For the month of March, we are theming our Word for Wednesday blog posts around types of punctuation. So far we have looked at the words apostrophe, parenthesis, and comma. This week’s word is 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. 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 ...
For the month of March, we are theming our Word for Wednesday blog posts around types of punctuation. So far we have looked at the word apostrophe and the word parenthesis. This week’s word is comma. 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. One tip that teachers often use when teaching students how to read is to pause for one beat when there is a comma and pause for two beats at the end of a sentence. In this blog post, we...
For the month of March, we are theming our Word for Wednesday blog posts around types of punctuation. Last week we chose the word apostrophe, and our word this week is 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 punctuation marks used to mark of a parenthesis: Round brackets Daisy’s parents (Sally and James) are visiting France next month. Spellzone users have access to a variety of word lists (word lists, spelling tests, etc.). 2. Em dashes (...
Over the course of March we’ve decided to try something new for our Word for Wednesday feature and choose each week’s word to fit around a specific theme. Our chosen theme is punctuation, starting with the word apostrophe. As today is National Grammar Day in the United States of America, it is important to point out that grammar and punctuation are not the same thing. Grammar refers to the whole system and structure of a language and you can find a Word for Wednesday post about the word’s origin here. Punctuation on the other hand refers to the written marks used to separate sentences in order to clarify meaning. Punctuation marks have a variety of...
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...
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...
Happy New Year! Whether you are a regular user of our site or someone who's just signed up, we hope 2019 will be a great year for improving your spelling. Here are some of our favourite blog posts from 2018: We began the year with a tour of our site to help you make the most of Spellzone. What your favourite feature on the Spellzone website? As usual we looked at pairs and groups of confusing words and shared tips and tricks to help you tell them apart. This year we looked at: balmy vs. barmy, by vs. bye vs. buy, capital vs. capitol, father vs. farther vs. further, faun vs. fawn, hair vs. hare, heir vs. air, hoard vs. horde, infer vs. imply, moot vs. mute, and yolk vs...
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...
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?...
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...
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 ...
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