Auntie's Down and Dirty Punctuation Guide
Auntie’s Down-and-Dirty, Quick and Handy Guide to Punctuation
[Note: The following is not in any way, shape, or form intended as an insult to anyone's intelligence or schooling. Instead it is offered as an unofficial guide to those who may wish to refresh their memory.]
For characters so tiny, punctuation marks seem to cause writers a large amount of grief. There’s nothing inherently intimidating about punctuation, which was designed simply as a system of symbols to aid meaning. They help a writer say what he or she means to say.
Punctuation marks aren't seasoning to sprinkle in one’s work like salt and pepper in a stew. But you could think of punctuation as a kind of garlic. Too much of it ruins the dish, but just enough is just right.
Don't Use Punctuation Without a Reason
The Period
If punctuation marks were traffic signals, the period would be a red light. The period means come to a full stop.
Use a period at the end of a declarative sentence. Put a period after part of an abbreviation or after each letter in a set of initials.
Do not use a series of periods between parts of a sentence. The only appropriate use of three periods in a row is to indicate an omission, such as part of a quotation. (See “The Dash” below.)
The Comma
To continue with the traffic light analogy, the comma is the yellow light of punctuation marks. A comma means come to a momentary stop or to pause. The function of a comma is to separate.
Never separate the subject from its verb with a comma.
Use a comma:
–between the name of a town from its state or country Columbus, Ohio
- for writing the date when the month comes first
October 10, 2010
(but not when the day comes first 10 October 2010)
-for separating items in a series when there are three or more. (You don't need a comma for only two items.)
Lance has appeared in the cast of comedies, dramas, and movies.
– to separate the last name from the first name and middle initial when you're writing the last name first. Boyle, Lance A.
- in writing letters. Use a comma to separate the salutation from the body of a friendly (non-business ) letter.
Dear Auntie,
In both friendly and business letters use a comma to separate the complimentary closing from the signature.
Friendly letter:
Your loving nephew,
Lance
Business letter:
Sincerely yours,
Lance A. Boyle
-to separate names in a direct address.
Polly, put the kettle on.
-to separate a direct quotation from the rest of the sentence.
Lance said, “I'd better get this resume in the mail.”
-after a mild interjection.
Gee, I'd better delete that Facebook photo.
-after words such as yes, no, well, indeed that begin the answer to a question
Yes, I saw Lance sneaking out early the other day.
-after certain single words, such as however, moreover, thus, also, too ,which are not essential to the meaning of the sentence but to clarify the thought or to improve the rhetorical flow.
-to separate appositives or extra descriptive information that is not essential to the sentence.
Lance, a former screenwriter and actor, has said that he has always wanted to direct.
-to separate non-restrictive clauses from the sentence. Like an appositive, a non-restrictive clause provides extra descriptive information which includes a verb.
Lance, who spent three seasons with the East Hogwash Repertory Company, just auditioned with HBO.
When combining two or more independent clauses into a compound sentence, use a comma + a conjunction to separate the clauses.
Do not use a comma alone.*
Do not use a conjunction (and, but, so, etc.) alone.
Lance creates, and his auntie criticizes.
He wrote a short story, but he forgot to include the punctuation.
*The rare exceptions occur in an attempt to set up a rhetorical effect called parallelism, as in this example:
I came, I saw, I conquered.
Instead of using a conjunction and a comma or a semi-colon, Strunk and White suggest that “a comma is preferable when the clauses are short and alike in form.” (P. 7.)Among one of their examples:
Man proposes, God disposes.
The Semi-Colon
Use a semi-colon to separate two independent clauses. You do not need to use a conjunction.
Lance creates; his auntie criticizes.
He wrote a short story; he forgot to include the punctuation.
The semi-colon is useful in a series in which the items themselves already have commas.
Jeopardy contestants came from Saranac Lake, New York; Tacoma, Washington; Altoona, Pennsylvania, and Portland, Maine.
Auditions will be on December 9, 2010; January 29, 2011, and February 12, 2011.
The Colon
Use a colon after the salutation of a business letter.
Dear Sir:
Use colons to indicate time of day
7:41 p.m.
A colon can introduce a list, an illustration, a verbal description or clarification, or an example.
For example:
For instance:
Here are the Maine towns the college recruiter visited: Portland, Augusta, Bangor, and Calais.
The Exclamation Point
This is the real garlic of punctuation. Because exclamation points express strong emphasis, use them sparingly. Otherwise you defeat their purpose. Make your word choice powerful enough that the exclamation point is unnecessary.
F. Scott Fitzgerald said, “Using an exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke.” Don't end your sentence with a long string of !!!!!!.
Write “Ow!” with just one exclamation point no matter how much it hurts.
The Apostrophe
In my part of the world people love apostrophes so much that they use them where they're not needed. As with all punctuation, only use an apostrophe for a reason.
Use an apostrophe + s to show possession in nouns.
Sue’s surgery
The neighbor’s pet
Jim’s coat
The preceding rule is true even when the noun itself ends in s:
James’s coat
Mavis’s last recording
Willis’s strikeout statistics
Strunk and White found the rule so important that it opens the book (p. 1). They provide exceptions for ancient proper names ending in -es and -is and the possessive Jesus’, although the authors prefer replacing the apostrophe with the preposition of for the possessive :
the law of Moses the temple of Isis
Do not use an apostrophe for simple plurals.
An apostrophe is appropriate in a plural noun only when it is possessive:
The girls’ medical bills
(but) the women’s medical bills.
The neighbor’s pet
Except for the pronoun “one” as in phrases such as “beneath one’s dignity,” do not use apostrophes in pronouns to show ownership. Pronouns have their own possessive cases:
her surgery
his pet
their bills
That coat is his.
Those bills are theirs.
The only appropriate use of an apostrophe in a pronoun is in contractions. In contractions an apostrophe indicates that one or more letters have been left out, such as the ‘i’ in “is”:
It’s raining.
They'd sooner meet a tiger on the road.
In certain colloquial expressions an apostrophe shows that an initial or final letter has been omitted:
She'll be comin’ ‘round the mountain.
Common Apostrophe Pitfalls
Its/It’s
It’s cold outside.
The dog hurt its paw.
Don't they realize that it’s time to go?
This table is missing its leg.
They're/their/there
They're playing our song.
The musicians are packing up their instruments.
Don't put that there.
Your/you're
Don't forget your tickets.
You're driving me crazy.
Does your mother-in-law know that you're visiting?
The Dash
(This is courtesy of Strunk and White, The Elements of Style, p. 9):
“Use a dash to set off an abrupt break or interruption, and to announce a long appositive or summary.
“A dash is a mark of separation stronger than a comma, less formal than a colon, and more relaxed than parentheses.”
