Essential English Grammar rules for exams are important in this highly competitive world where each candidate is chasing excellence in their preparation for competitive exams. Learning English grammar rules has become essential to improve accuracy in error detection, sentence correction, and finding grammatical mistakes. In this guide, you will learn the most important grammar rules and exam-focused topics like subject-verb agreement with clear examples, along with common mistakes that aspirants should know. This is especially useful for competitive exams like PSSSB, Punjab Police, SSC, Banking, PPSC, and other related exams.
5 Essential English Grammar Rules for Exams (Most Scoring Topics)
As with the previous post, a total of 70 grammar rules have been posted. If you have not read those posts, read them after this article so you don’t miss those English grammar rules. Also, scroll down for those posts.
Rule 71 – Use of ‘As’
In English grammar rules, the usage of “As” is very common and is always asked in many competitive exams. Along with this, many aspirants get confused about the usage of “As” because it is not very commonly used in daily practice. For competitive exams, questions are frequently asked about the usage of “As” in three ways.
(i) When “As” is used with the meaning of “जिनके” (Jinke), it has a contextual meaning in the sentence. After this, the subject “they” is hidden in the sentence, so the verb that should be used in the sentence must be in plural form. Now understand this with examples.
E.g. There were not so many players as were needed.
In the above example, the subject “they” is hidden in nature. After this implied subject “they,” the verb “were,” which is plural in form, is used for the subject “they.” This makes the sentence correct.
E.g. There were not so many players as were needed.
Now again, in this sentence, after the word “as” the subject “they” is present, which is hidden in nature. So, according to Rule 71 (i), the use of a plural verb is a must. Therefore, the verb “were” is correct here, and the sentence is correct.
E.g. There were not so many books as was needed.
Now, if you read this example sentence, and as you know from Rule 71 (i), you may find the mistake. The word “as” is used in the sentence, and according to Rule 71 (i), the hidden subject is “they.” So the verb must be in plural form. But in this sentence, the verb “was” is used, which is singular in form. This makes the sentence incorrect. To make this sentence correct, “were” must be used in place of “was.”
(ii) When “As” is used with the meaning of “जैसे की” (Jaise ki), it has a contextual meaning in the sentence. After this, the subject “It” is hidden in the sentence, so the verb that should be used in the sentence must be in singular form. Now understand this with examples.
E.g. There were not so many players as was expected.
In the above example, the subject “It” is hidden in nature in the sentence. After this implied subject “It,” the verb “was,” which is singular in form, is used for the subject “It.” This makes the sentence correct.
E.g. There were not so many players as were expected.
Now, if you read this example sentence, and as you know from Rule 71 (ii), you may find the mistake. The word “as” is used in the sentence, and according to Rule 71 (ii), the hidden subject is “It.” So the verb must be in singular form. But in this above sentence, the verb “were” is used, which is plural in form. This makes the sentence incorrect. To make this sentence correct, “was” must be used in place of “were.”
(iii) When “As” is used with the meaning of “और यह” (and this), and a comma (,) is used before it, its usage refers to pure time. In this case, always use a singular verb after “As.” Now understand this with examples.
E.g. Speeches were made by a number of leaders, as was expected.
In the above sentence, the use of “As” is with the meaning of “और यह” (and this). So, as you have learned from Rule 71 (iii), the use of a singular verb is a must. Therefore, the sentence is correct because the verb “was” is used, which is correct in form.
E.g. Speeches were made by a number of leaders, as were expected.
In the above sentence, the use of “As” is with the meaning of “और यह” (and this). So, as you have learned from Rule 71 (iii), the use of a singular verb is a must. Therefore, the sentence is incorrect because the verb “were” is used, which is plural in form. In place of “were,” “was” should be used to correct this sentence.
Rule 72 – Use of “Than”
The usage of “than” in sentences is again a very favorite topic for the examiner of competitive exams, and mainly there are two types of cases that are asked in the exams.
(i) When “than” is used in a sentence, the subject “they” or “those” is hidden in form after it, so the plural verb is used there. Now understand Rule 72 (i) with examples.
E.g. There were more copies than were needed.
In the above sentence, “than” is used, and according to Grammar Rule 72 (i), after “than” the hidden subject “they” or “those” is present. Therefore, the plural verb is used. In this sentence, “were” is used, which is plural in form, and this makes the sentence correct.
E.g. There were more copies than was needed.
Here again, in this new sentence, “than” is used. According to Grammar Rule 72 (i), after “than” the hidden subject “they” or “those” is present, so the verb must be in plural form. But in this sentence, the verb “was” is used, which is singular in form. This makes the sentence incorrect. To make the sentence correct, “was” should be replaced with “were,” which is plural in form.
(ii) When “than” is used in a sentence, the subject “It” is hidden in form after it, so the singular verb is used there. Now understand Rule 72 (ii) with examples.
There were more casuality than was reported.
In the above sentence, “than” is used, and according to Grammar Rule 72 (ii), after “than” the hidden subject “it” is present. Therefore, the singular verb is used. In this sentence, “was” is used, which is singular in form, and this makes the sentence correct.
There were more casuality than were reported.
Here again, in this new sentence, “than” is used. According to Grammar Rule 72 (ii), after “than” the hidden subject “it” is present, so the verb must be in singular form. But in this example sentence, the verb “were” is used, which is plural in form of verb. This makes the sentence incorrect. To make the sentence correct, “were” should be replaced with “was” which is singular in form.
Rule 73 – When Two Singular Nouns Are Joined with “And”
When you write two or more singular nouns and join them with “and,” according to grammar rules the verb which follows should be in plural form.
E.g. Rahul and Jatin are very good friends.
So here in this sentence, Rahul and Jatin are two nouns which are joined by “and.” According to grammar rules number- 7, the plural form of the verb is correct.
But when two or more singular nouns are joined with “and,” and with the first singular noun or with each singular noun “No” is used, then it is considered singular and it always uses the singular verb. Now understand this grammar rule with examples.
E.g. No man and no women was present there.
According to Grammar Rule 73, in this example both singular nouns boy and girl are used with “No.” This makes them a singular subject, so this example is correct as the verb “was” is used, which is singular in form.
E.g. No man and no women were present there.
In this example, according to Grammar Rule 73, when two or more singular nouns are used with “No,” it always requires a singular verb. But in this sentence, “were” is used, which is plural in form. This makes the sentence incorrect. To make the sentence correct, the verb “was” should be used in place of “were.”
Rule 74 – Usage of “Pain”
Here the word pain can be used in different cases. These are two different cases which are often asked in competitive exams.
(i) When the word pain is used in the sentence as a singular uncountable noun meaning bodily suffering, ache, or mental distress, then it is followed by a singular verb in the sentence. Now understand with examples.
E.g. Your pain is unbearable as seen on your face.
In the above example sentence, the word pain is used as suffering. In this context, it is used as a singular uncountable subject, and the verb is used in singular form, which makes this sentence correct.
E.g. Your pain are unbearable as seen on your face.
Now again, in this example sentence, the word pain is used as suffering. According to Rule 74 (i), it should be used as a singular uncountable subject, and the verb should also be in singular form. But in this sentence, the verb are is used, which is plural in form. This makes the sentence wrong. To make the sentence correct, replace are with is, which is singular in form.
(ii) When the word pains is used to mean trouble (तकलीफ), effort (प्रयत्न/कोशिश), then both forms of verbs are acceptable – singular or plural – so both are correct. Now understand this grammar rule 74 (ii) with examples.
E.g. Great pains have been taken. E.g. Much pains has been taken. (Corrected: here has is a singular verb.)
In the above examples, the word pains is used as the subject. According to Grammar Rule 74 (ii), both singular and plural forms of verbs are acceptable, so both sentences are correct.
Rule 75 – Usage of “One of + Possessive Adjectives + Plural Countable Noun + Relative Pronoun ‘That’”
Rule 75 is very interesting and important to know, as this rule is again a favorite for the examiner.
When “One of + Possessive Adjectives + Plural Countable Noun + Relative Pronoun ‘that’” is used after “the only,” then the relative pronoun “that” has its antecedent as “one.” Since “one” is singular in form, so the verb after “that” should also be in singular form. Now understand Grammar Rule 75 with the below examples.
- This is the only one of his books that is worth reading.
- This is the only one of his books that are worth reading.
- This is the only one of his arts that is remarkable.
- This is the only one of his arts that are remarkable.
Note: (i) In examples (1) and (3), the relative pronoun “that” has its antecedent as “one.” Since “one” is singular, the verb after “that” must also be singular. Therefore, the use of the singular verb “is” is correct and examples (2) and (3) are incorrect.
(ii) The meaning of example (1) is: “His books – this is the only one that is worth reading.” Here, “one” is the antecedent of “that,” so the singular verb “is” is rightly used.
So in this article, all the 5 English grammar rules are very important from the examination perspective. Knowledge of these rules becomes very essential. Along with this, it is also important for daily communication and writing point of view. So practice these rules with sentence writing and by using these rules in your daily conversations.
Along with these rules, in our previous articles of English grammar rules from 1 to 70, you can refer to them to have a command on the English grammar rules and make your competitive exams journey closer to success.
