English Punctuation

18- use apostrophes to show possession

Apostrophe, Rule 18- use apostrophes to _____ __________ -for singular nouns we just add 's (dog's, Ross's) -for plural nouns that ends in s, add ' (3 dogs= dogs') -if the noun is plural but does NOT end is s, then you still add 's (women's restroom) -if you have a compound noun that show join possession, then you only have an 's on the second word. (Charlie and Mary Ann's farm) -if two or more people possess something individually, then they each have their own 's (Ethan's and Dylan's coats are both red) -pronouns DO NOT use apostrophes to show possession (its' = NOT A WORD)

19- use an apostrophe to show where letters or numbers have been omitted

Apostrophe, Rule 19- use an apostrophe to show where _______ or ____________ have been ________ ex. should not = shouldn't 1965 = '65

20- use an apostrophe to form the plural of letters, numbers and words referred to as such

Apostrophe, Rule 20- use an apostrophe to form the _______ of letters, numbers and words referred to as such ex. I got three A's on my report card

10- use a colon before a list of items

Colon, Rule 10- use a colon ______ a list of items -what comes before the colon needs to express a complete thought -NEVER put a colon after a verb or preposition ex. "After school today, I need to do the following things:------, -------, and --------." "Today I ate many foods: pizza, green beans, and ice cream."

11- use a colon between two independent clauses when the second clause explains or restates the first

Colon, Rule 11- use a colon ___________ two independent clauses when the second clause ________ or __________ the first - very similar to how you would use a semicolon

12- use a colon in conventional situations

Colon, Rule 12- use a colon in _______________ ____________ -between the hour and minute -between chapters and verses in the Bible -between the volume and issue or volume and page number in a magazine/newspaper

1- use commas to separate items in a list

Comma, Rule 1- use commas to ___________ items in a list ex. "I walked the dog, ate ice cream, and then I went to bed" "I like to eat cake, ice cream, and cookies."

2- use a comma before a coordinating conjunction when joining to independent clauses

Comma, Rule 2- use a comma before a __________ _____________ when joining 2 __________ __________ ex. "I wanted to buy an ice cream, yet I didn't have enough money."

3- use a comma between adjectives that are used to describe the same noun

Comma, Rule 3- use a comma between _____________ that are used to describe the _____ noun -Don't use a comma between them if the adjective that comes before the noun is thought to be part of the noun ( "The large yellow Lab jumped on me.") ex. "The playful, large dog jumped on me." (switch around the two adjectives to see if the sentence would still sound right)

4- use commas to set off non-essential information

Comma, Rule 4- use commas to set of ____-_______ information aka. info that can be taken out of the sentence without effecting the meaning -Who/Whom clauses almost always fall under this category ex. "Pete Lincoln, who works with my father, bought a car yesterday" "My friend Peter Lincoln bought a new car yesterday." (no comma because the extra info is essential to know who the friend is, since you have more than one." "My brother, who lives in Taos, will be going to the river with us this weekend." (I have one brother) "My sister who lives in St. Thomas will be going with us as well." (I have 3 sisters) -Put commas around nouns of direct address, when you're speaking to someone ex. "Caleb, put your headphones away." "I need your attention, class, so you won't miss anything." -Put commas around parenthetical expressions (by they way, on the other hand, in fact, for example, in my opinion) ex. "My sister Kristi, on the other hand, will not be going to the river."

5- use commas after most introductory elements

Comma, Rule 5- use commas _____ most ____________ elements -after non essential info that comes before the subject ex. "Sure, I'll go to the store with you." -after introductory participle phrases (inverted sentences) ex. "After dropping her sister off at home, Susan went to the mall." -after after successive prepositional phrases only use one comma at the end of them ex. "Down by the river, under the old oak tree, we had a picnic" -after an introductory adverb clause ex. "When you have gone to school for as long as I have, you will known your way around."

6- use commas for conventional reasons

Comma, Rule 6- use commas for _______________ reasons -separate items in addresses ex. "I have lived at 3400 Weston Street, Jefferson City, Missouri, for six years." -separate items in a date ex. "On May 8, 2005, my son Ethan was born. I plan to go to Florida on Monday, June 1, for my birthday." -when you have a name followed by a title (Sr., Jr., PhD.) put the comma before the abbreviation ex. "Jim Jones, PhD., studied adolescent behavior" "Paul Lackman, Jr., went to the store yesterday."

coordinating conjunction

FANBOYS = for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so

15- quotation marks around dialogue

Quotation Marks, Rule 15- quotation marks ________ dialogue.. do NOT use them for indirect quotations. -make sure to use your commas and end punctuation marks correctly too. ex. "My sister said, "I want to go home now." (direct quotation) "My sister said that she wanted to go home. (indirect quotation) -direct quotations begin with capital letters -when a quote is interrupted by a "he said," the second part begins with a lower case letter. ex. "I think," said June, "that we all need a break." -semicolons and colons are always placed outside the closing quotation marks -use a comma, question mark, or exclamation mark to separate the quoted material form the rest of the sentence. Commas and period ALWAYS go inside the quotation marks. ex. "Where," asked Bobby, "do you expect me to go?" -Question marks and exclamation points are placed inside the quotation marks IF the quotation contains a question. If it does not, they are place on the outside (only use one end mark) ex. "Why do we have to learn this?" asked Sally. Why did Bob say, "The sky is falling"? -use single quotation marks when you have a quote within a quote ex. Cheryl said, "My favorite poem is, 'The Road not Taken' by Robert Frost." "'The Road not Taken' by Robert Frost is my favorite poem," said Cheryl.

16- use quotation marks around short works

Quotation Marks, Rule 16- use quotation marks around _______ works. (poems, short stories, newspaper articles/magazine articles, songs, individual episodes of TV shows, chapters in books) ex. My favorite poem is "The Road not Taken" by Robert Frost.

17- use quotation marks to enclose slang words, technical terms, and other expressions that are unusual in standard english

Quotation Marks, Rule 17- use quotation marks to enclose _____ _____, _________ _______ , and other __________ that are ____________ in standard english ex. I am feeling a bit "hangry" right now.

7- use a semicolon to separate two closely related independent clauses that are NOT joined by FANBOYS conjunctions

Semicolon, Rule 7- use a semicolon to ________ two closely related ______________ ____________ that are NOT joined by FANBOYS conjunctions ex. "Danny wants to go to the movies; none of his friends want to go with him." "I like hot chocolate when it's cold outside; it's even better with marshmallows."

8- use a semicolon between independent clauses joined with a FANBOYS conjunction when either clause contains a comma

Semicolon, Rule 8- use a semicolon ___________ independent clauses joined with a FANBOYS conjunction when either clause contains a _________ ex. "I want to eat ice cream for lunch; but the chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes, salad, and peanut butter bar that I ate have already made my stomach full." "I hope to go to Chicago, Illinois, on a vacation; but St. Louis, Missouri, may be what I can actually afford.

9- use semicolons betweens items in a series whenever any of the items contains commas

Semicolon, Rule 9- use semicolons ___________ items in a series whenever any of the items contains _______ ex. "I ate chips; cupcakes; and vanilla, chocolate, and mocha ice cream." "On our trip to Australia, we made stops in St.Louis, Missouri; Dallas, Texas; and Sydney, Australia."

13- use underlining for titles of major works

Underlining/Italics, Rule 13- use underlining for _______ of _____ _______. -books, movies, plays, tv shows, magazines, newspapers, works of art, ships

14- use underlining for words, letters, and numbers referred to as things and for foreign words not yet adopted into english

Underlining/Italics, Rule 14- use underlining for ______,________, and ________ referred to as things (not used in their conventional manner) and for _________ words not yet adopted into english ex. "I have three 7's in my phone number." (underline 7's) "I have two A's and three B's this quarter." (underline A's and B's" "I hate it when people use the word stupid." (underline stupid)

independent clause

a clause that can stand alone as a sentence. If BOTH clauses are NOT independent, then you do NOT use a comma between them. ex. "I wanted to buy ice cream but didn't" ("didn't" cannot be independent so you WON'T put a comma before the coordinating conjunction)