The following guidelines for English punctuation were mostly extracted from the book “Eats, Shoots & Leaves”.
Period (aka full stop)
Rules for periods are simple compared to other punctuation. Sentences end in a period or a substitute such as an exclamation mark (!) or a question mark (?).
Comma
Valid uses of a comma include:
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delimit items in a list
“Her favorite colors are blue, green, and purple.” (uses Oxford comma, also known as serial comma)
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delimit adjectives
“He wore a bright, colorful, ugly shirt.”
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precede dialog
The student said to the teacher, “Please increase my score.”
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follow an introductory phrase
“After the game, we meet at the ice cream shop.”
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precede “additional information”
“We were out of tea, so I went to the store.”
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delimit parenthetical elements
“The wind, I was happy to see, had died down.”
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end a statement with a question
“You didn’t actually write that, did you?”
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follow direct address
Mom, have you seen my car keys?
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provide clarification
“My wife, Tami, is an excellent cook.”
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avoid misunderstanding
“The boy watched as the dog fetched and cheered.” This means the dog both fetched and cheered.
“The boy watched as the dog fetched, and cheered.” This means the dog fetched and the boy cheered.
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separate parts of a date
“She was born on September 9, 1961.”
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precede “too”
“I like apple pie, too.”
Apostrophe
Valid uses of an apostrophe include:
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possessive singular noun
“The girl’s dress is blue.” (one girl)
It is the same if the possessor is plural, but doesn’t end in “s”.
“The women’s hats are red.” (women is plural)
But if the possessor is a “regular plural” ending in “s” then the apostrophe belongs after the “s”.
The girls’ dresses are blue.” (multiple girls)
Names that end in “s” are treated like singular nouns.
“Have you read Keats’s poems?” (Keats is singular a name that ends in “s”.)
An exception is made if the name if the name ends an “iz” sound.
“Laws were written on Moses’ tablets.”
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time or quantity
“If you are leaving, we only require one week’s notice.” (week is singular) “If you are leaving, we require two weeks’ notice.” (weeks is plural)
I will likely NEVER get these correct! I wouldn’t include an apostrophe in either example. Also, I would rewrite them like this:
“If you are leaving, we only require a one week notice.” “If you are leaving, we require a two week notice.”
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omission of part of a date
“I graduated high school in ‘79.”
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omission of letters
“I couldn’t believe it.” (substitute for “could not”) “It’s time for dinner.” (substitute for “it is”) “It’s become clear to me.” (substitute for “it has”)
Only use “it’s” as a substitute for “it is” or “it has”. In all other cases, use “its” without an apostrophe.
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Irish names
“Mr. O’Sullivan entered the pub.”
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plural of letters or words
“How many t’s are in traitor?” “Just tell me the do’s and don’t’s.”