Apostrophe

When we desire to show the possession of any Pronoun we use possessive pronouns like her, hers, their, theirs, our, ours, his, mine etc. But when, we desire to show any Noun’s possession or belongingness we use the APOSTROPHE. There are some fixed rules regarding the uses of apostrophe. Let’s discuss them one by one.

· These books belong to Tom.

· These are Tom’s Books.

· The radio was invented by Marconi.

· The radio was a Marconi’s invention.

N.B: After a singular Noun we use …’s and after a plural Noun ending with an S we use only an apostrophe …s.

· These are the boy’s books. (Singular)

· These are the boys’ books. (Plural)

· Five minutes’ walk.

· Two weeks’ leave.

N.B: If the plural noun does not end in …s and follow different rules of plural, then we use an S and later add an apostrophe in between the word and the S. In case of Plural Nouns ending with an S we shun using two SS as it is too difficult to pronounce and only add …’ (Apostrophe) to make a good sound to pronounce.

· Men’s wear.

· Women’s wear.

· Children’s park.

N.B: If there are two Nouns we generally place the apostrophe after the second Noun.

· Clusner and Winnie’s wedding ceremony.

(Though here, the wedding of Clusner and Winnie is more appropriate and sounds good as well)

· Mr. and Mrs. Dahl’s house.

N.B: When the first Noun is a thing, we generally use the …of construction instead of the …’s.

· The chair’s legs. (Incorrect)

· The legs of the chair. (Correct)

· Rose’s flowers. (Incorrect)

· The flowers of rose. (Correct)

N.B: We are free to use either the ‘of’ construction or an ‘Apostrophe S’, in case the Noun happens to be a group of people including countries.

· The Cabinet’s orders or The orders of the Cabinet.

· India’s history or The history of India.

· China’s work forces or The work forces of China.

N.B: …’S is also used when we refer to a Time Noun.

· A day’s leave.

· Tomorrow’s twenty-twenty match.

· A month’s salary.

· A week’s leave.

N.B: …’S is used with fixed expression.

· For Heaven’s sake.

· A stone’s throw distance.

N.B: The second Noun is often omitted in such expressions.

· The grocer’s (Shop)

· The vendor’s (stall)

· The gynecologist’s (Clinic)

· Mr. Tripathy’s (House)

N.B: Both Of and ….’s can go together in expressions like the following.

· He is a friend of my father’s. (One of my father’s friends.)

A mine type word can be placed.

• A friend of mine is coming next week.
• It was good idea of yours.

N.B: Own IS OFTEN USED with the above construction (Of+My-type word+Noun with …’s)

• He has a flat of his own.
• They have no houses of their own.

Remember the OWN can only be used in this type of construction only after a possessive words or what we call My-type word.

	Type 1	Type 2
Possessive Pronouns	My	Mine
	Her	Hers
	Their	Theirs
	Our	Ours
	Your	Yours

These words are called Possessive Pronouns or Possessive Adjectives according to their uses, as they are used in place of Nouns or show possession of the Nouns and come before the nouns like Adjectives.

The type 2 is used when @ A verb comes after the noun. @ If of is used before them. @ if a noun is concealed.

• This book is mine. (Verb in between)
• This is my book.
• Shyam is a friend of hers. (Of is used after the noun)
• Shyam is her friend.
• My horse and yours are both tired. (One noun Horse is concealed)
• My horse and your horse are both tired.

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GENDER

In our day to day talking and writing we generally use different terms to denote the exact sex of the nouns. That words or terms that signify the sex of the nouns is called GENDER in Grammar. Gender happens to be Four in kinds such as:

1) Masculine: that signifies Male sex.

2) Feminine: that signifies Female sex.

3) Common: that signifies both sexes.

4) Neuter: That signifies no sex and generally of inanimate beings.

Nouns can be classified according to Genders.

Masculine and Feminine Gender	Proper Nouns, Common Nouns.
Common Gender:	Common Nouns.
Neuter Gender	All

In order to transform masculine Nouns into Feminine Nouns, generally we use Three kinds of methods.

1) By a change of word: Like nephew, niece.

2) By adding a word: Like He-goat, she-goat, land-lord or land-lady.

3) By adding ~Ess to the Masculine: prince, princess.

Presently, with vigorous feminine movements and their obvious participation in the day to day affair the language has also evolved accordingly. Now many feminine and masculine terms have become outdated and in their place many unisexual words have evolved to denote both sexes. Terms like doctresses, teacheress, chairman and many others have lost their currency. Principal, Headmaster, Doctor, Teacher and Chairperson now denote both sexes. The use of he/she type has also lost currency. President, Prime minister, Governor, Author have become unisexual terms and we have shunned using terms like Governess in the meanwhile. Anyway Gender is a grammatical Concept still in use to parse sex from a plethora of terms. Let’s see some traditional lists.

A) By a change of word:

Masculine	Feminine
Bachelor	Maid/Spinster
Boar	Sow
Boy	Girl
Brother	Sister
Buck	Doe
Bull (Ox)	Cow
Bullock (Steer)	Heifer
Cock	Hen
Colt	Filly
Dog	Bitch
Drone	Bee
Drake	Duck
Earl	Countess
Father	Mother
Friar (Monk)	Nun
Gander	Goose
Gentleman	Lady
Hart	Roe
Horse (Stallion)	Mare
Husband	Wife
King	Queen
Lord	Lady
Man	Woman
Milter (Fish)	Spawner
Nephew	Niece
Papa	Mama
Ram (Wether)	Ewe
Sir	Madam (Dame)
Sire	Dam
Sloven	Slut
Son	Daughter
Stag	Hind
Swain	Nymph
Uncle	Aunt
Wizard	Witch

B) By adding a word:

Masculine	Feminine
Boy friend	Girl friend (Friend is unisexual)
Boy servant	servant girl (servant is unisexual)
Grand father	Grand Mother
She goat	He goat
Male nurse	Female nurse (Nurse is a feminine term)
Man servant	Maid servant
Milkman	Milk woman
Salesman	Saleswoman (Salesgirl is also used)
Washer man	Washerwoman

N: B: Generally, the result of such word changing happens to be compound terms and we hyphenate the two terms. The hyphen can be left but where a question of pronunciation arises, we use hyphen.

C) By adding ~ess to the Masculine Noun.

Masculine	Feminine
Author	Authoress
Baron	Baroness
Count	Countess
Giant	Giantess
Headmaster	Headmistress
Heir	Heiress
Host	Hostess
Jew	Jewess
Lion	Lioness
Patron	Patroness
Peer	Peeress
Poet	Poetess
Priest	Priestess
Prince	Princess
Prophet	Prophetess
Shepherd	Shepherdess
Viscount	Viscountess

Terms like Authoress, Poetess, hostess, heiress and priestess have lost their currency.

C-1) If there happens to be a vowel letter in the last part of the masculine Noun, generally the vowel is left out and ~ess is added to the remaining part.

Masculine	Feminine
Actor	Actress
Benefactor	Benefactress
Conductor	Conductress
Director	Directress
Enchanter	Enchantress
Hunter	Huntress
Instructor	Instructress
Negro	Negress
Porter	Portress
Songster	Songtress
Tempter	Temptress
Traitor	Traitress
Votary	Votaress

Look at the list one can find many of the terms outdated and even they cannot be found in the dictionary.

C-2) By changing in a disorderly fashion and adding ~ess:

Masculine	Feminine
Abbot	Abbess
Duke	Duchess
Emperor	Empress
Governor	Governess
Lad	lass
Master (Teacher)	Mistress
Master (Boy)	Miss
Mr.	Mrs.
Murderer	Murderess
Sorcerer	Sorceress

D) Without any rules:

Masculine	Feminine
Parvenu	Parvenue
Groom	Bride
Fiancé	Fiancée
Widower	Widow

E) Foreign Feminine:

Masculine	Feminine
Administrator	Administratrix
Beau	Belle
Czar	Czarina
Executor	Executrix
Hero	Heroine
Prosecutor	Prosecutrix
Raja	Rani
Signor	Signora
Sultan	Sultana
Testator	Testatrix

Two words Songstress and seamstress are called double feminines as both words have got the ~er and ~ess together.

Some Common Gender Nouns:

Baby: male or female	Monarch: King or queen
Bird: Cock or hen	Mouse: Male or female
Calf: Bullock or Heifer	Orphan: Male or female
Cat: male or female	Parent: Father or mother
Child: Son or daughter	Peafowl: Peacock or peahen
Cousin: Male or female	Person: man or woman
Deer: Stag or hind	Pig: Boar or sow
Elephant: male or female	Pupil: Boy or girl
Enemy: Male or female	Rat: male or female
Flirt: man or woman	Servant: man or woman
Foal: Cock or hen	Sheep: Ram or ewe
Friend: male or female	Student: male or female

ü Nouns related to Trades or Professions or Ranks generally regarded as Common Nouns. Governor, Prime minister, President, Secretary, Clerk, Typist, Stenographer, Teacher etc.

ü Those Nouns that signify Mightiness, Magnanimity generally regarded as Masculine Gender. Sun, May, summer, Winter, Ocean, Sea, Thunder, Wind, Death, War, Majesty.

ü Those Nouns that signify beauty, softness, suaveness generally regarded as Feminine gender. Name of country, Name of City, Earth, Spring, Hope, Virtue, Truth, Justice, Mercy, Charity, peace, Pride, Fame etc.

ü There are some nouns that have no Masculine nouns: Dowager, dowdy, hussy, matron, minx, prostitute, prude, slattern, shrew, termagant, and virago. However, presently a word Gigolo is being used for male prostitute though the word has not gained wide acceptance.

ü There are some nouns that have no feminine gender. Cad, clown, Joker, dude, fop, ruffian, villain, goonda.

ü In writing generally poetries, personification is used to give life to an inanimate being and in that case a common gender happens to be feminine or masculine.

ü Sometime when no gender related word is given the possessive pronouns like her, his or pronoun like he or she leads to the identification of the gender.

‘As the Sun goes into the west, entire New York rises to life with its crawling and neon lights. She seems to be bathed in milky ray as not a single part of her remains dark. She rises to life with rock and rap around reverberating her nook and corner.’

Look at the small paragraph that is a fictional version about the night life of New York. In the sentence New York City is described as feminine gender.

N.B: The above list is only a traditional one and many words have lost their identity with the passage of time. It is for a reference purpose the blogger has included those words.

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Snippets about Adjective

Generally when we compare two things or two similar groups or two qualities we use THAN (not then).

• Ram is better than Shyam.
• The UNO is better than the League of Nations.

But there are some exceptions to this rule:

In case of adjectives ending with ~ior like Senior, Junior, Inferior, Superior we use TO instead of THAN.

• He is superior to him.
• He is junior to him.
• Tom is senior to me.
• He is inferior to him.

‘Elder’ is used while referring to the members of same family or members of the same caste whereas ‘Older’ is used for comparing the age of any two persons.

• Tom is older to me. (No relation of family)
• He is elder to me. ( Family relation)

Prefer is preceded as well as followed by a Noun or a Noun phrase.

• To die is preferable to beg (Wrong, beg is a verb)
• To die is preferable to begging. (Correct)

While comparing using ‘Prefer” we use TO and not THAN.

We use comparative Adjectives only when we compare two things and it is not used when we have to compare more than two things or groups.

• Thomson is taller than all the college boys. (Wrong)
• Thomson is taller that other boys of his college. (Correct)

Very cannot be used before a comparative degree Adjective though VERY MUCH can be used as an exception.

• I feel very much better today. (Generally much better is used though the above construction is also used)
• It is colder today. (Incorrect, only colder is okay)

If we compare one with thing with all other of its kinds then we use Superlative and not Comparative.

• That is a very interesting book that I have read. (Incorrect)
• That is the most interesting book that I have ever read. (Correct)

When ‘Than’ or ‘As’ is followed by a Third Person Pronoun, the Auxiliary Verb is repeated.

• Tom is as clever as his brother is.
• He is not as tall as his school mates are.

When ‘Than’ or ‘As’ is followed by a First person and Second person Pronoun, Auxiliary verb can be omitted.

• Kuber is more intelligent than you (Are).

Whenever an Adjective refers to a class of people its First form is preceeded by the definite Article ‘The.’

The virtuous, the poor, the old etc.

• This house is better that Mohan. (Incorrect as the house cannot be compared with Mohan)
• This house is better than that of Mohan’s (house.) (Correct)

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Curious Phrases

• Break In: Breaking violently. Entered forcibly.
  
  • In break: Incursion, sudden in asion.
  
  • Break out: Seen suddenly.
  
  • Out break: Spread.
  
  • Burst out: Sudden coming out.
  
  • Out burst: An explosion, fulmination, showers of anger.
  
  • Cast down: To turn gloomy, despair.
  
  • Down cast: Gloomy looking.
  
  • Cast out: Throw out.
  
  • Out caste: To banish from a caste.
  
  • Come in: To come inside.
  
  • Income: Profit.
  
  • Come out: Expressed out, publish.
  
  • Out come: Consequence, Result.
  
  • Come over: To come some distance and join.
  
  • Over come: To cross.
  
  • Cry out: Ask for help.
  
  • Out cry: A fearful cry.
  
  • Do o er: Done for second time.
  
  • Over do: Act of over (Excess) acting.
  
  • Fall out: To quarrel. (Of hair, teeth) become detached.
  
  • Out fall: Origin.
  
  • Fall down: Fall off, come to the ground.
  
  • Down fall: Come to an end.
  
  • Fit out: Equipments of decoration.
  
  • Out fit: Full clothes, Small group.
  
  • Flow over: Flowing.
  
  • Over flow: Excess liquid coming out.
  
  • Go out: Off, disappear.
  
  • Out go: Expenditure.
  
  • Grow out: Grow more than expected or required.
  
  • Out grow: Crawled o er, grow faster, get too bog for clothes.
  
  • Hold up: Hands up, paused, stop.
  
  • Uphold: to continue. To support.
  
  • Keep up: Act according to, Continue.
  
  • Up keep: To manage.
  
  • Let in: To admit.
  
  • In let: The way to enter. A passage.
  
  • Let out: Give way to go out.
  
  • Out let: The way of exit.
  
  • Li e out: Maintaining.
  
  • Out live: Lived more than the expiry date. Li e more than the expected time span.
  
  • Look o er: To examine
  
  • Over look: to skip knowingly.
  
  • Look out: search for.
  
  
  

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AS ADJECTIVE AS

· He is as active as his brother. (Both are equally active)

· He is as simple as his sister. (Both are simple)

· Kolkata is as hotter as New Delhi in the summer.

• As bold as brass. As brave as Lion.
• As blind as bat. As brittle as glass.
• As bright as day. As bitter as gall.
• As cheerful as a lark. As black as a pitch.
• As busy as a bee. As clear as crystal.
• As deaf as a post. As cunning as a fox.
• As fat as a whale. As dry as dust.
• As fickle as a weather cock. As dump as a statue.
• As firm as a rock. As fresh as daisy.
• As grave as a judge. As quick as light/ quick silver.
• As sharp as a razor. As silly as a goose.
• As soft as butter. As still as statue.
• As true as steel. As wise as Soloman/ as an owl.
• As white as snow. As innocent as dove.
• As loud as a thunder. As hungry as a hawk.
• As like as two peas. As pale as death.
• As light as feather. As obstinate as a mule.
• As heavy as lead. As lively as a cricket.
• As poor as a church mouse. As red as a rose.
• As fierce as a tiger. As free as the air.
• As good as gold. As proud as a peacock.
• As regular as clock. As silent as velvet.
• As sour as vinegar. As straight as an arrow.
• As stupid as a donkey. As timid as a hare.
• As sure as death. As certain as death./ two plus two equals four.

This is but a traditional small list of adjectives and nouns which are compared using the as+adj.+as+noun constructin. But one can make hundreds of such phrases changing the qualitative adjectives and the nouns. All these depend on the speakers/writers and their view points.

Similarly, the negative construction is also used to show two dissimilar things or persons.

Not+As+Adjective+AS+Noun. (Dissimilarity is shown)

· He is not as active as his brother.

· Bangaluru is not as hot as Kolkata in the summer.

· Washington is not as busy as New York.

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COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES

Generally we compare things/persons and reach to the best conclusion. This comparing culture of people only depicts some qualities about Adjectives by scale of measure. All those qualities are leveled according to preferences. Generally this comparison of Adjectives is called Degree. In English there are three Degrees to describe a single quality in a scale. They are:

· POSITIVE DEGREE

· COMPARATIVE DEGREE

· SUPERLATIVE DEGREE.

As the name of degree suggests we just start from a Zero or base level and compare two similar things. And the result happens to be the Comparative Degree. And next when we compare three or more similar things, we reach to a conclusion to the best choice. The best choice is called SUPERLATIVE DEGREE.

Let’s examine the techniques or rules regarding the degree making of Adjectives.

* Generally, monosyllable words follows the rule of ~er and ~est. Cold becomes colder in comparative degree and coldest in superlative degree. This is but the basic rule of degree changing of Adjectives. That is ~ER is ~EST.

· If an adjective ends with the Vowel ‘E’ the ~er ending becomes only ~r and the ~st ending becomes only ~st. Wise, wiser, wisest.

· If an Adjective ends with an ‘Y’ and is preceded by a consonant, the ‘Y’ changes to ‘I’ while making Comparative and Superlative degree. Dry, drier, driest.

There are another set of adjectives those are called Odd adjectives as they follow a different pattern while changing their degrees.

Positive Comparative Superlative

Good Better Best

Well Better Best

Bad, Evil, Ill Worse Worst

Far Farther Farthest

Fore Former Foremost, First

Forth Further Furthest, Furthermost

In Inner Inmost, Innermost

Late Later, latter Latest, Last

Much, Many More Most

For two or multi syllable words we use MORE in the Comparative Degree and MOST in the Superlative Degree. That is MORE is interestingly the MOST.

Positive Comparative Superlative

Dejected More dejected Most dejected

Quarrelsome More Quarrelsome Most quarrelsome

Fearful More Fearful Most Fearful

Ferocious More ferocious Most ferocious

Simple (Both constructions like more/most and er/est is used)

The+Superlative

· He is the most influential person of the Government.

· He is the best captain I have ever seen.

· Indira Nui is one of the most talked women in the Business parlance.

· Bill Clinton was one of the most powerful presidents of the USA. In recent times

When we use superlative adjectives we place the article ‘THE’ before the adjective.

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THAT IS ~ing IS INTERESTINGLY ~ed

That is ~ing is interestingly ~ed one (the noun.)

Let’s see the following pairs of Adjectives.

 

Boring                         Bored                          Amusing                      Amused

Exciting                       Excited                        Interesting                  Interested

Surprising                   Surprised                    Shocking                     Shocked

Confusing                   Confused                    Fascinating                 Fascinated

Amusing                      Amused                       Amazing                      Amazed

Astonishing                 Astonished                  Disgusting                  Disgusted

Annoying                    Annoyed                     Disappointing             Disappointed

Frightening                 Frightened                  Satisfying                    Satisfied

Tiring                          Tired                           Pleasing                      Pleased

Charming                    Charmed                     Worrying                    Worried

Embarrassing Embarrassed              Horrifying                   Horrified

Terrifying                   Terrified                     Depressing                 Depressed

Exhausting                  Exhausted                  

 

 

      It was a surprising piece of news and I was surprised. 

      He was rather confusing and Sam was confused meeting him.

      Sheela was amusing and I was amused meeting her.

      It was a tiring journey and I was tired.

      The piece of news was embarrassing and Bill was embarrassed.  

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POSITION OF ADJECTIVES

Generally adjectives go before the noun or pronoun (one(s)) they describe.

It was an interesting film.

Anjolina Jolie is a very attractive actress of the Hollywood.

The oratory of Barack Obama is the secret of his success.

He is a good character artist.

I have bought some gifts for my little ones.

This is a normal position but there are rules and usages regarding other positions of adjectives.  Let’s discuss them one by one.

Adjectives come immediately after the compounds of Some, Any, No and Every.

• I feel something interesting is about to happen.
• Everything necessary will be taken care of.
•  Everyone interested in the project will be mailed soon.

Adjectives can also be separated from the Noun usually following a verb like Be: (Am Is Are Was Were) Become, Seem, Appear, Get, Feel, Smell, Taste, Sound, Look:

• Ram is sturdy but his brother Sam is rather weak. 
• He feels tired doing even an easy job.
• The tiding sounds to be true.  The sky appears blue.
• The weather is fine and we can enjoy a lot biking.
• Honey tastes sweet.  Margosa tastes bitter. 
• Your composition was dulcet and I liked it very much.
• You look dejected. What’s the matter?

There are some adjectives that come only before Nouns. 

Particular                    Principal                      Mere               Former

Chief                           Sole                             Sheer              Latter

Main                           Only                            Inner               Outer

Late (Dead)

• There are particular causes for his increased anger. ( Not the cause is particular)
• This is the main road that connects Washington to other parts of the USA. 
• Your sole aim should be study.
• Evening is the only time I relax.
• It was a sheer waste of time and money.
• Draw a circle inside the inner one.
• Bill Clinton is the former president of the USA.
• He has started an educational institution in memory of his late wife.

There are some adjectives that go immediately after verbs.

Ill                     Glad                Alive               Awake             Alike

Well                Content           Alone              Aware             Asleep

Unwell Afraid              Ashamed         Faint.

• You don’t look well.  You look dejected.
• I am glad to know about your success.
• Are you content with your pay packet?
• The two sisters look alike.
• You must be ashamed of your behavior.

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ADJECTIVE

Go through the following paragraph.

 

Nelson Mandela is known all over the world for his relentless struggle against the apartheid regime of South Africa.  His color was black and he was hated for his skin color. It was for his struggle and efforts to end the apartheid regime today people move freely and breathe free air.  As a mark of respect to his grand contributions towards the people of South Africa, he was made president of the country.  And today when he is leading a retired life, people recall his smiling face and missionary zeal.  He is great and his greatness is unforgettable. 

 

Now mark the words written in bold letters.  Relentless struggle, apartheid regime, black color, color skin, grand contributions, missionary zeal and unforgettable greatness. 

 

Now again mark the words written in bold. 

 

In the paragraph about Nelson Mandela the words written in bold says, describes, give more information about some nouns.  These words are like ornaments and always beautify the nouns and the sentences.  They are like icing on the cake.  They are known as ADJECTIVE. 

 

But while using adjectives one must observe caution and choose the adjective carefully. One should not use those freely as in that case there is every chances of making sentences ugly as too much of anything is bad.  So many adjectives to describe a single noun sometime sound good but not always. 

 

Mark the word color in the above sentences.  Color is a noun and adjective and we know this from the sentence constructions.  His skin color was black. (Here color is a noun and black is the adjective that says about the color of the skin)  He was hated for his skin color.  (Here skin is the noun and color is the adjective)  Some words are used in different forms and it is from their contexts in the sentences we determine the words. 

 

An adjective tells about the color, state, number, quantity of the Noun.

 

Cool air.  (The state of air)

Great man. (The quality of man)

Ten girls. (The number of girls)

Much water. (The quantity of water)

 

 

According to the size of the adjectives we generally divide adjectives into two categories such as Simple Adjective and Compound Adjective.  Single word adjectives are called Simple Adjective. 

Like Red, hot, cold etc.

 

Those adjectives that comprise of two or more words we call those adjectives as Compound adjectives. 

Like Pitch-dark, cold-blooded, point-blank, knee-deep, all-powerful, sky-blue.

 

According to meanings we divide Adjectives into four kinds such as:

1)     Quality Adjective

2)     Quantity Adjective.

3)     Number Adjective.

4)     Demonstrative Adjective.

 

 

Qualitative Adjective:

 

Those adjectives that tell about some quality of nouns are called Qualitative Adjectives.  Educated man.  Red rose.  Rich man. Good boy.  Educated, Red, Rich and Good all these words describe some qualities of nouns.  Hence they are Qualitative Adjectives. Those adjectives that are formed from Proper Nouns are called Proper Adjectives.  German, English, Heroic, Indian are called Proper Adjectives that is a part of Qualitative Adjectives.  All names of colors are Qualitative Adjectives. 

 

Quantitative Adjectives:

 

Those Adjectives that describes about quantity of the Nouns are called Quantitative Adjectives.  Not Much water is needed.  Little headway in the case.  Some money is always required.  The whole country was stunned.  A little= some, Little=almost nothing.  After ‘whole’ plural noun follows but ‘the whole’ is followed by singular Noun.  (Whole districts) Whole as an adjective is not followed by any Proper Noun.  And if it follows ‘whole’ becomes a Noun and not an Adjective.  One cannot say ‘whole USA’ (whole of India).  All USA is possible in the same sense. 

 

All, certain, any, enough are other such adjectives. 

 

Numerical Adjectives:

 

From those words we know about Numbers are known as Numerical Adjectives.  One two many any few several all first second etcetera are called Numerical Adjectives.  Many boys (Plural Noun) Many a boy (Singular Noun). Between Many and Noun, if the article ‘A’ comes then the noun becomes singular. 

 

Demonstrative Adjectives:

 

Those adjectives which indicate some things are called Demonstrative Adjectives. 

 

This, that, those, these, the are called Demonstrative adjectives. 

 

This indicates objects near the Speaker. (These Plural of this)

That indicates far objects from the speaker. (Those is the plural of that)

 

Each: Indicates every single object differently from a group of two or more. 

Each of the boys of the class is present. 

Every: Indicates every single object individually from a group of two or more.

 

Every student of the class should hear the class teacher. 

 

Each is used as Pronoun and Adjective but Every is used only as an Adjective. 

 

Either: is used to choose one object from a group of two. 

Give me either book. (One from the two)  

Neither: Not Either.

That means not one among the two. 

The salesman showed two pieces of blouses to my mother but she liked neither. 

 

Every other: Each from a group individually.

Every other boy left. 

 

* Other aspects of the Adjectives like its Order, Degree, Suffixes that makes Adjectives and The ~ed ending adjectives would be covered in different posts with same key word.  Watch out for the next part on Degree.  

 

 

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PRONOUN

Let’s read the paragraph written below.

 Ram was a brave archer.  Ram with Ram’s brother Lakshman fought bravely against the demonic army of Ravan, the great demon king of Lanka to rescue Sita from Ravan’s custody.  Ram was a great king and a great husband as well. 

 This paragraph sounds repetitive as the Noun Ram, Ravan comes in every sentence and it becomes cacophonous to hear such repetition.  Don’t worry English grammar has something to relief us from the monotony and repetition of such Nouns. 

 

Now let’s read the same paragraph again.

 

Ram was a brave archer.  He along with his brother Lakshman fought bravely against the demonic army of Ravan, the great demon king of Lanka to rescue Sita from Ravana’s custody.  Ram was a great king and a great husband as well. 

 

Now the paragraph has gained life as it sheds all its repetitive nature.  Now anyone can read and understand the small paragraph.  The changes that came in the sentence are nothing but the use of small words like He, his.  We call these small words as PRONOUN.  Simply speaking the small words in the second paragraph replaced Nouns like Ram, Ram’s.   Pro mean in place of, yes these two words are used in place of Nouns.  That’s why these words are called PRONOUN as they are used for the Nouns.  Remember pronouns are used as back references.  In other words without the use of Nouns we cannot use Pronouns.  Initially there should be the use of Nouns and subsequently we replace such nouns with suitable pronouns.  In the example paragraph the word Ram is used once and later, HE is used in place of Ram.  His has replaced the possessive noun Ram’s.  That’s clearly says without the use of noun we generally don’t use pronouns.  However, in our writing we use generic pronouns like IT, THEY to refer to a known cluster or people.  Let’s know more about PRONOUN.

 

Pronouns standing for persons in relation to the speaker are divided into three categories:

 

1. Speaker…..                               I

   Speaker+others…                    We                    First person

2. Person or persons addressed…You                 Second person.

3.   Person or thing                      He She It     

   Person or things spoken of       They                Third person.

 

These pronouns are called PERSONAL PRONOUN.

He visited Mumbai once.  They visited Kolkata Many times.

Order of personal pronouns: 

You, he and I are friends. 

Now study the following examples:

I did it myself.

He did it himself.

They do these themselves.

She did it herself.

The compounds of self are called REFLEXIVE PRONOUN.

Remember we cannot use this without the use their parent pronoun.

Like this:  We often hear people introducing themselves using the reflexive pronoun.

Myself a chartered accountant, now working for a big firm in Kolkata.

The use of this myself is completely wrong, as the pronoun I is missing.  ‘I myself’ is the right form.

 

Sometime the reflexive pronoun is used for emphasizing.    And for this they are also known as EMPHASIZING PRONOUN.

Our class teacher himself solved the sum.

He himself went to the office to see the movement of the file.

Note if the emphasizing pronoun is left out the sentence still makes sense but if the reflexive pronoun is omitted the sentence is incomplete and makes no meaning.

 

IMPERSONAL PRONOUN:

One should not be so boastful.

You should mind your words.

They say it is going to rain.

 

Here the word one, you and they are used in a generic sense and not addressed to a particular person.  When one is used in this sense, the possessive One’s is used instead of other pronoun like his.  They exclude the speaker and refer to certain people. 

 

It was a good match.

It was raining.

It was about midday.

It was fall.

Here the small word IT is an impersonal pronoun without any meaning.  It only comes in the position of the subject and functioning as a subject. 

 

 

RECIPROCAL PRONOUN. 

 

They made a truce and decided to respect each other. (Two people)

Good neighbours help one other. (More than two)

The two stray dogs barked at each other.

They often stay in one another’s room.

 

The word like each other and one another are called Reciprocal pronoun. 

 

INTEROGATIVE PRONOUNS.

What have you in your pocket?

Who is there crying?

Who/ whom do you want?

Who did you give the letter to?

To whom did you give the book?

Whose is that cycle?

Whose cycle is that?

Which is your book?

 

Wh… word are called INTEROGATIVE PRONOUNS. These words are used to get some answers by asking some questions. Note that who has its object form Whom and possessive form Whose. In speech and writing whom is generally replaced by who except after a preposition. We use to whom and not to who.

 

RELATIVE PRONOUN.

 

The man who/ that sells grapes comes from Nasik.

Those who/ that did this is a good boy.

God helps those who/that help themselves.

The fellow whom/ that I saw yesterday was a pickpocket.

The noise which/that you hear comes from a refrigerator.

The eggs that/ which I ate yesterday gave me colic pain.

 

These are relative pronouns as they refer to a noun or pronoun used before. The nouns or pronouns is called the antecedent of the relative pronoun.

 

Who and whom are used for person only.

Which is used for things only.

That is used both for persons and things.

Note that the relative pronoun ‘That’ has no plural form as we cannot change it to ‘Those.’ We cannot say: The eggs those I bought.

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