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English as a Second Language

COM writing fellows often tutor non-native English speakers. We understand the unique challenges that English as a Second Language (ESL) students face with their writing.

The following is a list of online grammar fact sheets that deal with common problems ESL students often encounter:

The Paragraph

What is a paragraph?

A paragraph is a group of sentences that develops and organizes a single idea.

How do I organize a paragraph?

Before you write, define a topic for yourself.

Exactly what do you want to develop? Brainstorm.

Second, define your purpose. You have a lot of choices. You might want to explain your idea, criticize it, compare it to another idea, or describe your idea.

Third, write a topic sentence.

This is a first sentence that identifies your topic and attitude.

Fourth, develop support for your topic sentence.

Jot down ideas that support your topic sentence. This is where sources come in. Your own thoughts are appropriate here, too.

How do I construct a paragraph from my ideas?

Read your topic sentence and adjust it if you have developed a clearer understanding of your topic.

Set aside any items or sentences that do not really develop the topic and save them for another paragraph.

Choose a logical order for the ideas that support your topic sentence.

How do I know if I did a good job?

When you're finished, read the paragraph aloud to yourself.

Ask yourself,

  • Do all the ideas support the topic sentence?
  • Is each idea clearly linked to the sentences that precede and follow it?
  • Does the whole paragraph develop and organize a single idea?

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Prepositions

What are prepositions?

A preposition is a word that links a noun or pronoun to the rest of a sentence. The combination of a preposition and a noun, pronoun, and modifiers is called a prepositional phrase.*

Here are some examples of the proper prepositions for situations in which the wrong preposition is commonly chosen:

Dates/Time:

  • "She was promoted on January 31."
  • "The paper must be complete by Monday."
  • "It was after six o'clock when the game ended."

Places:

  • "The party was held in the GSU ballroom." (a specific room or building).
  • "My classes were held on the fourth floor." (a general place).
  • "He got his degree from the College of Communication." (an institution)
  • "He studied at Harvard." (an institution)
  • "The man with amnesia wandered about the room." (direction)
  • "Pierre and Anne live just north of here." (direction)

Other examples:

  • "She has a great love for classical music."
  • "Dialogue adds reality to the film."
  • "This family is different from other families we have seen."
  • "Actually, the robbery resulted from her carelessness."
  • "They believe in the legend."
  • "I acted like I was interested in him."
  • "John decided to go with them."
  • "No one decided to go with them."
  • "I agree with the man who is speaking."
  • "How does a small car compare with a large car?"
  • "It is difficult to explain a problem to students who aren't curious."
  • "It is not nice to talk about people when they are not present."

*This definition was taken from the Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers, second edition, by Hairston Ruszkiewicz.

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Articles

What are articles?

articles = A, AN, and THE

Always place articles right before the noun in a sentence. Think of an article as a DETERMINER. The article DETERMINES which noun you will be describing.

Examples:

A book, THE car, AN apple

How to use the two types of articles:

Generic articles include "A" and "AN." Try to think of these articles as generic. This means that they modify non-specific nouns. "An apple" refers to any apple in the orchard.

  • Always use the article "a" before nouns that begin with a consonant sound, i.e. a class, teacher, a picnic, a history, a union.
  • Always use the article "an" before nouns that begin with a vowel sound, i.e. an attic, an ice cube, an encyclopedia.

"THE" is the only specific article. Think of "the" as referring to a specific person, place, or thing. "The apple" is referring to a particular apple in the orchard.

  • "Today we saw a dolphin (GENERIC) in the ocean."
  • "The dophin (SPECIFIC) jumped over the waves."
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Commas: Grammatical Rules

What are commas for?

USE the comma for pause and for clarity in a sentence. Follow the six rules below:

  1. Put commas between items in a list, keeping in mind that commas before conjunctions (and, but, or . . . ) are optional.
    • "Today will be warm, rainy(,) and windy."
  2. Put commas between coordinate adjectives.
    • "It is a warm, rainy day."
  3. Put commas after introductory phrases or dependent clauses.
    • "Because it is rainy, I'm not going to jog today."
  4. Put a comma before a coordinating conjunction in a compound sentence.
    • "It is rainy, but I'm going to job anyway."
  5. Put commas around an inessential dependant clause.
    • "The runner, who is my friend Joe, is the fastest in the race."
  6. Put commas around parenthetical expressions or interrupters.
    • "The winner, unfortunately, will be too tired to party tonight."

What if I'm not sure I need a comma?

When in doubt, leave it out.

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Commas: Mechanical Rules

Commas used in certain formal ways follow different rules.

  • Use commas to set off individual elements in addresses and names of geographical places.
    • "Mail your letter to me at 81 Bay State Road, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, as soon as you can."
    • "I vacationed in Florence, Italy, last summer."
  • Use commas in opening and closing letters.
    • "Dear Mr. Adams,"
    • "Sincerely,"
  • Always use a comma in direct address.
    • "Michael, do you hear me?"
  • Commas (and periods) always go inside quotation marks.
    • He said "I like blue ties," to the sales clerk.
  • Use a comma to set off inverted names in bibliographies, in indexes, in directories, or in other reference lists.
    • "Cleveland, Orford B."
    • "Rabinowitz, Melvin, D.C."
    • "Babineau, Celeau"
    • "Laszlo, Stephen, M.D."
  • Use a comma to separate a name from a title or degree that follows it.
    • "Arthur Brookins Cudworth, Dean of McGrath Law School"
    • "S. Anderson, Ph.D."
    • Note: A comma is optional before Jr. and Sr. following a name.
      "John Lyons, Jr., presided."
      "John Lyons Jr., presided."
    • Note: Omit periods and commas before and after II,III, and IV with names.
      "Henry Lord III conducted the meeting."
  • Use a comma in dates.
    • "The University of Southern North Dakota was founded at Hoople on April 1, 1958."
    • Note: A comma may be used to separate the month from the year when the date is omitted, as June, 1982; current usage, however, permits June 1982.
      " Record temperatures were set in June 1982 in New York."
  • Use a comma to set off figures in groups of more than four digits, as 1,000,000.
    • "On November 14, 379 stocks at the highest for the year."
    • "Instead of thousands, millions were spent."
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