PPunctuation and Mechanics
P1 | The comma |
a | Clauses with and, but, etc. |
b | Introductory elements |
c | Items in a series |
d | Coordinate adjectives |
e | Nonrestrictive elements |
f | Transitions, parenthetical expressions, etc. |
g | Direct address, yes/no, interrogative tags, interjections |
h | He said etc. |
i | Dates, addresses, titles, numbers |
P2 | Unnecessary commas |
a | Compound elements |
b | Between verb and subject or object |
c | Before or after a series |
d | Cumulative adjectives |
e | Restrictive elements |
f | Concluding clauses |
g | Inverted sentence |
h | Other misuses |
P3 | The semicolon and the colon |
a | Semicolon with independent clauses |
b | Semicolon with series |
c | Misuses of the semicolon |
d | Colon with list, appositive, quotation, summary |
e | Conventional uses of the colon |
f | Misuses of the colon |
P4 | The apostrophe |
a | Possessive nouns, indefinite pronouns |
b | Contractions |
c | Plurals of numbers, letters, etc. |
d | Misuses |
P5 | Quotation marks |
a | Direct quotations |
b | Quotation within quotation |
c | Titles |
d | Words as words |
e | With other punctuation |
f | Misuses |
P6 | Other punctuation marks |
a | End punctuation |
b | Dash, parentheses, brackets |
c | Ellipsis mark |
d | Slash |
P7 | Spelling and hyphenation |
a | Spelling rules |
b | Words that sound alike |
c | Common misspellings |
d | Compound words |
e | Hyphenated adjectives |
f | Fractions and numbers |
g | Prefixes and suffixes |
h | To avoid ambiguity |
i | Word division |
P8 | Capitalization |
a | Proper versus common nouns |
b | Titles with names |
c | Titles of works |
d | First word of sentence |
e | First word of a quoted sentence |
f | After colon |
P9 | Abbreviations and numbers |
a | Titles with names |
b | Familiar abbreviations |
c | Conventional abbreviations |
d | Units of measurement |
e | Latin abbreviations |
f | Plural of abbreviations |
g | Inappropriate abbreviations |
h | Spelling out numbers |
i | Using numerals |
P10 | Italics |
a | Titles of works |
b | Other terms |