Grammar

Uses of Must and Ought (to)

Uses of Must and Ought (to) Must remains unchanged whatever be the tense or the number and person of the subject. It can refer to the present or future. It can point to the past only when it is used with the present perfect tense of the principal verb. Compare: He must go home. (Future / present) He must have gone home. (Past) We must see the minister now. (Present) He must have seen the minister by now. (Past) You must file a writ petition.......

Uses of May and Migh Permission May is used to express permission. May not is used to deny permission. May I come in, sir? Yes, you may. May I go home now? No, you may not. Notes Now-a-days to deny permission we often use cannot instead of may not. This usage is probably encouraged by the fact that the contraction can’t is easier to say than the contraction mayn’t. Possibility May is also used to express possibility. It may rain. She may......

Uses of Can and Could Ability Can expresses ability. Cannot (can’t) shows inability. She can speak ten languages. I can’t cook. Can you speak Spanish? Sometimes can is used in the sense of may to give permission. You can go. OR You may go. You can take one of these shirts. OR You may take one of these shirts. Now-a-days can is also increasingly used to ask permission. Can I go? OR May I go? Could Could is the past tense of can. It......

Uses of Would Indirect speech Would is the past tense of will in indirect speech. Direct speech: John said, ‘I will wait until you return.’ Indirect speech: John said that he would wait until I return. Direct speech: The boy said, ‘I will not eat this cake.’ Indirect speech: The boy said that he would not eat that cake. Willingness and determination Would expresses ideas such as willingness or determination. He said that he would......

Uses of Should Indirect speech Should is the past tense of shall in indirect speech. The officer said, ‘The scoundrel shall be given a good beating.’ The officer said that the scoundrel should be given a good beating. Duty and obligation Should can be used with pronouns of all the three persons to talk about duty and obligation. We should help the poor and the needy. We should not lie. We should all work for the common good. You should......

Uses of shall and will With first person pronouns With first person pronouns shall simply expresses the strong possibility or near certainty of an action or event which is to take place in the future. We shall leave for Mumbai tomorrow. I shall invite them to dinner. With second and third person pronouns When used with second and third person pronouns shall may express a command. You shall not steal. He shall obey my instructions. You......

What are copular verbs? A copular verb is a special kind of verb used to join an adjective or noun complement to a subject. Common examples are: be (is, am, are, was, were), appear, seem, look, sound, smell, taste, feel, become and get. A copular verb expresses either that the subject and its complement denote the same thing or that the subject has the property denoted by its complement. For example in the sentence ‘Peter is my boyfriend’......

Verbs with two objects Many English verbs take two objects – one direct object and one indirect object. The direct object usually refers to an object. The indirect object usually refers to a person and comes first. He gave his daugther a camera for Christmas. (Indirect object – his daughter, direct object – camera) Could you lend me some money? (Indirect object – me, direct object – money) Let me get you a cup of coffee. (Indirect object......

Uses of anomalous finites – part II The anomalous finites are used to form inverted sentence patterns. I had no sooner got into the train than it steamed off. No sooner had I got into the train than it steamed off. To avoid repetition of principal verbs The anomalous finites are used in short answers to avoid the repetition of principal verbs. ‘Do you want this?’ ‘Yes, I do.’ (= Yes, I want that.’) ‘Can you hear me?’ ‘Yes, I can.’ (= Yes,......

Uses of anomalous finites Anomalous finites are the only verbs in modern English which can form their negatives by the simple addition of not. Compare: He will come. He will not come. He came. He did not come. (NOT He came not.) Can I do it? No, you can’t. Should I take it? No, you shouldn’t. He took the medicine. He did not take the medicine. (NOT He took not the medicine.) Anomalous finites are also the only verbs that can be used with......

Anomalous finites The term anomalous finites refers to the group of 24 finites given below: Is, am, are, was, were Has, have, had Do, does, did Will, would; shall, should; can, could; may, might; must, ought, need, dare, used As you can probably see, these are all auxiliary verbs. Some of them are also used as principal verbs. As auxiliaries their function is to help principal verbs to form their tenses and moods. As anomalous finites,......

Verb Patterns A transitive verb is one that has an object. The normal order of words in an English sentence is subject + verb + object. Alice likes sweets. (Subject – Alice, Verb – likes, Object – sweets) The principal punished the boy. (Subject – principal, Verb – punished, Object – boy) The monk burned himself. (Subject – monk, Verb – burned, Object – himself) Alice likes …what? Sweets The principal punished …whom? The boy The answer to......

What are verbs? Read the following sentences: Mother cooks dinner. Children play in the park. Barking dogs seldom bite. In the sentences given above, the words in bold text are used to say something about a person or a thing. They say what a person or a thing does. These words are called verbs. Now read the following sentences. We have two hands and two legs. She is a good girl. Here the verbs have and is show what a person has or is.......

Verbs and their properties Verbs are words like see, work, drink, sleep, wait, shoot and take off. Verbs are distinguished from other parts of speech by a number of properties. A verb can be marked for tense: I work (Present tense)/ I worked. (Past tense) She write. / She wrote. A verb can usually be preceded by an auxiliary verb. I have written. She has come. He is singing. It is working. You are wasting our time. A verb is the head of......

Common errors in the use of verbs Study the following sentences. Incorrect: She told to me an interesting story. Correct: She told me an interesting story. The verb tell is followed by an indirect object without to. Incorrect: She told that she wouldn’t come. Correct: She told me that she wouldn’t come. OR She said that she wouldn’t come. When used with a that-clause tell takes an indirect object, while say does not. Incorrect: I want......

Verbs with prepositions and particles Most English verbs can be followed by prepositions or adverb particles. Examples are: switch off, turn down, walk down, look at, stare at, sit down etc. Please sit down. Can you switch off the light? Why are you staring at me? I saw Alan as I was driving down the street. She ran into the room crying. John fell off the ladder and broke his arm. Some verbs and prepositions/particles are always used together.......

Irregular verbs English has many irregular verbs. Students should make sure that they know all of them. Here is a list of the more common irregular verbs. For a complete list of irregular verbs, see a good dictionary. Infinitive Simple past Past participle Arise Arose Arisen Awake Awoke Awoken Bet Bet, betted Bet, betted Beat Beat Beaten Become Became Become Begin Began Begun Bend Bent Bent Bind Bound Bound Bite Bit Bitten Bleed Bled Bled Blow Blew Blown Break Broke Broken Bring Brought Brought Build Built Built Burn Burned/burnt Burned/burnt Buy Bought Bought Catch Caught Caught Choose Chose Chosen Come Came Come Cost Cost Cost Cut Cut Cut Deal Dealt Dealt Dig Dug Dug Do Did Done Draw Drew Drawn Dream Dreamt/dreamed Dreamt/dreamed Drink Drank Drunk Drive Drove Driven Eat Ate Eaten Fall Fell Fallen Feed Fed Fed Fight Fought Fought Find Found Found Fly Flew Flown Forget Forgot Forgotten Forgive Forgave Forgiven Freeze Froze Frozen Get Got Got/gotten Give Gave Given Go Went Gone/been Grow Grew Grown Hang Hung Hung Have Had Had Hear Heard Heard Hide Hid Hidden Hit Hit Hit Hold Held Held Hurt Hurt Hurt Keep Kept Kept Know Knew Known Lay Laid Laid Lead Led Led Lean Leant/leaned Leant/leaned Learn Learnt/learned Learnt/learned Mean Meant Meant Read Read Read Ride Rode Ridden Shake Shook Shaken Sink Sank Sunk Speed Sped Sped Steal Stole Stolen Spoil Spoilt/spoiled Spoilt/spoiled Swing Swung Swung Teach Taught Taught Throw Threw Thrown Wear Wore Worn Write Wrote Written Please......

Verb + object + complement Some transitive verbs can be followed by an object together with an object complement which is usually an expression that gives more information about the object. They elected him their leader. (Object – him; object complement – their leader) You make me happy. (Object – me; object complement – happy) I found her attitude disgusting. (Object – her attitude; object complement – disgusting) After some verbs we use......

Be and have To talk about experiencing physical sensations like hunger, thirst, heat and cold, we use the structure be + adjective. Feel + adjective is also possible. Note that we do not usually use have + noun to express these ideas. I am hungry. (NOT I have hunger.) Are you thirsty? (NOT Do you have thirst?) Are you warm enough? I am sleepy. I am afraid. I feel hungry. I feel fine. I feel cold. Note also the expressions: Be right, be wrong......

Different kinds of phrasal verbs There are mainly four kinds of phrasal verbs. Here is a guide to the basics of phrasal verbs. Separable and non-separable phrasal verbs Phrasal verbs are made by putting adverb particles or prepositions after verbs. Phrasal verbs made with prepositions are usually non-separable. That means the verb and the preposition always go together. We set off for the beach. (NOT We set for the beach off.) He fell off......

Using want Infinitive with to After want, we normally use an infinitive with to. I want to go. (NOT I want go.) (NOT I want going.) I want to come back here again. She wants to be a pilot. Want cannot be followed by that-clauses, but we can use an object + infinitive structure. I want him to go now. Do you want me to make you some tea? (NOT Do you want that I make you some coffee?) I don’t want him to come here again. I want you to be my......

Verbs: some common mistakes Here is a list of errors students often make in the use of verbs. Incorrect: My father told me that honesty was the best policy. Correct: My father told me that honesty is the best policy. We usually use a past tense in the subordinate clause when the verb in the main clause is in the past tense. However, a past tense is unnecessary when the subordinate clause gives information that is always true. Incorrect:......

Word order: position of verbs Verbs usually go immediately after subjects. There are mainly two kinds of verbs: auxiliary verbs and main verbs. A verb can consist of just one word. Affirmative sentences in the simple present and simple past tenses have one-word verbs. John broke another window yesterday. Alice invited me to her party. He rejected the offer. Sentences in other tenses have verbs consisting of more than one word. Note that in......

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Phrasal verbs with pass A phrasal verb is a two-word idiomatic expression. It is made by putting a verb and a preposition or an adverb particle together. Pass is used in a number of common phrasal verbs. Here is a list of them. Pass around To pass something around is to give it to everyone present. She passed the notice around. Pass away To pass away is to die. She passed away peacefully last night. Pass by Pass by has several meanings a)......

Idioms and phrases with play A number of common idiomatic expressions use the word play. Here is a list of them. Play along To play along is to pretend that something is funny or good just to make someone else happy. I knew that she was playing a prank on me but I decided to play along. Play around To play around is to act in a silly manner. Play at = to do something just for fun He played at painting for a while, but he never really......

Phrasal verbs with take Take is used in a number of common phrasal verbs. Here is a simple exercise about phrases using the word take. Complete the following sentences. 1. The new manager is expected to take ………………………………….. on March 15th. a) on b) over ......

Uses of the verb do Read the following sentences in the simple present tense. I walk. I don’t drive. Do I walk? Yes, I do. Do I drive? No, I don’t drive. He speaks English. He does not speak French. Does he speak English? Yes, he does. Does he speak French? No, he doesn’t. I like coffee. I do not like tea. Do I like coffee? Yes, I do. Do I like tea? No, I don’t. Birds fly. Animals don’t fly. Do birds fly? Yes, they do. Do animals fly? No, they......

Not so common reporting verbs In informal spoken reports, say, think and ask are the most common reporting verbs. These verbs can go before sentences or between clauses. She asked me what I was doing there. He said that he wouldn’t go. I thought that it was funny. A much wider variety of reporting verbs are also available in English. If you repeat the reporting verbs say and think, your writing and speech will become boring after a while. The......

The future perfect tense The future perfect tense is used to describe an action that will have been completed at a certain point of time in the future. Consider this situation. You are working on a project and you will finish it in two months. Then at the end of two months, you will have completed that project. Note the form of the verb in used in this tense: will / shall + have + past participle form of the verb. The future perfect tense......

Copular verbs and action verbs In English, there are mainly two types of verbs: copular verbs and action verbs. Copular verbs are also called linking verbs because they link the subject with a following adjective or noun. The most common copular verb is be. It has several forms. Examples are: is, am, are, was, were, being, been etc. As you can see, being and been are the present and past participle forms of be. Copular verbs refer to states,......

Grammar

Uses of Must and Ought (to)

Uses of May and Might

Uses of Can and Could

Uses of Would

Uses of Should

Uses of shall and will

What are copular verbs?

Verbs with two objects

Uses of anomalous finites – part II

Uses of anomalous finites

Anomalous finites

Verb Patterns

What are verbs?

Verbs and their properties

Common errors in the use of verbs

Verbs with prepositions and particles

Irregular verbs

Verb + object + complement

Be and have

Different kinds of phrasal verbs

Using want

Verbs: some common mistakes

Word order: position of verbs

Privacy Policy

Phrasal verbs with pass

Idioms and phrases with play

Phrasal verbs with take

Uses of the verb do

Not so common reporting verbs

The future perfect tense

The future perfect tense

Copular verbs and action verbs

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