Continuing with our special Tuesdays here on Ghostwriting Uncovered, I have another excellent article for you today. I hope you find it useful and packed full of great information.  Remember don’t forget to leave your comments.

Learn About ESL English grammar
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Kirk_Able]Kirk Able

If you are not a native English speaker, ESL English grammar might be the right choice for you. The same goes for people whose first language is not English.

There are some non-native English speakers who are very much proficient in both written and spoken English. Hence, ESL English grammar suits anyone who wants to improve on their grammar and speaking abilities. For those who are in the dark about ESL, it actually stands for English as a Second Language or simply ESL as an abbreviation.

In the United States of America, the education law makes it compulsory for schools to give ESL instruction for non-native English speakers. Special ESL programs have been established for young children at early childhood and elementary for this very purpose. There are also special programs for adults.

Considering the fact that there are many Spanish people in the USA, this is hardly surprising. Such programs also help immigrants from countries like China, India and other Asian countries. The best part of the internet is that it is a world of large resource these days.

You can find many wonderful resources for your children if they are non-native English speakers or if English is not their first language. Special games and worksheets in the worldwide web make learning and speaking English fun and exciting. If you are an adult who wants to improve on your English grammar, spelling and punctuation for written English, you have a chance to do so with the right English grammar and writing software.

To put it briefly, it is possible for non-native English speakers or those whose first language is other than English to learn how to speak and write English properly. There is special ESL education programs meant for such people especially in the USA. Another way to improve and learn English is to use the right English grammar and writing software, which are mainly meant for adults.

Getting a   grammar checker can be the best thing you’ve ever done for yourself. Visit our site http://www.grammarspellingchecker.com/ to improve your English writing skills today. We post grammar tips and tricks daily.

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Learn-About-ESL-English-Grammar&id=5114667] Learn About ESL English Grammar

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EzineArticles can be a very good source of information and today I wanted to repost an article that I found very interesting.

Why Is The Use Of Good grammar Important?

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Jack_Osborne]Jack Osborne

Good grammar to one skilled in grammatical skills is smooth and easy communication. Bad grammar is similar to an off-key note to a trained musician.

Good Grammar is important in so many ways. When you speak or write, you have an opportunity to make an important first impression. It might be with someone you never will meet again so it may not matter. However, it might be with a possible future employer, a future spouse, someone who will secure your entrance to a college or give you a mortgage to buy a house. You may never know your audience, or what the outcome will be.

And did I say that a first impression doesn’t matter if you’ll never see the person again? Of course it matters! It matters to you, the speaker or writer. Being able to communicate with style and correct grammar often makes a better impression than physical appearance, references, or college degrees. Good grammatical skills should be a matter of pride. No one should be afraid to speak for fear that they will communicate poorly.

A person, who speaks and/or writes with correct grammar is at a great advantage over someone who chooses to do neither or simply doesn’t know how.

What are those advantages?

* Employers are impressed with good communication skills and good English-writing skills. An employee is less likely to advance in any professional capacity if they can’t use good grammar when speaking or writing. A person who uses poor grammar sounds ignorant, and no company wants to be represented by someone who sounds ignorant.

* Employers will be impressed if an employee, whose first language is not English, makes a conscious effort to use good grammar and write better English.

* Those who use good grammar, either in writing or speaking, are treated better. The person with good grammar will get better service in a store, a restaurant, or any other place because they will make a better impression on those with whom they communicate.

* People who use grammar correctly get further in almost every sphere of life. Do you believe that your letter of complaint to the phone company will be taken more seriously if the grammar and spelling are correct? Think about it.

So how does one go about improving grammar? One way is to spend time with someone who communicates with good grammar and then take clues from how that person speaks or writes. Another way is to take classes in grammar and English at community colleges.

And lastly, a great way is to use proofreading software when writing. Any writing you send, publish or hand-in will be better for it. And, you will have the bonus of learning good grammar from what you wrote incorrectly and then be able to use that knowledge in future communication, whether written or verbal.

There are many such English writing software programs available. When you use such a program as a grammar checker or spell checker, you will “kill two birds with one stone.” You immediately will improve your writing, but also learn correct forms of grammar, spelling, and the proper word to use when two words sound alike but have different meanings.

If English is not your native language, English grammar software will help you write – and speak – better English. And better English grammar will improve both your valuable business writing and creative writing skills. Remember… what you say and what you write can be heard and read by many people. Make that great first impression…every time!

Visit http://grammargrammer.com/ and learn how innovative English writing programs instantly can improve all of your writing for any office, home, school or casual writing needs. Especially helpful to those for whom English is not their native language. Also offered are free tips and newsletters on all aspects of good grammar and composition.

Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Why-Is-The-Use-Of-Good-Grammar-Important?&id=5134263] Why Is The Use Of Good Grammar Important?

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Commas are the one thing that always confuses me.  Knowing exactly where to put them and where not to put them can be a little tricky.  Most comma situations are easy to use.  These include commas in numbers, after dates, and after geographical locations.  The tricky situations and errors arise out of the two main ways in which we use commas.  Today’s article will focus on these.

Commas Separate List Items

Commas are always used to separate items in a list.  These items can be real things, or places you go.  Below are some examples:

• I need some bread, sugar, milk, and eggs from the shop today.

• I have lipstick, eyeliner, mascara, and eye shadow in my handbag.

• Yesterday I went to school, played soccer, went to the park, and then went home for my dinner.

• I am going to spend my holiday relaxing at the pool, walking along the beach, and shopping.

When using commas in a list situation you need to make sure that you put and between the last two items.

Don’t use commas where a full stop could be used.  If the words can stand alone as a sentence then use a full stop or a joining word (and, but etc.).  An example of this would be:

• Yesterday I went to school, I played soccer, I went to the pool and I went to the park.

This is incorrect comma usage as they could all stand alone as proper sentences.  If you wanted to use commas you need to take the “I” out of these sentences.

Commas To Add More Information To A Sentence

If you are looking to add more information to a sentence you can use commas.  An example of this could be something like:

• The book, which was very old, was an excellent read.

There is a way that you can check if your commas are right.  You just check if the sentence makes sense without the words between the commas.

The book, which was very old, was an excellent read.  This sentence would still make sense if it was; the book was an excellent read.

There is a great quiz that I found when researching this post.  There are three levels to this quiz too.  If you would like to see how much you know about commas and test your skills, click on the link below.

Comma Quiz

Until next time,

Keep writing

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For this week’s grammar tips I want to share with you 10 of the best English Grammar websites out there.  These websites all refer to UK English grammar so they might not be 100% correct for US readers.  Grammar has such a broad spectrum of lessons that you can learn and these ten different websites are sure to have everything you could possibly need.  There are some really great grammar quizzes that you can take too.  Just goes to show that you don’t have to take a writing class from an online school to learn this stuff.  Grammar quizzes are a great way of assessing where you need to brush up your skills.  I hope you find these 10 websites as useful as I have.

Grammar Quiz – This website is packed full of great grammar stuff and once you have finished reading everything you can test your skills with their huge selection of grammar quizzes.

Grammar Book - Great post about commonly misused and confused english words.

Speak Speak - Another excellent website with a full overview of every aspect of grammar.

Grammar Rules – What can I say, it’s another full grammar rules website.

Chomp Chomp – More grammar.

Creative Teaching Site – Humourous Grammar Tips

Junk Studies – 11 Rules of writing

The Owl At Purdue – Online grammar courses

Proofread Now – Proofread now Grammar Tip Archive

White Smoke – English lessons portal

There is hours of reading in these websites so the best advice that I can offer you is to go to the first website and take a look at the grammar quizzes.  There are different quizzes for every aspect of grammar so just choose a category and take a look at the questions.  If you can’t answer the questions or you are unsure of the answer then you will know exaclty what aspect of grammar you need to brush up on.

Until next time,

Keep Writing

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It’s Wednesday again and that means it is grammar time.  Today it’s part two of the most common grammatical errors and we will be looking at pronoun errors, apostrophe usage, verb agreement, and misplaced modifiers.

Pronoun Errors

Pronoun errors occur when the pronoun you are using does not agree in number with the noun to which you are referring to.  If the noun you are using is singular, the pronoun you use must be singular to.  If the noun you are using is plural, the pronoun must also be plural.

Here’s an example:

Incorrect:  Everybody must bring their own laptop.

Correct:  Everybody must bring their own laptops.
Correct:  Everybody must bring his or her own laptop.

Apostrophe Mistakes:

Apostrophes are used when talking about possession.  You do not need to use an apostrophe after a possessive pronoun though.  Here’s an example:

Incorrect:  My brothers car is red.
Correct:  My brother’s car is red.

Check out Nick Daws guest article “Put Apostrophes In Their Place” for more great information on apostrophies.

Subject and Verb Agreements

When you are writing in the present tense your subjects and verbs need to agree.  If your subject is singular, your verb must be singular and vice versa.  For example:

Incorrect: The books is great for research.
Correct:  The books are great for research.

Misplaced Modifiers

Misplaced modifiers can be a little tricky and you need to make sure that your ideas are clear.  You need to place your modifier directly next to the word you are modifying.   For example:

Incorrect:  At thirty years old, my friends threw me a surprise party.
Correct:  When I was thirty years old, my friends threw me a surprise party.

That’s it for this week.  I hope you have found these grammar tips interesting.

For more information on correct grammar usage you can visit http://www.yourdictionary.com/grammar-rules

Until next time,

Keep Writing

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Welcome to the first post of the Grammar Wednesday feature here at The Hidden Writer.  I have chosen the five most common grammatical errors in the English language to use as a series of posts for the next five weeks.  If there is something in particular that you would like to see featured in future posts please don’t hesitate to ask.  The source for this post is http://www.yourdictionary.com/grammar-rules/5-most-common.html

Once you understand the five most common errors you will be able to improve your writing and it will also make editing your own work easier.  So let’s start this week with number one in this series.

1.                  Run-on Sentence or Comma Splice

A run-on sentence is a sentence that joins two independent clauses without punctuation or the appropriate conjunction.  A comma splice is similar, but it uses a comma to join the two clauses.  Fixing this error can be done in one of five different ways:

• Create two separate sentences
• Replace the comma with a semi-colon
• Replace the comma with the correct conjunction – and, but, for, yet, nor, so.
• Replace the comma with a subordinating conjunction – after, although, before, unless, as, because, even though, if, since, until, when, while.
• Replace the comma with a semi-colon and transitional word – however, on the other hand, moreover, also, otherwise.

Examples of this are:

Incorrect:  Emma is very smart, she began writing when she was four years old.
Correct:  Emma is very smart.  She began writing when she was four years old.
Correct:  Emma is very smart; she began writing when she was four years old.
Correct:  Emma is very smart, and she began writing when she was four years old.
Correct:  Because Emma is very smart, she began writing when she was four years old.
Correct:  Emma is very smart; as a result, she began writing when she was four years old

You can use any of the corrected versions in your writing.  The most important thing is to have your sentences correct.

For more information on correct grammar usage you can visit http://www.yourdictionary.com/grammar-rules

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