Grammar and Mechanics

Punctuation!!

A quick run-through of the basics

The punctuation marks we will learn
about today are…
• The full stop (.)
• The comma (,)
• The speech marks (“)
The full stop

The full stop (.) is used For example:

at the end of a John kicked the ball. The
sentence. A sentence is ball smashed a window.
a group of words which These are sentences. They
makes complete sense. make complete sense.
After a full stop, we John kicked
need a capital letter. The ball
These are not sentences.
They do not make complete
sense.
The comma (Part 1)
The comma (,) is used to
separate the main clause of
a sentence from the
subordinate clauses. The
main clause is the section
of the sentence which
makes complete sense by
itself. The subordinate
clauses do not make sense
by themselves. They need a
main clause to add to their
meaning.
• For example, look at the sentence
• While the children were working
quietly, Miss Jeffery was surfing the
Internet.
• Miss Jeffery was surfing the Internet is
the main clause. It makes complete
sense by itself.
• While the children were working
quietly is the subordinate clause. It
does not make sense by itself.
• The main clause and the subordinate
clause are separated by a comma.
• While the children were working
quietly, Miss Jeffery was surfing the
Internet.
The comma (Part 2)

• The comma (,) is also • For example: For lunch

used to separate items
in a list. The rules are as
follows:
• In a list of objects, there • There is no need to do this:
is no need for a comma
before the final object,
because ‘and’ takes its
place.
today I had: a cheese
sandwich, a packet of
crisps, a Fruit Shoot and an
apple.
For lunch today I had: a
cheese sandwich, a packet
of crisps, a Fruit Shoot, and
an apple. The comma
before ‘and’ is unnecessary.
The comma (Part 3)
• Rule Number 2: In a list of
adjectives or adverbs, there
is no need for a comma
between the final adjective
or adverb and the word it
describes.
• NB: an adjective describes a
noun (person, place or
thing). For example: The
beautiful girl. An adverb
describes a verb (a doing
word). For example: The car
moved quickly.
Using the comma in a list of
adjectives:
The old tramp was a smelly,
dirty, unpleasant-looking
man.
Using the comma in a list of
adverbs:
The motorbike sped
powerfully, dangerously,
exhilaratingly along the
road.
Speech Marks
• Speech marks are used to show the words that someone has spoken.
• They are also called inverted commas.

• “Lunch is ready!” said Mum.

• You use speech marks to show what someone has said.

Speech Marks
• You always use speech marks in pairs.
• One set is put before the spoken words.
• One set is put after the spoken words.

• Sam said, “I’m not hungry.”

 Speech Marks
Copy these sentences and add speech marks to each one.

Milo said lets go to the park

You are being very loud said Kameron

Now write your own sentence that contains

Speech marks.
Almost over…
• The function of punctuation is to
make your writing clearer and easier
to understand. A good way of
checking whether you need a
punctuation mark is to read your
work out loud. If you pause for
breath, it’s a good bet that you need
to add a punctuation mark of some
kind.
Hurrah! It’s the end!
• Yup…
• You now know all there is to
know about punctuation!
• Thank you for listening…