VIII.

The important words in the title of a book, of a newspaper, or of any other composition, should begin with capital letters; as, Robinson Crusoe, Harper's Young People, My Trip to the Mountains.

IX.

All names and titles of the Deity should begin with capital letters; as, Lord, Creator, Father, The Supreme Being.

X.

The pronoun I and the interjection O should be written with capital letters; as, O father, I see a gleaming light!

XI.

The first word of a direct quotation should begin with a capital letter; as, He replied, "Kindness wins friends."

XIJ.

The first word of every line of poetry should begin with a capital letter; as,

"The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,

The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea,
The ploughman homeward plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness and to me."

MARKS OF PUNCTUATION.

I.

A complete sentence, not interrogative or exclamatory, should be followed by a period.

11.

Every abbreviated word should be followed by a period : as, Mr., Dr., Prof.

III.

The title of a composition, the address of a person on a letter, and the signature to a letter or other document, should be followed by a period.

IV.

An interrogative sentence should be followed by the interrogation point; as, Whither are you going?

V.

An exclamatory word, phrase, or sentence should be followed by the exclamation point; as, Hark! I hear footsteps. O noble judge! What a wonderful gift he possesses!

VI.

Words or phrases in the same construction should be separated by commas; as, The lowlands are hot, damp, and unhealthy.

NOTE. - Two words in the same construction, or two short phrases connected by and, or, or nor, should not be separated by the comma; as, He was brave and patriotic.

VII.

A transposed phrase or clause should generally be separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma; as, In a very short time, they had passed the spot. If we fail, you will be disappointed.

NOTE. If the phrase is closely united with the sentence, the comma is not used; as, Beneath the window is a wooden bench.

VIII.

An explanatory phrase should be separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma or commas; as, Milton, the great English poet, was blind.

IX.

Words, phrases, or clauses placed between closely related parts of a sentence should be separated from the rest of the sentence by commas; as, It was, in fact, the only thing to do.

X.

The members of a compound sentence, when short and closely connected, should be separated by the comma; as, We found the box, but it was empty.

XI.

When the members of a compound sentence are subdivided by the comma, they are usually separated by the semicolon; as, The little brook ran along, pausing here to form a pool; and then it hurried onward, as if in haste to reach the lake.

XII.

Every direct quotation should be enclosed by quotation marks. When the quotation is divided by other words, each part should be enclosed by quotation marks; as, "The greatest of faults," says Carlyle," is to be conscious of none."

XIII.

If a quotation is short and not formally introduced, it should be separated from the preceding part of the sentence by a comma; as, Agassiz once said, "I have no time to waste in making money."

XIV.

When a quotation is formally introduced by thus, as follows, these words, or some similar expression, it should be preceded by a colon; as, Agassiz replied as follows: "I have no time to waste in making money."

XV.

The name of a person addressed should be separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma or commas; as, Where are you going, Paul? Come, Frank, the boat is ready.

RULES FOR PLURALS.

I.

Add s to the singular of most nouns, to form the plural ; as, bird, birds; paper, papers.

II.

When the singular ends in a sound that does not unite easily with the sound of s, some nouns add es to the singu lar, to form the plural; as, glass, glasses; box, boxes; watch, watches; dish, dishes.

III.

Some nouns ending in for fe, change for fe to ves, to form the plural; as, leaf, leaves; knife, knives.

IV.

Some nouns ending in y, change y to ies, to form the plural; as, fly, flies; city, cities; army, armies.

V.

When a noun ends in y, if a, e, or o comes before the y, add s to the singular, to form the plural; as, day, days; journey, journeys; toy, toys.

VI.

Some nouns form their plurals in irregular ways; as, man, men; mouse, mice; child, children.

VII.

Some nouns have the same form in the singular and in the plural; as, sheep, deer, trout, cannon.

RULES FOR POSSESSIVES.

I.

Add the apostrophe (') and s to a singular noun, to form the possessive; as, day, day's; sister, sister's.

II.

Add the apostrophe (') to a plural noun ending in s, to form the possessive; as, days, days'; sisters, sisters'.

III.

Add the apostrophe (') and s to a plural noun not ending in s, to form the possessive; as, women, women's; children, children's.

K