Punctuation Marks - Proper Usage Guide

Capitalization Rules

In a sentence, the first letter will always start with a capital letter. Example:

Betty will go to the store. When she gets there she will buy bread. It will cost her $1.25. At the register, she will buy it. The grocer will wrap the bread in a sack. Betty can then take it home and eat it.

A proper noun always starts with a capital letter. It does not matter where in the sentence the proper noun is located. Example:

On a dark hill, Sam went to sleep. He was awakened by a bear named Bill. Sam and Bill went to play on Mount Olives while having a picnic. They dined on Sharpie's Port Cheese and Sindaco's Wheat Crackers.

Note, pronouns such as he, she, they are not capitalized unless they start the sentence. Example:

He went to the dock where he found her purse.

Exercise

1. Make a sentence using a proper noun in the middle of the sentence.
2. Make a sentence using a proper noun at the beginning of the sentence.
3. Make a paragraph using at least 5 sentences and capitalize the first letter in each sentence.

Spacing With Punctuation

When you are writing by hand or using a typewriter, you need to signify one space between words and punctuation marks, except for the period which requires two spaces. On a computer, only one space is needed between all words and punctuations as it will automatically adjust after that where appropriate.

Exercise

1. On paper, write a paragraph with 5 sentences making sure to use proper spacing between words and punctuation marks.
2. On the computer, open a document file (Word Pad, Notepad, Lotus Word...) and write a paragraph with 5 sentences making sure to use proper spacing between words and punctuation marks.

Periods .

A period means you have come to the end of a sentence or a statement or an indirect question. It is also used to convey an abbreviation of a word. Examples:

• He will go to the store today.
• I did enjoy the show.
• He asked where did you see the cat.
• I will learn the difference between an adj. and an adv.

Periods are used in a sequence to define order such as in a list or an outline. Examples:

1. A loaf of bread
2. A container of milk
3. A stick of butter

Exercise

1. Create 10 sentences which are a statement or indirect question.
2. Write a list of 20 abbreviations.
3. Create a list of your favorite television shows, books, food, or movies.

Ellipsis Marks ...

Exercise

Commas ,

Exercise

Semicolons ;

Exercise

Colons :

Exercise

Question Marks ?

Exercise

Exclamation Points !

Exercise

Quotation Marks " "

Exercise

Apostrophes '

Exercise

Hyphens and Dashes -

Exercise

The Virgule /

The virgule has four specific uses in punctuation: to separate parts of the date, to divide or in measurements, to separate a word expression within a sentence and to separate lines of poetry.

• The 2006/07 Chicago Bulls basketball season
• George Washington was born 2/22/1732.
• My Lambourghini will go 195 miles/hour. (miles per hour)
• If you do not do your homework within an hour, I will send you to your room and/or ground you for a week.
• He read the poem, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost, out loud, and said, "Whose woods these are I think I know,/His house is in the village though,/ He will not see me stopping there,/ To see these woods fill up with snow."

The virgule has many applications in science, math, and in computers.

Exercise

Parentheses ( )

Are used in a similar way to commas when we want to add further explanation, an afterthought, or comment that is to do with our main line of thought but distinct from it.

Exercise

"Square" Brackets [ ]

Usually we use square brackets - [ ] - for special purposes such as in technical manuals.

Exercise

"Curly" Brackets or Braces { }

Are sometimes used in prose to indicate a series of equal choices: "Select your animal {goat, sheep, cow, horse} and follow me". They are used in specialized ways in poetry and music (to mark repeats or joined lines).

In Internet slang, the curly bracket is used to signify an embrace as in {{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}.

Exercise

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