Focusing on Words The English vocabulary development activities and resources in this Website are based primarily on Latin and Greek elements that are included in thousands of English terms and expressions.

Quia - Roots of Words Learn the Latin and Greek roots of words by playing matching, flashcards, concentration, and word search.

Vocabulary: Roots, Prefixes and Suffixes An English word can consist of three parts: the root, a prefix and a suffix. Students can explore this site by using the mouse and clicking on any blue underlined item. The primary areas are: roots, prefixes, and suffixes, and vocabulary. Old English and vocabulary exercises will be added and updated.

The UVic Writer's Guide: Connotation and Denotation In literary criticism, a word's denotation is its primary or literal significance, whereas connotation is the range of secondary significance which a word commonly suggests.

Denotation & Connotation Denotation refers to the literal meaning of a word, the "dictionary definition." Connotation, on the other hand, refers to the associations that are connected to a certain word or the emotional suggestions related to that word.

Simile & Metaphor 'Simile' literally means 'like' or 'the same as'. On the other hand, if you say "the rugby player cradled the giant egg ball" that's a metaphor.

What are Metaphor, Simile and Analogy A metaphor is a literary term for the comparison of the qualities of two things. The qualities of one thing (such as a sunset) are linked to another thing (such as a woman’s eyes).

First Person Grammarians have divided references to people into three categories, to refer to I, you, and he or she. The first person is I, me, my, we, our, and so on. The second person is you and your. The third person is he, she, they, their, his, hers, him, her, and so on.

Quia - Homophone Hunt Select the homophone to make the sentence correct. Good luck!

Alan Cooper's Homonym List When I was in the second grade, my teacher introduced me to "homonyms," those words, like "caret" and "carrot" that are pronounced the same, but are spelled differently, and that have different meanings. Check out this list of common homonyms that I have put together.

ANTONYM Finder and SYNONYM Thesaurus Type in a word and find its synonym or antonym.

MSN Encarta - Are You Grammatically Incorrect? Perplexed by possessives? Tongue-tied by tenses? Hornswoggled by whose and who’s? Who came up with the rules of English anyway? Even the most educated among us are occasionally stumped by a grammatical puzzler. Here’s a chance to show your old English teacher that you learned a thing or two about grammar and usage.

Guide to Grammar and Writing This site has everything you ever wanted to know about about grammar at the sentence, paragraph and essay levels.

Mrs. Dowling's Grammar Corner Check out this collection of grammar exercises. The different sections include an online version and a printable version.

Learning the Parts of Speech This lesson will deal with learning the eight different parts of speech. Knowing how, where, and when to use them is important, as they will be used throughout your life.

Grammar Bytes! Interactive Grammar Review This site includes a glossary of grammatical terms along with interactive exercises, grammar rules and handouts.

GrammarNOW! This is a free site dedicated to answering specific grammar, composition, or formatting questions. Send me a question by filling out the form below, and I'll e-mail you a response.

Grammar Zone at English-Zone.Com This site has interactive activities covering nouns, pronouns, adjectives, prepositions, questions, comparatives and more! Each section has (will have) an exercise to try once you have finished reading that section.

Big Dog's Grammar  I know how to get to the meat of any subject. Join me as I nose my way through the least you need to know to bluff your way through any general writing task.

Good Grammar, Good Style(tm)   Ask Miss Grammar to Find the answer to your questions in the Good Grammar, Good Style Archive — over 100 pages of useful articles and frequently asked questions!

Basically Speaking Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, conjunctions, and prepositions are the building blocks of English. You can write without knowing your parts of speech, but you run the risk of faulty construction. If you know the basics, your writing will be much stronger.

The Parts of Speech Each part of speech explains not what the word is, but how the word is used.

Grammar - Parts of Speech This site covers the 8 parts of speech, with a lesson and quiz on each part.

Verb Zone Check out interactive verb exercises, including BE Verb, Irregular Verbs and more! Each section has (will have) an exercise to try once you have finished reading that section.

Verb Tense Chart Learn the different forms of verb tenses, including all active and passive tenses.

Quia - Singular and Plural Nouns Match the singular nouns with the correct plural nouns. Words include both regular and irregular nouns.

Grammar-Nouns Singular and Plural Write the plural form of each noun. Type your answer and click on "Check".

Plural Formation of Nouns The majority of nouns in English spell their plural by simply adding a final -s. Nouns that are abstract (e.g., cheese, sugar, honesty, intelligence) generally take a singular verb, but in some instances can be plural, in which case they follow the rules for plural based on their spelling.

Alan Cooper's Homonym List A homonym is one of two or more words spelled and pronounced alike but different in meaning (as cleave meaning "to cut" and cleave meaning "to adhere" (coincidentally, also antonyms!))

Capitalization Learn the rules of capitalization, along with an interactive quiz.

Capitalization Matching Game   Match capitalization rules with sample sentences.

Sentence Punctuation Patterns To punctuate a sentence, you can use and combine some of these patterns: a simple sentence, compound sentence, complex sentence. . .

Punctuation Marks This site covers all the punctuation marks used in grammar. Click on the mark (on the tree or in the chart) to jump to that section.

Writing DEN-Sentence Builder Learn all about the parts of a sentence, including punctuation, nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and prepositions.

Subject and Predicate Every complete sentence contains two parts: a subject and a predicate. The subject is what (or whom) the sentence is about, while the predicate tells something about the subject.

Review: Sentence Structure You will not become a better writer simply by learning to name the different types of sentences, but you will develop a more sophisticated understanding of how language works. If you would like to make certain that you understand how to identify a simple sentence, compound sentence, complex sentence, or a compound-complex sentence, you may try this simple exercise.

Sentence Fragments A SENTENCE FRAGMENT fails to be a sentence in the sense that it cannot stand by itself. It does not contain even one independent clause.

Run-on Sentences A RUN-ON SENTENCE (sometimes called a "fused sentence") has at least two parts, either one of which can stand by itself (in other words, two independent clauses), but the two parts have been smooshed together instead of being properly connected.

Writing Concise Sentences Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.

Definitions of Basic Sentence Parts The eight parts of speech — verbs, nouns, pronouns, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections — are defined on the pages hyperlinked. In addition, you can use the Powerpoint presentation on the parts of speech.

Quia - Types of Sentences There are four(4) types of sentences. The declarative sentence makes a statement. The interrogative sentence asks a question. The exclamatory sentence is a statement that shows strong emotion. And the imperative sentence gives a direction or a command. Identify the type of sentences listed.

Sentence-Combining Skills Sentences have to be combined to avoid the monotony that would surely result if all sentences were brief and of equal length.

Making Subjects and Verbs Agree When the subject of a sentence is composed of two or more nouns or pronouns connected by and, use a plural verb. . .

Paragraph Development and Topic Sentences A typical expository paragraph starts with a controlling idea or claim, which it then explains, develops, or supports with evidence.

What is a Topic Sentence? Every paragraph needs a topic sentence. The topic sentence is usually the first sentence of the paragraph. It gives the reader an idea of what the paragraph is going to be about.

Topic Sentence What is the topic sentence? The topic sentence is the first sentence in a paragraph. What does it do? It introduces the main idea of the paragraph.

Paragraph Builder-Writing Den This site explains the parts of a paragraph, how to write a paragraph, and the various kinds of paragraphs.

The Paragraph A paragraph is a group of related sentences which presents and develops one idea or one aspect of an idea. A good paragraph does not just state the idea; each sentence in it supports or extends the central idea, so that the whole paragraph is a short but complete composition.

Transition Words To improve your writing you need to make sure that your ideas, both in sentences and paragraphs, stick together or have coherence and that the gap between ideas is bridges smoothly. One way to do this is by using transitions - words or phrases or techniques that help bring two ideas together.

Transition Word List Check out this list of transition words, categorized by sequence, time, comparison, and more.

English Basics This site features original grammar and writing worksheets.

Online Vocabulary Exercises On this page you find a selection of vocabulary quizzes that can be done online.  Simply click the exercise of your choice, key in your answers and ... get your own personal feedback and score.

Review Synonyms, Antonyms, Homonyms, and Homographs There is a pair of words underlined in each sentence. Tell whether the words are synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, or homographs.

Compound Words A compound word is made when two words are joined to form a new word. Look at the red word. Look at the words in the row. Click on a blue word to make a compound word. There may be more than one correct answer.

Spelling Game Quickly memorize these spelling words, then click the START button to play the Spelling Game.

Spelling Test This site compiled a list from many sources and edited it to 50 commonly misspelled words. You can take the test and see how you did right away.

Common Errors in English Think you know how to use proper English.  Test your skills at this site which lists hundreds of common errors.

Word Traps and Grammar Quirks Don't fall into the word traps!  Check out this site and you won't.

Glossary of Grammatical Terms Learn grammatical terms from a to z.

Traditional Grammatical Terminology Few students nowadays, either in high school or anywhere else, receive formal training in English grammar; as a result, older grammatical terms used traditionally to describe languages have fallen out of use. This site can help.

English-Zone.Com Idiom Zone Fun lessons with exercises covering animal idioms, relationship idioms and more! Each section has (will have) an exercise to try once you have finished reading that section.

Conversation Zone at English-Zone.Com Test your conversation and listening skills at the Conversation Zone. Each section has (will have) an exercise to try once you have finished reading that section.

Lesson Plans/Classroom Activities

Grammar Wheels

KABOOM!

Grammar Journals

Quiet Hour Journals

Senseless Sentences

Beat the Clock

High Rollers

Grammar Dice

Sentence Rummy

Parts of Speech Quickie

Using Newspapers in the Classroom

English Acrostics

Musical Words

Parts of Speech Song

Subject-Predicate Song

Prepositions Song

Football-based Punctuation Lesson

Sparkle

Spelling Row

Quick Spell

Juggling Words

Trivia Teasers