Grammar Notes


PUNCTUATION RULES

Rules for *Capitalization*

1. Do capitalize the first letter of a proper noun, a name for a person, place, thing, or event.

George Washington; Canada; Dr. Pepper; the Rocky Mountains; the Lincoln Tunnel; World War II

2. Do capitalize all significant words in titles of books, magazines, stories, movies, and other media. Always capitalize the first and last words.

Do NOT capitalize articles (a, an, the), prepositions (as, at, of on, for, in), or conjunctions (and, but, or) that contain four letters or fewer.

A Tale of Two Cities

The Scarlett Letter

The New York Times

Revenge of the Teenage Vixens from

Outer Space

The Star-Spangled Banner

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Sewing

Of Mice and Men

3. Do capitalize the first letter of a sentence, even in a quotation. My mother said, “Your father will be home shortly.”

4. Do capitalize names of relatives that indicate family relationship when used with the person’s name or alone as the name you call that person.

Aunt Karen gives great presents. Please ask Grandmother to answer her telephone.

Dad gets home early on Fridays, but Mom usually works late.

Do not capitalize names of family relations if that person's name cannot take the place of the relation. My dad works hard. My mom takes good care of me.

5. Do capitalize a title that precedes a name, but do not capitalize a title that follows a name or is used as a general word.

Do capitalize titles when addressing someone directly.

I wrote a letter to Governor Lee. I also wrote to Tim Hill, a senator from Tennessee.

Thank you for your response, Governor.

Do I need to come in today, Doctor?

6. Do capitalize countries, England, English, American nationalities, and languages. Spain, Spanish


Rules for *Commas*

1. Use a comma to separate three or more items or elements in a series.

I ate pork, potatoes, and bread. She ran out the door, jumped in the car, and sped off down the road.

2. Use a comma between two adjectives only when the word and could be inserted in its place. Jason is a handsome, charming boy. (You could say he is a handsome and charming boy.)

3. Use a comma before and after a word or phrase that renames the noun (appositives).

George, my oldest brother, has red hair. Albany, New York’s capital, is a big city.

4. Use a comma when a sentence begins with an introductory word or phrase such as well, yes, therefore, for example, or on the other hand.

Yes, you can stay up an extra hour. However, you must still wake up on time.

On the other hand, you could simply go to bed now.

5. Use a comma before and after a word used as an interrupter, such as however.

The dog, however, still needs to be taken outside.

6. Use a comma between a city and state and after the state if the sentence continues.

I was born in Kingsport, Tennessee, over 30 years ago.

7. Use a comma to separate the day of the month from the year and after the year. We moved to Texas on February 29, 2000, and have lived here since.

8. Use a comma when a sentence begins with a prepositional phrase, adverbial clause, or dependent clause.

Under the bridge, the fog made it difficult to see.

Because the bridge was iced over, the state police closed the road.

9. Use a comma to interrupt direct quotations or before or after a direct quotation.

“Why,” I asked, “must you leave?”

“Because I have to work in the morning,” replied Sam.

I laughed and said, “Right. I forgot.”

Rules for Using *Apostrophes*

1. Do NOT use for numbers that are plural nouns.

I grew up in the 1990s. (not 1990’s)

2. Do NOT use for capital letters that are plural nouns or abbreviations.

We learned our ABCs. (not ABC’s)

3. DO use for contractions in the place of missing letters.

you’re (you are), don't (do not)

4. DO use ‘s to show possession when something belongs to one person or thing.

the bike's horn

Penny's skateboard

5. DO use after the plural s to show possession when something belongs to more than one person or thing. Make the noun plural first, then add the apostrophe.

the girls’ room

the children's mother

6. DO use ‘s to show possession of a name that ends in s.

Mrs. Blevins's homeroom

7. Its and it’s are special cases. its = something belongs to it

it’s = contraction for it is or it has.

NEVER EVER PUT AN APOSTROPHE IN POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS!

Rules for Using *Quotation Marks*

1. Quotation marks should only be used for direct quotes, not indirect quotes.

Direct: “Close the door,” shouted Dad. Indirect: Dad told me to close the door.

2. Use a comma before and after the direct quotation in a sentence. Commas always go inside quotation marks.

Jack said, “The game starts at three,” and then hung up the phone.

3. Use a comma to interrupt direct quotations or before or after a direct quotation.

“Why,” I asked, “must you leave so soon?”

“Because I have to go to work early in the morning,” replied Rob.

I laughed and said, “Right. I forgot.”

4. When a question is asked inside quotations, use a question mark instead of a comma. In the case of a statement, always use a comma in place of the period.

“When are you coming?” asked Marie.

“I’ll be there on Saturday,” replied Annie.

5. Use quotation marks for titles of publications that are parts of bigger publications. The bigger publication is underlined or written in italics.

quotation marks: stories, songs, poems, articles, television episodes underline: books, albums, magazines, periodicals, television shows

6. When a question ends with a title in quotations, place the question mark outside of the quotation marks. This is the only time that punctuation is placed outside of the quotation marks.

Wrong: Do you like the song, “Let It Go?”

Correct: Do you like the song, “Let It Go”?


NOUNS

A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea.

A proper noun names a particular person, place, thing, or idea and always begins with a capital letter.

A common noun names a names a person, place, thing, or idea but does not say which particular one. A common noun does not begin with a capital letter unless it is the first word of a sentence, etc.

ARTICLES - the words a, an, the function as adjectives that modify nouns. Use a before words beginning with a consonant sound. Use an with words beginning with a vowel sound. Hint: Some words begin with consonants that have a vowel sound i.e. an hour, an historical figure.

PLURAL RULES

ADD “S”

  • to form the plural of most words. i.e. dogs

  • if the word ends in a vowel -y i.e. valleys

  • to words ending in a vowel -o i.e. patios

  • to music words that end in o i.e. altos

  • to most words ending in “f” (if it has the f sound instead of a v sound when it is plural) i.e. chiefs

  • to most words ending in silent “e.” i.e. cakes

ADD “ES”

  • if the noun ends in ch, s, sh, x, or z. i.e. churches, bosses, brushes, boxes, buzzes

  • if the noun ends in a consonant -y change the “y” to “i” before adding “es.” babies, flies

  • if a noun ends in consonant -o. i.e. potatoes

  • if a word ending in "f" has the "v" sound

Possessive Nouns

A possessive noun is used to show ownership.

  • Singular nouns - Use an apostrophe and an “s” to make most singular nouns possessive. For example: boy’s dog, Pat’s paper.

  • Plural nouns ending in “s” - Add an apostrophe after the “s” to show possession. For example: boys’ bats, dogs toys.

  • Plural nouns that do not end in “s” - Add an apostrophe and an “s” to show possession. For example: children’s coats, Women’s purses.

  • NEVER EVER USE AN APOSTROPHE IN POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS! Its, hers, his, yours, theirs, whose.


PERSONAL PROUNOUNS

A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun.

The noun the pronoun replaces is called the ANTECEDENT.

    • Subjective Personal Pronouns - I, he, she, it, we, you, they

    • Objective Personal Pronouns - me, him, her, it, us, you, them,

    • Possessive Personal Pronouns - my, mine, his, her, hers, its, our, ours, your, yours, their, theirs

***NEVER EVER PUT AN APOSTROPHE IN POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS!


RELATIVE PRONOUNS

A relative pronoun introduces a dependent (or relative) clause that describes a noun or pronoun. The five main relative pronouns are who, whom, whose, which, and that.

The relative pronouns who and whom give information about people.

To figure out whether to use who or whom, restate the dependent clause with a personal pronoun. If the clause uses a subject pronoun (he, she, or they), use who. If the clause uses an object pronoun (him, her, or them), use whom.

The woman who lives next door grows tomatoes in her garden. She lives next door. Peter, whom you met yesterday, has four younger brothers. You met him yesterday.

The relative pronoun that gives necessary information about things. Necessary information narrows down what you're talking about and is not set off by commas. We walked to a park that has a tire swing. The information narrows down which park we walked to. It is necessary.

The relative pronoun which adds unnecessary information about things. This extra information does not narrow down what you're talking about. It is always set off by commas. We walked to Glendale Park, which has a tire swing. The information is extra. It does not narrow down which park we walked to.

The relative pronoun whose shows possession. Emily, whose hair is quite long, likes wearing braids. Do not confuse whose with who's. Who's is a contraction for who is or who has. It does not show possession. Emily, who's quite tall, can reach the top shelf. Emily, who is quite tall, can reach the top shelf. The dependent clause shows possession, so use the relative pronoun whose. Remember, who's is a contraction for who is or who has. It does not show possession. The speaker whose talk I recently attended was inspiring.


VERBS

Verb - a word that shows action or state of being

Being Verbs - am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been

Helping Verbs - have, has, had, do, does, did, shall, will, should, would, may, might, must, can, could (and all of the being verbs may also be helping verbs)

A helping verb works with the main verb.

HV MV

I.e. I have run this race before.

HV HV MV

He will be going to the store.

Main Verb - always the last verb in the verb phrase

Verb Phrase - the main verb and all of its helping verbs

The following verbs may be helping verbs or action verbs:

Have, has, had, do, does, did.

When they are used alone, they are action verbs.

i.e. I have a dog. Here have is an action verb.

Linking verbs do not show action. They tell what the subject is or what the subject is like. Common linking verbs are forms of the verb to be. Verbs such as seem, appear, become, and feel, can also be linking verbs.

SENTENCES

Sentence - a group of words that includes a subject and predicate and expresses a complete thought.

Subject - A noun or pronoun that tells who or what the sentence is about.

I.e. The store is around the corner. In the previous sentence store is the simple subject. The store is the complete subject.

Predicate - the simple predicate is the main or verb phrase of the sentence; it tells what the subject did or something about the subject.

Complete Predicate - begins with the verb or verb phrase and goes to the end of the sentence.

TYPES OF SENTENCES

Declarative - a sentence that makes a statement and ends with a period

Interrogative - asks a question and ends with a question mark

Imperative - a command (may have an understood you for the subject). It ends with a period. I.e. Shut the door. The previous sentence has an understood you for the subject.

Exclamatory - shows strong feeling and ends with an exclamation point.

ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS

Adjective - an adjective is a word that describes a noun or pronoun and answers the question which one, what kind, how many, how much, whose.

Adj. N Adj. Adj. N

I.e. Six mice ran into a large hole.

Articles - (a, an, the) always work as adjectives

Adverb - an adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb and answers the questions where, when, how, how often, and to what extent.

Some adverbs end in -ly

Where? - John ran outside.

When? - Aunt Mary came yesterday.

How? - Susan diligently studied.

How often? - My team plays frequently.

To what extent? - She was very pretty.

NEGATIVE WORDS ARE ADVERBS - not, never, hardly, barely, and contractions (n’t).


PREPOSITIONS AND PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES


Prepositions are words which link nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. Prepositions usually describe the position of something, the time when something happens and the way in which something is done, although the prepositions "of," "to," and "for" have some separate functions.