Punctuation is the practice of using certain characters in writing to separate words and make the meaning clear. There are different rules for proper punctuation in the English language.
Punctuating Items in a Series:
Use a comma after each item in a series of at least three items. The comma before the “and” is optional.
Example: I still need to take a shower, make my bed, and eat breakfast.
Use a comma before etc.
Example: Dad went to the store to get apples, pears, oranges, grapes, etc.
Use a colon before a list that comes after an independent clause.
Example: You need to ask the following people to sign the card: Carrie, Sarah, Tiesha, and Shaghit.
End Punctuation
End punctuation rules how different types of sentences should end.
Interrogative statements end in a question mark.
Example: Who knew the answer to the question?
Exclamatory sentences that show emotions end in exclamation marks.
Example: Django shouted, “Let me out of here!”
Statements and commands should end in periods.
Example: Help me help you reach the goal.
Apostrophe
Use an apostrophe (') to show possession and contraction.
Example: The dog’s tail was too short, and it didn’t like to bark.
Quotation Marks
Quotation marks are used whenever a quote (the words someone else said) or dialogue (the words a character or person is saying) is used in a text.
Quotation marks are used around the exact words a speaker said in a text.
Example: “Eat your veggies,” my mom said.
In this sentence, the exact words the mom said were “Eat your veggies,” so they are put inside a pair of quotation marks.
Comma
Commas are used in many different ways in writing.
1. A comma comes before and/or after a person’s name when he or she is being addressed (or talked to).
Example: Britni, help your little sister get ready. Example: Help your little sister get ready, Britni.
Britni is being addressed, or talked to, in these sentences, so a comma comes after her name, as in the first sentence, or before her name, as in the second sentence.
2. A comma comes before quotation marks when a phrase telling who is speaking comes before a quotation or dialogue.
Example: The principal warned, “Don’t run in the halls.”
The comma comes after the phrase, The principal warned, and before the quotation.
3. A comma comes at the end of a quotation or dialogue, and before the ending quotation marks, when a phrase telling who is speaking comes after the quotation.
Example: “Don’t run in the halls,” the principal warned.
A comma is used after the quotation, and inside the final quotation marks because the quotation comes before the phrase telling who is speaking.
5th Grade Writing - Punctuation Lesson