English Grammar

English Grammar

Overview

English Grammar forms the foundational component of Language I for candidates opting English in GTET. This section tests your understanding of structural rules that govern sentence construction, verb usage, and transformation of sentences. Mastery here is non-negotiable—grammar questions are direct, testing recall and application rather than interpretation.

The four core areas—tenses, parts of speech, voice, and reported speech—appear consistently across both TET-1 and TET-2 papers. Questions typically involve error spotting, fill-in-the-blanks, sentence transformation, and identification of grammatical categories. A student who internalises the rules and practises transformations will find these questions time-efficient and high-scoring.

Key Concepts

• Tense as time-frame marker: Tenses indicate when an action occurs (past, present, future) and its state of completion (simple, continuous, perfect, perfect continuous)—giving 12 tense forms in total.
• Parts of speech as building blocks: Every English word belongs to one of eight categories (noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, interjection) based on its function in a sentence.
• Voice indicates subject-action relationship: Active voice shows subject performing the action; passive voice shows subject receiving the action. Object of active becomes subject of passive.
• Reported speech shifts perspective: Direct speech quotes exact words; indirect/reported speech conveys the meaning with appropriate changes in pronoun, tense, and time expressions.
• Backshift rule in reported speech: When the reporting verb is past tense, the tense in the reported clause shifts one step back (present→past, past→past perfect).
• Auxiliary verbs drive transformations: Voice changes require appropriate forms of "be" + past participle; reported speech uses "that" clause with adjusted auxiliaries.
• Consistency within sentences: Subject-verb agreement, tense consistency, and pronoun-antecedent agreement are frequent error-spotting themes.

Formulas / Key Facts

Tense Structure Formulas

Voice Transformation Formula

Active: Subject + Verb + Object Passive: Object (as new subject) + be (in same tense) + V3 + by + Subject (as agent)

Reported Speech Tense Shifts

• Simple Present → Simple Past
• Present Continuous → Past Continuous
• Present Perfect → Past Perfect
• Simple Past → Past Perfect
• Will → Would
• Can → Could
• May → Might

Time/Place Word Changes in Reported Speech

• now → then
• today → that day
• yesterday → the previous day / the day before
• tomorrow → the next day / the following day
• here → there
• this → that
• these → those

Worked Examples

Example 1: Tense Identification and Correction

Question: Identify the error: "He is working here since 2015."

Solution:

• "Since 2015" indicates an action starting in the past and continuing to present.
• This requires Present Perfect Continuous, not Present Continuous.
• Correct sentence: "He has been working here since 2015."

Example 2: Voice Transformation

Question: Change to passive voice: "The manager will announce the results tomorrow."

Solution:

• Active: The manager (subject) + will announce (verb) + the results (object)
• Tense: Simple Future → Passive uses "will be + V3"
• Passive: "The results will be announced by the manager tomorrow."

Example 3: Reported Speech Transformation

Question: Change to indirect speech: Ram said, "I am leaving for Delhi today."

Solution:

• Reporting verb "said" is past → apply backshift rule
• "I" changes to "he" (speaker is Ram)
• "am leaving" → "was leaving"
• "today" → "that day"
• Indirect: Ram said that he was leaving for Delhi that day.

Example 4: Parts of Speech Identification

Question: Identify the part of speech of the underlined word: "She walked quickly to the station."

Solution:

• "Quickly" modifies the verb "walked" (tells how she walked).
• A word that modifies a verb is an adverb.

Common Mistakes

• Using "since" with continuous tense instead of perfect continuous → "Since" and "for" with duration require perfect or perfect continuous tenses, not simple continuous. Always check for duration markers.
• Forgetting the agent in passive voice when needed → Students write "The letter was written" when context requires "by whom." Include "by + agent" unless the agent is unknown or unimportant.
• No tense shift when reporting verb is present → If the reporting verb is present tense ("He says"), no backshift is needed. Backshift applies only when reporting verb is past.
• Confusing adjectives and adverbs → "She sings beautiful" is wrong; "beautiful" is an adjective. Adverbs modify verbs: "She sings beautifully." Look for -ly ending for most manner adverbs.
• Wrong pronoun change in reported speech → Pronouns change based on speaker and listener perspective. First person changes to match the subject of reporting verb; second person matches the object or listener.
• Ignoring question structure in reported questions → Reported questions use statement word order (subject before verb), not question order. "He asked where I was going" (not "where was I going").

Quick Reference

• 12 tenses = 3 time frames (past/present/future) × 4 aspects (simple/continuous/perfect/perfect continuous)
• Passive formula: Object + appropriate "be" + past participle (V3) + by + subject
• Backshift: Present→Past, Past→Past Perfect, Will→Would, Can→Could
• 8 parts of speech: Noun, Pronoun, Verb, Adjective, Adverb, Preposition, Conjunction, Interjection
• Time markers shift in reported speech: now→then, today→that day, here→there
• "Since" = point in time; "For" = duration — both typically need perfect tenses