الدقّة اللغوية: درجات يهملها الجميع
English · GCSE · The School
The four repeat offenders
Comma splices (two sentences joined by a comma — use a full stop or a semicolon). Its/it's (it's ONLY ever means "it is"). Their/there/they're. And missing apostrophes in possessives (the dog's bowl). These four account for most lost accuracy marks, and all four are learnable in an afternoon.
Speech punctuation
New speaker, new line. The punctuation goes INSIDE the speech marks: "Wait," she said. If the speech ends the sentence, use a full stop inside: he shouted, "Stop!" Getting this right in creative writing is worth real marks because it is visible on every page of dialogue.
Proofread in passes, not all at once
You cannot check everything simultaneously. Pass one: full stops and capitals. Pass two: apostrophes. Pass three: read aloud in your head for sense and tense. Three quick targeted passes catch far more than one slow anxious read, because each pass is looking for one thing.
"Its a long way to the shop, I went there yesterday. The dogs bowl was empty and there owner was'nt home." PASS 1, apostrophes only: Its → It's, dogs → dog's, was'nt → wasn't. PASS 2, homophones only: there → their. PASS 3, comma splices only: "shop, I went" → "shop. I went". Six errors, found because you looked for one type at a time. Reading it through 'carefully' catches perhaps two.
Variety is assessed, not just correctness
Accuracy marks come from getting things right; the higher band asks for range. That means deliberately varying sentence length, opening some sentences with something other than the subject, and using a colon or semicolon correctly at least once. A page of correct but identical sentences is a mid-band page. Two well-placed short sentences among longer ones read as control.
Paragraphing is punctuation
A new paragraph signals a change of time, place, topic or speaker, and examiners look for it. Long unbroken blocks lose accuracy marks even when every comma is right. In description, a paragraph break can do the work of a sentence: shifting the camera without explaining that you have. Leave a clear line so the marker cannot miss it.