English Grammar

Advanced Functional Grammar — Voice, Speech, Articles & Conditionals

Once you are comfortable with parts of speech and tenses, the next layer of grammar is transformations and functional rules: changing Active to Passive, converting Direct to Indirect speech, choosing the right article, framing question tags, and handling 'if' clauses. These topics together carry 6-8 marks in most government exams.

Exam relevance: Voice change, narration and conditionals are direct questions in SSC CGL Tier-I/II, Bank PO Mains descriptive sections and most state PSC exams. Articles and question-tag errors are favourites in Spotting Errors.

On this page

  1. Active and Passive Voice
  2. Direct and Indirect Speech (Narration)
  3. Articles and Determiners (A, An, The, Some, Any, Much, Many)
  4. Question Tags
  5. Conditionals (Zero, First, Second, Third)

1Active and Passive Voice

In Active voice the subject performs the action; in Passive voice the subject receives the action.

To change Active → Passive: (1) Move the object to subject position. (2) Change the verb to its past participle (V3) and add a suitable form of 'be'. (3) Move the original subject to the end with 'by' (or omit it if unimportant). The tense of the verb 'be' matches the tense of the original active sentence. Modal verbs change as: must → must be + V3; can → can be + V3; will → will be + V3.

Examples
  • Active: Ravi writes a letter. → Passive: A letter is written by Ravi.
  • Active: They are building a new bridge. → Passive: A new bridge is being built.
  • Active: She had finished the work. → Passive: The work had been finished by her.
  • Active: You must follow the rules. → Passive: The rules must be followed.
Exam tip: Intransitive verbs (sleep, come, arrive) and stative verbs (have, possess, resemble) cannot be changed to passive voice.

2Direct and Indirect Speech (Narration)

Direct speech reports the speaker's exact words within quotation marks; Indirect speech reports them as a paraphrase.

Rules: (1) If reporting verb is in present/future, tense of reported speech remains unchanged. (2) If reporting verb is in past, tense usually shifts back: am/is → was, are → were, will → would, has/have → had, did/V2 → had + V3. (3) Pronouns shift according to context (I → he/she; we → they; you → me/him). (4) Time/place words shift: now → then; today → that day; tomorrow → the next day; here → there; this → that. (5) Question, command and exclamation use specific reporting verbs (asked, ordered, exclaimed).

Examples
  • Statement: He said, "I am tired." → He said that he was tired.
  • Question: She asked, "Where do you live?" → She asked where I lived.
  • Command: The teacher said, "Open your books." → The teacher told us to open our books.
  • Exclamation: He said, "Hurrah! We have won." → He exclaimed with joy that they had won.
Exam tip: If the reported speech states a universal truth, habitual fact, or historical event, the tense does NOT change: 'The teacher said that the earth revolves around the sun.'

3Articles and Determiners (A, An, The, Some, Any, Much, Many)

Articles ('a', 'an', 'the') and determiners (some, any, much, many, few, little) specify which noun is being talked about.

Use 'a' before consonant sounds (a book, a university), 'an' before vowel sounds (an MLA, an honest man). Use 'the' before specific nouns, superlatives, names of rivers/oceans/mountain ranges, newspapers, and unique objects (the sun, the Ganga, the Himalayas). 'Some' is used in affirmative sentences and offers; 'any' in negatives, questions and conditions. 'Much/little' modify uncountable nouns; 'many/few' modify countable nouns. 'A few' = some (positive); 'few' = hardly any (negative).

Examples
  • An honest man is respected everywhere.
  • The Taj Mahal is one of the wonders of the world.
  • Would you like some tea? / I don't have any sugar.
  • She has a few good friends, but few people understand her.
Exam tip: No article is used before names of meals (breakfast, lunch), languages (Hindi, English) and abstract nouns used in a general sense (Honesty is the best policy).

4Question Tags

A question tag is a short question added at the end of a statement to confirm or check it.

Rules: (1) Positive statement → negative tag; negative statement → positive tag. (2) The tag uses the same auxiliary as the statement; if there is no auxiliary, use a form of 'do'. (3) The pronoun in the tag matches the subject. (4) Imperative sentences usually take 'will you?' or 'won't you?'. (5) 'Let us' takes 'shall we?'.

Examples
  • She is a doctor, isn't she?
  • They didn't come, did they?
  • Open the door, will you?
  • Let us go for a walk, shall we?
Exam tip: With 'I am', the tag is 'aren't I?': 'I am right, aren't I?' (not 'amn't I').

5Conditionals (Zero, First, Second, Third)

Conditional sentences express a condition (in an 'if' clause) and a result (in the main clause).

Zero conditional — universal truths/scientific facts: If + Simple Present, … Simple Present. First conditional — a real/likely future situation: If + Simple Present, … will + V1. Second conditional — an unreal/imaginary present: If + Simple Past, … would + V1. Third conditional — an unreal past (now impossible): If + Past Perfect, … would have + V3. Mixed conditionals combine present and past references.

Examples
  • Zero: If you heat ice, it melts.
  • First: If it rains tomorrow, we will cancel the picnic.
  • Second: If I were the Prime Minister, I would reform education.
  • Third: If you had studied harder, you would have passed.
Exam tip: In Second conditional the verb 'be' takes the form 'were' for all subjects (subjunctive): 'If I were you, I would apologise.'

Quick Revision Facts

  • In passive voice, by-agent is dropped if the doer is unknown, obvious or unimportant.
  • Reporting verb tense never changes; only the reported verb shifts (when reporting verb is past).
  • Use 'a' before words that begin with a consonant sound, not letter — 'an MA', 'a university'.
  • After 'wish', 'as if', 'as though' and 'if only', use 'were' for unreal present.

Frequently Asked Questions

Either object can become the subject of the passive sentence. 'He gave me a book' → 'I was given a book by him' OR 'A book was given to me by him.' Both are correct.

Tense remains unchanged when the reported clause states a universal truth, scientific fact, habitual action, or when the reporting verb is in the present or future.
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