Mnemonics
Mnemonics (pronounced /nəˈmɒniks/ with a silent 'm' at the beginning) are short devices (sayings, poems, etc) used to remember longer, more complex ideas or lists (also known as aides memoires or memory aides). Think of them as poetic versions of string tied around your finger to help remember!
A good example of a first letter mnemonic is:
which is used to remember the colours of a rainbow in the order they appear:
- Red (Richard)
- Orange (of)
- Yellow (York)
- Green (gave)
- Blue (battle)
- Indigo (in)
- Violet (vain)
Spelling Mnemonics
- i before e except after c - although the rule is not very precise, it's a good general rule for spelling. ( This article on concordancing examines the rule in detail.)
- WE Do Not Eat Soup Day - wednesday
- Rhythm Helps Your Two Hips Move - rhythmn
- Not Every Cat Eats Sardines (Some Are Really Yummy) - necessary
- To remember the start of beautiful: Big Elephants Are Ugly.
Grammar Mnemonics
- A cat has claws at the end of its paws. A comma's a pause at the end of a clause.
- OSASCOMP. Lists the order in which adjectives should appear: Opinion, Size, Age, Shape, Colour, Origin, Material, Purpose.
- FANBOY are the coordinating conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet. Alternatively BOY SAT with BEN can produce: But, Or, Yet, So, And, Then, Both...and, Either...or, Neither...nor ).
When to start a new paragraph can be remembered using the following mnemonic:
Four "T"s, a little writing rhyme
Of Topic, Territory, Talker, Time
When there's a change in one of these
Start a new paragraph if you please.
Parts of speech in general are here:
Every name is called a NOUN,
As field and fountain, street and town;
In place of noun the PRONOUN stands,
As he and she can clap their hands;
The ADJECTIVE describes a thing,
As magic wand and bridal ring;
The VERB means action, something done -
To read and write, to jump and run;
How things are done, the ADVERBS tell,
As quickly, slowly, badly, well;
The PREPOSITION shows relation,
As in the street, or at the station;
CONJUNCTIONS join, in many ways,
Sentences, words, or phrase and phrase;
The INTERJECTION cries out, 'Hark!
I need an exclamation mark!'
Through Poetry, we learn how each
of these make up the PARTS OF SPEECH.
For remembering that the quotation marks come after any closing punctuation marks: P then Q in the alphabet.
