Our motto: Your first impression comes from how you say what you say.

8 PARTS OF SPEECH
•NOUN behind, below, beneath, beside, besides, between, beyond, but,
A noun is a person (child), place (school), by, down, during, except, for, from, in, inside, into, like, near,
thing (desk), or idea (happiness). of, off, on, onto, out, outside, over, past, since, through,
• PRONOUN - A pronoun takes the place of a noun. throughout, to, toward, under, underneath, until, up, upon,
Subject Object Possessive with, within, without
Pronouns Pronouns Pronouns • CONJUNCTION
I we me us my, our, ours A conjunction joins words or groups of words.
mine Coordinating conjunctions - and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet
you you you you your, your (pl.), Correlative conjunctions - either...or; neither...nor; both...and;
(pl.) (pl.) yours yours (pl.) not only...but also; whether...or
he, they him, them his, their, Subordinating conjunctions - after, although, as, as much as,
she, her, her, theirs because, before, how, if, in order that, since, than, that, unless,
it it hers, until, when, where, while
its* • INTERJECTION
*Remember, don't use an apostrophe here; it's means it is! An interjection expresses emotion.
Reflexive Relative Pronouns - Oh! My goodness! Ouch! Good grief!
Pronouns (Introduce dependent clauses)
myself ourselves who, whose, whom, which, PARTS OF THE SENTENCE
what, that, whoever, whatever,
yourself yourselves whichever • SENTENCE - A sentence is a group of
himself, themselves Interrogative Pronouns - words expressing a complete thought. A sentence must have a
herself, (Ask questions) subject and a predicate.
itself who?, whom?, whose?, which?, • SUBJECT - (Noun or Pronoun) - The subject is the part
what? of the sentence about which something is said.
Demonstrative Pronouns - this, that, these, those • PREDICATE - The predicate (verb) is what the subject
Indefinite Pronouns - all, another, any, anybody, anyone, does or is.
anything, both, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, • DIRECT OBJECT - (Noun or Pronoun) - The direct
few, many, most, much, neither, nobody, none, no one, object receives the action of the verb. (Ann painted a picture.)
nothing, one, other, others, several, some, somebody, • OBJECT OF THE PREPOSITION - (Noun or
someone, something, such Pronoun) - The object of the preposition is the last word in the
• VERB - A verb is what the subject does or is. prepositional phrase. (Sam taped the poster on the wall.)
Action - Sam jumped the fence easily. Linking - am, are, is, • SIMPLE, COMPOUND, AND COMPLEX
be, been, was, were, being, appear, become, feel, grow, look, SENTENCES
remain, seem, smell, sound, stay, taste Helping - am, are, is, Simple Sentence - A simple sentence includes only one
be, been, was, were, have, has, had, do, does, did, can, could, independent clause. (Ann ran in two events in the Olympics.)
will, would, shall, should, may, might, must Compound Sentence - A compound sentence includes two
• ADJECTIVE or more independent clauses. (Ann competed in the
An adjective describes a noun or pronoun. Olympics, and she won a medal.)
Ann lost the pretty coat. Sam's book is interesting. Complex Sentence - A complex sentence includes one
Comparative adjective- Sugar is sweeter than salt. independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. (Ann
Superlative adjective - Dogs are the bravest, most loyal pets. won two medals when she ran in the Olympics.)
• ADVERB • PHRASE - A phrase is a group of words that does not
An adverb describes a verb, adjective or other adverb. have a subject and predicate.
Sam never left. (Time adverbs tell when, how often, how long.) Prepositional Phrase - A prepositional phrase is a group of
Ann moved forward. (Place adverbs tell where, to where, words beginning with a preposition and ending with a noun or
from where.) pronoun. (Sam wrote a story about his dog.)
Ann ran rapidly. (Manner adverbs tell how a thing is done.) Gerund Phrase - A gerund phrase is a group of words
Sam is very smart. The dog ran so slowly. (Degree adverbs beginning with a gerund (a verb form ending in -ing) that is
tell how much or how little.) used as a noun. (Running in a race is fun.)
Comparative/Superlative Adverb - My cousin runs Participial Phrase - A participial phrase is a group of words
faster than I, but I can swim the fastest. beginning with a participle (a verb form ending in -ing or -ed)
• PREPOSITION that is used as an adjective. (Running fast, Sam fell down.)
A preposition shows direction or position. Infinitive Phrase - An infinitive phrase is a group of words
Commonly used prepositions - aboard, about, above, across, beginning with an infinitive (to + a verb). (Sam loves to run,
after, against, along, along with, among, around, at, before, to jump, and to skate.)
Appositive Phrase - An appositive phrase is a group of words BUT. . . In 1999 many people prepared for the new
that renames something or someone. (Ann, my best friend, is millennium.
a track star.) To set off nonrestrictive (nonessential) phrases and
• CLAUSE - A clause is a group of words with a subject clauses - Ann's house, which is modern in design, is on the
and predicate. corner of Fifth Street and Couch Drive.
An independent clause can stand on its own. (nonessential information)
A dependent (subordinate) clause cannot stand on its own. BUT . . . Houses that are modern in design
Common types of dependent clauses: are hard to find. (essential information)
(Adj. clause) - She is the girl who won the medal. To set off appositive phrases - Clean water, a
(Adv. clause) - When she won the medal, she jumped for joy. requirement for human life, is very important.
(Noun clause) - Whoever wins the race will win the medal. To set off interruptions - Computers, for example, have
made life easier for everyone. (however, moreover, in fact, on
CAPITALIZATION the other hand, in my opinion, nevertheless, of course . . .)
To set off dialogue - Sam said, "Ann is my friend!"
Addresses - Write to me at 407 W. Elm, Tulsa, OK 73034.
Capitalize the following:
Dates - Hawaii became a state on August 21, 1959.
• First word in the sentence
Introductory words - No, you may not leave the room.
• The pronoun I and the interjection O Direct address - Terry, I am writing a letter to you.
• Proper nouns and proper adjectives: Salutations, closings - Dear Ann, . . . Sincerely,
People's names (Abraham Lincoln) Between a name and title - Steve Smith, Jr.
Geographical names (Edmond, the Arbuckle Mountains, • SEMICOLON
Thirty-third Street, Lake Arcadia, Mitch Park, the Midwest) Between independent clauses not joined by a conjunction -
BUT . . north, south, east, west Ann is my best friend; I have known her for seven years.
Organizations, businesses, institutions, government Between independent clauses joined by conjunctive
bodies (4-H Club, Xerox Corporation, Oklahoma State adverbs - Ann is my friend; however, Sam is also my friend.
University, Congress) (for example, in addition, moreover, nevertheless, similarly,
Historical events and periods, special events, calendar therefore, meanwhile, also, as a result . . .)
items (Civil War, Special Olympics, Senior Prom, Monday, Between groups of words in a series if part of the series
Halloween, Christmas, April, the Renaissance already contains commas - Sam likes to sing in the church
BUT . . . winter, summer choir; in small, quiet settings; and in the shower.
Nationalities, races, religions (African-American,
• COLON
Baptist, Buddhism)
To mean "note what follows" - The following items will be
Brand Names (Campbell's soup, Crest toothpaste, Nike)
needed: tape, scissors, and glue.
Ships, planes, monuments, awards, etc. (the Titanic, the
In certain conventional situations - 8:00 A.M., Proverbs 3:3,
Vietnam Memorial, the Statue of Liberty, the Purple Heart)
Sports Illustrated 34:16 (vol. and number), Dear Mr. Smith:
School subjects (languages/course names followed
(business letter)
by a number) (English, Spanish, algebra, Algebra I, history)
• ITALICS (UNDERLINING)
Titles of people (President Smith, Supreme Court
Italicize titles of books, films, plays, television programs,
Justice Marshall, Governor Perez)
magazines, newspapers, works of art, names of ships and
Family names (Aunt Maria, Grandma)
planes. The Giver, National Geographic, Concorde, The
BUT . . . my aunt, my grandmother, my uncle
Daily Oklahoman (When writing by hand, underline instead
Titles of books, magazines, poems, stories, articles,
of italicizing. It means the same thing!)
songs, documents, movies, paintings, etc. (The
Yearling, Sports Illustrated, the Mona Lisa) • PARENTHESES
Abbreviations of organizations and titles (Dr., Mr.) Use parentheses around words (like these) that add extra
Words referring to the Deity (God, the Almighty) information to a sentence. Don't overuse!
• APOSTROPHE
Possessives - Ann's report . . . the visitors' comments
PUNCTUATION Contractions - it's, don't, can't, I'm, you're
Number/letter plurals - A's 3's 10's
• COMMA - Use a comma as follows: • QUOTATION MARKS
To separate items in a series - Use for quoted material and exact words of a speaker.
Ann's favorite sports are soccer, bowling, and softball. Use for titles of songs, poems, short stories, book chapters,
To separate two or more adjectives before a noun - and articles - "Casey at the Bat."
Sam is an intelligent, energetic boy. • HYPHEN
Before the conjunction separating two independent Use to divide a word at the end of a line.
clauses - Ann writes poetry, and she has won many contests. Use with the prefixes all-, self-, ex- (self-respect).
After a succession of introductory prepositional Use to join compound adjectives (voice-activated computer).
phrases - With a smile on her face, Ann accepted the award. • DASH - To show a break in thought or to mean
After one long (four or more words) introductory namely, in other words, or that is before an explanation -
prepositional phrase - In four or five minutes, we'll leave. It was a frightening experience -- we almost got lost!
 • PERIOD, QUESTION MARK,
EXCLAMATION
POINT - Always put one at the end of the sentence.