Punctuation
Note: This is one of the lessons that must be competed to become a beta.
The term punctuation strikes fear in the hearts of many writers. But, like grammar, it is a necessary evil and cannot be avoided. If you’re going to be a beta, you will want to master punctuation as best as you can. If you’re just going to write, only a basic knowledge is necessary. As with most things though, the more you know the better.
Part OneI’m going to go over a few basic rules here. These rules have a few exceptions, and we’ll go over these later on.
- Rule 1: Every sentence must end with a punctuation mark. Basic sentences end with a period, questions with a question mark, and exclamations with an exclamation point.
- Rule 2: Commas are placed in between a series of items, such as apple, banana, pear, and peach.
- Rule 3: Commas always go after yes and no when they begin a sentence.
- Rule 4: An apostrophe is used to write a possessive noun, such as the bird’s egg.
- Rule 5: An apostrophe is used in a contraction, such as don’t.
These five rules are the golden rules of punctuation. Make sure you learn them and DO NOT FORGET THEM!
Part TwoNow, for the second part of the lesson, we’ll be covering quotations.
Quotations are when someone is speaking. It looks like this.
- Quote :
- “It’s a nice day today,” said Mary.
You might have noticed that right before the second quotation, we put a comma. This is because it is not the end of a sentence, just the end of a phrase. When it is a question or an exclamation, it looks like this.
- Quote :
- “It’s a great day today!” exclaimed Mary.
Don’t ask why it’s like this, it just is. But make sure you put a period at the end of the sentence also. This will make it seem like the sentence has two punctuation marks. Also, remember to start a new paragraph for each new person that begins to speak.
Now, all this might seem pretty juvenile, but you can’t imagine how many stories I’ve seen where these basic rules are completely forgotten. It can make a wonderful story be seen in a bad light. So, make sure that you follow all five rules, and you’ll be good to go.
Remember, if you need help with punctuation, feel free to contact a beta.
Now, this wouldn’t be a lesson without a bit of work, would it? You should be glad that I was in a good mood, and didn’t assign a twenty page essay:) Really though, it’s fairly simple. Just read the paragraph in the spoiler, and correct any punctuation errors you see. Please PM it to me so others don’t cheat off it.
That said, here is what you get for passing the lesson.
If you pass, you will receive 15 points! These points will go toward the monthly contest. You can only do the lesson once.
Now, if you don’t pass, don’t feel bad. You can just try again another time!
At long last, here is the paragraph to correct.
- Spoiler:
“When is Dad coming home from work,” asked Billy? He was standing at the door, watching the road.
“I’m not sure, answered Mom. “He finishes at five, but he has to pick up some groceries from the store.”
“Whats he getting?” asked Billy. He hoped that his dad would get some ice-cream.
“I believe he was going to buy milk eggs, and butter. Also, if they have bananas, he’ll get a bunch.”
Billy frowned. He hated bananas especially if they were too green. Sadly, that was exactly how his dad liked them, so that was most likely what he would buy.
He glanced out the door again, and saw a bright blue car coming up the road. “Hes here,” shouted Billy, running down to greet his father. “And he has ice-cream!”
There, that isn’t so hard, is it? It’s not even very long either. So just send that off to me, and you’re good to go.
Have a good time punctuating!
notGigi