Wednesday, March 31, 2004
An Index of English Grammar
If you are looking for a particular topic or aspect of English grammar, chances are you'll find it somewhere on this list of links. Click and you are taken to a discussion of the particular grammar question. Many of the discussions include quizzes that you can take and then check the answers online. For example, what's a "squinting modifier?" Find out here.
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Ways to think about organizing an essay
There are many ways to organize an essay into a clear, coherent, unified piece of writing. It partly depends on your topic, in particular on your thesis, which is what it is that you specifically want to say about your topic.
This page offers an overview of some of the main ways to organize an essay. Please have a look!
Tuesday, March 23, 2004
Sentence Structure
You can find a lot of information about sentence structure here. This is a summary of sentence types, but the entire section is worth reading:
We can categorize sentences into four main types, depending on the number and type of clauses they contain:
Simple (one independent clause):
We drove from Connecticut to Tennessee in one day.
Compound (more than one independent clause):
We were exhausted, but we arrived in time for my father's birthday party.
Complex (one independent clause and at least one dependent clause):
Although he is now 79 years old, he still claims to be 65.
Compound-complex (more than one independent clause and at least one dependent clause):
After it was all over, my dad claimed he knew we were planning something, but we think he was really surprised.
Thursday, March 11, 2004
100 Most Mispronounced Words in English
Pronounciation is not just a problem for those coming to English from another language. As this list of the 100 most commonly mispronounced words in English shows, native speakers have difficulty with many of our most common words and idioms.
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
Agreement between Subject and Verb
Here is some useful information about Agreement between subjects and verbs.
Run-On Sentences
Spanish sentences tend to be longer and looser than American English sentences. Where several thoughts might be connected by commas in Spanish, this often leads to ''run on'' sentences in English. If you're having occasional difficulty with run-on sentences, or simply with to review the basic idea, have a look at this useful discussion.
Monday, March 08, 2004
Modifier Placement
A useful resource about English prepositions
Here's a review of usage for English prepositions.