For eighth graders, this Common Core area helps students gain mastery of the rules for using the English language, including vocabulary use and language conventions, in order to improve their skills as writers and readers. Among the complete standards for this grade, eighth graders will be asked to: demonstrate that they understand standard English usage in writing and speaking by showing that they understand active and passive voice, verbs in the indicative, imperative, interrogative, conditional, and subjunctive mood, standard capitalization, spelling, ellipses, additional correct punctuation, Greek or Latin affixes and roots, maintain consistent style and tone, be able to use digital and print glossaries, dictionaries, and thesauruses to find word meanings, interpret figures of speech in context, spellings and pronunciation of words, gather vocabulary knowledge to assist in word choice and comprehension.