Transcript Punctuation - GS Lakie Middle School

Punctuation
Pre-test
What you should know…
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write complete sentences using appropriate end punctuation
recognize various uses of apostrophes; and use them appropriately
use periods and commas with quotation marks that indicate direct speech
use commas after greetings and closures in friendly letters and to separate
words in a series
use commas to separate phrases and clauses in own writing
use commas after introductory words in sentences and when citing
addresses in own writing
use quotation marks to identify information taken from secondary sources
use quotation marks and separate paragraphs to indicate passages of
dialogue
use colons before lists, to separate hours and minutes, and after formal
salutations
identify ellipses that show words are omitted or sentences are incomplete
when reading, and use them to assist comprehension
Need to learn…
• use hyphens to break words at the
end of lines, and to make a new
word from two related words in own
writing
• identify semicolons, dashes and
hyphens when reading, and use
them to assist comprehension
• use parentheses appropriately in
own writing
Punctuation
Survival Guide
End Punctuation
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EVERY SENTENCE NEEDS A PUNCTUATION MARK AT THE END.
Periods help us by
• Showing us where a statement sentence ends
• Showing where a mild command ends
• Punctuate abbreviations and initials
Question marks help us by
• Identifying a question and showing where it ends
• Emphasizing an unbelievable declarative statement
Exclamation points help us by
• Signaling strong interjections, commands, or emotions
The Comma
Commas are like little road signs that say “pause for a second.”
Commas help us by
•Separating words in a list or series (three or more things)
Sarah bought cookies, tofu, tortillas, and a kumquat to snack on during the
movie.
•Setting off a mild interjection from the rest of the sentence
Yes, I will have another spam milkshake.
•Separating clauses at the beginning of sentences (including a
prepositional phrase at the beginning of a sentence)
In the bug-filled flower bed, Doug dug up a hyperactive slug.
•Preventing confusion when certain words are together
After you read the book report on it to the class –
seems confusing – After you read the book, report on it to
the class
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Setting off the greeting and closing of a friendly letter
Dear Mr. Bieber,
Separating street, town, province, and country
Swift Current, Saskatchewan
Showing who’s being spoken to
Separating multiple adjectives for the same noun
Mr. Malcolm’s fierce, ferocious, and furious cat licked my face.
Grouping clauses together
The hamburger was delicious, the hot dog was tasty, and the dessert
was
great.
Separating nouns from their appositives (appositives are words that give
information about the noun they follow.)
Mr. Hagel, vice-principal of Lakie, cheers for the Saskatchewan
Roughriders.
Setting off words that are not important to the meaning of the sentence
A giraffe, which can stand as tall as 6 feet, cleans its ears with its tongue.
Punctuating dates and addresses correctly
Setting off quotations (people's exact words) from the rest of the
sentence.
Ellipses
Ellipses help us by:
•Replacing words that have been left out
(Always make sure the quote makes sense after you’ve left some of it out. )
•Allowing us to show hesitation or deliberation
Colon
• A colon is a period on top of another period (:).
Colons help by
• Introducing lists, summaries, and explanations
• Punctuating the greeting in a business letter; addressing
people in bulletins, warnings, instructions, and so on.
• Separating hours from minutes in time and characters
from dialogue in scripts.
Semi-colon
• A semi-colon is a period on top of a comma(;).
Semi-colons help us by
• Connecting closely related sentences
Mrs. Dudas, who is in a constant state of denial, refuses to believe
flat; she insists that the other three are bloated.
her tire is
• Separating groups of words in a series (that already has commas)
Mrs. Babki brushed her teeth on January 7, 2006; March 5, 2007; and
February 10, 2008.
• Connect sentences with transitional expressions such as
however, nevertheless, moreover, in addition, furthermore,
consequently, for instance, for example, on the other hand,
therefore, thus, hence, as a result, etc.
Mr. Letasy is too pudgy to play football; nevertheless, he is the cow- throwing
champion of his school.
Quotation Marks
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• Quotation marks go around words to make them
stand out from the rest of the sentence.
Quotations marks help us by
• Enclosing someone’s exact words at the beginning,
middle, or end of a sentence (direct quote).
• Enclosing people’s exact words when their words are split
up.
• Identifying the titles of songs, poems, chapter titles, articles
in newspapers or magazines, etc.
• Pointing out words that are used in unexpected ways.
(The “so-called” food they serve in the cafeteria tastes like
cardboard and rubber.)
• Enclosing definitions and explanations in a sentence.
A few other points to remember about
Quotation Marks:
• Place single quotation marks around a quote inside a quote.
• In dialogue, begin a new paragraph every time the speaker
changes.
• The titles of books, newspapers, magazines, movies, and TV
shows should be underlined (when written by hand) or
italicized (when typed on a computer).
Quotation Marks
CHECK OUT THE PUNCTUATION IN THESE SENTENCE…
•“Sometimes I like to enhance my eyebrows with fuzzy
caterpillars,” declared Mr. James. (direct quote)
•Mr. James declared that sometimes he likes to enhance his
eyebrows with fuzzy caterpillars.
(indirect quote – this sentence doesn't include Mr. James's
exact words, so no quotation marks are needed)
•“I consider myself very lucky,” said Mr. Letasy, “that I have good
hair every day.”
Parentheses
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Use parentheses to set off side comments, or information that’s not
closely related to the sentence.
Parentheses help us by
• Giving the reader extra information
If the shoe fits wear it (but make sure the other one fits too because
sometimes two sizes get mixed up in the box).
• Providing the abbreviation or acronym of an organization or company
after you’ve written its full name
How do you decide whether to put the period inside or outside of a
closing parenthesis?
• Gertrude runs every race with her lucky rabbit’s foot (but for some reason
she always comes in last).
Since the material in parentheses belongs to the sentence, a period follows the
closing parenthesis.
The Apostrophe
Apostrophes help us
•Make singular and plural nouns show ownership
•Make compound nouns show ownership
•Show joint ownership and multiple possessives
•Show where letters are missing in contractions (cannot – can’t)
•Make numbers, lowercase letters, and symbols plural (a’s)
•Is it possible all this sounds like Charlie Brown’s teacher talking –
it did to me, what about you?
– Plural and singular nouns – what?
– Compound nouns – huh?
– Joint ownership and multiple possessives – you have to be
kidding me!
•I think I got the last two 
Singular Nouns
• The ant’s antennas
There is only one ant.
• FYI: If a singular noun with two or more syllables
ends in s, you may choose to form the
possessive by adding just an apostrophe or ‘s.
Example: Delores’s Doberman or
Dolores’ Doberman
Plural Nouns
• If a noun is plural and ends in an s, just
add an apostrophe at the end of the word.
– the ants’ antennas (more than one ant)
• If a noun is plural and does not end in s,
add ’s at the end of the word
– the mice’s whiskers, the children’s candy
Joint Ownership and Multiple
Possessions
• When two or more people (or things, or whatever) own the
same thing, the last name mentioned is in possessive form.
• However, if two or more people (or things, or whatever) own
different things, both names are in possessive form.
• Example:
Amanda and Chase’s puppies Amanda’s and Chase’s puppies
Apostrophes
Get your game face on…
Hyphen
Hyphens help us by
•Joining some compound words
•Dividing a word at the end of a line of text
•Divide words ONLY between syllables
•Never divide a one-syllable word
•Never have one letter hanging out there all by itself
•Divide hyphenated words only at the hyphens
•Don’t divide capitalized words
•Use a hyphen when writing out numbers twenty-one to ninety-nine.
The Dash
• Dashes and commas have a lot in common. They both show
pauses, but a dash shows a greater pause.
Dashes help us by
• Emphasizing words, phrases, or clauses
• Showing a change of thought
• Oh, my! Look what the cat dragged in – a seventy-pound rat!
• An intimidating guard animal – for example, the snaggletoothed gopher – required months of training.
Passage
Practice
• Examples of punctuation in writing
Punctuation
Final Test