1. Noun: person, place, thing, or idea
Proper noun: name of a specific person, place, thing, or idea – should be CAPITALIZED
Common noun: a general noun – should NOT be capitalized

2. Examples of common nouns
actor
singer
magazine
author
school

3. Examples of proper nouns
Johnny Depp
Britney Spears
Sports Illustrated
Nicholas Sparks
Hazel Green High School

4. Singular, Plural, and Collective Nouns
singular: only one
plural: more than one (usually but not always end in “s” or “es”)
collective: names a group, and can be thought of as plural or singular depending on the meaning in the sentence

5. Examples of Singular Nouns and their Plurals
cat – cats
desk – desks
child – children
box – boxes
student – students
holiday - holidays

6. Examples of Collective Nouns
class – used as singular My first block class is always on time.
class – used as plural The class turned in their homework.
committee – used as singular The committee wants our attention.
committee – used as plural The committee have gone their separate ways.

7. Compound Nouns
One-word compound nouns: form the plural like other nouns blackberry = blackberries penknife = penknives
Hyphenated compound nouns: make the most important word plural father-in-law = fathers-in-law

8. Singular & Plural Verbs
verbs in singular form for singular nouns = opposite
verbs in plural forms for plural nouns = opposite ex. The boy walks to school. The boys walk to school.

9. Verb Tense: When Do I…
Present tense: this is what I do now I walk, I run, I carry, I yell, I teach
Past tense: this is what I did yesterday I walked, I ran, I carried, I yelled, I taught
Future tense: this is what I will do tomorrow I will walk, I will run, I will carry, I will yell, I will teach

10. Verb Shift
If it is happening now, it should keep happening now. I woke up late this morning and brushed my teeth in a hurry. NOT I woke up late this morning and brush my teeth in a hurry.
This applies to sentences AND to paragraphs.

11. Subject / Verb Agreement
P. 380
P. 575
Recognize prepositional phrases and MARK THEM OUT!

12. Pronoun / Antecedent
Number & Gender The girls forgot their lunches. That man dropped his wallet. They mean… The girls forgot the girls’ lunches. That man dropped that man’s wallet.

13. Pronoun Mistakes
Our’s, her’s, their’s are not words Ours, hers, theirs
Subtract, subtract: when you have more than one or with prepositional phrases (used the pencil)
Say it out loud (at least until Ms. Jacobs tells you to shush)

14. Active & Passive Voice By
If the subject is DOING something it is ACTIVE.
If the subject is getting something done TO it the verb is PASSIVE.
If you hit something, you are active. If you get hit by something, you are passive.

15. Modifiers Most of these start with a clause and a comma…HINT!
Can you think of a way to take the sentence as a bad English teacher’s joke?
Hanging on the wall, John liked his new poster. John is not hanging on the wall, is he?
By paying attention in class, the test was really pretty easy. Who is paying attention in this sentence? No one.

16. Commonly Confused Words (p. 653)
Already means it has happened once All ready means she can finally leave
Lose means you can’t find it or you don’t find it Loose means not tight (like those baggy pants)
Principal means main or Mr. Fanning principle means ethics
Affect is a verb meaning to change or influence effect is a noun, like SFX effect is a verb meaning to cause

17. Clear, Vivid Language
Does she want “nice” flowers, or does she want the deepest red flowers with the most romantic vase and the most delicious smell? Nice could mean a lot of things.
Would you rather be (or have your boyfriend be) “attractive” or, as you say, “swole”? Attractive could be a lot of things.
Use the five senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, touch
Avoid extra words (PIN number, ATM machine, the brand new car I just got)

18. Formal / Informal Language
Formal: business, the president, how would you want to talk to your great-grandmother’s preacher in front of the whole church, a job application
Informal: txt/sms, passing notes, IM, slang…swole, ain’t, ballin’, holla, trippin’

19. Sentence Structure Run-on, and on, and on, and on…
Sentence fragments: I think they.
Comma splice: You take two sentence, you stick them together.
Fragments: missing a subject or a verb
CS: add a conjunction, make it two sentences, or change the comma to a semicolon ;

20. Parallelism / Parallel Structure
-ed, -ed, -ed -ing, -ing, -ing noun, noun, noun
I like hunting, fishing, and camping.
I like to hunt, fish, and camp. NOT
I like to hunt, fishing, and camping.

21. Capitalization
Names
First words: sentences and quotations
Titles

22. Commas Items in a series
Direct address, appositives, parenthetical expression (pencil)
Introductory adverbial clauses (pencil)
Instead of a period, if the quotation doesn’t end the sentence
Before conjunction in compound sentence (remember the comma splice)

23. ; : Semicolon and Colon Series, when you are already using commas
Instead of a comma splice
Before a conjunctive adverb
Introduce a list…NEVER following a verb

24. “Quotation Marks” and Underlining
“quotation marks” if it is short (think a piece of the whole)
Underlining if it is long (think of the big piece made of the little ones)
“quotation marks” if the words are the exact ones said by someone

25. Apostrophe Possessive singular nouns: my only dog’s bowl
Possessive plural nouns: my two dogs’ bowls
If two things are possessing, they both have to show it Mr. Case’s and Mrs. Brady’s rooms
When letters are missing in contractions: don’t, can’t, won’t, musn’t, isn’t

26. Logical Progression Introduction Conclusion Sequence Transitions
Irrelevant (unimportant) or redundant (you already said that) sentences