Punctuation

1. Punctuation

2. Introduction • “Punctuation marks are the traffic signals of language: they tell us to slow down, notice this, take a detour, and stop.” • The way a sentence is punctuated can change its meaning, for example, • A woman, without her man, is nothing. • A woman: without her, man is nothing.

3. Task one Punctuate this sentence so that it makes sense Every lady in this land hath 20 nails on each hand five and twenty on hands and feet and this is true without deceit

4. Task two Punctuate this wildlife manual entry so that it the panda is not an armed masticator A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air. “Why?” asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder. “I’m a panda,” he says, at the door. “Look it up.” The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation. Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.”

5. Task three Add the punctuation mark • Comma – I went to the bank the chemist and Shoprite • Comma– I am of course going steadily insane • Colon – Tom has only one rule in life never eat anything bigger than your head • Semi-colon – It was the barking of an enormous dog it came from over there • Exclamation mark – Phew Its hot outside • Question mark – What is the capital of France • Hyphen – There were thirty two rabbits