English~14 min read
Grammar that UPSC actually asks
SVA, tenses, prepositions, articles, voice, narration, conditionals.
- Subject–verb agreement: neither/nor takes the nearer subject; each/every/one of + plural noun → singular verb; collective nouns singular when the group acts as one.
- Tenses: present perfect for unfinished time (since, for, already, yet); past perfect for the earlier of two pasts.
- Articles: the + unique/superlative/rivers/newspapers; zero article with abstract nouns in general sense and with most countries.
- Prepositions: accused of, afraid of, agree with (person)/to (proposal), consist of, depend on, differ from, good at, interested in, key to, preside over, responsible for, senior to (not than).
- Voice: object becomes subject; ‘by’ + agent. Intransitive verbs have no passive. Let + object + be + V3 for some imperatives.
- Narration: back-shift tenses in reported speech unless the reporting verb is present or the statement is universal truth.
- Modifiers: misplaced only/almost/nearly change meaning. Parallelism in not only…but also, either…or.
- Conditionals: 0 facts; 1 if + present, will; 2 if + past, would; 3 if + past perfect, would have.
Video Lectures & Explanations
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