Capitalization and
Punctuation
A Project LA Activity
Why?
Writers use capital
letters and punctuation
marks to help the reader
better understand what
is written.
Capital Letters
All sentences begin with
capital letters.
We enjoyed reading the
book.
Those girls finished
cleaning the counter.
Capital Letters
Proper nouns begin with
capital letters.
Mrs. Clark asked if Amy
would help.
Uncle Rob took us to
Texas.
Capital Letters
The pronoun I is always
capitalized.
I don’t need your help.
My aunt and I picked up
the papers.
Capital Letters
A capital letter begins any
important word in the title of a
book, magazine, song, movie,
poem, or other work.
I read the last chapter of Tom
Sawyer.
She saw Snow White when she
was five years old.
Don’t capitalize
Seasons unless they are part of a title
e.g. I like summer best of all. The Long Hot
Summer was a great movie.
General areas of study except languages
e.g. mathematics, history, geography
When personal titles are NOT followed by a
name
e.g. aunt, uncle, doctor, professor
School, college, or university unless it is
accompanied by a proper name
Punctuation: Period
A complete sentence that
makes a statement ends
with a period.
It’s your birthday. You blow
out the candle.
Punctuation: Period
Most abbreviations end
with a period.
Dr. Howard lives on Oak
Rd.
Punctuation: Question
Mark
A question ends with a
question mark.
When will you finish?
Punctuation:
Exclamation Mark
A statement expressing
strong feeling or
excitement ends with an
exclamation mark.
What a beautiful day!
Punctuation:
Comma
A comma separates
things in a series.
I ate pizza, a burger,
and ice cream.
Punctuation:
Comma
A comma comes before the
conjunction that connects
independent clauses.
She finished her work,
and then she went to
bed.
Punctuation:
Comma
A comma separates an
interruption from the rest
of the sentence.
Mr. Walker, our
teacher, was happy.
Punctuation:
Comma
A comma separates
quoted words from the
rest of the sentence.
“I wanted to go,” she
said.
Punctuation:
Comma
A comma separates
items in an address or
date.
Miami, Florida
January 6, 2003
Punctuation: Colon
A colon shows the
reader that a list or
explanation follows.
I will need the
following items:
scissors, paper, glue,
and paint.
Punctuation: Colon
The things on my mind are:
papers, grades, and finals.
The things on my mind are
the following: papers,
grades, and finals
Punctuation: Quotation
Marks
Quotation marks are
used to identify the
exact words of a speaker
.
President Bush said, “We will
not tire, we will not falter, and
we will not fail.”
Punctuation: Quotation
Marks
Rule 1: When the speaker tag comes first, put a
comma after the speaker tag. The period at the
end of the sentence goes inside the quotation
marks.
The gang remarked, “Lola’s candidate is a sure
bet.”
Lola replied, “He’s not my candidate.”
Punctuation: Quotation
Marks
Rule 2: When the speaker tag comes last, put a
comma inside the quotation marks and a period
at the end of the sentence.
“Lola’s candidate isn’t a sure bet now,” the gang
continued.
“I support a different candidate,” screamed
Lola.
Punctuation: Quotation
Marks
Rule 3: Sometimes a speaker tag lands in the
middle of a sentence. The rest of the quotation is
small letter.
“I think I’ll sue,” Betsy explained, “for
emotional distress.”
“You can’t imagine,” she added, “what I felt.”
The Semicolon
Semicolons join two independent clauses (complete
sentences) that are closely related if no coordinating
conjunction is used.
Semicolons signal to a reader that the information in both
sentences should be taken together.
;
Grandma stays up too late she’s afraid she’s
going to miss something.
The Semicolon
Sometimes semicolons are accompanied by
conjunctive adverbs – words such as however,
moreover, therefore, nevertheless, consequently, as
a result.
Grandma is afraid she’s going to miss something; as
a result, she stays up too late.
Notice the pattern:
; as a result,
semicolon + conjunctive adverb + comma
The Semicolon
Semicolons help avoid confusion
between
Items in lists where there are commas
already.
E.g.
She traveled to Sao Paulo, Brazil; Seoul,
South Korea; and Nairobi, Kenya.
Exercise
Choose the correct
sentence
Spain is a beautiful country; the beache's are warm, sandy and spotlessly clean.
Spain is a beautiful country: the beaches are warm, sandy and spotlessly clean.
Spain is a beautiful country, the beaches are warm, sandy and spotlessly clean.
Spain is a beautiful country; the beaches are warm, sandy and spotlessly clean.
Choose the correct
sentence
a) The children's books were all left in the following places: Mrs Smith's
room, Mr Powell's office and the caretaker's cupboard.
b) The children's books were all left in the following places; Mrs Smith's
room, Mr Powell's office and the caretaker's cupboard.
c) The childrens books were all left in the following places: Mrs Smiths
room, Mr Powells office and the caretakers cupboard.
d) The children's books were all left in the following places, Mrs Smith's
room, Mr Powell's office and the caretaker's cupboard.
Choose the correct
sentence
a) I can't see Tim's car, there must have been an accident.
b) I cant see Tim's car; there must have been an accident.
c) I can't see Tim's car there must have been an accident.
d) I can't see Tim's car; there must have been an accident.
5-d
