More than one element of writing

Can you imagine how language would be if we always used the same words when speaking, reading and writing?

Well, synonyms are words with similar meaning.  

The writers use them to provide interest and variety to the reader.  For example:

George's financial problems were great obstacles and impediments to paying his monthly bills.

If you apply a synonym to a sentence, you do not have to change the register. 

Useful links to practice:

http://www.education.com/study-help/article/synonyms-antonyms-similars-opposites_answer/

http://wps.ablongman.com/long_licklider_vocabulary_2/0,6658,416757-,00.html 

http://www.indiabix.com/verbal-ability/synonyms/

Articles

Articles in English are invariable. That is, they do not change according to the gender or number of the noun they refer to, e.g. the boy, the woman, the children.

"The" is used

1. to refer to something which has already been mentioned.

2. when both the speaker and listener know what is being talked about, even if it has not been mentioned before.

3. in sentences or clauses where we define or identify a particular person or object.

4. to refer to objects we regard as unique.

5. with adjectives, to refer to a whole group of people.

6. before superlatives and ordinal numbers.

7. with names with geographical areas and oceans.

8. with decades, or groups of years.

Use 'a' with nouns starting with a consonant (letters that are not vowels), 'an' with nouns starting with a vowel (a,e,i,o,u)

Useful link to practice:

http://perso.wanadoo.es/autoenglish/gr.an.i.htm

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/nouns_articles/a_the.htm

http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-exercise-articles.php

Comparisons

As we know to make comparisons in English, we have to apply certain rules. For example:

If you compare two things or people with a short adjective, you have to add "er" to the adjective and also you have to add "than" after the adjective.

e.g. : Peter is taller than me

If you compare two different things or people with a long adjective, you have to add "more" and then you have to write the adjective in its positive form and add the word "than" after the adjective.

e.g.: My book is more interesting than yours.

On the other hand, if you want to vary the strength of  your comparison, you can do it by using "qualifying" expressions like: slightly, considerably or significantly.

e.g.:  She's slightly less interested in football than him.

Note: When you use these qualifying expressions in English, remember the rules about using -er. If the adjective is one syllable, or ends in -y, add -er:

Now, to stress similarity in a sentence, you can use expressions like:  "almost as … as", "not quite as … as", "(not) nearly as … as", "twice as … as" and "half as … as" to change the extent of the similarity.

e.g.: She's not quite as confident as Trinidad.

Then, in the case of superlatives, you can use them to show the differences that exist in the group and it follow the same rule like comparisons.  However, if you employ a short adjective you have to add "est" to it and the word "the" before the adjective.  Additionally, when you use long adjectives, you have to add the words "the most" or "the least" and write the positive way of the adjective.

e.g.:   The most interesting book that I read is "Hamblet" by shakespeare.

Useful links to practice:

http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/grammar/regcom2.htm

http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=2070

http://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/45.html