Free English Grammar Curriculum

Remember the book Elements of Style by Strunk & White? That wonderful classic work on grammar and writing that so many of us read in our high school or college English classes?

I recently found an online version of sorts created by the University of Bristol that not only goes through many of the concepts covered by Strunk & White, but also has interactive exercises. The site, titled simply as "Improve Your Writing," bills itself as "a comprehensive guide to using English grammar and avoiding the most common mistakes" and from what I've seen so far, it fits that bill nicely.

These free online English grammar lessons would make an excellent way for junior high or high schoolers to brush up on their grammar, or even as a means to teach English grammar from almost scratch!

How the Lessons Work

Each lesson consists of a written explanation and interactive exercises to reinforce understanding. You can either work through the lessons progressively, or just skip ahead to a particular subject.

How the Exercises Work

There are several exercise questions for each concept. Here are a couple of screenshot examples:

Topics Covered in this Grammar Curriculum

The subjects covered in this free grammar curriculum are as follows. (Note that the links will take you to the particular lesson or exercise on the site itself.)

1. Punctuation Marks
   1. The colon.
   2. The semicolon.
   3. The comma
   4. The comma splice.
   5. The hyphen (-)
   6. The dash (–)
   7. The apostrophe
2. Common Confusions
   1. Whose and Who's
   2. It's and Its.
   3. There and Their and They're.
   4. To, Two and Too.
   5. Who and Whom.
   6. I or me.
   7. Less/Fewer.
   8. Like or As.
   9. Confusable words.
3. Using quoted material.
   1. Where to put the Quoted Material.
   2. When to quote and when not to.
   3. Punctuating Quoted Material.
   4. The Ellipsis ( … )
4. Other pitfalls and problems
   1. Conjunctions
   2. Split infinitives.
   3. Subject/Verb Agreement.
   4. Dangling Participles
   5. Consistency of Tense.
   6. The Subjunctive.
   7. Using Numbers.
   8. Positioning of 'only' and 'often'.
   9. Compound Words
5. Style
   1. Run-on sentences.
   2. Pleonasm.
   3. Paragraph Length.
   4. Straying Off The Point.
6. Exercises