Hyphens are used to clarify meaning, sharpen ideas, and ensure smooth, effective communication.. Whether you're a teacher guiding students, a parent assisting with homework, or a learner aiming to sharpen your skills, understanding how to use hyphens can simplify your writing and boost your confidence. In this blog, we'll explore how to use hyphens, as well as share tricky examples and practical activities to help you learn them. Why Do We Use Hyphenated Words? Hyphens serve as connectors. They clarify meaning, prevent misreading, and improve readability. In some cases, they combine words into compound adjectives (e.g. well-known author), while in others, they help form compoun...
Introduction to Irregular Verbs Irregular verbs can be tricky. Unlike regular verbs, which follow predictable patterns when conjugated, irregular verbs have unique forms that don't conform to standard rules. In this guide, we'll focus on their past simple and past participle forms to help you wield them with confidence. Crack the Code: Past Simple and Past Perfect Tenses Explained Before we dive into some spelling patterns, let's break down two important verb tenses: the past simple and the past perfect. The past simple tense is used to talk about actions that happened in the past. For example: She ran five miles. We went to the shop. They ate ...
March 4th marks National Grammar Day in the United States and to celebrate we're compiling some of our grammar articles from over the years. What exactly is grammar? When we talk about grammar, we are referring to the whole system and structure of a language, the way words are put together to form sentences. Learn more about the history of grammar here. Grammar is often confused with punctuation which is the written marks used to separate sentences in order to clarify meaning. Click here for Spellzone's guide to punctuation. Here are some of our top grammar articles: Clauses A clause is a group of words containing a verb that can either stand alone as a complete...
Punctuation marks have a variety of functions which help make writing as clear as possible. Among other things they are used to indicate when sentences begin and end, when the reader should pause, and what part of the sentence is the most important. While you might feel like using some punctuation marks comes instinctively, others may feel a mystery. In this article we'll look at the correct punctuation to use in specific situations. Abbreviations Should you capitalise an abbreviation? Does it need an apostrophe? What about full stop after it? The appropriate punctuation mark will change depending on the type of abbreviation ñ click here to learn more. Apostrophe Apos...
There are two types of brackets: round brackets and square brackets. Round brackets are used for parenthesis while square brackets are used for clarification. This week, we’ll look at how to use both types of brackets as well as other ways to offset a parenthesis. Parenthesis A parenthesis is a word or phrase inserted into a grammatically-complete sentence as an explanation or afterthought. The sentence would still make sense if the parenthesis was removed. There are three main ways to mark off a parenthesis: Click here to make sure you don’t confuse em dashes with hyphens. Round brackets Daisy’s parents (Sally and James) are visiting France next mo...
Bullet points are a type of list used to draw attention to important information in a piece of writing. Bullet points are more visually attractive than a block of text and help draw the reader’s eye to the key points the writer is trying to make. While there are no hard and fast rules about how to use bullet points, it’s important to choose a style that will communicate the necessary information in a simple and dynamic way. Using too many bullet points in a section of writing or being inconsistent within your list of points, for example, might end up make your writing more confusing to the reader – the opposite to your intended effect. Here are five tips to help you m...
Punctuation is essential to make writing easy to understand. When used correctly, it shows the reader when sentences start and finish and what part of the sentence contains the most important information. Punctuation that is used incorrectly or sloppily, however, can confuse meaning. The addition of a comma in the following sentence, for example, makes a huge difference: ‘Let’s eat grandma!’ he said. Let’s eat, grandma!’ he said. Click here to learn more about how to use commas (and avoid implying that you’re partial to cannibalism). If you browse our archive, you’ll see that we’ve shared tips on how to use many of the more-c...
Not to be confused with a semi colon, a colon has three main uses: Use a colon between two main clauses when the second clause explains or clarifies the first. A clause is a group of words containing a verb that can either stand alone as a complete sentence or make up part of a more complex sentence. You can learn more about clauses here. Here are some examples of colons used in this way: She soon discovered the secret to spelling success: practise as often as possible. The journey won’t be easy: the buses are infrequent and there are often railway engineering works on the weekends. She had one motto in life: never give up. Use a colon ...
Depending on the way you phrase a sentence, a verb can be either active or passive. The active voice is more common in everyday writing, whereas the passive voice is usually used in formal documents such as official reports or research papers. The subject of a sentence is the person or thing the sentence is about. When the verb is active, it means the subject is doing the action that the verb indicates. If the verb is passive, it means the subject is having that the action the verb indicates done to them. The voice you choose to write a sentence in will help emphasise what the most important aspect of the sentence is. Let’s look at some examples of the active voice vs. the passiv...
When forming the past tense, words are split into regular and irregular verbs. In the case of regular verbs, the past tense is formed by adding ‘ed’ to the end of a verb (or just the letter ‘d’ if the verb ends in the letter ‘e’). Irregular verbs, on the other hand, do not follow the normal rules. This week, we’re taking a look at five words with confusing past tense forms. Is it ‘spelt’ or ‘spelled’? We couldn’t resist starting with this one! ‘Spell’ is one of a few verbs that has both a regular past tense form and an irregular one. The past tense and past participle of this word can be either ‘...
A hyphen is a short dash which is used to link words together. Last week, we learned how to use hyphens in compound words. Today, we will look at how to use hyphens when adding a prefix to another word, how to use hyphens to denote word breaks, and how to use hyphens to stand in for repeated parts of words in lists. Using Hyphens to Join Prefixes to Other Words What is a prefix? A prefix is a collection of letters that is added to the beginning of a word in order to modify its meaning. Prefixes are not usually words in their own right. Here are some examples of prefixes: un- pre- multi- post- super- Do I need to use a hyphen every time I add a prefix to a word?...
What is a hyphen? A hyphen is a short dash which is used to link words together. There are three main situations in which hyphens are used: in compound words, when adding a prefix to another word, and to denote word breaks. This week, we will look at how to use hyphens in compound words. What is a compound word? A compound word is a word that is made up of two or more other words. Hyphens are often used in compound words either to show that when the included words are together they have a combined meaning, or to show the relationship between the included words. There are different types of compound words and you don’t need to use hyphens in all of them. Compound Adjectives...
The summer holidays are coming to an end and if you’re not back at school yet, you will be soon. To help you prepare, we’ve compiled a list of our favourite posts on grammar and punctuation. Commas are confusing, but luckily we’re here to help. Click here to learn how to use commas to separate clauses, here to learn how to use commas as part of a list, and here to learn how to use commas in direct speech. If you think commas are difficult to use, you’ll probably think semi colons are worse. This punctuation mark is used to denote a break that has more emphasis than a comma but is less final than a full stop. In this article, we look at the two common circumsta...
Do you find commas confusing? Don’t worry – you’re not alone. Commas have a variety of functions yet many people are uncertain of how to use them. So far this year we’ve looked at how to use commas as part of a list and how to use commas in direct speech. Today we’re taking a look at how to use commas between clauses. What is a clause? A clause is a group of words containing a verb that can either stand alone as a complete sentence or make up part of a more complex sentence. Complex sentences are usually split into main clauses and subordinate clauses. Subordinate Clauses A subordinate clause doesn’t make sense on it’s own – it ne...
In our last blog post we looked at subjective and objective pronouns, but what do we mean when we refer to the ‘subject’ or ‘object’ of a sentence? Read on to find out! What does the term ‘subject’ mean? The subject of a sentence is the person or thing that the sentence is about. All verbs have a subject, and the subject is usually the person or thing doing whatever action the verb indicates. Here are some examples of subjects (bold) and verbs (underlined) in sentences: Katie threw the ball. My mum and dad almost missed the party. Thomas and I love action films. Sometimes, the subject of a sentence is implied. For example: &lsq...
A few weeks ago, in part two of our series on Word Classes, we looked at pronouns. A pronoun used in a sentence to avoid repeating a noun that has been mentioned before. We use the term personal pronoun to describe pronouns used to replace words for people or things. Personal pronouns include: I, me, mine, you, yours, his, her, hers, we, they, and them. Personal pronouns can be categorised into the following four groups: Subjective Pronouns The term subjective pronoun is used to describe the pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, we, and they. This is because these pronouns work as subjects of verbs in a sentence. Here are some examples of subjective pronouns: She threw the ba...
A few weeks ago we looked at how to use commas in direct speech. This week, let’s take a look at the other things to be aware of when formatting speech correctly. Before we begin, let’s remind ourselves on the differences between direct speech and reported speech: The term direct speech refers to when the actual words of a speaker are quoted in the text. For example: ‘I love you,’ he said. Reported speech (also known as indirect speech) refers to when someone’s words are described rather than quoted. For example: He told her he loved her. This article will focus on how to correctly punctuate direct spee...
Commas have a variety of functions and many people are uncertain of how to use them. The main purpose of a comma is to clarify meaning by grouping together specific parts of the sentence. Each group within the sentence is separated by a comma which marks a slight break. Earlier this year we looked at how to use commas in a list. Scroll down to read about how to use commas in direct speech. What is direct speech? In writing, there are two types of speech: direct speech and reported speech. The term direct speech refers to when the actual words of a speaker are quoted in the text. For example: ‘I love you,’ he said. Reported speech (also ...
A word class is the category we assign a word to in order to show how it functions in a sentence. In the first part of this article, we looked at adjectives, adverbs, nouns, and verbs. Click here to read it. This week we’re looking at conjunctions, determiners, exclamations, prepositions and pronouns. Conjunction A conjunction is a word used to connect different parts of a sentence. Conjunctions are sometimes called ‘connective words’. Here are some examples of conjunctions functioning in sentences: Sarah threw the ball, but Thomas dropped it. The teachers might have to reschedule the picnic if it rains, or perhaps they’ll plan another activity ins...
Often, in our Commonly Confused Words and Word for Wednesday blog posts, we use word classes to describe the way a word functions within a sentence. Over the next couple of weeks, we’re going back to the drawing board. What are the main word classes? What are their functions? There are nine main word classes: adjective, adverb, conjunction, determiner, exclamation, noun, pronoun, preposition, and verb. While this list might look daunting, it is very likely that you are already using words within each of these classes instinctively and correctly. Knowing the names of the word classes is useful for describing what a word is doing in a sentence and for helping you tell apart commonly c...
Do you find commas confusing? Don’t worry – you’re not alone. Commas have a variety of functions yet many people are uncertain of how to use them. The main purpose of a comma is to clarify meaning by grouping together specific parts of the sentence. Each group within the sentence is separated by a comma which marks a slight break. Over the year we’ll share tips and advice on the different uses of a comma. This week we’re starting with how to use commas as part of a list. A comma should be used between the different parts of a list. For example: We need to buy potatoes, spinach, soap, and nail polish remover. Next week I’m working on Monday...
While you can sometimes get away without using capital letters in informal writing (like emails or text messages), it is important to learn how to use them correctly for formal writing (like essays and business correspondence). You should always use a capital letter in the following four situations: At the beginning of a sentence. Always start a sentence with a capital letter – this is probably one of the first writing rules you ever learned. For example: The fair came to town on a sunny Saturday. I wanted to ride on the carousel, but Mark wanted to play the games. When you are formally quoting someone or writing speech, you should use a capital letter aft...
A semicolon is used to denote a break that has more emphasis than a comma but is less final than a full stop. There are two common circumstances in which it is appropriate to use a semicolon. Use a semicolon between two complete clauses that are not joined by a conjunction. A complete clause is a group of words which contains a verb – i.e. if everything else in the sentence was cut away, the clause would still make sense. In each of the below examples, both clauses would make sense on their own. A semicolon is useful when two complete clauses feel too closely linked to separate into two different sentences. It’s half past twelve; we’re going ...
When forming contractions, replace the removed letters with an apostrophe. For example: “I have not got time to meet with you this week.” becomes “I haven’t got time to meet with you this week.” Don’t forget the apostrophes in the irregular formations ‘shan’t’ and ‘won’t’ (short for ‘shall not’ and ‘will not’). Use an apostrophe followed by the letter ‘s’ to indicate singular possession including when the noun ends in ‘s’. For example: “Last week I took Sally’s dog for a walk.” “I’d love to visit St James’s ...
Last year, in one of our Word for Wednesday posts, Hugh took a look at some apostrophe catastrophes. Over the next two posts we’re going to take a look at how to use these sneaky little punctuation marks correctly. What is a contraction? A contraction is a shortened version of a word created by the omission of a sound. In writing, the omission of a sound (which is usually a vowel) is marked with an apostrophe. It is important to note that while contractions are acceptable in conversation and informal writing, it is better to avoid them in formal writing. What are some commonly used contractions? Here is a list of contractions commonly used in English. Notice how the mi...
A little twist to the Word for Wednesday blog this week: we’ll be looking into the grammatical enigma that is the apostrophe. This week, the government has introduced a new spelling and grammar test for primary school children across the UK. Last year, Education Secretary, Michael Gove introduced a new policy which penalises students for poor spelling and grammar in their national examinations. This is the first time such emphasis has been put onto correct spelling and grammar in the education system. In my opinion, one of the biggest culprits for poor grammar is the misuse of the apostrophe. This is so widespread that one need’nt look far (did you spot it?) to find an i...
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