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BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE AND REPORTING

CA FOUNDATION - PAPER 2B - BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE AND REPORTING
Board of Studies (Academic) has been catering to the learning needs of students by providing a wide array of content to
help them not just to prepare but to revise concepts for the upcoming examination. Keeping this in mind, a capsule on the
topics of Foundation Course Paper 2 Section B: Business Correspondence and Reporting has been developed. This capsule
covers Sentence Types, Active-Passive Voice and Direct-Indirect speech, which not only helps to understand the sentence
structure better but also enables you to hone your verbal as well as written expression while answering the questions in
the examination. It may be noted that this capsule is a source of quick revision and should not be taken as a substitute for
detailed study. Students are advised to refer to the relevant Study Material for comprehensive study and revision.

Chapter – 2: Sentence Types, Active-Passive Voice and Direct-Indirect speech

Grammar comprises rules of a language governing sounds, words,
sentences, and other elements, as well as their combination and For e.g.:
interpretation. In restricted sense, the term refers only to the A group 1. Everyone was extremely
study of sentence and word structure (syntax and morphology), of words delighted when the
Adjective
excluding vocabulary and pronunciation. The systematic that has an winner was announced.
Phrase
description of the features of a language is also a grammar. adjective as
its head. 2. Merry is slow and steady.
Features of Language
Phonology Syntax Morphology Clause
Study of speech Study of arrangement Study of internal
and sound of words (word order) construction of words A clause is a group of words which contain a subject (noun
phrase) and verb (verb phrase). A clause is a stand- alone unit,
Semantics Pragmatics
on its own or may form part of a sentence.
Study of meanings Study of the use of natural
language in communication Examples:

Phrase Radhika is a
She is playing Billy is a
famous
Examples: in the park. foolish cat.
designer

A phrase is a group of words A

which does not make complete famous
In the Types of Clauses
sense on its own and does not designer
Park
contain a verb.
A foolish
cat • Has a subject and predicate.
Main or • Can stand by itself as a complete
Types of Phrases Independent sentence i.e. makes complete sense.
Clause • Example: Richard ate five ice
A prepositional For e.g.: creams.
phrase begins with a
Prepositional 1. My car is stuck
preposition followed
Phrase in the pot hole.
by a noun or pronoun
or anything that acts 2. He arrived in
as a noun. time.

• Has subject and predicate but

A phrase that
For e.g.: doesn’t make complete sense on its
does a function of
1. Alex rode her old own.
noun (or pronoun)
Noun bicycle to their shiny • Is dependent on main clause.
and its modifiers.
Phrase new school. Subordinate • Mostly starts with subordinate
They are used as
2. The black car got or conjunctions such as after, because,
subjects, objects or
towed. Dependent if, since, when, whereas, which, etc.
complements.
Clause • Three types of dependent clause:
Noun clause, Adjective and Adverb
The phrase
For e.g.: clause.
consists of the
1. The teacher is • Example: Richard ate five ice creams
Verb main verb/verbs
and then auxiliary writing the answer. because he was hungry.
Phrase 2. Rita has already
verbs, i.e.
helping verbs. eaten a chocolate.

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SENTENCE Sentences are classified according to
A sentence is a group of words that make complete sense. It its function and structure.
expresses a complete thought. It typically contains a subject and
predicate.
Examples: Classified according to Classified according to
its structure: its function:
• Simple Sentences • Declarative Sentence
Harry Potter is an • Compound Sentences • Imperative Sentence
interesting book. Joe waited for • Complex Sentences • Interrogative Sentence
the train. • Complex Compound • Exclamatory Sentence
Sentences

Basic parts of Sentence Types of Sentences according to its function

Subject Predicate Direct Object
• about which • tells us • a person or thing
Declarative Sentence Imperative Sentence
something is something about affected by the
stated the subject action(verb) of the • Simply makes a state- • Express order/command/
subject. ment/opinion/view advice/request/proposal/
• Ends with a full stop (.) suggestion
Indirect Object Object of Preposition Verbs • Can be positive or • Can end with full stop (.)
• person/thing • noun/pronoun • action or negative or exclamation mark (!)
for whom that completes its occurrence or
e.g: She is riding a bicycle. e.g.: Please don’t ride the
action is done meaning indicates a state
of being bicycle too fast.

Phrases Complements
• group of words • word or word group
that doesn’t make that completes the Interrogative Sentence Exclamatory Sentence
complete sense meaning
• Ask a question and ends • Expresses strong
with question mark (?) feeling and ends with
Types of Verbs • Usually starts with exclamatory mark (!)
Finite Verbs question words followed
by a verb
• Changes according to the number and tense. For e.g., is, am,
are, do, does, has, have, eat, eats, etc. e.g.: Is she riding a bicycle? e.g. What a beautiful
Non-Finite Verbs bicycle!
• Does not change according to the person, number or tense. Types of Sentences according to its structure
For e.g. to dance. There are three kinds of non infinite verbs:
 Infinitive – Base form of verb used generally like a noun Simple Sentence Compound Sentence
 Participle (Past and Present) – Form of verb that has • Contains subject and • Has two independent
nature of both verb and an adjective. verb, and expresses clauses that are joined by
 Gerunds – Form of verb that ends with "-ing" and acts as
single complete thought. a conjunction (for, and, or,
but, yet etc.)
a noun.
Auxiliary Verbs e.g. The baby cried for food. e.g. They spoke to him in
• Helping verb Spanish, but he responded in
English.
• Form of verbs is/am/are/has/have/had, etc. used with
ordinary verbs to make tenses, passive forms, questions and
negatives. Complex Sentence Compound-Complex
Sentence
Modals
• An independent clause • Has two independent
• Type of auxiliary (helping) verb that is used to express: ability,
joined by one or more clauses and at least one
possibility, permission or obligation.
dependent clauses. dependent clause.
• Can, may, might, must, could, will, would, shall, should are 9 • Joined by a subordinator
core modals. (as, because, since, after,
Transitive verbs although, when) or
• Performs its action on an object. relative pronoun (who,
• Have direct objects , which means someone or something that, which)
receives the action of the verb. e.g.: After eating lunch at e.g.: The man believed in the
Intransitive Verbs the cheesecake factory, they system, and he knew that
Opposite of transitive verb -doesn’t need an object to complete went to the gym to exercise. justice would prevail after
its meaning / express a state or being. the murderer was sent to jail.

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Subject- Verb Agreement ACTIVE PASSIVE VOICE
Subject-Verb agreement is the correspondence of a verb with its “Voice” refers to the connection between the subject and the
subject in person. object of a sentence, which is linked through a verb.
Some of the common rules of subject verb agreement Two types of Voice

Active Voice
Subject and verb must agree in number. • Eg: Tom kicked Passive Voice
the ball. • Eg: The ball was kicked
Subordinate clauses that come between the subject by Tom.
and verb do not affect their agreement.

Prepositional phrases between subject and verb Active Voice Passive Voice
usually do not affect the agreement.
Meaning is clear and direct. Meaning is indirect and
When sentence start with ‘there’ or ‘here’, the
subject will always be placed after the verb. ambigious.

Subject does not always come before verbs in Receiver of action is Receiver of the action is
questions preceded by the verb. followed by the verb.

If two subjects are joined by ‘and’, they typically Doer of the action is Doer of action is preceded by
require a plural verb form. followed by the verb. the verb.

The verb is singular if the two subjects seperated by Subject of the sentence is Action is done on/upon the
‘and’ refer to the same person or thing as a whole. doing the action. subject

Tenses
Grammar tenses refer to the state of the verb. The state or tense
of the verb explains the time of the action. Impact
Tense

Future Tense Present Tense Past Tense Active Voice Passive Voice
describes about describes about describes about
things that are yet things happening things that have
to happen. right now or are already happened
continous. Have a strong, direct and Emphasise on action
clear tone rather than actor

Types of Tenses with the help of examples Use for clarity, Describe the condition
conciseness where actor is unknown
Tense Past Present Future
Simple I helped my I help my I will help my
Use to convey message
neighbour neighbour neighbour Create authorative tone
effectively
yesterday. every day. tomorrow.
Perfect I had helped I have helped I will have
my neighbour my neighbour helped my Used in newspaper
clean his attic too much this neighbour a headlines.
before I fixed week. hundred times
his car. by the end of Basic rules to change from Active to Passive Voice
the month. The rules are explained with the help of examples
Continuous I was helping I am helping I will be helping 1. Change of subject and object
my neighbour my neighbour my neighbour
when he while he fixes next month Active voice : • Monkeys adore bananas.
brought me up his house. when he moves. ‘subject + verb • The cashier counted the money.
iced tea. +object’ • The dog chased the squirrel.
Perfect I had been I have been I will have
continuous helping my helping my been helping Passive Voice:
neighbour for neighbour my neighbour Subject + form of • Bananas are adored by monkeys.
a year before since I moved for a year next ‘be’ + past participle • The money was counted by the
he finally in. month. of verb + by + object cashier.
thanked me. • The squirrel was chased by the dog.

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2. Change of verbs 6. Change Interrogative Sentences into Passive

Tense Active Voice Passive Voice In case of Active Voice Passive Voice
Simple Present Julia eats the The chocolate is eaten Is/am/are Is she cooking the Is the food being cooked
chocolate. by Julia. Was/were food? by her?
Present Julia is eating the The chocolate is being Was she cooking the Was the food being
Continuous chocolate. eaten by Julia. food? cooked by her?
Do/does/did Does she cook the Is the food cooked by
Present Julia has eaten the The chocolate has been food? her?
Perfect chocolate. eaten by Julia. Did she cook the Was the food cooked
Simple Past Julia ate the The chocolate was food? by her?
chocolate. eaten by Julia. Has/have/ Has she cooked the Has the food been
Past Julia was eating the The chocolate was had food? cooked by her?
Continuous chocolate. being eaten by Julia. Had Sachin played Had cricket been played
cricket? by Sachin?
Past Perfect Julia had eaten the The chocolate had Will/shall/ Can she cook the Can the food be cooked
chocolate. been eaten by Julia. can/may food? by her?
Simple Future Julia will eat the The chocolate will be May Sachin play May cricket be played
chocolate. eaten by Julia. cricket? by Sachin?
Future Julia will be eating The chocolate will be Question When did she cook When the food was
Continuous the chocolate. being eaten by Julia. words the food? cooked by her?
(when/why/ Why did she punish Why were you punished
Future Perfect Julia will have eaten The chocolate will have
where/how/ you? by her?
the chocolate. been eaten by Julia
what) Who cooked the By whom was the food
Can/may/must Julia can eat the The chocolate can be food? cooked?
etc.+ base chocolate. eaten by Julia.
7. Change Imperative Sentences into Passive
3. Change of pronoun
Active Voice Passive Voice
Nominative Case Objective Case You are advised to learn
I Me Advice Learn your lessons.
your lessons.
He Him
Command Open the door. Let the door be opened.
She Her
You You Please make a cup You are requested to
Request
of tea. make a cup of tea.
They Them
It It You are ordered not to
Don’t allow anybody
Order allow anybody to peep
We Us to peep inside.
inside.
Who Whom
Your parents should be
Obligation Love your parents.
For example: Active: I ate the bread. loved.
Passive: The bread was eaten by me.
To change from passive to active voice, reverse the rules that
4. Addition of the word ‘by’ have been discussed above.

Active: Rohan buys the milk in evening. DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH
• When the actual words of the speaker are reproduced, it is
called direct speech.
Passive: The milk is bought by Rohan in evening.
Example: He said, ‘I am going to school.’

5. When there are objects, there are two possible sentences: • When the main idea of a speaker’s words is reported by another
person and the exact
Active: The professor gave the books (object 1) to the words are not quoted,
students (object 2).
it is called indirect
speech or reported
Passive 1: The students were given the books by the speech.
professor.
Example: He said
that he was going to
Passive 2: The books were given to the students by the school.
professor.

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Basic Rules Changing Direct Speech into Indirect Speech
Quotation marks or ‘inverted commas’ are used for direct Pronouns • Examples: He said, ‘I am bored.’ (direct)
speech. of the first He said that he was bored. (indirect)
Example: ‘I have cut my finger!’ cried Mrs. Sharma. person are • Mira said, ‘We are going to the movies.’
Quotation marks are not used for indirect or reported changed as (direct) Mira said that they were going to
the movies. (indirect)
speech.
Example: Mrs. Sharma cried that she had cut her finger. Pronouns of • Examples: He said to her, ‘You are
the second beautiful.’ (direct) He said to her that she
Question marks and exclamation marks are not used in was beautiful. (indirect)
person are
reported speech. changed as • You must write neatly,’ the teacher told
Example: ‘Is it bleeding very much?’ Mr. Sharma asked. (direct) her pupils. (direct) The teacher advised
her pupils that they must write neatly.
Mr. Sharma asked if it was bleeding very much. (indirect)
(indirect)
The conjunction ‘that’ is used before the indirect statement.
Pronouns • Examples: I said, ‘They have gone out.’
Example: Aarav said, ‘I am driving the car.’ (direct) (direct) I informed that they had gone
of the third
Aarav said that he was driving the car. (indirect) out. (indirect)
person do
• Leela said, ‘These books are theirs.’
not change
Changing Direct Speech into Indirect Speech (direct) Leela said that those books were
theirs. (indirect)
Tense Rule Direct Speech Indirect Speech
Simple Present He said, “He is a He said that he was a
to Simple Past cricket player.” cricket player. Changes in Modals into Indirect Speech
Present I said, “Priya is I said that Priya was
continuous to going to Pune.” going to Pune. Rule Direct speech Indirect Speech
past continuous
Present perfect Azhar said, “It is Azhar said that it has Can changes She said, ‘I can She said she could
to past perfect raining.” been raining. into could speak English.’ speak English.
Present perfect Ria said, “Rohan Ria said that Rohan May changes I may invite them to She said that she might
continuous to has been at work.” had been at work. into might dinner. invite them to dinner.
past perfect
continuous Must changes I must go to the She said that she had to
Simple past to “My mother arrived He told me that his into must/ bank and get some go to the bank and get
past perfect on Monday”, he mother had arrived had to money. some money.
told me. on Monday.
Past perfect He explained, “The He explained that the Modals like would, should, could, ought to, and might do not
remains past bread has gone bread had gone stale. change during conversion.
perfect stale.” For example: Direct Speech: I should start a job.
Past perfect “We were living in Sia told me that they Indirect speech: She said that she should start a job.
continuous London”, Sia told had been living in
remains me. London.
past perfect Words expressing nearness in time or place are
continuous
Future changes I will finish my He said that he would
generally changed into words expressing distance
to present report in two days. finish the report in
conditional two days. Tomorrow
Yesterday — the day
This — that — the next/
Future My helper said, “I My helper said that before/the previous day
following day
continuous will be making the she would be making
changes to tea sometime.” tea sometime.
conditional Example: The
continuous
interviewer said to the
These — Today — that
young man, ‘We will let
those day
you know our decision
When the tense doesn’t change by tomorrow.’ (Direct)

The interviewer said

If the reported If the reporting If a statement to the young man that
speech contains verb is in present is still relevant, Here —
Now — then they would let him know
a universal fact, tense, the tenses of we can choose there
their decision by the
scientific truth, the the direct speech whether to keep next day. (Indirect)
tense of the verb do not change. the original tense
doesn’t change. or change it.

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Changes for Imperative Sentences from Direct Rules for changing Interrogative Sentences from
to Indirect Direct to Indirect
Comma and inverted commas will be removed.
Understand the mood of Change the reporting verb
the sentence whether it into ‘requested or advised or Conjunction ‘that’ will not be used in indirect statement; instead
is command or advice or commanded or suggested, we use if or whether wherever necessary.
request, etc. etc.’ Interrogative sentence will be changed to assertive sentence.
The reporting verb such as ‘said’, ‘tell’, ‘told’, etc. will be replaced
by ‘ask’, ‘asked’, ‘inquired’, etc.
E.g.: Father said to his son,
If the reported speech starts Examples
“Bring me you result card.”
from ‘please’ change that
• Father ordered his son to Paul said, ‘What Paul asked what
into requested. time does the bus time the bus
bring him his result card.
come?’ (direct) came. (indirect)

To change from reported speech to direct speech, reverse the rules that have been discussed above.

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