1. CRANBOURNE EAST SECONDARY COLLEGE– VCAL LITERACY
Punctuation
CRANBOURNE EAST SECONDARY COLLEGE– VCAL LITERACY

2. Essential Learning:
To improve written expression and enhance students’ understanding of punctuation rules.

3. Punctuation Marks Correct punctuation will improve your writing.
Before you submit your writing, you need to check it carefully to ensure the punctuation is correct.

4. Punctuation Marks
The end sentence – a full stop- usually requires a new breath, while a comma requires a smaller break.
Do not forget to check for a capital letter after a full stop.
If you are using dialogue, check for opening and closing quotation marks and remember to start a new line for each change of speaker.

5. Question Marks
The question mark (?) is used at the end of a sentence to indicate a direct question.
Are you going to the game tonight?
The question mark is not used at the end of a reported question.
I asked you whether you were gong to the game tonight.

6. Commas The comma (,) shows a slight pause in a sentence. It is used:
before a quotation or direct speech
to separate items in a list; the comma is usually omitted before ‘and’ in a list
before and after the parts of a sentence that add new, but not essential, information.

7. Semicolon
The semicolon (;) joins clauses that are on a similar topic. (A clause is a group of words that contain a verb.)
Roses have a lovely perfume; dandelions do not.
Note that you do not use a capital letter after a semicolon.

8. Colon The colon (:) can be used to introduce a list.
You will need to take several items to the snow: a hat, gloves and a warm jacket.
The colon (:) is also sometimes used to introduce a quotation or a statement.
The coach said to the team: ‘We will train on Thursday.”

9. Quotation marks
Quotation marks- both double (“) and single (‘) – are used to indicate direct speech (words spoken or dialogue).
‘I really want to go to the game,’ whined Kevin.

10. Capital Letters Capital Letters must be used:
at the start of a sentence
at the start of a person’s name
at the start of proper nouns such as days, months, suburbs, cities and countries
for the personal pronoun ‘I’
for the first letter of the first word of a piece of dialogue or conversation.