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Capitalization and Punctuation Capitalizing Sentences, Quotations, & Salutations

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Capitalization and Punctuation Capitalizing Sentences, Quotations, & Salutations Capitalization AND Punctuation Capitalizing Sentences, Quotations, & Salutations Rule 1: Capitalize the first word of EVERY sentence. The Lady Falcons are in Monroe County. Rule 2: Capitalize the first word of a direct quote that is a complete sentence. A direct quote is the speakers exact words. Mrs. Michelle said, “Bring your new folder.” Capitalizing Sentences, Quotations, & Salutations Rule 3: When a quoted sentence is interrupted by explanatory words, such as she said, do NOT begin the second part of the sentence with a capital letter, unless it is a new sentence. “Mr. Alexander,” Tommy said, “can I go to the bathroom?” “I went to the state tournament,” the coach said. “M y team won the game.” Rule 4: Do NOT capitalize an indirect quote. An indirect quote does not repeat the person’s exact words. Tom said his mom bought a new car. Capitalizing Sentences, Quotations, & Salutations Rule 5: Capitalize the first word in the greeting and closing of a letter. Capitalize the title and name of the person addressed. Dear Chris, To whom it may concern, Yours truly Sincerely yours, Capitalizing Names and Titles of People Rule 1: Capitalize the names of people and the initials that stand for their names. Katresa Collins E.B. White Rule 2: Capitalize a title or an abbreviation of a title when it comes before a person’s name or when it is used in direct address. Mr. Murphy Mrs. Connie Capitalizing Names and Titles of People Rule 3: Capitalize the names and abbreviations of academic degrees that follow a person’s name. Capitalize Jr. and Sr. Sarah Riley, M.D. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Rule 4: Capitalize words that show family relationships when used as titles or as substitutes for a person’s name. Last year Father and Aunt Beth went to England. Capitalizing Names and Titles of People Rule 5: Always capitalize the pronoun I. NO MATTER WHERE IT IS IN A SENTENCE! I went to town yesterday. University of Kentucky is the team I like the most. Capitalizing Names of Places Rule 1: Capitalize the names of cities, counties, states, countries, and continents. Burkesville Louisville Frankfort Rule 2: Capitalize the names of bodies of water & other geographical features. Mississippi River Rocky Mountains Rule 3: Capitalize the names of sections of the country. Southeast New England Capitalizing Names of Places Rule 4: Capitalize compass points when they refer to a specific section of the country. the South the Northeast Rule 5: Capitalize the names of streets and highways. Woodlawn Street Oak Street Rule 6: Capitalize the names of specific buildings, bridges, & monuments. Washington Monument Capitalizing Other Proper Adjectives & Nouns Rule 1: Capitalize all important words in the names of clubs, organizations, businesses, institutions, and political parties. Girl Scouts Rule 2: Capitalize brand names but not the nouns following them. Pillsbury cookies Keebler crackers Rule 3: Capitalize all important words in the names of important historical events, periods of time, and documents. Civil War Declaration of Independence Capitalizing Other Proper Adjectives & Nouns Rule 4: Capitalize the names of days of the week, months of the year, and holidays. Do NOT capitalize seasons. Christmas Monday January Rule 5: Always Capitalize the first and last words of the titles of literary works, songs, films, television series, magazines, and newspapers. Capitalize all other words except articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions. Gone With the Wind Capitalizing Other Proper Adjectives & Nouns Rule 6: Capitalize the names of ethnic groups, nationalities, and languages. Native American Italian Rule 7: Capitalize all proper adjectives, including those formed from names of ethnic groups and nationalities. Mexican art Chinese food End Marks Period: Use at the end of a declarative (just tells you something) & an imperative (gives a command) sentence. Ex: We are taking notes today. (declarative) Ex: Get out your notes. (imperative) Question Mark: Use at the end of a question. Ex: What day is today? Exclamation Mark: Use for sentences showing extreme excitement or strong emotion OR with an interjection. Ex: I won the lottery! Ex: You are not my friend! Ex: Yikes! That snake almost bit me! (Yikes is the interjection) Commas Rule 1: Use commas to separate three or more words or phrases in a series (list). Ex: Susan bought a red shirt, borrowed a green skirt, and found a yellow hat. Rule 2: Use a comma after two or more introductory prepositional phrases, after a long introductory phrase, or when a comma is needed to make the meaning clear. Ex: For thousands of years, shipbuilders built large ships. Commas Rule 3: Use a comma after introductory phrases. Ex: Traveling on the Mediterranean, the Minoans became seafarers. Rule 4: Use commas to set off words that are unnecessary in the sentence. Ships, you might imagine, were invented a long time ago. Rule 5: Use commas to set off an appositive (a noun or group of words that explains another noun) Ex: The Egyptians, the inventors of sails, built barges. Commas Rule 6: Use commas to show a pause after an introductory word and to set off names used in direct address. Ex: Yes, Mr. Clemmons does work here. Rule 7: Use a comma before or, but, or and when they are combing two sentences. Ex: Many teachers work at MCMS, but other teachers work at JHC. Commas Rule 8: Use commas before and after the year when it’s used with both the month AND the day ONLY. Ex: The bus trip began on July 5, 2012, and lasted four weeks. Rule 9:Use a comma after an adverb clause that introduces a sentence (look for words like after, although, because, before, as, considering that, if, in order that, since, so that, unless, until, when, whenever, where, wherever, whether, or while). Ex: Because camels provide such a practical means of transportation, nomads use them regularly. Commas Rule 10: Use commas before and after the name of a state or a country when it’s used with the name of a city. NOT between state and zip code. Ex: Tompkinsville, KY Rule 11: Use a comma or pair of commas to set off an abbreviated title or degree following a person’s name. Ex: Carol Warren, M.D., studies motion sickness Commas Rule 12: Use a comma or commas to set off too when too means “also” Ex: Dr. Warren, too, rode a bus with us. Rule 13: use a comma(s) to set off quotations. Ex: Mrs. Turner said, “Today we will study E.A. Poe.” Ex: “Fossils,” Mrs. Myatt said, “are found in earth and rock.” Commas Rule 14: Use a comma at the end of a greeting or closing of a letter. Ex: Dear Brittney, Ex: Sincerely yours, Rule 15: Use a comma to prevent confusion in reading. Ex: Instead of ten, fifteen students signed up for pep club. Using Quotation Marks and Italics Rule 1: Use quotation marks before and after a direct quotation. Ex: “I am going to town,” Samantha said. Rule 2: Use quotation marks around each part of an interrupted quotation. Ex: “Go get,” Tyler yelled, “my coat!” Rule 3: Use a comma or commas to separate a phrase such as he said from the quote itself. Place the comma outside the opening quotation marks, but inside closing quotation marks. Ex: Tommy said, “I am hungry.” Using Quotation Marks and Italics Rule 4: Place a period inside closing quotation marks. Sarah said, “Lets go.” Rule 5: Place a question mark or an exclamation mark inside the quotation marks when it is part of the quotation. Eugene screamed, “I AM HUNGRY!” Rule 6: Place a question mark or an exclamation mark outside the quotation marks when it is part of the entire sentence but not part of the quotation. Did Mr. Murphy say, “We were loud during the drill”? Apostrophes Rule 1: Use an apostrophe and –s (‘s) to form the possessive of a singular noun. girl +’s=girl’s Thomas+’s=Thomas’s Rule 2: Use an apostrophe and an-s (‘s) to form the possessive of a plural noun that does not end in –s. women+’s=women’s children+’s=children’s Rule 3: Use an apostrophe alone to form the possessive of a plural noun that ends in –s. boys+’=boys’ students+’=students’ *DO NOT USE an apostrophe in a possessive pronoun like hers or theirs. Apostrophes Rule 4: Use an apostrophe to replace letters that have been omitted in a contraction. A contraction is a word that is made by joining two words into one and leaving out one or more letters Ex: it is=it’s do not=don’t would not=won’t Hyphens Rule 1: Use a hyphen to show the division of a word at the end of a line. Always divide a word between it’s syllables It didn’t take long for Sheri to know the obsta- cles of the course. Rule 2: Use a hyphen in compound numbers. Twenty-two thirty-nine Rule 3: Use a hyphen to spell out a fraction Ex: one-half two-thirds Hyphens Rule 4: Use a hyphen or hyphens in certain compound nouns. sister-in-law son-in-law Rule 5: Use a hyphen or hyphens in certain compound nouns. Rule 6: Use a hyphen in a compound adjective when it comes before the word. Ex: She’s a well-trained athlete. Dashes & Parentheses Rule 1: Use a dash to show a sudden break or change in thought or speech. If it’s in the middle of a sentence, use a second dash to show the end of the sudden break. Ex: Dr. Owens-my neighbor-works at the hospital Rule 2: Use parentheses to set off words that define, or helpfully explain, a word in a sentence.
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