Grammar — Tenses, Modals, Reported Speech,
Determiners & Subject–Verb Concord
Purpose: A neat, exam-focused, printable summary with clear rules, short examples, common mistakes
and a short practice set. (Color-code suggestion included.)
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• Examples: Green
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1. TENSES — quick rules + examples
What a tense does: Shows when an action happens (present / past / future) and its type (simple,
continuous, perfect, perfect continuous).
Verb forms: V1 = base (go), V2 = past (went), V3 = past participle (gone).
Present
• Simple Present: S + V1 (add s/es for 3rd person singular)
• She reads. — habit/fact.
• Present Continuous: S + am/is/are + V1+ing
• She is reading now. — action happening now.
• Present Perfect: S + has/have + V3
• She has read the book. — action finished with present result.
• Present Perfect Continuous: S + has/have been + V1+ing
• She has been reading for 2 hours. — action started in past and continues.
Past
• Simple Past: S + V2
• She read yesterday. — completed past action.
• Past Continuous: S + was/were + V1+ing
• She was reading when I called. — ongoing past action.
• Past Perfect: S + had + V3
• She had read before the exam. — earlier past action.
• Past Perfect Continuous: S + had been + V1+ing
• She had been reading for 2 hours before dinner.
Future
• Simple Future: S + will/shall + V1
• She will read tomorrow.
• Future Continuous: S + will be + V1+ing
• She will be reading at 9 pm.
• Future Perfect: S + will have + V3
• She will have finished by 10 pm.
• Future Perfect Continuous: S + will have been + V1+ing
• She will have been reading for two hours by then.
Quick tips:
• Use Present Perfect for life experience: I have visited Goa.
• Use Present Continuous for planned future events with time: I am meeting her tomorrow.
2. MODALS — meaning and use
Definition: Small helping verbs showing ability, permission, obligation, possibility, etc. Always followed by
V1 (base form).
Modal | Use | Example
can | ability / permission | I can swim. / Can I go?
could | past ability / polite request | I could run fast. / Could you help?
may | permission / possibility | May I come? / It may rain.
might | weaker possibility | She might come.
must | necessity / strong obligation | You must wear a helmet.
should / ought to | advice | You should study. / You ought to apologize.
will / shall | future / promise / suggestion | I will call. / Shall we begin?
would | polite requests / habits in past | Would you sit? / He would visit every year.
need (to) | necessity | You need to revise.
used to | past habit (note: not a modal in form) | I used to play chess.
Forms:
• Negative: modal + not → must not, cannot, should not (shouldn’t).
• Question: modal + subject + base verb → Can you swim?
3. REPORTED (Indirect) SPEECH
What: When we tell someone what another person said without quoting their exact words.
Step-by-step changes (Direct → Indirect)
1. Change pronouns as needed (I → he/she, my → his/her).
2. Change tense (if reporting verb is in past):
• Present simple → Past simple (“I play” → he said he played).
• Present continuous → Past continuous (“I am playing” → he said he was playing).
• Present perfect → Past perfect (“I have eaten” → he said he had eaten).
• Past simple → Past perfect (“I ate” → he said he had eaten).
• Will → would; can → could; may → might.
3. Change time/place words: today → that day, tomorrow → the next
day, here → there.
4. Keep tense same if reporting verb is in present or future.
Questions and Commands
• Yes/No questions: use if/whether and normal word order → He asked if I was fine.
• Wh■questions: use the question word, then normal order → She asked where I lived.
• Commands/requests: use tell/asked + object + to + base verb → He told me to be quiet.
Examples
• Direct: She said, “I am tired.” → Indirect: She said (that) she was tired.
• Direct: He said, “Will you help me?” → Indirect: He asked if I would help him.
• Direct: Teacher: “Close the door.” → Indirect: The teacher told us to close the door.
Special notes
• If the reporting verb is in present (says), do not change the tense: She says, “I am ill.” → She says that
she is ill.
• No tense change for universal truths: He said, “The sun rises in the east.” → He said that the sun rises
in the east.
4. DETERMINERS — short & clear
What: Words that come before nouns to tell which, how many, or whose.
Types & examples
• Articles: a / an / the
• a cat, an apple, the moon.
• Use a before consonant sound; an before vowel sound.
• The for specific/known items or unique things.
• Demonstratives: this, that, these, those → this book, those trees.
• Possessives (as determiners): my, your, his, her, our, their → my pen.
• Quantifiers: some, any, much, many, few, little, several, enough → some water, many students.
• Numbers: one, two, three, first, second → two apples.
• Distributives: each, every, either, neither → each student, every child.
• Interrogatives: which, what, whose → Which dress do you like?
Quick rules:
• Use a/an with singular countable nouns; some with plural or uncountable in affirmative sentences.
• Any in negative and questions: Do you have any sugar? I don’t have any.
• Much & little with uncountable nouns; many & few with countable nouns.
5. SUBJECT–VERB CONCORD (Agreement)
Rule: Verb agrees with the subject in number (singular/plural) and person (1st/2nd/3rd).
Key rules & tricky cases
• Singular subject → singular verb: He plays.
• Plural subject → plural verb: They play.
• ‘And’ usually makes plural: Ravi and Sita are here.
• ‘Or’ / ‘Nor’ → verb agrees with the nearest subject: Neither the teacher nor the students are ready.
Neither the students nor the teacher is ready.
• Collective nouns (team, family) → usually singular: The team is strong. (Use plural when emphasising
individuals.)
• Amounts / Time / Distance treated as singular: Five hours is too long.
• Indefinite pronouns (everyone, somebody, each) → singular: Everyone is happy.
• One of + plural → singular verb: One of the boys is absent.
• Titles / Names of books, movies → singular: The Lord of the Rings is a long book.
Common pitfalls
• The number of students is 30. (correct) vs A number of students are absent. (correct — note the
difference)
• With phrases like as well as, together with, along with, ignore the extra phrase: Ali, as well as his
friends, is coming.
Common mistakes quick list
• Using have/has wrongly with 3rd person: She have → She has.
• Changing tense in reported speech when the reporting verb is in present.
• Using much with countable nouns (much students wrong) — use many.
• Confusing a / an (check the sound, not the letter).
Practice (10 questions)
1. Change to indirect speech: She said, "I will visit tomorrow."
2. Choose correct modal: You ___ (must / can) finish this work today.
3. Fill in: He ___ (go) to school every day. (Present simple)
4. Correct the sentence: Each of the boys have a pencil.
5. Change to indirect: Teacher said, "Do your homework."
6. Fill in article: I saw ___ elephant and ___ tiger.
7. Choose determiner: There are ___ (little / few) apples in the basket.
8. Reported speech: He asked, "Where do you live?" → Indirect.
9. Tense change: Direct: "I have finished the work," she said. → Indirect.
10. Subject-verb: One of the girls (is/are) absent.
Answers (check your work)
1. He/She said (that) he/she would visit the next day.
2. must — shows obligation (You must finish this work today.)
3. goes — He goes to school every day.
4. Correct: Each of the boys has a pencil.
5. The teacher told us to do our homework.
6. an elephant and a tiger. (elephant begins with a vowel sound)
7. few (apples = countable)
8. He asked where I lived.
9. She said that she had finished the work.
10. is — One of the girls is absent.
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