Rules of Capitalization, Possessives, and Plurals in English Writing
CAPITALIZATION
Capitalize mom, dad, grandpa, aunt, etc. only in a direct address or if it’s
used as a title.
–
Dad, Grandma Hepler likes it, but my mom and my Aunt Sally do
not.
Capitalize only courses with numbers or that are languages.
–
I have Algebra 2, French, and social studies, but not gym.
Capitalize the points of a compass only when referring to a region, not a
direction.
–
Ed is from the South, from the northeast section of the city.
Capitalize all important words in a title (not articles, preps, or conjunctions
unless they are the first or last words).
–
Three of my favorite books are And Then There Were None, Into the
Wild, and Of Mice and Men.
POSSESSIVES
If the word is singular –add ‘s
regardless of how it ends.
If the words is plural and end is s –simply add ‘.
If the word is plural and doesn’t end in s (called irregulars) –add ‘s.
When making a compound possessive @ once, you only need to make the
last possessive.
Plurals –elementary school
•
*To form the plural of most nouns, just add “s”
•
*When a singular noun
ends in s, sh, ch, x, or z
, you add “es”.
•
*When the singular noun
ends in consonant –y
, you change the y to “i”
and add “ies”. When it’s
vowel -y
, just add “s”.
•
*When a singular noun
ends in o
, you add “s” or “es”.
•
*For
most
nouns
ending in f or fe
, change the f to “v” and add “s” or
“es”.
•
Of course there are always words that follow no pattern. We refer to
these as
irregulars
.
PLURALS –grade level
•
To form the plural of a
compound noun written as one word
, change
the last word in the compound to its plural form. Otherwise change
the most important word to the plural form.
•
For some unique Latin words, they follow a traditional Latin pattern.
If a Latin word
ends in a
, change it to “ae”. If a word
ends in us
,
change it to i.
•
A lesser known rule is that apostrophes can pluralize non-words -
“Non-words” refers to letters, numbers, symbols, and words that
need help to pluralize.
Ex.
snowman
becomes
snow
men
brother-in-law
becomes
brothers
-in-law
Ex.
alumnus
becomes
alumni
fungus
becomes
fungi
Ex.
She earned three
A’s
and two
B’s
on her report card.
I have no
5’s
in my phone number, but I do have a couple
2’
s.
I get tired of seeing
&’s
used in place of the word and.
No
if’s, and’s, or but’s
about it, I am going to win!
***
In the ultra rare case, if I need to make one of these plurals possessive, still only use one apostrophe.
Ex.
The two
‘s circumferences were a total of 3.5 feet.
PLURALS –grade level examples
#9 essential knowledge
•
While the world will not end if you incorrectly
capitalize algebra, you must know how to
pluralize and make words possessive –knowing
the difference between baby, babies, baby’s, and
babies’.
#9 Background Understanding
#9 Transfer to writing (context)
Timmy asked his Mom for a few dollars to go buy
Tuesdays With Morrie
since he loves all of Mitch Albom’s books.
The loafs of bread were almost done baking. We will take all dozen to
the childrens’ orphanage for their food drive. We plan on donating
about five boxen of non-perishables as well.
Learn the rules of capitalization, possessives, and plurals in English writing. Understand when to capitalize words like mom or dad, how to form possessives correctly, and how to pluralize nouns following specific patterns. Explore examples and guidelines for improving your English language skills.
Download Presentation
Please find below an Image/Link to download the presentation.
The content on the website is provided AS IS for your information and personal use only. It may not be sold, licensed, or shared on other websites without obtaining consent from the author. Download presentation by click this link. If you encounter any issues during the download, it is possible that the publisher has removed the file from their server.
E N D
Presentation Transcript
CAPITALIZATION Capitalize mom, dad, grandpa, aunt, etc. only in a direct address or if it s used as a title. Dad, Grandma Hepler likes it, but my mom and my Aunt Sally do not. Capitalize only courses with numbers or that are languages. I have Algebra 2, French, and social studies, but not gym. Capitalize the points of a compass only when referring to a region, not a direction. Ed is from the South, from the northeast section of the city. Capitalize all important words in a title (not articles, preps, or conjunctions unless they are the first or last words). Three of my favorite books are And Then There Were None, Into the Wild, and Of Mice and Men.
POSSESSIVES If the word is singular add s regardless of how it ends. If the words is plural and end is s simply add . If the word is plural and doesn t end in s (called irregulars) add s. When making a compound possessive @ once, you only need to make the last possessive.
Plurals elementary school *To form the plural of most nouns, just add s *When a singular noun ends in s, sh, ch, x, or z, you add es . *When the singular noun ends in consonant y, you change the y to i and add ies . When it s vowel -y, just add s . *When a singular noun ends in o, you add s or es . *For most nouns ending in f or fe, change the f to v and add s or es . Of course there are always words that follow no pattern. We refer to these as irregulars.
PLURALS grade level To form the plural of a compound noun written as one word, change the last word in the compound to its plural form. Otherwise change the most important word to the plural form. For some unique Latin words, they follow a traditional Latin pattern. If a Latin word ends in a, change it to ae . If a word ends in us, change it to i. A lesser known rule is that apostrophes can pluralize non-words - Non-words refers to letters, numbers, symbols, and words that need help to pluralize.
PLURALS grade level examples Ex. snowman becomes snowmen brother-in-law becomes brothers-in-law Ex. alumnus becomes alumni fungus becomes fungi Ex. She earned three A s and two B s on her report card. I have no 5 s in my phone number, but I do have a couple 2 s. I get tired of seeing & s used in place of the word and. No if s, and s, or but s about it, I am going to win! ***In the ultra rare case, if I need to make one of these plurals possessive, still only use one apostrophe. Ex. The two s circumferences were a total of 3.5 feet.
#9 essential knowledge While the world will not end if you incorrectly capitalize algebra, you must know how to pluralize and make words possessive knowing the difference between baby, babies, baby s, and babies .
#9 Background Understanding Singular noun Plural noun Singular possessive Plural possessive Pickle Dish Sandwich Strawberry Toy $ snowman *buffalo *chief
#9 Transfer to writing (context) Timmy asked his Mom for a few dollars to go buy Tuesdays With Morrie since he loves all of Mitch Albom s books. The loafs of bread were almost done baking. We will take all dozen to the childrens orphanage for their food drive. We plan on donating about five boxen of non-perishables as well.
Singular noun Plural noun Singular possessive Plural possessive Activity 7 Alumna (Latin) Alumnus (Latin) Attorney General Spirit Day Glass* Pistachio* Daisy Toothpaste* Church Venom* Goose* Mouse (as in computer) Thief* Staff*
Singular noun Plural noun Singular possessive Plural possessive Activity Activities Activity s Activities 7 7 s 7 s 7 s Alumna (Latin) Alumnae Alumna s Alumnae s Alumnus (Latin) Alumni Alumnus s Alumni s Attorney General Attorneys general Attorney General s Attorneys general s Spirit Day Spirit days Spirit Day s Spirit dayss Glass* Glass (plates) or glasses (cups) Glass s Glass s (plates) or glasses (cups) Pistachio* Pistachios Pistachio s Pistachios Daisy Daisies Daisy s Daisies Toothpaste* Toothpaste or toothpastes Toothpaste s Toothpaste s or toothpastes Church Churches Church s Churches Scarf* Scarves Scarf s Scarves Goose* Geese Goose s Geese s Mouse (as in computer) Mouses Mouse s Mouses Thief* Thieves Thief s Thieves Spoof* Spoofs Spoof s Spoofs
Singular noun Plural noun Singular possessive Plural possessive Cherry Box Deer* Father-in-law Value meal Sport Basketball hoop Trio* Domino* Tooth* Foot* Class Phone Butterfly Formula (Latin) @
Singular noun Plural noun Singular possessive Plural possessive Cherry Cherries Cherry s Cherries Box Boxes Box s Boxes Deer* Deer Deer s Deer s Father-in-law Fathers-in-law Father-in-law s Fathers-in-law s Value meal Value meals Value meal s Value meals Sport Sports Sport s Sports Basketball hoop Basketball hoops Basketball hoop s Basketball hoops Trio* Trios Trio s Trios Domino* Dominos or dominoes Domino s Dominos or dominoes Tooth* Teeth Tooth s Teeth s Foot* Feet Foot s Feet s Class Classes Class s Classes Phone Phones Phone s Phones Butterfly Butterflies Butterfly s Butterflies Formula (Latin) Formulae Formula s Formulae s @ @ s @ s @ s
