N(T) Writing: Six Sentence Habits That Lift Your Grade
In N(T) writing, the fastest gains are almost never in vocabulary. They are in sentences that are complete, correctly joined and consistently tensed. Fix those and the grade moves before you have learnt a single new word.
1. Finish every sentence
Because he was late. He missed the bus.
Because he was late, he missed the bus.
2. Do not join with a comma
It was raining, we stayed inside.
It was raining, so we stayed inside.
She tried hard, she did not win.
She tried hard, but she did not win.
3. Keep one tense
He walked into the hall and sees his friend.
He walked into the hall and saw his friend.
4. Watch singular and plural
My friends is waiting outside.
My friends are waiting outside.
There was many people there.
There were many people there.
5. Use the small words
I went to school on bus.
I went to school by bus.
She is good in mathematics.
She is good at mathematics.
6. Vary sentence length
I woke up. I ate breakfast. I went to school. I was late.
I woke up late and rushed through breakfast. By the time I reached school, the gate was already closed.
How to practise
Take any paragraph you have written and check it six times, once for each habit above. One pass per habit is far more effective than reading it through once looking for everything.
Do this on four pieces of writing and the habits start arriving while you write, which is the point.
In preparation
The Sentence Repair Kit
Four editions built separately for Lower Secondary N(T), N(T), N(A) and O-Level — every error type in this article, drilled with worked repairs and exam-style practice. Ready in time for prelims.
Browse the Secondary range →
