8th Class English Grammar (All Topics) Grammar (All topics)

Grammar (All topics)

Category : 8th Class

Grammar (All topics)

? Noun

? Pronoun

? Verb

? Adverb

? Conjuction

? Tense

? Voice

? Narration

? Modals

? Clauses

? Determiners

Noun

A noun is a word used as the names of a person, place, animal or thing.

1. Common Noun

2. Proper Noun

3. Abstract Noun

4. Collective Noun

1. Common Noun:

A common noun is a name given in common to every person or thing of the same class or kind.

2. Proper Noun:

A proper noun is the name of some particular person or place.

3. Abstract Noun:

An abstract noun is usually the name of a quality, action or state considered apart from the object to which it belongs, such as

quality- goodness, darkness, honesty, bravery

action- theft, movement, hatred

state- boyhood, slavery, death, poverty

4. Collective Noun

A collective noun is the name of a number (or collection) of persons, animal or things taken together and spoken of as one whole, such as crowd, team, jury, family, parliament, committee etc.

Look at the following sentences.

(i) Calcutta is a town.

(ii) India is a country.

(iii) Ashoka was a wise king.

· ?Calcutta? is a proper noun, while ?town? is a common noun

· ?India is a proper noun, while ?country? is a common noun.

· In the third sentence, the noun ?Ashoka? refers to a particular king, so we call ?Ashoka? a proper noun and king a common noun.

· Another classification of nouns is whether they are ?countable? or ?uncountable?.

· Countable nouns are the names of objects, people, animals and things, etc that we can count. For example: apple, girl, copy, pen, doctor

· Uncountable nouns are the names of things which we cannot count.

For example: milk, oil, honesty, silver, sugar, rice

· Countable noun have plural forms while uncountable noun do not.

For example: we say ?apples? but we don?t say ?oils?.

Pronoun

Definition: A word that is used instead of a noun is called a pronoun.

Read the following sentences:

1. I am young.

2. We are young.

3. You are young.

4. They are young.

5. He/she/it is young.

I, we, you, he, she, it they are called personal pronoun because they stand for the there persons.

Forms of the Personal Pronouns: The following are the different forms of the personal pronoun:

First Person (Masculine or Feminine)

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	I	we
Possessive	my, mine	our, ours
Accusative	me	us

Second Person (Masculine or Feminine)

	Singular/Plural
Nominative	You
Possessive	Your, yours
Accusative	You

Third Person (Singular)

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	All
Genders
Nominative	he	she	it	they
Possessive	his	her, hers	its	their, theirs
Accusative	him	her	it	them

The pronoun of the third person has three genders:

Masculine: he

Feminine: she

Neuter: it

Since a personal pronoun is used instead of a noun, it must be of the same number, gender and person as the noun for which it stands. For example:

1. Matthew is a kind boy. He has lent his bicycle to Bruce.

2. Those beggars are idle. They refuse to work for their living.

KINDS OF PRONOUNS

1. Reflexive Pronouns

When ?-self? is added to my, your, him, her, it and ?-selves? to our, your, them, we get what are called compound personal pronouns.

They are called reflexive pronouns when the action done by the subject turns back upon the subject. For example:

1. I hurt myself.

We hurt ourselves.

2. You will hurt yourself.

You will hurt yourselves.

The word ?self? is sometimes used as a noun. For example:

1. He thinks much of self.

2. Emphatic Pronouns

The compound personal pronoun are used for the sake of emphasis and are, therefore, called emphatic pronouns.

For example:

1. He himself said so.

2. They themselves admitted their guilt.

3. We saw the Prime Minister himself.

4. I myself saw him do it.

3. Demonstrative Pronoun

The pronouns in italics are used to point out the object to which they refer and are, therefore, called demonstrative pronouns.

For example:

1. These are merely excuses.

2. That is the Red fort.

3. The stronger is welcomed as such.

4. Make haste, that?s a good boy.

4. Indefinite Pronoun

All these pronouns in italics refer to persons or things in a general way. but do not refer to any person or thing in particular. They are called indefinite pronouns.

For example:

1. One must not praise one?s self.

2. None of his poems are well known.

3. All were drowned.

4. Few escaped unhurt.

5. Distributive Pronouns

Each, either, neither are called distributive pronouns because they refer to persons or thing one at a time.

For example:

1. Either of you can go.

2. Each took it in the turn.

3. Neither of the accusations is true.

6. Relative Pronouns

A relative pronoun is used to connect a clause/phrase to a noun or pronoun.

Read the following sentences:

1. I met Johnson. Johnson had just returned.

2. Here is the book. You lent me the book.

Let us now combine each of the above pairs into one sentences:

1. I met Johnson who had just returned

2. Here is the book that you lent me.

The word ?who? is used instead of the noun ?Johnson?.

The word ?that? is used instead of the noun ?book?.

Verb

A verb is a word that tells or asserts something about a person or thing.

A verb can tell us:

1. What a person or thing does. For example:

Jacques laughs.

The clock strikes.

2. What is done to a person or thing. For example:

Rewe is scolded.

The door is broken.

3. What a person or thing is. For example:

The rat is dead.

I feel sorry.

There are two types of verbs:

1. Transitive verb: A transitive verb is a verb that denotes an action which passes over from the doer or subject to an object.

For example: The girl kicks the ball.

2. Intransitive verb: An intransitive verb is a verb that denotes an action which does not pass over to an object, or which expresses a state or being. For example:

He jumped from a long distance. (Action)

The baby sleeps. (State)

There is a flaw in this diamond. (Being)

Most verbs can be used as both transitive and intransitive verbs.

Used Transitively Used Intransitively

1. He spoke the truth. He spoke haughtily

2. Ring the bell, John. The bell rang loudly

Examples of some verbs: - come, go, fall, die, denote actions which can't be done to anything, they can never be used transitively

When an intransitive verb is used in a causative sense it becomes transitive.

For example:

Intransitive - The horse walks.

Transitive - He walks the horse.

Some intransitive verbs may become transitive by having a preposition added to them. For example:

Please look into (= investigate) the matter carefully.

There are a few transitive verbs which are sometimes used as intransitive verbs.

For example:

Transitive: Open all the windows.

Intransitive: The show opens at six o'clock.

Adverb

Adverb: An adverb is a word which modifies the meaning of a verb, an adjective or another adverb.

For example:

1. Harry runs quickly.

2. This is a very sweet mango.

3. Matthew reads quite clearly.

Kinds of Adverbs

Adverbs may be divided into the following classes, according to their meaning.

1. Adverbs of Time (which show when):

(a) I have heard this before.

(b) That day he arrived late.

(d) I hurt my knee yesterday.

(d) None of these

2. Adverbs of Frequency (which show how often):

(a) I have told you twice.

(b) He seldom comes here.

(d) The postman called again.

(d) None of these

3. Adverb of Places (which show where):

(a) Stand here.

(b) My brother is out.

(d) Come in.

(d) None of these

4. Adverbs of Manner (which show how or in what manner):

(a) John read clearly.

(b) The boy work hard.

(d) You should not do so.

(d) None of these

5. Adverbs of Degree or Quantity (which show how much or in what degree or to what extent):

(a) He was too careless.

(b) The day is very stormy.

(d) You are partly right.

(d) None of these

6. Adverbs of Affirmation and Negation:

(a) Surely you are mistaken.

(b) I do no know him.

7. Adverbs of Reason:

(a) He, is hence, unable to play football.

(b) He, therefore, left school.

Some of the above adverbs may belong to more than one class.

(a)	She sings delightfully.	(Adverb of Manner)
(b)	The weather is delightfully cool.	(Adverb of Degree)
(c)	Don?t go far.	(Adverb of Place)
(d)	He is far better now.	(Adverb of Degree)

When adverbs are used to ask questions they are called interrogative adverbs.

(i) Where is John?

(ii) Why are you late?

(iii) How high is Rajabai Tower?

(iv) When did you come?

Preposition

A preposition is a word placed before a noun or a pronoun to show in what relation the person or thing denoted by it stands in regard to something else.

For example:

(i) There is a cow in the field.

(ii) He is fond of tea.

Where the object is the relative pronoun the preposition is always placed at the end.

For example:

(i) Here is the watch that you asked for.

Sometimes the object is placed first for the sake of emphasis. For example

This I insist on, he is known all the world over.

The prepositions for, from, in, on are often omitted before nouns of place or time. For example:

(i) We did it last week.

(ii) I can?t walk a yard.

(iii) Wait a minute.

Kinds of Prepositions

1. Simple preposition

2. Compound preposition

3. Phrase preposition

1. Simple Preposition:

at, by, on, of, for, from, out, through, till, to, up, with

2. Compound Preposition:

These are generally formed by pre-fixing a preposition to a noun an adjective or an adverb. For example: about, above, between, inside, outside, behind, across, along, before, around, within, without

3. Phrase Preposition:

according to,	in accordance,	in place of,
away from,	in case of,	inspite of,
because of,	in comparison to,	instead of,
by way of,	in front of,	with an eye to,
for the sake of,	in order to,	with regard to,
along with,	in (on) behalf to,	in regard to,
by	in course of,	owing to,
	in consequence of,	on account of

Conjunction

A conjunction is a word which merely joins together sentences and words.

For example:

(i) Two and two make four

Conjunctions join together sentences and often make them more compact.

?Lee and Johnson are good bowlers?, is a short way of saying "Lee is a good bowler and Johnson is a good bowler.?

Conjunctions must be carefully distinguished from relative, pronouns, relative adverbs and prepositions, which are also connecting words-

(a)	Take this and give that.	(Conjuction)
(b)	This is the place where he was shot	(Relative adverb)
(c)	This is the house that jack built.	(Relative pronoun)

Some conjunctions are used in pairs. For example: Either-or, neither-nor, both-and, whether-or, not only-but also

For example:

(i) Either take it or leave it.

(ii) It is neither useful nor ornamental.

(iii) We both love and respect him.

(iv) I don't care whether you go or stay.

(v) Not only is he foolish, but also obstinate.

When conjunctions are used as correlatives, the words can be connected as:

(i) He visited not only Agra, but also Delhi.

(ii) He not only visited Agra, but also Delhi.

Tense

There are three types of Tenses:

1. Present Tense: A verb that refers to present time is said to be in the present tense.

For example:

I write.

I love.

2. Past Tense: A verb that refers to past time is said to be in the past tense.

For example:

I wrote.

I loved.

3. Future Tense: A verb that refers to future time is said to be in the future tense.

For example:

I shall write

I shall love.

The tense of a verb shows the time of an action or event.

Table of Tenses of the Verb ?Write?

Tense	Indefinite	Continous	Perfect	Perfect continous
Presetn	I write	I am writing	I have written	I have been writing
Past	I wrote	I was writing	I had written	I had been writing
Future	I shall write	I shall be writing	I shall have written	I shall have been writing

The uses of the Present and Past Tense:

The Present Tense

1. Simple Present Tense: The simple present is used to express what is actually taking place at the present moment.

Sentence	Subject: I, we you, they (Plural)	He, she, it (Singular)
Statement	Ist form of verb	Ist form of verb + s / es
Negative	do not + Ist form	does not + Ist form
Interrogative	Do \[\to \] subject \[\to \] Ist form \[\to \] ?	Does \[\to \] subject \[\to \] Ist form \[\to \] ?

2. Present Continous Tense: It denotes action that is going on at the time of speaking.

Statement: is / are / am + Ist form + ing	(i)	Am is used with I
Negative: is / am / are not + Ist form + ing	(ii)	Are is used with we, you, they
Interrogative: is / am / are + ing ________?	(iii)	?Is?, is used with he, she, it

3. Present Perfect Tense: It denotes action that has just been completed.

Statement: has / have + IIIrd form	I, we, you, they
Negative: has / have not + IIIrd form	?Has? is used with he, she, it.
Interrogative: has / have + subject + IIIrd form	?Is? is used with he, she, it.

4. Present Perfect Continuos: It indicates an action that began in the past and is still going on.

Statement:	has / have been + Ist form + ing
Negative:	has / have not been + Ist form + ing
Interrogative:	has / have + subject been + Ist from + ing

The Past Tense

1. Past Tense: Past tense is used to indicate an action completed in past.

Statement: IInd form of verb

Negative: Did not + IIIrd form

Interrogative: Did + subject + Ist form

2. Past Continuous Tense: The past continuous tense used to denote an action going on at some time in the past.

Statement: was / were + Ist form + ing	was is used with I, he, she, it and (s) noun
Negative: was / were not + Ist form + ing	were is used with we, you, they, (p) noun
Interrogative: was / were + subject + Ist form + ing

3. Past Perfect Tense: The past perfect tense describe an action completed before a certain moment in the past.

Statement: had + IIIrd form

Negative: had not + IIIrd form

Interrogative: had + subject + IIIrd form

4. Past Perfect Continuous: The past perfect continuous tense is used for an action that began before a certain point in the past and continued up to the time.

Statement:

had been + Ist form + ing

since / for

Negative:

had not been + Ist form + ing

Interrogative:

had + subject + been + Ist form + ing

The Future Tense

1. Future Tense: The simple future tense is used to talk about things which we can?t control. It expresses the future as fact.

Statement: will / shall + Ist form

Negative: will / shall + not + Ist form

Interrogative: will / shall + subject + Ist form

2. Future Continuous Tense: We used the future continuous tense to talk about action which will be in progress at a time in the future.

Statement: will / shall + be + Ist form + ing

Negative: will / shall + not be + Ist form + ing

Interrogative: will / shall + subject + be + Ist form

3. Future Perfect Tense: The future perfect tense is used to talk about actions that will be completed by a certain future time.

Statement: will / shall + have + IIIrd form

Negative: will / shall + not have + IIIrd form

Interrogative: will / shall + subject + have + IIIrd form + ?

4. Future Perfect Continuous: The future perfect continuous tense is used for actions which will be in progress over a period of time that will end in the future.

Statement:

will / shall + have been + Ist rom + ing

since / for

Negative:

will / shall + not have been + Ist form + ing

Interrogative:

will / shall + subject + have been + Ist form + ing

Voice

Active and Passive Voice

1. Active Voice:

When the subject of a verb also performs the action named in the verb, the verb is said to in the active voice. For example:

Ram helps Hari.

2. Passive Voice:

When the subject of a verb receives the action named the verb, the is said to be in the passive voice. For example:

Harry is helped by Matthew.

It will be noticed that when the verb is changed from the active to the passive voice, the object of the transitive verb in the active voice becomes the subject of the verb in the passive voice.

Active voice- Sharon loves Angelina.

Passive voice- Angelina is loved by Sharon.

The active voice is used when the agent is to be made prominent. the passive voice is used when the person or thing acted upon is to be made prominent. The passive voice is, therefore, generally preferred when the active form would involve the use of indefinite pronoun (somebody, they, people, we, etc.)

The passive voice is formed with the suitable tense of the verb be followed by the past particle-

Study this table:

Tense + base	Active voice	Passive voice
Simple Present	take, takes	am taken is taken are taken
Present Continuous	am taking are taking is taking	am being taken is being taken are being taken
Present Perfect	has taken have taken	has been taken have been taken
Simple Past	took	was taken were taken
Past Continuous	was taking were taking	was being taken were being taken
Past Perfect	had taken	had been taken
Simple Future	will take shall take	will be taken shall be taken
am / may / must etc. + base	can take must take	can be taken must be taken

Modals

Auxiliaries that express the mode of action denoted by the main verbs are called modals. Main modals are: have to, has to, had to, shall, will, should, would, can, could, may, might, must, need, ought to, used to

Uses of Modals

1. ?Have to?, ?Has to?:

?Have to? is used with the infinitive to indicate obligation.

For example:

(a) I have to be there by 5 o? clock.

(b) I have to finish my home-task by 4 pm.

?Has to? is used with he, she, it or singular noun.

For example:

(a) The patient has to see the doctor.

(b) He has to move the furniture himself.

?Had to? is used with I, you, they, he, she, it (singular and plural noun both).

For example:

(a) I had to milk the cow yesterday.

(b) He had to go there.

2. ?Shall?, ?Will?:

?Shall? is used in the Ist person and ?will? in all persons to express future.

For example:

(a) I shall see him tomorrow.

(b) She will be sixteen next month.

(d) You shall get a watch if you stand first.

3. ?Should?, ?Would?:

?Should? is used in all persons to express on duty or obligation.

For example:

(a) We should help the poor.

(b) You should obey your elders.

?Would? is used as the past equivalent of will. For example:

(a) He said he would be 25 next birthday.

(b) In winter, he would study late at night.

4. ?Can?, ?Could?:

?Can? usually expresses ability capacity and permission.

For example:

(a) He can work this sum.

(b) You can go now.

?Could? expresses ability. We should use ?was / were / able? for ability and action in the past.

For example:

(a) I could swim across the river when I was young.

(b) When the boat was upset, we were able to swim to the bank.

5. ?May?, ?Might?:

?May? is also used to express permission and possibility.

For example:

(a) It may rain tomorrow.

(b) He may be at home.

?Might? is also used to express a degree of dissatisfaction or reproach, permission and possibility.

For example:

(a) He said I might go.

(b) I thought he might be at home.

6. ?Must?, Ought to?:

?Must? is used to express necessity, obligation and logical certainity.

For example:

(a) We must get up early.

(b) You must improve your spelling.

?Ought to? expresses moral obligation and probability.

For example:

(a) We ought to help him.

(b) Prices ought to come down soon.

7. ?Used to?, ?Need?, ?Dare?:

?Used to? expresses a discontinued habit.

For example:

(a) There used to be a house there.

(b) I used to live there when I was a baby.

?Need? denotes necessity or obligation.

For example:

(a) He need not go.

(b) I need hardly take his help.

?Dare is? generally used in negative and interrogative sentences.

For example:

(a) He dare not take such a step.

(b) How dare you contradict me?

CLAUSES

Such a group of words that forms past of a sentence and has a subject and predicate of

its own is called a clause.

For example:

I do not know where Ram lives.

There are two clauses in this sentence:

(i) I do not know

(ii) Where Ram lives

KINDS OF CLAUSES

There are two types of clauses.

1. Principle clause 2. Subordinate clause

1. Principle clause:

A principle clause or main clause is one that stands by itself and makes the main statement

For example:

I know.

?I know? this clause is complete in its way and it also shows the full meaning. These clauses are called main or principle clauses.

2. Subordinate clause:

A subordinate clause is one that cannot stand alone, but depends upon the main clause for its meaning.

That Ram is my best friend.

This clause is incomplete and doesn't show any proper meaning.

?I? depends on "I know^" for proper meaning. So, this clause is called dependent or subordinate clause.

Subordinate clauses have three types:

1. The Noun clause

2. The Adjective clause

3. The Adverb clause

1. The noun clause: A noun clause is a group of words which contains a subject and a predicate of its own and does the work of a noun.

For example:

(a) Life is what we make it.

(b) That Mohan is a thief is known to all.

2. The adjective clause: An adjective clause is a group of words which contains a subject and predicate of its own and does work of an adjective.

For example:

(a) The umbrella which has a broken handle is mine.

(b) I remember the house where I was born.

3. The adverb clause: An adverb clause is a group of words which contains a subject and a predicate of its own and does work of an adverb.

For example:

(a) You will die if you take poison.

(b) If you work hard, you will pass.

DETERMINERS

Words that modify in some manner the nouns with which they are used are called determiners.

For example:

(a) This apple is rotten,

(b) He has little knowledge.

KINDS OF DETERMINERS

There are five types of determiners:

1. Article Determiners

2. Demonstrative Determiners

3. Possessive Determiners

4. Numeral Determiners

5. Quantitative Determiners

USE OF DETERMINERS

1. Article Determiners: a, an, the

Before a word beginning with a consonant sound ?a? is used.

For example: A useful book, a building, a one rupee note, a yard

?An? is used before a word beginning with a vowel sound.

For example: An hour, an egg, an enemy, an inkpot

When we talk about a particular person or thing we use ?the?.

For example:

(a) The book you want is running out of copies.

(b) Let?s go to the park.

?The is also used before musical instruments and names of things unique of their kind; as

(i) The sun, the sky, the sea, the ocean

(ii) He can play the flute.

2. Demonstrative Determiners: This, that, these,

those This and that are used with singular nouns while these and those are used with plural nouns.

For example:

(a) This purse is mine.

(b) That purse is here.

(d) Those books are yours.

3. Possesive Determiners: My, our, your, his, her, its, their one?s These are pronouns of possessive case. They are used before the singular and plural nouns and show the relation.

For example:

(a) My mother (b) Your sister

(e) Her purse

4. Numeral Determiners: These are numerical adjectives and have three kinds-

(a) Definite (b) Indefinite

(a) Definite:

One, two, three

First, second, third

These show the particular counting.

For example:

(i) She has two sons.

(ii) Five girls are sitting on the bench.

(b) Indefinite: Some, many, few, a few, both, the few, all, several

These do not show the particular counting:

For example:

(i) There are some books on the table.

(ii) Many boys are absent today.

(iii) I have read very few books.

(iv) He gave me all the mangoes.

(v) Both the sisters are married.

(vi) The matter will take several months.

(c) Distributive: Each, every, either, neither, refer to persons or things one at a time. For this reason they are always singular and, as such, followed by the verb in singular.

For example:

(i) Each boy plays a game.

(ii) Every man dies.

(iii) Either book will do.

(iv) Neither statement is true.

5. Quantitative Determiners: Some, any, no, much, more, little, etc., are adjectives of quantity. These show the quantity of the things.

For example:

(a) There is some water in the jug.

(b) If there is any thief, ring the police.

(d) Will you give me more money?

NARRATION

Presenting the words of a speaker is called narration. Narration is of two types:

1. Direct speech

2. Indirect speech

Direct Speech

When the actual or exact words of a speaker are presented, it is called Direct speech.

For example:

Morgan said, ?Lawrence lives in London.?

Morgan said that Lawrence lived in London.

These two sentences refer to the two ways of reporting the words of a speaker. In sentence 1, the actual or exact words of the speaker are presented. This speech is called direct speech.

Indirect Speech

When the substance or meaning of a person?s speech is presented. It is called indirect speech. For example

Morgan said that Lawrence lived in London.

In the sentence given above, the actual or exact words of the speaker are not presented. The substance or meaning of the speech has been presented. This speech is called indirect speech.

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