Semi Colons

Commas

Periods

Dashes

Colons

Parentheses

Apostrophes

Quotations

 
 

Semi-colons

SEMI-COLONS have three straight-forward, and even logical, purposes.
 
1) SEMI-COLONS join two major word groups that can stand alone as sentences, yet are joined by a train of thought.
 

Rocky Marciano was undefeated; nevertheless, Muhammad Ali was the greatest boxer of all time.

2) SEMI-COLONS join two word groups connected by AND, FOR, BUT, OR, or NOR but which have internal commas within one or both of the word groups.
 

The war in Vietnam was a horror fought in deep jungles, swamps, and rice paddies by underfed peasants over their entire lifetimes; but American troops, mostly working class youths on one-year tours, got hot meals everyday.

3) SEMI-COLONS split up a string of paired words or phrases when the members of each pair are separated by a comma.
 

I visited John Baldry, Mary Hartman, and Elizabeth Flynn in Kalamazoo, Michigan; Mitch Ryder, Phil Spector, and Leopold Trepper in Yee-Haw Junction, Florida; and Richard Sorge in Japan.

COMMAS are omnipresent. They are found scattered throughout nearly every form and style of writing. Here we outline five uses, all eminently rational.
1) COMMAS join clauses (often signaled by AND, SO, FOR, OR, NOR, or BUT).
 

My luggage is on that plane, but the plane is in Muttonville.

Many leaders in education face the contradiction of choosing either to be prominent, or to do something important in the background.

2) COMMAS demarcate the conclusion of an introductory statement and precede a key assertion.
 

In the struggle for universal literacy, we will have to contend with hunger as much as anarchic rules of grammar.

3) COMMAS set off clauses that could be omitted from a sentence.
 

The law, in its majestic impartiality, makes it equally illegal for a rich woman and a poor man to sleep under the bridge.

4) While there is some debate about this, COMMAS are often used to set apart items in a series.
 

I bought fishing line, an answering machine, a book by Anais Nin, a Marvel comic of the "Silver Surfer," and two Tootsie Roll Pops before I felt I could invite her to my apartment.

5) COMMAS are used to set apart numbers, and to mark off dates or proper nouns.
 

On April 30, 1945, the day before May Day, Hitler killed himself in Berlin, Germany.

The dateline style, 29 April, 1945, deletes one comma and gains some popularity in the United States.

Use a PERIOD to close a complete sentence, that doesn't require another form of punctuation like a question mark or an exclamation point.

Most common abbreviations require a PERIOD.
 

Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr., a.m., St.

State abbreviations, because of postal rules, no longer require a PERIOD in addresses.
 

NY, MI, FL, PA, VA

D.C. is now DC

The PERIOD is not used after letters standing for certain organizations.
 

UN, NAACP, SDS, TVA, UNESCO

Other, usually older, organizations still insist on the period in the name.
 

Y.M.C.A., A.M.A.

When in doubt, go to the dictionary.

A series of PERIODS (these are called ellipsis marks--there are usually three within a sentence, four at the end of a declarative sentence) are used to indicate the omission of words from a quote or the hesitation in dialogue.
 

"I was uh...visiting my frail, sick grandmother last Friday night," he lied blatantly.

"...I am going to tell this story as though Negroes were ordinary human beings, realizing that this...will from the first seriously curtail my audience."

--From W.E.B. Dubois, Black Reconstruction in America.

Double space after a PERIOD at the end of a sentence.

Space once after an ellipsis.
 

DASHES (two strokes--on the hyphen) are subversive elements in the grammatical universe. Undisciplined usage causes dashes to rival commas for space--and to subvert the use of parentheses and colons.

DASHES are more powerful forms of separation than commas--although less powerful than colons. Dashes represent an abrupt break in the flow of a sentence.
 

John Brown insists--while others fear his obstinacy--that violence is the only way to defeat the slave system.

Parentheses should be used when the thought is only marginally related to the meaning of the rest of the sentence.
 

John Brown (a hard man on the question of justice) urged retaliation with broadswords.

Use a COLON to separate word groups when the second group explains the first.
 

The teachers' contract was considered a setback to the professionals: it contained a clause that forced them to pay for their own health insurance.

The four greatest rock and roll songs ever are: "River Deep and Mountain High," "Jailhouse Rock," "Rave On," and "Gimme Shelter."

Colons can also be used for effect when setting up quotes:
 

That detective novel reminds me of a famous line by Wilke Colins: "Make 'em laugh, make 'em weep, and make 'em wait."

Double space after a COLON.
 

PARENTHESES are meant to enclose material that is a greater distance from the material than that enclosed by a dash or comma. Use it for material that is interpretive, supplementary, or explanatory.

The call for clarity in writing rises out of the belief that there is clarity to be found in reality (a condition rejected rhetorically and philosophically by most post-modernists).
 

Note that the punctuation goes outside the parenthesis, unless it belongs to the parenthetical element.
 

The APOSTROPHE signals possession as in John Dewey's philosophy, Lisa Miller's presidency, Boy George's preferences, Davey Jones's (according to MLA; however, some prefer Jones') comeback. The apostrophe is more and more being omitted, as in plurals of numbers like 1960s. But it's as a substitute for it is remains distinguished from the possessive its.

APOSTROPHES indicate word contractions like won't, can't, don't, they're. Apostrophes also signal syllables left out in speech: Cuff 'em!
 

The most peculiar thing about quotation marks is that the concluding comma or period goes inside the mark. This is probably due to the arrangement of the typesetting board, thus making life easier for typesetters who became obsolete with the advent of laser printers. But that's the rule--for now.

Here are more rules for quotations:
 

1) Double quotation marks are used to enclose a direct quotation in dialogue.
 
"I am not a crook," said Mr. Nixon, "and what tapes are you talking about?"

2) No quotation marks are used with an indirect quote.
 

Mr. Nixon claimed he knew nothing about bombing Cambodia.

3) Single quotation marks are used to enclose a quotation within a quotation.
 

John Reed replied, "I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night and Joe said to me, 'I'm still alive, John, alive as I can be.' "

4) Enclose direct quotes from written sources in double quotation marks.
 

As Plato writes in The Republic, "Then shall we simply allow our children to listen to any stories that anyone happens to make up, and so receive into their minds ideas often the very opposite of those we shall think they ought to have when they are grown up?" (p.69)

However, if you are quoting more than forty words, indent ten spaces and do not use quotation marks. If you wish to include the quote as part of a sentence, set it apart with a colon.
 

For instance, Wilhelm Reich states that:

We concur with the opponent: sexuality is not everything in life. We even add that, in healthy people, sexuality is not a topic of conversation or the center of their thinking. But how do we explain that sexuality, which is not everything in life, actually assumes the most prominent place in man's life and thinking? This fact cannot be gainsaid (p.532).

5) Quotation marks are used to enclose quoted titles of stories, poems, chapters, and other subdivisions of books, and, in some newspaper styles, the titles of books.

6) The question mark, the semi-colon, and the exclamations point go inside quotation marks if they belong to the quoted part. They go outside if they do not belong to the quoted part. Remember, typesetters rule.
 

"Well, at least I know that phonics interrupt reading while whole language facilitates it!" she exclaimed.

Did you hear him claim, "I was out of the loop"?

7) Quotation marks are used to enclose words used in a special sense, like irony, invented or slang expressions. Use quotation marks the first time the word is used. Once its usage is established, do not use the quotation marks.
 

"Intelligence" tests mostly measure class, race and sex.

As in much of your encounter with language, you will need to use reasonable judgement to balance the occasionally dubious logic of formal usage. Do you bow to the typesetters? For now, you bet.
 

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