Grammar And Punctuation Cheat Sheet printable pdf download

Grammar And Punctuation Cheat Sheet

Grammar and Punctuation Cheat Sheet

Acronyms

Because we are in an acronym-intensive industry, it is important to know when to use “a” or “an” before an

acronym. The “a/an” rule for acronyms is the same as the “a/an” rule for anything else: Use “a” if the next word

starts with a consonant sound and use “an” if it starts with a vowel sound. The letter it starts with is irrelevant;

the choice depends only on pronunciation.

For example:

A LAN

An LCD panel

Its and It’s: One simple rule

If you can substitute “it is”, use the apostrophe. Always. If you cannot substitute “it is”, do not use the

apostrophe. Ever.

For example:

It’s a beautiful morning. (It’s is a contraction of the words “it is”.)

The table is on its side. (Its always implies ownership—the side belongs to the table.)

You are, Your and You’re

You're is always a contraction of you are. If you can substitute “you are”, then you’re is correct. If it doesn't

work, the proper word is your—which implies ownership.

For example:

You have two dogs.

Your dogs are beagles. (You’re does not work here since you cannot substitute “you are”.)

You’re taking your beagles to the vet. (“You are” does work here when substituted.)

Their, They’re and There

They’re is always a contraction of “they are”. If you’ve written it, substitute “they are” and see if it works. If it

doesn’t work, the correct word is their (which implies ownership). If you mean where (a location or place), the

correct word is there in most cases.

For example:

Their dogs are beagles. (They’re does not work here since “they are” does not work—the word their

indicates ownership in this case.)

They’re buying more beagles. (“They are” works in this case.)

Grammar And Punctuation Cheat Sheet