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Writers Write creates and shares writing resources. In this post, we give you 60 words to describe writing or speaking style.
What Is Your Writing Or Speaking Style?

"Style, in its broadest sense, is a specific way in which we create, perform, or do something. Style in literature is the way an author uses words to tell a story. It is a writer's way of showing his or her personality on paper.

Just as a person putting together items of clothing and jewellery, and applying make-up creates a personal style, the way a person puts together word choice, sentence structure, and figurative language describes his or her literary style.

When combined, the choices they make work together to establish mood, images, and meaning. This has an effect on their audience."
From 7 Choices That Affect A Writer's Style
60 Words To Describe Writing Or Speaking Styles

1. articulate - able to express your thoughts, arguments, and ideas clearly and effectively; writing or speech is clear and easy to understand

2. chatty - a chatty writing style is friendly and informal

3. circuitous - taking a long time to say what you really mean when you are talking or writing about something

4. clean - clean language or humour does not offend people, especially because it does not involve sex

5. conversational - a conversational style of writing or speaking is informal, like a private conversation

6. crisp - crisp speech or writing is clear and effective

7. declamatory - expressing feelings or opinions with great force

8. diffuse - using too many words and not easy to understand

9. discursive - including information that is not relevant to the main subject

10. economical - an economical way of speaking or writing does not use more words than are necessary

11. elliptical - suggesting what you mean rather than saying or writing it clearly

12. eloquent - expressing what you mean using clear and effective language

13. emphatic - making your meaning very clear because you have very strong feelings about a situation or subject

14. emphatically - very firmly and clearly

15. epigrammatic - expressing something such as a feeling or idea in a short and clever or funny way

16. epistolary - relating to the writing of letters

17. euphemistic - euphemistic expressions are used for talking about unpleasant or embarrassing subjects without mentioning the things themselves

18. flowery - flowery language or writing uses many complicated words that are intended to make it more attractive

19. fluent - expressing yourself in a clear and confident way, without seeming to make an effort

20. formal - correct or conservative in style, and suitable for official or serious situations or occasions

21. gossipy - a gossipy letter is lively and full of news about the writer of the letter and about other people

22. grandiloquent - expressed in extremely formal language in order to impress people, and often sounding silly because of this

23. idiomatic - expressing things in a way that sounds natural

24. inarticulate - not able to express clearly what you want to say; not spoken or pronounced clearly

25. incoherent - unable to express yourself clearly

26. informal - used about language or behaviour that is suitable for using with friends but not in formal situations

27. journalistic - similar in style to journalism

28. learned - a learned piece of writing shows great knowledge about a subject, especially an academic subject

29. literary - involving books or the activity of writing, reading, or studying books; relating to the kind of words that are used only in stories or poems, and not in normal writing or speech

30. lyric - using words to express feelings in the way that a song would

31. lyrical - having the qualities of music

32. ornate - using unusual words and complicated sentences

33. orotund - containing extremely formal and complicated language intended to impress people

34. parenthetical - not directly connected with what you are saying or writing

35. pejorative - a pejorative word, phrase etc expresses criticism or a bad opinion of someone or something

36. picturesque - picturesque language is unusual and interesting

37. pithy - a pithy statement or piece of writing is short and very effective

38. poetic - expressing ideas in a very sensitive way and with great beauty or imagination

39. polemical - using or supported by strong arguments

40. ponderous - ponderous writing or speech is serious and boring

41. portentous - trying to seem very serious and important, in order to impress people

42. prolix - using too many words and therefore boring

43. punchy - a punchy piece of writing such as a speech, report, or slogan is one that has a strong effect because it uses clear simple language and not many words

44. rambling - a rambling speech or piece of writing is long and confusing

45. readable - writing that is readable is clear and able to be read

46. rhetorical - relating to a style of speaking or writing that is effective or intended to influence people; written or spoken in a way that is impressive but is not honest

47. rhetorically - in a way that expects or wants no answer; using or relating to rhetoric

48. rough - a rough drawing or piece of writing is not completely finished

49. roundly- in a strong and clear way

50. sententious - expressing opinions about right and wrong behaviour in a way that is intended to impress people

51. sesquipedalian - using a lot of long words that most people do not understand

52. Shakespearean - using words in the way that is typical of Shakespeare's writing

53. stylistic - relating to ways of creating effects, especially in language and literature

54. succinct - expressed in a very short but clear way

55. turgid - using language in a way that is complicated and difficult to understand

56. unprintable - used for describing writing or words that you think are offensive

57. vague - someone who is vague does not clearly or fully explain something

58. verbose - using more words than necessary, and therefore long and boring

59. well-turned - a well-turned phrase is one that is expressed well

60. wordy - using more words than are necessary, especially long or formal words

Source for Words: Macmillan Dictionary

by Amanda Patterson

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy

1. The 4 Main Characters As Literary Devices

2. 7 Choices That Affect A Writer's Style

3. 5 Incredibly Simple Ways To Help Writers Show And Not Tell

4. Cheat Sheets for Writing Body Language

5. Punctuation For Beginners

TOP TIP:

1. If you want to learn how to write a book, sign up for our online course.

2. If you want to learn how to blog, sign up for the online course.

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60 Words To Describe Writing Or Speaking Styles | Writers Write

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Writers Write creates and shares writing resources. In this post, we give you 60 words to describe writing or speaking style. What Is Your Writing Or Speaking Style? "Style, in its broadest sense, is a specific way in which we create, perform, or do something.

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It's said that English is different from other subjects because there's never a single right answer to any essay question. However, while this is true, there are still many wrong answers. What makes a right answer? It's one that you can convincingly show has been based on
a reasonable interpretation of the text you have studied. And, no surprise, a wrong answer is one based on an unreasonable interpretation that is, ona misreading of it.

What is a 'reasonable interpretation' (and how can you know)?
An interpretation is an idea you come to about what a writer 'really' meant to convey through their text, i.e. an understanding of the 'deeper' meaning or 'message'. It's because the 'surface story' of a text is one thing, and which is much easier to grasp, and the 'deeper meaning' is another, which is much harder to grasp, that an 'interpretation' is needed. Even though your teacher will often help you to understand the deeper meaning, it still comes down to your own 'take' on the text, i.e. on your personal interpretation and understanding.

So, a reasonable interpretation, is a viewpoint you've arrived at following a close study of a text and which - importantly - you can support with evidence that you have taken from the text, usually in the form of brief quotations. But that isn't all - well, not quite. You also need to explain, because this is the study of English, what the effects of the language in the quotations is, showing how it helped the writer to convey their 'deeper meaning'.

The difficulty is to be able to work out just what it is that the writer wanted to convey. We can't ask the writer, so, because the meaning lies 'between the lines', it needs to be worked out through interpretation. It becomes a viewpoint that you arrive at after reading and thinking about the text, one that shows you've come top a reasonable view of what the writer's purpose was, or at least, was likely to have been (i.e. since we cannot know for sure).

To understand how writers can make meaning that exists 'between the lines', an understanding of how literature works will help.

A literary text, i.e. a poem, play, short story or novel, is an imaginative and creative work that, even if it is made to seem entirely honest, authentic and realistic, is, in fact, fiction at least in the important sense that the facts in it are not really related to the facts of reality. It just seems that way. So, even if a story is set in 'London' and there is a queen called Elizabeth II, these facts of the real world are being used by the writer differently, for his or her own artistic purpose, and not just because they are there.
It is the existence of the 'between the line' meanings that make understanding literature more difficult since the 'layers' of meaning each need to be understood, piece by piece, as the story or text unfolds, with each being pieced together, a little like a jigsaw puzzle, to create an overall sense of what the writer is trying to convey - that is, their idea or 'message'. A writer's message is often a deep, sometimes even a profound, comment about society and life. Writers are often people who are critical of some aspects of their societies and who use their literature as a means not only to entertain their reader, but also to convey, convincingly, their social, moral or political viewpoint. Literature, and art in general, because of its engaging and emotional qualities, uniquely combines enjoyment with persuasion.

The language of literature creates its layers of meaning because it uses language differently from the way it is used everyday. If you read a Wikipedia page or a science text-book, for example, you won't find any language that is 'literary' (except for when the writer quotes from a literary work). The meaning of the language in a text book or encyclopaedia is made by a process called Literature isn't like that. It is not driven by any desire to speak plainly, such as the writer of a textbook would use. Far from it. The language of literature creates its meaning by a process called For our mind to be able to understand (or, rather, denotation and such meanings can be found in any dictionary.

connotation.

interpret) this different kind of meaning, we need to be very proficient users of the language and used to the ways that authors use language. This is because connotation is far more subtle, with its meaning sometimes seemingly hidden 'between the lines'.

The problem is that if you don't or can't sense the connotations of literary language, then you will only perceive the denotations, and will fail to grasp what the writer is trying to say. Of course, you will usually still be able to follow the surface story being told, but you will fail to sense the deeper meanings. This is why literature can never be 'skim read' but requires what is called 'close reading'.

When you write your essay, therefore, it needs to be formed from your own interpretation of the writer's intended meanings. Your teacher's help is often invaluable here but, in the end, your essay will need to be personal to you since it is, in effect, an 'argument' for your own viewpoint, i.e. your interpretation of the what the author intended.

It should by now be clear that to write a successful essay, you need first to have gained a solid sense of what 'deeper' meaning the writer was trying to convey, and this is, in GCSE texts, mostly a social or political purpose or comment. It will be some kind of critique of the writer's society, and one that, because literature must entertain rather than instruct, cannot easily be conveyed directly or 'on the surface'.

Why do author's choose literature to convey their views when it would surely be so much easier to plainly state them? Partly it's because they can do it - writing a story is a very complex and difficult thing to do and to write one that succeeds is yet more difficult. There is art involved, too, and writers rightfully consider themselves artists with words. Also, literature is such a convincing medium of communication, one that can attract a mass audience. Many millions of people have seen or read Charles Dickens's novella 'A Christmas Carol', but how many have read Dickens's many non-fiction works? Dickens' social messages about the appalling way, as he saw it, that the Victorian wealthy treated their poor have been conveyed far more forcefully and widely because of the literary form he chose to use.

These are two terms that are useful and helpful in understanding what a reasonable interpretation of a text can be and how to create one that will lead to a successful essay.

Keep in mind that whenever anyone uses language, it is to bring someone else to want to hear what we have to say. To do this, it needs to be made interesting; and it is surely much easier to make an interesting story than it is to make an interesting political comment.

As well as using language to interest a listener, it can help to understand how our mind works when it chooses to use language to convey our feelings and ideas. To use language, the mind needs a kind of 'anchor' from which language can be generated. This 'anchor' takes the form of a single dominant idea or view from which language can be generated. No matter how many ideas are conveyed, all of them will be linked to the 'anchor' which can be called a dominant or controlling idea. To convey our feelings, it can take a lot of language, and to do it in the form of a story takes lots more language, hundreds of pages of it at times. The dominant feeling or idea, however, that lies 'behind' the language, doesn't change - it must stay in the writer's mind throughout helping the writer to create the language that then becomes a text that we hope will explain our view convincingly. This need for a controlling or dominant idea is what makes a text coherent and unified. 'Coherent' means that all arts of the text follow on from what went before logically; 'unified' means that there is just one dominant idea or topic lying 'behind' the text. That's how the mind works and it's how texts work, yours, mine, this web page's or even William Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' (all four hours of it).

MORE POCKET MONEY PLEASE!

It might be easier to explain this by referring to an everyday text.

Imagine you are feeling downbeat because your friends outshine you in the pocket money stakes. You want more pocket money; and yet you sense that you daren't ask outright or you would be refused. What would you do? You would create a text - quite a long one, most likely; and you would use it as an attempt to convince your parent so that your desires to be wealthier are fulfilled. Your text would likely be quite story-like, i.e. engaging and emotional, having you as its protagonist and, as its antagonist, the creator of some kind of conflict you are facing and which having more money would overcome.

If you transcribed and analysed such a text, you would surely be able to work out what its speaker's overall purpose was, despite the twists and turns the text might take, and despite much of its This gives you the clue as to what would make a reasonable interpretation of a text, one that could go on to form a top grade essay. The texts you study for your GCSE will all be unified and coherent. It's true that their writers don't want more pocket money, but certainly they need you to enjoy reading their texts and for the text to bring you to agree with their views on some or other issue. Their text will be a 'manipulative' use of language chosen intended meaning existing below its surface. An important realisation is that such a text would be unified and coherent: it will have a single aim, i.e. it will be 'unified'; and each part of it will be leading onto the next part, i.e. it will be coherent. to engage you emotionally in its story whilst also bringing you to believe that the world would be a better pace if some aspect of it were changed. Many writers want a better world, and think they know how to fix it.

The coherent and unified nature of literary texts means that a single dominant, 'controlling' idea must lie 'behind' them, i.e. that all parts of the text can be shown to be moving the reader towards an understand of the writer's central idea. For you to arrive at a reasonable interpretation of any text, one that can form the basis of a winning essay, therefore, you must be able to show that your interpretation can be supported throughout the text.

To write a successful essay, therefore, the only way is to have first worked out just what you feel the writer was 'using' their story for, i.e. the authorial purpose. Only when you have worked this out will you be in a position to explain the writer's methods (which is what most exam questions ask you to do).

A story might be about Scrooge, Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim, all characters devised to entertain and move the reader, but Dickens' real aim was to convey, persuasively, his anger at (as he perceived it) the greedy and grasping Victorian middle and upper classes. How could he wag his finger, effectively at his own readers, to get them to change their selfish ways? But he found a way: to tell an immersive and moving stories: lots of them (he was a prolific writer). And not only did the society of the Victorian period change dramatically to treat its poor better, but Mr Dickens also made his personal fortune, too (i.e. he got his extra pocket money!).

It is because of the need to offer an interpretation that your essay is, essentially, an argument for your viewpoint. There isn't a single right answer because that 'right' answer lies in your mind as a viewpoint or idea. So, it needs to be argued for to convince your teacher or examiner that what you say is based on a reasonable interpretation of the text.

Like any argument, you need to present it clearly and methodically and to support your points effectively, using the source text. It might have taken Charles Dickens many hundreds of pages to present his social and moral views disguised as an entertaining story, but his idea can be summarised and stated in a single sentence. And ay part of his story can then be used to show how it worked to help him convey this idea. The trick is to choose the parts you feel are the most effective and to use these to build a series of points around to create your essay.

This is always similar, whatever the essay. You need Doing this creates an opening that acts as an overview, summing up all that is to come. It must contain Notice that this technique requires you to focus your thinking initially not on what the question likely asks, which is generally on the writer's techniques or PLANNING
Planning time must be spent examining or considering the text or extract in the light of the essay or exam question. This means not starting writing your response too soon and ignoring what others in the exam room are doing. You cannot spend forever, of course, since the clock is always ticking, but you likely should spend rather longer than you think to carry out a 'close' enough reading of your text. Only this will allow you to gain an overall sense of what the writer is trying to achieve with their text, and thus allow you to create a list of the most important and often subtle methods they have chosen to succeed in their purpose - all focused on the specific requirements of the question, of course.
CREATING THE FIRST PARAGRAPH
an opening statement that sets out the view you will be arguing for in the body of your essay. This must be short and clear: a succinct summary of what you think the writer was hoping to achieve focused on whatever the essay question asks of you (some authorial method such as the use of characters, setting, mood, or the creation of tension, etc.). This needs to be filled out a little with sufficient detail from the story and the writer's background to make sense.

no analysis, for that is to come in the body of the essay. The opening overview should stick to being a statement that touches upon only key points such as the writer's name, the title and FOCUS ON PURPOSE NOT METHOD date of the work, the writer's methods, e.g. 'How did the writer do X...'. Your focus is, instead, on the writer's desires or purposes for the reader or audience, making the question something along the lines of, 'Why did the writer write this and why in the ways he or she did...'? purpose and possible background context that might have brought to the mind-set you've come to believe they show they have in their text. Added to this will need to be a few very brief details of the main characters, setting and plot, sufficient to clarify or give a context for what view you've stated. Remember, though: no analysis. The analysis is to be given in the remaining paragraphs as part of an argument intended to show how the view you've stated is a reasonable interpretation to have come to. This is where the time-honoured style call 'PEE' comes in to be so useful for the body paragraphs between the essay opening and its conclusion.

This doesn't mean that you won't be answering the exam question, far from it, but it will bring you to focus on the one aspect that will reveal the most detailed and subtle explanations for the writer chose the language that they did, i.e. as a means to an end: to manipulate the reader to feel enjoyment but also persuasion.

As an example, if you were answering a question on J.B. Priestley's 1945 play, 'An Inspector Calls', you might write:

"In 'An Inspector Calls', I would like to argue that Priestley needed to create a great deal of tension during the Inspector's second interview with members of the Birling family as a way to bring the audience to share the horror that Sheila Birling felt at her apparent part in Eva Smith's suicide. The various dramatic and linguistic techniques Priestley used to achieve this tension would then help him to develop sympathy for Sheila which would have the effect of helping him convey his socialist political message that, even by 1945 after a victorious World War, despite there being three decades between the setting of the play, Britain was still a deeply divided and patriarchal society, one that most of all disadvantaged the working classes.'"

Notice that such an introduction gives an 'answer' as a part of a briefly stated overview of the play. Doing this lays the groundwork for a successful essay to follow because it starts off a kind of 'argument', one that will take another five or six paragraphs to support effectively.

Such a start to an essay needs to contain no more than a bare overview, with no quotations or analysis. You should then base the remaining 'body' paragraphs upon separate key points each of which support your first-stated view to create an argument that supports it by showing what brought you to feel this way. This explanation needs to be clear and methodical and this is best achieved by working logically through the text chronologically, as it unfolds from its beginning > 'middle' > end, accounting for the effects it creates, the methods used to create them, and the likely purpose for which they were chosen.

And that, in a nutshell, is how to write a successful essay.

What follows is a
A USEFUL TIP TO IMPRESS THE EXAMINER

It is a useful technique to 'integrate' words or phrases from the text you are studying directly into your own sentences (still using quotation marks, of course). Don't overdo this technique, but used sparingly, using 'embedded' quotations can help create a very impressive style, one that suggests you have a good grasp of the text and the essay question.

Here are some examples of where embedded quotations have been integrated into the student's explanation. The first is from the opening of John Steinbeck's novel, 'Of Mice and Men':

"'Small and quick' George is presented by Steinbeck as a character in complete contrast to his friend, the lumbering and 'shapeless' Lennie....".
Here is an embedded quotation from J B Priestley's 'An Inspector Calls':

"As the Inspector says, 'We don't live alone' and this is an important message Priestley gives his audience...". And using John Agard's poem, 'Half-Caste':

"Perhaps Agard also wants his reader to 'come back tomorrow' with a different attitude towards those they might feel are in any way different from themselves....".

Here's an example using William Shakespeare's play, 'Romeo and Juliet'. Here are the first two lines of the 'Prologue' as spoken by 'The Chorus': ANOTHER TIP - AVOID THE PITFALL OF RE-TELLING THE STORY

'Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene...'

Compare this with an analytical comment (= high marks): re-telling of the story that avoids analysis of the method the writer used (= low marks):

'Here, Shakespeare is saying that the play is set in Verona where there are two dignified families.' 'I would like to argue that the opening lines of the Prologue can be considered important because they paint a picture for the audience of what could and should be - fairness and dignity. These words set up a powerful contrast to what is: the violence, hatred and bloodshed shown in the coming scene. It will be against this violent backdrop that the pure love of Romeo and Juliet will have to struggle.'

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It's said that English is different from other subjects because there's never a single right answer to any essay question. However, while this is true, there are still many wrong answers. What makes a right answer? It's one that you can convincingly show has been based on a reasonable interpretation of the text you have studied.

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When your verbs are bad, try this!

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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Contrary to popular belief, commas don't just signify pauses in a sentence.

In fact, precise rules govern when to use this punctuation mark. When followed, they lay the groundwork for clear written communication.

We've compiled a list of all of the times when you need the mighty comma.
1. Use a comma before any coordinating conjunction (and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet) that links two independent clauses.
Example: "I went running, and I saw a duck."

You may need to learn a few grammatical terms to understand this one.

An independent clause is a unit of grammatical organization that includes both a subject and verb and can stand on its own as a sentence. In the previous example, "I went running" and "I saw a duck" are both independent clauses, and "and" is the coordinating conjunction that connects them. Consequently, we insert a comma.

If we were to eliminate the second "I" from that example, the second clause would lack a subject, making it not a clause at all. In that case, it would no longer need a comma: "I went running and saw a duck."
2. Use a comma after a dependent clause that starts a sentence.
Example: "When I went running, I saw a duck."

A dependent clause is a grammatical unit that contains both subject and verb but cannot stand on its own, like "When I went running ..."

Commas always follow these clauses at the start of a sentence. If a dependent clause ends the sentence, however, it no longer requires a comma. Only use a comma to separate a dependent clause at the end of a sentence for added emphasis, usually when negation occurs.
3. Use commas to offset appositives from the rest of the sentence.
Appositives act as synonyms for a juxtaposed word or phrase. For example, "While running, I saw a mallard, a kind of duck." "A kind of duck" is the appositive, which gives more information about "a mallard."

If the appositive occurs in the middle of the sentence, both sides of the phrase need a comma. As in, "A mallard, a kind of duck, attacked me."

Don't let the length of an appositive scare you. As long as the phrase somehow gives more information about its predecessor, you usually need a comma.

"A mallard, the kind of duck I saw when I went running, attacked me."

There's one exception to this rule. Don't offset a phrase that gives necessary information to the sentence. Usually, commas surround a non-essential clause or phrase. For example, "The duck that attacked me scared my friend" doesn't require any commas. Even though the phrase "that attacked me" describes "the duck," it provides essential information to the sentence. Otherwise, no one would know why the duck scared your friend. Clauses that begin with "that" are usually essential to the sentence and do not require commas.
4. Use commas to separate items in a series.
For example, "I saw a duck, a magician, and a liquor store when I went running."

That last comma, known as the serial comma, Oxford comma, or Harvard comma, causes serious controversy. Although many consider it unnecessary, others, including Business Insider, insist on its use to reduce ambiguity.

There's an Internet meme that demonstrates its necessity perfectly. The sentence, "We invited the strippers, JFK, and Stalin," means the speaker sent three separate invitations: one to some strippers, one to JFK, and one to Stalin. The version without the Oxford comma, however, takes on an entirely different meaning, potentially suggesting that only one invitation was sent - to two strippers named JFK and Stalin. Witness: "We invited the strippers, JFK and Stalin."
5. Use a comma after introductory adverbs.
"Finally, I went running."

"Unsurprisingly, I saw a duck when I went running."

Many adverbs end in "ly" and answer the question "how?" How did someone do something? How did something happen? Adverbs that don't end in "ly," such as "when" or "while," usually introduce a dependent clause, which rule number two in this post already covered.

Also insert a comma when "however" starts a sentence, too. Phrases like "on the other hand" and "furthermore" also fall into this category.

Starting a sentence with "however," however, is discouraged by many careful writers. A better method would be to use "however" within a sentence after the phrase you want to negate, as in the previous sentence.
6. Use a comma when attributing quotes.
The rule for where the comma goes, however, depends on where attribution comes.

If attribution comes before the quote, place the comma outside the quotations marks. The runner said, "I saw a duck."

If attribution comes after the quote, put the comma inside the quotation marks. "I saw a duck," said the runner.
7. Use a comma to separate each element in an address. Also use a comma after a city-state combination within a sentence.
"I work at 257 Park Ave. South, New York, N.Y. 10010."

"Cleveland, Ohio, is a great city."
8. Also use a comma to separate the elements in a full date (weekday, month and day, and year). Also separate a combination of those elements from the rest of the sentence with commas.
" March 15, 2013, was a strange day." Even if you add a weekday, keep the comma after "2013."

"Friday, March 15, 2013, was a strange day."

"Friday, March 15, was a strange day."

You don't need to add a comma when the sentence mentions only the month and year. "March 2013 was a strange month."
9. Use a comma when the first word of the sentence is freestanding "yes" or "no."
"Yes, I saw a duck when I went running."

"No, the duck didn't bite me."
10. Use a comma when directly addressing someone or something in a sentence.
My editor often asks, "Christina, is that article up yet?"

Another clever meme shows the problem with incorrect placement of this comma. "Stop clubbing baby seals" reads like an order to desist harming infant mammals of the seal variety. The version with a comma, however, instructs them to stop attending hip dance clubs. "Stop clubbing, baby seals."
11. Use a comma between two adjectives that modify the same noun.
For example: "I saw the big, mean duck when I went running."

Only coordinate adjectives require a comma between them. Two adjectives are coordinate if you can answer yes to both of these questions: 1. Does the sentence still make sense if you reverse the order of the words? 2. Does the sentence still make sense if you insert "and" between the words?

Since "I saw the mean, big duck " and "I saw the big and mean duck" both sound fine, you need the comma.

Sentences with non-coordinate adjectives, however, don't require a comma. For example, "I lay under the powerful summer sun." "Powerful" describes "summer sun" as a whole phrase. This often occurs with adjunct nouns, a phrase where a noun acts as an adjective describing another noun - like "chicken soup" or "dance club."

12. Use a comma to offset negation in a sentence.
For example: "I saw a duck, not a baby seal, when I went running."

In this case, you still need the comma if the negation occurs at the end of the sentence. "I saw a baby seal, not a duck."

Also use commas when any distinct shift occurs in the sentence or thought process. "The cloud looked like an animal, perhaps a baby seal."
13. Use commas before every sequence of three numbers when writing a number larger than 999. (Two exceptions are writing years and house numbers.)
For example, 10,000 or 1,304,687.

That concludes today's lesson. Check your understanding of some other common grammatical mistakes here.

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13 Rules For Using Commas Without Looking Like An Idiot

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Contrary to popular belief, commas don't just signify pauses in a sentence. In fact, precise rules govern when to use this punctuation mark. When followed, they lay the groundwork for clear written communication. We've compiled a list of all of the times when you need the mighty comma. 1.

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Sally Mitchell's Rules for Literary Analysis

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Sally Mitchell's Rules for Literary Analysis

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This handout provides examples and description about writing papers in literature. It discusses research topics, how to begin to research, how to use information, and formatting.

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PIE

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PEE

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Nardvark's English teacher made him write a test, and then was cruel enough to give him an on it because he forgot to PEE .

When Nardvark's teacher was explaining to the class how to PEE, Nardvark had a nap because, as he put it, he was born peeing. Now the Nerdvark is telling him that English teachers are talking about something completely different when they tell you to PEE.

PEE paragraphs are used to explain your thesis, or your answer to the question the teacher or exam asked you. Here's the lowdown on PEEing:

P is for Point: a short sentence that introduces a piece of evidence that you will use to prove your answer. Specifically, since this is a literary essay, which literary tool is the author/poet/playwright using?

E is for example or evidence: it can be either a (don't forget to use quotation marks, and copy the quotation exactly as it appears in the passage) or it can be a or paraphrase of a particular part of the poem/story/play. That's particularly useful if you are not allowed to bring your books into the exam ( AS students!!)

E is for explain: here you explain how the evidence proves your point. Specifically, what does the literary tool have on the reader/audience?

Your literary essay of course needs an introduction, which includes the thesis or answer to the question and mentions the three points, and should be summed up by a conclusion. You also need to state your personal response somehow - either say how the poem/play/novel made you feel, or what it reminded you of, or whether you thought the literary tools were effective, or compare it to another poem/play/novel you like, or compare it to a situation in your own life, etc.

OK! So! This is the fun part: Nerdvark now makes fun of Nardvark in an effort to show him how to apply the PEE principles, or the principles of PEE if you will:

Nardvark has a ridiculous nose

It flops around like a rubber hose.

His ears are small and his eyes are beady,

He isn't smart but he is greedy.

All he ever does is eat, and eat,

And eat and eat and eat and eat.

The cavernous mouth and gut - Beware!

And plus, he has terrible hair.

Explore the ways in which the poet powerfully portrays a Nardvark in this poem.

The Nerdvark powerfully portrays a Nardvark in the poem "The Nardvark" through the use of literary tools such as imagery, simile, and repetition.

Now, here's a PEE paragraph for our first point, IMAGERY:

I'm going to do more than one example for this one. Imagery is always a doozie.

Point: The poet uses imagery to give the reader a mental picture of what the Nardvark looks like.

Example 1: For example, his nose is "ridiculous" and it "flops;" his ears are described as "small" and his eyes as "beady."

Explanation 1: These words give the reader an image of a creature with a nose that is so long that it can't even stay straight, and silly little eyes and ears.

Example 2: The poet also uses the adjective "terrible" to describe the creature's hair.

Explanation 2: This does not give a precise mental image, but the connotation of the word "terrible" along with the words "cavernous" and "beware" in the previous line conjure an idea of a monster. The effect of the silly face coupled with the monstrous body gives readers a picture of a fat, absurd creature.

What other points were brought up in our thesis? Try writing two more PEE paragraphs for them.

Remember, kids, don't forget to PEE. Here's a lovely website with more about formatting essays for exams: (click the super-excited little man)

Thanks for reading. If you enjoy my blog, please check out my website: www.kiborrowman.net. Check here next time for Nerdvark's instructions to Nardvark on how to correctly use the word "myself." (Or he might just strangle him, because, quite frankly, all the "myselfs" Nardvark has been inappropriately throwing around are giving Nerdvark a nasty toothache.)

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Nardvark's English teacher made him write a test, and then was cruel enough to give him an on it because he forgot to PEE . When Nardvark's teacher was explaining to the class how to PEE, Nardvark had a nap because, as he put it, he was born peeing.

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We are a globally renowned resource that provides assistance with English to students, teachers, professionals, and organizations across the world. Our goal is to assist clients in their development as writers - no matter their skill level.

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Purdue OWL® - Purdue OWL® - Purdue University

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We are a globally renowned resource that provides assistance with English to students, teachers, professionals, and organizations across the world. Our goal is to assist clients in their development as writers - no matter their skill level.

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Writing Conclusions

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BETTER VERBS!

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Integrating Quotations #2