Punctuation

I. Period .
A. Uses
1. To mark the end of a sentence
2. To signal an abbreviation
B. Examples
1. I have finished eating.
2. I.D.B. is a large Israeli company.
II. Comma ,
A. Uses
1. To set off any non-essential parts of the sentence
2. To separate dependent and independent clauses
3. To separate items (adjectives, nouns, verbs and phrases)
B. Examples
1. SUV’s, which are not my favorite kind of car, are very popular here.
2. Although I understand your situation, I cannot help you.
3. I like bread, cheese and olives.
III. Semicolon ;
A. Uses
1. To use when there are too many commas
2. To distinguish items on a list
3. To join phrases and sentences that are thematically linked without having to
use a conjunction
B. Examples
1. You may not cancel, postpone, sell, transfer or use it as a security; register it
in your own name, a company’s name or a third person’s name.
2. Paint the walls;
Fix any damage;
Pay all debts;
3. I like your brother; he's a good friend
IV. Colon :
A. Uses
1. Introduces a list of items at the END OF A SENTENCE.
2. To introduce an example
B. Examples
1. The following animals are allowed: dogs, cats, fish and snakes
2. The problem is this: we all want good grades but we don’t want to study
hard.
 V. Apostrophe ‘
A. Uses
1. To mark possession
2. To mark a missing letter
B. Examples
1. That is John’s telephone.
2. It’s a long bus trip.
VI. Quotation marks “ “
A. Uses
1. To cite something someone said exactly
2. To mark out idiomatic or unfamiliar expressions
3. To cite sources in academic writing
B. Examples
1. "I'm going to the store now," she said.
2. I've always thought that he was very annoying, a bit of a "pain in the
neck."
3. "The Migration Flight of the Lesser Tweazle", by Jeremey Adams, The Bird
Spotter Magazine, July 2009.

VII. Question Mark

A. Use
1. To end a question.
B. Example
1. What time is your flight?

Exercises

A. Put in the missing punctuation.

1. We had a great time in France; the kids really enjoyed it.

2. Some people work best in the mornings; others do better in the evenings.

3. What are you doing next weekend?

4. Mother had to go into hospital : she had heart problems.

Because my mother had heart problems, she had to go into hospital.

5. Did you understand why I was upset?

6. It is a fine idea; let us hope that it is going to work.

7. We ate a hamburger ,chips and salad.

8. A textbook can be a “wall” between teacher and class .

9. The girl’s father sat in a corner.

10. In the words of Murphy’s Law: “anything that can go wrong will go wrong”.

11. If you walk to college, you will get some exercise.

You will get some exercises if you walk to college.

12. Once a month ,I go to the beach with my friends or family.

B. Put in the missing punctuation.

The trip was exhausting but fascinating Although I had flown many times I was not prepared for

the challenge of the world tour We did the show in London Dublin Lisbon and Madrid and in

North America Montreal Ottawa Vancouver Seattle Los Angeles and New York I was responsible

for the following connecting the sound system testing it before the concert and packing it up at

the end of the concert. My bosss instructions were very specific He didn’t want to know that I

exist In practice that meant that he doesnt want to hear of any problems As you can imagine I

had a wonderful time but am very glad to be home.