4

Author
Vandana Sood

Series Editor
Chandra Nisha Singh

New Delhi • Mumbai • Chennai • Kolkata • Bengaluru • Hyderabad • Kochi • Guwahati

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 Preface

Everyday English Grammar and Composition is a series of grammar books for classes 1 to
8. This systematically graded series introduces concepts of grammar in a creative and
friendly manner. Proficiency in the spoken and written forms of English can be achieved
only with the confidence of correctness. Everyday English Grammar and Composition
familiarizes learners with the structures and usage to develop accuracy and finesse in
the use of English.

The features of the series include progressively graded exercises, easy definitions,
interesting puzzles and games, picture-based tasks, group activities, review exercises
and attractive illustrations.

The exercises in these books are organized in a logical order from the easy to the difficult
offering varying levels of challenge to learners of different abilities and skills. The
simple, jargon-free language of the instructions will make grammar a likeable subject
for children. Puzzles, crosswords and grammar games in these books are based on the
concept of knowledge through fun. Vocabulary exercises and basic comprehension tasks
make Everyday English Grammar and Composition a varied language-learning package. The
books can be used both in the classroom and at home since the learning tasks require
minimal supervision.

Each book is complemented by worksheet sets that carry extra exercises for practice.
The worksheets help learners perfect their understanding of each concept learned in the
corresponding chapters.

We are confident that Everyday English Grammar and Composition will become a reliable
resource for teachers and give students an enjoyable learning experience.
 Contents

1 Common and Proper Nouns ........................................... 1

2 Singular and Plural Nouns .............................................. 4
3 Countable and Uncountable Nouns ............................... 7
4 Collective Nouns ........................................................... 10
5 Nouns and Gender ........................................................ 13
6 Pronouns ....................................................................... 16
7 Homophones and Homonyms ..................................... 22
8 Wailers Three – A Folk Tale from China
comprehension a .................................................. 25
Worksheets 1–8 ................................................... 28–38
Test 1 ............................................................................. 39
9 Verbs .............................................................................. 41
10 Adjectives ...................................................................... 46
11 Comparison ................................................................... 48
12 Present Tense ............................................................... 51
13 Past Tense ..................................................................... 56
14 Future Tense ................................................................. 59
15 Birbal Visits Persia comprehension b .................. 61
Worksheets 9–14 ................................................. 63–69
Test 2 ............................................................................. 70
16 Adverbs ......................................................................... 73
17 Articles .......................................................................... 78
18 Punctuation .................................................................. 81
19 Sentences ...................................................................... 84
20 Prepositions .................................................................. 90
21 Conjunctions ................................................................. 95
22 Hummingbirds comprehension c ........................ 99
The Fly ........................................................................ 100
Worksheets 15–21 .......................................... 102–111
Test 3 .......................................................................... 112
23 Proverbs ..................................................................... 114
24 Writing Skills .................................................... 116
 1 Common and Proper Nouns

Nouns are words that name people, places, animals, things, ideas and emotions.
There are different types of nouns.
Common nouns are names of people, animals, places or things of the same kind.
cup, horse, pencil, parrot, computer
Proper nouns are the special names of people, animals, places, objects and events.
They always begin with a capital letter.
Sunday, Reema, Diwali, May

A There are fi een nouns in the grid. Circle them and write them in the blanks
given below.

Z G C F B E A R Y Z U

Y I L B A W S C N E T

R B O O K A B F U B P

L R W A I T E R T R S

B W N T A C A O S A U

M A Y L T H C G E K N

X U F N Z N H Q V J D

F G A R D E N N T P A

M X N S C H O O L M Y

1. watch 4. 7.

2. 5. 8.

3. 6. 9.

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Everyday English Grammar

10. 12. 14.

11. 13. 15.

B Underline the proper nouns in the given sentences and rewrite them correctly.

1. akhil and I travelled to jaipur by train.

2. My cousin ravi will arrive from new york in july.

3. black beauty is a novel written by anna sewell.

4. My favourite cartoon character is mickey mouse.

5. sania and neha are going to watch a movie.

6. smita has a pet dog named pixie.

7. I visited the red fort when I was in delhi.

8. The nile is a river that flows through egypt and ten other countries.

C Write proper nouns for the following common nouns.

1. Countries     2. Rivers

a. Nepal a. Nile
b. b.
c. c.
d. d.
e. e.

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 Common and Proper Nouns

3. Cartoon characters      4. Books

a. Mickey Mouse a. The Little Prince

b. b.
c. c.
d. d.
e. e.

D Fill in the blanks with proper nouns.

1. Wednesday comes between and .

2. River flows through Delhi.

3. is the seventh month of the year.

4. The Eiffel Tower is in .

5. is the president of India.

6. Jesus Christ’s birthday is celebrated as .

7. is the capital of Maharashtra.

8. kidnapped Sita from the forest.

9. We celebrate Republic Day in the month of .

10. is also known as the festival of colours.

11. The novel The Witches was written by .

12. The Charminar is located in the city of .

13. Bhubaneswar is the capital of .

14. My mother’s name is .

3
 2 Singular and Plural Nouns
Nouns can be singular or plural depending on the number of things they name.

Singular nouns name one person, animal, place or thing.

box train flower rose boy room
Plural nouns name more than one person, animal, place or thing.
boxes trains flowers roses boys rooms

We follow some rules to change nouns from singular to plural.

1. To change some nouns from singular to plural, we only add -s at the end.
brother ~ brothers shop ~ shops stick ~ sticks
2. If the noun ends in a hissing sound (-s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x), add -es at the end.
peach ~ peaches dress ~ dresses bus ~ buses
3. If the noun ends in -y and the letter before the -y is a consonant, change the -y to
-i and add -es.
baby ~ babies lily ~ lilies
4. If the noun ends in -y and the letter before the -y is a vowel, just add an -s.
key ~ keys boy ~ boys

Keep in Mind
If the -ch at the end of a noun is pronounced with a ‘k’ sound, add an -s in the end
to change from singular to plural.
stomach ~ stomachs

A Fill in the blanks with the correct forms of the nouns given in brackets.
1. Mr Sood has two (watch/watches) in his pocket.
2. Anita has a red (dress/dresses).
3. The gardener cut off all the dead (branch/branches).
4. In my dream, the fairy granted me a (wish/wishes).

4
 Singular and Plural Nouns

5. There are lots of (room/rooms) in our school.

6. To be healthy and strong, we must eat our (meals/meal)
regularly.
7. The (boy/boys) were not allowed to go out after dark.
8. They planted many (lily/lilies) in their garden.

5. For most nouns that end in -f or -fe, change the -f or -fe to -v and add -es.
loaf ~ loaves wife ~ wives
life ~ lives knife ~ knives
However, there are some nouns that don’t follow this rule.
chief ~ chiefs safe ~ safes belief ~ beliefs
roof ~ roofs proof ~ proofs cliff ~ cliffs
6. The plurals of some nouns are formed by changing one or more vowels in them.
foot ~ feet man ~ men goose ~ geese
7. There are some nouns that don’t follow any rules while changing into plural.
child ~ children ox ~ oxen
8. Some singular nouns do not change in their plural forms.
series ~ series deer ~ deer sheep ~ sheep
9. There are some nouns that are always plural.
scissors trousers clothes

B Fill in the blanks with the correct forms of the nouns given in brackets.

1. There are forty (child/children) in my class.

2. While the shepherd was sleeping, his flock of (sheep/sheeps)
ran away.
3. Mowgli grew up with a pack of (wolves/wolf).
4. Chinku the (mouse/mice) peeped out of the hole to see if the
cat was still there.
5. James brushes his (tooth/teeth) twice every day.
6. The cook has a collection of sharp (knife/knives).
7. The burglar had cracked several (safes/safe).
8. Tarun washed all his (handkerchief/handkerchiefs) and hung
them to dry.

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Everyday English Grammar

C Rewrite the sentences by changing the nouns from plural to singular forms.
Make other necessary changes also.

1. The shelves have many books on them.

The shelf has a book on it.
2. The women told the children about their childhood experiences.

3. The peons served coffee at the meetings.

4. The monkeys are on the roofs.

5. The children took many water bottles to the picnic.

6. The women want to borrow two pairs of scissors.

7. The sheep are grazing in the field.

8. There were many deer in the deer park.

9. The actors went in to change their costumes.

10. My brothers bought many loaves of bread.

6
 3 Countable and Uncountable
Nouns
Count and write the number of people, animals or things for each of the following
pictures.

1. clowns 2. dolls 3. frogs

4. ice creams 5. mangoes 6. crayons

We can count things like clowns, ice creams and dolls. These words are countable nouns.
Now try to count these.

sugar water oil

We cannot count things like sugar, water and oil. These words are uncountable nouns.

Countable nouns are names of items that can be counted. They may be singular or
plural.
tree ~ trees plate ~ plates
Uncountable nouns are names of items that cannot be counted. They are always
singular.
wheat juice grass sky

7
Everyday English Grammar

A Look at the picture and write five countable and five uncountable nouns.

Countable nouns Uncountable nouns

1. 1.
2. 2.
3. 3.
4. 4.
5. 5.

With countable nouns, we use words like a, an, few, a few or many to indicate
number or quantity.
   one horse (number) a few grapes (quantity)

8
 Countable and Uncountable Nouns

With uncountable nouns, we use words like much, a little, little, a lot of or plenty of
to indicate quantity. We cannot use words indicating number with uncountable
nouns.
   some milk a lot of cheese
Some and any can be used with countable and uncountable nouns.
   some oil some pencils any soup any book

B Use a few, liƩle, a liƩle, much, many, plenty of or some to fill in the blanks in
the sentences.

1. There was very oil left in the can, so she ordered some more.
2. Not girls came for the music show.
3. I will have rice please.
4. I can finish my work in minutes.
5. There was food for everyone at the party.
6. They had to hurry as they didn’t have time left.
7. children love animals while others don’t.
8. How sugar should I buy?
9. How books do you want?
10. There is not cheese left for another sandwich.
11. Don’t worry, you have time to finish your work.
12. Add salt to the soup.
13. Wait for days before you begin your swimming lessons.
14. We have good news to share with our friends.
15. I have read the Panchatantra times.

9
 4 Collective Nouns

A collective noun is the name given to a group of people, animals or things of the
same kind, spoken of as one whole.

a bouquet of flowers a team of players a litter of puppies

A Complete the phrases with collec ve nouns.

gang class cluster army

swarm shoal bunch choir

1. a of students 5. a of grapes

2. a of robbers 6. a of fish

3. a of stars 7. a of bees

4. a of singers 8. an of ants

10
 Collective Nouns

B Draw lines to match the collec ve nouns in column A with the common
nouns in column B.

A B

1. band a. flats
2. packet b. books
3. brood c. ships
4. pack d. sheep
5. bar e. actors
6. troupe f. wolves
7. collection g. musicians
8. block h. chocolate
9. fleet i. biscuits
10. flock j. chickens

C Fill in the blanks with appropriate collec ve nouns.

crew collection herd bundle

team pack swarm committee

1. Mr Soni has a large of stamps.

2. Rahul carried the of clothes on his shoulders.
3. Ahana brought a of cards for us to play with at the picnic.
4. There are eleven players in a cricket .
5. The speeding truck was stopped by a of cows.
6. There was a of bees in my garden.
7. The managing will hold its meeting in September.
8. The of sailors had to face a storm in the sea.

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Everyday English Grammar

D Fill in the blanks with the most suitable nouns.

eggs singers actors lions

whales teachers drawers geese

1. A church choir is a group of .

2. A pride of is on the lookout for food.
3. Cast is the name given to a group of acting in a movie.
4. The sailors spotted a school of .
5. The pigeon never went far from its clutch of in the nest.
6. A staff of attended the meeting.
7. I kept my books neatly in a chest of .
8. A gaggle of can make a lot of noise.

Grammar Game Te Fo
ac r
he
Make a noun folder. rs

1. Fold a thick sheet of paper in half. My Noun

Folder
2. On the first page, write the title ‘My Noun Folder’.
3. Label the inside-left page ‘Common Nouns’, the inside-right page ‘Proper Nouns’
and the back page ‘Collective Nouns’.
4. Below the title write definitions of common noun, proper noun and collective
noun.
5. Cut five pictures for each category and paste them on the appropriate page. Label
the pictures with their names. Your noun folder is ready.

12
 5 Nouns and Gender

• A noun that refers to a male is said to be of the masculine gender.

boy father lion
• A noun that refers to a female is said to be of the feminine gender.
girl mother lioness
• A noun that can refer to both a male and a female is said to be of the
common gender.
baby cousin friend
• A noun that refers to a non-living thing is said to be of the neuter gender.
toy chair mountain

A Underline the nouns and put them in proper groups in the boxes given below.

1. The goose laid a golden egg.

2. My aunt has two daughters.
3. The doctor examined the patient carefully.
4. Your nephew is a good friend of mine.
5. Azhar asked his wife to call a plumber.
6. The headmaster called the student to his office.
7. The man scolded his son for breaking the cups.
8. Sarla likes to eat chocolates and pastries.

Masculine Feminine Common Neuter

1. 1. 1. 1.

2. 2. 2. 2.

3. 3. 3. 3.

4. 4. 4. 4.

5. 5. 5. 5.

13
Everyday English Grammar

Study the masculine and feminine forms of some nouns carefully.

Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine
monk nun gander goose
shepherd shepherdess drake duck
emperor empress deer doe
ram ewe bridegroom bride
waiter waitress fox vixen
wizard witch brother-in-law sister-in-law

B Read the numbered clues. Solve the crossword using nouns of opposite gender.

Across
2. tiger
4. grandmother
5. monk
6. nephew 1

7. deer 2

5
Down
1. fox
6 3. hero
7 4. goose

C Replace the nouns printed in red with nouns of opposite gender.

1. My sister is a very talented actor.*

* Earlier the word actress was used for a female actor. We now use the noun actor for both males and
females.

14
 Nouns and Gender

2. The boy played the role of a king in the play.

3. This cow belongs to my aunt.

4. The princess fell off the horse.

5. Girls can sit in the women’s lounge.

6. The shepherd had many sheep.

7. The wizard played many tricks on the boys.

8. The lion lay alone in the den.

D Fill in the blanks with the suitable nouns from those given in brackets.

1. We saw a (waiter/waitress) quarrelling with her manager.

2. The (fox/vixen) at the zoo gave birth to a litter of puppies
yesterday.
3. The (duck/drake) laid her eggs in a bush.
4. Ritu’s sister’s husband is her (sister-in-law/brother-in-law).
5. The (tiger/tigress) licked her cubs.
6. Little Bo Peep lost her sheep. She was a (shepherd/
shepherdess).
7. (Nuns/Monks) live in a nunnery while
(nuns/monks) live in a monastery.
8. The (witch/wizard) flew away on her
broomstick.

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 6 Pronouns

A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun.

Anushka bought a beautiful purse but she lost it in the train.
Pronouns include I, me, we, us, you, he, him, she, her, it, they, them, mine, ours, yours,
his, hers and theirs.

A Rewrite the sentences using pronouns in place of the words in red.

1. Don’t touch the iron. The iron is hot.

2. Ranjini is sleeping. Ranjini is wearing a night suit. The night suit is pink.

3. Zafar has not arrived yet. Zafar is always late. I must talk to Zafar today.

4. Shalini went to a garden. There Shalini met her friend. Shalini and her friend
had a great time in the garden.

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns are used in place of the names of persons, animals and things.
1. Pronouns of the first person refer to the speaker (I, me, we, us).
2. Pronouns of the second person refer to the listener or the person or
persons being spoken to (you).
3. Pronouns of the third person refer to the persons, animals or things being
spoken of (he, him, she, her, it, they, them).

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 Pronouns

Group Personal Pronouns

First Person: Speaker(s) I, me, we, us

Second Person: Listener(s) you

Third Person: Person(s), animal(s) or thing(s)
he, him, she, her, it, they, them
spoken about

B Underline the personal pronouns and write whether they are in the first
person, second person or third person.
1. We will take part in the marathon. It is on Monday.
We – First Person, It – Third Person
2. We will also ask others to join us.

3. I am sure we will have a good time.

4. They will give the money to the poor. It is a noble effort.

5. Shweta said she would also come. You can come with her.

C Fill in the blanks with suitable personal pronouns.

1. Yamini lives across the street. is my friend.
2. Abhay and Arun are running to school. are late.
3. The dog was hungry. lapped up all the milk.
4. Raghu has a younger sister. loves a lot.
5. Neha said to Chitra, ‘Do not worry, Chitra.
will help with the homework.’
6. The choir from the other school is performing now.
will perform after them.
7. Raman said, ‘This is Rahul’s pen. myself kept here.’
8. Smita was participating in a play in a school function. invited
her grandfather for . enjoyed watching the play.

17
Everyday English Grammar

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns show possession, belonging or ownership.

The blue dress is mine.
Is this book yours?
In the above sentences, mine and yours show to whom the objects mentioned in the
sentences belong. They are possessive pronouns.

Group Possessive Pronouns

First Person: speaker(s) mine, ours

Second Person: listener(s) yours

Third Person: person(s), animal(s) or thing(s)

his, hers, theirs, its
spoken about

D Fill in the blanks with suitable pronouns.

1. The book belongs to Sonam. It is . (hers/his)

2. The farmhouse on the hill is . We go there every summer.
(ours/their)
3. These scarves belong to Anandi and me. They are . (hers/ours)
4. I brought those pens. They are . (mine/yours)
5. My mother gifted that tie to my brother. It is . (his/mine)
6. Whose shirts are these? Are they ? (your/yours)
7. Renu borrowed my crayons. She had given to the poor child she
saw on the road. (her/hers)
8. The rabbits ran into a burrow. Is that burrow ? (their/theirs)
9. If my sister doesn’t get a new toy, she will take . (my/mine)
10. It is for Rahul to decide. The decision is . (her/his)

18
 Pronouns

Keep in Mind
Read the following sentences.
My hair is brown.
The woman scolded her son.
Lalit is helping his uncle in the garden.
We must cut our nails regularly.
That is your cap.
The dog wags its tail happily.
I went to their house for dinner.
Did you notice that in the sentences above the words my, her, his, our, your, its
and their have a different function? They are possessive adjectives as they qualify
nouns and answer the question whose. Possessive adjectives are always used before
nouns.

E Rewrite the passage using suitable pronouns in place of the words in red.

Bobby and Varun are best friends. Bobby and Varun are neighbours. Bobby and
Varun go to the same school. All the teachers are fond of Bobby and Varun because
Bobby and Varun always finish their work on time.
Bobby and Varun are in the school cricket team. Bobby is a batsman. His parents
gave Bobby a bat on his birthday. Varun is the wicketkeeper of the school team.
Varun is also the captain of the team.

19
Everyday English Grammar

Demonstra ve Pronouns

Read the following sentences:

This is a ball.

These are bats.

That is a toy.

Those are toys.

The words this, these, that and those are used here to point out one or more things.
This refers to a ball, these refers to bats, that refers to a toy and those refers to toys.
They are called demonstrative pronouns. They ‘point at’ or ‘demonstrate’ the items
to which they refer.

F Underline the pronouns in the following sentences and write what type they are.
1. This is Rahul’s book. Please give it to him.
This – demonstrative, it – personal, him – personal
2. That is a blue kite. It is flying so high.

3. These are Sanjay’s pencils. They are not mine.

4. Those are Sugandha’s dolls. They are kept on the topmost shelf.

5. I am going to Kanya’s house. You should go to yours.

I or Me

I and me are personal pronouns of the first person. They refer to the speaker. They
are placed later in the sentence if we are talking about another person and ourselves.
Ronit and I play tennis.
Do you want to play with Ronit and me?

20
 Pronouns

To know if you have used I and me correctly, leave the other person’s name out and
read the sentence.
1. Ronit and I play tennis.
I play tennis. 
Ronit and me play tennis.
Me play tennis. ×
2. Do you want to play with Ronit and me?
Do you want to play with me? 
Do you want to play with Ronit and I? ×
Do you want to play with I? ×

G Rewrite the sentences correctly.

1. The teacher gave the books to me and Harjinder.

2. Sonia, I and Jagan are going to school.

3. My father bought ice creams for me and my sister.

4. Do you want to share your chocolate with me and Vivek?

5. I and Yuki like to play video games.

6. Cheryl, me and Ajay are going to the fair together.

7. Parampreet and me made this cake for you.

8. I and Sadaf go to the same school.

21