Subject-verb agreement: A singular subject takes a singular verb; a plural subject takes a plural verb
Ignore the phrase between: Words in a prepositional phrase after the subject do not change the verb
Compound subject with and: Two subjects joined by 'and' usually take a plural verb
Subjects joined by or/nor: The verb agrees with the subject closer to it
Collective nouns: Treat as singular when the group acts as one unit
Indefinite pronouns: singular: each, every, either, neither, everyone, someone, anybody take singular verbs
Indefinite pronouns: plural: both, few, many, several take plural verbs
Inverted sentences: Find the real subject even when the verb comes first
Pronoun-antecedent agreement: A pronoun must match its noun in number and gender
Pronoun case: subject: Use I, he, she, we, they as subjects
Pronoun case: object: Use me, him, her, us, them as objects
Who vs. whom: 'Who' is a subject; 'whom' is an object; test with he/him
Than/as comparisons: Finish the comparison in your head to pick the case
Ambiguous pronoun: Make clear which noun a pronoun refers to
Its vs. it's: 'Its' shows possession; 'it's' means 'it is' or 'it has'
Their, there, they're: Their = belonging to them; there = place; they're = they are
Your vs. you're: 'Your' shows possession; 'you're' means 'you are'
Whose vs. who's: 'Whose' shows possession; 'who's' means 'who is' or 'who has'
Affect vs. effect: Affect is usually a verb (to influence); effect is usually a noun (a result)
Then vs. than: 'Then' relates to time; 'than' makes comparisons
Fewer vs. less: Use 'fewer' for things you can count; 'less' for amounts you cannot
Among vs. between: Use 'between' for two items; 'among' for three or more
Lie vs. lay: 'Lie' (lie, lay, lain) means recline; 'lay' (lay, laid, laid) needs an object
Comparative: Compare two things with -er or 'more'
Superlative: Compare three or more with -est or 'most'
Double comparison error: Do not stack -er and 'more'
Parallel structure: Items in a list or pair must share the same grammatical form
Faulty parallelism fix: Match forms after 'not only... but also' and 'either... or'
Dangling modifier: An opening phrase must describe the noun that comes right after it
Misplaced modifier: Put a descriptive phrase next to the word it describes
Run-on sentence: Two complete sentences joined with no punctuation or connector
Comma splice: Two complete sentences joined with only a comma; fix with period, semicolon or conjunction
Sentence fragment: A group of words missing a subject, a verb, or a complete thought
Semicolon: Joins two closely related complete sentences without a conjunction
Colon: after a complete sentence: A colon introduces a list, explanation or quote that follows a full independent clause
No colon after a verb: Do not put a colon between a verb and its object or between a preposition and its object
Comma with FANBOYS: Put a comma before for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so when joining two complete sentences
Comma after introductory phrase: Set off an opening phrase or clause with a comma
Commas in a series: Separate three or more items with commas
Nonessential clause: Set off extra information with commas on both sides
Essential clause: Do not use commas around information needed to identify the noun
Which vs. that: 'That' starts essential clauses; 'which' usually starts nonessential ones with commas
Appositive: A noun phrase renaming another noun; set it off with commas if nonessential
No comma between subject and verb: Never separate a subject from its verb with a single comma
Coordinate adjectives: Use a comma between adjectives that can be reordered or joined by 'and'
Possessive singular noun: Add apostrophe + s
Possessive plural noun ending in s: Add only an apostrophe
Irregular plural possessive: Add apostrophe + s
Apostrophes never make plurals: Do not write 'apple's' to mean more than one apple
Dashes: A pair of dashes sets off an interruption like a stronger parentheses
Hyphen in compound modifier: Hyphenate before a noun, not after
Verb tense consistency: Keep the same tense unless the time truly changes
Past perfect: Use 'had' + past participle for an earlier past event
Present perfect: Use 'has/have' + past participle for an action continuing to now
Conditional (if): Use 'were' for unreal wishes
Redundancy: Cut words that repeat meaning
Concision: Choose the shortest choice that keeps the full meaning
Idioms and prepositions: Learn fixed pairs
Active vs. passive voice: Active puts the doer first; passive hides or delays the doer
Transition words: contrast: however, but, yet, nevertheless, on the other hand
Transition words: addition: furthermore, moreover, also, in addition
Transition words: cause and effect: therefore, consequently, as a result, thus
Transition words: example: for instance, for example, specifically
Possessive before gerund: Use a possessive before an -ing noun
Between you and me: After a preposition use object case
Reflexive pronouns: Use -self only when the subject is also the object
Plural of numbers and letters: Write 1990s and A's; avoid needless apostrophes with decades
Quotation marks and punctuation: In American English, commas and periods go inside closing quotation marks
Question marks: Use with direct questions only, not indirect ones
Capitalization: Capitalize proper nouns, sentence starts, and titles before names
Number agreement with 'number': 'The number of' is singular; 'a number of' is plural
Neither/nor, either/or pairs: Always use 'nor' with 'neither' and 'or' with 'either'
Correlative parallelism: Both X and Y, not only X but also Y, need matching forms
Subject complement: After linking verbs use subject case
Adjectives vs. adverbs: Adjectives describe nouns; adverbs describe verbs, adjectives and other adverbs
Good vs. well: 'Good' is an adjective; 'well' is usually an adverb
Double negative: Do not use two negatives to express one negative idea
Verb forms: Use correct past participles

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