English Grammar Workbook for "dummies" - Geraldine Woods

84 Part II: Mastering Mechanics

Sorting Out Semicolons

A semicolon ( ; ) is the punctuation mark that people use to create winks in electronic messages. Not surprisingly, that isn’t its main job. Instead, semicolons link two complete sentences and separate items in a list when at least one of those items contains a comma. (Chapter 5 tells you more about this function of the semicolon.) One important note: Don’t join two sentences with a semicolon unless the ideas are closely related.

Get to work. Insert or delete semicolons as required in Fran’s thoughts on a recent heat wave. If no semicolons need to be added or deleted, write “correct” in the blank after the sentence.

Q. Fran is allergic to hot weather, she plans to crank up her air conditioner to maximum cool.

_______________

A. Fran is allergic to hot weather; she plans to crank up her air conditioner to maximum cool. The original sentence sends a comma to do a semicolon’s job. Not a good idea!

16.The reasons why I hate the summer are sweat; sweat; and sweat. _______________

17.They say global warming is a myth; I bought two watermelons today. _______________

18.Tomorrow I will plan trips to the North Pole; Ross, Alaska; and Antarctica.

_______________

19.I will turn on the weather report; but I am sure that it will be sunny and mild.

_______________

20.My saltshaker will run freely again; I may buy a winter coat. _______________

21.Of course, winter coats are now on sale the fact that winter doesn’t arrive for three more months is irrelevant. _______________

22.Stores like to sell merchandise in advance shoppers prefer to buy season-appropriate goods. _______________

23.Macy’s has a sale on boots with fur linings; cashmere scarves; and leather gloves.

_______________

24.I should shop in Australia for clothes I need in the Northern Hemisphere; they sell summer clothes in July. _______________

25.July is quite cool in Sydney, Australia; Canberra, Australia, and Wellington, New Zealand.

_______________

Chapter 6: Made You Look! Punctuation Marks That Demand Attention 85

Placing Colons

A colon (:) often shows up — to grammarians’ intense disapproval — in e-mails and the like to create smiley faces and other emoticons. Its real job is to introduce a long quotation or a list. Don’t place a colon after a form of the verb to be or a preposition (from, by, to, and similar words). Also, in the absolute strictest English (and not even I am that picky), a colon may introduce a list or a quotation only when the words before the colon form a complete sentence. If you follow this rule, you can’t insert a colon after for example, but you can use one after take a look at this example. Most business and technical handbooks allow colons after introductory phrases.

Time to “colon-ize” (or not) the sentences in this section. Add or remove colons (and, if necessary, subtract other punctuation). If everything’s okay, write “correct” in the blank after the sentence.

Q. The weather this year may be described with these words, horrible, freezing, humid, and windy. _______________

A. The weather this year may be described with these words: horrible, freezing, humid, and windy. The list of weather descriptions doesn’t include words. Placing a comma after words allows words to blend in with the list of descriptions. A colon marks the separation between the introduction and the list.

26.As I watched the thermometer rise, I told my friend what I felt: “There should be a national monument to the inventor of air-conditioning. If I had to live in the days when a bucket of ice and a fan were the only remedies for hot weather, I’d move to the North Pole.” _______________

27.Did I tell you that I bought books by: Marv Heatfree, Helen Icicle, and October Surprise?

_______________

28.When I return, I will say: “Great vacation.” _______________

29.The announcer will explain: that a strong cold front has wiped out the humidity.

_______________

30.I am astonished: a great, heat-free day! _______________

Calling All Overachievers: Extra

Practice with Hyphens, Dashes,

Colons, and Semicolons

Fran recently received a travel brochure, and she’s thinking about spending her vacation at La Bocaville Resort. Ignoring the wisdom of Fran’s choice, read the following excerpt (see Figure 6-1) with an eye toward correct (actually, incorrect) punctuation. You need to find ten errors in hyphens, dashes, colons, and semicolons. Cross out the offending marks and substitute the correct punctuation. Enjoy your trip!

Chapter 6: Made You Look! Punctuation Marks That Demand Attention 87

Answers to Punctuation Problems

asecond-string. You’re not talking about second quarterback and string quarterback. These two words join forces to form one description of quarterback — one who isn’t on the starting team but rather is on the second-string team.

bglue traps. You don’t normally need a hyphen between the prefix anti and the word it’s glued onto. The word glue describes traps and doesn’t form a compound.

c pre-execution. Two vowels together, created by the attachment of a prefix, call for a hyphen.

danti-Pestbegone. The name of the product that Megan opposes is Pestbegone, which begins with a capital letter. When you clap a prefix onto a capitalized word, a hyphen needs to separate them.

e self-improvement. The prefix self- likes to show up with a hyphen.

fsupremely annoying. These two words don’t form one description. Instead, supremely describes annoying. How annoying? Supremely annoying. In general, descriptions ending in -ly aren’t linked by a hyphen to other descriptions.

gcorrect. The sentence links two prefixes to one word. The hyphen after the first prefix tells the reader to attach it to communication.

htwoor a three-way and ski trip. Calvin likes a two-way telephone call or a three-way telephone call. The hyphen links the descriptions. Ski describes trip and doesn’t form a compound.

iLatvian American or correct. Here hyphens enter the realm of politics. If you hyphenate the term, you give equal importance to both, so Megan appreciates her Latvian and her American heritage equally. If you don’t hyphenate, the second term dominates because it’s described by the first. Without a hyphen, Megan sees herself as primarily American, though the Latvian side has some influence. Which form should you use? It depends on your point of view, but be consistent.

jextremely expensive. The first word describes the second. How expensive? Like everything Megan buys, extremely expensive! They aren’t linked as one description, so no hyphen should be inserted.

kJim plans to attend the truck race — I really don’t know why — along with his personal trainer. The interrupting words I really don’t know why are set off by dashes. But just so you know, parentheses can also do the job.

l“I can scarcely believe that he has a trainer because —” sputtered Debbie. Or, correct. The ellipses (three dots) in the question do the job perfectly well, but the dash is more dramatic. Your call.

mHe needs help with his fitness routine — four push-ups, a walk around the block, and a 20-minute nap. The comma doesn’t work after routine because otherwise the definition just blends in and creates a list of four things: routine, push-ups, a walk, and a nap. If you’re allergic to dashes, a colon or parentheses may substitute here.

nHis personal trainer worked with one of the best athletes on the planet — Karen Green. Or, correct. Once again, if the comma is your preference, go for it.

oPush-ups and walking — not exactly demanding exercises — are so easy even an old lady can do them. A dash sets off a comment on push-ups and walking.

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pThe reasons why I hate the summer are sweat, sweat, and sweat. The items in this list are single words, not phrases containing commas. Semicolons therefore aren’t needed to separate the items in the list. Commas do the job.

qThey say global warming is a myth. I bought two watermelons today. A semicolon can’t join two unrelated ideas. These random thoughts — Fran always talks this way — shouldn’t be linked by a semicolon. Apart from punctuation, throwing two unrelated ideas together isn’t a good idea. The reader should have a logical thread to follow between one sentence and another.

rcorrect. Surprised? This list contains one item (Ross, Alaska) that includes a comma. If the three places were separated only by commas, the reader would not be sure whether Ross and Alaska were two items or one. The semicolon tells the reader where one item ends and another begins.

sI will turn on the weather report, but I am sure that it will be sunny and mild. The word but joins these two sentences, so you don’t need a semicolon too. Change it to a comma. A comma precedes and, but, or, nor, and similar words when they connect two complete sentences.

tMy saltshaker will run freely again. I may buy a winter coat. The semicolon implies a relationship between the things it links. You can argue that the two halves of this sentence show what Fran wants out of the cold front, but if the relationship isn’t immediately clear to the reader, add some words or make two separate sentences. Better yet, add one or more sentences that join the two ideas in a logical way.

uOf course, winter coats are now on sale; the fact that winter doesn’t arrive for three more months is irrelevant. These two complete thoughts both relate to the maddening habit of selling out-of-season merchandise. Because both statements are complete thoughts, a semicolon joins them legally.

vStores like to sell merchandise in advance; shoppers prefer to buy season-appropriate goods. Each of these two statements could stand alone as a complete sentence, and that’s why they can’t be mashed together without a legal connection. You need a semicolon to link them.

wMacy’s has a sale on boots with fur linings, cashmere scarves, and leather gloves. Take the semicolons out of this list. You need a semicolon to separate items in a list only if one of the items contains a comma — not the case here.

x correct. In this sentence, two complete thoughts are correctly united by a semicolon.

yJuly is quite cool in Sydney, Australia; Canberra, Australia; and Wellington, New Zealand. A comma separates the city and state in each of the items on this list, so a semicolon is needed to separate one item from another.

Acorrect. This quotation from Fran is quite long and introduced by a complete sentence. Thus it may be introduced by a colon.

BDid I tell you that I bought books by Marv Heatfree, Helen Icicle, and October Surprise?

Don’t place a colon after the preposition by; just dive into the list.

CWhen I return, I will say, “Great vacation.” The colon after say isn’t a good idea, because the quotation is short and (I have to admit) run-of-the-mill. The colon is appropriate for long or extremely dramatic quotations only.

DThe announcer will explain that a strong cold front has wiped out the humidity. Drop the colon! It only interrupts the main idea, which shouldn’t be interrupted, particularly in the case of cold fronts. (I’m writing this in mid-July, when everyone is sweating.) No punctuation is needed after explain.

EI am astonished — a great, heat-free day! If you want the punctuation equivalent of a drumroll, go for a dash, not a colon.

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Chapter 7

One Small Mark, a Whole New

Meaning: Apostrophes

In This Chapter

Shortening words and numbers with apostrophes

Showing possession

An apostrophe is a little hook (’) that snags many writers at some point. With a little practice, you can confidently plop apostrophes into the proper spots in your writing.

The most common apostrophe mistake is to place one where it’s not appropriate. Don’t use an apostrophe in either of these circumstances:

To create a plural: You have one arrow and two arrows, not two arrow’s. The no-apostrophe-for-plural rule holds true for names. I am one person named Woods, and members of my family are the Woodses, not the Woods’.

With a possessive pronoun: Don’t use an apostrophe in a possessive pronoun (my, your, his, hers, its, ours, theirs, whose, and so on).

Traditionally, an apostrophe was used to create a particular (and unusual) type of plural — the plural of symbols and numerals. It was also used to create the plural of a word referred to as a word. (Confused? Keep reading for an example.) In old books you may find a sentence like Henry sprinkled 20’s and therefore’s throughout his story. Don’t panic. Grammar goes through changes. What was once correct is now passé. Just recognize an outdated custom and move on with your life.

Hook into the exercises in this chapter so that no apostrophe snags you ever again.

Putting Words on a Diet: Contractions

Apostrophes shorten words by replacing one or more letters. The shortened word, or contraction (not to be confused with the thing pregnant women scream through), adds an informal, conversational tone to your writing.

The most frequently used contractions, paired with their long forms, include those in Table 7-1.

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College entrance tests won’t ask you to insert an apostrophe into a word, but they may want to know whether you can spot a misplaced mark or an improperly expanded contraction. An apostrophe shortens a word, and a common mistake is to re-expand a contraction into something

it was never meant to be. The contraction should’ve, for example, is short for should have, not should of. The expressions should of, could of, and would of don’t exist in standard English. If you see one of these turkeys on the SAT or the ACT, you know you’ve found a mistake.

Contractions aren’t just for words. You also can slice numbers out of your writing with apostrophes, especially in informal circumstances. This punctuation mark enables you to graduate in ’07, marry in ’15, and check the maternity coverage in your health insurance policy by early ’18.

Feel like flexing your apostrophe muscles? Look at the underlined words in these sentences and change them into contractions. Place your answers in the blanks.

Q. Adam said that he would go to the store to buy nuts. _____

A. he’d. This apostrophe is a real bargain. With it, you save four letters.

1.“Peanuts are not the best choice because many people are allergic to them,” commented Pam. _____

2.“I am sure that you will choose a better appetizer,” she added. _____ _____

3.The store will not take responsibility for your purchase. _____

4.Do not underestimate the power of a good appetizer. _____

5.Your guests will think that you are cheap if you do not provide at least one bowl of nuts.

_____ _____

6.“Adam would have bought caviar, but I would not pass the walnut counter without buying something,” commented Pam. _____ _____

7.“You cannot neglect the dessert course either,” countered Adam. _____

Chapter 7: One Small Mark, a Whole New Meaning: Apostrophes 93

8.Adam usually recommends a fancy dessert such as a maple walnut ice cream sundae, but he is watching his weight. _____

9.“If they created a better diet ice cream,” he often says, “I would eat a ton of it.” _____

10.“Yes, and then you would weigh a ton yourself,” snaps Pam. _____

11 She is a bit testy when faced with diet food. _____

12.Of course, Adam could have been a little more diplomatic when he mentioned Pam’s “newly tight” sweater. _____

13.Adam is planning to serve a special dessert wine, Chateau Adam 1999, to his guests. _____

14.He always serves that beverage at reunions of the class of 2006. _____

15.We are planning to attend, but we will bring our own refreshments! _____ _____

16.No one from the class of 1912 can attend; they are all too busy golfing. _____ _____

17.For this, our tenth reunion, we are preparing a guessing game. _____

18.Adam wants to know who is in charge of creating the questions. _____

19.He is in charge because he knows the most gossip. _____

20.We will have to check the questions before the party. _____

21.He would like nothing better than to shock us all with prying questions. _____

22.At our last reunion, Adam should have been more careful. _____

23.Three people cried because they could not remember the latest gossip item. _____

24.Adam is not qualified to work for the new gossip magazine. _____

25.I cannot tell a lie; I hope that Adam does not get the job. _____ _____

Taking Possession

The pen of my aunt that you learn in foreign-language class becomes my aunt’s pen in standard English, with the help of an apostrophe. To show possession with apostrophes, keep these rules in mind:

Singular owner: Attach an apostrophe and the letter s (in that order) to a singular person, place, or thing to express possession (Henry’s tooth, Rome’s dentists, the drill’s annoying whine).

Plural owner: Attach an apostrophe to a regular plural (one that ends in s) to express possession (the boys’ restroom, the cities’ mayors, the billboards’ message).

Irregular plural owner: Add an apostrophe and the letter s (in that order) to an irregular plural (one that doesn’t end in s) to express possession (the children’s toys, the data’s significance).

Joint ownership: If two or more people own something jointly, add an apostrophe and an s (in that order) to the last name (Abe and Mary’s sofa; George, Jeb, and Barbara’s memories).