A, An or The – The Fine Art of Article Usage

March 21st, 2012 by Fatema Rajkotwala

Wordplay Content is a full-service content writing agency. Our content writing India business provides content writing services for a plethora of customers. Reach out if you want to hire us for your inbound marketing campaign! Now that you’ve learnt the basics about article usage, here’s some know-how on how to use articles.

When to Use Definite Articles?

This is what happens when you confuse A and The!

If your sentence fits the types below, go ahead and use the Definite Article:

#1: Sentences where the particular person or thing has already been referred to in the context.

Examples:

The item that you ordered is out of stock (Which item? The one you had ordered!)
In the closing scene, the hero wins the battle (Which hero? The hero already spoken about)

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A, An or The – An Introduction to Article Usage

March 15th, 2012 by Fatema Rajkotwala

Wordplay Content is a full-service content writing agency. We provide top-notch content writing services for a plethora of customers in India and globally. Reach out if you want to hire us for your inbound marketing campaign!

Article usage errors are commonly noted issues that can crop up, regardless of a writer’s experience. An oft overlooked error, this can be set right by learning the bare basics: where, how and when to use articles.

End the Article Usage war today!

What are Articles?

To start off with, there are two types of articles in English – Definite and Indefinite Articles.

‘The’ is the only Definite Article and the Indefinite Articles are ‘a’ and ‘an’.

The article ‘an’ can be used when you wish to talk about an indefinite noun that begins with a vowel sound.

Articles precede the noun in question, and are placed either immediately before the noun or before the adjective or adjective phrase/clause used for the noun. In effect, articles denote whether the noun that’s mentioned is Definite or Indefinite.

Sounds tough? Here are a few examples that can help you understand this well: Read more →

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Active and Passive Voice – Tips for Content Writing

February 22nd, 2012 by Donna Mathews

The use of active voice is important while writing online content. It improves the readability of your copy and reduces the wordiness. The lines seem more direct, so this is a good way to avoid fluff.

Active and Passive Voice – What’s the Difference?

Active voice shifts the focus to Batman: “Batman ridiculed Spiderman.” To put the spotlight on Spidey, use passive voice: “Spiderman was ridiculed by Batman.”

Under active voice, the subject performs a particular action, while under passive voice, the tables are turned and the focus is shifted away from the subject.

Here’s a quick example that can explain the difference better. Read more →

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Spice It Up Real Nice – How to Use Images While Writing Content

January 27th, 2012 by Donna Mathews

Wondering How to Use Images For Your Content?

Well, this one’s for you!

A catchy image that matches your content gives an altogether different dimension to online reading. Adding an appropriate image with a meaningful or even hilarious caption can help attract readers and improve the credibility of your content. An image successfully captures your reader’s interest too.

So why should images included in online content?

Adding an image increases the traffic to your website or blog.
Readers tend to prefer articles that have images in them, thanks to increased readability.

In short, if you are writing an article about how to bake mince pies, then adding the image of mince pies stacked neatly together will lure your readers to try out the recipe. Images add emphasis to words!

A Quick Checklist on How to Use Images

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Content Writing Tips – How to Write Evergreen Online Content

January 17th, 2012 by Donna Mathews

When you roll up your sleeves and do some research to gather content writing tips (through good ol’ Google), you’re sure to spot subtle references that talk about ‘timeless content’.

No, this doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to whip up a Silmarillion every time you open MS Word – all you need to do is make sure that the information you post can be understood, without time constraints standing in the way like a bad case of toothache.

Writing timeless and evergreen content is one of the main aspects of professional writing and this is a practice that can boost the credibility of your content up by a few notches.

Batman crash landed on a timeless article from the 80s on color trends – it said “Pink is the New Black.”

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How and When to Use Commas – Using Commas Explained

January 13th, 2012 by Ganesh

Often stumped on how and when to use commas?

As a writer, you’ll have to pay attention to proper punctuation to keep your work sparkly clean – and this is where using commas correctly matters. Commas are commonly used to enclose parenthetical phrases, before quotes, between adjectives, in lists and after introductory clauses or elements.

For a start, let’s take a look at the relationship between commas and introductory clauses.