End Sentence Punctuation:
End a sentence with a period, followed by one or two spaces, then start
the new sentence with a capital letter.
“My name is Mark. It is very nice to meet you.”
“I attend the Awesome English
Language Center. It is a good place to
study English.”
Using the Conjunctions “and” and “but:”
Don’t start sentences with these words. Many people do this, but many other people consider it poor grammar. Be safe and do not start sentences with the words “and” or “but.”
Avoid this usage:
“But he didn’t have any money.”
This is much better than above:
“However, he didn’t have any money.”
When “and” or “but” are used as a conjunction, put in a comma, then the conjunction with no punctuation afterwards, then the next word.
“I am in Malaysia, and I am studying English.”
“I am studying hard, but English is a difficult language to learn.”
Don’t start sentences with these words. Many people do this, but many other people consider it poor grammar. Be safe and do not start sentences with the words “and” or “but.”
Avoid this usage:
“But he didn’t have any money.”
This is much better than above:
“However, he didn’t have any money.”
When “and” or “but” are used as a conjunction, put in a comma, then the conjunction with no punctuation afterwards, then the next word.
“I am in Malaysia, and I am studying English.”
“I am studying hard, but English is a difficult language to learn.”
The words “vocabulary” and “grammar” are usually always
single, even when you are saying that you learned many new words or rules.
“I learned new vocabulary.”
“I learned new vocabulary words.”
“I learned new grammar.”
“I learned new grammar rules.”
The word “hardly” is very confusing. It can be used as an adjective. It can also be used as an adverb, but without
the “-ly” ending.
“English is a hard language to
learn.” Here, “hard” is an adjective
used to modify the noun “language.” It
means “difficult” in this case.
“She hardly studied.” This is a very strange case. Used this way, it is an adverb and means that
“She barely studied.” In other words, when
“hardly” is put before a verb, it means “barely.”
“She studied hardly.” This is never said in English. It would be confusing to the listener.
“She studied hard.” This way, without the “-ly” ending, means
that she studied with great effort.
Example:
Putting the above points above together, we would say:
“I attend the Awesome English
Language Center. I am a student there,
and I am studying English. I study hard,
but English is a very hard language to learn.
I am learning new vocabulary and new grammar. The students who hardly study will probably
fail, but the students who study hard will do well, and they will get good
grades.”
Therefore, Before, and other words ending in "fore:"Words such as "therefore" and "before" have an "e" on the end, even though they sound like they are ending in the English word "for."
Their versus There:
"Their" indicates possession, while "there" indicates location.
"That is their house."
"The house is there, across the street."
"Their house is over there, on the corner."
It's versus Its:
"It's" is a contraction for "it is" or "it has." On the other hand, "its" indicates possession.
"It's very hot today."
"It's been very hot all week long."
"The bird flew away from its nest."
Single Compound Words:
Many words are compound words. In other words, they are two words that are joined together as one. In these cases, there is no space between the words, and they are written as one. Examples of these compound words are: Highway, disadvantage, outside.
Never Put Spaces Before Punctuation Marks:
There is never a case when a space comes before a punctuation mark. The space comes after the punctuation mark instead.
This is wrong:
"In fact ,he is a good man."
This is wrong:
"In fact , he is a good man."
This is right:
"In fact, he is a good man."
"Affect" versus "Effect"
At the most basic level, the difference between these two words is fairly simple: "Effect" is used as a noun, while "affect" is used an a verb.
Try to remember the bird name “raven:”
“Remember Affect Verb Effect Noun”
"Studying hard will have a positive effect on your grade."
"Drinking lots of coffee affects your blood pressure and pulse."
There are more subtle cases when affect can be used as a noun and effect can be used as a verb, but for now don't worry about those. Focus on the common usage ("effect "as a noun and "affect" as a verb), and you will almost always be right.
“Teach” versus “Learn:” Schools and teachers teach, while you or students learn.
“My teachers taught me well, and I
learned (learnt) very much.”
Sentence Fragments: A sentence must have, at a minimum, a subject and a verb. If a sentence does not have at least a subject and a verb, then it is wrong.
Sentence Fragments: A sentence must have, at a minimum, a subject and a verb. If a sentence does not have at least a subject and a verb, then it is wrong.
The first part is a sentence, but
the second part is wrong:
“There are many different extreme
sports. For example, mountain climbing,
bull fighting, and deep sea diving.”
This is correct:
“There are many different extreme sports, for example, mountain climbing, bull fighting, and deep sea diving.”
Overuse of “the” “The” is only used for specific identification, while the articleless case is used for general situations.
General cases:
"Teachers work hard in the
classroom.”
"Parents try to give their
children the best they can.”
By contrast, these are specific
cases:
"The teachers went on strike over
pay”
"The parents were notified that
their son was failing.”
Minimum
Word Length. Note that many essays
require a minimum word length. The last
quiz, for example, said that your essay should be at least 220-240 words
long. This is the minimum length. If it is listed as a requirement, you must
not ignore it. For practice, your
homework essays should be at least that long.
“Everything”
and “Anything” are One Word: This is
another case when a compound word is really one word. Even though these three words (every, any,
and thing) are complete words alone, when used together they are joined as a
single compound word.
The Most
Important Point: The most important
about an essay is this: Does the reader
understand what you are trying to say?
If I circle part of your essay and say it is unclear or that I don’t
understand, you need to take that as very important feedback, and you should
rewrite that part so that I do understand.
Make Sure Your Introduction and Conclusion are Especially Clear: It's important that your entire essay be clear and easy to read, but the introduction and the conclusion are even more important than the middle of the essay.
A very clear and accurate introduction will help your readers know what to look for as they read the rest of your essay. One problem often seen here is that authors will write the introduction and not know entirely or exactly what the essay will contain. They provide an introduction that they think will be accurate, but often after the body of the essay is written, it is different than the introduction, and authors often fail to review the introduction and ensure it is still accurate. Once you have finished your essay, you must go back and reread the entire paper, paying special attention to the introduction to make sure it accurately reflects what you wrote.
A very clear and accurate conclusion will stick with the readers and possibly clarify things they did not understand in the middle portions. Unfortunately, writers often get tired at the end (or they run out of time during timed tests), so they try to hurry through the conclusion. This is a huge mistake! The conclusion, perhaps more than any other part of the essay, must help the reader understand and remember what your essay is about.
British versus American English Differences: Many words are spelled (or "spelt") differently in British English (BE) and American English (AE), and some words even have different meanings. Even more interesting, punctuation is sometimes different. It's OK to use either the AE or BE version, but you should be consistent and only use one style in your paper. In other words, if you use the British spelling for "colour," then you should use British spellings for other words such as "centre" and "theatre." It is confusing if you mix the two styles and write something such as "In the center of the theatre..."
Make Sure Your Introduction and Conclusion are Especially Clear: It's important that your entire essay be clear and easy to read, but the introduction and the conclusion are even more important than the middle of the essay.
A very clear and accurate introduction will help your readers know what to look for as they read the rest of your essay. One problem often seen here is that authors will write the introduction and not know entirely or exactly what the essay will contain. They provide an introduction that they think will be accurate, but often after the body of the essay is written, it is different than the introduction, and authors often fail to review the introduction and ensure it is still accurate. Once you have finished your essay, you must go back and reread the entire paper, paying special attention to the introduction to make sure it accurately reflects what you wrote.
A very clear and accurate conclusion will stick with the readers and possibly clarify things they did not understand in the middle portions. Unfortunately, writers often get tired at the end (or they run out of time during timed tests), so they try to hurry through the conclusion. This is a huge mistake! The conclusion, perhaps more than any other part of the essay, must help the reader understand and remember what your essay is about.
British versus American English Differences: Many words are spelled (or "spelt") differently in British English (BE) and American English (AE), and some words even have different meanings. Even more interesting, punctuation is sometimes different. It's OK to use either the AE or BE version, but you should be consistent and only use one style in your paper. In other words, if you use the British spelling for "colour," then you should use British spellings for other words such as "centre" and "theatre." It is confusing if you mix the two styles and write something such as "In the center of the theatre..."
- Spelling Differences: These are numerous, and there are many resources on the web which will list the most commonly seen differences. Do a web search of "british american english spelling differences" or something similar, and you will find a number of current listings.
- Meaning Differences: Row is used in both AE and BE to indicate "rowing a boat," but in BE it has a special meaning. Pronounced as a rhyme of "how," row can also mean a fight or a controversy in BE. Lift in both AE and BE can mean to pick something up, but in BE it also means elevator. Again, it's not really possible to list all of the meaning differences here, but be aware of them, and do a web search if you would like to see more examples.
- Punctuation and Grammar Differences: Plural nouns. "this," versus "this", but always "this." As stated before, it is fine to use either the BE or the AE style of writing, though personally I recommend using AE as the punctuation rules are more consistent and with fewer exceptions than in BE.
