English Grammar for CLAT: The Elements

Introduction to English Grammar

As a law aspirant and a potential lawyer, the use of English is pertinent to your profession. You’re expected to understand lucidly and write impeccably.

The better you’re at the language, the more you’ll be able to make an impactful argument for the benefit of the person in question. It will also allow you to convey your message and express your knowledge in the right way.

Grammar gives you the tools to make your linguist and writing skills coherent by choosing the right word, arranging proper words in a sentence, and applying the appropriate punctuation to complete the sentence.

As CLAT aspirants, you should be familiar to English section in CLAT; basics of English grammar, functional parts, punctuation, spelling, conventions, usage, and common usage errors.

CLAT 2022 English Grammar Important Topics

Here is a list of some important topics of CLAT English Grammar. Aspirants need to focus on these topics while preparing for the exam.

Sentence Correction
Sentence Rearrangement
Idioms and Phrases
Fill in the Blanks
Spotting the Error
Spelling Check
Foreign Language Words

Also read: Sure-shot Tips to Prepare for English Language Section of CLAT

Elements of English Grammar

Word Class

In English grammar, a word class is a set of words that display the same formal properties, especially their inflections and distribution. There are 8 major word classes in Grammar, and they are:

Noun: aircraft, mother, hour, Rome
Verb: climb, sing, come, be
Adjective: kind, British, sweet, quick
Adverb: quickly, generally, approximately
Preposition: to, often, at, on, down
Pronoun: me, you, them, that
Determiner: the, his, more, forty-five
Conjunction: and, but, because

The Sentence

The chief component of communication in any language is a Sentence. It helps in expressing your thoughts comprehensively.

In a basic declarative statement, the subject should always come first, the verb-second, and the objects and adverbial phrases (if any) third.

For Example:

The Sentence – Jim ran quickly.

Noun – Jim

Verb – ran

Adverb – quickly

Punctuation

In written English, punctuations are used to signify pauses, intonation, and stress words. Punctuation marks include commas, periods, quotation marks, semicolons, colons, question marks, exclamation points, dashes, hyphens, brackets, braces, apostrophes, etc.

For Example:

He came home!
He came home?
Let’s cook, Jerry!
Let’s cook Jerry!

Tenses and Aspect

Tenses signify whether a statement occurred in the present, the past, or the future by applying parameters to verbs. Likewise, aspect is a verb form that indicates time-related characteristics, for example, whether a statement refers to one single instant action, a repeated action, or an ongoing or progressive action.

I’m a teacher
I was a teacher.
She’s drinking wine.
She drinks wine.
I’ll watch the series.
I watched that show.

Determiners

In simple words, a determiner is a word that introduces a noun or provides information about the quantity of a noun, such as “which”, “how many”, “what”, “my”, and so on. Using determiners correctly is essential in order to form meaningful questions or statements.

His book
This pen
The glass over there.
That corner is cozy.

Connectors

As the name suggests, connectors “connect” phrases, words, or clauses to one another. They can express subordination (if, when, because, who, although), coordination (and, but, yet, nor), or correlation (neither, either, or, both) between the units they link.

I wanted to go swimming but I am so tired.
I neither like chocolates nor icecreams.
I want both a pencil and eraser.

Also read: How to Crack CLAT 2022 in the First Attempt?

CLAT English Grammar Study Guide

Learn all the basic rules of grammar. This is the first and most important rule when starting to prepare for Grammar.
Acknowledge the topics you find difficult. This can be done by taking CLAT mock tests. Mark the questions that you did not understand, or got wrong, or took too much time to solve.
When you’re stuck with some questions, revise the rules once again and make sure you got them correctly.
Do not try to memorise grammar.
You can get a knack for Grammar only by practicing a lot.
The English section tests your understanding of complex arguments or passages and not how eloquent you are. Remember that while preparing.

We hope that now you’re aware of the basic elements of Grammar, and it will help you ease your CLAT preparation. So prepare well and practice enough to get the highest score in this section.