Punctuation Revision Worksheet

Adding dashes for emphasis

1. No one and I mean no one should be permitted to smoke in a restaurant.
2. The Arctic Monkeys are my favourite band I have every one of their albums.
3. The wife loved her husband very much especially when he was buying her
clothes.
4. I can work with anyone in this department except Sally.
5. Being a success in this class is easy all it takes is the ability to think!
6. It is important to eat fruit and veg at least 5 portions a day to keep healthy.
7. The Year 11 football team is unbeaten they have not played a match yet
though.

Semi-Colons: Joining related independent sentences

1. My favourite colour is green my best friend prefers the colour yellow
2. I love a beach holiday abroad I also enjoy camping in the Lake District.
3. When I was seven, I broke my arm it was painful, but at least everyone signed
my cast!
4. Tattoos can easily go wrong you need to be careful!
5. Some people describe themselves as night owls I’m definitely more of an early
bird.
6. I can’t stand reality TV ‘stars’ they have no talent and they make a fortune out
of acting like idiots.

Colons: Creating Lists, adding Further Detail, emphasise a word or phrase

1. The magazine had information about these sports swimming, football, golf and
hockey.
2. At the safari park, we saw many animals elephants, rhinos, lions and monkeys.
3. Visitors to the school have included a policeman, a vicar and a doctor.
4. I have many favourite foods pizza, noodles, roast beef and ice cream.
5. Recently I broke my leg I needed to wear a cast for six weeks before it healed.
6. My favourite TV show is ‘The Simpsons’ it’s funny, clever and never fails to make
me smile.
7. No pain, no gain the one fundamental truth about running.
8. There is only one word I can say about that performance mediocre.

Brackets: adding extra non-essential detail in the middle of a sentence

1. Charles Dickens 1812-1870 was the most popular author of the Victorian era.
2. Ellie my older sister lives in Manchester but she comes home to visit the family
regularly.
3. Jupiter the largest planet is made of gas.
4. The twins Ben and Billy have just played their first football match.
5. The ambulance which had sirens blaring and lights flashing moved swiftly
through the traffic.
 6. The student who was new to the school got lost to her first lesson.

Add apostrophe(s) of omission

1. Whos he trying to fool? Its not me!
2. Wheres he going now?
3. Whats on the television tonight?
4. Do you realise that weve been waiting in line for over 10 minutes?
5. Weve been having lots of fun in science classes.
6. The class has made its decision and theyre happy with it.
7. I cant be happy with that.
8. I think theyve lost the chance of automatic promotion.

Add in an apostrophe of possession

1. This years end, marks the end of middle school for me!
2. Put Jans books back on the shelf for me please.
3. The players sticks are looking a little worn.
4. The teachers desk is bigger than mine.
5. Greg borrowed Jills eraser.
6. My 2 cousins I-pods are so awesome!
7. The birds chirping in the morning wakes me up.
8. Janes and Joes yo-yos are fun to play with.

Ellipsis: showing an omission of words, represents a pause, or suggests there's

something left unsaid
1. The witness described a “middle-aged man who drove a Dodge Stratus.”
(Ellipsis replaces irrelevant details)
2. “My kitten he’s gone” sobbed the little girl. (Ellipses show pauses in speaking)
3. “Have you seen” Hannah stopped speaking as Jake walked in. (Ellipsis replaces
missing words as dialogue trails off)