Apostrophes 1

Indicating when something belongs to, or is associated with, someone

Colons 1

Using colons for lists or quotations and for signalling evidence.

Parallel constructions

Providing consistency in your sentences when you are listing ideas of similar value

Modifiers

Words that modify (influence the meaning of) another word, and what can happen if such words are in the wrong place

Capitals

When capitals are used for signalling names, organisations, events, and brands

Commas

Separating describing words and making simple lists

Subjects and objects of sentences - Me or I?

Can you ever say [someone] and me? Find out when.

Pronoun-antecedent agreement

There are rules around when you can use their, and when you must specify his or her

Apostrophes 2

Really get on top of the difference between its and it's

Semi-colons

Used for separating two independent clauses or separating items in a list-like sentence.

Parallel constructions 2

The advantages of having consistency in your sentences.

Modifiers 2

Avoiding ambiguity or double-meaning in your sentences

Capitals 2

When capitals are needed for people's titles

Capitals extra

Capitals with book titles

Commas and complex lists

When you are making a complex list, and how the placement of commas can change the meaning

Subjects and objects of sentences 2

Me, myself, and I: More about the difference between I and me

Apostrophes 3

Advanced lesson on using apostrophes with multiple nouns, dates, and plural nouns.

Modifiers 3

Dangling modifiers (a common problem) and long disruptive modifiers turning up in the middle of an idea.

Capitals 3

Acronyms, the difference between acronyms and an abbreviations.

Commas 3

Using commas before joining words, and to identify non-essential information.

Relative clauses

Extra information in your sentence about someone or something using who,which, or that.

Split infinitives

The "to infinitive" is a verb made up of "to" + the base form of the verb, like "to sleep". This lesson discusses the debate about whether a modifier is allowed to split the infinitive, as in "to quietly sleep".

Abbreviations

This lesson is about the correct use of capital letters when making abbreviations.

Comma splice

Comma splices (also known as run-on sentences) are a frequent error in student writing, but they're easy to fix. Find out how in this lesson.

Who or whom

Who and whom are relative pronouns. One represents the subject of the sentence and the other the object. Never get them muddled again.

Sentence fragments

Sentence frags are also called incomplete sentences, usually meaning that the sentence has no dominant verb.

Confusing Words

they're, their, or there?

They all sound the same, but they have different roles in your sentences.

brought and bought

One is the past of 'bring' and the other is the past of 'buy'

than or then

One is for comparing things and the other is for signalling sequences.

affect and effect

One is a verb and the other is a noun (meaning that they behave differently in the sentence).

accept and except

One means "to agree to something" and the other means "not including something"

whose or who's

One is asking about ownership while the other is asking about identity

loose and lose

The first is about when something is about to fall off, and the other is when that thing can never be found again

past or passed

One means to travel beyond something, and the other is about being successful in your exams.

Other Tools

Here are some tools that we think can work very well to help students become better at grammar.

Grammarly

Quite good at helping with punctuation, spelling, and a range of common grammar errors. You'll need to make an account - the free version is quite good.

Grammar girl

Good explanations on any grammar conundrum. (Only thing is, you need to know what grammar you want her to explain... so use in conjunction with the Student Learning grammar pages)

Student Learning