Capital Letters

1. The first word in a sentence or direct quotation • The ice-cream man said, “Try a frozen bar. They’re delicious.”

2. The word “I” and people’s names • Because I was the first caller in the radio contest, I won two backstage passes to the Lincoln Park concert. My friend Mark Segard went with me.

3. Names of specific places, institutions, and languages • Tim, who lives in Houston and works as a lab technician at Herman Memorial Hospital, grew up on a farm in Woodstock, Ohio. • The signs in the airport terminal were written in Spanish, English, and French.

4. Product names: Capitalize the brand name of a product, but not the kind of product it is. • Every morning Joshua has Tropicana orange juice and Kellogg cereal with milk

5. Calendar names: Capitalize the names of the week, months, and holidays. • At first, Thanksgiving was celebrated on the last Thursday in November, but it was changed to the fourth Thursday of the month.

6. Titles: Capitalize the titles of books, television or stage shows, songs, magazines, movies, articles, poems, stories, paper, and so on. • Sitting in the waiting room, Dennis nervously paged through issues of Newsweek and People magazines. • Gwen wrote a paper titled “Portrayal of Women in Rap Music Videos” that was based on videos shown on MTV.

Note: The words the, of, a, an, and, and other little, unstressed words are not capitalized when they appear in the middle of a title. That is why of and in are not capitalized in “Portrayal of Women in Rap Music Videos.”

Punctuation Marks

1. The Period (.) Use a period at the end of a statement, a mild command, or an indirect question. • The children jumped over all the rain puddles. (A statement) • Hand me the red pen. (A mild command.) • I wonder if there will be a surprise quiz today. (An indirect question)

2. The Question Mark (?) Use a question mark after a sentence that asks a question. • Are you ready for the test? • How did the car get scratched? • “Can I have your phone number?” Susanne asked Phil. or Indirect questions tell the reader about questions, rather than asking them directly. They end with periods, not question marks. • The teacher asked if we were ready for the test. • I wonder how the car got scratched. • Susanne asked Phil if she could have his phone number.

3. The Exclamation Point (!) Use an exclamation point after a word or statement that expresses extreme emotion or that gives a strong command. • Help! • Wow! • I just received a huge raise! • Cut that out!

Note: Exclamation points lose their power if they are used too frequently. Use them only when you wish to emphasize strong emotion.

4. The Colon (:) The colon directs attention to what follows. It has three main uses: • Use a colon to introduce a list. On her first day of vacation, Carrie did three things: she watched a funny movie, took a long nap, and ate dinner at her favorite restaurant. • Use a colon to introduce a long or a formal quotation. The autobiography of Arthur Ashe begins with the following Biblical quotation: “Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” • Use a colon to introduce an explanation. Bert suddenly canceled his evening plans for a simple reason: his car was out of gas.

5. The Semicolon (;) indicates that the reader should pause. It has three main uses: • Use a semicolon to join two complete thoughts that are closely related, but are not connected by a joining word (such as and, but, or so). Example: Our cat knocked over a can of Coca-Cola; the soda foamed over the white carpet. • Use a semicolon to join two closely related complete thoughts with a transitional word or word group (such as afterwards, however, instead, therefore, and on the other hand). Example: Wally began school without knowing any English; nevertheless, he will graduate at the top of his class.

6. The Hyphen (-) The hyphen is used within a word or between two words. There are three main uses of hyphens: • Use a hyphen to divide a word at the end of a line of writing. This rule is for handwritten work. The computer automatically divides words. Example: The lawyer stood up, put on her jacket, shoved a bundle of papers into her brief- case. a) Never divide a word with only one syllable. b) Divide words only between syllables. c) Never divided a word in a way that leaves only one or two letters alone on a line. d) When dividing a word that already contains a hyphen, divide where the hyphen is. • Use a hyphen to join two or more words that act together to describe a noun that follows them. Example: The sports car swerved around the slow-moving truck. • Put a hyphen in any number from twenty-one to ninety-nine and in a fraction that is written out, such as one-fourth or two-thirds.

Note: Words made up of two or more words are sometimes hyphenated (for example, baby-sit and fine-tune). There is no clear rule to cover such cases, so when you are unsure about whether or not to hyphenate such words, check the dictionary.

7. The Dash (--) While the hyphen is used within or between individual words, the dash is used between parts of a sentence. Following are three common uses of the dash: • Dashes may be used to set off and emphasize interrupting material. Use them when you wish to give special attention to words that interrupt the flow of the sentence. Example: Everyone in the family--including the teenagers--has a weight problem. • Use a dash to signal the end of a list of items. Example: Family support, prayer, and hope--these are the things that got Grady through his many months in recovery. • A dash may be used to introduce a final element--a list of items, an explanation, or a dramatic point. Examples: Anne’s refrigerator was packed with food for the party---trays of cold cuts, bottles of pickles, loaves of bread, and several pitchers of lemonade. Ravi hurriedly left work in the middle of the day--his wife was having labor pains. My wallet was found in a trash can--minus the cash.

Note: As mentioned above, the colon can also be used to introduce a list or an explanation. A colon tends to add more formality and less drama to a sentence that a dash. When typing, form a dash with two hyphens, leaving no space between them; do not leave spaces before or after the dash.

8. Parenthesis ( ) • Use parentheses to set off material that interrupts the flow of a sentence. While dashes are used to emphasize interrupting material, parentheses are generally used for material you do not wish to emphasize. Example: Aunt Fern (who arrived two hours late) brought the biggest gift. • Place parenthesis around numbers that introduce items in a list within a sentence. Example: Ron’s work for the evening is as follows: (1) finish a history paper, (2) read a chapter in the science text, (3) wash a load of laundry.