© capital community college 1.capitalize the first word of every sentence — unless that sentence...

© Capital Community College

QUOTE THAT!

Hyphens and Apostrophes


1.Capitalize the first word of every sentence — unless that sentence is in parentheses incorporated within another sentence.

2.Capitalize the personal pronoun “I”.

Glacial till or debris (some geologists call this material “garbage”) is often deposited in formations called morains.


3.Capitalize the names of family relations when they are used as substitutes for names:I went to visit my Uncle Ted and Aunt Margaret.

I went with my mom and dad to visit my aunt and uncle.

Grandma and Grandpa live with Dad and Mom now.

Notice the role of the modifying pronoun here.


4.In titles, capitalize the first, last, and all important words. Usually, we don’t capitalize articles, prepositions, and coordinating conjunctions.

Animal Farm

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

To Kill a Mockingbird


5.Capitalize names of specific persons, places, and geographical locations.

.

My brother Charlie, who used to live in the Middle East and write books about the Old West, now lives in Hartford, Connecticut.

6.Capitalize places that are not a direction

My family vacations every summer in the South.


They moved up north, to the southern shore of

Lake Erie.

7.Don’t capitalize directions


8.Capitalize names of days of the week, months, and holidays.

9.Don’t capitalize the names of seasons.

Valentines Day, which is always on February 14, falls on Tuesday this year.

Next fall, before the winter storms begin, we’re heading south.


10.Capitalize the names of historical events.

11.Capitalize the names of religions and religious terms.

The Battle of the Bulge was an important event in World War II.

God, Christ, Allah, Buddha, Christianity,

Christians, Judaism, Jews, Islam, Muslims


12.Capitalize the names of nations, nationalities, languages, and words based on such words.

We usually don’t capitalize “white” and “black.”

Somalia, Swedish, English muffin, Irish stew, Japanese maple, Jew’s harp, French horn

There are very few blacks in this predominantly white community.


13.Capitalize the names of academic courses when they’re used as titles.

Brand names . . . .

He took Carpentry 101, but he did much better in his economics and English literature courses.

Ford, Kleenex, Levi’s (not jeans), xerox on a Xerox copier, Advil (but aspirin)


14.Capitalize titles when they precede names.

. . . usually not after a name . . . .

Dean Arrington introduced President Carter to Secretary Bogglesworth.

Joe Chuckles, who was chairman of the board of directors in 1995, has since retired.


Quotation Marks

Rule #1: Periods and commas ALWAYS go INSIDE quotation marks (even inside single quotation marks).

Examples: The sign changed from “Walk,” to “Don’t

Walk” in 30 seconds. She said, “Hurry up.” She said, “He said, ‘Hurry up.’”


Quotation Marks

Rule #2: Question Marks? The placement of question marks with quotes

follows logic If a question is in quotation marks, then the

question mark should be placed inside the quotation marks.

Example: She asked, “Will you still be my friend?”

Exception: Do you agree with the saying, “All is fair in love and

war”? Why?


Quotation Marks

Rule #3: Use single quotation marks for quotes within a

quote

Example: He said, “Dana said, ‘Do not treat me that

way.’”

Notice the period is inside the single and double quotation marks at the end of the sentence.


THE MIGHTY APOSTROPHE

The apostrophe has only a handful of uses, but these uses are very important. A misplaced apostrophe can be annoying — not to mention lonely.

1. to create possessives

2. to show contractions

3. to create some plural forms

The apostrophe is used:



The apostrophe is used to create possessive forms for singular and plural nouns, especially nouns referring to people.

the mayor’s car, my father’s moustache

Pedrito’s sister, Joe Kennedy’s habits

http://cctc.commnet.edu/HP/pages/darling/grammar/possessives.htm



When a noun already ends in “s,” you can decide whether or not to use another “s” after the apostrophe.

Charles’s car OR Charles’ car

Dumas’ second novel, Jesus’ birth,

Socrates’ ideas, Illinois’ legislature

With multisyllabic words, don’t add another “s” after the apostrophe.


THE MIGHTY APOSTROPHETo form the possessive of a plural noun, we pluralize first and then add the apostrophe.

The Kennedys’ house

The children’s playhouse

The travelers’ expectations

Notice that with an irregular plural, the apostrophe will come before the “s.”


THE MIGHTY APOSTROPHEA contraction allows us to blend sounds by omitting letters from a verb construction. The apostrophe shows where something is left out.

I am a student here = I’m a student here.

I have been working on the railroad. = I’ve been working on the railroad.

They could have been great together. = They

could’ve been great together.


THE MIGHTY APOSTROPHEMore contraction examples:

Let us go. = Let’s go.

Who is there? = Who’s there?

It is Dierdre. = It’s Dierdre.

REMINDER: It’s is a contraction for “it is”; the possessive of it = its (no apostrophe).


THE MIGHTY APOSTROPHEThe apostrophe is also used to form the plural of digits and letters . . .

The word Mississippi has four s’s.

She got three A’s and two B’s last semester.

She dotted all her i’s very carefully.

. . . and to indicate omission of a number in a date:

summer of ’99; class of ’38

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