GRAMMAR RULE OF THE WEEK
Capitalize names of people, titles
used in front of a person’s name,
places, days, months, holidays, and
special events.
VOCABULARY TERM:
kowtow (v) – to be overly polite and
flattering
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
Many people don’t like mr james
jacobs because he kowtows to his
boss to get promotions.
VOCABULARY TERM:
labyrinthine (adj) – complicated;
perplexing
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
The maze that we always visit in
october around halloween is very
labyrinthine.
VOCABULARY TERM:
lambent (adj) – softly bright; flickering
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
The light from the Eiffel Tower in
paris france was lambent and made a
beautiful backdrop for our picture.
VOCABULARY TERM:
languid (adj) – drooping; sluggish
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
The people of new orleans are often
languid after a long night of
celebration during mardis gras.
VOCABULARY TERM:
libation (n) – a beverage
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
Many people enjoy having libations like
wine with their thanksgiving meals.
GRAMMAR RULE OF THE WEEK
Capitalize names of nationalities,
peoples, languages, direction
words referring to parts of the
country, and the name of a school
subject if it comes from the name
of a country or is followed by a
Roman numeral.
VOCABULARY TERM:
lineage (n) – descent in a direct line from
an ancestor
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
The italian man from the north of the
country traced his lineage as far back
as a great-grandfather in the south of
france.
VOCABULARY TERM:
loquacious (adj) – very talkative
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
Many students in Biology got in trouble
for being loquacious, but students in
chemistry II were quiet and were
rewarded with candy.
VOCABULARY TERM:
ludicrous (adj) – laughable because of
obvious absurdity
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
Many students were angry about the
ludicrous pictures that the students in
yearbook I put in the yearbook.
VOCABULARY TERM:
lugubrious (adj) – exaggeratedly
mournful
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
The south african people were
lugubrious for months after their team
lost the World Cup.
VOCABULARY TERM:
luminary (n) – one who is notable in a
particular field
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
The scientist was a luminary and was
awarded the Nobel Prize, but his speech
was in greek, which many people could
not understand.
GRAMMAR RULE OF THE WEEK
Capitalize names, the first word and all
important words in the titles of books,
plays, newspapers, articles, paintings,
periodicals, movies, musical compositions,
poems, and other works of art, references
to religions, denominations, sacred works,
books of the Bible, deities or prophets. Do
not capitalize god or goddesses when it
refers to the gods of mythology.
VOCABULARY TERM:
maelstrom (n) – a powerful whirlpool;
turmoil
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
In pirates of the caribbean, captain Jack
Sparrow and his crew were tossed
around during the strong maelstrom.
VOCABULARY TERM:
manacle (n) – a handcuff; a restraint
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
The baptist preacher was placed in
manacles after defacing pages from the
koran.
VOCABULARY TERM:
masticate (v) – to chew
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
The rude museum-goer masticated his
gum and then placed it on the painting
of the mona lisa.
VOCABULARY TERM:
mausoleum (n) – a large, elaborate tomb
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
Legend says that the mausoleum the poet
wrote about in annabel lee was really the
tomb of the author’s wife.
VOCABULARY TERM:
mellifluous (adj) –smoothly flowing
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
Stories tell of mellifluous seas being
rocked by waves when the mythological
God Zeus got angry.
GRAMMAR RULE OF THE WEEK
Use apostrophes to show
ownership, form contractions,
and in place of omitted numbers
in a year.
VOCABULARY TERM:
metamorphosis (n) – a transformation
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
Cinderellas metamorphosis from a
housemaid to a beautiful princess is
magical to see.
VOCABULARY TERM:
monolith (n) – a single large stone, often
in the form of a column or monument
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
Seeing the carvings in the side of the
monolith was Janices favorite part of
the trip to England.
VOCABULARY TERM:
nadir (n) – the lowest point
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
The political ads of 12 reached a new
nadir and many voters werent happy
about them.
VOCABULARY TERM:
nocturnal (adj) – pertaining to the night;
active at night
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
The nocturnal activity of the bats
caused the boys moms to have them all
come home from the park early.
VOCABULARY TERM:
nodule (n) – a small lump
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
The nodules in my grandmothers cake
batter prevented the cake from rising
correctly in the oven.
GRAMMAR RULE OF THE WEEK
Fragments may lack a subject,
verb, or both, or may be
punctuated incorrectly to form an
incomplete thought.
VOCABULARY TERM:
obdurate (adj) – hard; unmoved by
persuasion
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
My obdurate puppy.
VOCABULARY TERM:
obsequious (adj) – fawning; servile
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
After creating a commotion in class, the
obsequious boy.
VOCABULARY TERM:
opulent (adj) – demonstrating great
wealth; extravagant
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
The opulent mansion is known for.
VOCABULARY TERM:
oscillate (v) – to swing back and forth
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
The fan oscillated and made the model’s
hair blow softly in the.
VOCABULARY TERM:
ostracize (v) – to exclude from a group
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
Jermaine like to ostracize people from
the group because.
GRAMMAR RULE OF THE WEEK
A run-on sentence is two or more
complete sentences written as
though they were one sentence.
Two or more sentences may not
be written without punctuation
marks or conjunctions between
them.
VOCABULARY TERM:
ovation (n) – enthusiastic display of
approval; applause
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
The crowd gave the singer a standing
ovation but they did not clap for the
dancer.
VOCABULARY TERM:
panorama (n) – a wide, unbroken view
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
The panorama of the mountains was
soothing it made me want to stay there
forever.
VOCABULARY TERM:
paraphernalia (n) – personal belongings
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
The young man was arrested for stealing
paraphernalia from the teacher’s desk
he was expelled from school.
VOCABULARY TERM:
pariah (n) – an outcast
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
Kerry is a pariah that makes me sad for
her.
VOCABULARY TERM:
parochial (adj) – relating to a church
parish
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
Many parents want to send their
children to the parochial school but the
schools tuition is too expensive.
GRAMMAR RULE OF THE WEEK
Two or more sentences may not
be connected with a comma. This
is known as a “comma splice.”
VOCABULARY TERM:
penurious (adj) – stingy; extremely poor
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
Scrooge is known as a grumpy man, he
will not give money to his penurious
neighbors.
VOCABULARY TERM:
pilfer (v) – to steal insignificant items
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
The principal wasnt sure who pilfered the
gum, he knew it was someone in third
period.
VOCABULARY TERM:
pinion (v) – to restrain by binding the
arms
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
Soldiers have to learn to pinion their
enemies, they have to be careful not to
apply too much force.
VOCABULARY TERM:
pinnacle (n) – the highest point
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
The mountain climber reached the
pinnacle of the mountain, it was so
beautiful he didn’t want to come back
down.
VOCABULARY TERM:
plummet (v) – to fall or plunge straight
downward
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
The plane began to plummet, the
passengers were all scared.
GRAMMAR RULE OF THE WEEK
A comma is used before a
coordinating conjunction joining
two main clauses.
VOCABULARY TERM:
pogrom (n) – an organized persecution
of massacre
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
During the Holocaust, Hitler organized
many pogroms against the Jews, and
many innocent people were killed.
VOCABULARY TERM:
polyglot (n) – using several languages
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
Annie is a polyglot so many people often
call on her to be a translator.
VOCABULARY TERM:
posh (adj) – elegant; fashionable
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
Tevin’s home is very posh from the
outside but on the inside it is a mess.
VOCABULARY TERM:
potable (adj) – fit to drink
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
The drink that the bartender made
looked lovely but it tasted terrible
and was not potable.
VOCABULARY TERM:
precarious (adj) – dangerous; risky
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
The situation between the two groups of
military forces was precarious and no
one knew what to expect.
GRAMMAR RULE OF THE WEEK
Using the grammar rules from
this quarter, identify the errors in
the following sentences.
VOCABULARY TERM:
progeny (n) – offspring; descendants
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
The members of the class of 88 shared a
nice french meal at the reunion and
they all talked about their progeny.
VOCABULARY TERM:
projectile (n) – a missile; something
thrown
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
The projectile came from the van and
hit mr. ericson in the head so hard that
he had to be taken to a hospital in the
east.
VOCABULARY TERM:
promontory (n) – a high point of land or
rock projecting into water
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
In the short story “the most dangerous
game,” Zaroff traps ships by guiding
them straight toward the dangerous
promontory.
VOCABULARY TERM:
prostrate (adj) – lying flat
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
She was injured by falling prostrate down
the mountain in romania but she
insisted that she remain on the trip.
VOCABULARY TERM:
pugilist (n) – a fighter; boxer
SENTENCE CORRECTION:
The pugilist wasnt winning any fights in
07 so he practiced harder and won all
the leagues titles in 08.