Capital Letters

In English, everything is spelled LOWER CASE, with the exception of:

1 PROPER NOUNS (i.e. names of particular people, places and things. Place names,
towns, countries, nationalities and geographical areas, businesses and organizations, days
and months, and times in history)
2 Complete sentences in
quotes
3 Adjectives taken from proper
nouns
4 Peoples titles when used before a
name
5 Religions and the
highest God
6 Important words in titles and
headlines

1 San Francisco
Europe
two Germans and an Italian
Im trying to learn Japanese
Central Park
South Africa
Shes leaving on June 10
Thats next Thursday
during the Middle Ages
2 She asked Can you hear me?
3 the British economy
a Marxist government
4 Ms Eliot/Ms. Eliot
Dr Grey/Dr. Gray
5 the history of Hinduism
He is a Christian
According to Islamic law
I believe in God
6 A Modern Guide to the Ancient World
How to Start a Small Business

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 Commas and Hyphens
Gdaniec, May 2010

1. Commas
Commas are used:

- to separate words, phrases or clauses in lists (before and, the comma is often left
out)
Two cokes, three glasses of tonic water and an apple juice, please.
An absolutely beautiful, relaxing, totally rejuvenating experience.
I might lose my home, be cut off from my family and end up with no
friends.
- before and after phrases or clauses which add extra or unnecessary information
to a sentence
Henry, the laziest person in town, was jumping up and down
Old castles, which are often poorly insulated, have a special
atmosphere about them
- to separate adverbial clauses of time (often introduced by when, after, before, by the
time (that), directly, during the time (that), immediately, the moment (that), now
(that), once, since, until/till, whenever) and long phrases that come before or in the
middle of the main clause
After he got married, Andy changed completely
Now that its spring, her mood has improved enormously
The book, once youre done with it, can be returned to any branch of
the library
- to separate from the rest of the sentence words or phrases that suggest if
something is likely or suggest other possibilities (on the contrary, on the other
hand), adverbs that act as conjunctions (however, consequently) and words or
phrases that introduce examples (namely, for example)
On the other hand, we will soon run our of time
Most of her friends, however, were rather keen on going swimming
He could ask his brother to give them a lift, of course
She took everything I had, namely, my watch and my wallet with all
my money
- before a conjunction (and, but, for, or) connecting sentences or full clauses, and
between very short clauses that are not connected by a conjunction
He hadnt worked very hard, but still did well in the exams
I came, I went home, I came back again
- sometimes in informal sentences when that is omitted
She runs so fast, no one can catch her
- to show that a word or words used earlier in the sentence have been left out
Indoor sports are preferred by some; outdoor sports, by many others
- to separate direct speech from words identifying the speaker and type of
speech
I can bear it no longer, he said
- to avoid confusion when two peoples names appear next to each other
For Anne, Marie was the most important person in the world
- in large numbers (a space can be used instead)
The population in 1990 was 8,566,000

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 The comma should NEVER be used:

- before that clauses

Its clear that he would leave a mess. That the headmaster is going to
retire is only a rumour. She said that the right word was obscure.
- before indirect questions
We asked whether he would have the time
- before defining relative clauses
All those who had voted for him cheered
- beforen ing constructions necessary for the meaning of the sentence
We noticed an ape climbing the tree to reach a banana
- before most dependent clauses and adverbials in end position
Ive been a member since I was a student
These are all consistent because the setups remain the same
- before and when it is used as a conjunction between phrases
She walked out and called a taxi
- in decimal numbers like 4.67 (a point is used here)

2. Hyphens

Like the comma, a hyphen is used to make reading easier by reducing ambiguities.
Note the difference in meaning between the following two phrases:

The English history teacher

(the teacher of history who also happens to be from England) versus:
The English-history teacher
(the teacher of English history)

Use of Hyphens

A hyphen is used when a compound modifier appears before its head, and at least one of the
elements is itself a modifier, in order to prevent any possible misunderstanding, such as

light-blue lighter, twentieth-century invention, award-winning show, etc.

Without the hyphens, there is potential confusion about whether "light" applies to "blue" or
"lighter", whether "twentieth" applies to "century" or "invention", etc.

However, hyphens are generally not used if both elements of the compound modifier are
nouns, such as

government standards organization and department store manager,

(unless there is reason for confusion of meaning),

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nor if the first element is an adverb ending in "-ly", such as
truly remarkable progress; highly qualified engineers

Numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine often have hyphens

Fractions (whether nouns or adjectives):

two-thirds, four-fifths, one-sixth, etc.

Additional examples of proper use:

a Soest-based company
web-based applications
up-to-date records vs The records are up to date.

Compound adjectives formed with high- or low- are generally hyphenated:

high-quality programming, low-budget films.

Hyphens are also used in the following cases:

a used-car dealership a
three-day trip
a 42-hour work week a
five-dollar bill

Sources

Oxford Dictionary of English, Second Edition, Revised, Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2005

www.askoxford.com
(This site is good for any spelling, punctuation, grammar and vocabulary questions)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyphen

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