1. Capitalization and Punctuation
By AJ Brown
Capitalization and Punctuation
required in
written academic English
Put together by AJ Brown for all to use! 

2. Punctuation in English Consists of
a period
a comma ,
a question mark ?
an exclamation mark !
a colon :
a semi-colon ;
quotation marks “ ”
an apostrophe ‘
ellipses …
a dash

3. What’s what… A period is for the end of a sentence
This sentence is short.
A question mark is for the end of a question.
Is this sentence short?
An exclamation mark is for the end of a sentence that should be emphasized to show excitement or disbelief.
My class was great!

4. When to use a comma in English
Comma examples…
When to use a comma in English
for an introductory phrase
Last week, several students were absent.
when a dependent clause is first (complex)
Because I am hungry, I am eating an apple.
after the first clause of a compound sentence
I live in Lake Oswego, and I work in Portland.
to separate items in a list
Peter, Deborah, and Ian are waiting in the car.
I want to see your homework, tests, and journal.

5. Capital Letter Rules in English
first word in a sentence
1st and last in a title, plus all n, adj, v, & adv
the pronoun I
proper nouns (names of … )
days of the week
months of the year
languages
religions
deities (gods)
streets and avenues
countries
mountains and ranges
seas and oceans
rivers and lakes
continents
islands
buildings and bridges
classes and courses (w/ numbers)

6. Remember… Only capitalize general nouns if they are part of a name.
The professor is nice.
I think that Professor West is nice.
The river is long.
We visited the Mississippi River last year.
Last week, the bridge was closed.
Last week, the Broadway Bridge was closed.

7. Always capitalize… The pronoun I
Names of countries or adjectives of countries
Names of religions or adjectives of religions
Names of gods even if it is not the name you use
The days of the week and the months of a year (NOT the seasons!)