✅ Essentials:

📢 Clear Communication – Readers can understand your message more easily when grammar is correct.

🚫 Avoid Distraction – Poor grammar slows readers down and may make them lose interest in your text.

⭐ Credibility – Good grammar shows professionalism. Poor grammar, however, can make your work appear sloppy or careless, even if your ideas are strong.

💬 Effective Arguments – Correct grammar helps you present your arguments clearly, making your writing more persuasive and enjoyable to read.

💡 Final Tip: Think of grammar as the “presentation” of your ideas. Even brilliant thoughts can lose impact if the grammar is distracting.

❓ Question: Which aspect of grammar—clarity, avoiding distraction, credibility, or communication—feels most important for your writing right now?

✍️ Write in Sentences

• Always use complete sentences.

• Avoid fragments.

• Example (fragment): “Because she signed as a teen with no help.”

• Example (correct): “She had a hard time because she signed as a teen with no help.”
  ➡️ Tip: Keep sentences short if it helps clarity.

🔑 Verbs – The Heart of Sentences

• If there’s no verb, it’s not a sentence.

• Passive form (common in essays): “The group were nominated for 3 awards.”

• Active form (common in reflection): “I produced a 3-minute recording for a video game.”
  💡 Use a mix of verbs to expand your vocabulary. Do an internet search for action verbs for music production and performance.

👤 Ambiguous Pronouns

• Pronouns (he, she, it, they, this, that) should clearly refer to a noun.

• Ambiguity confuses the reader.
  ✅ Always check: Does “it” or “they” clearly link back to one thing?

🔠 When to Capitalise a Noun

• Proper nouns = specific names, places, or titles. → Ancient Greece, World Cup

• Common nouns = general groups or concepts. → the ancient world, a trophy
  💡 Ask yourself:

• Does this name identify a specific person/thing? If the answer is yes, then capitalise.

• Is it part of a general group? If the answer is yes, then keep lowercase.

_{Adapted from (University of Reading, 2019)}

🚫 Do not rely completely on the spell-checker
It won’t always pick up on a word used incorrectly.

🔤 Recognise prefixes and suffixes
Understanding word parts makes spelling easier and helps you break down unfamiliar words.

👂 Watch out for homophones and confusable words
Many English words sound the same (or nearly the same) but have different spellings and meanings.
E.g., accept/except or affect/effect.
These are among the most common spelling pitfalls for all writers.

📚 Read as often as you can
It’s easier to spell words you already recognise from regular reading.

✂️ Use them for short phrases, not whole sections of your writing.

🔍 Check and make each correction yourself. Don’t just accept automatic corrections. The process needs your input and you need to decide if it fits your meaning.

🎓 Ensure the tone is academic

Automated tools don’t always capture formal or academic style.

💡 A prompt like “check punctuation and grammar” is more useful than simply “make this sound academic.” It will also encourage you to learn.

Contrary to popular belief, English spelling does often follow patterns. If you are familiar with some of them, you can avoid common errors. Many relate to prefixes and suffixes and whether letters are added or dropped; naturally there are exceptions.

🔤 Prefixes

When adding a prefix, we usually do not add or remove letters:

• dis + satisfied → dissatisfied

• over + hear → overhear

• mis + spell → misspell

The prefix in- changes form depending on the letter that follows:

• in → il → illegible, illiterate, illogical

• in → im → immoral, immature, impossible

• in → ir → irregular, irrelevant, irreplaceable

📦 Plurals

• General rule: add -s.

• If the word ends in a consonant + -y, change -y → -ies:

  • baby → babies

• Some words ending in -o take -es:

  • tomato → tomatoes

• But others just take -s:

  • videos

✂️ Dropping and Adding Letters

• Drop final -e when adding a suffix beginning with a vowel:

  • approve + -al → approval

  • hope + -ing → hoping

• Keep the final -e when the suffix begins with a consonant:

  • definitely, excitement, forceful, hopeless, lately, widely

• Sometimes -e is dropped:

  • argue → argument

🔠 ie or ei?

• If the sound is /i:/ (like brief), use ie:

  • achieve, belief

• After c, use ei:

  • ceiling, conceit

🌍 British vs. American English

• British English: analyse, aeroplane, centre, criticise, defence

• American English: analyze, airplane, center, criticize, defense

  
  

^{Adapted from: Cambridge University Press & Assessment (2025)}

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📧 Email: studentsuccess@lccm.ac.uk