39 Marking Punctuation

Comma (Cont.)

The first two and last rules on this page show how commas separate less important elements from the main clause of the sentence. Using commas to set off parenthetical ideas, nonrestrictive appositives, and introductory phrases helps readers find the actual subject and verb of the sentence.

The third rule helps show that items appear in a series and are parallel. Note the problems of misreading that occur without the series (Oxford) comma.

• Unclear: I want to thank my parents, Cher and Bono. (Are Cher and Bono the person's parents?)
• Clear: I want to thank my parents, Cher, and Bono. (Now the person is thanking four people instead of two.)
• Unclear: Our sandwiches are ham and cheese, peanut butter and jelly and bacon and tomato. (Is it a peanut butter and jelly and bacon sandwich, or a jelly and bacon and tomato sandwich?)
• Clear: Our sandwiches are ham and cheese, peanut butter and jelly, and bacon and tomato. (The series comma keeps the sandwiches sorted.)

Comma (Cont.)

Use this page to teach the special uses of commas.

For Rule 528.3 "To Set Off Dialogue," refer students also to Rule 536.3 "Placement of Punctuation." It tells where commas, periods, question marks, and exclamation points go with quotation marks.

Semicolon

Introduce the semicolon as a hard comma or a soft period: It can do more than a comma and less than a period. Students can remember this rule because the semicolon looks like a period stacked on top of a comma.

A semicolon is strong enough to join two sentences (independent clauses) without a coordinating conjunction. A comma in the same position would form a comma splice. A semicolon is needed even when the second clause starts with a conjunctive adverb like "however" or "therefore."

The semicolon also allows an additional level of separation in a series already replete with commas.

Hyphen

Use this page to teach students about hyphens. These days, they usually join words, letters, or numbers. Rarely do students need to hyphenate words at the ends of lines, since they work on computers rather than typewriters.

Help students see that hyphenation is often the first step toward creating closed compounds. For example, electronic mail become e-mail became email, all within two decades. Many closed compounds began as hyphenated compounds.

Hyphen (Cont.)

At the top of this page, you will find rules for correctly using hyphens to divide words at the ends of lines. Word processing programs naturally apply these rules, so students don't need to dwell on them. Better yet, students should turn off the hyphenation function and set their essays flush left (rather than fully justified).

Apostrophe

The apostrophe shows that part of a word has been omitted. Apostrophes can also form some plurals that might be misread, such as "Mississippi contains four s's and four i's."

Apostrophe (Cont.)

Teach the final two rules about using apostrophes to form possessives (including those used with time).

The white box in the center of the page displays many forms of punctuation, even rarely used items such as the dagger or section mark.

Quotation Marks

In Rule 536.3, help students understand the placement of punctuation:

• Commas and periods after quoted material always go inside the quotation marks.
• Exclamation points and question marks after quoted material go inside if they belong to the quotation or outside if they belong to the sentence as a whole.
• Semicolons and colons after quoted material always go outside the quotation marks.

Quotation Marks (Cont.)

Use the top of this page to help students deal with excerpts and quotations within quotations.

Italics (Underlining)

The bottom of this page introduces italics and shows how they indicate that a word is used as itself, or a letter is used as itself.

Parentheses (Cont.)

Most often, students should use commas to set off explanatory material from the rest of the sentence. When the material disrupts the flow of the sentence, parentheses can help make a stronger break.

Diagonal

Teach how the diagonal (slash) shows options by joining two words with no space before or after. Such a diagonal functions like an "or."

When poetry is quoted in prose, the diagonal can also show line breaks. A space should come before and after a diagonal that shows a line break.

Dash

A dash creates a stronger separation than a comma. Students can create a dash using two hyphens with no space before or after--like this. Most word processing programs will convert the two hyphens to an actual dash—like this.