tonight” is an example of direct speech. Note that in this type of speech, a comma is most often used before starting the exact quote within the inverter commas.
Indirect/reported speech, on the other hand, does not have to be within quotes or reported word-to-word. In fact, unless one is relaying the exact words spoken, one should never use quotation marks. For example: She told us that she wouldn’t be coming home that night is an example of reported speech. Note that the verb tense necessarily changes in reported speech. This is because when we report speech, we are talking, obviously, about something that was said in the past. Hence, it becomes necessary to use the past tense of the verb.

DIRECT SPEECH	REPORTED SPEECH
He said, “I’m fine.”	He said that he was fine.
He said, “I’ve been married for three years.”	He said that he had been married for three years.
He said, “I went to the theatre yesterday.”	He said that he had gone to the theatre the day before.
He said, “The show was already underway when the chief guest arrived.”	He said that the show was already underway when the chief guest arrived. (no change in tense)

Another thing to note is that modal verbs (will, can, must, shall, may) also change, taking their past tense forms (would, could, had to, should, might). This also means that would, could, should, might and ought to do not change forms when reported.

Independent and Dependent Clauses

A clause is a grouping of words in English that contains a subject and a verb. Clauses are the building blocks of sentences. They can be of two types: independent and dependent. It is important for the purpose of sentence formation to be able to recognise independent and dependent clauses.
An independent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and verb. An independent clause is a sentence. Independent clauses are clauses that express a complete thought. They can function as sentences. These are clauses that can function on their own. They do not need to be joined to other clauses, because they contain all the information required to be a complete sentences.
There are three characteristics or components that independent clauses have:
1.    A subject- It gives information on what the sentence is about.
2.    An action or predicate- It gives information on what the subject is doing..
3.    Conveys a complete thought- It gives information on what is happening in the sentence.
For e.g.: 'Ram left to buy supplies' is an independent clause, and if you end it with a full stop, it becomes a sentence.
A dependent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and verb. A dependent clause cannot be a sentence. They do not express complete thoughts, and thus cannot function as sentences. They are usually marked by dependant marker words. It is a word that is added to the beginning of an independent clause that makes it into a dependent clause. Dependant clauses are dependant because of the presence of a:
1.    Marker Word (because, after, before, since, in order to, although, though, whenever, wherever, whether, while, even though, even if, etc.)
2.    Conjunction (but, and, or, nor, yet, etc.)
For e.g.: 'When Ram left to buy supplies'cannot be a sentence because it is an incomplete thought. What happened when Ram went to the shop? Here, ‘when’ functions as a ‘dependent marker word’; this term refers to words which, when added to the beginnings of independent clauses or sentences, transform them into dependent clauses. Other examples of dependent marker words are after, although, as, as if, because, before, if, in order to, since, though, unless, until, whatever, when, whenever, whether, and while.
Dependent clauses, thus, need to be combined with independent clauses to form full sentences. For e.g.: 'When Ram left to buy supplies, Rohan snuck in and stole the money' is a complete sentence.

Grammar Rules: Avoid these common errors

Here is a list of five of the most common grammatical mistakes that are made by English speakers/writers. This list is merely a quick glance; these matters are dealt with in detail as well, in appropriate sections.

1. Subject Verb Agreement: Learners often get confused with using the appropriate form of the verb with the subject of the sentence. For example, ‘I live in India’ and ‘He lives in India’ is the correct subject verb agreement of the verb ‘to live’.

2. Possessive Nouns: Non-native speakers of the English are unsure about showing possession while writing or speaking in English. For example, ‘The book belonging to the girl’ can also be referred to as ‘The girl’s book’

3. Comparison of adjectives: We add ‘er’ to compare short adjectives like pretty and thick; and we add ‘more’ for longer adjectives like handsome and intelligent.

4. Punctuation mistakes: Punctuation errors, too, are very common, especially in the use of semicolons and commas.

5. Singular and Plural: Many new learners make mistakes in forming the plural form of singular nouns.