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Sentence basics

Using the correct verb with a subject

Pronouns - singular or plural two

Compounded and non-compounded subjects

Pairs of things

Quantity describing expressions

Expletive constructions

Abbreviations

I.e. versus e.g

Mr and Mrs Smith

Date and time abbreviations

Name initials

Abbreviations of units

Avoiding sentence fragments

When its OK to use sentence fragments

Capitalisation

Proper nouns

The first word of any sentence

Capitalisation of titles

I gets capitalised

Using italics

To make something stand out

Onomatopoeia

Titles

When you are talking about the word itself not using it for what it represents

Names of vehicles

Short sentences

Joining parallel sentence subjects or objects

Compounding parallel objects

Compounding parallel subjects

Linking two sentences together more closely

The simple linking relationship

The contrast relationship

Intentionally subordinating a clause to another

Connecting using an absolute phrase

Connecting using appositive phrases

Connecting using a participial phrase

Using the correct sequence of tenses

Writing numbers correctly

Numbers of units

Decimal and fractional numbers

The number zero

Approximate numbers

Common phrases

Starts of sentences

Multiple numbers one after the other

Writing lists

Lists

Bullet point lists

Numbered lists

Names of vehicles

The names of specific ships, spacecraft, trains and other vehicles or craft are usually italicised. You also italicise the name of a class of vehicles. For instance:

The Nimitz class aircraft carriers are over 300 metres long.

This sentence is describing a particular class or group of carriers known as Nimitz carriers. We therefore italicise the class name.

Often, ship names have a tag at the beginning identifying what country owns it; for example, these famous battleships:

Notice how we only italicise the name of the ship itself, not the abbreviation before it. USS stands for ‘United States Ship’ and HMS stands for ‘Her Majesty’s Ship’.

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