English Grammar, Punctuation, and Spelling
Core concepts
Master sentence structure (subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement, misplaced modifiers), verb tense consistency, and parallel construction. Punctuation essentials: serial (Oxford) comma, semicolons joining independent clauses, colons introducing lists, apostrophes for possession vs. plural, quotation marks for spoken words, and em dashes for interruption. Know homophones common in testimony: their/there/they're, your/you're, its/it's, counsel/council, principal/principle, elicit/illicit.
Common traps
- Confusing its/it's and their/there in rapid transcription.
- Dropping the apostrophe in possessives (witness's, defendant's).
- Using commas to join two independent clauses (comma splice).
- Misplacing quotation marks relative to punctuation (periods and commas go inside in American style).
- Misspelling legal terms: judgment (not judgement in U.S. usage), acknowledgment, harassment.
Rule of thumb
When a sentence feels long, ask: "Are there two complete thoughts?" If yes, use a period or semicolon-never a bare comma. For possessives, add 's to singular nouns even if they end in s (the witness's statement).