Basics of Grammar
Basis for GMAT Sentence Correction
Parts of Speech:
1. Noun(n):
It’s name of person place, thing or idea.
There are two types of noun as shown below:
Common noun: It’s the name of common things: cat, governor, high school, and weather.
As you see there is no specific one cat in the world; in fact there are many cats. Similarly, there are no specific one governor, one high school and one weather in the world; in fact there are many of these in the world. So in short, common noun names any specific group of things rather than one specific thing.
Proper noun: It’s the name of specific people, things or places: Governor Jinah, Formen Christian College, ARY News, Spring weather and Maria.
Noun can come anywhere in a sentence. The underlined words below are nouns.
The School-bus arrived.
After getting his awesome test score, Bilal was accepted to six universities.
A sentence can have unlimited common and proper nouns, as long as the sentence continues to make sense.
Singular noun names one person, place or thing (cat, house), while a plural noun names more than one person, place or thing (cats, houses).
Nouns can further categorized as count nouns, non-count nouns, and collective nouns, as shown below:
Count noun: it can be counted: pen, blocks, ducks, and drops of water (one pen, seven blocks, two thousand ducks, and hundred drops of water).
Non-count noun: It cannot be counted: flow, grass, wood, and water (two flow?, three flow…?; two grass?, three grass…?; two wood?, three wood…?; two water?, three water…? All doesn’t make sense.)
Notice that drops of water are count noun, while water is non-count noun.
Collective noun: singular count nouns that identify a group: panel, committee, choir, faculty, team, army, and jury.
2. Pronoun(pr):
It’s a person, place, thing, or idea that replaces a noun.
Pronouns such as he, we and them, are words that are used to replace a noun.
When Mrs. Sultan told Asim that he could take home their classroom sandwich for summer, he called his mother and told her that she need to pick it up after school.
Antecedent: The noun to which a pronoun refers/replaces is called an antecedent.
Imran called his mother for early breakfast, because he has to go early to school.
In the sentence above, Imran is antecedent for ‘his’ and ‘he’. In other words, antecedent is a parent word to whom pronoun/pronouns refer. While most pronouns will have an antecedent, beware of the occasional sentence without an antecedent. Take the following sentence for example:
Everyone must take a seat before the match begins.
Everyone does not have an antecedent because it understood that everyone refers to all of the people in the ground-seats at the time the match begins.
Types of pronouns:
There are seven different types of pronouns as shown below, and a basic understanding of each is important for succeeding on preparation of Sentence Correction part of this exam.
1. Personal Pronouns:
As the name implies, these pronouns get personal; they refer to specific person or thing, and include persons, like I, he, hers, and us.
Although she was best known for her art, Roza also published cook books.
After the kids watched the movie, the baby-sitter served them dinner.
2. Demonstrative pronouns:
Demonstrative pronouns demonstrate. They point to nouns that are nearly in time or space. There are four demonstrative pronouns: this, that, these and those.
These shirts should be marked half price.
That cannot happen again.
3. Interrogative pronouns:
This type of pronoun interrogates, or asks questions. The four main interrogative pronouns are who, whom, which, and what.
Who took the last slice of pizza?
Which band member is your favorite?
4. Relative pronouns:
Relative pronouns relate. They connect a phrase to the antecedent. There are four specific relative pronouns: who, whom, that, and which.
The nurse gave you the injection has the day off.
Notice that who is also a relative pronoun, but important point is that in relative pronoun, who always come just after the noun to whom it refer.
The only thing that matters is your safety.
You see that pronouns ‘who’ and ‘that’ refers to their immediate nouns that came before these pronouns.
5. Indefinite pronouns:
These pronouns are not definite; they refer to a person or thing that is identified, but is not specific. There are dozens of indefinite pronouns, and some examples include everybody, few, each, and somebody.
Many of the balloons pepped before they were released.
You can put anything on the pizza you want.
6. Reflexive pronouns:
Reflexive pronouns reflect back onto the noun. They are myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves.
The CEO does the hiring himself.
I gave myself a haircut.
7. Intensive pronouns:
These pronouns intensify or emphasize the antecedent. They take the exact same form as reflexive pronouns, but they follow the noun more closely.
I myself would prefer to eat in the non-smoking section.
The office manager herself said that we’re all getting bonuses.
Several pronoun concepts are tested in sentence correction, including pronoun-antecedent agreement and implied and ambiguous pronouns. These potential errors are covered in detail later on. Your ability to quickly spot a pronoun and its antecedent can save your valuable time.
Remember, you do not have to memorize the names of the seven types of pronouns. You simply must understand that pronouns take many different roles in a sentence.
3. Verb(vb):
It’s a word showing action or state of being.
Every sentence must contain a verb. The most simple sentence in the English language is only three letters long, containing a pronoun and a verb.
I am
I do
Most sentences are more descriptive, but they all contain at least one verb:
I went to the amusement park.
The roller coaster sped down the hill.
Some verbs are made up of more than one word. Helping-verbs(hv) such as be, shall, can ,must, and would are added to action verbs to help express time and mood. Look at the following sentence:
The band is playing at Main Street Café.
In this sentence, is joins playing to show that the band is currently at Main Street Café. If was were substituted for is, the sentence could take on a new meaning because then the band had played at Main Street Café in the past. Other helping verbs include can, could, may , might, must, need, ought to, shall, should, will, would, and used to. The verb phrase may contain several helping verbs:
In January, Jenica will have been working here for four years.
The helping-verbs(hv) in this sentence indicate that Jenica began working in past and will continue working into future. Helping verbs are necessary to convey timing.
Linking verbs(lv) on other hand rather than showing action, links a noun or pronoun to additional information about that noun or pronoun:
The smoked herring is(lv) delicious.
In this sentence the noun herring, is not performing any action (such as swimming or fleeing). Instead, a linking verb provides information about the herring: it is delicious. Look another:
I am(lv) a sales representative for a paper company.
Other linking verbs include sensory verbs (see, hear, tase, smell, feel) and verbs that reflect a state of being (such as appear, become, prove, remain, seem).
Cassandra seems(lv) moody.
The dirty sock smells(lv) repulsive.
Note that many linking verbs can also be regular verbs which show action:
The boy smells(vb) the dirty sock.
In this sentence, smells is an action verb because it shows what the boy is doing. To test a sensory verb or a state of being verb for its classification as a linking verb or an action verb, substitute the verb to be in the sentence. If the sentence still makes sense, the original verb is a linking verb. If the sentence no longer makes sense, the original verb is an action verb:
The dirty sock smells repulsive.
The dirty sock is repulsive.
Smell = linking verb
This sentence makes sense, so smells is functioning as linking verb in the original sentence.
The boy smells the dirty sock.
The boy is the dirty sock
Smells = action verb.
The second sentence does not make sense in this example, thus smells occurs as an action verb in the first sentence.
Verbals: are words that are based on verbs, but function as other parts of speech in sentence. One type of verbal is infinitive, which is root of the verb combined with the word to:
To draw
To eat
To remember
To waste
Infinitives can act as adjectives and adverbs but are most often nouns:
I learned(vb) to cook(n) when I was in college.
Some students may struggle with this concept, wanting to group to cook with the verb, learned. But replace to cook with a true noun:
I learned(vb) biology(n) when I was in college.
This should help you clearly see that to cook is a noun which follows the verb.
Another verbal is the gerund. Gerunds are often mistaken with verbs because they end in –ing, but gerunds function as a noun. Look at how running can be used as an action verb or a gerund:
I was(hv) running(vb) for my life!
Running(n) is(lv) my favorite form of exercise.
Again, if you have trouble visualizing running as a noun in the second sentence, replace it with an unquestionable noun:
Running is my favorite form of exercise.
Aerobics is my favorite form of exercise.
Few students will question that aerobics is a noun, and it should help you see that running functions as a noun in the same sentence.
The final verbal is the participle. Participles are verb forms that function as adjectives and most often end in –ing (present participles) or –ed (past participles). Look at how the word frighten can be used as verb and as verbal adjective:
The dog is(hv) frightening(vb) the mailman.
The frightening(adj.) dog lunged at the mailman.
The frightened(adj.) dog hid from the mailman.
As with the two previous verbals, substitute a true adjective into the sentence in order to confirm the verbal is a participle:
The frightening(adj.) dog lunged at the mailman.
The scary(adj.) dog lunged at the mailman.
And
The frightened(adj.) dog hid from the mailman.
The timid(adj.) dog hid form the mailman.
Because every sentence contains a verb, errors with verbs are extremely popular test questions, and we’ll discuss verb tense and verb form in more detail later.
Every sentence must contain a verb, so it should be no surprise that verb errors are prevalent on such exams. If you can discern verbs from infinitives, gerunds, and participles, you can quickly catch errors in agreements, tense, and form. Verbs are thoroughly covered later on.
4. Prepositions (prep):
Preposition – word used to link a noun or pronoun to other words.
Prepositions describe a relationship or situation between words in the sentence. Try to define one, like above, around or on. The most common prepositions include:
about, across, after, against, among, around, as, at, before, behind, between, by, during, for, from, in, including, into, like, off, on, over, through, to, towards, under, upon, with, within, and without.
Prepositions never come alone; they are always in a prepositional phrase. Prepositional phrases begin with a preposition and end with a noun or pronoun, which is called the object of the preposition. Look at several prepositional phrases with the preposition and its object identified:
to(prep) the store(n)
from(prep) a distant land(n)
Prepositions most often describe time (at, by, during), place (above, on, within), or movement (to, towards).
Because many prepositions are only two or three letters long, they are popular errors on such exams. The test makers hope that you will not notice an error in such a small word.
5. Adjectives (adj):
Adjective – words which describes or modifies a noun or a pronoun.
Adjectives are called modifiers because they modify a noun or pronoun in a sentence.
They make an apple shiny and read or an orange juicy and sweet.
Adjectives make our language more colorful and descriptive, and most authors are armed with an arsenal of adjectives. Take this passage from a famous novel “The Great Gatsby”, by F. Scott Fitzgerald:
‘A stout, middle-aged man, with enormous owl-eyed spectacles, was sitting somewhat drunk on the edge of a great table, starting with unsteady concentration at the shelves of books.’
Remove the adjectives and adjective phrases and the sentence loses its brilliance:
‘A man was sitting somewhat drunk on the edge of a table, staring with concentration at the shelves.’
We no longer know the man’s appearance, his age, or the degree of his concentration. Plus, we have lost details about the table and the shelves. Adjectives help make the literary world more vivid and interesting.
Adjectives most often come before the noun or pronoun they are modifying:
The choppy(adj) water(n) caused the small(adj) boat(n) to roll.
I bought an inexpensive(adj) purse(n) in a charming(adj) French(adj) village(n).
Adjective can also come after a linking verb to modify the noun or pronoun before the linking verb:
The water(n) is(lv) choppy(adj).
They(pro) are(lv) inexpensive(adj).
Errors with adjectives will be discussed later, but it is important to know that adjectives are often confused with the next part of speech, adverbs.
The determiners ‘a’, ‘an’ and ‘the’ are a special group of adjectives called articles, we’ll discuss these as well later.
6. Adverbs (adv):
Adverbs – words which describes or modifies a verb, and adjective, or another adverb.
Adverbs are also modifiers. However, unlike an adjective which modifies a noun or pronoun, adverbs modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Three examples follow.
Adverb modifying a verb:
Maria quickly(adv) ran(vb) down the field.
Adverb modifying an adjective:
Maria ran down the very(adv) long(adj) field(n).
Adverb modifying another adverb:
Maria ran(vb) quite(adv) slowly(adv) up the field.
It is true that most words that end in –ly are adverbs: quickly, sadly, loudly, and carefully. But adverbs do not have to end in –ly, such as quite and very. Also not all words that end in –ly are adverbs. Words such as friendly, lonely, and sparkly are adjectives.
Adjectives and Adverb Phrases:
One more final note about adjectives and adverbs before their specific errors are discussed later: phrases—especially prepositional phrases—can also take on the modifying role of an adjective or an adverb:
Maria runs(vb) like the wind(adj).
‘Like the wind’, typically a prepositional phrase, takes the role of an adverb. It tells the reader how Maria runs, thus modifying a verb. ‘Like the wind’ is an adverb phrase. Look at another:
Maria, the star athlete at my high school, runs every day.
The noun phrase, the star athlete at my high school, has become an adjective. It modifies Maria, the main noun, making it an adjective phrase.
Read again the sentence from famous novel The Great Gatsby:
‘A stout, middle-aged man, with enormous owl-eyed spectacles, was sitting somewhat drunk on the edge of a great table, starting with unsteady concentration at the shelves of books.’
Now study it with the adjectives and adverbs underlined:
A(adj) stout(adj), middle-aged(adj) man, with enormous owl-eyed spectacles(adj phrase), was sitting somewhat(adv.) drunk(adv.) on the edge of a great table(adv phrase), staring with unsteady concentration(adv. phrase) at the shelves of books(adv phrase).’
Now, look at the sentence with all of the adjectives and adverbs removed:
Man(n) was(hv) sitting(vb), staring(vb).
This exercise makes it easy to see why adjectives and adverbs are so important to English language.
7. Conjunctions (conj):
Conjunctions – word which links words or phrases.
There are three types of confections: coordinating conjunctions, subordinating conjunctions, and correlative conjunctions. Coordinating conditions are the most common, of which there are seven:
and but or yet for nor so
Coordinating conjunctions are used to join nouns, pronouns, verbs, prepositional phrases, adjectives, and even adverbs:
Nouns: Pakistan or Bilal
Pronouns: he or shev
Verbs: going or play
Prepositions: of the people, for the people, and by the people
Adjectives: red, white, and blue
Adverbs: quickly but quietly
Coordinating conjunctions are also used to join two complete sentences:
Toni wrecked the car. She was not injured.
Toni wrecked the car, but she was not injured.
Such type of sentence completion usually come in Local GRE (Commonwealth scholarship) exam, where you need to select best conjunction rather than a vocabulary word for the blank. As in above example, you must select conjunction ‘but’.
Similarly, see another example:
You may choose to be quiet. You may choose to leave.
You may choose to be quiet, or you may choose to leave.
Taking two complete sentences and joining them with a coordinating conjunction is appropriately called coordination. It takes two equally important sentences and fuses them together with a comma and a conjunction.
Subordinating conjunctions include words like although, once, rather than, and until. They are also used to join two sentences, but one of the sentences is rearranged to become a phrase:
The car was low on gas. Maria turned off the air conditioner.
Because the car was low on gas, Maria turned off the air conditioner.
I decided not to invest in the internet. I put my savings into a restaurant.
Rather than investing in the internet, I put my savings into a restaurant.
Correlative conjunctions are a type of coordinating conjunction, but they are like twins. Correlative conjunctions include:
either … or neither … nor both … and … not only … but also
not … but as … as
Look at few examples:
I can either take the bus or participate in a carpool.
The amazing piano player is both blind and deaf.
Swimming is not only great exercise but also an enjoyable pastime.
Conjunctions are common parts of speech, and therefore they are common errors on such exams.
8. Interjections (int):
Interjection – word used to convey emotion
Finally, Interjections are added to a sentence to show emotions, so they do not affect any other part of the sentence. Words like Wow!, Oh, and Eh? are interjections. Because they are not common in formal writing, writing, interjections are not tested on the such exams. Hurray!