The Colon

The colon expands on the sentence that precedes it.

• There are many reasons for poor written communication: lack of planning, poor grammar, misuse of punctuation marks and insufficient vocabulary.
• He collected a strange assortment of items: bird's eggs, stamps, bottle tops, string and buttons.
• Peter had an eclectic taste in music: latin, jazz, country and western, pop, blues and classical.

English Punctuation: Apostrophe

The apostrophe probaly causes more grief than any of the other punctuation marks put together!

The problem nearly always seems to stem from users not understandingthat the apostrophe has two very different (and very important) uses in English.

to show possession and ownership - e.g. Jack's car. Mary's father.

to indicate a contraction - he's (he is), we're (we are), they're (they are)

These two examples show the apostrophe being used for possession (sentence 1) and contraction (sentence 2)

• Colombia's coffee exports have risen steadily over the past decade.
• Colombia's one of the main coffee producing countries in the world.

The POSSESSIVE APOSTROPHE

In most cases you simply need to add 's to a noun to show possession:

• a ship's captain, a doctor's patient, a car's engine, Ibrahim's coat, Mirianna's book.

Plural nouns that do not end in s also follow this rule:

• the children's room, the men's work, the women's club

Ordinary (or common) nouns that end in s, both singular and plural, show possession simply by adding an ' after the s but proper nouns (names of people, cities, countries etc.) can form the possessive either by adding the 's or simply adding the ':

• a. The Hughes' home (or the Hughes's home), Mr Jones's shop (or Mr Jones' shop), Charles' book (or Charles's book)
• b. the ladies' tennis club, the teachers' journal, the priests' church (note that the priest's church would only be refering to one priest while the priests' church refers to a group.)

General notes: Many people want to know how to form the possessive of their own name when it ends in an 's' or when refering to the whole family, e.g. The Jones' children.

Today it is no longer considered incorrect to use either form (Jones's or Jones') and many largeorganisations now drop the ' completely (e.g. Barclays Bank,Missing Persons Bureau) when publishing their name.

The APOSTROPHE for CONTRACTION

The most common use of contracted apostrophes is for:

• has'nt = had not
• can't = can not
• there's = there is
• mustn't = must not
• I'm = I am
• it's = it is
• let's = let us
• I've = I have (also they've, we've)
• she's = she has or she is (also he's)
Remember:
• it's = it is (a contraction) while its = possession
• who's = who is (a contraction) while whose = possession

Punctuating speech with quotation marks

Usage

Although you will still see the double quotation marks used to quote direct speech it is more and more common to punctuate speech and direct quotations with single quotation marks with the double quotation marks reserved for quoting 'speech within speech'.

Examples

• 'I haven't spoken to Peter for months,' Dianne said.'The last time I spoke to him he said, "I'm going to Bahrain and won't be back for about three years", I've heard nothing since then'.

Notice that the comma is placed within the quotation marks and that double quotation marks are only used when the quoted speaker is quoting someone else directly.

Other uses of the quotation mark

You will also have seen the single quotation marks used to mark out idiomatic expressions such as -

• I've always thought that he was very annoying, a bit of a 'pain in the neck.'

They are also used outside of speech when quoting the title of a journal article:

• 'The Migration Flight of the Lesser Tweazle', by Jeremey Adams, in The Bird Spotter Magazine, July 2009.

(Note that there are a number of ways of organising such things as bibliographies which set out standard formats. Most organisations and academic institutions will prefer one of these or have their own format published in a 'style guide'.)

The Exclamation Mark

The exclamation mark is used to express exasperation,astonishment or surprise or to emphasise a comment or short, sharp phrase.

Examples

• Help! Help!
• That's unbelievable!
• Get out!
• Look out!

You can also use it to mark a phrase as humourous, ironic or sarcastic.

• 1. What a lovely day! (when it obviously is not a lovely day)
• 2. That was clever! (when someone has done something stupid)

Some general remarks:

• Don't overuse the exclamation mark
• Don't include a series of exclamation marks. E.g., I'll never get it right!!!!

The Comma

There are some general rules which you can apply when using the comma.

However, you will find that in English there are many other ways to use the comma to add to the meaning of a sentence or to emphasise an item, point or meaning.

Although we are often taught that commas are used to help us add 'breathing spaces' to sentences they are, in fact, more accurately used to organise blocks of thought or logical groupings. Most people will now use commas to ensure that meaning is clear and, despite grammatical rules, will drop the comma if their meaning is retained in the sentence.

A. Using the comma to separate phrases, words, or clauses in lists

1. a series of phrases

• On my birthday I went to the cinema, ate dinner in a restaurant,and went dancing.

2. a series of nouns

• The meal consisted of soup, fish, chicken, dessert and coffee.

3. a series of adjectives

• She was young, beautiful, kind, and intelligent.
  Note: if an adjective is modifying another adjective you do not separate them with a comma - e.g. She wore a bright red shirt.

4. a series of verbs

• Tony ran towards me, fell, yelled, and fainted.

5. a series of clauses

• The car smashed into the wall, flipped onto its roof, slid along the road, and finally stopped against a tree.

B. Using the comma to enclose insertions or comments. The comma is placed on either side of the insertion.

• China, one of the most powerful nations on Earth, has a huge population.

C. Use the comma to mark off a participial phrase

• Hearing that her father was in hospital, Jane left work immediately.

D. Use the comma in 'tag questions'

• She lives in Paris, doesn't she?
• We haven't met, have we?

E. Use to mark off interjections like 'please', 'thank you', 'yes', and 'no'

• Yes, I will stay a little longer, thank you.

General notes:

1. Misplacing a comma can lose friends!

Putting a comma in the wrong place can lead to a sentence with a completely different meaning, look at these two examples:

• I detest liars like you, I believe that honesty is the best policy.
• I detest liars, like you, I believe that honesty is the best policy.