You probably don't spend much time thinking about punctuation. That makes you normal. I think about it nearly every day. That makes me - well, I write a lot.

Our purpose is not to turn you into a Tom Clancy or Nora Ephron, but to help you avoid some of the most common punctuation errors. If you're not convinced punctuation is important, consider my favorite example. This sentence can be punctuated to produce opposite meanings (and I mean opposite): Woman without her man is nothing.    Think about it.

<<The Comma>>
For reasons completely unknown to me, the comma has fallen from favor. It is the "triumph" of fashion over clarity, I think. It used to be you could count on the comma for clarity, as in the name of a law firm: Dewey, Stickem, and Howe. Now more modern(?) firms omit the commas: Billum Dubble Tyme,LLC.

Use commas between items in a series, if there are three or more, including before "and" or "or". Failure to do so can result in confusion on your reader's part and can change the meaning of your sentences.

There are at least half a dozen rules governing the use of the comma. You might want to remember (could be on the quiz) that the comma is intended to help your readers. Without it, what you mean to convey can be misunderstood or even lost.

We'll skip naming the various clauses and parts of speech that few of us remember anymore; you're welcome. As a general guide, use a comma:

     * after an introductory word group. Ex: It was a dark and
     stormy night,when Dick realized they were out of beer.

     * between items in a series (see above)

     * to set off an adjective clause, which is a sentence within
     a sentence that modifies the noun or pronoun Ex: Dick's
     brand of beer, which is really bad stuff, went well with his
     favorite team. They were pretty bad, too.

     * to make your sentence read better. I'll doubtless be
     chastised for this, but if your sentence seems to require a
     pause to make it read better, insert a comma. Or shorten the
     sentence.


<<The Apostrophe>>
One of the most often misused punctuation marks is the apostrophe -  this thing: '  often known as "the little doohickey".  Many people regularly use it when they make a noun plural, as in: "We shopped in seven store's today." Many people are regularly wrong.

The apostrophe (') is used to make a noun possessive, never plural.  Example: "That is Jane's sandwich you're eating."

The apostrophe is also used to make contractions, compressing two words into one. "Jane's going to be really ticked!" Jane's is no longer possessive, now it's a contraction of "Jane is". We dropped the "i", stuck in an apostrophe, and shoved the "s" to the left. The apostrophe shows that something - one or more letters  - was omitted.

If you saw "Jane's" by itself, of course, you wouldn't know if it was intended to be possessive or a contraction. It depends on context. Not unlike "polish" and "Polish" - capitalizing the "p" changes the meaning entirely. Isn't language fun? It is, too.

By the way, "your" and "you're" are not interchangeable. "Your" is possessive:  "Really, Honey, your hair looks just great!" But "you're" is a contraction of you are, as in, "You're not going to wear that, are you?"

<<The Semicolon>>
This mark (;) is used to separate major elements of a sentence of equal grammatical rank. These elements could stand as independent sentences, but you choose to combine them.

     * The swimmers had all completed the first leg; but, the sun
     had still not shone on the river.

<<The Exclamation Point>>
It has been said: "The most grossly overused punctuation mark is the exclamation point! There is a school of semi-thought that seems to have concluded that a thing is more important, or exciting, or urgent if multiple exclamation points are used, as in: Buy NOW!!!!!! Actually, it just means the writer doesn't know much about punctuation." In fact, I said it. Again.

There is never, underline never, a reason to use multiple exclamation points. Or question marks, for that matter, and you see those sometimes, too. Maybe it's all part of some backlash against the demise of the comma. We'll start using multiples of other punctuation marks............  Nah.

<<The Ellipsis>>
The ellipsis is three spaced dots or periods (. . .), not four, not six, three. Hey, it's not my rule. Blame it on Punctuatus, the Roman tutor who invented punctuation in 274 BC. (On a Thursday - it was raining.)

The ellipsis has only two uses, but it seems to show up in lots of other places:
     * Use an ellipsis mark to show that you have deleted
     something from an otherwise word-for-word quotation.

     * An ellipsis can also be used to create a hesitation, or to
     suggest or demonstrate that the thought is unfinished: Marge
     had promised to be on time for their lunch. . .

To help you convey what you really mean and to make the most favorable impression, you may want to polish your writing skills. Spend some time with a writer's reference book, even an old grammar book. The main beneficiary will be you.

Copyright © 2000 Kent E. Butler

Kent Butler publishes Home Based Journal, a free ezine dedicated to the home-based entrepreneur. HBJ addresses a wide range of topics, from marketing to home offices, from time management to family issues. It takes a whole person to wholly succeed. To subscribe, please mailto:HomeBasedJournal-Subscribe@egroups.com

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