English Grammar · Units 1–24 · Quick reference

English Grammar& Punctuation

Grades 6–12 · College8 pages

Parts of speech · sentence parts, phrases and clauses · sentence types · Reed–Kellogg diagrams · tenses, mood and voice · agreement · pronoun case · modifiers · parallelism · punctuation · capitals · confused words · usage · editing checklist

1Parts of speech2Sentence parts3Phrases & clauses4Sentence types5Diagramming basics6Diagramming clauses7Principal parts & tenses8Mood & voice9Agreement10Parallelism11Pronoun case12Modifiers13Capitalization14Commas15Other punctuation16Confused words17Usage pitfalls18Editing checklist

1The Eight Parts of Speech

Part	What it does (course definition)	Ask	Examples
Noun	names a person, place, thing, or idea	Can a, an, the go before it?	shepherd, Bethlehem, courage
Pronoun	takes the place of a noun	Which noun does it stand for?	I, him, whose, each, myself
Verb	shows action or being	Does it change for time?	build, pray, is, seem
Adjective	modifies a noun or a pronoun	What kind? Which one? How many?	brave, three, the, Roman
Adverb	modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb	How? When? Where? To what extent?	gladly, soon, there, very
Preposition	shows how a noun or pronoun is related to another word	Does an object end the phrase?	in, over, of, through
Conjunction	joins words or groups of words	Equal parts, or a clause tied on?	and, but, either … or, because
Interjection	shows feeling	Can it stand alone with ! or a comma?	Oh, Alas, Hurrah, Behold

The job in the sentence decides: Light the lamp (verb); a light rain (adjective); the light of the world (noun); Look up (adverb); up the hill (preposition).

One sentence, all eight parts
Alas,	the	weary	sailors	and	their	captain	rowed	slowly	toward	the	rocky	shore.
interj.	adj.	adj.	noun	conj.	pron.	noun	verb	adv.	prep.	adj.	adj.	noun

The, a and an are articles, a kind of adjective; their is a possessive pronoun (some books call it an adjective). An interjection stands apart with ! or a comma: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock” (Revelation 3:20, KJV).

Eight jobs in order

New Pilgrims Visit Ancient Abbeys, Pray, Chant, Inquire: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, interjection.

Nouns
Kind of noun	Examples
Common · proper	river · the Jordan
Concrete · abstract	bread, bell · mercy, courage
Collective (one group)	flock, choir, jury, family
Compound	grandfather, high school, son-in-law
Count · mass	eggs, chores · flour, snow
Possessive	the ox’s yoke, the boys’ boots

Plurals
Plural rule	Examples
most: add -s	lamps, kings
-s, -sh, -ch, -x, -z: -es	boxes, churches
consonant + y: -ies	cities (but days)
-f, -fe: often -ves	loaves, wives (but roofs)
irregular	children, mice, oxen, teeth, geese
same both ways	sheep, deer, swine

Personal pronouns
Person	Nominative	Objective	Possessive
1st sing.	I	me	my, mine
2nd	you	you	your, yours
3rd sing.	he, she, it	him, her, it	his, her, hers, its
1st plural	we	us	our, ours
3rd plural	they	them	their, theirs

KJV: thou, thee, thy, thine; plural ye. Generic he means anyone: “Train up a child in the way he should go” (Proverbs 22:6, KJV).

Other pronouns

Reflexive, intensive: myself, ourselves … Demonstrative: this, that, these, those. Interrogative, relative: who, whom, whose, which, what, that. Indefinite: each, everyone, both, all, none.

23 helping verbs (Traditional)

Helping + main verb = verb phrase (has been singing). The chant: am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been · has, have, had · do, does, did · may, might, must · can, could · shall, should · will, would.

Adjectives & adverbs

Articles: a before a consonant sound, an before a vowel sound: a university, an hour. Many adverbs end in -ly, but not all (soon, very); some -ly words are adjectives (a friendly dog).

Prepositions (common)

about, above, across, after, against, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, by, down, during, except, for, from, in, inside, into, like, near, of, off, on, onto, out, over, past, since, through, to, toward, under, until, up, upon, with, within, without.

Conjunctions
Conjunction	Words	Joins
Coordinating	for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so	equal parts
Correlative (pairs)	both … and, either … or, neither … nor, not only … but also, whether … or	equal parts
Subordinating	after, although, because, if, since, unless, until, when, while	a dependent clause

FANBOYS (Traditional): For And Nor But Or Yet So.

English GrammarEnglish Grammar · Units 1–24 · continued

2Sentence Parts & Complements

A sentence

A sentence is a group of words that expresses a complete thought. It needs a subject (whom or what it is about) and a predicate (what the subject does or is).
Simple subject = the main word of the complete subject; verb (simple predicate) = the main word of the complete predicate.

Finding the subject

Find the verb first, then ask who? or what? before it.
Cross out prepositional phrases: the subject is never inside one. One (of the apples) is ripe.

Subjects and predicates
Part	Example (bold = the part)
Complete subject	*The tall oak by the gate* fell.
Compound subject	*Ruth and Naomi* walked home.
Compound predicate	Ruth gleaned and threshed* the barley.*
Understood subject	(You) Shut the door.
Inverted order	Over the hill rode* the riders.*
Expletive there	There are* two wells.* (there is not the subject)

Arrow or equals sign?

An action verb is an arrow: Ruth → barley (DO). A linking verb is an equals sign: David = king (PN); lamb = gentle (PA).

Six sentence patterns
Pattern	Example
S – V	The baby slept.
S – V – DO	Mother baked bread.
S – V – IO – DO	Mother baked us bread.
S – LV – PN	Paul was a tentmaker.
S – LV – PA	The figs were sweet.
S – V – DO – OC	The town elected Ben mayor.

Tests

Linking or action? Try is in its place: The soup tasted salty (linking); Ben tasted the soup (action).
Indirect object? It sits between the verb and the DO with to/for understood: gave (to) Ruth bread. Gave bread to Ruth is a prepositional phrase.

The five complements
Complement	After	Answers	Example
Direct object (DO)	action verb	whom? what?	Ruth gleaned barley.
Indirect object (IO)	action verb, before a DO	to or for whom/what?	Boaz gave Ruth* bread.*
Predicate nominative (PN)	linking verb	renames the subject	David became king.
Predicate adjective (PA)	linking verb	describes the subject	The lamb was gentle.
Objective complement (OC)	a direct object	renames or describes the DO	They named the boy John. Rain made the road muddy.

A complement completes the verb. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1, KJV): two direct objects. “God is love.” (1 John 4:8, KJV): a predicate nominative.

3Phrases, Verbals & Clauses

Phrase or clause?

A phrase lacks a subject and its verb: in the morning, to help Father. A clause has both: when the cock crowed, Peter wept.

Pair or spare

A clause has the pair (subject + verb); a phrase is spare: it never has both.

Phrases

Adjective phrase (prepositional) modifies a noun: the house on the rock. Adverb phrase: built on the rock. Appositive: Paul, a tentmaker. Verb phrase: had been sleeping.

Verbals (verb forms used as other parts of speech)
Verbal	Form	Works as	Example
Participle	-ing (present) or -ed/-en (past)	adjective	the barking* dog; Tired from the climb, Ruth rested.*
Gerund	-ing	noun	*Swimming* is good exercise.
Infinitive	to + plain verb	noun, adjective or adverb	Ben wants to learn. A time to plant. Eager to help.

Is an -ing word a gerund? Replace it with it: Swimming is good → It is good (gerund). With a helping verb it is the main verb: is swimming.

Clauses

Independent clause: expresses a complete thought; can stand alone: the river rose.
Dependent (subordinate) clause: has a subject and verb but cannot stand alone: because the river rose.

Relative pronouns

A relative pronoun begins an adjective clause, relates it to a noun, and does a job inside the clause: subject, object or possessive.
Careful writers use who/whom for persons, which for things, that for either. The KJV also uses which for persons, normal English in 1611: “Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13, KJV).

Three kinds of dependent clauses
Dependent clause	Job	Often begins with	Example
Adjective clause	modifies a noun or pronoun	who, whom, whose, which, that, where, when	The barn that Grandfather built* still stands.*
Adverb clause	modifies a verb, adjective or adverb	after, although, because, if, since, unless, until, when, while	*When the bell rang,* we ran.
Noun clause	subject, object, PN, object of a preposition	that, whether, if, what, who, whoever, how, why	“For I know that my redeemer liveth” (Job 19:25, KJV)

English GrammarEnglish Grammar · Units 1–24 · continued

4Sentence Types & Sentence Errors

Four kinds of sentences
Kind (purpose)	Does	Ends	Example
Declarative	tells	.	“Jesus wept.” (John 11:35, KJV)
Interrogative	asks	?	“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” (Psalm 27:1, KJV)
Imperative	commands or requests	. or !	“Call me Ishmael.” (Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, 1851)
Exclamatory	shows strong feeling	!	“O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:1, KJV)

Four sentence structures
Structure	Clauses	Example
Simple	1 independent	The ice cracked.
Compound	2+ independent	“The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” (Isaiah 40:8, KJV)
Complex	1 independent + 1 or more dependent	“When I was a child, I spake as a child” (1 Corinthians 13:11, KJV)
Compound-complex	2+ independent + 1 or more dependent	When the storm passed, the birds sang, and we went outside.

Count the clauses

Only independent clauses: one = simple, two or more = compound. Add a dependent clause: complex (one independent) or compound-complex (two or more).

Three sentence errors

Fragment: lacks a subject, a verb or a complete thought: Because the river rose.
Run-on: two sentences with nothing between: The river rose the bridge closed.
Comma splice: two sentences joined by a comma alone: The river rose, the bridge closed.

Four ways to fix a run-on or splice Fix it

The river rose. The bridge closed.period
The river rose; the bridge closed.semicolon
The river rose, so the bridge closed.comma + FANBOYS
Because the river rose, the bridge closed.make one dependent

Common slips

However, therefore, then are not conjunctions: ✗ rose, however the (splice) ✓ rose; however, the.
A long phrase or a lone dependent clause is still a fragment.

5Diagramming Basics (Reed–Kellogg)

The map

Baseline: subject | verb (the divider crosses the line).
Direct object after a short upright line; predicate nominative or adjective, and an objective complement, after a line slanting back toward the subject.
Modifiers on slanted lines under the word they modify; a prepositional phrase on a slant with its object on a level line.
Indirect object on a level line under the verb, joined by an empty slant.

“Jesus wept.” (John 11:35, KJV): subject | verb.

The patient farmer mended the old gate carefully. Adjectives under the nouns, the adverb under the verb.

“God is love.” (1 John 4:8, KJV): the slant line points back to the subject.

The bread was very warm. Very modifies the adjective warm.

Grandmother gave each child a lantern. Indirect object under the verb.

A sparrow sang in the old oak by the barn. Adverb phrase under sang, adjective phrase under oak.

Sarah and Ben weeded and watered the garden. Compound parts fork.

Ben, shut the gate. Understood (you); direct address on its own line.

“Call me Ishmael.” (Melville, Moby-Dick): DO me, objective complement Ishmael.

How to diagram

Find the verb; put it after the divider.
Find the subject (ask who? or what?).
Find any complement: DO, IO, PN, PA or OC.
Hang single-word modifiers under their words.
Hang each prepositional phrase under the word it modifies.
Give each clause its own baseline and join them.
Check: every word appears once; an understood word goes in parentheses.

English GrammarEnglish Grammar · Units 1–24 · continued

6Diagramming Clauses & Verbals

The wind howled, but the old barn stood. Compound: a dashed step with the conjunction joins the verbs.

The man who built this house was my grandfather. Adjective clause: dashed line from noun to relative pronoun.

When the bell rang, the children ran home. Adverb clause: the conjunction rides a dashed line.

“I know that my redeemer liveth” (Job 19:25, KJV). Noun clause on a stilt as the DO; that only introduces it.

Reading aloud strengthens the voice. Gerund phrase on a stilt as the subject.

Ben wants to learn Latin. Infinitive phrase on a stilt as the direct object; to on the slant.

Also

Semicolon: a dashed step with no word. Interjection, there: a line above the subject. Appositive: in parentheses. Participle: a bent line under its noun.

7Verbs: Principal Parts & Tenses

Four principal parts

Present walk · present participle (is) walking · past walked · past participle (has) walked.
Regular verbs add -d or -ed; irregular verbs are learned by heart.

The six tenses of *walk*
Tense	Simple	Progressive form	Use
Present	I walk	I am walking	now; habit; general truth
Past	I walked	I was walking	finished before now
Future	I will walk	I will be walking	later
Present perfect	I have walked	I have been walking	done at some time before now, or still going on
Past perfect	I had walked	I had been walking	done before another past time
Future perfect	I will have walked	I will have been walking	done before a future time

Perfect: has, have, had, will have + past participle. Emphatic: I did walk. Formal: I shall, we shall for the future.

The past stands alone

The past needs no helper: I saw, she went. The past participle always has one: I have seen, she has gone. Never I seen, had went.

Irregular patterns

sing, sang, sung · bring, brought, brought · take, took, taken · put, put, put. There is no brang, brung or drownded.

Consistent tense

Keep one tense unless the time really changes. ✗ Ben opened the door and sees a fox. ✓ Ben opened the door and saw a fox.

Irregular verbs: present · past · past participle (with *has, have, had*)
Present	Past	Past part.	Present	Past	Past part.	Present	Past	Past part.	Present	Past	Past part.
be	was, were	been	do	did	done	grow	grew	grown	sing	sang	sung
begin	began	begun	draw	drew	drawn	know	knew	known	sink	sank	sunk
bite	bit	bitten	drink	drank	drunk	lay	laid	laid	sit	sat	sat
blow	blew	blown	drive	drove	driven	lead	led	led	speak	spoke	spoken
break	broke	broken	eat	ate	eaten	lie	lay	lain	steal	stole	stolen
bring	brought	brought	fall	fell	fallen	ride	rode	ridden	swim	swam	swum
build	built	built	fly	flew	flown	ring	rang	rung	take	took	taken
burst	burst	burst	forget	forgot	forgotten	rise	rose	risen	teach	taught	taught
buy	bought	bought	freeze	froze	frozen	run	ran	run	tear	tore	torn
catch	caught	caught	get	got	got, gotten	see	saw	seen	throw	threw	thrown
choose	chose	chosen	give	gave	given	set	set	set	wear	wore	worn
come	came	come	go	went	gone	shake	shook	shaken	write	wrote	written

English GrammarEnglish Grammar · Units 1–24 · continued

8Mood, Voice & Troublesome Verbs

Voice
Voice	Subject	Example
Active	does the action	Ben broke the window.
Passive (be + past participle)	receives the action	The window was broken (by Ben).

A transitive verb has a direct object (Ruth carried the basket); an intransitive verb has none (The child slept); only transitive verbs have a passive. Prefer the active; use the passive when the doer is unknown or unimportant: “Ask, and it shall be given you” (Matthew 7:7, KJV).

By whom?

Passive test: can you add by someone after the verb and still make sense? The gate was left open (by someone): passive.

Three moods
Mood	Use	Example
Indicative	states a fact or asks a question	The wheat is ripe.
Imperative	gives a command or request	Close the gate.
Subjunctive	a wish; an untrue condition; a demand in a that clause	If I were* you … I ask that he be here.*

Subjunctive in prayers and fixed sayings: “Hallowed be thy name.” (Matthew 6:9, KJV) “Thy kingdom come.” (Luke 11:2, KJV) “God bless us every one!” (Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol, 1843).

Shifts

A shift is a needless change in tense, voice or mood. ✗ Mix the flour; then you should add eggs. ✓ Mix the flour; then add eggs.

Troublesome verbs
Verb	Means	Principal parts	Object?
lie	rest, recline	lie, lying, lay, lain	never
lay	put, place	lay, laying, laid, laid	always
sit	be seated	sit, sitting, sat, sat	never
set	put, place	set, setting, set, set	always
rise	go up, get up	rise, rising, rose, risen	never
raise	lift something	raise, raising, raised, raised	always

Lay is also the past of lie: Today I lie down; yesterday I lay down; I have lain here.

Put, place, lift

If put, place or lift fits, use lay, set or raise: they need an object. Otherwise use lie, sit or rise.

9Agreement

Subject and verb

A verb agrees with its subject in number: singular with singular, plural with plural. The lamb runs. The lambs run.

Subject–verb agreement
Rule	Example
Ignore words between subject and verb	The box (of apples) is heavy.
Subjects joined by and: plural	Bread and milk are* here.* (one thing: Bread and butter is …)
or, nor, either … or, neither … nor: the nearer subject rule	Neither the boys nor their father was* late.*
Singular: each, either, neither, one, and every -one, -body, -thing word	Each of the girls has* a lamp.*
Always plural: both, few, many, several	Several were* absent.*
all, any, most, none, some: follow the of noun	Some of the pie is gone. Some of the pies are* gone.*
Collective noun: one unit → singular; members acting separately → plural	The choir sings* well. The choir are taking their seats.*
Inverted order, there, here: the subject follows the verb	There are* three eggs. Here comes the train.*
Plural form, singular meaning; one sum	The news is good. Ten dollars is enough.
A linking verb agrees with its subject, not the PN	The best part was* the songs.*
who/that clause: agrees with the antecedent	one of those men who work* hard*

Pronoun and antecedent

A pronoun agrees with its antecedent in number and gender: The geese flapped their wings. Ruth fed her calf.
Joined by and: plural. By or, nor: the nearer one: Neither Ruth nor Naomi lost her way.

Everyone … his

For men and women together, traditional English uses his (Everyone must do his best) or his or her: “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:12, KJV)
Or make it plural: All the students brought their slates. Casual Everyone did their best is not careful writing.

Cover the phrase

Put your finger over the of phrase and read again: Neither (of the girls) forgot her hymnal. One (of the cows) has a calf. (Exception: all, any, most, none, some follow the of noun.)

10Parallel Structure

The rule

Parallel structure uses the same grammatical form for ideas of equal importance: words with words, phrases with phrases, clauses with clauses.
Good style: “A time to be born, and a time to die;” (Ecclesiastes 3:2, KJV). “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” (Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, 1859).

Make it parallel Fix it

✗ Ruth likes sewing, to bake, and long walks.
✓ Ruth likes sewing, baking and walking.three gerunds
✗ She not only sings but also the piano.
✓ She not only sings but also plays the piano.correlatives

Match the first one

Whatever form the first item takes (-ing, to + verb, a clause), give it to every item in the list, and to the words after both … and, either … or, not only … but also.

English GrammarEnglish Grammar · Units 1–24 · continued

11Pronoun Case & Reference

Three cases
Case	Used for	Forms
Nominative	subject; predicate nominative	I, he, she, we, they, who
Objective	DO, IO, object of a preposition	me, him, her, us, them, whom
Possessive	ownership; before a gerund	my, his, her, its, our, their, whose

It is I. (PN after be). We were glad of his coming (before a gerund).

Who or whom?

Who (nominative) = subject or PN; whom (objective) = object. Take the case from the job inside its own clause: Give it to whoever asks (subject of asks). The man whom we met (object of met).

Pronoun case pitfalls
Trouble spot	Test	Right
Compounds	drop the other noun	Ben and I went. (I went) · for Ruth and me (for me)
After than or as	finish the clause	taller than I (am); likes Ben more than (she likes) me
We or us + noun	drop the noun	We boys swam. · a gift for us girls
After between, except, like	objective after a preposition	between you and me
-self words	only to reflect or stress	✗ Ben and myself ✓ Ben and I

He = who, him = whom (Traditional)

Answer the question with he or him. (Who/whom) called? He called → who. (Who/whom) did you call? I called him → whom. Matches m.

Clear reference

Ambiguous: ✗ When Tom met Ben, he smiled. (Which one?) ✓ Tom smiled when he met Ben.
Vague this, which, it, they: ✗ They say it will rain. ✓ The almanac says it will rain.

12Modifiers

Adjective or adverb?

After a linking verb, an adjective: I feel bad. After an action verb, an adverb: He played badly.
Good is an adjective; well is an adverb, except when it means healthy: The choir sang well. Grandfather is well.

Degrees of comparison
Positive	Comparative (2)	Superlative (3+)
tall	taller	tallest
careful	more careful	most careful
good, well	better	best
bad, badly	worse	worst
many, much	more	most
little (amount)	less	least

One syllable: -er, -est; three or more: more, most; two: by sound (happier, more famous).

Errors to avoid

Double comparison: ✗ more taller. Lewis Carroll broke the rule for a joke: “Curiouser and curiouser!” cried Alice (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 1865).
Double negative: ✗ We don’t have no bread. ✓ We have no bread or We don’t have any bread. Hardly and scarcely are negatives: ✗ can’t hardly.
Absolute adjectives (unique, perfect, complete) do not take more: ✓ more nearly perfect.

Logical comparisons

Compare like with like: ✗ Ben’s horse is faster than Tom. ✓ faster than Tom’s. Leave the subject out of the group: ✓ taller than any other boy.

Misplaced and dangling modifiers
Problem	Wrong	Right
Misplaced	We almost ate the whole pie.	We ate almost the whole pie.
Squinting	Running often strengthens the heart.	Running strengthens the heart often.
Dangling	Walking to church, the rain began.	Walking to church, we felt the rain begin.
Only	Ben only ate the plums.	Ben ate only the plums.

Who is doing it?

An opening -ing or to phrase must be followed at once by the person who does it. If the next word cannot walk to church, the phrase dangles.

13Capitalization

Capitalize	Examples
first word of a sentence and of a quoted sentence; I	Mother said, “It is ready.”
people, places, nations, languages	Abigail, Boston, Spain, Latin
proper adjectives	Roman, Christian, Swiss
God, the Lord, the Bible, Scripture and its books	Genesis, the Gospels
days, months, holidays (not seasons)	Sunday, March, Easter; spring
titles with or as a name	Uncle Ned, Mother; my mother

Capitalize	Examples
regions, not directions	the South; drive south
events, periods, documents	the Reformation, the Magna Carta
organizations, ships, buildings	the Red Cross, the Mayflower
titles of works: first, last, important words	The Wind in the Willows
languages, numbered courses	Latin, Algebra I; history

Pronouns for God may be capitalized or not; the KJV does not. Be consistent. god (false gods) and gospel (the good news) are lowercase.

One particular

If the word names one particular person, place, thing, day or event, it gets a capital: a river / the Jordan River; my aunt / Aunt Ruth.

Lowercase

a, an, the, short prepositions and conjunctions inside titles (The Pilgrim’s Progress); the president without a name; sun, moon, earth in ordinary use.

English GrammarEnglish Grammar · Units 1–24 · continued

14Commas

Twelve comma rules
#	Use a comma …	Example
1	between three or more items in a series, and before and (serial comma)	bread, cheese, and apples
2	before a coordinating conjunction joining two independent clauses	The rain stopped, and we ran outside.
3	after an introductory word, participial phrase, two prepositional phrases, or adverb clause	Yes, I’ll come. When the bell rang, we ran.
4	around a nonrestrictive (nonessential) clause or phrase	My uncle, who farms in Ohio, wrote.
5	around an appositive that is not needed to identify	“Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,” (Romans 1:1, KJV)
6	to set off a noun of direct address	“Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1, KJV)
7	around interrupters and conjunctive adverbs	The plan, however, failed.
8	between coordinate adjectives (test: reverse them or put and between)	“Our master was a good, kind man.” (Anna Sewell, Black Beauty, 1877)
9	in dates and addresses, and after the year or state mid-sentence	On July 4, 1776, in Boston, Massachusetts, …
10	between a speaker tag and a quotation	Mother said, “Supper is ready.”
11	before a contrast or a short tag question	It was Ben, not Tom. You fed the hens, didn’t you?
12	after the greeting and closing of a friendly letter	Dear Grandmother, … Your loving grandson,

Restrictive or not?

Restrictive (essential): needed to tell which one; no commas. The man who called is here. Nonrestrictive: extra information; commas. Mr. Hale, who called, is here.
American usage: that for restrictive clauses, which (with commas) for nonrestrictive.

Never put a comma

between a subject and its verb: ✗ The tall man in the gray coat, is our pastor.
between a verb and its object, or after a conjunction: ✗ We bought, bread and, milk.
between two independent clauses alone (comma splice), or before a restrictive clause.

Name it or leave it out

A comma is not a breath mark. Before you write one, name its rule (1–12). No rule, no comma.

15Other Punctuation

Semicolons, colons, dashes and more
Mark	Use	Example
; semicolon	joins two closely related independent clauses; before a conjunctive adverb; between series items that contain commas	The sun set; the stars came out. We waited; however, no one came. Dover, Delaware; Salem, Oregon; and Troy, New York
: colon	after a complete sentence, to introduce a list, an explanation or a long quotation; also 6:30, John 3:16, Dear Sir:	Bring three things: a lamp, a rope and a knife. ✗ The colors are: red and blue.
— dash	a sudden break, or words set off for emphasis	The answer—if there is one—lies in the hills.
– en dash	ranges of numbers and dates	pages 10–14; 1861–1865
- hyphen	compound adjectives before a noun; numbers 21–99; fractions used as adjectives; self-, ex-, all-	a well-built house (but the house is well built); twenty-one; a two-thirds vote
( ) parentheses	an aside less important than the sentence	The ark (a large boat) had three decks.
[ ] brackets	your words inside a quotation	“He [Paul] wrote often.”
… ellipsis	words left out of a quotation	“In the beginning God created … the earth.”

No hyphen after an -ly adverb: a carefully built wall. Use the dash sparingly: one pair per sentence at most.

Apostrophes
Apostrophe	Example
singular noun: add ’s	the ox’s yoke, James’s coat
plural ending in s: add ’	the girls’ coats
irregular plural: add ’s	the children’s toys, men’s shoes
joint ownership: last name only	Ruth and Boaz’s field
separate ownership: each name	Ruth’s and Naomi’s cloaks
contractions	can’t, it’s, o’clock, ’76
lowercase letters as words	mind your p’s and q’s

Never in possessive pronouns: its, hers, ours, yours, theirs, whose. Not for plurals of numbers or years: the 1800s. Traditional exceptions: Moses’ law, Jesus’ disciples.

Quotation marks

Around a speaker’s exact words and the titles of short works (poems, songs, chapters, articles).
American style: periods and commas inside; colons and semicolons outside; ? and ! inside only when they belong to the quotation.
A quotation inside a quotation takes single marks: Ben said, “Mother told me, ‘Be home by six.’”
Begin a new paragraph for each new speaker.

Dialogue

Split quotation: the second part keeps a small letter if the sentence goes on: “Supper,” said Mother, “is ready.”
An exclamation inside the quotation replaces the comma: “Bah!” said Scrooge, “Humbug!” (Dickens, A Christmas Carol).

Italics (underline by hand)

Titles of long works: books, newspapers, magazines, long poems, plays, films, ships: Moby-Dick, The Pilgrim’s Progress.
Words used as words and foreign words: the word and; et cetera.
The Bible and its books are capitalized but not italicized: Genesis, the Psalms.

English GrammarEnglish Grammar · Units 1–24 · continued

16Commonly Confused Words

Words	Meaning
accept / except	receive · leaving out
affect / effect	to influence (verb) · a result (noun)
all ready / already	all prepared · by now
all together / altogether	in a group · completely
allusion / illusion	a reference · a false image
among / between	3 or more · 2
amount / number	mass · count
bring / take	toward · away from the speaker
can / may	ability · permission
capital / capitol	city, money, letter · the building
complement / compliment	completes · praise
conscience / conscious	sense of right · awake, aware
council / counsel	a group · advice; to advise

Contraction test

For it’s, they’re, you’re, who’s, say the two words: it is, they are, you are, who is. If they fit, keep the apostrophe; if not, use its, their, your, whose.

Words	Meaning
desert / dessert	dry land; to abandon · sweet course
emigrate / immigrate	leave a country · enter one
farther / further	distance · degree, more
fewer / less	count · mass
imply / infer	speaker suggests · hearer concludes
its / it’s	belonging to it · it is
lead / led	metal; to guide (now) · guided
loose / lose	not tight · misplace, fail to win
passed / past	went by (verb) · earlier; beyond
principal / principle	chief; head of school · a rule, truth
quiet / quite	silent · completely, very
stationary / stationery	not moving · writing paper
than / then	compares · tells when

Classroom sayings (Traditional)

Dessert: two s’s, a second helping. The principal is your pal; a principle is a rule. The capitol has a dome.

Words	Meaning
their / there / they’re	belonging to them · that place · they are
to / too / two	toward · also, too much · 2
who’s / whose	who is · belonging to whom
your / you’re	belonging to you · you are
weather / whether	sky · if
advice / advise	noun · verb
eminent / imminent	famous · about to happen
precede / proceed	go before · go on
each other / one another	two · more than two (formal)
disinterested / uninterested	impartial · bored
like / as	preposition (+ noun) · conjunction (+ clause)
who / that / which	persons · either (restrictive) · things (nonrestrictive)
lie / lay	recline · put (takes an object)

A for action, E for end

Affect is the action (verb); effect is the end result (noun): The frost affected the crop; the effect was a small harvest.

17Usage Pitfalls

Avoid	Write
could of, should of	could have, should have
irregardless	regardless
try and finish	try to finish
the reason is because	the reason is that
between you and I	between you and me
these kind of	this kind of, these kinds of
off of; where … at	off; where

Avoid	Write
alot, anyways, nowheres	a lot, anyway, nowhere
suppose to, use to	supposed to, used to
brang, brung; drug (dragged)	brought; dragged
ain’t	am not, isn’t, aren’t
very unique	unique
due to the fact that	because
at this point in time	now

Dialect in fiction is not a model: “but that ain’t no matter.” (Mark Twain, Huckleberry Finn, 1884).

Points of style

Use strong verbs and concrete nouns: The horse bolted beats The horse moved quickly.
Concise: as few words as clearness allows; cut in order to, literally, very.
Split infinitives (to boldly go) and a preposition at the end (What is it for?) are not errors, but formal writing avoids a split that sounds clumsy.

18Quick Editing Checklist

#	Check
1	Sentences	each has a subject, a verb and a complete thought; no fragments, run-ons or comma splices
2	Agreement	verbs with subjects; pronouns with antecedents (each … his)
3	Pronouns	right case (I/me, who/whom); one clear antecedent each
4	Verbs	right principal parts (saw, has seen); tense, voice and mood consistent

#	Check
5	Modifiers	next to the word they modify; nothing dangling; no double negatives
6	Parallelism	lists and pairs in the same form
7	Commas	name the rule for each; pairs around interrupters
8	Apostrophes	in possessives and contractions; none in its, hers, ours, whose

#	Check
9	Capitals & words	proper nouns; its/it’s, their/there, affect/effect
10	Style	cut needless words; strong verbs; active voice
11	Aloud	read it aloud, slowly, from a printed copy

COPS (Traditional)

A last pass: Capitals, Overall look, Punctuation, Spelling.