Thursday, 26 May 2011

Verb series - Short Answers

Special verbs as we have seen,have a very important role in the formation of questions and negatives.Another important function of these special verbs is their use in short answers.It is not usual to give full answers to questions in English.


 For Example:


If you are asked a question ,

##"Are you fond of ice-creams?" you should not say "Yes,I am fond of ice-creams" or
"No,I am not  fond of ice-creams". This type of answers would be very formal and unnatural.

##You should say,"Yes,I am" or "No,I am not".

The following is the most usual form of short answers to yes-no questions.

yes+pronoun+special verb or no+pronoun+special verb+n't


Examples:

1. Have you got pencil ?     {Yes,I have or No,I haven't}

2. Do you know Telugu ?   {Yes,I do or No,I don't}

3.Was the train late ?         {Yes,It was or No ,It wasn't}

   You must have noticed that the special verb which is used in the short answer is the same verb with which the question begins.If the subject of the question is a noun, its pronoun form is used in short answers.





Note: This article doesn’t covers the full scope of the above dealt topic. It is better  recommended for a basic understanding only.

Happy Reading !!! Leave your valuable comments and help me grow :)

NEXT ARTICLE : VERB SERIES 5

Source : Wren and Martins'  English Grammar and Composition., image source:Google.

Written by:
                                                                                                           

Saturday, 14 May 2011

Verb Series - Formation Of Questions

1Questions are of two kinds:
(a) yes-no questions.ie which can be answered by "Yes" or "No"
(b)questions which begin with who,whom,whose,which,what,where,when,how or why.(wh-questions).

Yes-no questions begin with a special verb.The special verb, which usually comes after the subject in statements is placed before the subject in Yes-no questions.

Example:

1.She is Anil's sister.____________ Is she Anil's sister?
2.He has gone._____________.Has he gone?

When there is no special verb, do/did/does is introduced
**.If the verb is in the Simple Present Tense, do is used except in the third person singular, where does is used.
**If the verb is in the Simple Past Tense , did is used.

Example:

1.I live here.__________________Do you live here?
2.He lives here.________________.Does he lives here?
3.They lived here._____________.Did they live here?

In wh-questions , as in yes-no questions, a special verb is put before the subject. But there is an exception.When the subject is who,what,where,which+ noun,  the position of the verb does not change;the verb is placed after the subject as in a statement.

Example:

1.Where is my bag?
2.What does he want?

One Example explained:(Form the question)
S.1 You met her where.
S.2 where you met her.
S.3 Where did you meet her.(met->did meet)
S.4 Where did you met her?(Question formed)

                                                                ******



Note: This article doesn’t covers the full scope of the above dealt topic. It is better  recommended for a basic understanding only.

Happy Reading !!! Leave your valuable comments and help me grow :)


Source : Wren and Martins'  English Grammar and Composition., image source:Google.

Written by:
                                                                                                           


Tuesday, 10 May 2011

Verb series - Formation of Negatives

I'm back to blogging again  :-) Wishing a sunny morning.From this post decided to give useful links(sites) on improving English Grammar on related topics. Let's see the next post in verb series.
                                If the verb in a sentence is one of the these special verbs, or if it contains one of them, the negative is formed by putting not(or n't) immediately after the special verbs;


Example:


1.He is there_____________He isn't there.
2.They are poor.__________They are not poor.


*If the verb is not one of these special verbs, or does not contain one, the negative is formed by putting not(or n't) between do,does,did and the base form of the verb.


*If the verb is in the Simple Present Tense, do is used in all persons except the third person singular, where does is used.


*If the verb is in the Simple Past,did is used.


Link for the day :http://www.suite101.com/content/how-to-form-a-negative-statement-in-the-present-tense-in-english-a366147




Note: This article doesn’t covers the full scope of the above dealt topic. It is better  recommended for a basic understanding only.

Happy Reading !!! Leave your valuable comments and help me grow :)


Source : Wren and Martins'  English Grammar and Composition., image source:Google.

Written by:
                                                                                                           




Saturday, 23 April 2011

Verb Series – Special Verbs


We’ve seen a basic introduction on verbs, yet there are more sections to be dealt on verbs as it plays a major role in any grammar. Today it is featured on SPECIAL VERBS. It gives an intro to special verbs.

Read the following:
1.      He isn’t reading.
2.      Can you swim?
3.      She has left, hasn’t she?

·         In sentence 1, the verb is combined with n’t.
·         In sentence 2, the verb can make a question form by coming before the subject.
·         In sentence 3, the verb has serves to make a question tag.

These verbs and few others behave in this way. They are called special verbs,* because they behave in a particular or special way. There are 24 such verbs.

List of special verbs:

am
has
can
do
is
had
could
does
are
will
may
did
was
would
might
need
were
shall
must
dare
have
should
ought to
used to
         
      As indicated above, these verbs have a very important in the formation of negatives, question and question tags. They are frequently used in short answers, addition to remarks, etc.
*special verbs are termed as ‘anomalous finites’,' modal verbs' , 'auxiliary verbs'.


Note: This article doesn’t covers the full scope of the above dealt parts of speech. It is better  recommended for a basic understanding only.

Happy Reading !!! Leave your valuable comments and help me grow :)


Source : Wren and Martins'  English Grammar and Composition., image source:Google.

Written by:
                                                                                                           

Thursday, 21 April 2011

BASIC GRAMMAR- 3.ARTICLES


I'm back after a long gap of 20 days and few hours :) Came across some good happenings and not so good happenings.Thank God we're safe. Attended two interviews and gained some new experiences.Hoping to post about those experiences too.Anyways CHEEERRRRRS for our historic world cup win:)))).And......back to blogging  again.My thoughts were much randomized I guess:-)
                                            ARTICLES ..here it goes.....The best part about ARTICLES is only 3 articles:) , but still more rules to be followed while using it actually !!! :)
ARTICLES: ‘A’ ,’an’ and ‘the’ are called articles. The is called the definite article and a(or an) the indefinite article.

I.    THE USE OF ‘AN’:

1.       ‘AN’ is used before a single noun which is pronounced with a vowel sound.
Examples:
An umbrella, an elephant, an animal.
2.       ‘An’ is used before a singular noun n which ‘h’ is silent.
Examples:
An honest man , an heir.
3.       It is used before a consonant in an abbreviation which begins with a vowel sound.
Example:
an M.A ., an M.L.A

II.  THE USE OF ‘A’:

1.       ‘A’ is used before a singular noun beginning with a constant sound.
Examples:
A good day , a doctor.
2.       It is used before a singular noun beginning with a vowel which has a ‘w’ constant sound.
Examples:
A one eyed man , a one man army.
3.       It is used before a singular noun beginning with a vowel which has a ‘y’ consonant sound.
Examples:
A university , A utensil etc.

III.THE USE OF ‘THE’:

1.    ' The' is used before a definite person.
Example:
The President , the prime minister, the secretary.
2.       It is used when the same noun is repeated for the second time.
Example:
There was an old man. The old man had a dog. The dog barked violently.
3.       It  is used before ranks.
Example: The first , The former
4.       It is used before superlative degrees.
Example:  the worst, the best.
5.       It is used before holy books.
Example: The Quran , The Bible.
6.       It is used before unique things.
Example:The Earth, The moon.
7.       It is used before the names of the rivers, seas, oceans, mountain ranges etc.
Example: The Alps , The Himalayas.
8.       It is used before the names of the countries consisting of the words like union,United Kingdom,Republic.
Example: The Union of India , The U.S.S.R
9.       It is used where a singular noun represents the whole class.
Examples:The  Cow is an useful animal.
10.   It is used when two comparatives are in a single sentence.
Example: the older we grow, the wiser we become.
11.   It is used before an adjective when the noun is understood.
Example:The rich are proud.
12.   It is used before a proper noun when it is used as a common noun.
Examples: Bombay is the Manchester of India.
13.   It is used before an abstract noun when the name of a particular person is given.
Example:The patience of J.P is adorable.
14.   It is used before the name of a person with its plural form representing the whole family.
Example: The Smiths.
15.   It is used before the names of shops, banks,hotels etc.
Example:The Rotary club.
16.   It is used before the names of ships and trains and aeroplanes.
Example:The Rawalpindi Express.
17.   It is used before the names of musical instruments.
Example:The Guitar.
18.   It is used before the types of forces.
Exammple: The Naval force, The Army force.
19.   It is used before stations.
Examples: The post office.
20.   It is used before a comparative degree used with ‘of the two’.
Example: Gita is the tailor of the two sisters.
   
Note: This article doesn’t covers the full scope of the above dealt parts of speech. It is better  recommended for a basic understanding only.

Happy Reading !!! Leave your valuable comments and help me grow :)




 Source : Wren and Martins'  English Grammar and Composition.,Career launcher;s Fundamentals of Grammar & RC, image source:Google.

Written by:
                                                                                                           

Wednesday, 30 March 2011

BASIC GRAMMAR- 2.PREPOSITIONS



The highly expected India Vs Pakistan match is all set to bring a cup of joy for the winners.Whoever wins Kudos for them. And whoever misses say a big ALLLL IZZZZZZZZZZ WELLLLLLLLLLL to them :)And our preposition article is done :)Here it goes..Prepositional usage is extremely difficult to master, yes. And it is the area where people get struck often. Is it so.? Don’t bother about that right now. Practice makes a man perfect :-) we’ll go for the session without any further delay. And the best of learning the use of prepositions is by careful, avid reading and constant practice.


Prepositions:




The following are the common prepositions in English.

About
Beneath
In front of
Since
Above
Beside
Into
till
Across
Besides
Near
Through
After
Between
Next to
To
Against
Beyond
Of
Towards
Along
Down
off
Under
Among
by
On
Underneath
Around
During
Onto
Until
At
Except
Opposite
Up
Before
For
Out of
Upon
Behind
From
Over
With
Below
In
Past
Without

However we remember the prepositions it’s purely dependent on the context or the situation. Now we’ll explore the usage of prepositions at various contexts.

Prepositions of place:

Follow two simple rules, that’s it:

We use at and in to say where something or somebody is.

Rule 1: at is used when we talk about a position or point.

Rule 2: in is used to talk about something big enough to be all around a person.

Example:

1.       We arrived in Bombay. (=in the city).
2.       We arrived at Bombay airport. (A particular position/point).

Prepositions of Time:

Again follow simple rules:
1.      On is used for days and dates.
Ex: Mary announced her arrival on coming Sunday. (Day)

2.   . In is used for months, seasons and years.
Ex: This year Diwali comes in October. (Month)

3.       In is also used for parts of the day.
Ex: I used to exercise in the morning. (Part of the day)

4.     At is used for points of time, mainly for (a) hours of the day (b) holiday periods.
Ex: Be here at six o ‘clock sharp. (Hour)

5.       By a point of time/in a period of time.
Ex: We must be there by three o’ clock. (Not later than that time).

6.       Since is used with a point of time.
Ex: He has been working here since 1988. (Year)

7.    For is used with a period of time, i.e. Length of time till now.
Ex: He has been working here for five years. (Period of time).

Prepositions of travel and movement:

 We use by + noun (without the or a/an) to talk about means of travel.

    Example:
1.       We get on/onto a bicycle/horse/camel.
2.       We get into a train/bus/car.
3.       We get off a train/car/bus.
                   
   Note: This article doesn't covers the full scope of the above dealt prepositions. It is better  recommended for a basic understanding only. To expertise, a lot to be practiced on those areas.

Happy Reading !!! Leave your valuable comments and help me grow :)

 Next Article : ARTICLES



Source : Wren and Martins'  English Grammar and Composition.
Written by