Punctuation: Introduction Part 1

Introduction

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In today's lesson we begin our unit on Punctuation.

Sneak Preview

 

 At the wedding reception, everybody danced, ate and drank, and everybody was happy.  My mother, however, felt sad because I was moving to another country to start my new life with my new husband.  I was moving to the United States and she wasn't going to be seeing me for a long time.  But, at the same time, she celebrated because I was happy.

What Is Punctuation? What Are Punctuation Marks?

 

When we communicate, we divide our ideas into sentences and smaller parts of the sentence by means of punctuation.  When we speak, we use pauses and intonation to indicate punctuation; when we write, we use punctuation marks.

The most common punctuation marks are:

  • the period     .

  • the comma     ,

  • the question mark  ?

  • the exclamation mark     !

  • the semi-colon     ;

  • the colon:     ;

  • quotation marks     "     "    (open quote, close quote)

Other punctuation marks are:

  • the dash     -

  • parenthesis     (    )     (open parens, close parens)

In this chapter, we will learn about the various types of sentences in English, which punctuation marks are required for each type, and how to use punctuation to add meaning and effect to your written expression.

Warm up

Warm-up 1

Beneath or above each punctuation mark, write its name.  The first two have been done for you. 

                                          comma   quotation mark
1.  My classmate asked me, "Why do you love the color green?" 

2.  I love green because green makes me feel calm, refreshed, and young.

3.  The tallest president was William Taft; he was six feet four inches tall.

  ANSWERS

Next...

Plerase continue with our next lesson, where we study What Is Punctuation? Part Two and What Is Capitalization?

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