Written English uses many abbreviations. Poligo has a list of formal abbreviations that are often used in business emails, notes and memos.

This list will help you understand casual English abbreviations. These are often used on the web or in SMS messages and emails between friends. The written examples are all casual English. This way of writing is very informal, and some people think it is very bad. Use these kinds of abbreviations very carefully. Don't use them in business emails or with people you don't know very well. You'll make a bad impression.

One of the most difficult punctuation marks to use are quotation marks. These are sometimes called "speech marks", "inverted commas" or "quotes".

There are only five ways you can use quotes in English writing:

1. to show a quotation or direct speech;
2. to show a title, name or nickname;
3. to talk about a word or phrase itself;
4. to show a different, special or new meaning to a word or phrase; or
5. to express irony.

Written English uses many abbreviations. Often these are used in business emails, notes and memos. This list will help you understand English abbreviations.

The prime minister of Australia has made a joke with Barack Obama. Julia Gillard said that although they both face prejudice, she has a harder life as a leader than him. Gillard is Australia's first woman prime minister. She has faced criticism because she has no children and has never married. She has also said publicly that she is an atheist.