Punctuation

PUNCTUATION

Kevin Crittenden  Version 31May10

By now you are probably familiar with periods, commas, question marks, quotation marks, exclamation marks and have occasionally seen semi-colons, colons and even the rare ellipsis (…).  Punctuation is a system of symbols that give structure to and helps the reader understand the intention of a sentence.  Here are some examples:

Periods .

Use a period to close a declarative sentence; that is, a statement.

I need help.   Birds fly.  The telephone is ringing.

Use a period to close an imperative sentence; that is, one that expresses a command or a request.

Stand still.   Bring your reports to class tomorrow.

Use periods to show abbreviations. 

Did Dr. and Mrs. Rhoads name their son Paul Rhoads, Jr.? 

Shall we take the train at 9:15 P.M. ?

Use a period after an initial that stands for a name.

Celia E. Knight  J. H. Chesters  T. Sullivan  K. Crittenden

Use a period with figures to show (1) decimals and (2) dollars and cents.

8.7  (eight and seven-tenths)   $6.98 (six dollars and ninety-eight cents

Commas  ,

Use commas after the various parts of an address

Is 1250 Fort Street, Amarillo, Texas, the right address?

Use commas after the parts of a date.  (Month and day form a single part.)

My father was born on May 10, 1925.

My father was born on May 10, 1925, in Milwaukee.

Use a comma to set off a noun in direct address

Mary, I have a letter for you.  I have a letter for you, Mary.

Today, Mary, I have a letter for you.

Use a comma or commas to set off words used as appositives.  An appositive is a noun or pronoun that stands next to another noun and means the same person or thing.

Do you know Dick O’Neill, our captain?

Dick O’Neill, our captain, is our leading scorer.

This man, a veteran of the Vietnam War, has written several books.

Use commas to separate three or more items in a series.

Suping, Ya-hui, Mayumi, and Xinhong are students.

I cut the grass, raked it, and hauled it away.

Lincoln believed in government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Use no commas when all items in a series are joined by and or or.

Days and weeks and months went by.  Ask Sue or Ann or Betty to help you.

Use a comma when, in reading a sentence aloud, you hear a pause.

Before we leave, we should check the time.

By the way, that man is a magician.

Use a comma after an introductory yes, no, well, oh.

Yes, I remember you.  Well, I’ll think about it.  Oh, you know what I mean.

Use a comma or commas to separate the exact words of a speaker from the rest of the sentence.

“Don, I need your help,” said my uncle.

I replied, “I’ll do my best.”

“Well,” he told me then, “your best is good enough for me.”

Question marks  ?

Use a question mark to close an interrogative sentence; that is, one that asks a direct question.

What do you want?   Do you have the tickets?

An indirect question, which does not use a speaker’s exact words, ends with a period.

DIRECT:  She asked, “What time is it?”     INDIRECT:  She asked what time it was.

Use a question mark to end an interrogative clause within a declarative sentence.

It was at the end of February (or was it March?) that we had the big storm.

Question marks may follow a series of separate items within an interrogative sentence.

Did you tell your mother?  your father?  your brother?  anybody?

Exclamation marks  !

Use an exclamation mark after an exclamation; that is, words that express strong feeling such as surprise, fear, indignation, or excitement.   Some exlamations are sentences and some are not.

SENTENCES:  What a day that was!    The roof is on fire!

NOT SENTENCES:   Hey, John!   Oh, boy!   Fire!

Quotation marks  “  “

Place quotation marks before and after a direct quotation

Kevin said, “I think I’ll go outside now.”    “ I think that he went home,” said Dan.

When the explanatory words come in the middle, put quotation marks around each part of the speaker’s words.

“I think,” said Dan, “ that he went home.”

In writing conversation, begin a new paragraph for each change of speaker.

“Bud, who played tonight?” yelled Ben

“The sophomores played the freshmen,” answered Bud. “It was a good game.”

“Who won?” asked Ben

Use no quotation marks with an indirect quotation.

Dan said that Bob had gone home.

Use quotation marks around the titles of short stories, plays, articles, songs, poems, and themes.

My theme is called “On the Way.”  The poem “Trees” is one of my favorites.

Colons   :

Use a colon when you write the time in figures.

Wait until 5:00 P.M.    The alarm rings at 7:15 A.M. at my house.

Use a colon between two closely connected statements when the second statement explains or illustrates the first.

Jeffrey could not speak: he was asleep.

A colon is nearly always preceded by a complete sentence and announces what is to come.  It indicates a somewhat longer pause than the comma.

This much is clear, Kevin: your writing needs improvement.

A colon balances two oppositional statements.

Man proposes: God disposes.

Colons start lists (especially lists containing semicolons).

There were only three fruits that she liked:  bananas; Golden Delicious apples; and Medjool dates.

Semicolons   ;

Use a semicolon between two related sentences where there is no conjunction (such as and or but), and where a comma would be ungrammatical.  A semicolon indicates a greater pause between clauses than a comma.

As a child I enjoyed Fleer bubble gum; it’s hard to find these days.

I remember her as an ugly girl; now she’s a movie star.

Use a semicolon before conjunctive adverbs (such as therefore, moreover, consequently, furthermore, indeed, in fact, however) that connect independent clauses.

I skipped school today; consequently, I was punished by my parents.

Use a semicolon if items in a list contain commas.

Among the attendees were Kevin Crittenden, president of the world; Kathleen Crittenden, queen of America; and Joe Blow, a common peasant.

Hyphens   -

Use a hyphen in spelling out numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine

March has thirty-one days.

Use a hyphen to join compound words

able-bodied, self-contained, carry-all, brother-in-law

Use a hyphen as part of a letter or number modifier

5-cent, 8-inch, A-frame, T-square

Use a hyphen with a prefix when the root word is a proper noun

pre-Sputnik, anti-Stalinist, post-Newtonian

Apostrophes   ‘

Use an apostrophe to show ownership

Form the possessive of any singular noun in this way:

a)  Write the noun.  Do not change any letters.  Do not drop any.

b)  Add ‘s to the noun.

SINGULAR NOUNS:         Willis                  fire chief                  man

POSSESSIVES:                  Willis’s bike         fire chief’s duty         a man’s hat

Form the possessive of a plural noun in this way:

a)  Write the plural noun.  Do not change any letters.  Do not drop any.

b)  If the plural does not end in s, add ‘s, just as for singular possessives.

PLURAL NOUNS:         men         geese            two deer

POSSESSIVES:              men’s work     geese’s wings     two deer’s tracks

c)  If the plural does end in s, add only an apostrophe.

PLURAL NOUNS:         ladies           the Kelleys          the Joneses

POSSESSIVES:              ladies’ shoes    the Kellys’ home     the Joneses’ car

Use an apostrophe to take the place of letters dropped in contractions.

we’ve =  we have    you’re = you are   wasn’t = was not   I’m = I am  let’s = let us

Use an apostrophe to spell special kinds of plurals

a)  Figures:  Try to make your 9’s look less like 7’s.

b)  Signs:  Mark the true statements with +’s.  The *’s call attention to important statements.

c)  Letters of the alphabet:  These may be n’s, but they look like u’s.

d)  Words referred to as words:  I counted a dozen well’s in his speech.  Father’s maybe’s usually mean “yes.”   He joins all his sentences with and’s.

ellipsis   …

Use an ellipsis to indicate words missing from a quoted passage.

      He stated that “There were no more copies . . . to be had until Wednesday.”

Use an ellipsis to trail off in an intriguing manner.

He thought she was out of his life when suddenly he heard the click of high-heels . . .