Punctuation

Periods• At the end of declarative and

some imperative sentences.• Abbreviations

– Mr.– Co.– Rd.– A.M.

End Marks• An interrogative sentence (asks a

question) ends with a question mark (?).

• An exclamatory sentence (shows strong emotion) ends with an exclamation point (!).

Commas• Items in a series

– The little boys ran, jumped, and skipped.– Exception: Tyrone and Earlene and Lily won

awards for their sculptures. • Interjections

– Oh, I understand now.– Wow, what a beautiful rainbow it is!

• Introductory phrases or clauses– In the light of the moon, the flowers

opened.– Exception: In the light of the moon opened

the flowers.

Commas• Nouns of direct address

– David, do you have a ruler?• Interrupters

– Yesterday, on the other hand, was a more productive day.

– He was, I believe, an amateur swimmer.

Commas• Appositives – nouns or noun

phrases that rename the noun they follow– Vanessa, my favorite cousin, likes to

surf.– Exception:

• If an appositive is necessary, it does not need commas

• My favorite cousin Vanessa likes to surf.

Commas• Dates

– On December 14, 1819, Alabama was admitted as the twenty-second state of the union.

– The Revolutionary War started in April 1775 in the colonial town of Lexington.

• Addresses– Mobile, Alabama, is found on the Gulf of

Mexico.– His mailing address is P.O. Box 1478, San

Jose, California 95103.

Commas• Two or more adjectives preceding

a noun– I have had a long, hectic, tiring day.

Commas & Quotation Marks

• Direct Quotes– Will said, “I want some ice cream.”– “I want some ice cream,” Will said.– “Do you want some ice cream?” Will

asked.– “After we bought ice cream,” Will

said, “we decided we did not want it.”

Quotation Marks• Use single quotation marks to

enclose a quotation within a quotation.– The teacher requested, “Jorge, please

explain what Emerson meant when he said, ‘To be great is to be misunderstood.’”

Quotation Marks• Use quotation marks to enclose

slang words, invented words, technical terms, and dictionary definitions of words.– She described the Halloween festival

as “spooktacular.”

Apostrophe• Possessive nouns

– girl’s dresses– boys’ games– Baldwin’s and Ellison’s writings– Roz and Denise’s idea

• Contractions– don’t = do not– let’s = let us– ’11 = 2011

• Plurals– There are two r’s and two s’s in embarrassed.– After the happy couple said their I do’s, everyone

cheered.

Colon• Used to introduce a list

– I requested the following: your name, your address, and your telephone number.

• Do NOT use a colon after a verb or a preposition.– Our toolbox contains a hammer, a

wrench, and a chisel.

Colon• Use before a long, formal statement or

quotation• Use between chapter and verse in Bible

passages• Time• After the salutation of a business letter

– To Whom It May Concern:

Dashes• Use a dash to indicate an abrupt break

in thought.– The poor condition of the road—it really

needs to be paved—makes this route unpopular.

• Use a dash to mean namely, in other words, that is, and similar expressions that come before an explanation.– Amanda joined the chorus for only one

reason—she loves to sing.

Parentheses• Use parenthesis to enclose

information or explanatory material of minor importance– A roman a clef (literally, “novel with a

key”) is a novel about real people to whom the novelist has assigned fictitious names.

Brackets• Use brackets to enclose explanation

within quoted or parenthetical material.– The newspaper article stated, “At the time

of that Democratic National Convention [in Chicago in 1968] there were many protest groups operating in the United States.”

– I think that Hilda Doolittle (more commonly known as H.D. [1886-1961]) is best remembered for her Imagist poetry.

Ellipsis Points• Use ellipsis points (. . .) to mark

omissions from quoted material and pauses in a written passage.– In his autobiography, Tough Trip

Through Paradise, Andrew Garcia reflects, “Sitting here tonight, . . . I think about those faces that pass before my eyes like it was yesterday.”

Italics• Use italics (underlining) for words,

letters, and symbols referred to as such and for foreign words.– Should the use of their for there be

considered a spelling error or a usage error?

– Some U.S. coins were stamped with the inscription E pluribus unum.

Titles• Types of titles to underline or italicize:

– Books– Newspapers– Television programs– Magazines– Movies– Plays– Ships, airplanes, spacecraft– Works of art– Long musical compositions

Titles• Types of titles that use quotation

marks:– Short stories– Poems– Songs– Chapters– Newspaper & magazine articles

Hyphens• Use a hyphen with compound numbers from

twenty-one to ninety-nine and with fractions used as modifiers.– a three-fourths vote– Exception: three fourths of the audience

• Use a hyphen with the prefixes ex-, self-, and all-, with the suffix –elect, and with prefixes before a proper noun or proper adjective.– ex-mayor– all-star– pre-Civil War

Hyphens• Hyphenate a compound adjective

when it precedes a noun it modifies.– a well-designed engine– a world-famous skier

The Sentence and Punctuation

Types of Sentences1. Declarative sentence – makes a statement

and ends with a period2. Interrogative sentence – asks a questions

and ends with a question mark3. Exclamatory sentence – makes a strong

statement and ends with an exclamation point

4. Imperative sentence – makes a request or gives a command and usually ends with a period

The Sentence A complete sentence expresses a complete

thought and contains a subject and a verb. Sentence errors

Fragment The weatherman on television.

Run-on The weatherman gave his forecast he predicted

snow. Comma Splice

The weatherman gave his forecast, he predicted snow.

Simple Sentence Simple sentence is one main clause;

only one complete thought. Carlos and Callie search for a car. They visited car lots and checked the

Internet.

Compound Sentence Compound sentence has two or more

clauses Can be joined by a semi-colon, a comma

and a conjunction, or a semi-colon and a conjunctive adverb Carlos looked for a car; Callie stayed at home. Carlos wanted a Toyota, but Callie preferred a

Mazda. Carlos visited the car lots; however, Callie

searched the Internet.

Complex Sentence Complex sentence = a main

(independent) clause + one or more subordinate (dependent) clause The girl who raised her hand had red

hair. While the ship docked, we talked on the

beach. The person who I admire the most is my

father.

Essential vs. Nonessential Clauses Place commas around clauses that

are nonessential – information that is not needed to understand the main idea of the sentence. Emma, who lives across the street from

me, won a scholarship to Stanford University.

Two poems written by Lorna Dee Cervantes are included in our literature book.

Introductory Phrases & Clauses Place commas after introductory

dependent clauses or phrases Although it rained, I walked home. When the bell rang, the students left. Born in July, Lashondra was older than

her cousin.

Complex Items in a Series Ryan, my best friend; Craig, my next

door neighbor; and Lad, my brother, met after school.

We traveled to Chattanooga, Tennessee; Huntsville, Alabama; Atlanta, Georgia; and Orlando, Florida.

Parallel Sentences Parallel structure means using like

grammatical parts to emphasize a similarities of ideas.

The man was old, lonely, and a miser. The man was old, lonely, and miserly.

Parallel Sentences The model learned to speak well, walking

with poise, and that she must apply makeup correctly.

The model learned to speak well, to walk with poise, and to apply makeup correctly.

He was a professional baseball player and also played the violin.

He played professional baseball and also the violin.

Parallel Sentences We needed either to correct the

mistake or we should start over. We needed either to correct the

mistake or to start over.