Quick Punctuation Guide - Supervision - Lecture Slides, Slides of Business Management and Analysis

Download Quick Punctuation Guide - Supervision - Lecture Slides and more Slides Business Management and Analysis in PDF only on Docsity!

Quick Punctuation Guide

Comma

• Use
  • before a coordinating conjunction linking main clauses
  • following introductory clauses and phrases
  • between items in a series
  • to set off incidental comments (appositives, nonrestrictive clauses)
  • when meaning is unclear without its use
  • when authority figures tell you to use one while you are writing for them

Semicolon

• Use
  • instead of a coordinating conjunction between main clauses
  • to separate main groups of items in a list already using commas
• Don't use
  • too frequently in the same document
  • between parts of unequal grammatical rank

Colon

• Use
  • to connect explanation, details, or a quotation to a main clause
• Don't use
  • more than one in a sentence
  • directly after prepositions or verbs unless you knowingly choose to violate the normal usage rules

Parentheses

• Use
  • to insert nonessential material
  • to indicate citation
  • to introduce acronyms, abbreviations, etc.
• Don't use
  • if the material can be better incorporated another way

Brackets

• Use
  • to interpolate in quotations
  • as parentheses inside parentheses

Apostrophe

• Use
  • to indicate possessive case for nouns and indefinite pronouns
  • to indicate omissions in contractions
  • to indicate plurals of odd words, acronyms, and numerals (opt.)
• Don't use
  • to indicate possessive case for personal pronouns
  • to add an "s" for making standard words plural

Single Quotation Marks

• Use
  • within double quotation marks or for unusual terms
• Don't use
  • to pretend you're not really using a word you're using

Hyphens

• Use *
  • to integrate words into a functional unit
  • when your keyboard lacks bullets to set off listed items

Prepositional Phrases

• Prepositional phrases consist of a preposition, which can be a word or a phrase, and its object: - Prepositions Objects - according to Aristotle - because of jellyfishes' sensitivity - since the beginning - with regard to ecological studies - with the exception of white whales - throughout the article

• Lists of prepositions can be found in any grammar book :
  • above,
  • around,
  • across,
  • below,
  • between,
  • by,
  • over,
  • past,
  • since,
  • throughout,
  • concerning,
  • despite,
  • etc.

• Revising to avoid overuse of prepositional phrases makes the ideas and information - more readable, - easier to understand, and - easier to retain.
• Consider using the object of the preposition as an adjective or converting the idea into a subordinate clause.