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Brush up Your Essentials of Competitive English

Mahesh Pareek Jyoti Pareek

Brush up Your Essentials of Competitive English Content : Amar Ujala Education Books Authors’ Panel Contribution Mahesh Pareek, Jyoti Pareek Š Amar Ujala Publications Ltd. Published by Amar Ujala Publications Ltd. and printed at C-21, Sector 59, Noida - 201301 (U.P.) Edition : 2016 Price : ` 200/ISBN : 978-93-82948-21-6 Due care and diligence has been taken while publishing this book.

However, the publisher does not hold any responsibility for any mistake that may have inadvertently crept in. The publisher does not accept responsibility for any loss arising out of the use of this book.

All rights reserved. Neither this publication nor any part of it may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Noida only.

Preface Aspirants of different competitive examinations want to use English simply to perform better in their examination. They need to know more than the fundamental grammar structures normally taught in academic classes.

They want to avoid misunderstandings and pitfalls while they are solving problems in a time-bound ambiance.

They look for pragmatic grammatical descriptions to come to a sure as shooting conclusion. In fact they are in search for a stuff that appears in these examinations.

The concept, pattern, format and content of this book are solely envisioned to meet the cognitive criteria of the readers and enable them to do all that observed above.

The concept is formulated and articulated in a way that brings forth alternative structures which is just what a grammar adapted for competitive examinations should manifest.

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Brush up Your Essentials of Competitive English

Contents 1.

Plurals

7

2.

Countable and Uncountable Nouns

13

3.

Concord

16

4.

Determiners

21

5.

Pronouns

47

6.

Adjectives

61

7.

Adverbs

106

8.

Prepositions

131

9.

Conjunctions

162

10.

Simple, Compound and Complex Sentences

174

11.

Tenses

177

12.

The Sequence of Tenses

210

13.

Modal Verbs

214

14.

The Subjunctive

225

15.

Question Tags, Short Answers and Ellipsis

241

16.

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

246

17.

Non-Finite Verbs

251

18.

The Passive Voice

256

19.

Direct and Indirect Speech

260

20.

Spelling

268

21.

Phrasal Verbs

279

22.

Appropriate Words

309

23.

Idioms and Phrases

348

24.

Proverbs

380

25.

Antonyms

385

26.

Review Exercises

402

27.

Irregular verbs

463 6

Brush up Your Essentials of Competitive English

Plurals

1.

For nouns ending in ch, s, sh, x or z, the plural is formed by adding -es. The reason for this is that these words would be difficult to pronounce if only s were added. For example: Singular Plural branch branches bus buses pass passes dish dishes There is one exception to this rule. If the -ch ending is pronounced with a k sound, add -s rather than -es: Singular Plural stomach stomachs epoch epochs

2.

Nouns ending in y preceded by a consonant usually form the plural by changing the y to i and adding -es. For example: Singular Plural candy candies story stories

3.

Nouns ending in y preceded by a vowel usually form the plural simply by adding -s. For example: 7

Brush up Your Essentials of Competitive English

Singular boy day

Plural boys days

4.

Some English nouns ending in f form the plural by changing the f to v and adding -es and the nouns ending in fe form the plural by changing the f to v and adding -s. For example: Singular Plural calf calves elf elves half halves leaf leaves loaf loaves self selves sheaf sheaves shelf shelves thief thieves wolf wolves knife knives life lives wife wives There are also a few nouns ending in f which can form the plural in two different ways. For example: Singular Plural hoof hoofs or hooves scarf scarfs or scarves staff staffs or staves wharf wharfs or wharves Most other nouns ending in f or fe form the plural simply by adding -s.

5.

Some English nouns ending in o form the plural by adding -s, some form the plural by adding -es, and some can form the plural by adding either -s or -es.

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Brush up Your Essentials of Competitive English

The following fairly commonly used nouns form the plural by adding -es: Singular Plural archipelago archipelagoes cargo cargoes echo echoes hero heroes innuendo innuendoes mosquito mosquitoes potato potatoes tomato tomatoes tornado tornadoes torpedo torpedoes veto vetoes volcano volcanoes Most other nouns ending in o, particularly those of Spanish or Italian origin, can form the plural simply by adding -s. For example: Singular Plural albino albinos alto altos casino casinos piano pianos radio radios ratio ratios silo silos solo solos sombrero sombreros soprano sopranos studio studios 6.

Many words from other languages have been adopted into the English language. Most of these form the plural by adding -s or -es, but some, particularly Greek and Latin words used for 9

Brush up Your Essentials of Competitive English

scientific purposes, form the plural in the same way that they do in the original language. For example: Singular Plural analysis analyses axis axes basis bases crisis crises criterion criteria honorarium honoraria hypothesis hypotheses medium media nebula nebulae nucleus nuclei oasis oases parenthesis parentheses phenomenon phenomena spectrum spectra stimulus stimuli stratum strata synopsis synopses synthesis syntheses thesis theses vertebra vertebrae 7.

In the case of nouns formed from two or more words joined by hyphens, usually only the last word forms a plural.

However, there are a few cases in which only the first word forms a plural. For example: Singular Plural brother-in-law brothers-in-law daughter-in-law daughters-in-law father-in-law fathers-in-law mother-in-law mothers-in-law

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Brush up Your Essentials of Competitive English

runner-up sister-in-law son-in-law

runners-up sisters-in-law sons-in-law

8.

There are still a few words surviving from Old English, which do not use -s to form the plural. For example: Singular Plural child children foot feet goose geese tooth teeth louse lice mouse mice ox oxen man men woman women policeman policemen

9.

A few nouns do not change in the plural. For example: Singular Plural deer deer sheep sheep salmon salmon

10. Some English nouns are usually used only in the plural. Such nouns take a plural verb, and generally have a plural form: alms annals chattels goods measles thanks tidings The following nouns, which all refer to objects with two parts, are usually used only in the plural: 11

Brush up Your Essentials of Competitive English

jeans pliers spectacles shorts

pajamas scissors stockings trousers

If it is desired to refer to such objects individually, the expression pair of is often used: a pair of jeans a pair of pajamas a pair of pliers a pair of scissors 11.

Uncountable nouns can be used to refer to individual things by being preceded by a countable noun and the word of and may, of course, be put into the plural. two pieces of information three grains of wheat four glasses of milk five patches of sunlight

12. Proper, material and abstract nouns have no plural except when they are used as common nouns. When such nouns are used in the plural, they become common nouns with changed meaning: coppers = copper coins irons = fetters tins = cans made of tin woods = forest

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