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An apostrophe looks like this: ' . That little symbol has several different purposes that can be determined by position or by how the word it is in is being used in a sentence (called context). These purposes are outlined below.
That is Dan's textbook.
The textbook belongs to Dan, and Dan does not end in "s" and is not becoming plural, so -'s is appropriate.
The women's study group meets in the library tonight.
The study group belongs to the women, and women does not need an "s" to become plura, so -'s is correct.
The horses' pasture is fenced in.
The pasture belongs to more than one horse, so -s' is correct.
Charles Dickens' novels are classics.
Saying "Dickens's" is rather difficult, so it's easier to skip using another "s" and use the plural possessive -'s in this case.
Tina and John's anniversary is coming up this month.
Tina and John share their anniversary together, so only the last noun needs the ='s
Tina's and Tyler's anniversaries are only a few days apart.
Tina's anniversary is separate from Tyler's, so while both people are referring to anniversaries, they are referring to two different ones and each receives its own possessive.
The instructor's/s' decision is final.
To help determine if instructor is plural or not, reverse the order and then decide which is correct in regards to the sentence or to the situation.
The decision of the instructor is final.
In this case, instructor is singular and could refer to one instructor.
The decision of the instructors is final.
In this case, instructors is plural and could refer to many instructors. To determine overall, it would be necessary to know the situation: instructor would be correct if it is a student asking his or her instructor for a decision, while instructors would be correct if an entire department was changing a policy.
The instructor read the students paper.
If you replace "students" with "his" or "her", or even "theirs" and the sentence still sounds correct, then an apostrophe is needed.
The instructor read his paper.
This is still correct, so the correct sentence would be The instructor read the student's paper.
I am not scared of the dark.
This is the formal and grammatically correct way to state that sentence, and it is how a paper for school should be written.
I'm not scared of the dark.
This is the informal way of saying this sentence, and would be used in every day speech.
He will not go to school today.
This is formal, to make it informal, combine will and not. Contractions are often spelt irregularly, so it's a matter of memorizing them.
He won't go to school today.
This is much less formal, but it means the same thing.
The dog gnawed on its bone.
To determine whether "its" is correct or "it's" is correct, replace the word in italics with "it is".
The dog gnawed on it is bone.
This sentence doesn't make much sense, so "its" is correct.
In an hour's time, we will know the results of the test.
"Hour" can't actually own "time", but we need to show that time is related to the hour, so the apostrophe helps to link them. It is the same as writing the following.
In the time of an hour, we will know the results of the test.
Either would be correct, but the one with the apostrophe is closer to what we would normally say.
The dollar's worth changes regularly, depending on the global exchange.
This is to show the apostrophe being used with value.
The rule of thumb used to talk about a rod or branch that was no more than a thumb's width.
The above example just showes the apostrophe being used with a measurement.
Those students made all b's last semester.
Made all "bs" would look strange and might send the wrong message.
APA's Manual helps students who need citations in APA style.
APA is an abbreviation so the "-'s" is appropriate.
Capitalization is most commonly used to emphasize proper nouns. These are nouns referring to specific people, places, and things. They're also commonly used to begin sentences; however, these are not the only things that get capitalized. Below are some instructions and examples for when to capitalize words. The word "I" is always capitalized when used to refer to one's self.
Thomas Jefferson was our third president.
Thomas Jefferson was a person, so his name is capitalized. In this case "president" is not capitalized either.
President J.F.K. was also one.
John F. Kennedy is known by his initials, all of which are capitalized each time his name is written. "President" is capitalized in this case because it part of his offical title and is preceding his name.
Juan Ponce de León was not a president in our country.
"De" is an article and is not capitalized in most names. Some people may choose to capitalize it, but in general, it and words similar to it, are not capitalized.
His home had a nice view of the ocean.
In this case, the ocean could be any of the oceans and so it is not capitalized.
His home had a nice view of the Pacific Ocean.
There is only one Pacific Ocean, so it is appropriate to capitalize both "Pacific" and "Ocean".
The Southeastern United States is known for growing crops like peaches and peanuts.
"The" is capitalized because it is first letter in the sentence. "Southeastern" refers to a specific region of the U.s.
Go south on Peachtree Street to get to the restaurant.
In this case, "south" is not the name of a region or specific place in this case, but a direction, so it is not capitalized.
Georgia Northwestern Technical College is a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia and an Equal Opportunity Institution.
In the sentence above, there are a lot of things capitalized. Georgia Northwestern Technical College is an institution or a type of business. The Technical College System of Georgia is an organization that encompasses all of the technical colleges involved. Equal Opportunity Institution is part of a policy. The "of" in "Technical College System of Georgia" is not capitalized because it is a preposition.
There are many eras in art, such as the Romanesque era, the baroque era and the era of romanticism.
In the example, "Romanesque" is capitalized because it comes from a proper noun (Roman); on the other hand, neither "baroque" nor "romanticism" comes from a proper noun, so neither era is capitalized.
It is easy to remember capitalizing sentences. After every period, question mark, or exclamation mark that ends a sentence, the first letter of the next sentence is capitalized. If there is no former sentence, the letter is capitalized. If the punctuation does not end a sentence, then the following letter is not capitalized.
This is the first sentence. This is the second sentence.
In this case, you can see that the first sentence does not have anything before it, so "This" is capitalized. The second sentence follows, so "This" is also capitalized.
Do you want this apt. or not?
"Apt." in this case is an abbreviation for "apartment" and so it is not the end of the sentence and the next word is not capitalized.
How a title is capitalized depends entirely on the format you are using. The general rule is that every important word in the title is capitalized. The exception is with APA, where only the first word in the title and the first in the subtitle is capitalized, as well as proper nouns.
The book I am looking at while creating this guide is The McGraw-Hill Handbook of English Grammar and Usage.
"The" is capitalized because it is the beginning of the title. The small words "of" and "and" are not capitalized because they are not particularly important to the title.
Another excellent book is English grammar demystified: A self-teaching guide.
I wrote that title using the APA style of capitalization. "A" is capitalized because it is the first word after the colon. The colon, in this case, shows that there is a subtitle.
Finally, when making a direct quote of an entire sentence from another source. If using only a fragment of a sentence, capitalization is only necessary if it includes proper nouns.
According to Lester and Beason, "The general rule is simple: capitalize all proper nouns" (288).
The entire sentence is quoted, so like any other sentence, the first letter of the first word is capitalized.
Lester and Beason also write that common nouns "are generic names for categories of persons, places, and things" (288).
This time, the complete sentence is not included, so there is no need for the capitalization of the first word.
Commas are probably the most misused punctuation marks in the English language. Some people put too many commas while other people do not use enough. Below are some areas where commas are used and some tips on when to use them.
The library staff wants GNTC students to do their best, and we do everything we can to provide the necessary resources.
"The library staff wants GNTC students to do their best" is a complete sentence. "We do everything we can to provide the necessary resources" is a complete sentence. The coordinating conjunction "and" joins these two sentences, so there is a comma before it.
The students read their textbooks and took notes.
The "and" does not have a comma before it because the sentence could be written as both "the students read their textbooks" and "the students took notes".
The students read their textbooks, and they took notes.
This is basically the same sentence, but now the "and" has a comma because each part has its own verb and its own subject.
Introductory phrases (or words!) are parts of the sentence that go before the subject of the sentence. Commas are used to show that the phrase is not the subject. To determine if a phrase is introductory, try to move the phrase to another location the sentence. If it still makes sense without needing changes, it is probably introductory and needs a comma to separate it (Lester and Beason 213).
While I was writing, an idea popped into my head.
"An idea popped into my head" is the basic sentence in this example. It has a verb and a subject. The comma goes after "writing" because that is an introductory phrase that adds to the sentence but is not the subject or verb of the main sentence.
An idea popped into my head while I was writing.
This is the same sentence, but I tested it by moving the phrase at the beginning to the end. It still makes sense and means the same thing, so that confirms that it is an introductory phrase.
Yes, understanding commas can be very difficult.
The "yes" in that sentence can be moved, or it could even be removed. It is an introductory word.
Adjective clauses describe the noun they refer to. Sometimes, they need commas to set them off and sometimes they do not. If the clause is essential to the sentence and identifies the person, place, or thing, then there are no commas. If it is not essential, if it simply adding information that really does not need to be known, then the clause has commas to show that it is not important information (Lester and Beason 217).
This book, with a blue cover, is an interesting one.
In this sentence, "this" already identifies which book is necessary, so the fact that it has a blue cover is not essential to the understanding of the sentence.
The book with a blue cover is an interesting one.
In this example, because there is nothing else to show which book is interesting, the adjective clause "with a blue cover" is necessary to the understanding of the sentence and does not receive commas.
An adverb clause has a subject and a verb, begins with a subordinating conjunction, and they work together as one to modify verbs, adjectives, or adverbs. In general, commas are only used after adverb clauses, and not before them. That means that the clause then becomes an introductory phrase and is treated like one (Lester and Beason 222).
Before I went to sleep, I read a book.
"Before I went to sleep" is an adverb clause modifying the verb "read". Since it's at the front of the sentence, it is an introductory phrase and receives a comma.
I read a book before I went to sleep.
The clause does not get a comma this time because it is unlikely that the sentence would be difficult to understand because of the clause.
Appositives are nouns and pronouns that rename another noun (Lester and Beason 225). Appositives can be single words or phrases, and they typically follow the noun they are renaming. To test for an appositive, simply replace the original noun with the appositive. If the sentence still makes sense, it is an appositive.
Like adjectives phrases, appositives are typically separated from the rest of the sentence with commas. The exception comes when the appositive is necessary for the sentence to make sense. By renaming a noun, sometimes appositives make it more clear or help to identify one person, place, or thing from another.
Dr. Craig McDaniel, the president of GNTC, works hard for the students.
The sentence would still make sense if "the president of GNTC" were not there. Likewise, if "Dr. Craig McDaniel" were not there, the sentence would also make sense. That means the appositive is not important to the sentence, and it is therefore set off by commas.
His brother Tom does not attend school, but his brother Jim does.
There are multiple brothers, so it is necessary or essential to identify which brother is being referred to. If he only had one brother, then the name would not be necessary.
A string of adjectives will sometimes have a comma between the various adjectives. They will never have a comma between the adjective and the item it is describing unless it is an adjective clause. These adjectives almost always come before the word they are describing. A comma is put between two or more adjectives when the adjectives are describing the same type of thing and when they can be interchanged. Another way to test is to put "and" between the two adjectives (Lester and Beason 231). If the sentence still makes sense, there can be a comma there.
The giant, expensive machine was manufactured in the United States.
Both giant and expensive describe the machine in general. See the below to test the sentence.
The giant and expensive machine was manufactured in the United States.
The expensive, giant machine was manufactured in the United States.
The adjectives here pass both tests. On the other hand, the following sentence fails those tests and does not get a comma.
The old American flag was being used in the school when I graduated.
Old and American describe two different aspects of the flag--old describes its age, American describes who made it--and so they cannot have a comma. Just in case, see below for the two tests.
The American old flag was being used in the school when I graduated.
The old and American flag was being used in the school when I graduated.
The two tests fail in this example. "American old" is not correct, and while "old and American" could work, it would sound weird. While the tests will not work for everything, they do give you a base to work from.
End punctuation are the punctuation marks that come at the end of a sentence. There are only three options for ending a sentence: periods, question marks, and exclamation marks. Each serves a purpose, and those purposes are shown below.
Periods are the most common end punctuation. They are used to complete any sentence that is not a question or an exclamation. Additionally, periods are used after abbreviations to show that a word has been shortened.
The instructor said, "use your textbooks to complete your homework."
The quotation is at the end of the sentence, so a period is used.
Mr. is an abbreviation for "Mister", just like "doctor" has the abbreviation of Dr.
The period is used to signify the abbreviation of "mister" and "doctor", and because the sentence ends with an abbreviation, the period is only required once.
Question marks are only used when a sentence is a question.
The instructor asked, "did you use your textbooks to complete your homework?"
In this case, the question is in the quoted part of the sentence, so the question mark must be included there.
Did you hear that the instructor said, "use your textbooks to complete your homework"?
This time, the entire sentence is a question while the quoted part is not, so the quotation goes outside of the quotation marks.
Did you say to meet at 7 p.m.?
Because "p.m." is an abbreviation, the period must stay there. The question mark is then put on the outside.
Exclamation marks are used to express extreme emotion, whether it is excitement, anger, confusion, or another emotion.
The student happily held up her paper as she told her friend, "I passed the test!"
The only part of the sentence that is show extreme emotion (exclamatory) is inside the quotation, so the exclamation mark goes inside.
I heard her say, "I passed the test"!
In the second example, the sentence is expressing emotion, not the quotation, so the exclamation mark goes on the outside.
Quotation marks are used most often with direct quotations, and so the rules below reflect that. They are also used to show titles of short works, poems, web pages, and similar types of works and to use a word to show the topic is the word itself, not the meaning.
According to Lester and Beason, "The term direct quotation means only one thing: using somebody else's language, word for word" (271).
In the sentence above, the words are a direct quote, so they go inside the quotations. The citation included at the end means that the period will go on the other side of the citation.
"I don't want to go to school today," said the student.
This is an example of quotation marks being used with a comma. The comma stays inside the quotation marks.
The student happily held up her paper as she told her friend, "I passed the test!"
The exclamation is part of the quotation, not part of the sentence, so the exclamation mark goes inside the quotes.
I heard her say, "I passed the test"!
The exclamation is part of the sentence, not part of the quotation, so the exclamation mark goes outside of the quotes.
The instructor asked, "Did you use your textbooks to complete your homework?"
The question is part of the quotation, not part of the sentence as a whole, so the question mark goes inside the quotation marks.
Did you hear that the instructor said, "Use your textbooks to complete your homework"?
The entire sentence is a question, so the question mark goes outside of the quotation marks.
The student said that she didn't want to go to school.
There are no quotation marks this time, because it is a paraphrase of the earlier quotation. "That" is often used to show that a paraphrase is being used.
Semicolons look like this: ";" and have two purposes. The first is to join independent clauses together. The second is to separate complex (or complicated) lists.
Independent clauses are complete sentences; they can stand on their own without any additional words.
These two sentences were seen above. They relate to each other and each is a complete sentence, so they can be joined together with a semicolon.
I was planning to drive, but my tire was flat.
"I was planning to drive" is a complete sentence. "But my tire was flat" is not a complete sentence. The coordinating conjunction "but" makes the sentence dependent, so the sentences must be joined with a comma rather than a semicolon.
I was planning to drive; however, my tire was flat.
"I was planning to drive" is a complete sentence. "However" is a transitional word and marked off with a comma; it can be removed from the clause in order to test it. "My tire was flat" is a complete sentence. Simply by changing the wording, these two independent clauses can have a semicolon.
The instructor suggested several things to help improve the student's grade: tutoring; taking notes, listening, and not goofing off in class; and reading the textbook.
In the above example, the semicolons are used because of the commas between "taking notes" and "listening". Those activities, including not goofing off, are all things to be done in the classroom, not elsewhere, while tutoring and reading the textbook would ordinarily be done outside of the classroom. Without the semicolons, the list would tell them that taking notes and listening were to be done outside the classroom and only "not goof off" would be done in class.
She did the following things on her summer vacation: She went horseback riding in the mountains; visited her family at the beach and swam in the ocean near their house; read four books, mostly fantasy; and worked at the hotel.
The activities listed were rather long and would have been confusing with just commas in between, especially since a comma is used within the list. Anytime one semicolon is used, all of the list items must be separated by semicolons.
Colons look like this ":" and are used in several ways. The most common use is to separate minutes from hours in time, but they are also used to separate titles, begin quotations, introduce lists, and separate information in a bibligraphy (Lester and Beason 260). The final, and most confusing use is to help emphasize or set off an idea.
The train left the station at exactly 5:43 p.m.
As is seen on computers, digital clocks, and on many types of schedules, colons are used to show that "5" is the hour, and "43" are the minutes.
I got the information from Marching Through Georgia: My Walk with Sherman.
To find the book in the library catalog, it would be possible to simply type in the main title, which is Marching Through Georgia. The subtitle helps to give the reader a better idea of what the item covers, to identify several books with the same or similar titles, or it can simply be something the author wanted.
The teacher said: "Pay attention, this will be on the final."
The colon sets off the quoted material. This can be a little difficult to learn and it is considered very formal.
The doctor asked for several items: a bandage, some gauze, and pair of gloves.
"The doctor asked for several items" is a complete thought and a complete sentence. A colon can be used here to place emphasis on list and the word the list modifies.
The doctor asked for a bandage, some gauze, and a pair of gloves.
In this case, if you were to try to put a colon to introduce the list, it would fail the sentence test. "The doctor asked for" is not a complete sentence.
Lester, Mark and Larry Beason. The McGraw-hill Handbook of English Grammar and Usage. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005. Print.
The above citation shows how a colon is used to link a place with a publisher. New York is one of the cities where the publisher is located.
Georgia Northwestern Technical college has five campuses: Floyd, Gordon, Polk, Walker, and Whitfield Murray.
"Georgia Northwestern Technical college has five campuses" is a complete sentence, so the colon can be used. The campus list relates back to the word "campuses". If the information after the colon wasn't included, the sentence would leave the reader a little confused or feeling like they were missing some information.
Look here for the books, websites, and articles consulted when creating these resources. These are also excellent places to find more information on this topic.
Contact a GNTC librarian or visit our LibGuides "How to..." page.