PUNCTUATION PALS

A period (.) is used to end a sentence that makes a statement or a request (declarative sentence) or that gives a command (imperative sentence) that is not used as an exclamation.

Practice:

Homes in the future will have many high-tech features

Check your notebook

Don’t worry

A period (.) should be placed after an initial and each part of an abbreviation – unless the abbreviation is an acronym (an acronym is a word formed from the first, or first few, letters of words in a set phrase).

Practice:

E L Konigsburg wrote From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler.

NASA scientists believe that we’ll get more of our energy from renewable sources, such as the sun, the wind, ocean water, etc

Use a period (.) as a decimal point and to separate dollars and cents and percents (%).

Practice:

For $2 99 on Tuesdays, I can rent three videos. But is it a bargain to spend 33 3 percent of my allowance on videos that I won’t have time to watch anyway?

A question (?) mark should be placed after a sentence that asks a question (interrogative sentence) and to show doubt about the correctness of a fact or figure.

Practice:

Isn’t it Mr. B.’s birthday next week

Let’s throw a party for Mr. B.’s birthday (May 5 ) this year.

The exclamation (!) point may be placed after a word, a phrase, or a sentence (exclamatory sentence) to show emotion. It should not be overused!

Practice:

Surprise! You’ve won the million-dollar sweepstakes!

Yeah!

An apostrophe (‘) is used to how possession. The possessive form of singular nouns in usually made by adding an apostrophe and s. The possessive form of plural nouns ending in s is usually made by adding just an apostrophe; however, if the plural does not end in s, then an apostrophe and s must be added.

Practice:

The world s population will double by the year 2050. At least that is Dr. Theodore s theory.

My five bosses office is on the fifth floor.

That children s book is great.

An apostrophe (‘) is used to show that one or more letters have been left out of a word (contraction).

Practice:

Do not = don t

She would = she d

It is = it s

Will not = won t

An apostrophe (‘) is in place of omitted letters or numbers.

Practice:

I am part of the 71 graduating class.

My granddaughter says g bye instead of goodbye.

An apostrophe (‘) is used to form the plural of a figure (number), symbol, letter, and a word used as a word..

Practice:

Your 9s look like 7s and your as look like os.

Change all the %s in your report to percent.

An ellipsis (…) is a series of three spaced dots to show an omission. (Use four dots if the ellipsis occurs at the end of a sentence that is finished.)

Practice:

When Tolstoy started upon his novel the historical incidents were to serve merely as a background. W. Somerset Maugham

You can go if you want, but

It is easy to say that Rousseau was a misfit Clifton Fadiman

A comma (,) is used to separate words and/or phrases in a series.

Practice:

My chores include walking the dog cleaning my room and washing the dishes.

Spanish French and German are the languages most often taught in schools today.

A comma (,) is used to separate adjectives.

Practice:

The elephant is a large powerful animal.

Many intelligent well-educated scientists think there is life in space.

A comma (,) is used in numbers, dates and addresses (after every three numbers, between the day and year in a date, between city and state).

Practice:

There are about 3000 students enrolled at South.

August 28 1963 is my birthday.

I live in Deer Park Texas.

A comma (,) is used with interjections that do not show strong emotion, introductory words, and a name in a direct address.

Practice:

Oh boy I like school.

First mix the egg with the butter.

Alondra please close the door.

A comma (,) is used after a introductory prepositional phrases.

Practice:

At the end of the year students must take a final exam.

After school I went to the store.

A comma (,) is used an introductory participial phrase.

Practice:

Frightened by a big dog the child began to cry.

Stopping for the ambulance the car caused an accident.

A comma (,) is used after an introductory dependent (cannot stand alone) clause.

Wabu wabu wasits (Where, although, because, unless, when, after, before, until, while, as, since, if, though, so that)

Practice:

Before Ronald began his report he went to the library to do research.

Although it was late Jenniffer kept reading her book.

A comma (,) is used to set off nonessential clauses and phrases.

Practice:

Austin which is the capital of Texas is two hours from Houston by car.

A comma (,) is used to set off nonrestrictive appositives (identifies or renames preceding word).

Practice:

Ms. Kato a teacher has a red car.

Seattle the largest city in Washington borders the Pacific Ocean.

A comma (,) is used direct quotations (someone is talking).

Practice:

Cristopher said “Let’s go to my favorite restaurant to eat pizza after the game.”

“Let’s go to my favorite restaurant to eat pizza after the game “ Cristopher said.

“After the game “Cristopher said “let’s go to my favorite restaurant to eat pizza.”

A comma (,) is used between two independent (sentences that can stand alone) clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction.

Fanboys (,for ,and ,nor ,but ,or ,yet ,so)

Practice:

I didn’t make the team this year but I plan to try out again next year.

Some people have dogs as a pet and other people have cats as a pet.

Be careful:

Magda and Saret are friends.

Norma walked around the track and started sweating.

A comma (,) is used after the greeting or salutation in a friendly letter and after the closing.

Practice:

Dear Yazmin Will you help me study English tonight? Your friend Jenniffer

A semicolon (;) is used between two independent (sentences that can stand alone) clauses.

Practice:

I didn’t make the team this year I plan to try out again next year.

Some people have dogs as a pet other people have cats as a pet.

Be careful:

Magda and Saret are friends.

Norma walked around the track and started sweating.

A semicolon (;) is used before a conjunctive adverb used as a connective.

accordingly, furthermore, moreover, similarly, also, hence, namely, still, anyway, however, nevertheless, then, besides, incidentally, next, thereafter, certainly, indeed, nonetheless, therefore, consequently, instead, now, thus, finally, likewise, otherwise, undoubtedly, further, meanwhile.

Practice:

The king lost the first battle however, he was ready for the fight the next day.

A semicolon (;) is used between phrases containing commas.

Practice:

Which commas need to be replaced with a semicolon?

I visited Ephesus, Turkey, Venice, Italy, Marseilles, France, Athens, Greece, and Barcelona, Spain.

A colon (:) is used after the opening of a business letter.

Practice:

Dear Sir Please send me a copy of The Hunger Games. Thank you, Ngan

A colon (:) is used before a list of words or phrases.

Practice:

Passengers may order any of the following beverages coffee, tea, juice, or milk.

You can save the environment buy eggs in paper cartons, ask for paper food containers at restaurants, and use paper bags instead of plastic sacks.

A colon (:) is used when telling time.

Practice:

School starts at 8 45 AM.

Practice:

Cristopher exclaimed, Let’s go to my favorite restaurant to eat pizza after the game!

Let’s go to my favorite restaurant to eat pizza after the game! Cristopher exclaimed.

After the game, Cristopher exclaimed, let’s go to my favorite restaurant to eat pizza!

Quotation marks (“ “) are used at the beginning and end of a direct quotation for a text or speech.

Quotation marks (“ “) are used at the beginning and end of text that is copied directly from another source.

In the book Rat Attacks by Cynthia Laso it says, there are 6.05 billion rats in the world.

Quotation marks (“ “) are used to (1) set apart a word that is being discussed, (2) to indicate that a word is slang, or (3) to point out that a word or phrase is being used in a special way.

Practice:

Melvin’s mom works in a cube farm in Palo Alto, California, a place where rows of cubicles take the place of private offices.

I’d say that group was really bad.

This electric lure is really going to light up some fish’s life.

Quotation marks (“ “) are used to punctuate titles of songs, poems, short stories, lectures, episodes of radio or television programs, chapters of books, and articles found in magazines, newspapers, or encyclopedias.

Practice:

Rules is a poem by Karla Kuskin.

Parentheses () are used around words that are included in a sentence to add information or to help make an idea clearer (it is not necessary to place a period after a statement that has parentheses around it and is part of another sentence).

Practice:

Cures for diseases from arthritis to AIDS may be found in plants in the rain forest. So, far, only about 10 percent of the world’s plant species that’s around 250,00 species have been studied.

Will you join the Future Farmers of America FFA club?

A dash (--) may be used to emphasize a word, series of words, a phrase, or a clause..

Practice:

High-tech jobs ones that require both technical education and on-the-job training are hot.

I think that one of these two careers computer scientist or systems analyst is my ticket to employment in the future.

The dash (--) may be used to emphasize a word, series of words, a phrase, or a clause.

Practice:

High-tech jobs ones that require both technical education and on-the-job training are hot.

I think that one of these two careers computer scientist or systems analyst is my ticket to employment in the future.

Practice:

I enjoyed watching the Star Wars movies because there were robots in them.

The hyphen (-) is used to divide a word when you run out of room at the end of a line. A word may be divided only between syllables. When in doubt, don’t divide the word unless you check in a dictionary.

A hyphen (-) is used to form new words beginning with the prefixes self, ex, all, great, etc. A hyphen is also used with suffixes such as elect and free.

Practice:

A special mesh seeded with live cells may induce self generating skin for burn victims.

A hyphen (-) is used between the numbers in a fraction.

Practice:

Four fifths

Seven thirty seconds (7/32)

A hyphen (-) is used to make a compound word, join a capital letter to a noun or participle, and to join two or more words that work together to form a single-thought adjective before a noun.

Practice:

Voice recognition software

Heat and serve meals