Contrast, highlighting one aspect by a direct juxtaposition with another, is one of the most important constructs you can use to express complex ideas in your text.   By directly contrasting one concept with another the same way black can highlight white, your readers derive a clearer picture of the message you’re trying to impart.

Examples

When you say “I’ve always wanted to own a home but I live in a rented apartment,” it shows a contrast that creates a scene in the mind of the reader.  Similarly, explaining the reason for the situation can also be arrived at properly by using contrast, as in “While it’s always been in the back of mind to buy a house, the reality of my financial situation has made it impossible.”

Can you see how contrast worked in these sentences to create a compelling scene instead of an uninspiring one?

Ways To Show Contrast

As with the above examples, sentence connectors are your best bet for showing the relationship between two contrasting ideas in your writing.  The first one (using “but”) is called a coordinating conjunction, which bridges two contrasting statements together.  Subordinating conjunctions (such as the second example), on the other hand, show one idea while putting forward a secondary one that makes the first a struggle (e.g. whereas, while).  Conjunctive adverbs are used when you’d rather force a pause between the two statements (either by a period or a semicolon) and are often accomplished by starting the second statement with “in contrast” or “on the other hand”.  Prepositions are the last way to express contrast, often achieved by prefacing the two combined statements with “unlike” or “even though”.

If you’re finding a hard time writing in “future tense” even with the help of a writing software, here’s a quick guide to the various ways in which we speak of the future.   Hopefully, it helps you get a better grasp of how things that are yet to happen can best be expressed.

1. Predictions

Both “will” and “going to” are used to predict things that are set to happen in the future.  While they are meant to show an assuredness in the speaker, there is actually no guarantee that any future statements following them will ever come true.

Example: “The crystal ball tells me that you will marry late.”

2. Future Plans

When you are talking about future plans (i.e. things have already been decided but is yet to be executed), you use either a present continuous form or “going to”.  In this form of future statements, the talked-about event is more likely to happen than not.

Example:  “We are spending the summer in the Bahamas.”

The future participle (“will have” + past participle) can also be used to indicate a decided future event.

Example: “We will have finished our summer vacation by the end of next month.”

3. Imminent Event

When talking of imminent events, such as when your plane is about to land, you should use “going to”.

Example: “We are going to hit the tree, hit the brakes now!”

With an event, on the other hand, that is set in stone (in some ways) such as a flight schedule or a wedding, we can use the simple present form.

Example: “The ceremonies start at 9.”

“Bring”, used correctly, is an action that indicates carrying a particular object from a different location to the place where the speaker is (usually “here”).  “Take”, on the other hand, connotes carrying it from the speaker’s location to another place.  The difference is very subtle and, although most folks will accept switching their usage, it causes a certain amount of incongruence when read you through the text.  In fact, using them incorrectly usually leads to that nagging feeling that something is wrong, even though you can’t exactly pinpoint it (though, hopefully, your English language software can).

Take these incorrect uses of the word “bring” for instance:

“I will bring the laptop to the shop tomorrow.”

“Don’t you bring the dog to that park again!”

While both sentences may sound fine, using “bring” actually breaks the intent of the word.  Instead, you should use the verb “take”, as in:

“I will take laptop to the shop tomorrow.”

“Don’t you take dog to that park again!”

See how that small change makes both sentences sound so much better?  On the other hand, the following usage of “bring” should be correct:

“Bring the laptop back here after you take it to the shop.”

“Sorry, I forgot to bring the book I promised.”

When To Use “Much”

The quantifier “much” is best used for nouns that cannot be counted piece by piece.  For instance, you can have “much money” but you can’t have “much $100 bills”.  In formal writing style (such as research materials and scientific studies), “much” is acceptably used for both positive and negative statements.   For other forms of writing, though, it is generally advised to reserve the use of the word on negative sentences.

When To Use “Many”

In direct contrast to “much”, the quantifier “many” is best used for nouns that can be counted piece by piece.  For instance, you can have “many $100 bills” but you can’t ever have “many money”.  Just like “much”, it is best used for negative statements and sentences, although it is generally accepted on positive statements in formal writing.

When To Use “A Lot Of”

The quantifier “a lot of” is typically used in place of both “much” and “many” when writing in an affirmative (positive) tone.  Instead of saying “I have much money in the bank,” you say “I have a lot of money in the bank.”  While “much” sounds awkward in that sentence, “a lot of” flows perfectly off the tongue.  In formal writing, “a lot of” is typically replaced by more specific-sounding quantifiers, such as “a large number of” and “a considerable amount of”.