General English & General Hindi

20.1 English Parts of Speech & Tenses

A command of English grammar begins with the eight parts of speech — the functional categories that every word in a sentence belongs to. Recognising each category and its sub-types is the foundation for every rule tested in state-level examinations: agreement, case, tense consistency, and error spotting all trace back to parts-of-speech identification.

20.1.1 Noun

A noun names a person, place, thing, idea, or quality. The five main types are: Proper (unique names: Delhi, Shakespeare); Common (general class: river, teacher); Collective (group as unit: flock, committee, bouquet); Material / Mass (substance: gold, water, milk); and Abstract (concept / quality: courage, honesty, childhood). Proper nouns are always capitalised; material and abstract nouns do not normally take a plural or an indefinite article.

20.1.2 Pronoun

Pronouns replace nouns to avoid repetition. Nine sub-types are examinable: Personal (I/we, you, he/she/it/they); Possessive (mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs); Reflexive (myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves); Demonstrative (this, that, these, those); Interrogative (who, whom, whose, which, what); Relative (who, whom, whose, which, that — linking a clause to its antecedent); Indefinite (someone, anybody, all, none, few, many, both, either, neither, each, every, one); Distributive (each, every, either, neither — always singular); Reciprocal (each other — for two; one another — for three or more).

20.1.3 Verb

A verb denotes action, occurrence, or state of being. Transitive verbs take a direct object (She wrote a letter); intransitive verbs do not (He slept). Auxiliary verbs (be, have, do) help form tenses, the passive, and questions. Modal verbs — can, could, may, might, will, would, shall, should, must, need, dare, ought to, used to — express possibility, permission, obligation, or ability and are always followed by a bare infinitive (no to), except ought to and used to.

20.1.4 Adjective and Adverb

An adjective modifies a noun or pronoun. Types: Descriptive (tall, beautiful); Quantitative (some, many, much, little); Numeral (three, second, both); Demonstrative (this, that, these, those); Possessive (my, your, his); Distributive (each, every, either); Interrogative (which, what, whose). Degrees of comparison: Positive (tall), Comparative (taller), Superlative (tallest).

An adverb modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb. Types: Manner (quickly, carefully); Place (here, there, outside); Time (now, yesterday, soon); Frequency (always, never, often, seldom); Degree (very, quite, rather, almost); Affirmation/Negation (certainly, definitely, not).

20.1.5 Preposition, Conjunction & Interjection

A preposition shows the relationship of a noun/pronoun to other words in the sentence (time: at, on, in; place: at, on, in, under, above, behind; direction: to, into, towards; agent/instrument: by, with). Collocations are frequently tested: different from (not to); agree with a person, agree to a proposal, agree on a matter; accuse of; suspect of; prevent from; abstain/refrain from; deal in (trade) vs deal with (handle).

A conjunction links words, phrases, or clauses. Coordinating conjunctions join equal elements: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so (FANBOYS). Subordinating conjunctions introduce dependent clauses: because, although, since, unless, until, when, if, while, as, though. Correlative conjunctions come in pairs: both…and, either…or, neither…nor, not only…but also, whether…or, so…that, such…that. An interjection expresses sudden emotion and is grammatically independent: Oh! Alas! Bravo! Hurrah!

20.1.6 The Twelve English Tenses

Every English sentence is anchored in time by one of twelve tenses formed by combining aspect (simple, continuous, perfect, perfect continuous) with time frame (present, past, future). The key is the auxiliary + verb form pairing: knowing this grid lets you construct or identify any tense mechanically.

20.1.7 Tense Use-Case Rules

Since vs For: Since + a point of time (since 1990, since Monday) requires perfect or perfect continuous; For + a period (for two years) also requires perfect or perfect continuous in present context. Ago: always uses simple past (He left two years ago). Conditional clauses: Zero conditional — if + simple present / simple present; First conditional — if + simple present / will + V1; Second conditional — if + simple past / would + V1; Third conditional — if + past perfect / would have + V3. Stative verbs (know, understand, believe, love, hate, consist, belong, own, see, hear in mental/sense meaning) do not normally take the continuous aspect.

20.2 English Voice, Narration & Sentence Transformation

20.2.1 Active and Passive Voice

In the active voice the grammatical subject performs the action (The cat chased the mouse). In the passive voice the grammatical subject receives the action (The mouse was chased by the cat). The transformation follows a fixed algorithm:

1. The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive.
2. The subject of the active sentence becomes the agent, placed after by (or omitted if unknown/irrelevant).
3. The verb becomes: be (in correct tense) + past participle (V3).
4. Object pronouns (him, her, them, us) shift to subject pronouns (he, she, they, we) when they become the subject. Subject pronouns (I, he, she, we, they) shift to object pronouns (me, him, her, us, them) when they become the agent.

20.2.2 Direct and Indirect (Reported) Speech

When converting Direct Speech to Indirect (Reported) Speech, three systematic changes occur: (1) Tense back-shift — the verb in the reported clause moves one tense into the past (simple present → simple past; present continuous → past continuous; present perfect → past perfect; simple past → past perfect; will → would; can → could; may → might; shall → should); (2) Pronoun shift — pronouns change to reflect the new perspective of the reporter; (3) Adverb/demonstrative shift — now→then; today→that day; yesterday→the previous day / the day before; tomorrow→the next day / the following day; here→there; this→that; these→those; ago→before; thus→so.

20.2.3 Sentence Transformation

Exam questions frequently ask candidates to convert between sentence types while preserving meaning:

• Simple ↔ Complex ↔ Compound: Simple (one independent clause); Compound (two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction); Complex (an independent + dependent clause joined by a subordinating conjunction).
• Affirmative ↔ Negative: He is rich → He is not poor. Note: using a word of opposite meaning allows negative to preserve the meaning.
• Assertive ↔ Interrogative: This is a beautiful painting → Is this not a beautiful painting? (tag or rhetorical question form)
• Degrees of Comparison: Positive: No other student is as tall as Ram. Comparative: Ram is taller than any other student. Superlative: Ram is the tallest student.

20.3 English Vocabulary — Synonyms, Antonyms, One-Word Substitution, Idioms

20.3.1 Synonyms and Antonyms

Synonyms are words with similar meaning; antonyms are words of opposite meaning. For examinations, focus on commonly confused pairs and less obvious antonyms of adjectives. About 30 high-frequency pairs appear below.

20.3.2 One-Word Substitution

20.3.3 Idioms and Phrases

An idiom is a fixed phrase whose meaning cannot be deduced from the literal meaning of its words. For state-level examinations, 20–30 idioms regularly appear. Always learn the idiomatic meaning, not the literal meaning.

Shakespeare (1564–1616) — many modern idioms trace to his plays · Wordsworth & Coleridge — Lyrical Ballads 1798 (Romantic movement) · Rabindranath Tagore — Nobel Prize in Literature 1913 (Gitanjali) · R. K. Narayan — Malgudi Days; pioneer Indian English fiction · Tulsidas — Ramcharitmanas c. 1574 (Awadhi Hindi) · Premchand — Godan 1936 (Hindi novel) · Hindi as Rajbhasha — Article 343, Constitution of India, 26 Jan 1950

20.4 Common Errors & Spotting Errors

Error-spotting questions present a sentence divided into four underlined parts (A, B, C, D) and ask the candidate to identify the part containing a grammatical error. A systematic five-step approach works best: (1) check subject-verb agreement; (2) check pronoun case and reference; (3) check article use (a/an/the); (4) check preposition collocation; (5) check tense sequence / conditional structure. If none of those reveal the error, check modifier placement.

20.4.1 Subject-Verb Agreement Rules

• Two singular subjects joined by and → plural verb: Ram and Shyam are here.
• Two singular subjects joined by or / nor / either…or / neither…nor → singular verb: Either Ram or Shyam is here.
• When subjects differ in number, joined by or/nor, the verb agrees with the nearer subject: Neither the boys nor their teacher was present.
• Each, every, either, neither, one, someone, anyone, no one, everyone, somebody, nobody → always singular verb.
• One of + plural noun → singular verb: One of the boys is absent.
• Collective nouns (army, committee, jury, team, class) → singular when acting as a unit; plural when members act individually.
• Uncountable / material nouns (information, furniture, news, advice, luggage, equipment) → always singular.
• Subject complement does not affect the verb: The cause of accidents is reckless driving.

20.4.2 Pronoun Case Errors

• Between you and me (not I) — prepositions take object pronouns.
• It is I (not me) — after the verb to be, use subject pronouns in formal English.
• Reflexive pronouns (myself) are NOT used as a substitute for subject or object pronouns: The manager and I (not myself) attended.
• Relative pronoun who = subject; whom = object: The teacher whom I admire…

20.4.3 Article Errors

• Use a before consonant sounds; an before vowel sounds: an hour, an MBA, a uniform, a European.
• The definite article the is used with: superlatives; unique nouns (the sun, the moon); ordinals (the first time); names of mountain ranges, river groups, seas, oceans, deserts, historical periods, newspapers.
• NO article: languages (Hindi, English); meals (breakfast, lunch); games (cricket, chess); abstract nouns used in general sense; names of continents, countries (except the USA, the UK, the Netherlands), cities, people.

20.4.4 Preposition Collocation Errors

20.4.5 Modifier Errors

A dangling modifier is a phrase that does not logically attach to the subject of the main clause: "Walking down the street, the houses looked beautiful." (Houses don't walk — dangling.) Correct: "Walking down the street, I found the houses beautiful."

A misplaced modifier is positioned too far from the word it modifies, changing the meaning: "She only ate the cake." (ambiguous) vs "She ate only the cake." (clear). The word only, just, almost, even, nearly, hardly, scarcely, barely must immediately precede the word it modifies.

20.4.6 Miscellaneous High-Frequency Error Types

• Double negatives: I don't know nothing ✗ → I don't know anything / I know nothing ✓.
• Correlative conjunctions must balance: Not only he spoke but also sang ✗ → Not only did he speak but he also sang ✓.
• Redundancy: Return back, repeat again, end result, free gift, advance booking in advance are all redundant.
• Comparative with than: She is more intelligent than him ✓; never use more…than with a superlative adjective.
• Infinitive after modal: Modals are always followed by bare infinitive (no to): She can sing (not to sing), except ought to, used to, have to, be able to.

20.5 Reading Comprehension & Cloze Strategy

20.5.1 Reading Comprehension Approach

Reading comprehension passages test: (a) factual / literal recall; (b) inferential understanding; (c) vocabulary-in-context; (d) main idea / central theme; (e) tone and purpose. A four-step strategy maximises accuracy within time constraints:

1. Skim the passage in 60–90 seconds to grasp the topic, structure, and tone. Note paragraph breaks and transitional phrases (however, therefore, in contrast, consequently, moreover).
2. Read the questions first (before re-reading), then scan the relevant paragraph for answers. Direct-recall questions are answered by locating facts; inference questions require combining information.
3. Infer vocabulary from context: Look at the words before and after the unknown word. Identify whether it is a positive/negative term from sentence logic. Match with the answer option that fits the contextual meaning, not just the dictionary meaning.
4. Main idea questions: The main idea is usually stated in the first or last sentence of the passage. It should cover the entire passage, not just one paragraph. Eliminate options that are too specific (just one detail) or too broad (going beyond the passage).

20.5.2 Identifying Tone and Purpose

Tone vocabulary is tested in higher-difficulty comprehension. Common tones: didactic (intending to teach), satirical (using irony to expose folly), sarcastic (bitter/cutting mockery), ironic (expressing a meaning opposite to the literal), nostalgic (longing for the past), optimistic/pessimistic, objective/impartial (neutral, fact-based), subjective (opinion-based), laudatory (full of praise), critical/censorious, ambivalent (having mixed feelings).

20.5.3 Cloze Test Strategy

A cloze test presents a passage with blanks (every nth word removed) and asks for the most appropriate fill-in. Strategies: (i) Read the entire passage to understand context before filling. (ii) Fill grammatically — check part of speech required (noun/verb/adjective/adverb). (iii) Check the collocation: the blank's answer must collocate naturally with adjacent words. (iv) Read the completed sentence back to verify coherence. (v) For vocabulary cloze: eliminate obviously wrong register or meaning choices first, then choose from what remains.

20.6 हिन्दी व्याकरण — वर्ण, शब्द, पद, वाक्य

हिन्दी भाषा की सबसे छोटी इकाई वर्ण (ध्वनि-चिह्न) है। वर्णों के समूह से शब्द बनते हैं, शब्दों के समूह से पद (वाक्य में प्रयुक्त शब्द), और पदों के समूह से वाक्य। इनका अध्ययन क्रमशः वर्ण-विचार, शब्द-विचार, पद-विचार और वाक्य-विचार के अन्तर्गत आता है। HPRCA परीक्षाओं में इन सभी से प्रश्न पूछे जाते हैं।

20.6.1 वर्ण-विचार (वर्णमाला)

हिन्दी वर्णमाला में कुल 52 वर्ण (मानक NCERT/आधुनिक गणना) माने जाते हैं: 11 स्वर + 33 व्यंजन + 4 संयुक्त व्यंजन + 2 द्विगुण व्यंजन (ड़, ढ़) + 2 अयोगवाह (अनुस्वार अं, विसर्ग अः)।

20.6.2 शब्द-विचार (Word Classification)

शब्दों को तीन आधारों पर वर्गीकृत किया जाता है:

(A) रचना के आधार पर (Structure):
रूढ़ शब्द — जिनके खंड सार्थक न हों: घर, पानी, नाक, दिन।
यौगिक शब्द — दो सार्थक खंडों से बने: प्रतिदिन (प्रति+दिन), पाठशाला (पाठ+शाला)।
योगरूढ़ शब्द — यौगिक होने पर भी किसी विशेष अर्थ में रूढ़: पंकज (पंक=कीचड़, ज=उत्पन्न — लेकिन अर्थ 'कमल'), जलज (जल+ज = कमल या मछली), दशानन (दस मुख वाला = रावण)।

(B) उत्पत्ति के आधार पर (Origin):

20.6.3 पद-भेद (Parts of Speech in Hindi)

हिन्दी में पद-भेद 8 प्रकार के होते हैं — 4 विकारी (जिनमें लिंग, वचन, कारक से परिवर्तन होता है) और 4 अविकारी (जो कभी नहीं बदलते)।

20.6.4 संज्ञा के 5 भेद

20.6.5 कारक (Case) तालिका

हिन्दी में 8 कारक (vibhakti) हैं। प्रत्येक कारक का एक विभक्ति-चिह्न (परसर्ग) होता है जो क्रिया से संज्ञा/सर्वनाम का संबंध बताता है।

20.6.6 विराम चिह्न (Punctuation Marks)

20.7 संधि, समास, उपसर्ग और प्रत्यय

20.7.1 संधि (Sandhi)

दो वर्णों के मेल से उत्पन्न विकार को संधि कहते हैं। संधि के तीन भेद हैं:

20.7.2 समास (Compound Words)

समास दो या अधिक पदों का मेल है जिसमें विभक्ति या अव्यय का लोप हो जाता है। समास-विग्रह = सामासिक शब्द के पदों को पुनः अलग करना। समास के 6 भेद होते हैं:

20.7.3 उपसर्ग (Prefix)

उपसर्ग वे अव्यय शब्दांश हैं जो शब्द के पूर्व जोड़े जाते हैं और मूल अर्थ को बदलते या परिमार्जित करते हैं। हिन्दी में 22 मुख्य उपसर्ग माने जाते हैं।

20.7.4 प्रत्यय (Suffix)

प्रत्यय वे शब्दांश हैं जो किसी शब्द के अन्त में जुड़कर नया शब्द बनाते हैं। हिन्दी में दो प्रकार के प्रत्यय होते हैं: कृत् प्रत्यय (धातु/क्रिया से जुड़ते हैं) और तद्धित प्रत्यय (संज्ञा/विशेषण/सर्वनाम से जुड़ते हैं)।

20.8 मुहावरे, लोकोक्तियाँ & शुद्धीकरण

20.8.1 मुहावरे (Idioms)

20.8.2 लोकोक्तियाँ (Proverbs)

लोकोक्ति (कहावत) एक सम्पूर्ण वाक्य है जो किसी सामाजिक अनुभव या सत्य को संक्षेप में व्यक्त करती है। मुहावरे से अंतर: मुहावरा वाक्यांश होता है; लोकोक्ति पूर्ण वाक्य।

20.8.3 शुद्धीकरण (Error Correction in Hindi)

शुद्धीकरण के प्रश्नों में अशुद्ध शब्द या वाक्य दिया जाता है और उसका शुद्ध रूप पूछा जाता है। त्रुटियाँ मुख्यतः तीन प्रकार की होती हैं: (i) वर्तनी की त्रुटि (spelling mistake); (ii) व्याकरणिक त्रुटि (grammatical error); (iii) शब्द-प्रयोग की त्रुटि (wrong word usage)।

20.9 Quick-Reference Tables

End of Chapter 20 · General English & General Hindi. HPRCA-pat. indicates HPRCA / state-TGT pattern questions; literal past-paper items will be flagged with year when official papers are sourced.