Bad writing not only pretends, it is unoriginal. The original writer is always finding out what he himself knows. The unoriginal does no finding out, he simp;y takes ideas and phrases from the common stock

Who of you have not stood in front of numerous bottles of Olive Oil, thinking, what on earth does all this mean and which one must I buy? I was one of those until a Greek friend of mine explained the method

There are no special rules that can be given for precis-writing, but a few guidelines can put you on the right track of how to condense a lot of information. Before you prepare to write a summary, it is

The Gist (idea, point, meaning, a general idea or picture), means the main subject without details or a piece of information. A precis is a gist of a passage conveyed in as few words as possible and should

A comma is used to mark off certain ideas or elements within a sentence. When used correctly, commas give meaning to a sentence by separating and grouping phrases, words, and clauses. Commas mark a trivial

A hyphen is used in writing to join two words together or between the syllables of a word when it is divided at the end of a line of text. Hyphens must never be used interchangeably with dashes which are

Apostrophes can be used to show possession, to form contractions and to create plurals. When you use the apostrophe to show possession, add an apostrophe plus the letter 's' to show possession with a singular

There can be no hard and fast rules about punctuation. Meaning must be your guide. Punctuation is an art and not a science. A sentence can often be punctuated correctly in more than one way. To clarify

When emphasizing a word it is best to rely on strong writing and strategic word placement to get your point across. Italics can be used to emphasize a certain fact in a sentence or a word. The downside

The person who is reading your work must know where the quote starts and ends. When using quotations, it is important to know that once they are opened they have to be closed again. Quoation-marks Image

At times we found that we have important information which we want to include in a sentence but find it difficult to create a spot for all of it. It can become tricky to fit everything into a sentence.

When large numbers of copies of the Bible started to be produced, punctuation developed radically. Punctuation was designed to be read aloud. A range of marks, including indentation, various punctuation

In speaking you use more than words to express your meaning: your expression, your pauses, the pitch and tone of your voice and the emphasis you give, all help. In writing all the meaning has to be conveyed

In any English dictionary, approximately 80% of the entries are mainly borrowed from Latin. More than 60% of all English words have Latin or Greek roots. About 10% of the English vocabulary has found its

Although English is a Germanic language, with a grammar and a core vocabulary inherited from Proto-Germanic. A substantial percentage of the English vocabulary comes from Romance and Latinate sources.

Contribution from Greek to English vocabulary There are two ways to quantify "type and token frequency: type frequency is the proportion of distinct words and is considerably higher than the token

(i) Suffixes forming Nouns The following suffixes denoting the agent or doer: -er, -ar, -ard, -art, -or, -eer,- -ist, singer, liar, coward, braggart, sailor, mountaineer, artist. Image credit The following

Word building Do you know the difference between happy and unhappy, between behave and misbehave, between embark and disembark, between normal and abnormal, between circle and semi-circle? You will recognize

Do you know the difference between happy and unhappy, between behave and misbehave, between embark and disembark, between normal and abnormal, between circle and semi-circle? You will recognize the difference

The following quotations are so well known as to have become almost as much a part of the language as proverbs are. Where do they come from? Which of them do you think are worth remembering? and why? Image