ACT REMEMBER

To avoid this costly and embarrassing mistake, ask yourself these questions every time you use an apostrophe:

"Am I showing possession?" "Am I using a contraction?"

You should never use an apostrophe with possessive pronouns. The pronouns already show possession, so there's no need to add an apostrophe. Possessive pronouns include

"yours," "his," "hers," "its," "ours," "theirs," and "whose." Compare these forms:

A nonrestrictive phrase or clause is one that can be omitted from the sentence without changing the meaning of the sentence. They are also called parenthetical clauses.

A parenthetical expression is a phrase that is inserted into the writer's train of thought. Parenthetical expressions are most often set off with commas.

Cause and Effect: Indicate the first thought led to/caused the second thought - "A caused B" Is the author trying to communicate a causal relationship? Is the author asserting that one event led to another?

Common Cause-and-Effect Words as a result in response to because of thanks to due to thus hence

Continuation: Transition between similar ideas - "A. Also, B." Is the author trying to continue with the same idea by adding additional examples or exploring a related idea?

Common Continuation Words and Phrases along the same lines in other words also in the same way and likewise by the same token moreover further similarly furthermore that is in addition then additionally

This is a comma splice. When two independent clauses are joined only by a comma with no conjunction, it leads to a mashed-together, choppy sentence:

If the sentences are closely related, you can use a semicolon instead of a period.

The Scientific Method includes four essential steps, which typically occur in the following methodological order:

Observation Hypothesis Prediction Experiment

Some Vague/Ambiguous Words to Avoid:

good bad happy sad this that important special stuff thing a lot kind of

"what number" "percent" "of" and "product" "less" "sum" or "more than" "quotient" "is" "is to" or "per" "twice a number" "x increased by 25%"

means x means divide by 100 means multiply means minus means plus means divide means equals means divide (ratio) and often a proportion means 2x means x + 0.25x