Copyright: Grammar Slammer v.1.1 ®1996 James Bair
Citation: Grammar Slammer, version 1.1, Copyright ® 1996 James Bair, All rights reserved


Contents

 Grammar Slammer!

Welcome to Grammar Slammer, the help file that goes beyond a grammar checker.  Use it as you would any help file.

For more on how to use Grammar Slammer, click on the Right Arrow button above (>>), press the right arrow key, or click the "How To" on the contents below.  For grammar help, click on one of the topics below or use the Search button above for a more specific grammar topic.

How to Use Grammar Slammer

Style and Usage

Capitalizing

Abbreviations

Punctuation

Letter Writing

Common Mistakes and Choices

Other Information


PopUp Box

This is a "PopUp Box."  Click anywhere to return.


Introduction
 Welcome to Grammar Slammer!

Looking for a specific rule to help you in your writing?  Trying to decide between two similar words?  A grammar checker helps you, but does not tell you why.  Grammar checkers also miss many errors, especially those having to do with names, punctuation, sounds, and style.

Some of you may have a full grammar textbook stored on your disk somewhere, but it is a nuisance to access and use.

Grammar Slammer takes care of both problems in an easy-to-use format.  Grammar Slammer contains the rules and tips you need to write your best and make yourself clear.  Grammar Slammer uses the familiar Windows® Help file format to make it easy to find what you are looking for.  It even has a an easy-to-use glossary to help with those grammatical terms you can't remember. It will truly Slam your Grammar Agony!

Click on the Right Arrow (>>) button above or press the Right Arrow key for instructions on How To Use Grammar Slammer.


How to Use Grammar Slammer
 How to Use Grammar Slammer!

This program works like any other Windows® Help File.  If you can use a Windows® Help File, you can use Grammar Slammer.

Underlined Words

Click on any Underlined word or words and you will go to that topic.

(See the underlined word Contents below.)

Click on any Dotted Underlined word or words and more information in a PopUp Box will appear.

Buttons

You may Browse or go page by page by clicking on the Arrow (>>or <<) buttons or the arrow keys on your keyboard.

For main topics, choose from the Contents on the opening screen, which you may go to by clicking on the "Contents" button above or pressing the C key.

Click on the "Search" button above or press the S key and then follow directions by entering the name of the grammar topic you are looking for help on. In Windows 3.1 click on "Show Topic" and then "Go To" and you will go to information that will help express yourself clearly and without error. In Windows 95 type in or click on the topic in the Index and then click on "Display" for the information you need. In Windows 95, if there is no topic which contains the term you are looking for, you may click on the "Find" tab which appears with with the Index and follow directions for a more specific search.

Click on the "Back" button or press the B key to take you to the previous page you were reading.

The "Glossary" button or G key will take you to a index of grammatical terms which Grammar Slammer uses.  You then may click on the letter and then the underlined term for a definition of the term you are looking up.

The "Close" button or L key will close Grammar Slammer.

Windows 3.1 users may click on the "History" button or press the H key to give you a list of all the topics you have already viewed.  You may then choose one to go back to reread that topic. See the Window Menu line "Options" choice for this feature in Windows 95.

The Window Menu Line

To exit, you may click on "File" on the Menu line above, and then choose "Exit" from the Menu box that appears (or press Alt-F, then X).

If you find that you refer to a certain section frequently, place ("define") a "Bookmark" there so you can return to it quickly.  With the Help file "Edit" function, you can add (or "annotate") material which is helpful to you or which  reflects your organization's procedures. After the material is added to the help file, you can retrieve it by clicking on the paper clip image which shows that you have added something to that page of the file. With the "Print" function in the "File" Menu, you can even print information from Grammar Slammer on your printer.

A good way to become familiar with Grammar Slammer is to browse through some of the pages or take a look at some of the "Search" topics.

In Windows 3.1, click on "Help" on the Menu line above and then "Help on Help", for complete information on how to use help files, search for topics, add your own comments, or make bookmarks (or press Alt-H, then H). The Windows 3.1 "Help" menu choice also has the "Always on Top" option to keep Grammar Slammer on top of other programs you are using.  Grammar Slammer is programmed to do this, but sometimes if other programs you use are also programmed the same way, you may need to reset  this.

For Help on using Help Files in Windows 95, click on the Windows 95 "Start" button and then choose "Help." This will give you a search list to find the particular items you need--most are listed under "Help."

In Windows 95 click on the "Options" menu choice (or press Alt-O) for additional features. Click on "Display History Window" or press the D key to give you a list of all the topics you have already viewed.  You may then choose one to go back to reread that topic. Click on "Keep Help On Top" or the K Key and  then "On Top" (or the O key) to keep the Grammar Slammer file on top of every other file. Grammar Slammer is programmed to do this, but sometimes if other programs you use are also programmed the same way, you may need to reset  this.

Click on the "Help" menu choice and then "About" (in Windows 3.1) or "Version" (in Windows 95) for information about Grammar Slammer.


Contents for Style and Usage

 Style and Usage Contents

Sentence Fragments

Run-on Sentences

Dangling Modifiers

Misplaced Modifiers

Pronoun Case

Possessive Pronouns

Pronouns with Than and As

Subject-Verb Agreement

Indefinite Pronouns

Pronouns Ending in -self

Pronoun-Antecedent Problems

The Subjunctive

Comparisons

Irregular Comparisons

Comparison Problems

Negatives

Tricky Plurals

The Verb To Be

Click on the topic you seek.  Click on a button above to take you to the opening screen or to a previous screen.


Sentence Fragments
Sentence Fragments (Incomplete Sentences)

1. A sentence must have a subject and a verb if it is to make sense.

Incorrect:  John, being a friendly computer salesman

and baseball fan.    (No verb)

Correct:  John, being a friendly computer salesman

and baseball fan, refused to argue.

(John--the subject--is doing something, namely, refusing.)

2.  A subordinate clause (also sometimes called a dependent clause) is not a complete sentence if it does not have a main clause even though it may have a subject and verb.

Incorrect:  Because we are baseball fans.

Correct:  We watched the All-Star Game because

we are baseball fans.

There is nothing wrong with beginning a sentence with the word because as long as the clause with because is followed by a main clause.

Correct:  Because we are baseball fans, we

watched the All-Star Game.

3.  Sometimes in conversation only sentence fragments make sense.

OK, if you are recording a conversation, otherwise incorrect:

She asked, "Why did you watch that

baseball game?"

"Because we are baseball fans."


Subject

The subject of a sentence or clause is the part of the sentence or clause about which something is being said.  It is usually the doer of the action.  It is a noun or a pronoun.  All of the subjects in this box are italicized.


Verb or Simple Predicate

The verb or simple predicate is the word or words that expresses action or says something about the condition of the subject.  All the verbs in this box have been italicized.


Clause

A clause is a group of words containing a subject and verb which forms part of a sentence.  The first sentence in this box is made up of two clauses: the first clause from "A clause" to "verb," the second from "which" to the end.


Main or Independent Clause

A main clause is a clause that is not introduced by a subordinating term.  It does not modify anything, and it can stand alone as a complete sentence.

The main clauses in the first two sentences of this box are italicized.  The second sentence has two main clauses, one before the comma and one after.  Main clauses are sometimes called principal or independent clauses.


Subordinate Clause

A subordinate clause is usually introduced by a subordinating element such as a subordinating conjunction or relative pronoun.  It depends on the rest of the sentence for its meaning.  It does not express a complete thought, so it does not stand alone.  It must always be attached to a main clause that completes the meaning.

Subordinate clauses normally act as single part of speech.  They can be either noun clauses, adjective clauses, or adverb clauses.

They are sometimes called dependent clauses because they "depend" on a main clause to give them meaning.

The italicized clauses in this box are subordinate clauses.  The first one is an adjective clause because it describes a noun (the word clause).  The second one is an adverb clause which describes a verb (the word

called).


Run-On Sentences

A run-on sentence consists of two or more main clauses that are run together without proper punctuation.  Sometimes even sentences which are technically correct are easier to read if they are made into shorter sentences.  We often speak in run-on sentences, but we make pauses and change our tone so people can understand us.  But when we write, no one can hear us, so sometimes we must break our sentences into shorter units so that they do not sound run-on.

Incorrect:  The boy showed us his tickets someone

gave them to him.

Correct:  The boy showed us his tickets.  Someone

gave them to him.

Incorrect:  We often speak in run-on sentences,

but we make pauses and change our tone so people can understand us, but when we write, no one can hear us, so sometimes we must break our sentences into shorter units so that they do not sound run-on.

(Technically punctuated OK, but too long to be easily understood.  See better sentence structure above.)


Dangling Modifiers

A dangling modifier is a phrase or clause which says something different than what is meant because words are left out.  The meaning of the sentence, therefore, is left "dangling."

Incorrect:  While driving on Greenwood Avenue

yesterday afternoon, a tree began to fall toward Wendy H's car.

(It sounds like the tree was driving!  This actually appeared in a newspaper article.  An alert reader wrote, "Is the Department of Motor Vehicles branching out and issuing licenses to hardwoods?  Have they taken leaf of their senses?")

Adding a word or two makes the sentence clear.

Correct:  While Wendy H was driving on Greenwood

Avenue yesterday afternoon, a tree began to fall toward her car.

When a modifier "dangles" so that the sentence is meaningless (or means something other than your intent), restate it and add the words it needs in order to make sense.


Misplaced Modifiers

This is a common problem in American speech.  Writing has to be more precise than speaking, or it will be misunderstood.

A misplaced modifier is simply a word or phrase describing something but not placed near enough the word it is supposed to modify.  The modifying word or phrase is not dangling; no extra words are needed; the modifier is just in the wrong place.

Incorrect:  I had to take down the shutters painting

the house yesterday.

It sounds like the shutters painted the house!  Place the modifying phrase painting the house near or next to the word it is meant to modify.

Correct:  Painting the house yesterday, I had to take

down the shutters.


Phrase

A phrase is a group of words acting as a single part of speech and not containing both a subject and a verb.  It is a part of a sentence, and does not express a complete thought.  The phrases in the first two sentences of this box are italicized.

The first sentence contains five phrases: "of words," "acting as a single part of speech," "as a single part," "of speech," and "not containing both a subject and a verb."  Except for the phrase beginning with as, all the phrases in those sentences are acting as adjectives.  The phrase beginning with as is adverbial.


Noun or Pronoun Case

The case of a noun or pronoun in English is that form of a word which shows its relationship to other words in the sentence.  The three cases in English are nominative (for subjects and predicate nominatives), objective (for direct objects, indirect objects, objects of prepositions, object complements, and subjects of infinitives), and possessive.  In all English nouns and indefinite pronouns, there is no difference between the nominative and objective.


Predicate Nominative

A predicate nominative is a noun or pronoun which follows the verb and describes or renames the subject.  It is another way of naming the subject.  It follows a linking verb.  The predicate nominatives in this box have been italicized.


Direct Object

A direct object is a noun or pronoun that receives the action of a verb or shows the result of the action.  It answers the question "What?" or "Whom?" after an action verb.  An action verb with a direct object is called a transitive verb.  The direct objects in this box are italicized.

Notice each question being answered: "Receives what?"  "The action"; "Shows what?"  "The question," etc.


Indirect Object

An indirect object precedes the direct object and tells to whom or for whom the action of the verb is done and who is receiving the direct object.  There must be a direct object to have an indirect object.  Indirect objects are usually found with verbs of giving or communicating like give, bring, tell, show, take, or offer.  An indirect object is always a noun or pronoun which is not part of a prepositional phrase.

Example:  She gave me the report.

Who received the report? Me.


Prepositional Phrase

A prepositional phrase is a phrase beginning with a preposition and ending with a noun or pronoun.  The phrase relates the noun or pronoun to the rest of the sentence. The noun or pronoun being related by the preposition is called the object of the preposition.  In this box the prepositional phrases are underlined.  The objects of the prepositions are italicized.


Object Complement

An object complement is an noun, pronoun, or adjective which follows a direct object and renames it or tells what the direct object has become.  It is most often used with verbs of creating or nominating such as make, name, elect, paint, call, etc.

We know there is a difference between calling Mayor Williams and calling Williams mayor or painting a red door and painting a door red.  When the word follows the direct object and it tells what the direct object has become, it is the object complement.  Sometimes people call it an objective complement.  The italicized words in this box are object complements.


Pronoun Case

Pronouns are words that American often carelessly use in their speech.  The problem is that the use of pronouns must be very clear when we write.  Many times the writing will be misunderstood; at best, the writer will appear uneducated.

A major problem with pronouns is the use of the wrong

case.  In English certain pronouns are meant to be the subject or predicate nominative of a sentence.  Other words are meant to be the objects--whether direct,

indirect, objects of prepositions, or object complements.

Pronouns used as subjects or predicate nominatives

(nominative case):

I, you, he, she, it, we, they, who

Pronouns used as objects:

me, you, him, her, it, us, them, whom

Some things are really obvious.  All English speakers know we say "I like him," not "Me like he."  But there are four common problem areas with pronoun case: compounds, appositives, predicate nominatives, and who/whom.

Compound Subjects and Objects with Pronouns

If we know that "Me like him" is incorrect, then that also means that "Katy and me like him" is incorrect. The word I belongs in the subject.  The sentence should read "Katy and I like him."  Similarly, the subject in "Katy and we like him" is correct.

Politeness says that the I, we, me or us comes last.

If the sentence had some kind of compound object the sentence would read: "Katy likes Joe and me," not "Katy likes Joe and I."

After all, we would say "Katy likes me," not "Katy likes I."  Similarly the object in "Katy likes the Johnsons and us" is correct.

Pronouns with Appositives

Sometimes a descriptive noun phrase called an appositive will follow a personal pronoun. Keep the proper case of the pronoun.

We do not say: "Us want ease of use."

We say: "We want ease of use."

Therefore we do not say: "Us computer users want ease of use."

Instead, we should say: "We computer users want ease of use."

The Chronicles of Narnia says: "Come in front with us lions." That is correct.  We say "with us," not "with we," so we should say "with us lions."

Pronouns in the Predicate Nominative

In standard written English, the personal pronouns in the predicate nominative are the same as they would be in the subject.  Most Americans do not speak this way, but it is grammatically correct.

The nominative case follows a linking verb to rename the subject.

Incorrect: The winner was her.  (Objective case)

Correct: The winner was she.  (Nominative case)

She is a predicate nominative.  It uses the same case as the subject since it simply renames the subject.

Even though we may often say, "It's me"; the grammatically correct way is "It's I."

Who and Whom

Who and whom correspond to he and him. Who is the subject or predicate nominative. Whom is the object.

Correct: Who are you? (Subject)

Correct: Whom do you see? (Direct object)

Correct: Whom did you give it to?

(Object of preposition to)

Correct: Who did that? (Subject)

It may help you to recall that who follows the same pattern as he and they.  When all three are in the objective case, they end with m: whom, him, them.

This same pattern applies when you add the suffix -ever or -soever:

Correct: Whoever dies with the most toys wins.

(Subject)

Correct: He gave that ticket to whoever asked for one.

(Subject of asked)

Correct: Pick whomever I tell you to.  (Direct object)


Appositive

An appositive is a noun, noun phrase, or noun clause which follows a noun or pronoun and renames or describes the noun or pronoun.  A simple appositive is an epithet like Alexander the Great.  Appositives are often set off by commas.

Example: We visited the home of Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin.  The underlined portion is the appositive.


Possessive Pronouns

Certain pronouns called possessive pronouns show ownership.  Some are used alone; some describe a noun.

Used alone: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs, whose

Correct:  That computer is hers.

Modify noun: my, your, his, her, its, our, their, whose

Correct:  That is her computer.

Please note that none of the possessive pronouns are spelled with an apostrophe.  See Apostrophes with Pronouns for more on this.

Possessive Pronouns with Gerunds

Possessive pronouns are used to describe gerunds.  Using the objective case confuses the reader.

Incorrect: You winning in spite of the odds

inspired us all.

(Ambiguous and awkward.  Do you inspire or does the winning inspire?)

Correct:  Your winning in spite of the odds

inspired us all.

Incorrect: We could not stand him whining

about everything.

(Which could you not stand?  Him? or His whining?)

Because of the possible confusion, use possessive pronouns with gerunds.

Correct:  We could not stand his whining about

everything.


Gerund

A gerund is a verb ending in -ing and acting as a noun.

Example: Skiing is my favorite sport.

(Skiing ends in -ing and is a noun--it is a thing and it is the subject of the sentence.)


Pronouns with Elliptical Clauses
Pronouns with Than or As

When you use a pronoun in a comparison using the words than or as, use the proper pronouns as if all the words were being said.

Most of the time when we use a comparison using than or as, we leave words out.  This is technically called an elliptical clause--a clause with an ellipsis.  An ellipsis is words left out.

Look at it this way.  There is a difference between the two following sentences.  Both are grammatically correct; they just mean two different things.

He likes you more than me.

He likes you more than I.

Think of what words are left out:

He likes you more than I do.

(I is the subject)

He likes you more than he likes me.

(Me is the direct object)

When a pronouns follows than or as in a comparison, make sure you understand what words are missing and then use the correct pronoun.

Incorrect:  He is taller than her.

(i.e., than her is?)

Correct:  He is taller than she.

(i.e., than she is.  Much better!)

Incorrect:  He is as happy as them.

(i.e., as happy as them are?)

Correct:  He is as happy as they.

(i.e., as happy as they are.)

Correct with one meaning:

He sees you more often than I.  (i.e., than I see you.)

Correct with another meaning:

He sees you more often than me.  (i.e., than he sees me.)

The case of the pronoun makes the difference!

For more, see Pronoun Case.


Subject Agreement with the Verb

It is usually pretty easy to match the verb with the subject in English.  Only in the present tense does the verb have more than one form.  And except for one verb, only the third person singular is different.  Besides, the third person singular present tense always ends in an s.  We understand this most of the time.

Verb: To speak

I, you, we, they    speak

he, she, it         speaks

Verb: To do

I, you, we, they    do

he, she, it         does

Verb: To be (the only exception)

I                   am

you, we, they       are

he, she, it         is

The verb to be is also the only verb with more than one form in the past tense.  See also the subjunctive mood.

Verb: To be, past

I, he, she, it      was

you, we, they       were

Normally, none of this is a problem.  However, there are a few cases that confuse writers and speakers.

Separated Subjects and Verbs

A phrase or clause often separates the subject and the verb.  The verb must still agree with the subject.

Incorrect: The climate in both places are mild.

Correct: The climate in both places is mild.

(Climate is the subject, not places.  It takes the verb is.)

Keep track of the subject, especially when there is a singular pronoun or collective noun for the subject and a plural element in the phrase that separates the subject and verb.

Collective noun: A group of senators was

calling for an investigation.

Singular pronoun:  One of the many galaxies

was proven to be near a black hole.

Compound Subjects

Two or more singular subjects joined by or or nor take a singular verb.

Correct: Neither John nor Mary knows what happened.

Two or more plural subjects joined by any conjunction (including and, or, but, or nor) take a plural verb.

Correct: Both men and women are allowed to enter.

If one or more singular subject is joined to one or more plural subject by or or nor, the verb agrees with the subject closest to the verb.

Incorrect: Neither Mary nor her brothers knows

what happened. (Brothers is closer to the verb and is plural; the verb should agree with brothers.

Correct: Neither Mary nor her brothers know what

happened.

Correct: Neither her brothers nor Mary knows what

happened.

A compound subject whose parts are joined by and normally takes a plural verb.

Correct: Joe and his brother know what happened.

A compound subject whose parts are joined by and takes a singular verb in two special instances.

1.  When the parts of the subject combine to form a single item.

Correct: One and one equals two.

Correct: Cookies and cream is my favorite flavor.

2.  When the compound subject is modified by the words each or  every.

Correct: Every boy and girl has to participate.

See also British vs. American Grammar and Indefinite Pronouns.


Using Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are words which replace nouns without specifying which noun they replace.

Singular: another, anybody, anyone, anything, each,

either, everybody, everyone, everything, little, much, neither, nobody, no one, nothing, one, other, somebody, someone, something

Plural: both, few, many, others, several

Singular or Plural:  all, any, more, most, none,

some

Singular indefinite pronouns take singular verbs or singular personal pronouns.

Correct: Each of the members has one vote.

(The subject, each, is singular.  Use has.)

Incorrect: One of the girls gave up their seat.

Correct: One of the girls gave up her seat.

(Her refers to one, which is singular.)

Plural indefinite pronouns take plural verbs or plural personal pronouns.

Correct: A few of the justices were voicing their

opposition.

(Few is plural, so are were and their.)

For indefinite pronouns that can be singular or plural, it depends on what the indefinite pronoun refers to.

Correct: All of the people clapped their hands.

(All refers to people, which is plural.)

Correct: All of the newspaper was soaked.

(Here all refers to newspaper, which is singular.)

A Gender-Sensitive Case

The pronouns ending with -body or -one such as anybody, somebody, no one, or anyone are singular.  So are pronouns like each and every.  Words like all or some may be singular.  That means that a possessive pronoun referring to these singular words must also be singular.  In standard written English the possessive pronoun his is used to refer to a singular indefinite pronoun unless the group referred to is known to be all female.

Incorrect: Is everyone happy with their gift?

Correct: Is everyone happy with his gift?

(Everyone and is are singular.  The possessive pronoun must be singular, too)

Most languages, including English, observe the standard of using the masculine pronoun in situations like this.  However, in some circles today the idea of choosing the masculine pronoun sounds discriminatory against women.  If this usage bothers you, or if you think it may bother your audience, there are two possible ways to work around this and still use standard English.

1. Use the phrase his or her.  It is a little awkward, but OK.

Correct:  Is everyone happy with his or her gift?

2. Rewrite the sentence using a plural pronoun or antecedent. Plural personal pronouns in English no longer distinguish between masculine and feminine.

Correct:  Are all the people happy with their gifts?


Use of Pronouns Ending in -self

Words ending in -self or -selves are called reflexive or intensive pronouns. They should always refer to another word that has already been named.  In grammatical terms, they need an antecedent.

Incorrect: The president named myself to the

committee.  (Myself is not previously named)

Correct: The president named me to the committee.

Correct: I did it all by myself.

(Myself refers to I)

Correct: John talks to himself when he is nervous.

(Himself refers to John)


Antecedent

The antecedent of a pronoun is the word which the pronoun stands for.  In the first sentence in this box the pronoun which is taking the place of word. Therefore, word is the antecedent.


Antecedent Agreement
General Antecedent Agreement

The antecedent of a pronoun is the word the pronoun refers to. There are several style problems which writers and speakers sometimes have when they do not match the pronoun and the noun it replaces correctly.

Missing or Mismatched Antecedent

A pronoun, unless it is an indefinite pronoun, must have an antecedent, a word it refers to.  The pronoun must match the word it replaces--singular or plural, and, sometimes, masculine or feminine.

Incorrect: Every student must have their pencils.

(Both every and student are singular; therefore, his, her or his or her must be used.  Their is plural and cannot refer to a singular noun.)

Unclear Antecedent

A pronoun's antecedent must be clear.

Incorrect: I never go to that place because

they have stale bread.

(What does they refer to?  Both I and place are singular.)

Correct: I never go to that place because it

has stale bread.

This is sometimes called "faulty co-reference" when the antecedent is a different gender, person, or number than the pronoun it is supposed to replace.

Incorrect: Politics is my favorite subject.

They are such fascinating people.

Correct: Politics is my favorite subject.

Polticians are such fascinating people.

Faulty co-reference may also occur with adverbs that do not replace an adverbial expression or pronouns that do not replace nouns.

Incorrect: He ought to speak French well.

He lived there for twenty years.

Correct: He ought to speak French well.

He lived in France for twenty years.

Ambiguous Antecedent

A pronoun's antecedent must be unambiguous.  Sometimes there may be more than one word the pronoun could refer to.  In a case like that, it may be better not to use the pronoun.

Incorrect: The suitcase was on the plane, but now

it's gone. (What is gone?  The suitcase or the plane?)

Correct: The suitcase was on the plane, but now

the suitcase is gone.    OR

The suitcase was on the plane, but now the

plane is gone. (Depends on which you mean...)

Faraway Antecedent

The pronoun must be close enough to the word it is replacing so that your reader knows whom or what you are talking about.

Unclear: Buford saw Longstreet's division

coming toward his men.  Reynold's troops responded quickly to the calls for assistance, and soon he found himself in the midst of a deadly battle.

(Who is he?  Buford, Reynolds, or Longstreet?)

Clear: Buford saw Longstreet's division

coming toward his men.  Reynolds' troops responded quickly to the calls for assistance, and soon Buford found himself in the midst of a deadly battle.

See also Using Indefinite Pronouns.


Subjunctive Mood
The Subjunctive Mood

A verb is in the subjunctive mood when it expresses a condition which is doubtful or not factual.  It is most often found in a clause beginning with the word if.  It is also found in clauses following a verb that expresses a doubt, a wish, regret, request, demand, or proposal.

These are verbs typically followed by clauses that take the subjunctive:

ask, demand, determine, insist, move, order, pray, prefer, recommend, regret, request, require, suggest, and wish.

In English there is no difference between the subjunctive and normal, or indicative, form of the verb except for the present tense third person singular and for the verb to be.

The subjunctive for the present tense third person singular drops the -s or -es so that it looks and sounds like the present tense for everything else.

The subjunctive mood of the verb to be is be in the present tense and were in the past tense, regardless of what the subject is.

Incorrect: If I was you, I would run.

Correct: If I were you, I would run.

(The verb follows if and expresses a non-factual condition.)

Incorrect: I wish he was able to type faster.

Correct: I wish he were able to type faster.

(The second verb is in a clause following a verb expressing a wish. It also suggests a non-factual or doubtful condition.)

Incorrect: His requirement is that everyone is computer

literate.

Correct: His requirement is that everyone be computer

literate.

(Subordinate clause follows main clause with a demand.)

Incorrect: He recommended that each driver reports his

tips.

Correct: He recommended that each driver report his tips.

Sometimes we may use the conditional auxiliary verbs of could, should, or would to express the same sense.

Subjunctive: I wish he were kinder to me.

Conditional: I wish he would be kinder to me.

Note: In modern English, the subjunctive is only found in subordinate clauses.


Comparatives and Superlatives

Use words ending in -er or modified by the word more to compare two items.  This is known as the comparative degree.

Use words ending in -est or modified by the word most to compare three or more items.  This is known as the superlative degree.

Correct: K2 is taller than Annapurna.

Incorrect: Annapurna is the taller of the three

peaks.  (Three or more requires superlative.)

Correct: Annapurna is the tallest of the three

peaks.

Normally, -er and -est are added to one-syllable words.

-er and -est are added to two-syllable words unless the new word sounds awkward.

Correct: fairer  prettier  handsomest

Awkward: famousest  readier

Correct: most famous  more ready

Use the modifiers more or most with all root words longer than two syllables as well as with two syllable words that sound awkward.  Always use more or most with adverbs that end in -ly.

Incorrect: beautifuller  beastliest

Correct: more beautiful  most beastly

Less and least form comparisons of a lesser degree in a similar manner.  Less is used when comparing two items, least with three or more.

See also Irregular Comparisons and Comparison Problems.


Irregular Comparisons

A few of the comparatives and superlatives in English do not follow the usual pattern.  Here is a list of common exceptions.

Positive	Comparative	Superlative

bad 	worse 	worst

badly 	worse 	worst

far (distance) 	farther 	farthest

far (extent)	further 	furthest

good 	better 	best

ill  	worse  	worst

late 	later  	latest or last

less 	lesser 	least

little (amount) 	less 	least

many 	more  	most

much 	more  	most

well 	more  	most

The comparisons for well apply to both the adjective meaning "healthy" and the adverb meaning "in a good manner."

For more on how to use some of these see the Common Mistakes section on good/well and bad/badly.  Also see Common Mistakes section for the difference between further and farther and between littlest and least.


Positive Degree

The positive degree of a modifier simply means that there is no comparison being made.


Comparative Degree

Adjectives and adverbs ending in -er or modified by the word more compare two items.  This is known as the comparative degree.


Superlative Degree

Adjectives or adverbs ending in -est or modified by the word most compare three or more items.  This is known as the superlative degree.


Comparison Problems

There are three problems writers sometimes have with comparisons.

1. Make sure you are comparing similar items.

Incorrect: The tusk of a mastodon is bigger than

an elephant.

(It sounds as if the writer is comparing the tusk with an elephant.)

Correct: The tusk of a mastodon is bigger than the

tusk of an elephant.

2. Make sure your comparison is balanced.  Use the same pattern on both sides of the comparison to make it readable and clear.

Unbalanced: The tusk of a mastodon is bigger than

an elephant's.

Correct: The tusk of a mastodon is bigger than

that of an elephant.

(Or "than the tusk of an elephant" ; either choice keeps the pattern of using the prepositional phrase.)

Correct: A mastodon's tusk is bigger than an

elephant's.

(Or "than an elephant's tusk" ; either choice keeps the pattern of using the possessive noun.)

3. When comparing people or items that are grouped together, it may be necessary to use the word other or else to make the meaning clear.

Incorrect: The X-15 was faster than any airplane.

(The X-15 is an airplane.  The sentence makes it sound as though it were some other kind of aircraft.)

Correct: The X-15 was faster than any other

airplane.

Incorrect: Manute was taller than anyone on the team.

(This suggests that he either was not on the team or that he is being compared to himself.)

Correct: Manute was taller than anyone else on

the team.


Using Negatives

There are a few rules to keep in mind when making a sentence say "No."

1. Double negatives are nonstandard.  Avoid two negative words in the same clause.

Incorrect: I don't want no seconds.

(Both don't and no are negatives.)

Correct: I don't want any seconds.

Correct: I want no seconds.

This rule does not include negative interjections at the beginning of a sentence or clause, since those are grammatically separate.

Correct: No, I don't want any seconds.

2. Do not use but in a negative sense with another negative.

Incorrect: He didn't want but one good manuscript.

Correct: He wanted but one good manuscript.

Correct: He wanted only one good manuscript.

3. Words like barely, hardly, and scarcely have a negative sense and should not be used with another negative.  In effect, this creates a double negative.

Incorrect: He couldn't hardly speak.

Correct: He could hardly speak.

Incorrect: We were not barely able to see the stage.

Correct: We were barely able to see the stage.


Tricky Plurals

There are four groups of words which some speakers and writers have difficulty with.  In each case it has to do with the agreement of plurals or plural-looking words with the verbs or other words they go with.

Plural-looking Nouns

Some nouns that end in -s look like they are plural, but they really are singular.  This is particularly true of branches of knowledge, certain foods or dishes, and certain diseases.

Branches of knowledge like mathematics, physics, ethics, politics, or social studies are singular.

Names of foods, while plural, are treated singularly when they are treated as a single dish.

Some diseases, while plural in origin, are treated singularly because just one disease is discussed: measles, mumps, rickets, or pox.

Examples: Politics is a rough life.

Baked beans is one of my favorite dishes.

Mumps has been nearly eradicated in the U.S.

A few words, though singular in nature, are made of paired items and generally treated as plural: scissors, pants, trousers, glasses, pliers, tongs, tweezers, and the like.  Many are often used with the word pair as in pair of pants or pair of scissors.

Example: These scissors are too dull to cut with.

Nouns Expressing Measurement

A noun expressing an amount or measurement is normally singular.

If the unit of measurement refers to a number of individual items, then it treated as a plural.

Examples: Two spoons of sugar is too much for me.

(A single measurement)

Twelve dollars is less that what I want to sell it for.

(A single sum of money)

Four-fifths of the country is satisfied with its

health insurance.

(One part of a whole)

Four-fifths of the people are satisfied with their

health insurance.

(Four-fifths refers to many individuals.)

Titles

Titles of books and other works of art are always considered singular even if the title sounds plural.

The Alfred Hitchcock film The Birds was successfully advertised with a campaign that said, "The Birds is coming!" Unlike so many ads, that one was grammatically correct.

Plurals That Do Not End in -s

A number of plurals, mostly derived from Latin, do not end in -s. Nevertheless, they are plural and should be treated as such.  Words such as criteria, phenomena, and media are plural.

The word data is also technically plural, but the singular form, datum, is rare in English, so using data as singular is tolerated, but not precisely correct.  Say "a piece of data" of "item of data" for the singular if datum sounds too affected.


The Verb To Be

The verb to be is the most irregular verb in the English language.  It is normally a linking verb showing existence or condition of the subject.  It can also be used as an auxiliary verb when forming the passive voice.

The forms of the verb to be in English are as follows:

Infinitive 	to be

Present 	am, is, are

Past 	was, were

Present Participle 	being

Past Participle 	been

Present Subjunctive 	be

Past Subjunctive 	were

Imperative 	be

For more on this see The Subjunctive Mood and Subject-Verb Agreement.


Capitalizing--Contents

 Rules for Capitalization Contents

Capitalizing Sentences

Capitalizing Quotations

Special Cases for Capitalizing

Capitalizing Proper Nouns

Names Not Capitalized

Capitalizing Proper Adjectives

Capitalizing Personal Titles

Capitalizing Titles of Things

Capitalizing in Letters

Scientific Nomenclature

Click on the topic you seek.  Click on a button above to take you to the opening screen or to a previous screen.


Capitalizing Sentences

The first letter of the first word in a sentence is capitalized.

Correct: The first word in a sentence is capitalized.

The first word of an interjection, an incomplete question, or fragmentary response is capitalized.

Correct: "Did you do it?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because."


Capitalizing Quotations; Capitalizing; Quotation
Capitalizing Quotations

Capitalize the first word in a quotation if the quotation is a complete sentence or if it is an interjection, an incomplete question, or fragmentary response.

Correct: He said, "Why did you come back?"

(Quotation is a sentence by itself.)

Incorrect: She replied, "you wanted me to."

(A fragmentary response, you needs a capital.)

A quotation is not capitalized if it is not a complete sentence and is part of the larger sentence.

Correct: I believe it was a "far, far better thing"

to have confessed the crime.

(This quotation from Dickens is part of the larger sentence and is not a complete sentence in itself.)


Special Capitalizing Cases
Special Cases for Capitals

Sentence after a Colon

The first word of sentence following a colon is capitalized.

Correct: Apples were not squeezed for cider: Pomace

was pressed.

(A complete sentence follows the colon.)

Incorrect: Please bring the following items to work

tomorrow: A grab-bag gift, a goofy hat, and a smile.

(A list follows the colon, not a sentence.  No capital is needed.)

Poetry

The first word in each line of most poetry is capitalized.

The Words I and O

The single-letter words I and O are always capitalized.

Note: The word O is used in direct addresses (as in "O Tannenbaum" or "O Pioneers!")  The word oh is an interjection expression surprise (as in "Oh, look, Jane!")


Capitalizing Proper Nouns

A proper noun is a noun which names a specific person, place, or thing.

Proper nouns are capitalized.  That includes the following categories of names:

Each part of a person's name:

James A. Garfield  Chester Alan Arthur

Given or pet names of animals:

Lassie  Trigger  Secretariat

Geographical and celestial names:

Red Sea  Alpha Centauri  Lake Havasu City

Monuments, buildings, meeting rooms:

the Taj Mahal  Grant's Tomb  Room 222

Historical events, documents, laws, and periods:

the Civil War  the Hatch Act  the Reformation

Months, days of the week, holidays:

Monday  Easter  December

Groups and languages:

Myopia Hunt Club  the Republicans  Israeli

French  National Football League

Religions, deities, scriptures:

God  Christ  the Bible  the Torah  Islam

Awards, vehicles, vehicle models, brand names:

the Nobel Peace Prize  Eagle Scout

Ford Escort  the Bismarck  Kleenex

Some parts of last names may not be capitalized.

Sometimes the part of the last name following Mac (but never Mc or M') may not be capitalized.  For example, Prime Minister J. R. MacDonald, but author George Macdonald.  There is no rule, just learn the name.

Sometimes the part of the last name following the particles de, du, d', den, der, des, la, le, l', ten, ter, van, or von (and similar particles) may or may not be capitalized.  The particles themselves may or may not be capitalized. Check to see how the person prefers it.

The spelling rule in Europe, where such particles are commoner, is not to capitalize the particle when the first name is being used with it, but to capitalize the part that follows the particle.  The particle is capitalized if the last name with the particle is used by itself.

Correct: Ludwig van Beethoven

Correct: Cornelia ten Boom (First name being used)

Correct: Miss Ten Boom (First name not used)

See Names Not Capitalized for certain names which are not capitalized.


Names Not Capitalized

The earth, moon, and sun are not capitalized unless in a list of celestial objects or part of another name.

Correct: I was born on the earth.

Correct: The first three planets from the Sun

are Mercury, Venus, and Earth.  (In a list)

Seasons are not capitalized unless part of another name. Correct:  This summer was very hot.

When discussing mythological deities, the word god or goddess is not capitalized.  Their names are capitalized.

Correct: The Romans were careful not to offend

any god.

Correct: The Egyptians considered their pharaoh

a god, an incarnation of the god Osiris.

(Osiris, the name, is capitalized.)


Scientific Nomenclature

The Latin-derived scientific names are capitalized except for the specific and subspecific names.  The generic, specific, and subspecific names are underlined or italicized.

The names of the following are capitalized: kingdom, phylum, subphylum, class, subclass, superorder, order, suborder, superfamily, family, subfamily, tribe, genus, subgenus.

The names of the following are not capitalized: superspecies, species, subspecies.

Names of superspecies, species, and subspecies always appear with the name of the genus (or at least the genus abbreviated) so that the full specific name begins with a capital letter.

The full specific name, genus plus species (and superspecies and subspecies, if used), is italicized or underlined.

Examples:  Birds are in the class Aves, subphylum

Vertebrata, and phylum Chordata.

The American Robin is in the family Turdidae,

superfamily Muscicapidae, suborder Oscines, and order Passeriformes.

The American Robin is Turdus migratorius.

The Dark-Backed Robin, a northern-nesting

subspecies, is known as T. m. nigrideus.

(Note the use of capitalization and italics.)

The genus or species name is only abbreviated when the name has already been used, and it is clear what the letters stand for.  The last word in a species name is never abbreviated.  So if we were to once again refer to the Robin species, we could write Turdus migratorius or T. migratorius but never simply T.m. unless it were followed by a subspecific name as was done above.


Capitalizing Proper Adjectives

A proper noun used as an adjective or an adjective formed from a proper noun is called a proper adjective.

Proper adjectives are normally capitalized.  This includes brand names.

Correct: Syrian food   a Kodak® camera

Some proper adjectives may not be capitalized because the association with a particular name is gone.

Correct:  Teddy bear or teddy bear

Other words this has happened to are bourbon whiskey and venetian blinds.

Prefixes attached to a proper adjective are not capitalized unless the prefixes themselves are formed from a proper noun.

Correct: pro-Communist  pre-Raphaelite  Afro-Asian

(The prefix Afro- is formed from Africa.)

In a hyphenated word, only the proper adjective is capitalized.

Correct: Flemish-speaking Belgians


Capitalizing Titles of People; Capitalizing; Title; Noun
Capitalizing Titles of People

Capitalize a person's title when used with the person's name or as a direct address.  The title is not capitalized when used generally.

Correct: the Duke of Edinburgh    Dr. Fleming

Lieutenant Horatio Hornblower

Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.

Incorrect: The Duke sends his regards.

(Used as a general word, not personal title.)

Correct: The duke sends his regards.

Incorrect: Thanks for calling, pastor.

(Title is implied because of direct address.)

Correct: Thanks for calling, Pastor.

Government officials' titles are capitalized when followed by a name or used in direct address.

Incorrect: We tried to get a glimpse of president

Clinton.  (Title is used with name.)

Correct: We tried to get a glimpse of President

Clinton.

Incorrect: What do you think of the situation

in Rwanda, secretary?  (Title in direct address)

Correct: What do you think of the situation

in Rwanda, Secretary?

Certain very high ranking government officials' titles are capitalized even when not followed by a name or used in a direct address when a specific individual is being referred to.

Correct: the President (e.g., of the USA or France)

the Chief Justice

the Queen (e.g., of England or the Netherlands)

Incorrect: The Constitution says the President must be at least 35.

(Not a specific individual being referred to.)

Correct: The Constitution says the president must be at least 35.

Correct: What do you think of the President's trip to Japan?

(A specific person is referred to here.)  Important words in compound titles are capitalized, but not prefixes or suffixes added to the titles.

Correct: the Under Secretary of the Interior

President-elect Clinton   ex-Governor Meskill

Capitalize titles showing family relationship when they refer to a specific person, unless they are modified by a personal pronoun.

Incorrect: I can't wait to see cousin Angie.

Correct: I can't wait to see Cousin Angie.

Correct: Please let me go, Mom.

Incorrect: My Mom won't let us go. (Modified by my)

Correct: My mom won't let us go.


Capitals in Titles of Things

Always capitalize the first and last word in a title.  Capitalize all the other words except for a, an, the, and conjunctions and prepositions of four letters or less.

This applies to titles of books, chapters, periodicals, poems, stories, plays paintings, musical compositions, and subtitles.

Examples: The Chronicles of Narnia

(The is the first word, so it is capitalized; of is not.)

Six Characters in Search of a Plot

(In, of, and a are short words.)

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

(Capitalize A because it is first word in subtitle.)

Capitalize the titles of courses when the course is a language course or when the title refers to a specific class.  (In most schools the course would be followed by a number.)

Language courses: Latin  English  Ancient Uighur

Incorrect: Math  Economics  Physical Education

(Not language, not specific classes)

Correct: math  economics  physical education

Specific classes: Physical Education 215

Introduction to Applied Mathematics  Economics 101


Capital Letters in Letters; Capitalizing; Letters
Capital Letters in Letters

There are two additional rules for capitalizing when writing letters.

1. Capitalize the first word and all nouns in the salutation (or greeting).

Correct: Dear Sir:

My dearest Aunt,

Greetings!

2. Capitalize the first word in the complimentary closing.

Correct: Sincerely,

Truly yours,

With best wishes,

For more, see Letter Writing topic in Contents.


Abbreviations--Contents

 Rules for Abbreviations Contents

Abbreviated Names and Social Titles

Abbreviated Rank and Academic Titles

Abbreviations After a Name

Abbreviations of Geographical Features

State and Province Abbreviations

Abbreviations of Units of Measure

Abbreviations of Units of Time

Common Latin Abbreviations

Abbreviations in Names of Businesses

Acronyms and Pronounced Abbreviations

Scientific Nomenclature

Click on the topic you seek.  Click on a button above to take you to the opening screen or to a previous screen.


Abbreviations with Names and Titles of People

Use the full name in standard writing unless the person uses an initial as part of his or her name.  Initials may be used in lists and addresses if appropriate.

Correct: George Smith

Correct, only in list or address: G. Smith

Correct: Robert E. Lee

(The initial is fine here because that is the name he went by.)

Social titles before a proper name are capitalized.  All but Miss and Master are abbreviated and end with a period.

Social titles: Mr.   Master  Mrs.   Miss   Ms.

Mlle.   Mme.  M.   Messrs. (Plural of Mr. or M.)

Mmes. (Plural of Mrs., Ms., Mme.)

Those social titles that are abbreviated are only abbreviated in front of names.

Correct: Mr. Smith is not at home.

Incorrect: You'd better listen, Mr.

(Mr.is not in front of name; do not abbreviate.)

Correct: You'd better listen, Mister.


Abbreviations of Rank or Position
Abbreviations of Position or Rank

There are a number of common titles of position and rank which are abbreviated.  Except for Dr., they are only used before a person's full name (i.e., at least first and last names); otherwise, the title is spelled out.

Correct: Sgt. Alvin York   Fr. Robert Drinan

Prof. William Alfred    Dr. Milton Friedman

Incorrect: Sgt. York   Fr. Drinan   Prof. Alfred

(Abbreviated without first name or initial.)

Correct: Sergeant York   Father Drinan

Professor Alfred   Dr. Friedman

(Dr. is OK to abbreviate with a last name only.)

Practice for internal correspondence within military commands may differ.

Abbreviations of position and rank include the following.

Professional: Dr.  Atty.  Prof.  Hon.

Religious: Rev.  Fr.  Msgr.  Sr.(Sister)  Br.(Brother)  St.

Political: Pres.  Supt.  Rep.  Sen.  Gov.  Amb.  Treas.

Sec.

Military: Pvt.  Cpl.  Spec.  Sgt.  Ens.  Adm.  Maj.  Capt.

Cmdr. (or Cdr.)  Lt.  Lt. Col.  Col.  Gen.


Abbreviations after Names
Abbreviations After a Name

Abbreviations after a name--such as Jr., Sr., and academic titles--are set off by commas.  They begin with a capital letter and end with a period.

Do not use the abbreviations unless they follow the name.

Correct: William F. Buckley, Jr.    Walter Judd, M.D.

Incorrect: The average M.D. sees forty patients day.

(Does not follow name)

Correct: The average medical doctor sees forty

patients a day.

In a full sentence, each abbreviation after a name is set off by a comma both before and after.  No comma is needed at the end if the sentence ends with the abbreviation.

Correct: The Hon. Rep. Walter Judd, M.D., represented

a Minnesota district in the U.S. Congress.

See also Commas with Titles


Abbreviations for Geographical Terms

Abbreviations for geographical terms before or after a proper noun begin with a capital letter and end with a period.

Abbreviations for geographical terms are only used in addresses, lists, charts, and maps.  They should be spelled out in standard and formal writing.

Common geographical abbreviations:

Ave. 	Is. 	Prov.

Apt. 	L. (Lake) 	Rd.

Blvd. 	Mt. 	Rt. or Rte.

Bldg. 	Nat. or Natl. 	Sq.

Co. (County) 	Pk. 	St. (Street)

Dr. (Drive) 	Pt. 	Terr.

Ft. 	Pen. (Peninsula)

Click on forward arrow (>>) key above for state and province abbreviations.


Abbreviations for States and Provinces

Traditional abbreviations for states and provinces begin with a capital letter and end with a period.

Except for the abbreviation D.C. when it follows Washington, which may be used at any time, use the abbreviations for states and provinces only in lists, maps, charts, addresses, and informal writing.

Avoid abbreviations for states, provinces, and countries in formal writing--the exceptions are the relatively long U.S., U.S.A., U.S.S.R., and C.I.S. which may be used at any time.

The two-letter postal service abbreviations are all capitals with no periods. They are not set apart by commas.  They are only used with addresses on letters, envelopes, and packages to be mailed.

Correct: P.O. Box 203

Shelton, Conn., 06484    (In an address)

Correct: P.O. Box 203

Shelton  CT  06484     (In an address)

Incorrect: He works in Shelton, Conn.

(Standard sentence, do not abbreviate.)

Correct: He works in Shelton, Connecticut.

Correct only because it is informal:  Was it really the

O'Leary's cow that made Chicago, Ill.?

U.S. State Abbreviations

(Canadian provinces follow this list.)

State/Territory 	Traditional 	Postal

Alabama 	Ala. 	AL

Alaska 	Alaska 	AK

Arizona 	Ariz. 	AZ

Arkansas 	Ark. 	AR

California 	Cal., Calif. 	CA

Colorado 	Col., Colo. 	CO

Delaware 	Del. 	DE

District of Columbia 	D.C. 	DC

Florida 	Fla. 	FL

Georgia 	Ga. 	GA

Guam 	Guam 	GU

Hawaii 	Hawaii, H.I. 	HI

Idaho 	Ida., Id., I.  	ID

Illinois 	Ill. 	IL

Indiana 	Ind.  	IN

Iowa 	Iowa, Ia. 	IA

Kansas 	Kan., Kans. 	KS

Kentucky 	Ken., Ky. 	KY

Louisiana 	La. 	LA

Maine 	Me. 	ME

Maryland 	Md. 	MD

Michigan 	Mich. 	MI

Minnesota 	Minn. 	MN

Mississippi 	Miss. 	MS

Missouri 	Mo. 	MO

Montana 	Mont. 	MT

Nebraska 	Neb., Nebr. 	NB

Nevada 	Nev. 	NV

New Hampshire 	N.H. 	NH

New Jersey 	N.J. 	NJ

New Mexico 	N.M., N.Mex. 	NM

North Carolina 	N.C. 	NC

North Dakota 	N.D., N.Dak 	ND

Ohio 	Ohio, O. 	OH

Oklahoma 	Okla., Ok. 	OK

Oregon 	Ore. 	OR

Pennsylvania 	Penna., Penn., Pa. 	PA

Puerto Rico 	P.R. 	PR

Rhode Island 	R.I. 	RI

South Carolina 	S.C. 	SC

South Dakota 	S.D., S.Dak. 	SD

Tennessee 	Tenn. 	TN

Texas 	Tex. 	TX

Utah 	Utah, Ut. 	UT

Vermont 	Vt. 	VT

Virginia 	Va. 	VA

(U.S.) Virgin Islands 	U.S.V.I., V.I. 	VI

Washington 	Wash. 	WA

West Virginia 	W.Va. 	WV

Wisconsin 	Wis., Wisc. 	WI

Wyoming 	Wyo. 	WY

Canadian Provinces

Province 	Traditional 	Postal

Alberta 	Alta. 	AB

British Columbia 	B.C. 	BC

Manitoba 	Man. 	MB

New Brunswick 	N.B. 	NB

Newfoundland 	N.F. 	NF

Northwest Territories 	N.W.T. 	NT

Nova Scotia 	N.S. 	NS

Ontario 	Ont. 	ON

Prince Edward Island 	P.E.I. 	PE

Québec 	P.Q., Qué. 	QC

Sakatchewan 	Sask. 	SK

Yukon Territory 	Yuk., Y.T. 	YT

See also Commas with Addresses


Abbreviations of Units of Measurement

Abbreviations for most units of measurements use small letters and periods. The few exceptions that use capital letters are noted below.  Temperature abbreviations use capitals because they come from proper nouns.  Measures of mass or weight of types of tons are usually capitalized when abbreviated.

Abbreviations for metric units, including temperatures (Kelvin or Celsius), do not end with periods.  Non-metric units with "per" (such as "miles per hour") usually do not take periods, either.

Temperature abbreviations are used in all types of writing.  Other abbreviations of measurements are limited to lists, charts, technical writing, and informal writing.  In standard formal English, they are spelled out.

If you spell out the number, spell out the unit of measurement.

There is no need to add an s to an abbreviation to show a plural.  This is sometimes done in advertising ("3 lbs. for a dollar"), but it is not necessary.

English Unit Abbreviations

Abbreviation 	Unit of Measurement

bbl. 	barrel

cu. 	cubic

doz. 	dozen

F. 	Fahrenheit

fl. oz. 	fluid ounce

ft. 	foot

gal. 	gallon

gr. 	grain

gr., gro. 	gross

in. 	inch

k., kt. 	karat

k., kt. 	knot

lb. 	pound

LT, L.T. 	long ton

mi. 	mile

mph 	miles per hour

n.m. 	nautical miles

oz. 	ounce

pt. 	pint

qt. 	quart

sq. 	square

rpm 	revolutions per minute

T. 	ton

T. 	tablespoon in some cookbooks

t. 	teaspoon in some cookbooks

tbsp. 	tablespoon

tsp. 	teaspoon

yd. 	yard

The single hatch mark ' can stand for foot or a geographical minute (a minute of longitude or latitude).  The double hatch mark " can stand for inch or geographical second (a second of longitude or latitude).  So 5'6" would mean five feet, six inches.  42°24'54" N. would mean 42 degrees, 24 minutes, 54 seconds north.

Metric Abbreviations

Abbreviation 	Unit of Measurement

b 	byte

C 	Celsius, Centigrade

cc 	cubic centimeter

cm 	centimeter

G,Gb 	gigabyte

g, gr 	gram

ha 	hectare

K 	Kelvin

K, Kb 	kilobyte

kg 	kilogram

kl 	kiloliter

km 	kilometer

l 	liter

m 	meter

M, Mb 	megabyte

mcg 	microgram

mg 	milligram

ml 	milliliter

mm 	millimeter

MT 	metric ton

t, T 	metric ton

w 	watt

kw 	kilowatt

kwh 	kilowatt-hour

Since the metric system uses standard prefixes, you can easily figure out most other metric abbreviations; for example, cl would be centiliter.

The Greek letter µ  (mu) is often used to show the prefix micro, especially in scientific publications.  For example, µg would be the same as mcg, and µl would be microliter.  When by itself, µ stands for micron.  mµ means millimicron, and µµ means  micromicron (a millionth of a micron).

To abbreviate most square and cubic units in the metric system, add the exponent ² for square and the

exponent ³ for cubic.  For example, m² means square meter, and mm³ means cubic millimeter.  If you use this notation, use it consistently: Use cm³ rather than cc for cubic centimeter.


Abbreviations of Time References

Abbreviations for time read from a clock begin with small letters.  Those for months and days of the week begin with capital letters.  They all end with a period.

These abbreviations are used in charts, calendars, lists, informal writing, and the like.  Spell the words out in standard formal writing.

Clock time: sec.  min.  hr. (sometimes h.)

Days of the Week: Mon.  Tue. (Tues.)  Wed.

Thu. (Thurs.)  Fri.  Sat.  Sun.

Months: Jan.  Feb.  Mar.  Apr.  Aug.  Sep. (Sept.)  Oct.

Nov.  Dec.

May, June, and July are not normally abbreviated, though sometimes Jun. and Jul. are used when space is limited to three letters.

A.M. and P.M. may either be written in all capital letters or all lower case, but choose one style and stick with it.   B.C, B.C.E., and A.D. are always capitalized.  Each letter in all five abbreviations is followed by a period.

These abbreviations may be used in all types of writing but  only with numbers or a numerical reference.

If you wish to use B.C., B.C.E., or A.D. in a sentence referring to a century, the abbreviation follows the century.

B.C. and B.C.E. always follow the date; A.D. may either precede or follow a numerical date.

None of these abbreviations are separated by commas.

Incorrect: We will meet in the p.m.

(OK informally; not standard use, no number.)

Correct: We will meet at 1:15 p.m.

Correct: Alexander ruled in the fourth century B.C.

(Abbreviation always follows century reference.)

Correct: Charlemagne was crowned in A.D. 800.

Correct: Charlemagne was crowned in 800 A.D.

(Either way is OK for A.D. and a number.)

Since a.m. means "before noon" and p.m. means "after noon," use no other expression of time of day with them.

Incorrect: He arrived at 10 p.m. in the evening.

(In the evening is redundant)

Correct: He arrived at 10 p.m.

Correct: He arrived at 10 in the evening.


Abbreviations of Latin Expressions

Use small letters and periods for most abbreviations of Latin terms.  Common Latin expression like those listed here are not normally underlined or italicized.  They are usually used in bibliographies, footnotes, lists, and references.

In standard writing, use the English equivalent or write out the whole word.

They are usually underlined or italicized in formal references, notes, and bibliographies.

Abbreviation 	Equivalent

c., ca. 	circa, about, around

e.g. 	for example

et al. 	et alii, and the others

etc. 	and so on, note spelling

et seq. 	and the following (usually pages)

f. 	and the next page

ff. 	and the following pages

i.e. 	id est, that is

N.B. 	Nota Bene, note well (capitalize)

op.  	opus, work (of art)

q.v. 	which see

v. 	see

v., vs. 	versus

viz. 	vidilicet, namely

Correct: William Chaucer (c. 1343-1399)

Incorrect: William Chaucer was born c. 1343.

(Standard sentence, not a reference--write out the word or use the English equivalent.)

Correct: William Chaucer was born circa 1343.

Correct: William Chaucer was born about 1343.


Business Abbreviations; Abbreviation
Business Abbreviations

Abbreviations in business names begin with a capital letter and end with a period except for the ampersand (&).

In formal writing, write out the full name of the business.

The legal abbreviations Inc. and Ltd. may be abbreviated.


Pronounced Abbreviations

Use all capitals and no periods to abbreviate names and titles when the abbreviations are pronounced letter by letter.

Examples: NFL   NEA   AFL-CIO   CBS   IRS  IRA  TV

Use all capitals and no periods for acronyms.  Acronyms are abbreviations which have been made into pronounced words.

Examples: OPEC   NAFTA   NATO   BASIC   SCUBA

Using abbreviations such as these is fine in standard writing, but it is a good idea to identify the acronym or abbreviation for your audience the first time word by word so that there is no misunderstanding.

Example: He got into trouble because of his

involvement in an Individual Retirement Account at work.  His IRA went over the limit, and he owed some back taxes.

(This helps just in case, for example, someone were thinking of the Irish Republican Army!)


Punctutation Contents

 Punctuation Rules

Periods

Question Marks

Exclamation Points

Commas

Semicolons and Colons

Quotation Marks

Italicizing and Underlining

Dashes and Parentheses

Hyphens

Apostrophes

The Ellipsis

Brackets

The Virgule

Click on the topic you seek.  Click on a button above to take you to the opening screen or to a previous screen.

See also Abbreviations for periods with abbreviations.


Periods
Using Periods

Periods end declarative sentences and requests or mild commands.

Declarative: His name is Joshua.

Request or Mild Command: Please be sure to tell her I am coming.

Periods are used to end most abbreviations except for acronyms and abbreviations which are pronounced.  See Abbreviations Contents for more information.

If a sentence ends with an abbreviation, no additional period is needed.  If the sentence requires a question mark or exclamation point, one may be added after the period.

Incorrect: Please make the check out to Roland N. Payne,

D.D.S..

(Second period at end not needed)

Correct: Please make the check out to Roland N. Payne,

D.D.S.

Correct: Do I make the check out to Roland N. Payne,

D.D.S.?

A period is used after numbers and letters in outlines.

Outline: I. Punctuation

A. Periods

1. End sentences

2. Abbreviations

3. Outlines

A period always comes before a closing quotation mark.

Incorrect: George said, "I don't get it".

Correct: George said, "I don't get it."


Question Marks

Question marks end all direct questions.  This includes incomplete questions and statements intended as questions.

Direct Question: What is your name?

Incomplete Question: Really?  When?  No kidding?

Statement Intended as Question: Your name is Fred?

Sentences which describe a question but do not directly ask a question are called indirect questions. They do not take a question mark.

Incorrect: He asked if he could leave early?

(Describes but does not ask a question)

Correct: He asked if he could leave early.

Correct: He asked, "May I leave early?"

(In the last one, the question is directly quoted.)

Use a question mark in parentheses after a point of fact to show uncertainty about it.  Use sparingly and only for items impossible to verify.

Example: His great-great-grandfather (Nelson

Bridger?) supposedly fought in the Black Hawk War.

Example: Chaucer was born in 1343 (?).

(Note that a question mark used this way in not an end mark.  A period is needed.)

See also Question Marks in Quotations


Exclamation Points

Sometimes called the exclamation mark, the exclamation point is used at the end of a sentence or after an interjection to show strong emotion or emphasis.

Exclamatory sentence: The rain did not stop for four days!

Strong command: Be back at ten o'clock or else!

Interjection: Wow!

When an emphatic interjection or direct address begins a sentence, you may use an exclamation point or a comma, depending on how much you want to show the strong emotion.

Correct: No, I don't want to go there.

Correct, more emotion: No, I don't want to go there!

Correct, even more emphasis: No! I don't want to go there!

Beware of overusing exclamation points.  Using them too frequently makes them less meaningful.

Use of an exclamation point inside parentheses is used by some to show irony.

Usually, the ironic tone should be clear from the words, but sometimes this special punctuation is added for emphasis.  Some authorities do not consider this construction necessary, and it is of very limited use in most standard English writing.

OK, informal: That butcher (!) is a vegetarian.

(The punctuation is probably not necessary, but it was placed there to emphasize the irony.)


Comma Contents
Commas

Commas are the most frequently used punctuation mark in English. Originally used to show a pause, they are used nowadays in a variety of situations to make writing clearer.

Click on the topic below for more specific comma rules.

The Three Most Common Comma Rules

Commas in Compound Sentences

Commas in a Series

Commas with Paired Adjectives

Commas and Introductory Words

Commas After Introductory Phrases

Commas After Introductory Clauses

Commas with Interrupting Expressions

Commas with Nonrestrictive Modifiers

Commas with Geographical Names

Commas with Dates

Commas with Titles that Follow Names

Commas in Addresses

Commas in Letter Writing

Commas in Numbers

Commas with Certain Words Omitted

Commas with Quotations

Adding Commas for Clarity

Commas with Adjectives Following Nouns

When Not to Use Commas


The Three Most Common Comma Rules; Comma
The Three Most Common Comma Rules

While there are many specific uses for commas, nearly eighty-five percent of the commas used in written English are used in a mere three situations.

If you know the basic rule for these three cases, you can use commas in over four-fifths of the times you need to use commas.

1.  Put a comma before a coordinating conjunction that separates two independent clauses.

For more on this, see Commas in Compound Sentences.

2. Put a comma after introductory words, phrases, or clauses in a sentence.

For more on this, see Commas and Introductory Words, Commas After Introductory Phrases, and Commas After Introductory Clauses.

3. Use commas to set off elements that interrupt or add information in a sentence.

For more on this, see Commas with Interrupting Expressions and Commas with Nonrestrictive Modifiers.


Commas in Compound Sentences

Use a comma to separate independent clauses in a compound sentence when they are separated by a conjunction.

The comma goes after the first clause and before the coordinating conjunction that separates the clauses.

Make sure they are independent clauses and not some other construction where commas are not required.

Correct: We washed the dog, and then we cleaned up the

mess that he made.

(This contains two independent clauses with their own subject and verb: We washed and we cleaned.  The third clause, that he made, is a subordinate clause, so the rule does not apply.)

Incorrect: We washed the dog, and then cleaned up his

mess.

(There is only one subject.  This is a single clause, not two independent clauses.  The subject we has a compound verb.)

Correct: We washed the dog and then cleaned up his mess.


Commas in a Series

Use commas to separate three or more words, phrases, or clauses in a series.

A conjunction goes between the last two items of the series.

While some authorities say that the comma before the conjunction is optional, leaving it out may cause confusion, so it is better to include it.

Words: Use commas to separate three or more words,

phrases, or clauses.

Phrases: This morning I woke up, got dressed, brushed

my teeth, and ate breakfast.

Clauses: In fact, the bus was full of people who got

dressed, who brushed their teeth, and who ate breakfast this morning.

Incorrect: The street was filled with angry

protestors, shouting spectators and police.

(Leaving out the last comma makes it look like the police were shouting, too.)

Correct: The street was filled with angry

protestors, shouting spectators, and police.

(Makes it clearer.)

See also Semicolons in a Series.


Declarative Sentence

A declarative sentence states an idea.  It does not give a command or request, nor does it ask a question.  The sentences in this box are all declarative sentences.  A declarative sentence usually ends in a period, though it may end in an exclamation point.


Commas with Paired Adjectives

Coordinate Adjectives

If two adjectives modify a noun in the same way, place a comma between the two adjectives.  These are called coordinate adjectives.

There is a two-part test for coordinate adjectives:

(1) Can you replace the comma with the word and?

(2) Can you reverse the order of the adjectives and keep the same meaning?

If you can do both, then you have coordinate adjectives.  Correct: Did you read about Macomber's short, happy

life?

Test for Correctness: Did you read about Macomber's

short and happy life?

Did you read about Macomber's happy, short life?

(All three sentences say the same thing, so the adjectives are coordinate adjectives and separated by commas in the original.)

Cumulative Adjectives

If the paired adjectives fail the two-part test, then no comma is used.  This shows that they must remain in a certain order to make sense.  These are called cumulative adjectives.

Incorrect: The former, overweight woman told us

how she lost fifty-five pounds.

Test for Correctness: The former and overweight woman...

(Makes no sense)

The overweight, former woman...

(A former woman? At best the meaning is changed.)

Clearly, no comma is needed for these cumulative adjectives.

Correct: The former overweight woman told us how

she lost fifty-five pounds.

A device to help remember this punctuation rule is to keep in mind a common expression like Christmas tree or fire truck. We say, "green Christmas tree," but not "Christmas green tree."  We say, "red fire truck," but not "fire red truck."  Such cumulative expressions take no comma.


Commas and Introductory Words or Phrases; Comma; Phrase
Commas and Introductory Words or Phrases

Commas are used to set off certain items that often begin a sentence and have no grammatical connection with the rest of the sentence.  These items include certain common expressions, unemphatic interjections, and direct addresses.

Common Expression: But of course, we have mustard in

the car.

Unemphatic Interjection: Yes, we have no bananas.

Direct Address: Robert, please hand the man some

mustard.

All three of these items are set off by commas no matter where they appear in the sentence.  If they are not used at the beginning, the sentence often sounds more awkward.

Correct: Please, Robert, hand the gentleman some

mustard.

Correct: We have mustard in our car, of course.

Introductory adverbs are normally set off by a comma unless they are followed directly by the word they modify.

Correct: Clearly, one and one make two.

Incorrect: Clearly, mistaken was the witness.

(Clearly modifies mistaken which directly

follows it because of a change in the word order.)

Correct: Clearly mistaken was the witness.

See also Commas After Introductory Phrases and Introductory Clauses.


Commas After Introductory Phrases

Prepositional Phrases

Use a comma to separate a group of prepositional phrases of more than four words when the phrases come at the beginning of a sentence.

Do not use a comma between separate phrases unless they are in a series.

A comma may also set off a single prepositional phrase at the beginning to make the sentence clear.  A comma is recommended after any introductory prepositional phrase of more than four words.

Correct: Under the kitchen table the dog cowered.

(Single short, clear phrase.  No comma needed.)

Correct: Under the spreading chestnut tree, the

village smithy stands.

(Comma optional, but helpful due to length of phrase)

Correct: Under the pile of clothes, we found his wallet.

(Two prepositional phrases, not in a series)

Incorrect: On the sand, of the beach, by the

inlet, we relaxed in the sun.

(Do not separate the phrases since they are not in a series.)

Correct: On the sand of the beach by the inlet, we

relaxed in the sun.

Correct: Over hill, over dale, we hit the dusty trail.

(The two phrases are in series here.)

Introductory Participial and Infinitive Phrases

Use a comma to separate introductory participial phrases and infinitive phrases used as modifiers.

Correct: Looking for help, the man fell on his knees

to beg.   (Participial phrase)

Correct: To raise enough money in time, Mary had to

issue stock in her business.

(The infinitive phrase is used as a modifier)

Incorrect: To ski, is exhilarating.

(The infinitive is used as a noun, not a modifier.)

Correct: To ski is exhilarating.


Participle and Participial Phrase

A participle is a verb used as an adjective.  The are two kinds of participles.  The past participle has the past form of the verb which would go with the verb have and would usually end in -ed.  The present participle ends in -ing.

A participial phrase is the participle plus any complements and modifiers of the participle and complements.  In this box the participle is italicized and the participial phrase is underlined.


Complement

The word complement has the same root as the word complete.

A complement is a word that follows a verb and completes the meaning of the sentence or verbal phrase.  In English, the complements are direct object, indirect object, predicate nominative, predicate adjective, and object complement.


Predicate Adjective

A predicate adjective is an adjective which follows the verb and describes or renames the subject.  It is another way of modifying the subject. It follows a linking verb.

Example (italicized): The sea is calm tonight.


Infinitive

An infinitive is the simple present form of a verb used as either a  noun, adjective, or adverb.  The verb of the infinitive is normally preceded by the word to.  When the infinitive follows some verbs as the direct object, the to may be dropped.

An infinitive phrase is the infinitive plus any complements and any modifiers of the infinitive and complements.

As a Noun: He helped to write the program.

As an Adjective: Lydia was looking for a way to earn

money.

As an Adverb: He shouted to get our attention.

To Dropped: He helped writethe program.

In the above examples, the infinitive is italicized and the infinitive phrase is underlined.


Commas After Introductory Clauses; Comma; Clause; Adverb clause
Commas After Introductory Clauses

Place a comma after an introductory adverb clause.

An adverb clause shows time, place, degree, extent, cause, or  condition.  It is a subordinate clause which begins with a subordinating conjunction.

Correct: Before the curtain fell, the actors bowed.

Correct: If the next two nights are sellouts, the play

will be extended.

Note that if a sentence ends with an adverb clause, no comma is used. The subordinating conjunction is enough of a separation.

Incorrect: The play's run will be extended, if the

next two nights are sellouts.

(No comma needed with adverb clause at end of sentence.) Correct: The play's run will be extended if the

next two nights are sellouts.


Commas With Interrupting or Parenthetical Expressions
Commas with Interrupting and Parenthetical Expressions

In addition to the items covered in Commas with Introductory Words, conjunctive adverbs are also set off by commas.

Conjunctive Adverbs are adverbs which join sentence parts.  The following words are the most common conjunctive adverbs:

also   besides   furthermore   however   indeed instead   moreover   nevertheless   otherwise therefore   thus

Correct: John headed this way; however, he did not see me.

Correct: John headed this way; he did not see me, however.

Some adverbs which are used conjunctively may at times be used as a simple adverb.  They are only set off by commas when used conjunctively or when some other comma rule applies.

Correct: John saw Kate; also, he saw Jean.

(Also here is joining the sentence parts.)

Incorrect: John saw Kate; he, also, saw Jean.

(Also here is simply modifying saw.)

Correct: John saw Kate; he also saw Jean.

Commas also set off contrasting expressions beginning with not.

Correct: I wanted this one, not that one.

Correct: We went to New Hampshire, not New Jersey, for our vacation.


Commas with Nonrestrictive Modifiers

A modifying word, phrase, or clause following a  noun is set off by commas if it presents information which is not essential to identify the noun or the meaning of the sentence.

This is called a nonrestrictive modifier, i.e., it does not restrict the meaning of the noun or sentence.

Example: Any student not sitting down will get detention.

(This takes no comma because the phrase not sitting down is necessary to identify the noun.  Remove it, and you get something very different.)

Any student will get a detention.

Example: Marcia Gomes, who was not sitting down, just got a detention.

(Here the person is named specifically.  We know whom the sentence is about.  The clause who was not sitting down does add information, but it is not necessary to identify the noun it modifies.  Drop the clause and we still know who got the punishment.)

Marcia Gomes just got a detention.

Sometimes, the punctuation may depend on the situation.  For example, if I have just one sister, or the reader already knows who I am talking about, this sentence is correct:

My sister, Martha, is a nurse.

However, if I have more than one sister and it is not otherwise clear who I am talking about, her name is essential to identify the sister.

My sister Martha is a nurse.

Or perhaps to make it clearer:

My sister Martha is a nurse; my sister Marianne is a teacher.

See also Dashes with Nonrestrictive Modifiers.


Commas with Geographical Names

When a geographical name or location has two or more parts to it, use a comma after each different type of part.  A second comma follows the last item, unless it comes at the end of the sentence.

Incorrect: I meant Pittsburg Kansas instead of Pittsburgh

Pennsylvania.

(Commas needed to separate city and state)

Incorrect: I meant Pittsburg, Kansas instead of Pittsburgh,

Pennsylvania.

(Comma needed after last item, Kansas)

Correct: I meant Pittsburg, Kansas, instead of Pittsburgh,

Pennsylvania.

If the parts are joined by a preposition, no comma is needed.

Incorrect: I meant Pittsburg, in Kansas, instead of

Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania.

Correct: I meant Pittsburg in Kansas instead of Pittsburgh

in Pennsylvania.


Commas with Dates

When a date is made up of two or more parts, use a comma to separate the parts when the parts both are words or both are numbers.  A second comma follows the last item unless it is at the end of a list or sentence.

Incorrect: We will meet Friday July 15.

(Word Friday followed by another word,

July--comma needed)

Correct: We will meet Friday, July 15.

Incorrect: October 31, 1517 is one of the most significant

dates in history.

(The comma between the two numbers is OK, but a second comma is needed after the last item, 1517.)

Correct:  October 31, 1517, is one of the most significant

dates in history.

Incorrect: October, 1517, was a watershed month in history.

(No commas needed because word October is followed by a number, 1517.)

Correct:  October 1517 was a watershed month in history.

If the parts of the date are connected by a preposition, no comma is needed.

Incorrect: On a Sunday, in December 1941, the U.S. found

itself in World War II.

(No comma needed since the preposition in is there.)

Correct: On a Sunday in December 1941, the U.S. found

itself in World War II.


Commas with Titles that Follow Names

Each title that follows a name is set off by commas.

Incorrect: Kenneth Griffey Jr. could have broken Maris'

record.

Correct: Kenneth Griffey, Jr., could have broken Maris'

record.

Correct, if pompous: The book was written by John Kenneth

Galbraith, A.B., M.A., Ph.D., D.Sc., Litt.D.

(Note that each title is set off by commas.)

Numerical titles following a name are not set off by commas.

Incorrect: Aloysius Otto Culp, III, is better known as "Buzz."

Correct: Aloysius Otto Culp III is better known as "Buzz."

See also Abbreviations after Names


Commas in Addresses

Use a comma to separate each part of an address that has two or more parts. This follows the same pattern as geographical names.

Commas are not needed if prepositions join the address parts.

Incorrect: Write me in care of Post Office Box 203 Shelton

Connecticut 06484.

(Commas needed)

Correct: Write me in care of Post Office Box 203, Shelton,

Connecticut 06484.

(Comma after state or province and before postal code is optional.)

If the address is on an envelope or is otherwise written out line by line, no comma is needed when a new line begins.

Incorrect: P.O. Box 203,

Shelton, Conn. 06484

(Comma after first line not necessary)

Correct:   P.O. Box 203

Shelton, Conn. 06484

See Abbreviations for States and Provinces for abbreviations and rules on using two-letter postal service abbreviations.


Commas in Letter Writing

Use commas after the salutation (also called the greeting) in a personal letter and after the complimentary closing in all letters.

Salutation: Dear Fred,

My dearest Emmeline,

Closing: Sincerely,

Truly yours,

See also Letter Writing topic in Contents, Capitalization in Letters, and Colons in Special Cases


Commas in Numbers

In numbers of more than three digits, use a comma after every third digit from right to left.

Incorrect: The area of North America is approximately

9435000 square miles.

Correct: The area of North America is approximately

9,435,000 square miles.

(This is much easier to read.)

Numbers which normally do not take commas are ZIP codes, phone numbers, page numbers, serial numbers, house numbers, and dates of years.

Many European countries use a comma in place of the decimal point and use periods or blank spaces to separate every third digit.

United States: 2,367.48 francs

France: 2.367,48 francs or 2 367,48 francs


Commas with Certain Words Omitted

Words intentionally left out of clauses may be shown by a comma.  A comma is used when the missing words are clearly understood.

Incorrect: George liked the color green; John red.

(Confusing)

Correct: George liked the color green; John, red.

(Now missing words are understood.)

See Pronouns with Elliptical Clauses for clauses with missing words where a comma to show missing words is not used.


Commas with Quotations

Commas are used to set off the "he said/she said" clause. The comma always goes before the quotation marks.

Incorrect: Henrietta asked "Do you want to go with me?"

(Comma must set off "she said" clause.)

Incorrect: Henrietta asked",Do you want to go with me?"

(Comma must go before quotation mark.)

Correct: Henrietta asked,"Do you want to go with me?"

Incorrect: "I will go with you",Jane replied.

(Comma must go before quotation mark.)

Correct: "I will go with you,"Jane replied.

Correct: "Anyway," she said, "I have to go."

(Note the pattern when the clause is in the middle.)

A comma is not used to set off a "he said/she said" clause if the part of the quotation preceding the clause ends with a question mark or exclamation point.

Incorrect: "Why did you do that?," he asked.

(Comma not necessary)

Correct: "Why did you do that?" he asked.

Correct: "Hey!" he screamed. "Come back here!"

(Note that the question mark or exclamation

point goes with the quotation, not with the "he said/she said" clause.)


Adding Commas for Clarity

Sometimes it is necessary to add a comma to make a sentence clear.

Unclear: In the kitchen cupboards were empty.

(Make it clear that the phrase is "in the kitchen,"

not "in the kitchen cupboards.")

Clear: In the kitchen, cupboards were empty.

Unclear: The room was full of crying babies and mothers.

(Were the mothers crying, too?)

Clear: The room was full of crying babies, and mothers.

Clear: The room was full of mothers and crying babies.


Commas with Adjectives Following Nouns

Sometimes for emphasis adjectives or paired adjectives follow the noun they modify.  The adjective or adjective pair is then set off by commas.

Correct: The car, bright red, stood out in the parking lot.

The adjective pair, if coordinate adjectives, must use the word and to separate the two adjectives.

Correct: The dessert, sweet and rich, was delightful.

For more on cumulative and coordinate adjectives, see Paired Adjectives.


When Not to Use Commas

With Compound Verbs

Do not use a comma to separate the paired parts in paired compound subjects or compound verbs.

Incorrect: She lets me watch her mom, and pop fight.

(Compound subject.  No need for comma

with the word and already there.

Correct: She lets me watch her mom and pop fight.

Incorrect: They would argue over money, and scream

about his late nights.

(Compound verb.  No need for comma

to separate the words fight and scream.)

Correct:  They would argue over money and scream

about his late nights.

With Subordinate Clauses

Commas do not set off subordinate clauses unless some specific comma rule applies, namely they are clauses in a series, or the clauses are functioning as appositives, nonrestrictive modifiers, or introductory adverb clauses.

Incorrect: He told me that I had better come, or

else something terrible would happen.

(Not a series. Not an appositive, nonrestrictive

modifier, or introductory adverb clause.)

Correct: He told me that I had better come or

else something terrible would happen.

With Nouns and Modifying Adjectives

Do not use commas to separate a noun and its modifying adjectives when the adjectives come before the noun.

Incorrect: The bright red, car was a Corvette.

Correct: The bright red car was a Corvette.

For more on punctuation of modifying adjectives see Nonrestrictive Modifiers, Paired Adjectives,

and Adjectives Following Nouns.


Semicolons and Colons

Semicolons and colons were originally used to designate pauses shorter than a period and longer than a comma.  Now they are used to show certain grammatical relationships with the colon the more emphatic of the two.

Semicolons with Clauses

Semicolons in a Series

Colons with Lists

Colons Before Quotations

Colons Separating Independent Clauses

Colons with Appositives

Special Cases Using Colons


Semicolons with Clauses

Semicolons are used to separate independent clauses in three different cases.

1. When there are no conjunctions separating the clauses.

Incorrect: I like you, John likes you, too.

(Semicolon needed)

Correct: I like you; John likes you, too.

2. When the clauses are separated by a conjunctive adverb or other parenthetical expression set off by commas.

Correct: I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless,

I live.--Galatians 2:20.

(Nevertheless is a conjunctive adverb.)

Correct: Hector was a Trojan; Achilles, on the

hand, was an Achaean.

3. When the clauses themselves contain commas.

Incorrect: He wears shoes with kilties, a leather

fringe, but I prefer penny loafers myself.

(Since clause already has comma, semicolon

separating the clauses is needed to make sentence clear.)

Correct: He wears shoes with kilties, a leather

fringe; but I prefer penny loafers myself.


Semicolons in a Series

When the items in a series themselves contain commas, separate the items with semicolons.

Incorrect: We visited Erie, Pennsylvania, Buffalo,

New York, and Toronto, Ontario.

(Confusing.  Semicolons needed to make clear

distinctions.)

Correct:  We visited Erie, Pennsylvania; Buffalo,

New York; and Toronto, Ontario.

See also Commas in a Series.


Colons with Lists

Use a colon before a list when the list is preceded by a complete independent clause.

Never use a colon to separate a preposition from its objects or a verb from its complements.

Some form of the word follow usually indicates a colon before the list.

Correct: John has all the ingredients: minced clams,

milk, potatoes, and onions.

(The list is preceded by a complete

independent clause.)

Incorrect: For their anniversary they went to: Aruba

St. Martin, Jamaica, and the Bahamas.

(The colon separates the preposition to from

its objects.)

Correct: For their anniversary they went to Aruba

St. Martin, Jamaica, and the Bahamas.

(No colon needed)

Incorrect: To make clam chowder you need: minced

clams, milk, potatoes, and onions.

(The colon separates the verb need from its

complements.)

Correct: To make clam chowder you need minced clams

milk, potatoes, and onions.

(No colon needed)

Either incorrect sentence above could also be corrected by adding a form of the verb follow.

Correct: For their anniversary they went to the following

places: Aruba, St. Martin, Jamaica, and the Bahamas.

(Now the word places is the object of the

preposition to, and the colon follows a

complete independent clause.

Correct: To make clam chowder you need the following:

minced clams, milk, potatoes, and onions.

(Now the following is the object of the the verb,

and the list follows a complete clause.)


Colons Before Quotations

Colons introduce quotations that are formal or lengthy.

Correct: Dickens wrote: "It was the best of times, it was

the worst of times."

(Formal quotation)

Colons introduce quotations that do not begin with a "he said/she said" clause.

Correct: Alexandra took the microphone: "Your honor,

I object."

(Clause preceding quotation does not have

a verb which denotes speaking.)

In all cases, the colon precedes the quotation marks.


Colons Separating Independent Clauses

Colons may be used to separate independent clauses that are not separated by a conjunction or any other connecting word or phrase.

Semicolons are normally used, but the colon adds emphasis, especially if the first clause leads into the second clause or has a parallel construction.

The second clause begins with a capital letter.

Correct: Apples are not squeezed: Pomace is pressed.

See also Semicolons with Clauses and Special Capitalizing Cases.


Clam Chowder Recipe
New England Clam Chowder

2 to 4 c. drained, chopped clams (reserve broth)

4 oz. diced salt pork or bacon

2 small onions chopped fine

2 medium potatoes, chopped

2 c. light cream (or cream/milk mixture)

Salt and Pepper (white pepper preferred)

Fry salt pork till crisp.  Remove meat with slotted spoon.  Add onion to remaining fat in pan and cook three minutes.  Add potatoes.  Add enough clam broth and/or water to almost cover potatoes.  Cook over low heat till potatoes are tender.  Add clams and cook for just two minutes after water returns to boil.  Add heated, not boiled, cream.  Season to taste.  Stir, let stand a few minutes and serve in heated bowls.  May be frozen or reheated, but do not boil.


Colons with Formal Appositives

Use a colon instead of a comma to introduce an appositive at the end of a sentence for emphasis.

Appositives may be words, phrases, or clauses.  If it is an independent clause, that clause begins with a capital letter.

Correct: He was watching his favorite type of

television show: a baseball game.

(A comma is fine, but a colon here provides

emphasis and/or formality.)

Correct: He learned a valuable lesson: Never argue

with a woman.

(The appositive here is an independent clause,

so it is capitalized.  See Special Capitalizing Cases.)


Colons in Special Cases

There are half a dozen special uses for the colon.

1. Numerical expressions of time.

Example:  5:31 p.m.

The colon goes between the hour and minute.  If seconds are noted, a colon goes between the minute and second.

Example: He ran the marathon in 2:14:33.2.

(Two hours, fourteen minutes, and thirty-three point two seconds.)

Example: He ran the mile in 4:12.

(Four minutes and twelve seconds)

2. Periodical references in a bibliography or formal reference.

This may vary slightly depending on the form followed.  Most frequently the reference is Volume:Issue Number or Volume:Page Number.

3. Bible references, Chapter:Verse.

Example: John 3:16

("The book of John, chapter 3, verse 16.")

4. Subtitles for books, periodicals, and articles are preceded by a colon.

Example: Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

See also Capitalizing Titles of Things.

5. Salutations in business letters are followed by a colon.

Example:  Dear Sir:

Dear Ms. Hathaway:

See also Capitalizing in Letters, Commas in Letters, and the "Letters Writing" heading in the Table of Contents.

6. Colons follow labels that identify important ideas meant to get attention.

Warning: To be opened by authorized personnel only.

Notice: Do not used before October 15.

This is actually the rule that Grammar Slammer follows for displaying "Correct," "Incorrect," and the like for pointing out its examples.


Quotation Marks Contents

Quotation Marks

Quotation marks normally come in pairs to set off a portion of text for a variety of purposes.  Paired single quotation marks are sometimes used as well.

Quotation Marks in Direct Quotations

Question Marks and Exclamation Points in Quotations

Other Punctuation Marks with Quotation Marks

Quotation Marks in Dialogue

Quotation Marks in Titles

Quotation Marks with Slang

Definitions in Quotation Marks

Single Quotation Marks


Quotation Marks in Direct Quotations
Quotations Marks in Direct Quotations

When a person or work is quoted directly and word for word, the quotation is placed in quotation marks.

An indirect quotation in which the substance but not exact wording is used does not take quotations marks.

Correct: Macbeth said, "All our yesterdays have lighted

fools the way to dusty death."

(A direct quotation)

Incorrect: Macbeth said that, "Their past actions lead fools

to death."

(Contains the substance, but not exact words.

Quotation marks are not used.)

Correct: Macbeth said that their past actions lead fools

to death.

See Quotation Marks Index for more on quotation marks.


Quotation Marks with Question Marks and Exclamation Points
Question Marks or Exclamation Points in Quotations

If a question or exclamation is quoted directly, the quotation contains the question mark or exclamation point.

If the question or exclamation is at the end of the quotation, the question mark or exclamation point comes before the closing quotation mark.

Incorrect: "Look at that"! he exclaimed. "Did you see

that"?

Correct: "Look at that!" he exclaimed. "Did you see that?"

(Question mark or exclamation point comes

before quotation mark.)

A question mark can be found outside the quotation mark if the sentence is asking about a quotation, but the quotation itself is not a question.

Incorrect: Did Mark Antony say, "Friends, Romans,

countrymen?"

(A question is not being quoted.  The speaker

is asking about a quotation.

Correct: Did Mark Antony say, "Friends, Romans,

countrymen"?

In the rare case where the question is about a quotation ending in a question, the sentence ends with a single question mark before the quotation mark.

Incorrect: Who said,"Et tu, Bruté?"?

(Second question mark redundant)

Correct: Who said,"Et tu, Bruté?"

See also Question Marks and Quotations with Other Punctuation Marks.


Other Punctuation Marks with Quotation Marks

Always place a comma or period before beginning or ending quotation marks.

Incorrect: "Ned", he requested", please take this to

Mr. Green".

Correct: "Ned," he requested,"please take this to

Mr. Green."

Always place a colon or semicolon after ending quotation marks. (This is relatively rare.)

Correct: George claimed,"I have twenty points"; Bill

said he only had twelve.

See also Question Marks and Exclamation Points in Quotations, Colons with Quotations, and Commas with Quotations.


Quotation Marks in Dialogue

Begin a new paragraph with every change of speaker.

Incorrect:  "Hello, Mary," Jeffrey stammered.  "Hi,

Jeffrey, how are you?" "Uh, fine.  What have you been doing lately?"

Correct:     "Hello, Mary," Jeffrey stammered.

"Hi, Jeffrey, how are you?"

"Uh, fine.  What have you been doing lately?"

For quotations longer than a single paragraph, put quotation marks at the beginning of each paragraph but only at the end of the final quoted word.

This is the only case in which an opening quotation mark may not have a matching closing quotation mark.

Example:

Carton continued: "I see that child who lay upon

her bosom and who bore my name, a man winning his way up in that path of life which once was mine.  I see him winning it so well, that my name is made illustrious there by the bright light of his.  I see the blots I threw upon it faded away.  I see him, foremost of thee just judges and honored men, bringing a boy of my name, with a forehead that I know and golden hair, to this place--then fair to look upon, with not a trace of this day's disfigurement--and I hear him tell the child my story, with a tender and faltering voice.

"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I

have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."

(Because the quotation is longer than a paragraph, note that the first paragraph has no closing quotation marks.  Quotation marks do open the next paragraph to show that the quotation continues.)


Quotation Marks in Titles

Use quotation marks to set off the title of a short written work or parts of a longer work.

Short works include short stories, chapters from a book, one-act plays, short poems, essays, songs, and articles.

Parts of a longer work include episodes in a series, songs, parts of a longer music composition, or an item named as part of a collection.

Examples:

"The Highwayman" 	(poem)

"The Star-Spangled Banner" 	(song)

"The Dead" by James Joyce 	(short story)

"Dan Quayle Was Right" 	(article)

"The Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy" 	(part of

longer work)

See also Titles with Italics.


Quotations Marks with Slang
Quotation Marks with Slang

Nonstandard or unusual slang terms are normally put in quotation marks.

Keep in mind what is slang today may be widely used tomorrow.  For example, when people first started getting arrested for using crack cocaine when it was a new product in the 1980's, news reports usually put the word "crack" in quotation marks.  It was a slang term that many readers did not recognize.  Now the term is widely used and the quotation marks are no longer used.

Example: He got in trouble with the gang for

"dropping dimes."

("Dropping dimes" is a slang term for informing.)


Definitions in Quotation Marks

Explicit definitions of words or terms are put in quotation marks.

Such definitions may or may not be direct quotations from a dictionary or similar source.

Definitions that follow such expressions as means, defines, or is defined as are normally put in quotation marks.  This highlights or emphasizes the definition.

Definitions that follow the verb to be normally are not put in quotation marks since such definitions are seen as the same as a predicate nominative..

Examples: A kiltie is a fringed leather flap found

on some shoes.

(The verb to be is used.)

Kiltie means "a fringed leather flap found on some shoes."

Kiltie is defined as "a fringed leather flap found on some shoes."


Single Quotation Marks

Use single quotation marks for a quotation or title using quotation marks inside another quotation or title which uses quotation marks.

Incorrect: She asked, "How many of you have read

"The Lady of Shallott"?"

("The Lady of Shallott" is a poem.  Same kind

of quotation mark confuses reader.)

Correct: She asked, "How many of you have read

'The Lady of Shallott'?"

For titles or quotations within quotations within quotations (and so ad infinitum), alternate double and single quotation marks.

Example: Helen said,"She asked us,'How many of you

have read "The Lady of Shallott"?'  I had."

(The most the author has seen is five levels of quotations in Lord Jim and Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and The Metamorphoses by Ovid.)

Note: In the British Isles the use of the single and double quotation marks is reversed from the way they are used in the United States.  There the normal quotations and short titles are within single quotation marks.  Double quotation marks are used for titles or quotations within quotation marks.


Underlining and Italicizing

Underlining words and Italicizing words in standard written English mean the same thing.

Handwriting and typing normally show underlining.  Typesetting for print usually uses italics.  Most computers can go either way.

Whichever way is chosen, be consistent and keep the same style throughout.

Grammar Slammer normally uses italics because of the Help file convention of using underlining to show a jump spot or popup box.

Underlining Titles

Underlining Names

Underlining Foreign Words or Abbreviations

Underlining Words for Emphasis

Underlining Items Which Name Themselves

Titles Which Take No Punctuation

Scientific Nomenclature


Underlining or Italicizing Titles

Titles of longer written works are underlined or italicized.

Longer written works include books, full-length plays, films, longer musical compositions, and periodicals.

Incorrect (speaking of the musical): I like Oklahoma.

(The state?)

Incorrect: I like "Oklahoma."

(The song?)

Correct: I like Oklahoma.   OR

I like Oklahoma.

(The title of a longer work is italicized or underlined.)

Correct: I liked Macbeth, but not Macbeth.

(I liked the play Macbeth, but not the character of that name.)

Correct: Time magazine carried a review of

Blade Runner, the film based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Mechanical Sheep?

(The periodical, film, and book title are all italicized or underlined.  Note that the question mark is italicized also because it is part of the title.)

Titles of radio and television series as well as works of art are underlined.

Correct: Rodin's The Thinker

Correct: We used to watch reruns of Gilligan's Island.

Correct: My favorite Star Trek episode is "The

Trouble with Tribbles."

(Note the last one--the series is italicized; the episode is in quotation marks.)

See also Underlining and Italicizing, Italicized Names, and Titles with Quotation Marks.

If an italicized or underlined name or title appears in the title of a work or some other writing which is otherwise italicized or underlined, the writer has a choice:

1. Normally the specific item reverts to standard type.  This is always done in bibliographies and formal references.

Example: A Commentary on Piers Plowman

(Book title contains name of another book)

2. Or you may italicize or underline the title or otherwise italicized or underlined writing without regard to the further italicized words.  This may be necessary to avoid confusion.

Example: A Commentary on Piers Plowman helped me

understand that medieval work.

(Using the style of #1 for this would be more

likely to confuse the reader.)


Underlining or Italicizing Names

Underline the specific name of individual air, sea, space, and land craft.

Examples:

Challenger 	(space)

Captain Bligh commanded the Bounty 	(sea)

He called the Chevy Greased Lightning. 	(land)

If an italicized or underlined name appears in the title of a work or some other writing which is otherwise italicized or underlined, the writer has a choice:

1. Normally the specific item reverts to standard type.  This is always done in bibliographies and formal references.

Example: Mutiny on the Bounty by Nordhoff and Hall

(Book title contains name of ship)

2. Or you may italicize or underline the title or otherwise italicized or underlined writing without regard to the further italicized words.  This may be necessary to avoid confusion.

Example: The Mutiny on the Bounty film starred

Marlon Brando.

(Using the style of #1 for this would be more

likely to confuse the reader.)


Underlining or Italicizing Foreign Terms
Underlining or Italicizing Foreign Words or Abbreviations

Underline or italicize foreign words or abbreviations unless they are regularly used in English.

Because the English language is very flexible, it may sometimes be hard to tell whether some words are widely used.  Check any word or phrase you have a question about in a dictionary.

Clearly words like champagne or chimpanzee or an abbreviation like etc. are not native English words, but they are widely used so underlining words like them is not necessary.

Incorrect: That was a pro bono legal brief.

Correct: That was a pro bono legal brief.

(Legal term from Latin, used by lawyers but otherwise not common.)


Underling or Italicizing Words for Emphasis
Underlining or Italicizing Words for Emphasis

Underline or italicize words which you want to emphasize.  In printing and on many computers this may also be accomplished by bolder print.

The emphasis either is because of special information the writer to wants to call to the reader's attention or because the word or words are meant be stressed in speech.

Examples: He insists that two men saw him.

(Information the writer wants to call attention to)

You said what to Mr. Blank?

(Word meant to be stressed in speech)


Underlining or Italicizing Items Which Name Themselves

Underline or italicize numbers, symbols, letters, and words which name themselves (or which are used as the figure or word).

Incorrect: "Give me a C!" the cheerleader shouted.

(The letter is used as a letter, it names itself.)

Correct: "Give me a C!" the cheerleader shouted.

Incorrect: His 2's look like 7's.

(The numbers are being referred to as figures; they are not numbering anything.)

Correct: His 2's look like 7's.

Incorrect: How do you spell shepherd?

(The sentence is not about shepherds but about the word  shepherd.)

Correct: How do you spell shepherd?


Titles with No Punctuation

Do not underline, italicize, or place in quotation marks the name of the Bible, its books, divisions, or version, or other religious Scriptures and their divisions or versions.

Example: In I Corinthians the Bible says that the

greatest eternal value is love.

(The Bible and its book take no special punctuation.)

Example: The Talmud's tractate Sanhedrin discusses the

laws and history of Jewish religious leadership.

(The scriptural Talmud and its division,

Sanhedrin, take no special punctuation.)

Do not underline, italicize, or place in quotation marks the title of any government document including charters, treaties, acts, statutes, or reports.

Examples: The Declaration of Independence

The North American Free Trade Agreement

The Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972

See also Capitalization Rules for capitalizing names and titles.


Dashes and Parentheses

Dashes and Parentheses are both used to show an interruption in thought or some kind of aside.  Dashes are more emphatic.  Parentheses are normally paired.  Both should be used sparingly or they become a distraction. Parentheses also have a few special uses.

Using Dashes

Dashes with Nonrestrictive Modifiers

Using Parentheses

Parentheses with Certain Numbers and Letters

Punctuation Inside Parentheses


Dashes

A dash is a long horizontal mark twice the length of a hyphen.  On most typewriters and computers dashes are represented by typing two hyphens.

Dashes are emphatic.  They are nearly like emphatic parentheses.

To be effective, dashes, like exclamation points, should not be overused.

Dashes indicate an abrupt change of thought.

Sometimes they set off a clause or phrase for emphasis or dramatic effect.

Change of thought: I loved the dinner last night--have you

you ever been to Chez Louis?

Set off statement for emphasis: Punctuation marks can be

confusing--commas, dashes, hyphens, colons!

See also Parentheses and Dashes with Nonrestrictive Modifiers.


Dashes with Nonrestrictive Modifiers

Commas are normally used to set off nonrestrictive modifiers.

However, nonrestrictive modifiers can be set off by dashes for emphasis or if the modifiers contain commas or other punctuation that could confuse the reader.

Incorrect: Some expensive films, Heaven's Gate, for

example, have been big flops.

(Relationships not clear)

Correct: Some expensive films--Heaven's Gate, for

example--have been big flops.

(Modifier itself has a comma.)

See also Commas with Nonrestrictive Modifiers.


Parentheses

Parentheses set off material not essential to the meaning of the text.

They are used for asides and explanations when the material is not essential or if it is made up of more than one sentence.

Parentheses may contain a complete sentence or sentences.

Example: He had to go through the usual process to get his bus driver's license (police and FBI check, reference check, motor vehicle check, written exam, mechanical test, and driving test).

(This could be set off by a colon for more emphasis since it is a list or by a dash for strong emphasis.  But since the sentence says "the usual process," there is no need to emphasize anything.)

See also Dashes and Capitalizing and Punctuation in Parentheses.


Parentheses with Certain Numbers or Letters

Parentheses are used around numbers showing dates (usually dates of birth and/or death), inserted figures, or numbers or letters in an itemized series (such as a series of steps).

Date: Joshua Chamberlain (1829-1914) received the

Congressional Medal of Honor for his role at Gettysburg.

Inserted figures: The Senate vote was very close (50-48).

Numbers in a series: To make New England Clam

Chowder get the following items: (1) quahogs, (2) cream, (3) potatoes, and (4) onions.

Letters in a series: What was Hamlet's mother's name?

(a) Ophelia  (b) Beatrice  (c) Gertrude

(d) Helena

A single closing parenthesis follows the number or letter in specific divisions of a formal outline.

Example:

I. Grammar

A. Punctuation

1. Parentheses

a. Parentheses with interrupting elements

b. Parentheses with certain numbers or letters

1) Dates

2) Inserted figures

3) Itemized series

a) Numbers

b) Letters


Capitalizing and Punctuating Inside Parentheses

When a parenthetical phrase or sentence interrupts the middle of a sentence, do not capitalize the first letter inside the parentheses unless, of course, the word is a proper noun or proper adjective.

Example: We saw Roseate Spoonbills (they have an

exquisite pink color) on our trip to Texas.

The first letter in a parenthetical question or exclamation is always capitalized.

Incorrect: We saw Brown Pelicans (have you ever seen

one?) along the shore there.

Correct: We saw Brown Pelicans (Have you ever seen

one?) along the shore there.

A parenthetical sentence that goes between two sentences of text uses both an initial capital letter and an end mark (period, question mark, or exclamation point) inside the parentheses.

Incorrect: We took a trip to Texas. (it is a big state)!

There we saw many Brown Pelicans.

Correct: We took a trip to Texas. (It is a big state!)

There we saw many Brown Pelicans.

In a sentence containing a parenthetical expression, any punctuation belonging to the main sentence goes outside the parentheses.

Incorrect: It was a real heat wave (five days over 100°!)

Correct: It was a real heat wave (five days over 100°)!

Correct: We saw Jerry, Ed (Tom's brother), and

Julius there last night.


Hyphen contents

Hyphens

A hyphen is a short horizontal line used within words.  (The longer dash is used between words.)

Hyphens are used in a variety of situations.

Numbers Written Out with Hyphens

Hyphenated Prefixes and Suffixes

Hyphenated Compound Words

Hyphens for Clarity

Dividing at the End of a Line


Numbers Written Out Using Hyphens

Use a hyphen between the tens and units number when writing out the numbers twenty-one to ninety-nine in words.  Just like that!

Do not use hyphens for other numbers.

Incorrect: Two-hundred-fifty-six

Correct: Two hundred fifty-six

(Hyphen between tens and units only)

Use a hyphen between the numerator and denominator when a fraction is written out in words and the fraction is an adjective.

Incorrect: Two-thirds of the Senate overrode the veto.

(Here two thirds is a noun, not an adjective.)

Correct: Two thirds of the Senate overrode the veto.

Incorrect: A two thirds majority overrode the veto.

(Here two thirds is an adjective modifying majority.)

Correct: A two-thirds majority overrode the veto.


Hyphenated Prefixes and Suffixes

Use a hyphen after a prefix followed by a proper noun or proper adjective.

Examples: mid-June   pre-Columbian   Afro-American

Use a hyphen in words beginning with the prefixes all-, ex- (meaning "former"), and self- and in words ending with the suffix -elect.

Incorrect: selfpropelled  ex-treme

(Prefix self- needs hyphen.  The prefix in extreme does not mean "former.")

Correct: all-knowing    ex-wife    self-propelled

mayor-elect    extreme    exacting


Hyphenated Compound Words

Hyphens are used internally in some compound words to separate the words forming the compound word.

Examples: merry-go-round  editor-in-chief

When unsure of the hyphenation of such words, check a dictionary.  Usage may vary.  As some words are more widely used, the hyphen in dropped.  For example, in the early 1800's the word blackbird was usually spelled black-bird.  Now the hyphen has been dropped.

Hyphens connect the words of a compound modifier that comes before the word being modified. Hyphens are not used this way with compound parts ending in -ly or made up of proper nouns or proper adjectives.

Incorrect: He is a well respected man.

Correct: He is a well-respected man.

(A compound modifier before the noun.)

Incorrect: That man is well-respected.

Correct: That man is well respected.

(The modifier follows the noun, no hyphen.)

Incorrect: That was a badly-punctuated sentence.

Correct: That was a badly punctuated sentence.

(Modifier ends in -ly, no hyphen.)

Incorrect: The South-American rain forest is home to

hundreds of species of hummingbirds.

Correct: The South American rain forest is home to

hundreds of species of hummingbirds.

(Modifier is proper, no hyphen.)


Hyphens in Words for Clarity

Hyphens within a word can make some words clearer.

They are frequently used with prefixes ending with the same vowel as the root begins with to show pronunciation or emphasize meaning.  They are also frequently used to distinguish between words.

Examples: co-op (instead of coop, also prefix ending with

same vowel as root beginning)

re-elect (prefix ending with same vowel as root beginning)

Re-form the clay pot (instead of reform, which has a different meaning)

Re-sign a contract (instead of resign, which could mean nearly the opposite.)

Sometimes words may be combined mistakenly.  A hyphen can help the reader understand what is meant.

Incorrect: The guard captured five foot soldiers.

(Is it five-foot soldiers, or five foot-soldiers?)

Correct:  The guard captured five foot-soldiers.

According to author Vince Emery, a message posted on the Internet almost started a "flame war" because it said, "I resent your message."  It was supposed to say, " I re-sent your message."


Dividing Words at End of Line

Hyphens are used to divide words at the end of a line when the word cannot fit on the remainder of the line.

It is best not to divide a word this way.  If necessary for considerations of space or format, there are seven rules to follow.

1. Divide the word between syllables.  This means, of course, that one- syllable words are never divided.

Incorrect: 	Incorrect: 	Correct:

sp- 	   su- 	  sup-

orts 	pport 	port

2. The hyphen goes at the end of the first line.

Incorrect: 	Correct:

sup 	 	   sup-

-port 	port

3. Prefixes and suffixes make natural divisions.

Incorrect: 	Correct:

in- 	   inter-

ternational 	national

(The prefix is inter.)

4. There should be at least two letters plus the hyphen on the first line and three letters on the second.

Incorrect: 	Incorrect: 	Correct:

e- 	  supposed- 	sup-

lect 	ly 	possedly

5. Do not divide proper nouns or proper adjectives.

Incorrect: 	Correct:

Wash- 	  Washington

ington

6. Divide hyphenated word using the hyphen already in the word.

Incorrect: 	Correct:

moth- 	  mother-

er-in-law 	in-law

7. Do not divide a word at the end of a line if the parts of the word will be on two separate pages.  This is hard for the reader to follow.


Apostrophe Rules Contents

Apostrophes

The apostrophe is generally used with the letter s to indicate possession.  It is also used in various ways to show letters have been left out of a word.

Apostrophes Showing Possession

Plural Possessives

Possessives with More than One Owner

Apostrophes with Underlined or Italicized Items

Apostrophes with Verb Contractions

Apostrophes with Other Contractions


Apostrophes Showing Possession

An apostrophe is normally used with the letter s to show ownership or possession.

With most singular nouns, simply add an apostrophe plus the letter s to do this.

An apostrophe plus s is never added to make a noun plural--even a proper noun.

Incorrect: This is Joans jacket.

(Possessive form needs the apostrophe)

Correct: This is Joan's jacket.

Incorrect: He ate four hot dog's at the picnic.

(Not possessive; use no apostrophe to make a noun plural.)

Correct: He ate four hot dogs at the picnic.

Incorrect: We saw the Smith's at the picnic.

(Not possessive; use no apostrophe to make a name plural.)

Correct: We saw the Smiths at the picnic.

If the singular noun ends with an s, add apostrophe s if the extra syllable is pronounced.  If the extra syllable is not pronounced (or if it otherwise looks confusing to add apostrophe s), simply add an apostrophe.

Examples: the dress's hem

(Added syllable is pronounced.)

Lloyd Bridges' son

(Added syllable is not pronounced.)

See also Plural Possessives, Apostrophes with Possessives of More than One Owner, Apostrophes with Italicized and Underlined Items, and Apostrophes with Pronouns.


Plural Possessives

To make most nouns plural, add an -s or -es.  The -es is added to words that end in an s or z sound.

Do not use an apostrophe.

Examples: lands   dresses   taxes   quizzes

Incorrect: Twenty dog's were in the pack.

Correct: Twenty dogs were in the pack.

To make a plural noun possessive, simply add an apostrophe to the word.  If the plural does not end in an s, then add an apostrophe plus s.

Examples: The girls' dresses

(The dresses belonging to the girls.)

The Wilsons' house

(The Wilsons live in the house.)

The men's room

(Plural does not end in s.)


Apostrophes with Possessives of More than One Owner

To show that more than one person share the same item together, make only the last owner in the series possessive.

Examples: Ken and Larry's ice cream

(They share the same ice cream.)

John and Mary's pet cats

(They share the same cats.)

To show that there are similar items which are owned individually by different owners, make each owner in the series possessive.

Example: John's and Mary's pet cats.

(They each have their own pet cat or cats.)


Apostrophes with Pronouns

To make a possessive of an indefinite pronoun, add an apostrophe plus s, just as you would for a noun.

Examples: somebody's child

another's idea

Personal pronouns, including it, do not have any apostrophes for their possessives.

Incorrect: her's   their's   your's

Correct: his   hers   its   ours   yours   theirs   whose

If it helps, remember that his takes no apostrophe.  Neither do any of the other forms.

The words it's and who's do exist, but they are contractions. It's means it is or it has; who's means who is or who has.


Apostrophes with Italicized or Underlined Items

Letters, numbers, symbols, and words used as themselves are italicized or underlined.  See Underlining or Italicizing Items that Name Themselves for more on this.

When these items are made plural, the plural is shown by adding apostrophe s to the underlined or italicized item.  The apostrophe and s are not italicized or underlined.  This is the only time in English when adding an apostrophe plus s makes something plural.

Examples: Don't forget to dot your i's.

(Letter as a letter)

His 7's look like 2's.

(Number as number)

His &'s look like 8's.

(Symbol as symbol)

I find the thee's and thou's in older

writing hard to follow.

(Words as words)


Apostrophes with Verb Contractions

Apostrophes generally show missing letters in contractions.

In most formal writing such contractions should be avoided.

The most common contractions involve verbs in five situations.

1. Verbs with not contracted, or shortened.

Examples: aren't  don't  isn't  wasn't  can't  weren't

weren't  wouldn't  doesn't  hasn't  haven't  couldn't

Note: The word won't is a contraction of will not.  The word shan't for shall not is seldom used in the United States.  The word ain't is considered nonstandard.

2. Pronouns with will.

Examples: I'll  you'll  he'll  she'll  they'll

Note: In conversation the word will is often slurred and may show up in dialogue as 'll after most nouns, e.g., "John'll come home soon."

3. Pronouns and nouns with the verb to be.

Examples: I'm  you're  who's (i.e., who is)

he's  she's  it's  we're  they're

Note: In conversation the word is is often contracted with nouns, e.g. "Martha's here."  See also Other Contractions.

Please note four confusing contractions:

who's  it's  you're  they're

Remember, the apostrophe indicates that letters have been left out.

who's = who is or who has   you're = you are

it's = it is or it has    they're = they are

The possessive of who is whose.

Correct: Who's coming with me? (Contraction)

Correct: Whose book is this? (Possessive)

4. Pronouns with the verb to have.

Examples: I've  he's  you've  we've  they've

(Note that the 's could stand for is or has.)

See below for the contractions with had.

Note: Sometimes the word have is slurred, especially after verbs like would, could, and should.  In dialogue this can be shown as 've, but never as of.

Incorrect: We would of like to have gone.

Correct: We would've liked to have gone.

(To show contraction in speaking)

Correct: We would have liked to have gone.

(In more formal writing)

5. Pronouns with would or had contracted.

Examples: I'd  he'd  she'd  you'd  we'd  they'd

I'd better go. (I had better go.)

He'd want to go. (He would want to go.)

In everyday conversation the word would is often slurred and may be shown as 'd following a noun in dialogue, e.g. "John'd be upset if he found out."


Apostrophes with Other Contractions

When writing about years, insert an apostrophe where numbers are dropped.

Examples: The winter of '65     the '96 Olympics

In a few words and some names, o', d', l', and t' indicate abbreviated forms of the or of in various languages.

Examples: o'clock    L'Enfant Plaza    P.J. O'Rourke

Sometimes to show pronunciation in dialogue, the word is contracted to show missing letters.  Avoid this in formal writing except in quotations, even when the contraction is a more accurate representation.

Examples: C'mon for "come on"

L'il Abner for "Little Abner"

fo'c's'le or fo'csle for "forecastle"

gun'le for "gunwale"

Even though forecastle sounds like "folks'll," and gunwale rhymes with "funnel," these words should not be contracted except in dialogue.


The Ellipsis

The ellipsis is three periods in a row.  It signifies that words or figures are missing.

Most frequently an ellipsis is used with quotations.  It may come at the middle or end of a quotation.  It may be used at the beginning of a quotation if the quotation begins mid-sentence and there is an appropriate lead-in.

In mathematics an ellipsis shows that numbers have been left out.  This is usually used in decimals, series, and matrices.

Quotation: "Sometimes I'm ancient.  I'm afraid of

children my own age.  They kill each other.  Did it always use to be that way?  My uncle says no.  Six of my friends have been shot in the last year alone.  Ten of them died in car wrecks.  I'm afraid of them and they don't like me because I'm afraid.  My uncle says his grandfather remembered when children didn't kill each other.  But that was a long time ago when they had things different.  They believed in responsibility, my uncle says."

Ellipsis in middle:  "I'm afraid of children my own age.

They kill each other.  Did it always use to be that way?  My uncle says no...My uncle says his grandfather remembered when children didn't kill each other.  But that was a long time ago when they had things different. They believed in responsibility, my uncle says."

Ellipsis at end: "My uncle says his grandfather

remembered when children didn't kill each other.  But that was a long time ago..."

(Some authorities use four periods instead of three when the ellipsis is at the end.)

Ellipsis at beginning: Clarisse said her uncle's

grandfather "...remembered when children did not kill each other."

Mathematical: 3.14159...

Quotation from Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, (New York: Ballantine, 1979) 32.


Brackets

Brackets, or crotchets, are always used in pairs to mark off material inserted into a quotation which is not part of the original quotation.  The use of brackets should be limited, but may include short references, short definitions, a short piece of information which clarifies the quotation, or an editorial comment.

The Latin word sic, which means "thus" or "so," is often put into brackets to indicate a misspelling or some other misuse of language in the original quotation.

Brackets are also used in dictionaries, glossaries, and word lists to show word origins and etymologies.

Brackets may be used to show parenthetical information for material already inside parentheses.

Editorial insertion:

Then Ceres asked: Tell me, heavenly bow,

If Venus or her son [Cupid], as thou dost know,

Do now attend the queen.

(Clarifies the meaning)

Misspelling in original quotation:

"Mi dere Jo I hope u r qwrite [sic] well."

Word origin:

Brackets [L.]

(The word brackets comes from Latin.)

Parentheses within parentheses:

(Charles Dickens [1812-1870] had been trained as a stenographer.)


The Virgule

The virgule, often called the "slant bar" by computer users, has four specific uses in punctuation.

A virgule separates parts of an extended date.

Example: The 1994/95 basketball season.

A virgule represents the word per in measurements:

Example: 186,000 mi./sec. (miles per second)

A virgule stands for the word or in the expression and/or.

A virgule separates lines of poetry that are quoted in run-on fashion in the text.  (For readability, avoid this with more than four lines.)

Example: Ann continued,"And up and down the people

go,/ Gazing where the lilies blow/ Round an island there below,/ The island of Shalott."


Letter Writing Contents

 Letter Writing Rules

Business Letters

Business Letter Styles

Friendly Letters

Friendly Letter Format

Envelopes

Envelope Format

Folding a Standard Letter

Click on the topic you seek.  Click on a button above to take you to the opening screen or to a previous screen.


Friendly or Personal Letters

Personal letters, also known as friendly letters, and social notes normally have five parts.

1. The Heading.  This includes the address, line by line,  with the last line being the date.  Skip a line after the heading.  The heading is indented to the middle of the page.  If using preaddressed stationery, just add the date.

2. The Greeting.  The greeting always ends with a comma.  The greeting may be formal, beginning with the word "dear" and using the person's given name or relationship, or it may be informal if appropriate.

Formal:  Dear Uncle Jim,       Dear Mr. Wilkins,

Informal: Hi Joe,      Greetings,

(Occasionally very personal greetings may end with an exclamation point for emphasis.)

3. The body.  Also known as the main text.  This includes the message you want to write.  Normally in a friendly letter, the beginning of paragraphs is indented.  If not indented, be sure to skip a space between paragraphs. Skip a line after the greeting and before the close.

4. The complimentary close.  This short expression is always a few words on a single line.  It ends in a comma.  It should be indented to the same column as the heading.  Skip one to three spaces (two is usual) for the signature line.

5. The signature line.  Type or print your name.  The handwritten signature goes above this line and below the close.  The signature line and the handwritten signature are indented to the same column as the close.  The signature should be written in blue or black ink.  If the letter is quite informal, you may omit the signature line as long as you sign the letter.

Postscript.  If your letter contains a postscript, begin it with P.S. and end it with your initials.  Skip a line after the signature line to begin the postscript.

Click on the Right Arrow Button (>>) above for the layout of a friendly letter.

See also Commas in Letters and Capitalization in Letters


Format for a Friendly Letter
Format for a Friendly or Personal Letter

The following picture shows what a one-page friendly or personal letter should look like.  The horizontal lines represent lines of type.  Click your mouse pointer on any part of the picture for a description and example of that part.

Click on the Left Double Arrow (<<) Button for more on Personal Letters.


The Heading

The heading of a friendly letter should contain the return address (usually two lines) followed by a third line with the date.

In a friendly letter the heading is always indented to the middle of the page.

If the correspondents are familiar enough and the recipient knows the writer's address, or if the stationery is imprinted with the return address, then the return address may be omitted.  (Although another reason for the return address is a backup in case the envelope gets damaged...)

Always include the date.

Example:  123 Main St.

West Newfield  CT  06123

December 14, 1997


The Greeting

The greeting in a friendly letter capitalizes the first word and any noun.  It normally ends with a comma, though it might be all right to end with an exclamation point when writing to someone with whom you are very familiar and the emphasis is appropriate.

Example:        Dear Aunt Miriam,


The Body

The body of the letter contains the main text.  The block style (no indented paragraphs) is considered too formal for a friendly letter, so each new paragraph should be indented.

Skipping a line between paragraphs, especially in typed or printed copy, also helps the reader.


The Complimentary Close and Signature Line

The left edge of the close and signature line in a friendly letter begin in the center, at the same column as the heading.

The complimentary close begins with a capital letter and ends with a comma.

Skip from one to three spaces (two on a typewriter), and type in the signature line, the printed name of the person signing the letter.  If the writer and reader are very friendly, or if the letter is handwritten in the same script as the signature, the signature line or the last name in the signature line may be omitted.

Sign the name in the space between the close and the signature line, starting at the left edge of the signature line.

Unless there is great familiarity between the correspondents, the signature should be in blue or black ink.

Example:  Truly yours,

    (Signature goes here)

Margaret Fong


Business Letters

A business letter is more formal than a personal letter.  It should have a margin of at least one inch on all four edges.  It is always written on 8½"x11" (or metric equivalent) unlined stationery.  There are six parts to a business letter.

1. The Heading.  This contains the return address (usually two or three lines) with the date on the last line.

Sometimes it may be necessary to include a line after the address and before the date for a phone number, fax number, E-mail address, or something similar.

Often a line is skipped between the address and date.  That should always be done if the heading is next to the left margin.  (See Business Letter Styles.)

It is not necessary to type the return address if you are using stationery with the return address already imprinted.  Always include the date.

2. The Inside Address.  This is the address you are sending your letter to.  Make it as complete as possible.  Include titles and names if you know them.

This is always on the left margin.  If an 8½" x 11" paper is folded in thirds to fit in a standard 9" business envelope, the inside address can appear through the window in the envelope.

An inside address also helps the recipient route the letter properly and can help should the envelope be damaged and the address become unreadable.

Skip a line after the heading before the inside address.  Skip another line after the inside address before the greeting.

3. The Greeting.  Also called the salutation.  The greeting in a business letter is always formal.  It normally begins with the word "Dear" and always includes the person's last name.

It normally has a title.  Use a first name only if the title is unclear--for example, you are writing to someone named "Leslie," but do not know whether the person is male or female.  For more on the form of titles, see Titles with Names.

The greeting in a business letter always ends in a colon.  (You know you are in trouble if you get a letter from a boyfriend or girlfriend and the greeting ends in a colon--it is not going to be friendly.)

4. The Body.  The body is written as text.  A business letter is never hand written.  Depending on the letter style you choose, paragraphs may be indented.  Regardless of format, skip a line between paragraphs.

Skip a line between the greeting and the body.  Skip a line between the body and the close.

5. The Complimentary Close.  This short, polite closing ends with a comma.  It is either at the left margin or its left edge is in the center, depending on the Business Letter Style that you use.  It begins at the same column the heading does.

The block style is becoming more widely used because there is no indenting to bother with in the whole letter.

6. The Signature Line.  Skip two lines (unless you have unusually wide or narrow lines) and type out the name to be signed.  This customarily includes a middle initial, but does not have to.  Women may indicate how they wish to be addressed by placing Miss, Mrs., Ms. or similar title in parentheses before their name.

The signature line may include a second line for a title, if appropriate.  The term "By direction" in the second line means that a superior is authorizing the signer.

The signature should start directly above the first letter of the signature line in the space between the close and the signature line.  Use blue or black ink.

Business letters should not contain postscripts.

Some organization and companies may have formats that vary slightly.

Use the "Edit" function in the Help Menu above if you need to make additions to the information on this page.

Click on the Right Arrow (>>) Button above or Right Arrow Key to see some Business Letter Styles.

See also Commas in Letters, Special Colon Uses, and Capitalization in Letters


Business Letter Styles

The following pictures show what a one-page business letter should look like.  There are three accepted styles.  The horizontal lines represent lines of type.  Click your mouse pointer on any part of the picture for a description and example of that part.

 Modified Block Style 	 Block Style

Semiblock Style

Click on the Left Double Arrow (<<) Button for more on Business Letters.


The Heading

The heading of a business letter should contain the return address (usually two or three lines) followed by a line with the date.

The heading is indented to the middle of the page in the modified block and semiblock styles.  It begins at the left margin in the block style.

If the stationery is imprinted with the return address, then the return address may be omitted.

Sometimes a line after the address and before the date may include a phone number, a fax number, an E-mail address, or the like.

Particularly if the address uses three or more lines, it is good to skip a line before the date.  When using the block style, always skip a line before the date.

Always include the date.

Example:  Acme Explosives, Inc.

100-B Dry Gulch Alley

Lonesome Coyote  AZ  85789

(602) 555-5555

July 14, 1997


The Inside Address

This is the address you are sending your letter to.  Make it as complete as possible.  Include titles, names, and routing information if you know them.

This is always on the left margin.

Skip a line after the heading before the inside address.  Skip another line after the inside address before the greeting.

Example:  Dr. Calvin Carson

Cross Country Coach

Dept. of Athletics

Colorado Community College at Cripple Creek

Cripple Creek  CO  80678


The Greeting

The greeting in a business letter is always formal.  It normally begins with the word "Dear" and always includes the person's last name.

It normally has a title such as Mr., Mrs., Dr., or a political title.

The greeting in a business letter always ends in a colon.


The Body

The first line of a new paragraph is indented in the semiblock style.  The block and modified block style have all lines of the body to the left margin.

Regardless of style, skip a line between paragraphs.

Skip a line between the greeting and the body.  Skip a line between the body and the close.


The Complimentary Close and Signature Line

The left edge of the close and signature line in the semiblock and modified block begin in the center, at the same column as the heading.

The close and signature of the block letter begins at the left margin.

The complimentary close begins with a capital letter and ends with a comma.

Skip from one to three spaces (two on a typewriter), and type in the signature line, the printed name of the person signing the letter.

Sign the name in the space between the close and the signature line, starting at the left edge of the signature line.

Women may indicate how they wish to be addressed by placing Miss, Mrs., Ms. or similar title in parentheses before their name.

The signature line may include a second line for a title, if appropriate.

The signature should start directly above the first letter of the signature line in the space between the close and the signature line.  Use blue or black ink.

Example:  Sincerely,

    (Signature goes here)

(Mrs.) Elisabeth Jackson

Director of Acquisitions


Envelopes

The envelope should be a standard size that matches the stationery (approximately 4"x9½" for standard 8½"x11" stationery).  Fold the letter twice so that it is creased to make thirds.  This will fit easily in a standard envelope, and it is easy to unfold.

The address of the recipient is in the middle of the envelope, beginning approximately halfway down.  (Be sure it is mostly below the stamp, or it may get covered over by the cancellation.)

The return address is in the upper left hand corner.  This is not necessary to type in if the stationery is preprinted with the return address.

If you are using business envelopes with a window, fold the letter so that the inside address shows through the window.

Use the block style letter if the envelope has a double window. This will make the return address appear in the upper window of the envelope.

Some correspondents include an attention line near the lower left corner for routing purposes.  This is normally part of the main address unless space is a factor.  It may be a department or a person's name.

Example:  Attn: Returns Dept.

Due to variations in stationery size, it may be necessary to fold a personal letter differently to fit in the envelope that matches the stationery.

If the personal letter is in a small envelope, the return address may be written on the envelope flap after the envelope is sealed.

Click on the Right Arrow Button (>>) above or Right Arrow Key for an illustration of Envelope Format.

See also Folding a Standard Letter.


Envelope format

The following picture shows what an addressed envelope should look like. The horizontal lines represent lines of type.  Click your mouse pointer on any part of the picture for a description and example of that part.

Follow this format regardless of letter style you used.

Click on the Left Double Arrow (<<) Button for more on Envelopes


Return Address

This goes in the upper left hand corner of the front of the envelope.  It should include a complete address so that the letter can be returned if necessary.

You do not have to type this in if you are using stationery preprinted with the return address.  Stickers or rubber stamps may be used, although a sticker with a return address usually is reserved for personal letters.

If using an envelope with a double window, make sure the letter is folded and inserted so that the return address shows through the upper window.

With some personal letters written on stationery with a small envelope, it may be necessary to put the return address on the envelope flap after sealing the envelope.


Address

The name and address of the recipient should be centered on the envelope. Make sure the address begins far enough down on the face of the envelope so that it will not be covered by the cancellation.

If you are using envelopes with windows, make sure the address appears clearly through the window.

An "Attention Line" for routing normally appears on the main address, but if there is a space limitation, it may appear in the lower left hand corner of the envelope.

Addresses on envelopes are normally single-spaced.

Example:  Miss Abigail Beecher

Department of History

Klondike Regional High School

Yellowknife, Yukon  EFG 123  Canada

With Attention Line:

Department of History

Attention: Miss Abigail Beecher

Klondike Regional High School

Yellowknife, Yukon  EFG 123  Canada


Postage

The postage (stamp, meter imprint, or prepaid imprint) goes in the upper right hand corner of the envelope.

Do not cover a stamp with adhesive tape.

Make sure the stamp is positioned so that its cancellation will not affect the addresses.

Be sure there is enough postage.  Always check letters of more than three pages, letters with inserts, or letters to foreign countries for correct postage.  There are few things that will annoy a correspondent more than having to pick up and pay for a postage due letter.


Folding Letters
How to Fold a Standard Letter

As stated in the section on Envelopes a letter, especially a business letter, is folded twice into horizontal thirds and placed into an envelope.

This insures a little privacy in the letter.  The letter is also easy to unfold after opening the envelope.

The following diagram shows how a letter is normally folded.  Click on each picture for more.

This type of fold is used regardless of letter style.

If the letter needs to have the address face out an envelope window, make the second fold in the same location but opposite direction.  The letter will then be folded in a Z shape and the address can be positioned to face out the window of the envelope.

Unfolded 	First Fold 	Second Fold

See Envelopes for more on putting letters in envelopes.


First Fold

Crease the letter along a fold one third from the bottom.  Fold the letter up to a point one third from the top, covering the writing on the letter.


Unfolded

Begin with the first page of the letter facing towards you.


Second Fold

Make a second horizontal crease one third from the top of the letter where the bottom of the letter had been folded to.

Tuck the bottom into this crease and fold the top over it.  The letter will be folded into thirds.  It will fit any standard envelope.

If you are folding the letter so the address faces out the envelope window, fold the letter toward the back instead of the front.  The letter address will appear through the envelope window, but it will still be folded in thirds.


How to Use this Index

Click on the letter for the index of words and terms beginning with that letter.

Then click on the specific underlined word or term you want to check.

Click on the "Up" button to get back to the top of this index page.


Common Mistakes and Tricky Choices, Contents

 Common Mistakes and Tricky  Choices

Sometimes we need to make word choices. Sometimes we misuse words or phrases in standard English. This section includes many of the most common problems.

                            Click here for directions

A

A/An

Absolute Modifiers

Accept/Except

Accuse/Allege

Across/Acrossed/Cross

Adapt/Adopt

Administer/Administrate

Aggravate/Irritate

Ain't

A hold/Ahold

A lot/Allot/Alot

Already/All Ready

Alright/All Right

Altogether/All Together

Always/All Ways

American Grammar vs. British Grammar

Among/Between

Amount/Number

Ante-/Anti-

Anxious/Eager

Anymore

Anyone/Any One

Anyway/Any Way

Anyways

Anywheres

As/Like

As To

At after Where

A Ways

Awhile/A While

B

Bad/Badly

Because after Reason

Being As or Being That

Beside/Besides

Between/Among

Bring/Take

British Grammar vs. American Grammar

Blond/Blonde

Burst/Bust/Busted

C

Can/May

Can't Help But

Clipped Words

Compose/Comprise

Continual/Continuous

Could Have/Could Of

Cross/Across/Acrossed

D

Different From/Different Than

Diffuse/Defuse

Disinterested/Uninterested

Done as Verb

Doesn't/Don't

Due To

Due To the Fact That

E

Emigrate/Immigrate

Enthused/Enthusiastic

Equivocal/Equivocable

Everyone/Every One

Everywheres

Exalt/Exult

Except/Accept

F

Farther/Further

Fewer/Less

For Free

Fortunate/Fortuitous

G

Gone/Went

Good/Well

H

Hanged/Hung

Have or Had plus Ought

Have after Could, Would, Should, or Will

Healthful/Healthy

Height or Heighth

Hers/Her's

Hopefully

Hypo-/Hyper-

Hypocritical/Hypercritical

I

I Hope/Hopefully

Immigrate/Emigrate

Imply/Infer

In after Want

Incredible/Incredulous

Indeterminate/Indeterminable

Irregardless/Regardless

Irritate/Aggravate

Its/It's

J

Jiggle/Joggle/Juggle

Judicious/Judicial/Juridical

Just, Use of

K

Kind Of, Use of

L

Lay/Lie

Leave/Let

Lend/Loan

Less/Fewer

Less/Littler (More Little)

Like/As

Lie/Lay

Littlest/Least

Loath/Loathe

Luxuriant/Luxurious

M

Macro-/Micro-

Magnificent/Munificent

Manic/Maniac

May/Can

Maybe/May Be

Morale/Moral

N

Nowheres

Number/Amount

O

Of, Use of

Of after Would, Could, Should, or Will

Orient/Orientate

Only, Use of

Ought with Have or Had

Q

Quash/Squash

Quote/Quotation/Quotation Mark

R

Raise/Rise

Real/Really

Reason with Because

Regardless/Irregardless

Renown/Reknown

S

Says/Said

Seen/Saw

Sensual/Sensuous

Set/Sit

Should Have/Should Of

Solid/Stolid

Somewheres

Sort Of

Squash/Quash

Sure/Surely

T

Take/Bring

Tenet/Tenant

Than/Then

That/Where

That There and This Here

That/Which/Who

Them/Those

There/Their/They're

There's/Theirs/Their's

To/Too/Two

Tortuous/Torturous/Tortured

Try And/Try To

Turbid/Turgid

U

Unequivocal/Unequivocable

Uninterested/Disinterested

Unique (and Other Absolute Modifiers)

W

Want followed by In, Out, Off, Down, or Up

Warranty/Warrantee/Warrant

Ways after A

Well/Good

Went/Gone

Where Followed by At

Where/That

Who/Which/That

Who's/Whose

Will Have/Will Of

-Wise (Suffix)

Would Have/Would Of


A or An ?

The article a is used before consonant sounds; an is used before vowel sounds.

Words beginning with h, o and u sometimes begin with a vowel sound, sometimes a consonant sound.

Consonant Sound: 	a heroic couplet 	(h sound)

a once-happy lover  	(w sound)

a universal problem 	(y sound)

Vowel Sound: 	an honest man 	(no h sound)

an only child 	(o sound)

an unusual insect 	(u sound)


Accept or Except ?

Accept means "to receive."

Except is usually a preposition meaning "but" or "leaving out."  However, except can also be a verb meaning "to leave out."

As verbs, accept and except are nearly antonyms, so the difference is important!

Examples:  He accepted the gift.  (He received it.)

He excepted the twins.  (He did not include them.)

Everyone except Bill.  (All but Bill.)


Accuse or Allege ?

Accuse means "to blame" or "charge with wrongdoing."

Allege means "to claim something not yet proven."

Examples:  He accused the pitcher of throwing spitballs.

His alleged spitball did not curve.


Across, Acrossed, and Cross

Across is a preposition. It describes the relationship between two persons, places, or things. It is sometimes used with the preposition from.

Example: That house is across the street.

Cross is most commonly a verb or noun. As a verb, it means "to go or place across." As a noun, it means "an object made of two intersecting segments."

Crossed is the past tense or past participle of the verb to cross.

Examples: Will you cross the street with me? (Verb)

Jesus, Peter, and Andrew each died on a cross. (Noun)

He crossed the street with me. (Past tense)

Their trademark is a pair of crossed swords. (Past participle)

Cross can sometimes be an adjective meaning "opposing," "placed across," or "angry."

Examples: They were working at cross purposes.

He was counting the cross ties on the track.

Please don't look so cross.

Across occasionally is used as an adverb.

Example: She ran across to say hello.

Do not use acrossed, crossed, or acrost as a preposition or adverb.

(The words acrossed and acrost are strictly nonstandard. They are sometimes used by writers to show dialect.)

Incorrect: He stared acrossed the aisle at me.

Correct: He stared across the aisle at me.


Adapt or Adopt ?

Adapt means "to change."  Usually we adapt to someone or something.

Adopt means "to take as one's own."

Examples: They adapted to the hot weather.

Marc and Judy adopted two orphans.


Administer or Administrate
Administer or Administrate?

Administer is the verb form for administration or administrator.

The word administrate is an incorrect form of the verb created by some who drop the -ion suffix of administration.

Incorrect: He did a great job of administrating the estate.

Correct: He did a great job of administering the estate.

Be careful when forming verbs from nouns that end in -ation, as the correct verb form may not end in -ate.

See also Orient or Orientate?


Ain't

Ain't, in some dialects amn't, an apparent contraction of am not, is considered nonstandard.

See also Verb Contractions.


A Hold or Ahold?

A hold is standard English. It is the noun hold with the article a.

Ahold does not exist as a word in standard English.

Incorrect: You've really got ahold on me.

Correct: You've really got a hold on me.


A Lot or Allot ?

A lot (two words) is an informal phrase meaning "many."  It can take an adjective, for example, "a sizeable lot."

Example: Karl needed a lot of time for the job.

Allot means "to distribute between or among." It has the same root as lottery.

Example: He allotted three breaks a day to everyone

in the department.

Alot does not exist as a word.


All Ready or Already ?

All ready (two words) means "ready," with the word all.

Already, an adverb, means "by now," "even now," or "by then."

Examples:  We were all ready to study grammar.

The plane had already left when we arrived.


All Right or Alright ?

Alright is a nonstandard abbreviation.

Spelling all right as two words is all right.


All Together or Altogether ?

All together means "together in a single group."

Altogether means "completely" or "in all."

Examples:  We were able to walk all together.

There were ten of us altogether, counting Mr. Bemis.

He was altogether baffled by the question.


All Ways or Always ?

All ways means "total number of methods."

Always means "at all times" or "constantly."

Examples:  He tried all ways to fix the leak.

The clock always chimes on the hour.

"I will always love you," she sang.


Using Between Properly

Between is with two people or things.  Note the combination tw in a number of words meaning "two" such as two, twice, and twin.

Among is used when discussing three or more people or things.

Examples: She had to choose between licorice and cherry.

She had to choose among licorice, cherry, and lime.

Between is used with and.  From is used with to.

Never use to with between.

Incorrect: We shuttled between New York to Chicago.

Correct: We shuttled between New York and Chicago.

We shuttled from New York to Chicago.


Ante- or Anti-?

The prefix ante- means "before."

The prefix anti- means "opposing" or "against."

Examples: Antiaircraft guns (opposing aircraft)

Dred Scott antedates the Civil War.

(His case is dated before)

Note: The grammar term, antecedent, literally means "going before."  The antecedent goes before the pronoun.


Anxious or Eager?

Anxious, like anxiety, implies worrying, or being afraid about something.  It means "uneasy" or "apprehensive."

Eager means "enthusiastic."

Examples:  I am eager to see Uncle George again.

(I am enthusiastic, positive about it.)

I am anxious about the upcoming layoffs.

(I am uneasy, negative about them.)


Certain Adverbs Ending in S
Certain Adverbs Ending in -S

The adverbs anyway, anywhere, everywhere, nowhere, and somewhere do not end with an -s.

Incorrect: I put the pen somewheres around here.

Correct:  I put the pen somewhere around here.

See also Anyway or Any Way.


As To

As to is a nonstandard, awkward expression.  Replace it with the word about, or rewrite the sentence.


At after Where

Do not use at after where.  Drop the at.

Incorrect : That is where I am at right now.

Correct: That is where I am right now.


Anymore

Anymore is properly used in a statement about a change in a previous condition or activity.  It is often spelled as a two words, any more, but most authorities accept it as a compound word today.

Example: I guess it does not matter anymore.

(Previous condition.  It no longer matters.)

Do not use anymore as a synonym for nowadays, today, or lately.

Incorrect: Dad has been getting tired anymore.

Correct: Dad has been getting tired lately.


Awhile or A While?

Awhile is an adverb which means "for a while."

A while is two words, the article plus a noun, usually used after the preposition for.

Examples: I thought awhile before I answered.

I thought for a while before I answered.


Because after Reason
Because after the Reason

Do not use because after the reason.  Use the reason plus that, or else rewrite the sentence.

The word because starts adverb clauses, but the noun reason needs an adjective modifier.  The word that introduces adjective clauses which modify nouns.

Incorrect: The reason he left is because he was frustrated.

Correct: The reason he left is that he was frustrated.


Being As and Being That

Being As and Being That are both nonstandard expressions.

Use because or since instead.


Beside or Besides?

Beside means "close to" or "by the side of."

Besides means "in addition to."

Examples: Come, sit beside me.  (Next to me)

Besides me, Fran and Millie will be there.

(In addition to me)


Using Bring Properly

Bring means "to carry to a nearer place from a more distant one."

Take means the opposite: "To carry to a more distant place from a nearer one."

Examples: Bring that file over here.

Take this package to the post office.

The past and the past participle of bring is brought.

Brang is nonstandard and considered uneducated.

Examples: He brought me that file. (past)

Hilda has brought me dinner all week. (past participle)


American vs. British Grammar

While Grammar Slammer was written with American standards of English in mind, it works for virtually all English inlcuding that of the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the former and present British Commonwealth.

Some of our words have different meanings, some are spelled differently, but grammar is the "glue" that holds a language together. Grammar, therefore, is virtually the same wherever English is spoken.

The only significant difference I can think of is that the British treat collective nouns as plural and the Americans treat them as singular.

UK: "The government are"

US: "The government is."

I have noticed that some British tend to be more particular about split infinitives and prepositions at the end of a sentence, but those "rules" came from Latin and have little relevance in English. It was, in fact, Sir Winston Churchill who put to rest the "preposition cannot end a sentence rule" with his famous rejoinder that placing the preposition at the end of a sentence is "something up with which we will not put!"

See also Single Quotation Marks

Spelling Differences

Grammar Slammer does not deal specifically with spelling questions except as they relate to grammar. It does use American spelling in its presentation.  Actually the differences between UK and US spelling are also quite trivial.

Norman-derived words that end in -our in the UK end in -or in the USA.

UK: colour, honour, favourite

US: color, honor, favorite

Some Norman-derived words that end in -re in the UK end in -er in the US.

UK: centre, theatre

US: center, theater

The verbs that end in verb-forming suffix -ise in the UK end in -ize in the US. This applies to the few verbs ending in -yse and -yze as well. One exception is chastise which is the same in both places.

UK: realise, theorise, socialise, analyse

US: realize, theorize, socialize, analyze

A few other words are spelled differently. A few common examples follow.

UK: practise, controversey, waggon, gaol, mould, moult, manoeuvre, encyclopaedia

US: practice, controversy, wagon, jail, mold, molt, maneuver, encyclopedia

There is not much else that differs.

Pronunciation, of course, varies greatly. There are distinctive patterns of English from around the world. There are also distinctive dialects from different regions--and even neighborhoods--across both the British Isles and North America.  People where I live, in the Northeastern part of the U.S., for example, find London English easier to understand than speech from parts of the American South.  Pronunciation has nothing to do with grammar.  I suspect that someone from East Anglia would find a New England "Yankee" easier to understand than someone from rural Yorkshire or the Hebrides.


Split Infinitives

Infinitives are normally made up of two words--the word to followed by a verb in the present tense. Some stylists say that to "split" the infinitives, that is, to place a modifier between the to and the verb is bad grammar. But sometimes it is the perfect place to put an adverb.

Most European languages, including Latin, have single-word infinitives. Many grammatical terms and rules do come from Latin. Some people thought that since it was impossible to divide a Latin infinitive, that we should avoid it in English even though our infinitives consist of two words instead of one.

A writer can confuse the reader if the to and the verb are separated by a long phrase or clause. This is true. But in English it is appropriate to thoughtfully place an adverb between the two parts of the infinitive.


Prepositions Ending a Sentence

The word preposition was coined because such words normally precede the position of their objects in a prepositional phrase. Some people then took this definition to mean that a preposition always had to come before its object and, surely, could never end a sentence.

This "rule" does not always apply when a subordinate clause comes before a preposition. British and Americans agree that one twentieth-century figure who demonstrated excellent command of English in speech and writing was Sir Winston Churchill. Once, when he worked for the Admiralty in World War I, he was rebuked by a superior for putting a preposition at the end of a sentence. He replied by writing back an ironic apology saying that it was "something up with which we should not put." Of course, that was much more awkward than "something we should not put up with." He made his point.


Burst, Bust, or Busted?

Bust, meaning "burst or explode," and busted are nonstandard.  Use burst instead.

Burst is the same in the present, past, and past participle.

Examples: I am so full that my stomach is about

to burst. (present)

We burst a dozen water balloons at the party yesterday. (past)

They said he had a burst appendix. (past participle)


Aggravate or Irritate?

Aggravate mean "to make worse."  The root is  grave, in the sense of "serious." Remember this root when spelling the word.

Irritate means "to exasperate" or "to inflame."

Incorrect: His teasing aggravated me.

Correct: His teasing irritated me.

Incorrect: That meal irritated my condition.

Correct: That meal aggravated my condition.


Bad or Badly?

Bad is an adjective.  It describes nouns or pronouns.  It is often used with descriptive linking verbs like look, feel, sound, or to be.

Incorrect: She felt badly about missing the date.

Correct: She felt bad about missing the date.

(Bad describes the pronoun she.)

Incorrect: Things looked badly for the Mudville nine.

Correct: Things looked bad for the Mudville nine.

(Bad describes the noun Things.)

Badly is an adverb (like well).  It describes verbs and should be used with all verbs other than linking verbs.

As many adverbs do, it usually answers the question "How?"

Incorrect: Mudville played bad last night.

Correct: Mudville played badly last night.

(Badly describes the verb played.)

See also Irregular Comparisons


Can't Help But

Can't help but is a nonstandard phrase.

Use can't or cannot help plus a gerund (verb form plus -ing.)

Incorrect: I can't help but fall in love with you.

Correct: I can't help falling in love with you.


Can or May?

Can as an auxiliary verb means "to be able to."

May as an auxiliary verb means "to be permitted to."

Incorrect: Can we talk?

(Well, if you can say it, you are able to talk!)

Correct: May we talk?

Correct: We may talk if you can listen to my side.


Comprise or Compose?

Comprise means "is made up of" or "consists of."  The whole comprises the parts.

Compose means "make up" or "make."  The parts compose the whole.

Incorrect: The rock is comprised of three minerals.

Correct: The rock is composed of three minerals.

Correct: The rock comprises three minerals.

Correct: Three minerals compose the rock.

If you are confused, just say, "The rock is made up of three minerals," or "Three minerals make up the rock."


Different From or Different Than?

Different from is standard English.

Different than is nonstandard.

Than is used with the comparative or superlative degrees.

See also Comparisons.


Doesn't or Don't?

Doesn't, does not, or does is used with the third person singular--words like he, she, and it.

Don't, do not, or do is used for other subjects.

Incorrect: It don't matter anymore.

Correct: It doesn't matter anymore.

Incorrect: Grandfather don't see too well.

Correct: Grandfather doesn't see too well.

Correct: His glasses don't help him much.


Could Of or Could Have?

Could of does not exist.  Neither do should of, will of, or would of as verbs.

Write could have, should have, will have, or would have.

If you want to emphasize the pronunciation, write it as a verb contraction: could've, should've, will've, or would've.

See also Verb Contractions.


Done as a Verb

Done should not be used alone as the verb of a sentence.  It is a past participle.

It must always follow an auxiliary verb like has, have, am, is, are, was, were, or one of their contractions.

Incorrect: I done what I was supposed to do.

Correct: I have done what I was supposed to do.

Correct (with contraction): I've done what I was

supposed to do.


Disinterested or Uninterested?

Disinterested means "impartial" or "not taking sides."  (In other words, not having a personal interest at stake.)

Uninterested means "not interested."  (In other words, not showing any interest.)

Correct: A good referee should be disinterested.

(He does not take sides.)

Incorrect: He was disinterested in Jill's hobby.

Correct: He was uninterested in Jill's hobby.

(He shows no interest.)


Using Due To

Due to means "caused by."  It should only be used if it can be substituted with "caused by."

It does not mean the same as "because of."

Incorrect: The game was postponed due to rain.

Correct: The game was postponed because of rain.

Correct: The game's postponement was due to rain.

The wordy expression due to the fact that should be replaced by because or since.


For Free

Free is an adjective.  The expression for free is nonstandard.

Use free or something like for nothing instead.

Incorrect: We got it for free.

Correct: We got it free.

Correct: We got it for nothing.


Emigrate or Immigrate?

The prefix e- (or ex-) usually means "out of" or "from."  The prefix im- (or in-) often means "in" or "into."

Therefore, emigrate means "to move out of" and immigrate means "to move into."

Correct: They emigrated from Rwanda and immigrated to

Gabon.

Note: The prefix e- comes from the Latin word e, such as we see in the motto of the United States: "E pluribus unum" (Out of many, one).


Enthused or Enthusiastic?

Enthused is nonstandard.

Replace it with enthusiastic.


Exalt or Exult?

Exalt means "to raise up," "to esteem greatly," or "to glorify."

Note that it has the same root as altitude.  The root alt- means "high."

Exult means "to rejoice" or "to be openly happy about."

There is a sentence in the Bible which, in one translation, uses both words.

Example: And Mary said, "My soul exalts the Lord,

and my spirit has exulted in God my Savior." --Luke 1:46,47


Farther or Further?

Farther refers to length or distance.  It is the comparative form of the word far when referring to distance.

Further means "to a greater degree," "additional," or "additionally." It refers to time or amount.  It is the comparative form of the word far when meaning "much."

Correct: London is farther north than Juneau.

(Refers to distance)

Correct: This plan requires further study.

(Meaning "additional study," refers to amount)

Correct: According to my timetable, we should be further

along.

(Refers to time)

See also Irregular Comparisons.


Fewer or Less?

Use fewer with objects that can be counted one-by-one.

Use less with qualities or quantities that cannot be individually counted.

Incorrect: There were less days below freezing last winter.

Correct: There were fewer days below freezing last winter.

(Days can be counted.)

Correct: I drank less water than she did.

(Water cannot be counted individually here.)

When referring to time or money, less is normally used even with numbers.  Specific units of time or money use fewer only in cases where individual items are referred to.

Examples: I have less than an hour to do this work.

I have less time to this work.

I have less money than I need.

I have less than twenty dollars.

He worked fewer hours than I did.

The only occasion in which you might say, "I have fewer than twenty dollars," would be when you were talking about specific dollar bills or coins, such as "I have fewer than twenty silver dollars in my collection."

See also Irregular comparisons.


Number or Amount?

Use the word amount with quantities that cannot be counted and number with quantities that could be counted one-by-one.

Examples: He had a small amount of ammunition left.

He had a small number of bullets left.

This follows a pattern similar to fewer and less.


Fortuitous or Fortunate?

Fortuitous means "happening by chance."

Fortunate means "lucky" or "beneficial."

Examples: Finding the lost coin was strictly fortuitous; I just

stumbled upon it.

I was fortunate to find that coin because I needed the money.


Gone or Went?

Gone is the past participle of to go.  Used as the verb of a sentence, it must always be preceded by an auxiliary verb such as has, have, had, is, am, are, was, were, be, or one of their contractions.

Went is the past tense of to go.  It never takes an auxiliary verb.

Incorrect: They gone to the movies.

(Gone needs an auxiliary verb.)

Correct: They have gone to the movies.

Correct: They are gone to the movies.

Correct: They went to the movies.

Incorrect: You could have went with them.

(Went takes no auxiliary verb.)

Correct: You could have gone with them.


Good or Well?

Good is an adjective.  It describes nouns or pronouns.  It may be used with descriptive linking verbs like look, feel, sound, taste, or be to describe the subject.

Incorrect: The coffee tasted well this morning.

Correct: The coffee tasted good this morning.

Correct: The pitcher is looking good today.

Well is normally an adverb.  It describes verbs (sometimes adjectives) and is used with most other verbs.

Well as an adjective means "healthy."

Incorrect: He pitches good.

Correct: He pitches well.

Incorrect: I do not feel very good.

Correct: I do not feel very well. (healthy)

See also Irregular Comparisons.


Healthy or Healthful?

In formal English, things are healthful (i.e., good for one's health).  People or other creatures are healthy (i.e., in a state of good health).

Incorrect: Eat a healthy breakfast.

Correct: Eat a healthful breakfast.

Correct: You look healthy today.


Hers or Her's?

Her's does not exist.

Hers is the correct spelling.

Example: That scarf is hers.

See also Possessive Pronouns and Apostrophes with Pronouns.


Hyper- or Hypo-?

The prefix hyper- means "above," "beyond," or "excessively."

The prefix hypo- means "under" or "below normal."

Examples: Hypodermic needle (under the dermis)

Hyperactive child (excessively active)

See, for example, Hypercritical or Hypocritical?


Hypercritical or Hypocritical?

Hypercritical means "excessively critical."

Hypocritical means "two-faced" or "characterized by hypocrisy." It literally means "critical underneath."

Note also the spelling of the nouns hypocrisy and hypocrite.

See also Hyper- or Hypo-.


Hopefully or I Hope?

Hopefully is an adverb which means what it ought to--"full of hope" or "characterized by hope."  It normally modifies verbs.

Nonstandard English sometimes substitutes the word hopefully for I hope (or some other subject with the verb hope).

Correct: They listened hopefully for the sound of

the rescue party.

(They listened with hope)

Incorrect: Hopefully, they will come in time.

Correct: I hope they will come in time.


Regardless or Irregardless?

If you think about it, the word irregardless is a double negative.  It does not exist in standard English.

Use regardless instead.  That is what is meant.


Incredible or Incredulous?

Incredible means "hard to believe," literally "not able to be believed."

Incredulous means "skeptical" or "unbelieving."  It refers to a person's response.

The noun form of incredulous is incredulity.  The opposite is credulous, or "gullible, believes anything."

Examples: Kim's story was incredible.

Arthur was incredulous as he listened to the story.


Indeterminate or Indeterminable?

Indeterminate means "vague" or "unclear."

Indeterminable means "unable to find out or decide."

Both adjectives have similar roots, but the difference is in the suffix -able.


Its of It's?
Its or It's?

Its is the possessive pronoun; it modifies a noun.

It's is a contraction of it is or it has.

Incorrect: The mother cat carried it's kitten in it's mouth.

(Possessive pronoun, no apostrophe)

Correct: The mother cat carried its kitten in its mouth.

Correct: I think it's going to rain today.

(Contraction of it is)

Correct: It's been a very long time.

(Contraction of it has)

See also Apostrophes with Pronouns.


Jiggle, Joggle, or Juggle?

Jiggle means "rock or jerk lightly."

Joggle means "to shake slightly" or "move by light jerks."

Juggle means "to catch and toss a number of objects with skill."

Examples: The aftershock made the table jiggle.

The movers had to joggle the couch into position.

He could juggle ten Indian clubs at a time.


Judicious, Judicial, or Juridical?

All three words have similar roots, but judicious applies to human character in general.  Judicial and juridical are more specifically connected with matters of law.

Judicious means "wise, showing good judgment."

Judicial means "relating to courts of law or judges."

Juridical means, more specifically, "relating to the administration of justice."

Examples: He judiciously invested in mutual funds.

(Showing good judgment)

The case is going to judicial review.

(Review by a court of law)

Some laws make specific juridical requirements for sentencing.

(Requirements for administering or dispensing justice)


Using Just andOnly

When using the word just as an adverb meaning "no more than," place it directly in front of the word it modifies.

Similarly, place the word only directly in front of the word it modifies.

Vague: Just give me three more days.

Correct: Give me just three more days.

Vague: I only have three dollars.

Correct: I have only three dollars.


Using Kind Of andSort Of

The expressions kind of or sort of to mean "rather," "partially," or "somewhat" are nonstandard.

Both expressions literally mean "type of" or "variety of."

Incorrect: The child felt kind of lonely.

Correct: The child felt somewhat (or rather) lonely.

Correct: The kestrel is a kind of falcon.

(A type or variety of falcon)

When using kind of or sort of always use a singular object of the preposition of.  If the object is plural, then use kinds of or sorts of.

Examples: What kind of salad is this?

(Kind and salad are both singular.)

There are all sorts of fruits in this salad.

(Sorts and fruits are both plural.)


Imply or Infer?

Imply means "to state indirectly."

Infer means "to draw a conclusion."

You may infer something from an implication, but you would not imply something from an inference.

Incorrect: She implied that he was from Canada by his

accent.

Correct: She inferred that he was from Canada by his accent.

Incorrect: The poem inferred that the lover was unfaithful.

Correct: The poem implied that the lover was unfaithful.

Correct: He inferred from the poem that the lover was

unfaithful.


Lay or Lie?

Lay means "to place something down."  It is something you do to something else.  It is a transitive verb.

Incorrect: Lie the book on the table.

Correct: Lay the book on the table.

(It is being done to something else.)

Lie means "to recline" or "be placed."  It does not act on anything or anyone else.  It is an intransitive verb.

Incorrect: Lay down on the couch.

Correct: Lie down on the couch.

(It is not being done to anything else.)

The reason lay and lie are confusing is their past tenses.

The past tense of lay is laid.

The past tense of lie is lay.

Incorrect: I lay it down here yesterday.

Correct: I laid it down here yesterday.

(It is being done to something else.)

Incorrect: Last night I laid awake in bed.

Correct: Last night I lay awake in bed.

(It is not being done to anything else.)

The past participle of lie is lain.  The past participle of lay is like the past tense, laid.

Examples: I could have lain in bed all day.

They have laid an average of 500 feet of sewer line a day.

Layed is a misspelling and does not exist.  Use laid.


Leave or Let?

Leave means "to allow to remain."

Let simply means "to allow" or "to permit."

Incorrect: Let him alone!

Correct: Leave him alone!

(Allow him to remain alone.)

Incorrect: Leave me do it again.

Correct: Let me do it again.

(Allow me to do it.)


Lend or Loan?

In standard English lend is a verb, and loan is a noun.

Incorrect: Please loan us a hundred dollars.

Correct: Please lend us a hundred dollars.


Like or As?

Like is a preposition.  It should be followed by an object to make a prepositional phrase.

As is a conjunction.  It should be followed by a clause containing a subject and a verb.

Incorrect: He runs like a gazelle does.

(Like is followed by a clause.)

Correct: He runs like a gazelle.

Correct: He runs as a gazelle does.

This is sometimes confusing because as occasionally is used with elliptical clauses which may resemble prepositional phrases.

Like is never used with clauses in standard English.


UsingOf

Do not use of to replace the verb have.

See Could Of or Could Have? for examples.

The word of following the prepositions outside, inside, off, or atop is nonstandard.  Simply drop the word of.

Incorrect: He looked inside of the box.

Correct: He looked inside the box.


Loath or Loathe?

Loath is an adjective meaning "unwilling."  It ends with a hard th and rhymes with growth or both.

Loathe is a verb meaning "to hate intensely."  It ends with a soft th like the sound in smooth or breathe.

Examples: He was loath to admit that he was included in

the deal.

(He was unwilling)

Alex loathes spiders.

(Hates them intensely)


Luxuriant or Luxurious?

Luxuriant means "characterized by thick or abundant growth."  It is usually applies to the growth of plants, fur, or hair.

Luxurious means "characterized by wealth and comfort," more directly from our modern word luxury.

Examples: Captain Cook named the place Botany Bay

because of the luxuriant jungle vegetation surrounding it.

They checked into the most luxurious suite in the hotel.


Macro- or Micro-?

The prefix macr- or macro- means "large" or "long."

The prefix micr- or micro- means "small" or "tiny."

Examples: macroeconomics--the study of economic

systems.

microeconomics--the study of a specific transaction or market.

The prefix micr- or micro- in the metric system means "millionth," so a microliter is a millionth of a liter.  For more on this see Abbreviations of Measurements.


Magnificent or Munificent?

Magnificent means "grand," literally "made great" or "doing great things."  Its root is magn- which means "great" or "large."

Munificent means "lavish" or "very generous," literally "making gifts." The root muni- means "gift."


Manic or Maniac?

Manic, an adjective, is a clinical term having to do with a psychological affliction.

Maniac, a noun, is a crazy person.  The adjective form is maniacal, with the accent on the second syllable.

Examples: He takes lithium for manic depression.

She started acting like a maniac when she heard the news.


Moral or Morale?

Morale, accent on second syllable, is a noun meaning "a person's mental or emotional state."

Moral, accent on first syllable, is either a noun meaning "the lesson from a story" or an adjective meaning "virtuous, behaving according to high standards."

Examples: Team morale rose after the no-hitter.

The moral of the story is "Never tell a lie."

She made a point with her moral and ethical actions.


Quote, Quotation, or Quotation Mark?

Quote is a verb.  It means "to repeat the words of a writer or speaker."

Quotation is a noun.  It means "words quoted" or "the act of quoting."

Quotation marks are punctuation marks used to highlight a written quotation.

Correct: He quoted Shakespeare frequently.

Incorrect: We listened to a long quote from the

government report.

Correct: We listened to a long quotation from the

government report.

Incorrect: You need to put this part in quotes.

Correct: You need to put this part in quotation marks.


Orient or Orientate?

The word orient as a noun means "east."  It may be capitalized when referring to the geographical location of the Far East.

Example: Hongkong is located in the Orient.

Orient as a verb means to "find direction" or "give direction."  The noun form of this kind of orienting is orientation.

Sometimes people in their speech will form an imagined verb from orientation and say orientate.  There is no such word as orientate.  The correct word is the verb orient.

Incorrect: Melanie is helping me get orientated

to the new job.

Correct: Melanie is helping me get oriented to

the new job.


Quash or Squash?

Quash usually applies to government or government authority.  It means "to annul" or "legally invalidate."

Squash means "to squeeze" or "crush."

Examples: The "fairness doctrine" quashed media debates.

The army squashed the demonstration in the capital.


Raise or Rise?

Raise means "to make higher," "build," or "nurture and cause to grow." It is normally transitive, that is, the action is done to something or someone else.

Rise means "to get up" or "become elevated."  It is never transitive.  The past tense is rose; the past participle, risen.

Examples: They raised the barn in two days.

The sun rises and sets every day.


Real or Really?

Real is an adjective.  It only modifies nouns or pronouns.

Really is an adverb.  It modifies verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.

Correct: He stayed at hotels with real class.

(Class is a noun. The adjective modifies it.)

Incorrect: He stayed at a real classy hotel.

(Classy is an adjective. It should be modified by an adverb.)

Correct: He stayed at a really classy hotel.

(The adjective classy is modified by the adverb.)

See also Sure or Surely?


Using Seen

Seen is a past participle.  It must be used with an auxiliary verb such as has, have, had, am, is, are, was, were, be or their contractions.

Often saw works better.  No auxiliary verb is used with saw.

Incorrect: We seen all three of them.

Correct: We saw all three of them.

Correct: We have seen all three of them.


Set or Sit?

Set means to "put in a certain place."  It is normally followed by a direct object, that is, it acts upon something else. It is transitive.

Sit means "to be seated."  It is always intransitive.

Incorrect: Set down on this chair.

Correct: Sit down on this chair.

Incorrect: Sit the money on the counter.

Correct: Set the money on the counter.

Set or sit plus a reflexive pronoun--"Set yourself down" or "Sit yourself down"--is nonstandard.

Set does not always take a direct object; for example, we speak of a hen or the sun setting.


Renown or Reknown?

Renown means "fame."  Renowned is the adjective form meaning "famous."

Reknown does not exist in English.  Apparently it is drawn from confusion with known.


Than or Then?

Than is a conjunction used with comparisons.  It rhymes with pan.

Then is an adverb that refers to time.  It rhymes with pen.

Examples: He likes you more than me.

First you take a cup of flour, and then you sift it.


Try And or Try To?

The expression try and followed by a verb is nonstandard.

Use try to instead.

Incorrect: Try and do it again.

Correct: Try to do it again.


That There and This Here

The expression that there and this here are nonstandard and redundant.

Drop the there and here.  Use just that and this.


Use of That, Which, and Who as Relative Pronouns
Using That, Which, and Who as Relative Pronouns

That, which, and who when used as relative pronouns each have a distinct function.

In modern speech, which refers only to things.  Who (or its forms whom and whose) refers only ot people.  That normally refers to things but it may refer to a class of type or person.

Examples: These are the books which I need for the class.

These are the books that I need for the class.

He is the man who will be teaching the class.

They are the type of people who would lie to their mothers.

They are the type of people that would lie to their mothers.

(That is OK here because it is a class or type.)


Their, There, or They're?

Their is a possessive pronoun.  It always describes a noun.

Note the spelling of their.  It comes from the word they, so the e comes before the i.

There is an adverb meaning "that location."  It is sometimes used with the verb to be as an idiom.  It is spelled like here which means "this location."

They're is a contraction of they are.  Note the spelling: The a from are is replaced by an apostrophe.

Examples: Their dog has fleas. (possessive of they)

I put the collar right there. (that location)

There are five prime numbers less than ten.

(with to be)

They're 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7. (contraction of they are)

See also Possessive Pronouns and Verb Contractions.


Them or Those?

Them is not a replacement for those.

Incorrect: I like them apples.

Correct: I like those apples.


To, To, or Two?
To, Too, or Two?

To is a preposition which begins a prepositional phrase or an infinitive.

Too is an adverb meaning "excessively" or "also."

Two is a number.  Many other words in English which reflect the number two are spelled with tw: twin, twice, between, tweezers, etc.

Examples: We went to a baseball game. (preposition)

We like to watch a good ball game. (infinitive)

We ate too much. (meaning "excessively")

I like baseball, too. (meaning "also")

Six divided by three is two. (number)

They own two Brittany spaniels. (number)


Sensual or Sensuous?

In modern usage, sensual means "physical, gratifying the body or its senses."

Sensuous means "appealing to the senses, especially by beauty or flavor."


Solid or Stolid?

Solid means "firm" or "not liquid or gas."  When applied to a person's character it implies reliability.

Stolid normally refers to character and means "stoic, unemotional."


Sure or Surely?

Sure is an adjective. It modifies nouns or pronouns.

Surely is an adverb. It modifies verbs, adjectives, or adverbs.

Correct: It is a sure thing.

(Thing is a noun. An adjective modifies it.)

Incorrect: It is sure hot outside.

(Hot is an adjective. It should be modified by an adverb.)

Correct: It is surely hot outside.

(Hot is an adjective. An adverb modifies it.)

See also Real or Really?


There's, Theirs, or Their's?

Theirs is a possessive pronoun.

There's is a contraction for there is.  Note the apostrophe replacing the letter i.

Their's does not exist.

Examples: That painting is theirs.

(possessive pronoun)

There's more to this than meets the eye.

(contraction of there is)

See also Possessive Pronouns, Verb Contractions, and There, Their, or They're.


Tenet or Tenant?

A tenet is a belief or doctrine considered true.

A tenant is a renter or occupant.


Tortuous, Torturous, or Tortured?

Tortuous means "winding, crooked" or "tricky to handle."

Torturous means "causing torture" or "painful in a cruel way."

Tortured as an adjective means "receiving torture" or "pained."

Examples: He had to take a tortuous route through

the Alps.

He survived the torturous existence of the

concentration camp.

The beggar gave a tortured look to the passers-by.


Turbid or Turgid?

Turbid means "muddy" or "hazy."  It is often applied to water or speech.

Turgid means "swollen, overflowing" or "pompous."  It also is usually applied to water, speech, or writing.


Unequivocal or Unequivocable?

Unequivocal means "leaving no doubt."

Unequivocable does not exist.

Equivocal, equivocally, and unequivocally are all legitimate words with the same root.

Similarly, equivocable, equivocably, and unequivocable do not exist.


Warranty or Warrantee?

A warranty (accent on first syllable) is a guarantee.

A warrantee (accent on last syllable) is a person or party who is guaranteed something.

Neither word is used as a verb.  The verb form is warrant.


Who's or Whose?
Whose or Who's?

Whose is the possessive form of who (or, occasionally, which).  It means "belonging to whom or which."

Who's is a contraction of who is or who has.  Notice the apostrophe replacing the missing letters.

Incorrect: Who's department do you work for?

Correct: Whose department do you work for?

Correct: Who's coming to visit tomorrow?


Unique and Other Absolute Modifiers

Unique means "one of a kind."  Therefore, words like very, so, or extremely or comparatives or superlatives should not used to modify it.  If it is one of a kind, it cannot be compared!

Incorrect: He is a very unique personality.

Correct: He is a unique personality.

This same logic applies to other words which reflect some kind of absolute: absolute, overwhelmed, straight, opposite, right, dead, entirely, eternal, fatal, final, identical, infinite, mortal, opposite, perfect, immortal, finite, or irrevocable.

In most cases they cannot be modified by very and similar words, nor can they be used in comparisons.

Many times there is a similar word which is not absolute.  For example, instead of using the word unique in the above example use a similar word that is not absolute.

Incorrect: He has a more unique personality than Marie.

Correct: He has a more distinctive personality than Marie.


A Ways

Ways is plural.  The article a is singular.  They do not belong together.

Incorrect: The truck stop is a little ways down the road.

Correct: The truck stop is a little way down the road.


Where or That?

Do not use where to replace that.

This mistake is common with verbs like read or see.

Incorrect: Joanna saw where the president was coming

to town.

(Unless you mean she saw the place he was coming to!)

Correct: Joanna saw that the president was coming to town.


-Wise as a Suffix

Coining new words with the suffix -wise may be clever, but it is nonstandard.

Incorrect: He did well this quarter saleswise.

Correct: He did well in sales this quarter.


Defuse or Diffuse?

Defuse literally means "to remove the fuse."  It has come to mean generally "to disarm" or "pacify."

Diffuse is normally used as an adjective meaning "spread out," "extended," or "verbose."  As a verb it means "to spread out in all directions."

Incorrect: Diffusing Family Arguments

(A title.  Spreading them out?)

Correct: Defusing Family Arguments

(Ah!  Unfortunately, the first example is a published title.)


Anyone and Everyone or Any One and Every One?

The compound pronouns anyone or everyone mean "any person" and "all the people," respectively.

The non-compound modified pronoun any one or every one put a greater emphasis on the word one and mean "any single person or thing" and "every single person or thing."  They are usually followed by a prepositional phrase beginning with the word of.

Examples: Did anyone see the eclipse last night?

(any person)

Did you send for any one of the free samples?

(any single thing)

Is everyone ready to begin?  (all the people)

The raccoon ate every one of the ears of corn.

(every single thing)

See also Indefinite Pronouns.


Blond or Blonde?

The words blond and blonde come from the French and follow somewhat the French pattern. Blond (without the e) is used to describe males, mixed gender, or uncertain gender.  Blonde refers to women or female gender.

In modern use, blond is sometimes used for female as well as male, but blonde is preferred for female.


Clipped Words

Clipped words are words that are shortened forms of longer words. Common clipped words are gym for "gymnasium," phone for "telephone," auto for "automobile," and photo for "photograph."

Avoid clipped words in formal English.


Continual or Continuous?

Continual means "repeated again and again."

Continuous means "uninterrupted."

Examples: I was continually interrupted by the telephone.

It rained continuously for forty-eight hours.


Hanged or Hung?

Hanged means "executed by hanging."

Hung means "suspended" otherwise.

Both are past tenses or past participles of the verb to hang, but each applies to specific cases.

Examples: The five plotters in the Lincoln assassination

were hanged.

We hung the towels out on the clothesline to dry.


Maybe or May Be?

Maybe, the compound word, is an adverb meaning "perhaps" or "possibly."

May be is a verb phrase meaning "might be" or "could be."

Examples: Maybe I will go out tonight.

I may be going out tonight.


To Have Plus Ought

The expressions have ought, has ought, and had ought are nonstandard.

To correct it, simply remove the have, has, or had.

Incorrect: You had ought to have been there.

Correct: You ought to have been there.


Says or Said?

The word says is strictly present tense.  It should not be used to take the place of the word said which is past tense.

Incorrect: Before that, he says to me, "Keep still."

(Past tense needed; use said)

Correct: Before that, he said to me, "Keep still."


Want Plus Directional Adverbs or Prepositions

The verb want is not supposed to be followed by an adverb or preposition indicating direction such as in, out, up, off or down.

When using standard English, complete the sentence by including the words left out of such expressions as want in or want down.

Incorrect: He wants out of the contract.

Correct: He wants to get out of the contract.

Incorrect: The cat wants in.

Correct: The cats wants to come in.


Anyway or Any Way?

The compound word anyway is an adverb meaning "regardless."

Any way is simply the word way modified by the word any.  It means "any manner" or "any method."

Examples: We're going to do it anyway!

(regardless)

I do not know any way to fix it.

(any manner or any method)

See also Certain Adverbs Ending in -S.


Using Little, Littlest, and Least

The word little can be used in two different senses--meaning "small in size" or "small amount of."

Examples: He was still a little boy. (small in size)

Please give me a little milk. (small amount of)

This becomes trickier in the comparative and superlative because little has two different forms.

If little means "small in size," the comparative is littler or more little, and the superlative is littlest.

If little means "small amount of," the comparative is less, and the superlative is least.

Examples: He was the littlest boy in the class.

Please give me less milk than he has.

He drank the least amount of milk of anyone there.

See also Irregular Comparisons.


Height or Heighth?

The noun form of broad is breadth, the noun form of long is length, and the noun form of wide is width.

Because of this, some people follow the pattern and say heighth, with a th at the end of the word high.  That is not standard English. The correct form is height.

Notice the vowel change with an ei.  It is not ie because it does not make the long e sound.

Incorrect: What is your heighth above sea level?

Correct: What is your height above sea level?


Other Information
Other Information--

Try these other programs by the same author...

VERBAL Vanquish

Vanquish Your Anguish

on the

Verbal Portion of the SAT and similar tests

This program emphasizes STRATEGY to do your best on the Verbal portion of the SAT, ACT, GRE, LSAT, Regents, and similar entrance exams.  No boring drill, but real skills to help you improve your score.  Students tutored by the author using these techniques have averaged a 70 point increase on the Verbal Portion of the SAT alone!  You can't afford not to have it!  Easy to use, for all IBM-compatible computers with 512K RAM and 700K disk storage. Any monitor type.  Upgraded to include the new SAT-I and PSAT.

and

MATH Vanquish

Vanquish Your Anguish

on the

Math Portion of the SAT and similar tests

The companion program to VERBAL VANQUISH, MATH VANQUISH gives you what you need to do your best on the Math portion of the SAT, ACT, GRE, and similar exams.  Once again, the emphasis is on strategy.  Students tutored using similar strategies have increased their scores an average of 80 points on the Math Portion of the SAT.  (Together with the Verbal lessons, that is an average increase of 150 points per SAT!)  Same computer requirements as above except that an EGA or higher monitor is required.  Updated for the new SAT-I and PSAT.  (Ask about CGA and mono version of program, if you need them).

SATCON

The SAT Score Conversion Program

Have You Been Converted?

This Windows program converts the old (1941-1994) SAT and PSAT scores to the new "recentered" SAT-I scores and vice versa. Easy to use. Available as Bannerware from many online services, bulletin boards, and shareware dealers. Also available from author.

WINALTER

Alter Date, Time, and Attributes of Files

Without Leaving Windows

Programmers and all those who need to keep records of computer files know that often there is no easy way to change the date, time, or attributes of files without exiting Windows. WinAlter makes this job a snap with a quick, easy Windows interface. You can even "drag and drop" files from File Manager or Windows Explorer. Available as Shareware from many online services, bulletin boards, and shareware dealers. Also available from author. Windows® 3.0 or higher required. All programs listed here work fine on Windows 95.

Click here to order these programs.

Click here for a sample of the latest from the author-- Spelling Slammer!

Grammar Slammer, Spelling Slammer, Language Vanquish, and documentation © Copyright 1996-1997 James Bair, All rights reserved, P.O. Box 203, Shelton  CT  06484  USA.  CompuServe #70730,3001.

Internet 70730.3001@compuserve.com

World Wide Web http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jbair

Windows and Windows 3.0 and 3.1 are registered trademarks of Microsoft, Inc.  IBM is a registered trademark of IBM Corp. Thanks to Dave Baldwin for RTFGEN help authoring program.


SAT Programs Order Form
 Order Form--SAT Vanquish

Click on the Printer icon above to print this order form.

Name

Address_____________________

City___________________State

Zip_________________Country

Please rush me the following program(s):

Check DOS Disk size: 5.25____ 3.5____

No. 	Total

_____Verbal Vanquish @ $25 	_____

_____SAT Vanquish @ $35 	_____

(includes Math and Verbal)

_____SATCON @ $5 	_____

(SAT Score converter for Windows)

_____WinAlter @ $10 	_____

Shipping & Sales Tax 	_____

________

Total Enclosed 	______

Payment in US money on US bank only or

Master Card/ Visa

Canada and Mexico add $3 shipping, all other countries outside of USA add $5 shipping.

Connecticut residents add 6% Sales Tax.

Ask about terms for site licenses.

Card No.____________________________

Cardholder Name______________________

Expiration Date____________

Thank you for your order--and may all your anguish be vanquished!

Send order to: James Bair, P.O. Box 203, Shelton  CT  06484 USA

You may also contact author at 70730.3001@compuserve.com.

CompuServe members may purchase these via GO SWREG. For Verbal Vanquish, get product number 359, for SAT Vanquish, get product number 4976, and for WinAlter get product number 7427.

This form may printed by clicking on the File|Print option on the Menu line above, or by clicking on the printer icon next to the title.


Grammar Slammer Order Form
 Order Form--Grammar Slammer

Click on the Printer icon above to print this order form.

Name

Address_____________________

City___________________State

Zip_________________Country

Please rush me the following program(s):

Check Windows Disk size: 5.25____ 3.5____

Name of Windows Word Processor: ____________________

No. 	Total

_____Grammar Slammer @ $25 	_____

_____Language Vanquish @ $39 	_____

Shipping & Sales Tax 	_____

________

Total Enclosed 	______

Payment in US money on US bank only or Master Card/ Visa

Canada and Mexico add $3 shipping, all other countries outside of USA add $5 shipping.

Connecticut residents add 6% Sales Tax

Ask about terms for site licenses.

Card No.____________________________

Cardholder Name______________________

Expiration Date____________

Thank you for your order!

Send order to: James Bair, P.O. Box 203, Shelton  CT  06484 USA

You may also contact author at 70730.3001@compuserve.com.

CompuServe members may purchase these programs via GO SWREG; ask for product number 8959 for Grammar Slammer and product number 12086 for Language Vanquish.

Internet users may obtain registered version via modem. Contact Albert's Ambry at http://www.alberts.com for more information.

This form may printed by clicking on the File|Print option on the Menu line above, or by clicking on the printer icon next to the title.

Click here for a sample of Spelling Slammer, the companion program to Grammar Slammer that makes up Language Vanquish.


This is a Demo Copy of

Grammar Slammer

Answer those questions that the Grammar Checkers don't...

This copy of Grammar Slammer is for purposes of evaluation.

If you use this evaluation copy of Grammar Slammer for a month and decide to keep the program, you should order the program.  You may click on the "Order" button at the top at any time for the order form, which you may then print.

Obtaining a registered copy will insure that you get the latest edition of Grammar Slammer, that you will continue to get quality software supported, and that you will have the opportunity to get the even bigger Spelling Slammer to take care of all those problems that a Spell Checker does not handle.

Click here for a sample of Spelling Slammer.

Except for this notice and the ordering information, this demo has all the features of the registered version.


This is a Spelling Slammer Sample

This part of Grammar Slammer simply shows you a very small part of Spelling Slammer to give you an idea of what it is like.

Spelling Slammer is included with the registered version of Grammar Slammer in Language Vanquish.

Order Language Vanquish for complete online help in tackling problems and tricks of grammar and spelling in English.

Click on Welcome to Spelling Slammer for more on what Spelling Slammer does and how it can help you.


Spelling Slammer Contents

 Spelling Slammer

Click here for directions

Spelling Rules

Welcome to Spelling Slammer

A

a lot

a while

abjure

able

accept

acclamation

acclimation

accommodate

achieve

(followed by nearly 900 more words...)


Introduction to Spelling Slammer
 Welcome to Spelling Slammer!

Not sure how to spell a word? Your spell checker gives you a choice, and you don't know which to choose? Some of you may have a dictionary stored on your disk somewhere, but it is a nuisance to access and use.

Spelling Slammer takes care of both problems in an easy-to-use format.  Spelling Slammer contains the rules and spellings you need to and make yourself clear.  Spelling Slammer uses the familiar Windows® Help file format to make it easy to find what you are looking for.  It even connects to the companion Grammar Slammer, to make a complete program to vanquish your writing anguish!

Spelling Slammer is not a dictionary or vocabulary list. The words it lists are soundalikes, names, and other confusing words that a spell checker usually overlooks.


How to Use this Index Page

Welcome to Spelling Slammer, the help file that goes beyond a spell checker.  Use it as you would any help file.

For spelling rules, click on Spelling Rules.

For how to spell specific words, find the word by clicking on the appropriate letter on the alphabetic grid. Then click on the underlined word or words that you want to check.

To return to the top of this page, click on the "Spelling" button above.

This is just a sample of Spelling Slammer. The full featured program comes with Language Vanquish. It lists words from A to Z, including many more under A.


Spelling Slammer Sample

This is just a sample of Spelling Slammer. For spelling help for all the letters A-Z, plus many spelling rules, order Language Vanquish. Get complete grammar and spelling help.


 Spelling Rules Contents

Adding -s to Words

Adding -s to Names

Adding Prefixes to Words and Roots

Adding Suffixes to Words:

Adding Suffixes to Most Roots

Adding Suffixes to Roots Ending in -y

Adding Suffixes to Roots Ending in Silent -e

Adding Suffixes Beginning with Vowel

Adding the Suffix -ly

-able or -ible?

-ance or -ence?

-ant or -ent?

-ary or -ery?

-cy or -sy?

-efy or -ify?

-tion or -sion?

i Before e or e before i?

Root -cede-, -ceed-, or -sede- ?

-us or -ous at the End of a Word?


Adding -s to Words
Adding -s to Most Words

To make a plural of most nouns or third person singular of most verbs, we add an s sound to the root. Normally this means just adding the letter s.

Example: make, makes

Example: toy, toys

However, there are a number of exceptions:

When the root ends in s, x, z, ch, or sh

When the root ends in o

When the root ends in y

When the root ends in f, fe, or ff

Plurals of Compound terms separated by hyphens or spaces

Exceptional plurals

Words that do not change

See also:

Adding -s to Names

Plurals of Underlined and Italicized Items

Apostrophe rules


Words that Do Not Change

There are a few words in English that are the same in both singular and plural.

Example: sheep moose deer fish species

Species of fin fish are usually also treated this way.

Example: pike flounder bream swordfish

Some words are only used in the plural, especially disciplines of study or work that end in -ics and items that are normally paired.

Example: mathematics politics physics

Example: scissors pants tweezers tongs


Exceptional Plurals

Sometimes plurals (and a few third person verbs) are different. In most cases, they are either very common words or words that derive from a foreign word and still use the foreign plural.

Common words: child, children; mouse, mice;

ox, oxen

Foreign words which use the foreign plural:

medium, media; radius, radii; thesis, theses; beau, beaux

Note: The plural of medium meaning "fortune teller" is mediums.

For foreign-derived words, you may need to check the dictionary.


Plurals of Compound Terms Separated by Hyphens or Spaces

To pluralize a compound noun whose parts are separated by hyphens or spaces, pluralize the main noun of the compound term, if there is one.

Example: editor-in chief

Incorrect: editor-in-chiefs

Correct: editors-in-chief (editor is the main noun)

Example: bucket seat

Correct: bucket seats (seat is the main noun)

Example: whip-poor-will

Correct: whip-poor-wills (no main noun)

Compound names are made plural by pluralizing the last name in the compound.

Example: The Garden of the Finzi-Continis


Adding -s to Words ending in f, fe, or ff

Normally to make a plural of words ending in f, fe, or ff, simply add -s.

However, if the pronunciation of the word changes so that the f sound changes to a v sound, then change the f to v and add -es (or just s if the root ends in fe.)

Example: puffs, cliffs, giraffes, serfs

Example: wives, wharves, scarves

Note that the noun knife becomes knives, and the noun loaf becomes loaves. The verb knife, however, becomes knifes and the verb loaf becomes loafs.

What about dwarf?


What about dwarf?

Most dialects and authorities consider the plural or third person singular verb of dwarf to be dwarfs.

However, for the plural of the noun, the author J.R.R. Tolkien preferred dwarves. Because of the popularity of his novels and the many games and other products that have derived from his novels, dwarves is becoming more widely used.


Adding -s to Roots ending in y

If the y is preceded by a consonant, change the y to i and add -es.

Incorrect: trys

Correct: tries

Incorrect: partys

Correct: parties

If the y is preceded by a vowel, add -s.

Example: day, days

Example: deploy, deploys


Adding -s to Names

To make the plural of a person's name, especially the last name, just add an s. Do not add an apostrophe plus s unless you mean to show possession.

Example: Smith, the Smiths

Incorrect: We are going to visit the Grant's today.

Correct: We are going to visit the Grants today.

Correct: We are going to the Grants' house. (possessive)

If the name ends in s, z, ch, or sh, then the plural is made by adding -es.

Example: Shabazz, the Shabazzes

Example: We are going to visit the Joneses today.

Unlike other types of plurals, plural names ending in vowels including o and y end in a single s. This also applies to the rare English name whose common noun plural is irregular.

Example: Overby, the Overbys

Example: We just saw the Sciortinos.

Example: Mr. Child, the Childs.

If the name ends in s, z, ch, or sh and the common noun plural is irregular, then the plural is made by adding -es.

Example: Mr. Fish, the Fishes

See also Apostrophes with Plurals


Adjure or Abjure?

Abjure means to "formally give up or renounce."

Adjure means to "give an order to a person under oath."


Acclamation or Acclimation?

Acclamation comes from acclaim. It means a "loud expression of approval or consent."

Acclimation is related to climate. It means "to adjust to a climate." The more common word of a similar meaning is acclimatization, but acclimation is commonly used when speaking of adjusted laboratory conditions.


Accommodate

Accommodate is a word that is frequently misspelled. The second and third vowels are both o's. It has the same root as commodious and even commode.


Words Rhyming with Able

Common words rhyming with able may be spelled differently.

The adjective able ends in -ble.

The proper name is spelled Abel. This is true for first names and virtually always true for last names as well.

Label ends with -bel. This may be slightly confusing because ladle ends with an -le.

Table ends with -ble.

The name Mabel normally ends with -bel, although there are some variations such as Maybelle. Double-check if you are not sure.


ie or ei?

I Before e

The common rule "i before e except after c" works whenever the ie is pronounced like a long e.

The following words have the i before the e and a long e sound: thief, chief, brief, belief, believe, relief, and relieve.

Except after c

The following words have the e before the i with a long e sound because the ei follows the letter c:

receive, deceit, deceive, receipt, conceited, and conceit.

The following words have the i before the e after a c, but the vowel is not pronounced like a long e. In addition, the e comes from the suffix and the c is pronounced differently.

ancient, efficient, conscience, and sufficient.

When Not Pronounced Like a Long e

The following words are spelled ei because the vowel is not pronounced like a long e:

rein, reign, freight, eight, foreign, neigh, neighbor, their, height, and heifer.

This is also technically true neither and either where the London English (the "Queen's English") pronounces the ei like a long i.

Exceptions

Nevertheless, there are a few exceptions to the "i before e" rule:

leisure, seize, seizure, weird, and sheik.

Some things may help you remember some of these words. Their comes from they.  Weird is actually a contraction of weyard (like wayward.)  Sheik in Arabic is pronounced with a long a sound; you may notice that news broadcasters often pronounce it that way. The London English pronounce leisure with a short e like pleasure.

That leaves seize and seizure as bona fide exceptions. These words are confusing because siege is spelled differently.  Who knows why?


 Glossary of Grammatical Terms

Click here for directions

A

Abbreviation

Absolute Modifiers

Accented Syllables

Acronym

Active Voice of Verbs

Adjective

Adjective Clause

Adverb

Adverb Clause

Ambiguous

Antecedent

Appositive

Article

Auxiliary Verb

B

Basic Tenses

Verb To Be

C

Capitalize

Capital Letters

Case

Clause

Clam Chowder

Comparative Degree

Complement

Complex Sentence

Compound

Compound-Complex Sentence

Compound Sentence

Conjunction

Conjunctive Adverbs

Contraction

Coordinate Adjectives

Cumulative Adjectives

D

Dangling Modifier

Declarative Sentence

Demonstratives

Dependent Clause

Direct Address

Direct Object

Direct Quotation

E

Ellipsis

Elliptical Clause

Emphatic Tenses

Exclamation

F

Formal

Fragment

Fragmentary Response

G

Gerund

H

He Said/She Said Clause

I

Imperative Mood

Imperative Sentence

Imperfect Tense

Indefinite Pronoun

Independent Clause

Indicative Mood

Indirect Object

Indirect Question

Indirect Quotation

Infinitive

Informal

Intensive Pronoun

Interjection

Interrogative Pronoun

Interrogative Sentence

Intransitive Verb

Irony

L

Linking Verb

Ligature

M

Main Clause

Misplaced Modifier

Mood

Modifier

Modify

N

Negative

Nomenclature

Nominative Case

Nonrestrictive Modifiers

Nonstandard

Noun

O

Object Complement

Object of Preposition

Objective Case

P

Parenthetical Expression

Participle

Part of Speech

Passive Voice

Perfect Tenses

Person

Phrase

Plural

Positive Degree

Possessive Case

Possessive Pronoun

Predicate

Predicate Nominative

Preposition

Prepositional Phrase

Progressive Tenses

Pronoun

Proper Noun

Proper Adjective

Punctuation

R

Redundant

Reflexive Pronoun

Relative Pronoun

Run-on Sentence

S

Sentence

Singular

Syllable

Standard English

Series

Subject of Infinitive

Subject

Subordinate Clause

Subordinating Conjunction

Subjunctive Mood

Superlative

T

Tense of Verbs

Transitive Verbs

V

Verb (Part of Speech)

Verb (Sentence Part)

Verbal

Verb To Be


How to Use the Glossary

Click on the letter for the index of words and terms beginning with that letter. Then click on the word or term for the definition you need.

To return to the main Grammar Slammer screen, click on the "Contents" button above or press the C key.

To return to the opening Glossary screen, click on the "Glossary" button above or press the G key.


Accented Syllables

In all dialects of English, the pattern of pronunciation depends not only on the sounds of the vowels and consonants, but on the stress each syllable receives when pronounced.  A syllable that is stressed in pronunciation is called an accented syllable.

The accent often changes the meaning of words which otherwise would be pronounced or even spelled alike. The word object when accented on the first syllable is a noun; when accented on the second syllable it is a verb.

Here is another subtle example:

A crow is a black bird.

(Accent both black and bird.)

A crow is not a blackbird.

(That is, a species of bird called blackbird. Accent black.)

All English dictionaries show the accented syllables in their pronunciation keys, usually with an acute accent mark (’).  See also Syllable.


Basic Tenses

The basic or simple tenses are the three tenses which are the simplest in the English language--past, present, future, without any other condition or character.

The basic present tense uses the same verb as the verb part of the infinitive. In the third person singular an -s or -es is added.  There are a number of irregular verbs, but they all have an s or z sound at the end of the third person singular.

The basic past tense is a single word.  Usually a -d or -ed is added to the root verb to put it in the past.  However, there are many irregular verbs.  All persons, singular and plural are the same except for the verb to be in which all persons are were but first and third person singular are was.

The future tense is formed by adding the present form to the auxiliary verb will or shall.  All persons, singular and plural, are the same.

Present 	Past 	Future

Regular: 	I like 	I liked 	I will like

he likes 	he liked 	he will like

Irregular: 	I have 	I had 	I will go

he has 	he had 	he will have


Abbreviation

An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or expression.

CT and Conn. are abbreviations for Connecticut.

See the Abbreviations topic in the main Contents for rules on making and using abbreviations.


Active Voice

The voice of a verb refers to the form of the verb used in relation to what the subject is doing.  In English there are only two voices-- passive and active.

The active voice of a verb simply means the form of the verb used when the subject is the doer of the action.

In most writing, use the active voice.  It is more direct and less ambiguous.

Passive Voice: The project was reviewed by the committee.

Active Voice: The committee reviewed the project.


Adjective

An adjective is a word that modifies a noun or pronoun.

Examples: The big dog barked loudly.

(The and big modify the noun dog.  They are adjectives.)

The dog was big and loud.

(The adjectives The, big, and loud modify the noun dog.)

The dog was a big one.

(The adjective the modifies dog; the adjective big modifies the pronoun one.)


Adjective Clause

An adjective clause is a subordinate clause that modifies a noun or pronoun.

The italicized clause in the first sentence is an adjective clause because it modifies the noun clause.

Most of the time adjective clauses begin with the relative pronouns that, which, who, whom, or whose.

See also That, Which, and Who.


Adverb

An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.  Adverbs generally answer one of four questions: how, when, where, or to what extent.

Adding the suffix -ly to an adjective commonly turns the word into an adverb.

Examples: He ran fast. (how)

He responded immediately. (when)

He put it there. (where)

He became extremely happy. (to what extent, modifies adjective)


Adverb Clause

An adverb clause is a subordinate clause that modifies a verb, adjective, or adverb.  It answers one of four questions: how, when, where, and why.

An adverb clause always begins with a subordinating conjunction.


Article

In grammar, an article is a type of adjective which makes a noun specific or indefinite.  In English there are three articles: the definite article the and the two indefinite articles a and an.

In writing, an article is a brief nonfiction composition such as is commonly found in periodicals.

See Titles of Things and Quotation Marks with Titles for information on punctuating the titles of articles.


Auxiliary Verb

An auxiliary verb combines with another verb to help form the tense, mood, voice, or condition of the verb it combines with.

The verbs to have, to be, to do, will, shall, would, should, and could are the common auxiliary verbs in English.

Auxiliary verbs are sometimes called helping verbs.

In the last sentence, are is the auxiliary verb in the passive verb phrase are called.


Ambiguous

When something is ambiguous it has more than one possible meaning.

Writing should strive to be clear.  Avoid ambiguity if you want your reader to be sure of what you are saying.


Capital Letters and Capitalizing

Capital Letters are the larger letters used at the beginning of sentences and names.  They are the letters made on a typewriter when the "Shift" key is pressed.

To capitalize a word means "to make the first letter of the word a capital letter."  See the Capitalization Rules topic in the Contents for more on when to capitalize.

Capital letters are sometimes called Upper Case letters.

For a list of the capital letters, see the letters in the Glossary Index Box.


Compound Constructions

The term compound is used to describe the combining of similar grammatical units in a number of circumstances.

A compound sentence is a sentence made up of two or more independent clauses.  The clauses are joined by conjunctions and/or distinctive punctuation marks.

A compound subject is a subject made up of two or more different subjects acting on the same predicate.

A compound verb is a simple predicate with two or more different verbs showing different actions or conditions.

Both compound subjects and compound verbs are joined by conjunctions, sometimes with additional punctuation.

A compound modifier is two or more adjectives or adverbs modifying a single word or phrase.  They are normally joined by conjunctions or punctuation marks.

A compound word is a single word made up of two or more distinct words combined into that single word.  The word blackbird is a compound word made up of the words black and bird.


Conjunctions

Conjunctions are words that join words, phrases, or sentence parts.

In English there are three kinds of conjunctions.

1. Coordinate conjunctions join similar words, phrases, or clauses to each other.  In English the main coordinate conjunctions are and, or, for, but, nor, so and yet.

(Note the use of or and and in the last two sentences.

2. Correlative conjunctions also join similar words, phrases, or clauses, but act in pairs.  In modern English the main correlative conjunctions are either/or, neither/nor, both/and, whether/or, not/but and not only/but also.

3. Subordinating conjunctions join a subordinate clause to a main clause.

For a listing see the Glossary entry on Subordinating Conjunctions.


Contraction

A contraction is a word shortened by leaving out some letters.  The missing letters are indicated by an apostrophe.

Examples: don't for do not

o'clock for of the clock

See, for example, Verb Contractions and Other Contractions.


Complex and Compound-Complex Sentences

A complex sentence is a sentence made up of one main clause and at least one subordinate clause.

A compound-complex sentence is a sentence made up of more than one main clause and at least one subordinate clause.  It is the combining of a compound sentence with a complex sentence.


Compound Sentence

A compound sentence is a sentence made up of two or more independent clauses but no subordinate clauses.

The clauses in a compound sentence are usually joined by conjunctions and/or some kind of punctuation.


Conjunctive Adverbs

Conjunctive adverbs are adverbs that act as a transition between complete ideas.  They normally show comparison, contrast, cause-effect, sequence, or other relationships.  They usually occur between independent clauses or sentences.

The following words are common conjunctive adverbs:

accordingly, again, also, besides consequently, finally, furthermore, however, indeed, moreover, nevertheless, otherwise, then, therefore, and thus.

See Commas with Interrupting Expressions and Semicolons with Clauses for information on punctuating and using conjunctive adverbs.


Emphatic Tenses

The two emphatic tenses receive their name because they are used for emphasis.  More commonly, however, they are used with the negative not and with questions when the normal order is inverted and part of the verb comes before the subject.

The present emphatic tense is formed by adding the basic present form of the verb to the present tense of the verb to do (do or does).

The past emphatic tense is formed by adding the basic present form of the verb to the past tense of the verb to do (did).

Present emphatic: Does he run fast?

He does run fast.

He does not run slowly.

Past emphatic: He did come to work today.

Didn't he stay home?

He did not stay home today.


Demonstratives

A demonstrative is a pronoun or adjective which points out which item is being referred to.

In English there are only four demonstratives: this, that, these, and those.

A demonstrative pronoun is a demonstrative used in the place of a noun.

A demonstrative adjective is a demonstrative used to modify a noun.

Demonstrative pronoun: May I see that?

Demonstrative adjective: May I see that book?


Direct Address

A direct address is the name of the person (normally) who is being directly spoken to.

It is always a proper noun.  It does not have any grammatical relationship to any part of the sentence.  It is set off by commas.

Example: What do you think of this, Georgia?


Elliptical Clause

An elliptical clause is a clause in which some words have been left out. Because of the pattern or logic of the entire sentence, it is clear what the missing words are.

An elliptical clause may be either independent or subordinate.

Example: Jessica had five dollars; Monica, three.

(The verb had was dropped from the second clause, but the meaning is still clear.)

For more on using elliptical clauses see Pronouns with Than or As and Commas with Elliptical Clauses


Exclamation

An exclamation is a word, phrase, or sentence spoken with great emotion or intensity.

An exclamation is normally punctuated with an exclamation point at the end.


Formal Language

Formal language or style is what is used in most writing and business situations.  It does not presume there is a personal or intimate relationship.

For example, while there is nothing grammatically incorrect about most verb contractions, they should be avoided in formal writing unless a personal statement is being directly quoted.  They would be a sign of either a more casual attitude towards the reader or a close personal relationship with the reader.

One simple guideline that helps many times--if you ought to type it, it's formal.


Fragments and Fragmentary Responses

A sentence fragment is a group of words which sounds like a sentence but does not express a complete thought.  Sometimes it has a subject or verb missing. Sometimes it is a phrase or subordinate clause instead of a complete sentence.

Sentence fragments are normally not only grammatically incorrect but also difficult to understand.

The one type of fragment which may be acceptable at least in conversation is a fragmentary response.  This is a sentence fragment which answers a question or otherwise responds to a situation in such a way that its meaning is understood even though it is not a complete sentence.

Fragmentary responses should be avoided except in dialogue or very casual writing.

Example: "Who was that woman with you last night?"

"Sandy."

(The response is not a complete sentence, but it is understood because it is responding to a specific question.)


Gerund

A gerund is a verb ending in -ing and used as a noun.

Sports are often referred to in gerund form.

Examples: I like playing baseball.

Doing the audit is duty, not pleasure.

A gerund phrase is a noun phrase made up of a gerund plus any complements of the gerund plus any modifiers of either the complement or the gerund.

In the first example, playing baseball is the gerund phrase (the gerund, baseball plus its direct object baseball.)

In the second example, the gerund phrase is doing the audit (the gerund doing, its direct object audit, and the, which modifies the direct object).


He Said/She Said Clause

A he said/she said clause is simply a clause which tells who is speaking. It is either introducing, in the middle of, or ending a direct quotation .

It normally has a subject, the speaker of the quotation, and a verb like said which tells what specific act of speaking was made.

Examples (he said/she said clause in italics):

Jonah said,"Why don't we go out tonight?"

"I don't know," Mindy replied."I have a lot of

work to do."

"Maybe I can help you with the work," he

suggested.


Imperative Sentence

An imperative sentence asks, requests, or commands someone to do something.  An imperative sentence drops the subject.

Sometimes when simply the verb of an imperative sentence is referred to, it is said to be in the imperative mood.

Examples: Go away!

Please go away.

John, come here please.

(John is not the subject but a direct address.)


Indirect Quotation

An indirect quotation is when the meaning but not the exact words of something someone spoke is referred to.

Quotation marks are not used with indirect quotations.

Indirect quotations frequently begin with that or if.  They may have no relative pronoun or subordinating conjunction introducing them.

Direct Quotation: Mike said, "I am hungry."

Indirect Quotation: Mike said that he was hungry.

Mike said he was hungry.

Direct Quotation: "Are you coming?" she asked me.

Indirect Quotation: She asked me if I were coming.


Informal Language

Informal language or style is what is used in casual conversation. It is used in writing only when there is a personal or intimate relationship.

Virtually all business writing is formal, not informal.

Informal writing still must be grammatically correct.

One simple guideline that helps many times--if you ought to type it, it's not informal.


Intensive Pronoun

An intensive pronoun re-emphasizes a noun or pronoun by taking the place of its antecedent to avoid repeating the same word.

In English intensive pronouns are formed just like reflexive pronouns--by adding -self or -selves to the root pronoun.

Examples: We did it all by ourselves.

The admiral himself inspected the boat.

The only intensive pronouns in modern English are the following:

myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves.

The words hisself and theirselves do not exist.


Interjection

An interjection is a word or phrase showing emotion or surprise which has no grammatical relationship to any other words or part of a sentence.

They are often punctuated by exclamation points and are used infrequently.

It is best to avoid the use of them in formal writing other than direct quotations.

In most dictionaries the abbreviation interj. means "interjection."

Examples: Ouch, Hey, Oh my, Wow


Interrogative Pronoun

An interrogative pronoun is a pronoun used in order to ask a question.

Often it has no antecedent because the antecedent is unknown.  That is why the question is being asked!

In modern English there are five interrogative pronouns:

what, which, who, whom, and whose.

Note that all five words may also be used as relative pronouns.  A relative pronoun may be found in a question; an interrogative pronoun is only found in a question.

In addition, these pronouns may take the suffixes -ever and -soever.

Examples (interrogative pronoun in italics):

What did you say?

Who said that?


Interrogative Sentence

An interrogative sentence is a sentence that asks a direct question.

It is punctuated with a question mark at the end.

In English an interrogative sentence normally changes the word order so that the verb or part of the verb comes before the subject.

Example: Do you like this?


Intransitive Verb

An intransitive verb is an action verb (that is, it is neither a linking verb nor an auxiliary verb) which does not have a direct object.

The action is still being done, but it is not being done to anything or anyone else.

Most verbs can be both intransitive and transitive depending on the sentence. The verb to go, however, is always intransitive.

In most dictionaries the abbreviation v.i. means "verb, intransitive."

Transitive: He runs a large corporation.

(The verb runs has a direct object, corporation.)

Intransitive: He runs around the block daily.

(There is no direct object.)


Irony

Irony is the state that occurs when what happens or what exists is the opposite of what is expected.

Verbal irony is specifically when a person says something that is contrary to fact in order to make a point rather than to deceive.  Sarcasm is a type of verbal irony.


Linking Verb

A linking verb is a verb which links or establishes a relationship between the subject and a term in the predicate which describes or renames the subject.

It does not show action, but, rather, it links.

The common linking verbs are be, appear, become, feel, seem, smell, taste, and sound.

Please note that be may also be an auxiliary verb.  All the others except for seem can be transitive or intransitive action verbs.

One way of testing for a linking verb is to replace the verb with the appropriate form of seem.  If the sentence is still saying pretty much the same thing, the verb is a linking verb.

Action Verb: He tasted the ice cream. (action)

Linking Verb: The ice cream tasted good.

(Tasted is used to help good describe the subject.)


Mood

The mood of a verb is the manner in which the action or condition is conceived or intended.

In English there are three verb moods.

1. Indicative, a verb stating an apparent fact or asking a question. This is the way verbs are normally used in English.

2. Imperative, a verb stating a command or request.

3. Subjunctive, a verb expressing a doubt, desire, supposition, or condition contrary to fact.


Modifier

Modifiers describe a word or make the meaning of the word more specific. They are said to modify the word.

In English there are two parts of speech which are modifiers--adjectives and adverbs.

Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns.  Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.


Negative

In grammar a negative is a modifying word or expression used to contradict or deny the truth of a statement.

In English common negatives are no, never, and not.  Other words which have negative sense are words like hardly and scarcely.


Nomenclature

Nomenclature means "a system of naming something."

Scientific nomenclature is the system first developed by Carolus Linnaeus to name species using two Latin-rooted words and classify them according to perceived genetic similarity.


Nominative Case

The nominative case is the form of a noun or pronoun used in the subject or predicate nominative.

In English this is only significant with personal pronouns and the forms of who.

Personal pronouns in the nominative case in modern English are I, you, he, she, it, we, and they.

The word who is also in the nominative case.


Objective Case

The objective case is the form of a noun or pronoun used in the direct object, indirect object, object of preposition, object complement, and subject of an infinitive.

In English this is only significant with personal pronouns and the forms of who.

Personal pronouns in the objective case in modern English are me, you, him, her, it, us, and them.

The word whom is also in the objective case.


Nonstandard

Nonstandard language or style does not follow the rules of standard language.

Nonstandard language is never appropriate in writing unless it is a deliberate direct quotation of a nonstandard speaker.  It usually reflects poorly on the speaker when spoken.


Noun

A noun is a word that signifies a person, place, thing, idea, action, condition, or quality.

The nouns in these two sentences are in italics.


Parenthetical Expression

A parenthetical expression is an expression which is inserted into the flow of thought.  It may be in the middle of a sentence or between sentences, but it does not deal directly with the topic at hand.

Some short parenthetical expressions like of course are set off by commas, but parenthetical expressions may also be set off by parentheses and dashes.


Predicate

The predicate of a sentence is that part of the sentence which says something about the subject.  It expresses the action of the sentence or the condition of the subject.

The complete predicate contains the verb with its modifiers plus any complements and their modifiers.

The verb is sometimes referred to as the simple predicate.


The Parts of Speech

The part of speech is the term used to describe how a particular word is used.  In English there are eight ways a word can be used--there are eight parts of speech.

1. Nouns name anything.

2. Verbs express action or state of being.

3. Pronouns replace nouns.

4. Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns.

5. Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.

6. Prepositions show the relationship between a noun or

pronoun and another word in the sentence.

7. Conjunctions connect words and sentence parts.

8. Interjections express strong feeling.

For more specific details on the individual parts of speech, see the specific entry for each part of speech.


Passive Voice

The voice of a verb refers to the form of the verb used in relation to what the subject is doing.  In English there are only two voices-- passive and active.

The passive voice of a verb simply means the form of the verb used when the subject is being acted upon rather than doing something.

The passive voice is formed by taking the appropriate tense of the verb to be and adding the past participle.

Active Voice: The committee reviewed the project.

Passive Voice: The project was reviewed by the

committee.

In most writing, use the active voice.  It is more direct and less ambiguous.

The passive should only be used if the doer is unknown or unimportant, or if more emphasis is put on the receiver of the action than the doer.

Doer unknown: The Jones' car was stolen last week.

Doer unimportant: The bells were rung to announce

the wedding.

Emphasize receiver: Tony was hit by a fastball.


Prepositions

Prepositions are words which relate a noun or pronoun (called the object of the preposition) to another word in the sentence.

The preposition and the object of the preposition together with any modifiers of the object is known as a prepositional phrase.

The following is a list of most of the prepositions used in English today. Note that many of the words may also function as other parts of speech.  Also note that some prepositions are compound, made up of more than one word.

aboard 	beyond 	on account of

about 	but 	onto

above 	by means of 	on top of

according to 	concerning 	opposite

across from 	considering  	out

across 	despite 	out of

after 	down 	outside

against 	during 	owing to

ahead of 	except¹ 	over

along 	for 	past

alongside 	from 	prior to

along with 	in 	regarding

amid 	in addition to 	round

among 	in back of 	since

apart from 	in front of 	through

around 	in lieu of 	throughout

aside from 	in place of 	till

as of 	in regard to² 	to

at 	inside 	together with

atop 	in spite of 	toward

barring 	instead of 	under

because of 	into 	underneath

before 	in view of 	until

behind 	like 	unto

below 	near 	up

beneath 	nearby 	upon

beside 	next to 	with

besides 	of 	within

between 	off 	without

by 	on 	per

Notes: ¹Except may be paired with other prepositions.

²"In regards to" is nonstandard.


Perfect Tenses

The three perfect tenses in English are the three verb tenses which show action already completed.  (The word perfect literally means "made complete" or "completely done.")

They are formed by the appropriate tense of the verb to have plus the past participle of the verb.

Present Perfect: I have seen it.

(Present tense of to have plus participle. Action is completed with respect to the present.)

Past Perfect: I had seen it.

(Past tense of to have plus participle. Action is completed with respect to the past.)

Future Perfect: I will have seen it.

(Future tense of to have plus participle. Action is completed with respect to the future.)


Person

Person refers to the form of a word as it relates to the subject.  In English, the form of the word can change with the subject in the present verbs, the past of to be, and with personal pronouns.  In English there are three persons.

1. First person refers to the speaker.  The pronouns I, me, myself, my, mine, we, us, ourselves, our, and ours are first person.

2. Second person refers to the one being spoken to.  The pronouns you, yourself, your, and yours are second person.

3. Third person refers to the one being spoken about.  The pronouns he, she, it, him, her, himself, herself, himself, his, her, hers, its, they, them, themselves, their, and theirs are third person.

Example: The first person singular present of to be is I am.


Plural

In simplest terms plural means "more than one."

To show that a noun is plural, we normally add an -s or -es to the word.

Example: one dog   two dogs

one bus   two buses

Sometimes the spelling rule requires that the consonant be doubled before adding the -es.

Example: one quiz   two quizzes

There are a few irregular plurals such as men, children, women, oxen, and a number of words taken directly from foreign languages such as alumni (plural of alumnus) or media (plural of medium).

We also speak of the plural form of pronouns--that is, pronouns that take the place of plural nouns like we, you, and they.

We also speak of the plural form of verbs--that is, verbs that go with a plural subject.  In English this is only significant in the present tense and the past tense of the verb to be.

For example, the third person plural past tense of the verb to be is we were.

For the formation of the plural of letters, symbols, and words as words, see Apostrophes with Plurals of Underlined Items.


Possessive Case

The possessive case of a noun or pronoun shows ownership or association.

Nearly all nouns and indefinite pronouns show possession by ending with the s sound.  This is spelled with and apostrophe plus an s.

For the rules on this see the "Apostrophes" heading in the Punctuation Contents.

Examples: Francine's sweater

(The sweater owned by Francine.)

George's grandfather

(The grandfather associated with George.)

Possessives normally modify nouns as in the examples above, but sometimes they stand by themselves as a noun rather than as a modifier.

Example: That sweater is Francine's.

The possessive case of personal pronouns is irregular.  Some possessive pronouns like my and your modify nouns.  Others, like mine and yours stand alone and do not act as modifiers.

For more on this, see Possessive Pronouns.


Progressive Tenses

The progressive tenses are the six tenses in English which show continuous or repeated actions.  Sometimes the past progressive is called the imperfect.

The six progressive tenses correspond to the three basic and three perfect tenses.  They are formed by the appropriate basic or perfect tense of the verb to be followed by the present participle.

Present Progressive: I am coming.

Past Progressive: I was coming.

Future Progressive: I will be coming.

Present Perfect Progressive: I have been coming.

Past Perfect Progressive: I had been coming.

Future Perfect Progressive: I will have been coming.


Pronoun

A pronoun takes the place of a noun in a sentence.

In English there are seven different kinds of pronouns.

1. The personal pronoun takes the place of a specific

or named person or thing.  Personal pronouns come in three different cases: nominative, objective, and possessive.

2. The reflexive pronoun adds information by pointing

back to a noun or another pronoun.

3. The intensive pronoun adds emphasis to a noun or

pronoun.

4. The demonstrative pronoun points out a specific

person, place, or thing.

5. The relative pronoun begins a subordinate clause

and relates the clause to a word in the main clause.

6. The interrogative pronoun is used to ask a

question.  The personal interrogative pronouns come in the same three cases as the personal pronouns.

7. Indefinite pronouns refer to persons, places, or

things without specifying for certain which one.

For more on each type of pronoun, see the glossary entry for that type.


Punctuation

Punctuation is the visual sign which helps a reader distinguish between words and sentences and helps the reader understand the relationships between words.

Technically, capitalizing, spaces between words, and indentations at the start of paragraphs are all forms of punctuation.  But usually when we speak of punctuation, we speak of the symbols we use to mark sentences--the  punctuation marks.  They help the reader understand exactly what the writer's intentions are.

In English the following punctuation marks are normally used: period, question mark, exclamation point, comma, semicolon, colon, quotation marks, single quotation marks, italics, underlining, dash, hyphen, parentheses, brackets, ellipsis, and virgule.


Redundant

Redundant means "needlessly repetitive."

Redundancy is the noun form of the word.


Reflexive Pronoun

An reflexive pronoun "reflects" a noun or pronoun by taking the place of its antecedent when the noun or pronoun is doing something to itself.

In English reflexive pronouns are formed just like intensive pronouns--by adding -self or -selves to the root pronoun.

Examples: We underrated ourselves before the race.

The cat washed herself carefully with her tongue.

The only reflexive pronouns in modern English are the following:

myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves.

The words hisself and theirselves do not exist.


Relative Pronoun

A relative pronoun "relates" a subordinate clause to the rest of the sentence.  It may be found in adjective and noun clauses.

A relative pronoun is only found in sentences with more than one clause.

In modern English there are five relative pronouns: that, which, who, whom, and whose.

All but that can also be interrogative pronouns.  That may also be a demonstrative pronoun.

In addition, these pronouns may take the suffixes -ever and -soever.

Examples (relative pronouns italicized):

He who laughs last laughs best. (Adjective clause)

I cannot believe that he said it. (Noun clause)


Sentence

A sentence is a group of words communicating a complete thought.

A sentence always contains a subject and a predicate.


Singular

In grammar, the word singular means "the form of a word representing or associated with one person, place, or thing."

The term is normally used in contrast to plural.

A singular noun or pronoun represents one person, place, or thing.

Examples: dog  child   I   he

The singular form of a verb goes with a singular subject.

Example: He is coming here very soon.

(The verb is said to be "in the third person

singular.")


Syllable

A syllable is a word or part of a word that can be pronounced with one impulse from the voice.  A syllable always contains a vowel sound, and most syllables have consonants associated with the vowel.

In English, some syllables in words or sentences are stressed with more force from the voice than others.  Those stressed syllables are called accented syllables.

Examples of words divided into syllables:

Ex-am-ples of words di-vi-ded in-to syl-la-bles.

Examples of words divided into syllables with accents:

Ex-am´ples of words´ di-vi´ded in´to syl´la-bles with ac´cents.


Standard English

Standard English, also known as Standard Written English or  SWE, is the form of English most widely accepted as being clear and proper.

Publishers, writers, educators, and others have over the years developed a consensus of what standard English consists of.  It includes word choice, word order, punctuation, and spelling.

Standard English is especially helpful when writing because it maintains a fairly uniform standard of communication which can be understood by all speakers and users of English regardless of differences in dialect, pronunciation, and usage. This is why it is sometimes called Standard Written English.

There are a few minor differences between standard usage in England and the United States, but these differences do not significantly affect communication in the English language.


Series

In grammar, a series is a group of three or more words, phrases, or clauses in a row.


Subject of an Infinitive

While the word subject in grammar normally applies to a sentence, it is possible for an infinitive to have a subject.

When an infinitive or an infinitive phrase follows certain verbs, the action of the infinitive may be done by a different person or thing than the subject of the sentence.  This doer of the infinitive's action follows the verb and comes before the infinitive.  This is known as the subject of the infinitive.

Keep in mind that when an infinitive follows a verb, sometimes the word to is dropped from the infinitive.

A personal pronoun is in the objective case when it is a subject of the infinitive.

Examples: We wanted Bill to go to the airport.

Simon helped me to record the data.

No one saw the prisoner escape.

Simon helped me record the data.

(In the last two examples, the word to has been dropped.)


Subordinating Conjunction

A subordinating conjunction joins a subordinate clause to a main clause.

The following is a list of the most common subordinating conjunctions.

after 	how 	till ( or 'til)

although 	if 	unless

as 	inasmuch 	until

as if 	in order that 	when

as long as 	lest 	whenever

as much as 	now that 	where

as soon as 	provided (that) 	wherever

as though 	since 	while

because 	so that

before 	than

even if 	that

even though 	though

An adverb clause is always introduced by a subordinating conjunction. A noun clause and adjective clause sometimes are.

Adverb clause: Before you go, sign the log book.

Noun clause: He asked if he could leave early.

Adjective clause: That is the place where he was last seen.

A subordinating conjunction is always followed by a clause. Many subordinating conjunctions can be other parts of speech.

Adverb: Jill came tumbling after.

Preposition: Jill came tumbling after Jack.

Subordinating Conjunction: Jill came tumbling after Jack had fallen.


Tense of Verbs

The word tense comes from the Latin word, tempus, which means "time."  The tense of a verb shows the time when an action or condition occurred.  In English the tense also may provide emphasis and may determine whether or not an action or condition was continuous or repetitive.

There are fourteen tenses in modern English.

There are three basic tenses: past, present, and future.  They show whether a simple action or condition occurred, occurs, or will occur in the past, present, or future.

There are three perfect tenses: past perfect, present perfect, and future perfect.  They show whether an action or condition had occurred relative to the past, has occurred relative to the present, or will have occurred relative to the future.

There are six progressive tenses: past progressive, present progressive, future progressive, past perfect progressive, present perfect progressive, and future perfect progressive.  They show a continuous action or condition that was occurring in the past, is occurring in the present, will be occurring in the future, had been occurring relative to the past, has been occurring relative to the present, or will have been occurring relative to the future.

There are two emphatic tenses: past emphatic and present emphatic. They provide emphasis especially in questions and negatives for actions or conditions that did occur in the past or that do occur in the present.

In the above explanations the verb to occur was conjugated in each of the fourteen tenses respectively.

For more on each type of tense, see the individual entry in the glossary.

Some authorities consider verbs formed with the conditional auxiliary verbs as one or several conditional tenses to show actions that could occur, might occur, should occur, would occur, could have occurred, might have occurred, should have occurred, and would have occurred. These are generally considered simply the past or perfect forms of the verbs can, may, shall, and will.


Transitive Verb

An transitive verb is an action or linking verb that has a complement.

Dictionaries consider all linking verbs transitive.  An action verb which is transitive has a direct object.  The action is being done to something or someone.

In most dictionaries the abbreviation v.t. means "verb, transitive."

Most verbs can be both intransitive and transitive depending on the sentence.

Intransitive: He runs around the block daily.

(There is no direct object.)

Transitive: He runs a large corporation.

(The verb runs has a direct object, corporation.)


Verb

A verb is a word expressing an action or a condition of a subject.

There are three properties which characterize verbs in English--tense, voice, and mood.

In English the fourteen verb tenses express the time or relative time in which an action or condition occurs.

The voice of a verb, passive or active, expresses whether the action is being received by the subject or being done by the subject.  The two voices may occur in any tense.

The mood of a verb expresses the conditions under which an action or condition is taking place.  In English there are three moods--indicative, subjunctive, or imperative.  Indicative and subjunctive can be in any tense, imperative only in the present tense.

Verbs are also classified according to function.  Action verbs show action or possession.  Action verbs are either transitive or intransitive.  Linking verbs show the condition of the subject. Auxiliary verbs, also called helping verbs, are used with other verbs to change the tense, voice, or condition of the verb.

Conditional verbs are verbs conjugated with could, would, or should to show a possible condition.  They may be in any tense.

The principal parts of a verb are the four forms of the verb from which all forms of the verb can be made.  In English the four principal parts are the present (or infinitive), the past tense, the past participle, and the present participle.  Since the present participle is always formed the same way (add -ing), some lists of principal parts omit it.

For more on most of these forms, see the specific entries in the glossary.


Verbals

A verbal is the form of a verb that is used as a different part of speech.

In English there are three verbals--participles, gerunds, and infinitives.

Participles can either be past participles or present participles and they act as an adjective.

Gerunds always act as a noun.

Infinitives in a sentence may act as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb.

A verbal phrase is a phrase consisting of a verbal plus any complements or the verbal plus any modifiers to the verbal or the complement.

For more see the glossary entry on each individual verbal type.


Ligature

A ligature is two or more connected letters to indicate a single sound. This is used in some language such as Latin. Sometimes the ligatures of a and e (æ) or o and e are used in English in words that derive from Latin or Greek.

This practice is more common in England than America.

Example: medieval, mediaeval, or mediæval

Example: encyclopedia, encyclopaedia, or encyclopædia

Example: eon or æon

Note: the computer help file compiler does not have the ligature for oe.