Punctuation:THE PERIOD, THE COMMA, THE SEMICOLON, THE COLON

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Journalistic Writing MCM310

LECTURE 29

Punctuation

Punctuation in English writing is like traffic lights and traffic signs. It helps the reader understand what

you are writing. The punctuation marks used most commonly in English are:

Period (.)

Question Mark (?)

Comma (,)

Exclamation point (!)

Semicolon (;)

Quotation mark (")

Colon (:)

Parenthesis ( )

Apostrophe (`)

Dash (-)

THE PERIOD:

The period is a red light or stop sign. So use a period to end a sentence.

Bill asked whether our class will be cancelled tomorrow.

Use a period to improve the flow of writing.

Sometimes, there are too many ideas packed into one sentence. Use periods and shorter sentences as follows

to improve the flow and understanding.

1. For temperatures above 1100K, the four fuels had about the same ignition delay when the ignition delay was

defined as the time to recover the pressure loss from fuel evaporation, in spite of the large variations in

ignition delay among the four fuels at lower temperatures.

2. Ignition delay is the time required to recover the pressure loss from fuel evaporation. Despite the large

variations in ignition delay at lower temperatures, the four fuels had about the same ignition delay for

temperatures above 1100K.

Use a period in conventional abbreviations.

Mr. (mister);

Mrs. (misses)

Dr. (doctor);

Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy)

e.g. (exempli gratia);

etc. (et cetera)

i.e. (id est);

p.s. (post scriptum)

Sometimes the period is omitted in an abbreviation using capital letters:

Do not use a period in abbreviating names of organizations.

USA

WHO

IBM

FAO

ILO

THE COMMA:

Use a comma before a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet) when it is used to join

independent clauses.

She looks very young, but she is already in her 30's.

If the two independent clauses are short and not likely to be misread, no comma is needed.

The plane took off and we were on our way.

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Journalistic Writing MCM310

Use a comma after an introductory clause or phrase.

When Sam looked in the path near the school building, he found his lost book.

Use a comma after an introductory participial phrase that describes the noun or pronoun that follows.

Struggling with large amounts of homework, the class feared the exam.

Having seen pictures of the beach, the children eagerly looked forward to summer.

Use `a' in semi-parenthetical clause

Bill, the tall one, is here.

Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan, was a lawyer by profession.

Use a comma between all items in a series

I brought my books, papers, and computer to the classroom.

We will prepare the specimens, conduct the tests, and record the data.

Use a comma between multiple adjectives.

Same has become a strong, confident, independent man.

The laboratory is a small, windowless, poorly lighted room.

Do not use a comma between cumulative adjectives.

Three large gray trucks tooled down the street.

Use a comma in a dialogue

She said, "Hello."

Dates

December 25, 2006

Titles

Joe Smith, Ph.D.

Informal letter salutation

Dear Aroma,

Letter closing

Yours truly,

Inverted names

Smith, Joe

Use comma to set off numbers

The total price is Rs 23,456.

Use commas to set off contrasting elements.

Sharp contrasts begin with words such as not, never, and unlike.

Unlike Robert, Viola loved speech contests.

We use alcohol, never water, to sterilize the instruments.

Use commas to set off transitional expressions.

However, therefore, moreover, for example, as a matter of fact, in other words

As a matter of fact, many of the musicians have hearing problems

Therefore, they frequently need hearing assistance.

If a transitional expression is between independent clauses, precede it with a semicolon (;) and follow

it with a comma.

Natural foods are not always salt free; for examples, celery contains more salt than most

people would imagine.

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Journalistic Writing MCM310

Use commas to set off direct address, question tags, and interjections.

Forgive us, Professor, for being late in sending our homework.

Yes, but don't do it again.

This is the third time you have been late, isn't it?

Well, we sometimes have lots of other homework to do.

Use commas to avoid confusion.

To err is human; to forgive, divine.

THE SEMICOLON (;)

Let's begin with a simple sentence:

Grandma stays up too late.

Now let's expand on that a bit:

Grandma stays up too late. She's afraid she's going to miss something.

What if we try to combine the two ideas?

Grandma stays up too late, she's afraid she's going to miss something.

We could insert a coordinating conjunction:

Grandma stays up too late, as she is afraid she'll miss something.

We could also try subordinating one of these ideas

Grandma stays up too late because she's afraid she's going to miss something.

Let's try using a semicolon in this sentence

Grandma stays up too late; she's afraid she's going to miss something.

Stronger than a comma

Peace is difficult; war is hell.

To set off conjunctive adverb

He was tired; therefore, he quit.

Use semi-colons to connect information groups in a sentence

The committee included Dr Val, Professor of Linguistics, from Nottingham; Virginia Villa,

Professor of English, from Manchester; Paul Anderson, Director of Rad-Tech, from Reading;

and Joan Leach, Professor of Nursing, from Edinburgh.

THE COLON (:)

Introduce a series

He has three things: money, brains, charm.

Separate sub-titles/sub-heads

The book: How To Read It.

Punctuation: the colon

Set of a clause

The rule is this: Keep it simple.

Letter salutation like Dear Sir:

Times and ratios

7:45 A.M, Mix it 3:1

To form possessive

Bill's bike.

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Journalistic Writing MCM310

Contractions

Isn't

Plurals of symbols

1960's, two A's

THE QUESTION MARK (?)

At the end of question

Who is he?

To express doubt

He weighs 250 (?) pounds.

THE EXCLAMATION MARKS (!)

Show strong emotions

Aroma is the best!

Wow!

THE QUOTATION MARK (")

Direct quote

He said, "Hello."

Titles

He read, "King Lear."

Special words or slang

He is "nuts."

THE PARENTHESIS ( )

Supplementary material

The map (see illustration) is good.

Stronger than commas

Joe (the bad boy) is dead.

Enclose numbers

Her car is (1) a Ford, (2) too slow.

THE DASH

Show duration

1947-2007, Lahore-Pakistan

Parenthetical material

The girl-the pretty one-is here.

Two show omissions

She called him a ---.

Source: Hacker, Dianna. A Writer's Reference Boston: St. Martin's Press. 1992.

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