Complete English Grammar Rules
Complete English Grammar Rules
Irregular Nouns
Nouns having no rules or nouns which don’t change into plural by adding (S, ES, IES, or VES)
& have special plural forms are called irregular nouns.
E.g. Man, men, child, children, ox, oxen, woman, women, etc
Cases of adjective
Adjectives are Normally Used in the following Cases:
Attributive Case: Is a case in which an adjective is placed before a noun. E.g. Bilal is an
intelligent teacher.
Predicative Case: Is a case in which an adjective is placed after a linking verb. Linking verbs
are those verbs which link the complement of the sentence to the subject of a sentence.
Complements are nouns or adjectives which come after linking verbs. E.g. Bilal is happy. I am
sick.
Postpositive Case: In this case, an adjective comes after nouns or pronouns. E.g. I met someone
interesting in my class.
Kinds of Adjectives
Demonstrative Adjective: Are those adjectives which point out a near or far place(s) person (s)
or thing(s). E.g. This car is expensive. These students are mine. That marker is old.
Possessive Adjectives: Are those adjectives which talk about ownership and relationship. My,
your, our, their, his, her and its, are possessive adjectives. E.g. I am your teacher. Proper
Adjectives: Are those adjectives which are made or taken from proper nouns, and show
nationality. E.g. Sania Mirza is Indian. Adjectives of Quality: Are those adjectives which talk
about the quality of a person, place or thing. Bilal is a kind teacher. English is a
comprehensive/rich language. Interrogative Adjectives: Are those adjectives which are used to
ask questions. What province are you from? Which book do you want?
Emphatic/Emphasizing Adjectives: Are those adjectives which are used for the sake of
emphasis. Very & own are such adjectives: E.g. This is the very boy whom I wanted to meet. I
saw it by my own eyes.
Exclamatory Adjectives: Are those adjectives which are used to show sudden/dramatic events
or shocking events. E.g. what a shot! What a girl! What a kick! Ing/Verbal/Present Participle
Adjective: Is a verb in its Ing form of that function as an adjective: Bilal is an interesting
teacher. It’s a boring class. Jism 2 is a frightening movie. We had a damaging earthquake.
Ed/Verbal/Past Participle Adjectives: Are those adjectives which are verbs but function as
adjectives. E.g. Ali is interested in her. America is a developed country. I am bored. Syria is a
damaged country.
Adjectives of Quantity: Are those adjectives which answer the question of how much. They
talk about amount. E.g. we have much money. We have much water.
I have a little sugar. Afghanistan has some money.
Adjectives of Number: Are those adjectives which talk about the number of people, things or
places. And it answers the question of how many. E.g. I want to meet some friends. We have
many students at (HELP). I saw a lot of girls.
Verb
Verb is taken from a Latin word “Verbum” which means a word. It is a word that is used to show
the following things.
1:It shows what a person or thing does. We come to HELP. Apple works quickly.
2: It shows what is done to a person or thing: Ali was killed last night. Sockets were repaired
by me.3: It shows what a person or thing has. They have a nice car. Apple has 1GB Ram.4: It
shows how a person, thing or place is: Bilal is fine. Australia is a developed country. BMW is a
comfortable car.
5: It shows where a person thing or place is: We are in class. Saleem Carawan is in Arzan
Qeemat. Mood of a Verb: Mood is taken from a Latin word “Modus” which means method or
manner. Mood is the method/manner by which a verb is used to express a specific or particular
action. Indicative Mood: When a verb is used to express or state a fact, it’s said to be indicative
mood. Allah knows better. We study grammar. Friday is a holiday. Milk is white.2:
Interrogative Mood: When a verb is used to ask questions. It’s said to be interrogative mood.
Do you play cricket? Were they coming to class? Imperative Mood: When a verb is used to
give orders, requests, instructions, or directions, it is said to be imperative mood. Bring a glass of
water. Please, help the poor. Slice three onions. Walk four blocks and turn left. Infinitive Mood
or Verbal Mood: When to + verb is used to show/name actions, it is said to be infinitive mood.
To respect elders is our duty. To teach English is a great fun. To watch cricket on TV is
interesting. Subjunctive Mood: A verb which is used to express a wish, desire, intension or
resolution in the present and unreal situation in the past and in the present is known as
subjunctive mood. I wish I were in Canada. God bless you. I wish I had done the job. Forms of
Subjunctive Mood
Intention or resolution is shown by using it in noun clauses.
Structure:It + To Be + Vital, Important, Necessary, Imperative Essential + That + Sub + Verb +
Rots. It is vital that Hisam come on time. It is imperative that you be polite in my class.
Characteristics of Subjunctive Mood
In place of (is, am, are) we use be in that/ noun clause. Verbs don’t take (s, es, ies,) it is not
concerned with the present, past or future.
If the
is very long, then we normally don’t separate the particle & put it after the object.
E.g. The gang has carried out a number of bank raids in the last few months.
They burned down the building which was made 300 years ago.
Did you check over the one-hundred four-page report which was sent by the company.
We can’t separate the particle when the object is gerund or gerund phrase.
Khadim gave up smoking. Khadim gave smoking up. (Incorrect)
There is no change in meaning of a phrasal verb whether we separate a particle or not.
Separation of the particle is optional when the object is a noun & not a pronoun. The following two
sentences have the same meaning.
I shut down my computer. I shut my computer down. He turned on the TV. He turned the TV on.
However, separation is must when the object is a pronoun such as (him, it, them, me, you, us, and her).
I shut it down. I shut down it. (Incorrect)
He called me up. He called up me. (Incorrect)
Active Sentence: Ali switched the light off. The light was switched off by Ali.
Only two-word verbs are separable; three-word verbs are never separable.
If you are going barefoot, look out for the broken glass.
She sat down on the floor. She sat on the floor. He fell down from the stairs. He fell from the stairs.
Drink up: drink completely use up: use completely
Fill up: fill completely eat up: eat completely
Note: The best way to know whether a phrasal verb is separable or inseparable is to look the phrasal verb
up in a good dictionary.
Adverb
The word adverb is taken from a Latin word “Adverbium” which means to add something to the
meaning of a verb.
Preposition
It is taken from a Latin word “Praeposition”, which means placing or putting before.
It’s a word or a group of words that is used before a noun or pronoun to show the relationship of
a noun or pronoun to some other words in a sentence.
Or in simple words, a preposition is a word that is used before a noun or pronoun to show the
relationship of that with another word in a sentence.
My book is on the table. The teacher is in class. We are happy for them.
I agree with you. Ali sat under the tree.
Object of a Preposition:
Noun: I am thinking about Ali
Pronoun: We bought a car from them.
Gerund: I am interested in learning English.
Infinitive: I am thinking about to limit the timing of your class.
Noun Clause: I am nervous about what happened last night.
Note: Sometimes a preposition can go at the end of the sentence, informally.
Which class do you read in? (Informal)
In An Adjective Clause: The boy whom you are talking about is lazy. (Informal)
The boy about whom you are talking is lazy. (Formal)
In a Noun Clause: I don’t know to whom you are talking. (Formal)
I don’t know whom you are talking to. (Informal)
Note: Words coming after prepositions are termed as objects of the prepositions.
Kinds of Preposition
Simple/ Single Preposition: It’s a single word which is not formed by any method. Such
prepositions are common. To, in, at, under, between, for, from, about…etc.
Note: Simples Preposition can be Mono or Di syllable. In, on, between. Under…etc.
Double Preposition: It’s a two-word preposition. Two words functioning together as
prepositions are known as double prepositions: from …...to.
HELP serves people from 7:00AM to 7:00 PM.
Agentive Preposition: It’s a preposition that is used in passive voice to introduce the person
who performs the action.
Your class was started by Hassan. She was killed by Ali.
Conjunction
It’s taken from a Latin word “Conjunct” which means to join or to relate.
It’s a word or a group of words that is used to join two or more than two words, clauses,
sentences, or phrases.
Laila and Ali are close friends. (Nouns)
I don’t care both where she goes and whom she meets. (Clauses)
The teachers want to teach, but the students aren’t interested in learning. (Sentences)He was in
the kitchen or in the dining room. (Phrase)
Bilal was neither in the kitchen nor in dining room. (Phrases)
Kinds of Conjunction
Coordinative/Coordinating Conjunctions: Are those conjunctions that are used to join words,
clauses and phrases of equal rank.
I was sick, so I went to the doctor.
He works and earns at HELP.
He was in the kitchen or in the dining room.
Kinds of Coordinating Conjunctions
Cumulative Conjunction: Shows cause and effect and combines phrases, words and clauses. So
and (and) are called cumulative conjunctions:
My father was angry, so I left the Army. I work & earn at HELP.
Disjunctive/Adversative Conjunction: Shows contrast but and yet are called such conjunctions.
They combine two clauses. I am a teacher, but Haroon is a doctor. I didn’t study, yet I passed the
test. Note: Yet & but have the same meaning when they are used as conjunctions.
Alternative Conjunction: Shows chance and combines two words, phrases or clauses.
Subordinating Conjunctions of Place: Such conjunctions talk about the place of an action.
E.g. You will be caught wherever you go. I will follow you wherever/ where you go.
Subordinating Conjunctions of Reason & Result: Such conjunctions are used to provide the
clause of reason. The following are subordinating conjunctions of reason & result:
Because, in as much as, since, as long as, so long as, now that, etc
I went to the doctor because I was sick. Now that you are married, you have many
responsibilities. Note: The mentioned conjunctions have the same meaning & can replace each
other.
Subordinating Conjunctions of Purpose: Such conjunctions are used to talk about the purpose of
an action. So that & in order that are such conjunctions.
We come to HELP so that we can learn English. In order that can take the place of so that.
Kinds of Tenses
Tense is mainly divided into three kinds namely:
1: Present Tense2: Past Tense 3: Future Tense
Present Tense: When a verb is used to indicate that an action of the verb takes place in the
present time, it is called present tense. E.g. We come to call center every day.
Past Tense: When a verb is used to indicate that an action of the verb takes place in the past, it is
called past tense. E.g. I taught English at the American English language center.
Future Tense: When a verb is used to indicate that an action of the verb takes place in the future,
it is called future tense. E.g. We will become the permanent employees of MTN.
Remember: Some other Grammarians believe that there are four Tenses, such as Present, Past,
Future and Conditional Tense.
Each tense has four classes namely:
Present Tense
1: Simple Present Tense/Present Indefinite Tense
2: Present Continuous/Progressive Tense
3: Present Perfect Tense
4: Present Perfect Continuous /Progressive Tense
Simple Past Tense/Past Indefinite Tense
1: Simple Past Tense
2: Past Continuous/Progressive Tense
3: Past Perfect Tense
4: Past Perfect Continuous/Progressive Tense
Simple Future Tense/Future Indefinite Tense
1: Simple Future Tense
2: Future Continuous/Progressive Tense
3: Future Perfect Tense
4: Future Perfect Continuous/Progressive Tense
Remember:In English, only two tenses can be distinguished in the verb alone: the simple
present and the simple past. All other forms use extra words called Auxiliaries to distinguish
tenses.
Stages of Tense
Each tense has three stages namely:
1: Syntax Stage:we learn about the structures of a tense.
2: Explanation Stage:we learn about the usages/cases of a tense.
3: Implementation Stage: we learn about the examples of a tense.
Aspect of Tense
The form of a verb that shows, for example, whether the action happens once or repeatedly, is
completed or still continuing, is called the aspect of tense.
E.g. We are happy. E.g. They are in the class. E.g. Bilal is a teacher.
Remember: The aforementioned structures are used to indicate state, existence or give
information about a person.
Usages
It shows an action that happens regularly.
E.g. We come to call center. E.g. Bilal goes to his office.
It shows an action that a person does habitually.
E.g. Zia smokes a lot. E.g. Some people lie.
It expresses a universal truth. Universal truth is not changeable by nature.
E.g. Allah is one. E.g. Milk is white.
General truth is changeable by nature.
E.g. Asif Ali Zardari is the president of Pakistan.
It expresses a situation of a limited duration.
E.g. The coffee is so hot.
E.g. The weather is too hot today.
It is formally used to talk about official announcements which will take place in the upcoming
time.
E.g. Pakistan and India resume their negotiations tomorrow in Islamabad.
E.g. The train comes at 5:00. E.g. The plane leaves tomorrow.
It is used to introduce quotations with the verb “Say”.
E.g. Our Prophet (PBUH) says, “Live together and don’t cause hurdles for each other.”
It expresses what is actually taking place in the present time in exclamatory sentences beginning
with “Here” and “There”.
E.g. Here comes Shahid Khan Afridi! E.g.TheregoesChris Gayle.
It refers to future actions which are timetabled.
E.g. Ahmad comes from Kabul next week. E.g. Sir Mateen teaches your class tomorrow.
It expresses an action happening now.
E.g. The rose smells nice. E.g. We know him.E.g. I believe you.
Sometimes, we use Present Continuous Tense to say that we are in the process of doing a longer
action which is in progress; as we might not be doing it at this exact time.
E.g. I am working at MTN to become a Team Leader. E.g. Heba is writing a book.
It is used to talk about developing and changing situations.
E.g. The climate in Kabul is getting warmer. E.g. Many boys are trimming their hair style like
Salman Khan.
It shows an action that has already been planned to take place in the future.
E.g. I am meeting my boss tomorrow. E.g. They are coming home next week. E.g. I am going to
Jalalabad tomorrow.
It is used to talk about a repeated action which annoys the speaker.
In this case, we use always, constantly, continuously, forever, perpetually, etc.
E.g. You are always leaving your dirty socks on the table. E.g. They are constantly making the
same mistakes.
It expresses a habitual action that takes place regularly especially one, which is new or
temporary.
E.g. You are smoking so much when your father is away. E.g. We are swimming a lot when the
weather is hot.
Remember: We don’t normally use stative verbs with continuous tenses.
Present Perfect Tense
Positive: Subject Has/Have+Verb.3+Rots.
Negative: Subject Has/Have+Not+Verb.3+Rots.
Positive Interrogative: Has/Have+Subject+Verb.3+Rots?
Negative Interrogative: American Way: Hasn’t/Haven’t+Subject+Verb.3+Rots?
Negative Interrogative: British Way: Has/Have+Subject+Not+Verb.3+Rots?
Usages
It shows an action or situation that started and ended at an unspecific time in the past.
E.g. Ejaz Hassan had been teaching in Kabul for more than 2 years by the time I came here.
E.g. I had been waiting for her since 5:00. She, finally, came at 7:00.
E.g. The police had been searching for the criminal for two months before they arrested him.
It used to express an activity in progress recent to another activity in the past.
E.g. The streets were wet because it had been raining.
E.g.You eyes were red. It is clear that you had been crying.
It shows an action that was repeated several times.
E.g. I had been teaching on topic for six times a week.
E.g. His father was out of Afghanistan. He had been coming home late every night.
It is used to replace Past Continuous Tense and Present Perfect Continuous Tense in indirect
speech according to the formal sequence of tenses.
E.g.Obaid said, “I was playing cricket.” E.g.Obaid said that he had been playing cricket.
E.g.Obaid said, “I have been playing cricket.” E.g.Obaid said that he had been playing cricket.
Subject-Verb Agreement
Sentence
It‘s taken from a Latin word “Sententia” which means an opinion or thought.
It is the complete unit of a language.
Definitions
A word or a group of words containing a subject and a predicate and having a complete sense or
meaning is called Sentence.
In simple words, a word or a group of words having a clear meaning within a given context is called
a Sentence. A sentence must have a proper order of words and a clear meaning.
Predicate
A part of a sentence that talks about the subject is called Predicate. Verb+Complement = Predicate
Action+Object = Predicate
E.g. We teach English at HELP. E.g. They are eating apples. E.g. I am a doctor.
Note: Objects can be called complements, but complements can’t be called objects.
Simple Predicate: Is the only verb that tells something about the subject.
E.g. Haroon teaches English at HELP. E.g. I am Farhad Hassan.
Compound Predicate: Is the simple predicate along with some other words that comes directly
after it. E.g. The students are studying very hard to get the first position.
E.g. We come to HELP to learn to English properly.
Compound Subjects and Predicates
E.g. Ahmad and Ali study English and work in a factory.
Kinds of Sentence
Assertive/Declarative Sentence: Is a sentence that ends with a full-stop and states a fact.
E.g. Friday is a holiday. E.g. Allah is one.
E.g. I came home, for the teacher who teaches our class was absent.
M. Clause Adjective Clause
E.g. My friend believes that he can do anything if he has a lot of money, but I cannot agree with him.
Main Clause Dependent Clause Main Clause
Minor Kinds of Sentence
Loose Sentence: Is a sentence in which main clause comes before adverb clause or phrase.
E.g. You will earn a lot of money if you study. E.g. You were listening while I was teaching.
Main Clause Adv. Clause Main Clause Adv. Clause
E.g. She saw an old book while she was sitting in the class.
Main Clause Adv. Clause
x
E.g. She saw an old book while sitting in the class. E.g. She saw an old book sitting in the class.
Main Clause Adv. Phrase Main Clause Adverb Phrase
Periodic Sentence: Is a sentence in which adverb clause or phrase comes before main clause.
E.g. If you study, you will earn a lot of money E.g. While I was teaching, you were listening.
Adv. Clause Main Clause Adv. Clause Main Clause
Voice
The sounds that are made when people speak or sing. E.g. She has loud/quiet/soft voice.
Voice: Voice is the form of the verb which indicates whether a person or a thing does something
or something has been done to a person or a thing.
Kinds of Voices
There are two kinds of voice, namely:
1. Active Voice
2. Passive Voice
Active Voice
Active Voice: When a verb form shows that that the subject has done something, it is
known as Active Voice. E.g. I teach English at HELP. E.g. We eat food to live.
Passive Voice
Passive Voice: When a verb form shows that something has been done to the subject, it is
known as Passive Voice. E.g. Bilal was killed last night. E.g. West Indies was beaten by AFG.
In Simple words, the subject does something: Active Voice
Something is done to the subject: Passive Voice
Contemporary English Grammar
Written by: Jayanthi Dakshina Murthy
Fundamental Rules
1: Divide the sentence into subject, verb and object. E.g. Weplaycricket.
2: Make the object the subject of the passive voice. S V O
Kinds of Clauses
Independent Clause: An independent clause is a complete sentence. It contains the main subject
and verb of a sentence. It’s also called a main clause.
E.g. Tom watches TV. E.g. I am happy.
Relative Pronouns
Relative Pronoun Nominative Accusative Genitive
(Subjective) (Objective) (Possessive)
Who (Person) Who Who/Whom Whose
Which (Things) Which Which Which / Whose
That That That
Adverb
Adverb is taken from a Latin word “Adverbium”, which means to add something to the
meaning. It is used to give more information about `a verb, an adjective, another adverb &
sometimes a sentence.
E.g. They teach English carefully. E.g. Katrina is a very beautiful actress. E.g. Bilal works
very carefully. E.g. Luckily, Afghanistan won the match.
Subordinating Conjunctions
We use them to join clauses of unequal rank. E.g. If you study, you will get intelligent.
Adverb Clause
It is a group of words containing a subject and a verb that serves the function as an adverb
in a sentence. Or in simple words, an adverb clause is a dependent clause that begins with a
subordinating conjunction, has a subject and a verb and functions as an adverb.
E.g. I will learn if I teach English. E.g. They were sad when Pakistan lost the match.
E.g. Bilal bowls fast because he has practiced a lot.
Kinds of Adverb Clause
Adverb Clause of Time: Adverb clause of time shows time. It is introduced by the
following subordinating conjunctions: After, before, since, while, when, as, till, until, by the
Even If
Even if means no matter if. Even if shows unexpected results. E.g. Even if Bilal studies hard,
he will fail the test. E.g. Even if Ali is sick, he will not go to the doctor.Only if
Only if means that there is only one condition that will cause a result.
E.g. Bilal fights only if someone insults his mother. E.g. You can attend the party only if you
have an invitation card.
Providing That/ Provided That
They mean on condition that. E.g. The students can come to the class providing/provided
(that) they have paid the fee. E.g. Providing that you drive it carefully, you can take my car.
In Case that/In the Event That
They show that something has 50% chances to happen. E.g. I will take my umbrella in the
event that it rains. E.g. In case that you need money, call me.
Unless
We can use unless in place of if+negative verb. E.g. If he isn’t sick, he will come to the class.
E.g. Unless he is sick, he will come to the class. E.g. If he doesn’t call me, I will call him.
E.g. Unless he calls me, I will call him.
In case of/In the event of
They are prepositions. They are followed by a noun. In case of & in the event of mean if
there is. E.g. In case of fire, go out of the building. E.g. In the event of fire, go out of the
building.
Other Ways of Showing Condition
Transition: The transition otherwise can be used to show condition. Otherwise means if
this doesn’t happen. It always comes with the result clause.E.g. You have to study.
Otherwise, you will fail. E.g. He should find a job. Otherwise, he will have no money.
Coordinating Conjunction
The coordinating conjunction or can be used to show condition. Or is usually used with the
word else. Else is not necessary. Or (else) has the meaning as otherwise.
Adverb Clause of Comparison
A clause which shows comparison is called an adverb clause of comparison.
It is introduced by the following conjunctions:
Verbals
Verbs are divided into two groups according to the ways they show agreement with subject,
number & tense. 1: Finite Verbs 2: Non-Finite Verbs
Finite Verb: A verb, which is limited by the subject, number and tense of the sentence, is called a
finite verb. It means if we change the form of the subject & tense of the sentence, we must
change the form of finite verb too. Finite verb is limited to tense, subject & number and we
cannot use it in every tense.
E.g. She likes to play cricket. E.g. She liked to play cricket. E.g. She doesn’t like to play cricket.
E.g. Ali wants to study. E.g. They want to study. E.g. We wanted to study.
Non-Finite Verb: A verb which is not limited by the number of the subject & tense is called a
non-finite verb. It is not limited to tense, number & subject. It means non-finite verb remains
unchanged if we change the tense, the subject & the number.
E.g. He wants to watch TV. E.g. They want to watch TV. E.g. He has always wanted to watch
TV. (Non-Finite Verb).
E.g. He has eaten. E.g. They have eaten. E.g. We had eaten. (Has, Have & Had are Finite Verbs).
(Eaten is a non-finite verb in the aforementioned three sentences).
As a Verb
Verb+ing is a verb when it has a be verb before it. Be verbs are: is, am, are, was, were, been &
being. E.g. She is playing cricket. E.g. The boys were playing cricket. Ali has been crying.
As an Adjective
As an adjective, it gives more information about a noun.
E.g. It was an interesting class. E.g. We heard a surprising news. E.g. It’s a boring class.
Note: Verb+ing adjectives are called Present Participle Adjectives.
As an Adverb
When gerund functions as an adverb, it describes a verb. E.g. Inzamam-ul-Haq left the ground
crying.
As a Preposition
When gerund functions as a preposition, it comes before a noun clause.
E.g. I am tired of what you are asking. E.g. They are excited about where they are going.
As a Gerund
It’s going to be explained!
Note:After a gerund, we can use a noun, an adverb or a prepositional phrase.
E.g. Playing soccer is good. Teaching English can be a tough job. (Nouns)
E.g. Playing well is important in any game. E.g. Teaching slowly is necessary in AFG. (Adverbs)
E.g. Playing at the park is good. Going to Pakistan is a great fun. (Prepositional Phrases)
Note#2: Singular/Plural gerund phrase+singular verb.
E.g. Washing a dish is your duty. E.g. Washing the dishes is your duty.
Gerund Phrase+and+gerund phrase+plural/singular verb.
E.g. Washing the dishes and bringing vegetables are/is your duty.
E.g. Teaching English and earning money is/are important.
The negative form of gerund is not+gerund. Sentences which have gerunds can be changed in
two ways into negatives without any change in meanings. We can use not either before gerund or
change the main verb to negative.
As the Complement of (Be): What I dislike is telling lie. My aim is teaching you gerund well.
Note: In grammar, a word or a phrase that follows a verb and describes the subject of the verb is
called complement. E.g. You look angry. E.g. We are teachers.
After do, does and did to talk about homework:
E.g. Mariam does cooking and washing. My father did shopping yesterday. I do teaching.
After No to talk about prohibition:
No smoking. No parking. No walking.
After BY to indicate how something is done:
You can improve your English by listening to CNN. I always make you understand by giving
examples.
After LIKE to give examples:
E.g. You can do certain activities like swimming, running and walking in free time.
After (come and go) to talk about sports or free time activities:
E.g. We will go skating this year. E.g. We went fishing yesterday.
E.g. Why don’t you come dancing?
After what/how about…?
E.g. What about drinking a cup of tea? E.g. How about playing cricket?
As the object of Transitive phrasal verb:
E.g. I will give up teaching very soon. E.g. I want to put off going to Pakistan.
Take a look at the following two sentences:
E.g. Reading books is a great fun. The reading of books needs patience.
After Possessive Adjectives:
E.g. Do you like my teaching? E.g. His speaking is very fast.
Possessive Nouns:
E.g. We are proud of Ali’s working hard. E.g. She minds Javid’s making noise.
Object Pronouns:
E.g. We enjoy him reading slowly. E.g. He likes her singing.
Noun:
E.g. We enjoy Ali reading slowly. E.g. She minds Javid making noise.
Note: In formal English, possessive adjectives and possessive nouns are used to modify gerunds.
In informal English, object pronouns and nouns are used to modify gerunds.
Special Expressions & Verbs Followed by Gerund
Gerund can be used after these expressions:
Have+fun, difficulty, trouble, or have+good, bad, difficult, hard+time.
E.g. We had difficulty finding Ali’s house. E.g. Go with us, Ali. We will have a good time
swimming.
Special Verbs: To use gerund after these verbs, we must use expressions of time or money after
them. Spend & waste. E.g. Ali wasted 100 dollars buying unimportant things.
E.g. Bilal spent three hours studying math.
To use gerund after these verbs, we must use expressions of place after them.
Stand, sit & lie are these verbs.
E.g. She is standing in the class reading a book. E.g. We sat in the park talking about our school.
E.g. He was lying in the room watching Peace TV.
Find & Catch: To use a gerund after these verbs, we must use a noun or pronoun as object after
these verbs. We use catch when we show anger or displeasure.
E.g. The teacher caught Ali cheating. E.g. She found her son taking money out of her purse.
Forms of Gerund
Present Active Gerund: Verb+ing
Present Passive Gerund: Being+Verb.3
Past Active Gerund: Having+Verb.3
Past Passive Gerund: Have+Been+Verb.3
Infinitive
It is taken from a Latin word “Infinitus” which means unlimited.
To+Verb base form of a verb that names an action & shows a purpose is called infinitive.
Infinitive is not limited to tense & the number of subject. It means that infinitive remains
unchanged if we change the tense & the number of subject.
Or in simple words, infinitive is the to + base form of verb which functions as a noun.
Infinitive is also called a verbal noun because it can take an object like a verb.
E.g. She likes to play cricket. E.g. They like to play cricket. E.g. Ali liked to play cricket.
The negative form of infinitive is not/never+infinitive.
E.g. To work on time is a good habit. E.g. Not to work on time is a bad habit.
Participle
It is taken from a Latin word “Participium” which means sharing the function.
A participle is a double part of speech--- a verb & an adjective combined.
A participle is that form of the verb which is partly a verb & partly an adjective.
Or in simple words, a word that can be a verb or an adjective is called participle.
E.g. Don’t try to get into a running train. E.g. Don’t put your hand in boiling water.
E.g. I am teaching English. We are working hard. You are coming late.
Kinds of Participles
Present Participle: The ing form of the verb showing an action going on is called present
participle. I am teaching English. It is said that barking dogs seldom bite.
Past Participle: Past participle ends with ‘ed’, ‘d’. ‘t’ or ‘n’ & is used to indicate a completed
action.
E.g. I have cleaned my classes. I have seen Ali. (Verb)
E.g. Deceived by his friends, he lost all hope. I want you to give me a written record.
E.g. A lost opportunity never returns.
Usages of Participle
1. Participles are used as simple adjectives:
E.g. Sanam Teri Kasam is an interesting film. Shagiwal is a reputed poet. India is a
developed nation.
Verb Phrase: A verb phrase is a combination of main verb and its helping verbs used with the
main verb in the sentence. E.g. I am teaching English. She should study her lessons.
She has been studying English for two years.
Phrase in Apposition: Have a look at the following examples:
E.g. Ali, my cousin, is seriously sick.
E.g. I like Tom, my faithful dog.
Parenthetical Phrase: Read the following sentences:
E.g. He is, after all, an honest man. I, to tell the truth, don’t like this idea. I, to be very honest,
have taught each topic of this properly.
Prepositional Phrase: A group of words that begins with a preposition & ends with a nounis
termed prepositional phrase.
In the class, near our house, at the end of the street, under the table,
Word Formation
In English, there are many word beginnings (prefixes) & word endings (suffixes) that can be added to a
word to change its meaning or its word class.
1. The endings –ize & -ify can be added to many nouns & adjectives to form verbs.
Legal: Legalize Beauty: Beautify
Modern: Modernize pure: Purify
Popular: Popularize Simple: Simplify
American: Americanize Clear: Clarify
Equal: Equalize Specific: Specify
Stable: Stabilize Solid: Solidify
Global: Globalize Unity: Unify
Local: Localize Horrible: Horrify
Capital: Capitalize Identity: Identify
Social: Socialize Qualified: Qualify
2. The ending –ly can be added to most adjectives to form adverbs.
Slow: Slowly
Main: Mainly
Quick: Quickly
Beautiful: Beautifully
Intelligent: Intelligently
Easy: Easily
Careful: Carefully
Equal: Equally
3. The endings –er, -ment, & ation can be added to many verbs to form nouns.
Lead: Leader Develop: Development Admire: Admiration
Teach: Teacher Amaze: Amazement Associate: Association
5. The endings –Y,-ic,-ical,-ful & -less can be added to many nouns to form adjectives.
Dirt: Dirty Islam: Islamic Logic: Logical
Rain: Rainy Atom: Atomic Grammar: Grammatical
Filth: Filthy History: Historic Type: Typical
Push: Pushy Strategy: Strategic Economy: Economical
Smell: Smelly Class: Classic Electricity: Electrical
Hair: Hairy Academy: Academic History: Historical
Trick: Tricky Diplomacy: Diplomatic Chemistry: Chemical
Rock: Rocky Science: Scientific Geography: Geographical
Word: Wordy System: Systematic
6. Home: Homeless Pain: Painful
Sleep: Sleepless Hope: Hopeful
Shame: Shameless Care: Careful
Harm: Harmless Color: Colorful
End: Endless Power: Powerful
Price: Priceless Skill: Skillful
Heart: Heartless Harm: Harmful
7. The ending –able can be added to many verbs to form adjectives.
Wash: Washable
Love: Loveable
Break: Breakable
Touch: Touchable
Match: Matchable
Believe: Believable
Suit: Suitable
Afford: Affordable
Questions
We ask questions to know something. These questions are of two types in English:
Kinds of Questions
1: Yes/No Questions
2: Wh-Questions
Interrogative sentences formed with the Auxiliary Verbs Do, Have, Be, & the Modals (Will, can,
could, shall, should, may, might, would, must) can be answered by ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.
But those formed with the help of Wh-words cannot be answered by ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. They require
some specific answers.
E.g. Are you going to school? Yes/No.
E.g. Where are you going? I am going to school.
Don’t forget to put Asking Sign (?).
Note: We must remember that the rules of interrogative patterns are the same in both the cases.
In interrogative sentences, Be verb (is, am, are, was, were), Have verb (has, have, had) Do verbs,
(Do, Does, Did) and (Will, can, could, shall, should, may, might, would, must) verbs are used
before the subject.
Note: Wh-questions are also called information questions.
An information question starts with these words: Who, whom, what, which, whose, when, where,
why, how.
These WH-words are used to get information from a sentence.
Note: In Modern English, Who in place of Whom is used as a pseudo Subject.
What is your father/he? He is a doctor. Who is he? He is my uncle.
Declarative Questions: In spoken English, we don’t always use interrogative word order.
Declarative questions can be used when the speaker thinks he/she knows something or has
Echo questions: To questions what has been said, a speaker may simply repeat “echo” what has
been heard. A rising intonation is common. I’m getting the first position. You are getting the first
position? He is moving to Canada. He is moving to Canada?
Rhetorical Questions: (Questions that don’t expect an answer) A question with an obvious
answer can be used simply as a way of drawing attention to something. What time is it? (=
you’re late) I can’t’ find my coat. What’s this then? (Here’s it’s stupid)
In simple words, such questions are self-addressed. They don’t expect any answer. Let me see.
Should I take the bus or go on foot? What should I drink?
Tag Questions: We use tag questions to check whether our sentence is right or not. Tag is a small
question that often comes at the end of a sentence to show confirmation. Question tags are used
after affirmative and negative sentences, but not after questions. She is intelligent, isn’t she?
She isn’t intelligent, is she?
Alternative questions: There are two types of alternative questions. The first resembles a yes-no
question, and the second a wh-question:
Would you like chocolate, vanilla or strawberry?
Which country do you love, Pakistan, AFG or India?
Exclamatory Questions: It is a question like structure that ends in an exclamatory mark & shows
surprise.
Isn’t that a big room? Aren’t you Bilal?
Included Questions in Statements
Before this structure is explained in details, we must know which part is included question &
which is the statement.
I don’t knowwhere he lives.
Statement Included Q
We can include these two questions into statements, follow these steps:
1: Wh-Questions
2: Yes/No Questions
To include wh-questions into statements, follow these steps:
Change the wh-question into an indirect question: To do so, place the subject of the question
after the wh- question word.
Where is she teaching? Where she is teaching.
If there is does, do or did, in Wh-question, delete it from the question. If the auxiliary does is
deleted, use S, ES or IES with the verb.
Kinds of Articles
Indefinite Articles: An article which doesn’t refer to a particular/specific person or thing is
known as the indefinite article. “A” & “An” are called indefinite articles.
E.g. I want to buy a car. She has an informative book at home. She is using a stylish phone.
A student should be obedient. A doctor must love his/her patients. Give me a book to read.
“A” & “An” are only used before singular countable nouns.
The selection between “A” or “An” is determined by sound.
2: A is used before a word beginning with “H”, & also with “Y” & “U.”
E.g. a horse, a historical building, a human being, a youth, a year, a yard, a yellow paper, a
young man, a university, a useful book, a unit, a European, a uniform, a union, etc
Uses of A/AN