Appendix 3: Punctuation

A Full stop (.), question mark (?) and exclamation mark (!)

A sentence ends with one of these punctuation marks.

Full stop: It's cold today. The office was closed. Please be careful

Question mark: Who's that? Did you see the show? Could you wait, please?

Exclamation mark: Oh, no! I don't believe it!

In the US a full stop is called a 'period'.

B Semi-colon (;)

We can use a semi-colon between two separate statements which are linked in meaning.

Melanie is a very kind person; she visits David in hospital every day. We could also use a full stop here.

C Colon (:)

We can use a colon before an explanation or before a list. Vicky felt nervous: she hated the dark. There wasn't much in the fridge: a couple of sausages, some butter, half a bottle of milk.

D Dash (-)

A dash is rather informal. It is sometimes used instead of a colon or a semi-colon. I'm having a great time - there's lots to do here. Vicky felt nervous - she hated the dark.

E Comma (,)

We often use a comma when we link two statements with and, but or or.

Daniel was tired, and his feet were hurting. It's a really good camera, but I can't afford it. Note the two subjects in each sentence: Daniel... his feet and It... I. When there is only one subject, we do not use a comma.

Daniel sat down and took his shoes off.

We can also use a comma when a sentence has a linking word like when or although.

When the office is busy, Sarah has to work late. For commas with relative clauses, see Unit 141.

Sometimes a comma can separate off an adverb or a phrase.

Sarah, unfortunately, has to work late. On busy days, Sarah has to work late. Here the commas separate off on busy days and unfortunately.

The rules about commas are not very exact. In general, commas are more likely around longer phrases. With a short phrase there is often no comma. On busy days Sarah has to work late. Sometimes she has to work late.

It is less usual to separate off something at the end of the sentence.

Sarah has to work late when the office is busy. She stayed late to get the work done. We do not usually put a comma before to expressing purpose.

We also use commas in a list of more than two. The last two are linked by and, often without a comma. I went out with Rachel, Vicky, Emma and Matthew.

F Quotation marks (")

We put direct speech in quotation marks.

Laura said, 'You haven't put those shelves up yet.' 'I haven't had time,' replied Trevor. We normally use a comma to separate the direct speech from the rest of the sentence. The comma comes before the quotation mark. Quotation marks are also called 'quotes' or 'inverted commas'.

Double quotation marks are sometimes used. Laura said, "You haven't put those shelves up yet."

We can put quotation marks around titles.

Do you watch that American comedy series called 'Roseanne'? We often use quotation marks when we mention a word or phrase.

What does 'punctuation' mean? Rap music is also called 'hip hop'.

G Hyphen (-)

We sometimes use hyphens in these structures. Compound noun: eating ice-cream

Compound expression before a noun: an oven-ready meal Noun formed from a phrasal verb: ready for take-off Noun + ing-form: interested in rock-climbing

Before the last word of a compound number: a hundred and twenty-six people After some prefixes: anti-aircraft guns Letter + noun: sending an e-mail

The rules about hyphens are not very exact. For example, you may see a compound noun written as phonecard, phone-card or phone card. Hyphens are not very frequent in British English, and they are used even less in American English. If you are unsure, it is usually safer to write two separate words.

H Apostrophe (')

Look at these examples.

Today we're going for a drive in the country. Everyone is looking at Nick's car.

We use an apostrophe (') in short forms, when there is a missing letter, e.g. we're (= we are). See Unit 32. We also use an apostrophe with s to form the possessive of a noun, e.g. Nick's car. See Unit 93.

I Capital letters

There are two capital letters (big letters) in this sentence.

The boss said I could leave early. We use a capital letter at the beginning of a sentence and for the word I.

We also use a capital letter to begin the names of people, places, companies, etc.

Mark and Sarah New Orleans the High Street Somerset House General Motors This includes the names of books, films, magazines, etc. All the important words start with a capital letter.

The Spy Who Loved Me Four Weddings and a Funeral Newsweek

We also use a capital letter for days of the week, months of the year, holidays and festivals, historical times, nationalities and most abbreviations.

Monday August Easter the New Year the Industrial Revolution some Italian wine the UN (= the United Nations)

Date: 2014-12-22; view: 1034