MASTERING AMERICAN ENGLISH – Hayden, Pilgrim and Haggard

Punctuation

Capitalization

1. Every English sentence begins with a capital letter.

Example: Don’t forget. This is important.
2. We always capitalize the first person singular subject pronoun “I”.
ex. Therefore, “I” won’t capitalize unless “I” have to.
3. Capitalize proper names.
“…they say Bill can’t see the Mississippi river from the top of the
Empire State Building. But, generally, you can see Columbia
University. New York has many things but you can’t see the Monroe
Doctrine in the United Nations buildings.”
4. Names of languages and adjectives of nationality are capitalized.
“… the Thai girl and the Chinese boy make a good couple. They both
speak Spanish.”
5. Official titles of college and university courses.
“Although Biology courses are fun, I am only taking Biology 234”
6. Names of days, months, holidays are capitalized.
“This year new year’s day was on Friday (January 1).”
7. Names of the seasons are not capitalized.
“Some people prefer spring, others prefer fall.”
8. Directions are only capitalized when they refer to sections of the
country.
“My friend wants to know where the west begins. He was told to go
West and find out.”
9. Names of religions and dieties are capitalized.
“The differences between Jesus Christ and Vishnu, and Christianity
and Hinduism are discussed in theology 120.”
10. Prepositions, articles, conjunctions, and auxiliary verbs are not
capitalized, unless they begin a title.
“Did you read ‘Life on the Mississippi’?” “Who wrote the article
‘Where do we go from here?’.”
 11. Professional titles are capitalized when used with a person’s name.
“I went to the clinic but Dr. Jones wasn’t there.”

The Period (.)

1. A period is used at the end of statements and commands or

requests.
“The ball broke the window.”
“Please close the door.”
2. A period is used after initials or abbreviations.
“Mr. J. P. Morgan arrived at 10:00 pm this morning”

The Question Mark (?)

A question mark is used at the end of all direct questions.

“What time is it?” “Is this easy?” “He asked who was there?”

The Exclamation Point (!)

An exclamation point is used after words, expressions, or sentences

to show strong feeling or emotion or to call emphatic attention to
the sentence.

“Help!” “Save me!” “Watch out!” “She said to stand up!”

The Comma (,)

1. A comma is used between two main clauses joined by and, but, or,
nor, or for, particularly when the clauses are long.
“Michigan advanced to the finals, but Providence was eliminated
earlier.”
2. When a clause that functions as a modifier preceeds the main
clause it is usually followed by a comma.
 “Although the snow was deep, we went to the school.”
“Mr Smith’s TV set worked better, after he fixed the aerial.”
3. Clauses that modify nouns are set off by commas when they are not
absolutely necessary for the clarification or the identification of the
noun modified.
“Mr. Smith, who is president of the XYZ Corporation, gave the
commencement address.”
“The boy, who watched the TV program, went to bed late.”
4. An appositive is set off by commas when it merely adds information
about the noun that precedes it.
“John, an apprentice plumber, fixed a leaky faucet.”
“My friend, Tom, went to school early.”
5. Side remarks such as indeed, by the way, I think, incidentally are
usually set off by commas.
“Incidentally, your girlfriend called an hour ago.”
“Melva has ten boyfriends, I think.”
6. Introductory yes, no, well, or similar introductory words.
“Yes, I think that we should do our homework.”
7. Names in direct address are off by commas.
“David, where did you leave the bicycle?”
8. A direct quotation is set off by commas.
“Jean said, ‘I talked to Carrie today’.”
“‘Here comes the ball’, Frank called.”
“‘When the bus stops’, he said, ‘get off’.”
9. Commas are used to separate items in a date.
“She went to Europe on April 1, 1953 to see her family.”
10.A comma separates the name of the city from the county and state,
and the state from the county.
“He lived in Ann arbor, Washtenaw County, Michigan for ten years.
11.Commas are placed between words, phrases, or clauses in a series.
“Ted found a pencil, a penny, a notebook and a paper clip.”
“We emptied the wastebasket, swept the floor, dusted the furniture
and put everything in place before the guests arrived.”
The Semicolon (;)

1. A semicolon is placed before the following conjunctive adverbs

when they join two main clauses: furthermore, moreover, still,
besides, however, nevertheless, otherwise, therefore, thus,
consequently, then. Notice that a comma often follows the
conjunctive adverb.
“The storm arrived at 3:00; therefore, the game was postponed.”
2. A semicolon is sometimes used to join two or more closely related
main clauses.
“The storm was coming; the chickens went into the hen house; the
cows went into the shed.”

The Colon (:)

1. The colon formally introduces a word list or a sentence. Usually, as

follows or the following precedes the list.
“The following are conjunctive adverbs: thus, moreover and still.”
2. A colon is used after the greeting on a business letter.
“Dear Mr. Soto:” “Gentlemen:” “Dear Sir:”
3. A colon is used in the numbers telling time.
“Class begins at 9:10.” “Did you talk to Mr. Dakin at 8:30?”

Quotation Marks (“…”)

1. The direct words of a speaker are put in quotation marks.

“I like to do my homework, Julio said.”
“’Do you ever come to class on time?’ Mr. Halladay asked.”
“Yvonne said: ‘but I like to powder my nose.’”
2. If a quotation is interrupted, an extra set of quotation marks is used.
“When the doctor arrives”, he said comfortingly, “everything will be
all right.”
3. Titles of poems, short musical compositions, stories, and articles are
put in quotation marks.
“Clement Moore wrote ‘The night before Christmas’.”
 “’The Star Spangled Banner’ is our national anthem.”
4. When there is a quotation within a quotation, the outside quotation
will be indicated by double quotation marks; the inside one by
single quotation marks.
“He said ‘I started reading little boy blue, but I never finished it’.”
“The student asked: ‘May we read the article: was West Indian
emancipation a success? in class?’.”
5. When a quotation consists of two or more paragraphs, quotation
marks are placed at the beginning of each paragraph and at the end
of the last one.
Many students are interested in the nineteenth amendment of the
Constitution, which reads as follows:
“The right of citizens to vote shall not be denied, or abridged
by the United States, or by any state on account of sex.
“Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.”

Generalizations

1. Outside the comma and period.

“’Come in’ the teacher said.”
“The band played ‘Auld Lang Sine’, but many got bored.”
2. Inside the semicolon (and colon).
“The patriotic man sang ‘The Star Spangled Banner’; however, he
forgot to remove his hat.” “The boy said: ‘Present’ all day.”
3. Outside the question mark and the exclamation point if quoted.
“‘Did betty go home?’ Jim asked.” “The swimmer shouted: ‘help
me!’.”
4. Inside the question mark or the exclamation point if not quoted.
“Shall we sing ‘My Old Kentucky Home’?”
“How beautiful! Madame Tebaldi sang ‘Vissi d’Arte’.”
Underlining

1. Titles of magazines, newspapers, and books are underlined in

handwriting and typewriting.
“We read Time and The Ann Arbor News.”
“Mark Twain wrote ‘Life on the Mississippi’”
2. Foreign phrases and words emphasized are underlined.
“I said Detroit not Chicago.” “He says salaam to his friends.”

The Apostrophe (‘)

1. An apostrophe is used in contractions to show omission of letters.

“He can’t read.” “She’d have come if she’d had a ride.”
2. To show possessive of singular nouns and plural nouns not ending in
s. Also, to form the plurals of numbers and letters.
“Betty’s father is tall.” “Men’s hats have wide brims.”
“Mary forgot two s’s in Mis_is_ippi. “The gambler rolled two 6’s.”
3. After the s or es in plurals.
“Boys’ games are rough.” “Ladies’ hats are funny.”
4. With the indefinite pronouns one, other, somebody, nobody, etc.
“Someone’s coat is red.” “Is this anyone’s book?”

Parentheses (())

Parentheses may be used to enclose remarks, comments, explanations,

and so forth that interrupt the main thought.

“We bought a bed (they said that George Washington slept in it) at
the Treasure Mart.”
Brackets ([])

Brackets are used to indicate comment or question added to quoted

material by someone other than the author.

“He [Washington] became president in 1788. “

Triple Dots (…)

Triple dots are used to indicate omission from quoted material.

In discussing the school and the individual, Theodore Greene says

that:“…the school, if it is itself enlightened and mature, will strenuously
resist the common belief that school is merely a prelude to life…“

The Dash (-)

1. A dash is used to indicate an interruption in the expression of an

idea or to five an afterthought.
“If this is accepted - and how can it be denied - then there can be no
meaning to absolute civil liberties or academic freedom” George R.
Geiger.
2. A dash is sometimes used in place of a comma to indicate special
emphasis.
“This book is a review of various aspects of English - structure word
order, verbs, articles and so forth.”