Part Three: Punctuation Guide

End Punctuation Periods Question Marks Exclamation Points At the end of a statement, request, or command. Prefixes (Mr., Dr.) Abbreviations (including time) (etc., vs., A.M.) Question Marks At the end of a direct question. Can you help me cook tonight? At the end of a quoted question. “Can you help me cook tonight?” he asked politely. Exclamation Points Expresses a strong emotion or urgent command There’s not a taxi in this city that will pick us up!

Commas Use a comma before a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, so, or yet) Joins two independent clauses Here are two independent clauses. The weather was nice today. I took a bike ride. Now they are joined by a comma and coordinating conjunction. The weather was nice today, so I took a bike ride.

Commas Use commas between items in a series (even if they are adjectives) You get this shirt in blue, purple, or black. He was a quiet, serious, but generous man. After introductory phrases When you go to Germany, make sure you visit Hamburg. At the restaurant, Judy ordered lobster.

Commas Use them after introductory words To offset transitional words Well, I guess you can go to the concert. Slowly, he got up from his chair to speak. To offset transitional words They have many cars at the lot, such as trucks, sedans, and SUVs.

Commas Use them to offset direct quotations He said, “I don’t have any money to fund that.” “We are going downtown tonight,” Julie said. Use with dates, addresses, titles, numbers, states, and countries On June 12th, 1972, the world stood still. My new address is 297 East 4th Street, Plano, TX. Ben Watts, PhD, is a professor here in town.

Semicolons Use them to connect two independent clauses Richard had three dollars; he planned on buying breakfast with it. Her car had to be jump started this morning; as a result, she was late for the meeting. Between items in a series if the items have a comma or other punctuation The rally will be Friday, May 5; Saturday, May 6; and Sunday, May 7.

Colons Between two independent clauses (if the second clause explains or summarizes the first) The book spends the entire time stating the obvious: we know the killer is the neighbor. To introduce lists, examples, or definitions They have a variety of summer classes: canoeing, crafts, wildlife observation, and hiking. Let’s look at the definition of true leadership: an individual who takes control without having to force his or her ideas on the group.

Quotation Marks Direct Quotation (double quotation marks for a quoted verbatim text, single for quoted material within another quotation) “Life is too short,” he would always say. “And then he said ‘I’m leaving’, and ran away.” Titles of short works This week we are reading “The Road”, and I like it. With definitions I would call my puppy “a ball of energy”, but that might not even be enough.

Apostrophes Show possession for single and plural nouns It was Gail’s apple. My three sisters’ cat ran away. To form a contraction or where numbers have been omitted in a year or decade. I can’t (cannot) see where this is going. You weren’t (were not) even watching this. I hate 80’s (1980) music.

Parentheses They set off information that is helpful but not essential to the sentence It was Carl (my son) who scored the most goals. Yesterday the temperature was way below freezing. (It is not usually this cold in April.) To enclose in-text citations He purported to be born in Rome (Gooding, 72). Letters or numbers used to label listed items The violent crime rate in the city is as follows: (1) Crete area 23%, (2) Werner area 17%, and (3) Vale area 21%.

Ellipsis Marks Indicate an omission (especially if from a direct quotation) Here are the meeting notes. Baylor said, “Lawns should be kept healthy…and no unpainted furniture is allowed…Front lawns should be kept free of debris and cut regularly.”