Dear Readers,
English Language which is less time consuming, most neglected, most
scaring and has the power to twist you brain from top to bottom because you can
never predict the exact marks you will get in this section.
In competitive exams
students can prepare and had the accuracy in other sections in less time as
comparable to English section. It is the biggest barrier in your success
path as most of the aspirants are unable to clear the English sectional
cut-off. So in order to overcome this barrier here we are with a new
initiative - BE A MASTER IN ENGLISH to guide you with this
section. We hope these modules will surely help you.
MODULE-1
THE SENTENCE
Grammar is what you say.
Grammar is how you put words together to fashion a thought. And thoughts are
expressed, either in speech or writing, for the purpose of communicating an
idea to a listener or a reader.
So grammar is quite simply
the architecture of ideas as expressed in words.
A sentence is a group of
words or combination of words which coveys complete sense.
Kinds of Sentences
1. Assertive or Declarative Sentence
Those which make sentences. Statements are the
sentences that state or declare something. They are also called Assertive or
Declarative sentences.
Example: The earth moves around the sun (Affirmative).
I will not go there (Negative).
2. Interrogative Sentence
A sentence that asks a question is called Interrogative
sentence.
Example: Why is she late today?
Who has not finished the work?
3. Imperative Sentence
A
sentence which express commands, request or a desire is called an Imperative
sentence.
Example: Lend me some money, please.
Go to the market at once.
4. Exclamatory Sentence
A sentence which express strong or sudden feelings is called an
Exclamatory sentence.
Example: What a beautiful building!
How hot it is!
5. Optative Sentence
A
sentence which wish, prayer or blessings is called an Optative
sentence.
May you live long!
He prayed that God might bless me.
He prayed that God might bless me.
Parts of the Sentence
- Subject
- Predicate
SUBJECT -The subject is the person, place, thing or idea about whom or which something is being said.
PREDICATE - Whatever
is said about the subject is called predicate.
Subject : Kites , We, Lions
Predicate: fly,slept, cooked and roar
Note- Here subjects are
noun or pronoun and predicates are verb. But they have other parts too.
In a Declarative sentence---The milkman brings milk.
Here “milkman” is
the subject and “brings milk” is the predicate.
In an Interrogative
sentence---Has anyone seen Harry ?
Here “anyone” is
the subject and “Has seen Harry ? ” is the predicate.
In an Imperative
sentence---You keep off the grass.
Here “You” is
the subject and “Keep off the grass” is the predicate.
In an Exclamation
sentence---How brittle this coal seems!
Here “This coal” is
the subject and “seems how brittle ! ” is the predicate.
In an Optative
sentence---He prayed that God might bless me.
Here “He” is
the subject and “prayed that God might bless me” is
the predicate.
Analyzing a Sentence into Subject and Predicate
Three points must be
kept in mind in the division and analysis of the sentence.
1) The word-order is
not necessarily a guide to the division of the sentence. The normal order,
first subject and then predicate may be altered for purposes of emphasis.
Example: Never home
came she.
Here “she” is
the subject and “never came home ” is the predicate.
The subject has been
placed not first , but last , in the sentence.
2) It is advisable to
reconstruct in our minds sentences in the form of questions and commands
into the normal order of a statement-sentence before deciding on the subject
and the predicate .
Example: What are you
doing? OR You are doing what?
Here “you” is
the subject and “are doing what ” is the predicate
3) See all words in
the sentence are attached to the part, the subject or the predicate , to which
they naturally belong. Consider two sentences:
a) The dog curled up
before the fire.
Here “The dog” is
the subject and “curled up before the fire” is the predicate.
But suppose the sentence
reads:
b) The dog exhausted
after his long chase, curled up before the fire.
Does “exhausted after his
long chase” tell us about dog or does it tell about the curling up ? It
describes dog, therefore it belongs to the subject. Does “before the fire”
tell us about the dog or the curling up? It says where the do curled ,
therefore it belongs to the predicate.
I hope this
module will help you with your English Language preparation. We will
come back soon with our next module and after each module there will be an Exercise
based on the modules.