| . is a period or full stop. |
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The dog jumped the ditch._________________________________________________ |
| , is a comma. |
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John, please take a seat.__________________________________________________ |
| ? is a question mark. |
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Who is going to help me? ________________________________________________ |
| ! is an exclamation mark. |
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Help! Stop! Leave! Close the door!_________________________________________ |
| ' is an apostrophe. |
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John's bike was stolen last night.
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| " " quotation marks. |
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John said, "Maybe I'll go."
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| : is a colon. |
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Eg. I compiled the following list: pencil, ruler, pen, and paper.
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| ; is a semicolon. |
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He wanted to go; however, then decided not to.
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| ... is an ellipsis. |
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The next day...(next line or page) ...we went
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| - is a hyphen. |
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My mother-in-law is here.______________________________________________ |
| ( ) are parentheses. |
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Tim Stevenson (programmer) does excellent work.
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| [ ] are brackets. |
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This disease [tuberculosis] has dropped by half in the last decade.
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1. Period .
-A period is used at the end of a sentence to show that it is finished.
-A period can show numbers that are smaller than one, and is called a decimal. With money, a period is used to show the amount
of money less than one dollar.
Eg. John bought a soda for $1.50, means that John paid one dollar and fifty cents for his drink.
-A period is used to show that a word has been abreviated. A word that is made shorter with a period is called an abbreviation.
The words Doctor Jones becomes Dr. Jones. |
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2. Comma ,
A comma has many uses. Some are shown below:
-To list elements in a row, such as: cows, horses, pigs, goats, and sheep.
-To separate two independent clauses with a conjunction.
Eg. John was going to go to the store, but it was raining so he decided not to.
- To separate parts of a sentence. Eg. John, hungry as he was, decided to eat later with his friend.
- To indicate a pause in a sentence or question. Eg. Jane, did you remember to file your tax return?
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3. Question mark ?
-A question mark is placed at the end of a sentence that asks a question. A question sentence is also called an interrogative
sentence. Eg. John, have you finished your homework? Jane to John said, "Are you my friend?" |
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4. Exclamation mark !
-An exclamation mark is used to indicate strong emotion or to make a statement more forceful.
Eg. What a bad man he is!
John, I'm not going to tell you again, sit down!
Jane you've done a good job! |
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5. Apostrophe '
- An apostrophe is used to (a) indicate ownership or to make (b) two-word contractions.
a) If there is only one thing, the letter "s" is used after an apostrophe to show ownership.
Eg. John's car was stolen last night. Eg. We will take Jane's car to the store.
-Note the below usage:
Eg. The maid put away the girls' clothes. Means that maid had to tidy up for several girls.
The maid put away the girl's clothes. Means that maid tidied up for only one girl.
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b) Apostrophe: Two-word contractions.
-An apostrophe can be used to put two small words together. Combining two small words together using an
apostrophe is called a contraction.
-Spoken English often uses two-word contractions because it is easier to say.
Eg. "Would not" can be made into the word wouldn't.
"It is" can be made into the word "it's." Eg. It's a rainy day today. |
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6. Quotation marks "text"
-Quotation marks are used in pairs, and are placed around the words that people have said, or in
direct speech.
Eg. John said, "Jane, please take out the garbage."
In this case, quotation marks go after the commas and periods, not before.
-Quotation marks are also used in some other cases besides direct speech, for example around the name of
a song. In these cases, the commas can come after the quote marks.
Eg.
After recording "All You Need Is Love", the Beatles went on to record many more songs. |
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7. Colon :
-A colon is used to indicate the start of a list. Eg. The animals we will see today are: birds, cats, goats, pigs, and sheep.
-A colon can be used to connect two equal parts of a sentence.
Eg. In baking bread yeast is added to the dough: without it the bread would not rise.
- Use a semicolon combined with a comma when using coordinating conjunctions.
Eg. I failed; therefore, I will be repeating the course.
- Use the semicolon between two sentences joined by a coordinating conjunction when one or more commas appear before in the
sentence. Eg. When I get home, I'll phone you; and I promise.
- Use the semicolon to separate units of a series when one or more of the units contain commas. Eg.This event has people who have
come from all over the world: Vancouver, Canada; Chicago, United states; and Sydney, Australia, just to mention a few. |
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8. Semicolon ;
-A semicolon can be used to replace a conjunction. A conjunction is a word used to link words, phrases, or clauses.
Eg.
I could tell that she was going to win because she was gaining on her oponent by the minute.
I could tell that she was going to win; she was gaining on her oponent by the minute.
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9. Ellipsis ...
-An ellipsis is mostly used in narratives for effect. The ellepsis indicates that words have been left out, or to show that there
is more to be said but the person has stopped at that point.
Eg. And as the story goes... (end of line) ...Jane`s journey continued (start of next line or page)
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10. Hyphen -
- Some words can have a hyphen added to change the meaning. For example: re-form means "start again" but
reform means "change". A re-formed group is different from a reformed group.
- A hyphen is used to make numbers. Eg. forty-three, fifty-six, ninety-one, etc.
- When a name for a material such as "bamboo cloth" is used with a word for a thing
made of that material, a hyphen is used, as in "I bought a shirt made of bamboo-cloth today".
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- Some prefixes, can sometimes use hyphens. A prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word.
Eg. anti-pollution, non-proliferation, none-smoker etc. prefixs: anti and non. (see list)
- If a name is used with another name, a hyphen can be used.
Eg."the Merriam-Webster dictionary" or "the North-American Free-Trade-Agreement."
- A hyphen is also used when a word is to long and does not fit in one row or column of writing. This is often done in
books, magazines and newspapers to save space and paper. (See newspaper articles.) |
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