Grammar Lessons

Capitalization

Capitalize the following: Proper nouns and adjectives derived from proper nouns:

But vocabulary words derived from proper nouns are generally lowercase:

The names of geographic divisions, regions, and localities and topographical features such as rivers, lakes, and mountains:

But Do not capitalize directions: She lives 10 miles north of Boston.

Capitalize the names of nationalities, ethnic groups, tribes, and languages:

Titles when preceding (coming before) a name:

Do not capitalize such terms elsewhere: a biography of the queen; the senator's speech; my aunt, Mary Wilson; the president's fundraising efforts; the residence of the vice president.

Epithets: Ivan the Terrible; Lincoln is known as the Great Emancipator. The names of political and judicial bodies, social organizations, councils, and departments:

The names for periods, events, and documents of historical importance:

The names for streets, buildings, and monuments:

The names for the supreme deity and sacred works:

The names for religious denominations and their members:
Buddhism, Buddhists
Catholicism, Catholics
Judaism, Jews
Methodist Church, Methodists
Society of Friends, Quakers

The days of the week, months of the year, holidays, and holy days:

The pronoun I: I told her I didn't want to go.
The first word in the salutation and complimentary close of a letter: My dear Carol, or Very truly yours…
The first word of a sentence: Are you hungry? Lunch will be served soon.
The first word of a direct quotation, except when the quotation is split: I asked, “Do you really like bats?” “Yes,” said Holly, “they're so cute.”
The first word and all the key words in the title of a literary or other artistic work:
The Bluest Eye (novel)
A Streetcar Named Desire (play)
“The Road Not Taken” (poem)
Starry Night (painting)
“Only the Lonely” (song)
The names of ships, aircraft, and space vehicles:
USS Maine, The Spirit of St. Louis, space shuttle Challenger

The names of constellations, planets, and stars:

The names of geologic eras, periods, epochs, and names of prehistoric divisions:

The genus but not the species name in binomial nomenclature:
Canis familiaris (dog)
Malus pumila (apple tree)

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Italicization

Italicize the following (or underline if writing by hand or using a typewriter):
The titles of books, plays, book-length poems, magazines, and newspapers:

The titles of movies and radio and television programs:

The titles of works of art, including paintings, sculptures, and major musical compositions:
Mona Lisa (painting)
The Thinker (sculpture)
Swan Lake (ballet)
Porgy and Bess (opera)

Words, letters, and numbers used as such:
How do you spell ache?
Does your name end with a c or a k?
The 6 looked like a 0.
Foreign words and phrases that have not been assimilated into English:
Alex's Weltanschauung was gloomy.
Ed made a tarte au citron for dessert.
Words and phrases that are being emphasized:
Paris was the place to be in the '20s.
The names of the plaintiff and defendant in legal citations: Johnson v. Smith.
The names of ships, aircraft, and space vehicles: USS Maine
The Spirit of St. Louis space shuttle Challenger
The New Latin names of genera, species, subspecies, and varieties in botanical and zoological nomenclature: Quercus alba; Homo sapiens.

Do not italicize musical compositions named by number or key: Symphony No. 4; Quartet in E minor.

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End Marks

Use a period after a declarative or imperative statement: I went to the library. Sign your name here.
Use a question mark after a direct question or to indicate uncertainty: What is your name?
Do not use a question mark after an indirect question: I asked them what time they were leaving.
Use an exclamation point after an exclamatory or emphatic sentence or an interjection: Give me a break! Hey ! Ouch ! Wow !

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Comma

Use a comma:
To separate words in a list or series: The baby likes grapes, bananas, and cantaloupe.

To separate two or more adjectives that come before a noun when and can be substituted without changing the meaning: He had a kind, generous nature. The dog had thick, soft, shiny fur.

Do not use the comma if the adjectives together express a single idea or the noun is a compound made up of an adjective and a noun: The kitchen had bright yellow curtains. A majestic bald eagle soared overhead.

To set off words or phrases in apposition to a noun: George Eliot, the great 19th-century novelist, was born in 1819.

Do not use commas when the appositive word or phrase is essential to the meaning of the sentence: The novelist George Eliot was born in 1819.

To set off nonessential phrases and clauses: My French professor, who has an odd sense of humor, has been teaching for some 30 years.

Do not use commas when the phrase or clause is essential to the meaning of the sentence: The professor who teaches my French class has an odd sense of humor.

To separate the independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction in a compound sentence: He lives in New York, and she lives in London. Some people like golf, but others prefer tennis.

To set off interrupters such as of course, however, I think, and by the way from the rest of the sentence: She knew, of course, that he was lying. By the way, I'll be away next week.

To set off an introductory word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of a sentence: Yes, I'd like to go with you. After some years, we met again. Being tall, she often gets teased.

To set off a word in direct address: Thanks, guys, for all your help. How was your trip, Kathy?

To set off a tag question: You won't do that again, will you?

To introduce a short quotation: The queen said, “Let them eat cake!”

To close the salutation in a personal letter and the complimentary close in a business or personal letter: Dear Mary, … Sincerely, Fred

To set off titles and degrees: Sarah Little, Ph.D.Robert Johnson, Jr.

To separate sentence elements that might be read incorrectly without the comma: As they entered, in the shadows you could see a figure lurking.

To set off the month and day from the year in full dates: The conference will be held on August 6, 2001.

Do not use a comma when only the month and year appear: The conference will be held in August 2001.

To set off the city and state in an address: Sam Green
10 Joy Street
Boston, MA 02116

If the address is inserted into text, add a second comma after the state: Cincinnati, Ohio, is their home.

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Colon

Use a colon:
To introduce a list, or words, phrases, and clauses that explain, enlarge upon, or summarize what has gone before: Please provide the following: your name, address, and phone number.
“No honest poet can ever feel quite sure of the permanent value of what he has written: He may have wasted his time and messed up his life for nothing.”—T. S. Eliot

To introduce a long quotation: In 1780 John Adams wrote: “English is destined to be in the next and succeeding centuries more generally the language of the world than Latin was in the last or French is in the present age…”

To separate hour and minute(s) in standard time notation: The train arrives at 9:30.

To close the salutation in a business letter: Dear Sir or Madam:

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Semicolon

Use a semicolon:
To separate the independent clauses in a compound sentence not joined by a conjunction: Only two seats were left; we needed three. The situation is hopeful; the storm may lift soon.

To separate two independent clauses, the second of which begins with an adverb such as however, consequently, moreover, and therefore: We waited an hour; however, we couldn't hang around indefinitely.

To separate elements already punctuated with commas: Invitations were mailed to the various professors, associate professors, and assistant professors; the secretary of the department; and some of the grad students.

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Dashes & Hyphens

Use a dash to indicate a sudden break in continuity or to set off an explanatory, a defining, or an emphatic phrase: The sky grew dark—where were the kids? Dairy foods—milk, cheese, yogurt—are a good source of calcium.

Use a hyphen to join the elements of a compound word or to join the elements of a compound modifier before a noun:

well-wisher	ice-skating rink
fifty-three	college-age students

Use a hyphen IF you have to divide a word at the end of a line: Rasputin is one of history's most enig-
matic and intriguing figures.

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Brackets & Parentheses

Use brackets to set off words or letters in quoted matter that have been added by someone other than the author: “She [Willa Cather] is certainly one of the great American writers of the 20th century.”

Use parentheses to set off nonessential information: We spent an hour (more or less) cleaning up.

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Apostrophe - Use an apostrophe to indicate:

The possessive case of singular and plural nouns, indefinite pronouns, and proper nouns:

my sister's son	somebody's lunch
my two sisters' sons	Charles's house
the children's toys	the Rosses' friends

The plural of letters, numbers, symbols, and words used as such:

too many thus's	ten 5's in a row
spelled with two e's	delete some &'s

Missing letters in contractions and missing numbers in dates:

I'm (I am)	class of '95
ma'am (madam)	winter of '97–'98

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Quotation Marks - Use quotation marks:

To set off direct quotations: “Let's go to the beach,” she suggested.

To set off titles of short stories, articles, chapters, essays, songs, poems, and individual radio and television programs:
Chapter 9, “The New Englishes”
sang the “Star-Spangled Banner”
“The Apparent Trap” an episode of Frasier

To set off words and phrases that are being used in an unusual or questionable way or might be preceded by so-called:
Mary's “fine” was a day's volunteer work.
According to the article, bees appear to “remember” landmarks.

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Forms of Address

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