End Marks, Ellipses, Dashes, Hyphen, Semicolon, & Colon Oh MY!

End Marks…AKA punctuation PERIOD  Used at the end of a complete declarative sentence  Most sentences end with a period  It is also used after an abbreviation Dr. Washington agreed with the diagnosis.

EXCLAMATION POINT  Indicates excitement  Used after an interjection, a statement that expresses strong emotion, or an urgent command INTERJECTION: Ouch! Command: Get out of here before I tear your ears off!

QUESTION MARK  Used at the end of a sentence that asks a question You already know how to use a question mark, don’t you?

Ellipses  Indicates a pause or interruption  Used to show a statement is trailing off or is unfinished  Indicates where words have been left out of a quotation PAUSE: “She…she never should have tried dancing in those glass slippers,” Julio murmured. UNFINISHED THOUGHT: “I like country music and R &B. Of course if I had to make a choice…” WORDS LEFT OUT: “We the People of the United States, in Order to…establish justice…”

Dash  Emphasizes words or phrases  Used to summarize an idea  Used to signal a break or change in thought Summarize: Snakes, slugs, worms—Dante tried to avoid anything that slithered. Change in Thought: A dash can signal a change—or a break—in thought. *To type a dash use two hyphens and no spaces* **Not a hyphen**

So what is a hyphen you ask?  Used to join two or more words that act together to describe a noun  Used to divide a word at the end of a line of writing DESCRIPTIVE: We found an excuse to walk away from the fast-talking salesman. DIVIDING A WORD AT THE EDGE OF A PAGE:If you ever come to Califor- nia, I hope you’ll come visit me.

Semicolon The semicolon says, “pause here.” They are used between two complete thoughts in two ways:  To join two complete thoughts not connected by a joining word (for, and but, etc.) Barry cleans the house and cooks; Lana does the laundry and the grocery shopping.  To join two complete statements with a transitional word. I’ve never liked my father-in-law; furthermore, he knows it. * There are a ton of transitional words: however, therefore, thus, also, nevertheless…

Colon The colon says, “Keep reading. Here comes something important.”  To introduce a list The bag lady’s possessions were few: a shopping cart, a sleeping bag, and two or three ragged garments.  To introduce a long or literary quotation Charles Dickens begins his classic novel A Tale of Two Cities with these well-known words: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”  To introduce a final fact or explanation There is only one explanation for Maude’s behavior: she’s jealous.