MechanicsUsing Capital Letters

When to use a capital letter?

• Here are some rules to live by:

• If the word is the first word in a sentence ALWAYS start it with a capital letter!

• A proper noun always begins with a capital letter.

• Azsa Roundtree lives in Rochester, New York. She is in the seventh grade.

What is a proper noun?

• prop·er noun

• noun

• a name used for an individual person, place, or organization, spelled with initial capital letters, e.g., Larry, Mexico, and Boston Red Sox

Example

• Correct:

• Lightning struck the building. (Lighting is the first word.)

• The storm flooded Emily’s house. (The is the first word and Emily is a

proper noun.)

Incorrect

• lightning struck the building. (The first word is not capitalized here and it

should be.)

• The storm flooded emily’s house. (Emily should be capitalized because it is a

proper noun.)

Before we find the errors in this paragraph let’s read it together.

• When my brother ralph was a baby, our house was flooded. That spring, it rained every day. Soon, the river began to rise. one day, water covered the road. A boat carried us to safety, but the river kept rising. Finally, we went back to our house. Mud on the walls two feet high. For weeks, the house smelled bad. The flood caused lots of destrucktion!

Now let’s find…

• One sentence fragment and correct it.

• Underline two capitalization errors and correct them.

• Circle two spelling errors and correct them.

• Go to the assignments tab and download page 53. Once you finish save it on the desktop.

Check your answers:

• Answers to the corrections are on the next page.

• Make sure you have done this exercise to the best of your ability before you check. If you have any questions please post them at the bottom of page 53.

Answers

• Sentence fragment: • Mud on the walls two feet high.

• Correct it: Should sound something like: The mud on the walls reached two feet high.

• Underline two capitalization errors and correct them: • ralph should be Ralph because it is a proper noun.

• one should be One because it is the first word of a sentence.

• Circle two spelling errors: • Destrucktion should be destruction

• Saftey should be safety