Participles

Margie Wakeman WellsThe Comma Leave a Comment

A participle, the –ing or –ed form of the verb that is being used as an adjective, that comes right after the word it modifies is punctuated based on “essential/nonessential.” If the participle is needed to define the word it modifies, there are no commas. …owned the car involved in the accident… …know the man sitting near my son… If …

Words for Directions

Margie Wakeman WellsGeneral Leave a Comment

Remember that the words that represent directions — north, south, east, west — in any form are capitalized when they represent a recognized geographical area. This presumes that you might have to have some information about a region to know whether it is “recognized.” Here in Los Angeles, for example, people would recognize “West L.A.” and “East L.A.,” but we …

Greetings from Florida

Margie Wakeman WellsGeneral, The Apostrophe 3 Comments

Just checking in from Sarasota, Florida. Off to Clearwater this afternoon for the Florida Court Reporters Association convention this weekend. Hope to meet some of you there. Just wondering what you are all thinking about “Bachelor’s degree” and the rest in the category. It has to be apostrophe s, but what about the cap? I think it should be there …