English Punctuation and Sentence Mechanics - Explanation and Exercises

Comma splices

A comma splice happens when two independent clauses (each could stand alone as a sentence) are joined with only a comma, which isn't strong enough on its own. ✗ I was tired, I went to bed. Fix it with a period, a semicolon, or a coordinating conjunction: ✓ I was tired, so I went to bed.

Dangling and misplaced modifiers

A dangling modifier describes something that isn't actually in the sentence: ✗ Walking to the store, the rain started. (the rain wasn't walking) → ✓ Walking to the store, I got caught in the rain. A misplaced modifier sits too far from the word it describes, creating confusion: ✗ She almost drove her kids to school every day. (implies she nearly did it, but didn't) → ✓ She drove her kids to school almost every day.

Apostrophes

Apostrophes show possession (the dog's bone) or mark a contraction (it's = it is). The most common error is confusing its (possessive, no apostrophe) with it's (contraction of "it is"): ✓ The cat licked its paw. / ✓ It's raining.

Capitalization

Capitalize the first word of a sentence, proper nouns (names of people, places, and specific things), days, months, and languages. Don't capitalize seasons (winter) or general subjects (math, unless it's a specific course name like Math 101).

Word order

English follows a fairly strict Subject-Verb-Object order, and adverb placement follows patterns too (adverbs of frequency typically go before the main verb: She always arrives early). Getting word order wrong is one of the clearest signs of non-native phrasing, even when every individual word is correct.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Comma splice: ✗ It was raining, we stayed inside. → ✓ It was raining, so we stayed inside.
• Its/it's confusion: ✗ The dog wagged it's tail. → ✓ The dog wagged its tail.
• Dangling modifier: ✗ Having finished the report, the printer broke. → ✓ Having finished the report, I found the printer broken.