Semicolons,colons,apostrophes,hyphensanddashes,and

punctuationwithquotationmarks
Overview
1. Semicolons(;)
2. Colons(:)
3. Apostrophes()
4. Hyphensanddashes ( and)
5. Ellipses()
6.Punctuationcombinedwithquotationmarks
7.Singleordoublequotationmarks?
 Asemicolonconnectsindependentclauses partsofa
sentencethatcouldstandastheirownsentences:
Helovedthatcar; itwashisgreatesttreasure.

Wherewouldyouputtheperiodorsemicoloninthe
sentencebelow?
InWesternfilms,darkhatsoftenrepresentbadorevil
charactersawhitehatdoesjusttheopposite.
InWesternfilms,darkhatsoftenrepresentbadorevil
characters;awhitehatdoesjusttheopposite.

Periods (.) and semicolons (;) can be used

interchangeably!

Youshouldalwaysuseasemicoloninthesetwo
situations
1. between itemsinaserieswherecommasareused
foreachitem:
SciencefictionincludesStarTrek,withMr.Spock;
BattlestarGalactica,withitsCylons;andStarWars,with
LukeSkywalkerandDarthVader.

2. between independentclauses(oftenbefore
transitionswords*:accordingly,however,hence,),
especiallyifthetwosentencesfeelrelated:
Mushroomsgrowveryquickly;infact,afteragoodrain,
ittakesonlyafewhoursandyoustartpickingthem.
Evenbabygiraffesaretall; theiraverageheightissix
feet!

*askforalistoftransitionwordsattheWritingCenter!
 IMPORTANT:DONOTUSETHESEMICOLONASA
COLON!!
Wrong: Somecelebritiescanbarelyeven
makeamealforthemselves; the
Kardashians,TheJerseyShoresSnooki,
andLindseyLohan.
Correct:
 IMPORTANT:DONOTUSETHESEMICOLONASA
COLON!!
Wrong:
Correct:Somecelebritiescanbarely
makefoodortakeofthemselves: the
Kardashians,TheJerseyShores
Snooki,andLindseyLohan.
 Acolonisusedtointroduceinformation,specifically
afteracompletesentence(=independentclause)
phrasethatintroducesaquotation:
Theauthoralwaysdislikedhiscritics: Iftheycantwrite,
theybecomecritics!
Thelistthatfollowsthecolonisnotneededtocomplete
thesentence:
Myroommatewantstobuyacar,andhehasalotof
brandstochoosefrom: Toyota,Ford,VW,andmore.
 Rule:Useacolonbeforealistifyoucould
replaceitwithaperiod!

BUT:Useacommaforfragmentsintroducing
quotations:
Theauthorcomplains, Iftheycantwrite,theybecome
critics!
Practice:comma,colon,ornothingbeforethequote?
Lilianabought(colon?)milk,cereal,andsugar.
Chrisistakingtwosciencecourses (colon?) Physics101
andBiology201.
Forthetrip,besuretobringitemssuchas(colon?)
clothes,money,andlotsofmoney.
Answer:
Lilianaboughtmilk,cereal,andsugar.
Chrisistakingtwosciencecourses:Physics101and
Biology201.
Forthetrip,besuretobringitemssuchasclothes,
tools,andlotsofmoney.

Forcolonsintroducinglistsandquotations,remember:
Completesentence+colon=correct

Fragment+colon=incorrect
 Usetheapostrophesonlytoshowpossession
(somebodyownssomething)andforcontractions
(combiningtwowords):

JohnsdogwillquicklyeatMaryscat.
Loisssisterwillvisittomorrow.
Extrarule1:Ifthenoun(theowner)ispluralandends
ins,addonlyoneapostrophe:
Thediplomats briefcasesweresearched.
Thepapersthesisstatementsweregood.
Extrarule2: Inthecaseofmultiplenouns/owners,,use
s withthelastnounonly toshowjointpossession:
HaveyouseenDavidandAlenas newcamper?
Makeallnounspossessivetoshowindividualpossession:
JacksandBertasexpectationsofmarriagewerevery
different.
Outsideofacademicwriting,usetheapostrophefor
contractions:
Itisashamethathewillleavesoon. Itsashame
Are theynot hungryafterthelongwalk? Arentthey

BUT:AvoidALLcontractionsinacademicor
formalwriting!
 Hyphensareusedtocombinetwowordsintoa
singlenewone;adash doublethelengthofa
hyphen showsabreakorinterruptionofthought
betweensentenceparts.(hyphensconnectwords,
dashesseparategroupsofwords)

Thehighenergymusicshow whichIattendedlast
year wasawonderfulexperience.

Thereare4situationsinwhichthehyphenisusedto
combinewords
1. Useahyphenwhentwowordsareusedtogetheras
anadjectivebefore thenoun:
TheteachergaveToshikoanewspaperwrappedfishand
aseashell.
Dr.JillSteinisnotawellknownpresidentialcandidate.
Canyoubelievethatsheboughtfirstclasstickets?
But,donotuseahyphenifthesamecompoundsword
occursafter thenounitdescribes:
Thispresidentialcandidateisnotwellknown.
Theirhotelwasoftendescribedasfirstrate.
2.Useahyphenfortheprefixesself, quasi, all, elect,
and ex (meaningformerly):
HerexhusbandoftenexpressedantiAmericanideas.
Thisorganizationsupportsselfhelpprojectsthat
supportlowincomefamilies.
3.Useahyphenforwrittenoutnumbers*(butnot
before/aftercategorynumberslikehundred,thousand,
ormillion)andfractions:
Shewaswidelybelievedtobeonehundred
twentytwoyearsold.
Onefourthofhisincomewenttochildcare
expenses.
*Remember:numberssmallerthan10shouldbespelledout!
4.Useahyphentoavoidmisreading,especiallyifthe
prefixwouldresultinadoubleletter,ortoavoid
misreading:
JamesandDanielarecoownersoftherestaurant.
Thefilmwaspraisedforitsrecreation ofnineteenth
centuryLondon. Whatisthe
differencehere?

Bicyclingismyfavoriteformofrecreation.

Now,letsdashon
 Adashsignalsaninterruptionorabreakinthought
similartoacomma!Dashessetofftextthatyouwant
tostressoremphasize.Usedashes
1.withappositives(nounsthatfollowothernounsto
describethem):
James aprettycleverfellow wonthecontesteasily.
2.tosetoffemphasizedinformation:
Everythingthatwasbroken fromthecrackedwindow
tothewornoutcarpet wasblamedonthedog.
3.tointroducealistorrestatement:
Lately,Peterhasbeenmakingchangesinhislife
readingmorebooksandexercisingmoreregularly.
 The difference between commas, parenthesis,
and dashes (in your handout)

Commasareusedtosetoffnon
Matttoldhisbestfriend, Sharon's
essentialtextthatiscloselyrelatedto
sister,thathewantstoworkwithyou.
the rest of the sentence.

Parenthesesareusedasareminder or
Thisbelief(theincarnation) iscentral toaddinformationthatisinteresting
totheChristianfaith. butnotcriticaltothemeaningofthe
sentence.

Mymemoriesofmygrandmother
Dashesareusedtointerruptthe
andtheyaresomeofmystrongest
currentthoughtandtoemphasizethe
childhoodmemoriesinspiremeto
interruptingtext.
alwaysbepatientandkind.
Whentypingonacomputer,
youmakeadashbytypingtwo
shortdashes()betweentwo
wordsnospaces.AutoCorrect
willdotherestforyou.

Note1:Generally,youshouldnotusespacesbeforeandafter
hyphensordashes thoughcertainlygenresofwriting(newspaper,
electronicmedia,APstyle)willuseaspace.Ifindoubt,askyour
instructor!

Note2:Usedashessparingly.Theyaremosteffectivewhenyouuse
themnomorethanacoupletimesperpage.
 Ellipsesareusedtoindicatemissingoromittedmaterial,
butONLYforquotedmaterial!
1. Useanellipsestoshowdeletedwords:
Smith(2012)acknowledgesthattreatmentforautismis
expensive:Sensorytherapy...cancostupto$200perhour.
(3dots)
2.Useanellipsestoshowdeletedsentences:
Jackson,aresearcherwiththeCDC,explained:AIDSisstilla
massiveproblem.Itisapressinghealthissue.
(4dots)
(Donotuseellipsesatthebeginningofquotedmaterial,but
usethemattheendofsentences(MLAonly).)
 Punctuationfollowsspecialruleswhenusedwith
quotationsmarks somemakesense,othersare
arbitrary.Alloftherulescanbesummedupinthe
RuleofTwo!

Twopunctuationmarks(commasandperiods)goinside the
quotationmarks,two punctuationmarks(colonsand
semicolons)gooutside,andtwo others(questionand
exclamationmarks)cangoeitherplace,dependingonthe
meaningofthesentence.
Twogoinside:
Period:Heexplained,Commasaretrickybusiness.
Comma:Commasaretrickybusiness,heexplained.
Twogooutside:
Semicolon:Thisisnotaneasytopic; however,weall
understooditimmediately.
Colon:Heoftenusedgoodexamples: Cowslovetoeat
grass.
Twocangoeitherplace:
Eitherthequestion/exclamationmarkarepartofthe
quoteorpartofthesentenceitself
Twocangoeitherplace:
Exclamationmark:IwanttohearthesongForever
Young!
BUT:Someoneyelled,Help!
Questionmark:Sheaskedme,Doyoulikejazz?
BUT:WhatdontyoulikeaboutthesongForever
Young?
Askyourself:IfIleavethequotedmaterialby
itself,woulditneedthequestionorexclamation
mark?Ifso,thenleaveitinsidethequotation
marks.
Now, lets practice!