Punctuation Composition RULES Home School Sports If you

Punctuation Composition

RULES Home School Sports

“If you don’t understand punctuation, you can’t write right. ”

My Dear, Kim the dinner we shared the other night. It was absolutely lovely—not! In my wildest dreams, could I ever imagine anyone? As perfect as you are, could you—if only for a moment—think? Of our being together forever: what a cruel joke! To have you come into my life only to leave again: it would be heaven! Denied the possibility of seeing you again makes me giddy. With joy I face the time we are apart. With great “sadness, ” John P. S. : I would like to tell you that I love you. I can’t. Stop thinking that you are one of the prettiest women on earth.

TYPES OF PUNCTUATION Period Colon Question Mark Apostrophe Exclamation Mark Quotation Marks Comma Hyphen Semi-colon Dash

. PERIOD. q. Small q. Powerful q. Has finishing power SEABISCUIT

! EXCLAMATION MARKS ! I love Lucy!

! EXCLAMATION MARKS ! Did you hear her yell, “I am an alliteration addict!”? How wonderful that she asked, “Am I an alliteration addict? ”!

? QUESTION MARKS ? “What would happen if I stuck my finger into a wall socket? ” Einstein said. Did Einstein really say, “My hair is definitely better this way”?

, COMMA , • Allan Pinkerton – Secret Service – Detective Agency • Low profile • Sneaky • Maintaining order

What’s the difference between a cat and a comma?

A cat has claws at the end of its paws, while a comma is a pause at the end of a clause.

, COMMA , Meant to make readers pause and collect themselves a little before they move on

TRY TO READ THIS IN ONE BREATH Speaking and typing without a pause simply can’t be done: If you try you’ll end up sounding like an irritating monotonous teeny-bopper with some sort of profoundly alienating cerebral malfunction that won’t allow you to talk or write like a normal person but instead causes you to drone on and on without ever pausing to let anyone catch his breath or in any way prepare for what you might want to say following whatever you just said which if you don’t seek help for and fix you’ll be shunned forever and ever.

A COMMA CAN MEAN LIFE OR DEATH… Let’s eat, Grandpa. Let’s eat Grandpa.

Eliminate the COMMA TRAUMA! v. Use commas to separate words, phrases, or clauses in a series The frisbee sailed silently through the air, bounced off the kitchen wall, and splashed into my chicken soup. I came, I saw the uncut grass, and I ran back into the house.

YAY or NAY? For dinner, the Girl Scouts ate steak, onions and ice cream.

YAY or NAY? Book dedication: To my parents, the Pope and Mother Teresa

, COMMA , v Used to separate two INDEPENDENT clauses joined by a conjunction. v Clauses (or sentences) that CAN stand alone YAY OR NAY v. He went to the store, but he forgot to get cheese. v. He went back to the store, and bought cheese.

, COMMA , v. Place comma BEFORE the conjunction v 7 most common conjunctions = coordinating v. For v. And v. Nor v. But v. Or v. Yet v. So

AND, a word, a real small word; BUT, it’s spelled with just one t; OR, a stick we use to row; NOR, half of a cold country; YET, you bet it rhymes with met; FOR, one number more than three; SO a button on your shirt— And that brings us back to A-N-D

YAY or NAY? John danced with Shelby and Dillon danced with May.

YAY or NAY? At first it pleased me to find your missing toupee, but now I regret it.

, COMMA , v Use to set off parenthetical expressions v. Meaning: a word or string of words that are not needed but add information to the sentence v. Commonly used: however, nevertheless, in fact, therefore, for instance, consequently, for example, accordingly, moreover, hence. EXAMPLES: v. Yes, I won the game! v. The tortoise, as far as we know, won the race. v. Unfortunately, we lost.

YAH or NAH Nevertheless the company plans to produce its packets of artificial nose hair.

YAH or NAH After retiring my wife, my parents, my kids, and I plan to travel around the country.

, COMMA , v Appositive phrase = phrase that modifies a noun or pronoun directly in front of the first comma Allan Pinkerton, a detective, created the Secret Service. The boys, Adam and Alex, played basketball.

, COMMA , v. Used to set off complete quotations General Patton once said, “No! The war is this way!” “I walked barefoot to and from school uphill and in the snow, ” my grandma used to say.

, COMMA , v. Used to set off a noun of direct address v. Meaning: addressing a specific person or thing v. Example: Today, students, we are going to learn about comma usage. Can you repeat your question, Alex?

, COMMA , v. Used in between the day of the month and the year, the year and the rest of the sentence, the city and the state, and the state and the rest of the sentence October 21, 1987, is a very important date in history. Maize South Middle School is actually in Wichita, Kansas, not in Maize.

SEMICOLON “Don’t Mean a Thing if You Ain’t Got That Swing” – Nikki Yanofsky

SEMICOLON v. In a compound sentence, use a semicolon to join closely related sentence NOT joined by a coordinating conjunction • I often blow my own horn, trumpet my achievements, and beat the drum for my career; it is my way of saying to the world, “I’m as fit as a fiddle, and I don’t fiddle around or play second fiddle to anyone!”

SEMICOLON v. Use in a sentence as an extrapowerful/super comma between items in a series • We tracked voyages from Cuba; Jamaica, south of Cuba; and Haiti, southeast of Cuba.

COLON v. Ed Sullivan, “I introduce acts, which in the punctuation world would make me a colon. ”

COLON v. Used to introduce just about anything: a quotation in a play, a complete statement, or the very words you are reading right now! • Romeo: I love you, Juliette! • Juliette: I love you more!

COLON v. Use when a list is found in a sentence • Dr. Johnson’s talk will cover the following islands: Martinique, Trinidad, and Grenada. • The following items are at the store: milk, butter, and eggs.

COLON v. Between hours and minutes in time, between titles (heading) and subtitles (subheading) in books • 7: 15 • Tarzan: George of the Jungle

“QUOTATION MARKS” Alexander Graham Bell, “Mr. Watson! Come here!”

“QUOTATION MARKS” v ALWAYS begin a new paragraph when changing the speaker “Leapin’ lizards and jumpin’ Jehosephat!” screamed Karen alliteratively. “Good grief, ” Tim responded. “Karen, You are the most alliterate person I know!”

“QUOTATION MARKS” v. Do NOT use them when it is an indirect quotation • She replied that he was correct. • He said that he wanted to come with us. • I am pretty sure Miss Herd said that was the right answer.

“QUOTATION MARKS” v. Use single quotation marks when you quote someone inside of a quote • Stacy exclaimed, “My ears were ringing when the crowd shouted, ‘Rock Chalk Jayhawk’!”

“QUOTATION MARKS” v. All poems, book chapters, magazine articles, short stories, songs, or any other written work that is part of a whole (a. k. a. newspaper article)

“QUOTATION MARKS” v. Periods and commas ALWAYS go on the inside of the quotation marks Karen confessed, “I am an alliteration addict. ” The longest word reposing in our dictionaries is “pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconi osis. ”

- DASH Fred Astaire dashed onto stage to dance with Ginger.

- DASH v. Use in pairs to set off a thought that breaks into a sentence Although Maria loved being one of the renowned Flying Fezzarini trapeze artists—for twenty-three years she’d been flying through the air with the greatest of ease—she couldn’t help but wonder if all the glory was worth her arms dragging behind as she walked.

- DASH -

- DASH v. Use to signify a sudden change in thought • He loves me; he loves me not; he loves me not—then again, what am I doing asking the opinion of a flower? • We’re only an hour away from flying around the world in a hot air balloon! We’re going to be so famous! We’re going to be—what’s that burning smell?

‘ APOSTROPHE ‘ v Robin Hood

‘ APOSTROPHE ‘ v Allows people or things to have possession • The butler stood in the doorway and called the guests names. • The butler stood in the doorway and called the guests’ names.

‘ APOSTROPHE ‘ v. Singular noun = add ‘s o man’s o kid’s v. Plural noun that ends in s = add ‘ o bankers’ o students’ • Plural noun that does not end in s = add ‘s o men’s o children’s

‘ APOSTROPHE ‘ v. If two or more people possess the same thing, then only put ‘s after the last name • Ben and Jerry’s ice cream business became famous. • Larry, Curly, and Moe’s main squeezes thought the brothers were just a bunch of stooges.