This document provides a summary of punctuation and mechanics covered in COM 106. It discusses the uses of apostrophes for possession and omission, parentheses, dashes, slashes, quotation marks, ellipses, brackets, abbreviations, hyphens, numbers, and capitalization. Key points include how apostrophes indicate ownership or omitted letters, parentheses and dashes surround supplemental information with varying emphasis, and the different punctuation marks are used to set off related information in sentences.

1. Our LAST lesson in COM 106
The rest of punctuation
and mechanics

2. Apostrophes
Twofunctions: to show possession
and omission

3. Possession - Indicates ownership
Add ‘s if noun doesn’t end in “s” or ends in “s”
but is singular
The bus’s tire was flat.
Add only an apostrophe if the noun is plural and
ends in “s”
The Mills’ home is under construction.

4. Joint possession – add ‘s to the last noun
Carol and Edna’s apartment was broken into.
Individual possession – add to each noun.
Kim’s and Alex’s daughters played soccer
together.

5. Omission - indicates letters are missing
Mistakes:
Don’t use apostrophes for plural numbers (The
1940s were a time when . . . .)
Don’t use around words to call attention to the
word (My dad doesn’t like the word “sucks”.)

6. Parentheses ( )
Surround supplemental material,
afterthoughts, loosely related material.
Surround part of the sentence that would
mess up the grammatical structure of the
sentence
Before arriving at the station the old train
(someone said it was a relic of frontier days)
caught fire.

7. Dashes -
Do the same thing as parentheses but
with more emphasis.
Also set off appositives that contain
commas
To some of you, my ideas may seem
radical - even revolutionary.

8. So, when do you use commas,
parentheses or dashes?
Commas set off information closely related to the
rest of the sentence
When Billy Clyde married Maybelle, his brother’s young
widow, the family was shocked.

9. Parentheses set off information loosely related to
the rest of the sentence or material that would
disturb the grammatical structure of the main
sentence.
Billy Clyde married Maybelle (his fourth
marriage, her second) in Las Vegas on Friday.
Billy Clyde married Maybelle (she was previously
married to his brother Bobby) in Las Vegas on
Friday.

10. Dashes are used to set off information
dramatically or emphatically.
Billy Clyde eloped with Maybelle – only three days after
her husband’s funeral – without saying a word to anyone
in the family.
So, commas, parentheses and dashes all have a similar
function, but have a different level of emphasis in a
sentence.

11. Slash /
Used to separate lines of poetry
To show a dual role or a choice
actor/model
producer/director
and/or
he/she

12. Uses of quotation marks
Direct quotation
To indicate irony
History is stained with blood spilled in the name
of “civilization.”
Titles of articles, poems, short stories,
songs, etc.
Words used as words
The word “muffin top” was added to the
dictionary in 2010.

13. Quotation Marks “ “
“Where do I turn?” she asked.
Did you hear her say “It’s my fault”?

14. Ellipsis . . .
Deleting words in a quote
Deleting a whole line of poetry
To communicate hesitation when
someone is speaking.
Don’t use it just as a pause.

15. Brackets [ ]
Used to alter a quote by adding your
own words.
Usually to clarify something not
evident out of context (pronouns) or
make a mixed quotation work with the
rest of a sentence (sub-verb agr)

16. Mechanics
Abbreviations
Titles - only with proper names
Familiar abbreviations - no periods
Hyphens
Check the dictionary for compound words
To avoid confusion (recreation vs. re-creation)
Numbers
Capitals