9.6 Conventions of Usage, Spelling, and Capitalization
Key Takeaways
Conventions of usage are a Sentence Revision, Editing, and Completion subcategory on the ELAR CRC and Diagnostic; spelling and capitalization are Diagnostic-only.
Use subject pronouns (I, she, who) as subjects and object pronouns (me, her, whom) after verbs and prepositions: "between you and me."
Items in a series and correlative pairs (not only…but also, either…or) must be grammatically parallel.
Keep verb tenses consistent, and compare like with like: "Houston's population is larger than Dallas's," not "than Dallas."
Capitalize proper nouns, languages, specific course titles, and titles used directly before names; do not capitalize seasons or compass directions.
Conventions of Usage, Spelling, and Capitalization
Quick Answer: Sections 9.1–9.5 cover sentence structure, agreement, modifiers, punctuation, and combining. This section covers the rest of the TSIA2 writing-conventions blueprint. Conventions of usage (appearing on the CRC and the Diagnostic) cover correct word forms and word choice. Conventions of spelling and capitalization appear as Diagnostic-only content. Typical items ask you to choose the correct word or form in a sentence, or to identify the version of a sentence with no error.
1. Verb Tense and Verb Form
Keep Tense Consistent
Shift tense only when the time frame actually changes.
- ❌ The researchers collected the samples and then analyze them in the lab.
- ✅ The researchers collected the samples and then analyzed them in the lab.
Use the Perfect Tenses for Sequence
- Past perfect (had + past participle) marks the earlier of two past events: By the time the grant arrived, the team had already finished the survey.
- Present perfect (has/have + past participle) links the past to now: The college has offered corequisite courses since 2018.
Irregular Verb Forms
| Base | Past | Past participle | Common error |
|---|---|---|---|
| go | went | gone | ❌ have went → ✅ have gone |
| write | wrote | written | ❌ had wrote → ✅ had written |
| lie (recline) | lay | lain | ❌ He laid on the couch → ✅ He lay on the couch |
| lay (put down) | laid | laid | ✅ She laid the report on the desk |
| rise (go up) | rose | risen | Tuition has risen. (no object) |
| raise (lift something) | raised | raised | The board raised tuition. (takes an object) |
2. Pronoun Case
| Case | Pronouns | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Subjective | I, we, he, she, they, who | Subjects of verbs |
| Objective | me, us, him, her, them, whom | Objects of verbs and prepositions |
| Possessive | my/mine, our/ours, his, her/hers, their/theirs, whose | Ownership, with no apostrophe |
Tests That Work Every Time
- Drop the other person. For "The adviser met with Marisol and (I/me)," test "met with me." The answer is me.
- After prepositions, use the objective case: between you and me, for us students, with him and her.
- Who vs. whom: Replace the word with he or him. "(Who/Whom) did the committee select?" → "The committee selected him" → whom.
- Finish the comparison: "She scored higher than (I/me)" → "higher than I did" → I.
- Reflexive pronouns (myself, themselves) need an antecedent in the same sentence. ❌ Send the form to myself. → ✅ Send the form to me.
3. Parallel Structure
Items joined in a list, or by paired conjunctions, must share the same grammatical form.
- ❌ The workshop teaches students to budget, networking, and how they should write résumés.
- ✅ The workshop teaches students to budget, to network, and to write résumés.
Correlative pairs must be followed by matching structures:
- ❌ The program is not only affordable but also it offers flexibility.
- ✅ The program is not only affordable but also flexible.
Common pairs include either…or, neither…nor, both…and, not only…but also, and whether…or.
4. Comparisons and Modifiers
- Comparative (-er / more) for two; superlative (-est / most) for three or more: the better of the two plans; the best of the three plans.
- Fewer vs. less: use fewer with countable nouns (fewer credits) and less with non-count nouns (less time).
- Number vs. amount: a number of students, an amount of money.
- Logical comparisons: Compare like with like. ❌ Houston's population is larger than Dallas. ✅ Houston's population is larger than Dallas's (or than that of Dallas).
- Adjective vs. adverb: She writes well (adverb modifying a verb). The essay is good (adjective after a linking verb). ❌ real quickly → ✅ really quickly.
- Double negatives: ❌ can't hardly → ✅ can hardly. ❌ doesn't have no → ✅ doesn't have any.
5. Commonly Confused Words and Idioms
| Pair | Quick rule | Example |
|---|---|---|
| affect / effect | Affect is usually a verb; effect is usually a noun | The policy will affect students; its effect was small |
| accept / except | Accept = receive; except = excluding | She accepted every offer except one |
| than / then | Than compares; then marks time | Faster than before; then we left |
| their / there / they're | Possessive / place / they are | They're leaving their books there |
| its / it's | Possessive / it is or it has | It's clear the college updated its policy |
| principal / principle | Main or head / rule or belief | The principal reason; a guiding principle |
| complement / compliment | Completes / praises | The lab complements the lecture |
| lose / loose | Misplace / not tight | Don't lose the loose pages |
| farther / further | Physical distance / degree or extent | Drive farther; discuss further |
| cite / site / sight | Quote a source / location / vision | Cite the study from the research site |
Idioms (standard preposition pairings): comply with, capable of, different from, in contrast to, responsible for, consistent with, focus on.
6. Spelling Conventions (Diagnostic)
| Rule | Examples |
|---|---|
| Drop a final silent e before a vowel suffix | hope → hoping, use → usable (keep it in noticeable and courageous to keep the soft sound) |
| Change y to i after a consonant (except before -ing) | carry → carried, study → studies, but studying |
| Double the final consonant in a stressed one-syllable or final syllable before a vowel suffix | plan → planned, refer → referred, but benefit → benefited (stress not on the last syllable) |
| i before e except after c (with exceptions) | believe, receive, ceiling; exceptions include weird and science |
| Plurals | box → boxes, city → cities, analysis → analyses, criterion → criteria |
Frequently misspelled words to master: accommodate, necessary, separate, definitely, occurrence, receive, government, environment, recommend, rhythm, privilege, maintenance, conscientious.
7. Capitalization Conventions (Diagnostic)
| Capitalize | Do not capitalize |
|---|---|
| Proper nouns: Texas, Rio Grande, Austin Community College | Common nouns: a community college, the river |
| Languages and nationalities: English, Spanish | General subjects: biology, history, mathematics |
| Specific course titles: Biology 1406, Composition I | Generic courses: a biology course |
| Titles directly before a name: Professor Alvarez | Titles used alone: the professor, the president of the college |
| Regions: the South, West Texas | Directions: drive south, the west side of campus |
| Days, months, holidays: Monday, September, Juneteenth | Seasons: spring, fall semester |
| Historical events and documents: the Civil War, the Texas Constitution | General references: a war, the constitution of a club |
| First word of a sentence and of a directly quoted sentence | A partial quote that continues a sentence |
8. Editing Strategy for Usage Items
- Read the whole sentence first. Many usage errors (tense, comparison, pronoun case) depend on a word far from the underlined part.
- Apply one test at a time: drop the extra person for pronoun case, and line up list items for parallelism.
- Prefer the concise standard form when two choices are both grammatical.
- Check that the replacement keeps the meaning. A choice can be correct in form but change what the writer intended.
Choose the word that correctly completes the sentence: "The transfer adviser reviewed the degree plan with Marisol and ____ before registration opened."
I
me
myself
mine
Which revision of the sentence uses correct parallel structure? "The orientation teaches new students to budget their time, networking with faculty, and how they should use tutoring services."
The orientation teaches new students budgeting their time, to network with faculty, and how to use tutoring services.
The orientation teaches new students to budget their time, networking with faculty, and using tutoring services.
The orientation teaches new students to budget their time, to network with faculty, and to use tutoring services.
The orientation teaches new students to budget their time, network with faculty, and how they should use tutoring services.
Which pair of words correctly completes the sentence? "The new advising policy will ____ every student who ____ a scholarship offer this spring."
effect / excepts
affect / excepts
effect / accepts
affect / accepts
Which sentence is capitalized correctly?
This spring, Professor Alvarez will teach a Spanish course at Austin Community College.
This Spring, professor Alvarez will teach a Spanish course at Austin community college.
This spring, Professor Alvarez will teach a spanish Course at Austin Community College.
This Spring, Professor Alvarez will teach a Spanish course at austin Community College.
Which sentence contains no spelling errors?
The committee could not accomodate every request, so it seperated them by priority.
The committee could not accommodate every request, so it seperated them by priority.
The committee could not accommodate every request, so it separated them by priority.
The committee could not accomodate every request, so it separated them by priority.
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.