A Summary of Basic Grammar Rules

Here are some fundamental rules of grammar that we ought to follow. These rules make our essays and other write-ups effective.

Subject Verb Agreement

A Subject should always agree with its Subject in number

Eg: The library is very useful for studying

Split Infinitives

Avoid splitting infinitives, i.e. placing a word between to and the verb following

Eg: to quickly go, to cautiously enter (wrong usage)

Participles

Participles should be used with caution. Unrelated participles mess up the meaning of the

Sentence

Eg: Wrong Sentence: Walking along the road a scorpion stung me.

Right Sentence: Walking along the road I was stung by a scorpion

Closing Participles

Expressions like hoping to hear from you soon and looking forward to hearing from you

Instead say:

Eg: I/We hope to hear from you soon.

I/We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Singular Collective Nouns

A singular collective noun always takes a singular verb

Eg: A committee of eight members is to be formed.

Preposition

Avoid ending a sentence with a preposition.

Eg: Is there a book which I can find the information in? (is a wrong usage)

Grammar Tip: remove ‘in’

Either/neither/each/every/any take singular verbs

Eg: Each student was given an identity card

None should be treated as a plural

Eg: None of the applicants are satisfactory

Kind/sort/type are all singular nouns

Eg: This kind of problem was common in the past

That sort of thing is very common

Less/fewer

Less is used for quantity

Fewer is used for number

Eg: Less money should be spent on this project

Fewer than a dozen enquiries have been received

Between/among

Between is used for two things inevitably

Among is used for group

Eg: The rope was pulled between the two poles

Use Shall after I/We in statements expressing simple future tense

In statements expressing determination or intention use Will

Would means ‘if you are willing to’

Should means ‘if you are able to’

Try constructing sentences using these rules. You can share them all here and get them

evaluated by experts.

Wishing you Success!!

Anu Veluri

Manager- learnwordlist.com

54 Responses to “A Summary of Basic Grammar Rules”

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6. shipra on April 27th, 2010 9:45 am

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7. shipra on April 29th, 2010 7:10 am

   hii dr.keerti chaurasia

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8. shipra on April 29th, 2010 8:33 am

   hii Tatyana Gubaydullina

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9. shipra on May 1st, 2010 11:35 am

   hii keerti chaurasia

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10. shipra on May 3rd, 2010 7:28 am

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18. Aditi on July 13th, 2010 9:00 am

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32. Raza Ali on July 14th, 2010 7:05 am

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33. Francisca Quaye on July 14th, 2010 10:38 am

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37. Aloro Joseph Chrispo on July 15th, 2010 8:04 pm

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    However, this point of ‘none’ should be treated in both singular and plural because many English Books suggest so.

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54. shipra on November 10th, 2010 6:06 am

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