Punctuation Must Be Parallel: Dash Comma

1.
Punctuation Must be Parallel

When punctuation is parallel it means that interrupting a main clause with a dash or
a comma requires the same punctuation at both the beginning and end of the clause.
 Incorrect: The teenagers, students from Mrs. Smith's art class-went on a field trip to the
museum.
 Correct: The teenagers, students from Mrs. Smith's art class, went on a field trip to the
museum.
 Correct: The teenagers-students from Mrs. Smith's art class-went on a field trip to the
museum.
This rule also means that you should not use a semicolon to set off just one item in a list.
 Incorrect: I have lived in Des Moines, Iowa, Seattle, Washington; and Boise, Idaho.
 Correct: I have lived in Des Moines, Iowa; Seattle, Washington; and Boise, Idaho.
2. An Emdash is a Strong Comma

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An emdash (the longest of the three dashes) can be used for many of the same purposes as a comma.
A pair of emdashes might be used if the sentence already contains commas. Similarly, it might be
used to mark off information for emphasis. An emdash can also act alone, drawing attention to a
modifier or an extra piece of information. Here are a few examples:
 Sarah hated walking to school-it was all uphill-but she had no choice, she had missed the bus
again.
 For his birthday, Mark received a sweater, a jacket, a savings bond-and a new bike!
 Pizza, chocolate, and ice cream-these are my favorite foods.
3. A Colon Appears at the End of a Main Clause

If you have trouble deciding when to use a colon in your writing, it helps to ask yourself if a period
or question mark would be appropriate in the same location. If the sentence is already complete, you
may use a colon to add a list, elaboration, or restatement.
 List: I have three brothers: David, Kent, and Jacob.
 Elaboration: I have decided not to move to San Francisco: I have been offered a better job in
Milwaukee.
 Restatement: Thinking back, Jenny wasn't sure who started yesterday's fight: she couldn't
decide whether she was at fault or her friend Annie.
4. A Semicolon is Used for Equal Emphasis

In a compound sentence that has no coordinating conjunction, a semicolon can join
related independent clauses that are of equal importance.
 Sarah answered my question abruptly; she seemed preoccupied.
A semicolon can also be used before a conjunctive adverb joining two clauses in a compound
sentence.
 The restaurant was very crowded; however, the waitress took our order immediately.
5. Parentheses Show Related, Nonessential

Elements
Parentheses can be used to show elements in a sentence that are related but not necessary to
understand the meaning of the sentence. Parentheses can be replaced by commas in most cases,
although the use of parentheses tends to de-emphasize a piece of information.
 My family visited several countries (Italy, France, Portugal, and Spain) on our vacation last
year.
If the information inside the parentheses forms a complete sentence within the larger sentence, no
punctuation is necessary.
 The snow (April saw it when she passed the window) completely covered the trees.
6. Apostrophes Show Possession or Indicate an

Omission
An apostrophe is used to show possession or ownership. An apostrophe and an -s should be added
to singular possessive nouns, plural possessive nouns that do not end in -s, and singular possessive
nouns that end in -s. Only an apostrophe should be used when showing possession or ownership for a
plural possessive noun that ends in -s.
 Singular possessive noun: Susan's book
 Singular possessive noun ending in -s: Chris's car
 Plural possessive nouns: the children's school
 Plural possessive noun that ends in -s: my parents' house
An apostrophe can also be used to show that a letter has been omitted from a word to form
a contraction. For example, "they're" is a contraction of "they are" and "it's" is a contraction of "it is."
(Note that "its" is a possessive pronoun.)
Punctuation Rules
Now that you've got the basic punctuation rules under your belt you're ready to tackle your problem
areas. Be it commas, semicolons or apostrophes that troubles you, YourDictionary has a wealth of in-
depth punctuation knowledge right at your fingertips. Anything you'd like to learn to use more
effectively is here for the taking.
A punctuation mark is a symbol such as a full stop or period, comma, or question mark that

you use to divide written words into sentences and clauses.
A period (in America) is a full stop (.). It is a punctuation mark (.) at the end of a sentence. It
shows that the sentence has finished. To be a sentence it must have at least one complete
clause, with a verb and a subject.
Periods
1. Rule 1. Use a period at the end of a complete sentence that is a statement. ...
2. Rule 2. If the last item in the sentence is an abbreviation that ends in a period, do
not follow it with another period. ...
3. Rule 3. Question marks and exclamation points replace and eliminate periods at
the end of a sentence.
The question mark "?" (also known as interrogation point, query, or eroteme in journalism) is
a punctuation mark that indicates an interrogative clause or phrase in many languages.
The question mark is not used for indirect questions. The question mark glyph is also often
used in place of missing or unknown data.
Steps
1. Use a question mark at the end of a direct question. ...
2. Use periods at the end of indirect questions instead of question marks. ...
3. Avoid using a question mark for polite commands disguised as questions. ...
4. Capitalize the word that immediately follows a question mark.
The exclamation mark, also sometimes referred to as the exclamation point in American English, is a
punctuation mark usually used after an interjection or exclamation to indicate strong feelings or high
volume, or to show emphasis, and often marks the end of a sentence, for example: "Watch out!"
Exclamation marks were originally called the "note of admiration." They are still, to this
day, used to express excitement. They are also used to express surprise, astonishment, or any
other such strong emotion. Any exclamatory sentence can be properly followed by
an exclamation mark, to add additional emphasis.
If a text has 3 exclamation marks at the end, what does it mean? ... Inserted at the end of
sentence written as direct speech, an exclamation mark means that the utterance was said
with emotional arousal. The speaker might have been feeling astonishment, delight, despair,
fear, anger, scorn or disgust.
More Punctuation Rules:

1. Rule 1. Use an exclamation point to show emotion, emphasis, or surprise. ...
2. Rule 2. An exclamation point replaces a period at the end of a sentence. ...
3. Rule 3. Avoid using an exclamation point in formal business writing.
4. Rule 4. Overuse of exclamation points is a sign of undisciplined writing.
An ellipsis (plural: ellipses) is a punctuation mark consisting of three dots. Use

an ellipsis when omitting a word, phrase, line, paragraph, or more from a quoted passage.
Ellipses save space or remove material that is less relevant.
Using punctuation in your writing helps the reader to clearly understand the message that is
being conveyed. Punctuation primarily helps to indicate the pauses and the emphasis on
certain ideas or thoughts that are discussed in the text.

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1.

Punctuation Must be Parallel

2. An Emdash is a Strong Comma

3. A Colon Appears at the End of a Main Clause

4. A Semicolon is Used for Equal Emphasis

5. Parentheses Show Related, Nonessential

6. Apostrophes Show Possession or Indicate an

A punctuation mark is a symbol such as a full stop or period, comma, or question mark that

More Punctuation Rules:

An ellipsis (plural: ellipses) is a punctuation mark consisting of three dots. Use

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