Grammar

Academic English > Grammar

Although the grammer used in Academic English is formal, wherever possible, the writing should be structured with clarity and simplisity in mind. It is worth noting also that some grammar points can and do overlap with aspects of ‘structure’ and, vice versa.

Structure

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ITEM	SHORT DESCRIPTION
Punctuation	Punctuation (. , ; : ‘ ” – ! ?) is used in and between sentences in order to make them understandable and readable.
Apostrophes	In English, apostrophes have three uses: (1) To indicate possession (e.g. Ahmed‘s pen) (2) To indicate time and measurement (sometimes) (3) To form contractions (e.g. we shouldn‘t say can‘t).
Articles	In English the articles are: the a an and also the “Ø” zero article
Adjectives	Adjectives describe nouns and pronouns
Pronouns	Pronouns are mostly used to replace nouns I, you, she, he, it, they and we Me, you, him, her, then and us
its or it’s	It’s is short for it is or it has. Its is the possessive form of it.
This or That	This book is next to me (“close”). That book over there (“far away”).
These or Those	These students (close to me). Those students (not close to me).
e.g., or i.e.,	These abbreviations – e.g. (from the Latin exempli gratia) and i.e. (from the Latin id est) are often confused because both are used to clarify something previously mentioned. e.g. means “for example”. i.e. means “in other words.”