UNIT 26 :

PUNCTUATION
Punctuation marks are used for convenience in reading. At a glance a reader should be able to tell if a question has been asked; whether some words have been spoken or quoted; when a word or words should be emphasised or exclaimed; or when a statement requires a pause or ends. A properly, punctuated sentence enables its construction, purpose and meaning to be understood with a minimum of effort. It is important that a writer punctuates with a clear purpose in mind as exactly the same words can be punctuated to give a reader totally different meanings. As the following examples demonstrate, without punctuation, it would not be possible for a reader to know who said what to whom. John said Tony I will help you if you can wait ten minutes. John said, Tony, I will help you if you can wait ten minutes. John, said Tony, I will help you if you can wait ten minutes. While there are some accepted rules which need to be strictly adhered to such as using full stops and question marks, other punctuation marks are often applied at the whim of the writer. This is especially true of the comma, the semicolon and the colon. The important thing is to be consistent.

APOSTROPHE ( * )
Apostrophes are used in three different ways: (1) In a contraction, which is a shortened form of a word or words, the apostrophe indicates where a letter, letters or a number have been omitted. (a) hes = he is; shell = she will; wasnt = was not; its = it is. (b) eer = ever; cause = because (c) 96 = 1996

(2)

To indicate ownership or possession. (a) My fathers farm. The girls bike. (b) The cyclists trophies. The tribes sacred areas. (c) Maviss new dress. Chriss car. (d) Jesus peace. Guy Fawkes crime. (e) Ones house. Cp. Ones enough = One is enough. He wrote six ones,111111.

(3)

To show plurality in numbers, words and letters that do not usually have a plural form. (a) Life was tough back in the 30's, the elderly man told the children. (b) Let us not have any ifs or buts about this matter. It shall be done! (c) He often uses ts instead of ds at the end of words when he speaks.

CAPITAL LETTERS
Capital Letters are used: (1) To begin a sentence. Tomorrow we shall go for a drive out into the country. (2) When the pronoun I is written. You and I are the same age. (3) For the days and the months. Today is Monday, the first day of August.

(4)

For proper nouns, i.e. the names of people, pets, positions and places. The Duke of York and the Prime Minister of England, Mrs Margaret Thatcher, presented the children at St. Vincents Orphanage in Westmoreland Street, East London, with a pet dog called Crusty and a pet cat named Misty.

(5)

For the names of nationalities, languages, religions, churches, religious denominations, companies and businesses. At Imports International Pty., Ltd., we employ Moslems and Hindus who speak fluent Japanese and Chinese and there is an American who is a Buddhist and an Italian who is a Baptist.

(6)

For the titles of books, films, plays, songs, music and poems as well as each line of a poem or a song. We saw a film called Corncob which was based on a book entitled The Field Of Gold and which launched the country music hit song, Green And Gold, sung by the band called The Swagmen.

(7)

For the names of ships, trains, aeroplanes and restaurants. That old man over there claims to have sailed on The Queen Mary, flown in The Southern Cross and eaten at every Hungry Jack restaurant in Queensland.

(8)

In personified words. For Obedience is my companion and Wisdom my guide.

(9)

At the beginning of a quotation or a passage of direct speech irrespective of where it occurs in a sentence. (a) The officer said, Anyone caught smoking in this area will be breached. (b) We will never surrender, General Custer cried as he lay mortally wounded.

(10) To begin a new sentence following a full stop as well as after an exclamation mark and a question mark when they end a sentence that is complete. (a) (b) (c) (d) The coach is still sick. Apparently he caught a virus from one of the players. How do you think this will all end? Do you think we shall ever get back home? What a beautiful song! You must sing it at the concert next week. Alas! The ferry left just as we drove on to the wharf.

(11) For abbreviations that signify the position, rank and title of people as well as for organizations which are referred to by their initials. M.P. = Member of Parliament; O.A. = Order of Australia; M.H.R. = Member of the House of Representatives; H.R.H. = Her Royal Highness; NATO; UNESCO; ABC.

COLON ( : )
The colon can be used: (1) Before a list. At secondary school I studied six subjects: Mathematics, Latin Geography, English, History and Economics. (2) To introduce quotations. As a former Prime Minister of Australia, Malcolm Fraser, once said: Life was not meant to be easy. (3) In titles to separate the main heading from a sub-heading. The lecture this evening is entitled Australia : The Lucky Country. N.B. A colon is not followed by a capital letter unless a quotation is used as seen in (3) above. Words following colons are usually in Lower Case, e.g. Theology: faith. (4) As a substitute for verbal harbingers such as i.e., viz, that is to say. Of all the characteristics of true love there are two that stand out above the rest : patience and forgiveness. (5) Before an explanation. We will have to change the launch of the election campaign: the candidate has to have a minor operation on that date. (6) The use of The Dash with a Colon. In formal or technical English, the Colon is often followed by the Dash. The combination of the Colon and the Dash is seen preceding a list, e.g. The menu for the week will include:- fish, pork, fruit, oysters, ham and green vegetables.

COMMA ( , )
(1) The most common use of the comma is to indicate where a short pause is required in reading a sentence. Below are some examples of where there is a need to highlight incidental information and to separate a list of items or a series of descriptive words. (a) (b) (c) (d) (2) Mr. Damien OConnor, the new swimming coach, is also an accomplished cricketer. During our overseas trip, we visited England, Germany, Greece, Israel and India. It was a cold, damp, windy, moonless night. For an hour, the lecturer spoke softly, monotonously, and sometimes inaudibly. A comma is also used after introductory or connecting words that can easily be left out of a sentence without affecting the meaning, e.g. finally, of course, however, in fact, well, furthermore, surprisingly, etc. (a) (b) (c) (d) (3) Finally, after we had waited all afternoon, the bus arrived at the depot. He told me you were sick and, in fact, he said you were dying. Of course, he maintains that without him the team would not have won the game. In any case, surprisingly, he declined the position that was offered to him. A Comma is used after an adverbial clause which begins a sentence but not if it comes after the main clause in the sentence. (a) (b) If you are serious about learning Indonesian, I will teach you. John will drive you to the train station if you need a lift.

(4 ) A comma is used before the conjunction and when it separates two distinct parts of a sentence but is omitted when and joins words in a list or related parts of a sentence. (a) (b) (c) (5) (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) (i) (j) (a) (b) At the University of Queensland he was able to study architecture, and at the Institute of Sport he specialised in athletics. For dinner tonight we are having steak, eggs and chips. Tony came first in the race and Terry came second. Other times when a comma should or should not be used, are shown by these examples. Tony, please do not ride your bike so fast down that hill. The question is, Is Australia able to defend its shores?, said the retired colonel. Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. The fort being captured, the guerillas returned to their stronghold in the jungle. My only aunt, Doreen, left me $500,000 in her will providing I looked after her pets. From the summit of the mountain, the houses in the valley looked so tiny. He is a generous, caring, and very patient person. O precious daughter, you are the joy of my life. Be assured, despite the difficulties before us, we shall not give up the fight. God is wise and merciful and loving. The house was guarded by a huge Alsatian dog.

DASH ( - ), ( - .... - )
(1) The single dash can be used to indicate a break in a sentence in the place of a comma, a semicolon or a colon, and to add an afterthought or an explanation. (a) (b) (c) The demoralised soldiers put down their weapons - all was lost. I resigned for a number of reasons - the low wages, the poor working conditions, the out-dated equipment and the managers belligerent attitude. The neighbours have promised to help build the fence - at least that is what one of their sons told my daughter. A pair of dashes is used as a mark of parenthesis to indicate an aside. (a) (b) I went to a different doctor - the one that has a surgery in the shopping centre - because old Dr. Mason has retired. When you get here - if you are well enough - we will go for a ride out to that cave in which we used to play as children.

(2)

ELLIPSIS POINTS (...)

Ellipsis points are a syntactic device of using full stops, usually three, to indicate that something has been omitted when quoting part of a statement. e g. The study tour included Turkey, England, Egypt ... A Contraction also applies the Ellipsis device when letters are omitted, e.g. dont for do not.

EXCLAMATION MARK ( ! )
An exclamation mark is used after words, phrases and sentences that are grammatical exclamations in that a special emphasis or emotion is intended when they are expressed. (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) Help! My little boy has fallen over the side of the cliff. Good heavens! Is that the time? Out of this house! I never want to see you again. God forbid! How could anyone do such a thing to a little animal? Alas! By the time the fire brigade arrived, the house was totally destroyed. What an amazing place! cried the excited student as she entered the museum. Anne-Marie! Come here at once! Oh! No! That dog has been into the kitchen again.

FULL STOP ( . )
The full stop is used to end a sentence and to indicate that a word has been abbreviated. Modern practice tends to leave out the Full Stop for those abbreviations that retain the final letter of the word in question, e.g. Mister = Mr, and Doctor = Dr. N.B. A full stop is also called a Period. It is one of three sentence terminators: full stop, exclamation mark and question mark. 1) There were thirty thousand fans at the midnight rock concert. Hundreds of them had been waiting at the entrance of the auditorium throughout the day. a.m., p.m., e.g., N.B., i.e., etc., R.S.V.P., Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., H.R.H., M.P., B.A., B.Ed., B.Sc., Dip. Ed., M.D., kl., gr., km., mm., cm.

(2)

HYPHEN ( - )
The hyphen is used: (1) To make a compound word out of two or more words. daughter-in-law, nine-tenths, vice-president, vice-chancellor, make-up, barrister-at-law. (2) To make compound adjectives. an out-of-luck punter; an out-of-work miner; a blue-eyed blonde; a three-storey mansion; in pre-historic times; a clear-cut victory; anti-government slogans; water-based paints; a ten-dollar note. (3) To divide words when they split at the end of a line. In the middle of the fierce battle, one young soldier bravely climbed to an open ridge to sig-nal the reinforcements. (4) In order to separate double vowels to clarify how a word is pronounced when a prefix is added, and also when ex is used to designate a former status or position. co-operation, co-ordinator, re-educate, re-examine, ex-husband, ex-prisoner, ex-president.

INVERTED COMMAS - QUOTATION MARKS ( ) , ( )

(1) Inverted Commas or Quotation Marks are used to indicate the actual words spoken in direct speech and for quotations. Either single or double marks may be used but modern usage tends to favour single marks unless one piece of direct speech or a quotation occurs inside another as shown in (c), (d) and (e) where both are used. (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (2) As it is still raining, the tour guide said, we shall wait awhile before we leave. Christians believe that Jesus said: I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Who was it that said: I shall return!? asked the military history teacher. We shall now sing Advance Australia Fair, announced the choir conductor. I distinctly heard him say, I will be there on time, but where is he? she asked.

In handwritten material, as it is difficult to italicize, inverted commas can be used to distinguish the names of books, poems, plays, songs, paintings, houses, properties, restaurants, ships, as well as foreign, slang and other highlighted expressions. (a) (b) (c) (d) The ranch we stayed at during the school holidays was called The Triple X. Have you read The Tale Of Two Cities? The painting Blue Poles is worth more than a million dollars. You may have to cop a lot more criticism before the course is finished. It is important to remember that inverted commas and quotation marks enclose the actual words spoken or quoted. This includes all the punctuation marks associated with the text, i.e. commas, semicolons, full stops, question and exclamation marks. (a) (b) (c) Early in the morning, we are leaving for Cairns for a holiday, Mr OBrien said. Early in the morning, Mr OBrien said, we are leaving for Cairns for a holiday. Mr OBrien said: Early in the morning, we are leaving for Cairns for a holiday.

(3)

(a) (b) (a) (b) (c) (a) (b) (a) (b) (d) (4)

The monsoon season has begun; so we shall cancel our trip to Darwin, he said. The monsoon season has begun, he said; so we shall cancel our trip to Darwin. My car has a flat tyre. Would it be possible for you to give me a lift? she said. My car has a flat tyre, she said. Would it be possible for you to give me a lift? Would it be possible for you to give me a lift? she said. My car has a flat tyre. Stop! yelled the border guard. Stop or I will shoot! The border guard yelled, Stop! Stop or I will shoot! Who asked When will dinner be ready?? Who was it that yelled: Dinner is ready!? I heard him say, Help! Would someone please help me? , explained the witness.

When there is an unnatural break in a sentence caused by an explanatory saying clause such as he said, responded the woman, she gasped, yelled the boy, she asked, etc., the first comma should fall outside the quotation marks. (a) (b) I am still determined, said the injured player, to finish the game. It is not fair, the student protested, to examine work we have not been taught.

N.B. A new line is used for each different speaker in a written conversation.

PARENTHESIS or BRACKETS ( ) [ ] - - , ,
A parenthesis is a word, clause or sentence inserted into a passage as an aside which enhances the statement but which is not grammatically essential. The parenthesis can be enclosed by commas, dashes or brackets, both rounded and square. (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) It was, as I warned everyone, a hard fought match. The Murphy family (including the grandparents) is coming to visit us. The Prime Minister, John Browning, said he [Browning] would review the policy. All the team (as well as their coach [Tony Ashton] and club committee members) will spend a week at the Gold Coast (Palm Beach) after the National Games. A cheque for $50 (fifty dollars) will be sent to you as a full refund. In his first policy speech, the mayoral candidate said he wanted to plant a revenue [sic] of trees in front of the Town Hall. In the Exercises (see Page 123) there are some typing errors. Can you explain to me - as I would really like to know - why the shops are closed?

QUESTION MARK ( ? )
A question mark is used to indicate that a question has been asked. Sometimes a sentence sounds more like a statement but it may still require a question mark. However when the sentence is an indirect question, no question mark is required. (a) (b) (c) (d) The lady asked, Are you going to the beach with the children? Why? the policeman queried as he caught the boy damaging the car. You are not going to eat all those strawberries yourself? He wanted to know why we were late.

SEMICOLON ( ; )
The semicolon is a three-quarter stop in that it indicates a pause that is longer than a comma but which is shorter than a full stop. Unlike a full stop, a capital letter does not follow a semicolon. A semicolon is used:(1) To separate two related clauses that are not joined by a conjunction. The personal satisfaction of winning the race was so obvious; he talked about the event non stop, for hours and hours.

(2)

Before a clause beginning with a conjunctive adverb such as so, however, therefore and then. (a) (b) (c) (d) They were tired and sore after walking home from the beach; so they went to bed early. Their car broke down on the way to the theatre; however they were able to catch a bus. Five members of the basketball team were unable to play because of injuries; therefore the coach decided to forfeit the game. We will keep sailing down the river to the waterfall; then we will camp for the night.

(3)

To separate a list or series of items that are described in detail. Johns mouth watered as he read the menu: oysters and bacon strips; steak and crumbed prawns; grilled sausages; lobster salad; and calamari and chips.

(4)

To create a dramatic environment in a passage. The windows began to rattle; the floorboards creaked loudly; someone or something was in the room; I stood there frozen with fear, staring into the darkness.

(5)

To separate two statements that are about the same issue or subject but which can stand alone if the conjunction is left out. The coach urged the runner to increase his speed; for he was still three minutes behind the leader.

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