PUNCTUATION
Meaning of Punctuation
Punctuation refers to the marks used in writing that divide the sentences and phrases. Therefore Punctuation is the system of using the marks which are used in the writings which divides sentences and phrases.
Punctuation marks
Punctuation mark is a sign or symbol or mark which is used in writing.
Punctuate
Punctuate is the act of diving a writing or text or passage into sentences and phrases by using special marks known as punctuations marks.
Punctuation marks include the following:
i. Full stop or period (.)
ii. Question mark (?)
iii. Exclamation mark (!)
iv. The comma (,)
v. The semi colon (; )
vi. The colon (:)
vii. Quotation mark (“ ” )
viii. Parentheses or brackets ( )
ix. Dash (--)
x. Hyphen (-)
xi. Apostrophe(’ )
The following are the punctuation marks at the end of the sentence
a) Full stop (.)
b) Question marks (?)
c) Exclamation mark (!)
a) The uses of full stop
i. Full stop is used in all statements, including indirect questions to indicate it’s end.
Examples:
Ø He is a long distance driver.
Ø It is raining outside
Ø He asked me if I had seen John.
Ø He asked Antony where he was going.
ii. It is used in the abbreviations (in capital letter)
Examples:
Ø P.O. Post Office
Ø C.I.D. Criminal Investigation Department
Ø G.P.O. General Post Office
Ø M.A. Masters of Arts
Note that the following are written in small letters;
i. eg. For example
ii. p.m. Post Meridian (afternoon)
iii. i.e. that is
Also its important to know that its common for these to be written without full stops –eg, pm, ie etc.
Also it has been common nowadays not to use a full stop at the end of the word whose last letter is included
Example Dr, St,Rd, Mr. etc.
b) Question mark (?)
i. This is used at the end of direct question.
Examples:
Ø Who broke the pot?
Ø Where are you going?
Ø Did he demand anything from you?
ii. It is used in question tags.
Examples:
Ø He is not a thief, is he?
Ø You are Joyce, aren’t you?
Ø You will come, wont you?
iii. It can also be used in the parentheses to show uncertainty or diubt. Or it is used when we are not sure about the information we give
Meaning of parentheses
Parentheses is a word or sentence or question mark or brackets etc that is added to the speech or piece of writing, especially to give extra information. In writing, it is used separated from the rest of the text by using brackets, commas or dashes.
Ø She was baptized in 1986(?)
Ø The Hurry Thuku riots were in the year 1923(?)
Ø Jesus was born in A.D.4(?)
c) Exclamation mark (!)
i. This is used in command.
Example Stop!
ii. It is also used to express strong feelings or emphasis or emotion.
Examples
Ø What a terrible this to do!
Ø Oh dear!
Ø The teacher commanded, “Shut the door!”
PUNCTUATION MARKS WITHIN THE SENTENCES
a) Comma (,)
i. It is used in list of items or it is used to separate things or items in series or it is used in mentioning items.
Examples:
Ø He bought oranges, bananas and beans.
ii.
It is used
in direct quotation. He said,
Example
“Iam unable to attend the meeting”.
iii. It is used in an address of a letter, the salutation and ending of the letter.
Msenge Primary School,
P.O.Box 88,
Mwaka.
29.11.2 017.
Dear Sir,
Yours Sincerely,
iv. It is used in sentence to make the meaning clear.
Example:
While the choir sang, Antony fell asleep.
v. It is used in question tags.
Example:
He was here yesterday, wasn’t he?
vi. It is used after the names of people you are talking to.
Example;
Asha, can I borrow your book?
vii. It is used in writing dates.
Example: 26th July, 2017.
viii. It is used before and after words following nouns with which they have the same reference.
Example:
I lost my phone, Nokia 220.
My Computer Dell, is a very good Computer.
The minister, Mr.Pinda , left yesterday.
ix. It is used to separate the words or phrases that introduce the sentences.
Examples:
Therefore, he was sentenced to two years imprisonment.
In fact, she is a very hard working woman.
x. It is used after YES or No in answering questions.
Example
Is she sick?
Yes, she is sick.
xi. It is used between dependent and independent or main clause.
Although it was raining, we went to school.
b) The semi colon (;)
i. It is used to separate two loosely related ideas where a full stop would make too distinct a break. Or it is used between two connected clauses.
Examples:
It was becoming dark; nevertheless, we continued our journey.
I wish to leave as soon as possible; its getting late.
The rural people have plenty of food; those in urban areas have little.
Chinua Achebe wrote Arrow of God; he did not write A Narrow Escape.
The car was coming nearer; one could hear the engine roaring.
ii. It is used to separate some parts of sentences that are usually separated by commas or can be separated by comma.
Examples
He has many friends; among them Emily, Antony and Kim.
c) The colon (:)
Colon is used with the following phrases;
i. Such as
ii. For instance
iii. For example
iv. As follows
v. In the following examples
vi. Many items or things
Examples:
i. You should come with the following items: books, blankets, toothpaste and shoes.
ii. The house has been deserted: the roof was leaking, the windows broken and the doors missing.
iii. The shopkeeper stocked various households items such as : pons, brooms and cooking oil.
iv. The employer denied the workers some of their rights , for instance: leave, joining unions ad and getting uniforms.
Colon is also used to introduce the quotation
Example:
Nyerere once said: “we cannot develop by relying on the foreign aids”
d) Quotation mark (“ ”)
Quotation mark is also referred as inverted commas.
i. Quotation marks enclose the exact words of the speaker.
And they are used in the following ways
v When the tag comes first, they are used as follows:-
a) Mwangi asked “Who is coming”
b) Peter said, “I have not eaten food”
v When the tag comes last.
a) “Stop talking” she shouted.
b) “Will he be back in the evening?” asked the man.
c) “Iam very sorry father?” the child apologized.
v When the tag is at the middle of the sentence.
a) “Well,” he said, it is quite good.”
b) “I thought,” he argued, “she had gone with it.”
v When the tag is between the sentences.
a) “Don’t be silly, replied Anna. “so you think I can cheat you?”
ii. Are used in the title of the books, stories, article, etc.
Examples
I have finished reading “Mabala the Farmer”
iii. Are also used in quotations within quotations; double marks for the inside quotations.
‘I have read “Burning grass” said Anna ‘but’ “The concubine’ is my favourite.’
iv. They are also used to show that the word has been used usually in the context or it is a foreign word.
Examples
I don’t want your ‘vurugu’ here.
The president ‘sets fire’ to the minister.
I will ‘hill’ all those who will come to school late tomorrow.
e) Parentheses or brackets ( )
They are used for the following;
i. To separate for the rest of the sentence, a word or group of words which do not grammatically belong to it.
Example
Prisons (so we are reminded) are there for the wrong doers.
ii. Are used to enclose some reference.
Example
The Stevenson screen (see the diagram in page 5) is used to house weather recording instruments.
Mabala is lazy (see page 10)
iii. They are used around numbers in the text.
Example
Anna antony (29 years) was arrested by the police in Tanga yesterday.
f) The dash (-)
1. The dash is used to shown an abrupt shift in the though(s)
Examples
I wanted to tell you about it-but I feared the consequence.
2. It is used to make the writing more vivid
Example
I heard a loud noise, then I ran to the scene-what a horrible sight it was.
3. It is used to show incomplete sentences.
This is the case when the sentence could not be completed due to the interruption
Example
I will be here at_
4. A dash is sometimes used as a colon (:) or semi colon (;) to show that what follows is a summary of what has already been said.
Example
Children were crying, men were fighting-It was a chaos.
g) The hyphen(-)
A hyphen is a half length of the dash. There fore it should not be confused with the dash.
It is used in the following ways or manner
i. It is used to form a compound word when a prefix is attached to a proper noun.
Examples
Pro –American
Anti – Zionism
Ex – President
Pre – Service
ii. It is used to form the compound word from other two words
Examples
Good - natured
Second – class
Poverty – stricken
Lion – hearted
iii. It is used to form the compound word from the other two words separated by the preposition.
Examples
Mother-in-law
Teacher-to-be
Aide-de-camp
iv. To break a word between syllables at the end of a line.
Examples
Tra-vel
Box-er
Be-fore
|
The young boy and his mother were supposed to tra- Vel to Mwanza yesterday. |
Note: the students are advised to avoid breaking words at the end of the line.
v. To write the numbers between 21 qnd 99 in words.
Examples
Twenty-one
Thirty-four
h) Apostrophe ( ’)
Apostrophe is used in the following ways
i. It is used in the possessive case. In this case the apostrophe is added to the noun(s) and then (s) is added or we can say it is used to show possession.
a) Singular nouns
|
Noun |
Add (+)’s |
Possessive singular |
|
Boy |
|
Boy’s |
|
Donkey |
|
Donkey’s |
|
Cook |
|
Cook’s |
|
Child |
|
Chil’s |
|
Teacher |
|
Teacher’s |
|
Lioness |
|
Lioness’s |
|
James |
|
James’s |
|
Moses |
|
Moses’s |
|
Uncle |
|
Uncle’s |
|
Student |
|
Student’s |
|
Lion |
|
Lion’s |
b) Plural pronouns
In the nouns which are which are in the plural and do not end with (s) add (s) and then place the apostrophe. After it.
Example children+s’ becoming childrens’
In the nouns which are in plural and end with (s) and the apostrophe only.
Example
Boys+s’ becoming boys’
|
Noun |
Add (+)s’ or ’ |
|
|
Children |
|
Childrens’ |
|
Men |
|
Mens’ |
|
Oxen |
|
Oxens |
|
Geese |
|
Geeses’ |
|
Officers |
|
Officers |
|
Students |
|
Students’ |
|
Calves |
|
Calves’ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ii. It used in the short forms or contracted forms to show the omission of some letters and figures
Examples
I’m
It’s
They’re
In ‘89
CAPITAL LETTERS
The capital letters are used in the following ways
i. It is used at the begging of the sentence or new sentence.
Examples
a) ____________________________________________
b) ____________________________________________
ii. It is used in direct speech.
Example
a) He said, “The dog is dead.”
b) ______________________
iii. It is used in the lines of the poem.
I was there alone
Then came aloud voice
A really frightening noise.
iv. It is used in all proper nouns
Example
Emily
v. It is used in the titles of the books, articles, names of the organizations and institutions.
In the case of the titles its particularly in all important words in the title.
Example
Hawa the Bus Driver
Fast Money
vi. It is used in the pronoun I
Examples
Can I see the headmaster?
I joined this school three years ago.
vii. It is used in some abbreviations
Examples
R.T.D. Radio Tanzania Dar Es Salaam
C.C.M. Chama Cha Mapinduzi.
viii. It is used for the proper adjective (these are the adjectives formed from the proper nouns)
Examples
British
German
French
Tanzanian
ix. It is used for the titles or positions that refer to a particular person
Example
Our Headmaster is short and black
I don’t know Professor Amina Andrew.
Prepared by:
Emily A Mwambola
Tel: 0757290816
Email: emilyam016@gmail.com
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