Punctuation

Periods and Other End Marks Period 1. Use at the end of a declarative sentence. Ex. My teacher is the best ever. 2. Use at the end of most imperative sentences. Ex. Give the dog a bath. 3. Use at the end of an indirect question. Ex. She asked me to go to the store. 4. Use at the end of most abbreviations and initials. Ex. Mr., min., Ave., Dr., Ph.D., Oct., U.S.A. (abbreviations without periods TV, VCR, DVD, CD, ER, etc.) 5. Use a period after each number and letter in an outline or list. I. Horses A. Fast horses A. Fast horses 1. Thoroughbreds 1. Thoroughbreds 2. Arabians 2. Arabians

Periods and Other End Marks Exclamation Point 1.Use at the end of an exclamatory sentence. Ex. Blondee ate my homework! 2. Use after an interjection or after any other exclamatory expression. Ex. Wow! That’s a big hunk of cheese! Question Mark Use at the end of an interrogative sentence. He asked me, “Will you please go to the store and buy milk?”

Commas in Sentences There are eight ways to use a comma in a sentence. 1.Commas are used to combine two complete sentences to create a compound sentence. The comma comes before the conjunction. Ex. The class was noisy, and they had to stay in for recess. 2. Commas come after every item in a series except the last one. Ex. Go to the store and buy a stick of butter, a gallon of milk, and a loaf of bread for dinner.

Commas in Sentences 3. Use a comma between two adjectives of equal importance. Ex. The tall, beautiful woman is a star. Ex. The tall, beautiful woman is a star. 4. Use a comma after an introductory word or phrase. Ex. Quietly, pack your bags to go home. 5. Use commas to set off words or phrases that interrupt, or break the flow of thought in a sentence. Ex. Tommy, finally, raised his hand to speak.

Commas in Sentences 6. Use a comma to set off a noun of direct address. Ex. Stop talking, Courtney, before you earn a detention. 7. Use a comma to set off an appositive phrase when it is not needed in a sentence. ( An appositive phrase defines or names a noun or pronoun right before it ) Ex. The principal, Mrs. Dutton, just walked into the room. 8. Use a comma whenever the reader may otherwise be confused. Ex. The art of writing, my life’s work, is so much fun!

Commas in Dates, Addresses, and Letters Commas in Dates – Use a comma between the day and year unless in a sentence then add a comma after the year to continue the sentence. Commas in Addresses – Use a comma between the city and state on an envelope. If written in a sentence, put a comma after the street address, between the city and state, the zip code and country, and after the country (if included) in order to continue the sentence. Commas in Letters- Use a comma after the greeting of casual letters and closing of casual and business letters.

Punctuating Quotations Direct Quotes –Use quotes to mark the beginning and end of a direct quote. Ex. “I will not tolerate talking during a test,” explained the teacher. –Use commas to set off explanatory words with direct quotes. Ex. “I will not,” explained the teacher, “tolerate talking during a test.” –If a quote is a question or exclamation, place the question mark or exclamation point inside the closing quotation marks. Ex. “I will not tolerate talking during a test!” shouted the teacher. –If quoted words are part of a question or exclamation, but not the actual question or exclamation, place the end mark outside the closing quotation marks. Ex. Did the teacher say, “I will not tolerate talking during a test”?

Punctuating Quotations Indirect Quotations –Do not use quotation marks to set off indirect quotes. Indirect = Did he ask you to the prom? Direct = Did he ask, “Will you go to the prom with me?” Divided Quotations –Use quotations to enclose all parts of a divided quotation. –Do not capitalize the first word of the second part of a divided quote unless it begins a new sentence. –Use commas to set off explanatory words. “Wow,” exclaimed Coleton, “that is a big hunk of cheese!”

Semicolon Use a semicolon to connect two sentences that are closely related. (The semicolon replaces a comma and conjunction to create a compound sentence.) –Ex. Making Power Points is time-consuming; I hope you appreciate all of my hard work. Use a semicolon when there are commas within parts of a series. –Ex. The solar system consists of nine planets, like Earth, Mars, and Jupiter; many comets, like Haley’s Comet; and countless stars.

Colon Use a colon to introduce a list of items. –Ex. The St. Martha uniform is lovely: plaid skirts, blue pants, white shirts, green shirts, and green sweat suits. Use a colon in the formal greeting of a business letter. –Ex. To Whom It May Concern: –Ex. Dear Mrs. Dutton: Use a colon in between the hours and minutes in expressions of time. –Ex. 8:45 A.M. 12:09 P.M.

Hyphen 1. Use a hyphen at a line break –You must separate a word between syllables –The word must be at least two syllables. –You must have at least two letters on each line. Ex. dum-founded or dumfound-ed 2. Use a hyphen in certain compound words Ex. mother-in-law self-confident jack-o-lantern 3. Use hyphens to spell-out numbers twenty-one through ninety-nine. Ex. fifty-three seventy-two 4. Use hyphen to spell-out fractions Ex. one-fifth three-eighths

Dashes Use a dash to show an abrupt break in thought. Use the “Oh, by the way!” test Ex. Muhammad Ali – whose birth name was Cassius Clay – is a world famous boxer.

Parentheses Use parentheses to set off ideas loosely related to the sentence. Ex. Jesus was born in a stable (the exact date is unknown). * Warning using too many parentheses will weaken your writing.

Apostrophes Use an apostrophe to form the possessive of nouns. –Ex. Bob’s house is big. –Ex. The car’s exhaust needs to be replaced. Use apostrophes to form contractions. –Ex. It’s = it is you’re = you are wasn’t = was not Use apostrophes to form the plurals of a letter, number, or a word referred to as a word. –Ex. I received six A’s on my report card. –Ex. I earned seven 5’s on my Traits of Writing. –Ex. You have five got’s in your paper.

Punctuating Titles Quotation Marks –Book Chapter –Story –Essay –Article –TV Episode –Song –Poem Italics or Underlining –Book –Play –Magazine –Movie –TV Series –Long Musical Work –Epic Poem –Painting –Ship –Train –Spacecraft –Airplane