Capitalization and Punctuation
Chapter 13, pg 234
Why?Writers use capital letters and punctuation marks to help the reader better understand what is written.
1st word of every sentence
All sentences begin with capital letters.
We enjoyed reading the book.
Those girls finished cleaning the counter.
Specific things/places (proper nouns)
Proper nouns begin with capital letters.
Mrs. Clark asked if Amy would help.
Uncle Rob took us to Texas.
Capital LettersThe pronoun I is always capitalized.
I don’t need your help.
My aunt and I picked up the papers.
Capital LettersA capital letter begins the first,
last, and any important word in the title of a book, magazine, song, movie, poem, or other work.
Read the last chapter of Tom Sawyer.
She saw Snow White when she was five years old.
To capitalize or not to capitalize
Do! Days of the week, months
of the year, holidays Language, nationalities,
races, religions, deities, sacred terms
Titles: the first word and every important term
First words of direct quotes Historical events, periods Brand names
Don’t Seasons Common nouns that
refer to religious places like “church”
Titles: do not capitalize articles (the), prepositions (of, under, OVER), or short connecting words (or, and)
Directions (north, south, east and west- unless used in a place name)
Practice, exercise 2 pg 219
1. Every tuesday, the general visits the hospital.
2. On one level, the book the lord of the rings can be read as a fairy tale: on another level, the book can be read as a christian allegory.
3. The golden gate bridge in san francisco may be the most beautiful bridge in the world.
4. She is the sister of my french teacher.
Tuesday, the general visits the hospital.
The Lord of the Rings
Christian allegory.
Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco may
French teacher.
Practice, exercise 2 pg 219 continued
5. I’ve always wanted to take a trip to the far east in spring.
6. The kremlin, located in moscow, once housed the soviet government
7. I needed to see dr. Ghavami, but the nurse told me the doctor would not be in until next week.
8. He shouted angrily, “why don’t you ever arrive at your history class on time?”
I’ve always wanted to take a trip to the Far East in spring.
The Kremlin, located in Moscow, once housedthe Soviet government.
I needed to see Dr. Ghavami, but the nurse told
“Why don’t you ever arrive
Punctuation: Comma (214)
separate three or more items in a list or a phrase.
He was silent, lonely, and afraid. Or
He was silent, lonely and afraid.
Punctuation: Commaseparates items in an address or date.
Miami, Florida
January 6, 2003
Punctuation: CommaSet off number of adjectives that modify a noun
My favorite, old, green coat.
Punctuation: CommaTo combine two simple sentences, use the comma and a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS)
The house was on fire, but I was determined not to leave.
Punctuation: CommaFollow introductory words,
expressions:In the beginning, I never thought I would.
Surrounding word/phrase when the idea interrupts. Dave, who is a doctor, said to!
Punctuation: CommaIn numbers of one thousand+
1,001Set off exact words in a dialog
“I won’t,” he insisted, “do this!”When you need a short pause
To John, Russel is the best!
Punctuation: Apostrophe To form possessive
The teacher’s penTo form plurals (prevent confusion)
he writes a’s and o’sWhen one+ letters omitted
Can’t, shouldn’t, She’ll
Punctuation: Quotation MarksQuotation marks are used
to identify the exact words of a speaker .
President Bush said, “We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail.”
Punctuation: Quotation MarksQuotes or Material copied
word-for-word from a source
Titles of short stories, one-act plays, poems, articles, songs, essays, chapters of books
When terms are referred to in a special way.
Punctuation: Semi-Colon
To join 2 independent clauses He decided to use the map; she decided to ask.
In front of adverbial conjunction to join 2 sentences He decided to use a map; however, she decided to ask.
In a series of items when the items themselves have commas! I had lunch with Linda, my best friend; Mrs. Armstrong,
my English teacher; and Jan, my sister-in-law.
Punctuation: ColonBefore a list of items
Please order: five dozen pencils, twenty rulers, five tacks.
In the salutation of business letterTo whom it may concern:
Indicating time1:15pm
Between title and subtitle of a bookIn Plain English Please: A Rhetoric