AN INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH GRAMMAR & LANGUAGE
          PLU.                                                  2. Compound Prepositions :
    But in case, the Noun is an Uncountable Noun, Both           (i) Prepositions formed by fixing a Preposition (Usually
Noun and Verb should be in Singular.                                 a=no, or be=by) to a Noun, an Adjective, or an Adverb :
    (i) Some money           is needed                               Above, across, along, amidst, around, before, below,
                  ̄             ̄                                      beneath, between, into (in+to), besides, outside, within,
              NOUN         VERB                                      without,
           (UNCOUNT. SING.                                      (ii) Two or more words habitually thrown together and ending
               SING.                                                 with a simple preposition may be called compound prepo-
    (ii) Lots of milk is available.                                  sitions.
                    ̄         ̄
                                                                     They are -
                NOUN       VERB
             (UNCOUNT. SING.                                         By means of; because of; in fornt of, in opposition to;
                SING.                                                inspite of; on accouunt of; with reference to; with re-
    22. If a Countable Noun is used after half of, one third         gard to, for the sake of, on behalf of, instead of, in lieu
of, two thirds of or three fourths of, then this Noun takes          of, in the place of, with a view to, in the event of; etc.
the Plural form and is followed by a Plural Verb.               3. Participle Prepositions : concerning, considering, ex-
    For example,                                                      cepting, judging, regarding, respecting etc. belong to
 Half of the hotels      are closed.                                  this class.
                  ̄         ̄                                           To have a clear comprehension of this topic one must
              NOUN       VERB                                 have a regular practice of words associated with preposi-
             (COUNT.     PLURAL                               tions.
             PLURAL
    23. More than one is always followed by Singular Noun     NARRATION
and Singular Verb.
                                                                      He said, “I am very busy now”.
More than one room is vacant.
                      ̄  ̄                                              When the Verb in one sentence reports what is said by
                   NOUN VERB                                  some speaker in another sentence, the Verb in the first
    Note- But, after the formation —                          sentence (He ‘said’) is called the Reporting Verb (R.V.),
                                                              and what is said in the second sentence is called the Re-
                                                              ported Speech.
the verb is always in Plural Number.                                  “(I am very busy now)”.
    For example,
 More       teachers than one are late.
                                                                      We may report the words of a speaker in two ways :
   ̄            ̄     ̄     ̄                                        (i) We may quote his actual words. This is called direct
 MORE        NOUN     THAN VERB                                       speech.
    24. If there or it is used as Introductory Subject, then    (ii) We may report what he said without quoting his exact
the Verb used after it is related to the Noun used after the          words. This is called indirect speech.
Verb.                                                                 ‘Speech’ = Narration.
    For example,                                                      He said, “I am very busy now”.             — Direct
    (i) There was a king.
                                                                      He said that he was very busy then.        — Indirect
    (ii) There were two kings.
    25. If a “NUMERAL + PLURAL NOUN” denotes a defi-          Note :
nite amount, distance, deposit, weight or height, etc, then      (i) The Tense of the Reporting Verb (R.V.) is never changed.
the Verb used must be in Singular.                              (ii) If the R.V. is in Present or Future Tense, the tense of
    For example,                                                      the verb in the R.S. is not changed at all.
    Two thousand rupees                                        (iii) If the R.V. is in Past Tense, the tense of the Verb in
               ̄            ̄                                           the R.S. must be changed to one or other of the four
         NUMERAL NOUN                                                 forms of the Past Tense.
                       PLU.                                           Rules for Changing Direct Speech into Indirect
     is a handsome amount.                                            When the R.V. is in the Past Tense, the tense of R.S.
      ̄                                                        changes according to this rule :
    VERB
                                                              Simpe Present is changed      Simpe Past
    SING.
                                                              Present Progressive into      Past
    (ii) Ten tonnes of coal is enough for me.
                                                              Progressive
PREPOSITION                                                   Present Perfect into          Past Perfect
      Preposition : Word governing (and usually preceding)    Present Perfect into          Past Perfect
a Noun or Pronoun and expressing a relation to another        Continuous                    Continuous
word, as in : ‘the man on the platform’, ‘came after dinner’, Simple Past into              Past Perfect
’went by train’, etc.                                         Past progressive into         Past Perfect
      Prepositions may be divided into following categories                                 Continuous
as per their formation :                                              In the R.S., when the present tense is changed into
  1. Simple preposition : of, on, up, off, to, by, at, for,   the past, an Adjective, Verb, or Adverb expressing near-
      per, with, in, from, etc.                               ness is similarly changed into the expressing distance.
                                                          SEE–92