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2010-05-10T05:09:00.001-07:00

Your Spellchecker Can Catch Punctuation Mistakes

Even though you should never only rely on your spellchecker
to find mistakes in your document, you can make the most of your spellchecker by
changing the settings. It isn't as scary as it sounds and once you learn where
these settings are, you can change them as often as you need to for whatever
guidelines you have to use for a particular document that you are writing.

These punctuation settings are consistent with the American
publishing industry. If you are writing for Great Britain (the United Kingdom)
or writing in English for any other country, be sure to learn what punctuation
rules are used in that country's publishing industry. You can reset the
spellchecker options at any time so that when you run spellcheck, it will
automatically check for the right punctuation placement.

Here’s the easy 1-2-3 instructions for changing and
checking your spellchecker settings:

1. Open Word.

2. On the toolbar, click on Tools. In the drop-down window,
click on Options.

3. Click on the Spelling & Grammar tab, hit the Settings
button. A new window will appear. Set the first three requirements:

Comma required before last list item (always)

Punctuation required with quotes (inside)

Spaces required between sentences (1)

Click OK.

Now, close all the windows that are open. Your spellchecker
has now been re-set and these option settings will be in place for all Word
documents that you create from now on. You only need to go through this
procedure again if you need to change these settings to comply with a specific
publishing requirement. If you do alter the settings for a specific job, then
remember to change them back to these settings once you have finished that
document.

Be sure to always run a final spellcheck of your document,
after you have made your final corrections!

Jan K., The
Proofer is a freelance copyeditor and proofreader. Visit Jan’s Portal (http://www.jansportal.com)
for more information about Jan’s free crafts, recipes, tutorials, other resource
sites, and free content articles, as well as Jan’s business services. Be sure to
visit Mom’s Break (http://www.momsbreak.com/)
for free printable crafts and projects. © Copyright 2005 to present. All rights
reserved.

2009-09-09T07:05:00.000-07:00

Oh so true

2009-08-28T08:26:00.000-07:00

Plurals and Possessives

2009-07-23T08:10:00.001-07:00

Plural very simply means more than one. Making a noun plural is usually as simple as adding an "s" to the end (one boy, two boys; one tree, two trees).

Step 1

Plural very simply means more than one. Making a noun plural is usually as simple as adding an "s" to the end (one boy, two boys; one tree, two trees).
Step 2
When the noun already ends with "s", "sh", "ch", "x" or "z", you add an "es" to the end of the word (one box, two boxes; one witch, two witches).
Step 3
Nouns that end in a vowel plus "y" are made plural with an "s" (0ne day, two days; one ray, many rays).
Step 4
Nouns that end in a consonant plus "y" are made plural by dropping the "y" and adding "ies" (one baby, two babies; one enemy, many enemies).
Step 5
Some words have irregular forms for their plural (one child, two children; one mouse, two mice). Some words ending in "ife" change to "ives" for the plural (one knife, two knives; one wife, both wives). If you are in doubt about the proper plural form, consult a dictionary to get the correct answer.
Step 6
For proper names, follow Steps 1 and 2 only (Keeping up with the Smiths and the Joneses). Never alter the form of the name to make it plural (Bradys, not Bradies).
Step 7
Here's where it gets tricky. Numbers and abbreviations previously used apostrophes for the plural (the 60's, local MD's) but common practice now particularly in online writing, is to use the simple "s" (the 60s, local MDs). Consult your professor or editor about their preferred usage in this case.
Step 8
Clarity is key, and occasionally trumps the actual rules. Apostrophes can be used to pluralize letters (dot your i's and cross your t's) because the alternative, while technically correct, can prove confusing (dot your is and cross your ts). See Tips section.

Singular Possessives

Step 1
Possessives show ownership (The boy's books means the books belong to the boy).
Step 2
To make a noun possessive, simply add an apostrophe "s" to the end (dog's bone, baby's candy and child's toys). The apostrophe shows ownership. The bone belongs to the dog. The toys belong to the child.
Step 3
For singular nouns that end in "s", you still add an apostrophe "s" to the end (boss's office or bass's gills). See Tips section.
Step 4

For proper names, the rules are the same (Bob's house, Jane's book or Lois's car). See Tips section.

Plural Possessives

Step 1

To help keep your punctuation straight, follow the correct order. Pluralize first, then show possessiveness. If you have an annual meeting for more than one shareholder, use this order: (1. More than one shareholder should be shareholders. 2. The meeting is for these shareholders should be the shareholders' annual meeting).
Step 2

For plural nouns that end in an "s" or "es", simply add an apostrophe (the three dogs' bones or both babies' candy).

Step
3
For irregular plurals that end in a letter aside from "s", use an apostrophe "s" (the children's toys).
Step 4

Follow Step 1 for plural possessives involving proper names (The Smiths' front lawn or The McGreevys' annual party).

Possessive Pronouns
Step 1

Possessive pronouns are words unto themselves and require no punctuation (her book; the book is hers. My schedule; the schedule is mine. Their key; the key is theirs). These words are already possessive and you never add an apostrophe.
Step 2

Its versus it's. "Its" is a possessive pronoun, showing ownership (The dragon was climbing higher. I tried to hang on to its long neck.). "It's" is a contraction, which stands for "it is" or "it has" (The dragon is flying higher. It's trying to escape!). This makes it very simple to choose when to use the apostrophe. If you can not insert the phrase "it is" or "it has" into the sentence in place of "it's", then don't use an apostrophe ("I tried to hang on to "it is" long neck" obviously makes no sense. The long neck belongs to the dragon, so you want to use the possessive pronoun in this case: "its").
Step 3

Similar problems occur with "their" and "they're", "who's" and "whose", etc. Just remember that in cases of pronouns, an apostrophe indicates a contraction. If you want to indicate "who is", "who has" or "they are", use the apostrophe (Who's set the alarm for six? They're going to school early.). If you want to show possession, use "whose" or "their" (Whose books are these? Their bus is on the corner.).

Warnings

Apostrophes are also sometimes used to pluralize when you're talking more about a word itself rather than a noun. This usage is rare, however, and some common expressions (no ifs, ands or buts) are pluralized by the proper rules rather than with apostrophes.
Never pluralize people or objects with apostrophes. It's simple to remember: if there's more than one person or thing, add an "s" or an "es."
There is some debate about making words and names that end in "s" possessive. The rules listed here are the commonly accepted ones, but you will find sources that prefer to add a simple apostrophe to any word ending in "s" whether it be singular or plural (boss' office; Lois' car). An added rule for proper names is that people in ancient history/religion/mythology are granted only an apostrophe to show possession (Jesus', Achilles', Sophocles' and Moses').

Source

2009-07-22T13:32:00.000-07:00

This cartoon is fifty-years old. Think about that. This is what we could lose if we're not careful.

Homo, Hetero, Hemo, Oro - nyms

2009-07-20T16:05:00.000-07:00

Homonyms: 'homo' means, same, and 'nym' means, form. Homonyms are words that have the same pronunciation e.g., dust the furniture, dust the crops; the saving and loan bank and the river bank; I was allowed to go and Read it aloud.

Heteronyms: 'hetero' means, different, and 'nym' means, form. Heteronyms are words that have different pronunications e.g., There's a strong wind today and Please wind your watch.

Homographs: 'homo' means, same, and 'graph' means, spelling. Homographs are words that have the same spelling. Heteronyms wind/wind and homonyms dust/dust are homographs.

Oronyms: 'oro' means, spoken, and 'nym' means, form. Oronyms are phrases that have the same pronunciation:

EX: I've watched some others .
EX: I've watched some mothers.

Antonyms:Word pairs that are opposite in meaning, such as hot and cold, black and white, and in and out

Source

Lay and Lie

2009-07-20T12:13:00.001-07:00

To lay is to put something down. Lay down your pen. The verb must act on another object.
To lie is to recline. Lie down on the couch. I will lie in bed until noon.
The past tense of "lay" is "laid." After the test I laid down my pen.
Unfortunately, the past tense of "lie" is "lay," which can cause confusion. Yesterday I lay on the couch all afternoon.

Dangling Modifiers

2009-07-20T11:57:00.000-07:00

Make sure modifiers describe something that is in the sentence.
For example:

Walking outside, the stars were beautiful.
Never having taken math before, the test was difficult.

Who was walking outside? It sounds like the stars were walking. Who has never taken math before? Here are better versions of those sentences.

Walking outside, we looked at the beautiful stars.
Never having taken math before, he found the test difficult.

Plural of Abbreviations

2009-07-19T07:42:00.000-07:00

Taligent Style Guide
Google Answers
ul>

Form a plural with a lowercase s. PBXs, ABCs

If the abbreviations have internal punctuation, use an apostrophe s. PH.D's
(do not use periods in an abbreviation or acronym unless it
can be confused with a word (such as in inches).

To form the plural of an abbreviation, a number, or a capital letter
used as a noun, simply add an 's' to the end.

Writer's Block: Plural and Possessive Abbreviations

- A group of MPs
- The late 1940s
- Mind your Ps and Qs

To form the plural of an abbreviation with periods, a lowercase letter
used as a noun, and abbreviations or capital letters that would be
ambiguous or confusing if the 's' alone were added, use an apostrophe
and an 's'.

- A group of M.P.'s
- The x's in the equation
- Sending SOS's"

Proper Use of the Apostrophe to Form Plurals

An apostrophe is also used to form some plurals, especially the plural
of letters, symbols, and digits.

- Regina received four A's on her report card.
- Timothy used too many &'s in his paper.
- The judges gave the diver two 9's and two 8's.

It is no longer considered necessary or even correct to create the
plural of years or decades or abbreviations with an apostrophe.

- He wrote several novels during the 1930s.
- There are fifteen PhDs on our faculty.
- My sister and I have identical IQs.

(If you wrote Ph.D. with periods, you would add an apostrophe before
the pluralizing 's': Ph.D.'s) If the abbreviation ends in 'S,' it's a
good idea to separate this final 'S' from the pluralizing 's' with an
apostrophe: SOS's"

EditFast Grammar Resource: Apostrophes: Forming Plurals

It should be noted that, in this matter, the New York Times does not
observe the generally-accepted rules:

"Use of plurals is another area of confusion to authors and editors.
As with everything, Chicago/Turabian style takes precedence in this
project. One area of specific confusion when it comes to computer
terms is with acronyms. Most people mistakenly add an apostrophe and
letter 's' to make an acronym plural. The major proponent of this
incorrect method is 'The New York Times,' even though all publishing
houses and computer magazines agree that it is wrong.

The correct method is just to add the letter 's' to the acronym. Here
are some examples:

PBXs (not PBX's)
VLANs (not VLAN's)
NICs (not NIC's)
PCs (not PC's)

The possessive of an acronym plural has the apostrophe after the s

.

PBXs'
VLANs'
NICs'
PCs'

The only time we accept an 's is when the acronym is separated with
periods. For example, Ph.D.'s."

It's and Its

2009-07-19T07:04:00.000-07:00

Here is a new one on me. Where did I go wrong? I've been usung it's to show possession and according to Whitesmoke.com 'its' only means 'it is.' I've got a lot of correcting to do.

This is an exception to the usual rules of apostrophe use. Its means "belonging to it." The usual apostrophe is omitted. It's always means "it is." With almost any other word, an apostrophe and "s” can indicate possession.
Example: It's amazing that a dog will chase its own tail.
Example: The company needs to get its books in order before it's too late.

Punctuation - Ellipses

2009-07-18T14:56:00.000-07:00

An ellipsis is three periods in a row. Always use three full stops exactly, no more and no less.

An ellipsis can be used to show that something has been left out of a quotation (To be or not... is the question) or to indicate a pause in speech. An ellipsis can also indicate an unfinished thought. Placed at the end of a sentence, it indicates a voice trailing off into silence.
These tips come to you from Whitesmoke.com, "Quick Tips"

Punctuation - Commas

2009-07-11T10:20:00.000-07:00

This is my personal Nemesis, the comma. And for the life of me, I can't get it right. But I'll keep trying. Here's something that might help:

Add a comma if you are introducing a sentence with a word or a phrase.
- However, this rule is one of the simplest.
- In fact, this rule is one of the simplest.
Use a comma to distinguish two complete thoughts in one sentence. A good test is to see if you can make two separate sentences. If you can, use a comma. If one of the two thoughts does not make a complete sentence, you do not need a comma.

This rule is not that hard to remember, but I still get it wrong sometimes.

Place a comma before conjunctions. Conjunctions are joining words. The most common are: for, and, nor, but, or, yet and so. However, if the sentence does not have two complete thoughts, you do not need a comma.

This rule and the previous rule are not too difficult, but remember you need two complete thoughts to use the comma.

This rule or the previous rule are not too hard to remember. (No comma needed)

Listed items in a sentence are separated by a comma. In a short list, the last comma in the list is optional.

Separate extra information or "side thoughts" with two commas. If the sentence would stand alone without extra information, separate it with commas.

In some cases, though not all, the rules are absolute.

Other uses:

Use commas to separate cities and states and dates and years

Use a comma before a direct quote, before, "S/he said/asked"

Use a comma after the clause between the first and second part of a split quote. But do not use a comma if the first part of a quote ends with an exclamation point or question mark. Instead, use a period.

"It isn't that I don't love you," he said, "it's just . . ."

"What!" he said, "Are you crazy?"

Do not use a comma after a subordinating clause that introduces a quote. No punctuation is necessary:

She told me to "wake up and smell the coffee."

Use a comma to place emphasis on a noun. Use a comma to emphasize an adjective that describes a noun.

He was a tall, gaunt man.

Use a comma to separate an exclamation.
- Yes, I'll be there.
Use a comma to separate a clause that proceeds a subject.

When she opened her mouth to speak, I knew it was bad news.

Use a comma to separate a word that is used to show contrast. Use a comma when there is a need to separate elements in a sentence that show contrast.

He's eccentric, not crazy.

Use a comma between the day and year of a date when including the month, day, and year. Also, use a comma after the year. Additionally, use a comma between the city and state when including a location in a sentence.

It was on September 9, 1981, that we first met.

He has lived in Houston, Texas, for his entire life.

Use a comma to seperate a quote within a sentence. If you are including a quote within a sentence, be sure to use a comma to separate it from the rest of the sentence.

The mayor was heard to say, ‘This is a good day for a parade."

Items in a complex series – More commas are needed when the series is complex (containing extra conjunctions or consisting of phrases) so that confusion is avoided.

One must consider whether to vote for the tax increase, who should be the new mayor, and how to improve the economy.

In other words:

With adjectives that are equal – If commas could be replaced with the word “and,” the adjectives are considered equal: a dark, scary dungeon. But, commas are not used when one of the adjectives is essential to the noun phrase: an expensive fur coat.

With names of cities and states or countries – Paris, France; Little Rock, Arkansas

With yes and no, and direct address – Yes, I attended the funeral. Sir, where is the nearest mall?

To separate double word usage – This will help to avoid confusing constructions. What the problem is, is that too many people are attending.

Put a comma after an introductory phrase.

When Bob went walking through the woods that night, he didn't realize someone was watching him.

Sometimes, Bob thought walking in the woods at night was crazy.

Use a comma to attach information to the end of your sentence.

When Bob walked through the woods that night, he didn't realize someone would be watching him, too.

Bob should stop walking through the woods, as well.

This information was compiled by me from several different lists of rules I found at,"ehow.com." It is a great site and has lots of answers.

Caps - The thing about titles

2009-06-21T15:14:00.001-07:00

Format the title. Underline titles of full-length works such as books, movies and plays and use quotes for titles of shorter works such as short stories, songs and newspaper stories. All the words in a title should be capitalized except for prepositions, articles and conjunctions.

Another version I found on ehow.com

For other types of written citations, use the following format: italics for films, plays, court cases and long or epic poems; and double quotation marks for article or essay titles, book chapters, TV episodes, songs and short stories or poems.

A Little Help with Capital

2009-06-19T08:48:00.000-07:00

s
If you have a question about whether a specific word should be capitalized that doesn't fit under one of the following rules, try checking a dictionary to see if the word is capitalized there.

Use capital letters in the following ways:

The first words of a sentence

The pronoun "I"

Proper nouns (the names of specific people, places, organizations, and sometimes things)

Worrill Fabrication Company

Golden Gate Bridge

Supreme Court

Livingston, Missouri

Atlantic Ocean

Mothers Against Drunk Driving

Family relationships (when used as proper names

The names of God, specific deities, religious figures, and holy books

God the Father

the Virgin Mary

the Bible

the Greek gods

Exception: Do not capitalize the non-specific use of the word "god"

Titles preceding names, but not titles that follow names

She worked as the assistant to Mayor Hanolovi.

Directions that are names (North, South, East, and West when used as sections of the country, but not as compass directions)

The days of the week, the months of the year, and holidays (but not the seasons used generally)

Exception: Seasons are capitalized when used in a title.

The Fall 1999 semester

The names of countries, nationalities, and specific languages

The first word in a sentence that is a direct quote

The major words in the titles of books, articles, and songs (but not short prepositions or the articles "the," "a," or "an," if they are not the first word of the title)

Members of national, political, racial, social, civic, and athletic groups

Periods and events (but not century numbers)

Victorian Era

Great Depression

Constitutional Convention

sixteenth century

Trademarks

Words and abbreviations of specific names (but not names of things that came from specific things but are now general types

Freudian

pasteurize

french fries

italics

Gramma - Adjectives and Adverbs?

2009-06-19T08:11:00.000-07:00

Compliments of OWL at Purdue

The Basic Rules: Adjectives

Adjectives modify nouns. To modify means to change in some way.

So, generally speaking, adjectives answer the following questions:

Which?

What kind of?

How many?

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. (You can recognize adverbs easily because many of them are formed by adding -ly to an adjective, though that is not always the case.) The most common question that adverbs answer is how.

"She sang beautifully." Beautifully is an adverb that modifies sang. It tells us how she sang.

Adverbs also modify adjectives and other adverbs.

"That woman is extremely nice." Nice is an adjective that modifies the noun woman. Extremely is an adverb that modifies nice; it tells us how nice she is. How nice is she? She's extremely nice.