dialogue rules, parallel structure, verbals, phrases, and participle problems

Dialogue Rules

Guidelines for punctuating and structuring spoken words in writing.

Quotation Marks

Punctuation marks used to denote spoken words in dialogue.

Speaker Tag

The portion of the sentence that indicates who is speaking.

Comma Placement

The positioning of commas in dialogue to indicate pauses and separate speaker tags.

New Paragraph

A change in text formatting typically used to indicate a new speaker in dialogue.

Capitalization of Direct Quotations

The rule that states a complete sentence inside quotation marks should begin with a capital letter.

Parallel Structure

The use of the same grammatical pattern for items in a list or connected ideas.

Gerund

A verbal that acts like a noun and usually ends in -ing.

Participle

A verbal form that acts like an adjective, usually ending in -ing or -ed.

Infinitive

A verbal that consists of 'to' plus the base form of a verb.

Phrase

A group of words that works together but does not contain a complete subject-and-verb combination.

Prepositional Phrase

A phrase that begins with a preposition and describes a relationship between words.

Gerund Phrase

A phrase that begins with a gerund and acts as a noun.

Participial Phrase

A phrase that begins with a participle and describes a noun or pronoun.

Infinitive Phrase

A phrase that starts with 'to' followed by a verb and may include other words.

Appositive Phrase

A noun phrase that renames or explains another noun.

Dangling Participle

A participle that appears to modify an unintended noun, causing confusion.

Misplaced Participle

A participle placed too far from the noun it describes, leading to confusion.

Confusing a Participle with a Gerund

Mistaking a verbal used as an adjective for one used as a noun.