English Handbook Pages
Word Choice—Is there a word or two in the sentence that needs to be changed?...... Verbs Look up verbs in the dictionary or on the Internet, to see if they are irregular. For example, "to write" is an irregular verb, because we should say, "Justin Bieber has written his paper," instead of "Justin Bieber has writed his paper." Verbs normally end in –ed when we talk about something that already happened, but “to write” doesn’t do that. Other irregular verbs include to be, to do, to eat, to feel, etc… When you have a series of verbs all in a row, you need to make sure they are the same kind of verb. For example: correct: Fred Figglehorn screamed, squeaked, and raced away. incorrect: Fred Figglehorn screamed, squeaked, and was racing away. When the subject is singular, the verb must also be singular. Here's an example: That movie trailer, with all its celebrity cameos, is fun to watch. Usage Avoid using the "&" symbol; instead, write out "and". Check your writing to see if you have made a common wording error, like writing "should of," when what you meant to write was, "should have." Taylor Swift should have bought that red shirt instead. Avoid using double-negatives. For example, avoid phrases like, "don't have none" or "don't like nobody." Instead, say, “don’t have any” or “don’t like anybody”. Avoid using double comparatives. For example, say, "Mrs. Sparhawk is funnier than Mrs. McGonagal," rather than "Mrs. Sparhawk is more funnier than Mrs. Mrs. McGonagal." "An", rather than "a", should be used before words which begin with a vowel (for example: an apple). Check double-subjects (like he and I OR she and Lea Michelle OR you and they). When a pronoun is paired with another subject at the beginning of a sentence, try each pronoun alone to see if it works, like this: In the sentence, “He and Lea Michelle are going to a movie,” does it make more sense to say, “Him is going to a movie?” or “He is going to a movie”? Try both forms of each pronoun to choose which one works. (Note: you need to adjust the verb when you try this sometimes, as the example shows.)
Capitalization Always capitalize the pronoun, I, even in contractions like I’ve, I’ll, and I’m. Capitalize the first word of a quoted sentence, even if you already capitalized the first word of your own sentence. For example: Shakira said, "Go get me a mocha latte, please." Capitalize all proper nouns, like place names, people's names, the name of a company, the name of a club, the name of a historical event, religions, languages, the name of a street or town, etc... Capitalize all proper adjectives (examples: French bread, Flintstone vitamins, Micron computer). Certain technology-related brand names capitalize the second letter of their name instead of the first letter. Some examples of these brand names include iPod, iBook, iMac, iPad, and iPhone. Capitalize people's titles. For example, Mr. Bean, President Lincoln, Dr. Dre, and St. Patrick. Capitalize family names, if you could replace it with a name and it works. Here's what I mean: In a sentence like "We're going to Grandma's house," you could have said "Ruth's house," and it still sounds fine, but if you had said, "We're going to my grandma's house," it would sound silly to replace it with "my Ruth." Capitalize days of the week, names of the months, and holidays. Capitalize the first, last, and all important words in a title. Here are some examples: Pirates of the Caribbean, “Just the Way You Are,” and Times-News. Capitalize the greeting and closing of a postal letter. For example, capitalize Dear Dr. Oz, and capitalize the first word in the closing, Sincerely yours, as your letter comes to an end. E-mails are generally less formal, but greetings and closings are sometimes used with e-mails, especially if it’s the first e-mail ever sent to the recipient. See more under the heading “E-mail.”
Sept. 7, 2011 This is called a heading, and in business letters, it usually This is includes an address or two. called a greeting. Dear Mom,
I’m at Camp Wazzamattayoo, and they take us on hikes every day. It 1 would be great, if it weren’t for the mosquitoes. Holy cow! They’re eating me alive! Could you send bug spray in the mail, please? I’d sure appreciate that.
2 Titles--Some titles require quotation marks, and others should always be underlined. Quotation Marks--Quotation marks aren't just used when characters talk to each other in a story. They are also used around titles for all of the following: songs newspaper articles TV shows that are not part of a series short stories magazine articles (like “Survivor”, which is a special) poems reports and papers encyclopedia articles Remember that you should put quotation marks around other people's titles, but never your own!
Underlining--Some titles have to be underlined, rather than quoted. Only underline the title if it’s hand-written. If you’re typing a title, use italics instead. The following titles should be underlined: plays movies encyclopedias books magazine titles CDs paintings newspaper titles web addresses (URLs—don’t italicize these) long poems (50+pgs.) TV shows that are a series long stories (50+pgs.) ships Remember that you can underline other people's titles, but never your own title!
Paragraphing—When editing, show that a new paragraph needs to be created, by using the paragraph symbol: ¶
Quotation Marks--Whenever a new character in a story begins to speak again, they will need their own paragraph for their words. Just remember this rule: new speaker = new paragraph. Take a look at the following example of a well-written dialogue between two characters. Make note of the use of punctuation in this example, as well as its use of paragraphing:
A Frightful Fall
The soldier asked, "What has happened here?" "I fell off the wall," said Humpty Dumpty. "How on earth did you get on the wall in the first place?" "Well, when I saw the stairs on the other side of the wall, I ran to the top. I spun and lost my balance." Humpty Dumpty looked up at the soldier pitifully. "It was then, that I fell.” "A fine story," said the soldier, "but don't have the technology to heal this type of injury."
Change of Subject--When the topic of your writing changes to a new subject, you should start a new paragraph. Just remember this rule: new subject = new paragraph. Take a look at the following example of a very short essay. Pay attention to the change of topic from paragraph to paragraph:
Fleas There are more than 200 species of fleas. Most people are familiar with dog fleas. The scientific name for a dog's fleas is Ctenocephalides canis. Some fleas can carry diseases, but a dog's fleas are merely annoying. My dog, Scooby, has fleas sometimes. To get rid of his fleas, we use dog shampoo, flea powder, and a flea collar. Still, as much as Scooby likes to roll around on the ground, it's difficult to keep his flea problem in check.
Punctuation
Quotation Marks – Here are some helpful tips when dealing with quotation marks. New speaker = new paragraph. All of the words that a character from a story actually says must be put in quotation marks. If he said or she said follows the words that a character has said, and that character made a statement ending in a period, the actual quoted sentence must end with a comma, where the period would have gone. For example: “You can buy my cookbook,” said Emeril Lagasse. When you interrupt a quoted sentence with he said or she said, surround the interruption with both quotation marks and commas, as follows: “Hey,” Garrett asked, “do you have an extra gold piece?”
3 A question mark should only end the questioning part of the quote. Here’s what I mean: “Do you have enough money to buy that steampunk magazine?” asked Garrett. An exclamation point should only end the shouted part of a quote. For example: “I’m getting my money out now, so back off!” yelled Viktoria. A comma always follows he said or she said, when he said or she said comes at the beginning of a quoted statement. Here’s an example of this: He said, “Take this to Benny, please.”
Apostrophes -- apostrophes are used as contractions (can't, that’s, I’ve, etc...) and they are also used to show possession. For possession, to place the apostrophe in front of the "s" means that only one thing possesses it. Here are some examples with explanations: I've lost the dog's collar. (There is one dog. I've lost its collar.) Look at that cow's black spots! (There is one cow. It has black spots.)
To place an apostrophe behind the "s" means that more than one thing possesses it. (It can also be used for things which end in “s” or “z”, like Zeus’ lightning bolt.) Here are some examples of plural possessives: Those dogs' home is across the street. (There are many dogs. Their home is across the street.) Those cows' spots are funny-looking. (There are many cows. They all have funny-looking spots.)
Who's Who in Punctuation
What is a semicolon? Here's a semicolon...... ; It is used to join two complete sentences which are very closely related in meaning. Example: Mark my words; you’ll learn a lot in her language arts class! In this compound sentence, the two pieces need each other, because without the explanation, “you’ll learn a lot in her language arts class,” the statement “mark my words” wouldn’t make any sense. The two connected sentences are depending on one another. What is a colon? It's this thing...... : It is used after a salutation in a block or semiblock letter. It can also be used between numbers, to indicate the time of day. Sometimes it is used to introduce a list. Example: The following authors have eBooks available for purchase: Rick Riordan, Nicholas Sparks, Suzanne Collins, Becca Fitzpatrick, and Laruen Kate . Another example: Dear Webmaster: OR Dear Customer Service Manager: And don’t forget this: It’s 9:12 a.m. What is a hyphen? It looks like this...... - It can be used to connect compound words, numbers, and letter-word combinations. Here are some examples: three-dimensional television, thirty-five, and T-bone steak. Many of these compound words can be found in the dictionary, but often compound adjectives (like three-dimensional) are not found in the dictionary. What are parentheses? They look like this..... ( ) Parentheses are used to include helpful explanations in a sentence. Here's an example: Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer (published by Little, Brown and Company in 2005), has been translated into 37 different languages. What are brackets? They look like parentheses, but more square…….. [ ] They tend to be used for more technical purposes, like when a website’s URL needs to be included. Here’s an example: I found my used Wii games on Craigslist [http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites], so if you want to get one for yourself, I’d look there. As a proofreading symbol, we insert them, just like we do with parentheses. What is an exclamation point? Here's one..... ! An exclamation point should only be used for words that are shouted. However, if a question is shouted, avoid using an exclamation point, and use a question mark instead. Here's an example: Aren’t you going to run? Get out of there before it explodes!** What is a question mark? Here's a question mark...... ? It is used whenever questions are asked. Here's an example: Who is your favorite Jonas brother? What is a period? A period looks like this...... A period ends a sentence, abbreviation, or initial. These are some examples: H. G. Wells was an early science fiction writer. Mr. Wells was famous for his novel, War of the Worlds. Another example: I used to live at 127 N.E. Hwy. 99, Vancouver, Washington. What is a comma? This is a comma...... ,
Comma Rules When two complete sentences are joined by a conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so, since, or because) put a comma before the conjunction (glue word). Example: I love Lady Gaga’s videos, and I think her music is awesome too. Use commas for introductory prepositional phrases and similar clauses. When a preposition or conjunction such as in, on, since, at, once, after, although, if, when, while, or until, begins a sentence, put a comma at the end of the introductory phrase. Example: If you get a new iPod, you’ll have to register it. But how do you find the right spot for the comma? Just ask “If what?” The answer, “If you get a new iPod,” is where the phrase ends, and that’s also where the comma goes. Separate items in a series with commas. Example: Please buy milk, cheese, and eggs at the store. Set off all interruptions to the flow of the sentence, even names of people and titles of things, with commas. Example: To be a veterinarian, if that’s what you really want to be, you must go to college for seven years. It is possible to read this sentence without its interruption, and it still makes sense. Like this: To be a veterinarian, you must go to college for seven years. This feature tells us this is an appositive, because we have paused for the interruption. Phrases that begin with who, whom, whose, which, and that, are usually surrounded by commas. Example: Mr. Thornbuckle,
** Here’s another example that uses a shouted question, too: He did what? No way! 4 who lives next door, is featured on YouTube this week. Put a comma after the greeting and closing in a friendly letter. The greeting is usually, Dear So-and-so, while the closing is generally stated as Sincerely yours, Justin (using the letter writer’s name in place of Justin). Separate parts of dates and addresses with commas. Example: Monday, May 21, 2012. Another example: I live at 7319 W. State St., in Omaha, Nebraska. However, if you’re addressing a letter or envelope, there’s no comma after St. Instead, drop down to the next line for Omaha, NE 68104 (and don’t write out Nebraska). Always put a comma between a city and state or a city and country, i.e. Las Vegas, Nevada or London, England.
If you’re the first person to begin an e-mail communication, it’s a good idea to include a greeting (like Dear Ms. Perry,) and a closing (like Sincerely, Taylor Lautner). Once the first e-mail has been sent, further replies may leave out the greeting and closing without it seeming rude. Make sure your subject line relates to what’s said in the e-mail. Sometimes, after several replies back-and-forth, the subject line no longer matches the content of the e-mail. In this case, the subject line needs to be changed to reflect what’s in the e-mail. Check the e-mail for spelling, grammar, and contextual errors. E-mails should avoid texting language, especially when you’re texting people in a business context. Take the time to type out actual words. If your e-mail is a reply, and you’re answering a question that was asked in a previous e-mail, remind the recipient about their question before you offer them an answer. If your message is urgent, don’t e-mail them. Use another means of communication that’s quicker. Avoid using too many exclamation points. Keep paragraphs short. E-mail isn’t a medium for story-telling. It’s a form of business communication, and people don’t want to spend all day reading their e-mails. Only offer a maximum of two links in an e-mail. Otherwise, spam filters may block your e-mail. Remember that tone of voice can’t be heard in an e-mail. Sometimes the “voice” of an e-mail can be misread to “sound” grumpy. Word things positively to avoid being misunderstood.
Envelopes
There are two different ways to address an envelope for mailing through the United States Postal Service. New System: Use all capital letters, no punctuation marks. This system is often used by businesses, and the address is usually typed. Old System: Both capital and lower-case letters are used. Punctuation is also used. This system is primarily used for friendly, less business-like letters. It is generally hand-written.
New System Envelope: Old System Envelope:
DEREK JETER Derek Jeter YANKEE STADIUM Yankee Stadium 1 EAST 161ST STREET 1 East 161st St. BRONX NY 10451-2100 Bronx, NY 10451-2100
DISNEYLAND HOTEL Disneyland Hotel 1150 MAGIC WAY 1150 Magic Way ANAHEIM CA 92802 Anaheim, CA 92802
Please note that the stamp always goes in the right-hand corner, as shown in these examples.
5 Spelling-- Here are a few common spelling errors:
to – indicates direction or goes w/ a verb there – in that place or direction two – number 1+1 their – owned by “them” too -- also or very they're -- they are Now you need to are -- present tense of "to be" its – owned by “it” our – owned by “us” it's -- it is know the right way to right – opposite of left or correct of -- related to write – to compose words have -- to own; also a helping verb write it. where – questions place or direction no -- negative statement were -- past tense of are know -- to be aware of we're -- we are now -- at the present time than -- a comparison your -- shows ownership then -- in the past you're -- you are past – a time before now a lot -- two words, not one passed -- went by, advanced here – in this place once – just that single time only hear – to use one’s ears to listen to sounds hole – an empty spot still – standing without moving at all whole – complete steal – to take something that doesn’t belong to you piece – a portion, like a piece of pie cause – to make something happen (you cause it) peace – a time without war because – since or due to the fact that bare – naked or uncovered smelled – used the nose to perceive odor bear – an animal which hibernates smelt – a small fish which is somewhat like trout the – an article indicating a single noun I – the pronoun for the first person personal them – those people there and – a conjunction indicating a joining together
Numbers -- Write out numbers zero through ten in word form. Numbers after ten can be written as a numeral, but they can also be written as a word.
Example: Correct: Natasha Obama will be nine years old on her birthday. Incorrect: Natasha Obama will be 9 years old on her birthday.
Exceptions are made for dates, times, scores, page numbers, and for graphs or charts that may appear in a document. Avoid starting a sentence with a numeral; instead, write the number out when it starts a sentence. Furthermore, a Roman numeral is nearly always used in World War II; never an Arabic 2.
Sentence Structure -- Do you know the difference between pronouns and proper nouns? How about subjects and predicates? If you understand these terms, it will help you understand sentence structure—the correct grammatical order of words in sentences.
Parts of Speech Noun = a person (author), a place (ocean), thing (toy), or idea (war) How can you tell it’s a noun? If you can use the words a, an, or the in front of the word and it sounds right, it’s being used as a noun. It’s a proper noun if it names the person (Rick Riordan), place (Pacific Ocean), thing (Play Dough) or idea (Civil War). In these cases, the noun must be capitalized. Verb = an action word How can you tell it’s a verb? Try putting an –ing on the end of it. If you can, it’s probably a verb. For example, “to swim” is a verb, because you can go “swimming.” Some verbs can also be nouns at the same time. For example, you caught the fish when you went fishing. So “fish” is both a noun and a verb. Adjective = a word that describes a noun How can you tell it’s an adjective? If it’s an adjective, it helps you add details to the person, place, thing, or idea in your mind. Some examples are in bold here: funny author, wet ocean, sticky Play Dough, bloody war. Do you see how these words (funny, wet, sticky, and bloody) help you imagine the nouns better? That’s what adjectives do. They 6 help you imagine details about nouns. Be careful, sometimes we use other nouns to describe nouns too, like The author with the gray hair is my favorite. In this sentence gray and favorite are adjectives, but hair is a noun because it’s a thing, like toy is a thing in the noun example. Nouns can often be held in your hand, but adjectives can’t. You can’t hold a gray or a favorite, but you can hold hair. Adverb = a word that describes a verb; it describes how you do something How can you tell it’s an adverb? A lot of adverbs end in the suffix –ly. Some examples are lazily, wisely, courageously, obnoxiously, and slowly. It’s possible to turn a lot of adjectives into adverbs by simply adding –ly. For example, the adjective busy becomes the adverb busily; the adjective interesting becomes interestingly, but this doesn’t always work. There’s no word favoritely, for example, but favorite is a good adjective to describe an author. Some adverbs don’t end in –ly. These ones are tricky to spot, but ask yourself, “Does this answer the question of how something is done?” For example, how did she walk through the door? She walked through it backwards. If that answers how, then backwards is an adverb. Conjunction = a connecting word; it glues stuff together Common conjunctions include the following: and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so, since, because. There are others, but these ones are the most common. Conjunctions can stick two sentences together: I watched iCarly, because there wasn’t anything better on TV. Here the sentence I watched iCarly is joined to the sentence There wasn’t anything better on TV by using the word because as a conjunction. Conjunctions can also stick two objects together: My two favorite shows are America’s Got Talent and Spongebob Squarepants. Here the conjunction and connects two proper nouns, not two complete setnences. Pronoun = a word that represents a noun How annoying would it be, if we had to say someone’s name over and over again? We’d sound like this: The writer of this guesses Kim Kardashian’s groom’s name is Kris Humphries, and Kris is an NBA basketball player. Kris is 6’9” tall, but swimming used to be Kris’ big sport. Kris broke swimming records, and Kris once competed against Michael Phelps. Kris gave up swimming at age 12, because Kris decided basketball was more right for Kris. Now Kris’ eyes are on Kim Kardashian, because Kim Kardashian has stolen Kris’ heart. Here’s the same paragraph using pronouns instead of the excessive use of names: I guess Kim Kardashian’s groom’s name is Kris Humphries, and he is an NBA basketball player. He is 6’9” tall, but swimming used to be his big sport. He broke swimming records, and he once competed against Michael Phelps. He gave up swimming at age 12, because he decided basketball was right for himself. Now his eyes are on Kim Kardashian, because she has stolen his heart. Some examples of pronouns include the following: he, him, himself, I, me, myself, you, your, yours, mine, ours, our, they, them, us, we, it, itself, etc… Preposition = a word that indicates a position in time or space The definition is in the word itself: it’s a preposition. A position in space can be words like above, under, beneath, upon, behind, beside, through, etc… A position in time can include words like before, after, since, if, when, once, previously, etc… A prepositional phrase is usually a preposition, the noun that goes with it, and any descriptive words that accompany the noun. Kim and Kris will send out wedding invitations once they’ve set a date. In this example, the bold-print words are the prepositional phrase starting with once. An introductory prepositional phrase is a prepositional phrase that starts a sentence. Introductory prepositional phrases usually end in a comma. For example: If Kris ever takes his wife swimming, I bet he’ll win. Again, the bold print words are the introductory prepositional phrase.
Notes: ______7 Parts of a Sentence Subject = the noun, i.e. the person (author), place (ocean), thing (toy), or idea (war) that does something in a sentence How can you tell you’ve found the subject? Look for the verb in the sentence. If the verb is swim, ask yourself who or what does the swimming? That who or what is the subject of your sentence. So in a sentence like Michael Phelps goes swimming, you would ask yourself who or what goes swimming? The answer, Michael Phelps, is the subject of your sentence, because he’s the one going swimming—he’s the one doing whatever the verb indicates. Predicate = the action word (verb) and everything that goes with the action How can you tell you’ve found the predicate? Well, if you know what the subject of the sentence is, the rest of the sentence is usually the predicate. So in a sentence like Michael Phelps goes swimming, we know going and swimming are both verbs, because you can stick an –ing on the ends of them. So goes swimming is the predicate. In a more complex sentence, like Michael Phelps goes swimming for three hours every morning and evening, everything that follows the verb is part of the predicate. So goes swimming for three hours every morning and evening is the predicate, because all of those words follow the verb.
Double Subjects = there’s more than one thing doing the action But what if Michael Phelps invites his friend along? Then what do we do for a subject? Both people are doing the action, so this is called a double subject. For example, in the sentence Michael Phelps and his friend, Kris Humphries, go swimming every morning and evening, the subject of the sentence is Michael Phelps and his friend, Kris Humphries. This is called a double-subject because two nouns do the action. Complete Subjects = the subject may include some descriptive words, and these are all part of the complete subject Let’s look at the following sentence: Handsome, long-armed Michael Phelps goes swimming for three hours every morning and evening. In this sentence, you must include the modifiers (descriptive words) with the subject, so the complete subject is Handsome, long-armed Michael Phelps. What’s the complete subject in a sentence like Lovely Kim Kardashian might be pretty, but she’s no swimmer? The complete subject is Lovely Kim Kardashian—the noun + the word that describes it (lovely). Tips on Subjects and Predicates: Remember that the subject is never part of a prepositional phrase. So in a sentence like Beside the empty pool, Michael Phelps sat crying his eyes out, the subject of the sentence, is Michael Phelps, not the pool. But it is possible to have a pronoun be the subject, like in this case: He was broken-hearted over Kim’s tragic choice. In this case, the simple subject is the pronoun He. The predicate is the verb and all that follows it: was broken-hearted over Kim’s tragic choice. Why do we need to know this stuff? It helps us 1.) punctuate sentences correctly, 2.) re-write sentences so they have better fluency, and 3.) understand the meanings of sentences.
Notes: ______8 9 10