Punctuation Part 2

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In this blog post I will be discussing more punctuation rules that may be familiar or have never been seen before. This is done with the help of Rules for Writers. I will be talking about the colon, the apostrophe, and the quotation marks. 

The Colon

This is used to call attention to the language that follows it. 

•  Use a colon after an independent clause to direct attention to list, an appositive, a quotation, or a summary that is important to the understanding of the previously stated independent clause. 
• Example with a list...
• Taking care of a dog includes: grooming them, feeding them, playing with them, and most importantly loving them.
• Example with an appositive...
• My dog is always up to one of two things: eating or sleeping. 
• Example with a quotation...
• My mom's saying has never failed me yet: "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."
• Example with a summary or explanation...
• Trust is a precious thing: once it is broken it can never be completely fixed.

• Use a colon according the convention.
• In a business letter, use a colon after addressing someone
• Ex. Dear Professor McCarthy:
• In stating the time
• Ex. 11:00 p.m.
• Titles and Subtitles
• Ex. Cells: The Building Blocks of Life
• Bibliographic entries
• Ex. Boston: Bedford 2009

• Avoid common misuses of the colon
• A colon has to be followed by a full independent clause. It can only be used:
• between the verb in its subject. 
• between a preposition and its object.
• after "such as," "including," or "for example."

The Apostrophe

• Use this to show that a noun is possessive.
• Ex. The girl's purse, the dog's bone, my mom's house. 

• When to add an apostrophe...
• If the noun doesn't end in an "s" add an "'s"
• the refrigerator's buzzing sound.
• If the noun is singular and does end in "s" or has that sound add an "'s" to indicate possession.
• Tess's dog would not stop barking at me.

• When to add an apostrophe but no "s"...
• If the plural form of the noun ends in "s," just add an apostrophe.
• Ex. The dogs' food was ready.

• Joint possession 
• To show that two people or nouns have possession, only put an "'s" or apostrophe with the last noun in the list. 
• Ex. Jack and Jacob's room has a large TV in it. 

• Compound nouns
• If the noun is compound, put the "'s" or apostrophe at the end of the last word.
• Ex. My half sister's son was very cute when I was babysitting him last evening. 

• When using possession on an indefinite pronoun, use "'s" at the end. 
• An indefinite pronoun is: someone, no one, something.
• Ex. Someone's music wouldn't start playing. 

• Use an apostrophe to indicate contractions.
• It's going to be a cold day out. 

• Don't use an apostrophe to form the plural of numbers, letters, abbreviations, and words mentioned as words. 
• Ex. The 1970s were a stressful time for our nation. 
• Ex. He got all As on his report card last year. 

• Don't use an apostrophe to pluralize abbreviations. 
• Ex. There are many pros and cons to the situation. 
• Avoid common misuses of the apostrophe...
• Be careful when "its" means "it is" or "its" 
• Ex. Each room has its own bathroom that connects with it. 

Quotation Marks

These are primarily used to give reference to someone else's words. Other uses for quotation marks include:

• using single quotations within quotations.
• For titles of short works of literature.
• for words used as words.

• Using quotes to enclose quotations from another speaker or writer. 
• Ex. Maria said, "I need to do homework actually, sorry." 
• When in a dialogue, a new paragraph with a set of quotes indicates a new speaker is talking. 

• Exception: 
• Do not use quotation marks around indirect quotes. An indirect quote tells what someone else said but not in their exact words. 

• Exception: long quotes
• Long quotes are indicated by indenting the entire paragraph. This informs the reader that someone else is talking. This can also be assisted by an introduction to the quote. 

• Use single quotation marks to indicate a quotation within a quotation. 
• Ex. Martha said, "I don't understand my mom sometimes. I mean she is always yelling at me to 'Clean my room!' and 'Take care of the dog!'."

• Using quotes around the title of a short work. 
• This could be an article a short story, song, poe, radio program, or chapter of a longer book.
• Ex. In the article "Obama and Stem Cell Research," he tells his audience why he approves of stem cell research. 

• Use quotes to show that a word is being indicated as a words. 
• Ex. The word "red" has a lot of different interpretations for different people. 

• Punctuations with quotation marks.
• Place periods and commas in the quotation marks.
• Ex. She said, "Why is this so hard," and stomped away. 

• Put colons and semicolons outside quotation marks. 

• Put question marks and explanation points inside the sentence, unless it pertains to the whole sentence.

• You can introduce your quotation with a colon.