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PUNCTUATION Master Nov 09.Pdf PUNCTUATION Punctuation is a system of marks that are used in writing to help us to communicate more clearly. Punctuation is a very important aspect of written communication. Punctuation is used to help us make our meaning clear and avoid ambiguity . Ambiguity occurs when there is more than one possible interpretation of our meaning. For example, if we wrote the following sentence without punctuation it might look like this: The doctor said the policeman is on his way. There are two possible meanings for the above sentence. Depending on punctuation, the sentence could read either: “The doctor,” said the policeman, “ is on his way”. or The doctor said, “the policeman is on his way”. In each case we rely on the punctuation to give us the correct meaning. Without punctuation the above sentence is ambiguous and therefore not clear in meaning . When you are writing you should try to avoid ambiguity at all times, and punctuation will help you do this. NOTE: An important thing to remember is that the system of punctuation is a widely used and accepted convention. You may see slight variations in how different people use punctuation marks such as the comma, the dash or the semi-colon, but in general the conventions of punctuation are widely followed. CAPITAL LETTERS Capital letters should be used: 1. At the beginning of every sentence. 2. For the names of people, places, products, companies, organisations. e. g. John Lennon; Aberdeen; Hovis; Texaco; the BBC; NATO 3. For the days of the week and the months of the year but not for the seasons . e. g. Monday; Tuesday; October; December; but spring; autumn There is a useful rule that capital letters are for the specific but not the general. So it would be correct to write: “Buchanan Street Bus Station is one of several bus stations”. There is only one Buchanan Street Bus Station. It is a specific bus station so it is given capital letters. However, when we write about “bus stations” we are referring to bus stations in general so there is no need for capital letters. In the same way we could write: I spoke to Doctor Thomson, one of many doctors at the Royal Infirmary. 4. For the title of specific courses but not general areas of study or knowledge. e.g. I am studying Business Administration so that one day I can go into business for myself. 5. For the titles of books, plays, magazines, newspapers, television programmes, films etc. e.g. Tender is the Night ; Death of a Salesman ; Vogue ; The Independent ; Neighbours ; Silence of the Lambs . There are three conventions when we write the titles of such things as books, films and newspapers: • We write titles in italics. (If you are writing by hand then you should underline titles.) • We give capitals to the significant words only. Look at the examples above and you will see that the incidental words such as ‘the’, ‘of’, ‘is’, ‘in’, ‘a’ and so on, are not given capital letters unless they are at the beginning of the title. • If the title of a newspaper, magazine, organisation etc. contains the word ‘the’, then this is written in italics along with the title. However, if the word ‘the’ is not part of the title then it is not written in italics. e.g. The Sun , the Daily Mirror, the Daily Record 6. When an adjective is created from the name of a person, place, company etc. (An adjective is a word used to describe something.) For instance, we could write about Victorian architecture. The word Victorian is an adjective (a descriptive word) formed from the name of Queen Victoria. 2 PUNCTUATION: Alex Macpherson Nov 09 e. g. Italian pizza; Egyptian art; the Christian religion; Yorkshire pudding; PUNCTUATION: THE FULL STOP . The full stop indicates a short pause. The full stop is used at the end of all sentences except when we ask a question or make an exclamation. The section on grammar will explain what a sentence is. Until then, all you have to remember is that (unless it is a question or an exclamation) a sentence always begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop . There is another use for the full stop and that is for initials and abbreviations . For example we would write J. D. Salinger ; Margaret A. Brown ; Dr. S. White . We would also place a full stop after abbreviations such as etc. and e.g. (We will look more closely at these particular phrases in the section on Latin words.) Nowadays, many people choose to write abbreviations without full stops. For example it is quite acceptable to write abbreviations such as BBC , AIDS , HIV, Dr , Mr , and MTV and so on without using full stops. However, a full stop generally comes after an initial in a person’s name. PUNCTUATION: THE COMMA , The comma indicates a shorter pause than the full stop. There is no simple rule for the use of the comma and its use is often complicated. The modern trend is to use as few commas as possible. However, there are times when commas are essential to the meaning of the sentence. When you have worked through the section on grammar, you will have a better idea when to use a comma. For now, try to observe the following guidelines: 3 PUNCTUATION: Alex Macpherson Nov 09 • Use the meaning of the sentence as a guide to where to put the comma. Try to make sure that the comma encloses separate units of meaning. • Use a comma to separate items in a list. e.g. I’m going to buy apples, pears, bananas, fruit juice and biscuits. There is no need to use a comma between the last two items because they are separated by the word ‘and’. • Use a comma to mark off a phrase that gives additional information about someone or something. For example, you should use a pair of commas around a phrase. We will be looking at phrases in the section on grammar. At this point, however, look at these examples: The factory owner, a millionaire from Preston, could not be contacted. The main statement of the sentence is that the factory owner could not be contacted. The additional information is that he is a millionaire from Preston. The additional information is a phrase and it is marked off by a comma. Sometimes a pair of commas is used to give emphasis to a group of words. Look at the following example: Opening a restaurant in this location would not be a good idea. If we mark the phrase off with a pair of commas the meaning is changed slightly. Opening a restaurant, in this location, would not be a good idea. The commas give special importance to the words marked off. They are emphasised . This emphasis gives roughly the same effect as raising your voice slightly while speaking. The location of the restaurant is seen as being of more importance in the second example. 4 PUNCTUATION: Alex Macpherson Nov 09 PUNCTUATION: THE SEMI-COLON ; The semi-colon is a rather advanced punctuation mark and it represents a pause that is slightly longer than that of a comma but less than that of a full stop. In simple terms, the semi-colon is used when a comma is too weak and a full stop is too strong. There should be a close connection between the words and phrases joined by the semi-colon. When you are more confident in your written English you may want to incorporate the semi-colon into your writing. It can be a useful punctuation mark. Once you have read the section on grammar you will be more aware of when to use the semi-colon. NOTE: You should skip this particular section on the semi-colon until you have read and understood the section on grammar. The main uses of the semi-colon are: a) To separate parallel items or statements in a list , when those items are made up of clauses or phrases. The section on grammar will explain what clauses and phrases are, but for now look at the example below: Jane has learned many tasks during her work placement: she delivered the internal mail; carried out routine photocopying and faxing tasks; worked on the switchboard with minimal supervision; and represented the company at several charity events. Hopefully, you can see that the semi-colon is used to give a pause between the various items so as to help the reader absorb the separate pieces of information. b) Before the expressions: as, namely, viz., i.e., e.g., when they are used to introduce a statement that contains a verb. The section on grammar will explain what a verb is, until then look at the following example: He had always had one ambition; namely, to play for Scotland in the World Cup. 5 PUNCTUATION: Alex Macpherson Nov 09 c) Between parts of a compound sentence when no conjunction is used. The police were first on the scene; the ambulance arrived soon after. Here the semi-colon is used in place of the conjunction (joining word) ‘and’. d) Before words such as however, nevertheless, for, conversely, also, thus, consequently, and therefore when they are used between clauses in a compound sentence. The letter arrived that morning; however, he had not read it. PUNCTUATION: THE COLON : The colon is a very useful punctuation mark. It represents a fairly long pause while speaking. It is quite easy to learn how to use and it can help improve your writing considerably. The colon is used: 1.
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