Punctuation
Look at the power of
punctuation
“Let’s eat
grandma!”
“Let’s eat,
grandma!”
Punctuation saves
The Period (.)
Placed at the end
of declarative sentences
Placed after
Examples
As a sentence ender:
Julio and Leo went to Walmart to buy
school supplies.
After an abbreviation:
Dr. Ramirez has a reputation as an
The Question Mark (?)
Used to indicate a
direct question when placed at the end of a
sentence.
Called an
Examples
When will we have our first exam? Why didn’t you do your summer
reading?
The Exclamation
Mark/Point
Used when a
person wants to express a sudden outcry or add
emphasis.
Examples
Within dialogue:
“Holy cow!” screamed Jane.
To emphasize a point:
My mother-in-law’s rants make me
The Comma (,)
Before or after a
quotation
After introductory words
After introductory
phrases
Before a conjunction in
a compound sentence
After the salutation and
The Comma (,)
To separate a city
and state
To separate day
and year in a date
To separate items
in a series
To introduce a
Examples
Before or After a Quotation:
“I love pizza,” John said.
The teacher stated, “Homework is due
now!”
After introductory words:
Finally, we can go outside because it has
stopped raining.
After introductory phrases:
Examples
Before a conjunction in a compound sentence:
We went to the movies, and we went to the beach. (notice the construction of the comma + a
conjunction)
After the salutation and complementary
closing in a letter
Dear Uncle John, Sincerely,
Separating city and state:
Examples
Separate dates:
August 23, 2016
Separate items in a series:
Suzi wanted the black, green, and blue
shoes.
To introduce a person:
Donald Trump, the Republican Presidental Candidate, is speaking at the Plaza on
The Semicolon (;)
Used to connect
independent clauses.
It shows a closer
Examples
John was hurt; he knew she only said it to upset him.
Tom reads novels; his friend reads comics.
Julie read the novel Divergent; however,
The Colon (:)
Use a colon after:
a word introducing a quotation, an
explanation, or an example,
a series of items
the salutation of a business letter
time expressions to separate out the hour and minute
Examples
Introducing a quotation, explanation or example
The library policy states: “Journals may not be borrowed by
undergraduates.”
Introduce a series of items
These are my favorite data bases: JSTOR, Academic Search
Premier, and Lexis
Business letter Salutation
To Whom It May Concern:
Time
12:15
Ratios
The Hyphen
Is used between
the parts of a
compound word or name
Is used between the
syllables of a word
Especially when the
Examples
The Dash: Two Types
En dash (-) Used to indicate
spans, ranges, direction, conflict
Em dash (--)
The symbol of is used to:
Indicate a break in thought
or sentence structure
Introduce a phrase added
for emphasis, definition, or explanation
Separate two clauses
Takes the place of commas,
Examples
En dash In chapters 8-12 From 2008-2014 Mumbai-Delhi
railway
Em dash
It takes two to lie
—one to lie and one to listen.
You are the friend
—the only friend— who offered to
The Apostrophe ‘
Is used to
indicate:
the omission of a letter or letters from a word
the possessive case
the plurals of
Examples
Omission of letters from a word:
An issue of nat’l importance.
Possesive case:
Sara’s dog bites.
Plural for lowercase letters:
Six people were told to mind their p’s and
The Ellipses . . .
Ellipses are used:
In writing or printing to indicate
an omission, especially of letters or words.
Within quotations to jump from
one phrase to another, omitting unnecessary words that do not interfere with the meaning.
Students writing research papers
or newspapers quoting parts of speeches will often employ
ellipses to avoid copying lengthy text that is not needed.
The ellipses means that
Example
The vast flapping sheet flattened itself out,
and each shove of the brush revealed fresh legs, hoops, horses, glistening reds and
blues, beautifully smooth, until half the wall was covered with the advertisement of a circus; a hundred horsemen, twenty
performing seals, lions, tigers…Craning forwards, for she was short-sighted, she read it out… “will visit this town,” she read.
Quotation Marks “ ”
Are a pair of punctuation
marks used primarily to
mark the beginning and end of a passage attributed to another and repeated word for word.
They are also used to
indicate meanings and to indicate the unusual or dubious status of a word.
Single quotation marks
Parentheses ( )
Are curved notations
used to contain
further thoughts or qualifying remarks.
However,
parentheses can be replaced by commas without changing
Three Ways to Use
Parentheses
Explain or clarify Indicate plural or
singular
Define
Examples
Explain or clarify
Tony Blair (the former British Prime Minister)resigned from office in 2007.
Indicate plural or singular
Please leave your cell phone(s) in your backpack.
Define abbreviations
Brackets [ ]
Are the squared off
notations used for
technical explanations.
The dictionary uses
them when you look up word definitions.
At the bottom of each
definition page, brackets surround a technical
Braces { }
Used to contain two
or more lines of text or listed items to
show that they are considered as a unit.
Used to indicate sets
of equal and
Example
After selecting your entrée {beef,
chicke, pork, fish}, select a side dish
