Latest blog posts
Are you ready for Halloween?
Make sure you don't make these 10 mistakes this spooky season:
Don’t muddle up the words witch and which! Our spelling game Which Witch is great for practice!
Heard a scary sound? It’s a probably a creak, not a creek!
As Frankenstein is a name, it needs capital letters. Make sure you don’t confuse forget the apostrophe if you’re writing about Frankenstein’s monster.
Don’t get caught out by silent letters – watch out for the sneaky ‘h’ in the words ghost and ghoul .
Describing somethin...
read more
New year, new start!
If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to improve your spelling and writing, you’re in the right place. Our spelling courses are great for working through the basics of English spelling and our blog is full of other helpful resources. If you’re not sure where to begin, our Spelling Ability Test will help you determine your strengths and weaknesses and create a personalised pathway to guide you through our course. For those of you who are looking for more ideas on how to improve your writing, here are five areas people often make mistakes in. Pick one or more to focus on this year and let us know how you get on!
Abbreviations
Shortening wor...
read more
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...
read more
The apostrophe is perhaps one of the most-often misused punctuation marks. In one of our previous blog posts, we shared ten tips for using apostrophes correctly. This week, we are going to take a look at some of the most common mistakes people make while using apostrophes so that you can avoid making them too.
Never use an apostrophe to form a plural
One place where people often add unnecessary apostrophes is in plurals. You never need an apostrophe to form a plural. This includes the plurals for abbreviations, letters, numbers, spans of years, and surnames.
For example:
cars not car’s
ifs and buts not if’s and but’s
DVDs not DVD’s
Ps and Qs no...
read more
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...
read more
Should you capitalise an abbreviation? Does it need an apostrophe? What about full stop after it? This week, we’re looking at the different types of abbreviations and how to write each type correctly. Whether or not you should capitalise or use a punctuation mark will depend on the type of abbreviation you are dealing with.
Acronym
A word made up of the first letters of other words is called an acronym. An acronym is always pronounced as a word and not as separate letters.
Most acronyms are written either with the first letter capitalised or with all the letters capitalised.
You don’t need to use a full stop after an acronym (unless it is the last word in a sentence...
read more
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 ...
read more
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 ...
read more
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...
read more
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...
read more