Punctuation Marks

 

Punctuation Marks

 

Sentence Endings

Three punctuation marks are appropriate for use as sentence endings. They are the full stop, question mark, and exclamation point.

i). The full stop (.) is placed at the end of declarative sentences, statements thought to be complete and after many abbreviations.

 

·         As a sentence ender: Jane and Jack went to the market.

·         After an abbreviation: Her son, John Jones Jr., was born on Dec. 6, 2008.

 

ii). Use a question mark (?) to indicate a direct question when placed at the end of a sentence.

 

·         When did Jane leave for the market?

 

iii). The exclamation mark (!) is used when a person wants to express a sudden outcry or add emphasis.

 

·         Within dialogue: "Holy cow!" screamed Jane.

·         To emphasize a point: My mother-in-law's rants make me furious!

Comma, Semicolon, and Colon

The comma, semicolon, and colon are often misused because they all can indicate a pause in a series.

 

i)             The comma is used to show a separation of ideas or elements within the structure of a sentence. Additionally, it is used in numbers, dates, and letter writing after the salutation and closing.

·Direct address: Thanks for all your help, John.

·Separation of two complete sentences: We went to the movies, and then we went out to lunch.

·Separating lists or elements within sentences: Suzi wanted the black, green, and blue dress.

Whether to add a final comma before the conjunction in a list is a matter of debate. This final comma, known as an Oxford or serial comma, is useful in a complex series of elements or phrases but is often considered unnecessary in a simple series such as in the example above. It usually comes down to a style choice by the writer.

ii). The semicolon (;) is used to connect independent clauses. It shows a closer relationship between the clauses than a period would show.

 

·John was hurt; he knew she only said it to upset him.

 

iii). A colon (:) has four main uses. The first is after a word introducing a quotation, an explanation, an example, a list or a series.

 

·     He was planning to study four subjects: politics, philosophy, sociology, and economics.

The second is between independent clauses when the second explains the first, similar to a semicolon:

·I didn't have time to get changed: I was already late.

The third use of a colon is for emphasis:

·There was one thing she loved more than any other: her dog.

 

There must always be a colon when the lead-in part of the sentence contains the word ‘the following’ or ‘as follows’.

 

·         The system is based upon the following principles: It should be acceptable to a wide range of diagnoses and it should possess a high degree of face validity.

A colon also has non-grammatical uses in time, ratio, business correspondence and references.

Dash and the Hyphen

Two other common punctuation marks are the dash and hyphen. These marks are often confused with each other due to their appearance but they are very different.

i). A dash is used to separate words into statements. There are two common types of dashes: en dash and em dash.

 

·En dash: Twice as long as a hyphen, the en dash is a symbol (–) that is used in writing or printing to indicate a range, connections or differentiations, such as 1880-1945 or Princeton-New York trains.

 

·Em dash: Longer than the en dash, the em dash can be used in place of a comma, parenthesis, or colon to enhance readability or emphasise the conclusion of a sentence. For example, She gave him her answer — No!

Whether you put spaces around the em dash or not is a style choice. Just be consistent.

 

ii). A hyphen is used to join two or more words together into a compound term and is not separated by spaces. For example, part-time, back-to-back, well-known.

Parentheses

Brackets and parentheses are symbols used to contain words that are a further explanation or are considered a group. Parentheses [ (  ) ] are curved notations used to contain further thoughts or qualifying remarks. However, parentheses can be replaced by commas without changing the meaning in most cases.

 

·  John and Jane (who were actually half brother and sister) both have red hair.

Apostrophe, Quotation Marks and Ellipsis

i.              An apostrophe (') is used to indicate the omission of a letter or letters from a word, the possessive case, or the plurals of lowercase letters. Examples of the apostrophe in use include:

 

·Omission of letters from a word: I've seen that movie several times. She wasn't the only one who knew the answer.

·Possessive case: Sara's dog bit the neighbour.

·Plural for lowercase letters: Six people were told to mind their p's and q's.

Some teachers and editors enlarge the scope of the use of apostrophes, and prefer their use on symbols (&'s), numbers (7's) and capitalized letters (Q&A's), even though they are not necessary.

ii.            Quotations 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.

 

·I saw Marc at the playground, and he said to me 'Bill started the fight,' and I believed him.

 

iii.           Speech marks (“   ”) - also known as inverted commas and quotation marks - are punctuation marks that show us where direct speech starts and ends.

 

·                 She said, "Come home."

·                 "This is a new car," Jeff explained.

 

iv.           The ellipsis is most commonly represented by three periods (. . . ) although it is occasionally demonstrated with three asterisks (***). The ellipsis is used in writing or printing to indicate an omission, especially of letters or words. Ellipses are frequently used 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 ellipsis to avoid copying lengthy text that is not needed.

 

·Omission of words: She began to count, "One, two, three, four…" until she got to 10, then went to find him.

·Within a quotation: When Newton stated, "An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion..." he developed the law of motion.

British vs. American English

There are a few differences between punctuation in British and American English. The following charts details some of those differences:

	British English	American English
The " . " symbol is called	A full stop	a period
The " ! " symbol is called	an exclamation mark	an exclamation point
The " ( ) " symbols are called	brackets	parentheses
The " [ ] " symbols are called	square brackets	brackets
The position of quotation marks	Joy means "happiness".	Joy means "happiness."
The punctuation for abbreviations	Dr, Mr, Mrs, St, Rd, Ct	Dr., Mr., Mrs., St., Rd., Ct.

 

Exercise

1.       The instructor gave out a sheet  which described his course and explained how the grading would be done.

2.       She complained that hed made a mess and had stormed out in a snit

3.        Her apartment was tiny  but the rent was astronomical

4.       The chairs and coffee tables were worth restoring the rest was rubbish

5.       Whenever you’re ready to eat the pie  I’ll take it out of the freezer.

6.       When the phone finally rang she hurled it out the window in a fit of a pique.

7.       According to his study people want more say in how the weather is forecast.

8.       Struck by a sudden idea, he feverishly began to learn Ancient Greek.

9.       Understandably, she’s reluctant to take on the responsibility of escorting a dozen fourteen-year-olds to Las Vegas.

10.   The meeting was, to say, the least, a total fiasco.

11.   Her resignation, therefore, is inevitable.

12.   The most expensive printer on the other hand, would cost less to maintain.

13.   The nurse warned   Patients are going to be hurt by these cutbacks

14.   Of course I didn’t   he exclaimed.

15.   The policy is discriminating and elitist  wrote one of the irate parents.

16.   He shrugged and said   Please yourself   and walked away.

17.   Are you sure  she asked

18.   The only thing is     he began

19.   In 1994  three candidates ran for the position of head villager.

20.   Whatever he does  he does well.

21.   I d rather have the report by tomorrow   however  Monday will do.

22.   Max finally showed up two hours late understandably  he met with a frosty reception.

23.   We waited and waited  eventually  we gave up.

24.   No progress was evident  nevertheless  they persevered.

25.   The apartment was small and dark  however the price was right.

26.   His offer was too good to be true  I didn’t believe it.

27.   His offer was too good to be true  so I didn’t believe it

28.   Doreen was starting to worry  Leo was now two hours late.

29.   Doreen was starting to worry  for Leo was now two hours late

30.   The early bird gets the worm the early worm gets eaten.

31.   Only Cora showed up to help with the move  the others all found excuses to stay away

32.   Any scientific measure must meet two vital criteria reliability and validity.

33.   There are a number of course that every students must take  English  History Maths and Science.

34.   Only two questions remain how did he do it, and why

35.   Of course I am not guilty cried Carson.

36.   Come here immediately

37.   Nonsense

38.   By product

39.   A double edged sword

40.   Come and take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity

41.   This allows for 256 single byte output values

42.   Read the easy to follow instructions to work your way through the ten step process

43.   Ali is a full time instructor who teaches graduate level courses on up to date topics.

44.   He handed in a well written essay

45.   After considerable pleading, she finally got him to reveal the secret ingredient  cream cheese

46.   It turned out that they liked the same toppings on pizza truffles, green capsicums, tuna and a dash of coriander  which cemented their relationship.

47.   the ex prime minister

48.   Elizabeth I  1533 1603

49.   My family is getting a new dog from the shelter we are going to name him Barney.

50.   The University of Georgia  UGA  is where my mum went to school.

51.   Marie 8 years-old is a little girl who goes to school with my brother.

52.   We had a little accident puddle, mud on the way here and had to change our clothes.

53.   Did you leave your bag red, black handles in the classroom?

54.   Siti last year’s runner up is expected to win this time.

55.   They roasted the winning brisket  the size of pillow  in a mighty clay oven.

56.   Peter my mate from school  won the lottery.

57.   Lee  however has never caught a decent bass 

58.    Otters  a menace for fish farmers will travel miles in search of a well stocked lake. 

59.   It rained all day  and  as a result  the hut collapsed

 

Explain the difference:

i.                 In Part II of the exam, answer questions A, and B or C.

In Part II of the exam, answer questions A and B, or C.

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

 

ii.                Let’s eat Grandma!

Let’s eat, Grandma!

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

 

iii.             Jack thought Melvin should have his head examined.

Jack, though Melvin, should have his head examined.

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

 

iv.                 Time was ticking away; he had to make a decision.

Time was ticking away: he had to make a decision.

In both examples, the connection between the two items of information is clear, but the second one suggests a bit more of urgency to the situation.

 

v.                   Ten month old babies were observed in the study.

Ten-month-old babies were observed in the study.

Did the study look at ten babies, each of whom was one month old?

 

 

Answers

1.       The instructor gave out a sheet, which described his course and explained how the grading would be done.

2.       She complained that he’d made a mess and had stormed out in a snit.

3.        Her apartment was tiny , but the rent was astronomical.

4.       The chairs and coffee tables were worth restoring; the rest was rubbish.

5.       Whenever you’re ready to eat the pie, I’ll take it out of the freezer.

6.       When the phone finally rang, she hurled it out the window in a fit of a pique.

7.       According to his study, people want more say in how the weather is forecast.

8.       Struck by a sudden idea, he feverishly began to learn Ancient Greek.

9.       Understandably, she’s reluctant to take on the responsibility of escorting a dozen fourteen-year-olds to Las Vegas.

10.   The meeting was, to say, the least, a total fiasco.

11.   Her resignation, therefore, is inevitable.

12.   The most expensive printer, on the other hand, would cost less to maintain.

13.   The nurse warned, “Patients are going to be hurt by these cutbacks.”

14.   “Of course I didn’t!” he exclaimed.

15.   “The policy is discriminating and elitist,” wrote one of the irate parents.

16.   He shrugged and said, “Please yourself,” and walked away.

17.   “Are you sure?” she asked

18.   “The only thing is ...” he began

19.   In 1994, three candidates ran for the position of head villager.

20.   Whatever he does, he does well.

21.   I’d rather have the report by tomorrow; however, Monday will do.

22.   Max finally showed up two hours late; understandably, he met with a frosty reception.

23.   We waited and waited; eventually, we gave up.

24.   No progress was evident; nevertheless, they persevered.

25.   The apartment was small and dark; however, the price was right.

26.   His offer was too good to be true; I didn’t believe it.

27.   His offer was too good to be true, so I didn’t believe it.

28.   Doreen was starting to worry; Leo was now two hours late.

29.   Doreen was starting to worry, for Leo was now two hours late.

30.   The early bird gets the worm; the early worm gets eaten.

31.   Only Cora showed up to help with the move; the others all found excuses to stay away.

32.   Any scientific measure must meet two vital criteria: reliability and validity.

33.   There are a number of course that every students must take: English, History, Maths and Science.

34.   Only two questions remain: How did he do it, and why?

35.   “Of course I am not guilty!” cried Carson.

36.   Come here immediately!

37.   Nonsense!

38.   By-product

39.   A double-edged sword

40.   Come and take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

41.   This allows for 256 single-byte output values.

42.   Read the easy-to-follow instructions to work your way through the ten step process.

43.   Ali is a full-time instructor who teaches graduate-level courses on up-to-date topics.

44.   He handed in a well-written essay.

45.   After considerable pleading, she finally got him to reveal the secret ingredient (cream cheese).

46.   It turned out that they liked the same toppings on pizza (truffles, green capsicums, tuna and a dash of coriander), which cemented their relationship.

47.   the ex-prime minister

48.   Elizabeth I, 1533-1603

49.   My family is getting a new dog from the shelter (we are going to name him Barney).

50.   The University of Georgia (UGA) is where my mom went to school.

51.   Marie (8 years-old) is a little girl who goes to school with my brother.

52.   We had a little accident (puddle, mud) on the way here and had to change our clothes.

53.   Did you leave your bag (red, black handles) in the classroom?

54.   Siti (last year’s runner up) is expected to win this time.

Siti, last year’s runner up, is expected to win this time.

Siti — last year’s runner up — is expected to win this time.

55.   They roasted the winning brisket (the size of pillow) in a mighty clay oven.

They roasted the winning brisket, the size of pillow, in a mighty clay oven.

They roasted the winning brisket — the size of pillow — in a mighty clay oven.

56.   Peter, my mate from school, won the writing competition.

Peter, my mate from school, won the writing competition.

Peter — my mate from school — won the writing competition.

57.   Lee, however, has never caught a decent bass. 

58.    Otters (a menace for fish farmers) will travel miles in search of a well-stocked lake. 

Otters, a menace for fish farmers,  will travel miles in search of a well-stocked lake.

 Otters — a menace for fish farmers — will travel miles in search of a well-stocked lake. 

59.   It rained all day, and, as a result, the hut collapsed.