❖ Singular Number

Singular number is the form of nouns that denotes one person, place, or 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

Past Continuous Tense

Verbs refer to actions or states of being. We use lots of verbs, and they come in many
different types of verb tenses. The tense of the verb says when in time something happened
or when it was in a certain state. Right now, we are going to look closer at an especially
versatile verb tense: the past continuous tense, also known as the past progressive tense.

• They were playing basketball after school.

• He was eating food.
• She wasn’t watching the movie.
• They were going to the library.
• He was doing a great job.
• I was not writing a letter.
• My television wasn’t working properly.
• We were celebrating a festival.
• The teacher was teaching in a class.
• The dog was barking at a man.
 Both comparative adjectives and superlative adjectives are formed from the positive form of
an adjective. 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. As
another example, more determined is a comparative adjective and most determined is a
superlative adjective.

❖ Comparative adjective
Comparative adjectives are used to compare two people or things.

Examples:

• 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 adjective
Superlative adjectives are used to compare more than two people or things.

Examples:

• 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.

The simple present tense is employed in a sentence to represent an action or event that
takes place or just happened in the given context at the present moment. The simple
present is also called the present indefinite tense.

Examples:

• The Sun sets in the west.

 • Hydrogen is the first element in the periodic table.
• Rome is the capital of Italy.
• Everyday, I go to work by bus.
• The firm publishes their company magazine every month.
• Do you attend class regularly?
• Take right from the junction to reach the hospital.
• Close the door when you come in.
• Come home as soon as possible.
• Her cousin arrives tomorrow.

The simple past tense, in English, is used to represent an action/event that took place in the
past. With many verbs, the simple past tense is formed by adding an ‘ed’ or a ‘d’ to the end
of the base verb. However, there are other verbs which behave differently and take
different spellings when used in the simple past form.

Examples:

• We went to the park yesterday evening.

• I totally forgot about the meeting.
• Manu opened the door for the guests.
• Karthik played tennis when he was in school.
• Miss Holly worked as a guest lecturer at our college.
• Santana used to love reading fantasy novels when she was younger.
• I worked as an academic counsellor for six months.
• We enjoyed playing Pictionary every time we met.
• My father dropped me at school every day till I entered high school.
• The teacher motivated her kids to stand up for themselves and their fellow
classmates.

Homophones sound the same but have different meanings and have different spellings too.

Examples:

• Altar/ Alter
• Berth/ Birth
• Cast/ Caste
• Days/ Daze
 • Earn/ Urn
• Steal/ Steel
• Tail/ Tale
• Waist/ Waste
• Wear/ Where
• Role/ Roll
• Sole/ Soul

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.

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

A pronoun is a word that can replace a noun in a sentence.

❖ Personal pronouns
Personal pronouns are pronouns that we use to refer to people and, sometimes, animals.
The pronouns it, they, and them can also apply to objects.

Examples:

• I am afraid of mice.
• The toaster gets really hot when it heats bread.
• My cats are friendly, so you can safely pet them.

❖ Possessive pronouns
A possessive pronoun is a pronoun that expresses possession, ownership, origin,
relationship, etc.
 Examples:

• That toy on the shelf is mine.

• All of the houses in our neighbourhood look the same, but ours is the only one with
a satellite dish.
• Wendy and Ronald separated the French fries into two piles: the left one was hers
and the right one was his.

An article is a short monosyllabic word that is used to define if the noun is specific or not.
Articles are normally used before nouns and since they are used to speak about the noun,
they can be considered as adjectives.

Types of Articles:

There are three articles in English – ‘a’, ‘an’ and ‘the’. These articles are divided into two
types namely:

➢ Definite Article
➢ Indefinite Article

❖ Definite Article
Among the three articles, ‘the’ is said to be the definite article. A definite article is used to
determine something that is specific or particular. It is also used before plural nouns and to
indicate the superlative degree of comparison. Furthermore, it can be used before collective
nouns as well.

Examples:

• The Sun sets in the west.

In the above sentence, the nouns ‘Sun’ and ‘west’ are proper nouns and are specific and so
the definite article has to be used.

• The children are playing cricket.

In the above sentence, the definite article is used to determine the plural noun, ‘children’.

• This is the world’s longest river.

In the above sentence, the definite article is used to denote the superlative degree of
comparison.

• The crowd sang along with the band.

 In the above sentence, the definite article is used before the collective nouns, ‘crowd’ and
‘band’.

❖ Indefinite Article
The articles ‘an’ and ‘an’ are termed as indefinite articles. An indefinite article, as the name
suggests, is used to indicate something that is not definite or specific. It can also be used
before singular nouns.

Among the indefinite articles, ‘an’ is used before singular nouns that start with vowel
sounds and ‘a’ is used before singular nouns that begin with consonant sounds.

Examples:

• I had an apple for breakfast.

• Do you have an eraser?
• I saw an aeroplane.
• She has a pet dog.
• My father is a doctor.
• My brother gave me a calculator.

A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually the exact same phonemes) in the final
stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of
perfect rhyming is consciously used for a musical or aesthetic effect in the final position of
lines within poems or songs.[1] More broadly, a rhyme may also variously refer to other
types of similar sounds near the ends of two or more words. Furthermore, the word rhyme
has come to be sometimes used as a shorthand term for any brief poem, such as a nursery
rhyme or Balliol rhyme.

Perfect rhymes can be classified by the location of the final stressed syllable.

• single, also known as masculine: a rhyme in which the stress is on the final syllable of
the words (rhyme, sublime)
• double, also known as feminine: a rhyme in which the stress is on the penultimate
(second from last) syllable of the words (picky, tricky)
• dactylic: a rhyme in which the stress is on the antepenultimate (third from last)
syllable (amorous, glamorous)

The English language has a long history of borrowing words from other languages.

Here are TEN common borrowings:

 • They/their – This common pronoun comes from the Old Norse word “Peir”.
• Person – This comes from the Latin “persona”. It was adopted by the French
language and then eventually made its way into English.
• Very – This despised yet commonly used adjective comes from the Old French
“verai”, which means “true”.
• Dollar – This comes from Czech through Dutch. Its roots are connected to the origins
of the mint itself: a factory where coins and currency is produced.
• War – This comes from the Old French “werre”.
• Leg and Skin – Both words come from Old Norse and replaced “shank” and “hide”
upon their arrival. Although the words still exist in English, they are used only for
animals once slaughtered.
• Slaughter – This comes from the Old Norse “slatr”.
• Skipper – This comes from the Dutch “schipper”. Many of our nautical terms are
derived from Dutch due to the trade links that existed.
• Court – In French this means the king’s residence and was often the place to which
someone was called in order to respond to accusations.
• Zero – This comes from Arabic. In fact, many of our words related to numeracy,
mathematics and trade can be traced back to Arabic.

An idiom is a phrase that, when taken as a whole, has a meaning you wouldn’t be able to
deduce from the meanings of the individual words.

4 types of idioms:
• Pure idiom
This is your typical idiom, the meaning of which can’t be deduced by its individual
components. When someone says, “Spill the beans,” they’re asking someone to reveal a
secret, not to pour out a can of beans. But you wouldn’t know that by looking at each word
of that phrase.

• Binomial idiom
This idiom is a phrase that contains two words joined by a conjunction or a preposition.
Some examples include “by and large” (everything considered), “dos and don’ts” (guidelines
on what to do and/or avoid in a certain situation), and “heart-to-heart” (a candid
conversation between two people).

• Partial idiom
This idiom is one that’s been shortened into one part, with the second part generally being
understood by fluent speakers. People often use the partial idiom “when in Rome,” with the
understanding that the other person knows the second part: “do as the Romans do.”
• Prepositional idiom
This idiom is a phrase that combines a verb and a preposition to create a verb with a distinct
meaning. The phrase “agree on” is a prepositional idiom that combines the verb “agree”
with the preposition “on” and is used to express that you share an opinion with someone.

Examples:

• Under the weather

Meaning: Not feeling well
• Break a leg
Meaning: To wish someone good luck
• Once in a blue moon
Meaning: Rarely
• The ball is in your court
Meaning: A decision is up to you
• You can say that again
Meaning: That is true
• Beat around the bush
Meaning: To avoid saying something
• Hit the sack
Meaning: To go to bed
• Kick the bucket
Meaning: To die
• By the skin of your teeth
Meaning: Barely made it

An English proverb is a short, pithy statement that usually offers life advice, wisdom, or a
truth.

• The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

o Meaning: Children tend to resemble their parents in appearance and
behavior.
• All that glitters is not gold.
o Meaning: Something that appears valuable or true may not be.
• A picture is worth a thousand words.
o Meaning: Artwork or images can convey meanings that go beyond verbal
description.
• Beggars can’t be choosers.
o Meaning: People who depend on the generosity of others must be content
with what is offered to them.
• A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
 o Meaning: What you already have in hand is better than what you might get.
• An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
o Meaning: If you eat healthily, you will be healthy.
• Better safe than sorry.
o Meaning: It is better to be precautious than to have regrets later on.
• Blood is thicker than water.
o Meaning: Relationships between family members are the strongest of all.
• When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
o Meaning: When you visit a new place, leave all judgments behind and
embrace the local ways of life.
• Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.
o Meaning: Don’t make plans based on events that haven’t happened.

Alliteration is the repetition of an initial consonant sound in words that are in close
proximity to each other. By “close proximity,” we mean words that can be—but don’t have
to be—consecutive.

Examples:

• Leapin’ lizards!
• Taco Tuesday
• We went whale watching
• Clary closed her cluttered clothes closet.
• Harry hurried home to watch football on TV.
• Rachel ran right until she realized she was running round and round.
• Polly's prancing pony performed perfectly.
• The boy buzzed around as busy as a bee.
• Make a mountain out of a molehill.
• Matthew met Michael at the Moor.

A simile is a figure of speech that is mainly used to compare two or more things that possess
a similar quality. It uses words such as ‘like’ or ‘as’ to make the comparison.

Similes using ‘as’

 • As slow as a sloth
• As busy as a bee
• As innocent as a lamb
• As proud as a peacock
• As fast as a cheetah

Similes using ‘like’

• Jumps like a frog

• Sings like a cuckoo
• Runs like the wind
• Nocturnal like an owl
• Have eyes like a hawk

Examples:

• My love is like a red rose.

• My brother and I fight like cats and dogs all the time.
• Iniyan is always as busy as a bee.
• My cousin chatters like a monkey.
• Kitty is as proud as a peacock.
• Ruthy works like a sloth.
• My dog, Shadow, eats like a pig after I take him for a walk.
• Stephen slept like a baby after working for ten long hours.
• My father has eyes like a hawk. He sees out even the minutest of things.
• Bob is as cunning as a fox.

A metaphor is a figure of speech that describes an object or action in a way that isn’t
literally true, but helps explain an idea or make a comparison.

➢ A metaphor states that one thing is another thing

➢ It equates those two things not because they actually are the same, but for the sake
of comparison or symbolism
➢ If you take a metaphor literally, it will probably sound very strange (are there
actually any sheep, black or otherwise, in your family?)
➢ Metaphors are used in poetry, literature, and anytime someone wants to add some
color to their language
 Examples:

• My mom has a heart of gold.

• My friend’s sister, Sharon, is a night owl.
• My hands were icicles because of the cold weather.
• You just have to consider the world a stage and act accordingly.
• Dileep has a stone heart.
• You have ideas flowing one after the other. Your mind is an ocean.
• She was an autumn leaf.
• He is a lion when he comes to the field.
• Phoebe is a nightingale. Everyone waited eagerly for her to come up on stage.
• She is such a firecracker.

❖ Prefixes

A Prefix is a word that is added at the beginning of the root word to form a new word. A
prefix word does not have any meaning of its own but when added to a root word it
modifies the meaning of the word. Prefix makes a word negative, indicate opinion or show
repetition.

Examples:

• un + happy = unhappy
• dis + organised = disorganised
• dis + satisfied = dissatisfied
• mis + spell = misspell
• un + acceptable = unacceptable
• re + election = re-election
• inter + related = interrelated
• pre + pay = prepay
• non + sense = nonsense
• super + script = superscript
• sub + merge = submerge
• anti + bacterial = antibacterial
❖ Suffixes
Like Prefixes, Suffixes are also words that are added to the root word to form a new word
but suffixes are added at the end of the root word. Suffix does change the meaning of the
word it is added to but not make the word opposite or negative as prefix do, it simply
changes the class of the root word like a verb is changed into an adjective by adding a suffix.

Examples:

• forget + ful = forgetful

• happy + ness = happiness
• refer + ed = referred
• refer + ence = reference
• mope + ing - moping
• approve + al = approval
• green + ness = greenness
• benefit + ed = benefited
• resubmit + ing = resubmitting
• use + age = usage
• greedy + ly = greedily
• excite + ment = excitement

Rules to Add Prefixes & Suffixes

• Use a hyphen (-) when adding a prefix to a common noun. For example Pro-
American, Anti-religion, etc.
• Hyphen is must to be used after prefixes Self and Ex, example, Self-dependant, self-
esteem, Ex-husband, Ex-employee, etc.
• When adding a Prefix, do not change the spelling of the original word or root word;
Examples: Undo, disappear, irrelevant, cooperation, irrational, etc.
• Repetition of letters is possible when adding a prefix. Basically, point number 3 (do
not change spelling) is to be followed even if the spelling results in double
consonants after adding the prefix.
• There are certain words that start with prefix but do not have any prefix added to
them like the word Uncle.
• Many Prefixes can have the same meaning such as ‘in’ ‘im’ ‘un’ all these prefixes
mean ‘opposite of’ or ‘not’.
• Similarly, many Suffixes also have the same meaning. Like the suffix, ‘er’ when added
to any word will denote the action performed by the person. Example – Teacher,
Gardener, Performer etc.
• Suffix ‘er’ is also added towards the end of adjectives or adverbs to help compare
two things. Example- Slow becomes slower, soon becomes sooner, fast becomes
faster etc.
 • When suffix is added, the spelling of the base word can change. This is mostly the
case when the base words end with y or e. For example – happy becomes happier,
costly become costlier with the suffix ‘er’, manage becomes managing, make
becomes making with the suffix ‘ing’.
• The Prefix that ends in a vowel, ‘a’ than the base word starting with a consonant will
use it as it is, like atypical, amoral, etc.

❖ Roots
Let’s look at one word – unfortunate
➢ The main part of the word is fortune and is called the root word or stem word.

The suffix comes after the root word - in unfortunate, it is -ate.

The suffix changes the meaning of the word - fortune becomes fortunate.

Examples:

• -ing - walking
• root word = walk

The prefix comes before the root - in unfortunate, it is un-.

The prefix also changes the meaning of the word - fortunate becomes unfortunate.

Examples:

pre-, mis-, bi-, tri-, auto-, uni-

• bicycle
• root word = cycle

❖ Auxiliary Verbs

Auxiliary verbs are helping verbs because they are needed to form many of the tenses.

Auxiliary verbs help the main verb.

Some tenses, like the present perfect continuous, need more than one auxiliary!
 Examples:

• Why are you talking?

• You should be listening to me!
• I was having a bath when you called!
• A new road is being built behind the school.
• Have you done your homework?
• My father has never visited the USA.
• I am living in Germany?
• They were picking flowers.

Other common auxiliary verbs are: will, should, would, can, must, might, may, could. (These
verbs are often called modal verbs).

❖ Finite verbs
A finite verb is often the main verb in the sentence, which denotes the primary action done
by the subject in a particular context. Finite verbs can be a part of an independent clause or
verb phrase that can stand alone in a sentence and still make sense.

There are some points you have to keep in mind if you want to use finite verbs accurately.
• The most important point you have to focus on when working with finite verbs is
that they always work with a subject.
• You have to always make sure that the verb agrees with the subject.
• Remember that the use of a finite verb can allow the clause to stand by itself as an
independent clause.
• Make sure that you conjugate the finite verb accurately to suit the context in which
the action takes place.

Examples:

• I like ice cream.

• Do you know this guy?
• Kimmy lives in Spain.
• We work at the Plaza.
• Teena needs some money.
• I do not understand what you are talking about.
• Mario plays video games.
• Lintu cooked pasta for breakfast.
• My dad rides a bike.
• I have coffee in the morning.
 In order to have a complete sentence, each sentence must have a subject and a verb.
These two parts of speech are the fundamental parts of the subject and predicate that make
up a sentence.
Every sentence has a subject and a predicate, or it is not considered a complete sentence.

❖ What is a subject?

A subject is the person or thing that is doing an action, or the person or thing that is the
focus of the sentence.
Most of the time the subject comes at the beginning of a sentence, in which case, it is very
easy to identify.

• Mary likes to run at the park.

In this case, the person who is doing the action is Mary, therefore, Mary is the subject.

• My brother throws the ball.

In this case, the person who is doing the action is My brother, therefore, My brother is the
subject.
(Note: the Subject can be more than one word)

❖ What is a predicate?

The predicate of the sentence is the part that contains the action.
It is the part of the sentence that is not the subject and includes all the descriptions of the
action and the objects that are affected by the action.

• Mary likes to run at the park.

The question you can ask yourself here is, “What does Mary do”?
The answer, likes to run at the public park, is therefore the predicate.
The predicate includes the verb in the sentence and the rest of the words in that sentence.

• My brother throws the ball.

When you have multiple nouns, the concept is the same.
The entire sentence that excludes the subject, is the predicate.
If the sentence has objects, either direct or indirect, they are part of the predicate. In this
sentence, throws the ball is the predicate.
Subject-verb agreement is the grammatical rule that the verb or verbs in a sentence must
match the number, person, and gender of the subject; in English, the verb needs to match
just the number and sometimes the person. For example, the singular subject it and the
plural subject they use different versions of the same verb: “it goes . . . ” and “they go . . . ”

Examples:

• The dogs roll in the mud.

• I need to catch my breath.
• You look like a celebrity!
• My snake hisses to say “I love you.”
• Atlas carries the world on his shoulders.
• The new drone flies higher than the old one.
• My roommate stays in his bedroom from morning to night.
• You are always welcome in our home.
• I am running a marathon tomorrow.
• It is raining even though it is sunny.

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

The difference between a common noun and a proper noun is what type of thing they are
referring to. Common nouns refer to generic things while proper nouns refer to specific
things. For example, the noun country is a common noun because it refers to a general, non-
specific place. On the other hand, the noun Spain is a proper noun because it refers to a
specific country located in Europe (another proper noun). Grammatically, there is one main
difference between common and proper nouns: proper nouns are always capitalized
whereas common nouns are only capitalized in very specific situations.

❖ Common nouns
As has been said, common nouns refer to generic people, places, and things...
Common nouns can refer to people, places, things, and ideas.

• People: man, woman, child, cop, criminal, butcher, baker, neighbour, friend, enemy,
person, stranger, judge, jury, executioner, knights, bishops, kings, queens
• Places: city, town, country, neighbourhoods, islands, beaches, province, state,
outside, upstairs, basement, hallway, lobby, rooms, alleys, campsites
• Things: guitar, drums, apples, oranges, snow, rain, ice, fire, dirt, cars, trucks, knee,
elbows, food, water, sky, stars, day, weeks, month, years
• Ideas, emotions, concepts: happiness, sadness, fear, courage, questions, answers,
government, chaos, hunger, confusion, doubt, loneliness, friendship, science

❖ 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

Simple sentences are pretty simple: just a single independent clause, no more, no less. This
includes subject and verbs, but can also include objects.

• “Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale.”—Hans Christian Anderson

• “Real glory springs from the silent conquest of ourselves.”—Joseph P. Thompson

A statement is a sentence that says something is true, like "Pizza is delicious." There are
other kinds of statements in the worlds of the law, banking, and government.

All statements claim something or make a point. If you witness an accident, you make
a statement to police, describing what you saw. You get a statement from your bank, a
monthly record of what you spent and what you have left. Sometimes a statement isn't so
official — it's just some kind of point being made. People say someone's car makes a
statement — or their clothes do. Running away on your wedding day would make a huge
statement.

❖ Declarative Statements
Declarative statements make a declaration about a topic. They are declarative sentences
that are facts. For instance, the following statements are examples of declarative
statements.

• Bees make honey.

• Polar bears live in cold climates.
• The sky is blue.
• The sun rises each morning.
• This article is about statements.
❖ Synopsis and Summary Statements

Writers frequently use statements in synopsis and summaries. A synopsis is a piece of

writing condensed to its essential features. Writers often write synopses of books and
movies that help readers decide whether they want to read or watch them. Since
statements are succinct, straightforward sentences, they help writers concisely craft
synopses.

❖ Functions of a Statement

Statements allow writers to inform readers about a topic. They provide readers with
complete information that stands alone out of context. For instance, consider the statement
“Strawberries are red.” This tells readers something specific about strawberries.

Statements thus allow writers to demonstrate their knowledge of a topic. For instance,
imagine a writer is writing a report about the novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953) by Ray Bradbury.
The writer can use statements about the text to show that they have read and understood
the book, such as “In Fahrenheit 451, firefighters burn books.”

Another important function of statements, specifically declarative statements, is that they

support an argument. To defend a claim, writers integrate evidence into declarative
statements. For instance, imagine a writer writes the thesis statement that "People should
recycle to protect the environment." To defend this claim, they should craft declarative
statements that include credible evidence to support the claim, such as "Humans need trees
for oxygen" and "Recycling saves trees."

❖ Importance of Statement

Statements are important because they shape writers' arguments. Thesis statements are a
critical part of writers' writing because they set up the argument that frames an entire text.
For instance, if a writer crafts a thesis statement with their supporting ideas, those three
ideas become the subject of each supporting body paragraph. All the writing in the body of
the evidence should connect back to the writer's thesis statement.
 Declarative statements are also crucial in writing because they allow writers to use evidence
to defend their thesis statements. Without declarative statements, writers could not
properly integrate factual evidence to support their thesis and supporting claims.

Concrete nouns and abstract nouns are broad categories of nouns based on physical
existence: Concrete nouns are physical things that can be seen, touched, heard, etc.;
abstract nouns are nonphysical ideas that cannot be perceived through the senses.

❖ Concrete nouns
Concrete nouns describe physical things that can be sensed: seen, touched, heard, smelled,
or tasted. Most nouns are concrete nouns—for example, rocks, butterflies, grandmothers,
and the Great Sphinx of Giza. Even invisible things, including air (which can be felt)
and music (which can be heard), are concrete nouns.

Microscopic things, such as bacteria and atoms, are also concrete nouns because they exist
in the physical world. Even imaginary or fantasy things, such as unicorns and the
character Katniss Everdeen, are concrete nouns—but only if they represent something that
can be sensed, even if only in fictional writing.

Specifically, concrete nouns consist of these:

➢ Living things:
nouns that relate to people, animals, plants, and other organisms, both general
(humans, trees) and specific (Billie Eilish, California redwood)

➢ Places:
nouns that relate to locations, both general (city, mountain) and specific (Lagos, Mount Fuji)

➢ Material things:
nouns that represent things we can perceive through the senses—not only physical objects,
such as furniture and statues, but also things like dances and noise.

Examples of concrete nouns:

➢ Living things
• frog
 • goose
• fern
• virus
• painter
• prime minister
• Danny DeVito
• Santa Claus

➢ Places
• town
• river
• island
• peninsula
• planets
• universe
• Florida
• Antarctica

➢ Material things
• chair
• hole
• sound
• tango
• guitar
• social media
• Grammarly
• The Bluest Eye (novel)

❖ Abstract nouns
By contrast, abstract nouns are nonphysical things that cannot be sensed. These are ideas,
emotions, and other intangible things that exist in our minds instead of in the physical
world. For example, intelligence and education are abstract nouns because they’re
immaterial concepts (you can’t touch education), but place names such
as schools and universities are concrete nouns because they can be perceived through our
senses.

Abstract nouns have many different categories, but some of the

most common include these:

➢ Emotions/feelings:
nouns that describe a mental state or mood, such as anger and comfort.

➢ Characteristics:
 nouns that describe a personality trait, feature, quality, virtue, or vice, such
as bravery and elegance.

➢ Philosophical concepts:
nouns that describe complex ideas of logic, principle, or ideals, such
as morality and socialism.

➢ States of being:
Nouns that describe a condition or way of existence, such as chaos and luxury.

➢ Time:
Nouns that relate to time—both common, such as minute and year, and proper, such
as Wednesday and July

Differentiating between abstract nouns and concrete nouns isn’t always easy, but there is a
quick trick that can help. If a word uses a suffix to turn itself into a noun, it’s an abstract
noun. For example, the adjective cute takes the suffix –ness to make the abstract
noun cuteness.

Some common suffixes used by abstract nouns include these:

• -acy/-cy—normalcy, privacy, vacancy

• -ance/-ence—maintenance, persistence, importance
• -ism—feminism, atheism, patriotism
• -ity—velocity, animosity, creativity
• -ment—agreement, entertainment, government
• -ness—business, cleanliness, happiness
• -ship—friendship, internship, relationship
• -sion/-tion—compassion, consideration, demolition

Abstract noun examples:

➢ Emotions/feelings
• love
• sadness
• resentment
• fondness
• hatred
• enjoyment
➢ Characteristics
• beauty
• courage
• ignorance
• devotion
• charm
• confidence

➢ Philosophical concepts
• ethics
• justice
• conservatism
• democracy
• nihilism
• Darwinism

➢ States of being
• stability
• harmony
• permanence
• freedom
• peace
• sustainability

➢ Time
• hour
• decade
• century
• Friday
• August
• the 80s

A preposition is a word used to link nouns, pronouns, or phrases to other words within a
sentence.
Prepositions are usually short words, and they are normally placed directly in front of nouns.

Examples:

• I prefer to read in the library.

• He climbed up the ladder to get into the attic.
• Please sign your name on the dotted line after you read the contract.
 • Go down the stairs and through the door.
• He swam across the pool.
• Take your brother with you.

Types of prepositions
Prepositions show the relationships between things usually in terms of place, time and
movement.

➢ Prepositions of movement:
show motion or movement to or from a place.

Examples:

• Down
• Along
• out of
• through
• up
• over
• under

➢ Prepositions of place:
show where one thing is in relation to another - position.

Examples:

• Under
• on top of
• next to
• behind
• in

➢ Prepositions of time:
show when something takes place.

Examples:

• at
• on
• in
• during
• since
• next
In a chronological sequence the author uses the order of events, or chronology, to inform
readers about events or content. The events may be organised by time or date, by arranging
events as a series of steps or by following a list-like structure. Chronological sequencing is
commonly used in nonfiction texts. In nonfiction, there are usually clear time markers such
as dates or times of day to indicate a clear timeline.

Signal Words:
after, afterwards, ago already, always, at last, at that time, at the same time, before, during,
eventually, finally, first, first of all, following, further, immediately, initially, in the first place,
in the meantime, in that moment, in that instant, last, lastly, later, now, not long after, next,
once, presently, second, secondly, sometimes, soon, soon after, subsequently, suddenly,
then, to begin with, today, until, while, PLUS: specific time indicators, such as names of
days, months or years, times of day, etc.

A second type of organizational pattern is order of importance, which is exactly how it

sounds. The importance of the ideas determines the order each occurs in the writing. The
most important idea is described in the writing first, followed by the second most
important, then the third, and so on and so forth.

A description paragraph is required when you are asked to describe features or

characteristics of something. This may include how something looks, sounds, smells, tastes,
or feels. You should provide specific details of the most important features and use
appropriate adjectives to describe attributes and qualities.

Examples:
• Soft, white sand stretched lazily from one end of the coastline to the other.
• He wore overalls and a flannel shirt, his hands calloused from years of hard work in
the fields.
• The bustling city street was a melting pot of cultures, languages, and flavors.
• The old man was bent into a capital C, his head leaning so far forward that his beard
nearly touched his knobby knees.
• Winter hit like a welterweight that year, a jabbing cold you thought you could stand
until the wind rose up and dropped you to the canvas.
❖ Persuasive devices
Persuasive devices are language features typically used in a persuasive piece of text. A
written persuasive text is intended to persuade the reader to think in a particular way. This
can be achieved by using persuasive devices/techniques.

Persuasive Devices:
• Alliteration
• Facts
• Opinions
• Repetition & Rhetorical Questions
• Emotive Language & Exaggeration
• Statistics
• Three (rule of)

❖ Emotive language
➢ Emotive language is language that is used to stimulate or provoke emotions or feelings in
the reader.
➢ Many novels use emotive language because they want the reader to feel the emotions that
the characters are feeling.
➢ This helps the reader to become involved in the story and to know what is happening.
➢ The intention is to get a reaction from the audience.
➢ A writer might do this by using certain words and by writing descriptions of characters, to
make their emotions seem real.
➢ Different words can be used to cause different reactions in the audience.
➢ Good writers show what a character is feeling through their thoughts and actions, rather
than by just telling us.

• Instead of saying: The boy was sad.

They will say: The boy’s eyes filled with tears.

• Put that in the recycle bin.

This sentence is not emotive. It is a command, but it does not cause an emotional reaction.
Instead: You should recycle because it saves the planet. This sentence is emotive.
It suggests an action that elicits an emotional response. Don’t you want to save the planet?
How could you choose to not recycle since it saves the planet? The emotive response causes
a reaction or a response.
➢ Emotive language is not reserved for literature either.
➢ It is used in everyday interactions as well.
➢ Often, news headlines use emotive language to hook the audience.

Here are a few examples.

• An innocent bystander was murdered in cold blood in Johannesburg.
• The words “innocent” and “murdered” and the phrase “in cold blood” are the uses
of emotive language in this sentence.

• The defenceless victims were attacked at night.

• The phrases “defenceless victims”, “at night” and the word “attacked” are the uses
of emotive language in this sentence.

➢ In each example the emotive words do not need to be used to communicate a fact.
➢ However, this diction creates an emotional response in the audience.
➢ Consequently, emotive language can cause an audience to take action or to argue with the
speaker.
➢ Emotive language should not be overused.
➢ Furthermore, it should be used when there is a purpose the speaker wishes to achieve.
➢ Using emotive language effectively can be very beneficial to a speaker.

Example of emotive language:

Nelson Mandela’s Speech at the Rivonia Trial.

During what is now known as the Rivonia Trial in 1964, Nelson Mandela was faced with a
possible death sentence for the number of crimes he had committed. He read a speech
from a piece of paper until he got to this part below. He put his piece of paper down and
looked straight into the eyes of the judge, Justice De Wet and said:

During my lifetime, I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people.
I have fought against White domination and I have fought against Black domination. I have
cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in
harmony and with equal opportunities.
It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I
am prepared to die.

➢ 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.

➢ Metaphor
A metaphor is a comparison in which something is said to figuratively be something else.
Example: He was a wolf among sheep.

➢ Hyperbole
A hyperbole is an intentional exaggeration.
Example: The plate exploded into a million pieces.

➢ Alliteration
Alliteration is repeating the same or similar sounds at the beginning of words.
Example: She sells seashells by the sea shore.

➢ Analogy
An analogy is a comparison between two similar things, typically using figurative language.
Metaphors and similes—more on them later—are usually considered to be types of
analogies. Sometimes, analogies are considered to be a unique device that is a comparison
that explains itself; basically, a complex metaphor or long simile.
Example: Life is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you are going to get.

➢ Onomatopoeia
An onomatopoeia is a word that imitates the sound it refers to.
Example: The thunder boomed and the lightning crashed.

➢ Allusion
Allusion is the act of casually referencing something, usually a work of popular culture.
Example: Finishing his memoir was his white whale.

➢ Oxymoron
Oxymoron is a figure of speech that uses two opposite words together.
 Example: The treaty led to a violent peace.

➢ Satire
Satire is using humor to criticize public figures.
Example: When Senator Jackson said “numbers don’t lie,” he forgot that his first name
wasn’t “Numbers.”

➢ Paradox
In rhetoric, the word paradox refers to making a statement that seems self-contradictory or
impossible but actually makes sense.
Example: Youth is wasted on the young.

➢ Simile
A simile is a comparison in which something is said to figuratively be like something else.
Example: It was as hot as a desert this morning.

➢ Irony
In rhetoric, the notoriously confusing word irony means to use words to mean the opposite
of their literal meaning.
Example: Ashley said it was a beautiful day while drying off from the drenching rain. (Ashley
ironically referred to poor weather as “beautiful.”)

➢ Personification
Personification is the act of giving human elements to non-human things.
Example: The beautiful valley spread its arms out and embraced us.

➢ Anecdote
An anecdote is a brief story about something that happened to the speaker, usually
something funny or interesting.
Example: Five years ago, I went to the store and met some clowns. Those clowns gave me
the advice I am sharing with you now.

➢ Euphemism
Euphemism is using alternative language to refer to explicit or unpleasant things.
Example: The baseball struck him in a sensitive area.

➢ Connotation
Connotation is using words to suggest a social or emotional meaning rather than a literal
one.
Example: This is a house, but I want a home.

➢ Meiosis
As a rhetorical device, meiosis means using euphemism to minimize the importance or
significance of something.
Example: We must put an end to this peculiar institution. (“Peculiar institution” is a
euphemism for slavery.)
➢ Apostrophe
In rhetoric, apostrophe occurs when a writer or speaker directly addresses an absent
person, a concept, or an inanimate object.
Example: You have made a fool out of me for the last time, washing machine!

➢ Antithesis
Antithesis is using parallel sentences or clauses to make a contrast.
Example: No pain, no gain.

➢ Sarcasm
Sarcasm is using irony to mock something or to show contempt.
Example: Oh, yeah, he is a great guy. A great guy who took the last slice of pizza.

➢ Consonance
Consonance is a repetition of consonants or consonant sounds.
Example: Mike likes Ike’s bike.

➢ Rhetorical question
A rhetorical question is a question that isn’t intended to be answered. The point of asking
the question is to make an audience think or to cause an emotional reaction.
Example: Can we really know what our place in the universe is? We have asked ourselves
this question for millennia.

➢ Epithet
An epithet is a nickname or descriptive term used to refer to someone.
Example: You need to listen to me and not Clueless Kevin over there.

➢ Anaphora
Anaphora is the repetition of a word or words at the start of phrases, clauses, or sentences.
Example: I came, I saw, I conquered.

➢ Climax
In rhetoric, climax is ordering words so that they build up in intensity.
Example: Look at the sky! It’s a bird! A plane! Superman!

➢ Cacophony
Cacophony is the act of purposefully using harsh sounds.
Example: The gnashing of teeth and screeching of bats kept me awake.

➢ Assonance
Assonance is the repetition of the same vowel sound with different consonants.
Example: She and Lee see the bees in the tree.

➢ Pun
 A person is making a pun when they humorously use words with multiple meanings or
words with similar sounds to create wordplay.
Example: The farmer tried to get his cows to get along, but they insisted on having a beef
with each other.

➢ Parallelism
Parallelism is using grammatically similar phrases or sentences together.
Example: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

➢ Aphorism
An aphorism is a short sentence that presents truth or opinion, usually in a witty or clever
manner.
Example: A penny saved is a penny earned.

➢ Synecdoche
Synecdoche is when a part of something is used to refer to a whole.
Example: The commander had an army of 10,000 swords. (The people holding the swords
were there, too.)

➢ Parody
Parody is an imitation of something with the intent to poke fun at it.
Example: If Edgar Allen Poe had written this speech, it might have opened with “Here we
are, weak and weary, gathered on a Monday dreary.”

➢ Colloquialism
A colloquialism is an instance of informal language or a local expression. The act of using
such language is also called colloquialism.
Example: Here in Philly, we love to eat hoagies and all kinds of tasty jawns.

➢ Understatement
Understatement is using language to intentionally lessen a major thing or event.
Example: The erupting volcano was a little problem for the neighboring city.

➢ Syllogism
Syllogism is an argument based on deductive reasoning that uses generalizations to reach
specific conclusions. Usually, a syllogism follows the format of “A is B. B is C. So, A is C.”
Example: Dogs are mammals. Biscuit is a dog. Therefore, Biscuit is a mammal.

➢ Eponym
An eponym can refer to “a word based on or derived from a person’s name,” such as
the Gallup poll, named after statistician G.H. Gallup, or Reagonomics (a combination of the
last name Reagan and economics). As a rhetorical device, an eponym can be an allusion to a
famous person.
Example: He is the LeBron James of chess.
➢ Metonymy
Metonymy is when the name of something is replaced with something related to it.
Example: He loved music from the cradle (birth) to the grave (death).

➢ Parenthesis
In rhetoric, parenthesis is an interruption used for clarity.
Example: The audience, or at least the paying members of the audience, enjoyed the show.

➢ Expletive
In rhetoric, an expletive is an interrupting word or phrase used for emphasis.
Example: The eggs were not, in any sense of the word, delicious.

➢ Metanoia
In rhetoric, metanoia refers to any instance of self-correction. Metanoia can involve things
like retracting a previous statement to replace it with a new one or amplifying a previous
statement by using stronger language.
Example: We’ll work on it on Sunday. No, let’s make that Monday—it’s the weekend after,
all!

➢ Chiasmus
Chiasmus is reversing the grammatical order in two otherwise parallel phrases or sentences.
Example: Dog owners own dogs and cats own cat owners.

➢ Asyndeton
Asyndeton is the removal of conjunctions from a sentence.
Example: Get in, cause a distraction, get out.

❖ Quotation marks
Quotation marks are a type of punctuation used to show direct quotes, dialogue, and
certain titles or otherwise to set aside words in text.

The six main uses for quotation marks:

➢ Quote a source directly
• Stephen Hawking warned that the Higgs boson could potentially lead to
“catastrophic vacuum decay” in the universe, caused by “a bubble of the true
vacuum expanding at the speed of light.”

➢ Show dialogue or transcribe speech

 • “Where is the emergency room?” he asked the nurse urgently.

➢ Signal the titles of short works

• Written by Sylvia Plath, “Tulips” is a sad poem with a happy title
.
➢ Set apart a word to show irony, sarcasm, or skepticism (scare quotes)
• My “pet” is really just a stray cat that comes by once a day.

➢ Discuss words as words

• The “p” in “pterodactyl” is actually silent.

➢ Differentiate a nickname from a given name

• Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson can’t escape his origins as a wrestler.

Examples:

• Jimmy said, "I have to clean my room later."

• When will you read Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Tell-Tale Heart"?
• According to Anderson Davis, "Boys are more likely to be aggressive than girls".
• "My uncle said 'Pain is weakness leaving the body,'" Greg said.
• "Clean your room," said my mom.
• The word "being" is often used incorrectly.
• Cynthia asked, "Have you seen the new Sherlock Holmes movie?"
• While running down the street, the criminal shouted, "Get in the van!"

❖ Exclamation mark
Appears at the end of an exclamation, i.e. a sentence that shows strong emotions or
feelings.

Example
• Help!
• Don’t run!
• Stop!

❖ Comma
While a period ends a sentence, a comma indicates a smaller break. Some writers think of a
comma as a soft pause—a punctuation mark that separates words, clauses, or ideas within a
sentence.

• Julie loves ice cream, books and kittens.

 • I cleaned the house and garage, raked the lawn and took out the garbage.
• Simon needs bread, milk, and butter at the grocery store.
• I still have to buy a gift, pack the suitcases, and arrange for someone to water the
plants while we’re at the wedding.
• Posey’s Cafe, which Chester recommended, is a fantastic restaurant.
• My wife, whom I love dearly, is a brilliant physicist
• My partner, Angela, is a wonderful cook.
• The painter, one of the city’s most promising young artists, began showing his work
in galleries before he was sixteen.
• Chocolate, my favourite treat, always makes me feel better after a bad day.
• Grabbing her umbrella, Kate raced out of the house.

❖ 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.

❖ 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.

Examples:

• 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.

Examples:

• He walked to the edge of the cliff and …

• You’d better give back my money or else…

❖ 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.

❖ Semi-colon

The most common semicolon use is joining two independent clauses without using a
coordinating conjunction like and. Semicolons can also replace commas when listing items
that already use commas, such as listing cities and states.

Examples:

• I ordered a cheeseburger for lunch; life’s too short for counting calories.
• Martha has gone to the library; her sister has gone to play soccer.
• I saw a magnificent albatross; it was eating a mouse.
• I needed to go for a walk and get some fresh air; also, I needed to buy milk.
 • Reports of the damage caused by the hurricane were greatly exaggerated; indeed,
the storm was not a hurricane at all.
• The students had been advised against walking alone at night; however, Cathy
decided walking wasn’t dangerous if it was early in the evening.
• I’m not all that fond of the colors of tiger lilies; moreover, they don’t smell very
good.

❖ Capital letters
There are only a few rules of capitalization. They’re easy to remember. In English, capital
letters are most commonly used at the start of a sentence, for the pronoun I, and for proper
nouns.

➢ Capitalize the first word in every sentence

You should always capitalize the first letter of the first word in a sentence, no matter what
the word is.

➢ Capitalize the pronoun

Pronouns are words that replace nouns. I, you, and me are all examples of pronouns. While
you and me are usually lowercase, the pronoun I should always be capitalized, regardless of
where it appears in a sentence.

For example, in A Beautiful Mind, Sylvia Nasar writes, “What I got back was an envelope on
which my address was written in different-colored crayons.” Here, the pronoun I is correctly
capitalized even though it isn’t at the beginning of the sentence.

Capitalize proper nouns

A proper noun is the special noun or name used for a specific person, place, company, or
other thing. Proper nouns should always be capitalized.

➢ Names of people
People’s names are proper nouns, and therefore should be capitalized. The first letter of
someone’s first, middle, and last name is always capitalized, as in John William Smith. Take
note that some non-English surnames may begin with lowercase letters, such as Vincent van
Gogh or Leonardo da Vinci.
➢ Names of places
Other proper nouns include countries, cities, and sometimes regions, such as Bulgaria, Paris,
and the American South. Geographic features that have names should also be capitalized, as
in Mt. Kilimanjaro and the Pacific Ocean.

Landmarks and monuments also start their proper names with capital letters, such as the
Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge. Street names are always capitalized, too
(e.g., Main Street). Although rare, some place names might have a preposition in them that
is not capitalized, such as the Tower of Pisa or Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.

➢ Names of companies and trademarks

The names of companies and organizations should also be capitalized, such as Nike and
Stanford University. There are some exceptions: sometimes a company may choose not to
use a capital letter at the beginning of its name or product as a stylistic choice. Examples
include eBay and the iPhone.

➢ Capitalize honorary and professional titles

Titles like Mr., Mrs., and Dr., should be capitalized. When addressing someone with their
professional title, you should use a capital letter at the beginning. For example, you’d
address a letter to the president as Dear President Obama. Similarly, you should capitalize
job titles when they come before a person’s name, as in General Manager Sheila Davis will
be at the meeting. Also use a capital letter when you’re directly addressing a person by their
title without using their name, as in We need the paper, Senator. On the other hand, titles
are not capitalized if used generally as in Rebecca is the president of the company, or We
talked with the queen, Elizabeth II.

➢ Capitalize familial relationships

Words that indicate family relationships should also be capitalized when used as titles in
front of a person’s name. However, if you’re just talking about relationships with no names
involved, the titles shouldn’t be capitalized. For example, you’d capitalize Uncle Ben and
Grandpa Ed will be at the picnic, but you wouldn’t capitalize them in a sentence like My
uncle and my grandpa will be at the picnic. Similar to the rules for professional titles, you
should capitalize the names of family titles when they’re used in place of proper names. For
instance, in Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontë writes, “She is at the lodge, Aunt.”

➢ Capitalize major words in a title

The titles of books, songs, newspapers, and works of art should all be capitalized. Examples
include Moby Dick, “Jailhouse Rock,” New York Times, and The Last Supper. If you need help
knowing specifically which words get capitalized in titles of creative works, check out our
helpful guide to title capitalization.

➢ Capitalize days, months, and (sometimes) seasons

The names of days and months should be capitalized, such as January, September,
Wednesday, and Sunday.

A season should be capitalized when it’s being used as part of a proper noun as in Winter
Olympics. In poetry and other literature, personification is giving an animal, inanimate
object, or abstract notion the qualities and attributes of a human. When a season is used
this way, it should be capitalized. (Take, for example, how Charles Mair uses summer in a
poem: “We will muse on Summer’s ploys.”)

➢ Capitalize holidays
The names of holidays, such as Christmas, Halloween, and Hanukkah, are capitalized
because they are considered proper nouns. You would not, however, capitalize a season:
Christmas season. But if you add day to a holiday, you would capitalize this word: New
Year’s Day and Christmas Day. Similarly, you would capitalize the word eve in holidays such
as Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

➢ Capitalize time periods

Historical eras should be capitalized. For instance, use Middle Ages, Dark Ages, and the
Renaissance. You’d also capitalize prehistoric eras such as Stone Age and Bronze Age.

➢ Capitalize countries, languages, and nationalities

The names of countries are proper nouns, which means they are capitalized, of course.
Languages and nationalities are capitalized as well. A person who is from Kenya, is a Kenyan
and likely speaks Swahili. A Chilean is a person from Chile, where the official language is
Spanish.

➢ Capitalize acronyms
Acronyms should be capitalized. NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration),
POTUS (President of the United States), and DOB (Date Of Birth) are all capitalized. Some
acronyms have been incorporated as recognizable words that should not be capitalized
(laser, or “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation”); when in doubt, it’s best
to consult a dictionary.
Of course, in informal conversations (like texting), acronyms (lol, brb, idk, etc.) aren’t always
capitalized. Not all rules apply to very casual writing styles.

Capitalize after certain punctuation

Of course, you already know to capitalize at the start of each sentence. There are other
interesting sentence structures that require capitalization.

➢ After the first word in a quote containing a complete sentence

When a quote is added to a sentence, it is introduced with quotation marks and a capital
letter:

• When my father asked where I was going, I said, “Some of my friends are going to the
movies.”

When the attribution is in the middle of the sentence, capitalization rules are also
important:

• “The library is closed,” he said, “but you can return your books in the drop box.”

In this case, the first word (the) is capitalized. Because the sentence continues after the
attribution, the word but is not capitalized.

Similarly, a colon may introduce a quote that comes after an independent clause. For
example:

• “Bob seemed to like that idea: ‘Yeah, let’s do that!'”

In this sentence, the words before the colon could stand alone as a complete sentence. The
colon emphasizes the coming quote.

If a quote contains a single word, a phrase, or an incomplete sentence, the first word
typically isn’t capitalized unless it is a proper noun. For example:

• He said that my approach to solving math problems was “unique.”

• When asked, the mayor said the city “was prepared for all possible outcomes.”

➢ (Sometimes) after a colon and rarely after a semicolon

If what follows the colon is a complete sentence, some style guides do recommend
capitalizing the word that follows the colon.

• It snowed all morning: The roads were impassable by 8 am.

Capitalization after a semicolon is not required and would be grammatically incorrect. When
an explanation takes the form of a second independent clause that follows a main
 independent clause, you can join the two clauses into a single sentence with a semicolon.
Here is an example:

• Jenny had an idea; she would pick up a cake on her way to her friend’s house.

However, you would capitalize proper nouns or the pronoun I if they follow a semicolon For
example:

• Marcy got a bag of candy; I got a bag of rocks.

Colons and semicolons are notoriously tough punctuation marks to use, but you can master
them by using our detailed explanations of how to use colons and semicolons.

❖ Lowercase letters
Lower case letters are the shorter and smaller versions of upper case letters (also called
capital letters). Some lower case letters look completely different from their upper case
counterparts, however.

For example, 'a' is the lower case version of 'A' and 'w' is the lower case version of 'W'.

When we write, most of the letters we use are in lower case. We capitalise letters for
special occasions, like the start of a sentence or for proper nouns.

All common nouns are written in lower case. Writing common nouns in upper case is a
mistake that many people make when writing. Even nouns like 'university' should begin with
a lower case letter, unless you're naming a specific university.

Examples:
• This sentence is written in lower case, except for 'T' to start the sentence.
• We use lower case for common nouns like 'dog', 'cat' or 'chair', but upper case letters
for proper nouns like 'London' or 'Mr Dickens'.
➢ Sometimes, changing a letter from lower case to upper case (or vice versa) in a word can
completely change its meaning.

For example, the words 'polish' and 'Polish'. With a lower case letter, 'polish' means to rub
something until it shines. However, with an upper case letter, 'Polish' means something or
someone from Poland!

Another example is 'apple' and 'Apple'. Lower case 'apple' means the red fruit, but with an
upper case 'A', 'Apple' refers to the tech company.

As you can see, the use of lower case and upper case letters is very important.