We can tell that a table is in second normal form if it saitisfies the following.
i) It should be in first normal form.
ii) When the Table has only single column primary key, then it means automatically in second normal form. otherwise if the table has a composite primary key, then the other column should depends on all the columns of that composite key.
Eg:
OrderItems Table (ORderId,ItemId,ItemDescription,ItemQty,ItemPrice)
Now this table represents the Items ordered in that order.
that means the primary key is both OrderId and ItemId
Now check the remaining columns,
ItemDescription : Description of the Item, means it depends only on Items table. so this column depends only on ItemId column. so this column is not allowed.
ItemQty : The Quantity of the Item ordered in That Order. this column depends on both the columns. so this column is ok.
ItemPrice : the Price of the Item. again it depends only on ItemId column. so this column is not allowed.
so ,we will split it into 2 parts
OrderITems (OrderId,ITemId,ItemQuantity)
Items(ItemId,ItemDescription,ItemPrice)
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him forever.