Punctuation

Punctuation refers to the symbols we use in writing that help make our
sentences clearer. Punctuation includes the comma (,), the period (.),
parentheses (), brackets [], etc.

The Comma Splice

Whereas periods or full stops (.) indicate a long pause in speech,
commas (,) indicate a slight pause. For example:

1. "Hi, my name is Peter." (= brief pause after 'Hi')

2. "Hi. My name is Peter." (= longer pause )

Native speakers often use commas in writing to indicate a brief pause:

 I ordered pizza, it'll come in 30 minutes.

However, in formal writing, we are not supposed to use commas to join

two complete sentences, such as "I ordered pizza" and "it'll come in five
minutes." Using a comma like this is called a 'comma splice'.

To fix this, you can change the comma to a semicolon (;) or a period (.)
or use a conjunction after the comma:

 I ordered pizza; it'll come in five minutes.

 I ordered pizza. It'll come in five minutes.
 I ordered pizza, and it'll come in five minutes.

Time expressions or extra information in the beginning

of the sentence
ALWAYS separate this information from the rest of the sentence with a
comma (,).

Every day, she checks her email in the morning.

He is not a healthy person. However, he loves fruits and vegetables.
When I was a kid, I used to ride a bike every day.
At the moment, he is in a meeting. Could you call later?

Capital letters
We use capital letters in the following situations:

 the beginning of a sentence

 the first person pronoun: “I”
 people, places and nationalities (Sue, Lisbon, American)
 days and months
 - she enjoys going to conferences.
- We say that it was not a big mistake and We told them not to worry
about it.
- She speaks english and spanish.
- She is brazilian.
- I bought a lot of office supllies like erasers, Sharpeners and Pencils.
- She likes to study at starbucks.
- She is traveling to japan on monday.
- Her birthday is in march.

Using Commas to Separate Items

Commas are also used to separate words in a series of three or more
items. You can put a comma between the last two items or leave it
out. Both options are acceptable.

 I like apples, bananas, and grapes.

 I like apples, bananas and grapes.

Apostrophe for possession

When we want to indicate the plural of something, we  do not use an
apostrophe:

 These kittens are so cute! (kittens = (plural))

 These kitten’s are so cute! (incorrect:  kitten's = (possessive) )

We only use apostrophes to indicate possession.

 This is the kitten's ball. (= this ball belongs to the kitten)

 This is the girl’s computer. (= this computer belongs to the girl)

When there is more than one owner and the word ends with an 's', we
do not add an additional 's' after the apostrophe.

 This is the girls’ computer. (= this computer belongs to the

girls)
 "This is the girls's computer" would be incorrect.

Apostrophe for contraction

We can also use apostrophes to indicate missing letters from
contractions (making some words shorter).

 I am → I’m
  He is → He’s
 It is → It’s
 Can not → Can’t
 We will → We’ll

Let’s correct the punctuation of the following text:

Today, Sofia is doing an exam, She enjoys to go the school, At this moment she is sitting on her
teacher´s desk, She is checking her notes, She usually studies before the exam, Sofia loves to
see her teacher every days, She is focusing.

Sara is Sofia´s teacher now, she loves her students, right now she is reviewing Sofia´s notes,
she is standing next to Sofia, she is holding her backpack and they are in the classroom.

Sofia´s friends are in the yard, at this moment the guys are playing volleyball, the girls are
seeing through the window how Sofia is finishing her exam.