Basic language rules are taught to all emerging English language learners, and most students already have a good grasp of punctuation before moving into a higher level of language learning. More advanced writing and the development of writers’ voices call for a better understanding of how to organize complex sentence …
Teaching my students how to extend their thoughts in their writing is one of the most challenging aspects of education. Not only does it require them to have options about what they are writing about, it also requires proper punctuation so their reader understands those opinions. Tying together complete sentences …
Dashes are an excellent way to show how various words, offsets, asides, and other informational phrases are related to one another. However, I find that most people don’t use a dash at all and incorrectly place a hyphen where a dash belongs. I was even guilty of doing this in …
Parentheses are an excellent way to offset the main sentence’s explanations, detail, and asides. They are easy to use and provide clarification and information to your reader. However, they come with their own set of punctuation rules. When my students are taught how to use parentheses, providing them with the …
Every grammarian you speak to will label commas differently, but all will agree on the rules of their use. Commas are essential to help create organization and understanding of complex sentences, but occasionally comma rules can be confusing to new writers. Sometimes breaking down these rules into labels help give …
Are you tired of feeling overwhelmed by all the rules of punctuation and dealing with punctuation errors? You aren’t alone. Collectively there are dozens of punctuation rules and knowing them all feels like an impossible task. However, chances are you already apply them without knowing since so many apply a …
The comma is the most common punctuation mark in writing but is also the most misused. Commas are used in various ways to help combine sentences, introduce information, and offset details, but they are most notably used to separate list items to avoid confusion. When explaining commas to my students, …
Before delving too deep into punctuation and grammar exercise practice, it’s worth testing your knowledge of basic punctuation and conventions with a pre-test. This quiz provides the questions you need (with answers) to test your skills and determine if you need to review. End Marks Punctuation Inserting Commas Exercise Using …
Commas are the most common punctuation mark you can use in your writing. They indicate a brief pause and provide sentence structure and clarity to your reader. Conjunctions are linking words, the most common parts of speech to create sentence fluency and add detail to text and speech. Together they …
Rules about commas can be confusing, especially when used with pronouns and adjectives. The word which is one such example that, although not commonly used, can create some questions concerning proper punctuation. Does which need a comma? It depends on how you are using it. I find the best way …