WRITING CENTRE GRAMMAR REFERENCE

How to Use this List of Language Links

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This curated list of grammar links is intended to be a common reference point for Writing Centre tutors and tutees, and for any teachers who need to point their students toward resources that will help them understand their written English grammar problems. The links are organized according to common types of language errors and grammatical features. Students can use these links to learn more about specific language problems that their tutor or teacher has pointed out in their writing.

If you have suggestions for specific links or types of language problems to add to this list, please e-mail writingcentre@hku.hk.

 

Articles, or More Broadly, Determiners (i.e., ‘a,’ ‘an,’ ‘the,’ or no article, and other determiners like ‘this,’ that,’ ‘these,’ ‘its’, etc)
 

http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/rules/article.htm

http://blog.esllibrary.com/2016/02/11/teaching-articles-a-an-and-the/

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/grammar/using_articles.html

http://advice.writing.utoronto.ca/english-language/articles/

https://blog.tjtaylor.net/articles-explained/
 

Comma-splice Sentences
 

https://writingexplained.org/grammar-dictionary/comma-splice

https://www.grammarly.com/blog/comma-splice/

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/grammar/the-comma-splice

 

Connectors

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https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/english_as_a_second_language/esl_students/combining_sentences/index.html

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/english_as_a_second_language/esl_students/combining_sentences/conjunctions_and_coordination.html

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/english_as_a_second_language/esl_students/combining_sentences/discourse_connectors.html

 

Dangling Modifier/Dangling Participle

 

https://writingexplained.org/grammar-dictionary/dangling-modifier

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/mechanics/dangling_modifiers_and_how_to_correct_them.html

http://advice.writing.utoronto.ca/revising/dangling-modifiers/

 

Fragment/Sentence Fragment

 

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/mechanics/sentence_fragments.html

https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-a-sentence-fragment-definition-examples-quiz.html

 

Hedging and Boosting

 

https://www.griffith.edu.au/_designs/documentation/video-transcript?id=150336

https://writingcenter.gmu.edu/guides/hedges-softening-claims-in-academic-writing

http://elss.elc.cityu.edu.hk/ELSS/Resource/Practise%20Hedging%20in%20your%20Writing_Part%20Three/

 

Modals Verbs

 

https://writingcenter.unc.edu/modals/

https://elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/eap/book/tentativity.aspx

https://www.york.ac.uk/res/elanguages/index/Modulecd/cu4s6/cu4s60401.htm

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/certain-probable-or-possible

 

Noun Phrases/Nominalization

 

https://unilearning.uow.edu.au/academic/3b.html

http://elss.elc.cityu.edu.hk/ELSS/Resource/Academic%20Style%20and%20Tone,%20Nominalisation%20ICOSA%20Version/

http://aeo.sllf.qmul.ac.uk/Files/Nominalization/Nom%20LOC.html

 

Parallel Structure

 

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/mechanics/parallel_structure.html

 

Passive Voice: When to use it, and when not to

 

http://advice.writing.utoronto.ca/revising/passive-voice/

https://unilearning.uow.edu.au/academic/3avi.html

 

Plural, Singular, Countable, and Uncountable Nouns

 

http://awelu.srv.lu.se/grammar-and-words/common-problems-and-how-to-avoid-them/atypical-nouns/

https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/grammar/nouns

https://www.aje.com/en/arc/editing-tip-singular-and-plural-forms-scientific-writing/

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/grammar/count_and_noncount_nouns/plurals_articles_and_quantity_words.html

 

Prepositions

 

https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/grammar/prepositions

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/grammar/prepositions/index.html

 

Pronoun Referencing

 

http://www.msvu.ca/en/home/studentservices/caass/writingcentre/handouts/makingclearpronounreferences/default.aspx

https://uwf.edu/cassh/support-resources/the-uwf-writing-lab/expand-your-skills/grammar-reviews/intropronounref/

http://bethune.yorku.ca/writing/pronoun/

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/grammar/pronouns/index.html

 

Relative Pronouns and Relative Clauses

 

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/relative-clauses

http://aeo.sllf.qmul.ac.uk/Files/Relative%20Clauses/Relative%20Clauses.html

https://writingcenter.unc.edu/relative-clauses/

https://www.gcu.ac.uk/student/studentlife/international/english/independentlanguagestudy/grammar/relativeclauses/

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/grammar/relative_pronouns/index.html

 

Run-on Sentences

 

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/runons.htm

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/independent_and_dependent_clauses/runonsentences.html

 

Subject-Verb Agreement

 

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/grammar/subject_verb_agreement.html

http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/sentences/20-rules-of-subject-verb-agreement.html

https://eslgold.com/grammar/subject_verb_agreement/

https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/grammar/subjectverbagreement

https://elc.polyu.edu.hk/cill/exercises/sva.aspx

 

Verb Tenses in Academic Writing

 

https://www.adelaide.edu.au/english-for-uni/tenses/

https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/verb-tenses/https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/grammar/verbtenses

https://services.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/471294/Using_tenses_in_scientific_writing_Update_051112.pdf

https://www.hamilton.edu/academics/centers/writing/writing-resources/verb-tense