Grammar and Style Checklist Daniel E. Miller miller-dem@CentralEuropeanObserver.com Structure and Format ❑ Write a concise opening paragraph that includes a thesis statement. ❑ Divide the paper into paragraphs, but do not use short paragraphs. ❑ Write a conclusion that summarizes the thought process of your paper. ❑ Place page numbers, using arabic numerals, in the upper right-hand corner of all but the title page and first page. ❑ The title page is not the first page. Begin page numbering with the first page of text. ❑ Use a standard 12 pt. font, such as Times New Roman. ❑ Use 1” margins. ❑ Justify on the left. ❑ Do not divide a paper into sections. Instead, write good transitions. ❑ Do not add extra spaces between paragraphs. ❑ To find unusual symbols and foreign characters in a word processing program, click on Insert and select Symbol in the dialog box. ❑ Use the spelling and grammar checkers in word processing programs, but do not allow the program to make changes automatically. The results often are humorous. ❑ Staple the paper in the upper left-hand corner. Do not use folders, covers, or paper clips. Usage and Style ❑ Do not use short, choppy sentences. ❑ Combine sentences to produce complex and interesting sentences and to eliminate repeats, especially if a word or phrase repeats, in sequence, at the end of one sentence and the beginning of another. ❑ Do not use contractions. ❑ Do not use abbreviations. ❑ Do not use colloquialisms. ❑ Explain anything that is vague. Be precise. ❑ Provide full names, along with birth and death years in parentheses, the first time an individual’s name appears in the text. ❑ Avoid beginning sentences with conjunctions. ❑ Do not end sentences with prepositions. ❑ Do not mix tenses. When writing about events in the past, use the past tense. ❑ Avoid negatives; never use double negatives. ❑ Eliminate wordiness, that is, unnecessary words and phrases. ❑ Eliminate redundancies, such as and also, completely dead, and very pregnant. ❑ Eliminate repeated words and phrases. ❑ Eliminate passive voice. ❑ Use pluperfect (past perfect) when describing two events in the past that did not occur simultaneously: After I had purchased my first car, I decided to take a vacation. ❑ Eliminate sentence fragments (make sure sentences are complete). ❑ Do not separate verb phrases or split infinitives. ❑ Do not use first person and second person singular or plural. ❑ Use neuter pronouns for political entities (states are not feminine). ❑ Do not ask questions, instead answer them to form a thesis. ❑ Do not speculate or hypothesize. If you have proof, theorize. ❑ Do not use italics, bold, underscores, and single or double quotation marks for emphasis. Instead, carefully select descriptive words. ❑ Form centuries and decades without apostrophes, such as 1900s and 1980s. ❑ Spell out centuries instead of using abbreviations, such as 19th or 20th. ❑ Use that and which for things; use who for people. ❑ Review the use of ellipsis. ❑ The ellipsis has three periods with spaces between periods and spaces separating the first and last periods from neighboring words: blue . . . green. ❑ Do not use ellipsis to open or close a quotation.
❑ When using a double dash, do not add any spaces–the word processing program will close the separate dashes to make one em dash.❑When using parallel construction, be
❑ Do not use archaic forms, such as amidst, amongst, thusly, and whilst. ❑ Do not use the incorrect form of words, such as irregardless. ❑ Use conventional spelling, for example, light, instead of lite. ❑ Be cautious about word choice. For example, dictators and generals do not reign since they are not royalty. ❑ Eliminate malapropisms. Capitalization ❑ Use lowercase for titles not associated directly with the name of an individual (the foreign minister, but Foreign Minister Smith). ❑ Do not capitalize nouns unnecessarily (a republican form of government, and the republic, but the Republican party, the Weimar Republic, and the French Third Republic). Possessives ❑ Form the possessive singular using ’s, in most cases. Those who tend to use apostrophes with every word that ends in s need to review the rules of forming plurals,
❑ Form the possessive plural using s’, in most cases. ❑ Check unusual possessive forms, such as women’s, men’s (both possessive plural), Moses’ and Jesus’. Pronouns ❑ Make sure the antecedent for a pronoun is clear, especially if a pronoun appears in a sentence as a subject because it must agree with the subject of the preceding sentence
❑ Be certain that nouns and pronouns agree in number (Wrong: Ted and Tom caught bass and carp. They cleaned it on the shore). ❑ Do not confuse contractions and possessive pronouns, such as it’s and its or who’s and whose. Punctuation ❑ Watch comma usage. ❑ Insert a comma before conjunctions that join two independent clauses. ❑ Do not use commas before a conjunction introducing a dependent clause. ❑ Use commas to set off appositives. ❑ Use commas to set off nonrestrictive (unnecessary) clauses, like prepositional phrases, and parenthetic phrases beginning with such as, including, and especially. ❑ In a series, place a comma after each item, aside from the last (a, b, and c) ❑ Use commas properly with dates, as in December 7, 1941, or use the preferred dating system without commas, for example, 7 December 1941.
❑ Use a semicolon to replace a conjunction when joining two independent clauses. ❑ When constructing long lists, use a colon to introduce the list. Separate the list with ordinal numbers (first, . . . ; second, . . . ; third . . . ; never firstly, secondly, and
Quotations ❑ When quoting a source, be sure to identify the speaker in the body of the text. ❑ When quoting, use double quotation marks, without inserting spaces between the quotation marks and the first and last word. ❑ Place punctuation inside quotation marks, aside from colons, semicolons, and sometimes quotation marks. ❑ Question marks with sentences that end in quotations should be inside the quotation marks if the entire sentence is a quotation and outside the quotation marks if the quoted
❑ Use single quotation marks for quotations within quotations, even at the beginning or the end of a sentence (“‘Off with her head!’ cried the king.”). ❑ Use block quotations for quotations that are four or more lines long. Indent the block quotation 0.5" from the left margin, using the indent command in the word processor.
Citations (Footnoting and Endnoting) ❑ Use either footnotes or endnotes to cite quotations or evidence that is not common knowledge. Do not use parenthetical footnoting. ❑ Use the standard or long format for citations, as found in the most current edition of Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations or A Manual of Style for Authors, Editors, and Copywriters, both published by the University of Chicago Press. ❑ Check the format for citations (see the references above). Watch for the proper use of commas, periods, italics, and other punctuation in citations. ❑ Place all citation numbers at the ends of sentences. If necessary, include multiple sources in the footnote, indicating their relationship to the text. Example: Smith,
❑ Avoid placing text in endnotes or footnotes. Integrate the information into the body of the paper or eliminate it. ❑ Use shortened references after the first full reference. Never repeat the full entry of a source. If a word processor automatically repeats the full entry, turn off that
❑ Place endnotes on a separate page. Press Control+Enter at the end of the text to create a new page (pressing Enter multiple times will result in formatting errors). On the
❑ Do not create footnotes or endnotes manually. Let the computer do the work. ❑ When creating bibliographies, use the word processor’s hanging indent feature (using Enter+Tab will result in formatting errors). Rev. 16.IV.2017 |
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