How do you apply the capitalization rules the EOC tests and catch the spelling errors, especially the commonly confused homophones, that it scores?
Capitalization and spelling: capitalizing proper nouns, the first word of a sentence, titles, and other required cases (but not common nouns), and correcting commonly misspelled words and confused homophones (their/there/they're, your/you're, to/too/two, affect/effect), on the Virginia EOC Writing test.
How to fix capitalization and spelling on the Virginia EOC Writing test: capitalizing proper nouns, sentence starts, and titles (not common nouns), and correcting commonly confused homophones (their/there/they're, your/you're, to/too/two, affect/effect). Tested with multiple-choice and drop-down editing items, and scored on the Short Paper.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
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What this skill is asking
Capitalization and spelling are the final mechanics the Virginia EOC Writing test scores, and they reward precise knowledge of a set of rules and a set of commonly confused words. Capitalization: proper nouns, the first word of a sentence, titles, and a few other cases are capitalized, but common nouns and seasons are not. Spelling: the EOC most often tests commonly confused homophones (their/there/they're, your/you're, to/too/two, affect/effect) and frequently misspelled words. The EOC tests these with multiple-choice "which is correct" items and with drop-down items, and they are scored on the Short Paper's Usage and Mechanics domain. This page covers the capitalization rules and the high-frequency spelling traps.
Capitalization: proper nouns and sentence starts
Capitalize the specific, not the general.
The reliable test is the specific-versus-general check. A proper noun names one particular thing ("Lincoln High School"); a common noun names a type ("a high school"). Days, months, and holidays are capitalized ("Monday", "July", "Thanksgiving"), but seasons are not, a frequent EOC trap ("last summer", not "last Summer"). Titles capitalize the principal words. Reading for whether a word names something specific or general resolves most capitalization items.
Spelling: the confused homophones
The trick with homophones is to substitute a test phrase. For their/there/they're: if "they are" fits, use "they're"; if it names a place, "there"; if it shows possession, "their." For your/you're: expand "you are." For to/too/two: "too" means "also" or "excessively," "two" is the number, "to" is the default. For affect/effect: "affect" is usually the verb (to affect a change influences it), "effect" the noun (the effect is the result). These substitution tests turn a sound-alike guess into a meaning-based choice.
A routine for capitalization and spelling
Try this
Q1. Which words are capitalized: proper nouns, common nouns, seasons, the first word of a sentence? [Recall]
- Cue. Capitalize proper nouns (specific names) and the first word of a sentence (and "I", titles, days, months, holidays). Do not capitalize common nouns (general types) or seasons. The contrast is specific versus general.
Q2. Choose the correct word and explain: "You left ___ jacket on the bus." (your / you're) [Short explanation]
- Cue. "Your." It shows possession (the jacket belonging to you). The test is to expand "you're" to "you are": "You left you are jacket" makes no sense, so the possessive "your" is correct.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of VDOE exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
EOC Writing (editing, drop-down style)1 marksChoose the correct word. 'The students left ___ books in the classroom.' (1) there. (2) their. (3) they're. (4) thier.Show worked answer →
Answer: (2). "Their" is the possessive form (belonging to them), so the students left "their" books.
Why not the others: (1) "there" refers to a place; (3) "they're" means "they are" ("they're leaving"); (4) "thier" is a misspelling (the rule is "i before e," so "their"). Homophones are chosen by meaning: their (possession), there (place), they're (they are).
EOC Writing (editing, style)1 marksWhich sentence is capitalized correctly? (1) We visited the grand canyon in Arizona last Summer. (2) We visited the Grand Canyon in Arizona last summer. (3) We Visited the Grand Canyon in arizona last summer. (4) we visited the grand canyon in arizona last summer.Show worked answer →
Answer: (2). Capitalize proper nouns ("Grand Canyon", "Arizona") and the first word of the sentence, but not seasons ("summer") or common nouns.
Why not the others: (1) wrongly capitalizes "Summer" and leaves "grand canyon" lowercase; (3) capitalizes the verb "Visited" and lowercases "arizona"; (4) omits the sentence-initial capital and the proper nouns. Seasons are common nouns and are not capitalized.
Related dot points
- Subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement: matching a verb to the number of its true subject (despite intervening phrases or tricky subjects like collective nouns and indefinite pronouns), and matching a pronoun to the number of its antecedent, on the Virginia EOC Writing test's editing items and the Short Paper's Usage and Mechanics domain.
How to fix agreement errors on the Virginia EOC Writing test: matching a verb to its true subject despite intervening phrases, handling collective nouns and indefinite pronouns, and matching a pronoun to its antecedent. Tested with multiple-choice and drop-down editing items, and scored on the Short Paper.
- Verb tense, pronoun case, and modifiers: keeping verb tense consistent within a passage unless the meaning shifts, choosing subject versus object pronoun case (including who versus whom), and placing modifiers next to the words they describe to avoid misplaced and dangling modifiers, on the Virginia EOC Writing test.
How to fix verb tense, pronoun case, and modifier errors on the Virginia EOC Writing test: keeping tense consistent, choosing subject versus object pronouns (and who/whom), and placing modifiers next to what they describe. Tested with multiple-choice and drop-down editing items, and scored on the Short Paper.
- Sentence boundaries, fragments, and run-ons: identifying a complete sentence (a subject and a verb expressing a complete thought), recognizing sentence fragments, run-on sentences, and comma splices, and fixing each with correct punctuation, a conjunction, or restructuring, on the Virginia EOC Writing test.
How to fix sentence-boundary errors on the Virginia EOC Writing test: telling a complete sentence from a fragment, recognizing run-ons and comma splices, and fixing each with a period, semicolon, conjunction, or restructuring. Tested with multiple-choice and editing items, and scored on the Short Paper.
- Punctuation: commas, apostrophes, and more: applying the high-frequency punctuation rules the EOC tests, commas in a series, after introductory elements, around nonessential phrases, and between coordinated clauses, apostrophes for possession and contractions, and end punctuation and quotation marks, on the Virginia EOC Writing test.
How to fix punctuation on the Virginia EOC Writing test: commas in a series, after introductory elements, and around nonessential phrases; apostrophes for possession and contractions; and end punctuation and quotation marks. Tested with multiple-choice and drop-down editing items, and scored on the Short Paper.
- Usage and Mechanics, the second domain: earning the second Short Paper rubric domain by controlling grammar and usage, sentence structure, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling in your own writing, and proofreading systematically to catch the errors that lower the score, on the Virginia EOC Writing test.
How to score on the Usage and Mechanics domain of the Virginia EOC Writing Short Paper: controlling grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling in your own writing, and proofreading systematically. The second of two rubric domains, scored 1 to 4.
Sources & how we know this
- 2017 English Standards of Learning — VDOE (2017)
- English SOL Online Writing Resources — VDOE (2025)