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Word Order Rules: Adjectives We don’t account for adjectives in the article Adverbials (except with the linking verb, where a subject compliment functions as an adjective) because they always accompany nouns and tend not to move around sentences much. Order of adjectives in a string of adjectives is governed by an order that feels intuitive for native

Word Order Rules in English In theory, English sentences take a simple form much of the time. The basic rules for which words appear in a sentence can help you with most of the sentences you’ll need in academic writing. If we push on these rules, we’ll find many exceptions, but the point here is only

Avoid 2nd person Second person involves the use of the pronoun “you.” It’s not at all common in academic writing to address the reader, so use of “you” is almost always out of place. We can find certain exceptions, such as in the thought experiments that philosophers sometimes use, the purpose of which is often

Colons (:) Colons are used most often to introduce lists, quotations, or examples, but they can also introduce key terms or concepts with emphasis. Usually you can think of a colon as saying “what comes next explains what came before.” To use colons correctly, the most important thing to remember is that a colon must

Verb Tenses These three verb tenses account for approximately 80% of the verb tense use in academic writing. This handout will help you understand how present simple, past simple, and present perfect verb tenses are used in academic writing. Click here for a one page summary of this handout’s discussion of verb tenses in academic