Anees Hussain Salman Ghaffar

RULES OF PUNCTUATION
Rules of Punctuation
My mother-in-
during the hail storm. (singular)
My brothers-in-
The apostrophe can be used correctly in the in the hail storm. (plural)
following instances:

1. It indicates a possessive in nouns. 8. To show possession of the same object by

- When the noun is singular, the more than one noun, only make the last
noun in the series possessive.
instance: .
- When the noun is plural, but does not Miss Carter's office. (They all share the
same office.)
precedes The
.
- When the noun is a regular plural, the and Miss Carter's offices. (Each person has
her own office.)
instance: .

2. It indicates time or quantity. For instance: Common mistakes in using

- apostrophes:
- 1. Used to make a plural: For instance:
- Beautiful (Correct usage
3. It indicates the omission of figures in dates. should be cottages).
For example: - Please replace the (Correct
usage should be trolleys)
- (Correct
4. It indicates the omission of letters. For usage should be CDs and DVDs)
instance:
- 2. Confusion between and its. For
- (A common instance: Thank God its Friday (Correct
usage should be ).

3. Making a plural possessive where a

- (used to mean that John singular possessive is required. For
is unwell ) instance: cars (Correct usage should
be )
5. It indicates the plural of letters. For
example: 4. A common confusion is regarding where to
word banana? place the apostrophe while showing
possession of a proper noun that ends in an
s
6. It indicates the plural of words. For
instance: general consensus is that both are
this club? acceptable. However, usually you will not
7. For a compound noun, place the possessive fine.
ending after the last word.

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The Comma ( , ) - I thought I had the best scores in the class,

yet Cathy proved me wrong.
The comma can be used correctly in the A common mistake in such a construction
following instances: takes place when the conjunction (and, but,
yet, or, etc) is omitted and a comma is used
1. To divide items into lists. For instance: The where a semicolon is called for. This
four refreshing flavours of the ice-cream comma splice
are orange, lemon, strawberry and
chocolate. It is also acceptable to put a -
strawberry Saturday, she got a lot of presents.
and - Jim had a headache, he felt lousy.
the following sentence is perfectly correct:
I went to the chemist, the florist, and the Both these sentences are ungrammatical,
dentist. and can be fixed with the use of a
semicolon in place of the comma, or the
simple addition of an appropriate
2. In a list of adjectives, a comma can be used conjunction.
and
where the modifying words are all
modifying the same thing to the same 5. Commas can be used to fill gaps. This is
degree. For instance: It was a dark, stormy known as the ellipsis. For instance:
night. There were strange, weird noises. Annie had dark hair; Sally, fair.
In the second part, it is understood that
3. To provide a pause in a sentence that is Sally had fair hair.
broken into two or more parts. The parts of
the sentence are called clauses. Such
sentences should contain one independent 6. Use a comma after an introductory word
clause (a smaller sentence that is complete group. Use a comma after a phrase or
on its own) while the remaining clauses clause that precedes the subject of the
should be dependant (incomplete sentence:
sentences). For instance When you get to the end of your rope, tie a
Since I was hungry, I ate your food. knot and hang on.
When the shop opens, I will buy you roses. If at first you don't succeed, failure may be
your style.
In each of the above examples, the first part
of the sentence is a dependant clause (as it
is incomplete and cannot qualify as a 7.
complete sentence on its own) while the
second part of the sentence is an additional information (also known as
independent clause (and can qualify on its modifiers). The commas (known as
own as a complete sentence). bracketing commas) mark the piece that
can be removed entirely from the sentence
leaving no damage to the grammatical
4. Commas are used when two complete construction of the sentence. For instance
sentences are joined together using
conjunction such as and, or, but, while and - Elton John, who is a famous singer, was
yet. For instance: recently knighted by the Queen. (The
underlined part is the modifier that can be
- The boys wanted to stay up until midnight, removed completely without harming the
but they grew tired and fell asleep. sentence).

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- The principal, as a matter of fact, is highly 2. The driver managed to escape from the
qualified. vehicle before it sank and swam to the river
bank. This sentence lacks a comma after
What is interesting to note is that extra
sank
information introduced with a that is
vehicle sank and swam to the river bed.
The correct sentence should be: The driver
extremely important to the meaning of the
managed to escape from the vehicle before
sentence. Hence, such information is
it sank, and swam to the river bank.
usually NOT set off by bracketing commas.
For example:
The flowers that grow in my garden smell 3. atch and learn. This
so sweet. sentence appears to the say the opposite of
what it actually means. What it appears to
Here the underlined part, though a
modifier, is extremely important to the
meaning of the sentence, and if removed
not worry, and also learn by watching.
will make the sentence incomplete in its
Hence, a semicolon in place of the comma
meaning. Hence, this part is not set off by
worry would be more appropriate.
bracketing commas.

4. A panda eats, shoots and leaves. This

The weak interruption to the sentence may
sentence appears to say that a panda eats,
come at the beginning, middle, or the end.
and shoots (fires shots from a gun) and then
For instance:
leaves (probably escapes while it can).
- However, I shall consider your request in What the sentence probably wants to say is
earnest. that a panda eats two things shoots (or
- I shall, however, consider your request in bamboo shoots) and leaves (plural of leaf).
earnest. Hence the comma needs to be removed
from this sentence altogether.
- I shall consider your request in earnest,
however.

The Colon ( : )
Common mistakes in using commas: Common usages of the colon are as
follows:
Misplacing the comma can create quite funny
and interesting sentences. Consider the 1. To introduce a list. For instance: Jenson
following. disliked three qualities in other people: airs
of superiority; fake accents; and
1. Leo walked on his head, a little higher than pretensions of interest in the arts.
usual. The comma in this sentence has
obviously been misplaced, and should have
been put in after on. The correct sentence 2. It theatrically announces what is to come,
should be: Leo walked on, his head a little and is usually followed by a complete
higher than usual. sentence. For example: It is clear, Watson:
the butler killed her. (As if to say It is
clear, Watson yes! the butler killed her)

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 Anees Hussain Salman Ghaffar

3. It may be used as a balance between two Sources:

statements that are opposites of each other. 1.
For instance: Man proposes: God disposes.
Lynne Truss.
2. http://www.kimskorner4teachertalk.com/wr
4. They set off book and film subtitles from
iting/sixtrait/conventions/punctuation.html
the main titles. For instance: Star Wars VI:
The Return of the Jedi. 3. http://grammar.about.com/od/punctuationa
ndmechanics/a/punctrules.htm
4. http://www.grammarbook.com/english_rul
5. They introduce the dialogue of characters. es.asp#punctuationRules
For example:
Philip: There is a monster under my bed!

The Semicolon ( ; )
1. The main place for putting a semicolon is
between two related sentences where there
and but
and where a comma would be
ungrammatical. It is imperative that the
clauses before and after the semi-colon
both be independent (that is, they are
complete sentences in their own right). For
instance:
I love Choco-chum; they are now called
Cocomo.
The President is unwell; he has been
admitted to a hospital.
I love watching movies; they stimulate my
imagination.

2. Use a semicolon to separate items in a

series when those items contain
punctuation such as a comma. For example:
We went on field trips to Topeka, Kansas;
Freedom, Oklahoma; and Amarillo, Texas.

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