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Types of Punctuation

Period.

Comma,

Exclamation Point!

Question Mark?

Dash––

… Ellipses …

(Parentheses)

“Quotation Marks”

Semicolon; colon:

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Period/Full Stop

Use this to end a sentence.

You will have a subject, verb, and a complete thought in a full sentence.

Sometimes you can break this rule to add emphasis to something. Craziness.

Always begin the next letter after a full stop with a capital letter. Always.

Examples:

“I'll be back.” -The Terminator, 1984

“A martini. Shaken, not stirred.” -Goldfinger, 1964

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Comma

This one is tricky. There are a lot of places for a comma. Let’s look at some mistakes first.

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Use commas for lists

This is pretty simple. But what about the “Oxford Comma”? USE it.

A LAW in Maine excluded from overtime pay “the canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of” certain products. But is the end of that list—“packing for shipment or distribution”—one activity? Or are they distinct things, (1) packing for shipment and (2) distribution? The company argued that they were distinct, and that although lorry drivers do not pack, they do distribute, and are hence exempt from overtime pay. A lot of money was at stake. But the company lost and the drivers got another chance to sue for millions in back pay.

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Vocatives

Use a comma to separate the specific person or people you are addressing.

Examples:

Man, why do we have to use this?

What do you think, Sally?

Does this help us be more clear, George?

You’re killin’ me, Smalls.

It’s time to eat grandpa.

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Use a comma after introductory adverbs, clauses, or phrases

Adverbs that commonly start sentences: however, finally, furthermore, indeed, meanwhile, nevertheless, therefore, unfortunately.

Basically, put a comma after a natural pause.

Complicatedly, put a comma after -ly and -ing phrases at the start of sentences, or after additional information like this. Also, use them after introductory subordinate clauses.

Examples:

Feeling tired of grammar, the seniors drifted away into La La Land.

Broken from years of Tik Tok, Karen reduced her attention span to 7 seconds.

Because I am starting this sentence with a subordinate clause, I put a comma before the independent clause.

Subordinating conjunctions: because, if, when, where, while, although, after, before, etc.

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Fix these

For the first time in history my parents let me fly on a plane by myself.

Although I have flown before I had never traveled without my parents.

Even though I was just going to visit my aunt it was exciting to travel alone.

Since she is ten years younger than my mother my aunt is fun to be with.

By the time my visit was over we were closer than ever.

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Don’t dangle your participles…That’s gross.

Example:

After rotting in the cellar for weeks, my brother brought up some oranges.

Having finished my dinner, the waitress offered to bring out the dessert tray.

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Use a comma and a conjunction between two independent clauses

If you have two independent clauses, you can connect them with a comma, followed by a coordinating conjunction. Use FANBOYS.

For

And

Nor

But

Yet

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What is an independent clause?

A sentence that could stand on its own.

Example:

“I ran.” - A Flock of Seagulls

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What is a dependent clause?

You betcha––a clause that can’t stand on its own, because although it has a subject and a verb, it isn’t a complete thought.

Examples:

When the dinosaurs come back.

Because you’re wearing a sequin leotard.

After you punched all my plants.

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So to connect two independent clauses?

I think, for I am.

I think, and I am.

I think, nor am I.

I think, but I am.

I think, or I am.

I think, yet I am.

I think, so I am.

I think. I am.

I think; I am.

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Exclamation Points

Use this sparingly! Or it starts to lose its power! Because you seem hyperbolic! We can’t run around screaming everything at the top of our lungs!

Examples:

“It's alive! It's alive!” -Frankenstein, 1931

“I'm the king of the world!” -Titanic, 1997

“Here's Johnny!” -The Shining, 1980

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Question Marks

Use these when you are asking a question. Need I say more?

Examples:

“Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads.” -Back to the Future, 1985

“You talking to me?” -Taxi Driver, 1976

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Dash (also known as an em dash)

Use this to add a pause in your writing, or for an appositive phrase (meaning a rephrasing of the last word you said).

Examples:

“I am your father––Vader. Like, we are the same person––Vader and I.”

“I am looking forward to tomorrow––the day you finally stop hiccuping celery.”

OR you can use dashes for any sort of pause you want … There really aren’t many rules with dashes––it’s why I love to use them.

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Ellipses

Use ellipses to indicate a pause or an omission (meaning where you took words out, usually with something you are quoting).

Examples:

“We’re gonna need a bigger boat…”

“Mirror mirror … who is the fairest of them all?”

“My mama always said life was like a box … You never know what you’re gonna get.”

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Parentheses

Use parentheses to set aside additional information.

(You must punctuate inside of the parentheses if it’s a full sentence by itself.)

Put punctuation after the parentheses if it’s not a full sentence (or you’re citing).

Examples:

“You feelin’ lucky, punk? (He then wondered whether or not he had left the stove on at home.)”

“You feelin’ lucky, punk (aka Roger)?”

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Quotation Marks

Have you noticed how we’ve been using these the whole time?

“Unless they are part of the original quotation, all marks other than commas or periods are placed outside the quotation marks.”

“I don’t always use quotation marks,” said Miles, “but when I do, I punctuate them correctly.”

I guess we are in the “4 + 1 model”; I don’t think everyone knows what that means.

I am sick and tired of the word “unprecedented”!

Can you open your nose and say “ahhh”?

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I almost forgot semicolons; they connect two independent clauses.

Basically, if you could separate two complete thoughts with a period, then you could also separate them with a semicolon to indicate a close relationship between the two clauses; this also is less abrupt than a full stop.

Example:

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

(from “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll)

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And finally, colons: they can be used like this (to introduce an appositive phrase), OR they can be used to introduce a list or quote

Colons and em dashes can both be used for renaming or rephrasing something: in other words, colons can introduce an appositive phrase––like this one. Colons can also: introduce a list (usually with more items in it than this one), and introduce a quote: “Like we see here” (Albert Einstein).

Example:

It was Robert E. Lee: the leader of the Confederate army.

I need you to pick up a few things for me: a plumbis, a noob noob, and a morty or two.

I couldn’t believe it when he said it: “That’s no moon…”

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Oof, that’s a lot of grammar

Pro tip:

Grammar is about CLARITY, not correctness––I teach you grammar so that you can be understood, not so that you can develop a superiority complex in Facebook comments, or worse, an inferiority complex because you think you can’t ever get this right. You can get it right (while understanding that our language is alive and changing every single day).

Which leads me to my next point: good authors intentionally break the rules all the time in order to emphasize their point. Seriously. You can do this too! But you first need to know the rules in order to break them. (It’s more fun that way anyhow.)

Lastly, the very best way to learn grammar, and, more importantly, good writing, is not by reading Google Slides or working off worksheets, but by paying attention to how good authors utilize language. Don’t just skim over how an author is incorporating quotes or parentheses or dashes into their own writing. Stop. Go back. Notice what they are doing and whether or not it’s effective. Once you start looking for good writing, you will find it, reuse it, and remix it into something uniquely your own.

So, I encourage you to read with your eyes wide open, and develop your own unique style, breaking or rewriting the rules you discover.