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Punctuate Your Life. Presented by Stephanie Hickey. Punctuation in Review. Terminal Marks AKA End Punctuation Apostrophes Hyphens Dashes. Terminal Marks . ? !. The terminal marks, or end punctuation marks, include the period (.) the question mark (?) the exclamation point (!)
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Punctuate Your Life Presented by Stephanie Hickey
Punctuation in Review • Terminal Marks • AKA End Punctuation • Apostrophes • Hyphens • Dashes
Terminal Marks . ? ! • The terminal marks, or end punctuation marks, include • the period (.) • the question mark (?) • the exclamation point (!) • Terminal marks end sentences.
The Period . • “A period is used to end all sentences except direct questions or genuine exclamations” (Bedford Handbook, ed. 6). • Some imperative sentences end with a period. • In other words, periods are used to end declarative sentences. • A declarative sentence is one that simply states a fact or argument, without requiring an answer or action from the reader.
The Question Mark ? • The most obvious and only use for the question mark is to end a question. • There are two types of questions: interrogative and rhetorical. • An interrogative sentence asks a direct question whereas a rhetorical question is a question that the audience or reader is not expected to answer.
The Exclamation Point ! • Use an exclamation point after an expression of strong feeling or for emphasis. • The two types of sentences that end with exclamation points are the exclamatory sentence or exclamation and the imperative sentence. • An exclamatory sentence is a more forceful version of a declarative sentence. • An imperative sentence gives a direct command to someone and does not need or use a subject. • I like to call this the exciting exclamation point! • However, you should use this mark sparingly.
I heard that Julia won a million dollars in the lottery Did Julia win a million dollars in the lottery Julia won a million dollars in the lottery Examples I heard that Julia won a million dollars in the lottery. Did Julia win a million dollars in the lottery? Julia won a million dollars in the lottery!
Apostrophes ’ • Use the apostrophe in three ways! 1) to form possessives of nouns • The racer’s car 2) to show the omission of letters 3) to indicate plurals of lowercase letters. • He’s got a friend who loves the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO’s design. • Remember, though, apostrophes are NOT used for possessive pronouns or for noun plurals, including acronyms.
Forming possessives of nouns • To see if you need to make a possessive, change the phrase around and make it an “of the…” phrase. For example: • the girl's sweater = the sweater of the girl • three nights’ walk = walk of three nights • If the noun after “of” is a building, an object, or a piece of furniture, no apostrophe is needed. • room of the hotel = hotel room • door of the car = car door • leg of the table = table leg
Rules Of Creating Posessives • add 's to the singular form of the word (even if it ends in -s): • the owner's car • James's hat • add 's to the plural forms that do not end in -s: • the children's game • the geese's honking • add 's to the end of plural nouns that end in -s: • houses' roofs • three friends' letters • add 's to the end of compound words: • my brother-in-law's money • add 's to the last noun to show joint possession of an object: • Todd and Anne's apartment
Showing the Omission of Letters • Apostrophes are used in contractions. • A contraction is a word where letters have been omitted and replaced by an apostrophe. • Everybody uses them. • Creating a contraction: • place an apostrophe where the omitted letter(s) would go. • Here are some examples: • don't = do not • I'm = I am • shouldn't = should not • didn't = did not • could've = could have (NOT "could of"!) • '60 = 1960
Forming plurals of lowercase letters • Apostrophes are used to form plurals of letters that appear in lowercase; here the rule appears to be more typographical than grammatical, e.g. "three ps" versus "three p's." To form the plural of a lowercase letter, place 's after the letter. There is no need for apostrophes indicating a plural on capitalized letters, numbers, and symbols (though keep in mind that some editors, teachers, and professors still prefer them). Here are some examples: • p's and q's = a phrase indicating politeness, possibly from "mind your pleases and thankyous"? • Nita's mother constantly stressed minding one's p's and q's. • three Macintosh G4s = three of the Macintosh model G4 • There are two G4s currently used in the writing classrom. • many &s = many ampersands • That printed page has too many &s on it.
Apostrophe Abuse • Don't use apostrophes for possessive pronouns or for noun plurals. • Apostrophes should not be used with possessive pronouns. Possessive pronouns already show possession – so they don't need an apostrophe. His, her, its, my, yours, ours are all possessive pronouns. Here are some examples: • wrong: his' dog • correct: his dog • wrong: The group made it's decision. • correct: The group made its decision. • (Note: Its and it's mean different things. It's is a contraction for "it is" and its is a possesive pronoun meaning "belonging to it." It's raining out= it is raining out. A simple way to remember this rule is the fact that you don't use an apostrophe for the possesives his or hers, so don't do it with its!) • wrong: a friend of yours' • correct: a friend of yours • wrong: She waited for five hours' to get her license. • correct: She waited for five hours to get her license.
Proofreading • Proofreading for apostrophes: • Always proofread when you finish writing a paper. It may also be helpful to analyze your work as you go along.Try the following strategies: • If you tend to leave out apostrophes, check every word that ends in -s or -es to see if it needs an apostrophe. • If you put in too many apostrophes, check every apostrophe to see if you can justify it with a rule for using apostrophes.
Dashes • Use a dash to indicate a sudden shift or break in the thought of a sentence or to set off an informal or emphatic parenthesis • Use dashes to set off an appositive or aparenthetical element that is internally punctuated • In other words, use dashes instead parentheses
Hyphen • Use a hyphen to join two or more words that serve as a single adjective before a noun: • one-way street • Use a hyphen with compound numbers • Forty-six or sixty-three • Use a hyphen to avoid confusion or an awkward combination of letters • Re-sign
Hyphens Continued! • Use a hyphen with the prefixes ex- (meaning former), self-, all-; with the suffix -elect; between a prefix and a capitalized word; and with figures or letters • Ex-husband • mid-September • mid-1980s • Use a hyphen to divide words at the end of a line if necessary, and make the break only between syllables 1. Pre-face
Resources • Bedford Handbook • Online at http://www.dianahacker.com/bedhandbook • Purdue’s Online Writing Lab • http://owl.english.purdue.edu • The Grammer Slammer • http://englishplus.com/grammar/