Capital letters and Punctuation

  • Read the following passage carefully:

Sara is six years old. She goes to Dolphin School. Her father, Mr. David Brown is a doctor. Her mother, Mrs. Emily Brown is a nurse. They run a clinic together. Sarah has a kitten. She calls her Silky. Sara has many friends. Her friends Lucy and Mary like Silky very much. On Sunday, they all go and play in the park.

  • Now notice that some words begin with a capital letter:
  1. The first word of every sentence begins with a capital letter.
  2. All special names begin with a capital letter (names of people, places, pets, days and months, festivals etc.).
  3. The word I is written in the capital form.

 

  • Punctuation is the use of full stops (.), commas (,) and question marks (?).

1.  All sentences end with a full stop.

2. We use a comma to show that there is a pause. It is used in place of ‘and’.

3. If we have more than two similar words, we separate them by commas; as,

Tom has two toasts, two eggs and a glass of milk every morning.

4.We separate a noun of address by a comma; as,

 John, please meet me after the class.

5. Commas are used after yes and no; as,

Yes, I am going to the market. No, you are not coming with me.

6. We put a question mark at the end of every question; as,

What is your name?

How are you?

Question-words

  • Read the following conversation between a student and a teacher. Study the use of question-words carefully:

 

Teacher – What is your name?

Student – My name is Jack.

Teacher – In which class do you study?

Jack – Sir, I study in fifth class.

Teacher – When do you come to school?

Jack – I come to school at 8’oclock.

Teacher – Where do you live?

Jack – I live near Oxford Street.

Teacher – What subject do you like?

Jack – Sir, I like English.

Teacher – Why do you like English?

Jack – Sir, English is an interesting subject. I love reading English stories.

  • The above sentences have words like what, which, when, where, why. These words help us to ‘ask questions’. They are also called question-words.
  • Who and whose are also question words; e.g.

Q. Who are you?

A. I am a student.

Q. Whose book is that?

A. It is my book.

  • When questions time.
  • Where questions place.
  • Why questions reason.
  • What questions identity, manner and action.
  • Which questions choice?
  • Who and whose question identity and possession.

Short Forms

  • When we speak, we often use short forms. We join groups of words. For example, we say:

I am as I’m.

You are as you’re.

We use such short forms in written English also. But they are more common to spoken English.

  • Short Forms:
I am

He is

She is

It is

We are

You are

They are

I will

You will

He will

 I’m

He’s

She’s

It’s

We’re

You’re

They’re

I’ll

You’ll

He’ll

 Am not

Is not

Are not

Will not

Do not

Does not

Did not

Has not

Have not

Had not

Can not

 Ain’t

Isn’t

Aren’t

Won’t

Don’t

Doesn’t

Didn’t

Hasn’t

Haven’t

Hadn’t

Can’t

Comparisons

  • Study the following sentences:
  1. John is a tall boy.
  2. John is taller than Jack.
  3. John is the tallest boy in the class.

 

  • The first sentence is a statement. We are not comparing John with any other boy. We simply say that John is a tall boy.
  • In the second sentence, we use the word taller. It shows comparison between two boys John and Jack. We show that one is taller than the other.
  • In the third sentence, we use the words the tallest. It shows that no one in the class is as tall as John. He is the tallest boy in the class.

 

  • Let us look at some more examples:
  1. Grandfather is older than grandfather.
  2. Fanny is prettier than Lizzy.
  3. The poor are happier than the rich.
  4. Tina’s dress is more beautiful than Kuku’s dress.
  5. An elephant is bigger than a lion.

These sentences show comparisons between two things. We use the -er form of the word or we use more. We also use the word than.

 

  • Now look at these sentences:
  1. The whale is the largest animal.
  2. This is the finest silk.
  3. Sam is the fastest child I have ever seen.
  4. The giraffe has the tallest neck.
  5. He is the most intelligent boy in the class.

 

We show comparison among more than two objects by using the –est form of an adjective – smallest, shortest, bravest. Sometimes, we use most with the adjective – most beautiful, most interesting. We also use the with the –est form.

Interjection

  • Read these sentences:
  1. Hurrah! The girls have won.
  2. Alas! He is dead.
  3. What! You have failed.
  4. Hush! Somebody is coming.
  5. Bravo! Well done, you have won.
  6. Oh! How beautiful the sky looks.

In the above sentences, the words Hurrah, Alas, What, Bravo, Hush, and Oh express some sudden feelings.

The words Hurrah, Bravo, Oh in the above sentences express feelings of joy, pleasure, and congratulation.

The word what expresses surprise here.

The word Hush expresses caution.

Such words are called Interjection.

  • An Interjection is a word which expresses some sudden feelings of the mind or heart. It expresses some feelings of joy, grief, surprise, approval, hate, anger, etc.
  • An Interjection is always followed by an exclamation mark (!).
  • Some common Interjections:

Hurrah!, Ha! Ha!, Alas!, Ah!, Oh!, What!, Good God!, Bravo!, Well done!, For shame!, Hello!, Hush!, etc.

Conjunctions

Conjunctions: Joining Words

  • Read the following sentences:

1.  Jack and Jill went up the hill.

2.  Bill is a clever but lazy boy.

3.  Work hard or you will fail.

4.  They are poor yet happy.

5.  I like John because he is intelligent.

6.  I will not go to see the film if you do not come.

In the above sentences the words and, but, or, yet, because and if join words or sentences together. Such words that join words or sentences together are called Conjunctions.

  • Some common Conjunctions:

And, but, or, nor, therefore, because, if, both, only, that, after, before, unless, as, else, till, until, whether, though, although, than, yet, etc.

Prepositions

  • Read the following sentences:

Joy keeps his room very neat and clean. His clothes are in the cupboard. His books are on the shelf. There is a small table near his bed. His bag is on the table. His toys are under the bed.

In these sentences, the words in, on, near, under show the relation of one thing to another. Such words are called Prepositions.

 

  • Let us look at some more sentences:
  1. The book is on the table.
  2. The book is under the table.
  3. The book is near the table.
  4. The book is in the table.
  5. The book is above the table.
  6. The book is below the table.
  7. The book is beside the table.
  8. The book is behind the table.

 

Each of the above sentences has a word (in italics) that shows the relation between the book and the table. All these words are Prepositions.

A Preposition is a word which is used before a noun or a pronoun to show its relation with another noun or pronoun.

  • Some common Prepositions:

In, on, under, near, behind, over, into, in front of, between, above, below, for, since, beside, with, from, after, before, up, down, of, by, at etc.

Present and Past (Everyday and Yesterday)

  • Compare the following sentences:

 

  1. I drink milk everyday.
  2. He eats fresh fruits now.
  3. She sleeps soundly.
  4. I like science fiction.
  5. Father leaves for office at 9’o clock.
  6. I get up at 6’o clock every morning.
  7. I go to school by bus.
  8. My sister loves music.
  1. I drank a lot of coffee.
  2. He ate junk food earlier.
  3. She slept soundly.
  4. I liked comics.
  5. Father left for office at 9’o clock.
  6. I got up late yesterday.
  7. I went to school by car yesterday.
  8. My sister loved music.
  • The sentences in the first column show something that happens everyday, always, often, usually.
  • The sentences in the second column show something that happened in the past (yesterday, last week, last Sunday etc.).
  • Notice the use of Verbs in the two columns. We use the first form of Verb to talk about present and we use the second form of Verb to talk about past.

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

  • Look at the following sentences and notice time change and verb change:

 

  1. I wake up at 7o’clock everyday.
  2. I woke up at 6 o’clock yesterday.
  3. Tomorrow, I will wake up at 7 o’clock again.

 

  1. We go to Delhi every month.
  2. We went to Delhi last month.
  3. We will go to Delhi next month.

 

The first sentence in both the groups expresses habitual activity.

The second sentence in both the groups expresses past activity.

The third sentence in both the groups expresses future activity.

The words wake, woke, go and went are Verbs.

Wake and go denote action which is done in the present time.

Woke and went denote action which was done in the past time.

When we add will/shall to wake and go, we express action which will be done in the future time.

  • Verbs are, along with Nouns, the most important words in a sentence. They express actions. When the time of an action changes, the Verb also changes.

 

  • Let us look at some more examples:

 

Present (Today) Past (Yesterday) Future (Tomorrow)
We work We worked We shall work
You sleep You slept You will sleep
They run They ran They will run
I eat I ate I will eat
We speak We spoke We shall speak

 

  • Some Verbs have the same form in both Present and Past; as,
We read We read We shall read
It costs It cost It will cost
I bet I bet I will bet
The Sun sets The Sun set The Sun will set

Adverbs

  • Study the following sentences:
  1. Arun runs fast.
  2. The old man walked slowly.
  3. The dog barked loudly.
  4. She spoke rudely.

The words fast, slowly, loudly and rudely add something to the meaning of the verbs runs, walked, barked and spoke. They tell us how actions are done. Such words are called Adverbs.

When we ask the question:

How does Arun run?

We get the answer –

Arun runs fast.

The word fast tells us how Arun runs. Therefore fast is an Adverb.

  • Now read these sentences:
  1.    Ben came late.
  2.    Sam gets up early.
  3.    They play chess everyday.
  4.    Reena will come tomorrow.

 

The words late, early, everyday and tomorrow add something to the meaning of the verbs came, gets up, play and will come. They tell us when the action is done. Such words are also called Adverbs.

  • Now read these sentences:
  1.  Please sit here.
  2. The students looked up.
  3. The sky is above.
  4. The books are there.

The words here, up, above and there add something to the meaning of the verbs sit, looked, is and are. They tell us where the action is done. Such words are also called Adverbs.

  • Look at the sentences given below carefully:
  1. Rose is a very beautiful flower.
  2. I like Mary because she is so pretty.
  3. These oranges are too sour.
  4. These mangoes are almost ripe.

The words very, so, too and almost add something to the meaning of the adjectives beautiful, pretty, sour and ripe. They show the degree of the quality expressed by the adjective. Such words which add something more to the meaning of adjectives are also called Adverbs.  When we ask:

How beautiful or how pretty………?

We get the answer:

Very beautiful/so pretty.

  • Now study the following  sentences carefully:
  1. Mohan runs very quickly.
  2. He walks rather slowly.
  3. She sings quite sweetly.
  4. He works too noisily.

In the above sentences the adverbs quickly, slowly, sweetly and noisily have words added to them – very, rather, quite and too. They too are Adverbs. They add to the meaning of other adverbs.

An Adverb is a word that adds to the meaning of verb, adjective or another adverb. It tells us how a thing is done, when it is done or where it is done.