Punctuation
This mark is used to separate three or more items in a list.
Comma
You should always capitalize these specific names of people, places, or brands.
Proper Nouns
In the sentence "The cat slowly walked," this part of speech describes how the action was done.
Adverb
This is a group of words that is missing either a subject or a verb and does not express a complete thought.
Sentence Fragment
This is the main character of a story, often considered the "hero."
Protagonist
This mark is used to create a contraction (like don't) or to show that something belongs to someone.
Apostrophe
When writing the title of a long book or a movie, you should use this style of slanted text.
Italics
These words—like in, on, at, and under—show the relationship between a noun and another part of the sentence.
Prepositions
This type of sentence is made by joining two independent clauses with a comma and a conjunction (FANBOYS).
Compound Sentence
This is the "bad guy" or the force that works against the main character.
Antagonist
This mark is used to join two independent clauses that are closely related without using a conjunction.
Semicolon
When writing dialogue, the comma should be placed here in relation to the closing quotation marks.
Inside the quotation marks
This is the term for a word that replaces a noun, such as him, her, it, or them.
Pronoun
This is an error where two complete sentences are joined together with only a comma and no conjunction.
Comma Splice
This is a hint or a "clue" dropped by the author about what might happen later in the story.
Foreshadowing
This punctuation mark is used to introduce a list or provide a long explanation after an independent clause.
Colon
You should capitalize a direction (like "the South") only when it refers to this, rather than just a compass point.
A specific region
In the sentence "He gave the book to Sarah," the word "book" is this—the thing receiving the action.
Direct Object
This type of sentence contains one independent clause and at least one dependent clause (usually starting with because, if, or since).
Complex Sentence
This is a reference within a book to another famous person, place, event, or piece of literature.
Allusion
This long horizontal mark is used to set off a parenthetical thought or add sudden emphasis to the end of a sentence.
Em-dash
According to most style guides, you should write out numbers as words rather than digits up to this number.
Nine (or Ten)
This is the term for a verb form that ends in "-ing" and functions as a noun (e.g., "Running is fun").
Gerund
This is the "voice" of a sentence where the subject is being acted upon rather than doing the action (e.g., "The ball was kicked").
Passive Voice
This happens when the outcome of a situation is the exact opposite of what the characters or audience expected.
Situational Irony