editing your work
Once you are satisfied with the content of your work, you should make sure that your grammar and punctuation is correct to help your reader understand what you are saying!
capitalization
Here is a common list of things you should capitalize:
Besides this list, you should always capitalize PROPER NOUNS. Proper nouns are names of specific and unique items/entities. For example, names of monuments, official titles before the names of people, and names of specific cookies would all be capitalized because it refers to a very specific person/thing. The Washington Monument, President Barack Obama, Oreos would all be proper nouns and therefore would be capitalized.
If you are talking about a term in general, then the word is NOT capitalized. For example:
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Still confused about what a proper noun is? Check out this website to read more!
- First letter of people’s names & places
- First letter of cities, states, & countries
- First letter in the first word of a sentence
- Languages
- Historical events (e.g. Age of Exploration, American Revolution, World War I, etc.)
- Months & days of the week
- First letter of words in book/movie titles (e.g. The Tale of Desperaux, Speak, The Skin I'm In, etc.)
- The pronoun “I”
Besides this list, you should always capitalize PROPER NOUNS. Proper nouns are names of specific and unique items/entities. For example, names of monuments, official titles before the names of people, and names of specific cookies would all be capitalized because it refers to a very specific person/thing. The Washington Monument, President Barack Obama, Oreos would all be proper nouns and therefore would be capitalized.
If you are talking about a term in general, then the word is NOT capitalized. For example:
- President Barack Obama was elected in 2012. (Here we are referring to a specific person.)
- A president was elected in 2012. (Here we are talking about the president in general; we don't have a specific person in mind.)
- My uncle came over for the weekend. (Uncle here is a general term; it is not a specific person's title.)
- Uncle Tom played with me. (Because it comes before his name, the word "uncle" refers to a specific person and is therefore capitalized.)
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Still confused about what a proper noun is? Check out this website to read more!
homophones
Here are some common homophones that people mix up. Please check back over your work and make sure that you don't have any homophone errors!
to, two, too
to - a preposition indicating direction or a position
two - a noun meaning the number 2
too - an adverb that means as well or also
there, their, they're
there - an adverb that indicates location or place
their - a possessive pronoun; it shows that something belongs to a group of people
they're - a contraction that means "they are"
your, you're
your - a possessive pronoun that shows that something belongs to you
you're - a contraction that means "you are"
its, it's
its - a possessive pronoun that shows that an item belongs to something
it's - a contraction that means "it is"
here, hear
here - an adverb that indicates location or place
hear - a verb that means that you can perceive sound (listen)
where, wear, were**
where - an adverb that indicates direction
wear - a verb that means when you put something on your body
were - the past tense of "was" (e.g. We were at the park yesterday.)
(**Were is not a homophone because it does not sound like "where" or "wear," but you often confused these words in your writing.)
affect, effect
affect - a verb which means to have an influence on something
effect - a noun which means to bring about or cause
know, no, now**
know - a verb which means to have knowledge of something (e.g. I know that I am right.)
no - the opposite of "yes," when you refuse something
now - at the present time (e.g. I want to go home NOW.)
(**Now is not a homophone because it does not sound like "know" or "no," but you often confused these words in your writing.)
~~~
Find a list of other common homophones on these websites:
to, two, too
to - a preposition indicating direction or a position
two - a noun meaning the number 2
too - an adverb that means as well or also
there, their, they're
there - an adverb that indicates location or place
their - a possessive pronoun; it shows that something belongs to a group of people
they're - a contraction that means "they are"
your, you're
your - a possessive pronoun that shows that something belongs to you
you're - a contraction that means "you are"
its, it's
its - a possessive pronoun that shows that an item belongs to something
it's - a contraction that means "it is"
here, hear
here - an adverb that indicates location or place
hear - a verb that means that you can perceive sound (listen)
where, wear, were**
where - an adverb that indicates direction
wear - a verb that means when you put something on your body
were - the past tense of "was" (e.g. We were at the park yesterday.)
(**Were is not a homophone because it does not sound like "where" or "wear," but you often confused these words in your writing.)
affect, effect
affect - a verb which means to have an influence on something
effect - a noun which means to bring about or cause
know, no, now**
know - a verb which means to have knowledge of something (e.g. I know that I am right.)
no - the opposite of "yes," when you refuse something
now - at the present time (e.g. I want to go home NOW.)
(**Now is not a homophone because it does not sound like "know" or "no," but you often confused these words in your writing.)
~~~
Find a list of other common homophones on these websites:
sentence fragments
A sentence fragment does not express a complete thought and does not make a complete sentence.
Are You Missing the Subject or the Predicate?
When you are trying to figure out whether a sentence is complete, ask yourself 2 questions:
- WHO or WHAT is doing the action? (That is the subject.)
- WHAT is happening? (This is the predicate/verb.)
If you can answer BOTH of these questions, your sentence is complete and NOT a fragment!
If you CAN'T answer both of these questions, then your "sentence" IS a fragment and you need to fix it by adding the missing part (the subject or the predicate).
Are You Beginning With One of These Words?
Another common way that fragments are made is when you start a sentence using these words, but you don't finish the sentence:
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If you would like to begin your sentence with these words, you must follow it with a COMMA and write a complete sentence AFTER it. For example:
- Because it is set in the 1700s. --> Because it is set in the 1700s, there are still many Native Americans roaming the land.
- She she is a witch. --> Since she is a witch, she will be held prisoner and must attend the Salem Witch Trials.
run-on sentences
Check back soon!
just some common mistakes...
It is NOT "should of." --> It is "should have."
It is NOT "and etc." --> It is just "etc." (and ONLY after at least 3 things have been listed can you even use "etc"!)
It is NOT "and etc." --> It is just "etc." (and ONLY after at least 3 things have been listed can you even use "etc"!)
