Class 9 IT-402 Basic Writing Skills

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BASIC WRITING SKILLS

Written communication is the most effective mode of communication. It is more formal and less flexible than oral communication. The written form is helpful in keeping a record of the conversation for future reference.

The effectiveness of written communication depends on the correct choice of words, their organisation into a right sequence, and the cohesiveness in the sentences.

7C’S OF COMMUNICATION

There are seven elements of written communication which are popularly known as 7C’s of written communication. They are regarded as a checklist that helps to improve  helps to improve the professional communication skills and increase the chances that the message will be understood in the same way as it was intended.

  1. Clear: The message should not be vague or confusing.
  2. Correct: The message should be free of any grammatical and spelling mistakes. Also, the facts mentioned in the message must be relevant and accurate.
  3. Complete: The message should be complete, i.e., it must include all the required information. The complete message answers most of the questions that receiver might have, thus reducing the need for further correspondence.
  4. Concrete: The content should be supported by facts and figures.
  5. Concise: The message should be precise and to the point. A short and brief message helps to retain the receiver's attention and saves time.
  6. Consideration: The sender must take into consideration the receiver's opinions, knowledge, mindset, background, etc., to communicate effectively.
  7. Courteous: The sender must consider feelings and viewpoints of the receiver while drafting the message.

WRITING SKILLS

To communicate well, we must have a good command in the language in which we are communicating. At the same time, we must take care that there are no grammatical errors in writing. To improve our writing skills, we will study about the basic concepts of English grammar and how they should be used effectively.

PHRASES

When we communicate with each other, we express our thoughts and ideas through words. A group of words that make a complete sense is called a sentence.

Now look at the following group of words:

  • a sweet smelling rose
  • up the mountain
  • will be going
  • behind the cupboard

Do they make complete sense? No, they don’t.

Therefore, they are not sentence. These are phrases.

A phrase is a group of words that form a unit within a sentence but is incomplete independently. A phrase lacks the both the subject and the object.

Examples:

Girl in the brown hat. (phrase)

The girl in the brown hat looked confused. (sentence)

The phrase in the above example makes complete sense when it is a part of a sentence.

TYPES OF PHRASES

There are different kinds of phrases:

  1. A noun phrase acts like a noun in a sentence.
  2. A verb phrase is a group of main verbs and helping verbs within a sentence.
  3. An adjective phrase is built around an adjective and consists of adjectives and/or articles.
  4. An adverbial phrase is built in around an adverb by adding words before or after it.
  5. A prepositional phrase always begins with a preposition and is followed by a noun.

SENTENCES

A group of words that make a complete sense is called a sentence. A sentence must contain a subject and a predicate.

Examples:

Color blue favourite is my. (makes no sense)

My favourite color is blue. (makes sense, therefore it is a sentence)

KINDS OF SENTENCE

There are four kinds of sentences:

  • Assertive or declarative sentence (a statement)
  • Imperative sentence (a command)
  • Interrogative sentence (a question)
  • Exclamatory sentence (an exclamation)
  1. An Assertive sentence is a sentence that states a fact. Such a sentence is a simple statement that indicated, asserts or declares something. Example: Jane is  a student. She lives in a big city.
  2. An Imperative sentence is a sentence which gives a command, makes a request, or expresses a wish. This type of sentence may end with a full stop or an exclamation mark. Examples: Go to your room. Have a good time at the picnic!
  3. An Exclamatory sentence is a sentence that expresses sudden and strong feelings, such as surprise, wonder, pity, sympathy, happiness or gratitude. Examples: Bravo! Well Done!
  4. An Interrogative sentence is a sentence that asks a question. Examples: What is your name? Where do you live?

PARTS OF SENTENCE

Every complete sentence contain two parts: a Subject and a Predicate.

A subject is a word or a group of words which conveys the names of persons or things about whom or which we are speaking.

A predicate, on the other hand, is a part of sentence which contains a verb and states something about the subject.

Let us learn more about, subject and predicate through the following examples:

The book fell on the table.

In this sentence, ‘The book’ is subject because something is being said about it and ‘fell on the table’ is the predicate because that is being said about ‘The book’.

The subject in the sentence usually comes first. However, in certain cases, it is place after the predicate for the sake of emphasis. For example:

Down went the sheep.

To determine the subject in the sentence, ask ‘who’ and the answer would be the subject.

On the contrary, ask ‘what’ about the subject, and answer would be predicate.

In the sentence given above, when you ask who, the answer is ‘the ship. This is the subject. When you ask what, the answer is – went down. This is the predicate.

In imperative sentences, the subject is not explicitly stated; rather it is implied. Look at the given sentence.

Sit Down.

In this sentence, the subject ‘you’ is implied.

RULES FOR WRITING A SENTENCE

  • Use short sentences.
  • Limit sentence content.
  • Economise on words.
  • Arrange the sentences in a proper sequence.
  • Design sentences to emphasise on the topic.

Each word in the English language belongs to a particular class or part of speech. There are eight parts of speech in English Grammar.

ARTICLES

An article is a word used to modify a noun, which is person, place, object, or idea. There are two different types of articles that are used in writing and conversation to point out or to refer to a noun or group of nouns:

  • Indefinite articles
  • Definite articles

INDEFINITE ARTICELS – A AND AN

‘A’ and ‘An’ are the two forms of indefinite articles. As a determiner, these articles are used before Singular Countable Nouns (SCN). The main function of the indefinite articles is to indicate that the noun they precede do not refer to any particular person or thing, Usually, these articles are used to introduce new concepts. For example, ‘a teacher’ refers to any teacher and not to any specific teacher.

Rules for using the indefinite articles (a/an)

‘a’ is used:

  • Before a singular countable noun when it is mentioned for the first time. Example: This is a river.
  • Before a single countable noun or adjective beginning with a consonant sound. Examples: I was a play., She has a bicycle.
  • To express quantity. Example: a couple of; a good deal of;
  • In certain exclamatory expressions. Examples: What a beautiful place!

‘an’ is used:

'an' performs the same function as 'a' 'but' 'an' is used before singular countable nouns which begin with a vowel sound (a, e, i, o, u).

Examples:

He ate an apple.

She works as an doctor.

REMEMBER

The initial sound is important, not the spelling.

  • The following letters begins with a vowel letters but have consonant sound. Therefore, they have the article 'a' before them. Example: a union; a one-man army; a utopian world; a eugeny; a united force.
  • The following letters begins with a consonant letters but have vowels sound. Therefore, they have the article 'an' before them. Example: an hour; an MLA;
  • If a single countable noun is predicted by an adjective, a or an is used before the adjective, according to its initial sound. Examples: He is an honest boy; She has a pet dog;

DEFINITE ARTICLES – THE

The definite article, ‘the’ can be used with both countable nouns – singular as well as plural – and uncountable nouns. Its main use is to specify a person, place or thing. It is used when noun that follows is already known.

Example: There is a duster on my desk. Get me the duster.

‘The’ is used before

  • A singular noun when it refers to a particular class or group.
  • The names of rivers, mountains, gulfs, seas, oceans, groups of islands, name of ships, etc.
  • The names of countries in plural.
  • The names of religious books.
  • Hotels, museums, or certain buildings.
  • The names of newspapers and magazines.
  • The superlatives of adjectives.
  • Descriptive adjective referring to a whole group or class.
  • Names of races and communities.
  • Uncountable nouns

Do not use ‘the’ before: abstract nouns, plural nouns, proper nouns, names of material, meals, colors, names of games, when used in general sense.

Example:

  • Gold is a precious metal. (Name of the material)
  • Children like chocolates. (Plural Noun)
  • Ram is leaving tonight. (Proper Noun)
  • Dinner is ready! (Dinner is a meal)
  • Virat Kohli plays cricket. (Name of the game)

We do not use the with some expressions, such as: all day, all night, by train, by air.

PARAGRAPH WRITING

In the English language, the fundamental unit of composition is a paragraph. A paragraph consists of several sentences that are grouped together and discusses one main subject. Thus, a paragraph is essentially a collection of sentences that all relate to one central topic.

Before you begin writing your paragraph, you must have clear idea of what the paragraph is going to be about, i.e., you should have a clear topic to write on. Without a definite idea of what the main topic is, your paragraph will lack focus, clarity and unity.

Think about the topic on which you want to write. Consider, the most relevant ideas or issues relating to the topic is. As paragraphs are usually short, it is essential that you try to touch upon all the main ideas, without going off the subject and maintaining the length of the paragraph.

HOW TO WRITE A GOOD PARAGRAPH

Listed below are some of the sections you must take care of, when writing a paragraph.

Topic

First, decide the topic about which you are going to write the paragraph.

Introduction/Topic Sentence

Make one sentence that tells about the topic which will feature in the rest of the paragraph. This is called a ‘topic sentence’, which works as an introduction to your paragraph. The controlling idea focuses on the topic by providing direction to the composition.

Example: People can avoid accidents on road by taking certain precautions.

(In the above example, topic sentence is ‘accidents on road’ and controlling idea is ‘taking certain precautions’.

Support/Explanation

After starting the topic sentence, provide information in 7-8 sentences to explain and clarity more about the topic.

Conclusion

After illustrating your point with relevant information, add a concluding sentence that summarises the points made in the paragraph.

Proofread

The last step in writing a good paragraph is proofreading and revision. Before, submitting, look over your writing at least one more time. Make sure your paragraph makes sense.

RULES FOR WRITING A PARAGRAPH

  • Give the paragraph uniformity
  • Keep the paragraph short
  • Use topic sentences
  • Leave out unnecessary details
  • End the paragraph with a concluding sentence
A paragraph is usually judged on the following crisis:
  1. Introduction (including title)
  2. Support/Explanation
                This is further divided into-
  • Content
  • Expression (Fluency, Grammar and Spelling)
  • Sequencing 
    3. Conclusion 
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