Search.....

Go!
1. Grammar (All Topics)
10th Class English Grammar (All Topics) Grammar (All
Topics)
Grammar (All Topics)
Category : 10th Class

Grammar (All Topics)

1. THE SENTENCE

When we speak or write we used words. We generally use

these words in group as for example-
Little Jack Horner sat in a corner.
A group of words, which makes complete sense, is called
a sentence.

KINDS OF SENTENCES

Kinds of Sentences

There are mamly five kinds of sentences.

1. Assertive sentence: A sentence that

states or declares something is called an
assertive or declarative sentences.
 2. Interrogative sentence: A sentence that asks a
question is called a question or an interrogative
sentence.
For example: What time did you come?

3. Imperative sentence: A sentence that

expresses a commond, request, suggestion, order
or advice is called an imperative sentence.
For example: Keep silence.

4. Exclamatory sentence: A sentence that

expresses some strong feelings or emotions such
as joy, sorrow, surprise or contempt is called an
exclamatory sentence.
For example: How beautiful the flower is!

5. Optative sentence: A sentence which

expresses wish, desire or pray is called an optative
sentence.
For example: May God bless you!

2. TENSES

Study the following sentences:

1. My father goes for a morning walk daily

2. She is reading a magazine.

3. I saw Kate yesterday.

4. She was knitting a scarf.

 5. We shall go to the zoo tomorrow.

6. He will arrive here next Monday

All these sentences refer to certain actions at certain

points of time. Sentences 1 and 2 refer to actions
happening now, i.e., the present. Similarly, sentences
3 and 1 express actions that happened some time ago,
i.e., in the past. Sentences 5 and 6 express actions
that will take place some time from now, i.e., in the
future. We may refer to tenses as time references.

Study the following diagram:

We see that past extends from the speaker's present to
the beginning of time, while future extends from the
speaker's present to the end of time. We also infer
that present divides time but itself moves towards
future.

3. MODALS

Study the following diagram:

 Now try to understand the difference between the two
categories of Auxiliaries.

PRIMARY AUXILIARIES:
1. Form tenses and the voices

2. Form negative and questions

VERB FORMS AT GLANCE

Verb ?Go? ? Active Voice

Tens Simple Continuos Perfect P.

e continuos
Prese V1 is, an, are + has / has / have
nt (s / es) V1 have + been +
 go, goes V3 V1
Tense
? has + ing
gone
Past V1 was / were + had + had +
V1 V3 been +
Tense ? went V1
+ ing, was had gone
going + ing
Futur will / will be / shall be will / will /
e shall + + ing, will be shall + shall +
V1 going have + have been
Tense V1 +
? will
go ? will V1
have + ing will
gone have
going

Verb ?Write? - Passive Voice

Tens Simple Continuos Perfect P.

e Contin
uos
Prese is, am, are + is, am, are has / have +
nt V1 + being + been +
V3 V2
Tense
being has been
written written
Past was / were was / were had + been
+ + being + +
Tense V3 V3 V3
? was ? was being had been
written written written
 Futur will / shall + will / shall +
e be + have +
V3 V3
Tense
will be ? will have
written written

3. May stand alone or used with main verb

4. Changing form according to the number and
person of the subject
5. Help the main verb to convey the different
types of actions

MODAL AUXILIARIES:
1. Don?t have ? ?ing? form
2. Form questions and negatives
3. Never stand alone, always used with main verb
4. Express a wide variety of meanings
5. Their form remains unchanged in spite of
number and person of subject

4. ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE

Look at the sentence given below:

1. A letter was written by Aditi.

[Focus: A letter (Passive)]
The passive voice occurs in both spoken and written
English and it is used very frequently in technical
writing. Most verbs that take an object can be used in
the Passive Voice. In sentences in the Active Voice,
the primary focus is on the subject. To give primary
 focus to the object of the sentence, the sentence can
be changed to the Passive Voice.

COMPARE:
1. (a) Somebody closed the door.
(b) The door was closed by somebody.
2. (a) The maid cleans the house daily.
(b) The house is cleaned daily by the maid.

S. Modal Usage
NO.
1. Shall Futurity, suggestion,
insistence
2. Shoul Obligation, advisability,
d necessity
3. Will Willingness, prediction,
request (inquestion)
4. Would Willingness, past habit,
probability, wish
5. May Purpose, permission,
possibility
6. Might Possibility, permission,
concession
7. Can Ability, permission,
possibility, request
8. Could Ability, very polite
request, possibility
9. Must Compulsion, obligation,
prohibition
10. Need Necessity, obligation
11. Dare To venture or have
courage
 12. Ought Expection, advice
to
13. Used Past habit, existence of
to something in past

ESSENTIALS OF PASSIVE VOICE:

(a) Some forms of the verb ?be?:

(b) Past participle form (V3) of the main verb.

(c) Helping verb is placed before main verb.
(d) Interchange subject object.
(Someone/somebody/something/people, etc)
(e) ?By? or some other preposition is placed
before the subject (doer/agent) in the Active voice.

5. SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT

A verb must agree with its subject in number and person.

1. Often, by what is called the ?Error of

Proximity?, the verb is to agree m number with a
noun near it instead of its proper subject:
(a) The quality of the mangoes is not good.
 (b) His knowledge of Indian Vernaculars is far
beyond the common.

2. Two or more singular nouns or pronouns joined

by and require a plural verb:
(a) Gold and Silver are precious metals.
(b) He and I were playing.
But if the nouns suggest one idea, or refer to the same
person or thing, the verb is singular:
(a) Bread and butter is his only food.
(b) The novelist and poet is dead.

3. Words joined to a singular subject by ?with, as

well as?, etc., are parenthetical. The verb should be
put in the singular:
(a) The house, with its contents, was insured.
(b) Justice, as well as mercy, allows it.

4. Two or more singular subjects connected by ?or?

or ?nor? require a singular verb:
(a) No nook or corner was left unexplored.
(b) Either the cat or the dog has been here.

But when one of the subjects joined by 'or' or ?nor? is

plural, the verb must be plural, and the plural subject
should be placed nearest to the verb:
(a) Neither the chairman nor the directors are present.

5. When the subjects joined by ?or? or ?nor? are of

different persons, the verb agrees with nearest:
(a) Either he or I am mistaken.
(b) Neither you nor he is to be blamed.
6. Either, neither, each, everyone, many must be
followed by a singular verb:
(a) Many a man has done so
(b) All of the prison is full.
(c) Each of these substances is found in India.
(d) Neither of the two men was strong.

7. Two nouns qualified by 'each' or 'every' require a

singular verb:
(a) Every girl was given a packet of sweets.

8. Some nouns which are plural in form, but

singular in meaning take a singular verb:
(a) The news is true.
(b) The wages of sin is death.

9. ?Pains? and ?means? take either the singular or

the plural verb but the construction must be
consistent:
(a) Great pains have been taken.
(b) Much pains have been taken.

10. Some nouns which are singular in form, but

plural in meaning take a plural verb:
(a) According to the present market rate twelve
dozens cost one hundred rupees.

11. ?None?, though properly singular, conunonly

takes a plural verb:
(a) None are so deaf as those who will not hear.

12. A collective noun takes a singular verb when the

collection is thought of as one whole:
 (a) The committee has issued its report.

13. When a plural noun denotes some specific

quantity or amount considered as a whole, the verb is
generally singular:
(a) Ten kilometers is a long walk.
(b) Fifty thousand rupees is a large amount.

6. NON-INFINITE VERB FORMS

Look at the following diagrams:

Finite verbs agree to the number and person of the

subject of a sentence except modal auxiliaries. They
act as predicates of sentences. Non-finite verbs
cannot by themselves be the predicate of the
sentences. They don?t agree to the number and
person of the subject of the sentence.

Read the following sentences:

 (a) I hope to see you soon.
(b) We kept waiting for Jane last night.
(c) I got back my stolen watch.
(d) Having finished her work, the maid left the house.
(e) The teacher didn't let us play in the classroom.

The non-finite (a) ?to see? is to - infinitive while ?

play? in (b) is base infinitive.
?Waiting? in (b) is gerund. 'Stolen' in (c) is past
participle while 'having finished' in (d) is perfect
participle forms:
(a) To infinitive: to +
V1
(b) Bare/plain infinitive:
V1
(c) Gerund:
V1
+ ing
(d) Present participle:
V1
+ ing
(e) Past participle:
V3
(f) Perfect participle: Having +
V3

7. CONNECTORS

Connectors are the words that are used to join or

connect single words, phrases, clauses or sentences.
Words such as and, but, or, so, yet, still are
connectors. For example-
Slow and steady wins the race.
He is rich but unhappy.
Words like- while, whereas, either, neither, though,
therefore, both, only, although also come in this
category.

8. PHRASES

A phrase is the name given to the structural element

and acts as a level between word and clause. A clause
consists of phrases and a phrase consists of words
irrespective of their number. A single word acts as
the essential element within the phrase. We can call it
the head word of the phrase.

Look at the following sentences:

All alone in his study, my father was reading a new
book quite slowly. It consists of six phrases:
(i) The noun phrase - my father, a new book
(ii) The verb phrase - was reading
(iii) The adjective phrase - all alone
(iv) The adverb phrase - quite slowly
(v) The prepositional phrase - in his study

CLAUSE

A clause is a group of words that forms a part of a

sentence and has a subject and a predicate of its own.
A subordinate clause does the work of a noun, an
adjective or an adverb. So, according to its function
in the sentence, a subordinate clause is classified as:
 (i) A noun clause (ii) An adjective clause
(iii) An adverb clause

A. NOUN PHRASES AND CLAUSES

A noun with or without a determiner is called a noun

phrase.
The noun clause does the work of a noun. It can
function as the subject, object of a verb, complement
to a verb/adjective, object of a preposition, in
opposition to a noun or pronoun ?it?.
For example:
(a) I know where he lives.
(b) Please listen to what I say
(c) That she is angry is true.
Connectives - what, that

B. ADJECTIVE PHRASES AND CLAUSES

An adjective is the head-word in an adjective phrase.

We can make it a more complex phrase by putting an
adverb before the head-word.
For example:
(a) She was very happy
(b) He was extremely overjoyed.
The adjective clause does the work of an adjective
describing a noun/pronoun.
For example:
(a) Let me know the time when I can see you.
(b) This is the girl who stood first in the examination.

C. ADVERB PHRASES AND CLAUSES

 An adverb phrase may contain just one word - an
adverb - as its head.
(a) She ran fast.
(b) He walked quickly.
We can put other words - adverbs - before the head
word.
For example:
(a) She ran very fast.
(b) He walked quite quickly.

9. INDIRECT SPEECH

What is actually spoken by a person is direct speech.

When it is reported later by someone else it becomes
indirect speech.
The following changes take place while changing
direct into indirect speech.

(i) Form of the reporting verb

(ii) Conjunction to replace quotation marks
(iii) Changes writing reported speech

Note:
(i) Reported speech is changed to a noun clause with
a full stop at its end. Question mark (?) and sign of
exclamation (!) are deleted.
(ii) The form of reporting verb and conjunction
depends on the type of the sentence in the Reported
Speech.

· Examples:
 10. DETERMINERS

Determiners signal the coming of a noun, i.e., they

are used before a noun or noun equivalent.
They comprise:
(a) Articles - a, an, the
(b) Demonstratives - this, that, these, those
(c) Possessives - my, your, his, her, our, their
(d) Adjectives and pronouns of indefinite number and
quantity - some, any, every, each, all, few, many,
such, both, enough, one, two, three, etc.

11. PRONOUN

A pronoun is a word which is used instead of a noun.

The pronouns which stand for names of person or
things are called personal pronouns.
Demonstrative pronouns: This, that, these, those
Distributive pronouns: Each, every, either, neither,
everyone, nobody, etc.
Reciprocal pronouns: Each, other, one another
Relative pronouns: Who, which, whose, that
Interrogative pronouns: Who, whom, whose, which,
what
Indefinite pronouns: Some, many, any, all, someone,
somebody, etc.

12. PREPOSITIONS
A preposition is a word placed before a noun or noun
phrase. It shows the relationship between the noun or
noun phrase and other words in the sentence.
For example:
(a) I read it for an hour.
(b) He was waiting at the cross-roads.

13. COMPARISON

We can show comparison by changing the form of

adjectives. Adjectives have special forms for
comparisons. When two parts are compared to an
equal degree it is called the positive degree.
For example:
(a) Anny's house is as spacious as mine.
(b) Jack is as tall as Simon.
When two parts are compared to an unequal degree,
it is called the comparative degree. Comparatives can
be formed in two ways:

(i) By adding ?er? to short adjectives:

Easy
→
Easier
Nice
→
Nicer

(ii) By placing more/less in front of long

adjectives:
Difficult
→
More difficult
Honest
→
More honest
When three or more parts are compared to an
unequal degree it is known as superlative
degree. This reveals selection of one against all
the others. Superlatives are formed by:

(i) Adding ?est? to short adjectives:

Easy
→
Easiest
Nice
→
Nicest

(ii) Adding most/least to long adjectives:

Difficult
→
Most difficult
Honest
 →
Most honest

Other Topics