University Writing Center

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You don’t need to be an editor or a professional writer to help students write correct and well-edited prose. Below are some basic rules that can get you through most common writing situations.

1.  Punctuation rule. To join two or more independent clauses, use a comma followed by a coordinating conjunction, a semicolon alone, or a semicolon followed by a conjunctive adverb.

An independent clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a predicate and can stand alone as a sentence.

To remember the coordinating conjunctions, think A. B. Fonsy or FANBOYS (And, But, For, Or, Nor, So, Yet).

Conjunctive adverbs are words like however, nevertheless, otherwise, thus, moreover, additionally, etc.

Examples: A sentence is the same as an independent clause; a dependent clause also has a subject and predicate but can’t stand alone.

A sentence is the same as an independent clause, and a dependent clause also has a subject and predicate, but it can’t stand alone.

2. Punctuation rule.  When beginning a sentence with an introductory phrase or an introductory dependent clause, follow the introductory element with a comma.

Words that might be found opening an introductory clause include after, although, as, as if, as long as, because, before, if, in order that, since, so that, though, unless, until, when, whenever, where, wherever, and while.

If the phrase is very short, the comma is sometimes omitted. Use your judgment.

Examples:  Whenever you open with an introductory clause, you should consider using a comma.
With a short introductory phrase the comma is often omitted.

Whenever you open with an introductory clause, you should consider using a comma.With a short introductory phrase the comma is often omitted.

3. Punctuation rule. Use commas to bracket nonrestrictive words or phrases that are not essential to the sentence’s meaning.

Example: The boys, who are friends of the defendant, entered the courtroom. [Nonessential]

4. Punctuation rule. Do not use commas to bracket words or phrases that are restrictive, or essential to the sentence’s meaning.

Example: The boys who were friends of the defendant stood behind him in support; those who were not friends shouted angry words. [Essential]

5. Punctuation rule. The rule for the final comma within a series varies. In Associated Press (AP) style, the comma is omitted. In Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) and in the style used by the Modern Language Association (MLA), the use of the final comma is recommended to clarify possible ambiguity. If the series elements are long and contain commas, separate them with semicolons.

Examples: red, black, and white OR red, black and white

The first element, being so important, was to be emphasized; the second, being less crucial, could be less prominent; and the third hardly mattered.

6. Punctuation rule. Use proper punctuation to integrate a quotation into a sentence. If the introductory material is an independent clause, add the quotation after a colon. If the introductory material ends in “thinks,” “says,” or some other verb indicating expression, use a comma.

Examples:  In The Awakening, Mme. Ratignolle exhorts Robert Lebrun to stop flirting with Edna: “She is not one of us; she is not like us.”

In a song featured in South Pacific, Oscar Hammerstein writes, “You have to be carefully taught.”

7. Grammar rule. Make the subject and verb agree with each other, not with words that come between them.

Anyone, anybody, anything, each, everyone, everybody, everything, nobody, no one, nothing, somebody, someone, and something are singular.

All, any either, more, most, neither, none, and some can be singular or plural, so use your judgment.

Few, many, and several are plural.

Collective nouns such as gang, crowd, class, team, or committee can be either singular or plural. If you want to focus on the whole, use plural, and on the members (as in the members of the class), use singular.

Examples: None of the approximately eight-five thousand people attending the football game knows how the game will end.

The class is inattentive.OR The class are inattentive.

Few have the ability to concentrate for more than 55 minutes.

8. Grammar rule. Be sure that a pronoun, a participial phrase, or an appositive refers clearly to the proper subject.

The personal pronouns are I, you, he, she, it, we, they, me, him, her, them, my, your, his, her, hers, its, our, their, mine, yours, ours, theirs.

Some writers follow colloquial speech and use they with gender inclusive terms such as anyone or a person. Some use a version of his/her; others alternate between his and her. The most conservative use only the male pronoun (his, etc.). Often writers use the plural (students . . .they) to avoid the issue.

Appositives are nouns that follow other nouns and rename them.

Participial phrases are made up of the present participle (-ing) form or the past participle (usually -ed) form of a verb, the object of the participle, and any modifier, as in dressed to kill or moving slowly down the field.

The error often referred to as a dangling modifier occurs when the participial phrase which opens a sentence is not followed by the subject to which it refers, as in Having hit the fast ball, the game was won. (The game didn’t hit the ball.)

Examples: When the woman saw that the man was following her, she walked faster.

Followed by three suspicious men, the woman hurried down the street.

A student must always bring his or her textbook to class.

Students must always bring their textbooks to class.

Having hit the fast ball, the batter declared victory.

9. Style rule. Use parallel construction to make a strong point and create a smooth flow.

It doesn’t matter what grammatical construction you use; just be consistent.

You may truncate functional words such as “if you are” in the last example below.

Examples: To be late, to dress poorly, or to fail to complete your work are cause for dismissal.

Being late, dressing poorly, or failing to complete your work might cause you to lose your job.

You might lose your job if you are constantly late, if you dress poorly, or if you fail to complete your work.

You might lose your job if you are constantly late, dress poorly, or fail to complete your work.

10. Style rule. Use the active voice to stress the actor and the passive voice to stress the action or underplay the action or when the actor is unknown.

In active voice the subject performs the action, as in “Samantha dunked the ball.

In passive voice the subject receives the action, as in “The ball was dunked by Samantha” or “The ball was dunked.”

11. Usage rule. You may split an infinitive if it would sound awkward to leave the verb and the infinitive (to + verb) together, or for stylistic effect.

Examples: to go boldly OR to boldly go

12. Usage rule. You may end a sentence with a preposition if it would sound more graceful or natural to do so, or for stylistic effect.

Examples: I don’t know with whom to go.

I don’t know who to go with.

Additional Resources

NCTE Guidelines on Teaching Grammar in Context (Highly recommended!)

Jack Lynch, Guide to Grammar and Style.

The Daily Grammar (Word Place, Inc.) provides daily grammar tips and lessons.

Purdue University’s Writing Lab also has good information on grammar.

Guide to Grammar & Writing (Capital Community College of Hartford, CT) provides detailed information pertaining to grammar, punctuation, sentence structuring, paragraph developing, and organizing essays and research papers.

“Why Revitalize Grammar?” from the English Journal

“Making a Case for Rhetorical Grammar” in College Composition and Communication.