Grammar (Tenses, Articles, Prepositions, Voice, Narration, Modals)
Grammar in Praveshika English is tested through fill-in-the-blank, error correction, sentence transformation and direct questions. The six recurring areas are tense, articles, prepositions, voice, narration and modals.
Tenses
- Present perfect (has/have + V3) for past action with present result or unfinished time: 'She has lived here since 2019.'
- Past simple for finished time: 'She lived here in 2019.'
- Watch time markers: since/for, ago, yesterday, already/yet.
Articles
- a/an by sound: a university, an hour, a European, an MLA.
- the for unique things, superlatives, ordinals, rivers, newspapers: the Ganga, the best.
- Zero article for languages, meals, abstract nouns in general: She studies English.
Prepositions
- at + clock time, on + day/date, in + month/year/season.
- by + agent/deadline; with + instrument; since + point; for + duration.
Voice
- Object becomes subject; keep tense; use by only when the agent matters. Intransitive verbs have no passive.
Narration
- Backshift: present -> past; will -> would; can -> could.
- Pronouns and time/place words shift: tomorrow -> the next day, here -> there.
- Questions: if/whether + statement order. Imperatives: to/not to + verb.
Modals
- can/could ability or possibility; may/might permission; must obligation; should advice; needn't absence of necessity; mustn't prohibition.
Worked example
'The teacher checked the papers.' -> 'The papers were checked by the teacher.' Reasoning: past simple active -> was/were + past participle; object 'the papers' becomes subject; agent kept because it is known and useful. If the agent were unknown, write 'The papers were checked.'
Traps
'An university' (sound, not letter); 'discuss about' (discuss takes no about); 'He said that he will come' (backshift to would); double passive ('was went'); modal + to ('must to go').