{"id":938,"date":"2016-04-14T15:58:09","date_gmt":"2016-04-14T15:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymaker-level1-english\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=938"},"modified":"2016-08-29T18:21:59","modified_gmt":"2016-08-29T18:21:59","slug":"outcome-punctuation-4-6","status":"web-only","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-mcc-college-composition\/chapter\/outcome-punctuation-4-6\/","title":{"raw":"Punctuation","rendered":"Punctuation"},"content":{"raw":"<h2>Introduction<\/h2>\r\n<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>identify the role of end punctuation: periods, question marks, exclamation points<\/li>\r\n \t<li>identify the role of commas<\/li>\r\n \t<li>identify the role of semicolons<\/li>\r\n \t<li>identify the role of colons<\/li>\r\n \t<li>identify the role of hyphens and dashes<\/li>\r\n \t<li>identify the role of apostrophes<\/li>\r\n \t<li>identify the role of quotation marks<\/li>\r\n \t<li>identify the role of brackets<\/li>\r\n \t<li>identify the role of ellipses<\/li>\r\n \t<li>identify the role of parentheses<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\nIn\u00a0this short skit,\u00a0comedian\u00a0Victor Borge\u00a0illustrates just how prevalent punctuation is (or should be) in language.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/Qf_TDuhk3No\r\n\r\nAs you've just heard, punctuation is everywhere. While\u00a0it can be a struggle at first to learn the rules that come along with each mark, punctuation\u00a0is here to help you: these marks were invented to guide readers through passages\u2014to let them know how and where words\u00a0relate to each other.\u00a0When you learn the rules of punctuation, you equip yourself with an extensive toolset so you can better craft language to communicate the exact message you want.\r\n\r\nAs we\u00a0mentioned at the beginning of this module, different style guides have slightly different rules for grammar. This is especially true when it comes to punctuation. This outcome will cover the MLA rules for punctuation, but we'll also make note of rules from other styles when they're significantly different.\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<h2>End Punctuation<\/h2>\r\nThere are three common punctuation marks that come at the end of a sentence: the period (\u00a0.\u00a0), the question mark (\u00a0?\u00a0), and the exclamation point (\u00a0!\u00a0). A sentence is always followed by a single space, no matter what the concluding punctuation is.\r\n<h3>Periods<\/h3>\r\n<img class=\"alignright wp-image-1580\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/04\/29230728\/period-1024x431.png\" alt=\"The word period, followed by a period.\" width=\"300\" height=\"126\" \/>Periods indicate a neutral sentence, and as such are\u00a0by far the most common ending punctuation mark. They've been at the end of every sentence on this page so far.\r\n<h4>Punctuation Clusters<\/h4>\r\nOccasionally, you'll come across an instance that seems to require multiple punctuation marks right next to each other. Sometimes you need to keep all the marks, but other times, you should leave some out.\r\n<div class=\"content clear-block\">\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>You should never use more than one ending punctuation mark in a row (period, question mark exclamation point). When\u00a0quoting a question, you would end with a question mark, not a question mark and a period:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Carlos leaned forward and asked, \"Did you get the answer to number six?\"<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>If an abbreviation, like\u00a0<em>etc<\/em>., ends a sentence,\u00a0you should only use one period.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>I think we'll have enough food. Mary bought the whole store: chips, soda, candy, cereal, etc.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>However, you can place a comma immediately after a period, as you can see\u00a0above with <em>etc.<\/em><\/li>\r\n \t<li>Periods and parentheses can also\u00a0appear right next to each other. Sometimes the period comes after the closing parenthesis (as you can see in the first bullet), but sometimes it appears inside the parentheses. (This is an example of a sentence where the period falls within the parentheses.) We'll learn more about this\u00a0in <a href=\"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymaker-level1-english\/chapter\/parentheses-4-6-11\/\" target=\"_blank\">Text: Parentheses<\/a>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h3>Question Marks<\/h3>\r\n<img class=\"alignright wp-image-2937\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/08\/05171952\/question-1024x1024.png\" alt=\"An icon showing a question mark \" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" \/>A question mark comes at the end of a question. A question is\u00a0a request for information. The information requested should be provided in the form of an answer.\r\n\r\nA rhetorical question is asked to make a point, and does not expect an answer (often the answer is implied or obvious). Some questions are used principally as polite requests (e.g.,\u00a0\"Would you pass the salt?\").\r\n\r\nAll of these questions can be categorized as direct\u00a0questions, and all of these questions require a question mark at their ends.\r\n<h4>Indirect Questions<\/h4>\r\nIndirect questions\u00a0can be used in many of the same ways as direct\u00a0ones, but they often emphasize knowledge or lack of knowledge:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>I can't guess <b>how Tamika\u00a0managed it<\/b>.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>I wonder <b>whether I looked that bad<\/b>.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Cecil\u00a0asked <b>where the reports\u00a0were<\/b>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nSuch clauses correspond to <b>direct questions<\/b>, which are questions actually asked. The direct questions corresponding to the examples above are <i>How did Tamika manage it? Did I look that bad? Where are the reports?<\/i> Notice how different word order\u00a0is used in direct and indirect questions: in direct questions the verb usually comes before the subject, while indirect questions the verb appears second. Additionally, question marks should not be used at the end of indirect questions.\r\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\r\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\r\nAre the following sentences declarative or indirect sentences?\u00a0Which need a question mark at the end?\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Jackie\u00a0wondered where her\u00a0keys\u00a0were<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Can you pass the butter<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Is anyone here<\/li>\r\n \t<li>She asked\u00a0how you were doing<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Why won't you admit I'm right<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"224777\"]<strong>Click to Show Answer<\/strong>[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"224777\"]\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Indirect; no question mark<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Declarative; <em>Can you pass the butter?<\/em><\/li>\r\n \t<li>Declarative; <em>Is anyone here?<\/em><\/li>\r\n \t<li>Indirect; no question mark<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Declarative; <em>Why won't you admit I'm right?<\/em><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h3>Exclamation Points<\/h3>\r\n<img class=\"alignright wp-image-2938\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/08\/05172054\/exclamation-1024x1018.png\" alt=\"an icon showing an exclamation point in its center.\" width=\"200\" height=\"199\" \/>The exclamation point is a punctuation mark usually used after an interjection or exclamation to indicate strong feelings or high volume, and often marks the end of a sentence.\u00a0You've likely seen this overused on the internet:\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">!!!!!! I'm jUST SO!!!!!!<\/p>\r\nWhile this kind of statement is excessive, there are appropriate ways to use exclamation points. A sentence ending in an exclamation mark may be an exclamation (such as \"Wow!\" or \"Boo!\"), or an imperative (\"Stop!\"), or may indicate astonishment: \"They were the footprints of a gigantic duck!\" Exclamation marks are occasionally placed mid-sentence with a function similar to a comma, for dramatic effect, although this usage is rare: \"On the walk, oh! there was a frightful noise.\"\r\n\r\nInformally, exclamation marks may be repeated for additional emphasis (\"That's great!!!\"), but this practice is generally considered only acceptable in casual or informal writing, such as text messages or online communication with friends and family.\r\n\r\nThe exclamation mark is sometimes used in conjunction with the question mark. This can be in protest or astonishment (\"Out of all places, the water-hole?!\").<sup id=\"cite_ref-15\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup>\r\n\r\nOverly frequent use of the exclamation mark is generally considered poor writing, as\u00a0it distracts the reader and devalues the mark's significance.\r\n<blockquote>Cut out all these exclamation points.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0. An exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke.\r\n\u2014\u2009F. Scott Fitzgerald<\/blockquote>\r\nSome authors, however, most notably Tom Wolfe and Madison Acampora, are known for unashamedly liberal use of the exclamation mark. In comic books, the very frequent use of exclamation mark is common.\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<h2>Commas<\/h2>\r\n<img class=\"alignright wp-image-1595\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/04\/29231825\/comma-969x1024.png\" alt=\"an icon showing a comma\" width=\"200\" height=\"211\" \/>Commas: these little demons haunt the\u00a0nightmares of many a professor after an evening of reading student papers. It seems nearly impossible to remember and\u00a0apply\u00a0the seventeen\u00a0or so\u00a0comma rules that seem to given out as\u00a0the standard. (For example: \u201cUse commas to set off independent clauses joined by the common coordinating conjunctions.\u201d or \u201cPut a comma before the coordinating conjunction in a series.\u201d)\r\n\r\nYou have probably also heard a lot\u00a0of\u00a0tips on using commas in addition to these rules: \u201cUse one wherever you would naturally use a pause,\u201d or \u201cRead your work aloud, and whenever you feel yourself pausing, put in a comma.\u201d These techniques help to a degree, but our ears tend to trick us, and we need other avenues of attack.\r\n\r\nPerhaps the best and most instructive way for us to approach the comma is to remember its fundamental function: <em>it is a separator.<\/em>\u00a0Once you know this, the next step is\u00a0to determine what sorts of things generally require separation. This includes most transition words, descriptive words or phrases, adjacent items, and complete ideas (complete ideas contain both a subject and a verb).\r\n<h3>Transition Words<\/h3>\r\nTransition words add new viewpoints to your material; commas before and after transition words help to separate them from the sentence ideas they are describing. Transition words tend to appear at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence. By definition, a\u00a0transition word creates context that links to the preceding sentence. Typical transition words that require commas before and after them include <em>however<\/em>, <em>thus<\/em>, <em>therefore<\/em>, <em>also<\/em>, and <em>nevertheless<\/em>.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><em>Therefore<\/em>, the natural gas industry can only be understood fully through an analysis of these recent political changes.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The lead prosecutor\u00a0was prepared, <em>however<\/em>,\u00a0for a situation like this.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Note:<\/strong>\u00a0As was mentioned, these words require commas at the beginning or middle of a sentence. When they appear between two complete ideas, however, a period or semicolon is required beforehand:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Clint had been planning the trip with his kids for three months; <em>however<\/em>, when work called he couldn't say no.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Sam was retired. <em>Nevertheless<\/em>, he wanted to help out.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nAs you can see from these examples, comma is\u00a0<em>always<\/em>\u00a0required after transition words.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h3>Descriptive Phrases<\/h3>\r\nDescriptive phrases often need to be separated from the things that they describe in order to clarify that the descriptive phrases are subordinate (i.e., they relate to the sentence context, but are less responsible for creating meaning than the sentence\u2019s subject and verb). Descriptive phrases tend to come at the very beginning of a sentence, right after the subject of a sentence, or at the very end of a sentence.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><strong>Near the end of the eighteenth century<\/strong>, James Hutton introduced a point of view that radically changed scientists\u2019 thinking about geologic processes.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>James Lovelock, <strong>who first measured CFCs globally<\/strong>, said in 1973 that CFCs constituted no conceivable hazard.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>All of the major industrialized nations approved, <strong>making the possibility a reality<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nIn each of these cases, note how the material separated by the comma (e.g., \u201cmaking the possibility a reality\u201d) is subordinate\u2014i.e., it carries context in the sentence, but the primary sentence meaning is still derived from the subject and verb. In each example, the phrase separated by the comma could be deleted from the sentence without destroying the sentence\u2019s basic meaning.\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Note:<\/strong>\u00a0If the information is necessary to\u00a0the primary sentence meaning, it should <strong>not<\/strong> be set off by commas. Let's look at a quick example of this:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Jefferson's son, Miles, just\u00a0started college.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Jefferson's son Miles\u00a0just started college<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nYou would write the first sentence if Jefferson only has one son and his name is Miles. If Jefferson only has one son, then <em>Miles<\/em>\u00a0is not needed information and should be set off with commas.\r\n\r\nYou would write the second sentence if Jefferson has multiple sons, and it is his son Miles who just got into college.\u00a0In the second sentence,\u00a0<em>Miles<\/em>\u00a0is necessary information, because until his name is stated, you can't be sure which of Jefferson's sons the sentence is talking about.\r\n\r\nThis test can be very helpful when you're deciding whether or not to include commas in your writing.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h4>Adjacent Items<\/h4>\r\nAdjacent items are words or phrases that have some sort of parallel relationship, yet are different from each other in meaning. Adjacent items are separated so that the reader can consider each item individually.\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">The river caught fire on July 4, 1968, in Cleveland, Ohio.<\/p>\r\nThe dates (July 4, 1968) and places (Cleveland, Ohio) are juxtaposed, and commas are needed because the juxtaposed items are clearly different from each other. This applies to countries as well as states: \"Paris, France, is beautiful this time of year.\"\r\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\r\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\r\nDo the following sentences use commas correctly?\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Sergi Sousa, the top-ranked shoe designer in Rhode Island, is\u00a0going to be at the party tonight.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Sergi only wears shoes, that he created himself.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Sergi was born in Barcelona, Spain, on April 19.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"20588\"]<strong>Click to Show Answer<\/strong>[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"20588\"]\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Yes. While it is interesting that Sergi is a top-ranked shoe designer, this information is not crucial to the primary sentence meaning (<em>Sergi\u00a0is going to be at the party tonight<\/em>).<\/li>\r\n \t<li>No. The sentence does not have the same meaning if you get rid of the descriptive phrase\u00a0(<em>that he created himself<\/em>). Without this phrase, the sentence states that the only thing Sergi wears is shoes. Thus, there should not be commas around the descriptive phrase.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Yes. There should be commas around\u00a0<em>Spain<\/em>. There is no year in the date, so no commas are needed; if a year were provided it would read as follows: <em>Sergi\u00a0was born in Barcelona, Spain, on April 19, 1987.<\/em><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h3>Coordinating Conjunctions: FANBOYS<\/h3>\r\nWe learned about coordinating conjunctions earlier in the course. These are words that join two words or phrases of equal importance. The mnemonic FANBOYS helps us remember the seven most common: <em>f<\/em><i>or<\/i>, <i>and<\/i>, <i>nor<\/i>, <i>but<\/i>, <i>or<\/i>,\u00a0<i>yet<\/i>, and <i>so<\/i>.\r\n\r\nWhen these conjunctions join two words or phrases, no comma is necessary (for more than two, take a look at \"Commas in Lists\"\u00a0just below):\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Paula and Lucca had a great time on their date.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>\"Lucca had a great time on their date\"\u00a0is a complete idea, but the first phrase, <em>Paula<\/em>, is\u00a0not. No comma is required before\u00a0<em>and<\/em>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Minh turned off the lights but left the door unlocked.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>\"Minh turned off the lights\" is a complete idea; \"left the door unlocked.\" No comma is required before\u00a0<em>but<\/em>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Danny studied the lifespan of rhinoceroses in\u00a0their native Kenya and the lifespan of\u00a0rhinoceroses in captivity.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>\"Danny studied the lifespan of rhinoceroses in their native Kenya\" is a complete idea; \"the lifespan of rhinoceroses in captivity\" is not. No comma is required before\u00a0<em>and<\/em>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nWhen these conjunctions are used to join two complete\u00a0ideas, however, a comma is required:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>We could write this as two separate sentences, but we've chosen to join them together here.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Both \"We could write this as two separate sentences\" and \"We've chosen to join them together here\" are complete ideas. A\u00a0comma is required before the\u00a0<em>but<\/em>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\r\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\r\nLook at the following sentences. Each includes a coordinating conjunction. Decide if a comma should be added\u00a0before the conjunction:\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Aamir and Tyesha went on a trip to California.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Aamir was nervous but Tyesha was excited.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>They had been to East\u00a0Coast\u00a0before but never to the West.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Aamir became less nervous after he looked up a few tourist guides online.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>When they came home, Tyesha had not enjoyed herself but Aamir had.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"358345\"]<strong>Click to Show Answer<\/strong>[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"358345\"]\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>No addition needed. The sentence is correct as it stands.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Yes. The sentence should read <em>Aamir\u00a0was nervous, but Tyesha was excited.<\/em><\/li>\r\n \t<li>No addition needed. The sentence is correct as it stands.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>No addition needed. The sentence is correct as it stands.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Yes. The sentence should read\u00a0<em>When they came home, Tyesha\u00a0had not enjoyed herself, but Aamir\u00a0had.<\/em><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h3>Commas in Lists<\/h3>\r\nThe serial comma is used to separate adjacent items\u2014different items with equal importance\u2014when there are three or more. This is so the reader can consider each item individually. Let's look at a few examples\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Weathering may extend only a few centimeters beyond the zone in <strong>fresh granite<\/strong>, <strong>metamorphic rocks<\/strong>, <strong>sandstone<\/strong>, <strong>shale<\/strong>, and <strong>other rocks<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>This approach <strong>increases homogeneity<\/strong>, <strong>reduces the heating time<\/strong>, and <strong>creates a more uniform microstructure<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nIn the first sentence, the commas are important because each item presented is distinctly different from its adjacent item. \u00a0In the second\u00a0example, the three phrases, all beginning with different verbs, are parallel, and the commas work with the verbs to demonstrate that \u201cThis approach\u201d has three distinctly different impacts.\r\n<h4>The Serial Comma (a.k.a the Oxford\u00a0Comma)<\/h4>\r\nPerhaps one of the most hotly contested comma rules is the case of\u00a0the <strong>serial comma<\/strong> or the\u00a0<strong>Oxford comma<\/strong>.\u00a0MLA style (as well as\u00a0APA and\u00a0<em>Chicago<\/em>) requires the use of the serial comma\u2014AP style highly recommends leaving it out. But what is the serial comma?\r\n\r\nThe serial comma is the\u00a0comma before the<i>\u00a0<\/i>conjunction (<em>and<\/em>,\u00a0<em>or<\/em>, and\u00a0<em>nor<\/em>) in a series\u00a0involving a parallel list of three or more things.\u00a0For example, \u201cI am industrious, resourceful<strong><em>, and<\/em><\/strong> loyal.\u201d The serial comma can provide clarity in certain situations.\u00a0For example, if the <em>and<\/em> is part of a series of three or more phrases (groups of words) as opposed to single words:\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Medical histories taken about each subject included smoking history, frequency of exercise, current height and weight, and recent weight gain.<\/p>\r\nThe serial comma can also prevent the end of\u00a0a series from\u00a0appearing to be a parenthetical:\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">I'd like to thank my sisters, Beyonc\u00e9 and Rhianna.<\/p>\r\nWithout the serial comma, it may appear that the speaker is thanking his or her two sisters, who are named Beyonc\u00e9 and Rhianna (which could be possible, but isn't true in this case). By adding the serial comma, it becomes clear that the speaker is thanking his or her sisters, as well as the two famous singers: \"I'd like to thank my sisters, Beyonc\u00e9, and Rhianna.\"\r\n\r\nBy always using a comma before the <em>and<\/em> in any series of three or more, you honor the distinctions between each of the separated items, and you avoid any potential reader confusion.\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\"><strong>Note:<\/strong>\u00a0Some professors and many journals prefer to leave out\u00a0the serial comma\u00a0(for the journals, it is literally cheaper to print fewer commas). Because of this, the serial comma is not\u00a0recommend in AP style.<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\r\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\r\nDo the following sentences use commas correctly?\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Ava's\u00a0favorite meals are cauliflower\u00a0soup, steak, and eggs, lasagna, and chicken parmigiana.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Victor\u00a0tried to make\u00a0dinner for her. Unfortunately, his skills are mostly limited to eating, buying, or serving food.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Victor and Ava decided to\u00a0choose\u00a0a restaurant, and\u00a0go out to eat.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"859484\"]<strong>Click to Show Answer<\/strong>[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"859484\"]\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>No. There is an extra comma before the <em>and<\/em> in \"steak and eggs.\" The sentence should look like this: <em>Ava's favorite meals are cauliflower soup, steak and eggs, lasagna, and chicken parmigiana.<\/em><\/li>\r\n \t<li>Yes. The sentence is punctuated correctly.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>No. There are only two items in the list, so no comma is necessary: <em>Victor\u00a0and Ava decided to choose a restaurant and go out to eat.<\/em><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h3>Comma Overuse<\/h3>\r\nA sure way to irritate educated readers of your work is to give them an overabundance of commas. It is easy but dangerous to take the attitude that Sally once did in a <em>Peanuts <\/em>comic strip, asking Charlie Brown to correct her essay by showing her \u201cwhere to sprinkle in the little curvy marks.\u201d\r\n\r\nPerhaps the best way to troubleshoot your particular comma problems, especially if they are serious, is to identify and understand the patterns of your errors. We tend to make the same mistakes over and over again; in fact, many writers develop the unfortunate habit of automatically putting commas into slots such as these:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>between the subject and verb of a sentence<\/li>\r\n \t<li>after any number<\/li>\r\n \t<li>before any preposition<\/li>\r\n \t<li>before or after any conjunction<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nThus, incorrect sentences such as these appear in papers:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>The bushings, must be adjusted weekly, to ensure that the motor is not damaged.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Many botanists still do not fully appreciate these findings even after 22 years, following the publication of the discovery paper.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Other manufactured chemicals that also contain bromine are superior for extinguishing fires in situations where people, and electronics are likely to be present.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The price of platinum will rise, or fall depending on several distinct factors.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nIf the commas above look fine to you, then you may be in the habit of using commas incorrectly, and you will need to attack your specific habits, perhaps even in a routine, repetitive fashion, in order to break yourself of them. Similarly, it is common for someone to have to look up the same tricky word dozens of times before committing its proper spelling to memory. As with spelling, commas (or the absence of commas) must be repeatedly challenged in your writing.\r\n\r\nAs you perfect your comma usage, you will\u00a0learn to recognize and reevaluate your sentence patterns, and the rewards are numerous. There is no foolproof or easy way to exorcise all of your comma demons, but a great place to start is reminding yourself of the comma\u2019s basic function as a separator and justifying the separation of elements. In the end, you simply must make a habit of reading, writing, and revising with comma correctness in mind.\u00a0Remember: commas have much to do with sentence wording, which is always in the control of the writer.\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<h2><img class=\"alignright wp-image-1754\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/05\/04170350\/semi-1005x1024.png\" alt=\"an icon showing a semicolon\" width=\"200\" height=\"204\" \/>Semicolons<\/h2>\r\nThe semicolon is one of the most misunderstood and misused punctuation marks; in fact, it is often mistaken for the colon (which we'll discuss next). However, these two punctuation marks are not interchangeable. A semicolon connects two complete ideas (a complete idea has a subject and a verb) that are connected to each other. Look at this sentence for example:\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Anika's statue is\u00a0presently displayed\u00a0in the center of the exhibit; this location makes it a\u00a0focal point and allows it to direct the flow of visitors to the museum.<\/p>\r\nThe first idea tells us where Anika's statue is, and the second idea tells us more about the location and it's importance. Each of these ideas could be its own sentence, but by using a semicolon, the author is telling the reader that the two ideas are connected.\u00a0Often, you may find yourself putting a comma in the place of the semicolon; this is incorrect. Using a comma here would create a run-on sentence (we'll discuss those more in <a href=\".\/chapter\/outcome-sentence-structure-4-7\/\" target=\"_blank\">Sentence Structure<\/a>). Remember: a comma can join a complete idea to other items while a semicolon needs a complete idea on either side.\r\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\r\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\r\nDo\u00a0the following sentences\u00a0need a comma or a semicolon?\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Kieran never throws anything away __ he's convinced he'll need these things someday.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Because I left my keys at my apartment __ I had to stay on campus and wait for my roommate.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Zebras are the most popular animals at my local zoo __ however, elephants are my favorite animal.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"600237\"]<strong>Click to Show Answers<\/strong>[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"600237\"]\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>semicolon (;) A semicolon connects two complete ideas\u00a0that are connected to each other.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Kieran never throws anything away; he's convinced he'll need these things someday.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>comma (,) A\u00a0comma follows\u00a0an\u00a0introductory clause with\u00a0<em>because<\/em>.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Because I left my keys at my apartment, I had to stay on campus and wait for my roommate.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>semicolon (;) A\u00a0semicolon (or a period) appears before\u00a0an adverbial conjunction.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Zebras are the most popular animals at my local zoo; however, elephants are my favorite animal.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<h2>Colons<\/h2>\r\n<img class=\"alignright wp-image-1756\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/05\/04170457\/colon-985x1024.png\" alt=\"an icon showing a colon\" width=\"200\" height=\"208\" \/>The colon: well-loved but, oh, so misunderstood. The colon is not just used to introduce a list; it is far more flexible. The colon can be used after the first word of a sentence or just before the final word of a sentence. The colon can also be used to introduce a grammatically independent sentence. Thus, it is one of the most powerful punctuation marks.\r\n\r\nThe colon is like a sign on the highway, announcing that something important is coming. It acts as an arrow pointing forward, telling you to read on for important information. A common analogy used to explain the colon is that it acts like a flare in the road, signaling that something meaningful lies ahead.\r\n\r\nUse the colon when you wish to provide pithy emphasis.\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">To address this problem, we must turn to one of the biologist\u2019s most fundamental tools: the Petri dish.<\/p>\r\nUse the colon to introduce material that explains, amplifies, or summaries what has preceded it.\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">The Petri dish: one of the biologist\u2019s most fundamental tools.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">In low carbon steels, banding tends to affect two properties in particular: tensile ductility and yield strength.<\/p>\r\nThe colon is also commonly used to present a list or series, which comes in handy when there is a lot of similar material to join:\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">A compost facility may not be located as follows: within 300 feet of an exceptional-value wetland; within 100 feet of a perennial stream; within 50 feet of a property line.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\r\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\r\nIs the colon used correctly in the following sentences?\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Stores need strict rules for making returns: consumers abuse them.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>A store refund may be, for example: a cash refund, a store credit, or a gift card.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>A store may charge a restocking fee in the following circumstances: (1) If the item is removed from plastic wrapping, (2) If the box is torn, (3) If tags or labels have been removed from the item.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>If a store's policy differs from the state-wide 7-day policy, then the store must: place a written notice about their policies, in language that consumers can understand, so that it can be easily seen and read.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>California law is very exact about posting store policy: The policy must be displayed either at each entrance to the store, at each cash register and sales counter, on tags attached to each item, or on the company's order forms, if any.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"201258\"]<strong>Click to Show Answer<\/strong>[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"201258\"]\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>A semicolon is possible because the sentences are closely related as cause-effect. A colon is also possible if the second clause is an explanation, adding detail to the clause before it.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Incorrect. A comma is the better choice for a short series or list. Normally, \"for example\" lists just a couple examples (a couple as an example of the larger list.)\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>A store refund may be, for example, a cash refund, a store credit, or a gift card.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Correct. A colon is used before a list. However, the initial word of the list item is lowercase if it is not a complete sentence.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Incorrect. No colon is used here because the part following the colon is neither an explanation nor a list; it is the completion of the central idea of the sentence. (No commas should be used either.)\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>If a store's policy differs from the state-wide 7-day policy, then the store must place a written notice about their policies, in language that consumers can understand, so that it can be easily seen and read.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Correct. A colon is used before a second clause which explains or illustrates the first clause. Incorrect initial capital after the colon.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<h2>Hyphens and Dashes<\/h2>\r\n<h3>Hyphens<\/h3>\r\n<img class=\"alignright wp-image-1768\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/05\/04172059\/hyphen-1024x577.png\" alt=\"hyphen\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" \/><em>The Oxford Manual of Style<\/em> once stated, \u201cIf you take hyphens seriously you will surely go mad.\u201d Hyphens belong to that category of punctuation marks that will hurt your brain if you think about them too hard, and, like commas, people disagree about their use in certain situations. Nevertheless, you will have to use them regularly because of the nature of academic\u00a0and professional\u00a0writing. If you learn to use hyphens properly, they help you to write efficiently and concretely.\r\n<h4>The Hyphen's Function<\/h4>\r\nFundamentally, the hyphen is a joiner. It can join several different types of things:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>two nouns to make one complete word (kilogram-meter)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>an adjective and a noun to make a compound word (accident-prone)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>two words that, when linked, describe a noun (agreed-upon sum, two-dimensional object)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>a prefix with a noun (un-American)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>double numbers (twenty-four)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>numbers and units describing a noun (1000-foot face; a 10-meter difference)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>\u201cself\u201d words (self-employed, self-esteem)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>new word blends (cancer-causing, cost-effective)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>prefixes and suffixes to words, in particular when the writer wants to avoid doubling a vowel or tripling a consonant (anti-inflammatory; shell-like)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>multiple adjectives with the same noun (blue- and\u00a0yellow-green beads; four- and five-year-olds)<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nA\u00a0rule of thumb\u00a0for the hyphen is that the resulting word must act as one unit; therefore, the hyphen creates a new word that has a single meaning. Usually, you can tell whether a hyphen is necessary by applying common sense and mentally excluding one of the words in question, testing how the words would work together without the hyphen. For example, the phrases \u201chigh-pressure system,\u201d \u201cwater-repellent surface,\u201d and \u201cfuel-efficient car\u201d would not make sense without hyphens, because you would not refer to a \u201chigh system,\u201d a \u201cwater surface,\u201d or a \u201cfuel car.\u201d As your ears and eyes become attuned to proper hyphenation practices, you will recognize that both meaning and convention dictate where hyphens fit best.\r\n<h4>Examples of Properly Used Hyphens<\/h4>\r\nSome examples of properly used hyphens follow. Note how the hyphenated word acts as a single unit carrying a meaning that the words being joined would not have individually.\r\n<table>\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>small-scale study<\/td>\r\n<td>two-prong plug<\/td>\r\n<td>strength-to-weight ratio<\/td>\r\n<td>high-velocity flow<\/td>\r\n<td>frost-free lawn<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>self-employed worker<\/td>\r\n<td>one-third majority<\/td>\r\n<td>coarse-grained wood<\/td>\r\n<td>decision-making process<\/td>\r\n<td>blue-green algae<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>air-ice interface<\/td>\r\n<td>silver-stained cells<\/td>\r\n<td>protein-calorie malnutrition<\/td>\r\n<td>membrane-bound vesicles<\/td>\r\n<td>phase-contrast microscope<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>long-term-payment loan<\/td>\r\n<td>\u00a0cost-effective program<\/td>\r\n<td>\u00a0time-dependent variable<\/td>\r\n<td>radiation-sensitive sample<\/td>\r\n<td>\u00a0long-chain fatty acid<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<h4>When Hyphens Are Not Needed<\/h4>\r\nBy convention, hyphens are not used after\u00a0words ending in -<em>ly<\/em>, nor when the words are so commonly used in combination that no ambiguity results. In these examples, no hyphens are needed:\r\n<table width=\"400\" cellspacing=\"1\" cellpadding=\"1\">\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>finely tuned engine<\/td>\r\n<td>blood pressure<\/td>\r\n<td>sea level<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>real estate<\/td>\r\n<td>census taker<\/td>\r\n<td>atomic energy<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>civil rights law<\/td>\r\n<td>public utility plant<\/td>\r\n<td>carbon dioxide<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Note:<\/strong> Phrases like containing the word <em>well<\/em> like\u00a0<em>well known<\/em> are contested.\u00a0<em>Well<\/em> is an adverb, and thus many fall into the school of thought that a hyphen is unnecessary. However, others say that leaving out the\u00a0hyphen may cause confusion and therefore include it (<em>well-known<\/em>). The standard in MLA is\u00a0as follows: When\u00a0it appears before the noun,\u00a0<em>well known<\/em> should be hyphenated. When it follows the noun, no hyphenation is needed.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>She is\u00a0a <strong>well-known<\/strong> person.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>She is <strong>well known<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h4>Prefixes and Suffixes<\/h4>\r\nMost prefixes do not need to be hyphenated; they are simply added in front of a noun, with no spaces and no joining punctuation necessary. The following is a list of common prefixes that do not require hyphenation when added to a noun:\r\n<table width=\"400\" cellspacing=\"1\" cellpadding=\"1\">\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>after<\/td>\r\n<td>anti<\/td>\r\n<td>bi<\/td>\r\n<td>bio<\/td>\r\n<td>co<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>cyber<\/td>\r\n<td>di<\/td>\r\n<td>down<\/td>\r\n<td>hetero<\/td>\r\n<td>homo<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>infra<\/td>\r\n<td>inter<\/td>\r\n<td>macro<\/td>\r\n<td>micro<\/td>\r\n<td>mini<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>nano<\/td>\r\n<td>photo<\/td>\r\n<td>poly<\/td>\r\n<td>stereo<\/td>\r\n<td>thermo<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Note:<\/strong> The prefix\u00a0<em>re<\/em> generally doesn't require a hyphen. However, when leaving out a hyphen will cause confusion, one should be added. Look at the following word pairs, for example:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><em>resign<\/em> (leave a position) v. <em>re-sign<\/em> (sign the paper again)<\/li>\r\n \t<li><em>recreation<\/em>\u00a0(an activity of leisure) v. <em>re-creation\u00a0<\/em>(create something again)<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\nCommon suffixes also do not require hyphenation, assuming no ambiguities of spelling or pronunciation arise. Typically, you do not need to hyphenate words ending in the following suffixes:\r\n<table width=\"400\" cellspacing=\"1\" cellpadding=\"1\">\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>able<\/td>\r\n<td>less<\/td>\r\n<td>fold<\/td>\r\n<td>like<\/td>\r\n<td>wise<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<h4>Commonly Used Word Blends<\/h4>\r\nAlso, especially in technical fields, some words commonly used in succession become joined into one. The resulting word\u2019s meaning is readily understood by technical readers, and no hyphen is necessary. Here are some examples of such word blends, typically written as single words:\r\n<table width=\"400\" cellspacing=\"1\" cellpadding=\"1\">\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>blackbody<\/td>\r\n<td>groundwater<\/td>\r\n<td>airship<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>downdraft<\/td>\r\n<td>longwall<\/td>\r\n<td>upload<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>setup<\/td>\r\n<td>runoff<\/td>\r\n<td>blowout<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\r\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Students can participate in (self paced\/self-paced) learning.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Rather than sit in a (two hour-long\/two-hour long\/two-hour-long) class, students can study at their convenience.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Would you like the (three or four-course\/three- or four-course) meal tonight?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>He's behaving in a very (childlike\/child-like) manner.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"326425\"]<strong>Click to Show Answers<\/strong>[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"326425\"]\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Students can participate in <strong>self-paced<\/strong>\u00a0learning.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Rather than sit in a <strong>two-hour-long<\/strong> class, students can study at their convenience.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Would you like the <strong>three- or four-course<\/strong> meal tonight?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>He's behaving in a very <strong>childlike<\/strong> manner.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h3>Dashes<\/h3>\r\n<img class=\"alignright wp-image-1769\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/05\/04172125\/em-1024x575.png\" alt=\"an icon showing an em dash, which is a straight line approximately the length of the letter m.\" width=\"300\" height=\"168\" \/>The dash\u00a0functions almost as a colon does in that it adds to the preceding material, but with extra emphasis. Like a caesura (a timely pause) in music, a dash indicates a strong pause, then gives emphasis to material following the pause. In effect, a dash allows you to <em>redefine <\/em>what was just written, making it more explicit. You can also use a dash as it is used in the first sentence of this paragraph: to frame an interruptive or parenthetical-type comment that you do not want to de-emphasize.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Jill Emery confirms that Muslim populations have typically been ruled by non-Muslims\u2014specifically Americans, Russians, Israelis, and the French.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The dissolution took 20 minutes\u2014much longer than anticipated\u2014but measurements were begun as soon as the process was completed.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">There is no \"dash\" button on a computer keyboard. Instead, create it by typing the hyphen button twice in a row; or use the \"symbol\" option in your word processor; or use the Mac shortcut option + shift +\u00a0\u2014.<\/div>\r\nWhen you type the hyphen\u00a0or\u00a0dash, no spaces should appear on either side of the punctuation mark.\r\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\r\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\r\nIs the dash used correctly in the following sentences?\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>A good leader should be\u2014passionate, patient, productive and positive.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Politicians want to serve and improve the lives of people\u2014really!<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Life is ninety per cent perspiration\u2014my kindergarten teacher told me\u2014and ten per cent inspiration.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Mayor Lee wants all city employees to ride bicycles to work\u2014what is he thinking\u2014on fair-weather days.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"624972\"]<strong>Click to Show Answers<\/strong>[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"624972\"]\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Incorrect. Normally, a noun precedes the series of examples: A good leader has several qualities \u2014 passion, patience and positivity.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Correct. A dash can join a short affirmation of what has just been said. [Really! Truly! Indeed!]<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Correct. Dashes can be used to mark a sudden break in thought.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Correct. Though very informal, dashes can be used for sudden breaks in thought. Note that the comment is very loosely related to the central idea of the sentence.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<h2>Apostrophes<\/h2>\r\n<h3>Possession<\/h3>\r\n<img class=\"alignright wp-image-1758\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/05\/04170603\/apostrophe-968x1024.png\" alt=\"an icon showing an apostrophe\" width=\"200\" height=\"212\" \/>With possessives, the apostrophe is used in combination with an <em>s<\/em>\u00a0to represent that a word literally or conceptually possesses what follows it.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>a student\u2019s paper<\/li>\r\n \t<li>the county\u2019s borders<\/li>\r\n \t<li>a nation\u2019s decision<\/li>\r\n \t<li>one hour\u2019s passing<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h4>Apostrophes with Words Ending in\u00a0<em>s<\/em>\u00a0and with Plurals<\/h4>\r\nSingular words whether or not\u00a0they\u00a0end in <em>s<\/em>, are made possessive by adding an apostrophe +\u00a0<em>s<\/em>. For plural words,\u00a0we typically indicate possession simply by adding the apostrophe without an additional <em>s<\/em>. However, a plural that does not end in an\u00a0<em>s<\/em> (e.g., <em>bacteria<\/em>), we would add an apostrophe +\u00a0<em>s<\/em>.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Illinois\u2019s law<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Mars\u2019s atmosphere<\/li>\r\n \t<li>interviewees\u2019 answers<\/li>\r\n \t<li>the bacteria's life cycle<\/li>\r\n \t<li>her\u00a0professors\u2019 office (an office shared by two of her professors; if it were just one professor we would write\u00a0<em>her professor's office<\/em>)<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\"><strong>Note:<\/strong>\u00a0Practices vary from style to style, so be sure to check the rules in your course's discipline for this.<\/div>\r\n<h3>Contractions<\/h3>\r\n<div class=\"content clear-block\">\r\n\r\nA contraction is a shortened\u00a0phrase. <em>He\u00a0will<\/em>\u00a0becomes\u00a0<em>he'll<\/em>,\u00a0<em>are not<\/em> becomes\u00a0<em>aren't<\/em>, <em>would have<\/em> becomes <em>would've<\/em>, and\u00a0<em>it is<\/em> becomes\u00a0<em>it's<\/em>. In all of these cases, the apostrophe stands in for the missing letters.\r\n\r\nYou may find yourself\u00a0being steered away from using contractions in your papers. While you should write to your teacher's preference, keep in mind that\u00a0leaving out contractions can often make your words sound over formal and stilted. (And don't eliminate contractions in your papers just to up your word count!)\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\"><strong>Note:<\/strong> Double contractions, like <em>wouldn't've<\/em> or <em>I'd've<\/em> are considered non-standard and should be avoided in formal written language.<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\r\n<h3>Some Common\u00a0Errors<\/h3>\r\nNow that we've learned about both contraction and possession, let's take a look at some\u00a0of the most common (or at least most called out) errors people make.\r\n<h4><em>Its<\/em>\u00a0versus\u00a0<em>It's<\/em><\/h4>\r\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/Yhaa214UKvA\r\n\r\nThis rule also applies to\u00a0<em>your<\/em> vs.\u00a0<em>you're\u00a0<\/em>and <em>their<\/em> vs.\u00a0<em>they're<\/em>. The best way to\u00a0use these correctly is to remember that possessive pronouns never have an apostrophe: if there's an apostrophe with a pronoun, it's\u00a0a contraction, not a possessive.\r\n<h4><em>Should've<\/em>\u00a0versus\u00a0<em>Should of<\/em><\/h4>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><em>Should of, would of, could of<\/em><\/li>\r\n \t<li><em>Should've, would've, could've<\/em><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nThis mistake\u00a0is due to the pronunciation. Out loud both\u00a0of these phrases\u00a0sound exactly the same. However, remember that the original phrase is\u00a0<em>should have<\/em>, as in \"I should have done that.\" The phrase <em>should of<\/em> should never occur. Unfortunately, the only way to remember this is rote memorization (or perhaps a closer examination of the word\u00a0<em>of<\/em>).\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h3>Acronyms and Numbers<\/h3>\r\nIn technical writing, acronyms and numbers are frequently pluralized with the addition of an apostrophe +\u00a0<em>s<\/em>, but this is falling out of favor, and there is typically no need to put an apostrophe in front of the <em>s<\/em>. Therefore, <em>SSTs<\/em>\u00a0(sea surface temperatures) is more acceptable than <em>SST\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0when your intention is simply to pluralize.\r\n\r\nIdeally, use the apostrophe before the <em>s<\/em>\u00a0with an acronym or a number only to show possession (i.e., \u201can 1860\u2019s law\u201d; \u201cDEP\u2019s testing\u201d) or when confusion would otherwise result (\u201cmind your <em>p<\/em>\u2019s and <em>q<\/em>\u2019s\u201d).\r\n\r\nWhen talking about a specific decade <em>the 1920s<\/em> should be shortened to\u00a0<em>the\u00a0\u201920s<\/em>. Notice that the apostrophe curls away from the numbers, indicating that the missing characters originally appeared prior to the apostrophe.\r\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\r\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\r\nSelect the response from the list that best completes the sentence.\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Betty Crocker actually came from an (employees\/employee's\/employees') imagination.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Back in the (1930s\/1930's\/1930s'), Betty Crocker was a name everyone knew.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>A television commercial asked, \"(Who's\/Whose) the person (who's\/whose) cookies we love?\"<\/li>\r\n \t<li>As (woman's\/women's\/womens') fashions changed, the company updated (Betty Crocker's\/Betty Crockers') image.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>A commercial told us, \"Buy Betty Crocker. (It's\/Its) quality you can trust!\"<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"529283\"]<strong>Click to Show Answers<\/strong>[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"529283\"]\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Betty Crocker actually came from an <strong>employee's<\/strong>\u00a0imagination.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Back in the <strong>1930s<\/strong>, Betty Crocker was a name everyone knew.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>A television commercial asked, \"<strong>Who's<\/strong> the person <strong>whose<\/strong>\u00a0cookies we love?\"<\/li>\r\n \t<li>As <strong>women's<\/strong>\u00a0fashions changed, the company updated <strong>Betty Crocker's<\/strong> image.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>A commercial told us, \"Buy Betty Crocker. <strong>It's<\/strong> quality you can trust!\"<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<h2>Quotation Marks<\/h2>\r\n<img class=\"alignright wp-image-1760\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/05\/04170735\/quote-1024x472.png\" alt=\"an icon showing opening and closing quotation marks\" width=\"300\" height=\"138\" \/>There are three typical ways quotation marks are used. The first is pretty self-explanatory: you use quotation marks when you're making a direct quote.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>He\u00a0said \u201cI'll never forget you.\u201d It was the best moment of my life.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Yogi Berra famously said, \u201cA nickel ain't worth a dime anymore.\u201d<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nThe second is when you're\u00a0calling attention to a word. For example:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>I can never say \u201cWorcestershire\u201d correctly.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>How do you spell \u201cdefinitely\u201d?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\r\n\r\n<strong>Note:<\/strong> It is this course's preference to use italics in\u00a0these instances:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>I can never say\u00a0<em>Worcestershire<\/em> correctly.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>How do you spell\u00a0<em>definitely<\/em>?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nHowever, using quotes is also an accepted practice.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nThe last use is scare quotes. This is the most misused type of quotation marks. People often think that quotation marks mean emphasis.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Buy some \u201cfresh\u201d chicken today!<\/li>\r\n \t<li>We'll give it our \u201cbest\u201d effort.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Employees\u00a0\u201cmust\u201d wash their hands before returning to work.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nHowever, when used this way, the quotation marks insert a silent \u201cso-called\u201d into the sentence, which is often the opposite of the intended meaning.\r\n<div class=\"content clear-block\">\r\n<h3>Where do Quotation Marks Go?<\/h3>\r\nDespite what you may see practiced\u2014especially in advertising, on television, and even in business letters\u2014the fact is that the period and comma go inside the quotation marks all of the time. Confusion arises because the British system is different, and the American system may automatically look wrong to you, but it is simply one of the frequently broken rules of written English in America: The period and comma <em>always<\/em>\u00a0go inside the quotation marks.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Correct: The people of the pine barrens are often called \u201cpineys.\u201d<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Incorrect: The people of the pine barrens are often called \u201cpineys\u201d.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nHowever, the semicolon, colon, dash, question mark, and exclamation point fall outside of the quotation marks (unless, of course, the quoted material has internal punctuation of its own).\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>This measurement is commonly known as \u201cdip angle\u201d; dip angle is the angle formed between a normal plane and a vertical.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Built only 50 years ago, Shakhtinsk\u2014\u201cminetown\u201d\u2014is already seedy.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>When she was asked the question \u201cAre rainbows possible in winter?\u201d she answered by examining whether raindrops freeze at temperatures below 0 \u00b0C. (Quoted material has its own punctuation.)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Did he really say \u201cDogs are the devil's henchmen\u201d? (The quote is a statement, but the full sentence is a question.)<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\r\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\r\nHave the following sentences been punctuated correctly?\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>\u201cHello Marcelo\u201d Nikola said \u201cHow have you been doing\u201d?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>\u201cI'm doing well.\u201d he said.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>He asked, \u201cWhat's new with you?\u201d<\/li>\r\n \t<li>My friend told me that \u201cHe has a new car.\u201d<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The car dealership promised the\u00a0\u201cbest\u201d prices in town!<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"779124\"]<strong>Click to Show Answer<\/strong>[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"779124\"]\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Incorrect. Commas are missing. Place a comma after <em>Marcelo<\/em>\u00a0and after <em>said<\/em>. The question mark belongs inside the end quotation mark.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>\u201cHello Marcelo,\u201d Nikola said, \u201cHow have you been doing?\u201d<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Incorrect. Place a comma not a period before the end quotation.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>\u201cI'm doing well,\u201d he said.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Correct. Place the question mark inside the quote mark when both the quote and the main sentence are questions.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Incorrect. Since this is\u00a0reported speech not a quote, there should be not quotation marks.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>My friend told me that He has a new car.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Incorrect. In this instance\u00a0the quotation marks insert\u00a0a silent\u201cso-called\u201d into the sentence,\u00a0changing the original intent of the sentence.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>The car dealership promised the best prices in town!<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<h2>Brackets<\/h2>\r\n<img class=\"alignright wp-image-1764\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/05\/04170934\/bracket-1024x936.png\" alt=\"an icon showing opening and closing brackets\" width=\"250\" height=\"229\" \/>Brackets are a fairly uncommon punctuation mark. Their main use is in quotations: they can be used to clarify quotes. For example, say you want to quote the following passage:\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">\"I finally got to meet Trent today. I had a really great time with him. He was a lot taller than expected, though.\"<\/p>\r\nHowever, you only want to relay\u00a0the fact that Trent was taller than the speaker expected him to be. In order to do this, you would write the following:\u00a0\"[Trent] was a lot taller than expected.\"\r\n\r\nThe brackets let the reader know that while the word <em>Trent<\/em>\u00a0wasn't in the original quote,\u00a0his name was implied there.\u00a0When using brackets, you need to be careful not to change the original meaning of the quote.\r\n\r\nAnother use of brackets is when there is a spelling or informational error in the original quote. For example,\u00a0\"Gabriel sat down on the river bank to fed [<em>sic<\/em>]\u00a0the ducks.\" \u00a0(The term <em>sic<\/em>\u00a0means that the typo was in the original source of this quote.)\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<h2>Ellipses<\/h2>\r\n<img class=\"alignright wp-image-1762\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/05\/04170843\/ellips-1024x473.png\" alt=\"an icon showing an ellipsis, which is made of three periods.\" width=\"300\" height=\"138\" \/>An ellipsis (plural <em>ellipses<\/em>)\u00a0is a series of three periods, as you can see in the icon to the right.\r\n\r\nAs with most punctuation marks, there is some contention about its usage. The main point of contention is whether or not there should be a space between the periods (.\u00a0.\u00a0.) or not (\u2026). MLA, APA, and\u00a0<em>Chicago<\/em>, the most common style guides for students,\u00a0support having spaces between the periods. Others you may encounter, such as in journalism, may not.\r\n<h3>Quotes<\/h3>\r\nLike the brackets we just learned about, you will primarily see ellipses\u00a0used in quotes. They\u00a0indicate a missing portion in a quote. Look at the following quote for an example:\r\n<blockquote>Sauropod dinosaurs are the biggest animals to have ever walked on land. They are instantly recognized by their long, sweeping necks and whiplashed tails, and nearly always portrayed moving in herds, being stalked by hungry predators.\r\n\r\nIn recent years, a huge amount of taxonomic effort from scientists has vastly increased the number of known species of sauropod. What we now know is that in many areas we had two or more species co-existing alongside each other.\r\n\r\nA question that arises from this, is how did we have animals that seem so similar, and with such high energy and dietary requirements, living alongside one another? Was there some sort of spinach-like super plant that gave them all Popeye-like physical boosts, or something more subtle?<\/blockquote>\r\nIt's a lengthy quote, and it contains more information than you want to include. Here's how to cut it down:\r\n<blockquote>Sauropod dinosaurs are the biggest animals to have ever walked on land. They are instantly recognized by their long, sweeping necks and whiplashed tails. . . .\r\n\r\nIn recent years\u00a0. . . [research has shown] that in many areas we had two or more species co-existing alongside each other.\r\n\r\nA question that arises from this, is how did we have animals that seem so similar, and with such high energy and dietary requirements, living\u00a0alongside one another?<\/blockquote>\r\nIn the block quote above, you can see that the first ellipsis appears to have\u00a0four dots. (\"They are instantly recognized by their long, sweeping necks and whiplashed tails. . . .\")\u00a0However, this is just a period followed by an ellipsis. This is because\u00a0ellipses <strong>do not<\/strong> remove punctuation marks when the original punctuation still is in use; they are instead used in conjunction with original punctuation. This is true for\u00a0all punctuation marks, including periods, commas, semicolons, question marks, and exclamation points.\r\n<blockquote>By looking at two sympatric species (those that lived together) from the fossil graveyards of the Late Jurassic of North America\u00a0. . .\u00a0, [David Button] tried to work out what the major dietary differences were between sauropod dinosaurs, based on their anatomy.<\/blockquote>\r\nOne of the best ways to check yourself is to\u00a0take out the ellipsis. If the sentence or paragraph is still correctly punctuated, you've used\u00a0the ellipsis correctly. (Just remember to put it back in!)\r\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\r\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\r\nRead the paragraphs below:\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>Camarasaurus<\/em>, with its more mechanically efficient skull, was capable of generating much stronger bite forces than\u00a0<em>Diplodocus<\/em>. This suggests that <em>Camarasaurus<\/em> was capable of chomping through tougher plant material than\u00a0<em>Diplodocus<\/em>, and was perhaps even capable of a greater degree of oral processing before digestion. This actually ties in nicely with previous hypotheses of different diets for each, which were based\u00a0on apparent feeding heights and inferences made from wear marks on their fossilized teeth.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>Diplodocus<\/em> seems to have been well-adapted, despite its weaker skull, to a form of feeding known as branch stripping, where leaves are plucked from branches as the teeth are dragged along them. The increased flexibility of the neck of <em>Diplodocus<\/em> compared to other sauropods seems to support this too.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">In terms of their morphological disparity (differences in mechanically-significant aspects of their anatomy), <em>Camarasaurus<\/em> and <em>Diplodocus<\/em> appear to vary more than almost any other sauropod taxa, representing extremes within a spectrum of biomechanical variation related to feeding style.<\/p>\r\nDo\u00a0the following quotes use ellipses (and surrounding punctuation) correctly?\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>This suggests that <em>Camarasaurus<\/em> was capable of chomping through tougher plant material than <em>Diplodocus<\/em>. .\u00a0. This actually ties in nicely with previous hypotheses of different diets foreach.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Diplodocus seems to have been well-adapted, . . .\u00a0to a form of feeding known as branch stripping, where leaves are plucked from branches as the teeth are dragged along them<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"3662\"]<strong>Click to Show Answer<\/strong>[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"3662\"]\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li><strong>No.<\/strong> There should be for periods; the ending punctuation of the sentence and then the ellipsis. Even though we've cut off the end of the sentence, the next part is the beginning of a new sentence, and we need ending punctuation.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>No.<\/strong> Since we took out the entire parenthetical phrase, the comma beforehand is unnecessary. It should be \"Diplodocus seems to have been well-adapted . . .\u00a0to a form of feeding known as branch stripping . . . \"<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h3>Pauses<\/h3>\r\nThere is one additional use of the ellipsis:\u00a0this punctuation mark also indicates . . . a pause. However, this use is informal, and should only be used in casual correspondence (e.g., emails to friends, posts on social media, texting)\u00a0or in creative writing.\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<h2>Parentheses<\/h2>\r\n<img class=\"alignright wp-image-1766\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/05\/04171014\/paren-1024x886.png\" alt=\"an icon showing opening and closing parentheses \" width=\"250\" height=\"216\" \/>Parentheses are most often used to identify material that acts as an aside (such as this brief comment) or to add incidental information.\r\n\r\nOther punctuation marks used alongside parentheses need to take into account their context. If the parentheses enclose a full sentence beginning with a capital letter, then the end punctuation for the sentence falls <em>inside<\/em> the parentheses. For example:\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Typically, suppliers specify air to cloth ratios of 6:1 or higher. (However, ratios of 4:1 should be used for applications involving silica or feldspathic minerals.)<\/p>\r\nIf the parentheses indicate a citation at the end of a sentence, then the sentence\u2019s end punctuation comes after the parentheses are closed:\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">In a study comparing three different building types, respirable dust concentrations were significantly lower in the open-structure building (Hugh et al., 2005).<\/p>\r\nFinally, if the parentheses appear in the midst of a sentence (as in this example), then any necessary punctuation (such as the comma that appeared\u00a0just a few words ago) is delayed until the parentheses are closed.\r\n\r\nRemember, parentheses always appear in pairs. If you open a parenthesis, you need another to close it!\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\"><strong>Note:<\/strong> In technical writing, there are\u00a0additional\u00a0rules for using parentheses, which can be more nuanced. While we won't discuss those rules here, it's important to bear their existence\u00a0in mind, especially if you're considering going into a more technical field.<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\r\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\r\nHave the parentheses been used correctly in the following sentences?\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>He finally arrived at a solution<span class=\"boldblu\"> (after reading a dozen style manuals.)<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li>The Modern Language Association (MLA) has an online reference website.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>If the green light does not come on (See instruction booklet.) try the steps again.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>If the person responds that the computer is not running smoothly, the caller will ask the user to boot start up the system and report the start up time.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"190902\"]<strong>Click to\u00a0Show Answer<\/strong>[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"190902\"]\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>No; the sentence is incorrect. The period is enclosed within the parentheses only if the entire sentence is within the parentheses.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Yes. Initials for an organization or group can be enclosed in parentheses after the full name.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Incorrect. Change \"see\" to lowercase and remove the period before the closing parenthesis.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Incorrect. There should be parentheses around the phrase \"start up\": \" .\u00a0.\u00a0. the caller will ask the user to boot (start up) the system.\u00a0.\u00a0.\"<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<h2>Self-Check<\/h2>\r\nhttps:\/\/assessments.lumenlearning.com\/assessments\/1277","rendered":"<h2>Introduction<\/h2>\n<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>identify the role of end punctuation: periods, question marks, exclamation points<\/li>\n<li>identify the role of commas<\/li>\n<li>identify the role of semicolons<\/li>\n<li>identify the role of colons<\/li>\n<li>identify the role of hyphens and dashes<\/li>\n<li>identify the role of apostrophes<\/li>\n<li>identify the role of quotation marks<\/li>\n<li>identify the role of brackets<\/li>\n<li>identify the role of ellipses<\/li>\n<li>identify the role of parentheses<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>In\u00a0this short skit,\u00a0comedian\u00a0Victor Borge\u00a0illustrates just how prevalent punctuation is (or should be) in language.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/youtu.be\/Qf_TDuhk3No<\/p>\n<p>As you&#8217;ve just heard, punctuation is everywhere. While\u00a0it can be a struggle at first to learn the rules that come along with each mark, punctuation\u00a0is here to help you: these marks were invented to guide readers through passages\u2014to let them know how and where words\u00a0relate to each other.\u00a0When you learn the rules of punctuation, you equip yourself with an extensive toolset so you can better craft language to communicate the exact message you want.<\/p>\n<p>As we\u00a0mentioned at the beginning of this module, different style guides have slightly different rules for grammar. This is especially true when it comes to punctuation. This outcome will cover the MLA rules for punctuation, but we&#8217;ll also make note of rules from other styles when they&#8217;re significantly different.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>End Punctuation<\/h2>\n<p>There are three common punctuation marks that come at the end of a sentence: the period (\u00a0.\u00a0), the question mark (\u00a0?\u00a0), and the exclamation point (\u00a0!\u00a0). A sentence is always followed by a single space, no matter what the concluding punctuation is.<\/p>\n<h3>Periods<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1580\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/04\/29230728\/period-1024x431.png\" alt=\"The word period, followed by a period.\" width=\"300\" height=\"126\" \/>Periods indicate a neutral sentence, and as such are\u00a0by far the most common ending punctuation mark. They&#8217;ve been at the end of every sentence on this page so far.<\/p>\n<h4>Punctuation Clusters<\/h4>\n<p>Occasionally, you&#8217;ll come across an instance that seems to require multiple punctuation marks right next to each other. Sometimes you need to keep all the marks, but other times, you should leave some out.<\/p>\n<div class=\"content clear-block\">\n<ul>\n<li>You should never use more than one ending punctuation mark in a row (period, question mark exclamation point). When\u00a0quoting a question, you would end with a question mark, not a question mark and a period:\n<ul>\n<li>Carlos leaned forward and asked, &#8220;Did you get the answer to number six?&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>If an abbreviation, like\u00a0<em>etc<\/em>., ends a sentence,\u00a0you should only use one period.\n<ul>\n<li>I think we&#8217;ll have enough food. Mary bought the whole store: chips, soda, candy, cereal, etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>However, you can place a comma immediately after a period, as you can see\u00a0above with <em>etc.<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Periods and parentheses can also\u00a0appear right next to each other. Sometimes the period comes after the closing parenthesis (as you can see in the first bullet), but sometimes it appears inside the parentheses. (This is an example of a sentence where the period falls within the parentheses.) We&#8217;ll learn more about this\u00a0in <a href=\"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymaker-level1-english\/chapter\/parentheses-4-6-11\/\" target=\"_blank\">Text: Parentheses<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Question Marks<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-2937\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/08\/05171952\/question-1024x1024.png\" alt=\"An icon showing a question mark\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" \/>A question mark comes at the end of a question. A question is\u00a0a request for information. The information requested should be provided in the form of an answer.<\/p>\n<p>A rhetorical question is asked to make a point, and does not expect an answer (often the answer is implied or obvious). Some questions are used principally as polite requests (e.g.,\u00a0&#8220;Would you pass the salt?&#8221;).<\/p>\n<p>All of these questions can be categorized as direct\u00a0questions, and all of these questions require a question mark at their ends.<\/p>\n<h4>Indirect Questions<\/h4>\n<p>Indirect questions\u00a0can be used in many of the same ways as direct\u00a0ones, but they often emphasize knowledge or lack of knowledge:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I can&#8217;t guess <b>how Tamika\u00a0managed it<\/b>.<\/li>\n<li>I wonder <b>whether I looked that bad<\/b>.<\/li>\n<li>Cecil\u00a0asked <b>where the reports\u00a0were<\/b>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Such clauses correspond to <b>direct questions<\/b>, which are questions actually asked. The direct questions corresponding to the examples above are <i>How did Tamika manage it? Did I look that bad? Where are the reports?<\/i> Notice how different word order\u00a0is used in direct and indirect questions: in direct questions the verb usually comes before the subject, while indirect questions the verb appears second. Additionally, question marks should not be used at the end of indirect questions.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\n<p>Are the following sentences declarative or indirect sentences?\u00a0Which need a question mark at the end?<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Jackie\u00a0wondered where her\u00a0keys\u00a0were<\/li>\n<li>Can you pass the butter<\/li>\n<li>Is anyone here<\/li>\n<li>She asked\u00a0how you were doing<\/li>\n<li>Why won&#8217;t you admit I&#8217;m right<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q224777\"><strong>Click to Show Answer<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q224777\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">\n<ol>\n<li>Indirect; no question mark<\/li>\n<li>Declarative; <em>Can you pass the butter?<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Declarative; <em>Is anyone here?<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Indirect; no question mark<\/li>\n<li>Declarative; <em>Why won&#8217;t you admit I&#8217;m right?<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Exclamation Points<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-2938\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/08\/05172054\/exclamation-1024x1018.png\" alt=\"an icon showing an exclamation point in its center.\" width=\"200\" height=\"199\" \/>The exclamation point is a punctuation mark usually used after an interjection or exclamation to indicate strong feelings or high volume, and often marks the end of a sentence.\u00a0You&#8217;ve likely seen this overused on the internet:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">!!!!!! I&#8217;m jUST SO!!!!!!<\/p>\n<p>While this kind of statement is excessive, there are appropriate ways to use exclamation points. A sentence ending in an exclamation mark may be an exclamation (such as &#8220;Wow!&#8221; or &#8220;Boo!&#8221;), or an imperative (&#8220;Stop!&#8221;), or may indicate astonishment: &#8220;They were the footprints of a gigantic duck!&#8221; Exclamation marks are occasionally placed mid-sentence with a function similar to a comma, for dramatic effect, although this usage is rare: &#8220;On the walk, oh! there was a frightful noise.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Informally, exclamation marks may be repeated for additional emphasis (&#8220;That&#8217;s great!!!&#8221;), but this practice is generally considered only acceptable in casual or informal writing, such as text messages or online communication with friends and family.<\/p>\n<p>The exclamation mark is sometimes used in conjunction with the question mark. This can be in protest or astonishment (&#8220;Out of all places, the water-hole?!&#8221;).<sup id=\"cite_ref-15\" class=\"reference\"><\/sup><\/p>\n<p>Overly frequent use of the exclamation mark is generally considered poor writing, as\u00a0it distracts the reader and devalues the mark&#8217;s significance.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Cut out all these exclamation points.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0. An exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke.<br \/>\n\u2014\u2009F. Scott Fitzgerald<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Some authors, however, most notably Tom Wolfe and Madison Acampora, are known for unashamedly liberal use of the exclamation mark. In comic books, the very frequent use of exclamation mark is common.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Commas<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1595\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/04\/29231825\/comma-969x1024.png\" alt=\"an icon showing a comma\" width=\"200\" height=\"211\" \/>Commas: these little demons haunt the\u00a0nightmares of many a professor after an evening of reading student papers. It seems nearly impossible to remember and\u00a0apply\u00a0the seventeen\u00a0or so\u00a0comma rules that seem to given out as\u00a0the standard. (For example: \u201cUse commas to set off independent clauses joined by the common coordinating conjunctions.\u201d or \u201cPut a comma before the coordinating conjunction in a series.\u201d)<\/p>\n<p>You have probably also heard a lot\u00a0of\u00a0tips on using commas in addition to these rules: \u201cUse one wherever you would naturally use a pause,\u201d or \u201cRead your work aloud, and whenever you feel yourself pausing, put in a comma.\u201d These techniques help to a degree, but our ears tend to trick us, and we need other avenues of attack.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the best and most instructive way for us to approach the comma is to remember its fundamental function: <em>it is a separator.<\/em>\u00a0Once you know this, the next step is\u00a0to determine what sorts of things generally require separation. This includes most transition words, descriptive words or phrases, adjacent items, and complete ideas (complete ideas contain both a subject and a verb).<\/p>\n<h3>Transition Words<\/h3>\n<p>Transition words add new viewpoints to your material; commas before and after transition words help to separate them from the sentence ideas they are describing. Transition words tend to appear at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence. By definition, a\u00a0transition word creates context that links to the preceding sentence. Typical transition words that require commas before and after them include <em>however<\/em>, <em>thus<\/em>, <em>therefore<\/em>, <em>also<\/em>, and <em>nevertheless<\/em>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Therefore<\/em>, the natural gas industry can only be understood fully through an analysis of these recent political changes.<\/li>\n<li>The lead prosecutor\u00a0was prepared, <em>however<\/em>,\u00a0for a situation like this.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong>\u00a0As was mentioned, these words require commas at the beginning or middle of a sentence. When they appear between two complete ideas, however, a period or semicolon is required beforehand:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Clint had been planning the trip with his kids for three months; <em>however<\/em>, when work called he couldn&#8217;t say no.<\/li>\n<li>Sam was retired. <em>Nevertheless<\/em>, he wanted to help out.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As you can see from these examples, comma is\u00a0<em>always<\/em>\u00a0required after transition words.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Descriptive Phrases<\/h3>\n<p>Descriptive phrases often need to be separated from the things that they describe in order to clarify that the descriptive phrases are subordinate (i.e., they relate to the sentence context, but are less responsible for creating meaning than the sentence\u2019s subject and verb). Descriptive phrases tend to come at the very beginning of a sentence, right after the subject of a sentence, or at the very end of a sentence.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Near the end of the eighteenth century<\/strong>, James Hutton introduced a point of view that radically changed scientists\u2019 thinking about geologic processes.<\/li>\n<li>James Lovelock, <strong>who first measured CFCs globally<\/strong>, said in 1973 that CFCs constituted no conceivable hazard.<\/li>\n<li>All of the major industrialized nations approved, <strong>making the possibility a reality<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In each of these cases, note how the material separated by the comma (e.g., \u201cmaking the possibility a reality\u201d) is subordinate\u2014i.e., it carries context in the sentence, but the primary sentence meaning is still derived from the subject and verb. In each example, the phrase separated by the comma could be deleted from the sentence without destroying the sentence\u2019s basic meaning.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong>\u00a0If the information is necessary to\u00a0the primary sentence meaning, it should <strong>not<\/strong> be set off by commas. Let&#8217;s look at a quick example of this:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Jefferson&#8217;s son, Miles, just\u00a0started college.<\/li>\n<li>Jefferson&#8217;s son Miles\u00a0just started college<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You would write the first sentence if Jefferson only has one son and his name is Miles. If Jefferson only has one son, then <em>Miles<\/em>\u00a0is not needed information and should be set off with commas.<\/p>\n<p>You would write the second sentence if Jefferson has multiple sons, and it is his son Miles who just got into college.\u00a0In the second sentence,\u00a0<em>Miles<\/em>\u00a0is necessary information, because until his name is stated, you can&#8217;t be sure which of Jefferson&#8217;s sons the sentence is talking about.<\/p>\n<p>This test can be very helpful when you&#8217;re deciding whether or not to include commas in your writing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h4>Adjacent Items<\/h4>\n<p>Adjacent items are words or phrases that have some sort of parallel relationship, yet are different from each other in meaning. Adjacent items are separated so that the reader can consider each item individually.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">The river caught fire on July 4, 1968, in Cleveland, Ohio.<\/p>\n<p>The dates (July 4, 1968) and places (Cleveland, Ohio) are juxtaposed, and commas are needed because the juxtaposed items are clearly different from each other. This applies to countries as well as states: &#8220;Paris, France, is beautiful this time of year.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\n<p>Do the following sentences use commas correctly?<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Sergi Sousa, the top-ranked shoe designer in Rhode Island, is\u00a0going to be at the party tonight.<\/li>\n<li>Sergi only wears shoes, that he created himself.<\/li>\n<li>Sergi was born in Barcelona, Spain, on April 19.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q20588\"><strong>Click to Show Answer<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q20588\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">\n<ol>\n<li>Yes. While it is interesting that Sergi is a top-ranked shoe designer, this information is not crucial to the primary sentence meaning (<em>Sergi\u00a0is going to be at the party tonight<\/em>).<\/li>\n<li>No. The sentence does not have the same meaning if you get rid of the descriptive phrase\u00a0(<em>that he created himself<\/em>). Without this phrase, the sentence states that the only thing Sergi wears is shoes. Thus, there should not be commas around the descriptive phrase.<\/li>\n<li>Yes. There should be commas around\u00a0<em>Spain<\/em>. There is no year in the date, so no commas are needed; if a year were provided it would read as follows: <em>Sergi\u00a0was born in Barcelona, Spain, on April 19, 1987.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Coordinating Conjunctions: FANBOYS<\/h3>\n<p>We learned about coordinating conjunctions earlier in the course. These are words that join two words or phrases of equal importance. The mnemonic FANBOYS helps us remember the seven most common: <em>f<\/em><i>or<\/i>, <i>and<\/i>, <i>nor<\/i>, <i>but<\/i>, <i>or<\/i>,\u00a0<i>yet<\/i>, and <i>so<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p>When these conjunctions join two words or phrases, no comma is necessary (for more than two, take a look at &#8220;Commas in Lists&#8221;\u00a0just below):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Paula and Lucca had a great time on their date.\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Lucca had a great time on their date&#8221;\u00a0is a complete idea, but the first phrase, <em>Paula<\/em>, is\u00a0not. No comma is required before\u00a0<em>and<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Minh turned off the lights but left the door unlocked.\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Minh turned off the lights&#8221; is a complete idea; &#8220;left the door unlocked.&#8221; No comma is required before\u00a0<em>but<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Danny studied the lifespan of rhinoceroses in\u00a0their native Kenya and the lifespan of\u00a0rhinoceroses in captivity.\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Danny studied the lifespan of rhinoceroses in their native Kenya&#8221; is a complete idea; &#8220;the lifespan of rhinoceroses in captivity&#8221; is not. No comma is required before\u00a0<em>and<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When these conjunctions are used to join two complete\u00a0ideas, however, a comma is required:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We could write this as two separate sentences, but we&#8217;ve chosen to join them together here.\n<ul>\n<li>Both &#8220;We could write this as two separate sentences&#8221; and &#8220;We&#8217;ve chosen to join them together here&#8221; are complete ideas. A\u00a0comma is required before the\u00a0<em>but<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\n<p>Look at the following sentences. Each includes a coordinating conjunction. Decide if a comma should be added\u00a0before the conjunction:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Aamir and Tyesha went on a trip to California.<\/li>\n<li>Aamir was nervous but Tyesha was excited.<\/li>\n<li>They had been to East\u00a0Coast\u00a0before but never to the West.<\/li>\n<li>Aamir became less nervous after he looked up a few tourist guides online.<\/li>\n<li>When they came home, Tyesha had not enjoyed herself but Aamir had.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q358345\"><strong>Click to Show Answer<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q358345\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">\n<ol>\n<li>No addition needed. The sentence is correct as it stands.<\/li>\n<li>Yes. The sentence should read <em>Aamir\u00a0was nervous, but Tyesha was excited.<\/em><\/li>\n<li>No addition needed. The sentence is correct as it stands.<\/li>\n<li>No addition needed. The sentence is correct as it stands.<\/li>\n<li>Yes. The sentence should read\u00a0<em>When they came home, Tyesha\u00a0had not enjoyed herself, but Aamir\u00a0had.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Commas in Lists<\/h3>\n<p>The serial comma is used to separate adjacent items\u2014different items with equal importance\u2014when there are three or more. This is so the reader can consider each item individually. Let&#8217;s look at a few examples<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Weathering may extend only a few centimeters beyond the zone in <strong>fresh granite<\/strong>, <strong>metamorphic rocks<\/strong>, <strong>sandstone<\/strong>, <strong>shale<\/strong>, and <strong>other rocks<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>This approach <strong>increases homogeneity<\/strong>, <strong>reduces the heating time<\/strong>, and <strong>creates a more uniform microstructure<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In the first sentence, the commas are important because each item presented is distinctly different from its adjacent item. \u00a0In the second\u00a0example, the three phrases, all beginning with different verbs, are parallel, and the commas work with the verbs to demonstrate that \u201cThis approach\u201d has three distinctly different impacts.<\/p>\n<h4>The Serial Comma (a.k.a the Oxford\u00a0Comma)<\/h4>\n<p>Perhaps one of the most hotly contested comma rules is the case of\u00a0the <strong>serial comma<\/strong> or the\u00a0<strong>Oxford comma<\/strong>.\u00a0MLA style (as well as\u00a0APA and\u00a0<em>Chicago<\/em>) requires the use of the serial comma\u2014AP style highly recommends leaving it out. But what is the serial comma?<\/p>\n<p>The serial comma is the\u00a0comma before the<i>\u00a0<\/i>conjunction (<em>and<\/em>,\u00a0<em>or<\/em>, and\u00a0<em>nor<\/em>) in a series\u00a0involving a parallel list of three or more things.\u00a0For example, \u201cI am industrious, resourceful<strong><em>, and<\/em><\/strong> loyal.\u201d The serial comma can provide clarity in certain situations.\u00a0For example, if the <em>and<\/em> is part of a series of three or more phrases (groups of words) as opposed to single words:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Medical histories taken about each subject included smoking history, frequency of exercise, current height and weight, and recent weight gain.<\/p>\n<p>The serial comma can also prevent the end of\u00a0a series from\u00a0appearing to be a parenthetical:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">I&#8217;d like to thank my sisters, Beyonc\u00e9 and Rhianna.<\/p>\n<p>Without the serial comma, it may appear that the speaker is thanking his or her two sisters, who are named Beyonc\u00e9 and Rhianna (which could be possible, but isn&#8217;t true in this case). By adding the serial comma, it becomes clear that the speaker is thanking his or her sisters, as well as the two famous singers: &#8220;I&#8217;d like to thank my sisters, Beyonc\u00e9, and Rhianna.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>By always using a comma before the <em>and<\/em> in any series of three or more, you honor the distinctions between each of the separated items, and you avoid any potential reader confusion.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\"><strong>Note:<\/strong>\u00a0Some professors and many journals prefer to leave out\u00a0the serial comma\u00a0(for the journals, it is literally cheaper to print fewer commas). Because of this, the serial comma is not\u00a0recommend in AP style.<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\n<p>Do the following sentences use commas correctly?<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Ava&#8217;s\u00a0favorite meals are cauliflower\u00a0soup, steak, and eggs, lasagna, and chicken parmigiana.<\/li>\n<li>Victor\u00a0tried to make\u00a0dinner for her. Unfortunately, his skills are mostly limited to eating, buying, or serving food.<\/li>\n<li>Victor and Ava decided to\u00a0choose\u00a0a restaurant, and\u00a0go out to eat.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q859484\"><strong>Click to Show Answer<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q859484\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">\n<ol>\n<li>No. There is an extra comma before the <em>and<\/em> in &#8220;steak and eggs.&#8221; The sentence should look like this: <em>Ava&#8217;s favorite meals are cauliflower soup, steak and eggs, lasagna, and chicken parmigiana.<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Yes. The sentence is punctuated correctly.<\/li>\n<li>No. There are only two items in the list, so no comma is necessary: <em>Victor\u00a0and Ava decided to choose a restaurant and go out to eat.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Comma Overuse<\/h3>\n<p>A sure way to irritate educated readers of your work is to give them an overabundance of commas. It is easy but dangerous to take the attitude that Sally once did in a <em>Peanuts <\/em>comic strip, asking Charlie Brown to correct her essay by showing her \u201cwhere to sprinkle in the little curvy marks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the best way to troubleshoot your particular comma problems, especially if they are serious, is to identify and understand the patterns of your errors. We tend to make the same mistakes over and over again; in fact, many writers develop the unfortunate habit of automatically putting commas into slots such as these:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>between the subject and verb of a sentence<\/li>\n<li>after any number<\/li>\n<li>before any preposition<\/li>\n<li>before or after any conjunction<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Thus, incorrect sentences such as these appear in papers:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The bushings, must be adjusted weekly, to ensure that the motor is not damaged.<\/li>\n<li>Many botanists still do not fully appreciate these findings even after 22 years, following the publication of the discovery paper.<\/li>\n<li>Other manufactured chemicals that also contain bromine are superior for extinguishing fires in situations where people, and electronics are likely to be present.<\/li>\n<li>The price of platinum will rise, or fall depending on several distinct factors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If the commas above look fine to you, then you may be in the habit of using commas incorrectly, and you will need to attack your specific habits, perhaps even in a routine, repetitive fashion, in order to break yourself of them. Similarly, it is common for someone to have to look up the same tricky word dozens of times before committing its proper spelling to memory. As with spelling, commas (or the absence of commas) must be repeatedly challenged in your writing.<\/p>\n<p>As you perfect your comma usage, you will\u00a0learn to recognize and reevaluate your sentence patterns, and the rewards are numerous. There is no foolproof or easy way to exorcise all of your comma demons, but a great place to start is reminding yourself of the comma\u2019s basic function as a separator and justifying the separation of elements. In the end, you simply must make a habit of reading, writing, and revising with comma correctness in mind.\u00a0Remember: commas have much to do with sentence wording, which is always in the control of the writer.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1754\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/05\/04170350\/semi-1005x1024.png\" alt=\"an icon showing a semicolon\" width=\"200\" height=\"204\" \/>Semicolons<\/h2>\n<p>The semicolon is one of the most misunderstood and misused punctuation marks; in fact, it is often mistaken for the colon (which we&#8217;ll discuss next). However, these two punctuation marks are not interchangeable. A semicolon connects two complete ideas (a complete idea has a subject and a verb) that are connected to each other. Look at this sentence for example:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Anika&#8217;s statue is\u00a0presently displayed\u00a0in the center of the exhibit; this location makes it a\u00a0focal point and allows it to direct the flow of visitors to the museum.<\/p>\n<p>The first idea tells us where Anika&#8217;s statue is, and the second idea tells us more about the location and it&#8217;s importance. Each of these ideas could be its own sentence, but by using a semicolon, the author is telling the reader that the two ideas are connected.\u00a0Often, you may find yourself putting a comma in the place of the semicolon; this is incorrect. Using a comma here would create a run-on sentence (we&#8217;ll discuss those more in <a href=\".\/chapter\/outcome-sentence-structure-4-7\/\" target=\"_blank\">Sentence Structure<\/a>). Remember: a comma can join a complete idea to other items while a semicolon needs a complete idea on either side.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\n<p>Do\u00a0the following sentences\u00a0need a comma or a semicolon?<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Kieran never throws anything away __ he&#8217;s convinced he&#8217;ll need these things someday.<\/li>\n<li>Because I left my keys at my apartment __ I had to stay on campus and wait for my roommate.<\/li>\n<li>Zebras are the most popular animals at my local zoo __ however, elephants are my favorite animal.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q600237\"><strong>Click to Show Answers<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q600237\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">\n<ol>\n<li>semicolon (;) A semicolon connects two complete ideas\u00a0that are connected to each other.\n<ul>\n<li>Kieran never throws anything away; he&#8217;s convinced he&#8217;ll need these things someday.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>comma (,) A\u00a0comma follows\u00a0an\u00a0introductory clause with\u00a0<em>because<\/em>.\n<ul>\n<li>Because I left my keys at my apartment, I had to stay on campus and wait for my roommate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>semicolon (;) A\u00a0semicolon (or a period) appears before\u00a0an adverbial conjunction.\n<ul>\n<li>Zebras are the most popular animals at my local zoo; however, elephants are my favorite animal.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Colons<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1756\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/05\/04170457\/colon-985x1024.png\" alt=\"an icon showing a colon\" width=\"200\" height=\"208\" \/>The colon: well-loved but, oh, so misunderstood. The colon is not just used to introduce a list; it is far more flexible. The colon can be used after the first word of a sentence or just before the final word of a sentence. The colon can also be used to introduce a grammatically independent sentence. Thus, it is one of the most powerful punctuation marks.<\/p>\n<p>The colon is like a sign on the highway, announcing that something important is coming. It acts as an arrow pointing forward, telling you to read on for important information. A common analogy used to explain the colon is that it acts like a flare in the road, signaling that something meaningful lies ahead.<\/p>\n<p>Use the colon when you wish to provide pithy emphasis.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">To address this problem, we must turn to one of the biologist\u2019s most fundamental tools: the Petri dish.<\/p>\n<p>Use the colon to introduce material that explains, amplifies, or summaries what has preceded it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">The Petri dish: one of the biologist\u2019s most fundamental tools.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">In low carbon steels, banding tends to affect two properties in particular: tensile ductility and yield strength.<\/p>\n<p>The colon is also commonly used to present a list or series, which comes in handy when there is a lot of similar material to join:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">A compost facility may not be located as follows: within 300 feet of an exceptional-value wetland; within 100 feet of a perennial stream; within 50 feet of a property line.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\n<p>Is the colon used correctly in the following sentences?<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Stores need strict rules for making returns: consumers abuse them.<\/li>\n<li>A store refund may be, for example: a cash refund, a store credit, or a gift card.<\/li>\n<li>A store may charge a restocking fee in the following circumstances: (1) If the item is removed from plastic wrapping, (2) If the box is torn, (3) If tags or labels have been removed from the item.<\/li>\n<li>If a store&#8217;s policy differs from the state-wide 7-day policy, then the store must: place a written notice about their policies, in language that consumers can understand, so that it can be easily seen and read.<\/li>\n<li>California law is very exact about posting store policy: The policy must be displayed either at each entrance to the store, at each cash register and sales counter, on tags attached to each item, or on the company&#8217;s order forms, if any.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q201258\"><strong>Click to Show Answer<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q201258\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">\n<ol>\n<li>A semicolon is possible because the sentences are closely related as cause-effect. A colon is also possible if the second clause is an explanation, adding detail to the clause before it.<\/li>\n<li>Incorrect. A comma is the better choice for a short series or list. Normally, &#8220;for example&#8221; lists just a couple examples (a couple as an example of the larger list.)\n<ul>\n<li>A store refund may be, for example, a cash refund, a store credit, or a gift card.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Correct. A colon is used before a list. However, the initial word of the list item is lowercase if it is not a complete sentence.<\/li>\n<li>Incorrect. No colon is used here because the part following the colon is neither an explanation nor a list; it is the completion of the central idea of the sentence. (No commas should be used either.)\n<ul>\n<li>If a store&#8217;s policy differs from the state-wide 7-day policy, then the store must place a written notice about their policies, in language that consumers can understand, so that it can be easily seen and read.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Correct. A colon is used before a second clause which explains or illustrates the first clause. Incorrect initial capital after the colon.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Hyphens and Dashes<\/h2>\n<h3>Hyphens<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1768\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/05\/04172059\/hyphen-1024x577.png\" alt=\"hyphen\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" \/><em>The Oxford Manual of Style<\/em> once stated, \u201cIf you take hyphens seriously you will surely go mad.\u201d Hyphens belong to that category of punctuation marks that will hurt your brain if you think about them too hard, and, like commas, people disagree about their use in certain situations. Nevertheless, you will have to use them regularly because of the nature of academic\u00a0and professional\u00a0writing. If you learn to use hyphens properly, they help you to write efficiently and concretely.<\/p>\n<h4>The Hyphen&#8217;s Function<\/h4>\n<p>Fundamentally, the hyphen is a joiner. It can join several different types of things:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>two nouns to make one complete word (kilogram-meter)<\/li>\n<li>an adjective and a noun to make a compound word (accident-prone)<\/li>\n<li>two words that, when linked, describe a noun (agreed-upon sum, two-dimensional object)<\/li>\n<li>a prefix with a noun (un-American)<\/li>\n<li>double numbers (twenty-four)<\/li>\n<li>numbers and units describing a noun (1000-foot face; a 10-meter difference)<\/li>\n<li>\u201cself\u201d words (self-employed, self-esteem)<\/li>\n<li>new word blends (cancer-causing, cost-effective)<\/li>\n<li>prefixes and suffixes to words, in particular when the writer wants to avoid doubling a vowel or tripling a consonant (anti-inflammatory; shell-like)<\/li>\n<li>multiple adjectives with the same noun (blue- and\u00a0yellow-green beads; four- and five-year-olds)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A\u00a0rule of thumb\u00a0for the hyphen is that the resulting word must act as one unit; therefore, the hyphen creates a new word that has a single meaning. Usually, you can tell whether a hyphen is necessary by applying common sense and mentally excluding one of the words in question, testing how the words would work together without the hyphen. For example, the phrases \u201chigh-pressure system,\u201d \u201cwater-repellent surface,\u201d and \u201cfuel-efficient car\u201d would not make sense without hyphens, because you would not refer to a \u201chigh system,\u201d a \u201cwater surface,\u201d or a \u201cfuel car.\u201d As your ears and eyes become attuned to proper hyphenation practices, you will recognize that both meaning and convention dictate where hyphens fit best.<\/p>\n<h4>Examples of Properly Used Hyphens<\/h4>\n<p>Some examples of properly used hyphens follow. Note how the hyphenated word acts as a single unit carrying a meaning that the words being joined would not have individually.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>small-scale study<\/td>\n<td>two-prong plug<\/td>\n<td>strength-to-weight ratio<\/td>\n<td>high-velocity flow<\/td>\n<td>frost-free lawn<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>self-employed worker<\/td>\n<td>one-third majority<\/td>\n<td>coarse-grained wood<\/td>\n<td>decision-making process<\/td>\n<td>blue-green algae<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>air-ice interface<\/td>\n<td>silver-stained cells<\/td>\n<td>protein-calorie malnutrition<\/td>\n<td>membrane-bound vesicles<\/td>\n<td>phase-contrast microscope<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>long-term-payment loan<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0cost-effective program<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0time-dependent variable<\/td>\n<td>radiation-sensitive sample<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0long-chain fatty acid<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h4>When Hyphens Are Not Needed<\/h4>\n<p>By convention, hyphens are not used after\u00a0words ending in &#8211;<em>ly<\/em>, nor when the words are so commonly used in combination that no ambiguity results. In these examples, no hyphens are needed:<\/p>\n<table cellpadding=\"1\" style=\"width: 400px; border-spacing: 1px;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>finely tuned engine<\/td>\n<td>blood pressure<\/td>\n<td>sea level<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>real estate<\/td>\n<td>census taker<\/td>\n<td>atomic energy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>civil rights law<\/td>\n<td>public utility plant<\/td>\n<td>carbon dioxide<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> Phrases like containing the word <em>well<\/em> like\u00a0<em>well known<\/em> are contested.\u00a0<em>Well<\/em> is an adverb, and thus many fall into the school of thought that a hyphen is unnecessary. However, others say that leaving out the\u00a0hyphen may cause confusion and therefore include it (<em>well-known<\/em>). The standard in MLA is\u00a0as follows: When\u00a0it appears before the noun,\u00a0<em>well known<\/em> should be hyphenated. When it follows the noun, no hyphenation is needed.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>She is\u00a0a <strong>well-known<\/strong> person.<\/li>\n<li>She is <strong>well known<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h4>Prefixes and Suffixes<\/h4>\n<p>Most prefixes do not need to be hyphenated; they are simply added in front of a noun, with no spaces and no joining punctuation necessary. The following is a list of common prefixes that do not require hyphenation when added to a noun:<\/p>\n<table cellpadding=\"1\" style=\"width: 400px; border-spacing: 1px;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>after<\/td>\n<td>anti<\/td>\n<td>bi<\/td>\n<td>bio<\/td>\n<td>co<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>cyber<\/td>\n<td>di<\/td>\n<td>down<\/td>\n<td>hetero<\/td>\n<td>homo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>infra<\/td>\n<td>inter<\/td>\n<td>macro<\/td>\n<td>micro<\/td>\n<td>mini<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>nano<\/td>\n<td>photo<\/td>\n<td>poly<\/td>\n<td>stereo<\/td>\n<td>thermo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> The prefix\u00a0<em>re<\/em> generally doesn&#8217;t require a hyphen. However, when leaving out a hyphen will cause confusion, one should be added. Look at the following word pairs, for example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>resign<\/em> (leave a position) v. <em>re-sign<\/em> (sign the paper again)<\/li>\n<li><em>recreation<\/em>\u00a0(an activity of leisure) v. <em>re-creation\u00a0<\/em>(create something again)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>Common suffixes also do not require hyphenation, assuming no ambiguities of spelling or pronunciation arise. Typically, you do not need to hyphenate words ending in the following suffixes:<\/p>\n<table cellpadding=\"1\" style=\"width: 400px; border-spacing: 1px;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>able<\/td>\n<td>less<\/td>\n<td>fold<\/td>\n<td>like<\/td>\n<td>wise<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h4>Commonly Used Word Blends<\/h4>\n<p>Also, especially in technical fields, some words commonly used in succession become joined into one. The resulting word\u2019s meaning is readily understood by technical readers, and no hyphen is necessary. Here are some examples of such word blends, typically written as single words:<\/p>\n<table cellpadding=\"1\" style=\"width: 400px; border-spacing: 1px;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>blackbody<\/td>\n<td>groundwater<\/td>\n<td>airship<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>downdraft<\/td>\n<td>longwall<\/td>\n<td>upload<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>setup<\/td>\n<td>runoff<\/td>\n<td>blowout<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Students can participate in (self paced\/self-paced) learning.<\/li>\n<li>Rather than sit in a (two hour-long\/two-hour long\/two-hour-long) class, students can study at their convenience.<\/li>\n<li>Would you like the (three or four-course\/three- or four-course) meal tonight?<\/li>\n<li>He&#8217;s behaving in a very (childlike\/child-like) manner.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q326425\"><strong>Click to Show Answers<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q326425\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">\n<ol>\n<li>Students can participate in <strong>self-paced<\/strong>\u00a0learning.<\/li>\n<li>Rather than sit in a <strong>two-hour-long<\/strong> class, students can study at their convenience.<\/li>\n<li>Would you like the <strong>three- or four-course<\/strong> meal tonight?<\/li>\n<li>He&#8217;s behaving in a very <strong>childlike<\/strong> manner.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Dashes<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1769\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/05\/04172125\/em-1024x575.png\" alt=\"an icon showing an em dash, which is a straight line approximately the length of the letter m.\" width=\"300\" height=\"168\" \/>The dash\u00a0functions almost as a colon does in that it adds to the preceding material, but with extra emphasis. Like a caesura (a timely pause) in music, a dash indicates a strong pause, then gives emphasis to material following the pause. In effect, a dash allows you to <em>redefine <\/em>what was just written, making it more explicit. You can also use a dash as it is used in the first sentence of this paragraph: to frame an interruptive or parenthetical-type comment that you do not want to de-emphasize.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Jill Emery confirms that Muslim populations have typically been ruled by non-Muslims\u2014specifically Americans, Russians, Israelis, and the French.<\/li>\n<li>The dissolution took 20 minutes\u2014much longer than anticipated\u2014but measurements were begun as soon as the process was completed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">There is no &#8220;dash&#8221; button on a computer keyboard. Instead, create it by typing the hyphen button twice in a row; or use the &#8220;symbol&#8221; option in your word processor; or use the Mac shortcut option + shift +\u00a0\u2014.<\/div>\n<p>When you type the hyphen\u00a0or\u00a0dash, no spaces should appear on either side of the punctuation mark.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\n<p>Is the dash used correctly in the following sentences?<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>A good leader should be\u2014passionate, patient, productive and positive.<\/li>\n<li>Politicians want to serve and improve the lives of people\u2014really!<\/li>\n<li>Life is ninety per cent perspiration\u2014my kindergarten teacher told me\u2014and ten per cent inspiration.<\/li>\n<li>Mayor Lee wants all city employees to ride bicycles to work\u2014what is he thinking\u2014on fair-weather days.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q624972\"><strong>Click to Show Answers<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q624972\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">\n<ol>\n<li>Incorrect. Normally, a noun precedes the series of examples: A good leader has several qualities \u2014 passion, patience and positivity.<\/li>\n<li>Correct. A dash can join a short affirmation of what has just been said. [Really! Truly! Indeed!]<\/li>\n<li>Correct. Dashes can be used to mark a sudden break in thought.<\/li>\n<li>Correct. Though very informal, dashes can be used for sudden breaks in thought. Note that the comment is very loosely related to the central idea of the sentence.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Apostrophes<\/h2>\n<h3>Possession<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1758\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/05\/04170603\/apostrophe-968x1024.png\" alt=\"an icon showing an apostrophe\" width=\"200\" height=\"212\" \/>With possessives, the apostrophe is used in combination with an <em>s<\/em>\u00a0to represent that a word literally or conceptually possesses what follows it.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>a student\u2019s paper<\/li>\n<li>the county\u2019s borders<\/li>\n<li>a nation\u2019s decision<\/li>\n<li>one hour\u2019s passing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Apostrophes with Words Ending in\u00a0<em>s<\/em>\u00a0and with Plurals<\/h4>\n<p>Singular words whether or not\u00a0they\u00a0end in <em>s<\/em>, are made possessive by adding an apostrophe +\u00a0<em>s<\/em>. For plural words,\u00a0we typically indicate possession simply by adding the apostrophe without an additional <em>s<\/em>. However, a plural that does not end in an\u00a0<em>s<\/em> (e.g., <em>bacteria<\/em>), we would add an apostrophe +\u00a0<em>s<\/em>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Illinois\u2019s law<\/li>\n<li>Mars\u2019s atmosphere<\/li>\n<li>interviewees\u2019 answers<\/li>\n<li>the bacteria&#8217;s life cycle<\/li>\n<li>her\u00a0professors\u2019 office (an office shared by two of her professors; if it were just one professor we would write\u00a0<em>her professor&#8217;s office<\/em>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\"><strong>Note:<\/strong>\u00a0Practices vary from style to style, so be sure to check the rules in your course&#8217;s discipline for this.<\/div>\n<h3>Contractions<\/h3>\n<div class=\"content clear-block\">\n<p>A contraction is a shortened\u00a0phrase. <em>He\u00a0will<\/em>\u00a0becomes\u00a0<em>he&#8217;ll<\/em>,\u00a0<em>are not<\/em> becomes\u00a0<em>aren&#8217;t<\/em>, <em>would have<\/em> becomes <em>would&#8217;ve<\/em>, and\u00a0<em>it is<\/em> becomes\u00a0<em>it&#8217;s<\/em>. In all of these cases, the apostrophe stands in for the missing letters.<\/p>\n<p>You may find yourself\u00a0being steered away from using contractions in your papers. While you should write to your teacher&#8217;s preference, keep in mind that\u00a0leaving out contractions can often make your words sound over formal and stilted. (And don&#8217;t eliminate contractions in your papers just to up your word count!)<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\"><strong>Note:<\/strong> Double contractions, like <em>wouldn&#8217;t&#8217;ve<\/em> or <em>I&#8217;d&#8217;ve<\/em> are considered non-standard and should be avoided in formal written language.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\n<h3>Some Common\u00a0Errors<\/h3>\n<p>Now that we&#8217;ve learned about both contraction and possession, let&#8217;s take a look at some\u00a0of the most common (or at least most called out) errors people make.<\/p>\n<h4><em>Its<\/em>\u00a0versus\u00a0<em>It&#8217;s<\/em><\/h4>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"oembed-1\" title=\"Choosing between its and it\u2019s | The Apostrophe | Punctuation | Khan Academy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Yhaa214UKvA?feature=oembed&#38;rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>This rule also applies to\u00a0<em>your<\/em> vs.\u00a0<em>you&#8217;re\u00a0<\/em>and <em>their<\/em> vs.\u00a0<em>they&#8217;re<\/em>. The best way to\u00a0use these correctly is to remember that possessive pronouns never have an apostrophe: if there&#8217;s an apostrophe with a pronoun, it&#8217;s\u00a0a contraction, not a possessive.<\/p>\n<h4><em>Should&#8217;ve<\/em>\u00a0versus\u00a0<em>Should of<\/em><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Should of, would of, could of<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Should&#8217;ve, would&#8217;ve, could&#8217;ve<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This mistake\u00a0is due to the pronunciation. Out loud both\u00a0of these phrases\u00a0sound exactly the same. However, remember that the original phrase is\u00a0<em>should have<\/em>, as in &#8220;I should have done that.&#8221; The phrase <em>should of<\/em> should never occur. Unfortunately, the only way to remember this is rote memorization (or perhaps a closer examination of the word\u00a0<em>of<\/em>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Acronyms and Numbers<\/h3>\n<p>In technical writing, acronyms and numbers are frequently pluralized with the addition of an apostrophe +\u00a0<em>s<\/em>, but this is falling out of favor, and there is typically no need to put an apostrophe in front of the <em>s<\/em>. Therefore, <em>SSTs<\/em>\u00a0(sea surface temperatures) is more acceptable than <em>SST\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0when your intention is simply to pluralize.<\/p>\n<p>Ideally, use the apostrophe before the <em>s<\/em>\u00a0with an acronym or a number only to show possession (i.e., \u201can 1860\u2019s law\u201d; \u201cDEP\u2019s testing\u201d) or when confusion would otherwise result (\u201cmind your <em>p<\/em>\u2019s and <em>q<\/em>\u2019s\u201d).<\/p>\n<p>When talking about a specific decade <em>the 1920s<\/em> should be shortened to\u00a0<em>the\u00a0\u201920s<\/em>. Notice that the apostrophe curls away from the numbers, indicating that the missing characters originally appeared prior to the apostrophe.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\n<p>Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Betty Crocker actually came from an (employees\/employee&#8217;s\/employees&#8217;) imagination.<\/li>\n<li>Back in the (1930s\/1930&#8217;s\/1930s&#8217;), Betty Crocker was a name everyone knew.<\/li>\n<li>A television commercial asked, &#8220;(Who&#8217;s\/Whose) the person (who&#8217;s\/whose) cookies we love?&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>As (woman&#8217;s\/women&#8217;s\/womens&#8217;) fashions changed, the company updated (Betty Crocker&#8217;s\/Betty Crockers&#8217;) image.<\/li>\n<li>A commercial told us, &#8220;Buy Betty Crocker. (It&#8217;s\/Its) quality you can trust!&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q529283\"><strong>Click to Show Answers<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q529283\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">\n<ol>\n<li>Betty Crocker actually came from an <strong>employee&#8217;s<\/strong>\u00a0imagination.<\/li>\n<li>Back in the <strong>1930s<\/strong>, Betty Crocker was a name everyone knew.<\/li>\n<li>A television commercial asked, &#8220;<strong>Who&#8217;s<\/strong> the person <strong>whose<\/strong>\u00a0cookies we love?&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>As <strong>women&#8217;s<\/strong>\u00a0fashions changed, the company updated <strong>Betty Crocker&#8217;s<\/strong> image.<\/li>\n<li>A commercial told us, &#8220;Buy Betty Crocker. <strong>It&#8217;s<\/strong> quality you can trust!&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Quotation Marks<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1760\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/05\/04170735\/quote-1024x472.png\" alt=\"an icon showing opening and closing quotation marks\" width=\"300\" height=\"138\" \/>There are three typical ways quotation marks are used. The first is pretty self-explanatory: you use quotation marks when you&#8217;re making a direct quote.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>He\u00a0said \u201cI&#8217;ll never forget you.\u201d It was the best moment of my life.<\/li>\n<li>Yogi Berra famously said, \u201cA nickel ain&#8217;t worth a dime anymore.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The second is when you&#8217;re\u00a0calling attention to a word. For example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I can never say \u201cWorcestershire\u201d correctly.<\/li>\n<li>How do you spell \u201cdefinitely\u201d?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> It is this course&#8217;s preference to use italics in\u00a0these instances:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I can never say\u00a0<em>Worcestershire<\/em> correctly.<\/li>\n<li>How do you spell\u00a0<em>definitely<\/em>?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>However, using quotes is also an accepted practice.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The last use is scare quotes. This is the most misused type of quotation marks. People often think that quotation marks mean emphasis.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Buy some \u201cfresh\u201d chicken today!<\/li>\n<li>We&#8217;ll give it our \u201cbest\u201d effort.<\/li>\n<li>Employees\u00a0\u201cmust\u201d wash their hands before returning to work.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>However, when used this way, the quotation marks insert a silent \u201cso-called\u201d into the sentence, which is often the opposite of the intended meaning.<\/p>\n<div class=\"content clear-block\">\n<h3>Where do Quotation Marks Go?<\/h3>\n<p>Despite what you may see practiced\u2014especially in advertising, on television, and even in business letters\u2014the fact is that the period and comma go inside the quotation marks all of the time. Confusion arises because the British system is different, and the American system may automatically look wrong to you, but it is simply one of the frequently broken rules of written English in America: The period and comma <em>always<\/em>\u00a0go inside the quotation marks.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Correct: The people of the pine barrens are often called \u201cpineys.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Incorrect: The people of the pine barrens are often called \u201cpineys\u201d.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>However, the semicolon, colon, dash, question mark, and exclamation point fall outside of the quotation marks (unless, of course, the quoted material has internal punctuation of its own).<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>This measurement is commonly known as \u201cdip angle\u201d; dip angle is the angle formed between a normal plane and a vertical.<\/li>\n<li>Built only 50 years ago, Shakhtinsk\u2014\u201cminetown\u201d\u2014is already seedy.<\/li>\n<li>When she was asked the question \u201cAre rainbows possible in winter?\u201d she answered by examining whether raindrops freeze at temperatures below 0 \u00b0C. (Quoted material has its own punctuation.)<\/li>\n<li>Did he really say \u201cDogs are the devil&#8217;s henchmen\u201d? (The quote is a statement, but the full sentence is a question.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\n<p>Have the following sentences been punctuated correctly?<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>\u201cHello Marcelo\u201d Nikola said \u201cHow have you been doing\u201d?<\/li>\n<li>\u201cI&#8217;m doing well.\u201d he said.<\/li>\n<li>He asked, \u201cWhat&#8217;s new with you?\u201d<\/li>\n<li>My friend told me that \u201cHe has a new car.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>The car dealership promised the\u00a0\u201cbest\u201d prices in town!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q779124\"><strong>Click to Show Answer<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q779124\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">\n<ol>\n<li>Incorrect. Commas are missing. Place a comma after <em>Marcelo<\/em>\u00a0and after <em>said<\/em>. The question mark belongs inside the end quotation mark.\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cHello Marcelo,\u201d Nikola said, \u201cHow have you been doing?\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Incorrect. Place a comma not a period before the end quotation.\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cI&#8217;m doing well,\u201d he said.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Correct. Place the question mark inside the quote mark when both the quote and the main sentence are questions.<\/li>\n<li>Incorrect. Since this is\u00a0reported speech not a quote, there should be not quotation marks.\n<ul>\n<li>My friend told me that He has a new car.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Incorrect. In this instance\u00a0the quotation marks insert\u00a0a silent\u201cso-called\u201d into the sentence,\u00a0changing the original intent of the sentence.\n<ul>\n<li>The car dealership promised the best prices in town!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Brackets<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1764\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/05\/04170934\/bracket-1024x936.png\" alt=\"an icon showing opening and closing brackets\" width=\"250\" height=\"229\" \/>Brackets are a fairly uncommon punctuation mark. Their main use is in quotations: they can be used to clarify quotes. For example, say you want to quote the following passage:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;I finally got to meet Trent today. I had a really great time with him. He was a lot taller than expected, though.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>However, you only want to relay\u00a0the fact that Trent was taller than the speaker expected him to be. In order to do this, you would write the following:\u00a0&#8220;[Trent] was a lot taller than expected.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The brackets let the reader know that while the word <em>Trent<\/em>\u00a0wasn&#8217;t in the original quote,\u00a0his name was implied there.\u00a0When using brackets, you need to be careful not to change the original meaning of the quote.<\/p>\n<p>Another use of brackets is when there is a spelling or informational error in the original quote. For example,\u00a0&#8220;Gabriel sat down on the river bank to fed [<em>sic<\/em>]\u00a0the ducks.&#8221; \u00a0(The term <em>sic<\/em>\u00a0means that the typo was in the original source of this quote.)<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Ellipses<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1762\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/05\/04170843\/ellips-1024x473.png\" alt=\"an icon showing an ellipsis, which is made of three periods.\" width=\"300\" height=\"138\" \/>An ellipsis (plural <em>ellipses<\/em>)\u00a0is a series of three periods, as you can see in the icon to the right.<\/p>\n<p>As with most punctuation marks, there is some contention about its usage. The main point of contention is whether or not there should be a space between the periods (.\u00a0.\u00a0.) or not (\u2026). MLA, APA, and\u00a0<em>Chicago<\/em>, the most common style guides for students,\u00a0support having spaces between the periods. Others you may encounter, such as in journalism, may not.<\/p>\n<h3>Quotes<\/h3>\n<p>Like the brackets we just learned about, you will primarily see ellipses\u00a0used in quotes. They\u00a0indicate a missing portion in a quote. Look at the following quote for an example:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Sauropod dinosaurs are the biggest animals to have ever walked on land. They are instantly recognized by their long, sweeping necks and whiplashed tails, and nearly always portrayed moving in herds, being stalked by hungry predators.<\/p>\n<p>In recent years, a huge amount of taxonomic effort from scientists has vastly increased the number of known species of sauropod. What we now know is that in many areas we had two or more species co-existing alongside each other.<\/p>\n<p>A question that arises from this, is how did we have animals that seem so similar, and with such high energy and dietary requirements, living alongside one another? Was there some sort of spinach-like super plant that gave them all Popeye-like physical boosts, or something more subtle?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It&#8217;s a lengthy quote, and it contains more information than you want to include. Here&#8217;s how to cut it down:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Sauropod dinosaurs are the biggest animals to have ever walked on land. They are instantly recognized by their long, sweeping necks and whiplashed tails. . . .<\/p>\n<p>In recent years\u00a0. . . [research has shown] that in many areas we had two or more species co-existing alongside each other.<\/p>\n<p>A question that arises from this, is how did we have animals that seem so similar, and with such high energy and dietary requirements, living\u00a0alongside one another?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In the block quote above, you can see that the first ellipsis appears to have\u00a0four dots. (&#8220;They are instantly recognized by their long, sweeping necks and whiplashed tails. . . .&#8221;)\u00a0However, this is just a period followed by an ellipsis. This is because\u00a0ellipses <strong>do not<\/strong> remove punctuation marks when the original punctuation still is in use; they are instead used in conjunction with original punctuation. This is true for\u00a0all punctuation marks, including periods, commas, semicolons, question marks, and exclamation points.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>By looking at two sympatric species (those that lived together) from the fossil graveyards of the Late Jurassic of North America\u00a0. . .\u00a0, [David Button] tried to work out what the major dietary differences were between sauropod dinosaurs, based on their anatomy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>One of the best ways to check yourself is to\u00a0take out the ellipsis. If the sentence or paragraph is still correctly punctuated, you&#8217;ve used\u00a0the ellipsis correctly. (Just remember to put it back in!)<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\n<p>Read the paragraphs below:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>Camarasaurus<\/em>, with its more mechanically efficient skull, was capable of generating much stronger bite forces than\u00a0<em>Diplodocus<\/em>. This suggests that <em>Camarasaurus<\/em> was capable of chomping through tougher plant material than\u00a0<em>Diplodocus<\/em>, and was perhaps even capable of a greater degree of oral processing before digestion. This actually ties in nicely with previous hypotheses of different diets for each, which were based\u00a0on apparent feeding heights and inferences made from wear marks on their fossilized teeth.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>Diplodocus<\/em> seems to have been well-adapted, despite its weaker skull, to a form of feeding known as branch stripping, where leaves are plucked from branches as the teeth are dragged along them. The increased flexibility of the neck of <em>Diplodocus<\/em> compared to other sauropods seems to support this too.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">In terms of their morphological disparity (differences in mechanically-significant aspects of their anatomy), <em>Camarasaurus<\/em> and <em>Diplodocus<\/em> appear to vary more than almost any other sauropod taxa, representing extremes within a spectrum of biomechanical variation related to feeding style.<\/p>\n<p>Do\u00a0the following quotes use ellipses (and surrounding punctuation) correctly?<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>This suggests that <em>Camarasaurus<\/em> was capable of chomping through tougher plant material than <em>Diplodocus<\/em>. .\u00a0. This actually ties in nicely with previous hypotheses of different diets foreach.<\/li>\n<li>Diplodocus seems to have been well-adapted, . . .\u00a0to a form of feeding known as branch stripping, where leaves are plucked from branches as the teeth are dragged along them<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q3662\"><strong>Click to Show Answer<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q3662\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">\n<ol>\n<li><strong>No.<\/strong> There should be for periods; the ending punctuation of the sentence and then the ellipsis. Even though we&#8217;ve cut off the end of the sentence, the next part is the beginning of a new sentence, and we need ending punctuation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>No.<\/strong> Since we took out the entire parenthetical phrase, the comma beforehand is unnecessary. It should be &#8220;Diplodocus seems to have been well-adapted . . .\u00a0to a form of feeding known as branch stripping . . . &#8220;<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Pauses<\/h3>\n<p>There is one additional use of the ellipsis:\u00a0this punctuation mark also indicates . . . a pause. However, this use is informal, and should only be used in casual correspondence (e.g., emails to friends, posts on social media, texting)\u00a0or in creative writing.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Parentheses<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1766\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/05\/04171014\/paren-1024x886.png\" alt=\"an icon showing opening and closing parentheses\" width=\"250\" height=\"216\" \/>Parentheses are most often used to identify material that acts as an aside (such as this brief comment) or to add incidental information.<\/p>\n<p>Other punctuation marks used alongside parentheses need to take into account their context. If the parentheses enclose a full sentence beginning with a capital letter, then the end punctuation for the sentence falls <em>inside<\/em> the parentheses. For example:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Typically, suppliers specify air to cloth ratios of 6:1 or higher. (However, ratios of 4:1 should be used for applications involving silica or feldspathic minerals.)<\/p>\n<p>If the parentheses indicate a citation at the end of a sentence, then the sentence\u2019s end punctuation comes after the parentheses are closed:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">In a study comparing three different building types, respirable dust concentrations were significantly lower in the open-structure building (Hugh et al., 2005).<\/p>\n<p>Finally, if the parentheses appear in the midst of a sentence (as in this example), then any necessary punctuation (such as the comma that appeared\u00a0just a few words ago) is delayed until the parentheses are closed.<\/p>\n<p>Remember, parentheses always appear in pairs. If you open a parenthesis, you need another to close it!<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\"><strong>Note:<\/strong> In technical writing, there are\u00a0additional\u00a0rules for using parentheses, which can be more nuanced. While we won&#8217;t discuss those rules here, it&#8217;s important to bear their existence\u00a0in mind, especially if you&#8217;re considering going into a more technical field.<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\n<p>Have the parentheses been used correctly in the following sentences?<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>He finally arrived at a solution<span class=\"boldblu\"> (after reading a dozen style manuals.)<\/span><\/li>\n<li>The Modern Language Association (MLA) has an online reference website.<\/li>\n<li>If the green light does not come on (See instruction booklet.) try the steps again.<\/li>\n<li>If the person responds that the computer is not running smoothly, the caller will ask the user to boot start up the system and report the start up time.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q190902\"><strong>Click to\u00a0Show Answer<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q190902\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">\n<ol>\n<li>No; the sentence is incorrect. The period is enclosed within the parentheses only if the entire sentence is within the parentheses.<\/li>\n<li>Yes. Initials for an organization or group can be enclosed in parentheses after the full name.<\/li>\n<li>Incorrect. Change &#8220;see&#8221; to lowercase and remove the period before the closing parenthesis.<\/li>\n<li>Incorrect. There should be parentheses around the phrase &#8220;start up&#8221;: &#8221; .\u00a0.\u00a0. the caller will ask the user to boot (start up) the system.\u00a0.\u00a0.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Self-Check<\/h2>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"lumen_assessment_1277\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assessments.lumenlearning.com\/assessments\/load?assessment_id=1277&#38;embed=1&#38;external_user_id=&#38;external_context_id=&#38;iframe_resize_id=lumen_assessment_1277\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:400px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-938\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Outcome: Punctuation. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Text: Periods. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Revision and Adaptation of Wikipedia content. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Punctuation Icons. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Brackets. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Ellipses. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Self-Check. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Question. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Wikipedia. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Question\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Question<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Exclamation mark. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Wikipedia. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Exclamation_mark\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Exclamation_mark<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Style For Students Online. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Joe Schall. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: The Pennsylvania State University. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.e-education.psu.edu\/styleforstudents\/\">https:\/\/www.e-education.psu.edu\/styleforstudents\/<\/a>. <strong>Project<\/strong>: Penn State&#039;s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences&#039; OER Initiative. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Revision and Adaptation of Style for Students. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Text: Semicolons. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Colons, Hyphens &amp; Capitalization in Headings, Dashes (em dash), Apostrophes, Quotation Marks, Parentheses. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Julie Sevastopoulos. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Grammar-Quizzes. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.grammar-quizzes.com\/\">http:\/\/www.grammar-quizzes.com\/<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Choosing between its and it&#039;s. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: David Rheinstrom. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Khan Academy. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/humanities\/grammar\/punctuation\/the-apostrophe\/v\/choosing-between-its-and-its-the-apostrophe-punctuation-khan-academy\">https:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/humanities\/grammar\/punctuation\/the-apostrophe\/v\/choosing-between-its-and-its-the-apostrophe-punctuation-khan-academy<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>They might be giants, but how could they live with each other?. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Tennant. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: European Geosciences Union. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.egu.eu\/network\/palaeoblog\/2015\/03\/05\/they-might-be-giants-but-how-could-they-live-with-each-other\">http:\/\/blogs.egu.eu\/network\/palaeoblog\/2015\/03\/05\/they-might-be-giants-but-how-could-they-live-with-each-other<\/a>. <strong>Project<\/strong>: Green Tea and Velociraptors. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">All rights reserved content<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Victor Borge - Phonetic Punctuation. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Charles Bradley II. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Qf_TDuhk3No\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/Qf_TDuhk3No<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em>All Rights Reserved<\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Standard YouTube License<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":17,"menu_order":12,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Outcome: Punctuation\",\"author\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"organization\":\"\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"copyrighted_video\",\"description\":\"Victor Borge - Phonetic Punctuation\",\"author\":\"Charles Bradley II\",\"organization\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Qf_TDuhk3No\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"arr\",\"license_terms\":\"Standard YouTube License\"},{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Text: Periods\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Lumen 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