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Grammar
Language is made of words, which are put together to form phrases and clauses, which are in turn put together to form sentences. -
Words
A word is defined as a letter or group of letters that has meaning when spoken or written. -
Phrases
A phrase is a group of words within a clause or sentence that go together as a unit or idea. The group of words go with a ‘head’ or ‘anchor’ word. -
Clauses and sentences
To understand clause and sentence structure, it is useful to know the terms for parts of a clause. -
Common grammar questions
Find answers to 23 common questions around grammar and word usage. -
Punctuation
Learn about the basic principles of punctuation. -
Full stops, commas, semicolons and colons
Learn how and when to use a full stop, comma, semicolon and colon. -
Apostrophes
Learn how and when to use apostrophes. -
Hyphens
Learn how and when to use hyphens. -
Why make content accessible
Making content accessible has many benefits for both users and content creators, from social, business and legal perspectives. -
Hyphens in prefixes
Learn how and when to use hyphens with prefixes. -
Hyphens in suffixes
Learn how and when to use hyphens in suffixes. -
Hanging hyphens
Learn how and when to use hanging hyphens. -
Hyphenation for line breaks
Learn how to use line-break hyphenation, and what to avoid. -
Dashes, slashes and ellipses
Learn how and when to use an en dash, em dash, slash and ellipsis. -
Question marks and exclamation marks
Learn how and when to use question marks and exclamation marks. -
Understanding your users
Knowing your users is the foundation for effective communication and is one of the first steps in planning before you write. -
Brackets
Different types (shapes) of brackets have different uses. -
Quotation marks
Learn how and when to use quotation marks, and how to style long quotes. -
Symbols and special characters
Learn how to insert symbols and special characters into your content, including Greek letters, minus symbol, single and double prime symbols, nonbreaking spaces -
Spelling conventions
Most English words are spelled one way, standardised throughout the world. -
Accessibility guidelines and considerations
The main standards to use to make your work accessible are the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and the inclusive publishing approach. -
Simple word endings
Some rules can be followed for regular endings for verbs and nouns. -
Complex word endings
Many complex words are derived from simple nouns and verbs through the addition of variable endings. Learn about spelling for these complex word endings. -
Common 2-letter combinations
Digraphs are 2-letter combinations found in words inherited from classical Latin and Greek.