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2 Free PDF of Important Grammar Rules, Download now! Rules of Subject-Verb Agreement 1. When 2 or more singular subjects are connected by and, they usually take up a plural verb. Riya and Shreya is present in the class. Riya & Shreya are present in the class. Exceptions Singular verb is used in case of some compound nouns like: (a) The bed and breakfast was pleasant. (b) Breaking and Entering is a criminal offence. 2. When 2 or more singular nouns are connected by and & they refer to the same person, then the subject is followed by a singular verb. The principal and secretary are coming for the meeting. The principal and secretary is coming for the meeting. (where principal and secretary refer to the same person). 3. When There or Here are used at the beginning of the sentence, the verb is in accordance with the subject. There are guards outside the palace. There is a guard outside the room. 4. Words like as well as, along with, besides, not etc, which separate the subject and verb are not a part of the subject. In such cases, a singular verb follows for a singular subject. The teacher, as well as his team, are expected shortly. The teacher, as well as his team,is expected shortly. 5. When Distances, Periods of time, Amount of money etc are used as a unit, a singular verb is used. Five miles are too far to walk. Five miles is too far to walk.. 6. When Each or Every precede the singular subject(a) of a sentence, a singular verb used. Every student and teacher were watching the play. Every student and teacher was watching the play. 7. When or, nor, either..or, neither.. nor are used to connect 2 or more singular subjects, a singular verb is followed. Either Riya or Shreya are going tomorrow. Either Riya or Shreya is going tomorrow. 8. When or, nor, either,,or, neither..nor are used to connect 2 or more subjects of different number (i.e. one subject singular and other plural), then the verb followed is plural, and the plural subject is placed before it. Neither the committee members nor the secretary was present there. Neither the secretary nor the committee members were present there. 9. In cases where the sentence expresses a wish or is contrary to the fact, was is usually replaced by were. I wish it were Saturday. If she were here, you d be happy. 10. If the sentence starts with A lot, A Majority, Some, All etc, the verb is in accordance with the noun after of. All of the work is done. All of the singers are gone. Rules related to Verb Usage 11. When 2 subjects of different numbers are connected in a sentence, separate auxiliary verbs should be used for them. In the incident, six injured and one were missing. In the incident, six were injured and one was missing.. 2 P a g e

3 12. If the main clause of the sentence is in Past Tense, the subordinate clause should also be in past tense. Shreya succeeded because she works hard. Shreya succeeded because she worked hard. Exception: The subordinate clause may be in present tense in a sentence with a past tense main clause, only when the subordinate clause expresses universal truth. The teacher explained that the sun rose in the east.. The teacher explained that the sun rises in the east. 13. If Lest is used before the subordinate clause of the sentence, the auxiliary verb should must be used, irrespective of the verb of the main clause. 14. Modal Auxiliaries are not used together, however they can be connected by a conjunction. Riya should must leave. Riya should and must leave. Rules related to Pronoun Usage 15. When a pronoun is used as a complement of the verb to be, it should be in the nominative or subject form. If I were him, I would visit her. If I were he, I would visit her When a pronoun is used as the object of a preposition or a verb, it should be in objective case. These assignments are for you and I. These assignments are for you and me. 17. If indefinite pronoun one is used, it should be used throughout the sentence. One must now dwell on his own past. One must not dwell on one s own past. 18. Emphatic pronouns are not used alone as subjects. Himself cleaned the room. He himself cleaned the room. 19. Neither and Either are used while referring to 2 persons or things. While speaking of more than 2 persons or things, Any, None, No one are used. (a) Anyone of these 2 dresses will look good on her. Either of these 2 dresses will look good on her. (b) Neither of the boys in the classroom submitted the assignment. None of the boys in the classroom submitted the assignment. 20. Each-Other are used while referring to 2 persons or things. One-Another ae used while referring to more than 2 persons or things. The twins hated one another. The twins hated each other. 21. When And is used to join two or more singular nouns, the pronoun used for them should be plural. Both Shreya and Riya have done her assignment. Both Shreya and Riya have done their assignment. Exception: When And is used to join two or more singular nouns, which refer to the same person, the pronoun used will be singular. The principal and secretary is good at their duty. The principal and secretary is good at his duty. (where principal and secretary refer to the same person). 22. When or, nor, either-or, neither-nor are used to join 2 or more singular nouns, the pronoun used for them should be singular. Neither Shreya nor Riya has done their assignment. Neither Shreya nor Riya has done her assignment. 23. In case 2 or more singular pronouns are used in a sentence for different persons, first, pronoun of second person (you) will be used, followed by pronoun of third person (he/she) and the pronoun of first person (I) will come at the end. He, I and You should go together. You, he and I should go together. 3 P a g e

4 24. In case 2 or more plural pronouns are used in a sentence for different persons, first, pronoun of first person (We) comes, followed by pronoun of second person (you) and at the end, pronoun of third person (they) should be used. They, we and you should go together. We, you and they should go together. 25. An objective case pronoun (me, him, her, us, them etc. ) is used after the words like Between, But, Let, Except while a subjective case pronoun (I, He, She etc) is used after Such as. Everyone marked the attendance sheet but I. Everyone marked the attendance sheet but me. He wanted to do the project with a person such as me. He wanted to do the project with a person such as I. Rules related to Adverb Usage 26. An adverb is used to modify a verb, adjective or another adverb. Shreya works very careful. Shreya works very carefully. 27. Too (which means more than required is usually used with unpleasant adjectives and hence is not used with pleasant adjectives. Like too happy is wrong. She was too glad to to join there. She was very glad to join there. 28. Use of Too Much and Much Too : An adjective (usually unpleasant) is used after Much too while a noun is used after Too much. Her depression is too much painful for him. Her depression is much too painful for him. 29. Use of Presently Vs. At present. Presently usually refers to shortly or soon, while At Present is used to refer to the present time. You can t do anything more presently. You can t do anything more at present. The doctor will be here at present. The doctor will be here presently. 30. Use of Hard Vs. Hardly. Hard as an adverb means with great or utmost effort or energy while Hardly is used to specify a minimal amount. It was raining hard all day. It hardly rained today. Rules related to Adjective Usage 31. Adjective Usage for Countable and Uncountable Noun: (a) Countable Nouns: Adjectives like Many, Few are used. (b) Uncountable Nouns: Adjectives like Much, Little are used. (c) Adjectives like Some, Any, Plenty of, A lot, Lots of, A little bit, Enough of, No have flexible usage and can be used for both Countable and Uncountable Nouns. She wasted so much water today. She had many drinks today. You have little reason to complain. She had few assignments today. 32. Last and Latter are used to describe the position. Later and Latest are used to describe time. He reached last than expected. He reached later than expected. 33. In order to denote quantity or degree, we use Any in case of interrogative sentences and Some in case of affirmative sentences. Riya read any books. Riya read some books. Did Riya read some book? Did Riya read any book? 34. For the comparison of 2 things, use of superlative degree is incorrect. Comparative degree should be used in this case. Superlative degree is used in case of comparison among more than 2 things. Which station is closest among the two? Which station is closer among the two? This is a better book out of all others. This is the best book out of all others. 35. While comparing 2 qualities of the same person, More is used instead of comparative er degree. Riya is braver than wise. Riya is more brave than wised. 4 P a g e

5 36. Adjectives like Unique, Universal, Extreme, Entire, Complete, Perfect etc are not used in comparative degree. This is a most unique book. This is a unique book. She has the most perfect smile. She has a perfect smile. 37. The degree of comparison should be same for all the adjectives referring to a particular noun in a sentence. She is the smartest and hard-working of the whole batch. She is the smartest and most hard-working student of the whole batch. 38. Use of Elder, Eldest Vs. Older, Oldest. Elder/ Eldest are used to refer to a person only and usually used to describe the relationships within a family. Older/ Oldest are used to describe persons as well as things. Riya is her elder sister. Riya is her older sister. This is the oldest house of the locality. (Here eldest can t be used). Rules related to Preposition Usage 39. After the preposition, objective case of noun or pronoun are used. I do not confide in she. I do not confide in her. 40. Before words like Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, the next day, the following day, we do not use the prepositions on, in, at etc. He will go there in the next day. He will go there the next day. Some easily confused words 41. Use of Among & Between It is common knowledge that between is used for two entities and among for more than 2 entities. However, Between can be used for more than 2 entities as well, when talking about distinct or individual items. Among is usually used when the talking about items/ individuals that aren t distinct. He has to choose between IIT-Bombay, IIT-Kanpur and IIT-Delhi. He has to choose among the top IIT colleges. In the first statement, distinct colleges are defined and hence, the use of between is correct. In the second statement, no particular college is defined and hence among is used. 42. Use of Will & Would One common difference is that Will is never used for past reference. Will is used for definite future actions, quick decisions, promises, offers and likely predictions. Would, on the other hand, is used to refer to requests, invitations, asking permission, talking about preferences and making arrangements. We will go tomorrow. Staying in a hotel would be expensive. 43. Use of Shall and Should Should is basically the past tense of Shall but the usage is very different. Should is used to denote probability, consequences & conditions, personal opinion, to ask someone s opinion etc. Shall is used to denote certain laws & rules, refer to things/ actions in future, express determination etc. Riya should have reached home by now. (Probability) Should you face any doubt, I ll help you. (consequences & conditions) You should study now. (Personal opinion) What should we read? (asking someone s opinion) Candidates shall assemble in hall 1. (laws & rules) He shall become the team leader next month. (future event) I shall overcome my fear of heights. (determination). 44. Use of Advice and Advise Advise is a verb form which means to give counsel. Advice, on the other hand, is a noun which means opinion or recommendation. I have a piece of advice for you. I advised him to leave tomorrow. Some special cases 45. In cases of nouns which are plural (such as "girls"), the possessive which is formed in writing by adding an apostrophe after the plural -s, is pronounced the same as the plural and the singular possessive form. The girls' bags [girls' sounds like girls] 5 P a g e

6 46. For singular nouns which end in -s, the possessive is formed by adding -'s, just as with other nouns. In these cases, pronunciation is as if the spelling were -es: The boss's phone. [boss's sounds like bosses] 47. Both many and many a convey the same meaning that is "a large number of". The only difference is that many is used with countable plural nouns followed by plural verb while many a is followed by a singular countable noun and takes a singular verb with it. Many a time, I have seen her pass by me. There were many papers scattered in the hall. 48. If the sentence doesn t need the clause that the word in question is connecting, use which. If it does, use that. Our school, which has three playgrounds is located in Delhi. Our school that has three playgrounds is located in Delhi. As per the first sentence, there is a single school with 3 playgrounds and it is located in Delhi. But as per the second statement, there can be a number of schools but the one with 3 playgrounds in located in Delhi. 49. Use of Witness to and Witness of Witness to is used to denote that "someone gave witness to something". On the other hand, witness of is used to express that "someone is a witness of something". We are the witness of the changing environment condition as a result of pollution. Witness to the accident say they saw the car hit the bike. 50. Use of Correspond to and Correspond with Correspond to is used to refer to things that are similar or analogous. Correspond with is used to denote in harmony or agreement. The joints of a horse correspond to human knees. The entire plan was revised to correspond with the official calendar of the school. *** 6 P a g e

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