Writing & Grammar - StudyReady

Mechanics

Grammar rules students miss most

Rule	Example
Its vs. it's	`Its` = possessive ("the dog wagged its tail"). `It's` = "it is" ("it's raining")
Their / there / they're	`Their` = possessive, `there` = place, `they're` = "they are"
Subject-verb agreement	A singular subject takes a singular verb even if other words come between them: "The list of items is long."
Comma splice	Wrong: "I studied all night, I still failed." Fix with a period, semicolon, or conjunction: "I studied all night, but I still failed."
Who vs. whom	`Who` is a subject ("who called?"), `whom` is an object ("to whom it may concern")
Affect vs. effect	`Affect` is usually a verb ("this will affect me"), `effect` is usually a noun ("the effect was clear")
Parallel structure	Keep list items in the same grammatical form: "I like reading, writing, and to swim" → "I like reading, writing, and swimming."

Templates

Persuasive essay: Thesis stating your position → 2-3 body paragraphs each with a reason and evidence → a paragraph addressing the counterargument → conclusion restating your position.
Analytical essay: Thesis making a specific claim about the text or topic → body paragraphs each proving one part of the claim with evidence → conclusion connecting back to significance.
Narrative essay: A hook that drops the reader into a moment → rising action building tension → a turning point or realization → a reflection on what it meant.
Five-paragraph essay (default): Intro with thesis → three body paragraphs, one per supporting point → conclusion. A safe default structure for most timed writing.

Before You Submit

Read it out loud: Awkward sentences and missing words are far easier to catch by ear than by eye.
Check that every paragraph proves the thesis: If a paragraph doesn't clearly support your central argument, cut it or rewrite it so it does.
Cut filler words: Look for "very," "really," "in order to," and "the fact that" - almost all of them can be deleted without losing meaning.
Check your first and last sentence: These get read the most carefully - make sure the opening earns attention and the closing leaves an actual point, not just a summary.

Common Mistakes

Patterns we see again and again in student work. Each one is fixable once you know to look for it.

A thesis that cannot be disagreed with: "Social media has both positive and negative effects" is not an argument; nobody could push back on it. A thesis has to take a position specific enough that a reasonable reader might dispute it. If your thesis is safe, the essay has nothing to prove.
Paragraphs without a job: Each body paragraph should do one thing for the argument, stated in its first sentence. If you cannot say what a paragraph is for in a few words, it is either two paragraphs or none. The Essay Outline Tool forces this question before you start writing.
Evidence without explanation: A quotation or statistic does not speak for itself. After every piece of evidence, write a sentence or two explaining what it shows and how it supports the point. The ratio should be roughly one line of evidence to two or three lines of your own analysis.
Editing while drafting: Fixing sentences as you write them breaks the flow of thought and produces a polished first paragraph and nothing else. Draft the whole thing badly, then revise. The two activities use different parts of your attention and mixing them slows both down.
Revising only for grammar: Grammar is the last pass. The first revision pass is structural: does the argument hold, is each paragraph in the right place, is anything missing? The second is at the paragraph level. Only then is it worth checking commas. Fixing the commas in a paragraph you are about to delete is wasted time.