Writing Tips!

6

Suggested by: @KasaiQueen

•••••

Breathe vs. breath

To breathe is to inhale and exhale air so you don't die.

Ex. Relax, just breathe. Don't worry.

Breath is essentially the air that you inhale and exhale.

Ex. After running a mile, I had a hard time catching my breath.

———

You're vs. your

You're is short for you are.

Ex. You're a wizard, Harry.

Your shows possession.

Ex. This is your example.

———

Punctuation:

Commas can be used in many situations. Remember the acronym FANBOYS to know when to use one. For And Nor But Or Yet So

I was tired, but I had work to do.
She was small, yet fierce.
I'm lazy, so I'll only give three examples.

Commas are also used in lists.

The jacket is red, green, and yellow.

Remember to use your Oxford comma!

That's the comma at the end of the list before the and.

At the store, she bought waffles, cookies, fish, and chips.

Without it, the sentence can have a different meaning.

At the store, she bought waffles, cookies, fish and chips.

This implies she bought "fish and chips" which is a common food in Britain. However, she didn't buy the dish, she bought the ingredients. Also, without the Oxford comma, this sentence is incorrect, even if she did buy the dish, fish and chips.

If she bought the popular menu item as well as waffles and cookies, then the sentence should look like this:

At the store, she bought waffles, cookies, and fish and chips.

———

The Colon (I'm actually not sure if I spelt it right and I'm too lazy to check, oops)

Ex. She had a great idea: drink Sunny D.

Here, the colon is announcing the idea. When using a colon, you'll have a complete sentence, like "She had a great idea", and the colon is a sort of way to say, "Here it is, here's the great idea".

Ex. I only had one question: would there be Sunny D?

The colon introduces my question.

———

The Semicolon

A semicolon is used to connect two COMPLETE sentences.

I saw my friend yesterday; we ate sushi.

This is actually a terrible example, because in this case, it'd be better just to say "I saw my friend yesterday and we ate sushi".

Usually, semicolons are used to connect two longer sentences that are RELATED to each other.

It'd be incorrect if you used a semicolon to attach two sentences that had no relation to each other; I like pie.

^^^That sentence is incorrect

•••••
420 words ayyyyy