Collins Primary Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling

The dog bit the man and then barked.

By removing the pronoun he and adding the adverb then, you get rid of the ambiguity.

Avoiding repetition

You use pronouns to avoid repeating nouns in a piece of writing.

My aunt lives in Rome. My aunt has lived there for twenty years. My aunt works as a translator.

> My aunt lives in Rome. She has lived there for twenty years. She works as a translator.

Expressing possibility

You can express the idea of possibility or uncertainty in two ways.

Modal verbs

You can use verbs like may, might, could and should to show that something is not certain.

We may be getting a puppy.

I might not be here when you get home.

The team could be moving to a new stadium.

Robert should be able to meet you at the station.

Adverbs

You can also use certain adverbs to show that something is not definite.

Maybe we can go next week.

Perhaps you can help me with this?

She is possibly too late to join the class now.

Types of English

The way you talk to your friends is not the same way that you talk to your head teacher. We write and speak in different ways, depending on the situation.

Informal language

This is how you write to friends or close family, for example in emails or texts:

Hey how R U? Soz i missed ur call. @ lazergame with jack n anna. It was beast! cant wait 2 go again. I’ll phone u l8r. ☺

Some features of informal language:

• slang words (beast)

• contracted forms (I’ll)

• abbreviations (R U, soz, ur, n)

• smileys or emoticons (☺)

• lack of punctuation (jack, anna, cant, i)

• informal greeting (Hey)

• short simple sentences

• simple vocabulary

• numbers or symbols (2 for to, @ for at or l8r for later)

Question tags

A question tag is a short question at the end of a statement. They are used to check that the listener agrees with the speaker. They are common in speech and informal writing but you should not use them in formal writing:

You’ve cleaned your room, haven’t you?

We’re not going to that, are we?

Formal language

This is the language you should use when you are writing things for school.

Dear Mrs Jenkins

I am sorry I missed your telephone call yesterday. I was out with two of my friends, Jack and Anna. We were at an attraction called Lazergame, where you chase and shoot each other with lasers. It was really good fun and I am hoping to go again soon.

I will see you at five o’clock on Friday, assuming your train is on time.

Yours sincerely, Eve

Some of the features of formal language:

• full forms (I am, you are, I will)

• use of capital letters (I, Lazergame, Jack, Anna)

• no slang (sorry not soz)

• longer, more complex sentences

• formal opening and closing (Dear, Yours sincerely)