Thursday, May 24, 2012

MSQ Grammar Lesson #5: Punctuation

Commas, Colons & Semi-colons

Comma
  • If sentence contains two independent clauses, connect them with 1) a comma and a conjunction (e.g. and, but, for, or, so, yet) or 2) a semicolon. You cannot connect two independent clauses with a comma alone.
  1. Ex w/ comma and conjunction: I would like to write my paper about basketball because it's a topic I can talk about at length.
  2. Ex w/ semicolon: I would like to write my paper about basketball; it's a topic I can talk about at length.
  • Use a comma after a subordinate clause at the beginning of the sentence.
    1. Ex: To get a good grade in this class, you will have to study.
    2. Ex: After the movie, we should go out for coffee.
    • Use a comma to separate elements in a list or adjectives.
      1. Ex: My favorite cities are Manhattan, Washington D.C and Los Angeles.
      2. Ex: The cookies were decorated with red, yellow, and blue sprinkles.
        • Use a comma to separate dependent clauses.
          1. Ex: Ken’s apartment, a tiny little place over on Pine Street, is always a mess.
            • Use a comma after a transitional word or phrase.
              1. Ex: First, I’ll drink water. Next, I’ll drink soda. Finally, I’ll drink milk.
              2. Ex: For example, soy milk is tasty.

                Colon
                • Use a colon after an independent clause when introducing a list.
                1. Ex: The catering facility offers the following entrees: fried catfish, grilled chicken, pan-seared salmon, and sirloin steak.
                • Use a colon after an independent clause when introducing a quotation.
                  1. Ex: My teacher’s remark on my final essay was very complimentary: “This essay coherently analyzes musical trends of the late 20th century.”
                    • Use a colon between two independent clauses when you want to emphasize the second clause.
                    1. Ex: I don’t understand why everyone shops at that store: everything there is so expensive.

                    Semi-colon
                    • Use a semi-colon to joins 2 independent clauses. Semi-colon usage implies the 2 clauses are closely related and/or equal
                      1. Ex: Sesame Street was his favorite television show during the 1990s; in fact, it is his favorite television show of all time.
                      • Use semi-colons between items in a list that already have commas
                        1. Ex: I have lived in Chicago, Illinois; Kansas City, Missouri; and Omaha, Nebraska.
                        2. Ex: The sweaters I bought today were purple, blue, and green; yellow, white, and red; and pink, black, and grey.

                           

                          Hyphens & Dashes

                          Hyphens (-)
                          • Hyphens are also required when spelling numbers 21 through 99:
                          1. Ex: Before the exam, Tomas studied for thirty-three hours without sleep.
                          • Use hyphens in preference to the word “to” when discussing value ranges and scores in games:
                          1. Ex: The high temperature will be 87-89 degrees.
                          • Use hyphens to connect two or more words (and numbers) into a single concept, especially for building adjectives.  Likewise, some married women use hyphens to combine their maiden name with their spouse’s name:
                          1. Ex: There are fewer Italian-American communities these days. The family’s money-saving measures have been helping them to build their savings.
                          2. Ex: I had a conversation with Mrs. Skinner-Kcrycek this morning.

                              1. Ex: She has stopped buying 2-liter bottles and has started buying 0.5-liter bottles, instead.

                                Dashes(—)
                                • Dashes indicate an interruption, particularly in transcribed speech:
                                1. Ex: The chemistry student began to say, “An organic solvent will only work with — ” when her cell phone rang. 
                                • Dashes can also be used as a substitute for “it is, “they are,” or similar expressions.  In this way they function like colons, but are not used for lists of multiple items, and are used less frequently in formal writing situations:
                                1. Ex: There was only one person suited to the job — Mr. Lee.
                                • Dashes can also be used as substitutes for parentheses:
                                1. Ex: Mr. Lee is suited to the job — he has more experience than everybody else in the department — but he has been having some difficulties at home recently, and would probably not be available.

                                Quotation Marks, Parentheses, Brackets & Braces

                                Quotation Marks
                                • Place quotation marks around direct quotes. Place punctuation (commas, periods, etc.) before the first quotation mark and inside of the closing quotation mark.
                                1. Ex: My mom asked, “What would you like for dinner?” and I answered, “soup and salad.”
                                2. Ex: Jared said: “My favorite part of Thanksgiving Day is football.”
                                • Use quotation marks around song titles, short stories, articles, speeches, chapter titles, short films, and radio/TV episodes.
                                1. Ex: One of Sam Cooke’s most famous song’s is “A Change is Gonna Come.”
                                2. Ex: President Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” is one of the finest speeches in American history.
                                • If a question is being asked about a quote, then place the ? after the quotation marks. The same rule does not apply when using a period.
                                1. Ex: Did he really say, "I don't like cake"?
                                2. Ex: The article's title was "I Like Cake."

                                Parentheses ( )
                                • Use parentheses to say something that is not necessary and would interrupt your writing if not separated. Unlike a dash, you do not use parantheses for important information or emphasis:
                                1. Ex: Sang-hoon finished typing the report and saved multiple copies of it two hours after his supervisor gave the information to him (he types 85 words per minute).
                                1. Ex: The overnight managers (Connie on weekdays, John on weekends) will prepare bakery goods, coffee, and tea before the morning shift arrives.
                                • Parentheses also indicates the writer himself is making the addition
                                1. "C'est la vie (that means "That's life") was my response to the student," she told me.

                                Brackets [ ]
                                • Brackets are used during a quotation to indicate a mispelling or error is how it was quoted, with the term sic
                                1. "That is there [sic] meal."
                                • Brackets also explain omitted information
                                1. "We need to learn [survival skills] in order to survive," she said.
                                • Brackets also enclose explanations placed inside a quotation by someone other than the original person being quoted.
                                1. "C'est la vie [That's life]," replied the mentor when consoling his student.
                                Braces {}
                                • Braces are used to explain parts of an entity.
                                1. He taught all styles of Shaolin Kung Fu {Monkey Style, Tiger Style, Leopard Style, etc.} to his students.

                                Apostrophes & Italics

                                Apostrophes
                                • Use apostrophes to indicate possession ('s).
                                1. Ex: This is Mary's book.
                                • Use (s') when indicating possession of two or more persons or things if that word has an (s) at the end (e.g. teacher - teachers, book - books):
                                1. Ex: Teachers’ pay has been rising faster than salaries in other sectors of the economy.
                                • If the word becomes plural without the (s), then use the same rule as if it were singular:
                                1. Ex: "The children's shoes were ugly."
                                • Use apostrophes for contractions
                                1. Ex: don't, can't, won't, etc.
                                • Apostrophes are not used to make words plural. When making a word plural, only an "s" is added, not an apostrophe and an "s."
                                • Its vs. It’s - It's means “it is” while its means “belonging to it.”
                                1. Ex: Don't mind the noise. It's just a cow eating its hay.

                                Italics
                                • Italicize the titles of magazines, books, newspapers, academic journals, films, television shows, long poems, plays, operas, musical albums, works of art, websites, and foreign words.
                                • One can also italicize a word in a sentence for emphasis.


                                Sources: Rutgers Guide to Grammar and Style; Elements of Style; OWL

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