English grammar explained in plain language simple enough to be understood.
A comma is used as a piece of pause punctuation. A comma is not stop punctuation. Therefore, you cannot use a comma to stop a complete thought. When you use a comma between two complete thoughts, we call that a… Read more401. Mistake: The Comma Splice
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
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
Anytime you write the title of a book, a magazine, or a newspaper, you must either underline or italicize the title. If you are writing by hand, you should underline the title. When typing on a computer, you will italicize… Read more421. Use Italics for Book, Magazine, and Newspaper Titles
We always write the names of plays, movies, and television shows in italics if we are typing. Look at these examples: Plays:King Lear by William ShakespeareDeath of a Salesman by Arthur Miller Movies:Forest GumpField of Dreams Television Shows:The Brady BunchWheel… Read more422. Italicize the Titles of Plays, Movies, and Television Shows
We always italicize the names of ocean-going ships. TitanicUSS Arizona We italicize the names of works of visual art. Starry Night by Van GoghThe Thinker by Rodin We also italicize major musical compositions.The William Tell Overture by RossiniEroica by Beethoven… Read more423. Italicize Names of Ships, Works of Art, and Musical Compositions
We can use italics to emphasize certain words in our writing. Look at this example:At the party last night, I saw Mary with her boyfriend. By italicizing the word boyfriend, the writer calls attention to the word. The boyfriend must… Read more424. Use Italics to Show Emphasis in Your Writing
Italics are a special type of font that makes print look a bit like cursive. Italics look like this – and we get the print to look like this by clicking on the slanted I at the top of your… Read more661. Using Italics for Book Titles
Besides using italics for the titles of books, we also use italics for the titles of Newspapers and Magazines.My dad likes to read The Chicago Tribune each morning while he eats breakfast.My mom gets a monthly subscription to Good Housekeeping… Read more662. Italics for Other Titles
The names of television shows and the titles of plays and movies are written in italics.We saw Gone With the Wind on the big screen.Our English class went the the Shakespeare Theater to see Macbeth.I love the new Top Gun… Read more663. Write Television, Movie, and Play Titles in Italics