FOCUS ON LANGUAGE

PAINELESS PUNCTUATION

APOSTROPHES

Use an apostrophe with nouns to indicate ownership.

But don’t use an apostrophe with possessive pronouns (pronouns that show ownership).

WRONG:
This house is their’s.

RIGHT:
This house is theirs.

WRONG:
Is this bat your’s?

RIGHT:
Is this bat yours?

WRONG:
When your writing a paper, its very important to use these words correctly. Whose going to take you’re writing seriously if theirs a goof in every sentence?

RIGHT:
When you’re writing a paper, it’s very important to use these words correctly. Who’s going to take your writing seriously if there’s a goof in every sentence?

Use an apostrophe to indicate missing letters.

10 of the clock = 10 o’clock
1993 = ’93
we were not = we weren’t
I like them = I like ‘em
it is = it’s
you are = you’re

If you use у’all or ain’t in informal writing, put the apostrophes in the right places.

WRONG:
I absolutely hate it when folks from up north spell y’all “ya’ll”! I know you true-blooded Southerners a’int never gonna spell it thataways.

RIGHT:

y’all (contraction of you all)
ain’t (a loose contraction of am not or are not)

Do not use an apostrophe in most plural words.

WRONG:
Both boy’s and girl’s are invited to try out for the soccer team.

RIGHT:
Both boys and girls are invited to try out for the soccer team.

WRONG:
Tomato’s for sale

RIGHT:
Tomatoes for sale

WRONG:
I grew up in the 1980’s.
(Never use an apostrophe with years.)

RIGHT:
I grew up in the 1980s.

RIGHT:
There are three 9’s on this page.

ALSO RIGHT:
There are three 9s on this page.
(With numbers other than years, either way is okay.)

Do use an apostrophe with these plurals:

WORDS USED AS WORDS:
There are too many but’s in that sentence.

ABBREVIATIONS:
There are three M.D.’s here.

ALPHABET:
Mississippi is spelled with four s’s, four i’s, and two p’s.

ELLIPSES

Use an ellipsis to indicate that some words have been left out of a quotation.

The governor said, “It is very important for our children . . . that the school year be extended . . . and that they go to school . . . 360 days a year.”

Uh-oh, sounds bad. But you have to be wary with ellipses. What if the newspaper reporter left out some crucial words? What if what the governor really said was this:

“It is very important for our children to have plenty of play time. Some people argue that the school year be extended, but I feel that our kids work hard enough and that they go to school enough days. Nobody should go to school 360 days a year!”

Use an ellipsis to indicate that something unwritten came earlier.

“... I do,” said Cary.

Use an ellipsis to indicate a sentence trailing off.

Imagine this as the final sentence of a book chapter – it entices you to turn the page to read what happens next:
Tom and Carlos were camping in the woods, asleep in their tent, when they heard it – the sound . . .

Use an ellipsis to indicate a long, slow break.

LONG, SLOW BREAK:
There it was again . . . that soft but eerie sound.

FAST, CRISP BREAK:
There it was again – that loud, crashing sound.

Use an ellipsis to indicate slow-downs in thought or conversation.

They looked sweetly into each other’s eyes until the moment was right, then slowly . . . gently . . . a kiss.

UNDERLINING AND ITALICS

Use italics or underlining for names of books, magazines, newspapers, movies, operas, plays, and other large works.

Use quotation marks (not underlining or italics) for the names of songs, poems, magazine articles, newspaper articles, short stories, chapters of books, and other small works.

SONG:
“Material Girl”

ARTICLE:
“Tarheel Women Win Soccer Nationals”

Use italics or underlining for emphasis.

I really mean it this time: Don’t bite the dog!
Guess who asked me to the prom – Hartley!
Will I never finish this algebra homework?

Use italics or underlining for foreign words.

RIGHT:
I ordered coq au vin for dinner.

ALSO RIGHT:
I ordered cog au vin for dinner
for example, patio, kindergarten, quiche, and salsa. But what about piсata and sombrero? Are they foreign or not? It’s your call – or consult your dictionary.

Use italics or underlining or quotation marks for words used as words.

RIGHT:
Pneumonia is a tough word to spell.

ALSO RIGHT:
“Pneumonia” is a tough word to spell.

ALSO RIGHT:
Pneumonia is a tough word to spell.

ASTERISKS

* * * These are asterisks.

Asterisks are used to say “look at the bottom of the page for an additional note.” Asterisks have traditionally been used to highlight or separate information, particularly items in a list.

SLASHES

Use slashes (or hyphens) with dates.

RIGHT:
1/1/97

ALSO RIGHT:
1-1-97

Use a slash with certain pairs of words. Read the slash as and or or.

he/she = he or she
the soup/salad lunch = the soup and salad lunch
the March/April issue = the March and April issue

Use a slash with fractions.

1/2

Use a slash to mean per.

60 miles/hour = 60 miles per hour
36 candles/box = 36 candles per box
2 aspirin/day = 2 aspirin per day

BRAIN TICLERS

Find the punctuation goofs in these sentences and correct them

I saw two elephant’s waltzing in my front yard.
2. The waiter confessed, “You’re dinner is ready and there’s is ready, but I’ve forgotten who’s dinner is who’s. What did you order?”
3. Bill called his sisters names.
4. My dad is great at do-it yourself projects.
5. My uncle is fifty one years old.
6. This dress is to-die-for!
7. We ate three quarter pound lobsters.
8. There was a long line at the restaurant drive through, so I sat in my car with the air-conditioning running and read a news paper.
9. My dad reads “The Wall Street Journal” every day.
10. I liked your article Techniques for Rollerblading on Gravel, Ice, and Snow.
11. I ordered beef. My French friend ordered the same, but he called it boeuf.
12. My mom bought a 10 foot Christmas tree this year.

ANSWERS:

1. I saw two elephant’s waltzing in my front yard.

Elephants should be plural, not possessive. Delete the apostrophe. I saw two elephants waltzing in my front yard.

2. The waiter confessed, “You’re dinner is ready and there’s is ready, but I’ve forgotten who’s dinner is who’s. What did you order?”

Yikes! What a mess. Did you catch all these apostrophe goofs? Your dinner is ready and theirs is ready, but I’ve forgotten whose dinner is whose.

3. Bill called his sisters names.

Very tricky. The apostrophe [sisters or sister’s or sisters’] makes all the difference. This sentence is correct if you mean that Bill called his sisters (more than one) bad names. But maybe you mean one of these:

• Bill called [yelled out] his [one] sister’s [Katie’s] names [Katie, Katherine, Kat, little sis].

• Bill called [yelled out] his sisters’ [perhaps Katie’s and Becca’s] names.

4. My dad is great at do-it yourself projects.

Do-it-yourself is a compound adjective describing projects. It is meant to be read as one word, so it needs hyphens. It is a common mistake to stop short and hyphenate only part of a phrase. My dad is great at do-it-yourself projects.

5. My uncle is fifty one years old.

A hyphen is needed. My uncle is fifty-one years old.

6. This dress is to-die-for!

If a compound adjective comes before the noun, use hyphens. (For example: This is a to-die-for dress!) If a compound adjective comes after the noun, don’t use hyphens. This is correct: This dress is to die for!

7. We ate three quarter pound lobsters.

Tricky! Do you mean you ate lobsters that weighed three-quarters of a pound? Or that you ate 3 quarter-pound lobsters? Both of these are correct:

• We ate three quarter-pound lobsters.

• We ate three-quarter-pound lobsters.

8. There was a long line at the restaurant drive through, so I sat in my car with the air-conditioning running and read a newspaper.

Some compound nouns are two words, some are one word, and some are hyphenated. Check your dictionary! In this case, this is right: There was a long line at the restaurant drive-through, so I sat in my car with the air conditioning running and read a newspaper.

9. My dad reads “The Wall Street Journal” every day.

Names of newspapers should be underlined or put in italics. Both of these are correct:

• My dad reads The Wall Street Journal every day.

• My dad reads The Wall Street Journal every day.

10. I liked your article Techniques for Rollerblading on Gravel, Ice, and Snow.

Large works such as books are underlined or written in italics; small works are put in quotation marks. An article is considered a small work. I liked your article “Techniques for Rollerblading on Gravel, Ice, and Snow.

11. I ordered beef. My French friend ordered the same, but he called it boeuf.

Use underlining or italics for foreign words. Both of these are correct:

• My French friend ordered the same, but he called it boeuf.

• My French friend ordered the same, but he called it boeuf.

12. My mom bought a 10 foot Christmas tree this year.

A hyphen is needed. My mom bought a 10-foot Christmas tree this year.

Compliled by Erin Bouma