Grammar is the set of guidelines that a language is built on. Proper grammar helps you communicate your thoughts clearly and effectively.
Grammar skills aren’t always easy to learn, but luckily you can improve your skills with practice.
In this blog post, will give you ten tips for how to get better at grammar and improve your writing skills.
Tip #1: Read, Read, Read, Read, Read
This tip might seem obvious, but it’s the most important one. Read written English. You can read novels, textbooks, websites or newspapers—anything that excites you to keep reading and learning.
Whether or not English is your native language, your brain will learn it better through repeated exposure. The more you read, the more you’ll naturally understand how proper grammar works.
Even if you don’t know all the rules yet, reading will help you build an intuition for the written language.
Tip #2: Study an English Grammar Book.
A grammar manual can help you understand why English grammar works the way it does.
Knowing the rules isn’t a replacement for having a natural intuition for grammar—you need to build both simultaneously—but it can certainly help you avoid written mistakes.
Tip #3: Use a Grammar Checker
A grammar checker can help you make your writing sound fluent and professional, even if you’re still learning the rules. Apps such as Grammarly can help you improve your grammar skills with every new piece you write.
Look at the issues these apps catch in your work to see if you repeatedly make the same grammar mistakes. Read the explanations for what you’re doing wrong and see the different ways you can correct the mistake.
Tip #4: Learn the Parts of Speech
There are nine types of words in the English language: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, interjections, and articles.
Study these nine parts of speech and how they link. You’ll need to know which role each word plays in order to use it correctly in a sentence.
Tip #5: Learn the Rules of Sentence Structure
Sentence structure encompasses many topics, from the difference between independent and dependent clauses, to the necessary elements that comprise a complete sentence.
Learning the various rules will help you create more complex sentences in your writing.
Tip #6: Study Punctuation Rules
Many grammar mistakes involve improper punctuation.
Correct punctuation shows you how written thoughts stop, pause, or connect to one another.
You will need to know how to use punctuation marks like commas, periods, semicolons, colons, apostrophes, dashes, and more.
Correctly punctuating your sentences will make your work easier to read.
Tip #7: Play Grammar Games
Most people learn better by playing games than by studying.
You can find plenty of grammar games online that put your skills to the test in a fun and exciting way. You can try the Quiz Your English app, which allows you to compete against your friends.
If you’re at a more advanced level, you can try Proof It, a game where you look for grammar and punctuation mistakes in English sentences.
If you’re learning English as a second language, you can try FluentU, which takes real videos and turns them into games.
Tip #8: Practice Writing with Correct Grammar
The more you practice writing, the faster your grammar skills will improve.
Try keeping a daily journal in English. You can try writing short stories too, if that’s something you’re interested in.
Better yet, you can find a penpal to send letters or emails to. That way, you’ll be able to get direct feedback on your work.
Ask them to let you know if you make the same grammar errors over and over, so you can keep an eye out for it in the future.
Tip #9: Read Your Work Out Loud
Reading your work out loud is useful for proofreading. When you’ve finished a first draft, try reading your work out loud.
When you read it on the page, everything might look correct, because your brain will correct misspellings and fill in the gaps. But when you read work out loud, you’ll be able to tell if something sounds wrong.
Tip #10: Study in a structured class
If you want to make sure your grammar is improving, it may be worth investing in a class.
Local institutes offer language courses that you can enroll in.
You can also ask the English students there if they’d be willing to tutor you one-on-one for an hourly fee. Having that level of personalized feedback can really take your grammar skills to the next level.
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