by NatashaDeen | Jul 11, 2011 | Mechanical Monday
No, no, not the sprint you do when you’re at the grocery store, have one item, an are trying to beat the dude trying to sneak eleven items into the œten only line. I’m talking about the dash you use in writing, when you want to set something apart”a part...
by NatashaDeen | Jul 4, 2011 | Mechanical Monday
Apostrophes are used to show possession: Mark’s pen, Joe’s house.If the noun (singular or plural) does not end in ‘s,’ add the ‘s’ and the apostrophe: Mal’s desk; the doctor’s book.If the noun does end in...
by NatashaDeen | Jun 27, 2011 | Mechanical Monday
Colons follow independent clauses, semi-colons link two independent clauses. Now, right or wrong, the way I remember this is that a semi-colon can be used in place of a period (i.e., Jeff got fired from work; they said he was absent too often. Jeff got fired from...
by NatashaDeen | Jun 20, 2011 | Mechanical Monday
**Squeak** Monday’s almost over and I forgot to post! Can you tell what kind of day it’s been? From the desk of Strunk & White, I give you the uses of the comma: In a list (except for the last item): cats, dogs, kangaroos, and donkeys. To enclose...
by NatashaDeen | Jun 13, 2011 | Mechanical Monday
Ah, the happy, helpful colon. Use this little guy with lists, quotations, or to explain the thing (technical term: clause) that precedes the colon. So: Things we need for camping: air mattress, tent, stove. I love what Nietzsche said about perseverance: œYou can...
by NatashaDeen | Jun 6, 2011 | Mechanical Monday
First of all, what’s a modifier? Basically it’s a word or phrase that describes what you’re talking about (the grown-up/technical definition: it’s an adverb, adjective, phrase, or clause that acts as a modifier (but I don’t like it when...
