Comma and Punctuation Review

Exercises

The Comma

1. To separate the elements in a list of three or more items.

The potion included gobstoppers, chewing gum, bran flakes and coleslaw.

His favourite puddings were ice apple pie, rhubarb crumble, and jelly and ice cream.

I dedicate this work to my parents, Marie Smith and God.

The Comma

2. Before certain conjunctions.

She was a fantastic cook, but would never be

as good as her mother in law.

He hated his neighbours, so he never invited

them round.

We all had to move to higher ground

because the floodwaters were rising quickly.

The Comma

She really didn't feel hungry because she

had already eaten a hearty lunch.

I knew she would not be hungry, because

my sister works in a restaurant and had

seen her eating a huge meal earlier in the

day.

The Comma

3. To separate introductory elements in a sentence.

Given the appalling weather conditions, Michael was lucky to survive the storm.

As the night drew to a close, the clubbers wandered home.

Having mastered the use of the colon, it is important to make it work for you in your writing.

The Comma

Shortly we will be leaving for the port.

After his nap Sam felt a lot better.

After a deliciously long nap in his

hammock, Sam felt a lot better.

The Comma

Inside the house was a total mess.

Inside, the house was a total mess.

Until the summer lectures will take place in the main building

Until the summer, lectures will take place in the main building.

The Comma

Sadly, the whole building was beginning to crumble.

On the other hand, the new extension looked fantastic.

His wife Jill was a high flyer in the city.

Jill, his wife, was a high flyer in the city.

The Comma

4. To separate parenthetical elements in a

sentence.

Sarah, the most intelligent pupil in the

class, was always late for school.

The pyramids, one of the wonders of the

ancient world, lie just outside Cairo.

The Comma

5. To separate direct speech or quoted elements from the rest of the sentence.

"That house there," he whispered, "is where I grew up."

"Give me the money," he snarled, "unless you want to meet your maker.„

"Give me the money!" he snarled.

The Comma

"That cake looks delicious," she said.

"Where can I get the recipe?"

"That cake looks delicious," she said,

"Where can I get the recipe?"

The Comma

6. Commas are used to separate elements in a sentence that express contrast.

He was first attracted by her money, not her stunning looks.

She is intelligent, not pretty.

He thought the building was enormous, but ugly.

The Comma

7. Commas are used for typographical

reasons to separate dates and years,

towns and counties etc.

His home was in Streatham, East London.

My father was born on March 13, 1949.

The Comma

8. Commas are used to separate several

adjectives.

The old, ramshackle, dilapidated house had a

charm of its own.

That rather dull-looking, badly-dressed, clumsy

man is actually a university professor.

The little old house was in a beautiful wood.

Comma Usage

Add comma where necessary.

After a hard day at the office I like to relax with a large gin.

The recipe needed jam flour sugar fruit eggsketchup and baking powder.

"Look at this" he whispered.

Paulina his wife of many years had decidedto go and live in Greece.

As the sun began to sink over the sea Karengot ready to go out.

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Comma Usage

She was intelligent not especially practical.

The thief was wearing impractical high

heels so she could not run fast.

We go to Blackpool for the cuisine not

the weather.

"I advise you" said the teacher "not to

cross me again today."

Steven his head still spinning walked out

of the office for the last time.

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Punctutation Review

Put an end punctuation mark and capitalizethe first letter.

it was a bright cold day in April, and theclocks were striking thirteen WinstonSmith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slippedquickly through the glass doors ofVictoryMansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust fromentering along with him

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Punctuation Review

the hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and

old rag mats at one end of it a coloured

poster, too large for indoor display, had

been tacked to the wall it depicted simply

an enormous face, more than a metre

wide: the face of a man of about forty-five,

with a heavy black moustache and

ruggedly handsome features

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Punctuation Review

Winston made for the stairs it was no use

trying the lift even at the best of times it

was seldom working, and at present the

electric current was cut off during

daylight hours it was part of the economy

drive in preparation for Hate Week

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Punctuation Review

the flat was seven flights up, and Winston,

who was thirty-nine and had a varicose ulcer

above his right ankle, went slowly, resting

several times on the way on each landing,

opposite the lift-shaft, the poster with the

enormous face gazed from the wall it was

one of those pictures which are so contrived

that the eyes follow you about when you

move BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU,

the caption beneath it ran

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Comma & Semicolon

Place a comma or semicolon between brackets.

Pasta[] a large family of shaped[] dried wheatpastes[] is a basic staple in many countries. Itsorigins are obscure. Rice pastes were known veryearly in China[] pastes made of wheat were usedin India and Arabia long before they wereintroduced into Europe in the 11th or 12th century. According to legend[] Marco Polo brought a pasta recipe with him from Asia in 1295. Pasta quickly became a major element in the Italian diet[] and its use spread throughoutEurope.

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Comma & Semicolon

Pasta is made from durum wheat flour[] which makes a strong[] elastic dough. Harddurum wheat has the highest wheat proteinvalue. The flour is mixed with water[] kneaded to form a thick paste[] and thenforced through perforated plates or dies thatshape it into one of more than 100 differentforms. The macaroni die is a hollow tube with a steel pin in its center[] the spaghettidie lacks the steel pin and produces a solidcylinder of paste.

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Comma & Semicolon

Ribbon pasta is made by forcing the paste through thin slits in a die[] shells and othercurved shapes are produced with more intricate dies. The shaped dough is driedcarefully to reduce the moisture content toabout 12 percent[] and properly dried pasta should remain edible almost indefinitely. Pastas can be colored with spinach or beetjuice. The addition of egg produces a richer[] yellower pasta that is usually made in noodleform and is often sold undried.

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Comma Usage

In the following paragraph, insert commas wherever you think they belong.

Frederick Douglass

The son of a white man and a black slave Frederick Douglass spent his early years in slavery but escaped in 1838 and became a leading orator journalist and abolitionist. One stormy night Douglass was traveling from New York to Boston by boat. Because his African-American ancestry disqualified him from occupying a cabin or any of the public rooms he was obliged to curl up in a corner of the deck to sleep. An officer came across him there and took pity on him. Knowing that he could find Douglass a stateroom if he could pass him off as an American Indian the officer approached him with the words "You're an Indian aren't you?" Douglass immediately grasped the significance of the question. Looking the officer straight in the eyes he replied "No sir I'm a nigger" and curled up in his corner again.

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Comma UsageThe Least Successful Car

In 1957 Ford produced the car of the decade--the Edsel. Half of the models sold proved to be spectacularly defective. If lucky the proud owner of an Edsel could enjoy any or all of the following features: doors that wouldn't close hoods and trunks that wouldn't open batteries that went dead horns that stuck hubcaps that dropped off paint that peeled transmissions that seized up brakes that failed and push buttons that couldn't be pushed even with three people trying. In a stroke of marketing genius the Edsel one of the largest and most lavish cars ever built coincided with rising public interest in economy cars. As Time magazine reported "It was a classic case of the wrong car for the wrong market at the wrong time." Never popular to begin with the Edselquickly became a national joke. One business writer at the time likened the car's sales graph to an extremely dangerous ski slope. He added that so far as he knew there was only one case of an Edsel ever being stolen.

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Colon

Colon – adds extra information after a clause:

A colon can introduce a list◦ We need three kinds of support: economic, moral, and political.

A colon can be used before an explanation◦ We decided not to go on holiday: we had too little money.

A colon is used before a quotation◦ Whitehead had this to say about writing style: "Style is the

ultimate morality of mind.“

Greeting in a business letter.◦ Dear Senator Dodd:

A colon can be used between the main title and the sub-title of a book.◦ The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion.

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Colon - practice

Put a colon or check if it is used correctly. In that case somerewriting may be required.

The Endangered Species Act contains a potential problem for private property owners, the government refuses to compensate them for the inconveniences imposed.

Images of stylish men appear: in magazines, on television commercials, and on billboard advertisements.

She had received only one reply to my letter: although I had written to my friend several times.

"The Awakening, Kate Chopin's Exploration of Love and Seduction" is an informative article.

While working out, she discovered an amazing fact. She was now able to bench-press ten pounds more than the week before.

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Punctuation Review

Put any necessary appropriate punctuation marks.

When a friend dies part of yourself dies too.

We took photographs of the patron saint of nail-biters theVenus de Milo.

Picture this a Neanderthal man deep in the forestgorges on the yummies of his time fruits berriesanything sweet and pluckable.

Last week we read The Catbird Seat a short storyby James Thurber.

Our three children Larry Curly and Moe havedecided to enter show business.

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Punctuation Review When in doubt mumble when in trouble delegate.

An Americans devotion to McDonald's rests in part on uniformities associated with allMcDonald's restaurants setting architecture foodambience acts and utterances.

Some players hit the ball and stand dejectedwaiting for it to land others turn away and leave itto the caddy.

Dynamite was lavishly used and many of San Franciscos proudest structures were crumbled by man himself into ruins but there was no withstanding the onrush of the flames.

Lila who lives in a trailer with a parakeet and some scrappy dogs and cats has been the townfire warden for almost 30 years.

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Punctuation Review The woman is wearing golden stretch pants green

eyelids and a hiveshaped head of hair that looksboth in color and texture exactly like 25-cents worth of cotton candy.

Hurling which has been the national sport ofIreland since legendary times is to American eyeslike a soccer game played at ice-hockey speed.

While on maneuvers in South Carolina BillyPilgrim played hymns he knew from childhood.

Guiding the ball through the upper chutes down a runover lane off the slingshot bumpers to theflippers I cradled it there bouncing it back and forth until I had a perfect shot through the lightedspinner.

The train its metal wheels squealing as they spinalong the silver tracks rolls more slowly now. 30

Semicolon

Semicolon – invented by Aldus Manutius (italic typeface, modern punctuation)

To sort out a monster list.

◦ We had four professors on our committee: Peter Wursthorn, Professor of Mathematics; Ronald Pepin, Professor of English; Cynthia Greenblatt, Professor of Education; and Nada Light, Professor of Nursing.

To separate closely related independent clauses.

◦ My grandmother seldom goes to bed this early; she's afraid she'll miss out on something.

Between main clauses linked by a conjunctive adverb (however, moreover, therefore, consequently, otherwise, nevertheless, thus, etc.) or transitional expression (in fact or for example).

◦ I am going home; moreover, I intend to stay there.

◦ "Words rarely express the true meaning; in fact they tend to hide it."

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Semicolon

In a list of items you can either : 1. use a comma between each item and a linking word

between the last two items (e.g. and, or)

2. put a colon (:) before the list starts and a semicolon (;) between each item. You do not have a linking word between the last two items.

◦ In the 1960s most university students: were aged 18-21; were on full-time courses; went to a university away from their home town; had a grant on which they survived during term time.

◦ In the 1960s most university students were aged 18-21, were on full-time courses, went to a university away from their home town, and had a grant on which they survived during term time.

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Semicolon Usage

Determine if a semicolon is necessary

1. He wanted to take a walk, so we drove to Niagara Falls and walked around the park.

2. She did the laundry she used the last of the laundry detergent.

3. They both went swimming while they were on vacation in Mexico.

4. They finished digging in the garden and planting flowers they admired their work.

5. To build the fence around the garden, they needed to dig trenches close to seven feet deep.

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Semicolon Usage

6. The garden contained vegetables they will harvest them in fall.

7. Their house and garden are extremely important to them that's why they take care of their property so well.

8. When planting impatiens, it's important to plant some in the sun and some in the shade because it's hard to tell how much of each they need.

9. All of the garden tools are kept in the garage they are cleaned every spring.

10. My favorite flower is forget-me-nots even though some people consider it a weed.

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Dash

Dash – serves to set off parenthetical elements that contain internal forms of punctuation. It is generally confined to cases where there is a sudden break from the general run of the passage. Of all the punctuation marks it is the most misused.

◦ All four of them—Bob, Jeffrey, Jason, and Brett—did well in college.

Modern word processors provide for two kinds of dashes: the regular dash or em dash (which is the same width as the letter "M," — ) and the en dash (which is about half the width, the same as the letter "N," – ).

en dash: Ctrl+Num- or Alt 0150

1. chronological range (1961–1963)

2. indexing scheme (table 13–C)

3. join compound modifiers (the New York–New Jersey border)

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Dash

em dash: Ctrl+Alt+Num- or Alt 0151

sparingly used in formal style

1. shows a break in a dialog ("How many times have I asked you not to —" Jasion suddenly stopped talking and looked out the window.) or abrupt change in thoughts (I wish you would—oh, never mind. )

2. Other examples:

◦ I pay the bills—she has all the fun. (A semicolon would be used here in formal writing)

◦ I need three items at the store—dog food, vegetarian chili, and cheddar cheese. (a colon would be used here in formal writing)

◦ My agreement with Fiona is clear—she teaches me French and I teach her German. (a colon would work here in formal writing)

◦ Please call my agent—Jessica Cohen—about hiring me. (parenthesesor commas would work just fine here instead of the dashes)

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Comma, Colon, Semicolon & Dash

Choose an appropriate punctuation mark

and create your own sentence following

the model.

1. The days were hot and dry the nights

were extremely cold.

2. We have visited New York City several

times however we have never seen the

Statue of Liberty.

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Comma, Colon, Semicolon & Dash

3. I divide all readers into two classes

those who read to remember and those

who read to forget.

4. Danny could play the one musical

instrument that no one wanted to listen

to the bagpipes.

5. Our three children Moe Larry and Curly

have decided to enter show business.

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Semicolon, Colon & Dash

Levin wanted friendship and got friendliness he wanted steak and they offered Spam.

Your essay is both good and original however, the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good.

There are three choices in this life be good, get good, or give up.

The fortune teller reminded us that there is only one thing we can count on for sure total uncertainty.

Our labors in life learning, earning, and yearning are also our reasons for living.

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Question Mark

It is used at the end of a direct question.

◦ How did you enjoy our yesterday’s performance?

Tag question

◦ He finished on time, didn’t he?

Be careful not to use it in an indirect

question.

◦ The instructor asked the students what they were

doing.

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Hyphen

Hyphen – can be used to hyphen broken words at the right-hand end of our lines. However, certain manuals insist that you not break words at line-endings in any case.

Other uses of a hyphen are:

compound words (six-year-old daughter)

numbers and fractions (twenty-one, one-fourth)

adding certain prefixes: When it comes before a capitalized word or the prefix itself is capitalized (non-English, I-formation); the prefixes self-, all-, and ex- almost always require a hyphen (ex-husband, all-inclusive, self-control); when the prefix end the same letter that begins the word, you will often use a hyphen (anti-intellectual) but not always (cooperate, unnatural)

In a series of identical compounds (Both full- and part-time employees will get raises this year.)

Do not use space before or after a hyphen.

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Slash & Ellipsis

Slash/Slant/Solidus/Virgule – is used to indicate of a choice between the words it separates

◦ Using the pass/fail option backfired on her; she could've gotten an A.

◦ he/she

There is no space; however, we must put a space when we quote a poem because a slash identifies lines.

◦ "The woods are lovely, dark, and deep / but I have promises to keep."

Ellipsis – is a very handy device when you quote, but you want to omit a part of it

◦ "Bohr […] used the analogy of parallel stairways […]" (Smith 55).

There are manuals which recommend using square brackets around the ellipsis, however, some do not.

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Parentheses & Brackets Parentheses – between parentheses we place material that we want to de-emphasize,

but we still want to include it

◦ Thirty-five years after his death, Robert Frost (do you remember him?) remains America's favorite poet.

Brackets

You can use them to include explanatory words or phrases within quoted language.

◦ Lew Perkins, the Director of Athletic Programs, said that Pumita Espinoza, the new soccer coach [at Notre Dame Academy] is going to be a real winner.

To enclose [sic] showing misspelled or inappropriately used word.

◦ Reporters found three mispelings [sic] in the report.

If you have italicized or underlined words within quoted language that was not italicized or underlined in the original, you can note that change in brackets included within the sentence or paragraph.

◦ It was the atmosphere of the gym that thrilled Jacobs, not the eight championship banners hanging from the beams [italics added].

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