Writing Resources > English as a Second Language (Page 17 of 20)

ESL Writing Tips

You are a professional and are very proficient at academic writing in your first language, but when it comes to translating your work into written English, suddenly you don't know your "ifs" from your "ofs." This is natural in professional ESL writing, because writing in another language is a lot more complicated than speaking it. However, here are some helpful tips to improve your ESL writing.

Using Dashes: En Dash, Em Dash, 2 Em Dash, or 3 Em Dash?

If you’re confused about the various types of dashes and when to use them, you’re not alone. Figuring out whether to use an en dash, em dash, 2 em dashes, or even, gasp!, 3 em dashes can be confusing. Let’s take a look at the different types of dashes and when to use these little punctuation marks.

Exclamation Marks Podcast: Are Exclamation Marks Getting You Down?

Exclamation marks are one of the most controversial pieces of punctuation in the English language. In this podcast, our editors explain how and when using exclamation marks is correct.

Steps to Writing a Great Persuasive Essay Podcast

Have you been assigned a persuasive essay to write, but aren't sure where to begin? Listen to this podcast to learn what a persuasive essay is and how to write one.

How to Write a Persuasive Essay

Have you been assigned to write a persuasive essay and don't know where to begin? Our editors explain what a persuasive essay is and how to write one.

How to Use Exclamation Marks

The exclamation mark is arguably one of the most controversial pieces of English punctuation. Some writers love them; others hate them. The editors at Scribendi.com offer advice on when to use exclamation marks and when to avoid using them.

Plural Possessives

Do you struggle with plural possessives? If so, don’t feel bad; you’re not alone! Knowing when and where to add the apostrophe to possessives can be tricky. Further complicating matters is that the correct usage sometimes looks and sounds wrong. We hope that by the end of this article, you’ll have a better grasp of plural possessives and how and when to use them.

Ligatures: A Guide to their Proper and Improper Use

In writing and typography, a ligature is two or more graphemes that are joined to make a single glyph. More simply put, a ligature is a single character that is created by joining several characters.

How to Use Brackets

Writers, have you ever found yourselves with a great deal of important information that you want to include in a sentence, but have difficulty finding a spot for all of it? Fitting everything into a sentence can be tricky—this is where brackets are useful. Brackets (parentheses) are punctuation marks used to include information within sentences that is not essential to the main point.