Phrases, Essential and Non-essential Phrases

A phrase is a group of words that lacks a subject (an actor) and a verb (an action): after the market correction (prepositional phrase) the clever stock traders (noun phrase) were ready to buy the dip  (verb phrase). An Essential Phrase is a phrase that contains the information needed to complete the meaning of the sentence. ...

Ellipses

Definition Ellipses is the plural form of ellipsis. An ellipsis is a punctuation mark that consists of three dots with a space before, after, and between them. Writers use this mark to represent a word, phrase, sentence (or more) that is omitted from a direct quotation. How should ellipses be used? When words are omitted ...

Dashes

A dash (—) is a punctuation mark used to set off an idea within a sentence and may be used alone or in pairs. Dashes interrupt a thought in a more dramatic way than a phrase enclosed in commas, but less theatrically than parentheses. To form a dash, type two hyphens—without a space before, after, ...

Hyphens

A hyphen (-) is used in the middle of a multi-word idea or joins two related words together. (The hyphen key is next to the +/= key on your keyboard (the same key with the underscore _ ) Use hyphens to join compound words and avoid awkward or confusing word combinations. A hyphen (-) is ...

Quotation Marks

One of the primary jobs of quotation marks is to set off exact spoken or written language. When writers use quotation marks correctly, they give credit to the original author and avoid plagiarism. Quotation marks are also used to enclose titles of short works and always appear in pairs. Quotation marks should be used to ...

Apostrophes

An apostrophe is a punctuation mark used to show possession, to indicate the plural form of letters of the alphabet, and to form a contraction. Of all forms of punctuation, the apostrophe appears to be in greatest peril of extinction. For proof that the apostrophe should be placed on an endangered species list in some ...

Colons

A colon is a punctuation mark used to separate significant parts of a sentence, particularly when the first part offers a sense of anticipation for the second. This form of punctuation is also used in other conventional applications as noted below. Use the colon when the first sentence anticipates the second sentence or phrase, thereby ...

Semicolons

A semicolon is a punctuation mark used to separate closely-related sentences. Use a semicolon to link two closely-related independent clauses. Semicolons separate two independent clauses that contain related information. An independent clause is a group of words containing subject and a verb that expresses a complete thought.  I said I’d do it; I didn’t say when ...

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Commas

Commas are a punctuation mark, an element of Mechanics, that help readers understand relationships between and among words. Commas play an extremely important role in ensuring that your documents are understandable. In fact, failing to insert a comma in the correct spot can cause considerable misreading (and subsequent embarrassment). Beyond a few special circumstances, there ...

Periods, Question Marks, Exclamation Points

Rules for periods, question marks, exclamation points End punctuation appears at the end of a complete sentence (independent clause) or follows an interjection. The appropriate placement of a period, question mark, or exclamation point separates one statement from another and signals a pause in the word flow. Correct use of end punctuation contributes to the ...