MODULE 1
Punctuation, spelling and grammar
By the end of this module, you will be able to:
- identify and use different types of punctuation;
- recognise and correct common spelling errors;
- identify and construct grammatical structures.
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Test your knowledge!
Complete the fill-in-the-blank activity below. Read the text and drag each answer into the correct gap. This activity will not be counted towards your final grade.
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Hyphens and dashes
Hyphens (-), en dashes (–) and em dashes (—) serve different functions, and are easily confused with one another. Their correct uses are listed below.
Hyphens:
- join words together to form compound nouns, e.g. ‘make-up’ or ‘mother-in-law’;
- separate words and prefixes, e.g. ‘ex-wife’, ‘vice-president’;
- link more than one descriptor to a noun, e.g. ‘five- and six-button jackets’
- combine adverbs and adjectives when describing something e.g. ‘a well-known chef’.
You do not need to use a hyphen if your compound adjective is not modifying a noun. e.g. ‘a world-renowned singer’ vs ‘the singer was world renowned.’
En dashes:
Can you spot the punctuation error in this photo?
- indicate spans of numbers, replacing the word ‘to’ or ‘through. e.g. ‘8–10’, ‘1998–2001’;
- are used when representing conflicts, connections or directions. e.g. ‘Dunning–Kruger effect’, ‘the Franco–Prussian War’, the east–west railway’.
You do not need to use an en dash if you introduce the span with ‘from’ or ‘between’. e.g. ‘the competition ran from June to August’.
Dating back to the days of metal-plate typograpy, theEn and Em dashes are named because they are roughly the length of an N and and M, respectively!
Title
Use this side to give more information about a topic.
Did you know?
Em dashes:
Subtitle
- illustrate someone being interrupted, e.g. ‘I was just trying to—’;
- can replace commas when what is between them breaks from the topic of the sentence, e.g. ‘Jack bought five cakes—he loved the ones with pink icing—to give to Max.’
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Practice quiz: Punctuation
Complete the activity below. For each question, read the options and select the sentence that uses correct punctuation. This activity will not be counted towards your final grade.
Next
Back
Parallelism
Parallelism is the matching of a sentence structure or phrase to balance two or more ideas of equal importance. Correctly using parallelism avoids confusion, and ensures that your writing is clear and consistent.
Verb forms
When listing two or more verbs in a sentence or list, each verb needs to use the same form, so that the sentence is balanced and clear.
INCORRECT Jake the dog loved running, playing catch and to snack on a juicy bone.
‘Running’ and ‘playing’ are gerunds, while ‘to snack’ is an infinitive. Let’s make all the verbs in the sentence into gerunds.
CORRECT Jake the dog loved running, playing catch and snacking on a juicy bone.
Verb forms in lists
This is also true when listing two or more items in a bullet list where, for example, all items should be in the same tense.
INCORRECT Responsibilities in my previous role:
- Responding quickly to emails
- Answering phone calls
- Performed First Aid
The first two items are in the present tense, while the last (‘performed First Aid’) is in the past tense. A correct example might look like this:
Try to imagine the structure of your sentence like a multi-lane road. Do all of your list items and their forms move in parallel? Or do any ‘drive away’ in a different direction?
CORRECT Responsibilities in my previous role:
- Responding quickly to emails
- Answering phone calls
- Performing First Aid
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‘Which’ vs ‘That’
'That'
'That’ is used when introducing restrictive clauses.
INCORRECT The cushion which has the blue flower on it is most expensive.
CORRECT The cushion that has the blue flower on it is most expensive.
'Which'
'Which’ is used when introducing non-restrictive clauses.
INCORRECT Our food, that was late arriving from the kitchen, was tasty.
CORRECT Our food, which was late arriving from the kitchen, was tasty.
Note that, when using 'which' to introduce a restrictive clause, you must include commas to separate the clause from the rest of the sentence.
Notice also how the addition of 'which' and the commas to separate the clause change the emphasis in the sentence: the focus is not on the food being tasty, but on being late.
If a witch cast a spell and made the information disappear from your sentence, would it still make sense? If so, it’s a non-restrictive clause. Use ‘which’!
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Module quiz: Module 1
Complete the activity below. Read the sample text on the left-hand side of the screen. Imagine you are reviewing this text for a summative assessment. Which uses of punctuation and grammar would you correct?
Sample text
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Laoreet nibh dignissim id ut pulvinar molestie donec odio quisque ipsum nisi. Vel fusce placerat dignissim nec euismod hac. Convallis dictumst non molestie habitant libero varius pharetra netus cras vivamus blandit. Dapibus mollis primis sagittis aptent ex class lacus finibus id mollis tellus arcu praesent quis vulputate. Condimentum dui convallis maximus himenaeos ultricies ut fusce sollicitudin primis nostra vestibulum est dolor. Rutrum nibh ultrices proin at pulvinar suspendisse cras. Lacus sit sed consequat varius etiam erat eget vestibulum. Dapibus at elementum morbi tellus primis torquent hendrerit libero varius sociosqu pretium turpis lectus lectus arcu.
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Transcript
MODULE 1
Punctuation, spelling and grammar
By the end of this module, you will be able to:
Next
Back
Test your knowledge!
Complete the fill-in-the-blank activity below. Read the text and drag each answer into the correct gap. This activity will not be counted towards your final grade.
Next
Back
Hyphens and dashes
Hyphens (-), en dashes (–) and em dashes (—) serve different functions, and are easily confused with one another. Their correct uses are listed below.
Hyphens:
- join words together to form compound nouns, e.g. ‘make-up’ or ‘mother-in-law’;
- separate words and prefixes, e.g. ‘ex-wife’, ‘vice-president’;
- link more than one descriptor to a noun, e.g. ‘five- and six-button jackets’
- combine adverbs and adjectives when describing something e.g. ‘a well-known chef’.
You do not need to use a hyphen if your compound adjective is not modifying a noun. e.g. ‘a world-renowned singer’ vs ‘the singer was world renowned.’En dashes:
Can you spot the punctuation error in this photo?
- indicate spans of numbers, replacing the word ‘to’ or ‘through. e.g. ‘8–10’, ‘1998–2001’;
- are used when representing conflicts, connections or directions. e.g. ‘Dunning–Kruger effect’, ‘the Franco–Prussian War’, the east–west railway’.
You do not need to use an en dash if you introduce the span with ‘from’ or ‘between’. e.g. ‘the competition ran from June to August’.Dating back to the days of metal-plate typograpy, theEn and Em dashes are named because they are roughly the length of an N and and M, respectively!
Title
Use this side to give more information about a topic.
Did you know?
Em dashes:
Subtitle
Next
Back
Practice quiz: Punctuation
Complete the activity below. For each question, read the options and select the sentence that uses correct punctuation. This activity will not be counted towards your final grade.
Next
Back
Parallelism
Parallelism is the matching of a sentence structure or phrase to balance two or more ideas of equal importance. Correctly using parallelism avoids confusion, and ensures that your writing is clear and consistent.
Verb forms
When listing two or more verbs in a sentence or list, each verb needs to use the same form, so that the sentence is balanced and clear.
INCORRECT Jake the dog loved running, playing catch and to snack on a juicy bone.
‘Running’ and ‘playing’ are gerunds, while ‘to snack’ is an infinitive. Let’s make all the verbs in the sentence into gerunds.
CORRECT Jake the dog loved running, playing catch and snacking on a juicy bone.
Verb forms in lists
This is also true when listing two or more items in a bullet list where, for example, all items should be in the same tense.
INCORRECT Responsibilities in my previous role:
The first two items are in the present tense, while the last (‘performed First Aid’) is in the past tense. A correct example might look like this:
Try to imagine the structure of your sentence like a multi-lane road. Do all of your list items and their forms move in parallel? Or do any ‘drive away’ in a different direction?
CORRECT Responsibilities in my previous role:
Next
Back
‘Which’ vs ‘That’
'That'
'That’ is used when introducing restrictive clauses.
INCORRECT The cushion which has the blue flower on it is most expensive.
CORRECT The cushion that has the blue flower on it is most expensive.
'Which'
'Which’ is used when introducing non-restrictive clauses.
INCORRECT Our food, that was late arriving from the kitchen, was tasty.
CORRECT Our food, which was late arriving from the kitchen, was tasty.
Note that, when using 'which' to introduce a restrictive clause, you must include commas to separate the clause from the rest of the sentence.
Notice also how the addition of 'which' and the commas to separate the clause change the emphasis in the sentence: the focus is not on the food being tasty, but on being late.
If a witch cast a spell and made the information disappear from your sentence, would it still make sense? If so, it’s a non-restrictive clause. Use ‘which’!
Next
Back
Module quiz: Module 1
Complete the activity below. Read the sample text on the left-hand side of the screen. Imagine you are reviewing this text for a summative assessment. Which uses of punctuation and grammar would you correct?
Sample text
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Laoreet nibh dignissim id ut pulvinar molestie donec odio quisque ipsum nisi. Vel fusce placerat dignissim nec euismod hac. Convallis dictumst non molestie habitant libero varius pharetra netus cras vivamus blandit. Dapibus mollis primis sagittis aptent ex class lacus finibus id mollis tellus arcu praesent quis vulputate. Condimentum dui convallis maximus himenaeos ultricies ut fusce sollicitudin primis nostra vestibulum est dolor. Rutrum nibh ultrices proin at pulvinar suspendisse cras. Lacus sit sed consequat varius etiam erat eget vestibulum. Dapibus at elementum morbi tellus primis torquent hendrerit libero varius sociosqu pretium turpis lectus lectus arcu.
Next
Back