Punctuation Rules
¨ Comma
Examples
The lengthy, detailed, mind-numbing research
paper was finished after an all-night session.
¨ Comma
¨ Divides
all items in a series
ú Including
the last two items, even if they are separated by “and”
¨ Comma
Examples
For the ward dinner, we’ll have mystery meat, mixed
vegetables, green Jell-O with shredded carrots, and potatoes and gravy.
¨ Comma
¨ Divides
nonessential, or interrupting, elements from the essential sentence elements
¨ Comma
Examples
Mad cow disease, the cause of which is unknown, decimated
the British beef industry.
¨ Comma
Examples
Mad cow disease, the cause of which is unknown, decimated
the British beef industry.
¨ Comma
¨ Sets
off a direct quotation, if the material quoted forms an independent clause
¨ Comma
Examples
The bookstore clerk said, “We didn’t order enough copies of
the textbook.”
The bookstore clerk said that they “did not order enough
books.”
The bookstore clerk said that they failed to order
sufficient textbooks.
¨ Comma
¨ Is
used in dates before and after the year, when the format is month, day, year.
¡ Is
not used with partial dates or with other date formats (e.g., day, month, year)
¨ Comma
Examples
I will send you the material on July 8, 2011, which is three
days before you need it.
I will send you the material on 8 July 2011, which is three
days before you need it.
I will send you the material on 7/8/2011, which is three
days before you need it.
Which format do you use – 7/8/2011 or 8/7/2011?
Best
to avoid this format and its confusion.
¨ Comma
¨ Provides
clarification when / where needed
¨ Comma
¨ Provides
clarification when / where needed
¨ Semicolon
¨ Textbook
calls it a “super comma”
¡ Only
one of its functions
¨ Semicolon
¡ Divides
two independent clauses without a conjunction
The clauses must be closely related
¨ Semicolon
Examples
Last spring was the warmest in 30 years; this spring
was the coldest.
Last spring was the warmest in 30 years; my nose is too
long.
¨ Semicolon
• Precedes
a conjunctive adverb between two clauses
Conjunctive adverbs include therefore, thus,
however, nonetheless, and some others
¨ Semicolon
Examples
Last spring was the warmest in 30 years; however, this
spring was the coldest.
Our “Swimwear in January” sale, however, sold out in two
days.
¨ Semicolon
¨ Divides
items in a parallel series where there are internal commas
¨ Semicolon
¨ Divides
the terms i.e. and e.g. from preceding independent clauses
¡ i.e.
= “that is,” from the Latin id est.
¡ e.g.
= “for example,” from the Latin exempli gratia
¨ Semicolon
Examples
There is a high expense limit for senior executives; i.e.,
vice presidents and the CEO.
There is a much lower expense limit for real people; e.g.,
mail room workers and customer service reps.
¨ Semicolon
¨ Semicolons
are never used to introduce lists
¨ Semicolons
are never used in letter salutations
¨ Semicolon
¨ Semicolons
are never used to introduce lists
¨ Semicolons
are never used in letter salutations
¨ Colon
¨ Introduces
items that complete a sentence, when preceded by an independent clause
¨ Colon
Example
We created special parking spaces for these essential people:
the receptionists, the salesperson of the month, and the printer repair person.
¨ Bad
Colon Example
We created special parking spaces for: the
receptionists, the salesperson of the month, and the copier repairman.
¨ Colon
¨ Introduces
items in a bulleted or numbered list
¡ Preceding
independent clause is not needed here
¨ Colon
Example
We exceeded our sales goals by:
¨ Visiting
each customer twice a week
¨ Offering
deep discounts for quantity purchases
¨ Bringing
Krispy Kreme doughnuts
¨ Colon
¨ Is
always used for the salutation line in a business letter
¡ Commas
may be used for personal letters
¨ Dash
¨ Not
a hyphen – it’s longer
ú Hyphen:
-
ú “N”
dash: –
ú “M”
dash: —
¨ The
“n” dash is used more than the “m” dash
¨ Dash
¨ Sets
off sentence interrupters or introductory phrases
¡ The
“m” dash is the traditional choice here.
¡ No
spaces are used before/after the “m” dash.
¡ The
“n” dash with before/after spaces is now used more frequently.
¨ Is
used in date ranges
¡ The
“n’ dash is the traditional choice here.
¡ No
spaces are used before/after the dash.
¡ The
hyphen is sometimes used but is not preferred.
¨ Dash
Example
He implied – though he didn’t actually say it – that we had
won the sweepstakes.
Plan to come next Tuesday – there will be refreshments.
He wrote his best novels from 1948–1971.
¨ Hyphen
¨ Connects
prefixes and base words
¡ When
the prefix ends with the same letter that begins the base word
ú Anti-inflammatory
ú Shell-like
¡ When
the prefix and base word might be confused with another word
ú Re-form
vs. reform
¨ Hyphen
¨ Connects
prefixes and base words
¡ When
the prefix is “self-”
ú Self-serving,
self-absorbed
ú Not
selfish (“ish” is not a word)
¡ When
the word might otherwise be mispronounced
ú Co-worker,
not coworker
¡ When
the base word is capitalized
ú Anti-American
¡ When
the base word is a number
ú Pre-1930
Ford Model T
¨ Hyphen
¨ Used
to join compound adjectives
¡ Well-rounded
intellect
¡ Bell-bottom
trousers
¡ Ill-fitting
toupee
¡ Small-business
managers
¡ Quickly
written paper (no hyphen)
ú “ly”
words don’t need hyphens
¨ Not
used when adjectives follow nouns
¡ That
was a 12-year-old complaint.
¡ That
complaint was 12 years old.
¡ Hyphen
¨ Not
used for these prefixes, unless there is a chance of confusion:
¡ Pre
¡ Re
¡ Sub
¡ Semi
¡ Parentheses
¨ Set
off incidental comments
¨ Introduce
abbreviations for longer terms
¨ Enclose
enumerations
¨ Parentheses
Example
Their alley-oop play (a pass for a dunk) had more “alley”
than “oop.”
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is widely considered
an oxymoron.
You need to get (a) the text, (b) the Harvard case, and (c)
blank paper.
¨ Quotation
Marks
¨ Used
for direct quotations
¡ Not
used for paraphrases or inexact quotations
¡ Punctuation
goes inside the closing quotation mark.
¨ Also
used sometimes to indicate that a phrase is inexact
¡ Never
used to provide emphasis
¨ Quotation
Marks Example
He said, “Okay, I’ll sign the contract.”
He said that he will perform the work.
Laundry detergents are “new and improved” every year.
We want to see the “big” picture so we can “synergize” our
efforts. (Good example of bad business writing.)
¨ Ellipsis
Marks
¨ Indicates
an omission in a quotation, or a pause in informal writing
¡ Must
not be used to change the essential meaning of the quotation
¨ Usage:
¡ Is
used with a space before and after the ellipsis
¡ At
the end of a sentence or phrase, is used with the period or comma, with no
extra space
¨ Ellipsis
Examples
Our goal is to be, among many other things, the Wal-mart of
luxury car dealers.
¨ Ellipsis
Examples
Our goal is to be … the Wal-mart of luxury car dealers.
¨ Ellipsis
Examples
If we want to build a new 200,000-square-foot building, we
will have to increase sales by 200 percent.
¨ Ellipsis
Examples
If we want to build …, we will have to increase sales by 200
percent.
¨ Ellipsis
Examples
The snowstorm produced a series of short circuits that
snowballed into a statewide power outage that took over a week to repair.
¨ Ellipsis
Examples
The snowstorm produced a series of short circuits that snowballed….
¨ Ellipsis
Examples
The “Adulterous Bible” – 1631
¨ Exclamation
Point
¨ Use
it sparingly!
¡ One
per document is usually enough; otherwise, its impact is diluted!
ú If
everything sentence has an exclamation point, then the impact is the same as if
no sentence had one!
ú Never
use more than one to end a sentence!!!!!
¡ Try
to go a whole week without using one!
