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About Eduproz
We, at EduProz, started our voyage with a dream of making higher education available for everyone. Since
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2. high grades thus ensuring that they are well placed in life.
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3. Karnataka State Open University
(KSOU) was established on 1st June 1996 with the assent of H.E. Governor of
Karnataka
as a full fledged University in the academic year 1996 vide Government
notification
No/EDI/UOV/dated 12th February 1996 (Karnataka State Open University
Act – 1992).
The act was promulgated with the object to incorporate an Open University at the
State level for the introduction and promotion of Open University and Distance
Education systems in the
education pattern of the State and the country for the Co-ordination and
determination of standard of such systems. Keeping in view the educational
needs of our country, in general, and state in particular the policies and
programmes have been geared to cater to the needy.
Karnataka State Open University is a UGC recognised University of Distance
Education Council (DEC), New Delhi, regular member of the Association of
Indian Universities (AIU), Delhi, permanent member of Association of
Commonwealth Universities (ACU), London, UK, Asian Association of Open
Universities (AAOU), Beijing, China, and also has association with
Commonwealth of Learning (COL).
Karnataka State Open University is situated at the North–Western end of the
Manasagangotri campus, Mysore. The campus, which is about 5 kms, from the
city centre, has a serene atmosphere ideally suited for academic pursuits. The
University houses at present the Administrative Office, Academic Block, Lecture
Halls, a well-equipped Library, Guest House
Cottages, a Moderate Canteen, Girls Hostel and a few cottages providing limited
accommodation to students coming to Mysore for attending the Contact
Programmes or Term-end examinations.
Unit1 Language and Communication
• In this unit, we will examine a few definitions of the term communication and
then study the significance of communication in everyday-situations. The process
of communication and the importance of non-verbal communication along with
the verbal communication are discussed. In addition, the barriers as well as the
gateways to effective communication are described in detail.
Introduction

4. Modern organizations are complex social systems. This complexity calls for proper
communication within the system. No social system functions effectively without
meaningful interaction among its participants. Thus communication serves as a means to
link organizational participants. This unit deals with various aspects of good
communication.
Objectives:
After studying this unit, you will be able to:
· explain the purpose of communication.
· describe the process of communication and the factors that contribute to effective
communication.
· identify the barriers to communication and the suggest ways to overcome these barriers.
· explain the importance of non-verbal communication.
Definitions of Communication
The term ‘communication’ is freely used by behavioural theorists, management scholars
and the general public. While the communication discipline has been varyingly defined
over the years, recently, several definitions have been recognized and adopted to
understand the meaning of communication. Read the definitions that are given below
which will help you understand the concept of communication.
· Newman and Summer define communication as “an exchange of facts, ideas, opinions
or emotions by two or more persons.”
· Bellows Gilson and Odirone define communication as “a communion by words, letters,
symbols, or messages, and as a way that one organization member shares meaning with
the other.”
· According to Hoben, “Communication is the verbal interchange of thought or idea.”
· Anderson says, “Communication is the process, by which we understand others and in
turn endeavor to be understood by them. It is dynamic, constantly changing and shifting
in response to the total situation.”
· Berelson and Steiner define communication as “the transmission of information, idea,
emotion, skills, etc., by the use of symbols-words, pictures, figures, graphs, etc. It is the
act or process of transmission that is usually called communication.”

5. · Communication is “a process involving the selection, production, and transmission of
signs in such a way as to help a receiver perceive a meaning similar to that in the mind of
the communicator.” – Fotheringham
Function and Purpose of Communication
Chester I Barnard studied the communication process in organizations. He observed that
Communication linked people together in an organization to achieve a common purpose.
In other words, communication aims at making people work together for the common
good of the organization. Communication links people who believe in a common cause,
together with a view to strengthen relationships. For example, Gandhiji’s messages
brought all freedom fighters together. His messages linked him with other freedom
fighters.
Communication serves the following purposes in an organization:
· Helps establish and disseminate the goals of an organization.
· Facilitates the development of plans for the achievement of goals.
· Helps managers utilize manpower and other resources in the most effective and efficient
manner.
· Helps managers select, develop, and appraise the members of their organization.
· Helps managers lead, direct and motivate employees and thereby create a climate in
which everyone is willing to contribute.
· Facilitates control and evaluation of performance.
In an organization, effective communication not only helps managers discharge their
duties, but also builds a bridge between managers and the external environment of the
organization. The external environment consists mainly of customers, suppliers,
stockholders, government, community and others that have a bearing on the success of
the enterprise. By means of an effective communication network, a manager can
understand the needs of customers, the demands of the stockholders and the expectations
of the community, and be aware of the presence of quality suppliers and relevant
government regulations. An organization can function as an open system only by
communicating effectively with the environment.
When we discuss the outcome of effective communication between people, we must also
note the purpose of such communication. Why do we communicate the way we do? What
happens when your friend reads a letter written by you? He may discover some new facts
about you. He may also read about some matter concerning both of you, which he did not
know before receiving your letter. Hence, we can say that the information in your letter
has influenced his understanding.

6. Imagine you have written a letter to your friend stating that you have joined the BCA
course in a University. On reading your letter, he may be happy about your decision. He
might understand that you have selected a university course with a view to create better
employment opportunities for yourself. He may think that you want to be a professional
in the IT field. Before reading your letter, he regarded you as a friend who has just
completed his Pre-university Course. But now he knows that you are a university student.
Such a change in his understanding is the outcome of your letter. He may also send you a
message of congratulation. Therefore, we can say that the primary goal or purpose of
communication is to ‘effect a change’ or ‘to bring about a change’. Communication may
also lead to some ‘new action’. In this example, the ‘new action’ is the act of sending a
message of congratulation by your friend.
Self Assessment Question 1:
i) ______ aims at making people work together for the common good of the organization.
ii) Communication helps managers utilize _____ and _____ in the most effective and
efficient manner.
iii) An organization can function as an _____ only by communicating effectively with the
environment.
iv) The primary goal of communication is to ____.
v) According to Hoben, “Communication is the _____ interchange of thought or idea
The Process of Communication
Normally, communication is Interpersonal, wherein the information or message is
transferred from one person to the other(s). The person who transmits the message
is called the sender or transmitter. The person (s) receiving the message is the
receiver. The transmitter is expected to send the information in a format which the
receiver(s) can understand. The process of converting the information that has to be
sent, into a format which the receiver can understand is known as encoding.
Messages can be encoded into a variety of formats- oral, written or visual. Once the
message is encoded in a desired format, it is transferred through a medium called
channel. A channel connects the sender to the receiver. Channels of communication may
be a letter, memorandum, computer, telephone, fax, telegram or a television. The choice
of the correct channel depends on the situation under which the communication takes
place. For e.g., when you have to communicate extremely confidential information, direct
face-to-face communication or communication through a sealed letter, is better than a
telephonic conversation.
The information which is transferred to the receiver has to be interpreted. This process of
interpretation is known as decoding. In order to decode the message, the receiver should

7. be ready to receive the message. He should not be pre-occupied with other thoughts that
would distract him.
Finally, the receiver will send a message back to the transmitter. It may be a reply to the
query made by the sender or any apt response to the message delivered by the sender.
This reply confirms whether the information sent has been understood or not. This
process is known as feedback.
You have just learnt how the communication takes place. The diagram given below
illustrates this.
Fig.: 1.1 Communication Process
To sum up, all communication events have a source. The source can be ideas or thoughts
or any information which the sender wants to convey to others. Hence, there is a
message. The sender encodes the message into a preferred format. Selecting a suitable
channel, the message is then transferred to the receiver who decodes it and understands
it. Finally, the receiver will send a message back to the sender.
Self Assessment question 2:
i) Once the message is encoded in a desired format, it is transferred through a medium
called ___________.
ii) The choice of an appropriate channel depends on __________.
iii) Match the following:

8. 1. Transmitter a) the process of conversion of a message into a format which the receiver
can understand.
2. Encoding b) the person (s) who transmits the message.
3. Decoding c) the person (s) receiving the message.
4. Receiver d) reply that confirms whether the information
sent has been understood or not.
5. Feedback e) The process of interpretation of the received message.
Barriers to Effective Communication
At each stage in the process of communication – encoding, transference, and decoding,
there is a possibility of interference. This may hinder the communication process. Such
interference is known as noise. Often, a comparison is made between communication and
a leaky bucket. If you carry water in a leaky bucket, you will lose water at various points
in the course of your journey, from the source of water to your destination. You cannot
stop losing water because the bucket contains holes. The amount of water you lose
depends upon the number of holes in the bucket, the size of the holes, the route you take
to your final destination and the time you take to reach your destination. There may be
other events as well that occur during your journey, which increase the amount of water
lost. Similarly, when a piece of information is transferred from the sender to the receiver,
the information may not be received by the receiver fully, due to the presence of holes
called ‘noise’. Each noise may affect the amount of information transferred. Just as in a
leaky bucket, more holes decrease the amount of water, more noise decreases the amount
of correct information received.
We may also misinterpret a message because of barriers. Hence, to ensure clarity in
communication, barriers must be eliminated or minimized. In other words, we must
identify barriers to communication and remove or minimize them to make messages clear
to others.
To give an example, we know that sometimes people misunderstand our words and react
in a way that we do not expect. Consider this situation. You affectionately keep telling
your younger brother that he is too young to understand certain facts. He may not react to
this remark. He may even ignore it as a silly remark or accept it without any resistance.
But if you make this remark in the presence of his friends or other people, he may take it
seriously and even quarrel with you, as he feels insulted by your remark. Thus, what must
be taken as an affectionate remark might be misunderstood as an insult.
In this situation, what you meant and what your brother understood are different. Your
brother misunderstands your message because the presence of others around him
influences the way he takes in the meaning of your utterance. Although they remain

9. neutral, their mere presence makes your brother attach a different meaning to your
message and react in a different way. The presence of others around you and your
brother, therefore acts as a ‘barrier’ to effective communication.
Let us analyze different types of barriers:
i) Linguistic and Cultural Differences: The receiver may not completely understand the
language used by the transmitter. This may occur if the transmitter’s language is foreign
to the receiver. There may also be language problems (the communication process) if the
message relates to technical information and the receiver is not familiar with the technical
terms used. Poorly chosen words, careless omissions, lack of coherence, poor
organization of ideas, awkward sentence structure, inadequate vocabulary, unnecessary
jargon, and the failure to clarify implications are some of the common reasons for the
poor transmission of messages. Cultural differences created by one’s background and
experience affect one’s perception of the world. Such cultural differences may affect the
interpretation (decoding) of the message sent.
ii) Environment: The environment in which the transmitter or receiver are, should be
compatible. If it is noisy and full of sound, the sounds may prevent the message from
being fully understood. Background noise, often created by colleagues, vehicles and
machinery, may hinder the process of communication.
iii) Channel: If the channel used to transfer the information is inappropriate, it may
prevent all or some of the information from being transmitted. There may be a loss in
transmission. A faulty fax machine, a crackling phone, illegible hand-writing or incorrect
facial gestures or a bland facial expression (in case of oral messages) are some of the
barriers to communication.
iv) Receiver’s Attitude and Behaviour: If the receiver is not interested in the message
(or unable to give his full attention to decoding, the amount of information received may
be drastically reduced. It may also lead to inaccurate hearing of the information.
Similarly, the receiver may misinterpret the message by “jumping to conclusions” or
reading the message in a manner that suits his own interests/objectives and thereby distort
the true meaning of the message.
v) Transmission journey: This refers to different and numerous steps in the message.
In case the message is complicated or if there are many steps to be taken to transfer the
message, it may affect the accuracy or interpretation. During oral communication,
approximately 30 percent of the information is lost in each transmission. Thus, in large
organizations, one should not totally rely on oral communication. If you compare this
aspect to the example of ‘leaky bucket’, you will understand that the longer the distance,
the more shall be the loss. Another aspect, which is connected with the transmission
journey, is poor retention of information. Studies show that employees are able to retain
approximately 50% of what they are told and supervisors can retain around 60% of the
information they receive. Hence, it is necessary to repeat the message and use more than
one channel to communicate a message.

10. vi) Lack of Planning: Communication will be ineffective if the person, who is
communicating, does not devote sufficient time to think, plan and state the purpose of the
message. By providing the reasons for a particular instruction, selecting the most
appropriate channel, and releasing the message at the right time, an individual can ensure
that his message is understood by the receivers.
vii) Semantic Distortion: The distortion in usage of words may be a serious barrier to
effective communication. This distortion may be deliberate or accidental. An
advertisement which declares “We sell better products” is quite ambiguous, as it raises
the question “better than what?” Some words may have ambiguous meanings and may
generate different responses from different people.
Self Assessment Question 3:
i) Raj reads a message by ‘jumping to conclusions’ and interpreting it in a manner that
suits his own interests/objectives. In this case, the barrier to communication is due
to_________________.
ii) Sometimes, a message is misinterpreted due to ambiguity in the meaning of words or
sentences. This is called_________.
iii) At each stage in the process of communication, there is a possibility of interference
which may hinder the process. Such interference is known as_________.
Types of Communication
Can you think of some ways to communicate with your friends?
Surely, you can. You can talk to your friend or write letters to him. When you talk or
write, you are using words to communicate. This is one type of communication. But is
there any other way in which we communicate with other people?
Let us look at some of the ways in which we normally communicate with others, to
understand different types of communication, their advantages and limitations.
1 Communication through Words
When an infant cries, the mother rushes to her side to see if the baby is hurt or has soiled
herself. If she feels that the baby cried because of hunger, she feeds the baby. The cry of
the baby communicates the need of the baby to her mother. Although crying is not
speaking, the mother can understand the baby’s need. This shows that speaking alone is
not communication. We already know that we can also communicate by means of
writing. Communication through speech is called ‘oral communication’. Communication
by means of written material is called ‘written communication’. Your letter to your friend
is an example of written communication.

11. Communication through spoken words and written material is called ‘verbal
communication’ because it uses language as a means for communication. In the strict
sense, the term ‘verbal’ means ‘of or concerned with words’ and it is not a synonym for
‘oral’ or ‘spoken’ communication.
2 Non-verbal Communication:
Non-verbal communication means communication without words. In this type of
communication, words are not used in the process of sending and receiving messages. It
is a proven fact that most of our communication through words is laced with non-verbal
communication. Non-verbal communication can be categorized as follows:
i) Word-less communication like gesture, body language, posture, facial expression, eye
gaze and head movements:
a)
Gestures: The language of gesture enables us to express a variety of feelings and
thoughts, from contempt and hostility to approval and affection. Most of us use gestures
and body language in addition to words, when we speak.
Fig.: 1.1 Gestures
In every aspect of human life, Gestures have a predominant role to play. Many animals,
including humans, use gestures to initiate a mating ritual; which consist of elaborate
dances and other movements. We are also familiar with the gestures pertaining to
Religion and spirituality, such as the Christian sign of the cross or the swastika. In
Hinduism and Buddhism, a mudra (Sanskrit, literally “seal”) is a symbolic gesture made
with the fingers. Each mudra has a specific meaning, playing a central role in Hindu and
Buddhist iconography. You can see this usage in the dance forms like Bharatanatyam,
Kuchipudi and Kathak as well as the figurines/Paintings at Ajanta, Ellora and most of the
Indian sculptures.

12. b) Body language: It is a broad term for forms of communication, using body
movements instead of or in addition to sounds, verbal language, or other forms of
communication. It forms a part of the category of paralanguage, which describes all
forms of human communication that are not verbal. This includes the most subtle of
movements that many people are not aware of, including winking and slight movement of
the eyebrows. In addition, body language can also incorporate the use of facial
expressions.
In our daily lives, we encounter many forms of body language gestures like:
· Hands behind the back, hands clasped in front, which indicates Self-confidence
· Hands clasped behind the head, which indicates a feeling of Superiority.
· Shaking of legs, which indicates Stress
· Crossing of arms, which is often considered to be a defensive, closed posture.
c)
Posture: Posture refers to unconscious and stable structural disposition of the body
framework attained over a long period of continuous body movements and patterns. One
communicates numerous messages by the way one talks or moves. Standing erect and
leaning forward communicates to listeners that one is approachable, receptive and
friendly. An erect posture is considered as a mark of a well-balanced and adaptable
personality.
d) Facial expression: The emotional state of an individual is clearly conveyed by the
expression of his face. Facial expressions are the primary means of conveying social
information among humans, but they also occur in most other mammals and some other
animal species.
Fig.: 1.2 Facial Expressions
Humans can adopt a facial expression as a voluntary action. However, because
expressions are closely tied to emotion, they are more often involuntary. It can be nearly
impossible to avoid expressions for certain emotions, even when it would be strongly
desirable to do so. Feelings such as anger, concentration, contempt, desire, disgust,
excitement, fear, happiness, puzzlement, sadness and surprise are conveyed with
expressions like, frown, glare, laughter, pout, shock, smile, smirk, sneer, snarl etc.

13. e) Eye Gazing: Staring and eye-rolling may also serve the purpose of communication.
Oculesics is the study of the role of eyes in non-verbal communication. Studies have
found that people use their eyes to indicate their interest. This can be done through eye
contact. For example, when a speaker is delivering a speech, a listener may communicate
his lack of interest by reading a magazine instead of looking at the speaker.
Rolling one’s eyes express exasperation or condescension. Rotating the eyes upward may
indicate condescension, contempt, boredom, or exasperation. This is often referred to as
“rolling one’s eyes to Heaven,” as though wishing for a divine intervention for rescue
from boredom or frustration. It may also be accompanied by the head thrown backwards.
Rolling eyes up with head slightly risen up, as if pointing upwards, may be the reference
to people in higher hierarchy, e.g., upper management.
Fig.: 1.3 Rolling of the eyes
f) Head movements
Nodding: It is a gesture of confirmation in many cultures and negation in some (e.g., in
Bulgaria and Sri Lanka).
Bent head: This is a gesture of shame, subduing, or agreement / confirmation. An
interpretation depends on the way it is being performed and overall body context.
Head shaking: This is the repeated alternating bending of the head to the left and to the
right which means disapproval in some cultures, e.g., in the East Slavic culture.
Head turning: Repeated turning of the head side to side has a meaning opposite to the
nod: negation in many cultures and confirmation in some.
Pointing by chin: A direction may be pointed by chin, e.g., when the arms are doing
something else: the head is turned in the corresponding direction and the chin is slightly
jerked up and in the pointed direction.

14. ii) Object communication such as clothing, haurstyles or even architecture; symbols and
info-graphics. The most common form of object communication is clothing. The types of
clothing that people wear are often used to determine their personality. However, this
may lead to a form of stereotyping because we come across situations where people
prefer those they consider attractive. A physically attractive person may be more likely to
be hired for a job or to be helped than someone less attractive. A good example of
clothing as object communication is the uniform.
iii) Prosodic features of speech such as intonation and stress. A segment in spoken
language is an individual consonant, vowel, tone, or stress that makes up a word. An
utterance is made up of both segments and supra-segmental features. These are broadly
divided up into Prosody and Para-linguistics. Prosody refers to pitch, loudness, duration,
intonation and tempo. Para-linguistics, which is much more difficult to measure, refers to
expression of voice quality, emotion, speaking style and speech clarity. These non-verbal
or supra-segmental elements of a speech utterance constitute a significant part of its
meaning.
iv) Other paralinguistic features of speech such as voice quality, emotion and speaking
style. The study of non-verbal cues of voice is called Vocalics. Things such as tone,
pitch, accent, and volume can all give off non-verbal cues. It is possible to learn about an
individual’s personality, mood, and culture with the information given by their voice.
v) Touches also add to the non-verbal communication. Haptics is the study of touching
as non-verbal communication. Touches that can be defined as communication include-
Hand-shakes, holding hands, kissing (cheek, lips, hand), back slap, , shoulder pat,
brushing arm, etc. Each of these give off non-verbal messages as to the touching person’s
intentions/feelings. They also evoke feelings in the receiver, whether positive or negative.
Non-verbal communication generally takes place as a supportive form of communication
to verbal communication. This is its advantage. For example, we nod our head when we
say ‘yes’. In this situation what we say is reinforced by non-verbal communication.
Non-verbal communication is expected to support verbal communication. But it does not
always do so. For example, if the owner of a medical shop who is happy with the items
presented by a medical representative, may tell him that he will accept those items. But
while saying this, if he angrily pounds a fist on his table the medical representative will
be in confusion as to whether he is really accepting those items or not. Similarly, if a
speaker or writer’s words do not match with the actions, the same leads to confusion.
This is the disadvantage of non-verbal communication.
Thus non-verbal communication may support or contradict verbal communication.
Self Assessment Question 4:
i) __________is considered as a mark of a well-balanced and adaptable personality.

15. ii) ____ is the study of touches as non- verbal communication.
iii) _____means communication without words.
iv) _________forms a part of the category of paralanguage, which describes all forms of
human communication that are not verbal.
v) ___________ is a gesture of shame or subduing.
vi) Body language gestures – hands behind the back, hands clasped in front- indicate
____________.
vii) _________ may indicate condescension, contempt, boredom, or exasperation.
The Impact of Communication on Performance
Effective communication is the foundation of a well-defined strategy that enables any
organization to achieve its set goals. It motivates its employees to perform better. A close
tie between business, performance, technology, and communication strategies provides a
strong base for understanding and support within an organization. While various
combinations of performance interventions have been developed to help build a high-
performing organization, they cannot be effective without a proper communication
Effective communication builds awareness and/or motivates the employees to action, and
thereby enhance the personal growth of the employees on one hand and the growth of the
organization on the other.
An organization is more than a set of by-laws, financial reports or organizational charts.
It is a group of ‘people’. We cannot deny the social aspects of the workplace because it
inhibits the transfer of information and knowledge and hinders the organization’s ability
to outperform and innovate. Just turn around – You may be in the cafeteria, front office,
recreation area or the administrative block. Pay attention to different communication that
is going on. Are they clear? Are they too harsh or too dry? How are they perceived? Is
the receiver of the message accepting or rejecting the message? Do people care to what
you say? Do you accomplish your goal? It is more than often that you are in a dilemma
about issuing new instructions. The problem is paramount especially when you have to
address people representing mixed organizational ranks. Effective communication
enables you to hold a “relaxed” meeting and read to them what you wrote so that they
could critique.
The challenge before every employee in an organization is to harness the social nature of
work for the benefit of the company. One of the primary advantages of the social side of
work is that it is the primary conduit for the transfer of knowledge or the message with a
view to initiate effective communication. Some of the keys for effective communication
that create a positive impact on your performance are as follows:

16. 1. Consideration for others: You should develop a primary consideration for others.
You should cultivate a genuine care as to how your co-workers or clients feel; everything
you say or do will express your outlook. Do not put yourself in a position where you have
to decide between humanity and being decisive (being strict). If an occasion calls for
dismissal or being strict, take the step but not before fact-finding and soul-searching.
You should examine all facets, all pros and cons, before taking any drastic step to avoid
regretting later.
2. Be democratic: When there is something of importance to communicate, instead of
being a dictator, take time to meet with department heads to explain the matter and
convert them to what you propose to do or act. This will enable them to carry forward
this communication to their employees. One of the best ways of communicating in any
organization is to invite questions and comments in any meetings. Very soon, others will
appreciate this democracy and follow the same. When you get comments from the peers
or subordinates, don’t ignore. Take them into consideration which will boost their ego
and they will try to put their best foot forward always.
3. Keep smiling and thank people whenever necessary. A smile on your face keeps
you free from stress. Not only that, it also makes lives of people around you feel stress-
free! At the same time do not forget to thank people. It is very easy to be angry with
employees for their fault, but very rarely will the higher officials give credit for the work
well -done.
4. Have an open door policy. Let your subordinates feel free to come to you to discuss
any matter with you. This will reflect on their work. A receptionist, who is stressed, will
be a sore eye to the customers of an organization. As the saying goes, ‘the first
impression is the best impression’. So a customer may not have the best impression about
your organization if he develops a poor impression in the initial stage.
Try to remember the names of the employees and become acquainted with their marital
status, names of children, aspirations, financial condition, personal problems, and all that
which helps to establish first-hand rapport with people. Take time to listen to your
employee, because they are all important in their own way. Do not view them only as a
means to achieve your goals and accomplish pure business objectives. They should be
treated as a part of a big family and they should have a share in the organization’s
success. By doing so, you will be able to solve any minor problems arising and will
thereby help the employee in creating a positive notion of your organization.
5. Increase the face-to-face communication instead of written directives. Issue written
directives only when a new policy or operational procedure is really needed. Memos or
instructions relating to poor performance should be reduced drastically. Instead, have a
personal ‘pep’ talk with the poor performer. In case you are forced to give a memo, make
another person read it and comment on it before distribution. Re-check if the memo is
essential or look out for other solutions.

17. 6. Leave behind your ego. If you want to be an effective communicator, your ego should
be left behind. Whenever there are any issues to deal with, and a peer member suggests a
solution, adopt it and applaud the person who presented the solution. Your focus has to
be on what should be done and trust that your subordinates will do that job.
Self Assessment Question 5:
ii) Which of the following statements are true?
a) Effective communication encourages the employees to perform better.
b) One should cultivate a genuine care as to how the co-workers or clients feel.
c) One of the best ways of communicating in any organization is to invite questions and
comments in any meetings.
d) If one wants to be an effective communicator, one should be egoistic.
e) To ensure effective communication, one should resort to written directives instead of
face-to-face communication.
Summary
In an organization, communication is the key factor that links people together for
achieving common goals. It brings about changes and leads to action. In any
communication event, there is a source, which may be a thought, idea, fact or
information, with the sender. The sender wants to convey this by encoding into a
message. The message is then transmitted through preferred channels. The receiver, for
whom the message is meant, decodes and receives the message. He proceeds to
understand the message and then reacts by giving a feed back or taking some new action.
A communication event takes place within its own context.
There are several barriers to good communication. These are called ‘noise’. For a
message to be understood, ‘noise’ must be minimized or eliminated. Linguistic and
cultural differences, environmental distractions, inappropriate channel, unfavourable
attitude and behaviour of the receiver, loss of transmission, lack of planning on the
part of the sender, semantic distortion etc. can be barriers to good communication.
Communication through spoken words and written material is called ‘verbal
communication’ because it uses language as a means for communication. In the strict
sense, the term ‘verbal’ means ‘of or concerned with words’ and it is not a synonym for
‘oral’ or ‘spoken’ communication. Sign languages and writing are generally understood
as forms of ‘verbal’ communication, as both make use of words. Both contain
paralinguistic elements and often occur along with non-verbal messages. Non-verbal
communication can occur through any sensory channel – sight, sound, smell, touch or
taste.

18. The performance of an individual is either enhanced or hampered depending upon the
effectiveness of communication in the work place. Having consideration for others,
developing democratic attitude, bearing a smile on the face, thanking people whenever
necessary, shedding ego and having an open mind, preferring face-to-face
communication instead of written directives etc., may result in effective communication,
strengthen relationship among employees and motivate them to achieve the goals of the
organization.
Terminal Questions
1. Discuss the functions of effective communication.
2. Write a note on the purpose of communication.
3. Explain the process of communication.
4. What do you mean by the barriers of communication? Explain different types of the
barriers to communication.
5. Write a paragraph on the communication with words.
6. “Gestures and facial expressions help in communication.” Justify this statement.
7. ‘Being democratic and having an open mind enhances effective communication and in
turn ensures better performance.’ How far do you agree with this statement?
Answers to SAQs and TQs
A. Self Assessment Questions
1. i) communication
ii) manpower ; other resources
iii) open system
iv) effect a change
v) verbal
2. i) Channel
ii) the situation under which the communication takes place
iii) 1-b; 2-a; 3-e; 4-c; 5-d

19. 3. i) Receiver’s Attitude and Behaviour
ii) Semantic Distortion
iii) Noise
4. i) An erect posture
ii) Haptics
iii) Non-verbal communication
iv) Body language
v) Bent head
vi) Self-confidence
vii) Rotating the eyes upward
5. i) a, b & c only
B. Terminal Questions(View in SLM)
1. Refer 1.2 (Function and Purpose of Communication)
2. Refer 1.2 (Function and Purpose of Communication) Refer 1.3
3. Refer 1.4
4. Refer 1.5 (Verbal Communication)
5. Refer 1.5 (Non-verbal Communication)
6. Refer 1.6
Unit 2 Remedial English
• This unit explicates the correct usage of English, while speaking or writing. It
emphasizes on concord,tense sequence and other necessities while using English.
At the same time, we will draw your attention to the common errors in English
usage and suggest corrections.

20. Introduction
It is a known fact that grammar is the foundation of language learning which is essential
for effective communication. In the same way, understanding eight different parts of
speech forms the base of learning grammar. It is not essential to know the definition to
use the concepts better. The attempt is made to make easy and understandable the usage
of English as a language rather than make learning grammar a tedious affair. In human
communication, even if the non-verbal variety takes an important position, there is no
chance for the verbal communication to take a back seat. It is of paramount importance
that one needs to construct a correct sentence in the day-to-day affairs. For this, it is
essential that we understand the meaning of the sentence and differentiate between their
types so that any misunderstanding while communicating will be reduced.
Objectives
By the end of this unit, you will be able to:
· understand the parts of speech and different types of sentence construction
· use different words and sentences correctly in different contexts for better
communication
· avoid problems in subject verb coordination, converting words and sentences into
different forms
· use correct structure, while framing a sentence.
· learn the difference between active and passive voice and when you should use them.
· speak English confidently without committing common mistakes
· communication will become much easier and clear because all aspects of sentence
construction will be learnt
Parts of Speech
In the English language, words can be named under any one of the eight parts of speech.
These words are not categorized per say, but their usage is classified into eight parts of
speech such as, noun, verb, pronoun, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction and
interjection.
1. Noun

21. According to David Green, “A Noun may be defined as the name of a person, place or
thing. By ‘thing’, we mean something that can be seen and touched (concrete) or
something that can only be thought of and not seen and touched (abstract).” The words
that identify the who’s, where’s and what’s in a language is a noun. Nouns name persons,
places, things and feelings. This is better understood with the following example. Lisa
and Tim were selling Lemonade in the park.
1. Who were selling? So the words ‘Lisa’ and ‘Tim’ are nouns. (names)
2. Where were they selling? In the park – So ‘Park” is a noun. (place)
3. What did they sell? lemonade . So ‘lemonade’ is a noun (thing)
Functions of noun
In a sentence, the nouns can function as subjects, objects, and complements.
1. Richie Rich would throw lavish parties and invite his friends to his Dollar Mansion.
Richie Rich – subject for verbs ‘throw’ and ‘invite’ (doer of the action)
2. Richie Rich offered Jughead two burgers to clean up the mess.
Jughead – indirect object of ‘offered’ (indirect receiver)
Burgers – the direct object of ‘offered’ (direct receiver)
3. While cleaning up the mess, Jughead dumped all the coke-cans into the trash-bin.
Trash-bin – the object of preposition ‘into’ (receiver of the action)
4. In Richie’s opinion, Jughead is a great lazybones.
Lazybones – subject complement of the linking verb ‘is’
Kinds of Nouns

22. 1. Proper Noun: They are the names of a particular place, person or thing.
· They name specific or one-of-a-kind items.
· Proper nouns always begin with capital letters.
E.g.: France, Tim, the Ganges, the Eiffel Tower
2. Common Noun: They are the names given to every person, place or
thing of the same class.
· They identify the general variety.
· Common nouns require capitalization only if they start the sentence or are part of a
title. E.g.: student, city, river, dog.
3. Collective Noun: They are the names given when a number of persons
or things are taken together as a whole.
· They usually take a singular verb. E.g.: crowd, flock, swarm.

23. 4. Abstract Noun: We cannot see them as the other nouns.
• They are the names given to qualities, actions and states of being that cannot be
felt, seen or heard.
E.g.: beauty, charity, laughter, childhood.
Count or Non-count?
It is easy for you to distinguish between the count and the non-count nouns.
i. Count nouns: These can be counted. They refer to things that exist as separate and
distinct individual units. Concrete nouns may be countable. Some nouns also refer to
what can be perceived by the senses.
ii. The non-count nouns: They are a whole unit which cannot be counted separately nor
can they be cut into parts.
To understand this better, the learners can think of the
batter of cake. Before the cake is baked, the batter cannot be divided into parts because it
is in the form of liquid or mass. Now, this is non-count noun.
When the cake is ready,
it can be cut into pieces which is a count noun.
Example: a) I worked on a Computer.
(How many Computers did you work on?)

24. You have a definite answer to the question in the bracket; in other words, the number of
Computers can be counted.
Therefore, the word “Computer” is a count noun.
b) The cat spilt the milk (How many milks did the cat spill?)
This question sounds weird and doesn’t make any sense.
This indicates that the milk cannot be counted.
However, gasses of milk can be counted. Remember, here we are counting the glasses
and not milk!)
Gender in nouns:
1. A noun that denotes a male is Masculine Gender.
E.g.: Father, boy, hero.
2. A noun that denotes a female is Feminine Gender.
E.g.: Mother, girl, heroine.
3. A noun that denotes either a male or a female is Common Gender.
E.g.: baby, parent, student, teacher.
4. A noun that denotes neither a male nor a female is Neuter Gender.
E.g.: tree, jewel, building, meadow.
Exceptions:
1. Personifications of strength and violence are considered as Masculine Gender.
E.g.: Death has his upper hand in the fight for power.
2. Things implying gentleness and beauty, when regarded with affection and respect are
considered Feminine Gender. Countries when referred to by names are also considered
Feminine.

25. E.g.: India lost many of her bravest men in the Independence Struggle.
Oh! Look at the moon/she shines like a lamp in the air.
Conversion of Masculine to Feminine Nouns:
1. Add –ess at the end of the masculine noun.
E.g.: Baron-Baroness ; Lion-Lioness ;
Duke-Duchess; Prince -Princess
2. Change either the first or the last word in the case of a compound noun. In other words,
by adding a word indicating sex before or after the main word.
E.g.: Land lord-land lady ; Sales man -sales woman ; Peacock –peahen ; Cock-sparrow –
hen-sparrow ; Tom-cat- tabby-cat
3. Add –ine, -ix, -a, at the end of the masculine noun. E.g.: Hero-heroine;
Administrator-administratrix ; Creator-creatrix ; Sultan-sultana ; Czar -czarina
4. Use a completely different word. E.g.: Fox –vixen ; Stag –doe ; Ram -ewe
Marquis –Marchioness ; Horse -mare
Note: However, the usage of gender difference is breaking down rapidly. Hence we have
spokesperson instead of spokesman or spokeswoman. Similarly Chairperson and
Salesperson is more commonly used.
Number in nouns:
1. Singular: This indicates one thing. E.g.: tomato, boy, card.
2. Plural: This indicates more than one thing. E.g.: tomatoes, boys, cards.
The general rule is that most count nouns pluralize with ‘–s’ and the non-count nouns do
not pluralize at all. However, certain nouns in English belong to both classes: they have
both a non-count and a count meaning. In such cases there will be exception to the rule.
i) The count meaning concrete and specific.

26. E.g.: I’ve had some difficulties finding a job. Here ‘difficulties’ refer
to number of specific problems.
The talks are in progress. ‘Talks’ refer to number of lectures or speeches.
ii) The non-count meaning is abstract and general
E.g.: She succeeded in exam with little difficulty. Here, ‘difficulty’
refers to the general idea of the exam being difficult
I dislike idle talk. ‘Talk’ refers to talking in general.
Note: There is a special case of the use of non-count nouns in a count sense. This is
influenced by the classification of the nouns. Sometimes a non-count noun can be
understood as one item separate and distinct from other items of the same category. The
nouns that function in this way often denote foods and beverages: food(s), drink(s),
wine(s), bread(s), coffee(s), fruit(s), and so on. Examples:
There are several French wines to choose from. (= kinds of wine)
I prefer Sumatran coffees to Colombian. (= kinds of coffee)
(A recent entry into this class is the word ‘homework’, which at least among some
students has the count plural homeworks in addition to its non-count use. (For example,
“You’re missing three of the homeworks from the first part of the course.”) Since this
usage is not firmly established and is likely to be considered nonstandard, one should
check with his instructor before using it in writing.)
Conversion and Usage of Singular and Plural Nouns.
1. The most common way of converting a singular noun to its plural form is by adding –s.
day-days, girl, girls.
2. Nouns ending in –ch, –o, –sh, –ss, –x form their plural by adding –es.

27. Church – churches, hero-heroes, brush- brushes, kiss-kisses, tax-taxes.
Exceptions: Words of foreign origin or abbreviated words ending in –o take –s to form
plural. E.g.: Dynamo-dynamos, photo-photos, soprano-sopranos, kilo-kilos.
3. Nouns ending in –y with a preceding consonant form their plural by dropping the –y
and adding –ies. E.g.: baby-babies, story-stories.
Exceptions: Words ending with –y but preceded by vowel take –s as plural form. guy-
guys, boy-boys.
4. Twelve nouns ending in –f or –fe drop –f/fe and add –ves to form plural.
They are: calf, half, knife, leaf, life, loaf, self, sheaf, shelf, thief, wife, wolf.
loaf, knife. (calves, halves, knives, leaves, lives, loaves, selves, ….)
Exceptions: However, nouns hoof, scarf and wharf take either –s or –ves.
hoofs or hooves, scarf or scarves, wharfs or wharves.
Also, the other nouns ending in –f/ef add –s to form plural.
cliff-cliffs, handkerchief – handkerchiefs.
5. Instruments having two parts are always used in plural.
E.g.: scissors, tongs, trousers, nuptials.
6. Some plural words are more commonly used in singular.
E.g.: Mathematics, Statistics (as a subject), Politics, News, Measles.
7. Normally compound nouns take the plural of the last noun.
E.g.: boy friends, travel agents.
Exceptions: a) In case of compound words formed of verb + preposition, first word
becomes plural. E.g.: runners up, lookers on.
b) In case of compound words formed of noun+ preposition+noun, first word becomes
plural.
E.g.: sisters-in-law, commanders-in-chief.
8. Nouns of foreign words follow the rule of the original language to form plurals.

28. crisis-crises, phenomenon-phenomena, radius-radii.
9. Certain nouns have different forms in their plural depending on the context of usage.
die – dies (device that shapes materials by stamping, cutting or punching), dice (small
cubes used in games)
brother – brethren (members of community); brothers (siblings).
10. Abstract and Material Nouns are not used in plural except in cases where they are
used as Common Noun.
advice-advice, courage-courage, death-death, furniture-furniture.
Nouns and Articles
The three seemingly innocuous words, ‘A, an, and the’ are perhaps the most commonly
used words in the English language. Ironically, these words are also among the most
perplexing for linguists, students, and teachers. One of the central problems seems to be
in defining the structural role of the article system. Grammarians have tended to describe
them as “markers” which denote a variety of qualities such as definiteness or
indefiniteness. This proves that articles are considered as function words, not content
words that carry meaning. The meaning is difficult to describe outside of the context in
which articles are used.
Articles in English may be classified as Indefinite and Definite.
1. Definite article: It is used before a noun that is specified. ‘The’ is the definite article.
2. Indefinite articles: They are used before a noun which is not specified. ‘A’ and ‘An’
are the indefinite articles.
Definite Article Usage: ‘The’ is used-
1. before singular and plural nouns when the noun is particular or specific.
E.g.: The apple tree is full of fruits. (specific noun –singular).
The mangoes kept for sale were juicy. (plural noun)
2. before non-countable nouns that are made more specific.
E.g.: The coffee in my cup is too hot to drink.
The shirt that Sam is wearing is his dad’s.

29. 3. before a noun refers to something unique.
E.g.: The theory of relativity.
4. before names of rivers, oceans and seas.
E.g.: The Ganges, the Pacific
5. before points on the globe.
E.g.: The Equator, the North Pole
6. before geographical areas.
E.g.: The Middle East, the West
7. before deserts, forests, gulfs and peninsulas.
E.g.: The Sahara, the Persian Gulf, the Black Forest, the Indian Peninsula
8. before certain well-known or sacred books.
E.g.: The Mahabharata, The Bible, The Midsummer Night’s Dream
9. before an adjective in the superlative degree.
E.g.: Nisha is the shortest girl in the office.
10. before certain adjectives to give a plural meaning.
E.g. The rich = rich people
Indefinite articles – Usage.
We use ‘a’ when the noun we are referring to begins with a consonant sound.
E.g.: a city, a bird
We use ‘an’ when the noun we are referring to begins with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) sound.
E.g.: an apple, an umbrella.
NOTE: If the noun begins with a consonant sound. (E.g.: university), then we use ‘a’.
If the noun begins with a vowel sound (E.g.: hour), then we use ‘an’.

30. We say “university” with a “y” sound at the beginning as though it were spelt
“youniversity”. So, “a university” IS correct.
We say “hour” with a silent ‘h’ as though it were spelt “our”. Therefore, “an hour” IS
correct.
‘A’ or ‘An’ is used –
1. before nouns that introduce something or someone you have not mentioned before
E.g.: I saw an elephant this morning. I ate a banana for lunch.
2. before singular countable nouns
E.g.: I stepped in a puddle.
I saw an apple tree.
3. when talking about one’s profession
E.g.: I am an English teacher.
I am a builder.
4. before Mr./Mrs./Miss + name to imply that he is a stranger to the speaker.
E.g.: A Mr. Smith is outside your office.
5. before a proper noun to make it a common noun.
E.g.: Amit is a Shakespeare.
6. before certain uncountable nouns preceded by nouns + of
E.g.: a drop of water, a piece of advice
7. after the words many, rather, such, quite in certain structures.
E.g.: Such a show cannot be arranged now.
‘A’ or ‘An’ is not used
1. before names of meals. E.g.: Let us have lunch at 12.30 p.m.
Exception: ‘a’ is used before names of meals when they are preceded by adjectives.

31. E.g.: She gave me a sumptuous dinner yesterday.
Articles are not used
1. with non countable nouns referring to something in general
E.g.: Coffee is his favourite drink.
2. before names of languages and nationalities.
E.g.: English, Indian
3. before names of academic subjects.
E.g.: History, Biology
4. before names of cities, towns, states.
E.g.: Miami, Seoul
5. before names of streets
E.g.: M.G. Road
6. before names of lakes and bays
E.g.: Lake Titicaca
Exception: ‘the’ is used with group of lakes. E.g.: the Great Lakes.
7. before names of mountains
E.g.: Mount Everest
Exception: ‘the’ is used with mountain ranges. E.g.: the Andes, the Rockies
8. before names of continents.
E.g.: Asia, Australia
9. before names of islands
E.g.: Easter Islands
Exception: ‘the’ is used with the chain of islands. E.g.: the Andamans
10. before material nouns

32. E.g. Gold is a precious metal
Exception: ‘the’ is used with an adjunct which makes the material noun definite.
E.g.: The gold we use in India is all imported.
Quantity Terms and Nouns
Read the following rules that help you to decide in selecting a particular quantity word
that would go with a noun. Note that quantity words can be used in combinations such as
many more, many fewer, much more, and much less, any of which can be preceded by
how to form questions or relative clauses. Negatives like not and no can also be applied
to many of these terms.
1) Some, Any: Both words modify either countable or uncountable nouns.
Some children are playing in the park. (countable)
Let’s have some coffee (uncountable)
Did you eat any food? (uncountable)
Do you serve any vegetarian dishes? (countable)
2) Much, Many: Much modifies only uncountable nouns. Many modifies only countable
nouns.
How much sugar will you take in your tea? (uncountable)
They had so many books that they had to stack them in the hall. (countable)
3) A lot of, Lots of: These words are informal substitutes for much and many.
I take lots of sugar in my tea (uncountable)
They had kept a lot of books on the table (countable)
4) Little, Quite a little, Few, Quite a few : Little and quite a little modify only
uncountable nouns. Few and quite a few modify only countable nouns.
Melvin has little chance of being elected (practically no chance)
Melvin has a little chance of being elected (some but not much)
I have seen few people who can keep a secret (hardly any)
A few doctors from the hospital play on the softball team. ( a small number)
Quite a few restaurants in this town offer vegetarian dishes. (meaning “a large number”)

33. 5) A little bit of, Quite a bit of: These informal phrases usually precede uncountable
nouns. Quite a bit of has the same meaning as quite a little and is used more commonly.
There’s a little bit of pepper in the soup. (meaning “a small amount”)
There’s quite a bit of pepper in the soup. (meaning “a large amount”)
6) Enough: This word modifies both countable and uncountable nouns.
I don’t have enough summer dresses to go on a vacation to Hawaii.
We have enough money to buy a car.
7) Plenty of: This term modifies both countable and uncountable nouns.
There are plenty of mountains in Switzerland.
She has plenty of money in the bank.
No : This word modifies both countable and uncountable nouns.
There were no squirrels in the park today.
We have no time left to finish the project.
2. Pronoun
Noun holds an important place in the English language. However, we do not repeat the
names of persons and things again and again. So Pronoun is used as a proxy to the
proper noun to avoid repetition of the nouns.
Suresh said that Suresh bought a new bike.
In this case repetition of the proper noun ‘Suresh’ becomes redundant. It could be
replaced by the pronoun ‘he’
Suresh said that he bought a new bike.
The word “Pronoun” means ‘for a noun.’ Thus, Pronoun is a word used instead of noun.
Types of Pronoun: Pronouns fall into nine categories:
Personal Pronoun, Relative Pronoun, Distributive Pronoun, Demonstrative Pronoun
Indefinite Pronoun, Reflexive Pronoun, Emphatic Pronoun, Interrogative Pronoun
Reciprocal Pronoun

34. Personal Pronouns can be used in three cases Nominative Case (as subject of the
sentence), Accusative Case (as object of the sentence) and Possessive Case.
· The personal pronoun replacing the noun should
conform to the gender, number and person of the noun.
· While expressing a positive idea/praise, the sequence of the pronouns should be (third
person, second person, first person)
E.g.: He, you and I, will get an award for the good work we have done.
· While expressing a negative idea/confessing a fault, the sequence should be (first
person, second person, third person)
E.g.: I, you and he are in the wrong and will be punished.
· The personal pronouns – yours, ours, hers, theirs and its – are written without the
apostrophe.
Your’s truly (wrong)
Yours truly (correct)
Relative Pronouns: They are used for the nouns (antecedents) used before them. They
are used in the following:
Subject Object Possessive
For persons who, that whom/who, that whose
For things which, that which/that whose/of which
· A relative pronoun must always be placed as near its antecedent as possible. It must also
agree with its antecedent in number, gender and person
E.g.: This is the woman who stole the ring.
(ant.) (re. pro)
· Generally, the relative pronoun in the objective case is omitted.
E.g.: The student (whom) you wanted to punish is absent today.

35. · ‘Which’ is used –
1. For infants, small animals and objects
E.g.: This is the baby which was lost in the theatre.
This is the dog which my friend bought from the Kennel’s club.
2. When selection is expressed
E.g.: Which of these items do you want to purchase?
3. To refer to a sentence
E.g.: He was said to be drunk, which was not true
Distributive Pronouns: They refer to nouns considered individually. They are singular
in number and must be followed by singular verbs.
Each of these houses belongs to the landed gentry.
Either of the boys could get the prize.
Neither of these students can get through the examination.
Everyone has his own problems.
Everybody will be given a chance to play.
Demonstrative Pronouns: (this, that, these, those, they, such)
This is my paper.
That is a dog.
These are good books.
· ‘This’ (singular) and ‘These’ (plural) refer to thoughts, objects, places which are close
at hand.
‘That’ (singular) and ‘Those’ (plural) refer to the same that are far away.
· ‘That’ is also used to avoid the repetition of a preceding noun.
The water of Calcutta is like that of Cuttack. (that refers to water)

36. Indefinite pronouns : They refer to nouns in a general way. (some, one, nobody,
somebody, few, all, any, many, anybody, each, both, everyone, everybody, either,
neither, several)
Some are born great.
Anyone can take a horse to the pond, but no one can make it drink.
All are invited for the party.
· When singular noun and a plural noun are combined by or, either…or, neither…nor,
the singular noun preferably comes first in the sentence and the pronoun must be in the
plural form.
Either the manager or his subordinates failed in their duty.
· ‘One’ is used to talk about people in general, the pronoun that follows one should be
one’s. (In American English, ‘one’ can be followed by his or her)
One should not be too serious in one’s duties as one can be exploited for the same.
One should never tell his secrets to a gossip if he wishes them to remain secret.
Reflexive Pronouns: Here the action reflects back on the noun. When the subject and
object refer to the same person, reflexive pronoun is used.
I must blame myself for this.
Behave yourself.
He killed himself.
Emphatic Pronouns : They are used to emphasize the subject of the sentence.
I myself will take you there
You yourself are to be blamed
Reciprocal Pronouns : Each other and one another express a mutual or reciprocal
relationship. They are also called as Compound Personal Pronouns.
The two girls helped each other in every respect.
The political parties quarreled with one another.
· ‘Each other’ is used to refer to two persons/things

37. These two students love each other.
· ‘One another’ is used for more than two persons/things.
Those five parties always disagree with one another.
Interrogative pronouns: They are used in questions.
For persons – who, whom, whose.
For things – what, which
Who keeps the keys?
Whom did the committee appoint?
Whose car broke down?
Which is the road to the hospital?
What have you to do now?
General usage of pronouns:
1. When two singular nouns joined by ‘and’ and are preceded by ‘each’ or ‘every’, the
pronoun must be singular in number.
E.g.: Every student and every teacher took his seat.
2. When two singular nouns are joined by ‘and’ denoting the same person/thing, the
pronoun used for them must be singular in number. The definite article ‘the’ is placed
before the first noun.
E.g.: The accounts officer and treasurer should be careful in his work.
3. When nouns of different genders are combined by a conjunction, the pronoun must
agree with the gender of the noun which is next to the conjunction.
E.g.: Every boy and girl went to her house.
3. Adjectives
Any word that adds more meaning to the Noun is called an Adjective. It qualifies a noun.
Eg.: Ankur is a good player. The baby drank a little milk.
Correct Use of some adjectives:

38. a) Little (practically no chance) Deepak has little chance of being elected.
A little (some chance) There is a little hope of his success.
The little (whatever available) I shall give him the little money I have.
b) Few (practically none) Few people are good.
A few (a small number) I have a few friends in my office.
The few (whatever available) I will pack the few things I have.
c) First (first in order) Yuri Gagarin was the first man to go into space.
Foremost (leading, eminent) Einstein was the foremost scientist of his day.
d) Elder – eldest (of the same family) She is my eldest sister.
Older – oldest (of age) He is the oldest man in the village.
e) Nearest (in space) The nearest bus stop is two kilometers away.
Next (in position) She is seated next to her friend.
f) Later (in time) This is the later edition of the book.
Latter (in order) Of the two boys, Raj and Ram, the latter is clever.
Latest (in time) This is the latest print.
Last (in order) This is the last bottle.
g) Less (smaller) I have less money than needed.
Lesser (not as bad as the other) This is the lesser of the two devils.
h) Farther (distance) Let us walk a little farther
Further (additional, beyond He may be given further punishment
what exists now) **
i) Many (numerous-referring to number) Many of us are on leave tomorrow.
Many a (singular in form but plural Many a man feels frustrated due to

39. In meaning) the present education system.
A Great Many ( a large number) A great many people attended the wedding
j) Outermost (farthest from the center) The outermost crust of the pizza is tasty.
Uttermost (most distant or remote) He is a great traveler who has been to the uttermost
parts of the earth.
Utmost (extreme, in the highest This meeting is of utmost
degree) importance.
Utter (comparative in form but superlative Any one can see the utter
in meaning- complete, unqualified) absurdity of the situation
** (Now-a-days ‘further’ is being increasingly used instead of ‘farther’)
4. Verbs
A verb indicates the action done by the subject.
E.g.: He arrived late.
Verbs can be categorized into two groups:
1. Main verb: This tells us of what exactly happens. They are also called the ‘action
words.’ E.g.: Srinivas went to his village. The word ‘went’ tells us what the subject
‘Mohan’ has done.
2. Auxiliary verbs: They indicate the number and tense in the sentence. They are also
called ‘helping verbs.’ E.g.: Mohan did not go with him. The helping verb ‘did’ decides
the time of action. So the main verb will be in the original form of ‘go’.
Auxiliary verbs and their forms:
1. Primary auxiliaries: BE – be, is, am, was, were, being, been.
HAVE – have, has, had, having.
DO – do, does, did, doing, done.
2. Modal auxiliaries: can, might, may, must, will, need, shall, dare, should, ought, would,
used to, could.

40. Verb Phrase in any sentence is formed by using only the Main verb or one of the basic
forms of the Main verb and the Primary auxiliaries or both the primary auxiliaries and the
modal auxiliaries.
E.g.: The teacher gives assignments. (main verb)
(M.V.)
The teacher is giving assignments. (primary auxiliary + main verb)
(P.A.) (M.V.)
The teacher will be giving assignments. (main auxiliary + pri. Aux + main verb)
(M.A.) (P.A.) (M.V.)
Characteristics of Modal auxiliaries:
1. They are never used alone. They are used along with a Principal verb or the Principal
verb is implied.
E.g. I will admit my fault. (‘will’ is the modal auxiliary supported by the Principal verb
‘admit’)
2. Modal auxiliaries have a single form throughout the Present tense irrespective of the
Person (First, Second or Third)
E.g. I can borrow a pen (First Person)
You can borrow a pen (Second Person)
He can borrow a pen (Third Person)
Compare the above rule with that of Principal verb. They change according to the Person
(First, Second or Third)
E.g.: I am borrowing a pen (First Person)
You are borrowing a pen (Second Person)
He is borrowing a pen (Third Person)
3. Modal Auxiliaries do not take the Infinitives or Participle forms. So they are also
called as “Defective Verbs.” Similarly they do not take ‘ing’ to make present participles
and they do not have past participles. There are cases when the words like ‘will’, ‘dare’,

41. ‘need’ use ‘to’ or ‘ing’ . In such cases, they are to be considered as Primary Auxiliaries
or Infinitives and not Modal Auxiliaries.
E.g.: She seems to have eaten the cake.(Infinitive)
Having lost his job, Raj resorted to smuggling. (Present Participle)
I have had the house painted (Past Participle)
Kinds of Verbs
Verbs can be TRANSITIVE or INTRANSITIVE.
i) In ‘transitive’ the action passes from the subject to an object.
E.g.: My cat killed a rat.
The action of “killing” is passed from the
‘cat’ to the ‘rat.’ Here ‘killed’ is a transitive verb.
ii) In ‘intransitive’ the action does not have any succeeding object. It merely points to a
condition.
E.g.: The girl is dancing.
The action of “dancing” does not have any object that comes after it. Here ‘dancing’ is
an intransitive verb.
2.2.4.3 Verb – Tenses

42. Tense refers to the time of action. With the change of tense, the form of the main verb
also changes. There are twelve tense-structures. They are:
Simple Present, Present Continuous, Present Perfect, Present Perfect Continuous
Simple Past , Past Continuous, Past Perfect, Past Perfect Continuous
Simple Future, Future Continuous, Future Perfect, Future Perfect Continuous
1. Simple Present: (Subject + V1 (present )
· It is used to indicate a regular or habitual action and permanent or verifiable truths/facts.
E.g.: Mary goes to school every day (regular action)
Henry always swims in the evening (habitual)
The sun rises in the east. (permanent truth)
· It is used to express a planned future event/actions, exclamatory statements with ‘here’
and ‘there’.
E.g.: We go to New Delhi next Thursday (planned future event)
Here comes the great player of the year!
· It is used to indicate verbs of perception.
E.g.: I hear someone sing.
2. Present Continuous: (Subject + {is, am, are}+V1 + ing)
· It is used to indicate present time when an action is going on.
E.g.: The secretary is typing the letter now.
· It is used to indicate the action in progress and will be continued, but not necessarily at
the moment of speaking.
E.g.: My son is drawing scenery.
· It is used to indicate the actions that have been arranged to take place in the near future
and one’s immediate plans.
E.g.: We are going to a party this evening.

43. · The following verbs are never used in the continuous forms (with ‘ing’) see, hear, smell,
notice, understand, have, believe, hate, need, love, appear, like, seem, sound, want, taste,
wish, own, notice, desire, refuse, forgive, care, admire, mean, remember, recall, forget,
belong, possess, contain, consist, keep, seems, cost.
· When some of the above verbs are used in the continuous tense, their meanings change.
E.g.: I have a house at Colaba.
The professor is having the class in Room. 2 (taking)
3. Present Perfect: (Subject+{have, has}+V 3 (verb in the past participle)
a. It indicates an action that has happened at an indefinite time in the past.
E.g.: Maria has seen this movie three times.
We haven’t written our reports yet.
· It is used to indicate actions that have started in the past and are continuing at present.
E.g.: I have been sick for a long time.
· It is also used to show the activities completed in the recent past.
E.g.: My father has just left.
· We should not use present perfect tense when the time is specified.
E.g.: I have read this book last week (incorrect)
I read this book last week (correct)
4. Present Perfect Continuous: (Subject + {have, has}+ been +V1 + ing)
a) It indicates an action that began in the past and still occurring in the present.
E.g.: He has been working in Washington for 5 years.
Simple Past : (Subject + V2 {verb in the past})
a) It is used for a completed action that had happened in the past. It also indicates habits
of the past.
E.g.: Bob went to America last year.

44. We always played together.
5. Past Continuous: ( Subject + {was, were} + V1 + ing)
· It indicates an action, which was occurring in the past and was interrupted by another
action.
E.g.: Seema was watching the Television when her brother called.
· It describes two or more actions going on at the same time. The clauses are usually
connected by the conjunction ‘while’.
E.g.: While Maya was watching the movie, Mark was playing hockey.
· It expresses an action that was in progress at a point of time in the past, having begun
before that point and probably continuing after it.
E.g.: I was watching cricket at 8.00 in the morning.
6. Past Perfect: (Subject + {had} + V3 {past participle})
a) It is used to indicate an action that happened before another action in the past. Usually
two actions are mentioned in the sentence.
E.g.: Ram had gone to the store and brought some groceries.
(Past Per.) (Sim. Past)
7. Past Perfect Continuous: (Subject + {had} + been +V1 + ing)
a) It is used to convey an action which happened in the past and continued for certain
time.
E.g.: Ramu had been working at the university before he retired.
8. Simple Future: (Subject + will/shall + V1)
a) It is used to express the speaker’s opinions/assumptions about the future.
E.g.: They will wait for us.
· It is used for future habitual actions.
E.g.: Birds will build nests.
· It is used in sentences containing clauses of condition, time and purpose.

45. E.g.: If I drop this glass, it will break.
9. Future continuous: (Subject + will/shall + be+ V1+ ing)
· It is used to express an action as going on at some time in the future.
E.g.: I shall be playing piano in the concert.
· It is used to express future without intention.
E.g.: I will be helping Marie tomorrow.
11. Future Perfect: (Subject + will/shall/ + have + V3)
· It is used for an action which at a given future time will be in the past. It is usually used
with a time expression ‘by then’, ‘by that time’.
E.g.: By the end of next month he will have been here for ten years.
12. Future Perfect Continuous: (Subject+ will/shall + have +been+V1 +ing)
· It can be used instead of future perfect tense (when the action is continuous).
E.g.: By the end of next month he will have been living here for ten years.
· It can also be used when the action is expressed as a continuous action.
E.g.: By the end of the week he will have been training pupils for ten years.
* However, if we mention the number of pupils, we must use future perfect.
E.g.: By the end of the week he will have trained 5000 pupils for ten years.
Exercise: Correct the following sentences:
1. The policeman asked the young woman to immediately produce her driving licence.
2. We only have three hours to complete this paper.
3. Never I saw such an accident.
4. When only a child, my mother took me to the cinema.
5. Statistics show that workers work most efficient when they are involved in the total
operation rather than only one part of it.

46. 6. They spoke at the meeting angrily.
7. No sooner did I go to the station when the bus left.
8. She was so quiet that hardly he noticed her.
9. Do not try to completely finish your homework before lunch.
He wanted to carefully read the directions.
5. Adverbs
Adverbs add more meaning to the verb, adjective, or another adverb in a sentence. It
‘modifies’ that word.
E.g.: Radha sings melodiously.
He left immediately.
Formation of adverbs:
1. By adding –ly, to an adjective: beautifully, strongly.
2. By adding -wise, -ways, -wards: otherwise, sideways, upwards.
3. By combining a noun and a prefix: asleep, ahead, away, besides.
4. By combining a prefix and an adjective: alone, around, below.
5. Two adverbs joined by conjunction: by and by, over and above, now and then.
Adverbs tell us about the time, place, manner, quantity, reason, and frequency of an
action. They are recognized by asking certain questions to the verb.
Useage of adverbs:
1. An adverb must be placed as near as possible to the word it modifies.
E.g.: He waited long.
2. If the verb is in the simple tense form, the adverb is usually placed
between the subject and the verb it modifies.
E.g.: He often visits his home town. (Sub.) (Adv.) (V)

47. 3. If the verb is in the form of ‘to be’ (is, am, was, are, were) the adverb comes after the
verb. E.g.: She is a very sober girl.
4. If the verb is compound, the adverb comes after the auxiliary.
E.g.: He will always teach.
5. If the sentence is negative, the adverb of frequency follows ‘not’.
E.g.: They are not generally selfish.
6. If the sentence is interrogative the adverb takes position immediately after the subject.
E.g.: Has he ever spoken to you?
7. In case of infinitives (to + simple form of verb + do), adverb should not be placed in
between ‘to’ and ‘do’.
E.g.: He refused to do the task quickly.
(Inf.) (Adv.)
8. Use of ‘hard’, ‘hardly’ – ‘Hard’ as an adverb usually follows the verb.
E.g.: He works hard to make both ends meet.
‘Hardly’ as an adverb conveys a negative meaning of scarcely or barely.
E.g.: Hardly had he spoken when the bell rang.
9. Use of ‘scarce’, ‘scarcely’ – ‘Scarce’ as an adverb means hard to find.
E.g.: Coal has become scarce in England.
‘Scarcely’ as an adverb is almost synonymous with ‘hardly’.
E.g.: I can scarcely hear you.
* ‘hardly’ and ‘scarcely’ are followed by when. ‘No sooner’ is followed by than.
E.g.: Hardly had the bell rung when the children ran out of the classroom.
No sooner had the bell rung than the children ran out of the classroom.
6. Prepositions

48. Prepositions are the words, which tell us about the relations of the nouns, pronouns, and
adjectives in a sentence. Their position is before (pre) the noun. Hence they are said to
govern the noun. The noun which follows is said to be the object of the preposition.
There are two types of prepositions. They are:
1. Simple Prepositions: in, on, after, at, with, under, above, etc.
E.g.: He wrote the notes with a pen.
2. Complex Prepositions: along with, apart from, as for, as to, away from, onto, out of,
together with, upto, such as, except for, owing to, due to, but for, because of, by means
of, on account of, in comparison with, in accordance with, in view of, in spite of, instead
of.
Use of Prepositions:
1. A preposition can be used at the beginning of an interrogative sentence.
E.g.: At what time do you leave for office?
2. A preposition is placed at the end of the sentence in the following ways
· If a preposition governs a relative pronoun.
E.g.: This is the book which I mentioned about.
· When the relative pronoun is ‘that’.
E.g.: This is the school that I went to.
· When the relative pronoun is understood.
E.g.: This is the person you spoke to.
· If a preposition governs an interrogative pronoun or an interrogative adverb.
E.g.: What are you looking at?
· When the preposition is used with the infinitive at the end of the sentence.
E.g.: Do you have a chair to sit on?
3. A word is considered a preposition when it governs a noun/pronoun. Otherwise it
becomes an adverb. The most important words are: about, above, across, along, after,
before, below, behind, besides, by, down, in, on, near, off, over, past, round, through,
under, up etc.

49. i) He got off the bus at the corner (preposition)
He got off at the corner (adverb)
ii) Peter is behind us (preposition)
He’s a long way behind (adverb)
iii) She climbed over the wall (preposition)
You’ll have to climb over too (adverb)
Relations expressed by prepositions:
1. Preposition of time: on, in, at, for, before, after, until, till, between, by, upto.
E.g.: She was healthy till yesterday.
2. Preposition of place: to, at, from, away, on, onto, of, in, into, out, upon, inside, within,
by, over, above, on top of, behind, in front of, below, beneath, across, through, all over,
throughout, between, among.
E.g.: Where do you come from?
3. Preposition of method and manner: by, with
E.g.: The boys skipped going to school with audacity.
4. Preposition of reason and purpose: with, of, for,
E.g.: I rented a house for my holidays
5. Preposition of possession: of, with, by
E.g.: The tomb of Akbar is in Sikandarabad.
6. Preposition of direction and motions: into, towards, up, round, across.
E.g.: They climbed into the lorry.
7. Preposition of contrast: despite
E.g.: Despite his mistakes, he is a sincere worker.
Correct Use of some of the Prepositions:

50. · beside, besides
a) The house is beside the river. (by the side of)
b) Besides being good at Tennis, he is also an excellent player of Golf. (in addition to/
moreover)
· since, for
a) He has been absent since Monday last. (point of time)
b) He was absent for four days. (length or period of time)
· between, among
a) I have to choose between the two pictures.(two persons/things)
b) This is the custom among the tribes. (more than two)
· by, with
a) He was killed by a servant. (doer of the action)
b) He was killed with a knife. (instrument of action)
· in, at
He lives at Juhu in Mumbai. (‘at’ – smaller area/ ‘in’- bigger area)
· in, into
a) He is in bed (indicates rest or motion inside anything)
b) He fell into the well (motion towards the inside of anything)
· on, upon
a) He sat on a chair (things at rest)
b) He lives on his maternal uncle (denoting support)
c) I wrote books on philosophy (denoting concern)
d) He jumped upon the horse. (Things in motion)
· in, within

51. a) The loan will be repaid in a year. (end of a period of time)
b) The loan will be paid within a year (any time before the specified period.)
· over, above
a) They saw the peaks towering above them (higher)
b) We hung the picture over the fire place (vertically above)
7. Conjunctions
A Conjunction is a word which connects words, phrases, clauses or sentences. There are
two classes of conjunctions. They are:
1. Co-ordinate conjunctions
2. Subordinate conjunctions.
Co-ordinate conjunctions join two clauses or sentences which are at par in terms of
importance. They also join two words of equal grammatical rank. The chief co-ordinate
conjunctions are – and, but, for, nor, or, otherwise, else, also, either ——– or, neither —
—- nor, both ——- and.
Co-ordinate conjunctions are further divided into:
1. Cumulative conjunctions: They add one statement/fact to another. They are – not only
— but also, both — and, as well as, too, also, moreover, and.
E.g.: They sang melodiously, and played the guitar well.
2. Alternative conjunctions: They express a choice between two alternatives. They are –
or, else, Either—or, neither—nor, otherwise.
E.g.: She is good neither at games nor at studies.
3. Adversative conjunctions: They express a contrast between two facts or statements.
They are – however, but, only, yet, still, whereas, nevertheless.
E.g.: I would have been there; only I am too busy this week.
4. Illative conjunctions: They show that a statement/fact is proved or inferred from
another. They are – hence, therefore, so, subsequently, consequently, for.
E.g.: He is honest and amiable, hence is revered.

52. Subordinate Conjunctions: are the conjunctions that connect the subordinate clauses to
the main clauses in sentences.
1. Subordinate conjunction of time. E.g.: The patient had died before the doctor arrived.
2. Subordinate conjunction of reason. E.g.: Since you insist, I will come to your home.
3. Subordinate conjunction of purpose. E.g.: We eat so that we may live.
4. Subordinate conjunction of condition. E.g.: I wonder why you left the company.
5. Subordinate conjunction of consequence. E.g.: The baby was so tired that it slept
immediately.
6. Subordinate conjunction of concession. E.g.: Though you insist, I will not talk to her.
7. Subordinate conjunction of comparison. E.g.: You are taller than I (am)
8. Interjections
A word which expresses a sudden and intense feeling of surprise, joy, fear, sadness is
interjection. It is indicated by the exclamation mark put after it. (Ah! Hurrah! Well! Dear!
Oh!) Interjection is not grammatically connected with the rest of the sentence.
E.g.: Hurrah! We have won the match.
Sentences
A group of words that makes a complete sense or gives complete meaning is called a
sentence. It expresses the thought of the person, who speaks or writes the sentence.
Traditionally, a sentence is considered as a largest grammatical unit. It is also imperative
that a sentence has a verb in it to consider it as a sentence.

53. The shortest legal sentences in the English language are “I am” and “I do” – although
with some bending of the rules, the imperative “Go!” can be considered the shortest
correct sentence.
According to www.englishclub.com, A sentence is a group of words that expresses a
thought. A sentence conveys a statement, question, exclamation or command. A sentence
contains or implies a subject and a predicate. In simple terms, a sentence must contain a
verb and (usually) a subject. A sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a full
stop (.), question mark (?) or exclamation mark (!).
Kinds of Sentences
From the point of view of expression of thoughts, the sentences are divided into four
kinds.
1. Declarative sentences: They state or assert certain facts. So they are called declarative
sentences. A declarative sentence makes a statement. It begins with a capital letter and
ends with a period. E.g.: Veena is playing word zap
2. Interrogative Sentences: The sentences that ask questions are called Interrogative
sentences. E.g.: What is your name? Where are you going?
3. Exclamatory sentences: The sentences in the example express strong feelings either of
happiness or sadness. The feelings are also sudden. Also notice the exclamatory mark at
the end of the sentences. Such sentences are called Exclamatory sentences. E.g.: Wow,
what a win that was ! What alert animals the dogs are!
4. Imperative sentences: The sentences that are used to express order, request or wish are
called as Imperative sentences. E.g.: Go out of the class, Call the electrician, please, May
the Lord bless. Among the given examples, The first sentence is an order, the second, a
request and the third is a wish. We use the above sentences when we are talking directly
to someone. Hence the subject (you) is omitted because it is understood in the meaning.
Elements of Sentence Construction
We have already learnt the different parts of speech and also understood that they string
together to make a sentence. However, we should not forget that the parts of speech have
a specific task to perform in a sentence. In English, every sentence has two essential
parts: a subject and a Predicate, which are inclusive of clauses and phrases.
Subject: The complete subject is the simple subject (a noun or a pronoun) plus any
words or group of words modifying the simple subject that tell who or what the
sentence is about. Thus, a subject is the person, place, or thing that acts, is acted on, or
is described in the sentence.

54. Additional Facts about Subject:
1. The “Understood You” : Sometimes, as in the case of imperative sentences, the
subject does not actually appear in the sentence. At such times the invisible subject is
called the “understood you”.
e.g.: (You) Go out of the house.
2. Positioning: Although the subject most commonly appears before the verb, it can also
appear afte
r the verb. This is called the inversion of the Subject and Predicate. E.g.: Here come
my friends and their parents.
Predicate: The predicate is the action or description that occurs in the sentence.
Sometimes a verb will express existence instead of an action. Verb is an essential
part of the predicate. In other words, we can say that the predicate is the ‘telling
part’ of the sentence because it tells us what the subject is doing and to whom.
Sometimes the ‘predicate’ consists of two or more verbs.
One or two ‘auxiliary’ or ‘helping’ verbs precede the main verb.

55. Note: An ‘ing’ ending verb should always have a helping verb with it to make it a
predicate. ‘ing’ ending verb without a helping verb cannot be a predicate in a sentence.
Phrases: A group of words without a finite verb is a phrase. In other words, phrases are
just a group of related words that do not express a complete thought. They also do not
have a subject and predicate pair. So, they cannot be considered as a sentence.
E.g.: The house at the end of the street is very beautiful.
The astronaut chosen to ride the space shuttle to Mars is afraid of heights.
Alix walk down the ramp to the beach.
The flying saucer appeared above the lake before it disappeared into space
Clauses: Words and phrases can be put together to make a clause. A
group of related words that contain both a subject and a predicate and
that functions as a part of a sentence is a clause. A clause is
different from a phrase because a phrase is a group of related words
which lacks either a subject or a predicate or both. Look at the
following sentence.
The boy climbed when the bus stopped.
In the above example, there are two clauses. Only one of them is a sentence. i.e. which
makes a complete sense.
Clause I : The boy climbed. This gives a thought or an idea that is complete. It can stand
by itself. In other words, it is independent of other words. So, it is a Principal clause.

56. Clause II: When the bus stopped. This gives an incomplete thought or idea, one that
cannot stand by itself, one that needs some more words to make it whole. The word
‘when’ changes the meaning, making the thought incomplete. After reading this clause,
we are left hanging.
So the second clause which depends on the first to give meaning to it is called a
Dependent Clause.
Structural Categorization of Sentences
Structurally, a sentence may be categorized as SIMPLE, COMPOUND and COMPLEX.
A sentence can be recognized by the number of clauses it contains.
Simple sentence: A simple sentence, also called an independent clause, contains a subject
and a verb, and it expresses a complete thought. E.g.: Some students like to study in the
morning. ( Some students — Subject ; like — Verb)
Compound sentence : A compound sentence contains two independent (main) clauses
joined by a coordinator. It may or may not have a subordinate clause. The coordinators
are as follows: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. (Helpful hint: The first letter of each of the
co-ordinators spells FANBOYS.) . E.g.: Alex played football but Manu went shopping.
Alex played football (Clause I); But (Coordinator) ; Manu went shopping (Clause II)
Complex sentence: A complex sentence has an independent clause joined by one or more
dependent clauses. A complex sentence always has a subordinator such as because,
since, after, although, or, when or a relative pronoun such as that, who, or which. E.g.:
The teacher returned the homework after she saw an error.
The teacher returned the homework (Main clause); after (Subordinator); She saw an error
(Subordinate clause)
Subject Verb Agreement
We have thus far learnt various types of sentences and the elements that make up a
sentence. We shall polish this a little further to understand the nuances that we should
keep in mind while writing or conversing in English. The rules that one should follow
while constructing a sentence and while conversing may be different. The formal and
informal usage of English differs.
The subject and verb agreement is an important aspect of the English language. It is very
important that the verb and subject agree in number and person.
The two smart girls in the class were chosen to win the award.

57. In the given example there are three ways in which the subject (girls) is shown to be
plural:
1. the verb ‘to be’ in its plural form ‘were’.
2. the adjective ‘two’.
3. the plural marker ‘s’ attached to the subject ‘girl’.
* While trying to determine whether a verb should be in singular or plural form, find the
subject and ignore all the words coming after it. If the subject is singular, then the verb is
singular or vice versa.
The problems with the student have not yet been resolved.
In this example, the subject is ‘problems’ which is in the plural form. So the verb should
be in the plural form. Hence we use the verb ‘have’ (plural form).
1. When two subjects are joined by ‘and’, the verb is plural.
e.g.: John and Jinny are friends.
Exceptions:
· When two singular nouns are joined by ‘and’, but refer to the same person, then the verb
is singular.
E.g.: 1. The secretary and treasurer is on leave. (article ‘the’ is used only once.)
2. The secretary and the treasurer are on leave. (article ‘the’ is used twice).
· When two different singular nouns express one unit, the verb is in singular.

58. E.g.: Rice and curry is my staple diet.
· When two singular subjects are practically synonymous, the verb is in singular. E.g.:
Peace and Prosperity is the need of the day.
· When two singular subjects are joined by ‘and’ which are preceded by ‘each’ or ‘every’,
the verb is in singular. E.g.: Every man, woman and child has been rescued.
E.g.: The United States doesn’t have a centralized governing body for educational affairs.
Mathematics was my favorite subject in school.
Measles is a serious childhood disease if not treated properly.
The committee doesn’t have to come up with a solution until next week.
Exception: However, the nouns ‘people’ and ‘police’ are considered plural, so they take
a plural verb.
E.g.: The police are here to protect us.
The people were happy to see the return of their king.
4. The expression of time, distance, and money are often seen as collective items and
hence take a singular verb.
E.g.: Five hours has already passed since his surgery ended.
Five thousand rupees is a fair price for such an old painting.

59. 5. When the words ‘all’, ‘most’, ‘some’, and ‘any’ are followed by a non-count noun, the
Verb is singular.
E.g.: All of the cake has been eaten.
Some fat is good for you.
Most car exhaust contains pollutants that threaten all living things.
Exception: However, if the words are followed by a plural count noun, the verb is plural.
E.g.: All men are created equal.
6. “None” and “neither” always take a singular verb, whether followed by a plural or a
non-count noun.
E.g.: None of the cats belongs to me,
Neither of the women is the one who spoke to me yesterday.
7. When the subjects are joined by “either …or”, “neither … nor”, “not only … but also”
“both … and”, the verb agrees with the subject which is close to it.
E.g.: Neither the children nor the mother wants to leave.
Either you or I am going to call an end to this charade.
Not only she but all her friends also were in the list of failures.
Both my brother and I am interested in joining the team.
8. When two subjects are joined by ‘as well as’, ‘with’, ‘together with’, ‘accompanied
by’, the verb agrees with the subject mentioned first.
E.g.: The President of India as well as his secretaries is invited to the function.
Her friends along with Sheela are arriving by the first flight.
9. “The + adjective” takes the plural verb because it refers to the whole group.
E.g.: The sick were taken to the hospital immediately.
10. A plural verb is used when “a lot of”, “a great deal of”, “plenty of”, “most of”, “some
of” are used while referring to number.
E.g.: A lot of people were present in the theatre and some of them were students.

60. Exception: However, if the expressions refer to amount, the verb is singular.
E.g.: A lot of home work is given to the students. (singular)
11. When the expression ‘a number of’ is used with a plural noun, it takes plural verb.
The expression, ‘the number of’, along with a plural noun takes a singular verb.
E.g.: A number of students are going to the picnic.
The number of students to volunteer is dwindling by the day.
12. In sports, while referring to the players, the name of the country is followed by plural
verb.
E.g.: England have won the world cup.
13. When the percentage or a part of something is mentioned with plural meaning, the
verb used is plural.
E.g.: 30% of the Indian women are literate.
14. “Majority” can be singular or plural.
· If it is followed by a plural noun, plural verb is used.
E.g.: Majority of the pens were blue.
· If it stands alone, singular verb is used.
E.g.: The majority believes in easy work.
Exercise : Underline and correct the mistakes in the following sentences
1. It is common to move from the countryside to find job.
2. More must be done to solve that problems of development
3. There are two sorts of college in Japan
4. Many culture from around the world are found in the city.
5. In the country the people is more friendly.
6. Huge number of cars use the motorway.
7. The city have disadvantages such as a high rate of crime.