Grades 7-8 Key

A

Agr: pronoun-antecedent agreement

Apostrophe rules:

Ap: possessives

Ap.C: contractions

Ap.I: “its” and “it’s”

Ap.J: joint or individual possession

Ap.Pl: possessives of plurals

Ap.S: singular noun ending in s or z

Ap.W: plural words and letters, not

numbers, abbreviations or dates

ApX: misuse of apostrophe

C

Comma rules:

C: commas

CA: before “and,” “but” (independent

clauses)

CD: dialogue (I said, “Hello”)

CDA: direct address

CI: introductory word group

C.Inter: interrupting elements.

CS: comma splices

C.Ser: series.

C.Tr: transitions.

Misused commas:

CX: misused comma

Cap: capitalization

Cap.X: misuse of capitals

D

D: dash

E

Ell: ellipsis

EP: end punctuation

F

Fr: fragments

FS: fused sentences

G

G: glossary of usage

G.1: Write the rule, not just “G” or “Glossary.”

I

Inf: informal, slang, regionalisms

L

Writing about Literature:

LI: avoid the irrelevant “I” and “me”

LO: avoid mystery openings

LVT: use present tense in writing about literature

M

Manuscript Form rules:

Hdg: heading (Manuscript Form)

Hwtg: handwriting (Manuscript Form)

Ind: indentation (Manuscript Form)

Mat: materials (Manuscript Form)

MF: Manuscript Form

MFP: punctuation

MF.Sp: Spacing

MFT: title

MF.Ty: Typeface

Mrg: margins

Mx: shifts and mixed constructions

P

PV: passive voice

Pronoun Case:

PC: case (“I,” “me,” “my,” etc.)

PCA: compounds (“he and I,” etc.)

PCC: comparisons (“as old as I,” etc.)

PCL: linking verbs (“This is she”)

Q

Quoting rules:

QD: documentation (parenthetical

citation)

QI: introducing quotations

R

Red: redundancy

Ref: pronoun reference

RO: run-on sentence

S

Sp: spelling checklist

Subject-Verb Agreement:

SV: subject-verb agreement

SVA: “and” and “or”

SVC: complements

SV.Col: collective nouns, numbers,

titles

SVI: inversion (“there is/are,” etc.)

SVP: indefinite pronouns (“any,”

“each,” etc.)

V

Voc: meaningless and lifeless words

VT: verb tense

W

Wdy: wordiness

Wh: “who” and “whom”

WW: wrong word