“Deadly Sins” [in English class! You can lose a point every time you “sin!”]
1. Leaving letters off words
• EX> Their lives were terrible. The didn’t know what to do. As winter got colder, the couldn’t even find food, let alone grow it.
• Always proofread to make sure you haven’t left a lette of a wor.
2. Capitalize proper nouns
• If you are talking about a specific person or location, capitalize it!
• EX> I live in a small town by the ocean. (This could be any small town by any ocean!)
• EX> I live in Fort Bragg, next to the Pacific Ocean. (This is a specific town by one particular ocean!)
3. Use apostrophes with contractions
• Did not = didn’t• The apostrophe
MUST appear exactly where the letters are omitted
• O’clock = on the clock, so the apostrophe replaces n, t, h, AND e!
6. A LOT = 2 words!
• TWO WORDS, not ONE!!
• “There’s a lot of noise in the cafeteria. They’re testing their emergency system.”
7. To, Two, Too
• To = connector• Two = the number• Too = Also; OR, an
extreme degree of something
• I went to her party, but I was too late for the two cakes.