Online Reporter
This is the final schools holiday week. What is presented today might help those students going back to boarding schools and have no easy access to newspapers.
We start this session by saying make your writing clear to read. It may seem dull, but you will not get far in English if you do not know a few grammar basics.
This stuff does not come natural to many people, so learn these rules and use them when you are writing. Writing well gets you a better grade. There is a school of thought, which says a big chunk of the marks for a writing examination question are for how you write rather what you write. Make sure you write as accurate as possible.
Use standard English when writing. Unless you are writing in the voice of a character, examiners will expect you to use standard English. Do not slip into slang or local dialect, or you will lose marks. Punctuation is brilliant for making your writing smooth, clear and punchy — but only if you get it right. Throw in plenty of well-judged commas, semicolons, apostrophes, to wow the marker.
Vocabulary — To get the best marks, you will need to make sure you pick some precise and powerful words that will have the maximum impact on your reader. Tenses tell your readers when things happened. (That is, in the past, present or future). Swapping between tenses can make your writing more interesting, but do not do it without a good reason.
If you are not conversant in tenses generally, do not swap them. Grammatical structure: Variety is essential for good writing, so do not just keep using the same sentence with different words slotted in. Vary the structures you use to express your ideas, but make sure they are correct.
Sentence types — sentences come in all sorts of flavours — from short and simple to long and complex. Use a mixture of sentences to get the effect you want, and watch the marks flood in. Paragraphs — Writing in paragraphs as has been said before, is essential. It is how you organise your writing into manageable sections.
You can also use paragraphs for effect — for example, a one-sentence paragraph can make an important statement stand out. Not using paragraphs is a sure way of losing marks. Learn these rules for successful writing. As well as following these rules when you are writing, you need to get into the habit of checking your work when you have finished. That way you can spot any glaringly obvious mistakes and correct them.
Use standard English in examinations. That is what examiners like. Standard English avoids regional dialect words, so people all over the country understand it. More importantly, it is what the examiners want you to use.
Use vocabulary and grammar with care. Using Standard English means following some simple rules. Do not write the informal words you would say when talking to your mates, for example, putting “like” after sentences. Do not use slang or local “dialect words” that some people might not understand.
Do not use clichés(corny) phrases that people use all the time, for example, “at the end of the day.” Use correct spelling and grammar. Avoid these common mistakes. Follow these rules in the examination — otherwise it could affect your grade.
Rule: Do not put the word “hem” in front of names of objects — always use those. For example, it is wrong to say: “Let me see them those cows.” But it is correct to say: “Let me see those cows.”
Rule: “who” is used to talk about people. “That” or “which’’ is used for everything else. Punctuation means all the dots, commas and other symbols that you need to put in your writing. It is not just to make your work pretty — it is there for a reason. So, read on.
Start and finish your sentences correctly. Always start sentences with a capital letter. Sentences always end with either: a full stop — use these for most sentences, especially in formal writing. For example, these methods are outdated.
A question mark — use these if the sentence is asking a question. For example, when do you think the train will arrive? An exclamation mark — use these if you want your sentence to have a strong impact. For example, It was the most amazing experience I have ever had.
All these ways of ending a sentence mark a definite pause before the next sentence starts. Use commas to put pauses in sentences. Commas are a great way to improve the way you writing flows. Commas are used to separate the parts of long sentences so that the meaning is made clear.
Commas are also used to break up the items in a list. I bought onions, tomatoes, mushrooms and pasta. Pairs of commas work like brackets, to add extra information to the middle of sentences. The twins, who had their black wigs on, were eating pizza.
For views link with [email protected] or sms to 0772113207.
