The Great Grammar Review

Are you ready?

Capital Letters When writing it is important to capitalize certain

words. 1.) Capitalize first, last, and middle names of people,

languages, races, nationalities, and religions.2.) Capitalize important words that are in titles of historical events, documents, and periods of time.3.)Capitalize the first words in each sentence.

4.)You should also capitalize the first word in direct quotes, but not indirect quotes.

Examples of capitalization rules

1.) Mrs. Bender 2.) I love the movie Napoleon Dynamite. 3.) My best subject is math. 4.) "But," said the child, "it's only

Saturday!"

Apostrophe

to show the omission of one or more letters in a contractiondo + not = don'tis + not = isn'tthat + is = that's

to show ownership or possessionEllen's books James’ pen Howard's hands

Quotation Marks

Use quotation marks when you want to show the exact words of a speaker or writer. Place all commas and ending periods inside of the quotation marks.

Incorrect:"The only dumb question", the instructor said, "is the one you don't ask".

Correct:"The only dumb question," the instructor said, "is the one you don't ask."

Use quotation marks when you want to quote or show the titles of short stories, novellas, articles, chapter titles in books, poems, television shows, songs, and papers that you write.

Incorrect:I read the poem The Tyger, the other day.

Correct:I read the poem "The Tyger," the other day.

Italics/Underline

Use italics or underline to show the titles of books, magazines, newspapers, plays, art masterpieces, and long musical compositions.

Incorrect:The novel, "Gone with the Wind," was extraordinary.

Correct:The novel, Gone with the Wind, was extraordinary.The novel, Gone with the Wind, was extraordinary.

Commas

to separate items in a series • I like talking, reading, and doing my homework.

to set off introductory material/dependent clause • First, let me explain why I don’t have my homework.

on both sides of words that interrupt the flow of thought in a sentence • Mrs. Bender, my favorite teacher, has taught us well.

between two complete thoughts connected by and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet (fanboys• I love to watch basketball, but I do not play it.

to set off a direct quotation from the rest of a sentence • According to I, King Jordan, "Deaf people can do

anything -- except hear."

in dates • April 6, 1976

Articles

"A“ “The” and "An" are used before general or non-specific nouns such as people, animals, things and places that start.

Correct:I have a worksheet for homework tonight.

Correct:I have an assignment to do tonight.

Nouns

A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea and is the subject of the sentence.• School is a great place to be.

• Freedom is worth fighting for.

Verbs

A verb is a word that tells what the subject of the sentence does. The verb tells the action. Sometimes the action shows movement (jump) or sometimes it shows how a thing is or that it exists (is- helping/ linking verb).

The verb also shows time which is called tense. The form of the verb or its tense can tell when the action takes place (past or present).

Subject-Verb Agreement

In English, the subject and verb of a sentence must agree.  In the present tense, all singular subjects except I and you require that you add 's' or 'es' to the verb.  If the subject is plural, do not add 's' or 'es' to the verb.  

Fragments

Every sentence must have a subject and a verb and must express a complete thought. A word group that lacks a subject or a verb and that does not express a complete thought is a fragment.

Incorrect: Because Tom ate and drank too much.

Correct: Because Tom ate and drank too much, he got sick.