ECA

Verbals Infinitives – to + verb ; acts as a noun, adjective, or adverb – I did not want to continue to learn about slavery. Participles – ends in ing or ed; acts as an adjective – The smiling boy ran through the classroom. Gerunds – ends in ing; acts as a noun – Running is my favorite activity.

Ellipsis … Used to show you removed part of the original quote

Apostrophes Possession – Add ’s to make singular nouns possessive Cat’s toys Chris’s pencil – Add ’ to make plural nouns possessive (if the noun ends in s) Cats’ litter box (if you have multiple cats) – Add d’s to make plural nouns possessive (if the noun does not end in s) Men’s toiletries

Semicolons To separate two independent clauses – The concert was about to begin; I didn’t know if I could handle the excitement. Separate items in a list when there are already commas in the list – The distinguished guests at the meeting included Tom Jones, mayor; Bill White, police chief; and Sarah Arnold, Holocaust survivor.

Colons Separate hour and minute – 10:23 Separate Bible chapter and verse – Psalms 22:6 After a salutation (greeting) in a letter – Dear Mrs. Riley: Introduce a list or a long/formal quote – You can pick from the following colors: red, yellow, and blue.

Commas Separate two independent clauses with a comma and a conjunction – The girls went to the party, and they had a good time. In a list (before the “and”) – The flag was red, white, and blue. After an introductory clause – Before he could go to the party, he had to clean up his room.

Hyphens - Used to separate descriptor words that come before the noun – He was a well-known artist. – The artist was well known. Use after certain prefixes – I asked him to re-sign the petition so I could turn it in.

Terms Independent clause – has a subject and a verb and can stand alone (complete sentence) Dependent clause – has a subject and a verb but cannot stand alone (subordinate clause) Comma Splice – joining two independent with only a comma Simple sentence – has only an independent clause – no dependent clauses Complex sentence – has a dependent clause and an independent clause Compound sentence – has two independent clauses Compound-complex sentence- has two independent clauses and a subordinate clause Interrogative sentence – sentence that asks a question Run-on sentence – has more than one independent clause without proper punctuation