English Grammar — Parts of Speech and Tenses — revision notes (NDA GAT)
The NDA GAT English section is 200 marks out of 600 in Paper II (about 50 questions, 4 marks each, −1.33 penalty). Grammar underpins error-spotting, improvement and cloze, so mastering parts of speech and tenses lifts your score across the whole section.
Core ideas
Eight parts of speech: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, interjection. Words change role by position — 'run' can be verb or noun.
Subject–verb agreement: a singular subject takes a singular verb. Watch collective nouns (team, jury — usually singular), 'each/every/either/neither' (singular), and 'neither…nor' (verb agrees with the nearer subject).
Tenses (12): three times (past, present, future) × four aspects (simple, continuous, perfect, perfect continuous).
- Present perfect: has/have + past participle (action linked to now).
- Past perfect: had + past participle (the earlier of two past actions).
- Future perfect: will have + past participle.
Sequence of tenses: if the main clause is past, the subordinate clause is usually past too (He said that he was tired).
Exam Tricks & Tips
- 🎯 'Neither…nor' and 'either…or': the verb agrees with the subject NEAREST to it.
- 🎯 Collective nouns (jury, team, family) take a singular verb when acting as one unit.
- 🎯 Use the past perfect (had + V3) for the EARLIER of two past actions — a favourite NDA test.
- 🎯 Uncountable nouns (information, furniture, advice, news) are singular and take no plural 's'.
- 🎯 After 'since' use a point of time; after 'for' use a period of time.
- ❌ Common mistake: using present tense in reported speech after a past reporting verb. 'He said he is coming' should be 'He said he was coming'.
Expected exam pattern
Expect grammar embedded in error-spotting and fill-in-the-blank items: agreement, tense consistency, correct preposition, and article usage. Direct 'identify the part of speech' items also appear.
Quick recap
Know the 8 parts of speech, subject–verb agreement (nearest subject for neither/either, singular for collective/uncountable nouns), the 12 tenses, past perfect for the earlier action, and tense sequence in reported speech.
English Grammar — Parts of Speech and Tenses — Flashcards (NDA)
Cover, recall, check. 11 cards on grammar rules.
Q1. The eight parts of speech?
A1. Noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, interjection.
Q2. Verb agreement with 'neither…nor'?
A2. Agrees with the subject nearest to the verb.
Q3. Verb number for collective nouns (team, jury)?
A3. Usually singular (acting as one unit).
Q4. Present perfect structure?
A4. has/have + past participle.
Q5. When is the past perfect used?
A5. For the earlier of two past actions (had + V3).
Q6. Future perfect structure?
A6. will have + past participle.
Q7. Are 'information, furniture, advice' countable?
A7. No — uncountable, singular, no plural 's'.
Q8. 'Since' vs 'for'?
A8. 'Since' + point of time; 'for' + period of time.
Q9. Reported speech after a past reporting verb?
A9. The reported clause shifts to past ('he was coming').
Q10. How many tenses in English?
A10. 12 (3 times × 4 aspects).
Q11. Verb for 'Each of the boys ___ present'?
A11. 'is' — 'each' is singular.
English Grammar — Parts of Speech and Tenses
Grammar is the backbone of the NDA English paper — spotting errors, improving sentences and completing them all rest on knowing parts of speech and tenses cold.
Core idea / what this tests: Recognising the eight parts of speech and using the twelve tense forms correctly, especially subject–verb agreement.
Deep explanation
Beginner — The eight parts of speech
- Noun (person/place/thing), Pronoun (replaces a noun), Verb (action/state), Adjective (describes a noun), Adverb (modifies verb/adjective), Preposition (shows relation: in, on, at), Conjunction (joins: and, but, because), Interjection (Oh! Alas!).
Each word's job in a sentence determines its part of speech — the same word can shift roles ("book" as noun vs verb).
Intermediate — The tense system
Three times × four aspects = twelve tenses:
- Simple: habitual/general (She writes / wrote / will write).
- Continuous: ongoing (is/was/will be writing).
- Perfect: completed with relevance (has/had/will have written).
- Perfect continuous: duration up to a point (has/had/will have been writing).
Advanced — Agreement and sequence rules
- Subject–verb agreement: a singular subject takes a singular verb. Watch collective nouns, "each/every/either/neither" (singular), and phrases like "one of the boys" (verb agrees with "one").
- Sequence of tenses: in reported speech, a past reporting verb usually pushes the reported verb back (says → said, will → would).
- Universal truths stay in the present even after a past verb ("The teacher said the earth is round").
Worked example
Choose the correct form: "Neither the captain nor the players ___ present."
The rule: with "neither…nor", the verb agrees with the nearer subject. Here the nearer subject is "players" (plural), so the verb is were. Full sentence: "Neither the captain nor the players were present."
NDA relevance
Grammar underpins the Spotting Errors, Sentence Improvement and Fill-in-the-blank sections — collectively a large chunk of the English marks. Agreement, tense sequence and preposition choice are the highest-yield sub-areas.
Exam tricks & shortcuts
- With "either/or", "neither/nor", the verb matches the nearest subject.
- "One of the + plural noun" takes a singular verb.
- Universal truths and habitual facts stay in the present tense regardless of the main verb.
- Identify the true subject by stripping away intervening phrases ("The box of apples is…").
Making the verb agree with the noun nearest to it rather than the true subject. In "The quality of the mangoes was poor", the subject is "quality" (singular), not "mangoes". Distracting plural phrases cause most agreement errors.
- ✓- Eight parts of speech; a word's role sets its category.
- ✓- 12 tenses = 3 times × 4 aspects (simple/continuous/perfect/perfect-continuous).
- ✓- Subject–verb agreement: singular subject → singular verb.
- ✓- Neither/nor, either/or → verb matches the nearer subject.
- ✓Know each word's job and the tense grid, then guard subject–verb agreement against distracting phrases — that is most of NDA grammar.
English Grammar — Parts of Speech and Tenses — Worked Example
Worked Example
Problem: Fill in the blank with the correct tense and justify your choice:
"By the time we reached the station, the train ______ (leave)."
(a) leaves (b) has left (c) had left (d) was leaving
Solution:
Identify the two past actions in the sentence:
- "we reached the station" — a completed past action (simple past).
- "the train ______" — an action that happened before we reached.
When one past action is completed before another past action, the earlier action takes the past perfect tense (had + past participle). The train's departure occurred earlier than our arrival, so it needs the past perfect.
- (a) "leaves" is present tense — wrong, the sentence is about the past.
- (b) "has left" is present perfect — it links to the present, not to another past event.
- (d) "was leaving" (past continuous) suggests the leaving was in progress as we arrived, which contradicts "by the time," implying completion.
- (c) "had left" correctly marks the earlier of two past events.
Correct sentence: "By the time we reached the station, the train had left."
Answer: (c) had left.
- ✓- "By the time" + simple past usually signals a need for the past perfect in the other clause.
- ✓- Past perfect (had + V3) marks the earlier of two past actions.
- ✓- Present perfect ("has left") connects to now, so it cannot pair with a simple-past clause.