Conventions of Standard English ACT

Comma rule #1

-use commas to separate elements in a series or modifying elements

-ex; my most interesting classes this year are physics, calculus, and U.S history.

-oxford comma before the and/or before the final item.

Comma Rule #2

-use comma with a coordinating conjunction to separate independent clauses within a sentence

-ex; I work on Mondays, and I have soccer practice on Tuesdays

-The comma should be placed directly before the conjunction

Coordinating Conjuntion

-FANBOYS

-For

-And

-Nor

-But

-Or

-Yet

-So

Comma rule #3

-Use a pair of commas to add parenthetical (nonessential) phrases and clauses

-ex; Azara found, much to her delight, that the hours she spend studying were worth the effort.

Comma rule #4

-use a comma to set off an introductory or modifying phrase

-ex; After school, Mindy has to go straight to work.

-modifying phrase is "After School"

-ex; In addition to serving as Class Treasurer, Marte was also a National Merit Scholar.

-(in addition to ) introductory phrase can sometimes be super long

Comma Rule # 5

-Use a comma before and after an appositive

-ex; Dr.No, a well-respected scientist, made an important discovery.

Appositive

-is a special type of parenthetical phrase, it directly renames or relabels the noun it describes

Comma Rule #6

-use a comma to set off an interjection

-ex; Well, its about time that you got here!

-Say, did you pass your history test?

Comma Rule #7

-use to separate coordinate adjectives

-ex; We walked the long, dusty road to the abandoned farm.

-without the comma it would be: We walked the long and dusty road to the abandoned farm.

Coordinate Adjectives

-when two adjectives modify a noun in the same way, can be joined with and without a comma

Comma Rule #8

-Use to set off quoted text

-ex: "Wait," Alisha said. "Please bring me a napkin," she said imperiously, "and a glass of soda."

-the comma used inside quotation marks at the end of the spoken phrase

-or before the quotation mark that begins the spoken phrase EXCEPT when you introduce a quotation with "that"!!!!

Comma rule # 9

-Use for dates, addresses, place names, numbers and quotes

-ex

-Date: January 7, 2004

-Address & Place names: 101 Independence Avenue, Washington, D.C.

-Number: 57,000

-Quotes: "My sister is a nurse," Hamdan said proudly.

More coma stuff

-so if a comma joins two independent clauses its called a comma splice cannot do!!!

Parentheses Rule

-Use parentheses to add parenthetical (nonessential) phrases and clauses

-ex; In addition to serving as Class Treasurer (During her junior year), Marte was also a National Merit Scholar.

One Dash Rule

- use it to signal an abrupt change in thought, signal an afterthought, or offset and unrelated idea that is tacked on to the end of a sentence

-I thought about running a marathon-after one week of practice, I decided to enter a 10k race instead.

-your going have an IC on both sides not going to have IC on one and DC on other unless its dialogue where character cuts himself off mid sentence

pair of dashes rule

- use them in place of parenthesis to emphasize certain words or phrases

-ex; I love comedies-even the most predictable ones- because they always make me laugh

Semicolon rule #1

-use semicolon to join independent clauses (without a coordinate conjunction)

-if you can use a period you can use a semicolon cant use period cannot use semicolon

-ex: Fall is my favorite season; watching the leaves change and doing to football games makes me happy.

Semi Colon rule # 2

-Use with conjunctive adverbs (transition words) to join independent clauses

-ex; Jo Dee is interested in taking the class; however, it does not fit in her schedule.

Some Conjunctive Adverbs

-Additionally

-Equally

-Next

-Also

-Thus

-Otherwise

-Anyway

-Therefore

-Meanwhile

...etc

Semicolon rule #3

-use it to separate

items in a complex list

-"lists of lists"

-ex: When my friends came over for breakfast, I served eggs, bacon, and toast; cereal, grits, and oatmeal; and strawberries, mangoes, and apples.

Semicolon Rule #4

-use to separate coordinate clauses when they are joined by transition words or phrases.

-ex;My sister and I enjoyed the play; afterward, we stopped fo an ice cream cone.

Apostrophe rule #1

-use to show possession

-Singular: apostrophe is placed-after the possessive noun and followed by an "s"

-ex; the boy's shoes

-Plural: make noun plural then place the apostrophe after it same for family names

-ex; the four cats' toys

-ex; the Smiths' boat

Apostrophe rule #2

-to replace one or more letters in a contraction

-ex; It's raining outside again= IT is raining again

-We're running against each other...= We are running against or We were running against.

Contractions

-are two words combined, with some letters taken out.

- ex; It's

-We're= we are/we were

-You're= you are

-should've= should have

-didn't=did not

Apostrophe rule # 3

-to for the plural of single letters and numbers

-ex; did you dot your i's and cross your t's?

-There are a total of four 7's in my phone number.

Apostrophe extra rule!!

-possessive pronouns do not have apostrophes

- ex; mine, yours, his, hers, theirs, its

Colons rule #1

-introduces information

-Use before a list if the information before the list is an independent clause

-ex; Before driving to the test center, I checked that I had packed what I needed: extra pencils, a pencil sharpener, my calculator, a snack, and everything else on my list.

Colons rule #2

-use between an independent clause and information that modifies or adds to it

-ex: As I stood in front of the painting, I wondered: who decides what qualifies as art?

Colon rule # 3

- use to precede direct quotations, business salutations, and titles.

-ex; As Martin Luther King Jr. one said: "In justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere".

All ways of separating independent clauses

-Periods

-Question Marks

-Exclamation Points

Verb Tenses

-Present

-Past

-Future

-Progressive(present, past or future)

-Present perfect

-Past perfect

-Future perfect

Present

-State facts and describe habitual actions

- ex; I study for the ACT every week

Past

-Describe an action or event that happened

-I studied for the ACT yesterday.

Future

-Describe an action or event that is going to happen

-I will study for the ACT tomorrow.

Progressive (Present, past, or future)

-Describe actions that are on going

-I was studying for the ACT this morning.

-"ING" form of a verb

- Always will be doing with helping verb will be studying, had been studying...etc

Present Perfect

-Describe an event that started in the past but may continue into the future

-ex; I have studied for the ACT for two months.

Past Perfect

-Describe a past action that was completed before another past action

-I had studied for the ACT right up until I took the test.

Future Perfect

-Describe a future action that will have been completed before another future action

-I will have studied for the ACT for three months by the time I take the test.

Subject Verb Agreement

-The subject and verb of a sentence must match in person. Subjects and verbs can use first person, second person, or third person.

-EX: I am playing golf. You are playing golf. They are playing golf.

-it also must match in numbers, subjects can be singular or plural and verbs must be adjusted to match

-EX; She works really hard at practice. They work really hard at practice.

Pronouns

-must be used to match the noun that the pronoun is replacing.

-Ex: He made dinner for himself because his parents were working late.

Relative pronounds

-Who

-Whom

-That

-Which

Who and Whom

-for people

Who is followed by what?

-verb

-who+verb

-Who is teaching my class

-Who ate the cookies

Whom is preceded by ?

-Preposition

-Preposition +whom

-For whom did you bake the cookies

-Whom baked the cookies

That and which

-for objects