Grammar Punctuation

Sometimes the items that follow a colon are used as appositives if a word is followed by a list of appositives, the colon makes the sentence clear.

At the air base we saw three signs: To Norway, To paris, and To Lisbon.

Use a colon after the salutation of a business letter.

Dear Ms. Gonzales:

use parenthesis to enclose material that is added to a sentence but is not considered to be of major importance.

During the middle ages (from about A.D 1500- A.D 500) , both Moors and vikings invaded parts of europe. Notice that parenthetical material may be omitted without changing the basic meaning and construction of the sentence.

Use a semicolon between independent clauses joined by a conjunctive adverb or transitional expression. Commonly used conjunctive Adverbs: accordingly, also, besides, consequently, furthermore, however, indeed, instead, meanwhile, moreover, nevertheless, next, otherwise, still, then, therefore. Commonly used transitional expressions: as a result, for example, for instance, in addition, in fact, that is, on the other hand, in other words.

Emma felt shy; however, she soon made some new friends.

Use a colon between the chapter and the verse in biblical references and between titles and subtitles,

Exodus 1:6-14

use punctuation marks within the parenthesis when the punctuation belongs to the parethetical matter. Do not use punctuation within the parenthesis if such punctuation belongs to the sentence as a whole.

Fill in the application. (Use a pen.) That old house ( it was built early in the last century) may soon become a landmark.

Use a semicolon between independent clauses that are closely related in meaning if they are not joined by and, for, nor, or, so, or yet. Similarly, a semicolon can take the place of a period to join two or more clauses that are closely related.

First, I had a sandwich and a glass of milk ;then I called you for the homework assignment. Manuel looked out at the downpour; then he put on his raincoat and boots.

To prevent confusion , use an apostrophe and an s to form the plurals of lowercase letters, some capitol letters, numerals, symbols, and some other words that are referred to as words.

Grandma alsways tells me to mind my p's and q's. I got A's on both tests I took last week. The 1's in this excersize look like I's. Two different Web site addresses began with ##'s and ended with .com's. His hi's are always cheerful.

To show that a full line or more of poetry has been omitted, use an entire line of spaced periods.

Half a league, half a league,, Half a league onward All in the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. "Forward the Light Brigade! Charge for the guns!" he said. Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. Alfred, Lord Tennyson "The Charge of the Light Brigade" Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Into the alley of Death Rode the six hundred Notice that the line of periods is as long as the line above it.

Use a colon before a long, formal statement or a long quotation.

Horace Mann had this to say: "Do not think of knocking..."

Use a dash to indicate namely, that is, or in other words or to otherwise introduce an explanation.

I what we could get mom for her birthday- a new photo album. (namely) She could put all those loose pictures- the ones shes taken since christmas- in it. (That is)

Use a semicolon between items in a series if the items contain commas.

I would like to introduce Mrs. Boyce, our mayor; Mr. Bell, her secretary; Ms. Lincoln, the editor of our newspaper; and Mr. Quinn, our guest of honor.

Use brackets to enclose an explanation within quoted or parenthetical material.

In her acceptance speech, the star said: "I am honored by this award [the Oscar], and I want to thank my parents and everybody who worked with me." [The words are enclosed in brackets to show that they have been inserted into the quotation and are not the exact words of the speaker.] The growth of the Irish economy in recent years is a great success story. (See page 15 [Graph 1A] for a time line.)

The possessive case of a noun or pronoun shows ownership or possession.

Larry's friend Dana uses a wheelchair. You need a good night's sleep? Can i count on their votes? I appreciate your waiting so long.

When you omit words at the end of a sentence within a quoted passage, keep the sentence's end punctuation and follow it with the ellipsis points.

Standing at the gates were small groups of students. . . . As Myles passed by, he could not help overhearing intense conversation in Spanish, German, and Japanese; all of his students had momentarily abandoned English in the urgency of deciding where to go for the weekend and how to get there.

Use a colon before a list of items, especially after expressions like the following and as follow.

You will need to bring the following equipment: a sleeping bag, a warm sweater, and extra socks.

To form the possessive case of most singular nouns, add an apostrophe and an s.

Yuki's problem the mayor's desk a bus's wheel Mrs. Ross's job a dollar's worth

Some compound adjectives are always hyphenated, whether they precede or follow the nouns they modify.

a brand-new shirt a shirt that is brand new a down-to-earth person a person who is down-to-earth

Hyphenate a compound adjective when it precedes the noun it modifies. Do not use a hyphen if one of the modifiers is an adverb that ends in -ly.

a well-written book (but a book that is written well) a small-town boy (but a boy from a small town) a bitterly cold way

Although most plural nouns ending in s, some are irregular. To form the possessive case of a plural noun that does not end in s, add an aposthrophe and s.

children's shoes those deer's food

Generally, in compound words, names of organizations and businesses, and words showing joint possession, only the last word is possessive in form.

compound word: community board's meeting organization: Untied Fund's drive Business: Berkeley Milk Company's trucks Joint possession: Peggy and Lisa's tent Children and parents' concerns - when one of the words showing joint possession is a pronoun, both words should be possessive in form ex: Peggy's and my tent

A word containing double consonants usually may be divided between those two consonants.

drum-mer con-nect

Use a hyphen with the prefixes ex-, self-, all-, and great-; with the suffixes -elect and -free; and with all prefixes before a proper noun or proper adjective.

ex-coach great-aunt mid-July self-made president-elect pro-American all-star fat-free pre-Columbian

Divide a word with a prefix or a suffix between the prefix and the base word or between the base word and the suffix.

frag-ment con-fusion

To indicate a pause in dialogue, use three spaced ellipsis points with a space before the first point and a space after the last point.

"Well, I could . . . . I can't honestly say," he hedged.

Use an apostrophe to show where letter, numerals, or words have been omitted in a contraction.

2009...'09 of the clock...o'clock Bill is...Bill's

A semicolon (rather than a comma) maybe needed to separate independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction when the clauses contains commas.

Alana, Eric, and Kim voted for her; and Scott, Roland, and Vanessa voted for Jason.

Do not use a colon between a verb and its complements or between a preposition and its subject.

Incorrect: Additional supplies are: a toothbrush and toothpaste, a change of clothes, a towel, a pillow, and an air mattress.

Do not divide a word so that one letter stands alone..

Incorrect: The utility company built a new turbine to generate e- lectricity.

When two or more persons possess something individually, each of their names is possessive in form.

Mrs. Martin's and Mrs. Blair's cars Asha's and Daniella's tennis rackets

The possessive of an acronym like NASA is formed by adding an apostrophe s.

NASA's latest space probe CB's hit television series

When a conjunctive adverb or transitional expression appears within one of the clauses and not between clauses, it is usually punctuated as an interrupter ( set off by commas). The two clauses are still separated by a semicolon.

Our student council voted to have a Crazy Clothes Day; the principal, however, vetoed the idea.

When you omit words at the beginning of a sentence within a quoted passage, keep the previous sentence's end punctuation and follow it with the ellipsis points.

Standing at the gates were small groups of students, clustered together according to nationality. . . . [A]ll of his students had momentarily abandoned English in the urgency of deciding where to go fore the weekend and how to get there. Be sure not to begin a quoted passage with ellipsis points.

Do not divide a one syllable word.

The line of people waiting to get tickets stretched halfway down the block.

Use a hyphen to divide a word at the end of a line.

The new governor's victory celebration will be organ- ized by her campaign comittee.

Divide an already hyphenated word only at a hyphen.

The speaker this morning is my mother- in-law.

Divide a word only between syllables.

The stars Betelgeuse and Rigel are in the conste- llation known as orion.

When you omit words from the middle of a sentence, use three spaced ellipsis points.

The streetlights along Toole Street . . . were already lit and twinkled mistily through the trees. Be sure to include a space before the first ellipsis point and after the last one.

When you omit one or more complete sentences from a quoted passage, keep the previous sentence's end punctuation and follow it with the ellipsis points.

The streetlights along Toole Street, which meandered downhill from the Language Academy to the town, were already lit and twinkled mistily through the trees. . . . . As Myles passed by, he could not help overhearing intense conversation in Spanish, German, and Japanese; all of his students had momentarily abandoned English in the urgency of deciding where to go for the weekend and how to get there.

Use ellipsis points ( . . . ) to mark omissions from quoted materials and pauses in a written passage.

The streetlights along Toole Street, which meandered downhill from the Language Academy to the town, were already lit and twinkled mistily through the trees. Standing at the gates were small groups of students, clustered together according to nationality As Myles passed by, he could not help overhearing intense conversation in Spanish, German, and Japanese; all of his students had momentarily abandoned English in the urgency of deciding where to go for the weekend and how to get there.

use a dash to indicate an abrupt break in though or speech or an unfinished statement or question.

There are a thousand reasons- well, not a thousand, but many- that we should go. "Your being-" Tina began but then stopped.

Use a colon between independent clauses when the second clause explains or restates the idea of the first.

Thomas Jefferson had many talents: He was a writer, a politician, an architect, and an inventor.

for a proper noun ending in s, add only an apostrophe if the name has two or more syllables and if the addition of 's would make the name awkward to pronounce.

Ulysses' plan Mrs. Rawlings' car West Indies' export Texas' governor

Possessive personal pronouns do not require an apostrophe.

my, mine, your, yours, his, hers, her, its, our, ours, your, yours, their, theirs

indefinite pronouns in the possessive case require an apostrophe and s.

nobody's wishes someone's license another's viewpoint neither's school

use a hyphen with compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine and with factions used as modifiers.

seventy-six three-quarters cup

For a singular common noun ending in s, add both an apostrophe and an s if the added s is pronounced as a separate syllable.

the actress's costumes the class's teacher the dress's sleeves a platypus's tail

To form the possessive case of a plural noun ending in s, add onlly the apostrophe

two birds' feathers all three cousins' vacation the Garzas' patio the Girl Scouts' Uniforms