Best Ways To Improve Your Academic Writing Skills

Punctuation And Grammar are the best ways to improve your academic writing skills whether it is thesis writing, dissertation writing, doing assignments or essay writing, etc.

Bad Syntax

The formal term used to describe sentence structure is “syntax.” It is crucial because poorly organised sentences make it difficult for the reader (and the marker) to understand the content. In contrast, well-organized sentences make meaning obvious and simple.

Although it might be claimed that the current legal framework for determining whether something is a fixture or fitting is confusing and incoherent,…

To use the author’s own words, the word order in this statement is “very sloppy and incoherent.” Although it may be claimed that the current law for determining whether something is a fixture or fitting is somewhat confusing and nonsensical…, a minor rearrangement using the same vocabulary makes the sentence more clearer and more reasonable.

Playing with the syntax might change the meaning of your phrase. Consider the most effective sentence and word order. Try rearranging the words in a sentence if you are having trouble getting your point across.

Inappropriate Use Of Tense

Be consistent with your use of the appropriate tense. Use the present tense when introducing and debating other people’s viewpoints, such as “Mills believes” or “Mills asserts” rather than “Mills believed” or “Mills claimed.” They sound out-of-date when expressed in the past tense, and it implies that their attitudes may have evolved since then. However, if the subject has been dead for a while or was writing in a different age, it can be fair to use the past tense.

Example for students: “A few years ago, Robert P. Crease asked doctors what they believed to be the most exquisite experiment of all time.”

The author changes the tense in this phrase. The sentence begins in the past tense with “A few years ago, Robert P. Crease questioned physicians…” before switching to the present tense with “…what they think is the most beautiful experiment of all time.” The assertion can be false as well as unclear because the doctors could have altered their minds since being questioned. All that is clear is that the experiment they chose was the one they considered to be the most attractive at the moment.

The future tense is frequently used in the introductions to writings, as in “The objective of this essay will be to investigate… ” or “This essay will explore… ” Writing in the present tense, such as “The objective of this essay is to examine…,” or “This essay explores…,” can sound more confident and assured than writing in the future tense.

Incorrect Use Of Prepositions

What do prepositions mean? Prepositions are words that specify where and how nouns move within a phrase (for more information, see Parts of Speech). Because they frequently seem to sound right in a sentence, they are quite simple to employ incorrectly.

The trick is to take a step back and consider each one to see if it accurately describes the correct stance or movement.

Student example: “We no longer know our neighbours nearby and have cut off ties with other parts of society.” Since there are so many of us, we appear to have lost our sense of belonging and have blended into society.

This sample contains several instances of the author using the incorrect preposition. He or she has misinterpreted the link between the subject of the phrase (“ourselves”) and the object of the sentence (“fellow members of society”). You cannot “disconnect with,” as “with” indicates “with,” you can only disconnect “from.”

We seem to have lost, which sounds a bit like “ave,” is a typical conversational error made by the author in the second part of the phrase when they use “of” instead of “have.” The line would read “There are so many of us now that we have lost a sense of community” if the author simplified it and deleted the clause (“seem to”), which is likely what has confused readers and is more obviously erroneous. ‘On’ is used in place of ‘in’ in the sentence’s concluding clause.

Prepositions should be used correctly to demonstrate mental clarity and a solid grasp of the connections between the various parts of the sentence. Consider carefully where and how nouns are used in your sentences. Is so-and-so involved in or on that? Is this or that going to or coming from this person?

Incorrect Use Of Colons And Semi-Colons

Despite having a similar appearance and sound, colons and semicolons differ greatly. They should only be used if you are certain that you understand them because they can usually be avoided.

The following example, in which both the man and the woman are parties to a marriage, demonstrates the issue.

A colon should have been used in place of the semicolon in this sentence. The purpose of the comma is to connect the two parts of the phrase, which are I a claim or statement (‘This difficulty may also be seen in the following example’) and (ii) an explanation, example, or proof (‘in a marriage both the man and the woman…’). Sometimes, this colon usage is known as a “why-because” identifier (Cutts, 1995: 83).

On the other hand, semi-colons differ significantly from colons. A semicolon should be used to separate any two statements (or clauses) that may both stand alone as complete sentences and are related in some way. For instance, “There are numerous uses for semi-colons; used properly, they can be incredibly versatile.”

Despite its crude appearance, the colon in the human body is a highly useful comparison for the punctuation colon, especially in terms of how it serves as a “why-because marker” (note that colons can also be used to introduce a list of things, a contrast, and direct speaking). According to biology, the colon is where one item (in this case, food) changes into another (waste). A grammatical colon similarly distinguishes between (A) the introduction of something, like as an idea or a claim, and (B) the justification for that notion or claim.

Incorrect Use Of Apostrophes

The most frequently overused punctuation mark is probably the apostrophe. They are referred to as “errant tadpoles” (Cutts, 1995: 89) and, if employed improperly, can entirely obfuscate the meaning of a statement.

The legislation does not address further occurrences, such as the case where a lost item ends up on a landowner’s property.

Because the land belongs to the landowner, “landowners” in this line should be changed to “landowner’s.” The use of apostrophes to denote ownership includes the phrases “the landowner’s land” and “the land of the landowner.”

A thorough comprehension of the link between the nouns in a sentence and clarity of thought are demonstrated by the proper use of the apostrophe. Learn how to use apostrophes so you can think more clearly and so your reader can follow your argument more easily (see Further Reading). Keep in mind that the apostrophe typically appears after the’s’ if the noun is plural and before the’s’ if the noun is single (e.g., the dog’s dinner meaning the dinner of the dog).

In addition to indicating ownership, apostrophes are frequently used to indicate that a letter is missing from words, or that words have been “contracted,” as in “It’s nothing to do with me” rather than “It is nothing to do with me,” and “She’s been a long time” rather than “She has been a long time.” Contractions should generally be avoided in scholarly writing.

Confusing Singular And Plural

Nouns are usually singular or plural, and they also indicate the number. Make sure your verbs and nouns are consistent with one another and with the number (e.g., “the dog swims” or “the dogs swim”).

Example from a student: “The rule of averages is too unpredictable…”

The term “law” is singular in this sentence, meaning there is only one of it; if there are multiple laws, the word should be “laws.” However, the author chose to use the plural form of the verb “are” rather than the singular form “is” (recall that “the laws are” and “the law is”). Verbs and nouns must match. The plural form of “averages” is probably what has caused confusion, while the word actually relates to “law.” “The rule of averages is too unreliable,” should be written instead.

Using Unnecessary Words

As your writing gets better, one of the biggest changes you’ll see is a decrease in extraneous (i.e., pointless) words. The simplest writing is frequently the greatest and most accurate because each word is completely under the author’s control. Always consider whether a word is required and whether it is the best one you can use before using it.

Student illustration Being poor in today’s society does not present as many issues for an individual as it did in the past.

The pronoun “it” is used in place of “being poor” in the first line of this sentence (a pronoun replaces a noun; see Parts of Speech).

Its inclusion is unnecessary, though, as the reader doesn’t need to be reminded of the sentence’s subject. It would be necessary to begin a new sentence with “being poor” as the subject, but doing so in a single sentence is confusing and unnecessary. Read more