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English grammar for dictation

The rules behind the mistakes learners make most often in English dictations, each with examples and the trap to avoid.

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How do I tell its from it's and their from there?

An apostrophe marks missing letters: means , means and means . Without an apostrophe, , and show possession. points to a place, is about time while compares, and means also or very.

  • It's late, and the dog wants its dinner.
  • They're over there with their friends.
  • She is taller than her brother.

The trap: Read as : if the sentence breaks, write .

When does an English verb take -s?

In the present tense, a verb takes after , , or any single person or thing: , . After , , , and plural subjects it takes none. Look for the real subject, not the nearest noun: .

  • She works from home.
  • The trains leave at noon.

The trap: Plural nouns take too, so the subject and the verb never both take it: .

How do I spell the -ed ending?

Regular verbs add for the past: , . A verb ending in a silent e only adds : . A short vowel before one final consonant doubles it: , . After a consonant, y becomes i: . Many common verbs are irregular, such as , and .

  • We walked home.
  • They stopped and tried again.

The trap: The ending is often barely heard in speech, so listen to the time of the sentence.

Where does the apostrophe go in English?

In a short form, the apostrophe stands where letters are missing: , , . For possession, add after one owner and an apostrophe alone after a plural ending in s: , . Irregular plurals take : . Plurals never take one: .

  • I don't know.
  • The children's books are here.

The trap: is always ; the possessive has no apostrophe.

When does English use a capital letter?

Use a capital at the start of a sentence, for the word , and for proper nouns and words made from them: names, places, days, months, languages and nationalities, such as , , and . Seasons take none, and job titles take one only before a name.

  • On Monday, I fly to Madrid.
  • She speaks English and French.

The trap: Days and languages take a capital in English, unlike in French.

Where do English commas go?

Put a comma after an introductory phrase, as in ; before a joining word that links two full sentences, as in ; and around extra information. Never join two full sentences with a comma alone. A question ends with a question mark.

  • After lunch, we left.
  • It rained, but we went out.

The trap: Two full sentences need a full stop, a semicolon or a joining word, not a lone comma.

Do English words have accents?

Very few. Some borrowed words keep their accents, such as , and , though many writers drop them. Glottago follows the passage: when the text writes , the accent counts, but only as half a mistake, like a missing capital letter, so it never weighs as much as a wrong word.

  • We met at a café.

The trap: Most English spelling mistakes are wrong letters, not missing accents.