Links to practice quizzes on a variety of English topics. Type anything you want in the name, course name, and instructor boxes, then click “Start Quiz” to go to the first question. At the end of the quiz, click “Score Quiz” to get your score and an explanation of correct and incorrect answers.

Links to practice exercises on a variety of English topics. Click on “Check Your Answers” to see how you did.

Idioms

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GoEnglish’s Index of links to idioms. Users can browse by letter of the alphabet or search for specific idiom. Includes inks to quizzes.

ESL Cafe’s Index of links to idioms with definitions and examples

a4ESLl’s Links to on-line quizzes on idioms and slang

The Idiom Connection’s Links to idioms by letter of the alphabet or by category. Each list has a link to an online quiz with answers.

1-Language.com’s Links to explanations of common idioms

Usage

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Grammar Slammer’s Links to explanation of common errors

Paul Brian’s links to explanation of common usage errors

Links to articles by a hard-of-hearing author on common errors and a variety of usage topics. Scroll down the page to the “Main Index.”

Paul Brian’s Discussion of “errors” that are not really errors

GARBL’s list of links to questions of style and usage

GARBL’s Explanation of when to use “a,” “an,” and “the”

U Texas’s guidelines for using “a,” “an,” and “the”

Blue Book’s Rules for writing numbers with examples

U Texas’s Help with problem prepositions

Rutgers’links to help with writing, vocabulary, and usage

Amherst’s help with mechanics, logic, style, and usage

Grammar

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Daily Grammar’s Archive of 440 grammar lessons consisting of a brief explanation of a grammatical principle, quiz, and answers

Daily Grammar’s Glossary of grammar terms

Table of contents for Sentence Sense, an online textbook for grammar, usage, and writing. Click on one of the four large section numbers on the left to go to the table of contents for that section. If you mouse over the small chapter numbers, the description changes to show you what’s covered in that chapter. Includes practice exercises with answers.

Links to the extensive Guide to Grammar and Writing listed in alphabetic order. Includes links to interactive quizzes.

Links to the Guide to Grammar and Writing organized by sentence level, paragraph level, and essay level. Includes links to quizzes.

CCC’s Links to online quizzes on grammar, spelling, vocabulary, and usage

CCC’s Links to PowerPoint presentations on a variety of grammar topics

Links to “bare-bones” grammar help on a variety of topics. There is a link to a self-test at the bottom of each page. The self-test provides explanations of why incorrect answers are wrong.

Impact-e’s Links to explanations of grammar and to interactive grammar quizzes. Information is organized in helpful charts and “maps.”

List of links to the grammar tip of the week archive. Shows real examples of grammar mistakes and explanation of why they’re wrong and how to correct them.

Linguarama’s List of links to exercises with explanations on a variety of grammar topics

Blue Book’s list of links to grammar rules with examples and quizzes

Blue Book’s Interactive grammar test with answers

Purdue’s explanation and examples of count and non-count nouns. Link to exercises at bottom of page.

Purdue’s list of links to handouts and practice exercises on a variety of topics related to grammar, punctuation, and spelling

EnglishPage’s links to lessons and exercises on a variety of topics related to grammar. Search feature is at bottom of page.

EduFind’s links to lessons on a variety of topics related to grammar

Grammar Byte’s Interactive exercises to practice grammar. The exercises are organized by topic and explanations are provided.

Grammar Byte’s Links to grammar help on a variety of topics. Example sentences are often humorous.

Armchair Grammarian’s links in left column to explanation of grammar and punctuation rules

University of Illinois’ Online handbook with links to a variety of grammar topics

Donald Hardy’s Online grammar handbook with interactive quizzes. Click the down-arrow to select a topic, then click the “Click Here” bar to go to that page.

David Ross’s Interactive grammar quizzes with answers

English Zone’s links to help and interactive quizzes on a variety of grammar topics. Free lessons are indicated by the icon.

English Zone’s links to help and interactive quizzes on verbs. Free lessons are indicated by the icon.

English Zone’s links to help and interactive quizzes with prepositions. Free lessons are indicated by the icon.

English Zone’s links to help and interactive quizzes with phrasal verbs. Free lessons are indicated by the icon.

CHSEL’s practice exercises for phrasal verbs

Gallaudet’s Grammar and punctuation review with common errors and how to correct them

English Exercises Online’s links to interactive grammar quizzes

CCC’s Explanation of various ways to express future tense and differences in meaning depending on which construction is used

CCC’s chart with frames that show descriptions of various verb tenses, how to conjugate them, and example sentences

CCC’s explanation and chart showing how different verb tenses show time and sequence of events

Chart of irregular verbs

English Learner’s links to interactive quizzes and tests on grammar, vocabulary, and reading

Grammar Slammer’s huge list of links to help with grammar problems

Vocabulary

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List of single words which have multiple meanings that contradict each other

List of words that are spelled identically but have different meanings when pronounced differently (heteronyms)

4ESL’s links to quizzes on words that sound alike but are spelled differently (homonyms) with answers

Alan Cooper’s list of homonyms and their definitions. You can use your browser’s Find command under the Edit menu to look for a specific word on the page.

Searchable list of 3,210 words that are easily confused. Click on the “About Confusing Words” link at the bottom of the page to get instructions on how to search for words in the list.

Capital Community College’s list of words that are easily confused. Passing the mouse-arrow over a highlighted word will cause a brief definition of that word to appear in the status-line of your browser (at the bottom of the browser window). Includes a link to part 2 of the list. Includes interactive quizzes. Type your response and then click “The Answer” button to see if you are right.

Capital Community College’s links to quizzes on grammar, vocabulary, and usage.

This site has numerous interactive vocabulary puzzles. Click on the “Learning Activities” button to select the level and type of activity. Click on the “Alphalaries” button to view the word lists in alphabetical order.

Cliché Site’s list of links to explanations of clichés (idioms). Bottom of page has links to clichés starting with other letters of the alphabet.

Index of links to definitions and examples of phrasal verbs

Quizzes on vocabulary and word roots (answers are not given)

English Zone’s links to help and interactive quizzes on vocabulary. Click on a level to see a list of exercises. Free lessons are indicated by the icon.

KSD’s list of word roots derived from Greek and Latin, with definitions

Links to interactive vocabulary quizzes

U Texas’s Suggestions for improving your vocabulary

English Learner’s links to interactive quizzes and tests on grammar, vocabulary, and reading

Rutgers’ links to help with writing, vocabulary, and usage

Longman’s links to help with vocabulary and exercises

Compares the emotional meaning of words in a sentence (connotation) with the dictionary definition

Wordquest’s links to explanations of English words derived from Latin and Greek

Robert Harris’s list of root words and prefixes, with definitions and examples

Reading

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York U’s links to help with reading skills for university students

About.com’s ESL site gives reading quizzes in which the student is to find errors in logic and vocabulary or use contextual clues to deduce meaning of unknown words. There are no answer keys, but tutors might find these exercises useful.

Practice using reading clues to figure out the meaning of unknown words

Links to ESL US reading practice with quizzes on comprehension and filling in the missing word

Gallaudet’s links to help with reading

Questions to ask while you’re reading

Ed Helper’s Short stories with comprehension questions (answers are not given)

Links to English Zone’s reading practice with quizzes on comprehension. Free lessons are indicated by the icon.

English Exercises Online’s Interactive reading comprehension quiz

How to use different reading strategies for different academic subjects

How to increase reading speed and effectiveness

How to read a textbook more efficiently

How to summarize what you read

Suggestions and example of how to mark textbooks while you read

Net Grammar’s links to explanation of grammar concepts with reading and writing practice

Tips for improving reading comprehension. Click on the “Next” button at the bottom of each screen to go to the next page.

Tips for improving reading skills

Links to U Vic’s grammar and reading practice exercises at various difficulty levels. Click on a level and then click on “Reading” to get links to several stories.

Reading to comprehend and learn

SQ4R method for reading textbooks. If you prefer seeing this formatted for printing, click the “Print Friendly PDF” icon.

Timed reading so you can check how fast you read

How to read essays you must analyze

Tips for remembering what you read

Spelling

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English Zone’s links to help and interactive quizzes on spelling. Free lessons are indicated by the icon.

Interactive spelling quiz

Links toKent’s help with spelling

A copy editor’s spelling test of 50 commonly misspelled words

100 most commonly misspelled words (with link at bottom of page to another list of misspelled words)

Purdue’s links to help with capitalization and spelling

Punctuation

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The Blue Book’s list of links on punctuation and capitalization rules with examples

The Blue Book’s links to punctuation and capitalization quizzes with answers

UWM’s links to pages explaining grammar and punctuation

Purdue’s links to help with punctuation

The Nuts and Bolts Guide to College Writing’s Guide to punctuation

GARBL’s Guide to punctuation use

POWA’s list of links to help with punctuation

St. Cloud State’s list of links to help with punctuation

NIU’s help with punctuation. Includes examples. The “Next” button at the bottom of the page takes you to a page that describes punctuation errors and how to fix them.

UIUC’s tips for using commas

UD’s seven rules for using commas. Includes examples.

UD’s rules for using apostrophes correctly

Punctuation patterns for several sentence types. Includes examples.

Scroll down to see links in left column to explanation of grammar and punctuation rules

Editing, Proofreading, and Revising

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Explains the difference between revising, proofreading, and editing

Edmonton schools’ help with revising your writing

YSU’s strategies for revising your writing

Amherst’s tips for revising your writing. Includes examples.

RPI’s tips for revising your writing. Includes examples.

Online Technical Writing’s techniques for revising structure and organization. Includes examples. Click on the links to the Figures; then click on the figure to get a controller to make the figure larger so you can read it.

Online Technical Writing’s techniques for revising sentences

Common causes of sentence fragments

Purdue’s Strategies for editing and proofreading

St. Cloud State’s general strategies for editing and proofreading

Proofreading strategies for sentence-level errors

YSU’s How to proofread your writing

Purdue’s Proofreading strategies

Proofreading for comma errors. Includes examples.

UIUC’s Editing principles. Includes examples.

Links to help with a wide variety of problems with writing, including vocabulary, grammar, usage, and punctuation. Includes examples.

Warning signs of a rushed paper

Checklist for a final edit

Writing

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Handbook of writing with links to a wide variety of topics including how to get started; focusing and connecting ideas; editing; punctuation; and grammar. Includes link to an alphabetic index of topics

How to select a topic. Includes links to a worksheet and topics used by other students

Planning what to write. Includes link to questions to get you started.

Amherst’s how to get started writing and organizing your paper

How to develop research questions

How to get started with writing (pre-writing). Includes links to other pre-writing help.

Links to pages explaining the writing process

Tips for using creative and critical energy in the writing process

How to build a positive attitude about yourself as a writer

St. Cloud State’s how to overcome writer’s block

BGSU’s how to overcome writer’s block

UIUC’s how to overcome writer’s block

UIUC’s how to write a thesis statement. Includes examples.

U Richmond’s how to write a thesis statement. Includes examples and guided questions to help you get started.

Tips for writing body paragraphs

Tips for writing effective paragraphs

Tips for writing conclusions

Chart explaining the structure of a paragraph with links to examples

List of links to handouts on a variety of topics related to writing, including planning, revising, and proofreading

How to write and revise a rough draft

Practical Writing Guide that covers the three stages of the writing process--planning, writing and mechanics--with advice on outlining, sentences, paragraphs, style, punctuation, spelling and basic grammar.

Guide to college writing. See navigation links in left frame.

Poynter Institute’s Tips for improving your writing style. Scroll down to see the list of 30 tools for writers.

UWM’s links to pages explaining how to improve your writing style. Includes examples.

Canadian site covering abbreviations, capitalization, punctuation, word usage, and writing styles. The section on Word Usage has good explanations and numerous examples of usage such usage questions as: “Which vs. That” and “Prepositions: ‘Since’ and ‘Because.’”

Links to articles on writing tips, including usage and spelling

PowerPoint presentation on common problems with sentence clarity and combining sentences

BSU’s Writing Styles Guide

POWA’s interactive, menu-driven online writer's guide and handbook. When you mouse-over one of the topics, the sub-topics for that topic are listed in the left-hand frame

Table of contents for Principles of Composition. Click on chapter title to view that page.

Links to examples of business writing

Description of sources of confusion and how to repair them

Suggestions to make writing clearer by using short words instead of long words

Suggestions to make writing clearer by using short phrases instead of long phrases

Suggestions for removing redundancy

U Texas’s list of useful transition expressions

Purdue’s list of useful transition expressions

BGSU’s list of useful transition expressions

UIUC’s list of useful transition expressions

How to improve the (cohesion) flow of your writing, with link to “Transition Cues”

Robert Harris’s guide to Transitional words and phrases

CSU’s guide to the writing process with links to handouts

ODU’s guide to the writing process

Editorial style guide

Rutgers’ links to help with writing, vocabulary, and usage

Links to writing tutorials

UNC’s links to help with writing

Help with giving specific, concrete details

Links to help with sentence structure

UVic’s table of contents for the Writer’s Guide

Dartmouth’s index of links to help with a variety of writing topics

Whitman College’s suggestions for reducing wordiness

St. Cloud State’s strategies for reducing wordiness

Whitman College’s suggestions for writing introductions

Whitman College’s suggestions for writing conclusions

BGSU’s suggestions for writing conclusions

List of weak organization plans for essays that usually don’t help you get a good grade

List of good organization plans for essays

How to write persuasively

How to support your point with information from a variety of sources

How to write good paragraphs

How to organize an essay

BGSU’s How to write summaries

UIUC’s How to write summaries. Includes an example.

Suggestions for using parallel structure. Includes quizzes and a link to a slide show that gives examples of parallel structure in the Gettysburg Address.

UIUC’s tips and examples on using parallel structure

List of clue words in essay questions that tell you exactly what to do to answer the question