Grammar Components to cover PUNCTUATIONS CONTEXT CLUES WHAT

Grammar

Components to cover: • PUNCTUATIONS • CONTEXT CLUES

WHAT IS PUNCTUATION? Punctuation is "the use of spacing, conventional signs, and certain typographical devices as aids to the understanding and correct reading, both silently and aloud, of handwritten and printed texts.

TYPES OF PUNCTUATIONS? • Apostrophes to show contractions • Apostrophes to show possession • Possessive pronouns • Apostrophes to show unusual plurals • Apostrophes activities • Colons • Semicolons • Punctuation which adds information • Brackets • Dashes • Commas

THE IMPORTNACE OF GOOD PUNCTUATIONS? Punctuation is one of the most important aspects of written English, and yet punctuation is one that is taken the most lightly. It is, in fact, this feature of writing that gives meaning to the written word, much like pauses and changes in tones of the voice when speaking. An error in punctuation can convey a completely different meaning to the one that is intended.

APOSTROPHES Apostrophes (’) are the most commonly misused punctuation mark. They have three main uses. They show: 1. contractions 2. possession 3. unusual plurals Contractions are shortened forms of words which have letters missing. The apostrophe is used in place of the missing letters. Example • It’s is short for It is. • We’ll is short for we will or we shall. • Can’t is short for cannot.

APOSTROPHES TO SHOW POSSESSIONS Apostrophes are also used to show possession: who or what owns something. Adding an apostrophe and an s after a person, place or thing shows that he/she/it are the owner of the other noun in the sentence. . Example 1. Megan’s pet tarantula is called Mogg. 2. Mogg’s owner is called Megan. 3. All of the bus’s seats are full.

POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS The exception to the apostrophe rule are these possessive pronouns which show possession without apostrophes: Example 1. His new car is better than mine. 2. The bird flapped its wings. 3. Is my drawing better than hers? 4. Are these books the same as yours? 5. Shall we use your plates or ours? 6. Ben prefers our home to theirs. 7. Whose chocolate bar is this?

UNUSUAL PRONOUNS The final use of apostrophes is to show unusual plurals, such as number, letters and symbols, which would be unreadable otherwise, Example 1. There is one c and two s’s in the word necessary. 2. Continental 7’s are scored with horizontal lines. 3. You must mind your p’s and q’s around strangers. 4. Your mobile phone number is easy to remember because there are three 0’s in it. 5. My postcode has two B’s in it.

COLONS A colon (: ) shows that the words which follow it are an explanation or an example of what is written before it A colon is usually placed after a complete sentence but it can be followed by many or few word. Colons are placed directly after the last word of the main idea and they are followed by one space only. They are never followed by either a hyphen (-) or a dash (–). Example A hamburger is made up of three layers: the bottom half of the bun, the burger and the top half of the bun. The environment is facing a huge threat: global warming.

SEMI-COLON A semicolon (; ) joins two complete sentences into one. This is because some sentences are too closely related to be separated by a full stop but they are missing a connecting word, such as and or but. Example Eating chocolate in moderation is fine; eating chocolate to excess is bad. It was the best year; it was the worst year. Max felt hot; the sun was blazing. I don’t like cabbage; I don’t like carrots. I found the film long; Tim found the film short.

BRACKETS Brackets allow you to add Example extra information to a sentence, which is useful but not necessary or to add your Charlie Johnson (aged 21 years) has opinion (unfortunately) played for Charlton for three seasons. ’

DASHES Example Pairs of dashes allow writers to strongly interrupt the flow of a sentence to provide their The countess glared at the maid – readers with useful who had stolen the heart of her information. The extra information is placed between the dashes for emphasis, but the sentence should also make sense alone. husband – and threw a silver hairbrush at her. ’

Example COMMAS 1. Mexico, assumed by many to be a South American country, is in North Sometimes, we want to add America. information to make our 2. Saint Patrick, also patron saint of writing clearer, without distracting the reader from excluded people, is the patron saint of Ireland. the sentence. 3. The Moon, although it floats in space like the Earth, is not a planet. 4. Bulls, despite the fact that they will attack a red cloak, are colour-blind. 5. A tomato, although a fruit, is usually eaten on a salad.

CAPITALIZATIONS Always capitalize the first word of a sentence. Except in special cases (e. e. cummings), always capitalize proper names or official titles. Preserve capitalization in quotations unless you have good reason for doing otherwise (a publisher’s standards, for instance). If you must change the case of a letter, put the letter in brackets. Do not capitalize abstract nouns. Example You cook, and I’ll do the dishes. I’ll cook and do the dishes.

HYPHENS Example Hyphens create compound words. Hyphens make adjectives out of nouns. Do NOT use hyphens to introduce quotations. I have ninety-four Penguin editions. The woman was an African American. The woman was African-American. I like literature from the nineteenth century. I like nineteenthcentury literature.

ACTIVITY 1 Rewrite these sentences to correct their punctuation errors, and describe briefly the error you've corrected. 1. The coach's retirement party—which isn't scheduled yet, will be sometime next week. 2. We arent going to give him any gifts, he said he didn't want any. 3. Who's parents will be the chaperones at our after game party. 4. The refreshment list includes these fruits and vegetables, apples, oranges, pineapple, carrots and celery sticks. 5. The crowds screams filled the auditorium and practically raised it's roof.

ACTIVITY 1 Rewrite these sentences to correct their punctuation errors, and describe briefly the error you've corrected. 6. School ends this year on the twenty third of May, we'll have plenty of time to relax this summer. 7. Do you know whether the game starts at 8 or at 8. 30? 8. I said to my parents This is the most important game of the season and I have to go to it. 9. The teams best efforts will be in evidence during this last game. 10. Because school spirit is really important to the outcome of the game we hope the team feels the spirit coming from the stand's.

ANSWERS TO ACTIVITY 1 1. The coach's retirement party—which isn't scheduled yet —will be sometime next week. Incomplete use of dash 2. We aren't going to give him any gifts; he said he didn't want any. Apostrophe missing from contraction; missing semicolon 3. Whose parents will be the chaperones at our after-game party? Incorrect use of pronoun; missing hyphen; missing question mark 4. The refreshment list includes these fruits and vegetables: apples, oranges, pineapple, carrots, and celery sticks. Missing colon; missing series comma

ANSWERS TO ACTIVITY 1 5. The crowd's screams filled the auditorium and practically raised its roof. Plural noun should be a possessive; contraction of it's used instead of correct its 6. School ends this year on the twenty-third of May; we'll have plenty of time to relax this summer. Hyphen needed in twenty-third; semicolon needed for compound sentence 7. Do you know whether the game starts at 8 or at 8: 30? Colon needed in time 8: 30

ANSWERS TO ACTIVITY 1 8. I said to my parents, "This is the most important game of the season and I have to go to it. " Direct quotation requires introductory comma and quotation marks 9. The team's best efforts will be in evidence during this last game. Possessive requires apostrophe 10. Because school spirit is really important to the outcome of the game, we hope the team feels the spirit coming from the stands. Comma required after dependent introductory clause; incorrect possessive instead of plural of the word stand

WHAT IS A CONTEXT CLUE? Context clues are hints that an author gives to help define a difficult or unusual word. The clue may appear within the same sentence as the word to which it refers, or it may follow in a preceding sentence.

TYPES OF CONTEXT CLUE? Synonym A synonym, or word with the same meaning, is used in the sentence. My opponent's argument is fallacious, misleading – plain wrong. Explanation The unknown word is explained within the sentence or in a sentence immediately preceding. The patient is so somnolent that she requires medication to help her stay awake for more than a short time. Antonym A word or group of words that has the opposite meaning reveals the meaning of an unknown term. Although some men are loquacious, others hardly talk at all. Example Specific examples are used to define the term. Celestial bodies, such as the sun, moon, and stars, are governed by predictable laws.

SOME MORE TYPES OF CONTEXT CLUE? Definition Restatement or Synonym Contrast or Antonym Comparison Example List or Series Cause and Effect

DEFINITION Example The unknown word is explained by using a more familiar word or phrase Entomology is the study of insects. Archaeology is the scientific study of prehistoric cultures by excavation of their remains.

RESTATEMENT OF SYNONYM The meaning is usually right after the unfamiliar word and often separated from the rest of the sentence with commas, dashes, or parentheses; sometimes, or that is, or in other words is used. Example Meat eaters, that is carnivores, are at t the food chain. The goslings--those fuzzy baby geese--w after their mother. She enjoyed biology (the study of living

COMPARISON Example The unfamiliar word is shown to be the same as or like another word; too, like, as, similar to, or in the same way may be used to signal the comparison. My brother is enthralled by birds to the way that I am fascinated b insects.

CONTRAST OR ANTONYM The unfamiliar word is shown to be different from or unlike another word, and is often an opposite; but, however, although, otherwise, unless, instead, on the contrary, on the other hand, while, never, no, or not may be used to signal contrast. Example Mike’s parrot was loquacious, but Maria’s said very little.

EXAMPLE Example The unfamiliar word is cleared up by giving an example; for instance, such as, and for example may be used as signals. The archeologist found different amulets, such as a rabbit’s foot and bags of herbs, near the ancient altar.

LIST OF SERIES Example The unfamiliar word is included in a series of related words that give an idea of the word’s meaning. North American predators include grizzly bears, pumas, wolves, and foxes.

CAUSE AND EFFECT Example The meaning of an unfamiliar word is signaled by a cause and-effect relationship between ideas in the text. Due to a dearth of termites, the aardvark starved to death.

ACTIVITY 1 Choose the correct meaning of the underlined word, and identify the type of context clue used: 1. Our baseball team's pitcher has a few eccentric habits, such as throwing exactly thirteen warm-up pitches and never wearing socks. A) normal B) strange C) messy

ACTIVITY 1 Choose the correct meaning of the underlined word, and identify the type of context clue used: 2. After the heavy rains, the stream became murky; in fact, the water was so cloudy you couldn't see the bottom. A) cloudy B) bottomless C) clear

ACTIVITY 1 Choose the correct meaning of the underlined word, and identify the type of context clue used: 3. The debris on the stadium floor included numerous paper cups, ticket stubs, and cigarette butts. A) products B) papers C) trash

ACTIVITY 1 Choose the correct meaning of the underlined word, and identify the type of context clue used: 4. The coach takes every opportunity to censure his players, yet he ignores every opportunity to praise them. A) approve of B) criticize C) choose

ACTIVITY 1 Choose the correct meaning of the underlined word, and identify the type of context clue used: 5. Although Alex usually looks unkempt, he had a very neat appearance at his job interview. A) orderly B) handsome C) messy

ANSWERS TO ACTIVITY 2 1. B clue: example 2. A clue: definition 3. C clue: example 4. B clue: contrast 5. A clue: contrast

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