Mechanics: Punctuation, Spelling and Capitalization

Punctuation marks
. ? ! : ; - __

() [] … ’ “” / ,

PUNCTUATION MARKS EXERCISE

Put in semicolons, colons, dashes, quotation marks, italics, and parentheses wherever they are
needed in the following sentences.

1. The men in question Harold Keene Jim Peterson and Gerald Greene deserve awards

2. Several countries participated in the airlift Italy Belgium France and Luxembourg

3. Judge Carswell later to be nominated for the Supreme Court had ruled against civil rights.

4. Yes Jim said I'll be home by ten.

5. There was only one thing to do study till dawn.

6. Montaigne wrote the following a wise man never loses anything if he has himself.

7. The following are the primary colors red blue and yellow.

8. Arriving on the 8 10 plane were Liz Brooks my old roommate her husband and Tim their son.

9. When the teacher commented that her spelling was poor Lynn replied all the members of my family
are poor spellers why not me

10. He used the phrase you know so often that I finally said no I don't know.

11. The automobile dealer handled three makes of cars Volkswagens Porsches and Mercedes Benz.

12. In baseball a show boat is a man who shows off.

13. The minister quoted Isaiah 5 21 in last Sunday's sermon.

14. Whoever is elected secretary of the club Ashley or Chandra or Aisha must be prepared to do a great
deal of work said Jumita the previous secretary.

15. Darwin's On the Origin of Species 1859 caused a great controversy when it appeared.

Spelling

Words that sound alike but have different meanings.

A careful writer should double-check their use.

Affect (verb: to exert an influence)
Effect (verb: to accomplish; noun: result)
Its (possessive pronoun: of or belonging to it)
It’s (contraction of it is or it has)
Loose (adjective: free, not securely attached)
Lose (verb: to fail to keep, to be deprived of)
Principal (adj: most important; noun: head of a
school)
Principle (noun: a fundamental guideline or truth) Extent (level, amount)
Their (possessive pronoun: belonging to them)
They’re (contraction of they are)
There (adverb: that place or position)
Who’s (contraction of who is or who has)
Whose (possessive form of who)
Your (possessive pronoun: belonging to you)
You’re (contraction of you are)
Extend (spread, prolong)
Advise (verb)
Advice (noun)

Capitalization
PROPER NOUNS COMMON NOUNS
God (used as a name) a god
Book of Common Prayer a sacred book
Uncle Pedro my uncle
Father (used as a name) my father
Lake Superior a picturesque lake
The Capital Center a center for advanced studies
The South a southern state
Wrigley Field a baseball stadium
University of Wisconsin a state university
Geology 101 geology
the Democratic Party a political party
the Enlightenment the eighteenth century
Advil a painkiller

Months, holidays, and days of the week are treated as proper nouns; the seasons and numbers of the
days of the month are not.

Our academic year begins on a Tuesday in early September, right after Labor Day.
Graduation is in late spring, on the second of June.
Capitalize titles of persons when used as part of a proper name but usually not when used alone.
Professor Margaret Barnes; Dr. Sinyee Sein; John Scott Williams Jr. District Attorney Marshall was
reprimanded for badgering the witness.

The district attorney was elected for a two-year term. Usage varies when the title of an important public
figure is used alone: The president [or President] vetoed the bill.

‘I’ is always capitalized.

 WORD FORMS AND PARTS OF SPEECH
COMMON NOUN ENDINGS ENDINGS FOR NOUNS COMMON VERB
THAT REFER TO ENDINGS
PERSONS
-tion -ery recovery -er explorer -ize realize
information - ship -or sailor -en shorten
-sion provision scholarship -ist psychologist- er discover
-ence existence - tude multitude -ent student -ify satisfy
-ance - ism capitalism -ee employee - ate
acceptance -cracy -ic comic incorporate
-ity creativity democracy - ian technician
-hood childhood -logy biology -ant attendant
-dom wisdom -ness happiness
-th health -ment
-age marriage experiment
COMMON ADJECTIVE ENDINGS
-ate moderate -ial remedial -ory sensory
- ous dangerous -able comfortable - less hopeless
- al normal -ible responsible - ive competitive
-y sunny - ish foolish -ly friendly
-ic economic -ant resistant -ful colorful
-ical logical -ent different -ile sterile
ADVERB ENDINGS
-ly quickly -ally historically

Verb Noun Adjective Adverb

1 differ difference different differently
2 compete
3 deeply
4 decision
5 beautify
6 prohibit
7 emphatic
8 glory
9 general
10 simply
11 purely
12 free

Field Person Adjective

1 music musician musical
2 Surgeon
3 Poetic
4 Financial
5 Photographer
6 Theory
7 Athletic
8 Grammar
9 Philosopher
10 Criminal
11 Political
12 Lawyer
Identify and correct one mistake in each sentence.

1. Crows and Ravens are members of a family of birds that includes exact 100

species.

2. The Black Hills of South Dakota are covered with densely pine forests.

3. Scientists differ in their opinions of how snow crystals origin.

4. Wild plants were of considerable important to early settlers and used

medicinally and as foods.

5. One essential branch of linguistics is semantics, which analysis the meaning of

words.

6. Some games rely mainly on skill and practice while others primarily involve

lucky.

7. To make candles, pioneers twisted strings, put them in hot fat and hung them to

cool and hard.

8. A chemical react that absorbs heat is called endothermic.

9. A dog should be checked regularly by a veterinarian to ensure that it remains

in good healthy.

10. Hunting and fishing techniques were highly developed among the North

American Indians, particularly in regions where agriculture was less success.

WORD CHOICE
1. Write make or do before each expression
_______an attempt ________research ______a plan ________a mistake
____an experiment ________a choice ________one’s work ______damage
(to)
_________ your best ____ an assignment _____a comparison _______a promise
_________a favor _____a suggestion __________harm to _______a decision
______a difference ________wrong ________an offer ____business (with)

2. Other or another?
Another means “one more, an additional one.” It can be used before singular nouns
or alone. E.g.: He needs another piece of paper.
Other is used before a plural noun. Other is also used before a singular noun when
preceded by a determiner such as the, some, any, one, no and so on.
E.g.: There are other matters I’d like to discuss with you.

2a. Write other or another

a. I have one class in building 32, and ______________ in building 17.
b. One of the books was a novel; the ______________ was a collection of essays.
c. There is no______________ place I’d rather visit.
d. An understudy is an actor who can substitute for ____________ actor in case of
an emergency.
e. Willa Carter is known for My Antonia and _____________ novels.

3. Other word choice problems

a) Among/ between:
Among: 3 or more entities – The prize was divided among many contestants.
Between: 2 entities– Choose between carrots and beans.

b) Raise/ Rise:
Raise: Transitive verb meaning to move or cause to move upward – I raised the
shades.
Rise: Intransitive verb meaning to go up – The sun rises in the morning.
c) Relation/ relationship:
Relation: Connection between things- There is a relation between poverty and infant
mortality.
Relationship: Connection between people – John’s relationship with his father has
improved over years.

d) Anyway/ anyways:
Anyway: Standard
Anyways: Nonstandard

e) After or afterwards as an adverb

We can use after as an adverb, but afterwards is more common. When after is used,
it is usually as part of an adverb phrase:

They lived happily ever after. (means ‘forever’)

 She had an operation on her leg and afterwards was unable to walk for at least a
month.

f) Most / Almost:
Most: Adjective meaning a large percent (80 – 99%)
Almost: Adverb meaning how close / nearly

g) Some / Somewhat:
Some: determiner meaning either unknown amount, large amount or particular thing.
Somewhat: adverb meaning to some degree.

4) Choose the most appropriate word to complete the sentence.

1. In 1941 nylon was first used to make stockings, and the year (ago/ before), it
was first used to make toothbrush bristles.
2. The Missouri River is about (double/ twice) as long as the Colorado River.
3. Catherine Esther Beecher established schools in Connecticut and Ohio, and
(afterwards/ after) founded the American Women’s Educational
Association.
4. (Most/ Almost) antibiotics are antibacterial agents, but some are effective
against fungal infections.
5. At eight weeks of (age/ old), red foxes begin to get their adult markings.
6. Chuck Berry was one of the (soonest/ earliest) and most influential
performers of rock music.
7. Apricots are (some/ somewhat) smaller than peaches.
8. Huge radio telescopes aimed into space may someday (say/ tell) us
whether intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe.
9. When the Hopi Indians perform the Snake Dance, the dancers handle
(alive/ live) rattlesnakes.
10. Giraffes hardly (ever/ never) sleep more than twenty minutes at a time.

Parallelism

Parallel structures have the same grammatical form and function. Look at the following sentences:

a) She spends her leisure time playing cards, reading, and bicycling.

b) Henry changed the oil, checked the tire pressure, and filled the tank with gas.

c) Amy plans to study literature or major in languages.

If two or more ideas are parallel, they are easier to grasp when expressed in parallel grammatical form.

Single words should be balanced with single words, phrases with phrases, clauses with clauses.

a) In matters of principle, stand like a rock; in matters of taste, swim with the current.

b) Children who study music also learn confidence, discipline, and creativity.

*Writers often use parallelism to create emphasis.

2. Identify errors involving parallelism.

2a) If the underline form is parallel to other forms in the sentence, mark the sentence C. If it is not

parallel, mark the sentence X and correct it.

a) Steel is alloyed with manganese to increase its strength, hardness, and resistance to wear.

b) The type of plant and animal life living in and around a pond depends on the soil of the

pond, what the quality of the water is, and the pond’s location.

c) Philosophers are concerned with questions about nature, human behavior and society.

d) Electricity is used to light, hot, and cool buildings.

e) Major sources of noise pollution include automobiles and other vehicles, industrial plants,

and heavy construction equipment.

2b) Identify the incorrect parallel forms or complete the sentence.

a) Eggs may be boiling in the shell, scrambled, fried, and cooked in countless other ways.

b) Modern motorcycles are lighter, faster, and specialized than motorcycles of 25 years ago.

c) Computers are often used to control, adjustment, and correct complex industrial operations.

d) Frozen orange juice must be packed, ______________, and stored when the fruit is ripe.

(be frozen / must be frozen / frozen / it must be frozen)

e) The use of labor-saving devices at home, _____________, and in factories added to the

amount of leisure time people had.

(the office/ used in offices/ offices / in offices)

f) Throughout history, trade routes have increased contact between people, ____________,
 and greatly affected the growth of civilization.

(have resulted in an exchange of ideas / an exchange of ideas has resulted/

resulted in an exchange of ideas/ resulting in an exchange of ideas)

Subject –verb agreement

1. Identify and correct the mistake in each sentence
a) Personal taxes for Americans rose sharply since 1945.
b) Dextrose does not taste as sweet as sugar is.
c) Bowling, one of the most popular indoor sports, are played all over the United
States and in other countries.

2. Choose the form that correctly completes each sentence.

a) Ethics (is/are) the study of moral duties, principles and values.
b) The first bridge to be built with electric lights (was/ were) the Brooklyn Bridge.
c) The battery, along with the alternator and the starter, (make/ makes) up the electrical
system of a car.
d) Each one of the Ice Ages (was/ were) more than a million years long.
e) Everybody (has/have) to be here on time.
f) The samples on the tray in the lab (need/ needs) testing.
g) High levels of air pollution (causes / cause) damage to the respiratory tract.
h) Each tree, shrub, and vine (need/needs) to be sprayed.
i) Every car, truck, and van (is/are required to pass inspection.

WORD ORDER

Error identification

1. During pioneer times, the Allegheny Mountains were a barrier major to

transportation.
2. An umbra is a shadow’s darkest central part where is light totally excluded.
3. In Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute, there is a working model of a human heart
enough large for visitors to walk through.
4. Mutualism is a relationship between animal species in which benefit both.
5. Sloths are moving slow, shaggy mammals that are often seen hanging
upside down from tree limbs.
6. A fully grown male mountain lion may be eight long feet.

Sentence completion

1. Hills known as land islands, or salt domes, are _______________ Louisiana’s

marshlands.
a) extremely interesting features of
b) of extremely interesting features
c) interesting extremely features of
d) extremely interesting of features

2. ________________ of chamber music is the string quartet.

a) The famous most form
b) The most famous form
c) The form most famous
d) Most the form famous

3. Not until the seventeenth century ________________ to measure the speed of

light.
a) did anyone even attempt
b) anyone did even attempt
c) did anyone attempt even
d) did even anyone attempt

4. The Franklin stove, which became common in the 1790s. burned

wood_________ an open fire.
a) efficiently much more than
b) much more efficiently than
c) much more than efficiently
d) more efficiently much than