Basic Punctuation Rules in English Writing

Introduction

• Channel: Sparkle English
• Focus: Improving English writing, grammar, and speaking skills
• Video Topic: 13 basic punctuation rules for English writing

Punctuation Rules

Rule 1: Periods/Full Stops

• Every declarative sentence ends with a period.
  • Examples:
    • She loves chocolate.
    • My dad wants to go to a restaurant.

Rule 2: Capitalization

• Capitalize the first letter of a sentence.
  • Examples:
    • She loves chocolate.
    • He loves pizza.
• Start the next sentence with a capital letter after a period, question mark, or exclamation mark.

Rule 3: Capitalizing Proper Nouns

• Proper nouns are specific names (e.g., David, Friday, July).
  • Examples:
    • He is a boy; his name is David.
    • The best day of the week is Friday.

Rule 4: Apostrophes and Plurals

• Do not use an apostrophe to form plurals.
  • Incorrect: They have two car's.
  • Correct: They have two cars.

Rule 5: Apostrophes for Contractions and Possession

• Use apostrophes to form contractions (e.g., don’t for do not).
• Use apostrophes for possession (e.g., Jack’s car).
  • Examples:
    • Jack’s new car is beautiful.
    • My teacher’s wife is really nice.

Rule 6: Question Marks

• End interrogative sentences with a question mark.
  • Examples:
    • Do you like pizza?
    • Are you tired?

Rule 7: Exclamation Marks

• Use exclamation marks to express excitement or urgency.
  • Examples:
    • Wow, you look beautiful!
    • Be careful!

Rule 8: Commas in Lists

• Use commas to separate items in a list of three or more.
  • Use the Oxford comma for clarity before conjunctions.
  • Examples:
    • I bought coffee, tea, and milk.

Rule 9: Commas with Conjunctions

• Use a comma to separate independent clauses joined by conjunctions (e.g., for, and, nor, but).
  • Examples:
    • I want to go out, but I need to study.

Rule 10: Semicolons

• Use semicolons between closely related independent clauses.
  • Examples:
    • I love coffee; you love tea.

Rule 11: Colons

• Use a colon to introduce a list of items.
  • Examples:
    • They serve many types of food: Chinese, Indian, and American.

Rule 12: Hyphens in Compound Adjectives

• Use hyphens to join words serving as a single adjective before a noun.
  • Examples:
    • A well-known author.

Rule 13: Hyphens with Compound Numbers

• Use hyphens in compound numbers (21-99).
  • Examples:
    • I have ninety-nine problems.

Practice Sentences

Sentence Corrections

1. My birthday is in December.
   • Correct by capitalizing "My" and "December".
2. Patti loves cats. Shawn loves dogs.
   • Correct by using a semicolon or period: Patti loves cats; Shawn loves dogs.
3. I went to the supermarket and bought cheese, eggs, and ham.
   • Add commas between items.
4. Luke is 27 years old.
   • Add a hyphen: Luke is twenty-seven years old.
5. I want to go to the beach, but I think it’s going to rain soon.
   • Add a comma before "but".
6. Are you angry?
   • End with a question mark.
7. We bought two new cars.
   • Remove the apostrophe for plural: cars.
8. You’re a great guy.
   • Add an apostrophe for contraction: You’re.

Conclusion

• Check the description for detailed videos on individual punctuation marks.
• Practice punctuation for better English writing.