Can You Pick the Grammatically Correct Sentence?

To separate nonessential words from the rest of the sentence, use commas around those words. If used correctly, the sentence should still make complete sense if you take those words out.

A semicolon is used to join two separate clauses that are closely related in topic into one sentence. This is helpful to prevent having a bunch of short, choppy sentences in your writing.

"To imply" is something that the speaker does, while "to infer" is something the listener does about something the speaker said. They are often used interchangeable, but they should not be, and are entirely different words with different meanings.

"Their" is possessive, meaning that whatever follows that word is owned by someone. "Their" is always followed by a noun.

"Danger" words are called such because they introduce a thought that requires a follow-up clause, and many people forget them. Three most common danger words are "if," "when," and "because."

A run-on sentence is a sentence that contains multiple independent clauses that are not separate by any punctuation, or incorrect punctuation. They should not be used, even sparingly.

Parallel structure refers to words keeping the same tense and the way the words match each other. If you use a verb ending in -ing, all other verbs in that same sentence must also end in -ing, for example.

A sentence fragment is one that doesn't have a subject, a verb, or both. It lacks an independent clause and therefore, is not a complete sentence.

A modifier is a describing word, so think of what is being described. In the example above, the sunglasses are shiny, not the man.

This common mistake is called a vague pronoun. Is the "she" referring to the mom or the sister? It should be clear in the sentence who the pronoun is referring to. If you can't make it clear, be more specific with the subject.

In a comparison situation, a lot of people forget the part of the sentence that states what they're comparing. If you choose to structure your sentence this way, make sure it is a complete comparison.

When using a company or an entity in a sentence, you should never use plural terms when referring to it later in the sentence. Since we don't identify genders to companies, it is easy to see where that desire to use "they" comes from, but it should be avoided as it is not grammatically correct.

When writing about a person, you always use "who" and not "that." "That" has become acceptable in everyday conversations, but it's a slippery slope. You wouldn't want to end up using it professionally because you got so used to saying it casually.

This is a classic example of bad grammar. Just like math, two negatives equal a positive, so if you didn't want no popcorn, you do, in fact, want popcorn.

The subject of a sentence tells you who the rest of the sentence is about. Include any modifiers to the subject as well, as there is a difference between "girls" and "all the girls."

The predicate is the action to the subject. So if "all the girls" is the subject, to figure out the predicate, look at the sentence to see what action the girls are performing.

The only time the word "president" is capitalized is when it precedes the president's name, or is being used in place of the person's actual name, such as Mr. President.. Other than that, it should always be lower case.

The common misconception is that all adverbs end in -ly and all words ending in -ly are adverbs. That is false. When looking for the adverb, look for the words that describe how, where, or when something happens.

Verbs can either be transitive or intransitive. The former needs a direct object, while the latter cannot have one. "Sent" is the transitive verb, while "a postcard" is the direct object.

A noun is either a person, a place, or a thing. In the example above, there are three words that fit that description. The word "across" is a preposition.

There are a lot of plural words that don't just add an "s" at the end, and "cactus" is one of them. The plural is actually "cacti" although others have become acceptable in casual speech.

A compound sentence uses words like "and," "or," or "but" to connect two independent clauses. This is used to prevent short, choppy sentences in writing.

Abbreviations can be tricky because there is seemingly no rhyme or reason to how things are abbreviated. The word "pint" for example, is abbreviated using the first and last letter, but the word "gallon" uses the first three letters.

"Its" is used when referring to an object, whereas "it's" is used to bring together the words "it" and "is." If you're ever in doubt, try saying the sentence with the words "it" and "is" instead of the "its" and if it makes sense, put in the apostrophe.

Without the "d" at the end of "serve" it makes it seem like the person first to arrive at the outside bar will be serving everyone else. Since that is not the intention of the phrase, the "d" is very important, but often gets overlooked, especially when the phrase is delivered verbally.

To indicate that something belongs to someone, you would put the apostrophe before the "s," as in "It's the girl's cake." There are other ways to use an apostrophe, but that is the correct way to show possession.

"Fewer" refers to something you can actually count, whereas "less" refers to a commodity like water or sand; something you can't really count. It can be tricky, so if you aren't sure, look it up.

The word "invite" is a verb, so therefore, cannot be accepted as a thing, it can only be done as an action. The "invitation" is the noun that you are accepting.

The word "then" is used when listing timely events. The other version, "than," is used when comparing two or more things.

The form "lie" doesn't need an object, so it can be used as an action. "Lay" must have an object following it, but it is also the past-tense of "lie" so it can be used as an action only if a time in the past is also used in the sentence.

"Nor" is only used in before the second in a series of alternatives and only when "neither" introduces the first. "Or" is used when "not" is used to introduce the first, and "or" is used before the second alternative.

A preposition is a positioning word, and should never be used at the end of a sentence. The correct version of the sentence above is "On which side of the bed are you sleeping."

"Since" refers to time, while "because" refers to causation. When you are using "since" it must be used with the correct verb tense since it does refer to time.

"A while" and "awhile" are not interchangeable. "Awhile" is an adverb meaning "for a while" and "a while" is a noun.

"Capital" refers to uppercase letters, money, or the seat of the government. "Capitol" refers to the building where the government sits, and nothing else.