Grammar – Page 2

How to capitalize titles and headings

January 18, 2013 By Administrator

Need some help creating a website, blog, or ezine title?

Here’s the general consensus regarding capitalization of titles:

Capitalize all words with four or more letters.

Capitalize words with fewer than four letters except:

Articles: a, an, the.
Short Conjunctions: and, or, nor, for, but, so, yet.
Short Prepositions: prepositions like at, by, for, in, of, off, on, out, to, up.

Tips:

Always capitalize the first and last words in titles and subtitles and all other major words.
Capitalize the first word following a dash or colon in a title.
When a heading flows to the next line, do not capitalize the first word of that second line unless it would have been capitalized anyway.

Exceptions:

Many common prepositions function as adjectives, adverbs, or nouns. When they do: capitalize them.
Capitalize prepositions when they are stressed, e.g., A River Runs Through It. Capitalize prepositions that are used as conjunctions, e.g., Look Before You Leap.
Lowercase “at” and “to” in any grammatical function, for simplicity’s sake.

Some style guides, like APA, have a four- and five-letter rule. Capitalize all prepositions of four or five letters or longer.

Tip: avoid starting a heading with a symbol or number. Spell it out or re-cast the heading.

References used: Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Edition
Gregg Reference Manual Ninth Edition

Here is a worthwhile link: Writing Effective, Attention-Getting Headlines and Titles on Your Blog

Gregg Reference Manual Ninth Edition

If you have problems with the technical lingo on these pages, help is on the way! Go to Net Lingo or Wikipedia.

When do you use an extra apostrophe “s” following a last name ending with the letter “s”?

October 29, 2011 By Administrator

When do you use an extra apostrophe “s” following a last name ending with the letter “s”?

Chicago Manual of Style, 14th Edition, 6.24-30 says:

The general rule for the possessive of nouns covers most proper nouns, including most names ending in sibilants (but see exceptions in 6.26-27 and alternatives in 6.30). Kansas’s; Burns’s poems; Marx’s theories; Dickens’s novels….For names ending in silent s, z, or x the possessive, unlike the plural, can generally be formed in the usual way without suggesting an incorrect pronunciation: Margaux’s bouquet; Descartes’s works.

Traditional exceptions to the general rule for forming the possessive are the names Jesus and Moses: in Jesus’ name; Moses’ leadership…”How to form the possessive of polysyllabic personal names ending with the sound of s or z,” says CMS, “probably occasions more dissension among writes and editors than any other orthographic matter open to disagreement.”

Gregg Reference Manual, 7th Edition, Sabin, 631 says:

To form the possessive of a singular noun that ends in an “s” sound, be guided by the way you pronounce the word: (a) if a new syllable is formed in the pronunciation of the possessive, add an apostrophe plus “s,” e.g., Mr. Morris’s eyeglasses; Miss Knox’s hairdo; Mrs. Lopez’s term paper…(b) If the addition of an extra syllable would make a word ending in an “s” hard to pronounce, add the apostrophe only, e.g., Mrs. Phillips’ comment; Mr. Hastings’ bike…

There will always be controversy on this “style” issue, since some style guides call for only an apostrophe followed by the letter “s.” Some are more concerned with the way a word looks in print, others with the way it sounds when spoken.

How to use a colon in writing

September 27, 2011 By Administrator

colon Have you ever been confused about when to use a colon as opposed to, say, a dash?

When using a colon, think of “as follows.”

A colon can introduce a series of elements or amplify what came before the colon.

Note regarding “as follows”: this applies to run-in lists. If you’re creating a vertical list (maybe using bullets or numbers), the best way to introduce it is with a a complete grammatical statement.

Example: All applications must include the following documents:

A colon can be used between independent clauses (acting a lot like a semicolon), BUT use rarely, and ONLY to show that the second clause illustrates or expands the first.

And occasionally, you can use a colon instead of a period to introduce a series of sentences.

Example: She had several choices: She could…long sentence. She could….second sentence. Or she could…third sentence.

Just keep in mind that generally you want to use a colon to give a sense of “as follows.”

Guidance from Chicago Manual of Style, sixteenth edition (6.59)(6.123)