Punctuation Rules

Comma Rules: Separate items in a series Ex. The dishes, pots, and pans need to be washed Separate two or more adjectives Ex. John is a humble, innocent child. Before for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so when they separate independent clauses. Ex. We could read the book, or we could wait to see the movie.

Comma Rules: To set off nonessential clauses Ex. His sayings, stated simply and directly, express wisdom. After introductory elements Ex. No, I have not read that book. Looking calm, Jill walked to the podium To set off interruptions Ex. Your research paper, Dylan, is very interesting

Commas in Conventional Situations: To separate items in dates and addresses Ex. April 8, 2000 315 Wayne Court, Danuba, California After the salutation or closing of a letter Dear Alicia, Sincerely, To set off abbreviations such as Jr., Sr., RN, M.D., Ltd., or Inc. Jorge Rivera, Jr. Flowers by Algernon, Inc.

Semicolons: Use a semicolon between independent clauses (to break up a run-on) You don’t have to use a semicolon if the run-on is already separated with a comma and conjunction (FANBOys), unless the clauses you are separating already contain a lot of commas Ex. The rain had finally stopped; a few rays of sunshine were pushing through the clouds.

Semicolons: Use a semicolon between items in a series if the items contain commas. Ex. The choir bus tour traveled to Columbia, SC; Atlanta, GA; and Gainsville, Fl.

Colons: Use a colon before a list or quote to mean “note what follows”: Ex. The epics we will study in class include the following: The iliad, The Aenead, and The Epic of Gilgamesh.

Colons: Conventional situations: -12:01 A.M. (between hour and minute) -Mark 3:10 (between chapter and verse) -A Long Way gone: memoirs of a boy soldier (between title and subtitle) - To whom it may Concern: (after the salutation of a business letter)

Apostrophes Use an apostrophe to show possession Singular: put the apostrophe before an s Roland’s sword Mom’s meatloaf recipe Unless the word ends in s and an ‘s would be awkward Mr. Rodgers’ class the witness’s testimony

Apostrophes Plural: put the apostrophe after the s The players’ uniforms the volunteers’ efforts Form the possessive of the last word in a compound word or when showing joint possession: brother-in-law’s Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s plan

Apostrophes Form the possessive of each noun in a word group when showing individual possession Shakespeare’s and Miller’s plays Contractions: use apostrophes to show where characters have been replaced Let us = let’s You will = you’ll Do not = don’t

Apostrophes The only time you use apostrophes for plurals is with letters, numbers, and words referred to as words. Mind your p’s and q’s. Don’t use so many and’s in your writing.

Quotation Marks Use quotation marks to enclose a direct quotation: Begin the quotation with a capital letter Ex. D’Angelo wrote, “Give more than take.” When the quote is interrupted, the second part begins lowercase Ex. “Common sense,” explained Albert Einstein, “is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.”

Quotation Marks Commas and periods are placed inside the quotation marks Ex. “Read these lyrics,” he said. Semicolons and colons go outside Question marks and exclamation points go inside if they are part of the quote, outside if they are part of the sentence.

Quotation Marks If the quotation is more than one paragraph, put a quotation mark at the beginning of each paragraph. Use single quotations for quotes within quotations When writing dialogue, begin a new paragraph every time the speaker changes

Quotation Marks Use quotation marks to enclose titles of short works such as: Short stories: “The Sniper” Poems: “Mother to Son” Songs: “Beat It” TV episodes, chapters of books, essays, articles, etc.

Italics Use italics when referring to words as themselves, letters, symbols, or words from foreign languages Hiss and clang are examples of onomatopoeia You typed ie instead of ei. The French word déjà vu is used to describe an odd feeling of having been somewhere or done something before.

Italics Use italics for the titles of long works: books: A Long Way Gone book-length poems: The Iliad works of art: Starry Night TV series: Friday Night Lights albums/compositions: The Four Seasons movies: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World plays: Romeo and Juliet newspapers: The NY Times periodicals: Sports Illustrated court cases: Brown v. Board of Education trains, ships, aircraft, and spacecraft: Apollo 13, The Spruce Goose, The Mayflower