1. CAPITALIZATION Capitalize mom, dad, grandpa, aunt, etc. only in a direct address or if it’s used as a title. – Dad, Grandma Hepler likes it, but my mom and my Aunt Sally do not. Capitalize only courses with numbers or that are languages. – I have Algebra 2, French, and social studies, but not gym. Capitalize the points of a compass only when referring to a region, not a direction. – Ed is from the South, from the northeast section of the city. Capitalize all important words in a title (not articles, preps, or conjunctions unless they are the first or last words). – Three of my favorite books are And Then There Were None, Into the Wild, and Of Mice and Men.

2. POSSESSIVES If the word is singular –add ‘s regardless of how it ends. If the words is plural and end is s –simply add ‘. If the word is plural and doesn’t end in s (called irregulars) –add ‘s. When making two (or more) possessives @ once, you only need to make the last possessive.

3. Plurals –elementary school *To form the plural of most nouns, just add “s” *When a singular noun ends in s, sh, ch, x, or z, you add “es”. *When the singular noun ends in consonant –y, you change the y to “i” and add “ies”. When it’s vowel -y, just add “s”. *When a singular noun ends in o, you add “s” or “es”. *For most nouns ending in f or fe, change the f to “v” and add “s” or “es”. Of course there are always words that follow no pattern. We refer to these as irregulars.

4. PLURALS –grade level *To form the plural of a compound noun written as one word, change the last word in the compound to its plural form. Otherwise change the most important word to the plural form. *For some unique Latin words, they follow a traditional Latin pattern. If a Latin word ends in a, change it to “ae”. If a word ends in us, change it to i. A lesser known rule is that apostrophes can pluralize non-words - “Non-words” refers to letters, numbers, symbols, and words that need help to pluralize.

5. Ex. snowman becomes snowmen brother-in-law becomes brothers-in-law Ex.alumnus becomes alumni fungus becomes fungi Ex. She earned three A’s and two B’s on her report card. I have no 5’s in my phone number, but I do have a couple 2’s. I get tired of seeing &’s used in place of the word and. No if’s, and’s, or but’s about it, I am going to win! ***In the ultra rare case, if I need to make one of these plurals possessive, still only use one apostrophe. Ex. The two ‘s circumferences were a total of 3.5 feet. PLURALS –grade level examples

6. TOP 10 #9 key Possessives A 1.bicyclist’s 2.students’ 3.year’s 4.tree’s 5.Dennis’s 6.bus’s 7.oxen’s 8.writers’ 9.sheep’s 10.minibike’s Possessives B 1.boy’s mother 2.winners’ exhibits 3.gentlemen’s gloves 4.Galileo’s discover 5.Miss Thomas’s explanation 6.monkeys’ cages 7.wineglass’s stem 8.year’s end 9.knights’ lances 10.travelers’ rest stop Possessives A 11. lawyers’ 12. Los Angeles’s 13. The Jacksons’ 14. lady’s 15. group’s 16. knives’ 17. sailors’ 18. teacher’s 19. library’s 20. children’s

7. Top 10 #9 key 1. elephants 2. ladies 3. snowmen 4. monkeys 5. footsteps 6. cameos 7. moose 8. fish (or fishes) 9. glasses 10. roofs 12. raspberries 13.toys 14. lives 15. bunches 16. boxes 18. banjos (or banjoes) 19. brushes 20. staffs (also staves –music, staff - teachers) 21. dresses 22. knives 23. heroes (or heros –the sandwich) 24. flies 25. tomatoes 26. dwarfs (or dwarves) 27. sons-in-law 28. teeth 29. pushups 30. enemies 31. cattle 32. thieves 33. children

8. ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE #9 As Brian Regan suggests… these rules are complex, random, and ultimately, problematic. Thus, pay attention, absorb, and memorize (and thank the heavens for spell check). ***While the world will not end if you incorrectly capitalize algebra, DO NOT CONFUSE making words plural with making them possessive dog vs. dogs vs. dog’s vs. dogs’ baby vs. babiesvs. baby’svs. babies’

9. Singular nounPlural nounSingular possessivePlural possessive $ 7 Alumna (Latin) Alumnus (Latin) Attorney General Spirit Day Glass* Pistachio* Radio* Toothpaste* Ox* Venom* Goose* Mouse* Thief* Staff*

10. Singular nounPlural nounSingular possessivePlural possessive Cherry Box Deer* Father-in-law Value meal Sport Basketball hoop Trio* Domino* Tooth* Foot* Class Phone Butterfly Syllabus (Greek) Flower