written-communication-s01-q01
The word is "separate": a useful memory aid is that there is "a rat" in the middle: sep-a-rat-e.
This is untimed educational practice for one cognitive skill. It is not a clinical, diagnostic, employment, or professionally recognized assessment, and it does not produce an IQ score or credential.
The word is "separate": a useful memory aid is that there is "a rat" in the middle: sep-a-rat-e.
"Definitely" is built on the word "finite", which keeps the -i- spelling: de-finite-ly.
"Accommodate" is generous. It has room for a double c and a double m.
Remember "one collar, two sleeves": "necessary" has one c and a double s.
"Embarrass" doubles both the r and the s: going red twice over, as the memory aid has it.
"Occurrence" keeps the double c and double r of "occur" and takes the -ence ending, not -ance.
This follows the classic rule "i before e, except after c", so after the c it is -ei-: receive.
British English keeps the -our ending in words such as "colour", "flavour" and "honour"; the -or ending is the American convention.
A handy check: "environment" contains the word "iron", envi-ron-ment, which stops you dropping the n.
The prefix mis- attaches to the whole word "spell", so both the s of mis- and the s of spell survive: misspell.
"Its" without an apostrophe is the possessive form; "it's" with an apostrophe always means "it is" or "it has". Test by expanding: "the dog wagged it is tail" makes no sense.
An introductory clause is followed by a comma, and the comma sits at the boundary between the introduction and the main clause, nowhere else.
Commas separate the items in a list; no comma is needed after the verb "need" or directly after "and".
Two complete sentences can be joined by a semicolon on its own. A comma alone creates a comma splice, and running them together with nothing creates a run-on.
A direct question ends with a question mark, and no comma separates the verb from its object.
For a plural noun that already ends in s, the possessive apostrophe goes after the s. An apostrophe before the s would signal just one teacher.
A colon introduces a list only after a complete statement. It should not split a verb from its object or be replaced by a semicolon, which joins sentences rather than introducing lists.
A word that interrupts the flow of a sentence is set off by a pair of commas, one before and one after. A single comma on either side leaves the interruption half-fenced.
"You're" is the contraction of "you are", with the apostrophe replacing the missing a. "Your" is possessive and cannot stand in for "you are".
When a phrase acts as a single description before a noun, it is hyphenated all the way through, and the measurement word stays singular: "five-year-old", not "five-years-old".
The true subject is "list", which is singular, the plural phrase "of candidates" only describes it. Strip the prepositional phrase and the agreement becomes clear: "the list is on the desk".
"Neither" on its own is grammatically singular, it means "not one of the two", so it takes a singular verb even though two printers are mentioned.
"Each" treats the group one member at a time, so it is singular: each one has a laptop.
When one past event happens before another past event, the earlier one takes the past perfect: the parcel had been ready before the courier arrived.
An action that started in the past and continues to the present takes the present perfect. The word "since" is the signal: it links a past starting point to now.
Drop the other person to test the pronoun: "the manager asked me" works, while "the manager asked I" does not. Objects of a verb take the object form.
A hypothetical about the past ("we would have booked") pairs with the past perfect in the if-clause: if the client had called, we would have booked.
Use "fewer" for things you can count (errors) and "less" for quantities you cannot (time, water). The plural subject "errors" also needs the plural verb "are".
After "has" or "have", an irregular verb takes its past participle: write, wrote, written. "Wrote" is the simple past and cannot follow "has".
With "neither ... nor", the verb agrees with the subject closest to it. Here the nearer subject is the plural "assistants", so the verb is plural.
To "affect" something is to influence it: a verb, which is what this sentence needs. "Effect" is usually the noun for the result itself.
Here the sentence needs a noun, the result itself, which is "effect". A quick test: if "the impact" fits the gap, the word you want is "effect".
The sentence expands to "It is going to be a long meeting", so the contraction with the apostrophe is required.
"Their" shows possession: the coats belong to the clients. "There" points to a place, and "they're" means "they are".
To "complement" (with an e) is to complete or go well with something; to "compliment" (with an i) is to praise. The wine completes the meal, so the e-spelling is right.
A "principle" is a rule or moral belief: refusing "on principle" means refusing because of a belief. "Principal" means main, or the head of a school; your princi-pal is your pal.
"Advice" with a c is the noun (the thing you give); "advise" with an s is the verb (the act of giving it). The sentence needs the noun.
To "ensure" is to make certain something happens; to "insure" is to arrange financial cover; to "assure" is to tell a person confidently. Making certain the door is locked calls for "ensure".
British English spells the verb with an s, "to practise", and the noun with a c: "a practice". The same c/s split appears in advice/advise, which can serve as the memory anchor.
"Stationery" with an e is paper and office supplies: remember e for envelope. "Stationary" with an a means not moving.
A complete sentence needs a subject and a main verb and must not hang on a subordinating word. "Because" and "although" turn a clause into a fragment unless a main clause follows.
A clause beginning with "which" is a relative clause. It describes something in another sentence and cannot stand alone.
A comma splice joins two complete sentences with only a comma. The fix is a semicolon, a full stop, or a comma plus a joining word such as "so" or "and".
Adding a coordinating conjunction after the comma, here "but", legitimately joins the two clauses and signals the contrast between the jam and the delayed discovery.
An opening modifier must describe the subject that immediately follows it. A smell cannot walk into an office, so the sentence needs a person as its subject.
"Nearly" modifies whatever follows it. Placed before "every question" it means almost all were answered; placed before "answered" it suggests she almost answered but did not.
"Only" limits the word or phrase immediately after it, so to restrict what was checked it must sit directly before "the invoices". Put it before the verb and it strictly limits the action instead.
Two complete clauses are joined with a comma followed by a coordinating conjunction. The comma goes before "and", never after it.
When a subordinate clause opens the sentence, a single comma marks where it ends and the main clause begins. A full stop there would strand the subordinate clause as a fragment.
A clause beginning with "when" is subordinate. It sets up a time but says nothing complete on its own. Only adding an independent clause ("When the files arrived, we began sorting them") completes the thought.
The present continuous tense already places the action in the present, so "at this point in time" and "currently" add nothing. Cut every word that repeats what the verb form conveys.
Planning is by definition done in advance, so "advance planning" says the same thing twice. The other phrases each add genuine information.
Wordy connective phrases usually hide a one-word equivalent: "due to the fact that" simply means "because", and the shorter form is always easier to read.
In the active voice the doer comes first and performs the verb: the manager approved. Passive constructions reverse this and often hide who acted.
The clearest instruction names who acts and what they do: staff submit. Turning the buried noun "submission" back into the verb "submit" removes the padding.
Good instructions start with a verb and address the reader directly. Padding such as "with respect to" and turning verbs into abstract nouns only blurs who must do what.
"In the event that" introduces a condition, and the plain conditional word is "if". "When" would wrongly imply the event is certain to happen.
"Refer" already carries the idea of going back, and a source is by definition where the material originally came from, so both "back" and "original" can go.
Prefer the plain verb over its noun form: "decided" beats "made a decision". Each step away from the simple verb adds words without adding meaning.
Plain words carry the message; business jargon forces readers to translate. If a sentence still works after swapping each buzzword for an everyday word, the everyday version was better all along.
A formal complaint states its purpose calmly and professionally in the first sentence. Anger, slang and all-capitals undermine the writer's credibility before the facts are even heard.
British convention pairs "Yours sincerely" with a named recipient and reserves "Yours faithfully" for letters opening "Dear Sir or Madam".
Professional bad-news writing states the decision plainly, avoids blaming the reader, and offers an alternative where one exists.
Writing for a broad audience aims for the middle register: polite, plain and specific. Text-speak is too casual, while stiff legalistic phrasing obscures a simple request.
Softening works by describing the problem rather than accusing the person, and by inviting collaboration instead of issuing a verdict. Tacking a polite word onto an accusation does not change its force.
An effective apology names the specific failing, accepts responsibility, and states what is being done about it. "We apologise if you feel..." shifts blame to the reader's feelings and is not a real apology.
Report register favours measured, precise vocabulary. "Massive jump" is conversational and vague about scale, where the alternatives signal magnitude in a neutral, professional tone.
Match the explanation to what the reader needs to know: what happened, how it affected them, and whether it is resolved. Technical detail belongs in the engineering report, not the customer notice.
Minutes record what was discussed and decided, without opinion or editorial colour. Neutral verbs and concrete outcomes are the hallmarks of the genre.
The traditional pairing is: unnamed recipient ("Dear Sir or Madam") takes "Yours faithfully"; named recipient takes "Yours sincerely".
The possessive of "it" never takes an apostrophe. Expanding the contraction exposes the error: "the committee have issued it is final report" is nonsense.
A plural subject needs a plural verb: "the invoices were posted". Checking each subject against its verb one pair at a time is the quickest way to catch these slips.
A minuet is a stately dance; the written record of a meeting is the minutes. Spellcheckers miss this because both are real words, which is exactly why human proofreading matters.
There are three: "recieved" should be "received", "untill" should be "until", and "manger" should be "manager". The last one is the sneakiest because "manger" is itself a real word.
The sentence needs "they are", so the contraction with the apostrophe is the only correct form. Expanding the word in your head is the reliable test.
"February" keeps its first r even though it is rarely pronounced, and the comma before "tickets are free" splices two complete sentences that need a full stop, dash or semicolon between them.
The name belongs to the client, so a possessive apostrophe is required: "the client's name". Missing apostrophes are among the most common proofreading catches.
Prepositions such as "between" take object pronouns: between you and me. And a "seam" is a line of stitching; the verb meaning "appears" is "seems".
Two checks stack here: "principal" (meaning main) is the right word, and the singular subject "reason" needs the singular verb "was". The plural "strikes" after the verb does not control agreement.
The badge belongs to the staff member, so the possessive "their" is needed, and the three listed actions must stay parallel: sign in, collect, return.
The second sentence pushes against the first, booking despite the expense, so a contrast connective is needed. "Nevertheless" signals exactly that concession.
A topic sentence announces the paragraph's main claim so that every following sentence can support it. History, hazards and other people's habits all point away from the stated topic.
Every sentence in a paragraph should serve its main idea. Kitchen mugs have nothing to do with paper use, so that sentence breaks the paragraph's unity.
The sequencing words are the map: "First" opens, "Then" follows, "Next" continues, "Finally" closes. Logic agrees. You must download and complete the form before attaching anything or submitting.
Closing early would normally reduce responses, so exceeding expectations is a surprise: a contrast, not a consequence. The connective must signal that tension, not claim the early close caused the high turnout.
Transitions are signposts: "in summary" tells the reader the argument is being wrapped up, while the others promise more content, a comparison, or a parallel event.
The paragraph is the unit of one idea: a topic sentence states it and the remaining sentences develop it. When a second idea arrives, that is the cue for a new paragraph.
Demonstratives tie sentences together by pointing back at what was just said: "this decision" refers the reader straight to the rejection. The pointer must be singular to match "decision".
Cohesion means each sentence picks up the thread of the last. A claim about reshaped demand is best followed by concrete evidence of that reshaping, firms cutting their floor space.
A complaint persuades best when the reader learns what happened before being asked to act: greet, explain the problem with evidence, then request a specific remedy, and close formally.
Items in a list must share one grammatical shape. Once the first item uses an -ing form, every item must follow suit, mixing -ing forms with to-infinitives or bare nouns breaks the pattern.
The pronoun "she" could point to either woman. Direct speech forces the reference into the open. "You" can only mean Maria. Adding commas or more pronouns leaves the ambiguity untouched.
The fix for an ambiguous pronoun is to make the intended noun the subject: "the shelf broke" leaves no doubt. Restating the wrong noun, or reshuffling the pronoun, either changes the meaning or keeps the ambiguity.
A hypothetical condition contrary to fact takes the subjunctive "were" in formal writing. The speaker is not, and cannot be, the other person. "If I was" appears in speech but formal register keeps the subjunctive.
The strongest edit applies every clarity move at once: cut the empty "there are" opening, turn the passive into an active verb, and compress "take into consideration" to "consider" and "making decisions about hiring" to "hiring".
When "however" joins two complete sentences, the semicolon ends the first clause and a comma follows the adverb: clause; however, clause. The adverb stays lower case because the sentence has not ended.
A clause set off by commas is non-defining: it adds a side note about the only warehouse there is. Without the commas, "that is in Leeds" defines which warehouse, implying there are others elsewhere.
A comparison must set like against like: a salary can only be higher than another salary, not higher than a city. "That in London" stands in for "the average salary in London" and restores the logic.
Pick a pronoun standpoint, "you" or "one", and hold it for the whole sentence. Drifting between the two mid-sentence is one of the most common consistency faults editors correct.
Three checks must all pass: "each" takes a singular verb ("was asked"), the relative clause agrees with the plural "certificates" ("were checked"), and the relative pronoun does its work alone, adding a second pronoun or a stray comma reintroduces an error.