Chapter 7. Punctuation and Mechanics

Capital letters begin sentences, proper nouns, days and months, titles before names (Dr. Adams), and the pronoun I.

Full stop (period), question mark, exclamation mark end sentences. Use exclamation marks sparingly in formal writing.

Comma. Main uses [8][9][11]:

Between items in a list (red, green, and blue). Use of the final “Oxford” comma varies by style guide.

After an introductory element (However, we left early.).

Before a coordinating conjunction joining two independent clauses.

Around non-essential (non-restrictive) information (My brother, who lives in London, is a doctor.).

Between coordinate adjectives (a long, difficult journey).

Semicolon. Joins closely related independent clauses (It was late; we went home.) and separates items in complex lists.

Colon. Introduces a list, explanation or quotation after a complete clause (You need three things: patience, practice and time.).

Apostrophe. Shows possession (the student’s book, the students’ books) and contractions (don’t, it’s = it is). Its (no apostrophe) is possessive. Do not use apostrophes for ordinary plurals.

Hyphen and dashes. A hyphen joins compound modifiers before nouns (a well-known author) and some prefixes; an en dash shows ranges (1990–2000); an em dash sets off an interruption or emphasis.

Quotation marks enclose direct speech and short quotations. Conventions differ between British (single marks first) and American (double marks first) usage; be consistent [17][18].

Parentheses and brackets. Parentheses add extra information; square brackets mark additions within quotations.

Abbreviations and numbers. Spell out numbers under ten in much general writing, but follow the style guide in use.

Review: Punctuate: “my sister who lives in Canada is visiting us in june.” (Answer: “My sister, who lives in Canada, is visiting us in June.”)