how do i know when to use semicolons,colons, and commas in a sentence?

Answer 1

Semicolons are used between two sentences (that can stand alone by themselves) to show that they continue the same thought.
Example - I was wondering about the missing money; Richard said earlier that he has a history of kleptomania.

Semicolons are also used to separate a series of word groups when the word groups contain commas.
Example - Our goals are to eat well; exercise on the treadmill, bicycle, and elliptical machines; and go to the doctor.

Colons are used to show that a series of words or phrases are about to follow.
Example 1 - I need to get the following items: milk, eggs, and bread.
Example 2 - The following are the activities for Saturday afternoon: hiking in the woods, swimming in the pond, and eating lunch on the hill.

Commas are used in the following ways:
1 - to separate a series of words or phrases/groups of words
Example - I need to buy milk, eggs, and bread.

2 - to separate two complete sentences joined by a conjunction
Example - I need to go shopping, and I need to pick up the dry cleaning. ("And" is the conjunction)

3 - to separate a dependent clause from the rest of a complete sentence
Example - After I go shopping, I will pick up the dry cleaning.

4 - to separate interjections from the rest of a complete sentence
Example - Oh, I didn't know you were there! ("Oh" is the interjection.)

5 - to set appositives from the word they are describing
Example - Austin, the capital of Texas, is a big city. ("the capital of Texas" is the appositive.)

6 - to separate a phrase from the rest of a sentence when the phrase is long and may cause the sentence to be cumbersome
Example - As with any old antique furniture dealer, you must feel comfortable with the experience of the staff.

7 - to also separate a direct address from its subject
Example - Sally, you have a visitor. ("Sally" is the direct address.)

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Oh, God, am I a geek or what?!? Anyone gotta life they can sell me? I can barter grammar lessons!

Answer 2

here are some examples: semi colons are used to avoid run-on sentences.
e.g. Biography tells us about the subject; biographers also tell us about themselves.
After the semicolon, don't capitalize the first letter...

also, they can be used to separate items in a list containing internal commas.
e.g. When I cleaned out the refrigerator, I found a cheesecake, half-eaten; some canned tomato paste, which had some fungus growing on it; and some possibly edible meat loaf.

A colon is used to define what was said in the previous part of the sentence...
e.g. The students included three pieces of writing in their portfolios: a narrative, an arguement, and a document paper.
e.g. After her cancer treatment, my mom accomplished what many thought impossible: she completed and won four consecutive marathons and half marathons.

Commas simply separate parts in a sentence, not sentences from eachother. A trick I use is to write down a sentence without any punctuation marks, read it aloud, and wherever you pause, that's where a comma needs to be inserted.
e.g. The talks failed, but the leaders held their ground.
e.g. While the guests were eating, a mouse ran across the floor.

Hope this helped!!!!

Answer 3

I think Yahoo and AOL have change the rules for punctuation. Everything I knew about it has been thrown out the window with my typewriter :) . Capital 8 used to be an apostrophe, now it is a snowflake (*). Where do you use a snowflake? * :)
OK I think I will start writing a program to check and correct punctuation so we don't have to think about this any more.

Answer 4

a million.you like 4 milk, salt, sugar, and oil to make pancakes, and you would be wanting syrup too. 2. The papers, that i took out of your briefcase, are on the counter. 3. Serena asked her father an mom, who hadn't left their city in 20 years, to bypass along with her to venazuela. 4. On Wednesday, the twenty 5th of September, John picked up a paper, the 1st one he observed grew to become to the commercials and appeared for the classic vehicle he had consistently dreamed of possessing. 5. As experienced editors, Wendy and Thom are qualified to do the interest and to coach others.

Answer 5

Check out this website...great site for rules for punctuation
http://www.kimskorner4teachertalk.com/writing/sixtrait/conventions/punctuation.html

Answer 6

go to itunes, and there is this person called grammar girl, and she has all the tips for grammar on podcasts. we listen to her in my english class. she knows everything!