Writing Quotes and Speech When it comes to writing quotes and speech many writers get confused about the use of quotation marks and the placement of closing punctuation. What makes things even more confusing is that these same elements are used differently in different countries. Quotation marks are mostly used to show direct speech and to quote the work of other writers. They are also used fo...

Lay or Lie? Since the 14th century people have been getting confused when using lay and lie. Just what is the difference between these two words and why do we always get them mixed up? To lay or to lie, that is the question (as Shakespeare might say, or ask). One of the main reasons we get these wrong is because we get them confused with their past tense versions. The past tense of lay is laid...

There, Their or They’re? There is a place or location (whether real or theoretical). Their is the possessive form of them/they. They’re is a contraction of they are. See how easy that was, yet so many people still get these words mixed up. And these three little words sound exactly the same, which is part of the problem. Now let’s look at them in some sentences so we can see why they are dif...

Are You Using Transitions? Transitions are words or phrases that help make connections between sentences and paragraphs. In many cases sentences and paragraphs can stand on their own, but to help the reader flow through the material without stumbling, transitions are usually needed. By linking sentences and paragraphs together smoothly, the reader is not distracted by jumps or breaks in ideas or...

Top Writing Books Below are some of the top books on writing available at Amazon.com. They should help you to not only brush up on your writing skills, but also brush up on your grammar. The following books are listed in no particular order. If you normally buy from a different Amazon site (e.g. Amazon.co.uk) or other on-line store, simply copy and paste the ISBN (e.g. 097522980X) into the site ...

When To Use Capital Letters Sometimes it’s hard to know when to capitalise the first letter of a word and when not to capitalise the first letter of a word. Luckily there are some basic rules to follow that make it a lot easier to get this area of grammar right. If you can learn these rules and follow these rules, you should be on the right track. Always use capital letters for: Proper nouns ...

Homophones – I hear ya! Do homophones get you all confused and flustered? Do you know what you want to say, but don’t know which is the correct word to use? Homophones are words that sound the same but are vastly different in meaning. And sometimes they even look the same until you realise there is only a one or two letter difference between each set of homophones. Below is a list of the most c...

Do Possessive Pronouns Take Apostrophes? A pronoun is a part of speech which stands in for a noun so the noun does not have to be repeated unnecessarily. A possessive pronoun shows ownership. The pronouns below already show possession, that’s easy enough to see, but should you also add an apostrophe? Normally when you want to show possession, you use an apostrophe. Example: This is Jenny’s book...

8 Pronoun Types Do you really need to know the different types of pronouns in order to write well? Probably not, but you should at least be aware of them. We use pronouns to stand in for nouns in parts of speech so the nouns don’t have to be repeated needlessly. But eight different types of pronouns? Let’s take a look at them. Demonstrative pronouns can also be adjectives – this, that, these,...