Web Links

Adjectives and adverbs
Appropriate and exact language
Case of nouns and pronouns
Comma splices and fused sentences
Complete sentences
Emphasis
Misplaced and dangling modifiers
Mixed sentences
Parallelism
Pronoun-antecedent agreement
Pronoun reference
Sentence fragments
Basic grammar
Shifts
Standard American English
Subject-verb agreement
Variety
Verbs
Writing concisely

Adjectives and adverbs

Good overall sites

• Adjective or adverb?
  Information on adjectives and adverbs, including examples and exercises, from the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
  

• Adjectives
  In-depth information and quizzes on adjectives, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.
  

• Adverbs
  In-depth information and quizzes on adverbs, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.
  

• Adjectives and adverbs
  Information on adjectives and adverbs, from the Langley Research Center

Articles and other determiners

• Articles, determiners, and quantifiers
  Information on using articles and other determiners, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.
  

• Articles
  Quizzes from The Internet TESL Journal. (Note: You'll need to select "Articles" from the Page Content menu.)

Comparatives and superlatives

• Comparatives and superlatives
  A quiz on comparatives and superlatives for ESL students, from The Internet TESL Journal.
  

• Adjectives: Comparisons and comparative
  Various links explaining comparative forms of adjectives, from Online English Grammar.

Double negatives

• Double negatives
  Guidance on avoiding double negatives, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.

Participles as adjectives

• Participles
  An online quiz covering the use of participles as adjectives, from The Internet TESL Journal.
  

• Participles
  Practice for ESL writers on using participles, from The Internet TESL Journal.

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• The best word
  Tips for choosing the right word during the revision process, from the Paradigm Online Writing Assistant.
  

• Style, voice, and tone
  General advice and brief examples related to word choice and style, from the University of Maryland.

Cliches

• Eliminating clichés and euphemisms
  Information on clichés, with links to lists, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.

Colloquial language

• Diction
  Discusses clichés, connation, and denotation, and includes review quiz. From the University of Ottawa.

Denotation and connotation

• Connotations and denotations
  Overview and examples of denotation and connotation, from the University of Ottawa.

Dictionaries

• Directory of dictionaries
  Links to dozens of general and specialized dictionaries, from Yahoo!
  

• Guide to online dictionaries and other language resources
  Links to dozens of online writing sources, including dictionaries, citation guides, thesauruses, style guides, and others, from Colorado State University.
  

• Dictionaries
  Links to general and specialized dictionaries in English and other languages, from the Internet Public Library.
  

• Links to dictionaries and encyclopedias
  Links to dozens of online dictionaries, glossaries, and encyclopedias, including many for technical fields, from Encyberpedia.

Idioms

• Two-part (phrasal) verbs
  Information on idioms, from Purdue Online Writing Lab.
  

• Self-study idiom quizzes
  Quizzes on idioms, two-word verbs, and slang, from The Internet TESL Journal.

Slang

• ESL Slang Page
  Extensive list of slang expressions in English, from Dave's ESL Café.
  

• Jargon
  Advice on avoiding jargon, from the University of Victoria.

Standard American Language

• Diction
  Guidelines on when to use formal English, including words and phrases to avoid in Formal English, from Red Rocks Community College.
  

• Common errors in English
  Extensive list of frequently misused words, arranged alphabetically, from Washington State University.
  

• Common Usage Problems
  A list of commonly misused forms, including nonstandard dialect forms, from Liberty High School.

Unbiased and gender-inclusive language

• Unbiased language
  Advice on using unbiased language, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.
  

• Non-sexist language
  Advice on avoiding sexist language, from the Purdue Online Writing Lab.

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Case of nouns and pronouns

• Using pronouns clearly
  Tips on pronoun agreement and reference, with examples, from the Purdue Online Writing Lab.

Who versus whom

• Who vs. whom
  Help with correct use of who versus whom, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.

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Comma splices and fused sentences

• Run-ons, comma splices, and fused sentences
  Explanations and advice from the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
  

• Comma splices and run-ons
  A handout on avoiding comma splices and run-on sentences, from Citrus College.

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Complete sentences

• Sentence fragments
  Explanations of common causes of sentence fragments with review quizzes, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.

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Emphasis

• Adding emphasis
  Tips for adding emphasis through visual effects, punctuation, and style, from the Purdue Online Writing Lab.

Coordination and subordination

• Subordinating ideas
  A discussion of stating ideas clearly with subordination, from the University of Richmond.
  

• Coordination and subordination
  Tips on combining sentences and punctuating them using coordination and subordination, with practice sentences, from Butte College.
  

• Coordination and subordination
  Extensive discussion of how and when to use coordination and subordination, including practice sentences and paragraphs for revision, from University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.

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Misplaced and dangling modifiers

• Modifier placement
  Tips and examples illustrating misplaced, dangling, and squinting modifiers, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.
  

• Modifiers
  Tips and review exercises on various types of modifier problems, from the University of Ottawa.
  

• Misplaced modifiers
  Tips on revising misplaced modifiers, including a review test, from Big Dog's Grammar.

Adjective order

• Adjective order
  An exercise on adjective order, from The Internet TESL Journal.

Adverb order

• Adverb placement
  A chart on adverb placement, from the University of Washington.

Dangling modifiers

• Dangling modifiers
  Advice on recognizing and revising dangling modifiers, with a review test, from Big Dog's Grammar.
  

• Dangling modifiers
  Discussion of strategies for revising dangling modifiers, with several "before and after" examples, from the Purdue Online Writing Lab.

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Mixed sentences

• Repeated subject
  Exercises on avoiding a repeated subject, from Citrus College.

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Parallelism

• Parallel form
  Numerous examples of faulty parallelism, with suggested revisions; includes two review quizzes. From the Guide to Grammar and Writing.
  

• Parallel structure
  Writing and proofreading strategies to achieve parallel structure, from the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
  

• Parallelism
  Discussion of simple parallelism and parallelism using common connectors, from St. Cloud State University.

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Pronoun-antecedent agreement

• Agreement
  Discussion of both pronoun and subject-verb agreement, from the University of Victoria.
  

• Pronouns and pronoun-antecedent agreement
  Five strategies for pronoun usage, with several quizzes, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.

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Pronoun reference

• Using pronouns clearly
  Tips on agreement and clear reference when using pronouns, from the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
  

• Pronoun reference
  Seven tips for clear pronoun usage, including review exercise, from the University of Ottawa.

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Sentence fragments

• Sentence fragments
  Tips on recognizing and fixing fragments, including review exercises, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.
  

• Sentence fragments
  Numerous examples of fragments and revision strategies, from the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
  

• Sentence fragments and complete sentences
  Short list of tips on identifying and correcting fragments, from the University of Richmond.
  

• Sentence fragments
  Brief discussion of fragments, including several tips for testing whether a sentence is a fragment or not, from the University of Victoria.
  

• Seeing and correcting sentence fragments and run-ons
  Explanations and examples, from the University of North Carolina.

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Basic grammar

• Grammar glossary
  An online grammar glossary, from the University of Victoria.
  

• Guide to Grammar and Writing
  Comprehensive grammar information and exercises, from Capital Community College.
  

• Online English grammar
  Extensive coverage of the elements of grammar, from EduFind.
  

• Grammar quizzes and activities
  Online grammar exercises for ESL writers, from The Internet TESL Journal.
  

• Online grammar guides
  Online explanations of many aspects of grammar, from St. Cloud State University.

Adjectives and adverbs

• Adjective or adverb?
  Information on adjectives and adverbs, including examples and exercises, from the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
  

• Adjectives and adverbs
  Information on adjectives and adverbs, from the Langley Research Center
  

• Adjectives
  In-depth information and quizzes on adjectives, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.
  

• Adverbs
  In-depth information and quizzes on adverbs, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.

Appositives

• Appositives
  Information and exercises on appositives, from the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
  

• Appositives
  Definitions and examples of several types of appositives, from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Coordinating and correlative conjunctions

• What is a conjunction?
  Definitions and examples of coordinating, subordinating, and correlative conjunctions, from the University of Ottawa.
  

• Conjunctions
  Discussion of using conjunctions to combine parts of sentences, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.

Parts of speech

• Parts of speech
  Information and exercises covering the parts of speech, from the University of Ottawa.
  

• Diagramming sentences
  Examples of basic sentence patterns, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.

Phrases: absolute, prepositional, and verbal

• Absolute phrases
  Discussion and examples of absolute phrases, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.
  

• Using sentence modifiers
  Discussion of and exercises on absolute phrases and other modifiers from Winona State University.
  

• Prepositions: Locators in time and space
  Discussion and examples of prepositions and prepositional phrases, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.
  

• Prepositions and prepositional phrases
  A list of common prepositions and idiomatic prepositional phrases, from Daytona Beach Community College.
  

• Verbs and verbals
  Discussion of verbals, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.
  

• Verbals: Gerunds, participles, and infinitives
  Information and exercises covering verbals, from the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
  

• Verbals
  Explanation of how to form and use different types of verbals, from the University of Ottawa.

Sentence types

• Building sentences
  Discussion of forms and classes of sentences, from the University of Ottawa.

Predicate patterns

• Diagramming sentences
  Examples of basic sentence patterns, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.

Subordinating clauses

• Clauses: the essential building blocks
  Discussion of several different types of clauses (such as dependent and independent clauses), with three review quizzes, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.
  

• Building clauses
  Tips on identifying clauses and using clauses as nouns, adjectives, and adverbs; includes two review quizzes; from the University of Ottawa.

Subordinating conjunctions

• English conjunctions
  Information on coordinating and subordinating conjunctions, from Georgia State University.
  

• Subordinating ideas
  Discussion of stating ideas clearly with subordination, from the University of Richmond.
  

• Sentence-combining skills
  Discussion of using subordinating conjunctions and other ways to combine sentences, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.

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Shifts

• Verb tense consistency
  A discussion of avoiding shifts in verb tense, with exercises, from the Purdue Online Writing Lab..
  

• Avoiding needless shifts
  Tips and exercises on avoiding needless shifts in tense, number, person, voice, mood, discourse, and point of view, from Firebelle Productions.

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Standard American English

Good overall sites

• Diction guidelines for standard English
  Defines formal English and includes guidelines on words and phrases to avoid in formal English; from Red Rocks Community College.
  

• Common errors in English
  An extensive list of usage errors and commonly confused word pairs, arranged alphabetically, from Washington State University.

Adjectives and adverbs

• Adjective or adverb
  Online quiz especially for ESL writers, from The Internet TESL Journal
  

• Adjectives and adverbs
  Additional practice on adjectives and adverbs , from The Internet TESL Journal.
  

• Adjective order
  Practice for ESL writers on adjective order, from The Internet TESL Journal.

Articles and other determiners

• Articles, determiners, and quantifiers
  Information on using articles and other determiners, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.
  

• Articles
  Quizzes from The Internet TESL Journal. (Note: You'll need to select "Articles" from the Page Content menu.)

Case of nouns and pronouns

• Who vs. whom
  Information about who versus whom, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.

Double negatives

• Double negatives
  Help with avoiding double negatives, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.
  

• Double negatives
  Review of words and phrases that can create double negatives; includes sentences to revise. From St. Cloud State University.

Idioms

• Idiom quizzes
  Dozens of quizzes to review the correct choice between easily confused idiomatic pairs, or to review the correct meaning of idioms. From The Internet TESL Journal.

Mixed and incomplete sentences

• Repeated subject
  Exercises on avoiding a repeated subject, from Citrus College.

Sentence fragments

• Sentence fragments
  Explanations of common causes of sentence fragments; include two review quizzes. From the Guide to Grammar and Writing.
  

• Sentence fragments
  Reviews several common causes of fragments and illustrates ways to revise them; from the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
  

• Sentence fragments and complete sentences
  Suggestions for identifying and correcting fragments, with examples, from the University of Richmond.
  

• Sentence fragments
  A brief discussion of fragments, with several tips on revising them, from the University of Victoria.
  

• Seeing and correcting sentence fragments and run-ons
  Explanations and examples of fragments and run-ons, from the University of North Carolina.

Sentence grammar

• Grammar glossary
  An online grammar glossary, from the University of Victoria.
  

• Guide to Grammar and Writing
  Comprehensive grammar information and exercises, from Capital Community College.
  

• Online English grammar
  Extensive coverage of the elements of grammar, from EduFind.

Subject-verb agreement

• Agreement
  Discussion of subject-verb agreement, from the University of Victoria.
  

• Subject-verb agreement
  Twelve tips and three quizzes on avoiding problems in subject-verb agreement, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.
  

• Making subjects and verbs agree
  Eleven tips on avoiding problems in subject-verb agreement. Includes a link to a quiz with suggested answers. From the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
  

• Subject-verb agreement
  Discusses ten common writing situations, with examples, that cause problems in subject-verb agreement; from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Verb forms

• Auxiliary verbs
  Information on helping verbs, from the University of Ottawa.
  

• Irregular verbs
  Discussion, quizzes, and links on irregular verbs, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.
  

• Helping and modal auxiliary verbs
  Information and quizzes covering helping verbs, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.
  

Verb tense

• Verb tenses
  Includes brief definitions and examples of nine active and nine passive verb tenses, from the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
  

• Tenses
  Brief discussion of tenses, with link to a more extensive Directory of English Tenses and a quiz on identifying tenses, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.
  

Verb voice

• The passive voice
  Detailed advice on how to form and recognize the passive voice; includes a quiz on recognizing and changing the passive voice. From the Guide to Grammar and Writing.
  

Vocabulary

• Vocabulary quizzes
  Especially for ESL students, from The Internet TESL Journal.

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• Agreement
  Discussion of both subject-verb and pronoun agreement, from the University of Victoria.
  

• Subject-verb agreement
  Tips on handling twelve writing situations that often lead to subject-verb agreement problems, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.

ESL and dialect help

• Making subjects and verbs agree
  From the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
  

• Subject-verb agreement
  Advice on handling ten writing situations that often cause subject-verb agreement problems, from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

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Variety

• Sentence variety
  Includes guidelines for varying sentence structure and length, including two quizzes, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.
  

• Sentence variety
  Tips and examples for varying short, choppy sentences or repetitious sentences, from the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
  

• Combining sentences for variety and clarity
  Guidelines for using subordination and coordination, include many "before and after" examples, from St. Cloud State University.

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Verbs

• Verbs and verbals
  Extensive discussion of types and forms of verbs, with quizzes throughout, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.

• Using verbs
  Detailed site on verb forms and types, with several review exercises, from the University of Ottawa.
  

• Auxiliary verbs
  Information on helping verbs, from the University of Ottawa.

Active and passive voice

• The passive voice
  Detailed advice on recognizing and forming the passive voice, with quiz on recognizing and changing passive voice, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.
  

Gerunds and infinitives

• Gerunds and infinitives
  An extensive list of verbs with gerunds and infinitives, from Grammar When You Need It.

Helping verbs

• Helping and modal auxiliary verbs
  Information and quizzes covering helping verbs, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.
  

• Auxiliary verbs
  Information on helping verbs, from the University of Ottawa.

Irregular verbs

• Irregular verbs
  Discussion, quizzes, and links on irregular verbs, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.

Verbs forms

• Gerunds and infinitives
  An extensive list of verbs with gerunds and infinitives, from Grammar When You Need It.
  

• Using verbs
  Explanations of verb tenses, forms, and moods, with review exercises throughout, from the University of Ottawa.

Verb moods

• Using verb moods
  Definitions and examples of indicative, imperative, and subjunctive mood, with link to a review exercise, from the University of Ottawa.
  

• Mood
  Discussion focusing on subjunctive mood, including a quiz, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.

Verb tense

• Verb tenses
  Definitions and examples of nine active and nine passive tenses, from the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
  

• Tenses
  Links to a Directory of English Tenses and to a quiz on identifying tenses, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.
  

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Writing concisely

Good overall sites

• Conciseness: methods of eliminating wordiness
  Tips for writing more concisely, including numerous examples, from the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
  

• Writing concise sentences
  Tips, numerous examples, and quizzes to help you achieve a more concise style, from the Guide to Grammar and Writing.

Sentence combining

• Combining sentences for variety and clarity
  Advice on combining sentences, from St. Cloud State University
  

• Improving your writing style
  Advice on improving style, including a list of phrases to avoid, from the University of North Carolina

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