English grammar explained in plain language simple enough to be understood.
When writing a business letter, the greeting is followed by a colon instead of a comma. If you know the name of the person to whom you are addressing the business letter, use their name with a colon, like this:Dear… Read more408. Use the Colon in a Business Letter Greeting
Section A: Insert a comma or commas into each sentence.1. Our wedding took place on March 14 1988.2. Before you go home let’s play some ping pong.3. Mary is relocating to Denver Colorado.4. Sally the girl next door just got… Read more405. Practice With Punctuation
The apostrophe (‘) has two basic uses. 1. In a contraction. When we push two words together to make one word, we contract the two words by taking out some letters. An apostrophe goes into the space where the letters… Read more403. The Apostrophe – Use it Correctly
Section A: Which words in each sentence can be placed inside a set of parentheses?1. My dad the funniest guy in the world is always telling jokes. 2. I’m ready as ready as I’ll ever be to take the next… Read more420. Practice with Parentheses and Quotation Marks
If you begin a sentence with a speech tag, put a comma after the speech tag and before the first quotation mark. Put the end punctuation – the period – inside the last quotation mark. Dad said, “Please put the… Read more419. Quotation Marks and End Punctuation
We put quotation marks around the title of a short story, a magazine article, and a poem. The quotation marks help to identify the words as part of a title. Here are some examples:“All in a Summer Day” – a… Read more418. Quotation Marks Around a Title
Use a dash to set off a series of items when the sentence might be confusing otherwise.The three boys – Sam, John, and Bill – were eager to get to the beach.My four cousins – ranging in age from 13… Read more414. Using the Dash
Section A: Insert a colon into the proper place in each sentence below. Write NO if the sentence needs no comma.1. The movie starts at 815 tonight.2. I’m going to the show with my three best friends Jan, Laura, and… Read more410. Practice with the Colon
A period is used as stop punctuation. Every time you reach the end of a statement sentence, you should put a period. Today is Thursday.I bought a new sweater yesterday.Sam’s brother is a teacher.Although it is raining, the sun is… Read more404. The Period
The little comma can sometimes cause big confusion for writers. People often throw a comma into their writing just because they think it must go in there somewhere. However, there are actual rules for when to use a comma. Your… Read more402. Highlight on Writing – 12 Places to Put a Comma