The gmat writing skill 5 pps

2. Capitalize proper nouns. A proper noun is the name of a specific person, place, or thing (as opposed to
a general person, place, or thing).
CAPITALIZE (SPECIFIC) DON’T CAPITALIZE (GENERAL)
Jennifer Johnson (specific person) the woman
Business Law (specific class) my law class
Main Street (specific street) on the street
Frosted Flakes
®
(specific brand) good cereal
Caspian Sea (specific sea) deep sea/ocean
Lincoln Memorial (specific monument) impressive memorial/monument
U.S.S. Cole (specific ship) naval carrier
Dade Management School (specific school) my graduate school
Precambrian Age (specific time period) long ago
Data Corporation (specific company) that company
Exceptions: Do not capitalize words such as river, street, and so on in plural proper nouns as they
are generic: the Pacific and Indian oceans.
3. Capitalize the days of the weeks and months of the year, but not the seasons.
It was a warm spring day in May.
Wednesday is the first official day of autumn.
4. Capitalize the names of countries, nationalities, languages, religions, and geographical locations (but
not geographical directions).
He has traveled to Brazil and Tunisia.
She is half Chinese, half French.
She is from the South. Drive south for five miles.
We speak Spanish at home.
He is a devout Catholic.
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5. Capitalize titles that come before proper names.
Judge Lydia Ng Lydia Ng, judge in the Fifth District

Professor Lee Chang Lee Chang, professor of physical science
Vice President Tilda Stanton Tilda Stanton, vice president
6. Capitalize titles of publications, including books, stories, poems, plays, articles, speeches, essays, and
other documents, as well as works of art, including films, paintings, and musical compositions.
Pablo Picasso’s painting Guernica captures the agony of the Spanish Civil War.
Read Susan Sontag’s essay “On Photography” for class tomorrow.
The Declaration of Independence is a sacred document.
Spelling
Although a few misspellings will probably have little impact on your AWA score, misspelled words can inter-
fere with clarity, and if your reader’s pet peeve is misspelled words, a few spelling errors may have more influ-
ence on your score than they deserve. To that end, review these spelling rules, especially the correct use of
contractions and homonyms. A list of frequently misspelled words is included at the end of this chapter.
B
ASIC SPELLING GUIDELINES
Here are ten guidelines for correct spelling. Please remember that there are exceptions to every rule. If spelling
is one of your weaknesses, spend extra time reviewing these rules and the list of frequently misspelled words
that appears at the end of this chapter.
1. Form plurals of regular nouns by adding -s or -es.
job jobs
house houses
beach beaches
2. Change the spelling of words with the following endings when forming plurals:
f → v
thief thieves
wolf wolves
but not
belief beliefs
chief chiefs
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consonant ϩ y → ie
family families
party parties
but not vowel ϩ y:
toy toys
monkey monkeys
sis → ses
basis bases
hypothesis hypotheses
on → a
criterion criteria
phenomenon phenomena
us → i
nucleus nuclei
radius radii
3. Double consonants when adding -ing, -ed, -er, or -est when:
• the verb stem contains one vowel ϩ one consonant in one syllable
grab grabbing grabbed
trip tripping tripped
• the verb stem contains two or more syllables with one vowel ϩ consonant in the final stressed
syllable
prefer preferring preferred
control controlling controlled
(but not travel, traveling, traveled because the stress is on the first syllable)
• the suffix -er or -est is added to one-syllable adjectives ending in one vowel ϩ consonant
big bigger biggest
hot hotter hottest
• adding -ly to an adjective ending in l
joyful joyfully
successful successfully

4. Change final y to ie on certain verb forms when verb ends in consonant ϩ y:
cry cries crying cried
study studies studying studied
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5. Change final y to i in two-syllable adjectives when adding a suffix:
happy happier happiest
silly sillier silliest
friendly friendlier friendliest
6. In general, i comes before e except after c, unless the syllable sounds like ay:
believe receive sleigh
niece deceive neighbor
Exceptions:
science
species
height
foreign
7. Keep a silent -e when adding an -ly suffix or a suffix beginning with a consonant:
state stately statement
rude rudely rudeness
8. Drop a silent -e before a suffix beginning with a vowel:
admire admirable
approximate approximation
9. Drop -le in adjectives when adding -ly:
admirable admirably
sensible sensibly
10. With adjectives ending in -ic, add -ally to form the adverb:
tragic tragically
comic comically
C

ONTRACTIONS AND POSSESSIVES
Confusion between contractions and possessives results in some of the most common spelling mistakes. Con-
tractions are words that use an apostrophe to show that a letter or letters have been omitted from the
word(s). Possessive pronouns indicate ownership of objects and ideas. They do not take an apostrophe.
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POSSESSIVE PRONOUN MEANING EXAMPLE
its belonging to it The dog chased its tail.
your belonging to you Your time is up.
their belonging to them Their words were comforting.
whose belonging to who Whose tickets are these?
CONTRACTION
it’s it is It’s time to eat.
you’re you are You’re not going to believe your eyes.
they’re they are They’re getting their tickets now.
who’s who is/who has Who’s got my tickets?
Whenever you come across a question with a contraction, read it as two words. If it doesn’t make sense,
then you need a possessive pronoun, not a contraction. Eliminate the apostrophe.
HOMONYMS
Homonyms are words that sound alike but have different spellings and meanings. Here are some of the most
common homonyms:
accept to take or receive
except leave out
affect (v.) to have an influence
effect (n.) the result or impact of something
all ready fully prepared
already previously
bare (adj.) uncovered; (v.) to uncover
bear (n.) animal; (v.) to carry or endure
brake (v.) to stop; (n.) device for stopping

break (v.) to fracture or rend; (n.) a pause or temporary stoppage
buy (v.) to purchase
by (prep.) next to or near, through
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cite (v.) to quote or mention as an example
sight (n.) something seen or visible; the faculty of seeing
site (n.) location; (v.) to locate
desert (n.) dry area; (v.) to abandon
dessert (n.) sweet course at the end of a meal
every day (adv.) each day
everyday (adj.) ordinary, daily
fair (adj.) light in color; favorable; just, unbiased; (n) gathering or exhibition
for sale of goods, shows, and entertainment
fare (n.) price charged for a passenger to travel; food provided; (v) to
progress (we fared well on our journey)
hear (v.) to perceive with the ears
here (adv.) in this place
know (v.) to understand, be aware of
no (adj./adv.) negative—opposite of yes
loose (adj.) not tight, not confined
lose (v.) to misplace; to fail to win
may be (v.) might be (possibility)
maybe (adv.) perhaps
morning (n.) the first part of the day
mourning (n.) grieving
passed (v.) past tense of pass (to go by)
past (adv.) beyond; (n.) events that have already occurred
patience (n.) quality of being patient, able to wait
patients (n.) people under medical care

personal (adj.) private or pertaining to the individual
personnel (n.) employees
presence (n.) condition of being
presents (n.) gifts
principal (adj.) most important; (n.) head of a school
principle (n.) fundamental truth
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