Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
• For example: Which of these do you think was the writer’s real intention?
- My interests include cooking animals and swimming.
- My interests include cooking, animals and swimming.
The Basics Signs of
Punctuation
the comma ,
the full stop .
the exclamation mark !
the question mark ?
the semi-colon ;
the colon :
quotation marks
apostrophe ‘ “”
The Comma
• Commas usually indicate a brief pause; they are not as final as periods, but sometimes it
is useful when the writer wishes to: pause before proceeding, add a phrase that does not
contain any subject, separate ítems on a list, use more than one adjective, etc.
• For example, in the following sentence the clause between the commas give us more
information behind the actions of the boy (subject):
• The boy, who knew his mother was about to arrive, ran quickly towards the opening door.
• (if we remove the phrase between commas, the sentence would still make sense although
there would be a loss of information)
The comma
- He hit the ball, dropped the bat, and ran to first base.
When the last comma in a series comes before and or or (after “ran to first base” in the above example), it is
known as oxford comma. In many cases people think it is unnecessary; however, the omission of the oxford
comma can sometimes lead to misunderstandings.
The comma
Use a comma to separate two adjectives when the order of the adjectives is
interchangeable, for example:
Another way to determine if a comma is needed is to mentally put and between the two
adjectives. If the result still makes sense, add the comma. In the examples above, a
strong and healthy man makes sense, but an expensive and summer resort does not.
The Full Stop
A full stop should always be used to end a sentence. The full stop indicates that a point
has been made and that you are about to move on to further explanations or a related
point.
Example: - The boy was happy… at the start of his summer holiday.”
A single full stop may also be used to indicate the abbreviation of commonly used words as in the
following examples:
•Telephone Number = Tel. No.
•September = Sept.
•Pages = pp.
The Semicolon
A colon means "that is to say" or "here's what I mean." Colons and semicolons should never be used
interchangeably. A colon precedes an explanation or an enumeration, or list. It is also used with ratios,
titles and subtitles of books, city and publisher in bibliographies.
The colon is a stop and a curtain-raiser. It points toward something that follows. It says: “There is
something missing in this sentence and here it comes.” It is mainly used for two purposes: to introduce
direct quotations (as in the previous sentence) and to introduce listings of two or more things (as this
one).
Exercises
1. Some people work best in the mornings others do better in the evenings
2. Mr. Creadys ability to say the wrong thing at the wrong time is I believe amazing
8. In the words of Murphys Law Anything that can go wrong will go wrong
Answers
1. Some people work best in the mornings; others do better in the evenings.
2. Mr. Cready's ability to say the wrong thing at the wrong time is, I believe, amazing.
3. Mother had to go into hospital: she had heart problems.
4. Did you understand why I was upset?
5. It is a fine idea; let us hope that it is going to work.
6. A textbook can be a ‘wall’ between teacher and class.
7. The girl’s father sat in a corner.
8. In the words of Murphy’s Law: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong”.
Extra practice
http://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/exercises/grammar/grammar_tutorial/page_55.htm
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/exercises/3/
http://www.timeforkids.com/homework-helper/grammar-wizard/punctuation-practice
http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/puncsum.html
http://www.k12reader.com/subject/grammar/punctuation/