Transformation of Sentences Part Two (2): Assertive to Interrogative

Whether it is a BCS, Bank, Varsity Admission, Job or any kind of competitive examination, examinees must face questions from Transformation of Sentences. For getting selected either in preliminary or written exam, candidates must give importance to this English grammar part. Here, I have given a number of exercises and solutions for changing sentences from Assertive to Interrogative. If you find any mistake, do not forget to mention it in the comment box. 

Transform the following sentences into interrogative:

 

1.   I never went there.

Answer: Did I ever go there?

2.   Their glory can never fade.

Answer: Can their glory ever fade?

3.   He is not a great fool.

Answer: Is he a great fool?

4.   Nobody could ever count my love for you.

Answer: Who could ever count my love for you? / Could anybody ever count my love for you?

5.   He is not present in the meeting.

Answer: Is he present in the meeting?

6.   No one can depend on an unreliable man.

Answer: Who can depend on an unreliable man? / Can anyone depend on an unreliable man?

7.   No one hits accurately every time.

Answer: Who hits accurately every time? / Does anyone hit accurately every time?

8.   He was not a fool.

Answer: Was he a fool?

9.   I have had my revenge at least.

Answer: Haven’t I had my revenge at least?

10.                They could not drink salty sea water.

Answer: Could they drink salty sea water?

11.                He is a great scholar.

Answer: Isn’t he a great scholar?

12.                He went there of his own accord.

Answer: Didn’t he go there of his own accord?

13.                I have nothing to say.

Answer: Have I anything to say?

14.                There was nothing to do.

Answer: Was there anything to do?

15.                They took a mighty pride in their possessions.

Answer: Didn’t they take a mighty pride in their possessions?

16.                The smell of the melted butter tickled my nostrils.

Answer: Didn’t the smell of the melted butter tickle my nostrils?

17.                There is nothing wrong with me.

Answer: Is there anything wrong with me?

18.                Everybody hankers after happiness.

Answer: Who doesn’t hanker after happiness? 

19.                Everyone hates a criminal.

Answer: Who doesn’t hate a criminal?

20.                Nobody trusts a liar.

Answer: Who trusts a liar? / Does anybody trust a liar?

21.                Prevention is better than cure.

Answer: Isn’t prevention better than cure?

22.                Addiction to drinking is dangerous.

Answer: Isn’t addiction to drinking dangerous?

23.                The flavor of the food becomes monotonous.

Answer: Doesn’t the flavor of the food become monotonous?

24.                I shall never forget your advice.

Answer: Shall I ever forget your advice?

25.                Everybody loves a patriot.

Answer: Who doesn’t love a patriot?

26.                Everybody fears death.

Answer: Who doesn’t fear death?

27.                None has ever seen such a fine sight.

Answer: Who has ever seen such a fine sight? / Has anyone ever seen such a fine sight?

28.                Purbani is a restaurant.

Answer: Isn’t Purbani a restaurant?

29.                Karim liked the spring.

Answer: Didn’t Karim like the spring?

30.                She likes white gloves.

Answer: Doesn’t she like white gloves?

31.                It does not matter if you fail in the exam.

Answer: What though if you fail in the exam?

32.                It does not matter whether he eats or sleeps.

Answer: What though whether he eats or sleeps?

33.                It does not matter if he comes or goes.

Answer: What though if he comes or goes?

34.                There is no use of this statue.

Answer: What is the use of this statue? / Is there any use of this statue?

35.                There is no hope for me if you do not come.

Answer: What hope is there for me if you do not come? / Is there any hope for me if you do not come? 

A village of educated people

It is a remote village, but all the people are literate. It is devoid of crime as there is no conflict or clash exists in the village. As a result, there is no hassle of lawsuit.
A detached place under the Gala union of Shahjadpur upazila in Sirajganj district, the Dewan Tartia village is located at the confluence of Jamuna and Hurasagar rivers. There is no direct transport system to reach the village located 15 kilometers away from the sadar upazila. Going on foot in dry season and by boat across the Hurasagar river during rainy season are the only way to travel to and from upazila sadar.
Despite being a remote village, most of the villagers are highly educated. Many villagers have been working in different important positions both in public and private organizations for long times. Service is the main occupation of this village. Elderly inhabitants of this village could not remember if police came in this village after the independence. Villagers claim that there is hundred percent literacy in their village. 

Recently, during a field visit, villagers revealed that a school was established in this village in 1911. Since then, the percentage of higher education is increasing every year. The nearest high school of this village, Verakola high school, is one kilometer away. As the road construction is not good, students have to go to school by walking.
Elders of this village remarked that during the time of British rule if anyone passed matriculation (SSC) crowd of people came to see him. But in that period 30 to 35 students passed matriculation exam. In addition, one of them, Khaja Abdul Jalil, even went to Kolkata and earned Masters degree and four of them earned Honors degree. People who earned Honors degree are Syed Kobad Ali, Abul Mohsen Khan, Syed AbdurRohim and Abdul Khalek Khan. At that time, they worked in the important positions of government service. Those five talented persons later played an important role in spreading up education in the village.
Resident of that village, Syed Abdul Halim, a retired agriculture officer, said, “we have seen that during 1950s education was compulsory. Elders put pressure on the parents to send their children. Those who did not send their children to school, they were laughed at by others. This way developed an interest for education among the villagers. Now, there is no way a child can grow up illiterate in this village.
It is not just education where the village excels. In fact, this village is an ideal place for peaceful coexistence as well. That is why the village is free from dispute, violence and litigation. Even if some family problems emerge, the elders of the village mutually mitigate them by arranging meetings. Azizur Rahman (57), a villager and postmaster of Dewan Tartia branch Post Office, said, "Police walked over this village on their way to other areas. But I cannot remember any instance when that Police came to this village. Actually, there was no offense ever committed for which law enforcers had to intervene into the village. All the people in the village are educated and conscious. That is why, our village is free from crime.”
Retired government officer and President of the management committee of Dewan Tartia govt. primary school, Syed Abdur Roshid, said, "Sitting together, they ask parents about their children's education. They help poor students by raising fund so that their education in college and university level does not get interrupted due to lack of money. He also said if any poor people became serious ill then rich people of the village provide his treatment expenses by raising fund."
Village inhabitant, Akmol Hosen, the former Union Parishad member, said, "It is difficult for us to travel to outside areas. As it is remote area, we have accepted this hardship. But we cannot accept the fact that there is no local market and suitable road to go to neighboring villages."
Chairman of Gala Union Parishad, Jahurul Haque, said, "Despite being remote and hostile environment, Dewan Tartia is a village of educated and gentle people. I feel proud of such a village being in my union. We have done a lot of development works including the construction of roads in the village. But they did not last long during the rainy season."
Head master of the Dewan Tartia govt. Primary School, Monjurul Haq, said, we have seen in survey that 100% children of the village are going to school.
There was a time when the village was inhabited by more than 1500 people. But the number of existing permanent inhabitants has been reduced to 600 to 700 as a large part of the village was vanished through river erosion a few years ago and many families left the village for cities looking for jobs.
Shahjadpur UNO Shamim Ahmed told the Prothom Alo, "As far as I know is that hundred percent primary education has been ensured thanks to the initiatives taken by the villagers of Dewan Tartia village. It is an exemplary endeavor taken by the knowledge-loving people of the village and should be an inspiration for other villages.
Source- http://www.prothomalo.com/…/ar…/389065/শিক্ষিত-মানুষের-গ্রাম

Dhaka’s first aeronaut

It was 16th March 1892. One person won the sky of Bangladesh on this day 123 years ago. The person who commenced the history by taking off from the land of Dhaka with a balloon was not a Bengali. She was an American woman named Jeanette Van Tassel.

Full story of Jeanette Van Tassel was not written anywhere. The first information I got intrigued my curiosity. I had to gradually build up her story by collecting pieces of information from different sources. The story of collecting information is more adventurous than any detective story.

Ganiur Raja, son of the famous song writer from Sylhet Hason Raja, once came to Dhaka. He wrote a journal on his visit to Dhaka. From that journal, I first came to know about Jeanette Van Tassel. Coming to Dhaka, Ganiur Raja witnessed Jeanette’s flying in the sky. In his journal, there was no mention of Jeanette’s name, address and the country of her origin. My curiosity for knowing more about the first aeronaut on Dhaka’s sky became irrepressible. I decided to find out the identity and the real story of this girl.

On 1 August 1989, an event took place by accident. Khaza Halim, an offspring of Dhaka’s Nawab family, had an old photograph of Dhaka in his possession which I came across. This photo is about a big half-swollen balloon surrounded by some Dhaka dwellers and Europeans. From this photo, we can find strong proof of the description of Ganiur Raja. Then I made a photocopy of that photograph. Fortunately, I made a photocopy because the original photograph was lost later on.  

All that I had as sources, however, were the photocopy of that photograph and a few pages from Ganiur Raja’s journal. Ganiur Raja wrote that the girl had flown in the sky on a balloon, but while coming down with a parachute she had died in an accident. Ganiur Raja came to Dhaka in 1299 according to Bengali calendar. By that estimate, the year was 1892 by the Christian calendar. I assumed that the girl was buried at the Christian graveyard located in Narinda. But no epitaph bearing Jeanette’s name was found there. 

Finding no way, I went to the St Thomas Church in old Dhaka. There, I searched in their old death register. After searching a lot, Jeanette’s name and date of her death was found. She died on March 18, 1892. She was 24 as was mentioned at the column indicating age of deceased people in the death register. Aeronaut is the profession mentioned. Accident, as mentioned at the register, was the reason of her death.

But how to retrieve the whole story of Jeanette? Searches began to find out what happened before and after that day. I went to the manuscript department of Dhaka University. I started searching the microfilms of contemporary newspapers reserved over there. The story started forming.

Jeanette Van Tassel’s husband was Park Van Tassel. Ahsanullah, the Nawab of Dhaka, went to Kolkata and signed them on 10 March 1892 to come to Dhaka and ride on balloon. According to the contract, Jeanette flew in the sky in the afternoon of 16 March 1892 from the other side of the Buriganga River. She crossed the river on balloon and went up to 6000 feet high. Having completed her flying, she jumped with a parachute in an attempt to get down. There was a garden house of Nawab in Shahbag. Her flying parachute got stuck in a big Tamarisk tree located at the garden house. Jeanette also stuck there. Holding a part of the parachute, she was hanging hopelessly 15-20 feet above from the ground.  

It became difficult to get Jeanette down. But her rescue mission continued. One English police officer stationed at Dhaka tried to get her down with the help of three bamboos tied together. While she was coming down, the knot of the bamboos got loosened. Jeanette was severely injured falling down on the ground. Almost senseless Jeanette died on 18 March at 1 o’clock at night after suffering from fever.

Few days before riding on a balloon, this news was announced publicly to Dhaka dwellers. That is why, there were a lot of people to see this event. On 16 March 1892, in the afternoon, courtyard of Ahsan Manzil, roof top and upper part of the buildings adjacent to the Buriganga River were covered with people. Hundreds of people took position on boats in the river.

Jeanette’s unexpected and sudden death shocked the Dhaka dwellers and foreigners. Being an American, how much Jeanette took place in the hearts of Dhaka dwellers can be understood from the reports published at that time. That incident brought the British government and Dhaka dwellers face to face. People of Dhaka were blaming the British government. They were probably thinking that the English police officer’s inability of rescuing was the reason behind Jeanette’s pathetic death. On the other hand, English newspapers were blaming Dhaka dwellers on behalf of the English government. They raised the allegation citing that ‘Dhaka dwellers are spreading rumors’. They had nothing to do to avoid Jeanette’s death. After few days, Jeanette’s husband Park Van Tassel left Dhaka closing all debates.

Nawab Ahsanullah was absent at the time of Jeanette’s burial. He probably wanted to avoid the debates that were raised against the British government. From the attempts of local poets, it was understood that how much Dhaka dwellers were passionate for Jeanette. They published a book regarding this event. Afterwards, time went by. Jeanette’s first aeronautical mission on Dhaka’s sky and her death gradually went into oblivion.

I mentioned earlier that there was no epitaph on Jeanette’s grave. Still, attempts to find her grave continued. After long days of effort, I rescued her nameless graveyard. It is another story. Newspapers of that time wrote that Jeanette was a gymnast by profession. She was born at Ohio, Cincinnati in USA. She was Presbyterian Christian by religious faith. Newspapers also wrote that her father was an architect. He was involved with the famous Chicago fair. Jeanette was the only kid of the family. It had been four years since she had taken balloon riding as a profession. She flew on the balloon three hundred times before Dhaka. Dhaka was her 41st parachute landing.

With this information, I wrote a book named Dhaka’s first aeronaut. It was published in 2000, but enquiry about Jeanette was not finished yet. No photograph of Jeanette was still found. I was desperate to get a photograph of her. I found lots of further information in later enquiries which necessitated some correction of old information.

Source- http://www.prothom-alo.com/we-are/article/482125/ঢাকার-প্রথম-আকাশচারী

Transformation of Sentences Part One (1): Affirmative to Negative

For any kind of competitive examination, such as Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) Exam, Bank Exam, Public Varsity admission test, you will find questions from Transformation of Sentences. Here, I have given an adequate number of exercises and solutions for changing sentences from Affirmative to Negative. If you find any mistake, do not forget to mention it in the comment box. 

Transform the following sentences into negative:

 

1.   The old man was alone alive.

Answer: None but the old man was alive.

2.   Only the graduates should apply.

Answer: None but the graduates should apply.

3.   Only the brave deserve the fair.

Answer: None but the brave deserve the fair.

4.   Only the moon was visible.

Answer: Nothing but the moon was visible.

5.   He lives alone in the house.

Answer: None but he lives in the house.

6.   I am only four now.

Answer: I am not more than four now.

7.   Only five members were present in the meeting.

Answer: Not more than five members were present in the meeting.

8.   He had only a few acres of land.

Answer: He had nothing but a few acres of land.

9.   Chance and accidents are only aliases of ignorance.

Answer: Chance and accidents are nothing but aliases of ignorance.

10.                Man must submit to destiny.

Answer: Man cannot but submit to destiny. / Man cannot help submitting to destiny.  

11.                You must obey your teachers.

Answer: You cannot but obey your teachers. / You cannot help obeying your teachers.

12.                All men must die.

Answer: All men cannot but die. / No man can escape or avoid death.

13.                Every mother loves her child.

Answer: There is no mother but loves her child. / There is no mother who does not love her child. / No mother hates her child.

14.                Everyone loves a truthful boy.

Answer: There is no one but loves a truthful boy. / There is no one who does not love a truthful boy. / No one hates a truthful boy.

15.                Every rose has a thorn.

Answer: There is no rose without a thorn. / There is no rose but has a thorn.

16.                Every man hates a liar.

Answer: There is no man but hates a liar. / There is no man who does not hate a liar. / No man likes a liar.

17.                Everybody believes in his honesty.

Answer: There is nobody but believes in his honesty. / There is nobody who does not believe in his honesty. / Nobody disbelieves in his honesty.

18.                As soon as the teacher entered the class room, the students stood up.

Answer: No sooner had the teacher entered the class room than the students stood up.

19.                As soon as Parveen saw it, she knew that it must be Karim’s.

Answer: No sooner had Parveen seen it than she knew that it must be Karim’s.

20.                He leaped into the water as soon as the ship touched the shore.

Answer: No sooner had the ship touched the shore than he leaped into the water.

21.                Mutton chop was the cheapest dish on the menu.

Answer: No other dish on the menu was so cheap as mutton chop.

22.                Rahim is the best boy in the orphanage.

Answer: No other boy in the orphanage is so good as Rahim.

23.                Parveen was too poor to buy a gift for Karim.

Answer: Parveen was so poor that she could not buy a gift for Karim.

24.                Rahim was too honest to take the money.

Answer: Rahim was so honest that he could not take the money.

25.                He is as dull as an ass.

Answer: He is not less dull than an ass.

26.                The man is as ferocious as a lion.

Answer: The man is not less ferocious than a lion.

27.                We should always speak the truth.

Answer: We should never tell a lie.

28.                Traveling is always pleasant.

Answer: Traveling is never boring / unpleasant.

29.                I shall always remember your advice.

Answer: I shall never forget your advice.

30.                I forgot his name.

Answer: I could not remember his name.

31.                It always pours when it rains.

Answer: It never pours when it does not rain.

32.                He is my friend.

Answer: He is not my foe / enemy.

33.                Dhaka is an old city.

Answer: Dhaka is not a new city.

34.                I missed the train.

Answer: I could not catch the train.

35.                Man is mortal.

Answer: Man is not immortal.

36.                The boy is strong in English.

Answer: The boy is not weak in English.

37.                He refused the money.

Answer: He did not take the money.

38.                I was doubtful of his honesty.

Answer: I was not sure of his honesty.

39.                The men were pleased to see it.

Answer: The men were not displeased to see it.

40.                They were right in thinking so.

Answer: They were not wrong in thinking so.

41.                The sailor was old.

Answer: The sailor was not young.

42.                He is present in the meeting.

Answer: He is not absent in the meeting.

43.                The man is poor.

Answer: The man is not rich.

44.                Farmers are living in the village.

Answer: Farmers are not living in the town.  

45.                Besides robbing the passenger, he also murdered them.

Answer: He not only robbed the passenger but also murdered them.

46.                Both Rahim and Karim went there.

Answer: Not only Rahim but also Karim went there.

47.                There are many people here.

Answer: There are not a few people here.

 

Transformation the following sentences into affirmative: 

 

1.   I did not find many people there.

Answer: I found a few people there.

2.   There is no body but likes to go on a foreign tour.

Answer: Everybody likes to go on a foreign tour.

3.   You cannot help going there.

Answer: You must go there.

4.   This did not please me.

Answer: This displeased me.

5.   The old sailor was not kind.

Answer: The old sailor was unkind.

6.   The boy was not unlike his father.

Answer: The boy was like his father.

7.   All cannot but submit to destiny.

Answer: All must submit to destiny.

8.   No sooner had I reached the college than the bell rang.

Answer: As soon as I reached the college, the bell rang.

9.   There is no mother but loves her child.

Answer: Every mother loves her child.

10.                There is no rose without a thorn.

Answer: Every rose has a thorn.

11.                I never disagreed with him.

Answer: I always agreed with him.

12.                None but the fool will say so.

Answer: Only the fool will say so.

13.                I shall never be ungrateful to you.

Answer: I shall always be grateful to you.

14.                No one will deny his courage.

Answer: Everyone will admit his courage.

15.                He was never late.

Answer: He was always punctual.

16.                We did not find the road bad.

Answer: We found the road good.

17.                I cannot but shed tears at the sight.

Answer: I must shed tears at the sight.

18.                There is no cloud without a silver lining.

Answer: Every cloud has a silver lining.

19.                None but Allah can help us.

Answer: Only Allah can help us.

20.                A good boy never neglects his lesson.

Answer: A good boy always minds (thinks of) his lessons. / A good boy always attends to his lesson.

21.                He was not solvent.

Answer: He was insolvent.

22.                He is not dishonored by anybody.

Answer: He is honored by everybody.

23.                No sooner had he come than the meeting began.

Answer: As soon as he came, the meeting began.

24.                Never tell a lie.

Answer: Always speak the truth.

25.                Aziz was not a dishonest boy.

Answer: Aziz was an honest boy.