Nouns

ENGLISH

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So, what about it?

Nouns
Well, it’s all about
‘NOUNS’ first!
Noun can be defined as a name of a person,
place or thing. The word “thing” here can be
described as -

a) something that we can feel with our five

senses

b) something that we can think of but can’t feel.

Examples:
1) Anger is not a productive response to criticism.

2) The roses transformed the ambience of the banquet hall.

3) Ravi’s magnanimity is the reason behind his popularity.

In the above sentences anger, roses, magnanimity are nouns. Anger and magnanimity
is something which can be felt, it is intangible so it’s a kind of abstract noun. Rose is
also a noun and has physical significance. We can see touch and feel it.

Types of Nouns

Common vs. Proper Noun

Common Noun Proper Noun

Used to name SPECIFIC people, place or

Used to name people, place or thing in
thing. It refers to individual or single entity.
general. It refers to the class or type.
Starts with a 'BLOCK' letter.

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Countable vs. Uncountable Noun

Countable Noun Uncountable Noun

Has a singular or a plural form. Can be used

before a number or an article (a, an, the). Can Cannot be counted. Only measured.
be counted.

Concrete vs. Abstract Noun

Common Noun Abstract Noun

Refer to physicality. Something or someone Refer to no physical existence. Can be felt.

that can be sensed. Feelings, Emotions, Reactions, Actions.

Compound vs. Collective Noun

Compound Noun Collective Noun

Two or more words that can create a noun.

Refers to a collection, bunch of a similar kind.
They can be written as one word, or written
Pack, bunch, group, crowd.
with a hyphen in between.

Cases of Nouns

Possessive Case
It denotes possession of a thing and used in a limited manner for living beings or
personified objects, stereotyped phrases and nouns of space or time denoting an
amount of something.

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Example:
1) For goodness's sake take this wet towel out of the room.
2) This is my friend, Rahul’s car.

Rule #1: Use of Apostrophe to express Possessiveness

Use apostrophe twice, once with each possessive noun, when individual possession is
to be shown and once with latter when joint possession is to be shown.
Example: Shyam’s bat and Ram’s ball is needed to start the game; Karan and Arjun’s
brotherhood will be remembered till eternity.

Number Case (Singular /Plural)

Nouns are categorized on the basis of number. Singular and Plural refers to number of
nouns. Singular refers to one entity. Plural refers to more than one. (Two or two
onwards is plural). There are certain words whose meaning changes when “s” or “es”
is added to them.

Singular and Plural Distinct Singular and Plural not Distinct

Different Words Same Words Only Singular Only Plural

News, Mathematics,
Apple—Apples Politics, Innings,
Story—Stories A Sheep—Many Sheep Riches, Alms, Advice, Trousers, Scissors,
Man—Men A Deer—Many Deer Air, Wood, Spectacles, Measles,
Accommodation Assets, Poultry,
Wolf—Wolves A Fish—Many Fish
Quarter—Quarters Etc. (collective nouns and People, Cattle, Police,
Etc.
Etc. uncountable nouns)
Etc.

Exception and Special Cases

 Foreign words—Erratum-Errata,  Some collective nouns—Team,

Hypothesis-Hypotheses Committee, Jury, etc. These are Singular /
 Compound Words— Son-in-Law Plural according to context

 >1 form of plural— Brothers/Brethren  Different meaning in plural—

(member of the same society); Many fish/ ‘Kindnesses’ is plural but is not plural of
Fishes (different variety of fish) kindness; rather plural of act of kindness;
‘woods’ is plural but means forest
 >1 meaning for same plural—Quarters
may be plural of quarter i.e. fourth parts, or  Letter, nos., symbols are made plural
it may mean living place. by apostrophe. Example: I hit two 6’s.

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Common Mistake
From the previous table, following common mistakes that generally occur, can be
prevented.
Example: The scenery of Kashmir are enchanting. —WRONG
The scenery of Kashmir is enchanting. —CORRECT

Example: Advices are given to those who ask. —WRONG

Advice is given to those who ask. —CORRECT

Example: The mischiefs committed by him are unpardonable. —WRONG

The mischief committed by him is unpardonable. —CORRECT

Example: The cattle is grazing in the ground. —WRONG

The cattle are grazing in the ground. —CORRECT

Example: Where is my trousers? —WRONG

Where are my trousers? —CORRECT

Example: The police has the situation under control. —WRONG

The police have the situation under control. —CORRECT

Example: Spectacles is a costly item. —WRONG

Spectacles are costly items. —CORRECT

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Countablility Case
 Countable nouns are for things we can count using numbers.

 They have a singular and a plural form.

 The singular form can use the determiner "a" or "an".

Testbook Trick
If you want to ask about the quantity of a countable noun, you ask "How many?"
combined with the plural countable noun.

Countable Noun Uncountable Noun

dog, horse, man, idea, shop, watch, boy, etc. tea, sugar, rice, wood, knowledge, fear, etc.

Example:
1) I would like to give you some advice.
2) How much bread should I bring?
3) I didn't make much progress today.
4) This looks like a lot of trouble to me.
5) We did an hour of work yesterday.

Collection Case
 Words like group, herd, and array are collective noun examples.

 Usually collective noun is used as singular.

 They can be used as plural if there is a division among the members of the
collective noun or the members are being talked about.

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Points to Remember
Frequently Asked Collective Nouns:
 A band of musicians.
 A board of directors, etc.
 A bevy of girls, women, officers etc.
 A bunch of grapes, keys, etc.
 A bundle of sticks and hay.
 A caravan of Merchants, pilgrims, travelers.
 A chain/range of mountains or hills.
 A choir of singers.
 A class of students.
 A retinue of servants/ attendants.
 A fleet of ships or motorcars.
 A flock of geese, sheep and birds.
 A gang of robbers, laborers.
 A garland/bunch/bouquet of flowers.
 A heap of ruins, sand, stones.
 A herd of cattle.
 A litter of puppies.
 A pack of hounds, cards.
 A pair of shoes, scissors, compasses, trousers.
 A series of events.
 A sheaf of corn, arrows.
 A swarm of ants, bees or flies.
 A train of carriages, followers etc.
 A troop of horses (cavalry) scouts; etc.
 A volley of shots, bullets
 A forum of people (discussing issues)
 A congregation of people (discussing religious issues)

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Example:
1) The jury were divided on the verdict.
2) The jury unanimously gave the verdict there was no division.
3) The flock of geese spends most of its time in the pasture.
4) Our class took a field trip to the natural history museum.
5) The herd of bison ran across the prairie, leaving a massive dust cloud in its
wake.
6) We waited anxiously for the jury to come to a verdict.
7) This year’s basketball team includes three players who are over six feet tall.

Exception
Example: The jury was divided in their opinion.—WRONG
The jury were divided in their opinion.—CORRECT
‘Were’ is used because individual members of the jury all have a different opinion
which is why they are divided in their opinions. Since every one in the group is being
considered as an individual, we can’t take the group as a single unit. So the noun
will take the plural form of the verb with it.

Example: The team have not arrived yet.—WRONG

The team has not arrived yet.—CORRECT
Here the team is all arriving together as a single unit. There is no individual being
considered here. So it will take the singular form of the verb with it.

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Article for Abstract Noun

 Normally no article is used before an Abstract Noun.

Example: The history is a difficult subject. —WRONG
History is a difficult subject. —CORRECT

Exception
Example: The history of S.K. Pandey is good.—WRONG
The history of S.K. Pandey are good.—CORRECT
Here we are referring to the history of S.K. Pandey, i.e. the past events. Past events
(events that happened in the past) are plural, so we will use plural helping verb with
it.

Nouns and Prepositions

Noun + Preposition + Noun - Will be followed by Singular verb.

Example:
1) Town after town was devastated.
2) Row upon row of marble looks beautiful.
3) He enquired from door to door.
4) Ship after ship is arriving.

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Noun Phrases
 A noun and any words in the sentence that modify it.

 Words that can modify nouns include articles (a, an, the), adjectives, participles,
and possessive pronouns

Example:
1) The yellow house is for sale. - as a Subject
2) I want Nike’s new skateboard - as a direct Object

Noun Clauses
 A noun clause is a dependent clause that acts as a noun.

 Noun clauses can act as subjects, direct objects, indirect objects, predicate
nominatives, or objects of a preposition.

 Noun clauses begin with words such as:

how whom who whether whatever

when that why whoever whichever

which where what whomever

Example:
1) The focus of our work is how we can satisfy customers most effectively.
2) Choose a gift for whomever you want.

ENGLISH | Nouns PAGE 10

Pronouns

ENGLISH

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Pronouns
A word used in place of a Noun is called a Pronoun. It is used in order to avoid
repetition of a noun in a sentence or to point at a specific object.

Example: Sarah has always loved fashion. Sarah announced that Sarah wants to go
to fashion school. — WRONG
Sarah has always loved fashion. She announced that she wants to go to
fashion school. — CORRECT

Instead of using Sarah again and again in the given sentence, ‘She’ (pronoun) can be
used.

Cases of Pronoun
Pronouns, other than the types, have certain cases under which the different types of
pronouns work. The three cases of pronoun are:
1) Subjective—used for subjects and subject complements of a sentence.
2) Objective—used for direct objects.
3) Possessive—used to express ‘belonging’, ‘Ownership’ of a person or thing.

Case of Personal Possessive Possessive

Subject Object
Pronouns Adjectives Pronouns

Singular I Me My Mine
First
Person
Plural We Us Our Ours

Second Singular/
You You Your Yours
Person Plural

Singular She, He, It Her, Him, It Her, His, Its Hers, His, -
Third
Person
Plural They Them Their Theirs

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Types of Pronouns
There are 10 types of pronouns:

Personal pronouns
 Personal pronouns are short words we use as a simple substitute for the proper
name of a person.

 Each of the English personal pronouns shows us the grammatical person, gender,
number, and case of the noun it replaces.

 I, you, he, she, it, we they, me, him, her, us, and them are all personal pronouns.

Possessive pronouns
 Possessive pronouns show ‘belonging’, ‘possession’ or ‘ownership’. They show
that something belong to someone.

 Possessive pronouns are never spelled with apostrophes.

 Mine, your, his, her, its are all possessive pronouns.

Demonstrative pronouns
 Demonstrative pronouns are the words that are used to point at something/
someone.

 This, That, These, Those are all demonstrative pronouns.

Distributive pronouns
 Distributive pronouns are the words that are used for individuals or objects re-
ferring to them as one at a time.

 Each, either, neither, every, none etc.

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Reciprocal pronouns
 Reciprocal pronouns are the words used to indicate the reciprocate actions of
the subjects.

 Each other, One another are the examples.

Reflexive pronouns
 Reflexive pronouns are words ending in -self or -selves that are used when the
subject and the object of a sentence are the same (e.g., I believe in myself).
They can act as either objects or indirect objects.

 The nine English reflexive pronouns are myself, yourself, himself, herself, one-
self, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves.

Emphatic / Emphasizing Pronouns

 Such pronouns are used to lay stress on the subject.

 Myself, ourselves, yourself, yourselves, himself, herself, itself, themselves are the
examples

Points to Remember
An emphatic pronoun can be removed from the sentence without affecting its core
meaning.
A reflexive pronoun, on the other hand, is vital. The sentence wouldn’t make
complete sense on removing the reflexive pronoun.

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Indefinite pronouns
 They are the words used for nouns in vague or general meaning.

 Everyone, Everybody, Someone, Somebody, Anyone, Anybody are some

examples.

Relative pronouns
 They are the words used to show relations between objects or actions. They
give more information about a specified object or action.

 Who, whom, whose, which, that etc.

Interrogative pronouns
 Words that are used to ask questions.

 Who, whom, whose, which etc.

Rules of Pronouns
Rule #1: Single positive sentence
If all the three persons i.e. first person, second person and third person or any two of
them are used in a single sentence (positive sentence), then the order of the pronouns
that will be followed is: 231.
Example: You, he and I have completed the course successfully.

Rule #2:
If all the three persons i.e. first person, second person and third person or any two of
them are used in a single sentence and sense of the sentence is negative, then the
order of the pronouns that will be followed is: 123.
Example: I, you and he are going to be punished for this mischief.

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Rule #3:
When two or more singular nouns joined by ‘and’ are preceded by ‘each’ and ‘every’ the
pronoun must be singular .
Example: Every boy and every girl has got his share of profit.

Rule #4:
Words like let, like, between…..and, but, except and all prepositions are followed by
an objective case.

Example:
1) Let me have the chance to speak.
2) He looked at me.

Rule #5:
In the case of a comparison between two nominative cases the pronoun used should
also be in the nominative case.
Example: He is better than she.

Rule #6:
Possessive pronouns are not used with words like separation, favor, mention, pardon,
leave, sight, excuse, etc.
Example: ‘I need a favor from you.’ will be used instead of ‘I need your favor.’

Rule #7:
Apostrophe is not used with possessive pronouns.
Example: I have a car and its color is red.

Rule #8:
When the receiver of the action is the subject itself, then, we use reflexive pronouns.
Example: Students have to exert themselves hard during the exam times.
The verbs that take reflexive pronouns after them: acquit, avail, exert, resign, avenge,etc.

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Exception
There are some words which do not take reflexive pronouns like: hide, bathe, stop,
keep, turn, qualify, etc.

Rule #9:
When a pronoun stands for a collective noun, it must be in the singular number if the
collective noun is viewed as a whole.
Example: Indian team won its last match with West Indies.

Exception
If the collective noun conveys the idea of separate individuals comprising the whole, the
pronoun standing for it must be of the plural number.
Example: The jury were divided in their opinion.

Rule #10:
That, with its plural those, is used to avoid the repetition of a preceding noun.
Example: The climate of Pune is better than that of Mumbai.

Rule #11:
Relative pronoun ‘who’ is used for persons either singular or plural.
Example: The man who won the medal in the competition is my friend.

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Rule #12:
‘Which’ is used for the things without life and for animals either singular or plural .
Example: The moment which is lost is lost forever.

Rule #13:
‘That’ can be used with both persons and things.
Example: He is the man that I told you of.

Rule #14:
‘That’ is used after the superlative degree.
Example: Virat Kohli is the best player that the Indian team has now.

Rule #15:
That’ is used after two antecedents, one denoting a person and the other denoting an
animal or thing.
Example: The man and the dog that we met in the market have been kidnapped.

Rule #16:
“Each other” is used when two persons are given.
“One another” is used for more than two persons.

Example:
1) They both fight with each other
2) There is no brotherhood amongst Indians as they always fight with each other.

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Subject-Verb
Agreement

ENGLISH

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Subject-Verb Agreement

In English grammar, Subject verb agreement is concerned with the relationship

between the Subject and the Verb.

 The relationship is also based on Subject in person (First person, Second Person,
Third person) with its Verb in accurate number (Singular or Plural).

 The relationship is also known as ‘Subject- Verb concord’.

 Subject verb agreement in English grammar is a type of an inversion (Grammatical

order of any language structure), where the subject and verb switch their order of
appearance so that the subject follows the verb. Subject and Verb must agree
with each other in a sentence for the logically and grammatically correct order.

 Singular subjects follow singular verb. Plural subjects follow plural verbs.

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General Rule for Subject-Verb

Agreement
Rule #1: General Rule for Singular Subject and Singular Verb
Singular subject attach to singular verb. The singular verb attaches ‘es’ in the last of V1
(Base form of the verb).
Singular subject + singular verb (V1+ es) + Object
(He, she, it) + (eat + es = eats) + every day.

Example: The girl studies in the school.

The specific singular subject ‘girl’ follows the singular verb ‘study + es = studies’.

Even, the singular pronouns (He, She, And It) follows the same case.

Rule #2: General Rule for Plural Subject and Plural Verb
Plural subject attach to plural verb. The plural verb does not attach ‘es’ in the last of V1
(Base form of the verb).
Singular subject + singular verb (V1) + Object
(We, they) + eat + every day.

Example: Girls studies in the school.

The plural subject ‘Girls’ follow the plural verb ‘study’. Even, the plural pronouns
follow the same cases.

Exception
‘I’ and ‘You’, being singular personal pronouns, do not attach singular verbs with them.
Example: I/You plays football. .—WRONG
I/You play football.—CORRECT

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Memory Tip
Subject is who performs the action. Verb is an action that is performed by the subject.

Exceptions to the General Rule

Agreement indicating quantity and amount

Expression indicating quantity or amount to be considered as a unit require a singular
verb. These expression often refer to amounts of money, unit of time or measurements.

Example:
1) Five dollars is the price for that yellow shirt.
2) Two hundred yards is away from here.

Agreement with the Compound subjects joined by

‘AND’
Compound subjects and combinations joined by ‘and’ take ‘singular verb’ with them.

Example:
1) Bacon and eggs is the staple food of America.
2) Bread and butter is easily digestive.
3) Bread and butter is all a poor has.
4) Homework is an assignment to be done at home.
5) The creator and champion of the sport is injured.

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Points to Remember
Compound subjects are the subjects that are formed by combining two or more than
two subjects. Compound subjects are considered to be one.
Such as, Home + Work= Homework.

Agreement with the Coordinated Noun phrases

If the subjects in a sentence is joined with a correlated conjunction, the verb is decided
on the basis of the number of the subject nearest to verb.

Example:
1) Either he or she is smart.
2) Either he or they are smart.
3) Either they or she is smart.
4) Either they or he is smart.
5) Either they or we are smart.

Agreement with Collective Nouns and Indefinite

pronouns
Collective nouns/subjects will take singular verb. The idea is a group of many. Such
as, Majority, Team, Government, Family, Choir

Example:
1) The family decides to stay together.
2) The majority of people is against the government.
3) The minority is always less in number.
4) The team India wins the match when plays good.

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Cases of Subject-Verb Agreement

When the Verb follows the first subject

Whenever in a sentence two subjects are joined by
as well as, like, unlike, in addition to, along with, with, together with
Then helping verb is always used according to the first subject.
The first subject is the main subject as the action is done by him/her which is followed
by the other subject.

Example: Parag along with Somya was invited to dinner at Adhiraj Gardens.
Parag (1st subject ) and Somya (2nd subject ) = two subjects
was = singular helping verb.
As you can see these two subjects are joined by “along with”. So helping verb used is
singular.

When the Verb follows the second subject

Whenever in a sentence two subjects are joined by
either….or, neither….nor, not only …….but also, none …..but
Then helping verb is always used according to the nearest subject (can be singular or
plural).

Example: Either Shipra or Tanya is working on SSC CGL live course

Shipra or Tanya = 2 subjects
Helping verb = singular as it is used according to the nearest subject which is (Tanya)
Either means one out of two so first we consider the first subject then the second
subject because the first one is not working then it comes to the second one.

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Points to Remember
Always remember that, when either and neither are used as pronouns, they are
treated as singular and always take the singular verb.

Example:

1) Either of the books is fine for MAT preparation.

2) Neither of the employees find the work laborious.

In these sentences either and neither is used as pronoun and they always take the
singular verb.

Whenever the sentence starts with each /every / each

one /everyone
Whenever the sentence starts with each /every / each one /everyone
Then helping verb is always singular.
Example: Each one of the team members has participated in the cultural event held
in Testbook.

Usage of “A number of”

 When Countable noun is given,
A + number of (noun plural) + helping verb (plural)
Example: A number of aspirants have enrolled themselves for SBI PO crash course
on Testbook website.
aspirants (countable noun)
Hence, have (plural helping verb)

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 When uncountable noun is given,

A + number of (noun singular) + helping verb (plural)
Example: A number of chaos have occurred while launching missile
chaos (uncountable noun)

A number of means indefinite no. so we will use plural helping verb, as indefinite
means much in number.

Usage of ‘The number of’

The number of + noun (plural) + helping verb (singular)
Example: The number of aspirants enrolled for SBI PO LC is 1500 on testbook app.

 The number of aspirants are definite, that is 1500. Whenever something is

definite it will take singular helping verb.

 The is a definite article. Definite means thing is certain, which is singular.

Usage of ‘and’

Rule #1:
When two subjects are joined by ‘and’, the verb is plural.
Example: My friend and his mother are in town.

Rule #2:
When two singular nouns joined by ‘and’ refer to the same person or thing, the verb
is singular.
Example: The captain and coach of the team has been sacked.
The coach and the captain is the same person, so, an article is used only with the
first subject therefore the verb will be singular here.

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Common Mistake
In the above mentioned example, in case these were two different individuals, two
articles need to be used
Example: The captain and the coach of the team have been sacked.

Usage of Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns (everyone, each one, someone, somebody, no one, nobody,
anyone, anybody etc.) are always singular.
Example: Everyone is selfish.
We do not use 'are' in this sentence.

Exception
This rule for indefinite pronouns does not apply to: few, many, several, both, all, some.
 When the above mentioned are used with Countable Noun, the verb is plural.

Example:
1) Some men are needed for the battle.
2) Several students were late for the class

 When the above mentioned are used with Uncountable Noun, the verb is singular.
Example: Some data was stolen.
Here data is an uncountable noun thus the verb is singular.

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Practice Questions
Q. Identify the segment in the sentence which contains the grammatical error.
You are not expect to do the work alone.
A. The given sentence has an error in the verb form of 'expect'. The auxiliary verb 'are'
is not in agreement with the verb form 'expect'. We need to use a verb form which is
in agreement with the particular verb. So, we will use the past participle form of the
verb i.e. expected.
The correct phrase would be 'not expected'.

Q. Identify the segment in the sentence which contains the grammatical error.
The motor as well as her children were brought to the police station for interrogation.

A. The subject must be in agreement with the verb in the sentence. Here, 'the motor as
well as her children' will be treated as one because they are joined by 'as well as'. We
will use the verb which is in agreement with the singular subject. The given verb
'were' is used with plural nouns.
Thus, the correct phrase would be- her children was brought.

Q. In the following question, the sentence given with blank to be filled in with an
appropriate word. Select the correct alternative out of the four and indicate it
by selecting the appropriate option.
Japan as well as Philippines ________ hit by an earthquake.

A. The verb here should be associated with the first subject. Since it is singular the
correct verb is 'was'. When 'as well as' is used the verb used must agree with the first
subject.
Hence, the correct sentence will be: Japan as well as Philippines was hit by an
earthquake.

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Q. In the following question, the sentence given with blank to be filled in with an
appropriate word. Select the correct alternative out of the four and indicate it
by selecting the appropriate option.
Anita _________ a collection of every nations’ currency.

A. Has is used alongside the Pronouns He / She / It and Who and Singular nouns,
.Thus, Option 1) Has is the correct answer.
Hence, the correct sentence will be: Anita has a collection of every nations’
currency.

ENGLISH | Subject-Verb Agreement PAGE 11

Verbs

ENGLISH

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Verbs
Verb is another word for moods, emotions or actions of a person/noun/subject, is a
state of being, and is a state of knowing.

Verbs may appear as: is, are, be, such as, was, were, been, being, have, had, has,
do, did, does, can, could, will, would, shall, should, may, must, might, etc.

In generative grammar, a verb phrase may consist of just a single verb. However,
typically it contains a main verb, an auxiliary verb, optional specifiers, compliments, and
adjuncts.

It often agrees with its primary argument (the subject) in person, number or gender.

Exception
With the exception of the verb to be, English shows distinctive agreements only in the
third person singular, present tense form of verbs, which are marked by adding
"-s" (walks) or "-es" (fishes). The rest of the persons are not distinguished in the verb (I
walk, you walk, they walk, etc.).

Examples:

1) She works well.

2) They maintain themselves.

3) Let’s drop by at grand ma’s place!

4) He is returning home after a long time.

ENGLISH | Verbs PAGE 2

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Classification of verbs can be done as:

Verbs

Auxiliary Verbs
Main Verbs

Modal Verbs Helping Verbs

Transitive OR Regular OR Finite OR

Intransitive Irregular Non-finite

Main Verbs
Main verbs are the verbs which shows the subject performing action/activity. Such as:
sleeps, eats, plays, dances, sings. Wherever, an action is performed, action verbs play
a major role.

Forms of Main Verb

V1 V2 V3 V4
Present Past Perfect Continuous
(do/does) (did) (done) (doing)

Transitive Verb
A transitive verb is one that only makes sense if it exerts its action on an object. The
effect of the transitive verbs can be directly seen on the object.
For eg: Kick, throw, pat, give.

ENGLISH | Verbs PAGE 3

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Should I start with Basic Yes, I believe you

grammar concepts for should. Basic grammar is
the exams? required to clear any
competitive exam.

Intransitive Verb
An intransitive verb does not allow a direct object. This is a distinctive from a transitive
verb, which takes one or more objects. The verb property is called transitivity.
Intransitive verbs are often identified as those that can't be followed by who or what.
For eg: Arrive, Smile, Cry, Die, Happen, Occur, Grow, Develop.

Regular Verb
Regular verbs are those whose conjugation follow the typical pattern, or one of the
typical patterns, of the language to which it belongs. They form their inflected parts by
adding the typical endings -s, -ing and -ed to give forms such as plays, entering, and
liked.
For eg: verbs such as play, enter, and like are regular

Irregular Verb
Irregular verbs are the ones in which the past tense is not formed by adding the usual ‘-
ed’ ending. Examples of irregular verbs are sing (sang), feel (felt), and go (went).

ENGLISH | Verbs PAGE 4

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Finite Verb
Structural form of finite V3 form:
Example:
1) Ram has written a letter.
V3

2) She gave a written statement before the judge.

adj V3 N

Rule #1:
A finite verb is controlled by the no. of subjects if the subject is singular, the verb is sin-
gular. If the subject is plural, the verb is plural.
Example:
1) The girl runs slowly. (Subject is singular)
2) The girls run slowly. (Subject is plural)

Rule #2:
A finite verb is controlled by the person.
Example:
1) I visit my grandparents at least once a month. (I – First Person)
2) She visits her grandparents at least once a month. (She – Third Person)

Rule #3:
A finite verb is controlled by the tense. It can be in the past, present or future tense.
Example:
1) Mary studies Spanish. (Present Tense)
2) Mary will study Spanish. (future Tense)

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Non-finite Verb

Non-finite Verbs

Infinitives Gerunds Participle

to + V1 V4

Present Participle Past Participle Perfect Participle

V4 V3 having + V4

Rule #1: Bare infinitive with (infinitive without ‘to’) some modals
We, generally, do not use ‘to+V1’ form with modals. Modals, when used, are written
without ‘to’.
Example:
1) We can do the work. (Case of Bare infinitive)
2) She may come tomorrow. (Case of Bare infinitive)

Exception
Full infinitive (infinitive with ‘to’) is used with these two modals
We use ‘to+V1’ with these two modals.
 Ought to
 Have to
Example:
1) You ought to go home today.
2) You ought to study to pass.

ENGLISH | Verbs PAGE 6

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Rule #2:
To is the only preposition that takes the base form of the verb. However, there are some
phrases with to being at the end of them, which require the gerund form of the verbs.
Example:
1) Mom volunteered to make cookies for the bake sale.
2) Paula's dedication to volunteering is a surprise at five.

Rule #3:
To be, being, having, getting, etc. are generally followed by the past participle form of
the verbs and other adjectives.
Example:
1) Being tired, he took some time off from work.
2) John went to bazar having eaten a burger.

Rule #4:
Usage of used to/ accustomed to/ addicted to/ habituated to:
used to/ accustomed to/ addicted to/ habituated to + V4
Example:
1) She is addicted to playing ludo late night
2) My flatmate is accustomed to eating pizza everyday.

Rule #5:
With these words to + V1 is always used
Try, refuse, proceed, plan, neglect, hesitate, begin, manage, learn, forget, etc.
Example:
1) He hesitates to speak in front of new people in the office
2) He refused me to go there with his friend.

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Rule #6:
Gerund form is always used after possessive pronouns like (my, mine, his, her, your,
our, etc.
Example:
1) She is very upset of my failing in the exams.

Points to Remember
 The base form of the verb is also used in the clauses that use the subjunctive
mood. Some certain verbs + the conjunction that requires the next clause to use
the subjunctive mood and the clause uses the base form of the verb in it.
advise, demand, prefer, require, ask, insist, propose, stipulate, command,
recommend, suggest, decree, order, request, urge, move
Subject + the verbs of the above list (any tense) + THAT + subject + base verb
+. ....
Example:
1) The office requires that we complete our work timely.
2) She commanded that he stop making excuses for being late.

 The verbs are customarily followed by the subjects, and they must agree with the
subjects according to their number and person.
Singular Subject = Singular Verb
Plural Subject = Plural Verb
Example:
1) A boy plays Football.
2) The boys play Football.

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Auxiliary Verbs
An auxiliary verb (abbreviated aux) is a verb that adds functional or grammatical
meaning to the clause in which it appears, so as to express tense, aspect, modality,
voice, emphasis, etc. Auxiliary verbs usually accompany a main verb. The main verb
provides the main semantic content of the clause.

Example: I have finished my lunch.

Here, the main verb is finish, and the auxiliary have helps to express the perfect
aspect. Some sentences contain a chain of two or more auxiliary verbs.

Modal Verbs

Modals are the verbs that are used to indicate modality. Such as, likelihood, ability,
permission, request, capacity, suggestions, order, obligation, or advice. Modal
verbs always accompany the base (infinitive) form of another verb having semantic
content. Modals are the type of auxiliary expressing the subject’s mood. They give
information about the function of the main verb.

In English, the modal verbs commonly used are can, could, may, might, must, will,
would, shall, should, ought to, had better, "have to" and sometimes need or dare.

Modal Verb Must Shall Will Can May

Modal + ed - Should Would Could Might

Must not Shall not Will not Cannot May not

Full negative forms
- Should not Would not Could not Might not

Mustn’t Shan’t Won’t Can’t -

Short Negative forms
- Shouldn’t Wouldn’t Couldn’t Mightn’t

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Modals Usage

Can power, ability, and capacity, possibility, take or give permission in an

informal way, friendly/informal request,

Could past ability, power and capacity, remote possibility, formal request

May show formal permission, polite request, possibility, In optative sentences,

Might less possibility, in indirect speech as the past form of may

Shall with I/we in future tense, polite suggestion, show command, promise and
threat with second and third person, question tag of imperative sentences

Should show assistance or polite suggestion, give advice,

Ought to show moral obligation,

Must show compulsion, express duty

Will in future tense, show determination

Would past form of will, make a polite request, past habit, probability

Dare challenge or courage

Need requirements

Used to past habits, habitual action

ENGLISH | Verbs PAGE 10

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Common Rules of Modals

Rule #1: Forming question with Modals
We form questions by inverting the modal verb and the subject. We do not use auxilia-
ries to do so.
Example:
1) Should I go to bed now?
2) Must we do the work in excel?

Rule #2: Forming negatives by adding ‘NOT’

We form negative sentences by adding ‘NOT’. We do not add auxiliaries.
Example:
1) Must not we do the work in excel?
2) Should I not go to bed now?
3) You must not be jealous from other’s progress.
4) I cannot leave the place before informed.

Rule #3: Interrogatives with Modals

Modals can be used in tag/ interrogative sentences.
Example:
1) You are not supposed to leave the place, are you?
2) You can drive the car, can’t you?

Rule #4: Modals and Tenses

Modals do not exist in all tenses. They are only in Simple tenses.
Example:
1) The train might be at the station (Past tense)
2) The train might arrive late (Future tense)

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Rule #5: Forms of Modals

There are perfect forms and continuous forms of Modals.
The perfect form: (Modal + have + V3)
The continuous form: (Modals + be + ing)
Example:
1) You could have done better.
2) You will be appearing for the examination soon.

Common Mistake
We cannot place one modal after the other. The sequence will be grammatically wrong.
Example: She must can do it. —WRONG
She must do it. —CORRECT
She can do it.—CORRECT

Points to Remember
 Modals never change their form. We cannot add ‘s’, ‘ed’, ‘ing’ after them.
 Modals are always followed by bare infinitive without to.

ENGLISH | Verbs PAGE 12

Tenses

ENGLISH

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Tenses
Before we start with tense, one must be aware of the verb-” it is a word that shows
action or state of being”. So now tense is defined as that form of a verb which indicates
the time and the state of an action or event. Every statement or a sentence has a
reference to time in which it has happened and these time frames are shown below:

Tense

Past Present Future

Examples:

1) I cracked the SBI PO examination last year.

(“cracked”- past time of an action)

2) I go for a walk every morning.

( Habitual action or a daily routine, Present tense)

3) Ankit will attend his friend’s wedding.

(“will attend”. Future time of action)

Contextual Timeline
Context: Campus placement drive

Let’s take an example of a particular scenario where Amit is an engineering student

who is going to appear for campus placement drives as he is in his final year of
graduation. With the help of this example we will try to explain different time frames in a
tense by framing sentences on this particular scenario.

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Present Tense

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Simple Present

 This tense is used to denote habit, custom, practice, repeated action,

permanent activity and universal truth.

 This tense is also used to show the permanent nature and activity of the subject
and eternal principles.

 In newspaper headlines and commentary of sports simple present tense is used.

Example:
1) Virat hits the ball out of the park.
2) Sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
3) Amit seldom gets up late.
4) Rahul goes for a walk every morning.

To denote planned action and future arrangement in the near future, simple
present is used.

Example:
1) Shivani leaves for her friend’s wedding this weekend.
2) Mr. Reddy leaves his job next week.

Memory Tip
Keywords to identify Simple Present Tense:

Usually Often As usual Ever In general Frequently Generally

Sometimes Always In these days Rarely Regularly Seldom As a rule

Occasionally Normally Hardly ever Periodically Scarcely Now-a-days Daily

In modern Every day/week/month/

Every time Never Once/twice in a week
days Year

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Present Continuous

 This tense is normally used for an action in progress that is temporary in nature
in the present at the time of speaking.

 It is also used to express future actions or a definite arrangement in the near

future.

Example:
1) Amit is going to an amusement park this weekend.
2) Robert is riding a bicycle.
3) She is looking fabulous in a red saree.

Exception
With stative verbs like verb of perception, thinking, possession, feelings and state of
mind- see, taste, smell, think, know, own, cost, etc. We don’t use continuous form.

Example: Rahul is owning a car —WRONG

Rahul owns a car. —CORRECT
Example: Shivani is having two pens. —WRONG
Shivani has two pens. —CORRECT

Present Perfect
When an action is done in the near past but we don’t know the exact point of time
or period of time, in this situation, the present perfect is used.

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Example:
1) Ravi has submitted his college fees.
2) I have had my breakfast.
3) Rhea has done her graduation in mass communication.

Present Perfect Continuous

 When an action took place in the past and it is still going on, in such situations
the present perfect continuous is used.

 To denote point of time in the sentence “since” is used and to denote period of time
“for” is used.

For Since
A period A point
(from start to end) (upto now)
>===< X===>
Can be used in all tenses Used in perfect tenses only

Examples
for 20 minutes since 9 AM
for three days since Monday
for 6 months since January
for 4 years since 1997
for 2 centuries since 1500
for a long time since I left school
for ever since the beginning of time
etc. etc.

Example:
1) I have been teaching you for an hour.
2) Ravi has been living in Delhi for five years.
3) Shivani has been working in facebook since 2017.
4) Rahul has been suffering from fever for two days.
5) I have been waiting for the bus for two hours.
6) Amit has been making notes since last night.

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Past Tense

Simple Past
 This type of tense is used to denote a single act completed in the past or past
habit.

 There is a slight difference between simple past and present perfect, when point of
time is given in a sentence then we will use simple past only.
Present perfect + Point of time = Simple past
Example:
1) Ramesh met his friend yesterday.
2) I received his letter a week ago.
3) Amit left school last year. .

Memory Tip
Keywords to identify Simple Past Tense:

yesterday last week last month last year ago once

in olden days in those days one day then since in old days

in ancient Once upon a in my child- in my boyhood

long long ago two years ago
times time hood days

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Exception
The following will behave in a different manner:
1) It is time
+ to + V 1
2) It is high time
3) It is right time + S + V2 + O
4) It is about time

Example: It is high time she has started with work. —WRONG

It is high time she started the work. —CORRECT
It is high time to start the work. —CORRECT

Past Continuous
This tense is used to denote an action going on at some time in the past. The time of
the action may or may not be indicated.

Example:
1) We were listening to the radio all evening.
2) It was getting darker.
3) When I saw him, he was playing chess.

Past Perfect
This tense is used when out of two actions it is necessary to emphasize that the
preceding action was completely finished before the succeeding action started.

Example:
1) I had gone to Delhi last week before my father came.
2) I had written the letter before he arrived.
3) The patient had died before the doctor came.

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This tense is also used as time expression with since, for, how long, whole, all
along etc.

Example:
1) She had known him for two years.
2) Rahul had owned this mansion for five years.

The above sentence is trying to say that Rahul had a mansion for a period of five years
in the past but now he doesn’t have it.

Past Perfect Continuous

The past perfect continuous is used for an action that began before a certain point in
the past and continued up to that time.
Continuous + Time expression = Perfect continuous

Example:
1) At that time he had been writing a novel for two months.
2) Mr. Amit had already been teaching there for five years.

Future Tense

Simple Future
The simple future tense is used to talk about things which we cannot control and
actions that is to take place in future.

Example:
1) I shall be twenty next Saturday.
2) We will know our exam results in may.
3) I will author a book one day soon.

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Memory Tip
Keywords to identify Simple Future Tense:

tomorrow in future next week early next month next year

in a few in coming
soon shortly in 2050 next Monday
minutes days
in the years to
hereafter this evening in a little time within a week later
come

Future Continuous
 This tense is used to express an action that will be in progress with a point of time
in future.

 It is also used to show future arrangements.

Example:
1) Probably, it will be raining when you reach Ahmednagar.
2) Rahul will be watching a cricket match on television now.
3) She will be waiting for me when I reach home.
4) I will be going back to Delhi by train today.

Future Perfect
This tense is used when out of two actions it is necessary to emphasize that the
preceding action will be completely finished before the succeeding action starts
in future.

Example:
1) She will have already prepared maggi for dinner when I reach home.
2) I think the news will not have been published so far.

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3) My assistant will have typed five letters by lunch today.

4) By the end of this month I will have worked in Testbook for a month.

Future Perfect Continuous

This tense is used for actions which will be in progress over a period of time that will
end in the future.

Example:
1) By next March, we shall have been living here for four years.
2) I will have been teaching for twenty years next July.

Testbook Trick
Following are the quick ways of finding out the tense of the sentence.

Tense Format Example

1) S + be form (present) + O 3) I am a tutor.

Simple Present
2) S + V1 + O 4) I write a letter.

Present Continuous S + be form (pr.) + V4 + O I am writing a letter.

Present Perfect S + has/have + V3 + O I have written a letter.

Past Perfect Continuous S + has/have + been + V4 + O I have been writing a letter.

1) S + be form (past) + O 3) I was a tutor.

Simple Past 2
2) S + V + O 4) I wrote a letter.

Past Continuous S + be form (past) + V4 + O I was writing a letter.

Past Perfect S + had + V3 + O I had written a letter.

Past Perfect Continuous S + had + been + V4 + O I had been writing a letter.

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1) S + m.a + be + O 3) I will be there at 11 AM.

Simple Future
2) S +m.a + V1 + O 4) I will write a letter.

Future Continuous S +m.a + be + V4 + O I will be writing a letter.

Future Perfect S + m.a + have + V3 + O I will have written a letter.

Future Perfect
S + m.a + have been + V4 + O I will have been writing a letter.
Continuous

ENGLISH | Tenses PAGE 12

Active and
Passive Voice

ENGLISH

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Active and Active and Passive

voice has always
been liked by me.
Passive Voice
Oh, now I get it, you
have always liked
Active voice means that a sentence has its Active and Passive in
subject that acts upon its verb. Passive voice English!
means that the subject is the recipient of the
action verb.

Active voice is generally to be considered in

expressing the informal connotations of
language. Passive voice is generally to be
considered in expressing the formal
connotations of language.

Common rules for Voices

To Change from Active to Passive:
1) The sentence must have objects (transitive verb). If there is no object then there
must be question word who asks the object.
2) Object active sentence became the subject of passive sentences.
3) Subject or active sentences into passive sentences that preceded the object word
‘by’.

Rule #1:
The places of subject and object are interchanged i.e. the object shifts to the place of
subject and subject shifts to the place of object in passive voice.

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Active Voice Passive Voice

S+V+O O+V+S

Example:

I write a letter. A letter is written by me.

“I” is a subject
“Write” is a verb
“A letter” is an object

Rule #2:
3rd form of verb (past participle) is always used as main verb in sentences of passive
voice for all tenses. Base form of verb or present participle.

Active Voice Passive Voice

Sing
Is singing Sung
Has sung

Example:

He sings a song. A song is sung by him.

Rule #3:
“By” is used while making passive voice

Example: The painting was painted by the painter.

Rule #4:
Auxiliary verbs are used in passive voice according to the tense of a sentence.
Example: The assigned task has been completed.

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Rule #5:
Auxiliary verbs are used in passive voice according to the tense of a sentence.

Active Voice Passive Voice

I Me

We Us

You You

He Him

She Her

They Them

The Form of Active Voice and Passive

Voice in Tenses

Passive voice in Simple Present Tense

Active Voice Passive Voice

V1 with ‘s’ or ‘es’ Is /am /are + V3

Example:

Ana does the homework. The homework is done by Ana.

They sell that house. That house is sell by them.

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Passive voice in Present Continuous Tense

Active Voice Passive Voice

Is /am /are + V4 Is /am /are + being + V3

Example:

Ana is doing the homework. The homework is being done by Ana.

That house is being investigated by

They are investigating that house.
them.

Passive voice in Present Perfect Tense

Active Voice Passive Voice

has /have + V3 has been /have been + V3

Example:

The homework has been completed

Ana has completed the homework.
by Ana.

That house has been investigated by

They have investigated that house.
them.

Passive voice in Present Perfect continuous Tense

Active Voice Passive Voice

has been/have been + V4 No passive voice

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Passive voice in simple Past Tense

Active Voice Passive Voice

V2
1
was /were + V3
did + V

Example:

The homework was completed by

Ana completed the homework.
Ana.

They investigated that house. That house was investigated by them.

Passive voice in past continuous Tense

Active Voice Passive Voice

was /were + V4 was /were + being +V3

Example:

The homework was being completed

Ana was completing the homework.
by Ana.

That house was being investigated by

They were investigating that house.
them.

Passive voice in Past Perfect Tense

Active Voice Passive Voice

had + V3 had been +V3

Example:

The homework had been completed

Ana had completed the homework.
by Ana.

That house had been investigated by

They had investigated that house.
them.

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Passive voice in Past Perfect continuous Tense

Active Voice Passive Voice

had been + V3 No passive voice

Passive voice in simple future Tense

Active Voice Passive Voice

will /shall + V1 will be /shall be +V3

Example:

The homework will be completed by

Ana will complete the homework.
Ana.

That house will be investigated by

They will investigate that house.
them.

Passive voice in future continuous Tense

Active Voice Passive Voice

will be + V4 No passive voice

Passive voice in future Perfect Tense

Active Voice Passive Voice

will have + V3 will have been + V3

Example:

Ana will have completed the The homework will have been
homework. completed by Ana.

They will have investigated that That house will have been
house. investigated by them.

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Passive voice in future Perfect continuous Tense

Active Voice Passive Voice

will have been + V4 No passive voice

Active and Passive voice using Modals

Active Voice Passive Voice

S + Modal + V + O O + Modal + be + V3 + S

S + Modal + not + V + O O + Modal + not be + V3 + S

Modals are: can /could /shall /should /may /might /will/ would, etc.

Example:

The car can be sold by her every

She can sell the car every time.
time.

Can she play a violin? Can a violin be played by her?

You may read this book. This book may be read by you.

She would teach us today. We would be taught by her today.

We must help the poor. The poor must be helped by us.

Our elders ought to be respected by

We ought to respect our elders.
us.

Common Mistake
Never change can into could, shall into should, may into might, as we are making
active to passive voice not direct to indirect.

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Modal Usage with Present Perfect Tense

Active Voice Passive Voice

S + Modal + have + V + O O + Modal + + have been + V3 + S

S + Modal + not have + V + O O + Modal + not have been + V3 + S

Modals are: should /may /might /ought to

Example:

You may have availed the The opportunity may have been
opportunity. availed by you.

He might have eaten meal. Meal might have been eaten by him.

Meal might not have been eaten by

He might not have eaten meal.
him.
The book should have been studied
You should have studied the book.
by you.

You should not have studied the The book should have not been
book. studied by you.

He ought to have been helped by

You ought to have helped him.
you.

Characteristics of Imperative Sentences

Rule #1:
The object you is generally missing in Imperative Sentences.
The structure of such sentences in Passive Voice is: Let + object + be/not be + V3

Active Voice Passive Voice

Do it. Let it be done.

Call in the doctor. Let the doctor be called in.

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Rule #2:
In sentences which express request, advice and/or order, such phrases as, you are
requested to /advised to /ordered to are used. Word kindly /please are dropped.

Active Voice Passive Voice

You are requested to lend me some

Kindly lend me some money.
money.

Passive Voice in Infinitive Verbs

Active Voice Passive Voice

to + V1 to + be + V3

Example:

I have to do this work. This work has to be done.

Women like men to flatter them. Women like to be flattered by men.

He was seen to cross the road (by

I saw him cross the road.
me).

It is time to do this work. It is time for this work to be done.

Points to Remember
If indefinite pronoun (someone /somebody/nobody/anybody) is given in active voice
as a subject then in passive voice indefinite pronoun will never be used as an object.

Active Voice Passive Voice

My wallet has been stolen.—CORRECT

Someone has stolen my wallet.
My wallet has been stolen by somebody.—WRONG

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Practice Questions
Q. Change the correct passive form of the sentence.
Take the lessons seriously.
A.  While changing an imperative sentence into passive voice, we need to follow
these steps:
 First of all, we will try to find out the object of the sentence, which is 'lessons'
here. If the object is present in the sentence, the syntax for the passive form will
be- let + object (in its subjective form)+be+V3 (past participle) + other words.
Hence, we get the passive form i.e.-
 Syntax- Let + object (in its subjective form)+be+V3 +other words.
 Sentence- Let + the lessons + be + taken + seriously.

Q. Change the following sentence into passive voice.

They offered me a chair.
A. The sentence is in an Active voice. It needs to be changed into a Passive voice.
While converting from Active to Passive voice, the sentence undergoes the following
changes:
Rules of Conversion from Active to Passive Voice:
 Identify the subject, the verb, and the object: S+V+O
 Change the object into subject
 The active verb does not have an object. Therefore, the passive form should
begin with you.
 Change the verb into past participle of the verb.
 Change the subject into object

Following changes will take place:

 The object of the active voice A chair become the subject of the Passive voice.
 A helping verb in the past tense is added.
 The conjunction 'by' is added.
 3rd person plural they change to them.
 Thus the correct sentence will be: A chair was offered by them to me.

ENGLISH | Active and Passive Voice PAGE 11

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Q. Change the correct passive form of the given sentence.

Was she drinking a cocktail?
A.  The sentence is an interrogative sentence that starts with a helping Verb. It is
asking a question.
 The original sentence in the active voice, the format for this is Helping Verb +
Subject + Present continuous Verb + Object.
 This needs to be changed to the passive voice, the format for that will be Helping
Verb + Object + being + Past participle of the Verb + by + Subject.
 Eventually, the final sentence will be, Was a cocktail being drunk by her?

Q. Change the sentence from Passive to Active.

He was knocked down by a slap.
A. In active voice, the subject performs the action denoted by the verb.
On the other hand, a verb is in the passive voice when the subject of the sentence is
acted upon by the verb.
The sentence is in the passive voice, so the sentence has to be changed into active
voice.
In order to do that,
1) The object of the transitive verb (a verb that requires one or more objects) in the
Passive voice should become the subject of the verb in the Active voice.
2) The verb should be changed from the Passive voice to the Active voice without
changing its tense.
So the sentence would be,
A slap knocked him down.

Q. Change from Active to Passive voice.

Someone had called him on his cell phone.
A. In the given sentence, someone is the subject and him is the object. So change in
voice will reverse their roles. The subject will be he and object will be someone.

ENGLISH | Active and Passive Voice PAGE 12

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Q. Change from Active to Passive voice.

It is time to buy books.
It is time __________.

A. The structure of a sentence in active voice is in the form- (subject) + (verb) +

(object). This is so because active voice entails that the subject is working upon
the object (active action). On the other hand passive voice entails that the object
is being worked upon by the subject (passive action). The passive voice is always
constructed with a conjugated form of to be and a past participle form of the
verb. And therefore the structure of a sentence in passive voice is- (object) + (a
form of to be plus the past participle form of a verb) + (preposition) + (subject).

Thus the passive voice of the given sentence will be- It is time for (preposition) + the
books (object) + to be bought (verb).

ENGLISH | Active and Passive Voice PAGE 13

Direct and
Indirect Speech

ENGLISH

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Direct and Sam said, “He’ll do

the work!”

Indirect Speech
So, he said that
he would do it!
In English grammar, Direct and Indirect
speech are the two ways of expressing a
thing. Direct speech repeats or quotes the
expressed or the words spoken. When we
use the direct speech, we place the words
spoken between the quotation marks (“”).
Direct speech is directly conveyed either in
speech or in writing.

Indirect speech or Reported speech is usually used to talk about the past, so we
normally change the tense of the words spoken into. We use reporting verbs like ‘tell’,
‘say’, ‘ask’ and we can use the word ‘that’ to introduce the reported in place of (“”)

Direct and Indirect speech also introduces the concept of ‘Reported speech’ and
‘Reported Verb’.

Reported Speech and Reported Verb

Both direct and indirect speech have two parts which are complete sentences in them-
selves. They are:

 Reported speech is more of ‘Mood/ Tone’ of a speaker. The reported speech can
be Assertive/Declarative, Imperative, Interrogative, and Exclamatory.

 Reported verb is the tense in which the sentence being spoken. It can be ‘Past’,
‘present’, ‘Future’.

ENGLISH | Direct and Indirect Speech PAGE 2

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Memory Tip
Example: He said to me, “I will go there tomorrow.”
In the above example,

 Reporting verb – Who said to whom.

‘He said to me’: it is reporting verb

 Reported speech –The exact words spoken, put within inverted commas
“_______”.
I will go there tomorrow-: it is reported speech

Conversion Rules
Rule #1:

Direct Speech Indirect Speech

Present Simple Tense Past Simple Tense
do /does did + V1
V1 V2
Present Progressive Tense Past Progressive Tense
4
is/am/are + V was /were + V4
Present Perfect Tense Past Perfect Tense
has /have + V3 had + V3
Present Perfect Progressive Past Perfect Progressive
has been /have been + V4 had been + V4
Past Simple Tense
Past Perfect Tense
did + V1
had + V3
V2

ENGLISH | Direct and Indirect Speech PAGE 3

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Past Perfect Tense Past Perfect Tense

3
had + V had + V3
Past Perfect Progressive Past Perfect Progressive
had been + V4 had been + V4
Future Simple Tense
1
would + V1
will + V
Future Progressive Tense
4
would be + V4
will be + V
Future Perfect Tense
would have + V3
will have + V3
Future Perfect Progressive
would have been + V4
will have been + V4

Rule #2:
If reporting verb is given in present or future tense, then there shall be no change in
tense of reported speech.

Rule #3:

Reported Verb Reported Speech

First person (I, we)
Subject Changes according to the subject of the
reported verb
Second person (you)
Object Changes according to the object of the
reported verb
Third person (he, she, it, they)
No Change
No change

Example:
He said ,”I will go “
“I” will change according to the subject of reported verb that is “he”
So in place of “I“ ,“he” will be used for Indirect speech

ENGLISH | Direct and Indirect Speech PAGE 4

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Direct Speech Indirect Speech

Example:

He had said to me, “We play.” He had said to me that they played.

He had said to me, “We are playing.” He had said to me that they were playing.

He had said to me, “We have played.” He had said to me that they had played.

He had said to me, “We have been playing.” He had said to me that they had been playing.

He had said to me, “We played.” He had said to me that they had played.

He had said to me, “We were playing.” He had said to me that they had been playing.

He had said to me, “We had played.” He had said to me that they had played.

He had said to me, “We had been playing.” He had said to me that they had been playing.

Rule #4: Changing certain Words

Direct Speech Indirect Speech Direct Speech Indirect Speech

Here There Last week The previous week

This That Tonight That night

These Those The next day The following day

Now Then Say Say

Thus So Says Says

Hence Thence Say to Tell

Ago Before Says to Tells

Today That day Said Said

Tomorrow The next day Said to Told

Yesterday The previous day Will say Will say

Last night The previous night Will say to Will tell

ENGLISH | Direct and Indirect Speech PAGE 5

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Interrogative Sentences
Those sentences, which ask questions, are called interrogative sentences. Every
interrogative sentence ends at a sign of interrogation.
Example:
1) Do you live here?
2) Have you ever watched Terminator III movie?
3) Is it raining?
To convert interrogative sentences into Indirect Speech, follow the following rules along
with the above-mentioned rules:
1) Reporting Verb said to is changed into asked.
2) If reporting speech is having reporting verb at it its start, then if is used in place of
that.
3) If the reporting speech is having interrogative words like who, when, how, why, when
then neither if is used nor any other word is added.
4) Full Stop is placed at the end of the sentence instead of mark of interrogation.

Direct Speech Indirect Speech

Example:

I said to her, “When do you do your

I asked her when she did her homework.
homework?”

We said to him, “Are you ill?” We asked him if he was ill.

You said to me, “Have you read the article?” You asked me if I had read the article.

He said to her, “Will you go to the Peshawar He asked her if she would go to the Peshawar
Radio Station?” Radio Station.

She says, “Who is he?” She asked who he was.

Rashid says to me, “Why have you got late?” Rashid says to me why I had got late.

ENGLISH | Direct and Indirect Speech PAGE 6

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Exclamatory Sentences
Those sentences, which express our feelings and emotions, are called exclamatory
sentences. Mark of exclamation is used at the end of exclamatory sentence.
Example:
1) Hurray! We have won the match.
2) Alas! He failed in the test.
3) How beautiful that dog is!
4) What a marvelous personality you are!
To change exclamatory sentences into Indirect Speech, follow the following rules along
with the above-mentioned rules:
1) In case, there is an interjection i.e., alas ,aha ,hurray ,aha etc in the reported rpeech,
then they are omitted along with sign of exclamation.
2) Reporting verb i.e., said is always replaced with exclaimed with joy, exclaimed with
sorrow, exclaimed joyfully, exclaimed sorrowfully or exclaimed with great wonder or
sorrow.
3) In case, there is what or how at the beginning of the reported speech, then they are
replaced with very or very great.
4) In indirect sentence, the exclamatory sentence becomes an assertive sentence.

Direct Speech Indirect Speech

Example:
He exclaimed with great joy that he had won
He said, “Hurray! I have won the match.”
the match.
She exclaimed with great sorrow that her
She said, “Alas! My brother failed in the test.”
brother had failed in the test.
They exclaimed that that that house was very
They said, “What a beautiful house this is!”
beautiful.

I said, “How lucky I am!” I said in great wonder that I was very lucky.

You said to him, “What a beautiful drama you You said to him in great wonder that he was
writing! writing a beautiful drama.

ENGLISH | Direct and Indirect Speech PAGE 7

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Optative Sentences
Those sentences, which express hope, prayer, or wish, are called optative
sentences. Usually, there is a mark of exclamation at the end of optative sentence.
Example:
1) May you succeed in the test!
2) May you get well soon!
3) Would that I were rich!
To change optative sentences into indirect speech, follow the following rules along with
the above-mentioned rules:
1) In case, the reported speech starts with the word may, then the reporting verb said is
replaced with the word prayed.
2) In case, the reported speech starts with the word would, then the reporting verb said
is replaced with the word wished.
3) May is changed to might.
4) Mark of exclamation is omitted.
5) In Indirect Speech, the optative sentences become assertive sentences.

Direct Speech Indirect Speech

Example:

He said to me, “May you live long!” He prayed that I might live long.

My mother said to me, “May you succeed in My mother prayed that I might succeed in the
the test!” test.

She said, “Would that I were rich!” She wished she had been rich.

I said to him, “Would that you were here on

I wished he had been there on Sunday.
Sunday!”
I said to him, “Would that you were here on
You prayed that I might find my lost camera.
Sunday!”

ENGLISH | Direct and Indirect Speech PAGE 8

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Practice Questions
Q. In the following question a sentence is given in Direct/Indirect speech. Out of
the four alternatives choose the one which best expresses the sentence in
Indirect/Direct Speech.
Akram said,”I have to carry this bag.”

A. The given statement is in Direct Speech and in the simple present tense.
On conversion into Indirect Speech, the given sentence will become: Akram said that
he had to carry that bag.

When converting the statement into Indirect Speech:

 the words of the speaker are not written in quotes.
 usually, the word ‘that’ is used to convey the words of the speaker.
 the original tense of the statement is changed accordingly.

Q. In the following question a sentence is given in Direct/Indirect speech. Out of

the four alternatives choose the one which best expresses the sentence in
Indirect/Direct Speech.
The teacher said,"Lucy is an intelligent girl."

A. The given statement is in Direct Speech and in the simple present tense.
On conversion into Indirect Speech, the given sentence will become: The teacher
said that Lucy has been an intelligent girl.

When converting the statement into Indirect Speech:

 the words of the speaker are not written in quotes.
 usually, the word ‘that’ is used to convey the words of the speaker.
 the original tense of the statement is changed accordingly.

ENGLISH | Direct and Indirect Speech PAGE 9

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Q. Choose the most appropriate option to change the narration (direct / indirect)
of the given sentence.
Rashmi says, “My startup is doing very well.”

A.  The given direct form of the sentence is an assertive sentence.

 While changing it into its indirect form, 'says/said' remains unchanged. 'comma'
and 'inverted commas' are removed and is joined by the conjunction 'that'.
 The possessive adjective 'my' will be changed to 'her'.
 Therefore, the correct structure is, 'Rashmi says that her startup is doing very
well.'

Q. Choose the most appropriate option to change the narration (direct / indirect)
of the given sentence.
Amar urged Amit to stop taking tranquillizers without consulting the doctor.

A.  In the given sentence, the verb 'urged' shows that it is expressing a request.
 So while converting a sentence into its indirect form, we use 'please', and
remaining sentence remains unchanged.
 Therefore, the correct answer is '“Amit, please stop taking tranquillizers without
consulting the doctor,” said Amar.'

ENGLISH | Direct and Indirect Speech PAGE 10

Conjunction

ENGLISH

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Conjunction

Conjunctions are the words that glue the words with words, Subject with Subjects, Part
of Sentence with parts of Sentences, Sentences with Sentences. They assist in conjoin
the speech or parts of a language.

Placing of Conjunctions in a sentence:

• Subject1+Conjunction+Subject2+Verb+Object

• Subject1+verb+Object+Conjunction+Subject2+verb+object

Examples of Conjunction placing.

• John and Mary are known for their hard work.

• John is known for his hard work but Mary is known for her procrastination.

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Building blocks of Conjunction

• Other than, the types of conjunctions,
they have been categorized on the basis
on linguistic semantic structure.

Additives
• Adds: And, also, as well, either…or,
neither…nor, as well, or, else.

• Introduces: For instances, to illustrate, in particular.

• Reference: Speaking about, considering, regarding, the fact that.

• Similarity: In the same way, equally, likewise, in a like manner.

• Identification: Namely, specifically.

• Clarify/Elaboration: that is to say, to put it in this way, in another way, in other

words.

Adversative
• Signal Contrast: But, by the way, while, on the other hand, in contrast to, still.

• Emphasis: even more, above all, indeed, besides.

• Concession: But even so, above all, indeed, however, nevertheless, however.

• Dismissal: either way, in either way, whichever happens, even supposing.

• Replacement/correction: or at least, rather, instead.

Casual
• Cause/Reason: in the view of, as, since, for, for the reason that, because of, as.

• Condition: on condition, provided that, if, provided that, unless.

• Effect/Reason: henceforth, thus, in result of, as a consequence.

• Purpose: for the purpose of, in the hope of that, so that, in order that.

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• Consequence: under the circumstance of, if not, that being the case.

• Respective: in respect to, otherwise, apart from that, in other respects.

Sequential- logical or chronological sequence

• Ordinal: first, firstly, to begin with, to start with, to commence with.

• Continuation: then, next, in support of, moreover, furthermore, subsequently.

• Resumption: to get back to the point, to resume, anyhow, anyway.

• Conclusion: to conclude, as a final point, eventually, at last, in the end, finally.

• Digression: to change the top, by the way, incidentally.

• Summation: to summarize, altogether, to put it in brief.

Conjunctions VS. Connectors

• Things to consider while knowing the difference between Conjunctions and
Connectors.

Definition Usage Examples

• She does not like parties but she

• Used to conjoin a sentence or a loves enjoys.
part of a sentence. • She failed because she did not
• Conjunctions relay on the study.

Conjunctions
knowledge, the reader already • They love to read and write
know. together although they have
• Conjunctions imply or carry different set of ideas.
forward the same idea. • Sam as well as his parents
• They do not begin any new idea. planned for a vacation to
Bahamas.

• Used for proceeding the

• However, the staff was rude to
statement not for the assumed
her, she has always loved to go
Connectors knowledge of readers
to the same place.
• Connectors are used for the
• Eventually, this too shall pass
separation of ideas.

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Few examples to consider!

Connector: Cars are expensive, moreover, they pollute the environment.

Conjunctions: Cars are expensive and they pollute the environment.

Conjunctions in Language History

• The language properties of Conjunctions has shown variations over time.

• Conjunctions have been encoded in language to add relation between syntax in 18th
century.

• Since 17th century onward, writers used Conjunctions to connect one idea to
another, to write crisp to progress readers from one significant idea to another.

• In 18th century, conjunctions have been categorized as ‘semantic resource of

language’.

• Since 18th century onwards, Conjunctions have been found in relating similarity
between or among many objects and subjects.

The use of Conjunctions in English

language:
• To avoid choppy sentences.

• To avoid redundancy or repetition.

• For better elaboration and understanding of Language.

• The conjunctions also elucidate the knowledge of Idiomatic phrases as some of

them are used as ‘As well as’, ‘provided that’.

• To help in different competitive examinations like SSC, banking and other.

• To help in Reading comprehensions and Cloze tests.

• To help in relating one idea with another.

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Types of Conjunctions
• Coordinating conjunctions: Coordinating conjunctions are words that conjoin
sentences with sentences, phrases with phrases, clauses with clauses, subjects
with subjects. The examples of correlative conjunctions are: For, and, nor, but, or,
yet, so.

Memory Tip
Remember these coordinating conjunctions as ‘FANBOYS’, an acronym.

Exception
Exception: ‘But’ and ‘Yet’, both are additive conjunctions, often confused with each
other. But both have different functions to perform. ‘But’ allows the statement to proceed
and supports. ‘Yet’ injects a degree of ‘contradiction’.

Examples:

 This batch of mushroom stew is savory and delicious.

 We should hate to waste a drop of water, for it is expensive and valuable

these days.

 I will stay outdoor with friends, or will go home in a while.

Coordinating conjunctions with commas

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Memory Tip
Ensure that a coordinating conjunction is immediately followed by a main clause. Do not
begin a sentence with coordinating conjunction.
Example:
 Incorrect: But I don’t like tea, I like coffee.
 Correct: I don’t like tea, but I like coffee.

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Exception
Commas should not be used after coordinating conjunctions to open the sentence un-
less an interrupter immediately follows.

• Subordinating conjunctions: Subordinating conjunctions allow and introduces a

subordinating or dependent clause. They glues an independent clause with a
dependent clause. Out of all the conjunctions, subordinating conjunctions are the
most tricky to follow and identify.

Note: ‘Independent clause’ is a clause that does not need any other clause to
complete the sentence. They are independent on their own. ‘She did not study’ is
an independent clause.

‘Dependent clause’ is a clause that needs clause or a sentence to support for its
completion. ‘Because she did not study’ is a dependent clause.

Few examples of Subordinating conjunctions are: Although, though, however, as, as

long as, once, since, when, while, if, where.

Exception
‘Subordinating conjunctions’ and ‘Relative pronouns’ are often confused with.
Subordinating conjunctions do not act as the subject of a dependent clause, relative
pronouns do.
To explain this, ‘John is the boy who came last night to the party’
John is the boy is an independent clause
Who came last night to the party is a dependent clause
‘who’ relates, hence, is a relative pronoun.
We talked about the movies and drama while we ate.
‘We talked about the movies and drama’ is an independent clause.
‘While we ate’ is an additive to the sentence.
‘while’ supports or ‘adds’, hence, a subordinating conjunction.

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Exception
It is believed that ‘Because’ never begins a sentence. Because is a ‘subordinating
sentence’ and begins a sentence.

Structure for subordinating conjunctions to use in a sentence

 Independent clause+ Subordinating clause+ Dependent clause

 Conjunction + Dependent clause+ Independent clause

Common Mistake
‘Therefore’ is not a connector. It is mistaken as conjunction.

Correlative Conjunctions: Name them as ‘Tag-team’ conjunctions or ‘Split

conjunctions’, the work they do is the same! They get their
names from the fact that they work together. They split
themselves in a sentence and conjoin themselves with
different parts of a sentence to make them relative.

Few examples to consider!

• Either…or: expresses a choice between two subjects/

objects.

For example: Either he or she works meticulously.

• Neither…nor: expresses a negation between choice/choices.

For example: Neither he nor she works meticulously.

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• No sooner …than: One thing happened immediately another.

For example: No sooner did she arrive home than he came.

• Scarcely/Hardly/Rarely/Barely…when/before: Same idea expressed further.

For example: Scarcely had I come home when my parents reached.

• Whether…or: When two alternatives are possible.

For example: Whether my parents or Sally's parents will go on a vacation.

• Not only…but also: Considering both the options.

For example: Not only John but also Mary have decided to be determined about
it.

Structure of Correlative conjunctions

• Subject+ Not only+ verb +but also+ verb+ object

• Subject+ either + verb+ or+ verb+ object

• Either+ subject+ Or+ subject + verb + object

• No sooner did+……. + than+……

• Hardly/Scarcely had+…..when+…….

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Memory Tip
When using ‘Not only…but also’, sentence parallelism of construction should be
kept in mind.

For example

 (Incorrect) He is not only intelligent but he also has a great sense of humor.

 (Correct) He is not only intelligent but also humorous.

(The sentence parallelism construction on the basis of Tenses)

Testbook Trick
To identify correlative conjunction, look for split in a sentence.

• Note: ‘Compound conjunctions’ are called compound as they are made of the
assimilation of two or more conjunctions. The examples of Compound
conjunctions in English grammar are: ‘as much as’, ‘as soon as, ‘As well as’.

Adverbial Conjunctions
• A conjunct, a transitional conjunction, a cohesive conjunction, whatever it may be.
They are also known as these.

• The basic function of adverbial conjunctions is to provide a relation between two

sequential statements.

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Memory Tip
They are commonly placed in the beginning of the main clause.

 They are usually followed by a comma.

 It may follow a semicolon.

Adverbial conjunction Examples

Accordingly She does what is told to accordingly.
Again They again visited their grandparent’s home.
Also Sally works and studies also.
Anyway How are you, anyway?
Anyhow We all have to do what we are told, anyhow!
Certainly We certainly are planning to enjoy after work.
Besides What does she do besides studying?
Consequently Consequently, it is humanity that we all are.
Moreover Moreover, it is Saturday!

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Points to Remember
• Conjunctions are cohesive devices.
• Conjunctions are 3 in usage, and 5 on the basis of semantic structure.
• Correlative conjunctions are always used and identified in pairs.
• Compound conjunctions are made of the assimilation of two or more conjunctions.
• Coordinating conjunctions can be recognized as ‘F.A.N.B.O.YS.’
• Correlative conjunctions to be used with the same part of speech.
• Conjunctions are used as Additives, Adversatives, Casual, and Sequential.
• Conjunctions and Connectors are two different concepts to study.
• Adverbial conjunctions relates two or more sequential statements.

Rule #1: Rule of Comma

• Always use a comma before the coordinating conjunctions when it is used to
connect two independent clauses.

• For example:

 Tom walked his dog, and he grabbed the mail.

• When using a coordinating conjunction to connect two items, do not use a comma.

• For example:

 Tom walked his dog and grabbed the main.

• When using a coordinating conjunction to list the items, the usage of a comma is
before a coordinating conjunction is optional.

• For example:

 She can cook potatoes, tomatoes, and carrots.

 She can cook potatoes, tomatoes and carrots.

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Rule #2:
• The conjunction ‘Both’ is followed by ‘And’.

• For example:

 Both eggs and ham is a stable food of western culture.

Rule #3: Usage of ‘LEST’

• Lest is used when in a sentence speaker thinks to avoid something.

• For example:

 Don’t push people too hard lest you hurt relationships.

Rule #4: Usage of ‘so..as’

• ‘So..as’ as a conjunction is used to show similarity between two objects, people, or
subjects. This combination is used in negative sentences only.

• For example:

 She is not so intelligent as her sister is.

Rule #5: Usage of ‘as..as’

• ‘as..as’ as a conjunction is used to show similarity between two objects, people, or
subjects. Unlike “so...as” this combination can be used in both positive and
negatives sentences

• For example:

 She is as intelligent as her sister is.

 She is not as intelligent as her sister is.

Rule #6: That

• ‘Lest’ should follow ‘should’ or ‘first form of verb’

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• For example:

 Walk carefully lest he may fall.

Rule #7: Unless and Until

• Unless is action oriented. Until is time oriented.

• For example:

 She will not succeed unless she works hard for it.

 She will not be able to leave home until they return.

Rule #8: If/Whether

• In a sentence, to mention doubt or confusion, statement is joined by if or whether.

• For example:

 I am doubtful whether he will come back.

 I am not sure if he will come back.

Rule #9: That

• In a sentence, to mention surety, statement is joined by “That”

• For example:

 I am sure that he will come back.

 I know that he will not pass this exam.

Rule #10: Usage of ‘Not only..but also’, ‘no sooner…then’,

‘Hardly..when’
• These correlative conjunctions to be followed in their definite pairs only.

• For example:

 Not only she but also he planned for a movie.

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 No sooner did she arrive than they came back. ‘

 Hardly had I completed my lesson when my friends came.

Rule #11: After rather/other, than follows

• After the usage of Rather and Other, than always follow in a sentence.

• For example:

 I would rather die than beg.

Rule #12: ‘Seldom or never’/‘Seldom if ever’ instead ‘seldom or

ever’/ ‘seldom if never’
• ‘Seldom or never’ and ‘Seldom if ever’ are definite constructions. Using ‘Seldom or
ever’ or ‘seldom if never’ is an incorrect usage.

• For example:

 The national networks seldom or never telecast good programs.

Rule #13: Between…….and

• Often mistaken with preposition “to”

• For example:

 This train runs between Delhi and Mumbai.

Rule #14: What with…...and

• This combination is used to introduce the part of a sentence that indicates the cause
of something

• For example:

 What with school and sports, she's always busy.

ENGLISH | Conjunction PAGE 16

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Rule #15: Although/Though…...yet/,

• Used to mention contraction

• For example:

 Though Rahul Gandhi is opulent yet is unpopular among youths.

Rule #16: Such…...that

• For example:

 The teacher looked at the boy in such anger that he began to cry.

Let’s Practice!
Spot the error in the given context.

Question 1. Have you decided to go to the States or remain in India?

Solution:

A question is being asked about a choice, so the correct correlative conjunction is-
'whether....or'.

The correct sentence is--Have you decided whether to go to the States or remain in
India?

ENGLISH | Conjunction PAGE 17

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Question 2: As if he talks he is a well-educated man.

The subordinating conjunction 'as if' means 'as though' and is usually written as --
subject + were+ complement.

The 2 clauses--' he talks ' + 'he is a well-educated man'.

The first clause connects to the second with 'as if', since the 2nd clause is the
reasoning of the first clause.

The correct sentence is -- He talks as if he is a well-educated man.

Question 3: Because he was teaching, he was also learning.

'Because' is subordinating conjunction, used to mean--'for the reason that'; 'since'.

The given sentence is talking about 'time' as 2 actions were going on simultaneously.

So the correct conjunction would be -- 'while'.

The correct sentence is -- While he was teaching, he was also learning.

Question 4: She ran as fast as she could she was late for school lest.

Lest is subordinating conjunction used for negatives to mean-- in order that......not'

Lest means 'for fear that'; 'in case'.

So the correct way of writing the given sentence is--She ran as fast as she could lest
she was late for school.

Question 5: He is both sweet-natured but intelligent.

The conjunction 'both' is always followed by 'and' as it connects 2 words of the same
level.

In the given sentence 'but' is incorrectly used.

'But is normally used to show contrast.

In the given sentence it should be--He is both sweet-natured and intelligent.

ENGLISH | Conjunction PAGE 18

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Question 6: Wherever it was early in the morning, I went for a walk.

'Wherever' is subordinating conjunction.

A subordinating conjunction joins a simple sentence to an incomplete clause which

depends on it to make complete sense.

Some other subordinating conjunctions are--because, before, after, when since etc.

The main clause is --'I went for a walk' and the subordinating clause is 'it was early
morning' they are joined by 'wherever'.

The conjunction does not fit the context [as it can mean-- in any place there was early
morning].

The conjunction that will be right here is-- 'as' / 'because' / 'since'.

The correct sentence can be written as -

1- Since it was early in the morning, I went for a walk.

2- Because it was early in the morning, I went for a walk.

3- As it was early in the morning, I went for a walk.

Question 7: We went to meet him so he wasn't at home.

The conjunction 'so' is a coordinating conjunction. F-A-N-B-O-Y-S [ for-and-nor-but-or

-yet-so]

Coordinating conjunctions join the clauses of the same rank. i.e. a simple sentence to
a simple sentence.

The given sentence has 2 simple sentences joined by the conjunction 'so'.[ which is
used to show cause, result]

However, according to the context of the sentence, it should be 'but' as the first
part talks about going to meet and the second part about him not being present.

As both are contrasting the correct conjunction will be 'but'.

The correct sentence is--We went to meet him but he wasn't at home.

ENGLISH | Conjunction PAGE 19

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Question 8: Unless you do not register your car it will have to be scrapped.

'Unless' means 'if not'-- since it is negative, adding another negative 'not' is
grammatically incorrect.

The given sentence has-- 'unless...not'

The given sentence can be written correctly in two ways:

1--Unless you register your car it will have to be scrapped.

2- If you do not register your car it will have to be scrapped.

Question 9: She wanted to either eat a hamburger or a subway sandwich.

'Either....or is co-relative conjunction. [I.e. a pair of joining words that connects 2

words, phrases or clauses--either..Or/ neither...nor etc.].

When joining 2 clauses/ nouns with co-relative conjunction it needs to be

written immediately before the word it relates to.

In the given sentence the conjunction relates to 2 nouns -'hamburger' and 'subway
sandwich'.

So the conjunction should be placed immediately before these nouns.

[ either+noun ....or+ noun]

The correct sentence is---She wanted to eat either a hamburger or a subway

sandwich.

Fill in the blanks with the suitable option given:

1. The air quality in the Capital had shown signs of improvement on Monday as it
moved from ‘very poor’ to ‘poor’ category, _____ experts said it could deteriorate
in the coming days due to toxic air coming out of the blazing fire at Bhalswa landfill
site.

Ans: But

Explanation: The given blank needs a coordinating conjunction to join the two
independent clauses - 'the air quality... category' and 'experts .... site'. Hence 'because'
is negated as it joins the dependent clause to the independent clause. 'And' is used
when both clauses are not in contrast while 'or' is used to refer to choose when two
clauses try to gain more importance.

ENGLISH | Conjunction PAGE 20

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The given sentence has two independent clauses that are equal in importance
but contrast with each other so the correct conjunction to join them is 'but'.

3. India is the second most populous country ______ the seventh largest country by
area in the world.

Ans: And

Explanation: While, how, but are used for expressing comparison or contradiction. But
the sentence is about the continuation or expression of two different facts regarding
India one after the other. So “and” should be used here.

4. You can’t pass the IELTS exam _______ you study hard for it, as it is a tough exam
to pass.

Ans: Unless

Explanation: A condition is shown here and hence requires an adverb that will show
a contrast.

5. More than thirty years have now passed ______ I took my first flight.

Ans: Since

Explanation: ‘Since’ in this context has been used as a replacement of ‘because’.

Hence, ‘since’ is the appropriate option here.

ENGLISH | Conjunction PAGE 21

 QUESTION TAGS
FUNCTION: Tag questions (or question tags) turn a statement into a question. They are
often used for checking OR confirming information that we think we know is true.

FORMATION: It is important to note that a question tag ends with a question mark (?)
and comprises-
“Helping verb + Subjective case of pronoun”

Creating a correct question tag requires common sense with a set of rules described
below:-

RULE 1: (Base Rule)

(A) The negative statements (having the presence of ‘not, no, hardly, barely, seldom,
scarcely, few, rarely, no sooner etc) are followed by affirmative question tags.

(B) The affirmative statements are followed by negative question tags.

Examples:
1. The boys are going on a picnic, aren’t they?
2. The boys are not going on a picnic, are they?

RULE 2: (Base Rule)

While writing a question tag, the subject and the verb must be according to the main
sentence (same subject and same tense).

Example:
1. She doesn't have any children, does she?
2. Amit wasn't at home yesterday, was he?
3. Students should work to bring change in the society, shouldn’t they?
RULE 3: (Base Rule)
Always use contracted form while forming negative question tags.
List of Contracted forms-

Do not = don’t
Does not = doesn’t
Is not = isn’t
Are not = aren’t
Am not = aren’t
Did not = didn’t
Was not = wasn’t
Were not = weren’t
Will not = won’t
Shall not = shan’t
Can not = can’t
Could not = couldn’t
Must not = mustn’t
Would not = wouldn’t
May not = mayn’t
Might not = mightn’t
Need not = needn’t
Dare not = daren’t
Ought not = oughtn’t
Has not = hasn’t
Have not = haven’t
Had not = hadn’t

RULE 4:
If a sentence begins with “there” instead of “noun or pronoun’’ then “there” will be used
as a question tag in the place of ‘subjective case of pronoun’.

Example:
1. There is no water in the bottle, is there?
2. There were many good schools in the town, weren’t there?

RULE 5:
The question tag is formed in accordance with the main part of the sentence.

Example:
1. I think he is right, isn’t he? (he is right is the main idea/part of the sentence)
RULE 6:
Everybody, everyone , no one, nobody, either, neither, none, somebody, someone,
anybody are singular for living things. But in the question tags we use a plural verb and
a plural pronoun (they).

Examples:
1. Everybody has to pay his own bill, Haven’t they?
2. None of your friends has arrived yet, Have they?
3. Anybody can speak English, Can’t they?

RULE 7:
Sentences having nothing, anything, everything, something as the subject, the question
tag will have “it” as a subjective case of pronoun.

Examples:
1. Everything has gone bad today, hasn’t it?
2. Nothing is impossible, is it?
3. I think something is fishy, isn’t it?

RULE 8:
If any sentence has “used to” in it then the question tag will be “usedn’t” OR “didn’t”.

Examples:
1. She used to come here, usedn’t she?
She used to come here, didn’t she?
2. My father used to be the principal of this college, usedn’t he?
My father used to be the principal of this college, didn’t he?

RULE 9:
In exclamatory sentences the question tag will contain the auxiliary verbs of present
tense even if the sentence lacks the helping verb.

Examples
1. What! a wonderful shot, isn’t it?
2. How! nicely the bird sings, isn’t it?
3. How! a big slide is, isn’t it?
RULE 10:
NEED/DARE
A. If need/dare are used as a modal then a question tag will be made considering
them the verb.
B. If need/dare are used as a main verb then the question tag will be made
according to the tense of the sentence.

Examples:
1. You need not worry, need you? (need as a modal)
2. You do not need to worry, do you? (need as a main verb)

IMPERATIVE SENTENCES: An imperative sentence is used to issue a command,

instruction or request. In these cases, the sentence
i) begins with a verb and
ii) the subject is generally implied ("you") and not actually named (hidden).

Though Imperative sentences follow the above mentioned base rules yet we have to
learn two additional rules that are strictly applicable to imperative sentences.-

RULE 11:
NOTE:- In imperative sentences, the question tag is always made in ‘future tense’
with the combination of the subjective pronoun ‘you’.

A. For Affirmative Imperative sentences, we use “will you” or “won’t you” in the
question tag.
B. For Negative Imperative sentences we use “will you” as the question tag.

Examples A:
1. Be assured of all co-operation, will you?
Be assured of all co-operation, won’t you?
2. Open the door, will you?
Open the door, won’t you?

Examples B:
1. Don’t touch the wire, will you?
2. Never make a noise in the class, will you?
RULE: 12
Imperative sentences beginning with “let”
A. For Imperative sentences beginning with “let us”(let’s), the question tag will be
“shall we”.
B. For Imperative sentences beginning with let but not followed by ‘us’, the
question tag will be “will you”.

Examples:
1. Let’s play chess, shall we?
2. Let us stay with him tonight, shall we?
3. Let them go, will you?
4. Let me call them here, will you?

Let’s solve some questions, shall we?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DIRECTIONS : Select the correct Question Tags.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. It is very hot today……..
A. isn’t it?
B. wasn’t?
C. was it?
D. is it?
Answer: A
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Suganya will not come today……..
A. shall she?
B. will she?
C. won’t she?
D. none of these
Answer: B
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Indian team has beaten the Australian team……..
A. Does it?
B. hasn’t it?
C. has it?
D. is it?
Answer: B
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. None of the food was wasted…….
A. wasn’t it?
B. isn’t it?
C. was it?
D. is it?
Answer: C
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Boys rarely attend the class…...
A. do they?
B. don’t they?
C. doesn’t he?
D. didn’t they?
Answer: A
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6. Let us play…...
A. can we?
B. do we?
C. shall we?
D. shalln’t we?
Answer: C
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Let’s attend the party…..
A. shall not we?
B. shall we
C. shan’t we?
D. none of these
Answer: B
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Arun Kumar can play the violin…..
A. does he?
B. could he?
C. can he?
D. can’t he?
Answer: D
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Radhika sang well…….
A. can she?
B. does she?
C. didn’t she?
D. is she?
Answer: C
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. I am honest…….
A. didn’t I?
B. am I?
C. am not I?
D. aren’t I?
Answer: D
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We know You need some more practice questions, don’t you?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q.1. Do as I say,…………………?
(A) didn’t you
(B) won’t you
(C) needn’t you
(D) shan’t you
Answer: B
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q.2. You fell on your back,………….?
(A) didn’t you
(B) weren’t you
(C) have you
(D) did you
Answer: A
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q.3. Tomorrow we will attend our college………………?
(A) shall we
(B) will we
(C) won’t we
(D) shouldn’t you
Answer: C
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q.4. Everyone wanted a ticket,…………….?
(A) didn’t they
(B) didn’t he
(C) didn’t she
(D) haven’t they
Answer: A
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q.5. Anjali dances very well,…………….?
(A) does she
(B) doesn’t she
(C) aren’t she
(D) isn’t she
Answer: B
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q.6. He knows nobody in the colony,……………………?
(A) does he
(B) did he
(C) doesn’t he
(D) didn’t
Answer: A
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q.7. I am looking after the garden,…………..?
(A) amn’t I
(B) aren’t I
(C) isn’t I
(D)don’t I
Answer: B
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q.8. Now you can make question tags,…………?
(A) can you
(B) won’t you
(C) can’t you
(D) will you
Answer: C
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Articles

ENGLISH

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Articles
Articles noted issues are commonly noted issues that can crop up the language effi-
ciency. An overlooked error can affect the language usage grammatically.

Was it ‘An
apple’, ‘A  Article is a word used in English grammar
apple’ or
‘The to specify the definiteness of a noun.
apple’?
 Articles, in English grammar, are also sort
of ‘Adjectives’ and ‘Determiners’ that define
a subject / Noun.

 The placing of articles completely depends

on the number of ‘Nouns or Subjects’.

Why to do use articles?

To put it simply, it is pivotal to understand how articles benefit us. Why do we use
articles in our English language? So, let’s see:

 To tell us about the number of nouns. (Whether noun is singular or Plural)

 It tells us randomness or particularity of a noun. (Is it the same noun I’m talking
about or is it different?)

 It also refers to the noun being ‘Positive’ or ‘Negative’.

Example:
1) Humans are smart. (Positive but random)
2) The human is smart. (Positive but Specific)
3) No human is smart. (Negative but random)
Note: Negative article case doesn’t take any nouns to be specific.

ENGLISH | Articles PAGE 2

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Structure to understand the origin and

usage of ‘Articles’
Articles

Nouns

Countable
Uncountable

Plural Singular

Non Non
Specific Specific Specific
Specific Specific

The The No article The A / An

Types of Articles
Definite Article— ‘The’
 This type of an article defines the specific detail about a noun.
 The definite article is 'The'. Because a noun is specified with this type of the article,
that's how this type got its name! 'The' defines 'Particularity'.
Example: The boy is smart. (Boy is specific, one and specific boy is smart)

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 ‘The’ article is generally used in the place of names as well.

Example: Stella is a learner. The girl is smart. (The girl, in this case, is 'Stella)

Indefinite Articles— ‘A/An’

 This type of an article defines the unspecific detail about a noun.

 The indefinite articles are 'A/An'. Because a noun is not specified with these type of
articles, that's how this type got its name! 'A' and 'An' , only defines 'Singularity'.
 Other than specifying the number of noun, these articles (a,an) do not tell any other
characteristic of a noun.

Example:
1) A boy is a champion. (Boy is unknown, but singular)
2) An umbrella is big. (which umbrella? undefined, but single in number)

Rules of Articles

Based on usage of Articles

Rule #1:
Use ‘the’ before singular and plural nouns, if specifying.
Example:
1) The animal is a pet.
2) The animals are taken care of.

In both the cases, irrespective of singular and plural, ‘animal’ and ‘animals’ are specific
nouns being spoken about.

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Rule #2:
Use ‘a/an’ for unspecific nouns. It doesn’t matter in this case.
Example:
1) A country is about citizens. (Any country, not specific)
2) An apple is healthy to eat. (Any apple, any color, red or green, not specified)

Exception
With these words article ‘A/An’ is used whenever noun is given:
Such /what /how + a/an +Noun
Example:
1) Such a boy
2) What an idea
3) How an opera is made

Rule #3:
‘A’ is used before a consonant sound of the first letter of a word.
Example: A boy, A girl, A school.
All three words start with the consonant sounds of ‘b’, ‘g’, ‘sk’

‘An’ is used before a vowel sound of the first letter of a word.

Example: An apple, An umbrella.
Both the examples start with the vowel sounds of ‘A’.
‘Um’ of umbrella starts with the sound of ‘AM’ not ‘UM’. ‘A’ is a vowel.
Hence, ‘an’.

ENGLISH | Articles PAGE 5

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Points to Remember
The vowels are five letters (A, E, I, O, U) of the alphabet. Alphabet is a name of group
of English letters. The consonants are all except the vowels i.e. they are 21 in number
of the alphabet.

Rule #4:
Use ‘A’ as an unspecific article before lot of quantity.
Example:
1) A lot of people are confined due to quarantine.
2) A couple of citizens were found leaving their country.

Rule #5:
Unspecific articles are used before measurements.
Example:
1) Vehicles were found speeding sixty kilometers an hour.
2) A thousand rupee note was found.

Rule #6:
A/An are used with a noun compliment. This includes professions .
Example:
1) He is an actor.
2) She is a dancer.

Rule #7:
A/An used in exclamations before a singular countable noun.
Example:
1) What an intelligent lot of aristocrats!
2) What a pretty beautiful child!

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Points to Remember
Technique to use Article ‘A/An’
i) Have + a /an + Noun
Example:
1) Have a swim
2) Have a drink
3) Have a bath

ii) Take/Make + a /an + Noun

Example:
1) Take an exercise
2) Take a rest
3) Take a risk
4) Make a risk
5) Make a mistake

Rule #8:
Definite article ‘the’ is used to represent the same subject introduced before .
Example: A man is an artist. The man is a painter.

Rule #9:
‘The’ is used when we speak about rivers, seas, oceans, any legendary objects or any
universal objects.
Example:
1) The Pacific Ocean has sharks in it.
2) The Bay of Bengal is one in the world.
3) The Arabian Sea is on the western side of the map of India.

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4) The map of India is diversified like the country itself.

5) The sun is a star.
6) The earth rotates and revolves.

Based on Omission of Articles

Articles are not to be placed everywhere. There are certain rules where we place
articles. Similarly, there are certain places where we do not use them. The omission of
articles is also known as ‘The zero article rule’. If it is important to know that where
they are used, it is also important to know where they are not. So, let’s see the rules of
‘Omission of articles’.

Rule #1:
Articles are, generally, not used with specific names i.e. ‘Proper nouns’.
Example: A Ram is a good boy.—WRONG
The Ram is a good boy.—WRONG
An Ram is a good boy.—WRONG
Ram is a good boy.—CORRECT (‘Ram’ is a proper noun)
Example: The Mount Mary is a famous and ancient church in Bombay.—WRONG
Mount Mary is a famous and ancient church in Bombay.—CORRECT

Exception
Articles can be used with a Proper noun when an adjective defines the proper noun.
Example: “Rohingyas is a name of immigrant community” declared by Amnesty
International.
“The immigrant Rohingyas as a community is suffering because of no
national identity” declared by Amnesty internal.

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Rule #2:
Articles are not to be used before Educational institutions, Places of worship, places of
services, and places of treatment, if they serve their primary purpose in the context.

Example: Sam goes to school every day to study.

Sam goes to the school to attend meetings.
School is not the place to attend meetings but to study or teach, hence, no article is
placed in the first example.

Example: Rita’s mother goes to temple to pray.

Rita’s mother goes to the temple to meet her friends.
Temple is a place of worship not for meeting people, hence, no article is placed in the
first example

Example: The old man was admitted to hospital as he was suffering from influenza.
The old man was appointed in the hospital as a child psychologist.
Hospital is the place for treatment not for appointing people. The primary purpose of the
people is to treat or to be treated, hence, no article in the first example before ‘hospital’.

Rule #3:
Articles are omitted before plural unspecific nouns.
Example:
1) Children are innocent. (That means, all children in this world, are innocent)
2) Parents guide their children. (All parents in this world guide their children)

Rule #4:
Articles are not to be used before designations.
Example: The lady is Associate professor in Cambridge University.

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Points to Remember
 ‘The’ is used in measuring expressions beginning with ‘by’.
Example: Do you sell eggs by the kilos or by the dozens?

 Articles convey about the ‘specificity’ of a noun. How general or specific a noun is, in
a sentence.

 Articles are also implied with acronyms or short forms.

 Placing of an article depends on the vowel or consonant sound of the first letter of a
word.

Some particular idioms and phrases

that takes an article “A”
i) In a hurry
ii) In a dilemma
iii) In a rage
iv) In a mood
v) In a temper
vi) At a loss

ENGLISH | Articles PAGE 10

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Testbook Trick
How to choose an article and its correct placing:

Please note that the above flowchart will yield you the correct answer in maximum
cases. But there are some special cases that you need to keep in mind. All the special
cases have been covered in the Rules given in the previous pages. Those shall be kept
in mind in order to get the correct answer.

ENGLISH | Articles PAGE 11

Error Spotting
ENGLISH

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Error Spotting
Most of you find it difficult to tackle the English Language section. It is comparatively tougher to clear the
sectional cut off for English. However, proper guidance and preparation can help you to achieve good marks in
this section as well.

Spotting Errors in English is one of the important topics. Therefore, we are here to give you General Tips for
Spotting Errors in English for various Government & Banking Exams.

Words, phrases and sentences can be called as the roots of any language. An error in their usage leaves an
expression incomprehensible. It would be difficult to understand such sentences and it may also alter the
meaning of the sentence. Hence, we must know the roots of the language so that we can understand the
written text and their expression perfectly. One must have a complete knowledge of parts of speech in order
to ace this particular section.

Our sentence is made up of words and each word is a part of speech, so in order to identify error in a sentence
we should have a good understanding of parts of speech. Let’s have a look at the sentence given below, it has
been segregated into different parts of speech.

So, we can see above how with different parts of speech we can make a meaningful sentence. We need to
perfect our grammar skills in order to ace this section, given below are the prerequisite:

 Grammar (parts of speech + tense)

 Comprehension skill

 Good reading skill

 Vocabulary

ENGLISH | Error Spotting PAGE 2

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Types of Error Spotting

Traditional Pattern
Traditional pattern is the one in which the statement is divided into 3 parts in the question itself.

SAMPLE:

Tommy has been A)/ running for the B)/ last 30 minutes. C)/ No error D)

A)
B)
C)
D)

Modern Pattern
In this type, the statement is broken down into 3 parts given as options and the 4th option is ‘No error’.

SAMPLE:

Tommy has been running for the last 30 minutes.

A) Tommy has been

B) Running for the

C) Last 30 minutes

D) No error.

Error Spotting
Rules on Error Spotting for SSC Exams (Frequently Asked)
Rule #1:

ENGLISH | Error Spotting PAGE 3

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'No sooner' is followed by 'than.'

Example:

i. No sooner had he entered the campus when the students started teasing him. (Incorrect)

ii. No sooner had he entered the campus than the students started teasing him. (Correct)

Points to Remember
The Sentence must be in the past perfect or in past indefinite.

Rule #2:
More than one gives a plural sense, but it is treated as a sort of compound. Thus it takes a singular noun and a
singular verb.

Example:

i. More than animals were killed in the accident. (Incorrect)

ii. More than one animal was killed in the accident. (Correct)

Rule #3:
It is a common practice in conversation to make a statement and ask for confirmation, as, 'it is very cold, isn't
it?

For a positive statement, the pattern will be Auxiliary + not(n’t) + Subject

For negative statement, the pattern will be Auxiliary + subject

Example:

i. It is high time, is it? (Incorrect)

ii. It is high time, isn't it? (Correct)

iii. He is not busy, isn't he? (Incorrect)

iv. He is not busy, is he? (Correct)

ENGLISH | Error Spotting PAGE 4

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Rule #4:
'The two first' is a wrong sentence because it implies that two things may be first. We should say 'the first
two.'

Example:

i. The two first books of Chetan bhagat are dull. (Incorrect)

ii. The first two books of Chetan bhagat are dull. (Correct)

Rule #5:
‘Only' will precede immediately before the word it qualifies.

Example:

i. She only lost her ticket in the stampede. (Incorrect)

ii. Only she lost her ticket in the stampede. (Correct)

Rule #6:
Care should be taken with some statements like

Example:

i. The nurse saw the pulse of the patient. (Incorrect)

ii. The nurse felt the pulse of the patient. (Correct)

Rule #7:
Scarcely should be followed by when, not by than.

Example:

i. Scarcely had she arrived than she had to leave again. (Incorrect)

ii. Scarcely had she arrived when she had to leave again. (Correct)

ENGLISH | Error Spotting PAGE 5

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Rule #8:
Till is used for a time, and to is used for place.

Example:

i. The Company will remain open to six in the evening. (Incorrect)

ii. The Company will remain open till six in the evening. (Correct)

Rule #9:
The questions on different uses of prepositions like "off" refers to "separation," "far from," or "at a distance
from," or whereas the preposition "of" refers to cause, origin, quality, possession.

Example:

i. He put of his coat. (Incorrect)

ii. He put off his coat. {Separation} (Correct)

iii. It died off cancer. (Incorrect)

iv. It died of cancer. {Cause} (Correct)

Rule #10:
Beside means by the side of while besides means in addition to.

Example:

i. He sat besides the beggar. (Incorrect)

ii. He sat beside the beggar. (Correct)

Rule #11:
For only two things or persons, "Between" is used, while for more than two, "Among" is used.

Example:

i. You have to choose among me and him. (Incorrect)

ii. You have to choose between him and me. (Correct)

ENGLISH | Error Spotting PAGE 6

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Rule #12:
Above and below denote position while over and under give a sense of covering or movement.

Example:

i. The sparrow flew above the sea. (Incorrect)

ii. The sparrow flew over the sea. (Correct)

Rule #13:
During is used when we talk about the time within which something happened. For is used when we talk
about how long something takes to last.

Example:

i. There were some incidents of irregularity for the Maratha reign. (Incorrect).

ii. There were few incidents of irregularity during the Maratha reign. (Correct)

Rule #14:
There are some nouns that are used to represent the measure, length, weight, money, or number. They
remain unchanged in form when they are preceded by a numeral.

Meter, Foot, pair, score, dozen, head, year, hundred, thousand, million

Example:

i. That was a five – years degree course. (Incorrect)

ii. That was a five–year degree course. (Correct)

Rule #15:
A relative pronoun must agree with its antecedent in person, number, or gender.

Example:

i. Every woman must bring her food.

ii. All boys must do their work.

iii. Each of the passengers must carry their own bag.

ENGLISH | Error Spotting PAGE 7
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Rule #16:
Some nouns are always used in a plural form and take a plural verb.

Breeches, scissors, spectacles, Trousers, shorts, measles, goods, alms, premises, tidings, Riches, Stairs, etc.

Example:

i. Where is my trouser? (Incorrect)

ii. Where are my trousers? (Correct)

Rule #17:
'Whose' is used for living persons and 'which' for lifeless objects.

Example:

i. Which book is lying here? (Correct)

ii. Whose friend is living there? (Correct)

Rule #18:
Use of 'less' and 'fewer.'

'Less' denotes quantity (Uncountable) and 'fewer' denotes number (Countable).

Example:

i. No less than sixty persons were present at the party. (Incorrect)

ii. No fewer than sixty people were present at the party. (Correct)

Rule #19:
The Indefinite pronoun 'one must be followed by 'one's.

Example:

i. One must finish her work in time. (Incorrect)

ii. One must finish one's work in time (Correct)

ENGLISH | Error Spotting PAGE 8

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Rule #20:
'One of' always takes a plural noun after it.

Example:

i. It was one of the most memorable day in my life. (Incorrect)

ii. It was one of the most memorable days in my life. (Correct)

Rule #21:
Use of 'not only 'and 'but also 'examine the sentences given below.

Example:

i. She not only comes for playing but also for coaching the kids. (Incorrect)

ii. She comes not only for playing but also for coaching the kids. (correct)

Points to Remember
It is very important for SSC exams as questions based on this rule are asked continuously.

Rule #22:
The adverb 'as' is used with verbs like 'regard,' 'treat,' 'define,' but not with verbs like' think,' 'call,''
consider.'

Example:

i. I regard Mukesh my friend (Incorrect)

ii. I regard Mukesh as my friend (Correct)

Rule #23:
Noun or pronoun succeeding or preceding the verb 'to+be' should be the same.

ENGLISH | Error Spotting PAGE 9

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Example:

i. It is her who came to see us. (Incorrect)

ii. It is she who came to see us. (Correct)

iii. It is him who caught the thief. (Incorrect)

iv. It is he who caught the thief. (Correct) She comes not only for playing but also for coaching the kids.
(correct)

Rule #24:
Neither- nor, Either-or are always used in pairs.

Example:

i. My laptop neither went dead or worked properly. (Incorrect)

ii. My laptop neither went dead nor worked properly. Correct)

Points to Remember
These concepts are repeatedly asked in SSC Exams.

ENGLISH | Error Spotting PAGE 10

Vocabulary
Synonyms and Antonyms

ENGLISH

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Aa
Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence

Abrogate revoke Formally Abolish, approve, The judge would not

renage permit abrogate the law
(especially of a sharp,
Acerbic comment or style of sarcastic, mild, kind, "his acerbic wit"
speaking) sharp and sardonic sweet
forthright.
ill feeling,
ill will,
Acrimony bitterness or ill bad blood, goodwill "the AGM dissolved into
feeling. animosity, acrimony"
hostility,
enmity

cite, prove, We could adduce many

Adduce affirm show hide instances to corroborate
this assertion
The rule to admonish
Admonish Warn apprise, tip praise, permit, was a wise one, and
off, alert laud was adopted to that
end.
Concerned with
Aesthetic beauty or the Beautiful ,Artis Ugly , The pictures give great
appreciation of tic Unattractive aesthetic pleasure.
beauty
All sorts of irregularities
Afflicting Cause or become annoy, rack, Aid, delight and violation of
hurt grieve regulations seem to
afflict the system.

Allure Appeal attraction, The allure of the stage

charm, glamor repulsion drew him back to acting.
Money or goods dole, hindrance, She stopped, gave him
Alms contributed to the donation, injury an alms and then
poor assistance continued on her way.
Noisy quarrel, a loud wrangle, concord, He got into an
Altercation argument or embroilment, harmony, altercation with his
disagreement rumble peace partner.
Away from the untoward, proper, Miss Bennet would not
Amiss correct or expected haywire, awry suitable, good play at all amiss if she
course practised more
It is death to those who
Antagonise Cause Problem Anger, offend Aid, make antagonize it, and it is
happy death to them that
uphold it.
Backslider, adherent, after fifty years as an
Apostate Traitor defector, loyalist, apostate he returned to
deserter faithful the faith

ENGLISH | Vocabulary—Synonyms and Antonyms PAGE 2

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Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence

Astound Shock or greatly Stun, Stagger Bore, Annoy Her bluntness

surprise astounded him

Shockingly brutal or outrageous; magnificent, Murder is an atrocious

Atrocious cruel condemned, inoffensive, crime
scandalous wonderful
constrict, amplify, The attenuate tones of
Attenuate Reduced in strength cripple, intensify, an old recording
enfeeble stretch

accommodate disagree, You will understand the

Attuned adjust , accustom, accent better as your
accord refuse ears become more
attuned.
Ancient Roman augurs
Augur Predictor harbinger, recite, who predicted the future
herald recount, by reading the flight of
birds

accepted, Neglected, party's avowed aim was

Avowedly allegedly admitted, Understated, to struggle against
professed Overlooked. capitalist exploitation.

Bb
Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence
so lacking in trite, " He just sat there
Banal originality as to be hackneyed, original making banal remarks
obvious and boring. clichéd all evening"

the playful and wisecracks,

Banter friendly exchange of crosstalk, - "there was much good-
teasing remarks. wordplay; natured banter"
More
As distant and bemused
Bemused Absent minded distracted, bored, as a professor listening
absorbed existing to the prattling of his
freshman class

Divest, The fullness of delight in

Bequest Something given in Endowment, disown, a garden is the bequest
will devisal dispossess of a childhood spent in a
garden.
I had travelling money
Besotted Very Drunk Buzzed, drunk Sober,
straight and got besotted in the
bar downstairs
There's a thousand
Bigotry Intolerance bias, injustice, fairness, years of prejudice and
unfairness impartiality bigotry concentrated in
you.

ENGLISH | Vocabulary—Synonyms and Antonyms PAGE 3

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Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence

She had a blithe
Blithe Happy Carefree, depressed, disregard of cultures
jaunty, joyful worried, sad outside the United
States.
He has a dozen
Boisterous Noisy and lacking in vociferate, subdued, brothers, each of which
restraint or discipline clamorous,
uproarious
solemn,
moderate
are as boisterous and
rather dim-witted as the
next

honestly, in an But comparatively few

obvious way, with no publically, incompletely, realize how great were
Brazenly effort to hide candidly secretly the fears, and how
something brazenly the prophecies
were spoken.

uproar, a lot of noise There was a big

Brouhaha or angry complaining fracas, to-do peace brouhaha when the
about something town council decided to
close the park.

Buoyed make light Bolster, Cheer Bring Down The life vest buoyed him
up

Cc
Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence

An indication of prestige, anonymity, People want to go to

Cachet approved or superior stature, analogy, see events which have
status design infiltrate the cachet of being
broadcast.
With her beauty and
Captivate Attract, enchant beguile, Offend, pain, charm, she captivated
gratify, draw depress film audiences
everywhere.
His is no churlish spirit
rude, happy, nice, to turn away from the
Churlish crude uncivilised refined good things kind
Heaven has provided for
man.
companion, enemy, foe, The cohort on duty was
Cohort partner in activity comrade, opponent drawn up under arms at
disciple the palace gates

A conversation parley, They could scarcely

Colloquy especially a formal conference, quiet, silence have spoken a hundred
one clambake words before their
colloquy was at an end.

Enormous, Little, The Frankish chief who

Colossal very large immense miniscule stood before me was a
man of colossal stature.

ENGLISH | Vocabulary—Synonyms and Antonyms PAGE 4

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Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence

Shake up, The feverish patient

Convulse Disturb torment Calm, Quiet convulsed around in his
bed.
A formal agreement The contract contained
between two or more promise, disagreement, a restrictive covenant
Covenant parties to perform or convention, misunderstan against building on the
not perform some bargain ding, denial land.
action
The Caldecott Medal is
Coveted desire strongly choose, fancy abjure, dislike a coveted children’s
book award
Bring to a head or to My arguments with the
the highest point; crowning, commencing, boss got worse and
Culminating End, especially to supreme opening, worse, and finally
reach a final or cli- starting culminated in my
mactic stage resignation

Dd
Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence
Love and deceit,
Deceit practice of Fraud, fairness, troubles and rewards
misleading duplicity honesty are as ageless as the
heavens.
A courteous obedience, dishonour, His deference to her
Deference expression (by word compliance, disregard,
or deed) of esteem yielding noncomplianc wishes was very
flattering
or regard e
Recent policies have
Detrimental Tending to cause Harmful , Harmless, been detrimental to the
harm Hurtful Beneficial interests of many old
people

analytic, He not only wrote on

Dialectic Logical, rational controversial, illogical, dialectics and logic, but
persuasive irrational also on physics in its
various departments.
deform, Build , On the east of the town
Dilapidate Demolish, Deface distort, construct, at the foot of a hill
destroy adorn stands a dilapidated fort.
No dilatory motion, or
diligent, dilatory amendment, or
Dilatory Slow or wasting time procrastinatin
g, lax, dallying eager, amendment not
zealous germane shall be in
order.
"A diligent worker"; "with
Diligent persevering, Active, Careless, diligent industry she
Hardworking Assiduous inactive revived the failing
business".

ENGLISH | Vocabulary—Synonyms and Antonyms PAGE 5

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Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence

The keen visions of
Astute, idiotic, these birds are not slow
Discerning Discriminating knowing ignorant in discerning through
the gloomy recesses the
presence of danger.

favour, This is your generation,

Dispensation allocation of supply indulgence, denial, veto this is your
kindness dispensation, this is
your wisdom.
Characterized by heterodox, Union dissidents have
Dissident departure from discordant, agreeing, challenged the
accepted beliefs or nonconformist confirming leadership of the current
standards president.

Ee
Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence
It looks as if the whole
Edifice Structure monument, political edifice of the
building country is about to
collapse.

adequacy, Exactly the situation he

Efficacy Productiveness capability, inability, would have prayed for
capacity failure had he believed in the
efficacy of prayer.
outstandingly bad;
Egregious shocking, remarkably atrocious,
deplorable
concealed,
good
"egregious abuses of
copyright"
good.
Usually good- They perpetrated a
Elfish naturedly elfin, naughty behave, good practical joke with elfish
mischievous delight.
Serving as a visible typical, ,Real ,st The free discussion that
Emblematic symbol for emblematical, literal is emblematic
raightforward democracy of
something abstract figurative
The encomium holding
Accolade, Blame, good of herself, she
Encomium Compliment Eulogy Criticism refrained from lecturing
him on the subject of the
vilified Denham.

Engulf Absorb Bury, Dry, Uncover The bright light engulfed

Consume him completely
Nobody fully
understands the
Enormity Horribleness depravity, evil delight,
esteem enormity and complexity
of the task of reviving
the country's economy

ENGLISH | Vocabulary—Synonyms and Antonyms PAGE 6

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Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence

It also contributed
Accord, deal, towards the conclusion
Entente Agreement pact disagreement of an entente between
Turkey and Rumania in
the summer of 1910.
The articulation of
speech regarded articulation, The broken syntax and
Enunciation from the point of view elocution, - casual enunciation of
of its intelligibility to phonation conversational English
the audience
In the first grade, I
A moment of sudden Confusion, experienced an
Epiphany understanding or Flash, oracle Secret epiphany that girls were
revelation always treated dif-
ferently than boys.

wrong , behaving Teachers dislike errant

Errant wrongly in some erratic, stray normal spellings and misused
way, especially by words
leaving home

knowledgeabl uneducated, This erudite priest, born

Erudite Well-Educated e, literate, common, in 1067, was the
scholarly ignorant founder of historical
writing in Iceland

adopt, He was an optimist or

Espouse support maintain, attack, reject he never wouldhave
defend espoused the American
cause.

Indeed, the effect would

Exasperate Provoke Agitate, appease, probably only be to
disturb calm exasperate and worsen
industrial relations.

easy, Charles immediately

Exigent urgent Insistent, ordinary, revealed the full and
needful usual exigent nature of his
demands.

A person who is expellee, citizen, A network of expats in

Expats voluntarily absent exile, national, London keeps her from
from home or country expatriate native missing the family she
left be- hind.

They were meant to

Exuberance Energy, Enthusiasm Sprit, Zest Apathy, suggest reproductive
Coolness vigour, exuberance, and
abundance.

ENGLISH | Vocabulary—Synonyms and Antonyms PAGE 7

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Ff
Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence
A deliberately false
or improbable truth, The synthesis and
Fabrication account; The act of hogwash, entertainment, fabrication of single
making something (a forgery, fable reality crystals
product) from raw
materials
Amber has been known
comical, grave, to behave in a farcical
Farcical absurd funny, reasonable, manner when she is
laughable sad under the influence of
marijuana

A socially awkward slip. solecism, praise, His trust was warranted,

fauxpas or tactless act abuse certainty until Landor detected
the fauxpas
Until he did so, Mr
Fidgety Nervous and unable apprehensive, restful, Frampton was too
to relax jittery, twitchy unmoving,
composed
fidgety to be
approachable on any
other subject.

A long, narrow hole, A fissure between

Fissure opening cleavage, closure, solid philosophy and reality.
crack

Gg
Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence
Show, express or indicate, He gesticulated his
Gesticulate direct through pantomime speak desire to leave
movement

She could not see a

despair, confidence, thing; but she waited in
Gloom depression misery, joy, delight the gloom for the
sadness steward to come and
light the lamps.

The broken and gory

Gory bloody horrible, mild, pleasing, body was kicked
imbrued pleasant through the railing for
the last time.

The quality of being brilliance,

Grandeur magnificent, splendid expansivenes dullness,
simplicity,
An imaginative mix of
old-fashioned grandeur
or grand s,
magnificence insignificance and colourful art

ENGLISH | Vocabulary—Synonyms and Antonyms PAGE 8

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Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence

Anthony will be in the
Grim hopeless gloomy, cruel bright, VIP lounge where he
cheerful doesn't have to mix with
the hoi polloi

Cheerful, I want to say good-bye,"

Gruff Bad tempered Blunt, Nasty Happy he said in the gruff voice
of embarrassment.
Finding them, to all
Naïve, Wary, seeming, gullible and
Gullible Trusting credulous, skeptical loquacious, she had
innocent even ventured on the
Bishop.

Hh
Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence

ridicule, please, People in the crowd

Heckle jeer taunt, praise, were booing and
tease aid heckling as she tried to
speak.

The common people masses, elite, Separate the warriors

Hoi Polloi generally rabble, herd aristocracy, from the hoi polloi
cream

debunk, "staff was hoodwinked

Hoodwink deceive or trick dupe, outwit expose, into thinking the
reveal cucumber was a sawn-
off shotgun"
fire, hold, My friend now began to
Hurled throw forcefully toss, keep, hurl stones at it, but it
launch receive easily dodged them.

The activities The front door was in

involved in political catafalque, continual motion with
Hustings campaigning emplacement, - guests coming and
(especially speech chancery going, amid laughter
making) and boisterous
conversation

Ii
Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence
embarrassing because humiliating,
Ignominious glorious, an ignominious defeat/
of being a complete undignified,
(Adj) admirable failure/retreat
failure. embarrassing

assimilate,
"if one does not imbibe the
absorb or assimilate absorb, soak abstain,
Imbibe culture one cannot
(ideas or knowledge). up, take in, fast
succeed"
digest

ENGLISH | Vocabulary—Synonyms and Antonyms PAGE 9

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Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence

Clinton accused
Implacable merciless cruel. kind, congressional
unforgiving remorseful Republicans of
"implacable hostility”.
The police impounded
Impounded kept captured, give, offer cars and other personal
confiscated property belonging to the
drug dealers.
An event that is a outset, conclusion, The strife was thus in its
Inception beginning; a first part provenance, outgrowth, inception political; but it
or stage of kick-off ending soon became religious as
subsequent events well.

ceaseless, bounded, Night and day we live

Incessant Never ending nonstop finished with the incessant noise
of the city.

Only partly in amorphous, In the man, substance is

Inchoate existence; imperfectly immature, developed, inchoate, inadequate to
formed nascent grown, mature the desired form; it is a
drag on everything.

Used of persons or brutal, merciful, The climate is inclement

Inclement behaviour; showing tempestuous, sympathetic, in winter and
no clemency or mercy intemperate mild oppressively hot in
midsummer.
One of the most
inclement winters in the
Inclement Bitter brutal, hard, clear, merciful, Gulf of Mexico had
foul nice passed in the comfortless
manner described in the
last chapter.
Showing sustained assiduous, indifferent, He is an indefatigable
Indefatigable enthusiastic action diligent, lethargic, advocate of equal rights
with unflagging vitality dogged wavering

bombed, He arrived late in the

Inebriated make (someone) plastered, sober, straight banqueting hall, and
drunk; intoxicate. boozy there were indications
that he was inebriated.

Inflict Make (someone) do hold, take, "The principal inflicted his

something unpleasant levy, apply withhold rage on the students"
Hint, Suggest, to
Insinuate suggest, without being allude, ascribe, Conceal, hide, Are you insinuating (that)
direct, that something imply withhold I'm losing my nerve?
unpleasant is true
The savages were
Intrepid Invulnerable to fear or brave, nervy, afraid, overawed by the
intimidation courageous cowardly, timid coolness and courage of
this intrepid officer.

Irritants annoyance burden,bother, aid,happiness, The

add
report is bound to
a new irritant to
trouble help international relations

ENGLISH | Vocabulary—Synonyms and Antonyms PAGE 10

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Kk
Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence
a person or thing that inferior,
is essential to the subordinate, "the kingpins of the
Kingpin success of an bigwig underling; television industry
organization or mediocrity,
operation.
It was horrid of you but
Knack ability aptitude, skill, lack, inability you always had a knack
bent of rubbing one up the
wrong way.

Ll
Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence
it's hard to find my
Labyrinthine complex : twisting, direct, straight classes at the
maze like labyrinthine building at
my school

(of a person, speech, brief, concise,

or style of writing) terse, verbose, long- "his laconic reply
Laconic using very few succinct, winded, suggested a lack of
words. short, loquacious interest in the topic"
economical,

myriad, The Roman legions

Legion numerous countless, few, brought peace and
many numbered prosperity, at least most
of the time.
Mercifulness as a It is for the jury to find a
Lenity consequence of altruism, cruelty, just medium between
being lenient or compassion harshness harshness and lenity
tolerant

Mm
Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence
go about in search of
things to steal or plunder, Guard, "bands of robbers
Maraud people to attack. crossed the river to
Raid and plunder (a go looting protect maraud
place).
Someone who disciplinarian, He was a good deal of a
Martinet demands exact authoritarian, - martinet, but he was
conformity to rules tyrant justice incarnate.
and forms

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Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence

Ancestors, Three verses quoted by

Menage Family folk, kindred Menage are all we
possess.

Many hours of
Meticulous very careful and Careful, Careless, meticulous preparation
precise Accurate Lazy have gone into writing
the book
A large indefinite
number, a countless gobs,
Myriad or extremely great multitudinous, bounded,
measurable
There’s a myriad of
insects on the island.
number of people or heaping
things

Nn
Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence
William had many
Tight, mean, Generous, excellent qualities, but
Nigardly Close narrow Far, open his long life of exile and
hardship had made him
niggardly and narrow.

Nigh near nearly,adjace far, distant She also found the last
nt,close level nigh impossible.

Filled with astonish, explicate, These questions

Nonplussed bewilderment baffle, enlighten, nonplus even the
disconcert educate experts

Oo
Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence

Causing disapproval offensive, agreeable, He is a vulgar and

Obnoxious or protest repulsive, lovable, obnoxious person
abominable wonderful
Vortices may be called
Occult Secret Concealed, Bare, clear an occult quality,
Hidden because their existence
was never proved.

There is a general
Ossify to become rigid Congeal, Liquefy, growth to be observed,
Freeze Soften and the bones are
beginning to ossify.

ENGLISH | Vocabulary—Synonyms and Antonyms PAGE 12

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Pp
Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence

Distinctive and brio, He wooed her with the

Panache stylish elegance flamboyance, spiritless confident panache of a
swagger cavalry officer

(of a view or picture) sweeping,

with a wide view wide, restricted, "on a clear day there are
Panoramic surrounding the extensive, narrow, panoramic views"
observer; sweeping. bird's-eye, limited
scenic
The paradox of being
Paradox puzzle enigma, normality, calm and serene at the
oddity regularity rock concert made her
smile.

Absurdity, Normality, I always lie' is a paradox

Paradox Contradiction enigma regularity because if it is true it
must be false"
miscellaneous "drills, saws, and other
articles, especially equipment, paraphernalia
Paraphernalia the equipment stuff, things, immovables, necessary for
needed for a apparatus, homeParap
particular activity. improvements"
Dried out by heat or It was the height of
Parched excessive exposure arid, withered moist, damp summer and the land
to sunlight was parched and brown.

conference, After some serious

Parley negotiation consult, Quite, silence parleying, both sides
agreed to settle their
debate differences.

Pecuniary relating or involving monetary, nonfinancial that makes good

money banking pecuniary sense

Conventional politicians
canvas, should expose the
Peddling sell door to door market, pull, buy fantasies that the far left
promote and far right are
peddling to a vulnerable
section of society.

They decided to use the

attach, a reason for anniversary as the peg
Peg discussing fix, fasten, join loose, detach for/a peg on which to
something further hang a TV
documentary.

Perceive Notice, see Discern, disbelieve, She finally perceived the

realize overlook futility of her protest

ENGLISH | Vocabulary—Synonyms and Antonyms PAGE 13

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Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence

musical instruments
played by striking
with the hand or with crash, bang,
Percussion a stick or beater, or "percussion
by shaking, including smash,
bump
clash, - instruments"
drums, cymbals,
xylophones, gongs,
bells, and rattles.
Hazard, Certainly, Just be a little careful,
Peril Risk,Danger Insecurity, Safety, and you are perfectly
Jeopardy Protection out of peril
He thought "such a
Pernicious hurtful malicious, assisting, system would be wrong
fatal, evil good, and pernicious in the
extreme.

Ceaseless, Bounded, The perpetual struggle

Perpetual Continual, lasting infinite Ceasing to maintain standards in
a democracy

Perturbed Trouble Bothered, benefit , calm The more he loses, the

Upset more perturbed he gets
a worker or group of
workers who protest
outside a building to
prevent other palisade, There were pickets
Picket workers from going stanchion. - outside the factory gates
inside, especially upright
because they have a
disagreement with
their employers

Foolishness, "I don't know anything

Piffle nonsense balone sense, truth about that sort of piffle,"
said his guest, severely.

steal (things of little snatch, "she produced the

Pilfer value). embezzle - handful of coins she had
managed to pilfer"
The scientists were
Piqued Offend Annoy, Aid, Compose piqued because science
Arouse and hard work made
their colleague wealthy.
We determine which is
Pitting oppose counter, set agree, go the faster horse by
against, vie along pitting one against the
other in a race

Pliability Adaptability of mind flexible, not flexible, "he was valued for his
or character ductile, elastic hard reliability and pliability"

a dangerous, difficult, predicament, The idea had sustained

Plight or otherwise quandary, blessing, him ever since he had
unfortunate situation dilemma delve, boon learned of the plight of
his tribesmen.

ENGLISH | Vocabulary—Synonyms and Antonyms PAGE 14

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Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence

belligerent, benevolent, Some will find the harsh

Polemic Argumentative contentious cordial. polemic repetitive and
disturbing.
A district of a city or The commissioner
Precinct town marked out for tract, ward, whole made visitations to all
administrative subdivision the precinct stations
purposes
From the first there had
Pretence falsehood Claim, display reality,
honesty
been no pretence of
friendship between
thesetwo.
Her immense wooden
Primordial earliest primeval. modern, new, sculptures refer to a
pristine last primitive form of life in
primordial worlds.
immaculate, The car seemed to be in
Pristine clean, pure untouched, affected, dirty pristine condition.
intact
breed, decrease, Pizza parlours
Proliferate Grow rapidly engender, destroy, proliferate in this area
mushroom lessen

person who takes hero, She was herself a

Protagonist the lead idle, antagonist vehement protagonist of
advocate sexual equality.

Careful. Careless, That sacrifice may also

Prudent Wise , Sensible cautious Expensive be a prudentaction,"
observed Madeleine.
to pretend to be or to They purport to
do something, acceptation, exterior, represent the wishes of
Purport especially in a way insignificance,
that is not easy to be tenor, upshot outside the majority of parents
at the school.
- lieve.

Qq
Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence

Quiver Shaking Flash, Dullness, The city quivered with

glimmer quiet music and excitement.

dreamy, cautious, That sounds quixotically

Quixotic idealistic foolish, realistic, wise noble, this stand for the
impractical ‘inviolability of marriage.

ENGLISH | Vocabulary—Synonyms and Antonyms PAGE 15

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Rr
Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence

Act of correcting an indemnificatio He had the unhappy

Remediation error or a fault or an n, restitution, wound knack of making
evil rectification enemies in the party.

Suggestive of Evocative, forgetful, I find this debate, this

Reminiscent something in the redolent oblivious lobbying, very
past reminiscent of that time.

In the higher frequency

Resonate Be received or echo, vibrate quieten range both locked and
understood free long waves could
be resonated.

Energize, The doctors

Resuscitate Revive invigorate Destroy resuscitated the
comatose man

Ripping Marvelous astonishing, Dull The tree split with a

agreeable great ripping sound

Sturdy and strong in with a house full of boys

Rugged constitution or irregular, even, smooth you have to have
construction; lumpy rugged furniture"
enduring

Ss
Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence
an important
religious ceremony in celebration, neglect, The sacramental
Sacrament the Christian Church, ceremony denial, divorce character, then, is not in
such as baptism or itself a sanctifying gift
communion
A seat for the rider of howdah, relieve, Ram is retiring after 14
Saddle a horse or camel; pillion, disencumber, years in the saddle as
Load or burden; packsaddle disengage chief executive
encumber

Marked by harshly caustic, calm, gentle, His scathing remarks

Scathing abusive criticism mordant, generous about silly lady novelists
trenchant
1. There are people who
will show you scorn, but
Mockery, Praise, you must not mind
Scorn 1. Contempt Sarcasm, Aid, them.
2. to Show contempt Contempt. Please 2. When I asked for his
daughter’s hand in
marriage, he scorned
me.

ENGLISH | Vocabulary—Synonyms and Antonyms PAGE 16

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Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence

A whip used to inflict reward, Pop-up ads have been
Scourge punishment; plague,
Something causing torment, bane blessing,
boon
described as the
scourge of the Internet.
misery or death

An outward or token The city has now

appearance or form pretence, returned to some
Semblance that is deliberately façade, mien concrete, rear semblance of normality
misleading after last night's
celebrations authenticity

evil, good, His sinister countenance

Sinister Nasty bad, happy, was watched with
baneful auspicious terrible constancy by
Jude
Smear on meat, and
Smear spread over cover, stain, clean, purify, place near where the
patch honour rats are most
troublesome.
Joe's mother would not
Sobriquet A familiar name for a alias,
name,
pen
real name use his sobriquet and
person byname always called him
Joseph

Spate continuation Deluge, not in series A spate of letters.

Torrent
At the beginning the
occasional, in common, postal communications
Sporadic on and off frequent, constant, were rather sporadic
irregular frequent and mainly met the
military needs

straighten, Their favorite napping

Sprawled spread out lie, fall compress, positions are lying flat
stand on their backs with their
legs sprawled out.
After receiving a low
counterfeit, appraisal on my
Spurious Plausible but false; specious, genuine, diamond ring, I realized
Intended to deceive apocryphal authentic, real the suspicious- looking
jeweler had sold me a
spurious jewel

Refuse with despise, ascend, Ellis plays the part of the

Spurn contempt disdain, scorn accept, young lover spurned by
admire his mistress.
Mrs Blower was the
Stout rather fat or of heavy overweight, skinny, weak, rather stout lady with the
build porcine, tubby slight glasses and the
sensible shoes
to try very hard to do
something or to conation, desultory, We must strive to
Striving make something conatus, feeble, narrow the gap between
happen, especially attempt indolent rich and poor.
for a long time or
against difficulties

ENGLISH | Vocabulary—Synonyms and Antonyms PAGE 17

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Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence

The feeling of
distress and disbelief
that you have when slumber, liveliness, Someone stole his
Stupor something bad hebetude, sensibility, wallet while he was in a
happens narcosis wakefulness drunken stupor
accidentally;
Marginal
consciousness

Stuttering and wasting

Stuttering stammer halting, pause continue moments too precious
for words.

Stan began to think they

Stymie frustrate, hinder crimp, foil, aid, forward, were stymied when all
block support Hades broke loose from
above.

Shortly, permanently, Please state your case

Succinctly Briefly summarily verbosely as succinctly as
possible.

Help given to obstruction, Students should be

Succour someone, especially sustenance,
someone who is relief, support hindrance,
blockage
encouraged, supported
and succoured
suffering or in need
cease, continue, I'm afraid I succumbed
Succumb die or surrender gave away, defend, to temptation and had a
defer fight piece of cheesecake.

Maybe I gave him a

Swat hit knock, slap, lose, swat on his diaper when
beat surrender he was a toddler, but I
never re- ally hit him.

The bare forms of

Of or relating to or deduction, unreasonable Syllogistic are a useless
Syllogistic consisting of sanity, ness item of knowledge
syllogism ratiocination unless they are applied
to concrete thought.

Tt
Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence

aloofness, agitation, Smiley is a taciturn,

Taciturnity reserve calmness, boldness, middle-aged intelligence
coldness liberation officer who has been
forced into retirement.
A tight fiscal policy
Tandem Alongside each other together,
flow
in alone working in tandem with
a tight foreign exchange
policy

ENGLISH | Vocabulary—Synonyms and Antonyms PAGE 18

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Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence

a petty lie., fable, "no sane person would

Taradiddle pretentious fabrication, make up such a
nonsense. falsehood, taradiddle".

a violent windy storm, gale,

Tempest storm. squall, "a raging tempest"
superstorm,

blockage, This, however, does not

Tenor intent gist, mood outside disturb the tenor of the
following arguments.

slight, convincing, The police have only

Tenous very weak or slight. insubstantial, substantial, found a tenuous
flimsy, strong connection between the
negligible, two robberies.
earthly, "increased ultraviolet
Terrestrial on or relating to the worldly, cosmic, radiation may disrupt
earth. mundane, heavenly terrestrial ecosystems"
earthbound

Showing fear and ambivalent, conceited, Problems call for bold

Timid lack of confidence bashful, egotistical, not timid responses
vacillating extrovert

A speech of violent denunciation, compliment, Her tirade provoked a

Tirade denunciation harangue, harmony, counterblast from her
ranting peace husband

The actress had to toil

Toil hard work effort, moil , fun, laziness, for many years before
sweat pastime becoming a Hollywood
star

Travel across or crisscross, "The caravan traversed

Traverse pass over; To cover negotiate, confirm, back almost 100 miles each
or extend over an perambulate up, stay day
area or time period

A long path that is hard

Trudge walk heavily drag oneself tiptoe to walk along is an
example of a trudge.
Then his words were
Tumult Uproar agitation, Agreement, lost in tumult, for the
commotion Calm third day's fighting
began.
dictatorship, a
situation in which Women, the play seems
Tyranny someone or autocracy, Democracy to suggest, must resist
something controls despotism the tyranny of
how you are able to domesticity
live, in an unfair way

ENGLISH | Vocabulary—Synonyms and Antonyms PAGE 19

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Uu
Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence

blatant, fearful, A tinselled charm and

Unabashed Not embarrassed brazen, ashamed, unabashed
audacious apologetic sentimentality
Suggesting the superhuman, ordinary, Stumps...had uncanny
Uncanny operation of exceptional, common, shapes as of monstrous
supernatural unearthly familiar creatures
influences
Anna was thankful that
blunt, the unctuous man who
Unctuous Sycophantic Ingratiating, genuine, first greeted her at the
servile sincere modelling agency would
not be the person she
would be working with.
He had read the
Unerrign Accurate certain, mistaken. yearning of her
errorless imperfect heartwith unerring
insight

Vv
Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence

The confusion about the

Vaccilation fluctuation hesitation,dou certainty,sure project has been made
bt,indecision worse by the vacillation
and indecision.

afraid, In course of time the

Valiant Having or showing gallant, gritty, cowardly, valiant Swedes were
valour stalwart timid obliged to give way
before their enemy.

Three men were feared

dead last night after a
Veer Change direction Bend, deflect keep to, stay helicopter veered off
course into an oil
platform.

A feud in which bickering, agreement, He saw himself as the

Vendetta members of the grudge, forgiveness, victim of a personal
opposing parties hostility peace vendetta being waged
murder each other by his political enemies.

experienced in the indirect,

imagination through second-hand, - "this catalogue brings
Vicarious the feelings or secondary, vicarious pleasure in
actions of another derivative, luxury living"
person.

ENGLISH | Vocabulary—Synonyms and Antonyms PAGE 20

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Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence

Disposed to seek grudging, compassionat A vindictive man will

Vindictive revenge or intended spiteful, e, forgiving, look for occasions for
for revenge wreckful sympathetic resentment

Virulence resentment Acerbity, calm, cheer the virulence of the

displeasure malicious old man

Ww
Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence
They all removed their
initiate, walk , dodge, end, shoes and socks and
Wading often through water fall to finish rolled up their pants legs
before wading into the
cold water.

Wane to become weaker in atrophy,

dwindle, taper
brighten,
ascend,
By the late 70s the
band's popularity was
strength or influence off enlarge beginning to wane.

Exhausted, refresh, Children weary me with

Weary Tired fatigued energetic their constant questions
and demands.

quaking, The motion of

Wobbling shaking staggering, steady something that wobbles.
swaying

Zz
Word Meaning Synonym Antonym Sentence

the time at which highest point,

something is most high point, nadir, "His career reached its
Zenith powerful or crowning bottom zenith in the 1960s."
successful. point,
height

ENGLISH | Vocabulary—Synonyms and Antonyms PAGE 21