Comma Usage
Rule #1: Use commas to separate items in a series. These items may be nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, or even short phrases or clauses.
Examples: Ben, Terry, and Justin went to Missoula to buy wrenches, hammers, and drills.
Julie walked, ran, and skipped to get home on time.
We walked, we talked, and we laughed.
Rule #2:Use commas after introductory material.
1} Words such as well, no, yes, and why should be followed by a comma if they are introductory.
Ex: Yes, I would like another cookie.
2} Introductory participial phrases require commas.
Ex: Slipping on the ice, Tadd nearly broke his arm.
3} Introductory prepositional phrases or a series of phrases that are four or more words long.
Ex: On the morning of April 5, my mother decided to move to a new home.
4} Introductory adverb clauses.
Ex: While driving the tractor, Jesse prefers to think of life in the big city.
Rule #3: Use a comma between independent clauses if they are joined by a conjunction. Animportant note here is that the material on both sides of the conjunction must be an independent clause (ie., the material musthave a subject, verb, and must be able to stand alone as a sentence).
Ex: Monday's meeting went well, yet I feel some sort of trouble brewing.
Tammy is confused about the game last night, but she's willing to forget the results.
In some situations, the clauses may be too short to require a comma.
You go that way and I'll go this way.
Rule #4: Use a comma to set off nonessential material.
Ex: Karla James, who is going to Hawaii next week, has not finished her work yet.
Be careful not to set off material which is critical to the meaning of the sentence.
Ex: New Orleans is the city which interests me the most.
New Orleans, the city which interests me the most, is in the deep South.
Rule #5:Usecommas to set off material which interrupts the sentence.
Appositives -- Ex: Bill Thomas, the famous potato fanner, will speak on Wednesday night.
Nouns of direct address -- Ex: Tracy, did you eat the entire cake?
Parenthetical expressions -- Ex: He will, I'm sure, be ready on time.
Rule #6: Conventional uses require commas.
Addresses: His address is Butch Mills, 115 South Drive, Tornado, Oklahoma 65545,
Dates: We left for Brazil on Monday, June 3, 1995, and had a great trip.
Salutations in letters: Dear John,
Names that associate a title or degree: Tina Frost, Ph.D.
Harry Dozier, III
With this last group, separate titles/degrees and follow it with a comma if in asentence. Sarah Phelps, Ph.D., M.D., is a good friend of ours.
The Colon
Rule #1: Use a colon to introduce a list.
Ex: My pack held all I needed: books, pens and pencils
notebooks, a calculator, several text books, and my phone.
Ex: You should know the answers to the following: Who
is the President? Who is the Speaker of the House? Who are
Montana’s senators and representative?
When a list comes immediately after a verb or preposition, do
NOT use a colon.
Rule #2: Use a colon before along, formal statement or quotation.
Ex: The Senator made the following observation: Economic
competition is vital to commerce here in the United States as
well as world-wide, so we must find ways remain
competitive regardless of what it costs us.
Rule #3: Use a colon between independent clauses when the second
clause explains or restates the idea in the first.
Ex: Monte Dolack prints are incredibly popular: they are
relatively cheap, they are whimsical, and they speak to people
of many different ages.
Rule #4:Use colons in the following conventional situations:
A. Between the hour and minute when you write the time.
B. Between chapter and verse in reference to the Bible.
C. Between volume and number or between volume and page
number when referring to a periodical.
D. After the salutation of a business letter.
Underlining and Italics
Rule #1:Use italics, or underlining, for titles of books, periodicals, ship
names, works of art, etc.
Ex: The Old Man and the Sea
the RMS Titanic
Time magazine
Michelangelo’s David
In using this rule, long works of fiction are italicized or underlined. For shorter works such as short stories, poems, and parts of publications (an article title within a National Geographic magazine, use quotation marks.
Rule #2: Use italics, or underlining, for words, letters and figures
referred to as such and for foreign words not yet adopted into
English.
Ex: The most common English word is the; the letters used most
frequently are e and i; and the numbers most often confused are
7 and 9.
Ex: The Latin saying ad astra per aspera (to the stars through
adversity) gives me hope.
The Dash
Rule #1: Use a dash to indicate an abrupt break in thought.
Ex: The child will—if we make him—behave himself.
Rule #2: Use a dash to mean namely, in other words, or that is before an
explanation (interchangeable with a semicolon, usually).
Ex: It was dangerous—the car careened down the road.
To form a dash in Word, use two hyphens. When you type the next word and space, a dash (longer hyphen) will be formed.
The Apostrophe
If you learn a few simple rules, apostrophes are easy to use. There are really only three rules, though rule #1 has some sub-rules.
Rule #1: Use an apostrophe to form the possessive case for most words.
To form the possessive of a singular noun, ad an apostrophe and an “s.”
Ex: Bob’s shirt
the dog’s collar
You may form the singular possessive of a multi-syllabic word that ends in the s-sound by adding just the apostrophe.
Ex: the Williams’ apartment
the sorceress’ magic pendant
Under this rule, note that adding an apostrophe s to a singular noun ending in an s is just as acceptable as just adding the s
Ex: Thomas’s poetry
Thomas’ poetry These would mean the same thing
To form the possessive case of a plural noun ending in s, add only the apostrophe.
Ex: the girls’ basketball team (the basketball team belonging to multiple girls)
the dogs’ bones (multiple dogs owning multiple bones)
Possessive personal pronouns do NOT take an apostrophe.
his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs, and whose (relative pronoun)
Note: it’s is a contraction for it is
there is no such thing as plural possessive of it (its’)
Indefinite possessive pronouns require an apostrophe and
an s .
indefinite pronouns = one, everyone, everybody, etc.
Ex: everyone’s opinions / one’s opinion / everyone else’s
Hyphenated words, names of organizations and businesses, and words showing joint possession show possession only on the last word.
Ex: my brother-in-law’s favorite sport
the commander-in-chief’s orders
Black and Decker’s tools
Bobby and Ray’s report on fishing
Sean and Sara’s clarinet duet
When two or more persons possess something individually, each of their names is possessive in form.
Ex: Jessica’s and Sandra’s jackets were hung on the pegs.
The words minute, hour, day, week, month, year, etc. require an apostrophe if they are used as possessive adjectives.
Ex: a year’s time one day’s work three years’ employment
Words indicating an amount in cents or dollars, when used as possessive adjectives, require apostrophes.
Ex: one dollar’s worth of candy
five cents’ worth
Rule #2: Use an apostrophe in contractions to show where a letter has
been omitted.
Ex: don’t (do not, with the o omitted from not)
can’t (cannot, with the no omitted from not)
Rule #3: An apostrophe and s are used to form the plural of letters
numbers, and signs as well as words referred to as words.
Ex: Hawaii is spelled with two i’s.
Two 6’s should precede the decimal in that number.
You do not need +’s in that equation.
Don’t use so many like’s when you speak.
10. fewer/less – fewer is used in front of a plural noun
Ex: There are fewer people here than I expected.
less is used before a singular noun
Ex: less time ; less water ; less sand
11. affect/effect – this one takes some thinking
affect – usually a verb
effect – usually a noun
Ex: The rain will not affect the game.
Ex: The effect of the pain killer was immediate.
effective is an adjective – less effective
affect can be a noun when talking about emotion
Ex: That person has no affect. (a flat personality)
12. between/among – between is used when you are thinking
of two items at a time, regardless of whether they are
part of a group of more than two
Ex: What is the difference between some and a few?
among – is used when thinking of a group rather than of
separate individuals
Ex: The candy was distributed among the students.
13. regardless/ irregardless – There is no such word as
irregardless. Don’t use it!
14. occurred/ recurred – spell the first with two c’s and two r’s
For the second, note there is no “o.”
15. could of – Don’t use could of in place of could have. They are not the
same. should of/would of/ might of must of etc. are also wrong
16. principal/principle – Use principal to mean the head of a school; or
the main one of several things.
Ex: The principal causes of ignorance are apathy and laziness.
He was sent to the principal’s office.
Use principle to mean a rule of conduct or a main law or fact.
Ex: Having no principles leads people to a life of crime.
Understanding the general principles of grammar will improve
your writing.
17. whole/hole – Whole is used to suggest an entirety or completeness.
Hole is used to mean empty space in a solid body; an aperture
through or in something or an animal’s burrow.
18. allot/ a lot – To allot means to divide something. A lot is not a real
word. DO NOT use it!
Ex: We will allot the food supply equally.
19. sit/set – Use sit to mean to assume or to be in an upright position.
The principal parts of sit are sit, sitting, sat, sat.
Set usually means to put, to place something. The principal parts
of set are set, setting, set, set.
Ex: Set that book on the table
The book is setting on the table.
That book set on the table for days.
That book has set on my table before.
20. who/ that – Who refers to people. That refers to non-humans.
Ex: She is the one who stole the painting.
She is the dog that stole the bone.
He is the person that ate the pie. WRONG!
21. who/whom – Whom is used in the objective case; that is, any time
it is in the place of a direct object, indirect object, or object of a
preposition. Whois nominative (subject). This is a basic guide.
22. lie/lay – Lie means to assume a reclined position.
Lie, (is) lying, lay, (have lain) Today I lie, yesterday I lay, in the past
I have lain.
Lay means to place something Lay, (is laying), laid, (have) laid
Today I lay it on the table, yesterday I laid it, I have laid it down
23. led/lead/lead – Led is the past tense of to lead.
Ex: He led the horse to the water.
Lead is used in one of two ways. One way we use lead is to mean
the heavy metal; an element of the Periodic Table. Pronounced
lĕd.
Lead (the present tense verb) means to go first.
Ex: You may lead the way.
24. LIKE – This is a word that is WAY overused in the daily speech of
many Americans. Like can be used as several different parts of
speech. Often like is a preposition used to introduce a
prepositional phrase. Paula runs like her brother.
In formal speech or writing, like should NOT be used as a
conjunction. She plays as the pros do. NOT She plays like the
pros do. You may use this in informal speech, however.
DO NOT use like in place of said, as in “So, she’s like,’Stop
bothering me!’” Instead, use “So, she said, ‘Stop bothering
me!’” (The same is true for “goes” in this situation.)“So,
she goes, ‘Stop bothering me!’” is just as incorrect as using
like.
Be aware of, and eliminate, like as an interrupter. Like, she used
to be like one of my best friends, like you know. Annoying,
improper, and terribly limiting.
25. your/you’re – Your shows possession. This is your house.
You’re is a contraction for you are.
26. to/too/two – Two is always a number
To is a preposition or part of an infinitive.
Let’s go to the store. (preposition)
To jumpthat high will take training. (part of infinitive to jump)
27. proceed/precede – Precede means to come before.
Proceed means to carry on or, with an “s,” it can mean
money gained. The proceeds from the auction were huge.
28. the subjunctive case of were – The English language has fewer uses
of the subjunctive case than some other languages. In English, use
were 1)when wishing or hoping OR 2)when speaking of something
contrary to fact.
Ex: contrary to fact --- If that horse were a sports car, we could
go much faster.
If my father were more friendly, you could come visit.
Ex: wishing or hoping --- I wish I were a professional athlete.
I wish I were finished with school.
29. okay – Do not use okay, or OK in formal writing or speaking.
30. hanged / hung – Hanged is the correct past tense form of to hang
when you are referring to a person.
Ex: He was hanged by the neck until dead.
Hung is used when talking about non-human items.
Ex: The coats were hung in the closet near the door.
31. dessert/desert – Dessert refers to the after-dinner sweets we eat.
Desert is either a hot, dry place (first syllable accented), or it can
mean to leave (pronounced like dessert, emphasis on second
syllable).
32. drag/dragged/drug – Dragged is the correct form of to drag.
Drug is NOT the past tense of drag.
33. than/then -- Than is a conjunction. I am smarter than she.
Then is an adverb meaning at the time.
We will eat dinner, then watch a movie.
Essay planning sheet
Use this guide to help plan your essay. A mixture of complete sentences and brief notes should help you plan a great essay.
Thesis statement:
Body ¶ one / Topic sentence 1:Idea 1
Quote/Proof
Discussion
Idea 2
Quote/Proof
Discussion
Idea 3
Quote/Proof
Discussion
Remember to conclude the paragraph
Body ¶ two / Topic sentence 2:
Idea 1
Quote/Proof
Discussion
Idea 2
Quote/Proof
Discussion
Idea 3
Quote/Proof
Discussion
Remember to conclude the paragraph
Body ¶ three / Topic sentence 3:
Idea 1
Quote/Proof
Discussion
Idea 2
Quote/Proof
Discussion
Idea 3
Quote/Proof
Discussion
Remember to conclude the paragraph
Concluding sentence for essay (first of conclusion ¶ )
Any version of this planning guide will help you construct a better essay. By pre-planning the essay, you will be able to better determine areas of weakness as well as the overall flow of the essay.
For some writers, an outline (formal or informal) works best. If you go that route, remember to include all the necessary parts of each paragraph.
Another idea that works well for some is mind mapping. This is a visual-based model for organizing ideas.
Idea 1Idea 2
Topic 1Topic 2
idea a idea 3 Idea 3
idea 2
Main Idea
(Thesis)
Topic 3
Research Planning
While starting out on a trip with no particular plan of a route to reach a final destination can be fun, this is not the most effective approach. Beginning a research project with no plan of attack is a bit like deciding to drive from western Montana to Orlando with no plan, no map, and no time schedule. You may get there, but the trip may be circuitous.
The following model is one way to plan your research trip. Following each part of the model is an explanation of what that part means as well as a some ideas of how to use each part of the model.
Research Planning Guide
Essential Question: ______
This can work in two ways. First, it could be your thesis statement in question form. Second, it is a guide to what you need to accomplish during research. “What were the primary causes of World War I?”
“What are the potential pitfalls of having and using a credit card?”
“Who were the primary scientists working on the Manhattan Project and what were there roles?”
Key Words: (people, places, events, dates, organizations, terms)
______
______
______
______
The key word list is a living list. This means the list should be used throughout the research process and that the list will shrink and grow as you move forward. For example, using the last essential question listed – Manhattan Project scientists / roles – list everything you already know.
World War II, atomic bomb, Albert Einstein, nuclear weapons, Manhattan
Project,
Note: these should be terms you can actually place in a search bar on the Internet or in the library card catalog or find in the indexes of books. These are terms you can use to help you find more details and more specific information about your topic.
When you do a search for Manhattan Project, you will discover President Franklin D. Roosevelt was involved in starting the project. While not a scientist, you may wish to list his name in the key words. If you look under his name in relation to the topic, you may discover important details.
What I want to find out / What I learned / Where I found the information1.
2.
3.
Column one is used for more detailed questions that fall under the essential question. This should be used before starting research AND during. Column two offers brief ideas that answer the questions. Column three helps keep track of your sources. List page numbers! This table may certainly be more than three questions long.