Grammar Rules Snapshot 301g35

BSE Functional English Grammar Rules Snapshot: Articles A / an - used for unspecified things, singular objects, to state something (an apple - some apple) A - to be used before words that begin with consonant Sounds - (eg. A shoe, A European, etc) An - to be used before words that begin with a vowel sound (eg - An MBA, An hour, An aunt, An Indian, etc.) The - used to identify a specific thing, unique objects, for plural objects, (The Quran, the Himalayas, The dog - not some dog but a specific one) Adjectives To be placed as close to the noun or pronoun as possible. Adverbs To be placed as close to the word they are describing as possible otherwise there can be confusion in the meaning (For eg - He asked me to marry him often. - Meaning He asked me to marry him many times - as in Serials where they marry one another again and again VERSUS He often asked me to marry him - Meaning - He requested on many occasions that I marry him) Subject - Verb Agreement Keep in mind that singular subject takes singular verb. (eg - He asks me. The student of Burhani College asks me. The students of Burhani College in Dockyard ask me.) Collective Nouns - eg Group etc. can be either singular or plural depending on usage. The group has arrived in Mumbai. The delegation group from Delhi and Chennai have arrived - as in part of the group is from Chennai and part from Delhi - hence plural verb used). Tense Use simple present or simple past or simple future as much as possible. Continuous tense is used for 3 reasons: 1) To emphasize the non-stop duration of the activity. 2) To express possibility of interruption or temporary nature of activity. 3) To indicate simultaneity of actions (He was travelling by bus when he received the call - While he continued travelling he also received a call.) Perfect Tense is used for 3 reasons: 1) To emphasize completion of action. 2) To indicate sequence of actions. 3) To indicate another action that follows. (I reached the station but the train had left.) Perfect Continuous tense is used: When we want to indicate one quality each of Perfect and Continuous tense. Conjunctions And, but, Because - avoid beginning your sentences with them Correlative conjunctions such as - not only...but also, either...or, neither...nor, between....and, scarcely....when etc. are always to be used in pairs. Interjections Alas, Hurray, etc are to be followed as closely with an exclamation mark. (eg. - Alas! He is dead) Parallel Constructions

BSE Functional English Try using similar structures in a sentence. If one action in a given sentence is in the present tense all other actions should be in the present tense as well. Prepositions Read the dictionary as much as possible to identify which prepositions can be used after which word. Given below are links and books that you could refer to as well. E- link for grammar guide website http://www.fortunecity.com/bally/durrus/153/gramtoc.html More links for grammar practice http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/resources/quizzes

Books: Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (any dictionary would do, but this one is preferable) Oxford Concise Edition is also a good choice but Advanced is better. Thesaurus - Roget's Thesaurus or Oxford Thesaurus - Strictly for vocab improvement Cambridge - Series English Grammar for Everday Use - Raymond Murphy or Grammar for Advanced Learners Webword - a free that acts as a dictionary cum thesaurus. If you buy the latest dictionaries, you generally get a CD with similar functions which will work equally well, if not better.

BSE Functional English US English Grammar Rules (1) Punctuation 1) Comma

2) 3) 4) 5)

Semi Colon Colon Hyphen Apostrophe

– before FANBOYS )In USA grammar only For (as in because), And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So (as in therefore) + brackets additional information – s 2 sentences – followed by list of ideas or s 2 sentences or part sentence. – Brackets additional information, Used in between 2 nouns – Possessive - (A boy’s book / All boys’ school // Jack’s / Harris’) - Contraction (Its {Its (dog’s) tail} versus it’s {it is raining / it has stopped raining})

(2) Pronoun Usage 1) Subject Pronouns – I/You/He, She, It/We/ You/They/ WHO – perform action 2) Object Pronouns – I/You/Him, Her, It/Us/You/Them/WHOM – are impacted by the action or are objects of prepositions 3) Who – Subject Pronoun Whom – Object Pronoun There may be a comma before these. Which – Things That – Specifies / Particularizes Noun or Pronoun it is referring to Follows Superlative (The best book that I have ever read) A comma never precedes ‘that’ 4) One is referred to in the same sentence by ONE; similarly, YOU by you etc. Each / every by his or her etc. (3) Subject – Verb Agreement 1) OR / NOR – Verb agrees with the subject closest to it. (Sarika or I am to visit her) 2) As well as – Verb agrees with the subject preceding the following linkers (as well as, including, accompanied by, with, together with, along with) (Jyothi as well as her mother is coming to the centre) 3) Each / Every – Verb Singular 4) All / Any / None / Collective Nouns – Verb can be singular or plural Exceptions – Police, vermin, poultry, cattle, gentry always Plural 5) 2 entities versus 1 entity – The bar and the restaurant are VERSUS The bar and restaurant is Fish and Chips / Bread and Butter is 6) Some / Most followed by Singular Noun – Singular Verb Followed by Plural Noun – Plural Verb 7) Majority / Minority – The majority is in favour of … (4) Modifiers Misplaced Modifier Organize ideas so that they are easy to follow and do not allow for ambiguity. the rule that modifiers should be placed close to what they are modifying. Eg. –  He wanted a suitcase that was light weight when he went shopping and yet was capacious.  When he went shopping, he wanted a suitcase that was light weight yet capacious. Dangling Modifier – Eg.

BSE Functional English  After finishing work, the TV was switched on  After finishing work, they switched on the TV (5) Parallelism And, Nor, Or – lists of similar ideas / structures Correlative Conjunctions either…or / neither…nor / between…and / from … to / scarcely… when / barely… when /hardly …when / not only…but also / no sooner ….than Comparisons Like ideas compared (6) Vocabulary / Diction ‘Like’ / ‘such as’ , ‘Less’ / ‘Few’, ‘If’ / ‘whether’, ‘hanged’ / ‘hung’, ‘better’ / ‘best’, Compared to / contrast with, ‘more perfect’, ‘that’ / ‘those’ Adjective / adverb – careful vs. carefully, the better best film of the two (7) Verbs – Voice and Tenses  Focus on the sequence of actions to know if the tense used must be changed  I reached the airport on time but the plane took off. (Parallel actions)  I reached the airport on time but the plane had taken off. (Sequence established)  Active Voice Preferred as it is shorter  Eg. Ram killed Ravan versus Ravan was killed by Ram  Hypothetical Conditionals – If I were rich, I would be generous.  Since (from… time till now)  Use present perfect or present perfect continuous aspect Aspect: Reasons to use Progressive / Continuous Aspect Emphasize nonstop duration of action Indicates possibility of interruption Indicates simultaneity of action Reasons to use Perfect Aspect: Emphasize completion of action Indicates sequence of action Indicates possibility of secondary action Reasons to use Perfect Continuous Aspect Amalgamation of effect of perfect and continuous aspects

(8) Avoid Ambiguity: Sentence should not lead to any misinterpretation. Generally, incorrect pronoun usage is the reason for ambiguity. Eg.  He and his brother asked their parents whether they would be leaving right away.  He and his brother asked their parents whether the parents would be leaving right away.  He and his brother asked their parents whether the brothers would be leaving right away. (9) Be Concise Avoid repetitions – and also, daily everyday No double negatives allowed Hardly never vs. Hardly ever

BSE Functional English

Common Errors General Pointers : 1. Pronouns - Those is plural and “That” is singular 2. Was is a singular noun whereas “were” is a plural noun 3. The word “Should” means moral obligation Subject / Verb 4. Subject and Verb – must agree in number (singular subject with singular verb and plural subject with plural verbs) and make logical sense together 5. Past participle – “ed” or”en” ; Present participle – “ing” 6. Main clauses (stand on own) ; subordinate clauses (attached to the main sentence) 7. Two singular subjects will become a plural subject and thus require a plural verb 8. Additive phrases do not modify the singular subject – they remain singular and require singular verbs 9. Exception – “Or”, “Either Or”, “Neither Nor” – noun nearest to the verb will make the verb singular or plural 10. If “Neither” / “Either” used singly without or / nor, then they remain singular subjects and require singular verbs 11. Collective Nouns ex. Army – take on singular verbs 12. Indefinite Pronouns ex. Anyone – singular verbs required EXCEPT SANAM PRONOUNS (Some, All, None, Any, More / Most – SANAM pronouns - the verb (singular or plural) depends on the noun object after the “of” word) 13. Each / Every – if a noun is preceded by Each / Every, then singular verb 14. Quantity Words & Phrases – “The number of” requires singular verb ; “A number of students” requires plural verb ; But if quantity phrase, then follow the SANAM rule 15. Subject Phrases and Clauses singular – “having good friends IS” a wonderful thing

Parallelism 1. Comparable sentence parts must be structurally and logically similar 2. The most important words in the sentence must be parallel to each other – ie. We do not generally have to make every word parallel but only the important words 3. Parallel markers – and, but, or – spot these markers and the parts of the sentence after the marker will have some parallel issues ; 4. Parallel clauses should start with the same word. However, in certain cases, some verbs like – was, can, to – these words count across all of the parallel elements 5. Parallelism assumes more importance over principle of concision 6. Idioms have built in parallel structures 7. Do not assume that all verbs and verbal forms in a sentence must be parallel – there should be actual parallelism instead of superficial parallelism. 8. Treat linking verbs as parallel markers as well – the two sides of a linking verb should be parallel in meaning Pronouns : 1. The antecedent of the pronoun must exist ; nouns used as adjectives cannot be antecedents of pronouns

BSE Functional English 2. Antecedent must make sense in place of the pronoun – therefore, the antecedent and the pronoun must make sense together 3. Every pronoun should refer to only ONE antecedent – NO AMBIGUITY 4. Antecedent and pronoun must agree in number ; 5. Third person pronouns - example “ITS” and “IT” is singular and “THEIR, THEM, THEY” are plural 6. “That” or “Those” should agree in number with the previous version 7. Do not be afraid of getting rid of pronouns and replacing them with generic synonyms to refer to nouns

Modifiers - adjectives and adverbs are one word modifiers - sentences might contain adj + adj + noun OR Adverb + adj + noun - these two phrases do not mean the same thing - go with meaning of the author - noun modifiers - a noun and it's modifier should touch each other - "the touch rule" - dangling modifiers - the modifier should refer to a noun - If the noun is not there we have a dangling modifier - insert a reasonable noun into the sentence to correct the same - modifiers cannot normally modify nouns in the possessive case - rephrase by replacing possessive noun with the actual noun - Do not use both the Possessive and the preposition “of” at the same time - who and whom pronouns should only modify people ; pronoun "that" cannot modify people - pronoun "which" must modify things only - pronoun "whose" can modify people or things - pronoun - "where" can only modify a physical place and not a "metophorical" place like a condition etc - pronoun "when" can be used to modify noun event or time - commas for non essential modifiers and no commas for essential modifiers - 'which' and commas for non essential modifiers and 'that' with no commas for essential modifiers - verb modifiers can generally be placed further away from what they modify in comparison with where noun modifiers can be placed - "which" can only refer to a noun preceding it and NEVER to entire clause - Subgroup modifiers – SOME OF WHICH WERE, SOME OF THEM, SOME (you can even use SANAM Pronouns here) Verb tense - simple past, present and future tense - progressive past, present and future tenses - try to keep verb tenses consistent in a sentence - past perfect tense and present perfect tense - present perfect = have / has + past participle ; it has one foot in the past and one in the future - it indicates continued action or continued effect of a completed action - use of "since" should be with present perfect - present perfect should be used in phrases containing the word "within"

BSE Functional English - past perfect form - it is the past of the past ; the word "had" + past participle - use this tense only if you need to clarify or emphasize a sequence of actions in the past ; if the earlier action doesnot need to have a direct bearing on the later action then use the simple past tense ! - important rule - use present + future tense OR past + conditional tense - Present participles do not necessarily indicate present tense. They indicate the same tense as the main verb

Verb mood - indicative mood to express facts - imperative moods to express commands - subjunctive mood is of two types - first type is the hypothetical subjunctive - used in unreal or unlikely conditions ; the word "were" is used here - if - then constructions - the words should and would should not be used in the "if" part of the sentence ; donot use the word "should" in the if... Then sentence - command subjunctive - is the second type of the subjunctive mood - it uses bossy verbs - bossy verb + THAT + subject + command subjunctive - if a sentence includes a demand, look either for an infinitive or for "that" followed by command subjunctive - active v/s. ive voice - in active voice - the subject is the doer of the action - in ive voice, the subject of a sentence has an action performed on it by someone or something else - transitive verbs can be used in the ive voice - ive voice is sometimes correct on the GMAT Comparisons - if you see words - like, unlike, as, than - check for comparisons - look for what the sentence is comparing - use the word "like" to compare two nouns, pronouns or noun phrases - Donot use "like" to compare two clauses - the word "as" can be used as either a preposition or conjunction ; you can use "as" to compare two clauses - comparisons must make sense - the two items being compared must be logically comparable - comparisons must follow the rules of "parallelism" learnt earlier - feel free to omit unnecessary words in the second part of the comparison - however sometimes it is also correct to include them ( use of helping verbs like be, do and have ) - comparative and superlative forms - when comparing two things use the comparative form and when comparing more than two things use the superlative form. - always use the word "than" with comparative forms - Do not use LIKE to introduce examples, instead use “Such as”

BSE Functional English

IDIOMS   

Go through Sneha’s idiom list Using your Ear – Spot – Extract – Replace method for idiom SC questions Some commonly used idioms : o ABILITY TO o ALLOWS maria TO WATCH ; ALLOWED TO WATCH ; ALLOWS FOR new construction o AS …. o AS … AS o AS …. SO (AS you practice, SO shall you play) o BEING (Being infected does not make you sick) ; The judges saw the horses BEING led to the stables o BECAUSE o BELIEVE o BOTH … AND (She was interested BOTH in plants AND in animals) ; She was interested in BOTH plans AND animals o BUT o CAN o COMPARED TO ; COMPARED WITH (no distinction – former is for similarities and the later is for emphasizing differences) o CONSIDER (VERY IMPORTANT) - I CONSIDER her a friend o DOUBT that o EITHER … OR o EXPECT (We EXPECT the price TO FALL) ; We EXPECT THAT the price WILL FALL o EXTENT – “Thumbs part up” is the EXTENT TO WHICH we enjoyed the film o FIND – The scientist FOUND THAT the reaction WAS unusual o FROM … TO – The price fell FROM 10 euros TO 3 euros ; The price fell TO 3 euros FROM 10 euros o IF … I can eat icecream, PROVIDED THAT my doctor approves o IN ORDER TO – She drank coffee IN ORDER TO STAY awake ; She drank coffee TO STAY awake o INDICATE – A Report INDICATES THAT unique bacteria LIVE on our skin o JUST AS … SO (same as AS … SO) o LIKE (Matt drives fast cars LIKE his sister’s) o LIKELY – IT IS LIKELY THAT my friend WILL EAT worms o NATIVE – The Kangaroo is NATIVE TO Australia ; My friend is A NATIVE OF Australia o NOT … BUT – A tomato is NOT a vegetable BUT a fruit o NOT ONLY … BUT ALSO – We wore NOT ONLY boots, BUT ALSO sandals ; We wore NOT JUST boots BUT ALSO sandals o NUMBER – A NUMBER of dogs are barking ; THE NUMBER OF dogs IS large o ONLY – Her performance is exceeded ONLY by theirs (the word ONLY modifies “by theirs”) – do not put ONLY before the verb ex. Exceeded o OR ; I do not want water OR milk o ORDER – The state ORDERS that the agency COLLECT taxes ; The state ORDERS the agency TO COLLECT taxes o PROHIBIT – The Law PROHIBITS any citizen FROM VOTING twice o REQUIRES – She REQUIRES OF her friend THAT work BE done o RESULT – The RESULT OF our work WAS THAT our wealth grew

BSE Functional English o o o o o o o o o o o o

SEEM – IT SEEMS AS IF this result DEMONSTRATES the new theory SHOULD – A car SHOULD BE TAKEN to the mechanic frequently SO … AS TO (Be wary of this idiom as earlier GMAT accepted it, but now is rejecting it) SO … THAT – The book was SO SHORT THAT I could read it in one night SO THAT – She gave money SO THAT the school could offer scholarships SO TOO – Bellbottoms ARE coming back in style, and SO TOO ARE vests SUCH AS – Matt drives fast cars, SUCH AS Ferraris ; Matt enjoys driving SUCH cars AS Ferraris ; Matt enjoys intense activities, SUCH AS DRIVING fast cars THAN – Sales are HIGHER this year THAN last year TWICE – Leaves fall TWICE AS quickly AS they grow ; Naomi’s income DOUBLED in three years UNLIKE – Unlike the spiny anteater, the aardvark is docile WHERE – Sussex is the only county WHERE pomegranates grow in this state ; This incident represents a case IN WHICH I would call the police WHOSE / WHOM – The officer WHOSE task was to be here did not show up ; The company WHOSE growth leads the industry is XYZ Inc.

Connecting words / Conjuctions    

Connecting words or conjunctions can link two clauses – for, nor, yet, so, and, but, or. These coordinating conjunctions together with a comma can link two main clauses to form a grammatical sentence. (look out for run on sentences) Subordinators are other kinds of connecting words – ex. Because, although. They can be used to attach subordinate clauses to the main clause in a sentence Be sure to choose a connector that logically fits in with a given sentence Conjunction “As” appears with a clause and is generally used for comparison

Punctuation Comma  

Do not use a comma before and to separate two verbs that have the same subject. Either eliminate the comma or add a subject to the second verb, creating a second main clause. Ex. Earl walked to school, AND HE later ate his lunch. A comma by itself cannot connect two complete sentences (main clauses)

Semi colon   

The semicolon connects two closely related statements – each statement must be able to stand alone as an independent sentence If you use a transition expression such as “therefore” in the second half of a sentence, make sure to use a semicolon Do not use a comma to connect two related main clauses, use a semi colon instead

Colon :  

What comes before the colon must be able to stand alone as a sentence. What comes after the colon does not have to be able to stand alone Use a colon to explain something further. Make sure that the part in front of the colon can stand-alone.

BSE Functional English 

Whatever needs explanation, should be placed as close to the colon as possible

Dash 

It is a flexible punctuation mark – you should use dashes to separate an appositive from an item in a list

Quantity words Rule 1 - Words used for countable things (ex. Hats) V/s. words used for uncountable things (patience) 

Use the counting test to determine whether a particular item is countable or uncountable

Countable Modifiers

Uncountable Modifiers

MANY hats

MUCH patience

FEW hats

LITTLE patience

NUMBER of hats

AMOUNT of patience

NUMEROUS hats

GREAT patience

  

The words - More, most, enough and all – work with both countable and uncountable nouns. DONOT USE the word LESS with countable items ; instead use the word FEWER EXCEPTION - BE CAREFUL WITH UNIT NOUNS SUCH AS DOLLARS AND GALLONS. BY THEIR NATURE, UNIT NOUNS ARE COUNTABLE. HOWEVER, SINCE THEY REPRESENT UNCOUNTABLE QUANTITIES LIKE MONEY, VOLUME, we use the word LESS than instead of FEWER THAN.

Ex. “Amount is used for uncountable quantities. “Fines” are countable, and so “number” should be used.



Rule 2 - Between V/s. Among 

Use BETWEEN to relate two things. Among to relate more than two things

Rule 3 – The Number, Number Of V/s. A Number or The Numbers Of   

The number of – is singular ; A number of – is plural The expression “The numbers of” is almost always incorrect ; Stick to the expression “The number of” However, the word “numbers” are possible in a few contexts ; If you wish to make a comparison with this word, then use GREATER than instead of “more than”

BSE Functional English Rule 4 – Increase / Decrease V/s. Greater / Less 

Increase & Decrease express the change of one thing over time ; However, Greater and Less signal a comparison between two things

CONCISION   

            

Concept of VAN – A verb is better than an Adjective or Adverb ; Adverby / Adjective better than Noun ; Verb > Adjective > Noun Pattern 1 – Prefer a verb to an action noun - Her Decision was to go (bad) ; She decided to go (better) Pattern 2 – Prefer a That clause with verbs to a series of Phrases (with Nouns) ; The hypothesis ABOUT THE COMPOSITION OF the universe AS largely dark energy seems strange (bad) ; The hypothesis THAT the universe IS largely COMPOSED OF dark energy seems strange Pattern 3 – Prefer a verb to an adjective ; The artist WAS INFLUENTIAL TO the movement (bad) ; The artist INFLUENCED the movement Pattern 4 – Prefer an Adjective to a noun ; THERE IS AN ABUNDANCE OF funds for school construction (bad) ; Funds for school construction ARE ABUNDANT (good) Pattern 5 – prefer an adverb to a prepositional phrase ; Oil prices have fallen, but prices at the gasoline pump have not fallen TO A COMPARABLE EXTENT (bad) ; Oil prices have fallen, but prices at the gasoline pump have not fallen COMPARABLY (better) Pattern 6 – Prefer an Adjective to an Adjective Clause with Be – Marcos is a professor WHO IS IRABLE (bad) ; Marcos is an IRABLE professor Pattern 7 – Remove IT IS …. THAT ; IT IS without fear THAT children should play (bad) ; Children should play without fear Don’t make it too short – keep the prepositional phrase if you need to ; I talked to the Boston Soldier (bad) ; I talked to the soldier FROM BOSTON (better) If the prepositional phrase involves “of”, then you can make it concise by putting the adjective before the noun ; Else, stick to the long form (as given in the soldier example above) Keep the prepositional phrase even incase “of” phrases that involve time period, quantity or other measurements – avoid using possessive case Keep “that of” or “those of” if you need to ; The face I see in ads every day is a famous actor (wrong) ; The face I see in ads every day is THAT OF a famous actor (correct) Keep the word THAT after a reporting VERB (examples of reporting verbs indicate, claim, contend, report) ; Exception to this is the word “say” - The winter was so cold that people SAID polar bears would shiver. Concrete Nouns V/s Action Nouns – avoid making concrete and action nouns parallel with each other Simple Gerunds Phrases V/s. Complex Gerund Phrases – Never make simple gerund phrases parallel with complex gerund phrases ; I enjoyed drinking the water AND the wine tasting (wrong) ; I enjoyed drinking the water AND tasting the wine In any list of action nouns, always chose the complex gerund phrase (that comprises of the articles and the word Of) over the simple gerund phrase