CBSE FREAK

1. Introduction to Punctuations Imagine yourself driving a racing car. What do you do in a car race? You drive as fast as you can, and try to beat your opponents to the finish line. If the racing track is an absolutely straight path, then there would not be much of a problem. But what if the racing track is full of twists and turns? Do you think that only driving fast will do? No. You will have to learn the art of guiding your car through the twists and turns without crashing. Now imagine that your car is the fastest. However, its brakes are faulty and the steering wheel doesn’t do what its name suggests−−‘steer’. Do you think you will be able to finish on the ‘podium’? Forget winning the race, will you be able to complete the race with your bones and senses intact? The answer seems easy enough—‘no’. Consider the following statement: He is dumb. This seems easy enough in that it makes its meaning clear. What if this statement is part of a larger group of statemen

1. Introduction to Reported Speech Reported speech or indirect speech is the second-hand account of what has been spoken by someone else ( direct speech ). In the above example, Amit’s friend reports what their teacher had said in the classroom. Inverted commas (“…”) are used for indicating direct speech, i.e., for showing the exact words spoken by the speaker. For example: Teacher: “I will give a test on reported speech tomorrow.” There are two ways of reporting this direct speech. I. Direct reported speech : By using the exact words of the speaker. The teacher said, “I will give a test on reported speech tomorrow.” As you would have noticed, there is not much difference between direct speech and direct reported speech . Both make use of the inverted commas, thereby indicating that the exact words of the speaker have been used. However, the use of the reporting verb (‘said’ in this case) in the latter differentiates it from the former. II. Ind

1. Introduction to Tenses The word ‘tense’ is derived from the Latin word ‘ tempus ’. It indicates the time of the occurrence of an action or an event . In any sentence, an action or a state of being is denoted by the verb. Hence, tenses are directly related to verbs. The different states of time are: Past , Present and Future . Very simply speaking, past is what happened yesterday; present is what happens today; and future is what will happen tomorrow. Note how at different moments the same event (the test on English tenses) can be situated in the future (when the teacher informs the students about the test), the present (when the test is being conducted) and the past (when the students are discussing the test). 2. The Twelve Tenses In English grammar, past, present and future have been further divided as follows: PRESENT PAST FUTURE Simple Simple Simple Continuous/Progressive Continuous/Progressive Continuous/Progressive Perfect Simple Perfect Simple Perfect S

1. Introduction to Sentences (a) A sentence is a group of words that makes complete sense . It does not depend upon anything else to make its meaning clear. For example: Raju hit the ball. Here, the individual words ‘Raju’ ‘hit’ ‘the’ ‘ball’ combine to form a group that has a particular meaning— someone named Raju has hit the ball . This brings us to the second important point about a sentence. (b) A sentence consists of two parts— subject and predicate . The subject of a sentence is the person, place, thing or idea being talked about . The predicate consists of a word or words which show what is being talked about the person, place, thing or idea . Let us take the previous example: [Raju] [hit the ball.] Here, ‘Raju’ is the subject. He is the topic of the sentence . The remaining part of the sentence forms the predicate as it contains all the information regarding the topic (i.e., Raju). 2. The Subject and Predicate of a Sentence The Subject of a Sentence The su

CREATIVE WRITING Creative writing can be described as a piece of writing that expresses one's thoughts and feelings in a creative and imaginative manner. Creative writing doesn’t follow the conventional techniques of writing. A creative writer may express his thoughts the way he wants, without following the constraining demands of a factual or probable development of an explanatory write up. Important aspects of creative writing: 1. Imagination:  Imagination is an important element of creative writing. Imagination of  a creative writer is well reflected in his view or perspective, his  choice of words, the comparisons he makes, the images and tone he uses  as well as the novelty of his ideas. 2. Novelty:  To say things in a new way is one of the most important aspect of  creative writing. It makes the writing pleasurable to the reader.  Novelty may reflect in the words, sentences, phrases used. 3. Exaggeration: It is one way in which a fact is distinguished from the fiction

Letter-writing “Letter writing is an important channel of communication between people who are geographically distant from one another.” Letter writing was the only means of communication between people in the earlier times when technological advancement like telephone and email were not carried out. Letter is generally of two kinds: 1. Formal Letter: These are business or official letters. They are written to convey official information or to complain about something. These letters are written to public agencies in order to communicate about the requirements in civic life. A letter to request change in one’s address is an example of a formal letter. 2. Informal Letter: Informal letters refer to personal letters. They are written to communicate with friends and family. Formal letters Following are some of the steps in writing formal letters. They can, however, be modified according to the purpose and the person the letter is addressed. 1. (i) Introducing oneself if it is