Mastering Proper Punctuation: Boost Your Writing Skills Today

1. Proper Punctuation Periods, question marks, exclamation points, quotation marks, hyphens, and more

2. Period • Ends 2 types of sentences: • Declarative (statements) • The dogs like to run together. • Imperative (commands) • Come here right now.

3. Exclamation Point • Comes after: • A strong interjection • Hey! That hurt! • Wow! You were amazing. • An exclamatory sentence • That band rocked!

4. Question Mark • Comes after a question • Who was that masked man? • How do you know him? • Why was he here? • What did he say to you? • Where did he come from? • When will he be back? • Isn’t he hot? • Would you like to meet him?

5. Hyphen • Connects an adjective-noun combination used as a single word • A well-kept home • A three-inch cut • An emergency-preparedness plan • Connects a prefix to a proper noun • Un-American • Pre-Civil War • Connects prefixes to some words [all-, ex-, pro-, self-] • All-knowing • Self-sticking • Numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine

6. Dash • A dash is typed as 2 hyphens with no space -- it is used to: • Set off material for emphasis • Dogs love and trust humans – when humans love and trust them. • Clarify an idea • You have a choice – learn to drive or walk everywhere. • Separate a list from and independent clause • The Clash, Led Zeppelin, and the Beatles – these are the greatest bands of all time.

7. Quotation Marks • Quotation marks go before the first word and after the last word of a quote or title of a smaller work. • “A well-trained dog is a woman’s best protection,” the trainer stated. • My aunt asked, “What kind of dog would you recommend for me?” NOTE: End quotation marks ALWAYS go OUTSIDE the punctuation. • Single quotation marks show a quote within a quote • Billy said, “I said to Tom, ‘The gig is Friday at 7,’ but I guess he didn’t hear me.”

8. Apostrophe • Shows possession • Before the “s” in a singular word or a plural not ending in “s” • The boy’s truck • The children’s toys • After the “s” in plurals or words ending in “s” • Those five dogs’ bones • The Connors’ house • Creates a contraction by replacing missing letters • Can not - > can’t • We are - > we’re • Shows a plural for a number, letter, or abbreviation ending in a period • He got two A’s and three B’s on his report card. • Annie picked two 10’s in a row. • I check their ID’s, before I let them in

9. Semi-colon • Join independent clauses without a conjunction • The family moved; they couldn’t afford that big house. • Join independent clauses with a conjunctive adverb or transitional phrase • The houses in our neighborhood are expensive; even though, they are quite small. • I would like to help your group; however, I need more information first. • Separate items in a series that contains commas • At the zoo, we visited the big cats, including lions, tigers, and pumas; the simians like baboons, chimps, and marmosets; and the aviary with parrots, cockatoos, and African grays.

10. Colon • Introduces information like a list, an important item, a salutation in a business letter • We looked at houses in three neighborhoods: Chestnut Hill, Hyde Park, and William Heights. • That restaurant serves my favorite dish: lobster pizza. • Dear Sirs and Madams: Trick: use the colon if you could replace it with the word “namely.”

11. Brackets and Ellipses • Ellipses show that information has been removed from quoted material. • “It was the best of times . . . it was the winter of despair.” • Brackets show that information has been added or changed in quoted material. • According to the legend, “The author [Charles Dickens] penned those famous lines while drinking wine.”

12. Links to Practice Sites • http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/GRAMMAR/quiz_list.htm • http://www.classzone.com/books/lnetwork_gr08/page_build.cfm?id=quiz&ch=11 • http://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/340.html