. , ; : Punctuation Drop the final e before a suffix beginning with a vowel. example: love + ing = loving exceptions: canoe + ing = canoeing hoe + ing = hoeing Keep the final e before a suffix beginning with a consonant. example: care + ful = careful exceptions: true + ly = truly argue + ment = argument Final consonants might or might not be doubled when the accent is thrown forward. Canadian and British usage is to double the final consonant; the American tendency is not to double it. examples: benefit benefitting or benefiting benefitted or benefited cancel cancelling or canceling cancelled or canceled travel travelling or traveling travelled or traveled “” ’ — ? ! PERIOD Put a period at the end of a: • Declarative sentence example: Rain is wet. • Indirect question example: She wondered what was wrong. COMMA Use a comma to separate words or phrases in a series. example: Her hobbies were reading, watching old movies, driving, and running. SEMICOLON Use a semicolon between clauses in a compound sentence when the conjunction is omitted or when the connection is close. example: The statistical evidence is there; it cannot be denied. COLON Use a colon to: • Begin a list example: He studied three subjects: biology, chemistry, and English. • Formally introduce a statement example: She stated: “I never saw the new contract.” QUOTATION MARKS Use double quotation marks around a direct quotation. example: He said, “Go away.” Do not use quotation marks for indirect statements. example: She said she was happy. APOSTROPHE Use an apostrophe for: • Contractions example: It’s all right. • The possessive case of a noun example: That is Bart’s dog. EM DASH Use em dashes to set off intensifying or explanatory parts of a sentence. example: My cats—Leo, Theo, and Marv—enjoy racing through the house at midnight. QUESTION MARK Use a question mark for questions. example: What on earth do you mean? EXCLAMATION MARK Express strong feeling with an exclamation mark. example: That’s funny! R–7 RESOURCE PAGES
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