#1 USAGE and SPELLING
THEIRTHEY'RE
Possession (Belonging to them)Contraction for "they are."
Their car is the latest model.They're going to the movies later.
THERE
Location (over there) or any meaning not covered by the first two.
There are many people who want that job.
______
YOUR YOU'RE
Possessive (Belonging to you)Contraction for "you are."
Your house is on fire!You're absolutely right!
______
TOOTWO
(1)"Too much, too little" [an excess of] The number 2.
or (2) Also.There are two free tables right now.
(1) It was too cold for an outdoor concert.
(2) Andy wanted to go, too.
TO
Short for "toward" or any meaning not covered by the others.
As they walked to school, she told the whole story to Brad.
______
THENTHAN
At that time.Comparative (more or less than)
He missed the bus and then had to run to school.He was faster than the others.
______
WHO THAT
For people. For non-human things.
She was a person who was hard to please.She said that yesterday.
______
Would have, should have, could have: NEVER use OF after these words!
Thru is not a real word; the proper word is through.A LOT is two words!
SPELLING: SEPARATE; DEFINITELY; RECEIVE; ENVIRONMENT; GOVERNMENT
1. Among School One students, their is definately alot of excitement about the coming year’s possibilities.
2. In our community enviroment, it’s definately important that theyre are enjoyable activities along with work.
3. Because of the warm whether this time of year, it’s crucial that we chill together instead of staying seperate.
4. Those students that feel they should recieve alot of fun activities need too help plan them.
5. If youre thinking theirs lots of time to work on having fun, your wrong; it’s already time to get involved.
6. We have less then eleven weeks left in the trimester, and youre parents will be coming to meet youre teachers soon.
7. If youre organized, you can definately get a good report on Parents Night and at the end of the trimester to.
8 When you commit to having a great trimester, your assuring that you will be thru with high school sooner.
9. If youre a student that could of passed more classes then you did last year, get serious and do well now.
10. For those of you that did well last year, it’s definately important to keep up the good work now.
11If you want to recieve good grades this trimester, you should of gotten off to a good start, but theirs still time.
#1b USAGE and SPELLING
ALREADYALL READY
1. Previously2. Now; at this timeCompletely prepared
I already mailed the card.I'm bored already.We were all ready for the exam.
LOSELOOSE
To misplace somethingOpposite of tight
I hate it when I lose my homework!That knot is too loose to hold.
CHOOSECHOSE
Present tensePast tense
I choose to go with you now.I chose to go with you yesterday.
AFFECTEFFECT
Always a verbAlways a noun
Your story affected my whole life.That story had an effect on my whole life.
WHETHERWEATHER
Similar to "if" in meaning, as in "whether or not"Rain, snow, drizzle, etc.
WEREWHERE
Past tense of ARElocation word: Where are you?
ACCEPTEXCEPT
To receive (accept a gift) or acknowledgeOther than, with the exclusion of_____
NUMBERAMOUNT
Used if hat it is referring to can be countedUsed if it can't be counted numerically.
The number of hot dogs at the picnic was immense.The amount of food was sufficient.
ALL RIGHTALRIGHT
Okay, FineNot a word: don't use it!
GOODWELL
Adjective (describes something): A good boy.Adverb (describes action): Eat well.
PREJUDICEPREJUDICED
Noun: He has a prejudice against me.Adjective: He is prejudiced against me.
NEVER begin sentences with conjunctions (and, but or so). Use HOWEVER, instead of BUT and THEREFORE, instead of SO. You can use IN ADDITION, instead of AND.
SPELLING: SURPRISE; NECESSARY; PRIVILEGE; WOMEN (plural); LICENSE
1. Now that summer vacation is thru, it’s no suprise that its neccesary to get back down to work.
2. But alot of students wouldn't of been upset if the vacation had been longer then ten weeks.
3. While the students had over ten weeks off, Denise was working away on the accreditation report.
4. Erin and Cary also had the privaledge of working on the report and their happy the report already now.
5. If youre teachers didn’t work hard all summer, the affect would be that you wouldn't have to much work to do.
6. If your prejudice against teachers that give you alot of work, you may not like School One.
7. Now that we’re back at school, it’s important that students recognize the privaledges they are given here.
8. Leaving school at lunch is a priviledge, and students shouldn’t see it as a lisence to run amok in the neighborhood.
9. Students need to except nessesary limits to there behavior both in school and in the neighborhood to retain privleges.
10 Students hate when neighbors are prejudice against them, but sometimes the poor behavior of a few leads to this.
11. When even one School One student litters, swears or acts like a jerk, it’s no surprise that we all get the blame.
12. Men and woman, let’s keep our privileged enviroment by excepting the neccessary responsibility for our behavior.
- If your a returning student, you should all ready know the rules and model them for the new students.
2 Apostrophes Apostrophes are used in three ways:
(1) CONTRACTIONS(shortened form of a word or number)
In contractions, the apostrophe takes the place of letters or numbers.
Cannot --- Can'torThey are ---They're
Will not ---Won't or 1960s --- ‘60s
Do not make a contraction out of have. In other words, contractions shouldn’t contain ‘ve.
(2)TO SHOW POSSESSION (ownership)
(a)To show possession by one person or thing, add 's on to the end of the owner or possessor.
The pet of Wendy --- Wendy's pet or the car of Lou --- Lou's car
A dog of the class --- the class's dog or the cat of Jess--- Jess's cat
(b)To show possession by a plural subject, add an 'after the s at the end of the plural word.
a friend of the boys --- the boys' friend or the rules of the classes --- the classes' rules
Watch out for collective nouns that seem plural but are singular like United States and team.
(3) ITS = BELONGING TO IT IT'S = IT IS or IT HAS
The elephant raised its trunk. It's almost Christmas.
The car lost its muffler. It's been a long time since then.
Spelling words: POSSESS, NAÏVE, INDEPENDENCE, PARALLEL, BUSINESS
1.Its been one of the most humid summers in this countries history since Independance Day.
2. Before Septembers cool nights, many of us where to hot to work, think or sleep.
3. Some people are worried that the enviroments problems are causing this hotter whether.
4.If its not bad enough to have wheather thats to hot, we had alot of rain all summer.
5.Actually, thats an understatement; their wasnt more then a couple of rainless weeks all summer.
- The President says people that listen to the enviromentalists fears about global warming are nieve.
7.He beleives we have to except whatever we recieve from nature because its a natural process.
8.He believes that theyre are many people that are prejudice against big buisness and its practices.
9. The enviromentalists disagree, and its there opinion that big buisness greed leads to the warming.
10.Lets hope they arent correct because their predicting more problems then just hot summers.
11.If the warming trend continues, they think were definately going to see ocean water levels rise.
12.Its the melting of the polar ice caps that will cause this too happen, and its all ready happening.
13.Its affects could be both suprising and disastrous, especially for people that live along the coasts.
14.If this process continues, its definately going to sink some of whats now land under water.
15.During the end of August, the Presidents appointees made some other enviromental changes.
16.The United States policies arent forcing factories to upgrade pollution protection when they expand.
# 3: AGREEMENT
AGREEMENT means that subjects and pronouns as well as subjects and verbs must agree in number (whether they are singular or plural). In other words, “a person” cannot be referred to later in the sentence as “they” or “their” because “a person" is singular and “they” is plural. You can use he/she or she/he and his/her or her/his if the gender of a singular subject isn’t clear from the context.
If a person is smart, she/he will get her/his work done on time.
If people are smart, they will get their work done on time.
Either of these is correct because the subjects and pronouns agree in number.
Also, be careful about having your verbs agree in number with their subjects. The key to doing this is being clear about what your subject is. Watch out for collective nouns like group, country and team that are singular. All words containing one like everyone, anyone, someone are also singular.
The team is first place.
The United States isgoing to payitsbills.
One of our friends is going to School One.
In this sentence, the subject is one, not friends, so the verb must be singular.
Everyoneis going to school and will try to do his/her best.
They are going to school and will try to dotheirbest.
Objects also need to agree in number with subjects. People lose their minds, not mind.
The workers felt theiropinionsweren’t being heard.
The soldiers lost their lives in the battle.
Everybody lost his/her life in the battle.
The students brought their midterm sheets home.
Spelling: FORTY, FORESEE, PREFER, EXERCISE, EXISTENCE, BENEFIT
1. Its to bad that everyone doesn’t show up for there first chance at the competency exams.
2. Everyone agrees that they feel better when they pass the exam, so whats the point of waiting.
3. If a student that has a chance to graduate this year skips offerings, there chances of graduating diminish.
- If a person perfers to remain for an extra year of high school, they can arrange it and still pass the exam.
5. If your someone that beleives you cant pass, its lack of effort more then skills that usually causes failure.
6. Everyone that goes for help between offerings and goes regularly for over an hour tend to be successful.
7. The staff forsees that well over fourty students could pass each exam this year, but its up to them too try.
8. Of course, if you perfer high stress enviroments, you can definately leave it until your a senior.
9. School One gives this test to make sure your prepared for your adult existance, and they insist you pass it.
10. It would benifit everyone taking the Humanities test if they did some exsercises on the job application and grammar.
11. Students whose brain is taking this in can come get those exsercises from Cary at lunch or after school.
12. There are seperate materials for the U.S. History section, and they are in Carys room to.
13. The competency exams are designed to push you to improve your skills, which will benafit you at youre job.
14. Anyone that didn’t go to last weeks math test should see Laurie so they can learn whats on it.
15.For everyone that passed last year, they are free to have a carefree existance on Friday afternoons.
#4 WHEN/WHERE
When the beginning of a sentence tells WHEN or WHEREsomething has happened, is happening, or will happen in more than three words, a comma must follow it.
****If the sentence is reversed and the clause telling WHEN or WHERE comes at the end of the sentence, no comma is used.
A few hours later, they went to the mall.
They went to the mall a few hours later.
-or-
At the local record store, they are having a sale on compact discs.
They are having a sale on compact discs at the local record store.
Notice that the comma comes just before the subject of the sentence.
If there are multiple adverbial clauses back to back, place the comma only after the last one.
Two weeks agoat School One, there was excellent attendance at the competency exam.
Spelling: BEGINNING, OCCURRED, CONSCIENCE, RELIGION, PREVALENT
1. Over the next couple of years alot School Ones students will reach the age at which they can vote.
2. After recieving this privilege its definately a shame to ignore it and not vote.
3. A simple affect would be that if youre generation were begining to vote politicians would listen more
4. Under the present voting patterns political views prevelant only among young people are ignored.
5. It has occured to more then one politician that they will get re-elected if they cater to people that vote.
6. Back in the 60’s it took a long fight to lower the voting age to eighteen from twenty-one.
7 After alot of hard work by the nations youth a rare constitutional amendment was passed in 1972.
8. During the Vietnam War the nation had to search it’s consience to ask why soldiers shouldnt get to vote.
9. Since the passage of the 26th Amendment voting numbers among those 18-30 have been suprisingly low.
10. If a young person doesnt vote they are giving up an opportunity to make there voices heard.
11. As long as young people continue to avoid voting politicians can ignore there views without danger.
12. Its a prevelent view that one vote doesnt count but we have seen to many close elections to beleive that.
13. If you have the feeling that one religon or interest group is to influential its probally because they vote.
14. When young people begin to vote in large numbers its definate that they will have influence to.
- In the state of Florida in 2000 five hundred more young voters could of elected Gore President.
(#5) ALTHOUGH, BECAUSE, BY, FOR, FROM, IF, TO, WITH
Sentences that begin with Although, Because, By, For, From, If, To, and With always need commas because these words always introduce a dependent clause. The comma NEVER GOES directly after this word but at the end of the clause (just before the sentence's subject).
Although it's been a cold winter,we finally have some sun this month.
If we can make it to May,the warm weather should be here to stay.
By the time August comes, we’ll be sick of the heat.
Because we live in New England, we have high heating bills.
Note that none of these words can begin a one clause sentence.
If the sentence is reversed, don't use a comma except before ALTHOUGH. This is a recent rule change in line with the trend toward using fewer commas.
We won't have any more snow because it has become too warm.
The warm weather should be here to stay if we can make it to May.
I'm enjoying the warm weather, although I wouldn't mind a little snow.
Never place a comma right after ALTHOUGH to begins a sentence. If you want the idea of "but" or "on the other hand" to begin a sentence, use HOWEVER followed by a comma.
However, we would like some warm weather right now.
SPELLING: PROBABLY, LED (PAST TENSE OF LEAD), SINCERELY, TRULY
1. Although its the begining of autumn were all ready having alot of excitement around here.
2. Less then fourty days into the school year theres alot of events that probally will be fun.
3. Its definately a busy time of year for the seniors because so many colleges are visiting us.
- From this week until Halloween more then half a dozen colleges representatives will visit us.
- After attending these visits many students are lead to visit and apply to these schools.
- For juniors and seniors that are still looking theirs a big college fair at CCRI on October 19.
- Because everyone thats here sincerly likes a good meal the Harvest Dinner is popular to.
- With food brought by every family theirs alot of truely delicious components for youre meal.
- Because of what is taught in history classes their are students that are against Columbus Day.
10. Although their arent many students that are willing too go so far as to turn down a day off.
11. To say the least everyone that has worked hard so far deserves there three day weekend.
12. Sometime at the end of the month theyre is likely to be a Halloween R-Day.
13. If youre someone that sincerly enjoys costumes, games and food your in luck on that day.
14. If you have ideas for this day you should help plan it because students ideas are truely valued.
(6) Commas and Conjunctions *Use a comma before a conjunction (and, but, so, or)when there is a complete sentence following the conjunction.
Examples:
School One has brilliant students, and its teachers are okay, too.
Denise went to the store, but she didn’t buy anything.