120 Grammar Rules – Part 2: Tenses, Narration & Degree of Comparison (Rules 25–48)

Rule 25: Use of "Enough"

As Adjective: "enough" comes before the noun → enough + noun

As Adverb: "enough" comes after the adjective → adjective + enough

✅ He has enough sugar. (Adjective — before noun)
✅ She is smart enough. (Adverb — after adjective)
✅ You are not big enough for basketball.

Rule 26: Adverb "As" — When to Use and When Not

Use "as" with: treat, define, regard, describe, respect, depict, portray, view, know

Do NOT use "as" with: elect, name, think, consider, call, make, choose, appoint

✅ Biology is defined as the science of living beings.
✅ She is treated as a child.
✅ She was elected Chair of the Board. (no "as")
✅ The teacher called him stupid. (no "as")

Rule 27: "Although" — Never Followed by "But"

"Although" can take "yet" in the main clause, but NEVER "but".

✅ Although she is rich, she thinks twice before spending.
✅ Although she is rich, yet she thinks twice before spending.
❌ Although she is rich, but she thinks twice before spending.

Rule 28: Stative Verbs — No "-ing" Form

These verbs do NOT take continuous (-ing) form: own, belong, have (possession), see, smell, taste, hear, feel, love, hate, know, think, want, need, desire, wish, like, appear, seem, resemble, contain, consist, possess, owe, notice

❌ I am owning a car. → ✅ I own a car.
❌ I am loving it. → ✅ I love it.
❌ This sauce is tasting strange. → ✅ This sauce tastes strange.
❌ All the luggage is belonging to me. → ✅ All the luggage belongs to me.

Exceptions:

✅ He is a very loving person. (used as adjective, not verb)
✅ I am having lunch now. ("have" not used for possession)
✅ Having done the work, he went to play. (perfect participle)

Rule 29: Perfect Tense Indicator Words

Words like ever, never, yet, already, now, just now, until now, always, occasionally, often, lately, recently, so far, up to now — are always used with Perfect Tense.

❌ The train already left. → ✅ The train has already left.
❌ He went there already. → ✅ He had gone there already.
✅ I have not spoken to her yet.
✅ He has gone just now.

Rule 30: Collective Nouns — Singular or Plural Verb

Same task (working together) → Singular verb. Different tasks → Plural verb.

✅ The audience is watching the movie. (all doing same thing)
✅ The army is marching towards the Himalayas.
✅ The audience are taking their seats. (each taking different seat)
✅ The jury are divided in their opinion.

Note: Words like police, cattle, people, gentry, poultry are ALWAYS plural (not collective nouns):

✅ The police are investigating the case.
✅ People want to attain all worldly pleasures.

Rule 31: Words Always Followed by "To"

Prefer, Superior, Inferior, Injurious, Junior, Senior, Exterior, Ulterior, Posterior, Ancillary, Addicted, Known — and any word ending in "-ior".

✅ Breastfeeding is superior to bottle-feeding.
✅ I prefer tea to coffee.
✅ Too much alcohol is injurious to your health.
✅ Rama is married to Sita. (passive voice)
✅ I am known to him.
❌ I am known by him.

Rules 32 & 33: "As…As" / "So…As" & "Times" with Comparison

Rule 32: "as…as" can be used in both positive and negative sentences. "so…as" only in negative sentences.

✅ He is as good as Ram.
✅ He is not so good as Ram.
❌ He is so good as Ram. (positive with "so…as" is wrong)

Rule 33: When the word "times" is used, NEVER use comparative degree. Use "as…as" instead.

❌ This book is three times larger than that book.
✅ This book is three times as large as that book.
✅ It is twice costlier than that. (no "times" word — correct)

Rule 34: Narration — Indirect Speech is Always a Statement

In indirect speech, the helping verb comes AFTER the subject (not before as in questions).

❌ He asked me where are you going.
✅ He asked me where I was going.
❌ He asked me what was my name.
✅ He asked me what my name was.

Rule 35: "Either/Or", "Neither/Nor" — Verb Agrees with Nearest Subject

When subjects are connected by or, nor, either/or, neither/nor, not only/but also, the verb agrees with the nearest subject.

✅ Either the bears or the lion has escaped. (nearest = lion → singular)
✅ Neither the lion nor the bears have escaped. (nearest = bears → plural)
✅ Not only dogs but also cats are available. (nearest = cats → plural)

Rule 36: Comparing Two Qualities of Same Object

When comparing two qualities of the same object, always use "more" (not comparative degree).

❌ This pen is redder than white.
✅ This shirt is more white than red.
✅ This umbrella is more beautiful than strong.

Rule 37: "More Than One" & "Many A" — Singular; "Many" — Plural

More than one / Many a + singular noun + singular verb
Many / A great many / A good many + plural noun + plural verb

Examples:

✅ More than one student is absent today.
✅ Many a student is absent today.
✅ A great many students are absent today.
✅ Many students are absent today.

Rule 38: "Doubt" Uses "If/Whether"; "No Doubt" Uses "That"

Doubt / Doubtful → followed by "if" or "whether"
No doubt / Not doubtful → followed by "that"

Examples:

❌ I have no doubt whether it will rain.
✅ I have no doubt that it will rain.
❌ There is a doubt that he goes there.
✅ There is a doubt whether he goes there.

Rule 39: Narration — Tense Does NOT Change for Universal Truths, Historical Facts & Proverbs

❌ He told me that honey was sweet. (universal truth — don't change tense)
✅ He told me that honey is sweet.
✅ The teacher said that Kalidas is the Shakespeare of India. (historical fact)
✅ Rohit said that where there is a will there is a way. (proverb)
✅ He said that he snoozes his alarm every day. (habitual fact)

But: When "the honey" (particular, not universal), follow normal tense rules:

✅ He told me that the honey was sweet. (particular honey — past tense OK)

Rule 40: Little / A Little / The Little & Few / A Few / The Few

Word	Meaning	Used With
Little / Few	Hardly any (negative)	Uncountable / Countable
A little / A few	Some but not much (positive)	Uncountable / Countable
The little / The few	All that is available	Uncountable / Countable

✅ There is little milk — I cannot make tea. (hardly any)
✅ A little knowledge is dangerous. (some)
✅ He utilized the little water that was available. (all of it)
✅ Few members attended the meeting. (hardly any)
✅ He lost the few friends he had. (all those he had)

Rule 41: Objective Case After Prepositions

After prepositions (but, except, between, etc.), use objective case (me, him, her, them) — NOT subjective case (I, he, she, they).

❌ None but he is going to the party.
✅ None but him is going to the party.
❌ All except he liked the performance.
✅ All except him liked the performance.
✅ There is good friendship between you and him.

Rule 42: Pronoun Order (231 Rule)

Positive sense: Use order 2-3-1 (You, He, I)

Negative sense (guilt/blame): Use order 1-2-3 (I, You, He)

✅ You, he and I are good friends. (positive → 2-3-1)
✅ You and I are playing chess. (positive → 2-1)
✅ I, you and he are guilty. (negative → 1-2-3)
✅ I and you have committed a crime. (negative → 1-2)

Rule 43: Superfluousness Errors

Superfluousness = using extra/redundant words. Avoid these common errors:

❌ India broke all previous records. → ✅ India broke all records.
❌ I want wet water. → ✅ I want water.
❌ Suppose if you won... → ✅ Suppose you won...
❌ The army retreated back. → ✅ The army retreated.
❌ The sage was reborn again. → ✅ The sage was reborn.
❌ Equally as good as. → ✅ Equally good OR as good as.
❌ Mutual agreement. → ✅ Agreement. (always mutual)

More superfluous phrases to avoid:

❌ final destination → ✅ destination
❌ rough estimate → ✅ estimate
❌ past history → ✅ history
❌ return back → ✅ return
❌ reason because → ✅ reason / because
❌ final conclusion → ✅ conclusion

Rule 44: Apostrophe ('s) Not Used with Non-Living Things

❌ Table's legs. → ✅ Legs of the table.
❌ Book's page. → ✅ Page of the book.

Exceptions (time, weight, distance, place, idiom, personification, heavenly body):

✅ One week's vacation.
✅ Today's date.
✅ Nature's call.
✅ At stone's throw.

Rule 45: Past Time Reference = Simple Past Tense

When a specific past time (yesterday, ago, last week) is mentioned, use Simple Past — NOT Present Perfect.

❌ I have gone to the market yesterday.
✅ I went to the market yesterday.
❌ Shares have dived by 90p last week.
✅ Shares dived by 90p last week.

Rule 46: Words Never Used with "Most"

Words like unique, excellent, perfect, ideal, entire, complete, chief, extreme, impossible, golden, annual, circular, rectangular, square, spherical — cannot be used with "most".

❌ He is the most excellent student.
✅ He is an excellent student.
❌ This is the most unique product.
✅ This is a unique product.
❌ He is completely perfect.
✅ He is perfect.

Rule 47: "Quite" and "All" — Never Together

❌ He is quite all well.
✅ He is quite well.
❌ He has done quite all the work.
✅ He has done all the work.

Note: Don't confuse "Quiet" (noun — state of being silent) with "Quite" (adverb — completely).

Rule 48: "Ago" = Simple Past; "Before" = Past Perfect

❌ He had gone two seconds ago.
✅ He went two seconds ago. (Simple Past)
❌ The patient died before the doctor came.
✅ The patient had died before the doctor came. (Past Perfect for earlier action)

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