Curso de Letras

Student’s Name:_____________________________________________________________
Focus: Capitalization and Punctuation
Source: SWAN, M. Practical English Usage. Oxford: Oxford University Press, s/d.

APOSTROPHE the flu because = 'cause influenza

✓ Use in contractions: can’t/ she’s/ ‘flu/ ‘cause
✓ When the first two figures of the number of a year are left out:
the flu'flu
1
It was in ’79.
I was born in the ‘80s. '90s
✓ Words which do not normally have plurals, letters and numbers:
It seems an interesting idea, but there are a lot of if’s.
Check the do’s and dont’s before visiting a foreign country.
It was the early 1990’s.
He writes f’s instead of v’s.
✓ Genitive forms:
The earth’s orbit.
The girl’s father.
Socrates’ last words.
Do not criticize one’s parents; they have their reasons.

SEMI–COLON
✓ Used instead of full stops, in cases where sentences are grammatically independent but where
the meaning is closely connected:
Some people work best in the mornings; others do better in the evenings.
It’s a fine idea; let’s hope it’s going to work.
✓ Used to separate items in a list, especially when these are grammatically complex:
By practicing writing skills, you reinforce grammatical structures and vocabulary; you discover
new ways of expressing your ideas on paper; you become closely involved with the language
being learned.

COLON
✓ Before explanations:
We had to abandon our holidays plans: the dates didn’t work out.
Mother may have to travel this week: she has to visit a relative in the country.
✓ Before a list
We need three kinds of support: economic, political and moral.
✓ Introduce quotations quotes
In the words of Oscar Wilde: “I can resist anything except temptation”.
✓ In titles, colons can be used to separate a main heading from a subdivision.
Sonnets: an introduction

DASH
✓ Add afterthoughts, especially in informal writing:
We’ll be arriving on Monday morning – at least, I think so.
✓ Used instead of colons or semi-colons in an informal style (especially personal letters)
We had a great time in Greece – the kids really enjoyed it.
QUOTATION MARKS OR INVERTED COMMAS
✓ When we quote a speech, we can use either single (‘…’) or double (“…”) quotation marks:
“Hello”, she said.
‘Hello’, she said.
✓ Single quotation marks (‘…’) are often used when we talk about a word, or when we use it in an
unusual way.
The word ‘disinterested’ is sometimes used to mean ‘uninterested’.
A textbook can be a ‘wall’ between a teacher and his or her class.
✓ For quotation inside quotations:
“Good heavens”, thought Jane. “What shall I do if he says ‘Hello’ to me?
The preacher shouted to the church: “Brothers, don’t you know that we have to ‘love each other’? "

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! – exclamation point - hyphen / – forward slash
? - question mark . – period \ – backslash
_
dash , – comma _ – underscore or underline
[ ] – bracket | – pipe, bar &- ampersand
FOOTNOTE { } – brace ( ) – parenthesis
HEADER ~ – tilde #- pound sign hashtag, number
PARAGRAPH indent - minus sign
@- at $- dollar sign %- percent sign
^- carat *- asterisk + – plus sign
= – equal sign
What's your #?
EXERCISES

1. Which of the following do we capitalize?

( ) the first word in a sentence ( ) names of specific organizations

( ) months and days of the week ( ) names of religions
( ) names of special days, like Christmas ( ) names of buildings and bridges
( ) names of school subjects ( ) names of deities
( ) names of countries and nationalities ( ) brand names
( ) names of languages ( ) names of seasons
( ) names of geographic areas ( ) abbreviations
( ) titles not followed by a name ( ) names of people and their titles.
( ) titles of books, magazines, compositions, etc
( ) numbers of days of the month written in full
( ) short words (articles, prepositions) in a title
( ) names of compass directions (north, south, etc)

2. Punctuate the sentences below:

a. My sisters a very intelligent girl Shes an English teacher

b. The Beatles had their great success during the 1960s
c. Im really worried about this weeks test actually I think everyone is
d. William Shakespeares Hamlet said To be or not to be that is the question

e. The United Kingdom is made up of four countries England Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland
f. The first aim of creating national parks is to provide protection for the outstanding countryside they
contain the second aim to provide opportunities for people to have access to them and enjoy them

g. The Queen of Hearts from Lewis Carrols Alice in Wonderland used to say Cut off their heads

h. I didn’t go to university today the bus didn’t go by

3. Read the sentences below and capitalize the words where necessary. Also include the correct
punctuation.

a. samira is a student from iran she speaks english french and farsi her major is chemistry 3
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b. the three more important holidays in the united states are christmas thanksgiving and easter
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c. president j f kennedy was born on may 29 1927 and was assassinated on november 22 1963
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d. green hill college is located in boston massachussets
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e. i am taking four classes this semester english 4 literature 3 typing and computer science course
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f. thanksgiving is always on the third thursday in november
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g. excuse me can you tell me where the golden gate bridge is
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h. there are three main religions in japan budhism shintoism and christianity
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i. in brazil there are no classes in the months of january and july these are the summer and winter
vacations
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