Proper Grammar Usage

Whether you like it or not, people judge you based on how you communicate.

Taking the time to use the right grammar and punctuation in your writing and speech allows you to present yourself in the best possible light.

As Grammar Girl says, "The quality of your writing often has a huge influence on the first impression you make on people."

Subject Verb Agreement

What does it mean for a subject and a verb to "agree?"

Well, it refers to the number of the subject and the verb. Here is an example of a sentence with a subject and a verb that agree:

Here is how the sentence would sound without subject verb agreement:

Learn more about subject verb agreement here.

Passive Voice or Active Voice?

What the heck does this mean? How can sentences have "voices"?

"Voice" refers to whether the subject is performing the action or receiving the action of a verb.

How do you write these and which should you use? I'll teach you!

Learn more about active and passive voice here.

Capitalization Rules

Learn some of the nitty-gritty about capitalization.

I've shortened this list to six main rules (and a few sub-rules).

Learn more about the capitalization rules here.

Idiomatic Expressions

These things drive me up the wall.

I'm just kidding. Actually, I really enjoy learning about idioms.

Idioms are groups of words which have meanings that are not literal.

Here are a couple of examples:

While they are fun to learn about, they can be difficult to grasp - particularly for people learning English as a second language.

Learn more about idiomatic expressions here.

Proverbs are similar to idioms. Learn about English proverbs here.

Punctuation Rules

English punctuation baffles many of us.

When do we use a semi-colon? How about that always mystifying apostrophe?

See the punctuation rules page for a guide to help you punctuate better!

Or, check out the page on the lovely exclamation mark, the party animal of punctuation.

More...

This grammar guide has more help for punctuation and common grammatical errors.

Are you an ESL learner? Diana from Helping You Learn English has lots of great information to help you including an ESL Cafe where you can meet people, share stories, and learn English.

Go From Proper Grammar Back to English Grammar Home Page