Writing tips from really learn English

[Т А Кузнецова]

Writing tips from really learn English

www.really-learn-english.com

 

So you want to learn to write English? That's great. Here are some tips that can help you on your way.

Writing can be difficult in any language, but even more so if it is not your native language.

One of the best ways to improve your WRITING is to do much READING.

Obviously, you should have some good vocabulary and some basic understanding of the grammar rules, but the next step is to READ.

It's priceless. You get to see vocabulary and grammar in action. You also see the typical collocations.

Now, collocations are very important. A collocation is a combination of words that is used together frequently. It's actually a common phrase.

For example:
"Commit a crime" is a typical combination of words in English. You could say "make a crime," and it wouldn't be incorrect, but many people tend to use these words together. So "commit a crime" is a collocation.

Here are some more examples of collocations:
Fully aware ("We are fully aware of the problem.")
Do homework ("I will do my homework later.")
Give a speech ("He gave a very good speech at the conference.")

There are many collocations in English. And the better you use them, the more natural your English becomes.

So how can you know the collocations of English? How can you write naturally and clearly?

READ. Eventually you will get the hang of it (= know how to do it right). You will be familiar with more vocabulary, and see more grammar in action (how it is actually used).

That will make a world of a difference to your writing

It’s important to use good vocabulary when writing; here is a good tip for using adjectives:

. The order of adjectives

A noun can have several adjectives describing it.

Examples:
"She bought a new red Italian table."
"He is a great, successful father."

There are certain rules on the correct order of these adjectives.

This is the order you should generally follow:

Determiner -> opinion -> size -> age -> shape -> color
-> origin -> material -> a word describing purpose/function

Examples:

• A nice little coffee shop
  (Determiner -> opinion -> size -> purpose/function word)
• My huge new swimming pool
  (Determiner -> size -> age -> purpose/function word)
• Several Chinese plastic cups
  (Determiner -> origin -> material)
• The round yellow ball
  (Determiner -> shape -> color)