1. Punctuation Rules

2. Comma Rules: Separate items in a series
Ex. The dishes, pots, and pans need to be washed
Separate two or more adjectives
Ex. John is a humble, innocent child.
Before for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so when they separate independent clauses.
Ex. We could read the book, or we could wait to see the movie.

3. Comma Rules: To set off nonessential clauses
Ex. His sayings, stated simply and directly, express wisdom.
After introductory elements
Ex. No, I have not read that book.
Looking calm, Jill walked to the podium
To set off interruptions
Ex. Your research paper, Dylan, is very interesting

4. Commas in Conventional Situations:
To separate items in dates and addresses
Ex. April 8, 2000
315 Wayne Court, Danuba, California
After the salutation or closing of a letter
Dear Alicia,
Sincerely,
To set off abbreviations such as Jr., Sr., RN, M.D., Ltd., or Inc.
Jorge Rivera, Jr.
Flowers by Algernon, Inc.

5. Semicolons:
Use a semicolon between independent clauses (to break up a run-on) You don’t have to use a semicolon if the run-on is already separated with a comma and conjunction (FANBOys), unless the clauses you are separating already contain a lot of commas Ex. The rain had finally stopped; a few rays of sunshine were pushing through the clouds.

6. Semicolons:
Use a semicolon between items in a series if the items contain commas. Ex. The choir bus tour traveled to Columbia, SC; Atlanta, GA; and Gainsville, Fl.

7. Colons:
Use a colon before a list or quote to mean “note what follows”: Ex. The epics we will study in class include the following: The iliad, The Aenead, and The Epic of Gilgamesh.

8. Colons: Conventional situations:
-12:01 A.M. (between hour and minute) -Mark 3:10 (between chapter and verse) -A Long Way gone: memoirs of a boy soldier (between title and subtitle) - To whom it may Concern: (after the salutation of a business letter)

9. Apostrophes Use an apostrophe to show possession
Singular: put the apostrophe before an s
Roland’s sword
Mom’s meatloaf recipe
Unless the word ends in s and an ‘s would be awkward
Mr. Rodgers’ class
the witness’s testimony

10. Apostrophes Plural: put the apostrophe after the s
The players’ uniforms
the volunteers’ efforts
Form the possessive of the last word in a compound word or when showing joint possession:
brother-in-law’s
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s plan

11. Apostrophes
Form the possessive of each noun in a word group when showing individual possession
Shakespeare’s and Miller’s plays
Contractions: use apostrophes to show where characters have been replaced
Let us = let’s
You will = you’ll
Do not = don’t

12. Apostrophes
The only time you use apostrophes for plurals is with letters, numbers, and words referred to as words.
Mind your p’s and q’s.
Don’t use so many and’s in your writing.

13. Quotation Marks Use quotation marks to enclose a direct quotation:
Begin the quotation with a capital letter
Ex. D’Angelo wrote, “Give more than take.”
When the quote is interrupted, the second part begins lowercase
Ex. “Common sense,” explained Albert Einstein, “is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.”

14. Quotation Marks
Commas and periods are placed inside the quotation marks
Ex. “Read these lyrics,” he said.
Semicolons and colons go outside
Question marks and exclamation points go inside if they are part of the quote, outside if they are part of the sentence.

15. Quotation Marks
If the quotation is more than one paragraph, put a quotation mark at the beginning of each paragraph.
Use single quotations for quotes within quotations
When writing dialogue, begin a new paragraph every time the speaker changes

16. Quotation Marks
Use quotation marks to enclose titles of short works such as:
Short stories: “The Sniper”
Poems: “Mother to Son”
Songs: “Beat It”
TV episodes, chapters of books, essays, articles, etc.

17. Italics
Use italics when referring to words as themselves, letters, symbols, or words from foreign languages
Hiss and clang are examples of onomatopoeia
You typed ie instead of ei.
The French word déjà vu is used to describe an odd feeling of having been somewhere or done something before.

18. Italics Use italics for the titles of long works:
books: A Long Way Gone
book-length poems: The Iliad
works of art: Starry Night
TV series: Friday Night Lights
albums/compositions: The Four Seasons
movies: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
plays: Romeo and Juliet
newspapers: The NY Times
periodicals: Sports Illustrated
court cases: Brown v. Board of Education
trains, ships, aircraft, and spacecraft: Apollo 13, The Spruce Goose, The Mayflower