Reason 1: Not Enough Experience Writing

For a lot of us, we’re just more accustomed to talking than writing.  Those are two different skill sets, after all, even though they both relate to communication and use the same English language.  When you don’t have adequate experience writing, you tend to approach it without much confidence — hence, you end up second guessing nearly everything you put to paper.  The solution is simple: write more.  In the meantime, use a grammar software to make sure your writing don’t end up being unreadable.

Reason 2: We Write Like What We Read

Many people don’t read much.  And when they do, it’s usually books they need for school or work; or contracts they have to sign; or product brochures for a new TV they’re thinking of buying.    So when they write, their instinct is to sound like what they read.  I think we can all agree that trying to sound like a textbook, a contract or a product brochure just isn’t natural — unless you’re writing one of those.  Instead of writing the way they actually speak, they take on a perceived voice based on those materials and they end up messing up the technical aspects of their grammar because of it.

Reason 3: Grammar Errors Are Just More Glaring on Paper

When you talk and use bad grammar, your facial expressions, tone and gesture can easily make up for the lost meaning, so those you’re talking with can fill in the blanks.  Not quite the same experience on paper.  Hence, grammar errors appear more pronounced.

Adverbs of manner. This type of adverb shows how something is done, such as a man “driving carefully” or a song being “passionately sung.”

Adverbs of degree. This adverb type tells the reader “how much” of something is done or experience, as in “We eat out a lot” or “The beer was extremely cold.”

Adverbs of time. This type provides information on the timing and occurrence of an event, such as when you promise to “send the reports in an hour” or “attend a function next week.”

Adverbs of frequency. This type of adverb shows how often something happens, as in “I usually take the bus around 7″ or “I often lose track of time.”

Adverbs of comment. This adverb type provides an opinion on a situation, such as when remarking that, “Unfortunately, Christmas isn’t happening this year.”

Like all standard rules of grammar, you can probably find more details about adverbs from your English grammar software.  Good ones should have more than pre-set lessons, incorporating the information during the actual proofreading and checking activities, so you can be reminded of them.

Modern English is a much more simplified language compared to those three, which is why most English writing software are able to perform their work very effectively.  While declensions (i.e. words that require inflections) do exist in the vernacular, they have been severely minimized.  One area of English where it’s required are personal pronouns (such as the inflections I, me and mine for first person singular).

These pronouns each have three inflections that relate to the purpose they serve in a sentence: nominative (I), accusative (me) and possessive (mine).

• Nominative forms are used when the pronoun is the subject of the sentence, the one carrying out the action (as in “I wrote that book.”).  Pronouns in this group include I, we and they.
• Accusative forms are used when the pronoun is the object of the sentence, the element of the statement that’s affected by the verb  (as in “That statement was referring to me.”).    Pronouns in this group include me, us and them.
• Possessive forms are used when showing ownership of the subject (as in “The car is mine.”).  Pronouns in this group include mine, ours and theirs.

Of the three, the last one is the easiest to use, with both nominative and accusative often being fodder for confusion.  If you keep the definitions of usage in mind, though, they should be fairly easy to fix.

Memorize The Basic Rules

1. The letter “i” comes before “e,” except when the pair comes after “c”.  This is true for the most part, although there are many exceptions.  Words that break this rule include: protein, either and ancient.

2. With two vowels in a row, the first vowel usually has a long sound while the second one stays silent.  This is true with words such as pie and cream.

3. Beware of the silent “e” at the rear.  Words where the vowel is enunciated before a consonant ending, there’s usually a silent “e” at the end.  Common examples include care, cube and forgive.

Those three rules are far from a complete guideline.  However, they are the most basic that you should know.  For the most part, though, memorizing rules isn’t the best way to learn spelling as English allows for far too many exceptions.

Learning To Spell

The best way to learn how to spell a word is to learn the word.  Make an effort not just to memorize the arrangement of letters but to understand it.  When you do, the spelling will probably come naturally.

When you’re memorizing words, chunk it down by mentally taking note of individual syllables.  Going this route can also help you adapt to other words that use the same sounds.  Also, make sure you’re pronouncing the words right.  Skipping consonants (as in pronouncing “candidate” as “canidate”) can hurt you in the long run.

A few quick tips to remember:

1. Any time that an adverb plus a verb can be replaced by a single verb without losing the essence of the idea, then do it.

2. Beware of relying on overused modifiers (e.g. “very,” “pretty,” “slightly,” “little,” etc.)  as they tend to make text more cumbersome to read.  In fact, I recommend adding those words to your grammar checking software to alert you whenever you use them.

3. If an adjective is redundant (meaning, the reader already knows it based on the noun alone), then remove it.   Want an example?  Try “good-looking beauty pageant contestants” – they’re in a beauty pageant, so they should be, by definition, good-looking all on their own.

If you find yourself using adjectives and adverbs just a little too much, this exercise done over several sessions should help straighten you out:

1. Choose a subject – any subject – to write about.

2. Resolve to write five paragraphs.  The second and fourth paragraphs will have no modifiers whatsoever.

3. When tempted to insert a modifier as you write the second and fourth paragraphs, focus your attention on finding a suitable verb or noun that can replace it instead.

That’s it – an exercise in writing without using any modifiers.  I suggest you save materials you wrote this way and review them at a later time.  Compare the paragraphs with modifiers to the ones without and see which one is better.  Modifiers aren’ bad.  Most of the time, though, your sentences can do without them.

When dispensing of punctuations with “clarity” in mind, you can’t help but notice how the slightest change in usage can change an entire sentence’s structure and meaning.  While one additional comma here and a parentheses there sound like trite additions, they can end up lending your work with a completely different interpretation.

Many people who write as part of their daily tasks tend to go light on punctuations.  For some reason, they’re frequently dismissed as being of secondary importance, rather than as the integral aspect of English communication that they actually are.

Because of this, bad punctuation is rampant everywhere you turn.  With the exception of properly edited professional pieces, there’s a good chance most writing you’ll find will gloss over this important facet of writing.

The next time you write, try to think about how you want your message to come across, apart from ensuring proper syntax with a qualified grammar software.  From there, review the way your sentences are written and how better punctuation can help it reinforce both the work’s structure and the ideas you’re putting forward.

If the above details problems that you need a grammar software to help you through, then you need to learn about count and non-count nouns.  Basically, this property of nouns refer to whether they can be counted or not.

Definition Time

Count nouns are things that can be divided into smaller distinct units.  Non-count nouns, on the other hand, refer to things that are regarded as a whole and cannot be broken up in parts.

A table, for instance, is a count noun (you can saw it off).  Furniture (which refers to a collective whole), on the other hand, is a non-count noun.  A book is a count noun; knowledge is a non-count noun.  And so on.

Applications

Count nouns are words that can be pluralized by adding “s” at the end.  Non-count, on the other hand, cannot have a plural form.  Do note that some words in the English language are both count and non-count, depending on use, and can be pluralized with an “s”.  Examples of these two-timing words include “light,” “sound,” and “problem.”

As for articles, non-count nouns can only be combined with the articles “the,” “this,” and “that.”  Singular count nouns, on the other hand, can be used with “a,” “an,” “the,” “this” and “that,” while plural non-count can only be employed with “the,” “these” and “those.”

In these days when financial crisis pulls down our daily budget, we all have to find ways on how to save money therefore we begin cutting down on what we spend. When you have kids who are not performing well in their studies, especially with English, you may have hired a professional tutor to help them but now, because of money matters, you might have to consider stopping their daily sessions. Getting a tutor nowadays can be a problem but this does not need to happen if you know how to teach your kids good English.

Now the only challenge that parents meet when they teach their kids good English is how to get their undivided attention. Kids can sometimes become very hyperactive and you need to have them listen to you in order for them to learn.  In order to make the experience traumatic and frustrating, you need to make the learning experience a fun one for kids. If you have no idea how to do so, then you take the following simple tips:

First of all, you have to understand that kids have a strong sense of imagination. Therefore, you can use that when dealing with the English language. Try using pictures and let them pronounce and speak what the picture is. If they make mistakes, correct them gently. Remember that they are still children; therefore you need to be gentle with them. Read them a good story, maybe a fairy tale. Once you are done reading, let them pronounce easy words every day until they familiarize themselves.

Next thing you can do is to mix creativity and the English language. For example, you can draw a picture of a cat or a dog and then let them spell it out using colored markers or crayons. It is often a good idea to use this medium as children are very much interested with colors and art. Letting them practice spelling words builds up their confidence and encouraging them makes them more interested in learning good English.

You can also have your kids play with computer games that teach good English grammar like Bookworm and others. You can also let them familiarize and teach them good English checker programs so that they can use it when they have assignments, provided that they ask for your assistance. Remember that teaching your kids proper English need not be too strict. You can make it fun-filled and educational at the same time.

Some will probably call it nitpicking, as the two words can be used interchangeably (and, in fact, many people do) with little loss of essence.  If you use “backup” where “back up” should be the proper word, the reader will likely just fill in the pieces on his own.  In fact, some of the older grammar software titles I’ve tried even failed to create a distinction between the two.

Regardless, when you’re writing for school or are using your composition skills to land a job, the distinction between those two words can mean a huge deal.

Proper Use Of “Back up”

“Back up” is a verb.  Simply put, it is an activity that people do.  Savvy computer users, for instance, know damn well that they should “back up their computers regularly.”  When you’re learning to park a car, your dad might tell you to “back up the car slowly on the driveway.”

Proper Use Of “Backup”

“Backup,” in contrast, is a noun.  It is a thing, not an action that people do.  As such, your boss at work may tell you to “give me the backup of last week’s database.”  Your plumber neighbor may be streaking out of the house to attend to a “sewage backup emergency.”

When you write with bad grammar, poor sentence structures and generally difficult-to-read compositions,  what do you think people are thinking?  Some probably feel you aren’t laden with enough book smarts to know proper English constructs; others may conclude you’re a sharp guy with poor written communication skills; a few might construe it to mean you don’t pay attention to details.

Regardless of what impression it creates, people will  usually end up with some form of negative idea of about you.  Is that really what you want?

Contrast this to someone who people might say is a “good writer” or a “grammar expert.”  Truth is, most people you encounter that you think are blessed with impeccable language skills are probably just smart enough to own a grammar checking software.

Being a good writer doesn’t necessarily mean knowing all the rules of grammar and punctuation.  Owning a claim to such a billing is usually more indicative of one’s particular ability to find and use the necessary resources.  There are literally thousands of tools to help you out with English writing and composition, from software-based grammar tools to books to helpful websites.