Tricky Words and Spelling

THERE-THEY'RE-THEIR. WHAT?? 

Yes- English is full of easily confused words. Here are some exercises that aim to help with this...

WHOSE (possessive relative pronoun) vs WHO's (who is, who has contraction)

• Bristol University exercise
• Chompchomp exercise
• Grammar-Monster explanation and test
• To Learn English exercise

ITS (possessive adjective) vs IT'S (contraction of it is, it has)

• Bristol University exercise
• Soft Schools Quiz
• Using English.com quiz
• Chompchomp exercise
• WikiHow step by step guide on how to use these two words
• English-Hilfen exercise

THEIR (possessive adjective) vs THEY'RE (contraction of they are) vs THERE (place or sentence starter)

• Bristol University exercise
• Study Guides and Practice explanation and exercise
• Better English Lessons exercise
• Grarmmarbook.com quiz
• a4esl quiz
• English-Hilfen exercise 1
• Exercise 2

TO (preposition/infinitive marker) vs TOO (modifier) vs TWO (number)

• Bristol University exercise
• English-Hilfen exercise
• Exercise from a Danish University (long name!)
• ChompChomp exercise
• Exercise 2

YOUR vs YOU'RE

• English-Hilfen exercise
• ESL-About quiz
• Funky English quiz

WHO or WHOM (both used in relative clauses, which you studied/will study with Barbara)

• Bristol University exercise
• ChompChomp exercise
• SoftSchools quiz
• ENglish Page (also includes WHOSE!) exercise
• Grammar Monster quiz

MORE CONFUSING WORDS

• Bristol University exercise 1
• Exercise 2
• Exercise 3
• Washington State University quiz
• Helpful list from Santa Monica College
• Quiz from McGraw Hill publisher

Punctuation

These tricky little marks are EXTREMELY important in formal writing...but mistakes with these are very common.

For extra practice, visit these helpful websites:

The Semicolon:    (I love this one!)

• University of Bristol Practice exercise (CLICK HERE)
• Practice exercise from Illinois Valley Community College
• Explanation from Illinois Valley Community College
• Purdue Owl exercise
• Dakota County Technical College Writing Center quiz
• Grammar-quizzes, explanation, common mistakes and 2 practice exercises

Commas:

• University of Bristol, exercise 1
• Exercise 2
• Comma splice error practice
• Purdue owl exercise 1 (these are challenging)
• Exercise 2
• Exercise 3
• Exercise 4
• Exercise 5
• ChompChomp commas quiz
• Illinois Valley Community College practice exercise and explanation
• Grammar CCC quiz- commas in paragraphs- a great practice exercise
• Grammarbook.com comma quiz

Apostrophes:

• University of Bristol contractions exercise
• Exercise 2
• Exercise 3
• Purdue Owl printable exercise with answers
• ChompChomp exercise
• Using English quiz
• Grammar CCC quiz
• SoftSchools quiz (click "take the test")

Quotation marks:

• University of Bristol exercise
• Exercise 2
• Soft Schools practice quiz
• Grammar CCC quotation mark quiz
• Purdue Owl exercise

Comparison- Contrast Essays

Comparison-contrast writing is one common writing structure used in academics.

Here are some helpful websites that focus on this type of essay.

GENERAL ESSAY-WRITING TIPS:

1) "Wiki-How" gives you 4 excellent, very specific steps to following when writing this type of essay (CLICK HERE)

2) "About Education" also provides tips and has numerous topic suggestions (CLICK HERE)


VIDEOS:

1) Do you want to hear another explanation of how to write this type of essay? CLICK HERE to watch a "Smart English" teacher, Shaun Macleod, explain them.

2) Here is another helpful video by "Dr. Bruce." You can watch his very clear lesson and listen to his explanation of different types of Comparison-Contrast essays and situations in which we would write them (His voice is very calming...but the information is very well presented and clear!) (CLICK HERE)


LANGUAGE/LINKING WORDS (VIDEOS)

1) A GREAT "engVid" explanation on using DESPITE and ALTHOUGH...and how they mean the same but are used differently. (CLICK HERE)

2) Also from engVId- an excellent lesson looking at making comparisons with LIKE and AS (and how they are used in different situations) (CLICK HERE)

3) One more engVid looking at how to use the subordinate conjunctions (contrast) EVEN IF, EVEN THOUGH, EVEN WHEN (and some other expressions with EVEN) (CLICK HERE)

4) Very simple video explaining the use of some contrast transition words (CLICK HERE)

5) Another very simple (and short) lesson reminding us of some great words for making comparisons/contrasts (and the teachers has a wonderful British accent!) (CLICK HERE)

6) One last engVid lesson that looks at some formal transition words for showing similarity (with good examples) (CLICK HERE)


LANGUAGE/LINKING WORDS (LISTS AND PRACTICE EXERCISES)

1) EspressoEnglish presents a nice list of contrast words, with examples of how to use them AND includes a practice activity to test your skills (there might be some pop-up ads, but just click the X if one appears) (CLICK HERE)

2) A very thorough (Excellent!) list of contrast/comparison words with examples and explanations. There is a practice activity you can open at the end. (CLICK HERE) (Source: Yeditepe University Writing Center)

3) Grammar-Quizzes.com also has a very thorough explanations of these various types of words (and has a sections that mentions common mistakes). At the bottom of the page, there are 3 wonderful practice exercises. (CLICK HERE)