55 Marking Punctuation

Comma (Cont.)

Explain to students that commas to set off dialogue have different rules before and after the dialogue.

• If the comma comes before the quoted words, it goes outside the quotation marks: He said, "I like salad."
• If the comma follows the quoted words, it goes inside the quotation marks: "I like salad," he said.

Commas to set off interruptions separate the words from the rest of the sentence. Commas go on both sides of the interruption if it is in the middle of the sentence or on one side or the other if the interruption is at the beginning or ending. They help the reader know which words are essential to the meaning, and which are asides.

Comma (Cont.)

The reason behind both of these comma rules is to help readers find the subject and verb in a sentence In a compound sentence without a comma, the subject of the second part can seem like a direct object or object of a preposition on the first read-through:

Confusing: I spoke to Jerry and Felicia wrote to Jon. (At first, it seems that "I spoke to Jerry and Felicia." The reader has to double back to understand.)

Corrected: I spoke to Jerry, and Felicia wrote to Jon.

Confusing: I backed from the garage and the driveway was blocked. (At first, it seems that "I backed from the garage and the driveway.")

Corrected: I backed from the garage, and the driveway was blocked.

In both cases, the comma signals that the next noun or pronoun is probably the subject of a new thought.

Commas to separate introductory phrases and clauses also signal that the next noun or pronoun is probably a new subject. Without the comma, the ideas can become confused.

Confusing: When I kicked the ball went over the school. (At first, it seems "When I kicked the ball" is the meaning, but "the ball" is really a new subject.)

Corrected: When I kicked, the ball went over the school.

Comma (Cont.)

Help students understand that commas to set off appositive phrases show that the phrase renames the noun that it follows instead of defining it.

Commas to separate nonrestrictive phrases and clauses also show that the material gives extra information about the noun it follows, rather than defining the specific noun meant.

• Nonrestrictive clause: Freshmen, who are new to high school, need time to adjust to their new surroundings. (All freshmen are new to high school, so the clause does not define which specific freshmen, but only gives extra information about them. The clause "who are new to high school" could be removed, and the sentence would still make sense: "Freshmen need time to adjust to their new surroundings.")
• Restrictive clauses: Freshmen who get involved adjust more easily than freshmen who do not. ("who get involved" and "who do not" define exactly which freshmen we mean, so commas should not set them off. If these clauses were removed, the sentence would not make sense: "Freshmen adjust more easily than freshmen.")

Colon

Help students understand that a colon often follows a general statement and signals a specific example afterward. The general statement before the colon should be a complete sentence. Otherwise, the colon comes between a transitive verb and its direct object or between a preposition and its object, both of which are incorrect.

Incorrect: Please buy: soap, wash cloths, and towels. (The colon separates the verb buy from its direct objects.)

Correct: Please buy bath supplies: soap, wash cloths, and towels. OR Please buy soap, wash cloths, and towels.

Incorrect: Return with: the change and the receipt. (The colon separates the preposition with from its objects.)

Correct: Return with the change and the receipt. OR Return with two things: the change and the receipt.

Incorrect: I said: "I'm glad you're here." (The colon separates the verb said from its direct object—the quoted material.)

Correct: I welcomed him: "I'm glad you're here." OR I said, "I'm glad you're here."

Colons also follow certain formal elements, such as the "Incorrect:" and "Correct:" tags above, the "To:" and "From:" tags in a memo or email, and the "Dear John:" salutation in a business letter. They also come between numbers in time, separating hours from minutes from seconds.

Hyphen (Cont.)

Point out to students that using a hyphen to join letters and words often occurs because the word is describing the shape of the letter: a T-shirt is shaped like a T, an O-ring is shaped like an O, an A-frame is shaped like an A, a C-clamp is shaped like a C, and so on. At other times, the hyphen is used because the letter and word could not be easily pronounced if spelled closed: pgrated or xray are more difficult than pg-rated or x-ray.

The same is true of words with certain prefixes or suffixes (such as self, ex, all, great, elect, or free), which would be difficult to pronounce without the hyphen. presidentelect is more difficult than president-elect.

Students should use hyphens to form an adjective from two or more words that precede the noun they modify. If the compound adjective follows the noun, it should not have any hyphens.

Quotation Marks

This page and the one that follows shows the various uses of quotation marks. Lead students through the rules and examples:

• To set off the exact words of a speaker (see page 479 for the placement of other punctuation marks)
• To set off quoted material taken from a source
• To punctuate titles of smaller works (italics or underlining mark larger works)

Apostrophe

Help students understand that apostrophes to form contractions take the place of the letters that have dropped out.

Students can use apostrophes to form plurals with letters or numerals or words that would otherwise be misread, but not with most nouns or pronouns.

Correct: 1's, X's, and's, or's

Incorrect: one's, their's, our's

To form singular possessives, students should add an 's. If the singular noun ends in an s or z and has two or more syllables, just an apostrophe can be used.