Capitalisation is when the first letter in a word is capitalised. This can occur for many reasons - the start of a new sentence, to indicate a proper noun, in titles, and when the word appears in a professional context.
Let's have a look at some examples of when to use capitalisation.
Common nouns refer to general people, places, animals, or things, whereas proper nouns are the specific names we give them.
For example:
Now, compare the sentences:
"The girl from a country has a cat and is watching a movie" vs. "Lauren from England and her cat Bailey are watching a movie."
Both convey a similar idea, but the second version is more specific and vivid. Using proper nouns adds clarity, detail, and emphasis to your writing.
In a title, only nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs are capitalised.
This means words like cat, he, run, friendly and fast.
These words could make a title that looks like:
The reason ‘for’ and ‘a’ are not capitalised is because they are not nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, or adverbs. These will only be capitalised if they are the first word in the title, for example:
A Fast Cat Runs.
Company names and institutions, job titles, and brands will often begin with a capital letter.
Some examples of this are...
Sentence types are the different types of sentences you can come across in a written text. These can be split up into the four sentence types that indicate tone or intent and the four sentence types that are in relation to the structure of the sentence.
Using a range of sentence types in your writing can improve the readability and ensure that the meaning of the sentence is clear. Being aware of these sentence types can also aid in your own understanding when reading a text.
There are four different types of sentences that can portray tone or intent in a sentence. These are...
Here are some examples of what each of these could look like:
Every sentence is made up of a combination of clauses. There are two types of clauses; independent and dependent.
An independent clause is a clause that makes sense without any other information surrounding it whereas a dependent clause is the addition of detail or information onto the dependent clause. So, how do we use these clauses to form sentences?
The first sentence we will look at is a simple sentence. This is made up of a singular independent clause. A simple sentence may look like “Annie turned on a film” or “The cat meowed” These sentences are not split up into different sections by the use of commas or multiple clauses.
The next type of sentence is a complex sentence. These are made up by combining one independent clause with one or more dependent clauses. This may look like “Joe cried because the film upset him”. By using the connective “because” we can see that this sentence has two parts. The first part “Joe cried” is the independent clause and then the dependent clause “because the film upset him” adds detail to this sentence and informs the reader of why Joe was crying.
Then we have compound sentences. This sentence type is made up of two or more independent clauses. This means that each part of the sentence needs to make sense on its own. This could appear as “Joe cried and Annie laughed” or “The cat had a black tail and the dog had a brown tail”. Using the connective ‘and’ shows that these are separate pieces of information rather than the ‘because’ we used in the complex sentence to add detail.
The last sentence type is a complex-compound sentence. These types of sentences include two or more independent clauses as well as one or more dependent clauses. As an example, this could show up as “Joe cried because the film was sad and Annie laughed”. Here we can see the first independent clause “Joe cried” followed by the dependent clause “because the film was sad” and then ends with a second independent clause of “Annie laughed".
Using a variety of these sentences within your essay will help not only the detail you can include but also the readability and level of interest you can invoke from readers.
Hedging your writing will make your sentences seem vague and unconvincing; but how can you tell if you are using hedges?
If your writing often features words such as ‘would’ or ‘can’ or ‘might’, then you are hedging your writing.
Saying ‘This might mean that the dog was brown’ shows that you as the writer are unsure if the point you are making is accurate. Instead, try ‘The description indicates that the dog is brown’. This is still tentative enough to allow for your own interpretation of the text but shows the reader that you are sure of your point. From your reading, the dog is brown.
Would, can and might are all forms of modal verbs. Depending on which modal verbs you choose, you can make your writing more authoritative or you can hedge your point.
Modal verbs that can be used in your writing to show you believe the point you are making include clearly, clear, certainly and definitely. These can be used within sentences such as:
Connectives are how we create complex, compound and complex-compound sentences and also how we follow on from the end of a sentence or paragraph.
If you are using a connective in order to create a longer sentence you could use lexis such as ‘because’, ‘and’, or ‘but’. For example…
I like reading because it is fun and interesting but sometimes it can take a while.
You don’t need to use multiple connectives in your sentences, often this can make the sentence run on and lose clarity. However, if you do want to use multiple connectives in the same sentence try to use varying connectives rather than saying ‘this and this and this and this’ – it’s repetitive.
See that last line in the paragraph above? It starts with ‘however’. This is a good connective to begin a sentence with as it addresses the sentence before and shows that this next sentence will have an alternate view. Other connectives that can be used for this are ‘although’, ‘on the other hand’, ‘nevertheless’ or ‘in contrast’. You will notice that some of these are phrases rather than words but they are still classed as connectives.
If you wanted to show that the following sentence or paragraph will agree with the point made previously you could use ‘in addition’, ‘moreover’, or ‘similarly to this’
Synonyms are different words with the same or similar meaning but be careful with these though as the meaning correlates with the context. For example…
Magnanimous can mean big. However, it is big in terms of a big gesture, rather than big in size scale. So, you could say That was very magnanimous of you but probably wouldn’t want to write that The park was magnanimous.
One of the more helpful ways to use synonyms is to replace the word ‘said’ to add tone or more information about the way in which the dialogue was said. Synonyms for ‘said’ include:
While synonyms can be helpful for adding information and making your writing more professional, using synonyms is only helpful if you know the meaning of the new word. If you are unsure if it will work in the context of your sentence, it is worth finding out this information before using synonyms in your own writing.
Using the correct tense in your academic writing seems simple but there are a few aspects that can trip you up.
The most prominent of these is when you are talking about a theorist or quoting someone for their ideas on the topic. If the speaker is now deceased, you need to use the past tense when you write about them e.g.
Catherine Belsey was a prominent theorist of poststructuralism.
You will also need to say phrases such as “they believed…” and if quoting them directly the past tense “said” must be used rather than “says”.
If you are talking about your own ideas and beliefs on the topic you can write in the present tense. This is the same for if you are discussing a theorist/ academic/ other individual who is still alive. You can, however, still use the past tense if you are quoting something that they have said previously.
In academic writing, you are required to write formally. This doesn't mean you should try and cram every big or impressive word you know into your sentences until they become almost illegible.
Writing formally is a lot simpler than you might think. This section of the Skills Guide will outline three areas where most common mistakes occur:
When writing an essay, you should avoid using contractions as they are not formal.
Contractions are usually marked by an apostrophe to represent where the letters have been removed from.
In ‘don’t’ the o from not has been replaced by an apostrophe between the n and t.
There will be times when formal language is necessary, especially in academic writing, but that doesn’t mean you have to change who you are.
Think about how your language shifts depending on who you're talking to. When you're with friends, you might use slang, joke around, and not worry about grammar or punctuation. In contrast, if you're in a job interview or writing a cover letter, your tone becomes more formal and polished. You've likely been adjusting your language in different situations for years, often without even noticing!
Essays are one of those situations where formal language is expected. Since essays are a form of academic writing, they need to be clear, structured, and formal in tone.
Slang is part of everyday speech for many. The dictionary expands to include many slang words as they come into common use. This means it may be hard to notice when you are using slang words.
If you are unsure of whether you have used a slang word, it may be beneficial to type it into a Word document and right click on it to use the synonyms feature. If the synonyms suggested do not have similar meanings to the word you intended, then you are likely using slang. ‘Totes’ for example, meaning ‘totally’ 'certainly' or 'absolutely' when using the synonym function returns as 'tote bags', ‘carts’ or ‘carriers’ which indicates totes, in this instance, is slang.
Hopefully these quick guides have helped you to improve your academic writing and enabled you to spot common mistakes that you could be making. Let us know with the poll below if you have improved your grammar skills over the duration of this guide.