8 Tips to Improve Your English Writing Skills

mardi 28 janvier 2014




 
Strong writing skills in English come from practice and determination. No one is born an excellent writer. Learning to be an excellent writer in English takes a lot of time and practice. Anyone can be a good writer if they are determined enough.
Everyone has a different reason why they need to improve their writing. Maybe you need to improve your writing for work or for your English class at university. Or maybe you want to start a blog about learning English or you need to respond to emails in English for your business.
Below are 8 Tips to Improve Your English Writing Skills:
1. Keep All of your Writing in One Place
Buy a notebook or journal or start an electronic journal. By keeping your writing all in the same place, you will be able to see how much you are improving and keep it organized.
2. Practice Writing in English Daily

The importance of writing daily is that you start to create a new
habit. Writing every day in English will soon become natural and something you look forward to. You will not see a significant improvement if you are not dedicated to becoming a better writer in English. You cannot create awesome stories and papers if you never try.
3. Pick a Topic and WRITE!
Don’t get stuck on figuring out what to write about. You can write about anything. You can write about what you do, things you hear or see, news, or make up a story.
4. Write More than One Draft
Draft means a preliminary version of piece of writing. Sometimes, your best writing becomes better after you take a break and work on a second or third draft. When you revise (or rewrite) your work you are often able to get your message across more clearly. You make think of things that you did not think to write in the first draft and you can add it in a later draft.
5. Use Online Resources to Correct your Grammar
Yes, grammar is a pain. You don’t need to know everything about English grammar.
6. Think Outside the Box (or Lines)
Don’t write about the same thing every day or you will get bored. Try writing the same story from different perspectives or different tenses. If you are writing a story about a baby that won’t stop crying; first, it could be the mother telling the story; then from the perspective of the baby. Or you could write it in present moment…. ‘My baby hasn’t stopped crying in five days…’ and then write in the perspective of a pregnant woman that is thinking about having a baby that won’t stop crying. Don’t write about topics in the obvious way. Be creative!
7. Have a Friend Edit Your Writing
Have a friend that knows English correct or edit your work. Having another person read your work helps generate more ideas to better your writing. You could have them edit everything or just a part that you are stuck on. Often having another set of eyes look at your writing helps find mistakes that you have overlooked.
8. Find the Best Place for You to Write
You should try writing in different places or at different times of the day. Maybe you have writer’s block at night; try getting up 15 minutes earlier and writing in the morning. Maybe you have trouble writing where there is a lot of noise; try writing in a quiet and comfortable place. Experiment in finding the right (or write?) environment for you to write.

Comparative and Superlative Rules



We use the comparative forms (ER or MORE) to make a comparison between
two things or people:
 
     My brother is BIGGER THAN I am. He's SMARTER THAN me, too.
     The winter of '96 was a SNOWIER winter THAN the winter of '97.
     I have two sons. My MORE INTELLIGENT son is in college.
 
Sometimes we don't name the second person or thing, but we are thinking
about it, and we know the listener is thinking about it:
 
     I'll see you LATER (than now).
     Your work is getting BETTER (than your previous work).
     I need a BIGGER hat (than the one I have now).


BETTER is the form that means "more good."
WORSE is the form that means "more bad."

We use the superlative forms (EST or MOST) to single out one thing or
person in a group. We use THE with the superlative:

     My brother is THE BIGGEST boy in the family.
     Last winter was THE SNOWIEST winter in many years.
     These girls are THE MOST INTELLIGENT girls in the school.

THE BEST= "the most good."   THE WORST= "the most bad."

We usually name the group or place that the superlative person or thing
is the best or most of something in. If we don't do that, we often
use the present perfect with the superlative:

     He's the smartest guy in the class. (but not in the school)
     That's the most beautiful sunset [that] I've ever seen!
     She's the most beautiful woman in town. (but not in the world)

If you use possessive adjectives (my, his, John's), don't use THE:
     She's MY OLDEST daughter. (NOT *She's the my oldest daughter.)
     Somebody stole JOHN'S MOST EXPENSIVE pen. (NOT *the John's...)




               Spelling Rules for Comparative/Superlative

no. of syllables                         comparative                                         superlative

------------------------------------------------------------------
1 syllable                                    add ER                                               add EST
           
   fast                                       faster than                                              the fastest
   big                                         bigger than                                            the biggest
   
-------------------------------------------------------------------
2 syllables that
end in y                                   change Y to I and                                              change Y to I and
                                                           add ER                                              add EST

   heavy                                     heavier than                                         the heaviest
   snowy                                  snowier than                                          the snowiest
-------------------------------------------------------------------



  2 or more syllables                comparative                                         superlative

-------------------------------------------------------------------- 
2 syllables that
don't end in y                             use MORE and                              use THE MOST and
                                                             don't add ER!                       don't add EST!
           
   modern                                    more modern than                         the most common
   common                                  more common than                          the most modern
--------------------------------------------------------------------
3 or more syllables                  use MORE and                                 use THE MOST and
                                                don't add ER!                                    don't add EST!

   beautiful                               more beautiful than                                        the most beautiful
   enjoyable                                more enjoyable than                       the most enjoyable
--------------------------------------------------------------------



100 Important Irregular Verbs

lundi 20 janvier 2014




   simple form                        past                                              past participle

  1. beat                                  beat                                              beaten
  2. become                            became                                         become
  3. begin                                began                                           begun
  4. bend                                 bent                                              bent
  5. bet                                    bet                                                bet
  6. bite                                   bit                                                 bitten
  7. bleed                                bled                                              bled
  8. blow                                 blew                                             blown
  9 break                                 broke                                            broken
 10. bring                                brought                                         brought
 11. build                                built                                              built
 12. buy                                  bought                                          bought
 13. catch                               caught                                          caught
 14. choose                             chose                                            chosen
 15. come                               came                                            come
 16. cost                                 cost                                              cost
 17. cut                                   cut                                                cut
 18. dig                                   dug                                               dug
 19. do                                    did                                                done
 20. draw                                drew                                             drawn
 21. drink                               drank                                            drunk
 22. drive                                drove                                            driven
 23. eat                                   ate                                                eaten
 24. fall                                  fell                                               fallen
 25. feed                                 fed                                               fed
 26. feel                                  felt                                               felt
 27. fight                                fought                                          fought
 28. find                                 found                                           found
 29. fly                                   flew                                              flown
 30. forget                              forgot                                           forgotten
 31. forgive                            forgave                                         forgiven
 32 freeze                               froze                                            frozen
 33 get                                    got                                                gotten
 34 give                                  gave                                             given
 35 go                                     went                                             gone
 36 hang (up)                          hung                                             hung
 37 have                                 had                                               had
 38 hear                                  heard                                            heard
 39. hide                                 hid                                                hidden
 40. hit                                    hit                                                 hit
 41. hold                                 held                                              held
 42. hurt                                 hurt                                              hurt
 43. keep                                kept                                              kept
 44. know                               knew                                            known
 45. lay                                   laid                                               laid
 46. lead                                 led                                                led
 47. leave                               left                                               left
 48. lend                                 lent                                               lent
 49. let                                    let                                                 let
 50. lie (down)                        lay                                                lain


 

   simple form                        past                                              past participle

 51. light                                 lit                                                  lit
 52. lose                                 lost                                               lost
 53. make                               made                                            made
 54. mean                               meant                                           meant
 55. meet                                met                                               met
 56. pay                                  paid                                              paid
 57. put                                   put                                                put
 58. quit                                  quit                                               quit
 59. read                                 read                                              read
 60. ride                                  rode                                              ridden
 61. ring                                  rang                                              rung
 62. rise                                  rose                                              risen
 63. run                                  ran                                                run
 64. say                                  said                                              said
 65. see                                   saw                                               seen
 66. sell                                  sold                                              sold
 67. send                                sent                                              sent
 68. set                                   set                                                set
 69. shake                               shook                                           shaken
 70 shine                                shone                                           shone
 71. shoot                               shot                                              shot
 72. shrink                              shrank                                          shrunk
 73. shut                                 shut                                              shut
 74. sing                                 sang                                              sung
 75. sink                                 sank                                             sunk
 76. sit                                    sat                                                sat
 77. sleep                                slept                                             slept
 78. slide                                slid                                               slid
 79. speak                               spoke                                           spoken
 80. spend                              spent                                            spent
 81 spin                                  spun                                             spun
 82. stand                               stood                                            stood
 83. steal                                 stole                                             stolen
 84. stick                                stuck                                            stuck
 85. sting                                stung                                            stung
 86. swear                               swore                                           sworn
 87. sweep                              swept                                            swept
 88. swim                               swam                                            swum
 89. take                                 took                                              taken
 90. teach                               taught                                           taught
 91. tear                                  tore                                               torn
 92. tell                                   told                                               told
 93. think                                thought                                         thought
 94. throw                               threw                                            thrown
 95. understand                      understood                                   understood
 96. wake                               woke                                            woken
 97. wear                                wore                                             worn
 98. win                                  won                                              won
 99 wind                                 wound                                          wound
100. write                               wrote                                            written
 

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