Capitalize Proper Nouns To show specific class Full

Capitalize Proper Nouns ® ® ® To show specific class Full name of places, events Cities and states Parts of an address Titles of books, TV shows, movies etc. (do NOT capitalize articles or prepositions in the middle of a title) Names of monuments, bridges, buildings etc. Science III ® LBJ High School ® Chicago, Illinois ® 666 63 rd Street ® Tales from the Dark Side ® ® The U. S. Center for Disease Control

Capitalize Proper Adjectives ® Chinese-speaking Jewish people ® Americans, Mexicans ® Irish lace ® Swedish chocolate

Hyphens ® Use when using a compound adjective in front of a noun. ® With fractions used as adjectives ® Use with prefixes such as self-, ex-, all- ® She is a well-known, German-speaking, sixtyyear-old actress. ® One-third of the class is stupid. ® The gorgeous English teacher’s ex-boyfriend was an all-star hockey player; now he is a selfmade millionaire.

Commas ® Separate parts of an ® They have lived at 3921 Bradley Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, since 1982. ® My neighbor, a wellknown Austin freak, rides a unicycle to work. He, riding down a bumpy road, fell and split his wig. His wife, as well as his dog, walks normally. address ® Set off nonessential clauses and nonessential participial phrases

® Separate two or more independent clauses (this means each clause COULD be a sentences on its own) joined by for, and, nor, but, or, yet (FANBOY) ® Separate three or more items in a series ® There are many ugly children in school, so many teachers resort to wearing sunglasses to keep their eyes from burning. The kids smile to show their filthy teeth, and the teachers scream in agony. ® The seal carried the beach ball on its nose, slid into the pool, and shot the ball into a basketball hoop.

® Separate a quotation from the rest of the sentence ® My dissertation, which I titled “Why Stupid Kids Suck, ” was a hit at the teachers’ convention, and everyone loved it. ® In his book The Ravages of an Educator’s Mind, Dr. Cunningham said, “It takes no more time to see the good in a child that it takes to slap him. ”

Quotations ® Use before and after a direct quotation ® The teacher snapped, “Shut your pie-holes!” ® Do NOT use quotations for an indirect quotation. ® Dr. Cunningham said he was going to go plumb crazy. ® When writing a dialogue or conversation, begin a new paragraph and use new quotation marks for each change of speaker. ® “He said that? ” “Yup, and then he farted. ” “Gross!” ® ® Use around titles of short stories, one-act plays, articles, poems and themes. Use around unusual expressions or slang. * I read “The Telltale Heart” on Halloween night. * There a lot of ways to say ‘mullet’ (for example: “mud flap, ” “lucky seven, ” “business in the front, party in the back”).

Apostrophes ® To show ownership ® The teacher saw her student’s paper on the floor. She is the world’s best teacher, so she didn’t spit on it. ® Use an apostrophe and an s to form the plurals of figures, symbols, letters, and words referred to as such ® The kid got all 50’s on his report card. Coming home with so many F’s, he was sure his parents would yell a lot of FU’s.

Semicolon ® Separate main clauses not joined by for, and, nor, but, or, yet (FANBOY coordinating conjunctions) ® Our new director is strange; she looks like a character from Monsters Inc. . ® Jack Sparrow is one of the world’s best pirates; he also one of the most handsome.

Dangling or Misplaced Modifiers ®A dangling modifier is a modifier (adjective, adverb or phrase that gives more information about an action or noun) that does not clearly or sensibly modify any word in the sentence. ® Hanging in the closet I saw my sister’s supershort mini dress which proves she is working at a strip club. INCORRECT ® I saw my sister’s supershort mini dress hanging in the closet, which proves she is working at a strip club. CORRECT

® In the toilet I saw a phrases toddler learning to and clauses should pee. be placed as near as INCORRECT possible to the words they modify. ® I saw a toddler learning to pee in the toilet. CORRECT ® Modifying

Double Negatives Negative words are words like: not, never, won’t, don’t etc. Negative words can also include words that imply a lack of something (a suggested deficit). For example, hardly or barely. ® You cannot have two negative words in the same clause. (It’s like giving an alcoholic a job in a liquor store – too much negativity…) ® ® I hardly never see pirate movies, but when I do it has to be Pirates of the Caribbean. INCORRECT ® I hardly ever see pirate movies, but when I do, it has to be Pirates of the Caribbean. CORRECT

Subject-Verb Agreement ® Use a singular verb with a singular subject. ® Use a plural verb with a plural subject. ® The number of the subject is not changed by a phrase following the subject. ® The gangster wears a gold tooth. ® The midgets hate working as circus clowns. ® The bank-robber, along with his criminal uncles, loves to watch cartoons.