Capitals for Proper Nouns

 Capitalize all proper nouns.

Ex . Makati Avenue, Dusit Hotel, Boracay, North America, Rowena Reyes,Istanbul

 Capitalize names of specific events and times.

ex. Asean Summit, World War II, Ramadan, Easter, Thanksgiving Day

 Capitalize the names of various organizations, government bodies, political. parties,

nationalities and languages.

Ex . Rotary Club, Red Cross, Republican Party, Liberal Party, British, Mandarin, Spanish, Latin

 Capitalize references to religions, deities, and religious scriptures.

Ex . Islam, Christianity, Buddha, Allah, Koran, Bible, Revelation, Genesis

Capitals for Proper Adjectives

 Capitalize most proper adjectives.

ex. Korean people, Thai culture, Mexican foods, Paris fashions, Spanish epoch, Nicaraguan accent

Capitals for Titles

 Capitalize a person‘s title when it is followed by the person‘s name or used indirect
address.

Ex. Atty. Jun Yanilla, Miss Edna Ravida, Admiral John Tan, Reverend Tim Chua

 Capitalize all important words in compound titles but do not capitalize prefixes and
suffixes added to the titles.

Ex. Commander-in-Chief , Vice President, ex – Senator Salonga

 Capitalize titles showing family relationships when they refer to specific person, unless
they are preceded by a possessive noun or pronoun.

Ex. Yesterday, Uncle Ben was so happy.

Did Sister Beth arrive on time?

Our aunt forgot her keys.

Tanya‘s grandmother once played the violin.

 Capitalize abbreviations of titles before and after names.

Ex. before names: Mr., Ms., Mrs., Rev., Gen. after names: Sr., Jr., Ph.D.

 Capitalize the first word and all other key words in titles of books, periodicals, poems,
stories, plays, paintings, and other work of arts. All words in a title should be capitalized
except articles, prepositions , and conjunctions fewer than five letters. These words are
capitalized only when they are the first word of the title.

Ex. The Pretenders, Romeo and Juliet, On the Road to Recovery, The Lives of the Caesars

Capitals for Sentences

 Capitalize the first word in declarative, imperative, interrogative, and exclamatory

sentences.

Ex. Our company will raise the salary of regular workers,

Have you file your report?

Bring the raw materials.

What an amazing journey!

 Capitalize the first word in a quotation if it is a complete sentence.

e.g. She said, ―The children are exhausted.”

―My nephew works in Japan,” she said.

COLON AND ITS USES:

1. To introduce an item or a series of item

Ex. I need an assistant who can do the following: input data, write reports, and complete tax forms.

Jane wants the following ingredients: butter, sugar and flour.

All of Mr. Samontes sons are involved in arts: Richard is a sculptor, Anthony is a pianist , and John is a
theatre director.

2. Before a long or formal direct quotations

Ex. She kept repeating: ―I really want that car!!”

My father every conversation the same way: ―Don‘t give up!”

3. To introduce a word, phrase, or clause that acts as an appositive

Ex. I know a perfect job for her: a politician.

Her goal in life is simple: to raise a happy family.

Bea‘s obsession has been replaced with a new one: collecting old coins.

4. After the greeting in a business letter or memo

Ex. Dear Senator Allan peter Cayetano:

Gentlemen:

The Board of Directors:

Practice Exercise

Place a colon in the given passages.

1. Mix oil and vinegar at 3 1 ratio.

2. Attention Union Members

3. I have found the perfect food chocolate!

4. The boss has many good traits friendly, outgoing, and fair.

5. The soldiers shouted the following before leaving to war ―We shall return victorious.‖

6. My classmate is guilty of the two seven deadly sins gluttony and laziness.

7. The poem closes with a question ―If winter comes, can spring be far behind?‖

8. You must bring the items on the camp out sleeping bags, warm clothing, and good hiking shoes.

9. Have you read Exodus 9 11-19?

10. He got what he deserved a praise from his boss.

SEMICOLON AND ITS USES:

1. To combine two related sentences (independent clauses) which are not joined by coordinating
conjunctions.

ex. Exercising helps you to keep healthy and fit; proper nutrition is also important.

I don‘t have a time to practice badminton; my school work is too demanding.

The waves were crashing on the shore; it was a lovely sight.

2. To separate complete sentences (independent clauses) that are joined by conjunctive adverbs

Ex. Jane likes fruits; however, she does not like apples.

Jeremy kept talking in class; therefore, he got into trouble.

I like you a lot; in fact, we can become friends.

3. To separate items when commas alone would be confusing

Ex. Homemade salad requires several basic ingredients; fresh and dried herbs such as salt and pepper;
fresh and dried herbs such as parsley, dill, thyme, oregano, and basil, which are readily available in
supermarkets;vinegar or citrus fruits, depending on your fruit preference; and a good quality oil.

The company hired three new employees: Anton, who was 42 years old; Amarah, who was 35 years old;
and Jonas, who was 23 years old.

QUOTATION MARKS AND ITS USES:

1. To quote exact words from spoken or written language.

Ex. She said, “Come home.”

Aileen said, “The neophyte writer submits his editorials ahead of time.

“This is a new car, Jeff explained.

2. To show titles. The titles can be short stories, poems, articles, chapters, etc.

Ex. Did you read the article “Building Vocabulary”?

The first chapter in the book is “The Tall Tree.”

My favourite poem by Emily Dickinson is “There Is Another Sky.”

3. To show that a word or phrase is used in an unusual way.

Ex. Her “farewell present” was a slammed door.

What does this “expert “claim?

He could “see” my thoughts.

4. To show that a word is used as a word, or tahta letter is used as a letter.

Ex. Look up the word “loquacious” in the dictionary.

“Face” comes from Latin.

Add “s” to this word.

Practice Exercise
Place quotation marks in the given passages.

1. She did not understand the word epoch.

2. To get the past form, add ed to the regular verbs.

3. She shared her wisdom to me.

4. The student said, Is it applicable?

5. The workers said, We demand an increase in our wages.

6. Do you have a summary of Romeo and Juliet?

7. Let us read Why Women Wash the Dishes.

8. Rewrite g in its cursive form.

9. You should pay her with your endless love.

10. Mother requested us, Please sleep on time.

ELLIPSIS AND ITS USES

1. Use an ellipsis when omitting a word, phrase, line, paragraph or more from a quoted passage.

ex. Full quotation: “Today, after hours of careful thought, we vetoed the bill.”

With ellipsis: “Today…we vetoed the bill.”

Full quotation: “The best way to be healthy, according to the most prestigious doctors at the University of
Pennsylvania School of Medicine, is to eat right, exercise, and get plenty of sleep.”

With ellipsis: “The best way to be healthy…is to eat right, exercise, and get plenty of sleep.”

2. To express hesitation, changes of mood, suspense or thoughts trailing off.

Ex. I don‘t know… I‘m not sure.

Pride is one thing, but what happens if she…?

HYPHEN AND ITS USES

1. Use hyphen to join two words or parts of words together while avoiding confusion or
ambiguity.

Ex. run-down up-to-date off-campus well-being

2. Use hyphen in compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine.

Ex. fifty-one eighty-nine twenty-six

3. In written fractions place hyphen between the numerator and denominator.

Ex. two-fifths one-third three-tenths

4. Use a hyphen when a number forms part of an adjectival compound.

ex. 35-hour working week ,100-meter sprint, Nineteenth-century novelist

Practice exercise
Place hyphen in the given passages.

1. My mother in law is coming for a visit.

2. Does this come with moneyback guarantee?

3. We need the help of your ex wife on this matter.

4. Twenty two pieces of puzzle were missing.

5. I need the two thirds vote of the majority.

DASH AND ITS USES

1. To indicate an abrupt change of thought

e.g. The movie involves three couple ---but you probably don‘t want to hear the whole plot.

2. To set off interrupting ideas dramatically

e.g. The star---if you can call her that---will begin shooting new TV movie soon.

3. To sett off a summary statement

e.g. It was spin off of the number one comedy---this was all the critics needed

to know to predict success