English grammar explained in plain language simple enough to be understood.
The first and last word of a title should always be capitalized. Nouns and pronouns in a title are always capitalized. Verbs – even short ones like Be and Am – should be capitalized in a title. Prepositions – in,… Read more363. Capitalizing Words in a Title
Names of important buildings are always capitalized. Hospital names are capitalized.Mayo ClinicNorthwest Community Hospital Retail stores are capitalized.TargetWalmart Restaurant names are capitalized.McDonaldsOlive Garden Important buildings are capitalized.United States CapitolThe White HouseThe Museum of Science and Industry Remember to capitalize the… Read more359. Capitalize Names of Buildings
Today is Memorial Day. Today we take time to recognize and remember all military members who have died in service to our country. It’s a good time to also remember that we must capitalize the names of special holidays. Memorial… Read more356. Memorial Day
Today is Veterans Day, a day of remembrance. We pause today to honor, acknowledge, and thank all the people in the armed forces of the United States – those presently serving our country, and those who have served in the… Read more214. Highlight on Writing – Veterans Day
Italics are most often used for titles and names. However, we sometimes use italics when we want to emphasize certain words in our writing. Italicizing the words makes them stand out to the reader. Here is an example of using… Read more189. Use Italics to Emphasize Words
Parallel lines are two lines always the same distance apart, like railroad tracks. Parallel structure in writing is a little different. We use parallel structure in a sentence when we list three phrases or three clauses evenly. If we wanted… Read more239. Highlight on Writing: Parallel Structure
We’ve been practicing writing complex sentences, and we’ve talked about beginning complex sentences two different ways: with a subordinate clause or with an independent clause. It’s helpful to learn how to write sentences in different ways so that our writing… Read more229. Highlight on Writing: Using Varied Sentence Structure
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