Conventions
(Incorrect: I like you, you like me. Correct: I like you. You like me.)
2. FRAGMENT – A fragment is a piece of a sentence, one that is missing either a subject, a predicate, or both.
(Incorrect: Walking in my new shoes. Correct: I was walking in my new shoes.)
3. APOSTROPHES – Apostrophes are used to show possession or to indicate a contraction.
(Incorrect: Marys book doesnt have a cover. Correct: Mary’s book doesn’t
have a cover.)
4. SEMI-COLONS – Semi-colons are primarily used to separate two sentences (two independent clauses) of equal weight.
(Incorrect: I went to Europe; my brother is ten. Correct: I went to Europe; she went to Texas.)
5. SUBJECT/VERB AGREEMENT – Subjects should always agree in number with their verbs.
(Incorrect: Each of the men have done the work. Correct: Each of the men has done the work.)
6. PRONOUN/ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT – Pronouns should agree with their antecedents (the words to which the pronouns refer).
(Incorrect: Each of the girls did their work. Correct: Each of the girls did her work.)
7. PRONOUN CASE – Pronouns must be in the nominative, objective, or possessive case, depending on their use in the sentence.
(Incorrect: The teacher gave an A to Frank and I. Correct: The teacher gave an A to Frank and me.)
8. PARALLEL STRUCTURE - Express similar terms (all nouns, all verbs, etc.) in parallel structure.
(Incorrect: I like fishing, boating, and to camp. Correct: I like fishing, boating, and camping.)
9. VERB FORM - Use correct forms and tenses of verbs.
(Incorrect: She has laid in bed all day. Correct: She has lain in bed all day.)
10. DANGLING MODIFIER – A dangling modifier occurs when a word or phrase has nothing in the sentence to modify.
(Incorrect: Walking down the street, a dollar bill was found. Correct: Walking down the street, I found a dollar bill.)
11. COMMA – Use a comma to separate items (words, phrases, or clauses) in a series.
(Correct: Words: We have read poems by Longfellow, Whittier, and Dickinson.
Phrases: We found seaweed in the water, on the sand, and in our shoes.
Clauses: Everyone wondered who had been in the house, what he had
wanted, and where he had gone.)
12. COMMA – Use a comma to separate two or more adjectives preceding a noun.
(Correct: An Arabian stallion is a fast, beautiful horse.)
13. COMMA – Use a comma before and, but, or, nor, for, and yet when they join independent clauses.
(Correct: We wanted to go biking, but we couldn’t decide where to go.)
14. COMMA – Use a comma after a long preposition phrase or after the final phrase in a series of phrases.
(Correct: At the top of the hill on the ranch, we found the lost calf.)
15. COMMA – Use a comma after an introductory participial phrase or adverb clause.
(Correct: Participle Phrase: Forced onto the sidelines by his torn ligament, John was restless and unhappy.
Adverb Clause: When March came, the huge ice pack began to melt.)
16. COMMA – Use a comma after words such as well, yes, no, why when they begin a sentence.
(Correct: Why, everyone knows what happened in 1776!)
17. COMMA – Use a comma to set off parenthetical expressions and other words which interrupt the sentence.
(Correct: That book, as a matter of fact, is by the same author.
Texas, the Lone Star State, is larger than Maine.
Her house, I think, is the green one on the corner.)
18. COMMA – Use a comma to separate a noun of direct address.
(Correct: Bill, please go get my purse.
Answer the phone, Steve.)
19. COMMA – Use commas in certain conventional situations.
(Correct: Dear Aunt Margaret,
Sam moved to 286 Lincoln Road, Chicago, Illinois, last June.
Spring vacation begins on Friday, April 12, this year.)
20. COMMA – Never use a comma between a subject and its verb or between a verb and its complement.
(Correct: What I could not believe was that he had never played before.
Pam’s best imitations include those of her mother and dad.)
Have a grammar question?
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Mrs. Cato
