General English

Important points

1. 1

   A noun names a person, place or thing; a pronoun is used in place of a noun.

2. 2

   A singular subject takes a singular verb — "He goes", not "He go".

3. 3

   "Each", "every", "either" and "neither" take a singular verb.

4. 4

   Use "since" with a point of time and "for" with a period of time.

5. 5

   With "neither…nor" and "either…or", the verb agrees with the nearer subject.

6. 6

   Use "a" before a consonant sound and "an" before a vowel sound — "an hour", "a university".

7. 7

   In passive voice, the object becomes the subject and the verb takes the form "be + past participle".

8. 8

   If the reporting verb is in the present or future tense, the tense does not change in indirect speech.

9. 9

   "Senior", "junior", "superior" and "prefer" take "to", not "than".

10. 10

    Idioms: "a piece of cake" — very easy; "once in a blue moon" — very rarely.

11. 11

    One-word substitution: one who knows everything — omniscient.

12. 12

    Synonym of "abundant" is "plentiful"; its antonym is "scarce".

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