"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." -Mahatma Gandhi
Grammar and Writing Resources
UPDATED: July, 2015
This page contains a running list of grammar resources for my students at all levels. If you need additional support with the particulars of grammar, please check out the appropriate resource below.
The Apostrophe: A story of belonging... and more (though the plural does NOT require one... n/m just see below):
- "How to Use an Apostrophe" from The Oatmeal is a great overview of the subject. Read and commit it to memory.
- Need more? Try this resource from Purdue.
Capitalizatiion: Start at the beginning and never miss a beat.
- Capital Community College's "Capitalize This!" will help you remember when upper case letters are required.
Commas: Comma, comma, comma, comma, comma chamelion.... Ok, maybe that's just funny to me. Still, here are some resources for the Comma Confusion:
- "Comma Story" a TED-Ed overview of the comma's place in the sentence. I highly recommend that you check this one out:
- "Comma's Great Divide: The Oxford Comma" a great TED-Ed talk that outlines why you should use this valuable comma!
- This resource from the University of Wisconsin, outlines the use of commas with modifiers (do's and don'ts).
- "The Most Comma Mistakes" by Ben Yagoda is an article from The New York Times about common mistakes with the comma.
- All you need to know about the comma is here: "Grammar and Style in British English: Commas" by Richard Dobbs.
- Trouble with Comma Splices?
Hyphens and Dashes:
- "Hyphens and Dashes" is a good page (easy to use) from edufind.com
Mixed Constructions:
- Do you find yourself saying "this is when"? See this page from the University of Calgary to resolve this error.
Participle Phrases, Modifiers and More: Don't misplace these!
- Robin L. Simmon's "Grammar Bytes" has a page to help place those tricky phrases.
- Plus, here's their exercise for recognizing misplaced and dangling modifiers.
Prepositions: Need help with these tricky words? If so, check out these pages...
- "Prepositions: Locators in Time and Space" by Capitol Community College Foundation (US). Easy to understand explanations, plus practice quizzes to check your understanding.
- If you would like to know more about the history of prepositions and how they came into usage (long read), see Grammar Girl's blog entry on the subject (by Megan Fogarty, US).
Run-On (R/O) Sentences: Take a breath! Here are some resources to help keep your sentence length in check.
- MyEnglishTeacher.net has a great page on sentences that shows what a run-on sentence is and several methods for correcting them.
- For anyone heading to university, here's a great resource from the University of Toronto. This resource will help elevate your writing.
- Here's another one for run on sentences and comma splices.
Sentence Fragments: Wait! Something's missing... Browse through these resources to help you construct full sentences.
- This page by Robin L. Simmons gives readers a thorough explanation of sentence fragments. The page highlights the different types of fragments as well as how to fix them.
- The Memorial University of Newfoundland's writing centre has a detailed handout with practice sentences.
- Need more? Here you go!
Spelling: Tricks and Tips for upping your game!
- Take a look at the 100 Most Often Misspelled Words in English. The page offers handy tips to help keep these spellings straight!
Subject-Verb Agreement: Help for making subjects and verbs agree.
- The Purdue University Online Writing Lab has many great resources. This one will help with the Subject-Verb Agreement issue.
- Try this Quiz to see if you have mastered subject/verb agreement.
Verb Tense Consistency: Keep 'em consistent!
- Bristol University (UK) has a simple overview with a quiz to check your understanding of this rule.