1. The document discusses various punctuation marks and their proper uses, including periods, question marks, exclamation points, semicolons, colons, commas, apostrophes, quotation marks, hyphens, and dashes. 2. Rules are provided for using each punctuation mark to end sentences and join or separate parts of sentences according to their meaning and function. 3. Examples are given to illustrate the correct uses of each punctuation mark in context. The document emphasizes the importance of using punctuation precisely to enrich language use and meaning.

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5. EnrichingLanguageUse
through Punctuation

6. Unclassified
PunctuationMarks

7. Unclassified
Period ●
*Used to mark the endof:
1.Sentences
 Lorna hasgone on vacation.
 I will missher help while sheisgone.
2. Indirect questions
 Before sheleft, sheaskedme if I would waterher
plants.
 I askedher if shewould send me apostcard.

8. Unclassified
Period ●
*Used to mark the endof:
3. Commands
 Pleasetype this letter forme.
 Answer the phone.
4. Requestsphrased asquestions
 Would you please type this letter assoonas

possible.
May we have your response by the end of the week.

9. Unclassified
Period ●
*Used to mark the endof:
5. Most abbreviations


Mr. Mrs. Inc.
Ms. Co. Corp.
EXCEPTION:Abbreviations of organizational names


IBM CIA NATO
FBI ASEAN OPEC

10. Unclassified
Period ●
*Do NOTusea period:
1.After aheading or atitle
 Chapter One: Recognizing Verbs and Subjects
2.After asentence ending in apunctuated
abbreviation
 Our guest speaker this evening is MarcusMore,
Ph.D.

11. Unclassified
QuestionMark ?
*Used tomark the end of :
1. Direct questions
 Will my order be ready byTuesday?
 Haveyou checked your records?
2. Directly quotedquestions
 “Do you mind ifI smoke?” askedthe interviewer.
 Hethen asked, “How old areyou?”

12. Unclassified
ExclamationMark !
*Used to mark the end of:
1. Sentencesto indicate emphasis or strongemotion


Stop interrupting me!
Unauthorized personnel are not tobe admitted!
2. Interjections (words or phrasesinserted intosentences
to indicate emphasis orsurprise)


Boy! WasI angry.
Stop! Donot read anyfurther.
(In the two sentences above, Boyand Stop areinterjections.)

13. Unclassified
NOTE:Question marks (?)and
exclamation points (!) should
NEVERbe followed by aperiod(●)
or comma(,).

14. Unclassified
Semicolon ;
*Used to join two closely related sentences
 Samseesthe tree; Willy hears the birds.
 I will arrange aguest speaker; Arlene will takecare
of refreshments.
 We have sent you three bills and twostatements;
however, we have not received yourpayment.
 I received your bill for consultantservices performed
in April; therefore, I am enclosing acheck for$940.

15. Unclassified
Semicolon ;
REMEMBER:
*The test for correct semicolon (;) use is
to seewhether aperiod (●) would be
grammatically correct in itsplace.
*If NOT,the semicolon hasbeenmisused.

16. Unclassified
Colon :
*Used in the followingsituations:
1. Before aformallist
 When evaluating acredit application, considerthe
following: credit history, employment history,and
current assets.
2. Before anexplanation
 Aletter refusing credit should be positive: youhope
to continue businesson acashbasis.

17. Unclassified
Colon :
*Used in the followingsituations:
3. Before aformal quotation
Secretary’s World reports: “Secretaries are
members of the fastest-growingoccupational
group. Annual average job openings are now
300,000 and expected to expand to325,000.”

18. Unclassified
Colon :
*Used in the followingsituations:
4. After the salutation in abusinessletter
 Dear Sir:
 Gentlemen:
5. Between atitle and asubtitle
 Word Processing: AnIntroduction
6. Between the hour and minute of atimereference
 9:10A.M.
 11:15 P.M.

19. Unclassified
Comma ,
*Used in the followingsituations:
1. SV, coordinatorSV
 Samspeaks,and Willylistens.
 Jonathan loves English, but he lovesMath.
2. Subordinator SV,SV


When Samspeaks, Willylistens.
After he submitted his test paper, he wentdirectly
to hisdormitory.

20. Unclassified
*REVIEW:

21. Unclassified
Comma ,
NOTE1: When the subordinator is in the middle,
there is usually NOcomma.
 SamspeaksasWilly listens.
NOTE2: Becareful NOTto useacomma when a
coordinator is connecting two verbs.
 Samspeaksand listens.
NOTE3: Asubject should NEVERbe separated from
its verb with asinglecomma.

22. Unclassified
Comma ,
*Used in the followingsituations:
3.After an introductory word (e.g., transitionword)


Indeed, Samlikes to dominate aconversation.
Nevertheless, Willy doesn’t understand muchof
what hesays.
4.After introductoryphrases


In general, Sammakeslittlesense.
Trying to sound important, he tends tomake afool
of himself.

23. Unclassified
Comma ,
*Used in the followingsituations:
5. For separating items in aseries orlist
 Natasha hasstudied marketing, salesmanship,

and advertising.
Your report must be in thefiles, on my desk,
or among my othermail.
 Tolook your best, feel your best, and be your
best requires apersonal program of sounddiet
and strenuousexercise.

24. Unclassified
Comma ,
*Used in the followingsituations:
6. For separating adjectives listed before anoun
 All-City Video employs courteous, knowledgeable, and
helpful salespeople.
NOTE1: Acomma is needed if it would be correct to
insert and between the adjectives (asin theexample
above).
NOTE2: If and cannot be inserted, do NOTuseacomma.
 Theyoffer the lowest retailprices in town.

25. Unclassified
Comma ,
*Used in the followingsituations:
7. For setting off interruptingexpressions
(i.e., expressions that are not essential tothe
structure or meaning of asentence)
a. Contrasted elements


Thechairman of the board, not thestockholders,
made the decision.
I returned to school to improve my typing, not my
English.

26. Unclassified
Comma ,
*Used in the followingsituations:
7. For setting off interruptingexpressions
(i.e., expressions that are not essential tothe
structure or meaning of asentence)
b. Parenthetical expressions


Theaffidavit, I think, is ready tobe typed.
It is, in fact, aconvincing legaldocument.

27. Unclassified
Comma ,
*Used in the followingsituations:
7. For setting off interruptingexpressions
(i.e., expressions that are not essential tothe
structure or meaning of asentence)
c. Appositives


Thepresident of this company, Rafaal-Habobi,
started out asasalestrainee.
Awoman of humble origins, Mrs. Peters is nowthe
owner of alarge retailchain.

28. Unclassified
Comma ,
*REVIEW:
Appositive- Anoun or noun phrase placednext
to another word or phrase to identify,
rename, or explainit.
 Paris, the capital of France,is my dreamtravel
destination.
(In this sentence, the capital of France isan
appositive.)

29. Unclassified
Comma ,
*NOTE1: When the interrupter appears
in the middle of asentence, it is both
precededANDfollowed by acomma.
*NOTE 2: An interrupter at the beginning
or end of a sentence requires only one
comma to separate it from the rest.

30. Unclassified
Comma ,
*Used in the followingsituations:
8. Toset off degrees and titles from aperson’s
name
 Linda Porter, M.D., performed the surgery.

31. Unclassified
Comma ,
*Used in the followingsituations:
9. Toset off Inc. and Ltd. from corporatenames


EmilyAdamsnow works for Jericho Steel,Inc.
Troy Motors, Ltd. was founded in1987.

32. Unclassified
Comma ,
*Used in the followingsituations:
10. Toseparate city namesfrom state/country
names


Hewasborn and raised in Brooklyn, NewYork.
Bulacan, Philippines is my hometown.

33. Unclassified
Comma ,
*Used in the followingsituations:
11. Toset off the year from the month and day
in adate
 Thecompany opened four overseas brancheson
January 26, 2011.

34. Unclassified
Comma ,
*NOT used in the followingnumbers:
1. Street numbers and ZIPcodes
 1129 Maple Street, Smithtown, Ohio93011
2. Telephone numbers
 (914) 830-9612
3. Decimals
 49. 113207
4. Serial or accountnumbers
 621 Z7897

35. Unclassified
Comma ,
*Used in the followingsituations:
12. Toseparate non-restrictive expressions from otherwords
in asentence
• Non-restrictive expressions – NOTessential to the meaningof
asentence; adds information
 My father, who is bilingual, should have no trouble finding a
job.
(“I” can have only one father. Knowing that he is bilingual doesn’t help us
identify him; itsimply tells usmore about him.)
 Mr. Brown’s wife, Janet, is anattorney.
(Mr. Brown can have only one wife, soher name isnonrestrictive.
Therefore, we set off Janet withcommas.)

36. Unclassified
Comma ,
*Compare with restrictiveexpressions:
• Restrictive expressions – essential to the meaning ofa
sentence; specifies
 Students who are bilingual should have notrouble
finding ajob.
(Not all students will find it easy to get jobs. Only those who are

bilingual will.)
Mr. Brown’s brother John works for the government; his
brother Arthur is in privateindustry.
(SinceMr. Brown hasmore than one brother, theirnamesare
restrictive: they tell uswhich brother iswhich.)
*NOTE:We do NOTusecommas to set off restrictive
expressions.

37. Unclassified
Comma ,
*REMEMBER:
• Non-restrictive expressions–
USEcommas
• Restrictive expressions–
DONOTUSEcommas

38. Unclassified
Apostrophe ‘
*Used for thefollowing:
1 . Toindicate the possessiveform of nouns andindefinite
pronouns
a. Thepossessiveform of singular nouns and indefinitepronouns
take ‘sat the end.



Thebriefcase owned by Martin – Martin’sbriefcase
Thefault of nobody – Nobody’sfault
Theproperty owned by the company–
Thecompany’s property


Thetelephone number of Bess– Bess’stelephone number
Thejob of my boss– My boss’sjob

39. Unclassified
Apostrophe ‘
*Used for thefollowing:
1 . Toindicate the possessiveform of nouns andindefinite
pronouns
b. Plural nouns NOTending in –sor –esform the possessiveby
adding ‘s.


Therights of women – Women’srights
Thescientific namesof those fungi –Thosefungi’sscientific
names
c. Plural nouns ending in –sor –esform the possessivebyadding


only anapostrophe.
Thebenefits of the workers –Theworkers’benefits
Labelsof the boxes – Boxes’labels

40. Unclassified
Apostrophe ‘
*Used for thefollowing:
1 . Toindicate the possessiveform of nouns andindefinite
pronouns
d. Hyphenatednouns
 Theeditor-in-chief’s office
 My father-in-law’s business
e. Nouns in joint possession:Add ‘sto the last noun only
 Rayand Sally’s friend
 Tom and Rita’s store
f. If separate possession is intended: Add ‘s to both nouns
 Al’s and Lucy’sanswers

41. Unclassified
Apostrophe ‘
*Used for thefollowing:
2 . Contractions
I would =>I’d
can not
they are
1929
=>can’t
=>they’re
=>‘29
because =>‘cause
*Note: Contractions should be avoided informal
written English.

42. Unclassified
Apostrophe ‘
*Used for thefollowing:
3. Toform specialplurals
a. Lowercaseletters
 Thew’s on this typewriter come outlooking like u’s.
b. Abbreviations ending withperiods
 All the M.D.’s in the theater offered their help.

43. Unclassified
Quotation Marks ““
*Used for thefollowing:
1. Toenclose the exact words from eithersomeone’s
writing or speech
 In an article on credit, financial advisor JaneFreund
wrote: “Establishing credit before you need itis an
intelligent precaution.”
NOTE:Aquote within aquote is enclosed in single
quotation marks (‘ ‘):
 Freund noted: “We all have at least one friend who
brags, ‘I never buy anything on credit.’ But that person is
establishing no credit history, a hedge against the day he
may need credit.”

44. Unclassified
Quotation Marks ““
REMEMBER:
• Thespeakerand the verb of saying(e.g. Jane
Fraundwrote) are always OUTSIDEthe quotation
marks.
• Quotation marks are always usedin pairs.

45. Unclassified
Quotation Marks ““
*Used for thefollowing:
2. Toenclose the titles of short stories,essays,
articles, poems, andchapters
 We were required to read the article “How toAskfor
aRaise”in the August issueof Secretary’sWorld.
COMPARE:Titles of full-length works (e.g., books,
magazines,newspapers, plays, movies, and television
shows) are usually italicized.
 Thebook Abraham Lincoln and the Roadto Emancipation
waspublished in 2001 by Viking Pressin NewYork.

46. Unclassified
Hyphen -
*Used for thefollowing:
1. Tojoin two or more words intoacompound
do-it-yourself instruction booklets
await-and-see attitude


 athirty-year-old woman
2. For compound numbers from 21 to99


thirty-eight
eighty-two
3. With fractions


one-quarter
four-fifths

47. Unclassified
Hyphen -
*Used for thefollowing:
4. With the prefixes ex-, all-, self-, andpro-
 ex-convict
 all-star
 self-help
 pro-tennis

48. Unclassified
Dash
*Two Kinds:
1. En Dash –
- Thewidth of ann
- Alittle longer than ahyphen
2. Em Dash —
- Thewidth of anm
(Hyphen - )

49. Unclassified
En Dash –
*Used for thefollowing:
1. Toconnect two items (usually numbers)that
designate arange



We submitted chapters 10–12 well after midnight.
Indeed, 2001–2003 were the happiest years ofher life.
TheJanuary–Februaryissueis due on newsstands tomorrow.

50. Unclassified
En Dash –
*Used for thefollowing:
2. When combining open compounds with otherwords
 Theauthor is aNobel Prize–winning chemist.
(In the above example, Prize and winning are joined, but Nobel is
just floating out there. The en dash shows that the word Nobel is
included in the opencompound.)


I am attending ahigh school–college conferencethis
afternoon.
We crossed the Virginia–North Carolina border pastmidnight.

51. Unclassified
En Dash –
*REVIEW:
Three Kindsof Compounds:
1. Closed


firefly
secondhand
childlike
redhead
makeup
notebook
 softball keyboard watermelon
2. Hyphenated
 daughter-in-law over-the-counter ten-year-old
 master-at-arms six-pack mass-produced
3. Open



post office
real estate
middle class
full moon
half sister
attorney general

52. Unclassified
EmDash ―
*Used for thefollowing:
1. Toindicate asudden changeof thought ortone
 I plan to study for the examall night ―if my eyes

hold out.
Mr. Rodriguez ―do you remember him fromlast year’s
convention? ―willbe joining our staff in May.

53. Unclassified
EmDash ―
*Used for thefollowing:
2. Tobreak off an unfinishedstatement
 Mrs. Olsen mumbled, “I can’t seemtoremember
where ―”
3. Between an introductory list and theexplanatory
sentence that follows
 Calmness,confidence, and acopy of your resume―
bring all of these toajob interview.

54. Unclassified
EmDash ―
*Used for thefollowing:
4. Toattribute quotations
 If you can dream it, you can do it. —Walt Disney
 It is not in the starts to hold our destiny but in
ourselves. — William Shakespeare

55. Unclassified
EmDash ―
REMEMBER:
• Theem dash should be used
discreetly.
• It is NOTasubstitute for commasor
terminal punctuation.

56. Unclassified
Parentheses ( )
*Used for thefollowing:
1. Toenclose statements that are completely separate
from the main thought of asentence; such
statements may serve assupplement or asreference
 In some professions (physical therapy, for example),
adress code may be strictly enforced.
 Margaret Grange (1883 – 1966) wasthe author ofseveral
books on corporate finance.
 According to the union contract, all employees are
required to have acollege transcript on file (seeSection6,
Paragraph 1).

57. Unclassified
Parentheses ( )
*Used for thefollowing:
2. For enumeration within asentence
You willneed the following: (1) your resume,
(2) letters of reference, (3) acollegetranscript,
and (4) apencil.

58. Unclassified
Parentheses ( )
NOTE1: Sentence punctuation comesAFTERthe
closing parenthesis.
 I have investigated various models of calculators for the
office (see the attached list), butnone hasbeen purchased
yet.
NOTE 2: However, if the parentheses enclose a whole
sentence, the terminal punctuation is placed INSIDE
the closingparenthesis.
 Pleasesubmit your time cards by Wednesday evening.
(Blank time cards are available in the personneloffice.)

59. Unclassified
Brackets [ ]
*Used for thefollowing:
1. Parentheses within parentheses
 The role of business in American life has often been the
subject of our fiction (see, for example, the novels of
William Dean Howells [1837 –1920]).
2. Interpolations within aquotation
 In Death of a S
alesman by Arthur Miller,Charlie pays
tribute to Willy Loman: “[A salesman’s] a man way out
there in the blue, riding on asmile and ashoeshine…
A salesman has got to dream, boy. It comes with the
territory.”

60. Unclassified
Brackets [ ]
*Used for thefollowing:
3. Editorial corrections andcomments
 Theprofessor ended his lecture with this remark:
“All of you will hopefully [sic] read at least some of
these books.”
NOTE:Sichere means that the word hopefully,
although used incorrectly, is beingreproduced
from the originalquotation.

61. Unclassified
Ellipsis …
*Used within aquotation to indicated an omitted word or words.
 President Ohashi beganhis addressto the Board of Directors by
saying,“The ageof the personal computer hasjustbegan.
This company got started two years ago with just a quarter of a
million dollars and 10,000 sales. Now, despite the birth of
several competitors, our market is expanding phenomenally.
Next year, we expect to sell 500,000computers.”
 Compare:
President Ohashi beganhis addressto the Board of Directors by
saying, “The age of the personal computer has just began…
Next year, we expect to sell 500,000computers.”