English Vinglish: Fun Way to Learn The Basics |

English tends to boggle your mind with its rules and exception in grammar and vocabulary. This as a very big issue for the students who lack confidence in English. So, to help you out with the small confusing terms and rules, Adda247 is introducing a new trend to clear all your doubts with this post. 5 rules will be published with examples and explanations on Tuesdays and Fridays. Let’s hang together and learn together.

Let’s start with the basics that is Punctuation, Great writing style is all about how you decorate it and in English punctuation are the real decors. They can altogether change the sense of a sentence based on how you use it.

1. Apostrophes

They are tricky gestures. Sometimes they form possessives. Sometimes they form contractions.

(a) Contraction – shortened form of a word or group of words. It omits certain letters or sounds.

e.g.,

– She would=She’d

– They are=They’re
– They cannot=They can’t
– You have=You’ve
– something = somethin’
– you will / You all = y’all
– the ’90s = the 1990s

(b) Possessives – probably cause most of the confusion. Variations depend on the type of noun that is turned into a possessive.

(c) Singular nouns, add apostrophe+s

e.g. The dog’s leash was loose that is how he escaped.

(d) Plural nouns, add only an apostrophe

e.g. The dogs’ leashes were all of the same colors so that the owner could identify them easily.

(e) The plural form of lowercase letters is formed with an apostrophe to prevent misreading.

e.g. Don’t forget to take all your is. – Incorrect

Don’t forget to take all your I’s. – Correct

2. Commas

It is used to introduce a smaller break in the sentence, also considered as a soft pause

(a) Use commas for the separation of independent clauses in a sentence

e.g. The performance was over, but the audience refused to leave.

(b) Using commas after introductory words, phrases, or clauses that come before the main clause,

e.g. The dog bite the pillow, while I was eating. Incorrect

While I was eating, the dog bites the pillow. Correct

(c) Use a pair of commas to separate an aside from the main body of the sentence.

e.g. Adya and Shashank, the couple from next door, are coming for dinner tonight.

(d) The Oxford Comma,

e.g. When using the Oxford comma, all items in a list of three or more items are separated.

My kids love apples, grapes, and watermelons.

(e) Use a comma to shift between the main discourse and a quotation.

e.g. Mayank said without emotion, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

(f) Use commas if they prevent confusion

e.g. To Kartik, Shashwat had been a sort of idol.

3. Colon

It introduces an element or series of elements that justify or the details that precede the colon.

(a) It is used to complete a statement to introduce one or more directly related ideas, it can be anything from, a list, a series of directions, a quotation or other comment illustrating or explanation of the statement.

e.g. The daily newspaper has four sections: news, entertainment, sports, and classified ads

(b) The colon is also used for the separation of chapter and verse from the Bhagavad Gita

e.g. BG 1.1: Dhritarashtra said: O Sanjay, after gathering on the holy field of Kurukshetra, and desiring to fight, what did my sons and the sons of Pandu do?

(c) To put separation between hours, minutes, and seconds

e.g. 12:38:13

4. Semicolon

(a) For joining related independent clauses in compound sentences.

e.g. Raman worked hard to earn his degree; consequently, he was certain to achieve a distinction.

(b) To separate items in a series if the elements of the series already include commas.

e.g. I need the weather statistics for the following cities: Roorkee, Uttarakhand; Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh; Gurugram, Haryana; Kolkata, West Bengal; Perth.

(c) In case when there is conjunctive adverb linking two independent clauses

e.g. I wanted to go out for a walk and get some fresh air; also, I needed to buy bread.

5. The Ellipsis

Three little dots are called an ellipsis, it’s plural is ellipses. Greek word meaning “omission.” It indicates that something has been left out in the sentence. (If you may ask how many dots are in an ellipsis? The answer is three.)

(a) It can be used when quoting someone, you can use an ellipsis to show that you’ve omitted some of their words.

e.g. Hamlet asked whether it was “nobler . . . to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of troubles.”

(b) It can only be used this way in fiction and informal writing.

e.g. Harshit, can you, um . . . never mind, I forgot what I was saying. So, do you think we should . . . ?

That’s all for today’s blog. We will again present you with more rules and examples. All the best.