Comma Rules
Multiple commas are used to separate items in this, meaning a list of things.
Series
Example: The four seasons are spring, summer, fall, and winter.
This letter is added after an apostrophe to make a singular word possessive.
The letter S
Example: cup -> cup’s
This punctuation mark is used to end a declarative sentence.
Period
Example: Tamara has a basketball game on Saturday.
This vocabulary word means “near” or “next to.”
Adjacent
Example: The grocery store is adjacent to Walgreens.
This vocabulary word completes the following sentence:
Even though the mistake was a ___ one, the teacher took off five points.
Word Bank: barren, trivial, humdrum
Trivial
Even though the mistake was a trivial one, the teacher took off five points.
Trivial means not important, minor.
Commas are used to separate two of these, words that describe nouns.
Adjectives
Example: This exciting, educational game is brought to you by Mr. Ivey.
An apostrophe is used to form this, meaning a word created by combining two or more other words.
Contraction
Example: do not → don’t
An exclamation point is used to end a sentence containing an excessive amount of this.
Emotion / Feeling
Example: My thirteenth birthday is just around the corner!
This vocabulary word means “to flow by drops.”
trickle
Example: During the drought, water barely trickled from the pump.
This vocabulary word completes the following sentence:
After we ___ the rusty wagon, it looked as if it had never been used.
Word Bank: alighted, disrupted, interrogated, renovated, recompensed
Renovate
After we renovated the rusty wagon, it looked as if it had never been used.
Renovate means to repair or restore to good condition.
Commas are used after this type of phrase, which is always found at the beginning of a sentence.
Introductory
Example: During the storm, the wind howled ferociously.
If a plural word already ends in s, we only add this to the end of it to make it possessive.
Apostrophe
Example: papers → papers’
This punctuation mark is used to end an interrogative sentence.
Question Mark
Example: Where did the pilgrims first settle in America?
This accented vocabulary word means a summary of a person’s job experience.
résumé
Example: Before looking for a new job, Bridget updated her résumé.
This vocabulary word completes the following sentence:
The bird, angry that his baby had been eaten by a snake, sat in his nest, ___ and silent.
Sullen
The bird, angry that his baby had been eaten by a snake, sat in his nest, sullen and silent.
Sullen means silent or brooding because of anger or resentment.
A comma usually comes before this type of word, which can be remembered using FANBOYS.
Coordinating conjunction
example: We celebrated Mr. Harrison’s birthday, for he's a jolly good fellow.
This word is the plural, possessive form of the word snowflake.
(You must spell the word or write it down.)
snowflakes’
snowflake → snowflakes → snowflakes’
An imperative sentence is a sentence that does this.
Commands / Requests
Example: Make sure to have your notes for the test.
The word “recompense” means to do this.
pay back
Example: My sister finally recompensed me for paying for her lunch.
This vocabulary word completes the following sentence:
A famous event during World War I was the Christmas ___, a pause in the fighting that occurred on Christmas day.
Truce
A famous event during World War I was the Christmas truce, a lull in the fighting that occurred on Christmas day.
A truce is a pause in fighting (a temporary peace).
A comma never separates a state from this five-digit number.
Zip code
Example: Mr. Ivey grew up in Brentwood, Tennessee 37027.
This word is the plural, possessive form of the word woman.
(You must spell the word or write it down.)
women’s
woman → women → women’s
A second of these punctuation mark should not be used to end a sentence that already ends in an abbreviation.
Period
Example: The population of Rome swelled in 1 A.D.
If something is described as “interminable,” it means it does not have this.
an end
Example: The wait for Ms. Cowan to grade our science tests seemed interminable.
This vocabulary word completes the following sentence:
The Svalbard Global Seed vault collects seeds from all types of plants in hopes they will ___ after a global catastrophe.
Germinate
The Svalbard Global Seed vault collects seeds from all types of plants in hopes they will germinate after a global catastrophe.
Germinate means to begin to grow.