Improve_Your_Punctuation.PDF

stark message left on her answer phone. He had told her bluntly that he was going to marry her best friend. He hoped she would u ...

length and change the position of the topic sentence. Make sure that one paragraph leads naturally on to the next. Use the singl ...

She went as white as a sheet. I can see it in my mind’s eye. (Shakespeare) All that glitters (glisters) is not gold. (Shakespear ...

words before you write. This is why planning any piece of work you do is essential. Economising on words Make your writing ‘tigh ...

Checklist ◆ A paragraph deals with one topic. ◆ Use the single sentence paragraph sparingly. ◆ Avoid jargon, clichés and colloqu ...

Revising Your Work This chapter is a revision one to reinforce what you have learnt. Revising the parts of speech Each word is a ...

Using the articles The articles are the words: the a an ‘The’ is thedefinite articleused for specific items. ‘A’ and ‘an’ are mo ...

Using adjectives Adjectivesqualify nouns. They either precede the noun or follow the verb ‘to be’. I will use theblue counter. M ...

Adding interjections Interjectionsare expressions showing an emotion. They are not necessary to the sentence. Oh! Goodness me! R ...

Jack switched on the computer, picked up his notes, keyed in his password and started typing. Using phrases Phrases are groups o ...

◆ To separate adjectival clauses in the middle of a main clause. ◆ To separate phrases from the rest of the clause. ◆ Before or ...

Remembering apostrophes The apostrophe has two uses. Showing possession The apostrophe is used to show that a noun has something ...

Reviewing dialogue Using direct speech Direct speech should be enclosed in inverted commas. A new paragraph is started for each ...

Concluding the review Correct and punctuate the following passage: I don’t want to be married in church exclaimed sarah non- sen ...

Making Use of the Dictionary and Thesaurus If you are serious about improving your standard of writing, a dictionary and a thesa ...

Finding derivations of words English is a difficult language to learn because it derives from so many different languages. Latin ...

fait accompli – something done that cannot be changed mot juste – the right word table d’hôte – fixed price menu petit mal – mil ...

Noun (n.) – a person, place, thing, state or idea Pronoun (pron.) – a word that replaces a noun Verb (v.t.) – a transitive verb ...

Showing prefixes and suffixes Aprefixis a group of letters placed in front of a root word to change the meaning. appear disappea ...

Utilising the thesaurus Athesaurusis a very useful book. It contains a number of synonyms(words which have a similar meaning to ...