The English language has some complicated spelling rules. While English is a Germanic language, it borrows heavily from Latin, Greek, and other modern languages. This means many words aren’t spelled at all like you would expect!
Luckily, there are some basic spelling rules and tips to help you spell words correctly in English. Keep in mind there are exceptions to every rule, particularly as foreign words become more common in this language. But these guidelines can help you master English spelling.
Keep reading to learn some commonly misspelled words and improve your spelling skills.
Common Spelling Rules in English
Let’s check out some of the most common spelling rules in the English language.
I Before E
Chances are, you’ve heard the rhyme, “I before E except after C.” But did you know the entire rhyme is actually, “I before E except after C, or when sounded as A as in neighbor or weigh”?
In other words, the letter I comes before the letter E in most cases. The exceptions are usually when they come after the letter C or if the letter combination makes a long /a/ sound.
Of course, it’s easy to find words that break this rule, such as “leisure” and “height.” Use this rhyme as more of a general guideline.
U After Q
This rule is one of the easiest to learn because the exceptions are few and far between. The letter Q must be followed by the letter U in all English words.
The rule is the same whether Q is at the beginning of a word or in the middle. If Q is at the end, there will be an E after the U. The rule is also true whether Q makes a /kw/ sound or a /k/ sound.
Endings of English Words
There are several rules that involve the endings of words. First, no words end in V or J.
Typically, if a one-syllable word ends in F, L, or S, you should double that letter. With F and L, the only exceptions are for consonant blends, which is when another consonant precedes the letter. There are more exceptions to the double-S rule, but it’s still a helpful guideline to follow.
If you need to add a suffix to a word that ends in a vowel plus Y, don’t drop any letters. Often, words that end in just Y will drop the letter or replace it with an I before a suffix. But if a vowel precedes the Y, keep all the letters the same (e.g. journey, journeys, journeying).
Some words double the final letter before suffixes, while others don’t. If a word ends with a consonant, you should generally double the consonant if there’s only one vowel before it in the final syllable (e.g. admit, admitted, admitting). But if there is more than one vowel or another consonant in the final syllable, you won’t double the final consonant (e.g. accept, accepted, accepting).
CK After a Vowel
Learning how to spell words with the /k/ sound is difficult. The letters C, K, CK, QU, and even CH can all make the /k/ sound.
If the /k/ sound follows just one vowel in that syllable, you will usually write a CK, like in the words lackey or duck. Rarely does CK follow another consonant or a double vowel in the same syllable.
C and G Before Vowels
The pronunciation of C and G changes depending on which vowel follows them. They will usually make a soft sound before E, I, and Y. This means C will sound like /s/ and G will sound like /j/. C and G make hard sounds—/k/ and /g/ respectively—before A, O, and U.
For example, city, cede, and cytoplasm use the soft C. The soft G appears in giraffe, gentle, and gym. There are plenty of exceptions, especially with the letter G, but knowing this rule will teach you how to spell most words with C and G.
Every Syllable Needs a Vowel Sound
Almost every word in English requires a vowel. In fact, every syllable requires a vowel sound. Usually, this means A, E, I, O, or U, but sometimes Y acts like a vowel even though it’s a consonant. If your word is missing a vowel, you’ve most likely made a spelling error.
Keep in mind that when U follows Q, it’s not considered a vowel sound. Another vowel is required for any syllable containing QU.
The Silent E
English words have many silent letters, but E plays this role the most. One rule involving the Silent E is vowel-consonant-E. The silent E gives the vowel a long sound, but only if there’s just one consonant between them.
In most cases, you should drop the silent E before adding a suffix like -ing or -ed. However, you will usually keep the silent E before the suffix -able.
Common Misspelled Words
Some words are more commonly misspelled than others. Spelling is even more complicated when you consider differences in English around the world. The correct spelling of a word in British English might be incorrect in American English, and vice versa.
Below are some of the most commonly misspelled words in the English language. We tried to only list words that are the same on both sides of the Atlantic, and we left out most homonyms.
- Acceptable
- Accommodation
- Acquire
- Apartment
- Apparent
- Atheist
- Background
- Beautiful
- Believe
- Belligerent
- Breathe
- Calendar
- Caramel
- Cemetery
- Colleague
- Colonel (pronounced Ker-Nel)
- Committed
- Conscience
- Conscientious
- Conscious
- Definitely
- Discipline
- Dumbbell
- Embarrass
- Entrepreneur
- Exhilarate
- Exceed
- Existence
- Experience
- Fiery
- Ferocious
- Foolproof
- Foreign
- Fulfill
- Gauge
- Grateful
- Guarantee
- Height
- Humorous
- Immediate
- Independent
- Indispensable
- Intelligence
- Jewelry
- Judgment
- Kindergarten
- Laid
- Lead
- Leisure
- Liaison
- Library
- Lieutenant
- Maintenance
- Medieval
- Millennium
- Miniature
- Mischievous
- Misspell
- Necessary
- Neighbor
- Niece
- Ninety
- Occasion
- Occurred
- Pastime
- Perseverance
- Playwright
- Precede
- Privilege
- Pronunciation
- Publicly
- Receipt
- Receive
- Recommend
- Referred
- Relevant
- Schedule
- Separate
- Sergeant
- Supersede
- Successful
- Threshold
- Truly
- Twelfth
- Until
- Vacuum
- Weird
- Withhold
6 Tips on How to Spell
The good news is you don’t have to live your life as a terrible speller. You can learn how to spell words correctly. Here are some tips to help you improve your spelling skills.
Learn Spelling Rules
Learning spelling rules is a great way to cut down on spelling errors. You can start by learning the ones listed earlier in this article.
It’s impossible to learn the correct spelling for every word because there are so many rule exceptions, but you can eliminate many of your commonly misspelled words.
Read Your Writing Out Loud
When you’re proofreading your own work, a great trick is reading aloud. When you read aloud, you will find many spelling mistakes because the word just won’t sound right.
There’s a reason your grade school teachers told you to sound out words when you learned to read. Knowing what phonetic sounds correspond to each letter will help you spell correctly.
Read Frequently
The more you read, the more your brain will absorb the correct spelling of words. You don’t have to just read books, either. Magazines, news stories, and blogs are all great options.
Master the Homonyms
English has many homonyms, homographs, and homophones. Let’s clarify what these terms mean. Homophones are words that sound the same but have different spellings, while homographs are words with the same spelling but different pronunciations.
Homonyms can be either or both, and often refer to words that have the same spelling and pronunciation but different meanings (like a bow that shoots arrows and a bow on a dress). Some people use the word homonym as a way to reference all the types of similar words.
If you can learn how to spell all the main homonyms, you will eliminate many spelling mistakes in your writing.
Play Word Games
Learning how to spell better doesn’t have to feel like school work. Gamify your learning to make it fun!
Spelling board games like Scrabble, Boggle, and Upwords make for a fun game night with friends and family, and they help you practice spelling skills, too!
You can also play word games on your device. Wordle and Letter Boxed are popular online games, or you can opt for classics like crossword puzzles and word searches. There are also apps like Words with Friends and Wordscapes.
Use AI to Help You Write
Even a world spelling bee champion makes mistakes. The best way to find and eliminate errors in your writing is by using a spelling and grammar checker like ProWritingAid.
It’s quick, efficient, and free to check your spelling with our AI-powered technology.
Conclusion: How to Spell Correctly
You don’t have to enter a spelling bee competition to want to improve your spelling. Improving your spelling will make your written communication easier and clearer. By using a few tips and tricks, you can learn how to spell words correctly more often.
Have you tried ProWritingAid yet? What are you waiting for? It’s the best tool for making sure your copy is strong, clear, and error-free!
Bad spelling can be dangerous.
Let’s take the commonly misspelled words – your and you’re.
Some folks might write – “Your going to die,” when they meant to write, “You’re going to die.”
@_ryanpm_Bad grammar is scary #inverted #SometimesIRun #grammarlesson #tiktokteacher♬ Sometimes – Britney Spears
Okay, this might be an extreme example.
Whether you are writing an essay for school, an important email, or a resume for a new job, the spelling of the words you use matter a lot. After all, an email with a bunch of spelling errors can make you look lazy or unprofessional.
However, the English language is drawn from multiple sources, like Latin and Greek. Add in the nuances between American English and British English. And, it is easy to see how people get confused about all of the different spelling rules.
Luckily, it is easy to fix. Our phones and computers now come with built-in spell checkers, so we don’t have to turn to Merriam Webster, dictionary.com, or, heaven forbid, memorize all of the ways to spell words like our grandfathers and grandmothers had to do back in the old days pre-computers, Internet, and smartphones.
However, the best spellers – you know the ones who participated in the National Spelling Bee as kids – know autocorrect won’t always have your back and can sometimes feel like it’s actively working against you. For example, every time your phone autocorrects a certain word to “duck” or “ducking” in your texts.
In this post, we’ll share the basics of spelling, tips for improving your skills, and a few of the most commonly misspelled English words.
What does spelling mean?
Essentially, spelling is the forming of words or letters in the correct, accepted order. It boils down to a series of letters that make up a word.
Being able to spell words correctly is not this magical force or superpower. Anyone can learn to be a better speller if you learn these basic rules to guide English spelling.
Without diving into the specifics of each, here are 5 of the categories that most spelling rules apply to in English:
• Prefixes and suffixes
• Doubling letters
• Dropping and adding letters
• Verb forms
• Plurals
The dictionary uses both American and British spellings of words. For instance, “color” is the American form of the word “colour” in British spelling. Though neither spelling is incorrect, the spelling you’ll use will likely depend on where you live.
British and American spellings of words often follow different spelling rules, so you’ll need to be sure to follow the rules of whichever you use.
How to spell words correctly
There are many rules to follow when it comes to spelling, and so many of these rules aren’t set in stone. The rules aren’t always applied the same way to different words.
This is a recipe for confusion.
But don’t worry! By keeping a few hints in mind, you can improve your spelling without having to memorize a ton of rules.
• Start by sounding out the words. Not every word is spelled how it sounds, but the phonetic respelling will give you a good start.
• Remember the old saying, “I before E except after C.”
• Know that adding a prefix doesn’t change the spelling of a word.
• Look for smaller words within a larger, more complex word. If you can spell the smaller words, it can get you closer to the bigger picture.
• Know that the second vowel is silent when two vowels are next to each other.
• Make a list of your most commonly misspelled words and practice spelling them correctly.
• Use a memory trick! For example, this one to help you remember the spelling of island: an island is land in the ocean.
• When in doubt, use thesaurus.com as a shortcut to find synonyms of the words that are easier for you to spell.
Commonly misspelled words
Spelling is a fundamental skill, but it takes time and practice to get the rules right. Even then, some words are just trickier than others and are often misspelled.
People often have the same natural tendencies toward making similar spelling mistakes. Here are a few of the most common reasons that people misspell words:
• Not understanding patterns or blending
• Inability to apply phonetic rules
• Reversing certain letters
• Misunderstanding of the relationship between letter sounds
• Inability to put spelling rules into action
• Not adding an apostrophe in the right place – or even at all.
Not everyone struggles with the spelling of the same words or even makes the same type of spelling mistakes. However, some words in general are just more difficult for people to spell.
For example, this epic middle school teacher shares a bunch of commonly spelled words in this fun TikTok.
@queenbc84##inverted ##MyRoutine ##grammarcheck ##teachersoftiktok ##ela ##middleschoolenglish♬ original sound – Shuba
In addition, here are 20 more frequently misspelled words in the English language:
1.
Correct spelling: separate
Common misspelling(s): seperate
2.
Correct spelling: definitely
Common misspelling(s): definitly, definately
3.
Correct spelling: accommodate
Common misspelling(s): accomodate, acommodate
4.
Correct spelling: separate
Common misspelling(s): publically, pubically
5.
Correct spelling: government
Common misspelling(s): goverment
6.
Correct spelling: receive
Common misspelling(s): recieve
7.
Correct spelling: independent
Common misspelling(s): independant
8.
Correct spelling: acceptable
Common misspelling(s): acceptible
9.
Correct spelling: piece
Common misspelling(s): peice
10.
Correct spelling: grateful
Common misspelling(s): greatful
11.
Correct spelling: gauge
Common misspelling(s): guage
12.
Correct spelling: aluminium
Common misspelling(s): alluminnum, alluminum
13.
Correct spelling: possession
Common misspelling(s): posession, possesion
14.
Correct spelling: perseverance
Common misspelling(s): perserverance, perseverence
15.
Correct spelling: questionnaire
Common misspelling(s): questionaire, questionnaire
16.
Correct spelling: rhythm
Common misspelling(s): rhytm, rythm
17.
Correct spelling: maintenance
Common misspelling(s): maintanence, maintenence, maintnence
18.
Correct spelling: exceed
Common misspelling(s): excede
19.
Correct spelling: entrepreneur
Common misspelling(s): entepreneur
20.
Correct spelling: misspell
Common misspelling(s): mispell
***
In sum, the best way to improve your spelling? Practice, read, and write often. You could also try Writer! Start a free trial today and keep your spelling game sharp with the power of an AI writing platform.
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How to teach a child to write in English
The importance of knowledge of the international, English language is difficult to overestimate. You can feel confident with him in any country. However, the ability to speak and read is sometimes not enough, because often there is a need to write something.
It is better to start learning English from childhood. This will allow you to better master it and use it in the future, and the entire learning process is easier to divide into several stages. This division will allow you to teach your child to write in English much faster.
Step 1 — learning transcription
One of the most important stages is the study of the transcription of letters, because English has some peculiarities in the pronunciation of letter combinations — by ear, words are perceived differently than they are written. Having learned the transcription, the child will be able to easily perceive speech by ear, improve the ability in reading, and as a result, in writing.
After familiarization with the rules, it is necessary to consolidate the knowledge. To do this, it is enough to perform a simple exercise:
We launch a program that in a chaotic manner pronounces words with complex letter combinations and write them. This will be an effective way to teach your child to write in English from scratch.
Step 2 — learning the basics of grammar
For correct listening comprehension of English speech, and then writing sentences under dictation, it is important that the child can highlight prepositions, articles, pronouns, conjunctions and particles in it. Knowing the rules for using various parts of speech, you can know in advance that when writing, you need to separate them from other words.
Step 3 — reading in English
Reading can help you get the following benefits:
- improved pronunciation;
- a good way of memorizing the correct spelling of words for children with developed visual memory;
- memorizing the rules of punctuation;
- increase in vocabulary;
- repetition of grammar in practice.
You need to read regularly: at least 1-2 times a week. In this case, the time interval is selected individually, taking into account the child’s age, ability to concentrate and can, on average, be from 20 to 45 minutes. It will be much easier to learn the spelling of English words in this way, and given the additional advantages listed above, reading becomes indispensable when studying any foreign language.
Step 4 — dictation
The final and most difficult stage. Parents need to dictate the text that he will write down at a convenient pace for the child. The first few attempts will focus on identifying gaps in the previous steps. It is possible that you will have to return to studying some of the rules already passed, but this will take a little time.
After all the necessary rules are finally mastered, regular dictation will make it possible to consolidate the result and teach the child to write English words correctly.
Tips for organizing training
First of all, you need to choose the right lesson duration. For children 9-10 years old, it can last from 45 to 60 minutes — this is how much a child at this age can concentrate his attention and perceive well the incoming information. Younger kids usually exercise for 30-45 minutes.
During the lesson, it is worth alternating between activities, for example, for a lesson of 60 minutes:
- study of grammatical foundations, repetition of articles, tenses, prepositions — 10 minutes;
- practical exercises to consolidate grammar — 15 minutes;
- reading and translation of texts — 20 minutes;
- writing dictations — 15 minutes.
A properly organized learning process makes it possible to quickly master the necessary basics of the English language, developing which in a few months you can get a good result. The main thing is the regularity of the classes, because their effectiveness will depend on this. However, it is also not worthwhile to conduct lessons too often, because this can overload the child and he will no longer perceive information correctly.
English courses for children, which are held in Ayilandia, are great for those who do not have the opportunity to study with a child on their own. Specialists will find an individual approach to your child and quickly teach him the basics of the language, after which he will begin in-depth training on the correct spelling of words, as well as improving the skills of speaking in a foreign language.
Source: https://itlandia.by/blog/kak-nauchit-rebenka-pisat-na-angliyskom-yazyke/
Ege in English. essay
Without too much embellishment, it can be said that in the USE exam in English, the essay is the most difficult task. How can you correctly express your thought, give it logical arguments, support them with examples and explanations, and at the same time correctly and without errors arrange the text, and even not go beyond the number of words? In this article we will try to disassemble the structure of the essay and give tips on improving the quality of your essay.
Let’s start at the end. Your essay will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
Aspect Maximum Points
Solution of a communication problem (content) | 3 |
Organization of text (structure) | 3 |
Vocabulary | 3 |
Grammar | 3 |
Spelling and punctuation | 2 |
The maximum number of points you can get for an essay is 14 points.
Before we start thinking about fulfilling each criterion correctly, first let’s make our English essay testable. The most important thing here is volume.
Formally, your essay in English should be within 200-250 words. You don’t have to take it literally and panic if you’ve written 198 words. However, keep in mind that an essay will not be validated if it contains less than 180 words.
If you get more than 275 words, then the examiner will count 250 words from the beginning of the essay, trace the rest and check everything down to the line.
That is, in the first scenario, you lose the entire essay; with the second, you will most likely lose the conclusion, which is also important.
and structure of the essay
First of all, your English essay should cover ALL aspects of the assignment, and should also be written in an appropriate (neutral) style. It should be logically divided into paragraphs and correspond to the plan proposed in the assignment.
In order not to get confused in the process of writing your essay, you need to spend 5-7 minutes thinking about the plan and preparing all the arguments. Traditionally, we will divide the essay into five paragraphs.
Paragraph 1. Introduction
There must be a statement of the problem. Since the statement of the problem has already been set out in the assignment, your task is to correctly retell it. Precisely to RELATE, not to paraphrase.
Tip: Do not re-read the assignment 10 times until the wording is hammered into your head. Then it will be very, very difficult to write the introduction in your own words. Read the situation given in the assignment once or twice, make sure you understand it correctly. Close the finished situation and try to retell it in English exactly as you understood it, as if you were telling a friend about it who did not understand what was being discussed there. ATTENTION: after you have done this, be sure to open the situation and make sure that your retelling essentially coincides with the situation given to you. Now you can go further.
Instead of banal “Some people think, Others think, » can be used:
Some people claim that, while others argue that
After you have described the essence of the problem, you can ask the question directly, which you will answer in your essay. For example: “What is better: or?”, “What should we do: or?” etc. In 2018, a clarification was released that classified rhetorical questions as stylistic errors. Therefore, we do not use them.
The last sentence of your opening paragraph should be the purpose of your essay. This can be done, for example, like this:
In this essay I will try to look upon this issue.
In this essay I will try to express my opinion on this issue.
In this essay I would express my point of view on this issue.
In this essay I will try to answer this question. (This is the simplest option, if it will be difficult for you to remember the previous two, remember it)
Paragraph 2. Your opinion
It is most logical to start this paragraph with the statement of your position on this issue. Useful phrases (be sure to follow this punctuation!):
in my mind,
From my point of view
To my mind
Personally, I think that
I am certain that (Note! We do not abbreviate: we write I am)
As far as I am concerned,
Next, you need to give 2-3 arguments to support your point of view. Arguments can be any, if you interpret them correctly. That is, such that it would be difficult to argue with them (within reasonable limits, of course).
Tip: It is better to give 2 arguments and justify them in detail and give examples to support them than 3 short and not fully disclosed ones. Remember that the number of words in an essay is limited.
Here we should not forget about the means of logical connection of sentences. The first argument is a good place to start with:
Firstly,
to start with,
to begin with,
First of all,
After you have formulated the first argument, you need to confirm it and / or give an example in support. Here are the simplest models for how to do this:
because
… That is why
. For example,
If you started with a word «Firstly,», then the second argument should start with the word Secondly,
If the first argument came with the phrases “To start with,”, “To begin with,”, then the second can be started with the following words:
Moreover,
Furthermore,
Besides,
In addition,
The second argument must also be supported by an example or proof.
Paragraph 3. Opposite opinion
You will begin a paragraph by stating an opposite opinion on the proposed topic or question. You can do it like this:
Others believe that
Some people argue that
However, some people think that
This is followed by 1-2 arguments confirming the opposite opinion. I advise you to initially think of two. And how much to write in the end: 1 or 2 — decide in the process, based on the resulting size of your essay.
Advice: You will then have to dispute the opposite arguments, therefore, coming up with them initially, think over how you will dispute them. If you have nothing to object to the invented argument, it is better to immediately replace it with another, so as not to do it while writing the essay. It is also limited! Tip: When challenging arguments, you should not repeat anything written in the second paragraph. So if you can’t come up with a counterargument without repeating yourself, try coming up with something else. Alternatively, you can think of other pros while the essay is not yet written. In any case, it is better to think it over initially, while you are drawing up the outline of the essay, rather than during the writing process!
Paragraph 4. Your counterarguments
The point of this paragraph is to explain why you disagree with the opposite opinion. You can start a paragraph, for example, with a sentence:
I cannot agree with this opinion because
I am afraid I cannot agree with this idea because
Source: https://realstudy.ru/articles/51-ege-po-anglijskomu/82-ege-po-anglijskomu-essay.html
30 tricks to help you memorize words better
The prospect of forgetting everything you learned during a long-awaited conversation with native speakers doesn’t make you very happy, right? Me too. Then remember the important principles for replenishing an active vocabulary in a foreign language: study and practice. Regularly.
It is not enough to memorize a list of words in order to use them in speech or understand by ear in the future. Most likely, most will fly out of my head and not be remembered in the right situation. Your task — feel comfortable with every new expression that you learn and make it part of your vocabulary.
In this article, I will share with you effective methods that will help you learn to memorize words with a view to their further application in practice. I’ll also tell you what worked for me. Remember, it is not the quantity that matters, but the quality of memorization, let’s go!
1 Create a personal dictionary
Since the dictionary is personal, you will keep it in the way that is convenient for you. Write in a notebook or type on your computer.
- Keep track of which methods work best for you and apply them.
- Don’t learn too many words at once. Let it be a limited amount for a week.
- You can add a notebook to the dictionary for those words that you learn this week. Cross out words as you memorize and add new ones.
- Maintain a dictionary regularly, review it, and repeat words using the methods we will talk about next.
I tried different methods and simulators for memorization, but still stayed with my own: I practice exercises online and write down words with a pen in a notebook (a foreign word and an example of its use nearby).
2 Remember the school method
You can keep a dictionary traditionally (as we did at school): a column of words in Russian and an English version opposite each. Test yourself by covering each column with your hand in turn. I do not like this method, as it involves cramming individual words. Instead of learning to apply a word to a situation, we simply memorize a meaningless list that seldom makes sense apart from the situation.
3 Explore the context
Many people underestimate the power of context. In many languages, especially in English, words are ambiguous. By ignoring the context, you are making a big mistake. You can simply use it out of place in speech or misunderstand what is being said to you. Always work with context, no matter what materials you study.
4 Apply explanatory dictionaries with voice acting
Reduce the use of Russian-English (or other similar) vocabulary in teaching. If you really want to rely on a dictionary, take an explanatory dictionary of the target language, for example, English-English. Read examples of the use of a new word, immediately listen to its voice acting and repeat it aloud after a native speaker.
5 Make proposals from the 1st person
After reading the examples in the dictionary, immediately compose your own. Make a few sentences in the first person, that is, «from yourself.» Gradually, your list of ready-made phrases for conversation will be replenished.
6 Select thematic groups
I noticed that it is easier for me to memorize words by topic. It is enough to choose 7-15 words and master using several methods in combination.
I remember when I was taking courses myself, we made a menu for our restaurant, when we went through the topic of food, created projects to improve the environment, when we discussed the environment, made a resume and played out an interview when we learned business vocabulary.
7 Record synonyms and antonyms
When you memorize a word, immediately write down to it a couple of synonyms (words with the same meaning) or antonyms (words with the opposite meaning).
8 Prepare cards
You can make the cards yourself, order ready-made ones, or find them in online format. The bottom line is that on one side you write a word, and on the other its translation. I adapted this method for myself as follows: on one side there is a phrase (not a separate word!), And on the other an example of use or a phrase with a word skip, but without translation into Russian!
9 Glue Stickers
If you need to memorize single words, such as the names of items on your desktop, in the kitchen or in the hall, stick stickers with words in a foreign language. Without translation!
10 Find associations
Our brains love to make connections between new information and what we already know. Everything that we read, listen to and watch, he brings into pictures, feelings, ideas. This is how we remember. You can use a simple method: take a new word and remember what or with what situation you associate it. Or write it down.
11 Draw pictures and diagrams
Again, it all depends on imagination. Write down a word to remember and make a diagram describing what ideas you have. You can just draw a funny picture or mind map if there are many words. In order not to look for a leaf every time and not waste time, allocate a special notebook for this lesson. By the way, this method helps to remember information on other topics as well.
12 Speak and spell
Any new word or expression can simply be spelled out and spoken out loud on the day of study and several times during the week until you feel that you can use it in practice.
13 Play out dialogues
What could be better than sentences with new words? Full dialogue with them! Play with the teacher situations in which you have to use new expressions. This will help you gain confidence, prepare yourself, and practice how to use these words in your speech.
14 Making up stories
This is a great thing, which I will talk about separately later. Sometimes there are a lot of words. And we really need to learn everything. The question is: how to memorize more and at the same time effectively? Answer: make a story in which you connect all these words together. Let it be funny, stupid and incomprehensible about what, your task is to come up with and help yourself in memorization. As you come up with situations and visualize the story in detail, pictures are created in your mind and you remember.
15 Explain in other words
Previously, I often heard from students: «What will this word be in English?», «How to say?» Such tactics are not conducive to promotion. You cannot learn all the words, there will always be something unfamiliar, and constantly asking again in a conversation or looking into a dictionary is not the case. Learn to express thoughts in different ways.
Next to each word in the explanatory dictionary (English-English and so on), there is a description of its meaning. And you write your own description and speak it out loud. How would you explain to a friend or acquaintance what this word means? This workout will help you out more than once. If you do not remember difficult words, you will definitely be able to explain them in a different way and convey your thought to the interlocutor.
16 Make combinations
As you memorize a word, immediately check and write down what it goes with. It is useful to deal with the parts of speech.
Let’s say a noun takes an article (a book, the Sun), some verbs assume a preposition after itself (wait for, get back), and some adjectives can only be used to describe people.
Mark such moments and record them in the dictionary.
17 Learn parts of words
Use word roots, prefixes, suffixes, endings to understand the meaning of a word. For example, you can find out the meaning of a noun if you already know a cognate verb or the meaning of a particular word prefix.
Think about which parts of a word you see most often, and make a list. By memorizing them gradually, you will automatically guess more and more new words.
Let’s see how this works in English.
If we add to the verb suffix or / er, we get the occupation of the person: employ -> employer; act («to act», «to play in the theater») -> actor («actor»).
If you add to the adjective suffix ness, we get a noun (some mathematical formulas :)): kind («kind») -> kindness («kindness»); happy -> happiness.
Any language is a puzzle that we put together piece by piece, then get a whole. Practice and this tip will help you.
18 Play vocabulary games
An unobtrusive way to check if you really remember new words and expressions is to go through games, tests, memory games and crosswords on the Internet. You can easily find word games by searching on the Internet. If there is a lot of time, then on certain complex topics you can compose crosswords yourself and exchange with other students.
19 Sing songs
Source: https://elenaruvel.com/30-ulovok-kotorye-pomogut-luchshe-zapominat-slova/
Written English — written English letters (alphabet), English lessons and assignments
When teaching English, it is necessary to harmoniously use all four types of speech actions. Good English will only come out with a combination of speaking, reading every day, listening to live English, and writing correctly.
Modern written English does not place too much emphasis on the development of calligraphy skills in the sense that students are not loaded with the skills of connecting letters to words. Perhaps this is due to the fact that we are more and more typing on the computer.
The youngest schoolchildren are taught to write letters in special copybooks, pointing with arrows the direction of movement of the hand when writing. When children begin to master written English letters, and then combine them into words, it is necessary to teach them that the distance between letters should be less than the distance between words. As practice shows, this is not such an easy task.
Written english letters (alphabet)
The written English alphabet is easy to write. The so-called spelling is much more difficult. The fact is that in English, many words are spelled differently from the way they sound in speech. A good example is a word like “choir” [ˈkwaɪə]. According to linguists, it is impossible for a Russian-speaking person to write this word “by ear” without knowing it.
This is where spelling comes to the rescue, which means «spelling a word.» Moreover, this technique is used not only by language learners, but also by English-speaking people themselves. To write a lexical unit correctly, you need to learn the following phrases for asking for help:
Spell it please! Spell this word, please!
Could you spell this word please? Could you pronounce this word letter by letter, please!
Thus, learning the written letters of the English alphabet is best done with spelling. In the English alphabet, some letters are pronounced differently from the letters of the generally accepted Latin alphabet. These are a [eɪ], c [siː], e [iː], g [ʤiː], h [eɪʧ], i [aɪ], j [ʤeɪ], r [ɑː], u [juː], y [waɪ] … When practicing spelling, pay special attention to these letters. Another important point is that when spelling words, they should sound strictly the way they are pronounced in the alphabet.
The role of writing in English
When learning any language, it is necessary to place emphasis on the order of development of skills. Think about how the child perceives the mother tongue:
- From the first minutes of birth, he listens (listening);
- Begins to pronounce sounds, put them into words and phrases (speaking);
- Begins to recognize letters, read individual words, and then texts;
- He writes the first letter scribbles, deduces letters according to the prescriptions and gradually comes to the texts.
We conclude that the written part of the English language requires listening skills, speaking tolerably well and reading well. At each age, it is necessary to achieve the necessary balance of these skills, and not start writing, bypassing, for example, listening.
Written English lessons
With a reasonable approach to the development of written language, students develop sufficient literacy by the end of school or by the end of language courses. After the 9th and 11th grade of school, students can choose to take an English exam, where the last task is a letter. This is the hardest part of the exam, so take your written English lessons seriously when preparing for the final test.
It is very important to practice the word order exercises, which are quite strict in English. When writing simple texts, use simple sentences, following the rules:
- In an affirmative sentence, first comes the subject, then the predicate, then the addition, and the circumstance (place, time, and so on) completes the construction;
- In interrogative sentences, the word order is changed or an additional auxiliary verb “do” appears;
- In a negative sentence, “not” appears after the auxiliary verb, or pronouns or adverbs that carry negation by themselves (nobody, never) appear before the verb.
Written assignments in English
When completing written assignments in English, in the future, use complex sentences, in each of the parts of which, as a rule, there are its own subject and predicate:
When I was a young boy, I used to wear long hair. When I was a boy, I wore long hair.
Written work in English requires the ability to rationally distribute information. To do this, you need to be able to divide texts into paragraphs, use unions and special connecting words:
First (ly) — first;
Second (ly) — secondly;
Besides — besides;
Moreover — more than that;
In conclusion — in conclusion;
Therefore — therefore.
Depending on the level of training, on the Lim English website you will learn how to write letters, make simple and complex sentences, organize texts according to a plan, compose letters for various purposes, essays and essays.
Source: https://lim-english.com/posts/pismennii-angliiskii/
5 ways to learn English words and not forget them
Learning English words is much easier than it sounds. If you disagree with this, then, apparently, because at school you were forced to cram the columns of words that were remembered with difficulty, but were forgotten the next day. Fortunately, learning words is now a pleasure using simple techniques, tutorials, and readily available English materials.
Learning English words and learning a language are not the same thing.
First of all, we note that language learning is not limited to memorizing words. Yes, you cannot erase words from the language, but their interaction in speech occurs according to the rules of grammar. In addition, vocabulary and grammar will not be «animated» without practice in reading, listening, speaking and writing. Some of the techniques listed below involve memorizing words in the context of live speech.
Cards with words
Ordinary cards made of cardboard are a powerful tool for memorizing words. Cut out cards of a convenient size from thick cardboard, write on one side English words or phrases, on the other — Russian and repeat.
To be more effective, take sets of 15-30 flashcards and learn words in two directions — English-Russian and Russian-English — in four steps:
- Acquaintance with words. Skim the cards as you speak the words aloud, trying to imagine the objects, actions, and even abstractions they represent. Don’t try to memorize words thoroughly, just get to know them, hook them on the memory hook. Some of the words will be remembered already at this stage, but not reliably.
- Repetition of English — Russian. Looking at the English side, remember the Russian translation. Go through the deck until you can guess all the words (usually 2-4 runs). Be sure to shuffle the cards! Memorizing words with a list is ineffective largely due to the fact that words are memorized in a certain order. The cards do not have this drawback.
- Repetition Russian — English. The same, but from Russian to English. This task is a little more difficult, but 2–4 rounds will be enough.
- Fastening. At this point, time the time with a stopwatch. Run the deck as quickly as possible, achieving instant recognition of the word without hesitation. Do 2-4 rounds, trying to keep the stopwatch at a shorter time each round. Don’t forget to shuffle the cards. Words can be run in both directions or optionally in one (better in Russian-English, as it is more difficult). At this stage, you will achieve instant, without translation in your mind, recognition of the word.
It is not necessary to make cards out of cardboard; there are convenient programs for creating electronic cards, for example, Quizlet. With the help of this service, you can make voiced cards, add pictures to them, teach in different modes, including games.
Price: Free
Spaced repetition method
The method consists of repeating words using flashcards, but at intervals. It is believed that, following a certain repetition algorithm, a student fixes information in long-term memory. If the information is not repeated, it will be forgotten as unnecessary.
The most popular spaced-repetition word memorization program is Anki. Create a deck of words, and the application itself will select the half-forgotten material and offer to repeat it at regular intervals.
Convenience is that you only need to load the words, and the program itself will tell you when and what to repeat. But sometimes the interval method is simply not necessary. If you are learning a selection of such common words as days of the week and months, verbs of movement, vehicles, then there is no need to repeat them according to a special algorithm: they will already be encountered very often in the textbook, when reading, in speech.
Memorizing words while reading in English
It makes sense to learn words with flashcards when the vocabulary is still insufficient even to understand the simplest texts. If you do not yet know such basic vocabulary as days of the week, colors, motion verbs, politeness formulas, then it is convenient to lay the foundation of your vocabulary by memorizing words from flashcards. According to linguists, the minimum vocabulary for understanding simple texts and speech is about 2-3 thousand words.
But, if you can already read in English, try to write words out of the text as you read. It will not be just vocabulary taken from a dictionary, but living words, surrounded by context, associatively tied to the plot, the content of the text.
Don’t write out every unfamiliar word in a row. Write out useful words and phrases, as well as words, without understanding which it is impossible to understand even the basic meaning. Write just a few words per page to reduce distraction from your reading. After reading an article or chapter of a book, words can be quickly repeated.
By the way, if you just read in English without writing anything out, the vocabulary will also grow, but much more slowly and only if you read a lot and regularly, for example, every day for half an hour or an hour.
Learning programs can greatly simplify and speed up the memorization of words. For example, when reading texts online, you can save words with a single click and then repeat them using the Leo-Translator browser extension.
Memorizing words from video and audio recordings
While it is easy to underline or write out a word while reading, it is more difficult with a film or audio recording. But listening (listening) for vocabulary learning is no less interesting than books. In live speech of native speakers, there are fewer bookish, uncommon words and more popular colloquial expressions. In addition, listening develops not only vocabulary, but also the skill of listening comprehension.
The easiest way to learn English from films and audio recordings is to just watch or listen without being distracted by spelling out words. This is the easiest approach, but this way you are unlikely to learn something new, just fix the already familiar words well (which is also important).
If you write out and then repeat new words, then you will not only enjoy the movie, but also replenish your vocabulary. Of course, while watching, it is very inconvenient to be distracted by pause and writing down words, but you can take short notes, and then return to them and analyze the material in more detail. As with reading, you do not need to write out all the incomprehensible words in a row.
It is much easier to study audio and video using dedicated sites. Most of all, the popular online services LinguaLeo and Puzzle English are suitable for this, which use a special interface for easy viewing of videos with the ability to quickly (click on a word in subtitles) translate and save words.
Memorizing words while writing and speaking
Reading and listening is passive speech activity, speech perception. Speaking and writing is an active use of language. When you write or speak, vocabulary develops in a different way: you have to practice using already familiar words, translating them from passive (at the level of comprehension) to active vocabulary.
While writing, whether it be an essay or informal chatting, you have to constantly select words and try to understand, more accurately express the idea. A situation often arises when you want to say something, but do not know the right word or expression. It is not difficult to find it with the help of a dictionary, but do not let this valuable find be immediately forgotten — write down such small discoveries and repeat in your free time. Practice in vigorous speech activity is great for identifying such gaps.
Of course, you won’t be able to look into the dictionary during an oral conversation, but speaking practice forces you to work out already familiar words and constructions. You have to strain your memory, remember everything that is stored even in its most distant corners in order to express a thought. Conversational practice for learning a language is like training for the body: you strengthen, develop your «language form», transferring words from passive to active stock.
Conclusion
The first two methods — flashcards and spaced repetition — are suitable for memorizing collections of words, such as “In the city,” “Clothes,” and so on. Methods three through five are designed to memorize words during speech practice.
If you want the words to be not only remembered but also not forgotten, regularly practice reading and listening. Having met a familiar word several times in a living context, you will remember it forever. If you want not only to have a passive vocabulary, but also to freely express thoughts — communicate in the language. This will help you transform dry knowledge into confident skills. After all, we do not learn languages in order to know them, but in order to use them.
Source: https://lifehacker.ru/english-words/
Oge letter: general information
Writing a personal letter in response to an incentive letter.
The student in the OGE in English is required to write a letter to a friend in response, based on the information provided in the assignment.
The time allotted for the task is 30 minutes.
The maximum result is 10 points.
EXECUTION PLAN
In order to get a good score for the Letter to the OGE section in English, try following these tips:
Fortunately, in the OGE (GIA) in English there is only one format for a written assignment — a personal letter to a friend.
Imagine that you are communicating in person.
Try to ask questions to keep the recipient interested, add details and express your personal attitude.
Words and expressions should not be official, as in real communication with your friends.
Informal writing also involves short forms:
it’s instead of it is,
I’ve seen instead of I have seen
etc.
Sample letter OGE (GIA) English language subject to this requirement
- It’s important to stick to the 100-120 word limit
A letter less than 90 words in length does not score at all, and you will receive 0 out of 10 points for that part of the exam.
The part of the text of the letter exceeding 132 words is not evaluated, in this case the probability of getting 0 points is much less likely,
but
120 words will be counted from the beginning of your letter and only those will be checked,
respectively,
the grade will definitely be lowered for the structure of the letter,
since the specified volume will not include the farewell and signature required for a personal letter.
Sample letter OGE (GIA) English language subject to this requirement
- It is necessary to adhere to a clear structure of the letter
1 paragraph — address and date (in the upper right corner)
2 paragraph — address and greeting
3 paragraph — reaction to a friend’s information
4 paragraph — answer to 1 friend’s question
5 paragraph — answer to 2 friend’s question
6 paragraph — answer to 3 friend’s question
(or answers to all questions together in one paragraph)
7 paragraph — a message about the desirability of receiving a response
8 paragraph — signature
I strongly advise against leaving one or more questions unanswered (friend questions 1-3)
and / or
answer them in monosyllables,
as well as ignore your friend’s message.
To get the maximum score, each question should be answered in a sufficiently detailed way — about 2 sentences.
Sample letter (OGE) GIA English language subject to this requirement
- Show the examiner the variety of vocabulary and grammatical structures you know.
Try to use
synonyms, antonyms, words from the same language family
и
as many different grammatical structures as possible within a given volume.
Amaze the examiner with the knowledge of different tenses, complex sentences, degrees of comparison of adjectives and conditional moods.
Sample letter (OGE) GIA English language subject to this requirement
- The letter should be logical and coherent
Having written a draft,
check the consistency and consistency of your thoughts
и
link individual paragraphs with introductory words — well, by the way, you asked me about, etc.
- The letter must be lexically and grammatically correct
Try to write, avoiding words and constructions that you are not sure about, and check the final letter for any misspellings and misspellings.
INFORMATION ABOUT OTHER SECTIONS OF THE OGE
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Source: http://zhilina-english.ru/gia-pismo/
How to write an Essay in English for the exam 2020?
An essay in English for the Unified State Exam is the most voluminous and responsible task in the entire exam. Successful writing of an essay gives as many as 14 points, and therefore you need to approach its preparation as seriously as possible. The examiners recommend that 40 minutes be devoted to solving the grammar alone, but the essay seems to be a more time-consuming task that requires special attention from the students.
Essay requirements in 2020
The essay is written in task 40, or C2, and it takes about 60 minutes to complete it. The average length of an essay is 200-250 words, but not less than 180 and not more than 275, otherwise the work will not be counted.
The Unified State Exam assesses the content and structure of the essay, the accuracy of the selected lexical units and grammatical structures, spelling and punctuation. Therefore, you need to write not only logically consistently and correctly, but also extremely competently — for the absence of errors and correctly placed punctuation marks, the student receives 5 points out of a possible 14.
Essay evaluation criteria in English
If we analyze each aspect separately, the solution of the communicative problem in the text gives 3 points, the organization of the essay, vocabulary and grammar — also 3 points, punctuation — 2 points.
- Solution of a communication problem — consists in a clear, consistent statement of the position on a given topic, in the specified volume of words, using a neutral style of presentation.
- Organization — provides for the correct division of the essay into fragments, logically connected by introductory constructions and linking words. Stick to the law: One paragraph, one key thought.
- Vocabulary — prepare a long list of lexical units in advance so as not to repeat the same template constructions from sentence to sentence. Choose words according to meaning, use synonyms and explanations, build sentences of different lengths, but do not overload the text with heavy explanations.
- Grammar — mistakes in an essay in English are unacceptable. Articles, verb tense forms, singular and plural nouns must be used correctly.
- Spelling and punctuation — write the words correctly and clearly. If a specialist cannot understand what was written, the questionable word or construction will be considered an error. Strikethroughs, corrections, blots and misspellings deduct points from the precious 14 you can get in this section.
English essay outline with answer templates
Before you start writing an essay, it is important to draw up a detailed and specific plan. It will help you not to get lost in thought and not go far away from the given topic. We offer a visual outline of an essay in English for the Unified State Exam with applied lexical constructions for each individual paragraph and fragment of the text.
Entry
Here it is necessary to briefly outline the key problem of the text, without going into details, but also not limited to the title of the essay.
1.1. Problem identification.
Nowadays, the problem of causes is great argument and controversy.
In today’s world, the issue of is considered to be a matter of common concern / the main concern of
1.2. Commentary on the problem.
Source: https://tetrika-school.ru/blog/esse-po-anglijskomu-po-ege/
How to write an essay in English for the exam-2019
In 2018, 80% of graduates from the Sverdlovsk region received 0 points for their essays from the Unified State Exam in English. According to the FIPI, students traditionally perform the written part of the exam worse. And it is she who gives the greatest number of points — 14 for the error-free task number 40, the essay «My opinion». In the material, we share tips that will help you avoid stupid mistakes when writing an essay with elements of reasoning.
Follow the plan
In 2019, graduates will be given two statements to choose from. For one of them, you need to write a written composition with elements of reasoning.
An example from the demo version of the control measuring materials of the 2019 unified state exam in English
The essay must strictly comply with the plan:
- introduction — paraphrase the selected statement;
- your opinion on the topic and 2-3 arguments in its defense;
- opposite opinion and 1-2 arguments in its defense;
- an explanation of why you disagree with the opposite opinion;
- a conclusion in which you rephrase your position from point 2.
Each part of the text should begin with a new paragraph, as a result, the essay should have 5 paragraphs.
A problem when writing an essay can be not only poor knowledge of a foreign language, but also vice versa — too good. A graduate can write an essay in a more free form and move away from the template, but the commission will not appreciate such an impulse. Therefore, we advise you to write an essay strictly according to the plan and in accordance with the criteria.
Let’s consider what mistakes were made by graduates of past years and how to avoid them.
Keep track of the volume
The text of the answer must contain at least 200 and no more than 250 words, a deviation of 10% is allowed. According to the rules, if the volume of the essay is less than 180 words, 0 is given for the entire work, if more than 275, part of the essay is checked up to the 250th word.
How to avoid mistakes:
- Write your essay at home on an unlined sheet of paper. After 10-20 essays, you will understand how much of the sheet is occupied by the required amount of text. This will help you navigate the exam.
- Count the words correctly. For one word they consider:
Source: https://blog.teachmeplease.ru/posts/kak-pisat-esse-po-angliyskonu-v-2019-godu
How to write beautiful text in English
Last time we agreed that the coherence of the text is its main feature. Logically written text with a competent internal organization makes a good impression on the reader, conveys important thoughts and helps you get what you want.
How to compose a text in English?
Before picking up the pen and ink on the notebook, it is most logical to start by defining, what text and for whom we will compose… An official letter in English or an informal e-mail to a friend? Request letter or Facebook status? Text for a company website or a salad recipe for a friend?
Within the chosen the genre and register we will stay. What is appropriate in one genre will be foreign to another. For the peculiarities of each genre of writing — welcome to the numerous manuals on writing practice that answer the questions «how to write a business letter», «how to write a friendly letter», «how to draw up a contract», «how to write anything» in English …
If you have a lot of thoughts on the topic that you shouldn’t miss, you can sketch out the outline of the text with highlights, arguments and examples. They wrote it down. Putting it all together — this will be our first sketch. You can, of course, not bother with plans and sketches, but write and send right away, but better not. It is fraught with)) Writing is also wonderful that there is time to collect thoughts and edit what is written, as opposed to spontaneous oral speech.
Now let’s take a fresh look at our sketch and let’s pretend this letter is for you. Reread. Do you understand everything? Is everything logical? What is the impression of the letter? Are you convinced by the arguments or is there a lack of logic somewhere? The letter prompted action or to be sent to the trash can? Where can you avoid repetitions and add cohesion?
Unlike verbal communication, where you have to improvise, writing gives you the luxury of thinking. So we must take advantage of this! Re-read the first version of the text and, if you don’t like something, edit… Find the best wording. Correct your grammar. This is by no means evidence of your incompetence. Vice versa.
So how do you write beautiful text in English?
And now, more to the point, more precisely, to practice. Imagine you are on a vacation and it started with an adventure. Do you want to share with your friends? And so, you write an e-mail or blog post. It is possible with a plan, it is possible without. And this is what happens:
Phew, lost steam. Now, if you do not write to the table, like many unrecognized authors, it would be nice to bring the opus to mind. And already right away — before delving into the content — the complete unreadability is striking. The first instinct is «multi-letters», I will not even start reading. Seriously! The first glance at a letter and «multi-letter» in one paragraph will immediately turn the reader away. Well, unless he’s a fan of yours. Otherwise, let’s divide the text into paragraphs:
Better, but still nonsense. Many repetitions of words. Unrelated sentences at the level of a XNUMX-year-old. It’s good that everything is in order with grammar and I am not ashamed of my vocabulary)) But these are the only advantages of this letter.
Do we remember that writing differs from oral speech precisely in that there is time to think and edit what is written? So let’s take this chance, don’t pretend to be a kamikaze hero! And there is no need to be complex due to the fact that it was not possible to immediately write a beautiful, well-organized text in English. Not all at once, we are learning!
And this is what happens if we remove unnecessary repetitions and connect thoughts (those that are really connected! And then there were cases when they brought me essays consisting of one mega-sentence Tolstoy-style) and the sequence of events among themselves:
Read it, understand it. Find out why we made all these amendments, and how they improve the text — line by line, paragraph by paragraph. Now go and do not sin, write as in the first version))
Note to teachers: I made this writing practice task based on this page from the textbook.
The only thing is that everything is limited to reading history, filling in gaps and correcting errors. And then immediately — write! There is absolutely no practice of organizing text and ways to write a coherent text. In fact, this is a test of the ability to write text in English. Normally((
You can download all the tasks here and use at your discretion in order to increase the literacy of the population))
An example of a linguistic analysis of a text with a parsing of means of connectivity.
Criteria for the assessment of texts in the IELTS exam and an example essay.
Learn more about how to learn how to write an essay, where to get ideas from, and how to develop spontaneous thinking skills.
So how do you write literate, coherent and beautiful text in English?
- Decide who your readers are.
- Decide what goal you want to achieve with your text.
- Sketch the main ideas.
- Write the first draft of the text.
- Remember your readers and your goals.
- Be aware of the genre, style, and coherence of the text.
- Reread with a fresh eye.
- Edit.
- Edit again))
How do you write lyrics in English? Editing your sketches or submitting without looking?
Source: https://anglofeel.ru/blog/kak-napisat-krasivyy-tekst-na-angliyskom
If you want to learn how to write without grammatical mistakes, you have come to the right place. The short answer is to use the grammar checker tools to easily find out errors and mistakes. It does not require English grammar knowledge to use and eliminate errors.
Learning English grammar can be a tough task for you and complex for beginners. It’s hard to improve your grammar skills by learning grammar. You need more practice and expertise to learn and eliminate mistakes in English.
When English is not your primary language, it can be the biggest challenge for you to learn it. If you are a writer, you definitely need to write error-free content.
In this post, you will learn how to write without grammatical mistakes in English. You can easily fix your grammar mistakes with the right tools and tips given here. So, let’s get started.
Affiliate Disclosure: At Tutorialdeep, we believe in transparency for our users. In this blog, there are some referral links. If you signup with these links we will earn some commission at no extra cost to you. We recommend these links because they are our trusted brands.
Common Grammatical Mistakes in English
- Incorrect Use of Tenses: If you use ‘have take‘ in your sentence, you are using the wrong tense. The correct form is ‘have taken‘ according to the English grammar tenses.
- Missing or Misplaced Comma: Comma creates a pause when used correctly makes a meaningful sentence. If you use ‘English is not, a mother tongue‘, it makes the wrong meaning. You have to use ‘English is not a mother tongue‘ that makes a meaningful sentence.
- Spelling Mistakes: the English language has many complex words to spell. You need to know the correct spelling of the word to write meaningful sentences. Using wrong spelling makes your sentence meaningless. For example, if you use ‘Goverment‘, you are missing ‘n‘ in the word. The correct spelling is ‘Government‘.
- Missing or Wrongly Added Apostrophes: Apostrophes are a little bit confusing when you don’t have an idea of how to use them. For example: if you use ‘The recipient email address is full‘, it contains an error of apostrophe. The correct word is ‘recipient’s‘ to replace it with ‘recipient‘ in the sentence.
- Subject-Verb Agreement Rules: The verb in a sentence must match the subject. You have to find out the singular and plural use of the verb. For example: if you use ‘It go‘, you are using the wrong subject-verb. The subject is singular where you have to use ‘It goes‘ to make a correct subject-verb agreement.
- Comma Splices: Splice means connecting one sentence with another. Connecting two independent sentences together is called comma splices. For example, If you use ‘I was hungry, I have taken lunch‘, you are using a comma splice that’s wrong here. The correct use is ‘I was hungry. So, I have taken lunch‘.
How to Check and Correct Grammatical Mistakes While Writing (2 Top Tools)
Here are the top 2 tools that can help you easily check and correct grammatical mistakes while writing:-
#1. Grammarly
Grammarly is the #1 tool to easily write without making grammatical mistakes in English. The tool comes with free and paid options.
In the free option, you can Eliminate Spelling Errors, Comma Errors, Comma Splices, Grammar Mistakes, Punctuation Errors, and many more. It can help you easily find out the errors and eliminate them while writing online.
If you are a beginner, you can start with a free version that marks all the errors you made in your writing. After that, you just have to take your mouse over these errors and writing mistakes. You will get suggestions for corrections that you made in your writing. You can click the suggestion to make the correction to your content.
For more advanced suggestions on lengthy sentence structure and extra clear writing, you can go for the premium plan. The premium plan comes with features like Tone Adjustment Suggestions, Correct Use of Sentences, Plagiarism, Professional Writing Suggestions, and many more.
To use Grammarly, you can add the Grammarly Chrome extension to check your writing mistakes while online. After installation of the extension, you check and eliminate errors directly on Gmail, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. It also comes with an extension for All Major Browsers, Windows, Mac, MS Office, Google Docs, iPhone, iPad, etc.
➜ Try Grammarly Now (It’s free)
#2. ProWritingAid
ProWritingAid is the premium tool to easily check English writing mistakes while writing online. It is specially designed for Professional Writers, Publishers, and Authors. You will get an in-depth analysis of your writing and real-time suggestions.
It can help you easily check and correct mistakes while writing online. You will get real-time unique suggestions on Grammar Mistakes, Spelling Errors, Comma Errors, Punctuation, and many other writing mistakes.
You can easily improve your sentences and create meaningful content for your audience. It comes with an extension for All Major Browsers, Windows, MAC, MS Office, Google Docs, and many other integrations.
The advanced tracking reports help you easily find out your progress in writing. You can easily identify what type of mistakes you have done in your writing. This can increase your creative writing skills as after getting reports, you can focus more on your weak points.
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Tips to Write Without Grammatical Mistakes (7 Proven Tips)
Here are proven tips that you can follow to write without Grammatical mistakes:-
1. Write Short Form Sentences
Short forms of sentences can bring more value to your audience. Long sentences are difficult to understand the meaning and the purpose. When you start using short sentences in your content, you can actually help them easily understand the meaning of the sentence.
You can also be writing short sentences easily without making writing mistakes. If you make any mistakes in writing, shorter sentences are easier to make corrections with the above tools.
It can help you in writing a clear form of sentences without giving extra load to your audience. You can make easily make your content more readable with good writing.
2. Proofread Your Content
Proofreading is the process to read your written content and marking errors in writing or make corrections to sentences. After you have completed writing your content, you should cross-check your content before making it live for your audience.
Check for Spelling Mistakes, Duplicate Words, Phrases that are not Meaningful, etc. Revise your work and mark the errors and mistakes in your writing. After that, make corrections to your mistakes to eliminate errors.
The primary goal of proofreading is to highlight common mistakes. Proofreading can consistently improve your reading and writing skills. You can easily remove the negative part of your writing that can damage your reputation as a writer.
3. Learn Grammar Rules
Learning grammar can help you know to exact rules of writing the correct form of sentences in English. Start from Parts of Speech as it’s the important part of English grammar. After that, learn about Tenses to know the correct use of the subject, verb, and object.
The correct use of grammar also comes from reading passages, Essays, and newspapers. Start reading English newspapers loudly to learn phrases. Reading loudly can help you remember the correct use of grammar in your writing.
Apply your reading in your writing and read and write daily. At the starting point of reading and writing, you may write manually. But, after practicing more, you will write technically and more professionally without making grammar mistakes.
4. Find Correct Spelling of the Word Online
Making spelling mistakes is common as it’s not possible to know the correct spelling of all the words present in a dictionary. In that case, you can use Google to find the correct spelling of your words.
Write a few letters of your word on Google to get the correct spelling. For example: if you write the spelling ‘Goverment‘, it’s wrong and the correct spelling is ‘Government‘. When you write a few letters of this word, you will get the exact correct spelling from the online dictionary of Google as shown below.
Similarly, you find the correct spelling of other words present in your content. This way, you can also remember the correct spelling and will not make spelling mistakes in the future with more practice.
5. Think More Before Writing
Think more and more before you write anything. Focus more on the meaning of the content you want to explain to your audience with your writing.
Create an overview of your content and start writing from start to end. Write paragraphs with headings that can help people easily understand the topic. Thinking habits can help you write quality content and bring more value to your audience.
Take a copy and pen and write the main topic of your content. After that, write the heading for which you want to create inner content. After that, you can start writing content for each heading. Write short sentences with clear meaning. Also, write only two to three-line paragraphs that look easy to read for people.
Writing without thinking cannot help you create meaningful content for your audience. So, thinking is important before writing anything.
6. Practice More
To write without grammatical mistakes, you need to keep writing content each day. It can also increase your writing habit. Read your content often times to make corrections to your content.
Every people make mistakes even a native English speaker can make mistakes while writing. With each mistake, you will learn different lessons to easily improve your content. With each day of practice, your writing will improve.
Practice can also improve your English grammar to write without grammatical mistakes. Look for more examples online and read them to remember and write the correct content.
7. Hire a Professional Content Writer
If you still think, you cannot easily follow the above rules and make corrections to your writing. You can hire a professional writer to write content without grammatical mistakes.
When you make corrections to your writing, you should learn and remember the errors and possible corrections. If it’s hard for you to remember the possible correction, you can use the English writing tool (like Grammarly and ProWritingAid) to easily find and eliminate them.
However, if you still think you cannot write good content for your audience yourself. Professional writers can help you easily write quality content that brings more value to your audience. You can easily hire professional writers from HireWriters. They only offer the highest qualified native English-speaking writers.
FAQS on How to Write Without Grammatical Mistakes
Q1. How Can I Improve My Grammar Mistakes When Writing
Answer: To improve your grammar mistakes when writing, you need to write daily and practice more. When you practice writing daily, you will become a pro in writing content. After a few months, you will definitely find some difference in your writing ability. It improves gradually with each piece of content your write.
Find out what are the common mistakes you made in English. After that, take a copy and pen and write the type of mistake to make in English writing. Work on these mistakes and practice daily. You will definitely write better without making mistakes.
Q2. How Can You Avoid the Grammatical Errors?
Answer: Here are the top 5 ways to avoid grammatical errors:-
- Write Short Form Sentences
- Proofread Your Content
- Learn Grammar Rules
- Find Correct Spelling of the Word Online
- Practice More
Q3. What are Five of the 10 Common Mistakes?
Answer: Here are the five of the 10 common mistakes:-
- Duplicate words
- Comma mistakes
- Spelling mistakes
- Subject-verb agreement
- Wrongly added apostrophes
Q4. How to Write English Without Spelling Mistakes?
Answer: The first solution is To write English without spelling mistakes, you need the first mark the words that look tough to spell. After that, use Google to find the correct spelling of your marked words. Type a few starting letters of the word in Google to get the correct spelling from an online dictionary. If your spelling contains errors, you can replace it with the correct word that you have just found online.
The second solution is to use the Grammarly tool that automatically marks all the words containing spelling errors and mistakes. After that, you can take your mouse over those marked words to get the correct spelling from the dictionary. You need to just click the suggestion to replace it with words containing spelling errors.
Conclusion on How to Write Without Grammatical Mistakes
Making mistakes is common among every people. If you are a native English speaker, you can make mistakes while writing. You need a tool that can help you easily find your mistakes and give suggestions for correction.
Grammarly tool is a top-notch solution that can help you check writing errors and mistakes while writing. It is an online tool that requires an only internet connection to find and eliminate mistakes in real-time.
So, what are you waiting for ➜ Try Grammarly Now (It’s free)
Learning English grammar is a tough task for writers. You can take the benefits of the Grammarly tool to easily write content and make corrections while writing offline or online on Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, and many others.
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With the dawn of the Internet, the birth of Internet slang, and the growing use of SMS, many of us are starting to forget the fundamental aspects of English punctuation. Would you like to write a great paper for one of your classes or submit a polished, impeccably written proposal to your boss? If so, proper punctuation is a must. Consider this article a crash course in English punctuation, and see Step 1 below to get started.
Punctuation Cheat Sheet
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1
Always start a sentence with a capital letter. Unless you’re an avant-garde poet or you’re starting a sentence with a brand name like «wikiHow» or «iPod,» you will need to capitalize the first letter of every sentence.
- Here is an example of proper capitalization at the beginning of a sentence:
She invited her friend over after school.
- Here is an example of proper capitalization at the beginning of a sentence:
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2
Use capital letters to start proper nouns and titles. In addition to starting sentences, capital letters should also occur at the start of proper nouns and titles. Proper nouns are the names of specific people, places, and things. Titles, which are a type of proper noun, are the names of works of art (books, movies, plays, etc.), institutions, geographical areas, and much more. Titles can also be honorifics (Her Majesty, Mr. President, etc.).[1]
- Titles and proper nouns consisting of more than one word should have every word capitalized, except for small words and articles like «the,» «an,» «and,» etc. The first word of a title should always be capitalized (with the above «brand name» exception).[2]
- Here are a few examples of capital letters being used for proper nouns and titles:
Genghis Khan quickly became the most powerful man in Asia, if not the world.
In her opinion, Queen Roberta’s favorite museum in the world is the Smithsonian, which she visited during her trip to Washington, D.C., last year.
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- Titles and proper nouns consisting of more than one word should have every word capitalized, except for small words and articles like «the,» «an,» «and,» etc. The first word of a title should always be capitalized (with the above «brand name» exception).[2]
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3
Use capital letters for acronyms. An acronym is a word (or a «coined» word) formed from the first letter of every word in a long proper noun or title. Acronyms are frequently used to shorten long proper nouns that would be awkward to reprint in their entirety every time they are mentioned. Sometimes the letters of an acronym are separated by periods.
- Here is an example of acronyms made from capital letters:
The CIA and the NSA are just two of the USA’s many intelligence agencies.
- Here is an example of acronyms made from capital letters:
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1
Use a period (full stop) to end declarative sentences and statements. Also after initials, as in Alfred D. Smith. Every sentence contains at least one punctuation mark — the one at its end. The most common of these sentence-ending punctuation marks is the period («.», also called a «full stop»). This simple dot is used to mark the end of a sentence that is declarative. Most sentences are declarative. Any sentence that states a fact or describes or explains an idea is declarative.
- Here is an example of a period (full stop) being used correctly at the end of a sentence:
The accessibility of the computer has increased tremendously over the past several years.
- Here is an example of a period (full stop) being used correctly at the end of a sentence:
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2
Use a question mark to end questions. The question mark ( «?» ) used at the end of a sentence denotes an interrogative sentence — basically, a question. Use this punctuation mark at the end of any question, query, or inquiry.
- Here is an example of a question mark being used correctly at the end of a sentence:
What has humanity done about the growing concern regarding global warming?
- Here is an example of a question mark being used correctly at the end of a sentence:
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3
Use an exclamation point to end exclamatory sentences. The exclamation point («!», also called an «exclamation mark» or «shout mark») suggests excitement or strong emphasis. The exclamation point is used to end exclamations — short expressions of intense emotion that are often only one word long.
- Here are two examples of an exclamation point being used correctly at the end of a sentence:
I can’t believe how difficult the exam was!
Eek! You scared me!
- Here are two examples of an exclamation point being used correctly at the end of a sentence:
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1
Use a comma to indicate a break or pause within a sentence. The comma («,») is a very versatile punctuation mark. There are dozens of situations that might require the use of a comma. One frequent case is the appositive — a break within a sentence that supplements and adds information to the subject.[3]
- Here is an example of commas being used to create a break in a sentence:
Bill Gates, CEO of Microsoft, is the developer of the operating system known as Windows.
- Here is an example of commas being used to create a break in a sentence:
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2
Use a comma when listing three or more items in a series. A common use of commas is to separate items that are being listed in a sequence. Usually commas are written between each of the items and between the second-to-last item and a subsequent conjunction.[4]
- However, many writers omit the comma before the conjunction (called a serial comma or «Oxford comma»),[5]
as conjunctions like «and» will signal the end of the list even without the final comma. - Here are two examples of commas used in listed series — one with an Oxford Comma and one without.
The fruit basket contained apples, bananas, and oranges.
The computer store was filled with video games, computer hardware and other electronic paraphernalia.
- However, many writers omit the comma before the conjunction (called a serial comma or «Oxford comma»),[5]
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3
Use a comma to separate two or more adjectives describing a noun. Sometimes consecutive adjectives are used to describe a single subject with multiple qualities. This use of commas is similar to using them to separate items in a series, with one exception: it is incorrect to place a comma after the final adjective.
- Here are examples of correct and incorrect comma usage when it comes to separating adjectives:
CORRECT: The powerful, resonating sound caught our attention.
INCORRECT: The powerful, resonating, sound caught our attention.
- Here are examples of correct and incorrect comma usage when it comes to separating adjectives:
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4
Use a comma to separate a larger geographical area from a smaller one located within it. Specific geographical places or areas are usually named by starting with the smallest location’s name and then proceeding to the larger area. For instance, you might refer to a specific city by naming the city itself, followed by the state or province it is in, followed by the surrounding country. Each geographic name (except the last) is followed by a comma. Note that a comma is used after the last (largest) geographical area if the sentence continues.[6]
- Here are two examples of correct comma usage when it comes to naming geographical areas:
I am originally from Hola, Tana River County, Kenya.
Los Angeles, California, is one of the largest cities in the United States.
- Here are two examples of correct comma usage when it comes to naming geographical areas:
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5
Use a comma to separate an introductory phrase from the rest of the sentence. An introductory phrase (which is usually one or more prepositional phrases) briefly introduces the sentence and provides context but is not part of the sentence’s subject or predicate. Therefore, it should be separated from the main clause by a comma.
- Here are two examples of sentences with introductory phrases separated from the rest of the sentence by commas:
After the show, John and I went out to dinner.
On the back of my couch, my cat’s claws have slowly been carving a large hole.
- Here are two examples of sentences with introductory phrases separated from the rest of the sentence by commas:
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6
Use a comma to separate two independent clauses. Having two independent clauses in a sentence simply means that you could split the sentence into two shorter sentences while preserving the original meaning. If your sentence contains two independent clauses that are separated by a conjunction (such as and, as, but, for, nor, so, or yet), place a comma before the conjunction. [7]
- Here are two examples of sentences containing independent clauses:
Ryan went to the beach yesterday, but he forgot his sunscreen.
Water bills usually rise during the summer, as people are thirstier during hot and humid days.
- Here are two examples of sentences containing independent clauses:
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7
Use a comma when making a direct address. When calling one’s attention by saying his/her name at the start of a sentence, separate the person’s name from the rest of the sentence with a comma. Note that this comma is somewhat rare in writing, because this is something normally done while speaking. It’s more common for a writer to employ other methods to indicate who is speaking to whom.[8]
- Here is an example of a direct address:
Amber, could you come here for a moment?
- Here is an example of a direct address:
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8
Use a comma to separate a direct quotation from the sentence introducing it. A comma should occur after the word immediately preceding a quotation that is being introduced with context or a description. On the other hand, it is not necessary to use a comma before an indirect quote (where you are paraphrasing someone’s words without quoting them exactly). Additionally, a comma is usually not necessary if you are not quoting an entire statement, but only a few words from it.[9]
- Here is an example of a direct quotation that requires a comma:
While I was at his house, John asked, «Do you want anything to eat?»
- Here is an example of an indirect quotation that does not require a comma:
While I was at his house, John asked me if I wanted anything to eat.
- Here is an example of a partial direct quotation, which, due to its brevity and its use within the sentence, does not require a comma:
According to the client, the lawyer was «lazy and incompetent.»
- Here is an example of a direct quotation that requires a comma:
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1
Use a semicolon to separate two related but independent clauses. The proper use of a semicolon is similar, but not identical, to that of a comma. The semicolon marks the end of one independent clause and the start of another within a single sentence. Note that, if the two clauses are very wordy or complex, it is better to use a period (full stop) and form two sentences instead.[10]
- Here’s an example of a semicolon being used correctly:
People continue to worry about the future; our failure to conserve resources has put the world at risk.
- A semicolon takes the place of a period, and it is used in parallel construction.
- For instance, if you write I love bananas, and I love apples, instead of having an and, you can write I love bananas; I love apples.
- Parallel construction means you have the same thing on both sides of that semicolon, subject, verb, subject, verb.
- Here’s an example of a semicolon being used correctly:
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2
Use a semicolon to separate a complex series of items. Usually, the items in a series are separated by commas, but for cases in which one or more items require comment or explanation, semicolons can be used in conjunction with commas to keep the reader from becoming confused. Use semicolons to separate items and their explanations from one another. To separate an item from its own explanation, use a comma.[11]
- Here’s an example of semicolons being used correctly in a list whose meaning might otherwise be ambiguous:
I went to the show with Jake, my close friend; his friend, Jane; and her best friend, Jenna.
- Here’s an example of semicolons being used correctly in a list whose meaning might otherwise be ambiguous:
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3
Use a colon to introduce a list. Be careful, however, not to use a colon when stating an idea that requires naming a series of items. The two are similar, but distinct. Often the sentence-ending words «the following» or «as follows» will call for the use of a colon when they are followed by new, explanatory information.[12]
- Here’s an example of a colon being used correctly in this fashion:
The professor has given me three options: to retake the exam, to accept the extra credit assignment, or to fail the class.
- Here, on the other hand, is an incorrect example:
The Easter basket contained: Easter eggs, chocolate rabbits, and other candy.
In this case you would simply omit the colon.
- Here’s an example of a colon being used correctly in this fashion:
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4
Use a colon to introduce a new concept or example.[13]
Colons can also be used after a descriptive phrase or explanation to imply that the next piece of information will be the thing being described or explained. It can help to think of this as introducing a list containing only one item.- Here’s an example of a colon being used properly in this way:
There’s only one person old enough to remember that wedding: grandma.
- Here’s an example of a colon being used properly in this way:
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5
Use a colon to separate parts of a title. Some works of art, particularly books and movies, can have long, subdivided titles. In these cases, what follows the main title is called a subtitle. Use colons to separate them.[14]
- Here’s an example of colons being used in this way to subdivide lengthy titles:
Fred’s favorite movie was The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, though Stacy preferred its sequel, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
- Here’s an example of colons being used in this way to subdivide lengthy titles:
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1
Use a . The purpose of this hyphen is to make the word easier to read. For instance, if you were to leave the hyphen out of the word re-examine, it would be reexamine, where the double «e» could be confusing.[15]
Many words do not require a hyphen to separate the prefix from the word, such as restate, pretest, and undo. Let a dictionary be your guide for when to use the hyphen after a prefix.- Here’s an example of good hyphen usage:
Cara is his ex-girlfriend.
- Here’s an example of good hyphen usage:
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2
Use hyphens when creating compound words from several smaller words. If you’ve ever written about anything that’s gold-plated, radar-equipped, or one-size-fits-all, you’ve used a hyphen in this way. To build a long, descriptive word out of two or more component words, use hyphens to separate the «pieces» from each other.[16]
- Here’s an example of a hyphen used to build a compound word:
The up-to-date newspaper reporters were quick to jump on the latest scandal.
- Here’s an example of a hyphen used to build a compound word:
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3
Use a hyphen when writing numbers out as words. Separate the two words of any number under one hundred with a hyphen. Be careful with spelling out numbers above one hundred — if the number is used as an adjective, it is completely hyphenated, since all compound adjectives are hyphenated. (This is the one-hundredth episode). Otherwise, a hyphen should occur only if a number lower than 100 is embedded within a larger number, e.g., He lived to be one hundred twenty-one.
- Don’t use «and» when writing numbers, as in «The amount is one hundred and eighty.» This is a common error in the US and Canada, where the «and» is usually omitted. Elsewhere in the English-speaking world, however, the «and» can be included.
- Here are two examples of hyphens being used in numbers below and above one hundred, respectively:
There are fifty-two playing cards in a deck.
The packaging advertised one thousand two hundred twenty-four firecrackers, but it contained only one thousand.
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4
Use a dash when making a brief interruption within a statement. The dash («—» or «—») is slightly longer than the hyphen and is used to convey a sudden change of thought, an additional comment, or a dramatic qualification within a sentence. It can also be used to add a parenthetical statement for further clarification, but this should still be relevant to the sentence.[17]
Otherwise, use parentheses. Keep in mind that the rest of the sentence should still flow naturally as if the dashed material were not there.- To judge whether a dash is appropriate, try to remove the words between the dashes. If the sentence appears disjointed or does not make sense, you may need to revise it instead of using the dashes.
- There should be spaces before and after a dash in British English.
- Here are two examples of proper dash usage:
An introductory clause is a brief phrase that comes — yes, you guessed it — at the beginning of a sentence.
This is the end of our sentence — or so we thought.
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5
Use a hyphen to split a word between two lines. Though this use is not as common today, the hyphen («-«) was once a common punctuation mark on typewriters, used when a long word had to be split between two lines. This system is still seen in some books, but the justification capacity of computer word processing programs has made this rarer.
- Here’s an example of a hyphen being used to split a word that’s cut into two pieces by a line break:
No matter what he tried, he just couldn’t get the novel’s elec-
trifying surprise ending out of his head.
- Here’s an example of a hyphen being used to split a word that’s cut into two pieces by a line break:
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1
Use the apostrophe together with the letter s to indicate possession. The apostrophe (« ‘ «) has a variety of uses for conveying the concept of possession. Be aware of the difference in using an apostrophe with singular or plural nouns. A singular noun will use the apostrophe before the «s» (‘s), whereas the plural version of that noun will use the apostrophe after the «s» (s’).[18]
This use comes with several stipulations discussed below.- Be mindful of nouns that are always considered to be plural, such as children and people. Here you should use ‘s even though the nouns are plural.
- Also be aware of pronouns that are already possessive and do not require apostrophes, such as hers and its. (It’s means it is or it has). Their is possessive without apostrophe or s, except as a predicate adjective, where it becomes theirs.
- Here is an example of an apostrophe used to show possession with a singular noun:
The hamster‘s water tube needs to be refilled.
- Here is an example of an apostrophe used for showing possession with a plural noun:
In the pet store, the hamsters‘ bedding needed to be changed.
- Here is an example of an apostrophe used for showing possession with a plural noun that doesn’t end with «s»:
These children‘s test scores are the highest in the nation.
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2
Use the apostrophe to combine two words to make a contraction. Contractions are shortened combinations of two words. For example, cannot becomes can’t, «it is» becomes «it’s», you are becomes you’re, and «they have» becomes they’ve. In every contraction, the apostrophe replaces the letters that are omitted from one or both words.[19]
- Be sure to use the possessive pronoun your and the contraction you’re appropriately. It is a common mistake to interchange them.
- Here is an example of apostrophes used for a contraction of it is and a singular noun with possession, while correctly being omitted for possessive pronouns (hers, theirs, its):
Friends of hers explained that it’s her idea, not theirs, to refill the hamster‘s water tube and change its bedding.
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3
Use a single quotation mark within a regular quotation to indicate a quotation within a quotation. Single quotation marks, which look almost identical to apostrophes, are used to separate quotations from other quotations which surround them. Use these carefully: always make sure every quotation mark used to start a quote is paired with a corresponding one at the end of the quote.[20]
- Here is an example of a quote-within-a-quote:
Ali said, «Anna told me, ‘I wasn’t sure if you wanted to come!‘«
- Here is an example of a quote-within-a-quote:
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4
Don’t use an apostrophe with an s to make a singular noun into a plural noun. This is a very common mistake. Remember that apostrophes are not used to show the simple pluralization of a noun.
- Here are examples of correct and incorrect apostrophe usage:
CORRECT — apple → apples
INCORRECT — apple → apple’s
- Here are examples of correct and incorrect apostrophe usage:
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1
Use the slash to separate and from or, when appropriate. Slashes ( » / » ) in phrases like and/or suggest that the options described are not mutually exclusive.
- Here is an example of good «and/or» usage:
To register, you will need your driver’s license and/or your birth certificate.
- Here is an example of good «and/or» usage:
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2
Use the slash when quoting lyrics and poetry to denote a line break. Slashes are especially useful when it is impractical to recreate the original formatting of a poem or song. When using slashes in this way, be sure to include spaces before and after the slashes.[21]
- Here is an example of slashes used to mark line breaks in a song:
Row, row, row your boat / Gently down the stream. / Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, / Life is but a dream.
- Here is an example of slashes used to mark line breaks in a song:
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3
Also use the slash to replace the word and when joining two nouns. By replacing and with a slash, you suggest that there is equal importance in both options listed. Use these replacements in moderation to place greater emphasis where and may not do so, as well as to avoid confusing the reader. You can also do the same for or, as in his/her.[22]
However, you should not use the slash to separate independent clauses.- Here are examples of how to use and how not to use a slash in this way:
CORRECT:
«The student and part-time employee has very little free time.» →
«The student/part-time employee has very little free time.»INCORRECT:
«Do you want to go to the grocery store, or would you prefer to go to the mall?» →
«Do you want to go to the grocery store / would you prefer to go to the mall?»
- Here are examples of how to use and how not to use a slash in this way:
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1
Use the double quotation mark ( « ) to enclose a direct quotation derived from either a spoken or written source. Generally speaking, quotation marks are used to denote that the information is a quote. In other words, whether you’re recreating someone’s verbal speech or simply re-writing something that they wrote elsewhere, you’ll use quotation marks.[23]
- Below are two examples of quotation mark usage:
«I can’t wait to see him perform!« John exclaimed.
According to the article, the value of the dollar in developing nations is «strongly influenced by its aesthetic value, rather than its face value.«
- Below are two examples of quotation mark usage:
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2
Use parentheses to clarify. Parentheses are often used to explain something that can’t be deduced from the rest of the sentence.[24]
When using parentheses ( » ( ) » ), be sure to include the sentence’s period after the closing parenthesis, except in the case that an entire sentence is within parentheses. Note that sometimes parentheses and commas can be used interchangeably.- Here is an example of parentheses used for clarification:
Steve Case (AOL’s former CEO) resigned from the Time-Warner board of directors in 2005.
- Here is an example of parentheses used for clarification:
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3
Use parentheses to denote an afterthought. Parentheses can also be used to contain information that is supplementary to the sentence they are part of. In this case, the line between using parentheses and starting a new sentence instead can be somewhat murky. A good general rule is to use parentheses for short additions and quips, not complex ideas.
- Here is an example of parentheses used for an afterthought. Note that the period (full stop) follows the last parenthesis — not before the first. Also note that replacing the parentheses with a comma may not be entirely suitable here, while a period or a semicolon may work:
You will need a flashlight for the camping trip (don’t forget the batteries!).
- Here is an example of parentheses used for an afterthought. Note that the period (full stop) follows the last parenthesis — not before the first. Also note that replacing the parentheses with a comma may not be entirely suitable here, while a period or a semicolon may work:
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4
Use parentheses for personal comments. One additional usage of parentheses is to contain the writer’s direct comments to the reader. Usually, the comments contained in parentheses refer to the preceding sentence. As above, the shorter and simpler the better. If you have to expound at great length or reference several disparate pieces of your writing, it’s usually best to start a new sentence.
- Here is an example of parentheses used for a personal comment:
Most grammarians believe that parentheses and commas are always interchangeable (I disagree).
- Here is an example of parentheses used for a personal comment:
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5
Use brackets to signify an editor’s note in a regular piece of writing. You can also use brackets ( » [ ] » ) to clarify or to revise a direct quote. Brackets are often used to encompass the word «sic» (Latin for thus), indicating that the previous word or phrase was presented «as is,» retaining an error in the original version.[25]
- Here is an example of brackets used for clarity in a direct quote. (Note that the original quote was, «It was absolutely devastating!»)
«‘[The blast] was absolutely devastating!’ said Susan Smith, a local bystander at the scene of the incident.
- Here is an example of brackets used for clarity in a direct quote. (Note that the original quote was, «It was absolutely devastating!»)
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6
Use braces to denote a numeric set in mathematics. Less commonly, braces ( » { } » ) can also be used in regular writing to indicate a set of equal, independent choices.
- Here are two examples of brace usage. Note that the second is exceedingly rare:
The set of numbers in this problem is: { 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 }
Choose your favorite utensil { fork, knife, spoon } and bring it to me.
- Here are two examples of brace usage. Note that the second is exceedingly rare:
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I have so many problem with articles (The , A / An). How can I master them?
Keep practicing. Read a lot of English text and pay attention to how they are used. A/An are very easy to distinguish — they’re the same thing, the ‘n’ is just added if the article comes before a word that starts with a vowel sound (eagle, angry, honest, Indian, etc.). For explanation and examples of the different uses of A/An and The, check out www.englishpage.com/articles/a-an-vs-the.htm.
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How do I use [sic] properly?
You can use it immediately after an error in a quotation (commonly a misspelling). This is something most people are relatively unlikely to ever need to use; it’s mainly used by journalists or authors when they quote writing that contains an error and want to make clear that the error was present in the original source, not made by the current writer/publication. For example: A statement released by the Trump campaign said, «We need too [sic] make America great again.»
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What about this sign: ~ ?
Known as a «tilde,» the ~ symbol is often used in a mathematical context to indicate approximation or proportionality.
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In formal writing, try to avoid excessive use of question marks and exclamation points. Most of your sentences should be declarative statements.
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Never be afraid to have short sentences in your writing by splitting up long sentences that contain several points. Your reader will appreciate writing that is clear and concise with briefer statements, as opposed to a one-page paragraph with twenty words per sentence.
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There are exceptions to the hyphen-dash rule. In making compound words, when one of the words is itself composed of two words, use an en dash ( – ) rather than a hyphen, as in, «He took the Paris–New York route.» En dashes are also used between numbers, as in page numbers or years, to denote a range. («A discussion on personal finance is found on pages 45–62.»)
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Try to distinguish between the punctuation rules of different languages in order to avoid using punctuation incorrectly.
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Keep in mind that punctuation should be used to enhance writing and create a more «intelligent» appearance. The whole point of punctuation is to increase clarity.
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While using English punctuation appropriately may help your writing to flow more smoothly, don’t overdo it. It’s better to err by omission than to include superfluous, even confusing apostrophes, commas and other marks.
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Do not use punctuation just because it seems more intellectual.
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Article SummaryX
To use English punctuation correctly, remember to always capitalize the first letter of a sentence, as well as the names of specific people, places, and things. Also, make sure you end a sentence with a period unless the sentence is a question, in which case you should end it with a question mark. If there’s a break or pause in a sentence, insert a comma. You’ll also want to put a comma in between items in a list if there are more than 3. If there’s a quote or dialogue in a sentence, put a quotation mark at the beginning and end of the sentence. To learn how to use other punctuation, such as colons, semicolons, or hyphens, keep reading the article!
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I sometimes hesitate to address the subject of pronunciation because I usually get complaints. For example, I received this gentle admonition when I wrote about the novel pronunciation of the word news among radio announcers:
Methinks a site about writing tips should steer clear of pronunciation.
I have to disagree. Pronunciation has nothing to do with grammar or sentence structure, but it does relate to spelling, and spelling is a significant aspect of writing.
For example, not everyone pronounces vehicle and often with the same speech sounds, a fact that doesn’t matter in conversation, but does matter if the speaker spells often as “offen” or vehicle without the h.
English orthography is often ridiculed for oddities like rough and knight, but it is nevertheless based on a sound system represented by the 26 letters of the alphabet and several additional symbols represented by letter combinations.
Pronunciation may be a matter of personal preference, but correct spelling rarely offers a choice. It is in everyone’s interest to know what sound is represented by each letter or letter combination, even if the sound is not pronounced. It is more useful in a writer to learn the idiosyncrasies of the system.
For example, instead of ridiculing the archaic spelling of knight, an English speaker can choose to learn that in modern English writing, kn is an alternate spelling for the sound /n/, and that igh is an alternate spelling of the long i sound, a “three-letter i.”
Many English words have more than one acceptable pronunciation for the same spelling, but
speakers who do not pronounce all the letters in a word still need to learn “spelling” pronunciations. For example, I used to have trouble spelling the word silhouette, which I pronounce “sil-uh-wet.” I learned that if I think the “spelling” pronunciation “sil-hoo-etty,” I can spell it correctly. If you pronounce the word arctic without the first /k/ sound, you need to think “ark-tik” when you write it so that you won’t leave out the first c.
Each of the following words has at least two pronunciations that are considered acceptable in standard English. I’ll leave it to you to listen to the options at one of the online dictionaries with audio buttons.
arctic
February
calm
palm
salmon
clothes
forehead
comptroller
victuals
waistcoat
medicine
ski
Contrary to what one college textbook irresponsibly suggests, spelling mastery does not require that you be “gifted with a marvellous visual memory.” It does, however, require attention to pronunciation, and a willingness to discard the myth that English spelling is hopelessly chaotic.
If you want to see some really opinionated thoughts on pronunciation, check out Charles Harrington Elster’s The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations.