MAKING YOUR MARK THE BASICS OF PUNCTUATION WHY IS THERE PUNCTUATION? • English sentences are “thought packages.” • A sentence contains a subject, an action or being, and perhaps an indirect or direct object. • Each thought package must be separated, so as not to create blur. • Separators come in various forms and tell what the sentence is intended for. • Components must fit together. • Modifiers must clearly match what is modified. • There must be clarity with regard to a subject and its verb. PERIODS • A period marks the end of a sentence or “thought package.” • One of the best pieces of advice we give is “use more periods than commas.” • This makes forming complete and succinct sentences a good practice. • Other uses for periods include: • To show money less than one dollar ($12.87) • To form an abbreviation (Dr. Zingleman) COMMAS • Commas are “breakers.” (Notice that the period goes inside the quotation mark.) • They break between sentences with a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS). • When a sentence starts with an introductory element, a comma shows where it stops. • A commas sets apart added elements, those words that the sentence does not need. • Commas set apart items in a series of three or more. • We advocate the “Oxford comma”: a comma before the “and” in a series. • For use with a coordinate adjective • This belongs exclusively to the noun. Two coordinate, descriptive adjectives, if reversed, would not make sense. If “and” could fit between the adjective/adverb, there is a comma. • Appositives • “John, the tutor.” EXTRA COMMA RULES • For direct address • “Elizabeth, could you reserve a room for me at the Atherton?” • For locations • The Woodlands, Texas • Dates • November 1, 2017 • In countries like the UK, they switch the periods and commas with money • £45,20 for 45 pounds and 20 pence • €45.000 for 45 thousand Euro QUESTION AND EXCLAMATORY MARKS • Question marks make interrogatory statements • “Are you going to the Astros game party tonight?” • Exclamatory marks indicate an agitated mood • Go Astros! • A combination of question mark and exclamation indicates puzzled outrage. • “They took Verlander out of the game?! APOSTROPHES • For ownership • Altuve’s bat is hot. • When the owner is plural or ends in an “s”, the apostrophe goes at the end. • The Dodgers’ performance was outstanding. • For contractions • It’s about time that the Astros team fulfill its destiny. • It is always our counsel to spell out contractions as to avoid confusion with possessives. • Contractions are great for speaking, not so much for writing. QUOTATION MARKS • These are used to set off direct speech. • Quotation marks, when first used, are double quotations • John said, “we are all meeting at Minute Maid Park tonight.” • When there is a quote within a quote, then the second quote is a single mark. • Sandy remarked, “Well, when Gurriel jested with ‘Chinito’, he was just being Cuban.” • Position of quotation marks depend on the end marks being part of the quoted material. • Did he say, "Good morning, Dave"? • No, he said, "Where are you, Dave?“ • Use quotation marks to indicate skepticism, irony, sarcasm or disapproval. • Well, that was certainly not a “usual” World Series. • Quotations set off the title of a short work- “The Road not Taken” • Notice that large works in a works cited list are italicized (Poems of Robert Frost) COLONS AND SEMICOLONS • A colon (:) is used to set off a series of four or more items. • The Astros excel at everything: pitching, fielding, batting and running. • A semicolon has two uses • To set off items in a series that have parenthetical elements • There is no doubting the strength of this team: Keuchel, the starter; Gregerson, the closer; Altuve, the batter; Correa, the runner. • Separating two independent clauses, where one follow closely from the other. • No body can stand against this power; it is here to stay. • The best use of a semicolon is with a conjunctive adverb, which links the verbs in the sentences. • We may very well win the World Series; however, if we are too proud, there may be a fall of colossal proportions. THE ELLIPSIS • The ellipsis is a set of three periods … • This is used to take the place of words that can be removed without any consequence to the writer’s purpose. • God, grant me the serenity…to change the things I can… • Notice the ellipsis at the end, indicating that more is there that the writer does not want to include. THE HYPEN AND THE DASH • The dash or hyphen is my favorite mark. • It can be used as an emphatic to join two independent sentences. • Here we come- get ready! • Hypens are used to give nuance to words. • Re-form means to start again. Reform is to change. • Spell out words (seventy- three) • As a prefix (Pro-baseball) • Used when last name is a combination of mother and father: Juan Pierre-Paul • When adding components to an already hyphenated word: Abby is a seven- or eight-year-old cat. PARENTHESES AND BRACKETS • Parentheses are used to put something supplemental off to the side. • Removing these words would not change the sentence. This is like a very non-essential. • I thought we would win (I did not realize, though, that our attitude as a city really matters). • Brackets are used when inserting words that give clarity to a quote. • Four score and seven [87] years ago… .