PunctuationWeeks 16, 17, 18

On top of periods, question marks and exclamation points...- Did you know there is a whole world of

punctuation out there to give your sentences meaning?

- It may seem complicated now when we start discussing colons, semi-colons, hyphens, dashes, etc.

- I promise to make it as simple as possible.

ColonsNot this kind of colon:

This kind of colon:

Colons - ListsUse a colon to announce a list is coming.

Example:I have several favorite things about Christmas snow food and egg nog

My favorite things about Christmas are snow food and egg nog!

*Note* Do not use a colon in the second example. We don’t use one here because the clause before the list, “My favorite things about Christmas are...” if not an independent clause.

Colons - ExplanationsColons can be used to set off an explanation.

Example:There is just one thing I want for Christmas: snow.

“snow” explains what it is I want for Christmas.

Colons - TimeWhen we read a digital clock, there is a very

important task the colon does: separating the hour from the minute.

Example: I will wait until 12 01 for Santa to come down the

chimney, and then I am going to bed.

Colon Examples – Add colons where neededYou need to following ingredients to make

cookies flour, sugar, eggs, baking powder, chocolate chips.

You need flour, sugar, eggs, baking powder, and chocolate chips to make cookies.

My sister and I wake up at 6 00 am to open presents.

There is one really good thing about Christmas being with friends and family.

The best thing about Christmas is being with friends and family.

Semi-ColonsDon’t be fooled. A Semi-Colon is not just half

of a colon. That would be a period! Hahaha... This is a semi-colon:

Semi-colons perform two important tasks: listing and joining.

Semi-Colons – Breaking up monster listsSemi-colons may look complicated in a

sentence, but in fact they make sentences easier to understand.

Example: My cousins Vicky the tall and bossy one from

Washington D. C. Jerry who is a doctor from Fort Wayne Indiana

and Madison who likes egg nog way too much from Vancouver Canada are all coming to my house for Christmas dinner.

- How can we make this list easier to understand???- We put in commas where they belong, then we

separate the elements. Each cousin and his or her attributes are one element. Let’s see if we can separate them.

Semi-Colons – Joining Independent ClausesDo you remember how we use commas to join

independent clauses? You have to use a conjunction to help it out!Semi-colon are stronger than commas. They don’t

need a conjunction to help join the two clauses.Example:

Tommy wrote a letter to Santa his sister Joan put it in the mail.

We use a semi-colon to link the two independent clauses together.

Semi-Colons – Add semi-colons (and commas) where neededThe trees were brightly lit with red green and

white lights.The trees were brightly lit with beautiful

blazing gorgeous red lights glittering dazzling green lights and wistful wonderful white lights.

Ray likes LED blue lights on the house I like classic white lights instead.

Ray likes LED blue lights on the house and I like classic white lights instead.

Quotation MarksWe all use quotation marks in writing class

when writing discussions between characters. This is called dialogue. See if you can determine how quotation marks are used in dialogue with Tim and Moby.

Quotation Marks - DialogueThe most common way you will see quotation

marks used is in dialogue, or a conversation between characters.

Example:“I want an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action

Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!”Ralphie exclaimed.

Santa replied, “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid!”Let’s see if we can write the dialogue from this

scene of the movie using quotation marks.

“I want a...”

Our Dialogue

Other ways to use Quotation MarksWe can also use quotation marks when we are

writing research papers.It is alright to use someone’s direct words if we

give credit to that person in our writing.Example:

According to Mr. Cassady, “The number of students who enjoy winter vacation has declined because they miss their teachers so much that they cannot enjoy their time away from school.”

We give credit to the person who stated this information and we use quotation marks to set off the direct quote.

Add quotation marks (and commas) where needed Ms. Dilsaver said I can’t believe Christmas is

almost here!We will miss you so much! the students

exclaimed.In fact they added we’re not sure if we can

really enjoy the holiday without you.I know shouted Cody why don’t we just stay

in school for those two weeks! That way we won’t have to miss you so much.

The children all nodded in agreement.

ApostrophesApostrophes come in handy in a couple of

ways in sentences.Most commonly, students mix them up with

commas. Please remember that commas are on the bottom, and apostrophes are on the top!

ApostrophesThere are two ways we use apostrophes: to

make possessives and to make contractions.We will talk about possessives first.This should be a review, since we have

already discussed apostrophes this year.

Possessive ExamplesWe use an apostrophe with a singular noun to

make it possessive by adding an ‘s.The tree lights were very pretty.

What if I had a plural noun that I was trying to make possessive?The trees lights were very pretty.I add an apostrophe after the already existing s

on the plural noun. Think about how it would sound if we added an

‘s.

Possessive ExamplesWe also need to think about people whose

names end in s. How would it sound if we added an ‘s?The Thomas Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

was really fun.There are two ways we could make this. What

two ways are there?

Both are actually correct, and you may do it however your prefer.

ApostrophesThe second way we use apostrophes is to

make a contraction.A contraction is where we take two words

and combine them, but leave a few letters out.

The apostrophe stands in the place of the missing letters.

Contraction ExamplesWhich words in these sentences could I

combine to make contractions?It is a beautiful day for a sleigh ride.

I would not eat the old popcorn garland if I were you.

We could have gone sledding, but it is not snowing today.

Contraction ExamplesA less common kind of contraction in writing

(more prevalent in speaking) is combining the subject and predicate into a contraction.

Example:She’s really obsessed with Christmas.

Which two words have I combined to make a contraction?

Contraction ExampleWhich two words could I combine here to

make a contraction?I’m really excited about watching A Christmas

Story!This kind of contraction is most common in

speech. Try to leave contractions like this out of your writing. It always sounds better when you write it out.

Not for Plurals!

Notice none of the uses of apostrophes said anything about making a noun plural.

We do not use apostrophes to do this!

Add apostrophes where needed.The houses decorations were over the top in

the neighborhood.Did you see the lights that were programmed

to go with Gangnam Style?My mothers dog danced along with the song.

Its so much fun to watch him do the horse dance.

Shes a terrible dancer. Her dogs way better at it than her.