Professor Dumler's Brief Guide to Basic Punctuation
Contents:
Punctuating Independent Clauses
An independent clause (also called a main clause) has a subject and a predicate and can stand alone as a sentence because it expresses a complete thought.
There are three primary ways to punctuate consecutive independent clauses: with a period, with a comma in front of a coordinating conjunction, or with a semicolon. When you use a semicolon, it is usually inappropriate to follow it with a coordinating conjunction; however, you may wish to use a conjunctive adverb as a transitional device. (Note that conjunctive adverbs can also be placed inside of or at the ends of independent clauses.)
Separate consecutive independent clauses with a period.
“The Company of Wolves” is a story using motifs from “Little Red Riding Hood.”
It was made into a movie by director Neil Jordan.
Separate consecutive independent clauses with a comma in front of a coordinating conjunction.
“The Company of Wolves” is a story using motifs from “Little Red Riding Hood,” and it was made into a movie by director Neil Jordan.
Separate consecutive independent clauses with a semicolon. If you use a conjunctive adverb as a transitional device, separate it from the clause it is in with commas. If it is at the very beginning or end of an independent clause, a semicolon or period can take the place of a comma.
“The Company of Wolves” is a story using motifs from “Little Red Riding Hood”; it was made into a movie by director Neil Jordan.
“The Company of Wolves” is a story using motifs from “Little Red Riding Hood”; however, it is not like a traditional fairy tale.
“The Company of Wolves” is a story using motifs from “Little Red Riding Hood”; it is not like a traditional fairy tale, however.
“The Company of Wolves” is a story using motifs from “Little Red Riding Hood”; it is not, however, like a traditional fairy tale.
Punctuating Dependent Clauses and Phrases
Like an independent clause, a dependent clause has a subject and a predicate, but it cannot stand alone as a sentence because it does not express a complete thought. It loses its independence because it begins with a subordinating word (either a subordinating conjunction or a relative pronoun). Dependent clauses must join with independent clauses in order to form complete sentences. How we punctuate them depends on whether they precede or follow an independent clause.
Phrases cannot stand alone as sentences because they lack a subject, a verb, or both. Generally, we punctuate them the same way we punctuate dependent clauses; however, if an introductory phrase is very short (two or three words) and there is no possibility of confusion if we omit the comma, the comma is optional.
When a dependent clause precedes an independent clause, separate the two with a comma.
When people read “The Tiger’s Bride,” they do not always recognize its source.
When a phrase precedes an independent clause, separate them with a comma.
Examining the huge number of “Cinderella” variants, we see the common elements.
When the phrase is very short and there is no possibility of confusion, the comma is optional but never incorrect.
In England there are several different “Cinderella” variants.
In England, there are several different “Cinderella” variants.
Generally, no comma or other punctuation is needed when an independent clause precedes a dependent clause.
People don’t always identify the source of “The Tiger’s Bride” when they read it.
If the phrase or dependent clause that follows the independent clause is nonrestrictive, however, set it off with a comma.
In Tatar’s anthology, “The Tiger’s Bride” is included in the “Beauty and the Beast” chapter, which helps in its identification.
Punctuating Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Elements
Restrictive material is grammatically essential to the sentence it is within; if
you remove it, it will alter the meaning of the sentence.
Nonrestrictive material, though it may contain important ideas that a
writer wishes to convey, will not alter the meaning of a sentence if it is
removed.
Do not set restrictive elements off with any punctuation marks.
People who first read “The Tiger’s Bride might not recognize its source.
Set nonrestrictive elements off with commas.
“The Tiger’s Bride,” which is based on “Beauty and the Beast,” is very different from most versions of the fairy tale that people are familiar with.
Use a colon to introduce a sentence element when the element follows an independent clause.
Angela Carter wrote two stories inspired by “Beauty and the Beast”: “The Courtship of Mr. Lyon” and “The Tiger’s Bride.”
I watched several movies based on fairy tale themes: Freeway, Pretty Woman, Ever After, The Company of Wolves, and Shrek.
We watched the following movies: Freeway, Pretty Woman, and Ever After.
Do not use a colon if the element being introduced does not follow an independent clause.
The Carter stories inspired by “Beauty and the Beast” are “The Courtship of Mr. Lyon” and “The Tiger’s Bride.”
I watched Freeway, Pretty Woman, Ever After, and The Company of Wolves.
Separate items that are the alike (the same parts of speech) with commas.
Nouns and noun phrases:
We drove through Bakersfield, Portland, and Seattle.
We watched Freeway, Pretty Woman, Ever After, and The Company of Wolves.
Adjectives:
We saw a funny, exciting, original movie last night.
(Note that you do not use a comma separate an adjective from the noun it modifies.)
Adverbs:
The film was deeply, excitingly original.
To avoid confusion, use semicolons to separate items in series if the items themselves have commas (for example, if an item is modified by nonrestrictive information). The commas function as "connectors," so you need a stronger punctuation mark to serve as "separators."
We drove through Bakersfield, California; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle, Washington.
We watched Freeway, a film inspired by "Little Red Riding Hood"; Ever After, a film inspired by "Cinderella"; and The Company of Wolves, based on Angela Carter's version of "Little Red Riding Hood."
Using Apostrophes
The apostrophe has three uses: forming contractions, making nouns possessive, and making numbers, symbols, letters, some abbreviations, and words out of context plural.
Use the apostrophe to form contractions by inserting it in place of missing letters or numbers.
“It’s” is the contraction of “it is” (it is not the possessive form of “it”);
“don’t” is the contraction of “do not.”
Use the apostrophe to make nouns—not pronouns—possessive. Where or whether an “s” is added depends on whether a word is singular or plural and on its spelling).
When words do not end with an “s,” make them possessive by adding an apostrophe and then an “s.”
the child’s bicycle
the children’s toys
When words do end with an “s,” make them possessive by adding only an apostrophe when no extra “s” sound is pronounced.
two cats’ kittens
both houses’ roofs
When words end with an “s” or an “s” sound, and an extra “s” sound is added when the word is made possessive, add an apostrophe and an “s” after it.
her house’s roof
Use the apostrophe to make non-words—numbers, symbols, figures, and letters—and words out of context plural.
His 3’s look like 5’s.
The students earned mostly B’s and C’s on the exam.
Don’t use &’s instead of and’s in your essays.
To make a noun possessive, first make sure that you have made it singular or plural--whatever is appropriate for your purposes.
Singular Plural student students boss bosses cat cats child children woman women
Next, add an apostrophe at the very end of the word.
student' students' boss' bosses' cat' cats' child' children' woman' women'
Finally, add an "s" only if you actually will be pronouncing an extra "s" sound. Notice that, with regular nouns, you must add an "s" or an "es" to make these words plural, so you don't pronounce an extra "s" sound when you make them possessive. Irregular nouns like "child" and "woman" are made plural by changing their spelling, not by adding an s, so you need to add an "s" when you make both singular and irregular nouns plural to indicate the "s" sound that you pronounce.
Singular Possessive Plural Possessive student's students' boss's bosses' cat's cats' child's children's woman's women's
Coordinating Conjunctions (used in compound sentences):
for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
Conjunctive Adverbs (used in compound sentences):
accordingly, also, anyhow, besides, certainly, consequently, conversely, finally, furthermore, hence, henceforth, however, indeed, instead, likewise, meanwhile, moreover, nevertheless, next, nonetheless, otherwise, similarly, still, subsequently, then, therefore, thus
Correlative Conjunctions (used in compound sentences):
both...and, either...or, neither...nor, not only...but (also), whether...or
Subordinate Conjunctions (these precede dependent clauses and are used in complex sentences):
after, although, as, as if, as long as, as though, because, before, even if, even though, how, if, in order that, once, provided that, rather than, since, so, so that, than, that, though, unless, until, when, whenever, where, wherever, whether, while
For more help, see the links on my Writing Help on the Web page.
Last updated on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 12:27 PM