Chapter 12 PUNCTUATION POTPOURRI

1. Chapter 12 PUNCTUATION POTPOURRI ENGLISH FOR CAREERS, 9th Edition Business, Professional, and Technical by Leila R. Smith Presentation design by Barbara Moran English for Careers, 9th Edition Business, Professional, and Technical By Leila R. Smith ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

2. ( ; : -- - " " ) Chapter 12 helps you use punctuation marks with precision English for Careers, 9th Edition Business, Professional, and Technical By Leila R. Smith ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

3. ; Use a semicolon between two closely related independent clauses not joined by and, but, or, nor, for,or (sometimes)yet. Few minds wear out;most minds rust out. Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get.

4. ; Use a semicolon (or a period) before a transition expression joining independent clauses. I have a contract;therefore, I am protected legally. (Omit the comma after short transitions -- then, thus, hence, still, yet, and also.) If you are protected then so am I.

5. ; Use a semicolon before a coordinate conjunction that joins independent clauses-- IF the sentence already hastwo or more commas. We ordered the team’s uniforms,shoes, and caps;andthey were shipped directly to your Cincinnati,Ohio,stadium address.

6. ; Use asemicolonafter an independent clause precedingfor example, for instance, namely,orthat iswhen a list is introduced or an explanation ends the sentence. The retirement village is convenient to needed services; namely,a grocery store, a library, and a post office.

7. ; Use asemicolonbetween items in a series IF the series hascommaswithin. Visiting hours are weekdays,8 to 5;Saturdays,10 to 5;and Sundays,1 to 5. We also have locations in San Mateo,California; Atlanta,Georgia; and San Antonio,Texas.

8. : Use acolonafter a sentence (independent clause) when a second sentence (clause), a phrase, or even a single word explains or supplements the first sentence (original clause). Backyard bird watching is growing in popularity: Specialty stores now cater to this popular hobby. Urban birds have one main predator:cats.

9. : : Use a colon after a complete sentence (independent clause) that introduces a quotation or when a series follows. There is an old saying: “Birds of a feather flock together.” You can attract wild birds to your yard if you provide four things: fresh seed, clean water, shelter, and safety from predators.

10. : “Standard Punctuation style” calls for a colon after the salutation (and comma after the complimentary close). Dear Mr. Vu:Sincerely, Use a colon between hour and minutes and in technical proportions. : 12:30 p.m. 20:1 (ratio of 20 to 1)

11. Use acolonin a vertical list, unlessanother sentenceseparates the list from its introductory sentence: These may be North America’s rarest birds. This is based on several studies.(no colon) Common Nighthawk Chimney Swift Green Parakeet These may be North America’s rarest birds: Common Nighthawk Chimney Swift Green Parakeet

12. Mark Twain once said, “Nothing is ours but our language, our phrasing. If a man takes that from me (knowingly, purposely) he is a thief.” Do not use when paraphrasing (summarizing what someone said) Mark Twain once said that if anyone took his exact language or phrasing on purpose, that man would definitely be a thief. Quotation marksprevent accusations of plagiarism (stealing someone else’s words or intellectual property). Use before and after repeating someone’s exact words

13. “To find yourself, think for yourself,” Socrates said. Three philosophers are included in “Great Ancient Sages” : Socrates, Plato, and Confucius. Insert closing quotation marksafter a period or comma (American style), but not if a colon or semicolon is needed. “

14. Mahatma Ghandi said, “ Could there be a greater proof of our cowardice than fighting amongst ourselves?” (question mark applies only to quote) With question or exclamation marks, placement varies. “ Did you know that Ghandi said,“ Could there be a greater proof of our cowardice than fighting amongst ourselves”?(question mark applies to entire sentence, not just quote)

15. OH! Usequotation marksfor titles of subdivisions of published works (articles, chapters). Also use quotation marks for names of short poems, songs, and lectures. “

16. Use the underline or preferably italics to emphasize a word or expression or to show that a word is used where it might seem out of place. Italicize full-length published books, magazines, newspapers, films, plays, and shows.If italicsare not available, underline the title or use all capital letters. Marie wrote massage instead of message.

17. Compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine are spelled with a hyphen Self words are hyphenated except for selfsame. Self-conscious Self-respect The hyphen and the dash are completely different!(half a dash is a hyphen) Hyphenateexwhen it means former ex-presidentex-husband

18. Most pre, re, and de words do not require hyphens, except sometimes if the main word begins with e: preheat, replay, re-elect, deselect If a proper noun follows a prefix, use ahyphen:un-American Whennon, over, under, semi,orsubis a prefix, write the word without a space orhyphen: nonfat, overestimated, underachieved, semiconductor, subcontractor

19. Recover(to get better) If a prefix ending in e (such as re, de, or pre) might be confusing, use a hyphen. Re-cover (to cover again)

20. If an adjective is more than one word (compound), it has a hyphen if shown in the dictionary OR if it precedes the noun being modified. hard-working, up-to-date, government-owned, tax-exempt What’s the difference between a small business owner and asmall-businessowner?

21. If the first word of the compound expression ends with ly, the hyphen is usually not required. If the lyword is an adjective, do use the hyphen: friendly-lookinggirl fashionably dressed man No hyphen is required when the word is a well-established compound noun functioning as an adjective: A high school student found the social security check.

22. Use a hyphen to divide words at the end of a line. Divide words between syllables. Avoid distracting the reader with amusing or confusing divisions: Please send me your cat- alog. Just over the horizon- tal line, you’ll find a number. Finally, he abandoned his pet- ulant attitude.

23. Remember the rules for showing possession. ’ ’s • According to Kim report, Mr. Atkins sisters had several years experience making children clothes for Mrs. Kentfield children. • Ms. Hendrix letter is in Dr. Jacobs office. ’ ’ s ’s ’ ’ English for Careers, 9th Edition Business, Professional, and Technical By Leila R. Smith ©2006 Pearson Education, Inc. Pearson Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

24. A dash – or emdash – emphasizes nonessential expressions ordinarily enclosed with commas. The movie star was living in Brooklyn with his wife, his sweetheart of many years, and two children. Hmmm. Now replace the commas with dashes. The movie star was living in Brooklyn with his wife– his sweetheart of many years– and two children. Isn’t that better and much clearer?

25. A dash is required after a word or word group preceding an independent clause. Use parentheses to enclose directions. Honesty, creativity, and humor–those qualities help in the workplace. The game (see map on page 7) will be at McCormack Stadium. Dashesemphasize and parenthesesde-emphasize.

26. ( ; : -- - " " ) Good – really good – work!You have now seen how touse punctuation marks with precision (including the semicolon, colon, hyphen, dash, quotation, and parentheses). ( ; : -- - " " )