Adapted from Fowler, Henrey Ramsey; Aaron, Jane E., and Janice Okoomian. The Little, Brown Handbook. 10th ed. New York: Longman. 2007.
Week 11, Nov 30: Capital letters, commas, periods, semicolons, quotation marks.
- Capital letters – important in titles (works of art, documents, institutions, etc.)
o Rules for writing capital letters vary from field to field
- English uses a larger number of punctuation marks than Czech and each has its purpose
Adapted from Fowler, Henrey Ramsey; Aaron, Jane E., and Janice Okoomian. The Little, Brown Handbook. 10th ed. New York: Longman. 2007.
Use a comma before and, but, or another coordinating conjunction linking main clauses
Adapted from Fowler, Henrey Ramsey; Aaron, Jane E., and Janice Okoomian. The Little, Brown Handbook. 10th ed. New York: Longman. 2007.
Use a comma or commas to set off nonessential elements
Adapted from Fowler, Henrey Ramsey; Aaron, Jane E., and Janice Okoomian. The Little, Brown Handbook. 10th ed. New York: Longman. 2007.
Use commas to prevent misreading
Adapted from Fowler, Henrey Ramsey; Aaron, Jane E., and Janice Okoomian. The Little, Brown Handbook. 10th ed. New York: Longman. 2007.
Semicolon
(Adapted from Maimon, Elaine P. and Janice H. Peritz . A Writer’s Resource: A Handbook for Writing and Research. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2003.)
The drug does little to relieve symptoms, and it can have side effects.
The side effects are not minor; some leave the patient quite ill.
(wrong: The side effects are not minor, some leave the patient quite ill)
Comma separates both equal and unequal sentence elements:
- An airline once tried to boost sales by advertising the tense alertness of its crews, but nervous
fliers did not want to hear about pilots’ sweaty palms.
- Although the airline campaign failed, many advertising agencies, including some clever ones,
copied its underlying message.
Semicolon chiefly separates equal and balanced sentence elements.
- The airline campaign had highlighted only half the story; the other half was buried in the copy.
- The campaign should not have stressed the pilots’ insecurity; instead, the campaign should have
stressed the improved performance resulting from that insecurity.
Exercise: Combine each set of three sentences below into one sentence with two main clauses using a
semicolon. Make any changes that you feel are necessary.
1) The painter Andrew Wyeth is widely admired. He is not universally admired. Some critics view his
work as sentimental.
2) Jazz and rock change rapidly. They nourish experimentation. They nourish improvisation.
3) Contemporary classical music not only can draw on tradition. It also can respond to innovations.
These are innovations such as jazz rhythms and electronic sounds.
Is also used with however, for example, and other transitional expressions.
- An American immigrant, Levi Strauss, invented blue jeans in the 1860s; eventually, his product
clothed working men throughout the West.
- Blue jeans have become fashionable all over the world; (however,) the American originators
(,however,) still wear more jeans than anyone else.
Exercise: Insert a semicolon in each of the following sentences. Also use commas where needed.
1) He knew that tickets for the concert would be scarce therefore he arrived at the box office hours
before it opened.
2) Music is a form of communication like language the basic elements however are not letters but
notes.
3) Computers can process any information that can be represented numerically as a result they can
process musical information.
4) A computer’s ability to process music depends on what software it can run it must moreover be
connected to a system that converts electrical vibration into sound.
Adapted from Fowler, Henrey Ramsey; Aaron, Jane E., and Janice Okoomian. The Little, Brown Handbook. 10th ed. New York: Longman. 2007.
Punctuation exercise: Discuss the following sentences with your partner and decide which are
punctuated correctly.
a) The dog wanted to play, it was very lonely.
b) The dog wanted to play; it was very lonely.
c) The dog wanted to play: it was very lonely.
d) Because it was very lonely, the dog wanted to play.
e) The dog wanted to play because it was very lonely.
f) The dog wanted to play: fetch, cards , and video games.
g) The dog wanted to play; fetch, cards, and video games.
h) The dog wiggled its tail after playing fetch; it felt happy and licked its owner’s cheek.
i) Cars usually accelerate faster, but trucks have larger momentum.
j) Cars usually accelerate faster: but trucks have larger momentum.
k) Cars usually accelerate faster; trucks have larger momentum.
l) Cars usually accelerate faster, trucks have larger momentum.
m) There are two reasons for the protests, the corruption of public officials and large unemployment.
n) There are two reasons for the protests; the corruption of public officials and large unemployment.
o) There are two reasons for the protests: the corruption of public officials and large unemployment.
p) We wanted to buy some nice posters for our lab; unfortunately, they were out of all Krteček
posters.
q) We wanted to buy some nice posters for our lab, unfortunately, they were out of all Krteček
posters.