How to Use Commas in News Writing

Just like numbers, comma is another element that often creates unlcear sentences. Here are five rules to go by:

1. Use a comma before introductory element (word, clause, and sentence).

Example: After I attend the class, I will go to lunch.

2. Use commas when you list elements - you may either omit or use the comma before "and"

Example: Apple, pears, and strawberry

3. Use a comma with conjunctions between independent clauses.

Example: I study for exam, but I still think about where to go for vacation.

4. Use commas when you separate the quotes.

Example: "It is essential to raise the bar of educators," the official of education department said, "as the task is urgent to equip children with higher standard of living."

5. Use a comma to make the sentence clearer.

Example: Inside, people are gathering for the conference.

How to Write Numbers in the News Article

If you are writing a news article, using numbers in a sentence may come to you often quite confusing. Although not everyone agrees on which rule is always right, here are my three important points to remember when writing numbers in your news article: 

1. Small numbers should be spelled such as one, two, three, four and five that are under ten. For example, write "seven students" instead of "7 students," and "21 people" instead of "twenty-one people"

2. Spell out "percent" or other units that are used together with numbers. For example, write "two percent of sea water" instead of 2% of sea water. 

3. Spell out if the number is estimated. For example, write "five thousands of people instead of 5,000 of people." 

Tackling Basic English Grammar

I often encounter people asking, "My English is bad," (while they are speaking in English) and here is a basic English Grammar ebook that DailyWritingTips.com provides and that can be your good starting point to tackle the English grammar.

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/download/Basic-English-Grammar.zip

Where to Look for Writing Samples

Don't want to carry ten-pound Chinese character writing dictionary with thousands of pages?

Then go to…

http://www.shufa.com

or,

http://www.shufazidian.com



Only thing is that you would need to be typing Chinese characters in the search. It gives standard, cursive, and all types of writing at once. If you can type Chinese characters, great. If you can't, you might want to use Chinese dictionary that will give you the character to copy and paste.

Go to…

http://www.mdbg.net

or

http://www.archchinese.com

Here, you can type pinyin of the Chinese characters. For example, for the word "calligraphy," you will put the pinyin of the character with its intonation, "shu1fa2."

Want to have the character-writing dictionaries downloaded to your computer? Try some searches via baidu.com!