Punctuation and Capitalization

A.

Punctuation

Punctuation is the set of marks used to regulate texts and clarify their meanings,
principally by separating or linking words, phrases, and clauses.
Marks of punctuation include:
1. The Period, Full Stop or Point ( . )
Mark the end of a sentence which is not a question or an exclamation.
e.g. Rome is the capital of Italy.
Indicate an abbreviation
e.g.
I will arrive between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m.
We are coming on Fri., Jan. 4.
Ellipsis
e.g. He is always late, but you know how I feel about that...
Period after a single word
e.g.
"Goodbye."
"Stop."

Periods in numbers (numbers use periods in English to separate the whole

number from the decimal.)
e.g.
10.43$ = ten dollars and 43 cents
14.17 = fourteen point one seven
2. The Comma ( , )
a) Separate phrases, words, or clauses in lists

A series of independant clauses (sentences)

e.g.

I met Harry, we went for a swim together, and afterwards Harry went home.
I like your son, I might even love him, but he is not a very good soccer

player.

A series of nouns, adjectives, verbs, or phrases

e.g.
For dinner I had soup, fish, chicken, dessert, and coffee.
She was young, beautiful, kind, and intelligent.
The car smashed into the wall, flipped onto its roof, slid along the road,
and finally stopped against a tree.
b) Enclosing details
e.g.
My friend, Jim, likes to go scuba diving.
c) Participial phrases
e.g.

Hearing that her father was in hospital, Jane left work immediately.

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d) Tag questions
e.g.
She lives in Paris, doesn't she?
e) Interjections
e.g. Yes, I will stay a little longer, thank you.
No, he isn't like other boys.
Wait, I didn't mean to scare you.
Note:
Putting a comma in the wrong place can lead to a sentence with a completely different
meaning, look at these two sentences:
-I detest liars like you; I believe that honesty is the best policy. = I detest you because
you are a liar.
-I detest liars, like you; I believe that honesty is the best policy. = You and I both
detest liars.
3. The Exclamation Mark (!)
The exclamation mark is used to express exasperation, astonishment, or surprise, or to
emphasise a comment or short, sharp phrase. In professional or everyday writing,
exclamation marks are used sparingly if at all.
e.g.

Help! Help!
That's unbelievable!
Get out!
Look out!
You can also use exclamation marks to mark a phrase as humourous, ironic or
sarcastic.
e.g.
What a lovely day! (when it obviously is not a lovely day)
That was clever! (when someone has done something stupid)
In very informal writing styles (SMS, chat, Twitter or Facebook, etc.), an exclamation
mark is sometimes combined with a question mark to indicate both surprise and slight
uncertainty. Double and triple exclamation marks are common in very informal
writing styles, but are a sign of being uneducated in less casual correspondance.
Examples of casual writing
He's getting married!?
That's insane!!!
4. The Question Mark (?)
Use the question mark at the end of all direct questions.
e.g.
What is your name?
Do you speak Italian?
You're spanish, aren't you?

Name
: Heri Gunawan II B Class
St. Number : 1404114688
Why is it that even though you are unkind to me, ignore me when I ask you for help,
and consistently forget to thank me when I do favors for you, you still claim to want
me to be your friend and appear surprised when I prefer to hang out with other
people?
5. The Colon ( : )
The colon expands on the sentence that precedes it, often introducing a list that
demonstrates or elaborates whatever was previously stated.
e.g.
There are many reasons for poor written communication: lack of planning, poor
grammar, misuse of punctuation marks, and insufficient vocabulary.
He collected a strange assortment of items: bird's eggs, stamps, bottle tops, string,
and buttons.
Peter had an eclectic taste in music: latin, jazz, country and western, pop, blues, and
classical.
He had just one fault: an enormous ego.
The colon is also used to divide the hour from the minutes in writing a time in
English.
e.g.
4:15 = "four fifteen"
6:45 = "six fourty-five"
6. The Semicolon ( ; )
The semicolon is somewhere between a full stop and a comma. Semicolons can be
used in English to join phrases and sentences that are thematically linked without
having to use a conjunction (example 1 below). Semicolons can also be used instead
of commas to separate the items in a list when the items themselves already contain
commas (example 2 below).
e.g.
I like your brother; he's a good friend.
Many great leaders, Churchill, leader of Britain during the Second World War;
Alexander, the great Emperor and general; and Napolean, the brilliant French general,
had strong characters, which were useful when their countries were at war but which
did not serve them well in times of peace.
7. Quotation Marks ( )
Use quotation marks to cite something someone said exactly.
e.g.
"I'm going to the store now," she said.
Harry told me, "Don't forget your soccer jersey."
Harry told me not to forget my soccer jersey.

If quoting others within a quote, both single and double quotation marks are
used to set the two separate quotations off from each other.
e.g.
'I haven't spoken to Peter for months,' Dianne said.'The last time I spoke to
him he said, "I'm going to Bahrain and won't be back for about three years", I've heard
nothing since then'.

You may see single or double quotation marks used to mark out idiomatic or
unfamiliar expressions

e.g.

I've always thought that he was very annoying, a bit of a 'pain in the neck.'
I'm not sure what you mean by "custodial care", but I'm sure you will explain
it to me.

Quotation marks both single and double are also used for specific purposes in
bibliographic references or when citing sources in academic writing. There are
a number of ways of organising bibliographies which set out standard formats.
Most organisations and academic institutions will prefer one of these or have
their own format published in a 'style guide'.

e.g. "The Migration Flight of the Lesser Tweazle", by Jeremey Adams, The Bird
Spotter Magazine, July 2009.
8. The Apostrophe ( )

The apostrophe in contractions

Type

Without contractions
Contractions
is not, has not, had not, did not, would
isn't, hasn't, hadn't, didn't, wouldn't,
Using "not"
not, can not
can't
she is, there is, he is, it is, Mary is, Jim is, she's, there's, he's, it's, Mary's, Jim's,
Using "is"
Germany is, who is
Germany's, who's
Using "am" I am
I'm
I will, you will, she will, we will, they
Using "will"
I'll, you'll, she'll, we'll, they'll
will
Using
I would, you would, he would, we would,
I'd, you'd, he'd, we'd, they'd
"would"
they would
Using
I have, you have, we have, they have
I've, you've, we've, they've
"have"
Using "are" you are, they are, we are
you're, they're, we're
The possessive apostrophe
e.g.
a doctor's patient
Mirianna's book
the children's room
the bus' wheel
Mr Jones's shop (or Mr Jones' shop)

9. Hyphens and Dashes

Hypens
Generally, hyphens are used to join two words or parts of words together while
avoiding confusion or ambiguity. E.g. run-down, up-to-date.
There are some cases where hyphens preserve written clarity such as where there
are letter collisions, where a prefix is added, or in family relations. Many words

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St. Number : 1404114688
that have been hyphenated in the past have since dropped the hyphen and become
a single word (email, nowadays). E.g. co-operate, bell-like, anti-nuclear, postcolonial, great-grandmother, son-in-law.
In some cases though, a hyphen does change the meaning of a sentence.
-

I am thinking of re-covering my sofa (= to put a new cover on it)

- I would like to recover my sofa. (= from someone who has borrowed or stolen
it)
Hyphens in numbers, e.g. fifty-one, eighty-nine, thirty-two, sixty-five, etc.
Hypens in denominator, e.g. one-third, three-tenths, nine-hundredths, sixty-nine
eighty-ninths, etc.
Use a hyphen when a number forms part of an adjectival compound
e.g.

France has a 35-hour working week.

He won the 100-metre sprint.

Charles Dickens was a great nineteenth-century novelist.

Dashes

Dashes can be used to add parenthetical statements or comments in much the

same way as you would use brackets. In formal writing you should use the bracket
rather than the dash as a dash is considered less formal. Dashes can be used to
create emphasis in a sentence.
e.g.

You may think she is a liar she isn't.

She might come to the party you never know.

10. Brackets and Parentheses

The difference between a 'bracket' and a 'parentheses' can be a bit confusing.
Generally, parentheses refers to round brackets () and brackets to square brackets [].
However, we are more and more used to hearing these refered to simply as 'round
brackets' or 'square brackets'.
Usually we use square brackets - [ ] - for special purposes such as in technical
manuals. Round brackets - ( ) -, or '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. Many grammarians feel that the
parentheses can, in fact, be replaced by commas in nearly all cases.
Examples:

The government's education report (April 2005) shows that the level of literacy is
rising in nearly all areas.
I visited Kathmandu (which was full of tourists) on my way to the Himalayas for a
trekking expedition.
You can eat almost anything while travelling in Asia if you are careful to observe
simple rules (avoiding unboiled or unbottled water is one of the main rules to be
aware of.)
11. Ampersand (&)
The symbol (&) representing the word and. In formal writing, the ampersand is
primarily used in the names of some companies, such as "Johnson & Johnson." The
term ampersand is an alteration of and per se and. The symbol is a combination (or
ligature) of the letters in et, Latin for "and.
12. Bullets
A mark of punctuation () commonly used in business writing and technical writing to
introduce items in a list (or series). As a general rule when creating lists, use bullet
points to identify items of equal importance; use numbers for items with different
degrees of value, listing the most important one first.
13. Asterisk
A star-shaped figure (*) primarily used to indicate an omission or call attention to a
footnote. In language studies, an asterisk is commonly placed in front of a
construction that is considered ungrammatical.
14. Slash ( / )
A forward sloping line (/) that serves as a mark of punctuation.
The slash (also called a forward slash or virgule) is commonly used to:
signify alternatives (and/or)
separate the parts of a fraction (2/3), date (1/1/2013), or Internet address
(http:// . . .)
mark line divisions in poetry quoted within running text

Sources:
www.edufind.com/english-grammar/punctuation/

http://grammar.about.com/od/pq/g/punctuationterm.htm

B.

Capitalization

Name
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St. Number : 1404114688
The basic guidelines for using capital letters in English appear simple enough:

I.

Capitalize the first word in a sentence.

Capitalize the pronoun I.
Capitalize proper nouns and most adjectives formed from proper nouns.

Guidelines for Using Capital Letters

1. Capitalize the first word in a sentence.

Your mother is in here with us, Karras. Would you like to leave a message?
2. Capitalize the pronoun I.
I'm sorry, but I don't want to be an emperor.
3. Capitalize the names and nicknames of particular persons and characters.
Elvis, Ginny Weasley, my sister Vicki, Florence Nightingale, Barack Obama, the
Simpson family, the Pritchetts, Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta.
4. Capitalize titles that come before the names of particular persons and characters.
Mayor Bloomberg, Doctor Sanjay Gupta, Professor Minerva McGonagall, Lady
Bracknell, Queen Elizabeth II, President Obama, Captain Jack Sparrow, Aunt Bee
Although the titles of business executives aren't usually capitalized (the chairman of
BP), in-house publications may choose to use capitals. In most cases, don't capitalize a
title that appears after a name (Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York City) or that
stands alone (a doctor, the mayor).
5. Capitalize the names of specific places (planets, countries, counties, cities, seas,
streets, and so on), both real and fictional.
Mars, Canberra, London, Monroe County, Yorkshire, the Midwest, Canada, the Ohio
River, Narnia, Rosecrans Avenue, Knighton Road, the village of Little Whinging,
Chicago's South Side, the English Midlands, the Twin Cities (for MinneapolisSaint
Paul)
Capitalize common nouns--such as road, river, and republic--only when they're part of
the full name of a place. Don't capitalize these common nouns when they stand alone in
follow-up references. Also, when two or more geographical names are linked in a single
expression, the usual practice is to put the generic part of the names in lower case: the
Atlantic and Pacific oceans. As a general rule, capitalize regions (the Eastern Shore, the
Left Bank, the West End), but don't capitalize compass points (north, southeast) if they
simply indicate direction or location. Don't capitalize sun and moon.
6. Capitalize the names of particular nationalities, languages, ethnic groups, and
religions.
Filipino people, African-American, a native Newfoundlander, the Welsh language,
Na'vi, Judaism, Buddhism, Quantum Presbyterians
Don't capitalize the names of academic subjects (algebra, art, history) unless they are
languages (English, Spanish, French) or part of a department name (Department of
Languages and Literature). As a general rule, don't capitalize the names of religious
services and rites (baptism, bar mitzvah).
7. Capitalize the names of deities and holy books.
God, Krishna, Allah, Jehovah, the Qur'an, the Bible
Also capitalize the names of books of the Bible: Genesis, Psalms.

8. Capitalize the names of particular businesses, buildings, schools, and

organizations.
Google, General Motors, Westminster Abbey, Trump World Tower, Beauxbatons
Academy of Magic, the Salvation Army, Oxfam International, the Girl Scouts, the
League of Women Voters
Likewise, capitalize the official names of rooms and offices: the Oval Office, the
Situation Room.
9. Capitalize the formal names of government units, agencies, and divisions.
White House, House of Representatives, House of Commons, Supreme Court,
Department of Education, Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
10. Capitalize the formal names of acts, treaties, and government programs.
Declaration of Independence, the Act of Union, the Marshall Plan, the Treaty of
Versailles
11. Capitalize the official titles of armies, navies, and other military and police units.
Army National Guard, the Royal Australian Air Force, the Armed Forces of the
Philippines, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
12. Capitalize the names of wars and major battles.
Second World War, Spanish Civil War, the Norman Conquest, the Gulf War
13. Capitalize the names of particular historical periods, events, and documents.
VE Day, the Great Depression, the Troubles (Northern Ireland), the Middle Ages,
Magna Carta, the Treaty of Versailles
However, names of events that occurred at different times in different places are
generally not capitalized: the recession, gold rush, secession movements.
14. Capitalize legally protected brand names and trademarks.
Xbox 360, Kit Kat, Coca Cola, Adidas, Range Rover, Kleenex, Cadbury Fingers
The obvious exceptions are trademarks that begin with a lowercase letter: eBay, iPhone,
iPad. Also, don't capitalize a brand name that has been transformed into a common noun
through popular usage: aspirin, thermos, escalator.
15. Capitalize the names of days, months, holidays, and special days of observation.
Wednesday, June, Christmas, Veterans Day (U.S.), Anzac Day (Australia and New
Zealand), Mother's Day, Boxing Day (Britain and Canada)
But don't capitalize the seasons: winter, spring, summer, fall (autumn).
16. Capitalize the principal words in the titles and subtitles of books, movies, plays,
magazines, journals, TV shows, video games, musical compositions, and pieces of art.
War and Peace, The Sixty-Second Motivator, Avatar, A Midsummer Night's Dream,
Entertainment Weekly, Journal of Organic Chemistry, Arrested Development, Grand
Theft Auto IV, Rhapsody in Blue, The Starry Night
If a title contains words joined by a hyphen, both words are usually capitalized. Articles,
conjunctions, and short prepositions are usually not capitalized unless they begin the
title.
17. Capitalize the names of awards, prizes, and scholarships.
Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, the Nobel Prizes, the Academy Award (and the
Oscar), National Merit Scholarship
18. Capitalize each letter in an acronym or initialism.
NATO, CNN, BBC, NAACP, TV, LA (or L.A.), FEMA, DVD, AWOL
For exceptions, check your favorite style guide or dictionary.

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St. Number : 1404114688

II.

Capitalization Rules for Titles

Capitalize the first, last and any important words in a title, which is known as Title Case or
Headline Style.
In Titles: Do Capitalize
Generally, these parts of speech are capitalized in titles.
Nouns (man, bus, book)
Adjectives (angry, lovely, small)
Verbs (run, eat, sleep)
Adverbs (slowly, quickly, quietly)
Pronouns (he, she, it)
Subordinating conjunctions (as, because, that)

In Titles: Do Not Capitalize

As you have probably noticed "short" words, those with less than five letters, are generally
lowercase in titles, unless they are the first or last words in a title.
Generally, we do not capitalize:
Articles: a, an, the
Coordinating Conjunctions: and, but, or, for, nor, etc.
Prepositions (fewer than five letters): on, at, to, from, by, etc.
When in doubt and you do not have a reference guide in front of you, here is one general rule
to remember recommended by The U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual:
"Capitalize all words in titles of publications and documents, except a, an, the, at, by, for, in,
of, on, to, up, and, as, but, it, or, and nor."

More Title Capitalization Rules

I. Sentence Case
Some writers and publications choose to use sentence case for titles. Basically the title is
written as if it is a sentence, with only the first letter capitalized (however, proper nouns
within the title are capitalized).
For example:

Budget wedding invitations

Top 10 things to do in Paris
Best technology blogs
II. Advanced Rules
Here are some advanced rules for title capitalization:
Hyphenated compound words (High-Quality Web Services, First-Rate U.S. Lawyers, ) and
open compounds (salad dressing, science fiction)
The first word following a colon (Feminine Poetry: Ten Women Writers from Around the
Word)
Prepositions that belong to a phrasal verb (How to Back Up a Computer)
Final Note
If you are writing titles (or headings) for a school paper, it is recommended to choose one
style for capitalizing titles and be consistent throughout.
Further, no matter your personal preference make sure that you write the exact titles of books,
newspapers, journals, etc. as they are written on the original document (even if they do not
follow common capitalization rules).
Sources:
http://grammar.about.com/od/punctuationandmechanics/a/Guidelines-For-Using-CapitalLetters.htm
http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/capitalization/rules-for-capitalization-in-titles.html