English Rules

The Serial Comma

July 2, 2005

Christina Moore asks, "Should a comma be placed after the last item that comes before the word "and" when listing three or more items in a sentence?" Unless you are writing for a newspaper or magazine, or for another publication with a style guide that discourages its use, my advice is to use the serial comma. The main reason for … Read more.

Comma with Jr. or III

June 15, 2005

Roslyn Hamp asks: When you write a name with a jr. after the last name, a comma is used. When you write III, do you put a comma after the name: John Jones, Jr. John Jones III (is a comma needed)? You are correct that, at least traditionally, a comma is used with Jr. In fact, if Jr. appears in … Read more.

Hyphens for Compound Adjectives

April 23, 2005

Andy Bell asked a great question about when to use a hyphen: Hyphens. Sometimes you use them when you put a verb and and a noun together, but not always? What's the rule? Is it carbon-tipped? Is it Horse-drawn? While there are a few proper uses of the hyphen, the one Andy is referring to is for a compound adjective … Read more.

More Punctuation with Quotation Marks

March 31, 2005

A visitor to the Writing Guide asked about the proper punctuation of quotations in a couple examples where it looks as if doubling up the punctuation marks would be in order: What is the proper placement of punctuation and quotes in the following two sentences? "Why is it increasing?", "Do you think it will continue to increase?", and "What is … Read more.

Inline and Block Quotations

March 26, 2005

A visitor to the site writes, "How many lines of printed text must be covered before a quotation becomes long enough to be a block quotation. I used to know, but I can't remember, and I can't find it anywhere!" According to Purdue University's Online Writing Lab, the MLA guideline for formatting quotations is as follows: Place quotations longer than … Read more.

Comma with Also

February 21, 2005

A reader asks: When begining a sentence with "also," do I have to put a comma after "also?" Yes If you attach "also" to a free-standing sentence, then you do need to put a comma after it. Example: Jose Saramago writes novel with a distinctive style. Also, his eccentric plots often reveal hope in the midst of despair. Notice here … Read more.

Possessive Form of Singular Nouns Ending with S

February 17, 2005

Many people struggle with the possessive case of singular nouns when the words already end with s. The general rule is this: Form the possessive singular of nouns with 's. Here are some examples: James's cat Mrs. Jones's attorney Dr. Suess's book Exceptions Of course, we're talking about the English language, so we're going to have some exceptions to the … Read more.

Quotation Marks

February 12, 2005

Susan asks the English Master: What are the rules for punctuation when using quotation marks? I vaguely recall something about commas, question marks, etc. being placed inside and outside the quotation marks, but don't remember the rules The rules differ depending on whether you're writing for an American audience or for a British/international audience. I'll discuss the American system, since … Read more.

Semicolons - Part 2

February 6, 2005

The less common use of semicolons occurs in a sentence when at least one element of a series already has commas in it. Separating the major elements of the series merely with commas could confuse the reader. Let's imagine that we want to write about our three favorite cities in the United States: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Boston, Massachusetts Seattle, Washington Each … Read more.

Semicolons - Part 1

February 4, 2005

There are two uses of semicolons in English. This entry will deal with the more common use. Use a semicolon to join two independent clauses, meaning two clauses that can each stand alone as a sentence. Examples: John loves to sell houses; he's a real estate agent by trade. Frank dislikes selling houses; nevertheless, she's a real estate agent by … Read more.

Apostrophes

December 21, 2004

Here's the deal. Don't use an apostrophe to simply indicate a plural, whether the plural word is a common noun or a proper noun. Incorrect: I saw the Jones' today Correct: I saw the Joneses today When it comes to pronouns, we don't use apostrophes—unless we're making a contraction, smooshing two words together. Incorrect: Is that your's or her's? Correct: … Read more.

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