P6 Paper 2 Grammatical Rules

English grammatical rules can be somewhat confusing, to say the least. With different rules to remember, a number of exceptions to the rules, and different ‘expert’ opinions, it is easy for students (and even teachers) to get confused.

Many P6 students will be having their English Paper 2 component next week. I have compiled a list of common grammatical rules to help students in their revision.

All the best for the Paper 2 component!

P6 English: list of common grammatical rules to ace the Paper 2

1) Neither of/Either of

singular

Examples

Either of the students is right.
Neither of the doctors has arrived.

2) Neither..nor / Either..or

Depends on the noun closest to the blank

Examples:

Neither Jane nor the boys have arrived.
Either the tigers or the elephant is making all that noise 

Be Careful: *Neither Jane nor I am going to the show

3) Each / everyone / every / no one

singular

Example

Each of the buildings is surrounded by a high fence.
Every table has a tablecloth

4) All of / Some of / A lot of

In sentences beginning with all of or some of, the true subject follows the verb

Examples

All of the equipment has been moved
Some of the pies are burnt
A lot of pie has disappeared

5) None of

singular

Examples

None of the elephants is pink
None of the girls plays the violin

6) Here/ There

The true subject follows the verb

Examples

There is a pie
‘Pie’ is considered singular, thus the verb ‘is’ is used.
There are five pies ‘Pies’ are considered plural, thus the verb ‘are’ is used
Here is a ladder
Here are the ladders

7) All of / Some of

Focus on the noun that comes after ‘all of’ or ‘some of’

Example

All of the cutlery is clean

The noun ‘cutlery’ is considered singular, thus the verb is in the singular form

Some of the horses are brown

The noun ‘horses’ are considered plural, thus the verb is in the plural form

8) The number vs A number

The expression the number is followed by a singular verb while the expression a number is followed by a plural verb.

Examples

The number of people we need is 10. (The number = singular verb)
A number of people have written in about this subject. (A number = plural verb)
The number of people lined up for tickets was four hundred. (The number = singular verb)
A number of suggestions were made. (A number = plural verb)