The document provides an overview of punctuation rules for ending sentences, using commas, semicolons, colons, dashes, quotation marks, and provides examples of correctly and incorrectly punctuated sentences. It discusses ending sentences with periods, question marks, or exclamation points. It also covers using commas before coordinating conjunctions linking two main clauses, in a series of three or more items, after introductory phrases, and to set off interruptions. Semicolons are used to separate two independent clauses not joined by a conjunction. Colons are used before a list or summary. Dashes set off interruptions with extra information. Quotation marks are used for direct quotations and titles.

1. Punctuation ReviewRepurposed from Richard Nordquist’sAbout.comGrammar Guide, http://grammar.about.com/

2. There are only three ways to end a sentence: with a period (.), a question mark (?), or an exclamation point (!). Period.End Punctuation

3. Use a comma before a coordinator (and, but, yet, or, nor, for, so) that links two main clauses: Using Commas

4. “The optimist thinks that this is the best of all possible worlds, and the pessimist knows it.”(Robert Oppenheimer)”You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try.”(Beverly Sills)Using Commas

5. However, do not use a comma before a coordinator that links two words or phrases:“Jack and Diane sang and danced all night.”Using Commas

6. Use a comma between words, phrases, or clauses that appear in a series of three or more: Using Commas

7. “You get injected, inspected, detected, infected, neglected, and selected.”(Arlo Guthrie)”It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them.”(Mark Twain)Notice that in each example a comma appears before but not after the coordinator. Using Commas

8. Use a comma after a phrase or clause that precedes the subject of the sentence:Using Commas

9. “When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”(Franklin Roosevelt)”If at first you don’t succeed, failure may be your style.”(Quentin Crisp)Using Commas

10. However, if there’s no danger of confusing readers, you may omit the comma after a short introductory phrase: “At first I thought the challenge was staying awake, so I guzzled venti cappuccinos and 20-ounce Mountain Dews.”Using Commas

11. Use a pair of commas to set off words, phrases, or clauses that interrupt a sentence: Using Commas

12. “Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.”(Rudyard Kipling)”Literature is all, or mostly, about sex.”(Anthony Burgess)Using Commas

13. But don’t use commas to set off words that directly affect the essential meaning of the sentence: “Your manuscript is both good and original. But the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good.”(Samuel Johnson)Using Commas

14. EXAMPLE: Our story begins with an email that John received one day from his new girlfriend. Consider how pleased he must have felt to read this note from Jane: Using Commas

15. Dear John:I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we’re apart. I can be forever happy—will you let me be yours?JaneUsing Commas

16. Unfortunately, John was far from pleased. In fact, he was heartbroken. You see, John was familiar with Jane’s peculiar ways of misusing punctuation marks. And so to decipher the true meaning of her email, he had to re-read it with the marks altered: Using Commas

17. Dear John:I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we’re apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?Yours,JaneUsing Commas

18. Use a semicolon to separate two main clauses not joined by a coordinating conjunction: Semicolons, Colons, Dashes

19. Those who write clearly have readers; those who write obscurely have commentators.Semicolons, Colons, Dashes

20. We can also use a semicolon to separate main clauses joined by a conjunctive adverb (such as however, consequently, otherwise, moreover, nevertheless): A great many people may think that they are thinking; however, most are merely rearranging their prejudices.Semicolons, Colons, Dashes

21. Basically, a semicolon (whether followed by a conjunctive adverb or not) serves to coordinate two main clauses.Semicolons, Colons, Dashes

22. Use a colon to set off a summary or a seriesafter a complete main clause:Semicolons, Colons, Dashes

23. It is time for the baby’s birthday party: a white cake, strawberry-marshmallow ice cream, and a bottle of champagne saved from another party.(Joan Didion)Notice that a main clause does not have to follow the colon; however, a complete main clause generally should precede it. Semicolons, Colons, Dashes

24. Use a dash to set off a short summary after a complete main clause: Semicolons, Colons, Dashes

25. At the bottom of Pandora’s box lay the final gift—hope.Semicolons, Colons, Dashes

26. We may also use a pair of dashes in place of a pair of commas to set off words, phrases, or clauses that interrupt a sentence with additional—but not essential—information: In the great empires of antiquity—Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, Persia—splendid though they were, freedom was unknown.Semicolons, Colons, Dashes

27. Unlike parentheses (which tend to de-emphasize the information contained between them), dashes are more emphatic than commas. And dashes are particularly useful for setting off items in a series that are already separated by commas. Semicolons, Colons, Dashes

28. Use double quotation marks (“ “) to enclose a direct quotation: Quotation Marks

29. After telling an audience that young people today “think work is a four-letter word,” Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said she apologized to her daughter.”No good deed,” wrote Clare Booth Luce,“will go unpunished.”Quotation Marks

30. Keep in mind that direct quotations repeat a speaker’s exact words. In contrast, indirect quotations are summaries or paraphrases of someone else’s words. Do not use quotation marks around indirect quotations:Paul said, “I’m satisfied.”Paul said that he was satisfied.Quotation Marks

31. Use double quotation marks to enclose the titles of songs, short stories, essays, poems, and articles: Quotation Marks

32. Softly, almost tenderly, Legree recited the lyrics to the song “She Made Toothpicks out of the Timber of My Heart.”The first draft of my favorite E. B. White essay, “Once More to the Lake,” was a letter that White wrote to his brother a week after their mother’s death.Quotation Marks

33. Do not put quotation marks around the titles of books, newspapers, or magazines; instead, italicize or underline those titles.Quotation Marks

34. Use a pair of single quotation marks (‘ ‘) to enclose a title, direct quotation, or piece of dialogue that appears within another quotation: Quotation Marks

35. Josie once said, “I have never read much poetry, but I love the sonnet ‘Be Bop a Lula.’”Notice that two separate quotation marks appear at the end of the sentence: a single mark to close the title and a double mark to close the direct quotation.Quotation Marks

36. When a comma or a period appears at the end of a quotation, put it inside the quotation mark: Quotation Marks

37. “Gluttony is an emotional disease,” Peter DeVries once wrote, “a sign that something is eating us.”Quotation Marks

38. When a semicolon or a colon appears at the end of a quotation, put it outside the quotation mark: Quotation Marks

39. John Wayne never said, “A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do”; however, he did say, “A man ought to do what’s right.”Quotation Marks

40. When a question mark or an exclamation point appears at the end of a quotation, put it inside the quotation mark if it belongs to the quotation: Gus sang, “How Can I Miss You If You Don’t Go Away?”Quotation Marks

41. But if the question mark or exclamation point does not belong to the quotation itself, put it outside the quotation mark:Did Merdine really sing, “His Heart Was Pure”?Quotation Marks

42. Now, let us see how skilled you are at adding punctuation to sentences that need them.Punctuation Exercise

43. When a friend dies part of yourself dies too.Punctuation Exercise

44. When a friend dies,part of yourself dies,too.Punctuation Exercise

45. We took photographs of the patron saint of nail-biters the Venus de Milo.Punctuation Exercise

46. We took photographs of the patron saint of nail-biters -- the Venus de Milo.Punctuation Exercise

47. Picture this a Neanderthal man deep in the forest gorges on the yummies of his time fruits berries anything sweet and pluckable.Punctuation Exercise

48. Picture this:a Neanderthal man deep in the forest gorges on the yummies of his time -- fruits, berries,anything sweet and pluckable.Punctuation Exercise

49. Last week we read The Catbird Seat a short story by James Thurber.Punctuation Exercise

50. Last week we read “The Catbird Seat,” a short story by James Thurber.Punctuation Exercise

51. Our three children Larry Curly and Moe have decided to enter show business.Punctuation Exercise

52. Our three children -- Larry Curly and Moe -- have decided to enter show business.Punctuation Exercise

53. When in doubt mumble when in trouble delegate.Punctuation Exercise

54. When in doubt, mumble;when in trouble,delegate.Punctuation Exercise

55. An Americans devotion to McDonald’s rests in part on uniformities associated with all McDonald’s restaurants setting architecture food ambience acts and utterances.Punctuation Exercise

56. An American’s devotion to McDonald’s rests in part on uniformities associated with all McDonald’s restaurants: setting, architecture, food, ambience, acts,and utterances.Punctuation Exercise

57. Some players hit the ball and stand dejected waiting for it to land others turn away and leave it to the caddy.Punctuation Exercise

58. Some players hit the ball and stand, dejected,waiting for it to land;others turn away and leave it to the caddy.Punctuation Exercise

59. Dynamite was lavishly used and many of San Franciscos proudest structures were crumbled by man himself into ruins but there was no withstanding the onrush of the flames.Punctuation Exercise

60. Dynamite was lavishly used,and many of San Francisco’s proudest structures were crumbled by man himself into ruins,but there was no withstanding the onrush of the flames.Punctuation Exercise

61. Lila who lives in a trailer with a parakeet and some scrappy dogs and cats has been the town fire warden for almost 30 years.Punctuation Exercise

62. Lila,who lives in a trailer with a parakeet and some scrappy dogs and cats,has been the town fire warden for almost 30 years.Punctuation Exercise

63. The woman is wearing golden stretch pants green eyelids and a hive-shaped head of hair that looks both in color and texture exactly like 25-cents worth of cotton candy.Punctuation Exercise

64. The woman is wearing golden stretch pants,green eyelids, and a hive-shaped head of hair that looks both in color and texture exactly like 25-cents worth of cotton candy.Punctuation Exercise

65. Hurling which has been the national sport of Ireland since legendary times is to American eyes like a soccer game played at ice-hockey speed.Punctuation Exercise

66. Hurling,which has been the national sport of Ireland since legendary times,is to American eyes like a soccer game played at ice-hockey speed.Punctuation Exercise

67. While on maneuvers in South Carolina Billy Pilgrim played hymns he knew from childhood.Punctuation Exercise

68. While on maneuvers in South Carolina,Billy Pilgrim played hymns he knew from childhood.Punctuation Exercise

69. Guiding the ball through the upper chutes down a run-over lane off the slingshot bumpers to the flippers I cradled it there bouncing it back and forth until I had a perfect shot through the lighted spinner.Punctuation Exercise

70. Guiding the ball through the upper chutes,down a run-over lane,off the slingshot bumpers to the flippers,I cradled it there bouncing it back and forth until I had a perfect shot through the lighted spinner.Punctuation Exercise

71. The train its metal wheels squealing as they spin along the silver tracks rolls more slowly now.Punctuation Exercise

72. The train,its metal wheels squealing as they spin along the silver tracks,rolls more slowly now.Punctuation Exercise