ACT ENGLISHA PRIMER

PUNCTUATION! A WOMAN WITHOUT HER MAN IS NOTHING.

THE COMMA- IT MATTERS!

An English professor wrote the words, “ A woman without her man is nothing" on the blackboard and directed his students to punctuate it correctly.

The men wrote: “ A woman, without her man, is nothing."

The women wrote: “ A woman. Without her, man is nothing." 

COMMA TIPS – USE A COMMA TO:

SET OFF INTRODUCTORY MATERIAL IN A SENTENCE:

After taking the last cupcake on the plate, Henry scooted outside to avoid the fury of his sister.

COMMA CONTINUED

SET OFF ITEMS IN A LIST Lions, tigers, and bears were the

featured animals at the Cincinnati Zoo last weekend.

****Note: The comma in front of the “and” matters. Consider the next slide!

WHY THE OXFORD COMMA MATTERS:

COMMA CON’T

DIVIDE TWO COMPLETE SENTENCES

Commas team up with conjunctions to separate two full sentences.

The girls won the game, and they celebrated with chicken tenders at Applebee’s.

COMMA CONTINUED

SET OFF A SIDE NOTE:

Lisa’s father, who is known to be protective, will not allow her to work after nine.

Note: If the phrase is left out it would not change the sense of the sentence.

COMMA CONTINUED

WHEN ADDRESSING SOMEONE: Mr. Carson, did you assign chapter

seven for homework yesterday? Students, put your homework on the

front table! This matters! Commas can save lives!

Look what can happen when you forget a comma: “Let’s eat Grandma!” “Let’s eat, Grandma!”

COMMA CONTINUED

SEPARATE DIALOGUE FROM THE SPEAKER

I began to cry, “ It was an accident; the roads were covered with ice.”

SEMICOLON ( ; )

SEPARATE TWO COMPLETE SENTENCES THAT HAVE NO CONJUNCTION BETWEEN THEM.

The girls won the game; they celebrated with chicken tenders at Applebees.

The SUV flipped over and rolled down the embankment; it was totaled.

COLON (:)

Colons set up the reader for whatever follows: a list, a long quote, or an explanation.

The directions say: go west on vine, turn left on east main, and then left again on 4th street.

The message here is: “Stay on your toes; it’s coming at you.”

He tried out for several teams: the Wildcats, the Cardinals, and the Hilltoppers.

APOSTROPHE USAGE

Use apostrophe marks for possessive nouns, both singular and plural.

Those are the players’ shoes. (plural noun and possessive)

That is Susan’s cell phone. (single noun and possessive)

John Stamos’s three fouls placed him on the bench until the half. (nouns that end in s also have ’s endings.)

TRY IT! WRITE FIVE SENTENCES OF YOUR OWN.

1. Write a sentence that uses a comma to set off introductory material.

2. Write a sentence that uses commas to set off a side note.

3. Write a sentence that contains a semicolon.

4. Write a sentence that contains a colon.

5. Write a sentence that contains an apostrophe.