The language paper rewards people who know a small number of rules very well. Instead of reading a whole grammar book, master the areas below, because they produce a large share of the questions: choose the correct word, correct the error, change the voice, change the speech.
Nepali language grammar (varna, sandhi, samas, shabda, vakya) is tested too in the Nepali part of many papers. Use your textbook and past papers for it; this note covers English.
1. Tenses at a glance
| Tense | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Simple present | V1 (s/es with he, she, it) | She teaches maths. |
| Present continuous | is/am/are + V-ing | She is teaching now. |
| Present perfect | has/have + V3 | She has taught for ten years. |
| Simple past | V2 | She taught yesterday. |
| Past continuous | was/were + V-ing | She was teaching when I came. |
| Past perfect | had + V3 | She had left before I arrived. |
| Simple future | will + V1 | She will teach tomorrow. |
Clue words: yesterday, ago, last signal simple past; since, for, already, just, yet usually signal present perfect; now, at the moment signal the continuous.
2. Subject-verb agreement
- A singular subject takes a singular verb: The list of items is long. (The subject is "list", not "items".)
- Two subjects joined by and take a plural verb: Ram and Sita are here.
- With either...or, neither...nor, the verb agrees with the nearer subject: Neither the teacher nor the students were late.
- Each, every, everyone, nobody, news, mathematics take a singular verb.
- Police, people, cattle take a plural verb.
3. Articles
- a before a consonant sound: a book, a university (it begins with a "yu" sound).
- an before a vowel sound: an apple, an hour (the h is silent).
- the for something specific or unique: the sun, the Himalayas, the President.
- No article with general plural or uncountable nouns: Honesty is important.
4. Common prepositions
- Time: at 5 pm, on Monday, in June, in 2020, since 2010, for five years.
- Place: at the gate, on the table, in Kathmandu.
- Fixed pairs: depend on, good at, afraid of, interested in, married to, different from, wait for, look after.
5. Active and passive voice
- Move the object to the front, use the right form of be, then the V3, then by + the old subject.
- The committee approved the plan. becomes The plan was approved by the committee.
- The staff are cleaning the hall. becomes The hall is being cleaned by the staff.
- Keep the tense the same in the passive: only the form of be changes.
6. Reported speech
- When the reporting verb is in the past, move the tense one step back: present becomes past, past becomes past perfect, will becomes would.
- Change pronouns and time words: today becomes that day, tomorrow becomes the next day, now becomes then, this becomes that.
- He said, "I am tired." becomes He said that he was tired.
- She said, "Where do you live?" becomes She asked where I lived. Questions lose the question word order and the question mark.
7. Spotting errors quickly
- Check the verb against its subject first.
- Check the tense against the time word.
- Check articles and prepositions.
- Check that pairs match: not only...but also, either...or, so...that.
Practice questions
- Choose the correct form: "The news (is / are) true."
- Fill in the article: "He is ___ honest man."
- Change to passive: "The Commission publishes the result."
- Report: He said, "I will call you tomorrow."
Answers: 1) is. 2) an. 3) The result is published by the Commission. 4) He said that he would call me the next day.
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This is an original revision summary written by MeroSir. It is not the official syllabus and does not replace your textbook or teacher. Syllabus, marks and rules change, so always check the current version with the Public Service Commission (psc.gov.np). Spotted a mistake? Tell us through the Contact page and we will fix it.
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