NEED / IN NEED OF

NEED

The verb need is followed by the infinitive only if an animate being is the subject. If an animate object is the subject of this verb, the verb is followed by a gerund or the verb ‘be’ plus the past participle.

Animate being as subject + Verb in infinitive...

John and his brother need to paint the house.

My friend needs to learn Spanish.

Inanimate object as subject + verb+ing/to be + verb in past participle

The grass needs cutting. Or the grass needs to be cut.

The television needs repairing. Or the television needs to be repaired.

IN NEED OF

It is also possible to use the expression in need of in some cases instead of using need as a verb. Because need is not a verb in this case, it must be preceded by the verb be. Study the following rule:

Subject + be + in need of + noun...

James is in need of money.

The roof is in need of repaired.

AS / BUT

AS

In older English as was used as a relative pronoun. The use of as is following:

Such + noun + as: He needs such a boy as will be honest.

The same + noun + as: The book is the same as that.

As + adjective + as (positive): He is as tall as I.

So + adjective + as (negative): She is not beautiful as her sister.

BUT

In older English but was used as a relative pronoun after a negative; it often had the force of a relative pronoun.

There is no but will agree with me.

There is no Hindu but knows the story of Ramayana.

There is no ban but wishes too live.

There is scarcely a child but likes candy.

COMPOUND RELATIVE PRONOUN

Whoever comes is welcome.

Take whichever you like.

I will take with me whomsoever you choose.

WHO / WHOM / WHICH

WHO / WHOM

‘Who’ is used when the noun phrase being replaced is in the subject position of the sentence.

‘Whom’ is used when it is from the complement position.

NOTE: In speech, whom is rarely used but it should be used in formal written English.

If you have difficulty in deciding whether who or whom should be used, remember the rule-

Who + Verb Whom + Noun/Pronoun + Verb + ...

The man who is honest is trusted.

The girl to whom we gave the check has left.

WHOSE

‘Whose’ indicates possession.

John found a cat. The cat’s leg was broken.

John found a cat whose leg was broken.

WHICH

‘Which’ is used for things without life and for animals. It may refer to a singular or plural noun.

The moment which is lost is lost forever.

The horse which I recently bought is an Arab.

Reflexive Pronoun

REFLEXIVE PRONOUN

These pronouns usually follow the verb and indicate that the subject is both giving and receiving the action. In other words, a pronoun is called reflexive when the action done by the subject turns back upon the subject; study the following:

Myself - Ourselves

Yourself  - yourselves

Himself

Herself - Themselves

Itself

NOTE: In plural self changes to selves.

I washed myself

He sent the letter to himself.

She serves herself in the cafeteria.

We hunt ourselves playing football.

They were talking among themselves.

You can see the difference for yourselves.

NOTE: The word self is sometimes used as a noun. As-

He cares for nothing but self

She thinks much of self.

**Reflexive can also be used for emphasis. This means that the subject did the action alone. In this case, it normally follows the subject.

I myself believe that the proposal is good.

He himself sent out to break the long distant flying record.

She prepared the nine-course meal herself.

The students themselves decorated the room.

You yourself must do this home task.

John himself bought these gifts.

THAT AND THAT CLAUSE

THAT

That has no genitive case and it is never used with a preposition preceding.

Example:

This is the boy that I told you of.

I know the house that he lives in.

I have lost the watch that you gave me.

He that is not with me is against me.

All that I said had no effect on him.

v    Relative pronoun completely replaces a duplicate noun phrase.

John bought a car. The car cost thirty thousand dollars. = John bought a car that cost thirty thousand dollars.

v    That may be used as an adverbial accusative = on which, in which, at which. As- I remember the day that he came.

v    That is used in preference to who or which. As-

i.                   After adjective in the superlative degree: He was the most eloquent speaker that I ever heard.

ii.                 After words, all, some, any, none, nothing, (the only) as- all that glitters is not gold. Man is the only animal that can talk.

iii.              After interrogative pronoun who, what. As- What is there that I do not know? Who am I that I should object?

iv.              After two antecedents, one denoting a person and the other denoting an animal. As- The boy and his dog that has trespassed on the club premises were turned out.

v    That is usually optional with these verbs: say, tell, think, believe. As- John said he is leaving next week. Or John said he is leaving next week.

THAT CLAUSE

Some clauses, generally introduced by noun phrases, also contain that. These clauses are reversible. Example:

It is well known that many residents of third world countries are dying.

Or, That many residents of third world countries are dying is well known.

NOTE: If a sentence begins with a that clause be sure that both clauses contain a verb. Example:

It surprises me that John would do such a thing. Or, That John would do such a thing surprises me.

Interrogative and Relative Pronoun

Interrogative Pronoun

Pronoun used for asking questions is called interrogative pronoun.

Example:

Who is there? Who the hell are you?

Whom do you want?

Whose is this book?

Which one do you prefer?

Who were you speaking to?

v    Interrogative pronouns can be used for asking indirect question. As-

I asked who was speaking.

I don’t know who is there.

Tell me what you have done.

Ask what he wants.

NOTE:

1.     ‘Who’ is used only for persons. As- who goes there?

2.     ‘Which’ is used for both persons and things. As- which is your girlfriend? Which of the picture do you like best?

3.     ‘What’ is used only for things. As- what the hell you want?

4.     What are you? What is he? What is this man? In these expressions what refers to the persons profession.

5.     Compound interrogative pronouns: whoever told you so?

                     Relative Pronoun

A pronoun which refers to some noun or pronoun previously mentioned and at the same time joins two sentences. It replaces one of two identical noun phrases and relates the clauses to each other.

Pronoun	Refers
That	Things
Which	Things
Who	People
whom	People
Whose	Usually people

NOTE: In speaking that can be used for people, but not in formal written English.

Demonstrative and Indefinitive Pronoun

Demonstrative pronoun

Words such as this, that, these, those, such, so, the same used instead of some noun to point to it or them, are called demonstrative pronoun.

Example:

This is a BMW Z8 car. That is a Marcedez Benz.

He went to market and that made him tired.

This book is more costly than that.

He went there and that on foot.

They must repay the loan and that within two days.

They did the same as we.

Will it rain? I don’t think so.

You take exercise every morning. So do I.

How do you know this? People say so.

This/that/these/those + noun = Demonstrative Adjective.

This man is good.

This girl is charming.

This movie is amazing.

Indefinite pronoun

Pronouns that refer to persons or things in a general way, but do not refer to any person or thing in particular. They are, therefore, called indefinite persons.

Example:

One must use one’s best efforts if one wishes to succeed.

None but fools have ever believed it.

They say he has lost heavily.

All were drowned. Some say he is a terrorist.

Somebody has stolen my mobile phone.

Nobody was there to rescue the child.

Many of them were injured.

We did not see any of them again.

One or other of us will be there.

Do good to others. Did you ask anybody to come?

His words are in everybody’s mouth.

v    Indefinite pronoun can also be used as adjective. As-

I will take you there one day.

Any fool can do it.

He is a man of few words.

Some milk was split.

Pronoun

Pronoun

A pronoun is a word used instead of a noun.

Classification of pronoun:

1.     Personal pronoun:

i.                   Subjective: I, we, you.

ii.                 Objective: Me, us, him.

iii.              Possessive: Mine, ours, his.

2.     Demonstrative: This, such, that.

3.     Indefinite: This. Such, that.

4.     Interrogative: Who? What? Which?

5.     Relative: Who, what, which, that.

6.     Reflexive: Myself, yourself, herself.

7.     Distributive: Each, either, neither.

8.     Reciprocal: Each other, one another.

Personal pronoun:

Pronoun used instead of a name of a person is called personal pronoun.

v    If a subject of a verb is pronoun then it must be in subjective form. As- I have too many work to do. He can write interesting ghost story.

v    If an object of a verb is pronoun then it must be in objective form. As- Lisa told him a story. Shyla can help them.

v    If an object of a preposition is pronoun then it must be in objective form. As- Mother looks after me. I can’t trust on her.

v    If an object of an infinitive, gerund or participle is pronoun then it must be in objective form. As- Jane wants to see her.

v    If a complement of a be verb (am, is, are, was, were) is pronoun than it must be in subjective form. As- It was I who called you.

v    A pronoun used before a gerund must be in possessive form. As- we don’t understand why you object to his coming with us.

v    A pronoun used before an infinitive must be in objective form. As- Olivia requested me to go with her.

v    Careful about this following pronoun:

It’s = it is

Its = possessive form of it

She’s = she is

Her = possessive form of she

Who’s = who is

Whose = possessive form of who

They’re = they are

Their = possessive form of they

v    When a sentence contains three persons they maintain a certain order as- second person, third person then first person (231). You, he and I are closed friend. You, he and I must work together.

Noun in Apposition

NOUN IN APPOSITION

When one noun follows another to describe it, the noun which follows is said to be in apposition to the noun which comes before it.

Example:

1.     S.M Zakir Hussain, author of many renowned books, is a philosopher.

2.     Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, is a big city.

3.     Luca Pacioli, inventor of double entry system, was a mathematician.

4.     Yesterday I met your uncle, the doctor.

5.     Have you seen Ganguli, the artist’s drawings?

NOUN AND OTHER PARTS OF SPEECH

Adjective He is poor.	Noun The poor are not always dishonest.
Verb Show me your photo.	Noun We enjoyed a good show in the cinema.
Adverb He lives here.	Noun It’s a long way from here.
Conjunction He is poor but honest.	Noun But me no buts.
Infinitive I want to see it.	Noun To see is to believe.
Gerund	Walking is a good exercise. I like catching fish very much.
Phrase	Life is not a bed of roses. Life is a walking shadow.
Clause	I know what he wants. What he has done will save his family.

Identification and Formation of Noun

Identification of noun

How to identify a noun:

1.     A word used as the subject or object of a verb is noun.

2.     The subject and object of gerund, participle or infinitive is a noun.

3.     A word used after the preposition is a noun.

4.     A word used after the possessive is a noun.

5.     A word used exactly after article (a, an, the) is noun.

Example:

1.     Happiness brings peace. He hunts a dear.

2.     To solve the problem is interesting. Writing books is always challenging.

3.     Love comes from heaven. We believe in sincerity.

4.     I respect his honesty. He hated her selfishness.

5.     The poor are born to suffer. She is a pleader.

Formation of noun:

1.     Determiner + Noun: The construction.

2.     Determiner + Adjective + Noun: The constructive plan.

3.     Determiner + Noun + Preposition + Noun: The winner of prize.

4.     Determiner + Noun + Preposition + Determiner + Noun: A proposal of the prime minister.

Noun

                                           Noun

A noun is a word used as the name of a person place or thing. It is two types. As-

1. Concrete: it indicates something which has external physical existence; it can be seen, smelt, touched or tested. Example: Book, Gold, Air, Gas etc.
2. Abstract: it indicates some abstract idea or quality which has no physical existence and cannot be touched, smelt, heard, or tasted. It can only be imagined. Example:

Quality - Goodness, Kindness, Darkness, Honesty.

Action – Laughter, Theft, Hatred.

State – Childhood, Youth, Sleep, Death.

     

Concrete noun has 4 parts. As-

i.                    Proper noun: name of particular person, place or thing- John, Titanic, Atlantic etc. NOTE: Proper nouns are always written with a capital letter at the beginning.

ii.                  Common noun: name given in common to every person or thing- Flower, Poet. Planet etc.

iii.                Collective noun: name of a group or collection of persons or things taken together as one undivided whole – Crowd, Team, Flock, Herd, Army, Class etc.

iv.                Material noun: indicates a matter or substance as mass and does not indicate any part or number of it- Water, Gold, Iron, Milk, Tea etc.

According to the countability noun can be divided into two parts. As-

1. Count noun: a count noun is one that can be counted. As- Book, Student, Person etc.
2. Non-count noun: a non-count noun is one that cannot be counted. As- Milk, Water, Money etc.

Determiners used with count and non count noun:

With count noun	With non-count noun
Few, a few, the few, very few	Little, a little, the little, very little
The fewest	Least
Fewer	Less
Many	Much
A large/great number of	A large amount of
A, an, the	The
All (of the)	All (of the)
Any, some (of the)	Any, some (of the)
A lot of	A lot of
Several, another, both, more, most	More, most
None, one, two, three	None
The rest of	The rest of
A great deal of	A great deal of
Almost (all of the)	Almost (all of the)
Fewer ...than	Less...than
More...than	More...than

Tag Question

What is Tag Question?

In a tag question, the speaker makes a statement, but is not completely certain of the truth, so he or she uses a tag question to verify the previous statement. Sentences using the tag questions should have the main clause separated from the tag by a comma. The sentence will always end with a question mark.

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF TAG QUESTION

Principle #01

If the sentence is affirmative then the question will be negative. And if the sentence is negative the question will be affirmative.

Example:

i.                   He is working hard these days, isn’t he?

ii.                 They have already completed this, haven’t they?

iii.              You are not happy at all, are you?

iv.               He has never fall in love before, has he?

v.                  You saw a bird, didn’t you?

vi.               We could not evaluate the freedom, could we?

Principle #02

The verb of tag question always comes from the sentence. If the sentence contains any auxiliary or modal verb then the verb of tag question will be formed by using that auxiliary or modal.

Example:

i.                   They are having fun, aren’t they?

ii.                 He is not at home, is he?

iii.              I have seen her, haven’t I?

iv.               You should study well, shouldn’t you?

v.                  He can not solve this problem, can he?

vi.               You will do this, won’t you?

vii.             John can speak Spanish, can’t he?

If the sentence contains only main verb then the tag question will be formed by using ‘do/did/dose’; considering the tense of sentence.

Example:

i.                   He slept a lot, didn’t he?

ii.                 They work hard, don’t they?

iii.              He tries heart and soul, doesn’t he?

Principle #03

The subject of tag question always comes from the sentence. Generally a suitable pronoun of the subject is used in the tag.

Example:

i.                   Students are not attentive, are they?

ii.                 The people of our country are not conscious of their rights, are they?

iii.              Students should remain serious about the admission test, shouldn’t they?

Principle #04

When tag question is negative then the tag should be formed in short form.

Example:

i.                   He will do this, won’t he?

ii.                 He can help us, can’t he?

iii.              I shall accomplish this, shan’t I?

SOME SHORT FORM OF SUBJECT AND VERB

Short form of subject and auxiliary verb	Short form of auxiliary verb and not
I am = I’m        You have = You’ve        We are, were = We’re        He is, was, has = He’s        She would, had = She’d        They will =  They’ll        Shall we =  Let’s	Am not =  aren’t      Are not =  aren’t     Is not = isn’t    Was not =  wasn’t     Were not = weren’t    Have not =  haven’t    Has not = hasn’t    Had not =  hadn’t	Shall not = shan’t       Will not =  won’t       Should not =  shouldn’t       Can not =  can’t       Must not =  mustn’t       Do not =  don’t       Does not =  doesn’t       Did not = didn’t

Tag question can be formed by using these four basic principles. But some critical situation often arises when it seemed difficult to form tag question. In that cases apply the following rules

Rule 01

If a sentence contains both of principal clause and subordinate clause then tag question will be formed by using the subject and verb of principal clause.

Example:

i.                   He told that you were not at home, didn’t he?

ii.                 When you go there, I will meet you, won’t I?

iii.              It is found that an ancient king had many wives, isn’t it?

iv.               I asked him if he had done his assignment, didn’t I?

Rule 02

Hardly, barely, rarely, scarcely, seldom, little, few etc. these adverbs generally gives negative sense. So the tag question of sentence which contains these adverbs would be affirmative.

Example:

i.                   I could hardly go there, could I?

ii.                 He rarely remembers his past, does he?

iii.              Few people were present there, were they?

iv.               There’s little we can do about it, is there?

v.                  It’s hardly rained this summer, has it?

Rule 03

Be careful in forming tag when the verb of statement is not clear.

Example:

i.                   He’s working now, isn’t he?

ii.                 He’s worked a lot, hasn’t he?

iii.              He’d go there, wouldn’t he?

iv.               He’d gone there, hadn’t he?

Rule 04

When ‘Have, has, and had’ appears as a main verb in a sentence then the tag question can be formed by using American style or British style.

Example:

i.                   The man has a lot of works to do, hasn’t he? (British)

ii.                 The man has a lot of works to do, doesn’t he (American)

iii.              He had a sharp look, hadn’t he? (British)

iv.               He had a sharp look, didn’t he? (American)

Rule 05

When ‘Here, there or it’ appears as a introductory subject in a sentence then tag question should be formed by using that subject.

Example:

i.                   Here is the money, isn’t here?

ii.                 There’s something wrong, isn’t there?

iii.              There weren’t any problem, were there?

iv.               It rains there, doesn’t it?

v.                  It was a tight game, wasn’t it?

Rule 06

It is better to use ‘they’ in forming tag when ‘somebody, someone, everybody, everyone, nobody, none, anybody, anyone’ appears as a subject of the statement.

Example:

i.                   Somebody built this castle, didn’t they?

ii.                 Everyone was present, wasn’t they?

iii.              Nobody has been found guilty, has they?

iv.               Nobody was there, was they?

v.                  Somebody wanted a drink, didn’t they?

It is better to use ‘it’ in forming tag when ‘something, everything, nothing, anything’ appears as a subject of the statement.

Example:

i.                   Something has happened to you, hasn’t it?

ii.                 Nothing can happen, can it?

Rule 07

Use ‘shall we’ when the statement begins with let’s or let us.

Example:

i.                   Let us have some fun, shall we?

ii.                 Let’s go for a picnic, shall we?

Rule 08

Use ‘will or can’ in forming tag question of imperative sentence.

Example:

i.                   Sit down, won’t you?

ii.                 Shut up, can’t you?

iii.              Give me a glass of water, could you?

iv.               Don’t tell a lie, will you?

v.                  Don’t make a noise, will you?

vi.               Open the book, won’t you?

** Some exceptional examples of tag question.

i.                   I’m right, aren’t I?

ii.                 We had to swim, didn’t we?

iii.              We ought to go, shouldn’t we?

 Checklist for three things in tag endings

**   Does the ending use the same person as the sentence verb? 
**    Does the ending use the same tense as the sentence verb?

**  If the same sentence verb is positive, is the ending negative? Or if the sentence verb is negative, is the ending positive?