Punctuation Notes
Pt 1 End Marks
1. Use periods at the end of declarative and imperative sentences, and also indirect questions.
Please
keep your voice down. He asked if we
knew the time.
Dr. Rev. M. L. King Jr. worked for civil rights.
I.
Drama
A. Tragedy
1.
Greek
$14.94 3.1416
Are you going to the Neil Young concert?
Wow! I could have had a V-8!
Pt2 Commas
1.
Use a comma after every item in a series except the last.
I bought soap,
shampoo, and toothpaste for my trip.
2.
Use commas after the adverb first, second, third, and
so on, when these adverbs introduce a series of parallel items.
First, look at
the title; second, look at the subheadings; third, read the first and last
paragraphs.
3.
Use a comma after each adjective except the last one when
two or more adjectives precede a noun.
Today is a clear, bright, sunshiny day.
4.
Use commas to set off an introductory word, phrase, or
clause; nouns of direct address; or groups of words that interrupt the flow or
thought of a sentence.
No, I have
never been to Disney world.
5.
Use commas to set off most appositives. An appositive is a noun used to describe
another noun.
Beverly Sills,
the famous soprano, is appearing at the Opera House.
6.
Use a comma to set off the explanatory words of a direct
quotation.
Charlie asked,
“Why is everyone staring at me?”
7.
Use a comma with a conjunction to join two main clauses into
a compound sentence.
The day was
brisk and sunny, and we looked forward to our hike.
8.
Use a comma between the day of the month and the year. In a
sentence, a comma also follows the
year.
My baby sister
was born on June 26, 1983, at four in the morning.
9.
Use a comma to separate the city from its state.
I grew up in
Chicago, Illinois.
10. Use a
comma after the salutation or the complimentary close of a friendly letter.
Dear
Mary, yours truly,
Pt3 Colons
1.Use a colon after the greeting of a business letter.
Dear Sir: Ladies and
Gentlemen:
2. Use a colon between numerals indicating hours and
minutes.
8:25 A.M.
3. Use a colon to introduce a list of items.
The
experiment requires the following equipment: test tubes, slides, beakers,
graduated cylinders, and pipettes.
Pt3 Semicolons sheet 1
1.
Use a semicolon to join independent clauses together to form
a compound sentence.
Keith is
captain of the squad; Eric is manger.
2.
When there are many commas in the clauses of a compound
sentence, separate the clauses themselves with a semicolon.
Chad was born
in Muncie, Indiana, site of Ball State University; but he and his family moved
to Ann Arbor, Michigan, when his mother, who is a professor, got a job there.
3.
When there are commas within items in a series, use
semicolons to separate the items.
Volunteers came
from Berkeley, California; Eugene, Oregon; Houston, Texas; and New Orleans,
Louisiana.
Pt4 Hyphens
1.
Use a hyphen in compound numbers from twenty-one through
ninety-nine.
Fifty-five
minutes twenty-four students
2.
Use a hyphen in fractions.
I got a
three-fourths majority of the vote.
3.
Use a hyphen or hyphens in compound nouns.
Great-grandmother commander-in-chief merry-go-round
4.
Use a hyphen for compound adjectives used before a noun.
Joey made last-minute changes to his plan.
5.
Use a hyphen if a syllable of a word must be carried over
from one line to the next.
Quotation Marks worksheet 1
“How can one person,” wondered Al,
“be so messy?”
Did I hear you say, “I’m too tired
to play”?
Brad asked, “Has everyone left
already?”
Special rules for titles:
Underline titles of whole books,
plays, magazines, newspapers, etc. In
print these titles are set in italics.
I enjoyed the
first chapter of The Hobbit, entitled “An Unexpected Visitor.”
Pt6 Apostrophes
1. Use an
apostrophe in a contraction.
She’ll don’t it’s doesn’t
2. Use an
apostrophe to show the omission of numbers in a date.
The flood
of ’83 was nasty. The class of
’09 raised money for the food bank.
3. Use an
apostrophe and s to form the plurals of letters, figures, and words used
as words.
I got two A’s
on my report card. No if’s, and’s,
or but’s will be accepted as excuses.
To show
possession:
4. For a
singular noun, add an apostrophe and an s.
The painter’s truck was parked out front of the jobsite.
5. For a
plural noun ending in an s, only add an apostrophe.
The
painters’ trucks were parked out front of the jobsite.
6. For a
plural noun not ending in an s, add an apostrophe and an s.
The mice’s
cages were all cleaned by the assistant.
7. Use
apostrophes to form the possessives of indefinite pronouns.
Never use
an apostrophe in possessive pronouns.
Everyone’s luggage was accounted
for. Ours was also there.