Ministry of Education

Secondary Engagement Programme

September 2020

WEEK THIRTEEN: Lesson Two

SUBJECT: English A
GRADE: Seven

TOPIC: Capitalisation and Punctuation

SUB-TOPIC: Uses of Capital Letters and End Marks

OBJECTIVES:
(1) With the aid of given list of the uses of capital letters, students will rewrite each sentence
and correctly insert capital letters where they are needed.
(2) With the aid of given examples, students will insert the correct end marks where
necessary in the following sentences.

Concept:
(1) Capitalisation helps to convey information.
(2) Punctuation is used to mark the pauses and tone in written English.

Content
Capitalisation
Capital letters are used:
1. At the beginning of a sentence.
(a) It is yours. (b) Sally writes neatly.

2. To begin Proper Nouns and Proper Adjectives

(a) Barbados – Barbadian (b) Darren (c) Chelsea (d) St. Paul Street

3. To write the personal pronoun “I”.

(a) I am certain that I will not be attending. (b) I am afraid of snakes.

4. To write titles.
(a) Mrs. (b) Dr. (c) Reverend.

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5. To begin the first spoken word in Direct Speech
(a) “We are not going with you,” uttered Jane and me.
(b) The child stated, “Joseph placed the book on that shelf.”

6. To begin the days of the week and months of the year.

(a) Tuesday (b) Saturday (c) February (d) September

7. To begin words of an exclamation

(a) Ahh! (b) Stop that man! (c) What a pleasant surprise!

8. To highlight principal words in titles of books, plays, poems, songs, films.

(a) Moon Over the Mountain
(b) Avatar
(c) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

9. To begin words that refer to Jesus Christ, God, Lord Rama, Deities and holy books.
(a) Jesus is the Saviour of the world (d) Jehovah
(b) Holy Quran (e) The Bible
(c) Mother Lakshmi (f) Allah

10. Use capital letters for many abbreviations and acronyms.

(a) UN (b) PAHO (c) RSVP (d) YMCA

11. Capitalise legally protected brand names and trademarks.

(a) Xbox 360 (b) Coco Cola (c) Nike
Exceptions – iPhone, iPad

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Exercise - Capitalisation
Rewrite each sentence and put in capital letters where they are needed.
1. mr. paul is a mathematics teacher.
2. the Amerindians were made up of the caribs and the arawaks.
3. guyana is well known for its gold.
4. scotia bank will not open on friday.
5. january is the first month of the year.
6. The teacher announced, “bring all textbooks on thursday.”
7. Only two children spoke chinese while the others spoke english.
8. hurricane flora ravaged the island of tobago many years ago.
9. My favourite author is enid blyton.
10. nigeria, uganda and south africa are all countries in the continent of africa.
11. i enjoy jogging around the savannah.
12. nelson mandela and mahatma ghandi were both freedom fighters.
13. mr. barack obama, the President of the united states of America, flies in air force one.
14. new york is the city that bustles with activity.
15. The university of the west indies is a reputable tertiary level institution.

Punctuation
Punctuation is used to mark the pauses and tone in written English. Punctuation helps us to
understand when to pause between fully formed ideas when speaking, as well as organize our
thoughts in writing.

End Marks
1. The Full Stop or Period (.)
Full stops are used:
(a) At the end of a telling sentence
- An elephant is the largest land mammal.
- It’s raining heavily.

(b) After initials

- A.M. - S. M.

(c) To mark abbreviations

- Mr. - Mrs. - Dr. - Hon.

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 2. Question Mark (?)
The question mark is used at the end of a question. (Asking sentence)
Examples:
- Where do you live?
- How long have you been studying?

3. Exclamation Mark (!)

(a) The exclamation point is used at the end of a sentence to indicate great surprise,
strong feeling within a sentence, such as fear, anger or love.
(b) It is also used for emphasis when making a point.
(c) It can also be used to indicate an instruction.
Be careful not to use an exclamation point too often.
Examples:
- That was a wonderful idea!
- Stop thief!
- I can’t believe he said that!

Exercise - Punctuation
Insert full stops, question marks and exclamation marks where necessary in the following
sentences.
1. Can I see you for a minute
2. Joel and Anna’s store sells lovely gift items
3. No, you cannot go to the movies
4. Did you see the news last night
5. “Help! Help” exclaimed little Katrina
6. “Sam, where are you going” asked daddy
7. James’ uniform is well ironed
8. “Congratulations” greeted Sarah
9. Since I am here, let me know the truth
10. After the rain subsided, we left the building

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Answer Sheet – Capitalisation
1. Mr. Paul is a Mathematics teacher.
2. The Amerindians were made up of the Caribs and the Arawaks.
3. Guyana is well known for its gold.
4. Scotia Bank will not open on Friday.
5. January is the first month of the year.
6. The teacher announced, “Bring all textbooks on Thursday.”
7. Only two children spoke Chinese while the others spoke English.
8. Hurricane Flora ravaged the island of Tobago many years ago.
9. My favourite author is Enid Blyton.
10. Nigeria, Uganda and South Africa are all countries in the continent of Africa.
11. I enjoy jogging around the savannah.
12. Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Ghandi were both freedom fighters.
13. Mr. Barack Obama, the President of the United States of America, flies in Air Force One.
14. New York is the city that bustles with activity.
15. The University of the West Indies is a reputable tertiary level institution.

Answer Sheet – Punctuation

1. Can I see you for a minute?
2. Joel and Anna’s store sells lovely gift items.
3. No, you cannot go to the movies.
4. Did you see the news last night?
5. “Help! Help!” exclaimed little Katrina.
6. “Sam, where are you going?” asked daddy.
7. James’ uniform is well ironed.
8. “Congratulations!” greeted Sarah.
9. Since I am here, let me know the truth.
10. After the rain subsided, we left the building.

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