Red Comet - Language & Literature/English - 10th Grade

ENGLISH - 10th Grade - Semester 1

Section 1: Overview

Students will learn the correct conventions of mechanics, demonstrate control over grammatical elements, compose increasingly involved sentences, and will produce error-free writing in the final draft.

Section 1: Objectives

Students will:

Apply correctly the rules of spelling.

Apply correctly the rules of punctuation.

Apply correctly the rules of capitalization.

Edit work to eliminate errors in mechanics.

Apply correctly the rules of subject-verb agreement.

Apply correctly the rules of pronoun-antecedent agreement.

Identify the various verb forms and verb tenses.

Apply rules for usage of verb forms.

Edit work for errors in verb usage.

Write sentences using verbals.

Produce error-free sentences in the final draft.

Topic 1 - Capitalization

thomas ward takes engish and science at broadhurst high school in cincinnati, ohio.

What is wrong with the sentence above? No capital letters were used. Why are capital letters used? There are two basic reasons why we need capital letters. First, capital letters signal the beginning of a sentence. Second, capital letters signal proper nouns and proper adjectives.

Without capital letters, sentences are harder to understand.

Rules of capitalization in sentences:

Rule 1: Every sentence begins with a capital letter.

Example: After we ate a nice dinner, we went to the basketball game.

Rule 2: Direct quotations that are complete sentences begin with capital letters.

Example:  Mark said, "When school is out, we are going on a long vacation."
  In divided quotations, capitalize only the words that begin complete sentences.
Example:  "When can I find out my science grade?" Saundra asked. "My mom wants to know as soon as possible."
Both When and My are capitalized because they begin complete sentences.

Example:  "My car," said John, "has a flat tire."
My is capitalized because it begins a complete sentence. In the second part of the quote, has is not capitalized because it does not begin a complete sentence.

Rules of capitalization for proper nouns:

Rule 3: Capitalize people's names and their initials.

Examples:
George W. Bush
Mary Smith

Rule 4: Capitalize titles when used as a person's name in a direct address.

Example:  I think, Captain, that the ship is sinking.
Title used for a person's name in a direct address.

  Do not capitalize a title when substituted for a name that is not in a direct address.
Example:  The captain said that we should arrive in port on time.

  Capitalize titles and abbreviations of titles written before a person's name.
Examples:
Mr. John Johnson
Senator Hillary Clinton

Rule 5: Capitalize the names of particular places.

Examples:
France
the Mediterranean Sea
Broadway St.
Oklahoma
Canada
Pike's Peak

Rule 6: Capitalize the names of nationalities, peoples, and languages.

Examples:
Spanish
African
French

Rule 7: Capitalize names of days of the week, months, holidays, and specific events.

Names of seasons are not capitalized.
Examples:
June
Monday
Christmas

Rule 8: Capitalize names of historical events and periods, awards, and documents:

Examples:
the Battle of the Little Big Horn
the Constitution
the Nobel Prize
the Renaissance

Rule 9: Capitalize first, last, and important words in titles of books, newspapers, television programs.

Examples:
The Dallas Morning News
From Here to Eternity
"Please Remember Me"
"Cats"
Conjunctions, articles, and prepositions in titles are only capitalized when used as the first word of a title. Prepostitions over five letters long are also capitalized.
Examples:
Of Mice and Men
Twenty-thousand Leagues Under the Sea

Rule 10: Capitalize brand names.

Common nouns following proper adjectives are not capitalized.
Examples:
Waterford glassware
Polo shirts

Rule 11: Capitalize names of trains, ships, airplanes, and spacecraft.

Examples:
Amtrak
Spirit of St. Louis
Apollo XIII
Titanic

Rule 12: Capitalize names of businesses, religions, government agencies, clubs, buildings, and schools.

Examples:
Trump Tower
Baptist
Columbine High School
Beta Club
Texas Instruments
Internal Revenue Service

Rule 13: Capitalize school subjects when the course is a language, when the name contains a proper adjective, or when the course name is followed by a number.