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Reported Speech Part-1

When we report words spoken by others, we do it in two ways: 1. We repeat the same words as spoken by others: Direct Speech 2. We report their words in our own words: Indirect Speech 1. Direct Speech : In Direct Speech, we reproduce the exact words spoken by others. We put the words inside quotation marks. Example:  Uday said, “I have taken the tablets”. 2. Indirect Speech : Here, we report the words spoken by others in our own words. It’s an indirect way of reporting. So, we call it Indirect Speech. We don’t use quotation marks here. Example:  Uday said that he had taken the tablets.   Rules for changing a sentence from Direct Speech to Indirect Speech: 1. We remove comma and quotation marks, and replace them with ‘that’ 2. The reported verb takes its past form. 3. The pronouns are changed according to the subject and the situation. (In the above example, said is the reporting verb and have   taken is the reported verb.) Let’s change a few sentences from Direct Speech to Indirect Sp

Linkers

Linkers are the words that are used to combine two or more clauses or sentences. These are also called ‘ connectors ’. Look at the following sentences and observe how we connected them with the help of the linkers that are given in the brackets. 1. It was raining. My father went for a walk. ( Although ) Although it was raining, my father went for a walk. 2. Lilly studies well. Her brother doesn’t study much. ( whereas ) Lilly studies well whereas her brother doesn’t.   3. Kriti had high fever. She did her exams very well. ( In spite of ) In spite of her high fever, Kriti did her exams very well.   4. The weather was bad. We cancelled the program. ( Due to ) Due to bad weather, we cancelled the program.   5. The food was good. It was heavy. ( However ) The food was good; however, it was heavy.   6. Take healthy food. You will not get sick. ( otherwise ) Take healthy food, otherwise, you will get sick.   7. Kareem had a headache. He went to school. ( even so ) Kareem had a headache, ev

Voice Part-1

Look at the following sentence. Leena wrote an essay.   We can divide the sentence as follows: Leena – Subject; wrote – Verb; an essay – Object. The person in the subject place, i.e., Leena has actually done something, i.e., wrote. She is active. When the subject in a sentence is active and doing something, we can comfortably say that the sentence is in active voice. We can rewrite the above sentence in another way without changing the meaning. An essay was written by Leena .   In this sentence, the subject, i.e., 'an essay' is not doing anything. But something has been done to it. So, it  is not active that means it is passive. When the subject of a sentence is not active and is the receiver of the action, that sentence is said to be in passive voice . There are some rules to be followed while changing a sentence from active voice to passive voice. They are: 1. The Object of the sentence becomes the Subject. 2. Verb takes ‘be’form + Past Participle V3. 3. The subject becomes

Conjunctions

What are Conjunctions ? Conjunctions are used for joining or combining clauses, phrases, and words together to form sentences. Conjunctions are also called ‘linkers’ because they act as links between words and other parts of the sentences. Examples:  Aleema  and  Farha are going to the market together. Javed studied well, but got second division in the exams. I was playing chess while he was playing caroms. They praised him when he got a gold medal.   Types of Conjunctions:   There are three types of conjunctions: 1. Coordinating Conjunctions 2. Correlative Conjunctions 3. Subordinating Conjunctions 1. Coordinating Conjunctions : A Coordinating Conjunction is a word which joins words, clauses, or phrases having similar grammatical structure. It is also called a ‘coordinator’. The main coordinators are : but, and, so, or, nor, yet, for etc. Examples: Sashaank plays cricket and tennis. They may come here or go there. She tried hard but could not win the game.   2. Correlative Conj

Phrasal Verbs Part-1

We are going to learn a few phrasal verbs now. # break in :  to enter a building by force. Example:  Burglars had broken in while they were away.   #  bring up : raise a child Example:  My grandparents brought up ten children.   #  call off :  cancel Example:  The IPL was called off due the Covid Emergency.   #  catch up : to reach the same standard as someone else Example:  Mounika is studying hard these days in order to catch up with Pragathi.   #  do away with : discard or put an end to something Example:  It’s time to do away with the corrupt practices in Government offices.   #  drop out : to no longer take part in something Example:  Advani dropped out of active politics after the 2014 elections.   #  eat out : to eat in a restaurant Example:  Sudha eats out every Sunday.   #  figure out : understand something or solve a problem Example:  I can’t figure out what’s on his mind.   Practice: Use the above phrasal verbs in your own sentences.