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    Easy English! Punctuation
    Easy English! Punctuation
    Easy English! Punctuation
    Ebook126 pages1 hour

    Easy English! Punctuation

    By Alex Shepard

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    About this ebook

    Easy English! Punctuation by Alex Shepard is your key to writing with style and confidence.

    Whether you need a slight refresher on getting your commas and colons right, or a step-by-step guide to help you tackle tricky hyphens in compound adjectives, Easy English has got you covered.

    Written as a concise guide and reference book, Easy English! Punctuation breaks down all the important rules you need to know. With abundant examples along the way, it explains each aspect of punctuation in simple English, making it perfect for easy study. And at the end, a quiz with over 100 questions will help make sure you know how to craft a perfect sentence every time.

    So take control of your punctuation by seeing how easy English can be!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAlex Shepard
    Release dateApr 28, 2019
    ISBN9780463710678
    Easy English! Punctuation
    Author

    Alex Shepard

    Alex Shepard has been a language researcher for the better part of his life. He has postgraduate degrees in English literature and linguistics, and he has worked for over a decade with English second-language learners from around the world.For more help with your grammar, visit Rockwallerbooks.com!

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      Book preview

      Easy English! Punctuation - Alex Shepard

      Easy English!

      Punctuation

      by

      Alex Shepard

      First published 2018

      Publication © Rockwaller Books 2018

      Text © Alex Shepard 2018

      All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

      Publisher: Rockwaller Books

      Editor: Dane Wallace

      Proofreader: Adam Watson

      Cover Design: Emma Grey

      Rockwallerbooks.com

      @RockwallerBooks

      Distributed by Smashwords

      License notes

      This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Acknowledgments

      To my parents,

      for teaching me the joys of reading.

      And to you, the reader:

      If you find you this guide useful, please consider leaving a short comment or review. Your feedback is a massive help in creating more books for you and other learners.

      Contents

      What Is Punctuation?

      1. Periods

      1.1 Full Sentences

      1.2 Abbreviations

      1.3 Parentheses

      1.4 Quotation Marks

      2. Commas

      2.1 Commas and Conjunctions

      2.2 Comma Splices

      2.3 Serial Commas

      2.4 Bracketing Commas

      2.5 Words in Apposition

      2.6 Commas with Adjectives

      2.7 Introductory Phrases

      2.8 Showing Omission

      3. Apostrophes

      3.1 Possession

      3.2 Contractions

      3.3 The Greengrocer’s Apostrophe

      4. Quotation Marks

      4.1 Double vs. Single

      4.2 Direct vs. Indirect Speech

      4.3 Quotes

      4.4 Block Quotes

      4.5 Scare Quotes

      5. Colons

      5.1 Listing and Elaborating

      5.2 Introducing Quotes

      6. Semicolons

      6.1 Joining Sentences

      6.2 Adverbial Conjunctions

      6.3 Semicolons in Lists

      7. Hyphens

      7.1 Compound Adjectives

      7.2 Suspended Hyphens

      7.3 Phrasal Verbs

      7.4 Numbers

      8. Dashes and Slashes

      8.1 Parenthetical Dashes

      8.2 Linking Dashes

      8.3 Interrupted Speech

      8.4 Bibliographies

      8.5 Slashes

      9. Parentheses and Brackets

      9.1 Parentheses

      9.1.1 Punctuating parentheses

      9.2 Square Brackets

      10. Ellipses

      10.1 Speech: Trailing Off

      10.2 Quotes: Omissions

      11. Questions and Exclamations

      11.1 Question Marks

      11.1.1 Direct questions

      11.1.2 Indirect questions

      11.1.3 Editorial uncertainty

      11.2 Exclamation Marks

      12. Punctuation Quiz

      12.1 Questions

      12.2 Answers

      More books in the Easy English series

      What Is Punctuation?

      Learning to speak a language can be very intimidating. But so can learning to write a language. Students and professionals can both become equally flustered when facing the challenge of writing something for others to read.

      Fortunately, the solution is easier than you might think.

      With even just an hour or two of carefully studying punctuation, the quality of your writing will vastly improve. And so will your confidence as a writer.

      But what exactly is punctuation?

      Well, when we write a sentence, we use a system of marks to organize and structure the words in a certain way. This might be to give the sentence a particular rhythm or to convey a very specific meaning. In all cases, punctuation is there to help make sure that what you write is clear for readers to understand. Without it, having to decipher the meaning of every sentence in a book or magazine article would only lead to a maddening amount of confusion.

      Take a look at the following example:

      A lot of the time travelers spend more money than they plan to when visiting a new place.

      Okay, hang on. Are we really discussing the spending habits of time travelers? Well, according to that sentence, yes. But I highly doubt that’s what the writer had in mind.

      Let’s try adding a simple comma to see what happens:

      A lot of the time, travelers spend more money than they plan to when visiting a new place.

      Just that little curly dot has given the sentence a whole new meaning. Now you could find a sentence like that in any serious travel book.

      That is the power of punctuation.

      With one tiny adjustment, your writing can shift from being strange and nonsensical to being mature and crystal clear.

      By familiarizing yourself with a small handful of rules, you can take complete control of your writing. Colons and semicolons, hyphens and en dashes: these are tools to help you best express yourself. So learn them well, treat them with care, and use them to make your writing shine.

      1

      Periods

      Periods (also known as full stops in British English) are perhaps the most common type of punctuation.

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