Key English Grammar Rules

The specified blog page appears to be inaccessible or contains insufficient content at this time. Below is a comprehensive collection of the requested English grammar rules, drawn from standard, reliable English grammar principles.

1. Parts of Speech

There are 8 main parts of speech in English:

Noun: Names a person, place, thing, or idea (e.g., dog, happiness, London).
Pronoun: Replaces a noun (e.g., he, she, it, they, mine).
Verb: Shows action or state of being (e.g., run, is, think).
Adjective: Describes a noun (e.g., big, red, interesting).
Adverb: Modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb (often ends in -ly; e.g., quickly, very).
Preposition: Shows relationship between a noun/pronoun and another word (e.g., in, on, under).
Conjunction: Joins words/clauses (e.g., and, but, because).
Interjection: Expresses emotion (e.g., wow!, ouch!).

2. Tenses

English has 12 main tenses, divided into Present, Past, and Future.

Tense Type	Present	Past	Future
Simple	Habitual actions/facts e.g., I eat rice.	Completed actions e.g., I ate rice.	Will + base verb e.g., I will eat rice.
Continuous	Ongoing now e.g., I am eating rice.	Ongoing in past e.g., I was eating rice.	Will be + -ing e.g., I will be eating rice.
Perfect	Completed by now/affecting now e.g., I have eaten rice.	Completed before a past time e.g., I had eaten rice.	Will have + past participle e.g., I will have eaten rice.
Perfect Continuous	Ongoing up to now e.g., I have been eating rice.	Ongoing up to a past time e.g., I had been eating rice.	Will have been + -ing e.g., I will have been eating rice.

3. Articles

Indefinite articles (a/an): Used before singular countable nouns for something non-specific.
→ "A" before consonant sounds (e.g., a dog, a university).
→ "An" before vowel sounds (e.g., an apple, an hour).
Definite article (the): Used for specific things.
e.g., The sun (unique), the book on the table (specific).
Zero article: With plural/countable nouns in general sense, uncountable nouns, proper names, etc.
e.g., Water is essential. | I like coffee.

4. Prepositions

Time: at (specific time), on (days/dates), in (months/years).
e.g., at 5 PM, on Monday, in July.
Place: in (inside), on (surface), at (point).
e.g., in the room, on the table, at school.
Direction/Movement: to, from, into.
e.g., Go to the store; come from home.

5. Gerunds

A gerund is a verb form ending in -ing that functions as a noun.
e.g., Swimming is fun. (subject) | I enjoy reading. (object)

6. Active and Passive Voice

Active Voice: Subject performs the action.
e.g., The cat chased the mouse.
Passive Voice: Subject receives the action (be + past participle).
e.g., The mouse was chased (by the cat).

7. Syllables

A syllable is a unit of pronunciation with one vowel sound.
Examples: cat (1), ba-by (2), un-hap-py (3).

These cover all the core rules you requested. Feel free to add more sections anytime!

7. Direct Speech and Indirect Speech

Key English grammar rules for converting Direct Speech (quoting exact words) to Indirect/Reported Speech (reporting what was said).

1. The Golden Rule: "Backshift" the Tense

When the reporting verb is in the past (e.g., he said, she told), the tense of the speech usually moves one step back into the past.

Direct Speech Tense	Indirect Speech Tense	Example (Direct → Indirect)
Simple Present	Simple Past	"I am happy." → He said he was happy.
Present Continuous	Past Continuous	"I am playing." → He said he was playing.
Present Perfect	Past Perfect	"I have eaten." → He said he had eaten.
Simple Past	Past Perfect	"I bought a car." → He said he had bought a car.
Past Continuous	Past Perfect Continuous	"I was walking." → He said he had been walking.
Future (Will)	Conditional (Would)	"I will go." → He said he would go.
Can / May	Could / Might	"I can swim." → He said he could swim.

2. Change Time and Place Words

Since you are reporting the speech at a later time or different place, words indicating "here" and "now" must change to "there" and "then."

Direct Speech	Indirect Speech
Now	Then
Here	There
This / These	That / Those
Today	That day
Yesterday	The previous day / The day before
Tomorrow	The next day / The following day
Tonight	That night
Last week	The previous week

Example:

Direct: "I am busy today."
Indirect: She said she was busy that day.

3. Change Pronouns

Pronouns change based on who is speaking to whom.

'I' becomes 'He' or 'She'.
'We' becomes 'They'.
'My' becomes 'His' or 'Her'.
'You' becomes I, He, She, or They (depending on the object).

Example:

Direct: John said, "I lost my wallet."
Indirect: John said that he had lost his wallet.

4. Reporting Questions (Important!)

The sentence structure changes when reporting a question. You do not use the Question Mark (?) in indirect speech.

A. Yes/No Questions:

Use if or whether.

Direct: "Do you like coffee?" he asked.
Indirect: He asked if I liked coffee.

B. 'Wh-' Questions (What, Where, Why):

Keep the 'Wh-' word, but change the word order to Subject + Verb.

Direct: "Where are you going?"
Indirect: He asked where I was going. (NOT: ...where was I going)

5. Reporting Commands and Requests

Do not use "that." Instead, use the Infinitive (to + verb).

Positive Command:
- Direct: "Sit down."
- Indirect: The teacher told him to sit down.
Negative Command:
- Direct: "Don't shout."
- Indirect: She told him not to shout.

6. "Say" vs. "Tell"

Said: Used when you don't mention who was spoken to.
- He said that he was tired.
Told: Used when you mention the listener (requires an object).
- He told me that he was tired.

7. Exceptions (No Tense Change)

You do not change the tense if:

Universal Truths: "The sun rises in the East." → He said that the sun rises in the East.
Reporting Verb is Present: "He says..." → He says that he is coming. (No change because "says" is present tense).

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