Pre-Writing Session

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 Sentences

Sentence: a group of words, usually containing a verb, that expresses a thought in

the form of a statement, question, or exclamation.

EX: Mike is walking.

EX: What is the best way to learn about cooking?

EX: How dare you copy my answers!

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 Clauses
Clause: a group of words with a subject and a verb.

➢ The quickest way to identify whether a group of words is a phrase or a clause is to look for both a subject
and a verb. If you can find both, then it's a clause. If you can only find one or the other, then it's a phrase.

Independent clause: a clause that can form a complete sentence standing alone.

EX: I enjoy sitting by the fireplace.

Dependent clause : a group of words that contains a subject and verb but does not express a complete
thought or meaning.

EX: When the president arrived.

EX: Which is located in Italy.
EX: That you are listening.

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 Types of Sentences

Simple Sentence: a sentence consists of only One Independent clause with a single subject and a verb.

EX: Mike doesn't teach math.

EX: Mom and dad cocked the dinner yesterday.

Compound Sentence: a sentence that connects Two Independent clauses, typically with a
coordinating conjunction.

Coordinating conjunctions: (FOR, AND, NOR, SO, BUT, OR, YET)

EX: Yesterday I woke up early, but I didn't go to the university.

EX: I like coffee, and my brother likes tea.

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 Types of Sentences

Complex Sentence: a sentence with One Independent clause and at least One Dependent clause
typically with a subordinating conjunction.

Subordinating conjunctions: although, after, before, because, how, if, once, since, as, that, until,
unless, when, while, etc.

EX: John doesn’t like playing football because he has health issues.
EX: Julia decided to go to the conference in Amman as she was in Jordan anyway.

➢ When the dependent clause is placed before the independent clause, the two clauses are divided by
a comma; otherwise, no punctuation is necessary.

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 Types of Sentences

EX: I hope they’ve decided to come as I wanted to hear about their trip to India.

EX: As I wanted to hear about their trip to India, I hope they’ve decided to come.

EX: Anna always eats at home because she likes cooking.

EX: Because she likes cooking, Anna always eats at home.

Compound-Complex Sentence: has at least Two Independent clauses joined to One or more
dependent clauses.
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EX: We won the game last week, but my uniform was muddy because it rained the entire time.

EX: I forgot my friend's birthday, but I sent him a card when I finally remembered.

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 How to construct compound complex sentence

IC + Coordinating conjunction + Complex sentence.

IC, and / but + IC because / as + IC / DC.

➢ Begin with two independent clauses:

1- I like to play football.

2- My brother likes to play chess.

➢ Then combine the independent clauses to form a compound sentence:

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 How to construct compound complex sentence

I like to play football, but my brother likes to play chess.

➢ Now, add a dependent or independent clause to your compound sentence

to create a compound-complex sentence:

I like to play football, but my brother likes to play chess because he is smart.

EX: I felt confident at the begging of the exam, but I started to feel stressed as the
questions got harder.

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 Compound Adjectives

➢ A compound word is any word that’s made up of two or more words.

➢ Compound adjectives: are compound words that act as adjectives, and they describe nouns.
EX: A recent article was published by a well-known American professor revealed that there are
several advantages for the internet.
EX: The department has a higher-than-normal proportion of postgraduate students.
EX: The railway makes long-distance travel possible for everyone.
EX: We went on a 5-day trip last month.
EX: Please read this up-to-date report.

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 Compound Adjectives

➢ Compound adjectives should be adjectives for nouns to be hyphenated.

EX: They say I have a problem-solving mind.

EX: I’m good at problem solving.

➢ When a compound adjective follows a noun, a hyphen is usually not

necessary.

EX: I have 30-year-old brother.

EX: My brother is 30 years old.

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 When do we use the article (the) ?

➢ The definite article (the) is used before a noun to indicate that the identity
of the noun is known to the reader.

1- Use (a/an) with general nouns.

EX: I’m hungry. I want a sandwich.

2- Use (the) with specific nouns.

EX: Can you pass me the blue pen?

EX: The dog that follows me home every day is really friendly.

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 When do we use the article (the) ?

3- Use (the) when there is only one of something.

EX: the sun, the moon, the earth.

EX: the door, the whiteboard, the teacher’s desk (in your classroom).
EX: the library, the bank (in a town).

4-Use (the) when it’s the second mention of the noun.

EX: I saw a movie last night. The movie was so boring that I fell asleep.

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 Subject Verb Agreement

1- If the subject is singular, the verb must be singular too.

EX: She writes every day.

2- If the subject is plural, the verb must also be plural.

EX: They write every day.

3- When the subject of the sentence is composed of two or more nouns or pronouns
connected by and, use a plural verb.

EX: my mom and dad are proud of my.

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 Subject Verb Agreement

4 - When there is one subject and more than one verb, the verbs throughout the
sentence must agree with the subject.

EX: Interviews are one way to collect data and allow researchers to gain an in-depth understanding
of participants.

5 - When a phrase comes between the subject and the verb, remember that the verb
still agrees with the subject, not the noun or pronoun in the phrase following the
subject of the sentence.

EX: The student with all the master’s degrees is very motivated.

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 Subject Verb Agreement

6 - When two or more singular nouns or pronouns are connected by "or" or "nor,"
use a singular verb.

EX: Peter or john is coming.

7- When a compound subject contains both a singular and a plural noun or pronoun
joined by "or" or "nor," the verb should agree with the part of the subject that is
closest to the verb.

EX: The student or the committee members write every day.

EX: The committee members or the student writes every day.

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 Subject Verb Agreement
8 - The words and phrases "each," "each one," "either," "neither," "everyone,"
"everybody," "anyone," "anybody," "nobody," "somebody," "someone," and "no
one" are singular and require a singular verb.

EX: I will offer a $5 gift card to everybody who participates in the study.

9- Uncountable nouns take a singular verb.

EX: The information obtained from the business owners was relevant to include in the study.

10- Some countable nouns in English such as earnings, goods, odds, surroundings,
proceeds and valuables only have a plural form and take a plural verb.

EX: The earnings for this quarter exceed expectations.

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 Subject Verb Agreement

11- Collective nouns are words that imply more than one person but are considered
singular and take a singular verb. Some examples are "group," "team,"
"committee" and "family“.

EX: The team is organising the event.

However, the plural verb is used if the focus is on the individuals in the group. This is
much less common.

EX: The team are meeting today.

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 Subject Verb Agreement

12- Sometimes the subject is tricky to find in English sentences, it’s not always before
the noun, so you need to make sure to identify which is the subject before you choose
the verb form.

EX: It is quite reasonable for me to believe that the idea of promoting schools provides several
benefits.

EX: The discussion proves that the role of students has become a crucial part of our lives.

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 Capitalization

The first word in the sentence The train was late.

The pronoun I What can I say?

I'll be seeing her again next Monday
Days, months and holidays They had a very happy Christmas this year.
This will be our last October in New England.
Nationalities He is Jordanian.

Languages I can speak both Arabic and English.

Abbreviations and acronyms He lives in the USA.

Proper nouns She works for Sony.

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 American V.S British Spelling

American British
Doubled consonants enroll enrol

-ence v.s –ense defense defence

Final –e program programme
-our v.s –or color colour
-re v.s –er center centre
yse v.s –yze analyze analyse
-ize v.s –ise organize organise

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 Punctuation Marks

Period (.) To declare the end of a sentence

Question Mark (?) To complete sentences that form a direct question
(Exclamation mark) (!) To end an exclamatory sentence
Comma (,) - between Independent Clauses
- after Introductory
- Series Comma

Colon (:) To introduce a series / list to describe some new

information after a complete sentence

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 Punctuation Marks

Semicolon (;) It almost likes period, but it connects

two independent clauses
Hyphen (-) To combine words together to make compound
nouns / adjectives
Apostrophe (’) To indicate possession and the exclusion of letters in
contractions.
Dash (–) A dash hints a brief break in thought or helps to add
information to a sentence.
Quotation Marks (‘...’ / “...”) Are used for enclosing direct quotations of written
or spoken words of others

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 Spelling Rules

Definition of common terms:

➢ Suffix: groups of letters attached to the end of a word to change the word’s meaning.

➢ Prefix: groups of letters attached to the beginning of a word to change the word’s meaning.

Spelling Rules:

1) Use i before e, except after c.

Examples: piece, chief, achieve, ceiling, receive, perceive.

Some exceptions: neighbour, weird, height, neither, weigh, foreign.

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 Spelling Rules

2) Drop the final e in a word before adding a suffix beginning with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) but not before a
suffix beginning with a consonant.

Examples: ride + ing = riding, guide + ance = guidance, like + ness = likeness, arrange + ment = arrangement.

3) The letter q is usually followed by u.

Examples: queen, quick, quality.

4) The letter s never follows x, so when you make a word plural, if the word ends with x add es.

Examples: box = boxes, flex = flexes

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 Spelling Rules

5) To make a word plural, if the word ends with a consonant and y, change the y to an i and add es.

Example: ‘baby’ plural is ‘babies’.

6) Words ending in a vowel and y can add the suffix -ed or -ing without making any other change.

Examples: buying, delaying, employed.

7) The consonants v, j, k, w and x are never doubled.

8) Most common prefixes and suffixes in English:

-tion: description, application, calculations.

-sion: discussion, commissioners, concession.

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 Spelling Rules
-ment: development, department, employment.

-ence: experience, influence, reference.

-ance: advance, balance, dance.

-ship: internship, entrepreneurship, professorship.

-age: language, page, advantages.

-ive: creative, elective, interactive.

-ness: witnesses, awareness, business.

-tive: perspectives, quantitative, representatives.

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 Spelling Rules

-ous: serious, thousand, various.

-ious: prestigious, previously, mysterious.

-ful: successful, useful, beautiful.

-est: greatest, honest, interest.

-able: sustainable, unavoidable, usable.

-ible: possible, visible, accessible.

-ness: witnesses, awareness, business.

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 General Notes

➢ How do we type an apostrophe using the keyboard?

EX: Because reading will enrich people's knowledge.

➢ How do we type a period using the keyboard?

EX: Winners Academy is the best.

➢ How do we type hyphen using the keyboard?

EX: A well-known American professor revealed that there are several advantages for the
internet.

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 General Notes
➢ We only use a space after punctuation marks except (hyphen and dash).

EX: Winners Academy is the best.

EX: I like coffee, and my brother likes tea.
EX: I have 30-year-old brother.

➢ Double the space between paragraphs?

In my opinion, I totally agree that the importance of the internet, has increased dramatically. This essay
will further elaborate my view of the positive and negative effects of the topic.

First of all, the leading proponents claim that there are several positives for the internet, while
determined opponents reject this notion because the effects could be extended to the next generations.

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