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
When should I use a versus an in front of a word beginning with the . . . 1 I use "an" before a word which I think would start with a vowel in the speech of whoever I'm talking to For instance, I ordinarily say "an" before "historical", because although I always pronounce "h" at the beginning of "historical", I believe that many people don't pronounce an "h" here I just want to get along
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
Useage of This and That at the beginning of the sentence The word "this" at the beginning of a sentence is invaluable to me As sometimes it is an inappropriate use of space and time to attempt redundant articulation of something just said the sentence before