Punctuation Notes for Your Writer’s

Notebook

Dialogue (Ntbk p. 165)1. Use quotation marks to enclose a direct quotation-a person's

exact words.

2. Use a speech tag to show who is speaking. ex: said Diego

3. Start each quotation with a capital letter.

4. A direct quotation is set off from the rest of the sentence by a comma, a question mark, or an exclamation point, but NOT by a period.

Molly said, "That's funny." "That's funny," Molly said."That's funny!" Molly yelled."That's funny?" Molly asked.

Dialogue pt 2(Ntbk p. 164)5. When a quoted sentence is divided into two parts by a

speech tag, the second part of the quotation begins with a small letter.

ex. "Yes," said Bo, "that is correct."

6. Put end marks inside of quotations.

ex. "I'm back!" Wally yelled.

7. Start a new paragraph each time a different person talks.

Capitals (Ntbk p. 163)

1. Use capitals to begin a sentence. Every state has a capital.

2. Use capitals for proper nouns that name a particular person, place, or thing.

Chase UtleyPhiladelphiaSubway Surfer

Commas in a series of items (Ntbk p. 162)

1. Use commas after each item to separate three or more items.Correct: Judy’s hat was torn, tattered,

battered, and bashed.

2. Don’t use commas to separate only two items.Correct: Woovis’s offer was kind and generous.

Commas in dates and places: (Ntbk p. 161)

1. Set off the year with commas. At the end of a sentence you need only one comma. In the middle of a sentence you need to use two commas.

Ex. Mr. Bryant was born on May 1, 1894.On May 1, 1894, Mr. Bryant was born.

2. Use the same pattern with places. Set off the state or country with commas.

Ex. Beckham was born in London, England.London, England, is where Beckham was born.

Commas: Other uses (Ntbk p.160)1. To separate two or more adjectives.

Tall, rangy pigs are hard to find.

2. To join clauses before the words for, but, and, or, nor, and yet.

I'm hungry, but I won't eat squid.

3. To set off phrases that begin or interrupt a sentence.After dinner, they all had seconds.Rowena, a pig, tells wonderful stories.

Apostrophes: to form contractions Ntbk p.159)

A contraction combines two words with an apostrophe.

The apostrophe is used to replace missing letters.

You're in trouble...(You are) NOT yourHaven't you heard....(Have not)I'm going to visit...(I am)They're in Florida...(They are)I'll be seeing...(I will)

Apostrophes: to form possessive nouns (Ntbk. P. 158)

A possessive shows ownership.Singular:

ADD apostrophe AND s Plural:

if ends in "-s" ADD just 'if doesn't end in "-s" ADD 's

Singular: Plural:one bear's friend two bears' friendone frog's balloon two frogs' balloonone bus's tire two buses' tiresone child's money two children's money

Apostrophes: to form possessives pronouns (p.157)

Possessive nouns take an apostrophe.

Possessive pronouns do not use an apostrophe.

Possessive pronouns:

my foot=mine her pen=hers

your hat=yours its size=its

Apostrophes: Sound-alikes (Ntbk p. 156)One use of apostrophes is to show the difference between

words that sound alike with the same or similar spellings, but with different meanings.

it's (it is, it has) its (belongs to it)you're (you are) your (belongs to you)they're (they are) their (belongs to them)

there (in that place)there's (there is) theirs (belongs to

them)let's (let us) lets (allows)