GRAMMAR RULE OF THE WEEK Capitalize names of people, titles used in front of a person’s name, places, days, months, holidays, and special events.

VOCABULARY TERM: kowtow (v) – to be overly polite and flattering SENTENCE CORRECTION: Many people don’t like mr james jacobs because he kowtows to his boss to get promotions.

VOCABULARY TERM: labyrinthine (adj) – complicated; perplexing SENTENCE CORRECTION: The maze that we always visit in october around halloween is very labyrinthine.

VOCABULARY TERM: lambent (adj) – softly bright; flickering SENTENCE CORRECTION: The light from the Eiffel Tower in paris france was lambent and made a beautiful backdrop for our picture.

VOCABULARY TERM: languid (adj) – drooping; sluggish SENTENCE CORRECTION: The people of new orleans are often languid after a long night of celebration during mardis gras.

VOCABULARY TERM: libation (n) – a beverage SENTENCE CORRECTION: Many people enjoy having libations like wine with their thanksgiving meals.

GRAMMAR RULE OF THE WEEK Capitalize names of nationalities, peoples, languages, direction words referring to parts of the country, and the name of a school subject if it comes from the name of a country or is followed by a Roman numeral.

VOCABULARY TERM: lineage (n) – descent in a direct line from an ancestor SENTENCE CORRECTION: The italian man from the north of the country traced his lineage as far back as a great-grandfather in the south of france.

VOCABULARY TERM: loquacious (adj) – very talkative SENTENCE CORRECTION: Many students in Biology got in trouble for being loquacious, but students in chemistry II were quiet and were rewarded with candy.

VOCABULARY TERM: ludicrous (adj) – laughable because of obvious absurdity SENTENCE CORRECTION: Many students were angry about the ludicrous pictures that the students in yearbook I put in the yearbook.

VOCABULARY TERM: lugubrious (adj) – exaggeratedly mournful SENTENCE CORRECTION: The south african people were lugubrious for months after their team lost the World Cup.

VOCABULARY TERM: luminary (n) – one who is notable in a particular field SENTENCE CORRECTION: The scientist was a luminary and was awarded the Nobel Prize, but his speech was in greek, which many people could not understand.

GRAMMAR RULE OF THE WEEK Capitalize names, the first word and all important words in the titles of books, plays, newspapers, articles, paintings, periodicals, movies, musical compositions, poems, and other works of art, references to religions, denominations, sacred works, books of the Bible, deities or prophets. Do not capitalize god or goddesses when it refers to the gods of mythology.

VOCABULARY TERM: maelstrom (n) – a powerful whirlpool; turmoil SENTENCE CORRECTION: In pirates of the caribbean, captain Jack Sparrow and his crew were tossed around during the strong maelstrom.

VOCABULARY TERM: manacle (n) – a handcuff; a restraint SENTENCE CORRECTION: The baptist preacher was placed in manacles after defacing pages from the koran.

VOCABULARY TERM: masticate (v) – to chew SENTENCE CORRECTION: The rude museum-goer masticated his gum and then placed it on the painting of the mona lisa.

VOCABULARY TERM: mausoleum (n) – a large, elaborate tomb SENTENCE CORRECTION: Legend says that the mausoleum the poet wrote about in annabel lee was really the tomb of the author’s wife.

VOCABULARY TERM: mellifluous (adj) –smoothly flowing SENTENCE CORRECTION: Stories tell of mellifluous seas being rocked by waves when the mythological God Zeus got angry.

GRAMMAR RULE OF THE WEEK Use apostrophes to show ownership, form contractions, and in place of omitted numbers in a year.

VOCABULARY TERM: metamorphosis (n) – a transformation SENTENCE CORRECTION: Cinderellas metamorphosis from a housemaid to a beautiful princess is magical to see.

VOCABULARY TERM: monolith (n) – a single large stone, often in the form of a column or monument SENTENCE CORRECTION: Seeing the carvings in the side of the monolith was Janices favorite part of the trip to England.

VOCABULARY TERM: nadir (n) – the lowest point SENTENCE CORRECTION: The political ads of 12 reached a new nadir and many voters werent happy about them.

VOCABULARY TERM: nocturnal (adj) – pertaining to the night; active at night SENTENCE CORRECTION: The nocturnal activity of the bats caused the boys moms to have them all come home from the park early.

VOCABULARY TERM: nodule (n) – a small lump SENTENCE CORRECTION: The nodules in my grandmothers cake batter prevented the cake from rising correctly in the oven.

GRAMMAR RULE OF THE WEEK Fragments may lack a subject, verb, or both, or may be punctuated incorrectly to form an incomplete thought.

VOCABULARY TERM: obdurate (adj) – hard; unmoved by persuasion SENTENCE CORRECTION: My obdurate puppy.

VOCABULARY TERM: obsequious (adj) – fawning; servile SENTENCE CORRECTION: After creating a commotion in class, the obsequious boy.

VOCABULARY TERM: opulent (adj) – demonstrating great wealth; extravagant SENTENCE CORRECTION: The opulent mansion is known for.

VOCABULARY TERM: oscillate (v) – to swing back and forth SENTENCE CORRECTION: The fan oscillated and made the model’s hair blow softly in the.

VOCABULARY TERM: ostracize (v) – to exclude from a group SENTENCE CORRECTION: Jermaine like to ostracize people from the group because.

GRAMMAR RULE OF THE WEEK A run-on sentence is two or more complete sentences written as though they were one sentence. Two or more sentences may not be written without punctuation marks or conjunctions between them.

VOCABULARY TERM: ovation (n) – enthusiastic display of approval; applause SENTENCE CORRECTION: The crowd gave the singer a standing ovation but they did not clap for the dancer.

VOCABULARY TERM: panorama (n) – a wide, unbroken view SENTENCE CORRECTION: The panorama of the mountains was soothing it made me want to stay there forever.

VOCABULARY TERM: paraphernalia (n) – personal belongings SENTENCE CORRECTION: The young man was arrested for stealing paraphernalia from the teacher’s desk he was expelled from school.

VOCABULARY TERM: pariah (n) – an outcast SENTENCE CORRECTION: Kerry is a pariah that makes me sad for her.

VOCABULARY TERM: parochial (adj) – relating to a church parish SENTENCE CORRECTION: Many parents want to send their children to the parochial school but the schools tuition is too expensive.

GRAMMAR RULE OF THE WEEK Two or more sentences may not be connected with a comma. This is known as a “comma splice.”

VOCABULARY TERM: penurious (adj) – stingy; extremely poor SENTENCE CORRECTION: Scrooge is known as a grumpy man, he will not give money to his penurious neighbors.

VOCABULARY TERM: pilfer (v) – to steal insignificant items SENTENCE CORRECTION: The principal wasnt sure who pilfered the gum, he knew it was someone in third period.

VOCABULARY TERM: pinion (v) – to restrain by binding the arms SENTENCE CORRECTION: Soldiers have to learn to pinion their enemies, they have to be careful not to apply too much force.

VOCABULARY TERM: pinnacle (n) – the highest point SENTENCE CORRECTION: The mountain climber reached the pinnacle of the mountain, it was so beautiful he didn’t want to come back down.

VOCABULARY TERM: plummet (v) – to fall or plunge straight downward SENTENCE CORRECTION: The plane began to plummet, the passengers were all scared.

GRAMMAR RULE OF THE WEEK A comma is used before a coordinating conjunction joining two main clauses.

VOCABULARY TERM: pogrom (n) – an organized persecution of massacre SENTENCE CORRECTION: During the Holocaust, Hitler organized many pogroms against the Jews, and many innocent people were killed.

VOCABULARY TERM: polyglot (n) – using several languages SENTENCE CORRECTION: Annie is a polyglot so many people often call on her to be a translator.

VOCABULARY TERM: posh (adj) – elegant; fashionable SENTENCE CORRECTION: Tevin’s home is very posh from the outside but on the inside it is a mess.

VOCABULARY TERM: potable (adj) – fit to drink SENTENCE CORRECTION: The drink that the bartender made looked lovely but it tasted terrible and was not potable.

VOCABULARY TERM: precarious (adj) – dangerous; risky SENTENCE CORRECTION: The situation between the two groups of military forces was precarious and no one knew what to expect.

GRAMMAR RULE OF THE WEEK Using the grammar rules from this quarter, identify the errors in the following sentences.

VOCABULARY TERM: progeny (n) – offspring; descendants SENTENCE CORRECTION: The members of the class of 88 shared a nice french meal at the reunion and they all talked about their progeny.

VOCABULARY TERM: projectile (n) – a missile; something thrown SENTENCE CORRECTION: The projectile came from the van and hit mr. ericson in the head so hard that he had to be taken to a hospital in the east.

VOCABULARY TERM: promontory (n) – a high point of land or rock projecting into water SENTENCE CORRECTION: In the short story “the most dangerous game,” Zaroff traps ships by guiding them straight toward the dangerous promontory.

VOCABULARY TERM: prostrate (adj) – lying flat SENTENCE CORRECTION: She was injured by falling prostrate down the mountain in romania but she insisted that she remain on the trip.

VOCABULARY TERM: pugilist (n) – a fighter; boxer SENTENCE CORRECTION: The pugilist wasnt winning any fights in 07 so he practiced harder and won all the leagues titles in 08.