Do NOT capitalize north, south, east, west when they refer to directions. The freeway runs mainly north and south. The sky to the east was dark. The word staff is singular when it describes action or thought taken by the group as a whole. Staff recommends the Board authorize . . .
Staff concurs with the findings . . .
However, the word staff can be plural when used to describe separate actions taken by individual staff members. The Chancellor's Office staff are completing questionnaires for the survey. Here are a few of the common rules for commas. A main clause is a clause that has a noun and a subject and could stand alone as a sentence. A compound sentence is composed of two main clauses where each clause represents its own idea.