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Here is some information about Learning English Grammar: Punctuation, all FREE help for you.
English Grammar Information Articles: Learn English Grammar Punctuation
English grammar punctuation seems to be the easiest to learn of all areas of English grammar. Much punctuation seems common sense to those who grew up with the English language and for whom it is not a second or third language.
For others who are ESL students or even those who know other languages, English language punctuation can require a lesson or two.
Can you drive a car? Punctuation in the English language is similar to road signs. We are taking a drive to make this trip and subject a little more interesting.
See the period as a full stop sign. Use it at the end of a sentence, or after abbreviations. Place the period inside a complete parenthetical sentence and outside a partial sentence, and inside quotation marks.
Ex. A stop sign signals a complete stop (like this). ("See the period as a full stop.")
Treat the comma as a yield sign. The intent of a comma is to slow the reader down so the parts of the sentence do not crash into one another. Use a comma between two connected independent clauses, in a series, after introductory phrases, and to separate non-essential clauses. A non-essential clause is one that can be deleted and the sentence still has meaning.
Look at some examples. As we sat down to eat, beans boiled over on the stove. (Without the comma, the reader may think we sat down to eat beans.) Beans, a tasty vegetable except when burned, were no longer on the menu. (The clause needs the commas since the sentence stands alone without "a tasty vegetable except when burned".
Consider the semicolon as a pitch backward as the car is stopped. It connects two independent clauses or long elements in a list. It goes outside the quotation marks.
We stopped abruptly at the sign; it came upon us too quickly.
Know the colon as a pitch forward in the car. It is used instead of "as follows."
Review the apostrophe as a trailer attached to a truck or car on the road. Add an apostrophe and "s" to any plural noun that does not end in "s"; and to any proper noun that ends in "s".
If a plural noun ends in "s", just add an apostrophe.
Examples: The children's toy and Chris's poetry made the babies' game fun.
See the hyphen as a piggyback trailer. The two trailers are attached, and towed by the truck-tractor. The hyphen is used when two adjectives come before a noun. (The well-known man drove the piggyback-trailer truck to the destination.)
The hyphen is not used if the adjectives follow the noun. (The man was well known and the truck had a piggyback trailer.)
Use a hyphen for differentiation when necessary. (She re-covered the overstuffed chair that she had recovered from the dump.)
Use a hyphen for fractions used as adjectives but not for fractions used as nouns. (We had two-thirds cup of sugar left, and that was not enough to make two thirds of the candy recipe.)
Read the parenthesis as cars between you and your destination. It has extra material enclosed. Do not put a comma after a parenthesis unless it would be required otherwise. The period goes inside the parenthesis if it is a complete sentence and outside the parenthesis if it is not.
Example: While driving at night (and many old people do not) you may see dancing lights and strange phenomena.
Use a dash much like the parenthesis in separating an aside or explanation from the rest of the sentence. It is not usually a necessary element of punctuation in English grammar--chosen by some for optical emphasis--but gets the point across.
Review the exclamation point as an emphatic or exciting point of English grammar punctuation. It is the red convertible in your travel through the punctuation drive!
In all of these elements of English grammar punctuation, there is only one of each used at a time. Do not use multiple question marks or exclamation points. It is incorrect use and does not add emphasis. Do not use a period after a non-sentence. If there is no subject and verb, there is no period.
Drive correct English grammar by knowing the signs and when they are used. Follow the rules of the punctuation road: stop with a period, yield with a comma, pitch backward with a semicolon and pitch forward with a colon. Whether you drive a piggyback trailer--or a red convertible--you can learn the rules of the (English grammar punctuation) road.
* copyright 2009 Linda Richard
English Grammar Learning Articles: More Information you Might Like
- Use English Grammar: Adverbs
- Use Pronunciation for Spelling English Words
- Spell with Spelling Rules and Associations
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Here is some information about Learning English Grammar: Punctuation, all FREE help for you.
- Use English Grammar: Adverbs
- Use Pronunciation for Spelling English Words
- Spell with Spelling Rules and Associations
English Grammar Information Articles: Learn English Grammar Punctuation
English grammar punctuation seems to be the easiest to learn of all areas of English grammar. Much punctuation seems common sense to those who grew up with the English language and for whom it is not a second or third language. For others who are ESL students or even those who know other languages, English language punctuation can require a lesson or two.
Can you drive a car? Punctuation in the English language is similar to road signs. We are taking a drive to make this trip and subject a little more interesting.
See the period as a full stop sign. Use it at the end of a sentence, or after abbreviations. Place the period inside a complete parenthetical sentence and outside a partial sentence, and inside quotation marks. Ex. A stop sign signals a complete stop (like this). ("See the period as a full stop.")
Treat the comma as a yield sign. The intent of a comma is to slow the reader down so the parts of the sentence do not crash into one another. Use a comma between two connected independent clauses, in a series, after introductory phrases, and to separate non-essential clauses. A non-essential clause is one that can be deleted and the sentence still has meaning. Look at some examples. As we sat down to eat, beans boiled over on the stove. (Without the comma, the reader may think we sat down to eat beans.) Beans, a tasty vegetable except when burned, were no longer on the menu. (The clause needs the commas since the sentence stands alone without "a tasty vegetable except when burned".
Consider the semicolon as a pitch backward as the car is stopped. It connects two independent clauses or long elements in a list. It goes outside the quotation marks. We stopped abruptly at the sign; it came upon us too quickly.
Know the colon as a pitch forward in the car. It is used instead of "as follows." Review the apostrophe as a trailer attached to a truck or car on the road. Add an apostrophe and "s" to any plural noun that does not end in "s"; and to any proper noun that ends in "s". If a plural noun ends in "s", just add an apostrophe. Examples: The children's toy and Chris's poetry made the babies' game fun.
See the hyphen as a piggyback trailer. The two trailers are attached, and towed by the truck-tractor. The hyphen is used when two adjectives come before a noun. (The well-known man drove the piggyback-trailer truck to the destination.) The hyphen is not used if the adjectives follow the noun. (The man was well known and the truck had a piggyback trailer.) Use a hyphen for differentiation when necessary. (She re-covered the overstuffed chair that she had recovered from the dump.) Use a hyphen for fractions used as adjectives but not for fractions used as nouns. (We had two-thirds cup of sugar left, and that was not enough to make two thirds of the candy recipe.)
Read the parenthesis as cars between you and your destination. It has extra material enclosed. Do not put a comma after a parenthesis unless it would be required otherwise. The period goes inside the parenthesis if it is a complete sentence and outside the parenthesis if it is not. Example: While driving at night (and many old people do not) you may see dancing lights and strange phenomena.
Use a dash much like the parenthesis in separating an aside or explanation from the rest of the sentence. It is not usually a necessary element of punctuation in English grammar--chosen by some for optical emphasis--but gets the point across.
Review the exclamation point as an emphatic or exciting point of English grammar punctuation. It is the red convertible in your travel through the punctuation drive!
In all of these elements of English grammar punctuation, there is only one of each used at a time. Do not use multiple question marks or exclamation points. It is incorrect use and does not add emphasis. Do not use a period after a non-sentence. If there is no subject and verb, there is no period. Drive correct English grammar by knowing the signs and when they are used. Follow the rules of the punctuation road: stop with a period, yield with a comma, pitch backward with a semicolon and pitch forward with a colon. Whether you drive a piggyback trailer--or a red convertible--you can learn the rules of the (English grammar punctuation) road.
* copyright 2009 Linda Richard
English Grammar Learning Articles: More Information you Might Like
We like the English language and writing, and we can write for YOU. We can proofread your web page or store front and help you with the wording, or we can write from the blank page. Just let us know what writing skills are needed.