ACCUPLACER Writing cheat sheet

A sentence requires a subject, a finite verb, and a complete thought; a dependent clause standing alone is a fragment.

Comma splice = independent clause + comma + independent clause; repair with a period, a semicolon, or comma + coordinating conjunction.

Fused (run-on) sentence = two independent clauses with no punctuation and no conjunction; it takes the same three repairs as a comma splice.

The seven coordinating conjunctions are for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so; a comma precedes one only when it joins two independent clauses.

Subordinating conjunctions (because, although, since, when, if, while, unless, after, before) create a dependent clause; when that clause comes first, a comma follows it.

Adjective clauses open with a relative pronoun: use that for restrictive clauses (no commas) and which for nonrestrictive clauses (commas required).

An introductory participial phrase must describe the subject of the main clause; if it describes anything else, the modifier dangles.

Items in a series, and items paired by either...or or not only...but also, must share the same grammatical form.

A modifier belongs next to the word it modifies; a misplaced modifier shifts the meaning of the sentence.

A verb agrees with its subject, not with a noun inside an intervening prepositional phrase.

Subjects joined by and take a plural verb; subjects joined by or or nor take a verb that matches the nearer subject.

Each, either, neither, everyone, anybody, nobody, and someone are singular; both, few, many, and several are plural; all, some, most, and none follow the noun after of.

Collective nouns such as team, jury, and committee take a singular verb when the group acts as one unit.

Use subject pronouns (I, he, she, they, who) for subjects and object pronouns (me, him, her, them, whom) for objects of verbs and prepositions.

Comparatives use -er or more, never both; superlatives compare three or more and use -est or most.

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs; adjectives modify nouns and pronouns (good vs. well, real vs. really).

Tense stays consistent within a passage unless a time shift is signalled; present perfect (has/have + past participle) covers action continuing to the present.

Affect is a verb meaning to influence and effect is a noun meaning result; fewer goes with countable items and less with quantities not counted one by one.

Commas set off series items, introductory elements, nonrestrictive clauses and appositives, and precede a coordinating conjunction joining two independent clauses.

Never place a single comma between a subject and its verb or between a verb and its object.

A semicolon joins two independent clauses without a conjunction, or separates series items that already contain commas.

A colon follows a complete independent clause to introduce a list, explanation, or quotation; it never sits between a verb and its object.

Apostrophe rule: singular possessive adds 's; a plural ending in -s adds only the apostrophe; an irregular plural adds 's (children's); apostrophes never form plurals.

Periods and commas go inside closing quotation marks; question marks and exclamation points go inside only when they belong to the quoted words.

Dashes mark an emphatic break in thought; parentheses enclose incidental material the sentence could survive without.

Hyphenate a compound adjective before the noun it modifies (well-known author, two-week trip) and numbers twenty-one through ninety-nine.

Capitalize proper nouns and proper adjectives, titles preceding a name, the first word of a sentence, and the first word of a direct quotation.