Effective writing is one of the vital skills that students should try and master during college. They need it for various activities – from academic writing and corresponding with teachers to applying for scholarships and even jobs. Communication through writing remains essential after graduation, during the job-seeking and networking phases. 

This is why we’ve put together a guide with the top 5 grammar tips for students. Applying these tips regularly will make sure your writing remains clean and effective. Let’s take a closer look at each one.

• Table of Contents

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  Proper Sentence Structure

The way you organize a sentence plays a crucial role in how your message is delivered or how you reach your point. Improperly organized sentences lead to misunderstandings, ambiguities, and poor writing.

This is why the number one grammar tip for students is to be careful about how they structure and organize each sentence.

The basic elements of structurally sound sentences include:

• having a subject and a verb
• clearly stating a point
• being concise
• having a clear perspective
• not being fragmented

Simply, this means you shouldn’t beat around the bush or make things complicated, especially when writing an academic paper. I used to struggle with this and found a service to pay to do my homework. Still, with enough practice, you can master this skill.

• Choice of Voice

Choosing between active and passive voice is an important decision that students need to learn how to make. Switching between voices can be confusing and harm the quality of your text, so you must make this decision before you start writing.

Active voice is usually preferred when it comes to effective writing, as it helps with:

• emphasizing the doer of the action
• being clear
• being direct

However, in some cases, when the writer wants to remain objective, passive can be used instead. This is typical for scientific research and papers, where objectivity matters a lot.

• Punctuation

Did you know that 44.4% of people believe that grammar is a reflection of our intelligence? And punctuation is one of the most crucial elements of proper grammar usage.

It may seem like an obvious thing, but punctuation often gets overlooked and neglected by so many students. Punctuation is so much more than putting a comma when listing things or knowing how to use quotation marks.

Punctuation is actually used to create several desired effects in your writing, including:

• setting a rhythm and pace
• setting a tone
• conveying emotions
• emphasizing
• structuring

If you don’t use your punctuation the right way, your intended meaning or style can easily be lost. Your text can sound like one thing in your mind but be something completely different to other readers.

• Linking Ideas

When you’re writing, your reader needs to be on your mind all the time. It’s your job to make sure they fully understand your text and find it easy to read. This is why students need to be careful about linking different ideas in a sentence or linking two sentences.

Linking is done with the help of:

• conjunctions e.g. and, but, or, yet
• transitional words e.g. however, consequentially
• subordinating conjunctions e.g. since, while, although

There are other ways to link sentences together and make your text flow without interruptions. From using repetition or pronouns to creating transitional sentences, you get to choose your weapon. The important thing is your intended reader is always certain about what you want to say.

• Proofreading

Finally, the ultimate habit and tip that every student needs to follow when it comes to writing is creating a proofreading routine. Proofreading needs to be an inevitable part of your writing routine, as it’s the only way to confirm you did a good job.

So, the basic techniques of proofreading are:

• reading your text from an objective point of view
• scanning it for specific types of errors e.g. spelling, grammar, style, or tone
• using a credible proofreading tool that can do part of the work for you

Grammarly is one of the most popular proofreading tools that students love for its simplicity. Still, you can’t trust it blindly, and you need to revise every error it finds and every suggestion it makes. You need to be the one that makes the final decision of whether or not your text needs changes.

Final Thoughts

Effective writing is something that takes knowledge and practice. Luckily, knowing and applying these top 5 grammar tips will help any student excel in their writing endeavors. The important thing is to develop a writing routine that applies all of the above listed tips, and you’ll have nothing to worry about.

So, turn these 5 tips into your post-writing checklist and enjoy the instant improvements in your writing.