Teaching the

Mechanics of Writing
Lesson 3
 Definition
Mechanics refers to the rules of the written
language such as capitalization, punctuation,
spelling, grammar etc.
Before teaching it to your learners kindly learn it
first because you can’t teach what you don’t
have.
Singular Noun
when we are talking about just one person, animal, place or thing,
we use a singular noun.

Plural Nouns
when are talking about two or more people, animal, places or
things, we need to use plural nouns

Forming Regular Plural Nouns

there are many plural noun rules, the correct spelling of plurals
usually depends on what letter the singular noun ends in. Regular noun
form their plural form through adding –s or –es at the end of each word.
1. To make regular nouns plural, add –s to its end.

car-cars table-tables
bottle-bottles house-houses
cup-cups desk-desks

2. If the singular noun ends in –s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, or –z, add –es to its end to make it
plural.

bus-buses brush-brushes
lunch-lunches address-addresses
tax-taxes

3. In some cases, singular nouns ending in –s or –z, require that you double the –s or –
z before adding the –es for pluralization

quiz-quizzes buzz-buzzes
fez-fezzes whiz-whizzes
topaz-topazes
4. If the noun ends with –f or –fe, the f is often changed to –v or –ve
before adding the –s or –es to form its plural version.

half-halves shelf-shelves thief-thieves

calf-calves leaf-leaves wolf-wolves
elf-elves loaf-loaves knife-knives
Exceptions:
roof-roofs chief-chiefs
belief-beliefs cuff-cuffs
chef-chefs reef-reefs

5. If the singular noun ends in –y and the letter before the the –y is a
consonant, change –y to –I and add –es to make the noun plural.

city-cities cherry-cherries
candy-candies lady-ladies
country-countries puppy-puppies
family-families party-parties
6. If the singular noun ends in –y and the letter before the –y is a vowel, simply add an –s to make it
plural.

day-days boy-boys donkey- donkeys

holiday-holidays toy-toys way-ways
ray-rays key-keys

7. If the singular noun ends in –o, and –o is preceded by a vowel then add –s to make it plural.

radio-radios kangaroo-kangaroos
stereo-stereos scenario-scenarios
video-videos shampoo-shampoos

8. If the singular noun ends in –o, and –o is preceded by a consonant then add –es to make it plural.
potato-potatoes hero-heroes
tomato-tomatoes echo-echoes
Exceptions:
photo-photos kilo-kilos
piano-pianos
9. Some nouns don’t change at all when they are pluralized.

sheep-sheep shrimp-shrimp
series-series moose-moose

10. Some nouns are always plural

jeans goggles
binoculars spectacles
glasses scissors
shorts trousers

11. Nouns which changes spelling in forming their plural forms.

cactus-cacti man-men
analysis-analyses woman-women
ellipsis-ellipses policeman-policemen
phenomenon-phenomena child-children
person-people tooth-teeth
ox-oxen foot-feet
Basic Grammar Rules
1. A sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a period/full stop, a
question mark or an exclamation mark (punctuation marks)
The fat cat sat on the mat.

2. Every sentence must have a subject and a verb.

The girl sings.

3. The subject and verb must agree in number, that is a singular subject
needs a singular verb and a plural subject needs a plural verb. If the
subject is singular it uses the s form of the verb. If the subject is plural it uses
the base form of the verb.
• The girl sings.
• The girls sing.
4. Treat Collective nouns (eg. Committee, company) as singular OR plural. It depends upon
the action such collective noun is performing.
• The committee are having sandwiches for lunch.
• The group decides to help the poor.
5. The words its and it's as well as your and you’re are different words with different
meanings. Its and your are used for ownership or possession while it’s (it is) and you’re
(you are) are a contractions (shortened words).
• The dog has hurt its leg.
• He says it's two o'clock.
• Here is your coffee.
• You're looking good.
6. The words there, their and they're are three different words with different meanings.
• There was nobody at the party.
• I saw their new car.
• Do you think they're happy?
7. Spell a proper noun with an initial capital letter. A proper noun
is a "name" of something, for example Josef, Mary, Russia, China,
British Broadcasting Corporation, English.
• Is China in Asia?
8. To show possession (who is the owner of something) use an
apostrophe + s for singular owners, and s + apostrophe for plural
owners.
• The boy's dog. (one boy)
• The boys' dog. (two or more boys)
9. Use the past, present and future tenses correctly.
• Yesterday, I played outside.
• I play outside.
• Tomorrow I will play outside.
*Making the Present Tense of the verb. If the subject is singular it uses the
s form of the verb. If the subject is Plural it uses the base form of the verb.

Example: The girl sings The boy has talked to me

The girls sing The boys have talked to me
*Making the Past Tense by adding “d” or “ed” to the verb.
Example:
We crossed the channel yesterday.
Her brother died last week.

*some verb have irregular past tenses.

Example: Hannah told him about her holiday.

*Future Tense of the verb is formed using the formula:
will/shall + base form of the verb

When to use will?

a. To describe the future
He will send us the report when he has all the data.
b. To make a prediction
The world population will grow a lot in the next 50 years.
c. To make promises and offers.
I will call you when I get home.
When to use shall?
a. To express formal obligations
Applicants shall provide evidence of their qualifications.
b. To describe the future very formally
Mr. Lopez shall begin his talk at 2:30 pm.
Basic Punctuation
Rules
1. Full stop/period (.)
This is the most popular punctuation mark because you
simply cannot write even a single sentence without using it.
2. Commas (,)
Commas indicate a separation of ideas or elements
within the structure of a sentence. However, it has many other
uses as well:
a. Commas are used to separate three or more words, phrases,
or clauses (sentence parts) in a series.
Example: The entree includes chips, salsa, and a beverage.
b. Commas are used after an introductory dependent clause (a
group of words before the subject of a sentence that do not form a
complete sentence).
Example: Since we would be returning late anyway, we stayed to
watch the sunset.

c. Commas are used between independent clauses (complete

sentences) joined by a coordinating conjunction: for, and, nor, but,
or, yet, so.
Example: My family went to see the live taping of Ru Paul's Drag
Race, but I stayed home with the flu.
3. Quotation Marks
as their name suggests, quotation marks indicates
direct quotations. You can also use them to show that a word
or phrase is being used for titles of articles, book chapters
etc.
a.Quotation marks enclose the exact words of a person.
Example: Sia said, “I’m going to swing from the
chandelier.”
b. Place periods and commas inside quotation marks.
Example: Pope Francis said, “I’ll have extra mayonnaise on
that.”
c. Place semicolons and colons outside quotation marks.
Example: I recommend “the works”: it comes with chicharrón!

d. Place question marks or exclamation points inside the quotation

marks if they punctuate the quotation only. However, if the quote
does not include a question or exclamation, but the sentence itself
is asking a question or exclaiming, the question mark or
exclamation point sits outside of the quotation marks.
Example:
Captain Lightfoot said, “Don’t you think it’s time we started letting
women be pirates, too?”

What did Aesop Rock mean by, “There’s smoke in my iris, but I
painted a sunny day on the insides of my eyelids”?
4. Parentheses
Parentheses set off elements within a sentence that are related to
the sentence but nonessential.

a.Parentheses set off additions or expressions that are not

necessary to the sentence.
Example: We visited several European countries (England,
France, Spain) on our trip last year.
b. Parentheses can enclose figures in a sentence.
Example: Grades will be based on (1) participation, (2) in-class
writing, and (3) exams.
5. Apostrophes
Apostrophes show possession and also indicate where a letter has been omitted to form a
contraction
a. To show possession, add an apostrophe and an s to singular nouns or indefinite pronouns that
end in one or body.
Example: Jenny’s book anyone’s guess
somebody’s laptop the waltz’s tempo

b. Add only an apostrophe for plural possessive nouns ending in s. Remember that the apostrophe
placement depends on whether there is more than one noun: student’s books (one student),
students’ books (more than one student).
Example: my parents’ car the musicians’ instruments

c. Do not use an apostrophe with possessive personal pronouns.

Example: yours, his, hers, ours, theirs, whose, its

d. Apostrophes are also used in contractions (two words which have been combined into one) to
mark where the missing letter or letters would be.
Example: I am = I’m cannot = can’t they are = they’re
I have = I’ve let us = let’s you are= you’re
6. Colons
a colon is a punctuation mark you will come across very often in different
circumstances. It can introduce an example, a list, an explanation or a
quotation or you can also use it to emphasize a certain point.

Example:
1.There are two things you can do: continue being miserable or move on
with your life.
2.There’s only one person in the world who can tell you what you should
do: You.
7. Semicolons
Semicolons separate clauses or phrases that are related and that receive
equal emphasis.

a. Semicolons join two independent clauses (complete sentences) that are

closely related if no coordinating conjunction is used.
Example: Megan said she was tired; she had stayed up late cutting giraffe-
shaped holes out of foreign newspapers.
b. Semicolons help avoid confusion between items in lists where there are
already commas.
Example: She traveled to Sao Paulo, Brazil; Seoul, South Korea; and ,
Nairobi, Kenya
Thank You