Grammar notes

MDCAT English

These notes cover the main rules of English grammar tested at FSc and MDCAT level. They explain sentence formation, correct word choice, agreement, verb forms, voice, narration, punctuation, and the use of phrases and clauses.

Tenses

A tense shows the time of an action or state. English has present, past, and future time, and each may be simple, continuous, perfect, or perfect continuous. The correct tense depends on the time expression and the relationship between actions.

The present perfect continuous is used for an action that began in the past and is still continuing. It is formed with has or have been plus the present participle. For example, “It has been raining since last night.”

Simple present: subject plus base verb. It expresses habits, facts, and general truths, as in “The sun rises in the east.”
Simple past: subject plus second form of the verb. It expresses a completed past action, as in “They left early.”
Present continuous: am, is, or are plus verb ending in -ing. It expresses an action happening now.
Past continuous: was or were plus verb ending in -ing. It expresses an action continuing at a particular past time.
Present perfect: has or have plus past participle. It connects a past action with the present.
Past perfect: had plus past participle. It shows that one past action happened before another past action.
Present perfect continuous: has or have been plus verb ending in -ing. Example: “It has been raining since last night.”
In conditional sentences, “If they had left earlier, they would have caught the train” uses past perfect in the if-clause and would have plus past participle in the result clause.
“Had we started earlier, we would have arrived before dark” is an inverted third conditional sentence.

Parts of Speech

Parts of speech show the function of words in a sentence. A word may belong to different parts of speech in different contexts. For example, “light” is a noun in “The light is bright” and an adjective in “a light bag.”

Understanding the function of each word helps in selecting the correct form and in identifying errors in a sentence.

Noun: names a person, place, thing, or idea, such as student, Lahore, book, and honesty.
Pronoun: replaces a noun, such as he, she, it, they, and who.
Verb: shows an action or state, such as run, write, is, and seem.
Adjective: describes or limits a noun or pronoun, such as red, specific, three, and honest.
Adverb: modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb, such as quickly, very, and ultimately.
Preposition: shows a relationship of place, time, direction, or method, such as in, at, until, and with.
Conjunction: joins words, phrases, or clauses, such as and, but, because, and although.
Interjection: expresses sudden feeling, such as oh, alas, and hurrah.

Prepositions

A preposition is placed before a noun or pronoun to show its relationship with another word. The noun or pronoun after a preposition is called its object. Prepositions may show place, time, direction, cause, or means.

The correct preposition often depends on the expression used with a particular verb or adjective. These combinations should be learned as complete expressions.

Place: “The pen is inside the box.” Other place prepositions include in, on, under, beside, between, among, and behind.
Time: “We waited until dark.” Use until for an action continuing up to a time.
Direction: Use to for movement towards a place, as in “She went to school.”
“Sneer at” is the correct expression. Example: “We should not sneer at the poor.”
“Help with” is correct when help is connected with a subject or task. Example: “Help me with my algebra.”
Common expressions include interested in, good at, afraid of, depend on, and listen to.
A preposition is followed by an object form of a pronoun: “between you and me,” not “between you and I.”

Articles

The articles are a, an, and the. A and an are indefinite articles. They refer to one non-specific person or thing. The is the definite article and refers to a particular person or thing.

The choice between a and an depends on sound, not simply spelling. Use an before a vowel sound and a before a consonant sound.

Use a before a consonant sound: a car, a university, and a European bike. The word European begins with the consonant sound /y/.
Use an before a vowel sound: an oxygen plant, an hour, and an honest man.
In “a car, an oxygen plant and a European bike,” an is correct before oxygen because oxygen begins with a vowel sound.
Use the before a specific or already mentioned noun, as in “the book on the table.”
Use the before unique objects or certain geographical names, such as the sun, the earth, the Indus, and the United States.
Do not usually use an article before plural nouns or uncountable nouns when speaking generally: “Books are useful” and “Water is essential.”
A state-of-the-art printer is correct. State-of-the-art is a compound adjective before the noun and is joined by hyphens.

Active and Passive Voice

In the active voice, the subject performs the action. In the passive voice, the receiver of the action becomes the grammatical subject. The passive is formed with an appropriate form of be plus the past participle of the main verb.

Only transitive verbs, which take an object, can normally be changed into the passive voice. The tense must remain unchanged during the transformation.

Active pattern: subject plus verb plus object. Passive pattern: object plus form of be plus past participle plus by plus subject.
“We should not encourage indiscipline” becomes “Indiscipline should not be encouraged by us.”
Simple present passive: am, is, or are plus past participle, as in “Stationery is sold in this shop.”
Simple past passive: was or were plus past participle, as in “The letter was written.”
A modal passive uses modal plus be plus past participle: “The rule should be followed.”
In “I was made sit quietly,” made is followed by the bare infinitive in active causative structure, but the passive form requires “I was made to sit quietly.”
The agent introduced by by may be omitted when it is unknown, obvious, or unimportant.

Direct and Indirect Speech

Direct speech gives the exact words of a speaker inside quotation marks. Indirect speech reports the meaning without repeating the exact words. Changes may be required in pronouns, tense, time expressions, and punctuation.

When the reporting verb is in the past, the tense usually moves one step back. However, a universal truth normally remains in the present tense.

Direct speech uses quotation marks and usually a comma before the quoted words: He said, “I am tired.”
In indirect speech, remove quotation marks and use a suitable conjunction or reporting structure.
Present simple commonly changes to past simple: “I work” becomes he said that he worked.
Present continuous commonly changes to past continuous, and present perfect commonly changes to past perfect.
Will commonly changes to would when the reporting verb is in the past.
Pronouns change according to the speaker and listener. “I” may become he or she, and “you” may become I, we, or they.
Words of time and place may change: now to then, today to that day, tomorrow to the next day, and here to there.
Questions in indirect speech use statement word order: He asked where I lived, not where did I live.

Subject-Verb Agreement

The verb must agree with its subject in number and person. A singular subject takes a singular verb, while a plural subject takes a plural verb. Words placed between the subject and verb do not change the agreement.

With either-or and neither-nor, the verb agrees with the subject nearer to it. This rule explains the sentence “Neither the nurse nor the doctors like it.”

A singular subject takes a singular present verb: “The nurse works.” A plural subject takes the base form: “The doctors work.”
With neither the nurse nor the doctors, the nearer subject is doctors, so the plural verb like is used.
With either-or and neither-nor, agreement is normally made with the nearer subject.
Stationery is an uncountable noun, so it takes a singular verb: “Stationery is sold in this shop.”
Tweezers is treated as a plural noun, so it takes are: “Tweezers are useful.”
Somebody, everybody, each, either, and neither are grammatically singular and usually take singular verbs.
There is or there are agrees with the real subject after it. “There was none for you” is correct when none refers to a singular amount or thing.
Do not confuse stationery, writing materials, with stationary, not moving.

Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement

An antecedent is the noun to which a pronoun refers. The pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number and, where relevant, gender and person. The reference must also be clear.

Pronouns after prepositions and in certain phrases must have the correct case. Use subject forms for subjects and object forms after verbs and prepositions.

A singular antecedent takes a singular pronoun: “The girl brought her book.”
A plural antecedent takes a plural pronoun: “The students brought their books.”
In “Neither the nurse nor the doctors like when their patients are in pain,” their refers to the plural noun doctors.
Use me, him, her, us, and them as object forms: “She helped me.”
Use I, he, she, we, and they as subject forms: “He and I went to Karachi.”
In “I cannot say anything about me going to Karachi,” me is incorrect in formal grammar. Use “my going to Karachi” because my modifies the gerund going.
A pronoun should have one clear antecedent. Avoid sentences in which it or they could refer to more than one noun.
The relative pronoun who is generally used for people, while which is generally used for things.

Infinitives, Gerunds, Adverbs, and Their Position

An infinitive is usually to plus the base form of a verb, such as to read or to run. A gerund is the -ing form used as a noun. Both can perform important functions in a sentence.

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Their position can affect clarity. A split infinitive, in which an adverb comes between to and the verb, is grammatically possible when it makes the meaning clear.

Infinitive: “She wants to study.” It may express purpose, intention, or result.
A split infinitive is seen in “to quickly run.” This form can be used when quickly clearly modifies run.
Gerund as subject: “Swimming is good exercise.” Gerund as object: “He enjoys reading.”
After a preposition, use a gerund: “She is interested in learning.”
Adverbs of manner commonly come after the verb or its object: “She spoke politely.”
Adverbs of frequency usually come before the main verb but after be: “He often studies” and “He is often late.”
Sentence adverbs may come at the beginning: “Ultimately, no one has more influence on a student’s grades than the student himself.”
“Turn off the tap” and “turn the tap off” are both possible. With a pronoun, use “turn it off,” not “turn off it.”

Comparisons, Quantifiers, and Transitional Devices

Adjectives compare people or things. Short adjectives commonly take -er and -est, while longer adjectives use more and most. Quantifiers show amount or number and must suit the noun.

Transitional devices connect ideas and show relationships such as contrast, cause, result, addition, and time. The correct transition must match the meaning of the sentence.

Comparative adjectives compare two things: bigger, smaller, better, and more specific.
“The sun is bigger than the earth” uses the comparative form bigger followed by than.
Use more with many longer adjectives: “more specific details.”
Few is used with countable plural nouns and means a small number: “Few are good ones.”
Little is used with uncountable nouns. Much and many show larger quantities in suitable contexts.
Contrast transitions include but, however, although, and nevertheless.
Result transitions include therefore, thus, and consequently. Time transitions include then, meanwhile, and ultimately.
Avoid using two conjunctions with the same function. “When whenever we had enough to eat” is incorrect. Use either “When we had enough to eat” or “Whenever we had enough to eat.”

Phrases, Clauses, and Sentence Structure

A phrase is a group of words without a subject-verb combination that expresses a complete thought. A clause contains a subject and a verb. An independent clause can stand alone, while a dependent clause cannot.

A sentence should contain a complete and logically arranged thought. Coordinating conjunctions join equal elements, and subordinating conjunctions introduce dependent clauses.

Noun phrase: “the red-haired petite girl.” It functions as a noun.
Prepositional phrase: “inside the box.” It begins with a preposition and ends with its object.
Infinitive phrase: “to win the race.” It begins with an infinitive and may contain modifiers.
Independent clause: “She studied hard.” It can stand alone as a sentence.
Dependent clause: “because she studied hard.” It cannot stand alone and needs a main clause.
A compound sentence joins independent clauses, often with and, but, or, so, for, nor, and yet.
A complex sentence contains one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.
“But if it had not been this sort of school, it would probably not have taken Chips” has a conditional dependent clause and a main clause.

Punctuation and Sentence Inversion

Punctuation marks show pauses, boundaries, relationships, and emphasis. Correct punctuation prevents confusion and makes the intended meaning clear.

Inversion changes the usual order of subject and verb. It may occur in questions, conditional sentences, and sentences beginning with certain negative or limiting expressions.

A full stop ends a complete declarative sentence. A question mark ends a direct question.
A comma separates items in a series, introductory words, and some dependent clauses from main clauses.
A colon introduces an explanation, list, or example after a complete clause. “Right now I want two things: peace and quiet.”
A semicolon may join closely related independent clauses or separate complex items in a list.
Hyphens join words functioning together as one adjective before a noun: state-of-the-art printer and red-haired girl.
In a third conditional inversion, “If we had started earlier, we would have arrived” becomes “Had we started earlier, we would have arrived.”
In negative inversion, the auxiliary comes before the subject: “Never have I seen such a view.”
In questions, inversion places the auxiliary before the subject: “Did they arrive?”

Key terms

Tense: The verb form that shows the time and state of an action.
Subject: The person, thing, or idea that performs an action or is described.
Object: The person or thing affected by the action of a verb.
Preposition: A word that shows the relationship of a noun or pronoun to another word.
Article: A, an, or the, used before nouns to show general or specific reference.
Active voice: A construction in which the subject performs the action.
Passive voice: A construction in which the subject receives the action.
Gerund: The -ing form of a verb used as a noun.
Infinitive: The base form of a verb, usually preceded by to.
Adverb: A word that modifies a verb, adjective, another adverb, or a whole sentence.
Antecedent: The noun or noun phrase to which a pronoun refers.
Clause: A group of words containing a subject and a verb.
Phrase: A group of words that does not contain a complete subject-verb thought.
Conjunction: A word that joins words, phrases, or clauses.
Transitional device: A word or phrase that connects ideas and shows their logical relationship.
Inversion: A change from the usual subject-verb order for questions, emphasis, or special structures.

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Tenses and Verb Forms

Simple present expresses facts and habits: The moon shines brightly.
Present perfect uses has or have plus past participle: I have never been to England.
Present perfect continuous uses has or have been plus -ing: Police have been looking.
Past perfect uses had plus past participle for an earlier past action.
Use was born, not had been born, for a person’s birth.
Bad news travels fast. Singular uncountable nouns take singular verbs.

Parts of Speech

Nouns name persons, places, things, or ideas; verbs show action or state.
Adjectives modify nouns; adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or adverbs.
Adverb phrases act as adverbs: all in black describes how she was dressed.
A few means some; few means not many, with a negative sense.
Told requires an object: He told me that the Sun is a star.
Part-time is hyphenated when used before a noun: a part-time job.

Articles and Prepositions

Use a before consonant sounds and an before vowel sounds: an old friend.
Use the for a specific person or thing: the man over there.
Use a with rates: Rs. 20,000 a month.
Accuse someone of something: He accused the man of stealing.
Come across means find unexpectedly: He came across an old friend.
Enter may take into when movement inside is emphasised: entered into Room 180.

Voice and Narration

Active voice has subject, verb, and object; passive voice has object, be, and past participle.
In passive voice, use by before the agent when the agent matters.
Direct speech uses quotation marks and exact words: My friend said, "I'll be late."
Said changes to told when an object follows: He told me that the Sun is a star.
In indirect speech, present often changes to past: am becomes was.
Past continuous commonly changes to past perfect continuous: were preparing becomes had been preparing.
By God may become swore that: He swore that he was speaking the truth.

Agreement and Pronouns

A singular subject takes a singular verb: The moon shines; bad news travels.
Plural subjects take plural verbs: The police have been looking.
There is agrees with a singular noun; there are agrees with a plural noun.
A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number and person.
Use few for people or countable nouns when meaning not many: few are good ones.
Use such...as, not such...which, for people or things of the stated kind.
Reflexive pronouns can emphasise subjects: He himself killed Katherine.

Nonfinite Forms and Connectors

An infinitive is to plus base verb: allowed me to go wherever I wanted.
A gerund is an -ing form acting as a noun.
Because introduces cause: I was late because I overslept.
Resultantly introduces consequence: Resultantly, he won the hearts of his subordinates.
Transitional devices show addition, contrast, cause, or consequence.
Adverbs usually stand near the verb they modify, but must avoid confusing placement.

Punctuation, Clauses, and Inversion

Use a comma before a direct quotation after a reporting clause.
Nonessential relative clauses are enclosed by commas: Mary, who has two children, works in a library.
A phrase lacks a subject-verb combination; a clause contains a subject and verb.
Use who for people and which for things; that may introduce defining clauses.
Negative or restrictive openings can cause inversion: Never have I seen this.
Tag questions use the auxiliary and subject pronoun: There isn't much time left, is there?
Wh-questions retain statement order in indirect speech: Meg asked how much the tickets cost.

Must remember

A few means some; few means not many.
Use the for a specific man: the man over there.
Use a with rates: Rs. 20,000 a month.
Part-time needs a hyphen before a noun.
Police takes a plural verb: police have.
Accuse someone of stealing, not accuse someone for stealing.
Use was born, not had been born.
Such friends as are false is correct.
Indirect speech changes were preparing to had been preparing.
There isn't much time left, is there?

Grammar mnemonics

Subject-verb agreement with every, a number, and either-or

Every pair is one, a number are many, either-or follows the nearby one.

Every pair: A subject with every before each joined noun takes a singular verb, as in “Every word and every line sings.”
A number: “A number of” takes a plural verb, as in “A number of offices are located...”
Either-or: With either...or, neither...nor, the verb agrees with the nearer subject, as in “Either the teacher or the students are...”

Do not let the noun closest to the verb control the verb after every...and; each part is singular.

Time clues and gerunds or infinitives

Ago saw, to takes base, trouble takes ING.

Ago: A finished time in the past takes the simple past, such as “I saw him two days ago.”
To: The infinitive uses to plus the base form, such as “in order to fulfill.”
Trouble: After expressions such as “have trouble,” use a gerund ending in -ing, such as “trouble sleeping.”

Do not write “ago have seen” or “to fulfilling” in these patterns.

Clauses, sentence types, and common transitions

Adjective names, adverb explains, a question asks, however contrasts.

Adjective clause: A relative clause describes a noun, as in “the same mistakes that you did.”
Adverb clause: A clause beginning with words such as after, because, or when explains time, reason, or condition, as in “After the movie was over...”
Question asks: A sentence such as “Would you like cookies or a banana?” is interrogative.
However contrasts: Use however to show contrast, as in “The medicine was expensive; however, it proved effective.”

An indirect question such as “She asked whether I liked her dress” has statement word order and is declarative in form.

Active and passive voice with direct speech

Object first, be plus V3, by the doer; speech gets commas and quotes.

Object first: In passive voice, the active object becomes the passive subject.
Be plus V3: Use the suitable form of be followed by the past participle, as in “The long poem was read...”
By the doer: Add by plus the original subject when the doer is stated, as in “by the poet himself.”
Speech gets commas and quotes: In interrupted direct speech, use quotation marks and commas, as in “The unexamined life,” said Socrates, “is unfit...”

Keep the tense in the form of be, and use the past participle, not the simple past, in a passive construction.

Position of adverbs, reflexive pronouns, and coordinated titles

Rarely before the verb, after BE; SELF mirrors the subject; one person, one THE.

Rarely before the verb: Frequency adverbs usually come before the main verb, as in “They have rarely visited...”
After BE: A frequency adverb usually comes after a form of be.
SELF mirrors the subject: A reflexive pronoun must refer back to the subject, as in “The boy tied his shoelaces himself.”
One person, one THE: When two coordinated titles refer to one person, one article can introduce both, as in “the director and chairman.”

Do not place a frequency adverb randomly, and do not use himself or herself unless it refers to the sentence subject.

English shortcuts

Identifying the type of sentence

Look at the purpose of the sentence. A question is interrogative, a command or request is imperative, a strong feeling is exclamatory, and a statement is declarative.

1. Check the punctuation and meaning.
2. A question usually ends with a question mark.
3. Example: Do you have any pencil? Answer: Interrogative sentence.

Use meaning as well as punctuation because punctuation alone may not show the sentence type.

Choosing a synonym from context

Replace the given word with each option and select the word that keeps the same meaning in the sentence.

1. Identify the basic meaning of the word.
2. Reject options that change the tone or meaning.
3. Example: Grotesque means strange or ugly in a ridiculous way. Answer: Ludicrous.

A synonym may change slightly according to the context, so do not select by sound alone.

14 more English shortcuts are in the MDCAT pack. Already have it? See all shortcuts