Q and A: Colons

"Sometimes I see colons used before quotes; other times I see them used before lists. Which is correct? How do I know when a colon is the right punctuation mark?"

Just taught this yesterday to a dozen kids preparing for the SAT--and I'll be teaching it again tomorrow to a dozen more who are preparing for the SAT. I will tell you what I told them:

1. You want to learn how to use colons. That skill will make you look smart since so few people know how to use them properly!


2. You should always have a complete sentence on the left side of the colon:

a. This means that it CAN be used following a speech tag (before your quoted words) IF the speech tag is a complete sentence:

      i. Yes: HE SPOKE WORDS OF COMFORT: "You can get through this. You are strong. I know you can make it." (Words on the left of the colon could stand alone; you could place a period there, and it would be a real, complete sentence.)

    ii. No: HE SAID: "You can get through this. You are strong. I know you can make it."

b. This means that it CAN be used to introduce a list IF the introduction to the list is a complete sentence:

     i. Yes: I NEED SEVERAL THINGS FROM THE STORE: milk, bread, eggs, and bananas.

     ii. No: I NEED TO GET: milk, bread, eggs, and bananas.

c. This means that it CAN be used to ask a rhetorical question IF the words preceding the colon make up a complete sentence:

  i. Yes: WE LOOKED FOR HIM EVERYWHERE: suddenly he appeared!

  ii. No: WE LOOKED AND: suddenly he appeared!


3. A colon should NEVER follow two types+ of words:

a. An action verb used as an action verb. No: SHE WANTED US TO GIVE: money, time, and household goods.

b. A preposition used as a preposition: No: SHE ASKED US TO: come early, stay late, and work non-stop.

+When a sentence ends in an action verb or a preposition, that word usually makes the sentence into a non-sentence (i.e. you can't put a period there and call it a real sentence): She asked us to.



4. Colon use is often subjective in technical writing, such as text books, blogs (!), and other places where they are used to teach or expound upon topics in list form, etc.

The Oxford Comma--Cute!

B is for BEING VERBS!

3bpblogspot clip art

B is for BEING VERBS!

In our books, we group being/helping/linking verbs together since they often serve the same purpose, and they all have the same modifiers (i.e. adjectives modifying noun before BHL verb as opposed to adverbs modifying the verb), etc. 

To help you remember the Be, a Helper, Link verbs, there is a little rhyme that you can sing to the tune of ABC’s (or “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”):

(ABCDEFG)
Be, a Helper, Link verbs,

( HIJKLMNOP)
Is, Are, Am, Was, & Were.

(QRSTUV)
Be, & Being, Been, Become,

(WXYZ)
Has, & Had, & Have are ones.

(Now I said my ABC's)
Can, Could, Shall, Should—they are fun.

(Next time won't you sing with me?)
Will, Would, Do, Did, Does, & Done.

(ABCDEFG)
May, Might, Must—they are some as well,

(HIJKLMNOP)
Appear, Look, Seem, Remain, Taste, Feel, & Smell.





B is for BHL VERBS!

There are a number of reasons to memorize being, helping, and linking verbs:

(1) When one stands alone as a linking verb or is used before a base verb as a helping verb, it is the verb that you match with the subject: He IS happy...is must match with He; they ARE going (are must match with they.

(2) They tell WHEN something happened (present, past, etc.).

(3) When one stands alone, it may have an adjective following it--which is going back to the noun or pronoun before it, describing that noun or pronoun. (You do not use an adverb with a single BHL verb.)

(4) When one stands alone, it should have the subjective form of a pronoun following it (if it has a pronoun following it), not the objective: This is SHE (not this is HER).

(5) When a base verb follows has, had, or have (and oftentimes was and were), it should be in its past participle tense:

a. has written
b. had gone
c. have done
d. had lain
e. has risen
f. have come

A is for APPOSITIVES!

Eng111cafe clip art

A is for APPOSITIVE!

We teach the appositive extensively in our writing and language arts books because it is an amazing conciseness technique--and it shows a student's skill in handling difficult grammar concepts and punctuation challenges. Plus, it truly does help a student write more concisely!

Here is the basic of this grammar item:

1. Is a phrase that restates something else.

2. Is usually used to restate (or elaborate on) the subject (though it can be used to restate anything really.

3. Is set off with commas if it falls in the middle of the sentence. (Remember: Anything that is set off with commas should be "removable" and a complete sentence remains without it!)

4. Can be used to combine two sentences into one in short, choppy sentences.

Example:

Donna writes language arts and composition books every day.

Donna has written over fifty curriculum texts.

Donna, WHO HAS WRITTEN OVER FIFTY CURRICULUM TEXTS, writes language arts and composition books every day.

Cool, huh?






A is for APPOSITIVE

Did you know that last week's PUNCTUATION PUZZLE had an appositive in it?

I had barely noticed her mood, HER TEMPERAMENT, when she suddenly blew up, and she began shouting and throwing things at me, which was something I was not accustomed to seeing.

Notice the following:

1. Her temperament renames the noun mood.
2. It is set off with commas surrounding it (her temperament).
3. It (along with the commas) can be removed from the sentence, and a complete sentence remains.

WORDY WEDNESDAY--Prefix ir

The prefix ir is an interesting prefix for a number of reasons:

1. It means not. There are many prefixes that can mean not, such as de, a, un, non; however, ir also means not, which is interesting to me because I don't think it sounds like it should mean not! To me, it sounds like it should mean again or repeating or something besides not!

2. It only comes before base words that begin with R. In other words, you do not put ir in front of most any word to mean not, like you often do with un or non. 

3. This isn't really interesting--but I like to say it whenever I teach about prefixes. A prefix is a letter or group of letters that you "affix" (which is why it and suffixes are called affixes) to the beginning of a word. It is important to remember that a prefix does not change the spelling of the base word. That is especially crucial in spelling ir words because the ir precedes an R already--and you must keep the base word's spelling, so when you add this prefix to a word, you will ALWAYS have two R's in a row: irregular, irresponsible, etc.

4. It is most often put before a word that is should never come before: regardless. We hear people constantly say irregardless, which is, of course, an oxymoronic word because less means without (or not) and ir means not. I guess that makes it sort of like using a double negative! You do not put ir before regardless because regardless already means without regard. With ir in front of it, you are saying not without regard, I guess.... Anyway, irregardless is not a word. So don't use it. Okay? :)

Note: It is correct, however, to use irrespective, which is a substitute (some of the time) for when you are tempted to say irregardless.

However, there are many base words that begin with R that can have ir put before them to mean NOT or the opposite of what the base word means before ir is added to it.

Here is a list to get you started. Notice how if you take the ir off, you have a positive base word (or one that means yes--yes regular, yes responsible, yes revocable, etc.) However, with the ir, the word means not---not regular, not responsible, not revocable, etc.

Remember: You know more than you think you know!

And remember: Use what you already know to learn even more!

irregular

 irresponsible

irrevocable

irrefutable

irradiate

irreconcilable

irredeemable

irreducible

irrefutable

irregularity

irrelevant

irreverence

irreligious

irreparable

irreplaceable

irreversible

irresolute

irretrievable

irresistible

Irrelevant

WORDY WEDNESDAY--Prefixes Having to Do With Heat

We are having a heat wave here in Indiana. We have had temperatures above ninety degrees this week. Today it was 92 degrees--a perfect day to go swimming and a perfect day to get a sunburn!

For today's WORDY WEDNESDAY, I thought we would look at two prefixes that have to do with July in Indiana--SOL and THERM.


If you have been reading Language Lady very long, you know my two rules of thumb for learning:

1. You know more than you think you know.

2. Use what you already know to learn even more!

Those two rules of thumb definitely apply to today's prefixes.+

We encourage our students to take a key word--any word that you already know--that has to do what you are trying to learn.

In the case of sol and therm, you can take two words you already know as your "key words" to help you remember these two prefixes:

SOL--solar....you know that solar means sun if you have ever talked about a solar blanket for your pool, solar power (generating power through the sun), or solar eclipse

THERM--thermos or thermal...you know that THERM means heat if you have ever carried your soup or coffee in a thermos or had "thermal underwear" on in the winter to keep you warm.

So...take your two KEY WORDS and use them any time you see the prefixes SOL and THERM:

1. Sol
a. solar
b. solarium--part of a room that is exposed to the sun
c. solstice--the pointer in which the sun stands sill


2. Therm
a. thermoplastic
b. thermos
c. thermodynamics
d. thermoelectric


The "solar heat" is high right now in Indiana, and the thermometer shows it at in the low nineties!

+Remember: A prefix is an affix. An affix is a letter or letters attached to a word that give more meaning to the word. The affix itself actually has meaning. A prefix is an affix that is added to the beginning of a word--thus, the prefix to the word prefix PRE (meaning before)!

PUNCTUATION PUZZLE: The shepherd led them to the brook....

PUNCTUATION PUZZLE---plus a couple of other errors for you to find!

The shepherd lead them to the brook and they drank alot, because they were very, hot, and thirsty.

Here is the answer with an explanation for each aspectbelow: The shepherd led them to the brook, and they drank a lot because they were very hot and thirsty.

 LED vs LEAD: The shepherd LED them to the brook......

      1.  LEAD (pronounced ledd with as short e) is only pronounced ledd when it refers to a metal or pencil graphite.           2. Otherwise LEAD is pronounced leed (long e) and is the current tense of the verb lead (LEED).                                     3. LED is the past tense of the verb LEAD (pronounced LEED, with a long e).

CS ,cc CS--Do you remember these rules for compound sentences? 

1. CS stands for complete sentence; cc stands for coordinating conjunction. 

2. You can join one CS (complete sentence) with another CS by using a comma-cc (,For/ ,And/ ,Nor/ ,But/ ,Or/ ,Yet/ ,So). 

3. You may not combine two complete sentences into one with a cc only--you must put a comma before it: The shepherd led them to the brook, AND they drank....

 ALOT vs A LOT:  ALOT is not one word; it should be two words--A LOT---meaning a bunch or a large amount: The shepherd led them to the brook, and they drank a lot....

No comma before a subordinator at the end of a sentence unless it is a WHICH clause-

1. You do not need a comma before the BECAUSE. 

2. You do not hear a pause (like you would if it were a WHICH clause): The shepherd led them to the brook, and they drank a lot because they were very hot and thirsty.

No Comma Between an adverb and the adjective it describes---

1. Or more clearly put, no comma between a qualifier and a describer: VERY hot and thirsty (not VERY, hot, and thirsty).

2.  Very is an adverb telling how hot (an adverb describing an adjective or qualifying it). 

3. Tip for this: 

     a. If you can put an AND where you are trying to put the comma, then a comma is needed (in place of the and): they were muddy, hot, and thirsty (muddy AND hot AND thirsty). 

     b. If you cannot put an AND, do not put a comma: very AND hot---NO!). 

     c.  Also, do not use a comma when you have only two adjectives and you are placing an AND in between them--either use a comma (hot, thirsty) OR place an AND (hot and thirsty) but not both.