5 Great Tips to Effective Letter Writing by John Khu

Before you read this post, I would like to recommend you to use software to correct grammar like Whitesmoke. I think it should help you to write letter effectively.

Many people might wonder the need for letter writing in a world dominated by emails. If you wish to streamline your communication, never ignore the power of a well constructed letter.An email cannot achieve the impact that a well written letter can generate. Whether it is business, sales, cover or personal letter, you can master it by learning some simple tips.

1. The content of a letter should be planned well. To streamline your communication, make a draft of your letter. This will help in communicating effectively. Make sure that all the points have been detailed and check your letter for readability. Rephrase those sentences that can be misunderstood. Check the spelling, especially, the name of the receiver. Another key aspect is the consistency in the spelling of names. To be on the safer side, it is always wise to prepare a draft of business, sales and cover letters.

2. Use of language. For business letters, always use formal language. Sales letters need to attract potential customers. So they can be informal with catchy headlines. But when the sales letter talks about guarantee, delivery and other core issues, use a formal tone. Cover letters should always be written in formal language. Maximum flexibility with language can be shown in a personal letter. Depending upon your relationship, you can choose a formal or informal language. To streamline your communication, you should learn the art of selecting the appropriate tone for your letter.

3. Your letter might be intended for several people. This does not mean that it should not have a personal touch. Always write a business or sales letter like writing to a single person. A personal touch in your sales letter or newsletter will make the reader feel more comfortable. The reader should never feel like reading a brochure. The letter should have the effect of a personal conversation.

4. One of the best methods to streamline your communication is to make effective use of all modern day writing techniques. Use headlines to indicate the subject matter. Make use of bullets to detail important points. Use simple language. If a scientific term is used explain it in parentheses. You can make use of italics, bolding and underling in the letter. You can also create a template for your letter.

5. Brevity. Today, people do not have time to spend on reading long letters. Make your point in least number of words. Never deviate from the core subject. Unnecessary deviations from the subject can do more harm than good. Sometimes the reader might totally ignore the letter.

Letters are an important tool of communication. Remember, they can also become documental evidences. Your success in the modern day world depends on how effectively you are able to streamline your communication.

http://www.communicationessence.com

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Art Of Writing English – Importance Of Writing Skill

Most that is good in life comes from men’s ability to make their fellows share their thoughts and feelings. But it is not always an easy thing to make others see how we feel or think. The young child is called an infant, a word that means unable to speak. Half his miseries arise from his inability to communicate his notions. Men are but children of a larger growth, and much of their misery results from inability to tell what they think or feel. In a sense the case is worse for the man than for the child. The child makes gestures and grimaces to help his meaning out, but the grown man has to communicate by letters and other compositions.

Both in English writing and speaking there are many special laws that must be observed if there is to be real communication. The special laws of spoken language are not so numerous as those of written language. Written language has to be much more careful than spoken; the writer has no chance of correcting himself on the spot if not understood. All writing consists of sentences that may be defined as series of words so arranged that they express a thought. Sentences are the basis of written and spoken language. Words do not make sentences unless they are arranged in accordance with the rules of grammar, logic, or common sense. Nevertheless knowledge of how to communicate by written words is a very great help in communicating orally.

The art of communicating by means of written English words is called English composition, or rhetoric. A matter of prime importance to each man is that, in business or in society, he should be able to say or write exactly what he means. A businessman may lose money by failing to make himself clearly understood; misunderstandings and quarrels arise between friends because some one has failed to write just what he meant; a man is liable to be taken for a boor if he abuses the English language.

Writing is a trade in which every educated man, woman, and child should be skilled. Writing is a trade, which any one can master if he goes about it in the right way. It is true that writing skill is often the only trade of some people like the poets, novelists, newspaper reporters and editors. These might be called specialists in writing, and writing is their main occupation and way of making a living. But writing skill is a universal trade and it is necessary for every person to know it to a certain extent.

A person will never regret the time he spends in perfecting his instrument of expression. He should work steadily toward the point where he may come to have an abiding love for that which is lucid and beautiful in expression by words. No matter how practical the life he plans to lead, the power of writing down his ideas in good English, in a way that will leave no doubt as to what he meant and how earnestly he meant it, will always profit him.

Writing softwares like English writing software or business writing software with text enrichment tool can be used for writing a good personal or business communication. Writing software can also be used to check and correct English grammar, spellings and for proofreading.

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English Grammar Writing Software

Writing Software:

Innovative English writing software that carries a worldwide patent is only one click away. To improve your writing skills and see a substantial difference in your work, use the comprehensive WhiteSmoke solution. For the first time ever, you can actually enrich your texts. This revolutionary tool instantly checks spelling, verifies proper English grammar use, and analyzes your complete document to provide context-based recommendations that enhance your vocabulary with synonyms, adjectives, and adverbs.

In this state of the art online software, the smart algorithm of WhiteSmoke enriches your English writing. Your entire text is compared to a vast database of authentic language samples, so you see only relevant English grammar corrections and suggestions for improving your text. Experts worked for years to develop this cutting edge Natural Language Processing technology; you reap the benefits in an instant.

In addition to providing these useful features, WhiteSmoke is appropriate for all styles of writing. While our standard version covers all types of writing, there are particular versions suited to your distinct needs. You can choose a version tailored to creative, medical, or legal writing; each version contains specific terminology and features for professional, presentable documents.

In all genres, for every writing purpose, accuracy is essential for successful communication. English is complicated, and there are many issues to check and take into consideration when proofreading, including English grammar rules, spelling, and punctuation. Each of these elements of writing contributes to a solid and comprehensible finished product. If one element is missing or incorrect, there is a risk that your reader will not understand the message you intended. This can lead to significant losses in business, professional, or personal relationships.

Instead of taking the chance, take the writing software that targets all of your needs. WhiteSmoke, the comprehensive solution, checks and corrects all aspects of your writing. Devote your time and energy to developing your ideas, and trust WhiteSmoke to perfect your writing.

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How Does Spellchecker make you Lazy?

 by: David Parton

It’s a crime what laziness can do. That’s the downside of automation and software tools. People get lazy.

Don’t get me wrong, I love technology and I depend on Spell-checking software to help with my writing. It finds the typos but it does not find all the spelling mistakes.It does not find the contextual mistakes. What do I mean by that?

Here’s an example: “The kid’s got heat.”

Maybe, the “kid” is a pitcher with a really wicked fastball. Or maybe, I meant to type “heart” as in:

“The kid’s got heart.”

The absence of one letter can give you two wildly different interpretations. Ol’ Robodunce, spellchecker won’t spot gaffs like that.

Remember, in school how you used to struggle over the proper usage of “there, they’re, and their?” Some people still struggle with those. Grammar can be pretty tricky, so tricky that a computer designed solely to correct grammatical mistakes would have to be the size of a Pontiac, or even a cruise ship. It would take a truckload of Einsteins to program it.

That leaves you, my friend, You, the author- the last line of defense.

For the sake of your readers, for the sake of clarity and for the sake of personal pride…Proofread it! Read it out loud. Read it again and again just to be sure. Do you want potentially millions of people to think you are a bonehead?

Every day surfing the web I encounter site after site with so many errors; obvious stuff that a 3rd Grader could pick up on. These people are just too darned busy building pop-ups to proofread their copy. Rush, rush, rush.

And these are people trying to sell me things! Do I want to buy from a Bonehead? Not bloody likely.

You may have noticed this is a pet peeve of mine. That being said, a person that does not pay attention to the little details of publishing online may not pay attention to all the little details of good service. I can’t imagine that I am the only one that jumps to that conclusion.

It could cost you a lot in sales and/or credibility.

Proofread. Take the time before you upload. Don’t be a Bonehead.

About The Author

David Parton
Now You can Expand your Opportunities with FREE Tips & Resources about Affiliate Marketing, Making Money from Home, Website Development & Self-improvement for Both Sides of Your Brain! Discover… http://ExpandingMind.com

david@expandingmind.com

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Simple Essay Writing Tips

Nowaday, There is a software for checking grammar writing that will lead you to get effective essay easily. For this post , however, you should know some basic tips to make your essay more effective. Last thing that you don’t miss to do is proofreading your essay to rid off any mistakes in your essay.

If I could give essay writing tips to any student, I would give advice about sentence structure and flow. These two things are important to writing because they greatly affect your reader’s…

You are about to read some of the most valuable essay writing tips that I have learned during my college years. I have had many English teachers who mostly agree on these writing strategies because they are central to having good writing skills. Applying these strategies to your writing will greatly improve your clarity and eventually — (hopefully) your grades. Furthermore, once you consciously get into the habit of using them regularly, you would find that your good writing skills will aid you in any career field that you choose after you graduate from college. Now, let’s get started…

Transition between Sentences and Paragraphs

Writing is just like having an actual conversation except for the fact that your readers can not ask you a question if they don’t understand something you just said. With that being said, having transitional phrases and sentences in between your ideas would greatly help your ide as flow. Transitions are also a great way to show similar or opposite ideas in your writing. For instance, phrases or words such as: in addition, furthermore, also, and additionally tell your reader that you are adding related ideas to your previous sentence. On the other hand, words phrases like: conversely, alternatively, then again, on the other hand, and in contrast tell your reader that you are discussing an idea that opposes your previous sentence’s idea. While finding transition words between sentences can be accessed by the use of your thesaurus, transitioning between paragraphs gets a little tougher.

With paragraphs, you would need to have your previous paragraph flow into the next one by introducing the next paragraph’s idea in the last sentence of your previous paragraph. After you have done that, the first sentence of your next paragraph will now talk about the new idea in it. Are you getting confused? Here is an example, if you look at the last sentence of the previous paragraph, you would see that I gave the reader a hint about transitioning between paragraphs. Then, on the first sentence of this paragraph, I talked about the topic sentence. Adapting this type of strategy in your own writing will give you the tool to guide your reader from one idea to the next which makes your essay more coherent.

Sentence Variety

Sentence variety refers to the length of your sentences. If you write short sentences one after another, your writing will seem choppy. On the other hand, if you write long sentences one after another, your reader might get lost in your ideas. In both instances, your readers will lose interest in whatever you’re discussing because they can not follow your train of thought.

Sentence variety is one of the easiest essay writing tips to adapt because it allows you to make your essay exciting by merely varying the length of your sentences. Let’s take the first paragraph of this section (sentence variety) as an example. You will notice that the first two sentences are short and direct while the last two sentences are longer and more elaborate. This strategy becomes easier to incorporate into your writing skills because even though you may not have sentence variety in your first draft, you can go back and make the necessary changes.

Passive vs. Active Voice

I’ve always had a difficult time getting this writing strategy right because I learned it towards the end of my college days. After years of being "wordy," (partly because I couldn’t get enough ideas to make up 1200 words) I had to unlearn my bad habits and start writing in the active voice. According to my professor, who taught me this strategy, passive voice is THE sign of wordiness. So, she taught us how to recognize the passive voice in our sentences then turn it into active voice. From what I remember, the passive voice is usually in the form of "to be" (is, are, was, were, be, been) followed by the past participle (hint: looks like a past tense verb).

For example:

Passive voice: The neighborhood fire was started by a lightning strike.
Active voice: The lightning strike started the neigborhood fire.

Do you see the difference? The sentence in the active voice is much more direct and clear.

Stick to Your Thesis

This is one of the essay writing tips that should be obvious enough and yet many students still have a difficult time following. A thesis is created for a reason and that is to argue your point of view regarding a particular topic. Your whole essay should support your argument with many little arguments and evidences.

One of my very first teachers taught me this neat little trick to check if my whole essay is still talking about my thesis. She says that I should write my thesis in a small piece of paper. Then, I should place this piece of paper right next to each of my paragraphs. After that, she told me to read each paragraph and compare it to my thesis. This process allowed me to catch any paragraphs in my essay that are ‘off topic’ and I revised them accordingly.

Reliable References and Citations

This is probably one of the most common essay writing tips that you have heard of ever since you started writing in school. This writing strategy is important because your credibility is at stake if you fail to use reliable resources and cite those resources. In this day and age wherein everyone has access to the internet, many students are tempted to believe the things that they read on the World Wide Web. Even credible resources such as Wikipedia still get some writers or contributors that do not use good references.

To avoid using untrustworthy resources, students should always look into peer reviewed articles in research papers or articles that are published in a well-known newspaper. These publications make an extra effort to providing good, reliable information because they have a name to preserve. One caveat when using other people’s ideas is to properly cite or credit other people’s work to avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism is a big, punishable offense and you should avoid it at all costs. Citing references, either in text or at the end of your essay or both, becomes easy once you habitually use it in your writing. Most search engines in your school library are even equipped with a citation maker which creates the citation for you in the style you choose (e.g. APA vs. MLA). For more information on the different citation styles, please visit these web sites:
http://apastyle.apa.org/ and http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/

Writer’s Block

Ugh…I hate writer’s block. Fortunately, one of my teachers have given me the power to get rid of it by giving me one of her essay writing tips — power writing (or something to that effect). Power writing is a process wherein you write about your topic non-stop for about 5 minutes. For example, if I was asked to write about organic farming, I would write about everything I know and do not know about it, what my ideas are so far, and everything under the sun that might help me argue my thesis. However, there will be times during power writing when your head would be empty. In this case, you can write, "my head is empty." In other words, your writing does not need to be coherent. Use this tool to keep your ideas flowing and build your confidence regarding your topic to completely eliminate writer’s block.

To take this writing strategy further, I enhanced it by reading the material that I have found during my research before I do my power writing. By doing this, I am filling my head with other people’s ideas that hopefully will support my argument. In addition, this strategy also helps me generate my own ideas since my brain has already started the thinking process.

Time

If there was one thing that students can do to improve their writing, it would be to give themselves enough time to write the paper. Many students tend to procrastinate about their writing assignments that they do not have time to edit or review their work before they turn it in. Besides having the chance to review and edit your essay, you can get the chance to take a break from it for a day or two so that you can look at it in a whole new light when you read it again. For instance, if you finished your essay on Sunday and it’s not due until Wednesday, you can read it again on Tuesday and still find better arguments or improve your grammar.

Peer-review

Even professional writers have editors and this is why this is one of the best essay writing tips. Many teachers even require their students to write a draft of their paper even though the deadline is a few weeks away. This way of thinking occurs because many writers tend to be biased at their own work. For instance, if you wrote a 5-page essay and felt that you really did a good job, you probably would not edit it further. On the other hand, if your classmates or friends read it, they may be able to find spelling mistakes, grammatical errors or arguments that can be better supported. Thus, having your paper reviewed by somebody else gives you that one extra chance to get their opinion before your teacher gives you the final grade.

The Word ‘it’

It is not good to use it at the beginning of any sentence.

Read that first sentence and see me if it makes sense to you. Does it? You may think that you know what I mean but you really don’t know what I’m referring to unless I tell you what it is. Having said that, follow my advice on that first sentence. Instead of writing ‘it,’ write out the thing you are referring to. For example, in the son entitled, "It Must Have Been Love," write this instead: "Our Relationship Must Have Been Love" (or something to that effect). Just replacing the word it with the actual word, makes your writing much more clear to your reader and this avoids confusion.

All the advice I have given here so far is a result of years and years of advice from fellow students and teachers. However, all the essay writing tips in the world could not help you be a better writer unless you practice them regularly. I remember developing better and better writing skills as I progressed through my academic life because I listened to my teacher’s and other people’s critics and advice. I hope that the situation will be the same for you as you follow some of the simple advice here in this section.

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How To Improve Your Lousy Writing Skills In The Workplace

Althought you can use a grammar checker software to correct all mistakes in your writing right away, but you choose read this post that will guide you to improve your writing skill easily in your workplace.

If there’s one important reason why you need to write effectively in the workplace, it is this: the quality of your writing imprints a lasting impression on the reader. This reader may be your boss, a client, or a person who is ready to make a billion dollar business deal with you.

Have you ever read a poorly-written document that made you lose interest right away? It was so poorly-written that you lost trust in the author and asked yourself why the author was wasting your time? How about those junk e-mails that sneak into your junk box like annoying cockroaches? You know the ones I’m referring to: the ones pitching vitamins, software, and sex aids. These e-mails are the biggest showcase of writing blunders, stricken to death with grammar mistakes, misspellings, and sloppy sentences. I doubt these e-mails pull a sale because their poor writing style immediately alienates the reader.

What impression does your writing leave on your boss, clients, or co-workers? Does your writing alienate readers, cause you to lose sales or clients, or cost you job promotions? Or does your writing build streams of loyal readers, increase sales for the company, and help you earn six figures a year at your job?

Whatever type of writing you do in the workplace, always know this reality: readers believe the quality of your writing reflects your skills, work ethics, and integrity as a person. If you write eloquently, clearly, and lively, the reader trusts you and you are able to build rapport quickly. If your writing is sloppy, disorganized, and riddled with errors, the reader assumes the rest of your work is flawed, your work ethics are flawed, and perhaps as a person you are flawed. Why should this reader waste his time reading the rest of your junk or even do business with you?

This article provides fail-safe strategies to help refine your writing and help you to communicate with clarity, simplicity, and impact so you will never write junk again. You will learn five masterful steps to guide you in planning, writing, and refining an article; and you will learn how to avoid common writing mistakes.

AIM! FIRE! FIRE!

To become a superb writer, your first task is to establish your aim.

Yiddish novelist, dramatist and essayist, Sholem Asch, once said, ‘Writing comes more easily if you have something to say.’

What message do you want to convey with your writing?

To establish your aim, ask yourself:

1) ‘Why am I writing this document?’
2) ‘What do I want to communicate?’
3) ‘Do I want to inform, educate, report, persuade, challenge, or entertain?’

Developing your aim will help you to adopt the best writing style for your reader. For example, an educational document will likely be more formal than one written for entertaining.

CONNECT WITH YOUR READERS

To write effectively, you need to connect strongly with your readers. Ask yourself:

1) ‘For whom am I writing this? Will I be writing for colleagues, my supervisor, my team of employees, or our clients?’

2) ‘How much information do my readers need?’

3) ‘How familiar are my readers with the topic?’

4) ‘How much time do my readers have? Would my readers prefer a short, succinct presentation of facts and statistics, or more narration and exposition?’

Knowing your audience will allow you to write content in a way that appeals to your readers.

SHAPE YOUR DOCUMENT

You know your aim. You know the people who will likely read your document. Now plan your document. What information will it contain? What information will most likely grab the reader and hold their interests? What points do you need to get across? Start with a rough outline of ideas. Then go through the outline and add more information and more detail. An outline will create the structure for your document. Soon enough your writing will come more easily, quickly, and with greater clarity.

WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW BEST

At this stage, read over your outline and write the first draft. Establish the main idea of the document and support your argument throughout. If a blank white page glares back at you like headlights, just start writing on whatever topic you know best. According to American novelist Jack London, ‘You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.’ Don’t worry about the sequence if the ideas come to you out of order. You can cut and paste later.

WORDY WEIGHT LOSS

If you have time, step away from the document. Come back to it later with a fresh mind. Now add material where needed. Trim away unnecessary sections. Refine the text to communicate what you want to say. Remember: less is more. Try not to repeat ideas. Repetition, unless necessary, is tiresome for the reader. Keep the piece moving along. Use a lively pace. Progress through your points efficiently.

The following sections address some of the most common writing problems. Use these tips to write more clearly, effectively, and lively.

I.) PUNCTUATION

a) Apostrophes

Do not use an apostrophe in the possessive form of ‘it.’

Incorrect: Our department submitted it’s reports for 2005 last week.
Correct: Our department submitted its reports for 2005 last week.

Do not use apostrophes in the possessive forms ‘his,’ ‘hers,’ and ‘ours.’

Incorrect: The window office is her’s.
Correct: The window office is hers.

Do not use apostrophes in plural nouns.

Incorrect: How many new computer’s are we getting?
Correct: How many new computers are we getting?

b) Commas

Do not connect two complete sentences with a comma.

Incorrect: The meeting was cancelled, I finished my work early.
Correct: The meeting was cancelled, so I finished my work early.
Correct: Since the meeting was cancelled, I finished my work early.

II.) MECHANICS

a) Split Infinitives

Do not insert words between ‘to’ and the infinitive form of a verb.

Incorrect:I was told we needed to slightly tighten the deadline.

Correct:I was told we needed to tighten the deadline slightly.

III.) SPELLING

a) ‘A lot’ is always two words.

Incorrect: I have alot of work to do.
Correct: I have a lot of work to do.

b) ‘To’ is a function word often used before the infinitive form of a verb (to go).

c) ‘Too’ is an adverb that means ‘excessively’ (too difficult).

d) ‘Two’ denotes the number 2.

Incorrect: This file cabinet is to heavy for me to move.
Correct: This file cabinet is too heavy for me to move.

e) ‘There’ is an adverb indicating a place (over there).

f) ‘Their’ is a possessive word that shows ownership (their computers).

g) ‘They’re’ is the contraction form of ‘they are.’

Incorrect: There results for this quarter were excellent.
Correct: Their results for this quarter were excellent.

Incorrect: Their working very hard today.
Correct: They’re working very hard today.

IV.) STYLE

a) Sentence Variety

To write more lively, vary sentence structure. Use alternate ways of beginning, and combine short sentences to create different sentence lengths.

Before:

I organized the files for all the new accounts this week. Then I created a more efficient labeling system. I color-coded everything. I made sure all paper files had been documented electronically. I put these files in the empty file cabinet.

After:

This week I organized the files for the new accounts and created a more efficient color-coded labeling system. After I documented all paper files electronically, I put these files in the empty file cabinet.

V.) ACTIVE VOICE vs. PASSIVE VOICE

The English language has two "voices": active voice (the subject performs an action); and passive voice (the subject is acted upon). In business communication, all good writers write in active voice. Lazy writers write in passive voice. Writing in active voice shortens your sentences and makes your writing sound more direct and formal.

Examples:

PASSIVE: The recipe book is read by her.
ACTIVE: She reads the recipe book.

PASSIVE: The radio announcement should be listened to by everyone.
ACTIVE: Everyone should listen to the radio announcement.

PASSIVE: The photo is being taken by the photographer.
ACTIVE: The photographer is taking the photo.

HELPFUL RESOURCES

To learn more about fixing common writing mistakes, check out The Electronic Writing Course ( http://www.ElectronicWritingCourse.com ). It’s a program that teaches the basics of good writing and editing. If you want to check your document against 36,000 style and usage mistakes, check out StyleWriter ( http://www.StyleWriter-USA.com ). It’s a style and usage Plain English checker. If you want to write more lively and creatively, check out WhiteSmoke Software ( http://www.WhiteSmokeSoftware.com ). It’s a program that fixes and enriches your text.

If you follow these guidelines, you’ll stop yourself from writing lousy in the workplace. Your writing will be lively, clear, and concise, and you will build rapport with readers. Perhaps it’s now time to e-mail your boss a perfectly-written e-mail requesting a salary raise?

By: BSKCOM

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Brian Konradt has been a professional freelance writer for over ten years. He is founder of FreelanceWriting.com ( www.FreelanceWriting.com ) and LiteracyNews.com ( www.LiteracyNews.com ).

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Some Sticky Grammar Situations or How to Avoid Some Ugly Mistakes!
 by: Jan Kovari

With the advent of electronic word-processing and spellchecker programs, many people just presume that simply by running spellchecker all of their grammar errors will be caught and corrected. This is simply not so. Spellchecker programs often include some grammar checking, but no man-made program can catch all the innuendoes of the English language.

This article can not possibly address all the common grammar mistakes. What it can do, however, is to highlight just a few common mistakes and give you some hints on how to avoid them or at least recognize them.

That vs. Which

Here’s a problem that is very common: when to use ‘that’ and when to use ‘which,’ since in today’s colloquial language we often substitute one for the other. There is one easily applied rule that should help you recognize when to use that or which:

Use ‘that’ when the phrase following ‘that’ is essential. For example:

Buy the dress that is red and blue.

As you can see, ‘red and blue’ is essential to the instruction to ‘buy the dress’ and therefore is prefaced by ‘that.’ Without ‘red and blue,’ you might buy the wrong dress.

Use ‘which’ when the phrase is merely an add-on thought or not essential.

She bought a lovely dress, which was red and blue.

Here the sentence says that ‘she bought a lovely dress,’ but ‘red and blue’ is just an add-on thought. If you eliminated ‘red and blue’ the basic intent of the sentence remains unchanged: she bought a lovely dress.

Now personally, red and blue isn’t the most attractive color combination for a dress, but the point is clear. In the first sentence ‘red and blue’ is necessary to the intent of the statement, and in the second sentence ‘red and blue’ is merely additional information.

This is a simplified explanation of the difference between ‘that’ and ‘which’ and should not be taken as the sole criteria for proper grammatical use of these words. The easy-to-understand example, however, should point you in the right direction of how each word should be used most correctly in a sentence.

Affect vs. Effect

As a copyeditor/proofreader, I wish I had a nickel for every time I either corrected this mistake and/or re-read a sentence to verify that the right word had been used.

This explanation could takes pages and pages to clarify, but let’s just give you a simple rule to use:

If you can substitute the word ‘influence’ in the sentence and get the same basic meaning, then use ‘affect.’

The threat of rain affected our plans for the day.

Now, substitute ‘influence’:

The threat of rain influenced our plans for the day.

The basic intent is the same; therefore ‘affect’ is the right word.

If you can substitute words like ‘reaction’ or consequence’ in the sentence and get the same basic meaning, then use ‘effect.’

The effect of the rain was that we moved our backyard picnic into the kitchen.

Now, substitute ‘consequence’:

The consequence of the rain was that we moved our backyard picnic into the kitchen.

Well, OK, it isn’t something you would likely say, but the meaning of the sentence remained basically the same, so ‘effect’ is the right word.

Once again, this is a very simplified rule, but you should get the general point. If you can make the substitutions I’ve given you without changing the basic meaning of the sentence, then you will know which word is the right word.

It’s vs. Its

This one is so easy, and yet it is often missed.

Oh, let me re-write that:

This one is so easy, and yet it’s often missed.

There’s your first clue: ‘it’s’ is the contraction of ‘it is.’ It’s NOT the singular possessive form of ‘it.’ You know that if you want to indicate that the ball belongs to Bob, you write ‘Bob’s ball.’ However, if ‘it’ has a bad smell, then you write ‘its smell was awful.’

If you can substitute ‘it is’ in the sentence, and the meaning remains unchanged, then use ‘it’s.’

However, the use of contractions in formal writing is not generally approved. You should not use any contractions in business communications, texts, or any writing that is formal.

There, They’re, or Their

Once again, this is easy and yet so many people miss it.

‘There’ indicates a place or a situation.

‘They’re’ is the contraction of ‘they are.’ If you can substitute ‘they are’ in the sentence, then use ‘they’re.’

‘Their’ is a plural possessive, that is something belongs to more than one person. If you can substitute more than one name (or thing) and not change the meaning of the sentence, then use ‘their.’

There are many other common grammar mistakes, but these few are certainly among the most common. If you are planning to write something, and you are unsure about some of the more basic grammar rules, I suggest you buy an easy-to-read-and-understand grammar book. Any bookstore has them, and you can buy great self-help books for under $20. I have three and I use them constantly!

Of course, your best course of action is that for anything you write for publication or business purposes, you should engage the services of a proofreader. And don’t wait until you think you are ‘all done’ with the project! Get the proofreader involved as soon as you have a working draft. Proofreaders are often great sources to help you unravel difficult-to-understand text and can help you achieve the best possible manuscript.

For a list of reference books related to proofreading, copyediting, and the publishing industry, please see my recommended book list at http://janktheproofer.com/RecommendedBookList.htm

About The Author

Jan K., The Proofer is a full-time freelance proofreader and copyeditor. In business since 1996, she has enjoyed working for a diverse world-wide clientele, covering subject matter including academic research, medical law, consumer surveys, and self-help materials. Please visit http://www.janktheproofer.com for more information.

© Copyright 2001 All rights reserved.

jkproof@bellsouth.net

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Enhance your English writing & written communication with software

Previous post, You will know more about proofreading and editing training course. For this post, we will talk about software that will help you to better your English writing skill. 

English is an international language used widely for writing & interpersonal communications the world over. English writing softwares can help you to enhance your English writing & grammar. These softwares can checks & corrects English grammar, spellings, enrich text with adjectives & adverbs, suggest context related synonym for repeated words

English Writing:

English is an international language used widely for writing & interpersonal communications the world over. Most of the business correspondences are done in English and majority of the national & international seminars & conferences are also conducted in English. Resumes for job applications, articles for internet or journals, essays, thesis, business plans and sales letters, are often written in English.

Your writing should be clear & concise, because you will not be there to clarify to your readers what you were trying to say. In conversation, even with incorrect grammar & words, listener can make out what speaker is trying to say. But in writing, your text is a reflection of your thinking. World of written English is different from the of spoken English.

While writing any article or any communication, you will have to pay attention to certain details like grammar, spellings, use of synonyms for repeated words, use of adjectives & adverbs for text enrichment & proper use of punctuation.

Importance of written communication in an organization:
Even in an organization, writing skill is required for effective communication. Communication is one of the basic functions of management in any organization and its importance can hardly be overemphasized. It is a process of transmitting information, ideas, thoughts, opinions & plans between various parts of an organization. Your plans or ideas will fail, if not communicated properly.

Written communication is generally in the form of articles, reports, policies, instructions, procedures, memos, orders or rules & regulations. It is through communication that subordinates or employees submit their work reports, comments, grievances & suggestions and come to know of the relevant instructions and guidelines of the seniors & management. Effective and correct communication is required to avoid misunderstandings, confusion & distortions of facts and to establish harmony among all the concerned people & departments. So, written message should be clear, purposeful & concise with correct grammar & words, to avoid any misinterpretation of your message.

Communication is a basic tool for motivation & can improve morale of the employees of an organization. It is not possible to have human relations without communication. With effective communication, you can maintain a good human relation in the organization & by encouraging ideas or suggestions & implementing them whenever possible, you can also increase production at low cost.

Merits of written communications in an organization are:
– Provides permanent record for future use
– Can be duplicated & distributed to all individuals.
– Retention rate from reading is always high
– Serves as a evidence of what has occurred
– If written properly, it reduces the chances of misinterpretation, misrepresentation, and distortion of information.
– It gives an opportunity to employees or subordinates to put up their comments or suggestions in writing.

Effective communication of ideas, information & decision is an essential component for manager & subordinates or management & employee relations. It may strengthen the relations or disrupt it

So, effective communication is very important for successful working of an organization.

Enhance your English writing with software:
There are several countries where English is a second language. While writing in English, people first think in their mother tongue or native language & then translate the matter into English. This may result in errors in their written communications. Incorrect grammar in writing will distract reader and it will create negative impression of the writer.

Writing skill is a complex art & it requires lot of practice to improve it. Even, educated & highly successful people can have weak writing skills. There are software programs available which can help you to enhance your English writing & grammar. These software programs can checks & corrects English grammar, spellings, enrich text with adjectives & adverbs, suggest context related synonym for repeated words.

Some of the English writing softwares use online natural language processing technology or artificial intelligence database, which is updated on a daily basis. So, when you have to edit your text, you will have to connect to internet. The benefit of this online feature is that your text will be edited with updated database. Text enrichment feature of these software programs enrich your text without changing the meaning of the sentence & enhance the simple sentence into more professional & sophisticated one.

For information on English writing software & business writing software, please visit: http://www.truevalue4money.com

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Writing Impressive Essays That Your Peers With Envy

First of all, If you want to get a perfect essay, you can get rid of all grammatical errors with grammar corrector software that are available in market now. We highly recommend you to use it.

previous post, you learned how to proofread your essay effectively, for this post you will know the way to write a impressive essay.

When you are studying at college and university as a student you want to be the leader in your class and gain a great mark at the end of your course. One way you are allowed to do this is by writing and submitting essays to your lecturers. You will also need to (depending on your course) complete exams, but, if you are like me then chances are an exam isn’t the best use of your talent.

I can always write an impressive and substantiated argument for an essay, but it seems that when I can’t just ‘nip off for a brew’ or go to the gym half way through my exam I become frustrated and bored. Hence I worked my hardest through writing impressive essays so that these could bolter my final grade, no matter what the topic area was on my course.

Below I have provided you with 5 easy steps that will help you write more impressive essays that you can submit with pride and know that they are going to be scored well.

Step 1 – Research, research, research

If you don’t know what your subject is about, the paradigm that has been discussed in class, or what changes have evolved in a culture setting over the past few years, then you will be on the road to failure fast, when writing an essay. Essays and papers in academia are more focussed on what research you have dine and with good reason. Reading a couple of sources and then going about trying to argue a case for digital LCD’s in todays market place would be pretty poor if you’d only research two sources that were written a few years ago and done no analysis of the current markets needs. Research needs to be uptodate.

Step 2 – Analyze the arguments put forward

Sometimes, people tend to quickly read a section or chapter of an author’s work and quickly spring into a thought process and start writing hundreds of words on an argument that they didn’t fully read or understand and have thus wasted some pain staking time on writing for their essay. Look for arguments, strengths and weakness in a topic. It could be that previous research has been undertaken that was very weak and the outcomes were flawed. If another author has picked up on this, then you should centre around its emphasis.

Step 3 – Brainstorm

In order to write effectively you will need to have the ideas of where you want to go and what different parts are associated with what areas. Making a mind map and brainstorming ideas will allow you to concentrate of a few different things in one area and not just write a little bit about everything. Doing this will enable you to work towards a set goal and establish a cohesive argument for the reader.

Step 4 – Write, write, write

Now it’s time to start writing your essay and actually get something down on paper. You will be clear in your mind from the previous steps about what venue or angle you will be going down. When you are writing, the body of the text that you are putting down on paper should be a series of paragraphs that focus on one certain area or key point and link from one to the next. Different sections of your essay or report should also link to one another, and it should flow logically, extending your argument to whichever avenue you have chosen to go down. Your conclusion should rap up all the information the reader has seen and should evaluate where they could go to from here, a question, or a twist in logic thinking surmised by the paper.

Step 5 – Proofing and Style correction

All essays are to be written and cited following a set structure, which will be established by your college or university. There are a few different styles that are used in academia: APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard. They all have different elements that need to be taken into account when checking over your paper and ensuring the correct style is used. Many times papers have been known to be rejected or failed because they have not referenced and styled their paper to submission guidelines – this can be really frustrating to you given that you have put so much effort into the perfect essay.

You should make sure that your spelling and grammar is correct too, and be positive that it follows from start to finish. You could also have a professional ensure that you have written the perfect piece and an impressive essay by having them proofread your paper.

By: Nick Sanders

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Nick Sanders is the owner and founder of Supaproofread.com, an online proofreading and editing services company, specialising in student proofreading and editing. You should visit them if you are looking for essay proofreading.

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How To Proofread Your University Essay

Previous post that lead you to enhance your thesis writing. For this post you will learn the best way to proofread your university essay. You can improve your english writing skill by practice over and over and over again.

One of the most common mistakes made by students is the lack of knowledge on how to proofread their essay, after they have finished. This often leads to essays being submitted with grammatical and spelling errors, or serious faults in their argument. A lot of marks can be lost on errors that could easily be spotted and changed before handing in, and that can mean the difference between a pass and a fail. Below, I have identified the best ways to proofread your essay, so you can be sure that you’ll achieve the marks you deserve.

1.Take a break between writing the article and proofreading it. Making sure you’ve got a clear head, and having as much time as you need to edit your article will mean you can do a more thorough job, and make the end result much more worthwhile. Choose a time of day that you can concentrate well at, and make sure distractions are kept to a minimum. The more effort you put into it, the better your essay will be.

2.Proofread your article backwards, sentence by sentence. This will make you pay attention to spelling and grammar, rather than just the meaning of your paper. Some people find it helps to put a ruler under each line as you read it, so that you focus just on the line in front of you. Make sure each line makes sense, has good sentence structure, all the punctuation it needs, and every word is spelt correctly.

3.Use your own spell checker. While most computer programmes now have inbuilt spell checkers, they often make errors. They may suggest a word that you don’t mean at all, or make simple errors such as not knowing the difference between through and thorough, for example. It’s worth making sure you’ve spelt important or specialist words right, or double check any words that you usually spell wrong or are unsure about.

4.Ask others for help. If you’re not sure where to put the apostrophe, what’s wrong with a sentence, or how to reference correctly, do your research. Ask friends, or search the internet. Simple mistakes like this only take a few minutes to correct but can be quite costly if you get them wrong.

5.Look back through work you’ve already completed, and spot your common errors. Asking your tutor may also help. Make a list of the errors you make repeatedly, and read through your essay backwards again for each one, correcting them as you go.

6.Read the paper once aloud. This will make sure the sentences sound correct and are . It will also show you the difference between what you meant to write, and what you did. Check that your essay flows freely.

7.Give your essay to a flatmate or parent to read. Ask them if it makes sense, and to point out any confusing sentences or mistakes that they spot. Other people can usually spot mistakes a lot easier than we can ourselves, and can be more critical of the essay itself.

8.Read through your paper again. After you have done all of the above, read through the paper again, once for spelling, once for punctuation, and once to check each paragraph makes sense, and links to the one before and after.

Once you have made all of these checks and proofread your essay, then it should be perfectly written and ready to hand in. The whole process shouldn’t have taken more than two hours, and will ensure that you won’t be losing out on marks due to silly mistakes. When you become used to making these checks, you will become faster at doing them, and your writing grades will improve rapidly because of the higher quality of written material you will be submitting.

By: Nick Sanders

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Nick Sanders is the owner and founder of Supaproofread, an online proofreading and editing services company, specialising in essay proofreading and editing services. You should visit them if you are looking for a essay proofreader.

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The Importance Of Proofreading

You can get proofreading software that help you correct and improve your english grammar writing easily.

In a world of text messaging and e-mails, the use of proper English has been widely abandoned by many people. Writing is now done as quickly as possible, with as few characters as necessary. For example, it’s easier to type "BTW" rather than "by the way." However, in this rush to save time by abbreviating, the art of proofreading has been lost, and there is a distinct lack of quality in traditional letters, essays, articles, and other forms of written communication.

When someone reads a document that you have written, they will likely judge your intelligence and work ethic based on the level of writing. So if you’re writing a cover letter for a job or an essay for your professor, if its riddled with grammatical errors and punctuation mistakes, the reader will see you as not only less intelligent, but also careless.

Common Big Mistakes

It’s the blatant mistakes, not in-depth rules of English that only English majors understand, which are going to get you in trouble. For example, these are common mistakes that will always have negative effects:

If you misspell someone’s name, the reader is automatically put off. Can you imagine misspelling your employer’s name when looking for a job?

If your document is littered with misspelled words, all of your hard work and research will be overlooked.

If you use abbreviations common in texting, the reader may see you as immature.

If you use a lot of slang, then the reader may see you as lazy.

If you send someone a Word document and it’s full of red-underlined words, they are going to definitely see you as careless.

Common Small Mistakes

There are a few common mistakes that may be overlooked by a reader because they happen so often. But, it’s a good idea to catch these mistakes regardless, to prove that you care about your essay as well as the experience of the reader:

Their, There, and They’re: This mistake is done often when people are writing in a hurry.

Their refers to possession: "Their home is very beautiful."

There refers to location: "There is a beautiful home."

They’re is a contraction of they are: "They’re living in a beautiful home."

Its and It’s: This one can be confusing, because an apostrophe usually indicates possession. However, the rule doesn’t apply here. This apostrophe is used when indicating a conjunction.

It’s: "With so many clouds in the sky, it’s (it is) going to be a dreary day."

Its: "Buy me a new computer and please don’t forget its directions."

Then and Than: One letter can make all the difference in this common mistake.

Wrong: "That canyon had more then 500 rocks."

Right: "That canyon had more than 500 rocks."

Wrong: "I have more toys then you do."

Right: "I have more toys than you do."

Wrong: "I’m going to the store, than I’m going home."

Right: "I’m going to the store, and then I’m going home."

Proofreading

Proofreading is easy and important to properly convey your message. Take these steps to have stellar documents each and every time:

Do a manual spell-check. Don’t just rely on the automatic
spell-check in your software. Actually run the spell-check itself.

Use a dictionary. If a word isn’t recognized by your software, look it up the old-fashioned way, either in print or online.

Use a grammar check. Again, don’t rely on the automatic grammar-check. Run it from your Tools menu to be sure each and every mistake is caught.

Proofread it yourself. Let your essay sit for a day. Then look at it with a fresh set of eyes tomorrow. You’ll likely see mistakes you didn’t see the day before.

Find a friend: A friend may see mistakes that your tired eyes missed.

Remember, writing is a reflection of your work ethic and intelligence. So don’t take it lightly. Proofread, write well, and you’ll be rewarded many times over in the future.

By: EssayEdge

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Editing and Proofreading Essays
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Checking for Mismatched Quotation Marks

 by: Jan Kovarik

Quotation marks is one of the popular problems in English writing. If you want to improve your writing, you can find english grammar checking software to help you.

How To Make Sure that Every Opening Quotation Mark Has an Ending Quotation Mark

When writing a term paper, research paper, or post-graduate thesis, one of the most common errors is "mismatched" quotation marks. That is, an opening (beginning) quotation mark will not have a closing (ending) quotation mark, or vice versa. It is a hard error to spot while proofreading, and your computer’s spellchecker will not find this type of error.

There is a very simple way to verify that a document has ‘matching’ quotation marks.

After you have completed your document, position the cursor at the very beginning of the text (that is, move the cursor in front of the first word on the first page and click to ‘position’ it).

Open Find/Replace (or Search/Replace, whatever is applicable to your Word software).

In the ‘Find’ field, key in a double quote mark (shift key and the "/’ key).

In the ‘Replace’ field, key in the same thing (so that both fields show ").

Hit ‘Replace All’ (or whatever selection you have for making a global correction to a document). You should then see the number of replacements that were made.

If an odd number shows up after all the replacements are made, then somewhere in the transcript there is an ‘unmatched’ quotation mark.

If you do get an odd number of replacements, then switch to ‘Find’ only, and begin to hit ‘Find Next’ repeatedly so that the computer stops on each opening or closing quote mark. As the computer highlights each quotation mark, verify that it is matched, i.e., that every opening quotation mark has a corresponding closing quotation mark (and vice versa).

You need to pay close attention to this process, otherwise, you are likely to ‘Find Next’ before you realize that the computer found a closing quote mark before it found an opening quote mark.

Eventually, as you review the document, you will either come across an opening quote mark for which there is no closing quote mark (that is, the computer will find an opening quote mark, and then the very next one that it finds will also be an opening quote mark), or vice versa.

Once you have inserted the missing quote mark, you should do the ‘Find/Replace’ steps again, to verify that the computer now shows an even number of replacements.

Please note that this is not a fail-safe procedure because it is possible that you have two unmatched pairs of quote marks, but it is a tool that you can use to help prevent an easy mistake.

About The Author

Jan K., The Proofer is freelance proofreader and copyeditor. Visit http://www.janktheproofer.com/ for more information about Jan’s services; http://work-at-home.janktheproofer.com/ for work at home articles and free printables; and for work at home moms, visit Jan’s sister site http://work-at-home.momsbreak.com/ for articles, free printables, and work at home T-shirts and other fun products.

© Copyright 2005 All rights reserved.

jkproof@bellsouth.net

Business Letter Writing: What’s Involved?

If you want to write effective business letter, don’t miss to read this article.

The internet and the age of text messaging, instant messaging and voicemail has caused some to stray away from the formality that is necessary for making the best impression in business. However, computer technology and the internet can also help in learning how to write business letters correctly. A simple internet search can provide you with a wide assortment of resources and tools to help you better understand the principles of business letter writing.

A business letter differs greatly from a personal letter. Business letter writing requires the use of formal language and the adherence to strict structural rules. Personal letter writing permits the use of informal language, permits the infusion of emotions that are best avoided in business letters, and the structure of a personal letter is not quite so strict. I hope that the following tips for business letter writing will help you in writing polished, straightforward, professional business letters with more ease.

Respect the valuable time of others by keeping your business letters short and direct. Readers should immediately understand the purpose for the business letter you have written to them. Leave the sharing of jokes and gossip with business associates for occasions that are more informal.

Relevancy is crucial. Make sure that every word you write in your business letter is relevant and necessary for furthering the comprehension of the topic addressed in your letter for the reader. Take as much care to ensure that you write your business letters to the appropriate people who should receive them. You would not want to write a business complaint letter and then send it to someone in the product development department whose role in the company does not include the handling of complaints for example. In doing so you have wasted yours and their time as well as delaying a resolution that may have arrived sooner had you sent that letter to the right person.

It is also important to note that formality from start to finish in writing your business letters is necessary. If you are aware of the name and title of the person, to whom you are sending a business letter to-use it. Use Dear Sir/Madam when you do not know the name and title of the person who will be receiving your business letter. Also, remember to use the department title that is most appropriate for your business letter, if you do not know to whom to direct it to. Do not use slang or inappropriate language when writing your business letters.

Use personal pronouns when writing your business letters. Use "I" for yourself and "You" for the recipient of your business letter. You need to be cautious about using "we" in business letters with your company letterhead on them. These can be easily misinterpreted as a representative of the company as a whole when you in fact intend them to be attributed to you alone. Use"We" only when your business letter is indeed a representation of the company as a whole.

Clarity of each point presented in your business letter is important not only for avoiding misunderstandings, but also because it illustrates your knowledge about the subject that your business letters concern. Before even beginning to write your business letter, take a few minutes to clarify for yourself why you are writing it and the outcome you expect to gain from it. This will provide you with a clearer picture of the message you want your business letter to convey and a clear direction to begin writing your business letter. If it helps for you to have a list of main points you dont want to forget to refer to as your write your business letter, go ahead, and make yourself one before beginning to write the letter.

Proofing and editing your business letters in order to eliminate mistakes in spelling and grammar usage, as well as to spot and correct breaks in form structure, is very important. It is unwise to rely solely on computer spellcheckers to do this important task for you. These programs are not perfect and can easily "miss" a variation on the spelling of a word that can make a big difference in meaning when read in body of a business letter you have written. You need to read your business letter aloud all the way through from beginning to end at least 3 times, sentence by sentence. No quick scanning allowed. It is also helpful to have someone else in the office read aloud your business letters so that you can "hear" the mistakes your readers are certain to if you do not fix them before mailing them out.

The aforementioned letter writing tips can be accomplished by anyone. Focus and patience are great attributes which will help boost the quality of your business letters. These tips are important to remember because, in many cases, your business letters are the initial contact you may have with new business contacts and co-workers as well.

By: Shawn Thomas

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

About Author:
Shawn Thomas is a freelance writer who writes about writing rules and grammar, letter writing and etiquette, often focusing on specific products used in writing such as business stationery.

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How To Develop Good Writing Skills, Improve Writing English

Persons who have good writing skills revealed developing the skills in writing do not come overnight it needs hard work and constant training to achieve it.

In our world today, those who have writing skills have stronger chances of succeeding than those who do not have writing skills since communication had become a way of life for humans.

To those individuals who want to become good writers or good writers who wish to enhance further their skills here are some friendly advices that could help you achieve your purpose.

A. Practice makes perfect

A popular saying state "Practice Makes Perfect" this also hold true in writing. Those who wish to become good writers need to practice this skill in a regular basis.

Most professional writers makes it a point to write almost everyday not only because it is part of their work but because they want to get better in what they do and stay ahead of other writers.

If you look at the life of most successful people in the world, many of them honed their skills in a regular basis, which eventually lead to their present status as successful individuals.

Writing in a regular basis do not necessarily mean you need to write articles, news or stories but just simply doing some journal entry, an email or a letter.

When you practice writing, everyday there is a strong chance of becoming a good writer in the future.

B. Read regularly

Most successful writers are good readers, so anyone who wishes to become a good writer needs to make it a habit to regularly read any reading materials available.

Reading offers many benefits to persons who wish to become good writers in the future. Anyone who read a lot can hone his vocabulary skills, which are very vital for any good writer so that he or she could easily write the stories and use the right word for any idea that is being conveyed.

Aside from expanding your vocabulary, reading also allows you to observe and evaluate the works of other writers so that you can also become a good writer like these people.

Furthermore, reading also develops the attitude of hard work within you especially that this value is necessary for future writers for them to become successful in this highly competitive field.

C. Learn proper grammar

Anybody who wishes to become a good writer needs first to learn proper grammar so that writing will become easy in the future.

Allow yourself to learn the basics in grammar like proper punctuation marks, the subject verb agreement and the difference between jargon and real words so that your write-ups will be grammatically correct at all times.

Aside from the grammar subject in schools, you can also learn this by reading books pertaining to grammar and writing.

In the real world, most successful writers are those who have sufficient learning in grammar since it is easy to edit your work if you know what is needed to be corrected.

D. Enrol in a writing class

One of the best ways to develop your writing skills is to enrol in a writing class.

This activity might entail you to shell out some money but the benefit it offers to anyone who wish to become a good writer is countless.

If you are inside a writing class, a professional writer will point you in the right direction in terms of writing.

Getting ideas and comments from a person who has deep knowledge in writing is a valuable tool for any person seeking to become a good writer.

The writing class is also a good opportunity for you to interact with other would be writers so that you can share with each other ideas and tips on how to become a good writer.

With these four steps, anyone who dreams of becoming a good writer is a step away from fulfilling their dream.

By: Wade Knoxville

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Thesis writing blows
I’m chugging along on my thesis, now about half done, but this is a fraction that I have been at for about 3 weeks. Half. The first half few by as I was. 

How to Write a Thesis
It is rather a simple question but do you really know “how to write a thesis”? Well, the main purpose of this article is to let you know some details on how you can start writing.

Some Practical Suggestions for Thesis Writing
Technical writing does not come easily – as the contents of the university library testify. Here are some rules of thumb that you can follow. 

Rules of English Grammar

First of all, If you have some problems in english writing, you can use grammar checker software to help you correct your mistake right away. We provide many articles that will enhance your English writing. You can find these article in this blogs.

Here is an article which aims to guide you through the rules of English Grammar.

Grammar for any language is a set of rules that helps us to use the language better. The first step while learning a language is to learn the grammar of that language and master it, though there are always some parts of grammar, which cannot be explained logically, but they form only a minor portion of the language.

English is a language, which is spoken all across the world by numerous people. Thus being the most popular language there have been major discussions about the basic rules of English Grammar. The need to go into the details of English Grammar has increased because of Globalization, which makes it imperative for people to have a common language, which can be used as a means of communication. Moreover as a result of the fact that most of the European business is being outsourced to Asian countries the need for the knowledge of English has grown manifold. So let us sneak a quick look at the rules of English Grammar.

Basic Rules of English Grammar

Subject-Verb agreement

Before going into the details of Subject Verb agreement, we would discuss about "subject" and "verb". Subject is the thing or person that you are talking about and Verb as we all know is the doing word.

Example: John is kicking the ball.

In this particular sentence John is the subject and kicking is the verb. Let me tell you that "is" is also a verb. In grammar it is generally referred to as the modal verb which tells us if John is doing the action in Present, Past or Future. Now we will see where the Subject verb agreement comes into play. When we talk about John we are talking about a single person so the modal verb, which is being used, is for a singular noun and that is "is". Now of instead of John if we had two names or two subjects the verb would change to "are" which is the verb for Plural nouns. So this is the most common example of Subject Verb agreement. The most common mistake of Subject Verb agreement is the use of "has" and "have". "Has" is used in case of singular nouns, third person and "Have" is used in case of Plural Nouns.

Noun: Number

As we discussed Subject Verb Agreement two other concepts that came up were Number of Subjects and Tense of the action done. So let us first discuss Number here. There can be two conditions in case of numbers; either the number of subjects can be one or more than one. In case of one subject, the subject would be called Singular noun and in case of subject being more than one, it would be called Plural noun. As stated earlier with the number the verb would also alter so here is an example.

Singular: Boy
Sentence: The boy walks.
Plural: Boys
Sentence: The boys walk.

Now the obvious difference, apart from the number is the deletion of the "s" from the verb as the subject becomes plural, so that is the case: Whenever the subject is singular and third person the verb would have "s" added to it. In case of modal verbs, the verb would be "has".

This chart would surely help you to understand the number and the verb concept. Let us now come to the Tenses,

Tenses

Tense implies the time of the action, which can be past, present or future. If there is a timeline wherein 0 where you stand is present, anything that is to the left side of zero is past and anything that is on the right side of 0 on the time is future. If that was difficult, let me put it this way, whatever happens today or right at this moment is present, whatever has happened yesterday or day before is past and whatever will happen tomorrow or day after is future. Here are a few examples that would make things easier to understand.

Past: I kicked the ball
Present: I kick the ball.
Future: I will kick the ball.

Articles

Articles are pointers of nouns being definite or indefinite. "The" is a definite article which is always used when you are referring to a specific noun and most of the times that noun has been mentioned once before. So when it comes to indefinite articles that are "a or an" it refers to any noun in that category. "A" is used when the noun begins with a vowel and "an" is used when a noun begins with a vowel. The following examples would make it much more comprehensible.

John: I saw a monkey yesterday on the parapet.
Smith: Did you? Is it the same monkey, which was on windowsill the other day?
Paul: Ye! Ye! I bought an owl yesterday.

If you are a beginner these are the basic rules of English Grammar, which you have to assimilate before proceeding towards the more complex rules of the language. So all the best and happy learning!!

Sentence analysis- help with this sentence please.
Rules of English Grammar, Help and Games » ESL General English Grammar Questions » Sentence analysis- help with this sentence please.

How To Write Error Free Articles
With the help of English grammar software, you will never be submitting articles in blindly. Even if you went to school and learnt all about writing, you should still look into the English grammar.

Very curious-question on phrases.
In #1, you are right, in terms of grammar and formal writing. In informal writing, such a comma is not uncommon. In #2, you are only right in terms of the very relaxed grammar of information.