Chivalry Week Skills and Principles Day 1 Appositive: Nonrestrictive An appositive is a word or phrase following a noun that gives the noun another name. Commas go around appositives that do not add necessary information to the sentence if the appositive appears in the middle of a sentence. A comma goes after an appositive without necessary information if it introduces a sentence, and a comma goes before an appositive without necessary information that ends a sentence. These appositives without necessary information are called non- restrictive appositives. Dr. Benway, my personal physician, was arrested for performing illegal operations on swamp creatures. Capitalization of Names of Historical Periods Historical periods are proper nouns and are, thus, capitalized. I really enjoyed studying the age of reason and the romatic period. Incorrect I really enjoyed studying the Age of Reason and the Romantic Period. Correct

Plurals of Nouns Most nouns are made plural by adding the suffix -s to the word. If a word ends in s, x, ch or sh, add the suffix -es. If the word ends in a consonant plus a y, change the y to i and add the suffix -es. In addition to these, there are plural forms of nouns that are irregular such as children or wives. Do not form a plural of a noun by adding 's.

Day 2 Sentence Fragment A sentence fragment is a group of words punctuated like a sentence that is not a complete thought. In formal writing, sentences should express complete thoughts. A sentence fragment can also be a sentence missing a subject or predicate. Correct sentence fragments by connecting them to sentences or by creating sentences with additional words. Italics for Foreign Words When using a word from another language, italicize, if using a word nprocessor, or underline, if writing by hand, the word. I hope to win mucho dinero. Incorrect I hope to win mucho dinero. Correct

Ordinal numbers Numbers that show order (first, second etcetera) are written out as words. She is the 1st student to realize that the danger was in the hallway. Incorrect She is the first student to realize that the danger was in the hallway. Correct

Day 3 Use of Hyphens with Compound Modifiers Use a hyphen to join two or more words serving as a single adjective before a noun a one-way street However, when compound modifiers come after a noun, they are not hyphenated. The street was one way. The combination of an adjective and the adverb modifying it does not require a hyphen. a sadly mistaken child 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.

Illogical Comparison When you have something being called a better noun than any, you are making an illogical comparison. If it is better than any, then you must put better than any other because, without this addition, this statement automatically includes what is being called better. Something cannot be better than itself. The president of the eleventh grade class, Sabrina, is a better psychopath than any in the eleventh grade. (This would mean that she is better than herself.) The president of the eleventh grade class, Sabrina, is a better psychopath than any other student in the eleventh grade. (Correct)

Day 4 Relative clauses Relative clauses give information to define or identify the noun or pronoun to which the clause refers. These are the words that introduce relative clauses: whothat whichwhomwhere when why whose Combining Sentences In order not to seem repetitious, it is a good idea to combine sentences when possible, unless you have a good reason not to do so. Commonly Misspelled Words: Righteous Righteous is not spelled rightious.

Wordy Sentence Since writing is meant to communicate, sentences should do so in a clear way. Adding unnecessary words can confuse the audience. Eliminate all words that do not add new meaning. For example, because of the fact that gives the same information as simply writing because; thus, eliminate of the fact that and replace it with because. The time in which gives the same information as simply writing when; thus, eliminate the time in which and replace it with when.

Day 5 Comma after Introductory Phrase Use a comma after a phrase that introduces a sentence. Capitalization of Names of Historical Periods Historical periods are proper nouns and are, thus, capitalized. I really enjoyed studying the age of reason and the romatic period. Incorrect I really enjoyed studying the Age of Reason and the Romantic Period. Correct Use of You Only use the word you if you are speaking directly to the reader. If you mean people in general, use one rather than you. If you are referring to yourself, use I.

Split Infinitives In English, an infinitive is a verb form created from the word to and the verb. For example, the infinitive of run is to run. Splitting an infinitive means putting a word between the to and the verb. Since one cannot literally split an infinitive in Latin (amare=to love with the -are making the verb an infinitive), this has become a rule in English. to swiftly run is incorrect to run swiftly is correct