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Test your knowledge on comma splices (click 'view original' to go to the website')

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The comma splice.

In the following exercise you will be presented with a series of sentences containing a comma. You have to indicate whether you think that the sentence is an example of the comma splice.

Read more about the comma splice.

Find out more about the uses of the comma.

See a list of other grammar exercises.

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In the following exercise you will be presented with a series of sentences containing a comma. You have to indicate whether you think that the sentence is an example of the comma splice. Read more about the comma splice. Find out more about the uses of the comma.

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Exercises to practise the use of the auxiliary verb "be"

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Created by: Nikita Kovalyov
Updated: May 2004

[ To be - Positive Sentences & Contractions ] [ To be - negative forms and contractions ] [ The verb to be - yes / no questions ] [ The verb to be - Information questions ]
Chose the correct form of the verb to be - am/is/are. Click on the words in the correct order to make
positive sentences with the verb to be.

[ To be - Positive Sentences & Contractions ] [ To be - negative forms and contractions ] [ The verb to be - yes / no questions ] [ The verb to be - Information questions ]

Present Continuous Tense when to use; how to form; ing forms of the verbs; English action and state verbs; the difference between the Present Continuous and the Present Simple tenses; test.

Present Perfect Tense - when to use; how to form; how to use yet already, for and since; the difference between the Present Perfect and the Past Simple tenses

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Verb to be ( am / is / are ), Present Simple, positive sentences and contractions

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Learn how to form positive sentences with the verb to be ( am / is / are ). Short grammar reference and practice exercises.

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© British Council The United Kingdom's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland). ICP#: 10044692

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Hi

the word practice is a noun
the word practise is a verb

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Activities, games, and tips to help you with all areas of SPaG (click 'view original' to go to the website)

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Free videos and downloadable worksheets to help adult learners improve their reading, writing, spelling and grammar.

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Always being told off for using too many commas? This video may explain why.

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Really want to push your comma skills? This quiz uses long paragraphs that need commas in them. Really test your comma knowledge here.  (click 'view original' to go to the website)

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When you're finished with both paragraphs, you can click on the Explanations link below to see our justifications for using the commas we've inserted in the text.

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Take the quiz and check you can identify each sentence type (click 'view original' to take the quiz)

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We have detected that Javascript is not enabled in your browser. The dynamic nature of our site means that Javascript must be enabled to function properly. Please read our terms and conditions for more information.

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GoConqr - Sentence Types - What sentence type is each sentence?

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We have detected that Javascript is not enabled in your browser. The dynamic nature of our site means that Javascript must be enabled to function properly. Please read our terms and conditions for more information.

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Check your homophones knowledge (Click 'view original' to start the quiz)

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Choose the correct homophone to complete the sentences

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Great  video explaining when to use a comma. Select 'Dig Deeper' for more resources to help (click 'view original' to go to the website)

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To learn more about this punctuation mark, start by reading the two Grammar Girl posts here and here.

To understand the difference between grammar "rules" and grammar "style" choices, you'll want to look at a style guide or two. Below are the websites for several major English language style guides:

Want to improve (or test) your knowledge about punctuation? Take the TED-Ed Lessons described below:

The Oxford comma:
If you read "Bob, a DJ and a clown" on a guest list, are three people coming to the party, or only one? That depends on whether you're for or against the Oxford comma. Watch this TED-Ed Lesson to explore both sides of the comma divide.

How to use a semicolon:
It may seem like the semicolon is struggling with an identity crisis. It looks like a comma crossed with a period. Maybe that's why we toss these punctuation marks around like grammatical confetti; we're confused about how to use them properly. Watch this TED-Ed Lesson to see best practices for the semi-confusing semicolon.

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To learn more about this punctuation mark, start by reading the two Grammar Girl posts here and here. To understand the difference between grammar "rules" and grammar "style" choices, you'll want to look at a style guide or two. Below are the websites for several major English language style guides: Want to improve (or test) your knowledge about punctuation?

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Understanding prefixes and suffixes can help you understand difficult words and improve your spelling. This song gives a good overview of what they are

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"Prefixes, Suffixes, & Roots" Rap www.educationalrap.com

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Test what prefixes and suffixes you know (click 'view original' to start the quiz)

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Prezi presentation explaining simple, compound and complex sentences using The Simpsons

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Conjunctions: For And Nor But Or Yet So AAAWWUBBIS Words After Although As When While Until Because Before If Since The Simpsons Teach Sentence Structure Examples of Complex Sentences: When Homer and Marge are together, they form a complex sentence. Homer + Marge There are two

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Always getting was and were confused? This (irritatingly) catchy song may help!

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I Was, You Were ("To Be" Past Simple Song) - Rockin' English

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Test your knowledge of apostrophes (click 'view original' to go to the website)

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Why improve your understanding of grammar and punctuation?

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Test your general grammar knowledge with this quiz

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We have detected that Javascript is not enabled in your browser. The dynamic nature of our site means that Javascript must be enabled to function properly. Please read our terms and conditions for more information.

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GoConqr - Test your English grammar skills

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We have detected that Javascript is not enabled in your browser. The dynamic nature of our site means that Javascript must be enabled to function properly. Please read our terms and conditions for more information.

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Create words using prefixes and suffixes with this game

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Prefix & Suffix Game

Check out this great prefix & suffix game for kids. Learn how to add letters to the beginning or end of a word to modify its meaning. This excellent practice exercise activity will help students understand how prefixes and suffixes are used in the English language while they enjoy the fun challenges on offer. Add prefixes and suffixes to words and see if the result is a real word. As the challenges become more difficult try adding both a prefix and a suffix to make words. How many challenges can you complete? Give it a go and find out!

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Prefix & Suffix Game for Kids - Prefixes & Suffixes Practice Exercise Activity

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Prefix & Suffix Game Check out this great prefix & suffix game for kids. Learn how to add letters to the beginning or end of a word to modify its meaning. This excellent practice exercise activity will help students understand how prefixes and suffixes are used in the English language while they enjoy the fun challenges on offer.

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A great song with some common homophones (if you like smooth 90s R&B)

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This website outlines subject-verb agreement rules, and has an exercise at the bottom of the page to test yourself (click 'view original' to go to the website)

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Why improve your understanding of grammar and punctuation?

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Test your spelling with different crosswords. Choose a topic and see how many you can get

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WWE star CM Punk gets angry some common grammar errors. He has a full playlist that you can watch

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Practice creating accurate sentences

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what are the main types of sentences? This will outline the information to you here

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Test your tenses with this quiz

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Not sure how to quantify things? Read the page and do the quizzes

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Definition

Articles, determiners, and quantifiers are those little words that precede and modify nouns:

the teacher, a college, a bit of honey, that person, those people, whatever purpose, either way, your choice

Sometimes these words will tell the reader or listener whether we're referring to a specific or general thing ( the garage out back; A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!); sometimes they tell how much or how many ( lots of trees, several books, a great deal of confusion). The choice of the proper article or determiner to precede a noun or noun phrase is usually not a problem for writers who have grown up speaking English, nor is it a serious problem for non-native writers whose first language is a romance language such as Spanish. For other writers, though, this can be a considerable obstacle on the way to their mastery of English. In fact, some students from eastern European countries — where their native language has either no articles or an altogether different system of choosing articles and determiners — find that these "little words" can create problems long after every other aspect of English has been mastered.

Determiners are said to "mark" nouns. That is to say, you know a determiner will be followed by a noun. Some categories of determiners are limited (there are only three articles, a handful of possessive pronouns, etc.), but the possessive nouns are as limitless as nouns themselves. This limited nature of most determiner categories, however, explains why determiners are grouped apart from adjectives even though both serve a modifying function. We can imagine that the language will never tire of inventing new adjectives; the determiners (except for those possessive nouns), on the other hand, are well established, and this class of words is not going to grow in number. These categories of determiners are as follows: the articles (an, a, the — see below; possessive nouns (Joe's, the priest's, my mother's); possessive pronouns, (his, your, their, whose, etc.); numbers (one, two, etc.); indefinite pronouns (few, more, each, every, either, all, both, some, any, etc.); and demonstrative pronouns. The demonstratives (this, that, these, those, such) are discussed in the section on Demonstrative Pronouns. Notice that the possessive nouns differ from the other determiners in that they, themselves, are often accompanied by other determiners: " my mother's rug," " the priests's collar," " a dog's life."

Some Notes on Quantifiers

Like articles, quantifiers are words that precede and modify nouns. They tell us how many or how much. Selecting the correct quantifier depends on your understanding the distinction between Count and Non-Count Nouns. For our purposes, we will choose the count noun trees and the non-count noun dancing:

The following quantifiers will work with count nouns:
many trees
a few trees
few trees
several trees
a couple of trees
none of the trees

The following quantifiers will work with non-count nouns:
not much dancing
a little dancing
little dancing
a bit of dancing
a good deal of dancing
a great deal of dancing
no dancing

The following quantifiers will work with both count and non-count nouns:
all of the trees/dancing
some trees/dancing
most of the trees/dancing
enough trees/dancing
a lot of trees/dancing
lots of trees/dancing
plenty of trees/dancing
a lack of trees/dancing

In formal academic writing, it is usually better to use many and much rather than phrases such as a lot of, lots of and plenty of.

There is an important difference between "a little" and "little" (used with non-count words) and between "a few" and "few" (used with count words). If I say that Tashonda has a little experience in management that means that although Tashonda is no great expert she does have some experience and that experience might well be enough for our purposes. If I say that Tashonda has little experience in management that means that she doesn't have enough experience. If I say that Charlie owns a few books on Latin American literature that means that he has some some books — not a lot of books, but probably enough for our purposes. If I say that Charlie owns few books on Latin American literature, that means he doesn't have enough for our purposes and we'd better go to the library.

Unless it is combined with of, the quantifier "much" is reserved for questions and negative statements:

Much of the snow has already melted.

How much snow fell yesterday?

Not much.

Note that the quantifier "most of the" must include the definite article the when it modifies a specific noun, whether it's a count or a non-count noun: "most of the instructors at this college have a doctorate"; "most of the water has evaporated." With a general plural noun, however (when you are not referring to a specific entity), the "of the" is dropped:

Most colleges have their own admissions policy.

Most students apply to several colleges.

An indefinite article is sometimes used in conjunction with the quantifier many, thus joining a plural quantifier with a singular noun (which then takes a singular verb):

Many a young man has fallen in love with her golden hair.

Many an apple has fallen by October.

This construction lends itself to a somewhat literary effect (some would say a stuffy or archaic effect) and is best used sparingly, if at all.

Predeterminers

The predeterminers occur prior to other determiners (as you would probably guess from their name). This class of words includes multipliers ( double, twice, four/five times . . . .); fractional expressions ( one-third, three-quarters, etc.); the words both, half, and all; and intensifiers such as quite, rather, and such.

The multipliers precede plural count and mass nouns and occur with singular count nouns denoting number or amount:

This van holds three times the passengers as that sports car.

My wife is making salary.

This time we added five times the amount of water.

In fractional expressions, we have a similar construction, but here it can be replaced with "of" construction.

Charlie finished in one-fourth [of] the time his brother took.

Two-fifths of the respondents reported that half the medication was sufficient.

The intensifiers occur in this construction primarily in casual speech and writing and are more common in British English than they are in American English. The intensifier "what" is often found in stylistic fragments: "We visited my brother in his dorm room. What a mess!"

This room is rather a mess, isn't it?

The ticket-holders made quite a fuss when they couldn't get in.

What an idiot he turned out to be.

Our vacation was such a grand experience.

Half, both, and all can occur with singular and plural count nouns; half and all can occur with mass nouns. There are also "of constructions" with these words ("all [of] the grain," "half [of] his salary"); the "of construction" is required with personal pronouns ("both of them," "all of it"). The following chart (from Quirk and Greenbaum) nicely describes the uses of these three predeterminers:

The Articles

The is used with specific nouns. The is required when the noun it refers to represents something that is one of a kind:

The moon circles the earth.

The is required when the noun it refers to represents something in the abstract:

The United States has encouraged the use of the private automobile as opposed to the use of public transit.

The is required when the noun it refers to represents something named earlier in the text. (See below..)

We use a before singular count-nouns that begin with consonants (a cow, a barn, a sheep); we use an before singular count-nouns that begin with vowels or vowel-like sounds (an apple, an urban blight, an open door). Words that begin with an h sound often require an a (as in a horse, a history book, a hotel), but if an h-word begins with an actual vowel sound, use an an (as in an hour, an honor). We would say a useful device and a union matter because the u of those words actually sounds like yoo (as opposed, say, to the u of an ugly incident). The same is true of and (because of that consonantal "Yoo" sound). We would say a once-in-a-lifetime experience or a one-time hero because the words once and one begin with a w sound (as if they were spelled wuntz and won).

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary says that we can use an before an h- word that begins with an unstressed syllable. Thus, we might say an hisTORical moment, but we would say a HIStory book. Many writers would call that an affectation and prefer that we say a historical, but apparently, this choice is a matter of personal taste.

For help on using articles with abbreviations and acronyms ( a or an FBI agent?), see the section on Abbreviations.

First and subsequent reference: When we first refer to something in written text, we often use an indefinite article to modify it.

A newspaper has an obligation to seek out and tell the truth.

In a subsequent reference to this newspaper, however, we will use the definite article:

There are situations, however, when the newspaper must determine whether the public's safety is jeopardized by knowing the truth.

Another example:
"I'd like a glass of orange juice, please," John said.
"I put the glass of juice on the counter already," Sheila replied.

Exception:
When a modifier appears between the article and the noun, the subsequent article will continue to be indefinite:
"I'd like a big glass of orange juice, please," John said.
"I put a big glass of juice on the counter already," Sheila replied.

Generic reference: We can refer to something in a generic way by using any of the three articles. We can do the same thing by omitting the article altogether.

A beagle makes a great hunting dog and family companion.

An airedale is sometimes a rather skittish animal.

The golden retriever is a marvelous pet for children.

Irish setters are not the highly intelligent animals they used to be.

The difference between the generic indefinite pronoun and the normal indefinite pronoun is that the latter refers to any of that class ("I want to buy a beagle, and any old beagle will do.") whereas the former (see beagle sentence) refers to all members of that class.

Proper nouns: We use the definite article with certain kinds of proper nouns:

Geographical places: the Sound, the Sea of Japan, the Mississippi, the West, the Smokies, the Sahara (but often not when the main part of the proper noun seems to be modified by an earlier attributive noun or adjective: We went swimming at the Ocean Park)

Pluralized names (geographic, family, teams): the Netherlands, the Bahamas, the Hamptons, the Johnsons, the New England Patriots

Public institutions/facilities/groups: the Wadsworth Atheneum, the Sheraton, the House, the Presbyterian Church

Newspapers: the Hartford Courant, the Times

Nouns followed by a prepositional phrase beginning with "of": the leader of the gang, the president of our club

Abstract nouns: Abstract nouns—the names of things that are not tangible—are sometimes used with articles, sometimes not:

The storm upset my peace of mind. He was missing just one thing: peace of mind.

Injustice was widespread within the judicial system itself. He implored the judge to correct the injustice.

Her body was racked with grief. It was a grief he had never felt before.

Zero articles: Several kinds of nouns never use articles. We do not use articles with the names of languages ("He was learning Chinese." [But when the word Chinese refers to the people, the definite article might come into play: "The Chinese are hoping to get the next Olympics."]), the names of sports ("She plays badminton and basketball."), and academic subjects ("She's taking economics and math. Her major is Religious Studies.")

When they are generic, non-count nouns and sometimes plural count-nouns are used without articles. "We like wine with our dinner. We adore Baroque music. We use roses for many purposes." But if an "of phrase" comes after the noun, we use an article: "We adore the music of the Baroque." Also, when a generic noun is used without an article and then referred to in a subsequent reference, it will have become specific and will require a definite article: "The Data Center installed computers in the Learning Center this summer. The computers, unfortunately, don't work."

Common count nouns are used without articles in certain special situations:

idiomatic expressions
using be and go

We'll go by train. (as opposed to "We'll take the train.)
He must be in school.

with seasons

In spring, we like to clean the house.

with institutions

He's in church/college/jail/class.

with meals

Breakfast was delicious.
He's preparing dinner by himself.

with diseases

He's dying of pneumonia.
Appendicitis nearly killed him.
She has cancer
(You will sometimes hear "the measles," "the mumps," but these, too, can go without articles.)

with time of day

We traveled mostly by night.
We'll be there around midnight.

Principles of Choosing an Article

Choosing articles and determiners: Briefly defined, a determiner is a noun-marker: when you see one, you know that what follows is a noun or noun phrase. There is a list of such words in the table below. When you place your mouse-cursor over a word or pair of related words (such as either/neither), you will see in the right-hand frame an image describing the kinds of words that word can modify.

Zero article (see table below) means either that no article would be appropriate with that kind of noun or that that kind of noun can be used (in that context) without an article.

If you would like to see these images listed on one page, click HERE.

Notice that there is a difference between a "stressed" some or any and an "unstressed" some or any. Consider the words in ALL CAPS as shouted words and you will hear the difference between these two:

That is SOME car you've got there!

I don't want to hear ANY excuse!

As opposed to. . .

We have some cars left in the lot.

Isn't there any furniture in the living room?

In terms of the words they usually modify, the unstressed some and any do not modify singular count nouns.

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Articles, determiners, and quantifiers are those little words that precede and modify nouns: the teacher, a college, a bit of honey, that person, those people, whatever purpose, either way, your choice Sometimes these words will tell the reader or listener whether we're referring to a specific or general thing ( the garage out back; A horse!

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Not sure when to use 'the' or 'a'? This web page explains this

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Determiners and quantifiers are words we use in front of nouns. We use determiners to identify things (this book, my sister) and we use quantifiers to say how much or how many (a few people, a lot of problems).

Read clear grammar explanations and example sentences to help you understand how determiners and quantifiers are used. Then, put your grammar knowledge into practice by doing the exercises.

Choose a topic and start improving your English grammar today.

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Determiners and quantifiers are words we use in front of nouns. We use determiners to identify things (this book, my sister) and we use quantifiers to say how much or how many (a few people, a lot of problems). Read clear grammar explanations and example sentences to help you understand how determiners and quantifiers are used.

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Great webpage with a video explaining when to use a comma. Select 'Think' on the right hand side of the page for a quiz, and 'Dig Deeper' for more resources to help (click 'view original' to go to the website)

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Want even more deets on How to Use a Freakin' Comma? Click here to sign up for a subscription and gain access to all of our online courses. Or take a look at our entire grammar section for all the goods.

00:34

of us use nearly every single day...

00:36

...and yet many of us are still clueless.

00:40

The poor comma is misused more than the blunt end of a screwdriver.

00:45

But we're going to set things straight.

00:47

So sit back, relax, and allow us to tell you everything you need to know about our curvy

00:52

little friend. So... when should you use a comma?

00:57

When separating out phrases that don't need to be there.

01:01

So you're writing a sentence and you want to add a little color commentary. Add it between

01:06

commas.

01:07

"My pug, Morton, is lazy."

01:11

Take out what's between the commas, and the sentence won't buckle.

01:14

Sure, Morton is totally appreciative of the shout-out, but if you removed his name...

01:20

and the two commas... the sentence would still send the same message.

01:24

"My pug is lazy." So in this instance, the comma is used to rope off non-essential information.

01:30

Sorry, Morton. We promise we don't consider you non-essential. Not that you'd ever get

01:36

off your duff to do anything about it. When linking two independent clauses with

01:43

a conjunction.

01:44

If you need a refresher, conjunctions include your "ifs," your "ands," your "buts" and your

01:48

"coconuts."

01:49

Ok, maybe not the coconuts.

01:53

When you've got two halves of a sentence that could exist on their own...

01:56

...but you're lumping 'em together...

01:57

...you'll use a comma and a conjunction to make them play nice with each other.

02:02

As in: "I'd like to go to Six Flags, but it's my day to clean the bathroom."

02:07

You could say "I'd like to go to Six Flags. It's my day to clean the bathroom."...

02:11

...but by adding a comma and a conjunction, you can say both. And you can make your obvious

02:17

bitterness so much more pronounced. When you're addressing someone in particular.

02:24

As opposed to all those times you go out onto your balcony to address the masses collectively.

02:31

This one can be a lifesaver... literally.

02:35

Just check out the difference between "Let's eat, Grandma!" and "Let's eat Grandma!"

02:40

Grandma only survives the first example. And it would really be a shame if she kicked the

02:45

bucket this close to her 90th birthday. When making a list.

02:55

A list of... inappropriate ways to use commas, for example.

02:59

Suppose we want to communicate that our favorite foods are "peanut butter M&Ms, Brussels sprouts,

03:06

and fried... anything."

03:08

But what about that last comma? You might have noticed that not everyone drops a comma

03:12

in that spot.

03:13

But Shmoop does. That last comma-also known as the serial or Oxford comma--can help alleviate

03:19

list confusion...

03:21

Like if we were to say, "Shmoop's role models are their parents, William Shakespeare and

03:26

Toni Morrison."

03:28

Although they possibly used to date... in some bizarre, alternate universe... Billy

03:33

Shakes and Toni M are not our parents.

03:36

Instead, we're naming three separate things. So we would write it this way:

03:41

"Shmoop's role models are their parents, William Shakespeare, and Toni Morrison."

03:47

People have gotten into full-on brawls over this one, but Shmoop says: Don't be a serial

03:52

comma killer. When you have more than one adjective modifying

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a noun.

03:58

As in, "The brilliant, hilarious Shmoop." We could keep adding complimentary adjectives

04:03

all day long, but we think those two probably get our point across.

04:08

After introductory phrases or clauses.

04:12

Once we're done with this example, we'll move on to the next one.

04:15

<<Pause.>> That was it. Our example. Did you miss it?

04:21

So is that all? Those are the only times you need a comma? Well, no.

04:25

There are some other instances... dates, the ending of a letter, geographical locations,

04:31

et cetera... but these six are the biggies. But when shouldn't you use a comma?

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The easy answer is... all other times.

04:40

You should never use a comma just because you feel like a sentence could use a good

04:43

pause...

04:44

...or because the period key on your keyboard is broken. Call Geek Squad... they'll hook

04:50

you up. But here are a few specific times when people

04:54

tend to get tripped up... When separating two independent clauses without

05:01

a conjunction.

05:03

A run-on sentence, believe it or not, isn't necessarily a long sentence.

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If you plug a comma somewhere it doesn't belong, you can actually make a very short sentence

05:13

a run-on.

05:13

It might be more of a jog... but still.

05:17

Try this one on for size: "I eat, I sleep."

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First of all... way to keep your priorities in order. But secondly... we've got a run-on

05:25

sentence here.

05:26

Both parts of the sentence could function on their own as complete sentences, and they

05:30

can't be joined by just a comma.

05:32

Without their conjunction buddy, it simply doesn't work.

05:35

This specific type of run-on sentence is called a comma-splice. And they're as painful as

05:40

they sound. After the conjunction.

05:46

So none of this: "You think you're wrong but, I think you're right."

05:51

Ugh. We just cold a cold chill. And finally, when separating a dependent and

05:58

independent clause with a conjunction.

06:01

Translation: a comma would be totally inappropriate here:

06:05

"We ran to the kitchen, and started to down some cookies."

06:09

"Started to down some cookies" isn't its own sentence, so even with the conjunction there,

06:14

the comma has to go.

06:15

Besides, the comma is only going to slow you down in your quest for those cookies.

06:19

Make sure you bring enough to share with the whole class.

06:22

So yeah, there are a few rules to keep straight...

06:24

....but it isn't brain surgery.

06:25

If it were... there would certainly be a lot of people praying not

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to fall into a comma.

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How to Use a Comma | Grammar Help | Shmooptube | Shmoop

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Want even more deets on How to Use a Freakin' Comma? Click here to sign up for a subscription and gain access to all of our online courses. Or take a look at our entire grammar section for all the goods. 00:34 of us use nearly every single day...

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Not sure what word to use when describing where something is? This page has good explanations and lots of quizzes to test your knowledge

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Prepositions are short words (on, in, to) that usually stand in front of nouns (sometimes also in front of gerund verbs).

Even advanced learners of English find prepositions difficult, as a 1:1 translation is usually not possible. One preposition in your native language might have several translations depending on the situation.

There are hardly any rules as to when to use which preposition. The only way to learn prepositions is looking them up in a dictionary, reading a lot in English ( literature) and learning useful phrases off by heart ( study tips).

The following table contains rules for some of the most frequently used prepositions in English:

Prepositions - Time

Prepositions - Place (Position and Direction)

Other important Prepositions

Exercises on Prepositions

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Do you get confused when to start a paragraph? This presentation may help

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A presentation that explains more about the correct way to use paragraphs

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Everything you find here has been specially created by the British Council, the world's English teaching experts.

We provide you with the right tools to help you interact confidently in the real world.

Practise your listening, reading, writing and speaking and learn useful language to use at work or to communicate effectively with friends.

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Revise and practise your grammar to improve your language level and increase your confidence.

Clear and simple grammar explanations to help you revise and practise different grammar points.

Online exercises to help you check your understanding of the grammar points.

Use the grammar reference for further practice and more detailed explanations.

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Online exercises to help you learn the meaning, pronunciation and spelling of new words.

Learn new words connected to a wide range of different topics.

Play our word games and have fun as you improve your vocabulary.

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Learn English online using our high-quality resources to quickly improve your English. Take our free level test to help you find your English language level, then find lessons and resources that are just right for you.

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Are you finding you always start sentences with 'also' or 'and'? Below is a list of words that can help build ideas and structure your writing better.

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Has your writing ever been critiqued for a lack of transition words? Transition words prevent our writing from sounding stilted or choppy. They sew our paragraphs together, making our writing flow better, connecting one idea to the next. If you commit this list of transition words to memory, the next time you write, you'll be able to weave your sentences together smoothly.

Purpose of Transition Words

It's important to make sure transitional words fall naturally into your composition. Review the sentences below to see how the transition words make the writing flow better.

Take a look at these sentences without, and then with, transition words. Note the difference the transitions make. This will help you see how they can tie our thoughts together more cohesively.

Jeffrey, we'll be ready to leave for the trip in 20 minutes. Fill up the car with gas please.

Jeffrey, we'll be ready to leave for the trip in 20 minutes. In the meantime, fill up the car with gas please.

Last night, I had a vivid dream I was living in Paris. I went online and booked a trip.
Last night, I had a vivid dream I was living in Paris. As a result, I went online and booked a trip.

List of Transition Words

Balance is key here. You don't want your writing to sound like a long string of transition words. Rather, sprinkle them in wherever appropriate. They'll spice up your writing and sew each section together smoothly.

Note that some of the transition words in the list are phrases and not singular words:

Thread Your Work Together

You can see how transition words are the thread to the sewer's needle. Instead of having disjointed and clunky sentences, you can smooth out rough edges with cohesive transition words.

As with everything in life, moderation is key. Sprinkle these words only where it seems obvious that the sentences or paragraphs could benefit from a little cohesion.

To tie this list up in a bow, remember one final punctuation note. Transition words are usually followed by a comma. It demonstrates a brief pause between these words or phrases and the connecting idea.

If your schoolwork has, indeed, been docked for a lack of transition words, review this article: How Do I Include Transition Words in My Essay? Happy weaving!

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Has your writing ever been critiqued for a lack of transition words? Transition words prevent our writing from sounding stilted or choppy. They sew our paragraphs together, making our writing flow better, connecting one idea to the next. If you commit this list of transition words to memory, the next time you write, you'll be able to weave your sentences together smoothly.

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Print out and keep this placemat to check your work when you're writing

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Can you solve this murder mystery using your SPaG skills?

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Getting confused between nouns and verbs? Not sure what a pronoun is? This poem might help you to remember

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This worksheet outlines different sentence structures and has links to different sites that can further your knowledge

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The 12 common tenses in english