English grammar explained in plain language simple enough to be understood.
Coordinating conjunctions are sometimes referred to as the FANBOYS – For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So.We use coordinating conjunctions to join together two complete thoughts.It is raining, so practice is canceled. One complete thought: It is raining.Second complete thought:… Read more412. Semicolon Replaces a Coordinating Conjunction
In writing, we use a colon to signal the coming of a list and after the greeting of a business letter, but there are three other uses for the colon. Writing Time: We use a colon between the hour and… Read more409. Other Uses for the Colon
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
A clause is a group of words that includes a verb. A subordinate clause begins with a subordinating conjunction. Here are some subordinating conjunctions: if, when, since, because, while When you begin a sentence with one of these words, your… Read more398. Use a Comma with a Subordinate Clause
A compound sentence is two simple sentences joined together. A simple sentence looks like this:Bob rode his bike. This sentence is a simple sentence because it is about one person doing one thing. Here is another simple sentence: Mary rode… Read more396. Use a Comma in a Compound Sentence
We sometimes begin a sentence with a prepositional phrase. This is called an introductory phrase. Always use a comma after an introductory phrase. Here are some sentence examples:After breakfast, Meg did the laundry.Before dinner, Sam practiced his piano piece.At the… Read more392. Put a Comma after an Introductory Phrase
When you include a quoted statement inside a sentence, you put quotation marks around the quoted words. Be sure to place a comma before the quotation marks. Here are some examples of what I mean:My teacher always says, “Once begun… Read more389. Use a Comma Before Beginning a Quote
When you are addressing a person by name, you need to put a comma after their name.Look at this example:John, I need your help. You are speaking to John, so you must put a comma after his name before saying… Read more388. Use a Comma to Set off a Person’s Name
When we write a note or a letter or an email, we often begin by using a greeting such as Dear.We might say Dear Mom, or Dear John, before writing the main part of the message. We always put a… Read more383. Using the Comma in a Greeting