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VocabularyPunctuation Study Guide

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punctuation:

The way of using marks or symbols in writing and printing that make the written communication clearer. These marks are used to help you get the feeling of what is being written or printed. Punctuation marks help make written communication easier to understand.

Example: his mother said go to the store and he did at the store he bought bread butter and milk This is how it would read with punctuation. His mother said, “Go to the store,” and he did. At the store he bought bread, butter and milk.

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Sentence (def. 1):

A spoken group of words put together in a way that communicates a complete thought.

“I want a sandwich for lunch” is a sentence. “For lunch” by itself is not a sentence.

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Sentence (def. 2):

A written group of words put together in a way that communicates a complete thought. It begins with a capital letter and ends with a period, question mark

or exclamation point.

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Italics (def. 1):

A way of printing where the letters lean to the right. It looks like this. When you can’t use them (when you are writing by hand, for example) you can underline instead. It is used to show importance.

Example: Push harder!

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Italics (def. 2):

Used to show the titles of books, magazines, movies and works of art.

Example: He wants to read War and Peace.

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Italics (def. 3):

Used to show the names of planes, trains, ships and so on.

Example: He was diving for treasure from a ship called The Queen Anne.

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Italics (def. 4):

To show that words are foreign words.

Example: She waved goodbye and said adios!

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Italics (def. 5):

To show that you are talking about a word itself.

Example: How do you spell dictionary?

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Period:

A dot used to show where the end of a sentence is.

You will find a period at the end of this sentence. Make sure you use a period properly when you write your story.

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Comma (def. 1):

Used to separate words or groups of words from each other.

Examples: She was beautiful, he thought. He heard me, but he did not answer my question.

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Comma (def. 2):

Used to separate a series of items and actually means “and” or “or.”

You generally do not use a comma before the last item listed in a series, but use the words “and” or “or.” Example: Joe has pens, paper, pencils and books.

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Comma (def. 3):

Used to separate the parts of a date.

Example: It happened on Friday, June 12, 2000

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Comma (def. 4):

Used to set off groups of digits in large numbers.

Any number having more than three digits uses a comma. Example: 1,000; 2,358,639

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Colon (def. 1):

used before a list of things.

Example: Shopping List: 1. Bread 2. Milk 3. Apples

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Colon (def. 2):

used in some dictionaries to show that the words which follow are an example of the definition being given.

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Colon (def. 3):

used between hours and minutes when writing time.

Example: 3:15.

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Semicolon :

used to separate parts of a sentence or definition that are different, but are related (have to do with one another).

Example: In the winter he goes skiing; in the summer he goes swimming.

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Question mark:

used after a sentence that asks a question.

Examples: What is your name? Where is my dog?

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Exclamation point :

used to show surprise, strong feeling or excitement.

Examples: We won the game! Wow!

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Apostrophe (def. 1):

used to show that something is owned or belongs to someone.

This is an apostrophe: ’ Examples: the car’s tire; Maria’s bike.

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Apostrophe (def. 2):

Used to show that a letter or letters have been left out of a word.

Examples: He cannot go. He can’t go. She is not going. She isn’t going.

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Apostrophe (def. 3):

Used when writing more than one of numbers, letters and words being talked about as numbers, letters

There are two “e’s” in the word “bee.”

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Virgule:

used between two or more words to show that the meaning of any of them can be used.

Example: Get the Teacher/Tutor to pass your drill. America/USA is very large.