A colon (:) can be used to introduce words, phrases, lists of items, explanations, and elaborations. It can also be used to introduce a quotation.
In general, you can think of colons as saying ‘what comes next explains what came before’. A colon must be preceded by an independent clause: a fully formed thought that could stand as a sentence on its own.
Continue reading: When to Use a Colon (:) | Rules, Guide & Examples
In English grammar, parallelism (also called parallel structure or parallel construction) is the repetition of the same grammatical form in two or more parts of a sentence.
| Not parallel | Parallel |
|---|---|
| I like to jog, bake, paint, and watching movies. | I like to jog, bake, paint, and watch movies.
I like jogging, baking, painting, and watching movies. |
Maintaining parallel structure helps you avoid grammatically incorrect sentences and improves your writing style. Although lack of parallelism is not always strictly incorrect, sentences with parallel structure are easier to read and add a sense of balance to your writing.
Parallel construction is most commonly used in sentences containing elements that appear in a series or in a pair. It is also applied to headings and outlines in academic writing.
Scribbr’s Paraphrasing Tool can help you explore different ways to structure your sentences and improve the clarity of your writing.
Continue reading: Parallel Structure & Parallelism | Definition, Use & Examples
A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that describes, defines, or qualifies something else in a sentence.
Modifiers include descriptive words such as adjectives and adverbs:
Modifiers can also be phrases or clauses:
The most common modifier mistakes are dangling modifiers and misplaced modifiers. Both terms refer to modifiers that are connected to the wrong thing in a sentence.
A misplaced modifier is too far away from the thing it’s supposed to modify, while a dangling modifier’s intended subject is missing from the sentence altogether.
Continue reading: How to Fix Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers (with Examples)
A modifier describes or qualifies another part of a sentence. A dangling modifier occurs when the intended subject of the modifier is missing from the sentence, and instead another subject appears in its place.
Dangling modifiers often take the form of an introductory phrase that is connected to the wrong thing.
| Dangling | Corrected |
|---|---|
|
|
Continue reading: What Is a Dangling Modifier? | Examples & How to Eliminate
A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that describes another part of a sentence. A misplaced modifier is improperly positioned in relation to the word, phrase or clause it is supposed to describe.
In this example, due to the placement of the modifier in 1969, the sentence seems to say that Neil Armstrong was the first man in that particular year to step on the moon.
Instead, the modifier should be placed directly next to the clause it relates to – Neil Armstrong made history:
Continue reading: What Is a Misplaced Modifier? | Examples & How to Fix
A conjunction is a word that is used to connect words, phrases, and clauses. There are many conjunctions in the English language, but some common ones include and, or, but, because, for, if, and when.
There are three basic types of conjunctions: coordinating, subordinating, and correlative.
Continue reading: Using Conjunctions | Definition, Rules & Examples
A semicolon can be used to connect two closely related independent clauses (parts of a sentence that could also stand as separate sentences).
Semicolons are also used to separate list items that contain internal punctuation such as commas and dashes.
The semicolon is often described as a punctuation mark that is stronger than a comma and weaker than a full stop, but it is not interchangeable with other punctuation marks.
Continue reading: Using Semicolons (;) | Guide, Rules & Examples
Discourse analysis is a research method for studying written or spoken language in relation to its social context. It aims to understand how language is used in real-life situations.
When you do discourse analysis, you might focus on:
Discourse analysis is a common qualitative research method in many humanities and social science disciplines, including linguistics, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and cultural studies. It is also called critical discourse analysis.
Continue reading: Critical Discourse Analysis | Definition, Guide & Examples
Content analysis is a research method used to identify patterns in recorded communication. To conduct content analysis, you systematically collect data from a set of texts, which can be written, oral, or visual:
Content analysis can be both quantitative (focused on counting and measuring) and qualitative (focused on interpreting and understanding). In both types, you categorise or ‘code’ words, themes, and concepts within the texts and then analyse the results.
Continue reading: Content Analysis | A Step-by-Step Guide with Examples