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23 Tips All ESL Writers Need to Know


Brought to you by Luke Palder, Founder of ProofreadingServices.com

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Hi!
Luke Palder here, Founder of ProofreadingServices.com.
Thanks so much for downloading this guide for ESL
writers. As the founder and CEO of the worlds largest
proofreading service for ESL writers, Ive learned a lot
about what it takes to produce great writing when
English isnt your first language.

In this guide, youll find 23 of my top tips for ESL
writerssome for beginners, some for advanced
studentsbased on my experiences working with thousands of ESL writers across the world. Once
youve mastered these tips, youll be well on your way to writing like a native English speaker.

As youre reading this, if you have any questions, please reach out to me and my team or comment on
our blog, The ESL Inquirer. Id love to hear from you. Also, feel free to share this guide with your friends
and family members who are ESL writers. The more the merrier, as we say in English!

All the best,



Founder of ProofreadingServices.com, the worlds leading proofreading service for ESL writers



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Contents
#1: Capitalize proper nounsbut not common nouns ................................................................................ 4
#2: Learn count and non-count nouns ......................................................................................................... 5
#3: Beware unclear pronoun references ...................................................................................................... 6
#4: Identify stative verbs .............................................................................................................................. 7
#5: Maintain a consistent verb tense ........................................................................................................... 8
#6: Make sure each sentence contains a complete, independent thought ................................................. 9
#7: Modify the right word .......................................................................................................................... 10
#8: Avoid over-nominalization ................................................................................................................... 11
#9: Know SVOPT ......................................................................................................................................... 12
#10: Tell us whos doing what .................................................................................................................... 13
#11: Learn the four main sentence types ................................................................................................... 14
#12: Learn more advanced sentence types ................................................................................................ 15
#13: Dont start multiple sentences with the same word or phrase ......................................................... 16
#14: Avoid faulty parallelism ...................................................................................................................... 17
#15: Avoid plagiarism by paraphrasing ...................................................................................................... 18
#16: Avoid plagiarism by quoting ............................................................................................................... 19
#17: Get to know idioms ............................................................................................................................ 20
#18: Learn commonly confused terms ....................................................................................................... 21
#19: Read your written words aloud .......................................................................................................... 22
#20: Shorter is better ................................................................................................................................. 23
#21: Select the right dictionary for your audience ..................................................................................... 24
#22: Search for examples on Google .......................................................................................................... 25
#23: Expand your writing horizons ............................................................................................................. 26
BONUS TIP: Double-check your spelling and grammar checker ................................................................ 27
You made it! ............................................................................................................................................... 28

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#1: Capitalize proper nounsbut not common nouns

A common ESL writing error is overcapitalization, particularly with nouns. Lets clearly go over what needs to be
capitalized:
The first letter of a new sentence
The word I
Weekdays, holidays, and months of the year
Proper nouns
So what exactly is the difference between a proper noun and a common noun?
A proper noun names a specific, often one-of-a-kind item. Proper nouns include the names of people, states,
cities, streets, rivers, oceans, countries, companies, and institutions.
Below are a few examples to help you understand the difference:
PROPER NOUNS COMMON NOUNS

Charles Dickens
Texas
Taco Bell
Brazil
Google
Best Buy

writer
state
restaurant
country
company
store

One common mistake that people make is capitalizing business titles, such as chief executive officer or vice
president. These terms may seem like proper nouns, but theyre actually common nouns and should be written
in lowercase. Why? Because many people can hold these positions at various companies.

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#2: Learn count and non-count nouns

Typically, count nouns are things that are easy to
count.
For example, you can easily tell me exactly how many trees you
see, apples youve eaten, or pencils youre holding.
But how easy is it to count things like water or progress? Not
very. For that reason, these terms are considered one
undividable whole. Non-count nouns such as these often
include abstract ideas or substances in liquid or mass form, and
theyre always written in the singular formnever plural.
Practice is the key to mastering this tip, and its important to
note that there are regional differences in how count and non-
count nouns are approached.
Check out the count/non-count grammar exercise in this ESL
Inquirer blog post to test yourself on a few common words.


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#3: Beware unclear pronoun references

Pronouns help to prevent repetition in writing, but they have to be used carefully. When using pronouns in
writing, you should make sure each has a clear antecedent, which is just a fancy way of saying that it should be
clear what the pronoun refers to.
You can ensure this clarity by always identifying a person or object before using a pronoun. Heres an example of
what not to do:
His leg hurt because George fell down while running.
The sentence is confusing because its not clear whether the leg belongs to George or to someone else! This
would be much clearer if it were rewritten in one of the following ways:
Georges leg hurt because he fell down while running.
George fell down while running, so his leg hurt.
Generally, people will assume that a pronoun refers to the closest noun or other pronoun, but this can still lead
to confusion, particularly if there are several nouns or pronouns in close proximity.
Heres another example of pronoun confusion:
Fred told his friend that his car was broken.
Whose car is broken, Freds or his friends? Fix the issue by rewriting the sentence like so:
Fred told his friend, Your car is broken.
Below is a list of pronouns that are commonly
problematic. Use this as a reference when evaluating
your work.
Watch Out for These Pronouns
It
They
Them
This
That
These
Those
Which
She
He
Him
Her
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#4: Identify stative verbs

You need to master two main categories of verbs: stative and action. Confusing the two types can lead to errors
in your writing since action verbs can be used in the continuous tenses, while stative verbs cannot.

CORRECT: The boy is walking the dog right now. [action verb: walk]

INCORRECT: She is believing in true love. [stative verb: believe]
CORRECT: She believes in true love.

So whats the difference?

Action verbs describe actions or things that occur,
whereas stative verbs describe a status, which is an
objects appearance or someones state of being.

There are four main categories for stative verbs:
Thought/Opinion Possession Sense Emotion
believe
know
think
understand
belong
have
own
possess
hear
feel
see
taste
hate
love
need
want

Check out this grammar exercise you can use to master stative verbs.


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#5: Maintain a consistent verb tense

Many writers bounce back and forth between tenses, which is not only incorrect but confusing.
So what tense should you choose?
Scholarly work in MLA or APA style
usually requires the past tense, while
business writing is usually in the
present tense, and the tense used in
creative writing varies widely. In short,
verb tense is tough to keep track of.
If youre submitting your writing to a
specific publication, check the tense of
their published articles. For a school
assignment, you can always confirm
your professors preference.
Worried you might be jumping back and forth? Circle every verb in your paper, and check each one. Most should
follow the same format. For example, each may have -ed written at the end, so if you run across one that ends
in -ing, read the sentence that contains the word. Be aware that the verb still may be correct, though, since it
may be part of a dependent clause.


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#6: Make sure each sentence contains a complete, independent
thought
If it doesnt, then its not a sentence, its a sentence fragment. For a sentence to be complete, it needs to
contain three things:
A subject
A verb
A complete thought
So how might your sentence be missing one of the three?
The boy liked sweets. For example, raspberry donuts.
In this example, the second sentence is actually a fragment since it doesnt contain a verb.
And jumped up and down in excitement.
This fragment doesnt contain a subject. Who or what jumped?
After she went to the recital.
This fragment contains a subject and
a verb, but its not a complete
thought. What did she do after the
recital?
Sentence fragments are easy to fix
once youve identified the issue.
Figure out which of the three
elements is missing from your
sentence, and add it in.



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#7: Modify the right word

A modifier is a word or group of words that provides description. Its an optional element, which means that if
you remove it, the sentence or phrase will still retain its meaning.

The brown horse ran a race.
(Brown is a modifier describing the horse.)

The horse ran quickly.
(Quickly is a modifier describing how the horse ran.)

The horse wearing the blue saddle ran.
(The phrase wearing the blue saddle is a modifier
describing the horse.)

When a modifier is misplaced, the subject of the modifier is unclear,
and this can change the meaning of the sentence. Look at these two
examples:

The horse almost won every race.
The horse won almost every race.

Did the horse come close to winning every race, or did the horse win all but a few races? When advanced ESL
writers make this type of mistake, you can usually figure out what they intended, but it impacts the rhythm of
the writing, making the reader stop and think for a moment to figure it out.

While enjoying some hay, the owner brushed the horse.

The writer intended to say that the horse was enjoying the hay, but because the modifier is closer to the
owner, the sentence is confusing. This can be fixed in several ways:

The horse enjoyed some hay while being brushed by its owner.
The owner brushed the horse, which was enjoying some hay.

YourDictionary.com offers multiple examples of misplaced modifiers to help you master this concept.

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#8: Avoid over-nominalization

In an effort to sound more academic, many writers use a technique called nominalization. Put simply, it means
using a noun thats created from a verb or adjective.

Examples of Nominalizations
Influence
Clarity
Receptivity
Evaluation
Understanding
Arbitration
Transformation
Expectation
Destabilization
Investigation
Impression
Regulation

While nominalization is common in academic writing, and may be expected, overuse tends to make writing
clunky and difficult to understand. If you have several instances in a single sentence, find ways to eliminate
some.
Heres an example:
Sentence with nominalization: An evaluation of the water quality was undertaken.
Revised sentence: We evaluated the water quality.
You can read more about how to master nominalization in this ESL Inquirer article.


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#9: Know SVOPT

SVOPT stands for subject, verb, object, place, time.
This is the typical structure for sentences in English. If someone tells you that a sentence is confusing or doesnt
sound natural, go back and check to see whether it follows this order. Often, this simple fix can make a big
difference.
In fact, you can use SVOPT as a game to improve your grammar. In any completed piece of writing, go back and
write S, V, O, P, or T over each word. Then fix any sentences that arent in the right order.


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#10: Tell us whos doing what

Many ESL writers go out of their way to avoid the first-person point of view, particularly in academic writing. As
a result, its unclear who is doing what.
Lets look at one example:
This paper will discuss the results of the study.
The problem is that the paper cannot discuss anything. Its an inanimate object.
Instead, use the third person plural:
In this paper, we will examine the results of the study.
Go through your writing and look for instances where it may be unclear whos taking a particular action.
However, dont make the mistake of overusing the word one. For example,
Ones culture shapes ones identity.
In English writing, even professional and academic writing, its much more common to use the general and
impersonal you.
Your culture shapes your identity.
When in doubt, choose the option that makes
the sentence clearer.

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#11: Learn the four main sentence types

Most writing is made up of declarative sentences, but not including any other sentence types can leave you with
dry, boring text. Add variety by including different sentence types when they fit. This will liven up your work!
Declarative Sentence
This is the most common sentence type. It makes a statement and is punctuated by a period.

Examples: Its a nice day out. I took the dog for a walk.
Interrogative Sentence
If a sentence poses a question, its an interrogative sentence. These sentences are easy to spot since they always
end in a question mark.

Examples: Do you want to go to the park? Is it raining?
Exclamatory Sentence
Not surprisingly, these types of sentences always end in an exclamation point. They express excitement or
heightened emotion.

Examples: The house is on fire! The party is going to be great!
Imperative Sentence
This is a command or request, and it can end in either a period or an exclamation point. Imperative sentences
often start with a verb and may contain the word please.
Note: It may seem like imperative sentences dont contain a subject, but they actually all have the same
one: you. This is called an understood subject. Even though the word you doesnt appear in the
sentence, the reader understands that he or she is being addressed, so the sentence is complete.

Examples: Close the door! Please be quiet.
Its a good exercise to go through a piece of writing and identify each sentence type. On just this page, all four
of the sentence types are used. Can you spot them all? Give it a try!

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#12: Learn more advanced sentence types

Once youve mastered the four basic sentence types, take your writing a step further by including more
advanced sentence types. Lets look at how you can combine these two simple sentences to form a more
advanced sentence.
The girl wanted to eat ice cream. She had to finish her dinner first.
Compound Sentences
The following sentences combine the previous two sentences using
A coordinating conjunction, such as and, but, or, yet, or so
A semicolon and a conjunctive adverb, such as however or therefore
Or just a semicolon.
The girl wanted to eat ice cream, but she had to finish her dinner first.
The girl wanted to eat ice cream; however, she had to finish her dinner first.
The girl wanted to eat ice cream; she had to finish her dinner first.

Complex Sentences
These sentences use one dependent clause and one independent clause. Here are a few punctuation patterns
that can be used:
Dependent clause, independent clause
Independent clause, dependent clause
First part of an independent clause, nonessential dependent clause, second part of the independent
clause
First part of an independent clause, essential dependent clause, second part of the independent clause
Although the girl wanted to eat ice cream, she had to finish her dinner first.
Compound-Complex Sentences
These sentences are a combination of compound and complex sentences. They have two independent clauses
as well as one or more dependent clauses, and they must follow the rules of both sentence types.
Although the girl, who loved sweets, wanted to eat ice cream, she had to finish her dinner first.
Again, its a good exercise to identify these sentence types in your own and others writing. Looking for more
advice on how to move to more advanced levels of English? Check out these tips.
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#13: Dont start multiple sentences with the same word or phrase

You should strive to avoid repetition in your
writing. In particular, you want to stay away
from writing multiple sentences that begin
with the same word. Ideally, you want every
sentence in a paragraph to start differently.
Luckily, this tip is fairly simple to implement.
Write down the first word of each sentence
in a paragraph youve written. See any
duplicates? Focus on trying to begin those
sentences differently.
Can you change the sentence structure to move the word elsewhere? Can you find a synonym for the word? At
the very least, you should try to move the contents of the paragraph around so that the two sentences starting
with the same word are farther apart.
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#14: Avoid faulty parallelism

When writing two or more matching ideas or items in a series, make sure each is parallel or grammatically equal.
This means the ideas or items must be constructed similarly. Lets look at an example of faulty parallelism:

The dog liked to play fetch and eating treats.

This series includes two items that are not grammatically similar, play fetch and eating treats. The sentence
can be corrected in a number of ways:

The dog liked playing fetch and eating treats.
The dog liked to play fetch and eat treats.
The dog liked to play fetch and to eat treats.

Sometimes a parallel isnt incorrect but can still
make your writing feel clunky. Lets look at
another example:

She drove slowly and with care.

While this sentence is not grammatically
incorrect, you can improve it by making the
elements more strictly parallel:

She drove slowly and carefully.

This general principle of consistency should be applied across your entire document. Make sure you follow the
same conventions throughout your work with headings, spelling choices, paragraph formatting, spacing, and
other style choices.


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#15: Avoid plagiarism by paraphrasing

Particularly in academic writing, its common (and often necessary) to incorporate information from published
sources into your own work, but you have to be careful not to plagiarize, which means to steal anothers work
and pass it off as your own.
So how do you walk this fine line? There are two main methods you can use to refer to someone elses work.
The first is to paraphrase or put their writing in your own words. Here are a few guidelines that can help:
Dont take notes as you read. Instead, focus on understanding what is written. Read it over several
times if necessary.
Be selective. You dont need to paraphrase everything youve read, only the points that are relevant to
what youre writing.
Explain it to someone. If youre having trouble putting information into your own words in written form,
try doing it verbally first. Share the information with a friend or family member.
Dont refer to the source as you write. When youre ready to start paraphrasing, put the source work
away and just go from your own memory.

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#16: Avoid plagiarism by quoting

Sometimes its difficult to paraphrase, or perhaps you want to include a very specific argument or piece of
information in your work. In these cases, quoting your source is a good idea.
When you add a quotation, make sure you explain why its there. Readers should be able to understand how the
quoted text connects to the rest of the piece. Generally, you want to include a signal and an assertion.
A signal lets readers know that a quotation is coming, and it usually includes a reference to the author and/or
the work. The assertion lays out the relationship between the quote and your work.
The proper use of quotation marks is crucial when referring to sources [assertion]. Writing Tutorial
Services for Indiana University notes [signal], Using another persons phrases or sentences without
putting quotation marks around them is considered plagiarism even if the writer cites in her own text the
source of the phrases or sentences she has quoted
(http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml).
When writing for an American audience, make sure you put everything that comes directly from the source
work in double quotation marks (), not single ().


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#17: Get to know idioms

Many ESL writers make the mistake of focusing solely on expanding their vocabulary, but improving your
knowledge of idioms is just as important, particularly at more advanced levels.
Watch for outdated or foreign idioms.
What makes idioms so tough is that theyre constantly evolving. They grow stale and are often tied to a specific
location. An idiom that is very popular in England may be totally unfamiliar to an American English speaker.
Make sure the resources you use have recently been updated and are written for your intended audience.
Read the newspaper.
The newspaper is local and very
current. In it, youll find frequent
use of colloquial language, which
means more idioms. If you run
across a phrase or word you dont
know, take note and look it up.
Ask.
Native speakers are the absolute
best source for idioms, but you wont learn if you dont take the time to ask. When someone uses a phrase
thats unfamiliar to you, ask him or her to explain it and use it in another context. Write it down so you can refer
to it later.
Here are two great resources for studying idioms:
Idiom Site
TheFreeDictionary.coms Idiom Dictionary

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#18: Learn commonly confused terms

Many words in the English language have similar spellings, sound alike, or have very close definitions. As a
result, these words are commonly misused, particularly by ESL writers. As with idioms, it pays to add them to
your efforts to expand your vocabulary. Learn commonly confused terms in pairs, and practice using both terms
correctly.
Here are a few examples to get you
started:
Effect vs. Affect
This isnt always true, but effect is
most often a noun (as in the
effect), while affect is a verb. By
keeping that simple rule in mind,
youll be correct in most instances.
Heres a more detailed explanation.

Lead vs. Led
Lead is a present-tense verb as well as a noun in many instances (such as the lead on a project), while led
is a past-tense verb and is never used as a noun. Click here for more info.

Accept vs. Except
These two words sound very similar, especially to ESL speakers, so its no surprise that theyre often confused in
writing. Accept is a verb that means to consent or receive. Except is a preposition that means excluding
or apart from. Heres a great list of example sentences using accept and except.

That vs. Which
Both words are pronouns and are used in similar situations, but heres the difference: When writing in American
English, that is used before restrictive clauses, and which is used before nonrestrictive clauses. A restrictive
clause cannot be removed from a sentence without changing its meaning, while a nonrestrictive clause can.
Learn more about how to correctly use that and which here.

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#19: Read your written words aloud

Good writing has a natural rhythm. Often, its easier to tell if your writing flows well when you hear it out loud. If
you find yourself tripping over a sentence, its likely your readers will, too. Does a paragraph seem to drag on
forever? Find ways to cut it down. Youll get a sense of how your writing works overall.
Reading aloud can also help you pinpoint problems you might not notice on the page. You may read a paper a
dozen times and still fail to notice that youve left out a key term or made a grammatical error. This is because
your brain is too efficient, reading what should be there instead of what is. Luckily, this kind of autocorrecting
doesnt happen as much when you read your words aloud.
You can also improve your writing by reading others professional work out loud. What does it sound like? How
does it feel as you read it? This will give you a better reference point for assessing your own writing.
Check out these additional tips on how to read to improve your writing.

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#20: Shorter is better

Your goal is to be clear and concise. The longer the sentence, the more likely it will confuse your readers or have
subject/verb agreement problems. Sentences with many equally weighted phrases and clauses are difficult to
understand.
In most cases, you want to keep each sentence to three lines or less. If you write a sentence that is more than
four lines, look for a way to break it into two sentences.
The same is true for paragraphs. On average, you want four to six sentences per paragraph for academic writing,
and you can use very short paragraphs of one to two sentences to draw attention to something. Remember,
paragraphs are designed to organize your writing for readers, making it easier for them to tell where a point
begins and ends. If you start a new idea, start a new paragraph.


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#21: Select the right dictionary for your audience

There are regional spelling differences between English-speaking countries. For example, the word thats spelled
labour in the UK and Canada is spelled labor in the US.
So how do you keep up with all these minor differences? Easy! Just change the dictionary your spellchecker
uses.
In Microsoft Word, you can set one language as your permanent preference. First, select the File tab. Then
click Options. A pop-up box will appear, and in the left column, select Language. Here you'll find the option
to choose editing languages. You can select the language you need and then hit the Set as Default button.
Microsoft Word is updated often, so search set Microsoft Word language preference on Google if these
instructions do not appear to match your version of Microsoft Word.
Its even easier to
change the language for
a single document or
even just a paragraph.
First, open the
document, and then
select the text you'd like
to check. Then look at
the very bottom bar.
Next to the page and
word count, you'll see
the language. Click on it,
and you'll be given the
option to select a
language. Hit OK and
youre good to go!


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#22: Search for examples on Google

With so many variations and exceptions to the rule in the English language, its hard to master them all.
Unfortunately, theres also not always a resource available for the specific question you have in mind. So how do
you figure out whats correct?

Use Google to your advantage.
With just a quick search, you can find hundreds, thousands, or even millions of examples about the specific use
of terms and phrases. Do a search for an exact match for the phrase (or phrases) youre considering, and then
read through the results to determine whether your wording is correct. To do this, put quotation marks around
the phrase to ensure Google only shows you exact matches.

For example, lets say youre wondering whether you should write at Purdue University or in Purdue
University. Do a search for both phrases.


The first thing youll notice is that Google returns over 23.7 million results for at and only 1.5 million for in,
so you already have a good indicator that at is the correct choice. If youre still not certain, you can click on the
results to read multiple examples that may guide you to the right choice.
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#23: Expand your writing horizons

Most ESL writers focus on mastering the rules and conventions of one particular type of writing, often academic
writing, but learning and practicing other forms of writing can arm you with new strengths and tools that you
wouldnt have developed otherwise.
So what types of writing should you try? Here are just a few ideas:
Letters
Business proposals
Reports
Short stories
Articles
Presentations
Essays
Music lyrics
Poetry
Screenplays
Blog posts
Jokes
Childrens books
Memoirs
Journal entries
Love letters
Research has found that language learning is affected by your attitude and feelings. If youre feeling anxious,
stressed, or discouraged about your abilities, you may actually be inhibiting your growth as an ESL writer.
Finding a way to make writing fun again can help you get back on track, so find a format that youre excited
about and get started!
Check out these fun prompts for essay writing for more ideas.

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BONUS TIP: Double-check your spelling and grammar checker

Dont rely solely on the guidance of your word processors spelling and grammar checker. It canand willlead
you to make mistakes.
When you misspell a word, the spellchecker will
offer suggestions, but sometimes it doesnt know
what word you intended to use. As a result, it can
offer close but incorrect recommendations. The
Internet is full of funny autocorrects from texts and
emails. Dont let your writing fall prey to this
phenomenon.
Also, your spellchecker may overlook a mistake if
the word is spelled right but used incorrectly. For
example, you may have written interesting when
you meant interested or accept when except
was correct.
Grammar is very complex and often subjective, which makes it difficult for computers to correctly assess your
writing. To make matters more complicated, there are regional variations and other differences depending on
what style you follow. At ProofreadingServices.com, we know this all too well. As the worlds leading
professional proofreading company for ESL writers, we help people correct their grammar in important
documents all the time. If youre interested in learning more about what we can do for you, click here.

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You made it!

Congratulations! Youre on your way to better ESL writing.
This guide is based on hands-on research into which tips and techniques are helpful to ESL writers, and I hope
youve found it to be a useful and valuable tool. Theres a lot more to learn, but if you read this guide and come
back to it every now and again, youre off to a great start.
Whats next?
Most of these tips arent easy to master in a single study session, so dive into them more deeply one at a time. I
also encourage you to regularly visit my ESL blog, The ESL Inquirer, for more helpful tips, exercises, and
information that can help you become a better ESL writer. Theres an email signup box on the blog if youd like
to receive regular updates when I publish something new.
Need more help?
Contact me at ProofreadingServices.com to find out more about the editing services we offer to ESL writers just
like you. (Or just contact me to say hi! Id love to hear from you.)
Before you go . . .
Do you know people who might benefit from reading this guide? If you have friends or family who are struggling
to improve their ESL writing skills, why not send this to them? Theyll appreciate that youve taken the time to
think about their needs and help them improve.
Id like to thank you ahead of time for spreading this free ESL resource. I hope it will benefit you and other ESL
writers!

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