Build Clearer, More Natural English
Edit real sentences for word order, agreement, articles, prepositions, linking, punctuation, reporting, tone and emphasis, with before-and-after examples.
The whole course is free with an EnglishGrammar account. Create one to open every module and save your progress.
Lessons in this module
- Build a clear sentence coreEdit a sentence so that the reader finds the subject, the verb and the object at once.
- Agreement and clear referenceMake each verb agree with its real subject, and make each pronoun point to one clear noun.
- Articles, countability and quantityCheck a, an, the and quantity words in your writing with three questions.
- Prepositions and useful word partnershipsCheck the small words in your writing: remove extra prepositions, add missing ones and choose natural partners.
- Link ideas without losing the readerChoose a linking word for the relationship you mean, and separate full clauses correctly.
- Punctuation that changes meaning: commas and apostrophesUse commas, apostrophes and capital letters correctly in everyday writing.
- Add detail with relative and participle clausesEdit relative and participle clauses so that the reader knows what each one describes.
- Keep viewpoints clear when reporting speechReport what people said so that the reader knows who said what, and about which time and place.
- Choose a tone that fits your readerWrite requests and claims that are polite, direct and no longer than they need to be.
- Emphasis and parallel structureEmphasize one part of a sentence, and keep the parts of a list or comparison in the same form.
- A practical editing workshopEdit a short text in a fixed order: the message, the sentence core, the small words, the links and the tone.