English grammar explained in plain language simple enough to be understood.
The prepositional phrase to us is used in the objective part of a sentence. Things happen “to us.”Mom sent a letter to us.Our teacher gave an assignment to us.John mailed some information to us. If you add more people into… Read more784. Using the Prepositional Phrase “to us”
Some action verbs are transitive. A transitive verb transfers action to an object. Usually a transitive verb transfers action to a direct object. A direct object receives action from the transitive verb. Look at these sentence with a transitive verb… Read more812. Transitive Action Verbs – the Direct Object
Use a comma after the greeting and after the closing in a friendly letter. If you begin the letter by writing Dear Mom or Dear Grandma – you need a comma after the person you are writing to.Dear Mom, I… Read more866. Comma Rules – in a friendly letter
Always use a comma when writing a date. The comma goes between the day of the month and the year. Jim was born on May 30, 1989.My grandparents were married on May 7, 1931. If the date is written into… Read more867. Comma Rules – in a date
In a sentence, place a comma between a city and a state.I live in Chicago, Illinois.My friend traveled to Denver, Colorado. If the sentence continues after the city and state, also put a comma after the state.We visited Charleston, North… Read more868. Comma Rules – with a city and state or country
In a sentence, if you are addressing a person by name, you must set off their name with a comma.Bob, please bring the iced tea.I’m happy you like the gift, Josie.Billy, you need to finish your homework. If the name… Read more869. Comma Rules – Addressing someone by name
Use a comma to separate items in a list of three or more objects. I bought lemons, sugar, and cookies at the store.We visited Kentucky, North Carolina, and Mississippi this spring.My dog eats sausage, biscuits, and grits. Do not use… Read more871. Comma Rules – in a list
Use a semicolon (:) at the end of a complete thought. The semicolon comes in the middle of a sentence between the first complete thought and the second complete thought. When the two thoughts are connected by a similar idea,… Read more894. Stop Punctuation – the Semicolon
When using quotation marks at the end of a sentence, you must put the end punctuation inside of the quotation marks. Here is an example:Jan said, “Meet me at the park.”Notice that the period at the end of the sentence… Read more902. Using Quotation Marks in a Sentence
The word you’re has an apostrophe (‘) in it. The apostrophe makes the word a contraction. You’re really means you are. You’re going to school today.You are going to school today.A contraction is a word that is formed by shortening… Read more921. Confusing Words – you’re and your