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ENGLISH GRAMMAR IN A NUTSHELL

Grammar enables us to understand the mechanism of sentence
construction.
A sentence is a group of words which tell us something about a
person or a thing.
PARTS OF SPEECH
1. Noun 2. Pronoun 3. Adjective 4. Adverb
Preposition
7.Conjunction 8. Interjection.

5.

Verb

6.

NOUNS: When we use a word to name something or somebody, we

are using it as a noun. In simple terms remember Noun is a naming
word.
Five kinds of nouns:
Proper Noun: We can use words to name a person, a place, a
particular building or thing. Such nouns are called proper nouns.
i) Chennai (Place) ii) Senthil (Person) iii) The Ripon Building
(Building) iv) Hero Honda (a thing) v) Jimmy (a pet dog)
Common Nouns: We can use words to name a species of class of
things.
Tiger (a species of cat family) Man (species of human beings) car (a
class of four wheeler)
Collective or Group Nouns: We can use words as nouns to refer to a
group of things.
A fleet of cars, a crowd of people, a bunch of idiots, a company of
soldiers
Abstract Noun: We can use words to name a state of things or affairs,
feelings, concept, ideas and other mental and emotional process.
Such naming words are called abstract noun.
Fear, love, patience, difference, number
Material Noun: We can use words to name materials:
Gold, silver, wood, steel, brass etc.,
Count and Uncount Nouns: There are things which we can count
and things which we cannot count. For instance we can count the
number of students in a class but we cannot count the amount of
water in a well.
Count Nouns: Names of things that can be counted are called count
nouns.
Student, building, pens, books, people etc.

Uncount Nouns: Names of things that cannot be counted are called

uncount nouns.
News, water, information, milk, sky etc.
Two forms of count Nouns:
Singular One in number: A book, one book, a pen, a cycle.
Plural - Two or more in number: Two books, several people, many
books.
PRONOUNS: These are basically placeholders for nouns in
sentences. They function grammatically just like nouns, but the
things to which they refer are context-dependent. They come in
several flavors:
Personal Pronouns: I, we (1st person), you (2nd person), he,
she, it, they (3rd person)
Demonstrative Pronouns: this, that, these, those. (These
words can also be used as adjectives.)
Relative Pronouns: who, which, that, in phrases such as the
man who won and the book that I read.
Interrogative Pronouns: who, which, what used as question
words, as in Who is she? and What do you want?
Theres also the impersonal pronoun one, as in One should
get lots of sleep.
ADJECTIVES: The are words that modify or qualify the meaning of a
noun or are words that give us additional information about nouns
such as small, red, and important are called adjectives. The articles
a, an, and the are a particular type of adjective; called determiners.
They determine/point out in an additional way what we are talking
about.
A and an can mean one: A friend of mine;
A/an can also mean per: 50 kms an hour, 3 meals a day.
A/an can also mean all: A dog can be dangerous sometimes.
A, an are used only with singular count nouns. They are used only
once in a speech writing. The second time we are speaking about the
same thing we use the.
A man came to see you. The man waited for some time and left.
Remember we use a / an according to sound and not spelling. U in
university is pronounced you. It is not a vowel. If U is pronounced
as ah as in umbrella we use an. In honest h is silent, we
pronounce it as onest. The sound is ah therefore we use an.

The is called specific determiner because it points out a specific or

definite way what we are talking about. the in fact, is a short and
weak (less emphatic) form of this that these and those.
Emphatic: this book; that book; these books; those books
Non-emphatic: the books; the book
Remember we can use the with singular and plural nouns.
We use the when we are speaking about things that are unique. i.e.,
only one by nature. For instance we have only one Sun, earth, sky
etc., Therefore we say the Sun; the Earth; the Sky.
We use the before the name of rivers:
The Krishna, The Cauvery, The Tungabhadra.
We use the before the names of ranges of mountains:
The Himalayas, the western ghats, The Vindhyas.
Remember The is not used before names of single mountains. Thus
the Tiruvannamalai is incorrect.
We Use the before:
Names of musical instruments: The violin, the guitar, the piano
Names of powerful posts: (which are only one of its type) The Chief
Minister, the Prime Minister, The President
Superlative adjective: The most intelligent student, the best book,
the tallest person
Names of famous buildings: The Red Fort, the LIC building, the
Tajmahal
Names of famous books, especially religious books: The Gita, The
Bible, The Koran, The Ramayana.
With words like first second etc which are called ordinal numbers:
The first theatre, the second row, the tenth bench.
With last and next eg., The next building, the last customer.
Before names of newspapers: eg., The Hindu, The Indian Express,
The tribune, The Times of India, The Prajavani.
Where the is not used:
We dont use the before proper nouns: Krishna, not The Krishna
We dont use the before names of places:
India, not the India, Bangalore, not the Bangalore, Chennai, not the
Chennai.
Determiners II:
The words some, any, few, little, are called general Determiners.
The words this, that, these and those, are called demonstrative
determiners.

The words my, our, your, his, her, its, their, are called possessive
determiners.
VERBS: These are words that describe actions, states of being, etc.
(The action can be abstract as well as physical, as in the word
describe in the previous sentence.)
Two Form of verbs: Regular Verb where d or ed is added. ask
asked, love-loved
Irregular verb where different form is added.
See Saw, get-got
Tenses:
There are Three Tenses: Present Tense, Past Tense, Future Tense
Simple Present: The simple present is neither Present nor past, nor
future. We can call it a general tense.
We use the simple present to speak about, Peoples habit/ customs,
Eternal Truths, Everyday activities, Activities that in your view are
permanent, Activities that go according to a time-table.
Negatives in the simple present are made by adding do not, does
not to the verb.
Questions in simple present are made by beginning the sentences
with do and does
Simple Present + Time is also used for speaking about arranged,
planned actions in the future. But this is mostly used in written
English.
Eg., The Prime Minister arrives tomorrow.
Present Continuous is used for activities that are happening
now/now-a-days.
Present Continuous + Time is used with an adverb of time to speak
about a future action. It indicates that arrangements for this action
have already been made and therefore, the action is certain to take
place.
Ashok is leaving for Delhi on July 4th. (He has bought the ticket)
We are going for a movie tonight (We have booked the tickets)
She is getting married this November (All arrangements have
been made)
Present Perfect:
Is used when we want to speak about a just completed action.
He has just left, We have just taken our dinner.
Is used for a past action which has a result now.

Vinod you look different! Sir, I have removed my

moustache!
Is used for speaking about action that started in the past and is still
happening (now)
I have studied in this school for 8 years (Im still
studying here)
Present perfect continuous : is used when we are speaking about
the duration of a present action or we are telling people when the
action began.
I have been working - present perfect continuous.
I am living here (now duration not mentioned)
I have been living here for the last 7 years (duration)
I have been living here since 1995 (when it started)
Simple Past: is used to tell what happened. Eg., I left home at 8 am
yesterday
Past continuous is used to tell us what was happening. In this
structure we do not tell anything about when the action started or
when it ended. Eg., I was waiting for you
We used the past continuous alongwith a simple past when we are
speaking about two actions one background and one main action.
Eg., The telephone rang. (main action)
When I taking bath (background action.
The telephone rang when I was taking a bath.
Past Perfect: We use the past perfect to speak about an action that
happened earlier to the one we are talking about.
Eg., I went to Rameshs house on 17th. Ramesh invited me on 14th.
17th is the later action and 14th is the earlier action. So, while talking
about the earlier action, we use the past perfect.
Past Perfect Continuous: We use the past perfect continuous to
speak about the duration or the starting time of an action that was
continuing in the past.
Eg., I had been living in Pune since 2005.
Her eyes were red. She had been crying.
Simple Future: We use the Simple future (with will) to tell what we
intend to do, what we promise to do or what we are likely to do. Eg.,
She will go to Delhi from Mumbai.

Future Continuous: We use this tense to speak about some

continuing action in the future. Eg., Don go in the afternoon. He will
be sleeping.
Future Perfect: We use this tense when we want to say that an
action will have been completed by a certain time in future. It is
usually used with expressions like by this time tomorrow, by July
Eg., I will have repaired the Scooter by tomorrow evening.
Future Perfect Continuous: We use this tense to speak about the
duration of an action that will be happening in the future.
Eg., I will have been working in this company for 8 years this
September.
Passive Voice: Sometimes you may be speaking about something
which is not doing any action but receiving the effect of somebodys
action.
Suppose you say: Kamal is awarded Padmashri.
Here Kamal is not doing any action. He is the person receiving the
action.
Sentences where the subject is not doing any action but receiving the
action. Where the subject is passive, are said to be in the passive
voice.
List of passive voice structures according to tenses.
Simple Present: Movies are released on Fridays.
Present continuous: The movie is being released.
Present perfect: The movie has been released.
Simple Past: The movie was released.
Past Continuous: The movie was being released.
Indirect Speech: When we tell somebody what someone else said or
instructed or asked, we use a special sentence structure called
reported speech or indirect speech.
The indirect speech consists of two sentences joined by that.
The first sentence is the Speakers sentence. It usually begins like
this:
He said, He told, Leela said, They told, He asked.
The second sentence is the sentence carrying the message of what
someone else said.
Ravi told Raj I am from Andhra
In the indirect speech it becomes: Ravi told Raj that he was from
Andhra.
The conjunction that in some cases is optional.: Ravi told Raj he
was from Andhra.

We should note that when we use a past tense reporting verb like
said or told we also change the verb in the message sentence into
past tense.
Thus I am from Andhra becomes He was from Andhra.
If the reporting verb is in the past tense, the following changes will
take place:
Am was, is was, are were, was had been, were had been,
will be would be,
has had, have had, had had, can could, will would, may
might, must had to, have to had to, might might, should
should, would would, here there,
now then, yesterday the previous day, tomorrow the next day
Past Perfect: The movie has been released.
Simple Future: The movie will be released.
Future Perfect: The movie will have been released
ADVERBS: These are words that modify words other than nouns.
Usually they modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, as the word
completely does in these sentences:
I agree completely. (modifies the verb agree)
Completely happy people are rare. (modifies the
adjective happy)
It was completely badly done. (modifies the adverb
badly)
Occasionally they can modify other parts of speech:
He is really into Indian music. (really modifies the
preposition into)
Many adjectives can be made into adverbs by adding ly: complete,
completely.
PREPOSITION: These are words such as in, on, into, out, of, on
behalf of, for, by, with, from, to, about, etc. Prepositions show, time,
place, position, method etc., called its object. The unit formed by a
preposition and its object (with modifiers) is called a prepositional
phrase. Prepositional phrases modify other words in the sentence,
that is, they function as adjectives and adverbs. For example, in the
big room is a prepositional phrase that can be used as follows:
The table in the big room is round. (modifies the noun
table)

He stood in the big room. (modifies the verb stood)

The following are commonly used prepositions:
At, except, after, with, along, into, among, in, amidst, like,
around, for, as, onto, above, of, between, to, below, over, before,
near, beyond, towards, beneath, within, without and to.
CONJUNCTION: These are words such as and, but, or, because,
although, etc., that join words or parts of sentences. Some words
can be used as either prepositions or conjunctions, such as after:
Conjunctions are words that join words, phrases or sentences.
I have joined the summer English course.
I want to improve my English.
I have joined the summer English course because I want to improve
my English.- is conjunction.
INTERJECTION: These are words which express strong feelings or
emotions such as oh, well, alas, (strong feelings )etc., that can be
stuck into a sentence but are structurally separate from the rest of the
sentence.
Oh. God! Nonsense! What a beautiful day! Alas!
MODAL WORDS:
Can, could, would, should, may, might, must, have to, used to,
ought to
Can: with the meaning able to. I can speak Hindi, She can type at
60 words per minute.
When we want somebodys permission. Can, I come in Sir?
With the meaning it is possible, is it possible- Can we win this
match? Yes, we can. Can you come today? Yes, I can.
With the expression Can you please.. to give instruction in a polite
way.
Can you wait please? Can you please come tomorrow?
Could: We use could with the meaning was able to or were able
to and could not with the meaning was not able to or were not able
to
Could you reach the station in time? Ans: No. We could not.
Could he get through the exams? Ans: Yes. He could.
I could understand what he was saying. But I could not do anything.
When we want somebodys permission. Here could is in present
tense and it conveys more politeness than can

Could I come in Sir?

Could I use your telephone?
Should: We use should when we want to give somebody a piece
of advice or when we want to put gentle pressure on somebody to do
something.
Ravi, you should study now.,
You all should come to the class by 10 tomorrow.
Would: We use would with the meaning used to. That is, we use
would to speak about a past habitual or regular activity.
He would work only in the morning and would have the rest of the
day free to himself.
Would like:We use would like with the meaning want. It is a
present tense expression and it is a stylish way of saying I want.
I want some water I would like to have some water.
I want to meet the manager I would like to meet the manager.
What would to like to have for Dinner?
Would you: We use would you to give an instruction or order in a
very polite way.
Would you wait? Would you, please, come tomorrow?
Would rather : We use would rather to show what we prefer to do.
I would rather go into business. I would rather be a doctor than a
clerk
Ought to: Like should we also useought to to give advice or put
gentle pressure on somebody to do something.
You ought to obey your parents. You ought to look for a good job.
Used to: We use used to like would for past habitual or past
regular activity.
He used to eat a lot. She used to come to my house. Now she has
stopped.
May: We use May when we want to ask for somebodys permission
to do something.
May I borrow your pen please? May I come in Sir?
We use May when we are not sure about what we are saying.
I may go to Mumbai next week. (not sure) I am going to Mumbai Next
week (sure)
Might: We use Might when our doubt is greater.
I might go to Mumbai next week (very doubtful) It might rain
Must: We use Must to say there is a compulsion or pressure on
somebody to do something. You must bring the files tomorrow.
He must be a graduate.

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You must report for duty on 10th of this month.

Must be: We use must be when we have strong reasons to believe
that something is like what you are describing.
Suppose your friend speaks good Hindi and therefore, you think that
he is a north Indian.
You express your belief like this:
You must be North India.
Have to: We use have to when we want to say that there is a
compulsion or pressure on somebody to do something.
You have to meet Mr. Subodh at the station.
Had to: had to is past tense of have to:
He had to go to his native place.
Sorry, I could not come yesterday. I had to attend a
marriage.
Capital Letter:
We are going to start our look at English by looking at Capital letters.
When do we use a capital letter?
We always use a capital letter at the start of a sentence.
We always use a capital letter for the names of places, people and
titles (proper nouns).
We always use a capital I for talking about yourself
Try these examples. Put the capital letters in the correct places
where is the toy shop? - Where is the toy shop?
can you meet me at peter's house on friday? - Can you meet me at
Peter's house on Friday?
the great ship titanic pulled out of southampton into the english
channnel.
The great ship Titanic pulled out of Southampton into the English
Channel.
"where are you going" asked mr fern. - "Where are you going?"
asked Mr Fern.
Theres a time for everything, and that includes capitalizing words. If
you want to know just when capitalization is called for in writing, read
the steps below. Once you know the rules, memorize them. Getting
them right will make a lasting impression. Getting them wrong will too.

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Instructions
Step 1
Begin each sentence with a capital letter, including sentences inside
quotation marks. Examples: The meeting will be held next
week.What she said was, Never call me in the morning.
Step 2
Use capital letters when a title includes a proper name or a numeral.
Examples: Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Pope Paul III
Step 3
Use a capital letter in the first word and all words of importance in
titles published. Example: The Miracle Worker
Step 4
Capitalize titles of people such as Senator Dean Skelos, and
capitalize an important title without a name. Example: Vice President
Step 5
Use a capital letter as the first letter of the days of the week and in
months and holidays. Examples: Monday, February, and Easter
Step 6
Use capital letters in the names of historical events, historical statues,
historical monuments, and historical papers. Examples: The Boston
Tea Party, The Liberty Bell, The Washington Monument, The United
States Constitution.
Step 7
Use capital letters in names that are of a geographical nature such as
Mediterranean Sea and when writing building names like the Leaning
Tower of Pisa.
Step 8
A capital letter should be the first letter in the name of an agency of
the government. The names of institutions, company names, and the
names of organizations should be capitalized as well. Examples: The
Air Force, John Hopkins Medical Institution, Canon U.S.A.,
Organization for Security in Europe
Step 9
When a noun is part of a name such as Calhoun High School, it
should be capitalized.Use a capital letter in the case of a proper noun
and in words that come from that proper noun. Examples: Texas and
Texan
Step 10
Use capital letters when naming religions, gods, and any language.
Examples: Hindu and Buddha

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Step 11
Use capital letters in department names. Example: Department of
Public Affairs
Step 12
When Mom, Dad, Grandmother, or Grandfather is used in place of a
name, the first letter is capitalized. Aunt and Uncle are also
capitalized when a name follows.

PUNCTUATION
The principal marks of punctuation are:
The Comma [,]
The Semicolon [;]
The Colon [:]
The Period [.]
The Interrogation [?]
The Exclamation [!]
The Dash []
The Parenthesis [()]
The Quotation [" "]
There are several other points or marks to indicate various relations,
but properly speaking such come under the heading of Printer's
Marks, some of which are treated elsewhere.
Of the above, the first four may be styled the grammatical points, and
the remaining five, the rhetorical points.
Apostrophe
The Apostrophe should come under the comma rather than under the
quotation marks or double comma. The word is Greek and signifies a
turning away from. The letter elided or turned away is generally an e.
In poetry and familiar dialogue the apostrophe marks the elision of a
syllable, as "I've for I have"; "Thou'rt for thou art"; "you'll for you will,"
etc. Sometimes it is necessary to abbreviate a word by leaving out
several letters. In such case the apostrophe takes the place of the
omitted letters as "cont'd for continued."

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The apostrophe is used to denote the elision of the century in dates,

where the century is understood or to save the repetition of a series
of figures, as "The Spirit of '76"; "I served in the army during the years
1895, '96, '97, '98 and '99." The principal use of the apostrophe is to
denote the possessive case. All nouns in the singular number
whether proper names or not, and all nouns in the plural ending with
any other letter than s, form the possessive by the addition of the
apostrophe and the letter s. The only exceptions to this rule are, that,
by poetical license the additional s may be elided in poetry for sake of
the metre, and in the scriptural phrases "For goodness' sake." "For
conscience' sake," "For Jesus' sake," etc.
Custom has done away with the s and these phrases are now idioms
of the language. All plural nouns ending in s form the possessive by
the addition of the apostrophe only as boys', horses'. The possessive
case of the personal pronouns never take the apostrophe, as ours,
yours, hers, theirs.
Colon
The Colon except in conventional uses is practically obsolete.
It is generally put at the end of a sentence introducing a long
quotation: "The cheers having subsided, Mr. Bryan spoke as follows:"
It is placed before an explanation or illustration of the subject under
consideration: "This is the meaning of the term:"
A direct quotation formally introduced is generally preceded by a
colon: "The great orator made this funny remark:"
The colon is often used in the title of books when the secondary or
subtitle is in apposition to the leading one and when the conjunction
or is omitted: "Acoustics: the Science of Sound."
It is used after the salutation in the beginning of letters: "Sir: My dear
Sir: Gentlemen: Dear Mr. Jones:" etc. In this connection a dash very
often follows the colon.
It is sometimes used to introduce details of a group of things already
referred to in the mass: "The boy's excuses for being late were: firstly,

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he did not know the time, secondly, he was sent on an errand, thirdly,
he tripped on a rock and fell by the wayside."
Comma
Comma: The office of the Comma is to show the slightest separation
which calls for punctuation at all. It should be omitted whenever
possible. It is used to mark the least divisions of a sentence.
A series of words or phrases has its parts separated by commas:
"Lying, trickery, chicanery, perjury, were natural to him." "The brave,
daring, faithful soldier died facing the foe." If the series is in pairs,
commas separate the pairs: "Rich and poor, learned and unlearned,
black and white, Christian and Jew, Mohammedan and Buddhist must
pass through the same gate."
A comma is used before a short quotation: "It was Patrick Henry who
said, 'Give me liberty or give me death.'"
When the subject of the sentence is a clause or a long phrase, a
comma is used after such subject: "That he has no reverence for the
God I love, proves his insincerity." "Simulated piety, with a black coat
and a sanctimonious look, does not proclaim a Christian."
An expression used parenthetically should be inclosed by commas:
"The old man, as a general rule, takes a morning walk."
Words in apposition are set off by commas: "McKinley, the President,
was assassinated."
Relative clauses, if not restrictive, require commas: "The book, which
is the simplest, is often the most profound."
In continued sentences each should be followed by a comma:
"Electricity lights our dwellings and streets, pulls cars, trains, drives
the engines of our mills and factories."
When a verb is omitted a comma takes its place: "Lincoln was a great
statesman; Grant, a great soldier."
The subject of address is followed by a comma: "John, you are a
good man."

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In numeration, commas are used to express periods of three figures:

"Mountains 25,000 feet high; 1,000,000 dollars."
Dash
The Dash is generally confined to cases where there is a sudden
break from the general run of the passage. Of all the punctuation
marks it is the most misused.
It is employed to denote sudden change in the construction or
sentiment: "The Heroes of the Civil War,how we cherish them." "He
was a fine fellowin his own opinion."
When a word or expression is repeated for oratorical effect, a dash is
used to introduce the repetition: "Shakespeare was the greatest of all
poetsShakespeare, the intellectual ocean whose waves washed
the continents of all thought."
The Dash is used to indicate a conclusion without expressing it: "He
is an excellent man but"
It is used to indicate what is not expected or what is not the natural
outcome of what has gone before: "He delved deep into the bowels of
the earth and found instead of the hidden treasurea button."
It is used to denote the omission of letters or figures: "Jn Js for
John Jones; 1908-9 for 1908 and 1909; Matthew VII:5-8 for Matthew
VII:5, 6, 7, and 8.
When an ellipsis of the words, namely, that is, to wit, etc., takes
place, the dash is used to supply them: "He excelled in three
branchesarithmetic, algebra, and geometry."
A dash is used to denote the omission of part of a word when it is
undesirable to write the full word: He is somewhat of a rl (rascal).
This is especially the case in profane words.
Between a citation and the authority for it there is generally a dash:
"All the world's a stage."Shakespeare.

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When questions and answers are put in the same paragraph they
should be separated by dashes: "Are you a good boy? Yes, Sir.Do
you love study? I do."
Exclamation
The Exclamation point should be sparingly used, particularly in prose.
Its chief use is to denote emotion of some kind.
It is generally employed with interjections or clauses used as
interjections: "Alas! I am forsaken." "What a lovely landscape!"
Expressions of strong emotion call for the exclamation: "Charge,
Chester, charge! On, Stanley, on!"
When the emotion is very strong double exclamation points may be
used: "Assist him!! I would rather assist Satan!!"
Parenthesis
Marks of Parenthesis are used to separate expressions inserted in
the body of a sentence, which are illustrative of the meaning, but
have no essential connection with the sentence, and could be done
without. They should be used as little as possible for they show that
something is being brought into a sentence that does not belong to it.
When the unity of a sentence is broken the words causing the break
should be enclosed in parenthesis: "We cannot believe a liar (and
Jones is one), even when he speaks the truth."
In reports of speeches marks of parenthesis are used to denote
interpolations of approval or disapproval by the audience: "The
masses must not submit to the tyranny of the classes (hear, hear), we
must show the trust magnates (groans), that they cannot ride roughshod over our dearest rights (cheers);" "If the gentleman from Ohio
(Mr. Brown), will not be our spokesman, we must select another. (A
voice,Get Robinson)."
When a parenthesis is inserted in the sentence where no comma is
required, no point should be used before either parenthesis. When
inserted at a place requiring a comma, if the parenthetical matter
relates to the whole sentence, a comma should be used before each

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parenthesis; if it relates to a single word, or short clause, no stop

should come before it, but a comma should be put after the closing
parenthesis.
Period
The Period is the simplest punctuation mark. It is simply used to mark
the end of a complete sentence that is neither interrogative nor
exclamatory.
After every sentence conveying a complete meaning: "Birds fly."
"Plants grow." "Man is mortal."
In abbreviations: after every abbreviated word: Rt. Rev. T. C.
Alexander, D.D., L.L.D.
A period is used on the title pages of books after the name of the
book, after the author's name, after the publisher's imprint: American
Trails. By Theodore Roosevelt. New York. Scribner Company
Question Mark
The Mark of Interrogation is used to ask or suggest a question.
Every question admitting of an answer, even when it is not expected,
should be followed by the mark of interrogation: "Who has not heard
of Napoleon?"
When several questions have a common dependence they should be
followed by one mark of interrogation at the end of the series: "Where
now are the playthings and friends of my boyhood; the laughing boys;
the winsome girls; the fond neighbors whom I loved?"
The mark is often used parenthetically to suggest doubt: "In 1893 (?)
Gladstone became converted to Home Rule for Ireland."
Quotations
The Quotation marks are used to show that the words enclosed by
them are borrowed.
A direct quotation should be enclosed within the quotation marks:
Abraham Lincoln said,"I shall make this land too hot for the feet of
slaves."

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When a quotation is embraced within another, the contained

quotation has only single marks: Franklin said, "Most men come to
believe 'honesty is the best policy.'"
When a quotation consists of several paragraphs the quotation marks
should precede each paragraph.
Titles of books, pictures and newspapers when formally given are
quoted.
Often the names of ships are quoted though there is no occasion for
it.
SemiColon
parts of compound sentences. It is much used in contrasts:
"Gladstone was great as a statesman; he was sublime as a man."
The Semicolon is used between the parts of all compound sentences
in which the grammatical subject of the second part is different from
that of the first: "The power of England relies upon the wisdom of her
statesmen; the power of America upon the strength of her army and
navy."
The Semicolon is used before words and abbreviations which
introduce particulars or specifications following after, such as, namely,
as, e.g., vid., i.e., etc.: "He had three defects; namely, carelessness,
lack of concentration and obstinacy in his ideas." "An island is a
portion of land entirely surrounded by water; as Cuba." "The names
of cities should always commence with a capital letter; e.g., New
York, Paris." "The boy was proficient in one branch; viz.,
Mathematics." "No man is perfect; i.e., free from all blemish."

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