Punctuation Semicolon

Grammar and mechanics Haes pays careful attention to parallelism and punctuation, most notably in her enumerated lists. Haes s lists are grammatically parallel, and she uses punctuation (i.e., colons, commas, and semicolons) appropriately. 

Consider the following passage from a section in Haes s proposal, omitted from excerpt 11 A. We have removed all colons, semicolons, and commas from the passage. Decide which form of punctuation belongs in each empty space or if the space should remain blank. 

Pay attention to the formatting expectations specified in this chapter, as small or as large as they may be. In all cases, check your punctuation (periods, commas, semicolons, parentheses, etc.), capitalization, fonts, bolding, sequential numbering, and, of course, clarity of presentation. Make sure that you mention thegraphic(s) by type and number (e.g.. Figure 2, Table 1, Scheme 3) in the text of your journal article, research proposal, or poster (unless you do not have room in your poster) before the reader encounters the actual graphic. 

Superscript numbers are placed immediately after any punctuation (e.g., commas, periods, semicolons), with no space between the number and punctuation ... 

Grammar (e.g., subject-verb agreement, parallelism) Punctuation (e.g., capitalization, commas, semicolons)... 

Punctuation marks (e.g., colons and semicolons) are small in size, but they communicate a lot. It is important to use them correctly. Many writers confuse colons ( ) and semicolons ( ), though they serve different purposes in writing. 

Proofreading Tip It is amazing that punctuation marks as small as colons and semicolons can change the meaning of a sentence. Make sure that you use them correctly. Remember the following (1) Colons should only be used after complete sentences, that is, sentences that can stand on their own. (2) When you join two related sentences with a semicolon, check that you ve placed the semicolon where the period could be and that the first letter of the second sentence is lowercase. 

Consider the following sentences. Decide if the colons and semicolons are used correctly. If they are not used correctly, correct the punctuation. If they are correct, write correct as is . 

The single most important key to the meaning of a sentence is its structure. The best and easiest way to determine sentence structure is to look at punctuation. Sentence completion questions always have one or more commas or semicolons. The basic strategy is to separate the sentence into units divided by punctuation. Often, one of the units will express a complete thought, and at least one unit will have one or two blanks. The unit that expresses a complete thought will tell you what the unit(s) with blank(s) need to say. 

Choices a and c shift from the impersonal pronoun one to the personal you. Choices b and d correct that error, but retain the wordy phrase you should probably. Choice d also changes the wording and eliminates the semicolon, creating a long and confusing sentence unbroken by punctuation. 

Did you spot an error Clearly, this is a question dealing with proper punctuation. Which one fixes the error, or is there an error In this case, the correct answer is d. This is a run-on sentence, and it can be repaired by either inserting a semicolon, a period, or a coordinating conjunction. Choice d was the only one to do this. 

Look at the punctuation, a common source of errors. It s easy to accidentally type a period instead of a comma, a semicolon where you meant to put a colon. Or there may be mismatched opening and closing quotation marks in a PRINT statement. If you re copying a program from a book or magazine, look closely at the look-alike characters (I and 2, O and 0). 

Another device that contributes to the rhythm of a line is the caesura, a heavy pause in a line of poetry. Caesuras (indicated by a II mark) may be used to isolate and thus emphasize words or slow the pace. Sometimes they are used to show strong contrasts, as in the following line Before, a joy proposed II behind, a dream. Caesuras may follow punctuation marks such as commas, semicolons, or periods, marks that say slow down to the reader. 

Don t run two sentences together without any punctuation. Use a period, a semicolon, or a comma plus a coordinating conjunction (if appropriate), or subordinate one clause. 

Use a semicolon in a series between items that already contain internal punctuation. 

Correct the following semicolon and colon errors by adding, deleting, or substituting an appropriate mark of punctuation. Skip any correct sentences. 

Informative Paper Any paper that offers information, such as a report or a how-to essay. Internal Punctuation Punctuation within a sentence, such as commas, semicolons, or apostrophes. 

The most commonly used punctuation marks which students have difficulties with are full stops, commas, colons, semicolons and apostrophes. We suggest that you read through the examples below to see if you know how to incorporate these into your ovra work. Then you can complete Task 9.2 at the end of this section which is designed to help you identify the different uses of these punctuation marks. 

The most common punctuation errors are the omission of commas and the misuse of semicolons. 

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