Grammar for Grade 9

Episode IXCapitalization and Spelling Rules

Capitalization

• Capitalize the first word of the following:– Each sentence– Quotations that are complete sentences– Sentences that stand by themselves in

parentheses.• After leaving the Philippines, MacArthur said, “I shall

return.” (He did in fact return with his troops in 1944.)

Capitalization II

Do NOT capitalize the first word of the following:– Sentences in parentheses that are contained

within another sentence.– Indirect quotations– Quotations that are not complete sentences.• MacArthur later said (he had returned to civilian life)

that old soldiers don’t really die but “just fade away.”

Proper NounsProper nouns should be capitalized. If a proper

noun contains several words, capitalize only the important ones.

• Bob Hope• “The Beast in the Jungle”

Capitalize names of ethnic groups, national groups, languages, and religious terms

• Kurds• French• Hashem• the Lord lifts us with His love

More Proper Nouns• Capitalize names of organizations, institutions,

political parties, firms and of documents, awards and laws.

• Beal College• a Nobel Prize• the British North America Act

• Capitalize the names of roads, cities, states, provinces, countries, continents, and bodies of water.

• Lake Superior• Newfoundland and Labrador

Proper Nouns III

• Capitalize names of monuments and bridges, and of ships, trains aircraft and spacecraft.

• the Statue of Liberty• Golden Gate Bridge• the Orient Express• Apollo XI• the Titanic

Proper Adjectives

Proper adjectives are adjectives formed from proper nouns.

They must be capitalized.• Islamic law• Appalachian dance• Quebecois culture

• Some proper adjectives look just like the proper nouns they come from

• Easter parade• Saskatchewan plains

Some Rules for Spelling• Always spell out any number that is one word

(unless it’s in an address, phone number, or sports score)

• There were only twelve of us there.• I had four mints in my pocket.• We beat them 16-4.

• Never begin a sentence with digits. Either spell out the word, or rephrase so you can move the number.

• Eighty-seven dollars is a fortune to a six-year-old.• To a six-year-old, $87 is a fortune.

American vs. Canadian • Your spellchecker’s default is American English,

so unless you change it, you will make the following errors:– -OR ending instead of –OUR

• In Canada, OUR spelling requires –OUR in words like neighbour, colour, and odour.

– -ER ending instead of –RE• Up north, we go to the theatre in the centre of town, not

the theater in the center.

• There are many other “American vs. Canadian” spelling rules. Look them up on the Internet, and change your spellchecker.

Spellcheck Doesn’t Catch ‘Em AllEye halve a spelling chequer

It came with my pea seaIt plainly marques four my revueMiss steaks eye kin knot sea.

Eye strike a quay and type a wordAnd weight four it two sayWeather eye am wrong oar writeIt shows me strait a weigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maidIt nose bee fore two longAnd eye can put the error riteIt's rare lea ever wrong.

Eye have run this poem threw itI am shore your pleased two noIt's letter perfect awl the weighMy chequer tolled me sew.

--Martha Snow

Struggle With General Spelling?

Many of the spelling rules for English have so many exceptions it’s hard to keep them straight.

The good news is that the more often you look up a word (and the more you read or write it), the better you get at spelling it.

There are many websites that can help you with lists of most commonly misspelled words and so on. Play Scrabble or Words With Friends!