Punctuation Rules
Comma Rules:
Separate items in a series
Ex. The dishes, pots, and pans need to be
washed
Separate two or more adjectives
Ex. John is a humble, innocent child.
Before for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
when they separate independent
clauses.
Ex. We could read the book, or we could wait
to see the movie.
Comma Rules:
To set off nonessential clauses
Ex. His sayings, stated simply and directly,
express wisdom.
After introductory elements
Ex. No, I have not read that book.
Looking calm, Jill walked to the podium
To set off interruptions
Ex. Your research paper, Dylan, is very
interesting
Commas in Conventional Situations:
To separate items in dates and
addresses
 Ex. April 8, 2000
 315 Wayne Court, Danuba, California
After the salutation or closing of a letter
 Dear Alicia,
 Sincerely,
To set off abbreviations such as Jr., Sr.,
RN, M.D., Ltd., or Inc.
 Jorge Rivera, Jr.
 Flowers by Algernon, Inc.
Semicolons:
• Use a semicolon between
independent clauses (to
break up a run-on)
You don’t have to use a semicolon if the run-on is already
separated with a comma and conjunction (FANBOys),
unless the clauses you are separating already contain a lot
of commas
Ex. The rain had finally stopped; a few
rays of sunshine were pushing through the
clouds.
Semicolons:
•Use a semicolon between
items in a series if the items
contain commas.
Ex. The choir bus tour traveled to
Columbia, SC; Atlanta, GA; and
Gainsville, Fl.
Colons:
•Use a colon before a list or
quote to mean “note what
follows”:
Ex. The epics we will study in
class include the following: The iliad,
The Aenead, and The Epic of
Gilgamesh.
Colons:
Conventional situations:
-12:01 A.M. (between hour and minute)
-Mark 3:10 (between chapter and verse)
-A Long Way gone: memoirs of a boy
soldier (between title and subtitle)
- To whom it may Concern: (after the
salutation of a business letter)
Apostrophes
•Use an apostrophe to show possession
•Singular: put the apostrophe before an s
• Roland’s sword
•Mom’s meatloaf recipe
•Unless the word ends in s and an ‘s
would be awkward
•Mr. Rodgers’ class
•the witness’s testimony
Apostrophes
•Plural: put the apostrophe after the s
•The players’ uniforms
•the volunteers’ efforts
•Form the possessive of the last word
in a compound word or when
showing joint possession:
•brother-in-law’s
• Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s plan
Apostrophes
•Form the possessive of each noun in a
word group when showing individual
possession
•Shakespeare’s and Miller’s plays
•Contractions: use apostrophes to show
where characters have been replaced
•Let us = let’s
•You will = you’ll
•Do not = don’t
Apostrophes
•The only time you use
apostrophes for plurals is
with letters, numbers, and
words referred to as words.
•Mind your p’s and q’s.
•Don’t use so many and’s in your
writing.
Quotation Marks
•
Use quotation marks to enclose a direct
quotation:
• Begin the quotation with a capital letter
•
•
Ex. D’Angelo wrote, “Give more than
take.”
When the quote is interrupted, the
second part begins lowercase
•
Ex. “Common sense,” explained Albert
Einstein, “is the collection of prejudices
acquired by age eighteen.”
Quotation Marks
• Commas and periods are placed
inside the quotation marks
• Ex. “Read these lyrics,” he said.
• Semicolons and colons go outside
• Question marks and exclamation
points go inside if they are part of
the quote, outside if they are part
of the sentence.
Quotation Marks
• If the quotation is more than one
paragraph, put a quotation mark
at the beginning of each
paragraph.
• Use single quotations for quotes
within quotations
• When writing dialogue, begin a
new paragraph every time the
speaker changes
Quotation Marks
Use quotation marks to enclose
titles of short works such as:
• Short stories: “The Sniper”
• Poems: “Mother to Son”
• Songs: “Beat It”
• TV episodes, chapters of books,
essays, articles, etc.
Italics
• Use italics when referring to
words as themselves, letters,
symbols, or words from foreign
languages
•
•
•
Hiss and clang are examples of
onomatopoeia
You typed ie instead of ei.
The French word déjà vu is used to
describe an odd feeling of having
been somewhere or done something
before.
Italics
•
Use italics for the titles of long works:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
books: A Long Way Gone
book-length poems: The Iliad
works of art: Starry Night
TV series: Friday Night Lights
albums/compositions: The Four Seasons
movies: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
plays: Romeo and Juliet
newspapers: The NY Times
periodicals: Sports Illustrated
court cases: Brown v. Board of Education
trains, ships, aircraft, and spacecraft: Apollo
13, The Spruce Goose, The Mayflower