English Grammar Software » Learning English

Improve Your Writing by Simplifying Your Sentences

julie — Fri, 20 May 2011 07:40:52 +0000

“Simplicity is the glory of expression,” Walt Whitman once said. Good writers know that simple, clear writing is the best way to make their point and keep readers glued to their copy. However, simplicity in writing is difficult to learn. How can you achieve it?

First, simplify your thinking. Messy writing often comes from an unorganized mind. Before putting pen to paper, clarify your message. Knowing exactly what you want to say will make the writing process easier.

Second, simplify your sentences. The sentence is the smallest unit of composition that carry a complete message. When your sentences are too wordy or complex, your writing is confusing. Here are a few tips on how to keep them simple.

1. Use short sentences.

Tame your wild sentences by watching their length. Avoid endless ones, that make your reader gasp for a comma or a period.

2. Cut unnecessary words.

Many words are mere clutter: they take space, but achieve nothing. Stay away from expressions such as “it is a fact that,“ or “there is no doubt but that.” You can either cut them or replace them with shorter versions such as “no doubt.”

3. Think twice before using adjectives and adverbs.

Adjectives and adverbs are often unnecessary. You can do without “very,” “also” or “really.” “Actually,” “basically” or “completely” add little to your message. The line of adjectives in “our reliable, trustworthy team” makes the writing crowded and waters down the message.

4. Avoid repetitive phrases.

Once you said what you had to say, move on. The sentence “He worked hard in order to gain the trust of their clients and make them more confident” does not need the last five words.

5. Avoid run-on sentences.

A run-on sentence has at least two parts crowded together, either of which can stand by itself. “The study material is very difficult, I will need a tutor” needs a period instead of a comma.

6. Avoid introductory phrases and clauses.

Do not waste time in making your point. Emphasize your message by starting your sentence with the subject.

7. Do not overuse prepositions.

A high dose of these little words can turn your sentence into a nightmare. “The cold touch of the wind from the south” can be reduced to “the cold touch of the southern wind.”

8. Use the active voice.

Passive voice is weak and confusing. “ I will always remember my summer vacation” is simpler and clearer than “My summer vacation will always be remembered.”

9. Write in the positive form.

The negative form complicates the sentence, by weighing it down with unnecessary words, and making the message weaker. Write “he refused” instead of “he did not want to,” or “narrow” instead of “not very wide.”

10. Use concrete language.

Ernest Hemingway called it “vigorous English.” Let each word draw a clear picture. When a person is “stumbling,” it is more vivid than “walking unsteadily.” When another is “grumbling,“ it is simpler than “muttering in discontent.”

As a word of caution, remember not to go too far in your search for simplicity. Albert Einstein said, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” Do not regress to the writing level of a child. Simple writing is not idiotic. It is writing where every word has a purpose. Keep that in mind.

Using Similes and Metaphors

julie — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 04:52:41 +0000

Learning the proper usage of similes and metaphors is more advanced than the basic rules of the English language; however, mastering them will expand your skills and allow you to blend in more easily with strong native speakers. Similes and metaphors are similar in their functions and are often confused for each other but there is a subtle difference between them. Both are considered to be a figure of speech so let’s begin with a basic understanding of that term.

When someone says to you that the sentence they just spoke was a “figure of speech,” they’ve generally said something that does not make literal sense and may be confusing to those who are not native speakers. Many phrases that have become common place in the English language are figures of speech and do not make literal sense. A good example of this is the phrase “it’s raining cats and dogs.” Of course it’s not actually raining cats and dogs. Instead, what the speaker means when they say this phrase to you is that it’s raining very hard as opposed to just sprinkling or a steady rain.

Now that you have a basic grasp of figures of speech, let’s move onto similes. A simile is a sentence that takes two things that are generally considered to be quite different and compares them to each other as if they’re actually similar. A simile often uses the words “as” or “like” in order to show the comparison. An example of a common simile is when someone says to you that they’re “working like a dog.” This figure of speech actually means that they’re working very hard and, most likely, working very long hours. The non-literal comparison of “working” to a “dog,” two words that typically wouldn’t go together, along with the incorporation of the word “like” between the comparison is how you know that it’s a simile.

Metaphors are similar on the surface but are different. To be a true metaphor, there will be a non-literal comparison, just like in a simile, but there are two main differences; one of the words in the sentence will also be used to symbolize something else and there will be no introductory words, such as like or as, to introduce the comparison. Instead the comparison will be implied instead of more bluntly stated. An example of a commonly used metaphor is “the foot of the mountains.” In this example, the word “foot” is used to symbolize the base of the mountains. When you hear the word “foot” you automatically think of the lowest point on your body and therefore hearing the phrase “the foot of the mountains” automatically conjures up an image of the lowest point of a mountain, regardless of if you’re familiar with the phrase or not. So as you can see that phrase has both a non-literal comparison, comparing a foot to a mountain, and symbolism, using the word “foot” to represent the base of the mountains, and that’s how you know it’s a metaphor.

Although similes and metaphors may seem a bit tricky at first, with a bit of practice they’ll allow you to have less confusing conversations with native speakers. As with everything else, practice makes perfect so have fun with it!

What Is an Adverb and How Are They Used?

Mastering the Art of Sentence Transitions

julie — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 03:36:57 +0000

Imagine you are on the bank of a running river. Notice how the rocks in the river affect the water’s flow. The water hits the rock, splashes, swirls, and is redirected. Remove the rock, and the river runs freely. In writing, sentence transitions help your content flow smoothly – transitions remove the “rocks.”

Transitions are words or phrases that help to connect and clarify sentences. Transitions help ideas flow from one sentence to another. Without them, writing can appear choppy or confused. Transitions not only establish a relationship between sentences, but between you and your reader.

Which transitional word or phrase you use depends upon the type of relationship you want to build between sentences. For example, this sentence began with a transition know as “illustration.” The use of “for example” illustrates the point of the sentence before it. Other illustration transitional words and phrases include: for instance, namely, to illustrate, in other words, in particular, and specifically.

Let’s take a look at other types of relationships between sentences, along with a few examples of some of the transitional words and phrases associated with them:

Contrast: But, or, nor, yet, rather, in spite of, however, nevertheless.
Addition: And, further, finally, moreover, besides, than, too, also, again.
Time: Before, after, then, once, next, last, usually, soon, meanwhile, ordinarily.
Space: Below, beneath, under, around, above, over, surrounding, beside, nearby.
Concession: Although, granted that, in spite of, of course, at least, even though.
Emphasis: Furthermore, indeed, truly, certainly, surely, in fact, really, above all.
Details: Specifically, especially, namely, including, in particular, in detail.
Consequence: Consequently, thus, hence, accordingly, in other words.
Summary: Therefore, finally, in short, in conclusion, therefore, so, because.
Suggestion: To this end, with this in mind, for this purpose.

In using transitional words or phrases, it’s important to pay attention to the use of punctuation. Typically, transitions that occur at the beginning of a sentence are followed by a comma. However, sentences with a particularly close relationship, whether in content or format, often use a semi-colon to stress that relationship.

Example:

He planned to become a professional baseball player and diligently practiced the sport every day. However, his parents had other plans for him.
He planned to become a professional baseball player; however, his parents had other plans.

Don’t be afraid to keep transitions simple. Some writers try to appear sophisticated by using overly-complex transitional words and phrases. Experienced writers know that simple words and phrases are often the most effective. A good rule of thumb is to use language that you would normally use in your everyday life. Words such as “nevertheless” or “heretofore” may work in academic or technical writing, but may be viewed as overblown rhetoric in less complex work.

Finally, remember transitional words and phrases are not just used to connect sentences, but to connect paragraphs as well. Beginning a paragraph with a transitional word or phrase will help you on your way to mastering the art of sentences transitions.

The Essentials of Readable Writing

julie — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 00:12:56 +0000

The ability to produce readable writing used to be an advantage. Now it is a requirement. Yes, even those who sought refuge in the medical or engineering fields are all facing this sweeping requirement. For anyone who wants to be successful, and you do, the importance of writing well can’t be emphasized enough. Whether you are first learning English or just looking to improve the readability of your writing, studying the basic components of the English language and the rules of grammar is a crucial first step. Those components are comprised of the fundamental rules of grammar, spelling, appropriate word choice, sentence structure, and concise style.

Even if you feel that you have a firm grip on the fundamentals of grammar, it is always the best practice to begin learning anything with the fundamentals. That being said, grammar is one of the most important fundamentals in writing. With poor grammar, your writing will look sloppy and unfounded. An example of proper grammar in action is the usage of proper punctuation. Every question ends with a question mark, every command or statement ends in a period, and every exclamation ends in an exclamation point. Also crucial in grammar is avoiding colloquial or “slang” words like “sup,” “lol,” and things of that nature. You should consult a grammar manual for a more complete education on correct grammar usage.

Still concerning the physical appearance of your writing, spelling tells just as much a story as grammar. To avoid being discredited, practice using references and have them nearby when you are writing, especially when composing something formal like an academic essay.

When it comes to topic and word choice, you must find the perfect balance for what is appropriate to your audience. This is done by analyzing the setting and the members of the audience themselves. It is difficult to explain epistemology to a seven year old, but using the phrase “the study of knowledge” is at least better than “epistemology.” Conversely, using vocabulary or topics that are too simple for your audience will offend them. Finding the perfect medium takes a little practice, but can be done through this analysis.

Vary your sentence length. This paragraph is an example of good sentence structure in that sense. Notice how some sentences in this paragraph are short, some are of medium length, and some contain multiple clauses, which makes them longer. This captures the attention of your audience. Be careful, however, to avoid run-ons when writing longer sentences. This can be done by ending sentences before “turning the corner,” or introducing any new idea or action. With shorter sentences, check for a subject and a verb to avoid fragments.

Taking advantage of these tips will undoubtedly improve the readibility of your writing, as long as you consult the more complete lessons for each tip as this is a brief summary.

How to Persuade Your Readers

julie — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 00:31:04 +0000

1. Make it clear to your readers what your feelings are. If you do not like something, it should be stated in a way that leaves no room for doubt, no matter how they looked at it. How can you hope for anybody to take you – and, along with this, what you write – seriously if they do not think you truly are convinced about what you are saying? This can be accomplished by the words you use; obviously, happy language when you are actually trying to portray something negatively will not do the job. Look everything over carefully before making your paper official and letting others read it.

2. Keeping the above habit in mind, it is also important to acknowledge criticism against your belief. While it is all well and good to feel strongly about something, you need to show the readers that you are a not blind. You need to show them that you are aware of what other people think, and that you are not simply holding on to your thoughts with no regard for the other side. Come up with things that people might say to debate against your claims, and work to refute them as best you can.

3. Listings the possible arguments against your personal opinion are not enough. You also have to present facts. In other words, make the work appear more legitimate by stating official, proven knowledge. If you are trying to say that a certain car model is not safe, talk about how many accidents occur during the course of a year that involves the specific car. Anybody who wants to argue with you will have to realize that it is hard to deny the facts. Finding the information you need might not be an easy task, but with some work you are bound to get results.

4. Do not insult your reader; do not tell them they would be stupid if they did not see it your way. In fact, it would be better to tell the reader how taking your side on the matter benefits them. If you want the reader to stop watching too much television, tell them they will have more free time. Let them know that less television means they can take up hobbies such as painting or bird watching. When the reader can see how things can change for the better, they will be more likely to share your opinion in the end.

Using Questions to Draw in Your Readers

julie — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 06:26:03 +0000

Imagine you are writing, for example, a Letter to the Editor. When you finish, you are pretty satisfied that you have presented the facts you want to, but you can’t help but feel that something is a little off. You realize that your tone is a bit too stiff: although it puts the facts out there, the way they are presented doesn’t convey the kind of feeling you have about the topic you are writing on. The letter doesn’t draw the reader in the way it should. So, what should you do? As it turns out, one of the answers to this question is simply to ask questions. When you insert various kinds of questions into your writing, it creates a more intimate, almost conversational feeling to your writing than if you just make blunt statements.

But what kind of questions should you ask? Well, ones like that last sentence, “But what kind of questions should you ask?” are a good place to start. These are called leading questions, where you try to put yourself into your reader’s shoes and think of what questions they would be asking themselves while reading your writing. Say, for example, your letter was about why the potholes on a certain road, we’ll call it Washington St., need to be fixed right away. If your reader would think, “But doesn’t Washington St. barely get any traffic?”, you could add their probable question to your letter. Then, you would follow it with your answer, which in this case might be something like, “While it is true Washington St. doesn’t get a great deal of traffic, it is on the fastest route between the local nursing home and the county hospital.”

Another kind of question that can help you draw your readers in is the rhetorical question. This is a question where the answer is obvious to both the reader and the writer. Rhetorical questions are often effective in making statements more persuasive than they would be if stated normally. This is because they suggest that the writers opinion is the only reasonable one. Using the example of the Letter to the Editor about Washington St. we used above, an effective rhetorical question might be “How long can we the people of this city continue to put up with such an extremely unsafe situation?” The answer implied is, “We can’t wait any longer”. But by using a question instead of a statement, you are able to slightly nudge the reader toward your position.

There are numerous other kinds of questions and ways they can be used to help make your writing more engaging to your readers. The basic idea is simply to write as if your audience was right in front of you, instead of reading your writing from far away. We all use questions in our everyday lives without realizing it, and once you put yourself in the right frame of mind, questions will start to flow from your pencil or pen without you even needing to think about it.

Choosing the Best Words for Your Writing

julie — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 01:10:24 +0000

One of the keys to choosing the best words for your writing is to know your audience. If you are writing a piece for doctors, you would choose your words differently than you would for an audience of elementary school children. When writing, you must know your audience and how they will process the information.

Human communication, in all of its many languages and forms, offers many options. This can make things complicated when learning a language or trying to express a thought or idea. In different cultures and languages, some words have different meanings and some meanings have many different words. When we write something down for another person to read, we are trying to get them to understand our meaning with the same energy as if we were speaking it to them in person. This can be a difficult task, as reading is not the same as hearing and you can not always imply the same meaning in writing as you would when speaking to a person in front of you.

When writing something, try to find a way to convey your ideas in a way that is full of meaning, yet can be easily understood. Don’t overuse words and don’t be what is called “verbose.” Verbose is being too wordy, or trying to talk over the reader’s head, using large or confusing words. Instead, explain each idea in simple terms and never try to prove yourself to the reader. If your ideas are good and your writing is strong, there will be no need to be verbose. Keep things simple. Don’t waste space by filling the page with useless writing. Focus on what you want to say and make every word count, giving the reader the needed information without confusing them.

Also, when writing, try not to let emotion or personal opinion get in the way (unless you are writing a personal piece.) Too often, writers, journalists, and authors let their own personal opinions and experiences get in the way of their writing. This leads to writing that has become bloated and confusing. If you are writing about facts, stick to the information you have available and try to leave your personal opinions out of the piece.

If you are writing a personal piece, always remember to stay with the original subject. It is very easy to allow yourself to stray off the topic and begin to wander within your opinions on a subject, but remember that, although it is a personal piece of writing, you are writing for the sake of getting across an idea, personal or not. A writer needs to focus on a goal and write toward that goal.

When writing, try to remember that you are not the one reading. You are the one who is giving information, opinion, and expectation. The reader is the one who will determine what your writing means. Try not to lose yourself in your writing and simply focus on what you are trying to get across to the reader.

Online Grammar Resources

julie — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 08:56:33 +0000

There are many websites around that offer online tools and resources for English grammar. One example is YourDictionary.com. This site does not actually have its own tools but it suggests some sites that offer free online grammar checkers. These are AbiWord, Spellchecker.net, Grammar Slammer, and Language Tool. Information is also provided regarding the Grammar Check of Microsoft Word and the limitations of grammar checkers. It also suggests the websites of English Page, 1 Language, Grammar Monster, and Daily Grammar as places to enhance a person’s knowledge on English grammar.

The Grammar Monster site offers free grammar lessons and grammar tests. It also offers a list of common grammar errors and glossary of grammatical terms. Grammar tests focus on adjectives, adverbs, interjections, conjunctions, nouns, pronouns, prepositions, and verbs. The free grammar lessons delve on a variety of topics including brackets, commas, colons, hyphens, capital letters, comparatives, abbreviations, apostrophes, vocative case, interjections, prepositions, pronouns, verbs, conjunctions, adverbs, and adjectives.

The Daily Grammar website offers a compilation of lessons on parts of speech, parts of the sentence, and mechanics. Some of the specific topics include verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions. Lessons on parts of the sentence include the compound and the complex, sentence variety, verbals, adjective clauses, compound sentences, adverb infinitives, prepositional phrases, indirect objects, subject-verb agreement, predicate nominative, capitalization, appositives, apostrophes, hyphens, colons, semicolons, quotation marks, commas, and periods.

Another helpful site is GrammarBook.com, which offer free information on English grammar and punctuation. It offers information on rules and provides examples and quizzes. Some of the topics are grammar rules, capitalization rules, punctuation rules, rules for writing numbers, and commonly confused words. It also offers videos on grammar and punctuation and interactive English quizzes.

Another important site on English grammar is the Purdue OWL Internet References website, which not only focuses on grammar but also on various kinds of writing. With regards to grammar it offers information regarding various topics, including the active and passive voice, appositives, commas, dangling modifies, adverbs and adjectives, articles, hyphens, independent and dependent clauses, irregular verbs, parallel structure, punctuation patterns, subject-verb agreement, transitions, and transitional devices.

Finally, another online grammar tool is the English Grammar Book of Englishpage.com, which provides English lessons and exercises. These are grouped into various categories including adjectives, adverbs, articles, comparatives and superlatives, conjunctions, gerunds and infinitives, irregular verbs, interjections, modal verbs, nouns, negative forms, phrasal verbs, pronouns, prepositions, and subject-verb agreement.

The Use of Hyphenation

julie — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 08:50:33 +0000

A hyphen mainly joins words, as well as separates the syllables within one word. This punctuation mark is frequently mistaken for dashes and the minus sign. The dash is longer than the hyphen, and is utilized for different purposes.

Hyphenation

The writing reference Chicago Manual of Style includes an extensive chart which lists numerous types of phrases that should be hyphenated, as well as phrases that should not have hyphens. Similar references should be studied for more information on this matter. However, this article will give you the basics of hyphenation.

First, the combination of an adverb and adjective should not be hyphenated. For example: “Her bouquet was an example of ridiculously constructed Ikebana.” On the other hand, other types of adverbs precede a hyphen when put together with an adjective. For example: “The long-forgotten son steeled his resolve and made up his mind to leave the nest.” The hyphen in this case serves to modify the word “forgotten”, and not the noun “wife.” If both the adverb and adjective describe the same word, no hyphen is involved. A “light-yellow fondant ” is a pale-hued dessert, while a “light yellow fondant” is frothy, subtle, and possibly dissolves on the tongue. In the second sentence, the words “yellow” and “light” equally refer to the fondant. Thus, no hyphenation should be done.

Adjectives with nouns that have the suffix “-ed” should be hyphenated. For example, “Joseph was a short-tempered pugilist.” Without the hyphen, Joseph would probably in the lightweight division, although he would probably be experienced and quite formidable.

Ages which contain a unit of measurement must be hyphenated. “This twelve-year-old Scotch is remarkable.” This liquor can simply be a “twelve-year-old”, with the beverage being implied without an actual noun. For adjectival phrases, there should be no hyphens, such as in the sentence “The Scotch is twelve years old.”

Hyphens should be avoided when writing phrases which succeed the nouns to be modified, with exceptions for phrases containing “self” or “all” (“self-serving” and “all-important,” for example). For the most part, fractions should be hyphenated when used as adjectives (as in “three-quarters Welsh and one-quarter Polish”). However, a hyphenated numerator should accompany a fraction that does not have hyphens. An example would be “a hundred-five and four fourths.” Fractions that are nouns should never have hyphens. It should be written as “one fourth” instead of “one-fourth” in the sentence “She had one fourth of the entire cake.”

These are just some of the basic scenarios wherein many writers are often confused as to hyphen use. Studying these tips and researching further on the matter will help you drastically reduce the amount of errors in your writing.

What Is an Adverb and How Are They Used?

julie — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:19:30 +0000

The Definition of an Adverb

Adverbs are parts of speech that modify other parts of language, excluding nouns. Adverbs describe adjectives, sentences, clauses, and other adverbs as well. Noun modifiers are basically adjectives and determiners.

Adjectives have the purpose of answering questions, like how, when, and where; and in what manner, and to what degree. The English language has adverbs that mostly end with the suffix “-ly.” The function of answering these aforementioned questions is the adverbial function. It does not just manifest with single words such as adverbs, but also with adverbial clauses and adverbial phrases.

Adverbs as adverbials can be sentence elements. On the other hand, a sentence element can also contain an adverb.

Adverbs in the English Language

Adverbs of manner answer the question “how?” These adverbs are formed, often by appending the suffix “-ly” to adjectives. The adjective “sound” may turn into the adverb “soundly,” and the adjective “rare” turns into the adverb “rarely.” However, remember that some words ending in this suffix are not adverbs, as the root words of these supposed adverbs are actually nouns. For example, “-ly” at the end of words like lovely and friendly does not make these words adverbs. Some adjectives are underived, such as “silly” and “holy,” which also end in the same “-ly” suffix.

Sometimes, the suffix “-wise” may be utilized to create adverbs with nouns. In the history of the English language, the suffixes “-wise” and “-ways” used to be equally widespread, with examples such as “clockwise” and “sideways.”. In time, the first suffix gained more use. These suffixes are not a sure way of identifying a word as an adverb. Adverbs can also be made by attaching the “a-“ prefix to some nouns or adjectives, like in “astray” or “abreast.” Various English language suffixes also form adverbs from other classes of words, while some adverbs cannot be defined simply by scrutinizing their form.

The “positive” is the typical form that pertains to adverbs or adjectives. In formal use, English adverbs are nuanced by comparison, as is similar with adjectives. Superlative and comparative forms of most adverbs with single syllables which do not end in the suffix “-ly” are created with the suffixes “-er” and “-est.” Popular examples for this include “high” (which becomes “highly”), and “fast” (which becomes “faster”). Adverbs also show comparison, with examples like as, more, least, less, and most.