Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Capitalization AND
Punctuation
Capitalizing Sentences,
Quotations, & Salutations
Rule 1: Capitalize the first word of EVERY
sentence.
The Lady Falcons are in Monroe County.
Rule 2: Capitalize the first word of a direct
quote that is a complete sentence. A direct
quote is the speakers exact words.
Mrs. Michelle said, “Bring your new folder.”
Rule 3: When a quoted sentence is interrupted by explanatory words, such as she said, do NOT begin the second part of the sentence with a capital letter, unless it is a new sentence.
“Mr. Alexander,” Tommy said, “can I go to the bathroom?”
“I went to the state tournament,” the coach said. “M y team won the game.”
Rule 4: Do NOT capitalize an indirect quote. An indirect quote does not repeat the person’s exact words.
Tom said his mom bought a new car.
Capitalizing Sentences,
Quotations, & Salutations
Rule 5: Capitalize the first word in the
greeting and closing of a letter. Capitalize
the title and name of the person addressed.
Dear Chris,
To whom it may concern,
Yours truly
Sincerely yours,
Capitalizing Sentences,
Quotations, & Salutations
Capitalizing Names and Titles of
People
Rule 1: Capitalize the names of people and the
initials that stand for their names.
Katresa Collins
E.B. White
Rule 2: Capitalize a title or an abbreviation of a
title when it comes before a person’s name or
when it is used in direct address.
Mr. Murphy
Mrs. Connie
Capitalizing Names and Titles of
People
Rule 3: Capitalize the names and abbreviations of
academic degrees that follow a person’s name.
Capitalize Jr. and Sr.
Sarah Riley, M.D.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Rule 4: Capitalize words that show family
relationships when used as titles or as substitutes
for a person’s name.
Last year Father and Aunt Beth went to England.
Capitalizing Names and Titles of
People
Rule 5: Always capitalize the pronoun I.
NO MATTER WHERE IT IS IN A
SENTENCE!
I went to town yesterday.
University of Kentucky is the team I like the
most.
Capitalizing Names of Places
Rule 1: Capitalize the names of cities,
counties, states, countries, and continents.
Burkesville Louisville Frankfort
Rule 2: Capitalize the names of bodies of
water & other geographical features.
Mississippi River Rocky Mountains
Rule 3: Capitalize the names of sections of
the country.
Southeast New England
Capitalizing Names of Places
Rule 4: Capitalize compass points when they refer to a specific section of the country.
the South the Northeast
Rule 5: Capitalize the names of streets and highways.
Woodlawn Street Oak Street
Rule 6: Capitalize the names of specific buildings, bridges, & monuments.
Washington Monument
Capitalizing Other Proper
Adjectives & Nouns
Rule 1: Capitalize all important words in the names of clubs, organizations, businesses, institutions, and political parties.
Girl Scouts
Rule 2: Capitalize brand names but not the nouns following them.
Pillsbury cookies Keebler crackers
Rule 3: Capitalize all important words in the names of important historical events, periods of time, and documents.
Civil War Declaration of Independence
Capitalizing Other Proper
Adjectives & Nouns
Rule 4: Capitalize the names of days of the week,
months of the year, and holidays. Do NOT
capitalize seasons.
Christmas Monday January
Rule 5: Always Capitalize the first and last words
of the titles of literary works, songs, films,
television series, magazines, and newspapers.
Capitalize all other words except articles (a, an,
the), coordinating conjunctions.
Gone With the Wind
Capitalizing Other Proper
Adjectives & Nouns
Rule 6: Capitalize the names of ethnic
groups, nationalities, and languages.
Native American Italian
Rule 7: Capitalize all proper adjectives,
including those formed from names of
ethnic groups and nationalities.
Mexican art Chinese food
End Marks
Period: Use at the end of a declarative (just tells you
something) & an imperative (gives a command) sentence.
Ex: We are taking notes today. (declarative)
Ex: Get out your notes. (imperative)
Question Mark: Use at the end of a question.
Ex: What day is today?
Exclamation Mark: Use for sentences showing extreme
excitement or strong emotion OR with an interjection.
Ex: I won the lottery!
Ex: You are not my friend!
Ex: Yikes! That snake almost bit me! (Yikes is the
interjection)
Commas
Rule 1: Use commas to separate three or more
words or phrases in a series (list).
Ex: Susan bought a red shirt, borrowed a green skirt,
and found a yellow hat.
Rule 2: Use a comma after two or more
introductory prepositional phrases, after a long
introductory phrase, or when a comma is needed
to make the meaning clear.
Ex: For thousands of years, shipbuilders built large
ships.
Commas
Rule 3: Use a comma after introductory phrases.
Ex: Traveling on the Mediterranean, the Minoans
became seafarers.
Rule 4: Use commas to set off words that are
unnecessary in the sentence.
Ships, you might imagine, were invented a long time
ago.
Rule 5: Use commas to set off an appositive (a noun or
group of words that explains another noun)
Ex: The Egyptians, the inventors of sails, built barges.
Commas
Rule 6: Use commas to show a pause after an
introductory word and to set off names used in direct
address.
Ex: Yes, Mr. Clemmons does work here.
Rule 7: Use a comma before or, but, or and when they
are combing two sentences.
Ex: Many teachers work at MCMS, but other
teachers work at JHC.
Commas
Rule 8: Use commas before and after the year when
it’s used with both the month AND the day ONLY.
Ex: The bus trip began on July 5, 2012, and lasted
four weeks.
Rule 9:Use a comma after an adverb clause that
introduces a sentence (look for words like after,
although, because, before, as, considering that, if, in
order that, since, so that, unless, until, when,
whenever, where, wherever, whether, or while).
Ex: Because camels provide such a practical
means of transportation, nomads use them
regularly.
Commas
Rule 10: Use commas before and after the
name of a state or a country when it’s used
with the name of a city. NOT between
state and zip code.
Ex: Tompkinsville, KY
Rule 11: Use a comma or pair of commas
to set off an abbreviated title or degree
following a person’s name.
Ex: Carol Warren, M.D., studies motion
sickness
Commas
Rule 12: Use a comma or commas to set off
too when too means “also”
Ex: Dr. Warren, too, rode a bus with us.
Rule 13: use a comma(s) to set off
quotations.
Ex: Mrs. Turner said, “Today we will study
E.A. Poe.”
Ex: “Fossils,” Mrs. Myatt said, “are found in
earth and rock.”
Commas
Rule 14: Use a comma at the end of a
greeting or closing of a letter.
Ex: Dear Brittney,
Ex: Sincerely yours,
Rule 15: Use a comma to prevent
confusion in reading.
Ex: Instead of ten, fifteen students signed up
for pep club.
Using Quotation Marks and
Italics
Rule 1: Use quotation marks before and after a direct
quotation.
Ex: “I am going to town,” Samantha said.
Rule 2: Use quotation marks around each part of an
interrupted quotation.
Ex: “Go get,” Tyler yelled, “my coat!”
Rule 3: Use a comma or commas to separate a phrase
such as he said from the quote itself. Place the comma
outside the opening quotation marks, but inside closing
quotation marks.
Ex: Tommy said, “I am hungry.”
Using Quotation Marks and
Italics
Rule 4: Place a period inside closing quotation marks.
Sarah said, “Lets go.”
Rule 5: Place a question mark or an exclamation mark inside the quotation marks when it is part of the quotation.
Eugene screamed, “I AM HUNGRY!”
Rule 6: Place a question mark or an exclamation mark outside the quotation marks when it is part of the entire sentence but not part of the quotation.
Did Mr. Murphy say, “We were loud during the drill”?
Apostrophes
Rule 1: Use an apostrophe and –s (‘s) to form the possessive of a singular noun.
girl +’s=girl’s Thomas+’s=Thomas’s
Rule 2: Use an apostrophe and an-s (‘s) to form the possessive of a plural noun that does not end in –s.
women+’s=women’s children+’s=children’s
Rule 3: Use an apostrophe alone to form the possessive of a plural noun that ends in –s.
boys+’=boys’ students+’=students’
*DO NOT USE an apostrophe in a possessive pronoun like hers or theirs.
Rule 4: Use an apostrophe to replace letters
that have been omitted in a contraction. A
contraction is a word that is made by
joining two words into one and leaving out
one or more letters
Ex: it is=it’s do not=don’t
would not=won’t
Apostrophes
Rule 1: Use a hyphen to show the division of a word at the end of a line. Always divide a word between it’s syllables
It didn’t take long for Sheri to know the obsta-
cles of the course.
Rule 2: Use a hyphen in compound numbers.
Twenty-two thirty-nine
Rule 3: Use a hyphen to spell out a fraction Ex: one-half two-thirds
Hyphens
Hyphens
Rule 4: Use a hyphen or hyphens in certain compound nouns.
sister-in-law son-in-law
Rule 5: Use a hyphen or hyphens in certain
compound nouns.
Rule 6: Use a hyphen in a compound
adjective when it comes before the word.
Ex: She’s a well-trained athlete.
Dashes & Parentheses
Rule 1: Use a dash to show a sudden break or
change in thought or speech. If it’s in the middle
of a sentence, use a second dash to show the end of
the sudden break.
Ex: Dr. Owens-my neighbor-works at the hospital
Rule 2: Use parentheses to set off words that
define, or helpfully explain, a word in a sentence.
Flight training consists of training in simulators
(devices that reproduce the conditions of space flight)
and other equipment.
Appositives A noun placed next to another noun to identify
or clarify it or to add information about it.
Ex: My dog, Spot, is a golden retriever.
An appositive phrase is a group of words that
includes an appositive and other words that
describe the appositive.
Ex: An expert on food, John worried about food
spoilage.
Appositives
Appositives can be considered unnecessary
words in a sentence.
If you take them out, the sentence still
sounds right without them.
Semicolons and Colons
Use a semicolon to join the parts of a compound sentence when a coordinating conjunction such as and, or, nor, or but is not used.
Example – You can use water-based or oil-based paint; both have their advantages.
Semicolons and Colons
Use a colon to introduce a list of items that ends a sentence. Use a phrase such as these, the following, or as follows before the list.
Ex: A list of the greatest scientists in history usually begins with these names: Newton and Einstein.
Use a colon to separate the hour from the minute when you write the time of day.
Ex: Our class began at 8:35 this morning.
Use a colon after the salutation of a business letter.
Ex: Dear Mr. Murphy:
Using Abbreviations
Rule 1: Use the abbreviations Mr., Mrs., Ms., and Dr.
before names.
Ex: Mr. Clemmons, Dr. Michael
Rule 2: Abbreviate professional or academic titles that
follow names.
Ex: James Nichols, R.N.
Rule 3: Use all capitals an NO periods for abbreviations
that are pronounced letter by letter or as words.
Ex: NATO-North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Ex: HOSA-Health Occupations Students of America
Using Abbreviations
Rule 4: With exact times use A.M. & P.M.
Ex: 8:42 A.M. 7:50 P.M.
Rule 5: For years use B.C. & A.D.
Ex: 724 B.C. 1999 A.D.
Rule 6: Abbreviate days and months
ONLY in charts and lists.
Oct., Nov., Mon., Tue.,
Using Abbreviations
Rule 7: On ENVELOPES, abbreviate words such
as street (St.), avenue (Ave.), road (Rd.),
boulevard (Blvd.), court (Ct.), drive (Dr.), and
circle (Cir.).
Ex: 722 Elm St. 1578 Rainbow Dr.
Rule 8: On ENVELOPES, use the U.S. Postal
Service two-letter abbreviations for state names.
NO PERIODS BETWEEN THE LETTERS!!!
KY-Kentucky, CA-California
Writing Numbers
Rule 1: Spell out numbers that you can write in
one or two words.
Ex: twenty-five fifteen
Rule 2: Use numerals for numbers of more than
two words.
Ex: The coach traveled 392 miles.
Rule 3: Spell out any number that begins with a
sentence, or reword the sentence so it doesn’t
begin with a number.
Ex: Three thousand one hundred coaches existed in
England in 1836.
Writing Numbers
Rule 4: Write a very large number as a numeral
followed by the word million or billion.
Ex: 23 million
Rule 5: If related numbers appear in the same
sentence, use all numerals.
Ex: For a trip of 390 miles, drivers changed horses
every 20 miles.
Rule 6 Spell out ordinal numbers (such as first or
second).
Ex: First, we went to the movies; second we went
to eat.
Writing Numbers
Rule 7: Use words to express time (unless it is
exact time).
Ex: The play will begin at 6 o’clock.
Rule 8: Use numerals to express dates, house &
street numbers, apartment or room numbers,
telephone numbers, page numbers, amounts of
money that’s more than two words, and
percentages-write out the word percent.
Ex: The book was one dollar and twenty-five cents.
Ex: 40 percent
