PARTS OF SPEECH
A sentence is a group of words which convey a meaning. The sentence is broadly divided into
Subject and Predicate.
Ram is eager to learn English. Subject- Ram
Predicate – is eager to learn English
The sentence conveys something about Ram so Ram is the subject in the sentence. Is eager to
learn English is the Predicate as it gives information about the subject, Ram.
Any sentence is made up of 8 Parts of Speech. In all sentences there are
1. NOUNS - A Noun is the name of a person, place, animal or thing.
Eg: Teacher, classroom, College, garden, love, peace, deer etc.
2. PRONOUNS – The words that are used in place of nouns are called Pronouns.
Eg: I, She, He, You, They, We, my, mine, your, his, her etc.
3. ADJECTIVES - Adjectives are called as describing words. They tell us about the kind
of noun.
Eg: great teacher, small classroom, famous college, beautiful garden, divine love, lasting
peace, spotted deer
4. VERBS - Verbs are action verbs which tell us of something being done.
Eg: count, write, run, jump, read, skip, slide, walk, jog, cook etc.
5. ADVERBS – An Adverb is a word which modifies the meaning of an adjective, a verb or
some other adverb.
Eg: slowly walked, quickly read, badly cooked, slow jog, nasty slide, neat writing
6. CONJUNCTIONS – Conjunctions join two words, phrases or sentences together.
Eg: men and women, tea or coffee, old but active, Children get cold because of bad
weather.
7. PREPOSITIONS - Prepositions are words placed before a noun or pronoun to show
relationship between persons or things or actions.
Eg: Behind, under, on, in front of, beside, between, after, from, before, since, until, at, on,
by, to, for, towards, with etc.
They live in Bangalore. She sat beside me. Tell me about yourself. Keep off the grass.
8. INTERJECTIONS – Interjections are words or phrases used to exclaim or protest or
command. They are used to denote the emotion of the speaker and are just an addition to
the statement.
Eg: Wow! I won the lottery
Oh! I missed the bus.
A Part of Speech does not define a word but it merely describes its current function. Many
words can operate as several different parts of speech, depending on the circumstances of their
use.
Eg: i) The table is brown, rectangular and polished. Here Table is a noun.
ii) Veena bought a beautifully carved table lamp. Here Table, like beautifully carved,
describes the lamp. So table is an adjective here.
iii) The Government tabled a motion for land reforms in the Rajya Sabha. Here tabled
denotes an action, something done. It acts as a verb in this sentence.
NOUNS
Nouns are words which name persons, animals, places, objects, thoughts, qualities etc. They are
also known as naming words.
The boy is reading a book at the table in the light of a table-lamp.
The underlined words are all Nouns.
Nouns are broadly grouped into four types – Common or Concrete Noun, Proper noun,
Collective Nouns and Abstract Nouns.
Common or Concrete Nouns – Common Nouns or Concrete nouns are the names of common
persons, places or things that we can perceive in a concrete shape with our five senses.
Eg: I’m a girl. I’m sitting at the dining table. I’m eating a cake from a plate with a spoon. There
is a glass full of water beside me.
The underlined words are Common Nouns.
Proper Nouns - Proper nouns always begin with a Capital letter. They name a particular person,
thing or place.
Eg: I am Ravi. I live in Bangalore. It is called a Garden city. Vidhan Soudha is the hall mark of
Bangalore.
The underlined words are Proper Nouns.
Collective Nouns – A Collective noun names a group or collection of things , persons or
creatures. Such nouns are easy to recognize because they are always followed by, or imply the
word of:
Eg: a herd of cattle, a bunch of roses, a class of students, a crew of sailors, a flight of stairs, a
tribe of natives, a chest of drawers, a shoal of fish, a company of soldiers, a host of angels, a
gang of thieves, a galaxy of stars, a flock of birds, a cluster of diamonds etc.
Abstract Nouns – Abstract nouns name qualities, feelings, notions – anything that is non
physical. Abstract nouns are not concrete things. They cannot be perceived with the senses but
can be realized through the heart or mind.
Eg: bravery, beauty, brightness, redness, intelligence, alertness, sympathy, pain, love, hatred,
death, sleep, music, tension, freedom imagination, dream, wisdom, understanding, honesty,
sincerity, strength etc.
Nouns can be divided into Countable and Uncountable nouns.
Countable Nouns – The nouns that can be counted are called countable nouns. They are in their
singular forms when they are one each. They are in their plural forms when they are present
more than one in their numbers each.
Eg:
pen
- pens; floor - floor; table- tables; hobby- hobbies; story - stories; country countries; way - ways; mouse- mice; child – children etc.
Uncountable (Non – Countable) Nouns – These are nouns that cannot be counted. Some of
such nouns consist of tiny particles of mass that cannot be counted though it can sometimes be
weighed or measured.
Nouns denote gender. There are four kinds of Genders:
Masculine Gender- The noun that denote males are in the masculine gender.
Eg: boy, man, cock, prophet, poet, heir etc.
Feminine Gender – The nouns that denote females are in the feminine gender.
eg: goddess, princess, prophetess, poetess, heiress etc.
Common Gender – When a noun gives no indication of the sex it may be of the two sexes, male
or female. Such a noun is known to belong to the Common gender.
Eg: guest, doctor, teacher, nurse, pupil, driver etc.
Neuter Gender – A neuter gender shows that the object is neither male nor female, not being a
living thing.
Eg: chair, book, toy, table, house, television etc.
PRONOUN
The words that are used in place of nouns are called Pronouns. Pronouns functions as nouns and
avoid the repetition of the noun.
1. Personal Pronouns
a) Eg: My name is Rajeev. I studied in Vidya Mandir.
The name of the girl is Reema. She lives in Singapore.
Vishnu lives in Delhi. He has come to Bangalore on a short visit.
Why are you very sad?
I, She, He and you are Pronouns. Since each denotes a single person, they are called Single
Personal Pronouns.
b) Eg: Ram and Rita study in the same class. They are classmates.
Meet my friend Vimala. We are friends from school days.
Rahul and Salim take your report card. You are intelligent boys.
We, They and you are Pronouns. Since each of these words denotes more than one person, they
are called Plural personal Pronouns.
The use of Personal Pronouns as subjects of sentences:
Singular
Plural
Masculine
I
We
He
He
They
I
She
They
You
You
You
We
They
Cases of Personal Pronouns
Nominative
Possessive/Genitive
I
my, mine
We
our, ours
You (singular)
your, yours
You (plural)
your, yours
He
His
She
her, hers
They
their, theirs
Feminine
She
I
You
We
They
Objective/Accusative
me
Us
You
You
Him
Her
them
Eg: Look at Harish. He seems to be a dull boy.
I was happy to receive them in the house.
The teacher was not satisfied with us.
Tom slapped Martin on the face.
Tom slapped him on the face.
2. Reflexive Pronouns
When the action of the doer reflects upon himself or herself, the pronoun used is said to be a
Reflexive pronoun. They are formed by adding the suffix self or selves to the possessive form of
the personal pronoun.
Eg: Ruby made a cake for herself.
They built the house for themselves.
Some of the Reflexive pronouns are –
myself, himself, yourself, herself (Singular personal pronouns)
ourselves, themselves, yourselves (Plural personal pronouns)
3. Demonstrative Pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns are used to point out persons, things, animals and places.
Eg: this, that, those, these, such
This is my pen. That is my old pen. These books are new. Those are my collection of
stamps. I don’t like such design bags.
4. Interrogative Pronouns
Interrogative pronouns are used for asking questions.They may be used for living and non- living
things.
Eg: who, whose, whom, whoever (for living things)
which, what, whatever ( for non- living things)
To whom have you given it?
Whatever is the matter?
Who draws such beautiful cartoons?
What is the colour of a cuckoo?
5. Relative Pronoun
The pronouns which refer to the preceding nouns are called Relative pronoun. These are used to
join sentences.
Eg: who, whom, whose, whoever (used for persons)
which, what, that, whatever (used for things)
She is the girl who stood first in the class.
Those are the girls whom nobody cares.
That is the girl whose earring was lost.
ADJECTIVES
Adjectives are what define nouns and give them characteristics to differentiate them from other
nouns.
Eg: He was wearing a blue shirt.
Here ‘blue’ is an adjective as it is describing the noun ‘shirt’ by answering the question ‘what
kind of shirt?’
There are seven rooms in the house.
Here ‘Seven’ is also an adjective as it’s telling the quantity/the number of the noun ‘rooms’,
answering the question ‘how many rooms?’.
There are different types of adjectives based upon their effect on a noun and what do they tell
about the noun. There are five categories of adjectives
1. Adjectives of Quality - These adjectives are used to describe the nature of a noun. They give
an idea about the characteristics of the noun by answering the question ‘what kind’i) Honest, Kind, Large, Bulky, Beautiful, Ugly etc.
Eg: New Delhi is a large city with many historical monuments.
Sheila is a beautiful woman.
2. Adjectives of Quantity - These adjectives help to show the amount or the approximate
amount of the noun or pronoun. These adjectives do not provide exact numbers; rather they tell
us the amount of the noun in relative or whole terms.
ii) All, Half, Many, Few, Little, No, Enough, Great etc.
Eg: They have finished most of the rice.
Many people came to visit the fair.
3. Adjectives of Number - These adjectives are used to show the number of nouns and their
place in an order. There are three different sections within adjectives of number; they are a. Definite Numeral Adjective - Those which clearly denote an exact number of nouns or
the order of the noun.
Eg: One, Two, Twenty, Thirty-Three etc. also known as Cardinals.
First, Second, Third, Seventh etc. also known as Ordinals.
b. Indefinite Numeral Adjective - Those adjectives that do not give an exact numerical
amount but just give a general idea of the amount.
Eg: Some, Many, Few, Any, Several, All etc.
There were many people present at the meeting.
c. Distributive Numeral Adjective -Those adjectives that are used to refer to individual
nouns within the whole amount.
Eg: Either, Neither, Each, Another, Other etc.
Taxes have to be paid by every employed citizen.
4. Demonstrative Adjectives - These adjectives are used to point out or indicate a particular
noun or pronoun using the adjectives - This, That, These and Those.
Eg: That bag belongs to Neil.
Try using this paintbrush in art class.
I really like those shoes.
These flowers are lovely.
5. Interrogative Adjectives - These adjectives are used to ask questions about nouns or in
relation to nouns, they are - Where, What, Which and Whose.
Eg: Where did he say he was going?
What assignment did I miss out on?
Which is your favorite author?
Whose pen is this?
In some instances, we find that we need to use more than one adjective to describe a noun in a
satisfactory manner. In these cases, commas are used to separate the adjectives but some series
of adjectives do not require a comma. Therefore, we need to know the difference between
Coordinate and Non-coordinate Adjectives Coordinate Adjectives - Are those words which can be re-arranged in the series easily and are
still grammatically sound. This kind of series makes use of commas. This series can also insert
‘and’ between them and still be correct.
Eg: She was a kind, generous, loving human being.
She was a generous, loving, kind human being.
She was a loving, kind and generous human being.
Here we can see that all three sentences are grammatically correct. In this case, the adjectives
only need to be separated by commas.
Non-coordinate Adjectives - These are those adjectives which cannot be rearranged in the
series. These do not use commas to separate the adjectives. Also, this kind of series do not
make sense if we insert ‘and’ between them.
Eg: She has two energetic playful dogs.
She has playful two energetic dogs.
She has energetic and playful and two dogs.
Here we see that only the first sentence makes sense and is grammatically correct. The second
and third ones are incorrect. Hence, the sentence uses non-coordinate adjectives and does not
need commas.
There are certain rules regarding the placement of different kinds of adjectives in a sentence.
The general order followed is a) Determiners – These are the various articles (the, a, an), demonstratives (this, that,
these, those), possessives (my, mine, your, yours, -‘s), quantifiers (all, many etc.),
numerals (one, twenty, thirty-seven etc.) and distributives (each, every, neither, either)
b) Observations/Quantity and Opinion - Then come the adjectives that give a quantity
(also known as post-determiners) and subjective opinion to the noun, telling ‘how
much’ and ‘how was’ the noun.
Eg: Few, Most, One, Three/ Beautiful, Ugly, Difficult etc.
The beautiful house.
c) Size - The position after Observations is for the adjectives that tell about the size of the
noun, they can be used for an object as well as living thing.
Eg: Huge, Little, Bulky, Thin, Vast, Tiny, Lean etc
The beautiful little house.
d) Age -Then is the turn of the Adjectives that tell about the age of a noun either by itself
or in relation to another noun.
Eg: Young, Old, Teenage, Mature, Recent, Bygone etc.
The beautiful little old house.
e) Shape - Next are the adjectives that tell about the shape or appearance of the noun.
Eg: Circular, Crooked, Triangular, Oval, Wavy, Straights etc.
The beautiful little old square house.
f) Colour - After that are the adjectives that tell the shade and hue of a noun.
Eg: Pastel, Red, Blue, Metallic, Colourless, Translucent etc.
The beautiful square blue coloured house.
g) Origin - Next are the adjectives that show the different geographical locations
associated with a noun.
Eg: Southern, Northern, Lunar, Mexican, French etc.
The beautiful blue coloured Mexican house.
h) Material - Next are the adjectives that talk about the raw material or texture of the
objects or the behaviour of the living nouns.
Eg: Wooden, Plastic, Steely, Metallic, Cotton etc.
The beautiful Mexican limestone house.
i)
Qualifier – Lastly, the qualifier or the grammatical modifier comes, which is an
additional word or phrase provided to change the meaning of the noun in a sentence.
Eg: Pink + eye, Royal + treatment, Hot + fudge etc.
The beautiful Mexican limestone doll house.
VERBS
Verbs are the most important component of any sentence. These words talk about the action or
the state of any noun or subject. This means that verbs show what the subject is doing or what
is the state or situation of the subject.
Eg: He ran to the store. - Here the verb ran describes the action of the subject ‘he’
She is a creative person. - Here there is no action being done. Instead the auxiliary
verb ‘is’ shows the state of the subject ‘she’ as being ‘creative’.
There are different types and classifications of Verbs; some of the most important ones are
listed below:
Action Verbs
These verbs talk about what the subject is doing in the sentence. Action Verbs are one of the
most easily identifiable types of verbs. To recognize them, you simply have to look for the
word in the sentence that answers the question ‘What is the subject doing?’
Eg: Rita is painting the kitchen walls. (The subject here is Rita, and what is Rita doing? Rita
is painting. Hence painting is the action verb. )
My dog is sleeping on the sofa. (The subject here is dog, and what is
the dog doing? The dog is sleeping. So sleeping is the action verb.)
There are two types of Action Verbs which describe the Verb and the Subject doing the action
and the Object on which the action is done, they are Transitive Verbs
These Action Verbs have a definite object on which, or for which the action is being performed.
That means that the action has a definite recipient or object. To identify them you can ask the
question what is the/did the subject -verb-?
Eg : a ) Rose is painting the kitchen walls.
Here the verb is painting and the subject is Rose.
If we form the question - what is Rose painting? The answer is- The kitchen walls.
Thus, we see that there was a specific object on which the action of painting was being done.
b) Hannah gave him a big hug.
Here we see that the action ‘gave’ is being performed by the subject Hannah. So the question
is what did Hannah give? And the answer is - A big hug. Here, we also have an indirect object
as ‘him’. This indirect object would be the answer to the question-Who did the
subject (Hannah) -verb- (give) the object (hug) to?
Intransitive Verbs
These verbs also show an action but here there is no specific object on which the action is being
done. To recognize these verbs, we ask the question what is the/did the subject -verb- ? If there
is no answer present, then the verb in the sentence is an Intransitive Verb.
Eg: a) Rita is painting right now.
Here, if we ask the question what is Rita painting? There is no answer which means that in this
sentence painting is an Intransitive Verb. It is telling us about the action of the subject but there
is no specific object for the action.
b) Hannah sneezed repeatedly.
Here, the verb is sneezed. If we ask the question what did Hannah sneeze? There is no answer
present for it making sneezed an intransitive verb.
Dynamic and Stative Verbs
This category of verbs deals with the verb words themselves; and whether they indicate an
action or a state of the subject. This category is not concerned with the object in particular.
Dynamic Verbs
These verbs denote an actual action or expression or process done by the subject. They mean an
action which can be seen or physically felt or the result of which is seen or physically felt by
the object or an indirect object.
Eg: She buys new clothes every week. (Here the verb is buys which is an action done by the
subject ‘she’, hence it is a dynamic verb.)
He is swimming at the beach. (Here again we have the definite action swimming done by
the subject ‘he’ making ‘swimming’a dynamic verb in this sentence.)
Stative Verbs
These verbs refer to the state of the subject or the situation of the subject. Stative Verbs tell us
about the state of mind of the subject, or the relation between the subject and the object.
Eg: She prefers strawberry jam. (Here the Stative Verb is ‘prefers’ which shows the thinking of
the subject ‘She’ towards the object, which is ‘jam’).
The cupboard requires a new coat of paint. (Here the subject is ‘cupboard’ and the stative
verb is ‘requires’ which is telling about the relation between the subject ‘cupboard’ and the
object ‘paint’. )
Linking Verbs
These verbs are unlike other verbs as they do not tell anything about a subject themselves,
instead Linking Verbs connect the subject to a noun or adjective that helps in describing or
providing additional information about the subject. Those nouns or adjectives are called the
subject complements.
Eg: Lisa is fussy about food.
Here we see the subject is Lisa and the linking verb is ‘is’ which is connecting Lisa to the
subject complement ‘fussy about food’ which is giving additional information
about Lisa’s preferences.
They are stubborn children.
Here the linking verb is ‘are’ which is combining the subject they to the subject complement of
‘stubborn’ which is an adjective.
The best to recognize linking words in a sentence is to see whether the verb can be replaced by
‘is, am or are’. If the sentence still sounds logical you know you have a linking verb.
Eg: The students felt relieved. - The students are relieved.
Hence ‘felt’ was a linking verb and not an action verb. As ‘felt’ here is simply connecting the
subject to the adjective.
Every student felt the relief. - Every student is/am/are the relief.
Hence in this sentence ‘felt’ is action verb as it is the action of ‘feeling an emotion.’
Using Verbs in Sentences -
To use verbs correctly in sentences you need to learn more about the construction and use of
the various verbs. And how they change form according to tenses and use in a sentence. For
correct application verbs in written text you will need to know about Irregular and Regular
verbs.
Regular Verbs
The distinction between regular verbs and irregular verbs is a very simple one:
Those verbs that form their past participle with ‘d’ or ‘ed’ are regular verbs. These verbs do not
undergo substantial changes while changing forms between tenses.
1.
If the verb ends with a vowel, only ‘d’ is added. For example:
PRESENT TENSE
PAST TENSE
Share
Shared
Scare
Scared
Dare
Dared
2.
If the verb ends with a consonant, ‘ed’ is added. For example:
PRESENT TENSE
PAST TENSE
Want
Wanted
Shout
Shouted
Kill
Kill
Irregular Verbs
Those verbs that undergo substantial changes when changing forms between tenses
are irregular verbs. The changed forms of these verbs are often unrecognisably different from
the originals. For example:
PRESENT TENSE
PAST TENSE
Go
Went
Run
Ran
Think
Thought
There is no way to tell what form an irregular verb is going to take in a changed tense; the only
option for an English speaker is to commit the changes to memory. With practice, it will
become a matter of habit.
Finite Verbs
Finite Verbs are those verbs that have a definite relation with the subject or noun. These verbs
are usually the main verb of a clause or sentence and can be changed according to the noun.
They are used only in present and past tense. They can be indicative of passive or active voice
and also of number (singular or plural).
Eg: She walks home. - Here we see that the finite verb is walks and the pronoun is 'she'.
She walked home. - Here we can see how the verb changed/modified to change the tense of
the sentence.
Non-Finite Verbs
These verbs cannot be the main verb of a clause or sentence as they do not talk about the action
that is being performed by the subject or noun. They do not indicate any tense, mood or
gender. They are used as nouns, adverbs and adjectives. They are also used to form non-finite
clauses which are simply dependent clauses that use non-finite verbs.
Eg: 1. He loves camping in the woods. - Here the non-finite verb is camping and it is used as a
noun. These kind of non-finite verbs are called Gerunds
2. I need to go to sleep. - Here the non- finite verb phrase is to sleep, it is acting as a noun.
Non-finite verbs that use ‘to’ before them are called Infinitives.
3. The sleeping dog caused a delay. - The nonfinite verbs that have ‘-ing’ or ‘-ed’ as
suffixes and cause the verb to come an adjective are called Participles.
Auxiliary Verbs
These verbs are also called Helping Verbs, as they ‘help’ the main verb to denote the actions of
the subject. They help in making compound tenses of the main verb and also help in making
negative statements, questions and passive voice statements. There are only four auxiliary
verbs - Be, Have, Will and Do.
BE
The verb ‘be’ can be used as an auxiliary and a full verb, we can distinguish between the two
uses as the auxiliary ‘be’ will always have another main verb coming after it in a sentence. ‘Be’
is an irregular verb with many different forms according to the different tenses. Please refer to
the Irregular Verbs list to avoid confusion.
Progressive Tense Use of Be:
In progressive tense sentences made with ‘be’, we always use the ‘-ing’ suffixed version of the
main verb.
Tense
Meaning
Use of ‘Be’
Present Progressive
The action which is
ongoing
She is baking a cake today.
Past Progressive
An action that was
ongoing in the past.
She was baking a cake
yesterday.
Present Perfect
Progressive
Action that began in the
past and is still going
on.
She has been baking a cake
today.
Past Perfect
Progressive
Action that started in
past and finished at
another time in the past.
She had been baking a cake
last night.
Passive Voice Use of Be:
Using passive voice means when we want to put the emphasis on the object, to which the action
is being done instead of on the subject or not include the subject at all e.g. The dishes are washed. - Here the dishes are the object that received the action of washing but
no subject is mentioned to show ‘who’ was washing the dishes.
Passive
Use of ‘Be’
Simple Present
The cake is made.
Simple Past
The cake was made.
Present Perfect
The cake has been made.
Past Perfect
The cake had been made.
Future
The cake will be made.
HAVE
The verb ‘have’ can also be used as full verb or a helping verb. The way to differentiate
between them is that if ‘have’ is used as an auxiliary verb, then it has to be followed by a main
verb as well. The verb ‘have’ is used to make compound tenses in active and passive voices,
and also used in the making of negative sentences and questions. It is an irregular verb that
changes form according to tense.
Using ‘Have’ in Compound Tenses:
When we use ‘have’ in simple tense with an active voice, we use the ‘-ed’ suffixed form of the
main verb unless it is an irregular verb. While for progressive tenses we use the ‘-ing’ suffixed
form of the main verb. Have is used for only two compound tenses in the passive voice.
Tense
Meaning
Use of ‘Have’
Present Perfect
Action that happened at unspecified
time before now
She has baked a cake.
Past Perfect
Action that happened before another
action in the past
She had baked a cake.
Present Perfect Progressive
Action that began in the past and is
still going on.
She has been baking a cake.
Past perfect Progressive
Action that started in past and
finished at another time in the past.
She had been baking a cake.
Present Perfect (Passive Voice)
Action that happened at unspecified
time before now
The cake has been made.
Past Perfect (Passive Voice)
Action that happened before another
action in the past
The cake had been made.
Negative Sentences and Questions:
While making negative sentences and questions with ‘have’ as an auxiliary verb, we need to be
careful to put ‘have’ before the other verb otherwise ‘have’ becomes the main verb of the
sentence.
Have
1. She does not have a cake.
- In this sentence ‘have’ is the main verb while ‘does not’ becomes the auxiliary
verb.
2. She has not got a cake.
- In this sentence ‘have’ is the helping verb for the main verb which is ‘got’.
3. Has she got cake?
- Here the main verb is ‘got’ and the helping verb is ‘have’ as it comes before the
main verb.
4. Does she have cake?
- In this sentence the main verb is ‘have’ as it comes after the helping verb‘does’.
WILL
The verb ‘will’ is the only auxiliary verb that can never be a main verb. It is always used as an
auxiliary to make future tenses and negative sentences. Also, it remains the same throughout
every tense and person.
Future Tense Use of ‘Will’:
Tense
Meaning
Use of ‘Will’
Future I
An action promised/assumed in the
future.
She will not bake a cake.
Future I I
An action that will be finished in the
future.
She will have baked a cake.
Negative Sentences:
In negative sentences, the verb ‘will’ does not change its form when used with ‘not’. But it does
form the contraction ‘won’t’ that is equally correct to use depending upon the language and
flow of the sentence.
She will not have cake. = She won’t have cake.
- As ‘will’ can only be an auxiliary verb, both the sentences are grammatically
correct.
DO
The helping verb ‘do’ can also act as a full verb only in positive sentences. When do is used in
a negative sentence, it is an auxiliary verb. The helping verb ‘do’ is also used to make questions
for most verbs except other auxiliary verbs and the modal verbs. Do is an irregular verb that
changes its form according to the tense.
Negative Sentences:
Tense
Meaning
Use of ‘Do’
Simple Present
Action taking place now - once or several
times or never.
She does not bake cakes.
Simple Past
Action that happened in the past - once/
many times/ never.
She did not bake cakes.
Questions:
When ‘do’ is used to make a sentence, we can only ask the question in the simple tense. For
other tenses, we have to use other verbs whether main or auxiliary.
Tense
Meaning
Use of ‘Do’
Simple Present
Action taking place now - once or several
times or never.
Does she bake cakes?
Simple Past
Action that happened in the past - once/
many times/ never.
Did she bake a cake?
Places Where ‘Do’ is Not Used:
There are certain instances where the auxiliary verb ‘do’ is not used for negative sentences or
questions. The following table tells the different reasons and instances where and why ‘do’ is
not used.
Reason
Negative Sentence
Question
The main verb is ‘Be’
There was no cake.
Is there any cake?
There is another Helping Verb
There won’t be any cake.
Will you have some cake?
There is a Modal Verb
She can’t make a cake
Can she make a cake?
Participles, Gerunds and Infinitives are called verbals. Verbals are words which are formed
from a verb but which function as a different part of speech.
PARTICIPLE
A participle is usually formed by adding –ing or –ed to a verb. It functions as an adjective.
Eg: The singing bird was the main attraction at the event.
The injured man was waiting for the doctor.
GERUND
A gerund is formed by adding –ing to a verb. It functions as a noun.
Eg: Swimming is very good for the body.
Smoking is prohibited in the hospital.
INFINITIVE
An infinitive is formed by using the word ‘to’ before the verb in its stem word. It functions as a
noun, adjective or adverb.
Eg: He was made to clean his room.
Shalini loves to talk.
Modal Verbs
There are 10 modal verbs in the English language- Can, Could, May, Might, Will, Would,
Must, Shall, Should , Ought to
Uses of Modal Verbs:
1.
To indicate that something is probable or possible, or not so. For example:
 It is sunny today; it must be warm outside. = It is sunny today; it is
probably warm outside.
 His mobile is not reachable; he may/might/could be travelling by
metro. = His mobile is not reachable; it is possible that he is travelling
by metro.
 This can’t be our bill. = It is not possible that this is our bill.
2.
‘Can’ and ‘could’ are used to refer to skills and abilities. For example:
 He can cover a hundred metres in under ten seconds.
 My father could see perfectly before the age of fifty.
 I can’t ride a horse.
3.
‘Must’ is used to indicate that something is necessary or of extreme importance, and
‘should’ is used to suggest that something is advisable. For example:
 You must do your homework.
 You mustn’t skip school.
 You should say sorry.
 You shouldn’t smoke.
4.
‘Can’, ‘could’ and ‘may’ are used to ask for, give and withhold permission. For example:
 Can I try my hand at it?
 Could we disperse early today?
 You may not enter the premises.
5.
‘Will’ and ‘would’ are used to refer to habits and inclinations.
 When I was a child, I would often climb trees.
 I will never refuse you anything.
 He would never do such a thing.
These verbs differ from ordinary verbs in 3 respects.
1. When used with the third person singular (he, she), they don’t require the addition of an
‘s’.
2. They can be used to form questions by inverting the structure of the sentence.
3. They can be followed directly by the verb, without the use of ‘to’.
ADVERBS
An Adverb is a word which modifies the meaning of an Adjective, a Verb or some other
Adverb.
Eg: Stella screamed loudly. (the adverb loudly modifies the verb drove.)
Highly intelligent. (the adverb highly modifies the adjective intelligent).
Quite quickly. (the adverb quickly modifies the adverb quite).
There are seven kinds of adverbs
1. Adverb of Manner – These give us information about how the verb is performed(
Showing how or in what manner).
Eg: She sang sweetly.
He worked sincerely.
2. Adverb of Place – They tells us where the verb is performed. (Showing where)
Eg: He visited Agra and had a wonderful time there.
One can never find such a good friend anywhere.
3. Adverb of Time – They tell us when the verb is performed. (showing when)
Eg: The flight arrived late.
There was a heavy downpour yesterday.
4. Adverb of Degree, quantity or extent - These all have to do with amount or
proportion, answering the implicit question ‘how much?’
Eg: He’s said enough.
They were very happy.
The flyover work is nearly finished.
5. Adverbs of Number – These are separate form adverbs of time and degree, referring to
an exact number.
Eg: The postman always rings twice.
He increased his saving fourfold.
6. Relative adverbs- These connect two clauses like relative pronoun and relative
adjectives.
Eg: He found out where the treasure was.
October is a time when everyone celebrates festivals.
Tell me why you are upset?
7. Interrogative Adverbs – Theses are used for asking questions.
Eg: Where is my coffee?
When are you going to study?
Why are we waiting?
Three forms of Adverbs:
Adverbs have three possible forms – simple, comparative and superlative. The majority of
adverbs including all those ending in –ly follow this pattern for the two modified form.
Simple
Comparative
Superlative
Quickly
more quickly
most quickly
Rarely
more rarely
most rarely
Often
more often
most often
One –syllable adverbs use suffixed forms:
Simple
Comparative
Soon
sooner
Fast
faster
Hard
harder
Superlative
soonest
fastest
hardest
There are also two irregular adverbs:
Simple
Comparative
Well
better
Badly
worse
Superlative
best
worst
Prepositions
Prepositions are the words which are used to connect the different nouns, pronouns and phrases
in a sentence. The preposition usually indicates the relation between the words it is connecting.
It tells whether the words are connected in actual space or a place, or related through time or is
the part of a thought or process.
Prepositional phrases are the preposition and its object and any adjectives or adverbs that were
applied to the object. The prepositional phrase as a whole can also be used as a noun, adverb or
adjective.
Eg: 1. He found the book on the table.
Here the preposition is ‘on’ as it shows the relation in place between the book and the
table. The prepositional phrase is ‘on the table’ which is acting as an Adverb telling
where the book was found.
2. She went to sleep early.
In this sentence the preposition is ‘to’ which is introducing where or in what state had the
noun gone into.
3. Her house was beside a steep hill.
The preposition here is beside which is telling the place where the house was.
The prepositional phrase is ‘beside a steep hill’ which is acting as an adverb.
Characteristics of Prepositions:
1. Most of the common English prepositions such as in, on, under, with, at, for, by, from etc.
consist of one word. Such prepositions are called simple prepositions.
2. Other prepositions consist of more than one word Eg: as for, as to, due to, in comparison with
etc. such preposition are known as complex prepositions.
3. As a general rule, prepositions show no in flexional contrasts. (Something that is added to a
word to change its form, eg, -ly in slowly is an inflexion). However, there are a few words which
behave like prepositions and they take in flexional suffixes (-ing),
Eg: except-excepting, bar-barring, etc.
4. Prepositions have distinctive functions in the clause structure.
5. Prepositions generally take an NP complement.
Uses of Prepositions
1. Prepositions of time and date - in, on, at,by
(a) in 2009
(b)on that day
in May
on Monday
in time
on 26th July
in winter
on time
(c) at 6 o’clock
at that very
moment
at noon
at night
(d)by November
by next summer
by morning
by 6 o’clock
2. Prepositions of time - from, since, for, to, during, till, until.
(a) from morning to night.
(b) for a long time
(c) since Monday
(d) during the summer holidays
(e) till 10 o’clock
(f) until it grew dark
3. Prepositions of travel and movement - From, to, at, in, by, on, into, off, out of.
(a) from Guwahati to Shillong
(b) in Shillong
(c) at the Assam House
(d) by train
(e) on foot
4. Prepositions denoting relative positions - above, over, under, below, beneath, beside, between,
behind, in front of, opposite.
(a) (The sky is) above us.
(b) (We looked down from the plane; the clouds were) below us.
(c) under the table.
(d) Mohan is sitting beside Rina.
(e) She is sitting between her parents.
(f) Meena is behind Reena.
(g) There is a tree in front of our house.
A few correct uses of Prepositions:
1. since and for: ‘Since’ is used show when an action began whereas ‘for’ is used to show how
long an action has continued.
Eg: (i) We have been at the library since 4 o’clock.
(ii) We have been waiting for an hour.
2. between and among : ‘Between’ is usually used with reference to two people or things.
‘Among’ is usually used with reference to more than two people or things.
Eg: (i) Divide the sweets between the two girls.
(ii) Divide the sweets among the students in the class.
3. of and off : ‘of’ expresses origin of cause, things, belonging, connection or quality. ‘Off’ has
the meaning of from, away, etc.
Eg: (i) This table is made of teak wood.
(ii) Keep off the grass.
4. in and into, on and onto : In and on show position of things at rest; on the other hand ‘into’
shows movement from outside to inside and ‘onto’ from lower to higher level.
Eg: (i) He is in the room.
(ii) The book is on the table.
(iii) I went into the classroom.
(iv) Put the book onto the shelf.
Appropriate prepositions :
(a) Verbs followed by prepositions :
Eg; 1. abide by : (follow) You must abide by the order.
2. abound in : (exist) Fish abound in the river.
3. abound with : (in great number) The house abounded with rats and cockroaches.
4. abstain from : (hold oneself back) The doctor advised him to abstain from smoking.
5. accede to : (agree) The principal has acceded to my request.
6. account for : (explain) He was asked to account for his absence from office.
7. adapt oneself to : (to adjust) He could easily adapt himself to the new country.
8. adhere to : (follow) Gandhi adhered to a strict time table.
9. agree to : (give consent to a plan) I quite agree to the proposal.
10. agree with : (give consent with a person) I agree with him on this point.
11. aim at : (to have as an object) Dilip aims at becoming a doctor.
12. arrive at : (reach) The plane arrived at Guwahati on time.
13. attend to : (give care to) You must attend to your work regularly.
14. attend on/upon : (serve) which doctor is attending on you?
15. avail onself of : (take advantage of) You must avail your self on every opportunity to learn
spoken English.
16. believe in : (trust in) He doesn’t believe in ghosts.
17. belong to : (to be owned by) This car belongs to Mr. Baruah.
18. beware of : (be alert against) The witch told Macbeth to beware of Macduff.
19. boast of about : (words used in self-praise) He boasts of about his skill in playing tennis.
20. call on : (Pay a short visit) I called on my uncle at Jorhat.
21. call for : (demand) The situation calls for prompt action.
22. call upon : (appeal) The Chief Minister called upon the youths to work hard.
23. call off : (stop) The strike by the workers was called off last Monday.
24. call in : (bring, fetch) The nurse rushed out to call in the doctor.
25. compare to : (match with a thing) The pen is often compared to a sword.
26. compare with : (match with a person) The historian Surya Kr. Bhuyan has compared Lachit
with Nelson.
27. complain to : (make a complain) She complined to me of his rudenes.
28. complain of : (complain of a trouble) He has been complaining of fever for two days.
29. congratualte on : (pay complements) He has congratulated me on my success in the
examination.
30. crave for : (wish) I crave for your speedy recovery.
31. contribute to : (pay into) The employees contributed one day’s pay to the Flood Relief Fund.
32. deal in : (to trade) My uncle deals in groceries.
33. deal with : (have relations with) The man is very difficult to deal with.
34. depend on/ upon : (rely on) Children depend on their parents for food and clothing.
35. deprive of : (take away from) The emergency had deprived people of their fundamental
rights.
36. die of : (to die) The old man died of cholera.
37. differ from : (be different) He differs from his brother in his looks.
38. differ with : (disagree with) I differ with you on this point.
39. dream of : (to look forward to) He often dreams of owning a house in Delhi.
40. escape from : (run away) The prisoner escaped from jail at midnight.
41. fall on : (attack) The soldiers fell on the enemy under the cover of darkness.
42. feed on : (live on) Cows feed on grass.
43. fight for : (struggle ) India fought for her freedom.
44. fight off : (drive away) He took aspirin to fight off the cold.
45. hanker after : (run after) A greedy man hankers after money.
46. hunt for : (search for) He spent the whole morning hunting for the book.
47. hunt out : (find by searching) He hunted out his old diary.
48. hush up : (prevent something from becoming public) They tried to hush up the scandal.
49. indulge in : (get into) We must never indulge in loose talk.
50. inform of : (to let one know) The police was informed of the matter immediately.
51. inquire into : (to make an inquiry) The police is inquiring into the matter.
52. insist on/upon : (to take a stand) He insisted on meeting the Principal.
53. interfere with : (meddle with) The principal always interfered with the vice principal in his
work.
54. involve in : (to get into) Students must not get involved in activities that could affect their
normal work.
55. knock down : (to strike a person violently) The passer-by was knocked down by a black car.
56. knock out : (render incapable of fighting any further) The previous year’s boxing champion
was knocked out in the eighth round.
57. keep away : (avoid) He kept away from the sight of his friends when he failed in the
examination.
58. keep off : (to remain at a distance) You must keep off drugs.
59. keep out : (to remain outside) We must always keep out of danger.
60. keep up with : (tolerate) He couldn’t keep up with the insult and left the room.
61. live on : (feed on) Cows live on grass.
62. live by : (earn living) Anil lived by writing for the news papers.
63. long for : (wish) Everybody longs for peace and happiness in life.
64. make for : (move in the destination) The ship made for the open sea.
65. make off : (to go awa) The thief make off in a hurry when he heard a noise in the bed room.
66. part with : (to be separated from) I hate to part with my books.
67. part from : (to be separated from a person) It is hard to part from those we love.
68. run after : (hanker after) People always run after the pleasures of life.
69. run over : (to crash) The boy was run over by a speeding car.
70. run into : (to get into) With his heavy expenses, my brother is sure to run into debts.
71. run against : (to dash) The car ran against a lamp post and got overturned.
72. search for : (to look for) The old man was searching for his lost purse.
73. stand by : (to help) A true friend will always stand by you in your difficult days.
74. stand against : (to oppose) People stood against the cruelties of the ruler.
75. struggle for : (to fight for) India struggled for her freedom by following the principle of nonviolence.
76. struggle against : (to fight against) Every one must struggle against injustice and violence.
77. talk of : (talk about) When we have nothing to say we talk of the weather.
78. talk over : (discuss) Let us talk over the matter.
79. think of : (remember) I often think of my days in school.
80. think over : (consider) He thought over the problem very seriously.
81. wait for : (to wait) Wait for me till I come back.
82. wait on : (attend to) The maid waited on the old lady for five years.
83. wonder at : (to be surprised) I wonder at the marvels of science.
84. wish for : (desire for) I wish for a life of peace and happiness.
85. yield to : (submit to ) We must not yield to corruption.
(b) Nouns followed by Prepositions :
1. ability for : (capacity for) The man has no ability for such a responsible job.
2. affection for : (love for) I have great affection for my parents.
3. acquaintance with : (familiarity with) I have no acquaintance with the secretary of your club.
4. control over : (check against) He has no control over the employees of his office.
5. fondness for : (love for) He has a great fondness for children.
6. Precaution against : (careful measures) We must take precaution against the cold.
7. regard for : (respect for) He has great regards for his teacher.
8. trust in : (have faith in) We must always have trust in God.
9. want of : (scarcity) There is no want of funds if you are willing to work.
10. zest for : (zeal for) A sick person has no zest for pleasure.
(c) Adjectives followed by prepositions:
1. angry at : (displeased at something) The teacher was angry at his rude behaviour in the class.
2. angry with : (displeased with a reason) The teacher was angry with Raj for his unruly
behaviour in the class.
3. deaf to : (indifferent to ) The secretary was deaf to his request for leave.
4. famous for : (known for) Guwahati is famous for the Kamakshya Temple.
5. jealous of : (envious of) Rajen’s friends were jealous of his success.
6. proud of : (happy about) I am proud of my country.
7. responsible for : (to have responsibility) He is responsible for completing the project.
8. short of : (in scarcity) We are short of food stuff for this year.
9. sorry for : (to feel sad about) We are sorry for her exclusion from the Indian Olympic team.
10. worthy of : (deserving) The conduct of the boy was really worthy of praise.
Conjunctions
A conjunction is a word which joins together two words, phrases or clauses.
Eg: Ram and Sham are brothers.
Ram is honest but poor.
Vishal bought apples and oranges.
There are four kinds of Conjunctions
1. Co- ordinating Conjunctions:
The commonest co-ordinating conjunctions are: and, but, or, either …or, neither…nor, for, yet,
not only…but also, so, both …and, and otherwise.
Eg: Drive fast otherwise you will miss the flight.
Peter is not only an intelligent but also a well-mannered boy.
Vicky is a strong but lazy boy.
Neither I nor my colleagues attended the function.
2. Subordinating Conjunctions
These conjunctions introduce Subordinate adverb clauses of different kinds.
i. Subordinating Conjunctions expressing Time:
Eg: Wait here till I come back.
I have not seen Mr.Singh since the day he left this city.
ii.
Subordinating Conjunctions expressing purpose.
Eg: Our martyrs died that their countrymen might live.
Walk slowly lest you should fall.
iii. Subordinating Conjunctions expressing result.
Eg: Mrs.Malik is still so weak after the surgery that she cannot walk.
The boy was so hungry that he ate up the cake in great speed.
iv.
Subordinating Conjunctions expressing manner.
Eg: As Ravi walked, he felt pain in his knees due to arthritis.
Mrs. Smith did as I told her.
v. Subordinating Conjunctions expressing concession or contrast.
Eg: Though old Mr.Naick is rich, he is miserly.
Although this year there was abundant rain fall, the water shortage could not be solved.
vi.
Subordinating Conjunctions expressing degree of comparision.
Eg: Ms. Sheila is older than John.
Ms.Helen hit the dog as hard as she could.
vii.
Subordinating Conjunctions expressing condition.
Eg: If you follow the schedule and study hard, you will be able to top the class in the
final examination.
You cannot be allowed to enter the examination hall unless you show your Hall ticket.
3. Correlative Conjunctions or Corelatives
Some conjunctions are always used in pairs- either…or, neither…nor, whether..or, not only
…but also.
Eg: Mr. Shekar is neither intelligent nor honest.
I don’t know whether he is going to England or not.
He not only tells lies but also laughs at the poor.
4. Compound Conjunctions
Eg: A cool breeze rushed in as soon as I opened the window.
She talked to me as if she had been a princess.
He walked fast in order that he might catch the train.
Interjections
Interjections are small words that bear no grammatical connection with the sentences in which
they are used. They express the emotions or sentiments of the speaker or convey hesitation or
protest. They are usually followed by an exclamation mark.
Since many interjections are mainly written forms of actual sounds that were produced by
humans, they are hardly used in academic or scholarly writing, unless they are a part of a direct
quote or otherwise.
Ah! Now that’s what I call a good shot! Bravo!
Both Ah and Bravo are interjections used to show the speaker’s admiration in the sentence.
There are many different uses for various interjections; the following is a list of the common
interjections you may hear around you in daily life Interjection
Meaning
Use
Aah
Exclamation of fear
Aah! The monster’s got me!
Ahh
Realization or acceptance
Ahh, now I see what you mean.
Aww
Something sweet or cute
Aww! Just look at that kitten.
Bingo
Acknowledge something
as right
Bingo! That’s exactly what we were
looking for!
Eh
Question something
So that was all she said, eh?
Eww
Something disgusting
Eww! That movie was so gory.
Hmph
To indicate displeasure
Hmph. I could do that for half the
amount he charged.
Oh
I see/ I think
Oh, it’s been around a week since I
saw her.
Oops
Making a mistake
Oops! Sorry I didn’t see those skates
there.
Ouch
Exclamation of pain
Ouch, that hurt! Stop pinching me!
Shh
An indication for silence
Shh! The show is about to start.
Uh oh
Showing dismay
Uh oh! The teacher’s caught him.
Whew
Amazement and/or relief
Whew! I can’t believe we actually
finished it all.
Wow
Expressing surprise or
admiration
Wow! That’s really great news!
Yay/Yaay
Congratulatory
exclamation
I can’t believe you’re actually coming
here! Yaay!
Yeah
Variant of ‘yes’
Yeah, I’d love some orange juice.
Yikes
For fear or concern (not
serious)
Yikes, my mother’s home!
Yippee
Exclamation of
celebration
Yippee! We won, lets head to the bar.
Some interjections are used to stall for time or indicate that the speaker is thinking of
something. These interjections are also used when someone doesn’t know what to say. The
following is a list of these sounds or words; they are also called Hesitation Devices Interjection
Meaning
Use
Uh
Indicates a pause/ need for
more time
Wait I know this… uh… is it
Ruskin Bond?
Hmm
Thinking/Hesitating about
something
Hmm, I’m not sure this colour is
the best for this room.
Er
Not knowing what to say
I don’t think…er… wait… let me
call my boss.
Um
Pausing or being skeptical
Not that I don’t believe you but,
um, you say it’s a ghost?
STRONG AND WEAK VERBS
STRONG VERBS
Verbs are divided into Strong or Weak verbs based on how the past tense of the verb is formed.
A Strong verb is a verb that takes an inter-vowel change in its past and past participle form.
Apart from the inter- vowel change, strong verbs may also add or subtract a letter or two to form
themselves in past or present participle tense. But this is not distinct and does not follow any
pattern. Majority of strong verbs just alter their vowels inside them.
Eg. Become, Became, Become - These verb form just change a vowel inside them.
Go, went, gone – Here ‘go’ becomes ‘went’ and ‘gone’ in the past and past participle form.
It is necessary to learn the past and past participle form by heart which can be done with some
effort. For these irregularities in the formations, strong verbs are also called Irregular verbs.
Strong verbs may be divided into two groups:
1. Those that form the Past Participle by the addition of ‘n’, ‘en’ or ‘ne’.
PRESENT
PAST TENSE
PAST PARTICIPLE TENSE
Arise
Arose
Arisen
Know
Knew
Known
Bear ( a burden)
Bore
Borne
Give
Gave
Given
2. Those that form the Past Participle without any such additions.
PRESENT
PAST TENSE
PAST Participle tense
Say
Said
Said
Sink
Sunk
Sank
Drink
Drank
Drunk
Swim
Swam
Swum
WEAK VERBS
Weak Verbs are also called regular verbs. Weak Verbs fall into six groups:
1. Verbs which add a Dental sound (‘d’ ‘t’ or ‘ed’) in the Past Tense with no other change.
most of the Verbs in the language ,including all newly formed Verbs ,belong to this class.
PRESENT
PAST TENSE
PAST PARTICIPLE TENSE
Bend
Bent
Bent
Build
Built
Built
Bleed
Bled
Bled
Cry
Cried
Cried
2. Verbs which add‘d’ or‘t’ and also change the Vowel sound.
PRESENT
PAST TENSE
PAST PARTICIPLE TENSE
Creep
Crept
Crept
Deal
Dealt
Dealt
Dream
Dreamt
Dreamt
Keep
Kept
Kept
3. Verbs which end in‘d’ or‘t’ and simply shorten their vowel sound in the past tense.
PRESENT
Feed
Meet
Shoot
Flee
PAST TENSE
Fed
Met
Shot
Fled
PAST PARTICIPLE TENSE
Fed
Met
Shot
Fled
4. Verbs which form the past tense by changing the final‘d’ or‘t’.
PRESENT
Bend
Send
Build
Lend
PAST TENSE
Bent
Sent
Built
Lent
PAST PARTICIPLE TENSE
Bent
Sent
Built
Lent
5. Verbs which omit a final consonant before adding ‘d’ or ‘t’.
PRESENT
PAST TENSE
PAST PARTICIPLE TENSE
Bring
Brought
Brought
Catch
Caught
Caught
Seek
Sought
Sought
Teach
Taught
Taught
6. Verbs which undergo no change at all in the past tense.
PRESENT
Put
Shut
Burst
Set
PAST TENSE
Put
Shut
Burst
Set
PAST PARTICIPLE TENSE
Put
Shut
Burst
Set
Tenses
The tenses simply show the time of an action or state of being as shown by a verb.
The verb ending is changed (conjugated) to show what time it is referring to.
Time can be split into three periods The Present (what you are doing), The Past(what you did)
and The Future (what you are going to do, or hope / plan to do ).
eg. I am a little plant now. (Present Tense)
Once I was a seed. (Past Tense)
I’ll be a big tree after a few years. (Future Tense)
Simple Tenses
The simple tenses are used to show permanent characteristics of people and events or what
happens regularly, habitually or in a single completed action.
Uses of Simple Present Tense
i) Habitual actions that are repeated. eg. I (always) take the bus to College
ii) Definite Future events- eg. The College reopens on the 20th of June.
iii) Past events (to make it sound dramatic) eg. I saw a horror movie last evening. In that
film, a ghost comes to the girl’s house every night at 12 o’clock.
iv) Instantaneous actions (as in commentaries) eg. The President goes past the guard of
honour and waves to the crowd.
Uses of Simple Past Tense
i)
Narrative: used to indicate a sequence of events
eg. He sailed to England, defeated the Saxons and became King.
ii) Repeated events in the Past: eg. Major Khatri visited the hospital every day for two years.
Uses of Present Progressive
i) Temporary state : eg. She’s cooking in the kitchen.
ii) Habitual use (limited period) : eg. The manager is cycling to work till his car is repaired.
iii) Sporadic repetations: eg. The children are always breaking windows.
Note: When the progressive is used in this way, an implied criticism is indicated.The adverbs,
always, constantly, forever and continually are generally used in such statements.
eg. He is always asking silly questions.
Uses of the Past Progressive
i)
for actions going on simultaneously: eg. I was peeling onions when Karthik was watching
television.
ii) for indicating a temporary state: eg. I was watching the television all evening.
iii) for ongoing action: eg. I was having my bath just then.
Note: The use of the progressive depends largely on whether a verb is dynamic or stative.
Dynamic verbs can broadly be defined as ‘action’ verbs. Verbs that indicate a state without a
definite beginning or an end are ‘stative’ verbs.
Dynamic verbs like the following can be used with the progressive.
kiss
kill
drink
eat
sleep
learn
play
read
change
grow
die
arrive
hit
run
dance
Stative verbs like the following cannot be used in the progressive generally.
know
like
prefer
understand
think
want
have
be
Uses of Present Perfect
i) State –up-to-the-present: extends over a period lasting up to the present moment.
eg. We’ve known each other for 20 years.
ii) inclusive use: a completed activity sometime in the past with present relevance.
eg. I have seen Mt.Everest.
iii) resultative use: an activity completed in the past giving rise to certain result in the
present. eg. I’ve had my lunch.
iv) iterative use: a repeated, but non- continuous action over a period in the past with present
implications. eg. He has attended all English classes this semester.
Uses of Past Perfect
i) Past-in-the-past: where two actions occur in the past, one before the other.
eg. I reached the station at 6 pm, but the train had left by then.
ii) with verbs like hope, expect, think, intend, mean, purpose, want etc. to indicate that a past
hope expectation was not fulfilled.
eg. He had intended to talk to her.
I had hoped to improve my condition.
Future Tense
The future can be expressed in English using




The simple present
The present progressive
‘going to’ form
‘will’ and ‘shall’
The simple present: The simple present is used when we talk about fixed programmes. It is also
used with a future meaning after ‘I bet’ and ‘I hope’.
eg. The PM arrives at 10 p.m.
College starts on June 25th.
What time does the Pathankot Express arrive?
I bet I reach the gatepost before you do.
I hope you have a pleasant journey.
The present progressive: It is used to talk about personal arrangements for the future.
eg. I’m seeing the lawyer tomorrow. (I have fixed an appointment)
Are you doing anything tonight? (Have you made any arrangements?)
‘going to’ form: i) ‘going to’ refers to a future based on present circumstances.
eg. She’s going to have a baby. (I can see that she’s pregnant)
It’s going to rain. (Isee the dark clouds in the sky)
ii) ‘going to’ is also used when we talk about decisions that have been made
about the future. eg. What are going to be when you grow up?
I’m going to be a pilot.
‘will’and ‘shall’: i) will’and ‘shall’ are used when we predict what we think will happen.
eg. You will never fail if you study for an hour everyday.
ii) We use ‘will’ when we talk about decisions at the moment we are making it.
eg. “It’s the courier”. “I’ll take it.”
iii) for making suggestions and offers we use ‘shall’ in questions.
eg. Shall I open the windiow?
Shall we tell mother?
iv) for requests, however ,we use ‘will’. eg. Will you please get me a drink?
Future Progressive: (will/shall + v + ing) is used to
i) talk about actions that will be in progress in the future. eg.By this time next year, you will
be living in your new house.
ii) suggest that a future programme has been fixed. eg. The Vice Chancellor will be
addressing the faculty at 10 a.m tomorrow in the Lecture Hall.
iii) ask politely about someone’s plans. eg. Will you be needing the car tomorrow, Sir?
Future Perfect : ( will/shall have + past Participle) tells us about something that will have been
completed in the future.
eg. He’ll have finished his novel by next year.
I’ll have been teaching for 10 years this winter.
AGREEMENT
It is necessary to maintain proper relationship between nouns and verbs; persons and genders;
mood and number and in brief between different parts of a sentence. In Grammar the word
agreement means, likeness. To make two words agree is to make them alike in some respect.
Words may agree in number, gender and case.
Agreement Rules:
1. ( a) Some nouns are plural in form, but singular in meaning like News, Maths, Billiards,
Mumps, Wages, thanks etc.,
Eg: News travels fast.
Billiards is an interesting game.
(b) Some nouns are plural in form, and singular in meaning, except when used after ‘a
pair of ‘Eg: My trousers are not ironed.
The scissors are dull.
These gloves are mine.
But : A pair of scissors is lying on the table.
A pair of gloves is needed by me.
2. A compound subject consists of two or more nouns or pronouns; usually connected by
the word ‘and’ requires a plural verb.
Eg: Oxygen and Hydrogen are gases.
A fool and his money are soon parted.
Hyderabad and Secundrabad are called twin cities.
However, there are three exceptions to this:
a) Two singular subjects referring to the same person or thing takes a singular verb.(In
this case only one article/pronoun govern both nouns.)
Eg: My friend and co- workers on an extended holiday.
The secretary and the treasurer are out of the town.
b) When two singular subjects express jointly a single idea, the verb is singular.
Eg: Bread and Butter is his favourite breakfast.
c) Two nouns, practically synonymous, take a singular verb. When they are the
opposites, the verb is plural.
Eg: Honour and glory is his reward.
Slow and steady wins the race.
The rise and fall of the tide are due to the lunar influence.
.
3. A collective noun represents a collection; names a group of people or things :crowd,
committee, flock, team, herd, Jury. When used collectively, it takes a singular verb.But
when the collective noun is used individually or in a divided sense: the verb is plural.
Eg: The team is visiting our campus.
The Committee has changed its decision.
The Jury wants to give its verdict.
The flock of sheep is grazing in the corner of the field.
4. When a plural number applies to distances ,heights, weights or amounts and represent a
single figure or quantity, it is treated as singular, and takes a singular verb, as:
Eg; Three yards of tape is sufficient.
Three- fourths of the job is completed.
Twenty thousand rupees is too much for this TV.
Fourty pounds of baggage is all you are allowed.
5. When the following words join the subject, the verb agrees with the subject closest to it:
Eg: Not only he, but also his children were blamed.
Not only – but also, neither -nor, either-or, or, nor…
Not only Jane, but also her friend is going to the concert.
Either you, or I am to blame.
6. When the subjects are connected by, ‘as well as’, ‘in addition to’ , ‘together with’, ‘along
with’ etc the verb agrees with the number and person of the subject that stands first:
Eg: Jane, as well as her friends is invited.
My brothers, as well as I were late.
Your voice, as well as your walk gives you away.
7. The word to which a pronoun refers is called the antecedent. All pronouns must agree
with antecedents.
Eg: Everybody in the audience was cheering.
Each of the cars has paint on it.
Everyone is required to bring his report.
8. ‘A Number’ – is considered equivalent to ‘some’ and takes a plural verb whereas, ‘A
large number’, ‘a small number’ and ‘the number’ take a singular veb.
Eg: A large number is in the field.
A small number is going to the rally.
The number of participants taking part in such programme increased over the years.
9. When the subject is ‘one of’, followed by a plural noun- the verb is singular.
Eg: One of the girls is going to Europe.
One of the students is suffering from flu.
One of the boys has received an award for his outstanding performance.
10. Agreement of Relative Pronoun – When the relative pronoun is the subject , the predicate
of that clause agrees with the relative pronoun.
Eg: It is I who am wrong.
He is one of the men who are going.
It is you who are too noisy.
11. Titles of books, newspapers, and films even though plural in form take singular verb:
Eg: Wren and Martin is a useful grammar book.
Oliver Twist is a novel of poverty, crime and injustice.
The Guns of Navrone is a classical war-novel.
Channabasappa and sons is a famous textile showroom at Davangere.
12. The indefinite pronoun ‘one’ is always singular, it requires a singular predicate.Any
pronoun of which ‘one’ is the antecedent must also be singular.
Eg: One should always do one’s best work.
One should love one’s country.
One ought to respect elders.
WORD FORMATION
Prefix and Suffix
Words with a different grammatical form or meaning can be derived from a base word using
prefixes and suffixes. By understanding how these prefixes and suffixes work, it is often easier to
deal with unknown vocabulary. You can sometimes see what part of speech a word is (verb,
noun, adjective etc.), or additional information that a prefix may give.
1. Changes in grammatical form.
The noun 'power' can be used as an adjective by adding the suffix -ful (powerful). The adverbial
form is made by adding the suffix -ly to the adjective (powerfully).
The verb 'to improve' becomes a noun by adding the suffix -ment (improvement). The same root
word can also become a verb (improvise)
The noun 'nation' changes into an adjective with the suffix -al (national), and by adding another
suffix
-ize the word changes from an adjective to a verb (nationalize)
The adjective 'special' can change to a verb (specialize) or a noun (speciality).
2. Changes in meaning.
Prefixes and suffixes can also change the meaning of a word.
The meaning of 'possible' is reversed with the addition of the prefix im- (impossible).
To 'overeat' means to eat too much and if food is undercooked, it is not cooked enough.
Some suffixes commonly denote an occupation.
Eg. The verb 'to teach' is transformed into the occupation with the suffix -er (teacher).
Both grammatical changes and changes in meaning can be applied to the same base word.
Eg. The noun 'interest' can be made an adjective and given opposite meaning by adding a prefix
and a suffix -un….-ing (uninteresting).
3. Changes in pronunciation.
When prefixes and suffixes are added to root words, the word stress sometimes changes.
Eg. Noun & verb: 'photograph'. Adjective: 'photographic'. Opposite: 'unphotographic'.
Person: 'photographer'.
In English the word stress is often on the third syllable from the end.
Overleaf is a list of the most common suffixes and prefixes and the grammatical and meaning
changes that they apply to root words.
Prefixes
Prefixes are first syllables like “non-” and “re-” that have their own meaning. Prefixes combine
with words to create new meanings. They add meaning to thousands of words. Learning a few
prefixes can open up the meaning of thousands of words.
Eg: Pre + View = Preview (first look)
Super + Star = Superstar (top player)
Most Common Prefixes
1. a = without : amoral, apolitical, atypical
2. ante = before : antecedent, antedate
3. anti = against, opposing : anti-war, anti-bacterial
4. arch = more extreme : arch-capitalist, arch-rebel
5. auto = self : auto-dial, auto-rotate
6. bi = two, twice : bilingual, bisect, bi-monthly
7. circum = round : circumnavigate, circumvent
8. co = with : co-author, co-edit
9. col, com, con = with : collaborate, combine, connect
10. contra, counter = against, opposing : contraception, counter-claim
11. de = opposite action : declassify, destroy
12. dia = across : diagonal, diameter
13. dis = not, opposite of : disagree, disprove, distrust, disbelief
14. dys = abnormal : dyslexia, dysfunctional
15. e = electronic : e-literate, e-book
16. eco = relating to the environment : eco-tourism, eco-disaster
17. en(m) = cause to : encode, embrace
18. equi = equal : equidistant, equilateral
19. ex = previously : ex-president, ex-student
20. extra = very : extra-bright, extra-strong
21. extra = outside : extra-curricular, extra-sensory
22. fore = before : forecast
23. hyper = having too much : hyperactive, hypersensitive
24. il, im, in, ir = not : illogical, impossible, indistinct, irrational
25. in(m) = in, movement to: input, inset, intake, implant, import
26. inter = between, connected : interrelated, interact
27. intra = within : intra-generational, intramuscular
28. kilo = thousand : kilogram, kilometer, kilowatt
29. macro = large in size or scope : macro-economics, macro-scale
30. mal = badly : malfunction, malpractice
31. micro = small in size or scope : micro-economics, micro-scale
32. mid = middle : midway
33. mis = wrongly : mistake, mistranslate, misunderstanding
34. mono = one : mono-centric, monoculture
35. multi = many : multicultural, multi-level
36. neo = based on something older but in new form : neo-classical
37. non = not : non-believer, non-competitive, nonsense
38. out = more, to a greater extent : outnumber, outlive
39. over = over/above/too much : overlook, overcook, overhead
40. post = after : post-examination, post-modern
41. pre = before : pre-industrial, preview, pre-war
42. pro = in favour of : pro-feminist, pro-liberal
43. pseudo = false : pseudo-intellectual, pseudo-science
44. quasi = almost, not quite : quasi-academic, quasi-legal
45. re = again : rediscover, redefine, rename, return
46. retro = backwards : retrogressive, retrospective
47. semi = half, partly : semicircle, semi-organic, semi-precious
48. sub = under, beneath, part of something: submarine, subsection
49. super = above, bigger : superpower, supersonic, superstar
50. trans = across : transcontinental, transcribe, transport
51. ultra = extreme : ultra-sensitive, ultrasound
52. un = not : uncertain, unusual, unscrew, unplug, unfriendly
53. under = insufficient, under, beneath : underemployed, undersea
54. well = useful, successful : well-designed, well-written
A. With the meaning ‘not’
Prefixes (un-, in-, il-, in- and dis-) are often used to give adjective (and some verbs and nouns 0 a
negative meaning.
Eg: happy unhappy
like (v)
disklike (v)
possible impossible
legal
illegal ( = against the law)
correct incorrect
regular
irregular
 un- is used with many different words Eg: uncertain, unusual, unscrew, unplug,
unfriendly
 im- is used before some words beginning with ‘m’ or ‘p’ Eg: impossible, impolite,
impatient
 il- is used before some words beginning with l Eg: illegible (= cannot be read because the
writing is very bad).
 ir- is only used before some words beginning with r, e and g Eg: irresponsible
 dis- is used before some adjectives Eg: dishonest , and a few verbs Eg: dislike, disagree
 in- is used before a limited number of words Eg: invisible (=cannot be seen)
B. Verb prefixes: un- and disThese prefixes have two meaning: they can have negative meaning (as above), but they can also
mean ‘the opposite of an action’ or ‘to reverse an action’. This meaning is used with certain
verbs.
Eg: I locked the door when I left, but I lost the key, so I couldn’t unlock it when I get back.
I had to pack my suitcase (= put everything in it) very quickly, so I unpacked (= took
everything out) at the hotel, most of my clothes look terrible.
The plane appeared in the sky, then suddenly disappeared behind a cloud.
In the morning you get dressed (= put on the clothes) ; when you go to bed you get
undressed (= take off your clothes).
C. Other verb prefixes with specific meaning
re- (=again) My homework was terrible, so I had to redo it.
over- (=too much) I think my boss is overdoing it at the moment. (=working too hard; also over
work)
mis ( = badly or incorrectly) I’m afraid I misunderstood what he said.
Two of the students misread the first question.
Suffix
Suffixes are last syllables like “ed” and “ly” that have their own meaning. They combine with
words to create new meanings.
Eg: turn + ed = Turned (in the past)
quick + ly = Quickly (how it turned)
Most Common Suffixes
1. -able, ible = can be done: identifiable, predictable
2. -al, ial = has property of: personal
3. -ant = having an effect: coolant, accelerant
4. –based = forming a major part of : computer-based, oil-based
5. –cy = state or quality: accuracy, literacy, urgency
6. -ed* = past verb: turned
7. –ee = person affected by something: interviewee, trainee, addressee
8. -en = made of : golden
9. -er = comparative: higher
10. -er = one who: doer, actor
11. -est = superlative: best, biggest
12. –free = without: debt-free, pain-free
13. –ful = full of : careful, joyful
14. –hood = state, condition, and period: adulthood, motherhood
15. –ic = having property of, connected with: linguistic, photographic, electric
16. –ics = study of: genetics, electronics
17. –ify = give something a quality: clarify, purify, and solidify
18. –ing* = present participle: running
19. –ism = belief, behaviour : modernism, heroism
20. – ist = person with specific beliefs or behaviour: anarchist, optimist
21. – (t) ion = act, process: action
22. – (i) ty = state of: infinity, sanity
23. – (t) vie = adjective : motive, votive
24. –ize, -ise = bring about a state or condition : modernize/modernize, colonize/colonise
25. –less = without: fearless, careless, childless, and meaningless
26. –like = resembling: bird-like, child-like, and hook-like
27. –ly* = having: quickly, quietly
28. –ment = action, process: enjoyment
29. –ness = quality or state of: kindness, effectiveness, openness
30. –ocracy = type of ruling body: meritocracy, bureaucracy
31. –ocrat = person ruling: technocrat, aristocrat
32. –ology, -ological = study of : archaeology, biology, biological, geology, physiological
33. –ous = having: joyous, religious
34. –proof = protected against, safe from: waterproof, dustproof
35. –s* = more than one: books
36. –ship = state or experience of having a specific position: professorship, leadership
20. –y = having: happy, windy
Suffixes change word class, eg. from verb to noun or noun to adjective, but they can also change
meaning.
A. Noun or verb+ suffix
Noun or verb
Suffix
Adjectives
danger, fame
-ous
dangerous, famous (=well known)
music, politics
-al
musical,political,
industry, economics -al
industrial, economical (=saves you money)
cloud, fog, sun, dirt -y
Cloudy, foggy, sunny, dirty (not clean)
attract, create
-ive
attractive (=pretty, nice to look at ; creative(= able to produce
new ideas; with imagination
Note: Sometimes there is a spelling change.
eg. double the consonant, sun/sunny, fog/foggy
leave out the final ‘e’, create/ creative, fame/ famous
leave out the final ‘s’ before ‘al’, politics/political ; economics/ economical
change ‘y’ to ‘i’ before ‘al’, industry/ industrial
B. - able
 This suffix (also –ible in some words) is used to form many adjectives from nouns or
verbs:
enjoyable, comfortable, knowledgeable ( = knows a lot), suitable (= right/correct for a
particular situation).
 Quite often, -able (and –ible) has the same meaning ‘can be done’. eg. something that is
washable ‘can be washed’, drinkable, comprehensible (= can be comprehended or
understood), reliable (=can be relied on or trusted) eg. a car or other machine that never
goes wrong or breaks down.
 Words ending –able quite often express the opposite meaning by adding the prefix un-:
undrinkable, unreliable, unbreakable, unsuitable, uncomfortable
 Words ending –ible add the prefix in-:
incomprehensible, inflexible (= fixed idea about something that cannot be changed
quickly or easily), inedible ( =cannot be eaten)
Suffixes for Nouns
Suffixes for Adjectives
Suffixes for Verbs
-ment
-ness
-sion
-tion
-ty
-al
-er
-age
-sis
-ism
-ity
-ant
-ful
-ive
-ic
-al
-able -ed
-ible -ing
-ous -ish
-y
-ly
-ize
-ise
-yse
-ate
-ent
-en
-ance
-hood
-dom
-ght
-ful
Suffixes for
Adverbs
-ly
-ily
-ely
-ingly
-ssion
-ship
-th
-cess
-like -some
-worthy
-ify
-fy
-ct
-fine
-ive
Suffixes for
Professions & people
-er
-ess (female)
-or
-ian
-ist
-ic
-ee
-eer
-man
Suffixes for
University subjects
-ics
-y
-ing
-ism
Synonyms and Antonyms
Synonyms are words which have similar meanings. The meaning of these words need not be
exactly the same. Most words can have one or more synonyms.
Trying to find out synonyms of new words you encounter is a good way of improving English
vocabulary.
LIST OF SYNONYMS
Abroad - Overseas
Accord – Agreement
Admit - Confess
Agree - Consent
Alike - Same
Allow - Permit
Amount – Quantity
Amusement- change, recreation
Amend- atone
Angry - Mad
Ascend – climb, soar
Answer - Response
Ask - Inquire
Attire - Dress
Authentic- real, genuine
Autocrat – with absolute power
Avaricious - greedy
Aversion- hatred
Away - Absent
Awful - Terrible
Baby - Infant
Beautiful - Pretty
Becoming - Fitting
Beg - Implore
Begin - Commence
Belly – Stomach
Bias- prejudice
Big - Large
Bizarre - Weird
Blank – Empty
Blend- mingle
Bondage- slavery
Brave – Bold
Brisk- quick
Broad - Wide
Bucket - Pail
Busy - Active
Calamity - Disaster
Candy - Sweets
Center - Middle
Change - Transform
Chiefly - Mainly
Choosy - Picky
Close - Shut
Collect - Gather
Complete – Total
Comprehend- understand, grasp
Confess- award
Confine - Restrict
Confuse - Mixed Up
Considerate - Thoughtful
Contrary - Opposite
Correct - Right
Cunning - Clever
Dash - Sprint
Daybreak - Dawn
Dedicated - Committed
Deliberate - Planned
Delicate - Fragile
Destiny - Fate
Disclose - Reveal
Discount - Reduction
Disgrace - Shame
Eager - Keen
Elevate - Raise
Enormous - Huge
Enquire - Investigate
Evaluate - Assess
Evil - Bad
Exactly - Precisely
Except - Apart From
Exit - Leave
Extra - Additional
Fair - Unbiased
False - Untrue
Famous - Renowned
Fantastic - Great
Fast - Quick
Finish - Complete
Formerly - Previously
Fortunate - Lucky
Fun -Entertaining
Function -Operate
Funny - Amusing
Garbage - Trash
Get - Receive
Glad - Happy
Glitter - Sparkle
Good - Fine
Grab - Seize
Grumble - Grouse
Hall - Corridor
Handsome - Good Looking
Happily - Fortunately
Hard - Difficult
Hazard - Danger
Help - Assist
Hint - Tip
Huge - Enormous
Hurt - Injure
Hurry - Rush
Ignore - Snub
Ill - Sick
Imitate - Mimic
Immediate - Instantly
Impact - Affect
Impartial - Neutral
Important - Significant
Inconsiderate - Thoughtless
Infamous - Notorious
Infect - Contaminate
Informal - Casual
Innocent - Harmless
Inspect - Examine
Instructions - Directions
Insufficient - Inadequate
Intellectual - Mental
Intelligent - Smart
Intend - Mean
Inventory - Stock
Invoice - Bill
Jealous - Envious
Job - Work
Joy - Delight
Kid - Child
Kind - Benevolent
Learn - Memorize
Lethal - Deadly
Listen - Hear
Little - Small
Lots - Many
Loving - Fond
Loyal - Faithful
Lucid - Clear
Mad - Crazy
Make - Build
Maintain - Preserve
Maybe - Perhaps
Meeting - Assembly
Mild -Gentle
Misery - Distress
Modern - Contemporary
Movie - Film
Native - Local
Necessary -Essential
Near - Close
New - Recent
Nice - Pleasant
Noon - Midday
Notify - Inform
Numerous - Many
Odd - Strange
Old - Mature
Ornament - Decoration
Outgoing - Friendly
Overlook - Miss
Oversee - Supervise
Part - Section
Particular - Specific
Perception - Insight
Perfect - Flawless
Possibility - Opportunity
Praise - Compliment
Provide - Supply
Quake - Tremble
Quite - Fairly
Raise - Lift
Real - Genuine
Receive - Get
Regret - Remorse
Reliable - Dependable
Remark - Comment
Renew - Resume
Respond - Reply
Rest - Relax
Rich - Wealthy
Rock - Stone
Rude - Impolite
Sad - Unhappy
Safe - Secure
Scared - Afraid
See - Look
Select - Choose
Significant - Meaningful
Sincere - Honest
Sleepy -Drowsy
Slim - Sender
Steady - Firm
Stop - Cease
Suggest - Propose
Sure - Certain
Symbolize - Represent
Talk - Speak
Temper - Mood
Temporary - Transitory
Think - Ponder
Tiny - Small
Transform - Convert
Trustworthy -Reliable
Try - Attempt
Uncommon - Unusual
Uncooked - Raw
Under - Below
Unfortunate - Unlucky
Use - Utilize
Usually - Generally
Vague - Indistinct
Vanquish - Conquer
Vary - Differ
Vast - Huge
Want - Desire
Weak - Feeble
Withstand - Resist
Yell – Shout
Antonyms
Antonymns are words having opposite meaning.
Above – Below
Absent – Present
Achieve – Fail
Add – Subtract
Afraid – Confident
After – Before
Amateur – Professional
Ancient – Modern
Argue – Agree
Arrive – Depart
Arrogant – Humble
Ascend – Descend
Attack – Defend
Awake – Asleep
Bad – Good
Beautiful – Ugly
Before - After
Better – Worse
Big – Little
Birth – Death
Black – White
Blunt – Sharp
Bold – Timid
Brave – Cowardly
Brief – Long
Bright – Dull
Busy – Idle
Buy – Sell
Cautious – Careless
Cheap – Expensive
Clean – Dirty
Close – Open
Cold – Hot
Complex – Simple
Compliment – Insult
Cool – Warm
Crazy – Sane
Crooked – Straight
Cruel – Kind
Dark - Light
Day - Night
Deep – Shallow
Decrease – Increase
Demand - Supply
Destroy – Create
Divide – Unite
Down - Up
Drunk – Sober
East – West
Easy – Difficult
End – Begin
Even – Odd
Evening – Morning
Expand – Contract
Fail – Pass
False – True
Fat – Skinny
Fiction – Fact
Float - Sink
Follow – Lead
Foolish - Wise
Forgive – Blame
Freeze - Boil
Full – Empty
Generous – Stingy
Gentle – Rough
Giant - Dwarf
Give – Receive
Gloomy – Cheerful
Grief – Joy
Guilty - Innocent
Happy – Sad
Hard – Soft
Heaven – Hell
Heavy – Light
High – Low
Hire - Fire
Huge – Tiny
Hungry - Full
Idle – Active
In – Out
Include - Exclude
Individual – Group
Innocent – Guilty
Inside – Outside
Joy – Sadness
Kind – Cruel
Knowledge – Ignorance
Last – First
Laugh – Cry
Less – More
Lie – Truth
Like – Dislike
Likely – Unlikely
Liquid – Solid
Lonely – Crowded
Long – Short
Loose – Tight
Lost – Found
Love – Hate
Major – Minor
Man – Woman
Marvelous – Terrible
Mature – Immature
Maximum - Minimum
Mix – Separate
Moist – Dry
More – Less
Most – Least
Move – Stay
Near – Far
Never – Always
New – Old
Noisey – Quiet
None – All
North – South
Nothing – Something
Now – Then
Obvious – Hidden
Odd – Even
Often – Seldom
Old – Young
On – Off
Optimist - Pessimist
Ordinary – Extraordinary
Over – Under
Pain – Pleasure
Panic – Calm
Partial – Complete
Passive – Active
Peace - War
Permanent – Unstable
Play – Work
Plentiful – Sparse
Polite – Rude
Poor – Rich
Positive – Negative
Powerful – Weak
Praise – Criticism
Pride – Modesty
Private – Public
Problem – Solution
Profit – Loss
Quality – Inferiority
Quick – Slow
Raise – Lower
Random – Specific
Rare – Common
Raw – Cooked
Regret – Rejoice
Remember – Forget
Right – Wrong
Rigid – Flexible
Rise – Sink
Rough – Smooth
Rude – Polite
Same – Different
Segregate – Integrate
Seldom – Often
Sell – Buy
Send – Receive
Shame – Honor
Short – Long
Show – Hide
Simple - Complicated
Single – Married
Sour – Sweet
Spend – Earn
Start – Stop
Started – Finished
Stay – Leave
Stiff – Flexible
Stop – Go
Strength – Weakness
Strong - Weak
Student – Teacher
Sturdy – Weak
Sunny - Cloudy
Superb – Inferior
Tame – Wild
Teach – Learn
Temporary – Permanent
Thin – Wide
Tidy – Messy
Timid – Bold
Together – Apart
Top - Bottom
Toward – Away
Tragic – Comic
Transparent - Opaque
Triumph – Defeat
True – False
Union – Separation
Unique – Common
Upset – Stabilize
Urge – Deter
Vacant – Occupied
Vague – Definite
Vertical – Horizontal
Victory - Defeat
Villain – Hero
Visible - Invisible
Wax - Wane
Wealth – Poverty
Well - Sick
Wet – Dry
White – Black
Wild – Tame
Win – Lose
With – Without
Worthy – Worthless
Young - Old
Homonyms
Homonyms (also called homophones) are words that sound like one another but have different
meanings. Some homonyms are spelled the same, like bark (the sound a dog makes) and bark
(the outer layer of a tree trunk). Some homonyms are spelled differently, like one (the number)
and won (having been victorious).
Eg: thereSome common homonyms include:
ad/add
allowed/aloud
ant/aunt
ate/eight
ball/bawl
band/banned
bear/bare
be/bee
billed/build
blew/blue
board/bored
boy/buoy
brake/break
by/bye/buy
beach/beech
bolder/boulder
bread/bred
browse/brows
capital/capitol
caret/carrot/carat
/karat
cell/sell
cent/scent/sent
census/senses
cereal/serial
chews/choose
choral/coral
chute/shoot
clothes/close
colonel/kernel
creak/creek
crews/cruise
cymbal/symbol
days/daze
dear/deer
dew/do/due
die/dye
doughs/doze
earn/urn
ewe/you
eye/I
fare/fair
feat/feet
find/fined
fir/fur
flea/flee
flew/flu/flue
flower/flour
for/four/fore
forth/fourth
foul/fowl
frees/freeze
gneiss/nice
gnu/knew/new
gored/gourd
gorilla/guerrill
a
grays/graze
grate/great
guessed/guest
gym/Jim
hale/hail
hall/haul
hare/hair
heal/heel/he'll
heard/herd
hew/hue
hi/high
higher/hire
him/hymm
hair/hare
hoarse/horse
hole/whole
hour/our
its/it's
jam/jamb
jeans/genes
knead/need/kne
ed
knight/night
knows/nose/no'
s
lead/led
leased/least
lessen/lesson
lie/lye
links/lynx
load/lode/lowe
d
loan/lone
locks/lox
loot/lute
maid/made
mail/male
maize/maze
meet/meat
medal/meddle
mince/mints
miner/minor
missed/mist
mooed/mood
morning/mourn
ing
muscle/mussel
mussed/must
nays/neighs
no/know
none/nun
nose/knows/no'
s
not/knot/naught
passed/past
patience/patie
nts
pause/paws
peace/piece
peak/peek/piq
ue
peal/peel
pedal/peddle
peer/pier
pi/pie
plain/plane
plum/plumb
praise/prays/p
reys
presence/pres
ents
principal/prin
ciple
prince/prints
quarts/quartz
quince/quints
rain/reign/rei
n
raise/rays/raz
e
rap/wrap
read/reed
read/red
real/reel
reek/wreak
rest/wrest
review/revue
right/rite/writ
e
ring/wring
road/rode/ro
sea/see
seam/seem
seas/sees/seiz
e
serf/surf
serge/surge
sew/so/sow
shoe/shoo
side/sighed
sighs/size
sign/sine
sight/site/cite
slay/sleigh
soar/sore
soared/sword
sole/soul
son/sun
some/sum
spade/spayed
staid/stayed
stair/stare
stake/steak
stationary/stat
ionery
steal/steel
straight/strait
suede/swayed
summary/su
mmery
sundae/Sunda
y
tacks/tax
tail/tale
taut/taught
tea/tee
teas/tease/tee
s
to/too/two
toad/toed/towe
d
toe/tow
told/tolled
tracked/tract
trussed/trust
use/ewes
vein/vane
verses/versus
vial/vile
vice/vise
wade/weighed
wail/whale
waist/waste
wait/weight
waive/wave
Wales/whales
war/wore
ware/wear/wh
ere
warn/worn
wax/whacks
way/weigh/wh
ey
we/wee
weather/wheth
er
we'd/weed
weld/welled
we'll/wheel
wen/when
we've/weave
weak/week
which/witch
whirled/world
whirred/word
disc/disk
discreet/discrete
discussed/disgust
doe/dough
idle/idol
idle/idol/idyl
in/inn
incite/insight
one/won
or/oar/ore
overdo/overdue
paced/paste
pail/pale
pain/pane
pair/pare/pear
pain/pane
wed
roe/row
role/roll
root/route
rose/rows
rote/wrote
roux/rue
rye/wry
sacks/sax
sail/sale
sawed/sod
scene/seen
tents/tense
tern/turn
there/their/the
y're
threw/throug
h
throne/throw
n
thyme/time
tide/tied
tighten/titan
whine/wine
whoa/woe
who's/whose
wood/would
worst/wurst
yoke/yolk
you'll/yule
your/you're/yo
re
HOMOPHONES
Homophones are words that are pronounced the same but they have different meanings and are usually
spelled differently as well. They usually occur in groups of two but sometimes they can be three or four in
a group. It’s important to recognize and identify the most common homophones because the spelling can
change the entire meaning of a sentence! Here is a list of the most common homophones.
List of Common Homophones
air, heir
aisle, isle
ante-, anti-
bare, bear, bear
be, bee
brake, break
buy, by
cell, sell
cent, scent
cereal, serial
coarse, course
complement, compliment
dam, damn
dear, deer
die, dye
eye, I
fair, fare
fir, fur
flour, flower
hair, hare
heal, heel
hear, here
him, hymn
hole, whole
hour, our
idle, idol
in, inn
knight, night
knot, not
know, no
made, maid
mail, male
meat, meet
morning, mourning
none, nun
oar, or
one, won
pair, pear
peace piece
plain, plane
poor, pour
pray, prey
principal, principle
profit, prophet
real, reel
right, write
root, route
sail, sale
sea, see
seam, seem
sew, so, sow
sight, site
shore, sure
sole, soul
some sum
son, sun
stair, stare
stationary, stationery
steal, steel
suite, sweet
tail, tale
their, there
to, too, two
toe, tow
waist, waste
wait, weight
way, weigh
weak, week
wear, where
Homographs
Homographs are words with the same spelling but with more than one meaning.
Ace: noun: a playing card with one large figure in its center.
Ace: verb: to earn the grade of A.
Ace: adjective: of first or high rank or quality
Bark: noun: the sound made by a dog
Bark: noun: the tough covering of a woody root or stem
Bark: verb: to shout or speak sharply
Bark: verb: to rub or scrape the skin of something
Catch: noun: a pastime in which a ball is thrown and caught
Catch: verb: to take hold of something
Dough: noun: a mixture of flour which is kneaded to make bread
Dough: noun: money
Egg: noun: a hard-shelled body produced by a bird
Egg: verb: to incite or urge into action
Fight: noun: a struggle for a goal or an objective
Fight: verb: to try hard; to act for or against; to attempt to prevent the success or effectiveness of
something
Group: noun: a number of objects or persons considered as a unit
Group: verb: to arrange or combine something
Hook: noun: a curved or bent tool for catching, holding, or pulling
Hook: verb: to seize, make fast, connect or become secured
Itch: noun: an uneasy irritating feeling in the skin
Itch: verb: to have a strong desire
Jaw: noun: he parts making up the walls of the mouth and serving to open and close it
Jaw: verb: to talk for a long time
Kick: noun: the movement of the legs
Kick: verb: to free oneself of something, like a habit; to have a good lively time
Lead: noun: an amount or distance ahead
Lead: verb: to guide or direct something or someone
Lead: adjective: acting or serving as a lead or leader
Mean: noun: a middle point between extremes
Mean: verb: to communicate, show, signify or indicate
Mean: adjective: deliberately unkind
Navy: noun: a fleet of ships
Navy: noun: a dark purplish blue color
Oil: noun: greasy flammable liquid substances from plant, animal, or mineral sources that do not
dissolve in water and are used especially as lubricants, fuels, and food
Oil: to put oil in or on something
Paste: noun: a smooth food product made by evaporation or grinding
Paste: verb: to make something stick together
Queer: adjective: oddly unlike the usual or normal
Queer: verb: to spoil the effect or success of something or someone
Right: noun: the ideal of what is just and good; a turn to the side that is opposite of the left
Right: verb: to adjust, correct, or restore to the proper state or condition
Steal: noun: something offered or purchased at a low price
Steal: verb: to take and carry away someone's property without permission.
Time: noun: a moment, hour, day, or year as indicated by a clock or calendar
Time: verb: to measure or record the time, duration, or rate of something or someone
Urge: noun: a strong desire to achieve a goal
Urge: verb: to try to persuade someone
Vacuum: noun: a space completely empty of matter; an object used for cleaning
Vacuum: verb: to clean an object with the use of a vacuum cleaner
Wreck: noun: a person in poor health or spirits
Wreck: noun: a destructive crash
Wreck: verb: to damage or ruin
Punctuation
The right use of the stops in a sentence is known as Punctuation. The following are the principal
Punctuation Marks.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Full Stop
Comma
Semicolon
Colon
Inverted Commas
Exclamation Mark
Interrogation Mark
Capital Letters
(.)
(,)
(;)
(:)
(“ ”)
(!)
(?)
(A)
1. Full Stop ( . ) – It is used :
a) at the end of every Declarative and Imperative sentences.
eg. There should be peace in all countries.
Seema sang in a melodious voice.
b) after abbreviations and initials.
eg. The U.K., The U.S.A., Ph.D., M.D., B.A., B.Sc
2. Comma ( , ) – It makes the shortest pause. It is used:
a) to separate three or more words of the same part of speech.
i)
Nouns: Tina, Meena and Ina are going to attend the crucial meeting in the
evening.
ii)
Adjectives: Ms. Kavya is a polite, charming, rich , healthy girl.
iii)
Adverbs: Mr. Puneet does his work carefully, neatly and meticulously.
b) to mark off the nominative of address
i)
O God, please guide me.
c) to mark off phrases in apposition
i)
John Keats, the lover of beauty, died in the prime of his life.
ii)
Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, was a lean small- statured
man.
d) to avoid repetition of a verb.
i)
He gave me a pen, and to my friend, a book.
e) to make tag questions.
i)
You don’t like eggs, do you?
ii)
You can drive a car, can’t you?
3. Semicolon ( ; ) - It marks a longer pause than a ‘comma’
i) Mr.Peter is a poor, honest, simple man ; but I like him very much.
4. Colon ( : ) - The Colon marks a more effective pause than a semicolon. It is used:
a) to introduce a list of items, mostly of one category.
i) Please give me these items: a pen, a pencil, a book and a rubber.
ii) The languages I like are: English, French, Hindi, German and Sanskrit.
b) to introduce a quotation.
i) Shakespeare says: All that glitters is not gold.
ii) John Keats says: A thing of beauty is a joy forever.
5. Inverted Commas ( “ ” ) – These are used to indicate Direct Speech.
i) He says, “I like to eat chocolates.”
ii) The Teacher said to me, “Have you deposited money with the clerk for the
ensuing educational tour?”
6. Exclamation Mark ( ! ) - It is used to show the sudden eruption of an emotion in
Exclamatory sentences and it is also used in Optative sentences.
i) What a man he is!
ii) Hurrah! I stand first in my class.
iii) May you live long!
7. Interrogation Mark ( ? ) – It is used at the end of Interrogative sentences.
i) What is Madhu doing?
ii) Where are you going with you luggage?
8. Capital Letter ( A ) –
a) The first letter of the first word of each sentence should be capital.
i) Ms. Shelley makes beautiful toys form waste products.
ii) You are not working whole- heartedly these days.
b) It is used before a Proper Noun.
i) Alexander is going to Australia on deputation.
ii) Looking at the injured man Rekha fainted.
ESSAYS
An essay is a short, organized piece of writing on a particular theme or topic containing the
personal views or opinion of the writer. The essay has the following characteristics:
Focus, relevant content
Clear, coherent structure
Accurate, standard language
Contextually appropriate style
An essay like a paragraph should contain a chief or dominant idea supported by relevant details,
references and examples. Secondly it should have a discernible organization or structure.
Traditionally, the essay has three part structure: an introduction of the idea or topic (argument or
main body of the essay); an elaboration or expansion of the idea or topic and a concluding
statement or closure ( Conclusion).Thirdly, an essay should be presented in a language that is
grammatically accurate and error free.Lastly, it should reflect a style or tone that is appropriate to
the context and the purpose for which it has been written.Generally speaking, an essay adopts a
formal tone although some writers prefer a personal.
Introduction

Arouse the reader’s interest





Set the tone and flow of ideas.
Explain how you interpret the topic
Define or explain key terms if necessary
Identify the issues that you are going to explore
Give a brief outline of how you will deal with each issue, and in which order
Argument/Main Body
Contains the points outlined in the introduction, divided into paragraphs:
Paragraph 1
Covers the first thing point addressed in the introduction. The first sentence (the topic sentence)
introduces the main idea of the paragraph. Other sentences develop the topic by including
relevant examples, details, evidence, quotations, references etc.
Paragraph 2 and other paragraphs
The first sentence links the paragraph to the previous paragraph then introduces
the main idea of the paragraph. Other sentences develop the topic by including relevant
examples, details, evidence, quotations, references etc.
The Conclusion
Draw everything together and summarise the main themes.
State the general conclusions Make it clear why those conclusions are important or significant. In
the last sentence, sum up your argument very briefly, linking it to the title. Set the issues in a
broader perspective/wider context. Suggest further questions.
ESSAY WRITING – THE MAIN STAGES
1. Analyse the question
2. Make a rough outline plan
3. Use plan to guide research
4. Review, revise and refine the plan
5. Write first draft
6. Edit draft for structure and content
7. Edit draft for style
8. Check referencing
9. Proof read for spelling/punctuation
10. Produce final copy
TYPES OF ESSAY
Essays are typically classified into four kings:
 Expository
 Descriptive
 Narrative
 Argumentative
Expository Essays
An Expository essay presents facts, information and explanation of things as they are. It
usually answers the questions How and Why, and targets the reader’s intellect and reason. The
content of an exposition is therefore neatly structured with the focus on a logical ordering of
information.
Here is a sample of an expository essay. As you read it, make a note of its logical structure.
What a Lack of Sleep Does to You
The human body is a mechanism that is perfectly designed. A healthy, properly functioning body is a
self-sufficient unit able to effectively deal with all kinds of daily challenges. Our bodies do not require
conscious control – many processes, such as digestion, breathing, heartbeat, and so on are automatic.
All that our bodies require from us is careful and proper handling; alas, this is where many problems
start. Except the obvious misuses, such as fast-food, physical inactivity, or bad ecology, hidden dangers
exist which we usually do not pay attention to. One of the most dangerous (and the most typical
nowadays) among them is the lack of sleep.
Today, it has become almost natural to sleep less. We often believe that there is nothing wrong in
sacrificing a couple of hours of sleep in favor of other activities, while jobs and other social
responsibilities consume plenty of time as well. Besides, many people suffer from various kinds
of sleep deprivations, caused by psychological or other reasons. Unfortunately, a lack of sleep is
not so harmless. Recent studies prove that it significantly increases chances of heart disease;
research conducted in 2011 prove that people who sleep less than six hours per night are more
likely to develop heart disease or die from it (ABC News). Besides this problem, people who
sleep less are more prone to high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, stroke, and diabetes. On the
contrary, people who practice healthy nutrition, moderate physical exercises, and sleep seven or
more hours per night, lower their risks of getting heart disease by up to 65%.
We all know that a lack of sleep can be the reason for accidents. For example one needs to look
no further than at the famous disasters in modern history: the 1979 nuclear accident at Three
Mile Island, the massive Exxon Valdez oil spill, or the 1986 nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl; this
is not to mention car accidents, airplane crashes, and other catastrophes. According to the
American National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the annual amount of car crashes
caused by fatigue equals 100,000 (WebMD). Poor sleep also has a negative influence on job
performance and safety – workers who have sleep deprivation are more prone to work accidents,
and have more sick days per accident.
Perhaps one of the most bizarre effects of total sleep deprivation is its influence on food
consumption. According to a study conducted by the journal Obesity, sleep deprivation can
decrease higher level thinking and increase the feeling of hunger instead (Medical News Today).
The results of the study showed that men tended to buy 18% more food, and consume 9% more
calories when they were sleep deprived, compared to those nights when they had sound sleep. In
addition, the same study showed that the concentration of the hunger-increasing hormone ghlerin
in male bodies increases after a night of poor sleep. Therefore, there may exist a correlation
between obesity and the lack of sleep.
In the modern, fast-paced world, the lack of sleep has become almost a norm. However, its
negative effects are being strongly underestimated. Among the most common malfunctions
caused by sleep deprivations one can name severe heart problems, low concentration and
increased risks of getting into accidents, and its indirect contribution to the development of
obesity.
Descriptive Essays
A Descriptive essay is an account of the physical attributes as well as the qualities of a
person, thing or place. It appeals to the senses in order to convey as complete a picture as
possible of the subject. Description therefore takes things that have been seen, heard, read or
experienced and translates them into words.
Here is a sample of a Descriptive Essay. As you read it, make a note of its logical structure.
Historical Place
Introduction:
The sight of an historical place reminds us of our past glory. Hence, we feel inspired and develop a
nationalistic outlook. Orissa is full of historical places. Konarka is one of them. It is famous for the
temple of the Sun-God. It was once a famous port on the bank of the river Chandrabhaga.
Situation:
Konarka, the temple of the Son-God of the Hindus is situated on the sands of the river
Chandrabhaga. It is situated in Orissa in the district of Puri.
Historical reference:
The temple of konarka was made about seven hundred years back. It was made by the emperor
Langula Narsigha Dev of the Ganga dynasty, who ruled his empire from his capital at Puri. Twelve
hundred masons worked for sixteen years to complete the construction of this temple. This temple is
unique in its architectural beauty.
Architectural importance:
The famous temple of the Lord Jagannath at Puri is well known for its massiveness. The old temple
of Shiva at Bhubaneswar is famous for its fine sculpture all over its body. Both the massiveness of the
Puri temple and the sculptural art of the Bhubaneswar temple have been blended together in the
temple of konarka. This temple had been shaped like the Sun's chariot and based on the massive
stone-wheels. Nothing, at present remains of the eleven hundred feet high temple except its
frontispiece and the magnificent idols. The social behaviors of the ancient Orissa have been nicely
depicted on the walls of the frontispiece.
Conclusion:
Konarka is a famous historical place of Orissa. Here we know about the famous art and architecture
of our ancient architects and sculptures. Here we know about the excellent behaviors of our ancient
people. Here we know about our brave sailors of the past, who sailed from the port at konarka. Every
student of Orissa should visit this place at least once in his student’s life.
Narrative Essays
A narrative essay generally contains a sequence of events together with characters and
setting. It aims to tell the reader what happened. Narration therefore recounts events – real or
imaginary- in chronological order.
Argumentative Essays
`An argumentative essay aims to prove or disapprove an idea or opinion, or to persuade
the reader that the writer’s point of view/opinion/theory 98s right and justified. Argumentation
therefore involves the presentation of an idea or view point and supporting evidence.
Letter Writing
Many people seem to regard letter-writing as a very simple and easily acquired branch, but on
the contrary it is one of the most difficult forms of composition and requires much patience and
labor to master its details. In fact there are very few perfect letter-writers in the language. It
constitutes the direct form of speech and may be called conversation at a distance.
Although there are different kinds of letters- personal, business, official, etc. - the basic format or
structure in all letter-writing is the same. We shall now discuss this format in some detail.
GENERAL FORMAT
The structure of any letter has a number of elements or parts. The seven essential elements that
normally appear in every letter are the following:
 Sender’s address
 Date
 Direction (name and address of the person to whom you are writing)
 Salutation
 Body
 Subscription (complimentary close)
 Signature
Optional elements that appear in formal or business letters are:
 Subject
 Reference
 Enclosure
Essential elements
1. Sender’s Address
This heading carries the writer’s name, address and date, usually given in the following manner,
in the left and right-hand corners of the paper.
a) R.K.Ragavendran
b) Department of Linguistics
18 Race Course Road
University of Delhi
New Delhi 110001
Delhi 110 007
Note: Ordinarily, the above heading is already printed in case of an official letter on top in the
left-hand corner.
2. Date :
The date however, may be written in two different ways- (i) 21 April 2013 or (ii) 21- 4-2013.
The former way is, however, more commonly used.
3. Direction:
a) The personnel Manager
b) Ms.Kavita Swaroop
Life Insurance Corporation of India
4/D Indira Colony
Bhubhaneswar 751 006
Jawahar Nagar
Agra 282 005
4. Salutation
Each letter should begin form the left hand side and should be followed by a comma (and no
other punctuation mark as colon (:) or dash (-). Of course, the form of salutation will differ
according to the person addressed. Given below is the list of the form of address in each case:
i)
Dear Sir/Madam,
ii) Sir/Madam, (in strictly formal letters to and from government departments or officials)
iii) Dear Sirs/ Gentlemen, ( incase of unlimited company, firm or Board of Directors)
iv) Dear Mr. Swaminathan,
v) Dear Swaminathan,
vi) My dear Swaminathan/ Mr dear Mr.Swaminathan, (‘my dear’ shows extra intimacy)
vii) My dear Ravi, (very intimate and friendly)
Note: If a letter is to be forwarded to another address, you should write Please Forward in the
top left-hand corner.
C/o (care of) accompanies a person’s name (not his place of residence). eg\g. C/o
Mrs.Sherin John
5. The body of the letter
Then body of the letter is the main part of the letter, the subject matter of which may differ in
each case.
This part of the letter stating the matter should be presented in paragraphs. The phrasing should
be simple, direct and supported by relevant details.
6. Salutation with corresponding subscription
Sir
Yours truly, (common in formal and official letters)
Dear Sir,
Yours faithfully, (most common in formal, official letters)
Dear Mr.Hussain,
Yours sincerely, (cordial and friendly)
My dear Miss Ankita,
Yours very sincerely, ( in very intimate personal letters)
Dear Shankar,
Yours ever, (intimate personal letters)
Darling Mother,
Fondest love from your loving son/daughter (personal)
My Dear Uncle,
Yours affectionately, (personal)
7. The Signature
You should always make your signature legible. It should be written in hand even if the rest of
the letter has been done on a typewriter/computer. Leave adequate margin on both sides to make
the letter as presentable as possible.
If the letter is signed on behalf of some other person, write p.p.
You should never sign your name as Mr. Shri, Dr. or Col. It is ill mannerly to add such prefixes
to one’s signature.
Optional Elements
These elements form a part of formal letters- official and business correspondence.
1. Your Reference/ Our Reference
The office copy of every letter is put away in a file. To ensure that this is properly done an
identification number is given in the letter against ‘Our Reference’. If you are replying to a
letter or responding to an advertisement then you write the correspondent’s reference number
with date against ‘Your Reference’.
Your Reference: CW-327 Of 21 November 2013
Our Reference: FD-412
2. Subject
Remember that in the case of a business or official letter, it is always helpful to mention there
Subject (of the body of the letter) after the salutation. The word Subject is followed by a colon
and then the matter is indicated.
Dear Sir,
SUB: Supply of Spare Parts
3. Enclosure
It is typed two spaces below the identification marks and the number of documents enclosed is
indicated against it. If the documents attached are important, they are specified.
Encl: Draft No. A32926 dated 18 November, 2013
INFORMAL LETTERS
Lay-out
D 64 Lakshmi Nivas
Naoroji Nagar
Mysore 570 006
23 November, 2013
Dear Ravi,
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Yours ever,
Manoj
It has been customary these days to send messages on birthdays, anniversaries or such other
occasions through printed greeting cards or e-cards. Such cards sound impersonal and
commonplace. It is therefore, always better to write such a letter yourself, preferably in your own
hand. Never forget to make the letter as interesting as possible.
eg. A birthday letter
35 Brindavan Road
Bengaluru
12 May, 2013
My Dear Vinay
Let me first wish you many happy returns of the day. May this year bring you the best of peace,
health and happiness.
It’s a great pity that I couldn’t be with you on your birthday, this year. Something unexpected
held be back here. But I fondly remember the great time we had on your last birthday – the oval
– shaped, chocolate cake. music and dancing. Above all, the pleasure of meeting some of our
old class mates- particularly, Ravi, Shankar, Shilpa and Srinivasan was a lasting memory.
Hope your have a smashing and wonderful day with your family and friends. May all your
wishes come true today and always.
Please convey my best wishes to your parents.
With fond remembrances
Yours ever,
Prskash
Do you know what Pandit Nehru’s birthday gift for Indira was on her 13th birthday? It was a
letter! Here is an excerpt of that letter.
Central Prison, Naini
October 26, 1930
My Dear Indira,
On your birthday you have been in the habit of receiving presents and good wishes. Good wishes
you will still have in good measure, but what present can I send you from Naini prison? My
presents cannot be very material or solid. They can be of the mind and spirit…that even the high
walls of prison cannot stop…
I have always though that the best way to find out what is right and what is not right, what
should be done and what should not be done is not by giving a sermon, but by talking and
discussing and out of discussion sometimes a little bit of truth comes out.
A letter can hardly take the place of talk; at best it is one-sided affair. Imagine that I have made a
suggestion to you for you to think over, as if we really were having a talk…
I have written a very long letter to you. And yet there is so much I would like to tell you. How
can a letter contain it?...
With all my love and good wishes.
Your loving father,
(J.L.Nehru)
A letter of Recommendation
I hope it would be possible for you to talk to this gentleman…
This is to introduce to you someone who has worked as my typist…
A letter of Apology
I regret any inconvenience I may have caused…
I should apologise for the delay…
A message of Congratulation
My heartiest congratulations on your winning…
Let me congratulate you on your promotion…
I feel excited to hear about…
Letter of Complaint
I regret bringing to your notice…
I must tell you, even at the risk of offending you…
Would you, please, reconsider this case…
A letter of refusal
I’m sorry it will not be possible …
Unfortunately, I’d be out of town…
Letter of Thanks
It was indeed very thoughtful of you to invite me…
Thank you very much for your warm hospitality…
With many thanks…
Letter of Invitation
Do let me know if you could join me at dinner.
I’d be looking forward to your next visit.
I’d feel enormously pleased…
Miscellaneous
I look forward to hearing froim you as early as possible.
Please remember me to Uncle David and Aunt Christine.
My best wishes to your family.
Please forgive me for the slight delay in answering your letter.
seek your forgiveness for causing you so much trouble.
FORMAL LETTERS
Lay- out
Heading
BHARAT RAYON LIMITED
44, Church Gate
Mumbai 400 003
Date
30 November, 2013
Your Reference: Your Reference: CW-327 Of 21 November 2013
Our Reference: FD-412
Kamala Nehru Charitable Hospital
Direction
OPark Road
New Delhi- 110 009
Dear Sirs,
Salutation
subject
Sub: Donation for Cancer ward
We have received your appeal for funds for the cancer ward that is being added to your
hospital. It would provide a much needed facility to alleviate the pain and suffering of people
who fall prey to this dreaded disease.
We believe that your institution deserves all possible help and we are therefore enclosing a
cheque for Rs. 50,000/ as our donation.
We wish your venture all success.
Complimentary close
Yours faithfully,
Typed Signature
R. Jacob
Finance Manager
Enclosure: Cheque No.AB23984
TYPES OF FORMAL LETTERS
Complaint Letter
A Claim letter also called Complaint letter is written to get the mistakes made or the wrong done
rectified. A few guidelines to draft such a letter:
 Explain clearly what has gone wrong, giving data where necessary.
 Appeal to the company’s sense of fair play and to its reputation.
 Specify clearly what adjustment you would consider fair.
 Address the letter to a senior officer of the organization.
Sample1
TO
The Postmaster
Sector 22
Delhi
3 March, 2013
Sir,
I regret to bring to your notice the fact that a letter I’d sent by speed-post from your post office
on 22 Feburary has not reached the addressee. I give below the relevant particulars;
(a) Receipt No. 2250
(b) Addressee’s name and address: Dr.S.Vijith Anand, 13 Sapru Road, New Delhi- 110002
(c) Counter No.3
I shall feel grateful if you’d enquire into the matter and let me have a word at your earliest
convenience.
Yours truly,
Dinesh Rathore
18 Lake Road
Sector 22
Chandigarh-300 007
SAMPLE 2
23 Clock Tower Road
Faizabad
21 January, 2013
To
The Commissioner of Mincipal Corporation
Link Road
Faizabad- 920 518
Sir,
I wish to draw to your attention to the dialapitated condition of street number 3 between Weslay
school and Water Tank in Srinagat Colony, South- west of Faizabad. This street has several
pitfall;ls, and two manholes are without covers.
I shall feel grateful if you’d arrange to have the necessary repairs carried out as early as possible
Tahnking you,
Yours truly,
(Mrs. Syed Hussain)
LETTER TO A NEWSPAPER
The Editor
The Times of India
Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg
New Delhi – 110 002
Sir,
Through the columns of your esteemed national daily, I wish to draw the attention of the Police
Commissioner to the lack of police patrolling in the Vasant Vihar Colony of South Delhi. There
has been a spate of thefts in this area, and in spite of the repeated complaints by some of the
residents, no action has been taken so far. Hardly any policeman is seen anywhere on the street at
night.
It is hoped, therefore, that the Police Commissioner will direct the Circle Inspector of this zone
to ensure effective police patrolling during day and night.
Thanking you,
Yours truly,
Abdul Karim
73 Bengali Market
New Delhi-110 001
FORMAL LETTERS: LETTERS OF APPLICATION
APPLICATION FOR A POST
306 Station Road
Central Market
Kanpur- 300 009
29 March, 2013
To
The Registrar
Osmania University
Hyderabad - 560 007
Dear Sir,
Application for the post of Lecturer
In response to your advertisement in The Times of India dated 26 January, 2013, I wish to apply
for the post of lecturer in English.
As regards my qualification, I state that I hold a Master’s Degree in English from the University
of Allahabad, with distinction, securing 75% marks. At the degree examination of the same
university, I was placed in the first division with a second rank.
I here mention that as a post –graduate student, I was the editor of the university magazine The
Explorer to which I also contributed poems and short stories.
As a part of the other extra-curricular activities, I participated in several inter- collegiate publicspeaking competitions. Last year, I played the role of Antony in ‘Julius Caesar’ as a member of
the University Dramatic Club.
I hope you’d consider my application favourably.
Thanking you,
Yours faithfully,
Krishna Kant Dua
APPLICATION FOR LEAVE
13 R P. Road
Secundrabad
7 October, 2013
The Principal
Women’s College
Koti
Hyderabad
Dear Madam,
As I had a minor road accident this morning, it will not be possible for me to attend college for
two days. I shall, therefore, feel obliged if you grant me leave of absence for Oct 5th and 6th.
Thanking you,
Yours faithfully,
Susheel Rao
(3rd Year student)
FORMAL LETTERS: BUSINESS LETTERS
All business letters should be brief, and written in a simple, direct manner.
21 Gandhi Road
Warangal
16 August, 2013
The Regional Manager
Orient Longman Pvt.Ltd.,
45 Himayat Nagar
Hydrabad 500 029
Dear Sir,
I should feel grateful if you’d send me the following books by V.P.P as early as possible;
1. Wings of Fire by A.P.J.Abdul Kalam – one copy
2. Roget’s Thesaurus (paper back) – one copy
3. A book of English Prose by C.B.Coe- two copies
Thanking you,
Yours faithfully,
(R.K.Sharma)
LETTER OF INVITATION
37 The MALL
Shimla
19 July, 2013
My dear Akbar,
My wife and I will be pleased if you and your wife could come to dinner at our house on Sunday,
the 25th of August, at 7.30 p.m.
We are inviting a few other friends as well. We are sure you’d like to meet them.
Looking forward to seeing you,
Yours very sincerely,
Mohammed Saleem
A LETTER OF REFUSAL
19 Cart Road
Shimla
23 July, 2013
My dear Saleem,
It was indeed very gracious of you to invite my wife and myself to have dionner with you on
Sunday, the 25th of August. But since we will be out of town next Sunday, we regret our
inability to join you at dinner.
With regards,
Yours sincerely,
Ali Akbar
FORMAL INVITATION
Mr. and Mrs. Anil Biswas request the pleasure of having Mr and Mrs. Prashant Sinha at dinner
on Wednesday, the 17th of August at 7.30 p.m.
19 Prem Nagar
Nehru Colony
Meerut
12, August, 2013
A LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION
TO WHOSOEVER IT MAY CONCERN
The bearer of this note, Mr.Siraj Hussain, has worked in my office as a clerk for six years. I
found him a very competent and conscientious employee. Since our company Has now been
taken over by another organization, I feel sorry to lose him. I wish to recommend him very
strongly for a clerical position in any concern.
J.Smith
Manager
Skyline Automobile Co.
Ahmedabad
LETTER, PLACING AN ORDER
21 Harding Road
Lucknow
12 February, 2013
To
The Circulation Manager,
The Sahara Time Weekly
Sector 11, C-1
Noida-705 274
Sir,
I enclose a cheque for a hundred and twenty rupees as one year’s subscription to your weekly
The Sahara Time. Kindly arrange to make this order effective immediately so that I may receive
the March issue of your magazine.
Yours truly,
(Mrs. Parveen Begum)
Given below are some useful abbreviations, which have found usage in commercial
correspondence:
Ref:
reference
P.O:
Post office or postal order
p.p:
by procuration
ms. mss:
manuscript, manuscripts
Pvt. Ltd:
Private Limited
i.o.u.:
I owe you
c.i.f:
cost, insurance, freight (term used in shipping transportation)
bal:
balance
a/c:
account
@:
at the rate of
appro:
approval
cat;
catalogue
B/s:
bill of scale
C.O.D:
Cash on delievery
M.o:
Money Order
at par:
equal value
per.an:
yearly, per annum
s.a.l:
stamped, addressed envelope
Co:
Company
Corp;
Corporation
JOB APPLICATION
A job application letter is like a sales letter; it is written to sell one’s services. When you wish to
apply for a job, put its requirements against your qualification and experience. If they match,
carefully draft your application letter.Since the amount and variety of information an employer
may want to know is great, it cannot be conveniently included in the conventional business letter.
It is generally given in the form of a personal data or bio-data sheet or what is sometimes called a
resume.
A resume contains a brief business or vocational history, emphasisng the applicant’s education
experience and accomplishments. The covering letter is short and contains a brief introduction
to the resume. The sequence of information in the resume usually follows the following pattern:
 Personal details such as date of birth, marital status, address etc.
 Education beginning from High School Examination to the highest level, calling
attention to courses which you feel help you to qualify for the job.
 Training, its nature and duration.
 Experience- organization in which you worked, nature of duties and durations.
 Other accomplishments- prizes and awards won, research papers and books published,
etc.
 References- names of usually three persons are given, a senior member of the faculty in
the college/university last attended, the present employer and one other responsible
person who is acquainted with you and your work.
There are two types of application letters: i) an ordinary business letter containing all the relevant
information; and ii) a short covering letter accompanied by a resume. The second type is
common and the format followed in the current scenario.
Sample:
Krishna Nagar
Lucknow – 226002
14 January, 2013
The Personnel Manager
National Pertoleum Company
80 Netaji Marg
New Delhi- 110009
Dear Sir,
Your advertisement for an executive engineer in The Times of India of 13 January, 2013
interests me because I believe I have the right qualification and requisite experience for the job.
After doing B.E in Chemical Engineering I have worked as an Assistant Engineer in Indian Oil
Corporation for about six years.During this period I have gained experience in using modern
techniques for increasing the production. The enclosed ‘resume’ gives all the required details.
I am sure I would be able to make a significant contribution in your forward-looking and
expanding organization. I would therefore be grateful if you give me an opportunity to be
interviewed.
Yours faithfully,
T.Shankar
Encl: Resume
Resume
Personal Details
Name:
Date of Birth:
T.Shankar
02 October, 1979
Marital status:
Nationality:
Address:
Married, one son aged two
Indian
606 Krishna Nagar
Lucknow- 226002 (UP)
Mob: 9994272010
Email: tshan2@gmail.com
Contact details:
Education:
Year
Examination
Division
Institution
1976
1978
1983
I
I
I
Govt. High School, Gandhi Nagar , Lucknow
Govt. Inter College, Lucknow
Regional Engineering College, Allahabad.
High School
Intermediate
B.E ( Chemical Engg)
I did Chemical Process Techonology and Process Design Decisions and Chemical Process
Calculation as part of my B.E programme which has gioven me an insight into the oil processing
techonology.
Training:
As a trainee form June 1983 to Dec 1983 in Indian Oil Corporation I acquired practical
experience in oil processing.
Experince:
January 1984 to date: Assistan Engineer in Indian Oil Corporation in the scale of Rs. 900-501400-60-1700.
was responsible for supervising production at Tilchat, Assam.
Awards:
Won a certificate of Merit for record production in 1986.
Refeneces:
1. Prof.R.H.Bhandari
Head, Department of Chemical Engineering
Regional Engineering College
Allahabad\
2. Shri B.D. Jiswal
Deputy Chief Engineer (Production)
Tel Bhawan, Sansad Marg
New Delhi -110001
3. Shri R.P.Ghosh
Training Manager
Indian Oil Corporation
Goswami Road
Calcutta - 700056
Station: Lucknow
Date: 14 January, 2013
JOB APPLICATION
A job application letter is like a sales letter; it is written to sell one’s services. When you wish to apply for
a job, put its requirements against your qualification and experience. If they match, carefully draft your
application letter.Since the amount and variety of information an employer may want to know is great, it
cannot be conveniently included in the conventional business letter. It is generally given in the form of a
personal data or bio-data sheet or what is sometimes called a resume.
A resume contains a brief business or vocational history, emphasisng the applicant’s education
experience and accomplishments. The covering letter is short and contains a brief introduction to the
resume. The sequence of information in the resume usually follows the following pattern:
 Personal details such as date of birth, marital status, address etc.
 Education beginning from High School Examination to the highest level, calling attention to
courses which you feel help you to qualify for the job.
 Training, its nature and duration.
 Experience- organization in which you worked, nature of duties and durations.
 Other accomplishments- prizes and awards won, research papers and books published, etc.
 References- names of usually three persons are given, a senior member of the faculty in the
college/university last attended, the present employer and one other responsible person who is
acquainted with you and your work.
There are two types of application letters: i) an ordinary business letter containing all the relevant
information; and ii) a short covering letter accompanied by a resume. The second type is common and the
format followed in the current scenario.
Sample:
Krishna Nagar
Lucknow – 226002
14 January, 2013
The Personnel Manager
National Pertoleum Company
80 Netaji Marg
New Delhi- 110009
Dear Sir,
Your advertisement for an executive engineer in The Times of India of 13 January, 2013 interests me
because I believe I have the right qualification and requisite experience for the job.
After doing B.E in Chemical Engineering I have worked as an Assistant Engineer in Indian Oil
Corporation for about six years.During this period I have gained experience in using modern techniques
for increasing the production. The enclosed ‘resume’ gives all the required details.
I am sure I would be able to make a significant contribution in your forward-looking and expanding
organization. I would therefore be grateful if you give me an opportunity to be interviewed.
Yours faithfully,
T.Shankar
Encl: Resume
Resume
Personal Details
Name:
Date of Birth:
Marital status:
Nationality:
Address:
Contact details:
T.Shankar
02 October, 1979
Married, one son aged two
Indian
606 Krishna Nagar
Lucknow- 226002 (UP)
Mob: 9994272010
Email: tshan2@gmail.com
Education:
Year
Examination
Division
Institution
1976
1978
1983
I
I
I
Govt. High School, Gandhi Nagar , Lucknow
Govt. Inter College, Lucknow
Regional Engineering College, Allahabad.
High School
Intermediate
B.E ( Chemical Engg)
I did Chemical Process Techonology and Process Design Decisions and Chemical Process Calculation as
part of my B.E programme which has gioven me an insight into the oil processing techonology.
Training:
As a trainee form June 1983 to Dec 1983 in Indian Oil Corporation I acquired practical experience in oil
processing.
Experince:
January 1984 to date: Assistan Engineer in Indian Oil Corporation in the scale of Rs. 900-50-1400-601700.
was responsible for supervising production at Tilchat, Assam.
Awards:
Won a certificate of Merit for record production in 1986.
Refeneces:
1. Prof.R.H.Bhandari
Head, Department of Chemical Engineering
Regional Engineering College
Allahabad\
2. Shri B.D. Jiswal
Deputy Chief Engineer (Production)
Tel Bhawan, Sansad Marg
New Delhi -110001
3. Shri R.P.Ghosh
Training Manager
Indian Oil Corporation
Goswami Road
Calcutta - 700056
Station: Lucknow
Date: 14 January, 2013
Resume
A Resume is a summary of your background and work experience. As with the letter of
application, the resume is a form of sales writing: you are trying to sell yourself to a possible
employer. As such, the resume is one of the most important aspects of job hunting. You should
always include a resume with your letter of application.
A Resume Tells:
 who you are
 what you would like to do
 what you have accomplished
 what skills and knowledge you can offer the employer
Types:
There are three main ways to organize the information on your résumé:
1. Chronological Resume (presents information in descending chronological order - most
recent first).
2. Functional Resume (focuses on competencies/abilities that can be applied in the
workplace. Skills are organized into categories that tell employers what you will be able
to do for them)
3. Combination Resume (uses chronological listings for background experiences but
incorporates a functional0like explanation of your strongest points)
Content:
A resume should contain relevant information for the employment objective. Ask
yourself, what does the employer need to know to understand your qualifications?
Categories May Cover:
NAME

Do not use nicknames

Highlight so it stands out: bold, larger font
ADDRESS

Use your complete address

Don’t use abbreviations

Put the postal code on a line by itself
TELEPHONE/FAX NUMBERS

Include area code. 91 -80- 45347833
EMAIL ADDRESS

Include it if you have one, giving the message you are computer literate

Do not use an email address that is inappropriate (i.e. mad maddy7@hotmail.com)
OBJECTIVE OR PROFILE

An objective gives focus, direction and support to the body of the résumé

It is an attention grabber

If you are “shopping for work”, you might use a Career Profile focusing on skills,

achievements and character attributes

Include your primary field of interest. You may leave this off (if you are unsure of your
goal job) or tailor the resume to individual jobs.
EDUCATION
Your degree/date it was conferred, the institution from which it was received as well as academic
major/minor. GPA may be included.

List your most recent education first

Include the name of the school and dates (years) of attendance

Include courses studied, particularly if your résumé is short

Additional training courses and certificates should be included

It is not necessary to include your junior high
COURSE WORK:
Upper level course work, specialized study, independent study, internships/practicum
experiences may be identified and explained if they relate to the position you are seeking.
EMPLOYMENT:
Identify your paid work history. Use action verbs to describe your relevant work responsibilities
and accomplishments.
• List your most recent work experience first and work backwards
• Include dates, job title, employer, job responsibilities
• Use action verbs to tell what you have done
• Include volunteer work experience
EXPERIENCE:
Include related experiences, special projects, volunteerism and any other significant experience
that relates to your job objective. Providing that they are not described elsewhere on the resume,
these experiences might include internships, practicum, academic projects, part/full time
positions. These may be paid or non-paid assignments.

List your most recent work experience first and work backwards

Include dates, job title, employer, job responsibilities

Use action verbs to tell what you have done

Include volunteer work experience
SPECIAL SKILLS AND ATTITUDES:
Summarize those abilities, knowledge and attributes which are relevant to your objective.

Highlight the skills you have that relate directly to the position for which you are
applying

These may include specific computer applications, fluency in a foreign language, or
special abilities you possess that are not necessarily part of your formal education

Highlight attributes such as honesty, enthusiasm, and maturity—qualities that make
you indispensable in the work place
ACTIVITIES:
Include involvement outside the classroom. School/community organizations, volunteer
experiences, etc. (highlighting any activities which are closely related to the job objective).
INTERESTS:
Identify personal interests that are pertinent to the job objective. This should be omitted if space
is limited.
REFERENCES:
Include title, address/telephone number of persons who can attest to your professional
strengths. Teachers, counselors, past employers, advisors, etc., make good references. Avoid
family members (unless you were their paid employee).

Think carefully about who can act as your references. Type the name, title, company,
address, and phone/fax number of three to four references.

Prior permission to use any individual’s name as a reference is a must and as a courtesy,
inform your references that they may be contacted.
Additional categories may describe awards/distinction/honors, professional affiliations,
publications, travel experience, or other areas which are significant to the objective or intended
use of the resume. Organize your presentation of material by choosing categories and headings
which will highlight your background and qualifications for the position you seek.
RÉSUMÉ DOS AND DON’TS
DO

Use only one font size (12 pt) and one font style (Times New Roman, Arial)

Be consistent when using bold, italics, underlining

Leave 2-3 blank lines between sections

Use white, off-white, ivory or cream-coloured good-quality paper

Use power words (action verbs—see handout)

Use a header including your name and page number on the second page

Staple the pages with one staple in the top left corner

PROOFREAD!!! and proofread again. Have someone else proofread for you.
DON’T INCLUDE YOUR …
• Age/birthdate
• Marital status
• Race
• Religion
1. Chronological Résumé
This is the best method to use when:
• You can show steady progress in your education and employment
• The name of your last employer is important
• You want to find a job in the same area as your previous one
Don’t use this format if:
• You want to emphasize skills you haven’t used in other jobs
• You’re looking for a job you’ve never done before
• You’ve changed jobs a lot
Chronological Résumé Structure
• Starts off with a job objective or a personal profile
• Groups education, work and volunteer experiences and lists items in reverse
chronological order
• May include a section on awards and accomplishments
• Provides information on interests
• Provides references
2. Functional Résumé
This is the best format to use when:
• You have little or no actual work experience in the area in which you’re looking for
work
• You haven’t worked before
• You want to emphasize talents and skills you haven’t used in a particular job
• You’ve had a variety of jobs in the past which aren’t connected
• You’ve done mostly temporary work in the past
Don’t use this format when:
• You have a steady pattern of jobs and education
• Your past employers are important in relation to your job objective
Functional Résumé Structure
•Starts off with a job objective
•List of skills and/or achievements that support the objective
•Groups education, work and volunteer experiences and lists items in reverse
chronological order (most recent first)
•Provides information on interests
•Provides references
3. Combination Résumé
This is the best format to use when:
• Your education is an important part of your skills and your practical skills are
limited
• Your background shows a wide range of unrelated skills
• Your work history isn’t reflective of you as a stable worker—you’ve held a lot of
different jobs
• Your work history shows more time in other work areas
Chronological Resume
Sanjay Dixit
282 HSR Layout, Koramangala, Bangalore 560012, India
Email: sanjay_dix@userhome.com
Phone: 91-80-1234-5678
EDUCATION
B.Tech. Computer Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai (20012005)
Thesis Title: Efficient Algorithm for Terrain Simplification for Fast Rendering
Advisor: Janaki Rajagopalan
Summary: Improves the state of the art in occlusion plane detection given terrain data. My
implementation showed a user controlled drive-through of a complex scene with real-time
rendering of 3 million polygons using a 16 node Beowulf cluster. A paper was published in
Graphics Interface '04.
St. Xavier's School, New Delhi (Graduated 2000)
Ranked 1st in school in 12th C.B.S.E. Board Examination.
PROJECT WORK (B. Tech)


Built an optimizing compiler for mC++, a C++ subset with support for dynamic object
migration over the network between compatible type-spaces.
Built a user-level distributed file system based on NFS with write-through caching, fault
tolerance and consistency guarantees.
WORK EXPERIENCE


Research Assistant, TIFR, Mumbai (Aug - Dec 2004): Implemented a library of image
processing functions for edge detection and de-skewing on scanned images. Adapted an
off-the-shelf OCR package to operate on scanned mail images with 99% address
recognition accuracy at the city/pin-code level and 85% at the street level.
Project Trainee, Kreativ Networks, Bangalore: (Jan 2005-present): Joined a 7 person
startup implementing campus-wide video-on-demand system for corporate training.
Implemented the streaming video component with buffering for jitter reduction. Also, bitrate reduction in the event of congestion to meet frame-rate guarantees. Extensive
performance testing was conducted.
COMPUTER SKILLS


Software: SQL Server, Apache, CVS, Mathematica, Latex. Also, audio/video formats and
codecs. Languages: C/C++, STL, Python, Javascript/C#
Platforms: Linux, FreeBSD, Windows 98, NT 4.0, 2000.
PUBLICATIONS
Occlusion Culling using Hyperplane Projection and Frequency Domain Splicing. Pavan Pleasant,
Amit Ganguly, and Janaki Rajagopalan. Graphics Interface '01(2004) pp. 323-333.
AWARDS


Best B.Tech thesis - 2004. Dept of Computer Science. IIT Chennai Silver Medalist at the
International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), 2003. Seoul, S. Korea.
Ranked 18th in IIT Joint Entrance Examination - 2001.
REFERENCES


Prof. R. K. Ravindranath, Dept. of Computer Science, IIT Chennai Prof. Janaki
Rajagopalan, Dept. of Computer Science, IIT Chennai
Dr. B. Sanghal, TIFR, Mumbai
Bangalore
24/08/2011
Combination Resume
Resume
SANJAY.K
Your Email-ID
Your Contact no.
43,Raja Street,
Thirunagar,
Salem - 04.
Career Objective
A challenging and rewarding position as a Human Resources Manager.
Educational Background
 Accomplish Master of Business Administration from the Bharathiar University in the
year of 2006 with an aggregate of 86%.
 Accomplish Bachelor of Maths from the Bharathiar University in the year of 2004 with
an aggregate of 80%
 HSC with an aggregate of 75%.
 SSLC with an aggregate of 77%
Computer Skills
 Operating Systems : Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Linux, MS DOS
 Office Package : Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access
 Database :SQL and database applications
Project Experience
 Designed an HRD intervention to improve employee performance at a local chain
grocery store.
 Conducted an in-depth analysis of the problem by performing a Needs Assessment using
Organizational/Task/Person Analysis.
 Provided recommendations to the organization by the use of a designed training program.
Career Accomplishments
 Processed time sheets and payroll on a biweekly basis
 Process all employee referrals
 Completed all employment verifications
 Organized all the personnel files
 Maintained applicant tracking
 Managed the workflow by serving more than 800 employees
 Administrative support for the entire Human Resources Department, which included
filing, faxing, copying, bookkeeping, data entry and typing of correspondents
Work Experience:
Power Corp,Chennai.
Human Resources Supervisor, April 2008 to present
 Coordinate training program, selecting content and source training vendors.
 Launched new hire orientation program spanning medical and dental benefits, short/long
term disability, life insurance, and leave of absence processes.
 Computed yearly, quarterly and monthly benefits and payroll totals for clients.
 Coordinated orientations and exit interviews for part-time and temporary employees.
Star infosoft, Salem.
Project Manager, August 2006 to 2008
 Provided training covering the project background, objectives, and navigation through the
scripts to all project team members as well as conducting training for new hires and
refresher training.
 Assumed overall project responsibility managing up to 20 Agents directly or through a
group of Team Leads.
 Ensured challenging deadlines were met while meeting client's budget guidelines by
overseeing all day-to-day program activity including report generation, quality control,
and compiling and downloading data files.
Affiliations and Honours
 Society of Human Resource Management
 Communication Students Society
 Best Achiever Award : 2005 and 2006
Personal Profile :
Name
: SANJAY.K.
Father's Name
: Krishnan
Date of Birth
: 03-05-1984
Gender
: Male
Marital Status
: Single
Nationality
: Indian
Permanent Address : 623,S.K.R. Street,
Thirunagar,
Coimbatore - 04.
Contact No.
: 9894325997
Declaration :
I hereby declare that the above-mentioned information is correct up to my knowledge and I bear
the responsibility for the correctness of the above-mentioned particulars.
Date :
Place :
Functional Resume
Jim Craig
668, Walnut Creek
Hawaii 678904
234 56789 678
jcraig(AT)xyzmail.com
Objective: To seek a position in the airline industry where my extensive front office experience
will be used.
Qualifications Summary:


Extensive customer service experience.
Good communication skills and able to communicate in 3 language fluently.
 Good interpersonal skills and able to build rapport easily.
Professional skills:
I am familiar with the nuances of the computer and can maintain the requisite data on it.
Trained junior staff in the front office jobs.
Demonstrated leadership qualities in the absence of a supervisor.
Participated and contributed in meetings and seminars.
Have presented two papers on front office staff.
Employment History:
Marriot hotel 2005 – 2008
Al-Arab hotel 2001- 2005
Education:
BA in Hotel Management and Tourism
Diploma in maintaining customer relations
READING COMPREHENSION
One of the basic skill crucial to every individual is the ability to read. Reading is a fundamental
skill that allows a person to be able to expand knowledge and widen certain topics of interest.
We do not just gather information and insights about various things from listening alone. People
who lack the ability to read are just but unfortunate to not have this basic skill because it deprives
them from getting equipped with apt knowledge and makes them feel mediocre in this evercompetitive world.
Reading also polishes a person’s listening and speaking skills. Silent reading is much like
thinking aloud, only that the ideas are fed into the mind. Reading aloud is good practice to
improve one’s speaking ability. As a basic language skill, it enhances or builds good vocabulary.
It is said that reading puts meaning on the written words and text. Emotions are conveyed when
the written context are read aloud. Also, this basic skill encourages the reader to comprehend
what was being read, understanding the thoughts and the message in the mind.
Importance of Reading Skill
There are three major goals every person should know in developing reading skill: independence,
comprehension, and fluency. We all start out by reading words for the sake being able to utter
them, just as how our parents and educators in school would teach us. Eventually, we learn to
read and understand the meaning at the same time on our own. Finally, speed reading will make
us fluent enough in acquiring the skill. Then, we become skillful readers.
Proficiency is what we get out of becoming skillful readers. You may not fully realize it, but
having a good reading comprehension can be one of your weapons to achieving the career you
want. Employers would associate an adept reader with being a critical thinker as well. Whatever
we do and wherever we go, there is always something to read. Lack of good comprehension
makes reading as a skill useless.
If you are a traveler, you must have the ability to quickly read signs, directions, instructions, and
the like. In the office, employees read emails, memos, and directives almost everyday. When one
lacks reading skill, it would be difficult to fully understand the information and instructions
provided in these office communication tools.
How to Assess Reading Skill
Knowing how to tell if the person is proficient in this skill is fairly easy: having the ability to
comprehend. This has been further explained in the former paragraph. Although fluency is a
major goal in developing reading ability, comprehension is still the ultimate gauge to
proficiency. A person may read fast but not really understand what was being read. Fluency and
comprehension must go hand in hand. Now, this is true skill. If you can decipher the words,
phrases, and sentences you are uttering from the written text, and paraphrase them based on your
own understanding and interpretation, you are considered a skillful reader.
How to Enhance Reading Skill
Certainly, there are ways and techniques to develop the ability to read with proficiency.
SKIM
One method is skimming which is done by running one’s eyes over the written words or text
with a purpose of getting the most essential information. Skimming is usually effective when
reading newspapers, magazines, and business and travel brochures.
SCAN
Another method to use is called scanning. Much like skimming, this technique is done by going
through the text and spotting only for the needed information or detail. The difference between
skimming and the latter is that through skimming, you can read through details after you found a
certain heading or title that you want to read, for example. But with scanning, there is no need to
read through every statement or the whole content but only makes use of key-wording.
EXTENSIVE AND INTENSIVE READING
Extensive reading and intensive reading are two other ways you can develop your reading skill.
With extensive reading, you get to read longer texts especially when you are reading for pleasure
or during your leisure time. Intensive reading is applicable for shorter texts with the goal of
digging up only particular details. With this method, it is crucial to understand every word and
number in the text.
Steps to be followed in the reading comprehension:
 Glance through the questions quickly.
 Read the passage as fast as you can.
 Read the questions again for proper comprehension.
 Re-read the passage at your best rate of comprehension
 Re-read those questions that are still unanswered.
 Check the answers for grammatical errors.
Public Speaking Skills
Public speaking involves speaking to a group of people with the purpose of convincing,
influencing, educating, and persuading them. Public speaking comprises a set of skills that all
work together to help you achieve your objective for presenting an idea, a thought, a product, or
even a service to a certain group of people.
Many people panic at the thought of speaking to a group, and only a small percentage of the
population are actually able to speak confidently when standing in front of a crowd. But because
public speaking skills are considered necessary and vital to every working professional,
particularly to people who always find themselves speaking in front of a group, it is something
that must be learned and developed.
Tips for Effective Public Speaking
Public speaking is an art of presenting an idea, a product or a service to the crowd or to the
public. It’s a challenging art to master since it will require the speaker to persuade the crowd or
at least carefully educate the listeners about the topic discussed. Public speaking is more than just
talking in front of many people – a person has to educate, persuade and even entertain at the
same time. This is difficult since the public has varying and even conflicting mindsets.
But a difficult undertaking is not an impossible task. Letting the people know what you think
through public speaking could be done with efficiency and clarity. There are actually ways on
how you should prepare and execute your speech in order to achieve the goal of educating the
public and possibly push to act through your speech.
The Absolute Importance of Practice
There is no substitute in practicing your speech. Although you don’t have to memorize what you
have to say, it is important that you deliver your speech calmly. This can only be done when you
constantly practice your speech. It is possible that you can still deliver your speech without
actual practice but what you will most likely achieve is to let people know only the facts.
Information dissemination alone will never be sufficient especially in sales presentation.
Practice will give you more than just familiarity with the data you need to present. You can
practice your gestures, the things you have to say at certain moments and even anticipate
reactions during the speech. You can ask your friend to provide a feedback about your speech so
improvement is still possible.
Audience and Your Material
Information is king when it comes to efficient public speaking. You could be the best salesman
or public speaker in the world but that skill would be nothing if you do not know anything about
the product.
One of the biggest mistakes you would have during preparation is to know only the things you
would need in your speech. Limiting what you know could save time on research but you will
not be able to properly explain your topic well especially when questions arise during the speech.
Always research beyond what you need to discuss. The additional information will even boost
your confidence since you are armed with enough knowledge regarding the topic.
While researching on the topic, take note of your audience. Make sure that your information
during your public speech could be considered as something new or at least a different point of
view to what they believe. Telling your audience what they already know will easily bore your
audience.
Confidence and Concentration
On the day of the speech, your efficiency will be dictated by your confidence and the ability to
concentrate on your topic. Confidence is probably the most important trait on the day of the
speech. Any self doubt will ultimately be detected in your speech. You could stutter most of the
time, use too many “ums” during the speech or even forget what you have to say because of the
lack of confidence. You have to believe that you can do the speech well. Think about it: no one
will ask you to speak in front of everyone if they know that you can’t deliver the speech well.
Concentration, on the other hand, is simply focusing on what you need to tell your audience. You
can easily stray off topic especially when you are trying to explain a point to your audience.
Your confidence and knowledge of the subject could easily let you talk about too many things
which do not provide any helpful point to your subject.
Concentration and confidence could be achieved by one simple action: be familiar where you
talk takes place. This will give you a familiar feel once you arrive in the room even if it is
already filled with audience. As much as possible, arrive before half of the group arrives so that
you can be familiar with your audience once your talk starts.
Effective public speaking requires careful planning and practice. Be sure to research well on the
topic and know the place well before the speech to gain full confidence.
Body Language
Your body language is one of the factors that will determine the success or failure of your
speech. Aside from the actual speech, the audience will notice how your body moves as this is
used to emphasize an idea.
Your facial expressions, your hand movements and even the movements of your feet could be
used on your speech so that you can effectively communicate to your audience.
Without any movement, your speech will be dull as you don’t offer any additional information to
your audience. Standing in front of the pulpit or in front of the microphone without any hand
gesture will most likely bore the audience.
Importance of Eye Contact
Everything in your body can be used to improve your public speaking, including your eyes. Even
though the effects of eye contact are only applicable to the nearest audience, your eyes could be
an efficient tool in small business conferences or in simple business presentations.
Eye contact during your speech simply means you are confident of the facts you are stating and
you wanted the message to be personal. Look at your audience straight in the eye. For better
impact, focus on a person for a few seconds before transferring to the next spectator.
Facial Expression
Your facial expression is another important aspect during your speech. Your emotions during
your speech can be easily expressed through your facial expression. Telling the audience that
you’re disappointed with the current economy without facial expression may seem like a hollow
statement.
Facial expression is sincerity. Telling the people a sad statement without the corresponding facial
expression doesn’t really get the message across. This might be challenging for some speakers at
first because emotions have to come naturally. But it is important to provide the right facial
expression. One trick you could do is to practice your facial expression in front of a mirror. You
can slowly develop your facial expression until you are satisfied with what you see.
Gestures (Arms and Hands)
Your arms and hands are the most visible part of your body during your speech. That means that
these body parts are also your most important tool to convey emotions. Your hands can point,
stomp with fists and other hand movements in order to tell your audience your true emotions.
This is very useful when talking to a large crowd and you can’t be easily seen from a distance.
But control should be exercised when using your arms and hands. You don’t have to wave your
hand in every sentence. Remember that your gestures should only be used to emphasize a point
so using too many hand-gestures will remove its importance.
Your Feet and Walking
The role of your feet is basically to support you while speaking. Your audience will most likely
be sitting while you would be up on a stage standing during the whole speech. This position
could easily strain your feet if you fail to balance the pressure of your body. Stand with feet
firmly on the ground with your feet slightly apart of each other. A good distance is to emulate the
distance of your shoulders. Spreading them too wide or too close to each other will never balance
your body weight.
Another method to ease the strain on your feet is to walk around the stage. Aside from helping
you prevent any strain in your feet, this is also a great way to get closer to your audience. If you
are in a large stage, get out of your pulpit and walk from one end to another so that you can get
closer to as much audience as possible.
Controlled Emotions
Too much of a good thing can go bad and that includes your body language during your public
speech. Your body language could easily convey your emotions and let the audience know that
the information you are talking about is important. But that doesn’t mean that you have to
display emotions or frantically move your body in every point you are making. Too much
movement will only distract your audience from your speech.
Control your emotions by using your hand gestures and other movements on certain parts of your
peech. This will help boost some important points without creating too much distraction.
Public Speaking Biggest Mistakes
The ability to deliver a great speech in public is a highly regarded skill. It’s a skill that does not
simply require knowledge of the topic but the ability to inform and keep the audience interested
during the speech. A great public speaker could even invoke emotions and could trigger
reactions from the audience.
That is why public speaking is more than just getting in front of everyone and talking about what
you know. There are many things a speaker should consider before delivering a speech. The
speaker should have enough knowledge, practice the delivery and know the audience well to
avoid offending remarks and actions. These considerations could take some time to prepare
before they could actually deliver the speech.
But even with all the preparations, the speaker is still prone to certain mistakes to public
speaking. In fact, all the preparations will go to waste if some mistakes were made during the
public speech.
Word Fillers
Word fillers such as “um” or “ah” are unavoidable especially for 1st time pubic speakers. But
using too many word fillers during the public speech is a fatal mistake for any public speaker.
Your knowledge about the topic will go to waste if most of your sentences start with word fillers.
Word fillers would oftentimes mean that you are not sure about what you are talking about or
you haven’t prepared at all.
While word fillers are hard to avoid for many beginners but the best way to prevent too many
word fillers is to practice. It is also important to organize your speech carefully so that ideas will
flow easier.
A relative to word fillers are words that lessen the veracity of your sentences. The two classic
examples in this category is “like” and “you know”. For example, “I was, like (or you know),
trying to explain the significance of productivity but no one was listening.” Although you are
trying to explain something important, the presence of “like” and “you know” will make your
statement unimportant.
Self Bragging and Bashing
Insulting anyone during your speech is highly discouraged. Bashing anyone in public could only
cause inconvenience to the audience especially if you bash someone when you don’t have any
facts to back it up.
Since bashing anyone in public is highly discouraged, you should also be careful in bashing
yourself in public. Self-bashing is often done to amuse your audience or to connect to them since
they also have the same experience. But self-bashing could easily go overboard. Instead of
boosting your image, your reputation is ruined.
Along with self-bashing, bragging about what you have done in your public speech is also
discouraged. It’s important to let the audience know your authority on a certain subject but your
accomplishments to gain this reputation should not become a big part of your presentation. Even
though bragging will not ruin your reputation, talking a lot about yourself will never teach the
audience anything.
Not Knowing the Stage and Equipments
The stage and equipments have big roles in ensuring the success of your speech. For that reason,
it should be your habit to check where you will conduct your speech and the necessary
equipments you need. Do not assume that all audio visuals have projects so that you can use your
computer for a PowerPoint presentation. Without the necessary equipments, you can never have
the presentation you have in mind or, worse, you can never have any presentation at all.
The stage is equally important since this will greatly help you in effectively communicating with
your audience. Check the stage at least a few hours before your speech so that you can determine
the need to walk or stay in one place during the speech. Coming in unprepared for the stage will
prevent you from connecting to as much audience as possible.
Your careful preparation could be easily ruined by small mistakes during the speech. Avoid these
small inconveniences to ensure that your speech will be informative and even entertaining.
Of course, you can prevent these from happening through practice. But to decrease the chances
of mistakes it also recommended asking someone to assist you to prepare for the speech.
Through their feedback, you will be made aware of your certain mistakes and their presence
during the speech will serve as a reminder to avoid the mistakes you might do.
GROUP DISCUSSION
Successful Group Discussion Techniques
There are a number of things you can do to help your group become successful. By following the
guidelines that are presented in this article, you will be able to actively participate in group
discussions and help the team achieve a specific goal.
First, there is nothing wrong with being quiet. At the same time, you don't want to be too quiet.
However, speaking too much is not recommended. Before you speak, you will want to think
about what you are going to say. It is important to make sure the statements you make are
concise and to the point. You don't want to give the other members the wrong impression by
making statements that are not clear.
It is also important to make sure you fulfill the tasks of any role you've been given. For example,
if you are given the role of a team leader, it is important to make sure you carry it out to the best
of your abilities. Once you agree to a specific role, do not ask to be changed to something else. If
you do this, you will convey a message that you are indecisive. If you don't understand a
statment or question that has been made by someone else, it is important for you to make sure
they clarify it. In group discussions, it is important to avoid conflict as much as possible. You
will always want to respect the contributions that are made by the other members. Even if you
don't agree with their views, it is important to look at things from their perspective.
If you are the leader of a group discussion, it is important to make sure all the members are given
equal amounts of time to voice their views or participate. If you give some members more time
than others, you may convey a message that certain members are more valuable than others, and
this can lead to conflict. In any group discussion, conflicts should be expected. However, it is the
method you use to deal with them that will determine the success or failure of a group. There are
certain words and phrases that you will want to avoid using when you are in a group discussion.
For example, responding to a statement made by another member by saying "that doesn't make
any sense" will lead to conflict.
If you don't agree with the statement, instead of saying "that doesn't make any sense," it would
be better to say "I don't know if I agree. Could you elaborate?" When you use this statement, it
will not be as offensive as the other statement. You should never ridicule the idea or statement of
another member by calling it dumb or stupid. Instead, you could simply say you disagree with
them, and offer an explanation of why your feel the way you do. To give another example,
instead of using the statement "that is not what the assignment asked us to do" you could say that
"I think it would be better if we refer back to the assignment."
To be successful in group discussion, it is important to avoid conflict statements. These
statements could lead to problems between you and other members that can make the group less
productive. An example of a conflict statement is telling another member that they are wrong
about something. Instead, you will want to disagree with them by using phrases such as "it may
be better to...." or "have you ever though about doing it this way?" It should be easy to see the
difference
between
these
two
phrases
and
the
first
one.
Being able to avoid conflict in a group discussion is crucially important. Once the conflict has
started, it is very difficult to deal with. Everyone is different and will have strong beliefs about a
topic that may differ from others.
However, they should be respectful in how they deal with the differences. Using statements and
questions which avoid conflict will allow you to be respected by the other members, and you can
help the group successfully move forward. Respect the opinions of others, and never try to push
your ideas on the other members. Remember, the purpose of having a group discussion is to
solve problems, not create them.
Group Discussion Etiquettes
Many of the problems that arise in group discussion result from members who do not have
discussion skills. Being able to properly participate in a discussion group is similar to reading. If
you have a lot of experience with discussions, it is likely that you will do well in a discussion
group.
However, if you don't have experience with discussions groups, you may not know how to
participate in them properly. There is a certain amount of etiquette that you will need to display
when you are in a discussion. In this article I will go over these things.
During a discussion, it is important for members to always stay on topic. It is bad etiquette to
raise issues that are not related to the subject of the discussion. When members raise issues that
are off topic, they can waste time and prevent the group from achieving a certain goal. Most
group discussions will have a time limit. The group will have little time to waste talking about
topics that are not relevant to the subject. Because of this, it is always important to make sure any
questions or statements you make are related to the topic. Another good form of etiquette in
group discussions is to ask open-ended questions instead of closed-ended questions.
An open-ended question is one that does not require a specific answer. It is a question that is
designed to get the group thinking. The only time a closed-ended question should be raised is if
the group has specific information that they need to learn. Open-ended questions are important
because they allow the other members to think. If the question is related to a problem, the
members may be able to come up with a number of different solutions. If one member interrupts
another while they are speaking, this is an example of bad etiquette. You should never do this. It
is rude, and it can lead to conflict between you and the person that was interrupted.
It is important for everyone to get their point across. If you have a disagreement or concern with
a statement that is being made by someone else, wait until they are finished speaking before you
talk. Most group discussions require members to raise their hands before asking a question or
making a statement, and this is something you will want to follow. If you disagree with a
statement or idea that has been presented by someone else, it is important for you to say it in a
polite manner. In a group discussion, it is important to avoid conflict, as this can stop the group
from
being
able
to
successfully
reach
an
objective.
For example, an example of bad etiquette is saying something like "that idea will never work" or
" your idea doesn't make any sense." These are statements that can be damaging to the member
you are addressing them to. You will want to avoid this. A good alternative to these two
statements are "that idea raises some serious issues" or "I see your point, but there are a number
of problems that may arise." These two statements are examples of good etiquette, and you will
want to use them if you wish to succeed. There is nothing wrong with not being in agreement
with what a person says. However, you will want to let them know this in a polite manner, and
you
should
have
good
reasons
for
holding
your
opinion.
It is also bad etiquette to put down the ideas that have been presented by another person. During
the meeting, all ideas should be considered, and no one should be ridiculed because of an idea
they have. There are a number of good reason for this.
First, if one member of the group is ridiculed for having a bad idea, this may make other member
uneasy about presenting their own ideas. This could lead to a situation where a sizeable portion
of the members aren't actively participating because of fear of humiliation by having their ideas
crushed. Group discussions are important events that allow people to brainstorm ideas or
solutions to problems. When the members of the group use proper etiquette, the discussion will
be extremely productive.
ROLE PLAYS
Using role playing in the classroom has many benefits:
Empathy: When students are participating in role play activities, they are likely to be supportive
of their classmates as they understand that putting yourself out there in these types of activities
makes you vulnerable. This type of supportive and understanding atmosphere increases empathy
among the students.
Authentic language experiences: Role play activities give students practice communicating in
authentic ways and situations. This will give them more confidence when presented with those
scenarios when they are outside of class.
Memorable learning experience: The process students go through when they are doing a role
play activity (creating or learning the dialogue, practicing, presenting) will help solidify the new
information they are learning. Dramatic activities provide activities provide some of the richest
and most memorable experiences students can have in their struggle with the second language.
Adaptable for multiple levels: Role play activities can be modified to fit upper and lower level
students within the same activity. Lower level students can stick to the previously generated
script and upper level students can modify the dialogue or improvise on their own. Students can
take on as much or as little spontaneity as they feel comfortable.
Decreases inhibitions: Increases motivation and self-esteem. Role playing activities are a
curative for the frustration and lagging interest which can often occur during second language
learning and strong instrumental motivation for learning the language.
Builds confidence: Raising students’ self-esteem and showing them that they can be successful
in communicative scenarios by using role-playing activities will help build their confidence
when they need to communicate in real-life situations.
References
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Objective English by Edgar Thrope and Showick Thrope
Developing Communication Skills by Krishna Mohan and Meera Banerji
Learn Correct English by Shiv k.kumar and Hemalatha Nagarajan
Comprehend and compose by Dr.Geetha Nagaraj
Teac Yourself English Grammar and composition by HS Bhatia
The Good Grammar Guide by Richard Palmer
English for Competative Examinations by R P Bhatnagar and Rahul Bhargava