Punctuation

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Enriching Language Use through Punctuation

Punctuation Marks

Period ●*Used to mark the end of:

1. Sentences Lorna has gone on vacation. I will miss her help while she is gone.

2. Indirect questions Before she left, she asked me if I would water her

plants. I asked her if she would send me a postcard.


3. Commands Please type this letter for me. Answer the phone.

4. Requests phrased as questions Would you please type this letter as soon as

possible. May we have your response by the end of the week.


5. Most abbreviations Mr. Mrs. Inc. Ms. Co. Corp.

EXCEPTION: Abbreviations of organizational names IBM CIA NATO FBI ASEAN OPEC

Period ●*Do NOT use a period:

1.After a heading or a title Chapter One: Recognizing Verbs and Subjects

2. After a sentence ending in a punctuated abbreviation Our guest speaker this evening is Marcus More,

Ph.D.

Period ●*Do NOT use a period:

3. When the number or letters of a list have been enclosed in parentheses. The following factors will be considered: (a) attendance,

(b) punctuality, and (c) performance.

Compare with: The following factors will be considered:

1. Attendance2. Punctuality3. Performance

Period ●

*Do NOT use a period:

4. After zeros in amounts of dollars Your check for $40 has been received.

5. After a Roman numeral that is part of a name Elizabeth II has been Queen of England since

1952.

Question Mark ?

*Used to mark the end of :

1. Direct questions Will my order be ready by Tuesday? Have you checked your records?

2. Directly quoted questions “Do you mind if I smoke?” asked the interviewer. He then asked, “How old are you?”

Exclamation Mark !

*Used to mark the end of :

1. Sentences to indicate emphasis or strong emotion Stop interrupting me! Unauthorized personnel are not to be admitted!

2. Interjections (words or phrases inserted into sentences to indicate emphasis or surprise) Boy! Was I angry. Stop! Do not read any further.(In the two sentences above, Boy and Stop are interjections.)

NOTE: Question marks (?) and exclamation points (!) should NEVER be followed by a period (●) or comma (,).

Semicolon ;

*Used to join two closely related sentences

Sam sees the tree; Willy hears the birds.

I will arrange a guest speaker; Arlene will take care of refreshments.

We have sent you three bills and two statements; however, we have not received your payment.

I received your bill for consultant services performed in April; therefore, I am enclosing a check for $940.

Semicolon ;

REMEMBER:

*The test for correct semicolon (;) use is to see whether a period (●) would be grammatically correct in its place.

*If NOT, the semicolon has been misused.

Colon :

*Used in the following situations:

1. Before a formal list When evaluating a credit application, consider the

following: credit history, employment history, and current assets.

2. Before an explanation A letter refusing credit should be positive: you hope

to continue business on a cash basis.

Colon :


3. Before a formal quotationSecretary’s World reports: “Secretaries are

members of the fastest-growing occupational group. Annual average job openings are now 300,000 and expected to expand to 325,000.”

Colon :


4. After the salutation in a business letterDear Sir:Gentlemen:

5. Between a title and a subtitleWord Processing: An Introduction

6. Between the hour and minute of a time reference9:10 A.M.11:15 P.M.

Comma , *Used in the following situations:

1. S V, coordinator SV Sam speaks, and Willy listens. Jonathan loves English, but he loves Math.

2. Subordinator SV, SV When Sam speaks, Willy listens. After he submitted his test paper, he went directly

to his dormitory.

*REVIEW:

Comma , NOTE 1: When the subordinator is in the middle,

there is usually NO comma. Sam speaks as Willy listens.

NOTE 2: Be careful NOT to use a comma when a coordinator is connecting two verbs. Sam speaks and listens.

NOTE 3: A subject should NEVER be separated from its verb with a single comma.


3. After an introductory word (e.g., transition word) Indeed, Sam likes to dominate a conversation. Nevertheless, Willy doesn’t understand much of

what he says.

4. After introductory phrases In general, Sam makes little sense. Trying to sound important, he tends to make a fool

of himself.


5. For separating items in a series or list Natasha has studied marketing, salesmanship,

and advertising. Your report must be in the files, on my desk,

or among my other mail. To look your best, feel your best, and be your

best requires a personal program of sound diet and strenuous exercise.


6. For separating adjectives listed before a noun All-City Video employs courteous, knowledgeable, and

helpful salespeople.

NOTE 1: A comma is needed if it would be correct to insert and between the adjectives (as in the example above).

NOTE 2: If and cannot be inserted, do NOT use a comma. They offer the lowest retail prices in town.


7. For setting off interrupting expressions (i.e., expressions that are not essential to the structure or meaning of a sentence)a. Contrasted elements

The chairman of the board, not the stockholders, made the decision.

I returned to school to improve my typing, not my English.


7. For setting off interrupting expressions (i.e., expressions that are not essential to the structure or meaning of a sentence)b. Parenthetical expressions

The affidavit, I think, is ready to be typed. It is, in fact, a convincing legal document.


7. For setting off interrupting expressions (i.e., expressions that are not essential to the structure or meaning of a sentence)c. Appositives

The president of this company, Rafa al-Habobi, started out as a sales trainee.

A woman of humble origins, Mrs. Peters is now the owner of a large retail chain.

Comma , *REVIEW:

Appositive - A noun or noun phrase placed next to another word or phrase to identify, rename, or explain it. Paris, the capital of France, is my dream travel

destination.

(In this sentence, the capital of France is an appositive.)

Comma ,

*NOTE 1: When the interrupter appears in the middle of a sentence, it is both preceded AND followed by a comma.

*NOTE 2: An interrupter at the beginning or end of a sentence requires only one comma to separate it from the rest.


8. To set off degrees and titles from a person’s name Linda Porter, M.D., performed the surgery.


9. To set off Inc. and Ltd. from corporate names Emily Adams now works for Jericho Steel, Inc. Troy Motors, Ltd. was founded in 1987.


10. To separate city names from state/country names

He was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Bulacan, Philippines is my hometown.


11. To set off the year from the month and day in a date

The company opened four overseas branches on January 26, 2011.

Comma , *NOT used in the following numbers:

1. Street numbers and ZIP codes 1129 Maple Street, Smithtown, Ohio 93011

2. Telephone numbers (914) 830-9612

3. Decimals 49. 113207

4. Serial or account numbers 621 Z78 97


12. To separate non-restrictive expressions from other words in a sentence• Non-restrictive expressions – NOT essential to the meaning of

a sentence; adds information

My father, who is bilingual, should have no trouble finding a job.

(“I” can have only one father. Knowing that he is bilingual doesn’t help us identify him; it simply tells us more about him.)

Mr. Brown’s wife, Janet, is an attorney. (Mr. Brown can have only one wife, so her name is nonrestrictive.

Therefore, we set off Janet with commas.)

Comma , *Compare with restrictive expressions:• Restrictive expressions – essential to the meaning of a

sentence; specifies Students who are bilingual should have no trouble

finding a job. (Not all students will find it easy to get jobs. Only those who are

bilingual will.) Mr. Brown’s brother John works for the government; his

brother Arthur is in private industry.(Since Mr. Brown has more than one brother, their names are

restrictive: they tell us which brother is which.)

*NOTE: We do NOT use commas to set off restrictive expressions.

Comma ,

*REMEMBER:• Non-restrictive expressions –

USE commas• Restrictive expressions –

DO NOT USE commas

Apostrophe ‘ *Used for the following:

1 . To indicate the possessive form of nouns and indefinite pronouns

a. The possessive form of singular nouns and indefinite pronouns take ‘s at the end.

The briefcase owned by Martin – Martin’s briefcase The fault of nobody – Nobody’s fault The property owned by the company –

The company’s property The telephone number of Bess – Bess’s telephone number The job of my boss – My boss’s job



b. Plural nouns NOT ending in –s or –es form the possessive by adding ‘s.

The rights of women – Women’s rights The scientific names of those fungi – Those fungi’s scientific

names

c. Plural nouns ending in –s or –es form the possessive by adding only an apostrophe.

The benefits of the workers – The workers’ benefits Labels of the boxes – Boxes’ labels



d. Hyphenated nouns The editor-in-chief’s office My father-in-law’s business

e. Nouns in joint possession: Add ‘s to the last noun only Ray and Sally’s friend Tom and Rita’s store

f. If separate possession is intended: Add ‘s to both nouns Al’s and Lucy’s answers


2 . ContractionsI would => I’dcan not => can’tthey are => they’re1929 => ‘29because => ‘cause

*Note: Contractions should be avoided in formal written English.


3. To form special plurals

a. Lowercase letters The w’s on this typewriter come out looking like u’s.

b. Abbreviations ending with periods All the M.D.’s in the theater offered their help.

Quotation Marks “ “ *Used for the following:

1. To enclose the exact words from either someone’s writing or speech In an article on credit, financial advisor Jane Freund

wrote: “Establishing credit before you need it is an intelligent precaution.”

NOTE: A quote within a quote is enclosed in single quotation marks (‘ ‘) : Freund noted: “We all have at least one friend who

brags, ‘I never buy anything on credit.’ But that person is establishing no credit history, a hedge against the day he may need credit.”

Quotation Marks “ “

REMEMBER:

• The speaker and the verb of saying (e.g. Jane Fraund wrote) are always OUTSIDE the quotation marks.

• Quotation marks are always used in pairs.

Quotation Marks “ “ *Used for the following:

2. To enclose the titles of short stories, essays, articles, poems, and chapters We were required to read the article “How to Ask for

a Raise” in the August issue of Secretary’s World.

COMPARE: Titles of full-length works (e.g., books, magazines, newspapers, plays, movies, and television shows) are usually italicized. The book Abraham Lincoln and the Road to Emancipation

was published in 2001 by Viking Press in New York.

Hyphen - *Used for the following:

1. To join two or more words into a compound do-it-yourself instruction booklets a wait-and-see attitude a thirty-year-old woman

2. For compound numbers from 21 to 99 thirty-eight eighty-two

3. With fractions one-quarter four-fifths

Hyphen - *Used for the following:

4. With the prefixes ex-, all-, self-, and pro- ex-convict all-star self-help pro-tennis

Dash *Two Kinds:

1. En Dash –- The width of an n- A little longer than a hyphen

2. Em Dash —- The width of an m

(Hyphen - )

En Dash – *Used for the following:

1. To connect two items (usually numbers) that designate a range We submitted chapters 10–12 well after midnight. Indeed, 2001–2003 were the happiest years of her life. The January–February issue is due on newsstands tomorrow.

En Dash – *Used for the following:

2. When combining open compounds with other words The author is a Nobel Prize–winning chemist.

(In the above example, Prize and winning are joined, but Nobel is just floating out there. The en dash shows that the word Nobel is included in the open compound.)

I am attending a high school–college conference this afternoon.

We crossed the Virginia–North Carolina border past midnight.

En Dash – *REVIEW:

Three Kinds of Compounds:

1. Closed firefly childlike makeup secondhand redhead notebook softball keyboard watermelon

2. Hyphenated daughter-in-law over-the-counter ten-year-old master-at-arms six-pack mass-produced

3. Open post office full moon real estate half sister middle class attorney general

Em Dash ― *Used for the following:

1. To indicate a sudden change of thought or tone I plan to study for the exam all night ― if my eyes

hold out. Mr. Rodriguez ― do you remember him from last year’s

convention? ― will be joining our staff in May.


2. To break off an unfinished statement Mrs. Olsen mumbled, “I can’t seem to remember

where ―”

3. Between an introductory list and the explanatory sentence that follows Calmness, confidence, and a copy of your resume ―

bring all of these to a job interview.


4. To attribute quotations If you can dream it, you can do it. — Walt Disney

It is not in the starts to hold our destiny but in ourselves. — William Shakespeare

Em Dash ―

REMEMBER: • The em dash should be used

discreetly.• It is NOT a substitute for commas or

terminal punctuation.

Parentheses ( )*Used for the following:

1. To enclose statements that are completely separate from the main thought of a sentence; such statements may serve as supplement or as reference In some professions (physical therapy, for example),

a dress code may be strictly enforced.Margaret Grange (1883 – 1966) was the author of several

books on corporate finance.According to the union contract, all employees are

required to have a college transcript on file (see Section 6, Paragraph 1).

Parentheses ( )*Used for the following:

2. For enumeration within a sentenceYou will need the following: (1) your resume,

(2) letters of reference, (3) a college transcript, and (4) a pencil.

Parentheses ( )NOTE 1: Sentence punctuation comes AFTER the

closing parenthesis. I have investigated various models of calculators for the

office (see the attached list), but none has been purchased yet.

NOTE 2: However, if the parentheses enclose a whole sentence, the terminal punctuation is placed INSIDE the closing parenthesis.Please submit your time cards by Wednesday evening.

(Blank time cards are available in the personnel office.)

Brackets [ ]*Used for the following:

1. Parentheses within parenthesesThe role of business in American life has often been the

subject of our fiction (see, for example, the novels of William Dean Howells [1837 – 1920]).

2. Interpolations within a quotation In Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, Charlie pays

tribute to Willy Loman: “[A salesman’s] a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoe shine… A salesman has got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory.”

Brackets [ ]*Used for the following:

3. Editorial corrections and comments The professor ended his lecture with this remark:

“All of you will hopefully [sic] read at least some of these books.”

NOTE: Sic here means that the word hopefully, although used incorrectly, is being reproduced from the original quotation.

Ellipsis …*Used within a quotation to indicated an omitted word or words.

President Ohashi began his address to the Board of Directors by saying, “The age of the personal computer has just began. This company got started two years ago with just a quarter of a million dollars and 10,000 sales. Now, despite the birth of several competitors, our market is expanding phenomenally. Next year, we expect to sell 500,000 computers.”

Compare:President Ohashi began his address to the Board of Directors by saying, “The age of the personal computer has just began… Next year, we expect to sell 500,000 computers.”

Punctuation

Education

following situations

exclamation mark

following factors

correct semicolon use

credit history

enriching language use

credit application

explanationa letter