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Grammar and
Punctuation: The
Traffic Signals of
Language
HIST300: Historiography
Dr. Kristen Epps
Fall 2011
A panda walks into a café. He orders a
sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires
two shots in the air.
“Why?” asks the confused waiter, as the panda
makes toward the exit. The panda produces a
badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it
over his shoulder.
“I’m a panda,” he says at the door. “Look it up.”
The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure
enough, finds an explanation.
“Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like animal,
native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.”
So punctuation really does matter, even if it is
only occasionally a matter of life and death.
Why Do Grammar and Punctuation
Matter?
• “Punctuation marks are the traffic
signals of language”
“Some grammarians use the analogy of
stitching: punctuation as the basting that
holds the fabric of language in shape.
Another writer tells us that punctuation
marks are the traffic signals of language:
they tell us to slow down, notice this, take a
detour, and stop…. Best of all, I think, is
the simple advice given by the style book of
a national newspaper: that punctuation is a
courtesy designed to help readers
understand a story without stumbling.”
Eats Shoots and Leaves, p. 7
Why Do Grammar and Punctuation
Matter?
• “Punctuation marks are the traffic
signals of language”
• Both punctuation and grammar help you
“communicate meaning”
Why Do Grammar and Punctuation
Matter?
Example #1:
A woman, without her man, is nothing.
Why Do Grammar and Punctuation
Matter?
Example #1:
A woman, without her man, is nothing.
A woman: without her, man is nothing.
Why Do Grammar and Punctuation
Matter?
Example #2:
Am I looking at my dinner or the dog’s?
Why Do Grammar and Punctuation
Matter?
Example #2:
Am I looking at my dinner or the dog’s?
Am I looking at my dinner or the dogs?
South Africa, c. 1899
Jameson Raid Telegram
“It is under these circumstances that
we feel constrained to call upon you to
come to our aid should a disturbance
arise here the circumstances are so
extreme that we cannot but believe
that you and the men under you will
not fail to come to the rescue of people
who are so situated.”
Eats Shoots and Leaves, p. 11
Jameson’s Interpretation
“It is under these circumstances that
we feel constrained to call upon you to
come to our aid. Should a disturbance
arise here the circumstances are so
extreme that we cannot but believe
that you and the men under you will
not fail to come to the rescue of people
who are so situated.”
Eats Shoots and Leaves, p. 11
Intended Interpretation
“It is under these circumstances that
we feel constrained to call upon you to
come to our aid should a disturbance
arise here. The circumstances are so
extreme that we cannot but believe
that you and the men under you will
not fail to come to the rescue of people
who are so situated.”
Eats Shoots and Leaves, p. 11
Why Do Grammar and Punctuation
Matter?
• “Punctuation marks are the traffic
signals of language”
• Both punctuation and grammar help you
“communicate meaning”
• Using them correctly demonstrates that
you are conscientious and pay attention
to details
Misplaced Apostrophes
What do apostrophes do?
• Indicate a possessive in a singular noun (e.g.
the cat’s tail, my daughter’s piano recital)
Misplaced Apostrophes
What do apostrophes do?
• Indicate a possessive in a singular noun (e.g.
the cat’s tail, my daughter’s piano recital)
• When the possessor is plural, but does not
end in “s,” the apostrophe precedes the “s.”
(e.g. her children’s bedroom)
Misplaced Apostrophes
What do apostrophes do?
• Indicate a possessive in a singular noun (e.g.
the cat’s tail, my daughter’s piano recital)
• When the possessor is plural, but does not
end in “s,” the apostrophe precedes the “s.”
(e.g. her children’s bedroom)
• Indicate a possessive in a plural noun (e.g.
the girls’ favorite book)
Misplaced Apostrophes
What do apostrophes do?
• Indicate a possessive in a singular noun (e.g.
the cat’s tail, my daughter’s piano recital)
• When the possessor is plural, but does not
end in “s,” the apostrophe precedes the “s.”
(e.g. her children’s bedroom)
• Indicate a possessive in a plural noun (e.g.
the girls’ favorite book)
• Signal that letters are missing (e.g.
contractions like “they’re”)
Amount v. Number
• The word “number” refers to nouns that can
be counted
Example:
The number of friends I have on Facebook is 235.
Amount v. Number
• The word “number” refers to nouns that can
be counted
Example:
The number of friends I have on Facebook is 235.
• The word “amount” refers to nouns that
cannot be counted
Example:
What amount of milk would you like on your
cereal?
Less v. Fewer
• Use “fewer” for items that can be counted
Example:
I have fewer than 236 Facebook friends.
Less v. Fewer
• Use “fewer” for items that can be counted
Example:
I have fewer than 236 Facebook friends.
• Use “less” for what cannot be counted
Example:
Next time, put less milk on my cereal.
Its v. It’s
• Its = possessive
Example:
This tree is already getting its new leaves!
Its v. It’s
• Its = possessive
Example:
This tree is already getting its new leaves!
• It’s = contraction of “it is”
Example:
It’s not time to catch the bus.
Their, There, and They’re
• “Their” is the possessive form of they
• “There” is an adverb (meaning "at that
place"), and it is often used as a pronoun to
start a sentence
• “They're” is a contraction of “they are”
Their, There, and They’re
• “Their” is the possessive form of they
• “There” is an adverb (meaning "at that
place"), and it is often used as a pronoun to
start a sentence
• “They're” is a contraction of “they are”
Example:
There are three children in our family.
They're all girls. Two of them are sitting over
there, but their other sister is at home sick.
To, Two, and Too
• The preposition “to” refers to a place, direction,
or position
• “To” is also used before the verb in an infinitive
• The adverb “too” means "also" or "excessively"
• The word two is the written spelling for the
number “2”
To, Two, and Too
• The preposition “to” refers to a place, direction,
or position
• “To” is also used before the verb in an infinitive
• The adverb “too” means "also" or "excessively"
• The word two is the written spelling for the
number “2”
Example:
Meg was too tired to walk home. I was tired, too.
So we walked to a phone booth and called a cab.
Common Nouns v. Proper Nouns
• A common noun names general items
(e.g. post office, stove, the states, her
courses)
Common Nouns v. Proper Nouns
• A common noun names general items
(e.g. post office, stove, the states, her
courses)
• Common nouns are lowercased
Common Nouns v. Proper Nouns
• A common noun names general items
(e.g. post office, stove, the states, her
courses)
• Common nouns are lowercased
• A proper noun names a specific item,
like a person’s name or a place
Common Nouns v. Proper Nouns
• A common noun names general items
(e.g. post office, stove, the states, her
courses)
• Common nouns are lowercased
• A proper noun names a specific item,
like a person’s name or a place
• Proper nouns are uppercased
Common Nouns v. Proper Nouns
Common nouns
Proper nouns
cookie
city
document
country
Oreo
Atlanta
Magna Carta
Saudi Arabia
Comma-Splice and Fused
Sentences
• A comma-splice sentence incorrectly joins two
main clauses with a comma
[Main clause] , [Main clause]
Grandma still rides her Harley motorcycle, her toy
poodle balances in a basket between the
handlebars.
Comma-Splice and Fused
Sentences
• A comma-splice sentence incorrectly joins two
main clauses with a comma
[Main clause] , [Main clause]
Grandma still rides her Harley motorcycle, her toy
poodle balances in a basket between the
handlebars.
• A fused sentence has two main clauses joined with
no punctuation at all
[Main clause][Main clause]
Grandma still rides her Harley motorcycle her toy
poodle balances in a basket between the
handlebars.
Comma-Splice and Fused
Sentences
Ways to fix these sort of problems include:
1. Separate it into two sentences
Grandma still rides her Harley motorcycle.
Her toy poodle balances in a basket between
the handlebars.
Comma-Splice and Fused
Sentences
Ways to fix these sort of problems include:
1. Separate it into two sentences
Grandma still rides her Harley motorcycle.
Her toy poodle balances in a basket between
the handlebars.
2. Link them with a comma and coordinating
conjunction
Grandma still rides her Harley motorcycle,
and
her toy poodle balances in a basket
between
the handlebars.
Comma-Splice and Fused
Sentences
Ways to fix these sort of problems include:
1. Separate it into two sentences
Grandma still rides her Harley motorcycle.
Her toy poodle balances in a basket between
the handlebars.
2. Link them with a comma and coordinating
conjunction
Grandma still rides her Harley motorcycle,
and
her toy poodle balances in a basket
between
the handlebars.
3. Join them with a semicolon
Grandma still rides her Harley motorcycle;
her toy poodle balances in a basket between
the handlebars.
Sentence Fragments
• A sentence has to have three parts:
1) a subject
2) a verb
3) a complete thought
Sentence Fragments
• A sentence has to have three parts:
1) a subject
2) a verb
3) a complete thought
• A fragment is missing one of these three
elements
Sentence Fragments
• A sentence has to have three parts:
1) a subject
2) a verb
3) a complete thought
• A fragment is missing one of these three
elements
• Example #1: And yawned loudly enough to make
everyone in class turn around.
Sentence Fragments
• A sentence has to have three parts:
1) a subject
2) a verb
3) a complete thought
• A fragment is missing one of these three
elements
• Example #1: And yawned loudly enough to make
everyone in class turn around.
• Example #2: The boy sitting on the fire escape
dropping water balloons on the pedestrians
below.
Sentence Fragments
• A sentence has to have three parts:
1) a subject
2) a verb
3) a complete thought
• A fragment is missing one of these three
elements
• Example #1: And yawned loudly enough to make
everyone in class turn around.
• Example #2: The boy sitting on the fire escape
dropping water balloons on the pedestrians
below.
• Example #3: After Gabriel ate half a box of
Twinkies.
Passive Voice
A passive voice sentence occurs when the subject
is not “doing” the verb
Example #1:
The Declaration of Independence was written by
Thomas Jefferson.
Passive Voice
A passive voice sentence occurs when the subject
is not “doing” the verb
Example #1:
The Declaration of Independence was written by
Thomas Jefferson.
Example #2:
The Dust Bowl was a problem that was caused
not only by nature but by the American society
overusing and stripping the land.
Passive Voice
A passive voice sentence occurs when the subject
is not “doing” the verb
Example #1:
The Declaration of Independence was written by
Thomas Jefferson.
Example #2:
The Dust Bowl was a problem that was caused
not only by nature but by the American society
overusing and stripping the land.
Fix by making the “doer” the subject.