Punctuation
- Commas separate items in a list, follow a fronted adverbial ('Later that day, …') and mark off extra information.
- Apostrophes show possession (the girl's bag; the girls' bags) or missing letters (don't; it's = it is or it has). 'Its' (belonging to it) has no apostrophe.
- A semicolon joins two closely related main clauses; a colon introduces a list or an explanation. Dashes and brackets add extra information.
- Speech: start a new line for each new speaker, and put the punctuation inside the speech marks.
Common spelling errors
- Homophones: there, their and they're; your and you're; to, too and two; where, were and wear; affect (usually a verb) and effect (usually a noun).
- Tricky words: definitely, separate, necessary, embarrass, rhythm, accommodation, occasionally, beginning and believe.
Grammar
- Keep tenses consistent, and make subjects and verbs agree ('the group of students was').
- Write 'could have', not 'could of', and 'we were', not 'we was' (Standard English).
- Avoid comma splices: two full sentences can't be joined with just a comma.
Proofreading
- Leave about 5 minutes to check spelling, punctuation, paragraphing and sense. Read your work in your head as if reading aloud.
Key terms
- Homophone
- A word that sounds the same as another but has a different meaning and spelling.
- Apostrophe of possession
- An apostrophe showing that something belongs to someone.
- Apostrophe of omission
- An apostrophe showing where letters have been missed out.
- Semicolon
- A punctuation mark that joins two closely related main clauses.
- Colon
- A punctuation mark that introduces a list or an explanation.
- Comma splice
- The mistake of joining two sentences with only a comma.
- Standard English
- The widely accepted form of English used in formal writing.