Welcome to En101 - A Common Language

The English Alphabet

Here are some basics you should know as you begin learning the English language.

The English alphabet has 26 combined vowels and consonants.
There are 5 vowels and 21 consonants.
Each English character has an upper case and lower case option.

Upper case

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Lower case

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Learning the English Vowels.

There are five vowel letters.

A - a

E - e

I - i

O - o

U - u

Sometimes the consonant "y" can be pronounced as a vowel.

To speak a second language well you must have some ability to detect the fine differences between the sounds that these vowels and consonants make.

Using Punctuation in the English Language

( . ) Using a period:

A period comes at the end of a sentence. It should only be used when you are making a statement.

Example: I like to read books.

( , ) Using a Comma:

Commas are used to create a pause in reading, to separate items in a list, to separate numbers in the thousands and above, and more.

Section 1: Creating a pause in the sentence.

Example: The battle was won, but the war was far from over.

Section 2: Using commas to separate three or more items.

Example: My favorite three foods are hamburgers, lasagna, and fried chicken.

Note: When separating three or more items in a sentence, you want to always use the word "and" before you list your final item. You must place your final comma before the word "and", as in the example above.

Section 3: Using a comma to seperate numbers in the "Thousands or Above."

Example: Today I sold my car for 13,500 dollars.

Note: You will use commas to separate long numbers into sets of three.

Section 4: Writing a date.

Example: Today is my birthday, April 19th, 1969.

Note: The comma falls between the "Day" and the "Year".

( ? ) Using a Question mark:

A question mark is used at the end of a sentence when asking a question.

Example: How old are you?

( ! ) Using an Exclamation Mark:

An exclamation mark is used to create a feeling of excitement in the reader.

Example: The building is collapsing, everybody run!

( ' ) Using an Apostrophe:

An apostrophe is used to show possession or ownership, to form contractions, and more.

Example: That is John's ball.

Note: To show ownership of an item you almost always place an ( 's ) at the end of the possessive noun. However, if the subject already ends with an ( s ) you only need to add an apostrophe: That is Gus' ball.

Section 2: Forming Contractions

Example: I would like to go, but I can't.

Note: In the sentence above the words 'can' and 'not' were combined to create the word "can't". There are many forms of contractions that you will need to study to fully understand which words can be combined.

( : ) Using a Colon:

A colon is used to mark a major division in a sentence, to indicate that the following is a list, or to introduce an explanation.

Section 1: Creating a list.

Example: Here is the list of ingredients you will need to make a cake: flour, milk, sugar, eggs, and baking powder.

Section 2: Introducing an explanation

Example: I'll tell you what I'm going to do: I'm going to follow my dreams.

( ; ) Using a Semicolon:

A semicolon is used to link two independent clauses with no connecting words.

Example: You should get your car inspected; otherwise, your car may break down.

Note: Most semicolons are followed by a transition word such as however, therefore, on the other hand, etc.