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Native American Skills and Principles. Group 1. Capitalization of First Word of a Sentence T he first word of a sentence must be capitalized. t he dog ate my homework. Incorrect T he dog ate my homework. Correct. End Punctuation of Sentences
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Native American Skills and Principles Group 1 Capitalization of First Word of a Sentence The first word of a sentence must be capitalized. the dog ate my homework. Incorrect The dog ate my homework. Correct End Punctuation of Sentences Sentences must have some form of end punctuation--a period, a question mark or an exclamation point. I ate my dog. Why did you eat your dog? It ate my homework! Comma in Large Numbers Written as Numerals When writing large numbers as numerals, count from the left and put a comma every three units. Numerals Numerals are numbers written out as numbers and not words.
Group 2 Commonly Confused Words: Then versus Than Then relates to time. Than isused in comparisons. I would rather have been alive then than now. Capitalization of a Proper Noun A proper noun is a noun that refers to a specific person, place or thing. It is capitalized. Jeb Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania The Empire State Building Comma after Introductory Words Put commas after introductory words in sentences. Nonetheless, I'd look in the freezer for Mr. Gnashly.
Group 3 Apostrophes to Show Possession Apostrophes are used to show possession in nouns (not, however in pronouns). Sally's bowling ball is very heavy. Commas in a Series When one has a group of elements that are coordinate and in series, there must be commas between the elements. The comma before the conjunction and the final element is optional and is called an "Oxford comma." We bought a dog, a sled, a cat and a pound of venison. We bought a dog, a sled, a cat, and a pound of venison. (This sentence includes the "Oxford comma.") Verbal A verbal is a word created from a verb that functions, once created, as a different part of speech. Verb Verbal See Seeing, to see,
Past Participle The past participle is a verbal formed from the present tense of the verb plus -ed (usually--there are irregular past participles). It is used to form participial phrases (that are used as modifiers), to form participial adjectives, to be part of the perfect tenses, and to be part of the passive voice. Boredby the teacher, the students passed notes. (participial phrase) The bored students passed notes. (participial adjective) The students could have passed notes if they were bored. (as part of perfect tense) The notes were passed by the students who were bored. (as part of passive voice) Must of, Should of, Could of, Would of These are incorrect. They are written the way they sound as contractions, but they should be written as the following: must have (must've) should have (should've) could have (could've) would have (would've). You must of given the poison to the wrong person since Sally is still annoying! Incorrect You must have given the poison to the wrong person since Sally is still annoying! Correct
Group 4 Double Negatives A double negative is a sentence error where the writer uses two negative words in the same clause. The idea behind this problem is that two negatives logically equal a positive. While a double negative is acceptable, the norm, in Romance language, it is not so in English. no nothing nowhere none neither not nobody no one hardly scarcely barely Nobody got no gruel this morning for breakfast. Incorrect Nobody got any gruel this morning for breakfast. Correct Double Negatives: Scarcely and Hardly Scarcely and hardly are already negative adverbs. To add another negative term is redundant, because in English only one negative is ever used at a time. They found scarcely any animals on the island. (not scarcely no...) Hardly anyone came to the party. (not hardly no one...)
Use of a Colon before a Long Quotation One use of the colon is before a long quotation (more than four lines of text). This is called a block quotation. To begin the quoted passage, indent five spaces further than you would indent for a paragraph. This will be the margin for the entire quotation. When you have a block quotation, you do not use quotation marks around the quoted material. Edgar Allan Poe begins "The Fall of the House of Usher" in the following way: During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. I know not how it was -- but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. I say insufferable; for the feeling was unrelieved by any of that half-pleasurable, because poetic, sentiment, with which the mind usually receives even the sternest natural images of the desolate or terrible.
Use of a Dash for Additional Information When you include information that adds to something in your sentence, you can set it off from the rest of the sentence with a dash (if at the end) or dashes (if in the middle--one on either side of the information). We wish you had a new way of sneezing--we're all wet.
Group 5 Capitalization of Name of Region When a direction is being used as the name of a region, it should be capitalized. When it is a direction that someone or something is going or is located, it should be in lower case letters. A clue that a direction is being used as a name is when the word the appears before the direction. I would like to live in the West. You need to turn south at the fork in the road. Restrictive Clause These contain information that is critical to the meaning of a sentence. If you leave them out, the meaning of a sentence changes or could get lost altogether. They are not set off from the rest of the sentence by commas.The students, who partied all night, are exhausted, while those who did not are wide awake. (Incorrect because it is only those who partied all night who are tired.) The students who partied all night are exhausted, while those who did not are wide awake. (Correct) Numbers One through One Hundred Write out numbers one through one hundred as words, not numerals. And or But at the Beginning of a Sentence In formal writing, eliminate the conjunctions and or but at the beginning of sentences. This helps to make sure that you do not write a sentence fragment.
And or But at the Beginning of a Sentence In formal writing, eliminate the conjunctions and or but at the beginning of sentences. While having a conjunction at the beginning of a sentence is not technically an error, eliminating the conjunction helps to make sure that you do not write a sentence fragment. Commas in a Series When one has a group of elements that are coordinate and in series, there must be commas between the elements. The comma before the conjunction and the final element is optional and is called an "Oxford comma." We bought a dog, a sled, a cat and a pound of venison. We bought a dog, a sled, a cat, and a pound of venison. (This sentence includes the "Oxford comma.")
