Grammar Cheat Sheet

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• Comma — lists

  Punctuation — Use commas to separate three or more items in a series.

• Oxford comma

  Punctuation — The Oxford (serial) comma goes before "and" in a list of thr…

• Comma — joining clauses

  Punctuation — Use a comma before a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or,…

• Comma — introductory element

  Punctuation — Use a comma after an introductory word, phrase, or clause.

• Apostrophe — possession

  Punctuation — Add apostrophe + s to show possession for singular nouns. Fo…

• Apostrophe — contraction

  Punctuation — Use an apostrophe to show where letters have been omitted in…

• Colon

  Punctuation — Use a colon to introduce a list, explanation, or quotation t…

• Semicolon

  Punctuation — Use a semicolon to join two closely related independent clau…

• Hyphen

  Punctuation — Use a hyphen to join compound modifiers before a noun.

• Dash (em dash)

  Punctuation — Use an em dash to set off parenthetical information or signa…

• Simple present

  Tenses — Use for habits, facts, and repeated actions.

• Simple past

  Tenses — Use for completed actions in the past.

• Present continuous

  Tenses — Use for actions happening right now or around now.

• Past continuous

  Tenses — Use for actions in progress at a specific past moment.

• Present perfect

  Tenses — Use for past actions with a connection to the present or uns…

• Past perfect

  Tenses — Use for an action completed before another past action.

• Simple future

  Tenses — Use "will" for decisions, predictions, and promises.

• Future with "going to"

  Tenses — Use "going to" for plans and intentions or evidence-based pr…

• Noun

  Parts of Speech — A word for a person, place, thing, or idea.

• Pronoun

  Parts of Speech — A word that replaces a noun. Includes personal (I, he, she),…

• Verb

  Parts of Speech — A word expressing action, state, or occurrence.

• Adjective

  Parts of Speech — A word that modifies a noun. Usually placed before the noun …

• Adverb

  Parts of Speech — A word that modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb. O…

• Preposition

  Parts of Speech — A word that shows the relationship between a noun/pronoun an…

• Conjunction

  Parts of Speech — A word that connects clauses, sentences, or words. Coordinat…

• Article

  Parts of Speech — "A" and "an" are indefinite (first mention or general). "The…

• its vs. it's

  Common Mistakes — "It's" = it is or it has. "Its" = possessive (belonging to i…

• there / their / they're

  Common Mistakes — "There" = place. "Their" = possessive. "They're" = they are.

• your vs. you're

  Common Mistakes — "Your" = possessive. "You're" = you are.

• affect vs. effect

  Common Mistakes — "Affect" is usually a verb (to influence). "Effect" is usual…

• then vs. than

  Common Mistakes — "Then" relates to time or sequence. "Than" is used for compa…

• fewer vs. less

  Common Mistakes — Use "fewer" for countable nouns. Use "less" for uncountable …

• who vs. whom

  Common Mistakes — "Who" is used as a subject. "Whom" is used as an object. Tip…

• dangling modifier

  Common Mistakes — A modifier must be next to the noun it modifies. A dangling …

• Subject–Verb agreement

  Sentence Structure — A verb must agree in number with its subject. Singular subje…

• Sentence fragment

  Sentence Structure — A fragment is an incomplete sentence missing a subject, verb…

• Run-on sentence

  Sentence Structure — A run-on joins two independent clauses without correct punct…

• Parallel structure

  Sentence Structure — Items in a list or comparison should use the same grammatica…

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