PUNCTUATION

Punctuation marks, such as commas, period, and quotation marks, help readers interpret sentences. They determine how a sentence should be read and understand, like most  languages, english has certain rules of punctuation. The guidelines below will help you master some of the most imprtant ones.

Period

1.       Use a period at the end of a statement :

Argentina’s economy is a mix of agriculture and indusrty.

2.       Use a period with most abbreviations :

Mr.  Mrs.  A.M.   P.M.

Question Mark

1.       Use a question mark at the end of a question :

Who is going to driver me to the airport?

Comma

1.       Use a comma to separate words or phrases in a series :

The sea around Antarctica is home to dolphins, porpoise,whales, sales, and other sea creatures

2.       Use a comma to separate eities from states :

Billings, Montana

Tallahassee, Florida

3.       Use a comma between the day of the month and the year :

August 15, 1983

Colon

1.       Use a colon to introduce a series

The museum offers daily tours of the following collection: American, Asian, Classical, and European

2.       Yse a colon to separate hours  from minutes :

3:15    6:45

3.       Use a colon after the salutation in a formal letter :

Dear Dr. Brody:

Dear Ms. Rosen:

Quotation Marks

1.       Use quotation marks to enclose a direct quote :

Jorge said,”I have already finishid my homework

Capitalization

The following rules summarize the main uses of capitalization in english. If you are not sure when to capitalize a word, you should use your dictionary as a reference

1.       Capitalize the first word of a sentences :

Fishing is an important industry in Peru.

2.       Capitalize names, capitalize a title that precedes a name :

Dr. Lourie

Profesor Cantor