P3 and P4

The Semicolon

100

This is used to connect major sentence elements of equal grammatical rank.

What is the semicolon.

200

"In 1800, a traveler needed six weeks to get from New York City to Chicago, in 1860, the trip by railroad took as little as two days."

What is "In 1800, a traveler needed six weeks to get from New York City to Chicago; in 1860, the trip by railroad took as little as two days."

300

"Many corals grow very gradually, in fact, the creation of a coral reef can take centuries."

What is "Many corals grow very gradually; in fact, the creation of a coral reef can take centuries."

400

"Some of my favorite celebrities have their own blogs; Lindsay Lohan, Rosie O'Donnell, and Zach Braff."

What is "Some of my favorite celebrities have their own blogs: Lindsay Lohan, Rosie O'Donnell, and Zach Braff."

500

This is a common misuse of the semicolon.

What is "Between a subordinate clause and the rest of the sentence," "Between an appositive and the word it refers to," "To introduce a list," or "Between independent clauses joined by and, but, or, nor, for, so, or yet."

The Colon

100

This is used after an independent clause to direct attention to a list, an appositive, a quotation, or a summary or an explanation.

What is a colon.

200

"My roommate is guilty of two of the seven deadly sins, gluttony and sloth."

What is "My roommate is guilty of two of the seven deadly sins: gluttony and sloth."

300

"5.30 p.m."

What is "5:30 p.m."

400

This is a common misuse of the colon.

What is "Between a verb and its object or complement," "Between a preposition and its object," or "After such as, including, or for example."

500

The MLA recommends this instead of a colon when citing Bible verses.

What is a period. Example: Luke 2.14

Possessives

100

This is used to indicate that a noun or an indefinite pronoun is possessive.

What is an apostrophe.

200

"Both diplomat's briefcases were searched by guards."

What is "Both diplomats briefcases were searched by guards."

300

"Have you seen Joyce's and Greg's new camper?"

What is "Have you seen Joyce and Greg's new camper?"

400

"My father-in-laws memoir is about his childhood in Sri Lanka was published in October."

What is "My father-in-law's memoir is about his childhood in Sri Lanka was published in October."

500

"Someones raincoat has been left behind."

What is "Someone's raincoat has been left behind."

P4-b and P4-c

100

This marks omissions in contractions and numbers.

What is an apostrophe.

200

"It's a shame that Frank cant go on the tour."

What is "It's a shame that Frank can't go on the tour."

300

You should not use an apostrophe in the plural of any numbers, including this.

What are decades.

400

"Harriet has thirty DVD's on her desk."

What is "Harriet has thirty DVDs on her desk."

500

"Marco earned two PhD's before his thirtieth birthday."

What is "Marco earned two PhDs before his thirtieth birthday."

Common Misuses of the Apostrophe

100

This is a common misuse of the apostrophe.

What is "With nouns that are not possessive," or "In the possessive pronouns its, whose, his, hers, ours, yours, and theirs."

200

This is the definition of "it's."

What is "it is."

300

"Each area has it's own conference room."

What is "Each area has its own conference room."

400

This is the definition of "who's."

What is "who is."

500

Whose is the possessive form of this pronoun.

What is "who."