ISC Class 11 Grammar, Structure and Usage: Rules and Solved Questions

What Grammar, Structure and Usage is about

Weightage: Question 3: 15 of the 80 marks of Paper I, in three 5-mark parts (transformation, phrasal verbs, verb forms). The specimen advises not more than 30 minutes.Source: CISCE ISC 2028 English (801) syllabus, Question Three; ISC Specimen Question Paper 2025; ISC Analysis of Pupil Performance 2024 and 2025

Key concepts

Inversion after negative openers: No sooner... than; Hardly/Scarcely... when

When a sentence begins with a negative adverbial, the auxiliary comes before the subject. 'No sooner' pairs with 'than'; 'Hardly' and 'Scarcely' pair with 'when'. For a past event use 'No sooner did + subject + base verb... than' or 'No sooner had + subject + past participle... than'. For a present habit with a plural subject use 'do' (the 2024 examiners noted candidates who wrote 'does' or 'did' with the plural subject 'the students'). After 'did' the verb is the base form: the 2025 examiners noted candidates who wrote 'found' instead of 'find'.

Worked example

Rewrite, beginning 'No sooner': 'As soon as the bell rang, the children rushed out of the classroom.'

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Past event: use 'did' + base verb, or 'had' + past participle.
2. Pair with 'than', never 'when' or 'then'.

Answer: No sooner did the bell ring than the children rushed out of the classroom. (Also: No sooner had the bell rung than the children rushed out of the classroom.)

Degrees of comparison: superlative, comparative and positive

A superlative ('the best X in the group') can be rewritten as a comparative ('better than any other X') or a positive ('No other X is as good as...'). Keep the meaning and all the details. 'No other' takes a singular noun and 'as... as'. The 2025 examiners found many candidates 'unfamiliar with the rule for the positive degree of comparison', and in 2024 some wrote 'funnier' or 'funniest' instead of 'as funny as' and left out 'ever'.

Worked example

Rewrite, beginning 'No other': 'Mount Everest is the highest peak in the world.'

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. No other + singular noun + verb + as + positive adjective + as + subject.
2. Keep 'in the world'.

Answer: No other peak in the world is as high as Mount Everest.

Reported speech: questions, tense shifts and time words

A yes/no question becomes 'asked + object + if/whether + statement order'. A wh-question keeps the wh-word: 'asked where/why/when...'. Shift tenses back one step when the reporting verb is past (will to would, can to could, is to was, past to past perfect). Change time and place words (today to that day, tomorrow to the next/following day, yesterday to the previous day, here to there) and pronouns to suit the speaker. No question mark and no quotation marks in reported speech. The 2025 examiners noted misspellings of 'whether' and 'everyday' for 'every day'.

Worked example

Report: The coach said to the players, "Why did you arrive late yesterday?"

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Wh-question: keep 'why'.
2. Statement word order: 'they had arrived'.
3. Past to past perfect; yesterday to the previous day; you to they.

Answer: The coach asked the players why they had arrived late the previous day.

Active and passive voice

Object becomes subject; use the correct form of 'be' in the original tense + past participle; the doer may follow 'by'. Present perfect: 'have/has been + past participle'. Modal: 'can/must/should be + past participle'. An 'End: ...' instruction often forces the passive. Check that the meaning stays the same: in 2025 some candidates wrote 'several landslides caused heavy rains', reversing cause and effect.

Worked example

Rewrite, ending '...the storm.': 'The storm has uprooted dozens of trees.'

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Object 'dozens of trees' becomes the subject.
2. Present perfect passive: 'have been uprooted'.
3. End with the agent: 'by the storm'.

Answer: Dozens of trees have been uprooted by the storm.

too... to, so... that, enough to

'too + adjective + to + verb' means the result does not happen; 'so + adjective + that + subject + cannot/could not' says the same. 'Adjective + enough + to' expresses a positive result. Keep the tense: 'was too tired to walk' becomes 'was so tired that he could not walk'. For 'too good to be true', the 2025 scheme gave 'so good that it cannot be true'.

Worked example

Rewrite using 'so... that': 'The parcel was too heavy for the child to lift.'

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. 'too heavy... to lift' means the child could not lift it.
2. Past tense: 'could not'.
3. The object 'it' is needed after 'lift'.

Answer: The parcel was so heavy that the child could not lift it.

Other common structures: Not only... but also; None but; Unless; In spite of; Although

'Not only... but also' links two parallel elements; when it begins the sentence with a verb, invert: 'Not only did she sing but she also danced'. 'None but' means 'only' and takes a plural or singular verb with sense: 'None but the brave deserve the fair.' 'Unless' = 'if... not' (never 'unless... not'). 'In spite of/Despite' take a noun or gerund ('In spite of being tired'), while 'Although' takes a clause.

Worked example

Rewrite, beginning 'In spite of': 'Although it was raining heavily, the match continued.'

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. Turn the clause into a noun phrase.
2. 'it was raining heavily' becomes 'the heavy rain'.

Answer: In spite of the heavy rain, the match continued.

Phrasal verbs: the particle changes the meaning

A phrasal verb is a verb plus a particle (adverb or preposition) whose meaning is often not literal: 'put off' (postpone), 'put on' (wear), 'put up with' (tolerate), 'call off' (cancel), 'turn down' (reject), 'turn up' (arrive), 'carry out' (perform), 'carry on' (continue), 'give in' (surrender), 'give up' (stop), 'look into' (investigate), 'look after' (take care of), 'break out' (start suddenly), 'stand by' (support), 'stand for' (represent). Learn them in pairs and sets with the same verb, as the board papers test them that way (carry on/carry out; jump at/jump to).

Worked example

Replace the incorrect particle: (a) The match was called up because of rain. (b) He turned on the scholarship to stay with his parents.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. (a) Cancelled = call off.
2. (b) Rejected = turn down.

Answer: (a) off; (b) down.

Verb forms in a passage: tense, participles and infinitives

Read the whole passage first and fix its time frame. A narrative in the past uses the simple past for events, the past continuous for an action in progress ('while she was admiring'), and the past perfect for an earlier past ('By the time she returned, the butterfly had flown away'). After 'would' or 'to' use the base form; after 'decided' use the infinitive ('decided to create'); a participle phrase after a comma often takes '-ing' ('Emily ran..., hoping to capture') or the past participle in a passive sense ('had returned, drawn by the blossoms'). Spell the forms correctly; the examiners note spelling errors in verbs.

Worked example

Fill in: 'When we reached the platform, the train ______ (leave). We ______ (stand) there for a moment, ______ (wonder) what to do.'

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

1. The train left before we reached: past perfect.
2. Our standing is a simple past event.
3. 'wondering' describes a simultaneous action: present participle.

Answer: had left; stood; wondering.

Grammar, Structure and Usage in real life

Each concept, met in an everyday situation. Read the situation, answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Topics in this chapter

• Phrasal Verbs: Meaning and the Correct Particle

How the school exam asks Grammar, Structure and Usage

The question patterns to expect, and the method that works for each.

Tricks to remember Grammar, Structure and Usage

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

• No sooner THAN, Hardly WHEN

  'No sooner' is a comparative (sooner), so it takes 'than'; 'Hardly' and 'Scarcely' take 'when'.

  Use it when: Avoid the commonest inversion error.

• Back-shift ladder

  is to was, was to had been, will to would, can to could, today to that day, tomorrow to the next day, here to there.

  Use it when: Reported speech with a past reporting verb.

• Put family

  put off (postpone), put on (wear), put out (extinguish), put up with (tolerate), put by/aside (save).

  Use it when: Learn phrasal verbs in families, the way board papers test them.

Grammar, Structure and Usage: exam-level solved questions

Ordered from exam level to HOTS. Cover the solution, write your own, then compare step by step.

Where the marks are

How a typical answer is marked: the value points the examiner looks for and the marks each earns.

Where students lose marks in Grammar, Structure and Usage

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

• ✗Mistake: Wrong verb form after 'No sooner did'

  Students keep the past tense of the original. The 2025 examiners: 'Some mistakenly wrote found instead of find', and many did not know the rule that requires 'did' and 'than'.

  Wrong working

  No sooner did Mira found her pendant when she ran to her mother.

  Right working

  No sooner did Mira find her pendant than she ran to her mother.

  ✓Do this: After did/do/does use the base verb; always pair 'No sooner' with 'than'.

  Usually costs: 1 mark per item.

• ✗Mistake: Changing the meaning in a voice change

  Students rush to meet an 'End: ...' instruction. In 2025 some wrote 'several landslides caused heavy rains', which 'changed the original meaning'.

  Wrong working

  Original: 'The flood damaged the bridge.' Rewrite: 'The flood was damaged by the bridge.'

  Right working

  The bridge was damaged by the flood.

  ✓Do this: After rewriting, ask: who did what to whom? It must match the original.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

• ✗Mistake: Small spelling and punctuation slips

  Students treat grammar items as quick. Examiners noted 'everyday' for 'every day', misspelt 'whether', 'pendant', 'Michelangelo' and 'tomorrow', and the full stop placed after the closing quotation marks in direct speech.

  ✓Do this: Copy names exactly from the question; learn 'every day' (adverb phrase) versus 'everyday' (adjective).

  Usually costs: The whole mark for that sentence.

• ✗Mistake: Giving two answers or writing out of order

  Students hedge when unsure. The examiners: 'Discourage students from providing multiple answer options and from writing answers in an incorrect order.'

  Wrong working

  (c) up/off

  Right working

  (c) off

  ✓Do this: Write one answer per item, numbered as in the question.

  Usually costs: Half a mark or a full mark per item.

• ✗Mistake: Ignoring subject-verb agreement in inversion

  The auxiliary must agree with the subject. In 2024 'Many wrote No sooner does or did instead of do' with the plural subject 'the students' in a present-tense sentence.

  ✓Do this: Check the subject (singular or plural) and the tense of the original before choosing do, does or did.

  Usually costs: 1 mark.

Practice questions on Grammar, Structure and Usage

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

1. Q1 · 5 marks · Short answerExam level

   Rewrite according to the instructions. (a) If you do not hurry, you will miss the bus. (Begin: Unless...) (b) The teacher said to Meera, "Where did you find this book?" (Begin: The teacher asked...) (c) Nobody can deny that he is honest. (Begin: That...) (d) She was too ill to attend the ceremony. (Use: so... that) (e) Kolkata is larger than any other city in eastern India. (Begin: No other...)

   Hint

   Unless = if... not; reported wh-question; noun clause as subject; so... that with 'could not'; positive degree.

   Answer

   (a) Unless you hurry, you will miss the bus.
   (b) The teacher asked Meera where she had found that book.
   (c) That he is honest cannot be denied (by anybody).
   (d) She was so ill that she could not attend the ceremony.
   (e) No other city in eastern India is as large as Kolkata.

2. Q2 · 5 marks · Short answerHarder exam level

   Rewrite according to the instructions. (a) Scarcely had the guests arrived when it started to rain. (Begin: No sooner...) (b) People believe that he has left the country. (Begin: He is...) (c) Although he was injured, he finished the race. (Begin: Despite...) (d) The principal said, "Let us observe two minutes' silence." (Begin: The principal proposed...) (e) Only the members may use the pool. (Begin: None...)

   Hint

   'No sooner had... than'; 'is believed to have + past participle'; 'Despite' + noun or gerund; 'proposed that they should'.

   Answer

   (a) No sooner had the guests arrived than it started to rain.
   (b) He is believed to have left the country.
   (c) Despite being injured (Despite his injury), he finished the race.
   (d) The principal proposed that they should observe two minutes' silence.
   (e) None but the members may use the pool.

3. Q3 · 5 marks · Short answerHarder exam level

   Fill in each blank with a suitable particle (write only the word): (a) The firemen managed to put ______ the blaze. (b) I cannot put up ______ this noise any longer. (c) The old car finally broke ______ on the highway. (d) Thieves broke ______ the shop last night. (e) She was brought ______ by her aunt in Shimla. (f) The new policy brought ______ many changes. (g) Do not give ______ to their threats. (h) Please hand ______ your answer sheets now. (i) The rumour turned ______ to be false. (j) He looks ______ to his elder brother for advice.

   Hint

   Think of the meaning: extinguish, tolerate, stop working, enter by force, raise, cause, surrender, submit, prove, respect/consult.

   Answer

   (a) out (b) with (c) down (d) into (e) up (f) about (g) in (h) in (i) out (j) up

4. Q4 · 5 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

   Write the correct verb forms in order: 'The village well ______ (1) (dry) up by the time the rains ______ (2) (fail) for the third year. The women ______ (3) (walk) four kilometres every morning to fetch water. One summer a group of students ______ (4) (arrive) with a plan ______ (5) (harvest) rainwater from the rooftops. At first the elders ______ (6) (refuse) ______ (7) (listen). But when the first tank ______ (8) (fill) after a single storm, everyone ______ (9) (want) one. Today no woman in the village ______ (10) (walk) to the distant river.'

   Hint

   Watch the sequence of past events, the infinitive after 'plan' and 'refused', the passive for the tank, and the final present.

   Answer

   (1) had dried (2) failed (3) walked (or had to walk / would walk) (4) arrived (5) to harvest (6) refused (7) to listen (8) was filled (or filled) (9) wanted (10) walks (or has to walk)

5. Q5 · 3 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency

   Identify and correct the error in each rewrite: (a) 'The judge asked the witness that was he sure of the time.' (b) 'Not only she plays the sitar but also the tabla.' (c) 'The thief has been caught by the police yesterday.'

   Hint

   Reported yes/no questions; parallel structure; present perfect with a past time word.

   Answer

   (a) The judge asked the witness whether/if he was sure of the time (no 'that', statement order). (b) She plays not only the sitar but also the tabla (or: Not only does she play the sitar but she also plays the tabla). (c) The thief was caught by the police yesterday (a definite past time word needs the simple past).

6. Q6 · 1 mark · MCQExam level

   Choose the correct option: The new manager quickly won ______ the staff with her honesty. (a) up (b) over (c) out (d) in

   Hint

   Which phrasal verb means to gain someone's support?

   Answer

   (b) over: 'win over' means to persuade or gain the support of.

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1. 1.Which three item types does the 2028 syllabus name for Question 3?Show answer

   Transformation of sentences, phrasal verbs, and verbs/tenses.

2. 2.What follows 'No sooner did + subject'?Show answer

   The base form of the verb, then 'than'.

3. 3.Rewrite 'He is the tallest boy in the class' beginning 'No other'.Show answer

   No other boy in the class is as tall as he (is).

4. 4.What does 'turn down' mean?Show answer

   To reject or refuse (an offer or request).

5. 5.In the verbs passage, what should you write?Show answer

   Only the verb forms, numbered, in the correct order, without copying the passage.

Quick revision checklist

The night before the exam: can you do each of these without looking?

• ☐Can you rewrite a sentence using No sooner... than, Hardly... when, Not only... but also and None but?
• ☐Can you convert a superlative into a comparative and a positive without losing details?
• ☐Can you report yes/no questions, wh-questions, commands and exclamations?
• ☐Can you give the meaning of twenty common phrasal verbs with put, take, give, turn, look, break and carry?
• ☐Can you fill a ten-blank narrative passage with consistent past, past perfect and non-finite forms?

Grammar, Structure and Usage: frequently asked questions