The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation (30 page)

Presently

Presume, assume

Principal, principle

Profit, prophet

Prone, supine

Pronouns; caution on apostrophes with; consistency with singular pronouns; defined; following
than
or
as
; linked with nouns by
and
or
or
; object pronouns; possessive pronouns; quizzes; reflexive pronouns; subject pronouns;
this, that, these, those
;
who, which, that

Proper adjectives: capitalizing; prefixes before

Proper nouns: capitalization of; capitalization of
city, county,
etc. before; capitalization of
the
before; defined; possessives of; prefixes before.
See also
Names of people; Names of places

Prophecy, prophesize, prophesy

Prosecute, persecute

Proximity, close

Punctuation: mastery test; pretest

Purposely, purposefully

Q

Question marks; after direct questions; capitalization following; with half statement/half question; not used with indirect or rhetorical questions; quizzes; with quotation marks; replacing periods

Questions: capitalization of midsentence; commas to separate statements from; indirect; rhetorical

Quotation, quote

Quotation marks; double; with nonstandard expressions; with periods and commas; with question marks; quizzes; with quotations longer than one paragraph; single; spacing between single and double; for titles of works

Quotations: brackets with; capitalization of first word of; colons to introduce; commas with; within quotations

R

Rack, wrack

Raise, raze

Rap, wrap

Re-

Real, reel

Reason being is

Reason is because

Reek, wreak

Refer, allude, elude

Reflexive pronouns

Regular nouns

Reign, rein

Relish in

Renown

Rest, as they say, is history

Rest, wrest

Restaurateur

Retch, wretch

Reticent

Reverend

Review, revue

Rhetorical questions

Riff, rift

Right, rite, write

Ring, wring

Road, rode, rowed

Role, roll

Root words

Run-on sentences

Rye, wry

S

Satire, parody

Saver, savor

Scent, sent

Secondly, thirdly, fourthly

Self-

Semiannual, biannual, biennial

Semicolons; colons vs.; before introductory words; quizzes; between sentences; in sentences with multiple clauses; in series containing commas

Sensual, sensuous

Sentence fragments

Sentences: beginning with numbers; capitalization of independent clause or question in middle of; colons between, when second explains first; commas to separate contrasting parts of; ending with prepositions; parallel construction; in parentheses; periods at end of; run-on; semicolons between; word order in.
See also
Independent clauses

Serf, surf

Serial, cereal

Series: colon to introduce; commas in; semicolons in.
See also
Lists

Set, sit

Sew, so, sow

Shear, sheer

[
sic
]

Sight, site, cite

Simplistic

Since, because

Site, sight, cite

Slash (/)

Sleight, slight

Snuck

So, sew, sow

Soar, sore

Sole, soul

Some, sum

Son, sun

Spacing: with AM or PM; around hyphens; with dashes; with ellipses; between single and double quotation marks

Split infinitives

Sr.

Staid, stayed

Stair, stare

Stake, steak

Stationary, stationery

Steal, steel

Step, steppe

Stomping grounds

Straight, strait

Strategy, stratagem

Subject pronouns

Subjects: defined; how to find; quizzes on finding; underlining

Subject-verb agreement; with
and
; with collective nouns; with dashes; with distances, period of time, sums of money, etc.; with
here
and
there
; with interrupting expressions; with
none
; with
or, either/or, neither/nor
; with parentheses; with phrases beginning with
of
; with portions; with pronouns; quizzes; singular vs. plural verbs; subjunctive mood; with
who, that, which

Subjunctive mood: defined; subject-verb agreement

Subtitles

Suffixes; beginning with same letter that ends root word; defined; not usually hyphenated; quizzes on hyphens with; using discretion with hyphenating

Sum, some

Sun, son

Sundae, Sunday

Supine, prone

Suppose to

Surf, serf

Sympathy, empathy

T

Tack, tact

Tail, tale

Take, bring

Taught, taut

Team, teem

Temblor

Tenant, tenet

Than
, pronouns after

Than, then

That, who, which
; quizzes

That is

The
, capitalization before proper nouns

The national anthem

Their, there, they're
; quizzes

There is, there are

There's

They
and
their
, with singular pronouns

This, that, these, those

Those kind of

Till, `til

Titles and offices: capitalization of; commas with

Titles of courses

Titles of works: capitalization of; quotation marks or italics for

To, too, two

Tort, torte

Tortuous, torturous

Totally

Toward, towards

Transpire

Tremblor

Troop, troupe

Truly

Turbid, turgid

U

Uninterested, disinterested

Unique

Utilize

V

Vain, vane, vein

Venal, venial

Verbs: compound; defined; how to find; infinitives; quizzes on finding; types of; underlining.
See also
Subject-verb agreement

Verses, versus

Very

Viable

Vial, vile

Vice, vise

Virgule

Virtually

Voice, active vs. passive

W

Waist, waste

Wait, weight

Waiver, waver

Warn, worn

Warrantee, warranty

Wary, weary

Way, weigh

Ways to go

Weak, week

Weather, whether

Webster's New World College Dictionary

Well, good

Whether or not

Which, who, that
; quizzes

While, wile

Who
, subject-verb agreement

Who, which, that
; quizzes

Who,
whom
; quizzes

Whoever, whomever
; quizzes

Whole, hole

Wholly, holy

Who's,
whose

With regard(s) to, in regard(s) to

Won't, wont

Words on Words
(Bremner)

Worn, warn

Wrack, rack

Wrap, rap

Wreak (wreck) havoc

Wreak, reek

Wrest, rest

Wretch, retch

Wring, ring

Write, right, rite

Writing, effective; active vs. passive voice; concrete vs. vague language; dangling modifiers; double negatives; misplaced modifiers; overuse of
there is/are, it is/was,
etc.; parallel construction; quizzes; sentence fragments.
See also
Business writing

Writing numbers; beginning sentences; commas in; dates; decades; decimals; fractions; hyphens with ages; hyphens with spelled-out numbers; large numbers; money; quizzes, pretest, and mastery test; time of day; using figures vs. spelling out numbers; when to use
and
in spelled-out numbers; years

Wry, rye

Y

Yoke, yolk

You're, your