1. Odd and Ends

2. Apostrophes Plurals Apostrophes should NOT be used to form plurals
Example: 1900s ; Saturdays ; PhDs
Rare Exception: use an apostrophe when an abbreviation, letters, or words are used as nouns or to avoid confusion
Example: He received four A’s and two B’s.
Example: Do we have more yes’s than no’s?
Contractions
When you put contractions in your writing, be sure you are putting in the apostrophes
Example: can’t → cannot; won’t → will not; she’s → she is
Normally in a formal piece of writing, you should avoid contractions and actually write them out

3. Apostrophes
Shared Possession: when two nouns share the possession of an item, you add an “ ‘s “ to the end of the second noun
Example: I want to go to James and Sharon’s house. (they live in the same house)
Individual Possession: when two nouns need to show individual possession but are joined by a conjunction, you add an “ ‘s “ to each noun
Example: Chris’s and John’s houses were made by the same designer. (individual houses)
Possessives
Singular Possessives: you show possession by adding an “ ‘s” to the word
Example: the lawyer’s fee; the child’s toy; a week’s vacation
Plural Possessive: you show possession by adding an “s’” to the word
Example: the lawyers’ fees; the children’s toys; two weeks’ vacation

4. Dashes (-) Dashes can take the place of comma, parentheses, or colons
Dashes can be used instead of commas to set off nonessential information
Example: And yet, when the car was finally delivered, nearly three months after it was ordered, she decided she no longer wanted it.
Example: And yet, when the car was finally delivered--nearly three months after it was ordered--she decided she no longer wanted it.
Dashes can be used instead of parentheses to add more information to a sentence
Example: Upon discovering the errors (all 124 of them), the publisher immediately recalled all the books.
Example: Upon discovering the errors--all 124 of them--the publisher immediately recalled all the books.

5. Dashes
Dashes can be used instead of colons to separate a sentence from a simple phrase
Example: After months of deliberation, the jury came back with a verdict: guilty.
Example: After months of deliberation, the jury came back with a verdict--guilty.
Example: The white sand, the warm water, the sparkling sun: this is what brought them to Hawaii.
Example: The white sand, the warm water, the sparkling sun--this is what brought them to Hawaii.

6. Numbers You should write out all numbers when writing formally.
Example: one, ten, thirty-one, sixty cents, one hundred thirty-six dollars, eleven o’clock
You can write out years using numbers
Example: 1936, 1800s, 2016

7. Titles of Works
Italicized / Underline: use italics/ underline for larger pieces of works
Use italics when typing and underlining when writing
Examples:
Books Full-length plays Long poems
Music albums Newspapers Magazines
Movies Television and radio shows Airplanes
Spacecrafts Trains Court cases
Works of art Musical works; operas/musicals
Computer and video games
Quotation Marks: use quotation marks for smaller pieces of works
Examples:
Chapters Articles Songs
Short Stories Essays Poems
Short Films Scenes/Episodes of TV shows