WHO SAID ENGLISH IS A SIMPLE LANGUAGE???

Hello everybody!

Unfortunately, today I feel a bit frustated because I realized that I still make a lot of mistakes when writing in English...I know that native speakers make errors, too, and I also know that, when using another language, the most important aspect is often the communicative purpose, that is to communicate clearly. However, I'm attending the very last year of English at the University, and language accuracy is important,too (Soon I'll start writing my thesis!).

Now I would like to point out what I've learnt this morning:

-Subordinators are never preceded by a comma.

-Conjuncts, which are independent words or expressions, are followed by a comma, and preceded by a semicolon or a full stop (but never by a comma because a comma can never link two independent clauses).

Conjuncts in English are:

• First of all, first,firstly,...,finally (intoducing a list)
• In conclusion,to sum up/conclude/summarize (introducing a conclusion)
• Despite this,however,on the other hand,on the contrary,no/nevertheless,otherwise (expressing contrast)
• Moreover,furthermore,indeed (reinforcing or adding)
• For example/instance (giving an example)
• Similarly,likewise (saying two things for similar reasons)
• As a result,consequently,therefore (pointing out a result)

However, try to use them only when it's necessary!They are heavy words. So, if you write a logical and clearly-structured text, you don't need to trace the line of your thought explicitly (also because the reader is not so stupid!).

When I write my posts, I have to check:

• Relative clauses (defining vs. non-defining)
• Paragraph and sentence length
• Punctuation

I really hope that I'll make fewer mistakes in the following posts!

See you soon,

Michela