English Grammar and Composition chapter 8: Punctuation and Capitalisation

UNIT 08 Punctuation & Capitalisation

There are no hard and fast rules about punctuation, but there are some good style guidelines. This is a list of ten most commonly used punctuation marks and a guide to their use. Read the rules carefully.

1. Comma

Figure

Labels: , Description: A comma mark (,) shown separately.

a. Use commas to separate independent clauses in a sentence, for example:

Yesterday I went to the local stadium to watch the football match between Sobuj Songho and Torun Club. It was an interesting match. The game was over, but the crowd refused to leave.

Yesterday was her brother's birthday, so Runi took his brother out to dinner. They went to a Thai restaurant and had some Thai soup, mo mo, and chawmin.

b. Use comma after introductory words such as: yes, however, and well. For example:

John : Do you like going to party?

Pat : Well, it depends. I don't like big gathering. The small ones are ok.

John : Then are you coming to Samantha's birthday party? Only the close friends are invited.

Pat : Yes, I'm. She phoned me. However, I won't stay long.

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c. Use a pair of commas to separate additional information from the main body of the sentence. For example:

Shakib Al Hasan, renowned cricket player, is from Magura. A few days ago I read a wonderful report on him in the Daily Star, the most popular English daily in Bangladesh.

d. Use serial comma to separate all items in a list. For example:

Khaled : I love apples, pears, and oranges. However, I don't like kiwi, tamarind, and Sharon. What about you?

Abdallah : I like dates, melon, and pineapple. Mumbasa is ok for me too. But I don't like banana at all.

Note the comma after “pears”. Many people prefer not to use this style and will omit the final comma. We call this the Oxford comma because it is the standard method taught at Oxford University.

e. Use commas to separate all geographical names, items in dates (except the month and day), addresses (except the street number and name), and titles in names. For example:

My father is from Gouranadi, Barishal. July 22, 1959 was a momentous day in my father's life. He was born on that day. He left Gouranadi when he was 25. Now our address is House no 25 Road 02 Dhanmondi, Dhaka.

f. Occasionally, you will see a comma between a house number and street. For example:

Now our address is House no 25, Road 02, Dhanmondi, Dhaka.

This is not wrong, it is just old fashioned. It is not done in modern times, however.

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2. Period or Full Stop

Figure

Labels: . Description: A period mark (.) shown separately.

a. The primary use of a period is to end a sentence. Its second important use is for abbreviations. For example:

Mr. Jones is happy to see his wife. His wife has been working in Uganda for the last few years. She is with Jones for a holiday now and will be staying together for two months.

b. If an abbreviated phrase is pronounced, we do not include periods. For example:

NASA is correct, N.A.S.A is incorrect. In some cases the periods are omitted even when the word is not pronounced, usually because it is a very commonly known term. For example: UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles).

c. In the case of a word like etc. we always include the period.

3. Question Mark

Figure

Labels: ? Description: A question mark (?) shown separately.

a. The question mark is a fairly easy punctuation mark to use. It has only one use. It goes at the end of a sentence which is a question. For example:

Manik : What time is the English class? Drubo : At quarter past 11 after the Maths class.

b. Do not include a period when using a question mark.

WRONG: I wonder how many people will come to the party? (it will take a period or full stop not a question mark.)

Note: While you are expressing a thought that seems to require an answer, you are doing so with a statement. In this situation, you need a full stop', not a question mark'. This is the most common mistake made when using a question mark.

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4. Exclamation Mark

Figure

Labels: ! Description: An exclamation mark (!) shown separately.

a. Only use this when issuing a command or speaking forcefully! In the case of the question mark, do not follow this with a period and do not combine it with other punctuation marks. Only one exclamation mark is enough. Two or three exclamation marks in a row is completely unnecessary. For example:

This is completely unbelievable! He dribbles six players and scores a goal at direct shoot! Oh, what a goal!

5. Quote Marks

Figure

Labels: “ ” Description: Two quotation marks (“ ”) shown side by side.

Quotation marks are used to quote another person's words exactly, whether they be spoken, or written. For example:

Allen : What did John exactly say to you, Mimo?

Mimo : John said,“We are going shopping because we have no milk.” – note the capitalization of “We”.

Wrong: John said “We are going shopping because they had no milk.” Note the omission of the comma in this case which is wrong.

If you are quoting a person who is quoting another person, use a single quotation mark like this:

My teacher referred to A P J Abdul Kalam who said, ‘I’m not a handsome guy, but I can give my hand to someone who needs help. Beauty is in the heart, not in the face.’

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6. Colon

Figure

Description: Two dots, one above the other, the colon mark.

a) A colon should be used after a complete statement in order to introduce one or more directly related ideas, such as a series of directions, a list, or a quotation or other comment illustrating or explaining the statement. For example:

The daily newspaper contains four sections: news, sports, entertainment, and classified ads.

7. Semicolon

Figure

Description: A dot above a comma, the semicolon mark.

The semicolon is used to separate items in a series if the elements of the series already include commas. For example:

A group of students are going to perform today during the break time. The group includes Nila, guiterist; Tonmoy, table player; Soam, keyboard player, and Lima, drumist. They all are some promising students of this school. Students are asked to come to the school auditorium to enjoy their performance.

8. Apostrophe

Figure

Description: A raised comma, the apostrophe mark.

The apostrophe has three uses:

a. to form possessives of nouns

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b. to show the omission of letters c. to indicate certain plurals of lowercase letters

Forming possessives

The boy’s name is Litu. His father is a teacher. His mother manages home. They are from Natore. Natore’s sandesh is very famous. Once he brought some sandesh from Natore on his birthday. His brother’s name, Pintu is also very common.

If the noun after “of” is a building, an object, or a piece of furniture, then no apostrophe is needed. For example: The car door.

To form the possessive of a plural noun that already ends in -s, add an apostrophe:

• the girls' swing set (the swing set belonging to the girls)
• the students' projects (the projects belonging to the students) was to make swim suits for boys more comfortable. The boys’ new swim sets were really comfortable. The boys’ hard work was successful. After presentation, they all went to the Johnsons' house (the house belonging to the Johnsons) for lunch.

If the plural noun does not end in -s, add an apostrophe plus -s:

• the women's conference (the conference belonging to the women)
• the children's toys (the toys belonging to the children)
• the men's training camp (the training camp belonging to the men)

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Showing omission

I’m Ritu. I’m a student of class six. Tomorrow I’ll go to Rangamati with my parents. From there we’ll go to Bandarbans. We’ve a plan to visit Khagrachari too.

I’m= I am　　I’ll=I will　　We’ll=We will　　We’ve= We have