Name: ________________________________________________ Hour:___________

Focus Hints for Monday Mistakes WEEKS 20-24

LEARNING TARGET: Demonstrate commands of Standard Englsih grammar and usage (L.1)

Directions: Use these grammar tips to complete your Monday Mistakes. You will be assessed on
these on quizzes and semester exam.

Week 20 Week 21 Week 22 Week 23 Week 24

2 1 8 4 1
4 3 10 5 2
13 9 11 6 4
15 11 14 7 12
16 15 16 10 18
22 27 17 19 23
24 28 20 20 25
29 21 26
23
24

Apostrophes
1. Possessive Apostrophe: Add apostrophe before s ( “- ’s ”) to a noun to show that it owns
the word that follows it: EX. The cat’s toy was lost.

2. Contraction Apostrophe: Use apostrophes when contracting two words:

EX. “do” + “not” = “don’t” (Notice that the two words are shoved together and that the apostrophe shows that a
letter has been deleted.)

3. Apostrophe after S: Use an apostrophe after the "s" at the end of a plural noun to show possession:
EX. The girls were prepared to pay high prices for designers’ closthes.

Capitalization
Common Nouns
3. Do not capitalize nouns that are not the names of specific people, places, or things.
EX. RIGHT: The tabby cat is so cute. It looks like a tiger.
EX. WRONG: The Tabby cat is so cute. It looks like a Tiger.

Proper Nouns
4. Names of specific people, places, or things start with capital letters.
EX. Mrs. McBride’s cat Oliver is the softest cat ever.

5. The name of specific organizations are capitalized the same way titles are: all of the important
words are capitalized. (Notice “of” is not capitalized in the example.”)
EX. The Girl Scouts of America is an organization that has been around since 1912.

Proper Adjectives
6. Adjectives that come from proper nouns begin with capital letters.
EX. I like French fries that are fresh out of the fryer—yum.
(“French” comes from the word “France.”)

Plurals
7. Just add “s” when making an abbreviation plural. (Do not use an apostrophe!)
EX. The medical technician was going to have a busy afternoon because she had to
administer 12 MRIs.

Plurals (continued)
8. Just add “s” when making a common noun plural. (Do not use an apostrophe!)
EX. I love cats and chocolate bars, but I do not love Mondays.

Commas
9. Use commas to separate three or more items in a series.
EX. My mom really loves coffee, chocolate, and cats.
EX. My mom really loves coffee and chocolate. (no comma with a list of only 2 things)
10. Use a comma to set off extra information that comes before the main sentence starts.
EX. Very fluffy and super soft, my kitty is absolutely irresistible!
EX. When students study for a test, they do much better on the exam.

11. Use a comma to set off an opening phrase from the main sentence.
EX. My cat just learned to talk recently. As a result, she yaps all day and all night.

12. Use a comma between equal adjectives. TEST to see if they’re equal: Does the word “and” or
“but” sound good in between them? If so, they are equal and need a comma in between them.
EX. TEST: My math teacher is a funny and creative guy. (Pass—use a comma.)
My math teacher is a funny, creative guy.
EX. TEST: Three and brown puppies yipped for their mama. (FAIL! Don’t use a comma.)
Three brown puppies yipped for their mama.

13. Use commas to separate a word or phrase that interrupts the main sentence. You can tell you need
the commas, as a matter of fact, because your voice drops as you say the phrase.
(added information that can be taken out without changing the meaning of the sentence)
EX. The truth, I think, is that you stole the cookie from the cookie jar.

14. In general, do not use a comma to separate extra info from the main sentence when it comes after
the main sentence. (The “main sentence” is the part that can stand alone as a complete thought.)
EX. RIGHT: Oliver mews every morning for his chicken.
EX. WRONG: Oliver mews every morning, for his chicken.

15. A FANBOYS conjunction + a comma is as strong as a period and can separate two complete
 thoughts from one another! F for A and N nor B but O or Y yet S so
EX. This is a complete thought. This is another complete thought. (2 complete thoughts)
EX. This is a complete thought, and this is another complete thought.

16. Comma Splice occurs when you put a comma between two complete sentences.
Commas are TOO WEAK to separate two complete thoughts by themselves!!

EX. RIGHT: Learning how to write well is important. It’s good to be able to express
yourself. (A semi-colon would work well here, too. ; A FANBOYS + comma works also.)

EX. WRONG: Learning how to write well is important, it’s good to be able to express
yourself.

End Marks [periods ~ question marks ~ exclamation points]

17. Question Mark: When you ask a question, use a question mark.
EX. Have you ever wondered why laughing feels so good?

Hyphen
18. Single-thought adjective: Use a hyphen between two descriptive words that have to be said
together in order for the description to make sense.
EX. A single-thought adjective is (coincidentally) a single-thought adjective!
EX. The old man complained that the business was just another fly-by-night establishment
that wouldn’t survive through the end of the year.

HINT: Ask yourself: “What kind of ‘establishment’ is it?” If the answer requires two or more words
used together, then it’s a single-thought adjective!

Indefinite Articles: “a” and “an”

19. Use “a” before words that start with a consonant sound.
EX. a dog, a unicorn (The “u” in “unicorn” sounds like a “y.”)

Use “an” before words that start with a vowel sound.

EX. an onion, an honor (The “h” in “honor” is silent, so it sounds like it starts with an “o.”)

Parallelism
20. All of the words in a list need to be in the same grammatical form.
(If they’re verbs, they need to be in the same tense. To oversimplify, they all need to end in –ing or –s or –ed.)

EX. WRONG: The cat ran around the house, meowed loudly, and is tearing up the
curtains.
EX. RIGHT: The can ran around the house, meowed loudly, and tore up the curtains.
(All three of the verbs in the RIGHT example are in the past tense.)

Pronoun–Antecedent Agreement [pronouns = I, you, he, she, it, they, we, etc.]
21. Choose a pronoun that accurately matches the original noun (antecedent).
EX. RIGHT: The women talked about family; they had many feelings to share.
EX. WRONG: The women talked about family; she had many feelings to share.

Subject-Verb Agreement
22. Plural subjects need to have plural forms of their verbs; singular subjects need to have singular
forms of their verbs.
EX. WRONG: The six cats meows in the night.
EX. RIGHT: The six cats meow in the night.

Usage
23. your vs. you’re:
a. “your” shows ownership: EX. Wipe your shoes.
b. “you’re” is the contraction of “you” + “are”: EX. You’re a really good friend.

24. to vs. too vs. two:

a. “to” is used before a verb or as a preposition:
EX. To make someone laugh is a gift that one friend gives to another.
b. “too” tells “how much?” or says “also”
EX. How cold are you? –Too cold. –Me, too.
c. “two” is the number 2.
EX. I ate two burritos for lunch.

25. they’re vs. there vs. their:

a. “they’re” is the contraction of “they” + “are”: EX. They’re really funny to hang around with.
b. “there” is a place or just an empty filler word: EX. Mom’s mad. There are going to be some
fireworks tonight at our house!
c. “their” shows ownership: EX. They decided it was time to paint their house.

26. where vs. were vs. we’re:

a. “where” is an adverb relating to place/position. EX. I know where you left you backpack.
a. “were” is the past tense of “are.” EX. You were really funny at dinner.
b. “we’re” is the contraction of “we” + “are”: EX. We’re going for pizza.

27. through vs. threw:

a. “through” shows something is moving from one point to another.
EX. The dog ran through the yard. EX. The student worked his way through the book.
b. “threw” is the past tense of the verb “to throw.” EX. The boy threw the ball for the dog.

28. way vs. weigh:

a. “way” is a route from one place to another. EX. I know the way to the store.
b. “weigh” refers to how heavy something is. EX. I need to weigh these grapes.

29. buy vs. by vs. bye:

a. “buy” is to purchase something. EX. I want to buy some chocolate.
b. “by” explains how something is done or by whom it’s written.
EX. I’ll solve that equation by simplifying the terms. EX. That novel is by John Steinbeck.
c. “bye” is what you say to someone when you’re leaving. EX. “Bye. See you later.”