Apostrophes ’ Apostrophes are very handy indicators to use in sentences. They are used to indicate possession. Here are some examples: ‘John’s car was a different colour from my sister’s car.’ ‘I turned the corner to be confronted by my manager’s assistant.’ ‘The politician met his mother’s expectations but failed to meet his electors’ expectations.’ If the apostrophe is not used, then Johns and sisters … Read more
A subordinate clause is part of a sentence that depends on a main clause for its meaning. Relative clauses, which you may encounter in both defining and non-defining form, are types of subordinate clauses that work in specific ways. You can normally recognise a relative clause within a sentence because it will begin with a word such … Read more
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Verbs are tricky things. At their most basic level, they describe actions, and what or whom those actions affect. The vast majority of sentences contain verbs and at least one noun (though often more than one)—usually the ‘doer’ and the ‘done to’—or to be more technical, the subject and the object. For example: Mikey swept … Read more
The problem In the complicated workplace of punctuation, the poor old hyphen needs to form a union. It dutifully performs its role of joining compound words and reliably appears when a suffix or prefix needs assistance. However, many students and writers drag the overworked hyphen into use while the en dash and em dash rest … Read more
Typos, spelling mistakes, bad punctuation. Slip-ups happen to the best of us when we’re rushing, tired, under pressure or a bit confused: which is pretty much the description of a stressed out university student writing an essay that’s due soon. At best, they make you look silly and careless. At worst, they can undermine the … Read more