Capitalization

When to capitalize:

1. The first letter of the first word of every sentence.

2. The first-person singular pronoun, I.

3. The first, last, and important words in a title.
- The King and I

4. Names of relationships only when they are a part of or a substitute for a person's name. (Often this means that when there is a modifier, such as a possessive pronoun, in front of such a word, we do not capitalize it.)
- Let's go visit Grandmother today. Let's go visit my grandmother today.

Possessives

Showing possession in English is done by adding an apostrophe and an s to singular nouns to transform them into their possessive form:

The car's front seat
Bartkowski's book
A hard day's work


Most plural nouns already end in s. To create their possessive, simply add an apostrophe after the s without the extra following s:

The Pepins' house is the big blue one on the corner.
The lions' usual source of water has dried up.
The witches' brooms were hidden in the corner.


With nouns whose plurals are irregular, you will need to add an apostrophe followed by an s to create the possessive form.

She plans on opening a women's clothing boutique.
Children's programming is not a high priority.
The geese's food supply was endangered.

Confusable Words

There are many words that have the same pronunciation but mean different things. It is just a matter of how you spell it.

Examples:

There - Their - They're
There: in, at, or to that place or position -> "Put the chair over there."
Their: belonging to or associated with -> "Their dog is crazy."
They're: a contraction of "they are" -> "They're going to the mall."

Its - It's
Its: belonging to or associated with -> "Its paws were the size of a softball."
It's: a contraction of "it is" -> "It's going to start at 8:30."

Here - Hear
Here: in, at, or to this place or position -> "Put that chair over here."
Hear: to perceive a sound with the ear -> "I can hear you talking from a mile away."

Bored - Board
Bored: to be uninterested in something -> "I was so bored that I almost fell asleep."
Board: a thin, flat, rectangular piece of wood or other stiff material used for floors or other building purposes -> "Let's use this board to cover the pothole in the road."

Break - Brake
Break: to separate something into pieces as a result of a blow, shock, or strain causing it to become unproductive -> "You will break that vase if you drop it on the floor."
Brake: a device for slowing or stopping a moving object -> "Step on the brake to slow down the car."

Plurals

The plural form of most nouns is created simply by adding the letter s. But a handful of nouns appear to be plural in form but take a singular verb:

The news is bad.
Gymnastics is fun to watch.

-Though the words end with the letter s, they are not plural. Instead, they count as one subject as a whole for other things.


Numerical expressions are usually singular, but can be plural if the individuals within a numerical group are acting individually:

Fifty thousand dollars is a lot of money.
One-half of the faculty is retiring this summer.
One-half of the faculty have doctorates.
Fifty percent of the students have voted already.


When a noun names the title of something or is a word being used as a word, it is singular whether the word takes a singular form or not.

Faces is the name of the new restaurant downtown.
Okies, which most people regard as a disparaging word, was first used to describe the residents of Oklahoma during the 1930s.
Chelmsley Brothers is the best moving company in town.
Postcards is my favorite novel.

Commas

Use commas after introductory a) clauses, b) phrases, or c) words that come before the main clause.

a. Common starter words for introductory clauses that should be followed by a comma include after, although, as, because, if, since, when, while.

While I was eating, the cat scratched at the door.
Because her alarm clock was broken, she was late for class.
If you are ill, you ought to see a doctor.
When the snow stops falling, we'll shovel the driveway.

However, don't put a comma after the main clause when a dependent (subordinate) clause follows it (except for cases of extreme contrast).

1. She was late for class, because her alarm clock was broken. (incorrect)
2. The cat scratched at the door, while I was eating. (incorrect)
3. She was still quite upset, although she had won the Oscar. (correct: extreme contrast)