Punctuation Making Your Meaning Clear - PowerPoint Presentation

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Primary reasons for punctuation: Punctuation helps to distinguish between types of sentences.Punctuation also helps to make the meaning of a sentence completely clear. What are the main types of punctuation, and how are they used?

© 2016 Time4Writing.com. All Rights Reserved. www.time4writing.com/free-writing-resources Common Types of Punctuation These are the types of punctuation we most often use when writing sentences: Punctuation that ends a sentence Comma Apostrophe Colon Semicolon Quotation marks

Punctuation that Ends a Sentence Remember the four types of sentences: Declarative (makes a statement) Interrogative (asks a question) Exclamatory (expresses strong emotion) Imperative (states a command)

© 2016 Time4Writing.com. All Rights Reserved. www.time4writing.com/free-writing-resources Different types of end punctuation indicate different types of sentences. Period. Indicates a declarative or sometimes an imperative sentence: Examples: “I read the book. ” “ Please come over here . ”2) Question mark. Indicates an interrogative sentence: Example: “ What time is it ? ” 3) Exclamation mark. Indicates an exclamatory or sometimes an imperative sentence: Examples: “ You really startled me ! ” “ Get over here ! ”

© 2016 Time4Writing.com. All Rights Reserved. www.time4writing.com/free-writing-resources The Comma Some main uses for a comma: 1) Precedes a coordinating word that links two main clauses 2) Separates items in a list 3) Follows a phrase that precedes the subject of a sentence 4) Sets off words or phrases that interrupt the flow of the sentence

© 2016 Time4Writing.com. All Rights Reserved. www.time4writing.com/free-writing-resources Examples of comma use: Precedes coordinating words (such as and, but, or, for, so ) that link two main clauses Example : “ I threw a party , and my friends enjoyed it . ” Separates words or phrases in a list Example : “ We ate cake , blew up balloons , gave presents , and sang. ”

© 2016 Time4Writing.com. All Rights Reserved. www.time4writing.com/free-writing-resources More examples of comma use: 3) . Follows a phrase that comes before the subject of a sentence Example: “ When autumn arrived , the trees lost their leaves. ” 4) Sets off words or phrases that interrupt the flow of the sentence Example : “ Aspens , for example , lose their leaves by October. ”

© 2016 Time4Writing.com. All Rights Reserved. www.time4writing.com/free-writing-resources The Apostrophe The apostrophe has two main uses: 1) Forming contractions; indicates when two words have been pushed together to form one word 2) Creating possessive forms of nouns to show belonging

© 2016 Time4Writing.com. All Rights Reserved. www.time4writing.com/free-writing-resources Using the apostrophe to form contractions: “ You are ” becomes “you ’ re ” (the apostrophe shows that the space and the “ a ” are gone) 2) “ It is ” becomes “ it ’ s ” (the apostrophe indicates that the space and the “ i ” are gone) It’s important to note, though, that the only time you ever use “ it’s ” with an apostrophe is when you mean “ it is .”

© 2016 Time4Writing.com. All Rights Reserved. www.time4writing.com/free-writing-resources Using the apostrophe to indicate possession: The cat belonging to the boy becomes “ the boy ’ s cat. ” The trophy belonging to the team becomes “the team ’ s trophy .” The books belonging to the girls become “the girls ’ books.” Note: To make a plural noun possessive, add the "s" or "es" first (to make it plural), and then add the apostrophe at the end of the word.

© 2016 Time4Writing.com. All Rights Reserved. www.time4writing.com/free-writing-resources The Colon One of the main uses for a colon: Use a colon after a complete sentence if it's introducing a list of items in the sentence. Example: “ I need the following items : shoes, socks, and gloves. ” Use only if other introductory words (e.g., that is, namely, such as, including) are not there.

© 2016 Time4Writing.com. All Rights Reserved. www.time4writing.com/free-writing-resources Another use of a colon: Use a colon after a complete sentence if it's introducing a formatted list. Example: “ I need the following : shoes socks gloves.”

© 2016 Time4Writing.com. All Rights Reserved. www.time4writing.com/free-writing-resources A third use for a colon: Use a colon between two complete sentences if the second explains or illustrates the first sentence. Example: “ It's good for your health to eat apples : these fruits energize your mind and keep you alert." Use the colon only if no coordinating conjunction joins the sentences. Do not capitalize the first word of the second sentence.

© 2016 Time4Writing.com. All Rights Reserved. www.time4writing.com/free-writing-resources The Semicolon One of the main uses for a semicolon: The semicolon joins two related clauses in a sentence. The second clause could probably stand on its own but may feel "weaker" than the first clause and seems better attached to the first sentence. Example: "I could hardly wait for the party ; it was going to be great!"

© 2016 Time4Writing.com. All Rights Reserved. www.time4writing.com/free-writing-resources Another use of a semicolon: Use a semicolon between two sentences or independent clauses that are joined by a conjunctive adverb (e.g., however, nevertheless, furthermore, thus). Example: "I slept well ; however, I was still tired."

© 2016 Time4Writing.com. All Rights Reserved. www.time4writing.com/free-writing-resources Quotation Marks Two main uses for quotation marks: Place them around dialogue to indicate direct speech. Use them to name short titles of articles, poems, short stories, etc. Ready for some examples of quotation mark usage?

© 2016 Time4Writing.com. All Rights Reserved. www.time4writing.com/free-writing-resources Quotation marks in dialogue: Put all punctuation for the quotation itself inside the quotation marks. Example: “ What are you doing?" he asked. You are quoting his question within your sentence. So, the question mark indicating his question goes inside the quotation marks, but a period still ends the sentence.

© 2016 Time4Writing.com. All Rights Reserved. www.time4writing.com/free-writing-resources More about quotes in dialogue: However, if the quoted question is at the end of your sentence, you will add a comma after the dialogue tag. Example: He asked, “ What are you doing?" You finish your sentence just with the punctuation that ends the quotation. You do not add a period. However, you now have an introduction to the quote, which you follow with a comma, since this is all still part of your one sentence.

More free WRITING MECHANICS & GRAMMAR resources: Parts of SpeechCapitalization Subject-Verb Agreement Homophones, Homonyms, & Homographs The End Sign up for one of these eight-week WRITING MECHANICS & GRAMMAR courses : Elementary School Grammar Skills Middle School Writing Mechanics High School Writing Mechanics