Say I want to join these sentences:

Dan is going to school.
Chris will meet him after class.

I could use the word “and,” with a comma in front of it. Or, I could just use a semicolon.

Dan is going to school; Chris will meet him after class.

Simple, right? You’ll really only need a semicolon when you’re joining two complete sentences. Now, people get confused about the words “however” and “therefore,” because they’re sort of similar in meaning to “but” and “so.” But really, “however” and “therefore” are a totally different kind of word. You often use them as an “extra” word at the beginning of a sentence, so a comma goes after them if you use them that way:

Dan is going to school. However, I’m staying home.
We’re out of milk. Therefore, I need to go to the store.

Here’s the part that people find tricky. Often, people want to join sentences with “however” or “therefore,” and there’s a tendency to want to use them to work like “but” or “so.” But they’re not the same kind of joining word! So, the way to join these sentences is just to use a semicolon, just like the other sentences. “However” and “therefore” are still extra words, so you keep the comma after them.

Dan is going to school; however, I’m staying home.
We’re out of milk; therefore, I need to go to the store.

It’s simple, really! You’re just taking two sentences and joining them with a semicolon. Nothing else changes.

Well, I hope this helps! Good luck and good GED studying!

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit the GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

(1) Joining Sentences

Use a comma before “and,” “but,” “or,” “so,” “for,” “nor,” or “yet” to join two sentences. Don’t use a comma if you don’t have two complete sentences on either side of the joining word!

Here are two sentences:

Dan is going to school.
Chris will meet him after class.

Use a comma if you’re combining them with the word “and”:

Dan is going to school, and Chris will meet him after class.

BUT don’t use a comma if you’re not combining full sentences:

Dan and Chris will meet after class.
Dan is going to school and then to meet Chris.

Since “Dan” (in “Dan and Chris will meet after class.”) and “then to meet Chris” (in “Dan is going to school and then to meet Chris.”) aren’t whole sentences, don’t use a comma with the “and.”

(2) A Series or Group

Use a comma between three or more items in a series or two items in a series not joined by a connecting word.

You might say:

Dan, Chris, and Paula all went to the library.

That’s a series, or group, of three or more people, so separate them with commas. Some people leave out the comma before the “and.” I think it’s clearer to leave it in, but it’s not really wrong either way. The GED writing test won’t test you on the comma before the “and” in a series. They only test you on things that are really clear if they’re right or wrong. They might test you on the comma between “Dan” and “Chris” in a sentence like this!

Now, two items in a series without a connecting word would be like:

Early settlers endured a long, difficult journey to California.

“Long” and “difficult” go together. They’re a group of words describing the series. You might put an “and” in the middle and it would still make sense (“a long and difficult journey…”) Since you don’t have the “and” in there, put a comma instead.

(3) “Extra” Bits in Sentences

When there are words or phrases that are aside from the main part of a sentence, they’re set off by commas.

Use a comma after an introductory word, phrase, or dependent clause at the beginning of a sentence.

Hey, that’s my lunch!
John, go to the store for me.
You see, it’s too late to get a present now.
On second thought, we could stop at the corner store.
When you get there, don’t forget to buy milk.
At the store, we ran into some friends.
Because we were running late, we forgot the milk after all.

You can see that there’s a lot of “extra” phrases you can put at the beginning of the sentence, and they make your writing interesting! The comma marks the beginning of the “main” sentence, and stops there from being any confusion.

The same thing happens at the end of a sentence. Use a comma before an extra comment or question at the end of a sentence.

You’re going to the store for me, right?
You won’t forget the milk this time, will you?
Don’t be late again, John.

And the same thing happens in the middle of a sentence! If you’re putting in extra information, put commas around it to separate it out from the main sentence:

The first lesson, which is about commas, is really hard.
I’m telling you, John, that I don’t want you to be late.
I went to the store, the one one First Street, to get groceries.

Do you see how you could take all the bits in commas out and keep the meaning the same? You could say:

The first lesson is really hard.
I’m telling you that I don’t want you to be late.
I went to the store to get groceries.

The parts in commas give extra information. Putting the commas around them shows that it’s extra information, and not part of the main sentence.

That’s commas, in a nutshell!

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit the GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

First of all, what is a “possessive”? Do you notice that it’s got the word “possess” in it? That means to have something. A possessive shows that something belongs to someone or something else:

the girl’s book
his calendar
the room’s lighting
the food’s smell

The possessives are: “girl’s,” “his,” “room’s,” and “food’s.” They show who or what something belongs to or goes with. The smell is the smell of the food. The book is the book belonging to the girl.

Okay, now, what are the problems people have with possessives? The main problem is a spelling problem… when do you use an apostrophe (‘) and where do you put it?

(1) Spelling Possessive Pronouns

Now, “his” is a possessive pronoun. It tells you the calendar belongs to a guy, but not what specific guy… that’s what makes it a pronoun. The important thing to remember is that possessive pronouns NEVER are spelled with an apostrophe. The big trouble spot with this is “its.” People confuse it with “it’s,” which is NOT possessive. It’s short for “it is.” If “its” is possessive, it does not have an apostrophe… no possessive pronouns do. Same for “your.” It’s sometimes confused with “you’re,” which is NOT possessive… it’s short for “you are.”

Here are the common possessive pronouns you need to know:

belonging to me–my, mine: That’s my book. The book is mine.
belonging to him–his: That’s his book. The book is his.
belonging to her–her, hers: That’s her book. The book is hers.
belonging to it–its: The dog has a bone. That’s its bone. The bone is its.
belonging to you–your, yours: That’s your book. The book is yours.
belonging to them–their, theirs: That’s their book. The book is theirs.
belonging to us–our, ours: That’s our book. The book is ours.

(2) Spelling Possessive Nouns

Okay. That’s pronouns. Most possessives are nouns, and most of the time you make a noun possessive by adding an apostrophe-s at the end:

The girl’s book
The dog’s bone
The water’s edge
The children’s toys

Notice that “children” is plural. The possessive is made the same way. So far, so good. But, when words end in “s,” sometimes they take an apostrophe-s at the end, and sometimes just an apostrophe. As a rule, all plural nouns ending in “s” take jsut an apostrophe. So:

The possessive of “girls” is girls’ –
All the girls’ books were lost!

The possessive of “dogs” is dogs’ –
All the dogs’ leashes were too short.

When does it need an apostrophe-s after a word ending in “s”? Well, you can hear it. If you would pronounce an extra “-ez” at the end of the word, add an apostrophe-s. Go with your instinct! For non-plural words ending in “s,” there’s a little leeway. If Mr. Williams has a book, you likely would say “Mr. Williams book” not “Mr. Williams-ez book”… so you’d write:

Mr. Williams’ book

But if Curtis has a book, you’d probably say “Curtis-ez book” out loud, so you’d spell it:

Curtis’s book

That’s the main deal with possessives! This’ll help with the multiple choice part of the GED writing test, so it’s real good to know!

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit the GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

Sentence: Three of them went to the grocery store, two went home.

Which of the following changes should be made to this sentence?

1)   remove the comma after store

2)   replace to with two

3)   replace to with too

4)   add the word and after the comma

5)   no changes are needed

You might be able to answer this by a process of elimination, but it’s better if you really know the language rule it’s based on. In this case, the sentence is a run-on. It’s really two sentences: “Three of them went to the grocery store” is a complete thought, with a subject (three) and a verb (went). “Two went home” is also a complete thought, with a subject (two) and a verb (went). You can’t join two complete sentences with a comma. If you do, it’s an error known as a comma splice.

There are several ways to fix this comma splice. You could split the sides up into two sentences:

 Three of them went to the grocery store. Two went home.

You could join them with a semicolon:

Three of them went to the grocery store; two went home.

You could change one of them into a subordinate clause, with one of the words I talked about last time:

While three of them went to the grocery store, two went home.

You can see that now, the beginning isn’t a complete sentence. “While three of them went to the grocery store” isn’t a complete though. It leaves you wondering… while that happened, what?

The last way to join two sentences is with a comma and for, and, nor, but, or, so, or yet. You need to choose which word makes sense in the sentence. In this case, you can easily use the word and.

Three of them went to the grocery store, and two went home.

That’s choice 4, to add the word and after the comma. It fixes the comma splice! You can see how identifying sentences can help you on the GED… Good studying!

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

One of those skills is seeing fragments. It’s a pretty common problem–not noticing fragments in your writing. On the multiple choice test, it’s a good thing to watch out for. Here’s an example:

If you find that you cannot return to work before the end of the day. Please update your time card the following day to indicate the time you left.

This is a hard one to see, because if you just read it to yourself, it sounds okay. It might sound a little formal, but that’s all. Actually, you need to pay attention to where the periods are… where the sentences come to an end. Each sentence should stand by itself, to give you a whole idea. Try looking at them separately:

If you find that you cannot return to work before the end of the day.

Please update your time card the following day to indicate the time you left.

Which one sounds complete? Which one sounds wrong by itself, without anything else? The first one is incomplete. It leaves you with a big question: If you can’t come back to work–then what? It doesn’t tell you. Words like if, when, since, because, while, after, although, unless, and now that begin a phrase that NEEDS to be attached to a whole sentence. They open up questions… because you did this–what happened? after you did that–what happened? unless you do this–what will happen? If you don’t have it attached to a sentence, the question isn’t answered. You don’t have a complete thought.

The GED test will ask you questions about fixing fragments like this. Try answering this GED writing practice question to fix the fragment:

If you find that you cannot return to work before the end of the day. Please update your time card the following day to indicate the time you left.

Which group of words would be included in the most effective combination of these two sentences?

A)  the day, please update

B)  the day that you please update

C)  the day, but please update

D)  the day, so please update

E)  the day, and you will please update

The trick to answering this kind of question is not to just look at the answers. They won’t make much sense by themselves. Try to put them in the sentence, to see what it looks like.

A)  If you find that you cannot return to work before the end of the day, please update your time card the following day to indicate the time you left.

B)  If you find that you cannot return to work before the end of the day that you please update your time card the following day to indicate the time you left.

C)  If you find that you cannot return to work before the end of the day, but please update your time card the following day to indicate the time you left.

D)  If you find that you cannot return to work before the end of the day, so please update your time card the following day to indicate the time you left.

E)  If you find that you cannot return to work before the end of the day, and you will please update your time card the following day to indicate the time you left.

You might be able to tell by reading these aloud to yourself that answer A is right. It sounds best–most natural to your ear. The other way to tell is to know that fragments like this, that start with when or since or although or if or any words like that (they’re called subordinating conjunctions!)…anyway, if this kind of fragment goes with the sentence after it, you can usually just join them together with a comma. If it goes with the sentence before it, you can usually just join them together–no comma needed. Answers B, C, D, and E all add extra words… words that you don’t need and that are confusing at best! The best answer is A.

Good luck!

For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at http://www.passGED.com.

So here’s a GED practice question, like is on the GED writing test:

Sentence: Flowers potted plants, and potting soil are all high-turnover products in our business.

Which correction should be made to this sentence?

1. replace are with our
2. remove the comma after plants
3. insert a comma after flowers
4. replace are with is
5. no correction is necessary

So, what do you think? Do you know what the best answer is? One thing you’ll see on the writing choice all the time is “no correction is necessary.” Most of the questions give you the choice to make no changes…which can make it hard to use elimination to find the right answer. It’s still good to try to eliminate wrong answer, though. The more bad choices you can get rid of, the better chance you have of getting the right answer.

The first answer says to replace “are” with “our.” They both sound alike, so you need to know what they mean. “Are” is a verb, the plural of “is.” And “our” is a pronoun meaning “belonging to us.” So, which one is right? I think it’s “are,” because you could say “potting soil is high-turnover.” So those other things and potting soil together are high turnover. So answer 1 isn’t right.

Answer 2 says to take out the comma after plants. Well, I know that there’s two times you put a comma before the word “and.” One time is if the word “and” is joining two sentences. Well, that’s not true here because “flowers potted plants” isn’t a whole sentence. The other time is when “and” is used as part of a series of three or more things…how many things are being joined here? Two? Or more? Let’s see… “flowers potted plants” kind of looks like one thing, but it’s really not. What’s a flowers potted plants? It means flowers as one thing, and potted plants as a second thing. And potting soil is the third thing. I think I see the problem here. There needs to be a comma between “flowers” and “potted plants” to show that they’re two separate things.

So, is that one of the answers? Yes, it’s answer 3. That’s the right answer!

I’ll get you more practice GED writing questions in the future…and if you have a grammar question you want me to write about, leave a comment on my blog! Good luck with the GED studying.