Using English Mechanics

Commas and Colons

We discussed the dreaded comma splice earlier in this guide. However, there are a few more things you need to know about humble comma to earn your best score on the GED RLA test.

You use commas to:

• Separate items in a list
  • Ex: I wanted to buy a hot dog, candle, and toy.
• Separate two independent clauses (You have to use a coordinating conjunction)
  • Ex: I wanted to go to the movies, but I didn’t have enough money.
• Separate a dependent clause with an independent clause
  • Ex: Whenever I see you, I feel happy inside.
• Set off a phrase that is not essential to the sentence.
  • Ex: Tom, who is a great cook, lent me this book.

Besides remembering these rules, you can determine whether a comma is necessary by analyzing if it interrupts a sentence’s flow. If something seems off, it’s probably unnecessary.

A colon has two important uses you need to know for the GED RLA test:

• Joins two independent clauses where you want to emphasize information in the second clause.
• Ex: The boy was sad: he had lost every close friend.
• Separates an independent clause with a related list.
• Ex: There are many reasons to be happy: coffee, sunrises, cupcakes, and sweet dreams.

Capitalization

Regarding capitalization, here are some rules you 100% need to know for test day.

• Capitalize the pronoun I.
  • Although I don’t like cookies, I do like cake.
• Capitalize the first word of every sentence.
  • Ex: Nice weather today, isn’t it?
• Capitalize proper nouns, nouns that refer to a specific purpose place or thing
  • Ex: While in Central Park in New York City, John Smith decided to visit the Museum of Natural History nearby.
• Capitalize titles of media (e.g., films, books, TV shows)
  • I’m not a big fan of The Lord of the Rings.
• Capitalize official titles only if they immediately precede the person they describe.
  • Ex: I wrote a letter to President Barack Obama. I told him that he was a great president.
• Capitalize directions if they refer to a specific part of the country.
  • Ex: I moved to the South as a small child.
• Capitalize months and holidays.
  • I love December because we get to celebrate Christmas.
• Capitalize acronyms.
  • Some FBI agents came to see me after I reported seeing a flying saucer.

Contractions vs. Possessives

This section discusses the apostrophe. You use an apostrophe to create a contraction of two words. Contractions are common to informal writing.

Common Contractions
Is not	Isn’t
They are	They’re
I am	I’m
Could not	Couldn’t
There is	There’s
They would	They’d
Did not	Didn’t
Are not	Aren’t
It is	It’s

Homophones

Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings.

• They’re going to the beach this weekend in their new car.
• After buying the meat, I went to meet my friends at the mall.
• I went to the sea to see the tall waves.
• When you’re here, try to hear the sound of the wind.

The GRE RLA test will likely ask you a few homophone questions. They might trip you up, as in the cases above, the spelling differences can be very minor. Being under a time limit, you’re also likely to feel stress, increasing your odds of missing something.

Here’s a chart comparing some more common homophones and their meanings.

There (shows place)	Their (shows possession)	They’re (contraction of they are)
Accept (to receive)	Except (shows an exemption)
Compliment (saying something nice)	Complement (a thing that completes something else)
Affect (to have influence on something else)	Effect (the noun form of affect)
Principle (a truth that affects someone’s behavior)	Principal (the leader of a school, an initial investment)
Stationery (paper products for writing)	Stationary (not moving)
Break (to destroy)	Brake (a part of a car used to stop)
Weather (outside conditions)	Whether (expressing doubt about two conditions)
Peace (absence of war)	Piece (one part of a whole)
To (expresses motion in the direction of something else)	Two (the number after one)	Too (a higher degree than is desirable)

Note
As you further prepare for test day, pay close attention to your ability to identify and use homophones correctly. Knowing them is equally important to all three parts of the GED RLA test.