Semicolon
vs. Colon – Semicolons are used
either between two independent clauses (i.e.
groups of words that can stand alone as a sentence)
or to separate long or complicated items in
a series that already use commas. Colons are
primarily used to introduce explanations, examples,
series, lists, or quotations. I like to think
of semicolons as “separators” and
colons as “announcers.”
•
Gerald arrived at the office just after
dawn and stayed until well past the dinner hour;
by the time he got home, he was exhausted.
•
There are three things that Dawn loves to cook:
lasagna, pasta salad, and chocolate chip cookies.
Punctuation
within Quotation Marks – Commas
and periods are always placed before the closing
quotation mark. Question marks, exclamation
points, and dashes are put before the closing
quotation mark when the punctuation applies
to the quotation itself, and after when the
punctuation applies to the whole sentence.
•
“I
wonder,” she thought to herself, “when
the cherry blossoms will bloom.”
•
Eleanor screamed in exasperation, “I want
to go home!”
•
Do
you agree with the saying, “A penny saved
is a penny earned”?
Double
vs. Single Quotation Marks –
Double quotation marks are the standard form
used for almost all occasions. Single quotations
marks are generally only used to enclose a quotation
within a quotation.
•
“We had nearly reached the summit,”
Kevin explained, “when Christopher screamed
‘watch out for the tarantula!’”
Hyphenated
Adjectives – Compound adjectives
(i.e. adjectives that are composed of more than
one word) are hyphenated. Single adjectives
are not. When trying to decide whether or not
to add a hyphen, make sure you’re not
including the noun in the hyphenated cluster
of words.
•
They met to discuss their five-week plan. Here
“five-week” is a compound adjective
that modifies the noun “plan.”
•
The plan will take five weeks to implement.
Here “five” is an adjective that
modifies the noun “weeks.”
