1. Punctuation
Mrs. Crystal Hurd
NSTCC

2. Period Periods end a sentence and appear after abbreviations.
Kelly went to the store.
Dr. Kim is out of the office.

3. Question Mark Question marks appear at the end of a question.
Where is my CD?
If I call Andrea, will she do the chores for me?

4. Comma
Commas show a pause, surround relative clauses that add information, separate a series, or show direct quotation.
However, she went to the party anyway.
The agency, created in 1989, helps those less fortunate.
He brought chips, dip, and paper plates.
Andrew asked, “Can we watch the movie again?”

5. Apostrophe
Apostrophes show ownership or possession and when letters were omitted in a contraction.
That is Ken’s car.
When the noun is PLURAL, the apostrophe goes AFTER the –s
The planes’ hangars were occupied.
You can’t call her until 8 a.m.
Cannot = can’t (apostrophe replaces the o)

6. Quotation Mark Quotation Marks surround a comment spoken directly.
“I will go to the park later,” said Marsha
“No, I didn’t get to call him back.”

7. Colons introduce a long quote or a list.
We are bringing the following people to the concert: Kayla, Chris, Marsha, Lilly, Eric, Derek, and Lisa.
Science is an increasingly important topic: “Science education is playing an important role is preparing our doctors, nurses, and pharmacists.”

8. Semicolon
Semicolons join independent clauses (sentences) that are related and lists that already have commas.
The notebook was lost in the cafeteria; chaos usually leads to lost property during lunch.
The three biggest cities in Canada are Toronto, Ontario; Montreal, Quebec; and Vancouver, B.C.

9. The children - Pierre, Laura, and Ashley - went to the store.
A dash summarizes the idea of a sentence, adds information, or shows an interruption in speaking.
Mild, wet, and cloudy - these are the characteristics of weather in Vancouver.
The children - Pierre, Laura, and Ashley - went to the store.
The woman said, "I want to ask - " when the earthquake began to shake the room.

10. Hyphen
Hypens join two words together to form one idea, join prefixes to words, and express compound numbers.
Sweet-smelling
Non-fat
Twenty-three
Seventy-four

11. Practice Where is Keith Rain is expected today I dont like to ski
However she came anyway
The Dodgers actually won the world series
Mary asked, Why dont we draw names
There are twentythree students in the class

12. Answers! Where is Keith? Question mark Rain is expected today. Period
I don’t like to ski. Apostrophe, comma
However, she came anyway. Comma, period
The Dodgers actually won the world series! Exclamation point
Mary asked, “Why don’t we draw names?”
Quotation marks, apostrophe, question mark
There are twenty-three students in the class.
Hypen, period