📘 General English Notes
I. Parts of Speech
1. Noun – names a person, place, thing, or idea
Examples: teacher, school, pencil, happiness
2. Pronoun – replaces a noun
Examples: he, she, it, they, we
3. Verb – shows action or state of being
Examples: run, jump, is, are
4. Adjective – describes a noun
Examples: tall, red, beautiful, loud
5. Adverb – describes a verb, adjective, or another adverb
Examples: quickly, very, slowly, well
6. Preposition – shows relationship between words (usually
location or time)
Examples: on, in, under, before, after
7. Conjunction – connects words or groups of words
Examples: and, but, or, because
8. Interjection – shows strong feeling or emotion
Examples: Wow! Ouch! Hey!
II. Tenses of Verbs
Present – I eat / He eats
Past – I ate
Future – I will eat
Present Continuous – I am eating
Past Perfect – I had eaten
Future Perfect – I will have eaten
III. Sentence Structure
Simple Sentence – one subject + one verb
Example: The dog barked.
Compound Sentence – two independent clauses joined by a
conjunction
Example: I studied, and I passed the test.
Complex Sentence – one independent clause + one or more
dependent clauses
Example: Because I was tired, I went to sleep.
IV. Subject-Verb Agreement
Singular subject → singular verb
She likes ice cream.
Plural subject → plural verb
They like ice cream.
V. Punctuation Marks
Period (.) – end of a sentence
Comma (,) – separates items in a list or clauses
Question mark (?) – for questions
Exclamation mark (!) – for strong emotions
Quotation marks (" ") – for direct speech
Apostrophe (’) – for contractions or possession
Example: it's (it is), John's book
VI. Types of Writing
1. Narrative – tells a story
2. Descriptive – paints a picture using words
3. Expository – explains or informs
4. Persuasive – convinces the reader of something
5. Letter Writing – formal or informal style
VII. Reading Skills
Main Idea – what the paragraph or story is mostly about
Supporting Details – examples and explanations that back up
the main idea
Inference – reading between the lines (guessing meaning from
clues)
Sequence of Events – order in which things happen
Compare and Contrast – finding similarities and differences
VIII. Vocabulary Tips
Use a dictionary or context clues to learn word meanings
Learn synonyms (words with similar meanings) and antonyms
(opposites)
Build vocabulary with prefixes (un-, re-, pre-) and suffixes (-ful,
-less, -ly)
IX. Common Grammar Mistakes
Your vs You’re:
Your = possessive (your bag), You’re = you are
Their / There / They’re:
Their = belonging to them, There = place, They’re = they are
Its vs It’s:
Its = belonging to it, It’s = it is
Then vs Than:
Then = time, Than = comparison
X. Tips to Improve in English
Read books, articles, and poems
Practice writing daily (journals, essays, letters)
Listen to English songs, movies, or audiobooks
Speak and practice with others
Use a vocabulary notebook
