Punctuation Review, Part 1
by Glynnis Whiter
What is Punctuation?
The marks, such as period, comma, and parentheses, used in writing to
separate sentences and their elements and to clarify meaning.
Punctuation is a Part of Grammar
Grammar is the set of language rules that you use, most of the time
unconsciously, to create phrases and sentences that convey meaning.
Development of Written Language & Punctuation
1. First written language was Sumerian or Egyptian (both start appearing
about 3200 BC)*
Chinese is the oldest surviving language (first written 1500 BC)*
*Indiana University, Department of Linguistics
2. scriptio continua When we started putting spoken words into written
words, at first there were no marks. This was called “scriptio continua”
3. First punctuation
4th Century BC, Greece (Encyclopedia Britannica)
Paragraphos, a simple horizontal stroke in the margin was used to
complete a paragraph. It conveyed the end of one topic, and introduced
another.
4. In the Third Century BC, we start to see the use of dots to the text,
indicating a short, medium or long pause.
5. Punctuation developed quickly after the development of the printing
press in 1452.
Why Different Rules?
1. MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to
write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities.
2. Chicago Manual of Style, developed in 1891 by the University of Chicago
Press.
3. AP Stylebook, developed in 1953, by new organization, Associated Press.
Common Punctuation Marks
1. Apostrophe
2. Braces
3. Brackets
4. Colon
5. Comma
6. Dash
7. Ellipsis
8. Exclamation point
9. Hyphen
10. Parenthesis
11. Periods
12. Question mark
13. Quotation marks
14. Semicolon
Used to Complete a Thought
Period
Always put inside quote marks.
The teacher said, “Take out your pencils.”
Question Mark
Put inside quote marks, when it pertains to the quotes material. Put question
mark outside the quotes when it applies to the sentence.
Did you hear Janette say, “I’m happy today”?
Janette said, “Are you happy today?”
Exclamation Point
Put inside quote marks, when it pertains to the quotes material. Put question
mark outside the quotes when it applies to the sentence.
John said, “What a great game!”
I can’t believe she asked, “What time does it start?”!
Used to Clarify Meaning
Comma
1. Comma always go inside quote marks.
2. In a series.
• AP Style does not include a comma in a series. (We had coffee, tea
and cookies.)
• Chicago does include a comma (called Oxford comma) We had
coffee, tea, and cookies
1. For joining two complete sentences using a conjunction: and, or, but,
while, yet
• EX: The boys wanted to stay up till midnight, but they fell asleep at
10:00.
2. In an introductory clause or phrase: EX: When she finished breakfast, she
sat down to write.
• Comma can be omitted after short introductory clause if no ambiguity
would arise: Every morning she writes.
3. In a non-essential phrase (one that can be pulled out without changing
the meaning of the sentence.)
•
•
Writers, who do not know correct punctuation, should not criticize
their editors.
Writers who do not know correct punctuation should not criticize their
editors.
Semicolon
1. Use a semicolon between two related sentences (independent clauses)
where you don’t use a conjunction.
• EX: The package was due last week; it arrived today.
2. Use to separate items in a series that have commas in them.
• EX: The women attending the conference were Mary, from North
Carolina; Ginger, from Alabama; and Glynnis, from Arizona. (Note that
the semicolon is put before the “and”)
Quotation Marks
Periods and commas always go inside the quotation marks, with the exception
of some uses of a single quote mark.
Use quote marks with a scare quote: Alerts readers that a term is used in a
nonstandard, ironic or other sense. Irony is the presence of a second,
contradictory meaning within a situation or expression.
•
The girls had a “discussion” after school.
•
She put on her “running” shoes.
Single Quote Marks
1) Use with a quote within a quote
“And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and
behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from
heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son,with whom I am well pleased.’” Matthew
3:16-17 NIV
2) Academic studies
“In linguistic and phonetic studies a definition is often enclosed in single
quotation marks with no intervening punctuation; any following punctuation is
placed after the closing quotation marks.”
Chicago Manual of Style
The gap is narrow between mead ‘a beverage’ and mead ‘a meadow’.