terry and louis

went to central
park last july.
on sunday, i will
see the movie
star wars and eat
at taco bell.
PUNCTUATION
MARKS
Read the sentences aloud
while applying the different
sounds (punctuation marks)
that you heard a while ago.
She bought
milk, eggs, and
bread.
Where are we
going?
She said,
"Let us eat.”
It is cold!
Punctuation marks are
symbols that are used to
aid the clarity and
comprehension of written
language.
 Period
The period is
placed at the
end of
declarative
sentences.
EXAMPLES
1. Biology is the
natural science that
studies life and living
organisms.
2. Chemistry is the branch
of science that deals with
chemical elements and
compounds, and how these
things work together and
change.
 Comma
The comma is used
to show a
separation of ideas
or elements within
the structure of a
sentence.
EXAMPLES
1. Math is the science of
numbers and their operations,
interrelations, combinations,
generalizations, and
abstractions.
2. Geometry is a branch of
mathematics that deals with
the measurement,
properties, and relationships
of points, lines, angles,
surfaces, and solids.
 Question Mark
Use a question
mark to indicate a
direct question
when placed at
the end of a
sentence.
EXAMPLES

1. What is
Mathematics?
2. How should we
learn
Mathematics?
 Exclamation Mark
The exclamation
point is used when
a person wants to
express a sudden
outcry.
EXAMPLES
1. I really hate solving
mathematical
problems!
2. Very impressive!
Carlo learned how
to sew a shirt in
T.L.E..
 Quotation Mark
Quotations marks (“ ”)
are a pair of
punctuation marks used
primarily to mark the
beginning and end of a
passage attributed to
another and repeated
word for word.
EXAMPLES

1. She said, “I want to

learn how to cook in
our T.L.E. subject.”
2. Our teacher
explained, “MAPEH
stands for Music, Arts,
Physical Education, and
Health.”
 Semi-Colon
Semi-colons are
most commonly
used to merge
two independent
clauses.
 EXAMPLES
*TWO SENTENCES:

1. The world is a stage.

2. Play your role well.
*COMBINED WITH SEMI-
COLON

The world is a stage; play

your role well.
A semi-colon can also be
used as a super-comma, to
separate items in a long list.

For example:
Please pack my anthologies on
short stories, poetry, and
Shakespearean plays; my
biographies on Jackie Kennedy,
Charles Stuart, and Queen
Elizabeth; and my historical
romance novels by Nora Roberts,
Jude Devereux, and Diana
Gabaldon.
 Colon
A colon is a sign
that used to
mark a major
division in a
sentence.
The first is after a word
introducing a quotation,
an explanation, an
example, or a series.
EXAMPLES
1. He was planning to
study four subjects:
politics, philosophy,
sociology and economics.
The second is between
independent clauses, when
the second explains the
first, similar to a
semicolon.
2. Math is such a hard
subject: if you don't
follow the rules, you
can't find the answer!
 5. The Apostrophe
An apostrophe (') is
used to indicate the
omission of a letter or
letters from a word,
the possessive case, or
the plurals of
lowercase letters.
 EXAMPLE

• Omission of letters from a word:

I've seen that movie several times.
She wasn't the only one who knew the
answer.

• Possessive case: Sara's dog bit the

neighbor.
EXAMPLE

Marie told the teacher, "I saw

Marc at the playground, and
he said to me 'Bill started
the fight,' and I believed
him."
 6. Ellipsis
The ellipsis is used in writing or
printing to indicate an omission,
especially of letters or words.
Ellipses are frequently used within
quotations to jump from one phrase
to another, omitting unnecessary
words that do not interfere with the
meaning. Students writing research
papers or newspapers quoting parts
of speeches will often employ
ellipsis to avoid copying lengthy
text that is not needed.
 EXAMPLE

• Omission of words: She began to count,

"One, two, three, four…" until she got to
10, then went to find him.

• Within a quotation: When Newton stated,

"An object at rest stays at rest and an
object in motion stays in motion..." he
developed the law of motion.
 9. Brackets

Brackets, braces
and parentheses
are symbols used
to contain words
that are a further
explanation or
are considered a
group.
 EXAMPLE

• Parentheses ( ( ) ) are curved notations used to

contain further thoughts or qualifying remarks.
However, parentheses can be replaced by
commas without changing the meaning in most
cases.

John and Jane (who were actually half

brother and sister) both have red hair.
EXAMPLE

• Brackets are the squared off notations ([ ])

used for technical explanations or to clarify
meaning. If you remove the information in
the brackets, the sentence will still make
sense.

He [Mr. Jones] was the last person

seen at the house.
 EXAMPLE

Braces ({ }) are used to contain two or more lines

of text or listed items to show that they are
considered as a unit. They are not commonplace
in most writing, but can be seen in computer
programming to show what should be contained
within the same lines. They can also be used in
mathematical expressions.

For example, 2{1+[23-3]}=x.

 10. The Hyphen and Dash

A hyphen is used to join

two or more words
together into a compound
term and is not separated
by spaces.

For example: part-

time, back-to-back,
well-known.
 EXAMPLE

A dash is used to separate words into

statements. There are two common types of
dashes: en dash and em dash.

• En dash: Slightly wider than a hyphen, the en

dash is a symbol (–) that is used in writing or
printing to indicate a range or connections
and differentiations, such as 1880–1945 or
Princeton–New York trains.
EXAMPLE

• Em dash: Twice as long as the en dash,

the em dash can be used in place of a
comma, parenthesis, or colon to enhance
readability or emphasize the conclusion
of a sentence.

For example:
She gave him her answer — No!
 12. Slash

Slashes are most often used

to distinguish between two
terms such as “he/she”,
“period/full-stop”. They are
usually used in place of the
words “or” or “and.” They
can also used in
abbreviations (i.e., w/,
w/out, and/or).
LET'S TRY!

This exercise will test your understanding of

all kinds of different punctuation marks,
particularly commas, colons, semi-colons
and apostrophes.

Select the correctly punctuated sentence.

 LET'S TRY!

a) Spain is a beautiful country; the beache's

are warm, sandy and spotlessly clean.
b) Spain is a beautiful country: the beaches are
warm, sandy and spotlessly clean.
c) Spain is a beautiful country, the beaches are
warm, sandy and spotlessly clean.
d) Spain is a beautiful country; the beaches are
warm, sandy and spotlessly clean.
 LET'S TRY!

a) Sarah's uncle's car was found without

its wheels in that old derelict warehouse.
b) Sarah's uncle's car was found without
its wheels in that old, derelict
warehouse.
c) Sarahs uncles car was found without
its wheels in that old, derelict
warehouse.
d) Sarah's uncle's car was found without
 LET'S TRY!

a) The world's experts were quick to praise

the two girls' courage.
b) The world's experts were quick to praise
the two girl's courage.
c) The worlds expert's were quick to praise
the two girls' courage.
d) The worlds' experts were quick to praise
the two girls' courage.