Grammarpedia Help

Structure of pages within this site

Grammarpedia contains information about a wide variety of topics related to English grammar. Content within the site is organised on pages which fall into two levels.

• Pages at the first level contain a general overview of a topic, such as parts of speech or clauses, and introduce basic concepts relevant to that topic.

• Pages at the second level contain more detailed information about specific topics. For example, the 'Parts of speech' page links to a number of level 2 pages which contain more detailed discussion of nouns, verbs, adjectives and other word classes.

Each page within this site typically begins with a brief introduction to the topic of the page. This is followed by a Contents box that provides links to subsections of the page. The Contents box also provides links to related pages. On a level 1 page, the related pages will be level 2 pages which sit under that level 1 page. On a level 2 page, the related page will be the 'parent' level 1 page.

Most pages within the site contain English language examples. Examples are always presented in italic text. They may appear within a paragraph of text, or on their own line, as follows:

At times the website will draw your attention to a particular word or phrase within an example using bold text:

Some pages contain diagrams. Hover your mouse over these to see a screentip providing further information about the diagram. (Try this with the 'Test yourself' icon below.)

Some pages contain a Test yourself icon at the top right and bottom right corner of the page. The icon looks like this:

Test yourself:
 

Clicking on these links will take you to take a short quiz on the concepts discussed on that page. You can use these questions to test your understanding of the materials being presented and receive feedback.

How to navigate the site

There are a number of ways that you can move around the site.

• Many pages contain hyperlinks within the text. These appear in blue text and when you hover your mouse over them, they will appear underlined. Click these to jump to the indicated section of the site. Some hyperlinks will begin with Read more about... and these generally jump to another page within the site.

• The site menu to the left of the screen lets you access all of the pages within the site. The red text indicates the current page. Click on any link within the site menu to go directly to that page. Click on the small triangle images ( and ) to show and hide sub-pages.

  NOTE: To make best use of the site menu, you will need to have JavaScript enabled within your browser. If JavaScript is not enabled, you will see a message at the bottom of the site menu. If you need assistance to enable JavaScript, see the instructions below.

  In Internet Explorer, you may see a message at the top of the screen, under the address bar, saying that the website has been restricted from showing active content, or from running scripts or ActiveX controls. To use the site menu, click on this warning message and select "Allow blocked content". Click 'Yes' when the Security Warning dialog box appears.

• Most pages contain a Contents box with links to the main subsections of the page. Click on any link within the contents box to jump to that section of the page. Click on a [Return to top] link to jump back to the top of the page.

How to search the site

A search box appears in the top right corner of most pages of the site. This box will search within the Grammarpedia site.

Type your search term/s within the box, using spaces to separate multiple terms. Search results will include Grammarpedia pages containing all of the search terms. For example, if your search terms are noun verb the search results will only include pages that contain both the words noun and verb.

On the search results page, below the list of matching pages, you can choose to search for pages that contain any of the search terms. This will broaden the search and may return more results.

How to use the glossary

The Glossary page contains definitions of some technical terms that appear within the site.

Glossary entries are organised in alphabetical order. Each glossary entry begins with the term being defined, followed by a brief explanation (sometimes including examples), and then a hyperlink that takes you to a section of Grammarpedia that provides further discussion.

Use the A – Z link bar at the top of the Glossary page (directly below the main heading) to jump quickly to the section of the glossary that you are looking for.

How to use the quiz facility

Selected pages within Grammarpedia contain a link to a quiz related to the information presented on those pages. You can use these quizzes to test your understanding of the materials being presented.

• To access a quiz, click on the Test Yourself icon located at the top right or bottom right corner of the relevant page.

To use the quiz functionality of the site, you will need to have JavaScript enabled in your web browser. If JavaScript is disabled and you try to open a quiz, you will see the following message: 'Please enable JavaScript in your browser and refresh this page to view the quiz.' If you need assistance to enable JavaScript, see the instructions below.

Quizzes consist of one or more sets of multiple choice questions. Each set of questions tests your knowledge of a particular aspect of grammar, for example a particular characteristic of a part of speech.

Most questions have a right or wrong answer. For a few sets of questions, there may be no clear right or wrong answer – for these questions, the answer is more a matter of judgment. Where this is the case, you will be alerted to this in the instructions for that set.

At the bottom of each set of questions are two buttons:

• Click the Check your answers button to see whether your answers were right or wrong. For each question that you have answered, you will receive feedback, including the correct answer. You can click this button at any stage – you don't need to wait until you have answered all the questions. If you want to check whether you are 'on the right track' with your answers, you can click this button for feedback after having answered only a few of the questions in the set.

• Click the Start this set again button to clear off all your answers and reset the quiz to its starting format.

Scores

Once you have answered all the questions in the set, click the Check your answers button for an overall score. If some of your answers were incorrect, the quiz may suggest that you study one of the Grammarpedia pages before trying again. Occasionally questions may have no clear right or wrong answer; these questions are excluded from your overall score.

Please note that the quizzes included in Grammarpedia are not used for academic assessment purposes. They are simply a learning tool to help reinforce your understanding of the materials presented.

How to enable JavaScript

JavaScript is a scripting language which internet browser software can use to provide interactive content. Grammarpedia uses JavaScript in a number of areas of the site, including the site menu and the quizzes.

In most browser software, JavaScript is enabled by default. However, it is possible for the user to enable or disable JavaScript. If JavaScript is disabled in your browser, you will see the following message at the bottom of the site menu: 'Enable JavaScript for best use of menu'. If JavaScript is disabled and you try to open a quiz, you will see the following message: 'Please enable JavaScript in your browser and refresh this page to view the quiz.'

It is easy to enable JavaScript so you can use these features of the site. The precise instructions depend on which web browser software you are using.

In all browsers, once you have enabled JavaScript, you will need to refresh the page (or open another page within the site) for the interactive content to become available.

Internet Explorer

1. Click on the Tools menu and select Internet Options.

2. Click on the Security tab and select the 'Internet' zone.

3. Click on the Custom level... button. A dialog box will open up with the title 'Security Settings - Internet Zone'.

4. Scroll down almost to the bottom of the list - you will see a heading 'Scripting' with a subheading 'Active scripting'.

5. Ensure that under the 'Active scripting' subheading, the Enable radio button is selected.

6. Click OK. You should see an alert box with the message 'Are you sure you want to change the settings for this zone?' Click Yes to confirm.

7. Click OK to finish.

Firefox

1. Click on the Tools menu and select Options.

2. Select the Content tab.

3. Ensure that the Enable JavaScript check box is ticked, then click OK to finish.

Safari

1. Click on the Edit menu and select Preferences.

2. Select the Security tab.

3. Ensure that the Enable JavaScript check box is ticked.

4. Click the close button at the top right of the dialog box to finish.

Opera

1. Click on the Tools menu and select Preferences.

2. Select the Advanced tab.

3. Select Content from the list at the left of the dialog box.

4. Ensure that the Enable JavaScript check box is ticked, then click OK to finish.

Google Chrome

In Chrome, JavaScript is usually enabled by default. If JavaScript is not working in your installation of Chrome, you may need to reinstall.

Reporting errors and providing feedback

If you find any errors within the site, or would like to provide feedback, we would like to hear about it. Please use the feedback form or error form to send us your comments. There is a link to these forms at the bottom of most pages within the site.

Thankyou for helping us to improve Grammarpedia!