1. COMMAS AND APPOSITIVES
APPOSITIVE BEFORE WORD IT RENAMES –
A legendary force during his day, Tom Swift was unparalleled as a boxer.
APPOSITIVE AFTER WORD IT RENAMES –
Macie’s first cousin, a ten-year Marine, stands at attention when the president departs from Air Force One.

2. VAGUE PRONOUNS…AVOID THEM!!!
After supper, Mel covered it with saran wrap and placed it in the refrigerator.
Hmmm…exactly WHAT was covered and placed in the refrigerator???

3. APOSTROPHES, POSSESSION, AND THAT FABULOUS RULE 4!!!
Is the noun a NORMAL plural ending in –s?
Yes: Then add the apostrophe AFTER the –s.
No: Then the apostrophe goes BEFORE the –s.
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
Make sure the noun is not simply a plural that needs NO apostrophe at all! No possession = No apostrophe!
One patient – one patient’s injury
One bus – one bus’s seats
Two children – two children’s toys
Two dogs – two dogs’ crates

4. SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT MADE EASY!!!
Is the subject 1 SINGLE person, place, or thing?
YES? Then add -S to the verb!
NO? Then NO –S on the verb!
Subject  NEVER in a prepositional phrase
 NEVER the word HERE or THERE
Having trouble finding the subject? Look at the verb choices and ask, “Who or what does this action?” or “Who or what is this verb about?”
TWO SUBJECTS joined by AND? NOT 1 SINGLE THING – no S on verb
TWO SUBJECTS joined by OR or NOR? Use subject closer to verb… YES 1 SINGLE THING – YES S on verb
NOT 1 SINGLE THING – NO S on verb

5. MORE SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT MADE EASY!!
COLLECTIVE NOUNS: team, band, class, jury, committee, etc.
Singular (S on verb) IF members function as 1 single unit (Remember the team in the huddle = 1 group, so THE TEAM IS IN THE HUDDLE.)
NOT Singular (NO S on verb) IF members act separately (Remember the team breaking out of the huddle – more than 1, so THE TEAM ARE IN THEIR VARIOUS POSITIONS.  CLUE WORDS HELP!!
ELIMINATION IS YOUR BEST FRIEND!!! Eliminate any answers that CANNOT be correct choices.
Examples: its – not a verb at all
verbs ending in –ing  MUST have helping verbs
Watch out for dependent clauses between the main subject and the main verb. EX: The man [who is tending to the weeds in two of my neighbors’ yards] (use/uses) an old-fashioned push lawn mower that is not gas powered.

6. AND MORE SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT 
IF AN ENTIRE PHRASE OR DEPENDENT CLAUSE IS A SUBJECT, ALWAYS USE A SINGULAR VERB.
In other words… 1 SINGLE phrase or dependent clause subject = S on verb
Ex: [That he would consider harming anyone] (is, are) out of the question.
Ex: Tutoring every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday during the summer months (is, are) Mandy’s way to afford a vacation.
Pronouns ending with –one, -thing, -body, each, either, neither  SINGULAR
Ex: Everyone needs to bring his or her money for the trip.
NOTE: Remember to make pronouns match singular or plural subjects/verbs.
ALL, ANY, MOST, NONE, SOME  Use prepositional phrase that follows to help.
Ex: Most of the movie (was, were) good.
Ex: Most of the children (was, were) well behaved on the field trip.

7. KEEP, ADD, OR DELETE WORDS TO PASSAGE???
1st Read question (notice if number refers to passage)
2nd Read passage, remembering to think about text meaning along the way
3rd Eliminate either the two “yes” answers or the two “no” answers.
4th Only one remaining answer will make sense.

8. COMMA USES…ONLY A FEW!!
Before a FANBOY that joins two complete sentences
Ex: Will John and Cathy clean their house, or will they go to the movie?
Between items in a series
Ex: Sam likes building towers with Legos, creating things with clay, and drawing things on his Etch-a-Sketch.
Between two adjectives that describe a noun IF putting the word “and” between the adjectives would make sense
Ex: Brian is a kind, noble young man. Brian is a kind AND noble young man is ok, so use the comma.
Ex: Mandy has two new dresses.  Mandy has two AND new dresses is NOT ok, so NO comma.
After introductory items:
Ex: Well, I’m not sure eating that is a good idea.
Ex: In the middle of the garden, there is a beautiful water feature.
Ex: Gusting furiously, the winds blew trees down and debris across the field.
Remember SOUNDS RIGHT IS RIGHT strategy: Commas indicate a pause.

9. APOSTROPHES & CONTRACTIONS
TIP: Read the sentence with the contraction as two words.
If the sentence makes sense, use the apostrophe.
Ex: I think you’re amazing. I think you are amazing.
If the sentence does NOT make sense, then NO
apostrophe is needed.
Ex: I had no idea you and you’re sister are twins.  I
had not idea you and you are sister are twins. – NO
apostrophe!

10. CONFUSING PAIRS OF WORDS
THERE  Think “where” – place word or introductory word
THEIR  Possessive

11. PLUG ‘N PLAY STRATEGY
If you find it difficult to make a decision about a choice, read the sentence “plugging” in each choice to see which choice works.