Grammar Essentials (Handbook)

Every error-spotting question is really asking which word is doing the wrong job. Start by knowing the eight jobs.

Part of speech	Job in the sentence	Example (word in bold)
Noun	names a person, place, thing, idea	Honesty pays.
Pronoun	replaces a noun	She called us.
Adjective	describes a noun/pronoun	a brave soldier
Verb	action or state	He writes; she is tired.
Adverb	modifies verb/adjective/adverb	runs fast, very tall
Preposition	links noun to rest of sentence (place, time, relation)	sat on the wall
Conjunction	joins words/clauses	tea or coffee; although it rained
Interjection	sudden feeling	Alas! he is gone.

Nouns that SSC loves

Group	Words	Rule
Uncountable (no plural, no a/an)	information, advice, furniture, luggage, baggage, equipment, machinery, scenery, poetry, stationery, jewellery, evidence, knowledge, mischief, traffic, bread	singular verb; use a piece of / an item of to count: two pieces of advice
Always plural	scissors, trousers, spectacles, tongs, pliers, thanks, alms, premises, riches, outskirts, surroundings, belongings, proceeds	plural verb; a pair of scissors takes a singular verb
Singular form, plural meaning	cattle, police, people, poultry, clergy, gentry, vermin, peasantry	plural verb: The police are investigating.
Plural form, singular meaning	news, mathematics, physics, economics (subject), civics, measles, mumps, billiards	singular verb: The news is good.
Same singular and plural	sheep, deer, swine, series, species, aircraft	number shown by determiner/verb: a series is, two series are
Number words after a definite number	dozen, hundred, thousand, million, score, lakh, crore, pair	no -s: three dozen eggs, five hundred rupees; but dozens of, hundreds of
Number + noun used as adjective	a five-year plan, a ten-rupee note, a two-hour delay	hyphenated, noun stays singular

Collective nouns (team, committee, jury, family, audience, crowd, army): singular verb when the group acts as one unit (The committee has approved the plan), plural when members act individually or disagree (The jury were divided in their opinions).

Possessive case

• Living things take 's: the minister's car. Non-living things take of: the leg of the table (not the table's leg).
• Exceptions (time, distance, weight, personified things): a day's leave, a stone's throw, a kilo's weight, the nation's pride.
• Joint ownership: Ram and Shyam's shop (one shop). Separate ownership: Ram's and Shyam's shops.

Pronouns

Situation	Use	Example
After a preposition (between, for, with, to, like)	object form: me, him, her, us, them, whom	between you and me, for him and me
After than / as	the form the hidden verb needs	He is taller than I (am); I like you more than him (than I like him)
After let	object form	Let him and me try.
Complement of be (formal)	subject form	It is I.
Order of persons (normal)	2nd, 3rd, 1st (231)	You, he and I will go.
Order when admitting fault	1st, 2nd, 3rd (123)	I, you and he are to blame.
Subject one	one's / oneself	One must keep one's promises.
Reflexive after avail, absent, pride, enjoy (oneself), apply (effort)	needs -self	He availed himself of the offer.

• -self pronouns are never subjects: My friend and myself went ✗ → My friend and I went.
• Who / whom / whose / which / that: who = subject (people), whom = object (people), whose = possession, which = things. Use that after superlatives, all, only, same, none, nothing, everything: the best book that I have read.
• Either / neither refer to two; any / none to more than two. SSC keys follow the traditional rule each other (two) and one another (more than two).
• A pronoun must have one clear antecedent and agree with it in number: Each of the girls brought her bag.

Adjectives

Pair	Rule	Example
few / a few / the few	few = hardly any (negative), a few = some, the few = all of the small number	The few books he had were old.
little / a little / the little	same idea for uncountables	There is little hope (almost none).
many / much	countable / uncountable	many chairs, much furniture
fewer / less	countable / uncountable	fewer people, less sugar
elder, eldest / older, oldest	elder only for family, before a noun, never with than	my elder sister; she is older than me
later, latest / latter, last	time / order	the latest news; the latter half
farther / further	distance / additional	two km farther; further details

• Order of adjectives (OSASCOMP): Opinion, Size, Age, Shape, Colour, Origin, Material, Purpose: a beautiful small old round brown Indian wooden dining table.
• Absolute adjectives are not compared: unique, perfect, ideal, complete, entire, round, square, supreme, universal. more unique ✗.

Adverbs

• too = more than needed (negative result): too weak to walk. very = high degree: very weak.
• enough comes after the adjective/adverb: old enough, fast enough.
• hardly, scarcely, barely, seldom, rarely are already negative: I can hardly hear ✓, I can't hardly hear ✗.
• Look-alike pairs: hard (with effort) / hardly (almost not); late / lately (recently); near / nearly (almost); high / highly (very much).
• Linking verbs (look, seem, feel, smell, taste, sound, appear, become, grow) take an adjective, not an adverb: The soup tastes good (not well); She looks sad.
• very with positive degree and -ing adjectives; much with comparatives and many past participles: very tall, very interesting; much taller, much obliged.
• Frequency adverbs go before the main verb but after be: He always comes late; He is always late.