Spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPaG)
"Students should be able to communicate their ideas effectively. This means their written work must be of a high standard, with correct spelling, punctuation and grammar. It is not possible to analyse and explore complex theories and arguments without being able to write well, and universities should recognise this as they assess their students." — Susan Lapworth, Director of Regulation at the Office for Students.
Here are some spelling rules and tools that will help you with your studies.
| Whose |
Belonging to e.g. Whose books are those on the table? |
Who's |
A contraction of who is e.g. Who's going to the library today? |
| Their |
Belonging to them e.g. Their books are on the table. |
There |
In or at that place e.g. There are six books on the table. Six books are over there. |
| They're |
A contraction of they are e.g. They're not going to put the books away. |
||
| It's |
A contraction of it is e.g. It's quiet in the library today. |
Its |
Belonging to it e.g. Its cafe is warm. |
| To |
Expressing motion or direction or to indicate the infinitive of a verb e.g. Where are you going to? What are we going to do? |
Two |
The number 2 e.g. Two apples |
| Too |
Meaning as well/ also or too much e.g. I am going to the library. You can come too. It is too noisy in the library today. |
Words ending in ‘e’ often lose the ‘e’ when a suffix* – the ending which is added to a word – begins with a vowel**or when a ‘y’ is added.
For example:
desire + able = desirable
criticise + ing = criticising
advise + ory = advisory
educate + ion = education
arrive + al = arrival
close + ure = closure
noise + y = noisy
However, there are some exceptions to this general rule, and the ‘e’ is kept.
For example:
like + able = likeable
stripe + y = stripey*
* Some examples of suffixes are -ing, -ed, -er, -ory, -able, -al, -ure, -y
**A vowel is a, e, i, o or u.
There are times when words end in ‘e’ and do not lose the ‘e’ when a suffix is added. This is the case when the suffix begins with a consonant***, such as:-ness, -ly, -ment, -ful, -less, etc.
For example:
sincere + ly = sincerely
late + ly = lately
polite + ness = politeness
place + ment = placement
complete + ly = completely
blame + less = blameless
However, there are also some exceptions to this rule. In some cases, the ‘e’ is dropped before the (consonantal) suffix.
For example:
argue + ment = argument
wise + dom = wisdom
true + th = truth
true + ly = truly
nine + th = ninth
***a letter which is not a vowel such as b, c, d, f, g, h, etc.
You can use the spell checker on Word to proof read your document or try an app like Grammarly which is a cloud-based typing assistant that reviews spelling, grammar and punctuation and suggests replacements for the identified errors.
However, whichever tool you use, do take note of the corrections and try to learn from the suggestions so that your writing becomes stronger over time.