Text · pillar 16 of 16

Style & mechanics

19 lessons from A1 to C2 · 76 grammar points

Mindmap: Style from A1 to C2

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# 16 Style & mechanics ## A1 - Capital letter at the start of a sentence and for I - Capitals for names of people and places - Period (full stop) and question mark ## A2 - Contractions (I'm, don't, can't, won't) - 's = is or has; 'd = had or would - Apostrophe for possession, never for plurals - Commas in lists - Capitals for days, months, languages, nationalities and titles - Nationality adjectives and nouns (Iranian, Persian, Dutch, Swiss) - Vocatives and forms of address (Come here, John; Thank you, Mr. Smith) and their commas ## B1 - Commas after introductory words and clauses - Commas around extra information - Direct speech: quotation marks and punctuation ## B2 - Colons and semicolons - Dashes and hyphens - Simple, compound and complex sentences - Run-on sentences, comma splices and fragments ## C1 - Formal vs informal grammar - One-word (Latinate) verbs vs phrasal verbs - Contractions and formality - The grammar of politeness (indirectness, softening) - Heads and tails (That film, it was great. / He's nice, your brother.) - Spoken ellipsis (Sounds good. Want a coffee?) - Vague language (and stuff, sort of, or something) - Semicolons with linking adverbs - Colons for explanation and emphasis - Parentheses and dashes for asides - Punctuating long sentences clearly ## C2 - Mandative subjunctive (insist / demand / recommend that he be) - Formulaic subjunctive (Be that as it may, Come what may, Suffice it to say, Far be it from me, So be it, If need be, Long live…) - were-subjunctive (If I were…, as it were) - British should alternative (I suggest that he should…) - May you be happy (wishes) - Response tokens (Absolutely. Fair enough. Exactly.) - mind you, as it happens, come to think of it, that said - Quotative be like / go (And she was like, “No way!”) - Impersonal academic style - Tenses for citing research (Smith argues / argued / has argued) - Nominal style in academic writing - Tricolon and lists of three - Antithesis and chiasmus - Anaphora (repetition at the start of clauses) - Emphatic structures for persuasion - Headline grammar (PM to quit; Jobs cut) - Notes, signs, recipes and instructions - Messages and texting conventions - thou, thee, thy, thine (for recognition) - -eth / -est verb endings (for recognition) - whence, whither, hence, thence - Poetic word order - US vs UK verbs: gotten, have got, shall, present perfect use - US vs UK prepositions: on/at the weekend, different from/than/to - US vs UK collective nouns - US vs UK use of the subjunctive - Australian, Indian and other Englishes - who vs whom in real usage - Ending a sentence with a preposition - less vs fewer in real usage - data is / data are - between you and I - Starting a sentence with And or But - Double negatives in dialects - The serial (Oxford) comma - Restrictive vs non-restrictive commas - Hyphenation rules - En and em dashes - Ellipsis marks (…) - Quotation punctuation: US vs UK - Verbal over nominal style for clarity - Redundant pairs and empty phrases - Cutting wordiness - The most common learner errors - Common native-speaker errors (your / you're, its / it's, could of) - An editing checklist - Non-standard agreement in speech (we was, he don't, there's three people), for recognition - Repairs, false starts and unfinished sentences in speech

Lessons in this pillar

A1.2Capital letters, full stops & question marksMiniSoonComing soon
A2.6Contractions & apostrophesMiniSoonComing soon
A2.47Commas in lists & capital lettersMiniSoonComing soon
B1.50Commas & direct speechMiniSoonComing soon
B2.49Colons, semicolons, dashes & sentence typesCoreSoonComing soon
C1.36Register: formal & informal grammarCoreSoonComing soon
C1.37Spoken grammar 1CoreSoonComing soon
C1.39Punctuation 4: long sentencesMiniSoonComing soon
C2.1The subjunctiveCoreSoonComing soon
C2.19Spoken grammar 2CoreSoonComing soon
C2.20Academic grammarCoreSoonComing soon
C2.22The grammar of rhetoricCoreSoonComing soon
C2.23Telegraphic grammar: headlines & notesMiniSoonComing soon
C2.24Literary & archaic formsMiniSoonComing soon
C2.25US vs UK grammar & other EnglishesCoreSoonComing soon
C2.26Prescriptive rules vs real usageCoreSoonComing soon
C2.28Expert punctuationCoreSoonComing soon
C2.29ConcisionMiniSoonComing soon
C2.30Error mastery: the 100 most common errorsCoreSoonComing soon

Every grammar point

The complete checklist for this pillar. Nothing is left out.

A1

Capital letter at the start of a sentence and for I
Capitals for names of people and places
Period (full stop) and question mark

A2

Contractions (I'm, don't, can't, won't)
's = is or has; 'd = had or would
Apostrophe for possession, never for plurals
Commas in lists
Capitals for days, months, languages, nationalities and titles
Nationality adjectives and nouns (Iranian, Persian, Dutch, Swiss)
Vocatives and forms of address (Come here, John; Thank you, Mr. Smith) and their commas

B1

Commas after introductory words and clauses
Commas around extra information
Direct speech: quotation marks and punctuation

B2

Colons and semicolons
Dashes and hyphens
Simple, compound and complex sentences
Run-on sentences, comma splices and fragments

C1

Formal vs informal grammar
One-word (Latinate) verbs vs phrasal verbs
Contractions and formality
The grammar of politeness (indirectness, softening)
Heads and tails (That film, it was great. / He's nice, your brother.)
Spoken ellipsis (Sounds good. Want a coffee?)
Vague language (and stuff, sort of, or something)
Semicolons with linking adverbs
Colons for explanation and emphasis
Parentheses and dashes for asides
Punctuating long sentences clearly

C2

Mandative subjunctive (insist / demand / recommend that he be)
Formulaic subjunctive (Be that as it may, Come what may, Suffice it to say, Far be it from me, So be it, If need be, Long live…)
were-subjunctive (If I were…, as it were)
British should alternative (I suggest that he should…)
May you be happy (wishes)
Response tokens (Absolutely. Fair enough. Exactly.)
mind you, as it happens, come to think of it, that said
Quotative be like / go (And she was like, “No way!”)
Impersonal academic style
Tenses for citing research (Smith argues / argued / has argued)
Nominal style in academic writing
Tricolon and lists of three
Antithesis and chiasmus
Anaphora (repetition at the start of clauses)
Emphatic structures for persuasion
Headline grammar (PM to quit; Jobs cut)
Notes, signs, recipes and instructions
Messages and texting conventions
thou, thee, thy, thine (for recognition)
-eth / -est verb endings (for recognition)
whence, whither, hence, thence
Poetic word order
US vs UK verbs: gotten, have got, shall, present perfect use
US vs UK prepositions: on/at the weekend, different from/than/to
US vs UK collective nouns
US vs UK use of the subjunctive
Australian, Indian and other Englishes
who vs whom in real usage
Ending a sentence with a preposition
less vs fewer in real usage
data is / data are
between you and I
Starting a sentence with And or But
Double negatives in dialects
The serial (Oxford) comma
Restrictive vs non-restrictive commas
Hyphenation rules
En and em dashes
Ellipsis marks (…)
Quotation punctuation: US vs UK
Verbal over nominal style for clarity
Redundant pairs and empty phrases
Cutting wordiness
The most common learner errors
Common native-speaker errors (your / you're, its / it's, could of)
An editing checklist
Non-standard agreement in speech (we was, he don't, there's three people), for recognition
Repairs, false starts and unfinished sentences in speech