Shaw Academy
LESSON 7 NOTES
[English for Beginners]
, Punctuation
The name given to the marks, such as full stop, comma, and brackets, used in writing to
separate sentences and their elements and to clarify meaning.
Capital Letters
Always start a sentence with a capital letter.
She invited her friend over after school.
Used with proper nouns and titles
Genghis Khan quickly became the most powerful man in Asia, if not the world.
Used for acronyms
The CIA and the NSA are just two of the USA’s many intelligence agencies.
Full Stop .
Used to end sentences and statements.
The English for Beginners course is very good.
Question Mark ?
Used to end questions.
What will we do once this course has ended?
Exclamation Mark !
Used to end exclamatory sentences.
We’ll join the Ultimate English Programme of course!
Comma ,
Used to indicate a break or pause within a sentence.
Bill Gates, who is the CEO of Microsoft, does a lot of work for charity.
Used when listing three or more items in a series.
The fruit basket contained apples, bananas, and oranges.
Used to separate two or more adjectives describing a noun.
The powerful, resonating sound caught our attention.
Used to separate an introductory phrase from the rest of the sentence.
After the show, John and I went out to dinner.
Used to separate two independent clauses.
Ryan went to the beach yesterday, but he forgot his sunscreen.
Apostrophe ‘
Used with the letter s to indicate possession.
The children’s test scores are the highest in the nation.
Used to combine two words to make contractions.
You’re a great teacher Mark.
,Colon :
Used to introduce a list.
The professor has given me three options: to retake the exam, to accept the extra
credit assignment, or to fail the class.
Used to introduce an example
There’s only one person old enough to remember that wedding: grandma.
Semicolon ;
Use a semicolon to separate two related but independent clauses.
People continue to worry about the future; our failure to conserve resources has
put the world at risk.
Used to separate a complex series of items.
I went to the show with Jake, my close friend; his friend, Jane; and her best friend,
Jenna.
Brackets or Parentheses ()
Use brackets to clarify or give additional information.
Steve Case (AOL’s former CEO) redesigned how we use computers.
Quotation Marks “”
Used to enclose a direct quote from a spoken or written source.
“I can’t wait to see him perform!” John exclaimed.
Used to denote the name of a film or book.
I am currently reading “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”.
Hyphen -
Used to create compound nouns and adjectives.
The up-to-date newspaper reporters were quick to jump on the latest story.
Used to write numbers as words.
There are fifty-two playing cards in a deck.
Dash –
Used to make a brief interruption within a statement.
This is the end of our sentence – or so we thought.
Slash /
Used to replace the word ‘and’ or ‘or’ when joining two nouns.
The student/part-time employee must not use his/her phone on the sales floor.
, Linking Words and Phrases
Agreement / Addition / Similarity
The transition words like also, in addition, and, likewise, add
information, reinforce ideas, and express agreement with preceding material.
in the first place to say nothing of as
not only ... but equally important too
also
by the same moreover
as a matter of token
as well as
fact
again
together with
in like manner
to
of course
in addition
and
likewise
coupled with
also
comparatively
in the same
then
fashion / way correspondingly
equally
first, second, similarly
third identically
furthermore
in the light of uniquely
additionally
not to mention like
Opposition / Limitation / Contradiction
Transition phrases like but, rather and or, express that there is evidence to
the contrary or point out alternatives, and thus introduce a change the line of
reasoning (contrast).
although this may in contrast of course ..., but
be true
different from on the other hand
on the contrary at the same time
in spite of even so / though
be that as it may
then again in reality but
above all after all (and) still
LESSON 7 NOTES
[English for Beginners]
, Punctuation
The name given to the marks, such as full stop, comma, and brackets, used in writing to
separate sentences and their elements and to clarify meaning.
Capital Letters
Always start a sentence with a capital letter.
She invited her friend over after school.
Used with proper nouns and titles
Genghis Khan quickly became the most powerful man in Asia, if not the world.
Used for acronyms
The CIA and the NSA are just two of the USA’s many intelligence agencies.
Full Stop .
Used to end sentences and statements.
The English for Beginners course is very good.
Question Mark ?
Used to end questions.
What will we do once this course has ended?
Exclamation Mark !
Used to end exclamatory sentences.
We’ll join the Ultimate English Programme of course!
Comma ,
Used to indicate a break or pause within a sentence.
Bill Gates, who is the CEO of Microsoft, does a lot of work for charity.
Used when listing three or more items in a series.
The fruit basket contained apples, bananas, and oranges.
Used to separate two or more adjectives describing a noun.
The powerful, resonating sound caught our attention.
Used to separate an introductory phrase from the rest of the sentence.
After the show, John and I went out to dinner.
Used to separate two independent clauses.
Ryan went to the beach yesterday, but he forgot his sunscreen.
Apostrophe ‘
Used with the letter s to indicate possession.
The children’s test scores are the highest in the nation.
Used to combine two words to make contractions.
You’re a great teacher Mark.
,Colon :
Used to introduce a list.
The professor has given me three options: to retake the exam, to accept the extra
credit assignment, or to fail the class.
Used to introduce an example
There’s only one person old enough to remember that wedding: grandma.
Semicolon ;
Use a semicolon to separate two related but independent clauses.
People continue to worry about the future; our failure to conserve resources has
put the world at risk.
Used to separate a complex series of items.
I went to the show with Jake, my close friend; his friend, Jane; and her best friend,
Jenna.
Brackets or Parentheses ()
Use brackets to clarify or give additional information.
Steve Case (AOL’s former CEO) redesigned how we use computers.
Quotation Marks “”
Used to enclose a direct quote from a spoken or written source.
“I can’t wait to see him perform!” John exclaimed.
Used to denote the name of a film or book.
I am currently reading “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”.
Hyphen -
Used to create compound nouns and adjectives.
The up-to-date newspaper reporters were quick to jump on the latest story.
Used to write numbers as words.
There are fifty-two playing cards in a deck.
Dash –
Used to make a brief interruption within a statement.
This is the end of our sentence – or so we thought.
Slash /
Used to replace the word ‘and’ or ‘or’ when joining two nouns.
The student/part-time employee must not use his/her phone on the sales floor.
, Linking Words and Phrases
Agreement / Addition / Similarity
The transition words like also, in addition, and, likewise, add
information, reinforce ideas, and express agreement with preceding material.
in the first place to say nothing of as
not only ... but equally important too
also
by the same moreover
as a matter of token
as well as
fact
again
together with
in like manner
to
of course
in addition
and
likewise
coupled with
also
comparatively
in the same
then
fashion / way correspondingly
equally
first, second, similarly
third identically
furthermore
in the light of uniquely
additionally
not to mention like
Opposition / Limitation / Contradiction
Transition phrases like but, rather and or, express that there is evidence to
the contrary or point out alternatives, and thus introduce a change the line of
reasoning (contrast).
although this may in contrast of course ..., but
be true
different from on the other hand
on the contrary at the same time
in spite of even so / though
be that as it may
then again in reality but
above all after all (and) still
