When should we capitalize the beginning of a quotation? Basically, I am somewhat confused when a quotation should be capitalized My understanding is that if a) one quotes the full original sentence and b) this quotation is set off by a colon, semi-colo
What is the difference between the nouns start and beginning? The period will start in 15 minutes vs I can barely remember the beginning of the period Start has the sense of being a fixed point in time, while beginning could possibly refer to any time between the start and the halfway point
When do we need to put a comma after so at the beginning of a sentence? The comma looks too accidental and unpolished So again, the best simple rule-of-thumb is to avoid comma-after-so (indeed comma after any FANBOYS) at the beginning of a sentence, immediately following a semicolon, or immediately following a comma That will nearly always align you with great writers and editors
At the beginning of the century or in the beginning of the century? The beginning of the century is a period of time which is short compared to the century but rather long otherwise; Some people may use this phrase to mean the first decade or even longer I might say "At the beginning of the 20th Century women generally couldn't vote but by the end of World War II many nations had granted them this right"
When should I use a versus an in front of a word beginning with the . . . As dewy-eyed innocents, we were taught to put a before words beginning with consonants and an before those starting with vowels, only then to hear that the rule bends a bit before h-words Or does it? OK, so sense dictates that we give words where the initial h is silent an honorary place with the vowel words (along with some abbreviations)
Comma after also at the beginning of a sentence A performative concerns the saying of something, while a declarative concerns what is said "Also," at the beginning means, roughly, "in addition to what I have just told you, I am telling you what follows after the comma " But "also" not followed by a comma means that what follows is a factor in addition to those previously mentioned
Should one use an or an a before an acronym beginning with the . . . The only thing that counts is how it is pronounced What word any given letter represents is irrelevant, and so is what that word means, how long it is, whether it's a noun or a verb, or what color the speaker's eyes are A before spoken consonants, an before spoken vowels, like the vowel at the beginning of eitʃ