Punctuation
What it is and how to use it
Question Mark and Exclamation Point
• Questions Marks end • Exclamation Points end
interrogative sentences exclamatory sentences
and signifies a question. to show strong emotions.
o Have you turned in all o I hope you had a great
your missing work? spring break!
Period
• Ends a sentence in a "Full Stop"
• Signifies a definitive pause between sentences
• Three periods creates an ellipsis – signifies the
omission of information
o "I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face
the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.
It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream . . .
With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray
together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to
stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be
free one day."
Comma
• Indicate a smaller break within a sentence
• Separates independent clauses and items in a list
o We were out of milk, so I went to the store. (Join two pieces that could stand on
their own with a comma and a conjunction – FANBOYS)
o Julie loves ice cream, books, and kittens.
• Incorporate additional, non-essential information
o Posey’s Cafe, which Chester recommended, is a fantastic restaurant.
o Chocolate, my favorite treat, always makes me feel better after a bad day.
• Introductory phrases and specific details
o Grabbing her umbrella, Kate raced out of the house.
Semicolon
• Like with a comma, semicolons
separate independent clauses, just
without a conjunction
• Semicolons replace the conjunctions
o I have a big presentation tomorrow; I need to prepare
my notes tonight.
o Let’s go to the library to finish the essay; Tuesday would be great.
Apostrophe
Contractions Omission Possession
• Apostrophes replace certain • Apostrophes also make
• Apostrophes
possessive nouns – if someone
letters when two words are signal when a or something owes something,
shortened
combined and letter has been use an apostrophe to show
. that
shortened. dropped for
o The dog's leash is red.
dialectal spelling o Kaite's favorite snack is
o Somethin' bananas.
• If the noun is plural, the
o Nuthin'
apostrophe comes after the s
o The cats' litter box needs
emptied.
o
Colon
• Introduces additional information that
illustrates or amplifies the already
mentioned information
o Think of a colon as an arrow that points to the
information following it
Meg has three options after college: apply as an
instructional designer, learning engineer, or curriculum
specialist.
Somehow, everyone forgot the important announcement:
Jade and Ryan are getting married.
Hyphen and Dashes
Hyphen (p-p) En Dash (-) Em Dash (—)
• Hyphens are used to • An En Dash • Em Dashes are slightly longer
form compound words than the en dash and is used to
indicates a range
o A sixteen-year-old boy
signify a break, add additional
of time periods information, introduce a
stole a car. and distance concept, and replace other
o My mother-in-law is
o Refer to pages punctuation (commas or
coming to town.
10-24. colons).
o Our remodeling
o The play runs o Her latest novel—a thrilling mystery
resulted in a coach- set in Venice—has received rave
from March 12-
shaped hole in the wall. 14. reviews.
o Winning that award—it changed her
life.
Parentheses
• Parentheses are used to add information that
isn't necessary, but still helpful
o Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson) was as iconic
as her life was tragic.
o The teacher (and all the students) was late to the field trip.
When you read a sentence with parentheses in the middle,
the verb must agree with the subject outside of the
parentheses. "Teacher" is singular, so it uses "was," even
though "were" sounds better with the plural "students." It
helps to skip the information in the parentheses to make
sure there is subject-verb agreement.
