Brush up

Your Essentials of
Competitive English

Mahesh Pareek
Jyoti Pareek

Brush up Your Essentials of Competitive English

Content
: Amar Ujala Education Books Authors Panel
Contribution
Mahesh Pareek, Jyoti Pareek
Amar Ujala Publications Ltd.
Published by Amar Ujala Publications Ltd.
and printed at C-21, Sector 59, Noida - 201301 (U.P.)
Edition : 2016
Price : ` 200/ISBN : 978-93-82948-21-6
Due care and diligence has been taken while publishing this book.
However, the publisher does not hold any responsibility for any mistake
that may have inadvertently crept in. The publisher does not accept
responsibility for any loss arising out of the use of this book.
All rights reserved. Neither this publication nor any part of it may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of the publisher.
All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts
and forums in Noida only.

Preface
Aspirants of different competitive examinations want
to use English simply to perform better in their examination. They need to know more than the fundamental
grammar structures normally taught in academic classes.
They want to avoid misunderstandings and pitfalls while
they are solving problems in a time-bound ambiance.
They look for pragmatic grammatical descriptions to
come to a sure as shooting conclusion. In fact they are in
search for a stuff that appears in these examinations.
The concept, pattern, format and content of this book
are solely envisioned to meet the cognitive criteria of the
readers and enable them to do all that observed above.
The concept is formulated and articulated in a way that
brings forth alternative structures which is just what a
grammar adapted for competitive examinations should
manifest.

Brush up Your Essentials of Competitive English

Contents
1.

Plurals

2.

Countable and Uncountable Nouns

13

3.

Concord

16

4.

Determiners

21

5.

Pronouns

47

6.

Adjectives

61

7.

Adverbs

106

8.

Prepositions

131

9.

Conjunctions

162

10.

Simple, Compound and Complex Sentences

174

11.

Tenses

177

12.

The Sequence of Tenses

210

13.

Modal Verbs

214

14.

The Subjunctive

225

15.

Question Tags, Short Answers and Ellipsis

241

16.

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

246

17.

Non-Finite Verbs

251

18.

The Passive Voice

256

19.

Direct and Indirect Speech

260

20.

Spelling

268

21.

Phrasal Verbs

279

22.

Appropriate Words

309

23.

Idioms and Phrases

348

24.

Proverbs

380

25.

Antonyms

385

26.

Review Exercises

402

27.

Irregular verbs

463
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Brush up Your Essentials of Competitive English

Plurals

1.

For nouns ending in ch, s, sh, x or z, the plural is formed by

adding -es. The reason for this is that these words would be
difficult to pronounce if only s were added. For example:
Singular
Plural
branch
branches
bus
buses
pass
passes
dish
dishes
There is one exception to this rule. If the -ch ending is pronounced with a k sound, add -s rather than -es:
Singular
Plural
stomach
stomachs
epoch
epochs

2.

Nouns ending in y preceded by a consonant usually form the

plural by changing the y to i and adding -es. For example:
Singular
Plural
candy
candies
story
stories

3.

Nouns ending in y preceded by a vowel usually form the plural simply by adding -s. For example:
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Brush up Your Essentials of Competitive English

Singular
boy
day

Plural
boys
days

4.

Some English nouns ending in f form the plural by changing

the f to v and adding -es and the nouns ending in fe form the
plural by changing the f to v and adding -s. For example:
Singular
Plural
calf
calves
elf
elves
half
halves
leaf
leaves
loaf
loaves
self
selves
sheaf
sheaves
shelf
shelves
thief
thieves
wolf
wolves
knife
knives
life
lives
wife
wives
There are also a few nouns ending in f which can form the plural in two different ways. For example:
Singular
Plural
hoof
hoofs or hooves
scarf
scarfs or scarves
staff
staffs or staves
wharf
wharfs or wharves
Most other nouns ending in f or fe form the plural simply by
adding -s.

5.

Some English nouns ending in o form the plural by adding -s,

some form the plural by adding -es, and some can form the
plural by adding either -s or -es.
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Brush up Your Essentials of Competitive English

The following fairly commonly used nouns form the plural by

adding -es:
Singular
Plural
archipelago
archipelagoes
cargo
cargoes
echo
echoes
hero
heroes
innuendo
innuendoes
mosquito
mosquitoes
potato
potatoes
tomato
tomatoes
tornado
tornadoes
torpedo
torpedoes
veto
vetoes
volcano
volcanoes
Most other nouns ending in o, particularly those of Spanish or
Italian origin, can form the plural simply by adding -s. For
example:
Singular
Plural
albino
albinos
alto
altos
casino
casinos
piano
pianos
radio
radios
ratio
ratios
silo
silos
solo
solos
sombrero
sombreros
soprano
sopranos
studio
studios
6.

Many words from other languages have been adopted into the
English language. Most of these form the plural by adding -s
or -es, but some, particularly Greek and Latin words used for
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Brush up Your Essentials of Competitive English

scientific purposes, form the plural in the same way that they
do in the original language. For example:
Singular
Plural
analysis
analyses
axis
axes
basis
bases
crisis
crises
criterion
criteria
honorarium
honoraria
hypothesis
hypotheses
medium
media
nebula
nebulae
nucleus
nuclei
oasis
oases
parenthesis
parentheses
phenomenon
phenomena
spectrum
spectra
stimulus
stimuli
stratum
strata
synopsis
synopses
synthesis
syntheses
thesis
theses
vertebra
vertebrae
7.

In the case of nouns formed from two or more words joined

by hyphens, usually only the last word forms a plural.
However, there are a few cases in which only the first word
forms a plural. For example:
Singular
Plural
brother-in-law
brothers-in-law
daughter-in-law
daughters-in-law
father-in-law
fathers-in-law
mother-in-law
mothers-in-law

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Brush up Your Essentials of Competitive English

runner-up
sister-in-law
son-in-law

runners-up
sisters-in-law
sons-in-law

8.

There are still a few words surviving from Old English, which
do not use -s to form the plural. For example:
Singular
Plural
child
children
foot
feet
goose
geese
tooth
teeth
louse
lice
mouse
mice
ox
oxen
man
men
woman
women
policeman
policemen

9.

A few nouns do not change in the plural. For example:

Singular
Plural
deer
deer
sheep
sheep
salmon
salmon

10. Some English nouns are usually used only in the plural. Such
nouns take a plural verb, and generally have a plural form:
alms
annals
chattels
goods
measles
thanks
tidings
The following nouns, which all refer to objects with two parts,
are usually used only in the plural:
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Brush up Your Essentials of Competitive English

jeans
pliers
spectacles
shorts

pajamas
scissors
stockings
trousers

If it is desired to refer to such objects individually, the expression pair of is often used:
a pair of jeans
a pair of pajamas
a pair of pliers
a pair of scissors
11.

Uncountable nouns can be used to refer to individual things

by being preceded by a countable noun and the word of and
may, of course, be put into the plural.
two pieces of information
three grains of wheat
four glasses of milk
five patches of sunlight

12. Proper, material and abstract nouns have no plural except

when they are used as common nouns. When such nouns are
used in the plural, they become common nouns with changed
meaning:
coppers
=
copper coins
irons
=
fetters
tins
=
cans made of tin
woods
=
forest

12