Punctuation

Punctuation is a set of symbols used in writing to help a person read sentences better. They are everything in written language other than the actual letters or numbers.

The following are the principal punctuation marks :

A	Capital Letter
,	Comma
.	Full Stop
?	Question Mark
!	Exclamation Mark

A Capital Letter

We always start a sentence with a capital letter.

Example :
He goes to play.

All proper nouns start with capital letter.
She met Jack in Delhi.

A word I is always written in capital letter.
Rohit and I go to school daily.

, Comma

In a sentence with a list of things, we use commas between the words in the list.
Examples :
I read, draw, write and play in the school.
We bought pencils, books and crayons from the shop.

. Fullstop

We use a fullstop (.) at the end of a statement.
Examples :
Ravi goes to market.
She does not study well.

? Question Mark

The question mark is placed at the end of a question.
Examples :
Where do you live.
Do you know how to play cricket?

! Exclamation Mark

The mark of exclamation is placed at the end of a sentence or with a exclamation word that expresses a strong feeling.
Examples :
How beautiful the scenery is!
Well done!
Bravo! Well hit.

Direct Speech

When you want to report in the same way what somebody has told you or what you have heard somebody saying, you use what is called direct speech.

Examples :

The words in the inverted commas are the exact words of the speakers. They can be written as -

• The teacher said," Reading is fun."
• Grandfather said,"We must plant trees."

In direct speech, the words of the speaker appear within the punctuation marks called quotation marks or inverted commas ("...").

Sentences

A group of words that makes a complete sense is called a sentence.

A sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop (.) or a question mark (?).

A sentence must have a certain order of words.

Read the following sets of words :

• English teacher she is my
• he honest hardworking is and
• Postman letters us bring for

The above sets of words are jumbled words, so they do not make any sense.

Now, read the same sets of words arranged in their proper order :

• She is my English teacher.
• He is honest and hardworking.
• Postman brings letters for us.

Types of sentences

A sentence that says or states something is called a statement. It ends with a full stop (.).

A sentence that asks something is called a question. It ends with a question mark (?).

We use an exclamation mark (!) after words/sentences which ahow anger, surprise, sadness or happiness.

Examples:

• Alas! The king is dead. (sorrow)
• Hurrah! We have won. (happiness)

A sentence that expresses a strong sudden feeling is called an exclamatory sentence.

Example:

• How lovely the flower is!

Parts of Sentence

Parts of Sentences

A sentence has two parts - a naming part is called the subject and an action part is called the predicate.

Ravi is playing.

In the sentence given above :

• Ravi is the subject or the naming part. (It tells us what the sentence is about.)
• is playing is the predicate or the action part. (It tells us something about the subject.)

Interjections

An interjection is a word which expresses some sudden feelings.

Examples:

• Alas! The teacher is no more.
• Bravo! You did it.
• Hello! How are you?
• Hi! What's your name?
• What a beautiful flower it is!
• Hurrah! We won.
• Shuh! The child is sleeping.
• Ouch! I hurt myself.

Articles

A, an and the are articles.

We use an before words starting with a vowel sound.

We use a before words starting with a consonant sound.

The is called a definite article. It is used with a particular person, animal or thing.

Examples :

• The man in green shirt is my uncle.
• Who ate the cake?

We usually do not use 'the' before names of villages, towns, cities and countries.

• I had an umbrella.
• I have a glass.
• The sun is shining.

Now, let us look at the different uses of the :

Use of 'the'	Examples
We use the when we talk or write about things that are only one of a kind.	the sun the earth
We use the with special popular names.	the Taj Mahal
We use a or an when we talk of a thing for the first time. But when we talk of that particular or definite thing again, we use the.	I have an orange in my basket. I want to eat the orange.

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Prepositions

A preposition is a word that shows the relationship of a noun or a pronoun with another words in a sentence.

Examples:

• The vase is on the table
  (Preposition of place)
• The lion jumped into the pond.
  (Preposition of movement)
• I go to school at 7 o'clock.
  (Preposition of time)

The same preposition can be used for different purpose :

• He is sitting on the chair. (Preposition of place)
• He will come on Sunday. (Preposition of time)

Prepositions show	Prepositions	Examples
place and location -how a noun atands in terms of position	in, on, at, near, over, behind, under, between, in front of, beside, etc.	He is sitting beside his grandfather. She is leaning against the wall.
movement - to or from a place	into, onto, off, through, etc.	We got off the bus. The train went through the tunnel. She is putting the apples into the basket.
time - when an action happens or happened	at, till, in, on, by, from, to, for, since, after, throughout, etc.	I play after I finish my homework. My little sister sleeps throughout the day.

Conjunctions

A word which is used to join two words, groups of words or sentences, is called a conjunction.

Examples :

• Tom is a boy.
  Jack is a boy.
  Tom and Jack are boys. (Joining two words)
• Amit is ahort.
  Krish is tall.
  Amit is short but Krish is tall. (Joining two sentences)
• Would you like hot tea?
  Would you like cold coffee?
  Would you like hot tea or cold coffee? (Joining two groups of words)

Conjunctions	Purpose	Examples
and	to join two nouns, verbs or adjectives	I ate an apple and an orange. I can read and write.
and	to join two sentences	I painted the fence. My sister painted the pots. I painted the fence and my sister painted the pots.
and	to join two sentences into one shorter sentence	Betty bought some butter. Betty bought a loaf of bread. Betty bought some butter and a loaf of bread.
but	to show there is difference	I like apples. My sister likes oranges. I like apples but my sister likes oranges.
but	when something unexpected happens	Betty bought some butter but it was stale.
or	for a choice	Hurry up. You will be late Hurry up or you will be late. Do you want water? Do you want lemon juice? Do you want water or lemon juice?
because	when there is a reason	The match was cancelled. It started raining. The match was cancelled because it started raining.
so	to give a reason	It was hot. We took off our coats. It was hot so we took off our coats.
though	for opposite feelings and actions	I was tired. I finished the race. Though I was tired, I finished the race.

Subject-Verb Agreement

The subject and the finite verb must agree in number and person with each other. This agreement is called subject-verb agreement.

Examples :

• I eat apples. (correct)
• He eat apples. (incorrect)
• He eats apples. (correct)

Tenses

Tense tells us when an action happens through the use of different forms of verbs.

Examples :

• I eat porridge.
• She played football.
• He will sleep.

Tenses are three - Present, Past and Future.

• Simple present tense expresses present action that we almost do daily as a habit. We use first form of the verb in this tense. In above example - I eat porridge, 'eat' is the first form of the verb that shows, the sentence expresses 'Present time'.
• Simple past tense expresses past action. Second form of the base form is used. In the above sentence ' She played football', ' played' is the second form of the verb 'play'. 'Played' denotes past time.
• Simple future tense expresses future action. 'Will + first form of the verb' together do this job. In the third sentence - He will sleep, 'will sleep' shows that this sentence is used for future action.

Present (first form)	Past (second form)	Future (will + first form)
act	acted	will act
agree	agreed	will agree
allow	allowed	will allow
ask	asked	will ask
arrive	arrived	will arrive
awake	awoke	will awake
become	became	will become
begin	began	will begin
bind	bound	will bind
blow	blew	will blow
breathe	breathed	will breathe
build	built	will build
call	called	will call
carry	carried	will carry
catch	caught	will catch
change	changed	will change
choose	chose	will choose
cost	cost	will cost

Adverbs

An adverb is a word which adds to the meaning of a verb.

Examples :

• He is smiling happily.
• He is frowning angrily.
• He is yawning sleepily.

Here is a list of some common adverbs :

How adverbs

• happily
• kindly
• slowly
• loudly
• gently
• smoothly
• fast
• well
• merrily
• brightly
• carefully
• roughly
• quietly
• warmly
• calmly
• smilingly
• honestly
• sadly

When adverbs

• today
• again
• later
• tomorrow
• early
• never
• soon
• always
• frequently
• often
• yesterday
• daily

Where adverbs

• backward
• downstairs
• near
• in
• there
• away
• below
• here
• into
• out
• down
• forward
• upstairs
• inside
• above
• far

Verbs (Action, Being and Possession)

A verb is a doing word. It shows the action

Examples :

• I play cricket. (action)
• I am a student. (being)
• I have a newspaper. (possession)

Grab the points

• Action verbs show 'doings'. These are go, sing, play, buy, read, write, dance, learn, etc.
• Being verbs denote 'existence'. 'Be' verb - is, am, are, was, were.
• Possession verbs express 'belong to'. 'Have' verb - have, has and had.

Am is used with I. is is used with he, she, it and singular common and proper nouns. Are is used with you, they, we and plural common and proper nouns.

Using have, has, had

I	have	an apple
You
We
They
He	has
She

We use have, has and had when we want to say what a person, an animal or a thing possesses.

Now read thses pairs of sentences :

I have a cold.	I had a cold last week.
She has a cold.	She had a cold last week.
We have a test.	We had a test last week.
They have a test.	They had a test last week.

Had is the past tense of has and have.

Use of was and were

Read these with was and were

• I was tired.
• You were tired.
• We were happy.
• He was running a race.
• They were having lunch.

We use was for collective nouns also.

Use of was with collective nouns :

• The team was happy.
• The bouquet of flowers was very beautiful.

Comparison of Adjectives

Adjectives are used to compare persons, animals and things.

Here, the ant, the sparrow and the cat are comparing their sizes :

• I am a big ant.
• I am bigger than you.
• But I am the biggest.

The ant, the sparrow and the cat use the adjective big to compare each other.

Adjectives have three degrees of camparison.

• The adjective big is in the positive degree. We use it when no comparison is made.
  For example :
  
  • I am a big ant.
  • Jaya is a tall girl.
• The adjective bigger is in the comparative degree. We use it when two persons, animals or things are compared. We use than with this degree.
  For example :
  
  • I am bigger than you.
  • Sarah is taller than Jaya.
• The adjective biggest is the superlative degree. We use it when more than two persons, animals or things are compared. We use the with the adjective.
  For example :
  
  • But I am the biggest.
  • Aria is the tallest in the class.

Here are some degrees of comparison of adjectives :

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
tall	taller	tallest
poor	poorer	poorest
high	higher	highest
sweet	sweeter	sweetest
quiet	quieter	quietest
neat	neater	neatest
fast	faster	fastest

Some adjectives use more to form the comparative degree and most to form the superlative degree.

Positive	Comparative	Superlative
intelligent	more intelligent	most intelligent
beautiful	more beautiful	most beautiful
terrible	more terrible	most terrible
enjoyable	more enjoyable	most enjoyable

Adjectives

An adjective is a word that describes the person, place, animal or thing.

Adjectives add to the meaning of a noun or a pronoun.

Adjectives describe the kind, colour, size, shape, quality, number and quantity of a noun.

Examples :

• She is a wise girl.
• She is a tall girl.
• She is a polite girl.
• She is a beautiful girl.

Adjectives are quality words. They describe qualities of nouns or pronouns.

Opposite of Adjectives

Read the sentences :

• An elephant is a huge animal.
• A mouse is a small animal.

The adjectives huge and small are opposites.

Here are some more pairs of adjectives that are opposites :

• tall - short
• dry - wet
• happy - sad
• sweet - sour
• fast - slow
• young - old

Pronouns

Words which are used in place of nouns are called pronouns.

Examples :

• This is my sir.
  He is a teacher.
• I have a pet.
  It is called Sandy.
• My name is Sheena
  I study in class 3rd.

Pronouns	Used for	Examples
I, me	talking about oneself	I am a girl. Raj played with me.
we, us	talking about ourselves and one or more person	We are at home. The boys played with us.
you	the person or persons we are talking to directly	You are a good boy. You are good boys.
he, him, she, her	the person we are talking about	He is happy. Sara and Anya went to meet her.
it	the animal or thing we are talking about	The dog jumped. It fell into the pond.
they, them	persons, animals or things we are talking about	They were laughing. Collect the books and put them in a pile.

Personal Pronouns

I, me, we, us, you, it, he, she, her, him, they and them are some personal pronouns.

Reflexive Pronouns

Myself, yourself, himself, herself, ourselves, themselves and itself refer back to the sunject in the sentence. They are called reflexive pronouns.

read thses pairs of sentences :

• I fell down the stairs. I hurt myself.
• You fell down the stairs. You hurt yourself.
• He fell down the stairs. He hurt himself.
• She fell down the stairs. She hurt herself.
• We fell down the stairs. We hurt ourselves.
• They fell down the stairs. They hurt themselves.
• The dog fell down the stairs. It hurt itself.

Nouns (Possession)

Possession means that something belongs to someone.

Examples :

• The car of my uncle is red in colour.
  (or) My uncle's car is red in colour.
• This is my teacher's bag.
  (or) This bag belongs to my teacher.

Nouns (Gender)

Your grandfather, father, uncle and brother belong to the masculine gender.

Your grandmother, mother, aunt and sister belong to the feminine gender.

• Here are some masculine and feminine nouns for persons :
  

  Masculine	Feminine
  brother	sister
  emperor	empress
  father	mother
  man	woman
  king	queen
  actor	actress
  headmaster	headmistress
  son	daughter
  uncle	aunt
  author	authoress

  
  
• Here are some masculine and feminine nouns for male and female animals :
  

  Masculine	Feminine
  bull	cow
  dog	bitch
  fox	vixen
  gander	goose
  lion	lioness
  tiger	tigress
  cock or rooster	hen
  buck	doe
  drake	duck
  tiger	tigress
  horse	mare
  peacock	peahen

• Here are some masculine and feminine nouns for persons :
  

  Masculine	Feminine
  milkman	milkmaid
  landlord	landlady
  grandfather	grandmother
  washerman	washerwoman

There are some nouns that have no gender, such as table, umbrella, etc. These nouns are in the neuter gender. All non-living things are in the neuter gender.

Certain nouns such as child, baby, doctor, artist, parent, teacher, player, etc., can be used for both male and female. These nouns are said to be in the common gender.

Nouns (Number)

A noun that refers to one person, place, animal or thing is called a singular noun.

Examples :

Chair, book, toy, mat, shelf, vurtain, clock, etc.

A noun that refers to more than one person, place or thing is called a plural noun.

Examples :

Chairs, books, toys, mats, shelves, curtains, clocks, etc.

Read the rules to convert singular nouns into plural nouns :

Rules	Examples
Add -s	desk - desks chair - chairs book - books
Add -es to nouns ending in -s, -z, -x, -sh, -ch	walrus - walruses brush - brushes
Add -s to nouns ending in a vowel +y	key - keys toy - toys
Add -es to nouns ending in a consonant + y after changing -y to -i	lady - ladies body - bodies
Add -es to nouns ending in o	potato - potatoes
Add -es to nouns ending in -f or -fe after changing f/fe to v	scarf - scarves wife - wives

• There are some nouns which do not follow these rules to change into the plural form. These nouns change completely in the plural form.

  • man - men
  • goose - geese
  • child - children

• Some nouns do not change their spelling in the plural form.

  • sheep - sheep
  • deer - deer

Nouns

The name of a person, place, animal or thing is called a noun.

Common Nouns

Names commonly used for person, animal, thing and place are common nouns.

We can call with the same name to the person, animal, thing and place of the same kind and class.

• The teacher teaches the boys and girls.
• Lion, tiger and elephant are the wild animals.
• I like to eat mango, apple and banana.

Proper Nouns

Proper nouns are called the particular names of persons, animals, things or places.

We cannot call anyone or anything by that particular names.

Proper nouns always start with capital letters.

The names of the months, days, festivals are also proper nouns.

Examples :

• Mrs. Bhawna is my teacher. (Person's name)
• Erawat is a famous elephant. (Animal's name)
• Alphonso is my favourite mango. (Thing's name)
• My mother always goes to GPS Mall for shopping. (Name of place)

Collective Nouns

A collective noun is the name of a collection or group of persons, animals or things.

The group should be of the same kind of persons, animals or things.

Examples :

• I saw a litter of puppies.
• I bought a bouquet of flowers.

Here are some more examples :

• a class of students
• a bunch of grapes
• a flock of birds
• a library of books
• a herd of cows
• a swarm of bees
• a crew of sailors
• a gang of thieves
• a team of players

The Alphabetical Order

Ina dictionary, words are given in the A, B, C, D... order. That makes easy to find their meanings. In a telephone directory too, the names of persons are given in the A, B, C, D... order.

These are written in alphabetical order.

Alphabetical order means to arrange words in order of the alphabet 'A, B, C, D,...,Z'