writing article in english

Writing an article

Topic outline.

The purpose of an article is often to inform and persuade the reader. 

Articles give the reader information about a certain topic, bringing together and discussing different perspectives to provide a balanced argument which lets the reader make up their own mind about the topic. 

Articles can also be used to persuade the reader that a certain viewpoint is correct. For example, articles in newspapers or magazines might express a particular viewpoint or perspective; this may be positive or negative depending on the topic. 

The ways you use language and organise your ideas when writing an article will depend on the audience and the purpose you are writing for.

• think about the audience that the article is for – w hen writing an article, you do not usually know your readers personally and so you will need to think about their likely interests and experience before you write
• how you expect, or want, your audience to react – re member that the tone of most articles should be semi-formal, so before deciding on your tone imagine your article being read out loud and how that might sound to your reader. For example, an article reviewing a film may be humorous, even sarcastic, but that would not work well for more serious readers or topics
• the purpose for the article – is th e purpose, or reason, for writing your article to persuade your readers to agree with you or to invite your readers to think about different points of view and decide for themselves? For example, do you need to sound reliable and well informed, or choose words that strongly convey a particular emotion?
• how to keep your readers interest – ima gine how boring it would be for your reader if you used the same kind of sentences and simple repetitive vocabulary all the way through your article. Try to include a range of grammatical structures and relevant vocabulary to make sure that your reader wants to keep reading.
• Plan a route through your article before you start writing it – th e structure of an article is usually in three parts. For example:
• An introduction – engage your reader’s interest and introduce your argument or the main points of the topic to be discussed.
• A middle – develop relevant and interesting points about the topic to interest and/or convince your readers to think about a particular perspective.
• An end – d raw your points together and leave your reader with a clear impression of the argument you want them to believe or the viewpoints you would like them to consider.
• Organise your ideas into paragraphs as appropriate – this will help you to develop and support your points convincingly, to build your argument and/or offer a full explanation of a particular point of view.
• Show your reader at a glance what your article is about – articles usually have a suitable headline to attract their readers’ attention and you can choose to use subheadings (a bit like mini headlines) to help break your article up and move your reader on. Do not overdo these, but well-chosen subheadings can help to catch and keep your reader’s attention, as well as sum up the main points you are making.
• Show the connections between ideas in sentences and paragraphs – for example, where a new point or idea follows on from what you have already said you might use linking words or phrases such as, 'in addition’, ‘likewise’ or ‘similarly’.
• Example of an article

How to Write an Article

 THE CRAFT OF ARTICLE WRITING

Writing is a complex skill. A very complex skill.

Not only do we put students under pressure to master the inconsistent spelling patterns and complex grammar of the English language, but we require them to know how to write for a variety of purposes in both fiction and nonfiction genres.

On top of this, writing is just one aspect of one subject among many.

The best way to help our students to overcome the challenge of writing in any genre is to help them to break things down into their component parts and give them a basic formula to follow.

In this article, we will break article writing down into its components and present a formulaic approach that will provide a basic structure for our students to follow.

Once this structure is mastered, students can, of course, begin to play with things.

But, until then, there is plenty of room within the discipline of the basic structure for students to express themselves in the article form.

A COMPLETE UNIT ON TEACHING NEWS REPORTING

With over  FORTY GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS in this  ENGAGING   UNIT, you can complete a  WEEKLY  journalistic / Newspaper reporting task  ALL YEAR LONG   as classwork or homework.

These templates take students through a  PROVEN  four-step article writing process on some  AMAZING  images. Students will learn how to.

WHAT IS AN ARTICLE?

The Cambridge Dictionary defines an article as, “a piece of writing on a particular subject in a newspaper or magazine, or on the internet.”

An article’s shape and structure will vary depending on whether it’s intended for publication in a newspaper, magazine, or online.

Each of these media has its own requirements. For example, a magazine feature article may go into great depth on a topic, allowing for long, evocative paragraphs of exposition, while an online blog article may be full of lots of short paragraphs that get to the point without too much fanfare.

Each of these forms makes different demands on the writer, and it’s for this reason that most newspapers, magazines, and big websites provide writers with specific submission guidelines.

So, with such diverse demands placed on article writers, how do we go about teaching the diverse skill required to our students?

Luckily, we can break most types of articles down into some common key features.

Below we’ll take a look at the most important of these, along with an activity to get your students practicing each aspect right away.

Finally, we’ll take a look at a few general tips on article writing.

KEY WRITTEN FEATURES OF AN ARTICLE

The headline.

The purpose of the headline is to capture the reader’s attention and let them know what the article is about. All of this in usually no more than 4 or 5 words!

There is an art to good headline writing and all sorts of literary devices (e.g alliteration and metaphor) can be used to create an eye-catching and intriguing headline.

The best way for students to learn how headlines work is to view some historical samples.

Newspaper headlines especially are known for being short and pithy. Here are just a few examples to whet the appetite:

• Hitler Is Dead
• Lincoln Shot
• Men Walk On The Moon
• Berlin Wall Crumbles

You could encourage students to find some pithy examples of their own. It’s amazing how much information can be condensed into so few words – this is the essence of good headline writing.

Headlines Practice Activity:

Give students opportunities to practice headline writing in isolation from article writing itself. For example, take sample stories from newspapers and magazines and challenge students to write new headlines for them. Set a word limit appropriate to the skills and age of the students. For example, younger, more inexperienced students might write 9-word headlines, while older, more skilled students might thrive with the challenge of a 4-word limit.

THE SUBHEADING

Subheadings give the reader more information on what the article is about. For this reason, they’re often a little longer than headlines and use a smaller font, though still larger (or in bold) than the font used in the body of the text.

Subheadings provide a little more of the necessary detail to inform readers what’s going on. If a headline is a jab, the subheading is the cross.

In magazines and online articles especially, there are often subheadings throughout the article. In this context, they let the reader know what each paragraph/section is about.

Subheadings also help the reader’s eye to scan the article and quickly get a sense of the story, for the writer they help immensely to organize the structure of the story.

Practice Activity:

One way to help organize paragraphs in an article is to use parallel structure.

Parallel structure is when we use similar words, phrases, and grammar structures. We might see this being used in a series of subheadings in a ‘How to’ article where the subheadings all start with an imperative such as choose , attach , cut , etc.

Have you noticed how all the sections in this ‘Key Features’ part of this article start simply with the word ‘The’? This is another example of a parallel structure.

Yet another example of parallel structure is when all the subheadings appear in the form of a question.

Whichever type of parallel structure students use, they need to be sure that they all in some way relate to the original title of the article.

To give students a chance to practice writing subheadings using parallel structure, instruct them to write subheadings for a piece of text that doesn’t already have them.

THE BODY PARAGRAPHS

Writing good, solid paragraphs is an art in itself. Luckily, you’ll find comprehensive guidance on this aspect of writing articles elsewhere on this site.

But, for now, let’s take a look at some general considerations for students when writing articles.

The length of the paragraphs will depend on the medium. For example, for online articles paragraphs are generally brief and to the point. Usually no more than a sentence or two and rarely more than five.

This style is often replicated in newspapers and magazines of a more tabloid nature.

Short paragraphs allow for more white space on the page or screen. This is much less daunting for the reader and makes it easier for them to focus their attention on what’s being said – a crucial advantage in these attention-hungry times.

Lots of white space makes articles much more readable on devices with smaller screens such as phones and tablets. Chunking information into brief paragraphs enables online readers to scan articles more quickly too, which is how much of the information on the internet is consumed – I do hope you’re not scanning this!

Conversely, articles that are written more formally, for example, academic articles, can benefit from longer paragraphs which allow for more space to provide supporting evidence for the topic sentence.

Deciding on the length of paragraphs in an article can be done by first thinking about the intended audience, the purpose of the article, as well as the nature of the information to be communicated.

A fun activity to practice paragraphing is to organize your students into groups and provide them with a copy of an article with the original paragraph breaks removed. In their groups, students read the article and decide on where they think the paragraphs should go.

To do this successfully, they’ll need to consider the type of publication they think the article is intended for, the purpose of the article, the language level, and the nature of the information.

When the groups have finished adding in their paragraph breaks they can share and compare their decisions with the other groups before you finally reveal where the breaks were in the original article.

Article Photos and Captions

Photos and captions aren’t always necessary in articles, but when they are, our students must understand how to make the most of them.

Just like the previous key features on our list, there are specific things students need to know to make the most of this specific aspect of article writing.

  The internet has given us the gift of access to innumerable copyright-free images to accompany our articles, but what criteria should students use when choosing an image?

To choose the perfect accompanying image/s for their article, students need to identify images that match the tone of their article.

Quirky or risque images won’t match the more serious tone of an academic article well, but they might work perfectly for that feature of tattoo artists.

Photos are meant to bring value to an article – they speak a thousand words after all. It’s important then that the image is of a high enough resolution that the detail of those ‘thousand words’ is clearly visible to the reader.

Just as the tone of the photo should match the tone of the article, the tone of the caption should match the tone of the photo.

Captions should be informative and engaging. Often, the first thing a reader will look at in an article is the photos and then the caption. Frequently, they’ll use the information therein to decide whether or not they’ll continue to read.

When writing captions, students must avoid redundancy. They need to add information to that which is already available to the reader by looking at the image.

There’s no point merely describing in words what the reader can clearly see with their own two eyes. Students should describe things that are not immediately obvious, such as date, location, or the name of the event.

One last point, captions should be written in the present tense. By definition, the photo will show something that has happened already. Despite this, students should write as if the action in the image is happening right now.

Remind students that their captions should be brief; they must be careful not to waste words with such a tight format.

For this fun activity, you’ll need some old magazines and newspapers. Cut some of the photos out minus their captions. All the accompanying captions should be cut out and jumbled up. It’s the students’ job to match each image with the correct accompanying caption.

Students can present their decisions and explanations when they’ve finished.

A good extension exercise would be to challenge the students to write a superior caption for each of the images they’ve worked on.

TOP 5 TIPS FOR ARTICLE WRITING

Now your students have the key features of article writing sewn up tightly, let’s take a look at a few quick and easy tips to help them polish up their general article writing skills.

1. Read Widely – Reading widely, all manner of articles, is the best way students can internalize some of the habits of good article writing. Luckily, with the internet, it’s easy to find articles on any topic of interest at the click of a mouse.

2. Choose Interesting Topics – It’s hard to engage the reader when the writer is not themselves engaged. Be sure students choose article topics that pique their own interest (as far as possible!).

3. Research and Outline – Regardless of the type of article the student is writing, some research will be required. The research will help an article take shape in the form of an outline. Without these two crucial stages, articles run the danger of wandering aimlessly and, worse still, of containing inaccurate information and details.

4. Keep Things Simple – All articles are about communicating information in one form or another. The most effective way of doing this is to keep things easily understood by the reader. This is especially true when the topic is complex.

5. Edit and Proofread – This can be said of any type of writing, but it still bears repeating. Students need to ensure they comprehensively proofread and edit their work when they’ve ‘finished’. The importance of this part of the writing process can’t be overstated.

And to Conclude…

With time and plenty of practice, students will soon internalize the formula as outlined above.

This will enable students to efficiently research, outline, and structure their ideas before writing.

This ability, along with the general tips mentioned, will soon enable your students to produce well-written articles on a wide range of topics to meet the needs of a diverse range of audiences.

HUGE WRITING CHECKLIST & RUBRIC BUNDLE

TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO WRITE AN ARTICLE

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How to Write Articles

Last Updated: March 14, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Janet Peischel . Janet Peischel is a Writer and Digital Media Expert and the Owner of Top of Mind Marketing. With more than 15 years of consulting experience, she develops content strategies and builds online brands for her clients. Prior to consulting, Janet spent over 15 years in the marketing industry, in positions such as the Vice President of Marketing Communications for the Bank of America. Janet holds a BA and MA from the University of Washington. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 3,279,965 times.

There are a multitude of different types of articles, including news stories, features, profiles, instructional articles, and so on. While each has specific qualities that are unique to its type, all articles share some common characteristics. From forming and researching your idea to writing and editing your work, writing articles can give you a chance to share compelling and important information with readers.

Forming Your Idea

• News: This type of article presents facts about something that happened recently or that will happen in the near future. It usually covers the 5 Ws and H: who, what, where, when, why and how.
• Feature: This type of article presents information in a more creative, descriptive way than a straight news article. It can be an article about a person, a phenomenon, a place, or other subject.
• Editorial : This article presents a writer’s opinions on a topic or debate. It is intended to persuade the reader to think a certain way about a topic. [1] X Research source
• How-to : This article gives clear instructions and information about how to accomplish some task.
• Profile: This article presents information about a person, using information that the writer typically gathers through interviews and background research.

• What interests you about this topic?
• What is a point that people usually overlook?
• What do you want people to know about this topic?
• For example, if you want to write about organic farming, you might say to yourself, “I think it’s important to know what organic labeling means on food packages. It can be confusing to know what it all means.”

• Your goal is to convey enough passion that your readers think the issue in your article is worth caring about.

• Enter some keywords into an online search engine. This can lead you to sources that write about your topic. These sources can also give you an idea of different approaches to the topic.
• Read as much as you can on the topic. Visit your local library. Consult books, magazine articles, published interviews, and online features as well as news sources, blogs, and databases for information. A good place to start looking for data not apparent on the Internet is the Gale Directory of Databases, which exists in both book format (available in libraries) or online .

• For example, for the organic food topic, you might focus on one grocery shopper who doesn’t understand organic food labeling. Use that opening anecdote to lead into your main argument, known as a "nut graph," which summarizes your unique idea or perspective.

• For example, if you are writing about how one person learns how to read organic labels, your overall argument might be that the public needs to be aware that many companies misuse organic labeling. This leads to dishonest practices in product advertising. Another topic might be: it’s important to know who owns your local media outlets. If corporate media organizations own your local newspaper, you may get very little media coverage of your area and not know much about your community.
• Write your argument in one sentence. Post it near your computer or writing area. This will help you stay focused as you start working on your article.

Researching Your Idea

• Primary sources can include a transcript from a legislative hearing, lawsuit filing, county property indexes with folio numbers, discharge certificates from the military, and photos. Other primary sources could include government written records in the National Archives or special collections sections of your local or university library, insurance policies, corporate financial reports, or personal background reports.
• Secondary sources comprise published databases, books, abstracts, articles in English and other languages, bibliographies, dissertations, and reference books.
• You can find information on the internet or in a library. You can also conduct interviews, watch documentaries, or consult other sources.

• You can make a longer list of evidence and examples. As you gather more evidence, you will be able to prioritize which ones are the strongest examples.

• Don’t assume that one source is completely accurate. You'll need several unrelated sources to get the full picture.

• Choose a citation style sooner rather than later, so you can compile citation information in the correct format. MLA, APA, and Chicago are some of the most common citation styles.

• Don’t copy any text directly from another source. Paraphrase this text instead, and include a citation.

Outlining Your Idea

• For example, if you are writing an article for a specialized academic audience, your tone, and approach will be vastly different from if you’re writing an article for a popular magazine.

• It’s helpful to start with the five-paragraph essay outline. [4] X Research source This outline devotes one paragraph to an introduction, three paragraphs for supporting evidence, and one paragraph for a conclusion. As you start plugging in information into your outline, you may find that this structure doesn’t suit your article so well.
• You might also find that this structure doesn’t suit certain types of articles. For example, if you’re doing a profile of a person, your article may follow a different format.

• Make sure to fully attribute your quote and use quotation marks around anything that you didn’t write yourself. For example, you might write: A spokesperson for the dairy brand Milktoast says, “Our milk is labeled organic because our cows are only fed organic grass.”
• Don’t overdo the quotes. Be selective about the quotes you do use. If you use too many quotes, your reader might think you’re using them as filler instead of coming up with your material.

Writing Your Article

• Telling an anecdote.
• Using a quote from an interview subject.
• Starting with a statistic.
• Starting with straight facts of the story.

• Be flexible, however. Sometimes when you write, the flow makes sense in a way that is different from your outline. Be ready to change the direction of your piece if it seems to read better that way.

• For example, you might write about the grocery shopper having trouble with organic food labels: “Charlie concentrated on jars of peanut butter on the shelf. The words ‘organic’ and ‘natural’ seemed to jump out at him. Every jar said something different. He felt they were shouting at him: ‘Choose me!’ ‘Buy me!’ The words started swimming in front of his eyes. He left the aisle without buying anything.”

• For example, use words or phrases such as “however…,” “another important point is…,” or “it must be remembered that…”

• For example, a newspaper article will need to offer information in a narrative, chronological format. It should be written with accessible and straightforward language. An academic article will be written with more formal language. A how-to article might be written in more informal language.
• When writing your article, use a strong "anchoring" sentence at the beginning of each paragraph to move your reader forward. Moreover, vary the length of your sentences, both short and long. If you find all your sentences are about the same word length, chances are your reader will be 'lulled" into a standard rhythm and fall asleep. Sentences which are consistently choppy and short may give your reader the impression you are writing advertising copy instead of a well-thought-out article.

• If you started with an anecdote or statistic in your introduction, think about reconnecting to this point in your conclusion.
• Conclusions are often strongest when they use a last, brief, concrete example that leads the reader to new insights. Conclusions should be 'forward-thinking' -- point the reader in a direction that keeps his or her "thirst" for knowledge going strong.

• For example, you could include photographs, charts, or infographics to illustrate some of your points.
• You could also highlight or develop a major point more with a sidebar-type box. This is an extra bit of writing that delves more deeply into one aspect of the subject. For example, if you’re writing about your city’s film festival, you might include a sidebar write-up that highlights one of the films. These types of write-ups are usually short (50-75 words, depending on the publication outlet).
• Remember, these materials are supplemental. This means that your article should stand on its own. Your writing needs to be understandable, clear and focused without the help of charts, photographs or other graphics.

Finalizing Your Work

• Look closely at the central argument or point you’re trying to make. Does everything in your article serve this central argument? Do you have a unrelated paragraph? If so, this paragraph should be eliminated or reframed so that it supports the main argument.
• Eliminate any contradictory information in the article or address the contradictions, showing how the contradictory information is relevant to readers.
• Rewrite sections or the entire thing as necessary. Revisions like this are common for all types of articles, so don’t feel like you’ve failed or are incompetent.

• It’s helpful to print out a hard copy of your article. Go through it with a pen or pencil to catch mistakes. Then go back and correct these mistakes on the computer.

• It is common to be able to identify your mistakes in grammar or writing while reading aloud as well; this could cut down on the feedback that you may receive from someone else.

• This person may also catch errors and inconsistencies that you have overlooked.

• If you want to convey slightly more information, write a sub-headline. This is a secondary sentence that builds on the headline.

How Do You Minimize Bias In an Article?

Article Outline Template

Expert Q&A

• Make sure to give yourself plenty of time to write the article. If you don't, you'll be rushing at the last minute to create something that isn't representative of what you can truly do. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• To find out more about using primary research tools and databases, consult the Investigative Reporters and Editors website or get a copy of The Investigative Reporter's Handbook: A Guide to Documents, Databases and Techniques, Fifth Edition. Authors: Brant Houston and Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc. (New York: Bedford/St. Martin's 2009). Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Determine whether you actually have an interest in writing. Try writing 2 paragraphs with as much creativity as possible. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

• When writing for a newspaper or magazine, do not do so free. Ask what the freelance fee is beforehand. Your pay will usually be calculated on a per-word basis or per-article basis. Your work is valuable. Writing for free makes making a living more difficult for those who depend on freelance fees to pay the bills. If you're just starting out, volunteering to do some articles for smaller community papers, student publications and trade magazines is a great way to build your portfolio. Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb/journalism/types.html
• ↑ Janet Peischel. Digital Media Expert. Expert Interview. 30 March 2021.
• ↑ https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/writing/creating-a-5-paragraph-essay-outline.html
• ↑ https://www.masterclass.com/articles/why-is-context-important-in-writing#quiz-0
• ↑ https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/166662

About This Article

To write an article, use both primary and secondary sources to gather information about your topic. Primary sources include photos, government records, and personal interviews, while secondary sources include books, abstracts, scholarly journals, other articles, and reference books. When you’re writing, use facts, quotes, and statistics from your sources to support your point, and explain your topic as if the reader has never heard of it before. To learn the different types of articles, including news, features, and editorials, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to Write a ‘How-To’: A Step-by-Step Guide to Our Contest

We walk you through how to brainstorm a topic, interview an expert and write your own original “How to ….”

By Natalie Proulx and Katherine Schulten

“If you want to know how to do something, don’t just search the internet,” advises Malia Wollan , the longtime writer of Tip , a how-to column that ran weekly in The New York Times Magazine for seven years. “Instead, find a person who already knows how and ask them.”

That’s the challenge we are posing to students in “How to … ,” our new informational writing contest for teenagers : Interview an expert about (almost) any skill and then write an engaging and informative essay explaining it to readers.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to do that, with advice from the how-to expert herself, Ms. Wollan. You’ll start by getting familiar with the Tip format. Then you’ll brainstorm a topic for your own piece, find and interview an expert and, finally, put it all together.

When you’re ready, you can submit your completed how-to essay to our contest , which is accepting submissions through Feb. 14.

A step-by-step guide:

1. read some “tip” articles to understand the form., 2. look more closely at one piece., 3. brainstorm your topic., 4. find an expert., 5. conduct the interview., 6. put it all together..

What does a how-to essay look like? There are, of course, many ways to write one. For instance, you may have consulted wikiHow in the past, whether to learn how to make a realistic New Year’s resolution , fold a fitted sheet , reheat rice or do one of the many, many other things the site can teach you.

But since the inspiration for our contest comes from the Tip column in The Times, spending some time examining how it works is the logical first step in constructing your own.

Start by reading any three Tip articles of your choice.

If you don’t have a Times subscription, this guide can help. If you click on any of the 40-plus Tip topics we link here, you can access them for free, as long as you open them directly from this page. (Note to teachers: If your class does have a Times subscription and you are working from the column itself , be aware that some articles may not be appropriate. Please preview before sharing.)

Here are some options to help you choose:

Maybe you’re interested in learning a physical skill, such as how to build a sand castle , skip a stone , do the splits , tackle someone , spot a shooting star , crack a safe or find a four-leaf clover .

Or maybe you would rather up your emotional intelligence by, say, learning how to laugh at yourself , let your mind wander , recover from being ghosted , build an intentional community , be less fearful of the dark or forgive .

Perhaps you want to know how to do something practical, like break in boots , fix a brake light , mend a pair of jeans , use emojis , put out a grease fire , read faster , survive an avalanche , ask for an extension or find a lost hamster .

Or maybe you’d rather choose something offbeat, like how to start a family band , talk to dogs , communicate through facial expressions , make a love potion , build a fort , enjoy snowflakes , wash your hair in space or race pigeons .

After you’ve read three, answer these questions:

What do you notice about the structure, organization and language of a Tip column?

What predictable elements can readers expect to find in every edition?

If you did the activity above, you might have noticed some of these elements:

Tip articles are short: Each column is about 400 words and around four paragraphs long. Our challenge asks you to write something of about the same length.

The topics are usually ultra-specific: The skills described might be physical ( how to skip a stone ) or emotional ( how to forgive ), serious ( how to suture a wound ) or offbeat ( how to befriend an eagle ), but they are always small enough that they can be fully explained within the limited word count.

Each article features a single expert source: You probably noticed that each column begins and ends with a quote from an expert on the topic and that the same expert gives background and advice throughout the piece. For this contest, we are not requiring you to follow that same format, but we are asking you to find and interview an expert to inform your essay. And if you’d like to follow that format, you may.

The advice is practical, but the pieces are engaging to read. Each includes concrete tips for how to accomplish a task, but it’s never just a boring list of steps. The writer also provides context for the skill so that readers understand how and why they might use it in their own lives. And the quotes Ms. Wollan chooses from her interviews are often colorful or full of voice, as you can see in this piece about how to appreciate spiders .

They are written to the reader: The writer addresses the reader as “you,” and often uses the imperative to craft sentences that tell the reader what (or what not) to do.

Now let’s break it down even further. Choose one Tip article to read — either one you already read in Step 1 or a new one — and then respond to the following questions:

Whom does the writer quote in the piece? Why do you think the author chose this person? What makes him or her an expert in this skill? Do you think this person was a good source of information?

Look closely at when the author chooses to quote the expert and when she paraphrases the information that person gave. What is the difference? Why do you think she chose to quote the lines she did? Give some examples from the piece to explain your reasoning.

You may have been taught in school to cite your sources by using footnotes or by putting them in parentheses after you’ve referenced the information. That’s not how journalists do it, yet they still make their sources clear. Where do you see this in the piece you read? What punctuation or wording does the author use to tell us where certain facts and details come from?

Now let’s look at how the author balances explaining how to acquire a skill and showing why it’s needed: Underline or highlight in one color the lines in the piece that tell readers how to accomplish the task, and use another color to highlight lines that give context. What do you notice about the difference in language? What do you notice about the way these pieces of information are woven together throughout?

After reading this, do you feel confident that you could accomplish the task on your own? What tips, if any, did the expert share that surprised you?

When, where and for what purpose might you use this skill in your own life? What lines help readers see how this skill might be relevant to their lives?

What else do you admire about this piece, whether it’s the topic covered, the way it’s written or anything else?

Now that you better understand how to write a how-to, it’s your turn to write one!

First, of course, you must find a topic. For a Times Insider article about how the Tip column is made , Ms. Wollan and her editor, Dean Robinson, describe how they found their ideas:

She often gets suggestions. Many people ask her to write about navigating interpersonal relationships; Ms. Wollan acquiesced in the case of a highly-requested Tip on how to break up with a therapist. She thinks people come to her because “that stuff is hard to navigate and it’s also hard to Google.” Some of the more recognizable scenarios featured in Tip columns come from Ms. Wollan’s own life. She credits being a mother as the inspiration for columns on delivering babies , singing lullabies and apologizing to children . Mr. Robinson occasionally comes across ideas in his life, too. He suggested a piece on how to find a hamster in your house, he said, “because we’ve lost some hamsters.”

Brainstorm as many possible topics as you can for your how-to piece. Here are some ways to start:

Respond to our related Student Opinion forum . We pose 10 questions designed to help you brainstorm about what you’d like to learn to do, and what you already do well. We hope you’ll not only provide your own answers, but also scroll through the answers of others.

Ask for suggestions. What skills have your friends, family and neighbors always wanted to learn? What do they already consider themselves experts on? Keep a running list.

Get inspiration from the Tip column . As you scroll through the column, which headlines stand out to you? Could you take on a similar topic in a different way? Do any of them inspire other ideas for you?

Work with your class to compile as long a list as you can. After you’ve tried the three ideas above, come to class with your list, then share. Your ideas might spark those of others — and when it’s time to find experts, your classmates may have contacts they can share.

Once you’ve come up with as many ideas as you can, choose one for your piece and refine it until it is the right size for a 400-word piece.

These questions can help:

Which of the topics that you listed gets you most excited? Why?

For which do you think you could realistically find an expert to interview? (More on that in the next step.)

Which are already specific enough that you could thoroughly explain them in 400 words or fewer?

Which are big, but could be broken down? For instance, if you chose “learn to cook,” make a list of specific skills within that larger goal. Maybe you’d like to learn how to chop an onion, bake chocolate chip cookies, or build a healthy meal from the noodles in a ramen packet.

Which topics do you think might be most interesting to a general audience? Which feel especially unique, helpful or unexpected?

Maybe you chose your topic because you know someone who is already an expert at that task or skill. But even if you have, read through this step, because it might help you find someone even more suitable or interesting.

Here is how Ms. Wollan says she found experts for her column:

Ms. Wollan finds interview subjects by “just poking around” online and on the phone. Sometimes she has to talk to a few people before reaching the source she will feature in the column. She interviews most of her subjects by phone for about 45 minutes, sometimes longer. “I love talking to people who just maybe don’t care so much about being an expert,” Ms. Wollan said. Some of her favorite interviews have been with children and people in their 80s, who are often “looser and more generous with their advice.”

Who could be an expert on your topic? At minimum, it should be someone who is knowledgeable enough about your subject that your readers will trust his or her advice.

Some choices might be easy. For example, for her column on how to choose a karaoke song , Ms. Wollan interviewed a world karaoke champion; for her piece on how to recommend a book , she interviewed a librarian; and for her article on how to suture a wound , she interviewed a doctor.

Other choices, however, may be less obvious. For a column on how to breathe , Ms. Wollan interviewed a clarinet player; for one on how to slice a pie , she interviewed a restaurant owner; and for one on how to say goodbye , she interviewed a child-care worker who had bid farewell to many children during her career.

Brainstorm as many potential experts for your piece as you can and then choose one as the subject of your piece.

Your expert doesn’t have to be a world champion or the national head of an organization to have expertise. This person can be anyone with specialized knowledge of a field or topic. For example, if you were writing a piece on how to start bird-watching, you could interview someone who works at a local park or zoo, someone from a birding group in your town or a bird-watcher you know personally, such as a neighbor or teacher.

Like Ms. Wollan, you might start by “poking around online” for potential subjects. And you may have to talk to a few people before you decide on the person you want to feature in your piece.

If you are doing this assignment with classmates, now might be a good time to pool resources. Share your topics, and find out who might know someone with expertise in those areas. Remember that you are not allowed to interview your relatives — but you can suggest your woodworker grandma or your skateboarder cousin to someone who is writing about those topics.

When you reach out to people, keep in mind this advice from Corey Kilgannon, a New York Times reporter who has interviewed people for profiles and who was a guest on a Learning Network webinar about profile writing :

Tell the person what your goal is and where you’re coming from — that you’re writing a profile for a school assignment or a contest or a newspaper or whatever. Be straight with the person you’re interviewing. Some people might be a little nervous or shy about how this is going to turn out, or how they’re going to look. So tell them what it’s for, how long it’s going to be, that there will be photos, or whatever you can.

Once you’ve found the expert for your piece, it’s time to conduct your interview.

In “ The Art of Learning to Do Things ,” Ms. Wollan offers excellent advice that everyone participating in our challenge should take to heart:

If you want to know how to do something, don’t just search the internet. Instead, find a person who already knows how and ask them. At first, they’ll give you a hurried, broad-strokes kind of answer, assuming that you’re uninterested in all the procedural details. But of course that’s precisely what you’re after! Ask for a slowed-down, step-by-step guide through the minutiae of the thing. For seven years, I did exactly that — I called a stranger and asked that person to describe how to do a specific task or skill.

That might sound like a straightforward task, but you should come up with some questions — on your own or with your class — before you talk to your expert.

These might include questions like:

If you were to explain how to do this skill or task to someone who had never done it before, what advice would you give?

What are some common errors that those first learning this skill or trying this task often make? How can they be avoided?

What is your background in this skill? How did you get started with it? How did you learn how to do it?

When or why might a person have to use this skill? What are the benefits of knowing it?

You might also return to some of the Tip articles you read at the beginning of this lesson. Read them closely and see if you can guess what questions the writer may have asked to get the specific quotes and information the expert shared in the piece. Which of these questions might be helpful for your own interview?

Remember that interviewing is an art — and Times journalists can offer you advice.

In addition to asking good questions, it’s also your job as a journalist to make the interviewee feel comfortable, to listen carefully, to ask follow-up questions and to clarify that you have accurate information.

We have written our own extensive how-to on interviewing, filled with tips from Times journalists. Steps 3, 4 and 5 in this lesson will be especially helpful. Created for a contest we ran in 2022, the guide can walk you through preparing and practicing for an interview; keeping the conversation going while conducting it; and shaping the material into a useful piece when you’re done.

Finally, it’s time to write your piece. If you are submitting to our how-to writing contest, keep in mind that your essay must be 400 words or fewer.

Remember, too, that we are inviting you to take inspiration from the Tip column, but that you don’t have to copy its form and structure exactly — unless you’d like to. Most important, though, is to find a way to write what you want in a way that sounds and feels like you.

That said, there are a few key elements that are important to include, which can be found in our contest rubric . Below, we share some examples from the Tip column to illustrate these elements.

Introduce your expert source.

The person you interviewed will be the main source of information for your piece. Ask yourself: How will my readers know this person is an expert in the skill or task? What information should I include about this person to make my readers feel that they can trust the person’s knowledge and advice?

Here is how Ms. Wollan introduces her expert in “ How to Skip a Stone ”:

“Throw at a 20-degree angle,” says Lydéric Bocquet, a physics professor at École Normale Supérieure in Paris.

Later, she further explains Mr. Bocquet’s expertise:

Bocquet’s quest to understand how this happens — how a solid object can skim along water without immediately sinking — began more than a decade ago, while he was skipping stones on the Tarn River in southern France with his young son. “He turns to me,” Bocquet says, “and asks, ‘Why does the stone bounce on the water?’” To answer that question satisfactorily, Bocquet and his colleagues built a mechanical stone skipper and analyzed the angle of each toss using high-speed video. They also created a set of mathematical equations to predict the number of skips.

How do you know Bocquet is an expert in skipping stones? Do you, as the reader, trust him as an expert on this topic? Why or why not?

Explain how to do the task or skill.

The heart of your piece is, of course, your explanation. You might start by making a list of steps that your expert source shared and then paring it down to the most essential information.

Ask yourself:

What instructions are crucial to the reader’s understanding of how to accomplish this skill or task?

What did the expert share that I found surprising or may not have thought of?

What details can I leave out, either because they are not very interesting or because they are less important?

What sequence for the steps make the most sense for my readers?

Consider the first paragraph from “ How to Build a Sand Castle ”:

“Use your architect mind,” says Sudarsan Pattnaik, an award-winning sand sculptor from Puri, a seaside city in India. If you’re building from memory, first envision your castle. For Pattnaik, who is 42, that means well-known Hindu or Muslim sites. “I have made so many Taj Mahals,” he says. Build with fine-grained sand already wetted by an outgoing tide. “Dry sand is too, too difficult,” Pattnaik says. Bring tools: hand shovels, buckets with the bottoms cut off and squirt bottles. Tamp wet sand into your bucket molds, setting one layer and then the next, like bricks. Sculpt architectural details from the top of the mound down. Bring reference photographs if you’re aiming for realism.

See if you can identify all the steps to making a sand castle that the writer shares in this paragraph. What do you notice about the order? What, if anything, do you think the writer might have left out, and why do you think she made that choice? What tips did you find most surprising? What do these lines add to the piece?

Notice also the grammatical structure Ms. Wollan uses: “Build with fine-grained sand”; “bring tools”; “tamp wet sand into your bucket molds”; and so on. This is called the imperative mood and is often used when telling others how to do something.

Include at least one quote.

If you are submitting to our contest, you need to include a minimum of one direct quote from the expert. Ask yourself: What quotes from my interview are so interesting, important, surprising, informative or colorful that I need to find a way to fit them in?

Look at “ How to Do the Splits ,” in which Ms. Wollan interviewed Kendrick Young, a professional sumo wrestler:

Start by stretching every day after you get out of the shower (heat increases muscle and ligament flexibility). Wear comfortable, stretchy attire. “Definitely don’t try to do this in jeans,” Young says. Sit with your legs spread as wide as you can. Once you can do that without hunching, begin to lean toward the ground, exhaling as you go. “You don’t want to be bending over a big pocket of air in your lungs,” Young says. It might help to have someone push down on your midback (historically, sumo wrestlers often stood on one another’s backs to force the body to the floor).

Why do you think the writer chose to include these two specific quotes in the piece, while paraphrasing (or writing in her own words) the rest of what Young said? What additional context did the writer provide to help us understand the purpose and relevance of these quotations?

Provide a purpose for reading.

Remember that a how-to essay is not just a list of steps; your readers should also understand how this topic might be relevant to their lives. Ask yourself: Why should a reader care about this skill or task? Where, when or for what reasons might someone want or need to do it?

Consider the last paragraph in “ How to Start a Family Band ”:

To be in a family band, you have to be prepared to spend a lot of time together, actively working on cohesion. Music can act as a kind of binding agent. When they’re not in quarantine, the Haim sisters see, or at least talk to, each other every day. “Instead of camping as kids, or going hiking, it was like, ‘OK, we’re going to practice a few songs,’” Danielle says. “It was definitely my parents’ ploy to spend more time with us.”

What reason does the writer provide for why a reader might want to try this activity? What additional background does she share from the expert, Danielle Haim, to help explain why a family — even one that might not be musical — may want to start a band together?

Submit your final piece.

Once you’ve written and edited your essay, give it a title (“How to…”) and submit it to our contest by Feb. 14. We can’t wait to learn the skills you’ll teach us!

Natalie Proulx joined The Learning Network as a staff editor in 2017 after working as an English language arts teacher and curriculum writer. More about Natalie Proulx

Katherine Schulten has been a Learning Network editor since 2006. Before that, she spent 19 years in New York City public schools as an English teacher, school-newspaper adviser and literacy coach. More about Katherine Schulten

Writing an article: a step-by-step guide

by Phil Williams | Jan 29, 2014 | Writing skills | 4 comments

Articles can vary in length, and topic, but tend to follow a logical structure. Though they may take many forms, the purpose is usually to inform or to entertain (often both), and this means following a similar pattern. Whether you’re writing an essay arguing two sides of a debate, narrating the history of a topic or reporting an event, the following tips can help students of English plan and write an effective article:

1. Planning

Who is your audience.

Before you start anything, ask who the article is for. What do they want to know, and why? These three details will help you plan what you write. For example, if I want to write a report on a football game I would answer:

• Who? Football fans.
• What? What happened in the game / how did the teams perform.
• Why? Because they did not see the game, or would like an informed analysis of the event.

This helps later, mostly because you know what is not important in the article. If I know I am writing for football fans, I do not need to explain all the details of the game, and should use the vocabulary of football fans (such as to discuss fouls, passes, goals etc.).

What are you going to write about?

Think of all your ideas, write them down if necessary, and then decide which ones are the most important. You can create a mind map, or brainstorm, of ideas, where you simply list everything you can think of. For example, if I was writing an article about making a cup of tea I could brainstorm a list: different types of tea, different mugs, different tools for making tea, boiling water, time for brewing tea, methods of brewing tea, stirring tea, adding sugar, adding milk, drinking tea .

Depending on the length of the article, you probably want three to five main points to discuss, so try to pick the most important points from your brainstorm to form logical paragraphs with. I can group some of the topics above, for instance, to form a simpler list: preparing tea (choosing ingredients and tools), brewing tea (what method and how long for), and completing the tea (adding milk, sugar, stirring).

When you have a simplified structure like this, the article is much easier to put together, as you know where it is going, why you are writing each section, and what details each paragraph should contain.

With your basic ideas in place, you have the structure you need to write the article. But how do you write the article itself? There are two main ways to approach it:

• A) Write the article in a straight-forward order, from start to finish.
• B) Write your main content first, then write the conclusion and introduction.

It is often easier to write the introduction and conclusion after the main content, because they act as summaries, and your ideas will be more fully formed after you have written your central argument or information.

Whatever order you choose to write in, this is a sensible way to structure the article:

Introduction: Start by grabbing the reader’s attention. Write something that is interesting and engaging to begin with. Try to summarise what the article will be about, so the reader knows what they are reading.

To continue the tea example, the paragraph might begin Do you find making tea difficult? And then introduce the many ways that it can be done You need to consider types of tea, how long to brew it and what to add…

Middle / Main Content: If you are covering an argument or debate, you can divide points of view into paragraphs. Give the first point of view in one paragraph, the second in another, and then use a third paragraph to compare the two and draw conclusions / add opinion. If you are presenting information, instructions or a narrative, give different events or ideas their own paragraphs, in a logical order that builds on the previous details. For example, if you were writing about the brief history of a war, you might have these five paragraphs: 1 – origins of the war, 2 – how it started, 3 – what happened of note, 4 – how it ended, 5 – the aftermath .

Conclusion: The conclusion should present the main points of the article in a clear and succinct way. You should not add new information in the conclusion, just summarise what you have discussed, with your closing thoughts or opinions.

There is a popular expression in writing, in English: writing is rewriting . This is because what makes writing most effective, and clear, is editing. When you have finished your article, re-read it and correct any errors, and check that all the information follows a logical order. You can cut out any extra words or unnecessary detail –writing that is edited well normally ends up shorter than the original text.

Editing is not just about looking for mistakes. As you edit your article, ask yourself if the language is clear and engaging, and if the structure works well. If you planned the article well, this should be easier – if not, you may need to do a lot of editing.

This is a basic introduction to writing an article, and there is a lot more that can be said about the detail of how you form your sentences and paragraphs. But if you start with this structure and build from there, your article should be informative, engaging and effective, whatever your purpose. If you’d like much more detailed analysis of how to improve your writing, check out my book Advanced Writing Skills For Students of English .

Let me know if there’s any additional details you’d like to know on the subject by leaving a comment below!

It’s good and useful. Hope you can share more.

Thank you – there will be more to come, yes!

It is goood and helpful, but i want soe hints to article writing for full marks

Thanks! I am 100% agree that the right audience choice will result in good conversion.

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A (Very) Simple Way to Improve Your Writing

• Mark Rennella

It’s called the “one-idea rule” — and any level of writer can use it.

The “one idea” rule is a simple concept that can help you sharpen your writing, persuade others by presenting your argument in a clear, concise, and engaging way. What exactly does the rule say?

• Every component of a successful piece of writing should express only one idea.
• In persuasive writing, your “one idea” is often the argument or belief you are presenting to the reader. Once you identify what that argument is, the “one-idea rule” can help you develop, revise, and connect the various components of your writing.
• For instance, let’s say you’re writing an essay. There are three components you will be working with throughout your piece: the title, the paragraphs, and the sentences.
• Each of these parts should be dedicated to just one idea. The ideas are not identical, of course, but they’re all related. If done correctly, the smaller ideas (in sentences) all build (in paragraphs) to support the main point (suggested in the title).

Where your work meets your life. See more from Ascend here .

Most advice about writing looks like a long laundry list of “do’s and don’ts.” These lists can be helpful from time to time, but they’re hard to remember … and, therefore, hard to depend on when you’re having trouble putting your thoughts to paper. During my time in academia, teaching composition at the undergraduate and graduate levels, I saw many people struggle with this.

• MR Mark Rennella is Associate Editor at HBP and has published two books, Entrepreneurs, Managers, and Leaders and The Boston Cosmopolitans .  

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• Article Writing

Article Writing Format: Explore How To Write, Example Topics and Tips

Have some great ideas, opinions and suggestions you wish you could share so that it could reach readers all around the world? One of the best ways to get your thoughts across the globe is by writing an article. There are techniques you can use to write the different types of articles. This piece on article writing will give you all the tips and tricks you need to master before you start writing your article.

Table of Contents

The art of writing an article, how do i write a good article – tips and techniques, article writing samples, faqs on article writing.

An article is a piece of writing which explicates ideas, thoughts, facts, suggestions and/or recommendations based on a particular topic. There are different kinds of articles, namely:

• Expository article – The most common type of article which allows the writer to put out information on any particular topic without the influence of their opinions.
• Argumentative article – An article in which an author poses a problem or an issue, renders a solution to the proposed problem and provides arguments to justify why their suggestions/solutions are good.
• Narrative article – An article in which the author has to narrate mostly in the form of a story.
• Descriptive article – An article written with the aim of providing a vivid description that would allow the readers to visualise whatever is being described. Using the right adjectives / adjective phrases is what will help you write a descriptive article.
• Persuasive article – An article aimed at persuading or convincing the readers to accept an idea or a point of view.

Writing an article takes a lot of effort on the side of the writer. Content writers/creators, bloggers, freelance writers and copywriters are people who have mastered the art of article writing, without which they would not be able to make their mark as a writer of any kind.

In order to be able to write an article that makes sense in the first place, you have to keep a few things in mind.

• The first and foremost thing that you have to take care of when you are sitting down to write your article is to check if you are well aware of the topic you are going to write on.
• The second thing that you have to ask yourself is why you are writing the article.
• The next thing that you have to focus on is the kind of audience you are writing the article for because unless you know your audience, you will not be able to write it in a way that makes them want to read it.
• The language you use is very important because, without the right spelling, correct grammar , punctuation and sensible sentence structure , the article would not be able to sell itself.
• Use keywords so that you get a good number of reading audiences.
• Maintain coherence within and between paragraphs.
• Double-check the data and information you provide, irrespective of the type of article.
• Keep the title and description as short and catchy as possible.
• Edit and proofread before it is published.

To help you understand better and practise the art of article writing, read through the articles given below:

Can I write a good article?

If you know all the information about the topic you are going to write about, a good hand over the language, a knack to keep it simple and interesting throughout, you can write a good article.

What is the format of an article?

The article should have a title/heading and a description that states what the article is about. The body of the article can be split into 3 to 5 paragraphs according to the volume of content with respect to the topic you are discussing. You can have subheadings and use bullet points wherever possible. Make sure your introduction makes people want to read the whole article and your conclusion leaves them satisfied.

How many paragraphs should there be in an article?

An article should have a minimum of 3 to 4 paragraphs. The writer is, however, given the choice to present the content in more than four paragraphs, if it would be better for the article.

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Writing - part 1

Writing an article

Intermediate

You're sure to be asked to write an article (writing an article) at some time during your course or for your exams. It might be a piece of writing that needs to persuade, argue and inform, for example. Above all, though, being an article, it will need to be interesting and lively.

Here are some typical questions:

Write an informative / persuasive article for… ...your local newspaper / a teenage magazine / your school magazine / a travel guide

on the topic of… ...adventure holidays / the benefits of exercise / keeping a pet / eating healthily / cycling to school.

WHAT IS THE EXAMINER LOOKING FOR?

In an article written for the exam, technical accuracy is often worth many marks so spelling and grammar are important. Marks are also awarded according to the how well your writing shows that you have considered the following key aspects:

AUDIENCE This is far more important to the marks you will receive than most students realise. The examiner will be looking closely for evidence that you have considered your audience in your writing.

· What style of language will suit the type of reader you are writing for?

· Would a formal style be best? Or a more informal – even chatty style?

· You will certainly need to capture and hold your reader's attention and this means being lively and interesting - most especially when you begin writing (a flat sounding... y-a-w-n ...opening to any article is a sure mark loser!).

The chances are you will need to adopt a rather formal style but many modern newspaper and magazine articles often intersperse chatty, informal features to soften the formality and create a rather conversational tone ; in magazines, it's sometimes almost as if the article were one half of a conversation between a friend and his or her slightly older, rather wiser friend.

PURPOSE What style of writing will achieve the aims of your article? Are you writing to persuade , inform or explain ? The Englishbiz pages on these kinds of writing should help.

GENRE What style and form (i.e. format) of writing would satisfy the genre conventions you need to follow?

* Think what you would expect to see and read in such an article: catchy or witty headlines – maybe a pun (i.e. a witty play on words), sub - headings to aid clarity and reading, use of bullet points , lists , images , tables , etc.

* Would the writing need to be very lively, even chatty or perhaps much more formal - perhaps a mixture of the two styles (which is an increasingly common aspect of the style of articles these days)?

* Where and in what situation is the article likely to be read and understood?

* What language choices will help here?

* What tone of voice needs be adopted to suit such a context?

Often an article is not read ‘in depth’ and at a time when full concentration is possible, so... a catchy lively style which does not demand too much of your reader and which follows a clear and logical structure is almost certain to be a good choice for many articles.

Course Curriculum

• Types of Writing 30 mins
• Writing Tips 30 mins
• Writing process 40 mins
• Writing an article 30 mins
• Writing a Summary 30 mins
• Writing Cause and Effect Essays 30 mins
• Formal letter 30 mins
• Informal letter 30 mins

• How to Write a Great Article in the Cambridge B2 First Exam

• Posted on 11/12/2019
• Categories: Blog
• Tags: B2 First , Cambridge Exams , Writing

Writing in your only language can be a challenge, but writing in another language can be a complete nightmare ! Where do you even begin?

If you are taking your Cambridge B2 First exam you’ll have to write two texts in an 80-minute period. In part 1 you must write an essay but in part 2 you will be able to choose between a number of options. This could be could be an email, a letter, a report, a review or an article.

Read more about the format of the Cambridge B2 First exam .

In this writing guide, we’ll focus on how to write an article for the Cambridge B2 First Writing paper – part 2. We’ll also share with you some tricks and tips for passing this part of the exam. You’ll learn how to plan your article, structure it, use rhetorical questions , exclamation marks – and lots more. By the end, you’ll have the confidence to write an amazing article in English!

What is an article and how do you write one for the B2 First?

You’ll find lots of examples of articles in magazines, newspapers and internet blogs. In these texts, writers share information, guides and opinions on specific topics. The idea is to write in a way that grabs the reader’s attention and keeps them interested until the very end.

In the Cambridge B2 First Writing Paper – part 2, you could be asked to write about a variety of topics. However, it’s often something you’ve recently learned to do or know a lot about. For example, the question might be about a concert you’ve been to recently, you favourite hobby or your hometown.

Here’s an example of a B2 First article question.

Now let’s look at how to get started!

How to write an article in three simple steps

You’ve got the question in front of you, so now it’s time to start writing your article, right?

Wrong! If you do that, you’ve missed an essential stage: planning.

You can compare writing an article to preparing your favourite meal. No good tortilla de patatas was ever made without carefully preparing the ingredients first. It’s exactly the same with your writing – only, you’ll need fewer onions. Time management is also important. You only have about 40 minutes total so you need to plan your time carefully.

Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Make a plan (10 minutes)

Think about the question.

Really focus on the question. Decide who your role model is. Is he or she a sporting hero you really admire? Or someone closer to home? It could be a family member that you look up to or a person in the community who’s done something amazing. Think about why they inspire you and make some notes on your ideas.

Think about the tone

Consider the best blogs you read on the internet. Are they relaxed and friendly? Or do they sound like boring school essays? The truth is most articles are quite conversational. They are somewhere between semi-formal and informal. They are often informative, whilst entertaining and engaging the reader. You can also try to add some humour in too!

Think about the structure

Structuring your article is key and there’s normally more than one way to do it. Decide which structure makes sense for the question. Try to keep it logical and include different ideas in different paragraphs.

Here’s an example structure:

• Paragraph 1 Introduction Start with a catchy opening line to hook the readers. Then introduce your role model.
• Paragraph 2 – Describe what makes them special Giving examples and developing your answer.
• Paragraph 3 – Why you chose them as your role model This should be like a conclusion and give the reader a lasting comment or a question to think about.

Note: For many articles four paragraphs will be more appropriate – it depends on the question you are given.

Linkers are a fantastic way to organise your ideas. Experiment with some of these in your next article:

For a start…

Not to mention…

On top of that…

*Remember, you don’t need headings or titles in the article it should read as one continuous piece of work.

Think about vocabulary

Brainstorming vocabulary is a great way to get your ideas flowing . What are some great words related to the topic? List some adjectives for being a good role model. Pick out some verbs related to motivation or any good nouns or collocations you think would work. Throw some phrasal verbs and idioms in there too!

Here’s an example for the question above:

Think about ways to personalise your writing

Articles tend to have a personal touch. You can be a lot more familiar with the reader addressing them personally with pronouns like ‘you’ and ‘I’. Give your own opinion and also use contractions. Here are some more ways to sound personal:

Have you ever wondered…?

I’m sure you can imagine…

Can you believe…?

I will never forget…

There’s nothing more amazing than…

If you ask me…

Step Two: Write it (25 minutes)

An interesting introduction is the key to a first-rate article. You want to capture your audience’s attention whilst making it clear what it’s going to be about. Start with an opening line that sets the tone of the topic. Try to catch the attention from the first word. Here’s an example:

Firefighters and superheroes are obvious role models. But sometimes the person that inspires us the most is so much closer to home. I have never had a favourite singer or sports star but my father has always been an important inspiration for me.

Next, think about the original question. What makes your role model special? Remember to keep it interesting and include some personal feelings. Use exclamation marks like this:

One of the things that makes my father so special is that he always does everything for his family, and he’s an excellent listener too. Whenever we have a problem he’s always there for us. Not to mention the fact that he’s also really fun-loving! If there’s a party, my dad is the first person on the dancefloor.

But only include one or two exclamation marks in the article or they’ll lose their impact.

Finally you want to tackle the last question. Why did you choose him as your role model? A great technique here would be to address your reader personally and even include a rhetorical question at the end. This gives them something to think about. A little bit like this:

I think my father is the best role model because he is the most hardworking person I know. He has a really difficult job as a doctor and is always saving lives. That’s so inspiring for me!

I really look up to him and he really pushes me to be the best I can be. Wouldn’t you want a role model like my dad?

Step Three: Check it (5 minutes)

Everything has come together and you’ve got your final article. Now you can sit back, relax and put your feet up until the examiner says stop. Wait, not quite!

You’re missing the last important step. Always check your writing. You’d hate for all your hard work to be wasted at the last moment. Here are some things to check for.

• You included everything in the question
• You’ve used a variety of sentence lengths
• The spelling is correct
• It’s personal and engaging
• You haven’t repeated the same vocabulary too often
• It’s not too formal

What are the examiners looking out for?

To get the very best results, you need to know what the examiners are looking out for when they are marking your writing.

These are the four most important things to consider:

Ask yourself these questions when checking your work and make any necessary changes before the time is up!

Any other advice for writing an article?

Read, read, read. Go online and search for blogs in English that interest you. If you love sports, look at the sports news. If you prefer fashion, find fashion articles. Whatever it is read real examples for real inspiration!

If you’re still not confident about writing in English, or you want some help preparing for the B2 First exam, take a look at our exam courses .

You can also check out our articles on how to write an Essay or a Review in the Cambridge B2 First.

Glossary for Language Learners

Find the following words in the article and then write down any new ones you didn’t know.

Nightmare (n): : a bad dream.

Rhetorical question (n): a question that doesn’t need to be answered, for dramatic effect.

Time management (n): the way to use your time effectively.

Look up to somebody (pv) : to admire someone.

Humour (n): something amusing or funny.

To hook (v): to attract and captivate your attention.

To flow (v): to move steadily and constantly.

First-rate (adj): excellent, top quality, well made or done.

An exclamation mark (n): this punctuation symbol: !.

To tackle (v): dealing with a challenge or something difficult.

To put your feet up (exp): to rest and relax.

pv = phrasal verb

adj = adjective

exp = expression

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A Black Friday Guide to Shopping in English

• By: oxfordadmin
• Posted on 26/11/2019

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Article Writing in English, Format, Examples, Topics and its Types

An article is a piece of writing which explicate ideas, thoughts, facts, suggestions, or recommendations based on a particular topic. To know more about the article writing format go through this page

Table of Contents

Article Writing

An article is a piece of writing written to influence or provide information to a large audience. It is mainly intended to be published in an electronic medium/ print, like in newspapers, magazines, or journals, and nowadays people are writing blogs. An article is an expression of an individual’s thoughts on an issue or a subject logically written in a meaningful way. Ideas are incorporated in a semi-formal way according to the writer’s interest. It may be for propagating news, academic analysis, current issues or debates, etc. An article must be clear, concise, and coherent.

Different Types of Articles

An ideal article provides all the factual information to the audience that catches their attention and allows them to think over the topic and act accordingly. There are mainly five types of articles mentioned below:

• Expository Article- It is the most common type of article, which allows the writer to publicize or propagate the information on any particular topic without the influence of their opinions.
• Argumentative Article- It is an article in which the author poses a problem or an issue, provides a solution, and arguments to support why their suggestions/solutions are right.
• Narrative Article- It is a kind of article in which the writer is required to narrate mostly in the form of a story.
• Descriptive Article- An article written to provide a vivid description that allows readers to visualize whatever is been described, using the adjective phrases/adjective will help you to write a descriptive article.
• Persuasive Article- This is a kind of article written to persuade/convince the reader to accept the ideas or views of the writer.

How to Write an Article?

The following ways will guide you on how to write an article in a well-structured manner, which helps you to grab the attention of the audience or readers.

• Choose/Pick the content that is needed for your target readers. Do some research work and collect the important information related to your content or article.
• Organize all important topic-related data & information in a logical way.
• Write all your content for the article to make an impact on the readers, that will help them.
• Make your content or article unique and specific.
• In the end, Read your article once, then again Revise.
• Always cross-check the grammatical errors & avoid repetitive lines.

Article Writing Format

An article must be organized in a proper way to grab the attention of the reader. It’s important for the author or writer to first know the format of the composition and also mention the details consequently.

   Title of the Article Byline   (Writer’s Name) Body (Main Part of the article Paragraph 1 (Introductive paragraph) Paragraph 2 (Descriptive paragraph) Paragraph 3 – Any additional information (if required) Paragraph 4 – Conclusion (Ending part of the article)

An article is substantially divided  into 3 sections-

• Heading/Title

Let us check the article writing format you should keep in mind while writing your piece of information.

Heading/Title  

It is the first thing that eyes go on, to be noticed. It is the most important component of the format. The heading or title must be in accordance with the article. The heading of an article should be catchy and not more than 5-6 words. You can go as creative as you want to make it unique. The heading or title should be unique in such a way that the reader arouses their interest to read the whole article.

It refers to the name of the person writing the article. It is generally mentioned in the question. Do not mention your personal details.

It is the main part of the article writing. It generally consists of 3-4 paragraphs.

Paragraph 1 : It is always prescribed that you begin with a short introduction of the topic and its meaning to precise. Write in short, what the article is about by giving some quotations, that will be startling for the reader that will arouse some interest to read more.

Paragraph 2 or Paragraphs 2 & 3: Now, this is the part that can be written in either one or two paragraphs. You are required to do a complete analysis of the topic or subject matter given in the question. This paragraph may include: 

• The Problems – In how many forms does the problem exist?
• The Current Scenarios – then you need to explain the current situation, the problems (if required), and whether there are preventive actions and betterment measures in the situation have been observed or not.
• Advantages/Disadvantages- It may include advantages and disadvantages, depending on the topic in question.
• Causes and Effects – Develop the cause-and-effect relationship by supporting it with facts or data. You can also write the consequences.
• The Solutions- Write the solutions for the problem.

Paragraph 3 or Paragraph 4:   The Conclusion/Ending. It is the concluding paragraph. It is important to conclude that you have started writing an article. Never leave your article open-ended, as it will create confusion for the readers. It is to be remembered that whatever you have elaborated on the problems, you always have to mention the steps taken the improve the situation and suggest some relevant suggestions as well. The paragraph needs to be short and precise. Here, also you can add some interesting quotes as well.

Tips for Article Writing/ How to Improve Article Writing Skills

Before writing any article it is important to know some information about writing the article. Here below are some tips that you can keep in mind while writing the article: 

• Plan before writing- It is important that the writer follow the sequence. Jot down the main points and ensure that the article is in the proper sequence of ideas, introduction, analysis, suggestion, and conclusion.
• Give a title that catches the reader’s attention.
• Begin with attractive opening sentences that address the reader and get them interested in the topic.
• Present a strong argument for your ideas supporting it with examples/pieces of evidence.
• Explain Briefly- The writer should explain relevant and important points.
• Introduce a new point of view at the beginning of each paragraph that follows to strengthen your ideas.
• Word Limit- Always keep in mind and follow the word limit and write in a restricted time frame.
• Stick to the topic- It is important that you do not deviate from the topic. There are changes that you link one topic to another but always remember your main heading or title.
• Avoid repetition of the ideas.
• Make sure you revise the whole article to check the grammatical errors, after completing it.
• Read the articles in newspapers, magazines, journals, and blogs to get an idea of what the article writing is about.

Article Writing Examples

Article writing on covid.

In the unfamiliar landscape of the COVID-19 pandemic, understanding the mysterious signals of its symptoms becomes incredibly important. At the same time, adopting protective precautions becomes a vital defense tactic.  This article takes on a two-fold mission: uncovering the specific patterns of COVID-19 symptoms and underlining the crucial role of preventive measures in keeping ourselves and our communities safe.

Covid 19 Symptoms

As the world grapples with the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic, understanding its telltale signs is paramount. The virus paints a complex canvas of symptoms, ranging from the familiar—such as fever and cough—to the unexpected, like the loss of taste and smell. Fatigue, body aches, and respiratory distress also figure into this intricate puzzle. This section delves into these manifestations, shedding light on the subtle ways the virus communicates its presence within our bodies. Recognizing these signs becomes not only a means of early detection but also a crucial step in stemming the virus’s spread.

Covid 19 Precautions

In the face of an invisible adversary like COVID-19, our most potent armor lies in the realm of precautions. Masks, once a rarity, have transformed into steadfast companions, guarding against the virus’s entry. Physical distancing, the practice of maintaining a safe space, has become a societal norm, creating a protective barrier against its transmission. Regular handwashing, a seemingly mundane act, has emerged as a powerful weapon in disrupting the virus’s journey. This section navigates through these protective strategies, revealing their collective impact in curbing the virus’s reach. Each measure undertaken contributes to a barrier that safeguards not only individuals but entire communities.

Report Writing Format- Click to Read

Sharing is caring!

Article Writing - FAQs

Q1. how many types of articles are there.

Ans. There are 5 types of articles- Expository Articles, Argumentative Articles, Narrative Articles, Descriptive Articles, and Persuasive Articles.

Q2. How many sections are there in the article writing format?

Ans. There are 3 sections - Heading/Title, Byline and Body of the article.

Q3. How many total paragraphs should be there in the article format?

Ans. There can be a minimum of 3-4 paragraphs in the article, it also depends on the word limit mentioned, if any.

As Team Lead- Content Writer, I take on leadership within our content creation team, overseeing the development of error-free educational content. My primary responsibility is to produce and analyse high-quality content educating and informing the aspirants about upcoming government exams published on our website. I have more than 6 years experience in content writing wherein 3.5 years of experience in ed-tech content writing.

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Cambridge B2 First (FCE): How to Write an Article

• Mandatory task : no
• Word count : 140-190
• Main characteristics : interesting, engaging, personal opinion / comment
• Register : semi-informal to informal
• Structure : Title/introduction, 2-3 topic paragraphs, closing paragraph / conclusion
• Language : adjectives/adverbs, colloquial expressions, phrasal verbs, idioms, linking words, interesting grammar

The most useful thing I’ve ever learned Have you ever learned something that completely changed your life? I can remember exactly how it was for me when I got interested in learning English and who helped me become the person I am today. I had always been in love with English music and I put in some work by myself, but only when I ended up in the English class of Mr. Weiss I got completely hooked. His amazing style of teaching struck a chord and my skills skyrocketed in no time. Feeling confident, I took the leap and moved to beautiful Australia where I was able to travel and even call it home for over seven years. And you know what?! I became an English teacher and now help people who are just like I used to be with the same passion as Mr. Weiss. I really think that I wouldn’t be teaching English had it not been for Mr. Weiss and his inspirational lessons. So, looking back, I hope my experience inspires others to find ways to help the people around them as well.

Introduction

An article is usually written for an English-language magazine or newsletter, and the reader is assumed to have similar interests to the writer. The main purpose is to interest and engage the reader, so there should be some opinion or comment. from: Cambridge English First Handbook for Teachers

Articles are part of the second section of the FCE writing exam. This means, that, actually, you can decide if you want to choose this type of text or, instead, pick one of the other ones available in this part (a review, report, letter/email or, if you take FCE for Schools, a story).

Articles are interesting and engaging

You might think that I’m joking because how could writing an article be interesting and engaging? The thing is that I’m not talking about you as the writer, but about the reader. Articles are less formal than, for example, an essay or a letter of application so they are usually more interesting and engaging to read.

However, keeping this in mind, writing an article can also become more fun. If you keep thinking about what would be interesting for the reader, it is easier and more engaging for you too.

So, in this article we are going to look at similarities which we can find in almost every FCE article writing task, such as structure, requirements, useful language and other things to pay attention to. This way, I hope you will feel more confident and knowledgeable.

What a typical article task looks like

Even though there are many different topics to write articles about and they might change a lot from exam to exam, there are certain similarities that I don’t want you to miss and with a little practice you will be able to find these characteristics really fast in every single task.

When you see a task like this (and please remember this for the future) you have to check two things:

• What do you have to include in your article?
• Who is going to read it?

Below you can see that I have underlined the key pieces of information for you and don’t forget to do the same with every writing task you see.

OK, let’s start with what we have to include. In the box I underlined three questions we have to answer:

• What is the most useful thing you have learned?
• Who did you learn it from?
• Why is it useful?

There are three topic points to write about and you will see that there are always three things that you have to include in your articles. If you can’t find three topic points, then look again because they must be there.

The second question I asked above was about who is going to read your article. In this case we are going to write for an English-language website, which means that normal people like you and me are the target readers.

In the FCE writing exam you always have to consider the reader of your texts as you have to adjust the register (formal, neutral, informal language) in your writing. With different levels of formality come different things you should or shouldn’t write, but in articles we normally expect the readers to be people like us so we can write in a more informal style .

Informal English means that you should use contractions like ‘I’m’ or ‘don’t’, colloquial words and expressions, for example, ‘awesome’ or ‘tons of’. Also, try to add some phrasal verbs because they are definitely a feature of informal language as well and last but not least, involve the reader personally by addressing them directly and even ask a question or two.

Again, always look out for three topic points to include in your article and be prepared to use informal language. If you cover all of this, you are already on a very good way to pass. However, there are still a few more things to consider.

How to organise your article

OK, we went through the first step analysing the task. Now we need to think about how we can organise the article so it is logical and with all the different parts included and well connected.

This step might be a little bit different from task to task, but, generally speaking, you can follow this process every time and you should be alright.

Can you remember the three things we have to include in our article? Yes, you can? You are a very good student 🙂 . We have to talk about what the most useful thing you’ve ever learned is (1), who you learned it from (2) and why it is useful (3).

It probably makes sense to give each of these points a paragraph in our article so we already have three sections. To me it seems as if we could use the first topic point in our introduction, which means that we don’t need a separate one, but it is always nice to have a short closing paragraph (similar to a conclusion in an essay). Adding that and a title, we end up with four paragraphs and our article would look like this:

• Title & Introduction / Topic point 1 (What is the thing you learned?)
• Topic point 2 (Who did you learn it from?)
• Topic point 3 (Why is it useful?)
• Closing paragraph / conclusion

Of course, there is always the option of separating the intro and the first topic point or combining two topic points in one paragraph and again, this depends on each task, but, in general, this is what every article looks like in the FCE exam.

Always make a plan

I can’t say it often enough, but, unfortunately, this is something that drives me crazy and a lot of students simply forget to do.

Always plan your articles before you start writing. It takes just a few minutes to create a list of paragraphs like the one above with a couple of words to remind you of what you want to write added to each heading.

There is nothing worse than writing for 25 minutes and then realising that you have to change something or move around different parts. Don’t make the same mistake and write a plan.

The different parts of an article

In this part of my post we are going to look at the different sections of an article in the FCE exam using our task from above so I can give you example paragraphs which include everything you should put in there as well if you want to become the boss of article writing.

In your introduction you always want to get the reader interested in your article. Your goal is to make the reader want to continue. As always, there are a couple of things for you to remember when you start writing:

• Give your article a title.
• Start with a personalised question.
• Include the topic and give your opinion or comment on it.

An example could look like this:

The most useful thing I’ve ever learned Have you ever learned something that completely changed your life? I can remember exactly how it was for me when I got interested in learning English and who helped me become the person I am today.

There you have it. My article has a title, which doesn’t have to be super creative, the intro includes a question as well as the topic and my comment (“…helped me become the person I am today.”) and I’ve already answered the first topic question in the task (What is the thing you learned?).

I also kept some information to myself (Who did I learn from? Why is it useful?) so the reader wants to continue. Try to keep them guessing as this can be very engaging.

Topic points

Once we have our introduction ready and our readers can’t wait to find out more, we need to think about how we can present the rest of the information.

In our plan we decided to break the topic points up into two paragraphs, but we also have to focus on the other requirements of an FCE article:

• Stick to the topic and don’t write about unrelated things.
• Support your answers with some examples and/or reasons.
• Use neutral to informal language (check the section ‘What a typical article task looks like’ above to find out what that means).
• Use other language to make your article sound more interesting (adjectives/adverbs, idioms, phrasal verbs, linking words, play with some grammar).

And with all of this in mind, I wrote these two paragraphs:

I had always been in love with English music and I put in some work by myself, but only when I ended up in the English class of Mr. Weiss I got completely hooked . His amazing style of teaching struck a chord and my skills skyrocketed in no time . Feeling confident, I took the leap and moved to beautiful Australia where I was able to travel and even call it home for over seven years. And you know what?! I became an English teacher and now help people who are just like I used to be with the same passion as Mr. Weiss.

As you can see, I broke everything up in two paragraphs and only wrote about the questions supporting my answers. On top of that, I included a lot of useful informal language ( highlighted ).

Closing paragraph / Conclusion

Last but not least, we want to round off our article with a good closing paragraph. In the conclusion we want to achieve a few different things:

• Summarise what you wrote in your article.
• Comment on the topic or give your opinion one last time.
• End your article in an interesting way.

The last paragraph shouldn’t be too hard to write if you’ve done a good job with your introduction and topic paragraphs. Because we have done exactly that further above in this post the conclusion becomes something like this:

I really think that I wouldn’t be teaching English had it not been for Mr. Weiss and his inspirational lessons. So, looking back, I hope my experience inspires others to find ways to help the people around them as well.

I put everything together nice and short. I summarise the points I made in the introduction and the topic paragraphs, gave my opinion (“I really think…”) and also addressed the reader directly again to end my article in an interesting way.

How your article is marked

Marking FCE writing tasks is like a science and for a lot of students it feels as if there is this big mystery and nobody really knows how it works. Actually, there are very clear rules that the examiners have to follow and the criteria are publicly available.

While it is possible to find all the information on your own I thought it would be a good idea to put everything together in an article for you. Check out how your writing tasks are marked by clicking  here .

Practice makes perfect

With all this detailed information it is now time for you to get active. Look for different example tasks online and follow my step-by-step process to improve and become an expert when it comes to writing FCE articles. All you need is experience until you can find the different characteristics discussed here so you can write your texts almost on autopilot.

Please let me know if you like my post and if there are other things I can include or improve. Until then, happy practice.

Lots of love,

Teacher Phill 🙂

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Are you a learner at C1 English level (advanced) ? This section offers writing practice to help you write clear, well-structured texts about complex subjects. Texts include essays, proposals, articles, reports, reviews and emails.

Each lesson has a preparation task, a model text with writing tips and three tasks to check your understanding and to practise a variety of writing skills. Make a start today.

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A response to a complaint

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An email request

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Article Writing: Format, Rules, and Examples

Article Writing  is a skill that becomes essential for students and they should get familiar with it as far as examination is concerned. Some of the common considerations that students have in writing articles are – what articles are, what articles’ formats are, Article writing rules, and some workout examples at the end.

What is Article writing in English?

An article is an expression of an individual’s thoughts on an issue, or a subject logically written in meaningful paragraphs. An article is a written work published in print or electronic media. It may be for propagating news, researching results, academic analysis, or debate.

Main objectives of article writing

The main objectives of article writing are to change the world by presenting facts, statistics, and views. The objectives of an article may be related to society, general opinions, rising issues, and technical developments.

Article writing format.

The format of an article consists of the following three points:  Headline ,  By-line , and  Body . Let us take a look at an article writing format that you need to remember when you are writing down your piece of information. We have collected some example questions about article writing to make students more familiar with the article writing format.  

A. Headline  – about which topic or subject of the article is written.

• The heading should be interesting or catchy and in not more than 5 – 6 words.
• The heading must be in accordance with the article.
• The article must describe the main idea of the article.

Ways to Write the Title or Headline of the Article.

• Type 1: Global Warming – An Alarming Issue
• Type 2: Global Warming – an alarming issue
• Type 3: GLOBAL WARMING – AN ALARMING ISSUE  

B. By-line  – who has written the article.

• It refers to the name of the person writing the article.
• The name is generally given in the Question Paper.
• If not given, do not write your name on the answers paper in the Exam; rather write any other name.

C. Body –  all the paragraphs regarding the article are written in the body .

Generally, the body of the article consists of 3 – 4 paragraphs.

Paragraph 1

• Begin with a short introduction of the topic, with a precise meaning in the most interesting way.
• Briefly tell what the article is about giving some catchy facts to grab the reader’s attention by putting some questions or quoting some words.

Paragraph 2

A complete analysis of the topic of the article is described including –

• Problem and its types.
• Current scenario.
• Measures are taken to solve the problem.
• Sometimes include advantages and disadvantages.
• Cause and effect relationship by supporting with facts and data.
• Consequences can be included.
• A solution can be provided.

Paragraph 3

• It is the concluding paragraph.
• It is important to conclude what you stated.
• Never leave an article open-ended.
• This paragraph needs to be short and precise.
• Some quotes can be used to conclude.

An example : Article Writing Format

English Composition Resources:

Marking scheme of an article writing..

An article writing comes as 5 marks question. The marks division for article writing format is as follows.

English Article Writing Rules 

We come to know that the article generally, contains  3 or 4 paragraphs , in which the first paragraph will introduce the reader to what the article is going to cover, as well as any background information.

• You need to have a few essential formats of article writing.
• Read your article to make sure that you have included as much complete & useful content as possible for your audience.
• The first and most important thing that you should be concerned with is that you are very knowledgeable about the subject that you are going to write about.

Article Writing Tips and Tricks.

The tips and tricks of article writing may consist of two steps –  

The First Step:

• Where is the article going to appear? – in a newspaper or magazine.
• Who are the intended readers? – a specific group such as students or teenagers, or adults in general.
• What is the aim of the article? – to advise, suggest, inform, compare, contrast, describe, etc.

The Second Step:

• Think about the given topic properly.
• Put your thoughts in a proper manner.
• Use simple and lucid language.
• Give a catchy heading to it.
• Begin an article with a catchy sentence.
• Then write the body of the article, relevant to the title, generally within 3-4 paragraphs expressing your thoughts, facts, statistics, consequences, and probable solution in an interesting way.

How to start writing an Article in English

• You will be given a subject (more of a question that needs to be pondered) that you must write about in terms of your views and opinions.
• Break up key points in each of the sections in the outline, so that you stay on track for the piece.
• Before starting to write the article, create a rough draft or an article outline with bullet points and keywords, to avoid missing important information.
• Follow the tips and tricks provided above, this also helps in drafting a cohesive article.

How to Write the Article for the Exam  

While writing the article, a student must remember some things like that

• an article must be short yet comprehensive,
• should be written in an easy-to-understand language,
• the language must be plain and proper, and
• should be interesting and humorous.

Writing a newspaper article

A  news article needs to be written without carrying any biased opinions of the writer. If someone is working as a professional working content writer, then he or she would be expected to write articles that are topical. A generic article that may be written for the purposes of school or a newspaper would not be as personal.

Sample of WorkOut Examples of Article Writing

Discipline: A Social Quality

By Amita Sain

Discipline is practicing self-control in the interest of the common good. There are some accepted norms of human behavior. Everybody is expected to observe these norms of conduct when in social surroundings. Discipline is, therefore, a social quality. As a social being man is required to be disciplined at every stage of his life at home, at the educational institution, in the playground, in the office, and in social gatherings.

Unfortunately, the country is now in the grip of rank indiscipline. Indiscipline is strutting everywhere at home, in academic centers, in examination halls, in playgrounds, and in offices. Of late, indiscipline has taken the form of organized hooliganism. An aggrieved party often take the law into their own hand, go on a rampage and assault their opponents. Almost every case of demonstration of discontent ends in frenzied conduct or calling the police to deal with the situation.

As our constitution granted some fundamental rights, some people often misinterpret their democratic right to speak and to do whatever they like. Indeed, the freedom given to the unworthy often degenerates into indiscipline. Population explosion with dismal poverty, unemployment, and frustration sparks off indiscipline. Besides corruption in high places encourages indiscipline in common people. Discipline is the first casualty in the hands of irresponsible politicians. There is a saying, “ Indiscipline is the mother of many evils ”.

CHILD LABOUR: A CURSE

By Preetam Karan

Child labor is mainly a problem in developing countries including India. While the children of the age group 6-14 should be in their schools, laying the foundation of their life, they are prematurely dragged away to the labor market. thanks to industrialization and the dire poverty of the families of these children. The unscrupulous employers of private industrial units engage child laborers on low wages for more profits. Thus, the exploitation of children is going on.

India has the highest number of child laborers in the world. More than 120 million children are engaged as workers. About 65 million children work for 8-10 hours a day in hotels, brickfields, repair shops, private factories, and as domestic help. Dire poverty at home drives the children, both boys and girls to accept work at a much lower rate of wages. The money earned by the children is the main source of survival for many families.

Social thinkers are crying hoarse for the abolition of child labor. Some people suggest that the working period of the children should be so adjusted that they may attend classes for their education. This is being given a fair trial in Bangladesh. But this will perpetuate child labor in some forms. The Government has sat up and taken notice. We hope concrete plans would be taken to abolish child labor.

PLASTIC BAGS TO BAN

By Shruti Manik

Paper containers have been in use for centuries to carry goods bought and sold in the market. They are usually made of used paper and old newspapers. They are, however, easily destroyed and so cannot be used more than once. Modern technology yielded a more durable quality of paper commonly known as plastic paper. A carry bag made of plastic paper is lighter than common paper, handy, and covers an unbelievably small space when cramped into a lump.

When plastic bags first appeared as carrying bags people lapped up them avidly. Now, there has been a boom in the use of carrying bags. We set a great store by them as they neither decompose nor perish. All types of traders including hawkers, petty vendors, and even fishmongers supply their goods in carrying bags. So, there is a glut of them in every house. Now, it has turned out that plastic bags are both a boon and a curse.

Now it has been a problem to dispose of them as they are not destructible. If they are burnt down, they would create pollution. So, a good number of plastic bags find their way into drains. Now, the drains are getting choked for the carry bags thrown into them. A time is not far off when the rivers would be the ultimate refuge from the huge number of plastic bags and the rivers would be gasping for survival.

VALUE OF TIME

By Neha Basket

Time is a very important factor in the career of a person. So, we all must know to make the proper use of time. This means we must work when the time is ripe. “ Drive the nail while the iron is hot ”, goes the proverb So life is for work, and not for idling away our time. Those who do not do their work in time are sure to suffer because the time

Students to be taught the value of time The student life is the best period to inculcate () the value of time. Life at school is regulated by a routine that teaches him or her to be punctual in all matters throughout the academic career. Thus, the habit of doing work within a time limit is ingrained within a student. When the student is accustomed to this habit it helps him or her to adjust () the routine of personal life to that of corporate life.

Unfortunately, a great number of people including a section of teachers and officials of our country are lamentably lax in observing punctuality. Time-keeping habit seems to be a part of the national character of the people of Europe. Aldous Huxley wrote in the essay “Time And The Machine’. Regrettably, we are yet to learn the value of time.

MAN AND TREES/AFFORESTATION

By Amiyo Chandi

Since the hoary past man and trees have been the two major creations of Nature. In his prehistoric days, man turned to trees and plants to collect the things vitally necessary for his existence. Since that time man and trees have been interdependent, though man is more indebted to trees. Man’s experiences of the last century have taught him that trees and plants are the key factors to striking a balance in the echo system.

Hunger for agricultural land hunts for timber, and the necessity for cheap fuel caused massive deforestation. The tropical forests, once the nerve center of this planet, covered 15 million sq. km. of the earth’s land surface. A third of it has already been destroyed. About 1,00,000 sq. km. of forest is destroyed every year in the world. About 10.000 species of biodiversity are already lost. So, the Earth Summit of Rio de Janeiro, in 1992, gave us a dangerous signal.

The forests contain a vast gene bank of animal species, and crops, and combating pollution, and to re-fill the depleting oxygen afforestation is a must. We require forest land equal to one-third of the total land area. At present India has about 20% forest land. So, replanting has been taken up in right earnest. Bana-Mahotsav is held every year for replanting in the rainy season.

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION

By Suman Jha

The world of animals is indispensable in the ecosystem. But human beings are mercilessly harming animals by way of business and commerce. Some animals like Royal deforestation, environmental pollution, and above all and the rhinoceros are on the verge of extinction.

Even the Bengal tiger, the national animal of India, as well as the lion, amphibians like tortoises have become rare species at present. Wildlife conservation is indubitably the present need, but the concerned authority is callous to this problem Merchants cut off trees and plants in the forests without the least scruple. Their recklessness brings about disaster in wildlife.

The destruction of wildlife threatens the necessary balance in nature. The Government should enforce rules in favor of wildlife conservation. Such conservation needs good administration as well as the consciousness of people.

Although we realize how our world has been losing its ecological balance, we are still not seriously thinking about the problems. Human intelligence makes us destroy our own planet. But still, hope is there because today people show their conscience to some extent regarding wildlife conservation.

Steps of Article Writing

Article Writing Format: Suppose you have some opinions regarding a topic and you want to tell people about it. How will you do so? You can tell the opinions to persons near you. But what if you want to tell not only those people but, say, the world? How will you do so? You will write those opinions, isn’t it?

Many a time you have seen some writers or people write their problems and suggestions in some newspapers, magazines, and journals or in their blogs. They are writing their opinions and beliefs in the form of an article. In this section, we will get ourselves familiar with article writing and the article writing format.

An article is a piece of writing written for a large audience. The main motive behind writing an article is that it should be published in either newspapers or magazines or journals so as to make some difference to the world.

It may be the topics of interest of the writer or it may be related to some current issues. The topic can either be serious or not-so-serious; Same goes for its tone and language.

Browse more Topics under Article Writing

• Definition, Essential Elements of Article Writing

Objectives of Article Writing

An article is written with the following objectives

• It brings out the topics or the matter of interest in the limelight
• The article provides information on the topics
• It offers suggestions and pieces of advice
• It influences the readers and urges them to think
• The article discusses various stories, persons, locations, rising-issues, and technical developments

The Format of Article Writing

An article must be organized in a proper way so as to draw the attention of the readers. The basic outline for an article writing format is

• Heading / Title
• A line having the writer’s name
• Body (the main part of the article, 2 – 3 paragraphs)
• Conclusion (Ending paragraph of the article with the opinion or recommendation, anticipation or an appeal)

Steps for Article Writing Format

Think of the topic you want to write the article about. Only after you’ve decided your topic you can go ahead and undertake the further steps in the process one by one:

• Target Audience: Identify the concerning reading group
• Purpose: Find the objective or aim of writing the article
• Collect & Select: Gather as such information as possible. Also, identify the details that are most significant
• Organize:  Arrange the information and the facts in a logical way

Once you’ve taken care of all the Above steps you move forward to the final step- Writing.

• While writing an article, always use proper grammar , spelling , and proper punctuations
• Use vocabulary skill
• Keep the introduction of the topic catching, interesting, and short
• Discuss the opinion and the matter in an organized and descriptive manner

Common Mistakes in the Article Writing Format

Now that you know the steps of article writing and the article writing format, the occurrence of mistakes becomes obvious. Some of the common mistakes are:

• Not using facts or quotes or similar cases
• The language should not be too formal
• The article must be in easy language for better understanding
• The title of the article must be catchy and clearly understandable
• No use of paragraphs
• Expressing personal views is fine but the author must never talk about himself/herself

Points to Keep in Mind for the Article Writing Format

• The topics of the articles should be unique and relevant
• The article has to get attention
• It has to be interesting
• It has to be easy to read
• The reader is identified
• Find the main goal of writing an article. The goal can be anything from providing information, entertainment, and advice or for comparing, etc.
• The title must be eye-catching, clear, and interesting
• The introduction or the starting paragraph must be highly attentive. Use your vocabulary skills or try to use some interrogative words for the start
• Use clear statements and make assertions
• Avoid repetition and over the top logic and reasons
• Use the style of paragraph writing and write the contents uniquely and unambiguously
• Avoid using the points which interest you only and not for the general public
• Write a good and logical ending

Solved Example on Steps of Article Writing

Problem: Classify the following into Do’s and Don’ts in article writing.

• Write very lengthy articles
• Add the writer’s name
• The title should be lengthy and clear
• The heading of the article should be short, clear and informative
• Only the introduction and the conclusion should be attractive and attention seeking
• Target the audience
• One can advise, suggest and give the solutions to a problem in any paragraph other than the starting one
• The language and the style of writing should be according to the concerning readers
• There must be only three paragraphs in an article – introduction, middle one, and conclusion
• Use proper punctuations
• Use any tense , person, voice, as many abbreviations , and self-made words while writing an article

Customize your course in 30 seconds

How to write an article? | B2 First (FCE)

In the B2 First Writing Paper you could be asked to write an article about a variety of topics. However, it’s often something you’ve recently learned to do or know a lot about. For example, the question might be about a concert you’ve been to recently, you favourite hobby or your hometown.

The idea is to write in a way that grabs the reader’s attention and keeps them interested until the very end.

Differences between articles and essays

• In an article, you need to constantly be telling the reader what  you think .
• The  article is informal,  the essay is formal and neutral.
• The essay has a clear organisation, whereas the article  might not .

B2 First (FCE) Article: Structure

Fce, cae, cpe, practice, write & improve, b2 first (fce) article: writing guide.

Articles usually have a title. The title should be informative (give the reader an idea of the subject) and attractive ( make the reader want to read the article ).

• No need for a complete sentence

Title A: The Internet: A Great Invention

Title B: Keep It Healthy!

Introduction

The start of the article should be linked to the title, introduce the topic and engage the reader. Often, an article starts with a question that introduces the topic which will be discussed in the article.

• General statement about the topic.
• Start with a question, problem or quotation.

Introduction A: The Internet has changed the way we live. It started as something that we could access only through a computer, but nowadays it is everywhere, and I love it!

Introduction B:  Are you a busy college student? Do you struggle to keep fit and eat healthily? Don’t worry! I am going to tell you exactly what you should do. Keep on reading, you will thank me later!

Paragraphs 1-2

Each should be clearly defined, not too long and clearly linked.

• Describe issues in detail and use one paragraph per issue.
• Use linkers, sequencing and sophisticated vocabulary.

Paragraph A1: One of the cool things about the world wide web is that you can ….. Paragraph A2: However, the greatest thing about the Internet is how you can learn tons of things… Paragraph 1B: First of all, you must start moving your body. You could go to the gym if ….. Paragraph B2: Secondly, your diet is just as important. I suppose you live on a low budget

An ending can state an opinion, give the reader something to think about, summarise the article or even end with a quotation.

Conclusion A: If you follow all these tips, I’m sure you will keep fit easily! And if you already tried that, let me know how you feel now

Conclusion B: In conclusion, the Internet has a lot of great things. For me, the best are finding information and learning online. What about you? What are your favourite things about it?

  Let’s summarize! – How to write an Article?

• Try and engage the reader’s attention and interest. Ask questions at the beginning.
• There should be a link between the opening sentence and the title.
• Personalise the article using true stories or anecdotes.
• If you decide to take a light-hearted approach or a more serious one, maintain the same style throughout the article.
• Check your work for accuracy, punctuation and spelling.

Article could be light or serious (but should be consistent), depending on who the target reader is. May use some rhetorical questions e.g. Can you imagine a school where every student enjoys themselves?

More than Practice Tests

B2 first (fce) article: model answers, fce article example 1.

A local magazine has asked readers to write an article about their favourite things about the Internet. Write the article talking about the things you do with the Internet and recommend a website to other readers.

Write your article.

Student’s FCE Article Answer:

The Internet: A Great Invention

The Internet has changed the way we live. It started as something that we could access only through a computer, but nowadays it is everywhere, and I love it!

One of the cool things about the world wide web is that you can look up anything you want and nd out the answer straight away. Isn’t that fantastic? For example, imagine you are arguing with your friends about how to do something. Easy solution! Go online and find the answer.

However, the greatest thing about the Internet is how you can learn tons of things very cheaply or even for free! In fact, my favourite website is www.udemy.com,where people register to teach and learn about different things: music, website design, making apps, history, etc. So I totally recommend it to everyone!

In conclusion, the Internet has a lot of great things. For me, the best are finding information and learning online. What about you? What are your favourite things about it?

Get Your (FCE) Article Checked!

Fce article example 2.

Fitness bloggers wanted!

Our fitness magazine is looking for influencers to write an article on how to stay fit when you are a college student. So if you have any cool ideas, send us an article in which you:

• Explain the type of exercise you recommend • Recommend a healthy but cheap diet • Give other ideas you like

Write your article .

Keep It Healthy!

Are you a busy college student? Do you struggle to keep fit and eat healthily? Don’t worry! I am going to tell you exactly what you should do. Keep on reading, you will thank me later!

First of all, you must start moving your body. You could go to the gym if you have the time. But if you’re busy – you’re a student, you should be busy! – don’t sign up for a gym. Instead, start cycling to college and give up using elevators. You’ll see how your fitness improves quickly!

Secondly, your diet is just as important. I suppose you live on a low budget, so I suggest you don’t eat out much. Eating out can be unhealthy and expensive. Sogo to your local supermarket and buy healthy, inexpensive vegetables and fruit.

Finally, pay attention to how you sit when you are studying. Posture is super important to feel well, especially if you are a student or an office worker.

If you follow all these tips, I’m sure you will keep fit easily! And if you already tried that, let me know how you feel now

B2 First (FCE) Article: Example topics

Fce sample article topic 1.

You see this announcement in the Leisure and Entertainment  magazine.

Could you live without internet for a month? Write and tell us what difference this would make to your life. We will publish the best article.

FCE Sample Article Topic 2

You see this announcement in a magazine.

We invite you to write an article on ‘The City of the Future’. In what ways will Cities be different in the future? In what ways will they be the same? The writer of the best article will receive a prize.

FCE Sample Article Topic 3

You have seen this notice in an international magazine.

Inventions have affected all our lives! Write us an article about one invention, explaining why you think it is important and saying how it has affected your own life.

The best article will be published in the magazine.

B2 First (FCE) Article: Writing Checklist

After writing your text, you can check it yourself using the writing checklist below.

How to do that? Simply check your text/email by answering the questions one by one:

• Have I covered all the key information required by the task?
• Have I written only information which is relevant to the task?
• Have I developed the basic points in the task with my own ideas?

Communicative Achievement

• Have I achieved the main purpose(s) of the text (for example, explaining, persuading, suggesting, apologising, comparing, etc.)?
• Have I communicated a balance of straightforward and more complex ideas?
• Have I used a suitable style and register (formal or informal) for the task?

Organisation

• Have I used paragraphs appropriately to organise my ideas?
• Have I used other organisational features appropriately for the genre of the text (for example, titles, headings, openings, closings, etc.)?
• Is the connection between my ideas clear and easy for the reader to follow? (For example, have I used appropriate linking words, pronouns, etc. to refer to different things within the text?)
• Are the ideas balanced appropriately, with suitable attention and space given to each one?
• Have I used a wide range of vocabulary?
• Have I avoided repeating the same words and phrases?
• Have I used a range of simple and more complex grammatical structures?
• Have I correctly used any common phrases which are relevant to the specific task or topic?
• Is my use of grammar accurate?
• Is my spelling accurate?

B2 First (FCE) Article: Tips

• PLAN your article.
• Give your article a title.
• Ask rhetorical questions to get your readers’ attention. Eg. What would the world be like without oil? What will life be like in 20 years time?
• Speak directly to your readers. Eg. Let’s just imagine some of the possibilities.
• Give examples where appropriate.
• Use humour where appropriate
• Give a conclusion and summary in the last paragraph.
• Finally, give your opinion where appropriate.
• REVISE your article to correct mistakes

Would you pass B2 First (FCE)?

B2 first (fce) article: useful phrases & expressions.

We will finish it with some useful vocabulary mostly used to organize information. Although it is taking a shortcut, if you learn several expressions for each paragraph in each type of text that could be on your exam, you will certainly be able to create a very consistent and well-organized text.

La farmacia viagra online ti dà i migliori prezzi per i farmaci generici. Breve tempo di elaborazione! Oltre mezzo milione di clienti! Pillole bonus gratuite per tutti gli ordini!

Rhetorical phrases:

Have you ever ……..?  What do you think about ……..?  Are you one of those people who thinks that ……? Are you one of those people who …….? What would life be like if ……? Will the future bring us ….. ?

Introducing your first point:

Firstly In the first place First of all   The first thing to consider is  One thing to consider is  To begin with

Introducing more points:

Secondly   Another consideration  Yet another consideration  Another thing to consider is Added to that  Apart from that  In addition to this

Introducing your final points:

In conclusion  To conclude  To sum up  So

Introducing your opinion:

I think   In my opinion  Personally, I believe that   In my view  If you ask me  To my mind  My personal opinion is

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• Article Writing

Introduction of Article Writing

Article writing is an important part of the English curriculum for CBSE students. Writing skills of any type prepares a student for any kind of situation and acing the test. The article writing section is very scoring in an English exam. In this article, students will get the step by step guidelines to writing an appropriate article for his/her exams. But first, what is an article? An article is a long form content written on a particular topic to be published online or offline, ie, in newspapers. So to be able to write a proper article, it is important to know what is asked to be written about and how to articulate your thoughts into words to make appropriate content. Let's first delve into some important aspects of article writing.

Types of Articles

Before jumping on to the rules of article writing, let's first be acquainted with the types of articles. Articles are not only used to inform the masses of some kind of news but also for analysis, debate and creative columns in magazines and newspapers. Research results publications also fall under the category of article writing. While some types of articles like research results on sciences require appropriate and formal format and language, articles are mostly written in informal words.

It is very important for the article content to be in accordance with the heading or main information to be conveyed throughout. Therefore, every kind of article should have three objectives: to inform, remind and persuade. Therefore, articles should not only be able to inform but also have conviction and influence on readers.

Articles should also be able to provide advice on relevant topics that the readers will find useful. If an article is about a cooking recipe, it can mention a few tips when it comes to handling ingredients that are difficult to cook or it can mention what goes well with what. Next come the format and steps for efficiently writing an article.

How to Write an Article?

The format of an article is what catches the attention of the readers. How an article is presented, what outstanding elements are added and what eye catching phrases are used are what make an article unique in its own sense. 

An article can not only be an advertisement but also a science magazine column. So it is obvious that the contents and elements of the two will not be the same but the overall basic format follows more or less in a similar way. The format includes the following:

A title or headline

Introduction

Content in paragraphs and under subheadings

Bibliography or references only in the case of scientific journals.

There are no hard and fast set of rules to write by but in writing an article, following some steps will make it easier to present it in a proper way. 

Topic selection is very crucial for article writing in case it is not already provided as the idea of the topic itself will open a valley of contents to write upon, out of which the discretion of the writer in including things to write about will attract the reader.

Determining the target is very important for setting the format of an article as mentioned earlier, a scientific journal and a newspaper column debate will not have the same language or format of writing.

Identifying the aim of the content provided will help write the article better. 

Gathering useful information on the topic and researching before proceeding to write will help the writer formulate proper thoughts and words to write according to the need of the article.

Organizing everything written out in a neat and proper manner will help attract the attention of the audience. The article should also be informative.

Using correct grammar and punctuation is very important for setting the mood. This may put the writer's vocabulary to the test but it is important to use appropriate yet catchy words wherever possible. It is also important to check for any errors before turning an article in for publishing.

FAQs on Article Writing

1. How to write an article?

Article writing is a creative part of writing that tests a writer's penmanship and stock of vocabulary. To be able to write an article, it is not only important to have a good hold of the language used but also on the content of the topic. To learn more about article writing, Vedantu's website has provided solutions to your needs. You can visit the website or download the app and get free resources.

2. What are the types of articles?

There are basically diye types of articles: expository, persuasive, narrative, and descriptive. An expository article is very much subject-oriented and is mostly informative without the need to express opinion on any matter. A persuasive article, by name itself, is a piece of writing that convinces, more like brainwashing readers into doing something according to the writer's will. Narrative articles are the ones used in storytelling. Descriptive writing of a topic in an article is essentially describing what the senses of the writer say regarding the given topic.

3. What is the format of an article?

The basic structure of articles are mostly the same. The format is as follows:

Content body

4. What are the mistakes made in article writing?

The most common mistake made during writing an article is making grammatical errors. Using a lot of factual information or not at all is another mistake. Writing longer paragraphs than needed or using informal language in place where using formal language is a must, are common mistakes as well. Forcing one's opinions when not needed is also a mistake that needs to be avoided.

What this handout is about

When we use nouns in English, articles (a, an, and the) specify which and how many nouns we mean. To choose the correct article for your sentence, you need to answer two questions. First, do I mean this one exactly, one of many, or all of them everywhere? Second, is the noun count or non-count? This handout explains these questions and how their answers help determine which article to use.

Using this handout

As you use the handout, try to keep three things in mind:

• First, this handout will be most effective if you use it as a tool. Every time you read this handout, read it along side another piece of writing (a journal article, a magazine, a web page, a novel, a text book, etc.). Locate a few nouns in the reading, and use the handout to analyze the article usage. If you practice a little bit at a time, this kind of analysis can help you develop a natural sensitivity to this complex system.
• Second, using articles correctly is a skill that develops over time through lots of reading, writing, speaking and listening. Think about the rules in this handout, but also try to pay attention to how articles are being used in the language around you. Simply paying attention can also help you develop a natural sensitivity to this complex system.
• Finally, although using the wrong article may distract a reader’s attention, it usually does not prevent the reader from understanding your meaning. So be patient with yourself as you learn.

Basic rules

This is a simple list, but understanding it and remembering it is crucial to using articles correctly.

Rule # 1: Every time a noun is mentioned, the writer is referring to:

• All of them everywhere (“generic” reference),
• One of many, (“indefinite” reference) or
• This one exactly (“definite” reference)

Rule # 2: Every kind of reference has a choice of articles:

• All of them everywhere…(Ø, a/an, the)
• One of many……………..(Ø, a/an)
• This one exactly…………(Ø, the)

(Ø = no article)

Rule # 3: The choice of article depends upon the noun and the context. This will be explained more fully below.

Basic questions

To choose the best article, ask yourself these questions:

• “What do I mean? Do I mean all of them everywhere, one of many, or this one exactly?”
• “What kind of noun is it? Is it countable or not? Is it singular or plural? Does it have any special rules?”

Your answers to these questions will usually determine the correct article choice, and the following sections will show you how.

When you mean “all of them everywhere”

Talking about “all of them everywhere” is also called “generic reference.” We use it to make generalizations: to say something true of all the nouns in a particular group, like an entire species of animal. When you mean “all of them everywhere,” you have three article choices: Ø, a/an, the. The choice of article depends on the noun. Ask yourself, “What kind of noun is it?”

Non-count nouns = no article (Ø)

• Temperature is measured in degrees.
• Money makes the world go around.

Plural nouns = no article (Ø)

• Volcanoes are formed by pressure under the earth’s surface.
• Quagga zebras were hunted to extinction.

Singular nouns = the

• The computer is a marvelous invention.
• The elephant lives in family groups.

Note: We use this form (the + singular) most often in technical and scientific writing to generalize about classes of animals, body organs, plants, musical instruments, and complex inventions. We do not use this form for simple inanimate objects, like books or coat racks. For these objects, use (Ø + plural).

Singular nouns = a/an when a single example represents the entire group

• A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet.
• A doctor is a highly educated person. Generally speaking, a doctor also has tremendous earning potential.

How do you know it’s generic? The “all…everywhere” test

Here’s a simple test you can use to identify generic references while you’re reading. To use this test, substitute “all [plural noun] everywhere” for the noun phrase. If the statement is still true, it’s probably a generic reference. Example:

• A whale protects its young—”All whales everywhere” protect their young. (true—generic reference)
• A whale is grounded on the beach—”All whales everywhere” are grounded on the beach. (not true, so this is not a generic reference; this “a” refers to “one of many”)

You’ll probably find generic references most often in the introduction and conclusion sections and at the beginning of a paragraph that introduces a new topic.

When you mean “one of many”

Talking about “one of many” is also called “indefinite reference.” We use it when the noun’s exact identity is unknown to one of the participants: the reader, the writer, or both. Sometimes it’s not possible for the reader or the writer to identify the noun exactly; sometimes it’s not important. In either case, the noun is just “one of many.” It’s “indefinite.” When you mean “one of many,” you have two article choices: Ø, a/an. The choice of article depends on the noun. Ask yourself, “What kind of noun is it?”

• Our science class mixed boric acid with water today.
• We serve bread and water on weekends.
• We’re happy when people bring cookies!
• We need volunteers to help with community events.

Singular nouns = a/an

• Bring an umbrella if it looks like rain.
• You’ll need a visa to stay for more than ninety days.

Note: We use many different expressions for an indefinite quantity of plural or non-count nouns. Words like “some,” “several,” and “many” use no article (e.g., We need some volunteers to help this afternoon. We really need several people at 3:00.) One exception: “a few” + plural noun (We need a few people at 3:00.) In certain situations, we always use “a” or “an.” These situations include:

• Referring to something that is one of a number of possible things. Example: My lab is planning to purchase a new microscope. (Have you chosen one yet? No, we’re still looking at a number of different models.)
• Referring to one specific part of a larger quantity. Example: Can I have a bowl of cereal and a slice of toast? (Don’t you want the whole box of cereal and the whole loaf of bread? No, thanks. Just a bowl and a slice will be fine.)
• With certain indefinite quantifiers. Example: We met a lot of interesting people last night. (You can also say “a bunch of” or “a ton of” when you want to be vague about the exact quantity. Note that these expressions are all phrases: a + quantifier + of.)
• Exception: “A few of” does not fit this category. See Number 8 in the next section for the correct usage of this expression.
• Specifying information associated with each item of a grouping. Example: My attorney asked for $200 an hour, but I’ll offer him $200 a week instead. (In this case, “a” can substitute for the word “per.”)
• Introducing a noun to the reader for the first time (also called “first mention”). Use “the” for each subsequent reference to that noun if you mean “this one exactly.” Example: I presented a paper last month, and my advisor wants me to turn the paper into an article. If I can get the article written this semester, I can take a break after that! I really need a break!

Note: The writer does not change from “a break” to “the break” with the second mention because she is not referring to one break in particular (“this break exactly”). It’s indefinite—any break will be fine!!

When you mean “this one exactly”

Talking about “this one exactly” is also called “definite reference.” We use it when both the reader and the writer can identify the exact noun that is being referred to. When you mean “this one exactly,” you have two article choices: Ø, the. The choice of article depends on the noun and on the context. Ask yourself, “What kind of noun is it?”

(Most) Proper nouns = no article (Ø)

• My research will be conducted in Luxembourg.
• Dr. Homer inspired my interest in Ontario.

Note: Some proper nouns do require “the.” See the special notes on nouns below.

Non-count nouns = the

• Step two: mix the water with the boric acid.
• The laughter of my children is contagious.

Plural nouns = the

• We recruited the nurses from General Hospital.
• The projects described in your proposal will be fully funded.
• Bring the umbrella in my closet if it looks like rain.
• Did you get the visa you applied for?

In certain situations, we always use “the” because the noun or the context makes it clear that we’re talking about “this one exactly.” The context might include the words surrounding the noun or the context of knowledge that people share. Examples of these situations include:

Unique nouns

• The earth rotates around the sun.
• The future looks bright!

Shared knowledge (both participants know what’s being referred to, so it’s not necessary to specify with any more details)

• The boss just asked about the report.
• Meet me in the parking lot after the show.

Second mention (with explicit first mention)

• I found a good handout on English articles. The handout is available online.
• You can get a giant ice cream cone downtown. If you can eat the cone in five seconds, you get another one free.

Second mention (with implied first mention—this one is very, very common)

• Dr. Frankenstein performed a complicated surgery. He said the patient is recovering nicely. (“The patient” is implied by “surgery”—every surgery has a patient.)
• My new shredder works fabulously! The paper is completely destroyed. (Again, “the paper” is implied by “shredder.”)

Ordinals and superlatives (first, next, primary, most, best, least, etc.)

• The first man to set foot on the moon…
• The greatest advances in medicine…

Specifiers (sole, only, principle, etc.)

• The sole purpose of our organization is…
• The only fact we need to consider is…

Restricters (words, phrases, or clauses that restrict the noun to one definite meaning)

• Study the chapter on osmosis for the test tomorrow.
• Also study the notes you took at the lecture that Dr. Science gave yesterday.

Plural nouns in partitive -of phrases (phrases that indicate parts of a larger whole) (Note: Treat “of the” as a chunk in these phrases—both words in or both words out)

• Most of the international students have met their advisors, but a few of them have appointments next week. (emphasis on part of the group, and more definite reference to a specific group of international students, like the international students at UNC)
• Most international students take advantage of academic advising during their college careers. (emphasis on the group as a whole, and more generic reference to international students everywhere)
• Several of the risk factors should be considered carefully, but the others are only minor concerns. (emphasis on part of the group)
• Several risk factors need to be considered carefully before we proceed with the project. (emphasis on the group as a whole)
• A few of the examples were hard to understand, but the others were very clear. (emphasis on part of the group)
• A few examples may help illustrate the situation clearly. (emphasis on the group as a whole)

Note: “Few examples” is different from “a few examples.” Compare:

• The teacher gave a few good examples. (a = emphasizes the presence of good examples)
• The teacher gave few good examples. (no article = emphasizes the lack of good examples)

Article flowchart

For the more visually oriented, this flowchart sketches out the basic rules and basic questions.

Some notes about nouns

Uncountable nouns.

As the name suggests, uncountable nouns (also called non-count or mass nouns) are things that can not be counted. They use no article for generic and indefinite reference, and use “the” for definite reference. Uncountable nouns fall into several categories:

• Abstractions: laughter, information, beauty, love, work, knowledge
• Fields of study: biology, medicine, history, civics, politics (some end in -s but are non-count)
• Recreational activities: football, camping, soccer, dancing (these words often end in -ing)
• Natural phenomena: weather, rain, sunshine, fog, snow (but events are countable: a hurricane, a blizzard, a tornado)
• Whole groups of similar/identical objects: furniture, luggage, food, money, cash, clothes
• Liquids, gases, solids, and minerals: water, air, gasoline, coffee, wood, iron, lead, boric acid
• Powders and granules: rice, sand, dust, calcium carbonate
• Diseases: cancer, diabetes, schizophrenia (but traumas are countable: a stroke, a heart attack, etc.)

Note: Different languages might classify nouns differently

• “Research” and “information” are good examples of nouns that are non-count in American English but countable in other languages and other varieties of English.

Strategy: Check a dictionary. A learner’s dictionary will indicate whether the noun is countable or not. A regular dictionary will give a plural form if the noun is countable. Note: Some nouns have both count and non-count meanings Some nouns have both count and non-count meanings in everyday usage. Some non-count nouns have count meanings only for specialists in a particular field who consider distinct varieties of something that an average person would not differentiate. Non-count meanings follow the rules for non-count nouns (generic and indefinite reference: no article; definite: “the”); count meanings follow the count rules (a/an for singular, no article for plural). Can you see the difference between these examples?

• John’s performance on all three exams was exceptional.
• John’s performances of Shakespeare were exceptional.
• To be well educated, you need good instruction.
• To assemble a complicated machine, you need good instructions.

Proper nouns

Proper nouns (names of people, places, religions, languages, etc.) are always definite. They take either “the” or no article. Use “the” for regions (like the Arctic) and for a place that’s made up of a collection of smaller parts (like a collection of islands, mountains, lakes, etc.). Examples:

• Places (singular, no article): Lake Erie, Paris, Zimbabwe, Mount Rushmore
• Places (collective, regional, “the”): the Great Lakes, the Middle East, the Caribbean

Note: Proper nouns in theory names may or may not take articles When a person’s name is part of a theory, device, principle, law, etc., use “the” when the name does not have a possessive apostrophe. Do not use “the” when the name has an apostrophe. Examples:

Note: Articles change when proper nouns function as adjectives Notice how the article changes with “Great Lakes” in the examples below. When place names are used as adjectives, follow the article rule for the noun they are modifying. Examples: I’m studying …

• …the Great Lakes. (as noun)
• …a Great Lakes shipwreck.(as adjective with “one of many” singular noun)
• …the newest Great Lakes museum. (as adjective with “this one exactly” singular noun)
• …Great Lakes shipping policies. (as adjective with “one of many” plural noun)
• …Great Lakes history. (as adjective with “one of many” uncountable noun)

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Byrd, Patricia, and Beverly Benson. 1993. Problem/Solution: A Reference for ESL Writers . Boston: Heinle & Heinle.

Celce-Murcia, Marianne, and Diane Larsen-Freeman. 2015. The Grammar Book: An ESL/EFL Teacher’s Course , 3rd ed. Boston: Heinle & Heinle.

Swales, John, and Christine B. Feak. 2012. Academic Writing for Graduate Students: Essential Tasks and Skills , 3rd ed. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Using Articles

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This handout discusses the differences between indefinite articles (a/an) and definite articles (the).

What is an article? Basically, an article is an adjective. Like adjectives, articles modify nouns.

English has two articles: the and a/an . The is used to refer to specific or particular nouns; a/an is used to modify non-specific or non-particular nouns. We call the the definite article and a/an the indefinite article.

the = definite article

a/an = indefinite article

For example, if I say, "Let's read the book," I mean a specific book. If I say, "Let's read a book," I mean any book rather than a specific book.

Here's another way to explain it: The is used to refer to a specific or particular member of a group. For example, "I just saw the most popular movie of the year." There are many movies, but only one particular movie is the most popular. Therefore, we use the .

"A/an" is used to refer to a non-specific or non-particular member of the group. For example, "I would like to go see a movie." Here, we're not talking about a specific movie. We're talking about any movie. There are many movies, and I want to see any movie. I don't have a specific one in mind.

Let's look at each kind of article a little more closely.

Indefinite Articles: a and an

"A" and "an" signal that the noun modified is indefinite, referring to any member of a group. For example:

• "My daughter really wants a dog for Christmas." This refers to any dog. We don't know which dog because we haven't found the dog yet.
• "Somebody call a policeman!" This refers to any policeman. We don't need a specific policeman; we need any policeman who is available.
• "When I was at the zoo, I saw an elephant!" Here, we're talking about a single, non-specific thing, in this case an elephant. There are probably several elephants at the zoo, but there's only one we're talking about here.

Remember, using a or an depends on the sound that begins the next word. So...

• a + singular noun beginning with a consonant: a boy; a car; a bike; a zoo; a dog
• an + singular noun beginning with a vowel: an elephant; an egg; an apple; an idiot; an orphan
• a + singular noun beginning with a consonant sound: a user (sounds like 'yoo-zer,' i.e. begins with a consonant 'y' sound, so 'a' is used); a university ; a unicycle
• an + nouns starting with silent "h": an hour
• In some cases where "h" is pronounced, such as "historical," you can use an . However, a is more commonly used and preferred. A historical event is worth recording.

Remember that these rules also apply when you use acronyms:

Another case where this rule applies is when acronyms or initialisms start with consonant letters but have vowel sounds:

If the noun is modified by an adjective, the choice between a and an depends on the initial sound of the adjective that immediately follows the article:

• a broken egg
• an unusual problem
• a European country (sounds like 'yer-o-pi-an,' i.e. begins with consonant 'y' sound)

Remember, too, that in English, the indefinite articles are used to indicate membership in a group:

• I am a teacher. (I am a member of a large group known as teachers.)
• Brian is an Irishman. (Brian is a member of the people known as Irish.)
• Seiko is a practicing Buddhist. (Seiko is a member of the group of people known as Buddhists.)

Definite Article: the

The definite article is used before singular and plural nouns when the noun is specific or particular. The signals that the noun is definite, that it refers to a particular member of a group. For example:

" The dog that bit me ran away." Here, we're talking about a specific dog, the dog that bit me.

"I was happy to see the policeman who saved my cat!" Here, we're talking about a particular policeman. Even if we don't know the policeman's name, it's still a particular policeman because it is the one who saved the cat.

"I saw the elephant at the zoo." Here, we're talking about a specific noun. Probably there is only one elephant at the zoo.

Count and Noncount Nouns

The can be used with noncount nouns, or the article can be omitted entirely.

• "I love to sail over the water" (some specific body of water) or "I love to sail over water" (any water).
• "He spilled the milk all over the floor" (some specific milk, perhaps the milk you bought earlier that day) or "He spilled milk all over the floor" (any milk).

"A/an" can be used only with count nouns.

• "I need a bottle of water."
• "I need a new glass of milk."

Most of the time, you can't say, "She wants a water," unless you're implying, say, a bottle of water.

Geographical use of the

There are some specific rules for using the with geographical nouns.

Do not use the before:

• names of most countries/territories: Italy, Mexico, Bolivia ; however, the Netherlands, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, the United States
• names of cities, towns, or states: Seoul, Manitoba, Miami
• names of streets: Washington Blvd., Main St.
• names of lakes and bays: Lake Titicaca, Lake Erie except with a group of lakes like the Great Lakes
• names of mountains: Mount Everest, Mount Fuji except with ranges of mountains like the Andes or the Rockies or unusual names like the Matterhorn
• names of continents (Asia, Europe)
• names of islands (Easter Island, Maui, Key West) except with island chains like the Aleutians, the Hebrides, or the Canary Islands

Do use the before:

• names of rivers, oceans and seas: the Nile, the Pacific
• points on the globe: the Equator, the North Pole
• geographical areas: the Middle East, the West
• deserts, forests, gulfs, and peninsulas: the Sahara, the Persian Gulf, the Black Forest, the Iberian Peninsula

Omission of Articles

Some common types of nouns that don't take an article are:

• Names of languages and nationalities: Chinese, English, Spanish, Russian (unless you are referring to the population of the nation: " The Spanish are known for their warm hospitality.")
• Names of sports: volleyball, hockey, baseball
• Names of academic subjects: mathematics, biology, history, computer science

English dominates scientific research – here’s how we can fix it, and why it matters

Científica del Instituto de Lengua, Literatura y Antropología (ILLA), del Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales (CCHS) del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales (CCHS - CSIC)

Disclosure statement

Elea Giménez Toledo does not receive a salary, nor does she own shares, nor does she receive funding from any company or organisation that might benefit from this article. She is a commissioner of the SEGIB, which implies only unpaid scientific advice to this institution, as part of the scientific activity carried out at the CSIC.

Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation ES.

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It is often remarked that Spanish should be more widely spoken or understood in the scientific community given its number of speakers around the world, a figure the Instituto Cervantes places at almost 600 million .

However, millions of speakers do not necessarily grant a language strength in academia. This has to be cultivated on a scientific, political and cultural level, with sustained efforts from many institutions and specialists.

The scientific community should communicate in as many languages as possible

By some estimates, as much as 98% of the world’s scientific research is published in English , while only around 18% of the world’s population speaks it. This makes it essential to publish in other languages if we are to bring scientific research to society at large.

The value of multilingualism in science has been highlighted by numerous high profile organisations, with public declarations and statements on the matter from the European Charter for Researchers , the Helsinki Initiative on Multiligualism , the Unesco Recommendation on Open Science , the OPERAS Multiligualism White Paper , the Latin American Forum on Research Assessment , the COARA Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment , and the Declaration of the 5th Meeting of Minsters and Scientific Authorities of Ibero-American Countries . These organisations all agree on one thing: all languages have value in scientific communication .

As the last of these declarations points out, locally, regionally and nationally relevant research is constantly being published in languages other than English. This research has an economic, social and cultural impact on its surrounding environment, as when scientific knowledge is disseminated it filters through to non-academic professionals, thus creating a broader culture of knowledge sharing.

Greater diversity also enables fluid dialogue among academics who share the same language, or who speak and understand multiple languages. In Ibero-America, for example, Spanish and Portuguese can often be mutually understood by non-native speakers, allowing them to share the scientific stage. The same happens in Spain with the majority of its co-official languages .

Read more: Non-native English speaking scientists work much harder just to keep up, global research reveals

No hierarchies, no categories

Too often, scientific research in any language other than English is automatically seen as second tier, with little consideration for the quality of the work itself.

This harmful prejudice ignores the work of those involved, especially in the humanities and social sciences. It also profoundly undermines the global academic community’s ability to share knowledge with society.

By defending and preserving multilingualism, the scientific community brings research closer to those who need it. Failing to pursue this aim means that academia cannot develop or expand its audience. We have to work carefully, systematically and consistently in every language available to us.

Read more: Prestigious journals make it hard for scientists who don't speak English to get published. And we all lose out

The logistics of strengthening linguistic diversity in science

Making a language stronger in academia is a complex process. It does not happen spontaneously, and requires careful coordination and planning. Efforts have to come from public and private institutions, the media, and other cultural outlets, as well as from politicians, science diplomacy , and researchers themselves.

Many of these elements have to work in harmony, as demonstrated by the Spanish National Research Council’s work in ES CIENCIA , a project which seeks to unite scientific and and political efforts.

Academic publishing and AI models: a new challenge

The global academic environment is changing as a result the digital transition and new models of open access. Research into publishers of scientific content in other languages will be essential to understanding this shift. One thing is clear though: making scientific content produced in a particular language visible and searchable online is crucial to ensuring its strength.

In the case of academic books, the transition to open access has barely begun , especially in the commercial publishing sector, which releases around 80% of scientific books in Spain. As with online publishing, a clear understanding will make it possible to design policies and models that account for the different ways of disseminating scientific research, including those that communicate locally and in other languages. Greater linguistic diversity in book publishing can also allow us to properly recognise the work done by publishers in sharing research among non-English speakers.

Read more: Removing author fees can help open access journals make research available to everyone

Making publications, datasets, and other non-linguistic research results easy to find is another vital element, which requires both scientific and technical support. The same applies to expanding the corpus of scientific literature in Spanish and other languages, especially since this feeds into generative artificial intelligence models.

If linguistically diverse scientific content is not incorporated into AI systems, they will spread information that is incomplete, biased or misleading: a recent Spanish government report on the state of Spanish and co-official languages points out that 90% of the text currently fed into AI is written in English.

Deep study of terminology is essential

Research into terminology is of the utmost importance in preventing the use of improvised, imprecise language or unintelligible jargon. It can also bring huge benefits for the quality of both human and machine translations, specialised language teaching, and the indexing and organisation of large volumes of documents.

Terminology work in Spanish is being carried out today thanks to the processing of large language corpuses by AI and researchers in the TeresIA project, a joint effort coordinated by the Spanish National Research Council. However, 15 years of ups and downs were needed to to get such a project off the ground in Spanish.

The Basque Country, Catalonia and Galicia, on the other hand, have worked intensively and systematically on their respective languages. They have not only tackled terminology as a public language policy issue, but have also been committed to established terminology projects for a long time.

Multiligualism is a global issue

This need for broader diversity also applies to Ibero-America as a whole, where efforts are being coordinated to promote Spanish and Portuguese in academia, notably by the Ibero-American General Secretariat and the Mexican National Council of Humanities, Sciences and Technologies .

While this is sorely needed, we cannot promote the region’s two most widely spoken languages and also ignore its diversity of indigenous and co-official languages. These are also involved in the production of knowledge, and are a vehicle for the transfer of scientific information, as demonstrated by efforts in Spain.

Each country has its own unique role to play in promoting greater linguistic diversity in scientific communication. If this can be achieved, the strength of Iberian languages – and all languages, for that matter – in academia will not be at the mercy of well intentioned but sporadic efforts. It will, instead, be the result of the scientific community’s commitment to a culture of knowledge sharing.

This article was originally published in Spanish

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• ‘A Very British Scandal’ & ‘Eastenders’ Scribe Sarah Phelps Talks Dealing With Hate Mail & How Writing For A Soap Honed Her Craft — Storyhouse

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Prolific British writer Sarah Phelps , whose television credits include  A Very British Scandal ,  Dublin Murders  and long-running BBC soap drama  Eastenders , encouraged an audience of writers at Dublin’s Storyhouse festival not to get discouraged by trolls or hate mail for their work. 

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She added: “Don’t let it creep into your brain, because they’re designed to make you feel ashamed and designed to make you feel small and designed to make you feel stupid for trying. So, shine a light on it, print it out, put it in a frame, put fairly lights around it, toast it, make friends with it and stare at it until it has none of its power to hurt you.” 

Phelps was a writer on  Eastenders  from 2002 to 2016 and she told the audience of her experience of boarding that series as a writer via the BBC’s Shadow Scheme for aspiring writers of drama. She recalled being one of the few writers on that scheme at the time who had not yet written for television. 

“Tony Jordan was leading the group, the great Tony Jordan, and he said this thing which fired me up so much…but he said the thing, which was right, ‘If you think you can come here to this show and treat it like your cash machine while you’re waiting for Hollywood to discover your greatness, if you think you will come to this show and just treat it like it doesn’t matter, f**k off now, because this show will find you out,’” said Phelps. 

“And I thought this show will never, ever find me out because I love this show with everything that is in my bones, and I could not wait to hit the ground running.”

“The turnaround is so fast and it’s so scrutinized because the actors know their characters better than anybody else and if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work, and you learn very fast because you can’t sit with your script for years.”

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