Rules of Punctuation

1. Semicolon-It is effective if used sparingly. Part period and part comma, it says to the reader, Pause here a little longer than you would for a comma, but do not come to a full stop as youwould for a period.

Two Uses

a. Use a semicolon between the parts of a compound sentence IF they are mot joined by the following: and, but, nor, for , so and yet.

ex. Take J.J.'s suitcase upstairs; leave Hope's in the car.

b. A semicolon (rather than a comma) may be needed to separate the parts of a compound sentence if there are commas within the parts.

ex. I wrote to Jason, Cornell, and Mya; and Sam Graham notified Stephanie and Logan.

2. Colon-Use the colon before a list of items, especially after expressions like (as follows and the following). The colon s never used directly after a verb or a preposition.

ex. My favorite sports are the following: basketball, tennis, swimming, and bowling.

3. Quotations-Use quotation marks to enclose a direct quotation-a person's exact words.

a. A direct quaotation begins with a capital letter and is set off from the rest of the sentence by commas.

ex. Nikki said, "The frame isn't strong enough."

b. When a quoted sentence is divided into parts by an interrupting expression, the second part with a small letter.

ex. "Dalton, start warming up your arm," said Coach Pugliese, " you don't want to pull a muscle."

c. A period or a comma following a quotation should be placed inside the closing quotation.

ex. Jade and Olivia are my best cheerleaders, " said Coach Antonelli.

d. A question mark or an exclamation point should be placed inside the closing qoutation marks if the quotation is a question or an exclamation. Otherwise, it should be placed outside.

ex. "Have Anna and Noelle picked up their Mum Bowl dresses yet?" asked Mr. Zarrella.

e. Use quotation marks to enclose the titles of chapters, articles, short stories, poems, songs, one act plays and other parts of books and periodicals.

Our class read the poem, "The Sweetest Love That I Have Ever Known"by Winfred Lowe.

4. Appositives-An appositive explains the noun or pronoun it follows and names the same person or thing. When you set off an appositive, include with it all words that modify it.

ex. Mr. Carpino, the Varsity Football Coach, named Caleb the Captain of the team.

5) Phrases, Dependent Clauses, and Independent Clauses.

a. phrase- a phrase is a group of connected words NOT containing a subject or verb.

b. dependent clause- a dependent clause has a subject and a verb but  CANNOT  stand on its own.

c. independemt clause- an independent clause has a subject and a verb and CAN stand on its own (a sentence).

Simple Sentence-Independent Clause with prepositional phrases. ex. Jace is going to the mall.

Compound Sentence- Two independent clauses joined together-usually by a conjunction; and, but, or or semicolon. Jace is going to the mall; he is getting his new Jordans.

Complex Sentences- Contain, one independent clause and one dpendent clauses. If Emma gets an A in English, she will get $200.

6) Adjective Clause-is a dependent clause that is used to modify a noun or pronoun.

Adjective Clauses begin with the following words:

WHO, WHOM, WHOSE THAT WHICH

Adverb Clause-is a dependent clause that is used mainly to modify a verb.

Adverb Clauses begin with the following words:

AFTER, ALTHOUGH, AS, BECAUSE, BEFORE, EVEN THOUGH, IF, IN ORDER, THAT, SINCE, SOTHAT, THAN, THOUGH, UNLESS, UNTIL, WHEN, WHENEVER, WHERE, WHEREVER, WHILE

8) Subject/Verb Agreement-

a. a verb must agree with its subject in number.

b. A singular subject takes a singular verb.

c. A plural subject takes a plural verb.

d. The helping verb must agree in number with its subject.

e. The agreement of a verb with its subject is not changed by any interrupting words.

f. The subject and the verb of an inverted sentence must agree in number.

g. When subjects are joined by "and' or "both" the verb is usually plural.

h. When subjects are joined by "either/or" or "neither/not", the verb agrees with the closer subject.

i. A verb must agree in number with an indefinite pronoun used as a subject.

singular-anybody, anyone, each, either, everybody, everyone, neither, nobody, no one, one, somebody, someone.

plural-both, few, many, several.

singular/plural- all, any, most, none, some

j. The verb part of a contraction must agree in number with the subject.

9) Pronoun Usage- pronouns have cases- a case is the form of a noun that indicates its use in a sentence.

Nominative Case- Used for subjects and predicate nominatives)

First Person-Singular I  Plural We

Second Person- Singular You   Plural  You

Third Person- Singular He, She, It   Plural They

Objective Case-Used for direct objects, indirect objects, and objects of prepositions)

First Person-Singular Me  Plural Us

Second Person- Singular You  Plural-You

Third Person- Singular Him, Her, It  Plural Them

Possessive Case -(Used to show ownership or possession)

First Person -Singular -My, Mine  Plural Our Ours

Second Person- Singular-Your, Yours  Plural  your, yours

Third Person- His, Her, Herrs, Its   Plural - Their, Theirs