Rules for commas, capitalization, periods, and quotations.

1. Punctuation
Rules

2. Periods
• Periods come at the end of statements. A period
indicates that the sentence is finished.
E.g.) I went to the store yesterday.
• Periods also come after abbreviations, such as those
used for dates, streets & provinces:
• Sept. 14th
• St.
• Ave.
• Rd.
• B.C.
• A.B.

3. Capitalization
• All names are capitalized, including first and last names of
people, street names, town names, and province names:
• Liz Claiborne
• Howe St.
• Vancouver
• British Columbia

4. Commas
Commas are used in a variety of ways in English:
• Commas separate items in a list. Each item in the list is separated
by a comma. The comma before “and” is optional.
E.g.) I went to the store to buy apples, oranges, and bananas.
OR
E.g.) I went to the store to buy apples, oranges and bananas.

5. More Commas…
Commas separate dependent clauses (such as adverb clauses) and phrases when they begin a
sentence:
Because I felt tired, I stayed home. OR
I stayed home because I felt tired.
For the past few years, I have studied English. OR
I have studied English for the past few years.

6. More Commas…
Commas separate two independent clauses (or simple sentences) when they
are connected with conjunctions such as “and”, “but”, “or”, “so”, “yet”, etc:
I live in Vancouver, and I study English.
I went to the store yesterday, but I forgot my wallet.
I went to the store yesterday, so I couldn’t call you in the afternoon.

7. More
Commas…
Commas introduce direct quotes:
The teacher said, “You have a lot of homework related
to punctuation to complete.”
Commas separate non-defining adjective clauses (i.e.,
adjective clauses containing information that is not
needed to identify the noun, for example, because it
is unique and is identified by its name):
I live in Vancouver, which is the largest city in British
Columbia.

8. And Finally,…
Commas are used to separate the day and year in written
dates:
August 14th, 1984 September 23rd, 2013
Commas are used after salutations and closings in letters:
Dear Jennifer, To Whom It May Concern, Sincerely,
Commas are found after transitions:
Many people work very hard. However, few people are rich.
The students were full of energy. Therefore, the class was fun to
teach.

9. Note
Periods, commas, and coordinating conjunctions prevent run-on sentences, which are two
or more independent clauses joined without the correct punctuation or conjunction.
Incorrect: My car is out of gas we cannot reach town before dark.
Correct: My car is out of gas. We cannot reach town before dark.
Correct: My car is out of gas, so we cannot reach town before dark.

10. Question Marks
• Question marks come at the end of questions.
What is your name?
Could you tell me where the post office is?

11. Quotation Marks
• Quotation marks
surround direct quotes.
She asked, “Aren’t you
finished yet?”

12. Time to
Practice…