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Grammar & punctuation for writing

Do you get feedback like this on your writing?

  • “ what do you mean?"
  • "sentences are too long"
  • "too many grammatical errors"
  • “punctuation needs improvement”

You can use grammar and punctuation to organise your sentences and write clearly.

Example sentence

Example academic sentence

Video (1:35)

More examples & explanation
Punctuation: commas and full-stops

Compound sentences are one way to show the relationship between one sentence and another sentence. The connector goes in the middle.

Example compound sentence

example compound sentence The structure in the above example uses the connector ‘but’ to contrast two sentences. This structure is particularly useful when you want to show different points of view.

List of connectors & punctuation (PDF)

Video (1:19)

More examples & explanation
Punctuation: commas

In complex sentences, a connector is used to show the relationship between one sentence and another sentence. The connector can go at the start or in the middle.

Example complex sentence

example complex sentence

The structure in the above example uses the connector ‘although’ to contrast two sentences. This structure is particularly useful when you wish to contrast research findings or readings.

List of connectors & punctuation (PDF)

Video (1:30)

More examples of different ways to join sentences
Punctuation: commas