Hello, everyone! I've received permission from Wraith to post a thread containing the general rules regarding to grammar, usage, punctuation, etc., and this is it. In this post, you can find information on correct usage of periods [.], ellipses […], commas [,], semicolons [;], colons [:], apostrophes [‘], and quotation marks [“ ”]. The following posts will include the correct uses for your/you’re, its/it’s and there/their/they’re, the rules for correct capitalization, and the definitions of some literary terms (not necessarily in that order.) You can reply to the thread if any material in the posts is unclear to you or if you have any questions about grammar, usage, punctuation, etc. Remember, this thread is intended to help the writers in this Lounge improve their past, present, and future works, so don’t be afraid to ask any questions you might have about specific sentences, words, or phrases that you either have or wish to use.


Period [.]

The period is used to end a sentence, after abbreviations (example: etc. instead of etcetera,) and as a decimal point (example: 72.1 as seventy-two point one.)

Notes: When an abbreviation comes at the end of a sentence, only one period should be used. Example: Whenever I pack for a trip, I gather my socks, shorts, shirts, etc.


Ellipsis […]

The ellipsis, commonly known as "dot dot dot," is used to indicate a pause in dialogue. (Example: What… what are you saying?)

Notes: There are other uses for an ellipse, but none that would be likely to occur in this forum.


Comma [,]

The comma is used between items on a list (examples: My friends include you, him, her, and someone else. This list of uses is another example), to separate items in addresses and dates (example: My date of birth is July 7, 1878. I was born at 1605 S. Laramie Street, Boise, Idaho), every three digits in a large number (example: 12,312,560), to initiate a word, phrase, or clause that interrupts the main thought of a sentence (example: I like to eat, but I’m not allowed to do so sometimes. My friend Howard, unfortunately, eats too much), between two independent clauses that are joined by conjunctions like but, or, nor, etc. (example: I wish I had money, but I don’t), to set off dialogue (example: As my mother says, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away!”), when a character is speaking directly to another character (example: “Johnson, get out of my way!”), to separate adjectives that equally modify the same noun (post coming soon with definition of equally modifying adjectives; example: The intelligent, kind boy smiled and nodded), to set off interjections (example: Dang, that sucks), to set off appositives (again, next post will have definition of terms; example: my father, a large man, works for the government), and finally, to separate a long modifying phrase/clause from the independent clause following it (example: Because I am tired, I will get some rest.)

Notes: I know it seems like there are a lot of uses for commas, but don’t worry; once you understand the uses it’s easy to use commas correctly. As you can see from the number of uses for them, commas are the most commonly used punctuation besides periods.


Semicolon [;]

Used: between independent clauses that are not connected by a conjunction (example: I wish I had a cooler car; if I had one, I could give my friends rides without being embarrassed) and to separate a list of phrases that already have commas (example: I need to buy an amp, a guitar, and a pickup cable; write an essay, a letter, and a poem; and take over the world.)

Notes: When a semicolon is used between two independent clauses, the clauses are generally related to each other in some way.


Colon [:]

Used: to introduce a list (example: I use my bike for the following reasons: to get places fast, to get exercise, and to have fun), after the salutation of a business letter (Dear Mrs. Smith:), between the hours and the numbers in time (example: I went swimming at 2:30 P.M.), and as a formal, emphasizing introduction to a piece of dialogue (example: President George Washington once said: “I cannot tell a lie.”)

Notes: none


Apostrophe [‘]

Used to form plurals, but ONLY of numbers, letters, and signs (example: I have all A’s in school), to form contractions (examples: don’t, I’m, he’s, they’re), in place of numbers or letters (examples: Class of ’06; I’m gettin' ready to do my chores), and in possessives (possessives will be explained in future posts.)

Notes: none


Quotation Marks [“ ”]

Used to enclose the exact words of a speaker (example: “I don’t like chocolate,” Jordan said), to set apart a word that is being discussed (example: The word “inferior” is inappropriate in this case”), and to punctuate titles of newspaper and magazine articles and other short works (example: “Eragon” by Christopher Paolini is a great book.)

Notes: Punctuating sentences with quotation marks in them can be difficult, but it’s fairly simple if you follow a few rules. If you want to have words preceding the quote, use a comma in between these words and the quotation. (Example: I continued in a calm voice, “I think I need to leave now.”) If the quote is what finishes the sentence, as it did in that example, then the period goes inside the quotation marks. However, if words come after the quote, then a comma should be placed inside the quotation marks and the next word should not be capitalized as if it were the beginning of a new sentence. (Example: “I think I need to leave now,” he finished in a calm voice.) If the quote is a question, the question mark should be placed inside the quotation marks. (Example: “Are you going to tell me to shut up?” I asked.) However, if the sentence itself is a question, the question mark should be placed outside the quotation marks. (Example: Did he say “shut up”?)
EDIT: Actually, italics should be used for book titles on the computer and they should be underlined if handwritten. Thanks to BMX for this info.

Update coming soon.

Source: Writer’s Express: A Handbook for YOUNG WRITERS, THINKERS, AND LEARNERS by Dave Kemper, Ruth Nathan, and Patrick Sebranek.


UPDATE # 1: 5/8/06 - Commonly misused words

At some point, words like "you're/your" and "its/it's" confused us all. However, these words, commonly misused, are fairly easy to understand if you apply one of the rules for the use of an apostrophe: apostrophes are used in place of excluded numbers and/or letters. Therefore, when using "your/you're", just think: could you replace it with "you are"? If so, use "you're". The apostrophe takes the place of the a in "are". As for "its/it's", the same rule applies. If you could replace the "its/it's" with "it is", then you should use "it's". The apostrophe takes the place of the i in "is". Both "its" and "your" are possessive pronouns.

Finally, the big killer--there/their/they're. Each form has a very specific use.

"There" is used to indicate a location of something. For examples:
The book is over there.
Are we there yet?

"Their" is a possessive pronoun, like "your" and "its". Possessive pronouns are used to indicate who owns something. For example:
"Is that your book?"
"Its face was contorted in a mask of hate."
"Their eyes followed me constantly."

"They're", like "it's" and "you're", is a contraction. It replaces "they are", so if you could use "they are" in its place, then it's OK to use it.
Examples:
They're going to be late. (Potentially "They are going to be late."
They're up on the hill smoking pot. (Potentially "They are up on the hill smoking pot.")

Hope my explanations of the commonly misused words will help.


UPDATE # 2: 8/7/07 - Double negatives, basic sentence structure, and "A lot"
(Credit to HavensRaven for suggesting the segment.)

Everyone that's taken high school math knows that when one takes a negative number and multiplies it by another negative number, the product is a positive number. The same concept can be applied to the English language. If a person says, "I don't have no money," it is logical to say that they do have some money, because if they do not have no money, then they must have some. Unfortunately, this concept is hard to adjust to for many people that speak English as their second language, because in some languages, the double negative is the only correct way to express a lack of something. In Spanish, for example, there simply isn't a word for "any." The only way to say that you don't have any money is "No tengo nada dinero." ("No tengo" is "I don't have" and "nada dinero" is "no money.") Thus, the concept can be hard to get used to for newcomers to the language.

Many times, wrote and erased.
Sometimes, I wished I smarter.

I'm sure most of you found the above two sentences strange and, probably, difficult to understand. That's because they are what we call "fragments"; they are not complete sentences. A complete sentence must have a subject that performs the action as well as a verb that is performed by the subject. Let's examine each sentence. In the first one, the author did not specify the subject; we don't know for sure who or what wrote and erased many times. To complete the sentence, we need to insert a subject in between the comma and the "wrote." "Many times, he wrote and erased." In the second example, the subject is clear, but the adjective "smarter" needs a verb in order to make the entire sentence complete. Fix it by putting a "were" in between the second "I" and the word "smarter". "Sometimes, I wished I were smarter." Just remember: every sentence needs at least one subject and at least one verb to be complete.

Finally, a common mistake is the use of the word "alot." Try typing it into a word processor with a spell-check feature. It will be underlined in red, because "alot" is not a real word. Its correct counterpart, the phrase "a lot", is used to denote a large quantity. A good way to remember the right way to use it is to think of a parking lot full of cars. Literally, there are a lot of cars. There are many cars in the lot. One lot full of cars is a lot of cars, not alot of cars.

This message was edited by djminkus777 on May 08 2006.

This message was edited by djminkus777 on Aug 07 2007.

This message was edited by djminkus777 on Oct 02 2007.

Edit 1/19/08: Examples were colorized and a few usage errors were corrected.

This message was edited by djminkus777 on Jan 19 2008.

Just a note on the quotation marks—when you're mentioning book titles, you would use italics (on the computer) or underlining (hand-written). With other titles, like those of essays and non-epic poems, you would use quotation marks.

Great work nonetheless. Hope to see more from you soon.

This message was edited by BMXPro on May 08 2006.

Those are relatively accurate, though I think it may be a bit trivial. Most writers here already have enough experience to know those things.
Maybe writing techniques are needed more.

Hmm... I've read this thread quite a few times, but I didn't notice it had been stickied. A help thread is always good, one should always accept help. Even more if one does not know how to make a decent story. (guilty)

What do you mean by writing techniques, Blue Star?

Also, thanks for the comments, everyone. BMXPro, I edited the quotation mark section according to your information.

I updated the first post with commonly misused words (your/you're, its/it's, their/there/they're.) I've decided to just update the first post so all the information will be in one place instead of scattered throughout the thread.

quote djminkus77

They're up on the hill smoking pot.

quote djminkus777

What do you mean by writing techniques, Blue Star?

Lol, Metafor.

Anyways, Blue Star... I have to admit that I don't know what some of those things are myself. I've bolded the terms I'm not familiar with. Perhaps you could compose a segment on those subjects and send it to me via PM and I could add it to the first post (giving full credit to you, of course.)

quote Blue Star

quote djminkus777

What do you mean by writing techniques, Blue Star?

writing techniques, as in common methods and terminology used to enhance writing. examples are juxtapositioning, metaphors, similes, imitative harmony, hyperbolic expressions, etc. and sentence structures also come in handy, such as verb tenses, sentence fragments, etc.

quote

His stomach satisfied, Ret slung his knapsack, which held his school supplies, over his shoulder and began the two-wingon** walk to the local division of the Academy of Adepts, the general school system on the world of Jektar. Education on Jektar consists of a normal education of basic skills, such as reading and writing the widely used runic alphabet of Jektar, as well as simple mathematics and a brief history of Jektar and the town being taught in. As students get older, the focus of education shifts to teaching the elemental skills that can improve daily life: basic conjures such as sparks, cool breezes, and small quantities of water. Elemental classes begin at the age of fourteen and continue, growing progressively more advanced, until graduation at the age of eighteen. Very few people cannot learn to hold some degree of dominion over at least one element, and, inversely, it is rare for someone to be very skilled at the control of the elements without immense amounts of hard work. However, some families seem to assert a certain natural dominance over specific elements. Ret’s was one of these special families, perhaps because of their supposed descendance from the Serinthen of Flame.

sure, if i have time i'll PM them ^.^

quote Blue Star

Those are relatively accurate, though I think it may be a bit trivial. Most writers here already have enough experience to know those things.
Maybe writing techniques are needed more.

Just out of curiousity, how many people are actually using this thread to help them? I know it's unnecessary for some, but there are a few members of the forum that could make at least intermediate use of this.

Blue Star brings up a good point with writing techniques, such as those listed. I find bad grammar very irritating as well as misspellings, it takes away from the story alot. Bad grammar such as Double negatives (example: There isn't no cookies in the jar.) Writers should also avoid fragmented sentences. If you're unsure if your sentence is a fragment ask if your sentence 1) has a subject and 2)has an action verb. (example: Sally sat. Sally would be the subject and Sat the action verb.) Most writers would be able to identify fragmented sentences but just for the beginners it is good to know how to identify that sort of thing

Okay...When I Write something does it have to be story?
can it be a quote thing?
(Quote The "Great" quotes")?

I'm not sure what you mean. If you're talking about posting a thread and in it posting not prose or poetry, but original quotes, then I don't see why not. Of course, I'm not the moderator, so don't take my word for it. Go ahead and post it and if the moderator deems it inappropriate for the forum, then they'll lock it.

Yeah I Mean like famous quotes Like From William blake and all that....It Is Okay to do that right Like a library of quotes. =O
And I'll update it everyday!