ACADEMIC SKILLS PROGRAM
STUDENT SERVICES AND DEVELOPMENT
COLONS AND SEMI-COLONS
Answers
Decide whether the sentences below need a colon or semi-colon.
1. I bring everything I need to class every day: my pens, my books and my dictionary.
2. Young-Hee failed her English test; nevertheless, she was able to get a good job.
3. There are two things about him that drive me crazy: his music and his cooking.
4. I had lamb for lunch; Fred had steak.
5. If you get lost in the snow, this is what you should do: stay where you are, make yourself
warm and comfortable and wait for help.
6. The USA has a very large land area; Canada is even larger.
7. Instead of recommending further practice, the maestro urged her to listen to recordings by
famous pianists: Rachmaninoff, Rubinstein, Horowitz.
8. For for the baby's birthday party we have: a white cake, strawberry-marshmallow ice
cream, and a bottle of champagne saved from another party.
9. There are three choices in this life: be good, get good, or give up.
10. I have lived in Chicago, Illinois; Kansas City, Missouri; and Omaha, Nebraska.
QUOTATION MARKS
Exercises
Punctuate the following sentences correctly with quotation marks.
1. “Have you seen the movie The Ant Bullie?”
2. “Which store do you want to go to?” asked Marie.
3. “I don't believe you,” he said. “You never tell the truth!”
4. “Look both ways before you cross the street,” Mother reminded us.
5. “As a matter of fact,” she said, “I am mad at you for leaving early.”
DASHES
Decide where the dash(es) could go in the following sentences.
1. The only thing Tony could do—if he could do anything at all—was to sit and wait for the
test results to come in the mail.
2. The first time I went skiing—and the first time I broke my leg—is when I met my
husband.
3. He wanted to make dinner—and eat it with a pretty girl!
4. Danny could play the one musical instrument that no one wanted to listen to—the
bagpipes.
5. Rachel DeWoskin and Kirin Kapur—two leading archeologists—explore this interesting
desert region.
GENERAL PUNCTUATION
Below is the corrected passage. How many did you get correct?
Perhaps you don't always need to use commas, periods and colons to make sentences
clear. When I am in a hurry, tired, cold, lazy, or angry I sometimes leave out punctuation
marks.
"Grammar is stupid! I can write without it and I don't need it," my uncle Harry once said.
He was not very clever and I never understood a word he wrote to me. I think I'll learn
some punctuation—not too much, but enough to write to Uncle Harry. He needs some
help!