WRITING GUIDE

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

WRITING GUIDE

1.  PREPARING TO WRITE

a. Before writing your essay you should:

–      Choose a topic you are sure about

–      Think of all the things you want to say

–      Organise your ideas

–      Make a draft: cross out thing you consider unnecessary

–      Then  you can start writing

 

2. YOUR TEXT SHOULD ALWAYS HAVE:

A.   INTRODUCTION (You present briefly the topic you are going to talk about). This must be:

-       Short

-       Direct

-       Clear

B.    BODY (This is the longest part in your essay. It should have at least 2 paragraphs. You explain your ideas, always relating them to the introduction and to the title that you have chosen) . Don’t forget:

-       To use paragraphs

-       To explain your ideas clearly and briefly

-       To follow the topic that you have chosen.

C.   CONCLUSION. (This is the last part. You can repeat, somehow, what you said in the introduction). Don’t forget:

-       You can start with: Summarizing, In short….

-       It is compulsory; you must have a conclusion in your essay.

-       It is short and clear.

3. COMMON GRAMMAR MISTAKES:

A.   SUBJECT – VERB AGREEMENT:

- Subject and verb should always be in agreement. If the subject is singular, the verb is singular.

- Pay attention to:

      · Singular nouns that refer to groups can have either singular or plural verbs : Ex. my family has/ have decided to move house.

       · Amounts and quantities usually have singular verbs: Ex. A thousand euros was donated to charity

Anybody/ nobody etc. have singular verbs: Ex. Is anybody here?

· Most uncountable nouns have singular verbs: Ex. My jeans are not new.

B. WORD ORDER

 The general word order in a sentence is- SUBJECT + VERB +COMPLEMENTS

 Pay attention:

· Time expressions can come at the beginning or the end of the sentence.

· Adverbs of frequency come at the beginning of a sentence or before the verb.

· Adverbs of manner come in many positions but never before the verb.

C.  ADJECTIVES

1. Adjectives are always before nouns and after TO BE

2. Adjectives have no plural form

3. Adjectives follow a certain order:

        OPINION+SIZE/ AGE + COLOUR + ORIGIN + MATERIAL

EX.  a handsome young British man

D.   CONNECTORS

1. Sentences in English should be complex. You should use connectors.