English Language Skills

Part 1 Sentences and paragraphs: the right length for a sentence; punctuating the beginnings and ends of a sentence; when to start a new paragraph; presentation skills; piece/peace; practice/practise; points to remember. Part 2 Full stops and commas: full stops, question marks and exclamation marks; the only definite rules about commas; you and I/you and me; accept/except; points to remember. Part 3 Complete sentences; writing a complete sentence; a subject; a verb; of/off; of/have; points to remember. Part 4 Three basic spelling rules: i before e; plurals of nouns ending in "y"; doubled consonants; two/to/too; affect/effect; points to remember. Part 5 Singulars and plurals: making the verb agree with the subject; the verb "to be"; collective nouns; personal/personnel; lend/borrow; points to remember. Part 6 Possessive apostrophes: which word takes the apostrophe?; where does the apostrophe go? singular nouns which end in "s"; seperate; where/were; points to remember. Part 7 Omission apostrophes: how and when to use the omission apostrophe; when to use omission apostrophes in business; when to use "more..." or "...er"; whether/weather; points to remember. Part 8 Its and their: Its and its; their, there and they're; apostrophes in plurals; did/done; points to remember. Part 9 Quotation marks: using double quotation marks; using single quotation marks; common phrases - seperate or together?; sight/site; points to remember. Part 10 Semi-colons and colons: when and how to use a semi-colon; when and how to use a colon; to lie and to lay; different from/to/than; points to remember. Part 11 Hyphens, dashes and brackets: when and how to use hyphens; when and how to use dashes; when and how to use brackets; brackets and full stops; none; stationary/stationery; points to remember. Part 12 Abbreviations: the common abbreviations; time, weight and measurement abbreviations; whose/who's/who/when; teach/learn; them/those; points to remember. Part 13 Writing for special occasions: letter of complaint; thank you letter; letter of condolence; poster or leaflet; newspaper article; radio script; points to remember. Appendices: commonly mis-spelled words, confusibles.