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Conventions

13. Observe the conventions

There are reasonable and normal guides for spelling, grammar and punctuation. You should follow these routinely and without complaint. Most of those who find such guidelines too restrictive have yet to learn the guidelines. The most commonly flouted guidelines are these:

Punctuation

Apostrophes

  • Use apostrophes to show possession
  • Use 's to show possession by a singular noun
  • Use s' to show possession by a plural noun
  • Use no apostrophes in possessive pronouns such as "its.''
  • Use apostrophes to signal a contraction (such as "it's'' meaning "it is.'')
  • Use an apostrophe to signal certain odd plurals: numerals, abbreviations, single letters, and some acronyms.

Colons

  • Use a colon after the salutation of a formal business letter.
  • Use a colon to separate hours from minutes in times.
  • Use a colon to introduce a long or famous quotation.
  • Use a colon to introduce a list of particulars following a completed independent clause. If the element before the colon is not a completed statement, do not use the colon.

Commas to Separate

  • Use a comma after each element of an A, B, and C series except the last element. A comma does go before the conjunction.
  • Use a comma before a short quotation.
  • Use a comma to separate an introductory element from the independent clause that follows.
  • Use a comma to separate independent clauses joined by simple conjunctions. The comma goes just before the conjunction.
  • Use a comma to separate coordinate adjectives.
  • Use a comma after the salutation of an informal letter.

Commas to Enclose

  • Use a pair of commas or a comma and a period to enclose certain elements. When enclosing, do not put down one mark and forget the other.
  • Use a pair of commas or a comma and a period to enclose

Titles such as "M.D.,'' "PhD,'' or Jr.''
Names of states
Years in dates
Words of direct address
Inserted sentence elements
Parenthetical elements
Appositives
Nonidentifying (nonrestrictive) elements

Comma Problems

  • Do not use one mark when two are needed to enclose some element.
  • Do not use commas where a semicolon or a period is required:
      Between independent clauses with no conjunction joining the clauses
      Between independent clauses joined by conjunctive adverbs
      Between two independent clauses containing internal punctuation but joined by a simple conjunction.
  • Do not use commas to separate two words, two phrases, or two dependent clauses joined by a simple conjunction (usually "and'').

Dashes

  • Use a pair of dashes around an element that deserves enclosing commas but that contains internal punctuation. (A pair of parentheses might serve in such a situation but would reduce the apparent importance of the item enclosed.)
  • Use a dash only when some of mark of punctuation seems inadequate.

Hyphens

  • Use a hyphen to join compound adjectives.
  • Use a hyphen at the end of a line to break a word that would not fit on the line. Hyphenate at the syllable breaks. When in doubt about where to break, consult a dictionary.

Numbers

  • Spell out numbers one through ten.
  • Do not start sentences with numerals.

Parentheses

  • Avoid overusing parentheses. In the middle of sentences, they can distract your reader.
  • Use parentheses in place of commas to enclose an element containing internal punctuation. (A pair of dashes might serve you better since parentheses reduce the apparent importance of the element they enclose.)
  • Use other marks of punctuation correctly in relation to parentheses.

Quotations and Quotation Marks

  • Use a comma before a short quotation
  • Use a colon before a famous or long quotation or before a quotation used as documentary evidence.
  • Use other punctuation correctly in relation to quotation marks. At the ends of quotations
  • Periods and commas always go inside the quotation marks.
  • Semicolons, colons, and dashes always go outside the quotation marks.
  • Quotation marks and exclamation points go in their logical positions.

Semicolons

  • Use a semicolon to separate independent clauses joined by no conjunction.
  • Use a semicolon to separate independent clauses joined by a conjunctive adverb. Use a comma after the adverb.
  • Use a semicolon to separate independent clauses joined by a simple conjunction when the first clause contains a comma or commas.
  • Use a semicolon to separate members of an A, B, and C series when one more members have internal punctuation.

Grammar

Case of Pronouns

    Use the case of pronoun correct for the grammatical situation
    Use the nominative case for


Subjects of verbs
Predicate nominatives
Appositives with nouns in the nominative

    Use the objective case for


Direct objects
Indirect objects
Objects of prepositions
Appositives with nouns in the objective

    Use the possessive case of pronouns


To show a pronoun's ownership of a noun
To show a pronoun's ownership of a gerund

    Be wary of cases of pronouns when the pronouns are joined to something else by "and.''
    A pronoun's case following "than'' or "as'' is determined by completing the elliptical clause in one's mind.


Modifiers


    Put modifiers as near the word modified as you can.
    A participle at the beginning of a sentence modifies the grammatical subject of the sentence.
    "Which,'' "who,'' and "that'' should go right next to the words they modify.
    Modifiers must have some clear reference; they must not refer to ideas, but to actual words.
    "Only'' and "not'' are two single-word modifiers extremely hard to place accurately.


Parallelism


    When joining elements on an A and B construction or in a series, make sure that the elements are of the same grammatical type.
    Use no ''. . .and that'' statements without a "that'' clause before it; no ''. . .and who'' without a "who'' or "whom'' clause before it; no ''. . .and which'' statement without a "which'' clause before it.
    Lists should be in parallel form.
    Elements joined by correlative conjunctions should be grammatically parallel.


Pronouns and Antecedents


    A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number, person, and case.
    If the antecedent of the pronoun is a collective noun and the collective noun has, earlier in the sentence, agreed with a singular verb, the pronoun must be singular.
    A pronoun must have a single clear antecedent; the same pronoun, used twice in a sentence, must refer to only one antecedent.
    Use "he or she,'' "him or her,'' or "his or her'' to refer to singular antecedents of indefinite gender.


Subject and Verb Agreement

  • A verb must agree with its subject in number and in person.
  • Use a singular verb with certain pronouns:''each,'' "everyone,'' "neither,'' "not one,'' "no one.''
  • "Here'' and "there,'' though often in the subject position, are not subjects.
  • A prepositional phrase following the subject does not affect the number of the subject.
  • Certain words not ending in "s'' are plurals: "phenomena,'' "media,'' "criteria,'' "data.''
  • Certain words ending in "s'' are actually singular. Most of them end in "-ics'': "politics,'' "semantics,'' "athletics,'' "ethics.''
  • Names of diseases ending in "s'' are generally considered singular: "mumps,'' "measles,'' "rabies.''
  • A numbered amount, like "fifty miles,'' is considered singular if the writer has only the one amount in mind, not the individual parts of the amount.
  • Collective nouns are generally taken as singular these days, though they may be taken as plural if the writer is thinking of the individual actions of the members of the group.
  • The verb "to be'' agrees with the noun or pronoun in the subject position.
  • The pronouns "which,'' "who,'' and "that'' can be singular or plural depending on what they refer to.
  • Compound subjects joined by "and'' are plural.
  • Verbs agreeing with compound subjects joined by "or,'' "either. . .or,'' or "neither. . .nor'' agree with the part of the subject nearer the verb.

Courtesy of John Mercer Associates, www.MercerWriting.com

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