2. Capitalization & Punctuation
❑ Makes your writing lucid and impactful
❑ A handy tool to impart your message meticulously
❑ Hold an authority to change the meaning of the text
❑ Capitalization is remarkable to show the importance of some words and
their meaning in the writing
❑ Thus rules can make your writing more disciplined and organized
❑ It is indispensable to obey principles for better writing and
comprehension as an outcome.
3. Capitalization
❑ A proper noun (Beverly Cleary)
❑ The words derived from the proper nouns (English)
❑ With personal pronoun I (I wanted to say something)
❑ The title precedes a proper name
Ex. Chief Minister, R.F. Naomi
❑ The first word in the sentence
Ex. My most of the friends are from South.
Conti…
4. ❑ The first word of the quoted sentence
❑ The titles of the books and publications (The Dark Knight)
❑ The first word of a salutation and a complimentary close (Dear Mr. Frank,
Yours lovingly)
❑ Names of the cities, countries, nationalities, and language (Paris, France,
French)
❑Historical events, episodes, and eras (World War II, the French Revolution)
Conti…
5. ❑The names of the department, organizations (Science Department, Windows)
❑With Initials, initialisms, and acronyms (J. F. Kennedy, FBI, NGO)
❑The races and tribes (Eskimo, North Indian, Afro-American)
❑The names of holy books and sacred names
(The Bhagvad Geeta, Buddha, Zesus)
7. Commas (,)
❑Separate the words, or a series or action
Ex. My uncle’s $ 100 million property is to be split among my cousin, my aunt, and
me.
❑To separate two adjectives joined by and, or, nor, for, but, yet, so
Ex. We need to finish this assignment, but we don’t have enough time.
❑ly-adjective is used with another adjective
Ex. Charissa is a lovely, young girl.
❑To separate city from the state, and after the state
Ex. Abraham Lincoln was born in LaRue County, Kentucky, and spend his early
childhood there.
Conti…
8. ❑To separate the day of the month from the year, and the date from the year
Ex. Jeff Bezos was born on January 12, 1964.
❑To enclose degrees and titles used with the name of the person
to separate two strong clauses joined by coordinating conjunctions like-and, but,
or, for, nor.
(Avoid comma when clauses are too short.)
Ex. I wanted to go the party, but my mother refused.
❑Before but and not to show contrast
Ex. Some schemes are tempting to hear, but difficult to implement.
❑After introductory phrases
Ex. On this Monday, our Chief Minister will meet to the students.
❑Use a comma with appositives
Ex. Barack Obama, the former US president, visited India yesterday.
9. Period (.)
❑ At the end of the declarative statement
Ex. I borrowed forty-six sheets of papers from him.
❑ With an indirect question
Ex. My mother asked where her mobile was.
❑ After abbreviations like…
Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr., Jr., Sr., st. (first)
❑ With Days and months, Latin phrases, and addresses
Mon., i.e., e.g., St. (Street), Ave.
Conti…
10. ❑ At the end of the standard United States measurements and time abbreviations
• Ex. in. (inch), ft. (foot), oz. (ounce)
❑ With the decimals and percentage
Ex. A GPA below 3.0 is considered very poor by US.
❑ Such abbreviations are acceptable with or without periods
Ex.
• U.S.A. or USA
• B.C., A.D., C.E., B.C.E. or BC, AD, CE, BCE
• a.m., p.m. or AM, PM
11. Question Mark (?) & Exclamation Mark (!)
❑ At the end of the interrogative sentence
Ex. Do you know where the Louvre Museum is?
❑ When the sentence is half statement and half question
Ex. All is fair in love and war, is it really true?
❑ To show surprise or emphasis. (Avoid using in formal letter)
Ex. She is truly shocked by his behavior!
12. Colon (:)
❑ To introduce a list of items when introductory words
Ex. Don’t forget to bring following items with you: rope, snacks, tracking shoes, and sleeping bag.
❑ For further clarification of the statement
Ex. One advice is to follow during Corona: Stay home, stay healthy.
❑ To introduce quotation with a complete sentence
Ex. Jimmy argues in support of smoke-free public places: “The rate of second-hand smoke…”
❑ After salutation in business letter
Ex. Dear Mr. Rodrick: Dear Mrs. Matthew:
❑ Time expression to show hours and minutes
Ex. The train will depart at 7:20 a.m.
13. Semi-colon (;)
❑ Used with independent clauses
Ex. Call me immediately; I will give you your answer.
❑ With independent clauses which are linked by such transitional words (Use comma too)
Ex. As I mentioned you to bring two items in your bag; i.e., a torch and a rope for a trip.
Or
As I mentioned you to bring two items in your bag, i.e., a torch and a rope for a trip.
❑ To separate lists that contain additional information
Ex. I always prefer to purchase some food items from this store: fruits, that I always get fresh; cereals,
that are always on sale; and meat, which is fresh and nicely packed.
❑ Used as an ellipsis for eliminating the repeated ideas
Ex. In 2002, McDonald’s had fewer than 300 stores; in 2012, more than 25,000.
14. Hyphen (-)
❑ In a compound noun
Ex. Mother-in-law, runner-up
❑ Between two or more adjectives when they come before a noun
Ex. Green-eyed monster, part-time employee
❑ With all compound numbers (from twenty-one through ninety-nine)
Ex. A class is full of fifty-five students.
❑ With all spelled-out fractions
Ex. I need to add one-forth cup of oil to make the dough smooth.
❑ With some prefixes like ex-, all-, self-; and with some suffixes like -type, -elect
Ex. Ex-husband, self-assured, bold-type, president-elect
15. Ellipsis Mark (…)
❑ Use to omit certain words, phrases, lines, paragraphs from the quoted passage
Ex. The regulation states, ‘‘All agencies must document overtime. . .’’
❑ To express hesitation, suspense, change in the mood, or thought
Ex. She said, she… really don’t… understand this.
