8th Grade DOL Notes: Week 4
Spelling
1. Common words: request, discharges, proclaimed, prehistoric, explain
Capitalization
1. Proper nouns are always capitalized: days and holidays.
2. Always capitalized the abbreviations A.M. and P.M.
Punctuation
End Marks
1. An exclamation point follows an exclamatory sentence.
Commas
1. Use a comma after introductory material.
2. Use a comma after a name or word of direct address.
3. Place a comma before a coordinating conjunction. (and, but, or, nor, for, yet)
4. Use commas to set off an appositive.
Quotation Marks
1. Question marks and exclamation points go inside the quotation marks when they are punctuating the words being said directly.
Colons
1. A colon separates hours from minutes.
Semicolons
1. A semicolon comes before a conjunctive adverb when the conjunctive adverb separates two independent clauses. A comma will follow the conjunctive adverb.
Apostrophe
1. An apostrophe is used to show possession with nouns. Add an apostrophe then an s. (IF there is no s on the word already.
Hyphen
1. Use a hyphen to separate compound numbers.
Grammar and Usage
1. A sentence must have a subject, a verb and state a complete thought to make a sentence.
2. When you have two independent clauses together in one sentence without appropriate conjunctions or punctuation, you have a run on sentence.
3 ways to fix a run on sentence.
a.
b.
c.
3. Singular subjects need singular verbs, and plural subjects need plural verbs.
4. Use appropriate verb tense: be consistent with meaning of sentences.
5. While most verbs form past tense by adding –ed, some do not. Ex. read, write, speak,
6. When comparing three or more things, the usual rule is to use either –est at the end of the word if it is 1 syllable and to use “most” if the word has 2 or more syllables. There are exceptions.
7. The refers to a specific person, group, or thing. A or an refer to any person, group or thing.
8. A helping verb must be used with a participle form of the verb if the particlple is being used as the verb of the sentence