OVERVIEW
From short engaging podcasts to interactive tutorials to helpful examples and clear descriptions, here you will find a wealth of resources to help you improve your grammar and elevate your style.
Also see: Multilingual Writers if you’re looking for grammar and style help related to second-language issues.
Grammar Girl’s “Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing” (Grammar Girl)
You can subscribe to this free podcast of “Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing” at the iTunes store or you can read and/or listen to Grammar Girl’s expanded episodes from the website. One nice thing about reading the episodes is that you can also read all the comments posted after each episode, which offer some real, some funny, and some wacky examples of the episode’s main topic.
GRAMMAR AND PUNCTUATION
Attending to Grammar (University of Washington, Odegaard Writing & Research Center)
This web page argues the importance of having a good command of English grammar and then goes through some of the most common grammatical errors.
Commas vs. Semicolons (Purdue OWL)
An exercise to help understand the difference between commas and semicolons. Answers provided at the end.
Guide to Grammar and Writing (Capital Community College Foundation)
This website offers an extensive overview of tips for writing at the word/sentence level, paragraph level, and essay/research paper level. The index is extremely thorough and includes all facets of grammar. The site also has interactive quizzes that provide the students with instant feedback and explanations of their performance. (Summary and recommendation courtesy of Katie Sudol, Montclair State Department of Early Childhood, Elementary, and Literacy Education)
The Semicolon (Capital Community College Foundation)
The basics of semicolon usage.
Semicolons (Grammar Girl)
Engaging commentary and instruction on the use of semicolons.
Tips on Grammar, Punctuation and Style (Harvard College Writing Center) Review of common grammar, punctuation and style errors.
Writing Capstone: Grammar (IU Southeast Instructor: Michael Abernethy, IUSoutheast)
Last modified: July 20, 2009 | length 3:14
A mini-lecture in the form of a YouTube video done in a goofy but informative style that begins with a look at why one needs to understand grammar and then discusses two common errors: the confusion of there, their and they’re and comma usage. This is one video in a course series. Other topics covered include outlining, citation formats, finding good sources, incorporating sources and proofreading. You can subscribe to Michael Abernethy’s channel for more videos and updates.
SPECIFIC PROBLEM AREAS
Grammar and Mechanics (Purdue OWL)
The highly regarded OWL (Online Writing Lab) at Purdue University offers writers a reference on grammar including “topics such as count and noncount nouns, articles (a versus an), subject-verb agreement, and prepositions” along with mechanics helping writers with sentence level organization and style.
Here are direct links to some of the most common issues:
- Active and Passive Voice
- Adjective or Adverb?
- Apostrophe
- Appositives
- Articles: A versus An
- Capital Letters
- Commas
- Commonly Confused Verbs
- Conquering the Comma
- Count and Noncount Nouns
- Dangling Modifiers
- Difference Between Adjectives and Adverbs
- Grammar Exercises
- Higher Order Concerns and Lower Order Concerns
- Hyphens and Dashes
- Independent and Dependent Clauses
- Numbers
- Parallel Structure
- Prepositions
- Pronouns
- Punctuation
- Quotation Marks
- Relative Pronouns
- Sentence Clarity
- Sentence Clarity Presentation
- Sentence Fragments
- Sentence Punctuation Patterns
- Spelling
- Subject/Verb Agreement
- Transitions
- Using Articles (a/an/the)
- Verb Tenses
STYLE
Adding Emphasis in Writing (Purdue OWL)
“This handout provides information on visual and textual devices for adding emphasis to your writing including textual formatting, punctuation, sentence structure and the arrangement of words.”
Audience (UNC Chapel Hill, The Writing Center)
“This handout will help you understand and write for the appropriate audience when you write an academic essay.”
Concision (Purdue OWL)
“This resource contains general conciseness tips followed by very specific strategies for pruning sentences.”
The Elements of Style (William Strunk, Jr.)
Online version of William Strunk, Jr.’s classic text (first published in 1918) on writing clear and concise prose. The contents are hyperlinked, making it easy to find a specific topic or section.
Sentence Variety (Purdue OWL)
“This resource presents methods for adding sentence variety and complexity to writing that may sound repetitive or boring. Sections are divided into general tips for varying structure, a discussion of sentence types, and specific parts of speech which can aid in sentence variety.”
Style (UNC Chapel Hill, The Writing Center)
“Have you ever wondered what your instructors mean when they write “wordy” or “passive voice” or “awk” in the margins of your paper? Do you sometimes sense that your sentences could be stronger, clearer, shorter, or more effective? Do you often feel that you know what you mean but do not know how to say it? If you often get feedback from your instructors that you need to “tighten your prose” or “look at your word choice,” you may need to work on your writing style. This handout will help you recognize potential problems in your writing style and learn to correct them.”
Word Choice (UNC Chapel Hill, The Writing Center)
“This handout can help you revise your papers for word-level clarity, eliminate wordiness and avoid clichés, find the words that best express your ideas, and choose words that suit an academic audience.”
PARAGRAPHING
Paragraph Development (UNC Chapel Hill, The Writing Center)
“This handout will help you understand how paragraphs are formed, how to develop stronger paragraphs, and how to completely and clearly express your ideas.”
Paragraphs (Purdue OWL)
“The purpose of this handout is to give some basic instruction and advice regarding the creation of understandable and coherent paragraphs.”
Topic Sentences and Signposting (Harvard College Writing Center)
This guide discusses how “topic sentences and signposts make an essay’s claims clear to a reader” and that “good essays contain both.”
TRANSITIONS
Transitional Devices (Purdue OWL)
This source provides “a list of some common transitional devices that can be used to cue readers in a given way.”
Transitioning: Beware of Velcro (Harvard College Writing Center)
This guide discusses the importance of strong transitions in essay writing and offers tips for transitioning.
Transitions (UNC Chapel Hill, The Writing Center)
“In this crazy, mixed-up, topsy-turvy world of ours, transitions glue our ideas and our essays together. This handout enlists you in the cause.”
Writing Transitions (Purdue OWL)
This source explains the importance of transitioning between paragraphs and provides examples to show you what ineffective and effective transitions between paragraphs look like.