Punctuation

1
Punctuation Proofreading

• Lesson 1

2
The Period

• Use a period . at the end of a sentence that
  makes a statement.
• There is no space between the last letter and the
  period. Use one space between the period and the
  first letter of the next sentence.

3
The Comma

• Use a comma to separate the elements in a series
  (three or more things), including the last two.
  "He hit the ball, dropped the bat, and ran to
  first base."
• Use a comma a little conjunction (and, but,
  for, nor, yet, or, so) to connect two independent
  clauses, as in "He hit the ball well, but he ran
  toward third base."
• 3) Use a comma to set off introductory elements,
  as in "Running toward third base, he suddenly
  realized how stupid he looked."
• 4) Use a comma to set off parenthetical elements,
  as in "The Founders Bridge, which spans the
  Connecticut River, is falling down." By
  "parenthetical element," we mean a part of a
  sentence that can be removed without changing the
  essential meaning of that sentence.
• 5) Use a comma to separate coordinate adjectives.
  You could think of this as "That tall,
  distinguished, good looking fellow" rule (as
  opposed to "the little old lady"). If you can put
  an and or a but between the adjectives, a comma
  will probably belong there. For instance, you
  could say, "He is a tall and distinguished
  fellow" or "I live in a very old and run-down
  house." So you would write, "He is a tall,
  distinguished man" and "I live in a very old,
  run-down house."

4
Use commas to punctuate these sentences.

• Steven his head still spinning walked out of the
  office for the last time.
• "I advise you" said the teacher "not to cross me
  again today."
• We go to Blackpool for the cuisine not the
  weather.
• The thief was wearing impractical high heels so
  she could not run fast.
• As the sun began to sink over the sea Karen got
  ready to go out.
• Paulina his wife of many years had decided to go
  and live in Greece.
• "Look at this" he whispered.
• The recipe needed jam flour sugar fruit eggs
  ketchup and baking powder.
• After a hard day at the office I like to relax
  with a large gin.

5
The Colon

• Use a colon before a list or an explanation
  that is preceded by a clause that can stand by
  itself. Think of the colon as a gate, inviting
  one to go on
• Ex) There is only one thing left to do now
  confess while you still have time."

6
Which of these is correct?

• a) The potion contained fruit, biscuits and
  glue.
• b) The potion contained fruit, biscuits and glue.
  
• c) The potion contained fruit, biscuits and glue.

7
Which of these is correct?

• a) I can see only one thing the old lighthouse.
• b) I can see only one thing the old lighthouse.
• c) I can see only one thing the old lighthouse.

8
Which of these is correct?

• a) In the bag were scissors, a hairbrush and her
  address book.
• b) In the bag were the following scissors, a
  hairbrush and her address book.
• c) In the bag there were scissors, a hairbrush
  and her address book.

9
The Semicolon

• Use a semicolon
• to help sort out a monster listThere were
  citizens from Bangor, Maine Hartford,
  Connecticut Boston, Massachusetts and Newport,
  Rhode Island.ORWe had four professors on our
  committee Peter Wursthorn, Professor of
  Mathematics Ronald Pepin, Professor of English
  Cynthia Greenblatt, Professor of Education and
  Nada Light, Professor of Nursing.
• to separate closely related independent
  clausesMy grandmother seldom goes to bed this
  early she's afraid she'll miss out on something.

10
Which can/should be connected with a semi-colon?

• a) I hate rice pudding _____ dairy products don't
  agree with me.
• b) Spain is lovely _____ hot weather and friendly
  people.
• c) Spain _____ lovely beaches, endless blue sea
  and great weather.
• d) Spain is a lovely country _____ the beaches
  are endless and the weather is always good.

11
Which can/should be connected with a semi-colon?

• a) Paris is a beautiful city ______ wide streets
  and sunshine.
• b) Havana is a lovely city ______ rice pudding is
  one of my favourite foods.
• c) I would love to go to France ______ Paris is a
  lovely city.
• d) I would love to go to Greece ______ I love
  ancient history.

12
Which can/should be connected with a semi-colon?

• a) Understanding grammar is very important ______
  despite its complexity.
• b) Understanding grammar is very important ______
  clear communication is an essential skill.
• c) Understanding grammar is very important ______
  most high level jobs require good writing skills.
  
• d) Understanding grammar is very important ______
  although it is not always the most fascinating
  subject on the planet.

13
Which can/should be connected with a semi-colon?

• a) I'm not going on holiday this year ______ I am
  very short of money.
• b) I'm not going on holiday this year ______ no
  time!!
• c) I'm not going on holiday this year ______ too
  expensive!
• d) I'm not going on holiday this year ______ hot
  weather doesn't agree with me.

14
The Dash

• Use a dash (or two hyphens -- on
  old-fashioned typewriters) or dashes as a
  super-comma or set of super-commas to set off
  parenthetical elements, especially when those
  elements contain internal forms of punctuation
• "All four of themBob, Jeffrey, Jason, and
  Brettdid well in college.
• In writing dialogue, the dash is used to show
  breaks in thought and shifts in tone
• "How many times have I asked you not to " Jason
  suddenly stopped talking and looked out the
  window.
• "Not to do what?" I prompted.
• "Not to Oh heck, I forget!"

15
The Ellipses

• 1) An ellipsis proves to be a handy device
  when you're quoting material and you want to omit
  some words. The ellipsis consists of three evenly
  spaced dots (periods) with spaces between the
  ellipsis and surrounding letters or other marks.
  Let's take the sentence, "The ceremony honored
  twelve brilliant athletes from the Caribbean who
  were visiting the U.S." and leave out "from the
  Caribbean who were"
• "The ceremony honored twelve brilliant
  athletes  visiting the U.S.
• If the omission comes after the end of a
  sentence, the ellipsis will be placed after the
  period, making a total of four dots.  See how
  that works? Notice that there is no space between
  the period and the last character of the
  sentence.
• 2) The ellipsis can also be used to indicate a
  pause in the flow of a sentence and is especially
  useful in quoted speech
• "Juan thought and thought and then thought some
  more."I'm wondering " Juan said, bemused.
• 3) If words are left off at the end of a
  sentence, and that is all that is omitted,
  indicate the omission with ellipsis marks
  (preceded and followed by a space) and then
  indicate the end of the sentence with a
  period  . If one or more sentences are omitted,
  end the sentence before the ellipsis with a
  period and then insert your ellipsis marks with a
  space on both sides.  As in this example. A
  coded ellipsis (used in the construction of this
  page) will appear tighter (with less of a space
  between the dots) than the use of
  period-space-period-space-period.

16
The Apostrophe

• 1)We use an apostrophe to create possessive
  forms, contractions, and some plurals (see
  below). The apostrophe shows where a letter or
  letters have been left out of a contracted verb
• I am I'm 
• you are you're
• she is she's
• it is it's
• do not don't
• she would she'd
• he would have he would've
• let us let's
• who is who's
• she will she'll
• they had they'd
• 2) In possessives, the placement of the
  apostrophe depends on whether the noun that shows
  possession is singular or plural. Generally, if
  the noun is singular, the apostrophe goes before
  the s. The witch's broom. If the noun is plural,
  the apostrophe goes after the s The witches'
  brooms. However, if the word is pluralized
  without an s, the apostrophe comes before the s
  He entered the men's room with an armload of
  children's clothing.

17
Choose the correct sentence

• a) My parent's apartment is in one of the city's
  finest areas.
• b) My parents' apartment is in one of the citys
  finest areas'.
• c) My parents' apartment is in one of the citys'
  finest areas.
• d) My parents' apartment is in one of the city's
  finest areas.

18
Choose the correct sentence

• a) The two buildings doors' and windows' were
  damaged in the blast.
• b) The two buildings door's and window's were
  damaged in the blast.
• c) The two buildings' doors and windows were
  damaged in the blast.
• d) The two building's doors and windows were
  damaged in the blast.

19
Choose the correct sentence

• a) The world's experts were quick to praise the
  two girls' courage.
• b) The world's experts were quick to praise the
  two girl's courage.
• c) The worlds expert's were quick to praise the
  two girls' courage.
• d) The worlds' experts were quick to praise the
  two girls' courage.

20
The Hyphen

• Hyphens have many uses
• creating compound words, particularly modifiers
  before nouns (the well-known actor, my
  six-year-old daughter, the out-of-date curriculum
• writing numbers twenty-one to ninety-nine and
  fractions (five-eighths, one-fourth)
• creating compounds on-the-fly for fly-by-night
  organizations
• adding certain prefixes to words When a prefix
  comes before a capitalized word or the prefix is
  capitalized, use a hyphen (non-English, A-frame,
  I-formation). The prefixes self-, all-, and ex-
  nearly always require a hyphen (ex-husband,
  all-inclusive, self-control), and when the prefix
  ends with the same letter that begins the word,
  you will often use a hyphen (anti-intellectual,
  de-emphasize), but not always (unnatural,
  coordinate, cooperate).

21
Proofreading

• Proofreading (also proof-reading) traditionally
  means reading a proof copy of a text in order to
  detect and correct any errors.

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Exercise
15 Minutes

• Take out a piece of paper and write a paragraph
  on
• Do you agree or disagree with the following
  statement?
• People should sometimes do things that they do
  not enjoy doing.
• Use specific reasons and examples to support your
  answer.

24
Proofreading

• Now, switch papers with a partner.
• Use the proofreader marks youve learned.

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Homework

• 1) Write two blog entries.

•   
• 2 Write an essay on the following  topic
• Describe some customs from  your country that  yo
  u would like people from other countries to      a
  dopt. Explain your choices, using specific        
       reasons and examples.