Improving your English writing can reduce your editing costs. To help you we have put together a list of the top three common mistakes. If you eliminate these mistakes from your writing you can reduce your editing costs considerably.
 

Often in English writing we need to use an apostrophe. We use the apostrophe in contracted forms or to
show possession.

  a) Contracted forms
 


Generally it is incorrect to use contractions in formal documents. However, sometimes in a formal document you are required to write a quotation. When writing exactly what somebody said it is
acceptable to use a contracted form.

Contractions are used to show an omission. Here are some examples:
 
I cannot write quickly I can' t write quickly
It is very hard It' s very hard

  Now see if you can convert the following sentences. To check your answers click the reveal button.
 
I do not like writing
It is very difficult
I cannot do it

 


  b) Possession
 


It is important to know that possessive pronouns such as its, his, hers, my/mine, your/yours, whose,
ours and theirs never use an apostrophe.

Possession is divided into two categories, singular and plural.

Compare the following:
 
Singular Plural
The boss¡¦s car The bosses¡¦ car
Meaning Meaning
One boss, one car (his car). More than one boss, one car (their car).

 

What should you write if you want to express more than one actress using one dressing room?

Click the reveal button to see if you are correct.
 

 
   

 
 


Mainly we use commas for the following:

a) Lists
b) To join two complete sentences with a conjunction
c) To indicate a parenthetical phrase
d) After an introductory phrase


a) Lists

We use a comma when ideas in the list are equally important or when the order of the ideas can
be altered interchangeably.

Customers say our company is professional, reliable, and efficient.

However be careful when using commas as they can change meaning very easily.
Read the examples in the table:
 
Sentence Meaning
The light, blue alarm clock went off The alarm clock is blue and not heavy.
The light blue alarm clock went off The alarm clock is light blue in colour.

  b) To join two complete sentences with a conjunction
 


We use a comma with a conjunction to join two complete sentences together.
This list of conjunctions below can be easily remembered as FANBOYS:

For
And
Nor
But
Or
Yet
So

The correct structure of the sentence would be as follows:

Subject (S) + Verb (V) + (Object (O)) + ( , ) + Conjunction + S + V + O

Look at the independent sentences in the table below. How should they be joined
together? Push the reveal button to see the answer.

 
Both quotations are acceptable. We think the second quotation is better
value for money.

 
   

  c) To indicate a parenthetical phrase
 


A parenthetical phrase is not necessary to the meaning of the sentence.
In the example below you will see that the phrase ¡§the new CEO¡¨ is separated
from the rest of the sentence with commas as it can be moved in the sentence.
 
David, the new CEO, called a meeting.
 

  d) After an introductory phrase
 


We use a comma after an introductory phrase. The correct structure would be as follows:

Introductory phrase + (,) + (S) + (V) + (O)

Look at the introductory phrase and sentence in the table below. How should
they be joined together? Push the reveal button to see the answer.
 
For many years I have been studying English

 



 
 


Many of our clients do not use capital letters appropriately. Although, this is not an exhaustive list,
you should use capital letters for names of places, languages, countries and months. Capital letters
should only be used for titles at the start of a sentence.

Read the paragraph in the box below and decide whether the letter in brackets at the start of each
word should be a capital letter or not. Click the reveal button to see all answers.
 
 

vice president John Brown has started a new cost saving initiative. All offices in asia must close in july to save on air-conditioning expenses. However, any employees that can speak english must continue to work in their offices. John Brown is from america. He has worked with us for 10 months. He became vice president in january.
   
 

(v)ice (p)resident John Brown has started a new cost saving initiative. All offices in (a)sia must close in (j)uly to save on air-conditioning expenses. However, any employees that can speak (e)nglish must continue to work in their offices. John Brown is from (a)merica. He has worked with us for 10 (m)onths. He became (v)ice (p)resident in (j)anuary.