NEW EDITION HIGH SCHOOL
English Grammar & Composition
BY
WREN & MARTIN
(With New Appendices)
REVISED BY
N.D.V. PRASADA RAO
S. CHAND
,Page i
New Edition
HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH GRAMMAR AND
COMPOSITION
By
P.C. WREN, MA. (OXON) and H. MARTIN, M.A. (OXON), O.B.E.
Revised By
N.D.V. PRASADA RAO, M.A., D.T.E., Ph.D.
Dear Students,
Beware of fake/pirated editions. Many of our best selling titles have been unlawfully
printed by unscrupulous persons. Your sincere effort in this direction may stop piracy and
save intellectuals' rights.
For the genuine book check the 3-D hologram which gives a rainbow effect.
S. CHAND AN ISO 9001: 2000 COMPANY
S. CHAND & COMPANY LTD.
RAM NAGAR, NEW DELHI -110 055
,Page iii
PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION
Wren and Martin's monumental work High School English Grammar and Composition
now appears in two editions. One is a de luxe edition, illustrated in full-colour, and the
other is an ordinary edition without illustrations.
The material in the book has been further updated where called for. It has been felt
necessary in particular to revise some material in the chapters dealing with adjectives,
active and passive voice, articles and prepositions. Appendix I, which deals with
American English, has been expanded. Appendix II has been replaced with a newer set of
tests covering the important areas of grammar.
It was in the year 1972 that the shrewd visionary Mr. Shyam Lai Gupta obtained the
permission of Manecji Cooper Education Trust for the revision of this book and
commissioned me to revise it thoroughly. The revised edition came out in 1973 and was
well received. One of the main features of the revised edition was the addition of a great
deal of new material (such as the three chapters on structures) based on the new
developments in the study of English structure and usage. Subsequently the book was
revised every four or five years and most extensively in 1999.
Unlike many traditional grammar books, the book in the present form helps the student to
use the language as well as giving detailed information about the language. It provides
ample guidance and practice in sentence building, correct usage, comprehension, written
composition and other allied areas so as to equip the student with the ability to
communicate effectively in English.
It is gratifying to learn that this classic work, though primarily intended for use in the
Indian subcontinent, is also used in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, etc. It is
hoped that the book will be found useful in many more countries where English is used as
a second or foreign language.
N.D.V. Prasada Rao
Your Attention Please
In this work, on some pages, the Publishers have stated between parallel lines, “A work
from S. CHAND & COMPANY LTD.” This has been done to establish that this is a
genuine edition of the work.
Publishers
, Page iv
CONTENTS
BOOK I. GRAMMAR
CHAPTER -- PAGES
1. THE SENTENCE -- 1
2. SUBJECT AND PREDICATE -- 1
3. THE PHRASE AND THE CLAUSE -- 2
4. PARTS OF SPEECH -- 3
5. THE NOUN: KINDS OF NOUNS -- 5
6. THE NOUN: GENDER -- 8
7. THE NOUN: NUMBER -- 10
8. THE NOUN: CASE -- 15
9. THE ADJECTIVE -- 19
10. COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES -- 24
11. ADJECTIVES USED AS NOUNS -- 33
12. POSITION OF THE ADJECTIVES -- 34
13. THE CORRECT USE OF SOME ADJECTIVES -- 34
14. ARTICLES -- 37
15. PERSONAL PRONOUNS -- 43
16. REFLEXIVE AND EMPHATIC PRONOUNS -- 48
17. DEMONSTRATIVE, INDEFINITE AND DISTRIBUTIVE PRONOUNS -- 49
I8. RELATIVE PRONOUNS -- 52
19. INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS -- 62
20. THE VERB -- 65
21. VERBS OF INCOMPLETE PREDICATION -- 68
22. ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE -- 70
23. MOOD -- 75
24. TENSES: INTRODUCTION -- 78
25. THE USES OF THE PRESENT AND PAST TENSES -- 81
26. THE FUTURE -- 86
27. THE VERB: PERSON AND NUMBER -- 88
28. THE INFINITIVE -- 90
29. THE PARTICIPLE -- 93
30. THE GERUND -- 99
31. IRREGULAR VERBS -- 102
32. AUXILIARIES AND MODALS -- 109
33. CONJUGATION OF THE VERB LOVE -- 115
34. THE ADVERB -- 118
35. COMPARISON OF ADVERBS -- 123
36. FORMATION OF ADVEBS -- 124
37. POSITION OF ADVERBS -- 125
38. THE PREPOSITION -- 127
39. WORDS FOLLOWED BY PREPOSITIONS -- 136
40. THE CONJUNCTION -- 149
English Grammar & Composition
BY
WREN & MARTIN
(With New Appendices)
REVISED BY
N.D.V. PRASADA RAO
S. CHAND
,Page i
New Edition
HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH GRAMMAR AND
COMPOSITION
By
P.C. WREN, MA. (OXON) and H. MARTIN, M.A. (OXON), O.B.E.
Revised By
N.D.V. PRASADA RAO, M.A., D.T.E., Ph.D.
Dear Students,
Beware of fake/pirated editions. Many of our best selling titles have been unlawfully
printed by unscrupulous persons. Your sincere effort in this direction may stop piracy and
save intellectuals' rights.
For the genuine book check the 3-D hologram which gives a rainbow effect.
S. CHAND AN ISO 9001: 2000 COMPANY
S. CHAND & COMPANY LTD.
RAM NAGAR, NEW DELHI -110 055
,Page iii
PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION
Wren and Martin's monumental work High School English Grammar and Composition
now appears in two editions. One is a de luxe edition, illustrated in full-colour, and the
other is an ordinary edition without illustrations.
The material in the book has been further updated where called for. It has been felt
necessary in particular to revise some material in the chapters dealing with adjectives,
active and passive voice, articles and prepositions. Appendix I, which deals with
American English, has been expanded. Appendix II has been replaced with a newer set of
tests covering the important areas of grammar.
It was in the year 1972 that the shrewd visionary Mr. Shyam Lai Gupta obtained the
permission of Manecji Cooper Education Trust for the revision of this book and
commissioned me to revise it thoroughly. The revised edition came out in 1973 and was
well received. One of the main features of the revised edition was the addition of a great
deal of new material (such as the three chapters on structures) based on the new
developments in the study of English structure and usage. Subsequently the book was
revised every four or five years and most extensively in 1999.
Unlike many traditional grammar books, the book in the present form helps the student to
use the language as well as giving detailed information about the language. It provides
ample guidance and practice in sentence building, correct usage, comprehension, written
composition and other allied areas so as to equip the student with the ability to
communicate effectively in English.
It is gratifying to learn that this classic work, though primarily intended for use in the
Indian subcontinent, is also used in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, etc. It is
hoped that the book will be found useful in many more countries where English is used as
a second or foreign language.
N.D.V. Prasada Rao
Your Attention Please
In this work, on some pages, the Publishers have stated between parallel lines, “A work
from S. CHAND & COMPANY LTD.” This has been done to establish that this is a
genuine edition of the work.
Publishers
, Page iv
CONTENTS
BOOK I. GRAMMAR
CHAPTER -- PAGES
1. THE SENTENCE -- 1
2. SUBJECT AND PREDICATE -- 1
3. THE PHRASE AND THE CLAUSE -- 2
4. PARTS OF SPEECH -- 3
5. THE NOUN: KINDS OF NOUNS -- 5
6. THE NOUN: GENDER -- 8
7. THE NOUN: NUMBER -- 10
8. THE NOUN: CASE -- 15
9. THE ADJECTIVE -- 19
10. COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES -- 24
11. ADJECTIVES USED AS NOUNS -- 33
12. POSITION OF THE ADJECTIVES -- 34
13. THE CORRECT USE OF SOME ADJECTIVES -- 34
14. ARTICLES -- 37
15. PERSONAL PRONOUNS -- 43
16. REFLEXIVE AND EMPHATIC PRONOUNS -- 48
17. DEMONSTRATIVE, INDEFINITE AND DISTRIBUTIVE PRONOUNS -- 49
I8. RELATIVE PRONOUNS -- 52
19. INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS -- 62
20. THE VERB -- 65
21. VERBS OF INCOMPLETE PREDICATION -- 68
22. ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE -- 70
23. MOOD -- 75
24. TENSES: INTRODUCTION -- 78
25. THE USES OF THE PRESENT AND PAST TENSES -- 81
26. THE FUTURE -- 86
27. THE VERB: PERSON AND NUMBER -- 88
28. THE INFINITIVE -- 90
29. THE PARTICIPLE -- 93
30. THE GERUND -- 99
31. IRREGULAR VERBS -- 102
32. AUXILIARIES AND MODALS -- 109
33. CONJUGATION OF THE VERB LOVE -- 115
34. THE ADVERB -- 118
35. COMPARISON OF ADVERBS -- 123
36. FORMATION OF ADVEBS -- 124
37. POSITION OF ADVERBS -- 125
38. THE PREPOSITION -- 127
39. WORDS FOLLOWED BY PREPOSITIONS -- 136
40. THE CONJUNCTION -- 149
