KEY STAGE 3 ENGLISH GENERAL RESOURCES

KS3 Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar

Section Five: Writing Advice

Use this guide to help you when answering questions in your CGP Workbook
Section Five.

Standard English refers to a style of language used to suit a setting where the audience is
large, not personally known, or in authority. It is an appropriate choice of style in media
writing and by teachers, TV and radio news announcers.

Standard English is also used at traditional occasions such as funerals and weddings. It is a
clear style of English that can be understood by a wide audience.

It may sometimes be called ‘posh’, ‘formal’ or even ‘the Queen’s English’, but these aren’t
very helpful descriptions. Standard English can be spoken in any regional accent, so you
don’t need to sound like the Queen! The word ‘Standard’ refers to the use of its use of
standardised vocabulary and grammar which excludes the use of slang and incorrect
grammar.

For example, where you might say to a friend, “We’re gonna go town”, to turn this into
Standard English, you would say: “We’re going to go to town”. In an essay, you would avoid
writing that 'Shakespeare’s plays are awesome!' and, instead write, 'Shakespeare’s plays are
enjoyable.'

When you are writing an essay or for an unknown audience, you should try to avoid
contractions and any use of slang words. You need to ensure that you do not write in quite
the same way as you might talk to a friend.

There are lots of things you can do to make your writing more formal. Below are some tips
on how you can best achieve this.

Do

• Make your writing clear and to the point, avoiding generalisation and vagueness.
• Try providing ‘signposts’ to help your reader find their way through your writing.
Words and phrases such as 'in addition', 'nevertheless', 'on the other hand', 'by
contrast', 'although' and 'alternatively' are always helpful.
• Include a mix of sentence lengths and types in all writing, including some informative
complex sentences. Try using semicolons in place of a full stop to link two sentences
that share the same topic, but only if you feel confident about using them correctly.
They also work well before connectives such as “but” to add a natural tone and
emphasis, for example, “I like BBC Bitesize; but people can make their own choice”.
• It is important to choose a style that fits in with the text-type or genre, the purpose
and the audience of the task.
KEY STAGE 3 ENGLISH GENERAL RESOURCES

Avoid

• Words and phrases typical of a friendly chat such as ‘cool’, 'you know' or 'like I said'.
• Take care that the effect is right if you use connectives such as 'and', 'but', 'because'
at the beginning of a sentence.
• Keep exclamation marks to an absolute minimum!!!
• Words like 'nice' and 'a lot' have a vague meaning. Try to think of more descriptive
words, for example, 'delicious' or 'endless'.

Active and Passive Sentences

A sentence is written in active voice when the subject of the sentence performs the action
in the sentence.

e.g. The girl was washing the dog.

A sentence is written in passive voice when the subject of the sentence has an action
done to it by someone or something else.

e.g. The dog was being washed by the girl.