Punctuation
When you speak, nobody hears it,
It’s just there when you talk.
In writing, you have to show it…
End Punctuation
That which goes at the
End of a Sentence.
Really!?!?
The Period
The period is used at the end of a sentence:
Billy the frog lived in a bog.
It is also used at the end of a polite command:
Please ask Billy to take a shower.
? The Question Mark
The question mark is used at the end of an
interrogative sentence:
What’s up?
Should we interrogate the suspect?
Did you cash your paycheck?
Will you loan me ten bucks?
! The Exclamation Point
The exclamation point is used at the end of a
sentence to show surprise or shock:
Look out, we’re going to crash!
It is also used after an exclamatory word (called an
interjection)
Cowabunga! It’s Testosterone Man!
Middle Punctuation
Which goes in the
Middle of a Sentence.
Well, duh!
The comma
The 6 main uses
To separate items in a Between two complete
series… thoughts using and, or,
To set off introductory for, but, so, etc…
words… To set off a direct
To set off words in quotation…
apposition… For everyday stuff…
The Comma - 1
Use #1: To set off items in a series:
Willy used a hammer, saw, and nails in his work.
Bottles, wrappers, and butts littered the floor.
Use #2: To set off introductory words:
Carefully, the surgeon drilled into the brain.
Hello, what’s this?
Use #3: For words in apposition:
The man, a very old one, walked slowly away.
Sarah, our new classmate, talks a mile a minute.
The comma - 2
Use #4: Between two complete thoughts using and,
but, for, or, nor, so, yet.
The crew mutinied, so I jumped ship
I went home, but my brother stayed at the party.
Use #5: To set off a direct quotation
“Well, Juanito,” she said, “I guess the answer is yes.”
Use #6: For everyday stuff:
Please, sir, can you loan me a quarter?
Okay, Rebecca, you can have your own way.
Please, can I have my motorcycle back?
The semicolon
The super-comma
The semicolon shows a stronger pause than a comma
and has three uses:
Joins two complete thoughts without a connecting word-
The chemistry lab exploded; Professor Garcia was fired.
Joins two complete thoughts with a transitional word-
He spoke for hours; however, he made no sense.
Separates items in a series which have commas-
This fall I won’t have to work on Labor Day, September 7; Veterans’
Day, November 11; or Thanksgiving Day, November 26.
The colon
The colon is a way of introduction. It is used to
introduce a list:
He had three options: pull over, slow down or speed up.
To introduce a long quotation:
Isabel’s paper was based on a quote from the Lord of the
Rings: “When Frodo and Sam entered the cave…Gollum
followed them, but behind Gollum, there lurked Shelob.”
To introduce an explanation:
There are three ways to do this job: the right way, the wrong
way and the army way.
Also, it is used between the hour and minute when
writing time: 4:30am 12:45pm
Special Punctuation
That which does a specialized job…
“Quotation Marks”
Quotation marks are used when you directly
quote another person’s speech-
Carmen told me, “You have a face only a mother
could love.”
“I know,” he said, “ thank you for reminding me.”
Do not use quote marks in an indirect quote-
Tomas said that his car was re-possessed.
The Apostrophe
The apostrophe has two uses:
First, in contractions:
I’m you’re we’ll they’d you’ll aren’t etc…
Second, to show possession:
Janie’s book Robbie’s bike The Suarez’s house
The dash or hyphen
The dash is used in sentences to show special emphasis:
The old man – a particularly surly one – liked to chase the
children with a stick.
The hyphen is used two ways: to join words that act together:
A white-gloved waiter a long-suffering wife
To divide long words at the end of a line:
He was the last of his kind, a throwback to a for-
gotten time.
Capital Letters
Capital letters have two uses:
The first word in a sentence-
I know you’re right.
Why do you have to be so ugly?
Proper nouns and adjectives-
Tommy McAllen, Texas Chevrolet HEB
Hernandez Mexican American Texan
African Australian etc…