Language Arts · 6 min read
Spelling, Capitalization and Punctuation
Usage questions present a sentence or short passage and ask which word is spelled correctly, which part contains an error, or how a sentence should be punctuated. The test measures the conventions of standard written English that a teaching assistant models every day in notes to families, labels and student feedback.
English spelling is irregular, but a handful of patterns cover most everyday words. Learn the rule and its best-known drop final e before a suffix beginning with a vowel (hope + ing = hoping; care + ed = cared) but keep it before a consonant suffix (hopeful, careless). Keep it after soft c or g before -able or -ous: noticeable, courageous.
after a consonant, change y to i before most suffixes (happy, happiness; carry, carried) but keep y before -ing (carrying). After a vowel, keep y: played, enjoyment.
double the final consonant of a one-syllable word ending in one vowel plus one consonant before a vowel suffix: stop, stopped; run, running. In longer words, double only if the final syllable is stressed: begin, beginning; occur, occurred; but open, opened; visit, visited.
adding a prefix never changes the base spelling: mis + spell = misspell; un + necessary = unnecessary; dis + satisfied = dissatisfied.
Memory aid or common error accommodate two c's and two m's argument drop the e of argue embarrass double r, double s
Memory aid or common error necessary one c, two s's occasion two c's, one s occurrence two c's, two r's, -ence receive e before i after c recommend one c, two m's there is a rat in sepARATe
On a spelling item, look first at doubled letters and unstressed vowels; most misspellings hide there, as in ocassion for occasion or seperate for separate.
Many errors on the test involve real words used in the wrong place. Spell-check would not catch them, so they are a favorite way to test careful proofreading.
accept = receive; except = excluding. Everyone except Ana accepted the award.
affect is usually a verb (to influence); effect is usually a noun (result). Noise affects focus; the effect is its = belonging to it; it's = it is or it has. It's time to feed the hamster its dinner.
possessive / place / they are. They're leaving their bags there.
possessive / you are. You're welcome to bring your notes.
direction or verb marker / also or excessively / the number 2.
to / too / two then = time; than = comparison. Finish, then read. She is taller than I am.
principal = school leader or main; principle = a rule or belief.
lose = misplace or fail to win; loose = not tight.
advice is a noun; advise is a verb. I advise you to take her advice.
complement = complete or go well with; compliment = praise.
stationary = not moving; stationery = writing paper.
passed = verb (went by); past = earlier time or beyond. We passed the past exits.
fewer for countable items (fewer errors); less for amounts (less time).
Capitalize the first word of every sentence, the pronoun I and all proper nouns: specific names of people, places, organizations and things. Common nouns, which name general categories, stay lowercase.
People and titles
capitalize a title directly before a name (Principal Lee, Dr. Ruiz) but not when it stands alone or follows the name (the principal; Ana Lee, principal of the school).
Family words
capitalize when used as a name (I asked Mom) but not after a possessive (my mom).
cities, states, countries, streets, bodies of water and landmarks (Albany, Lake Erie, Main Street). Compass directions are capitalized only as region names: She moved to the South but drive south.
days, months and holidays are capitalized (Monday, March, Thanksgiving); seasons are not (spring).
Groups and subjects
nationalities, languages and religions (Spanish, Korean, Buddhist); school subjects only when they are languages or course names (English, Biology II, but math and science).
Titles of works
capitalize the first, last and all major words; leave short articles, conjunctions and prepositions lowercase unless first (The Cat in the Hat).
Organizations and events
Board of Education, Parent Teacher Association, the Civil War.
Do not capitalize a general word just because it seems important. The district hired a new superintendent for the high school needs no capitals beyond the first word; Lincoln High School is capitalized because it is a specific name.
Punctuation shows readers where ideas begin, end and connect. The test concentrates on commas, semicolons, colons,
Did you sign the form?
end a statement, question or exclamation join two independent clauses with for, and, nor, but, or,
The bell rang, and students lined up.
set off an opening clause or phrase
After lunch, we will read.
Comma in a series separate three or more items enclose extra information that can be removed join closely related independent clauses; separate list items
The test is long; pace yourself.
introduce a list, explanation or quotation after a complete
Bring three items: a pen, a ruler and a calculator.
Apostrophe show possession or a missing letter enclose exact words and titles of short works hyphen joins compound modifiers; dash marks a strong a well-written report; one goal - safety
Singular possessive
Plural ending in s
add only an apostrophe: the students' books; the teachers' lounge.
Plural not ending in s
Joint vs. separate ownership
Possessive pronouns never take apostrophes
Quotation punctuation
in American usage, periods and commas go inside closing quotation marks; question marks go inside only if the quoted words are a question.
Do not put a colon directly after a verb or a preposition. The kit includes: tape and scissors is wrong; write The kit includes tape and scissors or The kit includes two tools: tape and scissors.
Verb Usage and Spelling Changes by Tense
Regular verbs form the past and past participle by adding -ed; the spelling rules above determine the exact form. Irregular verbs change in unpredictable ways and must be memorized. Errors usually come from using the past form where the past participle is needed (had went instead of had gone) or from adding -ed to an irregular verb (catched).
consonant + y: keep y for -ing, i for -ed
Base Present participle (-ing)
vowel + y: keep y add k after final c ie becomes y before -ing
Past participle (with has/have/had)
be was / were been lay (to place) laid laid lie (to recline) lay lain
WORKED EXAMPLE · PROOFREADING A NOTE HOME
Dear Families, / On wednesday our class will visit the science museum. Students should bring there lunch, a water bottle and a jacket. We have went to this museum before, and the childrens favorite exhibit is the planetarium. Please return the permission form by Monday; it's due date is firm.
Which capitalization error appears?
wednesday must be Wednesday; days of the week are proper nouns. science museum is lowercase correctly because it is used
as a general description, not the museum's official name.
Which word errors appear in the second and third sentences? there should be their (possession), have went should be have gone (past participle after have), and childrens should be children's
(plural not ending in s takes 's).
Is the semicolon used correctly, and is anything else wrong in the last sentence? The semicolon correctly joins two related independent clauses. However, it's means it is; the possessive its is required: its due
date is firm.
Finished reading?
Lock it in with a quick Language Arts quiz.