Punctuation Marks

PUNCTUATION MARKS

PERIOD
*USE A
PERIOD

.]

AT THE END OF A SENTENCE

that makes a statement. There is no space between

the last letter and the period. Use one space between the period and the first letter of the next sentence. -Use a period at the end of a command.

Hand in the poster essays no later than noon on Friday. In case of tremors, leave the building immediately.

-Use a period at the end of an indirect question.

The teacher asked why Maria had left out the easy exercises. My father used to wonder why Egbert's ears were so big.

-Use a period with abbreviations:

Dr. Espinoza arrived from Washington, D.C., at 6 p.m.

-Notice that when the period ending the abbreviation comes at the end of a sentence, it will also suffice to end the sentence. On the other hand, when an abbreviation ends a question or exclamation, it is appropriate to add a question mark or exclamation mark after the abbreviation-ending period:

Did you enjoy living in Washington, D.C.?

QUESTION MARK
*USE A
QUESTION MARK

] AT

THE END OF A DIRECT QUESTION.

-Be careful to distinguish between an indirect question and a question that is embedded within a statement which we do want to end with a question mark.

We can get to Boston quicker, can't we, if we take the interstate? His question was, can we end this statement with a question mark? She ended her remarks with a resounding why not? I wonder: will Cheney run for office again?

-Put a question mark at the end of a sentence that is, in fact, a direct question. Rhetorical questions (asked when an answer is not really expected), by the way, are questions and deserve to end with a question mark:

How else should we end them, after all? What if I said to you, "You've got a real problem here"?

Punctuation Marks 2 -Sometimes a question will actually end with a series of brief questions. When that happens, especially when the brief questions are more or less follow-up questions to the main question, each of the little questions can begin with a lowercase letter and end with a question mark.

Who is responsible for executing the plan? The coach? The coaching staff? The players?

-If a question mark is part of an italicized or underlined title, make sure that the question mark is also italicized:

My favorite book is Where Did He Go?

EXCLAMATION MARK
*Use an exclamation mark[ or command.

] at the end of an emphatic declaration, interjection (e.g. Wow!)

"No!" he yelled. "Do it now!"

-If an exclamation mark is part of an italicized or underlined title, make sure that the exclamation mark is also italicized or underlined: My favorite book is Oh, the Places You'll Go!

COLON

*Use a colon [ : ] before a list or an explanation that is preceded by a clause that can stand by itself. Think of the colon as a gate, inviting one to go on: There is only one thing left to do now: confess while you still have time.

The charter review committee now includes the following people: the mayor the chief of police the fire chief the chair of the town council It might be useful to say, also, when we don't use a colon. Remember that the clause that precedes the mark ought to be able to stand on its own as an independent clause. Its purpose might be strictly to introduce the clause that follows, so it might feel rather incomplete by itself, but grammatically it will have both a subject and a predicate. In other words, we would not use a colon in situations like the following: *Her recipe for gunpowder included saltpeter, dry oatmeal, and ground-up charcoal briquets. (no colon after "included")

Punctuation Marks *His favorite breakfast cereals were Rice Krispies, Cheerios, and Wheaties. (no colon after "were")

THE SEMICOLON
*Use a semicolon [ ; ] to help sort out a monster list:

There were citizens from Bangor, Maine; Hartford, Connecticut; Boston, Massachusetts; and Newport, Rhode Island. We had four professors on our committee: Peter Wursthorn, Professor of Mathematics; Ronald Pepin, Professor of English; Cynthia Greenblatt, Professor of Education; and Nada Light, Professor of Nursing.

-to separate closely related independent clauses:

My grandmother seldom goes to bed this early; she's afraid she'll miss out on something.
The semicolon allows the writer to imply a relationship between nicely balanced ideas without actually stating that relationship. (Instead of saying because my grandmother is afraid she'll miss out on something, we have implied the because. Thus the reader is involved in the development of an ideaa clever, subliminal way of engaging the reader's attention.)

COMMA
*Use a comma to separate the elements in a series (three or more things), including the last two.

"He hit the ball, dropped the bat, and ran to first base."

*Use a comma + a little conjunction (and, but, for, nor, yet, or, so) to connect two independent clauses.

"He hit the ball well, but he ran toward third base."

Contending that the coordinating conjunction is adequate separation, some writers will leave out the comma in a sentence with short, balanced independent clauses (such as we see in the example just given). If there is ever any doubt, however, use the comma, as it is always correct in this situation. *Use a comma to set off introductory elements, as in "Running toward third base, he suddenly realized how stupid he looked."

*Use a comma to set off parenthetical elements, as in

Punctuation Marks "The Founders Bridge, which spans the Connecticut River, is falling down."

By "parenthetical element," we mean a part of a sentence that can be removed without changing the essential meaning of that sentence. The parenthetical element is sometimes called "added information." This is the most difficult rule in punctuation because it is sometimes unclear what is "added" or "parenthetical" and what is essential to the meaning of a sentence. *Use a comma to separate coordinate adjectives.

"That tall, distinguished, good looking fellow"

*Use commas to set off phrases that express contrast.

Some say the world will end in ice, not fire. It was her money, not her charm or personality, that first attracted him. The puppies were cute, but very messy.

(Some writers will leave out the comma that sets off a contrasting phrase beginning with but.) *Use a comma to avoid confusion. This is often a matter of consistently applying rule #3.

For most the year is already finished. For most, the year is already finished.

PARENTHESES
USE PARENTHESES [ ( ) ] TO INCLUDE MATERIAL THAT YOU WANT TO DE-EMPHASIZE or that wouldn't normally fit into the flow of your text but you want to include nonetheless. If the material within parentheses appears within a sentence, do not use a capital letter or period to punctuate that material, even if the material is itself a complete sentence. (A question mark or exclamation mark, however, might be appropriate and necessary.) If the material within your parentheses is written as a separate sentence (not included within another sentence), punctuate it as if it were a separate sentence.

Thirty-five years after his death, Robert Frost (we remember him at Kennedy's inauguration) remains America's favorite poet. Thirty-five years after his death, Robert Frost (do you remember him?) remains America's favorite poet. Thirty-five years after his death, Robert Frost remains America's favorite poet. (We remember him at Kennedy's inauguration.)

If the material is important enough, use some other means of including it within your text even if it means writing another sentence. Note that parentheses tend to de-emphasize text whereas dashes tend to make material seem even more important.

THE DASH

Punctuation Marks 5 *Use a dash [ ] or dashes as a super-comma or set of super-commas to set off parenthetical elements, especially when those elements contain internal forms of punctuation:

All four of themBob, Jeffrey, Jason, and Brettdid well in college.

*In writing dialogue, the dash is used to show breaks in thought and shifts in tone:

"How many times have I asked you not to " Jasion suddenly stopped talking and looked out the window. "Not to do what?" I prompted. "Not to Oh heck, I forget!"

THE APOSTROPHE
*WE USE AN APOSTROPHE [ ] TO CREATE POSSESSIVE FORMS, CONTRACTIONS, AND SOME PLURALS The apostrophe shows where a letter or letters have been left out of a contracted verb: I am = I'm you are = you're she is = she's it is = it's

do not = don't she would = she'd he would have = he would've let us = let's who is = who's she will = she'll they had = they'd

In possessives, the placement of the apostrophe depends on whether the noun that shows possession is singular or plural. Generally, if the noun is singular, the apostrophe goes before the s. The witch's broom. If the noun is plural, the apostrophe goes after the s: The witches' brooms. However, if the word is pluralized without an s, the apostrophe comes before the s: He entered the men's room with an armload of children's clothing. If you create a possessive with a phrase like of the witches, you will use no apostrophe: the brooms of the witches.
*An apostrophe is also used to form some plurals, especially the plural of letters and digits.

Raoul got four A's last term and his sister got four 6's in the ice-skating competition. abbreviations with an apostrophe:

QUOTATION MARKS
USE QUOTATION MARKS [ ] TO SET OFF MATERIAL THAT REPRESENTS QUOTED OR SPOKEN LANGUAGE. Quotation marks also set off the titles of things that do not normally stand by themselves: short stories, poems, and articles

Punctuation Marks

CAPITALIZATION: CAPITAL LETTERS

*The first word of every sentence. *The first-person singular pronoun, I. *The first, last, and important words in a title. (The concept "important words" usually does not include articles, short prepositions) *Proper nouns Specific persons and things: George W. Bush, the White House, General Motors Corporation. o Specific geographical locations: Hartford, Connecticut, Africa, Forest Park Zoo, Lake Erie, the Northeast, the Southend. However, we do not capitalize compass directions or locations that aren't being used as names: the north side of the city; we're leaving the Northwest and heading south this winter. When we combine proper nouns, we capitalize attributive words when they precede place-names, as in Lakes Erie and Ontario, but the opposite happens when the order is reversed: the Appalachian and Adirondack mountains. When a term is used descriptively, as opposed to being an actual part of a proper noun, do not capitalize it, as in "The California deserts do not get as hot as the Sahara Desert." o Names of celestial bodies: Mars, Saturn, the Milky Way. Do not, howver, capitalize earth, moon, sun, except when those names appear in a context in which other (capitalized) celestial bodies are mentioned. "I like it here on earth," but "It is further from Earth to Mars than it is from Mercury to the Sun. o Names of newspapers and journals. Do not, however, capitalize the word the, even when it is part of the newspaper's title: the Hartford Courant. o Days of the week, months, holidays. Do not, however, capitalize the names of seasons (spring, summer, fall, autumn, winter). "Next winter, we're traveling south; by spring, we'll be back up north." o Historical events: World War I, the Renaissance, the Crusades. o Races, nationalities, languages: Swedes, Swedish, African American, Jewish, French, Native American. (Most writers do not capitalize whites, blacks.) o Names of religions and religious terms: God, Christ, Allah, Buddha, Christianity, Christians, Judaism, Jews, Islam, Muslims. o Names of courses: Economics, Biology 101. (However, we would write: "I'm taking courses in biology and earth science this summer.") o Brand names: Tide, Maytag, Chevrolet.
o

*Names of relationships only when they are a part of or a substitute for a person's name.

Let's go visit Grandmother today. Let's go visit my grandmother today. I remember Uncle Arthur. I remember my Uncle Arthur. My uncle is unforgettable.