Sentence Structure: Capitalization and punctuation

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 2

Today's topics

• Capitalization and punctuation.

- the rules.

- practice.

The goal for today:

At the end of this lesson, you will be able to punctuate your English writing correctly.

Why is this important?

look i didnt want to be a half-blood if youre reading this because you think you might be one my advice is close this book right now believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth and try to lead a normal life

vs

Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood. If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you, and try to lead a normal life.

Capitalization

What are capitals?

Capitalization

"Writing the first letter of a word with a capital letter."

When do you use capital letters?

• First word of a sentence.
• Names (and titles), places.
• Adjectives derived from proper nouns (American flag).
• Abbreviations (FBI, CIA, AIVD).
• The pronoun 'I'.
• Days of the week and months of the year.
  

Capatilise the following sentence:
'i walked through amsterdam with jason this morning.'

Punctuation

- Periods (or full stops).

- Question marks?

- Exlamation points!

- 'Quotation marks'.

- Semicolons ( ; ).

- Colons ( : ).

- Apostrophes.

- Commas

Periods (or full stops).

At the end of a sentence.

At the end of a command or request. Please do your homework.

Before a decimal number. I write 2.5 pages a day.

Between euros and cents. The newspaper costs $1.50.

In a person's intials. My name is J.O. Witberg.

Question marks?

At the end of a question. 

Why do you look so sad?

Inside quotation marks if the quote is a question.

She asked, 'Why do you look so sad?'

Exclamation point!

At the end of a work, phrase, or sentence filled with emotion.

Hurry up! We are late for class!

Inside a quotation mark when the quote is an exlamation.

"Hurry up! We are late for class!"

'Quotation marks'

When directly quoting diologue.

Hamlet says, 'To be, or not to be. That is the question.'

For titles of chapters, articles, stories, etc.

My favourite book is 'Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief'.

Correct the following sentence:
and she asked do you want to go swimming

Semicolons.

Between two independent clauses. (A clause is an independant thought. Edward joined the basketball team; remarkably, the young man excelled at the sport.

Between elements that use commas.

The possible dates are Thursday, June 5; Saturday, June 7; or Monday, June 9.

Colons

Between two ideas when the second explains the first.

Kerry didn't eat: she was already full.

Before a list. Grandma brought Chloe's favourite three sweets: Chocolate kisses, Tootsie Rolls, and a snickers bar.

Between titles and subtitles.

Studying for tests: a guide.

Between hours and minutes.

It's 2:00 a.am. 

Apostrophes

Contractions

It's (It is) okay to cry sometimes.

You all would have. Y'all'd've.

At the end of a name to indicate ownership. That is James' book.

That is Mark's book.

Commas

Between items in dates and addresses. Michael arrived at Ellis Island, New York, On February 14, 1924.

Between words in a list. I bought apples, bread, candy, meat and vegetables.

Between adjectives. He bought a very beautiful, big, red car.

Before and after quotes with tags. She said, 'I am hungry.'  'I am hungry,' she said.

Around nonessential clauses and appositives. Matt's mother, Jane (appositive), who has trouble with directions (nonessential clause), had to ask for help.

After introductory words. Hoping for the best, we checked our luggage.

Before conjuntions. I went grocery shopping, while my mother did the laundry.

Between town/city and the state it's in. I live in Flagstaff, Arizona with my brother and parents.

Correct the following sentence with capitals and punctuation:
she left for los angeles california on saturday june 15

Fix the following paragraph:
look i didnt want to be a half-blood if youre reading this because you think you might be one my advice is close this book right now believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth and try to lead a normal life

Your turn for real

Please exchange your homework assignment with your neighbor. 

Then, check each other's assignments for capitals and punctuation. Feel free to make changes to their work if punctuation or a capital letter is wrong or missing.

Assignment for next lesson

To do: Unit 4, Lesson 2, assignment 20A in your New Interface book (page 150)

Write a short text about your own inventions and pay extra attention to your use of capitals and punctuation.