PUNCTUATION End Marks -- Period-- Exclamation Point-- Question Mark

The Period

•The end of a sentence.

•Barney went into the navy.

Some Period Rules

•#1 •If a sentence ends with an abbreviation,

do not add another period.

•Margot is from the U.S.A.

•Lionel works for the C.I.A.

Some Period Rules

•#2•If the sentence ends in a title of

something and that title ends in a question mark or an exclamation point, do not add a period.

•Liza gained twenty pounds to play the leading role in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Question Mark

•Used when the sentence is a question•Used to show skepticism or surprise.

•Do you have any deodorant? (Question)•You don’t have any deodorant? (Surprise)•You came here without deodorant?

(Skepicism)

Question Mark Rules

•#1 •Introducing a question within a longer

sentence, being the sentence with a capital letter, use a comma and end with a Question Mark.

•The question was, “How long should she wait for her luggage?”

•Tina cried, “What next?”

Question Mark Rules

•#2•If a sentence continues to go on after a

question, do not use a comma after the question mark.

•“What will I do without my hair dryer?” she asked.

•“Are you kidding me?” he cried.

Exclamation Point • Used for emphasis – when you are saying

something really important.• Most abused punctuation mark• Shows weakness in the writer

▫Says you are not confident that what you are saying is important and you need a ! to prove it is important

▫Says that you do not know a startling idea when you see one and you need a ! to prove it.

• Only use in quoted dialogue

Exclamation Point Rule

•#1 •When you have an exclamation point that

comes before the rest of the sentence do not use a comma after the exclamation point.

•“Holy cow!” said Phil. •“Watch out!” screamed Rudy.