Chapter 1: The English alphabet and simple words
The English alphabet has 26 letters. In these letters a, e, i, o, and u are called vowels. The remaining 21 letters are called consonants.
Why are the letters ‘ a ’, ‘ e ’, ‘ i ’, ‘ o ’ and ‘ u ’ called vowels of the English Alphabet?
The letters a, e, i, o, u and sometimes y (depending on the pronunciation), are called vowels in the English Alphabet. These letters make a speech sound by the vocal cords, that is not blocked by any organ, so these sounds come out unhindered. Every English word has a vowel or a vowel sound.
Some words like sky, try, fly, by, why, cry, shy do not have any of the regular vowels. However, they have the letter y which makes a vowel sound similar to the letter ‘ i ’.
In other words that have the letter ‘ y ’, like yes, yet, you, yellow, yacht, yesterday, yell, the letter y makes a consonant sound.
A word is a group of letters that make meaning.
1 A) Write down 5 words starting with each vowel.
A | E | I | O | U |
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Alphabetical Order or Dictionary order:
Words are generally written in alphabetical order. A dictionary has words in alphabetical order.
1 B) Write down the following words in alphabetical order.
- Football, Cricket, Volleyball, Tennis
- orange, pineapple, banana, apple
- pumpkin, cabbage, onion, potato
- window, door, roof, shelf
- table, chair, desk, sofa
- tiger, lion, dog, cat
- eagle, peacock, sparrow, crow
- head, eyes, nose, mouth
A Sentence
A sentence is a group of words that convey meaning or a complete idea.
Examples of good sentences (Statements or Declarative) are:
A Statement or Declarative sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop.
- My name is Prakash.
- I live in Bangalore.
- This is a good book.
- I will come tomorrow.
- I like tea with biscuits.
The sentences written above are called Statements or Declarative sentences.
An Interrogative sentence asks a question.
An Interrogative sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a question mark.
Examples of Interrogative sentences are:
- What is your name?
- Where do you work?
- When can you come?
- What is the cost of this car?
- How will you travel to Delhi?
The sentences written above are called Interrogative sentences.
1 C) Write down five Questions and five Statements of your own.