Learn patterns with examples and exceptions: run → running, hope → hoping, city → cities. “I before e” has many exceptions and is not a universal rule.
Check homophones such as there/their/they’re, your/you’re, to/too/two and whose/who’s. Also check easily confused words that may not sound alike, such as affect/effect and lose/loose. Pronunciation varies by accent.
Keep a list of your own common errors and learn them.
Choose the spelling by meaning
Standard English grammar
Standard English is a recognised variety with shared grammar and vocabulary conventions. It can be formal or informal and spoken with different accents. Formal tasks usually require a suitable register as well as Standard English.
Subject-verb agreement: "The dogs bark" (not "The dogs barks"); "He doesn't" (not "He don't").
Keep time relationships clear and make deliberate shifts explicit. Different tenses can appear together when meaning requires them.
Pronouns: "My friend and I went" (not "Me and my friend went"); "between you and me".
For a single negative, Standard English normally uses “I don’t have any” rather than negative concord “I don’t have none”. “Not unhappy” is valid and has a different meaning.
Avoid "could of / should of / would of": use could have. Avoid "less" with countable nouns: "fewer people".
Meaning controls the choice
Nonstandard in dialogue
Dialect and slang may be used deliberately in narration, dialogue or other suitable contexts. Formal writing usually calls for Standard English and a suitable register. Do not confuse dialect, accent and formality or treat them as measures of ability.
Variety, register and accent
投影片
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