2. Capitalize proper nouns. A proper noun is the name of a specific person, place, or thing (as opposed to a general person, place, or thing). CAPITALIZE (SPECIFIC) DON’T CAPITALIZE (GENERAL) Jennifer Johnson (specific person) the woman Business Law (specific class) my law class Main Street (specific street) on the street Frosted Flakes ® (specific brand) good cereal Caspian Sea (specific sea) deep sea/ocean Lincoln Memorial (specific monument) impressive memorial/monument U.S.S. Cole (specific ship) naval carrier Dade Management School (specific school) my graduate school Precambrian Age (specific time period) long ago Data Corporation (specific company) that company Exceptions: Do not capitalize words such as river, street, and so on in plural proper nouns as they are generic: the Pacific and Indian oceans. 3. Capitalize the days of the weeks and months of the year, but not the seasons. It was a warm spring day in May. Wednesday is the first official day of autumn. 4. Capitalize the names of countries, nationalities, languages, religions, and geographical locations (but not geographical directions). He has traveled to Brazil and Tunisia. She is half Chinese, half French. She is from the South. Drive south for five miles. We speak Spanish at home. He is a devout Catholic. – GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE WRITING– 258 5. Capitalize titles that come before proper names. Judge Lydia Ng Lydia Ng, judge in the Fifth District Professor Lee Chang Lee Chang, professor of physical science Vice President Tilda Stanton Tilda Stanton, vice president 6. Capitalize titles of publications, including books, stories, poems, plays, articles, speeches, essays, and other documents, as well as works of art, including films, paintings, and musical compositions. Pablo Picasso’s painting Guernica captures the agony of the Spanish Civil War. Read Susan Sontag’s essay “On Photography” for class tomorrow. The Declaration of Independence is a sacred document. Spelling Although a few misspellings will probably have little impact on your AWA score, misspelled words can inter- fere with clarity, and if your reader’s pet peeve is misspelled words, a few spelling errors may have more influ- ence on your score than they deserve. To that end, review these spelling rules, especially the correct use of contractions and homonyms. A list of frequently misspelled words is included at the end of this chapter. B ASIC SPELLING GUIDELINES Here are ten guidelines for correct spelling. Please remember that there are exceptions to every rule. If spelling is one of your weaknesses, spend extra time reviewing these rules and the list of frequently misspelled words that appears at the end of this chapter. 1. Form plurals of regular nouns by adding -s or -es. job jobs house houses beach beaches 2. Change the spelling of words with the following endings when forming plurals: f → v thief thieves wolf wolves but not belief beliefs chief chiefs – GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE WRITING– 259 consonant ϩ y → ie family families party parties but not vowel ϩ y: toy toys monkey monkeys sis → ses basis bases hypothesis hypotheses on → a criterion criteria phenomenon phenomena us → i nucleus nuclei radius radii 3. Double consonants when adding -ing, -ed, -er, or -est when: • the verb stem contains one vowel ϩ one consonant in one syllable grab grabbing grabbed trip tripping tripped • the verb stem contains two or more syllables with one vowel ϩ consonant in the final stressed syllable prefer preferring preferred control controlling controlled (but not travel, traveling, traveled because the stress is on the first syllable) • the suffix -er or -est is added to one-syllable adjectives ending in one vowel ϩ consonant big bigger biggest hot hotter hottest • adding -ly to an adjective ending in l joyful joyfully successful successfully 4. Change final y to ie on certain verb forms when verb ends in consonant ϩ y: cry cries crying cried study studies studying studied – GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE WRITING– 260 5. Change final y to i in two-syllable adjectives when adding a suffix: happy happier happiest silly sillier silliest friendly friendlier friendliest 6. In general, i comes before e except after c, unless the syllable sounds like ay: believe receive sleigh niece deceive neighbor Exceptions: science species height foreign 7. Keep a silent -e when adding an -ly suffix or a suffix beginning with a consonant: state stately statement rude rudely rudeness 8. Drop a silent -e before a suffix beginning with a vowel: admire admirable approximate approximation 9. Drop -le in adjectives when adding -ly: admirable admirably sensible sensibly 10. With adjectives ending in -ic, add -ally to form the adverb: tragic tragically comic comically C ONTRACTIONS AND POSSESSIVES Confusion between contractions and possessives results in some of the most common spelling mistakes. Con- tractions are words that use an apostrophe to show that a letter or letters have been omitted from the word(s). Possessive pronouns indicate ownership of objects and ideas. They do not take an apostrophe. – GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE WRITING– 261 POSSESSIVE PRONOUN MEANING EXAMPLE its belonging to it The dog chased its tail. your belonging to you Your time is up. their belonging to them Their words were comforting. whose belonging to who Whose tickets are these? CONTRACTION it’s it is It’s time to eat. you’re you are You’re not going to believe your eyes. they’re they are They’re getting their tickets now. who’s who is/who has Who’s got my tickets? Whenever you come across a question with a contraction, read it as two words. If it doesn’t make sense, then you need a possessive pronoun, not a contraction. Eliminate the apostrophe. HOMONYMS Homonyms are words that sound alike but have different spellings and meanings. Here are some of the most common homonyms: accept to take or receive except leave out affect (v.) to have an influence effect (n.) the result or impact of something all ready fully prepared already previously bare (adj.) uncovered; (v.) to uncover bear (n.) animal; (v.) to carry or endure brake (v.) to stop; (n.) device for stopping break (v.) to fracture or rend; (n.) a pause or temporary stoppage buy (v.) to purchase by (prep.) next to or near, through – GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE WRITING– 262 cite (v.) to quote or mention as an example sight (n.) something seen or visible; the faculty of seeing site (n.) location; (v.) to locate desert (n.) dry area; (v.) to abandon dessert (n.) sweet course at the end of a meal every day (adv.) each day everyday (adj.) ordinary, daily fair (adj.) light in color; favorable; just, unbiased; (n) gathering or exhibition for sale of goods, shows, and entertainment fare (n.) price charged for a passenger to travel; food provided; (v) to progress (we fared well on our journey) hear (v.) to perceive with the ears here (adv.) in this place know (v.) to understand, be aware of no (adj./adv.) negative—opposite of yes loose (adj.) not tight, not confined lose (v.) to misplace; to fail to win may be (v.) might be (possibility) maybe (adv.) perhaps morning (n.) the first part of the day mourning (n.) grieving passed (v.) past tense of pass (to go by) past (adv.) beyond; (n.) events that have already occurred patience (n.) quality of being patient, able to wait patients (n.) people under medical care personal (adj.) private or pertaining to the individual personnel (n.) employees presence (n.) condition of being presents (n.) gifts principal (adj.) most important; (n.) head of a school principle (n.) fundamental truth – GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE WRITING– 263 . nouns as they are generic: the Pacific and Indian oceans. 3. Capitalize the days of the weeks and months of the year, but not the seasons. It was a warm spring day in May. Wednesday is the first. belonging to it The dog chased its tail. your belonging to you Your time is up. their belonging to them Their words were comforting. whose belonging to who Whose tickets are these? CONTRACTION it’s. your score than they deserve. To that end, review these spelling rules, especially the correct use of contractions and homonyms. A list of frequently misspelled words is included at the end of this