❖ Proper nouns

Proper nouns can also refer to people, places, things, and ideas. However, proper nouns
refer to more specific people and things.

People: Harriet Tubman, King Richard the Lionheart, Miles Davis, Emily Dickinson,
Helen of Troy, Superman, Lady Gaga, Captain Crunch
Places: New York City, Moscow, Cairo, Portugal, Zimbabwe, Peru, Europe, Asia,
Australia, Main Street, Rocky Mountains, Colorado River, Sahara Desert
Things: Jupiter, Google, Twitter, Kawasaki Ninja, PlayStation 5, Star Wars, Band-
Aids, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Apollo 13, Great Wall of China

Ideas and Concepts: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Romanticism, Cubism, Industrial

Revolution, Dark Ages, Monday, November

❖ Singular Number
Singular number is the form of nouns that denotes one person, place, thing.

Examples:

Girl
Brother
Sister
Mother
Carpenter
Man
Snake
Box
Knife
Cow
❖ Plural Number
Plural Number is the form of nouns that refers to more than one person, place or thing.

Examples:

Girls
Brothers
Sisters
Mothers
Carpenters
Men
Snakes
Boxes
Knives
Cows
❖ Types of Plurals:
Regular Plurals

In order to change singular noun into plural form, we usually add ‘s’. The words which take
‘s’ in plural form they are called regular plurals.

Book- Books
Table- Tables
Pen – Pens
Cow – Cows
Girl- Girls
Ball- Balls

Irregular Plurals

There are many nouns which don’t follow the simple rule. They are called irregular plurals.

Sheep – Sheep
Foot- Feet
Child – Children
Woman – Women
Person – People
Mouse – Mice
In general, comparative adjectives end in -er or use the words more or less, while
superlative adjectives end in -est or use the words most and least. For example, smaller is a
comparative adjective and smallest is a superlative adjective.

Comparative:

The weather is cloudier today than it was yesterday.

My car is nice, but hers is much nicer.
For many students, learning calculus is significantly harder than learning algebra.
Ishan is my younger brother.
A feather is lighter than a bowling ball.

Superlative:

When you compare cheetahs, lions, and tigers, the cheetahs are clearly the fastest.
Out of the 50 books I own, this one is the longest.
In my opinion, George Washington was America’s greatest president.
My yard is big, Mike’s is bigger, and Felicia’s is the biggest of the three.
I have had a lot of dumb ideas, but my plan to open a shark nursery was by far the
dumbest.

➢ Direct speech repeats the exact words the person used, or how we remember their
words.
➢ Indirect speech focuses more on the content of what someone said rather than their
exact words.

Examples:

Direct speech- Maya said ‘I am busy now’.

Indirect speech- Maya said that she was busy then.
Direct- She said, ‘I am happy’.
Indirect- She said (that) she was happy.
Direct- He said, ‘We cannot live without air’.
Indirect- He said that we cannot live without air
Direct- She says/will say, ‘I am going’
Indirect- She says/will say she is going.
Direct- “I am playing the guitar”, she explained.
Indirect- She explained that she was playing the guitar.
❖ Colon

Introduces a list of items.

Example
The following are harmful to our planet: pollution, poaching and global warming.

Introduces a quotation.
Example
Nelson Mandela said: “It was a long walk to freedom.”

Used in script writing (dialogue or plays).

A colon follows the speaker.
Example
Jason: Where did you go?
Ben: I went to look for the boat.

❖ Inverted commas (quotation marks/speech marks)

Used to indicate Direct Speech, i.e. the actual spoken words.

A comma must appear before opening the inverted commas.
The final punctuation mark must appear before closing with inverted commas.
Example
Mrs Roberts said, “There is no homework for today.”

To quote from a play, story, poem or speech.

Example
William Shakespeare said, “All the world is a stage.”

To show titles.
Example
Mark Twain’s novel is called, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”.
(Here, the full stop appears after the final inverted commas because this is not a quote or
direct speech).

❖ Comma
Used to separate items on a list.
Example
Dad bought pens, books, erasers and glue.
(there is no comma before and)
 Shows additional information.
Example
Ronaldo, the famous soccer player, scored the winning goal.
(brackets or dashes can also be used to show additional informational)

Placed before and after certain conjunctions.

Example
He went to town, but forgot to buy his shoes.
Nevertheless, she will make up for her mistake.

Used after introductory words in direct speech.

Example
Bill said, “I will meet her.”
Joanne asked, “Can I come with?”

Used to separate repeated words in a sentence.

Example
Whatever you want to say, say it now.

❖ Full stop
A full stop, also known as a period, is chiefly used to end a sentence. It is mostly used at the
end of declarative sentences and imperative sentences. A full stop marks a longer pause
than a comma and a semicolon. Furthermore, it marks the end of a thought and the
beginning of another.

A full stop is used

To mark the end of a sentence, primarily

To mark the end of commands, instructions, orders and requests
After short forms and abbreviations
After an initial
At the end of a sentence containing an indirect question
In website URLs and email addresses

Using a Full Stop at the End of a Declarative/Assertive Sentence

Today is the last working day for us.

Cathy is a teacher.
No one is ready yet.
She likes listening to music.
We will be dancing at my cousin’s reception.
 Using a Full Stop at the End of an Imperative Sentence

Please send the materials as soon as possible.

Turn off the lights and fans when you leave the room.
Kindly see to it that you do not leave any column empty.
Turn left after the junction.
Eat quickly and leave.

Using a Full Stop after Abbreviations or Short Forms

I had to buy pencils, pens, erasers, notebooks, etc.

Mr. Dennis and Ms. Sheena will be the guests for the evening.
We will be reaching Bangalore around 9 p. m.
Prof. Neelaveni is our H.O.D.
St. Francis of Assisi was known for his missionary work in India.

Using a Full Stop after Initials

M. Kumaran is the manager.

D. H. Lawrence was known for the imagery in his poetry.
Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam was one of the best presidents of India.
C. S. Lewis was a British writer.
T. J. Matthew had come to meet you.

Using a Full Stop at the End of an Indirect Question

The teacher asked us if we were ready for the theoretical geometry test.
Usha asked Danny if he knew anything about the new educational policy.
I wonder what is taking them so much time.
They wanted to know if it would be okay for us to meet them at a club.
My father asked me what time it was.

Using a Full Stop in Website URLs and Email Addresses

Multiple full stops are used in website URLs and email addresses. For example,
www.byjus.com, name.123@example.com.

❖ Apostrophe
The apostrophe has 2 functions; they show contraction and possession.

➢ Contractions
When two words are joined together, e.g. do and not, an apostrophe is used where the
letter has been omitted.
Example:
do + not = don’t
 will + not = won’t

➢ Possession/ownership
To indicate that something belongs to someone or something, an ’s or s’ is used to show
possession.
When the noun in question is singular, e.g. one boy, one girl or one man, use 's.
Example:
That bag belongs to one boy: It is the boy’s bag.

When the noun in question is plural, e.g. two boys, five girls, many books, many tables, then
only an apostrophe is added after the s’.
Why?
Try saying these:
boys... those are the boys’s bags books... those are the books’s covers tables... don’t
touch the tables’s cutlery
It doesn’t work!
So instead, we just add an apostrophe after the first s.

Unless...
If the noun is a plural that does not end in “s”, e.g. mice, women, men, children, oxen, then
use ’s to show ownership.
The women’s bags were stolen.
Take note:
An apostrophe is not used for plurals! e.g.: boy’s = possessive; boys = plural

❖ Question mark
A question mark, also known as an interrogation point or interrogation mark, is a
punctuation mark that is used to indicate that a sentence is a question.

How are you?

Is the test on Friday?
She asked me, “Where is the storage closet?”
The train comes when?
Where is the bathroom?
Are you home?
Why did you stop here?
How did you do that?
What colour is the shirt?
When will you arrive?
❖ Ellipses

The three ellipses dots indicate that a sentence is incomplete or that something has been
omitted.

Example
He walked to the edge of the cliff and …
You’d better give back my money or else…

Verbs come in three tenses: past, present, and future.

The past is used to describe things that have already happened (e.g. yesterday, last week,
three years ago).
The present tense is used to describe things that are happening right now)
The future tense describes things that have yet to happen (e.g. later, tomorrow, next week,
next year, three years from now).

Daniel played basketball yesterday – past tense

Daniel will play basketball tomorrow – future tense

Daniel plays basketball everyday – present tense

My father goes for a brisk walk every evening.

Jamie solved all his math problems.

The councilors met the Minister of Education last week.

Samantha will go to the dentist next week.

The teacher scolds the lazy boy for sleeping in class.

The 8 parts of speech:

❖ Nouns

A noun is a word that names a person, place, concept, or object. Basically, anything that
names a “thing” is a noun, whether you’re talking about a basketball court, San
Francisco, Cleopatra, or self-preservation.
 Nouns fall into two categories: common nouns and proper nouns. Common nouns are
general names for things, like planet and game show. Proper nouns are names or titles for
specific things, like Jupiter and Jeopardy!

❖ Pronouns

Pronouns are words you substitute for specific nouns when the reader or listener already
knows which specific noun you’re referring to.

You might say, “Jennifer was supposed to be here at eight,” then follow it with
“She’s always late; next time I’ll tell her to be here a half hour earlier.”

Instead of saying Jennifer’s name three times in a row, you substituted she and her, and
your sentences remained grammatically correct.

❖ Adjectives

Adjectives are the words that describe nouns. Think about your favorite movie. How would
you describe it to a friend who’s never seen it?

You might say the movie was funny, engaging, well-written, or suspenseful. When you’re
describing the movie with these words, you’re using adjectives. An adjective can go right
before the noun it’s describing (“I have a black dog”), but it doesn’t have to. Sometimes,
adjectives are at the end of a sentence (“My dog is black”).

❖ Verbs

Go!
Be amazing!
Run as fast as you can!
Win the race!
Congratulate every participant who put in the work and competed!

Those bolded words are verbs. Verbs are words that describe specific actions,
like running, winning, and being amazing.

Not all verbs refer to literal actions, though. Verbs that refer to feelings or states of being,
like to love and to be, are known as nonaction verbs. Conversely, the verbs that do refer to
literal actions are known as action verbs.
❖ Adverbs

An adverb is a word that describes an adjective, a verb, or another adverb.

I entered the room quietly.

Quietly is describing how you entered (verb) the room.

A cheetah is always faster than a lion.

Always is describing how frequently a cheetah is faster (adjective) than a lion.

❖ Prepositions

Prepositions tell you the relationships between other words in a sentence.

You might say, “I left my bike leaning against the garage.” In this sentence, against is the
preposition because it tells us where you left your bike.

Here’s another example: “She put the pizza in the oven.” Without the preposition in,
we don’t know where the pizza is.

❖ Conjunctions

Conjunctions make it possible to build complex sentences that express multiple ideas.

“I like marinara sauce. I like alfredo sauce. I don’t like puttanesca sauce.” Each of
these three sentences expresses a clear idea.
There’s nothing wrong with listing your preferences like this, but it’s not the most efficient
way to do it.

Consider instead: “I like marinara sauce and alfredo sauce, but I don’t like puttanesca
sauce.
In this sentence, and and but are the two conjunctions that link your ideas together.

❖ Articles

A pear. The brick house. An exciting experience. These bolded words are known as articles.

Articles come in two flavors: definite articles and indefinite articles. And similarly to the
two types of nouns, the type of article you use depends on how specific you need to be
about the thing you’re discussing.
 A definite article, like the or this, describes one specific noun.

Did you buy the car?

From the above sentence, we understand that the speaker is referring to a specific
previously discussed car.

Now swap in an indefinite article:

Did you buy a car?

See how the implication that you’re referring back to something specific is gone, and you’re
asking a more general question?

❖ Literal
Literal language is when words mean exactly what they say. Literal language uses the
dictionary definitions of words, so there is nothing that the reader must interpret or guess.

Examples:
Wolves have sharp teeth and a great sense of smell.
First, mix flour, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl.
Did you know that the human hand has 27 bones?
Underwater earthquakes cause deadly waves called tsunamis.
Make sure to rinse the paintbrush thoroughly.
Wolves have sharp teeth and a great sense of smell.
First, mix flour, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl.
Did you know that the human hand has 27 bones?
Underwater earthquakes cause deadly waves called tsunamis.
Make sure to rinse the paintbrush thoroughly.

❖ Figurative
Figurative language is a way of expressing oneself that does not use a word’s strict or
realistic meaning. Common in comparisons and exaggerations, figurative language is usually
used to add creative flourish to written or spoken language or explain a complicated idea.

5 common types of figurative language

➢ Simile
A simile compares two different things, using the words “like” or “as” to draw attention to
the comparison.

“The very mystery of him excited her curiosity like a door that had neither lock nor
key.” —Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind
 “He swung a great scimitar, before which Spaniards went down like wheat to the
reaper’s sickle.” —Raphael Sabatini, The Sea Hawk

➢ Metaphor
A metaphor compares two different things, similar to a simile. The main difference between
a simile and a metaphor is that metaphors do not use the words “like” or “as.”

Unlike similes, metaphors don’t acknowledge that they’re comparisons. A literal-minded

reader might mistake them for reality, which makes them more figurative and poetic.

“The sun was a toddler insistently refusing to go to bed: It was past eight thirty and
still light.” —John Green, The Fault in Our Stars
“All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree.” —Albert Einstein,
Out of My Later Years

➢ Personification
Personification is giving human characteristics to nonhuman or abstract things. This could
be physical attributes (“the eye of the needle”), emotional attributes (“a single lonely
shoe”), or human actions (“a leaf dancing in the wind”).

“Because I could not stop for Death –

He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.”
—Emily Dickinson, “Because I could not stop for Death”

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could
miss it.” —John Hughes, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

➢ Hyperbole
Hyperbole is a great exaggeration, often unrealistic, to add emphasis to a sentiment. If
you’re especially busy, you might say, “I have a million things to do”; if you’re bored, you
might say, “I have nothing to do.” Neither are actually true, but the phrasing makes the
statement more emphatic.

“There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to
buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County.” —Harper
Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
“I heard all things in the heaven and in the Earth. I heard many things in Hell. How
then, am I mad?” —Edgar Allan Poe, The Tell-Tale Heart

➢ Allusion
An allusion is a reference to a pre-existing person, work, event, or well-known piece of pop
culture. Allusions generally relate to common knowledge, so no explanation is necessary.

“The camera has its own kind of consciousness; in the lens the Garden of Eden itself
would become ever so slightly too perfect.” —Arthur Miller, Timebends: A Life
 “Fear’s kryptonite is laughter.” —Richelle E. Goodrich, Slaying Dragons

➢ The denotation of a word or expression is its direct meaning.

➢ Its connotation consists of the ideas or meanings associated with it or suggested by it.

Examples:
The word homework refers to schoolwork done outside of school—that’s
its denotation. For many people, the word has a negative connotation—meaning
that the word itself gives them a bad feeling associated with the experience of
having to do homework when they’d rather be doing something else.
The word home refers to the place where you live—it could be a house, an
apartment, etc. This is the word’s denotation. For many people, the word home has
a positive connotation—it’s associated with safety, comfort, and a sense of
belonging. These associations and implications make up the word’s connotation.
Take the noun aroma. The denotation of aroma in “the aroma of coffee” is basically
“smell”: the characteristic of something you perceive with your nose. But the
connotation of aroma is typically “a pleasant and pervasive smell.” People generally
apply the word aroma to coffee only if they like the smell.
Sometimes words that look similar and share a denotation have strikingly different
connotations. Consider childlike and childish. Both have a basic denotation of
“resembling a child.” But where childlike has connotations of innocence, trust,
simplicity, and candidness, childish has connotations of immaturity and lack of poise.
Describing an adult as “childlike” is very different from describing that person as
“childish.”

5 common types of figurative language

➢ Simile
A simile compares two different things, using the words “like” or “as” to draw attention to
the comparison.

“The very mystery of him excited her curiosity like a door that had neither lock nor
key.” —Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind
“He swung a great scimitar, before which Spaniards went down like wheat to the
reaper’s sickle.” —Raphael Sabatini, The Sea Hawk

➢ Metaphor
A metaphor compares two different things, similar to a simile. The main difference between
a simile and a metaphor is that metaphors do not use the words “like” or “as.”
Unlike similes, metaphors don’t acknowledge that they’re comparisons. A literal-minded
reader might mistake them for reality, which makes them more figurative and poetic.

“The sun was a toddler insistently refusing to go to bed: It was past eight thirty and
still light.” —John Green, The Fault in Our Stars
“All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree.” —Albert Einstein,
Out of My Later Years

➢ Personification
Personification is giving human characteristics to nonhuman or abstract things. This could
be physical attributes (“the eye of the needle”), emotional attributes (“a single lonely
shoe”), or human actions (“a leaf dancing in the wind”).

“Because I could not stop for Death –

He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.”
—Emily Dickinson, “Because I could not stop for Death”

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could
miss it.” —John Hughes, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

➢ Hyperbole
Hyperbole is a great exaggeration, often unrealistic, to add emphasis to a sentiment. If
you’re especially busy, you might say, “I have a million things to do”; if you’re bored, you
might say, “I have nothing to do.” Neither are actually true, but the phrasing makes the
statement more emphatic.

“There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to
buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County.” —Harper
Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
“I heard all things in the heaven and in the Earth. I heard many things in Hell. How
then, am I mad?” —Edgar Allan Poe, The Tell-Tale Heart

➢ Allusion
An allusion is a reference to a pre-existing person, work, event, or well-known piece of pop
culture. Allusions generally relate to common knowledge, so no explanation is necessary.

“The camera has its own kind of consciousness; in the lens the Garden of Eden itself
would become ever so slightly too perfect.” —Arthur Miller, Timebends: A Life
“Fear’s kryptonite is laughter.” —Richelle E. Goodrich, Slaying Dragons
Jargon usually means the specialized language used by people in the same work or
profession. Internet advertising jargon includes the terms "click throughs" and "page views."
This noun can also refer to language that uses long sentences and hard words. If you say
that someone's speech or writing is full of jargon, this means you don't approve of it and
think it should be simplified. In Middle English, this word referred to chattering, so its origin
is probably imitative: it echoes the sound of chatter or meaningless words.

Examples:

Impact
"Impact" refers to the act of affecting something through your skills or actions.
"I heard your new training initiative really impacted our sales numbers!"
Boil the ocean
Business people use the term "boil the ocean" to describe an action or project that wastes a
lot of time.
"Don't boil the ocean by alphabetizing our client contact information."

Reach out
Companies use the term "reach out" to describe the act of communicating or contacting
other individuals or businesses.
"Let's reach out to Daniels and see if he's available for lunch."

Learning
"Learning" is a noun used to describe the teachings or lessons gained from a project or
event.
"I had an important learning from that last seminar."

Punt
"Punting" something in the world of business is to abandon an idea or project that is no
longer important, or at the very least, make it less of a priority.

Giving 110%
When someone asks you to "give 110%" toward an assignment or objective, they're often
requesting that you exert extra effort into the task.

Leverage
"Leverage" most often refers to the manipulation or control of a situation or project. It's
often used as both a verb and a noun.
"We need to find some leverage in this business deal" or "I'm leveraging our sales
team to help us out."

Over the wall

Throwing something "over the wall" refers to sending important information to a client or
customer.
 Lots of moving parts
Companies use the phrase "lots of moving parts" to describe a system or business with a lot
of departments, employees and processes.
"It's hard to adjust some of the small details of this project because it has a lot of
moving parts."

Core competency
"Core competency" refers to a company's or individual's main skill or area of expertise.
"Regina's core competency is market analysis."

An attributive adjective is an adjective that is directly adjacent to the noun or pronoun it

modifies. An attributive adjective is not separated from a noun by a linking verb.
In English, attributive adjectives usually come directly before the noun they modify.
However, it is possible for attributive adjectives to be used postpositively, meaning they
come after the noun or pronoun they modify.

Examples:

I got my mom something special.

Peter picked purple flowers.
Usain is the fastest man alive.
She has a small car.
He has some delicious pies.
Emir loves spicy food
I thought Paula was waiting for Rick, but she said she was expecting someone else.
I want to try something new.
Put this money somewhere safe.
We need to leave sometime soon

Masculine: words denoting male Feminine: words denoting female

➢ Gender for people:

Masculine Feminine
actor actress
bachelor spinster
boy girl
 bridegroom bride
brother sister
conductor conductress
count countess
dad mum

➢ Gender for animals:

Animal Masculine Feminine

rabbit buck doe
horse stallion mare
sheep ram ewe
pig boar sow
chicken rooster hen
duck drake duck
cattle bull cow
goose gander goose
fox fox vixen
tiger tiger tigress
lion lion lioness

➢ Prejudice refers to a preconceived opinion or feeling toward a person before any facts are
known. It can be based on their affiliation with a group or a preconceived idea about the
person or thing. Prejudice is often negative and can cast an unfavourable light on someone
simply because they're a member of some ethnic group, religion, or organization.

Examples:

The report blames most crime in the town on teenagers, without any evidence, as
the writer is prejudiced against young people.
Someone assumes that people who are low-income do not work as hard as people
who are wealthy and don't deserve any government "handouts"
Someone assumes a black man in a hoody is more violent or potentially dangerous
than an Asian man in a black suit and should therefore be stopped and frisked more
often.
Someone assumes that anyone over the age of 60 does not have anything else to
offer in the workplace and should retire.

➢ Bias is an inclination toward (or away from) one way of thinking, often based on inherent
prejudices. For example, in one of the most high-profile trials of the 20th century, O.J.
Simpson was acquitted of murder. Many people remain biased against him years later,
treating him like a convicted killer anyway.
Examples:

Abraham Lincoln accused newspapers in border states of being biased against the
South. He ordered many of them to be shut down.
In the years before World War II, Hitler accused newspapers of having a Marxist bias.
In the 1980s, the South African government accused newspapers of liberal bias and
ordered censorship over them, shutting one down for a time.
During the Vietnam War, Spiro Agnew called anti-war protestors the "nattering
nabobs of negativism." He accused newspapers of being biased against America.
During the civil rights movement, production companies were accused of bias
against mixed-race storylines. Some southern stations refused to air shows with
mixed casts such as Star Trek and I Spy.
My aunt is biased towards dogs that are black, like her own, and she is always more
friendly to them than to other dogs.

What is a stereotype in psychology? A stereotype is a preconceived idea or set of ideas that

individuals apply to groups of people, places, or situations.

Examples:
Girls are more docile and want to please others.
Boys are not as good at listening to instructions and are less attentive.
Girls will sometimes sulk too long over next to nothing.
Conflicts between boys are easier to resolve and less dramatic.
Girls only like role playing, dolls and taking care of young children.
Boys are only interested in playing with cars and trucks and building things.
Girls can do crafts and play at being a teacher all day.
Boys find it very hard to stay indoors all day when it rains.
Girls are quieter and more patient.
Boys take up more room and are constantly moving.

A synonym is a word/phrase, the meaning of which is the same or nearly the same as
another word or phrase. Words that are synonyms are described as synonymous.

Examples:
Artful – Crafty
Ballot – Poll
Chorus – Refrain
Deceptive – Misleading
Enormous – Immense
An antonym is a word/phrase that means the opposite of another word or phrase. Check
the examples.

Examples:
Admire – Detest
Bravery – Cowardice
Crooked – Straight
Dainty – Clumsy
Economise – Waste