What Every Clean Cut Freshman Needs to Know Compound Sentences Complex Sentences Apostrophes-Quotation Marks-Italics What Every Clean Cut Freshman Needs to Know

Clauses: The Gifts That Keep on Giving An independent clause has a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought. In other words, it’s a sentence. Santa Claus prefers letters filled with independent clauses. A dependent clause has a subject and a verb also, but it’s like an invitation to a party that just never happens. It always begins with an introductory word. After Santa got the ungrammatical letter from the freshman girl

Adjective Clauses or Adverb Clauses: White Castle or McDonalds Adjective clauses help to further describe one of the nouns or pronouns in the sentence. They usually begin with one of the relative pronouns: who, whom, that, which, or whose. The boy who wrote the best letter got everything that he asked for, including a new Maserati and a lifetime pass to White Castle. Adverb clauses help to further describe a verb, adjective, or adverb. They usually begin with one of the subordinating conjunctions: after, although, as, as long as, as though, because, before, even though, if, since, so that, than, though, unless, when, whenever, where, wherever, whether, while. Whew! The boy got everything that he wanted after he wrote a letter to Santa and promised to leave him a Big Mac.

Sentence Personalities A sentence that includes an adverb and/or an adjective clause (or other clause) is called a COMPLEX SENTENCE. When I’m tired, I get cranky. A sentence that includes at least two independent clauses is called a COMPOUND SENTENCE. I sometimes get tired, and then I get cranky. One that includes two independent clauses and a dependent clause is called a COMPOUND/COMPLEX SENTENCE. When I’m tired, I get cranky, and then I know I need a nap.

After I decide to use one, how should I punctuate an adverb clause? If the adverb clause begins the sentence, use a comma to separate it from the independent clause. When I order a cheeseburger, I always ask for extra pickles. You don’t need a comma if the adverb clause ends the sentence. I always ask for extra pickles when I order a cheeseburger.

The comma rules for adjective clauses vary, depending on whether or not the adjective clause is needed to help identify the noun. Sometimes you need the adjective clause. In this case, don’t use commas. The boy who is wearing the red hat is my brother. (There are a lot of boys. I need to make sure you know which one is my brother.) Sometimes you don’t need the clause to clearly identify the noun. My brother, who is wearing a red hat, likes extra pickles on his cheeseburger. (You already know this sentence is about the brother, so the clause is just random information.)

Conjunctive Adverbs: Not a Disease! Conjunctive adverbs and serve as transitions between independent clauses. This list includes the following, among others: accordingly, also, besides, consequently, furthermore, however, indeed, nevertheless, then, and therefore. Some transitions fall into the same category: as a result, for example, for instance, in fact, in other words, on the other hand Always punctuate these with a semi-colon and a comma. My brother prefers MacDonald’s cheeseburgers; however, my sister insists that White Castle cheeseburgers are the better choice.

How can I fix a run-on sentence/comma splice How can I fix a run-on sentence/comma splice? I love ketchup on my fries and my sister loves mustard. I love ketchup on my fries, my sister loves mustard. Add end punctuation and a capital letter. I love ketchup on my fries. My sister loves mustard. Add a comma before a conjunction. I love ketchup on my fries, but my sister loves mustard. Turn one independent clause into a dependent clause. Although I love ketchup on my fries, my sister loves mustard. Remove the conjunction and insert a semicolon. I love ketchup on my fries; my sister loves mustard. Add a conjunctive adverb. I love ketchup on my fries; however, my sister loves mustard.

How can I fix the most common type of fragment – the adverb clause? Attach the fragment to the sentence before it or after it. I like peanut butter. When it’s mixed with chocolate. It forms a taste explosion. I like peanut butter. When it’s mixed with chocolate, it forms a taste explosion. Drop the subordinating conjunction. I like peanut butter. It’s mixed with chocolate to form a taste explosion.

When should I use italics? (or when to underline if writing by hand) Books Magazines Newspapers Plays Movies TV/Radio Shows Works of Art Ships/Planes Spacecraft Foreign Words Words as Words Letters Numbers Iran Awakening Sports Illustrated The New York Times Romeo and Juliet Precious Thirty Rock The Starry Night Spirit of St. Louis Apollo 13 E pluribus unum Is advice the right word to use? How many m’s are in your name? What’s the next number after 9?

How Should I Use Quotations Marks How Should I Use Quotations Marks? Periods and Commas go on the inside of quotations marks. Semi-colons and Colons go on the outside. Question Marks and Exclamation Points are placed according to the content. Use quotation marks for the titles of Short stories “The Lady or the Tiger” Poems “The Road Less Traveled” Songs “ Candle in the Wind” Articles “ An Interview with Maya Angelou” Single TV Episodes “Home” (from The X Files) Parts of Books Chapter 3, “A New Nation” Use quotation marks at the beginning and end of a direct quotation. My mother always said, “Do as I say, and not as I do.” Once I asked my mother about the times she would tell me to “do as I do.”

How Should I Use Apostrophes How Should I Use Apostrophes? These possessive personal pronouns don’t need apostrophes: hers, its, his, ours, yours, theirs Use apostrophes to show When a letter, word, or number has been omitted -- you’re, it’s, class of ’13 To show singular possession – dog’s, hour’s wait, bus’s ignition To show plural possession of words ending in s – students’ reports, two dollars’ worth To show plural possession in a plural word that doesn’t end in s – women’s wages, geese’s feathers, men’s shoes To show possessive of indefinite pronouns – everyone’s, anybody’s, another’s To show plurals of letters, numbers, and words used as words – that word has two s’s, that number has five 7’s, she uses too many and’s

So, why do you need to know all this? You need to know how to punctuate your own writing. You need to know how to incorporate simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences into your writing. This is called sentence variety.