English GrammarPUNCTUATIONS : English GrammarPUNCTUATIONS By: Usha Arunprakash
Email: mswhiztech@gmail.com
Date: October 29, 2009
Review of Basic Punctuations: : Review of Basic Punctuations: Slashes [/] Apostrophes [’] Colons [:] Commas [,] Dashes [–] or [--] Ellipsis […] Exclamation Marks [!] Hyphens [-] Periods [.] Quotation Marks [“ ”] Questions Marks [?] Semicolons [;]
Period [ . ] : At the end of sentence:
We have a meeting scheduled for tomorrow.
After abbreviation:
Etc.
Mr.
Within an abbreviation:
U.S.A
P.M.
⇒NOTE: If the sentence ends with an abbreviation, do not add another period.
I love to play board games like, Scrabble, Monopoly, Chess, etc. Period [ . ]
Question Mark [ ? ] : Employ in direct questions:
Who are you?
Should I call you or email you?
Now?
In the story of little bears, who do you like the most? the mama bear? the papa bear? the little bear?
Use for sentences ending with a question:
He will pass the test, don’t you think?
I would like to read the poem, can I? Question Mark [ ? ]
Apostrophe [ ’ ] : Apostrophe [ ’ ] Form singular possessives:
the book owned by the professor = the professor’s book
the car belongs to the girl = the girl’s car
Form plural possessives:
the bone belongs to the dogs = the dogs’ bone
the playground of the children = the children’s playground
Omit letters:
I am = I’m
it is = it’s
do not = don’t
1975 = ’75
Colon [ : ] : Colon [ : ] List items:
Here are some of my favorite books: Harry Potter Series, The Alchemist, Da Vinci Code and The Diary of a Young Girl.
Explain a sentence further:
The weather was so beautiful outside: we decided to play tennis.
There are three laws of motion attributed to Newton: the first law deals with inertia, the second deals with acceleration and the third deals with reaction.
Address someone in a formal business letter:
Dear Sir:
Format time:
The class is scheduled at 10:00 A.M. EST.
Semicolon [ ; ] : Connect two independent clauses:
Tom is a cat; Jerry is a mouse.
I had my breakfast this morning; now I’m waiting for lunch.
Display long list:
We have hired new people in managerial levels: S. Murthy, CEO; Matthew Jose, Vice President; Roy Jacob, Marketing Executive; Charlotte Fernandez, Project Manager; and Dev Patel, Human Resources. Semicolon [ ; ]
Exclamation Mark [ ! ] : Express a strong or sudden feeling:
Great job!
Oh my God!
What a crazy day!
Command:
Stop!
Come here!
Shut the door! Exclamation Mark [ ! ]
Hyphen [ - ] : Link two or more words:
Full-time
Six-year-old
AT&T-Sprint merger
Add a prefix or suffix:
Ex-husband
President-elect
Format text:
I will be teaching severalseries on English Gram-mar on regular basis.
Write numbers or fractions:
Ninety-two
Two-thirds Hyphen [ - ]
Dashes [ - ] or [ -- ] : Dashes [ - ] or [ -- ] Em Dashes [--] or [ — ]
Break a sentence:
Our teacher—carrying bunch of papers—walked hurriedly and handed over a surprise quiz this morning.
Quote a saying or proverb:
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.— Albert Einstein
En Dashes
Indicate intervals:
He studied in Harvard from 1975 – 1980.
Tomorrow’s meeting is at 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM.
Quotation Mark [ “ ” ] : Quote one’s say or proverb:
“If you score well in your exam," said my father, “I’ll get you a new computer.”
Socrates once said: “The only wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”
Highlight a word or words:
When you visit the website, you will find “Writing Tips”. Check it out and let me know.
There is a very minor difference between ‘single quotation marks’ and ‘double quotation marks’. Quotation Mark [ “ ” ]
Slash [ / ] : Slash [ / ] Substitute ‘or’:
Yes/No
The English classes will improve his/her vocabulary.
Substitute ‘per’:
It costs $20/kg.
The lunch buffet is $9.99/person.
Format date:
10/29/2009
URLs format:
http://www.wiziq.com/home
Write fractions:
2/3
Ellipsis [ … ] : Indicate a pause in the sentence:
Practice, practice … and practice makes one perfect.
Quote a long sentence:
“You only really get … with them.”, a phrase from The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, left me thinking. Ellipsis [ … ]
Slide 14 :
Exercise – Find the missing punctuations: : Exercise – Find the missing punctuations: In 1997 Alex graduated from high school.
His hobbies are listening to music reading novels playing chess and collecting coins
Im playing video games.
For breakfast we ordered bunch of meals egg and cheese sandwich bagel with cream cheese egg and toast milk with cereals chicken burger orange juice and coffee
The Three Musketeers a novel written by Alexandre Dumas, is about three inseparable friends Athos Porthos and Aramis
He has eight years of experience in mechanical en gineering and soon will be promoted as a Project Manager.
Exercise – Correct the following sentences using the right punctuation marks: : Exercise – Correct the following sentences using the right punctuation marks: Ah; What a day.
He,she should report to work?
Mary likes tea, Jane likes coffee!
Theres nothing like a cup of hot soup on a cold rainy day!
The exam has been postponed to 29,11, 2009 and will be held between 10;00 – noon…
Mr Thompson! takes all his cats Darla Tom Sweety Josie Marie Jay Nancy and Perry to the vet on regular basis--
Happy Punctuating! : Happy Punctuating! By: Usha Arunprakash
Email: mswhiztech@gmail.com
Date: October 29, 2009