Writing Mechanics

Capitalization, Commas, Apostrophes, & Semicolons

First, a few questions:
What are capitalized letters?
Why do we use capitalized letters?
Importance or emphasis
When do we use them?
Capitalization
1. First letter in a sentence
The students were prepared. They felt calm
about taking their tests, since they had
been in class.

Rules of Capitalization
2. Proper names and titles
Proper titles and names
Mrs. Cindy Hayes, President Obama, Dr. Denton
Im going to the doctor. lower case
Im going to Doctor McMillins office. uppercase
Days and months
Monday, August
Not seasons: spring, winter, summer
Proper places
Knoxville, the Southeast, Smoky Mountains
Book or article titles
The Hunt for Red October
First word, last word, and important words in book titles

Rules of Capitalization
3. I (when you are referring to yourself)
I am going to see if I can climb ten
mountains next year.
4. Proper adjectives
Ethnicities and languages
English, Japanese, French

Rules of Capitalization
What does a comma do?
Separates
When do we use commas?
Commas
1. Use a comma + conjunction to separate
two complete thoughts.
It was raining, but I drove to school anyway.
He was running, and she saw him fall.
I love to eat pizza, so I decided to order
Dominoes.

Conjunctions:
And But Or
Nor So For Yet
Commas
2. Use a comma to separate a dependent
clause from an independent clause.
When I came home, I saw the wreckage.
If you were listening, you would have heard her.
Although I like to swim, I thought the water was
too cold for a dip.
If a dependent clause comes in the middle
or at the end of the sentence no commas
needed.
I saw the wreckage when I came home.
You would have heard her if you were listening.
Commas
3. Use a comma to separate 3+ items in a
series.
I had peas, beans, and rice for dinner.
Going shopping, drawing pictures, and
hiking are three of my favorite activities.

Commas
4. Use a comma to separate day/year and
city/state.
Knoxville, TN
May 14, 2012

Commas
5. Use commas around interrupting or extra
words.
Melissa, our director, is awesome!
Elvis, who lived in Memphis, was the king of
rock and roll.
Will you help me with this paper, Betty?
Hey, come back here!
However, this was not a good option.
We would love to go with you, of course.
Commas
What are apostrophes?
Why and when do we use them?
Apostrophes
1. Possession
Students scores
Whose scores? The student
Students scores
Whose scores? The students
Whats different between those two?
2. Contraction
Are not contract the o Arent
Cannot contract n and o Cant
You are contract a Youre
Apostrophes
Its versus Its
Apostrophe is a contraction
Its a cold day. It IS a cold day.
No apostrophe is the possessive
The dog was wagging its tail. Whose tail?
Whos versus Whose
Again, apostrophe is a contraction
Whos going to the store? Who IS going
No apostrophe is the possessive
Whose car are we driving? Whose car?
Trickiest Apostrophes
Use a semicolon to separate sentences
that are closely related.
Barbara was retired; however, she still
worked from home some.
Semicolons