Beside each of the phrases provided, write an I if each is an
infinitive; write PP if it is a prepositional phrase.
1. to go I
2. to sing I
3. to the government PP
4. to a boy PP
5. to walk I
6. to be I
7. to see I
8. to
9. to John Adams PP
10. to crush I
11. to believe I
12. to his belief PP
13. to write I
14. to the sun PP
15. to confess I
Capitalization can be so tricky! Capitalize Susan in black-eyed Susan but not geraniums. Capitalize Mom in Tomorrow Mom is taking us to town. But not mom in Tomorrow my mom is taking us to town. Capitalize President when referring to a certain president but not mayor unless his or her name is with the word….agghgh…..
And so it is with compass directions!
Here’s the run-down:
1. Capitalize a direction when it is referring to a specific location or place:
a.We are going out West for vacation.
b. My daughter is in South Carolina.
c. She is moving out East.
2. Do not capitalize a direction when it is referrig to a compass direction:
a. Turn west at the light.
b. We live on the south side of the road.
Tricky huh? I’ll give you a few more in days to come. Study hard! 🙂
This tricky plural rule is probably misused more than it is used correctly!
The key to making hyphenated words plural is to pluralize the first part–the noun part.
Thus, the following words are pluraled as listed:
1. Brother-in-law—brothers-in-law
2. Sister-in-law—sisters-in-law
3. Mother-in-law—mothers-in-law
4. Father-in-law—fathers-in-law
You are making the brother, sister, mother, and father plural–not the law part!
Exceptions are when an adjective comes first:
1. Great-grandma—great grandmas (you are not making great plural)
2. Great-nephew—great nephews
Beside each of the phrases provided, write an I if each is an infinitive; write PP if it is a prepositional phrase.
1. to go
2. to sing
3. to the government
4. to a boy
5. to walk
6. to be
7. to see
8. to
9. to John Adams
10. to crush
11. to believe
12. to his belief
13. to write
14. to the sun
15. to confess
a. to think
b. to be
c. to show
3. To can also be a preposition (a word
that shows position). To know if the to is an infinitive or a preposition,
follow these rules:
a. Look at the word following the to.
b. If the word following to is a verb, you know
it is an infinitive. For
example: to know
c. If the word following the to is anything else
(noun, pronoun, adjective, etc.), it is a prepositional phrase. For
example: to the house
Want to share a super source for those helping kids with homework, reading a difficult book, teaching…well, really, anybody. It is Merrriam Webster’s Online Dictionary.
Some of the features we like:
1. Type in any word–it finishes them for you (for those who say, “I can’t use a dictionary if I don’t know how to spell the word to begin with”!)
2. Type in any word and get the definition
3. Type in any word and click “thesaurus” to get synonyms and even some antonyms
4. Click on the speaker and listen to someone say the word–we do this every week before we give spelling tests to ensure that we are pronouncing harder words correctly for our students
5. Links at the bottom of the dictionary page for each word with more sites, etymologies, and much more!
Trust me…you will love Merriam Webster Online!
