Fine grained soil can exist in several states, depending upon the amount of water in the soil system. The behaviour of soil is related to the amount of water in its structure. Atter Berg has defined the boundaries of the different states in terms of “Limits”. Liquid limit is the water content at which the soil has very small shear strength and flows to close a groove of standard width when jarred in the specified manner. The shrinkage limit is the  water content that is just sufficient to fill the pores when the soil is at its minimum dried volume.