Transcript Why Punctuation Matters - Freshman English

compiled by Mr. Rose
Archbishop Moeller High School
 Don’t take commas for granted!
 They’re like yellow traffic lights.
 Comas have to do with dividing
sentences, giving meaning.
 Meaning and clarity is important.
Consider these two pairs of sentences:
Cora claimed Frank planned the murder.
Cora, claimed Frank, planned the murder.
Augie quit saying he was looking for another job.
Augie quit, saying he was looking for another job.
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1. Use commas between all items in a
series.
Example:
My favorite DiCaprio movies are Inception, Shutter Island, and The Departed.
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1 -a. Use commas in a list of adjectives
where and would be appropriate –
where the modifying words are all
modifying the same thing to the
same degree.
Use a comma:
It was a dark, stormy night. EQUALS The night was dark and stormy.
He was a tall, bearded man. EQUALS The man was tall and bearded.
Do NOT use a comma:
Watson dislikes smelly horse manure.
Australian red grapes are tastier than French red grapes.
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2. Use a comma when two complete
sentences are joined together using
such conjunctions, as and, but, for,
nor, or, so, yet.
Example:
I’ve read many books about the Civil War, yet I still can’t
understand why men would go to war with other men from
the same country.
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2. (cont.) Errors result in run-ons:
A.
Splice: Omitting the conjunction and
keeping the comma
B.
Run-on: Omitting the comma
Example:
A. It was the Queen’s birthday yesterday, she got a lot of presents.
B. Jim woke up in an unfamiliar bed and he felt lousy.
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3. Use a comma after an introductory
word or word group (dependent
clause).
Example:
If I were a rich man, I would donate a lot of my money to the poor.
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4. Use commas around appositives. An
appositive comes directly before or
after a noun and renames it.
Examples:
Dr. Bull, a professor of history, teaches a class called the Psychology of War.
Mr. Wells, a very bright gentleman, has failed his driving exam twice.
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5. Use commas to mark both ends of a
“weak interruption,” an aside or
transition that interrupts the flow of
a sentence and does not affect its
meaning.
Example:
Nicholas Nickleby, published in 1839, uses a great many commas.
I am, of course, getting steadily better at my golf game.
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6. Use a comma to set off nonrestrictive
elements. A nonrestrictive element is
a word group that describes a noun or
pronoun whose meaning has already
been clearly defined or limited. The
nonrestrictive element often begins
with who, which, or that.
Example:
The suspect in the lineup, who owns a red car, committed the crime.
Note:
The nonrestrictive phrase above does not change the meaning of the word it
modifies -- indifference.
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6. (Cont.) Note: A restrictive element
defines or limits the meaning of the
word it modifies or limits the meaning
of the sentence. Because it contains
essential information, a restrictive
element is not set off with commas.
Example:
The suspect in the lineup who has red hair committed the crime.
Note: in the example above, the “restrictive element” tells us which suspect.
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6. (cont.) Note that the comma in the
following pair of sentences changes
the meaning.
Restrictive:
The people in the line who managed to get tickets were ecstatic.
Nonrestrictive:
The people in the line, who managed to get tickets, were ecstatic.
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8. Use a comma to set off direct
quotations.
Example:
“I love to study grammar," is a thing that few students say. “
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9. Use commas to set off nouns of
direct address.
Example:
Dr. Bull, would you do me a small favor?
Note: Above, “Dr. Bull” is the noun of direct address. He is the one being
spoken to.
Let’s eat, Grandpa!
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1. Use a semicolon between closely
related independent clauses not
joined with a conjunction.
Example:
The whole truth is generally the ally of virtue; a half-truth is always the ally of
some vice.
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2. Use a semicolon between
independent clauses linked with
transitional expressions such as so,
accordingly, however, moreover,
meanwhile, nevertheless, etc.
Example:
The Professor made no answer; so I repeated my question.
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3. Use semicolons to separate items in
a list that itself contains commas.
Example:
I have been to Chicago, Milwaukee, and Green Bay in the Midwest;
Jacksonville, Charlotte, and Miami in the South; and San Francisco, Oakland,
and Seattle in the West.
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1. Use a colon after an independent
clause to introduce a list.
Example:
I can already think of three things I’d rather be doing: sunning myself at the
seaside, skiing on snowy slopes, and sightseeing in some scenic spot.
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2. Use a colon between independent
clauses if the second summarizes or
explains the first. (If the summary
or explanation is an independent
clause, capitalize the first letter after
the colon.)
Example:
The verdict is this: He is guilty of crimes against humanity.
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