Use an apostrophe to show possession with a noun. For singular nouns or plural nouns that do not end in ‘s,’ just add an apostrophe and an ‘s.’ The boy’s bike . . . The adolescent’s tricycle . . . The children’s toys . . . The turtle’s shell . . . If you want…
NOTE: You would use this feature if you had a lengthy document and wanted to capture all of the acronyms that are mentioned in the document so that you can create an appendix, a glossary, or an acronyms table. You might also use it to make sure that you identified all acronyms the first time…
Must, Shall, and Will Use ‘must’ instead of ‘shall.’ Must denotes obligation (You must attend!) or indicates a necessity to act (You must behave). Shall imposes an obligation to act, but it may be confused with the prediction of a future action. Shall is commonly used today in questions requesting an opinion or a preference…
A simple way to know which pronoun is correct is to transpose the pronouns or the clause: Don’t let anything come between you and__. Don’t let anything come between me and you. Note: ‘me’ is the object of the preposition ‘between.’ While it may be impolite to refer to me first, at least it’s not…
How do I punctuate direct quotations correctly? Does the end punctuation go INSIDE the quotation marks, or does it go OUTSIDE the quotation marks? Commas and periods always go inside the closing quotation marks. The operator said, “We do not have a procedure for making sandwiches.” “We do not,” said the operator, “have a procedure…
Do you have trouble catching passive voice in your writing? Word can help! Passive sentences aren’t incorrect: most of the time they just aren’t the best way to phrase your thoughts. Sometimes passive voice is awkward and can obscure meanings, while other times it’s just vague or wordy. Try this in Microsoft Office Word: 1.…
What conventions do you use to express dates and times? If the day of the month is not given, do not use a comma to separate the month and the year: The process began in April 2008. Write time with lowercase letters and periods. Provide the digits for minutes only when necessary: 10 a.m.; 3:37…
How many grammar mistakes can you find in Jim Bob’s letter to Santa? Dear Santa: Its that time of year again so Im sending you my list of things I want for christmas. It won’t take a FBI investigation for you to no that I haven’t been perfect but I have been awful good for…
Oh, don’t we just love the English language? There are so many words that can be confusing. Here are some more to add to your list from Gerald J. Alred’s Handbook of Technical Writing: ‘Liable’ means “legally subject to” or “responsible for.” ‘Libel’ refers to “anything circulated in writing or pictures that injures someone’s good…
Do you have trouble with spelling? Is it ‘lose’ or ‘loose’? Remember this: “The goose got loose.” Both have two ‘o’s! Is it ‘stationary’ or ‘stationery’? Remember this: “Stay stationary.” Both have ‘a’s! Remember this: “Envelopes are called stationery.” Both have ‘e’s! Is it ‘affect’ or ‘effect’? Remember this: “‘a’ comes before ‘e’ in the…