Teacher Yvette
Added2009-02-11 17:41:00
Punctuation
 Punctuations are part of good usage especially in writing system. We should learn how to use each punctuation marks correctly. 1. Period (.) It is used after a statement, an abbrevation and initials. e.g. Love makes the world go round Sept. (September) Ms. (Miss) B.S.E. (Bachelor of Science in Education) The priod is also used as a decimal point. e.g. 1.5 .ooo7 .600.50 2. Question mark (?) It is used after a direct question and after an order or request. e.g Where did you go? The man asked, "Have we met before?" Could you please do me a favor? 3. Exclamation mark (!) It is used after a statement of strong feeling or after an interjection. e.g. Hurrah! Oh no! Help! 4. Comma (,) This punctuation mark has many uses. These are as follows: a. to separate items in a series e.g. The subjects that I like most are English, Japanese and Science b. to separate two or more adjectives that modify the same noun or pronoun. e.g. He is an honest, dedicated young man. c. after a certain introductory element e.g. Well, I guess you're right d. after the salutation of a friendly letter and after the closing of any letter. e.g. Dear Precy, Truly yours, Your friend, e. to separate items in dates and addressess. e.g. He was born on April 5, 1980 at Osaka, Japan. f. between independent clauses connected by and, but, for, or, nor, yet or so e.g. The boy was hurt, but he didn't cry. 5. Semicolon (;) It is used between independent clauses not joined by and, but, for, or, nor, and yet. e.g. I attended the meeting; you did not. It is also used between items in a series if the items already contain commas. e.g. The following were his grades in his academics subjects: English, 85; Filipino, 90; History, 87; Science, 84 and Mathematics, 83. 6. Colon (:) This punctuation mark is used a. before a list of items introduced by expressions like as follows and the following (Please see example no. 5 again) b. between the hours and minutes e.g. 8:30 A.M. 9:00 P.M. c. after the salutation of a business letter e.g. Dear Sir: Dear Madam: 7. Dash (-) The dash is used a. to indicate an abrupt break in thought e.g. If we run out of gasoline - and that's likely to happen - we might be forced to walk five kilometers. b. to mean namely, in otherwords, that is and similar expressions that preced explanations. e.g. My desire to get high grades was based on one thought - to become a scholar. 8. Parenthesis ( ) It is used to enclose informative or explanatory matter that is added to a sentence but is not considered of major importance. e.g.Their house has thatch roofs (roofs made of straw or stacks). 9. Quotation marks (" ") It is used to enclose a direct quotation or a person's exact words. e.g. "Did you help your brother fix his toys?" my mother asked. It is also used to enclose titles of chapters, articles, short poems, short stories and foreign words. e.g. The story, "Footnote to Youth", was written by Jose Garcia Villa. 10. Apostrophe (') The apostrophe is used a. to form the possessive case of noun e.g. Hilda's bag the boy's room b. to form the plural of letters, numbers and signs e.g. There are two m's in the word commuter. That song was popularized in the late 60's. 11. Hyphen ( - ) hyphen is used a. to divide a word at the end of a line. e.g. Is it always the fault of the parents if their chil- dren turn out bad? b. in compound words and compound numbers. e.g. maid-of-honor thirty-one thirty-two c. in prefixes like ex- and self- and with all prefixes before a proper noun or an adjective e.g. ex-convict self-esteem Activity: Below is a conversation between a boy and a girl. The line stand for the missing punctuation marks. Fill each line witha correct punctuation mark. ___How many journal entries have you written so far_____ _____ he asked______ ___Twenty to twenty___ five I think____ she answered____ ___Why, that__s impressing____ ____ he exclaimed___ ___You must have talents in writing,____ he continued_____ ___Do you think so____ _____ she asked___ |