<p>Name:______Date:______</p><p>ACT English Punctuation</p><p>Commas</p><p>The Serial Comma  </p><p> </p><p>What to look for:  Look at the entire sentence  Search for a list of three or more things</p><p>Separating Clauses  </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Elements  A ______clause or phrase is essential to the meaning of a sentence and should not be separated by a comma.  A ______clause or phrase is not essential to the meaning of the sentence. It just adds a parenthetical thought (extra info) and needs to be separated by a comma.</p><p>Example: People who snore are advised to sleep on their sides. o Restrictive à no comma needed</p><p>Mary, who by now, was very confused stopped in front of the woman. o Nonrestrictive à “who by now” is extra information.</p><p>Semicolons (;)  Name:______Date:______</p><p>Example: Just then, the woman screamed; the bird jumped up and perched on her head.</p><p>Colons (:)  </p><p>Example: Maria just purchased all the camping supplies for our trip: a backpack, a sleeping bag, and a pair of hiking boots.</p><p>Dashes (-)  </p><p> Used to: o </p><p> o</p><p> Dashes often travel in pairs Example: I tried to express my gratitude – not that any words could be adequate – but she just nodded and walked away.</p><p>Apostrophes (‘)  Used to: o </p><p> o </p><p>Example: Peter’s new car is extremely expensive. I’m sorry. I couldn’t make it to your party.</p><p>Its/It’s/Its’  It’s  </p><p> Its  </p><p> Its’  </p>