{"id":131,"date":"2017-07-20T16:29:47","date_gmt":"2017-07-20T16:29:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-styleguide2\/chapter\/practice-activities-punctuation\/"},"modified":"2017-07-20T16:29:47","modified_gmt":"2017-07-20T16:29:47","slug":"practice-activities-punctuation","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-styleguide2\/chapter\/practice-activities-punctuation\/","title":{"raw":"Practice Activities: Punctuation","rendered":"Practice Activities: Punctuation"},"content":{"raw":"

Ending Punctuation<\/h2>\nAre ending punctuation marks\u00a0used appropriately in these sentences? Explain why or why not. The sentences have been numbered to aid in your comments:\n
(1) One famous eighteenth-century Thoroughbred racehorse was named Potoooooooo, or Pot-8-Os! (2) He was a chestnut colt bred by Willoughby Bertie, 4th Earl of Abingdon, in 1773, and he was known for his defeat of some of the greatest racehorses of the time. (3) With a well-to-do background like this, where do you suppose his strange name came from.\n\n(4) The horse once has a\u00a0stable lad, who facetiously misspelled Potatoes<\/em>. (5) Apparently, the owner thought the misspelling was funny enough to adopt it as the horse's real name!<\/div><\/blockquote>\n[practice-area rows=\"4\"][\/practice-area]\n[reveal-answer q=\"621098\"]Show Answer[\/reveal-answer]\n[hidden-answer a=\"621098\"]The exclamation point at then end of sentence 1 isn't needed. While the name is strange, we haven't yet discussed the horse enough to warrant an exclamation point.\n\nSentence 3\u00a0should end with a question mark: it's a direct question.\n\nSentence 5 may or may not need an exclamation point. It depends on\u00a0two different things: the context of the writing and the amount of emphasis you want to put on the sentence. How much\u00a0emphasis you want is up to you: do you think the fact is amusing enough to have an exclamation point? The context you're writing in will be a more objective\u00a0criterion to help you make your decision. In a formal academic setting, such as an English paper, the exclamation point would likely feel out of place. However, if you were writing on your personal semi-professional blog, the exclamation point would probably fit in just fine.\n\n[\/hidden-answer]\n

Hyphens<\/h2>\nIdentify the compounds in the following sentences. All compounds have been treated as open compounds. Correct any compounds that this is incorrect for:\n
  1. Have you ever seen someone with such a stereo typical appearance?<\/li>\n \t
  2. This is all publicly available information.<\/li>\n \t
  3. I bought a new yellow orange skirt last week.<\/li>\n \t
  4. One half of participants\u00a0failed to complete the study.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n[practice-area rows=\"4\"][\/practice-area]\n[reveal-answer q=\"435404\"]Show Answer[\/reveal-answer]\n[hidden-answer a=\"435404\"]\n
    1. The compound should be a closed compound:\u00a0stereotypical<\/strong>.\u00a0Stereo<\/em> is a prefix in this word.<\/li>\n \t
    2. The compound should be open:\u00a0publicly available<\/strong>. Even though the compound comes before the noun its modifying (information<\/em>), we don't use hyphens with -ly<\/em> adverbs.<\/li>\n \t
    3. The compound should be hyphenated\u00a0yellow-orange<\/strong>. The compound adjective appears directly before the noun\u00a0it modifies (skirt<\/em>).<\/li>\n \t
    4. The compound should be open:\u00a0one half<\/strong>. It comes before the noun (participants<\/em>) so one half<\/em> should be open.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n[\/hidden-answer]\n

      Apostrophes<\/h2>\nRead the following passage. Identify any errors with apostrophes. Type\u00a0the corrected words in the text frame below:\n

      Thanks to\u00a0NASAs'<\/strong> team of sniffers, led by\u00a0George Aldrich, astronauts can breathe a little bit easier. Aldrich is the \u201cchief sniffer\u201d at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico. His's<\/strong> job is to smell items before they can be flown in the space shuttle.<\/p>\n

      Aldrich explained that smells change in space and that once astronauts are up there, their<\/strong>\u00a0stuck with whatever smells are onboard with them. In space, astronauts aren\u2019t able to open the window for extra ventilation. He also said that its<\/strong> important not to introduce substances that will change the delicate balance of the climate of the International Space Station and the space shuttle.<\/p>\n[practice-area rows=\"4\"][\/practice-area]\n[reveal-answer q=\"61337\"]Show Answer[\/reveal-answer]\n[hidden-answer a=\"61337\"]Here is the passage with the errors in bold:\n

      Thanks to\u00a0NASAs'<\/strong> team of sniffers, led by\u00a0George Aldrich, astronauts can breathe a little bit easier. Aldrich is the \u201cchief sniffer\u201d at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico. His's<\/strong> job is to smell items before they can be flown in the space shuttle.<\/p>\n

      Aldrich explained that smells change in space and that once astronauts are up there, their<\/strong>\u00a0stuck with whatever smells are onboard with them. In space, astronauts aren\u2019t able to open the window for extra ventilation. He also said that its<\/strong> important not to introduce substances that will change the delicate balance of the climate of the International Space Station and the space shuttle.<\/p>\nNASAs'<\/strong> should be NASA's<\/strong>.\u00a0His's<\/strong> doesn't need the apostrophe-s<\/em>. In fact, possessive pronouns don't require apostrophes at all.\u00a0His's<\/strong> should be\u00a0His<\/strong>.\u00a0Their<\/strong> is a possessive pronoun; the correct word is\u00a0they're<\/strong>, which is a contraction of the words\u00a0they are<\/em>.\u00a0Its<\/strong> is a possessive pronoun; the correct word is\u00a0it's<\/strong>, which is a contraction of the words\u00a0it is<\/em>.\n\nThe contraction\u00a0aren't<\/em> is used correctly in the passage.\n\n[\/hidden-answer]","rendered":"

      Ending Punctuation<\/h2>\n

      Are ending punctuation marks\u00a0used appropriately in these sentences? Explain why or why not. The sentences have been numbered to aid in your comments:<\/p>\n

      \n
      (1) One famous eighteenth-century Thoroughbred racehorse was named Potoooooooo, or Pot-8-Os! (2) He was a chestnut colt bred by Willoughby Bertie, 4th Earl of Abingdon, in 1773, and he was known for his defeat of some of the greatest racehorses of the time. (3) With a well-to-do background like this, where do you suppose his strange name came from.<\/p>\n

      (4) The horse once has a\u00a0stable lad, who facetiously misspelled Potatoes<\/em>. (5) Apparently, the owner thought the misspelling was funny enough to adopt it as the horse’s real name!<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n