Table of contents
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Stage 1
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Stage 2
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Stage 3
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Stage 4
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Confusing words
- PreQuiz for Stage 1
- Find out which of the grammar lessons below you need to know more about
- 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
- PreQuiz for Stage 2
- Find out which of the grammar lessons below you need to know more about
- 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
- PreQuiz for Stage 3
- Find out which of the grammar lessons below you need to know more about
- 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.
- PreQuiz for Stage 4
- Find out which grammar at this level you need to learn.
- 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.
- PreQuiz for confusing words
- Find out which grammar at this level you need to learn.
- 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.
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