1. Chapter 11: Punctuation
8th Grade English

2. 11.1 Periods and Other End Marks
Periods, question marks, and exclamation points are known as end marks because they are used to indicate the end of a a sentence.
Periods have other uses as well.

3. 11.1 Periods and Other End Marks
Use a period at the end of a declarative sentence.
A declarative sentence makes a statement.
The general wrote a message to the president.
Use a period at the end of almost every imperative sentence.
An imperative sentence gives a command.
Some imperative sentences express excitement or emotion and therefore end with exclamation points.
Take this message to the president.
Wait! Use the faster horse!

4. 11.1 Periods and Other End Marks
Use a period at the end of an indirect question.
An indirect question reports what a person asked without using the person’s exact words.
Direct: The aide asked, “Which route should I take, sir?”
Indirect: The aide asked the general which route to take.

5. 11.1 Periods and Other End Marks
Question Marks
Use a question mark at the end of an interrogative sentence.
An interrogative sentence asks a question.
Where are the maps?

6. 11.1 Periods and Other End Marks
Exclamation Points
Use an exclamation point to end an exclamatory sentence.
An exclamatory sentence expresses strong feelings.
The maps are missing! We’re in trouble now!
Use an exclamation point after an interjection or any other exclamatory expression.
What! Where could they be?
Quick! Search the woods for spies!

7. 11.1 Periods and Other End Marks
Other Uses of Periods
Use a period at the end of most abbreviations and initials.
Dr. (doctor)
sec. (second)
P.O. (post office)
No periods: CD (compact disc); TV (television)
Use a period after each number or letter in an outline or list. (See pg. 251 in your textbook for an example.)

8. 11.2 Commas in Sentences
Commas are used to separate certain parts of sentences.

9. 11.2 Commas in Sentences Commas in Compound Sentences
Use a comma before a conjunction that joins independent clauses in a compound sentence.
Most people know Thomas Edison for his creation of the light bulb, but he also developed many communication devices.
Sometimes a sentence has a compound verb but is not a compound sentence. Do not use a comma in this type of sentence.
Edison also constructed a model and tested the first phonograph.

10. 11.2 Commas in Sentences Commas with Items in a Series
Use a comma after every item in a series (list) except the last one.
Curiosity, ingenuity, and determination were qualities that helped shape Edison’s career.
Use commas between two or more adjectives of equal rank that modify the same noun.
Inventors are creative, practical people.
Inventors are creative and practical people.
Inventors are practical, creative people.

11. 11.2 Commas in Sentences Commas with Introductory Words and Phrases
Use a comma after an introductory word or phrase to separate it from the rest of the sentence.
Slowly, Edison learned to use the telegraph.
Hampered by poor hearing, he invented the repeating telegraph.

12. 11.2 Commas in Sentences Commas with Interrupters
Use commas to set off words or phrases that interrupt, or break, the flow of thought in a sentence.
Edison, at last, could pick up whole telegraph messages.

13. 11.2 Commas in Sentences Commas with Nouns of Direct Address
Use commas to set off nouns of direct address.
A noun of direct address names the person or group being spoken to.
Tell us, Kyla, how Edison helped the movie industry.

14. 11.2 Commas in Sentences Commas with Appositives
An appositive is a word or phrase that identifies or renames a noun or pronoun that comes right before it.
Use commas when the appositive adds extra information.
Thomas Edison, an American inventor, is responsible for many patents.
Do not use commas when the appositive is needed to make the meaning clear.
The American inventor Thomas Edison had patents for 1,093 inventions.

15. 11.2 Commas in Sentences Commas to Avoid Confusion
Use a comma whenever the reader might otherwise be confused.
Unclear: Edison built a huge laboratory for inventing his life’s work.
Clear: Edison built a huge laboratory for inventing, his life’s work.

16. 11.3 Commas in Dates, Addresses, and Letters
In dates, use a comma between the day and the year.
Use a comma after the year as well, if the date is part of a sentence and the sentence continues after the date.
Maybe I’ll hear about it by June 29, 2005, five years from now.

17. 11.3 Commas in Dates, Addresses, and Letters
Commas in Addresses
Use a comma between the city or town and the state or country.
Use a comma after the state or country if the location appears in a sentence and the sentence continues after the state or country.
Five years later, she got a letter from a boy who lived in Jarna, Sweden, and who had found the bottle.

18. 11.3 Commas in Dates, Addresses, and Letters
Commas in Letters
Use a comma after the greeting of a casual letter and after the closing of a casual or business letter.
Dear Samira,
Your pal,
Cindy

19. 11.4 Punctuating Quotations
To punctuate quotations, you need to know where to put quotation marks, commas, and end marks.

20. 11.4 Punctuating Quotations
Direct Quotations
A direct quotation is a report of a speaker’s exact words.
Use quotation marks at the beginning and end of a direct quotation.
“In the mid-1800s, Ada, countess of Lovelace, created the first computer program,” explained Carla.
Use commas to set off explanatory words used with direct quotations (whether they occur at the beginning, middle, or end of the sentence).
Mark said, “She also wrote about an early computer.”
“She also,” said Mark, “wrote about an early computer.”
“She also wrote about an early computer,” said Mark.

21. 11.4 Punctuating Quotations
Direct Quotations, cont.
If a quotation is a question or an exclamation, place the question mark or exclamation point inside the closing quotation marks.
“Who could deny her remarkable contributions?” asked Carla.
If quoted words are part of a question or exclamation, place the question mark outside the closing quotation marks.
Did Mark say, “A computer language was named in her honor”?
Commas and periods ALWAYS go inside closing quotation marks.

22. 11.4 Punctuating Quotations
Indirect Quotations
Do not use quotation marks to set of an indirect quotation.
An indirect quotation is a restatement, in different words, or what someone said.
An indirect quotation is often introduced by the word that.
Direct: Todd said, “The name of one of the first electronic computers was ENIAC.”
Indirect: Todd said that one of the first electronic computers was named ENIAC.

23. 11.4 Punctuating Quotations
Divided Quotations
A divided quotation is a direct quotation that is separated into two parts, with the explanatory words such as he said or she said between the parts.
Use quotation marks to enclose both parts of the divided quotation.
“ENIAC,” said Todd, “was constructed of 18,000 vacuum tubes and nearly filled an entire building.”

24. 11.4 Punctuating Quotations
Divided Quotations, cont.
Do not capitalize the first word of the second part of a divided quotation unless it begins a new sentence.
“If we still used vacuum tubes,” explained James, “we would need whole houses for our computers.”
“Hmm, that’s interesting,” answered Todd. “My brother would have no place to put his CDs.”

25. 11.4 Punctuating Quotations
Divided Quotations, cont.
Use commas to set off the explanatory words used with a divided quotation.
“Well,” explained James, “he could always give them to me!”

26. 11.4 Punctuating Quotations
Quotation Marks in Dialogue
In dialogue, a new paragraph and a new set of quotation marks signal a change in speakers.
A dialogue is a conversation between two or more speakers.
See pg. 260 for an example of dialogue.

27. 11.5 Semicolons and Colons
A semicolon separates elements in a sentence.
It is stronger than a comma but not as strong as a period.
A colon indicates that a list follows.
Colons are also used after greetings in business letters and in expressions of time.

28. 11.5 Semicolons and Colons Semicolons in Compound Sentences.
Use a semicolon to join parts of a compound sentence without a coordinating conjunction.
The Pony Express was formed in 1860; it carried mail between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California.
Use a semicolon between parts of a compound sentence when the clauses are long and complicated or when they contain commas.
Pony Express riders were young, strong men; and they rod for many hours at a stretch, persisted in bad weather, and avoided fights with settlers.

29. 11.5 Semicolons and Colons Semicolons with Items in a Series (list)
When there are commas within parts of a series, use semicolons to separate the parts.
The riders were expected to treat the horses, oxen, and other animals well; to carry horns to sound their arrival; and, above all, to reach their destinations on time.

30. 11.5 Semicolons and Colons Colons
Use a colon to introduce a list of items.
Pony Express riders wore the same clothing: red shirts, slouch hats, jeans, and boots.
Avoid using a colon directly after a verb or preposition.
Incorrect: The clothing was: red shirts and jeans.
Incorrect: At one time, mail was delivered to California by: steamships, trains, and stagecoaches.

31. 11.5 Semicolons and Colons Colons
Use a colon after the formal greeting in a business letter.
Dear Dr. Russell:
Dear Ms. Wells:
Use a colon between hours and minutes in expressions of time.
11:35 A.M.

32. 11.6 Hyphens, Dashes, and Parentheses
Hyphens, dashes, and parentheses help make your writing clear by separating or setting off words or parts of words.

33. 11.6 Hyphens, Dashes, and Parentheses
Use a hyphen if part of a word must be carried over from one line to the next.
The word must have at least two syllables to be broken.
Right: com-puter
Wrong: dis-k
Separate the word between syllables.
Right: broad-cast
Wrong: br-oadcast
Leave at least two letters on each line.
Right: sig-nal
Wrong: a-bout

34. 11.6 Hyphens, Dashes, and Parentheses
Use hyphens in certain compound words.
Vice-president
Self-reliance
Use hyphens in compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine.
Thirty-three
Use hyphens in spelled-out fractions.
One-third
Three-eighths

35. 11.6 Hyphens, Dashes, and Parentheses
Use dashes to show an abrupt break in thought.
Clara Barton– whose nickname was Angel of the Battlefield– founded the Red Cross
Parentheses
Use parentheses to set of material that is loosely related to the rest of the sentence.
During the Civil War ( ), she helped keep track of dead soldiers in order to help their families.

36. 11.7 Apostrophes
Apostrophes are used in possessive nouns, contractions, and some plurals.

37. 11.7 Apostrophes Apostrophes in Possessives
Use an apostrophe to form the possessive of any noun, whether singular or plural.
For a singular noun, add ‘s, even if the word ends in –s.
Jenny’s
Russ’s computer
For plural nouns that end in –s, add only an apostrophe.
The robots’ programs
For plural nouns that do not in in s, add ‘s.
The men’s conversation

38. 11.7 Apostrophes Apostrophes in Contractions
Use apostrophes in contractions.
In a contraction, words are joined and letters are left out.
An apostrophe replaces the letter or letters that are missing.
I am= I’m
They are= they’re
Don’t confuse contractions with possessive pronouns, which NEVER have apostrophes.
It’s= it is
You’re= you are

39. 11.7 Apostrophes Apostrophes in Plurals
Use an apostrophe and s to form the plural of a letter, a numeral, or a word referred to as a word.
Dot your i’s.
He scored 9’s and 10’s in competition.
Replace some of your said’s with stronger verbs.

40. 11.8 Punctuating Titles
Use quotation marks and italics correctly in titles to show what kind of work or selection you are writing about.

41. Quotation Marks in Titles
11.8 Punctuating Titles
Quotation Marks
Use quotation marks to set off the titles of short works.
Quotation Marks in Titles
Book chapter
“Into the Primitive” from Call of the Wild
Story
“Block Party”
Essay
“Reprise”
Article
“Do Try This at Home”
TV Episode
“The City on the Edge of Forever” from Star Trek
Song
“America the Beautiful”
Poem
“The Pasture”

42. 11.8 Punctuating Titles Italics and Underlining
Use italics for titles of longer works and for the names of ships, trains, spacecraft, and airplanes (but not for types of planes).
In handwriting, you show that something should be in italic type by underlining it.

43. Italics or Underlines for Titles and Names
11.8 Punctuating Titles
Italics or Underlines for Titles and Names
Book
Roughing It
Play
Ragtime
Magazine
Life
TV Series
Sherlock
Movie
The Phantom Menace
Long Musical Work
Music for the Royal Fireworks
Epic Poem
Iliad
Painting
Starry Night
Ship
U.S.S. Constitution
Train
Broadway Limited
Spacecraft
Voyager 1
Airplane
Flyer