What is precis writing?

A precis is a summary of a passage. It covers all the essential points in the passage. It is always shorter than the original passage. As a general rule, a precis should contain one-third of the total number of words in the original passage

Here is a sample passage.

The habit of reading needs to be cultivated. It can be one of the most pleasurable activities of your life. In the bargain, you gain knowledge, vocabulary, expression of ideas, and moral values. However, everyone cannot enjoy reading because it requires a certain level of intelligence, language skill, comprehension skill, interest, and above all, concentration. Reading habits can be best developed in childhood. But unfortunately, reading habits have been replaced by other activities such as watching television, playing video games on mobile phones, or just surfing the Internet. Hence, concentration of students is very less. Students are not able to expand their knowledge as the span of attention is very less. You must know that reading good books can change your outlook. It can expand your intellect. It can make you think. It can add meaning and purpose to your life. You can get inspiration by reading books about great people. It can motivate you to set bigger goals for yourself. The company of books is definitely more rewarding than the company of most other things. Hence you should cultivate the habit of reading and make your mind rich and refined.

Here's the precis of the passage on left.

Reading books enriches you knowledge, vocabulary, language, expression, ideas, and moral values. Not all are capable of reading as it requires some skills. The habit of reading should be cultivated at a young age. We do not gain much by watching television, videos or playing games on the mobile but reading can change the way we think and inspire us to achieve great things in life. Hence make reading a habit.

Tips for precis writing:

  • Read the passage carefully
  • Gather the theme and the main points in the passage
  • Delete unwanted details
  • Construct sentences in your own words. Do not copy the actual sentence.
  • Put the sentences in a logical and concise manner.
  • Choose your words carefully.
  • Read the precis to see if all the essential points are covered.

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How do you improve writing skills?

Learning to elaborate short pieces of information is important for improving one's writing skills. Similarly, being able to understand the important aspects of any piece increases one's capacity to quickly grasp what has been said. And that's where making notes comes in

Here's a passage.

Almost all of us suffer from a headache some time or the other. For some people, headache is a regular part of life. The most important step to cope with headaches is to identify the type of headache one is suffering from. The first type of headache is called a tension headache where there is a feeling of tightness around the head along with pain in neck and shoulders. It is caused due to long hours of working on computers, driving, or watching television.

The second type of headache is called the migraine headache, where there is pain on one side of the head, along with nausea, vomiting, and irritability. The pain worsens with noise and bright light. Certain food items such as coffee, tea, chocolate, and smoking can cause migraines.

The third type of headache is caused due to problems in vision, the symptom being inability to read books or see objects. It is caused by deficiencies, watching television, computers, or hereditary reasons.

If the headache troubles you often, visit the doctor. The doctor will study the cause, time, and what triggers it, and tell you what to do after a proper diagnosis. Most headaches can be treated by avoiding certain foods, avoiding long hours on computer or television, doing exercise, and eating nutritious food. Vision problems can be corrected with suitable glasses.

Notes of the passage

Identification of types of headache

1. Tension headache

Symptoms

  • Tightness around head
  • Pain in neck and shoulders

Causes

  • Long hours of working on computers or watching television
  • Long hours of driving

2. Migraine headache

Symptoms

  • Pain on one side of head
  • Nausea, vomiting, and irritability

Causes

  • Noise and bright light
  • Drinking coffee, tea, eating chocolate, and smoking

3. Headache due to vision problems

Symptoms

  • Difficulty in reading
  • Difficulty in seeing objects

Causes

  • Watching television
  • Working on computers
  • Deficiencies
  • Hereditary reasons

Treatment

  • Avoiding certain foods
  • Avoiding long hours watching television or working on computers
  • Wearing glasses for vision problems
  • Taking nutritious food
  • Doing exercise

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What are phrases and clauses?

Phrases

A phrase is a group of words that can act as an adjective, an adverb, or a noun in a sentence. A phrase does not contain a finite verb, but may contain a non-finite verb, a participle, an infinitive, or a gerund. It does not make complete sense but can have meaning through its relation to some part of the sentence in which it stands.

Noun phrase

A group of words that does the function of a noun in a sentence is called a noun phrase.

Example: His sudden disappearance is a mystery.

Adjective phrase

A group of words that does the function of an adjective in a sentence is called an adjective phrase.

Example: My neighbour is a man of had temper

Adverbs phrase

A group of words that does the function of an adverb in a sentence is called an adverb phrase

Example: He behaved in a foolish manner

Verb phrase

A verb phrase contains one of the three non-finites participle, gerund, or infinitive and its objects or modifiers.

Example: You must work hard to get good marks in the exam (infinitive)

He enjoys watching movies at weekends (gerund)

Having done the work, he decided to rest (participle)

Preposition phrase

A prepositional phrase contains a preposition, its objects, and modifiers of the object, if any.

Example: The book is on the table.

Clauses

A cause is a group of words with a finite verb. It forms part of a longer sentence. A clause that does the work of a noun is called a noun clause A clause that does the work of an adjective is called an adjective clause. A clause that does the work of an adverb is called an adverb clause.

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What is letter writing and web charts in communication skills?

Letter writing

Letters are of three kinds-personal letters, official letters, and applications. Personal letters are written to friends or relations in an informal style. Official letters are written by people to government officials, railway officials, municipal authorities, banks, colleges, business organisations, etc. to make complaints, suggestions, enquiries, place orders, etc. Letters to newspapers are written to express one's opinion about a matter of public interest or highlight a specific problem. All official letters are written in a formal style.

Here's an example of a letter of complaint that can be sent as an e-mail. It is a letter to the municipal corporation about the appalling condition of roads in a particular area.

Subject: Poor condition of roads in Ram Nagar.

Dear Municipal Mayor.

I'm xxxxx from Ram Nagar. This is to bring to your notice the appalling condition of the roads in our area. The roads are full of pot holes and ditches. and the condition becomes worse during the rainy season. It is becoming increasingly difficult for people to drive or walk on these roads. Added to this, there is the problem of poor lighting in these streets at night. I hope the authorities concerned will look into the matter and take steps to improve the condition of these roads.

Yours faithfully,

XXXXX

Web charts

Visuals and information such as pie charts and web charts help students transform them into coherent paragraphs Here's a web chart and a resultant paragraph describing the causes of road accidents.

The web chart represents the causes of road accidents. There are many causes but of late, the major cause is underage driving Speeding beyond limits is yet another reason, while talking on mobiles and drunken driving are other important causes. Though there are strict laws, they are not enforced properly. As a result there is no fear People ignore traffic rules and in their hurry to reach their destinations, drive on the wrong side, causing accidents. It is also observed that users of two-wheelers, three-wheelers or even four-wheelers are not trained properly. They are not aware the dos and don'ts. They do not care to wear helmets or seat belts. People manage to get licences without proper training. The officials of Road Transport Office (RTO) turn a blind eye to this. Last but not the least, bad roads and badly maintained vehicles also cause accidents. The government must impose heavy fines and cancel the licences of people who cause accidents. People should also cooperate and follow all traffic rules for their own safety.

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What is essay writing communication and information transfer communication?

Spoken and written words are extremely important for any form of communication. There are different forms of communication, and each one has a unique purpose. Let's take a look at two such forms of communication

Essay writing

An essay is a written composition containing an expression of one's personal experiences, opinions, or ideas on a given subject. There are many types of essays.

  • Narrative essays talk about events and experiences.
  • Descriptive essays include description of a person, place, thing, process, or procedure.

Here is a sample of a narrative essay.

My parents gifted me a bicycle when I was five years old. I wasn't able to ride it but I was eager to learn it. All my friends had bicycles and they rode them in the evenings. My parents promised to buy me a bicycle only if I scored well in my examinations. I worked hard, scored good marks, and true to their words. my parents got me a bicycle. Now the problem was how I would learn to ride it. My friend who lives next door agreed to teach me. She took me to a playground and taught me how to balance myself and use the pedals. She would hold the cycle behind and run along with me. Slowly, I learnt how to ride it without any help. One day, however, I went into the street with the bicycle. There were many vehicles. In an attempt to avoid hitting a bike, I went and hit a wall. I fell down in a puddle of water. I had hurt myself badly. Some people helped me out and took me home. However, I did not lose heart. I tried to be careful and continued to practise. Soon, I became an expert in cycling! I use a bicycle often because it is pollution-free. Riding it helps me keep fit. And it's a pleasure too!

Information transfer

An information transfer activity involves putting spoken or written texts into another form such as a chart, grid, picture, table, or diagram. The interpretation of texts, diagrams, or tables is a skill that is very useful both in academic and everyday life. It also includes looking at a table, grid, picture, or a chart and answering questions related to it.

Here is a sample of a pie chart.

The pie chart shows how Internet users between the ages 16 and 30 prefer to access it. It shows the results of the survey in which they were asked about their preferred devices for accessing the Internet. The participants in the survey mentioned four devices: smartphone, laptop, tablet, and desktop computer. And this is how it can be interpreted. From the pie chart it is clear that a large number of participants prefers to use smart phones. Next comes laptops. A desktop computer and a tablet are the least preferred devices. In conclusion, it can be said that portable devices such as mobiles and laptops are the most popular choices for accessing the Internet outside their homes. Desktop computers do not seem to be greatly preferred as it is not mobile. In future, we can probably expect to see more and more people accessing the Internet with smart phones rather than other devices.

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What are adjectives?

Adjectives are words that describe a noun or a pronoun in a sentence. Let's take a closer look at adjectives

Points to remember

  • Adjectives of quality describe the size, shape, colour, taste, and touch. They also describe qualities and feelings.

Examples: Long, black sweet, etc

  • Compound adjectives are adjectives that are made up of two or more words, usually with hyphens (-) between them.

Examples: Open-minded, well-mannered light-hearted, etc

  • Adjectives are formed by adding different suffies such as-al ful, -ive. -less, etc

Examples: Seasonal, respectful, attractive, useless, etc

  • Some adjectives are formed from existing words, including nouns.

Examples: Proud (from the noun pride); long (length): young (youth): belief (believe); etc.

  • Adjectives of quantity express an approximate quantity

Examples: Much, mast, whole, etc.

  • Adjectives of number express the exact number.

Examples: One, two, second third, etc.

  • When two nouns are compared, comparative adjectives are used.

Examples: It is easier to walk than drive through the forest the train journey takes longer than air travel

  • When more than two nouns are compared superlative adjectives are used.

Examples: The blue whale is the largest animal: Goa is the smallest State in India.

Did you know?

  • Some adjectives come in pairs!

Examples: The speech was short and sweet: Slow and steady wins the race:

I am sick and tired of eating the same food.

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What is active and passive voice?

The verb is said to be in the active voice when the subject does something. The person or thing denoted by the subject is the doer of the action. The verb is said to be in the passive voice, when the subject is being acted upon. The person or thing denoted by the subject experiences the result of the action done by someone or something.

Change of voice from active to passive depends on the tense of the verb. The passive is formed in this way:

Simple present: Am/is/are + past participle Present continuous: Is/are +being+ past participle

Present perfect: Has/have + been + past participle

Simple past: Was/ were + past participle Past continuous: Was/were + being + past participle

Past perfect: Had + been + past participle

Simple future: Will be + past participle

Future perfect: Will have + been + past participle can/ could/may/must/ should + verb; can be / could be / may be /must be / should be + past participle

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What is direct and indirect speech?

In direct speech, we quote the actual words of the speaker. We put the words of the speaker in inverted commas (...)

Example: He said "I am busy."

In indirect speech or reported speech, we report the words of the speaker without quoting the actual words of the speaker.

Example: He said that he was busy.

If you want to mention to whom something is said, use told'. If you don't want to mention to whom something is said, use 'said that.

The tenses change in reported speech as follows:

  • Simple present becomes simple past
  • Present continuous becomes past continuous
  • Present perfect becomes past perfect
  • Present perfect continuous becomes past perfect continuous
  • Simple past becomes past perfect
  • Past continuous becomes past perfect continuous
  • Past perfect does not change
  • Past perfect continuous does not change

Remember

When the reported speech relates to some universal truth, the tense of the reported speech does not change even though the reporting verb is in the past tense.

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What are conjunctions?

Conjunctions are words that connect words, phrases, clauses and sentences

There are three kinds of conjunctions

Coordinating Conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions join words, phrases or causes having similar grammatical structure. The coordinating conjunctions are: but, and, or, so, nor, yet for.

Subordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions are used in sentences which have two clauses-one main clause (independent) and one subordinate clause (dependent). The main clause can stand alone as a sentence but the subordinate clause cannot. A dependent clause adds extra information to the main clause.

Some common subordinating conjunctions are after, because, unless, while, even if whenever, whether, although, though, when, so that, even though, whereas. if

Examples: The student failed the test because he didn't study. (The words in bold make up the subordinate clause.)

Correlative Conjunctions

Correlative conjunctions come in pairs and we have to use them in different places in a sentence. They work together and relate one sentence element to another.

Some important correlative conjunctions are either...or, whether...or, no sooner...than, neither....nor, not only...but also, rather....than, both and scarcely when, hardly when

Points to remember

Yet: We use yet to add something surprising because of what has just been mentioned.

Or: We use or to show alternatives or different possibilities.

But: We use but to introduce a phrase or clause that is different from what has been mentioned.

Nor: We use 'nor before the second negative after the first one.

And: We use and to add one thing to another.

For: We use for to express a reason or purpose. So: We use 'so' to mean "for this reason".

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What are the different types of adverbs?

Adverbs are words or phrases that modify or qualify verbs, adjectives, and even other adverbs.

Adverbs of manner

Adverbs of manner are used to tell us the way or how something is done. Most adverbs of manner end in-ly. Example: She sings sweetly.

Adverbs of time

Adverbs of time tell us when something is done. Words such as yesterday, today, tomorrow, just already, recently, lately then, later, soon, now, late, and early are adverbs of time. Example: I am busy now. I will call you tomorrow.

Adverbs of place

Adverbs of place tell us where something happens. The words above, backwards, forward, below, downstairs, upstairs, outdoors, indoors, outside, inside, nearby, upwards, somewhere, everywhere, here, and there are some adverbs of place. Some adverbs of place can also be prepositions. Adverbs of place come after main verbs but prepositions are followed by nouns.

Example: It's raining, so come inside.

Adverbs of frequency

Adverbs of frequency tell us how often something happens. The words usually, always, often, sometimes, never, weekly, monthly, rarely, and seldom are some adverbs of frequency. They are often used with the simple present tense.

Example: Where do you often go on holidays?

Adverbs of degree

Adverbs of degree tell us to what extent or intensity something is done. The words too, extremely, quite, almost, thoroughly, nearly, very, enough, rather, hardly totally, highly, deeply, much and completely are some adverbs of degree. Example: I read the books thoroughly.

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What are modal verbs?

Modals are a special set of verbs. They act as helping verbs. They are used with main verbs to convey the full sense of a sentence. They express the mood of the speaker. They express possibility, intention, ability permission, requests, wishes, suggestions etc. Can, could, shall, should, will, would may, might, must need used to, ought, and dare are called modals.

Points to remember

  • Could' is more polite than 'can.
  • Would is more polite than will.
  • We use 'can' and will with people we know.
  • We use could and would with people who are older or who we do not know well.

Finite and non-finite verbs

Finite verbs:

Verbs can be finite or non-finite A finite verb in a sentence indicates the tense. It also has to agree with its subject in person and number. The form of the verb changes according to the tense. A finite verb forms an essential part of sentence and is closely connected to the subject of the sentence. A finite verb is limited by tense (past, present and future tense), number (singular or plural), and person (first person. second person, and third person).

Examples

  • She goes to school every day. (Present tense)
  • The girl sings well. (Singular)
  • She speaks well. (Third person)

Non-finite verbs:

A sentence cannot make complete sense without a finite verb. A non-finite verb is not limited by tense, number, or person. It does not change its form. It cannot be the main verb in a sentence. It is usually an extension of a sentence and can be left out sometimes. Non-finite verbs are of three kinds: participles, gerunds, and infinitives.

A participle is a verb that ends in ing' or est or 'en' and is used both as a verb and adjective.

  • Example: He fell off a moving bus.

A gerund is a verb, which is also used as a noun.

  • Example: Walking is the best form of exercise.

An infinitive consists of the words to + verb

  • Example: The teacher asked us to write the answers.

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What are pronouns?

Pronouns replace nouns. They are used so that we don't have to repeat the nouns. A pronoun is a word that takes the place of or refers to a noun. You may recall that a noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. To cut down on repetitiveness, I can change my original sentence to: Janet has to study in order for her to get the job that she wants.

In this sentence, the word 'Janet' is a noun, and the words 'her' and 'she' are pronouns that replace that noun. There are several different types of pronouns. One type of pronoun is a personal pronoun that takes the place of a particular person or thing. In this lesson, we'll focus on two categories of personal pronouns.

There are different types of pronouns

1. Personal pronouns

A personal pronoun is a pronoun typically used to refer to a speaker or to the people or things that a speaker is referring to. Often, personal pronouns are used to replace proper names as in Olivia went to bed early because she (Olivia) worked hard today.

2. Possessive pronouns

A possessive pronoun is a pronoun that is used to express ownership or possession. For example, the word hers is a possessive pronoun in the sentence Charlotte noticed that Seth’s dog was bigger than hers. The word hers indicates that “Charlotte’s dog” (the noun phrase being replaced by the word hers) belongs to Charlotte.

3. Reflexive pronouns

A reflexive pronoun is a pronoun used as an object that refers to the same person or thing as the subject. For example, the word herself is a reflexive pronoun in the sentence Nina loves herself because it refers to the same person as the subject Nina; Nina loves Nina.

4. Indefinite pronouns

An indefinite pronoun is a pronoun that doesn’t specifically identify what it is referring to. For example, the word someone is an indefinite pronoun in the sentence Someone ate the last slice of pizza. We know that the pronoun someone refers to a human being but we don’t know any other information about them. Indefinite pronouns vaguely or generally refer to a person or thing.

5. Distributive pronouns

Distributive pronoun is a pronoun which denotes persons or things of group separately that's why they always become singular and followed by the singular verbs.

This pronoun is used to indicate all the members of representative group. Some of the distributive pronouns are like each, either, neither, everyone, any, none, no one, etc.

6. Reciprocal pronouns

A reciprocal pronoun is a pronoun that expresses a mutual relationship. Putting it another way, reciprocal pronouns refer to a situation where someone or something performs an action on others and receives the same action in return.

7. Relative pronouns

The first thing we should mention is that relative pronouns introduce relative clauses. A relative clause is a type of dependent clause (a clause that can’t stand by itself as a complete sentence). It adds extra information to a sentence. The five relative pronouns are who, whom, whose, which, and that.

8. Interrogative pronouns

An interrogative pronoun is a pronoun used to ask a question. For example, the word who is an interrogative pronoun in the sentence Who are you? Like most other pronouns, interrogative pronouns replace nouns in sentences. In the case of interrogative pronouns, they typically replace whatever or whoever the answer to the question is.

9. Demonstrative pronouns

A demonstrative pronoun is a pronoun used to point to specific people or things. For example, imagine there was a chair right next to you and a chair across the room from you. When talking about the chair nearer to you, you would say This is a chair. When talking about the chair far away from you, you would point to it and say That is a chair. In these sentences, the words this and that are demonstrative pronouns.

Let's take a closer look at some of these pronouns.

I, we you, they, he, she, and it are subjective personal pronouns.

Example: She is my sister.

Me, us, you, them, him, her, and it are objective personal pronouns

Example: I like her

  • The pronouns mine yours, his, hers, ours, theirs, and its are called possessive pronouns they show to whom something belongs
  • Reflexive pronouns point back to the speaker. Example: He hurt himself
  • Emphatic pronouns give emphasis to the speaker. Example: He did the work himself
  • The pronouns oneself, myself herself himself yourself yourselves, ourselves, themselves and itself can be used as reflexive or emphatic pronouns
  • We use indefinite pronouns to refer to people or things without saying who or what they are. The indefinite pronouns are one all another, both none anybody, everybody, somebody, nobody, anyone, everyone, someone, no one, anything, something, everything, nothing, somewhere, anywhere, nowhere everywhere.
  • Distributive pronouns describe the members of a group separately and not collectively. Each, either, and neither are distributive pronouns.

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What are the different types of nouns?

Proper nouns:

Your name is a proper noun. A proper noun is the special word that we use for a person, place or organization, like John, Marie, London, France or Sony. A name is a noun, but a very special noun - a proper noun. English proper nouns have special rules. We always use a Capital Letter for the first letter of a name or proper noun. This includes names of people, places, companies, days of the week and months.

Common nouns:

A noun is a word that names a person, animal, place, thing, or idea. All nouns can be further classified as a proper or common noun. Common nouns are words used to name general items rather than specific ones. Go into your living room. What do you see? A lamp, chair, couch, TV, window, painting, pillow, candle – all of these items are named using common nouns.
Common nouns are everywhere, and you use them all the time, even if you don’t realize it. Wherever you go, you’ll find at least one common noun. Street, closet, bathroom, school, mall, gas station, living room; all of these places are things, and thus they are common nouns.

Collective nouns:

Collective nouns are names for a collection or a number of people or things. Words like group, herd, and array are collective noun examples. Here, we’ll take a closer look at collective nouns, and provide even more examples, placing them in context so you can gain a greater understanding of how they work.

Material nouns:

Material noun is the name given to the material, substance or things made up of alloy. It refers to the type of substance instead of individual particles of the substance. This noun is especially called as material noun because nouns in this class are almost materials like cloth, air, metal, gold, salt, iron, silver, steel, brass, bronze, copper, aluminium, lead, coal, coral, gem, diamond, glass, fibre, calcium, plastic, rubber, paper, cement, paint, plywood, synthetics, shampoo, soap, perfume, wine, tar, chemical, rexene etc. Sometimes we cannot make the plural forms of material noun.

Abstract nouns:

Abstract nouns represent intangible ideas—things you can’t perceive with the five main senses. Words like love, time, beauty, and science are all abstract nouns because you can’t touch them or see them. 

Without a tangible frame of reference, abstract nouns can be hard to pin down with grammar rules. In this quick guide, we explain the basics so you can use abstract nouns with confidence!

Do remember

Nouns can be countable or uncountable. Countable nouns are things we can count. They have singular and plural forms. We use articles 'a' or 'an' with singular countable nouns. We use 'some, 'many, and a few with plural countable nouns. To know the number of a countable noun we use how many. Uncountable nouns cannot be counted in number. They include liquids, gases, and other substances and also abstract ideas or qualities.

Here are a few tips

  • Some nouns such as sheep, fish, deer, and aircraft have the same singular and plural form.
  • The plural forms for daughter-in-law is daughters-in-law; son-in-law is sons-in-law, etc.
  • Some uncountable nouns are always singular. Examples: Luggage, baggage, furniture, stationery, information, etc.
  • Some uncountable nouns are treated as plural for a singular item. Examples: Spectacles, pants, shorts, scissors, etc.
  • Some uncountable nouns are singular but look plural in form. Examples: News, aerobics, crossroads, electronics, etc.
  • A little means 'some but little means 'hardly any. Examples: There is a little water in the jug. (some water)
  • There is little water in the jug. (hardly any water). A few means 'some but few means hardly any.
  • Examples: I have a few friends. (some friends). I have few friends. (hardly any friends)

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What are articles?

Articles refer to the three words a, an, and the. These words modify a noun and appear before it. Articles do not exist on their own.

Types of articles

There are two types of articles: indefinite and definite. The two indefinite articles are a and an. The definite article is the.

How and when are they used?

The articles a and an are used before singular countable nouns.

We use a before a singular noun beginning with a consonant or consonant sound.

We use an before a singular noun beginning with a vowel or vowel sound.

We do not use a and an before plural nouns and before uncountable nouns.

The article the is used when we mention something for the second time: I have a cap-first time. The cap is red-second time.

It is also used

  • For certain countries: The US. the UK, the UAE
  • For historical monuments The Taj Mahal, the Statue of Liberty
  • For mountain ranges: The Himalayas, the Alps
  • For group of islands: The Caribbean Islands, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands
  • For oceans, rivers, deserts: The Atlantic, the Thar, the Ganga
  • For unique things in the universe: The Sun, the Moon
  • For newspapers and holy books: The Hindu, the Bible For designations of people: The Queen, the President
  • With nationalities: The French, the English
  • With superlative forms: The best, the longest
  • With ordinals: the first, the second.
  • With musical instruments: The violin, the piano
  • With directions: The west, the east

The zero article

Zero article means 'no article’. We do not use any article when we refer to: countries, cities, streets, single mountain peak, single island, languages, public buildings, transport continents, names of people, games, meals, diseases, etc.

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What is the scope of a degree in functional English?

I am interested in doing a degree in English. What is the scope of a degree in functional English and what are the career opportunities available?

While the traditional careers for English majors are teaching, editing, and writing, it is also possible to go into other fields. Along with graduation in English, you can take up some short-term course in media (print or electronic), publishing, business management, social work, library service, broadcasting, public relations, advertising, marketing, tourism, etc.

Publishing is an area that is coming up fast, and those with a literary bent of mind should definitely consider it. Those with strong professional training in interpretation and communication are needed in "information handling" fields such as journalism. Translation is yet another area, especially if you're familiar with other languages besides English. Due to their improved skills, even advertising and PR agencies find them more suitable for their work.

Creative writing and even technical writing is yet 5 another option. A career in technical writing does not require a scientific or engineering background, but it does require an excellent command of the English language: and the ability to write logically, clearly and accurately. Your research and reporting skills must also be sharp, because you must gather all the facts and concepts for your writing from the engineers, systems analysts, and programmers who develop and design the technology Once you have gleaned the information, your job is to present it to the lay person in an accurate and highly readable manner, so the ability to grasp technical concepts and explain them in easy-to-understand terms is essential.

Those with a good command over the language, particularly in spoken English and basic computer skills can also look at openings in leading call centres. Starting out as a call centre executive you can move up the ladder to the position of team leader and business development manager if you have what it takes.

With a higher degree in English, a student has a better grasp of the language, perception, sensitivity and control over writing skills. Besides entering into college and university level teaching, many post-graduates venture into training industry personnel on communication strategies.

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