If you don't know what a transitiontransition wordword or phrasephrase actually means or what it's purpose

is, look it up in the dictionary! look it up in the dictionary!

If you have a sentence with a subject and predicate subject and predicate and a complete thought complete thought and the same on other same on other side of the sentence side of the sentence separated by a commaseparated by a comma,  this is called a comma splice. comma splice. The sentence is incorrectly punctuated.

Incorrect: Incorrect: Mrs. Johnson walks to the park, , she talks about her pugs on the way.

Correct: Correct: Mrs. Johnson walks to the park, and , and she talks about her pugs on the way.

Correct: Correct: Mrs. Johnson Mrs. Johnson walkswalks to the park and talkstalks about her pugs on the way.

Comma Splice

If a sentence has a subject and predicate on subject and predicate on one side one side but only just a predicate on the only just a predicate on the other sideother side, it DOES NOT need a comma before the conjunction (FANBOY). This is a compound predicatecompound predicate. A compound predicate compound predicate tell us two things about the subject.

Mrs. Johnson Mrs. Johnson walkswalks to the park and talkstalks about her pugs on the way.

Semicolons are used in a COMPOUNDCOMPOUND sentence where there is an INDEPENDENT CLAUSE/COMPLETE THOUGHT on each side each side of the semi-colon.

She was sick of school; ; she had “checked out” even before Memorial Day.

;

Informal or very general words in an answer choice (like thingsthings, guysguys, stuffstuff) will NOT be the correct choice.

Make sure subject and verb agree:

The girls dance. The girl dances.

If one is PLURAL, the other is SINGULAR!

When asked about questions regarding imageryimagery and detaildetail, look for answers that contain descriptive words descriptive words and phrasesphrases.

Pronoun Antecedent Agreement

Mrs. Johnson was hungry, so she went to the grocery store to buy some food.

Antecedent Pronoun

Any questions that ask to change the spelling of a word, LOOK THE WORDS UP IN LOOK THE WORDS UP IN THE DICTIONARYTHE DICTIONARY to see which is the correct spelling!

Any questions that ask to change from one word to another, think about which PART OF SPEECH PART OF SPEECH the words are to determine which one should be used. Then, ask yourself what this word is modifying in the sentence (noun/pronoun or verb/adjective/adverb). Remember,Remember, adjectivesadjectives modify nouns and pronouns, modify nouns and pronouns, and adverbsadverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.adverbs.

intentional --------------------- intentionallyadjective adverb

Remember that apostrophesapostrophes are used to show show possession possession and contractionscontractions.

It’s = it isits = belonging to it

It’sIt’s the beginning of the school year, and I am keeping up with my work.

The flower lost itsits petals because the wind was very strong.

Make sure to choose the correct verb tense choose the correct verb tense by reading the sentences around the

sentence the question refers to.

THAN and THEN

comparing

Time transition

Transitions like eventuallyeventually and finallyfinally mark the last thing stated in a paragraph.

When using the terms like “Mom” or “Dad” – ask yourself if they could be replaced with another name. If so, use a capital letter.

I ate too many cookies and Mom was angry.

Replace “Mom” with another name:Replace “Mom” with another name:I ate too many cookies and SaraSara was angry.

When saying “my mommy mom,” you don’t need to capitalize.

If you’re not sure about the spelling of a homonym (words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings), LOOK THE WORDS UP IN THE LOOK THE WORDS UP IN THE DICTIONARY!DICTIONARY!

ExamplesExamplesthere – theirthere – theirhere – hearhere – hearwhere - wearwhere - wear

“A lot” and “a little” are TWO WORDS!

Punctuation marks generally go INSIDEINSIDE

the quotation marks.For the STAAR test, they will always need to

go inside."I don't care," she said. "What do you think?“

Also, look for MISSING quotation markslook for MISSING quotation marks.

Proper nouns need to be capitalized.Proper nouns need to be capitalized.A proper noun is a name used for a specific

individual person, place, or organization, spelled with initial capital letters,

Examples: Examples: Larry, Mexico, and Boston Red Sox.