MPESB Group · Bite-size lessons
English Grammar
About 6 min · General English · English
Time worked out from the lesson's 445 words at 150 words a minute, plus a minute for each question.
English Grammar forms the backbone of the General English section in MPESB Group 1/2/3 exams. Questions typically test your ability to identify correct usage rather than theoretical definitions.
Key ideas
- Tenses indicate time and completion status — Present, Past, and Future each have four forms: Simple, Continuous, Perfect, and Perfect Continuous. The verb form must match the time reference in the sentence.
- Articles (A, An, The) signal specificity — "A/An" introduce something new or general; "The" refers to something specific, unique, or already mentioned. Some nouns take no article (zero article).
- Prepositions show relationships — They connect nouns/pronouns to other words, indicating place (in, on, at), time (since, for, during), direction (to, towards), or manner (by, with).
- Active Voice emphasizes the doer; Passive Voice emphasizes the action/receiver — Conversion requires changing subject-object positions and adjusting the verb form with appropriate "be" verb + past participle.
- Direct Narration quotes exact words; Indirect Narration reports the meaning — Conversion involves changing pronouns, tenses (backshift), and time/place expressions.
Watch out for
- Using "since" with duration instead of "for" → Wrong: "since five years." Correct: "for five years." Remember: since + point, for + period.
- Forgetting tense backshift in indirect speech → Wrong: "He said that he is busy." Correct: "He said that he was busy." Always shift tense back unless reporting universal truths.
- Confusing articles before vowel sounds vs. vowel letters → Wrong: "a honest person," "an university." Focus on the sound: "an honest" (/ɒ/ sound), "a university" (/j/ sound).
Quick reference
- Since = point in time; For = duration — never interchange them.
- Passive formula: be-verb (tense-matched) + V3 + by + agent
- Narration backshift: Present→Past, Past→Past Perfect, Will→Would
- "The" before superlatives, ordinals, and unique nouns (the tallest, the first, the moon)
- Modal meanings: Can (ability), May (permission/possibility), Must (obligation/certainty), Should (advice)
Check yourself: 3 questions
1. Choose the correct form of the verb to complete the sentence: By next month, she __________ in this company for ten years.
2. Identify the correct sentence in active voice: Passive: The letter was written by him yesterday.
3. Convert the following sentence into indirect speech: Direct: The teacher said to the students, "You must complete your homework by tomorrow."
This lesson is cut from the topic's note, not rewritten. Fact-checked on 17 Oct 2026: an AI-assisted check of this note against cited sources; the errors it found were corrected that day. Some errors may remain. The questions are from Shishya's validated question bank.
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